Extinguished Spark
Chapter 1
Awakening
Lights flew past on the roof in front of her. She could feel herself laying on her back, being rolled through a hall on some kind of cart. Her ears rang painfully and her mind felt fuzzy. Twilight groaned, trying to lift a hoof and massage her aching head only for something to grab her leg and pin it down. She looked over to her side, her blurry vision showing a vague blue blob. It was saying something, but the sound was distorted, as though underwater. The ringing spiked in volume and she cringed, shutting her eyes.
“You really don't have to do this,” Twilight said, her voice nasally and weak as she lay nestled beneath her bed covers.
Rainbow smiled, closing the bedroom door behind her. “Would I be a good marefriend if I didn't? Besides, you did this for me when I was down with the Feather Flu... not that I had much choice in the matter.”
Twilight chuckled. “I only forced you to stay because you wanted to go in to work in your condition.”
Just as Rainbow was about to respond, Twilight's nose crinkled and she inhaled sharply, her horn starting to glow. The pegasus acted quickly, spreading her wings and bending them in front of her. Twilight sneezed, a glob on unshaped magic flying from the tip of her horn straight at Rainbow Dash. The purplish semi-solid magic struck her wings, quickly being absorbed into the feathers until it was gone completely.
“You're lucky you can do that,” Twilight noted, reaching over to her nightstand and pulling a few tissues.
Rainbow shrugged, shaking out her wings. “How did you explain it again? My wings are magic condi-somethings that can absorb other magic? I dunno what it means but I know I've been feeling great recently.”
“Conduits,” Twilight corrected. “And I'd imagine so; your body has a lot more magic right now than it's used to. You could probably fly a lot faster than normal. Though it won't last long.”
“Heh, maybe you should get sick more often,” Rainbow noted, smiling slyly. “Seriously though; are you sure you're okay? From what Spike tells me this kinda thing doesn't usually last more than a week, and it's been two and a half.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “He's just being paranoid; it's just a regular head cold that's taking a little longer than it should to go away. I'll be fine in a few more days.”
“I dunno Twi; paranoid's usually your thing. Maybe you should see a doctor or something?”
“I'm fine, Rainbow. I just need some more rest.”
The world was full of bright, glaring lights and blurry colours as Twilight opened her eyes again. The lights above her were much brighter and closer, though stationary. She blinked groggily, trying to clear her vision. Rolling her head to the side, she took note of a bunch of white blobs set up around her. On her other side was a black square with a blurry green line running across it, occasionally spiking up to the top in time with a muffled beep.
Somepony said something, and Twilight's eyes searched for the source of the voice. At the foot of her bed a brown blob stood, moving quickly to her side and saying something muffled beyond recognition. A large, purple glow suddenly filled in her vision and the brown blob reeled back, shouting something as he ducked just in time to dodge purple beam of light. A door slammed sharply and a white blob came running into the room, something floating in the air next to it.
Twilight squinted at the object as it was brought closer to her until it rested against her foreleg. She pulled back reflexively but something held her leg down tightly. She whimpered as the object broke her skin and sunk into her flesh. Instinctively looking away, she caught sight of the same blue blob standing in the far corner of the room. It seemed to be shifting uncomfortably.
Her vision darkened, and once again her eyes closed.
Twilight groaned quietly, shifting her blankets down and giving a shiver as her coat was exposed to the air outside the comfortable nest that had been constructed around her. With a begrudging sigh and a little effort she managed to get out of her bed and onto her own four hooves, wobbling slightly. She sniffled, cringing as she felt another sneeze coming.
“Hey, Twilight, I-”
“Achoo!”
Spike yelped, diving to the ground just in time to dodge the magical residue fired from Twilight's horn. He got up wearily, watching as the purplish blob flew out the door and hit the wall, sticking there for a moment before dissipating into the air. “Twilight, it's been three weeks now. Will you please go see a doctor?”
Twilight rubbed at her nose, rolling her eyes. “First Rainbow and now you? I've told you I don't know how many times; I'm fine. Just need a little more rest.”
“Twilight, you've gotten sick before. I've dealt with you being sick before, but this is a lot worse than normal. Even I can tell that much,” Spike insisted, closing the door behind him as he made his way over to the unicorn. “What are you doing out of bed anyway?”
“I was going to go have a bath, or do I need to see a doctor about that too?” Twilight asked snarkily, sniffling again before continuing her surprisingly difficult journey.
Spike frowned. “Twilight... we're starting to get worried about you.”
“It's just a regular cold, Spike!” She shouted as the bathroom door shut before sighing quietly. “You're not going to let it drop, are you?”
“You know the answer to that.”
Twilight moaned dramatically. “Fine. If I'm not better in a week I'll see a doctor. Happy?”
“It'd be better if it was today, but fine,” Spike relented with a nod. “Oh, and Rainbow Dash came by. She said she had something to do, but would come and check on you in soon.”
“Alright. Can I have a little privacy now?”
Spike rolled his eyes but walked away, shutting the bedroom door behind him as he climbed back down to the first floor of the library.
Twilight's head felt hallow and congested at the same time. Opening her eyes showed her nothing but a boring, white-tiled roof with a single light embedded in it. Her vision was starting clear, slowly, and she could make out the edge of her horn poking into her vision as well as the slightly darker spirals running down it.
At the very least, whatever she was laying on felt a lot softer than what she'd woken up on previously, and she even had a blanket. In the background the muffled beeping continued, less distorted now but it still sounded like she had cotton in her ears.
“She's awake!”
Twilight flinched at the sharp, piercing voice from somepony sitting next to her. Turning her head, she gave a weak smile as her vision retained just enough clarity to make out Rainbow Dash. Though that smile shifted to a frown as her mind slowly caught up with everything going on.
“I'm... in the... hospital?” She asked, mouth dry and lips cracked. Even breathing seemed to irritate her parched throat.
Rainbow leaned closer to her, the mare's hooves shifting around out of Twilight's view a few moments before she brought forward a glass of water, passing it to Twilight. “Do you remember what happened?”
Greedily Twilight lit her horn, grabbing the glass from Rainbow's grasp. Only for nothing to happen, and the feeling of congestion increased ten-fold. She glanced up, noting her horn wasn't even glowing. A small lance of panic ran through her. “M-magic?”
“Drink, first,” Rainbow encouraged nervously, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. “The doctor said he'd be back to explain everything soon.” Twilight hesitated a moment before accepting the glass into her hooves and downing the entire thing in one go. She passed it back, looking to the pegasus with an expectantly raised eyebrow.
Rainbow sighed. “How much do you remember?”
Twilight examined herself in the mirror. Bags under her eyes, paled face, and a mane that would take hours to fix. Even she had to admit; she looked terrible. But that didn't mean she needed a doctor.
“I feel just fine, it's not like I- Achoo!” Twilight ducked just in time to dodge the magical blast that bounced off the mirror, listening as it splattered against the wall. “It's not like I have anything serious,” she finished, nodding at her reflection.
Turning her attention to the bathtub, she hobbled over and turned on the taps with her hooves; she knew better than to try any magic while she was like this.
“Stupid cold,” she muttered, running her hoof under the water and adjusting the taps accordingly. Steam began wafting out of the tub as she plugged the drain. “Stupid Spike; I don't need a doc-” Twilight stopped, her face frozen as she felt something slowly drip down her face. Her eyes crossed as she watched it run down between them. Something thick like syrup and glowing purple.
“No...”
She brought a hoof up, dabbing at the slime and pulling it away only for the stuff to vanish from her hoof into the air. Her head gave a painful throb and her legs started shaking. “No! Spike!”
Twilight spun around to face the door, only the world didn't stop spinning with her. Everything blurred together into a vague mass of shapes and colours as her ears started ringing. “Spike!” Even her voice was off, sounding slurred and slow.
The door slammed open, only instead of Spike it was a blue blur that shot into the room. “Twilight!”
“Rain...bow...” Twilight's vision faded to black and she fell to the floor.
The door clicked sharply and opened. In walked a brown unicorn clad in a long white lab coat, a clipboard hovering in his magic and a long frown stretched across his muzzle. Looking up, he gave a sympathetic smile. “Good to see you awake, Miss Sparkle.”
“Just Twilight, please,” she insisted, sitting up slightly in her bed only to feel Rainbow's hooves holding her down. She shot the pegasus a glare, but when the hooves didn't leave she sighed and leaned further back into her bed. “What's going on, doctor?”
He hesitated a moment, reading over his clipboard again before placing it on a small table next to the door. Taking a breath, he straightened his back and stood next to the bed. “Well... there are a few things you need to know, and I will explain in time. First though I have some questions of my own, if you wouldn't mind?”
Twilight nodded.
“Rainbow Dash has been very helpful, but it's always better to get it straight from the horse's mouth, as they say. She tells us you've been sick for about three weeks now?”
“Just a cold,” Twilight cut in quickly. Her brow creased in thought. “If I passed out though...”
The doctor sighed. “I'm afraid it's much more than just a cold, Twilight. You're a very knowledgeable mare, so I assume you're familiar with Cleverhoof's Disease?”
Twilight's heart beat rapidly in her chest as she felt her mane whipping int he wind. Her eyes opened up to see a rainbow of colours flying in front of her. Something sappy continued running down her face, and she shuddered as it evaporated like sweat, bringing with it a chill to her coat.
“Twilight! You're awake!” Rainbow looked down to the mare in her hooves, dodging around another cloud. “Don't worry, Twi; the hospital's just ahead. You'll be fine...”
The unicorn blinked slowly. Hospital? Why did she need a hospital? What was going on? Her head gave a painful throb and she found herself struggling to stay lucid. “Rainbow... what-”
“It's okay, Twi,” Rainbow repeated as her wings beat furiously. “You'll be okay. We're almost there.”
“Twi? Twilight?”
Twilight jolted back to reality, blinking a few times as she felt liquid start rolling down her cheeks. She shook her head, wiping away the tears that had no reason to be there. “I'm aware of it, yes,” she said. “But it's very rare.”
“One in a million,” the doctor confirmed sadly. When Twilight didn't say anything, he looked up to see her watching him expectantly. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I'm deeply sorry, Twilight. You're the one.”
Unbidden the tears returned and Twilight shook her head. “No... no you're wrong. Run the tests again; I'm fine. I don't have Cleverhoof's.”
“We've run and rerun the tests, Twilight. I'm sorry, but... you do.”
“Wait wait wait, hold on a sec!” Rainbow interrupted. “What the heck is this Cleverhoof thing? What does it mean for Twilight?”
The doctor opened his mouth, but Twilight cut him off in her typical lecture voice. “Clevehoof's Disease, named after the unicorn who first identified it, is a unicorn disease that attacks the horn like a cavity attacks a tooth.”
“It acts incredibly quickly,” the doctor continued when Twilight didn't. “We don't have any effective treatments for it. The only thing we can do is stop it from killing.”
Rainbow nodded. “Okay... but what does this mean for Twi? You have stopped it, right?”
“Of course. But... it festers on magic in the horn...”
Twilight lifted a hoof, slowly, and touched the tip of her horn. She slit it down to the base, wincing as it made contact with a small metal ring hidden under her mane. “No...” Her eyes shut as more tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Please no... anything but this...”
“I'm sorry,” the doctor repeated, bowing his head.
“Twi?” Rainbow asked slowly. “Twilight what does this mean?”
“I...” her shoulders shook weakly with quiet sobs. “I can't use my magic anymore.”
Author's Note
And so once again begins this story. if you've a long-time follower of mine, then you know that this was originally entitled What Makes us Special and was... pretty terrible. I've given the entire story a complete overhaul, and am excited to be writing it. As always, let me know what you think in the comments.
