Author's Note

The criticism about huge walls of text have been noted. I reworked this chapter to try to break that up a bit. Just a heads up story-wise, this chapter and the next two (esp the next one) are mostly serious stuff. I'm definitely amending the story desc. and adding the drama tag. I'm also trying to take a "how do things actually work?" approach, or "If this was someone's actual life and they had to live with the consequences, what would they do based on their life experiences?"

The "how does it work?" didn't go as well as I'd hoped since at some point you're either going to get incredibly technical (and bore readers, I guess) or you're going to be like, "fuck it, it's magic".

Your criticisms are appreciated and I promise I am working to improve. This is literally my first attempt to write ever, so anything beyond "you suck, burn your keyboard and yourself to the ground" are very helpful. I also acknowledge that this is slow and, in places, very dry. It's not going to be a wild ride adventure ever, probably. Maybe... I do get ideas sometimes, too, though. It will likely get a lot more "active" once we start hitting timeskips and Cure gets into a routine, but it drives me nuts when characters clearly have this huge list of things they want to accomplish, then a timeskip happens and I'm like... "uhh, what about X? Did you just put that on hold for 4 months? It seemed important."

I want to avoid the whole "The audience looks away and nothing happens for a while" situation, and as a reader I like the details many probably feel are filler. They're not "filler" to me, so I'll try to properly convey real interactions, real passage of time, real progress, etc. Real life doesn't just "pause" and I want to avoid conveying that it did, and I sure ain't gettin paid by the word, so I'm including stuff because I feel it adds something, however small. Or I found it amusing.

I understand that's not for everyone, but I still thank you for taking the time to read my work. If you're not enjoying it, please feel free to explain why. If I agree, I'll work on improving in that direction. If it's counter to where I see the story going I'll probably address it in an A/N.

btw - should I be double spacing between paragraphs? I think that's a reader setting that can be adjusted but it may help with the whole "wall" thing too. I did it once. It looked wrong, so I undid it before publishing the chapter. Took a lot of work too...

Chapter 12: Heal

Thursday, September 4th, 908 AB

Feeling movement beside her, Title Search’s sleep-addled brain took a moment to figure out what was going on. The room, near pitch black as it was, offered no insights. She couldn’t hear anypony walking around, either inside the house or outside. She must have rolled to her side at some point after falling asleep, as the colt was on his back leaning against her barrel between her front and back legs.

Becoming slowly aware she felt the weak impact of a hoof against her shoulder as he began writhing in his sleep and occasionally pawing at the air. “No… no baby, don’t cry,” he barely mumbled. Leaning up slowly she gently began petting his chest and side, avoiding the more sensitive and ticklish areas on his belly.

“Coulda got it anywhere…” he softly said, “we’ll be fine soon. Get well too.” Realization set in and Title froze momentarily in shock and horror at the possibility that these were Ed’s last words goodbye to someone. Given his talks about his family and how few were left at the end she could only assume he was talking to his daughter, McKynzie.

Title knows that typically when woken up during a dream, especially a bad one, the memory stays more vivid than it would if the dream had passed naturally. Despite this she can only assume that the dream continuing to play out as, presumably, the next few hours or days did would be far more painful of an experience.

Leaning down she gently nudges him with her snout, nosing at him gently on his side and neck until he froze in his motions and took a deep, shuddering breath. Going limp, he slowly let the breath out and leaned more heavily against her. “Sorry I woke you,” he murmured.

“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re fine. Just relax and try to go back to sleep. Wanna lay on me and I’ll pet you?”

Nodding weakly, he sits up and is hugged against her chest as she rolls onto her back again. Once he’s situated she starts humming while gently running a hoof down his sides and his back. Ignoring the dampness of her fur she continues petting him until she feels him go fully limp and his breathing becomes slow and steady again.

Her attention is drawn to the door slowly opening and presumably, from the light mane catching what little light was in the room, Vines peeking in to check on him. “Bad dream,” Title whispers lowly, “he’s okay.” Nodding, Vines retreats from the room and heads back to bed, leaving the door slightly cracked behind her.

Wrapping her forelegs around him, Title relaxes fully into the pillow and begins humming again. With a deep yawn, she closes her eyes. Slowly, the humming in the room drifts to silence.

Thursday Morning

Cure wakes with a start as light fills his room. Recalling bits of the previous night, he can only relax back down and let out a long, defeated sigh. The nightmare was the first he’d had since his memories came, or came back... whichever. Blessedly, he couldn’t recall any significant bad dreams he’d had from before his memories, either. That’s not much of a surprise, given the lack of available media and little opportunity to encounter anything he could even vaguely define as “scary” left little fuel for a young colt’s imagination to form something nightmarish.

Luna should thank me for being born so long before she returns. I’m not so sure the princess of the night would be thrilled to walk into some Hostel or Saw movie flashback. I doubt she’d be as intimidated by a terminator chasing her, though. Man that would be a short crossover. Send her back in time instead of John Connor’s dad and Arnold would get wrecked.

Moving on from his idle thoughts, he cycles his magic through his mark and takes a quick glance at his vitals. Well, this is how everything looks when I sleep like shit. Good to know. Next time take a snapshot when you wake up feeling like a million bucks, dumbass. Then again I’m not quite ready to jump into brain alteration yet, snapshot to go by or not.

Ugh, why do my teeth feel so gnarly? Did I forget to brush? Giving the pits a quick sniff test, he’s shocked to find he doesn’t stink at all. Ahh… I must have passed out and had my arse scrubbed by mom last night. Dam was asleep under dad and if he’d washed me I probably would have woken up with a snout full of soap water while sitting on the bottom of the tub. No wonder my mouth is gross, every surface is caked in snickerdoodle residue.

Brushing his teeth, tongue, and everything else he could reach, Cure warps up the modified morning routine and heads down to get some breakfast. Delighted to find his dam waiting with a bowl of oats with fruit and nuts, he jumps up to his spot at the table and digs in with a quick “thanks, dam”. A few bites in he finally looks around and realizes it’s just the two of them.

Feeling his ears fall he asked, “I slept in until after they’d both left, didn’t I?”

“Yep, you didn’t miss them by much though. You had a bad night. I came to check on you when I heard you talking, but your mom already had you wrapped up on her chest. Who’s my cute little colt?” she adds while nuzzling between his ears.

“Pfft… clearly, I am,” he says as he continues cramming his face. “So what’s on the agenda today?”

“Well Lemon Sweet stopped by and asked for help before you got up. Amethyst is sick as can be, but Lemon’s already had the shop closed a couple days and really needs to get into work, so she asked if I could come by and help out a bit with the fillies. Amethyst isn’t in any shape to take care of two little fillies by herself right now, so we’re going to head over there and lend a hoof. You,” she pokes at him, “are going to get some first-hoof experience taking care of a couple fillies… with some help, of course.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. Umm… do you want me to, ya know,” he points at his flank, “at least for the girls? They’re only like two aren’t they?”

“They’re three now. Oh, foals are so adorable at that age! Cherry and Lotus are like little mirror images of each other, too. Just so cute!” With her forelegs wrapped around herself she wiggles back and forth, then pauses for a moment, “Oh! I hadn’t even thought about you helping them get better. We’re safe trusting Amethyst and Lemon with knowing your talent. Amethyst and I have been really close since we were little fillies and your father and I have been good friends with both of them even before Title joined us.”

“Really? I knew you all hung out once in a while, but I didn’t know you were that close. Okay, I should be able to encourage their immune system to target the whatever-they-have a bit more aggressively. Maybe just boost it a bit or help with the symptoms…”

Cure trails off in thought while eating a few more bites. “At this point I’d prefer to encourage the body’s normal response instead of risking mutating a virus or something. That… hits a little too close to home.” Vines notices Cure get a faraway look. After a moment he snaps back to attention and continues, “As long as we can trust them knowing, that avoids the whole “medical care without parental consent” thing I was worried about.”

“I think most ponies would be happy to see their foal healthy regardless of how it happened. I don’t think you need to worry about that too much. Ponies use their special talents all the time, sweetie.”

“I think we may be running into a cultural difference, dam. In human history there have been some pretty unethical medical experiments, so informed consent is a key part of medical care in the culture I lived in. I am not exaggerating when I say this; you could have the bottled Elixir of Life, able to heal everything including old age, and…” Cure froze mid-sentence at his realization.

Old age. I didn’t even think of that! HOW? The inevitable doom that faces us all and I hadn’t even THOUGHT of trying to cure it. Well it’s only been a few days, I guess. Wait… no aging… Oh God, I can’t make those kinds of decisions.

Seeing Cure freeze, then somehow pale with his ears pinned back and tail tucking under himself, Vines approaches him and gently lays a hoof on his withers. “Honey, are you okay? You just froze there, sweetie. Why do you look like you’re panicking?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Cure turns to face his dam. “Huh? Oh, I was going to say how you could offer the magical elixir of life to cure everything and some humans would still turn it down out of suspicion, but then it dawned on me that aging is a biological function. We get old because… well,” Cure pauses as he looks at his dam. She doesn’t know squat about cells, DNA, or any of that, so he considers how to explain it.

“It’s okay, sweetie, I know there’s a lot about this stuff I just don’t know. You’re not going to upset or offend me if you keep it simple. I’m just happy to have you teach me these things when you can. Plus you are just too cute when you get your thinking face!” she finishes with a bright smile and a nuzzle.

Returning the affection, he continues, “Okay, well very simply think of it like this. Remember how I said our bodies are made of trillions of tiny cells like a wall is made of bricks? Those cells each only live for so long before they have to be replaced, just like you would do if some bricks in that wall started to wear or crumble over time. When an old cell has to be replaced a new one is made. New cells are basically copies, though… duplicates of another cell.”

Pausing for Vines to process, he continues once she nods in understanding. “The problem is that each time a duplicate is made it’s slightly inferior to the cell it came from." Cure stops and fishes a few pieces of fruit out of his bowl and sets them on the table.

"So pretend these are all the same kind of cell, like one in your heart or wherever. The raspberry is Cell A. Cell A lives for a few years, but it gets old and needs to be replaced." Scooting it aside, he puts the blackberry in its place. "Cell B takes over and does the same thing until it gets old too." Moving the blackberry aside, he sets down a blueberry. "Cell C comes along then, and the process just keeps going."

Vines watches the whole time and, once she nods to Cure, he continues the explanation. "The problem is that," holding up the raspberry and blackberry, "Cell B is just a tiny bit inferior to Cell A, and," he sets down the raspberry and picks up the blueberry, "Cell C is a tiny bit inferior to Cell B. Each copy gets a little worse than the one before. You see where this is going, right?"

"I get it, honey. You prefer raspberries in your oats. Fine!" Cure just stares at Vines unflinching until she giggles and says, "So I'm guessing eventually our wall can't stand up anymore because after a bunch of copies the bricks just aren't strong enough, right?"

“Yes. Things stop working as well. Skin wrinkles, eyesight degrades, the immune system weakens. We get old, and eventually, when the copy being made simply isn’t good enough to function, something usually kills us off, like a cold that our body can’t fight off.”

“Oh… so that’s why elderly ponies can’t fight off colds very well. Their immune system has gotten old too.”

“Yep. Human brains have the same thing happen. In some people they’ve deteriorated to the point that even if the body is alive the mind that was in it has, essentially, already died. Of course people die of heart failure or other stuff too. Our body parts don’t all age at exactly the same rate, and I was never sure which was the greater curse, to have your mind go first or your body.”

“I’d say your mind, honey. I’ve seen older ponies. They have to be taken care of like foals, and occasionally they lash out or behave like a foal would too. It’s heartbreaking to watch when you remember how somepony used to be and compare it to how they are now.”

Nodding, he agrees, “Yeah, that is awful. The body going first is pretty terrible too, though. The pony is with it, so they can tell they’re just not able to move as well or whatever. It’s like a form of torture. Both are hard to see.”

“I don’t know what to say, Cure. Everypony gets old eventually. It’s part of life, just not a very fun part.”

“No doubt. I think we can all agree that getting old sucks about as much as anything possibly can."

Not necessarily liking his language very much, she can't help but agree with the sentiment.

"Well… I bet with a little work and more knowledge I can just about halt the process. Probably not reverse it or stop it altogether, but if I can find a way to make cell division happen without the duplicate being inferior to the original then that would be it. Thousand-year plus lifespans or more, who knows. My name would go down in history right there next to the princess’,” he finished, cringing.

“That sounds wonderful, sweetie. I’m guessing that’s why you were panicking though. It would change the world. Ponies never dying of old age… it would just change so much I can’t even fathom it.”

“Yeah. There’s a human myth about a woman who was given a gift from the gods of an ancient culture. The same culture that my mark is from and that depicted Equus creatures in their art, actually. So the myth basically goes that she was given a container by the gods. Inside it, the gods said, were blessings from them, but she was not allowed to open it because they weren’t meant for mortals to have.”

“Why give it to her in the first place then?”

“It was a trick and a test, of course, because the gods of that culture were depicted as cruel, spiteful beings that liked to teach humanity a lesson when they got out of line. But it became an allegory over time about being cautious with things that, on the surface, appear to be a blessing. Open the container, reach in, and take that blessing and you may also be letting a curse escape at the same time.”

Pausing to let that sink in, he continues, “The cure to aging was often seen as such. A blessing and a curse. So many things come along with it that I can’t honestly say which it is. Hopefully we’ll have a better answer by the time I figure it out… if I ever do.” Finished with his story, he goes back to eating while pondering the possibilities.

Standing by Cure, Vines isn’t sure what to say or think. Her son’s ideas over the last few days have changed so much, but it seems like he’s just getting started. That dinner was only a few days ago and ever since then her world has just gone so far off track, she didn’t know what to do. She went from being a typical pony, raising a foal, and maintaining a house to… whatever the stars this is.

Every parent says something like, “My little colt is going to change the world some day!” but Vines could only think “My colt is literally going to change the world any day now. He’s just working out the details, give him a moment.” The difference is immense!

Dichotomy. That was the word he’d used, and that’s what she felt. To have so much pride and excitement, yet so much fear and trepidation at the same time. He even explained how the brain struggles to process those, and here’s another example of him just… knowing something and being able to explain it like some brilliant teacher opening a pupil’s eyes to a great truth for the first time.

It was just starting to weigh on her a little more than she was sure she could manage.

Deciding to rest on a cushion while he finishes eating, she wanders into the living room and collapses on her husband’s cushion. His lingering scent brings her comfort, and she does her best to focus on relaxing instead of thinking about what the colt will come up with next. It was not meant to be, apparently, as she had just gotten situated and let out a big sigh when she heard him call “Hey, dam” from the kitchen. Tail going limp and ears dropping, she forced herself to respond even though she just wanted a moment to relax.

Raising her head she looks towards the table and responds. “Yes, honey? What’s wrong?”

Cure walks into the living room so he’s not shouting across the house. “Nothing’s wrong, I was just wondering where I can get a thermometer. I kinda talked too long and, by the time I finished my oats they were getting cold and blerg, so it occurred to me that we never tested the whole temperature altering thing yesterday when we came in for dinner. I guess I just got distracted with the cookies and going out to play.”

“And a certain little pegasus filly?” she asks with a smile.

Walking to her cushion, he let out a small laugh, “Ha! Good try, dam. You’re not wrong, but I’d say it was more the interrogation afterwards that kept me distracted than she herself did.”

Climbing onto her withers he pokes her shoulders a couple times. “So where’s a thermometer I can use to test it? I tried visualizing my oats warming back up and put my hooves on the bowl, but I didn’t feel any difference.”

“I have one upstairs, give me a second and I’ll go get it.” Cure jumps down and heads to the kitchen while Vines gets up and goes upstairs to dig in the medicine cabinet. Finding the thermometer, she brings it back down to her son and hoofs it over.

Looking at it for a moment he smiles and chuckles. Seeing her questioning look he answers, “It’s nothing, I just haven’t seen an old mercury thermometer in a long time. Humans have a more advanced version that’s easier to use and read. Also, ponies do know that mercury is a toxin, right?”

“Yes, sweetie. That’s why it’s sealed in glass. It’s toxic to ponies too.”

“Right, sorry. Not trying to be condescending, I just never know. Lots of humans didn’t for hundreds of years and it really messed some people up before they figured out what was causing it. The same thing happened with radiation. What you don’t know can hurt you very badly.”

Turning to the sink, he hops up on his little booster and gets a glass and puts a couple inches of water in it. Cure lowers the thermometer into the water, hops down, and carries it to the table. Fetching his booster from in front of the sink, he sets up his place and hops back up, holding the glass between his hooves without directly touching it.

Vines sits behind him and leans her head down on top of his between his ears so she can watch. “This won’t take too long will it, sweetie? I told Lemon we would come by after you were up and moving, so I’d like to head out before too long.”

“Nope. This’ll either work or it won’t. We’ll know soon.”

Focusing on the glass, Cure first tried to cool the water. Envisioning the water molecules bouncing around, he focused his field on slowing them and holding them in place as much as possible while enveloping the glass in his TK field from both sides. After a minute of focus he opened his eyes and lifted the thermometer. It indicated the temperature had fallen, but only about five degrees.

“It works, but a five degree decrease over a minute. So, you’re not going to be freezing anything… maybe eventually… but you could certainly use this to cool off a drink. I’d wait a few minutes for a cold, refreshing drink. That’s incredibly convenient.”

Shaking his head, he lets out a small sigh. “Yet another thing I can casually do that I never dreamed possible. Okay, other direction now.” Repeating the experiment, but instead visualizing the water molecules vibrating faster instead, he found that it does work in the other direction as well. “So maybe a tiny bit better, actually. I spent about the same time focusing but it went up seven degrees instead. That difference may just be because of ambient room temperature, though.” Cure looks around the room for a moment, as if he can see the temperature or something.

“I don’t foresee being able to experiment with a vacuum anytime soon, so I guess that’s as good as I’m going to get. I’ll have to do this later when I have more time so we can see if there’s an upper or lower limit. At some point I’m probably going to hit a plateau and am losing as much energy to the environment as I’m putting in, or vice versa.”

He pauses in thought for a moment before adding, “That would be also great for a massage or something… I wonder if that’s what those twins do. I bet mom and dad would appreciate that after a long day.”

Vines can't help but think she would appreciate it too. “Twins? There’s twins now?”

“HA! TWINS. BASIL. TWINS!” He shouts in an odd accent. Shaking his head he says, “Sorry, reference to a famous human play. No, the twins I was referring to are another one of those future story things, dam,” he waves away with his hoof, “Don’t worry about it, they won’t be born for like seventy years or so.”

“Okay…”

Setting the thermometer to the side, he drinks the water and leaves the glass on the table. Vines steps back for him to hop down. “Ready to go, honey?”

“I actually have one thing I wanted to ask about before… wait. Is Latin a language here? It must be… or must have been at some point. Luna was the name of a Roman goddess… and Celestia, I think, is Latin for the sky or space. I said vice versa and you knew what that meant. That’s from a language that hasn’t been used in centuries, but lots of words in English come from it.”

“It’s old ponish, sweetie. There were languages other than what we're speaking now, but they just kind of died out over time and Modern Common Ponish took their place, probably the same way English did with other languages.”

“Oh. Huh, weird, not only does the modern language have the same words as English, but phrases from long-dead languages match up too. That literally can not be a coincidence. I keep going back to this idea that the human world is somehow linked to this world. Whatever, I keep getting distracted."

Hopping down from his chair he heads towards the front of the house, Vines in tow. "I’m ready to go but first I do have one concern. Modern quarantine procedures for infected individuals!” he announced with more enthusiasm than the topic should elicit.

“I’m sure you just hadn’t put two and two together here, but I’ve recently, in my mind at least, had a rather unpleasant experience with illness.” Seeing her eyes widen, he nods and continues, “Now I realize Amethyst just has a cold, so I’m okay, I promise, I just want to know how ponies typically deal with it."

Stopping near the door, he turns around to face her. "Last summer when dad got sick I don’t remember doing anything special, but I also remember you and I both caught it afterwards, so maybe we should have. Title must have just gotten lucky to avoid it.”

“Umm… we don’t really have anything special we can do, honey. Wait, can’t you just kinda kill off anything we catch. You talked about boosting the fillies’ immune systems earlier. Can you do that to us?”

“Yep, and I’m glad you brought that up. I have not yet scanned you at all. I had to for dad’s shoulder and mom had asked me to check on her foal, but I’ve not had any reason to do the same with you. Are you okay with that or does that make you uncomfortable? You know I’d keep it completely professional, dam. No jokes, sarcasm, nothing like that ever when it comes to this, no matter the pony I’m treating.”

Pausing to remove an imaginary hat, he explains, “I take off my adorable colt hat and I put on my stethoscope,” which he also dons, imaginarily, with a nod.

Running a hoof through his mane Vines coos at him. "Aww, sweetie… you can always wear your hat, stethoscope or not.” Stopping her petting she continues, “I'm completely fine with you using your special talent on me. There just hasn't been any reason to, so I didn't think to ask. Let’s go sit in the living room and you do your scan real quick."

Vines climbs back on Deed’s cushion and lays down. Rather than lay next to her, Cure climbs on her back again and snuggles down into her fur, face buried once again in her mane. "Oh! I almost forgot, thanks for having breakfast ready for me. It was really good. Now, before I fall asleep, do I have your permission to do a scan on you?"

Giggling at her son, she nods. "Go ahead sweetie."

"Hey when I do this let me know how it feels on your end. I'm not trying to sneak attack anypony, but I should know what to tell ponies to expect when I do this later on."

"Okay. Do you want me to wait until you finish or just speak up while you're going?"

"During. I've been able to kind of split my attention. Practice makes perfect and all that."

"Alright. Ready when you are."

Flipping the mental switch, Cure slowly spread his magic into his dam. "I felt something, honey. It was just for a moment. Like a breeze going across my coat, maybe. If you hadn't said to pay attention I would have probably never noticed or just dismissed it as my imagination."

Nodding into her mane, Cure mumbles out a quick okay and concentrates on the results before him. What he sees sparks a memory from his past. "I'm seeing an area of concern here, dam." He feels, and sees through his magic, when she tenses under him. With a calm, level voice he explains, "I can feel you tensing. There's no reason to. Relax. I'm not doing anything, just looking. Don't forget what I said earlier. Medical professional mode, here. Nothing will happen without you explicitly saying something," he said as he gently pets the side of her neck.

Waiting until she calms a little he continues, "Now, what I believe this to be is something I became familiar with when Cyndi was having pain. Unless I am mistaken, you are probably experiencing that after intercourse as well. In fact, there’s probably times it just flat out hurts without any reason at all. Just move a certain way or lean or, sometimes when you’re not even moving at all. Am I right in assuming so?"

Holding back a sob, Vines only nods, untrusting in her ability to not break down if she opens her mouth to speak.

Seeking a way to calm and distract his dam, Cure decides to introduce her to a new concept, "When she went through testing they performed a procedure called an ultrasound. It's not completely dissimilar from what I'm doing, in a way. They could bounce sound waves around inside a body. Not the kind the ear can detect, these are like, really high frequency, hence the “ultra” in the name.”

“When those waves hit something they bounce back and, through some complex form of technology, an image could be created that would kinda-sorta let them see what's wrong. I would sometimes see the results, but because I lacked the knowledge and training to interpret them the doctor had to explain the image to me. Her too, obviously.”

He pauses in thought for a moment before adding, “I suspect I’m doing something like that with magic, but unless I want to be the subject of a research study I may never know. Fortunately, my way of seeing things now is very much like you can see the fireplace against the wall. It's way better than those images they could make.”

Hopping down from her back, Cure walks in front of her to meet her eyes. Knowing some levity will likely help calm her down and bring her out of the spiraling emotions she's going through, he decides to put on a bit of an act.

With a sad pout and pinned ears and tail he says, “They didn't have magical medical colts in human land, much to their dismay.” Perking up he continues, “Youuuu, on the other hoof,” jabbing a hoof in her direction, “do not suffer from that shortcoming because You. Are. A. Smart. Mare, and you obviously planned ahead,” he finishes with a sage nod, then points at his wide-opened eyes, leans forward and whispers, “I see how you had it all planned out,” he finishes, looking around the room conspiratorially and giving her a wink.

Speaking normally he continues, “With your Harmony-granted wisdom, you said to yourself,” he raises his voice a couple octaves in a terrible, generic female voice that sounds nothing like Vines, “Self… going to the doctor sucks!” Stamping a rear hoof and crossing his forelegs in disappointment, he then throws his hooves in the air in exasperation and declares, “They're all big jerks and can't fix me up when I have a problem. Soooo, instead of relying on those dummies, I'll do even better!”

Tapping one hoof against the other in a pony fist-palm, then pointing roughly at his crotch area with both hooves and a huge, exaggerated nod he says, “I'll make my own medical pony! He'll be smarter, and cuter, and a waaaay better doctor than those losers could ever hope to be.”

“CURE!” Vines shouts, which Cure ignores completely.

Holding his hoof over his eyes like a visor and panning the room, he does his best “big strong deep voice” impression and explains, “So you set out into the world to find the smartest, most handsome, most ruggedly stallion-y stallion that ever stallioned…”

Cure goes back to his normal voice, gives a deadpan look, and flatly says, “and then met my sire on the way to the train station and said… meh he'll work too, I guess,” he finishes with a shrug. He spreads his hooves wide, looking over himself and, speaking normally, says, “Almost nine short years later your ingenious plan has finally come to fruitation!"

Vines started laughing despite her fears and worries. The horrible impression by her little colt, and the sheer absurdity of the ridiculous story he spun out of thin air is just too much!

Joining in, she shouts, "Yesss! It all went according to plan! Behold,” she thrusts both hooves in his direction, “the new and improved medical pony… of the future!" she said, giggling the whole time. "Oh sweetie, I wish I could take all the credit, but I think there's at least four other parents out there that also played a part in how wonderful you turned out. Also… fruitation?”

"Yes. The plan bore fruit, hence fruit-tation, duh…” he explains, rolling his eyes and waving at himself as proof of her victory. Hooves on his hips and a scowl on his face he declares, “Of course, anypony else calls me a fruit and we’ll be havin words.”

She can’t help but giggle again and how silly he’s acting.

Pausing for a moment, he sits on his haunches and gives her a serious look to let her know the playful moment has passed. “Now, despite the unmitigated success of your scheme, we do need to talk about it, dam.” He holds up a hoof to forestall any interruptions or objections. “First, I’m almost certain I can help with this. I’m only hesitating to make promises because of my lack of experience, but I did not get a mark in sword fighting or kickboxing or underwater basket weaving.”

With all of the seriousness a young colt can muster he gets up, turns slightly so his mark is visible to her, and stands at military attention declaring to the world, “I was ordained with a mark in healing, and with Harmony as my witness, I promise I will heal my fellow ponies, and any others that, in good faith, seek my help.”

Pausing to relax his stance, he meets her eyes. “And I'm certainly not going to leave my own dam to suffer.” Turning to bodily face her straight on, he softens his expression. “Injuries like this… they come with a lot more hurt than the physical pain. That part is awful too, but it's the mental anguish that they inflict is where they are the most insidious,” he practically spits the words out with disgust.

Approaching his dam, he takes a moment to nuzzle into her chest and shoulders, leaning against her fully with his back and side. “You start to wonder if you are a good wife because intimacy is painful. You keep quiet because you don't want your husband to think you're making things up or you just don't want him. You begin doubting yourself as a wife and a lover, and then you fear you won't be able to fulfill your duty as one, either in bed or in your ability to give him foals.”

“You're scared to go to the doctor because you don't think they're going to be able to help anyhow, or you worry they’ll just write you off as not knowing what you are talking about in the first place. The worst part of it is that you've been mentally associating pain with intimacy for so long the two become inseparable, so the very thought of having sex saps any desire to do so.”

“Meanwhile all the other fears and doubts just spiral together and reinforce themselves until you end up doing nothing and suffering in silence with nopony to just be there and tell you it's okay and it isn't your fault.” Pausing, he pushes deep into her fur and says, “I’m here. It is not your fault. I love you, dam, and I will help you if you let me."

Feeling the dam break, Vines wraps her forelegs around her son, buries her face in his mane, and bawls for what felt like an hour. Exhausted, she slowly catches her breath and recomposes herself. She felt like there was hope for the first time in years. It was a warm, comforting feeling having her doubts and anxieties acknowledged after so much time spent forcing them into a dark, neglected corner of her mind.

The whole time Cure just lays there and gently pushes his head into her while she cries herself out, leaving no more tears to be shed left. Finally, with absolute conviction, she raises her head, leans back, and looks down to meet his eyes.

"Please help your dam, Cure. I don't want to hurt all of the time anymore."

Nodding, he sits up and wraps around her neck in an embrace. He couldn't do anything to help his wife during his human life, but he swears he'll never let his dam suffer if he can help it.

Firing up his mark he demands every spare ounce of power in his body to reduce the swelling, relieve the irritation, restore the area to health, and do everything it can to ensure it never inflicts that misery upon her again. Holding on for several minutes he finally flags under the exertion. Taking a last look before breaking the connection, he feels a warmth flow from his core, his soul cries in joy at the healthy, rejuvenated area in his vision.

“I definitely felt THAT,” she says wide-eyed.

Giggling, he releases her and begins to stagger away. Vines can only stare in shock when, slurring his words, he begins in a distinctly “Cure” voice, but a completely different inflection and vocabulary from normal. "Yer damned right you did. WOO boy. Ughhh... I am soooo fuckin wiped rinnow. Holeee shit, momma. Heheheh. You're all fixed upppuh. pup. Hah! Pups! Haha you don't have puppies!” he declares, pointing at her, wobbling a bit while standing there. “PONIES! It's POH NEEZ, with little hoovzees.”

Pausing to look at his own hoof for a moment, he follows it with his eyes while waving it around a little. His attention then snaps back to Vines and he points at her again. “Das what youze gonna have. Lots of cute furry poneez jus like yer lil Curebot healzy!” he shouts, pounding at his chest. “Woo is gonna be so ahhssum. Jus yuu wayyt. Soff furry lil pones with them big eyez and lil hoovzes all sayin "dayum Cure thanks for helping momma fix up her vag so she could have us. You're so great a bug. Nono…not BUG. Big bruhtha, yaaaaaaay!"” waving his forelegs for a while correcting himself.

He finally sits on his haunches and wraps himself in a big hug and shouts, “Cuddles for everyponeeee!” After holding the “e” for a solid five count while warbling he shakes his head to try to focus. “Ugh.” Smacking his lips a few times, then licking around his muzzle he heads over to his cushion while yawning. “Imma lay down a sec here. Love you dam. G'nite," then he immediately flops over on his cushion, curling into a circle and using his tail as a pillow. He begins snoring within seconds.

Vines didn't have a clue what half the stuff that just came out of her colt meant. She was pretty sure it loosely translated to, "Everything is fixed now. You may safely proceed to have plenty of adorable foals, which would please me. If you’ll pardon my forthrightness, I am quite exhausted and believe it best that I partake in a well deserved intermission to this dastardly conscious condition" or thereabouts.

Approaching the snoring colt, she gave him a quick look over, finding no sign anything was wrong. His breathing seems normal, if loud, she can hear his heart beating fine, and he’s not clammy or sweaty or anything. Clearly he exhausted whatever magic he had, reported his success, then promptly passed out and is otherwise apparently fine. Any other madness or profanities he spouted were inconsequential and therefore disregarded.

Vines knew the instant she had stood up that something was definitely different. The deep throbbing achiness that had frequently plagued her for the last six years was simply gone. Shifting slightly, there was no sign of it. Nothing. Feeling the need to cry for an entirely different reason, Vines could only let out a deep shuddering breath that seemed to force out years of fear, regret, and loathing.

Relief. It’s the only word she can use to describe the feeling. She had accepted pain as just part of life, and now its sudden absence contrasted with what she’d assumed she would experience forever… She felt relieved, and despite everything else she had to take care of for the remainder of the long day ahead of her, for the first time in nearly a decade she could finally look forward to the next time she could get her stallion alone.

A lingering doubt still nagged at her that maybe there was something else, but hopefully when he recovers Cure can assuage that concern for her as well.

Laying by his cushion, she once again wraps her forelegs around him, nuzzles her face all up and down his sides and back, and gives him a soft kiss on his brow just above his eyes. She buries her nose in his mane and takes a deep breath, savoring the scent of the colt that just keeps changing everything.

After a moment she stands to head to the restroom. Vines pauses and, not knowing who to even address, she simply looks to the window, smiles, bows her head in respect, and says a deep, heartfelt "thank you" to whatever entity out there made this all possible.

Knowing she is running later than intended, she rushes to the restroom to wash away the snot and tears and clean up her face. Gathering some supplies for lunch, Vines loads the small pull-cart and makes a small nest for her son with a folded blanket. She’s pretty sure he wouldn’t wake even if she just chucked him across her withers, but he clearly needs some sleep, so she does her best to ensure his comfort on the short ride. Once she cleans him up and gets him situated they head out.

Arriving a fair bit later than she’d planned to, Vines knocks on the door. She can hear coughing from inside, so she calls out to Amethyst Blossom to ask if she can come in. Hearing a “yeah, sure, come on in” from the house, Vines unstraps herself from the cart and opens the door fully to enter. She finds little Lotus Bloom and Cherry Tart waiting to greet her just on the other side of the door.

“Oh, hello there. How are you two doing today?”

“Good” they announce in stereo before Lotus speaks up, “Dam’s not feeling good. She was sleepin. She’s awake now.”

Nodding in agreement, Cherry adds, “Momma’s sick and dam had to go to work. Who’s that?” She asks while pointing at the cart behind Vines.

Looking behind herself at Cure she turns back to Cherry and explains, “That’s my son, Cure Wave. He’s asleep because he played real hard yesterday and had sad dreams last night. He didn’t get enough sleep, so he’s taking a nap. I’m going to check on your mom and I’ll be right back, so just go back to playing for now, okay?”

Getting a "kay!" in response, Vines grabs the food out of the cart and sets it in the kitchen on her way to the stairs. She calls up to Amethyst, “Amy, dear, I’m coming up.” Climbing the stairs she hears her friend call back “okay!” and cough a few more times.

Opening the bedroom door, Vines pokes her head in and finds Amethyst lying on her bed with the curtains mostly pulled shut. The mare has a rich lavender coat and truly matched her namesake. With a deep pink mane and tail her colors are almost an exact reversal of Title’s, though they otherwise share no resemblance between them. Her cutie mark is a pile of gems on one side of a balanced scale with the other side empty. She looks mostly fine, just exhausted… and maybe a little sweaty.

“How are you feeling, Amy? I could hear you coughing from outside the front door.”

“Ugh…” she grunted out as she rolled onto her belly. With a deep, husky voice she says, "I feel like I probably look, Vines. Like a big ‘ol pile 'a shit. Sweet said she'd ask ya to come by. How ya been? We ain't got together for a minute."

Fully entering the room, Vines kicks the door shut behind her. “It’s been a wild week, Amy. Cure got his cutie mark the other day and he’s been keeping me busy as can be since then. The colt’s going to wear me out, I swear. It’s worth it, though.”

Opening the window to let in fresh air, she turns back to the bed and continues, “He’s going to really change things, and I’m not just saying that like any parent would. He has so many ideas and just thinks of stuff I would never have imagined. Such a little genius! Oh! Your little fillies greeted me at the door. They’re so adorable at that age.”

“Oh yeah? He found his special talent, huh.” Pausing to cough a few times, she weakly finished, “I’ll hafta ask 'em about it when I ain't coughin my brains out.”

“Well, he’s out cold right now, curled up on a blanket in my little cart. I need to actually run down and check on him and get him situated downstairs here in a moment. He went out to play kickball with some of the neighborhood children last night.”

Letting out a sigh she explains, “He wore himself out so bad he fell asleep in the living room… not that I can claim to be any better. Deed snuggled up on me and I passed out right there too."

"D'awwww"

Smiling, Vines says, "I woke up in my bed in the middle of the night when I heard Cure call out, though. He was having a nightmare. Title took care of him before I could even get out of bed, though, bless her heart.”

“Aww, poor colt. Yeah, go get 'em situated. I ain't goin nowhere. I can’t thank ya enough for comin ta take care 'a me ‘n the fillies, V. If it was just me I’d hunker down here and ride it out, but I just don’t have the energy to barely move, 'n we been trying to keep them away from me so I don’t get 'em sick too."

Pausing, Amethyst looks around the room and sniffs the air. "Ya probably shouldn’t even be in the room with me. I smell like I been workin' the fields... or the streets. Maybe both.”

Opening her mouth to reply, Vines pauses, perks her ears up, and looks around. “Huh… that’s weird.” She turns to the door and opens it, poking her head out. “I don’t hear anything. Ah fudge… what could they have gotten into so quickly?”

Looking over her withers at her friend she says, “I don’t hear a peep from downstairs and that’s usually a bad sign with children. Let me go get him taken care of and check on your fillies and I’ll be back in a sec with some water for you. I actually have something to talk to you about regarding this whole cold thing, honey.”

“Oof, yeah… them bein too quiet is not a good sign. I’ll be here, babe. Thanks.”

With that Vines heads out the door and down the stairs. She’s surprised to see her son is now laying on a large cushion, passed out on his back. Cherry is laying on his chest and belly with her forelegs draped over his shoulders. Lotus is next to them on her back also, snuggled right into his side with her head up on his chest by her sister. His tail is acting as an impromptu blanket for the three of them, and aside from some soft snoring and the occasional cough from upstairs there’s not a sound in the house.

Vines has to struggle not to gush out loud at the scene, but she’s wise enough to keep her cool and be as quiet as she can. Fetching a drink for Amethyst, she quietly creeps back upstairs and re-enters the bedroom.

“Amy, sweetie… you wouldn’t believe how adorable they are down there! Cure must have woken up and climbed out of the cart I brought him in. He’s on his back asleep with your fillies snuggled up on and beside him, all snoring their cute little snores together!”

Rolling onto her belly again, Amethyst turns to face Vines, laying across the bed. “HAH! That’s fantastic, V. The colt’s a natural foalsitter even when he’s asleep.” Taking the water from Vines and mumbling another thanks, Amethyst downs about half of it in one go. “So, what were you gonna tell me bout the cold thing? Is this something that’s goin 'round real bad? I got no idea where I picked it up, but it absolutely whipped my rear somethin fierce.”

“No, sweetie, that’s not it at all.” Sitting on her haunches with her forehooves on the bed, Vines leans close to Amethyst and whispers to her, “So before I say anything, I need you to absolutely swear to me that what I’m about to tell you does not leave this room.”

Raising a brow and meeting her eyes Amethyst can tell that Vines is serious about this. Nodding she says, “Sure thing, honey… you know I won’t tell a soul anything you say to me. Never have, never will.”

Reaching out and taking one of Amethyst’s hooves, Vines holds it against her chest and, again whispers quietly to her, “It’s Cure. His special talent is healing. He…” breaking a small sob, “he was able to help me get better. I’m not hurting anymore, Amy. I can’t even remember what it used to be like to not hurt, and it’s all gone now.”

Eyes widening, Amethyst pulls her hoof back and stops to think for a moment. Pondering the implications, she looks down, brow scrunched in thought. Finally, meeting Vines’ eyes she leans forward and, abandoning her normal speech, slowly says, “You can not under any circumstances let anypony else know this, Vines. There is no such thing as healing magic. If some noble gets wind of his talent he’ll be scooped up and on a train to Canterlot before you have a chance to raise a hoof.”

“What do you mean there’s no such thing as healing magic? Almost all of the doctors at every hospital I’ve ever been to have been unicorns!”

Coughing to the side a few times, Amethyst growls back, “And what do those useless morons do with them horns of theirs, V? They wave 'em around and lift shit. They can’t heal a fuckin scratch, just sew it up with their levitation and a needle, slap a bandage on, it and send ya on yer way.” Becoming truly serious she demands, “What all can he do?”

Shrinking under her friend’s intensity, Vines answers, “I don’t know. I think… anything. Everything. He fixed me in five minutes before I came here this morning. That’s why he’s passed out downstairs. He must have poured every scrap of energy in his little body into fixing up his dam,” she finished, eyes watering.

“Aww, fuck me, Vines. That’s like princess-level shit right there. Did he sprout a fuckin horn while he was at it?” Not waiting for a response, she continues, “You best talk to Deed and Title and let 'em know to keep their traps shut or that colt’s gonna be snatched up in a hurry.”

Pausing to regain her calm, Amethyst sighs and says, “I was always terrified you’d end up having ta get a hysterectomy if it kept gettin worse. I bet Deed'll be thrilled, you finally bein able to have more foals.”

At Vines’ look downward Amethyst put two and two together, “Ya never told 'em, did'ya?” Leaning forward, Amethyst quietly growls at the other mare. “What the fuck, V! Ya told me when Sweet and I moved back two years ago… how can you be okay telling one 'a yer lovers but not even lettin yer husband know?”

“It doesn’t hurt as much with mares, you know that! I just couldn’t tell him! How do you tell your stallion that it’s a bad day and you just can’t stand the thought of him mounting you? That would devastate him!”

Brows hiked, Amethyst nods in agreement. “Yah, it would. He’d be upset, but nowhere near as upset as if he found out five years down the road that he’s been breakin yer snatch in half every time he jumped on ya and you just kept quiet and suffered the whole time. What were ya thinkin?”

“I was being a good wife!” Vines hissed.

“Oh honey,” pausing to cough a few times, Amethyst steps to her friend, wraps her forelegs around Vines and pulls her into a hug. “You were doin what ya thought was right, but if he found out now that he'd been hurtin ya the whole time... he'd be devastated. It would be even worse if he knew you’d confided in anypony else over him. I can’t even imagine the cosmic luck you must have to just… have it all waved away like that.”

Releasing Vines, she lays back on the bed and turns back to face her. “What would ya have done when he was ready ta have more foals? Lay there and let him pound away while you’re barely holding back tears? You can only fake so much,” she says sympathetically. “They’re unobservant, not imbeciles.” She pauses in thought a second. “Well, usually they’re both, but still. Yer damned lucky ya found a good mare to lend a hoof.”

Amethyst cringes at the thought of enduring pain like that. “Deed isn’t huge, but he’s a pretty big earth pony. I remember him damn near rippin me in half a few times when he was still learning and went ta town too fast. Some damn horn head or featherbrain may be okay, but… damn, ouch,” she finishes with a wince. Amethyst lets out a sigh, shaking her head. “Well, I suppose it’s a non-issue now. You haven’t told anypony else, have you?”

Vines shakes her head. “Only Cure knows.”

Furrowing her brows, Amethyst starts, “Well of cour… Oh! No, I mean about Cure’s special talent, not the endometriosis.”

“Oh! No, only Deed and Title know.”

Amethyst nods, “Good, keep it that way,” she insists. “Now, how does this work?”

“He didn’t explain in detail, just said that he can tell when something isn’t right and can fix it.”

“Well, nothin’ doin until the colt wakes up, I suppose. Why don’t you go check on em real fast? Ugh, just this little bit of excitement has me all worn out again. If yer up for it I could really use a hoof with showerin. Maybe the warm water will open my damn head up and wake me up some more.”

“Of course, sweetie. I fell asleep before I could shower last night and came here pretty quickly after getting up, so I could use a good scrubbing too.”

“I figured. I could pick up Deed’s scent in yer mane. Go check on the foals, I’ll be right here waiting. We ain’t gonna have no funny action, though, missy. I sure as Celestia don’t feel up to that, no matter how good it may feel for ya now.”

“Pfft.” Vines waves her suggestion away. “You know the rules, Amy. No fun without everypony’s okay,” she says, turning towards the door.

“We may have to arrange that. Sweet misses you too, ya know. And the stars know we could both use a good dicking every once in a while. I’m sure she’d be happy to lend a hoof once Title is too far along to help out. Celestia knows I’ll take one, or more, for the team,” she adds, wagging her eyebrows only to bark out a cough.

Vines pauses at the door, raising an eyebrow back at her friend. Amethyst is on her belly, side towards Vines with her head and neck flat on the bed, turned slightly to face her. All four hooves are firmly planted on top of the bed.

Amethyst growls a little and asks, “mmm I don’t suppose we could get Deed to start liftin some weights, could we?” she asks, grin growing, tail wagging, and rear lifting slightly. “Maybe get a little more bulk on that big chest of his… Sun and stars, I miss that hard wall of muscle pressing on my withers… them teeth yankin back on my mane…”

Scowling at her friend, Vines points out, “You don’t sound very sick at all, Amy. Just incredibly horny.”

“I’m just getting the sleepy tingles…” she scowls back before pointing an accusing hoof at the judging look, “Hey! Yer the one that came in her smellin like a stallion rode yer back! Besides, it’s been a while, okay!” she defends. “It doesn’t matter if I’ve got a cold, he would be the one doin all the work anyhow,” she giggles while coughing, then flops on her side.

“Uh huh… We’ll talk when you feel better. Maybe Cure can foalsit for us one evening. He’s very mature for his age, you know.”

“Great! Now get! Check on the foals, I’ll just sit here like a big useless lump 'n wait for ya.” Amethyst says with a yawn while lazily shooing Vines away as she heads out the door.