Jewel's eyes finally fluttered open, the brightness of the room nearly blinding her. She groaned lightly as she tried to lift a hoof to shield her eyes. The unicorn felt a bandage wrapped over her forehead, right over the base of her horn. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she found she was laying in a hospital bed, angled upward.
Feeling a weight on the bed beside her, Jewel looked down to see Myth was sitting on the floor beside her, his head resting on top of his hooves on the bed as he slept. She smiled weakly at the sight.
“He hasn't left your side for even a second.” She looked over to see Snapshot. The pegasus was sitting in a chair in the corner with a magazine opened on the hoofrest beside her. Snapshot smiled at her. “Good to see you awake. How you feeling?”
“Feel like I died,” Jewel said jokingly, with a weak, tired voice.
Snapshot laughed lightly. “You almost did. Doctors said it's a miracle that you survived, considering the power that blast had in it.”
“The doctors know?” she asked. “Do they know everything?”
“Just that you were in a magic duel,” Snapshot said. “Princess Luna said she doesn't want us telling others you fought an evil alicorn and saved Equestria. Something about protecting you from the fame and all that.”
Jewel sighed lightly and relaxed against the bed. “So, Princess Luna knows about what happened, huh?”
Snapshot nodded. “Yeah. She's grateful to you for destroying that Nightmare Crystal. Even offered to do something for you sometime, if you ever have a special request.”
“That's sweet,” the unicorn said with a smile. She tried moving her hoof again but still had to fight and strain to do it. “Ugh... Am I really that exhausted?”
“Doctors said you would be. You've been passed out for a week.”
“A week!?” she asked, panicked as she looked down toward Myth laying at her side.
Snapshot giggled lightly at the panicked reaction. “Just kidding, Jewel. You've only been out for a day or two. The doctors said you'd be tired because you used all your magic in one go like that.”
“Yeah,” Jewel sighed, relieved that she hadn't actually been unconscious for a week. That would have been worrisome. She leaned her head back on the pillow of her bed. “Won't get to use any magic for about a week, right?”
Snapshot nodded in response. The doctor had explained to her that unicorn magic would take about a week or so to recharge after such overuse, such as what happened to Jewel when she overused her magic for the final barrier against Moon Shine's attack.
“So Myth hasn't left my side this whole time?” Jewel asked, tiredly reaching a hoof over to rest on his sleeping head, running her hoof through his mane.
Snapshot smiled. “Not at all. He's been so worried about you.”
Myth seemed to relax a little as he felt a hoof running over his mane, and he mumbled lightly as the sensation stirred him from his slumber. “Mnnh?” He tiredly raised his head, and instinctively looked over to Jewel. He perked up quick as soon as he saw Jewel was awake. She smiled at him and he was quick to lunge forward, hugging the unicorn tightly. “Thank goodness you're okay!”
Jewel gasped as pain shot through her body. She hadn't realized how sore she was until he hugged her. “E-Easy!” she pleaded. “I'm feeling really sore.”
“Sorry,” Myth said, pulling away from the mare. “I'm just glad to see you awake.”
“I'm glad to see you, too,” Jewel said. She smiled. “Snapshot said you haven't left my side this whole time?”
Snapshot went back to reading through the magazine she had open beside her, deciding to let the couple talk.
Myth felt a light blush spread over his cheeks and nodded. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Aww, that's so sweet of you. I'm fine, Myth,” she said. “Just feeling sore right now.”
“I'm surprised that's all after what you went through,” Myth replied. “I'm impressed with you, Jewel. I didn't know you had the kind of magical ability to go against an alicorn, let alone one that much stronger than Nightmare Moon.”
“I didn't think I could,” she admitted. “I guess Starswirl's spells are more powerful than we give him credit for.”
“It may have been his spells, but it was still your magic putting them to use,” Myth told her.
“I guess so.” Jewel shrugged. “So what happened after I deflected the blast? I assume we beat Moon?”
Myth nodded. “Yeah. We left her down in that cave and Princess Luna had some royal guards go retrieve her.”
“She's alive?” Jewel asked. “You didn't kill her?”
Myth shook his head. “I couldn't bring myself to do it. It's fine though. Her horn was cracked, so she couldn't do any spells. We don't have to worry about her using magic anymore. Plus she'll be in Canterlot prison for life.”
“I can live with that,” Jewel accepted. “As much as I hate her for leaving me and dad... I never really wanted her to die.”
There was a short moment of silence. As Snapshot turned the page in her magazine, Jewel looked over to her.
“What are you reading?” Jewel finally asked her.
Snapshot looked up. “Oh, uh... Just an article about some of the most fun places for camping,” she answered. “I figured we could use a nice camping trip after all the excitement.”
“Sounds fun,” Jewel agreed. “Maybe rent out a lakeside cabin for a couple days?”
“Sounds good to me,” Snapshot said, then looked to Myth. “What do you think?”
He nodded in agreement. “We did take ownership of that large cabin by the lake that mom and dad got a few years ago. We could invite everypony to have a few days of fun.”
Jewel smiled. “I'd love to meet all of your friends. Maybe I could see if Astrid would want to come too.”
Myth and Snapshot smiled and agreed, the three ponies finally able to relax after several days of excitement, happy to have plans for a fun and relaxing trip with friends. Jewel was excited to get to meet all of their friends. If they were anything like Myth and Snapshot, she knew she'd come to love them all just the same.
The End