Why?View OnlineThe Day From HellWhy?Ever have a day where absolutely nothing goes right? I've had plenty but there's one that will always stick out in my mind. It all began about halfway through my pregnancy... “C’mon, babe, can't you give me a tiny hint?” I begged as I held both her hands in my own. “Sunny, there’s a reason it's called a surprise,” she said, furrowing her brow. “It's because you're not supposed to know until I want you to know.” I looked her in the eye and gave her my best puppy dog eyes that I could manage. “Pretty please?” “No! I am not telling you my surprise!” Twi shouted emphatically in the middle of the food court. “And that’s final!” I discreetly looked around and noticed that her outburst had drawn a lot of odd looks in our direction. “Babe? Do you think you could say that a little louder?” I whispered before steadily increasing the volume of my voice. “I don't think they heard you in LAS PEGASUS!” “Really? I don't think they heard you either,” she retorted. “So what?” It was then that I noticed her trying - and failing - to hide the hurt in her eyes. I released her hands and slumped back in my seat. “I'm sorry, Twi. I don't know what came over me,” I said as the guilt from my outburst washed over me like a river. “It-it’s fine…” she whispered. “My lunch break is nearly over anyway.” She slowly got up and carried her tray to the trash can, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. “I-I’ll see you when I get home later.” Great job, Sunset, I thought as I watched her walk back toward the electronics store. Your eagerness and temper probably landed you a spot on the couch again tonight. A now familiar movement in my body squirmed as my mood continued to sour. “I know, I know. You're hungry,” I said to my stomach before standing to take care of my trash. “I’ll grab a double bacon cheeseburger on the way home for you.” A tear rolled down each of my cheeks as I looked toward the electronics store once more before leaving for home. “I sorry, Twilight,” I whispered as I slowly made my way back to the car. “Sunny! I'm home!” I heard Twi call cheerfully as I laid in bed, clinging to one of my pillows. “Sunny!” Twi continued to call. “Sunny! Sunny? Why are laying in dark?” I heard her footsteps glide softly across the bedroom carpet before she settled on the end of the bed. “Sunny? Are you okay?” she asked softly as she gently laid a hand on my calf. I slowly shook my head without looking at her. “What's wrong?” I quickly glanced her way before returning my focus to the mattress. “It's nothing. I'll take care of it,” I whispered. “Sunny…” “No, Twilight. It's something I have to deal with.” “Are you sure? I’m willing to-” “I said I will take care of it.” I heard her let out a loud sigh before getting off the bed. Just before leaving the room she turned and said, “Okay. Well, if you want to talk about it, I'll be in the den.” “Okay,” I whispered, trying to hold back a few sobs. After another moment she closed the door but not before whispering, “I love you Sunny and I forgive you.” When the door latched, I brought both hands to my face and wept uncontrollably until I fell asleep. It was late at night (or early in the morning, depending on your point-of-view) when I woke up. When I tried to get out of the bed, however, I found that I couldn't move. Spike was curled up against my baby bump and Twilight had an iron grip around my chest, squeezing my left breast. No matter how much I wiggled and squirmed, however, I couldn't break free of my wife. Well, I guess I'm stuck here, I thought as I reached for my phone. I wonder what time it is? Just as I touched it, I received a text notification. “Hey Sunny Bunny! Are you still bummed out?” What the…? Pinkie?! I wondered. Why is she texting me at...4:30 in the morning? And how did she know I was upset? Only one way to find out. So I sent a reply telling her I was indeed still upset from what I said to Twi the day before. “My feet got really twitchy and woke me up.” “Twitchy feet?” I mouthed. “Huh?” I texted back. “It's my Pinkie Sense telling me that one of my bestest most wonderful friends needed cheering up” “What in the world is Pinky Sense?” I whispered quietly. “At 4:30 in the morning?” “Yep! Yep!” Pinkie, you never cease to amaze me, I thought as I shook my head with a smile on my face. I didn't intend to hold a conversation via text messaging at this time of night. So I let Pinkie know that I'd stop by the diner later today to talk to her. I then locked my phone, snuggled into Twi, pulled her arm tighter and drifted back to sleep. “Hey, sleepyhead! Time to wake up!” I heard Twi call as the sun shone through the window, blinding me temporarily. “Five more minutes.” I groaned. “Now or your breakfast will get cold!” she shouted. “Alright, alright! Geez, not all of us are early risers. Not to mention, some of us are carrying some extra cargo,” I snapped. The resulting response was a deafening silence, followed by the sound of a plate being scraped clean with some kind of silverware. Great! Just flippin’ great! I shouted in my head. You've done it again. I slowly swung my legs around so they dangled off the side of the bed. I sat there, slumped forward, with my face buried in my hands. I really needed to find something to distract myself from these outbursts caused by my pregnancy hormones. My gaming career was beginning to take another hit due to ‘silentbutdeadly2000’ stream-sniping me again, so that wasn't going to help. It was still too cold out to do any outdoor activities, so that was scratched off the list. At some point during this train of thought, I subconsciously stood up, put my robe on, and headed to the kitchen. Once there, I saw Twilight had begun washing the breakfast dishes with a distraught look on her face. “I… Twilight… I'm sorry,” I said softly as I set my right hand on her shoulder, which she immediately shrugged off. She turned to face me with lines running from the corners of her eyes down her cheek. The combined emotions of sadness, hurt, and anger projected through her glasses. “Your surprise is in the trash can if you still want it,” she spat. “The trash?” “Yes, the trash. I wanted to surprise you with a romantic breakfast this morning and take you to the movies after work tonight,” she said as the tears began flowing again. “But after yesterday and now this morning…” she paused to wipe her face with the back of her soap covered hand, “Now it seems that the only thing you care about is yourself and our child.” “Twi-” “I've got to get ready for work. Please finish the dishes,” Twi interrupted as she dried her hands. “If you need anything, call Cadence.” “Cadence?” “Yes. I'll be staying with her and Shining tonight and possibly tomorrow night, depending on how I feel,” she said. “But, Twilight, it’s… we're supposed to have the sonogram tomorrow,” I said, choking back a sob as I followed her to the bathroom. “I really am sorry.” “I know that, Sunset. But after you constantly biting my head off for the last month and a half, I need some space.” Before closing the door she sighed and said, “There will be a package arriving sometime today. It's something special I ordered and will open it when I come home. Just place it in the closet. Okay?” “Mhmm,” I muttered as the door latched into place. You really made a mess of things this time, Sunset, I thought as I returned to the kitchen. I stopped beside the trash can to look at what I missed out on. A waterfall was unleashed from my eyes as I saw what had been thrown out; yellow and purple, heart-shaped blueberry pancakes...my favorite. Later, after grabbing a couple of Pop-Tarts and some juice, I shed my pajamas in favor of a loose sweater, sweatpants, and a pair of snow boots. I grabbed my jacket with the orange chevrons, earmuffs, gloves, and car keys and headed out the door. “Are you kidding me?!” I swore as I attempted to start the run-down vehicle. The motor turned over a couple of times before the starter gave up. So I tried it again. This time, nothing. “Great! Pinkie's expecting me and the flippin’ battery is dead.” I banged my head against the steering wheel out of frustration, almost hoping to give myself a concussion. “I cannot believe this is happening to me,” I whispered as tears began filling my eyes. “What did I do to deserve this?” Resigning myself to the fact that I'll be stuck at home until Twilight returns, I reached into the cup holder to grab my phone, only to find it missing. “Where is my phone?” I panicked as I began rifling through the soda bottles in the floor. There was a shower of plastic inside the car as I flung the bottles into the backseat. After emptying the front seat, it dawned on me that I never brought it with me from the nightstand. “Figures…” I groaned as I made my way back to the bedroom. Before I could check for missed texts, someone began knocking on the front door. “Now what?!” I cried out in frustration. “I'm coming!” I shouted as the knocking turned to into a frantic pounding. I unlocked the door and opened it to find Shining Armor with a distraught look on his face. “Shining? What are you doing here?” I asked. “Thank the stars you're okay,” he replied. I tilted my head in confusion. “Uh...yeah. Why wouldn't I be?” “Cadence and I have been trying to call you for over a half an hour,” he said. “I accidentally left my phone on the nightstand while I was trying to get the car started,” I explained. A wave of fear enveloped my body as I checked my phone. “Shining…what happened?” To be continued... Author's Note What does Shining Armor want? Why was he and Cadence trying to call her? Stay tuned...
Please, No...View OnlineThe Day From HellPlease, No...Three hours later... I slowly walked down the brightly lit corridor of the Intensive Care Unit of Crystal City Memorial Hospital, flanked by Shining Armor and Cadence. The methodical beeping of the heart monitors in each room that we passed gave me chills down my spine. A couple of the rooms had families crying as their loved ones lay unconscious. What kind of shape is Twi in? I thought worriedly as we arrived at her room. The door let out a small creak as it opened. In addition to the heart monitor, I heard the methodical humming of a ventilator. I stood frozen in the doorway as I took in the scene in front of me. Twilight had a tube in her throat that connected with the ventilator. In her right wrist was an intravenous line connected to a pair of medicine bags. A tube was in the crook of her right elbow for a blood transfusion. Her head was held in place by a plastic neck brace. Her left arm and leg were both in white plaster casts. I then forced myself to look at her face. The left side had numerous bandages each with red spots on them. Her left eye was black and swollen shut and her right eye wasn't in much better shape. “Sunset?” Cadence said softly as she set her hand on my shoulder. I wanted to answer her but for some reason, I couldn't. I could feel my eyes straining to keep the impending flood back. My lip was quivering at an alarming rate. All I wanted to do was bumrush the bed and throw myself upon my helpless wife. I tried moving but my feet were welded to the floor. “Sunset? What's wrong?” Shining asked as he squatted down in front of me. Cadence swiftly mirrored his stance as they continued to snap me out of my trance. “I…” was the only thing that made it from my mouth before I collapsed into the arms of my brother-in-law and his wife. Cadence lifted my chin so that she could look in my tear-filled eyes. “What happened, Sunset?” “We...we had a…a fight this morning,” I sobbed. “Right before s-she left for work.” Neither of them asked what the fight was about. Twilight had planned to stay with them that night, so I can only assume that she would've told them then. “I just sulked in...in the bedroom after she took a shower,” I cried as I buried my face into Cadence’s shoulder. “I didn't tell her goodbye or…or anything before she left.” Shining and Cadence continued to hold me in a tight embrace as I wept. After what seemed like an hour, I finally managed to calm down. “Better?” asked Shining, wiping a tear from my cheek. I nodded slowly in response. “Sunset, this isn't your fault,” he reminded me. I wiped my nose with the sleeve of my jacket. “I know,” I said as I wiped the remaining tears from my eyes. “How bad was the car accident? I mean, I know you told me that they air-lifted her here because Canterlot General doesn't have an ICU.” I paused as I braced myself for the answer to the next question. “What happened in that accident?” Shining took my hand and led me to the bedside chair. “From what the police told us, someone rear-ended Twily at full speed. That sent her into the intersection right into the path of an eighteen-wheeler. The impact with the truck sent her careening into a parked car” I felt my anger begin to build as he resumed. “The car is unrecognizable, Sunset. The fact that she’s alive is a miracle,” he said. “What about the jerk that plowed into the back of her?” I asked as I tried holding my temper. “What’s going to happen to them over this?” “I don't know what the police will be charging the guy with. The only thing I'm sure of is that he didn't have a license and his car was uninsured,” Shining replied. I just sat and seethed over the fact that some nearly killed my wife and won't have to pay a dime because he wasn't insured. That guy had better hope that we never cross paths, I thought as my gaze returned to the pitiful sight of Twilight. It was then that something inside me snapped. My focus was suddenly locked on Twi. I heard Shining and Cadence trying to talk to me but their words seemed to be jumbled. I studied Twi’s body from her hair to her toes and then spoke up. “Where's her geode necklace?” I asked. “Her what?” Cadence asked in response. “The purple geode necklace that she got at Camp Everfree,” I answered. “Where is it?” Shining shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know. You think the chain might have broken in the accident?” he said. “Maybe,” I said softly. “We have to find it, though.” The two of them began to whisper with each other for a couple of minutes before the doctor arrived. He introduced himself and we exchanged pleasantries before he got down to the nitty-gritty. “Listen, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. She's in pretty bad shape,” he said. “Her left shoulder and elbow were dislocated. The left humerus is broken, as is her left hand.” I did my best to maintain my composure as he continued. “She has multiple broken ribs, a severe concussion, and her right lung was collapsed,” he continued as I bit my quivering lip. “There’s a hairline fracture along the length of her tibia. There are cuts and contusions all over her body; most of which are superficial.” “If most of the cuts are superficial, then what's the deal with the blood transfusion?” Shining asked. “There was some internal bleeding but we managed to get it stopped before too much blood was lost.” Shining and Cadence stood there, slack-jawed from the seriousness of Twi’s injuries. “A-anything else?” I nervously asked. “There was also some trauma to her lower spinal column-” “Wait!” Shining interrupted. “So she's paralyzed?” “No, Mr. Armor. The damage isn't that severe, however, there may be some lasting effects from it,” the doctor clarified. “What kind of effects?” Cadence asked. “It's too early to tell, but it could range anywhere from chronic pain to limited mobility,” replied the doctor. “Wh-what?” I asked after what seemed like an eternity. “These effects will only be an issue provided your wife makes it.” A deafening silence filled the room as the information sank in. “Makes it? What...what do you mean?” I asked as my vision steadily blurred. “I’ve got her placed in a medically-induced coma for the next forty-eight hours. Hopefully, by then she will be out of the woods,” he explained. I didn't say anything else. I couldn't. Here I was, twenty-two weeks pregnant, having the worst day of my life and learning that I could be a single mother within the next couple days. I slowly settled back into the bedside chair as tears rolled from my eyes. “Do you have any other questions?” I heard the doctor ask as my vision became filled with a purple blob. I assumed that Shining and Cadence just shook their heads as I didn't hear a response before hearing footsteps walk toward the door. I felt Cadence set her hand on my shoulder as I grasped Twi’s hand. “Shining and I are going to the cafeteria for lunch. Would you care to join us?” she asked softly. I politely declined to join but asked if they could bring something back with them. They both gave me a hug before leaving the room. After that, the only sounds in the room were the ventilator, heart monitor, and my sobs. I wiped my eyes with my left hand and then proceeded to gently stroke her hair repeatedly. It wasn't too long before Shining and Cadence returned and pried me from Twilight to eat. Once I was done eating, however, I went back to the chair and resumed stroking Twi’s hair. The other girls, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet all visited throughout the day but the trance I was in kept me from focusing on details from any of the conversations that took place. During that entire time, I barely stopped rubbing my wife's hair and memories of our time together seeped into my mind. "Why do y-you have to-to be this way?" I cried as I watched the blood run down my arm. "You've changed but... but why can't you treat Twilight with... with respect? She's done nothing to you." I jumped at the sound of the bathroom door opening. ‘I thought I locked that,’ I thought. "Sunset? Who are you talking to?" Twi asked softly as her gaze locked onto my arms. "I... I'm... nobody..." I lied. "Are you okay?" "I don't know, Twilight. I'm pretty messed up," I told her as she knelt down in front of me. "Messed up? From what?" she asked. "You know that girl that's a pony? I'm actually a unicorn from the same world as her," I explained as we locked eyes. "Really?" "Yes. I've been here for around three years. The first two and a half years I'm not proud of," I said as I wiped my eyes. "Why? What did you do?" "Well, I, uh, I bullied everyone in Canterlot High, mostly Fluttershy, um, broke up friendships... I was an all-around bad person," I replied. There was a look of anguish in her eyes as I explained myself. The hurt I saw caused me to break down even further. "I'm... I'm so, so sorry, Twilight. I-I've been a-a terrible friend to you. You-you, don't deserve t-to have me as..." I was cut off as she suddenly grabbed me and pulled me tightly against herself. "Shhhh. It'll be okay." "How... how can you be so... so sure, Twilight?" "Because if you were still that bad person, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Spike and I wouldn't want to be friends with you," she said reassuringly. I swallowed hard when I saw the stern look on Twilight’s face. “So,” she began as she crossed her arms, “my cute butt and breasts drive you crazy, huh?” “Umm, well, funny story,” I stammered as I scratched the back my head, “Pinkie is having a party this weekend and… mmmph!” Out of nowhere, Twilight grabbed ahold of my jacket, pulled me as close as she could and gave me the biggest, sloppiest, most passionate kiss I had ever gotten in my life. “Thank you for answering Pinkie’s note the way you did,” she whispered as she pulled away. “I… huh?!” “Yeah… I kinda put her up to it.” “This was your idea?” I asked in shock. She nodded slowly. “I was too nervous to ask you on my own, so I asked Pinkie if she would help me out. I wasn't expecting her to write a note that would get you to confess your feelings in front of the class.” “But… why?” Now it was her turn to be embarrassed. “Well… I… um…” Twilight stalled. “Twilight, you can tell me anything. I won't get mad.” “Okay, then.” She took a deep breath. “Ever since that morning when I saw you topless at Camp Everfree, I've kinda been thinking about you a lot… as more than friends. More like… as a… lover.” Her face turned a bright red as she finished with a nervous chuckle. “So you've been…” I lowered my voice so that only she and I could hear, “you've been while thinking of me?” A weak smile appeared on Twilight’s face.”Ummm… yes.” "What's on the agenda today?" she asked a minute later. I rubbed the back of my head, pretending not to know what was going on. When in all actuality, it was the day I had been putting off seemingly forever. My meeting with Princess Celestia. "I'm, uh, I'm not entirely sure, Twi," I blatantly lied. "We're going to have to check the, uh, itinerary to find out." "Uh-huh," said Twi, obviously not believing me. "If I remember correctly, today's the day Princess Twilight arranged a meeting for you and Princess Celestia." "Do I have to?" I whined. "Yes!" said Twi, doing her best impression of Fluttershy's 'stare'. "And it has to be today. No stalling." "But I'm still sleepy from last night's activities. I'm going to go back to sleep for, I don't know, four more days," I said as I rolled over and pulled the covers tight. "Sunset Shimmer! Get your, um, flank out of bed this instant. You are going to the castle today after breakfast and that's final." "Yes, mom," I said sarcastically from under the covers. The next thing I knew, the covers were being removed from my body and when I looked at Twi, she had the sheets in her teeth accompanied by a smile as big as her face would allow. I led her to a group of bushes that had flower buds on them. The puzzled look on her face told me that she wasn't impressed. Not yet, anyway. "So a group of bushes is what you got your cutie mark from?" asked Twi flatly. "It's not the bushes. It's what I can do with them." I moved to the western side of the bushes and closed my eyes to focus on the difficult spell that I had only performed a half dozen times. The teal aura that accompanies my magic started to surround my horn. As the power grew, I felt the sensation of my cutie mark begin to glow as well. "Oh wow," Twi said excitedly. "They're beautiful. Are they...?" I finished the spell and opened my eyes to find the group of about twenty or so rose bushes had blossomed. I took a minute to get my bearings before receiving a smooch square on the muzzle. But I wasn't done quite yet. "I need to talk to you about something serious for a moment, babe," I quietly told her. "Really? What?" I levitated a pair of scissors from my saddle bag, snipped off the largest blossom I could find and gently weaved it into her mane. "We've been through a lot over the past year," I said as I snipped a couple more roses and began weaving those into a crown. "The Friendship Games, Camp Everfree, Juniper Montage and quite a few unique parties from Pinkie. Well, we almost had one more thing to add to the list." "Almost?" "Yeah. Celestia offered to ascend me to an alicorn princess while we were making amends." "You didn't take her up on the offer, did you?" "No, I didn't," I said lowering the volume of my voice. "But why? That's what you always wanted. Wasn't it?" Twi asked softly. "Yes, but it would mean I would have to stay in Equestria." I took a deep breath before continuing. "I have something I want to ask you." "Okay, what is it?" "You know how we're going to the final day of the Crystal Fair tomorrow?" "Yeah, why? Is there a change in the itinerary?" My breathing started getting shorter as my chest felt tighter. "Would you be willing to accompany me to the fair as the future Mrs. Sunset Shimmer?" I levitated a box out of my bag and opened it in front of her. "Sunny... are you...?" Twi sputtered quietly as she stared at the ring sitting in the box. "Yes. Twilight Sparkle will you marry me?" Twi stood there speechless with tears slowly building in her eyes. Her lip began quivering causing me to wonder if I was going to be rejected. However, after a minute or so, Twi wrapped her forelegs around me and gave me the answer I was longing to hear. "Yes! Oh my gosh! Yes!" My emotions were everywhere by this point. My eyes had finally gone dry from the amount of crying I had done and I was still stroking Twi’s hair. I took notice that I was the lone visitor in the room and softly began singing to Twi. It began with a few love songs I had heard on the radio over the last couple years and slowly gravitated to songs the Rainbooms had performed. The songs became slower as I had begun singing myself to sleep. Just prior to drifting off I remember singing: 🎶 “Sometimes the things you want, Are not the things you need. And it was right there in front of me.” 🎶 I sniffed twice as I finished the song. 🎶 “And it's all I'll ever need. Ohhhh, ohhhh. And it was right there in front of me. Ohhhh, ohhhh. All this time it was in front of me.” 🎶 To be continued... Author's Note A picture of Twilight’s accident can be found here: https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/7/12/2089533.jpeg
RevelationView OnlineThe Day From HellRevelationLater that week… The steady beeping of Twi’s heart monitor was the only thing keeping me from going bonkers from silence. The rooms didn't have televisions in them; most likely because the patients that occupy them are usually unconscious. So to occupy my time, I responded to tweets from my Twitch followers as they came in. Eventually, I ran out of tweets to respond to. So I then pulled up my YouTube app and began watching some of my older gaming videos to try finding a weakness in my rival. “There has got to be a way to beat him,” I said softly as a grenade exploded on the video. As the video continued, I began hearing other sounds in the room. What was that? I thought, pausing the video to look around. I scanned every square inch of the room looking for the slightest hint of movement. After seeing - and hearing - nothing for almost three minutes, I shrugged my shoulders and resumed the video. A few minutes later, I heard the same sounds once again. This time, I sat my phone on the cot the nurses had brought for me the day Twi was admitted and got up to look for the source of the mysterious sounds. Okay, I'm not going insane, I told myself as I walked around the room. I know I heard something moving. Before returning to YouTube, I stopped off at the bed and kissed Twilight on the forehead. “Love you, babe.” I shifted around to get comfortable once more and went onto the next video. I was less than a minute into the video when I heard more noises. “Suh…” I finally located the source of the mystery noises the room. What I saw made me squeal with joy. “Sun…” “Twilight!” I cried as I bum-rushed the bed. “Oh thank Celestia you're awake! I've been so afraid.” I did my best to hug her considering her casts and IV lines were still in the way. “Wha…what-” she managed before I put a finger to her lips. “Shhh,” I said softly. “Try not to talk. Just nod your head. Okay? Don't worry. I'll explain everything.” She looked at me and slowly nodded. As I looked back into her violet eyes, I began to get choked up. “Twi, there’s something I've got to get off my chest before I explain what happened to you.” “Okay,” she barely whispered. “Twilight, I am so, so sorry for how I've been treating you,” I said as I wiped a tear off my face. “These hormones from Gleaming Dusk have my emotions more out of control than I expected.” “Gleam…?” she asked. “Yeah, we're having a girl. I know you wanted to be there for the ultrasound but I couldn't reschedule it on that short of notice,” I explained as I began rubbing her hair. “So I had to go alone.” “A...girl?” she said with a weak smile. “Mhmm,” I confirmed, returning the smile. “And don't worry, I haven't told anyone the results yet.” I noticed a line appear on her cheek as I gushed over our future daughter. “Sun...set, why…?” I shook my head. “Oh right. You were in a terrible car accident earlier this week.” “Week? But I…” I went on to describe the accident, her injuries and who all had visited her. I read the cards that everyone had left and shown her the flower arrangements that Rarity had sent. “Where are...my glasses?” she asked, still extremely weak. “Those are no longer wearable. When I went with Shining and Cadence to clean out the twisted piece of metal that used to be your Fusion, we found them in four pieces.” “Four?” “Yeah, one of the lenses were popped out. One of the legs were broken off and the frame broke right on the bridge,” I told her. “We found your geode in the backseat but that's at the house.” “How long…?” “It’s been six days since the accident. They kept you in a medically-induced coma for two days,” I went on to explain. “You had me scared, babe. They took you off the medicine that had you sedated but you didn't wake up.” “What?” “It's been tense. We almost lost you twice the other day.” I stroked her right cheek with the back of my hand and kissed her softly on the lips. “I'm so glad that you're going to be alright.” Later that day, the hospital transferred Twi out of the ICU and into a regular room. She had gotten stronger throughout the last few hours and the doctor felt she didn't need to be in intensive care any longer. My spirits from the last few days had been lifted and I could tell Gleaming was in better spirits also. It was great hearing her put sentences of more than two or three words together as I lugged all the cards, balloons, and flowers to the new room. “What do you want to watch?” she asked as I set up her gifts. “I don't care. I haven't watched any television in six days so whatever you want to watch is fine with me,” I replied. She flipped through the channels before settling on a show about equine mating habits. “Really?” I deadpanned. “What?” she asked innocently. “You said you didn't care.” I opened my mouth to argue but closed it immediately upon realizing she was correct. She let out a small giggle as I shimmied onto the right side of the bed. “This seems familiar.” I gave her a quizzical look. “Familiar? What do you mean?” She kissed my cheek as I slipped my left arm under her. “Think back to before you learned that you were pregnant,” she said. “Uhhh…” “We laid in the bed together when you were in the hospital back in December,” she reminded me. A smile spread across my face as we cuddled up closer to each other and began talking about our upcoming plans for the little one until we both nodded off. “Sunset Shimmer,” called a voice from the night sky. “Yes?” I replied, looking around. “Sunset Shimmer,” the voice called again. “Who's there?” I shouted. “Sunset Shimmer,” the voice repeated. “Show yourself! Stop playing mind games with me!” I hollered angrily. Moments later there was a blue glow materializing behind me. I spun around and came face to face with a woman in a sparkling midnight blue dress. “Vice Principal Luna?” I asked, tilting my head in confusion. “No, Sunset Shimmer. I am the Princess Of The Night,” she replied. “Princess Luna? How-?” “It is complicated. I only have a couple of minutes before I must return to Equestria,” she interrupted. “Very well,” I said as she approached. “What do you want to talk about?” “Sunset Shimmer, you have done a good job with you and your wife’s current situation. However, she will be needing your love and support now more than ever,” Luna said as she placed her hand on my shoulder. “I know. It's going to be a long road with rehab for her injuries,” I told her. “But it's going to be an even longer road with one of those injuries in particular,” she said. I suddenly felt like a swallowed a stone. My stomach got knotted up and my pulse began to increase. “Um, which, uh, which one?” I asked as I pretended to play stupid. She removed her hand from me, stepped back and began to disappear. “The one you haven't told her about yet,” she said as she vanished. My eyes shot open and I found myself gasping for air. Was that really Princess Luna? I thought as my breathing returned to normal. I looked over and saw Twi with her mouth wide open and a tendril of drool hanging off each side of her mouth. I kissed her nose and carefully slid off the cramped hospital bed. I slid my shoes onto my feet and headed toward the door. I think I'll take a walk to clear my head, I thought as I exited the room. I stopped at the nurse's station to let them know where I was in case Twi woke up before I got back. My destination was set; the enclosed sky bridge that connected the main hospital to the specialty clinics. The view from it was amazing. I leaned against one of the rails and watched the stars vanish - one by one - into the night sky. It made me feel at peace with what had to be done in a little bit. Once the last star was no longer visible, I decided to head back and face my wife. After a couple of minutes of walking, I arrived back at Twi’s room. I stood against the wall outside the door and took a few deep breaths. Here goes nothing, I thought. I walked through the doorway and locked eyes with her. “Sunny? Is something wrong?” she asked, a hint of worry in her voice. “I...had a bad dream,” I said. “I thought that a short walk would help me take my mind off of it.” “Oh. Well, are you coming back over to cuddle?” she asked. A weak, nervous smile crossed my face as I agreed and sat down on the edge of the bed. It was then that she picked up that something was bothering me. I felt her place her good hand on the small of my back. “What's wrong, Sunny? And don't tell me that it's nothing,” she said softly. I let out a wavering sigh as I steeled my emotions. “Babe, you know how I listed off your injuries yesterday?” “Yes, why?” A tear rolled down each cheek as I continued, “I told you about how you were bleeding internally…” I paused momentarily to wipe my nose on my sleeve. “I failed to tell you where the source…” Twi pulled on my shoulder so that she could see my tear-filled eyes. “Sunny, look at me. What is it you're trying to say?” “Twilight, the source of your internal bleeding was your uterus.” By this point, I was barely maintaining my composure. “Okay. So-” “Babe, the only way they could get the bleeding stopped…” I swallowed hard before finally dropping the bombshell. “They had to do an...emergency hys-hysterectomy. I'm so sorry.” Author's Note The next installment, The Long Road (coming soon), will pick up at the exact place except it will be from Twilight's POV. Also, to those unfamiliar with the term, a hysterectomy is when a woman has her uterus removed.
