My eyes opened to a pristine white room and hair hanging in my face. My head pounding, I sat up slowly.
“I think she’s waking up.” A worried voice said, alongside clicking hoofsteps getting louder as the pony came closer to me. “Twilight? How do you feel?” I turned my head towards the source of the sound, though my neck felt stiff.
“Rarity, what happened?” I asked groggily.
The white unicorn cringed. “Well, you… you crashed while flying with Rainbow Dash, dear.” She replied with a sad tone. curiously, I extended my wing and turned my head to get a better look at it. Both of those things were a terrible idea. The throbbing pain in my head intensified when I turned my head, forcing me to snap my head back towards Rarity. My wing ached horribly and emitted a slight crunching noise. Rarity put her hooves over my wing. “You sprained your wing. Don’t open it.” She ordered.
“Are my injuries bad?” I asked.
“Not too bad.” She replied.
Spike climbed onto the bed and smiled weakly up at me. I pulled him into a hug. Then, he sat at the foot of the bed.
“Twilight, are ya feelin’ okay?” Applejack’s southern drawl was apparent. I turned my head slightly towards her.
“She’s just woken up. Of course she doesn’t.” Rarity said matter-of-factly.
“I’m fine.” I replied quietly, ignoring Rarity’s statement.
“No yer not.” Applejack said.
“I assure you-”
“No, you most certainly are not.” Rarity insisted. I merely groaned in response.
After a bit of silence, I spoke up. “Where are the others?” I asked.
“With Dash.” Applejack said simply.
“What happened to her?” I asked, worry clouding my voice.
“She tried ta save ya because you spun out. Very badly.”
“Then… how did I crash…?”
“She came in at tha wrong angle and wasn’t able to grab hold of ya. You both crashed… but she came down first. Ah’m pretty sure she’s in the room to the right of us.” Applejack said sadly. Spike looked at me sympathetically.
I decided to do something crazy and dangerous. I took the IV in my teeth and ripped it out. Applejack caught it and fumbled with her hooves to put it back in. I frantically scrambled off of the bed and into the hall. The nurses and doctors stared at me confusedly. ‘I probably look like a crazy pony. Ohh, I hope my nurse isn’t out here.’ I thought, scurrying into the room to the right. Oddly, nopony questioned me.
‘Oh yes, I studied this! Equestrian Health Care Rules and Regulations, chapter 13, page 342. Royalty is entitled to entering any hospital room that isn’t an intensive care unit during visiting hours.’ My first sight when I entered the room was Pinkie Pie in the corner. She was on the floor in a puddle of tears, sniffling quietly. Her mane hung limp and straight around her head. Crumpled tissues were strewn across the floor of the room. Next, I saw Fluttershy sitting in an empty chair, looking at something sadly in her hooves. She slowly looked up at me confusedly. Dry tears matted her fur.
I trotted over to the bed where Rainbow Dash lay. Her rainbow mane was strewn across the pillow and her blankets were half off of her, exposing her wings. They had bloody bandages wrapped around them. One of her back legs was in a cast and hanging from the ceiling to elevate it. I stepped towards the bed and felt a hooftap on my shoulder. Cautiously, I turned around. Applejack was standing there, a cross expression on her face. Rarity was next to enter the room. She rushed over to comfort Fluttershy, who was now crying a fresh wave of tears. The ponies hugged and stayed like that for quite a while. Applejack cleared her throat to get my attention, and lead me back to my room. I sadly obliged.
When I got back to my room, Nurse Redheart had to be called in to fix my IV. She glared at me whenever she looked at my face. I watched, and only then did I notice that there was a tiny stream of blood dribbling down my foreleg. Nurse Redheart cleaned the blood from my coat, tossing a small cotton pad into the garbage bin. My fur was stained with a faint red streak that could clearly be easily washed with soap and warm water (and a bit of scrubbing.)
“Don’t pull that stunt again, Princess Sparkle. You need these vitamins if you want your body to heal. You’ll only need them until 10:00 tonight, so hold in there. Princess Luna told me to ask you if she could come at midnight tonight. She also told me that this is the spell to send a letter to her.” She said, placing a blank piece of parchment, a quill, an ink well, and a neatly folded note with a crescent moon on it. Luna’s royal seal.
“Thank you, Nurse Redheart.” I said. A rumbling noise was emitted from my stomach. Nurse Redheart looked at me with an eyebrow raised. “May I please have something to eat?” I asked, grinning sheepishly. She nodded, prancing out of the room. She returned within minutes, pushing a cart in front of her. There was a daisy sandwich, hay fries, and apple cider. “Thanks again.” I smiled gratefully before tucking into my meal.
“Twi? Visitin’ hour’s almost over. We’re gonna go.” Applejack piped up from the corner.
“Oh… okay. Say hi to Fluttershy and Pinkie, okay?” I asked.
“Ah will. See ya soon, and rest up.” Applejack trotted out the door, leaving Rarity and Twilight in the room alone.
“Darling, like Applejack said, you simply must get some rest. I’ll try to come tomorrow, okay? Ciao!” Rarity smiled.
“Bye!” I smiled back at her. As she closed the door, I saw Fluttershy and Applejack dragging Pinkie through the hallway. As soon as the door closed, Rarity’s magic aura evaporated from the doorknob. I looked out the window. Celestia was lowering the sun, making way for Luna’s moon. I watched the entire process, and even admired the stars for quite a while after that. Then, I glanced at the digital clock on the side table. 9:53. Out of realization, I quickly scrawled a letter to Princess Luna and sent the letter to her, following the instructions to the spell carefully. Once the letter was sent, there was a soft knocking on the door and somepony opened it. I craned my neck (with a bit of pain involved) to see who was coming in, and saw Nurse Redheart making her way in with a small medical bag clenched in her teeth.
“Are you feeling well, Princess Sparkle?” She asked, opening the bag and pulling out a small package.
“Yes, I’m feeling fine. And please call me Twilight.” I replied.
“Ah, I don’t think a princess should be so modest of her title.” Nurse Redheart smirked while pulling the package open. She carefully removed the IV from my foreleg and draped the tube over the top of the metal rack that held the bag of clear liquid. After cleaning the tiny red dot that could hardly be considered a wound at all, she pressed a pink band-aid with the real Power Ponies on it. To my surprise, they looked nothing like my friends and I.
“Is this really the band-aid you have to give me?” I asked annoyedly.
“The band-aid shipment we had scheduled for today was postponed to tomorrow, and since we don’t really get many fillies and colts coming here, we only have these and Spongepony Squarehooves band-aids.” She said, rolling her eyes.
“But Rainbow Dash had bandages on her wings.”
“As do you. But those are heavy bandages only for certain types of wounds.” She replied. She shut her medical bag and got a grip on it with her teeth and started pushing the IV rack with her front hooves.
“Goodnight!” I called to her. She waved a hoof at me, though she couldn’t see me, just before she closed the door. Curiously, I looked around, really studying my surroundings for the first time. There was a television on the wall and on the side table, a cable remote lit up in the dim light of the only light source in the room currently on; the lamp. There was also a copy of the newest Daring Do book, which I borrowed from Rainbow Dash and read in one night. I don’t really like reading fiction books twice, so I wrapped my magic around the remote and levitated it towards me, pointing at the television. As soon as I clicked it on, the suffocating silence was filled with quiet, unfamiliar voices. Boredly, I flipped through the channels until I found the news channel. (What? I like to stay informed…)
Trixie had been arrested for burning somepony’s house down with fireworks again. After a few minutes of clips of the incident and Trixie breaking down in tears, another story came on. I watched the channel for Celestia knows how long, until a particularly interesting story came on. A picture of Rainbow Dash and I was in the corner.
“Today, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, had a crash while flying. Princess Twilight is only suffering from a sprained wing and moderate whiplash. Ms.Dash’s injuries are much worse, though. She has broken both wings to the extent where she will not be able to use them again, has a broken left hind leg, a fractured left front leg, a fractured left cheek bone, a few cracked ribs, and severe whiplash, not to mention scrapes and gashes. Ms. Dash came in at a slightly wrong angle while diving to save Princess Twilight from crashing after a spin out. She put herself in front of Princess Twilight because it was obvious that it was either her or Princess Twilight who would take more of the force. Ms.Dash’s life is in danger, all to save Equestria’s newest princess from injuries just as bad or possibly even worse as Rainbow Dash’s wounds. The only reason for the injuries is a slightly miscalculated angle. This goes to show how the wrong angle can mess up a lot of things. Ms.Dash has certainly proven that she deserves the Element of Loyalty.”
The newspony’s words stung me like a bee. I clicked the television off, tears dripping down my face and matting my fur. Suddenly, a figure stepped out from the shadows. Luna’s tall figure and billowing mane was walking towards me. As I opened my mouth to ask her how she got here, she hushed me. “Shadowwalking. It’s a form of travel that takes decades of practice, even for those of us who are connected to the night the most. It allows you to travel through the shadows, and you are essentially walking through the shadows, hence the name.” She explained.
“It sounds very intriguing. I’ll have to read up on it sometime. I must have a book on it somewhere… but I’ve read every book in the library at least twice over.” I said.
“It’s only in the Canterlot Archives. Since you are a princess, you are entitled to read it at any time. You have not yet read every book in Equestria, Twilight Sparkle. On another note, how are you doing? My sister is sorry she couldn’t make it. She was… busy.” Princess Luna said, smirking and taking another step towards the bed, standing beside me.
“Oh. It’s fine. I am doing good, thanks for asking, Princess Luna.”
“Please, just call me Luna. You are royalty too, now.”
“Okay, Luna.”
“Now, let us get to what I really came here for. If Rainbow Dash hadn’t saved you, your life could have easily been taken.” Luna started.
“As if I didn’t notice.” I snorted.
“It opened my eyes and I realized that I could’ve lost you. That I had to tell you how I feel before something worse happens and you aren’t so lucky. I’m not exactly sure if you’re into mares, or as they call it now, a fillyfooler, but I need you to know that I, Luna, love you, Twilight Sparkle.” My eyes widened. “If you don’t feel the same way, that is okay, but I need you to at least know that. Twilight, if I made you uncomfortable, I am sorry and I will leave if you wi-” She started. I interrupted with something completely uncharacteristic for me. I sealed the space between our muzzles, kissing Luna’s soft lips. Afterwards, Luna smiled at me. “I see you feel the same?” She questioned, her mood remarkably improved. I smiled and nodded.
“Would you like to… uh, maybe cuddle?” I asked sheepishly, scooting over to make room for Luna. She nodded and removed her crown, necklace, and shoes, placing them beside the bed. Her warmth seeped into my body once she climbed in. I eventually drifted off to sleep, her comforting embrace dulling my sadness.