"...and that's when I realised that the plan could work. And it did!"
"I remember hearing about that. But it didn't all go to plan did it?"
"Well...no..."
One of the nurses had taken the time out of her day to talk with me over the intercom system. She was such a friendly pony to talk to and she was more of a listener than a speaker. Her name was Summer Blossom and she told me about herself. She was born in Trottingham, she's married with two foals, she's been a nurse for ten years and she specialises in therapy. No doubt I'll probably be seeing her after all of this is over.
For the past hour or so, I had been telling her about my time here. More precisely, Nightmare Night when Luna came to town. "And it all turned out well in the end. Mayor Mare found out about me and Luna and it was there and then we confessed our love for each other in front of the whole town." I finished.
"I wish my husband did that for me."
"Oh come on, he would have done. You said it yourself, he's an amazing pony but work gets in the way of things. Surely he told you he loves you in a romantic way."
"Oh he did but not as good as yours. He took me to a Wonderbolts show - this was when Spitfire was still a junior member. He got the captain to write something in the sky for me."
That was better than mine?! "Now that's impressive! Way better than me and Luna!"
*BUZZ*
A buzzing noise indicated the switchover for the staff. "Time for me to leave I'm afraid. I'll speak to you tomorrow, yes?"
"Yeah...sure. Enjoy the rest of your day Summer." The intercom switched off and I sat back onto the bed. It had been another two days since any of my close friends visited. Even Celestia stopped visiting which made me think that they've found something that could help or...
"No Owen...that's silly. They wouldn't forget about you." I said to myself. Truth be told, I knew I was right but there was that itch - that tiny voice in the back of your head disagreeing with everything you think about. I shook my head and chuckled. "Stupid mind...they wouldn't forget...they wouldn't..."
"We wouldn't forget about you." a voice sounded.
Well, that quelled my fears. "Hey Celestia..."
"You sounded troubled a moment ago...are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm alright...just some fears I've been having but you coming back has got rid of them." Celestia stayed silent for a moment. "I hadn't spoken to any of you in a couple of days and I normally see you at least twice or three times a day so--"
"You never need to worry about that. The reason we haven't been in contact for two days is because we may have had a major breakthrough in solving your problem.
"You have?" I got up from my bed and stood up, close to one of the walls. "What have you discovered?"
"I think it would be best if it came from my dear sister."
"She's...she's coming?" My smile grew wide. "Luna's coming to visit? How did you do it?"
"I didn't. You can thank my faithful student for that. Twilight did her very best to motivate Luna into coming out of her depression and she will be coming by this afternoon."
"Today?!" I grapsed my head with my hands and laughed loudly. "Oh my...I can't believe it...I..." I sat back down on the bed and breathed slowly. "It's been too long..."
"Well I can assure you that she has missed you so much and you will be expecting an emotional reunion. I smiled a bit wider. "I must return to my duties now. I will leave you to relax until my sister arrives this afternoon. When you do depart this place, please come and visit."
"Of course I will. You know I..." The cogs turned. "When I get out? You mean...what you have discovered will work?!" I exclaimed.
"It very well should do. Please rest for me as this procedure may make you extremely fatigued afterwards." Celestia said before the intercom switched off again. I lay back in my bed, put my hands behind my head and began to think about what they could have figured out. Maybe a certain spell...maybe they found something about my body...
"What do you mean? The magic will still be in his body won't it?"
"That's not what I meant. Yes, if you use the dampening ring, the magic will remain locked inside your body. But what if I were to do something like this..."
*SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE*
"Oh my...I think...I think that will work! But...won't it..."
"Yes there is a risk but I feel if we can enchant it enough, the rush of magic will not kill him. Trust me Twilight, believe in your Princess."
"Of course Princess! Let's get to it!"
So there I sat. Patiently on the bed, waiting for the love of my life to arrive with the possible solution to my problems. Nearly three weeks it's been, three weeks. The only form of physical contact I've had was with Twilight and it was only once.
"I swear the moment I get out of here, I'm gonna glomp anyone I see." I said to myself.
The amount of time I spent waiting, I could have paced around the room. Might as well try and lose some weight while I'm at it. Pinkie's treats were too delicious to defer and now it was starting to show. I got myself up and just walked around the small square room.
"Owen, what are you doing?" the doctor asked.
"Exercising. I've spent all this time doing nothing. Might as well keep fit." I said, pacing around the room.
"I have a good reason for you to stop."
"Oh really? What?"
A few seconds of microphone feedback sounded before another voice came on. "H-hello my love..."
OK, that stopped me. I walked to where the panel opened up and stared at the wall. "Luna...you're here..." I placed my hand on the wall. "You're really here." I whispered.
"I'm sorry for not coming sooner. I thought you wouldn't want to see me."
"How could I think that? Twilight did tell you I never blamed you right?" She hummed. "Then that's all you need to hear. Look, this was going to happen. Nothing could have stopped it."
"So you do mean it." I heard happiness in her voice.
"Of course I do! I'd never lie to you." I smiled and rested my head on the wall. "How have you been?"
"I could have been better. All of the time I spent thinking you blamed me, I locked myself away...not having the courage to face my friends after what happened."
"And Twilight got you out." I said with pride said unicorn.
"That she did. She certianly helped me out of my slump." I sighed happily. "But now for the reason I am here. Myself, Twilight and Celestia had discovered a very possible solution to your problem."
"Alright! What have you got?"
"Do you remember when Twilight visited you and she had to wear a ring to surpress her magic?"
"Yeah I remember that." I slapped my forehead. "Oh my...it was so obvious! That's bound to work!"
"Actually no." Huh wha? "We found that if the magic stayed in you, it would cause more damage. We needed to find a way to expel it all at once."
"And...you did?" I asked expectantly.
"We did. And we tested it. On myself, Celestia and Twilight, it worked perfectly."
I heard a buzzing noise and the floor opened up. It was the lift and on it was a tiny ring, silver in colour. I picked up the ring and too a closer look. The ring had tiny specks of glowing matter on it and there was a small inscription of a star on the inside of the ring.
"And...this is it, right?"
"Correct. What you hold there is a magic dampening ring that has been shrunk to fit on your finger and it's magical properties have been made opposite."
"Made opposite? So that means..." This plan sounded amazing. "Instead of magic being kept in the body...this ring will allow the magic to escape my body?"
"You have it my love. Since you do not have an exertion point for your magic, this ring will act as a transmitter and all of your magic will be expelled through that ring. Once the majority of it has gone, as long as you keep the ring on, magic will freely flow out of you and will never build up."
"Oh wow..." I went to put the ring on my finger.
"WAIT!" I bloody hated the Canterlot Voice. "I'm sorry about that. But please wait a moment. Before you put this ring on, I have to tell you something important. There is a very slight risk that the magic will escape too quickly. If that happens...well..."
I knew what she meant. "Luna...I understand. But it won't. You three spent ages trying to make this ring perfect. Trust me, I'll be fine." I was shit-scared but I couldn't let her know that.
"I know you are scared." OK, scratch that. "And one more thing. When you put the ring on, the magic will immediately flow through your body and out of the ring. Please bear in mind that the force behind the exertion will be huge and it may cause immense fatigue almost immeditately."
I gulped and nodded. "I understand..." I sighed heavily, eyeing the ring that I was holding in my hand. "I'm ready. Are you?"
"I am. Be strong."
I nodded one last time and stood up straight. I held the ring up and eyed it again. I swore there was a Lord Of The Rings reference I could make here but I wouldn't - couldn't stand the series. I held out my right hand and held up my ring finger. Slowly but surely, I lowered the ring onto my finger. It just got the first joint when a question arised.
"Does it need to be at the base for it to work?"
"That it does." She sighed. "I can sense your fear. The best thing to do would be to push it down fast and let it do what it needs to do. Will you do it on the count of three?"
She was right, I was bloody petrified. "OK...on three."
"One."
This was it.
"Two."
I had to do it.
"Three!"
I shoved the ring down and it rested on the base of my finger. My entire body shook as I felt a massive wave of energy go through my head. As Luna said, I felt like I was ready to collapse at any moment. "ARGH...is this...normal?!"
"Just hold on! It's working!"
I felt the energy move down my body and into my right shoulder. "I can feel it moving!" My right arm starting spasming as the magic flowed into it. "WHAT DO I DO?!"
"Try and keep it still!"
"I CAN'T!" I was more than petrified now - this could kill me! The energy continued travelling down my arm until it reached my hand. I felt the energy enter my hand and--
*FLASH*
"WHOA!" A huge stream of light erupted from the ring on my middle finger. I looked up to see the beam hitting the ceiling and careening off in all directions. What looked like flakes of magic broke off from the beam and disintegrated as they travelled downwards. Even in this dire situation, I still chuckled slighty. It looked like I was giving the most powerful middle finger ever.
"Are you alright?!"
"YEAH, I'M FINE!" The noise of the magic was near deafening so I was surprised I could still hear Luna over it. The magic continued flowing out and making the room shine for near three minutes before I started to feel woozy. I rested my left hand on the bed to maintain my balance but standing up was proving a problem. I fell back onto the bed, my right hand's beam slowly diminishing and closed my eyes. I just hoped that this would be over soon.
"Owen, stay awake!"
"Ugh......it's too hard...I can't..." I managed to look at my right hand to see that the magic had stopped shooting out the beam and it had stopped spasming. "I...I think..." My eyes shut as the fatigue overtook me.
"Owen! Doctor, let..."
I heard Luna scream my name and I heard some loud rumblings. This procedure had knocked out my hearing so it was hard to hear anything. I felt a weight on the bed next to me and then felt something behind my back.
"Owen......ar me?"
She was there. Right there. I just needed to...
"Ow.....lease wake up!"
I fought with all my strength to open my eyes. "Urrr...."
"Owen! You're alive!"
My eyes slowly opened to reveal Luna holding me in her hooves with tears in her eyes. I reached up and placed my hand on her cheek. "L...Luna..." I said through shallow breaths. "You're here..."
Luna pulled me close as I regained my breath and began to see better. I managed to reach my arms up and put them around her. "Did it work...did it?"
She put her head in my line of view and smiled. "Yes it did! If it didn't, you'd be unconcious right now. You know why?" She pointed to her horn which was glowing. From behind her back, she levitated my gem to me and placed it around my neck. "Because it doesn't hurt anymore does it?"
"N...no." I began to laugh. "No it doesn't!" I slowly got to my feet and stretched my limbs. "I can't believe it...does this mean I can leave?"
"Yes my dear. Come, we shall return to the castle." I picked up my iPod and followed Luna out of quarantine. Various doctors and nurses stood nearby and applauded as I walked out with my fiance. This only made me feel better but very embarrased. To direct it somewhere else, I started applauding as well. "Ladies and gentlemen, please direct your thanks to my lovely partner, Princess Luna!"
The group of medical staff applauded louder towards Luna who blushed slightly. "Please...it was not all my doing. Many thanks go to Celestia and Twilight Sparkle. Without them, we would have not found a cure for Owen's magic problem."
I looked upon the group and smiled. "I want to thank you guys for taking care of me through this troubled time. Seriously, without your help I don't think I would have lasted in that room."
I got a chorus of you're welcome's and thank you's as a response. "Come along Owen. We have much to discuss." I waved the doctors and nurses goodbye before following Luna through the hospital corridors. "I do have one more thing to tell you."
"What's that?" I asked.
"That you must keep that ring on at all times to prevent magic build-up. Without the ring, you can last about two to three weeks before it overwhelms you. I am currently in the process of making more of these rings just in case you lose it."
I leant over and kissed her cheek. "Smart move...very smart." It wasn't long before the main entrance came into view. "Oh...outside. It's been too long. Warm sunshine, birds singing..." We walked out of the doors...
"And bucketloads of rain!"