Ch 4 The Breathing
Twilight sat in Sugarcube corner with her friends, all of them fussing over her, as well as over Spike. The day had begun Rarity had come by to see her and make sure she was alright; It was clear she wasn’t. Hygiene and eating had taken a backseat to watching Spike through the scrying mirror, and had for days.
Determined to get her friend back in order, reasoning to her that when Spike was done it would only make him feel terrible to see her like this, she proceeded to try and drag Twilight to the spa for some proper cleaning. It didn’t take much, since the feverish little pony was as weak as a puppy, and now that much of the town had noticed something was seriously wrong they even offered some free fruit or a quick lift in a cart. Fluttershy met them there, as it was the day she and Rarity usually went to the spa. Upon seeing the condition her friend was in, she immediately put her training as a veterinary nurse to work by thoroughly cleaning Twilight with the help of Aloe and Lotus, who cared enough for Twilight to let them have the whole spa to themselves for the duration of their stay.
Once Twilight had been properly cleaned and looked, at least hygienically, presentable, they left the spa, immediately running into Pinkie Pie who had heard about Twilights condition from some town gossips. (Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, if you must know, who did not receive their cookies for being little meanie-pantses to the princess.) Pinkie insisted on taking her to Sugar Cube corner, since no-pony could be sad with a cupcake and happy atmosphere like could be found in the sweets shop, an idea which Twilight was currently sending to the corner with its proverbial tail tucked between its legs.
Through Pinkie’s unique brand of magic, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been waiting for them when they arrived, and now all of the friends were engaged in trying to cheer up Twilight, or at least getting her to eat. It took some time, but the lavender Princess finally showed signs of life and ate the cupcake, then another, then a plateful of doughnuts and two cups of coffee. Finally showing a bit of pep and a willingness to talk, her friends began to ask about what she had seen in the mirror.
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Spike had once again begun to show signs of interest in the world around him, which meant he began to attack things only he could see and chase his tail like it owed him money. His back had begun to heal, with a bit of help from Luna, and now vestigial wings could be seen fluttering weakly about.
The dynamic had finally changed, and Spike had entered the telophase in full. At this point Luna was required to be visibly present, not only as a source of direction but as a target for his rage. “More!” she bellowed at him, her Royal Canterlot voice challenging any dragon dame’s, egging him on in his anger. For a full day, she had been telling him to blow fire at her, to give it all he had, appearing to stand just within reach of his flames as an irresistible target for his anger.
At first, his flames had been the weak things she and all of his friends were used to, but had begun growing with a passion. Now, he could produce flame at least three times the length of his body, four times the width, and hotter than any he had ever created. For the last few hours, though, the growth had seemed to kind of peter out, and was leveling off. He still assaulted her with fervor, but had begun to show the signs of exhaustion.
‘Oh, spike’ thought Luna, ‘we are sorry, but thou must not rest yet.’ But she didn’t say it, opting instead for “More, brat! Is this all that thou can conjure?! Tis a mere candle to read by!”
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“But that’s good right?” asked Rainbow dash. “If he’s got wings, and he’s blowin’ more fire, that means this wasn’t for nothing.” She reasoned. “It means he’s growing up right.”
Despite the blunt delivery, this actually gave Twilight pause, made her think about how things did seem to be going properly since Luna hadn’t begun to flip out.
“Hey, just think!” shout Pinkie, desperate to be heard despite the room being relatively quiet. “He’ll be learning to fly at the same time you are! You can be learning buddies now!” she chirped excitedly. Again, this improved Twilights mood, as it added a new dynamic to their relationship they had never had.
Always before, Twilight had stood heads above Spike in their respective education, and it had caused a rift between them, always limiting the things they might talk about to either her studies or his needs. But now, they could share a new experience side by side and help each other through it, as a real brother and sister might do for each other. “You know what?” she said suddenly, the fire returned to her eyes as she got to her hooves. “You’re right! It might be bad right now, but he’ll get through it with the Princess’ help, and we’ll all be waiting for him when he’s ready!” still, though, in the back of her mind she couldn’t help but think ‘whenever that is.’