Mortality

by Aceofgods

Recovery

Chapter 13: Recovery

Princess Luna’s days were filled with Princess Celestia’s duties. Ordering the guards, hearing reports from the city, overseeing orders for new candles for the candelabras, managing the castle’s budget, attending feasts with a faux smile with dignitaries who had come from far and wide to ascertain the state of their relations under the rule of a new princess.

Honestly. Candles? At a time like this? Certainly, somepony else could handle such a task!

Princess Luna’s nights were spent training the Shadow Sentinels, hearing their reports, reviewing cases from the Jury of the Moonblinked (which were becoming all too frequent), aiding other ponies in the dream realm, and – most importantly – administering Celestia’s treatments.

The only time Luna slept was when she needed to enter the dream realm, and even then, her mind had little rest if any.

Well, aside from the mindless banter with the dignitaries during the day. Many of them frowned at her frequent yes-or-no answers, but by the Fates, she was tired.

Now, Luna sat in her room, all of her attention focused on crafting another cloth doll. In the hopes of better tempering her control, it was a filly this time. Her muse was the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

By crafting the child’s plaything, she was focusing her magic intently on a needle without bending it, on thread without tearing it, on cotton without shredding it, and on cloth without ripping it.

Such control was beyond her ability, once, long ago. The practice had helped her magic come a long way – no longer bound to her uncontrollable emotions, she could more minutely control it without putting forth all of her effort on a task that called for little.

Crafting a smaller doll meant more precise movements. A stitch with a larger doll had a larger margin for error. The minute movements meant controlling finer and finer points of magic; the very essence of Celestia’s treatments.

Tonight would mark the first of the 21 artice treatments. The smallest dose that Luna could administer.

With Ace unable to administer further treatment, that meant that Celestia’s treatments would grind to a halt if Luna couldn’t improve herself in that time.

Putting the finishing touches on the doll, she set it on the shelf with her friends, the other ponies of Ponyville. Sparing a glance at the time, Luna took a deep breath to calm herself, then made for her sister’s bedchambers on the other side of the castle.

A Shadow Sentinel saluted her as she left her room. All of the guards and the Sentinels were on edge; there was some dissent growing in the city. Some did not care for Princess Luna taking over for her sister; some believed it was a plot to steal the throne and rule Equestria herself.

Absurd! But, not without precedent…

It wasn’t the most direct path, but Luna often walked past the mosaic windows that featured her battle with her sister as Nightmare Moon, her subsequent defeat, and her banishment to the moon.

She let it serve as a reminder, that whatever the ponies feared was well grounded. That she had brought ruin and strife to Equestria in the past.

A reminder that she would never let it happen again.

Steeling her spine, raising her head and finding her confidence, Luna found her way to her sister’s room in short order. The guards saluted her, opening the large doors before her.

Celestia’s room was orderly; a sign that she had not relapsed in almost two days, when her furniture would have last been replaced. An auspicious sign.

Celestia laid in her bed – another good sign – cradling the Ace and Luna dolls to her chest, the Twilight and Celestia dolls sitting beside her pillow, watching.

Luna removed the moist rag from her sister’s head, feeling with a hoof for signs of her fever. The fever had come down over the last week, but whether she was truly doing better or the treatments and precautions were simply having more effect was hard to determine.

Erring on the side of caution, Luna replaced another rag on Celestia’s brow.

Unable to put it off any longer, Princess Luna’s horn lit up in her midnight blue color, and she focused on converting her magic into that of chaos magic. She pushed away the disorderly thoughts that sprang to her mind as she did so, focusing the trickle of her magic on Celestia’s horn.

The chaos magic took shape as a midnight blue cloud, as if she were levitating the air itself in her magic, and made its way down the center of Celestia’s horn, into her very mind.

Though Luna first had reservations about such a treatment, she couldn’t argue with the results. Celestia smiled, her weight relaxing further into the bed with a contented sigh escaping her lips.

With the treatment administered, Luna made for another bed to the side of the room. Smaller, not nearly as grand as the bed Celestia, occupied, it would serve Luna’s needs.

Her eyes never leaving her sister, Luna fell asleep, and made her way into Celestia’s make-believe world.

Daylight Zenith surveyed the battle from above, her well-oiled captain’s armor making barely a sound as she flapped her wings. The armor was truly a marvel; intersecting plates followed the movements of her wings, light and maneuverable material meant it did not hinder her, while being strong enough to deflect all but the most direct sword strokes.

I’ve worn something like this before… when would I have ever…?

Daylight Zenith shook her head. Now was not the time to chase her foggy memories.

The front lines of the Day’s End army met with the opposition in a crash. The center held – as well it should have; her best soldiers and commanders were in that line.

The right flank feigned a collapse – as was the plan. With the cliff abutting the right flank, it was an easy maneuver to feign a collapse there, then when the enemy made to turn and attack the vulnerable side of her forces, they would find the army’s strength redoubled, the cavalry pressing them against the cliff, routing them.

The left flank, however, was under no such orders, but were falling apart all the same.

With her commanders in the center of their attack, they had the most outreaching positioning for their orders, and could more easily survey the battlefield. Putting the commanders in the field made them great assets, but left them vulnerable – that meant the army’s finest soldiers had to protect them.

With much of the cavalry diverted to the right flank in the feint, that left the left flank with much to be desired.

“Honorguard, to me!” Daylight Zenith called. She made for the left flank immediately, her Pegasi escorts following her as she went.

As she flew over the enemy forces, Daylight Zenith’s horn lit in a series of spells; she rained fire down upon the strong left flank of the enemy, then hexed her lance to set it spinning even as she held it, functioning as a powerful drill.

Coming from the outside, Zenith dove through the enemy lines, making holes in the enemy’s lines even as she made holes in their soldiers. Her men cheered as they regrouped and pressed the advantage, her Honorguard harrying any foe that dared flee or leave the lines to flank them.

“Charge! Don’t let them regroup!” Zenith shouted over the din of battle as she landed amongst her soldiers. With her large, powerful form came a powerful orator’s voice, her rallying cry carrying through her ranks and into the enemy’s lines as well. Many tried to break formation and flee for their lives, only to be greeted by a spear or sword from the Honorguard flying over them.

The Day’s End army crashed against their foes, Zenith leading the charge herself, her powerful lance cutting a swath before her. None could touch her.

A volley of arrows came from the back of the enemy lines, but Zenith shielded herself and those around her with her magic. A group of her Pegasi swept in and cleared the enemy’s archer lines, their arrows deflecting off of armor or shields.

A saboteur laid mines before her, hoping to eliminate the enemy captain and deal a decisive blow. Zenith found the traps, hoisted them in her magic and set them to work amongst the enemy lines.

It seemed as though the battle would end uneventfully. Zenith stood back as her soldiers charged past her, pursuing the enemy line as it broke and ran in earnest.

Somepony jumped onto Zenith’s back, and thinking the battle already won, she thought it might be one of her soldiers congratulating her. She turned and only too late saw the knife in their hoof.

“Sister! No!” she heard a booming voice call before a Pegasi flew headfirst into the attacker, goring them with a dagger as she flew past.

No, not a dagger… a horn. An Alicorn!

There’s no other Alicorn in my army… did she say “sister”?

Zenith’s head ached as memories floated just out of her reach. It felt as though she were adrift in the ocean, and there was flotsam all around her, but whenever she swam toward any of it, it sank, or floating away just out of reach as the movement of her body pushed it away.

She was getting used to the feeling. It occurred several times a day now, and the triggers were seemingly random, innocuous. But this, this felt like a ship had finally sailed close enough to see her. Like there was a lifeline right in front of her and she had only reach out to grab it.

Zenith reached, and reached and reached, but the boat was sailing away, the lifeline drawn behind it. She swam and swam but it drifted further and further.

Zenith stood with her hoof pressed against her head, the battle within drowning the battle without.

Until, “Sister? Sister, are you hurt?” That voice… Zenith turned to look, and she caught the life preserver. The ship pulled her in, dried her off and fed her. Fed her memories she thought were dreams, now realizing it was all a dream, that the dreams were real and that this was all a ploy to incapacitate her.

“Luna…” she managed, the Alicorn before her embracing her, tears in her eyes.

“OH, DEAREST SISTER, YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE JOY IT BRINGS US TO HEAR YOU RECOGNIZE US SO,” Luna said, her voice booming as she lost control of herself in her emotion.

Zenith- no, Celestia stroked her sister’s mane, returning the tearful embrace in kind. Then, “Tell me everything that has happened.”

Wiping away her tears, Luna fought to control her emotions before she continued. “Tell us the last thing you remember,” she started, still composing herself.

Celestia focused on her thoughts and memories, and it was like the battle around them just faded away as her focus drifted away from it. She thought back as far as she could.

“Discord freed himself from his statue imprisonment, and was wreaking havoc in Ponyville. I sent Twilight and her friends, with the Elements of Harmony, to stop him. Anything after that is… a blur.”

Luna sighed deeply. “We were afraid of this… Brother had said it was possible you were being controlled by Discord. That it was unlikely that you would order him to be re-formed and, well, reformed.”

The dreamworld of the Gooey Gumdrop Empire faded away to nothing, Celestia and Luna stood alone in a field of stars and nebulae and cosmos, Luna retelling all the events that had transpired.

Turns out Dragon’s Roost was one of the Crystal Mountains to the northeast of Summervale. Sanctis couldn’t see it from here because of the trees around them, but Ace said it would be pretty distinct once they saw it.

After the Matron healed Ace’s hoof, they immediately went to the East Gate, stopping only to buy a pair of saddlebags for Sanctis. She only got to carry a canteen, some of the hardtack, a blanket and some blade oil and a whetstone for her knife.

Ace said she got to carry half of their supplies, so she would have the means to fend for herself if they somehow got separated. Sanctis didn’t know how to use the blade oil or the whetstone, but Ace said he’d show her when they stopped to make camp.

For perhaps the twentieth time, she checked the straps on the knife’s scabbard. It was still snug.

For a while, Sanctis debated if she should keep the sheathe on the left side or the right side of her left hoof. On the right, it would be closer to her body and more easily concealed. On the left, it would be easier to draw and use. She decided on left.

Like before, Ace didn’t seem to take any effort walking through the forest; he just seemed to instinctively know exactly where to place his hooves. Even though he was probably 3 or 4 times her weight, she made far more noise than he did, stepping on leaves, branches, noisy grasses… her hoof scuffing hidden stones and roots, disturbing noisome critters…

For a while, she watched him just walking, bounding over logs or other places seemingly at random – which she found was actually areas with poor footing, and on one occasion… leavings from some other passerby.

Rather than trying to learn the method to his madness, she started following his hoofsteps instead, placing her hooves where he had passed moments prior. Astoundingly, it worked most of the time. Ace's longer stride meant she had to leap in some places to match, or take a double stride to keep inside his prints, though either was too exhausting to do for too long.

“How much further?” Sanctis asked, trying not to sound like a petulant, impatient child… and probably failing. Darn it.

“Still a ways to go yet,” Ace replied without turning his head. “Would you like to play a game to pass the time? It’s called 'Dodge, Reflect, Honesty.' We take turns asking questions, you have to either answer truthfully, or you can ask the question back and skip your turn. You get 3 dodges or reflects for questions you don’t want to answer. First one to run out of dodges loses.”

“Okay, sure. I’ll go first,” Sanctis said, grateful to do anything to pass the time. “Do you have a special somepony?” she asked, hoping it would throw him off balance.

“Yup! Her name is Twilight Sparkle.” Didn’t even miss a beat! “I call her my Starlight, and she’s very important to me. My turn: How old are you, Sanctis?”

“I’m-“ she had to stop herself from saying 8, which would have been how old she was when she ran away from home, “9 years old now. My turn: How did you learn to use magic and make spells? Who taught you?”

“Hey now, that’s more than one question!” he said with a laugh. “And a tricky one to answer, besides… I guess I first learned to use magic from a tribe called ‘The Watchers of the Stars,’ and after that I learned from so many ponies and places I couldn’t even name them all! I learned to make the spells that I sold in Hoofsdale myself, though. Now, my turn: Do you know anything about your family? How come your parents aren’t around?”

“Dodge!” Sanctis said immediately. She sooo didn’t want to talk about it. “Is it my turn now?” She thought he would push her if she didn’t change the topic.

“Yup, go ahead,” was all he said. Like her refusing to comment about her parents wasn’t unusual at all.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Hmm… I have two ponies I call my sisters, but we’re not really related. I’m not sure how many ‘real’ half-brothers and -sisters I have though, as my father continued to have children after he was… split from my mother. My question: What was your favorite part about Frost Valley?”

“The Museum,” Sanctis answered right away. As if there’s any contest. “I love learning new things, and the museum was always super warm inside. I got to learn about blacksmithing, which metals are good for what, and even a little bit about the Magic Wars.” Wait, did he just stumble a little when I said ‘Magic Wars’? “Where did you learn to fight with a sword like that?”

“From Master Steel Dancer. He taught me how to fight with almost any weapon, while dancing away from opponent’s attacks. ‘The first rule of combat: don’t get hit,’ he’d always say. For my turn: How’d you learn Al Bhed? Who taught it to you?”

“Dodge!” It was an innocent enough question, but it would lead to more questions about her mom. Dang, that’s 2 of my dodges already… “Do you know a lot about the machines the Al Bhed call Machina?”

Ace smiled wide. “You could say that. I own a few old pieces from centuries ago, but I’ve actually made some Machina of my own. One that I’m really proud of is an ‘abomination’ that combines Machina and Magic to make a more perfect machine; I call it my Anti-Magic Countermeasure System. A.C.S. if you prefer.”

Okay, of all the things I’ve seen Ace do or talk about, THAT is the coolest!

“My turn: Where’d you learn about Machina?”

“No fair! You keep asking questions about where I learned things, knowing I would only have learned them from my parents, knowing that I don’t want to talk about it!”

Ace just looked back at her with an eyebrow raised. So much for not being a petulant child. “Just answer the question in a way that doesn’t reference what you don’t want to talk about. That’s part of the game.”

Sanctis thought for a moment, then, “I saw a few Machina when I was growing up. I tried tinkering with them a little, and reading ‘blueprints’ and stuff about them, but ended up in trouble for it. My turn: What’s the biggest Machina you’ve ever seen?”

“A turbine generator. It was large enough to generate power for an entire Al Bhed settlement, until it malfunctioned and almost self-destructed in front of me. My turn: How come you don’t use your magic?”

“I… I never learned how to use magic.” Ace ‘hmmed’ at that, but didn’t say anything. “How’d you get your cutie mark?”

“A turbine generator. It was large enough to generate power for an entire Al Bhed settlement, until it malfunctioned and almost self-destructed in front of me. I contained the blast in a magical shield, and when I woke up, I had my cutie mark.”

“That was when you were a foal?” she asked, incredulous. Ace turned to her, raised an eyebrow that said ‘You know it’s my turn now, right?’

He answered anyway. “Yup. Before I was kicked out of my settlement. For my question: How would you like for me to teach you magic?”

Sanctis stopped in her tracks. She wasn’t sure she heard him right. “Really?! You’ll teach me how to use magic?! Wait, can you, with your horn all… busted?”

“Well, yes, though you’ll have to do as I say… not as I do. It’ll be harder to teach without doing so myself, but I think we could manage.”

“Yes! A hundred, a thousand times: yes!” Sanctis caught back up, literally bouncing around him as he walked. “I’m gonna learn magic! I’m gonna learn magic! I’m gonna learn magic!”

“Alright, alright little one, calm down,” Ace said, all smiles and laughter. “Let’s finish our game, first. It’s still your turn.”

Sanctis had to stop herself from blurting out ‘What is my first lesson going to be?!’ She was excited to learn magic, but this was a great chance to learn more about Ace.

“What happened to your horn?”

“It got beat against a stone wall until it broke. Almost a week ago, now. Also, please never touch it. It’s very sensitive right now.” Owww, Sanctis thought to herself. A dumpster lid fell on my horn once, and I couldn’t see through the tears for an hour after that…

“My question: Did you have any friends in Frost Valley?”

Shoot… I could use my last dodge and end the game… if I answer, I’ll have to do more than ‘yes or no,’ since it’s only fair…

With a sigh, Sanctis replied, “No… I didn’t try to make any, either. Whenever somepony talked to me, I would talk to them in Al Bhed so they wouldn’t know I understood them. The foals… the foals called me ‘blank flank foreigner.’”

Ace ‘hmmed’ again, as they came out of the forest – how long have we been walking through snow? – and in front of them was the Crystal Mountain range. Nearest them was the only mountain with no snow on top of it.

“Woah, is that Dragon’s Roost?” Sanctis asked as it loomed over top of them.

“Yup, and that’s where we’ll get to see Fang. My question:”

“Hey, wait, that wasn’t my question!”

“Why wouldn’t you want to make friends in Frost Valley?”

“Well, I… that is… Dodge!” Dang, so much for that…

Ace smiled knowingly, then started to make his way up the mountain. Fortunately, there was a path that spiraled around the mountain, seemingly going all the way to the top. It looked as though it was carved directly out of the stone.

“Do you know why they call it Dragon’s Roost?” Ace asked, sparing her a brief look before watching his footing again.

“Uh, because dragons roost here?” Looking over the side of the mountain, Sanctis agreed it was a good idea to watch her footing as well. There were no guardrails or supports; not too big a problem this low, but further up… one misstep and you’re pony paste.

“Doesn’t it seem odd that a northern mountain, on the north side of Equestria, is called Dragon’s Roost when the Badlands – where dragons hail from – is to the southeast of Equestria?”

“Maybe… but dragons can fly, nothing is too far away when you can just fly straight there whenever you feel like. And dragons are probably incredibly territorial, so some of them would have to find roosts outside of the Badlands.”

Ace nodded, a light smile on his features. “A clever guess, and mostly right, but lacking one detail: infant dragons are often unable to fly, and even as they learn to fly, there are many predators in the Badlands that eat dragons – including their young and their eggs.

“A mated pair of dragons will often leave the Badlands to lay their eggs, and to care for them until they hatch and grow strong enough to survive the journey home. Dragon’s Roost, devoid of these predators and far from any territory conflicts in the Badlands, is an appealing candidate.”

“So, what you mean to say is that a dragon could come here any time while we’re meeting this Fang pony?” Sanctis asked, not seeing the point. “Isn’t that dangerous? Couldn’t we meet him, I don’t know, literally anywhere else?”

Ace laughed for a moment before he continued. “To meet Fang anywhere else would be the real danger. You’ll see why when you meet him,” he said as he looked up the mountain.

Between the conversation and the carved steps leading up the side of the mountain, they were already nearing the top. Travelling with somepony else really is more convenient.

Sanctis filled the time with thoughts of who Fang would be. One of Ace’s foals? He never mentioned how many he had at the inn. I wonder what his full name is… Snarl Fang?

Sanctis imagined a powerful Unicorn with spear in hoof, fighting a dragon. A flowing red mane like Ace’s and with a scar over one eye. Muscles trained over a life time of combating wild dragons that came too close to pony towns.

In her imaginings, they swiftly crested the summit of the mountain and found… nothing.

“Did Fang already leave?” Sanctis despaired as Ace made to sit in the middle of the summit, his back to a large rock that served as the precipice.

“He probably left to get something to eat,” he said as Sanctis made to sit beside him “Probably with his partner as well.”

Sanctis harrumphed. “Well how long do we just sit here doing nothing?” Then an idea sprung to her mind, “Can we start my magic lessons now?!”

With a quiet laugh, Ace nodded. “We can talk about the principles of magic, but any actual lessons would need to be in a place a bit closer to the ground,” he said, glancing at the edge of the mountain meaningfully. “We wouldn’t want you to levitate anything pony-shaped without knowing how to control yourself.”

Sanctis looked at the edge as well, remembering her earlier thought of pony paste. She managed to keep the shiver from reaching her spine.

“To start off: Magic is a muscle, much like the mind and the body. At first, you must learn how that muscle moves, and what that muscle can do comfortably. That’s why as foals, Unicorns often have uncontrollable outbursts of magic: they are just flexing their muscle without any idea of what it does.

“This is actually very healthy, as it means that that muscle is getting some exercise. First-time parents often make the mistake of inhibiting their Unicorn foals’ magic, or punishing or reprimanding them to teach them not to use it.”

That explains why I have such a hard time doing anything with magic… Mom would have definitely not wanted me using magic in the house as a foal…

Sanctis realized Ace was watching her reaction, then realized he had practically read her mind through her face. Oops.

“Such a foal would find their magical muscle has atrophied when they grow older, and will need to put forth greater effort into learning to connect with and control their magic.”

I can do effort! Sanctis thought, glad that her mother hadn’t completely ruined her future.

“Like a muscle, it is possible to use it too much, or rely on it too much and cause your other muscles to atrophy as well. In the case of the former, using too much magic can cause you to deplete your magic reserves. Doing so means you will be without your magic for anywhere from five days to several weeks, varying from pony to pony.”

Several WEEKS without magic?! Sanctis thought, then realized the irony of that thought coming from a filly who hadn’t ever used magic before.

“Many ponies misguidedly believe that magic is just spells given form; the opposite is true. Spells are magic given form. It is possible to form magic without a purpose, or to give it a purpose after calling it forth.

“For the sake of our lessons, I will be teaching you how to control your magic, not to cast specific spells. Once you grasp the fundamentals, and learn to control your magic as easily as you control your hoof, you’ll find your magic to be a much more versatile tool.”

Ace’s eyes drifted to the sky, and he got that big goofy grin that he got when he did something devious. Following his gaze, Sanctis saw a huge dragon… flying straight toward them.

The color drained from her face. Her hooves and mouth were stunned beyond her control. Her thoughts frozen.

Ace watched as the dragon landed on the perch behind them. His smile still plastered on his face, Ace walked toward the giant dragon.

The dragon was a solid midnight black, one eye a dark void, ostensibly all pupil, and the other was red and shaped like a fang, with two points on top coalescing to a single point on the bottom. He was almost two hundred feet of pure, lean scaly doom, his wings beat once as he balanced – they were leathery like bat wings and where his veins shown through the membrane it was like constellations of stars.

And Ace walked right up to it.

“Ace!” Sanctis finally managed to speak as she mastered her fear. “We have to leave! It’s dangerous!”

Ace laughed as loud as he could, the dragon looking perplexed. His massive head tilting to one side as he looked at her.

“He’s not dangerous, he’s my friend!” he said, hysterical. “Fang, show her your smile!”

THAT’s Fang?!

Then the dragon smiled. He had no teeth, his jaw separated as though there used to be teeth, and the look on his face was something out of a comedy.

Sanctis’ fear melted away as she started laughing hysterically too. Fang put his claws in his mouth and pulled the smile wider, tilting it and his head at various angles. Sanctis rolled on the ground, her hooves clutching her stomach, her eyes closed as they teared up.

When they opened again, Fang’s head was inches from her own, upside down as he stretched his mouth as far as it would go. Sanctis thought she would die of laughter.

As Sanctis recovered from her laughter, Fang was caressing Ace’s mane and back like he was the pet, Ace hugging his hooves around Fang – which meant just placing them flat against his lean stomach as he sat placidly.

“Old friend, it’s great to see you again, but I’m afraid I must ask a favor of you.” The dragon cocked his head to the side, inquiring. “Let me feed you. All of me. You know what’s going on?”

Sanctis didn’t like the idea of feeding a giant dragon – fangs or not.

Fang nodded. Ace walked to the center of the summit, motioning for Sanctis to step aside as he did so. “Everything will be fine, Sanctis… I hope.”

Ace laid his sword, saddlebags, necklace and glasses to one side, then nodded up at Fang. “I’m ready.”

Placing his front legs on the ground, Fang leaned forward, his head nearing Ace, his mouth opening… then his mouth enveloped Ace’s head!

“Ace!” Sanctis started as she ran forward, but Ace just held up a hoof, signaling her to stop.

Then Fang’s mouth turned as black as night. Blacker than night. It started to swirl around like water draining out of a sink. There was a sucking sound like air being pulled into a vacuum.

Still, Ace motioned for her to remain still.

The vortex spun around Ace’s head for what felt like hours, but watching the sun Sanctis knew it was minutes stretching past.

The Vortex stopped for a moment, Fang starting to pull his head away, until Ace said, “All of it. Every last drop.”

Sanctis had never seen a dragon look concerned – never saw a dragon, but that’s besides the point. Fang was concerned.

He continued anyway.

For several long minutes more, Fang did his vortex sucky-sound thing, and Sanctis was afraid of what was happening. Was Ace giving his life to feed a dragon? Was this how dragons ate?

She’d only seen dragons in books… they had teeth, and Fang didn’t. Did that have something to do with it?

Then again, they also breathed fire. Not… sink-swirls.

Then there was a hissing sound. It sounded like air escaping a balloon, mixed with the cries of agony that escaped the damned when they fell into the eternal fire.

Fang looked really concerned now. He stopped what he was doing, and Ace pleaded, almost pained. “ALL of it, Fang!”

Fang turned his sink-swirler back on and the hissing continued. Was it getting louder?

“Don’t stop until the hissing does!” Ace yelled over the sound.

Sanctis had to cover her ears at the screeching, but she never took her eyes off of Ace and Fang.

Her chest on the ground, her hooves over her ears, she had a better angle to see into Fang’s maw. It looked like he was sucking something out of Ace. Duh. But his broken horn was glowing as he did it!

Was that black around his horn the color of Ace’s magic, or the color of Fang’s… sink-swirl thing?

Finally, the hissing stopped, and Fang immediately pulled his mouth away to look at Ace, his countenance absolute worry.

Ace flexed a hoof experimentally, then looked over his body slowly. He leapt in the air on all fours, then whooped as he started jumping in earnest.

He pivoted on a front hoof, bucked his back legs, pushed off with a front hoof, landed on a back hoof, did a pirouette with his other back hoof kicking out, then collapsed onto his back – still spinning – and balanced on a front hoof, spinning and kicking then pushing off and landed on all fours.

“Fang, this is amazing!” he said, hugging the dragon’s head to his chest. “You sucked all the magic out of not just me, but the pre-magic as well! It doesn’t hurt to move any more, my body doesn’t feel sluggish!

“Do you know what this means?!” He said, holding the dragon’s head by the cheeks as his mismatched gaze matched the dragon’s mismatched stare.

“Well I sure have no idea what ANY of this means!” Sanctis said, happy that Ace was better or whatever, but mad at being left out again and mad that Ace didn’t tell her what was going on and mad at Ace for scaring the coat off of her with his dragon-mouth stunt.

Looking to Sanctis, back to Fang, then back to Sanctis – all smiles – Ace said, “After my horn broke, my magic started devouring me from the inside out. Fang is a Void Dragon. He eats magic. Ergo…”

“… He ate all the magic from your body, so now it’s not eating you anymore?” Wait, why was it eating him in the first place? I’ve heard of unicorns breaking their horns before, but never of this…

“Right! And… remember the lesson we just had.” Fang snuggled his head against Ace, his worry gone and replaced with joy at aiding his friend.

“Oh! That means your magic won’t come back for several weeks!” Wait, that was a good thing… right?

“Well, a week in my case, at the most… but yes! Exactly that!”

“So wait, you mean you broke your horn, and your magic was destroying you,” Ace nodded. “And the Matron knew this, and about that… thing… inside of you, so she sent you here to see Fang?” Ace nodded again emphatically.

“The thing inside of you, that the Matron couldn’t help you with? And that even if the Matron could remove it, it would have killed you?” Another nod. “Then how in Equestria did she know it wouldn’t kill you if Fang did it?!”

“Sanctis… that thing is still inside of me. It feeds on magic, and grows and grows as it does so. It hurts… it hurts a lot but it also is saving my life right now.

“Fang just sucked the magic out of it – that was the hissing noise – and that made it shrink down. Without my magic destroying my body, and without the pre-magic devouring the magic, I feel as good as I did before my horn broke! Well, I had magic then so maybe not exactly as strong as I felt then, but still really good!”

“Then you’re cured?” Sanctis hoped.

“Well, no. But Fang has bought me another week if we’re lucky, and by that time we should be back in Ponyville and Twilight can help me keep it under control until… until I can do something that’ll make me better… hopefully.”

“You don’t sound very confident,” Sanctis said, making her way over to Fang’s head. It’s not every day you get to pet a dragon!

“There’s… quite a few ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’ in the plan… But Twilight and I will work something out, I’m sure of it,” he said while showing Sanctis the best places to scratch.

Fang seemed to be enjoying the attention, rubbing his head against her hoof.

Sanctis had felt leather – real leather, made from actual dead animal hides tanned and stripped – on a sword hilt at the museum in Frost Valley, in the Magic Wars section. Fang’s head felt like a cool, bumpy version of that.

Her hoof wandering down his neck, the bumps – scales – along the back were bigger the further she went.

Fang snuggled against her chest now, rubbing those cool bumps against her as she stroked his neck. Ace laughed as he watched the dragon soaking up all the attention.

Best. Day. EVER. Sanctis thought to herself.

Well, aside from that whole foalnapping and ritual-sacrifice thing…