Student of the Night

by Nadir

Interlude: A Sick Little Student

Author's Note:

Just a fun little idea I had. Completely unedited. Will take down if people don't like it and re-polish. Going to get edited more. If you want to read it in its best state, its likely best to wait until I get it edited.

Actual chapter should be up later today/tomorrow.

Twilight nestled deeper into the sheets, head pounding, nose running, altogether miserable. The little seven year old filly had come down with the absolute worst illness possible. Deadlier than smallpox, more horrifying than leprosy, and more insidious than the plague. Somehow, she managed to stomach it with a brave smile. Somehow… Yes, the filly had come down with the pinnacle of disease.

The common cold struck fast and ruthlessly.

Yes, it had waylaid little Twilight to the bed with an efficiency not seen among modern illnesses. She sniffled, she sneezed, and goddesses yes, she coughed. All the while sinking further and further into a veritable nest of blankets on her bed, her sole refuge against the invading chill.

But she didn’t fight alone. No, she had a faithful companion to do battle with her. Her brother, her Knight in Shining Armor - quite literally in fact - guarded her against the worst of the horrific symptoms. He stayed by her side faithfully and at all hours of the day, taking absolute care of her no matter the concern. At times, he would be the soup fairy, bringing her warm broth to sustain her long battle. At others, he would snuggle against her side, braving the fire and risking his own life to keep her warm. And still others would find him vigilantly waiting at night to ferry her to and fro the bathroom.

Yes, he was the perfect soldier indeed. Which made it all the more tragic that he currently left Twilight so very, very alone. She sneezed again, pang of pain pushing through her throat at the exertion, little tears coming to her eyes. She whimpered, pressing her head against the pillows, body shaking with discomfort. He’d been gone for what seemed to her like forever now. He had set out to travel across the depths of the orphanage, courageously forcing his way down the stairs, fighting against all manners of beast. All to get back to the kitchen.

It’d been roughly five minutes.

Twilight sneezed again, whimpering and covering her body with the pillow entirely. She hated it; hated every part of being sick. She hated how sweaty her body felt, but so cold at the same time. She hated her eyes being all watery, making it so she couldn’t read. And most of all, she hated how useless she felt! She just wanted to study!

“Twily!” A voice broke the silence, the voice of her saviour, her protector. Her knight had returned! Twilight sniffed, peeking her head, horn first, out from underneath the nest. By the smell of the air, her loyal servant had brought with him sustenance as well! Huzzah! She would live to fight for another day! “I brought you some soup.”

Twilight blinked wearily, trying to clear her eyes from the fluid. Her brother slowly phased into sight, bowl held aloft by his magic.

“W-what kind?” She asked, trepidatiously. Over the past few days, he’d tried to feed her truly vile things. Like Spinach!

“Carrot, your favorite~” He gently say on the edge of the bed, still steaming bowl levitating close to her. “Open wide, okay?”

Twilight whimpered again as she opened her mouth, pain flaring in her throat at the movement. As gentle as could be, Shining levitated the spoon into her mouth, the filly’s muzzle closing around it, savoring the soup. The warm liquid relieved the pain in her throat, if only for a second. She opened her mouth, eyes pleading for more of that life-saving soup.

And so it went for a few quiet minutes. Shining diligently feeding his younger sister, Twilight’s body slowly growing warmer. She closed her eyes as Shining scraped the bottom of the bowl, resting back on her mass of blankets.

“Tell me a story, Shiny.” She mumbled into the pillow.

Her brother heard her - or at least, she assumed so since his hootsteps echoed closer to her dresser, where she had neatly arranged all of her favorite books.

“What do you wanna hear about tonight, LSBFF?” Shining asked, soft voice as comforting to her ears as the soup was to her throat.

“Student.” Twilight’s voice, in sharp contrast, felt and sounded weak. “I wanna hear about the students.”

“Again?”

Twilight shook her head, nodding the blankets up and down.

Shiny sighed, but his hoofsteps approached her again, the soft buzz of his levitation clear. Twilight never grew tired of hearing about the students. Each and every time Shiny offered to read to her, she would choose the same book: the stories and tales of the students of the night, each one more legendary than the last.

“Hm, how about Luna’s handmaiden?”

Twilight nodded again from the blankets.

“Well, as I’m sure you know,” Shining began, “She wasn’t actually named Luna’s handmaiden. Instead, her name was actually Goldenwing, and she has the honor of being the only pegasus student in the history of the empire. As such, she often faced discrimination and trials due to her race, struggling to stay ahead in an increasingly tribalist society.”

Twilight’s ears twitched at the sound of the page turning. Really, the book wasn’t a book of stories; instead, it was more of an encyclopedia.

“Goldenwing attained such a high position by way of feat. On the seventh month in 605 A.D, Goldenwing saved two mares. Despite being as young as thirteen years old, Goldenwing managed to fight off a stallion who-” Shining paused for a second.

He often censored books for Twilight, despite her already having read it.

“Who wanted to do very bad things to the mares.” He finally finished. “Golden held him back long enough for guards to show up and arrest him, and for that, Luna decided to make her her student.”

The tale went on, going through the important events of Goldenwings life. It dealt with her triumphs, such as serving many years as Luna’s personal bodyguard or serving valiant in the Equestrian-Zebrican war. But, it also displayed her failures openly, like how she came just short of saving her lover during the famous battle of Mareitania, or how she lost an important duel to Blackbeak. The book relayed her life accurately, regaling the filly with incredible tales of bravery and of crushing defeat.

Her heart fluttered. She could do stuff like that too. Or at least she could if she wasn’t all sick and stuff.

Shiny closed the book. “Okay LSBFF, it’s time for bed.” Twilight started to whine in protest but- “Ah, ah, ah! None of that. If you sleep now, I’ll read you two more tomorrow, okay?” Twilight cut her protest short, nodding numbly. Sleep would probably help feel better anyways…

Shiny re-adjusted her covers, tucking her in nicely. He leaned down, lips brushing against her forehead. “Good night, little one.”

Twilight rolled over in the bed, facing towards the window. She stared out at the looming moon, the full moon staring back. “Night Shiny.” She whispered, closing her eyes, letting the sight of the moon being the last thing she saw that night.

She could be one of the students too...

Comments

[Nadir]

7512040

Heh, she had different things to freak out about ^^

[Son of Sanguinius]

It's a nice little chapter of fluff. Not strictly necessary for the plot, but certainly not unwelcome.

[Nadir]

7512211

Honestly, it was written completely on a whim! Just kinda felt like writing something like it and figured others might like to see it, y'know?

[Biker_Dash]

I enjoyed it. It was quite well written. My only caveat is that it seems misplaced within the timeline, though it does fit well with the story, giving us more insight into the influences of our cutest little student.

[I-Am-Unimportant]

When i was reading this chapter I had battle music on... Maybe I should have had calming/nice music on but eh the way I did it works.

Carrot, your favorite~” He gently say on the edge of the bed
"say" should be "said."

[LostArchivist]

...Drat. I feel like Goldenwing is a reference to either a historical or fictional figure, but I can't place WHO it is...
Is she a reference to a Tamora Pierce character?