//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Checking In // Story: A Grand Journey // by willow_whistle //------------------------------// It was early in the morning-- earlier than she would have liked, at least-- when Skywishes was roused from sleep by a distant, and slightly muffled, hello.  It took her a few seconds to understand that the voice, which she only just had begun to recognize as Pinky Pie’s, was coming from the crystal ball at the other side of the room.  Skywishes would have preferred to get up and answer it herself, but knew she wasn’t meant to get out of bed in her condition without assistance, so she decided instead to wake up Starcatcher; who was curled up like a cat at the foot of the bed.  Skywishes nudged her wife in the side with a hoof.  “Star…?” No response. “Starry.”  A slightly harder jab this time. Starcatcher met this with some gentle writhing and incoherent grumbling.  Skywishes cursed herself for marrying such an adorable goofball. “STARCATCHER!” “WAUGH!!” The pegasus’ eyes went as wide as saucers as she jumped up out of bed, landing on the wooden floor with a great *thud.* “Good morning, sleepyhead!” Skywishes chuckled to herself.  “Sorry for the literal rude awakening, but I think Pinky and Minty are trying to call us. Starcatcher, bags under her eyes, responded to this with a great, back-popping stretch, a grunt of acknowledgement, and a gentle forehead kiss, which made Skywishes involuntarily squeak.  Starcatcher seemed to be quite a gruff pony, but she really was very sweet. As Starry approached the crystal ball, Minty could be heard braying out a louder *HELLOOO*, afterwhich Pinky shushed her, and giggled.  Starcatcher swooped the red felt blanket covering the ball with a wing, and gave the projected images a hearty “G’mornin’, mates!” “Starcatcher!” the pink and green ponies excitedly chirped, as the white pegasus in question carried the ball in her wings over to her ailing love’s bedside table, followed by a “Skywishes!!” “How are you two doing?” Pinky asked. “Sorry for not checking in with you the last few days have been totally crazy and ridiculous and we have new friends now and we’re--” Minty’s lack of punctuation meant she had to take in a deep breath, and she started to begin again, but Skywishes cut her off. “Hey, hey, hey! Take it easy, Molly.  We kinda figured, but I won’t lie and say we haven’t been worried sick.” “I wasn’t,” Starcatcher said with a smug expression. “Liar!” Skywishes sat up to playfully jab her wife, giggling, but got winded from this very minor activity and had to lay her head back down on the pillow. “Easy, dear, easy…” Starcatcher said softly, and loomed protectively over Sky. “Gosh, are you okay?” Pinky asked, with genuine concern. “Gotta say, not really.”  Skywishes replied.  “I mean, I’m not any worse than when it started, but I’m not any better either.” “Not worse is good!” Minty said, trying to lighten the mood, as she is wont to do.  “You seem to be in good spirits for somepony with a mythological disease that only exists for the purpose of deific succession.”  Minty gave an empty-headed smile, and was met with silence while everyone else looked at her in astonishment that she had described anything so… dryly. Starcatcher broke the awkward silence by clearing her throat, and then proceeded to ask, “So, you two there are new friends of Pinks and Mints, eh?  Care to introduce yaselves?” A dark purple unicorn mare, and a striking white mane suddenly appeared, much too close to the crystal ball, as she much-too-excitedly asked “Are you talking about fadeaway??” The two ponies in the hospital couldn’t help but flinch at this, before Skywishes answered “Um, yes?  Is that… good?” “Oh, no, it’s very bad.  There aren’t any reliable historical documents referring to it as a real disease, other than some half-burned manuscripts attributed to--” She was cut off by two buttercream yellow forelegs pulling her back to reveal a second pony-- an absolutely towering pegasus mare with a pink mane and distressed expression, who admonished the unicorn: “Twilight, stop, you’re scaring her!” “But Flitter-Flutter, I--” “Guys!”  Pinky Pie’s head poked out between the two ponies.  “Please just introduce yourselves?” “No, no, it’s okay!” Skywishes assured them, “I’m already not as optimistic as I’d like to be…”  She gave a mirthless chuckle, and Starcatcher rested her chin on the purple mare’s head in a gesture of comfort, while shooting a glare at the newcomers. “So, you haven’t made any real progress, is what you’re sayin’?” Starcatcher said venomously, as Minty came into frame. “No, Starcatcher, we have!  We’ve got Twilight Twinkle with us!  She’s a really super-duper powerful magician, and I’m sure she can help us!” Minty chirped with a grin. The door to the hospital room suddenly swung open, just carefully enough not to slam against the wall, but with very deliberate aggression; as a tall, thin, purple unicorn strode into the room. “Are you two okay?  What’s all the commotion?”  Lamplight looked back and forth between the other two, and then her eyes became saucers upon seeing the crystal ball-- and specifically a very familiar pony depicted upon it-- “Dusk!?” Twilight Twinkle gasped, “Mom!?”