The Shadow of the Moon

The Shadow of the Moon

Act 2: Meeting the Family

Chapter 14: Aftermath

I stir slightly trying to find a comfortable way to lie down. My right wing for some odd reason was stretched out and I couldn’t get it to fold. A steady beep is audible to my right. The more I listen to it, the more I notice it matches up with the beating of my heart. I crack open one of my eyes and see the plain white room before me. My eyes shoot open.

“How did I get here? What is going on?”

The beeping of the EKG machine increased. I thought furiously trying to remember anything. I remembered dreaming about everything that had happened to me from foalhood before stopping abruptly when I had landed at the raid. The soldier was talking, then nothing. Everything was dark and fuzzy. Little segments and fuzzy snippets were all I could gather until I remembered one thing. Luna. She was screaming.

“Luna! Where is she!?”

I was starting to freak out, and trying to clamber our of the bed when blue hoof put itself down on my chest softly. Suddenly Luna’s face filled my vision. The EKG machine’s beeping slowed back down. I just gazed into those blue eyes and felt at peace. She looked tired. Her eyes were red and puffy, like she had been crying. There were large bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and tufts of her coat that stuck out at odd places. Despite all this, though, I was happy she was there.

“Luna,” I croak. My voice sounds awful.

She sighs deeply. “Midnight,” she kisses me softly, “The doctors said that you may have some amnesia and worse yet not remember me at all.”

“Never. I told you. I’ll never let go,” my raspy voice continues.

She hugs me as gently as she can and I reached around with my forelegs to hug her back. My heart skipped a beat. I rub her back trying to hold back my panic.

“Luna,” I say anxiously.

Sensing my shift in character she replies cautiously, “Yes.”

“I can’t find my right foreleg. I think it is there but I can’t find it with my left one,” I explain, trying to keep it together, “Where is my leg Luna?”

I feel her hold me tighter, “Y-you were injured badly Midnight. I thought I might lose you. You gave all of us quite the scare.”

“Luna, tell it to me straight. How bad is it,” I say. My nerves were slowing fraying.

I feel a warm tear fall soak the side of my face. She releases me and leans back so I could see her face. She sniffs, “Very bad Midnight. The crate you were standing next to was filled with explosives.” She reached down and pulled out my shredded, blood-soaked combat vest. At least what was left of it. “If it hadn’t been for the reinforcements I had the armorer put in, the blast and the shrapnel would have likely killed you.” She rubbed a hoof softly over the bandages. “Your right forearm was facing the explosion and suffered the full brunt of the blast. When we found you, it was gone.” Her voice cracked. “They tried Midnight, but they couldn’t. The bones had been shattered and the muscles shredded beyond recognition. I’m sorry.”

I follow her gaze to where my leg was supposed to be. In its place was nothing, not even a stump. Just bandages running over the area to keep out infection.

She continues, “The doctors did say the socket looked like it would heal up well when they had finished pulling wood splinters from it. They said there was a good chance they can put a prosthetic in its place. Then there is your wing. Your right wing was pulled from its socket from the force of the blast and the bones broken in countless places. The doctors reset everything and it should heal up well in a couple days. The rest of your injuries were bits of wooden shrapnel. They pulled enough of it from you the build a nightstand and they doubt they removed all of it. They are going to keep an eye out for infection that may indicate where any extra pieces might be.”

I continued to stare at Luna, “Anything else?”

She shook her head while sniffing. I reach out with my only foreleg and pull her near.

Her sobs become more violent and while they hurt me, I didn’t care. She was hurting just as bad. I had put her through an emotional wringer that she didn't deserve. My heart hung heavy in my chest.

Her muffled voice spoke against my chest, “I was so afraid I was going to lose you. When they wheeled you into the emergency room, they took one look at you and didn’t think you’d make it. You scared them several times too. The first was when you almost died. The second was when you flopped off the table to come to me when I was in hysterics.” She sobbed harder, “You almost killed yourself right then and there landing on the floor as hard as you did in the shape you were in. You also head butted the nurse and broke her nose fighting to get to me.”

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

“Luna, I would fight through a horde of dragons to get to you if I thought you were in danger,” I say and rub her back, “You look tired, have you slept at all?”

“Very little. I remember napping once in a chair when exhaustion grew too great,” she admitted, “I haven’t left you side for more than a just a few minutes at a time for the last week.”

“Week! I’ve been out a whole week!” I exclaim, “You’ve been here the whole time?”

She nodded her head softly against my chest.

“You didn’t need to do that,” I tell her.

“Just like you didn’t need to go get yourself blown up,” she retorts through her tears, “But you did it anyways.”

I nuzzle her ears, “I know. I know.” A thought paralyzes me, “Did any of the others survive the explosion?”

She sits back up hesitant, “Only three. They are all in intensive care and one is in a coma.”

My heart sinks even further, “I led them to a slaughter.”

“You didn’t know Midnight,” she says, “Amethyst laid that trap long before we found the warehouse. Those crates were always there, that's why nopony caught onto it.”

“Did you find her body amongst the wreckage?” I ask.

Luna cocks her head, “What wreckage? We recovered her body and I saw what you did to her, but we found no wreckage around her.”

“Amethyst said the place was wired with explosives. The whole building was going to come down on us,” I said confused.

Luna shook her head, “There were no charges on the building, only in the crates. My guess is that she anticipated you all running away to the perimeter so the planted the charges there. We found a key to the locks in one of the drawers, so my guess is that she was going to unchain herself after the explosion and walk away knowing she wiped out most of the ponies chasing after her.”

“I-I-I told them all to get out of the building,” I felt nauseous, “I told them to fall back. I killed them.”

“No Midnight, you can’t blame yourself for that. Like I said, you didn’t know,” she tries to comfort me, “There’s no way with the information you had you could have known. You did what you thought was right. By doing that you threw her plan off by a huge margin. For all her careful planning and tricks, she didn’t anticipate you Midnight. She didn’t come to think that you would leave nothing to chance. She didn’t think that you would kill her instead of letting the “bomb” finish her when you found out you couldn’t unchain her. You did what you could, Midnight.”

“It doesn’t make me feel any better. Their deaths are still on my head. It's time to change the subject.”

“Luna, you look like you need some rest,” I say out loud.

“No I don't! I'm fine!" she says indignant.

I stare at her unwavering.

"It’s that apparent, huh,” she murmurs.

I nod. I pat the bed right next to me, “Come on. I know you want to be strong for me, just as I try to be for you, but I think we've both done enough of that recently. Now we're both worn out.”

She looks at the bed, “I couldn’t Midnight. There isn’t enough room.”

I shimmy over to the side closest to the IVs, making enough her and me to lay against each other, “Is now.”

“You won’t take no for an answer will you,” she says with a smile.

“Luna, after all that's happened, I just want to be with you,” I say.

She crawls up into the bed gently and snuggles up to me. I wrap my hoof around her and nuzzle her neck, “I don’t think I can say it enough Luna, but, I love you.”

“I love you too Midnight,” she says, “I-”

“What is it?” I ask, “You sounded like you had something else to say.”

“It’s nothing,” she says, “I’m just glad you’re alive.”

“So I am,” I nuzzle her neck again, “So am I.”

I smile.

“This was where I want to be. Right here with her; nopony but her.”

I could hear her soft snores and feel her chest rise and fall. I close my eyes and fall asleep listening to her breathing. Zecora's prophesy rings in the back of my head,

"You and another will fight to the death;

Up until your very last breath.

Win and you will save us all;

Lose and the night princess will fall"

"I'm done. I finished it. I didn't die and Luna's safe."

I sigh content.