The Incantation

My eyelids crept open, and the first thing I saw was Fluttershy's relieved face gazing down at mine.

"Emerald!" she cried. It looked as if she'd been crying, She tried to hug me, but stopped midway.

"Ugh...what happened...? Where am I?" I groaned, feeling a throbbing pain in my side and in my head. I also felt really groggy.

Fluttershy put a hoof on my chest. "It's okay, Emerald." She called out into the hall for the doctor.

I looked around the room as best as I could, struggling to sit up despite the shooting pain in my chest and side. "Where am I?" I repeated.

"The hospital in Canterlot. Lay back down before you hurt yourself," she answered in a motherly tone. I complied.

A doctor came in a few minutes later - followed by Rainbow Dash, AJ, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight, Spike, and...

Princess Celestia.

I immediately bolted upright, breathing hard. The small, white room was crowded, and I was the center of attention.

The doctor came over to my bed and pushed me back down. "Easy, fella. You don't want to reopen that nasty wound you got last night." With that, he started checking all my vitals, while everypony else stood around and looked concerned.

"Will he be okay, doc?" Fluttershy asked him when he finished.

The doctor nodded. "He'll be fine, so long as he stays in bed until we release him. The wound was merely superficial. He's very lucky."

"We're glad you're okay, Emerald," Twilight said with sincerity. Her and the others were still in their gala gowns.

"Absolutely," Celestia agreed, stepping up to my bed.

I cowered, half under the covers. "Uh, thanks."

She nodded. "No, thank you, Emerald Mist. For saving Fluttershy's life."

I looked over at her, and she smiled back at me. "I just reacted the way anypony else would've,' I said modestly.

Celestia called a guard in, who was carrying a medallion of some sort. She took it from him and turned back to me. "The Brave Citizens Award, for risking your life for somepony else's." She draped it around my neck. Everypony gave an applause and started talking excitedly all at once.

"Listen everypony!" I shouted above all the noise. They all fell silent a few seconds later.

"What is it, Emerald?" Fluttershy asked.

I looked around at them. "Who shot at me? Er, Fluttershy? Did they get away?"

"The suspect is still at large and has not been identified," Celestia informed me. "We are also still looking for another criminal, who's guilty of far worse than attempted assassination."

I thought to myself, Could she be referring to me? "Okay, well, is there an investigation?"

"There will certainly be one, Emerald," Celestia confirmed. "For now, worry about getting home and healing." She turned to the others. "I must get going, as I have some things to attend to."

"Sure, Princess. Of course," Twilight said as she and the others bowed respectfully.

Celestia left with the doctor trailing behind.

Fluttershy came up beside me and took one of my hooves. "I was so worried about you."

I smiled at her. "I'll be okay. Don't you worry."

"What did it feel like to get stuck with an arrow?" Rainbow asked. "Did it hurt? Was it kinda painful or horribly unbearable? Did it feel like a bee sting?"

The others gave her dirty looks.

"What? It's just a question. Or two."

I sighed. "It's okay, guys. It was definitely painful. Much worse than a bee sting." I tenderly rubbed the spot on my side that was struck by the arrow.

"We, well, I, brought you some cookies!" Pinkie pointed excitedly at the platter on the small wooden nightstand to my left.

"Oh, well thanks."

"You're welcome," she chirped.

"So - why were you and Fluttershy alone in the garden anyway?" Twilight asked curiously.

Good question. "Well...Fluttershy was just showing me all the animals. I'd been in the garden before, but I didn't know all the species. Fluttershy is smart. She knows her animals."

That seemed a reasonable answer, as Twilight let it go. "Okay, well, thanks for doing what you did. If I had any doubts about you before, they're gone now."

I waved a hoof dismissively. "No need to thank me, guys. I did what needed to be done."

I felt Fluttershy tug lightly on my arm. I looked and seen a pleading look in her eyes. "Can I, um...talk to you about something?"

Not knowing what it was, I turned to the others and said, "I appreciate you guys coming in to see me, but Fluttershy has something to ask me. Can we get some privacy?"

Only AJ and Rainbow seemed amused - Rarity looked nonchalant, Pinkie Pie confused, and Twilight annoyed. However, they all left without a word. Rainbow was the last out the door. She winked and shut the door behind her.

I sighed and looked back into Fluttershy's eyes, which portrayed appreciation and worry beyond words.

"Please - don't ever hurt yourself for me again," she said softly. "I couldn't live with myself if you..." She plunged into my arms, and I felt a stab of pain, which I ignored.

I embraced her, feeling her sobs moistening the bandages on my shoulder. "Fluttershy...please don't cry. I had to do that. I...I reacted on impulse. It's what I do for the ones I care about."

She kept crying, quietly but ceaselessly, for the next few minutes. Finally, she let up, and looked up into my eyes. "Just...promise me you'll be okay."

I tugged her up onto the bed beside me. She laid her head on my chest, wrapping her arms around me.

I winced, but let her hold me, and I held her. It was okay.

"Emerald?"

"Yeah?"

"Do...do you think they know? My friends? Our friends?"

"About what?"

"Us..."

I smiled. "Maybe one or two of them," I whispered in her ear.

She snuggled up to me, showing affection I never felt from anypony. I felt her slow, deliberate breaths on my neck, where she'd buried her muzzle.

"Would it bother you if they did?" I asked.

"Not really..."

I gave a quiet chuckle. "You're cute."

"Thanks..."

We lay there in silence, until she fell asleep on my chest. Soon after, I succumbed to sleep as well.

"Hey, sleepy head?"

I opened my eyes and stared right into Fluttershy's. She was smiling tiredly down at me.

"What time is it?" I asked as I sat up. The room was dimmer, with every other light on the ceiling turned out.

"Time to go home, silly. You're being released," she explained, still laying beside me.

I yawned and felt slight pinching pain on my side. Less than before, when I woke up the first time, but it still hurt. "So...how long was I out this time?"

"Well...it's tomorrow morning. Early, actually. I've been awake for an hour or two. The doc came in a few minutes ago and told me you're being discharged," she said. She saw me attempting to climb out of bed and helped me down.

"Okay." I glanced out the doorway into the hall and seen a doctor scurry by, off doing his job. "Where is everypony else?"

Fluttershy was making the bed. "Oh, they went back to Ponyville last night, I guess." She started packing up the cookies Pinkie had made us into a paper sack.

I trudged over and stood behind her as she rolled the top of the bag up and held it in her teeth. "Is it safe?"

She turned around to face me. "Da cookiesh?"

I smiled and shook my head. "No - I'm talking about outside."

"What do you mean?"

"The assassin. Am I - are we safe from them?" I defined my question a little better.

Her eyes widened with realization. "Oh, my! You're right!"

I started toward the doorway. "Well, let's go find out."

The hallway was not very long, which made it easier to determine where not to go, but not where to go.

"I'll show you," Fluttershy offered and moved ahead of me, leading me away from my room.

At the end of the hallway was a staircase and an elevator. We took the elevator, for the sake of my comfort.

When we got off, we were in a lobby or waiting room of some kind, filled with all sorts of ponies sitting and waiting to be seen. There was a big, wooden reception desk on one side, which me Fluttershy wandered over to. I obtained my release papers and turned to leave, walking through the lobby with Fluttershy.

"Are we going to take da train?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess. We can - " I stopped dead in my tracks. A newspaper laying on a small desk between chairs announced something that made me weak at the knees.

The title read, "Canterlot Thief A murderer!"

"What?!" I yelled, a little too loudly. I felt eyes on me and looked around. everypony, including Fluttershy, was looking at me.

"Um...what's wrong, Emerald?" Fluttershy asked, alarmed.

I hesitated, staring back down at the article. "Uh...nothing. Let's just...go. Now." I started walking away, with Fluttershy catching up.

"Are you okay?" she asked again.

I shook my head. "Let's just get out of here."