Diana returned to the University, only occasionally relying on Kite to keep her steady. She reluctantly went to her living quarters instead of the lab. Every bone ached in her body, with the worst of the pain focused squarely on her forehead. After a bit of convincing and assuring she would get some rest, she was finally rid of her escort. She needed to let Beaker know she was in no condition to continue the experiment for at least a day or two but she could barely walk another step.
It's not that late, there should be an evening class ending in a few minutes she thought as she limped towards her desk.
She tried to marshal her magic into the pen, but found her efforts only brought back her splitting headache, with only a half hearted wiggle of the utensil to show for it. Forced to pick up the pen with her mouth she slowly set to her work, vague recollections of the last time she had to use her mouth or hoof for such a task. After a few strenuous minutes she finished her note to Beaker as well as a letter to her mentor, she groaned as she raised herself and made her way back to the door.
"Didn't think my room was this big. Must make it to door! Must get note to Beaker before he does something stupid!" she gasped each word as she slowly made her way to the door. After a few minutes of fumbling the doorknob with her hooves she was greeted with an empty hallway.
"Must still be a few more minutes until evening classes end, I'll just sit back and rest for a while," she said.
She leaned back against her door, her short mane just barely covering her eyes against the harsh electric light of the hallway. After only a few seconds, she fell asleep, occasionally waking at the odd noise or cool breeze on coat, wet with a slight sweat. Before long her restless sleep calmed to a deeper one, the odd image and scene flitting through her subconscious.
She found herself working at a counter, diligently chopping vegetables and dropping them into a warming stew pot. The house was strangely familiar but none that she ever saw in real life, it was her dream home, someplace simple to escape from her work. She loved her work, but sometimes even something you love can hang on you like a heavy chain.
It's been a while since I've had this dream. I wonder if this time the beans are ripe. Whenever she had this dream the season always changed with so suit her mood, often showing her just the right atmosphere to calm her down. Outside she was greeted with a glorious autumn sunset; the pinks and blues mixing with oranges and greens, like Celestia's mane gently rocking her solar, ward to sleep. Looks like they aren't quite ready yet, they would have been great in the stew. She half-knew that she would wake up before she could finish the dinner, it was always preparing the meal that brought the most joy.
"Mommy? Where are you?" came a small and scared voice from inside.
"Wait I'm always alone in these dreams," she said before once again forgetting she was dreaming.
Nervously, she re-entered her home, her hooves giving an unnaturally loud clop with each step on the cobblestone floor. She peered back into the kitchen and there in the middle of the dining room was a small foal, quietly sobbing with hooves shielding it's head as it lay on the floor. Forgetting her earlier trepidation, she quickly scooped up the child in her hooves and gently calmed it down, the same way her mother did when she was scared.
"Mommy, I was scared."
"Shhhh, it's okay," She said as she gently rocked the upset foal.
"What's wrong? You can tell me," she reassured.
"I had a bad dream: you were gone forever, and... and I couldn't follow you. You left, you didn't want to leave, but you had to, and I couldn't follow..." as the foal said this she looked down and saw him, her whole world bundled up in a single pony and he was crying.
"It's okay baby, I will always be there for you, even if I'm not really there," she said as she held him tight, shedding some tears of her own.
"Are you okay Mommy?" he said sniffling back the last of his tears, trying to be strong for her.
"Are you okay?" he said again.
"Are you okay Professor Heartstrings?"
With just a small pause, Dr. Heartstrings remembered exactly where she was. Her dream already fading from memory, but the emotions remained. Without the memories they felt out of place and quickly lost their power over her; they slowly sank to the bottom of her heart, out of thought and covered up.
"I'm fine, just need some more rest. Could you do me a favor and deliver this to the research department? Make sure it gets to Dr. Beaker and tell him to follow the instructions and to have this letter delivered in the morning," She addressed the young student.
The student huffed a little bit at the sudden extra errand she had to run, but a mix of fear of failure and need to suck up to the professor kept any complaints at bay.
"Yes, right away, professor. I will see you next week in class," she said as she took the letters and made her way down the hallway.
"No you won't, I'll be a little bit busy," she knowingly whispered to herself as she got up and leaned against the wall making her way back to her room and back to sleep.
I wonder if I will continue my dream. It was sad but I liked it, whatever it was, she thought as she quickly fell once again into deep slumber.
Meanwhile, back in the laboratory Beaker had his hoofs full with keeping the three test subjects at bay. Thankfully one kept his mouth busy eating all of his replacement tacos he got with Braeburn, who himself was losing patience with being cooped up for so long. The third one, a purple unicorn, kept waking up, looking around the room and spotting Johnny, Braeburn, or some of the equipment, mumble something, and then pass out again.
A few minutes ago one of the student's from the Biology class he sometimes assisted in dropped off a note and letter, but he was too busy at the time to read them. With a quick glance he looked over the note addressed to him and his bright orange mane stood straight up before wilting.
"I have to keep them occupied for a few days!"