Friendships are Magic: Season 1

I felt no joy at the idea of waking up in a hospital bed. I preferred to be the one visiting someone on the bed. It may sound odd for a physician to say such a thing. But then again, hospital beds are not comfortable. And if you're in one, you are either in bad shape or about to get into bad shape. A surgery is inducing stress to the body where you are either removing or fixing something to remove another problem. And then, you pray that the patient won't have any infections or god-knows-what. So, yeah, waking up in a hospital bed is not a good thing.

I felt no pain when I woke up. Which was good, but then again, it could be a side effect of anesthetics or whatever medication they had hooked me on. They had secured some peripheric venous access on my right and left arms. Since I didn't have any catheters on my torso, I knew I had no medication being applied to my heart directly. I also didn't have any caskets on me, therefore, no broken bones.

I did have one problem. I had a ton of bandages wrapped around my face, which added to the size of the IV bags hanging by me made me conclude I had been burnt, quite severely might I add. Since the IVs were hooked to me, I didn't move my arms, the access points are usually placed in the popliteal fossa, so moving my arms around could stop the medication or the fluids from flowing.

I, however, looked around my body. I was certainly in some kind of odd situation. My body was covered in bluish-gray fur. I felt strangely cold. I knew that there were some situations where hypothermia would be therapeutical (namely in cases of cardiac arrests with loss of conscience after the heart's rhythm has been re-established), but I didn't have any monitoring devices on me. So, it would be dangerous for me to be cold like that. They would need someone keeping watch over me for it to be properly employed.

I knew my heart was beating. It was strange. But I knew it was beating, but it was as if it was far from me. Like a distant beat resonating with me. I heard steps before a set of doors opened to my right.

"Princess, they are certainly alive. Their blood is flowing. But we found no heartbeat in their chest. And their eyes, they are just orbs of light in their sockets. This is not a normal condition! On top of that, we found some kind of growth on their back. I suggest we keep them quarantined!" A panicked voice claimed while I turned my head to them.

The one who had entered the room was a tall white mare with wings and a horn in front of a crown. Certainly the princess, the physician was talking to. It was highly unprofessional of him to make a report on a patient to someone who wasn't part of the medical team. But, who was I to deny information to someone who could have potentially saved me?

"Good Heart, it seems your patient is wide awake," The Princess noted before the doctor turned to me as if they had seen some kind of ghost.

"Hello," I greeted without moving my arms. My voice sounded young. As in several pitches higher than it should be. "Thank you for saving me," I added before the doctor's eyes rolled back and he passed out on the floor. "Should we call another doctor for him? He could be having a convulsion."

"He is," The Princess said before waving her hand over the horse-like creature and making it disappear. "It seems your voice has some undesired effects for those that are unprotected. Or weak-minded."

"What?" I asked as my voice seemed to have its pitch altered again. This time closer to something I remembered from when I was a child. I almost moved my arms to reach for my throat. But the feeling of something latched to my arms made me stop. "I did not mean to do that."

"I believe you," The Princess said while approaching me. She was massive, and having her up close made her look like a giant. "You are a colt after all. Magic surges can have all sorts of effects. So, it would be best to have you wear a suppressor while you learn to control your magic."

"Magic?" I asked before feeling my eyes turn hot for a moment. For a few moments, I saw the princess' muscles, heart, and blood vessels with blood flowing inside her. It was a nightmarish vision for someone unaccustomed to looking at anatomical figures, or corpses. But I was accustomed to the sight. Not saying that I wasn't surprised by the sudden vision. The heat in my eyes died down before catching a glimpse of each layer of the princess' body turned back to normal with clothes. "Nevermind, I believe in the magic part."

"Would you mind if I removed the bandages covering you? They don't have any blood or show any signs of having ointments applied underneath them," The Princess said while pointing above my head.

"Um, ok?" I said before the princess reached for my bandages and removed them by hand. "Your Highness, shouldn't you use magic? As to not come in contact with me? The other doctor seemed to believe I had something contagious."

"Call me Celestia," She said while gently removing the bandages around my head. "And based on the pictures the doctor showed me, you're not sick. But he doesn't know that. No one else knows what you have but I," Celestia added with a smile.

"And, what is it that I have?" I inquired while keeping my head away from the pillow so she could remove it.

"If I am correct, which seems to be the case, you are a victim," Celestia said as she removed the bandage and looked at me with an expression that screamed pity. "Someone must have been keen on achieving their goals quickly. And decided to use a child as the coin for the transaction."

"Child?" I inquired as the pitch and size difference between us made me understand my situation. "Got it. Nevermind. Um, what do you mean by I was used as currency?"

"It means someone made a deal and sold parts of you as a means of achieving their goals. But, I would dare say their lives are now forfeit. Breaking a transaction by removing the payment tends to have some gruesome side effects," Celestia said with a faint grin sneaking its way into her muzzle. "I dare say it was well-deserved in this situation. And it seems that whatever was being done to you was halted halfway through. So, you may have retained the skills applied to you before being rescued by Twilight Sparkle," She explained while placing her hand on my face. I didn't feel my skin or my coat when she did so. I didn't feel anything when she touched it.

"Can I thank this, Twilight?" I inquired while looking at the door.

"Later, maybe. But, would you mind if I looked at your back? I need to verify this growth the physician mentioned," Celestia inquired with a gentle tone while removing her hand from my face.

"Sure," I replied while getting up from the bed and sitting straight. I felt Celestia's hand touching my back. And then, I felt a jolt as if I had hit my elbow's tendon, but on my back. I winced while hearing a gasp from Celestia before she hid her hand behind her back. "Are you ok?"

"You scared me when you jumped just now, my apologies," Celestia replied before getting up with her arm hidden behind her back. "It is fine. The growth is just scar tissue now. It will heal over time," She explained before walking away.

"Ok," I said while looking at the departing princess.

Lying back on the bed, I stared at the ceiling for a while.

(Celestia's POV)

That is not a pony. Celestia concluded while using her magic to purify the damaged area on her skin. The growth on the pony's back was a curse. It was a curse of thorns, something she hadn't seen since before Discord's reign.

When not tended to, the target would be consumed by thorns from the inside and die slowly as each organ was pierced by the thorned vines. However, the growth was concentrated on the back, causing something else to wither. The thorns were consumed by another energy that was trying to cause a pair of vestigial bones to grow. Bones that matched that of a young pegasus pony. If the curse remained there, it would become a part of the pony there. If someone was to survive that curse, they would become something other than a pony.

One could say that they had become a monster of sorts. Old stories told of creatures that could remove that which made them mortal and become some kind of sub-pony creature, a lich. Those cursed by the thorns had two chances of survival, one of which was ascension, something nigh impossible for most ponies. The other was to become this monstrosity. And that child, the poor colt had been subjected to both. Had just one path been selected, the solution would have been simple.

Had the colt ascended, tending to the curse would cause it to fade and disappear; becoming a lich, however, would have required them to find his heart and destroy it before they lost their sanity. However, this pony had both aspects. The ascension process would rid him of the curse's negative effects and leave a faint scar on its origin. The lich transformation, however, would assimilate the curse and make it a part of him. Liches were dangerous enough on their own. Cursed Liches were especially dangerous due to their ability to spread the maledict to their victims.

Something that wasn't known about liches, however, is that they are not undead. They removed their mortality and stored it in a vessel, meaning they never died beforehand. They are alive, but not quite like the rest. Without a heart, their bodies turn cold. Without the soul, their magic comes from the World itself and the Ether flame created to sustain their body. And the longer the lich remains alive, the stronger the Ether flame becomes as it assimilates more mana from the environment.

In short, that pony, as long as a lich lived, would become increasingly stronger. Until their sanity was completely corroded because of the Ether flame's power. That colt was a threat, but his future was uncertain. Liches would lose their sanity because their bodies and minds couldn't handle the Ether flame. However, an alicorn's body and mind are considerably stronger, granting them certain immunities. So, there was a chance that the colt could survive.

However, the real question was whether the colt should survive or not? They were a child. Their behavior was odd, similar to that of an adult, meaning, he was forced to mature at a much faster pace. But if allowed to live, he would become an extremely dangerous being. And if their moral compass was steered towards evil, they could become nigh unstoppable without knowing the location of their heart. Something that could be stored in Tartarus for all Celestia knew.

It was a cruel choice. Should Celestia deprive a victim of their future? Or should she make a bet to spare one life in hopes it would remain on their side?

What should I do? Celestia pondered while looking at her hand that was now healed. Back then, it was so easy. We had so much conviction. But, after that, Luna, what would you do? Celestia pondered while looking out the window.

"Princess?" A meek voice asked as Celestia felt her dress being tugged. "What happened to Mors?" Celestia heard as she looked at the ground and saw Twilight with teary eyes.

Tilting her head Celestia picked the filly in her arms. "Who is Mors?"

"My friend. Mors is the name I gave him. They had a grayish-blue coat. He took me away from a bunch of thorned vines that were hurting me. The thorns turned into flowers, he gave me one of the flowers, and I went to sleep," Twilight explained while resting her head against Celestia's chest.

"Did he now?" Celestia inquired with her eyes widened at the filly's tale. "He is resting. He needs to sleep after he helped you out of the thorns."

"Oh, ok. When can I see them again?" Twilight asked before letting out a yawn.

"When you wake up, I'll have an answer for that," Celestia replied while looking back at the door to the isolation wing.