Chapter 20 Üavējot Taütiüa (Stalling Tactics)
Beware not a dragon that says "I want" but "I need." ~ Unknown
And shine like rainbows (shine like rainbows)
You shine like rainbows (shine like rainbows)
Twilight had frowned when Šizra first started singing but her annoyance morphed to horror when she realized it was far more then mere singing, he was singing a heartsong. Now Šizra had managed to pull the crystal ponies into participating. This was far worse than when the Flim Flams had managed to ensnare the ponies of Ponyville twice as those two were mere con ponies, Šizra was a coltnappering mass murderer.
Wait... Where are all these books coming from? Twilight blinked as several books appeared in a flash, floating about ten hooves in the air. She watched, mystified, as Šizra lifted a paw to one of the books and slid his paw across the cover before pushing it towards Spike. Spike seemed just as confused as her as he blinked when the the first book dropped into his claws. His look of confusion, however, quickly morphed to shock once he examined the book. His gaze snapped from the book to Šizra, his eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar.
But Šizra merely continued to sing, with more and more books appearing, each being touched by him, and then floated over to Spike. Twilight quickly lost count at over two hundred books, a small library's worth of books. Why is he giving Spike books? She wondered. The mystery only deepened when she managed to catch a glimpse of a title on one of the books as it passed by. The markings upon the cover was not one familiar to her. Was it the same type of logographic script as the one that Šizra had shown her?
Twilight almost breathed a sigh of relief when at end of the second chorus Šizra collapsed onto the ground, panting hard. The heartsong should now fade away which would allow her to figure out what the hay was with all the books. But to her surprise, instead of fading away it surged back. Who would help... Her heart started to race when she saw that it was the white and cyan dragon, who was playing some type ocarina in the shape of a scorpion.
No... Nonnonono... not again! Her mind raced to the one thing she had feared since Šizra had first reappeared days ago. Once again Šizra was orchestrating another invasion! And this time he was using subterfuge. But as before, she still had no idea how to stop him, even with all the research she had conducted the night before. Every method she could think of or had used he had countered or would easily counter. So as much as it pained her, she was stuck watching and hoping.
When the song finally ended Twilight remained tense. She was not about to be caught off guard again, and just because the song ended didn't mean that it was truly over. Nothing with Šizra ever seemed to be truly over. And as she had feared, it wasn't over. Šizra had started to limp towards Spike. Suddenly Twilight flashbacked ten years seeing Discord put a limp Spike into Šizra's arms. Šizra was going to take Spike away again! But, once again, before she could really react, Šizra had collapsed into Spike's arms. He looked up at Spike, whispered something, and then went limp.
Twilight only made it two hesitant steps before Spike lifted his head, still holding Šizra's limp body and roared. She yelped and ducked down just as the wave of pressurized air from the roar slammed into her. She didn't know how, but she could feel soul crushing pain, grief, and confusion as the roar washed over her. What did Šizra say to him that would cause him to react in such a fashion? She had to get to him, but it was taking everything she had to not be flung head over hooves backwards as shockwave after shockwave from his powerful roar pummeled her.
When the roar finally ended, after what seemed like forever but was really a few seconds, she found herself unable to doing anything but pant and shake. Whether it was in fear or in shock she could not tell. Spike's roar had been far more powerful then Luna's Canterlot Voice, and the emotions behind the roar soul wrenching. However, as she took stock of the ponies around her as she tried to recover enough to move, she found herself no longer unsure of the reason for her shaking. The Empire, which had brightened from the low pulse from the heart earlier, was now very dark and dull. Everything and every crystal pony looked even more dull and lifeless then when the Empire first returned from wherever Sombra had banished it.
"He's alive?"
WHAT!? Twilight blood turned to ice at the barely heard cry. Please tell me I heard that wrong...
"He's alive!" That time Twilight was sure she heard that right. She looked over to see that Spike was in a state of panic, running towards her still clutching Šizra. "Twilight I need a doctor or a shaman! A healer! Anyone!"
"Please!" Spike begged as Twilight hesitated.
But as much as Twilight loathed the... creature in his arms it broke her to see Spike in such a state. "Okay..." She nodded before turning to gallop towards the Crystal Empire Hospital, trusting that Spike would follow. Normally she would teleport them there, but she knew that it could very well kill Šizra, and as much as she desired his death, it being a suitable end for all the lives he ruined, she just would not let herself stoop to the same level. "Shinning Armor!"
"Got it Twiley!" Shining Armor called out, his voice magically amplifying as he cried out, "CLEAR THE STREETS! MEDICAL EMERGENCY! PLEASE CLEAR THE STREETS!
As she ran, dodging a few ponies that had not yet clear the streets, all she could hear the sound of a younger Spike grumbling over and over in her mind. Please don't let this backfire, please don't let this backfire...
"Extreme mana exhaustion!" Twilight shouted as she burst through the front doors of the hospital, Spike right behind her.
The nurse behind the reception desk quickly jump up and rushed over giving a quick look over Šizra. "Help me get him on a gurney."
"What do we have?" A male stallion, a doctor if the uniform was anything to go by, questioned as they got Šizra onto a gurney.
Without missing a beat, Twilight called out what she knew they would need. "Šizra, male alicorn dragon hybrid of unknown age, suffering from full body frothing and collapsed after summoning hundreds of books... possible extreme mana exhaustion..."
"Weak pulse... seventy over fifty and dropping... temperature of one hundred thirteen?!" The nurse picked up from where Twilight stopped, calling out Šizra's vitals. One hundred thirteen? Twilight did a quick calculation and nearly choked as it came out to be forty-five. Most ponies ran between thirty-seven and thirty-eight, but, then again, Spike, as a dragon, tended to run nearer to sixty. Given Šizra's hybrid nature there was no way to know for sure how it truly affected his vitals. The only things she could be reasonably certain of was that his blood pressure was dangerously low.
"By the Heart! How is he even still alive?!" The doctor cried, his horn lighting up as his voice rose, "CODE BLUE! CODE BLUE! ISOLATION ROOM ONE!"
Twilight grumbled as she flattened her ears from the magic enhanced shout. She had asked that very question in regards to Šizra so many times already.
Several more ponies quickly joined in around the gurney. Twilight quickly pulled away from the herd of ponies as they rushed down the hall as she knew there was nothing else she could do at this point only staying close as a precaution and to keep an eye on Spike who had not left Šizra's side. She slowed down as they approached what Twilight knew to be the mana isolation room. As she was not staff, she knew they would not allow her to enter, the most she could do was stand outside (as long as she remained out of the way). She inwardly cursed for not telling Shining Armor to follow as he could go in as a guard under the pretense of keeping the staff safe.
"I'm sorry, but you need to leave." A pony, most likely a nurse gently put a hoof out to stop Spike as the herd pushed the gurney with Šizra into the room.
"Move aside!" Spike growled before shoving past the pony.
"Spike..." Twilight called out knowing that he would only get in the way.
"Shut up!" Spike snapped, glaring at Twilight, before opening the door.
Twilight mouthed sorry to the stunned nurse as she followed Spike into the room. She flatten her ears at the cacophony of shouts and orders as several ponies frantically ran around with several more working on Šizra.
"Somepony figure out how to get these damn rags off of him!"
"His internal organs are already shutting down..."
"Hey, you need to leave..." Somepony shouted to them.
"I AM NOT LEAVING!" Spike roared so loudly and angrily that it brought the entire room to a frightened stop. He flinched and then continued at a lower volume. "Šihzra's condition has been terminal for weeks. There was nothing anyone here or anywhere can do to save him! I just need to ask him something..."
"I'm sorry, but he so far gone that..."
"I know that. Please just do everything you can to keep him alive as long as you can." Spike turned to each of the assembled ponies. "Please..."
The doctor that had cried out in shock over Šizra's vitals gulped and shakily gave a weak, "Okay..."
"I need to know..." Spike whispered as the ponies quickly went back to work on Šizra. He had said it so softly that Twilight was sure that he didn't mean for anyone to hear it.
Need to know what? Twilight silently asked looking from Spike to Šizra in turn. The last time Spike had said that Spike had admitted that his memory was damaged.
"Also I need a brush, the largest mortar and pestle you have, and a chunk of unicorn horn."
A chunk of unicorn horn? That was an odd request.
The doctors seemed to agree as they gave each other a look before once of them nodded to a nurse. The nurse quickly rushed off, presumably to get what Spike wanted. Twilight moved to sit in the corner of the room knowing to stay out of the staff's way but wanting to remain just in case this was a ruse of some kind by Šizra, her mind racing in trying to figure out why Spike would want unicorn horn.
Was he going to try use it to try and save Šizra? How? She knew (sadly from having suffered from it one too many times) that unicorn horn was completely useless as a treatment for mana exhaustion, much less extreme mana exhaustion, and in some cases could make symptoms worse. And the only uses for unicorn horn she could recall, that wasn't pure quackery or less effective than healing spells or potions, was as used as part of a sealant that was only used when treating a recently cracked or broken horn, and, from what she could see, Šizra's horns were pristine, if a bit worn...
"How did he know?" Spike said again as the nurse quickly returned with requested items.
Twilight watched intently as Spike first crushed the piece of horn into the mortar with his claws. He grounded the unicorn horn for a few moments but then he took a claw to his arm and slash it. She stood up with a cry as Spike let the blood from the wound drip into the mortar. Twilight suddenly knew what Spike was trying to do, and it was the most terrifying thing possible. There was only one reason to use blood with unicorn horn, Spike was going to the worst of dark magics to 'save' Šizra! She had to stop him before...
But when Twilight trying to grab away the pestle and mortar Spike roared, shoving Twilight away, hard, making her lose her telekinetic grip. She tried again only to be forced to scramble away when Spike spewed a wall of green flame at her. Unfortunately, in her haste to escape the flame, she had inadvertently fled outside of the isolation room and the door had been slammed shut behind her. To her mounting horror, when she tried to reenter she found that the door was now locked and the wards activated, preventing her from easily getting inside. She couldn't just teleport in as not only could she end up teleporting into somepony the wards were designed to prevent any outside mana from entering. All she could do what shout and pound on the door but she quickly stopped when she saw that she was leaving red marks all over the door.
Twilight shook, frozen in shock, as she stared down at her hoof. There dripping down her hoof and onto the floor was Spike's blood.
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Twilight really is an idiot... indeed, she is afraid because of the past events. But, when she says "researched", she went for the same authors and books - which, interestingly enough, if they dont appear to be pony, she disregards. Twilight has a serious problem dealing with situations really outside her control or agency.
11723391
I would say its less that then the only information she has easy access to(that isn't Sizra) is mainly pony "created"/complied... Also I wouldn't say she is an idiot but I do agree she does "[have] a serious problem dealing with situations really outside her control or agency."
Saying all that, I worked really hard to make sure that I used Twilight's past cannon reactions to hopefully keep this Twilight near cannon characterization... I hope that I managed that.
11723401
oh, you managedd to do it. Twilight is well written here, and those actions indeed fit her personality on the show
...oeant mean I like them :) sorry for the confusion
11723411
Oh good.
Nah, no need to apologize. I was just commenting on your observation. Although I am pleased you are liking what I'm doing with twilight (at least as it comes to her as you have not made much mention of the other characters [not that I am implying you that should... Comment as you will])
11723414
You know what thing is strangely missing from Equestria, even at the show? An order like the Jesuits from the Catholic Church - devoted to acquiring knowledge. They travelled everywhere, and in many countries were the first ones to be teachers. It is strange how Celestia never saw the need to really push for this kind of search.
11723436
Um... well interesting that you bring that up (And no I am not saying that because of how cool that piece of trivia is and now I must incorporate it into the WB...) There are elements of something along that line in this AU... I wont say much more as I have a feeling it could come up as more of the history of the world is revealed...
Edit: Actually now that I am thinking about it I made mention of something during the later half of Chapter 5 that does touch on this subject... if only in the typical roundabout Sizra fashion...
11723479
here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuits
I know there are better sources, but that is one I could find quick. The Catholic Church, from what I know, still has research going on today. They have an observatory on Rome.
Ch 20
The Empire, which had brighten from the low pulse
brightened
[...]it broke her to see[...]
broke her heart? breaking somepony is usually a one-way trip
"Extreme mana exhaustion!"
Can't Twilight help with that? Hmmm. Just me thinkin' aloud, sorry.
less effective then healing spells
than
He grounded the unicorn for
ground / unicorn horn
the most terrifying thing possible.
only one reagent takes us from quackery to this?
11723998 What!? I go through all this trouble making a new cover and you don't comment on it? !
Okay jokey fake rarity drama aside:
only one reagent takes us from quackery to this? Yes and no...
Do you really think that Twilight would even entertain that Spike would even do "dark magic"? / It's more of she didn't think of it until then because she didn't think Spike would go there...
Can't Twilight help with that? Hmmm. Just me thinkin' aloud, sorry.
If by help also suffer from it then yes
ground / unicorn horn
well to be fair Not-Spike did brake twilight earlier....
11724021
Did you spell it wrong just to break me? 'Cos it almost worked.
Regarding cover... since my ongoing magnum opus still lacks a cover, i thought it would be silly of me to comment on other ponies' covers, like not worthy to say anything when i can't draw for do-do. Did you come up with the pseudo-runic letter forms y'self? Reminds me of something, not sure what. Writing on one of Roger Dean's Asia covers? Dunno. You should do a whole alphabet in that style, uppers&lowers&auxiliary.
Good point, i reckon she's not as paranoid as me.
/me <sees woman with box>
/me (thinks: it's a bomb. she is going to kill me.)
woman: <opens box>
/me: "Thanks for the cookie, mom!"
11724057
MAAAAAAAAAAAAYBE...
Just because you can't do art doesn't mean you can't give good and valid critique to art... That, and well I was hoping that our resident commentator would wonder about the sword and dragon...
Yeah, I did. I based it on how would a dragon with 3 sharp claws would write our script onto stone... (I mean come on parchment... papyrus... PAPER!?!!?! Hello!! Fire breather + burnables = not smarty!) On that note: there is some interesting IRL history on why Greek letters look like they do that has some interesting parallels if you ever take the time to look into it.