Last of the Elders

by tubeku

Chapter 5: The Mending

Aphirion stretched his legs, releasing a few painful moans as he felt his sore muscles relax. Rubbing his side from where the creature had kicked him, he limped over to the violet unicorn. Sweat stung his eyes and a deep throbbing from the top of his head made the short journey harder than it should have been. Hopping on his front hoof, he made his way closer towards the mare. Not seeing the piece of a broken bookshelf, Aphirion stumbled over the wood and finally tripped but was stopped mid-fall.

“Oh buck me” he thought.

He could feel her soft lips pressed tightly against his. Her horn gently rubbed against his, send a deep sensation of pleasure throughout his body. His eyes, stinging from sweat, managed to open just a sliver only to see her face go from surprise to what could have been an equal feeling of pleasure or longing to a seething anger all in the span of a second. Two hoofs pushed him away fiercely, a whirl of violet and purple and another set of hooves, this time much more painful, slammed into his chest sending him flying over the rubble and landing with a loud thud on the cobblestone road. Pain erupted from the impact area and tears streamed down his face.

“Who’d have thought a Librarian could hit that hard.” He thought, “I think she just bruised a couple of my ribs.”

Lying on the ground, holding his chest, Aphirion rolled over to his less injured side. Coughing from his winded chest, he stood up with slight difficultly. Rubbing the tender ribs gently, he hobbled over to his bag. The young mare stood still, glaring at him with every step he took. Bending over, he grasped the bag with his mouth and opened the leather flap.

“Ok, first of all, what was that thing that you killed? What were you doing in my home? Why have you been looking for me AND why were you in my home?!?!” Twilight snapped, “Not to mention that kiss just now.”

Flicking his ears Aphirion continued to shuffle through his bag, his chest hurting less with every passing minute. Moving his map aside, Aphirion pulled a small box from the bottom of the bag. Setting it down gently, he opened it up to reveal a small bottle.

“Are you going to answer my questions or do I have to contact the guards?” Twilight asked.

“I promise I will answer everything you want to know Twilight,” Aphirion gasped, “and then some. But first let me heal my injuries. In the meanwhile, count the stars will you”

“Count the stars? Are you serious?”

“Yes, look I’ll give you a head start, look there’s one hundred and eighty two right there,” he said while pointing his hoof in the direction of the Orion constellation. Aphirion lifted the bottle with his magic, focusing on a simple antigravity spell; he uncorked the top and tipped the bottle back into his mouth. Tasting the sweet and tangy liquid slowly flow down his throat. The contents of the bottle grew warmer as it went down into his stomach. A surge of warmth coursed throughout his body, soothing his muscles and he could feel his broken rib snap back together.

A gasp of pain escaped his mouth, causing Twilight to take a caring step towards him but stopped once she remember that she was still pretty mad at him for everything he had done recently. Pawing at the ground, she looked up to the sky. Hundreds of stars shined brightly across the dark veil.

‘How could he expect me to count the stars? I doubt even Princess Luna knows how many stars are there.” She thought, “Should I actually listen to him or should I focus on him to make sure he doesn’t try anything funny. Oh Celestia, why do I have these feelings about him? I barely know him and yet it feels like we are more than just that. Ugh you’re being silly Twilight.”

“Ok, I’m finished, now what do you say about fixing your home?” Aphirion said cheerfully.

Startling Twilight back into her senses, she jumped a little before gathering herself.

“What do you mean fix my house? If you can’t tell it’s a giant tree. You can’t just fix it with a hammer. It’s a living thing.” Twilight retorted

“Yes it’s a living organism, you are correct, maybe a hammer could fix it but I prefer a more practical method.”

Oh and what’s that? Magic is great and can solve almost everything thing in the world but either there isn’t a spell that can mend a living thing or I don’t know it yet.”

“It’s a spell alright and I’m surprised you don’t know it. It’s simple enough.”

His comment stung Twilight deeply. How dare he criticize her ability in magic? For ponysake it was her special talent and a rare one that was only seen once every hundred years. She kicked the ground angrily, but kept her mouth shut. She watched the stallion stumble over the wreckage of her house -

“Not the most graceful of ponies now is he.” She mocked in her head.

- and towards the largest pieces of bark that surround the tree. He lifted the bulk of them effortlessly and sat them down like a giant puzzle. She walked around the area, pondering what he was doing. Obviously he was putting the exterior back together but how was he planning on fixing it.

“You know, if you told me what you were planning I could help you.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. I apologize. You see those other large pieces; right over...well technically they are all around us. I need you to put them all together, I’ll do the rest.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at his comment but rolled her eyes and trotted around lifting each piece. Setting down all of the pieces, Aphirion went about organizing the wood and bark into one large slab. She stood back, puzzling the stallion’s method but accepting that he must know what he was doing. Watching him twist the last piece of shredded wood into place, Twilight felt an immense surge of power crash through her. The force lifted her off the ground, sending her rolling across the bumpy road. Finally stopping her momentum, she looked up to see the stallion surrounded by a swirling vortex of water.

His horn radiating a bright blue aura, the stallion threw his head around and Twilight could feel the sheer power wash over her as she saw the water crash onto the slab of wood. But instead of a exploding over the wood, it flowed gently over the bark. Flowing along the crack and shredded wood, groans and pops erupted from the joints as they started merging back together. Several moments and a couple pops later, he stood back from his work. Twilight walked over to him, eyeing the single piece of wood. She stopped next to the stallion, hearing his slight panting from the spell.

“Well, I’m done, took a bit more than normal but this tree is much larger and older than what I’m use to working on.” Aphirion stated, “I’ll need your help to get this in place. The spell cost me more than I thought it would.”

Twilight stepped closer to the large bark slab and spread her legs into a sturdy stance. Her horn radiated a mixture of light orchard and bright raspberry as the magic surrounded the object. With a short grunt, Twilight pushed herself a bit more; the piece of tree lifted off the ground and pointed to the sky. She smiled to herself when she slid the piece neatly into the broken portion of her house. Spying the condescending stallion from the corner of her eye, Twilight could only gasp before being drenched with freezing cold water.

Aphirion urged the water to press harder into the trees damaged body. Willing the water to heal the area, he could feel his energy slowly draining at a steady rate. Drowsiness weighed his eye lids, his legs shook but Aphirion pushed on. Water seeped into the wood with hundreds of popping and cracking sounds. With a final grunt, Aphirion released a massive wave of power and the tree was whole once again.