Shining Armor paced anxiously in front of the gates, the ferocity of his steps matched by his frantic heartbeat as they both pounded fiercely. His steps were not accompanied by others, though. The guards had decided to give him the space he needed and Cadence had left him to get more warm milk, in an attempt to get her husband to calm down despite his rampant anxiety. Though his footsteps were heavy and dedicated, his mind was far from his body, flitting through thoughts no older brother would ever want to imagine. And when his mind wandered to what these thoughts might lead to, the sound of his hoof smashing against stone would echo through the area as the captain forcefully removed the thought from his mind.
Just as one such noise had faded from the air, his wife returned, flying just above the ground with another stallion following close behind her. The captain paused his steps and looked to the approaching duo as a curiosity. His wife levitated a coffee pot next to her, no doubt repurposed to hold milk, while the stallion was unburdened by saddlebags or any other object. Which was odd, as most ponies would have saddlebags even when they were merely going for a walk in order to keep certain things on hand.
“Hey, honey!” Cadence called out as she approached. “I brought someone to help.” The captain smiled to himself and set off towards them, his pace and temperament calmed for the moment. They met him halfway and Shining Armor was able to see the pony who had come with his wife was, in fact, an acquaintance to both of them, and not one of the politicians Cadence would occasionally introduce him to.
“Hello, sugar,” Shining Armor said with a stupid grin, nuzzling his wife’s neck for a moment before turning to the other pony. “Hendrick.” The words were accentuated with a nod, one that the stallion returned. With the greetings done, Cadence poured each of them a cup of warm milk as the trio began making idle chat. Drinks were placed in each of their grasps, sensory magic keeping Hendrick’s in front of his mouth so he didn’t have to try and hold it in a hoof while he talked.
“So, Hendrick, what brings you around?” Shining asked, taking a sip from his milk and relishing the rejuvenating feeling that melted through his mind and eased his joints.
“Ah, well, I was on my way to work when your wife told me there was something you could use my help with,” Hendrick responded, his voice holding a surprising amount of confidence. “I was, of course, hesitant at first, but I decided that the least I could do was try and make up for my horrible first impression at that dinner.” Hendrick took a sip of his milk as well, though he seemed not to enjoy it as much as the other ponies. As he did so, the captain took a moment to fully realize just how much the earth pony had changed over the past few weeks. “But I have to wonder what I could help with that a unicorn and an alicorn can’t solve.”
Shining Armor’s disposition dropped suddenly and he looked into his cup. “That’s actually the reason we can’t do anything.” Hendrick’s face turned to concern, but he remained silent. “My sister is in the medical wing here at the castle; her sickness is a magical instability. Because of this, unicorns and alicorns are limited to one at a time. I was with her all through the night when Celestia asked if she could watch over her. She wasn’t pushy about it, but I imagine she’s suffering as much as me right now. She’s like a second mother to Twilight.”
“Apprentice?” Hendrick cut in for a moment, his cup floating in front of him with only the one sip missing. His attitude had shifted back to what it was before: not dark per se... but deeper and more cryptic.
“Hmm?”
“Is she her apprentice, or what?”
“Student, actually,” the captain corrected, taking a brief pause as he took another sip of the milk.
“I see. You must be proud of her.”
“Oh yea.” A smile crossed Shining Armor’s face as he reflected on the past. “I wasn’t there when she was taking the test—I was testing to enter the guards, you see—but I still remember how absolutely ecstatic she was when I got home.” The captain was about to ask Cadence if she remembered, but the smile on her face answered the question before he could ask it.
“Well,” Hendrick said, drinking the remaining milk from his cup in a single gulp. “I should get going.”
The pink alicorn glanced toward the rising sun and realized most of the dawn had slipped by without her knowledge. “Ah yes, you have that job with Front Page, don’t you? I’m sorry to drag you out of your way; it completely slipped my mind.”
“No, you misunderstand. I don’t have anything important to do until late evening. So... how do I get to Twilight’s room?”
Celestia sat in the medical room, her gaze on her student. Doctor’s were running around, fretting about a sudden drop in her student’s body temperature. She was worried herself, but she knew that she would get in the way more than help as things currently stood. To exert her magic would only worsen Twilight’s condition, so she restrained herself.
At least, as long as she could.
With sudden movement, she approached one of the doctors. “What’s going on?” Her voice was full of worry, she knew, but didn’t care enough about it to try hiding it from the ponies.
“Her body temperature suddenly dropped. We have no idea why,” the doctor said shortly as he continued to move about.
“Are you or are you not the best doctors that money can buy?” Celestia said, her mind betraying her edginess through her words.
“We are, Your Majesty, but perhaps you should inform your student that going into the Everfree is just begging for trouble. And then, when you’re done with that, learn how to not piss off the ponies who’re trying to help you.” The words returned were sharp, causing the alicorn to retreat both verbally and physically. She hated to admit it, but Twilight was a large hole in the armor that kept the alicorn composed.
“I’m sorry. I should contain myself better. My apologies.”
“You're worried for her; that’s understandable. But please, Your Highness, we are trying our hardest to help her and it would be very helpful if you could avoid interfering anymore unless asked to.” The words were rushed and the doctor was gone before Celestia could ask more questions.
The door to the room let loose a creak and the princess turned to watch Hendrick enter the room with the same uneasy hoofsteps that took him everywhere he went. The alicorn was about to ask about his arrival when something else caught her attention: absolute silence. With a fear for the worst sprouting in her heart, the princess turned to see what had caused the doctors to go quiet.
“What did you do?” It was a disarmingly quiet question from the doctor Celestia had exchanged words with mere moments earlier as he addressed one of the nurses.
“I didn’t do anything,” came the hushed reply.
With slow steps, the solar princess approached the group of medical practitioners, leaving Hendrick to his confused self as he took a seat in the room. “What happened?” she asked, the atmosphere of the room dulling her voice.
“Her temperature went back to normal. Not only that, all her other vitals are improving. The reason we couldn’t determine the sickness was because of the chill in her body; it confused any equipment we used on her. It’s like somepony just flipped a switch and she started getting better.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know...” The doctor’s tone spoke of worry, but Celestia found her own heart soaring.
“Mmmmaraaaaaa.” The sound came from the purple unicorn, her eyes flickering as she awoke from her coma-like condition. The room was still, everypony present watching over the unicorn as she came back to the land of the waking. “Oh, hi, princess. What’s going on?”
“You’re in the castle, Twilight. Medical wing. You received a strange sickness in the Everfree and your friends took you to the Ponyville hospital. When they realized it was too much for them to handle, they sent you to the Canterlot hospital, that sent you here.”
“Aaaa, that’s nice.” She was obviously delirious, though the doctors weren’t sure why. “What’s the tall thing that’s standing behind you?” All eyes turned, but the only thing to be seen was Hendrick, who was still seated patiently.
“I can’t see anything, Twilight. What does it look like?” As she asked her question, a look of realization came over one of the doctors. He quickly told his revelation to the others and they all shared a nod before gathering the equipment they would need.
“He stands really tall, and burns very brightly,” she said, explaining the mysterious thing as best she could in her state.
“Burns brightly? You mean he’s shiney? Like... white?”
“No, he’s decorated in fire.” She took a moment to yawn, her limbs unable to meet the gesture as they were currently being connected to a machine. “Aww, he’s frowning now. Pinkie wouldn’t want him to frown. I wonder why he’s sad.”
Before Celestia could ask more questions, a doctor leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. “We’re ready to begin. This will almost certainly cure her, but we’ll need you to keep her mind occupied while it works to ensure a complete system cleanse.” The alicorn nodded and turned back to her student.
“Oh, he probably dropped his glasses,” the unicorn said, as if that made everything make sense. “Silly tall man, there’s some glasses available at most glass shops. Only a silly wouldn’t know that.”
“How tall is he exactly, Twilight?” Celestia asked, both to meet the request of the doctor and out of her search for answers. The hum of the machine started to fill the air, but it was rhythmic enough to avoid the notice of the librarian.
“He’d see eye to eye with you if you could see him.” Despite knowing she wouldn’t see the creature of which her student spoke, she turned to look again, anyway. After doing so, her peripheral vision showed her how Hendrick was reacting. His entire body seemed downtrodden as he looked at the ground, his hooves moving in circles around each other to demonstrate what the princess could only assume was the need for his body to keep itself busy.
A polite cough from the doctor caught her attention and Celestia remembered what she was supposed to be doing.”What’s he doing now, Twilight?”
“He’s really sad, and looking at the ground. He’s moving his hands around each other too, though I don’t kno— Oh wait, now he’s looking up in surprise. I think I might have startled him.” A quick glance to the corner of her eye confirmed the princess’s suspicion: Hendrick was also looking up in shock.
“Aww, he’s disappearing now. Oh well, I guess it’s ti—” A yawn split her lips while her head fell back against the pillow and her eyes closed, taking her into a serene sleep. “Time for him to go,” she managed to finish before sleep took her completely.
“Good job, Doctor Meds. It seems your idea has healed the patient,” one of the doctors congratulated, the nurses and other ponies joining in on the celebration. Hoofbumps were exchanged all around; a job well done by all had cured the patient.
With this good news to settle her mind, the princess turned to face Hendrick, only to see him leaving. “Where are you going?” she asked, her tone holding equal parts authority and curiosity.
“I need to go back and tell Shining Armor that his sister is cured. He’ll be so happy to hear the good news.” With that, the door closed behind Hendrick and Celestia was given the decision of following him, or ensuring her student’s complete recovery. After a mental debate, she realized Hendrick would probably be available for questions about the occurrences later.
One thing was sure in her mind, though: there would be questions.
(A/N: Now if you will all excuse me, I’m going back to playing Fallout: New Vegas. -N64Fan)