Rocky Road's eyes fluttered open, vision blurry and unfocused. His head turned slowly toward the source of the music. Through the blurriness of his vision he could see golden light cascading down, glimmering on a slender mare. An angel, or so he thought, standing upright and playing an instrument he didn't recognize. Rocky lay there contemplating life, letting the strangely mesmerizing music wash through his senses. A tear welled up and ran down his cheeks and onto the mattress below. He was surprised to realize he was crying. If this was what it was like to die, then death wasn't so bad.
"Beautiful." He croaked out.
There was a small gasp of surprise and the music suddenly stopped. Rocky's angel walked up to him slowly, and placed a hoof next to his head. Rocky leaned forward until he could feel the mare's soft fur.
"Why did you stop?" Rocky whined in protest. As his blurry vision became filled with the image of his dark maned angel. He felt something wet drip onto his face. Does it rain in heaven? Guess it does.
"Something more important came up dear." Came a vaguely familiar voice.
"It can't have been THAT important." Rocky scoffed weakly, desperately wanting to hear the music again. But darkness took him and he drifted back to unconsciousness.
Octavia brushed a strand of silver hair out of Rocky's face and took a small step back. After a few deep breaths to steady her shaking nerves she wiped her eyes and headed for her Cello and quickly put it back in its case. Exiting the hospital room into a scarcely populated hospital floor she found Flash Sentry, out of armor and bandaged up almost entirely from head to hoof, passed out on a visiting bench just outside. She nudged him gently and the guard snapped awake.
"Whu..What!" He looked around in panic state. Then he saw Octavia and relaxed. "Oh. Thank goodness its only you."
"Flash. I just spoke with mister Rocky Road."
"He's awake?!" He exclaimed in excitement but Octavia's hoof brought his volume down. "He drifted back to sleep. I...I think my playing may have woke him."
Flash nodded and responded with a more reserved tone. "But that means he's gonna be okay right? The Doc said if he regained consciousness that it'll be a good sign."
Octavia sighed. "One can hope. I'll go inform the nurse."
=========
Princess Cadence, Princess Celestia and Twilight marched in good order down the hallways of Canterlot General Hospital following the lead of a very old pony in a doctors coat. Doctor Touchstone was a renowned expert in Earth Pony Physiology and had quite the successful track record as a surgeon specializing on the earth pony spine.
"I assure you Princess we will do whatever we can for him. However, I must confess that the extent of his injuries are severe. Multiple fractures and a slipped disk or three. Not to mention a collapsed lung that we only recently patched up with magic."
Princess Cadence frowned at this and the guilt trip started all over again. If only she had broken Chrysalis' mind spell sooner. If only she hadn't been captured, etcetera. She shrugged off the thoughts as best she could before glancing over at Twilight who did her best not to look upset. It was Twilight's idea to use Rocky as bait, once the initial plan to attempt to retrieve the elements of harmony as a distraction had failed. She had proclaimed a so called "Champion" other than they would stop Chrysalis in her tracks. It was an outright lie of course, but one that the bug queen so quickly fell for. Both Cadence and Twilight wondered how much of a Ruckus the stallion was causing down in Canterlot, apparently it was enough that Chrysalis had bought the lie so easily. Ultimately the distraction worked, allowing Cadence enough time to break Chrysalis' spell over Shining Armor. They won, but why did it feel like they lost?
Doctor Touchstone stopped in front of Rocky's Room and placed a hoof on the nob.
"To be frank, I'm not sure he'll be able to walk again." The doctor said quietly which caused both Twilight and Cadence no small grief. Princess Celestia however was a stone wall. She showed no emotion except to drape a wing around Twilight who had turned away after failing to suppress a sob. Princess Cadence added a comforting hoof.
"There must be something we can do. Isn't there a spell? Magic healing potion maybe?" Cadence pleaded.
"The options are limited." The doctor twisted the nob and opened the door. "I do have a few ideas on how we can ease...WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
The hospital bed was empty, Rocky stood on his hind legs using an open window for leverage. Rocky looked over his shoulder.
"What does it look like healer? I'm re-aligning my spine." Rocky stated as if it were as normal as...well...getting out of bed. Before anypony could react. Rocky Road twisted and stretched in a manner that looked like it was gonna hurt. A LOT. Everypony flinched as a loud series of cracks and pops cascaded through his body. A look of pure satisfaction appeared on Rocky's face as he sighed in relief.
"Ah. Much better." Rocky stood on his hind legs and assumed his second gate form, striking the air with a flurry of hoof strikes. "Good as new."
"What? How did? WHAT DID YOU DO!?" The doctor exclaimed indignantly and rushed over to check his patient.
"What are you talking about? All earth ponies can re-align their own spines. You're a healer. You should know this."
The Doctor looked like he was going to have a stroke, after a thorough check of Rocky's back and joints he rushed out of the room looking for a nurse. Princess Cadence took this moment to file in.
"Rocky Road. Thank goodness you're okay. Should you be out of bed? The doctor appeared to be quite distressed."
Rocky waved a hoof. "He'll get over it. I'm as fit as a fiddle. Just needed some rest for good ol' earth pony resilience and magic to patch things right up." As if to demonstrate his point he mimicked Princess Cadence and Twilight's dance. "Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs Awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" He blurted out complete with a botched execution of the jig he could remember. Cadence tried hard not to laugh. Twilight couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh or cry so she settled for both.
Rocky sat down upon his bed as he observed the three mares in his presence. Once again he turned his attention to Cadence. Out of all her wounds, the one that mattered had been healed. "You really shouldn't be concerned with me. Where is your lucky stallion?"
"Shining Armor is meeting with the guard to re-assess the defenses of Canterlot. You know, after the invasion and all." Cadence responded waving a hoof around as if it wasn't a big deal that they had just been invaded by emotion sucking vampire bugs.
"Are you sure you're alright? That looked like it hurt a lot." Interjected Twilight moving to stand next to Cadence and fixing Rocky with an apologetic look.
"It did!" Laughed Rocky. "But pain is kind of the name of the game so you get used to it."
Twilight looked as if she wanted to say something but didn't quite know how to say it. Rocky picked up on it immediately.
"Ah don't beat yourself up over it Twilight. You're plan worked, I was just glad to have played my role." Rocky reached out a hoof. Twilights gingerly extended her own as they met each other. They shook.
"But if I hadn't messed up with the elements, or If I had distracted Chrysalis another way or..."
"...if your princess listened to you in the first place, non of this would have happened." Came the very regal voice of Princess Celestia who now joined Twilight and Cadence in the room.
"Twilight Sparkle, as your mentor I should have listened to you and your instincts. I should have known that you wouldn't have acted the way you did without good reason. Your conviction carried the day in the end. As for you..." Princess Celestia, monarch of the sun and of Equestria turned her attention to Rocky and bowed low.
"Lord Macadamia. It is an honor and pleasure to finally meet you. Thank you so much for protecting my little ponies. I will, personally, forever be in your debt."
Rocky shifted his hooves suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. It was only further amplified when both Cadence and Twilight bowed low as well, both ignoring the pleading look Rocky had been giving them not to.
"Oh please don't do that. And please call me Rocky Road, The name and title of Lord Macadamia means nothing in this time."
"You'd be surprised." Came Princess Celestia's regal voice as she straightened back up to her full height. I may not look it, but I am thousands of years old. Before I ascended to Alicornhood I was an earth pony." Rocky's eyes widened, both princess Cadence and Twilight looked up as well astonished about Celestia's sudden revelation.
"But princess, the history books say that you were a unicorn before your ascension!" Twilight stammered out.
"I know what the books say Twilight. They are wrong. It's a lie I tolerated for less than noble reasons." She shook her head. "That'll be a story for another time. Lord Macadamia I know of who you are and the stories of your deeds along with other masters of Tei-Rah-Do. Stories passed down to me and my sister from my father and his father before him." Celestia brought a hoof to her lips and chuckled a bit.
"One might even say that I'm quite the fan."