January 3rd, 996 Domina Solaria
Rainbow Dash attempts to clear the annoying beeping from her mind, trying to get back to soaring through the clear blue skies, flying around with Scootaloo. The small orange pegasus, happily playing among the thermals, twisting and turning as she flies about. And Rainbow is right behind her, the mare relishing the feeling of her daughter's wake over her own wings.
Rainbow grumbles unhappily; that incessant beeping will not go away! What will it take to get it to stop!
Much to her disappointment, the noise speeds up before an alarm sounds, quiet, off in the distance. She sighs happily as it finally gets quieter, the beeping slowing down, and she relaxes back into her comfortable cloud. She attempts to look around again, trying to push through the skies, now overcast, many broken layers of thick gray clouds obstructing her view. She wants to get another glimpse of Scootaloo as the sun lights up the clouds around her, piercing through some thinner areas. She squints as the tone seems to subside into the background, replaced by the heavy clop of hooves on wood. Rainbow opens one eye; is Pinkie messing with her again?
Instead of the clouds she expects, Rainbow is greeted by the sight of a wall. A white, sterile, boring wall. Doug, sitting at a desk in front of that wall; he seems to be working on something, the light scratch of his pencil on the papers in front of him. Then, a potted plant. Green leaves, the trunk slowly twisting around in its otherwise barren pot. A weird machine, blinking lights and some red numbers with no context. The smiling face of Princess Celestia, colorful mane waving. The sheets, gray as the clouds, tangled around her cyan hooves. A railing of some kind, likely attached to the cloud she is laying on, keeping her from rolling off. More wall, still blank and boring, with a dark window, twinkling lights visible.
Wait, what is Doug doing in the room with her? Shouldn't her stallion be at home, at his desk, if he is working on those reports? Why would he be here in the clouds with her and Scootaloo? None of this makes any sense.
Rainbow groans, trying to ask the human why he is here. His head twitches, as if surprised by the sound in the room; he turns, a smile breaking out on his face as she spots the dried tears by his eyes. She weakly holds up her hooves, unable to untangle herself, as she manages to croak out, "Little D, why are you here?"
Doug knocks his chair aside as he dashes over, grasping her forehooves with his hands. His face lights up, "Rainbow Dash!" He rescues her from the clouds as he pulls her hooves passed his chest, wrapping her forelegs around his body as he gathers her into his arms, "Oh, my Big D, you're okay!"
Rainbow awkwardly tries to pat the human's back as he embraces her, "Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I be okay?" She looks around the room again, only able to move her eyes. She realizes that she is in a hospital room, laying on a earth pony bed, with ordinary, non-cloud sheets. "Did something happen?"
Doug looks off to the side; Rainbow follows his gaze to Princess Celestia. The pegasus weakly raises a hoof and tries to wave, her hoof barely flopping up and down as the alicorn steps forward, saying, "Yes, Rainbow Dash, and I can tell you more when you are feeling up to it."
"Okay." Rainbow tries to move her head back, but her neck feels weak, like somepony took all of the energy out of her. And replaced it with something less awesome, something slow, like molasses. She whimpers softly, Doug repositioning her head so she can look up at him.
"Are you feeling okay, Rainbow?"
"Uh. Yeah, I mean, I think so, I don't hurt, but I can barely move." She tries to look back at Princess Celestia, merely able to drop her head to the side. "So, uh, I guess while I'm not doing anything else you can tell me what happened."
"Very well, Rainbow Dash. I'm afraid that I share a portion of the blame for what happened to you. I interrupted the ritual that Sunset Shimmer was performing. My interruption may have saved you a considerable amount of magic and recovery time, but I am disappointed in myself, that I was not able to stop what Sunset Shimmer was doing earlier." Princess Celestia sighs, "Another one of my many failures. In any case; due to the inherent difficulties in the spell itself her control over the siphon of magic was quickly unraveling. If she had continued the ritual then the tear in your magic would have worsened, possibly to the point of being irreparable. Because of how I entered the room her control was severed. The best way I can describe it would be that it left open a hole in your magic, a gash; we were able to patch that hole, but it will take time to fully heal. The doctors believe that you will make a full recovery, in time, regaining nearly all of your potential."
Rainbow tries to nod, her body unable to hold up her head. She falls backwards to the pillow underneath her as Doug moves to a more comfortable position, spooning her while keeping his arms clasped around her. She asks, "How is Scootaloo?"
Princess Celestia turns to the side, "Well, I am told it has been difficult keeping your filly out of the room; you did need your rest after all. She is doing very well, as she is anxious to show you."
Doug helps Rainbow Dash sit up as the door opens, Scootaloo scampering inside. Her face lights up as she sees Rainbow, saying, "Big Sis! Look what I can do! Up!" She jumps onto the bed, turning around while her tiny wings beat as fast as they can. She takes a running start and leaps off. Previously, Scootaloo would have dropped through the air like an earth pony, but now she slowly glides down, landing on the floor below three seconds later.
The filly pants heavily, trying to climb back onto the bed before Doug bends to the side, giving his foal a helping hand. Rainbow looks at Scootaloo, beaming with pride as she tries to lift her forelegs. Scootaloo races over, diving under one of her dam's hooves as Rainbow says, "Oh, Sis, I'm so proud of you."
The two enjoy the moment for several seconds before Princess Celestia says, "Sunset Shimmer told me to tell you, 'twenty percent.' Do you know what that means?"
Rainbow screws up her face in concentration, "Um, she said she would be trying to draw something like eight percent of my magic? Or maybe my excess magic? So she only got twenty percent of that before she stopped?"
Princess Celestia nods, "Yes, that fits with what we observed. We measured an increase in Scootaloo's thaumic capacity, and a very slight decrease in yours; at least, your theoretical maximum capacity once your magic has fully returned. I am afraid, Rainbow, that the... procedure that Sunset attempted with you is incredibly unsafe. Wildly so. It is a testament to her remarkable ability, and your extreme luck, that she was as successful with you two as she was. Her method essentially boiled down to, 'poke a hole in your magic field, hold it open while channeling the extracted magic into Scootaloo, and once enough magic has been drained or she, Sunset, runs low on magic, stitch up the hole she poked'. If any of those steps had gone wrong, or if she ran out of mana before the process was complete, or if her mana battery malfunctioned, even for a second, you could have lost all of your magic. Perhaps permanently." Princess Celestia gives Rainbow a hard look, "Please don't try something like this again."
Rainbow smiles, her eyes unfocusing and staring at the ceiling, "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, dam." She seems to regain a bit of composure, sitting up slightly and saying, "So, uh, what happened to Sunset? Dungeons?"
Princess Celestia shakes her head, "Suffice it to say she banished herself to a distant land rather than deal with the consequences here." As Rainbow begins to open her mouth Princess Celestia shakes her head, "No, she is not banished to Tartarus." She mutters to herself, 'someplace far, far worse.'
Rainbow opens her mouth, closing it, before opening it again. She plants a kiss on Scootaloo as the filly pokes her head out. Rainbow looks at Doug, "How long have you been here, and how long have I been here?"
Doug says, "Three days, or about sixty hours. You had been here six hours by the time I arrived. Celestia sent word as soon as she could, along with a pegasus chariot. Suffice it to say I am taking the train home." He scratches her head before gripping her tightly, saying, "Rainbow, I'm so glad you are okay, I was worried sick. So is the rest of the herd, and they send their condolences and wish you a speedy recovery."
Rainbow manages to eke out, "Oh, they aren't here? How have you been holding up?"
Doug shrugs, loosening his grip, "Well, I've been keeping up with work while I've been waiting on you here, catching up on some reading. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Apple Bloom took the evening train home; Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Sweetie Belle should get here in the morning, and they would have spent time with you while I slept. The only time I step out is to grab food, catch up with the mares before they leave on the evening train back to Ponyville and sleep."
Rainbow looks outside at the evening sky, "So, they already went home? Just you and me? And Scoots?"
Doug nods, "Yup, Scootaloo has spent the whole time with you as well. She was just outside the room, playing with a couple of the other foals here when she heard you were awake."
Rainbow looks over at Princess Celestia, "How long do I have to stay in the hospital? I really want to go outside, exercise my wings a little, I feel stiff all over." She tries to extend her wings, but finds that she lacks the strength to do so. And Doug is in the way, but she can't even push against him.
"Well, first, the good news: Rainbow, you are able to leave the hospital; you are in a stable condition, though I don't recommend leaving the hospital entirely until tomorrow morning. Physically, you will be fine, though you are likely exhausted and weak; you will recover your physical strength within a few hours, now that your magic is flowing through your body unrestricted. Or at least, in the limited amount you have available. Once you feel strong enough you can engage in running or other activities." Princess Celestia winks at the two before continuing, "You may do wing exercises that do not involve stressing your magic. However, in regards to your flying," Princess Celestia places a hoof on Rainbow's chest, looking into the pegasus' eyes, "Rainbow, I know this will come as a shock, and the worst possible news ever." A fearful look comes over Rainbow's face as Princess Celestia continues, "In order to keep the patch we have sewn in your magic stable, you are not to push anything involving magic. You are still going to be able to fly, but only to the extent that Fluttershy would beat you in a race."
Doug helps Rainbow throw her hooves into the air, a distressed, "Nnnnoooooooo!!" escaping from her lips and echoing around the room.
Princess Celestia smiles at Doug's antics as he waves Rainbow's hooves around in circles, then back and forth, then making little figure eights. Rainbow smiles initially but quickly gets embarrassed as he starts making little cooing noises. The pegasus pouts, "Come on, big guy, enough already."
Doug gives a heavy sigh, lowering her hooves back to her body. He smiles, scratching her head as she smiles up at him, trying to move her hind legs. Like Princess Celestia said, she can feel them slowly getting stronger, but not yet strong enough to really move around or hold herself up. Scootaloo yawns into Rainbow's side, the filly snuggling closer to her dam and closing her eyes.
Princess Celestia smiles, "Don't worry too much, Rainbow. Over time, your magic will return, as your field strengthens. Then, you will be able to best your herdmate in a race once again." She puts a hoof on Rainbow's hind leg, "I can see you are in good hooves, Rainbow." She winks at Doug, "Or hands, as the case may be. Pleasant dreams." She turns, walking out of the room and turning off the heart rate monitor as the door closes.
Rainbow forces her head back, the effort leaving her panting as she looks up at Doug's face. He moves his head down, slowly kissing Rainbow before pulling his head back. She frowns, weakly raising her hooves and struggling to find his head. Doug raises an arm, grabbing one of her hooves and assisting it to a position behind his head. She smiles, lightly pulling him towards her.
As their kiss finishes Rainbow tries to push Doug to the side, away from Scootaloo. He scratches her ear, looking into her magenta eyes, "You sure?"
Rainbow nods, giving Doug a sultry look , "Oh ya, I'm sure. Just, careful not to wake her, okay?" Doug nods, pushing Rainbow away from his body. Scootaloo stirs as her backrest shifts, allowing Doug to extricate his leg from underneath Rainbow. He lays his mare back against the sheets, Scootaloo shifting slightly but drifting back to sleep as her dam lays still. Doug moves to Rainbow's front, placing his arms around her neck and embracing her head as he rests his chest against hers.