At the End of the Tunnel

"You...deserved...it. You...deserved...it."

The words were spoken by Kirsten's demonic tones. They just repeated over and over again as my unconscious self was pulled immediately into a nightmare.

The scene was quickly set. I opened my eyes to find myself strapped to a table by my wrists and ankles. I was completely clothed, except for my shoes, in the exact outfit I had worn to the date that never happened. The room I was in was empty, or at least as empty as I could tell, with a single spotlight shining down on me.

"What do you want this time," I yelled into the darkness, "I'm already hurt, probably dying, the last thing I need right now is to see you."

"I'm just speaking the truth," she hissed out of the abyss, "This is your just punishment for trying to be happy without me."

"Is that what this whole thing is about? My happiness? I haven't been happy since you have reappeared in my life. And that isn't enough for you? You led me to almost killing myself, for Godesses sake! I would say that if your entire purpose is to keep me unhappy, that you've done a damn good job of it."

"Well hopefully after this is all over, you'll learn your lesson and stay away from all these fucking jolly horses."

"They prefer to be called ponies," I said matter-of-factly.

"Fuck whatever they want to be called. I'm going to make your unconsciousness a living hell!"

At this point, the she-devil herself made her presence known, coming up from above my head, which is interesting, since her voice was definitely coming from the side of my feet. She was wearing the same attire she always does, and brandishing a red crowbar.

"What do you plan to do with that," I asked, nodding my head in the direction of her weapon of choice.

"Oh, just this," she hissed, striking the crowbar against the left side of my chest. This sent a shooting pain through my entire body. Apparently, my unconscious body still had broken ribs.

"OH, SWEET CELESTIA THAT HURT!"

"And it's not going to hurt less anytime soon, sweetie," Kirsten mocked. I reflexively tried to cover my chest with my arms before being reminded that my wrists were strapped down.

"Bad boy, trying to escape, that's going to have to be punished."

"CELESTIA DAMMIT!" I screamed as she hit me again, this time more focused with the business-end of the crowbar.

"And it's just the beginning, baby. Oh, this time together is going to be so much fun."

I was about to pass out from the pain, and I'm sure I would have if I wasn't already in a state of unconsciousness.

"BE GONE, FOUL HARPY!" a familiar voice yelled out. It was Princess Luna once again coming to my rescue, "LEAVE THIS GOOD MAN ALONE!"

"What the fuck," Kirsten questioned as Luna landed across my dissection table from her, Luna's steely-blue gaze meeting hers, "Who the hell are you?"

"We are the great princess of the night, Luna. We also happen to be a friend of this man who thou continue to torture night after night. And it is part of our duties to banish nightmares like thou from the mind. Now drop thou weapon and be gone!"

At this command, Luna took a step back and fired a blue ray of magic out of her horn, which had the effect of knocking the crowbar out of Kirsten's hand.

"Fuck!" Now it was Kirsten's turn to yell as she grabbed her right hand in pain. I guess Luna didn't hit only the crowbar with that shot.

"As we said, BE GONE!"

"OK, you win this round, weird horse-thing. But you watch, you can't protect him forever."

With that, Kirsten disappeared into the darkness of the room.

Luna quickly got to work magically removing the restraints from my limbs. However, I was still in too much pain to move, but not enough not to speak.

"Thank you Luna," I whispered, "But I have to ask, where did you learn to yell like that?"

"Oh, 'tis merely the old-fashioned Canterlot voice. Before We were banished to the moon, We always used to speak in that manner. Now we've found that it scares ponies, and people."

"Well whatever it was, it sure worked. Thank you again."

"Thou are most welcome. Now, thou shall wakest soon. We will surely come to visit thou in a few days. Oh, and one more thing," she said this as the lines between consciousness began to appear, "congratulations to thou and fair Fluttershy. Thou are a most romantic pairing."

***************************************************

*BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP*

The first thing I heard when I began to stir was the persistant beeping of a heart monitor, I hoped that it was my own, as it was pretty steady and not that fast. The next thing I heard was so loud that it popped me right awake.

"He's awake!"

It was Fluttershy's voice, many decibels louder than it's usual tone, and why not. After all, the last thing I knew, she had witnessed me get beat up so bad that I was coughing up blood and I had no idea how long I had been out. She was probably worried sick this whole time.

"Hi, Fluttershy," I turned my head to the right to face her, speaking in the same small whisper that was more reminiscient of my marefriend's normal tone of voice than my own.

"Oh I'm so happy to see you awake," this was followed by a tight neck-hug, as the shy pegasus was careful not to hurt my ribs in any way.

"Happy to see you, period," I countered.

I looked around to take in my surroundings. Alongside Fluttershy stood Twilight with a much-relieved look on her face. On the other side of the bed stood the heart monitor as well as two ponies, the first a  brown earth pony wearing a white coat and wearing a stethescope, the second a white earth pony with a pink mane wearing a hat with a red cross on it. Above the bed was a stand holding a bag containing what I knew was saline which was attached by a tube into my arm, the same way it would be on Earth.

"Twilight's idea to put it into your arm," Fluttershy said, "seems you taught her a lot about how human anatomy works."

"And are we happy about that," the pony in the coat said, "Mr. Guy, you suffered two broken left ribs and a punctured left lung, which is what caused you to cough up blood. Fortunately, you made it to the hospital quickly and we could start the magic-healing process. Princess Twilight Sparkle was extremely helpful to us both in the healing and what to do with you afterwards."

"How long have I been out?" was the first question that crossed my mind.

"Just over 24 hours. Ms. Fluttershy has not left your side that entire time."

I turned my head back to my marefriend and smiled. This latest information didn't surprise me in the slightest. When I went down, Fluttershy's natural nuturing capabilities kicked in. I would be more surprised if she had left for any length of time.

"How long will I be laid up like this," I asked, not turning my head back to the doctor.

"At least two weeks," came the answer, "and that's if your X-Rays look good."

"Guess I'm going to have to postpone our date until then," this elicited a little laugh from Fluttershy.

"It's a date," she said with a smile.

"There is one thing that puzzles me though," Twilight spoke up, "while you've been out, we saw you toss your head about a few times, and even tense your muscles, as if you were in pain. Do you have any idea what caused that?"

I sighed, "Remember those nightmares I told you about?

Both Twilight and Fluttershy nodded.

"Well I had one while I was unconsious, and apparently my unconsious mind has broken ribs too, and they hurt when struck with a crowbar. I probably would have died in the dream if Luna hadn't saved me."

"Luna saved you," Fluttershy asked in awe.

"It's not the first time she's come into my dreams. All I can hope is that it's the last time she'll have to do so."

****************************************************

My stay in the hospital was as comfortable as it could have possibly been. All of my friends came to visit me. Fluttershy, of course, stayed by my side as much as she could, to the point of actually feeding me on occasion. Twilight pretty much acted like a second doctor, as well as using this time to learn about the human healing process. Applejack and Rainbow Dash visited when they could, and I heard that Rainbow gave the pegasus who assaulted me a vicious tounge-and-hoof lashing, in lieu of me pressing actual charges against him. She also introduced me to Thunderlane, the pegasus who had helped me out. Rarity was almost more worried about my blood-stained clothing than me, fussing about how she would have new formal wear made for me as soon as possible for Fluttershy and I's next date. We of course said there was no need, but that unicorn is persistant. Pinkie Pie showered me with "Get Well Soon" cards, chocolates, and other sweets, none of which I was allowed to eat. Time Turner and Ditzy visited me together as well, simply being re-assuring and the latter even baking me muffins.

But I for one was waiting for a particular pair of visitors, that being Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who were going to visit me in tandem one morning. Twilight set it all up, of course, though she claimed that when the princesses heard about my injuries, they were both adamant at visiting as soon as they could. Not only that, but Luna had promised me that she would visit in real life, and I was looking forward to it.

Finally the day arrived when the co-rulers would be coming to little-old Ponyville Hospital to visit their personal friend, the only human in Equestria. This caused a lot of fanfare, as any visit by the princesses tended to do. Twilight told me that the entrance to the hospital was absolutely crowded by ponies trying to see the monarchs. But she assured me that when they arrived, it would be just them, me, and whichever ponies I wanted to be there that would be in the room. I told her that I wished for her and Fluttershy to be there as well.

The only warning I got that my guests had arrived was the sudden commotion coming from outside my room. Fortunately, I had just finished my breakfast and was more than prepared mentally for whatever questions the two of them might pose to me. The commotion died as first Celestia, then Luna, entered my room and Twilight shut the soundproof door behind them.

"Good to see you again, Guy," Celestia spoke first, "though, of course, we all wish it was in better circumstances."

"Well I just hope it wasn't too much trouble," I responded, "you know, coming all the way to Ponyville just to see me in bandages."

"Think nothing of it. We were more than willing to make the short trek."

I smiled, turning my attention from Celestia to Luna, "And thank you for saving my flank in that nightmare. I'm sure without you intervening, I would have surely--." I couldn't finish my sentence, as I could feel myself starting to grow short on breath. This happened from time to time, nothing a quick hit or two from an oxygen mask wouldn't fix.

"Of course," Luna responded as I focused on breathing, "as We have told you, coming into your dreams, or nightmares, is part of our job."

"We do have a few questions," Celestia said, "but don't feel pressured to answer. Speak when you are able, and breath when you must. We would not want to extend your stay here."

I nodded.

"Dearest Twilight told us that you decided against filing charges against your attacker," Luna said, "Why did thou do this?"

"Filing charges doesn't do any good," I took as deep a breath as I could manage, "I just want to be accepted for who I am and what I am. And who I am is Guy, and what I am is in love with a pegasus." This last bit caused Fluttershy to brighten up considerably.

"And we both extend congratulations," Celestia said with a smile, "But are you both sure about what you might be getting into?"

"Listen," I said, being mindful of my breathing, "if any other stallions have a problem with me dating Fluttershy, then let them say it to my face. I'll fight them all, get my ribs broken, break an arm, whatever. If it means that I get to continue to love the beautiful creature who loves me, then bring it on." I punctuated this sentiment by leaning over and giving Fluttershy a nice kiss on the lips.

"If you want my opinion," Twilight spoke up, "I wish Cadance could be here to see the perfect example of love that I have seen. Just seeing them together the last few days, I can tell. They have the same kind of love that Cadance and Shining have, the same kind of love that my parents have. And if I have to intervene in town on behalf of this relationship between two of my good friends, then I will."

"I'm glad to see you think this way, Twilight," Celestia said, "both Luna and I are of similar mind. Neither of us will stand for any kind of discrimination against this couple or against Guy himself."

"But We fear, dear sister," Luna interjected, "that this will be a simple matter to fix in Ponyville, but it may not be in other parts of the country."

"What does it matter," I asked, "What does it matter what ponies elsewhere think? We live in Ponyville, and I have only ever been to one other city, and that is Canterlot as a guest of you both. I see no real reason to travel anywhere else, and so I don't give a damn what other ponies in other places--." I had to take another long drag from my oxygen mask.

"We understand what thou sayest."

"Fluttershy?" Celestia asked the pegasus, "What do you think of all of this?"

Fluttershy took a moment to answer, choosing her words carefully.

"I am in love with Guy," she began, "and I don't like seeing him hurt. I don't like seeing any living creature hurt." She began to tear up and proceeded to nuzzle into my cheek, affection which I promptly returned.

"I could see your tears," I said, continuing to nuzzle my marefriend, "I could see that you were crying for me. And seeing you sad almost hurt more than the punctured lung. And I promise, from this moment on, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that you are never sad again."

Fluttershy and I broke off our affection, and we were able to see that we were both tearing up a fair bit. At this moment, we were only concerned with one another, as if the other three ponies in the room didn't exist. It was beautiful. The moment was beautiful, she was beautiful, and when I looked into those teal eyes, all my pain, physical and emotional, just disappeared into nothing. I couldn't feel any pain as long as I continued to look at her. And judging from what I would learn later, she felt the same way about me.

"Hmpk, hmpk," Twilight coughed into her hoof, breaking our moment.

"Well we certainly hope that you heal soon," Celestia quickly said, avoiding the awkwardness, "perhaps you and Fluttershy would like to come to the castle when you're feeling up to it."

"Thank you very much for the invitation. We will definitely take you up on it sometime, right honey?"

Fluttershy quickly nodded, blushing all the way.

"We think it would be a good idea if we left them for a spell," Luna said, making a move toward the door.

"I second that," Twilight quickly said, magically opening the door so that Luna, then her, then Celestia last, could exit.

Finally, Fluttershy and I were alone in the room again.

"You know," I said to her with a smile, "after that breakfast and all this talking, I think I could stand for a morning nap. Would you care to join me?"

I raised my right arm a bit and gave Fluttershy an inviting look.

"Are-are you sure," she asked, "I don't want to accidentally hurt your ribs."

"I'm sure. You couldn't hurt me if you tried. Besides, I'd be the one missing out. I can't reach over and stroke your mane like I like."

Fluttershy gave out a little squee and quickly flew up and into the bed, cuddling next to me. I rested my right arm against her, caressing her cutie mark with my right hand like I knew she liked.

"Hey Guy," Fluttershy asked as she found the perfect cuddling position, "why did you call me 'honey'?"

"Haven't you ever heard of pet names?"

"I know that. But why 'honey'?"

"Don't you like it?"

"You can call me whatever you want, sweetie."

"I called you 'honey' because you're sweet and tasty," I explained, "And just like honey never spoils, you'll never grow old to me. You'll always be my beautiful, sweet, perfect Fluttershy."

"You know," Fluttershy giggled, "Nurse Redheart isn't going to like it when she finds us like this."

"Let her be upset. I'm enjoying this too much to care."