Login

Deal With The Draconequus

by Never2muchpinkie

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Stop Sweetie Belle.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter
Chapter 4: Stop Sweetie Belle.

“Huff, huff, huff. Come… on… Spike!” Twilight said. Her usually tidy mane was a mess. There were bags under her eyes. The two of them were in the former castle of Luna and Celestia.

“Twilight!” he said sternly. “You can’t do anymore. You have to rest!”

“No!” she said stubbornly, shaking a hoof at him. Her vision suddenly went blurry, and she fell to the ground, too groggy to stand back up.

During the outbreak Twilight had been certain that it would be quickly contained. She didn’t expect that no one would know of the disease or of how to find a cure for it. Since the day she heard that she had barely slept as she had poured through all the books in her library that might even have a hint of what was occurring in Ponyville. She had gone through medical books, autobiographies and biographies of famous pony doctors, spell books, history books. In the end she had found nothing.

She was at a loss. She thought for sure she her only option was to wait for her friend to die and simply hope that they could discover a cure before the worst happened. Celestia had encouraged her to check out her old castle and go through the library in there, believing it could be an outbreak of a supposedly dead virus that ponies had lost immunity to over time. It reminded her of the Cutie Pox incident, where it broke out and then vanished in a short period of time.

She only left the castle for food and drink, and she had even begun sleeping there as she spent countless hours reading all the books she could get her hooves on. As the deadline to the end came closer she had pushed herself harder. She was sleeping less and less, eating less, and straining her brain to the max.

Just a short while ago she was sure she had finally hit paydirt. There was a book about an outbreak in a town near Ponyville that seemed very similar to what was going on now. There was good news and bad news. The bad news was that there was no known cure. The good news was that there was a recipe for a concoction that could fight off the symptoms temporarily. With Rarity so close to death she didn’t want to waste any time mixing it up and heading to the hospital.

“Twilight! You know more than anyone how I feel about Rarity. If anyone should want this done right away its me, but in your exhausted state you’re going to mess up the mixture and that will lead to her dying anyway. YOU… NEED… SLEEP! If you’re going to do this then you have to do it right.”

Twilight hated how right he was. She wasn’t in any fit shape to do anything. Time was of the essence, but she didn’t have any strength left. “F-fifteen minutes, Spike. That’s all I’ll need. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

She let out a big sigh and dropped her head on the floor, letting out soft snores almost right away.

Spike wished he could do more, but he didn’t trust himself to mix up anything either. He had been with Twilight throughout this whole ordeal, skimming through books as well but he was nowhere as fast as her. About the only thing he could do at the moment was make sure she was comfortable. He went and grabbed her blanket, setting it over her before lifting her head and letting her use him as a pillow.

“Rarity,” he said quietly. He really wanted to be there at the hospital with her. The rest of their friends were already there. He felt it was more important to work towards possibly finding a cure, that way she could still be alive. He had hardly slept the past few days himself. He closed his eyes, feeling like he was going to drift off too, but he fought it. He had to wake Twilight up in a little while, or it might be too late.

After about ten minutes he gasped as a sudden bright light blinded him for a moment. As he opened his eyes he saw Twilight’s horn was glowing, the red aura flickering back and forth like a candle. Twilight’s eyes were still closed. Spike looked around the room, but he didn’t see a glow around anything else, so he didn’t know where her magic was being directed to. When he looked back at her he noticed something he had missed the first time: above the glow was a transparent purple diamond.

He stared at it for a little while, but nothing happened. The glow stayed constant. Not knowing what it all meant he thought he should wake Twilight up and tell her. He wanted to let her get some more sleep, but he had never seen her generate magic while asleep, so he wondered if this was something serious.

Giving her a gentle shake he said, “Twilight. Twilight! Wake up!”

Twilight mumbled incoherently before gazing at him through half-lidded eyes. “Spike?” she said drowsily. “What’s wrong?”

“Your horn is glowing.”

She let out a groan. “You woke me up for THAT? How many times have you seen me use magic?”

“There’s also a diamond on top of your horn.”

She groaned again, setting her head on the floor. After a few seconds her eyes shot open, and she looked upward. Her eyes grew wide, and she suddenly jumped up. “Oh, no! This is bad!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I helped all my friends hide their Element of Harmony. Each one is locked away in a safe place, and I put a magical alert spell on each of them to let me know if they’ve been removed from their houses. This means that somepony has Rarity’s Element.”

Spike understood the gravity of the situation. “Like we don’t have enough to deal with! Who else knows about her hiding spot?”

“No one! It’s in a safe in her house, and her house is under quarantine. Although… I suppose… she might have told her parents… or Sweetie Belle.”

“But why would any of them want her Element of Generosity?”

“I don’t know, Spike, but we need to find out. Get on my back!”

“Right!”

Using her magic to grab the book she needed she teleported the two of them back to her library. She raced around, grabbing all the items listed for the potion. She had Spike read her the directions, and she quickly began mixing it up. The last step was a spell with unicorn magic to bring it to full potency. Concentrating her energy in her horn she shot it towards the beaker, and it glowed brightly for a short time before fading away. When it was finished she held up a beaker of a dark brown liquid. It smelled like spoiled food. She didn’t envy Rarity for having to drink it. She had followed all the directions to the letter, so she was certain it would help her friend out for now.

With another poof she appeared in front of Ponyville Hospital, Spike on her back like before. She ran inside, having to contain herself so she didn’t cause an accident in the hospital. When she got to Rarity’s room she saw Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy around Rarity’s bed.

“Is Rarity still alive?” Twilight asked desperately.

“Yes,” Fluttershy responded, tears coming down her eyes. “But they say she only has another hour to live. This is the end, Twilight.”

“Not yet, it’s not!”

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked, her mane completely flat as she cried too.

She went up to Rarity, and she winced at her friend’s condition. Half of her body was covered with a blanket, but there were large patches of broken skin, there was only a sliver of hair remaining in her mane, most of her coat was gone, and boils were rampant across her body. Her body, hooves, and face were swollen up. She couldn’t get any closer because of the health bubble surrounding her friend, so she used her magic to teleport it inside.

“Rarity! I need you to drink that. It will help.”

Rarity’s breathing was haggard. It took her a short time to open her mouth. Twilight poured some of the liquid into her mouth, and Rarity showed some energy as she gagged and spit it out onto the floor. “Yuck!” she sputtered out weakly. “What IS that mess? Dirt flavored sweat?”

“I know it’s gross, but it will help your condition for now. This is a matter of life and death.

“I need to know. Did you ever tell anyone else about your hiding spot for your Element?”

Again she took a short time to answer. “Only you… and Sweetie Belle.”

“Uhn! So it WAS her.”

Rarity’s eye’s focused. “W-what… do you… mean?”

“Someone set off the alarm I set on your Element. I don’t have any idea why, but she took it out of the safe.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy cried out, putting a hoof to her mouth.

“What is it, Fluttershy?”

A blush came to her face. “I… I don’t know if this is related. I don’t want to think so, but… I can’t think of any other reason.”

“What is it?”

“A few days ago Sweetie Belle came to me asking questions about Discord.”

Twilight had a sinking feeling in her chest. “DISCORD? What was she asking about?”

“She wanted to know how I got in contact with him, so I told her about sending him letters and the phrase he gave me if I want to summon him. The next morning was when all those other ponies suddenly got better.”

Twilight had a thoughtful look on her face. “Hmm… there’s no doubt in my mind that those ponies were helped by Discord. That they showed no sign of ever being sick clearly speaks of Discord’s ability to rewrite reality as he sees fit. If Sweetie Belle saw him and the next day that happened it’s also clear that he did it at her request.”

She let out a loud gasp as the last piece of the puzzle connected in her mind. “I’ve got it!” she said, dread in her voice. “This is horrible!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Sweetie Belle went to Discord because he was the only one who might be able to cure Rarity. Although he’s been reformed it would still be to his benefit for Rarity or any of the rest of us to disappear so he doesn’t have to worry about being sealed away. If just one of the Elements of Harmony is unusable they all become worthless.”

Applejack felt she understood the situation, and her heart sank. “Ya… yer not sayin’ that Sweetie Belle…”

Twilight nodded. “She’s desperate for Discord to help her sister. Discord healed everyone else to show he was more than capable of curing her. That’s the reason Rarity is the only one still sick. He wants the Element in exchange for her life. If he gets his claws on just one of the Elements he’ll destroy it, or hide it in a place on the other side of Equestria, or… or whatever he wants with it!”

She let out a heavy sigh. “We need to stop her before she makes the biggest mistake of her life.” She turned to Fluttershy. “I know how you feel about Discord, and I know how hard you’ve tried to help him see the good side of harmony, but this could turn into an utter disaster. Once Discord doesn’t have a leash to keep his darker side in check the temptation to go back to his old ways may be too powerful. If we can catch up to Sweetie Belle I think it would be for the best to seal him away again until we get the full story from her. For all we know Discord is manipulating her the same way he did to us. Do you agree?”

Fluttershy had a pained look on her face. A tear came down her face and she gave a curt nod.

Rarity was staring off into space. The pain made it hard to concentrate but she had the gist of their conversation. “T-Twilight,” she huffed. “Why would… why would Sweetie Belle… do this?”

Twilight smiled at her friend sadly. “For you,” she stated plainly. “She’s going to endanger all of Equestria to save your life. Now that he’s proven he can cure this disease like its nothing he wants the Element before he heals you. Her love for you is so strong she’s risking the world for you.”

Tears dripped down her eyes. “Sweetie Belle…” A sudden strength came to Rarity’s face. Lifting her hooves she grabbed the beaker. Shudders went through her body as she forced herself to down the entire thing. She gagged for almost an entire minute afterward. “I think I’m gonna throw up,” she stated, holding a hoof to her face as a wave of nausea passed through her.

“I’ll get you some water.”

Twilight teleported a glass of water into her bubble, and Rarity drank it down gratefully. “Thank you.” She dry-heaved again. “Ugh! I don’t think all the water in the world is going to get that taste out of my mouth. My whole body is on fire, but I feel… strangely… better.”

Even as they watched some of the swelling began going down. Her mane and coat were still nearly bare, but the potion was having some effect on her.

“Is Rarity all better now?” Fluttershy asked hopefully.

Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. This is a temporary thing. It’s basically like a super-shot of adrenaline to the immune system. It will allow her to get up and move around for a few hours, but that may be all we have. I could whip up some more, but just like with regular adrenaline it’s dangerous for the body to constantly be in that state or it will burn itself out.”

She took a long breath. She was trying to be strong, but she couldn’t stop a few tears from coming down her face. “This may be out last mission together, friends. One last time… let’s show the power of the Elements of Harmony and help to save Equestria.” All of them gave solemn nods, trying not to think of what awaited the end of the battle.

Using her magic she grabbed each of her friends and teleported them to their houses to grab their respective Elements, with the exception of Rainbow Dash since she couldn’t walk on clouds as a unicorn. When she returned to the hospital she was unsurprised to see Rainbow Dash waiting for her, given her incredible speed.

“Spike…I want you to come with us. I don’t know what’s going to happen but if necessary I want you to grab Sweetie Belle and get her out of harm’s way.”

“Alright, Twilight.”

Using her horn once again she shook off a wave of fatigue as she set Rarity on her back. There was time to sleep later. Teleporting the seven of them outside she used her horn one last time. An arrow appeared in front of her, pointing diagonally left. “This will allow me us to trace the Element. I only hope it isn’t too late.”

***

In a clearing near the entrance to the Everfree Forest Sweetie Belle was seated on her back hooves, holding the Element of Generosity close to her, an unreadable expression on her face.

Discord looked down at the white filly, a pleasant smile on his face. “Well, Sweetie Belle? What’s your answer?”

She was quiet for a few more moments, then she said, “I’ll… I’ll do it. For Rarity’s sake.” As the words left her mouth the last of her color faded from her mane and coat.

“WONDERFUL!” Discord said, confetti appearing from his paws.


Author's Note

So I need opinions because I'm not really satisfied with this chapter. Sometimes I'm too critical of my own work and other people are fine with it so did this chapter go over well for you? Or was it "too easy?" Twilight's magical alarm system shows she's at least acting smarter than Celestia in protecting the Elements, and it makes sense. I'm cool with that aspect, but what about the rest? I just needed a way for the mane 6 to gather and go to stop Sweetie Belle as we near the climax.

Next Chapter: Chapter 5: True courage. Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 3 Minutes
Return to Story Description

Login

Facebook
Login with
Facebook:
FiMFetch