Chapter 11

Rarity idly watched the blankets covering her friend rise and fall with her rhythmic breathing. It had been a trying night, for both of them. Neither could sleep, Applejack constantly wracked by painful coughing fits and Rarity plagued with worry.

The onsite Doctor increased the dosage of the potion he had been giving to Applejack, finally quelling her coughing fits and allowing her to get some rest. There was no rest for Rarity however, her worry did not cease. Her friend’s coughs had been getting worse.

Rarity quickly snapped herself out of her melancholy. "Now, now that’s no way to think." Rarity thought, allowing herself a small smile. "You always get worse before you get better. Applejack will begin improving very soon..."

Her thoughts were interrupted as Applejack began to cough. Rarity jumped to her hooves and was at the bed side in an instant. Applejacks eyes flew open and Rarity saw that they were filled with fear and confusion.

She struggled to breathe as the coughs grew worse, each breath she tried to take was ultimately cut short as her lungs constricted. Frantically reaching out a hoof, she latched on to Rarity who hurriedly helped her sit up, allowing her to breath better.

It didn't work. The coughs, dry to this point became laced with blood. With each cough, more blood found its way to the bed.

"DOCTOR! DR. BROWN!" Rarity screamed, running for the door. She screamed for help shouting down the palace corridor. Several doors flew open as Dr. Brown as well as several medical personnel rushed towards Applejacks room.

Pushing past Rarity, two unicorns in white coats attended to Applejack while Dr. Brown questioned Rarity.

"When did she start coughing?!" he asked hurriedly

"Only a few moments ago."

"Doctor!

He left Rarity and joined the others around the bed.

"Talk to me! What’s her status?!"

Applejack let out a particularly fierce and wet cough, splattering several aids with blood.

"Her lungs seem to be filling with blood and her heart rate is spiking into the red!"

"Alright, get me five liters of White Radford’s Concoction and a pump! NOW!"

The aid quickly complied while the doctor continued to shout orders. Rarity was forcibly removed from the room as more medical personnel and gear were brought in. She got one last look at her friend, covered in her own blood and in excruciating pain before the door was shut, barring her vision.

Several hours passed until, at last the door opened and a stream of tired, blood splattered aids, wheeling equally blood splattered equipment exited the room. Rarity, Fluttershy, and even Princess Luna watched as they passed. The last to leave was Dr. Brown, who closed the door behind him and moped his brow with a red stained cloth.

Luna was the first to speak. "How is she, Doctor?"

He sighed before responding. "She's stable. We had to perform emergency surgery to drain her lungs." He glanced back towards the closed door with touch of dread in his voice. "I’ve never seen anything like it before." turning back to face them. "She had all the symptoms of classic Tuberculosis but this...." he trailed off, trying to find the words. “Preliminary x-rays showed a buildup of something in her lungs, we assumed this to be the liquid. However when we tried to drain it with a surgical pump it didn’t help."

He wiped his brow again before continuing. "When we opened her up we found this, growing in her lungs."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a bloody chunk of black crystal.

Rarity and Fluttershy gasped in shocked while Luna's eyes widened. "We removed all we could find but...." He trailed off as his meaning sunk in. "How long does she have." asked Luna quietly as Rarity began to sob into Fluttershy’s shoulder who with tears of her own tried to comfort her friend.

"Two days. Three at most, hours at the least. As I said, I’ve never seen this before"

Rarity's sobs turned into wails as she emotionally broke down, she fell against Fluttershy as her legs would no longer support her weight. The world lost all meaning to Rarity, when she felt Fluttershy trying to lead her away she started to resist. She would not leave Applejack alone.

Rarity fought against Fluttershy, easily breaking free but was stopped by Princess Luna who held her fast in her magic.

Rarity continued to struggle, deaf to the pleas of both Luna and Fluttershy, until the adrenaline sustaining her ran out.

"Pl...Please...." she managed to say quietly, past sobs. "I....need to be with her....she....needs me." Utterly spent, Rarity lost conciseness.

Luna followed by Fluttershy took her into an adjacent room and laid her upon the bed.

"I’ll watch after her, your highness." Fluttershy said softly, wiping her tears from her eyes.

Luna nodded her head. "Please, inform us immediately if anything changes." Luna then took her leave, quietly shutting the door behind her only to bump into Pinkie Pie.

"Ah Pinkie Pie, we were about to send for you Applejack..."

"Is dying." The somber pink pony said bluntly.

Luna was slightly taken aback by the coldness in her response. "We are afraid so. We were just on our way to consult with Celestia in the hopes of a cure."

Pinkie's one visible eye twitched slightly but it easily could have been Luna's imagination. Unnerved by the usually bubbly party pony Luna quickly excused herself and made her way down the hall.

"Harmony has fallen. Light and Darkness will give way to eternal twilight."

Luna stopped and whirled on the spot. "What did you say?!" she shouted, only to be addressing an empty corridor. Glancing up and down the hall, Luna saw no sign of Pinkie. Her unease growing, she hurriedly left in search of her sister.

Twilight slowly made her way down the winding stairs beneath the Crystal Palace. Even this far underground the damage from her battle with Celestia were evident. Large cracks ran along the walls and stairs and every so often the ground would tremble as the foundation continued to settle. However, Twilight noticed none of this. Her mind was instead focused on a much more personnel issue.

"What will I say to them?"

Her mind danced around that one thought all the way down into the depths of the palace. Reaching the bottom, Twilight stepped out into a large corridor lined on either side with mirror like crystals.

Able to look upon her new appearance for the first time, Twilight liked what she saw. Just as Rainbow Dash described. Her mane usually straightened now waved gently about as if she was underwater, giving her an otherworldly appearance. Her horn likewise was just as described so were her eyes.

Striking several different poses while looking herself over, Twilight flashed a smile revealing sharp fangs which only added to her enjoyment of her new look.

"Not bad, Twilight. Not bad at all." she said to herself, stepping closer to the crystal to get a better look. Instead of her reflection she was met with the hollow face of her brother.

"Ahhhhh!" Twilight yelled, jumping backwards. Looking again she saw only her reflection once more. With a few cautionary steps she approached the mirror. As she drew closer her reflection gave way, allowing her to see inside the 'cell'.

Her older brother Shining Armor sat facing the crystal mirror. His once bright blue eyes were devoid of all life and had sunken into his face. The rest of his body likewise had lost all its former strength, a shell of the once strong stallion.

A twinge of regret stabbed at Twilights heart, a feeling she quickly crushed and buried deep inside. Backing away from the cell, the crystal again took on its mirror like quality. Turning away from her brother’s cell she approached the one opposite and looked inside. This time the feeling stabbing into her heart was sadness. She sought to bury it as well but found it was much more resilient.

Inside the cell was Spike. He lay in a fetal position in the center, rocking slowly back and forth, muttering to himself. Twilight was unable to hear him but something inside told her it was about her. She retreated to the center of the corridor, once again allowing the cell to become a mirror.

Her resolve faltered, she looked back towards the stairwell that would lead her away from this. She took a step forward but stopped suddenly when words filled her head.

"Fear makes us who we are, embrace it, make it your own but do not let it rule you."

She couldn’t tell if Sombra was actually speaking with her or if she was subconsciously drawing his voice from memory, either way Sombra was right.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight cast a spell to open her brother’s cell. The crystal mirror slid silently and effortlessly into the ceiling, leaving her standing face to face with her brother.

Despite his prison being opened, Shining Armor continued to stare ahead.

"Shiny? It’s me, Twilight."

Shining Armor blink once and slowly turned his head to look into her eyes.

"Twilight?" he said slowly. His voice devoid of all emotion.

"Yes Shiny, its me." she said, reaching a hoof up to gently stroke his face.

"Where is Cadance? Is she safe? Is she alright?" he asked in the same dead voice.

Twilight's heart wretched but she kept it from showing on her face. "Yes Shiny, she's where nopony can hurt her ever again." She said softly, fighting to hold her tears in.

Shining Armor looked away from Twilight to stare ahead once more.

"Twilight?"

"Yes Shiny?"

"I want to be with Cadance." he looked back to her suddenly. "Please, kill me."