"-the issue lies with their magic," Drill Pick cleared his throat.
"What?" Copper said.
"Their bodies were being corrupted by whatever magical energies existed there, but their own magic was treated in such a way that it was practically tainted. Stelimus here, for some reason I'm unclear for, was practically shielded from magical corruption."
"It might have to do with the spirit essence I absorbed when training with my uncle in the swamps."
Drill tapped his chin. "Was he constantly emitting magical energies around himself violently or was there a source of the magic around?"
"No to both."
"Then your body and magical flow had time to adapt to the differences, preventing corruption, and this magic might have been stronger than the outside influence trying to corrupt you, hence why you're practically unaffected."
Cadance held the doctor up and winced from worry. "What would this corruption have done to them had they not left in time?"
"Well, a wide variety of things. Medical records are unclear on it as there are very VERY few instances when magical corruption actually occurred throughout the history of the lands. I can only hypothesize at this point."
"Then give it to me straight, doc." Stelimus calmly demanded. "I need to know what might happen to my sister."
Drill Pick kept his wig from falling and looked Stelimus in the eyes. "The most obvious would be death."
"Oh my." Copper put a hoof to her mouth.
"But, as we crystal ponies know; There are things far worse than death."
"Oblivion?" Stelimus added.
"No. That goes against many laws of physics and conservation. The issue would be the possible chance of minor or major mutation. This can just minorly affect the body or also completely warp the mind. Both could occur as well."
"Warp the mind? Doctor, my aunt was said to have been much calmer and a bit more level headed before departing from the tundra and reaching the forest she lived in. Is it possible--"
"That she became corrupted by something there? Most possible, but then what happened to your uncle?" Pick wondered curiously.
Stelimus' ears flopped onto his head and he looked away. "That's...personal, but he did so that to himself unintentionally."
"He must have a strong will to have only been physically corrupted, then. Fascinating." Drill Pick walked up to Stelimus and cleared his throat. "Stelimus, your family has been through some major events and their dna could help us cure many problems and learn about the current unknowns--"
"I'm not calling them just so you can experiment on them."
The doctor shrugged and casually walked away. "Well, I tried. However, I'm still curious about your aunt. Is it true that your 'god-kings', as they so humbly call themselves, were all affiliated to ice?"
"They didn't call themselves that, the deer did, then they adopted the title and got big heads over it, but yes. They were."
"Well, that's news to me." Drill pushed the air down several times with one hoof to try and focus. "Concentrate!" He whispered to himself. "Anyways, we know that your father is still connected to ice, and now we know that your uncle did that voluntarily to himself, but what about your aunt? Her case doesn't make sense."
"And she was erratic in behavior, often doing things that never made sense when linked together or simply not doing what she did in the past."
Cadance and the doctor gulped. "Stelimus, I don't know how to say this, but your sister was not only extensively corrupted physically, but her magic was tainted to the point that we could not filter her sources and rejuvenate a clean production."
"So...she might have gone crazy?"
"And her body mutated over the time we've kept her in the emergency room. It was a grueling process and we just weren't able to cleanse her. We just don't have the knowledge to do so!"
There was a long moment of silence.
"Do you think Yolumay's...operation, or whatever you've been doing to her, is over?" Stelimus asked.
"If we get you out of bed now and get you to the hospital, it will be."
"Then let's go!" Drill Pick threw himself onto the bed, pinning Stelimus down and causing Stelimus to struggle and try to break free. "Hey! Let me go! I'm going to go see my sister."
"It's not that, you idiot. We can let you get out of your bed when you're still hooked up to all these devices. It could be dangerous to just rip them out."
Stelimus was embarrassed. "Oh..."
After the relatively painless procedure of removing needles embedded into the skin, the stag was held up by Copper and he chuckled at this fact. "Well, I helped you when you were little and it looks like you're helping me now. How...awkward."
Copper chuckled. "Well, I'm not going to let you go from now on," she smiled.
The group went to the hospital where a number of low-level patients were standing outside the hospital walls, prompting Drill Pick's intrigue. He ran up to one of the patients currently standing in front of that tall, squarish structure.
"What's going on here? Why are you out of your room?"
"We don't know. There was an alert for us to leave. Something about contamination, and then--"
A loud flash and resounding explosion burst all the windows on the forty-one floors of the hospital into pieces which rained down onto the ponies below. Stelimus had a very bad feeling about the whole situation, then he heard the horrendous, whispering voice from his dream.
"A living nightmare can be just as it says, familiar soul. Would you let the soul chip exist in it or would you 'wake' it? The panic sustains."
"Come on, Copper. Let's go!"
"But it's dangerous!"
"I don't care."
Cadance was too busy tending to those wounded by the falling shards of glass to pay attention to the couple entering the hospital. The lobby was a mess, but the ponies in charge of the reception counter were still at their posts.
"Hey, get back out! You can't come in!"
Stelimus focused spiritual essence through his antlers and summoned a ghost to lead him to his sister. The ghost, with limbs shackled and a face in a cage, was more than happy to oblige, surprisingly. It led them down a hail, leaving a trail of wisping, white air behind it for the couple to follow. The ponies at the counter were too terrified by the spirit to do anything but cower. Another burst of energy went flying through the complex and the light flew across the walls, floors, and ceilings. It had no adverse affects aside from creating a light show and some distortions to the ghosts' spectral solidity. The couple galloped down several flights of stairs to the emergency section where the corruption of Effervescence's magic was far more apparent.
Giant roots were struggling to stick to where they were in the walls. They were being pulled back by something to their point of origin. If it was Yolumay herself or the doctors, Stelimus did not know, but he had to reach her. Unfortunately, he could not move forward anymore, and the guide spirit could not aid him. This time, Stelimus summoned death energies that left his antlers and chest with the appearances of floating, thin, black strands worming their way to the roots. Slithering within the wood caused them to instantly wither and rot away while the strands continued forward. With the path now clear, the couple hurried forward and rushed after the guide. After rounding two corners, the couple entered a room where Yolumay was. She was sitting upright and appeared to be meditating with the help of a few unicorns wearing helmets that covered their eyes but left their horns and ears free. Doctors were standing around and taking notes and preparing several cases of medication and injections. The unicorns in question were surrounding Yolumay with a bubble of pure magic that was absorbing the stray taint in her magic that kept bursting outwards.
"What's going on here?" Stelimus asked.
One of the unicorns broke off from the formation and spoke to the stag. "You must be her brother."
"Wow. That was fast. Uhhh, yes. She mentioned me?"
"No. We just know through obvious deduction."
Stelimus was curious and felt his inner prankster rise up when he waved his foreleg in front of the mare and received a smack upside the head in return.
"Ow!" The stag clutched his head. "What was that for?"
"Just because I don't use my eyes doesn't mean I can't see you."
She turned around and called out to Yolumay who stopped meditating and looked directly at her sibling. The other unicorns also ceased their actions, freeing her.
"We were using ancient magics to attempt control over the corruption so that it does not damage Yolumay's mind. Strangely, it already should have," the unicorn added.
"Really?"
"Hello, Stelimus," Yolumay said.
"Hello, sister. How are you?"
The doe creaked her neck and stretched a foreleg. "I could be better."
"So what was with all the explosions and bursts of magic?"
"The magic she could not control and that we could not hold back," one of the other unicorns said.
"Oh. I guess that makes sense...And you guys are supposed to be?"
"That's a secret, but we study and practice forbidden magics to better counter them."
Stelimus blinked several times. "Should you really be saying things like that in front of them?" He pointed to the doctors.
One of the doctors stepped forward. "They've helped us on occasion with magically inflicted sicknesses so we have no reason to denounce them, especially as they've never threatened anypony."
"I see."
Yolumay noticed a pony standing next to her smiling widely and staring at her with sparkly eyes.
"Who's the yellow pony-song?"
"I'm Copper Blossom! So your name is Yolumay?" She cheered and hugged the princess close to her.
"OW!" Yolumay shouted. "Get off of me!"
Copper obliged and apologized. "I'm sorry. I'm just very excited because I'm going to have my own family soon," she squeed.
"Oh, well good for you," Stelimus grinned.
Yolumay's eyes went wide when she suddenly realized what was going on in front of her, then smiled at her brother a devious grin. "Why, Stelimus, this is the one you're betrothed to?"
The smile melted off the stag's face. "Wh-wh-what are you t-talking about?"
"Why, she's the one you'll marry to forge an alliance between our people."
"Isn't it great?!" Copper hopped towards Stelimus and kissed him on the mouth before embracing him again.
The stag had ceased moving.
Copper Blossom let go of Stelimus. "Stelly?" She worried.
Stelimus fell onto the floor, rigid like a toy. Outside, Cadance jumped up to her hooves, interrupting her treatments of one of the wounded ponies.
"Princess Cadance? What's wrong?" the pony asked.
"I felt a disturbance in the flow."