Chapter 9: Sick Day
There was little Tyro could do over the next few days but watch, wait, and hope. There were no alarms raised, so the Crusaders must have made it through alright. He could only hope that what they had to report didn't match his own observations of Pinkie Pie and Twilight. If they did, the Elements of Harmony might have a large problem on their hands—no, hooves. And so he waited, and watched, and waited, and watched, and waited. After three days, he could stand it no more, and left a note on the wall of the treehouse: Report to Spike.
The next morning, Tyro woke to see Spike in his room with a pile of scrolls. He quickly silenced the room, and they got to work looking at the reports. The Crusaders had come though perfectly, providing him with detailed information. Unfortunately, it was information he had hoped not to see.
Including his observations of Pinkie Pie and Spike's of Twilight, all six bearers of the Elements of Harmony were showing signs of increasing deviance from their respective Elements. Twilight was the most affected (an observation that Spike noticed caused a great deal of stress on Tyro's part), Pinkie Pie the least, and all the others somewhere in between.
"Spike, what do you make of all this?"
Spike, between spoonfuls of ice cream, replied, "It looks like all six are affected, whatever it is is getting worse, and it has something to do with the Elements themselves."
"I agree. I guess we have some bad news for the princess. We'd best get writing, and fast. Spike, you go outside and do your normal morning chores for Twilight, and I'll take care of writing the report. Tell her I'm sick or something, okay?"
Spike shook his head, wondering if that would really have the result Tyro wanted, but left to comply anyway.
Quickly, Tyro composed a letter to the princess explaining both his findings and his conclusions, slipped inside the reports from Spike and the Crusaders, and sealed the letter, with a seal of black wax. That would get the princess' attention.
He had just enough time to slip the scroll out of sight before Twilight burst into the room. His fear that Twilight might discover the deception left him with sweat rolling down his face. "Is it true? Spike said you were sick; are you feeling okay? Do you need anything?" She looked closely at him. "You're sweating a lot! I know, I'll make you some tea!" Then she was gone, as quickly as she had come. A moment or two later, Tyro heard the sound of breaking ceramic and a yelp from Spike, who came running into Tyro's room.
"Tyro, help! Before she drops another cup of scalding tea on me!" Tyro winked at Spike, magically closing and locking the door behind the dragon. In seconds, he had the scroll out, and Spike sent it on to Canterlot and Princess Celestia.
Hearing Twlight preparing to break down the door, Tyro turned to Spike, who got a worried look in his eyes. "I'm sorry to do this to you, Spike. Tell her I went to Zecora's, and yes, I can get there on my own just fine." With that, he unlocked and unlatched the door, then teleported to the ground just outside his window.
Tyro knew Twilight would take some time before she could get anything coherent out of Spike, so he ran in order to maximize his head start. Thinking quickly, he ran right past Fluttershy, scaring away the bird she was talking to. With luck, he'd be well into the Everfree Forest by the time Twilight got free of an irritated, grumpy Fluttershy.
Reaching Zecora's took almost no time at all, but he got there gasping for breath, unable to speak.
Zecora greeted him in rhyme, as always. "What is your need, that you come with such speed?"
"Twilight... after me... need potion... does nothing..." he gasped. Zecora nodded sagely.
"You need a false potion, to implant a notion. To fool a friend, for a noble end?"
"Yes! Yes! She needs to think I was sick and you made me better." Tyro could finally speak again.
Zecora nodded, handing Tyro a clear bottle containing some red liquid, and with a word of thanks, Tyro left to return to Ponyville. Hopefully before Twilight found him.
Alas, he had no such luck. Only a quarter of the way back, Twilight intercepted him. Quickly, Tyro explained before she could say anything. "Zecora says I need to drink from this twice each day, and I'll get better. I already had my morning dose at Zecora's, and I feel great!" The lie felt wrong on his tongue, but he had no choice. It was that, or explain everything else. So he ran past her, back down the path. "Race you back to the library!"
When the two finally reached the library, Twilight was breathing hard, but Tyro was gasping. She chided him. "You won't get better if you keep overexerting yourself like that, Tyro." Tyro sighed. "Don't you sigh at me like that, Tyro!" He tried to look meek and entered the library, trudging up to his bed.
Twlight saw Spike on his bed, and called up her magic to move him elsewhere. A moment later, Spike was embedded in the wall and Twilight was looking embarassed.
"It's okay, Twilight, I can take care of poor Spike over here. You should get back to... whatever it is you're working on." Twilight backed out of the room, and Tyro shut it before she could blast it off its hinges.
It was the work of a moment to cast the silence spell and pull Spike out of the wall, although Spike's retrieval of the Princess' reply took somewhat longer as he staggered around the room. Finally, Tyro broke the seal on the scroll and began to read.