It was sterilizer, that is what he could first smell when his consciousness wormed his way back.  There was another smell or a mixture of smells. But the scent of sterilizers was defiantly at the forefront of the overpowering smells. Slowly his breathing began to pick up; there was a sharp pinch in his chest.

He grumbled in pain, pain was a rare thing for him. It was neither good nor bad, it was just an experience that he was not accustomed too. His nerves where shot, they had been worked into overdrive since he jumped in the river.

He tried to open his eyes, it was a lot harder than he thought. It wasn’t painful, it just took far more energy than it should have.  His eyes opened, to see a white light; it took a minute to adjust to the fluorescent fixtures.  His vision had finally tightened as the angle of his vision derped in and out of focus.

He was laying down, flat , but his head was slightly propped up against the world’s most unconformably pillow.  Most likely foam fill. He was tucked in like a foal on both sides with a light blue flannel blanket. He craned his head slightly, he grit his teeth as he did as pain shot up his spine.

Off on the far end was a medical mirror. Below it was a sink with jars and bags of cotton balls. The bed that he was in had two metal banisters on each side.  A tiny bit of air escaped him, it was nearly a sigh but there was not enough air to qualify it as such.  His arms had weights to them; one was grey and had a blonde mane, the other had a crème coat with a red curly mane.

Both were asleep, or he assumed so, from his vantage point he couldn’t see very well. Then it caught his eye, a mare that wore the same coat as he did, A mare with a sheepish grin on her face and the eyes of mischief. They both just looked at each other for a moment, not saying a word.

”So you kissed her huh?”

Gary closed his eyes as his head fell back against the pillow. ”Please Mary, not now. Yell at me and beat me up when I get out of here.”

Mary scooted the black chair over so she could continue the conversation, Now from his view he could only see the bright light and Mary in his peripherals. “So… you kissed her huh?”

“Can I get some sisterly worry? I am in pain right now.” Gary nearly bit off his tongue as another shooting pain pierced his chest.

Mary raised cracked a smile, slightly amused. “Injured, Gary, I’m surprised you’re not dead. There was a boulder the size of me through your chest.”

Gary wanted to look at his chest, but the resting fillies stopped his movements, “So what was the damage?”

Mary grabbed the clip board and flip over two pages. “Your left lung is gone, so is six inched of your esophagus, half of your liver, three-fourths of your stomach, one of your testicles—“

“Stop, please stop, I’ll read through it later. So... how much did she tell you?” Gary said with a mild blush.

“Everything,” Mary said with a near sing-song voice. “I am a little surprised. Ok, I was really surprised. At first when she told me I thought she was lying. When she spent almost half the day crying not to tell anypony then I started to believe her.” Mary voice started to soften. “She hasn’t left your side since you were admitted; she keeps blaming herself for what happened.”

Gary could only look down at the red mane, things were progressing far too fast for his liking. Then it hit him, “Wait, how long have I been out?”

“A little over two weeks, it was touch and go there for a while but my healing magic was enough to keep you stable. Now that you’re awake you can heal yourself, putting us through so much worry you should be ashamed.” Mary slightly teased. “Let’s leave that for now though, what we are going to do about her she really thinks you’re her special somepony.”

“I am.” Gary said bluntly.

“Oh, I really didn’t think…” Mary tried to piece together the words. “What about Glass?”

“What about her?” Gary said mildly irritated, the pain in his chest got sharper more pronounced. “Mary can you turn up the heat in here I’m freezing,” His breathe started to become more rasp.  

Mary horn glowed in a dark aura, as the temperature in the room raised ten degrees. “Gary I really think you need to think about this.  There is a lot more riding on the line than you think.”

“Mary please, I know full well my actions. After I get out of here I am planning on turning myself in.”  Gary laid his head back and looked at the ceiling. “Right now though I’m happy, truly happy.”

Mary scooted closer, she had never seen her brother like this, ever. When he was young he was a typical colt, perverted with a sense of adventure.  Now though he looked weak, scared, afraid. “Gary, in a year you two can be together. Just wait until then. If you really love her, just wait.” Mary was getting worried this was not normal by any means, even for her brother.

Something was wrong.

“It means nothing Mary,” again his vision started to haze in and out of focus and his breathing picked up in tempo. ”If I did wait until she was fourteen what then? Nothing would change, I will still be labeled a pedofillyer and she would be the one that I seduced.” Gary bit his lower lip, the pain in his chest was starting to throb.

“Gary since when have you cared about what others thought? You didn’t care about Glass being underage.“ she tried to smile. “Glass didn’t even care she was either, she ran away with you didn’t she?”

“And she died because of it. I’m not going to have her throw her life away because of me!”  It was a lot stronger that time, a pulsing pain that shot up his spine, the tendons in his neck stretched.

Marry could see it from a mile away now, he didn't care what others thought of him. Twist's future was on the line as well, there was something else though. Something she had never scene, ever. In her her entire life, she had never seen Gary cry.

Gary was crying.

Even when Glass died, he didn’t cry. He refused too, he had already decided that he was going to bring her back. He didn’t cry when he failed. He never cried when he was in pain, or when others teased him about his wings. There was something wrong…

“Gary are you’re alright?” a slightly stupid question given his condition.

It wasn’t the pain that was making him cry, he had dealt with that before. Gary had one fear, it was one that all mortal being shared. He was afraid to die. “Mary… I think I’m going to die.”

It was almost laughable, but, Gary wasn’t laughing. “C’mon Gary, you lived through worse than this. Twist may—“

“Mary, I’m not talking about a romantic death,” He voice was going more rasp. ”I can’t feel Selfie or Twist on the bed. I can’t move—“

Mary didn’t want to hear it, her brother was something of a safety blanket for her. A impermeable fortress that could never be hurt, physically or emotionally. “Gary just heal, after a hour you will be all better and thinking straight again.” She hoped, his near delusional ramblings could have been the cause of a near death experience.

Gary bit his lip, now his vision was slowly going, it went from hazy to just fading away. “I can’t… I have been trying since I woke up. I can’t touch the flames, they’re not there.”

Mary never really understood what his brother meant about the flames inside of him. She never had them, and as they were growing up, he was always able to use them. Never had there been a moment where Gary couldn't use his flames, save for moments of dead exhaustion, but even then -when needed- his willpower would have been able to draw them out. “Gary stop kidding around.” Mary said with a fake smile.

[…]

“Gary?”

[…]

“Gary?!”

Mary acted quickly, a little too quickly for the duo the was sleeping on the bed. She didn’t have time for a polite awakening as she ripped off the top blue blanket.  The two sleeping fillies now fully awake as they tumbled on top of each other as the end of the bed.

The cover was hiding the flesh colored bandages below, two weeks had gone by and the hole in his chest only just started to heal naturally.

“What happened sis?” Selfie said with a slightly groggy tone.

“Your brother is lazy and needs to get out of bed!”  The dark aura around her horn tapped into the mana. She put both hooves onto his chest. The bandages incinerated into nothingness as she envelop the pink scar tissue in a dark green aura.

Healing magic was not her forte, that wasn’t going to stop her from trying.

The influx of mana shot a small shockwave throughout the room. The mare in the next room over migraine mysteriously went away.  There was still no sign of life in the stallion on the bed.  Selfie didn’t know what was going on, but she did know something was wrong. She did what she knew best. She crawled along the white bedspread and up to her brother’s head.

She bit down on his ear and started to thrash it back and forth. Hard did she nip at the poor appendage, it was all she could do.

Twist only looked on, she was slightly groggy, her face was still stained with the salt form the previous night’s sob fest.  It was her fault her special somepony was hurt, or so she thought.   Twist wasn’t dumb, naïve sometimes to the workings of the adult world but she was a quick catch on some.  She could tell, something was very wrong.

Mary sent another spell flux of healing energy. Only for to pass through into the floor below. The stallion one floor below them was now completely cured of his erectile dysfunction.  Eagerly he left the hospital to tell his wife.

“What can I do?” Twist said almost breathlessly. She had no medical knowledge, the filly inside her wanted to go to his other ear and join Selfie on her ear tearing adventure.  Her inner mare didn’t know what to do; all she could do was sit and watch.

The scare tissue was starting to heal into pink flesh, waiting for the black hairs of his coat to grow. Mary’s wings flared up as she command the flow of mana to her. Her eyes turned black as night and her wings began to expel a black mist that collected on the floor.

The mana font poured into the room, as the life force of the world was now quite literally being pushed into the slow beating heart of the stallion. Alas, his eyes finally started to glaze over.

There was one thing Twist could do, as she started to cry. She didn’t want her boyfriend to die. It was simple enough, and she didn’t know. The consequences of what she was about to do or how grievous her sin. What could she do that Mary could not? The only thing she could.

She closed her eyes made a wish. Please, don’t leave me!

It was almost instant, almost. It took a moment for the filly to open her eyes to notice. The room had stopped, everything was completely still. Twist sat there in a moment of confusion.  Mary was completely froze in time, even the mana of her spell had solidified mid-air. Selfie had her eyes closed, she was nearing the point of ripping her brother's ear off.

“Did I do thith?”

“No, that would be me dear.” Came the voice behind her.

Quickly she whipped around on the bed and before her was a being shrouded in black velvet cloth. Twist had read hundreds of fantasy novels, she was nearing the four digit mark. When she was young she always was looking for what her shining knight would be like. In those stories however, sometimes the hero did die, and when it happened a being in black clothes would take the heroes soul away.

Twist was facing death in the face, or so she thought. She now knew what she could do as she stood on her hind legs and spread her fore legs apart, she had sheer determination at her disposal, she was going to protect her prince. “You’re not going to touch him, Death!”

The being chuckled as she took off her black hood, her coat was black and she had a fire red mane just like her. “Death? Please, he doesn’t have anything one me.” She said smugly. “My name is Prota-gonist, but you little filly could call me your fairy godmother.”

Twist nearly squeed on the inside, fairy godmothers always helped out in a pinch, and she was in a big pinch. “Are you here to help me?”

The mare gingerly trotted to the left side of the bed, as she caressed Gary’s body along the way. “You could say that.”

“Don’t touch him!” Twist shouted, her face mildly flushed.

Prota snickered as she lean in and gave Gary a peck on the cheek, “Jealousy is a terrible thing my dear filly. Me and Gary have a bond that you can’t break.”

Twist flushed,” He loveth me, back off!” Prota almost started to laugh.

“Oh, I know he does, and I am the one who you should be thanking for him falling for you.“ She said as she sat on the bed.

Twist scrunch up her face, “What do you mean you did? I got him to in love with me all on my own.” With a tiny bit of help from Mary.

Prota nodded, “Yes, yes you did. I applaud you for it. You see dear Twist that night could have gone a lot differently. Actually the route you took was the only route in your entire life that you and my dear son would have gotten together.”

Twist then realized who she was talking to, “Your Gary’s mom?”

Prota clapped her front hooves together, “Bingo my dear filly, how did you like that dress by the way? I made it just for you, and I even stitch Gary’s cutie mark on the garter, I thought that was a nice touch. I know Gary liked it, he loves frilly things.”

Twist was a little taken back, “You really made that for me? Why?”

Prota licked her lips,” Well you see my little twisted wonder, If you didn’t have that dress you never would have went to that precise restaurant. Dress code and all, the waiter would have never mixed up your drink order. Your wouldn’t have puked on the mare that got you to leave early enough before the rain got too bad. If the rain was bad you would have never went to the river to tell him about you trying to trick him.“

“How do you know that?”

Prota nuzzled Gary’s frozen chest, there was a small shiver that ran down her spine. “Well you see Twist, I know what will happen. To a point anyway, if I had not intervened you would never have gotten my Gary to fall for you, ever. You would have spent the next three years two months and nine days trying to woo him. Fail every time and my son would still be loved away in a unrequited love for his dead lover. Such a bore.”

Twist blushed, still the knowledge that she was together with him was still hard to work though for her. It was still slightly disturbing but she got a small pleasure that Gary’s own mother said it, and accepted it.

“You see Twist, I have a vested interest,” she licked her lips. “In my children, I do want to see them happy. Even if they are imperfect.” She said with a little disdain in her voice. “And you Twist, where the underdog, out of all the mares in the entire town you had the far lowest chance with him.”

Twist was slightly mad, “I didn’t want him to fall in love with me over thome trick!”

Prota breathing became slightly heavier as she took in the smell of her son, “Trick? By whatever do you mean? He fell in love with you with your own actions. I didn’t alter his heart, there was no spell or enchant that did anything. That was all you. I simply made you a dress. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“What are you here for, why are you tell me all of thith?”

Prota rolled her eyes, her personal fun had to wait, “Well you see, Gary here is about to die. In about two minutes and fifty four seconds Gary’s heart will give out. Mary will spend the next nine hours pumping mana into his body for nothing and that is just dreadfully boring to watch.”

Twist shook her head, “Gary will be ok, I don’t quite get how it workth but there wath thomething about a phoenix or thomthing like that. If he dieth he will be just fine! Mary thaid tho!”

A tiny grin, it was just a slightly curl in her lips, Prota was enjoying watch Twist squirm. “Yes, he WOULD have been fine save for one tiny little detail that he didn’t pick up on. He had already used the phoenix rebirthing flame on his dead lover.” She wrapped her hooves around herself and and shuddered as a wave of pleasure washed over her. “Oh what a day that was, watching him waste such a valuable resource. Only to incinerate a dead body.” Her eyes slightly rolled back into her head as the memory played inside her mind.

“But.” She clapped her hooves together as she whipped her head forward. “It’s time to play lets make a deal.” A bottle appeared between the two, it was round and the top was corked off. Inside it however was a tiny blue flame that sparkled like diamonds. It let off a blue glow that lit up the area.

Twist swallowed, “Ith that?”

Prota nodded, “Yes, The Phoenix Rebirthing Flame. Think about it Twist, you could save your loves life. He already loves you; in time you two could marry and have little foals running around everywhere. The perfect ending to your fairytale.”

A black shadow appeared on the wall, it was looked like an abyss of pure nothingness. Prota sighed as she leaned over, “What is it dear?”

“Are you almost done playing around?” said the disembodied voice.

“Yes, almost now leave me be I’m having fun.”

“Who is that?”

“Gary’s girlfriend.”

“Oh, isn’t she a little young?”

“Yes.”

“How is Gary doing?”

“Almost dead.”

“Oh, so what’s for dinner?”

“Roast beef and carrots.”

“Ok, have fun dear.” The shadow faded away.

Twist was confused at what just transpired, “Who or what wath that?”

Prota sighed, “That’s my husband, Over Powered. Trust me kid, the secret to marriage is never get married. So where was I?”

“I could get married to Gary and have foalth…”

Prota blinked, “Oh… right. Ha. Well. Um. Yes.“ She cleared her throat, as she in narrowed her gaze. “So just how much do you love my son?”

Twist was a little taken back, she could feel the heat burning in her chest. She took a second to think, just how much had she grown to love him? What was she willing to give up to be with him?  “I don’t know, but pleathe… I’ll give you anything if it can thave him.”

Prota shivered, she loved it when they would offer anything. Now though was not the time, no she needed to wait for this one to blossom. “This time," she smiled, "its on the house. I am your fairy godmother after all.” She said with a twisted grin.

“Really you're jutht going to give it to me?” Twist beamed.

Prota lowered her gaze, “This time it is, next time it will cost you. I’m not cheap either. There is something you should know that I think you may like.” She leaned in and whispered into her ear.

[…]

The smile on Twist’s face nearly broke her, “REALLY!”

Prota nodded, “Yes, now I have to go. I’ll be watching.” Prota started to fade away as she laid on the bed spread.

Twist nearly panicked, “How do I use thith?” she nearly shouted.

“It’s your fairy tale, what do you think?” The voice seemed to come from nowhere.

After several seconds of thinking, her face became flush.  She grabbed the bottle with vigor and pour the liquid fame into her mouth. It did not burn; it oddly enough tasted like chicken. She held it in her mouth as time resumed.

Mary's mana flux sent another shockwave throughout the room. Tears and sweat had started to pour down her face.

Twist smiled and she walked up the left side of Gary.  Her mind was playing out all the fantasies of the times to come. This time it was her to wake her prince. She leaned in and pressed her lips again his, and fed the flame to him.  

Mary and Selfie nearly doubled over, it had been a while since they had seen anyone kiss Gary. Although it was a short lived wonder. The flame had taken effect.

Gary turned to ash. Next Chapter: The Death of Gary Stu Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 49 Minutes