Sickness & Sadness
Rainbow Dash paced restlessly back and forth, constantly looking over her shoulder at the only clock to be found, hanging just above the door. The constant ticking it produced filled the room, the subtle clinking of its internal mechanisms sounding like the tolling of the bells in the otherwise silent and tense atmosphere of the hospital waiting room. The seconds ticked by like hours, time seeming to drag on and on as if only to torture the room’s occupants by extending the simple despair of waiting around helplessly for as long as it could. It felt as if they had all been waiting for a small eternity already, yet the insidious clock insisted that it been hardly even an hour yet. Rainbow Dash looked up to the clock once more, scuffing a hoof against the floor and almost screaming in frustration at seeing that not even thirty seconds had passed since the last she had done so.
Pinkie Pie watched on helplessly as Dash continued to try and wear a groove into the floor. She did not like hospitals, not one bit. Almost nopony ever smiled, and there was hardly any color anywhere, everything painted a sterile white. She wanted to go right up to Dash and cheer her up herself, she really did, but Dash looked like she was lost in her own little world as she walked back and forth. Her whole body looked tense, coiled tight like a spring and ready to fly apart at the slightest prodding. With a frown tugging at her lips, Pinkie turned away from Dash to look at the young drake sitting at her side.
He looked a mess. His spines were bent and crooked, his scales dull and listless. His normally bright eyes were dull and bloodshot, drooping lower and lower as he strained to keep them open, succeeding only because of the huge amount of worry and stress sustaining and motivating him. He had hardly gotten any sleep the night before, worried about Twilight – wherever she was – and now with Rarity in the hospital… Pinkie was starting to become concerned for him. He’d hardly spoken a word or eaten anything since she picked him from the empty library. It was a good thing he was a dragon, otherwise he might have made himself sick by now. Quietly, she nudged him with a fore hoof, offering him a hopeful grin, doing her best to comfort and assure him without breaking the near oppressive silence. He simply matched her gaze with empty, expressionless eyes until Pinkie looked away, her smile forgotten. He just clutched his tail tighter to his chest, curling into to a small ball as he lay down on his side. Sighing, Pinkie slipped out of her seat and rose to her hooves, stretched a bit to work out the kinks in her muscles she always got from sitting still for so long (meaning any amount of time longer than a few minutes), and walked across the room towards the other row of waiting seats and the room’s last occupant.
His piercing viridian eyes looked away from Rainbow Dash’s relentless pacing and snapped to her as soon as she started moving in his direction, tracking and following her every movement with the sort of sharp observation and harsh awareness that was only obtained by constantly being in danger or extreme paranoia. Possibly both. He was a large earth pony stallion, his massive physique and harsh musculature betraying an incredibly active lifestyle and nearly dwarfing the smaller pink pony as she sat beside him. They stared at each for a moment before Pinkie Pie did her best to sweep him into a hug, her fore legs only wrapping three-fourths the way around at best. She sunk a little into his slightly shaggy grey coat, his scruffy black mane as well as his ever-present scent of pine and some sort of dog-smell tickling her nose. While he didn’t quite return the hug, he didn’t reject it either, his unintentionally harsh glare softening a bit.
“I know I’ve said it already,” Pinkie almost whispered, her voice uncharacteristically subdued and quiet, “but thank you, Soft Paw.”
His expression remained stoically neutral, but he still seemed to smile with his eyes alone. Lifting a hoof, he patted her on her puffy mane a few times before wrapping it around her shoulder in a comforting gesture. “It is Okay, Little Pinks, I only did what I could. I was not about to allow such a tragedy to occur so close to my own doorstep. Besides, word of Little Shy’s reputation has reached even me. It is a sad day indeed when such a thing happens to one as sweet and kind as her,” his deep baritone voice rumbled, his faint stalliongrad accent as almost undetectable as ever and tickling Pinkie’s check as his broad chest vibrated with his powerful voice, which still somehow managed to maintain the near reverent hush in the room.
Pinkie’s fore legs squeezed even tighter. “Still, if it wasn’t for you, they’d both be… they’d already…” Her voice began to waver, and she stopped before she could complete the thought. Out of courtesy, he pretended not to notice the way her legs began to tremble slightly or the tiny points of moisture that stained his coat where she buried her face.
“Hush, hush now Little Pinks, do not fret and worry yourself over what might have been,” he said, calmly and comfortingly stroking her back. “It only causes greater grief and hurt where there need be none, and helps nobody.”
Taking deep breaths to steady herself, Pinkie cast about for something to change the subject to. “How did you know?” she asked, blurting out the first thing to come to mind. “I mean, how did you know they were hurt? How did you know where to find them?”
He was silent a moment, and with her face buried in his coat Pinkie did not see him quickly glance to the side as he answered. “Hünd found me and led me to them.”
“Who’s Hünd?” Pinkie asked, looking up from his chest.
“Hünd is a Dire Wolf.”
“Oh!” Pinkie quietly exclaimed with a squeak of recognition as spied the silhouette of a canine paw print on his flanks. “I forgot, you like to help all the dogs and wolves and stuff, don’t you?” He gave an affirmative grunt, nodding his head. Pinkie laid her head on his shoulder, taking what comfort she could from the half-returned hug. “I’m a little surprised you and Fluttershy haven’t met already. It seems like you two would have a lot to talk about.”
Soft Paw was quiet for a minute before responding. When he spoke, his voice was hushed, and tinged with a hint of an emotion Pinkie couldn’t quite place. “Maybe it is for the best that we have not. Not many know me, and I am not much one for company. Besides, if what I have heard about Little Shy is true then I think it most likely that she would be frightened of me,” he said, indicating with a sweeping gesture the motley assortment of scars that decorated his form, gained over the years as a consequence of his particular choice of homestead. “I fear she would not be alone, either. I am well aware of what many think of the Everfree Forest, and by extension all that dwells within it.”
Slowly, Pinkie Pie finally released Soft Paw from her embrace, carefully looking up and down his frame, a small frown on her face. Her ears flattened against her skull, and the hurt of an old guilt briefly passed through her eyes. “It’s not fair,” she said, speaking slowly and with a faint air of disappointment coloring her words. “Ponies shouldn’t be afraid of you like that just because you’re a little different and look a little scary. You should be able to come around and hang out with us, and I should be able to throw you a party without everypony staring at you or running away or hiding or-“
Pinkie was abruptly cut off as Soft Paw put a hoof in her mouth, the corners of his lips tugging into a frown as his expression changed for the first time since she sat next to him. “Do not start with this Little Pinks, I know what it is that you really regret. I have said it before and I will say it again: it was not your fault. You did not know, and it is only natural for the unknown to be feared. That you got over your fear and even managed to introduce her to the whole town after she helped the little filly shows that you wanted to make right of your mistakes, and you have done so amply thus far.” He stared into her eyes as he spoke, trying to drive his message home. After a moment of his stern glare, Pinkie looked away with a small sigh and shook her head in acknowledgement. Satisfied, he removed his hoof from her mouth with a nod of his own and continued. “Besides, I have told you many times that I would rather not have a party in the first place. Far too many ponies for my taste. And before you insist otherwise, do not worry, the visits of you and Zecora keep me company enough. And besides, my canine friends keep me from getting lonely.”
“I still wish you’d at least let me introduce you to some new friends,” Pinkie mumbled dejectedly.
Soft Paw just rolled his eyes and ruffled her mane with a massive hoof. “You are friend enough for me already, Little Pinks,” he said with a smirk.
Pinkie regained her usual smile and wrapped her forelegs around him in a quick embrace before rising to her hooves again, walking back to the other side of the room, and sitting down next to Spike again. He did nothing to acknowledge her presence, only curling into a tighter ball. Pinkie sighed, settling down and lowering her head onto her fore legs and preparing herself to wait a while longer yet in silence.
Several more minutes passed that way, with the only sounds in the room being the constant ticking of the clock and the unending clip-clopping of Rainbow Dash’s hooves as she paced back and forth. The tense atmosphere steadily increased, draping across everyone in the room like a thick blanket. Rainbow became increasingly agitated as time crawled by, her constant drive and need to actually do something driving her crazy as she was forced to sit back and do nothing while her oldest friend could very well be dying just down the hall. Finally, enough was enough for the impatient mare, and she was just about to storm out of the room, march down the hall, and demand that she be allowed to see Fluttershy, or at least be told the situation, when the door opened and another pony walked in.
Rainbow Dash immediately recognized him from her own various stays in the hospital, his white lab coat, tan fur, brown mane and tail, and ever present clipboard and stethoscope marking him as rather distinctive. Upon sighting him, all the pent up tension she had broke, causing her to immediately fly up to him and get in his face before he could even finish coming into the room, her desperate expression and pleading eyes asking the question her voice couldn’t.
She took one look at his deep frown and grim expression and felt her stomach drop into her hooves and her heart nearly stop beating. Her ears started ringing and tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes. She shook her head side to side, repeatedly mouthing the word ‘no’ as her voice failed her and she desperately willed it not to be true. After a moment she simply couldn’t take it. She brushed past the doctor in the hallway and flew out of the hospital and away into the wild blue yonder, going somewhere, anywhere other than that horrible place.
Pinkie watched Rainbow’s reaction, all two seconds of it, and felt her heart plummet as well. Tears immediately began to spill from her eyes, and she tried desperately not to break into open sobs, despite the trembling and shaking of her shoulders. Soft Paw rose from his seat and walked over to her, a slight limp in his front left leg, and wrapped a leg around her shoulders. She immediately buried her face into his chest. He did not comment on the wet spots that began to form there. Turning to the doctor, he asked, “Tell us, what happened exactly?”
The doctor watched all of this transpire, his depressed and tired look traded for one of bewilderment and calmly stated, “Well she’s not dead, if that’s what you’re all going on about.”
Pinkie instantly emitted a choked gasp and lifted her head out of Soft Paw’s chest and looked to the doctor, her expression full of hope and begging an explanation. Soft Paw stared at him a bit more calmly, but with a similar expression.
The doctor took their glazes in stride though and began to explain. “Well she’s not dead, but she’s definitely not exactly in good shape either,“ he said, glancing at his clipboard as he spoke. He looked up from his paper and stared them in the eyes, his expression serious and all business as he continued to speak. “Look, I’m going to be blunt here. We’ve managed to stabilize her, but she’s in bad shape. Really bad shape. In fact she may very well be the worst case this hospital has ever seen. Frankly, it’s a miracle that she even survived long enough to make it here and then live through the emergency care she had to receive, even with that best healing spells we have in our arsenal. Even so, she definitely isn’t coming out of this unscathed. She’s gone blind in her left eye, and it’s amazing that she didn’t lose it all together. There’s a one in five chance that she’ll ever be able to fly again, but I wouldn’t count on it. She’s got internal hemorrhaging on half of her major organs and tissue damage ranging from minor to severe all along her right side. She’s got three broken ribs and two more of them are cracked as well as a hairline fracture on her right wing. Whatever attacked her used some sort of toxin that we’ve never even heard of before, and honestly it’s done quite a bit of damage. A lot of her nerve endings are fried, a good amount of her blood has practically turned into toxic sludge, and far more tissue than I’m comfortable with has even gone under minor necrosis.”
He looked both Pinkie Pie and Soft Paw in the eyes with a serious expression as he spoke, trying to drive home the gravity of the situation. As he saw the tears in Pinkie’s eyes and the hard and stoic look in Soft’s eyes he felt he was getting through to them. With a nod, he continued. “We’ve currently got her pumped full of enough painkillers to pacify a small hydra, so she’s not hurting at least. But I’m afraid the worst of the news is this: she’s in a coma, and we have no idea when she’ll wake up, if ever.”
Pinkie pulled away from Soft Paw, steeling her expression and placing Spike onto her back. “Well, at least she’s alive,” she said, her voice soft with worry but laced with an edge of optimism.
Soft Paw rose to his hooves alongside Pinkie, nodding his head to her statement. “That, at least, is better than how things could have been. If she managed to survive all of that than it definitely seems that she is a fighter, I am sure she will pull through this as well,” he said, more to Pinkie than anypony else. When he saw that the pink mare had her emotions mostly under control he turned back to the doctor and asked, “May we see her?”
The doctor looked between the two ponies and his clipboard for several seconds before asking, “Are you sure you want to see her right at the moment? I’ll tell you now, it’s not exactly a pretty sight.”
Soft paw just gave a slight nod, the faint twinkle of determination in his eye not fading in the slightest.
With a small sigh, the doctor turned around and motioned for them to follow him as he stepped out into the hall to lead them to where Fluttershy was currently being kept.
As they started walking though, a small voice spoke up, slightly hoarse from disuse. “What about Rarity?” Spike asked, looking at the doctor with his empty eyes.
The doctor didn’t quite meet the young drake’s gaze, somewhat perturbed by off-putting look in his eyes. “The unicorn you brought in along with Ms. Fluttershy?” he rhetorically asked for clarification as he checked his clipboard. “It seems that she had a cracked rib and a minor concussion. A few days of abstaining from strenuous activity and she should be right as rain. She’s currently sleeping most of it off in one of our recovery rooms.”
Spike nodded, some of the faint tension that not even he realized was there disappearing as his body relaxed against Pinkie Pie’s back and shoulders.
Seeing that he’d apparently answered to the small dragon’s satisfaction the doctor gave a small nod and gestured for Pinkie and Soft Paw to follow him once more as he started to make his way down the hallway. “Come along now, she’s just down this way”
The doctor lead them down several hallways, one after another, and even up two separate stairwells until they were on the third and final floor of the hospital. Threading through passing hoof traffic he lead them to a separate wing that the various signs on the walls and hanging from the ceilings labeled as the Intensive Care Unit. As they walked, several of the ponies they passed, mostly nurses and doctors and others of the hospital staff, glanced at them with knowing expressions and looks of sympathy and condolences. After several minutes of walking they stopped outside a single innocuous door labeled ‘Room 214’. Turning to face the two ponies and young dragon, the doctor spoke. “Now I’ll only ask this once: are sure you want to see her right now? It’s not exactly a pretty sight, and once you see her like this you’ll never exactly be able to un-see it.” He stared at them with a grave expression, doing his best to convey the seriousness of his message. Pinkie and Soft Paw meet his gaze solidly, and nodded stiffly. Seeing their resolve, the doctor nodded once, and opened the door. Without another word, they all stepped inside.
The first thing they noticed was that just like the rest of the hospital, the sheer amount of sterile white in the room was almost overwhelming. White walls, white floors, white roof, white machines, white everything dominated the ponies’ sight. Only the sickly light green of the bedspreads and drapes seemed to break up the monotonous whiteness. The second thing they noticed was the smell. The harsh and near acrid rank of antiseptics pervaded the air, thick and cloying as it almost burned the inside of everypony’s nostrils, even while it was laced with undertones of the horrid stench of semi-rotted flesh. Next they noticed the noise, the constant whirring and beeping of machinery as the best of what modern medicine could offer did its best to ensure Fluttershy’s continued survival. At last though, they saw Fluttershy herself.
The good doctor had not been lying when he said it wasn’t a pretty sight. In fact, he may have even been understating it slightly. At least half of her body was entirely covered in various layers of bandages, including her left eye, for which everypony was rather grateful, even if several of them were already stained a dark rusty brown from seeping blood and other fluids that everypony did their best not to think too hard about. A great many tubes and needles and hoses covered the majority of whatever wasn’t insulated by medical gauze. One tube could be seen running down her throat and connecting it to a machine that looked like an oversized pair of double-bellows, forcing her chest to gently rise and fall as they worked in sync to force fresh air into her otherwise static and unresponsive lungs. Most of the fur around her neck had been shaved off and all around where her neck met her right shoulder the skin was swollen and tainted a sickening mottled brown like over-ripe fruit, and a single massive needle connected to a pump via a large tube was sunk deep into the rotted flesh. It was constantly siphoning out a thick, viscous black substance that vaguely reminded Pinkie Pie of grape jelly, causing her to give a dry heave and swear off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, feeling bit green. Several bunches of feathers had fallen out of her wings, the right one especially, and all over her fur had completely lost its luster, patches of it fading to a pale grey or sickly brown. Her whole body looked gaunt and somehow almost emaciated, her skin stretched tight over her frame and several places on her body dipping just a little too deeply beneath the covers as if the muscles had simply faded away. Worst of all was perhaps the smell – no matter how much the hospital staff filtered the air or how much air fresheners or incense they used the air around her was heavy and rank with a scent not unlike rotting fruit and the horrid stench of decaying flesh.
Pinkie Pie took one look at Fluttershy lying unmoving and in such bad shape on the bed and immediately broke into tears at the sight of it. She wanted desperately to run up to her and give her a great big hug, but various machines and the stench made her hang back. “Oh, Shy…” she whispered, holding a hoof to her mouth.
Soft Paw stared on stoically as his legs began to tremble and shake, from anger or disgust he could not tell. That question was answered for him as something snapped briefly inside of him, his face erupting into a furious scowl and his hoof stomping down with a massive bang. The loud noise startled everyone, and they all looked at him, Pinkie’s expression surprised and slightly startled as opposed to the doctor’s surprised and slightly upset look. Glancing down, Soft Paw saw that he had accidentally cracked the tile on which he stood. He looked away with an irritated snort muttered, “I am sorry.” Turning to Pinkie he said, “Come, and let us go. It does neither us nor her any good to see her like this.” Pinkie only too happily agreed, and promptly turned around, heading through the door, the doctor walking behind her.
Soft Paw followed behind them, but just before he stepped out of the room he looked over his shoulder, gazing towards Fluttershy with an unreadable expression on his face and spoke. “Iem sorre, Kaein Shy. Veac meghte.”
*~-/^\-~*
Twilight Sparkle was getting rather anxious. She had been pacing back and forth for what felt like hours now, filled with energy and a need to move, eagerly waiting for Dr. Prototype to return with the results of her blood work. She frowned as a wave of hot irritation washed through her. What was taking him so long, anyways? Just how difficult could it be to run a few tests on a little vial of blood? Was he really that incompetent? Just how big of an idiot was he? It was just some simple tests! What in Equestria could he have done to make them take so long? Twilight sat down on her haunches with a sigh, berating herself and suddenly feeling rather bad for him. Of course he wasn’t incompetent, he was the head of the princess’ science department, and he was probably one of the smartest and most capable ponies in Canterlot. A sudden spike of cold fear lanced up her spine and she began nervously chewing on her bottom lip. What if something was wrong? What if their machines broke? What if there was something wrong with the sample? What if they had to draw it again? Twilight shuddered a bit at the thought of the first time they had done so.
It was a few hours ago, just before the sun had rose and after the castle staff had moved her from Luna’s guest room to another room further inside the castle, one completely devoid of windows. While they had assured her that it was for her own protection she had clearly seen the looks of fear and anger on their faces, and not for the first time a pang of regret for shouting at Luna shot through her. She desperately wished she could have caught up to her afterwards and apologized, but she seemed to have disappeared and nopony in the castle had seen her since. Shortly after she had settled into the windowless stone room Dr. Prototype had come in with a hoof-full of medical instruments and a syringe. After listening to her heartbeat and checking her blood pressure, he stuck the syringe in the crook of her foreleg and began to draw blood. At first Twilight thought nothing of it. In fact, she probably wouldn’t have even noticed at all if she hadn’t been looking. As the doctor began to draw up her blood however, she immediately noticed something was wrong. Something about seeing her blood there, outside of her body just made her angry. Really angry. Angry in a way she’d never quite felt before. The hot flash of rage was so sudden and intense she’d actually lashed out and struck Dr. Prototype before she realized what she was doing. She’d immediately snapped out of it and apologized profusely, but the fact remained: she’d gotten angry enough to hit another pony. She’d never been that angry before. The worst part was that she had no idea why. She shivered slightly at the memory of the hot and invasive anger. She stood up and shook her head as if to dislodge the thought and began pacing once again in an effort to ease the tingling energy in her limbs.
Twilight continued pacing like that for what felt like several more hours before she finally heard a knock at the door. She hadn’t heard any approaching hoofsteps, and the suddenness of it was enough to nearly make jump out of her skin with a start. Holding a hoof to her chest to calm her rapidly beating heart, she eagerly hurried to open the door. Her face fell as, instead of the pony she had been wait all day for, the door swung open to reveal none other than Shining Armor. The stallion caught the look of disappointment that flashed across his sister’s face and asked, ”Is now not a good time? I could just leave if you want.”
Twilight just quickly shook her head as if to dislodge the offending expression and stepped back from the doorway, motioning with a beckoning hoof. “No, it’s fine, I was just expecting somepony else is all. Come on in.”
Shining took a few steps into the room and stopped, blinking rapidly at the sudden and drastic decrease in lighting as Twilight shut the door behind him. After giving his eyes a moment to adjust he quickly took stock of the small stone room. It was rather small compared to most of the other rooms in the massive castle, and it was actually rather chilly due in part to stone walls and the crisp air that always pervaded the mountaintop city around this season. The accommodations sparse and spartan, especially for a place like Canterlot. The only pieces of furniture in the entire room were a small four-drawer dresser, a medium sized bed, a desk-slash-vanity with a large mirror, and a single lit candle that provided the entirety of the room’s light. The walls themselves were bare, and only a few plain rough-spun rugs laid about prevented bare hooves from stepping on chill stone. “It’s kind of gloomy in here, isn’t it?” he mused out loud.
“Oh, is it?” Twilight answered disinterred, already resuming her pacing in front of the room’s vanity, not even bothering to look up from her hooves. “I hadn’t really noticed. I’ve been a bit distracted.”
Shining Armor followed her restless back and forth motion with his eyes from across the room as she spoke and responded obliquely. “Yeah, I noticed.”
His tone caused Twilight to look up and catch the slight frown and questioningly raised eyebrow on his face. Her ears folded down against her head and a tiny sheepish blush spread across her face and she gave a small abashed smile. “Sorry, it’s just… there’s been a lot on my mind lately is all.”
Shining held his expression as Twilight spoke and lightly scuffed her hoof against the rug beneath her. After a moment he nodded, accepting her words. “I can only imagine,” he said with a somber expression, walking over to her and sitting beside her. He wrapped his forelegs around her and pulled her into a one-sided hug, speaking softly into her ear. “I know you have a lot to be upset over, but running yourself into the ground with worry like this won’t do anyone any good, least of all yourself.”
Twilight just accepted him, his powerful but gentle limbs wrapped tightly around her withers, and leaned into his chest taking a deep comfort in his presence. If there was a constant at all in all the craziness of the last several days, or even the general craziness of her life before that, it was Shining Armor. He was solid, stoic, unshakable, and the rock she desperately needed right now. Turning towards him she wrapped her forelegs around him as well, deepening the embrace and taking as much comfort as she could, feeling all her worries and anxieties just melt away as her older brother sat there and held her like the small, helpless foal she was beginning to feel like these days. For several long minutes she just sat there, enjoying the feeling of being held and cared about, taking in the small moment of peace.
All too soon the moment was over. As she pulled away she was slightly surprised to see a twin pair of wet spots on her brother’s coat where she had buried her face in his chest. Either Shining Armor hadn’t noticed either, or, more likely, he simply pretended that he didn’t out of courtesy. Twilight nuzzled his cheek in an unspoken ‘thank you’. He nuzzled her back with a small, self-contented smile on his face.
As he stood back, Shining Armor took the chance to take a good look at his younger sister. It was immediately obvious that he didn’t need to know her as well as he did to be able to tell that she was currently a bundle of frayed nerves. Her ratty mane, matted coat, and the dark bags underneath her eyes were evidence enough. What really tipped him off to her real condition though were all the little things, the sort of things nopony else would have noticed but stood out as bright as day to someone who knew her as well as Shining Armor. The faint tilt at the corners of her lips and subtle sag around her eyes. The way the usual bright and inquisitive light that always colored her expression and glinted from deep within her eyes seem to fade away to a dull ghost of itself. The subtle scent of lilac and lavender soaps and perfumes she preferred having almost faded away beneath her natural scent after several worried and stressful days. He frowned as he looked her over, and after a moment he spoke. “I’d ask you how you’re doing, but even I’m not that blind.”
Twilight looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes and sighed, shoulders sagging as the weight of the last few day’s worries were remembered. She closed her eyes tightly, doing her best to suppress a shudder that rippled up her spine, and only just barely succeeding. “Yeah, the last few days have been…“ Twilight said, casting around for a fit descriptor for her recent tribulations. “Difficult,” she said after a moment’s thought, “definitely difficult.”
Shining nodded, resting a comforting hoof on her withers. “I can imagine so. Do you want to talk about it?”
Twilight unconsciously leaned slightly into his hoof, this time failing to suppress a small shudder. Shaking her head quickly side to side, she said, “No, not really. There’s nothing to talk about. You already know everything that’s happened, hay, you were there for most of it.” She lowered her head, and her body simply slumping as if suddenly burdened with a great weight. “Most of all I just feel… worn out.”
Shining Armor didn’t say anything more, he just pulled her into another hug, rubbing a comforting hoof between her shoulder blades and resting his large head on top of hers. Twilight accepted the contact gratefully, leaning against his solid mass and resting her own head on his broad shoulder. For a long while, they just sat there in silence, not a word passing between them. They didn’t need words, they knew each other well enough to convey everything they wanted to way without them. The subtle increase in pressure and speed as Shining rubbed her back, the soft nuzzling as she rubbed her cheek against his thick neck, the soft tickling on the nape of her neck as he breathed into her messy mane. It all spoke the words of ‘love’, ‘comfort’, ‘solace’, and ‘gratitude’ in the subtle language of loving brothers and sisters without ever uttering a single sound.
After an indeterminable amount of time, a soft knock sounded at the door, startling the unicorn siblings and causing both of them to suddenly disentangle with embarrassed blushes. With a small cough, Twilight quickly went and opened the door. As the wooden door swung open, it revealed a unicorn with stark white hair and a clipboard standing in the doorway: Dr. Prototype. Twilight’s eyes widened and she gave a small gasp – she had completely forgotten she was waiting for the doctor just before Shining Armor showed up. She quickly stepped aside and gestured for him to come inside with a hoof. He gave her a brief nod and walked inside.
If he was surprised to see Shining Armor as he walked in he didn’t show it, instead greeting the other stallion with a nod of his head, receiving a nod in return. Twilight shut the door behind him and walked to sit beside her brother. Dr. Prototype gave her a questioning look and glanced at Shining. Twilight just nodded and gestured for him to read the results anyways. The doctor just shrugged and brought up his clipboard and began to read.
After reading several lines he sighed and glanced at her over the top of his papers. “I’m afraid there’s no way to sugarcoat this so I’m just going to be blunt: we aren’t sure what to make of it.”
As Twilight looked into Dr. Prototype’s eyes and listened to his cold, matter-of-fact tone, she felt her stomach drop into her hooves and a small flicker of hope she hadn’t even realized she’d still been nurturing gutter out and die. After a moment or two, she managed to blink away the moisture that threatened to spill from her eyes and nodded for him to continue.
The doctor nodded back grimly and did so. “First of all I should tell that the vast majority of the tests we ran were either utterly inconclusive or wildly and obviously inaccurate. Or you’re pregnant. And an 87 year old gryphon.” He smiled slightly as he managed to draw a weak and probably forced chuckle from Twilight. “In all seriousness though, this isn’t like anything we’ve ever seen before. In a few of the test we did manage to run successfully the readings were absolutely off the charts. I’ve seen less magical blood from fully grown dragons. One of my more sensitive assistants actually became dizzy and had to sit down when she made a mistake and mishandled the sample you gave us. Several of our machines broke when we tried to use them, and it even managed to completely dissolve the psycho-stasis field we’d initially had it stored in. We eventually had to keep it move it into a glass beaker, but as soon as it touched the atmosphere it immediately underwent majecka decay until it was as mundane as blood from a common domesticated house pet. About an hour after that it began the process of natural decomposition at an incredibly accelerated rate. After just a few hours there was nothing left but some stains.” Dr. Prototype stopped talking for a moment, taking in the shocked and slightly disturbed looks on the two unicorn’s faces. Seeing that they understood, he continued. “At this point there’s not much we can say with certainty other than this: the sample was most definitely not equine in nature.” As he finished speaking the doctor looked to the two ponies in front of him. Twilight just gazed off into the middle distance somewhere near her hooves, trying dazedly to take in everything he had said. Shining just had one fore-leg wrapped comfortingly around her, and shot him a soft look. Taking the hint, Dr. Prototype rose and left the small room, shutting the door behind himself.
After a few moments of silence, Shining asked, “Twily? Are you Okay?”
Twilight snapped out of her dazed stupor at the noise. She waited for the shock to really hit her, the rage, the anguish, the denial, the sadness, the hurt, all of it, but instead there was only… emptiness. An absence of emotion, of one kind or another. Only a deep well of hollow apathy rose up to meet her as she turned inward. “I’m fine.” She answered softly. “Just… tired, I suppose. Yeah, tired, that’s it.” It was just as well. She was fed up with feeling. She’s held on to hope for so long, even if it was subconsciously, that no that it was finally crushed, fully and completely, she didn’t really want to feel anything else now. Besides, she’d long since had her fill of anger and worry and sadness over the last few days as well. She rose to her hooves and slowly slunk her way across the room to the bed and a collapsed into it, Shining watching her the whole way.
Shining Armor gave a soft sigh and said, “Well alright then.” He walked over to her and carefully pulled the covers over her, kissing her on the forehead just below her horn. “Sleep well,” he said, turning and walking away.
As he opened the door to leave and stood in the doorway, Twilight felt something bubble up softly deep in her chest. “Shining,” she called out with a soft but pleading edge to her voice and a hoof extended towards him as he walked away. “Will you… will you hold me? Like when we were foals?”
Shining looked at his little sister and for the briefest of moments he didn’t see a full grown mare with her own life and friends and powerful magic to call her own, but instead a small and scared little filly, standing in his bedroom doorway, tightly clutching her smartypants doll with small tear stains on her cheeks as wind and thunder raged just outside. With a soft smile, he closed the door and climbed into the bed beside her, pulling her close and embracing her tightly as she buried her face in his chest.
They laid there in silence for several moments before she spoke. “I love you, BBBFF.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, too.”
With her magic, she snuffed out the room’s only candle. It was easier to pretend she wasn’t crying in the dark.
`\*/`
The Dream Lands were quiet and peaceful, just as they always were at this hour. It was hardly surprising, and Princess Luna had long since grown to accept this. The realm of dreams and thoughts couldn’t be full and fertile at all times after all. At this moment however, something was different from normal. In her usual and habitual strolls through the glimmering fields during the morning hours she was used to seeing only the Dreamscapes of her own Lunar Guards and the occasional pony still asleep after a long night of work or merriment, but the Dreamscape she found herself looking into was none of them, despite its familiarity.
She watched as the source of her current guilt and sorrow ran and fled soundlessly through an endless white field of mist and terror. The young unico—no, she was no longer quite just a unicorn, was she? The young monster mare thrashed and sobbed in her sleep, consumed by rage, despair and helplessness.
With a wave of her hoof, a spark of her power, and an effort of her will, Luna swept aside all the sadness, fear and endless white mist, replacing them with a starlit meadow and tranquility.
A single tear slid down her cheek, and not for the first time she wished she could change things in the waking world just as easily as she could in the land of dreams.
*~-/^\-~*
“Welcome to Ponyville,” Morning Star read aloud. He adjusted the straps and rigging of his cart as he read, their weight beginning to chafe his back after the long walk. Looking down, he saw the small village sprawled out peacefully in the valley formed between the Everfree Forest and Canterlot Mountain’s foothills before him, blissfully unaware of the danger so close to them and of things yet to come. It was serene really, a rather quaint and picturesque vista, with happy little villagers going about their lives in peace, despite the fragility of such a notion, especially due to recent events. Morning frowned. No matter what, he vowed to do his best to make sure that it stayed that way, for all of them. As long as it was within his power, nothing would interrupt the peaceful lives of the ponies in the small valley just before him. With a nod to himself, he heaved against the reins of his cart to get it rolling again and headed for the village proper.
After several minutes he managed to make his way to the town square, and from there it was relatively easy to navigate the rest of the town and locate the building he had been looking for. It was kind of hard to miss a giant tree growing up in the middle of town after all. He sat in front of the massive wooden structure for several long minutes, simply gazing at it and letting his mind wonder and contemplate his latest assignment.
It was still hard to imagine Twilight Sparkle as anything other than the starry-eyed little filly with her nose always buried in a book and attached to the Princess at the hip. She was such a cute little thing too, always innocent and eager to please. He still remembered his early interactions with her, the way her eyes would light up when she learned something new, her abnormally articulate vocabulary for a filly her age, her adorable naivety. But, he thought to himself, every little filly has to grow up sooner or later I suppose.
With a sigh, he turned away from the great library and walked to an empty house just down the road and across the street, still within viewing distance. Carefully, he brought his cart around to the back of it, threw off the tarp covering it, and began to unpack his meager possessions.
It took the better part of an hour, but eventually it was done. He looked around his new home, taking everything in with a small self-satisfied smile. It was a small place, with hardly more than a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and a single bath, but it would do. He was just happy to have been able to move everything inside without breaking anything (especially when moving that heavy old oak-framed bed of his.) Wiping a small bit of sweat from his brow, he stole into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of fresh lemonade from when he had stopped to grab some groceries on the way here. Picking up the refreshing beverage, he brought it into the living room, sat on the lone rug in front of the empty fireplace, and took a deep drink. Setting the glass aside, he reached out and took down a single framed photo from on the hearth and held it close.
It showed a single pegasus mare, a beaming smile on her face and a gentle hoof laid delicately on her belly, heavy and swollen with deep pregnancy. Her coat was the gentle pure white of freshly fallen snow, and long locks of a mane as pink as the blossoms of a cherry tree in the heart of spring framed a face beautiful enough to inspire envy from even the Princess herself. A simple image of the sun rising from behind a bank of dark storm clouds adorned her flank. A small brass plaque that inlaid the simple wooden picture frame read only: “Sunny Breeze”.
Morning gently ran the tip of a hoof along the picture’s edge and did his best to blink away the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes, only succeeding in part. When he spoke, his voice was heavy and thick with emotion. “Hey, mom,” he said, almost starting to choke up before he could wrestle his emotions down. “It’s… It’s been a while since I’ve talked to you, huh? Sorry about that. I’d have said something sooner, but there’s not really been much to talk about. Dad’s still being dad, at least.” Morning Star snorted in derision. “Sometimes I really wonder what it is you saw in him. But if you loved him then I guess he must have done something right, huh?” Morning took a moment to calm the various emotions that threatened to rise up, before sighing and continuing. “Sometimes I wonder if things would be different if you were here. Maybe he wouldn’t be so angry all the time. But then again, maybe not.”
Morning shook his head side to side as if to knock away the thought. “Enough of that though. I’m sure you don’t want to hear me complain about dad. That’s not really what I wanted to talk to you about anyways.” Morning smiled. “I wanted to tell you about what happened to me. The other day Princess Celestia called me in to talk to me and asked me to do her a favor. I said yes of course, and now I’m living down in Ponyville and watching over little Twilight Sparkle.” Morning gave a brief laugh at that. “You remember her, right? That bookish little filly from around the castle that had hardly grown into her cutie mark? I guess it turns out she’s all grown up now. She’s moved into Ponyville and started running her own library. She even made a bunch of new friends and made a whole life for herself. I know, I can hardly believe it either! I still remember her as the awkward little filly that stalked me around in the castle library.” Morning Star let out a soft and nostalgic sigh as he briefly reminisced on the memory. “Sometimes I wish I could just go back to the way things were back then. Everything seemed simpler, happier even.” His expression hardened a bit, growing more somber. “But wishing won’t change anything. Bad things are coming, one way or another. If I want those days back, then I’m going to have to fight for them. It might not be much, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure nothing terrible happens to anypony else. Too many have been hurt already.”
He sighed deeply, allowing his shoulders to sag and smiling a bitter-sweet smile. “Thanks for listening. I needed to get that off my chest.” For a moment, he hugged to small framed picture tightly, as if to reach across the ages and embrace the mare it depicted. Carefully, he placed a kiss on the glass just over the mare’s cheek and gently set it back on the hearth in its spot of honor. Turning away with the bitter-sweet smile still on his face, he made his way to his lone coach and collapsed onto it, settling down for a quick nap after the days physically strenuous activities. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he turned his head and allowed the gaze of a tired eye to fall on the framed photo, whispering a single sentence before falling asleep.
“I love you, mom.”
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I am instantly reminded of the Vampire Cheerilee series, and I haven't even opened the first chapter.
Commence read!
I was JUST thinking of this story minutes ago while reading another vampire fic called "Equis Vampiris..." A vampony fic that is pretty okay, but suffers from extraordinarily fast pacing, leaps in character that might make sense if they had more time to develop, an astonishingly small cast which limits our view on how supporting characters might be impacted, and mythologies and stakes that are more than a little bit foggy because so little time is taken to clarify them.
I found myself thinking "Yeah, it's okay, but it's no 'Guardian Knight.' Say whatever happened to that story. Did it disappear again?"
So you have no idea how glad I am to see this in my inbox.
...Dammit, I just reviewed an entirely irrelevant fic on your comment page again, didn't I? I really need to stop doing that.
This was a great chapter; I absolutely loved the way you conveyed Twilight's emotions!
Is shy becoming a lich?
Last time I checked, forehoof has no space in it.
Also, Like someone in a fic would stay in coma while the story progresses without them. Cue evil Fluttersy
YOU UPDAAATEEED~!
I don't care that my new story is a bust, because you updated :D
So, I'm guessing Soft Paw is a Lycanthrope, and he's considering turning Flutters.
Yeah, I am pretty sure Sparkle-butt is not a 87 year old pregnant gryphon. I found that pretty funny. Also, doctor prototype, should I be worried about blacklight?
Do you maybe mean "cheek"?
Dropped an s
And a w here
Yay!!
I love this story!!
I just found your story about an hour ago.
Now that I've devoured it all, I want more!
I can't wait until her friends find out she's a Vampony. For some reason I think it'll be hilarious.
You're right, this is going to be a very long fic, we don't even really know who the villain is yet.
As someone mentionned earlier it would be very interesting if Shy became a lich , even if it's unlikely given the fact that a lich is a rather complicated being to create even if you have a skilled necromancer. Some kind of variation of a drider would be kind of interesting too... If you plan of changing more than Twillight that is.
Flutterlich , the rotting undead abomination of kindness...
YAY ITS HERE.
IT'S ABOUT TIME
I'm confused. What just happened? Anyway, I haven't read this in a long time, so I really don't remember the plot.
2566979
Science:
The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural...
Magic:
Noun: The power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.
Adjective: Used in magic or working by magic; having or apparently having supernatural powers: "a magic wand".
Supernatural:
Attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.
I was saying you can either explain the "magic" with science or have magic and magic only.
Also, people like me? There are lots of people like me, and they are called scientists. If you meant alchemists are early-day chemists. Then they pretty much are, and you are right. But I am talking about wizards casting magic spells and curses.
Not science at all.
Update
2565935
Haha, I was reading that as well when this one updated.
2566044
No I think she is dying from all the poison pumped into her body.
Why do I have the feeling the Celestia and Sunny Breeze have a deeper connection besides looking similar. Or I have read too many "Celestia needs a break" fics.
just found out that, apparently, I unfaved this story... Suddenly, I find it on the more popular stories bar.
re-faved.
I'm glad this lives. This is the only vampony story that takes its time. In all the other Twilight turns into vampony fics I've read things escalate too quickly... and Twilight ends up with far too many powers beyond comprehension. Well, I can't say that last thing won't happen here, but at least it will be paced right.
awesome, an update!
i had forgotten quite a bit when i started reading the chapter, and had to go over it with a friend to recall the general story.
Very interesting, well written and enjoyable as always.
You've found a good flow of story-telling and use a good vocabulary, neither juvenile nor obtuse. The only thing I would say needs any improvement is that your descriptions can get a bit long at times, making for a sort of breathless reading experience. It's mildly off-putting, sometimes making the descriptions seem obtuse when, really, they're not. I do the same thing, and one thing I've found to be of great help is reading what I write aloud. It often reveals errors concerning flow that, as the author, knowing how we wrote it, we otherwise miss. Everything else about your work is top notch.
There is one other specific instance I'll mention, though it is more preferential advice than anything else:
You did mean `disinterred`, rather than `disinterested`, correct? It's just that, while the former initially makes sense, the connotation of the word is discovering, or bringing to light, something hidden. The state of the room isn't exactly hidden. Also, even as one who reads a lot, it wasn't a word I knew, nor was able to figure out through its root or surrounding context. Honestly, I think--
--fits very well with the scene and remains accurate to her state of mind. Again, of course, this is simply preference.
Spelling oopsie:
Always aiming to help.
A fan,
Silver.
2567136
Considering Soft Paw is an obvious werewolf, I wonder if she's going to become one as well. Of course, that was before we learned the wolf was benevolent.
I'm also dying to know what this meant:
I think it's old English, considering it's not German, Dutch, or Gaelic, and Google is stumped as well.
"I'm sorry, [title] Shy. White [what?]."
*reads a few chapters of Diaries of a Madman*
THE HELL?! YOU DIDN'T SAY THIS WAS A WEIRD CLOP FIC!!!
EDIT: And now I read enough to roll my eyes in disgust as the story utilizes one of the most over-the-top God-modings I have ever seen with every painful 'immortality sucks' and 'bored god' cliche in existence to 'justify' it. As well as Equestria-is-Earth-in-the-future... which makes absolutely no sense no matter what you do with it. He even drags one Bible reference into it, citing Discord's favorite human being Cain. PROBLEM: this identifies Discord as the Devil, which means there must also be a GOD, who is more powerful than he is. If not, then there is the issue of why Discord/Devil has been stuck on this lone planet for all of his existence.
Tsk tsk, that wasn't thought out very well at all. The scope is absurdly over-reaching and cannot possibly address all the issues. And that's yet another problem in that, for all its length, it doesn't ever bother dealing with the world origin or the obvious ramifications of there being a VAST AND EXPANDING UNIVERSE OUT THERE, as well as a possible God and... too many things to even begin to address here. It begins with a humongous scope, and then spends most of the time dealing with very long-winded characters who babble on for long stretches of tedious dialog. I could literally skip about 20 pages worth at a number of spots... and MISS NOTHING IMPORTANT, because all the characters were doing was talking about meaningless drivel. When you're telling a story it's rather important to GET ON WITH IT!!
I read the last chapter posted, and it was nothing but dialog. Just reams and reams of two to three characters talking and talking and talking about nothing important or relevant that couldn't be summarized in a few well-constructed sentences to move the story along.
Discord shows Luna one-millionth of his life and she breaks down in tears. That's it. He touches her head and she cries. TELLING us bluntly that his immortality is so terribly horrible that we must accept that his sadism and wickedness is justifiable. That is an unforgivably cheap method that avoids any depth to the issue, which I believe is due to the fact that author has no deeper thoughts on the issue and is merely regurgitating popular sentiment rather than pondering the issue in careful meditation and analysis.
All while refusing to note that it is utterly alt-universe. It is so far-removed from canon it bears virtually no resemblance to FiM other than character names and some very basic details.
Not to mention, so much of it is just tens of thousands of words of almost unbroken dialog. The most descriptive scenes tend to be the violent or sexual ones.
Essentially, this sort of fic with a 'game' set up by a god character who has no way to possibly lose in a dark and violent Equestria twisted by his mental touch leaves much to be desired in its set up. It shatters any hope of plausibility with the multi-trope prologue that after reading it, suspending my disbelief was beyond impossible.
And I should point out that if there were a 'good' god with this much power, he'd be hated for being equally so over-powered and opposite in intent.
I cannot fathom why it warrants attention other than being so shockingly long and ending up saying so little. The greater miracle is that there are attention spans strong enough to slough through the entire thing.
MORAL: Don't recommend a story to me unless it's actually good. Or you get something like this in your comments.
oooo, is shy going to be a were pony?! That would be so AWESOME (man im sadistic)
makes me wonder what might happen to the others....
..............im still wondering if the CMC are alive or just suck constantly playing the slender game.
I MUST KNOW!
The title of this fic is eerily reminiscent of my profile name
This is a really great story, although I wish it would focus a bit more on Twilight right now. We see surprisingly little of her in this, sans the first chapter. I am curious as to what Spike and Celestia are doing right now? I would imagine Celestia would have taken the time to try and consol her frightened and depressed student. But that's just me. Great story, glad I found it.
Good chapter but I need to reread the whole thing because I have no idea what is going on.
<---230th follower
And freaking LOVE YOUR STORY
2611821 Wow, are you a doctor?
2712449
That is possible, but nothing about that has been stated. Even if a face to face meeting wasn't possible, she could try and talk to her through a door or something. She is a powerful alicorn, I'm sure she could find a way.
This is going very well, though like the guy below I'm wondering where the heck is Celestia. More importantly, why hasn't told Twilight that Celestia knows?
Please tell me your continuing
what in the bloody FUCK did soft paw say to fluttershy when they were leaving the room
was it heavy accent or a different language? Because I just spent the better part of an hour trying to figure it out
inb4 i missed something incredibly obvious
2574019 maybe its the ancient l seem to recall weiss meaning heal in that one
2611821
Magic
Anypony noticed that the hospital room shy was in was 214 and the answers to twilights problems was inside vault 214? Is there a connection or not?
6840492
I saw that as well. Either the author likes the number 214, or the author has a more thought out plan with future chapters that are going to show more 214’s with some connections.
And another thing. 214. Do you know what number you get when you add 2,1, and 4?
7.