==[POV - Luis]==
*beep, beep, beep*
I slowly opened my eyes, everything was blurry but I could tell I was in a hospital
A doctor approached me, "Welcome back to the real world. I'm surprised you woke up after what you've been through"
"What happened?" I barely managed to ask just before the doctor walked out
He stopped at the doorway and looked at me, "You survive falling out of a plane," he walked out
"What..."
I rubbed the haziness out of my eyes and frantically looked around, examining everything
Fluorescent lights, vertical blinds, plastic in the bed frames, no pip-bo- ... Noctis. Nimble... No nononononono... But... Th-they are real... they... are real... I... was... with them... Celestia, mom, please... no...
I sat there, things happened, days went by, I was checked out of the hospital. I was numb, emotionally and mentally numb.
I sat in front of the psychologist
"Luis?" she said, worried, "I can't help you if you don't talk"
"There is nothing to help," Noctis... Nimble...
"You survived a very traumatic experience, it is only normal for the mind to try to make sense of everything. Now tell me about the people you met in your coma-"
"I was wide awake"
"It may have felt like you were as awake as you are right now, but truth is, you were in a coma for the past two years," she sighed, "Look, whatever you think might have happened-"
"It did happen!! This is the dream! I know it... I just... know it..."
She took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Look, this is our... third session, is it? I'm here to help you. You've missed a lot AND you've suffered greatly because of that close call. I just-" an alarm went off, "Time's up. At least we made some progress to day"
I stood up and went for the door, "I don't think we did," I went out of the room. My dad was waiting there
He stood up and came to me, "We'll get through this," He said giving me a hug
I didn't even bother with the hug as I looked away, "I'll wait in the car"
I sat down on my new bed, unsurprisingly they sold my bed after hearing the plane crashed along with basically everything else in my room. They turned it into an office almost immediately after the news, it was only until I got released from the hospital that they change- actually, made me change the room back to a bedroom
"I should go see if I can get my job back..." I turned to the folder with my resumes, No one I know might work there now... I really don't think... At least I should try, I got up and grabbed the folder, put on shoes and made my way to the main door, "I'm heading out!"
"Where are you going?" asked my dad from across the house
"Drop off resumes, what else?"
"Be safe!"
I went out and closed the door. I made my way down the street and on my way to the mall
The streets were oddly empty, probably due to the fact that it was a weekday and just past noon
"Luis..."
"Uhh, hello?" I looked around while answering the whisper, but there was no one close enough to sound like that, definitely no one that would know my name, "Okaaay..." I continued my way towards my old job
I opened the door, Definitely don't know that cashier, "Hello"
"Hello! How may I help you?!" answered the chirpier cashier
"I was wondering if you guys were hiring"
"Well... We prefer online applications, but I can take your resume, if that works for you"
I hand her my resume, "Thanks"
She smiled back, "No problem! My manager will be back so- Ah! There she is"
I turned around and saw my old boss, "Hello there, Jess"
"Luis? Holy shit! What happened to you?" she said in surprise
"Plane crash, you know, the usual," I said with a sly smile
"Uh, I see," she said, after a pause she perked up, "Wait! What?!"
"Remember those vacation days I asked for? Yeah, that happened and I woke up from that a few weeks ago"
"Felicia," Jess said turning to the cashier, "Did he come here to drop off a resume?"
"Yeah, he did," the cashier, now know as Felicia, said while handing Jess the piece of paper
Jess then turned to me, "I'll do everything to get you working here again, okay? If you don't get the job, I'll call you"
"Thanks Jess, you're a lifesaver"
"Luis..."
I looked around as I heard the voice again, this time I noticed a shadow outside the door. I turned back to Jess and Felicia, "Thanks for everything. I have something else to do"
"No problem," they both said
I walked out of the store and looked towards where the shadow went, but there was only a wall, What... I put my ear up to the wall and started knocking around it, "I swear... What's going on..." turning around, I was surprised to see my dad
"What are you doing?" he asked
"Nothin- How did you know where I was?"
"You said you were coming here, didn't you? I forgot"
"Uh huh..." I felt something was off, well, more off than hearing voices, but I pushed that thought asaide. At least for the time being
As always, I felt awkward and somewhat ignored as they just talked about their day, not even giving me glance, during dinner. I finished and stood up only for my step-mother to yell at me and tell me it's disrespectful to just stand up and ignore others at the table. Ironic
"Buen probecho," I said venomously
"There you go. It wasn't that hard was it?" she retorted smugly
I hid my annoyed grunt as I went to rinse my dishes and placed them in the washer, then headed up to my room. But not before she yelled at me to not use the internet
I had it, "It's the same fucking thing you told me last time I was looking for a job, you bitch! How the fuck I'm I supposed to get a job if you're like 'Ugh, don't use the interneeet' 'Internet makes you stupid' like goddamn it's the twenty-first fucking century for FUCK'S SAKE! Every motherfucking job has an online application! If I don't used the godforsaken internet, I can't apply ninety nine percent of all the fucking jobs out there! Like seriously! WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF CRACK ARE YOU SMOKING?!! ... Jesus Christ..."
She stood up completely pissed, "Listen here, señorito. If you hadn't just gotten out of the hospital, I would've kicked you out already," daggers shooting from her words, "I would look like a horrible mother if I did"
Then don't act like one! I thought to myself as I glanced at my dad, as always, he did nothing, Pinche bastardo... I slammed my door shut
I stood there, doing nothing, watching the sun set out of my window, "Mom..." locking the door, I threw myself at my bed and buried my face on a pillow as I cried myself to sleep
The next day I woke up feeling like shit, not even a shower nor making myself look decent using some tips I learned from Rarity helped. As I went to the kitchen, the smell of fried eggs hit me, Why would I expect otherwise... I thought disappointetedly as I sat at the table
"Here you go," he said as he sat down too, handing me a plate
I took a forkfull of egg, I almost gagged. Like always, it was drenched in oil, "Can you not make me breakfast anymore? Thank you," I asked for the twelve time this week
"Are you sure?" I nodded back, "Okay"
Same thing he said for the past tewlve times... Not really expecting things to change this time around
After breakfast, I got ready to go out again. As I opened the front door, I yelled, "I'm going out"
"Where are you going?"
"Take a guess," I closed the door and made my way to the nearest store cluster hoping to find someone hiring. A fwe steps from the house, I saw an exacto knife on the floor. This made me stop for a moment, contemplating... it's sharpness... But pushed the thoughts aside, Noctis would kill me if I ever did that. Even if it's a dream... I thought with a sigh and continued on my way
After going around the first corner I saw a couple, not that much older than me, but they had a child with them. The floodgates burts open, heart pain took over as greif washed over me. I took the first backalley and found and hid with some garbage bins. I stayed there for a few minutes, holding back tears, just thinking of Noctis and Nimble. No matter what I did, I couldn't get them out of my mind, Noctis, Nimble, Celestia, Luna!! ... ... I can't...
Then my phone rang. Cleaning my self up, I answered, "Hello?"
"Luis? This is Jess"
"Oh, hi Jess, how are you?"
"I'm good, but you don't sound so hot. Are you okay?"
"I-uh, yeah, just- just allergies"
"I didn't know you had alergies"
"Me neither. So, what's up?"
"You know things are, my managers want me to interview you even though you techincally never left"
"Wait, so I'm back in?"
"After the interview, yes... Probably"
"When..."
"Today, actually. Can you come by in about an hour?"
I stood up, feeling slightly better, "I'll be there in thirty minutes"
"Awesome, see you here kid"
I hanged up, I better keep my promise, and made my way down the street towards the mall
As I came out of the alleyway, a group of girls walked by, but what intriged me was that they were talking about helping someone. I stopped, and when I turned around to look at them, they were gone
==[POV - Noctis]==
Twilight and the others came out of the hospital room with somber expressions, "Noctis... I still can't find the problem..."
"And it hasn't gone away, has it," she shook her head. I buried my face on my hands and began to cry, It's my fault"
"Darling, this isn't anypony's fault. His magic just went out of control and it hurt him"
"But magic... it comes from emotion... I did this... I-I-I broke him..." I managed to say in between sobs. Somepony placed a hand on me
"Shhh. It's okay. Let it all out. We'll get through this. He'll be okay," Fluttershy reasured me as she stroked my back
After while they left, and I was left there, in front of the door, alone. Slowly, I entered the partially destroyed room, scorch marks adorned the wall, the thick glass windows were cracked, and every anti-magic precaution was damaged in some way or another
I just looked at him, slowly taking the seat next to him, I just cried in silence. In his hand was my necklace, nopony could pry it off his hand. I kept blaming myself
*FWOOOSH*
A blast of magic basted past me, barely gracing my disheveled mane
==[POV - Luis]==
"There we go," I said as best I could to the 'special' kind of customer as I fixed the card reader
"Finally!!" He excailmed with an over exagerated tone and throwing his hands up, "Come on, I don't have all day," he grunted crossing his arms
I finished bagging his game and collectable figurine, "Sorry for the wait! Here you go," I handed him the bag with a customer service smile. He just snatched the bag from my hand and grunted away, but as he was about to leave, he stopped. Almost as if he was staring into his reflection on the glass door
He turned around and walked back towards me, "Sorry... It's been a very stressfull couple of months for me... I guess I took it out on you," he apologized quite sincerely, "I'm getting married next week. All the planning, costs, it gets in your head. Sorry. I truly am"
I stood there a bit baffled by the change in personality this guy just had, "Not problem... I hope it goes well," I said after recovering from the whiplash
He smiled, "Thank you. And again, I'm very sorry," He turned to leave but before he left I managed to hear him whisper something vague about waking up, Probably had a bad morning. I know the feeling, I thought
==[POV - Noctis]==
I opened my eyes as I felt the outburst stop, "That... worked?" I asked myself
letting go of his hand, I got up from the floor and looked at him. His face had relaxed, I wonder what's going in that head of yours...
The door burst open and in came the doctor with a couple of nurses, "We got here... as fast... as we could..." he said in between pants, "Dear Celestia... *wheeze* I'm out of shape... How's Luis?"
"He had another episode. But I think everything is fine for now. Although..." I turned to look at the thaum sink-rod, which now layed molten on the floor, "You might need to get another one of those..."
"Alright, thank you, Lady Noctis. We have it from here," the doctor said while nodding towards the door
"Thanks, doc," I walked out of the room and stopped for a second, Am I getting Luis's sense of humor?
I ran down the corridors of the hospital. That morning I had gotten news that Luis was going critical, I left Nimble with Blueblood in case... in case... I didn't want to think about it, I just ran.
As I exited the starcase, I was greeted by a wall of guards. It only took one to see me for all of them to open up and let me through. I couldn't believe my eyes, Celestia was struggeling to keep Luis's outburst in check all the while Luna was trying to enter his head. I didn't care when thay started yelling at me, I ran up to Luis and took his hands. The amout of power his body was releasing hurt like fire from Tartarus, but I didn't care
"Luis! Please! Wake up! You can't leave us- You can't leave Nimble like that! He needs you!" I started to cry my eyes out, "You can't die like this... please..."
"Noctis..."
If I could tell you... If I could be with you... I sat up and looked at Luna, "Take me in there. Use my own life force if you need to"
"Noctis, I don't think-"
"I don't care! Give him my life if you need to!! Just... help him..." Luna wanted to object again, but opted to just nod as she began to work her magic
==[POV - Luis]==
I woke up in the middle of the night, my clock marked just past midnight. My door creaked open, and I saw a figure standing there. It had pointy ears on the top of its head, almost like...
"Hello?" I whispered
The figure moved, but I managed to make out a tail, "Luis..." it whispered, SHE whispered
"Wait!" I jumped out of bed and went out of my room. She was exiting through the front door, so I followed
As I made it out of the house, I heard movement behind me. My parents, they were walking down the stairs, "Where are you going?" they asked in unison
"Out of this nightmare"
I started to walk backwards as they went down the last few steps, their bodies slowly morphing into each other, turning into some sort of smoke, "And go WHERE?" their voices changed to demonic on the last word, "Out there with your precious Noctis?"
I backed away ever slightly faster with every step they took, "Yes, that's the real world!"
It just started laughing, "She ditched you!" I stopped, "Your own fiancé! Don't you remember? She HATES you"
"But... but- but-" I stammered out before being interrupted
"But nothing. We made you see you were never loved, but you had to go and believe you could be. HA! What a joke," it stopped it's two faces inches from my own, "Stay here. This is where you belong after all" it said with a manic grin as his faces merged into one face, my own face staring back at me
Something took my hand and pulled me away from the thing. I snapped out of my trance and saw Noctis, or an apparition of her, "Noctis?" I asked, but got no answer. We continued running, block after block, street after street, as we made our way downtown. He kept yelling, calling for me, trying to indimidate me and making me give in
We stopped in and alleyway after a while of running, "WHERE ARE YOU?! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FROM HERE!!" the thing yelled in the distance, "This is MY world"
Noctis's shade looked at me and took my hand and balled it up to a fist, but she gave me something. I opened my hand and saw the necklace I proposed with, "Y-y-you really hate me... don't you..." I couldn't believe it, she gave me back the necklace, even in my own mind she still seemed to not want to do anything with me
But then, she took my other hand and made me grab the necklace and hold it in a way where she slipped her head through. She had the necklace on again. She herself put on the necklace again!
The other me found us, "There you are... Time to take back what's mine," he said reaching for me
"Fuck off!" I just yelled back, and surprisingly it stopped
"Beg your pardon?"
"Fuck you. All you are is my insecurities and doubts, aren't you?"
"And the most powerful thing about you! Leave that dirty whore you wanted to marry. She doesn’t even care about you," he said boastfully, not realizing some major changes
We were no longer in the city, but on a field, and most importantly the demon itself was getting smaller. Behind it there were all the ponies I made friends with, Quick Study, Thinker, Shinning armour, Lightning Hooves, Thunder Guard, Elusive, Lyra, Bon Bon, the Mane Six, Luna, even mom and the Royal Guards. Rick too, but he was my friend from before all of this happened, also not a pony, so... Still counts I guess
Noctis took my hand and fully materialized next to me
I payed attention back to his gloating, "... and for all it's worth, I control this... world?," he started to look around realizing everything changed, everything was bright and green. His eyes bugged out as he looked at me again, "Why are you so tall now?!" and then he turned around and saw everyone, "But you... You can't trust anyone! You refuse to trust!!," he said in desperation
I held Noctis's hand ever so slightly thighter, "Not anymore"
The demon ran up to me and started hitting me like a small child when he wants candy, but this little boy barely reached my shins anymore. I just stepped on him, and he banished into smoke
I turned to Noctis, and she turned to me, "I'm sorry..." she whispered looking down at the ground, tears rolling down her face. She almost took her hand off mine, but I held it in place
"I'm the one who should be sorry... " I cupped her chin to look at me, "I messed up. Truly, I messed up. I should've send a letter as soon as I realized I had gone missing for days"
She placed her free hand on mine, "I thought I lost you... After I found out you colapsed... I blamed myself. I shouldn't have thrown the necklace on the floor... I-"
"Shhh," I strted to caress her cheek, "It's okay... you were angry. I didn't tell you-"
"I didn't let you explain"
"I should've explained sooner," I got closer to her, "It's okay..."
"I love you"
I supressed the itch to joke and just said, "I love you too"
We closed our eyes and kissed
I opened my eyes, and was met with Noctis's and her smile
"Welcome back to the real world," she said all choked up. Her mane was as mess and... Turning purple? What?!
"You-your mane, are you okay?! Your not sick are you? Did something happen?" I weakly whispered very worriedly
"Yeah, just... I dye my mane..." her cheeks turning red in embarrassment
"Oh..." I didn't know that. Anyways... Finally regaining my strength, I thightly hugged her, ...Don't leave me...
I looked around the room, and everyone was here. Rick and Quick, Shinning Armour and Cadance, the Mane Six and spike, even the Royal Guards, and Celestia and Luna, the latter who was being prompeted up and looked exhausted, fighting to stay conscious
"He's... awake..." Luna managed to whisper with a smile plastered on her face
"He's awake," a guard repeated, "He's awake!" then another. Not too soon after everyone was cheering, even the guards down the hall
I sat up, "Why is everyone here?" I was confused, very confused
"Everypony is here for you, you daft human," said Noctis, wiping tears off her face, "You've been out for almost a week"
"Darling, you had us all worried!"
"You had a severe heart attack. I was fearing the worst when you didn't wake up a couple of days later"
"I knew you'd make it...," Dash said trying to hide her tears and act all cool, That's cute
"Glad your back, partner!" AJ said with the biggest previously-sad-smile I've seen
"I took care of the little guy for you. He's worried you know?" Fluttershy said somewhat sternly, "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to see you again"
"You know what this calls for? A PART-" Pinkie was interrupted by the muffled sound of crying
Celestia suddenly colapsed onto my lap, crying her eyes out. Everyone went quiet as Celestia continued to cry
"Mum?" she looked at me with the most heartbreaking look I've ever seen, and slowly she moved towards me and gave me a thight hug, cupping the back of my head and everything. I understood then, she didn't want to think of losing me. Returning the hug, I stroked her head lightly, "It's okay. It's fine. I'm fine"
"I thought... I thought I wouldn't see you again... I couldn't lose family... not again... It's too soon... I couldn't take it..." she muttered in between sobs
If this story is still somehow going without Aleksandrs, please skip this... we need our privacy for now, I asked to no one in particular
Two Days Later
I came out of the hospital with Nimble on my shoulders while talking to Noctis and Blueblood, "... so you're telling me that you both helped in the fight against Discord, really?"
"Of course I did. What kind of guard would I be if I didn't"
"And what kind of prince would I be?"
"Blue... you still haven't earned back the title. Buuut... it's the thought that counts I guess, so, good job"
"Hey, uncle," Nimble said to Blueblood
"Yes, Nimble?"
"What did you do exactly?"
Blueblood took a thinking pose, "Well, for one, I took everypony I could find to a safe location. Then I made you no pony was left behind. And lastly, I kept those horrendous clouds at bay," those two kept talking for a while
Meanwhile, Noctis and I had a bit of an awkward tension between us. Seemingly, none of us wanted to break it. I don't know what was going through her mind, but mine was racing. I caused us both a lot of pain, why? Because I was too stubborn to think others wouldn't see the funny of being lost. Too stupid to do what needed to be done. Too-
"Can I? Can I?" said Nimble, interrupting my thoughts
"Sorry?" I said a bit confused
"I invited young Gust here to get some ice cream, and if he can, his friends too," Blueblood explained
I turned to Noctis, who gave me a weak smile and nodded, "Sure, I don't think that's a problem"
"Yay!!" Nimble flew off my shoulders and into Blueblood's arms, "Come on, uncle! We're losing time!!"
"Woah there, Nimble. Not so rowdy!" he said in a playful tone. He then turned to us, "We'll see you in a few hours"
"Wait, before you go," I took out Scootaloo's ball, "Can you take this to Scootaloo?"
Nimble jumped and grabbed the ball, "Wow! You found it?! Cool," he said marveling at the ball, simling to himself
Blueblood smiled and turned back to me, "I'll make sure she gets it"
"Thanks, Bluey-boy"
He chuckled, "No problem"
They left Noctis and me alone, the tension got thicker. We walked in awkward silence, it felt like an eternity
"So..." we both said, "Sorry... You first... Okay... wait, no you," we start to chuckle
"Ladies first," I said
"Sooo... I have to say sorry. I-"
"No, I'm the one who has to say sorry-"
"But I-"
"No buts. As soon as I got out of... wherever the Tree of Harmony took me, I should've send a letter telling-"
"No! I over-reacted-"
"Just kiss already!!" some random pony yelled
Noctis and I both stopped. Somehow we ended up in the middle of the market, grossly overshooting our house. We looked away from eachother in embarrassment
"I guess..." I said looking back at her as she looked back at me, "I guess we can agree we both did, uhm, stupid," I gave her an awkward smile with a small blush
She returned the smile and gave a small chuckle, "I guess we can..."
"Now..." I took a more detailed look around us, "How about we stop at Sugar Cube on our way back?"
"That sounds nice," she said while we started to make our way to the famous bakery. We held hands again. It felt nice