Little Redd: the Lost Concept of Peace

Chapter Twenty Two

The Raw Side

Redd faded back into True Ponyville next to the Golden Oaks Library, the tension immediately leaving her slender frame.  Looking down at her irritated ankle, she decided that now was as good a time as any to attempt a healing spell.  Her horn ignited and her hoof became immersed in red magic before suddenly bursting into flames.

"Ballucks ballucks ballucks ballucks... " she yelped, shaking her leg free of the dark red fire and blowing on it.  A magenta field surrounded the burnt hoof, and Redd looked up to see Twilight Sparkle focusing her attention on her ankle, her horn active.  The pain faded along with the copious amount of cuts and burns, but the fur remained bare where the lacerations previously were.  Twilight relaxed, and her magic vanished.

"I guess all those accidents didn't leave you unscathed."

Redd's jaw was hanging open, astonished at the random act of kindness.

"I... suppose not.  Thank you."

Twilight smiled.

"If you come inside, I can heal the rest of you," she continued, gesturing to the multitude of bandaging about Redd's body.

Suddenly realizing just how broken she was, Redd nodded and followed her inside the library.

Her jaw dropped again as she stepped through the front door.  The Golden Oaks library was spotless, the gargantuan shelves neatly organized between hundreds of authors and categories.  Spike still boasted a thick black mustache as he stood several feet up a ladder, sliding monstrous hardbacks into the History section.  He still had six or seven titles in his arms when they walked in.

"Where'd you go, Twilight?" he asked, unable to see them through his work.

"Just outside for a minute.  I need you to get a pair of scissors, Spike."

Twilight began to trot up the stairs, but stopped when she noticed that Redd was still standing near the door.

"Make yourself at home.  We have nachos in the kitchen."

Redd blinked as the lavender unicorn disappeared upstairs and, after a moment, sat in an armchair.  Spike, on the opposite side of the room, slid down the ladder and caught a glimpse of the guest for the first time.  She sported a strange look of bewilderment, surveying the room carefully and relishing in every detail.  Twilight came back down the stairs with a pair of scissors bobbing alongside her in a magenta bubble.

"Nevermind, I found them."

She frowned, noticing how distant Redd seemed.

"What's wrong?"

Redd's gaze leapt to her, and a sad look darkened her eyes.

"Nothing, really, it's just... "

Her attention swept across the shelves again, dusted and beautiful, before locking once more with Twilight's.

"Where I come from, you've... given up.  Lost your light.  The library here is beautifully groomed, but in Dark Ponyville it's a bloody wreck."

Twilight's eyes widened, and Redd quickly corrected herself.

"In terms of slang, of course."

Nodding, Twilight gestured to the pristine coffee table a few feet in front of Redd.

"Lay down, please."

Wincing through her burns, Red stood and laid face up on the mahogany surface.  The scissors moved from her neck down and cut a neat line across the gauze around her chest.  Then they snipped the wrappings away from her left flank.  Four minor burns were slashed across her torso, but the irritated gash through her cutie mark proved itself severe.  Redd felt the warm presence of magic grace her chest as Twilight kicked off the conversation.

"Not to pry, but why did you light your leg on fire?"

"She did what?" Spike asked from another armchair, laughing.

Twilight shot him a dark look as Redd smiled.

"To be honest, it is absurd.  I was actually trying my luck at a healing spell."

Twilight's face quirked up, and Spike laughed again.

"I guess it backfired.  That's a common thing for healing and teleportation."

Redd shook her head, and she suddenly felt frustrated.

"I've never been able to heal.  I can teleport, and shoot, and levitate.  I just can't heal."

Twilight cocked a brow, and surged more power into her spell.

"Well that doesn't make any sense."

Redd smiled, and winced as a tender spot mended.

"Now what's the fun in making sense?"

Twilight scoffed.

"Wouldn't this be a problem?" Spike interjected.

Upon the questioning looks of Twilight and Redd, he continued.

"I mean, one of a Unicorn's greatest strengths is the ability to heal somepony at the turn of a bit."

Twilight shot a deadly look his way and he backpedaled.

"What?  Just sayin'."

Redd felt the magic leave her torso and resurface on her flank.  She yelped, the sudden pain of hyper-regeneration lancing up her leg in a hot strike.

"I like to think that what I lack in diplomacy, defenses and recuperation I make up for in force, accuracy and dexterity," she gasped, struggling to keep her leg from recoiling.

Spike shrugged.

"Makes sense."

By the time Twilight had finished, Redd's heart was pounding against her chest like a sparratic drum.  She slid off the table, no longer restricted by her pain threshold, and stretched her rejuvenated muscles.

"Thank you, Twilight.  I really, really needed that."

Twilight smiled and picked the scissors up in her magic from the table before levitating them to Spike.

"Upstairs, green dresser, top drawer.  Not bottom."

The dragon sighed, and left the room with the scissors in hand.

"Anytime, sis," she continued.

Redd froze, and slowly turned to meet Twilight's eyes.

"What?"

Twilight backpedaled.

"I just thought that, since we're opposites-- "

"Nevermind, you're fine.  It just struck a chord in me."

Redd picked up her bandages on a bed of magic and coiled them neatly into the rubbish bin across the room.

"A... chord?" Twilight muttered under her breath as Redd was turned.

"Did somepony mention chords?" Spike asked, descending the stairs again.

Upon the confused look from Redd, Twilight giggled and gestured to an upright piano nestled in a dark corner of the library.

"He's taken a liking to playing the piano.  Honestly, he needs somewhere besides here to practice.  I can't think, and he keeps making me drowsy."

Spike chuckled nervously, and scratched his mustache.

"I play quiet, okay?  Whats wrong with quiet?"

Red smiled and sat back down in her armchair.

"Nothing, it's just that I'm the same way.  Except I usually don't play, just listen."

He perked up, and stopped stroking his hair.

"You know the Moonlight Sonata?"

"Doubtless one of the greatest works in classical history."

"What about We Three Kings?"

She scoffed.

"It's a Hearth's Warming carol.  Come along, I know more than that."

His brow furrowed and he leaned against the wall, thinking, before a sly grin slowly spread across his face.

"Hands Up?"

Redd laughed, flicking her hair out of her eyes.

"A personal favorite, though new no less."

He facepalmed and sat down at the piano.  After a few tight moments, soft notes began rising from the keys as his fingers slid across them, striking a beautifully unfamiliar hymn.  After a few more calming minutes in the library, the keys slowly faded.

"Heard that one before?"

Spike turned on the piano bench, awaiting her response.

"I know an original when I hear one," she said, smiling.