//------------------------------// // Morning Sickness // Story: Certamen // by DarkBunny91 //------------------------------// _____________ The sky was in its pre-morning twilight, only a few minutes before Celestia would raise the sun, and a few minutes after Luna lowered the moon. It was a time of harmony reflected upon by the royal sisters - neither of their primary celestial bodies looming over the land, but with evidence of both their handiworks painting a beautiful pastel scene for the early risers to enjoy. I watched in awe, the beautiful passing of the torch a sight my schedule did not normally allow for. With my flask of bourbon and magically heated cape keeping me warm, I probably could have lived in the moment forever. However, the sun unfortunately slowly broke the horizon, it's light casting long spidery shadows across the land. But with the sun probably came safety; the creature last night had dashed off when introduced to Lyra's daylight spell, so I imagined it must have gone to ground for the real thing. I estimated it gave me sixteen or so hours to relax, because after a night of guard duty, only an hour of sleep, and having my ribs bruised by my lovely bardic companion, I planned on sleeping all of them. In the name of getting in all the sleep I could ever want, I swallowed a stiff mouthful of bourbon. The sweet burn coursed down my throat, washing away all my anxiety, every last drop of stress over the night's events, like a river of pleasure. The warmth was a comfort I embraced like a lover in the early morning light. Hesitantly, I stashed my liquor back into the extradimensional hole in my hat. The danger had passed as far as I was concerned, but I was still a little shaken up; alcohol has its limits, after all. It had been a horrifying night, and Lyra and Vinyl were both incapacitated; Vinyl by some monster, and Lyra by her own magic use. I had felt useless for the most part, no better than a pack mule and a flashlight. So much for being great and powerful, Trixie. You couldn't even really help your friends. I had decided to take watch for the night, using the time until the others were awake to practice Lyra's spell. I did so just outside the cave, casting it repeatedly. After about the first ten failures, I finally managed to cast the spell. I needed to be flexible in my line of work, so learning new spells by eye was a necessity. Upon my initial success I became so elated that I lost the concentration and needed to cast it a few more times before I was able to get the spell cast right. While maintaining concentration on the first, I quickly cast my Magic Sight spell, and by Celestia what a beautiful intricate spell it was. Few know this, but Magic Sight is a spell that was carried down through my family, one of the lost unicorn legacy spells that the Lulamoon main branch had kept locked up in their archives. It is a simple but treasured spell, originally designed for combat (which I had never thought I would have to use it for, magic tricks were nothing compared to what I had dealt with just in the time I had been here) to see the flow of another caster's magic - through illusions - and to see invisible opponents. Basically the caster passes magic into their eyes and has it radiate outward, having it reflect off of the innate magic of the world (or the magic of an enemy). If one has the right eye for detail, or a solid enough memory, the caster could memorize the leylines of magic or copy the spell. Well, copy the spell if the caster was skilled or powerful enough with magic to cast it. For me, once I cast a spell I simply needed to see my aura and I would be able to cast the spell any time I wanted, assuming my magical reserve held out. The small mirror I kept in my hat was my usual go-to when my wagon's full length mirror was unavailable, usually in situations such as this (because I had totally been in situations like this). Mirror in hoof, I turned my eyes upon the miniature reflecting glass. The shockingly bright light that radiated off of my horn blinded me for a moment, but my concentration never wavered. Painstakingly slowly my eyesight came back, bleary at first but finally clearing up until just a few spots remained. I studied the flow of mana, observing each and every wisp and tendril that shot off. This spell was pretty high level stuff, probably a tier six spell, not just a novice lighting up their horn. Not something I would be replacing my own light spell with anytime soon, but a flood of light could become necessary. Presumably having a weapon to fight back against this creature that had hid inside the darkness of night, I felt more confident in my ability to provide a vigil over my companions. Thankfully however, I never needed to use it. With the exception of a few normal nocturnal noises, it had been quiet the whole rest of the night. I had wandered into the back of the cave, and pulled out a large cast iron pot from my hat. I filled it with water from the spring and the cool, blessed water splashed up onto my legs; it was rather refreshing and a welcome contrast to the warm numbness my alcohol provided. It was like a moment in heaven, clean and pure, not a worry in the world. But like all good things, the moment had to pass, so feeling a little invigorated from the cold water, I proceeded back to the campfire, cooking pot - sloshing to the rim - in tow. Carefully I tossed some wood onto the fire, making sure not to stir up the embers too much. I looked around for a minute, searching for the grate Lyra rigged together from some scrap metal she found. With practiced ease, I levitated it over the firepit and set it into place. I set the pot on the grate to boil, increasing the expediency by stoking the fire with my magic. Within a minute there was a nice rolling boil perfect for cooking the mixed food stuffs Lyra had gathered. This garbage barely looks edible, some roots, a hoof-full of weeds, and a couple of mushrooms. But I suppose I have eaten worse in my life. C'est la vie! _____________ [img][url=http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSWhp9ww6eA-8vidKw-xqSD-siimZbYjqGth-TIECXSzOw88cboEsNWj0AJ[/img] http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSWhp9ww6eA-8vidKw-xqSD-siimZbYjqGth-TIECXSzOw88cboEsNWj0AJ[/center] Pain. I've hurt before, but right then as consciousness returned to me, I felt like I had been shoved through one of those griffon meat grinders and sewn back together. My skin felt like it was crawling and my every muscle in my body ached. What happened to me? I remember a voice, and pain, but after that? I must have moaned more audibly then I realized, because I could vaguely make out Trixie talking to me. "DJ, Trixie is making 'stew'. She knows that getting healed draws as much from the recipient as it does the healer so she insists you eat. Trixie does not want a liability on the team." The cold detachment in her voice hurt, and I could almost feel my blood start to boil at her words. However, I was hungry, and that 'stew' was screaming my name. I struggled for nearly a minute before giving up and asking, "Hey Trixie, I'm having a hard time getting up, can you pour me a bowl, please?" She shot me a look of exaggerated, albeit minor, disdain, causing me to flinch internally, but poured me a bowl anyway. It was pretty good, despite the spartan ingredients and I quickly drained the bowl. Oddly however I still felt famished, my body craving something I couldn't quite place. I figured once Lyra woke up, I might just grab more soup to fill the emptiness, if there was enough. Eating the soup restored a little bit of my strength, so slowly, agonizingly, I started to push myself off of my sleeping mat. My legs threatened to give out several times, wobbling and almost collapsing, but I finally found myself on all fours. Step by step, each hoof-fall bringing a new wrack of pain, I half-crawled to the pool in the back of the cave. Taking special care not to fall in, I lowered myself to the edge, kneeling on my forelegs. I dipped the end of my muzzle into the water, closing my eyes in bliss as the frigid water touched my tongue. Swallowing mouthful after mouthful, I realized just how dehydrated I was. After a full minute I finally opened my eyes, my vision a little bleary. A tear dripped down the corner of my eye tracing its way down my muzzle before finally splashing into the water. I watched the ripple, noticing a tiny tinge of red at the epicenter of the displacement. Worried, I wiped my face; a smudge of red stained my foreleg. Panicking, I dipped my hooves in the water and threw some water on my face. After the water cleared up, I peered into it, though the poor lighting made discerning features on my face difficult, with the edges actually appearing slightly blurry. Dissatisfied with the results, I pushed myself back up and returned to the campfire. Noticing my sunglasses next to the fireplace, I tried to ignite my horn to grab them. Try as I might, however, my magic just seemed unable to lift the Celestia-damned thing. In a fit of rage, I channeled as much magic into my horn as I could manage, getting only a faint glow around my horn. Praying it would be enough, I extended my magic toward the glasses, a faint red glow surrounded them. What in Tartorus? That's new, my magic has always been blue in the past. I've heard unicorns can have their auras changed by traumatic events though, and I can only imagine what must have happened to me if I feel like this after being healed. I carefuly floated my sunglasses up to my face, the pince-nez design settling easily into place. Feeling a little bit more secure by having my link back home on me again, I decided to take stock of my body. I noticed immediately that there was severe scarring under the fur across my neck and barrel at just a cursory touch, but thankfully my fur covered most of it. On my left foreleg was a pretty thick pink line visibly offsetting the alabaster white. Struggling to my hooves again, I trudged over to where Lyra and I had put our saddlebags. Digging into mine I pulled out my hoodie; I had been feeling a little feverish, so I figured I should warm up a little more. I clearly didn't feel violated and was trying to cover myself, not at all. "Hey, you're awake," I heard Lyra mutter, half asleep. "Luna said you might be out for days." Luna? Does she mean the princess? I started to quake involuntarily. It only lasted for a moment and was gone before either of the others noticed it. But I felt it, for a fraction of a second a wave of undiluted horror washed over me. "What does Princess Luna have to do with this?" I asked, hesitantly testing the waters of her involvement. "She sensed your attack last night. If it wasn't for her..." Lyra's inability to finish her statement left me feeling even more hollow. "But," Trixie quickly jumped into the conversation, "the bard was able to heal you." "Yeah, real bang up job too," Lyra said with an annoyed growl, emphasizing her irritation towards her healing skills with an eye roll. "Well, I'm not dead. That's one hell of a start," I muttered, appreciative of the work regardless. To try and reassure Lyra I was going to make it, I half skipped, half winced over to where she was laying. I plopped down next to her with a rather audible thud. Ow! She cringed almost as much as I did. A silent scream escaped my throat as the shock set in. The cold stone floor was a harsh mistress, and decided to remind me that I would need to ask permission before I could pretend to be better. The sudden impact left my whole body feeling numb. Well, to be honest, unfeeling except for sharp stabs of pain wracking my entire body. A soothing voice, unintelligible but familiar, buzzed near my head. I tried to focus on it, but the shock from the pain was overpowering. For the second time in as many days, I could feel my mind fading to black. Cold! Shivering, soaking wet, all of my alacrity shot back into me in a torrent of ice cold water. A wooden clunk told me everything I needed to know as I saw the last traces of pink fade from our fire bucket. If looks could kill, Trixie would have been buried alive, drilled into with an auger, pulled back out of the ground with a large hook pushed through the drilled hole, brought back to life with the magic of the Princess, before being pushed hoof first, slowly, into a woodchipper. _____________ I stared at Vinyl, her mane hanging limply over her face hiding her eyes, but the scowl she barely hid on her lips was anything but subtle. I continued to watch her, a restraining spell at the ready, just in case she was going to react violently. She suddenly ceased her quivering, and with a defeated sigh, started to wring the water from her mane with her magic. Thank Luna that she let that go. Wait... wasn't her aura blue? "Vinyl," I started slowly, "are you feeling alright?" "I'm soaking wet thanks to Trixie," she growled with a roll of her - now visible - eyes. "Trixie was merely making sure you didn't collapse again," the blue mare quipped in. "Trixie, I think there might have been slightly better ways to handle that," I deadpanned, my hoof solidly cemented to my face by that point. "Trixie," Vinyl growled, "if you ever, and I mean ever, dump water like that on me again. I will shove that bucket so far up your plot that a team of surgeons couldn't remove it." "Girls, we need to all calm down." I cautioned moving between the two, my horn glowing as I prepared a spell. Trixie looked at me with one eyebrow raised before quickly adding, "The bard is right, Trixie apologizes for her actions." After a few moments of the tension in the air being so heated a balefire bomb could have gone off and nopony would have noticed it, Vinyl slowly retrieved her wet sunglasses and returned them to her face. "I accept your apology Trixie. But don't, and I mean don’t, ever do anything like that again." "Well then, if this is settled, I'm going to go eat breakfast now." Both mares looked at me abashedly, as my stomach let out a clearly audible gurgling noise. I sat down by the fire and ladled myself a bowl of soup. Spooning myself a bite, I let it set in my mouth for a moment, Trixie had done well with the recipe I gave her, the soup was flavorful and not too watery, a seven out of ten. Her ability to walk short distances and follow simple instructions would surely save us all.