Weeks passed by, but none of the seven involved had awoken from their slumber. The dream world for the first six was a different matter; somehow, they were all gathered in the same void of darkness. And boy, were they having quite the discussion.

Koto pointed accusingly at Nagare, eyes narrowed and a vein on her cheek. “How the fuck do you stand this back pain at night?!” She shrieked, waving the accusing hoof frantically. “I should’ve been up and about right now downing some aspirin and water!”

“You’ll get used to it.” Nagare replied, rolling his eyes. “Now quit your griping.”

“My head still hurts.” Yuuki mumbled, rubbing her forehead with a hoof.

“My everything hurts. What’s your excuse?” Tenmei complained, lying on his back with his forelegs crossed in a pouty manner.

“Guys, fighting won’t do any good.” Rekka pointed out, an agitated sigh escaping his lips. “And neither will complaining.”

“Frankly, we should be dead by now. I recall being sliced into thin ribbons.” The green stallion replied, an ear twitching. He crossed his forelegs.

“So do I.” The red-maned pony agreed with a nod of his head. “Is this our afterlife?”

“Come to think of it, it may be purgatory.” The purple mare sighed, now rubbing a foreleg nervously with the same hoof she rubbed her forehead with.

The blue-coated mare shrugged. “Where do we go from here if we’re in purgatory?” She asked.

“It doesn’t feel like purgatory.” Raki mumbled, digging into the black ground with a hoof.

The tan pony rolled over and stood up. “Regardless, we’ve been stuck here for...fuck, how long was it since I last saw a calendar?” He asked, cocking a brow.

“Beats me.” The sword-user replied, shrugging. “How should I know?”

“Damn.” Tenmei mumbled.

“I’m not sure why I can’t call forth my magic to summon a freaking calendar.” The white-coated unicorn sighed, looking up cross-eyed at her horn. “It’s not like I have a magic limiter on me or anything.”

“Same here.” Rekka and Koto said in unison, both of whom proceeded to mimic the unicorn.

Nagare looked at the two. “How long did it take you two to learn simple levitation?” He asked.

“Three weeks.” The orange-coated pony answered, sighing. “How long did it take you to learn how to fly?”

“About the same length of time, more or less.” The emerald pony answered, scratching his head with a hoof.

“Never thought purgatory would be so damn boring.” Koto mumbled, causing everyone else to look at her. “I’m just glad I don’t have to spend it alone.”

“Here, here.” Yuuki agreed with a nod of her head. “I think I’d be insane if I were alone in this place.”

“Ditto.” The pony with the glasses sighed, a faint smile on his muzzle.

“Guys…” Raki started, looking up. A bright light made itself known above the lot. “is it me, or is that a light?”

The others looked up, cocking brows upon seeing the light. “The fuck?” They all said in unison.

The mysterious light glowed brighter, forcing all to look back down to ground level.

“Are we leaving purgatory?” Rekka asked, rubbing his eyes with a hoof. The light nearly blinded him. A faint light began to envelop his form, and it had done this with everybody else.

“Not sure.” Nagare sighed, rolling his eyes again. “But I’ve a feeling we’re going to find out.”

A bright light shot straight into the red-maned alicorn’s tired eyes as he came to, and he scrunched them shut in response. “Where am I…?” He groaned, rubbing his eyes lazily with a hoof. The stallion probed his surroundings to the best of his ability with the other hoof, finding soft sheets marking the basic perimeter of the bed he lay on.

Instinctively, he rolled over...and found himself greeting a floor face-first. He tried standing up and succeeded--that is, before his hooves slipped out from beneath his frame within the first three seconds, effectively sending him straight back to the floor.

“Why can’t I stand…?” He moaned, opening his eyes at last. The floor he was on was pristine white, so shiny he could see his reflection in it. He glanced left, to the place from which he’d fallen, and found a hospital bed greeting him. His ears perked, barely catching the sound of hooves that had been trotting come to a complete stop.

“Someone’s awake.” Spoke a voice. Tilting his head to look behind himself as best he could, the alicorn found Takashi, Kaguya, and the two fillies standing in front of a doorway, barely making out two pegasus guards behind them.

Rekka’s eyes widened, and he tried to stand again to face them with more than his head. As soon as he angled his body the way he wanted it, he fell again. He shook his head and blinked to make sure he was seeing properly, and indeed, his eyes didn’t deceive him.

“Where am I?” He asked, ears twitching.

“Canterlot Infirmary.” Kaguya answered, sitting on her rump. “We heard about the mess you’ve gotten involved into, and I’d never have guessed you’ve gotten wings in the process.” She added, smiling warmly.

Rekka looked at his midsection, seeing crimson-feathered frames adorning his sides. “So, I wasn’t dreaming that time, right?” He asked, cocking a brow.

“Nope.” Takashi answered, blinking.

A low moan hit the ears of all, and the red-maned pony sat up, using the bed to support himself. He looked around, seeing five other beds in the room--with a blue form falling off from one of them.

“Someone turn off the light...I need five more minutes…” Koto moaned, having managed to land flat on her back. She covered her eyes with a foreleg, a frown on her face.

Mimi ran up to the blue mare and quickly put her hooves on her shoulder to shake her. “Get up, sleepyhead!” She cried.

The young alicorn removed her foreleg from her face, turning her head to glance at the filly. “I’m not at home…?” She asked, blinking.

“Of course not!” Mimi answered, smiling. “You’re in an infirmary!”

“Oh...right…” Koto murmured before the word ‘infirmary’ registered into her mind. “Wait, what?” She asked as she sat up quick as a whip and glanced around. “I’m in a hospital again?”

“Yeah...I think.” Rekka answered, sighing.

“Excuse me,” Started another voice not belonging to any present, “could you two let me in?” The two alicorns who were awake glanced at Takashi and Kaguya, both of whom obliged before Luna entered the room.

Both young alicorns gawked at the princess of the night, who only gave a warm smile in return. “You’ve been out for some time.” She said.

“How long?” The duo asked in unison.

“A good seven weeks.” Luna answered. “You see, I had cast a spell that let you sleep for more than a few days after Discord reclaimed some of his power from you and your friends. The magic in your bodies had become so unstable when he reclaimed his power the only thing that could fix it was a coma, disregarding death altogether.” She added. “So you two and the others may not be in your fighting prime for a while.”

“That explains why I’ve forgotten how to stand properly.” The orange-pelted pony scoffed, yet again attempting to do said action simply to get a point across. Needless to say, he fell once more. “Either that, or since I can see my reflection in the floor, they used too much wax.”

Luna chuckled. “You’ll remember how to walk again soon enough.” She said, still smiling warmly.

“Wait. If Discord took his power back from us, then why do we still have wings?” Koto asked, pointing a hoof at the anomaly. She had raised a very good point.

“I’ve asked him the same thing. Let’s just say he didn’t give a straight answer.” Luna replied, sighing.

“What time is it?” Tenmei groaned, sitting up in his bed. His eyelids hung heavy, and his mane was so frazzled it looked like a bird nested in it.

“About one-thirty in the afternoon.” Kaguya answered. She smiled as Luna’s horn glowed, the aura gently putting the glasses on the tan pony’s face.

“I slept in?” The tan pony asked, blinking.

“I...wouldn’t quite call it that.” Takashi replied, a half-frown on his face.

“Can I go back to sleep?” The young stallion asked, putting his head on the pillow again.

“You’ve been out for seven weeks!” The white mare protested, walking up to the stallion and shaking him with a front hoof. “Not right now!”

“Alright…” Tenmei mumbled, turning so he could get out of bed. As soon as his front hooves touched the floor, he landed flat on his face within a second. “Ow,” He sighed, his voice muffled by the floor.

“Welcome to the club. Admissions are free.” Rekka remarked, watching his tan friend try (and fail horribly) to stand up on his own legs.

The purple mare sat up, somehow having managed to impale her pillow with her new horn in the process. This ended up obscuring her sight somewhat. “Alright, who the hell taped a fragment of quilt to my head?” She asked, pointing a hoof at the pillow for emphasis.

Luna chuckled at the display, and with a flick of her horn, she removed the pillow from Yuuki’s face. “Nopony taped a quilt fragment to your head, you just had the pillow stuck on your horn.” She answered, using a hoof to cover her muzzle and snicker into it.

“Good to know I didn’t get drunk or something of the sort.” The green stallion remarked, already crawling out of his bed. All four of his hooves found solid ground in short order, and so did his face when they slipped.

“I hope we don’t have to be wheeled from place to place. That’d be embarrassing.” The purple pony sighed, also getting out of bed to try to stand. She failed at it, considering she too greeted the floor with her face.

“That’s not the case at all.” Luna replied, using her magic to help support the five young alicorns just enough so they could stand without falling for the umpteenth time.

“Hey, do you have something that could hide my wings?” Rekka asked, brow arched. “Ponies gawked at me enough when I suddenly sprouted a horn.”

“And my horn as well?” Nagare added, pointing at his sharp point for emphasis.

“Don’t worry, my sister is having her student address this.” Luna answered, still grinning. “She had a feeling you’d want to hide your new addendums.”

“Hey...what about that mare with the metal foreleg?” Koto asked, her question causing the lunar princess to frown once it registered in her head.

“Celestia and I have...debated what to do about her for a day or so the first week in. I’ve been visiting her dreams in her induced coma since, and even though she has horrific nightmares much worse than four of you put together, she has insisted that...those responsible are ‘Master’ and subordinate, respectively, at first.” Luna sighed.

“‘At first?’” Yuuki asked, ears flat on her skull. “What’s that mean?”

“First three weeks in, she began breaking down into...the only words I can describe her with at this point are ‘mentally unstable emotional wreck.’” Luna answered, shaking her head solemnly. “All we can do when she wakes up is do our best to comfort her.”

“And what of things one and two?” Tenmei inquired, momentarily biting his wing to soothe an itch afterwards.

“Who?” Luna asked, brow arched.

“Frontier Quartet.” Nagare translated, sighing and shaking his head.

“Oh, those two. Celestia and I are still in a heated debate about that.” Luna answered, wings shifting.

“Hey! I finished the enchanted necklaces!” Twilight called out eagerly as she entered the room. In her magic, she held five necklaces adorned with gems. Two had opals, another two had topazes, and the last had a zircon. She slid the opal-adorned ones around the necks of Yuuki and Nagare, and within a second, their horns turned invisible. The same happened to Rekka and Koto’s wings upon finding themselves wearing the topaz necklaces, and Tenmei’s new horn and wings also went away thanks to the zircon.

“These things work wonders.” The red-maned pony murmured, smiling now. “Just have to remember how to stand and maybe walk properly, and it’s all good.”

“Just be glad you’re still amongst the living.” Takashi remarked, also smiling.

Author's Note

It will end soon--either next part or the part after that. May make it into another chapter altogether, though I'll discuss this with one of the other collaborators.

~Dragon