//------------------------------// // Be My Guest // Story: L'amore รจ femmina (Out of Love) // by Ospero //------------------------------// "Hey, everypony, he's coming around!" Spike had awoken from unconsciousness more often than he wanted to remember, and every single time it had happened, he'd regretted waking instantly. This time was no different - if anything, it was the worst awakening he could recall, mainly due to the searing pain in his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw Apple Bloom staring down at him. "Are you okay?" she asked, and he noticed her red eyes and choking voice. "My shoulder..." he managed to croak, realizing how dry his throat was. "Water? Please?" Someone put a bottle to his lips, and he drank greedily. "Thanks. I needed..." he broke off as he saw that the hoof holding the bottle was light pink. Memory came flooding back, and he sat upright, ignoring the fresh stab of pain. "Where is she? What happened?" he asked, looking around wildly. The assembled Elements - including, to his surprise, the Elements of Harmony, as well as the Princesses - were scattered across the grey plain of the Spaces Between in small groups. Right next to him were Apple Bloom, relief now creeping onto her face, and a light pink alicorn he recognized as Princess Cadance. He grinned sheepishly. "Heh. Sorry, for a moment I thought you were..." "Don't mention it. Honestly, I have difficulty telling the two of us apart." Cadance smiled. "Wait a moment. Does that mean...?" He leaped to his feet and cast his gaze around, and indeed his eyes fell on a second pink alicorn nearby, lying on the ground, yet breathing. "She's still alive? How?" "You did something to her." He turned his head and saw Twilight approaching their small group. "I can only speculate, but I believe you gave her back a little of the chaos she tried to remove from herself." "So what happens to her now?" Spike tried to point at her, which his shoulder rewarded with a fresh stab of pain. "And what happened to my shoulder?" "She fought back to the very end. All of you were unconscious when we arrived here, after Princess Celestia told us she'd felt the corrupted Harmony vanish." Twilight cast down her gaze. "Some of you were heavily injured by that final blast, it seems. You actually got lucky - she shattered your shoulder, but it will heal in time." Spike immediately looked at Apple Bloom, who bore a strange expression halfway between a frown and a grin. "I'm okay. You shielded me from the worst of it. Don't ever play the hero like that again, you hear?" "Sorry, no can do, sugarcube," he replied in his worst imitation of Applejack's accent. "Get hurt myself, or watch you get hurt? Easiest decision ever." He looked back to Twilight. "What do you mean, 'heavily injured'?" "All of you will be spending some time in a hospital, I'm afraid. Most of you will retain scars, but everything will heal eventually." Twilight looked past them, and her eyes began to shimmer. "That is, except for one injury." Spike followed her gaze, but his view was blocked by the two Princesses. "Who is it, Twilight?" he asked, feeling dread rising in his throat. She didn't have to answer, as Princess Luna chose that exact moment to step aside, revealing the group. Rainbow Dash was lying on the floor, head buried in her hooves, sobbing uncontrollably, while Scootaloo tried to comfort her. Next to the two, Gilda lay on a makeshift stretcher. She was showing no obvious injuries, and Spike was just about to ask what was wrong when the griffon turned in her sleep, revealing the left side of her face. The dragon gasped. Conformity's hooves had done worse damage than the griffon had let on - in fact, he wondered how in Equestria she had managed to stay conscious with an injury like that. The entire left side of her face and head was covered in bandages that failed to hide the hideous wounds beneath. "Will she ever come around?" "We're not sure." Twilight's voice was barely above a whisper. "But one thing we do know: even if she recovers, she has lost her eye. It's damaged beyond repair, even for the most powerful of unicorn doctors." Spike took a moment to realize what this meant. "But...she's a flier and a huntress. She needs both eyes." "I know. But there's nothing we can do." Twilight raised her head. "Highness? Can we leave this place now?" "We most certainly can," Luna replied. "And I believe we should." *** Royal Canterlot Hospital, two weeks later Spike carefully tried to move his arm. It still hurt, but at least the limb was responding again. "Now, how about when you do this?" Apple Bloom asked, trying to bend the arm backwards. "Ow!" Spike gritted his teeth, tears coming to his eyes. "No. Not yet." "Okay." Apple Bloom marked a red "X" on the chart tacked to the wall. "You're far beyond what the doctors were expecting anyway." "I can't wait until I can get out of here, honestly." Spike looked out the window at the huge park surrounding the hospital. "I want to go home." Apple Bloom hugged him. "We all do." "Speaking of that, how about the others?" Spike hadn't left the room since their return, depending on his marefriend for information about the other Elements. "Scoots is up and running again. Sweetie got released yesterday, but she's staying until we're all out of here. My brother is taking time to get used to those scars, but I think he'll manage." Apple Bloom broke off. "Scars?" Spike asked. "Around his muzzle, and a big one on his chest. He got hit with a lot of Conformity's fire." Apple Bloom smiled. "Fluttershy hasn't left his side. Why did it take those two so long to see what was in front of them?" "Probably his fault," Spike said, grinning. "Celestia knows I aimed at the wrong mare when I first came to Ponyville." "Yes, but you were a kid back then." Apple Bloom's gaze wandered out the window. "We're still kids, and yet we've saved the world twice. Why did it have to be us?" Spike pointed at his Element, lying on the nightstand. "Because we were there, and we could do it. Now, how about Trixie, Derpy and...?" He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. "Trixie can't use magic for the next two months, or she'd risk burning herself out. At least, that's what I think I heard." Apple Bloom frowned. "Unicorn medicine is complicated. Derpy had a few ribs smashed in, and that fire blast singed her wings pretty badly, but it was mostly superficial - she'll be up and flying within the week." "And...?" Again, the name wouldn't come to his lips - it seemed to get stuck halfway up his throat. "She's recovering, far better than anypony thought she would. No lasting damage, except for her eye." "No chance of healing that?" Spike knew it was probably futile, but he wouldn't give up hope. "Nope. It was completely destroyed by that blow." Apple Bloom's face seemed to lighten up. "But she's actually taking that better than anypony expected, too. She's already betting with Rainbow Dash on who can do one of those training courses better while wearing a blindfold!" Spike laughed. "That sounds like Gilda alright. Is that really a good thing, though? She might get hurt again." "I don't think she cares," Apple Bloom said. "If having only one eye is part of who she is, she'll deal with it. She really is the Element of Individuality." She leaned in closer, whispering confidentially. "And don't tell anypony, but I think she's got her eye on Scootaloo." Spike shot upright, wincing as fresh pain shot through his shoulder. "What? Are you kidding me?" "Nope." The grin on Apple Bloom's face would have made Pinkie Pie proud. "And I think Scoots is eager to try something different as well, if you know what I mean." Spike blushed. "Oh, thanks, AB. There's a mental image I didn't need to have." Then he remembered something, and a grin spread on his face. "Did I ever tell you she tried to come on to me?" The change was astonishing in its speed - Apple Bloom went from happiness to rage in less than a second. "She did what?" "While you were fighting the Elements of Conformity. Something about 'wanting to try dragon'." Spike shuddered. "I'm honestly not sure whether she was coming on to me or wanting to eat me." Apple Bloom slowly managed to get herself under control. "If she does that again, she'll never have to worry about her eye again." "Hey, hey," Spike said, alarmed. "It was just a joke. We were standing there and wondering what had happened to all of you." He hugged her, running his fingers through her mane. "And I told her I was taken, so that's that." "You make me so mad sometimes," Apple Bloom whispered. "I don't know why I put up with you." He could tell she was only half-joking, but before he could say anything, a knock sounded on the door. Spike released Apple Bloom and called out "Who is it?" "The prisoner wished to speak to you," came a rough male voice from the other side. "Should we let her in?" Prisoner? "Yes. Come in." The door opened to reveal Conformity, head bowed and hooves scuffling nervously. Her horn was encased in a shining sheath of metal, which Spike recognized as a spellblocker, and her wings were bound to her side. She entered, and her watchcolt followed, taking position next to the door. The pink alicorn looked at Spike and Apple Bloom with bloodshot eyes and whispered "I'm sorry. I wished to apologize to all of you before I leave, and I hope you find it in you to forgive me one day." "What do you mean, before you leave?" Spike asked, quickly exchanging glances with Apple Bloom, who looked just as surprised at this revelation. "Where are you going?" "I shall return to the Spaces Between, there to take up my post as Guardian of the Six Prisons." She bowed her head again. "Someone needs to keep an eye on them, someone with the magical powers to take care of them, and I am the only one available for it. Perhaps in time, I can find redemption for the slaying of their old guardian." "But...that wasn't you." Spike stared at Conformity - or Harmony - in astonishment. "You've changed, I can see that, and so should everyone else." "I let this happen to me, Element of Resolve. You saw what I did to my siblings, and to your fellow Elements. I can't ever be set free again, for should this happen a second time, the consequences would be dire." She gritted her teeth. "Princess Celestia would have forgiven me for what I did, but I asked for this punishment. I am a danger to everyone around me." "Stop it!" Apple Bloom stepped close to the other mare and hugged her. "Whatever you did, it's over. You're not dangerous." Harmony broke the hug forcefully and stepped back. "Would that I could believe you, but I know better. In time, I might become who I used to be, but I have a long way to go, and I have to walk it by myself." "No." Spike stretched out his unhurt hand and stroked her cheek. "If you need help, we'll be there for you." "Why?" Harmony asked bitterly. "I almost killed you. I hurt your friends, one of them permanently. Why would you want to help me?" Spike didn't need to think even for one second. "Because that's what friends do. They're there for each other." The alicorn blinked once, then she seemed to relax a little. "I am a dangerous one to have as a friend." "I'm a dragon among ponies, assistant to the most powerful magician this side of the Princesses, friend to the Elements of Harmony and Unity," Spike replied with false pomp, then he winked and grinned. "What difference does one more dangerous friend really make?" "Thank you, Spike." Harmony turned back to her guardian. "One more, then we shall be done." The guard raised his eyebrows slightly, which amounted to a shout of surprise from one of them. "Are you quite sure?" "I certainly will not start shirking responsibilities at this point. Lead on, to the Element of Individuality." For a second, Spike could see a flash of the old Harmony, as she'd been before her fall - a queen among ponies, even a goddess. Then the moment was over, and all that stood before him was a scared filly, steeling herself to face her punishment. Without another word, she and her guardian left the room. *** Canterlot Hospital, one week later "Spike!" Big Macintosh sat up in his bed. "What're you doing here?" The dragon smiled. "I just asked to be the one to tell you the good news. You're free to leave - paperwork's already dealt with and all. The others are already waiting at the station, so we better hurry up a bit." The smile widened. "Well, all of them except for Fluttershy. She insisted on picking you up here." The stallion leaped out of bed. "Where is she?" "Keep it down a bit, loverboy," Spike said, now grinning. "She's waiting down in the lobby. There's something I need to talk to you about, in private." "Oh?" Now Macintosh's newfound curiosity was piqued. "About what, exactly?" "Remember what you called me during our fight against Conformity?" Mac scratched his head. "Erm...oh, eeyup, I think I do." He blushed. "Sorry about that, but it was kind of hectic." "Mac, you don't have to apologize for that," Spike said, surprised. "I'd feel honoured to actually be your brother-in-law. In fact, that's what I wanted to talk about." The stallion's eyes narrowed. "Wait a sec. If you're asking what I think you're asking...don't you think you're awfully young for that?" "She's the one, Mac." He'd wanted to state it matter-of-factly, yet Spike could tell that his voice was quivering. "Why wait when I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her?" "Will you, though?" When Spike scowled at that, Macintosh quickly amended, "I don't mean it like that. But you're a dragon. Nopony knows how long you'll live, but chances are, it'll be quite a bit more than AB." The stallion's frown softened slightly. "If I'm the one to give her away, I need to make sure you've thought of things like that." "I know that, and I've often wondered about this whole thing. But I don't care." Spike looked up, directly into Mac's eyes. "Perhaps I'll live to be a thousand, and perhaps tomorrow a tree will fall on me. If I do live that long, I want happy memories, and nopony makes me happier than Apple Bloom. But I won't ask her if you don't want me to." Big Macintosh turned his head away to look out the window. "Spike, I've seen what you do to her." The neutral tone made the dragon shiver - what did Mac mean by that? Then the stallion turned back to Spike, and the smile on Mac's face dispelled any doubts he might have held. "You make her happy too. If she'll have you, I'll gladly give you my blessing."