//------------------------------// // Luna // Story: The World Beyond Her Dreams // by Foals Errand //------------------------------// Luna burst into the long term care ward, evening out her pink scrubs as she slid on the tiles. She barely stopped herself on the nurse’s counter, her breath being forced out as she leaned over it. Looking up, she saw her sister raising an eyebrow. “Good afternoon sister.” Luna felt a heat touch her cheeks as she coughed and tried to straighten. “Afternoon. Any pressing news for me?” Celestia rolled her eyes, before passing over the files in her arms. “Fortunately, it has been a slow day, even with the doubled watch we’ve been put on Twilight. I was able to cover the other patients, and Cadance will be able to keep an eye on them when she gets here. However, I need you to do my job.” She reached back into the desk, and pulled out two recorders. “In case you run out of tape.” Luna shook her head, trying to figure out what was going on. She knew that when it came to Twilight, Celestia would sometimes clock out and spend the whole second shift listening to the young woman ramble about her world. She gingerly took the tapes, her eyes narrowing. “And where will you be?” Celestia reached back, checking the bun in her hair to make sure it was secure. While long term allowed for more relaxed standards, where she would be going needed her to be at her best. “Shining is soon to go into prep for a heart transplant. As the most experienced nurse in the hospital-” Luna stopped her with a wave of the hand, knowing her sister hated discussing surgeries too much, despite being the best for them. “I’ll make sure to do the best I can then, so you can focus on your patient.” She then glanced down to the two devices that weighed her hand down. “Has she really been this active?” Celestia barely nodded, her cheek collapsing into itself, pinched by her teeth. “Just… keep those and your pager near you.” Luna paled, before placing a hand on her sister’s shoulder. She knew the horror that could come from Twilight ‘waking up’. The frothing at the mouth, the screaming, the cries to be home… those were the only days they found themselves relieved when no one could get her to react. “I won’t let her hurt herself, I promise.” Celestia squeezed her sister’s hand, before nodding, a single tear splashed onto the clipboard she now handed to her sister. “Thank you. I’ll try to meet you for dinner. You can tell me about the reunion then.” Luna nodded, turning away and waving the recorders as she said, “You should have been there. Lots of people wanted to see you!” She didn’t bother looking back though, knowing that her sister had refused so as to continue to watch Twilight. Ever since the girl’s ‘ascension’, she had been becoming more active, and Celestia had spent almost all of her time in the hospital. It was admirable, and if for no other reason to free her sister, motivated Luna even harder to get the girl to wake up. Slipping into the room, she noticed Twilight twitch, and heard something about a crown, before she returned to babbling. Just how Luna preferred her. It had been long ago that Luna had decided that instead of mostly passive listening like Celestia, she preferred talking to her. Trying to insert her own elements into the stories being told, with the day she managed to re-enact the Indian and American war being her crowning achievement. She put the recorder by Twilight’s head and cleared her throat. “So, I had my high school reunion last night. It was nice seeing everyone again.” She then smirked and put her feet up on a stool in the room, put there to help her and Celestia with the long shifts. “You should try it. It’d probably be a nice change of pace.” Twilight shifted in her bed, and for a moment scared Luna as her breaths came in quicker, words about fear and new things coming from her. Luna reached over and cooed as she stroked Twilight’s mane. “I’m right here, Twilight. No matter what you’re facing, no matter how little I know of it, I will help you through.” She waited another moment, watching the girl’s chest as the rise and fall evened out. “Do you wish to hear about my night?” “You can’t come Rainbow, I’m sorry. It would cause too many problems.” Luna sighed before retracting her hand. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” She leaned back, and stared at the familiar tile, taking in the crack she had been watching for three years now. “Not too many were there, or at least, not as many as I would have liked. Artemis even ended up skipping, which was a real pain. I could definitely use finding someone. And ten years isn’t too long to try to rekindle a high school romance, is it?” “I… I don’t care how cute… need to find…” Luna glanced to one of the monitors, but saw her temperature was fine. It wasn’t a matter of a fever dream that the dream was becoming less lucid at least. “One consolation was with one of the army wannabes that came. Always so passionate about his job, Flash Sentry used to make me laugh, but seeing him yesterday, in a bodyguard’s suit… mmm, makes a girl get excited, doesn’t it?” A soft smile spread over Twilight’s face. “Strong… kind… a good distraction from my hunt to beat Sunset.” Luna chuckled at the description. “And here I thought your heart was as dead as your conciou-” She stopped, only having just registered the name. The name that had centered the nurses of the hospitals lives for two months. The name she wasn’t ever going to forget. Luna sent her chair spiraling back as she got up, only just barely stopping herself from grabbing the woman’s shoulders and shaking her. “Who did you say?” Twilight thrashed in her sheets slightly. “S-Sunset Shimmer… crown… element… need to…” She shook for a few moments, and Luna put a hand on her head, feeling a sweat breaking over it. “Shh, shh Twilight. Just… just relax. Go at the pace you need to.” she looked at a drawer beside the bed before reaching in and pulling out a purple, star shaped pendant. She placed it on the girl’s chest, and Twilight froze for a moment, before her breathing began to regulate itself again. Luna felt tears stream down her face as she still gripped into the pendant, trying to use the pain to focus again. “Now, whatever you do, don’t force it. We… I can’t lose this. Please. So just.. just tell your tale, Twilight.” ======+++++====== Celestia dragged herself into the ward. Her whole body ached, and she could feel a pressure building behind her eyes, threatening to become a migraine at any moment. She didn’t care though. She had just pushed through six hours of surgery, and she wanted to see her little gir-. The nurse stopped for a moment, straightening herself as she took a deep breath. “Your patient Celestia, she's your patient. Not your little girl.” Her eyes snapped open as she heard a slam against one of the doors in the ward, rousing the few other members of staff there. Slowly, the door to room 201, Twilight’s, opened, and the dark blue figure of her sister revealed itself. Luna took one step away from the door before stumbling to the nurse’s counter, barely catching it before she collapsed onto the ground. “Luna!” Celestia attempted to run over, but in her mutually weakened state, it was far more a hobble than anything else. Once she got to see her sister’s face, it scared her. The grit teeth, furrowed brow, and bloodshot eyes made the other nurse look like she had just come out of a war meeting instead of a coma patient’s room. “Did something happen to Twilight?” Luna pushed against the counter, breathing hard as she tried to get straight. “Y-yeah, something did. Agh!’ She bent over the counter, her knees trembling as a hiss of air escaped the younger nurse.”You never realize just how important circulation is until you’ve been standing in one position for five hours.” Celestia mouthed, ‘Five hours,’ before she felt her heart almost skip a beat. “Di-did Twilight start seizing up? What happened?” Luna rolled her eyes. “Thank you so much for your concern sis.” She shook her head, a tear coming out just before she pushed away from the nurse’s station and forced herself to stay upright. “Yeah… I’ve been having to… calm her all day.” She took a deep breath, and finally stood like a human being, instead of like some hunchback. “But it was worth it.” Celestia blinked a few times before cocking her head. Luna’s scowl switched to a thin lipped smile, and she leaned against her sterile smelling sister. “Canterlot High. She spent all day dreaming of her high school, and-and Sunset.” Celestia’s jaw almost dropped, before she held Luna at arm’s length. “If you’re lying to me-” “I’m not.” The two stared each other down, before Celestia merely sighed. “I… I’m sorry. Just, to hear such good news, to know she is so close, I can’t help but feel like it might be fake.’ Luna shook her head, stepping behind the nurse’s desk now. “Well, I don’t think she’s awake yet. There is a divide, a portal between the two worlds, and even when focused on ‘this’ world, it focused on the fantastical elements, and Twilight didn’t even know what most things were, supposedly.” She fell back, rolling in the chair that she landed in. “None of that is a good sign if you ask me.” Celestia shook her head. “No, no they are challenges, I won’t deny that. But still,” she said as a smile split open her face, “it means she recognizes us. Still recognizes that we that 'humans' can exist.” Tears started to leak out of Celestia’s eyes, before she tackled her sister and wrapped her arms around her. “Thank you, Luna. Thank you.” Luna weakly wrapped her arms around her sister. “Yeah, yeah, I’m awesome. Don’t be so rough though with your hugs though. I’ve had a very long day.” Celestia nodded, futilely wiping away the tears she had with the sleeves of her jacket. “O-of course. I’ll… I’ll go say hi to her then.” She then left Luna , and calmly stepped over the room. Peeking in, she could still see the beautiful, young woman laying in the bed, now stable, and silent. With all of the good news, all the bounds forwards this possibly meant for her coming back, to see Twilight sleep so peacefully almost made Celestia cry. She sat beside the bed and squeezed Twilight’s hand, rummaging through her memory for lullabies. In the meantime, she could at least give a promise. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I know you could slip back, but I won’t let you. You’ll come back to us this time, I swear.” When no response came, Celestia merely cried.