Black Gates: Fallen

Twilight launched herself to her feet, adrenaline keeping her standing despite the still present pain of her recent injury.

“Twilight! You need to stay in bed!” Celestia nearly ordered as she jumped up, hugging Twilight close. “We don’t know how badly you’ve been hurt…”

“B-but Arkantos, he just… engulfed himself in a blizzard… I need to know if he’s alright!” Twilight retorted.

“We need to know if you’re alright first! He’s surrounded by doctors, if anything’s wrong with him he’ll be taken care of!” Celestia said quickly, not really catching her words.

Twilight’s eyes widened, “W-wha-”

Celestia took in a deep breath. “If he’s hurt, they’ll help him.” She looked up at Twilight, “Please… I want you to be fine. I… want you both to be fine.” She trailed off. “He’s… so much less important to me, when compared to you.”

Twilight remained silent as she looked at Celestia. She nodded slowly before sitting back down. “Alright… I… I trust you.”

“I’m just… so happy you’re alright…” Celestia sighed, looking down towards the ground. “This, this was all my fault.”

Twilight lightly hugged Celestia. “Everything’s turned out alright hasn’t it?” She said quietly.

Celestia just nuzzled her. “Yes… yes it has.” She sighed, “Now, why don’t we go see if he’s alright together?”

Twilight nodded and the two left. Within a few minutes they arrived at Arkantos’ room. He was missing from his bed, but they could immediately tell why. Two guards were outside the bathroom, and they heard the sound of…

“I think we should leave…” Celestia began.

“I-It’s al-” Ark was cut off.

“N-no… I want to wait. Just to make sure.” Twilight shook her head.

They heard the water running, from both the toilet, and the sink.

“Gods… Thankfully this is easy to figure out.” They heard him chuckled quietly. There was a thump against the door. “Ooooh, still not much energy.” He laughed, opening the door.

Twilight embraced him, catching them both with her magic. “I’m so happy you ma-” She stopped. “You’re freezing!” She tightened her grip on him.

“It’s my magi-”

She pulled him into the room and forced him to sit down on the bed.

Celestia smiled slightly.

“Fine…” He sighed, “Just… let me do one last thing, okay?”

“As long as you rest afterwards.” Twilight nodded, pulling the chair she’d sat down in before all of this had begun.

“I promise. Just… I need to balance everything out.” Arkantos smiled, creating a small flame in his hand, though it sputtered and died after a few moments. “Mmm… or not.” He sighed. “Never thought using magic in a dream would drain my mana outside of it.” He shook his head.

“Wait… you’re out of magical energy?!?” Celestia began, “Where are the doc-”

“No… no not out yet. Close enough that I'll be using no more magic for a few days.” Ark sighed. “Ugh… Unless Thestra weed exists here…” He laughed.

“Thestra weed?” Celestia inquired.

“You smoke pot?” Twilight asked.

“Huh? It’s a common ingredient in mana potions. It’d be easy to make some if there were a brewer nearby.” Ark shook his head.

The mares sighed quietly. “Ah… well, you’ll just have to rest a while.” Celestia said.

“More time to find out what life is like here, right?” Arkantos smiled, relaxing back onto the bed for the first time. He felt… liberated now. His attention shifted to Twilight as she sat down on the bed.

“Good, if you try anything else, I would’ve locked you in a room.” She joked, putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling down at him.

Arkantos laughed loudly, seeming a bit happier now then any of her previous encounters with him.

“I’ll leave you two alone for now…” Celestia sighed as she left.

Twilight tried to shift down to her chair, only for Ark to reach up and grab her shoulder. “Just… please sit here with me for a bit longer?”

Twilight nodded and pushed him a little bit so there was more room. “Better idea. Why don’t we both get some actual sleep. No dream magic, no dream walking… just…”

“Some rest? That’d be nice for once.” He smiled.

Twilight nodded and laid down beside him, she just wanted to make sure he slept. He was out within moments, his soft snoring betraying how tired he really was.

Twilight smiled as she watched him. After her last experience she was content to just stay close to him while he slept.

A Few Hours Later:

All of Twilight’s friends had come back to see her now that she was awake and well, but they noticed how she seemed a bit more interested in making sure Arkantos was doing alright.

“Twilight?” Dash asked.

“Huh? What’s up?” Twilight asked, turning away from the still passed out human.

“That’s what I’d like to know… you’re literally fawning over him while he’s asleep. It’s a bit creepy…” Dash said.

“What’s creepy about wanting to make sure he’s sleeping peacefully after what we both went through?” Twilight asked.

“Hun, yah need to sleep to.” Applejack said.

“I will… just, right now he needs it more.” Twilight shook her head. “And I have a feeling if I leave, he’s going to wake right up.”

“And you don-”

“Dash… inside that hell, he vowed to protect me with his own life. I owe him the courtesy of making sure he can at least sleep. Once he’s rested, I’ll have plenty of time on my own to sleep.” Twilight assured.

“Well… why can’t one of us stay here with h-” Fluttershy was cut off as Shining Armor entered the room.

“Twilight, go home, get some sleep.” He ordered. “I’ll stay here with him, for… security purposes and all that.” He joked.

“I will n-”

“I’m fine.” Arkantos startled all of them when he finally spoke up.

“But…” Twilight began, turning to look down at him. He only smiled up at her.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” He assured, slowly sitting up. “I’m already feeling better now… no bad dreams to speak of.”

Twilight sighed, “Alright. I’ll… go get some sleep too.” She smiled, “I’ll… see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Arkantos nodded, watching her as she left. Now, if it weren’t for Shining and Fluttershy’s friendliness towards him he’d have felt alone once again. He looked up at the other silent ponies in the room, and few of them were willing to meet his eye right now.

Shining sat down beside him, and started up a conversation. The young prince, and captain of the Guard was more then interested in his training and experience, wanting to truly befriend the man whom seemed to have his sister’s attention, especially after how Luna had explained most of what had occurred when she arrived in the dream to Shining.

The mares sat around and just listened, trying to be a bit more open to the man who was trapped in their world now. If their best friend trusted him, why shouldn’t they?