Spike was not happy to have been left out of the previous day’s excitement.
“By the time we figured out something was up, everything was happening rather quickly.” Twilight explained to the sulking dragon. “I know you went to bed after Celestia arrived, so you didn’t miss that part.”
“What part? Where Broken talked about how he got here? Where Broken tried to kill you? Where Broken tried to kill Pip? Where Broken blew Discord’s head off, nearly killed Pip, and tried to kill you again?” Spike laughed, sounding disturbingly like Broken for a brief moment. “Because I wasn’t there either. At least three times he nearly really hurt you, Twilight, nearly killed you, and I was either asleep or stuck in the library doing stuff that doesn’t really matter.” He growled. “Some assistant I am…”
“Oh, Spike…” Twilight grabbed the dragon, hugging him despite his protests. “You aren’t a bad assistant for not being there. In fact, I’m glad that you weren’t; I don’t even want to think about what Broken might have done to you if you had come with me.” Spike growled again, though it was softer than before. “You need to remember, he’s… well, he’s dangerous when he’s agitated. I would much rather have you somewhere safe than near him at those times, even if you could help deal with him. Otherwise, he’d probably hurt you just to get to me.” The young dragon seemed to think about that implication before nodding. “You are my number-one assistant, and nothing that happens is going to change that. I’ll cut you a deal – I’ll make sure to take you along whenever I go somewhere with Broken, but if he gets worked up, you get ready to bolt for help. I don’t want you to get hurt, and you still get to help me deal with him. Alright?”
“Okay…” Spike tenuously agreed. “I think you should just let the Princesses handle him, though. Didn’t you say first thing this morning ‘Yes, Spike, I know I’m not responsible for him’?”
“And I know that I’m not. Fluttershy and Celestia managed to be… fairly convincing with some thought.” Twilight shook her head. “I don’t feel like I, myself, need to help him because I made him that way. I want to help him because he needs to be helped. He’s like… like a puzzle, now, instead of a puppy.”
“You thought he was a puppy? What kind, a Rabid Sociopath? That breed has problems, I’m warning ya…”
Twilight gave a small laugh at Spike’s joke, one that was quickly overwhelmed by three loud knocks on the library’s door.
“That’s probably the guards… who else knocks on the door of a public library?” She turned towards the entrance, only mildly surprised that Pip had materialized in front of it.
“There are three guardsponies outside, Milady, as well as a carriage carried by two additional pegasi guards.” The stallion blinked. “Milady, I presume by your recent discussion that you will be bringing Spike along to Canterlot?”
“Is that going to be a problem?”
“Of course not, Milady. Would you like me to secure the premises before we leave?”
Three more knocks. Twilight’s ear flicked back. “I think we’ll be good, Pip.”
“As you say, Milady.” The stallion leaned down and opened the door. Twilight gave a polite nod to the guards, who quickly moved to allow the trio to reach the carriage. Two of the guards climbed onto the roof, one following Twilight, Pip, and Spike into the coach. Pip quickly sat down beside Twilight, leaving Spike and the guard the other seat. Twilight gave Pip an appraising eye.
“Are you okay, Pip?”
“I dislike being trapped in a small space with a guardspony, Milady. The lack of room makes defensive strategy planning difficult.” The carriage lurched as the pegasi took to the air. The guard blinked at Pip before turning to Twilight.
“This one’s the less crazy pony from another universe, right?”
Twilight stared at the guard in surprise. “You know about it?”
“All the Royal Guards do, ma’am. Captain made sure to inform us so we didn’t get facts mixed up.” He waved a hoof at her next question. “We’re bound to silence on it, don’t worry.”
“I was going to say that you seem fairly relaxed for a guard.”
“Well, it wouldn’t do to be too stiff with this guy. I heard he took off a manticore’s head with one kick.”
Twilight went slightly green, and Pip answered. “Incorrect. I snapped its neck with the kick, then removed the head with my teeth and forehooves.”
“Huh. Still, pretty impressive.” The stallion cocked his head. “What’d’ya have against guardsponies, anyhow?”
Pip exhaled and inhaled, and Twilight saw, for the second time since his arrival, a memory of an emotion, this time looking almost like anger. It was quickly smothered, replaced by a void. “You opposed the Revolution. That is reason enough.”
The guard leaned forward, and Pip leaned back an equal amount. One of his hooves moved towards Twilight. The guard leaned back, and Pip returned to his previous position. The hoof remained.
“I guess so.” The guard shrugged. Pip blinked.
“Might I ask why Shining Armor felt the need to assign somepony to attempt to disrupt her Ladyship’s protection? Unless he views her as a threat, in which case I shall be required to kill you and remove her Ladyship to a safer location.”
“Pip!” Twilight cried, as both Spike and the guard’s eyebrows shot up. “I said I didn’t want you killing anypony!”
“I am well aware of your order, Milady, but I received orders before my transfer to this timeline that I was to ensure your survival paramount to any orders that your Ladyship may place upon me.”
Twilight thought for a moment. “Was Dawn the one to give those orders?”
“Yes, Milady.”
“Then why can’t I counteract them? Why can’t any of my orders supersede hers?”
“Because you are at that time Lady Theia, Lady Rising Dawn, Leader of the Revolution and head of the Pony’s Democratic Republic of Equestria. You are currently Lady Twilight Sparkle. Your Ladyship Dawn’s orders are higher in rank than your Ladyship Twilight’s orders.”
“But I am Rising Dawn.”
“It is good to hear you realize so, Milady. Would you wish me to snap the guard’s neck before ejecting him from the carriage?”
The guard snorted as Twilight rapidly shook her head. “No! No neck-snapping or carriage-ejecting or anything that gets anypony killed!”
“Thank you…” the guard muttered, his full attention on Pip. Twilight continued speaking.
“I meant that Rising Dawn and I are the same pony, right?”
“Yes, Milady.”
“Then why don’t our orders carry equal weight?”
“For the same reason that I did not kill Shining Armor the first time I saw him, Milady. You do not yet know enough of the injustices of current Equestrian society to realize the need for radical alteration. Shining Armor has not yet undergone the experiences that will lead to his attempts to murder you. Neither of you are, as of yet, the ponies that you shall someday be.” Pip took in another breath.
Twilight brought a hoof up to rub between her eyes. The guard seemed to be appraising Pip.
“That’s some pretty heavy stuff for a, what, twenty year old?”
“Fifteen.” Twilight immediately corrected. Pip blinked, and the guard whistled.
“You’re big for a teenager, kid.”
“Her Ladyship aided my growth so that I could provide better service.”
“Service… like guarding her, right?”
“Primarily.”
The guard nodded, glancing at Twilight. “Well, good to know.” The guard glanced out the window. “Huh. That was quick.”
Twilight was about to ask when the carriage yawned down, jarring the ponies inside as it hit the ground. The carriage rolled lazily for a few moments before the drivers and friction managed to stall it. The guard quickly opened the door, stepping outside to meet with the two that had ridden atop the coach. Pip moved to the door first, giving the external environs a cursory assessment before exiting. Twilight and Spike followed him, much less worried about possible threats given their landing place.
The courtyard of the castle was sparsely populated; the main presence was the guardsponies who patrolled it, aside from the three that had retrieved Twilight and stayed with her after the pegasi lifted off, and the occasional gardener that could be seen tending the flowers or maintaining the lawn. Nopony else was there.
“Are the others not here yet?” Twilight asked. The guard that had ridden with her shook his head.
“We were sent out to get you first, ma’am. Captain Armor wanted you here before the others.”
“Did he say why?”
“No, ma’am. He said he’d be here before we arrived, but that obviously isn’t holding up.” Pip’s ear flicked, and both he and the group of guards swung their heads to the side, scanning the sky. “Looks like one of your friends is showing up.” Twilight looked at where they were staring, seeing both a carriage and a streak of rainbow heading towards the castle.
Rainbow Dash landed ten seconds later. The coach touched down twelve seconds after that, a hyperactive pink blur shooting out of it and quickly latching on to the pegasus. Several quick kisses later (and a gag from Spike), the two turned their attention to Twilight’s group.
“Hey, Twi. Spike.” Rainbow said, Pinkie hopping onto her back and flopping down, laying her head on Rainbow’s. The pegasus gained a nearly-invisible blush, but otherwise affected not to notice.
“Hello, you two. Glad to see everything’s okay.”
Rainbow cocked her head, Pinkie’s rotating in the opposite direction. “Wha- oh, yeah, right. I was just being stu-“
“Silly!” Pinkie interrupted. “You were being silly¸ Dashie.”
“Right. Silly.” She shook her head, sending Pinkie’s mane flipping around. “I just thought she’d be mad at me for something I said before I knew what necornmancy was.”
“Necromancy.” Spike and Twilight said in unison.
“Whatever. Anyways, I was just practicing some moves when one of the other weatherponies comes by and tells me that one of the Wonderbolts lost her sight in an accident.”
“Oh, yeah, I heard about that… the doctors couldn’t even heal it, could they?” Spike asked. Twilight nodded – she’d heard about the attempts to heal it, through Rainbow and newspapers.
“Nope, too much damage. I was talking about it to Pinkie that night, talking about how awesome it would be to have magic that could have healed her…” Rainbow swallowed and pawed the ground. “Or if they could bring dead ‘Bolts back to show the newer ones the classic tricks…”
“Oooh…” Twilight and Spike both winced. Pinkie wiggled her head.
“But…”
“…but Pinkie’s now reminded me – repeatedly – that she’s not bothered by that kind of stuff.” Rainbow gave a small smile, and turned her head up to peck the party pony’s chin. “So everything’s good.”
“Great! I would have hated to have done anything to harm your relationship, even indirectly.”
Rainbow waved a hoof, Pinkie’s loosely following her movements. “No worries, Twi. Little bump like that ain’t doing anything, ‘specially not with Pinkie being Pinkie.” The pegasus sat down, sliding Pinkie off of her. “Now, if I tried to leave her…” she shuddered theatrically, but grinned at both parties, and Pinkie started giggling.
“My apologies, your Ladyships, Rainbow Dash, Spike, but it appears that another carriage is arriving.” Twilight nodded at Pip, while Rainbow swung her attention to the cycloptic stallion.
“’Your Ladyships?’ Who’s the other lady, now?”
“You have always been a Lady, Rainbow Dash, as has Lady Thalia. Your title is Lady Iris.”
“So why am I ‘Rainbow Dash’ and Pinkie’s ‘Lady Thalia’?”
“You, Rarity, and Applejack insisted on being addressed by your given names. Lady Theia, Lady Thalia, and Lady Gaia preferred their titles.”
“Yeah, right. Rarity didn’t want to be called a lady?”
“I believe it had to do with her indecisiveness over which title to choose; she shifted regularly between Cytherea, Kypris, and Aphrodite.”
“Oooh, those all sound nice…” A carefully cultured voice intoned. Twilight and the rest of the group turned to see Rarity and Applejack walking up to the group, a carriage lifting off a small distance behind them. Twilight noticed distractedly that the number of guards with them had tripled. “We’re discussing pre-Equestrian names, I presume?”
“Incorrect, Rarity. We are discussing title assumption by the Elements of Harmony after the Revolution.”
“Ah. Well, in any case, I like all of those names. I presume that they’re mine?”
“Yes. Pinkie Pie is Lady Thalia, Rainbow Dash is Lady Iris, Applejack is Lady Tellus-“
“Hold on now. Ah thought Ah was a rebel?”
“You were, Applejack, but you joined her Ladyship as a leader of Equestria after Broken’s second escape from governmental custody.”
“That don’t make much sense…”
“The names don’t make sense, either. The rules around them, at least.” Rainbow retook the conversation. “Seems like Pip is covering for something to me.”
“I endeavour to provide full transparency in my explanations, Rainbow Dash. What part are you having trouble understanding?”
“Ahem?” A guard interrupted the conversation. “Apologies, but we’ve received a message that we are to bring you to the prisoner. The Princesses and Captain Armor will meet you there.”
“Lead the way.” Twilight motioned. The guards moved into a circle around the group, marching forwards at a steady pace. Rainbow didn’t continue the conversation; she stared at Pip’s blank eye before scoffing and flying to the opposite side of the group.
“Princess!”
Twilight ran to her mentor the moment she saw the alicorn; Celestia leaned down to greet her student, and Twilight could see the exhaustion in her eyes.
“Hello, Twilight. How are you faring?”
“I’m fine, Princess. Are you alright?”
“Twi, she looks worse than you during finals week- OW!” Spike rubbed the back of his head as three small swats struck him almost immediately. Celestia laughed.
“I’m… tired, I’ll admit. I fear I may have overexerted myself during the retrieval of Broken Shield. Luna had to help me with the sun, and I’ve suspended the Day Court while I recover.” Celestia turned to the door. “This, however, was quite important.”
“Princess!” A voice called from behind Twilight. She turned to see her brother running up the hallway, and within seconds he had skidded to a stop beside her, panting. He threw a hoof up in salute. “My apologies, your Highness… Cadance was… ill…”
“Is she okay?” Twilight asked. Shining nodded, his breath levelling.
“Just a little nausea, seems she caught the bug that’s been going around.”
“Hmm.” Luna motioned to one of the guards. “Have Princess Cadance attended by a doctor. I want him ensure that she has simply ‘caught the bug’.” The guard nodded, running off. Luna shook her head. “Honestly, some modern euphemisms continue to escape me…”
“Do not worry, Shining. I am fairly sure that ten guards can compensate for your absence, if only minorly.” Celestia gave a grin at the captain. “Nonetheless, I feel undoubtedly safer with your presence. I was just about to show Twilight and her friends Broken’s condition.”
“Is he awake?”
“Not yet; the doctor has been keeping him unconscious for his health and safety.”
“Broken’s or the doctor’s?” Spike asked. Celestia didn’t answer; instead, she opened the door and walked into the room, Luna and several guards following her. Twilight’s group followed her, Twilight hanging back.
“Are you alright, Shiny? I can’t imagine…”
“I’m… I’m handling it, Twily. He’s easier to deal with when he’s not awake, that’s certainly true.” The siblings shared a small laugh. “Honestly, I’m worried about what would’ve happened to do that to me.” Twilight winced, and Shining backtracked. “Not that you’re at any fault, Twi, it’s just-“
“I know, Shining. I’m not the pony that did that to him. Just like how you’re not him.”
They shared a grin tinged in sympathy before Twilight turned to enter the room. An eye flicked back just as she passed the threshold, catching Shining and the guard from her carriage beginning to converse.
The room was a mixture of a care room and a cell; the padded white walls, lined floors, and hospital bed were offset by the lack of a window, the triple-locked steel door, and the several straps that tied the bed (and whoever occupied it) to the floor in the centre of the room. Other fixtures – a heart monitor, trolley with some medical supplies, IV drips – surrounded the bed, leaving only the left side open. Celestia and the doctor were already talking as Twilight entered, the other ponies arranged around them.
“...and it’s frankly remarkable that he’s survived this long, Princess, even with medicine. He nearly died just fixing the cuts and bruises, so we haven’t had time to fix his leg or any internal damage that wasn’t life-threatening.”
“Will he be able to talk soon?”
“Honestly, your Highness, he shouldn’t be moving until he gains about twenty pounds. And you said he conducted a shield that even you couldn’t break?” The doctor shook his head. “Bucking- er, I can wake him up, but only for a few minutes. He does need his rest, and in here my authority trumps yours. Your Highness.”
“Of course, doctor. I simply need to ask him a few questions.” Celestia gave a serene smile at the medical pony. He sighed, but turned to face Broken, his horn glowing. A few moments later, the monitor’s speed picked up. Broken groaned, his legs curling up towards him.
“Don’t crowd him. Let him come to his own senses before trying to hit him with yours.” The doctor stated. He held everypony back for several minutes, waiting until Broken was mostly still again. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight approached, Pip slightly behind.
“Broken Shield?”
“Muh.”
“Broken, we need to ask you some questions. Can you speak to us?”
“Hi… hi-ness?” The stallion asked. He turned to face the Princesses, eye widening when he saw Twilight. “Pincess… stop her…” His hoof pulled up a half-inch before the harness stopped it.
“Twilight is under control, Broken. She poses no danger.”
“Okay…”
“Why’s he talking all weird?” Rainbow asked. The doctor scoffed.
“He’s has severe physical trauma, Rainbow Dash, and is only just awakening from protective unconsciousness. Most ponies don’t recognize their own existence for a while, let alone be able to place voices to individual ponies.”
Celestia continued. “Broken, I want to know why you were trying to destroy the Everfree Castle. Can you tell me?”
“Wasunt.” The stallion mumbled. “There’s books an’ stuff unnerneath. I was making that go away.”
“’Books and stuff?’” Twilight asked.
“The Everfree Castle had a large archive underneath it, but everything historically important was removed centuries ago. The only things left were damaged copies of political manuscripts, old maps, occasional statistical-“ Celestia’s eyes widened. “Of course.”
“Princess?”
“Broken wasn’t trying to destroy Dawn’s hideout, he was getting rid of everything she could have used from there to help her overthrow us. He probably wanted to have her go there anyways, just so he knew where she’d be.”
The stallion gave a groggy nod. “Don’ want bad ponies getting smart, Princess…”
Celestia nodded back. “I can understand that, my little pony. But I have another question.”
“Yeah?”
“Why do you look like this?”
“Like wha- oh. I don’t have a horn.”
“I know, Broken, but I’m wondering why you are so…” The Princess struggled for a word.
“Corpsey?” Broken suggested. The alicorn blinked at him.
“…I suppose so…”
“It’s cause I don’t have a horn. I have a horn, I look normal.”
“So the illusion is tied into your horn?”
“Not an illusion. I’m not supposed to look like this. Dawn did something t’make me look starved. Other than starving me.” Broken was articulating more, but he didn’t appear to be fully aware of anything. Twilight pressed in.
“I noticed that some of his ribs are missing…”
“No, that was Cotton Candy.” Twilight’s stomach dropped through her hooves. She gave a quick glance at a wide-eyed Pinkie before returning her attention to Broken. “Dawn did something else. I can’t-” He winced, very suddenly, his head jumping up and his entire body tensing. The heart monitor spiked, recording a giant leap and several small rapid bumps. Before the doctor could get near him Broken relaxed again and continued as if uninterrupted. “-remember. Sorry, Princess.”
The doctor pushed forwards between Twilight and Celestia, washing over Broken with a diagnostic spell. The stallion closed his eye, shuddering.
“That’s really cold, doc.”
“Cold? Hmm.” the doctor muttered. He adjusted the lines leading into Broken’s arm before turning to Celestia. “Visit’s over, I’m afraid. I need to examine him again.”
“If you insist, doctor. I just have one more question.” The stallion bit his cheek, but nodded. She turned back to Broken. “How can you use magic without your horn?”
“I just… do. Horns don’t make magic go, they just keep it going straight.”
“But nopony has ever channeled any significant magic without their horns intact, Broken.”
“I know. It’s weird, isn’t it?” Broken appeared more generally cognisant, now, but he maintained a detachedness from the current situation. “I couldn’t, for a while. Dawn just had to kill Cadance and suddenly I can make ponies explode.”
Nopony gasped, but Twilight felt a familiar emotion crawl up her spine; it wasn’t shock, anymore, but there was still an obvious unease at hearing a pony speak so casually about violence. The Princess nodded, stepping back and allowing Broken to see behind the Princesses. Twilight had about a quarter of a second to realize what was about to happen.
Two ropes of magic erupted from under the straps of the bed, cutting Broken free and setting the mattress aflame. Everypony instinctually stepped back except for Pip, and it was at the stalwart stallion that Broken launched himself.
Pip grunted – more released air than an expression of discomfort – as the unicorn slammed into him. He ducked a swing of magic, returning it with a headbutt that sent Broken sprawling. Before he could recover, the four guardsponies in the room pounced on him.
“Stop!” The doctor shouted. “He’s in a very delicate condition! If you-“
The mattress fire spread onto the cotton and wooden items on the cart. Twilight quickly extinguished the flames before they could damage something dangerous, their last flicker cutting out just as she heard some amount of fluid hit the floor.
“Shit!” The doctor cursed. His horn glowed, and there was very suddenly a flashing blue light in the corner of the room. “Step away from him, he’s dying!”
The guards moved back, revealing a convulsing Broken with a spatter of blood on the floor near his mouth. The doctor ran to him, motioning for the two unicorn guards to restrain the damaged stallion. His horn glowed for a moment before he touched it to Broken’s chest. Broken’s body jumped, and when it went back to the ground it stopped moving. The doctor bit off another curse as the door burst open. Two orderlies rushed in, bringing a wheeled stretcher with them.
“He needs a general stabilization and intensive support! Bring him to the DO room, tell them to hold him up until I get there with somepony that can perform open body surgery!” The doctor ordered. The two mares nodded, taking over Broken from the guards, lifting him onto the trolley and rushing him out of the room. The doctor grabbed a non-burnt cotton swab and dabbed it in the blood on the floor before throwing it into a container and following the orderlies.
Everypony (and Spike, except Pip) stared at either the open door, the blood spot, or the burnt bed. Celestia cleared her throat.
“Well, that was surprising.”
Celestia had moved the group to one of the royal apartments after Broken’s removal. Within minutes, the news had come that he would survive. Along with the news that he was being kept in intensive care (with heavy guard) for a week. Luna had dragged the others away to get their information on Broken, and now Celestia willingly subjugated herself to the doctor pony’s criticisms.
“Are you aware of what might have happened, Princess?! If I hadn’t been in there, if the patient had been launched an inch further, if the orderlies weren’t fast enough, if the surgeon hadn’t just been coming in from her lunch break, we’d be dealing with a fu-bucking corpse right now! I know you prefer to have a rather relaxed atmosphere, but in situations like these we need control. Broken should never have been woken up, but I admit that’s as much my error in judgement as yours. And on that note, why in Tartarus aren’t you in bed right now?!? You have orders, signed by me, that say you need at least eighteen hours rest and no strenuous activity during your six hours up. THIS COUNTS AS STRENUOUS ACTIVITY! Why I didn’t send you back to your chambers the minute I saw you I have no- hey! Where do you think you’re going?”
Celestia flicked her mane out of her face as she walked to the door. “To bed. Doctor’s orders, right?”
“Oh, fuc-shi-bucking horseapples, no, you aren’t getting out of this by following my directions now! Princess! Get back here you harride-insufferable patient! I mean your Highness!” The doctor bolted out of the room, trying to both keep up with the Princess and continue lecturing her. Pip, Twilight, and Shining were left in what Twilight guessed would be her temporary residence.
“I didn’t know anypony was allowed to talk down to the Princess.” Twilight said.
“She hasn’t been acting like an ingrown unicorn up until now…” Shining muttered. Twilight gave him an offended look. “What? ‘Ingrown unicorn’ means really stupid.”
“You know that’s not-“
“I’ve never heard it used to describe an actually disabled pony from anypony worth mentioning. Just ponies who were being really stupid.” He gave her a saltlicker’s grin, and her glare lessened. Shining shook his head, glancing at Pip before facing Twilight again.
“So that’s your guard, huh?”
“Yeah…”
“He’s the same one that was there with you in the dungeon, right?” Twilight nodded. “The one who lost the eye after I left?” Another nod. “The one who disappeared from the Canterlot hospital after breaking a doctor’s legs for trying to stop him from leaving?” Twilight’s brows furrowed at that claim, but she looked at Pip, who nodded. “The one who’s admitted that he views all non-ponies as inferior, supports a secessionist movement, and wants to kill Princess Luna?”
“That is incorrect, Shining Armor.” Pip spoke up. Shining and Twilight flicked their gazes to him. “I do not wish to kill Princess Luna. I have never wanted to cause any pain, suffering, or death, especially not to a pony who I was a close friend to for several years.”
“From what I’ve heard, the ‘Revolution’ involved the deaths of every member of the royal family. Including my wife.” He stepped towards Pip. “Princess Luna was said to have been killed by you. So my question is, if you didn’t want to kill her, why did you?”
“Because her Ladyship ordered it.”
“And you expect me to believe that? You weren’t angry or happy or anything about it, it was just ‘orders must be obeyed’?”
“Yes. Have you never carried out an order that you had no emotional investment in?”
“Of course I have. But it didn’t involve killing somepony, and you’d have been five years old.”
“Seven.” Pip corrected.
Shining laughed. “Right, that makes much more sense…” He quickly looked at Twilight before putting his vision back on Pip. “So you’d do anything that my sister tells you to, right?”
“Correct.”
“Even if it’d kill you?”
“Correct.”
Shining glanced at Twilight again. “So if you told him to jump off a cliff-“
“No.”
“Bu-“
“No! No, I’m not going to order Pip to hurt himself just to prove a point to you!”
“Milady, I would request that I be allowed to harm myself just to prove a point to him.”
Twilight turned to Pip, brows furrowing. “What.”
“Shining Armor appears to be fearful that I am going to attempt to harm you as Broken Shield has. While such a claim is ludicrous, I would be in support of your ordering me to do ‘anything’ so long as such a demonstration would quickly and permanently assure Shining Armor that I am wholly dedicated to your appeasement and protection.”
Both Twilight and Shining stared at the stallion. He remained unemotive. Twilight turned to face Shining.
“If he does this, you leave him alone.”
“Guard’s honour.”
Twilight took in a breath. “Are you sure, Pip?”
“Completely, Milady.”
Another breath. “Pip… stop breathing.”
For the first fifteen seconds, nothing appeared to happen. Then Pip swallowed. The muscles on his neck strained, and his pulse became somewhat visible. He blinked. Another swallow. His midsection began to shrink in, pulling up towards his back, pushing his chest forwards. The ribcage and muscles atop it pushed outwards, pulling in again quickly, then out again, a rapidly repeated motion in, out, in, out, in, out. He swallowed again, his pulse easily visible and quickening.
“You can’t be serious…” Shining muttered. Pip continued, his legs beginning to shake. He was blinking almost every second now, his pupil dilating but maintaining its stoic sight. One of his hind legs curled upwards, and the lack of support led the other three to give out. He fell harshly to the ground, beginning to twitch as his muscles protested the lack of oxygen. The rest of his legs curled closer into him, his head joining them. Shining and Twilight heard, rather than saw, his trachea move up and down his throat a third time. He began to shake; rather, his body’s quivering became observable.
“Dear Faust… Twilight? Twilight, I believe you!”
Twilight stared at the pony on the floor, her eyes wide and her own breathing quickened. She had reduced Pip, an unbending, unyielding golem, to a shaking, dying ball with two words. Her eyes raced around his form, noting every one of his muscles as they writhed under his skin, the way his neck arched and the vertebrae showed themselves, how his chest pushed and pulled as his lungs in a vain attempt to force them to take in air. “Pip…”
“TWILIGHT!”
“Pip, breathe!”
A loud gasp immediately emanated from the stallion on the floor. The following exhalation was complimented by a pool of bile as Pip’s stomach voiced its discontent at his attempt to kill himself. Another breath in, and its exit was accompanied by retches and a coughing fit. Twilight didn’t bother with physical movement; she immediately teleported behind him, lifting him upright and rubbing along his back in an attempt to aid his lungs. The stallion took several more deep breaths before he appeared to regain control of his respiratory system. Twilight’s eyes shot upwards to face Shining, finding his face a mirror of her own horror.
“Dear Faust…” the guard captain muttered again.