Chapter 3-Miracle To Be Alive
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Chapter 3- Miracle To Be Alive
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“Be careful with him, he’s in pretty bad shape!” Twilight grunted out.
“Dag nab it! How much does this guy weigh, anyhow? I’ve been halin’ fully loaded apple-carts that were lighter than him!” Applejack mumbled out as she, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight carried the unconscious Alicorn into the main hall of Friendship Castle. Behind them, Nyx and Rarity walked alongside each other while Rarity carried Spike on her back, readjusting her weight to make sure that she didn’t lose her balance and drop him.
Rainbow Dash snorted, “Oh horsefeathers, at Wonderbolt Academy, we have to group with a partner and try to lift three-hundred pound cinder blocks to train us when we’ll need to carry ponies out of danger when they can’t move themselves. I’m telling you, this guy weighs TWICE that much, at least!” She looked the immobile alicorn over, “You gotta admit though, he’s built pretty well. Most of that weight is muscle.” She said admirably.
Applejack stared at her blankly, “But ya don’ GO to Wonderbolt Academy.”
“Yeah, but I’ve heard about it!” Rainbow defended.
Twilight rolled her eyes while she looked around in the dark. “Can anypony find the light-switch?” she asked, “Oh, how I wish I had a map for this place. We’ve been living here for almost four months and I just recently found the bathrooms! Oh, wait, here it is.” Twilight found the right switch and pushed the ON button, illuminating the whole castle so they could see where they were going.
“Twilight? Where are the bedrooms?” Fluttershy asked while she balanced the alicorn’s left leg on her shoulder.
“Guest bedrooms are on the second floor,” she answered, pointing a hoof at the staircase.
“You mean we have to carry him all the way up there?!” Dash wined, groaning at the aspect of having to do more work than what she considered necessary as she stared at the long stairwell.
“Oh, come on, Dashie! It’s good exercise, and besides, it’ll be great to get Heavy-set McChunky off our backs!” Pinkie chirped with a slight grunt as she readjusted her grip on the stallion.
“Well, sorry if I don’t share in your enthusiasm, Pinkie. But, it will be nice to get this guy off MY back!”
“Twilight?” Nyx walked up along her mother’s side, then proceeded to bombard her with questions, “Where do you think he came from? Who is he? And why is he an alicorn? I thought there weren’t any boys like us.” she asked anxiously, curious about their new house guest.
“I don’t know, honey. I thought so, too.” Twilight answered her with a heavy sigh, “All I know for sure is that as soon as this jerk wakes up, I’m gonna have a word with him!”
“Well, he deserves it more than anythin’, but Twi?” Applejack said firmly, “jus’ be careful around him, sugarcube. Now I don’ know a thing about magic an’ all, but if that boy could keep ya an’ Rarity here back jus’ by usin’ Spike, I think it’s safe to say that he’s gotta pack a punch, an’ with that temper of his he gets ornerier than a rattlesnake!”
Twilight nodded as she looked at the alicorn’s face, “Don’t worry, Applejack, I’ll be careful.”
Rarity walked up to the front of the group, “Twilight darling, may I go up first? I would very much like to get Spike into his bed.”
“Can I go up, too?” Nyx asked, chiming in.
“Sure, Nyx. Show Rarity where Spike’s room is while I help with our... guest.”
“Okay!” Nyx chirped out. Rarity nodded and followed Nyx up the stairs, leaving the rest of them behind.
////
“Alright, let's sit him down now,” Rarity said gently as she levitated Spike off her back onto the soft cushions. Spike breathed slowly as she ran her hoof down his frills, barely giving any notice to her touch, “there, I think that should do it.” She looked Spike over, noticing that his bandages were coming undone.
“Nyx dear, does Twilight have a First-Aid kit around?”
Nyx, who had been going through Spike's things trying to find a few items that she knew would cheer him up later on, looked up from a storage case on the side of the bed. “What?”
“A First Aid kit, darling. Spike's bandages are coming loose.”
Nyx nodded and walked out of the bedroom, leaving her alone with Spike. He was sound asleep now, allowing her some time to her thoughts. She began to go through the basket that Nyx had brought out, giggling a little as she went through the more embarrassing items.
“Rarity?”
Rarity turned to look at Nyx, who was staring at her with her slit turquoise eyes and a small white box with a red cross painted on the side levitating it by her side.
“Oh thank you, sweetie,” Rarity took the box into her magic and placed it down on the bedsheets. She then took a roll of new bandages and a bottle of rubbing alcohol out of the kit.
“Rarity, is Spike going to be alright?” Nyx asked slowly, growing anxious as she looked the baby dragon over.
“Sweetheart, I'm sure that Spike is going to be just fine.” Rarity told Nyx reassuringly. Truthfully, she wasn't sure about Spike at all, and she honestly did not believe that he would get better mentally. The poor thing had been through a lot that day, and she wondered if he would ever truly recover. She was also troubled by what that thing had said to her back at the temple. “I can only assume that there is a special connection between the two of you to warrant such power, what do you think?” What was that supposed to mean? She knew that the little Dragon was...fond of her, and she, of course, cared for him as well, but she knew that there could be nothing between them but friendship. It just wouldn't work, wouldn't it?
Rarity shook her head and pushed her thoughts aside while she replaced the bandages on his forehead. Spike only gave a slight moan as she put some of the rubbing alcohol on all the cuts that he had gotten from being slammed into a wall. Oh, Celestia, he was burning up. She would have to call the doctor after she finished with her work, finishing with his head and working on the bandages wrapped around his chest.
“Nyx, could you help me lift him up so I can change this?” Rarity asked slowly.
“Sure.” Nyx jumped onto the bedsheets and with some difficulty, she started using her magic to lift him forward.
Rarity noticed her struggling and said, “Now dear, don't strain yourself. If this is too hard for you-”
“No, I'm o.k. I've been practicing with mom,” she answered. Gritting her teeth, her horn glowed and she got him leaning forward so Rarity could get to work.
“Thank you. My, you're starting to get pretty good.” Rarity commented as she busied herself with removing the old cloth, “Twilight must be really proud.”
Nyx smiled at her as Rarity continued to remove the bandage wrappings around Spike's chest, making sure that she did not hurt his back. But while she worked to remove them, she started to notice that the bandages seemed to be stretched out, as if Spike had grown a bit since that afternoon. Her mind began to race at the memory of the time that he had gone on his little greed-driven rampage just a few years before, and she quickly used her magic to open one of his eyelids, half expecting to see those red-halo glowing emerald orbs that he had when he had gone through that momentary madness. However, his eyes were the same normal emerald color that she was used to, and her investigation did not stir him from his sleep, making her give a sigh of relief. But why were the bandages stretched like that? If he hasn't gone into a dragon's rage-shift, then what? How else could someone increase in size in such a short amount of time? That was-
“Rarity, look.”
Rarity and Nyx both looked down at Spike's back dumbfounded. All of the burn marks had disappeared, leaving no trace that they had even been there. But in their place were several large bulges side by side of each other about the size of golf balls, all of them growing all the way down his back like tumors. The tumors were the same shade of green as his ears, though they had a more milky hue, and they had a web-like texture, very much like the skin between the fingers of frogs. The strange phenomena left Rarity mystified, and she slowly extended a hoof to feel one of them.
This proved to be a mistake. As soon as she came into contact with his skin, his eyes shot open and he jerked forward, causing an eep to escape Nyx’s throat before she was knocked off the bed while Rarity barely had time to register what had happened before the little dragon fell back on his pillow screaming his head off.
“Oh Celestia, Spike! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean-” Rarity was cut off when the hoof she extended to comfort him was swatted away by one of Spike's claws.
“P-Please! Please, j-just don’t t-touch...Agh!” Anything else that issued from Spike was mumbled out while he curled up into a small ball, gritting his teeth as the pain in his back caused him to tear up.
Rarity didn’t know what to do. Twilight would probably have a better chance at handling this situation, but she was scared to face her, worried about how Twilight would react.
So she took Spike into her arms and held him close to her chest, slowly rocking him while repeating an apology in his ear. They stayed in that position for several minutes, any whimpering that escaped his throat was quickly hushed by Rarity, who calmly and quietly hummed to him a lullaby that she had sung many a time to Sweetie Belle when she had on occasion awakened from a nightmare in the middle of the night until, after thirty minutes of comforting, Spike finally drifted off to sleep.
At the same time Rarity, who had grown weary from the overthinking processes of her mind which had been running since the beginning of this dreadful night, slowly started to drift herself, her eyes growing heavier and heavier as the clock ticked by. However, before she could completely slip away, she was pulled away from sleep by a loud crash, and was alarmed at the sound of her friends raised shouts and cries poured in from the other room.
“Colors, for Celestia's sake, keep him pinned down!”
“I-I can't! He won't stop mov-” there was a pause for a moment before she heard anything else, “Oh My God!”
“I-Is t-t-that what I-I think it is?!?”
“Pinkie, what are you...Eup!!!”
“Oh, God! Twilight!!!”
////
Twilight ran right into the next room only to be faced with a horrific scene. Rainbow Dash was in a corner trying to comfort Fluttershy who was rocking back and forth with her watery eyes closed shut while blood stains covered both of their bodies. Pinkie Pie was off in another corner and was also stained in the red liquid, more so than Fluttershy, and her usual self for the second time that night was replaced with a sense of revulsion, which was followed by her vomiting all over the floor. But the most disturbing part of this horrid picture was the Alicorn convulsing on the carpet. He was suffering a violent seizure, foaming at the mouth while making blood-curdling gurgled noises, but what was worse was that several visibly severe cuts were forming all across his body, making a bloody mess. Applejack was behind him trying to get a handle on things, but fruitlessly.
“Applejack, what happened?” Twilight half shouted out.
“Hell if I know, he just snapped!” Her hooves were slipping all across his body as she failed to get a good grip on him, “Please Help!”
Twilight hurried her way across the room to Applejack, using her magic to lift the Alicorn off the ground. It wasn’t easy however, as the alicorn’s violent shaking made it hard to keep her focus.
But when they finally got him on the bed, he suddenly lurched his head forward and coughed up an alarming amount of blood, falling back on the pillows as the red liquid continued to come up.
“Oh Celestia, this is bad, this is really bad!” Twilight worded out while hyperventilating. Her eyes danced across the room until they connected with Rainbow Dash, who was lying on the floor alongside Fluttershy.
“Rainbow!” she shouted, an idea popping into her head.
Dash quickly turned to face Twilight, her blood-stained face showing a small amount of fear.
“Rainbow Dash, I need you to get Dr. Heartstrings as fast as possible!”
“B-But Twilight-”
“Just do it!” Twilight cried. Dash nodded, turning to Fluttershy to say a few comforting words to her before she flew out the window, after which came a loud crack as Rainbow Dash flew as fast as possible towards the local clinic.
“Applejack!” Twilight said as she turned her head back from the window, “I need you to hold his head down, good and tight.” She said as her horn glowed, materializing an Advanced-Aid kit beside her, quickly taking out several medical instruments out.
Applejack did as she was told, doing her best to retrain him so Twilight could do whatever she was planning. However, her eyes went wide when Twilight pulled out a scalpel along with some translucent tubes, the blade reflecting in the light.
“Now hold on there partner, whataya up to?!” she said with her eyes farrowed, worried that Twilight might still be a little mad at this guy for using Spike as a puppet and trying to barbecue them.
“We need to make an airway for him to breath with, so I’m gonna make an incision in the throat, and push this tube into his lungs!” She answered quickly, not taking her eyes off of what she was doing.
“Wow there nelly, wait a sec,” Applejack said panicky, “why don’ we just’ wait for Rainbow ta come with the Doc an-”
“There’s no TIME!” Twilight shouted, scaring Applejack a little, “If we don’t do this now, he’ll drown in his own fluids!”
“Well, why the hey doncha just put it in his mouth then, whaddya gotta cut ‘em for?” Applejack asked, confused by Twilight’s extreme approach.
“And take the chance that he BITES it while he’s having this seizure? I’m not gonna take that risk, Applejack.”
Applejack sighed at her friend’s ever conquering logic as she got herself into position, “Alright,” she said, “but y'all make it quick, ya hear? I don’ know how long I can keep ‘em steady!” She got underneath him and wrapped her hooves around his torso and grabbed his head, signaling Twilight to go ahead and do what needed to be done.
Twilight was sweating all over as she brought the scalpel to his neck. She had read up in several medical textbooks that had talked about this kind of procedure; She knew all the terms, the right and wrong places to cut, what to do when you got the airway in, but now that she was actually doing it, she was nothing but a nervous wreck. What if she screwed up? Even if this colt had tried to hurt her friends and her family, she didn’t want to be responsible for his death, but if she didn’t do this, there was no doubt that he WOULD die. She wondered if she was making the right decision, wishing that Rainbow Dash would just walk in with Dr. Heartstrings, untying her hooves from this responsibility so that the doctor could take over the situation.
But they never came, no dramatic entry into this nightmare, no salvation revealing itself to her. So Twilight, taking a deep breath, brought the scalpel to his throat.
She felt sick to her stomach as she made a cut through the skin, giving special attention to what she was doing so she didn’t sever an artery. She pushed in a little deeper, forcing a gurgle from the stallion, while she continued until she made contact with his windpipe, causing a jet of blood to squirt upwards in her face. She recoiled from this, tasting copper, almost throwing up right then and there. But she held it down and continued, making a clean incision about two centimeters in length into his throat.
“T-Twilight, ya need ta hurry!” Applejack grunted out, “He’s real strong!”
Twilight nodded and quickly levitated the tube, directing it into the small hole that she had made in his throat. As she pushed it in, blood immediately started to flow through the clear tube, forcing Twilight to move the exposed end away from her to avoid being drenched. She slowly moved the tip down into his body, poking and prodding for an opening. She eventually found what she was looking for and wasted no time forcing the tip into it. When she did, a strong flow of the red liquid poured through the tube, spilling into a puddle on the floor beside the bed. She frowned, knowing that this meant that the lung was completely flooded. She pulled on the tube a little until she was satisfied that the tip had exited the air chamber, then twisted it to face the opposite direction, hoping that the other lung wasn’t flooded as well.
To her relief, as she pushed it in, the blood in the tube began to flow back into his body. She watched closely at the exposed end of the tube, waiting for a sign that air was pumping in and out of the tube. But when none came, she quickly started to panic.
“Oh, crap! Oh crap, oh crap, OH CRAP! DON’T DO THIS TO ME!” She cried as she desperately breathed into the end of the pipe.
It seemed like forever, but eventually, copper-flavored oxygen started to pump out of the end of the tube.
“YES!!!” she cried out as she got off the bed, “Applejack, we did it!”
“That’s great, Twi,” Applejack said as she let the alicorn go, “But he’s still bleedin’, BAD.”
“I know, but I think we bought him a few minutes. We just need to make sure he doesn’t slip until Dr. Heartstrings gets here, so-”
“He’s in here, Doc!” a familiar voice was heard from outside the door, and after a few moments, Rainbow Dash came running inside the room with Dr. Stable and Nurse Redheart tailing her, along with two other nurses trailing behind.
The Doctor took one look at the scene, then turned to one of his nurses, “Band Aid, get these mares out of here, NOW. Then immediately report back in here and help Nurse Redheart to set up my instruments!”
“Yes, sir.” a pink mare with a red and white mane nodded and started to direct the group out of the room. Fluttershy, who had been frozen in place by all the chaos had to be carried out by Applejack and Rainbow Dash, while Pinkie slowly scooted out carrying a bucket that she held close to her gangrene colored face.
And last to come out was Twilight, who all the while just hoped that she had done the right thing, trotting out into the hall as the door to the bedroom that they had all left behind was locked to ensure of no interruptions.
////
“Princess Twilight?”
Twilight steered from the nap that she had been taking, slowly opening her eyes to look around her. Nyx was sound asleep tucked underneath Twilight’s wing, and her friends, except for Rarity, who was tending to Spike upstairs, were all spread out across the entertainment room of the castle passed out, each of them recovering from their ordeal just a few hours before.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight twisted her head back, peering over the rim of the couch to face a wary Dr. Stable standing at the door, his doctor’s coat covered in dried blood. He wore an exhausted expression on his face, one that worked perfectly with his rat-nested mane.
Yawning, Twilight gave him a warm smile before fixing her own mane, “What time is it?”
“It’s nearly dawn.” he answered with a quick look at his pocket watch, “Twilight, could you step out into the hallway for a minute? There are a few questions that I would like to ask you.”
Twilight nodded, quietly and carefully getting to her hooves, mindful not to wake Nyx with her movements, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead before walking slowly out into the hallway with the doctor.
As soon as he had closed the door behind him, Dr. Stable took Twilight to the side and calmly sat her down on the hallway couch, leaning forward until his face was only within a few inches of Twilight’s, looking her straight in the eye, “Before we start,” he said grimly, “Was it you who performed a Tracheotomy on that patient upstairs?”
Twilight nodded, fessing up to it, “Yes, yes I did.”
“I just hope you realize,” the doctor said in a harsh tone, “just how stupid it was for you to even attempt to do something like that. A vast number of things could have happened in there. One false move and he could have bled out right there on the spot! You could have killed him!”
Twilight sighed, “I know, I’m sorry. I panicked. When he started to choke up all that blood, I lost my sense of better judgment, and… I-I just didn’t know what else to do.” Twilight confessed, lowering her head to stare at the ground, ashamed for being so careless.
“Well, all the same,” the doctor sighed, “though I don’t approve of your actions, what you did may have saved his life.”
“But,” he narrowed her eyes, “I don’t what to catch you performing this kind of procedure ever again. Do I make myself clear?”
Twilight looked up to meet Dr. Stable’s serious expression, one that was soon followed with a gentle smile. Twilight returned it with her own and nodded. Satisfied, Dr. Stable levitated a clipboard and pen towards himself and began to go down a long list of questions.
“Well, first I’d like to know the patient's name,” he said.
Twilight groaned, biting her lip before giving the only answer that she could, and hated to give, “I don’t know.”
The doctor quickly scratched off something while adding some notes before continuing, “Alright, what about age or residents?”
“I don’t know that either.”
The doctor sighed as he jotted something else down before looking up to Twilight, “Alright, since it’s obvious that you don’t know him personally, nor does it seem that you had any prior engagements with him, might I ask where you found him?”
So Twilight took in a deep breath and looked at Dr. Stable, telling him everything that had happened in the course of events over the last twenty-four hours, recalling every small detail that she could think of, from finding the foals inside the Everfree Temple to confronting a spellbound Spike, then finally to all that had happened with their “guest”, from their journey from the forest to him going into epileptic-shock. She finished her story before lowering her head again, finding it hard to believe that all of these things had happened in such a short amount of time.
“And he didn’t show any signs of bodily harm or trauma when you first brought him here?” The doctor asked.
“No. He was fine when we carried him all the way from the Everfree forest, but when we got him inside the bedroom, THAT’S when all of Tartarus broke loose.”
“Interesting.” Dr. Stable looked down at the notes that he had made, “Well, I think it’s obvious that he wasn’t under any form of concealment spell, otherwise he would have been long dead.” he paused for a moment to scribble something down, “My best guess is that, while Spike was under a hypnotic state, there had been several different stages that were required for the seal-breaking ritual that you’ve described. But when you and your friends encountered him in the temple, he was diverted from his task, and he was deprived of his chance to complete whatever it was that was left out of the ceremony.”
“Well, that seems logical.” Twilight laid back on the couch and stared at the ceiling, “So, when will I be able to speak to this guy?” Twilight asked.
The doctor’s poster quickly changed as he placed the clipboard down on the couch, “Honestly, I can’t guarantee that you ever will.”
Twilight’s ears went flat on her forehead. Frowning, she looked down at the doctor, “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” Dr. Stable said coldly, “that that stallion up there is a sick pony, a VERY sick pony. Twilight, the damage to his body isn’t isolated to his lungs. He’s suffered substantial wounds all over his body, and most of them are lethal! I had to operate on him for almost three hours, and then it took me another forty-five minutes just to assure that he would STAY in a consistent, reliably stable condition.”
“Y-You had to operate?!” Twilight stammered “H-How bad is he?”
“Take a look yourself. I have a list here of everything that I could find.” the doctor levitated the clipboard and gave it to Twilight, who quickly took it in her own magic and read it to herself.
Her eyes blinked rapidly as she skimmed down the paper. Appalled, but taking her time to go over the graphic details. He had a dislocated wing and shoulder with the rest of the arm fractured in five different places, and seven of his ribs were broken. There had been damage caused by the shattered glass to both of his eyes, and unfortunately, the doctor had made a note to the side that said that she had removed the right one to avoid infection. The doctor had relocated three vertebrae in his spinal column, and the worst of it all was that his stomach, pancreas, and both of his kidneys had all shut down. Of course, as she had already known, he had suffered severe cuts and bruises that encompassed his entire body, along with the one that she had given him so that she could open up an airway for his lung to operate. Dr. Stable had even done an assessment as to why his lung had flooded, jotting down that he had been wounded by a foreign metal object-
Twilight paused, looking at the words that she had just read, before looking up to the doctor, “Wait, what object?”
“This one.” the doctor said calmly as he pulled out a translucent container out of his lab-coat that held a large, thin piece of metal, one end, in particular, was visibly sharp.
“Is that a spearhead?!” Twilight choked out.
“No, I believe that it’s likely the broken end of a sword.”
“Sweet Luna.” Twilight gasped, her mind immediately directing to the next obvious question, “I...Is he going to die?” she asked.
However Dr. Stable shook his head in reply, “That’s where things start to get…complicated. Twilight, I need you to tell me everything you know about the Element of Magic.”
“Wait, why?” Twilight asked, her ears perking up, “If this is about it being embedded in his chest, I really don’t-”
“Embedded!?” the doctor cried, “Twilight, the Element has FUSED itself to his heart.”
“WHAT?!?” Twilight shouted in shocked.
“Believe me, Twilight, I don’-”
“NO! NO! NO! That’s not possible! What do you mean fused?! The Element of Magic would never merge with such a terrible pony like him! It’s unethical!” She spat out.
“LOOK!” the doctor growled, snapping Twilight out of her post-argumentative rage. Satisfied that he had calmed Twilight down enough that she would listen to him, he continued, “Look, I’m just telling you what I saw when I cut him open, and I’m telling you, though I can’t explain it, that there’s an outgrowth of veins and muscle that’s connecting the Element to his heart. And I don’t know why, but at the moment it’s put him in a coma, but it’s also acting as a powerhouse for the organs that have ceased to function. Hell, it’s even pumping the vital minerals and nutrients that he requires throughout his body, along with enough oxygen-rich blood to keep his brain functions intact.”
Twilight just sat there to contemplate everything that she had heard, “And… it’s doing all of this, just to keep him alive?”
“Yes,” the doctor answered, “and it seems pretty damn clear to me that it’s well set on that one goal. Take a look at this.” Dr. Stable lifted up his hoof and revealed a patch in the fur where his hair had been singed with a pretty good burn to go along with it.
“What happened?”
The doctor huffed, “When I tried to surgically remove the Element from his body, it lit up and SHOCKED me!”
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at this, “Well why did you try to remove it if it was helping him?”
“Well, I didn’t know what it was doing yet, and when I saw that connecting tissue, I guess I panicked a little myself. Guess I was just asking for trouble.” The doc laid back and let out a chuckle, his own mixing in with Twilight’s.
The two just sat there for a few minutes going over a few legal medical custodies and policy issues before Twilight looked up at the hallway clock, “Well, thank you for your time, Dr. Stable, and thank you for everything that you’ve done. You know, if you could, I’d like for you to come back every few days to check up on him, if that’s alright? Medicine really isn’t my strong point.”
“Oh don’t worry, I would have done that whether you had wanted me to or not.”
They both laughed as Twilight showed the doctor to the door, “Well, thanks, and I’ll be seeing you on Tuesday?”
“Yes, and please keep a close eye on him. I can’t guarantee that his present condition will stay as it is,” he said as he walked out the door.
“I will. Good day to you.” Twilight closed the door behind her and immediately slumped down to the floor. She felt so confused, everything around her seemed to be happening too quickly. It had only been a few months when everything and everyone that she loved had almost been taken away from her by Tirek, and after that, her life had been made to constant work. She was assigned to look over everything that happened in and around the provinces of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, and about three weeks before, both Luna and Celestia had left for the Crystal Empire because Shining was too busy taking care of Cadence, who had herself not been able to act in the government since she had entered her ninth month of pregnancy, leaving all of Equestria’s matters in Twilight’s hooves. Since then Twilight had mostly stayed in Canterlot along with Nyx and Spike, spending several sleepless nights butting heads with the government officials. Everything had come down on her almost overnight, and now this.
Twilight looked up the staircase and saw a little light shining from Spike’s room. She slowly got to her hooves and walked up the stairs, deciding that it was time that she finally needed to talk to her closest friend.
She was going to see Rarity.
////
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Rarity’s body moved slightly when the knocking started, but at the moment she was too busy enjoying one of the most wonderful dreams that she had ever had. In it she was enjoying a picnic with all of her friends, each and every one of them, including Pinkie, acting as though they had been blessed with the highest of aristocratic upbringings, all of them discussing the events of their everyday lives. Then she was left alone with Spike, the two of them enjoying some sandwiches and laughs while watching the sunset, sitting close together on a hill. Then they started to sit closer to each other, Rarity leaning her head on his shoulder. They stayed in that position for what seemed like forever until, as the setting sun plunged under the horizon, Spike leaned in and kis-
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
The loud banging at the door woke Rarity from her sleep, at least she believed it did. Realistically, she wasn’t quite sure if it had been the knocking or the dream that had steered her, nor was she certain whether she was thankful or mad as hell that the dream had been interrupted before its conclusion. She just wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
“Rarity?” a voice said through the door, “It's me, Twilight. Can I come in? I need to talk to talk to somepony right now.”
“Twilight? Oh! Oh, yes Twilight, yes please come in, dear.” she said.
Twilight opened the door to find Rarity lying in the same bed as Spike, the little drake curled up in a ball, sound asleep. Rarity was sprawled out on the bed, and had given up all of the blankets to Spike to keep him warm, while at the same time she had curled around him, offering her own body heat. The scene brought a smile to Twilight's face, happy to see that Rarity was willing to do anything, even if it meant leaving behind her own comfort zone, just for her makeshift brother's well-being.
Twilight stepped inside and closed the door, “Hey, how’s Spike holding up?” she asked softly, not wanting to wake him.
“He’s holding up, I guess.” Rarity sighed, taking notice of his labored breathing, “He was off and on a few hours ago, but I think that now he’ll be fine sleeping it off, at least until morning.”
“That’s good.” Twilight walked over and sat on the bed, watching Spike’s chest move up and down, “So, how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, I’m… fine.” she said while righting herself to face Twilight, “I just can’t believe that that ruffian would hurt the poor thing. Why would he do something so horrid? Taking over his mind, making do terrible things, trying to hurt us, all so he could just fall over and die.”
“Yeah, no joke.” Twilight said with a fetched laugh, a flood of emotions going through her mind, “Do you want to know something, Rarity?”
Rarity raised her ear to listen, “Sure, pray-tell darling.”
“All my life,” Twilight started, “I’ve been under a sexist impression. I’ve been taught by all my teachers, the so-called experts, even Princess Celestia herself, that it was impossible for a male of any pony-race to be born or even made into an Alicorn. All because they were either too testosterone-driven or spent most of their time thinking with their peckers instead of their heads, and because of that they could never become spiritually strong enough to handle the pure magical energy to achieve this form.” Twilight made a motion with her eyes to draw attention to her horn and wings before continuing, “And you know what? I believed it. I believed it with my whole being because I wanted to. I mean, how could some dumb stallion with his tongue wagging at every mare he sees ever be able to reach such a state of power and majesty? In a way, I was the perfect symbol and image of sexual bigotry… and then HE showed up.”
“Yes, I do say that that would definitely be enough cause to make anypony reevaluate everything that one has believed in.” Rarity nodded, followed by a sigh.
“But it’s so much more than that!” Twilight exclaimed, going into analysis-mode, “Not only does he defy everything that we as a race have believed in for over two thousand years, but he’s powerful! I’ve read books about performing spells while possessing another pony, most of them were even written by Star Swirl the Bearded himself. It’s not a widely known subject, nor is it a small feat either. From what's been studied, it’s practically impossible to cast a spell from a non-magical host. Even when Star Swirl tested it on a fellow unicorn studying on the same subject, he was barely able to cast a few levitation spells before he passed out from exhaustion.”
“But that stallion in there is incredible! You’ve seen what he was capable of, not only was he able to maintain a stable levitational fluid to lift Spike off the ground, not to mention throwing me half-way across a room, but when we put up a barrier to protect ourselves, he started to pound on our shield furiously, until-”
“Until it began to shatter.” Rarity interrupted, remembering the pain she felt in her horn as the barrier surrounding them had slowly begun to collapse.
“Exactly. However, what a shame it is that with all that power, not to derail from the fact that he could be the first male alicorn in history, but we have the opportunity to learn everything about him, and he has to be a complete asshole.”
“I’ll agree to that.” Rarity giggled before looking down at herself, “Still, we’ll be able to give him hell when he wakes up. I highly doubt that he’ll be able to do much of anything in his condition.”
“If he ever wakes up.” Twilight sighed.
“Now, Twilight-”
“I’m just facing reality, Rarity. He’s had it. Even if the Element of Magic is keeping him alive, being in a coma is practically the same thing as death! Now it won’t take anything short of a miracle to get him back.”
“Now that’s where you’ve hit the nail on the head, Twilight darling, but at the same time, you’re wrong. You’re thinking about this the wrong way,” Rarity stated as she leaned in closer to the purple mare, “Twilight, it IS a miracle that he’s alive. Dr. Heartstrings told me everything about what's happened to him, and really the details are rather appalling. I could never imagine somepony to be capable of going through whatever kind of hell on earth that he has, and though he’s wronged us greatly, I would never even think to wish it upon him.”
“But,” she repositioned herself so she could look Twilight in the eye, “He’s gone through that hell and he has survived! He’s alive! Right now, in that bedroom, he’s breathing, and every breath that he takes is a sign that he is fighting for his life, and that should give us hope, Twilight. Maybe there’s a reason for what he did to Spike. It might not even be a good one, but I want to know.” Rarity sighed, “All I’m trying to say is, don’t give up hope. You’ll get your chance to crucify him.”
Twilight smiled as Rarity looked back to Spike, her mind still at odds about her feelings for him.
“So, do you want to stay here for the rest of the day? It’s nearly dawn now, I don’t know if you're busy or not.” Twilight asked, unaware of Rarity’s conflict.
“No, I need to go make sure that Sweetie Belle hasn’t gotten into…” Rarity stopped mid-sentence and thought for a moment, “No, I’ll stay here, but I’ll need to get a few things from the Boutique.”
“Alright. Well, I’m gonna go back down stairs and continue my nap, so I’ll be seeing you in a couple of hours, okay?”
“Alright.” Rarity replied as Twilight walked out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Rarity alone with Spike and her thoughts.
She looked at the young drake while sweat dripped off of his body, the expression on his face telling her that he was in a lot of pain. She felt like she wanted to cry seeing him like this, wishing that she could do something for him. But she could only stand there, and wonder what was happening to him.
////
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So far............ I'm very impressed with this story and your way of imagery that sparks my interest further. It's fluid and coherent. Great job.
Check my blog if you want to see updates for the next chapters and how far I am to completing them!
Finally, NEW cover-art! Started on it Sunday and just finished it today for you all to see. And yes, that IS Novis flying alongside a dragon. Don't know WHY? Maybe you should read on to find out, but I can promise you this, it WILL. BE. EXCITING!!!
Click the link below to be in the know for the latest news on the progress for new and extended chapters right here, http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/508842/chapter-extension-chart
Hi, Folklore Brony.
Finally completed chapter III. Don't have much to say for this chapter other than the errors, a joke and a question.
-"had even be there"
*been
-"for him to breath with"
*breathe
-"who was attending to Spike"
While a change isn't necessary, as by technicality, the word's meaning covers what you were trying to get across, but
"Tending" seems to be more suitable than "attending". Just a recommendation.
"All of tararus"
*tartarus
-“Look, I’m just telling you what I saw when I cut him open, and I’m telling you that, though I can’t explain it, that there’s an outgrowth of veins and muscle that’s connecting the Element to his heart.
I believe you overuse "that" here.
Try this: -“Look, I’m just telling you what I saw when I cut him open, and I’m telling you, though I can’t explain it, that there’s an outgrowth of veins and muscle that’s connecting the Element to his heart.
- "moment it’s put"
*it
-" I need to talk to talk to somepony right now.”
Look at this one closely. I think you know what needs to be changed.
-" she certain weather"
*Whether
-" that ruthern"
What is a ruthern? Did you mean to say heathen?
A question about the Tracheotomy: Did you do a bit of research on proper procedure conduct? That's not a criticism; I simply want to know how much time you put into that procedure as to make the scene as medically accurate as possible. I ask because I'm a stickler for accuracy; I'd probably delay the writing process, with the amount of time I'd spend researching. It'd be worth not having anyone come along later and point out all the issues, be they mere nitpicks or glaring inaccuracies.
-" makeshift brother's well-being."
http://imgur.com/KEJJOO6