Following the end of the fight at the Coliseum, Celestia and Luna brought Dark and Shining to the castle's medical wing where they were immediately taken by the medical staff for preparation. As suspected, both Dark and Shining had exhausted their magic and needed immediate magic transfusions. And while the medical staff there were ready for any kind of medical emergency at any time of day, now was the time for them to prove it.
Lighting her horn, Celestia sealed the doors and casted a barrier around the room. With the room secured, she looked back over to Luna, who had a curious look on her face.
"Was that really necessary, sister?" Luna questioned.
Celestia sighed. "Considering that both Dark and Shining Armor are in this condition, would you want a hysterical Twilight Sparkle to come bursting into the room?"
"... very well. Now then, what next?"
"Next we help the doctors with the transfusions."
"Celestia, using our magic to heal somepony is one thing, but to give our alicorn magic to unicorns, even if it's a transfusion, would put immense strain on them."
Celestia nodded. "True. However, in this case, we're dealing with a powerful unicorn and a kirin, both of whom have almost no magic left. With how depleted their magical reserves are, giving them some of our magic shouldn't cause them any harm, especially for Dark."
"Are you sure about that?" Luna asked hesitantly. "Because I would rather not have both Cadence and Twilight coming after us for accidentally killing those two."
"I know, Luna," Celestia replied, "but we won't be giving those two a lot of our power, just enough to jumpstart them."
Luna huffed. "Fine. Now, what about any internal damage? After all, they were both bleeding rather badly, and from places that they shouldn't be."
"True, but that's what happens when somepony depletes all of their magic like they did."
"Seems like if anypony would do something stupid like that, it would be those two," a third voice added.
Turning their attention to their side, Celestia gave a warm smile to the mare approaching them.
"Thank you for being here to help them, Doctor Cura," she thanked.
"I'm just surprised that I get to work on those two," Cura said, turning to look back at Dark and Shining being hooked up to heart monitors and other machines. "To think that I get to work on both of them in one day. Maybe I can get some tissue samples of Dark while I'm at it?"
"Sorry, but this isn't really the time for that," Luna told her. "Right now, we have two stallions who need a magic transfusion and possibly a few healing spells."
"Alright." Turning around, Cura led the Princesses over to where Dark and Shining were laid up. "By the way, what happened to these two... besides the obvious plot kicking they got?"
"How familiar are you with the Coliseum?"
"I'll go and watch some matches when I can," Cura answered. "I actually heard that the champion had a match tonight, but didn't get the name of who he was fighting."
"In that case, there they are," Luna said, pointing at Dark and Shining.
"There who are?"
Luna facehoofed with a groan. "Dark and Shining Armor. Shining Armor turned out to be the champion and Dark fought him."
"You mean that those two were tonight's main event?"
"Yes."
Surprised, Cura looked back at the two with widened eyes. "Wow. Must've been some fight for them to nearly kill each other."
"If it wasn't for their lives being in possible danger, I would go into greater detail. But, let's just say that it involved Dark transforming into a dragon, and Shining Armor eating a pellet that forced him into a Rage Shift."
Cura gave a low whistle. "Sounds like I missed a lot. Oh! Everypony in the castle heard a dragon roaring earlier tonight."
"That would've been Dark," Celestia told her.
Cura's locked her gaze onto Dark with a glint in her eyes. "Are you sure that I can't get even one tiny little tissue sample from him?"
"Later, Cura," Luna said, slightly impatiently. "And besides, we want to have some good news before Twilight and the others show up."
"Princess Twilight was there?" she asked, getting a nod from Celestia and Luna. "Well then, when do you think she'll be here-"
*BANG... BANG... BANG*
"Does that answer your question?" Luna deadpanned.
"Dang. Any harder and she might break the doors down," Cura commented.
"Luna, you go on ahead and get started on them," Celestia told her as she walked over to a bench with some writing material on it. "I'm going to write Twilight a quick letter telling her to try and wait while we work on those two."
"You know she's not going to like it."
"Don't worry, Luna. After all, she'll have her family and friends with her."
Letting Celestia be for now, Luna walked over to the two beds that held Dark and Shining. As she approached, she watched as the medical staff tried to remove Shining's armor with difficulty.
"Is there a problem?" Luna asked.
"I'm sorry, Princess," one of the other doctors apologized, "but we're having some difficulty removing Prince Shining Armor's armor. It's so damaged that the clasps that are holding it together have been bent, making us unable to safely unfasten them if at all. There are even quite a few areas that appear to have been penetrated by something and are causing the bent metal to pierce his skin."
Stepping closer, Luna looked over Shining's damaged armor. This wasn't like this before Dark's last attack, Luna mused. Just what did you two do in there?
"Excuse me, Princess?" one of the staff spoke, gaining Luna's attention. "Do you have any ideas on how to get it off of him?"
"Perhaps. When Celestia gets here, tell her about this," she told them. "She's better at precise teleportation than I, and should be able to remove the armor safely from him."
"What will you do then, Your Highness?"
"I shall be tending to Dark." Turning around, Luna walked over to see Dark laying on the bed, his own armor having been removed and placed in a basket off to the side. "I see that his armor and damage absorber have already been removed."
"Yes. Even with the chainmail being as damaged as it was, it wasn't any issue to remove."
"Very good. In that case, I shall get started."
"And what about the prince?"
"Leave him to me," Celestia said, walking up from behind them. Getting a better look at Shining, Celestia looked over his damaged armor.
"We've been unable to remove his armor due to how damaged it and the clasps holding it together are," one of the staff told her. "We did manage to remove his damage absorber safely, but Princess Luna said that you might be able to safely remove the damaged armor with a teleportation spell?"
Celestia nodded. "That is correct. Give me a moment and I'll have the armor off of him."
Lighting her horn, Celestia wrapped Shining in her magic. For the first few minutes, the medical staff watched as he simply floated in her magical grasp. Then, one piece at a time, Celestia carefully teleported the armor off of him. Wanting to go slow as to not accidentally get a part of him caught in the teleportation, Celestia carefully went for the next piece, followed by another. After several minutes had passed, she'd freed Shining from his armor and had it set off in a basket provided for it while the medical staff began casting a healing spell on him.
"There," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now that that's done, I can begin the transfusion."
"With all due respect, Princess," Cura spoke, "is it really such a good idea for you and Princess Luna to be giving them your alicorn magic?"
"It will only be a small fraction of it to help them jumpstart their own magic. Don't worry, they'll be fine."
Walking up alongside Shining's head, Celestia lit her horn and leaned her head down until her horn was touching Shining's. Seconds later, she pulled back as she heard Luna yelp and turned around to see her rubbing her horn.
"Something wrong, Luna?" Celestia asked.
"I don't know," Luna replied. "I was giving Dark his magic transfusion, but then if felt like my magic was being drained out of me instead of me giving him it."
"Don't worry, that's just a side effect of the transfusion. It'll feel like he's trying to take what magic he can to replenish his own, but it's really not."
Luna sighed and returned to Dark. "If you insist."
"Oh, I almost forgot," Celestia suddenly spoke, turning her attention to Cura while maintaining Shining's transfusion. "Doctor Cura, could you do something for me?"
"I suppose," she shrugged. "What is it?"
"I need for you to go out there and tell Twilight and anypony else who may be waiting out there that Luna and I are currently working on Dark and Shining."
"Alright. Anything else?"
"Yes. I'll also need for you to tell Cadence that Shining Armor is here, and about what happened to him."
Slowly, Cura turned around and made her way over to the doors, muttering beneath her breath something about not being paid to deal with this.
Almost an hour later, Celestia and Luna were sitting down on a pair of chairs off beside one of the walls, having just finished with Dark and Shining. While the magic transfusion was a success, they had to give it to them slowly so that they wouldn't give them too much too fast. It also turned out that even though Dark and Shining had both bled from their eyes, noses, and mouth, they didn't actually sustain any internal damage. While Shining did have some injuries from their fight, it was the depletion and lack of magic that caused him and Dark to start bleeding out.
"Glad that's over," Celestia commented, laying back in her chair with a sigh of relief.
"You're telling me," Luna said, slouching her shoulders. "I don't know about you, Tia, but I feel drained. What's worse is that my shift over the night is about to begin."
"How much of your magic did you give him?"
"More than I thought that I would have to. I swear, I only meant to give him a small fraction, but it felt like he took more like a quarter or third of my magic." Luna lazily turned her head over to look at Celestia. "Is this another side effect?"
"It's not very common, but yes. This could also be because of what he is."
"I suppose it would make sense then."
"Ah-hem."
Looking over in front of them, Celestia and Luna saw Cura standing before them.
"Yes, Doctor Cura?" Celestia tiredly addressed.
"The other doctors and I ran a scan over them," Cura began to explain. "While we can once again conclude that there hasn't been any life-threatening internal damage, we noticed that Prince Shining Armor did have a number of them over his body. And while most of them have appeared to have been healed by his own healing spells, it was a rushed job and will require us to properly heal him."
"And what about Dark?" Luna asked.
"He appears to be physically fine. He doesn't seem to have a single injury on him from what we could tell."
"No doubt due to his natural regeneration, I'd imagine," Celestia said. "Is there anything else?"
"After we get Prince Shining Armor healed, I would recommend that he and Dark be put on bedrest for a day or two. While their injuries may be healed and their magic restored, their bodies will need time to regain their strength before they can start resuming with whatever those two do... other than trying to kill each other, of course."
"Thank you, Doctor Cura," Celestia thanked, giving her a thankful bow before heading over to the doors. "I'm going to go tell Twilight and the others about Dark and Shining Armor. After that, I'm going to bed."
"Goodnight to you, sister," Luna said, waving Celestia off.
"And a goodnight to you too, Luna."
Opening the doors and walking through, Celestia was met with Twilight and the others sitting on the waiting benches. Quietly closing the doors behind her, Celestia walked over to Twilight, who was being hugged by her parents and Soul.
Hearing the doors close and hoofsteps walking closer to her, Twilight looked up with reddened and puffy eyes to see Celestia looking down at her. Slipping out of their hold, she ran up to hug Celestia and buried her face in her chest.
"P-Princess?" Twilight sniffled, her voice slightly muffled. "Please t-tell me they're not-"
"They're alright, Twilight," Celestia gently told her, hugging her back, "both Dark and Shining Armor are going to be fine and are currently asleep."
There was a collective sigh of relief.
"So they're okay?"
"Yes. They both should be making a full recovery. However, Doctor Cura has placed both of them on bedrest for the next day or two while they recover."
"Can we see them now?"
"Of course, but like I said, they're both asleep right now."
"It's fine. I just want to see them is all."
Standing off to the side, Celestia watched as Twilight and the others walked in to see them. That was, everyone but First Strike, whom Celestia was surprised to see.
"I didn't expect you to be here too," she told him.
"Well, considering the condition that our former and new champions were in, why shouldn't I?" First Strike questioned. "And besides me working for the Coliseum, you and Princess Luna did teleport them off rather abruptly."
"If this is about the rules prohibition Luna and I getting involved-"
"Oh no, no, no. This isn't anything like that. Granted that that rules still stand, but I went on ahead and talked to the head of the Coliseum. Now, considering how badly those two were injured, and not to mention who those two are, we support your decision on this matter and will trust you to look after them."
"Thank you. It's reassuring to hear that," Celestia said, walking past him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, the transfusion has left me tired."
"I understand," First Strike said with a bow. "Have a pleasant night, Your Highness."
"And you as well."
Watching Celestia walk around the corner, First Strike walked into the room to see everyone gathered around Dark and Shining.
"How long until they wake up?" Twilight asked,
"Until mid-morning or noon I'd say," Cura answered, looking over their charts. "With how much magic they lost, their bodies will need time to recover. If you're wanting to talk with them, then you'll have to wait until tomorrow to do it."
"It would probably be for the best, sweetheart," Velvet said, placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "There isn't much more we can do for them until then. Why don't we call it an early night?"
"I would have to agree with you, Mrs. Velvet," Rarity agreed before stifling a yawn. "We've had quite the eventful and stressful evening, and I'm sure that these young ones are tired too."
Instead of them protesting that they weren't tired, the four foals and Spike all agreed with Rarity instead, surprising her and the others. With everyone in agreement, they gave their thanks to Cura and the other medical staff before filing out of the room. All, that is, except for Twilight, who remained in her chair between Dark and Shining.
"I'm going to stay with them."
"Again? Really, Twilight?" Rainbow questioned. "I know that they're important to you and that you're worried, but there's really nothing more that you can do for them."
"What if they wake up and need something, but nopony is there to hear them? What if one of them falls and is too weak to get back up? What if-"
"We'll have somepony nearby if that should happen," Cura interrupted, "but I highly doubt that either of them will wake up tonight."
"Regardless, I'm still staying."
"Twilight, honey," Velvet spoke, walking up to her. "Are you sure that you're not over-exaggerating over this?"
"I just want to be here and look out for them. You understand, right, mom?"
Standing silent for a moment, Velvet sighed and hugged Twilight before giving her a motherly kiss on the cheek.
"Just don't stay up too late now," she told her. "I don't think that either of them would be happy to wake up to see you half-asleep because you stayed up all night watching over them."
"I won't, mom," Twilight said, giving her a return peck on the cheek.
"Good to hear. Have a good night, dear."
"You too, mom."
Turning around, Velvet began ushering the others out of the room for them to get some sleep.
"If you wish, I can have a room prepared for you and Mr. Light, Mrs. Velvet," Luna offered.
"Thank you, Princess," she thanked. "If you wouldn't mind, that would be awfully nice. While our home is an easy walk away, I'd like to be as nearby Shining as I can."
"I understand. I shall have our maids see to it right away."
"In that case, I think that I'll be going now," First Strike said. "It's been a pleasure, Your Highness."
"Actually, before you leave, would you mind staying behind for a moment? I need to have a word with you." Luna asked, waiting for the other to continue onward and leave them alone. As they left, she also sent the medical staff except for Cura off to rest, seeing as the worst was over and she could observe them on her own. "You know that this offer is extended to you as well?"
"Thank you, but I should really be getting back to the Coliseum and tell them about their condition."
"If you insist. Also, before you leave," Lighting her horn with magic, Luna teleported her ticket from earlier to her side, "I know that it's a bit late, but I would like to turn this in."
Taking it into his hoof, First Strike began looking it over. "Ahh, so you won. Congratulations."
"Thank you, but could you perhaps turn it in for me? I would do it myself, but I have guests to see to and the night to rule."
"I could do that for you. I take it that you'll want your prize sent directly to you?"
"That would be most preferable, yes," Luna nodded. "And I must say that I'm pleased that I won this time."
"You betted before?"
"Yes. The guards, Celestia, and myself were watching Dark and Shining Armor fight in the Coliseum last year. Before they fought, we placed wagers on who would win."
"And?"
Luna grimaced. "My sister made the bet that their fight would end in a draw. And as the only pony to have made that call, she won everything."
"Ahh. Well then, I'm glad for you."
"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things that I need to see to." Luna turned to leave, but paused in mid-stride as she turned her head back around. "Before I forget, is there a chance that I can also get a magical recording of tonight's fight?"
"Of course," First Strike chuckled, exiting the room behind Luna to make for the Coliseum.
By herself now with the exception of Cura, Twilight looked over Dark and Shining in silence. After a few moments, Twilight let out a soft yawn that was heard by Cura.
"You look pretty tired, Twilight," she observed.
"I guess," Twilight answered, her shoulders slouching.
"Am I to take it that you'll be heading off to bed soon?"
"In a moment."
"In that case, I'll go get one of the beds ready for you."
Twilight shook her head. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary."
"Well you're not going to fall asleep in the chair. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have Princess Celestia or your mother breathing down my neck."
"Don't worry, I won't."
"Then were will you be sleeping tonight?" Cura questioned, watching as Twilight eyed Dark. After a few silent moments, Cura noticed that Twilight wasn't looking quite at Dark, but the space on his bed. "Ohhhhh no. You're not going to be sleeping with him tonight."
"Why not?" Twilight questioned.
"Because we're in the medical wing of the castle."
"So? I did it once before when Dark was laid up in the hospital in Ponyville."
"And what about Princess Celestia? What if she sees this?"
"She won't mind. Besides, she and Princess Luna already caught us once before."
"And your brother?"
Twilight glanced over to Shining. "He won't bother us. Even if he tired, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it."
Cura sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"I really don't see the problem. And besides, these beds are bigger than the ones in Ponyville General Hospital, so there'll be plenty of room."
"Fine," she sighed. "In that case, I'll be heading on out. If you need me for anything, I'll be in the conjoining room."
"Thank you."
Turning around, Cura began walking out when a thought came to mind. "Hey, quick question for you."
"Yes?" Twilight replied, pulling back the bedsheets slightly to get in.
"Would you mind if I took some tissue samples from Dark?"
Twilight shook her head. "Sorry, Cura, but I think that Dark's been through enough for now. You can ask him when he's feeling better."
"Fine," she huffed, turning back around and leaving the room muttering to herself. "Princesses never let me have any fun."
Finally the last waking one in the room, Twilight slid beneath the bedsheets and scooted up against Dark's side. As she snuggled up between his arm and body, and rested her head down in the crook of his neck, Twilight quietly giggled to herself as she felt a sense of Deja vu. Draping a foreleg and wing over Dark, Twilight smiled and gave one last yawn before joining the others in sleep.
It was sometime in the morning when Dark began to awaken. While he felt the softness of the bed and pillow beneath him, he also felt an extra weight. Having an idea of what it could be, Dark took a quick sniff, smelling the scent of Twilight's mane and sighed in content. Cracking an eye open only further confirmed it as he saw Twilight laying half-draped atop of him. With a small smile, Dark leaned his head down and kiss Twilight on top of her head, eliciting a small coo from her. Giving a quiet chuckle, Dark leaned down again, but this time to gently nuzzle her.
"Ah-hem."
His show of affection disrupted, Dark lifted his head up and looked over to his side to see Shining giving him a half-lidded glare.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked Dark with a disapproving whisper.
"Nuzzling her. Why?" Dark innocently whispered back.
"Is this really the place for you to be doing that with my sister?"
"Oh, come on now. I'm not doing anything wrong."
"Says the guy sleeping with Twilight in the middle of the castle's infirmary."
"Alright, I'll just wait until we get to our rooms. Then we can-"
"Do NOT say it in front of me!"
Shining and Dark both froze and held their breaths as Twilight groaned and began shifting around. A few seconds of silence later, they both watched as Twilight appeared to still be asleep and sighed in relief.
"That was close," Dark whispered.
"Yeah," Shining quietly agreed. "By the way, do you know how long you've been out for?"
Looking around, Dark saw a clock on the wall. "Looks like it's 10:25 A.M., so I'd have to say about fourteen hours or so?"
"Somewhere around there."
"Jeeze. That's quite the nap I took." Dark turned his head and looked back at Shining. "By the way, do you remember how we got here?"
"Sorry, but I don't," Shining answered, rubbing his head. "I don't even remember what happened after that last move you pulled."
"Me too."
"... however." Shining sighed, his mood almost gloomy. "I did hear about how our fight ended."
"How? You just said that you were out too."
"Because I've been awake for a few hours, that's why."
"Oh."
"Anyway, though it's a little hard to say it, I must congratulate you on your win."
"Win?"
"Yes. You see, Princess Celestia came in to visit and according to her, we were both standing unconscious in the arena. And since I was the first one of us to fall to the ground, you were declared the victor and the new champion."
Silently, Dark took a moment to process this. As he did, he felt himself being consumed by joyfulness and regret.
"That's nice."
"'That's nice'?" Shining mimicked confusingly. "You beat me in the Coliseum and that's all that you can say?"
"If what you say is true, then I only beat you because we were both KO'd and your body collapsed first," Dark explained. "I'm sorry, but while that was a heck of a fight we had, I feel like that the victory in the end is rather hollow."
Sighing, Shining leaned back in his reclined hospital bed. "Yeah. I can see what you mean by that." Shining closed his eyes in though as another subject came to mind. "Hey, Dark?"
"Yeah?"
"That thing you called me when you found out who I was... were you being serous or just messing with me?"
Dark bit his tongue as his face became flushed. Darting his eyes away from Shining, he looked down to see Twilight still sleeping.
"... that's... difficult to answer."
"How so? A simple 'yes' or 'no' will do."
"Well..." Taking in a breath, Dark steeled himself and looked back to Shining. "At the rate that our relationship is going, then I would have to say yes."
"Yes what? I want to hear you actually say the words."
"If this relationship of ours keeps up at the rate it's going, then I'll ask Twilight to ma... ma... mar... gah! Celestia damn me."
"Sorry, but I'd rather not."
Turning their attention towards the foot of their beds, Dark and Shining saw Celestia standing in front of them with a smirk on her face."
"P-Princess?!" Dark stammered. "When did you get here? And how didn't we hear or see you coming in?!"
Celestia chuckled. "I've been here for only a minute, and as you've noticed, I can be rather sneaky when I want to." Walking over to Dark, Celestia leaned down and gave him a knowing look. "Now then, what was it you were going to say?"
Oh, great. Now I have to tell her too, Dark mentally groaned. Then again, she is like a second mother to Twilight.
"Well?" Celestia pressed. "I'm waiting."
"I was thinking about asking Twilight to ma... mar... marry... me."
Resisting the urge to squee, Celestia rose and gave Dark a warm smile. "And what would your reason be for bringing it up?"
Taking a moment to see that Twilight was still asleep, Dark looked up to Celestia. "It's actually because of Soul. There have been a few times where I would think about us being married, but I didn't think too much on it. However, with Soul living with us now, that thought has been pressing on my mind."
"And when are you going to ask Twilight?" Celestia inquired.
"Not for a few more months at least. While I do love her and would love to spend the rest of my supposedly immortal life with her, I think that it might be a little too soon to ask her that."
"Good answer," Shining said with a nod. "I also think that it's too early for that."
"That, and that's also the other reason why I entered for a shot at being the Coliseum Champion."
"How so?" Celestia asked.
"While being champion and the new gear are a nice bonus, I was actually after the prize money that came with it."
"Why?" Shining wondered. "Last I heard, your forge was doing pretty good. Especially with the work you've been doing on maintaining and repairing the guards' armor and weapons."
"I do, but I wanted the bits from winning in the Coliseum to get Twilight an engagement ring."
Shining's brow furrowed. "You came to the Coliseum with the intent of wanting to get Twilight an engagement ring, and you still placed a handicap on yourself? You didn't even go all out on me until Twilight telepathically told you that you could, so why would you risk it?"
"Because while getting that ring is important to me, I didn't want to disappoint Twilight by breaking my word to her."
"And I'm glad that you didn't," Celestia said approvingly before turning to Shining. "Shining Armor, what are your thoughts about the possibility of them being engaged? I know that you and Dark have had some... difficulties in the past."
Sighing, Shining shrugged. "We've gotten better, so I don't hate him. And honestly, I think that I could be alright with it."
"Really?" Dark asked hopefully.
"Yeah. You've already done a lot for Twilight, and I've seen how happy she is with you, and vice versa. That, and if I remember correctly, I think that I said something about how I wouldn't approve of it until you beat me in a fight. And seeing as how you did just that last night, I'd say that you've earned my approval."
"Thanks, Shining."
Shining smiled briefly before frowning and pointing a hoof at Dark. "But I'm still pretty upset with you, Dark. I was out with the others scouting the base of the mountains in search of that guy who's been eluding us, and Sombra when I was called down here. Also, on another subject, who's Soul?"
"Right... well, I was hoping that we could tell both you and Cadence at the same time, but since she-"
"Will be here shortly," Celestia interrupted, earning her a look from Shining. "We sent word about what happened to you two last night, so she and Skyla took the next train from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot."
"Skyla's coming too?" Shining questioned.
"Cadence didn't want to leave her alone there while you both are here in Canterlot."
"Yeah. Guess I wouldn't either," he agreed before looking over to see Twilight still sleeping. "And why hasn't Twilight woken up yet? We've been loud enough that we should've waken her up a few times already."
"Because I placed a soundproof spell over her ears when I heard where your conversation was going after I got here," Celestia answered with a shrug.
Dark sighed in relief. "Well, thank you for doing that. Would've ruined the surprise if she found out about it before I could even have a chance to start."
"Indeed it would." Celestia paused as she noticed Twilight stir and her eyes moving beneath her eyelids. "Looks like she's about to wake up."
With the removal the spell on her ears, Twilight's eyes fluttered open and she once again began to hear her surroundings, mainly Dark's beating heart. Rotating herself, she looked up to see Dark looking down at her with a blush while she smiled back.
"Good morning," she warmly said.
"G-Good morning, Twilight," Dark returned.
"Feeling better?"
"Yeah. I feel fine."
"Good."
Twilight leaned up to share a kiss with Dark, completely unaware of Dark's eyes darting between the two ponies watching, one smiling while the other was frowning. Deepening their kiss, Twilight held onto Dark for a few moments before she finally broke apart. When she did, though, her soft and caring smile turned to a frown as she brought a hoof down on Dark's chest and knocked the wind out of him.
"Oof! What was that for?" he wheezed, the strength behind the hit catching him by surprise.
"That was for scarring me half to death," Twilight firmly told him. "What in Celestia's name did you do in there that nearly killed you?!"
At least she's not crying this time, Dark mused before answering her. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I tried to end it as fast as I could, but Shining's Rage Shift mode was really tough and it outlasted my transformation."
"So we've noticed," she grumbled, shaking her head. "You had us really worried last night, especially me and Soul."
Sighing, Dark wrapped his arms around Twilight and held her close, ignoring Celestia's and Shining's looks.
"This is the second time that I've worried you like this," he regretfully whispered. "I'm sorry that I worried you so much, Twilight."
Snuggling down into his coat, Twilight nuzzled his chin and sighed. "You can't take all of the blame. After all, I was the one who was holding you back. If I hadn't, then maybe you would've ended it faster."
"Please don't blame yourself, Twilight. Yes, if I didn't hold back like you asked, I would've ended it sooner. But I'm not complaining. Besides, we're both fine in the end, and best of all, I won."
Twilight pulled her head back to look Dark in the eyes. "How did you know that you won?"
"Because I told him."
Snapping her head to her right, Twilight's face lit up in embarrassment when she saw Shining sitting up in his bed with his forelegs crossed while Celestia stood beside him with a smirk on her face.
"Just ignore us, Twilight," she told her, "I don't mind at all."
"Well I do," Shining said. "And while you're on the subject of our match, Dark, perhaps you could tell me why I get the feeling that you weren't actually going all out on me like I asked?"
"Probably because I wasn't," Dark answered before narrowing his eyes. "But then again, I could say the same about you."
"And how do you figure that?"
"In your memories you showed me, you had more than enough power to crush those kirins in your barriers, yet you didn't to that to me."
"Because I didn't want to accidentally kill you. And what about you? What's your excuse?"
Dark smirked. "Well, you see, Shining, I have two sacs."
Shining recoiled in disgust while Twilight and Celestia stifled an unladylike snort. "Dude, I didn't need to know that!"
"It's not what you think," Dark snickered. "What I really meant was that I have two sacs in my chest for breaths."
"You mean like a fire sac?" Shining guessed.
"That's one of them. The other one is a shadow sac."
"What does that do? Allow you to breath shadows?"
Dark grimaced. "A shadow that instantly kills any living thing that touches it and reduces it to bare bones."
With shock and worry, Shining looked at Twilight. "And you're still with him?!"
"Why shouldn't I?" Twilight questioned.
"Because you're kissing the same mouth that can instantly kill you!"
"Shining, that's how it's been since we shared our first kiss, and don't forget that he also breaths fire from that mouth too. Plus, Dark's been getting some training with that breath from Nocturne, so he has better control over it."
"I still don't like it," Shining said grumpily.
Giving Dark a quick peck, Twilight rolled out of bed and stretched her still limbs. "It can't be helped. It's just the way it is."
She was about to add more when the sound of her stomach rumbling called everyone to her attention.
"Perhaps we should get something to eat?" Celestia suggested, getting an embarrassed nod from Twilight.
"We're coming too," Shining said, about to get up out of bed only to be pushed back into it by Celestia's magic.
"I'm sorry, Shining Armor, but you are on bedrest by Doctor Cura's orders."
"Heh. Sucks to be you," Dark said as he was pulling his covers back and began to sit up, only for him to be pushed back into his bed by Twilight.
"That goes for you too, Dark," she told him.
"What?! But why? I'm just fine."
"Cura told me last night that you and Shiny will both be put on bedrest while your bodies recuperate from the transfusion."
"Awww, come on," he whined.
"Don't worry. You two will be given something to eat soon." Twilight walked up alongside Celestia and the two made their way to the doors. Before they got there, though, Twilight paused and looked back at Dark. "And don't think that you're off the hook yet, Dark. We're going to have a small talk when I get back."
"Somepony's in trouble~" Shining said in a singsong voice, causing Dark to grumble at him.
Ignoring them, Twilight and Celestia continued towards the doors, but before they got there, the doors suddenly flew open.
"Shining Armor! What in Aunty Celestia's name did you do this time?!" Cadence nearly shouted in worry and anger.
Turning away from the upset mare at the doors, Dark looked at Shining with a smug grin on his face.
"Somepony's in trouble~"