Celestia rose to her hooves and trotted to the doors leading to the throne room, opening one to peer at the line of ponies behind it.
"I'm afraid Solar Court has been adjourned for today -- I apologize for this inconvenience, but there is a very important matter I must attend to, one which requires my undivided attention. Given the severity of the situation, it may be a few days before Solar Court resumes. I am sorry to disappoint you all, but I promise to give your concerns a fair hearing and will be offering extended hours to hear your petitions next week," the Alicorn stated. A number of ponies complained and muttered about this, but given the fact they had no choice in the matter, they slowly dispersed and left the castle. Celestia turned around and trotted back over to me, though I was still sitting on my haunches, my head in my forehooves as I contemplated my next course of action.
"Take all the time you need, Amethyst. If there is anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to call on me. I shall be here for you," she offered softly, wrapping a wing around me again.
"I can't believe I failed her again," I muttered as I shook my head slowly.
"You did not fail her, Amethyst -- there was nothing you could do to save her," she said just barely above a whisper. I shuddered when she spoke those words -- I suppose she meant for them to comfort me, but they sparked something in me.
"Was there? Who was it who sent me to Las Pegasus in the first place?" I asked bitterly. "I'd have been better off staying a unicorn -- at least Trixie might still be alive."
"I am very sorry for sending you there, Amethyst," the Alicorn stated sullenly, still trying to console me over my loss. "I had no idea something like this would happen to you ... or Trixie, for that matter. You have my deepest sympathies -- I want you to know that I will do everything I can to help you through this trying time."
"I think Trixie deserves a Royal Funeral with full honors, Celestia. I need somepony to go to that hospital in Las Pegasus and bring Velvet Rose back here, if that's possible. I'm going to have to break the bad news to Midnight -- she's going to be furious," I said, my words seeming to have no emotion to them. Marina continued to hug me and Jade rested comfortably on my back, secure in the carrier. I heard him snoring, which seemed to bring me a small degree of comfort. "I think Twilight's going to be rather unhappy as well," I mused softly. I noticed the elder Alicorn having left me for a few moments, though I hadn't paid much attention to her absence, given my distress. I was startled by a clattering of hooves on the floor and turned around to see what had made the noise. I was shocked by what I saw.
"Amethyst? Where is Trixie?" the show-mare asked. My jaw appeared to unhinge as it dropped comically to the floor. I forced it back into place after regaining a little composure. I was shocked that Celestia had succeeded in resurrecting my wife, who trotted over to me and gave me a firm hug. "Trixie was wondering what happened and why she is not in the hospital," she mused softly as I returned her embrace. I glanced at the Solar Princess, a smile on her face as beads of sweat dripped from her forehead.
"Celestia, please tell me you didn't do this," I said apprehensively. The revived show-mare held me tighter still as though she was trying to squeeze the life out of me -- her grip proved to be quite strong.
"Amethyst, please don't leave Trixie behind again," she pleaded, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
"Amethyst, there are certain things that I can do, though sometimes it goes against my better judgment to perform them. I know of certain forbidden spells I can use to restore life to the recently deceased, but the cost is very high. Upon seeing you in such a state of distress, I felt compelled to bring your wife back to you, so as to restore a semblance of happiness to you," the elder Alicorn noted softly. "And I might inform you that when you committed suicide in this very room not so terribly long ago, I used the same magic upon you to return you to the realm of the living, so it's not as though I haven't done this before."
I allowed her words to sink in, contemplating the significance of her statement. I thought it was impossible to accomplish what she did. She seemed to be anticipating something, so I decided to speak. "Words cannot begin to express my appreciation for what you have done -- when I saw Trixie die on that table in the ICU, it was all I could do to keep from exploding into a furious rage and burn that hospital to the ground. Velvet Rose is still there and we need to get her out of there as soon as possible."
"I shall accompany you, Amethyst -- I would have words with the director of the hospital," Celestia said firmly.
"We shall take my SUV -- it will save us some magic strength," I noted.
"Trixie feels funny -- her head hurts, Amethyst," the show-mare observed despondently. Her voice sounded weak, but I figured it was because she had just been revived from death. There was a part of me that was quite suspicious, so I made a mental note to have her checked out once we returned.
"That's normal, Trixie -- it's to be expected after having such a spell performed on you," the Solar Princess responded in a somewhat flat tone of voice. It appeared to me as though the effort had taken a serious toll on the Alicorn, adding yet another concern to my growing list of them. We trotted to the courtyard where my vehicle was waiting and got inside, Celestia once again taking the front passenger seat as Trixie sat in the back with our foals. The teleport was nearly instantaneous, the vehicle materializing in front of the hospital -- I think the staff were getting sick of seeing me, but gasped in horror when they saw Trixie trotting beside me.
"Y-you w-were d-dead! I -- I -- I saw him leave with you!" the lead doctor exclaimed, fear dripping from his words.
"Trixie is harder to kill than that!" the show-mare giggled as we watched him turn tail and gallop fearfully somewhere.
"Amethyst, who was that?" asked Celestia as we continued towards the elevators.
"He was the lead doctor who tried to save Trixie in the ICU," I responded in deadpan monotone. I noticed everypony giving us wide berth as we reached the elevator bank. The next car arrived just as I pushed the button to go up and everypony on the car gasped at the sight of two Alicorns, bowing deeply to us, then effusively offering us the car.
"I take it you receive this level of attention everywhere you go, Celestia?" I asked. She grinned in response before her smile fell.
"It gets tedious at times, but yes, Amethyst. You receive the same treatment, I assume?"
"Only when I'm wearing my regalia," I replied, pushing the number 13 button for the nursery. "Other than that, I have to flare my wings to get their attention if I feel I've been offended by their ... obtuseness." Celestia chuckled softly at this, while Trixie snickered a little.
"Trixie is used to such treatment, Amethyst," she observed as the car reached the desired floor. We trotted to the nursery, receiving nervous stares from the other ponies as we wended our way through the corridors.
"Trixie desires to have her foal returned to her," she announced when we reached the nurses' station. She gave the mare at the desk an expectant look which was returned with one of shock.
"We -- we -- received a report that -- you -- you -- had -- had --" the mare stammered in fright.
"Where is Trixie's foal -- Velvet Rose?" she asked more forcefully, giving the mare a harsh stare.
"We -- we -- we -- were going -- to -- to -- take her -- to -- to -- an -- orph -- orphan -- orphanage," she stammered.
"WHAAAAT??!" Trixie exploded in fury, her breath causing the air to chill dramatically, her eyes flaring an icy blue. I echoed my wife's statement, my eyes flaring red. Celestia frowned deeply.
"Trixie wants her foal! NOW!" she screeched, snowflakes spitting from her mouth. I had to take Jade and Marina away from her to keep them from suffering hypothermia as the show-mare's body became even colder. I almost snickered as I witnessed the lead nurse gallop into the nursery and return with our little pale pink filly, still bundled in a pink blanket. Upon seeing her foal, Trixie returned to her normal state, a broad smile returning to her face, before she glowered at the nurse.
"Don't ever do that again," she admonished sharply.
"Where is the director's office? I definitely need to discuss certain matters with him or her," Celestia averred, a firm gaze fixed upon the nurse.
"Uh -- first floor, your Highness," she uttered meekly before scampering away from us.
Without another word, we trotted our way back to the elevator and took it down to the first floor, then trotted around until we found the director's office. His secretary was stunned to see us and tried to stall us (at his request), causing the Solar Princess to use her Royal Canterlot Voice to bring him out. His continued reticence caused me to kick his door in, drawing a harsh stare from Celestia. I grinned sheepishly in response to her glare, causing her to snicker. Trixie grinned mischievously at this exchange as we entered the director's office, the tan unicorn stallion cowering behind his desk.
"Ah, so you know why we're here," I intoned sharply.
"You -- you've gotten what you wanted -- now -- now -- get out of my hospital!" he shouted at us. Celestia raised an eyebrow at him, causing his eyes to widen in fear. "Y-your H-highness! I -- I'm sorry! It -- it won't happen again, I promise!"
"Indeed it won't," the elder Alicorn replied softly. "I'll be sending a cadre of ponies over to make certain changes around here -- and by the way, you're fired."