Sparkyll and Hyde

Act I: Chapter One:

Lost in the Darkness

One month ago . . .

      Princess Cadence and Night Light stepped into the Canterlot Hospital's East wing, their hoof-steps creating an unnatural echo through the room. Though it was crowded with doctors and visitors going about their business, a bone-chilling cold swept throughout. Cadence sighed softly, saddened, but also held an impression of curiosity. She removed the letter from her saddlebag and read its hurriedly-written words for the hundredth time since receiving it just hours ago:

Dear Cadence,

Please get our Father--and Shining Armor, if possible--and come to Canterlot Hospital. There's something I need to show you.

~Twilight

     Cadence, tucking the letter back in her bag, sighed again. What was so urgent to have written such a short letter? she wondered to herself. Whatever the hurry was, she guessed that Twilight was so overexcited, or worried, that she forgot to add details concerning her reasons. I hope she'll be fine with Shining not coming.

     Her husband would have come with her, if not for being needed to stay in the newly-discovered Crystal Empire. They both agreed that leaving a kingdom without either ruler, especially after King Sombra's attack, was unwise. The Crystal ponies needed the moral support after their traumatic experience with their shadow usurper.

      The Crystal Princess glanced around the room. It was a narrow hallway, with green tiles, pale yellow walls, and various portraits of landscapes between doors. The doctors paid no mind to her, being her visits were frequent with visiting the same patient for the last eight years. She lowered her head slightly, freeing her mind to wander on the patient in mind.

Eight years . . . and she still doesn't know that I married her son . . .

     Night Light broke her train of thought by placing a hoof on her shoulder. She stopped short, as did her Father-in-law. He conjured a kindhearted smile, though sadness lingered in his eyes. Saying nothing, he held his smile and continued forward.

     Cadence began to feel as though her forlorn emotions fell off her shoulders. It took great strength to recover from such a loss like Night Light did. She resumed her pace, following behind him.

     "What do you think happened to Twilight?" she asked after a pause. "Is. . . is it possible that she might have found it?"

     Night Light angled his head, so one amber eye fixed on her. "I'm sure everything is fine, Cadence. But I don't want to raise my hopes on it just yet."

     "But if she did --"

     "May I help you, Princess Cadence?" said another mare with a cheery voice.

     Startled, Cadence turned her attention from Night Light to the nurse seated in front of her.

     The two ponies hadn't realized it, but they'd entered a waiting room. Like the last one, it was crowded. Unlike the hall, it was a small, simple room with ten chairs; three of them were placed at the left corner, in front of the window portraying the evening landscape. There was also a half-circle shaped cherry oak desk, where the owner of the voice sat. The Princess recognized her as Nurse Tenderheart, with her sea-green mane and baby-blue coat. She wore a simple, white nurse gown and a cap with a red cross on the front.

     Cadence cleared her throat and replied. "Yes. You may. My Father-in-law and I are her to see Twilight Velvet. I was told that she was moved to a different room?"

     Adjusting her cap, Tenderheart nodded. "You'll find her at the third door on the left," pointing a hoof towards the door ahead of Cadence. The Princess thanked her, proceeded to the next hallway, and walked to the indicated door. On the wall beside it, there was a panel with a sheet of paper that read, "Velvet, Twilight", along with the room number.

     Stepping forward, Night Light open the door and walked inside, with the Crystal Princess following closely behind.

     The room was silent, like death itself, with the exception of a heart monitor beeping steadily. The machine stood in the corner to Cadence and Night Light's right, adjacent to a hospital bed. To the left, there was a machine with several feeding tubes latched onto the chest and neck of the bed's occupant.

     Cadence felt her pulse jump to a rate that would send doctors in a panic. Every time she'd come to visit, the sight of her Mother-in-law left her shocked.

     Twilight Velvet laid on her back, unconscious, with the bed in a thirty-degree-angle position. There were several large stitched scars across her chest. One ran across her forehead, where the remains of her shattered horn was. A section of her mane had a jagged pattern at its end, as though it had been bitten off.

     Sitting by her side was her beloved daughter, Twilight Sparkle. Her head was lowered, and eyes were closed. Her chest heaved with deep breaths, and dark streaks long dried ran to the edge of her jaw. Both her front hooves were wrapped around Velvet's leg, searching for some form of response.

     Cadence took notice of her saddlebag, which she wasn't even wearing. Instead, it was suspiciously placed underneath her stomach, in the small pocket between all four legs. Almost like she's guarding something inside it with her life . . .

     Night Light stepped towards his kin, and placed his hoof on her shoulder. The Unicorn gasped softly. As her eyes shot open, she turned her head to Night Light. A wisp of her mane briefly covered her face from the sudden movement. But whatever fear she held before, it instantly melted away.

     Wordlessly, she dropped her hooves from Velvet's side and wrapped them around her Father. She greeted Cadence with a similar action. On any other occasion, the mares would have performed their "Sunshine, Sunshine" dance.

     "Did the doctors say anything about her condition?" asked Night Light, after his daughter slid her legs away from Cadence.

     Twilight lowered her eyes, as if sighing in distress. "They told me her condition remains stable, and besides her horn, she's fully healed." She turned back to her Mother and unconsciously brushed a white strand of her mane off her face. "But they also said that her condition is most likely permanent. That she may never awaken."

     She rested her head on the edge of the bed, closing her eyes in deep thought.

     Silence drifted into the room once more. Cadence and Night Light continued to stare at the sleeping form on the bed. The doctors were right about Velvet's fate to remain in slumber. After all, they told her this eight years ago too, on the night Velvet was lost, and every night spent visiting since.

     When Twilight was still a filly, Fate's hooves played a tragic card in her life. Not even a week had passed by since she was taken in as Princess Celestia's personal protégé. In fact, the whole family--by blood or by friendship--was still celebrating the achievement. No pony knew what exactly happened, but Velvet had, at some time, excused herself for fresh air.

     An hour later, the Canterlot guards found her macabre form on the mountain's scenic path.

      When the family was alerted and brought to the Hospital, they were informed that Velvet was safely delivered to a life-support system. The doctors presumed her injuries and torn mane as the result of a manticore attack, and pronounced her comatose.

     Though Night Light had lost a companion, and Cadence, a future Mother-in-law, the loss had impacted Twilight the most. She had, the next morning, aspired to resign her role as Celestia's student. Twilight explained to her teacher that she no longer had a desire to learn magic, and instead wanted to turn her education goals to medical science. If her talent was as raw as Celestia predicted, she believed it was possible to combine the forces of magic and science to concoct a cure for mental illnesses.

     As supporting as the Sun Princess was, she could not allow her student to stray from her true purpose. She knew there was a destiny far greater than her student could ever understand stretched before her.

     After several hours of discussing and arguing about the subject, Princess Celestia decreed the student would continue her studies in magic. However, she also agreed that Twilight's goal to cure comatose and insane ponies was a noble endeavor, and would be allowed. With this new curriculum, both ponies wishes were fulfilled. Twilight went on to learn the Magic of Friendship, resulting in creating strong bonds with five other ponies and becoming the sole Bearer of the Element of Magic.

    By opening her mind to the laws of science -- which Celestia had told her was a sub-form of magic -- her magic capabilities reached a new level. She was nowhere near as powerful as Star Swirl the Bearded, Alicorns forbid, but she quickly bloomed into a strong and honorable mage.

     Her hard work aside, Twilight's struggles with finding a cure often felt futile. At least to her. Whenever it seemed a cure was within a hoof's reach, it slipped away at a dead end. Only after befriending the zebra witch doctor, Zecora, that she began making real, solid progress. Her potions, she discovered, were part of the vital key to finding the cure's recipe. With her permission, Twilight began working with Zecora, experimenting with various combinations of elixirs. Even then, a correct formula was yet to be found.

Unless . . .

     Cadence felt the curiosity of Twilight's letter beginning to eat away at her. She coughed forcefully, seizing Twilight's attention, and addressed the issue of the letter.

     Twilight's eyes sparked excitedly. She wordlessly pushed the saddlebag from underneath her and withdrew a small, triangle-shaped vial, then carefully passed it to Cadence. It was filled to its neck with a clear, white liquid with prismatic specks of light floating about. The specks glinted by their own will so well, Cadence guessed the liquid could glow, even in a dark room.

     She passed the vial to Night Light, who alluringly examined it. He couldn't explain it, but something about it was hypnotizing.

     "Is this . . .," he gasped.

     Twilight stepped closer to her Father. "It took more time than I wanted, but yes. The TS8 Formula. I just finished it today."

     Cadence levitated the vial with her magic, returning it to her. "But I thought Zecora's potions weren't enough. You found a different comination that worked?"

     "No. Turns out, I was missing something to support the formula's intended effects. Earlier this morning, me and the girls in Ponyville had a little . . . well, accident, I guess. Pinkie Pie cloned herself, causing mass chaos in Ponyville, up to the point I had them all take a test by watching paint dry--"

     She stopped, realizing she was drifting from the subject at hand. "Anyway, Pinkie cloned herself through the magic of the legendary Mirror Pool. I discovered that, if mixed with the correct potions and consumed, it can reverse its original effects, and instead seperate the elements of goodness and evil from the hearts of sentient species, just like I wanted."

     "You are sure about this?" asked Night Light. "You only just discovered the Mirror Pool today."

     "Absolutely. I consulted Princess Celestia, and she approved after I tested the formula on a non-sentient animal."

     "Blueblood had spoken to me earlier today concerning your work, attempting to convince me not to come meet you tonight," Night Light said after hesitation. "He said--and I'm quoting here--that 'your groundless theories are sacrilegious with your methods of experimenting with an equine's mind.' "

     Twilight groaned, rolling her eyes. "He only said that to spite me. Beneath that wealthy, snobbish personality, he's just a coward; he allows his fear of the unknown turn into loathing for me. Same goes for the others. The only one who isn't against me is Sir Fancypants.

      "But with this," Twilight held the TS8 vial in front of her eyes, "I can prove my theory of the natures of goodness and evil to them. Blueblood and the others will have no choice but to see things my way after tomorrow."

     "Excuse me. I'm afraid visiting hours are over," said a nurse, poking her head in the door. She wore a badge with the name Sweetheart sewn on it.

     Cadence and Night Light silently exited the room. Meanwhile, Twilight cautiously placed the TS8 vial back in her saddlebag, in a small pocket to keep it standing straight. Loading the saddlebag onto her back, she reluctantly shuffled towards the door, to the patient nurse. A part of her wanted to dart under the bed, to refuse leaving her Mother's side.

     Instead, she turned back to Velvet, calmly, and prayed that somehow, she could hear her words. Whispering softly, she said, "I will find a way for them to see what I see. And then, one day, I will return to you. I swear it."

'Till the day that I die . . .

     She darted back to the bed, softly kissed Velvet's forehead, and exited the room.

     "Goodnight, Mother."