A slow drone of a heart monitor keeps the still room from falling silent, the slow but steady beep matches pace with the sound of different machines and magics keeping him alive if by a thread. There was a lot that this pony went though in such a short time...so much pain, so much confusion brought on by the one pony he thought he could trust with no proof of good intentions. The one pony that he thought would be there for him unconditionally, perhaps even be the teacher that his mother could not be. A cloud outside moved to let in more sunlight, warming his body a little more in the cold room with only a light sheet to help, the pace on the monitor quickened in response but slowed back down to normal in seconds.
"You know this is not your fault." A soft female voice said quietly.
"Tis been a week and already he is improving..." another joined.
He hears them but couldn't place a name to the voices,even though he felt he should know them...and for some reason when he tried to move his body, nothing happened. Moments passed painfully slow but he felt as if days were passing until he heard more voices.
"Your Majesty?"
"She is...unavailable, what do ya need?" A familiar male voice answered.
This time both talking were male, the second voice sounded close but this time he could put a name to the voice.
Spike...?
"I wish to inform the princess that the other patient recovered just woke up, he wants to speak with her and wont talk to us."
A heavy sigh responded and a new set of hooves left the room, leaving Spike alone in the white room once the door closed again.
A few more moments passed and soon he heard more voices, this time clear as day.
"How long has he been like this?" Sentinel asked softly.
"Two weeks now, I still have no idea what kind of power the princess used but..i'll be damned if she didn't save both of your lives."
He tried to remember what happened but for the life of him he couldn't even remember his name, so why could he place others voices and names...
He tried to move again and managed to shift his arm slightly...
"Oh my Celestia...g-get her in here,he's waking up!"
Something heavy grabbed his arm and soon he was moving his legs, eyes fluttering open and vision blurry to the point of blindness, though to his relief it was adjusting quickly. A purple form threw open the door and stood in the doorway in shock...
"Twilight, he's okay!" Sentinel shouted joyously.
That was the name he was looking for! He was in full control of his body once again and his vision cleared to leave his attention centered on the soft and loving features of the purple alicorn he would always call...
"Mom..." Dusty said weakly but with a smile stuck on his face.
"Dusty!" Twilight said, running to the bed and completely ignoring the wires he was attached to and picked him up off the bed in a tight hug...one of the warmest and most welcome the colt could remember. Dusty buried his head in Twilight's soft purple coat as a few tears started flowing.
Nothing mattered anymore, the hardship was over and after some time; they could try and get back to living normal lives...at least as normal as a royal life can get. Sentinel even had to struggle to keep his eyes from watering when the two were separated by the doctor to run his tests. Twilight whispered something to Dusty and signaled for Sentinel to step outside with her.
Odd it may be, Sentinel stepped outside the room with her and nearly got blindsided by a group of interns following a ranting doctor into another ward. Phones blazed constantly and although it was hard not to notice the alicorn sitting in the middle of the hallway, thankfully nopony invaded their privacy.
"Sentinel Heart...I don't know how I can thank you for everything you've done for us."
The guard in him felt his pride beaming at those words, thoughts of making it up to a higher rank and maybe even leading a more important division at castle Twilight was superseded by the one thought of will he be reassigned away from Dusty...?
"I...Thank you your majesty, but I was only doing my best to keep you both safe." He said cautiously.
"I know, which is why I still need your service. The recent events have made me re-think the way I handle my position-"
"I don't think I can help you be a princess..respectfully." Sentinel said with a chuckle.
Twilight just smiled and looked back at the window, seeing Dusty talk with the doctor; Sentinel understood what she meant now..
"He seems to like you a lot, which is why I will need you to watch over him where I cannot. My willing obliviousness and fear caused this to happen...So I want you to be there to make sure this never happens again."
Sentinel wanted to argue and protect the princesses feelings but she quickly raised a hoof to cut him off.
"No, I am right about this. I could've stopped this from happening but I didn't understand just how far it had gotten until it was too late."
Sentinel lowered his head and rubbed the scar again...thinking hard about what happened and trying to think of a way it could have been stopped. Sombra was far to quiet to be noticed...he stuck to the shadows knowing that if he was caught the plan would fail. Yet in truth, everypony knew he was there...waiting...but none of them acted out of fear for Dusty. Suddenly he was jarred from his thoughts by a soft hoof bringing his own down off the scar and when he looked down to see the lavender face staring up at him he felt his own white face turn a slight red.
"I know it would be hard...but I know you only concern about his safety just as I do."
Sentinel felt a few onlookers linger at the sight but he pushed those thoughts down and nodded.
"I'll do everything in my power to protect him."
Twilight smiled and looked far more relaxed before she added.
"And mentor him..."
Sentinel raised a brow but the door opened up, taking Twilight's attention to her son once again. The guard followed but another nurse called his name from behind him.
"Sir..?"
Sentinel turned around slowly..
"Yes?"
"Sir...the test results are back, it seems that there is...something left in your system."
Sentinel started to get worried but did his best to keep it from his face.
"Something that we can only assume is..dark magic. You said that he healed your wound?"
Sentinel nodded, putting the pieces together as she spoke.
"We did our best but it seems that the residue of such a powerful and...strange...magic; cannot be removed from you. In fact...I believe that it is what helped you recover far much faster than what the doctor expected."
The door for Dusty's room opened again and the doctor called for Sentinel.
"Um,...thank you...I think." Sentinel put that for a conversation for later and stepped back into the room, Dusty was on the bed again but looking near full heath. The sight took his mind from the problems waiting so he could enjoy the moment...
"Sentinel...we did it." Dusty said proudly.
"Didn't I tell you we'd get out?" Sentinel said when he stopped next to Twilight.
"Pff..I don't think I remember that, you just kinda gave up like a flank-head."
Sentinel shrugged it of playfully and scoffed
"It'll come back to you."
Dusty smiled happily, soon they would be back home and although it would take time..things were going to be normal once again....
Two years later.....
"Twilight, just breath, you're gonna be fine!" Spike shouted, ducking under the doorways in the hospital as he ran with the stretcher.
Dusty was still trying to clean himself up, doing his best to use a wet rag and get the red coloring out of his mane while the last ear piercing was being removed by grey magic and stuffed in the giant yellow bag around his neck.
"You just had to do this now, huh?!" He shouted while dogging a potted plant, of course he was trying to make a joke but if she wasn't in so much pain; Dusty would be blasted against the wall.
A doctor finally joined the circus and flashed a light in her eyes much to her annoyance.
"Y-your majesty! I'm sorry i'm late,how do you feel?"
Twilight grabbed the doctor by his collar and snarled "Will you stop talking and do your job before I send you to the moon!"
The doctor paled and nearly crashed when she threw him back, Luna would've laughed at his face when he rejoined the group and when they finally got the room Dusty and Spike was forced out. Though it was just in time to see gold and white crash though the doors and rush into the room Twilight was just sent into. Muffled shouting of the doctors halted by a ear shattering
"YOU'RE LATE!"
From Princess Twilight Sparkle....
Spike wanted to laugh but Dusty's guffaw sent them both into hysteria, Twilight talked about how calm she would be the second time around but it just made Dusty want to get the camera out now and get some hallmark moments of his dad getting a verbal beating.
_ _
Many hours later the shouting had stopped and a few nurses stepped out to fetch a few things, nodding to Dusty and Spike that it was okay to go in. Both of them jumped up and burst though the door.
Closed eyes..sleeping in her mothers arms was a tiny yellow foal, wings tucked against her body and horn ever prominent....
Twilight looked up, mane a complete mess and looking exhausted beyond words.Sentinel sat up from the chair the nurses got for him, poor ex-guard passed out about an hour in. While he expected another beating when he woke up, he was just as shocked at Dusty and Spike were..
"Lotus Crystal..." Twilight said quietly..
"I think I want to name her Lotus Crystal..."