"Hang on, dammit!" Lone cried, pushing himself even harder. They were back at the portal in about fifteen minutes, and Lone didn't slow down. Instead he wrapped his wings around Thunder, making himself as small as a dragon can be, and hurtled through the portal, rolling to a stop on the other side, exhausted. They had been right to evacuate the town; the weather was totally out of hand now, errant lightening strikes scotched the ground and set fire to trees, a fierce wind was ripping up smaller trees, and the sky was a patchwork of blacks, reds, and purples. Lone lay panting for a moment, before lifting his wing to see if Thunder was alright. "Thunder, can you make it to the house from here?"
Thunder woke up and looked around. They... they wete back home. He smiled and heard what lone said. "I-I'll try..." he said as he stood up. His hooves were shaking and his back hooves barely moved, then slowly walked twards the house. He was so close, so close to his beloved Eris. He smiled at the idea of seeing her beautiful smile again, her lovely eyes... everything.
After a moment, Lone transformed himself into pony form, and then, groaning with the effort, got up to help Thunder. The flight had taken nearly all of his energy, but he needed to do more. He caught up to Thunder, and let him lean on him for support, the two struggling through the weather towards the house. A part of him worried what condition they would find Eris in...
Once they managed to arrive, instead of going directly to see Eris, he went to the kitchen for the milk first. He had to heal her before seeing her!
Once they had the milk, Lone took a deep breath before pushing open the door to the bedroom. Eris was tangled in the sheets of the bed, the special jar of water lay empty and broken on the floor, and Courage lay slumped unconscious against the wall. The rest of the room looked almost as knocked about as outside. "Who's there!?" Eris screamed, suddenly, sitting up in the bed, and staring around blindly for a few seconds, before doubling over in pain and falling back against the bed, and then laughing crazily. She stopped to cough up some blood, then resumed groaning in pain.
"E-Eris..." thubder said sadly after seeing her like that. It was a horrible view, but be had ti be strong. He couldnt feel his chest not. With his last strenght, he walked to her side and gently stroked her cheek as he used the last of him magic to control her pain. "I-I'm... back..." he said, weaker, as he left the milk on a table so Eris could drink it.
Lone checked on Courage, making sure he was still breathing, as Eris' calmed down a little, no longer contorting in pain. She furrowed her brow, as if not recognising Thunder's voice, before her memory slowly returned, or part of it at least. "Thunder?" She made no attempt to drink the milk, not being able to see it, and instead just looked in Thunder's direction, confusion and fear etched across her face, but with a trace of recognition and joy, as if a part of her still understood her love had returned.
Left hoof... he couldn't feel it now. "Yes... it's me..." Thunder said smiling as he nuzzled her cheek a bit. "I... have the cure..." he said as he grabbed it with his right hoof and gently put it against her lips for her her to drink it. "Here..." he said.
Still looking confused, she drank it, some of it spilling and running down her chin. As she swallowed, all spasms of pain started to cease, her eyes regained, their colour and focused on Thunder, and recognition grew on her face. After about a minute, she was back to normal. "Thunder!" She cried, grabbing him and holding him close as tears of joy and relief ran down her cheeks.
Thunder looked pale. His skin had a light grey tone instead of his usual charcoal color. Below his cutie mark was a serious burn where the curse hit him. He now couldnt feel anything but his head. "Eris..." he said smiling and weak as he snuggled his head into her mane a bit
"Thunder, what happened?" Eris asked, noticing his colour and weakness. "Are you alright?" She asked, her voice full of concern as she held his face in her paw and claw.
"Celestia... made a spell on me..." he started saying. "I... cant move my body... and she... might still... be after me..." he said as he looked to the window, hoping Celestia hadnt crossed the portal.
"What?!" Eris gasped, horrified. She concentrated on the curse, but she couldn't figure out the magic, and didn't want to risk causing even more harm. "Why is she doing this to us?" She sobbed, holding her beloved Thunder as close as she could, and weeping softly. Outside, the lightening and wind had stopped, replaced now by a melancholic rain, running down the windows and thudding softly against the crystal roof. The princesses may be swift, but they weren't as fast a dragon, as Lone knew. "We'll have about ten minutes yet, if she did pursue us," He said, quietly.
Thunder burried his face into her chest aa she hold him close. "I wish ti know the same..." he said a bit sad as he smelled her fur. A smell he missed so much. "I... need to rest..."he said as he fell aslep betwee her arms.
"Of course. I love you Thunder..." Eris said quietly, still crying softly as she nuzzled his mane and held him tightly, not wanting to let him go. After a couple of minutes, she pulled herself together enough to look over to Lone and Courage, the latter of whom had just woken up. "Courage... I don't remember what happened... but if I hurt you, I am truly sorry," She said, tears still running down her cheeks. "It...It is okay, Mistress," Courage replied. "I know you would never willingly hurt me, and there is no real harm done." He looked at Thunder and Eris uncertainly. "What... what do we do now, Mistress?" "I don't know." Eris answered, resting her face in Thunder's mane once more. "Celestia will surely come here, but I do not know what to do." She looked at Thunder's weakened body, heartbroken. "We have to lift this curse..."
Thunder smiled after she spoke. "I... love you... too..." he replied as he started to sleep. He looked so peacefull and a bit happy by being with Eris
Eris sniffed and wiped away her tears as she made her decision. "Lone, Courage," She said, looking at the Timberwolves. "Go to the ponies outside the portal, and bring back all who wish to come. Then... Close the portal." Celestia had done enough damage; Eris would not allow her into her realm. She would just have to find a way to lift the curse on Thunder herself, but for now she still needed to recover, and to be with him. Lone and Courage looked at each other, then nodded and left to carry out her orders. Eris Wrapped herself around Thunder, and fell into a much-needed sleep.
Thunder started to breathe a bit slower as the curse progressed. It was not fatal, but it would make him quite weak. When he noticed he was between her arms again, he smiled and burried bis face in her chest, gently kissing it as he did so.
After a couple of hours, Eris awoke, and felt that her magic was back to full strength, but noticed that Thunder was still getting weaker. She wrapped her tail around him, trying to keep him as warm and comfortable as possible, then conjured up a copy, who she sent down to her study, to see if she could find any information on what the curse might be, and how to stop it. After a while, she worked out that it was probably an advanced weakening spell; most likely Celestia had hoped to simply weaken Thunder enough to stop him from escaping, rather than kill him, but if the curse was allowed to progress unchecked, his body would continue to weaken until he just stopped living. Eris read this in dismay, and was further distraught by the information that the curse could only be lifted by the one who cast it. She could, however, halt stop the curse from weakening Thunder any further, and even reverse it a little, by sacrificing some of her own strength... Eris sighed and clicked her talons, dispelling her copy, and then gently touched one of her horns to Thunder's; She allowed her energy to flow into him, creating a magical cage around the curse and halting it, and hopefully restoring Thunder to the state he was in when he gave her the milk. As she pulled her horn away, she felt exhausted; there was no way should could restore Thunder to even half of his usual power without killing herself in the progress, but this was all she could think to do for now...
After a moment, he slowly oppened his eyes. "E-Eris?" Thunder asked as he sat and looked around. He looked a bit weak but better. He could move his body, but his magic would be quite weak. He would only be able to levitate stuff.
