No Turning Back Now 5 [Break In]

>You drop for a short distance to solid ground.
>Cool air washes over you and the distant chirping of crickets punctuates the low howling of the wind around the balcony you are now standing on.
>The dim glow of the moon permeates the air around you. Barely enough light for anyone else to see, but for you, plenty.
>The looming presence of the castle of Canterlot towers over you, subtle lights wandering through windows being the only indication of life within.
>Guards. Just like Discord warned you…
>Good news is that if they have lamps, then most if not all the areas they’re patrolling must be dark.
>Perfect.
>Before you is a glass door that leads to a lightless corridor ahead.
>According to the map, there are carpets running down the middle of every hall, but that won’t quiet the clopping of hooves, at least not entirely.
>There are a few nooks and crannies that should prove good for hiding in a pinch, but other than those, you’ll have to see pretty far ahead to avoid getting caught here.
>Additionally, the color of your fur is disadvantageous to say the least.
>Well, it seems like this might chew into your energy more than you thought…
>You have plenty right now, but if you go spending it willy nilly, you’re not gonna have enough to help Luna.
>This… isn’t gonna be the easiest…
>Taking one last deep breath, you carefully open the door before you and slink in before closing it once more.
>The chirps of the crickets now become almost silent.
>You’re gonna have to move fast. You can’t afford to waste time.
>With some concentration, your hooves morph into paws like a cat, your tail becomes longer with only a puff of black fur on the end, and your fur becomes a black that rivals your mane.    Finally, your eyes and ears become far more sensitive, making the hallway before you far more navigable than before.
>In the distance you can barely hear multiple sets of hooves, all from different directions.
>Alright. Plotting fastest route…
>...
>Done.
>You bolt down the hall, silently weaving your way though the labyrinth ahead, your lengthened tail helping you with the many hasty bends in your path.
>A little farther than your first few turns, in a single long hallway, you hear a patrol.
>There are several of them, and according to the map, they can only turn down your hall once they reach the corner.
>The map provides no apparent hiding spots to you, and turning back is not an option.
>If you’re going to help this mare, you’ll need to be as fast as possible.
>Quickly, you scan your surroundings for anything that may potentially help you.
>A banner draping down the wall beside you is the first item you notice.
>Perfect.
>You leap up to the banner and use your claws to cling to the fabric.
>Hastily, you climb as far as you can up the banner before the patrol turns the bend.
>Staying deathly still, you carefully observe the guards below.
>There are two of them, both equipped with glowing lanterns on their side.
>They don golden armor, the helmets of which are topped with a colorful mohawk and the breastplates are adorned with a single blue star.
>Each stride they take is in unison with each other, all without a single word.
>These guys aren’t fucking around.
>And neither can you.
>As soon as they turn the bend at the other end of the hall, you deftly drop to the floor below, your paws softening the landing to a mere whisper.
>Resuming your plotted course, you once again slide around corners in pursuit of this mare.
>As you turn each bend, you are graced only with a near identical hallway as the last.
>Had you not been given a map, you would think that this building is endless.
>There is little time for thinking though, as the next patrol draws near.
>This time, however, there is a rather convenient gap between a bookcase and a plant that you quickly wedge yourself into.
>As the guards pass, you peak from your cover and see them turn the next corner.
>Just as you’re about to resume your trek, your ears perk up. 
>There is the slightest sound from somewhere nearby.
>It’s barely a whisper, more akin to a shift in the air than a real sound.
>What is tha-
>”Hey!!! What are you doing here?!”
>The voice comes from directly above you.
>...
>You forgot that some of them can fly…
>...fuck…
>You burst into an all out sprint down the hall, leaving whatever voices that were there behind.
>Luckily these ponies, regardless of being guards, don’t hold a flame to that pink mare from before.
>You easily outspeed their pursuit, following your planned course as closely and quickly as possible.
>Fuck staying hidden now. They’ll all be on high alert and you don’t have time to deal with all of the problems that'll come with that.
>As you round a bend, you find yourself met head on by a group of guards charging down from the other end of the hallway, both on the ground and in the air.
>Even as you continue your sprint, they are steadfast in their course, clearly willing to stop you at all costs.
>You’re soon on top of the group, one of them lunging at you wildly.
>Nimbly, you jump above the assailant, using his head as a springboard to propel you over the rest of the grounded guards.
>Your jump sends you soaring straight towards the flying members.
>They lunge at you the same as the last, though this time you have far less control in the air.
>The first you narrowly avoid, though the second is just barely able to intercept your evasion.
>You are brought violently crashing to the ground, the other flying guard quickly helping to pin you against the floor.
>You can’t move and enhancing your muscles will chew into your energy too much.
>Huh…
>This might turn out in your favor actually…
>You easily detect both energies currently making contact with you and begin siphoning their strength into you.
>Only a second passes before they both pass out and collapse onto you.
>You quickly squirm your way from underneath them and resume your sprint.
>Good.
>You got away and you now have a reasonable amount of energy to boot.
>The rest of your way to the designated room remains surprisingly unimpeded.
>It only takes around a minute for you to reach your destination at such an optimal pace.
>Dead ahead is a large set of doors, black with a white crescent painted in the center.
>Stationed on either side of the grandiose entryway are two guards, both vigilant at their posts.
>Fuck it.
>The guards have no time to react to the shadow that bounds from the darkness before them.
>You leap at the door between them, turning a full 180 and smacking one of the guards in the face with your tail, slamming him into the door.
>You use your momentum to plant your back paws on the door and push off, sending you reeling towards the second guard from behind. He is only just beginning the process of turning his head towards you, allowing you to throw both of your front paws in front of you, change them back into hooves, and land a hard blow right to his temple.
>The guard crumbles before your strike and you agilely slide to a halt as you land.
>Thank fuck these ponies are slow.
>Making your way to the door, you quickly slip inside, being sure to close the door behind you.
>After a good scan of the room, you allow your body to return to its normal state.
>There are only two ponies here, and you’re one of them.
>The room you now stand in is of equal stature to the hallway.
>Moonlight shines through the paned glass ceiling above, illuminating the few dust particles that float around you just enough to bestow an ethereal atmosphere onto the otherwise dreary room.
>At the far end of the room is a bed with a sleeping pony under the covers.
>The room is outfitted with various other decor, but none of it is noteworthy in regards to your current mission.
>You walk up to the side of the bed, getting a better view of the comatose mare hidden within.
>The sheets rise and fall painfully slowly, labored breaths only barely escaping her mouth in unison with the movements.
>Really, it’s more like choked wheezing than breathing.
>This is someone in their final moments.
>You almost expect yourself to feel something over the sight, but where there should be some kind of feeling, you are met with a void.
>You’ve grown accustomed to such pictures in your life.
>So many, fading before your very eyes.
>Each and every one of them refusing your help.
>...
>No.
>That all means nothing now.
>Here you have the chance to make a difference.
>You won’t let it slip through your grasp.
>As you reach out to lay your hoof on the mare, there is a glint of light in the corner of your eye.
>Immediately your head turns to analyze the source.
>Luckily, it is not a threat as you might have feared.
>It’s just a…
>...crown…
>...
>You pull your hoof away from the mare as you slowly back away from her.
>She’s royalty.
>You’re a fool for not realizing it sooner.
>She’s in a castle, with a room and guards dedicated to her.
>...
>...you need to leave.
>This mare is sure to bring you nothing but grief in the future.
>You put your hoof up to your chest in preparation to teleport right back to Discord, but you find it impossible.
>There is a feeling of conflict about you.
>Everything you’ve said - from deciding to come here, all the way up until now - is it all null and void just because of this mare’s status?
>All of her kind have been nothing but trouble in the past, but does that discount her life?
>You know nothing about her...
>On the other hand, the risk of helping her is immeasurable.
>Though, surely Discord or KK will shield you from her should things go south…
>Won’t they?
>Looking up once more to the figure beneath the blankets, struggling to survive, you breathe a deep sigh.
>...
>You must act only on what you know.
>And at this moment, you do actually know one thing about this mare.
>She is in desperate need of help, and you can give it to her.
>You are not instincts.
>You are not one of *them*.
>You are you, and you have to help her.
>Moving back to the edge of the bed, you rest your hoof on the soft fur of her chest.
>Her energy is immediately revealed to you.
>It is nearly undetectable, but it is there.
>You must act fast.
>You concentrate on your hoof, gathering energy there and thinking of-
>”YOU! STEP AWAY FROM THE PRINCESS!”
>Fuck!
>The noise startles you.
>Your mind picks up for you slack and falls back on a default for a location.
>You go to change it, but you are too late.
>The energy has already reached its peak and activated Discord’s magic.
>The whatever-the-fuck colored tentacles of liquid envelop the both of you, sending you off to wherever-the-fuck your mind decided.
>Within another moment, you and your passenger are released onto a familiar hardwood floor, though not the one you would’ve liked to see.
>”Huh? Flux? What’re ya doin here? I thought you were-”
>The orange mare drops the mug of cider in her hoof, allowing it to clatter messily to the floor beneath her as her jaw hangs wide open.
>”WHY IN THE TWO BUCKIN’ BLAZES IS PRINCESS LUNA HERE?!?!?”
>You really fucking hate that the default search parameter is alphabetical order…
>Fucking ‘apple’...
“No time to explain! Just make sure nobody can see in from outside, and watch out for anyone coming to the door.”
>Immediately following your words, Discord appears next to you with a flash of light.
>”Consider it done.”
>With a snap, all of the windows are boarded up and the drapes closed.
>You quickly use your head to work your way under the mare and lift her onto your back.
>A small task for you, especially since there is no doubt that she is underweight.
>You carefully hull your cargo over into the living room to lay her on the couch.
>Applejack seems to be asking a multitude of questions, but you tune her out quickly, as Discord seems to be handling her for you.
>Resting Luna on the couch, all of the lights instantly turn on, allowing you to analyze her visually.
>You can now clearly see the severity of her malnourished body.
>Exactly what you would expect for a case like this. In fact, assuming that she fell into a coma a long time ago, then you’re rather impressed at how healthy they’ve been able to keep her.
>You close your eyes and lay both of your hooves onto her abdomen, allowing your own flesh to fuse with hers. With some coaxing, her weakened body soon gives way to your intrusion, allowing you to see with far more detail into her physiology.
>You want to diagnose her as soon as possible, but now that you are here, you can truly see the extent of the damage done on the inside. Most of her internal organs are giving out. Exactly what that tells you about her condition, you’re not sure, but it does tell you why she’s dying so quickly. You need to fix this before anything else.
>You locate the nerves in her spinal cord right at the base of her neck, severing them carefully. You can’t have her brain fighting you while you do this.
>You quickly pick up where her brain left off, making her body breathe for her and pumping her heart.
>Next you need to revitalize those organs.
>You run a diagnostic on the affected areas, but to your utter surprise, everything comes back a-okay. 
>What the fuck?
>Once more you run them, but sure enough, the first time wasn’t a fluke. Everything works fine.
>Well, if they work fine then the only area that could be falling short is her…
>You run diagnostics on her head.
“FFFFFUCK!!!”
>Sure enough, this is going to be much more of a pain in your ass than you thought…
>Nestled within her brain matter is a foreign growth. Well, at least YOU know it’s foreign. Her body on the other hand, doesn’t think it’s anything more than a part of her brain.
>...
>You’re gonna have to remove this fucking tumor.
>Not only that, but if her brain is failing to communicate with organs, then you’ll also have to repair what this fucking growth damaged in there.
>All the while, you’re gonna have to keep her alive by breathing for her and pumping her heart. No way her brain will be able to do that when you’re tinkering around in there.
>You take as deep a breath as you can manage.
>Quickly, you set out to work.
>First you need to remove that growth.
>You cut off circulation to the site entirely, isolating it from the rest of the body.
>She’s lucky it didn’t spread anywhere else.
>You order her body to start viciously attacking the tumor, as well as lending it some agents from your body to get the job done faster.
>Even at this rate though, it’s rather far along with its growth, so it still won’t be a short process.
>Fuck, you don’t have the energy to be wasting this much time.
>Each action that you take here dry’s up your energy reserve further, and it’s already taking its toll.
>Sweat has begun to drip down your forehead and your breathing has become heavy.
>You can only keep her alive for so long…
>...
>......
>You’re body’s not gonna like this, but fuck it.
>You quickly stop the assault on the tumor and detach your hooves from the mare.
>You shift up towards her head before touching your forehead to the side of hers.
>This is gonna fucking suck.
>You allow the material of your skull to mesh with hers, giving your brain clear access to hers.
>Here we go...

>”All of this sounds ridiculous, even comin’ from you Discord.”
>You keep your snout pinched with your paw, attempting to alleviate the headache that this all has proven to be.
>He could’ve chosen anywhere to go, and he chose HERE…
>Even if he went somewhere he hadn’t been before, you’re sure you would’ve been in a better position than the one you’re currently standing in.
>Now you’re stuck here with the most difficult of Twilight’s friends to lie to, and she already has far too many questions.
>You growl and turn angrily to face the apple mare.
“It may sound ridiculous, but the truth of the matter is that the colt in the other room is the only one that has a chance at helping Luna.”
>Applejack seems to look you over for a moment, carefully observing your face before she reluctantly backs off.
>”Well, if ya say that’s the case, then I guess I don’t have any other choice but to believe ya.”
>She then turns to the living room doorway behind her.
>”But how exactly is he gonna be able to help her more than anypony else could?”
>Suddenly there is a loud thud from the other room.
>The both of you look to the other for understanding, but find none.
>You quickly slide your way over the orange mare and into the room, her following in your wake.
>Before you is the princess laid out on the couch with Flux unconscious on the floor next to it.
>Applejack gasps.
>”Is he alright?”
>You snap up a stethoscope, placing it on the unconscious colt’s chest.
>Breathing, and a heartbeat.
>You let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding in.
“He’s fine.”
>A few moments of unsettling silence pass before Applejack speaks up once more.
>”And what about the princess? Was he able to help her at all?”
>You float above Luna and carefully place the stethoscope to her chest.
>Faint breathing.
>But…
“Her breathing is a lot better than it was before, but outside of that, there’s no telling. We can only wait and see...”
>”And exactly how long are we talkin’ here?”
>You glance between the green colt below you and the Princess of the Night.
“At least until one of them wakes up.”
>You magic up a leather lounge chair as well as a pipe and newspaper for yourself before taking a seat.
“Until then, we’ll just have to wait...”