"Duusk?" A voice called to him.
"Huh?" He moaned a reply.
"Time to wake up."
Dusk forced his eyes open, he looked to his left and saw Fluttershy was still asleep. She was holding his hoof much like a foal holds a security blanket. He looked to the door and saw Celestia standing in the doorway. "M-mentor?"
"Shh, we don't want to wake up Fluttershy, she went through a lot yesterday, she needs to rest," Celestia whispered. He gave her a confirming nod. "I have some important news to tell you," she said in a hushed voice. "I talked to the doctors, there is an opening for an operating room later today that we can fill. No patients will be ready for an operation at that time that need it, you want to try the surgery then?"
Dusk looked down at Fluttershy, before turning back to Celestia and giving a decisive confirmation, "yes."
"Okay, I will set everything up, just don't have a heart attack before then, okay?" She slipped out of the room again, closing the door with a barely audible click.
Wow, I really lucked out... Fluttershy is going to be so excited when she wakes up!
About ten minutes passed, she began to stir before waking up with a yawn. "Good morning Dusk, feeling better?"
"Yes, you are not going to believe what just happened!"
"What?" She rubbed her eyes fully waking up.
"I'm getting the surgery done today!"
"W-what? Dusk that's great news!" She couldn't contain her excitement, she threw her hooves around him and starting kissing him repeatedly on the cheek.
He turned to face her, the two kissed passionately for some time, until the door swung open unexpectedly. "Dusk? You up?" Rarity stood frozen in the doorway, the two on the bed didn't move a muscle, "I'm gonna go back downstairs..." She slipped out of the room and closed the door again.
The couple separated immediately, "well... that just happened."
"Y-yeah, should we try to tone it down a bit?"
"Maybe, think she will tell everybody downstairs?"
"Probably..."
"Sounds about right, you want to tell them the good news?"
"I think that would be best," she climbed off the bed and walked out of the room.
Rarity wouldn't be hurt by seeing that right? I mean, she let those feelings go a while ago right? Those thoughts festered in Dusk's mind until someone came in the room.
Twilight walked in, "so, I heard the good news, looks like you'll be out of here in no time."
Dusk did his best to smile, "yeah, did Rarity say anything about when she came in?"
"Uh, yes she did. She said that she walked in while you two were getting rather... intimate."
"I swear we weren't doing anything that intimate!" His heartbeat monitor began to beep more rapidly.
"Whoa Dusk, calm down your heart still can't take too much!" Dusk managed to get his pulse under control. "Okay, I know you two weren't doing anything too inappropriate for two reasons: first, you and/or Fluttershy would've stopped yourselves from going too far. Second, you can't even have an emotional outburst without having your pulse go through the roof." Twilight couldn't help but laugh about his current situation.
"Okay, does everyone else feel the same way?"
"Actually, no one really thinks too much of it. Most of us trust you two know what you're doing."
"Most? My parents?"
"They are a little bit hesitant about it, but they said that you're an adult now, and that they trust your judgement. The only one in the group showing any sort of real concern, is Rarity."
"Define concern."
"She said, and I quote: 'Fluttershy shouldn't be alone with him, at least until he's released,' unquote."
"I take it that no one else agreed with that, especially Fluttershy."
"You are right, the two were getting into a debate about it," Twilight started rubbing the back of her neck. "I sorta came up here so I wouldn't be caught in another one of their arguments. The girls and I were kinda forced to hear the last one and I really didn't like that, so I needed something to get myself out of there." She paused, realizing her implications of Dusk as a scapegoat, "not that I need an excuse to come up and see you! I just figured that I would take two birds with one stone coming up here now."
Dusk just started to laugh, it was better than they day before, but still pretty raspy. "I get what you're saying. But I did hear about their last argument, during the changling attack, Rarity told me that they were shouting at each other, right?"
"They were at each others' throats for a minute, and during the attack... not the best time for Fluttershy to voice her concerns about your relationship."
"Yeah, she thought I was cheating on her... I was so stupid about the whole thing!" Dusk had to take deep breathes to keep his monitor quiet.
"Stupid? About what?"
"About this whole proposal! Every decision I've made about it has all but blown up in my face! Trying to keep it a secret! Having Rarity help me with it! For Celestia's sake, if I had just asked her the day of the picnic things might be completely different! I am so STUPID!" He could feel his chest burn with every beat of his heart, the monitor starting to show his pulse become too rapid for his body to handle.
"Dusk, you are far from stupid, but you can't burn out now. Not when you're so close, so please calm down, if not for your sake then do it for mine, your parents and Fluttershy's." Twilight managed to get through as he just went limp, as if all of his energy was efficiently drained. "Listen, going back and undoing something stupid that you did, we all have at least one of those times we wish we could undo. But you can't, I can't, even Celestia can't. Look at the positives of your actions, Fluttershy's happier than she's ever been and I know your just as happy that she said yes."
Dusk nodded in agreement, "good, now that we have that matter settled, I'm going to go check on the situation downstairs. Just stay calm, everything is fine." With that she walked out of the door and vanished from his sight. Relative silence consumed the room, Dusk's mind and body were completely drained and he felt like just laying there until his surgery. After a few minutes of silence and solitude, he slipped into sleep again.
*****
Rarity and Fluttershy stood across from each other in the waiting room, neither one daring to say a word to the other. It was as if there was a shaky armistice between the two in the presence of the others.
"Come on now, there's no need fo' any of this, look, ya both said some things, but that doesn't matter." Apple Jack did her best to ease the tension, "Dusk is upstairs and he needs our support, bein' at each others' throats like this won't do him any good."
She's right, he needs me right now, I should go see if he's okay. Fluttershy turned and headed toward the ICU of the hospital. "You still don't deserve him," Rarity jabbed.
Flutershy stopped at the edge of the room and turned around, "you can believe that, but he's going to my husband, not yours. Nothing's going to change that, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure my fiance is alright." She began to head up the stairs again, satisfied that Rarity was speechless.
She met Twilight on the stairs, "how is he?"
"Uh, a little unstable at the moment but he's keeping a grip," Twilight answered.
"What happened?!"
"He had a little outburst, just avoid talking about your fight with Rarity, it might put him on edge."
"Why? How could that affect him so much?"
"It wasn't the fight specifically, rather... the whole reason for the fight, the accusation. He feels terrible for even giving you reason to think he might be unfaithful."
Fluttershy's heart sank, "how upset was he?"
"Upset enough to try shouting, calling himself stupid and trying to convince me, as much as he was trying to convince himself, that he was."
Fluttershy's eyes just dropped to the floor, I made him do that? Maybe Rarity's right, maybe I don't deserve to have him in my life...
"Hey, don't you start blaming yourself too, just get up there," Twilight gestured up the stairs. "We all know that you're probably the best one of us to comfort him right now."
She nodded and headed up the stairs, passing a few doctors on the way up. The door to Dusk's room was left open, she poked her head in the door to see that he was asleep. Darn, he's asleep again, I can't wake him up after what he just went through. With nothing else to do, she climbed in bed and helped keep him warm by holding him close, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.
She laid their for a couple hours, Celestia walked in the room to see that Dusk was asleep. "Dusk, wake up, it's time to go."
He was unresponsive, "Dusk, wake up now please, I want to see you off before the operation." Fluttershy whispered in his ear.
He stirred before opening his eyes, "it's time?"
"Yeah, Dusk, it's time. I just want you to remember, I love you and I will always love you, okay?" He gave her a weak nod, "good, now I will be here the minute you wake up, I Pinkie Promise."
The two kissed for a moment before Celestia ended it, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we do have to get moving. Don't worry, I'll bring him back in good shape."
A gurney was wheeled in by a surgeon and Dusk was placed on it, the IVs and pulse monitor were removed from his arm. She tried to follow it, but the surgeon halted her at the doors of the operation wing. With a heavy sigh, she walked back to the waiting room and saw that everyone was still there, everyone except Rarity.
"Dusk is in surgery now, where is Rarity?"
"She left, she was on the verge of tears when you headed upstairs," Twilight explained. "She'll come around just give her some time to cool off, did you talk to Dusk about it?"
Fluttershy shook her head, tears forming in her eyes, "no, he was asleep until Celestia came in to take him into surgery."
Niccolo gestured for her to take an open seat next to him and Maria, "don't you worry about him, he's been through plenty. Our son may not look like it, but he is strong, he'll pull through this."
Fluttershy sat down next to his parents, who did their best to comfort her. "How can you be so sure about that?"
"We watched him survive a direct hit from lightning and walk away with a cutie mark," Maria answered. "When you see your foal do that you know there strong."
Fluttershy felt a hoof rest on her shoulder, "we have the utmost confidence in him, and you should too." Niccolo smiled, "after all, you'll be apart of the family soon, right?"
She did her best to smile back, they really think of me as family.... Soon after, the room fell silent, one by one the group fell asleep, except for Fluttershy, determined to keep her promise. The hours strung together in an endless span of time.
...
The thought of sleep clung to her brain, no matter how much she tried to shake it. Thankfully, a surgeon walked into the waiting room and approached her, since she was the only one awake. "He's out of surgery, we won't know how well it went until after he wakes up, you're welcome to stay with him in his room, just don't touch the stitches across his chest." She gave a nod and the surgeon returned to his wing.
She slipped up the stairs quietly, the fact that I'm not downstairs should tell them that he's recovering, I hope. The door to Dusk's room was closed, Fluttershy opened it slowly and saw him sleeping contently. The worst is over, now it's just recovery.
"He looks so peaceful doesn't he?" A voice whispered behind her, she jumped and turned around to see that it was Rarity at the door. "Before you say anything, I want to apologize for what I said earlier, I had no right to say what I said."
"I need to apologize too, I feel I crossed a line."
"But you didn't, you simply stated a fact. The truth of the matter is you're right, he's marrying you and my thoughts are irrelevant, I just need to be happy for you two."
"That doesn't mean I should throw it in your face."
The two walked up to the side of the bed, Dusk was clearly shivering. "He looks cold, you should help him keep warm, I'll stay downstairs and tell everyone he's out of surgery." Rarity's suggestion shocked Fluttershy, but before she could reply the door was closed with a soft click. She simply climbed into the bed once more, careful not to touch his stitches. She pulled him close to help him stay warm, soon after, he stopped shivering. I will be right here for you, no matter what. You made that promise to me a few months ago, but now it's my turn to keep it. She fell asleep with those thoughts playing in her mind....