//------------------------------// // Recovery // Story: I'll Do Anything for You // by The Abyss //------------------------------// Twilight awoke to the most horrendous of sounds. Wet smacks followed by a slurp or two, combined with the sound of a squeaky chair, echoed in her ears, making them flick back as she groaned. She stretched under the sheets, rubbed her eyes with her front hooves, then let her head fall back down onto the pillow. “Rainbow? Is that you?” she mumbled, awkwardly fumbling to flatten her ears with her hooves. Her throat was so dry that it felt like she’d swallowed buckets of sand. “Yeah? I’m here. Behind you,” she said, poking her in the back. Twilight rolled over, taking great care to be gentle with her wings. Her eyes fell upon her lover and found her spinning in circles on a swiveling chair, propelling herself along with her right wing. “What are you doing?” she asked with a weak grin, eyeing the half-empty cup of jello in Rainbow’s hooves. “Eating jello and spinning. Not much else to do with you sleeping all the time,” she said with a short chuckle. “You want some?” Rainbow plunged her spoon into the jello, then flared her wings and flapped until she stopped spinning.  It pained her to hear Rainbow’s forced tone. Her bad attempt at a joke only made it obvious how unnerved she felt, though Twilight knew she had to set her mind at ease somehow. She licked her lips as she felt her stomach grumble, then shook her head. “You know, as much as I’d like to, I think it’d be better if I had some water first. And I’m pretty sure you said that the doctors said that my immune system was weak, so wouldn’t sharing food be risky? I don’t wanna get sick again as soon as I’m starting to feel better...” she said with a small cough. Rainbow’s spoon dropped a few inches, then rose back up again as she snickered. “Twi, we kissed like, super hard before you fell asleep again this morning. If you think sharing food might be bad, then swapping spit would be like, super bad, right?” She wiggled the spoon in front of Twilight’s lips again.  “Well...” Twilight rolled over onto her belly and let her front hooves drape over the edge of the bed. She glanced away, her eyes settling on the bright moon as it slowly but surely rose in the night sky. She thought back to earlier that morning when they had kissed, unable to stop herself from blushing as she remembered the soft touch of Rainbow’s lips against hers. However, that thought was rudely interrupted by a cold, hard spoon as Rainbow pressed it against her lips. “T-Thanks,” she said in between bites. As soon as she swallowed, she eyed the pitcher of water sitting on one of the tables. Without thinking, she started to pump magic into her horn then stopped a split-second later, feeling herself grow dizzy and her headache worsening three-fold. She winced as she saw Rainbow’s eyes go wide, seeing a faint flicker from her horn in her eye’s reflection. “This is gonna take some getting used to,” she muttered, grabbing the spoon with her hoof. With her stomach grumbling loud enough for all of the Crystal Empire to hear, she slurped the jello right off of the spoon and held it out, silently asking for another scoop with a grateful smile. “Heh, here ya go,” Rainbow said, holding out the little plastic cup for her to grab. “Are there any more of them? I’m starving,” Twilight said in between bites. “Uh...” Rainbow tensed up as she looked back at the table where five other cups of jello had sat just minutes before Twilight had woken up, then quickly glanced down at the floor where she’d tossed the empty ones. Rainbow covered her mouth with a hoof, then coughed loudly as she used her tail to sweep them under Twilight’s bed. “I don’t think we have any more here, but I can go get some, okay?” She stood up off the chair, took the empty plastic cup from Twilight’s hooves, and threw it in the trash can next to the bed. She grabbed the pitcher of water on the table, filled a glass, then held it out for Twilight. “You gonna be good for a few minutes while I go get you some?” “Of course,” Twilight said, taking the glass of water from Rainbow’s hooves, her ears perking up at the mention of more food. “Okay, good.” Rainbow let her hoof come to rest against Twilight’s chin, then stole a quick kiss from her lips, her tail quivering in restrained, hopeful excitement as she nuzzled her cheek much like a cat would. “You, uh...” She rubbed the back of her neck as she glanced over her shoulder, a sly grin appearing on her lips as she made sure nopony else was within earshot. “You want some more jello or something with a bit more substance? Like... some hayburgers?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down. Twilight’s eyes lit up as she grinned at the idea of wolfing down a burger, then paused. “Oh! Uh... I’m sure the doctors won’t like me eating anything that’s not on the approved hospital food list.” Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Rainbow’s smile start to fade. “But...” she continued with a wide grin that quickly turned into a smirk. “If you get us some burgers with extra fries, I’ll let you be the little spoon for as long as you want tonight.” Rainbow squeed. “Deal!” she said, bumping her hoof against Twilight’s. “I’ll be right back, I promise!” Flaring her wings wide, she pushed one of the windows open with her front hooves, then flung herself out into the sky, the sounds of the bustling city flowing in through the window. Twilight closed her eyes, easily falling back into a dreamless sleep. It felt like only a few minutes had passed when she heard somepony’s wings beating, making her crack her eyes open just in time to see Rainbow fly back through the window, a pair of brown paper bags held firmly between her teeth. “Hey Twi, I’m back!” Dash said as she screeched to a halt back inside the room, stopping mere inches away from the wall on the other side of the room. She hopped up onto the bed, gently pushed Twilight’s wing up with her snout, then snuggled in, digging deep inside the paper bags for their treats. “Look what I got us!” she said in a hushed tone, tossing a wrapped burger between Twilight’s forelegs. “They didn’t have any fries, though.” “A triple-stacked hayburger? I think I’d rather have one of these than some fries.” Twilight held it up in her hooves, barely able to hold onto it all. “Are you trying to make me fat?” she asked with a chuckle. “Well, you didn’t eat for like, three straight days, so you gotta make up for lost time. Besides, I got one for me, too, so if we’re gonna get fat, we’ll get fat together. Then we’ll have blubber for the winter!” “Yeah, I guess we would,” she said with a short laugh. Twilight bit down into the burger and hummed in content, bumping her butt against Rainbow’s as she nuzzled her cheek, smearing a bit of ketchup across Rainbow’s fur. “Actually, yeah, this is worth it, blubber butt.” “Yeah, but you know what? I got a couple more burgers we can split just in case we’re still hungry.”  “What about Scootaloo and Spike?” Twilight asked with a short chuckle. “You think they’ve eaten yet? Maybe we should save the other burgers for them.” “Oh, uh... yeah, we can share with them if Cadence and Shining didn’t get them anything yet.” Rainbow glanced at the clock, her head bobbing from side to side as she thought. “Mmm... ya know, it’s already well past dinner time, so I’m like, ninety-nine percent sure they’ve already eaten.” Rainbow scarfed down her burger in no time at all, then grabbed another burger from the bag. “Oh hey, I saw that doctor making his rounds further down the hall when I was flying back in, so you better eat fast; I bet he wouldn’t be too happy with me if he found out I smuggled in some unapproved food,” she said with a giggle. “Ahem...!” Twilight sighed, knowing that that specific tone of voice could only belong to one pony: a doctor about to lay down the law and ruin their lawless fun. She slowly stopped chewing her food, swallowed, then placed her half-eaten burger back down onto the wrapper as the sounds of Rainbow tearing into her second burger filled the room. She glanced over her shoulder to find a doctor shaking his head from side to side, making her ears flick down in shame.  “My princess, I’m sorry, but I must insist that you relinquish that hayburger at once,” he said, grabbing an empty food tray and using his magic to hold it in front of her. “Place it here, please.” Twilight eyed him up and down for a few seconds, hoping for a reprieve, though when none came, she stifled a snarl then complied without a word. A tiny part of her mind egged her on to use her authority as a princess. “Thank you. Now, if you are still hungry, I shall fetch you some hospital-approved food,” he said, using his magic to carry the tray out of the room with him. “I think I’ll take that,” Shining said with a grin, using his own magic to take the burger from the doctor’s grasp as he walked into the room. “My Prince, you cannot give that back to her,” the doctor said, half-turning around to face Shining, eyeing him with a knowing look. “She needs to start off on easier foods, especially considering the ordeal she has just endured.” “Oh, I know. It’s been a while since I’ve had a hayburger, so I’m gonna finish it,” he said, feeling partly guilty as he heard a barely audible whine. “Why let good food go to waste?” Shining hopped up onto the bed next to Twilight’s and set the tray at his front hooves, silently waiting for the doctor to leave. “That is all, doctor,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. As the doctor’s hoofsteps faded away down the hall, Shining used his magic to shut the door then he tossed the hayburger back to his sister with a wink.  Twilight shot a grateful smile at him. “Thanks,” she said. “Had me fooled for a minute there, though.” She glanced over Shining’s shoulder to make sure the doctor was nowhere in sight, then promptly devoured the burger, leaving no chance for it to be taken away again. Shining glanced away for a moment, his smile faltering as he looked back up. “You’re welcome, little sis. You two have any extras? We took Scootaloo and Spike to that once fancy restaurant that I can never remember the name of just down the street.” “Was it that one with all the fancy-looking letters in the name?” Twilight asked. “The one that gives you just enough food to barely take the edge off that never does anything to fill you up?” Shining laughed. “Yeah, that’s the one.” His shoulders slumped in relief as Rainbow tossed one of the hayburgers in between his forelegs. “Sweet Celestia, you’re the best.” “And don’t you ever forget it,” Rainbow quipped back, returning Shining’s grateful smile. “These are triple stacked, by the way,” she said.  “What? No way!” Shining whipped off the wrapping. “Cadence would murder me if she found out I was eating one of these behind her back.” “Oh yeah?” Rainbow fought back a snicker as she noticed Cadence walking towards them, their eyes locking for a few moments as she neared the door. “And what would she do if she found out? she asked, shooting a sly wink Cadence’s way as she used her magic to let herself in. “I dunno, she’d probably say that she doesn’t want me getting fat,” he said, munching down on his burger.  “That’s right,” Cadence said, hopping up onto the bed beside him. She grinned at him, her gaze flicking between his burger and his eyes until he used his magic to divide it in half. “Thanks, Shiny.” Cadence took hold of it with her magic and wolfed it down. She let loose a content sigh, then placed her right hoof over her left. “Did you tell them yet?” she asked, her tone holding a small hint of concern. Shining shook his head. “No, I haven’t. I only just got here a few minutes before you did.”  Cadence cleared her throat, then shut the door with a quick flick of her horn. “I have some news that you both need to know,” she said, glancing between Twilight and Rainbow. “And... it’s not good.” Rainbow’s eyebrows furrowed at her tone. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You want to tell them or should I?” Cadence asked. “I can.” Shining cleared his throat, his tail flicking back and forth behind him. “A guard thought they recognized a certain brown pegasus from one of the wanted posters spread around town, but when they got close, he disappeared into the crowd in the marketplace before they could get a good look at his face. He wasn't too sure if that pony was the one in the wanted poster, though, but he still thought it prudent to bring it to our attention just to be safe.” Rainbow went rigid. “So you're saying that Scootaloo’s dad might be here?” she demanded, her once joyful tone long gone.  “We don’t know that for sure.” Twilight felt Rainbow’s body become as stiff as a board, and fearing that she would leap from the bed to go hunting for Scootaloo’s father out in the cold, she placed a single hoof over Rainbow’s and tugged her close with her wing, feeling every single little tremor that ran through her body. "Brown is a pretty common coat color, and why would he be all the way up here? Surely he'd want to be on the opposite end of Equestria from us." “I guess that makes sense...” Rainbow paused for a split-second, then asked, “What about Scootaloo and Spike? Where are they?” “They’re in their chambers. We posted guards on the doors and the balcony once we determined there was even the smallest of threats. Better safe than sorry, after all.” He paused as Rainbow pushed herself out from under Twilight’s wing. “They are perfectly safe here in the castle,” he said, raising his voice momentarily as he watched Twilight struggle to keep Rainbow from running off. “I can bring you to them now if you wish. I stopped by their room with some snacks to keep them from raiding our pantries; Spike had mentioned something about doing that earlier.” “Okay, yeah, let’s do that,” Rainbow said, feeling Twilight fold her wing back to her side. She looked back and watched her fold it, hating how gingerly and slowly she did so. The tattered feathers still looked bad, but only time would heal those wounds. I should preen her wings again tonight before bed... she thought. She glanced at Twilight as she slipped off the bed. “Are you strong enough to walk?” she asked. “Um...” She tried to push herself up with her forelegs, but she stopped once they started to wobble. Her ears flopped down. “I don’t think so,” she said, her shoulders slumping in defeat.  Shining slipped off of the bed. “Don’t worry, I gotcha,” he said with a warm smile. Lighting his horn, he lifted Twilight up off of the bed and placed her on his back. “Oof, you’re a little heavier than I remember!” he said with a laugh. “Just like old times, though, right?” “Well, I’m not a little filly anymore,” Twilight said, letting her forelegs come to rest over his right side. A light breeze pushed its way past the open window, sending a small shudder down her neck. As Shining started to make his way out of the room, she asked, “Hey Rainbow, can you close that window, please? I don’t want it to be freezing cold in here once we come back.” “Yeah, I got it.” Rainbow pushed herself off of the bed, pulled the window shut, then threw the latch. In her rush to follow everyone else to go see their little ones, though, she failed to hear the latch slip from its lock, pushed by a large gust from her wings as she chased the group down the hallway.