The Guardian

by InsaneBatPony

Recovery

1

Luna woke with a start. Her breathing was quick and shallow. She scanned the room quickly. The entire room was white. The walls, the ceiling, even the floor had white tiles. The sun light was pouring in from the windows, which told her that it was almost noon. She tried to move a hoof and it followed her motion but was caught on a wire. She looked over to see that she was attached to a heart monitor and other medical devises.

"What happened?" she asked herself.

"You gave us a nasty scare Princess." said a black stallion. "We weren't sure if you were going to wake up at all given that stab wound." he finished nonchalantly.

"Stab wound?" she asked, bewildered.

"Yes. You don't remember?"

"I remember..." she thought. "I remember pain and then nothing."

"That's troubling, but expected given everything that has happened."

"How long was I asleep?"

"It's been seven days."

"SEVEN DAYS!? I have duties I must attend to!" she yelled in surprise trying to get up.

"No, Princess! Settle down!" he yelled while trying to hold the Lunar Princess down on her bed. Luna eventually took a breath and settled down. "That's better. Now, just relax. Princess Celestia wasn't in much better shape but she recovered much faster."

"How is she?! I remember...She looked terrible." she said with a start.

"Relax Princess, she's fine. You haven't recovered because of all your magical exertion. Your body had almost given out. You were lucky the others were able to get you here as quickly as they did."

"Others?"

"Yes, I'll go get them now." he said walking out of the room.

Luna put her head on the pillow and sighed. She tried to remember everything that had happened before she passed out but she could not remember. She closed her eyes and sighed. She heard the door open and saw as five Elements entered the room along with Princess Celestia.

"Luna? How do you feel?" Celestia asked.

"I feel like I got ran over by an Ursa." she stated, smiling.

"Well, I'm glad you're able to make jokes." Celestia responded.

"How are the rest of you doing?" Luna asked the Elements in the room.

"We're doing fine. We managed to escape Ponyville before things escalated too far." Twilight said.

"I count only five of you, where is...Fluttershy! Where is she? Is she okay?" Luna asked in a panic.

"Could you give us a moment alone?" Celestia asked the others in the room.

"Of course, Princess." Twilight answered, downcast.

When the others had left the room Celestia turned to her sister. She sat down by Luna's bed near to her sister’s body.

"Fluttershy is in critical but stable condition." Celestia said slowly. .

"Will she be alright?" Luna asked, worried.

"Yes, she will be fine but her recovery will take a long time. Her injuries were severe. I'm actually surprised that she survived them in the first place." she said sadly. "You should be proud Luna."

"Why?"

"It's because of you we were able to get Fluttershy here for treatment. The healing spell you cast was a slow recovery spell, but it kept her stable while Shining Armour and Dark Heart tended to her."

"How long will it take for her to fully recover?"

Celestia's face fell. "She...Won't" she answered sadly.

"What?" Luna responded with surprise.

"Her injuries were more severe than most can endure. Because of this she will walk with a permanent limp in her legs and she won't be able to fly anymore." Luna began to cry. In her mind she knew she had succeeded in rescuing Fluttershy but her heart told her that she had failed. "Don't cry, my sister. You saved the lives of not just Fluttershy but the entirety of Ponyville."

"What about all the other ponies that might have been trapped in the fires or had their houses fall on them?" Luna shot back.

"There were other casualties, yes, and a few ponies did die in the village where we were too late to stop it, but you also saved a great many lives Luna." Celestia said, lovingly. "Because this creature was at the edge of Ponyville, where few resided, there were no fatalities but there were ponies with a few broken bones but nothing quite as severe as Fluttershy."

"Why her? How did she end up in such a state, and how long will it take Fluttershy to recover?"

"I don't understand why it was her who ended up the way she did. From what the doctors and I could tell, the monster ploughed straight through her house and ran over her as well, before the house collapsed. As for her recovery time..." she thought for a moment. "It will take a very long time. For her to walk again it will take a minimum of one year in physical therapy and another year recovery time for the surgeries that will go into reconstructing the bones in her wings and other parts of her body."

"Is there anything you can do to shorten it?"

"I have my best working on it, I too have been looking in to it as well and have had some very promising leads thus far but only time will tell if she will recover physically, her mental recovery will be much harder and could take a great many years, she may never recover completely from what happened."

Luna's face told of everything that she felt in her heart. She wondered what it would be like if she had failed to reach Fluttershy in time and what of all the other ponies that should have been saved? She wondered. "What happened to me, Celestia? How did I end up like this?" Luna asked, sadly.

Celestia stayed silent for a time before answering. "That creature stabbed you in the chest. The blade went very deep. You had a collapsed lung and the blade missed your heart by centimeters. The fact that you had used so much magic when you fought it also didn't help the situation. I managed to cast a spell to keep your heart beating and your functioning lung working. I almost lost you, but this time it could have been permanent." Celestia cried.

Luna smiled and reached out and touched her sister's shoulder.

"I'm still here, right? No need to cry." Celestia smiled and took her sister's hoof in her own and rubbed it with her cheek. "Celestia, how did I defeat it?"

"I'm not sure. I heard you say something to it after it stabbed you and then it just fell over."

"That's it?"

"Yes. Why it did whatever you told it to, I don't know yet. We have it locked in the dungeon right now under heavy guard but it hasn't moved an inch. I don't understand, it’s as though you killed it somehow." Celestia answered nervously.

"What of its body? Do you know what kind of creature it is?"

"No, but that's enough for now. You need to keep resting."

Luna chuckled lightly. "Of course."

Celestia left the room without another word and went to attend to her duties.

2

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash all sat on a bench outside of Fluttershy's room in the Castle hospital, sadness written on their faces. None of them said a word to the other in long while, the atmosphere was dismal and despairing.

"I feel so helpless." Rainbow Dash finally whispered, causing the others to look up at her. "She's my closest friend, I've known her since Flight Camp. Seeing her like this...It's just not fair!" she screamed. "Why her? What did she do to deserve to be like this?"

"She didn't deserve it Rainbow, nopony deserves this." Twilight said. "It was just a stupid and dumb string of events that caused this to happen to all of us." Twilight could feel her anger swelling in her veins. "If Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom just stayed in Ponyville, NONE of this would have happened!" she bellowed.

"Now hold on there just a second, Twilight!" Rarity butted in. "Let's not regress into pointing the proverbial hoof here! I understand what you mean but it's not the girls' fault for everything that's happened. If blame is to be given then it should go to the one responsible for the crime." she argued.

Twilight's anger had begun to falter and she managed to calm herself. "You're right, Rarity. I'm sorry, to all of you."

"And we fergive ya." Applejack said, her own emotions barely kept under her control.

As they talked a Unicorn came walking out of Fluttershy's room. The others perked up a little bit at seeing him. He did not pay attention to them, instead he focused his attention on the clipboard in-front of his face. He scribbled down some notes and placed the clipboard in his small saddlebag.

"Doctor?" Twilight asked to get his attention. He looked up and stared at them expecting something. "How is she?"

"Hmm." he sighed. "Fluttershy is currently stable but for how long is anypony's guess. There could be severe complications down the road but for now she is okay. Princess Celestia has brought in some of the best doctors for your friend but, I won't lie, things are looking bleak for her future life but she will live."

"What do you mean by "Her future life?"" Rainbow Dash asked, suspiciously.

"Well, we will need to perform numerous surgeries to reconstruct her legs and wings. Because of the severity of her injuries there are two possible outcomes. One, is that she will walk with a permanent limp or she may never walk again."

The five of them looked at the doctor with shocked looks on their faces but Rainbow's expression changed.

"What!? You mean to tell me that she may never walk again? I won't accept that! You're a Doctor, you're supposed to be able to heal ponies! How is this any different!?" she yelled at him.

The doctor backed away from the angry Pegasus until his back was against the wall. "Look, I know your upset but we just don't have the time or resources to do what you expect of me or my team. What you are inferring requires months of preparation, numerous magical enhancements and time that, right now, is a luxury I can't afford. I'm sorry, we will do everything in our power to help your friend but what you want is nothing short of a miracle. And unless you can perform miracles, then I ask you, what would you have me do?!" he shouted, leaving his audience dumbfounded by his outburst. He looked at them and then regained his composure. "I'm sorry. Look, this is the worst case I've ever seen in my entire medical career. Her injuries should have killed her, which is a miracle in and of itself that she is alive." he explained. "In my career, I have to rely on myself, my team and medical science, I can't rely on something that is as unpredictable as a miracle of this magnitude."

"What's being done? Can you tell us that?" Rarity asked nervously.

"I can tell you that there are surgeons flying to Canterlot as we speak, the very best in their fields. Other than that you'll need to ask the Princess."

"Right, thank you sir." Twilight said as he went on his way. "I'll go talk to the Princess, I'm sure that she'll tell me what's going to happen to Fluttershy."

3

Celestia had just closed the doors to her court room, much to her relief, when she heard another knock on the door. The guardspony turned to the Princess for her instructions.

"Go ahead, I guess I'll hear on more." she answered tiredly.

The guards pony nodded and opened the massive door with his magic. The door slowly opened and Twilight walked in as it opened to its full extent. She walked to the middle of the throne room and stopped.

"Twilight, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you, my faithful student?" she asked ,getting down from her throne and meeting her in the center of the room.

"Princess, there's so much going on but I'm worried about Fluttershy, I left when the guard told me leave and I abandoned her." she began to cry. "I came with the intention of asking you what's going on with all the doctors and things but..." she continued.

"Oh, Twilight." Celestia mumbled, sympathetically. "I care for all my subjects, but Fluttershy is a special case." she began. "As for that guard, I think he was new and hasn't gotten to know who anypony is yet. He was just following orders."

"What do you mean "Fluttershy is special case?"" Twilight asked.

"You see, Fluttershy saved my life once. I am simply returning the favor by seeing to it that she to survives this ordeal."

"What? How did Fluttershy save you?"

Celestia chuckled a little. "Yes, it hard to believe isn't it? Would you like me to tell you?"

"Yes!" Twilight shouted after wiping away the stray tears.

"Settle down, settle down." she calmed. "I was flying one day to clear my mind..." she stopped. "You see, It was a long time after Nightmare Moon and I still grieved at losing Luna. But as I flew I saw that a race was occurring at the flight camp in Cloudsdale. I couldn't resist. I had to see how it would turn out."

"Why?"

"Luna and I were very competitive when we were young, it reminded me of her. So, I watched. I watched as Rainbow Dash performed a Sonic Rainboom but I also saw Fluttershy fall off the cloud. When I had reached the ground I had fully expected to find a flat Pegasus." she reminisced. "When I landed, I found her surrounded by animals and humming happily. I went up to ask her if she was okay. Being in true Fluttershy fashion, she hid behind her mane trying not to look at me. I asked if she was okay and she told me that she was, though it took a little while to get an answer out of her. She made eye contact with me and I with her. She peeked out from her mane and asked me why I was sad." Celestia had a tear forming in her eye. "I said "What do you mean, little one?" She told me that I just looked sad, truth be told I wasn't at the time, but she saw the sadness in my heart. She asked me what was wrong. I told her simply that somepony I cared for deeply had moved away and I couldn't see her. Fluttershy was so innocent back then, and she hasn't changed much, but I owe her my life for what she said next."

"What did she say?" Twilight asked, her curiosity peaked to a new level at being able to learn something new about her quiet friend.

"She smiled at me and told me that I would see her again someday and not to be sad." she said smiling. "I wanted nothing more than to shut myself away after banishing Luna to the moon but I forced myself not to and I never truly dealt with my sadness. Fluttershy gave me the greatest gift I could have ever received during that time."

"What?"

"Hope, Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy gave me what I had lost all that time ago. The hope that I would see Luna again and have her by my side and we could be a family again. Between you and me, I wanted to end my life so many times after what I had done but I never carried through with it. I was destroying myself." Twilight shuddered at the thought of losing her mentor. "Fluttershy gave me, my reason to live again and now I need to give her life back. When I saw that the creature had entered by Fluttershy's cottage I was worried. I asked Luna to go and make sure that she was okay. It was because of Luna that she is here and alive. I wanted nothing more than to check on her myself but my duty was to try to keep that thing away from the rest of the town. So, right now, I have a responsibility to Fluttershy to save her life as she did mine." Celestia was crying now. "I almost lost Luna again in that attack. If I lost Luna again, I don't know what would have happened, Twilight."

Twilight looked her mentor astonished. In front of her was the pony she looked up to the most, the pony she believed to be invincible, crying and helpless before her. On reflex she jumped up and gave the Solar Princess a hug and hung on her neck, while her hind legs barely touched the ground below. Celestia wrapped her own hoof around her student. The two of them held their embrace, comforting each other in their time of pain.

4

Luna watched the sun lower and the moon rise from her hospital bed. She groaned at not being able to do her royal duty of raising the moon. Luna heard the door open and she looked to see a Stallion enter wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck.

"Good evening Princess. How are you feeling?" he asked, cheerfully.

"I'm feeling better, doctor." she smiled. "Pray tell, how long until I can leave this room and continue my duties?" she asked.

"Well, let's look at the chart here..." he picked up the clip board from the foot of her bed and looked it over. "It looks like you'll be cleared to leave tomorrow morning, Princess." he said, smiling. Luna cheered, throwing her two front hooves into the air, only to feel the pull from the monitor's wire. "Careful, Princess. I know your excited but don't strain yourself. Your body may be done recovering from your wound but it is still recovering from you magic exhaustion." he said, worried.

Luna brought her hooves down and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." she said, embarrassed.

"Yes, well, please be careful. I need to attend to the other patient, if you'll excuse me, Princess." he said, leaving.

Luna nodded and lay her head back on her pillow, smiling. She stared at the ceiling and let her mind wander. She thought about Celestia, being able to continue her hobbies, duties and...those eyes. Her eyes went wide and she could not stop the flood of memories that now infiltrated her mind. She stared at the ceiling, unmoving. Her breathing had increased as the memories entered her mind and she became nervous. She began to relive the events that she had forgotten during her time asleep. Luna had finally calmed down a short time later and she focused in on the Alicorn next to her, keeping her still.

"Celestia, I remember everything." she started. "Is the creature still silent?" she asked, quickly.

"Yes."

"I'm to be released from the hospital tomorrow and I would like to see it." she said, sternly.

"Luna, I don't think that's such a good idea. It almost killed you and me."

"Celestia, please." she pleaded. "When I looked at it I saw pain in its eyes. I need to know why. A mindless beast would not feel pain over causing destruction and taking lives."

"How do you know that it was pain? its eyes showed nothing, no emotions, nothing."

"I truly don't know how, but I could see it. It has been through much." Luna said, sadly.

Celestia thought for a while and looked at her sister. "Alright. I'll take you to it when you are released from here. Just promise you'll be careful."

"Of course."

Celestia hugged her younger sister, who hugged her in return. "Good night, Luna. I'll see you in the morning"

"Good night, Celestia."

Author's Note:

CMC could make appearances in later chapters but most likely not.

Comments

[Ponytime]

NOOOOOOOOOOO I NEED MOAR!

[jmlop0]

FASTER!MOAR!MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Eccentric Mister E]

Oh geez.......what you did to Fluttershy....

You know I probably should keep this little story a secret from my friend, Wilde. He is quite the Fluttershy fan and would probably freak out.

Oh I can see the conversation now....

Me: So yeah I'm reading this story about this cyborg weapon human thing that lands in Equestria. It goes on this big rampage and pretty much destroys a big chunk of Equestria.

Wilde: Damn. Anypony get hurt?

Me: Weeeeelll....

Wilde: E? Who died?

Me: Nopony died....well at least not entirely. You see.....it might have hurt Fluttershy.

*Wilde then grabs me by the neck*

Wilde: What happened?!

Me: Alright now calm down she didn't die. However, she might now be a paraplegic DON'T HIT ME!

Wilde: ..............what?

Me: Yeah the creature kind of really fucked up her legs and wings and it said in the story she will most definitely walk with a limp and not be able to fly her entire life now if she even gets that far in recovery...........................so yeah.

Wilde: ........................imma kill the author

Me: please don't. I like this story.

Wilde: oh fine....but he better fix it!

[Assasin_Asha]

Okay, I'm just going to pretend that Celestia teleported to Canterlot immediately after her talk with Shy and then noticed the giant Spike and stopped Twi's magical storm. I will also pretend that said storm was much longer.
I know it's an alternate universe but that's pushing it. A. Lot.
Other than that it's not bad. The writing has definitely improved over the chapters.
Welp, back to reading!

[MrCookieGaming]

why am I crying its not even that sad

[War Angel]

Damn it man why you do that to Flutters! Just be glad I like the story so far, even if your a bastard for hurting shy.

[Teldryn Sero]

Had to skip for futtershy didn't care it