Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

As the pale glow of the moon and the night sky outside painted the nearby window shades of blue, Fluttershy sat by her friend’s bedside and watched over him as he silently slept.

The yellow mare rubbed her own foreleg as she stared at him, her mind wandering through many uneasy or bittersweet thoughts as she did.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the last time she saw him. The pool of blood, the grizzly wound on his neck, the sight of Rainbow Dash crying over him, hooves covered in crimson as he just laid there. It was too much for her at the time to fully process. She didn’t get a chance to.

She didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.

“Blue…” She muttered softly, casting her eyes down. “I… I-I know you can’t hear me, but-” Her voice wavered slightly as she rested a hoof on the side of the covers, sliding it down until she could feel his hoof underneath. “I just want you to know… I’m so glad you’re back. When you died, I-I felt like… like things would never get better. We almost lost Twilight, and Spike, and the kids… then we lost Tom.”

The stallion remained still and unmoving, despite the small grip on his hoof and the tears falling onto his blanket.

“But even if we won back then… even if we defeated Dusk… you were still gone.” She whimpered, taking a moment to wipe her eyes on a foreleg. Then, a smile graced her gentle features. “Thank you for coming back… and please… please wake up.” She squeezed his foreleg.

A creak off to the side made the yellow mare lift her head. The door to the room opened, allowing Sparkplug to come inside. She had a pair of ceramic cups on her back that were steaming softly, with an enticingly bitter aroma drifting off them.

“Hey.” Sparkplug greeted softly, walking up to the shy mare and taking one of the cups off of her back. “I thought you could use a little pick-me-up, so I made some hot cocoa.”

Fluttershy accepted the cup from her, peering down into a delicious-looking swirl of marshmallow and chocolate before looking up and smiling. “Thank you so much, Sparkplug. That’s so nice.”

The gray mare waved a hoof dismissively as she took a sip from her own cup, only to recoil slightly from a burnt mouth. “Don’t mention it.” She coughed under her breath, her throat protesting under the hot magma that she just tried to swig down.

Seeing her friend’s duress, Fluttershy opted to blow on her cup a bit before sampling it. Once she did, she could immediately feel her stresses melting away, evidenced by a relaxed exhale.

“How is your foreleg feeling?” Fluttershy asked, looking at the old wound and letting her mouth curl down.

“It’s still pretty tender.” Sparkplug admitted. She cast her gaze over to the sleeping stallion, her thoughts wandering as she did. “You think Blue Bolt could maybe… I don’t know, heal it up a little bit when he wakes up?”

“Well, I suppose he is a slayer now,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t think he’d mind… but whenever Tom used to heal someone, it took a lot out of him.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sparkplug sighed. “We should probably let him take it easy until we know what made him pass out in the first place.”

Then, a slight murmur made the pair give pause. They looked at each other, silently confirming that they even heard something, before turning to the blue pegasus.

“Blue…?” Fluttershy asked, setting her cup down on a nearby table before leaning in closer to watch her friend. Much to her excitement, she saw his face wrinkle as another soft groan escaped him and he started to stir. “He’s waking up!” She gasped.

“Oh!” Sparkplug nearly spilled her cocoa as she raced to set it down. She gathered around the stallion’s bedside, watching eagerly with Fluttershy as his movements gradually increased.

“Sparkplug, go find Rainbow Dash and the others!” Fluttershy stated urgently.

The gray pony was already halfway to the door by the time she responded. “On it!” She called behind her as she hurried as fast as she could out into the hallway.

Fluttershy held a hoof behind Blue Bolt’s head as he blearily sat up. He hunched over, his hooves pooling in his lap heavily as he squinted his eyes open. The surroundings he was met with were vastly different from those he remembered passing out in.

“Hmmph…” He mumbled, shifting his head to look around before stopping abruptly as he noticed a blur of yellow and pink beside him. Blinking a few times, his vision clarified enough to identify the shape as a pony. “Fluttershy?”

Before he could say anything further, the mare beside him collapsed into his form, wrapping her forelegs around his waist and nesting her head into his shoulder. The strands of pink hair tickling his face and the slight squeeze she gave him were enough to wake him the rest of the way up.

“Blue Bolt,” Fluttershy muttered softly. “I’m so glad you’re awake.”

“Uh…” Blue looked more than a bit confused at first, but soon he smiled and returned the hug. “It’s good to see you too, Fluttershy.”

The stallion peered around as he embraced his friend, his mind still piecing things together. However, there seemed to be some pieces missing. “What happened?” He asked.

Fluttershy pulled back and looked at him, a concerned frown formed on her lips. “You don’t remember? You started acting funny, then you passed out.”

“That explains why my brain feels like custard.” He noted, rubbing his temple and giving it a slight knock before dragging his hoof down his face. He shook the last of the drowsiness from his head and stretched his neck, rotating in the bed so he could face the yellow mare better.

“Are you feeling ok?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah… better than ok, actually,” Blue said, looking down at his body curiously. “I feel… I don’t know… energized? Like I could run a mile and not even feel it.” He rested a hoof against his chest, only to recoil slightly as he felt his heart racing. “Woah, that is… not normal.”

“I wish I could help, but… I’m not really sure what it’s like for a new slayer.” Fluttershy deflated slightly.

Ignoring his companion’s regretful gloom, Blue Bolt leaned forward curiously. “So… I’m like Tom now? What does that even mean? I’ve heard you guys talk about him and his powers before, but… this is just weird.” He held a hoof in front of him and marveled at it as a soft blue glow surrounded its tip.

“W-well,” Fluttershy wrinkled her lip, struggling to try and think of a good way to satisfy her friend’s questions. “I think Twilight would be better at this… she knows more about what a slayer is. The best I could tell you right now is to… I guess experiment. Although… m-maybe you should hold off on using your powers right now? Just in case you pass out again.”

“I guess.” Blue shrugged. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure if he knew how to use all of his powers on command, so it wasn't exactly much of an issue for him.

Before long, the pair looked up abruptly as the door opened in a blur, allowing a very out-of-breath Rainbow Dash to come to a stop.

“Blue!” Rainbow’s face lit up as she saw the stallion up and about. Without warning, she rushed over to him and started giving him what he assumed to be a medical examination, if said examination was performed by someone who didn’t even know what they were examining for. “Are you ok? Do you feel faint?”

Blue Bolt squinted one eye as Rainbow forcibly opened the other, leaning in and getting close enough that he could practically see himself in her colorful orbs. “Uh… I’m good… I think?”

“Slow down, Rainbow. You’re gonna send the poor feller into shock.” A familiar southern drawl announced its presence as Applejack walked into the room, followed closely by Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

“Darling, it’s wonderful to see you awake!” Rarity smiled warmly at the stallion. “You look much better than you did before. Although… we simply must get you out of that vest. The time for ill-advised galavanting around town clad in equally ill-advised outfits has passed.” She reasoned, pointing out his costume with a sympathetic shake of the head.

Blue raised a brow at the unicorn’s behavior. Though the others were used to it by now, he certainly was still adjusting. “Right… Sorry, I guess I’ve been a little busy, what with me being dead and all.” He stated casually, though not without a certain amount of dry sarcasm to his voice, as he slipped out of the vest and set it aside.

“Well, now you’re alive!” Pinkie announced cheerfully, plopping down onto the bed next to the stallion and catching him off guard slightly. “And it’s a good thing too, because I realized I never got to ask you when your birthday is. How can I throw you a birthday party if I don’t know when your birthday is?!”

“I’m sure you’d find a way.” Applejack chimed in.

“Well, I guess I could just guess, but that would be really hard.” Pinkie reasoned. “And a birthday party isn’t as special if it isn’t on your birthday.” Then, suddenly, she gasped and widened her eyes, a sign that the others knew to be wary of. “Is today your birthday?! You just got reborn! You have two birthdays now! I am SO jealous!”

Seeing the stallion receding into the back wall with the most uncomfortable expression she had ever seen on another pony, Rainbow Dash stepped in and put a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Give him some space, Pinkie. He needs rest.”

Blue Bolt snorted softly, letting an amused smile tug at his mouth. “Girls, I’m fine, really. I’m healthy as a horse.” He insisted.

“You have amazing slayer powers, and somehow you just passed out cold. You are far from fine, Blue.” Rainbow looked at him flatly.

“Rainbow, I’m telling you,” Blue protested, “I’ve never felt better in my l-” Suddenly, he clutched a hoof to his head and cringed as a shooting pain racked his mind. “Gah!”

A few gasps of shock came from the group as they watched the stallion riding out whatever experience he was going through.

“Blue?! What’s wrong?!” Rainbow asked desperately. She reeled back slightly as Blue Bolt squinted an eye open, revealing that the soft shade of blue was overshadowed by a fiery glow.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the concerned crowd of ponies watching, Blue Bolt heard a strangely familiar myriad of whispering voices in his head. His thoughts raced as information zipped in and out of focus, like memories. Memories that weren’t his.

Then, Blue fell back, coming to a stop against the wall behind the bed. He panted lightly, still resting a hoof to his temple, though his pain and the strange glow in his eyes were gone.

“Ugh… what the hay was that?” He asked nobody in particular, sitting back up with mild fatigue.

“Are you ok?” Fluttershy asked.

“Y-yeah.” Blue nodded softly as he lowered his hoof. “Ngh…” He blinked hard. “Why do I suddenly know everything there is to know about vampires, ghouls, and demons?”

“That’s… odd.” Rarity lifted a brow.

“Actually, I think I can answer that.” A familiar knowledgeable voice came into the room.

The group looked over as the door swung open. Entering into the already crowded space was a familiar purple unicorn with Sparkplug and Cadence in tow.

Rainbow Dash felt a bit of relief as she watched Twilight walk over to the stallion and examine him. She could always trust her friend to find out about any problem. “Did you find something?”

“You could say that,” Twilight said, briefly feeling Blue’s forehead and squinting curiously at the result.

Blue Bolt felt supremely uncomfortable being the subject of two examinations like this. At least the unicorn seemed to know what she was doing, unlike a certain friend of his. “So, what is it?”

Twilight drew air between her teeth and cringed sympathetically. “Well… I’m still not a hundred percent certain, but I think it has to do with how long it took you to become a slayer.” She explained. “The slayer journal talks about different subjects in varying amounts of detail, but from what I’ve seen, all documented cases of people turning into slayers have taken anywhere from a week to a month after the person died.”

“Blue died, what? Two days ago?” Applejack asked curiously.

“It’s hard to say.” Rarity noted, taking a glance out of the nearby window. “Time has been rather difficult to keep track of as of late with the sun staying down for so long.”

Rainbow Dash looked between the stallion and Twilight with more than a hint of unease in her eyes. “So… is something wrong with him?”

“That’s… hard for me to say.” Twilight frowned. “After they get reborn, a slayer typically already has all of the knowledge they need on monsters, magic, and how to use their powers. But since Blue Bolt is still… adjusting to his powers, it might be a sign that he is having complications from being reborn so soon.”

The room devolved into silent noises of concern as everyone turned to the blue pegasus with worried frowns and soft eyes. Blue Bolt, not wanting to make his friends feel upset for him, put on a reassuring smile.

“Well, whatever is wrong with me, I’m sure that it’s fine. After all, a few headaches and some fainting spells are way better than how I was yesterday.” He stated lightheartedly.

“I still say you should take it easy.” Rainbow Dash said. “If you’re adjusting to your powers, some RnR should help.”

“Actually… that might not be an option just yet.” Cadence chimed in hesitantly.

Now, the others were looking at her and Twilight.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow wrinkled her expression.

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck as she looked to Blue Bolt, a certain somber air about her that caught the others off guard. “We wanted to ask you something, Blue. Something important.”

“Sure… go ahead,” Blue said, leaning forward and listening intently.

“We…” Twilight curled her mouth downward. She started to say something, only to stop again shortly after. Finally, she sighed. “We think you can save Princess Celestia.”

“What?” Rarity chimed in.

Pinkie gasped. “He can?”

“Wait… what’s wrong with the Princess?” Blue skewed his expression with confusion.

Twilight kicked herself mentally for not remembering that the stallion just popped back into existence. Her expression only fell further as she thought back to her mentor’s condition. “Back on Nightmare Night, that alicorn you fought off, Dusk, he attacked the Princess and defeated her. He…” She swallowed uncomfortably. “He changed her into a vampire… like him. We’ve been trying to cure her since we got back, but we don’t have a key ingredient in the cure.”

“And you think I can help her?” Blue asked curiously.

“Y-yes,” Twilight admitted.

“That’s… great, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash stated with a bright smile. However, the unicorn’s expression made any cheer building in the room drain. Cadence seemed equally uneasy, which only made things worse. “Right? That’s great, right?”

“Well...” Twilight trailed her eyes down.

Seeing the unicorn struggling to vocalize such troubling news, Cadence took it upon herself. “A slayer can use their powers to cure a fledgling vampire… but the process could kill her.”

As the other proverbial shoe dropped, so did the jaws of nearly everyone present.

“K-kill her?” Fluttershy softened her expression, her eyes flashing with a hint of fear. With everything that was happening, she wasn't sure if she could take losing someone else, especially not the Princess.

“Can’t we just wait until we find whatever junk you need for the other cure?” Applejack asked.

Twilight shook her head somberly. “She… won’t make it that long.” She said softly. “Her body is wasting away. We’ve been searching for that missing ingredient, but no luck. I’m no expert… but even I can tell she doesn’t have long left. If she keeps going like this for another day or two, and we don’t cure her… she will die.”

“Oh dear…” Rarity brought a hoof up partway to her muzzle. There was a troubled silence after her initial reaction as everyone stared ahead with stunned denial written all over their faces.

Blue Bolt trailed his eyes down to his hoof, his mouth set into a grim line as he thought to his situation. He wasn't one to believe in destiny. After what happened to his wing, how could he? But now, he had been brought back from the dead and given otherworldly powers. That kind of thing didn’t happen without a reason.

The others looked up suddenly to see the stallion getting off the bed. He stood tall and looked to Twilight and Cadence with determined resolve in his eyes.

“Have you told her about this?” He asked.

“Yes.” Twilight nodded, already seeing where he was going with this.

“Has she made a decision yet?” Blue added.

Cadence softened her eyes at the stallion. “She wanted to know if you were ok with it. It could be very taxing on you.”

Without even hesitating, Blue let a pleased smirk cross his face. “Let’s do it.”

“Woah, hey.” Rainbow Dash chimed in, getting in front of the stallion and resting a hoof on his shoulder. “Are you sure you want to do this right now, Blue? What if you pass out again… or worse? I’m sure the Princess would agree that you can wait a little-”

Blue Bolt reached up and gently took her hoof away. “Rainbow… I need to do this.” He said, looking at her with surprisingly saddened eyes. “When that thing killed me, the only thing I could think about was how I failed you. It’s a miracle you survived. I let you down… and I don’t want to do that to anyone else now that I’m back.”

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what to say to that, or even if she rightly could say something to that. She was left standing there with soft eyes as the stallion walked up to Twilight and Cadence.

“Now… where do we start?” He asked eagerly.

The two mares shared an uneasy look with each other before shifting their eyes to the pegasus.

“Well…” Twilight started, taking a moment to swallow her apprehensions.

A few minutes later, preparations were swiftly underway, not that there was much to prepare.

The small group gathered for this monumental task was huddled around in Celestia’s bed chambers. Luna was present, along with Cadence and Twilight. Glimmer Shine and Sunspot were also on standby, ready to step in if something went horribly awry.

Sunspot watched uneasily as Luna wrapped a thick chain around the pale alicorn, binding her to a decorative marble pillar. “Is the chain really necessary?”

Luna looked up from her work to see the others wearing uncomfortable expressions. “Unfortunately so. We must ensure that she stays still, for her safety… and ours.”

“It is quite alright, Sunspot.” Celestia smiled at the pair of monster hunters. “If you wish, you may wait outside until you are needed, though I doubt you will be.”

“No… I’m staying.” Sunspot said.

“You wanted us to be here, so we’re here for you.” Glimmer Shine added.

Celestia couldn’t help but feel a slight warmth in her still heart. She then shifted her eyes up to the purple unicorn watching nearby with an uneasy frown. “Twilight… could you come here a moment?”

The unicorn seemed hesitant, like she already had an idea of what her mentor was going to say, but she walked over as requested. “Yes, Princess?”

Taking a moment to reach her foreleg up, which was made difficult by the chains around her waist, Celestia took her student and held her close, resting her chin on Twilight’s head.

“I am so proud of you.” The alicorn said. “You’ve grown more than I could have imagined on that day so long ago. However many mistakes I have made in the past… I can say with confidence that making you my student was not one of them.”

Hearing a slight whine, Celestia looked down to see the unicorn with tears in her eyes. She was burying her face into the alicorn’s chest fluff like she never wanted to leave.

“Why are you crying, my student?” Celestia asked softly.

Twilight sniffled and wiped her face before hesitantly meeting her mentor’s gaze. “Because… it sounds like you’re… s-saying goodbye.”

Celestia smiled softly, not allowing a pang of weakness and hunger to reach her face. “If I wanted to say goodbye, I would say goodbye. For now… I merely wish to say that no matter what happens here, you will be fine.” She assured, allowing the unicorn to wrap her forelegs around, or at least as best she could.

“Twilight,” Cadence spoke up, walking over with her mouth curved down into a sympathetic frown. “We should let them get started.”

“Actually… I think I’m going to stay.” Twilight said, a sense of confident resolve behind the somberness in her eyes.

Celestia frowned at the unicorn. “Twilight, I don’t want you to watch this.” She fretted, only to fall silent as the purple mare held her hoof.

“I’m not leaving you… no matter what.” Twilight insisted. The pale alicorn couldn’t keep a smile from crossing her face.

Luna finished securing the chains around the pillar before making her way around. She frowned as she saw her sister in such a state. She hated every bit of this, but she knew that it was necessary.

“Are you ready, sister?” She asked, perhaps choosing not to say any last words as a way to cope.

“I am.” Celestia nodded. Twilight and Cadence backed away, leaving plenty of room for whatever was about to happen.

The alicorn sisters looked up as Blue Bolt approached them. He had a certain look to his eyes that told that he was uneasy like everyone else, but he was also determined to help however he could.

“What do I need to do?” He asked.

“In theory, it is supposed to be simple,” Luna explained. “You merely need to project your healing light onto her for a prolonged period of time… perhaps with the mental direction of wanting to cure her.”

“In theory?” Blue crinkled his eyes a bit.

Luna trailed her eyes away momentarily. “The process will be… difficult for her. You are essentially burning the affliction out. It will be risky, but…” She took a moment to exhale and center her emotions before continuing. “It is important that you keep going, no matter what.”

“Right…” Blue nodded. He turned to the chained-up alicorn, hesitating a bit as a sense of nervousness welled up inside of him. As he looked down to his hooves, the full realization that the fate of Equestria’s beloved ruler rested squarely in them dawning on him, he exhaled tensely and steeled his expression. “No matter what.”

Celestia and the others watched as the stallion approached her. She could tell that he was scared simply by looking at his jittery movements. She respected that he was brave enough to keep going. She herself was feeling a bit apprehensive, but then again, she was quite literally locked into her decision now.

“Thank you for doing this, Blue Bolt.” She said, flashing a sincere smile.

Blue Bolt returned the gesture, though his mouth quickly curved back into an uneasy frown. “Don’t thank me yet.” He said, lifting a hoof and looking down to it before leveling his gaze back onto her rose-colored eyes. “Are you ready?”

Celestia took a deep, calm breath and wriggled into as much of a comfortable position as she could get. “I am ready if you are.”

Silence took the room for a few moments as Twilight and the others watched the two. They couldn’t shake the hollow feeling in their guts like something terrible was about to happen. Still, this was the best hope the alicorn had.

With all eyes on him, and stress mounting on his shoulders, Blue Bolt pointed his hoof ahead. He offered the pale alicorn a sympathetic cringe and flinched to the side slightly as he focused on channeling his newfound power.

Then, the room was flush with light as a torrent of shining blue energy flooded forward. It crashed into Celestia’s form, enveloping most of her body and running off the pillar like a rock in a waterfall.

“AGHHHHH!!” An agonized scream erupted from the alicorn as she rocked her head back against the pillar. Her body tensed against the chains, but she could only stay still and endure.

Twilight’s ears fell as she barely saw steam rising off of the princess’s silhouette. Cadence reached a hoof up to cover her mouth.

“Tia...” Luna muttered to herself as she watched her sister writhe and cry out against the torment engulfing her. “Hold on.”

Blue Bolt kept his hoof steady despite his remorse. He could practically feel his heart breaking with each pained outburst Celestia made. Still, he focused intently on how important she was to him, to his friends, to the whole of Equestria, keeping the merciful desire to heal her forefront in his mind.

The pale mare strained her forelegs and turned her head, barely able to keep still as every fiber of her body sizzled and burned. She could feel her tainted essence shriveling up and scorching under the overwhelming light, like it was reaching down into her soul and punishing her for what she had become.

Sunspot inched forward as another blood-curdling scream ripped free of Celestia’s throat, only to stop herself as she felt Glimmer Shine’s hoof on her shoulder. She looked up, offering the stallion a conflicted grimace before seeing that he had an uncertain look on his face too. It was taking everything they had for the both of them to just let this happen.

Suddenly, the series of pained whimpers and cries from Celestia devolved into panting and strained breathing. A feral screech came as she jerked her body again, pulling the chains taut around her. The ponies got a brief glimpse of exposed fangs and flaring red eyes before she shuddered and collapsed back against the pillar in a writhing fit.

Twilight gasped as she saw hints of glowing embers beginning to appear across the alicorn’s body. Celestia’s movements and cries were starting to get weaker as well.

“Princess!” The unicorn turned and quickly trotted over to Luna, unable to hide the panic and fear in her eyes. “We have to stop! It’s killing her!”

Luna glanced between the purple mare and the torrent of light, a palpable sense of doubt and worry in her face as well. “Twilight, I-”

“No!” Celestia cried, creating the first legible sound since the process started. Everyone looked over to see her squinting an eye open amidst her writhing, which was still glowing intensely. “Ngh… k… k-keep… going!” She instructed before trailing off into another scream.

Despite the alicorn’s insistence, Twilight and the others could see her strength fading. The few sparse embers on her form were starting to spread and overtake her.

Then, Twilight’s heart dropped as the cries of agony died down. Celestia’s movements lessened and then stopped entirely as her head limply settled forward. “No!” The unicorn darted forward, only to be stopped abruptly by a pair of pink forelegs grabbing onto her.

Cadence had tears streaming down her face, but still, she held tightly onto the purple mare. “Twilight, there’s nothing we can do! This is the only way!”

“No, let me go!” Twilight protested, struggling weakly against her sister-in-law before looking up with watery eyes, only to see no change in Celestia’s condition. “Blue Bolt, please stop! She can’t take it!”

The stallion glanced back to the unicorn, his expression tense and his eyes soft with doubt before he looked forward to the unmoving alicorn. Should he stop? His mind was flooded with a myriad of conflicting thoughts and emotions as his foreleg trembled lightly.

Finally, he clenched his eyes shut and made his decision.

Bringing his free foreleg up to steady the other, he concentrated every ounce of his will forward. With a strained yell, the torrent of light seemed to speed up and shine more intensely until it completely obscured Celestia from view.

After a few seconds of this, the light died down abruptly and Blue Bolt slumped to the ground, barely catching himself on his fore hooves.

While the stallion was panting and recovering on the ground, all eyes in the room turned to Princess Celestia.

The pale alicorn was still slumped forward and unmoving, though surprisingly enough, she wasn't pale anymore. Her fur had regained its normal, healthy snow color, and her vibrant mane had returned. However, these observations meant nothing if she didn’t wake up.

“Princess!” Twilight rushed forward, pausing before Celestia’s limp form and desperately hoping to get her to stir.

While the others quickly gathered around, Luna rushed behind the pillar and unlocked the chains. The metal bindings fell to the floor with a clatter, allowing the white mare’s body to fall forward before being caught by Cadence and Twilight.

“Sister?” Luna called as she crouched down beside her sibling, cradling her head with a foreleg and examining her for signs of life. “Sister?!”

Celestia’s body was warm. It was a welcome sign, though Luna couldn’t be sure if this was merely a fading side effect of being enveloped in the radiant light for so long.

Twilight felt her heart on the verge of exploding in her chest as she watched her mentor’s unmoving face. “Is she alive?” She quaked.

Desperate for answers as much as, if not more than the group watching, Luna put an ear to her sister’s chest and listened feverishly.

Much to her initial stunned surprise, she heard the reassuring thumping of a heart, strong and steady. For the first few moments, she thought she was imagining it, but the longer she listened, the more a joyous smile began to spread across her face.

“Her heart is beating…!” She tittered, at first small, but then growing as she raised up.

“Does that mean it worked?” Sunspot asked, still holding onto an unhealthy bit of doubt before she allowed herself to get excited. “Is she cured?!”

As if to answer the orange pegasus, a soft mumble drew the group’s attention back down to Celestia. The once pale alicorn’s eyes fitted under their lids as she tensed her limbs.

And then, finally, a pair of vibrant magenta eyes opened and took in their surroundings.

“Judging from your expressions… and the fact that I don’t crave blood anymore…” Celestia muttered, still a bit drowsy, “am I right to assume that it worked?”

Cadence smiled as she lit up her horn and hovered a small mirror over. “Why don’t you take a look for yourself?”

After taking a moment to sit up and shake the drowsiness from her system, Celestia took the mirror out of her niece’s aura and into her own. She brought it up to her face, a bit of hesitance nagging at the corners of her mind until the sight of pristine white fur and colorful hair made all of the stress dissolve away.

The others watched with their own brightening expressions as the white mare briefly examined herself. She took a hoof and lifted her upper lip so she could see her teeth. Miraculously, there were no fangs in sight.

“Oh, thank goodness. Those fangs were beginning to-” Celestia started until Luna rushed forward and wrapped her up into a warm embrace. Soon after, Cadence and Twilight joined in. Sunspot joined in as well briefly, before getting a bit red in the face and remembering to be somewhat professional in the presence of royalty.

“Sister…” Luna pulled back and smiled at the older alicorn, uncaring of the joyful tears welling up in her eyes.

Twilight had similar tears streaming down her face. “We thought you were going to leave us.”

“I was beginning to think the same thing,” Celestia said. She then looked over to the blue stallion off to the side, her expression falling slightly as she saw him still breathing a bit heavily. “I think now would be the perfect time to say thank you, Blue Bolt. You didn’t just save my life… you gave it back to me after I thought it lost forever.”

“I’m just glad it worked.” Blue Bolt said, looking down to his hoof in amazement. “I’m still getting the hang of this whole slayer thing.”

“Well… I’m certain that we can help you adjust.” Celestia smiled warmly before taking a look around at the darkened room. “First, however, I think there are some important matters that need to be tended to. Namely, raising the sun and discussing our plan of dealing with Dusk...” She explained, before suddenly freezing as a pitiful growl came from her stomach.

The others looked at each other, unsure of how to react to the unseemly noise.

“Perhaps some food is in order as well?” Luna suggested as she watched her sister trying against all odds to not shrivel up and react to what must have been a mighty pang of hunger.

Celestia wrinkled her mouth and rested a hoof to her empty stomach as her whole body threatened to buckle inward. “Mmm… y-yes please.” She managed a strained smile.

It took every fiber in Sunspot’s being not to laugh. Even Glimmer Shine was struggling. Finally, it was Twilight who started the chain reaction around the room. Still, Celestia seemed too occupied to join her friends.