Chapter 3-Medical Dilemmas

“Be careful with him, he’s in pretty bad shape!” Twilight grunted out.

“Dag nab it! How much does this guy weigh, anyhow? I’ve been halin’ fully loaded applecarts that were lighter than him!” Applejack mumbled out as she, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight carried the unconscious Alicorn into the main hall of Harmony Castle. Behind them, Nyx and Rarity walked alongside each other as Rarity carried Spike on her back, readjusting her weight to make sure that she didn’t lose her balance and drop him

Rainbow Dash snorted, “Oh horsefeathers, at Wonderbolt Academy, we have to group with a partner and try to lift three-hundred pound cinder blocks to train us when we’ll need to carry ponies out of danger when they can’t move themselves. I’m telling you, this guy weighs TWICE that much, at least!” She looked the unconscious alicorn over, “You gotta admit though, he’s built pretty good. Most of that weight is muscle.” She said admirably.

Twilight rolled her eyes while she looked around in the dark. “Can anypony find the lightswitch?” she asked, “Oh, how I wish I had a map for this place! We’ve been living here for almost four months and I just recently found the bathrooms! Oh wait, here it is.” Twilight pushed the ON button, illuminating the whole castle so they could see where they were going.

“Twilight? Where are the bedrooms?” Fluttershy asked while she balanced the alicorn’s left leg on her shoulder.

“Guest bedrooms are on the second floor.” she answered as she pointed a hoof at the staircase.

“You mean we have to carry him all the way up there!?!” Dash wined at the aspect of having to do more work than what she thought necessary as she stared at the long stairwell.

“Oh, come on, Dashie! It’s good exercise, and besides, it’ll be great to get Heavy-set McChunky off our backs!” Pinkie chirped with a slight grunt as she readjusted her grip on the stallion.

“Well, sorry if I don’t share in your enthusiasm, Pinkie, but it will be nice to get this guy off MY back!”

“Twilight?” Nyx walked up along her mother’s side, “Where do you think he came from? Who is he? And why is he a alicorn? I thought there weren’t any boys like us.” she asked anxiously, curious about their new house guest.

“I don’t know, honey. I thought so, too.” Twilight answered her with a heavy sigh, “All I know for sure is that as soon as this jerk wakes up, I’m gonna have a word with him!”

“Well, he deserves it more than anythin’, but Twi?” Applejack said firmly, “jus’ be careful aroun’ him, sugercube. Now I don’ know a thin’ abou’ magic an’ all, but if that boy could keep ya an’ Rarity here back by jus’ controlin’ Spike, I think it’s safe to say that he’s gotta pack a punch, an’ with that temper of his he gets orneryer than a rattlesnake!”

Twilight nodded as she looked at the alicorn’s face, “Don’t worry, Applejack, I’ll be careful.”

Rarity walked up to the front of the group, “Twilight darling, may I go up first? I would very much like to get Spike into his bed.”

“Can I go up, too?” Nyx asked, chiming in.

“Sure. Nyx, show Rarity were Spike’s room is while I help with our... guest.”

“O.k!” Nyx chirped out. Rarity nodded and followed Nyx up the stairs, leaving the rest of them behind.

∼∼∼

“Alright, let's set him down now,” Rarity said gently as she levitated Spike off her back onto the soft cushions. Spike breathed slowly as she ran her hoof down his frills, barely giving any notice to her touch, “there, I think that should do it.” She looked Spike  over, noticing that his bandages were coming undone.

“Nyx dear, does Twilight have a First-Aid kit around?”

Nyx, who had been going through Spike's things trying to find a few items that she knew would cheer him up later on, looked up from a storage case on the side of the bed. She said, “What?”

“A First Aid kit, Nyx dear. Spike's bandages are coming loose.”

Nyx nodded and walked out of the bedroom, leaving her alone with Spike. He was sound asleep now, allowing her some time to her thoughts. She began to go through the basket that Nyx had brought out, giggling a little as she went through the more embarrassing  items.

“Rarity?”

Rarity turned to look at Nyx, who was staring at her with her slit turquoise eyes and a small white box with a red cross painted on the side levitating onto her side.

“Oh, thank you, sweetie,” Rarity took the box into her magic and placed it down onto the bedsheets. She then took out a roll of new bandages and some rubbing alcohol out of the kit.

“Rarity, is Spike going to be alright?” Nyx asked slowly, growing anxious as she looked the baby dragon over.

“Sweetheart, I'm sure that Spike is going to be just fine.” Rarity told Nyx reassuringly. Truthfully, she wasn't sure about Spike at all, and she honestly did not believe that he would get better mentally. The poor thing had been through a lot that day, and she wondered if he would ever truly recover. She was also troubled by what that thing had said to her back at the temple. I did not even have to look into his subconscious to learn of your identity, Rarity. He must have a special connection to you in particular, I think. What was that supposed to mean? She knew that the little Dragon was fond of her, and she of course cared for him as well, but she knew that there could  be nothing between them but friendship. It just wouldn't work, wouldn't it?

Rarity shook her head and pushed her thoughts aside as she replaced the bandages on his forehead. Spike only gave a slight moan as she put some of the rubbing alcohol  on all the new cuts that he had gotten from being slammed into a wall. Oh, Celestia, he was burning up. She finished with is head and began to work on the bandages wrapped around his chest.

“Nyx, could you help me lift him up so I can change these?” Rarity asked slowly.

“Sure.” Nyx jumped onto the bedsheets and with some difficulty she started using her magic to lift him forward.

Rarity noticed her struggling and said, “Now dear, don't strain yourself. If this is to hard for you-”

“No, I'm o.k. I've been practicing with mom.” she answered, and gritting her teeth, her horn glowed and she got him leaning forward so Rarity could get to work.

“Thank you. My, you're starting to get pretty good.” Rarity commented as she busied herself with removing the old cloth, “Twilight must be real proud.”

Nyx smiled at her as Rarity continued to remove the bandage wrappings around Spike's chest, making sure that she did not hurt his back. But as she worked to remove them, she started to notice that the bandages seemed to be stretched out, as if Spike had grown a bit since that afternoon. Her mind began to race at the memory of the time that he had gone on his little greed-driven rampage just a few years before, and she quickly use her magic to open one of his eyelids, half expecting to see those reddish-glowing emerald orbs that he had when he gone through that momentary madness. However, his eyes were the same normal emerald color that she was used to, and her investigation did not stir him from his sleep, making her give a sigh of relief. But why were they stretched like that? If he  hasn't gone into a dragon's rage-shift, then what? How else could someone increase in size in such a short amount of time? That was-

“Wha-?”

Rarity and Nyx both looked down at Spike's back dumbfounded. All of the burn marks had disappeared, leaving not even a trace that they had even be there. But in their place were two large bulges side by side of each other about the size of a clenched fist, both of them growing near his shoulders like tumors. The tumors were the same shade of green as his ears, though they had a more milky hue, and they had a web-like texture, very much like the skin between the fingers of frogs. Rarity slowly extended a hoof to feel one of them.

This proved to be a mistake. As soon as she came into contact with his skin, his eyes shot open and he jerked forward, causing a epp to escape Nyx’s throat as she was knocked off the bed while Rarity barely had time to register what had happened before the little dragon fell back on his pillow screaming his head off.

This proved to be a mistake. As soon as she came into contact with his skin, his eyes shot open and he jerked forward, causing a epp to escape Nyx’s throat as she was knocked off the bed while Rarity barely had time to register what had happened before the little dragon fell back on his pillow screaming his head off.

“Oh Celestia, Spike! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean-” Rarity was cut off when the hoof she extended to comfort him was swatted away by one of Spikes claws.

“P-Please! Please, j-just don’t t-touch...Agh!” Anything else that Spike was mumbled out as he curled up into a small ball, gritting his teeth as the pain in his back caused him to tear up.

“What’s going on in here?”

Twilight had just gotten up the staircase when she had heard the scream. She stood in the doorway, her eyes widening as she look behind Rarity at Spike, who was still cringing from the pain.

          “Rarity, what happened?!” she cried out.

Rarity quivered and was about to answer her when they both jumped at a loud scream and several raised voices from the other room.

“Colors, for Celestia's sake, keep him pinned down!”

“I-I can't! He won't stop mov-” there was a pause for a moment before they heard anything else, “Oh My God!”

“I-Is t-t-that what I-I think it is?!?”

“Pinkie, what are you...Eup!!!”

“Oh, shit! Twilight!!!”

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