Princess Celestia Gets Shingles

Chapters

At the Hospital
Feeling Her Pain
Returning to Canterlot
Transfer of Sun Power
Revelations and Reflections
Follow Up at the Hospital
Night of the Gala
Unfunny Comedy
Discord Goes Too Far
From Out of Nowhere

At the Hospital

Chapter 2

"At the Hospital"

With Celestia still moaning and crying in pain, the paramedic ponies rolled her into the emergency room at Ponyville hospital. Twilight and Luna were kept in the waiting room by the nurses as they waited anxiously for news. At that moment, Princess Cadence came running into the waiting room with several crystal pony guards trying to catch up.

"Aunt Luna," panted Cadence, trying to catch her breath while hugging Luna tightly. "I saw the message! What happened?"

"She just starting crying out in pain, Princess Cadence," replied Luna, breaking away from Cadence. "It happened this morning while she was raising the sun."

Cadence then used her breathing technique and sat down in a chair to continue calming herself down. Twilight could see the pain and agony on Cadence's face and could only think of what she was going through with Celestia in the condition she was in.

"Something must have happened, Aunt Luna," cried Cadence, sprouting her wings for a moment to stretch them. "First, we deal with Tirek and now this. What else could go wrong for her?"

"I don't know," interjected Twilight. "We've certainly been through a lot these past few days and it seems like we can't catch a break from anything. There must be something we can do, but how?"

Just then, the door of the emergency room opened and the doctor that had treated Rainbow Dash for a broken wing, came out and approached the three worried princesses. He produced a small smile when he saw Twilight, remembering her from Rainbow Dash's accident.

"Well, your highnesses," he said, adjusting his glasses. "I can say this. Princess Celestia does appear to have a very large red rash on her back. We managed to give her some medication to help her rest and reduce the pain."

"But, it wasn't any ordinary rash, doctor," replied Luna. "If it was a normal rash, she wouldn't be screaming like this."

The doctor listened and took in what Luna had just said, before looking back to the emergency room where Celestia had been removed of her shoes and breastplate as well as her tiara and was resting comfortably with several IV's stuck to her body.

"Why does she have IV's attached to her?" asked Cadence nervously, starting to get panicked again.

"We placed some painkillers into her body that required intervenous therapy," replied the doctor. "There is nothing to worry about, Princess Cadence."

Cadence did another of her breathing techniques and realized that what the doctor said was going to help Celestia, not harm her. This brought a relief to both Luna and Twilight, knowing that Celestia was going to be well taken care of.

"Now, if you don't mind," he said. "I have some questions I want to ask you all in private. So if you could please follow me to my office?"

Doing as they were told, the three princesses followed the doctor while the guardsponies kept anypony else from following, although no one in the waiting room had any intention of following them. Once inside the office, the princesses sat down at the doctor's desk as he sat in front of them, placing his hooves on the top.

"So, you all know why you are all here?" he asked. "I have some private questions about Celestia's past that I need to understand about before I give out any diagnosis, if that is all right with you?"

"Sure, doctor," replied Twilight, as the doctor produced a quill and a piece of paper. He then adjusted his glasses once again and began to write on it. "What do you want to know first?"

However, the doctor didn't pay attention to Twilight and instead focused his attention on Princess Luna, being that she was Celestia's younger sister.

"Princess Luna," he asked, ready to take down what he needed to know. "Did your sister have cutie pox when she was a filly by any chance?"

Twilight let out a hushed gasp, thinking back to when Apple Bloom had the cutie pox and that Zecora had to help them find a cure for it. Luna then let out a heavy sigh and looked down at the ground for a moment, before looking back up to the doctor.

"Yes," replied Luna, somberly. "She did have cutie pox as a filly. It took us a while to find a cure, but she eventually recovered."

"Well, I can say this," said the doctor, rising from his desk and walking over to a map of a pony's body. "When ponies have cutie pox, the virus that causes cutie pox becomes dormant in the nervous system and can only be activated again, when the immune system is weakened."

Twilight was surprised to hear this coming from the mouth of a medical professional. When Apple Bloom had the cutie pox, it wasn't because of a virus, but because of a potion that she had used behind Zecora's back.

"But, doctor," said Twilight, raising her foreleg to speak. "One of the ponies in my town had cutie pox, but it wasn't because of a virus."

"Indeed," replied the doctor, listening in carefully. "Well, you see, Twilight, there are two different types of cutie pox: the magic kind and the virus kind. The magic kind is what the pony in your town had and the virus kind is what Princess Celestia has, known as Herpes Zoster or for an easier term, Shingles."

This made all three hearts of the princesses sink upon hearing that word. However, rather than reacting, they listened in to what the doctor had to say.

"Once the virus kind is reactivated, rather than traveling around the body, it instead focuses on one area and stays there," he continued.

The three princesses took in this news very seriously and continued to listen to what the doctor had to say. Almost immediately, they all knew that they were going to be in for a difficult time.

"During this time," continued the doctor. "In addition to the rash, blisters will develop, filled with the virus and after several days, the blisters will break apart and the virus becomes airborne affecting anypony who comes into contact with Celestia."

This caused the princesses to shudder in fright, knowing that their eldest equal was being subjected to a virus and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Cadence, worriedly. "We'll do anything you say, doctor."

"I'm afraid that there is no known cure for the virus," replied the doctor, shaking his head regretfully. "This is one of those viruses that we must let run its course. The only thing you can do is to try and keep Celestia comfortable and this is my orders to you: she cannot, I repeat, she cannot raise and lower the sun until the virus is gone from her system."

At that moment, Nurse Redheart came into the office with a piece of paper that had writings on it. Looking at the paper, the doctor signed the paper and handed it to Luna.

"Pray tell, what is this?" she asked, looking at the paper.

"This is an order to all the staff at Canterlot castle," replied the doctor. "Telling them that in order to attend to Celestia, they must either have their Shingles vaccine or already have had the virus before. This message also goes out to all of Canterlot as well along with the rest of your kingdoms, Princess Cadence and Twilight."

Knowing that there was going to be some tense days ahead, the Princesses took the paper from the doctor and stepped out of his office.

"I have had my vaccination when I was a filly," said Luna. "Is it all right if I see my sister?"

"You can," replied the doctor, looking over towards Twilight and Cadence. "But did you have your shots as well?"

The two princesses nodded that they didn't and the doctor motioned for Nurse Redheart to take Twilight and Cadence to another room to receive the shingles vaccine.

"Princess Celestia is resting comfortably, Princess Luna," said Nurse Redheart. "You can see her now."

Taking a deep sigh of relief, Luna left the office and made her way down to the room where two guardsponies stood outside, not realizing what was going to happen in the distant future…

Feeling Her Pain

Chapter 3

"Feeling Her Pain"

Once Twilight and Cadence left to get their vaccinations for Shingles, Luna walked into the room where Celestia was being held, lying on a table with IV's stuck into her body. Her hair was no longer flowing and the sounds of squeaking came from the mouth of an alicorn who screamed in pain from the internal virus that made her suffer. On Celestia's back, the red rash had produced several welts filled with the Shingles virus.

"Oh, sister," whispered Luna, stroking her sister's mane. "I can't believe after all these years that your illness has returned. If only I hadn't caused you so much stress."

Normally, Luna would have tears forming in her eyes, but she didn't. Instead, she looked up and nodded at a shadow like creature who floated in front of Luna for a second before quickly disappearing.

"There is only one way for me to pay for putting you in this situation," she whispered, continuing to stroke her mane. "And it is something that you cannot do."

Luna continued to stroke Celestia's mane for a few more moments, but then she heard Celestia struggle to raise her head, before sharply placing it back down on the table.

"Don't blame yourself, little sister," groaned Celestia. "It's not your fault that Tirek did what he did. I make a mistake and I am being punished for it."

"By sending Discord?" remarked Luna, who stopped stroking Celestia's mane. "Don't blame yourself, big sister. He deliberately disobeyed us and deserves to be punished for what he did."

But, it seemed that Celestia didn't want Discord to be punished for his actions. After all, Discord was sorry for what he did and was even willing to atone for his actions, beginning with restoring Twilight's coronation window to its original glory.

"He is not like that anymore, sister," moaned Celestia, feeling a sharp pain on her back. "I know he was brainwashed by his family."

Celestia then let out another sharp yelp as Luna glanced to see that the rash had spread to her sun cutie mark, causing it to be blanketed under the red rash. Luna wanted to help Celestia, but she felt powerless to do anything. All she could do was raise the moon and help her subjects with their dreams, while at the same time hide her own demons from those that were close to her.

"I wish that Discord was hear right now," cried Celestia, tears once again forming in her eyes and then only light sobs came from her. "I wish he was here to be with me."

Luna was amazed to hear this coming from Celestia. She was calling a creature that had betrayed Equestria and yet was still on their good side. But at the same time, Luna could see that the pain caused by the Shingles virus had clouded her mind and left her unable to think straight. Despite her continual ill feelings towards Discord, Luna felt that she needed to do whatever it took

"Sister," said Luna, trying to calm Celestia down. "When we return home, we will personally summon Discord to be with you. If he makes you comfortable, despite all that he did, then so be it."

Just then, the doors opened and Cadence and Twilight walked in with Twilight still wincing in pain from the needle that was used in her vaccination.

"How is she, Aunt Luna?" asked Cadence, worriedly. "She seems weak."

"I think we need to get my sister home where she belongs," said Luna, firmly. "She cannot last for very long in this hospital."

It seemed that the doctor also agreed with Luna as he also joined them in the room. He had a clipboard and several pieces of paper in his magical aura.

"Indeed she can't," said the doctor, filling in the forms. "There is nothing else we can do from this point on. As I said before, this is a virus and we must let it run it's course. However, there is something I had forgotten to ask you in my office."

"What is it, doctor?" asked Cadence.

"Aside from the recent events with that escapee from Tartarus," said the doctor, who shuddered at the thought of what had just happened. "Is or was there anything in Celestia's life that made her feel stressed?"

There had been many stressful moments in Celestia's life, but up until that moment, Twilight through that the stress had come from being the ruler of an entire land, but there could have been something else that brought Celestia to this condition.

"As a matter of fact, doctor," sighed Cadence, walking over to him. "We were imprisoned in Tartarus by Tirek during his takeover of Canterlot. I think the stress of being there may have gotten to Celestia as well as all of us."

"I see," said the Doctor, considering the matter. "Given the fact that you are princesses, I thought you would be better well protected against somepony like the Tartarus escapee."

This didn't sit well with Luna, Cadence and Twilight, knowing that the royal guard was affected by Tirek's rampage as much as they were along with all of Equestria for that matter.

"They couldn't fare any better against Tirek," said Luna, sharply. "Princess Twilight and her friends were the ones who ultimately stopped them. But, the royal guard did their best, so watch what you say, doctor."

"Aunt Luna, please," cried Cadence, holding her back. "We have enough trouble as it is."

Cadence then looked back to the doctor, who quickly shook off the abuse that Luna had given him.

"I am not attacking the royal guard in any way," protested the doctor, taking a deep breath before continuing to speak. "But, what I am saying is that maybe you experienced had triggered Celestia's immune system to weaken. What is important is that you keep Celestia's stress level down at all times."

"But, what about raising and lowering the sun?" cried Twilight, realizing that Celestia would not be able to do her duties.

"Raising and lowering the sun is also a stress causer," cautioned the doctor. "Unless if one of you would be willing to fill in for Celestia, then I am afraid…"

But, Twilight stamped her foot and silenced the doctor from saying another word. After all, she knew what he was talking about as she had been given the task of raising the sun and the moon when the princesses placed all their magic into Twilight to keep hidden from Tirek until she found a way to defeat him.

"I can do it," said Twilight, firmly. "I know how it feels to raise the sun and the moon, doctor. If it means to help Celestia feel better, then I will do it."

Both Luna and Cadence gave each other blank looks over what Twilight had just said. However, they both had to trust Twilight as this was the pony who had protected Equestria from creatures that even they couldn't defeat.

"Twilight," moaned Celestia weakly. "I can't let you do it. You have been put at enough risk, my faithful student."

"You have to let me do it, Princess," sighed Twilight, placing a hoof on Celestia's hoof. "I want to do whatever it takes to take the pressure off of you. Besides, I can't stand to see you suffer like this. You need to rest."

So, with the uncertainly hovering over them, Equestria's four princesses left the hospital later that day for Canterlot, determined to keep Celestia relaxed in an effort to slow down and eventually cure Celestia of the Shingles Virus that tormented her body and her soul…

Returning to Canterlot

Chapter 4

"Returning to Canterlot"

It was later in the day before Celestia was taken back to Canterlot castle and was confined to her quarters as the pain from the Shingles virus continued to flow through her nerves. All that she could do was cry for the pain to end, but also for Discord to be at her side, which had alerted the attention of the other princesses.

"Why would she be calling for Discord?" wondered Luna, who was very baffled by her sister's continual request as she, Cadence and Twilight stood in the throne room. "That creature doesn't deserve to set one foot in here after what he did."

"Discord may be a bother to someponies," replied Twilight, trying to at least defend Discord to an extent. "But, I've fully forgiven him. Don't you think so, Cadence?"

"I have," added Cadence. "I know Shining Armor hasn't, but if he knows he is sorry, then he is sorry. We need to do anything to get Aunt Celestia's mind off of the torment she is facing."

Luna could see that she was going to be outthought by this and reluctantly agreed to let Discord be at Celestia's side. Just then, a flash of light appeared and the creature of chaos appeared wearing a doctor's coat and carrying a bouquet of flowers. It happened to be the same flowers that Discord had given to Celestia after Twilight had gotten her new castle.

"Have no fear, fillies and gentlecolts," announced Discord. "The doctor is in and I will do everything to make you feel better!"

"We've already been to the doctor, Discord," said Twilight, flatly. "If you are looking for Celestia, she is in her quarters."

But, Discord was being his typical childish self and began playing doctor with the princesses and it was only a small blast of Luna's magic did he stop and get serious about the situation.

"We're perfectly fine, Discord," said Cadence, brushing herself off with her wings. "It's Aunt Celestia who has been asking for you. She is in a lot of pain right now."

"I could only imagine what she is going through," sighed Discord, snapping away the doctor's garb as well as the flowers. "Ever since I was fully forgiven by her, I feel as if I should do something for her."

"You already have," remarked Twilight, pointing to her newly restored coronation window. "You restored every window in this room to normal."

Discord nodded at this remark that Twilight had made, but he felt as if he wanted to do more to get on Celestia's good side.

"That is correct, Twilight," said Discord. "But, it seems as if that there is still more that I could do to make her feel better."

"You can help by visiting her," ordered Luna, her voice growing impatient. "I don't know what is going in her head, but my sister wants you to be at her side. She has been calling for your name since she was struck by this illness."

Just then, Luna motioned for two guards to stand on each side of Discord and they turned facing the doors to the throne. Discord was confused at this, thinking that he was a threat to Equestria after everything that had happened.

"What is going on?" he cried.

"We have ordered that all ponies who haven't been vaccinated with the Shingles vaccine be vaccinated," continued Luna. "That includes you."

Discord tried to talk himself out of it by turning blue with fear, but Luna was unconvinced by this. With Celestia out of commission, she was technically in charge of Canterlot and whatever she said was ordered.

"That's not going to help you, Discord," said Luna. "You must face your inner fears."

"You can say that again," pouted Discord as he was led out of the throne room and to the needle that would place the vaccine in his system.

"It didn't hurt us," remarked Cadence, as the door closed. "Should we go and-?"

"No, Mi Amore Cadenza," interrupted Luna, looking at Cadence in the face. "I don't want him to double cross us."

Cadence was disgusted by her aunt's behavior and the last thing that they all needed was animosity towards Discord. Of course, Luna was the most stubborn out of the princesses and to reason with her was pretty much impossible.

"Luna, when are you going to learn that he is not evil anymore?" protested Twilight. "Discord regrets everything that he had done with Tirek. But, you won't forgive him? Why won't you forgive him?"

But, Luna ignored her youngest equal's protest and instead started to walk out to assume her duties as Princess of the Night.

"I have my reasons, Princess Twilight," replied Luna. "Discord is welcome to be at my sister's side, but if he betrays us again-."

"He won't, Aunt Luna!" cried Cadence. "I have enough trouble already with Shining Armor and I don't need to deal with you too. We need to be there for Aunt Celestia and if Discord wants to see her, then let him see her!"

Instead of responding, Luna instead walked up to the balcony and took to the skies, leaving Cadence and Twilight alone in the throne room with more questions than answers.

"She can't go on like this forever," said Twilight. "Even I haven't fully forgiven Discord yet, but I don't hold a grudge against him."

"Its like you say, Twilight," remarked Cadence. "We need to be there for Aunt Celestia during this time and if Luna doesn't want to be around Discord, then so be it."

Cadence then walked out of the throne room and Twilight soon followed, the two sisters-in-law walking up to Celestia's private quarters, but not before hearing a loud scream coming from down the hall.

"What was that?!" yelled Twilight, her wings opening up in fear.

"It's all right, Twilight," laughed Cadence, walking over and patting Twilight on the back of the neck. "It was only the sounds of Discord getting his Shingles Vaccine."

Just then, Discord appeared with a bandage on his lion arm and a lollipop in his eagle claw. A look of pain was shown on his face.

"I hope you have a good reason for this!" he cried, his voice filled with pain.

"Just be glad you won't have what Celestia is having," chuckled Cadence as she and Twilight walked past the creature of chaos.

Despite having the pain of having a needle stuck into him, Discord had to remember that Celestia needed him, so he put on a brave face and followed the two princesses to Celestia's private quarters.

Transfer of Sun Power

Chapter 5

"Transfer of Sun Power"

When Twilight and Cadence returned to Celestia's quarters, they found the princess of day on her feet, attempting to lower the sun despite the severe pain she was in. Even Discord was amazed by how valiant she was attempting to be. Celestia had come to the realization that Shingles was not going to keep her down and attempted to do what she normally did. Alas, the pain was far too strong for her to overcome and she collapsed in her quarters.

"Aunt Celestia, what are you doing?" cried Cadence after hearing her scream in pain. "You cannot be out of bed!"

"I'm sorry, Princess Cadence," groaned Celestia as Cadence and Twilight lifted her back onto her bed. "But, I have a duty that I must attend to."

Both Cadence and Twilight gave each other a look to each other, both agreeing to the fact that their elder equal was not in the condition to be doing anything, let alone raising the sun.

"Not in this condition, you are not," remarked Cadence. "You need to rest. You will never get better unless you do so."

"But, I must raise the sun," protested Celestia, as another shot of pain went through her nerves. "It is my duty."

It was then that Twilight got an idea. It was not that long ago that she had been bestowed with the magic of her fellow princesses in order to keep it hidden from Tirek.

"Celestia, I've got an idea," she said, stepping towards her stricken mentor. "Why don't you let me take over your duties for a while?"

Celestia's eyes opened wide upon hearing those words. It was much too dangerous for Twilight to have any extra alicorn magic and besides, it was far too difficult for her to raise the sun and the moon.

"No," moaned Celestia, remembering the last time she gave up her magic to Twilight. "I won't allow it. Besides, it's much too dangerous."

"Aunt Celestia, we need to sometimes make sacrifices in order to cure ourselves from illnesses," said Cadence wisely but firm. "We know how good Twilight is with magic and I am sure she can do a good job in filling in for you. If Shining Armor can do a good job in ruling the Crystal Empire in my absence, then so can Twilight."

Although it was against her better judgment, Celestia reluctantly agreed to the suggestion and closing her eyes, her horn illuminated as Twilight stepped forward and for the next few minutes, a huge burst of light flashed and engulfed the room. When it was over, Celestia's cutie mark had once again disappeared and Twilight felt her mentor's magic flow through her veins.

"It is done," sighed Celestia, exhausted from the transfer of power. "You once again possess my magic, Princess Twilight."

Twilight then hugged her mentor carefully as a small tear came down her face. But the princess of friendship had to be strong, for she wanted to help Celestia in any way possible.

"We just want you to be well, Celestia," said Twilight as they broke apart. "I can't stand to see you in this condition."

"Neither can me," added Cadence. "I've seen many ponies who are not well in my life and I always say that it's better to step back and focus on your health than anything else."

Celestia sighed, knowing that her niece was right and that she did need to step back and focus on getting well. But, she knew that this virus was going to keep her down for a while and that she needed to make sure that the sun was lowered and raised on a daily basis.

As soon as Celestia closed her eyes and attempted to get some much needed sleep, Twilight returned to her castle to assume her temporary role as princess of the sun. Standing on the balcony, Twilight aimed her horn at the right place to lower the sun properly into the west.

"All right," she thought to herself. "I can do this, practice makes perfect."

Activating her newly combined magic, Twilight levitated the sun down into the ground and caused several rays to appear, delighting many ponies who enjoyed watching the sunset. Once the sun was fully lowered, Twilight sighed heavily as she made her way back inside.

"You seemed to be getting the hang of it, Twilight," said Spike as he walked into her bedroom. "Guess you learned a lot from the last time you had Celestia's magic."

"But, it's not going to be forever," yawned Twilight as she climbed into her bed. "This is only until Celestia gets well again and then I am going to give her magic back to her. She can't raise and lower the sun in the condition she is in."

"I could only imagine what is going through her mind," remarked the baby dragon, as he stepped over to Twilight's bed. "The ruler of Equestria powerless to do anything except just lie in bed. I mean, who does that?"

Twilight decided to ignore the remark and pretended to not have heard Spike say that.

"All that matters is that Celestia gets well, Spike," sighed Twilight. "The events of recent have really taken a toll on Celestia's mind and body. Nopony can stand to see her in the condition she is in."

It was only then that Twilight had gotten a thought in her head. She realized that any creature can get the shingles virus, including Spike.

"Actually, Spike," said Twilight, as she let out another yawn. "I think maybe you should get a shingles vaccine as well."

"Uh, earth to Twilight," he remarked. "I can't get vaccines because I have thick scales. Those needles that the doctors and nurses use can't pierce thick scales."

A small smile came to Twilight's face upon hearing those words. Being the studious alicorn that she was, Twilight had researched ways of administrating vaccines to all creatures. There was a way for Spike to get the vaccine.

"Oh, there is a way, Spike," chuckled Twilight, devilishly. "You'll just have to find out until morning."

Spike nervously left the room as Twilight went to sleep, unaware of how Twilight was going to give him a vaccine to protect him from the shingles. In his mind, Spike thought that Twilight was going to use a spell of some sorts.

Revelations and Reflections

Chapter 6

"Revelations and Reflections"

With Twilight assuming her regular duties, Celestia spent the next few days just staying in her quarters. It was clear by now that Shingles virus would be in her body for some time and she was starting to grow restless.

"Equestria and its subjects need me," Celestia thought. "I can't stay here forever. There is so much that needs to be done."

But, with each time Celestia got up, the pain of the virus caused her to come back down again. As long as the virus remained, Celestia was going to be out of commission. It was hard to accept, but it was just the way it was. Just then, Celestia noticed one of her dressers moving around, causing her to become confused. After a few moments, the doors opened and Discord came out with one of her dresses tied around him.

"Discord, what on earth are you doing in there?" gasped Celestia, crossing her eyes. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on ponies?"

"I know, I know," replied Discord, kicking the dress back into the dresser. "It's just that I hate to see you in this condition and I thought I could be of support to you."

He then flashed himself into a doctor and pretended to examine Celestia's injury in the usual chaotic manner, even going as far as producing a CAT scan machine.

"It appears that your illness is supposedly healing itself," announced Discord, talking in a weird voice. "You'll be back on your feet in no time, Princess."

Instead of a look of thanks, Celestia gave Discord a 'you idiot' look, which caused the creature of chaos to give her a 'wtf' look on his face.

"Well, I was never really big into medicine," replied Discord. "If I didn't choose to follow the path I did, then I would have become something."

Rather than being disappointed, a small smile came to Celestia's face, seeming finding this behavior in a very amusing manner. She knew that Discord was never all evil, but rather he had been forced into it.

"But you are something," remarked Celestia. "You are just being a friend to me, Discord. Just like you were centuries ago."

Discord couldn't believe what he had just heard come out of Celestia's mouth. She was saying that he was just trying to be a friend to her and that he wanted her to get better.

"How could you say something like that, Celestia?" said Discord, getting into her face. "It was because of me that you ended up in this condition, me and me alone."

To prove his point, Discord produced multiple clones of himself, but Celestia disregarded them and Discord reverted back to his old self.

"I mean, if I hadn't aligned with Tirek," he explained, not knowing about what was going through Celestia's mind. "Then, you wouldn't have been put in this situation that I had caused. Tirek would have been back in Tartarus and nopony would have had their magic eaten up."

"Then you wouldn't have learned the magic of friendship," interjected Celestia, causing Discord's mouth to drop to the floor in surprise.

"Well, I feel sheepish," he said, literally turning himself into a small sheep and walking around the room for a moment.

"It's true, Discord," replied Celestia, as she felt another sharp pain in her back. "Why do you think I decided to reform you in the first place? Yes, you did betray us and yes, Equestria was at Tirek's mercy because of you. But, you needed to understand that there is more to friendship than just magic."

Discord was shocked at what Celestia was saying to him. Was all that he was doing with Tirek something that Celestia wanted him to do? Was this all part of a test to get Discord to learn friendship once again? These were the questions that went through his mind.

"I know that you embraced friendship before," continued Celestia. "We were friends once, Discord and I know what you did was wrong."

"But, all the damage I had caused," he stuttered, his voice filled with shock. "Are you saying this was all part of a test to get me to understand friendship?"

Discord couldn't believe what he was hearing and wanted to let Celestia know how he felt. However, he didn't want to say anything that would increase her stress. Instead, he chose to take it all in stride.

"I'm not surprised," he chuckled. "You always were the one to give out those tough tasks when were younger, although it was more than a little confusing."

The two old creatures chuckled for a moment as they reflected on their youth.

"Remember all those times we tried to disobey our parents just so we could have fun?" laughed Celestia, who got her mind off of her illness for the first time since it began. "You always were the one who was the ringleader."

"Indeed, Celly," chuckled Discord, transforming himself into when he was younger, almost as a foal-like creature. "Those were good times, wasn't it? It's too bad our destinies were to be completed separately."

"I know," replied Celestia, sadly as Discord turned back into his normal self. "I didn't want to turn you stone, but you were beyond help and reason. When you betrayed Tirek, I wanted to turn you back to stone forever, but I couldn't bring myself to do so."

Discord was beginning to think back to the conversation he and Celestia had when he was repairing the windows he had vandalized while aligned with Tirek. Celestia had clearly mentioned that she wanted to punish Discord by turning him back to stone, but that was ultimately not the case.

"I guess I learned that the hard way," sighed Discord. "But, I still want to prove to you that I am not the creature that everypony thinks I am. Some may never forgive me, particularly Cadence's hubby, but I want to focus on the future and not on the past."

It was then that Celestia was starting to get an idea. The Grand Galloping Gala was coming up and she thought that it would be a golden opportunity for Discord to prove that he wasn't the creature that everypony had made him out to be.

"I think I can think of a way," promised Celestia. "You have proven to me that you want to embrace the magic of friendship. The Grand Galloping Gala is coming up soon and I think you can prove yourself then."

It was then that Discord began to get excited and after expressing his excitement and saying his goodbyes, he disappeared and left Celestia alone in her quarters. At that moment, another sharp pain was felt and Celestia looked back to reveal that the blisters crusted open and strange fluid came out.

Celestia was on the track to being well, but how long would it be until she was fully healed?

Follow Up at the Hospital

Chapter 7

"Follow Up at the Hospital"

For the next few days after her visit with Discord, Celestia began to feel her energy return to her body, despite feeling the pains of shingles at certain moments. Soon, she was well enough to take up raising and lowering the sun again, which was a relief to Twilight who was starting to run out of energy as a result of managing Celestia's alicorn magic as well as her own. Unfortunately, the pain of losing the shingles virus also had brought about a new kind of risk for Celestia and it was caused by the anxieties and stress of her position as ruler of Equestria.

"It appears that you are now on the back end of the virus," said the doctor as Celestia and her fellow princesses sat in his office at Ponyville hospital while he examined her back. "The blisters have crusted and you should be able to scrape them off with ease."

"That's a relief, doctor," sighed Twilight, wiping away sweat from her brow. "So, is she out of the woods yet?"

The doctor then sat back down at his desk and a small frown came on his face. This made clear to the princesses that their eldest equal was not out of the woods.

"Yes and no," replied the doctor. "As a result of the shingles virus, you will still feel the pain of where the source was, your highness. The virus has unfortunately permanently damaged your nerves in that area."

Celestia's heart sank upon hearing those words. It seems that being in continual pain was not something that she wanted to do.

"However," continued the doctor, handing Celestia a small stack of papers. "What is important is that you control your stress levels. The effects of the virus can cause you great pain if you are provoked by anxiety."

It was then that Twilight got an idea to help keep her mentor's stress level down. The Grand Galloping Gala was coming up and she thought that helping out with preparing for it would take pressure off of Celestia's shoulders.

"I think I know how I can help out," suggested Twilight. "Perhaps maybe I can help out with preparing for the gala?"

"That's a good idea, Twilight," she said. "I know how good your management skills are, you know. If you could help organize my wedding, then you could manage the gala."

Celestia was surprised to hear this from Twilight. In her mind, she thought that Twilight herself had been put under enough stress by raising the sun as well as lowering it. However, Cadence was delighted with the idea and at the same time, despite her surprise, Celestia knew that she and Twilight would spend time together at the gala.

"Plus," continued the princess of friendship, looking over at Celestia. "We can spend some time together, Celestia. We didn't get a chance to do that at the last gala."

"Well, I am sure to be looking forward to it, Twilight," replied Celestia, who gave Twilight a small smile. "I could use the break from overseeing the gala. I have no doubt that you will help in making this year's gala the most fun in years."

Little did Twilight know however that Celestia had intentions on inviting Discord to the gala as a way of proving to the chaotic creature that she no longer had any ill feelings towards him, as well as making the gala as lively and entertaining as the last one.

"Indeed I will try," said Twilight. "All I want is for you to relax and enjoy yourself for once."

At that moment, the doctor reached over into his desk and pulled out a piece of paper with a bottle of a special kind of medication sending them both to Celestia.

"Now," said the doctor. "This is a cream that you must apply to the site of the shingles virus for the first 30 days of your post-illness. It should be able to bring down the pain."

So, Celestia returned to Canterlot that evening, still thinking of inviting Discord to the gala. While Twilight oversaw the preparations, Celestia sat in her quarters while an older pony servant applied the cream to the site of the shingles virus.

"You'll feel a slight sting, princess," said the servant.

"I'm aware of that," moaned Celestia. "I just need to not get stressed, that's all."

"Indeed," remarked the servant. "Myself and some of the other servants have been worried about you since the events of recent. You should be happy that Princess Twilight is taking over the preparations for this year's gala."

The servant then pulled her hooves away from Celestia's back and allowed her to stretch herself out.

"I know, I know," sighed Celestia as she continued to stretch. "It's just that I intend somepony to the gala that some ponies may have ill feelings towards."

"You mean Discord?" asked the servant. "The creature that betrayed us? Personally, I don't think it is a good idea, but I have been a loyal servant to you, your highness and that I have never questioned your decisions."

Celestia smiled at this and hugged the servant for a brief moment. Once she was gone, Celestia then set about preparing a ticket for the gala while going over the guest list.

"Not everypony may forgive you, Discord," thought Celestia as she looked at the list. "But, I have forgiven you despite what you have done. This is my night too and I know you will make this the most fun gala in years."

Just then, a knock was heard at her door and she opened it to reveal Twilight with a checklist in her aura.

"Everything seems to be going as planned, Princess Celestia," said Twilight, walking into her quarters. "We should be done by tomorrow. How are you feeling?"

"One of my servants applied the cream," replied Celestia. "I should feel fine. By the way, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Princess," said Twilight. "What is it?"

Celestia then took in a deep sigh and looked down at Twilight with a worried look on her face. In her mind, she thought that Twilight would not allow Discord to come, given his history with her and her friends.

"Would you mind if I invited Discord to the gala?" she asked, much to Twilight's surprise.

In her mind, Twilight was not fully trusting of Discord, even if she ordered him freed from Tirek's control when she traded the alicorn magic for his freedom along with that of her friends. Nevertheless, she knew that maybe Discord could keep himself under control, remembering what he learned from the events with Tirek.

"Of course, Princess," replied Twilight, reluctantly. "Most ponies think he is truly sorry for what he did, as do I. We should give him a chance."

"Thank you, Twilight," replied Celestia, happily. "I appreciate your honesty."

So Twilight returned home to her castle, feeling accomplished that she had kept Celestia's stress level down. But, at the same time, she knew that Discord was going to spread chaos to the gala, which in turn would bring Celestia's stress level back up and cause her pain in her back.

Nevertheless, Twilight never questioned her mentor's decisions and she wasn't going to start now. She had to give Discord a chance, despite the risk of the gala being turned upside down…

Night of the Gala

Chapter 8

"Night of the Gala"

On the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, Twilight was in a dressing room getting ready for the evening. She had been given a blue dress with a large yellow ribbon in the center to wear for the gala, although in her mind, it would never replace her original gala dress that was restored and on display in her castle, thanks to the efforts of Rarity and Fluttershy. But, this was the least of her thoughts. The biggest thought was that why Celestia would invite a creature like Discord to the most important night of Equestria's history.

"Hey, Twilight," said Spike, knocking on her door. "Mind if I come in?"

"Sure, Spike," replied Twilight as the baby dragon walked inside wearing his usual black tuxedo and top hat. "How do I look?"

"You look great, Twilight," said Spike as Twilight spun around to show off her dress, which was blue with flowers imprinted on the collar and on the skirt of the dress. "I think you might stand out tonight."

Although Twilight was flattered with the compliment, she remembered that this was not a night to show off her new dress. It was a night to let Celestia relax and enjoy herself to what the gala had to offer.

"Just remember that tonight is about having a good time," reminded Twilight as she worked on getting her mane done. "I just hope that Discord doesn't ruin the evening."

"Yeah," said Spike, sitting down in a chair. "I don't get why Celestia would invite him to an event like this? I thought we learned that the gala was always boring to her."

Twilight completed doing her mane, which was done up with a strand of it sticking down. Once completed, she then proceeded to apply her makeup.

"True, Spike," she said. "But, that was last year and this is now. Tonight is all about Celestia relaxing and enjoying herself along with everypony else. Besides, everypony is bringing dates tonight."

Unfortunately for Spike, the baby dragon sighed heavily knowing that Rarity was not going to be his "plus one." Rarity had chosen her younger sister, Sweetie Belle, for her date while Applejack and Rainbow Dash did the same for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Spike," said Twilight, taking note of Spike's feelings. "I still don't have a date for the gala myself, you know."

This caused Spike to perk up a little, knowing now that he wasn't going to be going alone. But, then he realized of something else.

"I'd like to go, Twilight," chuckled the baby dragon, nervously while scratching the back of his neck. "But, aren't you a princess?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" remarked Twilight, giving Spike a sly smile. "Princess Celestia asked me to be her date for tonight and you can be mine. Besides, you are my number one assistant."

Spike chuckled as he escorted Twilight down to the stairwell where all the ponies were gathering. At the middle of the stairs stood Princess Celestia, wearing a long red gown and looking much more relaxed than she had in several days. Twilight walked down and stood next to Celestia as the guests continued to flow in.

"I must say," remarked Celestia. "It is real nice of you to take over some of the planning responsibilities for this year's gala."

"Anything I can do to make it easier on you," replied Twilight, smiling at Celestia warmly.

"Thank you, Twilight," said Celestia, who was evermore grateful for not only Twilight's help, but also for not thinking about the virus that kept her down for a huge period of time. "I'm glad to just be enjoying the gala for once."

Just then, the sounds of trumpets were heard and a pony in colonial attire spoke in a loud voice as Discord, dressed in an orange tuxedo walked into the main hall.

"Announcing the Spirit of Chaos, Discord and his guest, the, uh…" the pony started to say, but forgot the name of Discord's guest. This caused Discord to lean forward and whisper in the pony's ear the name of his guest.

"The Smooze!" the pony finished and a green mass of slime wearing a blue top hat and red bow tie followed Discord into the hall, much to the shock of the other guests.

"Good evening, everypony," said Discord, addressing the crowd. "What a glorious affair!"

Twilight could see that Discord was up to no good, however she wasn't concerned about him, but more of the slimy creature that was his "guest." She knew that Celestia needed a night to relax and was going to do everything in her power to keep it that way.

"I'll take care of this," said Twilight, smiling at Celestia nervously before taking off and flying over to Discord, pushing him back while the Smooze went forward, belching out a loud burp as it flowed across the floor.

"What are you doing here with that?" whispered Twilight to Discord.

"Now, now," reminded Discord. "The Smooze may be an 'it,' but it is a heart of well, 'blob."

Twlight watched as the slimy creature slithered past Celestia as she watched from the stairwell. In her mind, Twilight wanted to have the Smooze removed, but she knew better and instead decided to give Discord a warning.

"This night is extremely important to me, Discord," Twilight warned as she turned and waved back to Celestia, nervously while keeping an eye on Discord and talking with her teeth gritted.

"Keep…it…under control," she ordered.

"Yes, yes, yes, of course," replied Discord, pretending to take in Twilight's warning. "Tell me, have you seen Fluttershy anywhere?"

Twilight watched as Discord walked away looking for Fluttershy, completely unconvinced by Discord's intentions. In her mind, Twilight knew that Discord was looking to do something that would give Celestia stress and reactivate the Shingles virus's effects.

"Well, I'm certainly surprised by Discord's 'guest,'" remarked Celestia as she walked down the stairs. "But, I'm pretty sure he is harmless."

Twilight then noticed that Luna and Cadence were nowhere to be found and wondered why they weren't at the Gala.

"By the way," asked Twilight. "Where are Luna and Cadence? Shouldn't they be here?"

Celestia sighed as the thought of her niece and sister not being at the Gala was starting to sink in. Celestia knew that Luna had a good reason because of her duties as Princess of the Night, but there was another reason for Cadence not being able to be there.

"Shining Armor hurt himself today in the Crystal Empire," said Celestia, much to Twilight's shock and disbelief. "Cadence wanted me to tell you that she wants the gala to go on, no matter what."

"What happened to Shining Armor?" asked Twilight.

"He hurt himself on a training mission in the mountains," replied Celestia. "It's nothing serious, but the doctors advised him not to come tonight. He and Cadence were looking forward to being here and spending time with us."

Twilight knew at some point that she would have to visit her brother, but she had a duty to perform and that was to attend the gala and keep Celestia's stress level down.

But, it wasn't going to be easy with Discord and the Smooze around. So Twilight kept her eye on Discord, thinking that he was going to disrupt the evening and bring her mentor's stress level up. Of course, that would not be the case…

Unfunny Comedy

Chapter 9

"Unfunny Comedy"

For most of the evening, it seemed to Twilight that Discord was doing as she had told him, which was to keep the Smooze under control. Unfortunately, when it seemed to her that Discord had promised to do as she asked, various screams came from around the gala where the Smooze had his eye set on the jewels that many of the mares in attendance wore. All that mattered to Twilight was that Celestia's stress level was kept down to avoid the effects of the shingles virus.

"Celestia seems to be well relaxed," Twilight whispered to herself as she saw Celestia talking with Fancy Pants and his guest, Fleur De Leis. "But, why does she seem down to an extent?"

Twilight noticed that Celestia was only trying to keep a positive attitude, only to seem bored once Fancy Pants and his guest left. Twilight thought that it may be because Luna wasn't there because of her duties or because Cadence had to take care of Shining Armor with his injury and all.

"Is everything all right, Princess Celestia?" asked Twilight, flying over to her. "You seem kind of down."

Celestia's train of thought was broken and she gasped when Twilight spoke to her. In her mind, the Gala wasn't to her liking. It was just ponies talking to ponies and it seemed that her interest was fading away.

"Uh, nothing is wrong, Twilight," stuttered Celestia, trying to hide her feelings. "Just relaxing and enjoying the gala."

Celestia chuckled nervously for a moment and before she could say another word to Twilight, a loud scream was heard and the sound of pounding on the door was heard.

"LET ME IN!" screamed the pony on the other side and Twilight took a key and opened the door with her magic and a white pony covered in slime came through the door and collapsed. Twilight could see that it was her friend Rarity and she looked to see the Smooze sucking on jewels from several ponies.

"That creature took my jewels!" cried the fashionista pony, pointing to the Smooze as he snacked on a pony's jewels.

Remembering what she had told Discord about keeping the Smooze under control, Twilight turned and walked over to Discord with a scowl on her face. This was a night to keep Celestia's stress level down and she was not going to let the creature of chaos ruin it for her.

"Discord," Twilight said sternly. "I thought I told you to keep your friend under control."

"Oh, please," replied Discord, pretending not to care about the welfare of the guests. "I've much better things to do than to watch that thing all night."

Suddenly, Discord noticed Fluttershy standing next to him and knowing that his relationship with her was at stake, immediately corrected himself to Twilight.

"What I mean to say is," he laughed nervously. "That thing is a dear, dear friend, and I'll make sure that the ooze, uh, that he can't help but secrete doesn't get on anypony else."

To prove his point, Discord produced a vacuum into existence and placed the nozzle on top of Rarity, turning it on and sucking up her ooze-covered gala dress, leaving her scrunching away in embarrassment.

"Thank you," said Twilight, feeling a sense of relief before turning to the guests gathered. "It's all right, everypony. Let's just get back to enjoying this magical evening."

So, the gala resumed although Twilight noticed that there was something off about Celestia. She noticed that a small smile had come to her mentor's face, almost as if she enjoyed seeing what had happened.

"Well, that was unexpected," said Twilight, trotting over to Celestia. "Maybe now Discord can keep his friend from causing any more problems."

Celestia only responded with a small nod of her head, pretending to agree that Twilight did what was right for the good of the gala. While she did feel bad for Rarity, Celestia seemed to get a hint of amusement over Discord leaving Rarity exposed.

However, just before Celestia could say another word, the lights went out and the sounds of a microphone check were heard coming from the stage.

"Check, check, check. Is this thing on?" called Discord, talking into the microphone.

"Now, this night is going to be even more fun," thought Celestia as she and Twilight joined the guests surrounding the stage. "Maybe it was a good thing that I invited Discord after all."

Just then, Discord began his attempted comedy routine as Twilight kept a close eye on him, determined to make sure that he didn't cause any more trouble.

"Good evening, fillies and germs!" began Discord, walking back and forth between the ends of the stage. "I just flew into Canterlot, and wow, are my interspecies parts tired!"

The sound of a rimshot was heard and rather than getting a laugh from the audience, Discord instead got silence. Then, he took his attention towards Twilight and thought of a way to enlighten her.

"I've only got these tiny mismatched wings," he continued. "And even I can fly better than Twilight Sparkle! Am I right? Pa choo!"

Another sound of the rimshot was heard as Discord pointed to Twilight, who didn't take the joke very well and thought of it as an insult.

"Hey!" she called, but Celestia quietly giggled at the joke, much to her surprise as well as Discord's.

Unfortunately, even though Celestia found it funny, Discord still didn't get a response from the crowd. The more that the audience stayed quiet, the more Discord felt like he was an idiot. He needed to do something and fast.

"Uh, well, perhaps you're into more observational humor," he remarked, chuckling nervously as he changed out of his formal attire and into a red and black polo shirt. "Did you ever notice how you always materialize out of thin air? Why not thick air? What's the deal there?"

Still, there was silence and Discord could see that he was indeed losing his grip on the audience.

"Tough crowd," he remarked, taking out a necktie and pulled against his neck in a choking motion. "I can't believe it, I'm losing to a group of ponies."

At this point, Twilight and her friends were starting to wonder just exactly what Discord was up to. Twilight was starting to think that Discord would say something stupid about Celestia as part of his routine and cause her stress and anxiety.

"What is he doing?" she whispered to Rainbow Dash, her voice slightly panicked.

"I think they're jokes," replied Rainbow Dash, confusingly. However, Pinkie Pie who was with her sister Maud, was delighted with what Discord was doing as much as Celestia.

"Maud! Jokes!" she cried, excitedly hugging Maud.

"My favorite," she said dryly and not showing any interest. Then again, it was Maud, so nopony was surprised.

However, little did anypony notice that while Discord was starting to spin another bad joke, a young colt suddenly began to notice the closet door glow a bright greenish color. When Discord had gotten another bad rep for a bad joke to which Maud replied that he was the most basic of jokes, the ooze came through the door and the young colt let out a small scream that caught the attention of Twilight.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" she cried, pointing to the ooze coming from the closet door and before another word could be said, the door burst wide open and the Grand Galloping Gala was about to be turned upside down.

It seemed to Twilight that her biggest fear of Celestia becoming stressed again was about to be revealed…

Discord Goes Too Far

Chapter 10

"Discord Goes Too Far"

Twilight could not believe what was happening around her. What was supposed to be nothing more than a relaxing night for Celestia had been turned upside down. The Grand Galloping Gala was now hijacked by Discord's "plus one," the Smooze, as it spread its ooze all over the floor and trapped many ponies in the gunk. The princess of friendship fired several blasts of her magic at the smooze in an effort to combat it, but it was no use.

"None of my magic works on this ooze," she cried, covered in ooze along with Celestia. "Can you stop it?"

Celestia was enjoying herself being covered in the ooze, but knew that she had a duty to protect her subjects. She attempted to activate her horn, but the ooze at the tip prevented her from doing so.

"I'm afraid not!" replied Celestia.

"Discord, how could you bring him here?" thundered Twilight as Discord floated by.

"Oh, he's not that bad," replied Discord, not seeming to care about the situation.

Twilight and Celestia gave him a glare as he floated by. With their magic rendered useless and their hooves glued to the floor, both Twilight and Celestia could only watch as their subjects struggled. Celestia was now beginning to panic slightly as the sounds of ponies crying out for help were heard.

"I've got to free myself somehow," thought Celestia to herself. "My subjects need me. What am I going to do?"

Twilight could see that Celestia was starting to become stressed and wanted to help her, but she too was trapped in the ooze. The last thing that both princesses wanted was for Celestia's anxieties to come back and reactivate the effects of the Shingles virus. Just then, the sounds of a strange noise were heard and Celestia and Twilight could feel the ooze leaving their bodies.

"Let go Smooze," said a pony in a pink frock with red dreadlocks. "Bliss out."

The noise continued for a few more moments and soon, the floor was freed of the smooze's ooze as well as the ponies that were also trapped. Twilight sighed to herself as the ooze pulled off of her body, feeling relieved that Celestia's anxieties were lowered before they got any higher.

"That was close," sighed Twilight. "If it weren't for Fluttershy's friend, Celestia would have been in pain again and I can't have that happen again."

With the smooze back to normal, it seemed like the rest of the night was going to go on without incident. However, Discord's anger was growing at Fluttershy's friend and he had gotten to the point where he couldn't keep his anger in any longer.

"Stop it! Stop it!" he snarled, peeking out from behind a disco ball. "That's it! I'm done with you, Tree Hugger!"

"Oh, man, you're really bumming me out," replied Tree Hugger, pretending not to be intimidated. "Can you just, like, lower your voice a skosh?"

This was the final straw and without warning, Discord clawed a hole in the window and dragged Tree Hugger towards a portal that led to another dimension. Twilight could see that Discord was going too far and he needed to be stopped.

"Come on, we've got to stop him!" she cried to her friends who confronted Discord, ready to take him down. "I can't let him do this!"

However, while Twilight had rallied her friends, Celestia could only watch with a sense of amusement at what Discord was doing. She knew Discord very well and could see that this was his way of expressing his frustration.

"He won't send her to another dimension," she thought to herself. "Discord knows better that friendship will prevail over almost anything. All he needs is to be told what he is doing is wrong."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy," called Twilight. "We'll stop him."

Seeing what they were about to do, Discord grabbed a disco ball and attracted the smooze to fetch it like a dog.

"Fetch the disco ball," thought the creature of chaos and the slimy creature went after the ball, absorbing Twilight and her friends into his body.

Seeing her faithful student in danger, Celestia suddenly felt her adrenaline rise as the Smooze followed the disco ball which was now rolling towards her and several other ponies. Using her magic, Celestia picked up the disco ball and pushed over to the left side, away from her and the other ponies. But, the Smooze wasn't falling for it and continued on its path.

Suddenly, Celestia felt a sharp pain in her back and knew that the effects of the shingles virus was starting to once again take its toll. This caused Celestia to get down on her left foreleg and groan in pain. Twilight saw her mentor in pain and tried to break herself free of the ooze prison she was in.

Fortunately for her, Discord reached his claw out and grabbed all of the jewels that the Smooze had consumed, reducing him to a normal size and freeing Twilight along with her friends. Once freed, Twilight ran over to her mentor and helped her get back up.

"Are you all right?" cried Twilight in a worried voice. "Let me help you up."

"Thank you," panted Celestia, wincing in pain slightly but trying to keep a positive outlook on the events that had just happened. "That was sure was enjoyable, wasn't it?"

Twilight smiled a little bit, but the well-being of her mentor was first and foremost on her mind. Twilight then led Celestia away to a corner of the ballroom where several guards came to their aide.

After a few moments, Celestia was checked out and after being given the all clear, was able to return to the Gala, standing at a far right corner in front of the stage much to the relief of everypony in the ballroom. Despite all that had happened, Celestia managed to maintain her positive outlook, but Twilight was concerned that the night was ruined and that Celestia had suffered briefly from the effects of the virus.

"I'm sorry, Princess Celestia," said Twilight as she and Celestia watched while Pinkie and the Smooze danced. "I thought I could give you a break tonight. But, it turns out I was in over my head."

"You have nothing to apologize for," replied Celestia, happily. "This has been the most fun gala in years!"

"I know," replied Twilight, somberly before picking up on what Celestia was thinking. "It was a…what? But, there was ooze all over the place and a guest tried to send somepony to another dimension."

Twilight's protests about the evening were ignored, for Celestia didn't seem to care.

"I know," Celestia replied, spreading her wings out as she spoke and pushing Twilight to the dance floor. "Can you imagine how dull it would've been if I hadn't invited Discord? Come on! Whoo! The night is still young!"

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing and neither was Discord, thinking that he had harmed Celestia by doing what he did on this night. In his mind, he knew that he needed to apologize to Celestia for his actions, even though she would just brush them off…

From Out of Nowhere

"Princess Celestia Gets Shingles"

By TwilightSparkle3562

Chapter 1

"From Out of Nowhere"

It seemed like came without warning for Princess Celestia. The eldest of Equestria's four princesses was just starting to get her life back to normal following the events with Lord Tirek. She had been living with the guilt of sending Discord over her youngest equal, Princess Twilight Sparkle, to capture the demonic centaur who had escaped from Tartarus, the prison located at the bottom of Equestria that housed the worst of the worst, the creatures who had tried to conquer Equestria or worse.

But, this enemy that she would face now was not an enemy that walked on four or two legs; it didn't have wings and could fly; it didn't even have magic and it didn't have a horn. It wasn't even a pony, but it was an enemy that lived deep inside of her since she was a filly.

It all started several days after Tirek was returned to Tartarus and Equestria was slowly returning to normal. Celestia rose from her slumber and stood out over a balcony facing out to the east of Canterlot Castle, not far from the Crystal Empire. In the distance, she could also see her sister, Princess Luna, completing her duties as Princess of the Night. Taking in a deep breath, Celestia prepared to activate her magic to raise the sun. Once her magic was activated, the sun rose like a giant ball of fire as it rose over the eastern horizon.

Then, all of a sudden, she felt the first sign of a sharp pain that caused her to scream loudly and alerting the attention of Princess Luna from a mile away. The events with Tirek were still fresh in everypony's mind and Luna thought that her sister was being attacked by an unknown enemy.

"Sister!" she cried and using all her strength to fly, Luna managed to get to her sister, who fell on her knees, moaning and groaning in pain. "Are you all right?! What happened?!"

Luna examined her sister to see what was wrong and what she saw on Celestia's back made her mouth drop open in shock. A large mass of red was found on her lower back, not far from her sun cutie mark.

"Oh, Luna," moaned Celestia, who was trying to get back on her feet. "It hurts! It hurts! Why did this have to happened?!"

"Sister, don't move," replied Luna, firmly, trying to keep Celestia down. "If it is what I think it is, then we have to find some help for you."

"I thought it would never happen, Luna," cried Celestia, tears forming in her eyes from the pain.

"Shh, shh, it's all right, big sister," said Luna, calmly. "I'll try to send some help."

Luna then turned her attention up to the sky and fired a beam from her horn as high as it could reach, then she caused the beam to flicker on and off, almost as if she was trying to send out an SOS, which she was. The beam had caught the attention of Twilight Sparkle, who was still getting adjusted to her new castle.

"What is that?" yawned Twilight. "It's very unusual for a-."

But as soon as Twilight was fully awake, she realized that it wasn't unusual for a beam to just appear out of nowhere. It was coming from Canterlot castle and Twilight could tell that it was coming from Princess Luna.

"Something must be wrong," she thought. "We don't send out flash messages unless if it's important."

Trusting her instincts, Twilight ran from her bedroom down the hall to the balcony of her castle, stopping to pay attention to what she was seeing flashing in the distance. The newly minted Princess of Friendship carefully paid attention to the flash message as she carefully translated it.

"Anypony…please…help…my….sister…, Princess…Celestia…has…fallen…and…she…can't...get…up."

Twilight's heart suddenly sank upon deciphering the message. Almost immediately, she could think back to the flashback of seeing her idol and mentor seemingly dead at the hooves of Princess Luna's alter ego, Nightmare Moon. Without even letting Spike know what was happening, she opened her wings and jumped into the sky, flying as fast as her wings would let her.

Back at Canterlot Castle, Celestia continued to cry out in pain as her back made her not able to move a muscle. The screams that she had made caught the attention of two royal guard ponies, who ran up from their posts when they heard what was going on.

"What is happening, Princess Luna?" one of the guards cried. "Is she all right?"

"Get a doctor at once!" barked Luna, almost using her royal Canterlot voice. "Can't you see my sister is in pain?!"

Doing as they were told, the guardsponies ran down to find a doctor while Twilight landed and ran over to Celestia. Her eyes were filled with worry for Celestia and seeing her lying on her side made Twilight even more worried for Celestia's well-being.

"Princess Celestia, what happened?" cried Twilight in a panicked voice as Celestia let out another sharp cry of pain.

"It hurts, Twilight!" groaned Celestia, struggling to move as Twilight suddenly looked over Celestia's red-colored back. "Look at my back!"

Twilight carefully examined Celestia's back and looked back at Princess Luna, who rubbed Celestia's mane in an effort to calm her down. The princess of the night only gave Twilight a silent and concerned look on her face and Twilight could see that something was terribly wrong with Celestia.

"Here she is!" called a guardspony as several paramedics arrived with a stretcher and first aid. "We're going to help you, your highness! Just stay calm!"

"How could I stay calm?" moaned Celestia as the paramedic ponies carefully placed her on the stretcher. "My back! My back!"

Celestia was carefully placed on her left side as she was lifted into the air by the paramedic ponies.

"We'll take her to Ponyville hospital!" said the Parmedic pony. "Follow us!"

Flanked by the two guardsponies, the paremedics lifted Celestia into the air and flew her to Ponyville hospital, much to Twilight's confusion.

"Why won't they take her to Canterlot hospital?" asked Twilight, worriedly.

"We don't want our subjects to be worried," answered Luna as both princesses took to the sky. "Now come on, we must follow them!"

Twilight then realized that it was best if Cadence was alerted as well. She was not just a fellow princess and her sister-in-law, but Cadence was also Celestia's niece and definitely somepony that would also want to know of the situation as well.

"Should we notify Cadence?" suggested Twilight.

"I will have a guardspony bring her word of what is happening when we arrive at the hospital," replied Luna as they quickly followed the injured Celestia, being carried off to Ponyville hospital, where the silent enemy that had been inside of Celestia would soon be revealed to all that were close to her.