Father of the Night 26: Right and Wrong.


                                            =Father of the Night 26=


                                            -Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqkgpHnp7Tg-

                                            >The road to the hospital was empty save the two of you. Applejack silently walks next to you with the same dour expression you wear.

                                            >No one in particular was really wanting to do this sort of visit...not with the circumstances.

                                            >It's been a few weeks since the whole thing with Will came crashing down.

                                            >A few weeks since you saw the faces of everyone in town as their favorite librarian was rushed beaten and broken into the hospital and hooked up to Celestia knows how many machines...

                                            >The doctor's had nothing but bad news...

                                            >Whatever had happened had severed some of the nerves in Twilight's spinal column. She had been hit with such unrelenting force that her back had snapped into the odd angle she came in at.

                                            >She wouldn't move her hind legs again.

                                            >That news hit everyone the hardest...especially Shining Armor. No one had seen the Guard Captain save for his daily visits to the hospital in over a week, rumor has it he was staying in the Crystal Kingdom.

                                            >And Bruce...

                                            >He didn't take it well.

                                            "You know..." you say as you both walk.

                                            >AJ turns to you.

                                            "He should, like, be here, shouldn't he?"

                                            >She sighs. "Ya gotta let ponies grieve their own way...what works fer somep0ny may not work fer somep0ny else. And ya know he prolly blames himself."

                                            >You shake your head.

                                            "No "prolly" about it, AJ."

                                            >You enter the hospital and don't even bother stopping at reception, you know where you're going.

                                            >On arrival to the room, you're greeted with a surprising sight. Shining Armor not only lives but is leaving the room.

                                            "Shini-!"

                                            >He doesn't stop, or turn, or even respond. He just walks down the hall and in a flash teleports away.

                                            >You and Applejack stand in shock.

                                            "I didn't know he could do that..."

                                            >"Me neither..."

                                            >"Well he's been practicing, obviously." a tired voice says form inside the room.

                                            >"Now are you guys going to come in or do I have to get up?"


                                            >You and AJ each take a deep breath and walk into the hospital room.

                                            >Twilight is laying in the bed at the end of the room, her mane was an absolute mess and she had deep bags under her bloodshot eyes.

                                            >"Hey Sugarcube, how ya holdin' up?"

                                            >Twilight sniffs and rubs her eyes with her hoof. "Shining Armor spent the beginning of the day with me..."

                                            "Oh yeah? How was he?"

                                            >Anything to lighten this mood.

                                            >Twilight looks down at her hind legs covered by the blanket. "He...listened while I coped with this."

                                            >Whoops. Nevermind. This mood was pitch dark.

                                            >At least it explained the eyes...

                                            >You and AJ walk to opposite sides of Twilight and both give her a hug, one she weakly returns.

                                            >"Everything'll be alright, Twi..."

                                            "I should never have taken my eyes off you."

                                            >Twilight releases a deep sigh and pats your hand with her hoof. "It's...alright, Anon. It was the mob's fault...not yours..."

                                            >Somehow you remain unconvinced.

                                            >Twilight looks around. "Just the two of you?"

                                            >It's your turn to sigh as you pull away.

                                            "Bruce is...out."

                                            >Twilight nods. "Ahh..."

                                            >"Little feller's been "out" pretty much every day since we got back." AJ grumbles.

                                            >"That...makes sense." Twilight says.

                                            >Whoa.

                                            >What?

                                            "How?"

                                            >Twilight looks up at you. "Why did Bruce start going "out" in the first place?"

                                            >That was obvious.

                                            "Because of what happened to his parents."

                                            >"So why would it be any different if somep0ny -else- got hurt and he couldn't help?"

                                            >You open your mouth to answer but shut it just as fast.

                                            >That...yeah, that made some sense...at least to him.

                                            >A ruckus arises from outside the room, the sounds of a mass of hooves clipping and clopping along the floor.

                                            "There a tour group or somethi-"

                                            >You're interrupted by an alabaster alicorn bursting into the room with a gaggle of doctors behind her.

                                            >"Twilight!"

                                            >OHSHIT.


                                            >You think you feel yourself void your bowels.

                                            >By which you mean, void your body of your bowels.

                                            >That's a sane response when the immortal ruler of the nation bursts into the room, you think.

                                            >You can only wonder what the appropriate response for what Twilight is going through is.

                                            >Celestia gallops up to Twilight and slides between her and Applejack before beginning to talk at a mile a minute.

                                            >"Twilight! Are you okay? I came as fast as I could. What happened? Are they taking good care of you? Do you need anything? Does your family know? What were you THINKING?! Why didn't you ask for my help? Why-"

                                            >Twilight puts a hoof on her mentor's shoulder. "Princess."

                                            >The Princess clamps her mouth shut and looks at Twilight with big magenta eyes. "...I was worried."

                                            >Twilight smiles despite herself. "I know, it's alright."

                                            >Applejack cautiously trots out from behind the Princess and joins you.

                                            >"Did you know she was commin'!?" she whispers.

                                            "How the hell would I know that!?"

                                            >Your whispering catches the ear of the sun goddess, she looks up to you two. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I heard about Twilight and came here and just...it was like tunnel vision."

                                            >Celestia bows. "I hope you can forgive my rudeness."

                                            >You and AJ glance at each other. It wasn't every day you were apologized to by a goddess.

                                            >"Uhhh...tha's just fine, Princess."

                                            "Yeah...no worries?"


                                            >Celestia turns back to Twilight and frowns. "Such a grand destiny ahead of you...destroyed by this wanton act of cruelty..."

                                            >Huh? Destiny?

                                            "Celestia?"

                                            >She shakes her head and frowns. "It's nothing, Anonymous...nothing at all."

                                            >Celestia trots over to the front of the bed and levitates Twilight's medical charts.

                                            >Her frown only grows deeper.

                                            "Princess...?

                                            >She chuckles and wipes a tear from her eye. "Severed spinal nerves...paralysis from the waist down..."

                                            >Twilight's face falls as Celestia nuzzles her. "It's alright, my faithful student. We'll think of...something..."

                                            >Twilight smiles a bit.

                                            "Twi...can you...tell us what happened?"

                                            >Twilight's face falls. "Well...after we separated I went into a warehouse to try and stay safe...but then this green gas flowed in, it was heavier than air and well...I'm not the tallest pony." she says with a shy grin.

                                            >Twilight adjusts herself in the bed as she tries to remember. "I remember that the gas made me really tired and I hit the ground...then I heard somep0ny walking towards me with...some metal thing dragging behind them. ...Whoever it was hit me in the back and I blacked out."

                                            >...What the -hell-?


                                            >The night goes on and you and AJ decide to stay until you absolutely can't.

                                            >Celestia leaves after a little while, but you two aren't alone for long. Pinkie Pie brought along Rainbow Dash and Rarity and Fluttershy brought Angel Bunny to cheer Twilight up.

                                            >All in all, a good time is had. At least considering the circumstances.

                                            >Now you and AJ are walking home late at night.

                                            "So how good is the food at that hospital?"

                                            >AJ arches an eyebrow. "Why? You thinkin' of checkin' in?"

                                            "No no, I just want to know that Twi will be eating right."

                                            >Applejack shrugs. "When Rainbow Dash was holed up in there with her bum wing, she said the food was alright. May have to bring some home town cookin' fer Twi, though...help her get back out there faster."

                                            >You smirk.

                                            "That's our AJ, watching out for everyone."

                                            >Applejack sighs and shakes her head. "'Cept the time when it mattered most to my friend."

                                            >You reach out and pat her back.

                                            "Don't blame yourself..."

                                            >She brings her head back up and her brow furrows. "The one thing I wanna know is...who was that pony Twi says gassed her? And where'd he go?"

                                            >The two of you round the corner into Sweet Apple Acres.

                                            "...I don't know, AJ. I wasn't there...even if I probably should have been."

                                            >AJ walks up the stairs to her house still asking questions. "But how'd he get away?"

                                            >You shrug.

                                            "The city was in chaos, AJ. One pony could slip away in that easy."

                                            >Applejack hangs her head. "'Taint right..."

                                            >You sigh. [spoiler][/spoiler] "No...no it's not. But it's life."

                                            >You turn on your heel and walk away, heading home yourself.

                                            "Thanks for visiting with me AJ. Don't worry yourself too much..."


                                            -Much later-

                                            >Ponyville had recently suffered a loss.

                                            >One of its proudest citizens, the Element of Magic, Princess Celestia's favored student, had been crippled. And the town grieved for her.

                                            >But for every tradgedy, there would be those who would take advantage of that.

                                            >And tonight would have been one of those nights, were it not for one.

                                            >It moved through the streets, it's cape fluttering in the wind behind it.

                                            >It would come across those who would harm others and it would punish them.

                                            >One such low-life, one who tried to prey on the Cakes, met it.

                                            >But as they say, for every loss, there is something else you gain.

                                            >It wasted no time in pinning it to the wall and hammering it with its fists.

                                            >Again and again hoof met face, teeth flying off once or twice.

                                            >It suffered a few bruises, but those were a problem for tomorrow.

                                            >And when the assailant finally curled up in submission, it wordlessly turned and went back into the night, stopping only to mutter one word to both the criminal and the startled Cakes.

                                            >"Beware."