My mind became a blank. I tried to remember to remember what had happened. I remembered that I was at a wedding, but after that, everything became a blur. The last thing I remembered was that a black bug-like pony had attacked me with a green blast.
And that’s what I could see right now. A greenish black. I try to open my eyes, but my eyelids were heavy. I tried to move my hooves, but they felt like they were stuck. I couldn’t move or anything. All I could remember was that whatever happened with the bug is what led to this moment where I couldn’t move.
The idea of being frozen, possibly because of this bug monster that attacked me, freaked me out. I wanted to scream, but not even my own body can let me do that. However, I heard something that gave me a sense of calm despite just how creepy it sounded and how often it repeated itself.
Ping... Ping… ping… ping…
It’s a familiar sound, even if I never saw it in person. A heart monitor. I was in the hospital. So at the very least, I was taken care of. So why couldn’t I move? I kept hearing the pinging sound for a bit before I heard hoof steps. They stopped for a moment before I heard a voice.
“Moondancer…” I recognized the voice. It was Celestia’s. Why would Celestia take the time to visit me? While I couldn’t sigh, I felt relieved, as her visiting me meant I was in Canterlot’s care, not the monster’s. “… Had I listened to her, you wouldn’t have been hurt…” Listened to who? And… Am I hurt? I tried to move my mouth, but like my arms, they seemed stuck. What’s wrong with me? I couldn’t move or anything. It’s as if I was in a deep sleep… “I’m sorry… It’s all my fault…” That’s when I heard something I never thought I would hear before.
Princess Celestia crying.
However, I heard more hoof steps.
“Sister. You can’t beat yourself up like this.” It was a new pony… Apparently Celestia’s sister. I didn’t even know she had a sister. “You did the best you could.” She said.
“And look what happened. Had I acted sooner, had I listened to Twilight, had I myself looked at the clues, my subjects wouldn’t have been injured. I… I don’t think Moondancer will ever wake up again because of my negligence…” Celestia said.
“This is what she wants, Celestia. She wants you to feel defeated. She wants you to feel like you’re not fit to rule.” Her sister said. “It’ll be fine… Don’t worry about it.” There was a brief silence before Celestia sighed.
“Alright.” I could hear Celestia come closer to me and place her wing over my head. “Get better soon.” She said. The two trotted off and I resumed the deep sleep. The pinging served as my music. I felt better, even if the Princess herself indirectly told me that I might never open my eyes. As I slept, I dreamed more of what had happened. Everything was still a blur, but I might not have been paying attention.
A wedding happened… then Twilight came in with a duplicate of the bride… then the bride at the altar burst into flames and became a bigger bug creature… then she gloated about while Celestia tried to blast her with a sunbeam… But after Twilight and a couple of other ponies ran off, thousands of those bug creatures attacked us. For a brief moment, my greenish-black vision faded and I remembered the incident.
I was running from the bug creatures in the streets of Canterlot when I suddenly bumped into one of them. His horn glowed green for a moment before he lit up into a green flame and took the form of Lyra. He glared at me, though nothing happened. He erupted into flames again, this time taking the form of Twilight. Still nothing but a glare. He then burst into flames one last time and became me.
“WHO DO YOU LOVE!?” It asked me.
“W-What!?” I asked.
“You dumb ponies are all lovey-dovey! So what pony do you love!?” It asked me.
“I… I don’t… love anypony…” I muttered.
“… YOU WHAT!?” It screamed at me. I glared at him and stood still.
“I have no love for any pony.” She said.
“That’s impossible! I can feel a strong sense of love emanating from you!” It told me.
“I do love someone… but it’s not a pony.” I said.
“… Not… A… Pony!? GRAAAAAAH!” It fired a blast at me and knocked me back. “I CAN’T TAKE THE FORM OF SOMETHING THAT’S NOT A PONY! WE WEREN’T PREPARED FOR THAT!” Its sharp black horn glowed a sickly green. “Cattle like you don’t deserve to live if you can’t give us the food we need.” It sneered as it fired a blast at me. After that, my mind went greenish black.
It had been a few hours before another pony approached me. Though I heard the squeaking of wheels instead of hooves.
“Hey, Moondancer!” It was Lyra. “Can’t believe those bugs got you too… Ow… At least you didn’t have to jump off a cliff. Oooowwww… Why did I even go for those stupid flowers? Doctors say I won’t be able to walk for at least a week… And I was the lucky one. Minuette got herself paralyzed and it’s gonna take at least a year for her to recover, even with the best therapists money can buy. Meanwhile they’re still trying to get Twinkleshine out of these caves… Oh yeah, there were these caves that we didn’t hear of before…”
I just let her talk. I couldn’t talk back at her, but hearing what became of my friends wound up making me upset. I couldn’t cry, but I can feel my eyes moving a bit as water tries to break through my lids.
“Hope ya get better soon!” Lyra said before she wheeled herself out. The rest of my time was spent hearing different ponies talk to me. Some familiar like Lyra and Twinkleshine, and others unfamiliar, like my doctor and my nurse. I was able to piece together what had happened.
I was attacked by something that was called a “Changeling” and I was knocked into a coma. Over time, the doctor has mentioned that my condition was worsening and even my vision had become less blackish green and more grayish white. I still couldn’t move to save my life, though I managed to control my eyes just fine.
However, one day, everything changed. I heard a very familiar voice.
“Doctor, is it true? Are you really going to…” It was Twilight and from the sound of her voice, she doesn’t seem to be very happy.
“Twilight… it’s been six months. She hasn’t improved and even with the health care that Celestia provided for her, a lot of ponies, including her parents, doubt she’ll ever wake up. If you need to say goodbye to her, do so now. When we pull the plug, it could take weeks or even minutes for her to pass, so it’s recommended that you say goodbye the moment we do so.” He said.
That’s when I realize he was talking about me. I’m going to die… But… I’m still alive, right? However, the gray-white space I’m seeing does indeed confirm that my time will come. I thought about each of my friends and family, knowing that I’ll never see them again and that they’ll never see me… I thought of Spike. I couldn’t bear to see how he’d take my death, even if we barely knew each other.
DRRRRRRRRRRR…
I could hear a machine power down. No doubt it was my life support and that they had just pulled the plug. Sure enough, I saw my grandma materialize in front of me as the gray disappeared, leaving behind a white light. She extended her hoof to me as I hesitated to follow her. However, I knew it was my time. However, as I inched forward, I heard Twilight.
“I’m not the one to say goodbye. Spike is.” She said. I stopped. I looked to grandma and told her to wait. She nodded as I heard Spike’s tiny feet step on the tiled floor.
“Moondancer… I’m going to miss you…” My heart winced as I heard his voice crack. “Ever since the Gala, I thought about you. I didn’t know why, but somehow, I always remembered how you hugged me and how comfortable I was with it. I wasn’t sure what it was until just recently. I now realized what it was… and I’m sorry for not telling you sooner… You where there for me when I was lonely that night… And I thank you for that. Moondancer… Before you go, I just want to say…
I love you.”
After that, I felt something on my lips. His lips. I turned to my grandma, shook my head, and ran in the opposite direction. Those three words made my heart sink and I was not going to die without saying those words right back to him. As I ran, the white faded to a muted black and I could feel my body grow heavier and heavier by the second. When they were at their heaviest, I screamed out:
“SPIKE!”
Suddenly, I saw a flash of white light. I first thought that I died, but I saw a green, tiled ceiling. I jutted up and gasped for air. My gasping slowed down as I breathed normally. I saw that I was in a green hospital gown and that tubes were attached to me. I looked around and saw the doctor, Spike, and Twilight all shocked. I looked to Spike and cried.
“I love you too!” With that, I held him.
“Moondancer! You’re awake!” Spike held me too, his claws just shy of touching my coat. I rubbed my head against his neck.
“I wanted to say those words to you for a long time! Thank you…” I pulled my head away and kissed him on the forehead.
“H-how can this be? She wasn’t able to wake up for over six months!” The doctor said.
“I can explain.” I looked and saw Celestia… No. Not Celestia. She was younger, had normal hair, and was pink. It’s been a while since I heard Celestia’s sister’s voice, though I knew it wasn’t her, as the voice sounded more refined and elegant compared to her. “The Changeling hit her with a sleeping curse, a magic induced coma lasts until she’s awoken by her true love’s kiss. It must have did that to her to find out who she loved.” She said.
“Is that why you told Spike that he had feelings for Moondancer?” Twilight asked her.
“Yes. I figured if I were to get him to confess his feelings, Moondancer would be able to wake up.” She said. Spike turned to the winged unicorn and smiled.
“T-thank you, Princess Cadance.” He said. She smiled. Spike turned back to me and we gazed into each other’s eyes. My hoof held his claw as his claw held my hoof.
“I’m not gonna leave your side ever.” I said to him.
“I won’t either.” Spike said. I wanted to say ‘I love you’ to him so many times, but I felt like that was enough.
In time, I moved out of Canterlot and over to Ponyville to be closer to Spike, especially since we confessed our love to each other. There I got closer to some of Twilight’s friends, including Rarity. I wondered a bit of whether or not to apologize to her for stealing Spike away from her. Thankfully, Twilight pulled me to the side one day and explained the whole thing with Spike and Rarity. Princess Cadance took me in as a student for a month so she could explain to me about loving a dragon and the consequences that will come with it when he gets older.
However, I’ll endure anything this love will have in store for me, since at the end of the day, I’ll be with Spike and after nearly dying without confessing my feelings to him, I will never lose sight of him. So long as I’m with him, it’ll be as if I am saying: I’ll always love you.