Baked Bean groaned and drew in a sharp hiss of a breath around his teeth while the rest of his body immediately began to report on the injuries he’d sustained. That ride was about the closest thing to the opposite of fun he could have imagined, and were it not for the pain, he would believe he was in the afterlife.
He felt like he’d been drawn, quartered, and then turned into glue, and he hoped his tail had, at the least, been turned into a violin bow.
Bean then tried to open his eyes, mostly to verify that he could handle such a simple task, but also so he could establish where he was, and what was still attached to him.
He instantly regretted his choice. The wave of pain that pounded into his head easily tripled the amount of pain he felt, and what little light he had taken in felt like it had incinerated the back of his eyeballs. He drew in another sharp breath, and a whimper of agony managed to gurgle out of his throat.
“Bean?”
The trifecta of pain was now complete. His body hurt, his mind hurt, and now the range of emotions that slammed into him destroyed any remaining comfort he could have possibly felt. He felt his body nearly tearing itself in half as he went from disgust to pleasure, depression to exultation, total misery to pure bliss.
“Celly?” he croaked. “Is that you?”
Despite the flood of sensory inputs he was being overwhelmed with, he felt the familiar touch of the sublime as Celestia’s wing tightened over him, and his anguish multiplied when he felt her silken coat push closer to him. The tears began to burn while they left his eyes and traveled down his cheeks, and he buried his face in her side while she gently shushed him and caressed one cheek with her hoof.
“Oh, my precious Bean,” she softly whispered. “I’m here, don’t worry. You’re safe now, and everything is as it should be. I’ve got you.”
And Bean wept.
He wept for his ineptitude, for the devastation and destruction he had brought upon the innocent ponies of Ponyville. He wept for the damage he had caused in the palace, for the loyalties he had strained by asking his guards to act against their orders to protect him. He wept for the emotional toil he had forced Wysteria and Trixie to endure, and for the unnecessary risks he had forced on Quill and Wysteria’s unborn foal.
But mostly, he wept for what he had done to his beloved Celestia. He couldn’t even begin to fathom the torture he had put her through when she had found out what he had done, or especially when she had found out that he had tried to attack Tirek.
Bean’s tears only increased while Celestia quietly shushed again. “Oh, my dear Bean. You have suffered through so much. I am so proud of you, and I am pleased with what you have done.”
“You are?” he sobbed. “Please tell me you are. My heart feels as if it might shatter into a thousand pieces over what I have done.”
“No, no!” Celestia gently chuckled, and Bean felt her tears begin to wet his cheek as she nuzzled him. “You were willing to give your own life to protect our little ponies. How could I ever be displeased?”
“But I caused so much damage,” he whimpered. “So many homes were destroyed, and the windows in the palace. I asked ponies to fight against Tirek! What chance did a bunch of common ponies have against such a villain?”
“You did not have a chance, my Bean, but that is not what matters. You gave Twilight the time she needed to defeat him, and your heroics saved the day. Apart from yourself, no pony was seriously injured, and the damage to Ponyville was minimal. The homes can be repaired, and together, we will fix you. I will care for you; I will tend to your every need. Soon, what has happened will be a distant and happy memory, one that I will forever recall with pride. My Baked Bean, the Hero of Equestria.”
Bean took in a shuddering breath, but he did not move. He did not want to move, for in so doing he might ruin this perfect moment that had come to him. Celestia yet cared for him, and she willingly proclaimed and reaffirmed her love of him. He had her again, and what else could matter?
“Let it out, my love,” Celestia gently cooed. “Do not hold this burden any more. It is time to move forward, together and forever. The battle is past, the war is now over. You have won, and I will now ensure you receive the prizes you have earned.”
“The only thing I want is to hear you say that you love me. I did not fear Tirek, or what he could do to me. I did not fear while I tried to fight him, and I felt no fear when he defeated me and sent me flying into the Everfree. The only thing that I truly feared - the one thing that haunted me throughout all of what was happening - was that your love for me had died. I could not live another day if I found that you no longer cared for me.”
“I love you, Baked Bean,” she whispered into his ear with a gentle nuzzle. “I never stopped loving you, and I will never stop loving you. I love you.”
And despite the anguish and the torments that had beset him, Baked Bean smiled. “Could you say it again, please?”
“I love you,” Celestia repeated while her wing drew him in even closer. “I love you, I love you, I love you. I will repeat it as often as you like, so you never have to doubt again. You have my heart, you have my soul, and you have me. Rest now, my precious Bean, and know that I will remain. We shall never be parted again.”