Learning Life

Mark

I wake up spooning with Twilight... When did that happen? Not that I'm complaining, because she's super snuggle-able, but it's still a little weird. I'd honestly be okay with letting her sleep a while longer, but I remember the whole reason she's in here in the first place. I pull the covers off of both of us. Shes lying on her side with a content smile on her face. I watch as her side rises and falls with each deep breath. Every now and again her ear twitches slightly. It's going to break me having to disturb something this adorable. I reach over slowly and place my hand on the back of her neck. I gently begin running my fingers through her mane.

"Twilight luv, it's time to get up," I whisper to her.

She stirs and stretches in reaction.

"Five more minutes Spike..." she says lazily.

I ignore the statement and move my hand to her side and begin rubbing her on the ribcage. She starts giggling. I chuckle.

"Somebody's ticklish," I remark.

"Cut it out Spike," she says as she roles over. "Oh, it's you," she remarks flatly.

"Glad to see you too."

She looks at me. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way, I just forgot that..."

"What?"

"Your eye."

"What about it?"

"I've never seen it up close before. It's really pretty."

"Thanks, it came with the face."

She giggles.

"So, how do you feel?" I ask her.

"Oh! That's right."

She sits up... something I never thought I'd see an equine do. I watch as she starts concentrating, likely trying to determine her current magic saturation. After a minute she flops back down onto the bed.

"Well, there's not a whole lot missing. I'm about as drained as I would be after writing a letter to the princess, which is to say, not very much at all."

Her horn glows and an hourglass flashes into existence above us. She gazes at it.

"Looks like we've been out for about nine hours. I think it's pretty safe to say that your rate of absorption is almost identical to my rate of regeneration."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?"

"Well," her horn stops glowing and the hourglass flashes out of existence. "It's neither here nor there. You wouldn't do any lasting damage to the castle, but I would still be wary of how long you linger around certain ponies or objects. I regenerate much faster than your average unicorn, so it's safe to say that being exposed for too long will cause some issues for other ponies, but like I said, it'll be perfectly fine to stay in the castle."

"Wunderbar!" I reply, prompting a confused look from Twilight. "To be honest, I'm starting to feel pretty cramped. It'll be nice to-"

My train of thought is swiftly interrupted by an intense full-body pain. I yell. Twilight jumps and looks blankly as she tries to process what just happened. After a couple of shocked seconds, her pupils dilate and panic sets in. I watch this all unfolds through narrow eyes.

"Mark!"

I can't find the words to respond.

"Mark, what's wrong!?"

The only word that manages its way through my mouth is "Pain." But that hardly covers it. I don't know what having your blood instantly turn to flame would feel like, but I imagine this is pretty close. I curl into the fetal position, and brace for what I have no doubt will not continue to be a pleasant experience. Twilight tosses off the covers and places a hoof onto my head.

"Sweet Celestia, Mark, you're outrageously overheated!" is all I hear from her before her voice becomes distorted.

Shit, I'm trying to process what she's saying, but it's hard to focus through the pain.

"DO SOMETHING MARK!"

Ok, Twilight, like what? The words don't actually come out of my lips.

"Do literally anything, Mark! We need to get the excess magic out of your system. So long as your muscles rely on magic to function, using them should use some of the magic. I'm going to go get the void stone."

Twilight rushed out of the room in a hurry, and once she got to the doorway there was a bright flash and she was gone. This won't be easy. It takes all of my mental willpower, but I finally convince my body to roll over and off the bed. I hit the floor with an audible thud. A slight pain creeps into my side that I landed on, but it's quickly forgotten as its predecessor floods back in. I can't stand, so I'm gonna have to start small and work my way up. I roll over onto my stomach and push into the ground with my hands. I don't have any intention of getting off the ground, but to just push. I keep pushing harder and harder, the pain in my body non-wavering.

The struggle is like trying to grip something while your hand is completely asleep. You can't be sure what kind of progress you're making because your senses are betraying you. The difference is that instead of a numb feeling or pins and needles, it's agonizing pain, and it's in every inch of your body. I give up on the effort, as I have yet to feel any relief. I let gravity take hold of my body and thud back onto the floor. Now I stretch all four of my limbs out and retract them as fast as I can manage, which, isn't very fast. To any bystander I would probably look like I was doing the breaststroke in slow motion. It's not doing anything. The pain stays relentless.

My vision starts to cloud. All I can see from my position is the end of the sheets that are on my bed. Next comes a loud ringing in my ears. It's deafening. My vision blurs further and grows dark. Now the edge of my vision is black. I start to close my eyes, hoping to find solace in the abyss.

"Don't worry, Mark!"

Though it sounds garbled and quiet, I recognize the voice. Such a pretty voice. I notice a deep black sphere roll in front of me. It's no bigger than a baseball. I weakly reach my arm out and attempt to grip the sphere. My hand finds its target and I squeeze. Funny, I can feel its coldness through the pain. As a matter of fact, my hand doesn't hurt so much any more. This ball is really nice. I think I'll keep it. I pull it close to my chest and drift...