//------------------------------// // Chapter 9- Worry and Relief // Story: Of Flame and Shadow // by Garuda IV //------------------------------// Twilight looked back to the clock hanging on the wall. It had been almost a half-hour since they brought Dark into the emergency room to begin the surgery. Letting her gaze fall back to the floor, she continued pacing around the empty waiting room, finding it difficult to keep still for even a minute while knowing that Dark was in such bad condition. As her thoughts remained on him, she started sniveling, now scared of what might happen to him. "You idiot," she muttered, trying to hold back her tears. "Why'd you have to fight them alone and get yourself hurt like this?" Meanwhile, at the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie was busy looking for some spare cupcakes to munch on before heading off to bed. As she was about to finish off the last of her dozen cupcakes, her Pinkie Sense kicked in. After a few seconds of involuntary body twitching, Pinkie began analyzing what it meant. "Hmm," she hummed to herself as she began to figure it out. "One of my friends is sad, crying, and is at... the hospital?" Pinkie's eyes widened while her mane began to flatten out and lose some of its bright color. "That can't be good," she said before hastily writing a note, sticking it on the front door, and galloping away to the hospital. Over at Twilight's Castle, Spike was snacking away on a bowl of gems while reading his newest comic book crossover starring Daring Do, and the new guy, Indiana Ford. Granted, he was concerned about Dark as well, but worrying about him from over here wouldn't do him any good. So instead, Spike decided to calm his nerves with a good read. That is, until he heard the castle doors open with a loud bang. "What the heck?" he wondered out loud. "Spike?" somepony called out. "Spike, are you here?" "Twilight sent us ta talk ta ya," another voice spoke. He knew who those voices belonged to, they were from Rainbow and Applejack. But if they're here, then something must have happened to Twilight. Setting his comic book off to the side, Spike got up and went to meet them. "Hey girls," he greeted. "What's going on, and where's Twilight?" "Dark's hurt and Twilight brought him to the hospital," Rainbow answered. "Is he alright?" "No, he's not alright, Spike," Applejack took over. "He looked like he'd lost a lot of blood and had nearly passed out before Twilight took him away." "We gotta get over to the hospital then!" Spike exclaimed. "Besides, if he's hurt that badly, then shouldn't we be there for him? And if not for him, then what about for Twilight?" "We know," Rainbow answered. "Applejack and I talked about it on the way here. She'll go with you to the hospital while I go tell the others. I'm sure they'll wanna know about what's going on as well. Especially since the timberwolve's howling, and Dark's roaring has most likely put most of Ponyville on edge. "Should I send a letter to Princess Celestia about what happened?" Spike asked. "Just hold off on that for now, sugarcube," Applejack answered. "We'll go and see Twilight first before we start sendin' off any letters." "Alright," he huffed before jumping on Applejack's back. "See ya at the hospital, Rainbow," Applejack called before galloping away. "See ya, and be careful!" Rainbow warned while flying off to Carousel Boutique to talk to Rarity. Up in the living quarters of Carousel Boutique, Rarity was sitting on Sweetie Belle's bed while holding the scared little filly in her forelegs. After hearing the howling and roaring from earlier, she screamed and dove beneath the blankets, hoping to hide away from whatever made those sounds. Within seconds of hearing her, Rarity ran through the door and towards her sister. Seeing Sweetie Belle shivering from under the covers, Rarity crawled up onto the bed to be with her, trying to calm her down by telling her that the guards will protect them from the monsters out there. A few minutes later, though, they heard a pounding at the front door. "It's alright Sweetie," Rarity softly told her. "It's nothing to be worried about. I'm just going to go see who it is and be right back." "But what if it's one of those monsters that made that noise?" Sweetie Belle shakily asked, hugging her sister tighter. "Now since when did a monster ever have the proper decency to knock on a door instead of breaking it down?" Rarity jokingly asked. "Because I've never heard of one." "I suppose not," Sweetie answered. "That's right. Now, give me a moment to see who it is and I'll be right back, alright?" "Alright." Releasing her little sister, Rarity made her way downstairs, the constant banging on her door starting to annoy her now. "Yes, yes, I'm here!" she barked through the door. "Now what is it that- oh, hello, Rainbow." "Hey," Rainbow answered. "Well now, what is it that's gotten you so worked up that you feel as though you need to try and beat my door down?" Rarity impatiently asked. "It's Dark," she explained. "A pack of timberwolves ambushed him and now he's in the hospital." "Good heavens," Rarity said with a hoof to her mouth. "Is he alright?" Rainbow shook her head. "No, he isn't. He was in pretty bad shape by the time we got there, not to mention that he torched most of the area when they were fighting. Right now I'm going around telling our friends about what happened to him." "But what about those horrible sounds from earlier?" "The first one came from those timberwolves. The second one though came from Dark." "Really?" Rarity questioned. Rainbow nodded. "It's actually because of his roar that we arrived in time to help him." "Alright," Rarity began. "Just give me a moment to go explain to Sweetie Belle and I'll be-" "No!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she ran down the stairs, having eavesdropped on their conversation. "Dark's my friend and I'm coming too!" "Sweetie Belle," Rarity scolded. "What have I told you about eavesdropping on other ponies?" "I know it's wrong, but I couldn't stop listening in after hearing about what happened to him. But I'm worried, so I wanna come with you." "I'm sorry, Sweetie, but I can't let you. Especially on a school night." "But..." Sweetie tried arguing, only to start breaking down. Rarity sighed before trotting over to hug her sister. After few minutes of comfort, Sweetie's sobbing died down. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. You know that, right?" Rarity gently asked, receiving a small nod. "You know," Rainbow chimed. "Although a few timberwolves got away, they did look pretty banged up, so I doubt that they'll come back. Especially this far away from the Everfree Forest and into Ponyville." "Are you sure about that, Rainbow?" Rarity questioned. "I'm sure. Saw them limping with burn marks covering them before they ran off." Rarity looked back down to Sweetie Belle. "Alright, you can come. But you are not to leave my side unless I say so, understood?" Sweetie Belle looked up and happily nodded, wiping a few tears out of her eyes. Even though she would sometimes resort to using crocodile tears to get her way, this time wasn't an act. After she hopped onto her back, Rarity made her way out the door with Rainbow following right behind her. "Did you tell Twilight yet?" Rarity asked. "Who do you think brought him in?" Rainbow remarked. Rarity sighed sadly. "Oh dear. In that case, we all better hurry. She's probably worried right now, and will need all of us to be there for her. I'll go ahead and tell Pinkie since we'll be passing her by anyway." "Alright," Rainbow said, turning towards Fluttershy's cottage. "Be safe now." "We will," Rarity answered Rainbow before she took off. Once her friend was out of sight, Rarity and Sweetie Belle began making their way to Sugarcube Corner to tell Pinkie about the bad news. Although they were reassured that the timberwolves wouldn't come so near town now, that didn't stop Sweetie Belle from tightly latching onto her sister's neck, afraid of what might be lurking just outside of light illuminating from Rarity's horn as they trotted down the road. "It's alright, Sweetie," Rarity cooed. "Twilight taught me a few shield spells, so you can relax." Feeling her sister's hold loosen somewhat, Rarity continued her way to see Pinkie. Once they reached Sugarcube Corner, she was about to knock on the door before Sweetie Belle spoke up. "Rarity? What's that on the door?" She asked. Looking to where she was pointing, Rarity saw the note and brought it over for her to read. Dear Friends. You don't need to go in and get me. I'm already at the hospital. See you when you get there. Your friend, Pinkie Pie They stood there looking at the note for some time, wondering how Pinkie already knew. Rainbow did say that she didn't tell her yet, so how? "So, are we gonna go now?" Sweetie asked. "It's not like we can do much more here." Snapping out of her thoughts, Rarity put the note down before turning back down the road to the hospital. "Quite right, Sweetie," Rarity answered. "Let us be off." As Rainbow landed on the small bridge in front of Fluttershy's cottage, she noticed that it was rather quiet. Granted that the animals would normally be asleep right now, but not even the frogs or crickets could be heard. Trotting up to her house, she saw four guards posted outside the door, all of whom looked a bit tense at the moment. As Rainbow got to the door, the guards crossed their spears, blocking her from getting in. "What the hay?!" Rainbow snapped. "I'm here to see my friend!" "Name?" one of the guards asked. "Seriously?" she scoffed. "You don't know who I am?" The guards said nothing, remaining silent and still as statues. "Ugh... Fluttershy!" Rainbow called. "Would you mind telling your guard dogs to heel and let me in already? I really need to talk to you right now!" A few seconds later, Rainbow heard come rustling in the cottage, along with a few animal sounds before the door cracked open, revealing a single turquoise eye. Seeing who was here, Fluttershy opened the door and poked her head out. "Oh, hello, Rainbow," she greeted her friend before turning to the guards. "It's alright, sirs. She's one of my friends." Heeding Fluttershy's words, the guards returned their spears to their sides, allowing Rainbow to pass. "Would you like to come inside?" Fluttershy offered. "Now's not a good time, Fluttershy," Rainbow answered. "We've got a problem on our hooves." "You mean the timberwolves and that dragon?" Fluttershy shakenly answered. "Yes, and no. You see, Dark was the one who roared, but he was attacked by a pack of alpha timberwolves and is now at the hospital." Fluttershy let out a quiet gasp as she listened. "He wasn't looking very good when he was taken away. Since then, I've been flying around Ponyville telling our friends about what happened. We're meeting up with Twilight at the hospital." "I'm sorry, Rainbow," Fluttershy quietly apologized. "But I can't just leave my animal friends all alone right now." Curious as to what she meant, Rainbow poked her head through the door to see her living room jam-packed with the missing animals. "Well, at least now I know why it's so quiet out here," Rainbow commented. "As much as I want to be there for everypony, I can't abandon them with a bunch of timberwolves nearby." "We can take care of them while you're away, Miss Fluttershy," one of the guards answered. "Are you sure?" she asked, looking up to the guards. "Yes, ma'am," another guard answered. "We're here to guard both you and your animals. Besides, how hard can it be to take care of a few critters?" "Also," Rainbow added. "The few that got away were pretty hurt from fighting Dark, so don't worry about them." Fluttershy took a moment to think it over. Knowing that her animal friends would be safe, she decided to trust the guards to do their jobs. "Okay, thank you for doing this," she said, giving the guards a thankful hug. After she thanked each guard, she turned to Rainbow Dash. "Alright, I'm ready to go." And with that, the two pegasi flew up into the night to meet up with their friends. Along their flight, a concerning question was bothering Fluttershy. Nervous on what her answer would possibly be, she took her time to ask. "Umm, Rainbow?" she meekly called. "Exactly how bad of a condition was Dark in when he was taken to the hospital?" Rainbow let out a tired sigh. "Do you really wanna know, Fluttershy? Because you might not like what my answer will be." "... never mind." Back at the Ponyville Hospital, Twilight was now sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting room. Every minute to her felt like an hour as she sat there, waiting for some sort of news about Dark's condition. She wasn't alone, though, as Pinkie showed up not five minutes ago. As soon as she saw Twilight's disheveled condition, Pinkie immediately ran over to her and brought her into a big hug, ignoring the blood staining her friend's coat. Although Twilight was still very worried about Dark, having at least one of her friends beside her did make her feel somewhat better. Soon after, Applejack and Spike came running through the doors. "Twilight!" Spike exclaimed. "What happened to you?" "Don't worry, Spike," Twilight answered. "I'm just fine." "No, she's not fine," Pinkie corrected frowning. "I mean, yeah she's fine physically, but it's totally another story with her emotionally." Spike walked over and tenderly placed a claw on her chest, seeing if what Pinkie said was true. Sure enough, Twilight didn't flinch as Spike patted her down, checking her for any injuries. Knowing that Twilight wasn't hurt, Spike hugged his sister, doing what he could to help her feel better. Seeing that her friend was in good claws for the moment, Applejack trotted over to Pinkie. "How'd ya get over here so fast?" she asked. "Did Rainbow tell ya about what happened?" "No," Pinkie solemnly answered. "My Pinkie Sense was going off, telling me that one of our friends was at the hospital and feeling very sad." "Ah understand," Applejack answered in a matching tone. With their little talk over with, Applejack and Pinkie Pie walked over and joined Spike and Twilight in their little group hug. It wasn't five minutes through their friendly huddle that Rarity and Sweetie Belle opened the door and trotted in. "Twilight, darling, are you alri-" Rarity froze in mid-sentence as she saw the blood covering Twilight's chest and legs before covering Sweetie Belle's eyes with a hoof. "TWILIGHT! What happened to you?! We need to get somepony to check on you right away!" "I'm fine, Rarity," Twilight sniveled. "This isn't my blood." Rarity's eyes widened. "You mean, all of that's from Dark?" "It is. Or, at least what got on me anyway." "And... how is he doing?" "I don't know," she answered, her voice beginning to crack. "They haven't said anything yet." Seeing that her friend on the verge of breaking down, Rarity rushed over to help calm her while also trying to avoid touching the bloodstains. Even Sweetie Belle, after taking a moment to get over how Twilight looked, came over to try helping her feel better. "Everything's going to be alright, Twilight," Rarity softly reassured. "He'll make it through this, I'm sure." Meanwhile, down in the operating room, the nurses and doctor where busy trying to keep Dark alive. They ran into a few complications with the black mist spewing from his wounds. It was giving them a hard time properly applying the antidote for the timberwolf sap. That, and he was very low on blood. "The third blood packet's almost empty, doctor," Nurse Redheart announced. "Can one of you go get us another packet and set it up?" he calmly asked one of the other nurses assisting them. "And make sure you bring extras. At the rate things are going, we'll be need them. Also, bring some more antidote for the timberwolf sap, and make sure it's the strong stuff. It's proving to be more resilient than what I had originally thought it would." The doctor turned back to his patient, looking over the black mist. Just what in Celestia's name is this stuff anyway? he wondered. "And could one of you take a couple magic samples of this mist and send it to the lab? I need to have it analyzed so we know exactly what we're dealing with here." With the comfort of her friends, Twilight was starting to calm back down. She'd asked Spike to send a letter to Princess Celestia about what happened and requesting more guards be sent if possible. With the letter sent, all she could do now was wait... again. "I hate this," Twilight muttered. "Pardon?" Rarity asked. "I hate having to wait like this and not being able to do anything to help." "We know, sugarcube, but sometimes the best kind of help is waitin'," Applejack commented. "Besides," Spike chimed. "You remember what he said happened to him before he came to Ponyville. If that's true, then why can't he pull through this too?" A small smile formed on Twilight's face. "I suppose you're right. Thank you, everypony," she thanked, returning her friend's hug with one of her own. While she was still worried about Dark, Twilight was starting to feel reassured that he'd survive this, thanks to her friends. Hearing the door open again, Twilight snapped her attention back over to it, expecting to see the doctor or one of the nurses. Instead, it was Rainbow and Fluttershy who came in. Upon seeing Twilight's blood-stained coat, they froze in place with Fluttershy letting out a loud 'eep'. "Whoa, you alright there, Twilight?" Rainbow asked. "I don't remember you getting hurt before you left." "I'm fine, Rainbow," she answered. "Then what happened to get all of that on you?" Fluttershy worryingly asked as she cautiously walked closer to see. "Remember what I told you on the way here, Flutters?" Rainbow asked. "Oh... right," she replied, looking up to Twilight. "You should probably go get yourself cleaned up, Twilight." "But I can't leave him alone," Twilight argued. "But he's not alone, dear," Rarity said. "We'll be waiting right here for him. Besides, you really should go and wash that blood off of yourself before it dries on any further. While it's very thoughtful of you to want to stay nearby, you should also think of yourself too." Looking down to her coat, Twilight was now noticing that the blood had already started to dry and crust onto her coat. Giving a reluctant nod, Twilight got up and walked to the door. She stopped, though, as she felt a soft yellow hoof on her shoulder. "Would you like for Rainbow and I to come with you?" Fluttershy offered. "For the company I mean." Twilight looked from Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash, who gave an affirming nod. "I guess a little company would be nice right now," Twilight answered. "So, we gonna teleport to your castle, or are we flying over?" Rainbow asked as she trotted to her two friends. "Teleport," she replied. "I'd prefer to not be gone for any longer than I have to." With that, Twilight began channeling her magic to teleport herself and her two friends back to her place. After they left, Rarity and Pinkie went over to Applejack to try and get a better explanation of what exactly happened, leaving Spike and Sweetie Belle by themselves. Seeing Sweetie Belle sitting on the bench alone, Spike walked over and took a seat beside her. "You alright, Sweetie Belle?" he asked. "I guess," she sighed. "What about you?" "I'm doing okay. I mean, yeah I'm worried, but it's nowhere near as what Twilight is." Sweetie Belle wiped her eyes while letting out a few soft snivels. Seeing her in such a saddened state, Spike put a reassuring claw on her shoulder. "Sweetie Belle?" Spike gently called, causing her to face him. "Is there anything you want me to do that'll make you feel better? It's pretty obvious that this is bothering you a lot too." With a tint of pink on her cheeks, Sweetie Belle meekly nodded before scooting up against Spike, wrapped her forelegs around his chest, and burying her face in his shoulder. Though it surprised him at first, Spike understood what Sweetie Belle was asking for. Gently, he wrapped his arms around Sweetie Belle and softly stroke her mane while she continued sniveling into his shoulder. Hearing her sister's soft weeping again, Rarity turned her attention from her discussion and back to Sweetie Belle. But instead of going over to her, she instead remained where she was, seeing that her sister was already being well taken care of. Seems like one really can count on Spike for just about anything, Rarity thought to herself with a smile. After almost an hour of waiting, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow finally returned. Twilight looked refreshed as her coat was now completely clean of any traces of blood from earlier, but her mood didn't change all that much. Yes, she was feeling a little bit better, but she was still very worried. "Anything?" she asked, getting a group of head shakes in reply. "I don't think it'll be too long now," Spike commented while holding a now sleeping Sweetie Belle. Even though her sniveling did turn into soft sobs, it didn't last too long as she fell asleep shortly after. As time passed, her sad face had eventually turned to a content smile as she snuggled up against Spike's warm chest. He had tried to gently prying her off of him to let her sleep on the bench, but despite her being asleep, she was surprisingly strong and wouldn't let go of him, not that Spike minded it all that much. Actually, between how tired he was getting and with the added warmth from Sweetie Belle's coat, Spike was starting to fall asleep as well. And so, they continued to wait. Soon an hour passed, and then another. Before anypony knew it, it was already 11 P.M. and still no word. Now scared about what's taking them so long, Twilight began to shudder. Even her friends were starting to become anxiously worried at this point, minus Spike and Sweetie Belle, who were now both fast asleep, still holding onto each other. Seeing that they were asleep, Fluttershy went over and fetched a blanket to cover the two with. It was then that the doctor and Nurse Redheart finally came into the waiting room. Upon seeing them enter, everypony instantly ran up to them. "How is he? Is he alright?" Twilight quickly asked. "Before I begin answering your questions, Princess, there's something I need to go over with involving his contact information," the doctor said. "Why? Did he miss something?" "Yes, he did. He didn't put down anypony for us to get ahold of, should he be sent here." He looked up from his clipboard to Twilight. "You wouldn't by chance know if he has any relatives nearby would you?" "He doesn't have any family," Twilight sadly answered. "They were all killed in a dragon attack." "That's unfortunate," he replied. "Then who should I put in for his contact?" "That would be me," she told him. "Should anything happen to him, then I want to know." "Very well. In that case, would you please sign this then?" he asked, levitating the clipboard with the document and a pen over to Twilight. She took the pen in her magic and signed the form before returning them back to the doctor. He looked over to it verify that everything was in order before disclosing the information to her. The doctor then flipped some of the papers over and looked down to his surgical charts before addressing Twilight's previous questions. "Now that that's out of the way, I can tell you how the operation went. Now, there were some complications with the surgery..." he began. Hearing those few words had an immediate impact as Twilight's eyes began to water all over again. Seeing what was going on, Nurse Redheart took over. "It wasn't anything so bad that we couldn't handle, I assure you," she began explaining. "What the doctor meant was that the black misty stuff coming out of his wounds was actually magical residue from him regenerating. At least, that's what we believe it to be. Between the test results that came in, and from what we saw during the surgery, I'd say it's a safe guess. Although, I've never seen these kind of magical readings before." "But if he was regenerating, then why would you consider that to be a complication?" Pinkie asked, the color and poofieness of her mane returning to normal. "It's because his regeneration was making it difficult to administer the antidote, which in turn required us to repeatedly reopen his wounds to properly apply it," the doctor explained. "Even though he's able to regenerate, it didn't remove the poisonous sap that was still in his system. Also, he'd acquired such a significant dosage of the sap that we had to use a more potent antidote than we normally would. Not to mention that he was very low on blood when we started." He looked to Twilight. "You're lucky you brought him in when you did. Another five to ten minutes later and we might not have been able to save him." Hearing the good news lead everypony to sigh with long-awaited relief. "However," Nurse Redheart began. "We'll be keeping him here tonight and tomorrow night, just to make sure that nothing unexpected happens to him. After all, he's still in need of more blood, between what little he was brought here with, and with us having to keep his wounds open during the surgery." She turned to the doctor. "I swear, though, ten blood packets in a few hours? We've never had to burn through that much blood ever before." "Well, we've never had to do an operation quite like that before either," the doctor pointed out. "So he's really going to be alright then?" Twilight asked hopefully. "Yes, he is," Nurse Redheart replied. "He just needs a lot of food, water, and rest." "Is it alright if I can see him?" Nurse Redheart looked to the doctor, getting an approving nod before motioning for Twilight to follow her over to Dark's room, but she stopped when she noticed that her friends weren't following her. "Aren't you girls coming too?" she asked. "Sorry, sugarcube, but Ah need ta go home and tell Big Mac about what's goin' on with Dark," Applejack answered. "And I need to get these two to bed," Rarity explained while levitating Spike and Sweetie Belle onto her back. "By the way, Twilight. Would you be alright if I brought Spike over to my place to sleep for the night?" "Go ahead, Rarity," Twilight answered. "I don't even know if I'll be going home tonight anyway." "Just make sure that you don't tire yourself out too much now, darling. I'm sure you're just as exhausted as the rest of us, if not more." "I'll make sure to get some sleep," she assured before looking to the rest of her friends. "And what about you three?" "I'm heading out to fly Fluttershy home," Rainbow explained. "Besides, she doesn't like flying alone out in the middle of the night like this." "Especially with what's happened tonight," Fluttershy added. "And I'm working in the morning so I'll need all the energy I can get before then," Pinkie happily chimed. "I understand," Twilight said, giving them an understanding smile before Rainbow walking up beside her. "Besides, I'm sure that you'll want to be alone with him after all that waiting," she whispered, causing Twilight to blush slightly, but also receiving a nod in reply. "Anyway, we'll be sure to drop by here tomorrow to check up on him." "Alright. Thank you girls for your support, and for all the help you've given," Twilight thanked before following Nurse Redheart to the room Dark was resting in. Nurse Redheart led Twilight to the same room where they had him in the last time he was here. After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Twilight gently opened to door, revealing Dark sleeping peacefully on the bed. They didn't need to turn on the overhead lights as the bedside lamp was already lighting the room in a soothing dim glow. Walking up closer to Dark, Twilight could see the I.V. sticking into his left arm, supplying him with fresh blood. And while she couldn't see the rest of him thanks to the blanket covering him, she did notice the gauze patch on his cheek. "Although he can regenerate," Nurse Redheart began explaining. "We thought it would be best if we kept him bandaged up, and applied some healing ointment onto them, just to be safe." "Thank you for everything that you've done for him, Redheart," Twilight thanked with a grateful smile. "You're welcome, Twilight," she returned. "And thank you for not using my title. To be honest, I'm kinda surprised that you remembered that little request." "After how you went on about it, it wasn't really that hard to forget," Nurse Redheart commented, causing the two mares to giggle quietly. "Well, I suppose I'll let you two be. I'll be back later to check on you two." "Alright. Have a nice night, Redheart." "You too, Twilight," Nurse Redheart replied as she quietly left the room and closed the door behind her. Now alone, Twilight walked up alongside Dark's bed and sat down, looking over him. The blood that stained his coat from before was washed clean off, and he even had a pleasant scent to him now. With a relaxed smile on her face, Twilight laid her hooves on his right claw and gently held it. After a few minutes, she became surprised when Dark's claw started to gently hold the hoof that was in his palm, despite the fact that he was still asleep. With a content sigh, Twilight began stroking the back of Dark's claw with her free hoof, simply happy with the fact that he would be alright. In front of the castle ruins in the Everfree Forest, the cloaked figure was furiously pacing back-and-forth in front of the three injured alpha timberwolves that had returned from their failed ambush attempt, drawing the attention of the others gathered around. "This is unacceptable!" he bellowed, backhoofing the three-legged alpha off to the side. "I gave you a golden opportunity to get rid of him and you went and bucked it up!" His outburst caused everyone present to cower in fear. He turned to the two burnt alpha timberwolves with murderous intent in his eyes. "I want you two out of my sights until the invasion," he ordered before turning to the limp alpha timberwolf. "As for you," he growled, a blinding light shining from the darkness of his cloak. "With that wound of yours, you are now no longer of any use to me." Then, with a blinding flash of light and a brief howl of pain, the wounded alpha was gone, its only remains being a pile of smoldering ash on the ground. After the light from within his cloak faded, the cloaked figure turned his attention back to the others. "Let this be a reminder to the rest of you!" he shouted. "My patience is now at its end! So if any of you fail me again in any way, then I'll kill you myself!" Even though outwardly Rainbow seemed to be fine at the hospital, she was actually wracked with guilt on the inside. She never liked showing her softer, emotional side around others, but Fluttershy was her oldest friend, making Rainbow feel more comfortable with opening up about her problems. On their flight back, she'd been telling Fluttershy about how she feels as though she's responsible for how Dark ended up. How she should have known better than to leave him alone after such a tiring training session, especially with them being on high-alert with the timberwolves. "I don't know what to do," Rainbow worryingly said. "It's all thanks to me being so narrow-minded that this happened to Dark." "It's not your fault, Rainbow," Fluttershy softly argued. "Nopony knew that they would be waiting for him, and we don't even know if Dark was the one they wanted. For all we know, they could have been waiting for either of you to leave first, then go after the other one." "First he's target by three timberwolves, and a few days later, he's attacked again, but by eight alphas this time. No, Fluttershy. The first time I would've agreed with you, but twice in the same week at different locations? There's no way I can believe that it was just some dumb luck." "Well... at least he'll be alright." "That's not the point!" Rainbow shouted. "It's because of me that he nearly died, Fluttershy! What do you do to fix that?!" Though Fluttershy didn't like being talked to with that tone of voice, she didn't let it bother her. Instead, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "If you're really that worried about it, then you should go apologize to him," Fluttershy stated. "... you're joking, right?" Rainbow deadpanned. "Why would I be joking about that? We've already agreed at the meeting that he's a forgiving stallion, so I'm sure he would forgive you too." "Leaving your friend for dead isn't the same as accidentally crashing into them, or chaining them up and dragging them across Ponyville." "Do you want to make this better or not?!" Fluttershy snapped, irritated with how Rainbow was going on about this. The small outburst was quite a shocker to Rainbow as it caused her to lose her balance. Getting herself realigned, she looked to see that Fluttershy was very serious about this, the look on her face was almost like what she would use when using The Stare. "Wow, Fluttershy. Since when did you get so strict and authoritative?" "I had to if I wanted to keep Discord in line, even though I don't like it. But that's not what's important right now, is it?" "No, it's not," Rainbow sighed. "Alright, tomorrow I'll go and talk to Dark. Hopefully he'll be in a forgiving enough mood." Fluttershy glided over to Rainbow and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "It'll be alright." She looked down to see her cottage just below them. "Well, this is my stop. Thank you for coming with me, Rainbow." "No prob," Rainbow replied. "And... thanks for listening, Fluttershy." With that, Rainbow Dash made her way to her cloudhouse, leaving Fluttershy landing in front of her door. She was happy to finally be back home and was looking forward to getting some sleep. Quietly, she pushed the door open so that she wouldn't spook the guards into attacking her by mistake. But when she opened the door and walked inside, she saw that all four of them were passed out, either on the floor, the chair, or across the couch. Giving a quiet giggle, she made her way to the linen closet, grabbing a few blankets before draping one over each of the guards, one of whom she thought heard mumble something about a devil bunny. Smiling at how comfortable they looked now, Fluttershy locked the front door and made her way up to her room, more than ready to retire for the night. At the same time, back in Ponyville, Rarity was coming upon her home with Sweetie Belle and Spike still sleeping away on her back. Neither of them moved an inch in their sleep during the return trip, which led Rarity to glimpse back a few times to make sure they were still there. They did talk in their sleep a few times, though, which made Rarity quietly giggle in amusement. Finally reaching her home, Rarity unlocked the door, quietly trotted inside, and turned on the lights. She felt Sweetie Belle squirming, causing her to look back to see her trying to bury her scowling face deeper into Spike's scaly chest. Realizing her mistake, Rarity turned off the lights, instead resorting to her horn's glowing aura for light. After locking up, she gently went upstairs to put the two to bed. Reaching Sweetie Belle's bed, Rarity gently levitated the two off of her back and began to try and gently separate them. Seeing as her first few attempts failed, she decided to risk them waking up by tugging a little bit harder. After a few more tries and hearing some displeased grunts from them, Rarity conceded, knowing that if she pulled any harder that she'd wake them up. She began looking between the contently sleeping pair, and back to her sister's bed, deciding on whether it would be a good idea or not. It's just for one night, Rarity thought to herself. And Spike isn't the kind to do anything inappropriate to Sweetie Belle. Besides, it's not like I can subtly separate them at this point. With her mind made up, Rarity lifted the two onto Sweetie Belle's bed and drew the covers over them. Taking a step back to look them over, she saw Sweetie Belle letting out a content sigh, both of their faces turning from scowls to soft smiles. Seeing how cute and comfortable the two of them were together, Rarity quietly cooed at them while just as quietly making her way out to let them sleep. Perhaps I'll let Sweetie Belle sleep in after all, she thought to herself. She did have a rather stressful night, and I'm sure Miss Cheerilee will understand after I explain things to her. A few hours have passed since Nurse Redheart had left Twilight alone with Dark, and it was time that she started making her rounds. After seeing to some of the other patients, she quietly opened the door to Dark's room to see Twilight still awake at his bedside. "I can't believe you're still up," she quietly told Twilight. "What do you mean?" Twilight tiredly asked. "It's two in the morning. Honestly, Twilight, you should get some sleep before you keel over and I have to check you into the hospital myself." "Just a few more moments and I'll head off to sleep." "Would you like me to go fetch you a spare blanket?" "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, sure." "Alright, just give me a moment to look over his readings and I'll get right on it," Nurse Redheart answered. After a few minutes of checking his vital readings and the amount of blood left in his current packet, Nurse Redheart left the room. Soon after she returned with a blanket for Twilight, draping it over her shoulders before leaving to continue her rounds. All by herself again, and now with a fresh warm blanket, Twilight let out a loud yawn. Looking around the hospital room, Twilight now noticed that there weren't any other beds in the room, and that the only chair there wasn't cushioned. Looking back to Dark's bed, she saw that there was actually room for another pony on it. It might be a little crowded, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt. It's just for one night, after all, Twilight nervously thought. Besides, I doubt that the floor would be very comfortable to lay on. With that thought in mind, Twilight carefully made her way up on top of the bed before gently laying herself down beside Dark. With a small amount of room to move around with, Twilight scooted herself up against Dark, putting herself between his right arm and upper-body. Now feeling more comfortable with how she's settled in, Twilight began stretching herself out, gently laying her right foreleg and wing across Dark's chest while resting her head in the crook of his neck. With her own blanket covering her, and laying down alongside Dark, Twilight felt more at peace than she ever had before. I can't believe how soft and warm he is right now. He's even more so than he was a few days ago, she thought, smiling to herself. Too bad he's not awake, though. It would be nice for us to just talk to each other like this for a while. And with those last thoughts, Twilight closed her eyes. The feeling of Dark's chest rising with each breath, and the soft, rhythmic beating of his heart, finally lulling her off to sleep.