The Equestria Healing Process

Chapter 11

                “Aftermath”

It was over.  One day earlier, Tirek was sentenced to eternal torture by Cerberus for eternity and Equestria was deprived of its most feared enemy and his evil ways forever.  But, the energy that the four princesses used to send Tirek away forever was enough to once again take away their cutie marks and leave them weak.  After they had carried out the sentence, the four princesses were taken from the throne room and over to Ponyville hospital where they were treated for their magic loss.  Twilight was the first to wake and looked around to see that she and her fellow princesses were in a hospital as the silence of the room was only pierced by the sounds of the heart monitors.

“How did I get here?” mumbled Twilight as she opened her tinted eyes.  “If Tirek did this to us, I’ll…”

Suddenly, Twilight looked over to see the other princesses still lying unconscious in their own beds, dressed in hospital gowns.  Their royal regalia was off of them and their crowns were right next to them on nightstands.  It was fitting right then and there for Twilight that she realized just how weak she made herself and the other princesses when the fired their magic at Tirek.  However, Twilight feared the worst for she began to think back to the moment that she thought Celestia had been killed at the hands of Nightmare Moon.

“No,” she cried, worrying for Celestia, Luna and Cadence’s well-being.  “It can’t be, it just can’t be.”

Just then, the door opened and two royal guards allowed a yellow pony with brown hair and a doctor’s coat to walk inside.  Twilight could see that it was the same doctor who took care of Rainbow Dash when she was laid up following a flying accident.  Seeing Twilight again caused the doctor to smile knowing that he was seeing the friend of one of his patients.

“Good morning, Twilight,” he said, sitting down on the side of the bed.  “It’s good to see you again.”

“Thanks, doctor,” replied Twilight, who had a deep look of concern still etched on her face.  “But Celestia and the others, are they going to be all right?  Please tell me!”

“Calm down, Twilight,” he said, pushing Twilight back onto the bed as she tried to get up.  Of course, Twilight was in no condition to be out of bed, let alone fly.  “They are going to be fine and you're going to be fine.  All of you just have very low magic levels right now.”

Using a relaxation technique that Cadence had once taught her, Twilight calmed down and at that moment, the other princesses began to come around from being unconscious.  This made Twilight wipe away sweat from her brow as she smiled happily knowing that they were all okay.

“You’re all right,” she cried, her voice weak but still resilient.   “You’re all right!”

But, the princesses didn’t respond to Twilight right away, for unlike Twilight, they were much older and the loss of their magic had taken an effect on them.

“It is done,” groaned Celestia, opening her tinted eyes and looked to the ceiling, sighing heavily, not realizing that Twilight was talking to her.  “Tirek is gone forever.”

"He will never harm another pony again, sister," moaned Luna, opening her tinted eyes while stiring from her own unconscious state.  "Not as long as we rule over our subjects."

“But, in spite of what you have all done, your magic levels have been really low since you banished him here,” advised the doctor, getting up off of Twilight’s bed.  “Any more ounces of magic could have resulted in all of you losing your magic forever.  You should all be discharged by later today, once your magic has been fully restored.”

He then turned towards Nurse Redheart who opened the door to the hospital room.

“In the meantime,” said the doctor, smiling at his royal patients.  “I believe you have some family and friends who want to see you.”

Just then, Nurse Redheart opened the door and Twilight’s friends entered the hospital followed by Spike and Shining Armor as Nurse Reheart drew the barriers between Twilight and her fellow princesses.  Scorpan and Discord were waiting outside the hospital for their own safety; since many believed that they were both still associated with Tirek and going into the hospital would have only resulted in them being attacked by those ponies who would continue to be bitter towards them, even if Scorpan didn’t play any part in his brother’s rampage.

“We’re so glad you are all right, Twilight!” cried Applejack, as she and her friends surrounded her bed.  “You gave us quite a scare there!”

“Oh, and don’t forget the bright flashes of light,” added Pinkie Pie, excitedly.  “Even though they were cool to see!”

The other ponies glared at her, since that remark was out of place during a time like this.  This made Pinkie feel sheepish and slightly embarrassed.  However, Fluttershy quickly reset the mood for why they were here.

“We were really worried about you,” added Fluttershy and they all then backed away from Twilight and gave her plenty of space.

However, although she was listening on the other side through her curtain barrier, Celestia turned over on her side and chuckled softly to herself as she saw Twilight’s friends surrounding her student and youngest equal.  She then turned over to Luna and Cadence’s beds where Shining Armor sat with his wife and embraced her tightly as Cadence looked up at her husband.

“Everything’s going to be okay now, Cadence,” said Shining Armor softly, but then broke into a small chuckle.  “You’ve got to stop saving Equestria like this; it’s starting to get embarrassing.”

Normally, Cadence would take this joke from her husband as quite offensively, but she couldn’t help but giggle for a moment at what her husband had said.  It was true to the fact that she had indeed put herself in harm’s way multiple times, although to her, it was just another day of protecting the Crystal Empire.

“Actually, Twilight,” said Rarity, looking up at her laid friend.  “There has been something that we have been meaning to do for you since you lost the library.”

“Really, what is that?” groaned Twilight, as she felt the pain of the IV still in her leg.   What she also was feeling was still the pain of losing the library.  Most of it had gone away in the days since Tirek’s defeat, but some of the memories still remained.

“After we had been looking through the wreckage of the library,” said Rainbow Dash, sitting down on the side of the bed.  “We couldn’t find any pictures of events we had taken part in together, but then we came to a group decision on the matter.”

Just then, Spike came with a small bag and placed it on the stand next to Twilight’s crown.  Rarity then used her magic to pull several pictures out of the bags and placed them all next to Twilight.  When Twilight looked at the pictures, her eyes began to well up with happy tears.  She was looking at a series of pictures from the Grand Galloping Gala, the Royal Wedding and her Princess Coronation that included her and her friends.  In addition, she was also looking at pictures from events in Ponyville including Winter Wrap Up, Nightmare Night and many others.

“These were from our own photo collections,” said Rainbow Dash, smiling at Twilight happily.  “We have many other photos from these events…”

“…But we’d want you to have them,” finished Applejack, placing her hat on Twilight’s head.  “You need them much more than we do.  Believe me; I know that the memories of the library will still be with each and every one of us forever.”

"And Fluttershy and I were up all night recreating all of your outfits," said Rarity happily.  "Of course, I'll also be creating a new wardrobe for you."

Twilight was very much moved by this gesture, although she had her own present to give to her friends which was the very first picture that she ever had taken with her friends when she moved to Ponyville.  Meanwhile, as he saw the six friends hug each other, Discord looked to Scorpan as they hid in a bush out of sight from all the other ponies who were inside the hospital.

“They sure do love each other, don’t they Scorpan?” remarked Discord as he pulled away an extremely long telescope.

“Of course they do,” replied the hugely winged creature.  “It seems that Princess Twilight and her friends have a bond much stronger than anything you and I can imagine.  A bond that I will never share with my brother, but what I will share with the ponies of this world.”

“Your brother was bad influence on me,” remarked Discord, looking over at Scorpan, still feeling bitterness in his voice.  “I hope he continues to pay for what he did to me and my friends.”

“He will,” replied Scorpan, turning towards Discord.  “Let what has happened to my brother be served as a warning to all those who try to escape Tartarus and attack the inhabitants of this land."

However, Scorpan knew that sooner or later, he would have to return to his homeland.  He didn’t want to leave Equestria again, but he had no choice.  Soon, he would have to say farewell to his friends once again and return to his old life, however he had one more task for Discord.

“Before I return to my homeland,” he said to the ex-master of chaos.  “I ask you to watch over my friends and not be influenced by evil creatures like my brother.  Will you do that for me in my name, Discord?”

Discord then produce a halo and raised his paw in a solemn oath, much like being sworn into a high ranking position.

“I swear in the name of Celestia,” he said to Scorpan and the tame brother of Tirek chuckled at this, knowing that his friends were going to be good hands again.