Family Begins With You

by Jmaster49

Arc IV Episode VI: That Which Doesn't Kill You...

Aidon started to float into the air, snickering like a mad scientist about to find his greatest discovery. “...I’m through with the concept of ethics. To solve every equation, you must break numerous cells to get there!” With a crazed look of excitement on his face, he started to slowly bring his hands together in order to clasp the dark threads around the centaur’s body more and more.

“MMMMM!!” Goetia was no longer able to speak out. All she could do was whimper a muffled, pitiful cry.

“Professor!” Twilight shouted as she flew towards him, “Don’t kill her!”

“Stand back!” the shadowman refused to listen as he brought his hands closer and closer together. “I know what I’m doing!”

PYOOO….

And as soon as he did, the bindings would fully encapsulate and consume the wendigo-centaur. Then, without warning, the entire monster was shrunken down and collapsed into a tiny singularity: A black hole the size of a golf ball.

Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. This was magic that was beyond her or even Sunset’s understanding. “Wh...you...how…?!” Her amazement was cut short once she realized the danger of such a thing. “...SIR! YOU’RE GOING TO SWALLOW THE ENTIRE WORLD IF YOU--!”

POP!

Wendy’s human form was promptly ejected out of the singularity until it was force-closed by Aidon. None of the magic utilized to create or destroy it could be detected as all hints towards such were removed the minute he closed it.

“Ouch!” the blue-haired girl cried out as soon as she landed, “No...this can’t be!”

“...Holy quasars and comets…” Twilight mouthed quietly as she tried to process what had just happened. “This is...that is impossible…none of this makes sense...how does your magic work, Professor?!”

The shadowman’s billowing miasma disappeared from his body as he floated down until he landed on one knee, breathing heavily. “Haa...whew….that was...I can’t believe it…”

“Me neither!” Twilight squealed as she landed nearby, her wings disappearing. “All this time I thought dark magic was the work of evil and always corrupted the person--or pony--that used it. But you...your aether is much different…”

“Hey…” he said in between a cough, “Don’t let...Goetia…”

But from afar, Wendy refused to submit so easily. “Oh no you don’t! While I may have lost my wendigo state, I still have enough to do this!”

POOF!

With a snap of her fingers, the girl turned into a wisp--a miniature form of a wendigo with no power. All while leaving them with some snide parting words. “...You’ll regret this, Professor Aidoneous…”

“Hey--!” Twilight called out to the spirit, only to realize. “Darn...she’s gone.”

Aidon slowly stood upright and spoke weakly. “Ghh...she’s lost most of her power. She won’t be a threat for a while. But we need to make sure those girls are okay. Which way is the hospital?”

---

Following Twilight’s directions from the passenger seat, the professor would drive to the hospital alongside her so that they could both ensure the safety of Adagio and Octavia. They made their way inside, and were directed to a room where both of the girls were resting in hospital beds and hooked up to IV drips.

Rarity was sitting outside of the hospital bedroom on a chair with her hands shaking and idly bounced her leg up and down. Her face was locked in coldly against the floor, unable to look anywhere else.

“...Rarity?” Twilight approached her carefully, “Is everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m not sure…” she admitted while rubbing her left hand against her right arm, “I’m far too anxious to check on them. And I don’t want to go in there and have one of my, er...meltdowns,” she looked up at them both, “Would you both mind terribly…?”

“No problem at all,” Twilight replied with a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “I’m sure this is very stressful and you’ve done all you could. We’ll take it from here.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Aidon added as he stepped towards the door, “Let’s see how they’re doing…”

The gray professor and purple girl both entered the hospital room. Octavia was out cold, but thankfully breathing.

“Urgh…” Adagio groaned from her hospital bed. Since she wasn’t trapped in the wendigo’s chill for as long, she had woken up first. “...Twilight? Professor? You both…”

“Relax…” Twilight spoke quietly as she stepped forward, “We’re just glad you’re okay. Both of you…”

“Same here,” Aidon said with a relieved sigh, “I wouldn’t forgive myself if I let harm come to my students--even off school grounds…”

Adagio looked up at them with a regretful set of tearful eyes. “...Thank you. I was foolish to think I could solve this on my own…”

Aidon wanted her to focus on the positives. “Regardless, you did what you thought was right. I can respect someone who follows their own code of ethics…”

Soon enough, two more individuals would burst through the door to the hospital.

“SIS!” Aria and Sonata shouted in horrific unison as they laid eyes on her.

Both Aidon and Twilight backed away to the other side of the room to give the sirens some space so that they may embrace their ailing sister.

“We came here as soon as we could,” Aria said while hugging Adagio’s right side.

“Please don’t die!” Sonata sobbed with a river of cartoonish tears running down both sides of her face, while holding onto Adagio’s left side, “We can’t live without you!”

Warmed by their sentiments, Adagio chuckled softly as she gently patted them both on their heads. “You silly-fillies. I’m not going anywhere. The doctor said I’d be able to leave by tomorrow…”

“Whew...that’s good,” Sonata sighed with relief as she stood upright.

But Aria was less lenient. “You should’ve told us what was going on, A-dawg,” she lectured her sister with her arms folded, “We could’ve been there to help you through this.”

Aidon was about to comment. “H--”

But Twilight held him in place with her magic, cutting him off. “Sir...let them settle this.”

The professor fell silent and Twilight released him from her grip.

“You’re right…” Adagio admitted as she looked down at herself, “But if you two were there, you may have gotten hurt also…”

“We’re past that point, Adagio,” Aria went on, “We’re sisters. We look out for each other. So from now on, we’re gonna make sure we stick by you whenever we can. And if we’re not together, give us a call. Understand?”

“...I...suppose.” Adagio was still uncertain, and couldn’t give a proper answer.

“No.” However, Aria was still firm. “No supposing. I want you to promise--”

Sonata cleared her throat and interjected. “...Ari. Sis needs time to recover. Can’t we like, discuss this later?”

“Hm….” Aria looked out of the corner of her eye, and noticed both Twilight and Aidon standing there. The last thing she wanted to do was make a scene, so she agreed to keep calm for the time being. “Yeah...okay. Sorry, big sis.”

“It’s fine…” Adagio replied, “I just...need time to think about what happened.”

Moments later, a certain DJ chick would enter the room without her glasses, storming past everyone to Octavia who was on the opposite end of it. “Tavey!” Once she reached her roomate’s bedside, she could be seen sobbing softly. “...Goddammit...I’m so glad you’re okay…speak to me as soon as you can, will ya?” She wiped her eyes of the tears, and stood up to look at the group. “Anybody know who did this? I’m gonna tear ‘em limb from limb!”

“It’s...a long story,” Twilight replied, “You might wanna sit down.”

Comments

[The Crazed Werewolf]

👍

[Jmaster49]

11059879
Now do you see what's going on? Alton was a shadow pony that was banished here.

[The Crazed Werewolf]

11059886
Seems like a convoluted way to reveal it. Some hints spread throughout the story would have helped.

[Jmaster49]

11059972
That's fair. Though I thought Wendy blackmailing him earlier would've hinted at that. Along with his inner monologue.