//------------------------------//
// 97. Hospital by TheLastBrunnenG  
// Story: The Sun and the Stars: A Twilestia Prompt Collab 
// by Fuzzyfurvert 
//------------------------------//


by TheLastBrunnenG


***



The little unicorn tore through hospital's hallways, as her hoofsteps echoed off the corridors. She wore panic and desperation and determination like a shield, pushing aside seas of doctors and staff. As she approached two massive doors the flanking guards stepped aside and swung them wide, the hospital's pale sterile light flooding a dim and expansive room.

The doors shut behind Twilight as she skidded to a stop. There before her on a simple bed lay the shivering silhouette of her mentor, illuminated and grey in the fading glow of the hallway lights.

"Princess?" she panted as she rushed to the bedside. "Can you hear me? I came as soon as I could! Are you…?"

The alicorn groaned and lifted a great downy wing which fluttered a moment before falling feebly back across her ribcage. "Twilight Sparkle?" she whispered. "Twilight, is that you?"

"Yes, Princess, I - " She gulped and ran a hoof across the trembling white wing. "What can I do? Is there a spell, a potion, anything that will help?"

"Just a little while longer, my faithful student. Not long now." Her legs twitched and she shifted a little, almost imperceptibly, the effort written in her sigh. "Perhaps just… No, I can't."

"Anything!" Twilight pleaded. "Ask me anything, tell me anything! Please, Princess, let me help."

Celestia swallowed and for a few long seconds lay shivering. "Will you lay here with me, Twilight? Not long, I promise. I'm… I'm almost done."

Twilight climbed into the bed, careful hoofsteps barely creasing the snow-white sheets. She dropped her head to the pillow and they lay together, still and quiet as minutes ticked by.

After a time Celestia murmured, "Twilight, you said I could ask you anything." Against her pillow she felt the unicorn nodding and she dared a faint smile. "You are so very special to me, Twilight, and I hope you'll grant an old mare's request. It's a silly thing, and sentimental, but it will mean so much to me at the end. When my time comes, Twilight, will you let me breathe my last breath into your mouth?"

Twilight inhaled sharply and stilled her trembling jaw. She leaned in, carefully, slowly, gently, and lay her lips across Celestia's, closing her eyes as warmth washed over her and sent tingles from horn to tail.

Celestia's last breath, she realized, was oddly wet and squishy and pink and quite possibly prehensile.

"BLEAGHHH!" she spat. "That wasn't breath, that was… that was tongue!"

Celestia withdrew the offending appendage and smiled. "Well, you did kiss me, Twilight. It would have been rude not to return the favor."

Twilight leapt off the bed onto her hooves, lip curled and brows knit. "But I heard you were in the hospital!"

She  chuckled. "Twilight, I am in a hospital."

"But you're not hurt, or injured, or… or dying!"

"No, I was napping. Really, these annual Royal Inspection tours can be so mindlessly tedious, I had to have a break. The real question is, did you ask anypony if I was hurt?" Celestia's grin widened as she watched Twilight's legendary nervous tic sputter to life. "Or are you so used to dashing to my rescue that you assumed something terrible must've happened, from which only you could save me?"

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and growled, "But you said you wanted to breathe your last breath into… into…"

"I do! But Twilight," Celestia said as she sat up in the bed, "did you actually wait for my last breath? Or were you so desperate to kiss me that you took the first chance that came along?"

There was a tremendous metallic clang from the room, followed by the rapid stomping exit of a snarling purple unicorn. A nearby nurse looked at the little mare thundering down the hallway then peeked into the room. "Doctor?" she called. "Have you ever had to extract a food tray from a pony's nasal cavity? If not, here's your chance."