After about a minute of screaming as our bodies were stretched and contorted into an equine shape, Sunny and I emerged in Princess Twilight's library. We looked around and saw that I was surprisingly empty.
“Where is everypony?” Sunny asked.
“Maybe they're decorating for Christmas, I mean, Hearth's Warming,” I replied figuring that to be the most logical answer.
“Maybe… oof.” Sunny said as she hit the floor, face first. “Let me be,” she instructed me when I tried helping her off the floor.
“What happened?” I asked, stepping back.
Shaking her head, she replied, “I got dizzy from spiraling through the portal. Nothing major.”
“Sunny, you've never gotten dizzy from the portal.”
She shakily stood up and stumbled forward a few steps before sitting back down and shaking her head once more.
“Do I need to get someone to help you?” I asked as she laid down on the floor.
She nodded slightly in response. So I gave her a kiss and headed out the library door. I stood in the hallway and scratched my head with my hoof, trying to remember which direction the throne room was. There were large doors on either end of the hallway which didn't help me. But since I had a 50/50 chance of being correct, I decided to go right.
It turned out to be the proper choice as I took hold of the door handle with my magic and pushed it open. “Hello? Is anypony in here?” I asked as I peeked inside.
“That didn't take long,” I heard somepony say. “It usually takes you a couple hours just to get-” Starlight -- the pony that was talking -- stopped when she saw me. “You're not the pony Twilight.”
“Hehe. Not exactly,” I affirmed.
“Well, this was definitely unexpected.” She then realized that I was standing there alone. “Uh, where's your wife?”
“Laying on the floor of the library,” I said.
“What's she doing there?”
“Sunny got lightheaded and nearly passed out after we emerged from the portal, so she laid down while I sought help for her.”
The next thing I knew, I was back in the library standing next to Sunny. This time, however, I was joined by Starlight.
“Hi, Sunset,” Starlight said, causing Sunny to lift her head.
“Heya, Starlight. Holding down the fort, I assume?” Sunny said before shaking her head.
“Yeah, the other girls are doing their Hearth's Warming shopping. I'm here because Cadence, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart are due to arrive soon and Twilight doesn't want them showing up to an empty castle.” Starlight explained.
Sunny gave a weak smile, seemingly knowing what was about to be said next.
“But I guess I'm going to have to leave the castle barren after all so that I can help you to the hospital.” Starlight said, feigning disappointment.
“Can't you just teleport us like you did a few minutes ago?”
“It's not recommended if the pony being teleported is in a weakened state,” Sunny told me. “The reason is that the magic between ponies being teleported has to be equal them. Which means the stronger pony will have magic transferred to the weaker pony.”
“And if one of the ponies are too weak, it could cause harm to the stronger one when the spell is cast,” Starlight finished. “Does that make sense to you?”
“Actually it does,” I replied.
“Well, can you stand, Sunset?” Starlight asked.
Sunny pushed herself up and stood unsteadily once more. However, it lasted about a minute before she fell back on her haunches again.
“Yeah…” Starlight said as her horn began to light. “I'll be back.”
“Where are you going?” Sunny asked.
“To get the medical wagon, of course, ” Starlight answered.
That's when Sunny's stubborn side showed up.
“No. The whole town doesn't need to see an ambulance leaving from the castle,” she said.
“Well, how else do you expect to get to the hospital?” asked Starlight.
“Doesn't Twilight have some coaches?” Sunny asked.
“No, she doesn't.” Starlight deadpanned.
“So how are we going to get Sunny to the doctor?” I asked.
Starlight thought a moment before teleporting somewhere.
Sunny stood up once more, albeit wobbly, and slowly began making her way to the library door.
“Sunny, what is going on? I've never seen you this unsteady since I met you,” I said. “And you can't say that it's because you're not used to being on four legs.”
“I don't know, babe. I feel like I did during the concert and after the visit with Gentle Hayseed,” she said as her strides became increasingly shorter. “It feels like the portal sucked some of the magic from me.”
I leaned up against Sunny to help steady her. “It will be okay. Starlight should be back with the medical wagon shortly.” I assured her.
Almost on cue, Starlight reappeared in the library. “The ride is on its way, Sunset,” she said.
“I told you no ambulances,” Sunny snapped at her.
“I didn't get an ambulance, whatever that is. I know you wanted something inconspicuous so I asked someone that's here a lot if we could use her wagon,” Starlight said with a mischievous grin.
“You're not referring to-”
“Yes, Trixie is going to take us to the hospital,” said Starlight.
“Gross,” Sunny groaned.
“Gross?” I asked. “Why is it gross?”
“I heard rumors about stuff Trixie and Starlight have done in that thing,” Sunny said.
“There is no truth to those rumors. Okay?” Starlight denied. “Besides, Trixie always makes sure to clean it whenever I'm on the road with… I mean, uh, I've never seen the inside of her wagon.”
“Uh-huh,” Sunny muttered in disgust. “Let's just go.”
After an interesting trip to the hospital, a nearly hour-long wait in the waiting room and the usual “the doctor will be in shortly” bit, Sunny was admitted to the hospital for observation. That, of course, went over like a lead balloon.
“Is this really necessary?” Sunny asked Dr. Flank.
“Considering the circumstances, yes,” he replied.
“So how long are you keeping me imprisoned in this bed?” Sunny asked.
“More than likely just overnight. If you've gotten enough of your strength back, I'll probably discharge you tomorrow,” he answered, much to Sunny's dismay. “Do you have any other questions?”
“Am I just gonna be laying in the bed or will you be doing tests on me?”
“Mainly observation but I would like to do a horn scraping,” he told her.
“What's a horn scraping?” I asked. “I don't recall having one.”
“It's basically when they take a thin layer of your horn to check your magic potential,” Sunny said. “They're normally only done a couple days after you're born. That's why you don't remember yours. Isn't that right, Doc?”
“Most times, yes,” he answered. “Although in rare instances, such as your wife's, when a unicorn is losing his or her magic we will do one.”
“How long does it typically take for the results to come back?” I asked.
“Depending on which tests get run, usually three to five days,” replied Dr. Flank.
We continued to talk about the procedure for a couple more minutes before Nurse Redheart entered pushing a cart with some medical utensils on it. I sat down in the chair in the corner of the room so that I could watch how they performed the test. However, I never got the chance to see it.
“Mrs. Shimmer, I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave the room for a few minutes,” Dr. Flank said.
I tilted my head in confusion, asking why.
“It's a, uh, intimate procedure, babe. Kind of like when you get your lady parts examined,” Sunny explained. “Make sense?”
“Oh. Okay,” I said, hopping out of the chair and exiting the room.
I was sitting on my haunches outside the door when I heard some familiar voices near the nursing station. It was two grown ponies and a filly who, may I add, was voicing her displeasure with being at the hospital on Hearth's Warming Eve. I craned my neck to see who was down the hall and sure enough, Sunny’s parents and sister were standing at the desk waiting on Nurse Redheart to return.
I decided to talk to them while I waited for the doctor to finish with my wife. Just before I got to the desk, however, I was tackled by bright yellow blur.
“Twi-Twi!” shouted Breaking Dawn as we rolled along the floor.
“Hey… Dawnie,” I managed to say after getting the wind knocked out of me.
“Dawn, let your sister-in-law up.” Sunny's father, Sunfire, said.
“Sorry, Twi-Twi.”
Misty Dawn, Sunny's mother, asked me how she was doing as I got up and straightened my mane. I told her parents about how something was draining Sunny's magic and that she was having a horn scraping as we talked.
“Mrs. Shimmer, you can go back in now.” Nurse Redheart said as she returned the cart to the desk.
The four of us returned to Sunny's room as Dr. Flank was leaving. I introduced him to Sunny's parents so that they could get the full story on condition. While they talked, I took Dawnie into the room. Upon seeing Sunny, who had her horn completely wrapped in gauze, Dawnie shot forward like Pinkie Pie and wrapped both forelegs around her older sister.
“Shimmy!” she said as she held on tight to Sunny's neck. “Are you okay? Did you get your horn hurt? Are you gonna be in the hospital for Hearth's Warming?”
Sunny chuckled. “No, Dawnie, I didn't hurt my horn. The doctor had to do a test on it. That's all.”
“But why is it wrapped up?”
“The test made it bleed a little bit so they put some bandages on it,” Sunny explained.
Sunny's parents entered the room a few minutes later with uneasy smiles on their faces. They both hugged Sunny after levitating Dawnie off the bed.
“Mom! Dad! How did you guys find out I was here?” Sunny asked them.
“You have Princess Twilight to thank for that,” Misty said.
“She sent Princess Celestia a message that you were here,” Sunfire explained. “We were in the middle of prepping everything for tomorrow's Hearth's Warming dinner when-”
“We got to ride in the royal coach, Shimmy!” Dawnie said with joy.
“Yes, we did,” Misty said as Sunny let out a giggle. “Anyway, we got a surprise when the doorbell rang and saw one of the royal guards standing at the door.”
“Must've been quite the shock,” I said.
“It was. We didn't know what was happening because all he told us was that we needed to leave for Ponyville immediately,” Sunfire said.
“Leave it to Princess Celestia to overdo things,” Sunny said with a laugh.
Dawnie hopped back on the bed and laid down next to Sunny. “Mommy? Can I stay in here with Shimmy until she can leave?”