Main Characters: Full Moon, Helios
Cameos: Queen Luna, Alba
Continuation of a short arc on Ask TWP.
Rei groans and blinks. She cannot feel anything except excruciating pain. She blinks again, keeping blood from flowing into her eyes. She tries standing, but only her left foreleg is free from whatever is trapping her. She tries looking around but any neck movement sends intense pain through her whole body. She tries focusing her lightning affinity in her free hoof, but the electricity flowing through her body causes her to scream. She tries looking around again. Nopony.
Rei sighs and rests her head in the blood pooling under her. ‘Hang in there, Rei... Hang... in... there...’ Her eyes grow heavy and close.
Rei yawns and stretches on her futon. She moans and looks out the window of her home in Neighpon. She has no school today so she is just going to stay home and play video games and catch up on her anime. It is not like she has any friends to play with... There is a knock on her door.
‘Rei-chan? Are you up?’ Rei’s attendant calls. ‘You have a visitor.’
‘Bullsh...’
‘LANGUAGE, YOUNG LADY!’ is shouted back in a booming Royal Canterlot Voice.
Rei blows through the door and tackles her guest in a hug.
‘Luna-sama!’ the young filly cheers, nuzzling the alicorn’s neck.
‘Good to see you too, Rei,’ the queen laughs. She sets the filly on the ground. ‘I brought some guests with me this time.’
Luna motions beside her. The young Prince Helios stands next to his mother. The younger Princess Alba waves from her mother’s back.
‘Helios! Alba!’ Rei is giddy.
Helios looks down and blushes. ‘Hi, Full Moon.’
‘Fu Moo!’ Alba greets.
‘I am going to be in town on business,’ Luna explains. ‘Would you mind spending the day with my children?’
‘YES!’ Rei grabs Helios in a hug. ‘I love Helo-kun and Alba-tan!’
‘I love you, too.’ Helios mumbles.
‘Helios mentioned wanting to see the city,’ Luna says. ‘Alba would have to stay here, but you two are free to see the city.’
‘Sure! Anything for Helo-kun.’
‘Excellent.’ Luna smiles. ‘You would make a wonderful big sister.’
Rei smiles in return. Luna levitates Alba to the floor. She gives the young alicorn a large textbook, causing the princess to squeal in joy.
‘I will return later tonight. I hope you have a wonderful day.’
Luna gives the three foals loving nuzzles before she trots out of the home. Rei smiles at her guests. Helios smiles in return. A grumbling stomach breaks the silence.
Rei giggles. ‘Gomen nasai. I just got up.’
Rei and Helios trot down the streets of Haydo after a filling breakfast. The white filly is licking the remaining rice from her face. The midnight blue colt smiles as he watches the cleaning ritual beside him.
Thanks to their contrasting colors, the two young ponies look like night and day. Rei is short and skinny. Helios, despite being a year younger than Rei, is tall and muscular. The young filly is loud and sloppy. The young colt is quiet and precise. One trait they both share is a vast intellect, though Rei tends to pretend otherwise.
Helios smiles and sighs as he watches Rei. My older sister can't be this cute.
‘Helo-kun? Are you listening?’
‘Huh? Wha?’
‘I was trying to tell you about Oreimo. It is such a fun show.’ She gets an evil grin. ‘I love the subject material.’
‘Huh?’
Rei giggles. ‘You’re too young to get it.’
‘You’re only a year older than me.’
Rei grins. She leans up and whispers into Helios’ ear. The alicorn’s wings stick up. The filly giggles when she leans back.
‘You and your sister are about the right age, too. She is probably going to be gorgeous when she grows up. Unlike me...’
‘You don’t have to be gorgeous when you grow up. You’re already gorgeous now.’
‘B-baka,’ Rei blushes. ‘Are you hitting on me, Prince?’
‘What? No! I mean, you are cute and....’
Rei giggles. ‘You’re fun to tease. Come on! Let’s hit up Animate before it gets too late!’
The filly gallops ahead. The prince sighs and hurries after her.
Helios’ neck is getting a workout. He is not looking at the sights of Haydo. He is trying to read a manga at the store he and Rei are at. His head turns between the manga and an Equestrian to Neighponese dictionary as they hover before the him while he tries to make it past the second page.
Rei trots over from the back of the store. She has a black bag under wing.
‘Find something you like?’ the filly asks.
‘I have no idea,’ the colt sighs. ‘What did you get?’
Rei blushes and grins. ‘Just some doujinshi and a new yuri eroge.’
‘Some what?’
Rei’s blush deepens and she pulls the prince in close. She pulls the game partly out of the bag. The colt’s eyes go wide and his wings stick straight up. A weak spell fizzles on his horn. Rei giggles and dashes from the store before they get too many stares. Helios quickly follows.
‘Does-does my mom or your attendant know you buy that?’
Rei practically turns pink she is blushing so much. ‘No... Please don’t tell them.’ She looks down and whispers, ‘It just feels so good to clop sometimes...’
Helios freezes and does everything in his power to control the thoughts and involuntary reactions he is having. ‘I-I-I won’t t-tell anypony.’
‘Thanks. You’re sweet.’ Rei kisses his cheek. ‘That is why I name the stallion after you sometimes.’
Helios’ legs fail him from the shock of hearing what Rei just told him. The filly giggles and gallops ahead.
‘Hey! I know the best place for lunch! Oh! I think they are doing my favorite show today, too!’
The young prince fails to comprehend anything that he is witnessing. Ponies of all types dressed in odd costumes are serving customers in the cafe he and Rei are at. Some of the customers covertly take pictures of the servers. Rei sings along with the crazy music playing from the speakers. Helios shakes his head and settles into his seat. An unicorn in a grey wig and wearing a school uniform steps up to the table. Rei beams with excitement.
‘How may I help you?’ the waitress asks in a plain voice.
‘Two sodas and an order of croquettes to start us off, Nagano-san,’ Rei replies.
The waitress sighs. ‘Roger.’
The waitress trots away. Rei giggles.
‘You know her?’ Helios asks.
'No, but she is my favorite character in the show,’ Rei explains. ‘I love the grey mane and the smarty brain she has.’
Helios laughs. ‘You’re so cute.’
The music picks up, and everypony stops what they are doing. Rei stands at the table while the other patrons do the same.
The prince panics a little. ‘What is going on? I don’t get it?’
‘Come on! You have to join in!’
The music changes and all of the patrons except Helios start dancing.
♫
Nazonazo mitai ni chikyuugi wo tokiakashitara
Minna de doko made mo ikeru ne
…
♪
‘What the hell is going on!’ Helios hides under the table.
Rei trots through a park with Helios after their lunch. The filly has a big smile on her face. The colt is shellshocked. Rei rubs against Helios, linking her wing under his. He looks down at the pegasus smiling up at him.
‘I had a great day, Helo-kun. Arigato.’
‘I had a better one, thanks to you.’
Rei blushes and looks away. ‘Baka.’
The pair find a bench and sit together. Rei leans against Helios and sighs contentedly. Clopping is heard behind them. Helios looks back to see a group of fillies of various tribes trotting past. One of the fillies laughs.
‘Look. It is Tiny.’
‘Who is she with? That looks like...’
‘Please. Like the prince would ever want to spend time with her. He is far too cool to spend time with a shrimp like her.’
‘Yeah. He is probably back at the capital with a filly who doesn’t look like a newborn foal.’
‘Nice try, loser! Go back to your tiny home and be a baka otaku.’
‘You’re going to get your cutie mark in being a loser.’
‘A tiny loser otaku cutie mark. Perfect for her.’
‘That is good cosplay, but the prince would never spend time with that short otaku. I don’t see how you can ever stand being with her. You’re both freaks!’
‘Weirdos!’
‘Otaku!’
The fillies laugh as they trot away. Helios’ hooves dig in the ground as he resists blasting the fillies with his magic. He looks at Rei. She has her head down and a puddle has formed from her tears.
‘Full Moon?’
‘They are right. Why would anypony want to be around me? I am just a short, weird otaku.’
‘Full Moon...’
‘Stop it!’ A small snap of electricity scorches the ground under Rei’s hooves. ‘Stop calling me that!’
‘No! You are Full Moon! Rei might be your common name, but you are really Full Moon at heart, and you know it!’
‘I am not Full Moon... Full Moon is just a silly dream.’
‘Full Moon is the name of princess. I could never love anypony more than I love Princess Full Moon!’
‘Helios...’
‘Please, Full Moon. Stop being sad. I cannot stand to see you ruin your perfect face with tears.’
‘I don’t know if I can stop...’
Helios takes Rei’s hooves. ‘Rei, Full Moon, please. For me. Please be happy. I know it is tough, but you have to hang in there. You have to hang in there and be happy. Please, Full Moon. Be happy. Hang in there.’
Rei wipes her tears. ‘I will. For my Prince Helios. I’ll hang in there for him.’
Helios holds Rei close. ‘Hang in there, Full Moon. Hang in there...’
‘Hang... in... the...’ Rei rasps. Her mane and coat are stained red from her injuries. She is having trouble breathing. ‘Ha...’
‘HANG IN THERE, REI!’ a yell calls.
The injured filly cracks her eyes. She sees a red shape, but that could just be the blood.
‘HANG IN THERE!’
The Panicking Physicist finds a safe cliff face to slide down. At the bottom, he charges and slams into the rocks that have Rei pinned to the ground. Inkie follows moments later. Silver Fox swoops in from above as well. Lucas teleports down with Stormy and Image Crystal. The ponies move the rocks from atop the trapped filly as quickly and safely as they can.
‘Hang in there, Rei!’ James cradles his daughter. ‘Hang in there!’
Rei weakly smiles and passes out again.
James stands outside of a room at Ponyville Hospital. In the room, a sleeping Rei is wrapped almost entirely in bandages. She has breathing tubes, and an IV drip is in her uninjured leg. A doctor is in the room with the filly. He exits and goes to The Worried Parent.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ the doctor says. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this.’
‘How bad?’
‘Both her hind legs and her right foreleg are broken. Her wings were nearly shattered. Her back is in really bad shape, and she is covered in cuts and bruises, not counting that massive gash on her head. But somehow, she will make it. I don’t know how that is possible. Even with the medical data Luna sent us, she should not be alive right now.’
‘Rei has a way of hanging on through the tough situations.’
‘I guess so.’
‘Can I..?’
The doctor nods. James smiles and enters the room. He pulls a seat next to Rei. He leans up and kisses her forehead.
‘Good girl. Way to hang in there for us. We love you, Rei... I mean, Full Moon. Your family loves you. Thank you so much for hanging in there.’
Rei sits in her home with Helios and Alba. The two younger ponies are sleeping under the older pegasus’s wings. Rei smiles at the sleeping ponies beside her. She snuggles down and lays with them. Behind her, a magical light glows as her cutie mark appears, a shining full moon with five bright stars around it.