Rest in Peace

(Recommended Listening)

"Light Sacrifice!" Luna's body screamed. Silence filled the air as all movement stopped. The Void Light around her pulsed in magnified intensity, and then the Shield and the Ward faded. Luna held her arm steady, feeling the Shield still there.

And then there was pain. The most intense pain Luna had ever felt bit into her body as wounds opened across her flesh. Blood sprayed from her wounds, and the blood was Light. Luna held back her voice as her eyes widened in shock. The blood glowed a ghostly purple as it pooled and seeped into the dirt. The equines, too, gasped in horror, as the Being protecting them fell to her knees.

"Luna! Luna!" her Ghost screamed.

The wolves howled once more and charged forwards. Before any of them could make contact with their would-be prey, brilliant purple Light flooded the area from the sky, tearing the wolves assunder, atom by atom, quark by quark, until nothing was left of their very existence. After a few moments, the Light dissipated, and all was quiet. No howls, no screams, no gunshots or whispering Void Light.

Luna fell forwards as her body lost consciousness, the screams of her Ghost fading into the dark.

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The princesses looked on as the Being collapsed to the ground, blood pooling in the dirt. For a moment, even Celestia and Luna couldn't fathom the sheer power of the magic the Being had used. But then, as they collapsed, they heard the Shape screaming at them. It turned and looked at them, it's eye a pinprick of blue light. Only then did the ponies realize what was happening.

"We need to get them medical attention!" Luna called, rushing forwards, reaching out with her magic to the Being and levitating them onto her back. "Tia, grab my things! Twilight Sparkle, guide us to Ponyville's hospital!"

Twilight snapped from the shock and rushed forwards to get a running start as she took off, Luna just behind her. Even as they flew, Luna could feel the Beings blood seeping out over her body, the sticky sensation only serving to urge her to go faster to save them. The whole flight, the Shape floated by her side, loosing beams of light at the wounds and speaking in a rushed, panicked voice.

Ponyville General Hospital was small when compared to other hospitals, like Canterlot's or Manehattan's. It was only three floors tall and had only four operating rooms, with their Intensive Care Unit occupying only thirty rooms. At this time of night, there were very few ponies on staff, including one surgeon, one doctor, two nurses, and the receptionist.

Said receptionist was named Clear Skies. She was a pegasus pony with a pale blue coat and white mane, who was still studying to become a nurse herself. The graveyard shifts were always mellow, which allowed her plenty of time to catch up on classwork.

To say Clear Skies was surprised to see three of the four princesses sprayed in blood and carrying a strange creature would be the understatement to end all understatements.

"We have an emergency, call the doctors," Luna said quickly.

Clear Skies yelped in surprise and paged the doctors with a Code Blue as instructed. Within seconds, the doctors arrived with a gurney, hiding their shock incredibly well as they took the Being from Luna and carted them off to operate.

"Do you think they will survive?" Celestia asked, her voice shaking only enough for Luna and Twilight to notice.

"We must hope. After what they did for us, we must hope," Luna replied.

"If they lost more than three liters... I don't think they can come back from that..." Twilight murmured. "I can't tell how much they lost..."

Back in the Operating Room, the entirety of the medical staff on call had entered and began cutting away the armor as best they could, until the Shape pulsed with light, making the armor disappear. The doctors wasted no time, one casting a simple healing spell in an attempt to close a gash across the Being's arm. The spell backfired, healthy cells attacking the newly regenerated tissue with extreme prejudice.

Meanwhile, a nurse began soaking up blood in a sterile cloth, trying her best to not panic. Though she'd seen some particularly nasty cases, this took the cake by a longshot. Never had she seen a patient in such a sorry state. The earth pony mare, after getting the patient cleaned up, retrieved the supplies for stitches.

The doctors thanked her and began sewing the Being's flesh back together, their magic put to use minimizing the risk of contracting any possible bloodborne illnesses. After that, the being was doused in several layers of antibacterial ointments and wrapped up like a mummy. As simple as the process was, it took well over two hours to get it all right. The whole time, the Shape watched.

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"How are they?" Luna asked the doctor.

The room was silent, save for the sound of the heart monitor and the breathing machine. The Being was covered in enough bandages to wrap a small house, and was hooked up to several machines. The Shape watched the Being through it all, hovering over them.

"Your friend was in a very sorry state. She lost a lot of blood—"

"She?" Twilight asked.

"Indeed. Once her armor was off, we became about ninety-five percent sure she's female. Anyway, without knowing what she is, we can't risk transfusion. Her body also had an adverse reaction to Doctor Day's healing spell, putting us at risk of harming her more if we tried to help her body regenerate the lost blood. Unfortunately, we've done everything we safely can for her. How did she even come by those wounds?"

"Some kind of magical backfire," Luna said solemnly. "Although we aren't entirely sure if that's accurate."

"No, that sounds about right. She reeks of curse magic," the doctor replied. "Whatever your friend here did, it certainly, pardon my language, bucked her six ways to Sunday. We're lucky she's got a pulse."

"Thank you, doctor. Do you have any estimate on how long it will take for her to wake?" Celestia asked.

The doctor simply shook his head. "No ma'am. If we were able to base it on blood-loss alone, I'd say six days? But with curse magic as potent as what we could detect, it could be upwards of a year, if she wakes up at all."

"Thank you, doctor," Celestia said, peering into the room where the Being lay unconscious.

Days passed. Two. Three. The nurses dutifully checked up on her every hour. Four. Five. The Royal Sisters returned to Canterlot after the sixth. After seven, Twilight wasn't sure the Being would wake up. But still, the Shape waited, watching the Being intently, loyal as a dog. Eight. Nine. On the tenth day, there was a brief moment where the staff thought she'd wake up, but no such luck. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

On the fourteenth day after that night, the Being awoke.

On duty that day was Nurse Redheart, who'd been there to help sew the Being back together. Of course, she found it difficult to care for a patient with no name, and with the help of the princesses, came up with the name Violet Light. Personally, she'd have named her Lapis Aurora, after her blue skin and mane and the subtle light that seemed to dance over her skin, but that was a debate to have with the patient herself. Now, Nurse Redheart was not immune to doubt. She'd seen cases where the odds were stacked heavily against patients, but with lower stakes. One colt she'd seen broke a leg bad enough that the doctors were certain beyond a reasonable doubt that he'd never run again, and even she was confident that he wouldn't. Just three months ago, she'd been invited to a cross-country meet where that same colt placed first for his team.

That in mind, Nurse Redheart was the most confident of everypony who knew about Violet that she'd wake up sooner rather than later. If the doctor said upwards of a year, she'd place her bets on a month at the latest. She couldn't place why, but she felt a strong desire to help nurture this particular patient more than any she'd cared for. She was different, in more than just her body, she could feel it.

So when strange voices came from Violet's room when there weren't supposed to be any visitors on this floor at all, she rushed to see who was talking. As she turned the corner, she saw Violet sitting up in bed, hands working furiously to tear off the gauze. She was talking to someone in a language she didn't know, and the only other thing was the Shape that had been floating by her the whole time. Setting that aside to process later, she rushed to Violet's side, placing a hoof on her arm and looking at her with pleading eyes as Violet looked at her with her own luminous amber ones.

"Please, lay back and rest," she said calmly.

The Shape said something to Violet, and she seemed to calm down a bit, lying back down and leaving her bandages alone. She smiled softly to Violet, and proceeded to push the page button on the side of the bed. From there, she removed a pair of blunt-tipped scissors to remove the gauze so she could check on the stitches. Violet seemed unsure, but a word from the Shape seemed to stay her fear.

She proceeded from one of Violet's arms first, removing the bandages and gauze, revealing stitched flesh beneath. Surprisingly, it was healing at a normal rate, and she estimated these wounds needed only two more days before the stitches could be removed. Violet watched carefully, frowning as she observed her own condition.

"You're lucky to be alive, you know," Nurse Redheart said. "By all accounts, you should be very, very dead."

It was at this point that the Doctor Sunny Day entered. "Oh my, she's awake!" he exclaimed.

Violet seemed to back up a little, moving as far from the door as she could. Even with the Shape talking to her, Violet seemed incredibly uneasy. "It's alright, Violet, he helped sew you back together," she said, trying to make sure her tone was reassuring and calm. Even with that, she did not seem to relax much.

She turned to the doctor. "Go send for Twilight and the Princesses. Tell them our patient is awake."

When she turned back seemed to be grabbing for something at her hip, which drew her curiosity. She slowly and carefully reached to pull the bedsheet up to check if perhaps they'd missed a cut. This, however, was a bit too much, and Violet reacted quite poorly, slapping her hoof away and staring at her with fearful eyes. As much as it pained her, she had to check and be sure. With a patient unconscious for so long, it was well within the realm of possibility to miss an injury simply because the patient couldn't tell them it was there. She tried once more, looking into Violet's eyes as she slowly reached up once more. "I promise I won't hurt you. I just need to make sure you're okay," she said softly.

The Shape said something to her, an Violet turned to look at her, shaking her head with a weak smile. She said something, but Redheart didn't understand. But judging by the look on her face, she could hazard a guess that she said something akin to "thank you."

With that, Nurse Redheart went to a cabinet across the room, fishing a few supplies from it, feeling Violet watching her the whole time. She returned with a stethoscope, approaching slowly. To her surprise, Violet took the end of the listening tool and placed it against her chest, allowing her to listen to her breathing. Shifting it a few times, she confirmed that her lungs were perfectly fine. Putting that away, she then returned with a fresh roll of bandages and some tape to secure it. Violet simply sighed at the prospect, allowing her to replace the bandages she'd removed.

"I hear our patient is awake," the voice of Princess Celestia said from the doorway.

"Yes ma'am. She's super nervous, but the Shape is doing a fantastic job keeping her calm," she said, reaching up and patting it. The Shape seemed pleased with itself, but Violet was unamused by this gesture.

At this point, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all filed into the room, keeping a respectful distance for a moment. Well, Celestia and Luna kept their distance. Twilight, on the other hoof, could not hold herself back, and approached quickly, rearing up and hugging Violet tightly.

All three of them looked on in shock, watching Violet's face shift from nervous to surprised to solemn. After a moment, she tentatively returned the gesture, saying something in its native tongue. The room remained silent, allowing this moment between two near-strangers. Twilight didn't truly know Violet, nor did Violet truly know Twilight. But Violet had nearly sacrificed her own life to protect Twilight and the princesses, and Twilight had to show her gratitude somehow, and this tearful hug would have to do for now.

After Twilight pulled away, she lit her horn. For a moment, Violet seemed skeptical of the situation, but relaxed after a moment. After that, Twilight attempted to speak to the being in Griffish, Zebran, Minotauran, Yakanese, Dracish, and even Dogese. But each time, Violet shook her head, knowing what she was trying, but indicating each failure of language. Cursing her luck, Twilight released the translation spell and pulled out a piece of paper.

She proceeded to draw what happened that night that she was brought in. Nurse Redheart gasped in shock at what she saw. Dozens of timberwolves attacking from all sides, Violet with a shield in one hand. Twilight and the princesses stood in a bubble, but in the next panel, the bubble was gone, as was Violet's shield. In the next panel, Violet was covered in wounds and spraying blood. The next panel was left blank, and after that, Violet was on the ground bleeding out, no timberwolves in sight.

After that, the drawing showed Princess Luna carrying Violet to the hospital, and then the emergency room. After that was the image of a sun, fourteen times. When Violet looked over the paper, her eyes went wide, and the smell of fear immediately filled the room. She frantically spoke to the Shape. With a pulse of light from the Shape, a helmet appeared in her lap, and she donned it immediately. When she took it off, she seemed beyond shocked. Her eyes looked haunted, staring through the walls and into nothingness. She let the helm drop to the floor, where it rolled until it stopped at Twilight's hoof.

Twilight then placed a small book in her lap. "I know you can't understand me yet, but I promise you will. I'm going to teach you Equestrian, and I'm going to thank you properly for what you did," she said, looking up at Violet with determination sparkling in her eyes. "I Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

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She couldn't die here. Well, she could, but she couldn't come back from it if she did. Everything hurt, and it felt the same as when the Red Legion took the Light just three years ago. She was without Light once more, and that made her feel naked.

Well, more naked than she was. She could tell that all she had covering herself was the bedsheet and a hospital gown. The mere fact she was in a hospital made her uneasy. Even without the Light, her Ghost was always able to heal her. Even during the Red war, before they made it to the Shard, she'd almost been mauled by the Cabal's Warbeasts, but her Ghost had healed her as he always had. She barely had a scar from the ordeal. But now...

Even with that look of determination from Sparkle, and the reassuring gazes of Dawn, Midnight and Redcross, Luna found herself unable to feel up to the challenge of recovering and learning the equine language.

Even so, she couldn't just fuck off back into the forest without her Light or her Ghost's ability to heal her. So really, she didn't have a choice.

"Hey Ghost? Can you still connect to the transmat beacon by the ship?" Luna asked curiously.

"Yeah, why?" he replied, sensing a shift in the Guardian's demeanor.

"I'm gonna have one of our friends place another beacon outside. Mind pulling one from storage?" she asked.

"Plan?"

"Learn their language, maybe teach them English. Notebooks would help," she said.

A moment later, a metal device, shaped like a pill with a spike on one end and a green light on the other, plopped into her lap, transmaterialized from its place in Luna's ship. The equines around her seemed quite surprised, but didn't react too badly. She then mimed writing towards Sparkle, earning her eager attention and the writing tools she needed.

With that, Luna drew a simple picture of the transmat beacon in her lap, then of the crash site and a similar beacon and an apple. Then, she drew Twilight placing the beacon outside her window, followed by the apple disappearing from the crash site and reappearing next to herself.

Sparkle looked over the drawings and her eyes went wide with the desire to learn. Immediately she grabbed the beacon in her magic and headed outside, jabbing it into the dirt in a planter outside. Once she returned, Ghost pulled the chest of her personal belongings to her, earning yet more surprised looks from her guests.

She proceeded to open the chest, quickly grabbing a notebook and a few pencils. Once she set the chest down, Luna opened the notebook and looked at Sparkle.

"Alright, Sparkle, bring on the storm. I'm not ready."