The physical pain wasn't as excruciating as the mental exhaustion. Every fiber of his being longed to collapse forward in the dirt and sleep off the last, Celestia knows, how many days of stress. But he knew he had to will himself forward, and that his stress wasn't finished yet. Daybreak approached the spot where he had obliterated King Sombra moments before and picked up Aecious' knife from the ashen waste of the king. Taking a last glance at the dust particles of Sombra, Daybreak turned and headed over to where his friend still stood impaled by several crystal shards. Daybreak found the pegasus was still alive, barely, and with the help of Shining Star, he smashed and removed the shards piercing through his body, then laid him on his back against the cool dirt. He held out the knife and rested it on Aecious' chest

"I think this is yours"

The pegasus regarded him with the smallest of smiles, and even that seemed too much for him right then

"Is it over?"

"Yeah...yeah it's over, thanks to you...you probably saved my flank out there with that throw...how did you manage that?"

Daybreak heard him give a faint chuckle, followed by a violent cough and some blood splatters

"What kind...*cough*...what kind of an assassin would I be if I couldn't throw a blade?"

"That's not what I meant, I mean how did you know where to throw it in all that dust?"

Even in his dying moments, Aecious still managed to have that reserved look of pained distrust on his face. Like it was necessary to hide everything

"Everypony has there talents...even if I never found mine...I worked to be good at things like this..."

Daybreak immediately opened his mouth to question exactly why Aecious had never found his Cutie Mark, but saw that his head had already hit the dirt, his lips still partially spread in his last grin. Daybreak's fist clenched in the dirt, he reached over with his opposite hand, and gently shut Aecious' eyes.

"Goodbye my friend..."

Wiping his eyes, Daybreak stood up and made his way over to where he knew Rainbow Dash and Daring Do lay buried beneath the rubble. Shining Star simply remained put, continuing to stare at Aecious with seemingly no reason to move away. Looking down at his former enemy, Shining felt a surge of regret in how he had treated the pegasus and resolved to make up for it in his own way later on. He reached over Aecious' chest and removed the dagger Daybreak had left with him and stored it inside his Wonderbolts outfit after clenching it tightly for a brief moment. Then he stood up and followed after Daybreak.

Daybreak worked with his regained chaos powers to clear the rubble away as quickly as he could. As much as he wanted to go to Twilight, he knew he had to help the others first. As Solar Eclipse reminded him, they still had a chance...

With a brief but notable strain, he lifted the major portion of the debris with his magic, then tossed it away. He dug through the rest until he saw a cyan wing sticking out from under the rubble. He immediately smashed the rubble in the way without hesitation and removed it quickly. Once he had cleared most of the rocks he could see the majority of Rainbow Dashes body, he quickly scooped her up in his arms and pulled her free with a minimal strain. Setting her down free of the rubble he turned his attention to finding Daring, until Shining Star gasped and called him back to Rainbow.

"Daybreak! Daybreak her wing!" Shining Star was frantically pointing at Rainbows right wing, the one he hadn't seen in the rubble. It was bending in a direction that was very unnatural and made them both a little queasy to look at.

"It's broken" Solar's voice rang through his head

"I know...I need to mend it" He bent down to examine her wing

"We don't have the strength to mend a wound like that, you can't draw on that kind of power right now without passing out..."

"I have to do something Solar!"

"Daybreak?" Shining Star's voice cut across his in-head talk. He quickly turned to the young Wonderbolt

"What is it Shining?"

"I can see Daring Do buried under some drones...she looks ok, looks like the drones took the worst of it. I think I can get her out myself...why don't you try and snap Rainbow's wing back into place and set it?"

"Hm...that's not a bad idea...we don't need magic for that"

"Yeah...way to go Shining"

He knew the Wonderbolt didn't hear his thoughts, but the silent acknowledgment was enough for now. He turned to his cyan friend and once again found himself sick at the sight of her wing. He couldn't bring himself to touch it for fear of waking her and causing her anymore pain.

"Daybreak...you have to do it...it'll be worse for her if it's not treated somehow"

"I can't...I can't cause her anymore pain...she's the only other mare I love like Twilight..."

"If you don't she could bleed internally...maybe even die...do it for her"

Daybreak nodded to himself and scooped his cyan love into his arms. He grasped her wing in his right hand while holding her against his chest with his left arm.

"Rainbow...I'm so sorry for this"

'Do it quickly"

He held firmly where the wing was most damaged, right above where he felt the first bone out of place, and before Rainbow could wake he quickly jerked her wing upwards and snapped it in the opposite direction, back to it's normal positioning on her torso! Rainbow Dash's eyes instantly sprang open and she screamed! She screamed like Daybreak had never heard her scream in her life, her voice rang in his eyes and felt her whole body begin to violently struggle against his grasp! She attempted to flap her wings but Daybreak kept a firm hold on the injured wing, not allowing it to move, knowing she could easily reinjure it if it moved before being set. Rainbow bucked outwards and kicked him square in the mouth, then twice in the chest, he tasted blood on his lips but he held firmly anyways. Were she not so weak she might have easily broken his ribs, but Daybreak still held her tightly until she regained control of herself. Her screams eventually faded into sobs as collapsed against Daybreak's chest in exhaustion, quietly sniffling in pain. Neither of them said anything, nor did Shining Star looked towards them at all during the episode, but simply continued to dig through rubble to free Daring.

"That's one part Rainbow...now...the other needs to come next."

He instantly felt her whole body tense up in his arms, he felt sick to his stomach knowing he had to cause her more pain. Rainbow shook her head violently and tried to wriggle free from his grasp. He held her firmly against his coat, feeling his eyes beginning to overflow with water

"Please Rainbow, stop struggling...I don't wanna do this anymore than you do...your only making this worse"

He could hear her whimpers and please for mercy as she struggled to free herself

"No...no please don't...it hurts it hurts...just please don't touch my wing anymore"

He could feel Rainbow streaming tears as he was forced to restrain her against him. She continued to beg and plea as he took hold of her wing with his free hand once more.

"Please Daybreak don't...please don't it hurts!"

He felt his self loathing rise to a new high at hearing the toughest mare he'd met turn into a whimpering filly at his hands. He firmly grasped her wing, and with a self hating grunt, he yanked it hard to the side until he heard a familiar snap and Rainbow's eyes reached there peek in wideness. She collapsed onto his chest and began to cry out and whimper in pain

"It hurts...it hurts...it hurts so badly...please make it stop...make it stop Daybreak."

He wanted to wait until she was more recovered before messing with her wing anymore, but he knew he could waste no time in casting it so she didn't reinjure herself .While Shining dug and Rainbow sniffled, Daybreak went about gently setting her wings with a makeshift cast until it could be properly treated. He touched her as delicately as possible and ran his fingers through her mane to calm her while he worked. Rainbow stayed quiet during the whole thing, not crying out in pain anymore, and anytime she did make a sound it was only a light whimper. She stayed well in control until he finished, then looked at him with watery eyes once he stepped back to examine his work. It wasn't terrible for his first time, considering the lack of supplies other than twigs, leaves, rocks, and a bit of medical tape Shining had in his uniform. It would hold until they got back and she could be properly examined, as long as she was cooperative. Daybreak looked down at his sniffling patient, she was looking up at him with big watery eyes, like he had just saved her life...oh wait...

Rainbow mumbled something inaudible under her breath, which caused Daybreak's ears to perk up.

"Wait...what was that Rainbow?"

"I said I...love...you..."

"oh..."

He knew how she really meant it and had to ask

"You love Daring too right?"

Her answer was instantaneous, like she had been expecting it

"Duh...of course I do...I just...wanted you to know...again"

Daybreak almost enjoyed these moments when Rainbow showed real affection. Being sensitive wasn't something she did often, so it was sweet to hear and would have made him smile any other time. He gently pulled her into a hug, gave her back a soft rub and kissed her cheek.

"I love you too Rainbow"

He felt a small pain in his heart and immediately remembered he had to still get Trixie...and then face the inevitable...Twilight. Releasing his hug on Rainbow Dash, Daybreak made his way to the unconscious Trixie. The Alicorn Amulet was sprawled out in front of her, surprisingly it had not been snatched up by any drones during the scuffle. Daybreak took it in his palm and sent it away, presumably to the "Chaos Region" Solar had mentioned before. He knew it would be safer there until Trixie was feeling better. Despite the fact that he felt like he should give Trixie a full recovery, he could not remove his mind from aiding Twilight. So he quickly healed her minor wounds with as little magic as possible and checked for anything dislocated or broken. She seemed to be in good health, other than some minor bruising from the beating she had taken from Sombra. Although Daybreak could sense her mind, Trixie did not wake, so he gently picked her up in his arms and carried her over to where Shining had finally succeeded in freeing the unconscious Daring Do. Setting her down next to the white coated Wonderbolt Daybreak turned and headed for Twilight without another word.

Shining Star gave Daring Do a thorough examination to make sure she had no broken bones or other serious injuries. He inspected her wings closely and noted a few missing feathers, but other than that she seemed in good condition. Clearly being buried under a pile of changelings was a good shield from falling debris.

"Hmph...At least they're good for something" Shining thought to himself, his own disgust for the changelings surfacing again as he stared at the many unconscious or injured mares around him.

He took his time patching up Daring Do, he wanted to make sure the adventurous mare was completely injury free. He had only discovered she was a real pony a few days ago, and could still recall his geek out moment with Spitfire when she had revealed herself in Canterlot. Of course, she had been A.K. Yearling at the time, but he had followed her for a bit after she left to try and get another autograph. However he could easily recall that what he had seen instead was much better. Seeing her strip off her disguise and reveal herself as the real Daring Do was soooo much better than a second autograph. Other than Spitfire, he doubted whether anypony else on there team even knew she was real. Being quite the fan boy, he knew she must have a reason for not revealing herself so he mostly kept to himself about it, except for Spitfire, cause he had to tell his marefriend. Luckily they had both agreed to keep it to themselves, so there wasn't any issues.

Looking down at the unconscious adventurer, Shining felt the full load of what they had just done hit him hard. He staggered and collapsed on his haunches feeling woozy. They had really just fought King Sombra and the changelings, and somehow they had won. It was all so much to process at once, they would be heroes for this...he couldn't wait to tell Spitfire! He quickly spun himself around to ask Daybreak when they could leave and immediately felt a surge of guilt at his happiness, he had almost forgotten. In the distance, Daybreak was knelt down next to Twilight, holding her head tightly against his chest. Even from here Shining could see the stream of tears flowing down his friends cheeks.

Daybreak stroked his fingers through Twilights long purple locks, letting his tears run down his fur and drip onto her chest. He couldn't bring himself to even think of the victory they had just achieved, to him this was the biggest defeat of his existence. Although he would not admit it aloud, even if they had lost and Sombra took control of the Crystal Empire, if he had saved Twilight along the way, he wouldn't have minded. Whether or not that made him a bad creature he didn't care, he just wanted Twilight back. He would give p his magic, his strength and his life if could just have her back.

"How much are you really willing to sacrifice to save her Daybreak?"

Solar's voice sounded hazy even in his mind where it should have been crystal clear, it was clear he too, was fading. Daybreaks free hand found its way to his royal necklace, still hung around his neck hugging his body tightly.

"Anything...to be honest it probably makes me a bad person...but I really would sacrifice anything to bring her back..."

'Well then...I don't have to regret this decision..."

"What decision"

There was a brief pause in which Daybreak was left to wonder about what may have happened if he had not created Solar Eclipse in the first place. Would things have ended differently if he had fought Sombra on his own, or maybe with his friends aid?

Don't dwell on 'what if's' Daybreak" Solar's thoughts literally interrupted his own, an ability Daybreak still found annoying.

"Why shouldn't I? Things might have been different"

"There's no point in wondering about it. Now please focus I'm about to teach you so very powerful magic"

Normally this would have peeked Daybreaks interests, but right then he was having a hard time focusing on anything but his colossal failure

"Why should I care?"

After another brief pause, Solar's voice came out again, slightly more scratchy than before

"Because it can save Twilight."

Like a bomb went off in his head, Solar suddenly had Daybreaks full attention.

"Ok, now I'm listening!"

Daybreak could feel the smirk on Solar's face just by his voice. Perhaps he was enjoying the flare of hope he had just created for Daybreak.

"This spell is one straight out of the book that made me, the official written name given by the princesses is The Lifegiver but I think a more suitable name would be The Apple of Chaos"

"Why's that?"

"Because of what it does, this spell has the power to literally, bring back the dead. Not all zombiefied like you might think if they have been buried for awhile or something, no. This spell can resurrect any living creature that did not die of a natural cause, as healthy as they were at the time of their death"

The gleam in Daybreaks eyes was matched only by the excitement in his voice

"Why would the Princesses hide away such a spell?! This could completely remove murder as a factor in society"

'Hold on! I wasn't finished. Yes If it were that easy, then you might be right, but the conditions for the spells use are what make me call it the Apple of Chaos..."

Solar's sudden change to a sterner tone made Daybreak wonder what he could mean

"Tell me"

"The conditions for this spell are an equivalent exchange...To get something you have to give something of equal value. A soul for a soul, a life for a life. If you wanna bring back Twilight Sparkle, you have to sacrifice somepony else, and that soul has to willingly give itself up or it doesn't work...there are a couple other factors to the spell such as creatures like us and Discord can't be revived, but they don't matter right now. After this, you, Luna, Celestia, Discord and Twilight will be the only creatures currently in existence to know of this spell. It must remain that way, lie, hide the book, do whatever you have to, to ensure no other pony learns of it. Most importantly, make sure that book is never read by anypony else but yourself and those I previously mentioned..."

Daybreak sat on the ground in silence, he stared at Twilights expressionless face. He understood the name now, Apple of Chaos, anypony who wielded this spell had power over life and death. Just imagining what might happen if every common day unicorn could wield this spell on whenever they wanted, made Daybreak shiver. Even more worrisome, is what else that book may contain, this was just one spell and he could wield the magic of life and death. Another had created Solar Eclipse, Nightmare Moon and turned King Sombra into what he was. Daybreak fully understood why his mother and aunt had tried to protect it so desperately. He probably owed them both an apology, assuming they didn't arrest him as soon as he got back.

Nodding to himself, he excepted Solar Eclipses wish and vowed to never allow anypony else read what was inside the book so long as he could protect it. With a silent thank you, Solar began to transfer the knowledge of how to cast and control the spell, into Daybreaks conscious mind. Within a short time, he knew everything he needed to know about it's power and was ready to save Twilight! There was still one problem however, which stopped him midway through casting the spell. Solar already knew what it was, but for kindness sake he asked anyways

"Daybreak...what is wrong?"

"Solar...I can't...I can't sacrifice one of my friends like this...Even if I ask their permission, it's still wrong..."

For a moment Daybreak thought he heard Solar Eclipse chuckle before he spoke again

"Wow...you really are dense sometimes aren't you?...Daybreak, the whole reason I've even held on this long is so you can use my soul."

Daybreaks face showed visible signs of both shock and relief, Solar found both amusing.

'I know the many things you might say to me...and all I'm going to say is don't bother. This is my life, it may not have been my choice to live, but I'll be damned if I don't choose how I die."

He felt Solar stand up within his mind, he allowed himself to see him within his thoughts once again and appear before him. Solar strode forward within the white nothingness they both shared in his thoughts until he was nose to nose with Daybreak.

"I am a being created for evil, a being created for murder. Their is darkness within my heart, but not by my choosing. I resent the purpose for which I was given life. So therefore, in these last moments of mine, I choose to reject my purpose! Instead of being a creature to take life, instead I shall end my own by giving life to another!"

Solar quickly thrust his palm out and placed it upon Daybreak's chest. He moved his hand to Daybreaks arm, then moved it to rest above his heart. They stood like this for a moment, each with a hand resting on the others heart, until a golden glow began to emerge from under Daybreaks palm. Solar smiled at him and took a small step back, as he did so, a palm sized sphere of golden light came forth from his chest and rested on Daybreaks palm, still outstretched.

"Take it"

He grasped his hand around the sphere, pulling it close to his chest where Solar's had been.

"Now...crush it!"

Although apprehensive, Daybreaks did as instructed and crushed the sphere in his palm. Instantly it exploded into golden dust that began to swirl around Daybreaks mental form. The particles flew around him and gathered closely, then all at once, flew straight into the top left portion of his chest with a force that nearly knocked him off balance in his own mind. Solar's voice suddenly broke the momentary silence, but although he spoke, Daybreak could no longer see him anywhere, and his voice sounded as though it was growing fainter

"That was my soul, separated from yours until right now, you can now use it as the trade for Twilight's soul when you weave the spell...I hope you find happiness in your future...goodbye Daybreak..."

Solar's voice faded away into the smoke white distance, Solar's absence brought Daybreak out from his mind and back to the problem at hand. Turning his head he called out for Shining Star to come over, the Wonderbolt seemed to eager to oblige, clearly tired of simply watching over wounded and unconscious mares. The moment he arrived Daybreak explained in partial detail what he was about to do. He edited the details here and there to shade out the idea that he was literally bringing Twilight back from the dead, but more or less freeing her from Sombra's curse and healing her bodies wounds with a powerful spell that required a large amount of power. Luckily Shining Star had no idea what a soul looked like (neither did Daybreak until a moment ago), so when Daybreak outstretched his palm and the large golden spherical mass appeared within it, there was no problem or explanation needed. With the soul mass in his palm, Daybreak scooped Twilight onto his lap with his free hand and quickly regarded Shining.

"I don't know what might happen to me after I've cast the spell, so I'm counting on you to get us home or rescued if I keel over during this...alright?"

The white pegasus showed a suspicious look on his face and even raised an eyebrow to Daybreak, which he pretended not to notice, but nevertheless, the stallion still threw up a goofy salute and nodded his head towards Daybreak.

With that out of the way, Daybreak was ready to begin. He rested Twilights head against his lap for better support and turned her on her back. He moved her legs so they were spread enough tat Daybreak had an unobstructed view of her entire chest and underbelly, which was where he would need to perform the spell. Shining Star blushed heavily as Daybreak spread her legs

"I'll just...um...wait by the others ok.." Shining dashed away without another word, he dashed away so quick he left a smoky image of himself where he had previously been.

Daybreak ignored the Wonderbolts shyness and began to weave the spell. With the spiraling soul mass in his one palm, he waved the other over Twilight's chest in a figure eight motion. Her under belly began to glow a faint white
and the fur around her heart faintly popped and sizzled with activity. He pushed the palm that was holding the soul mass near her heart, then with a quick shove, he crushed the spherical ball against her and caused it to once again, explode into golden dust. But this time the dust did not encircle him, this time it circled around Twilight's body. The force of the soul gently lifted her off the ground a few feet, not enough to make Daybreak worry, but enough that he would be sure to catch her when it was over.

Twilight's wings suddenly went erect, and the rest of her body followed suit. Her front and back legs shot outwards, stiff as a board, her horn burst into a faintly golden glow which fizzled little sun colored dust particles. It was a magnificent sight, Daybreak watched in awe as Twilight's eyes suddenly shot open, full of white light! The golden dust swirling around Twilight instantly reacted and began to spiral back towards her chest, just like it had for him, then smashed itself against her, seeming to just dive into her heart! Daybreak felt a sudden pull from within him, he looked down to see some of the golden dust was coming from within his own body too. He wondered what that could mean, but instantly lost the thought as the last bit freed itself from him. As the last particle broke away from his body, it was as though someone had cut his puppet strings, and he collapsed to one knee. He felt extremely weak all of the sudden and his head began to spin, what had just happened? His eyes became heavy and he began to have difficulty just remaining at one knee, his whole body seemed to be urging him to just lay down.

"NO! Not yet...I have to see Twilight alive first.."

If he had truly screwed up the spell somewhere and used his own soul or something, he at least had to see Twilight alive before he excepted his fate. He looked at Twilight still floating form, her eyes still open and glowing a powerful white, she was clearly still not conscious. Her body began to vibrate rapidly as the last bit of golden particles made it's way inside her body, with the last entering her the golden aura around her horn, and the white around her eyes, faded immediately and she dropped. Forcing himself to move, Daybreak lunged forward and caught her in his arms. It took all his effort not to drop her or go down with her, for some reason she suddenly felt heavier than Big Mac would, but her body showed no physical change. That led Daybreak to believe that he was just extremely weak at the moment.

He looked down at her face, brushing her mane out of the way he saw that her cheeks had a bright red blush dawning them, he beamed and practically slammed his ear against her chest. The seconds he waited felt like an eternity to him, just waiting for that faint sound that would make him complete again.

Thump Thump

Daybreak smiled so big, he almost thought he'd break his face, his eyes began tearing up and started to overflow down his face. But he didn't care, nor did he care about the sudden pain building within his legs, begging him to drop back to his knees. All he cared about was that Twilight Sparkle was alive again! It wasn't until his arms nearly gave out and he almost dropped Twilight, that he finally acknowledged what was happening. He gently set her down in the dirt and stared at her face. Leaning down he planted two quick kisses on her cheek and lips.

"Welcome back Twilight"

He smiled to himself, then turned to ensure that Shining had seen what occurred, and it was clear by his wide-eyed expression that he had. But it was not him hat was rushing over to them, it was Rainbow Dash. Had he the strength, he may have called out to her and told her to quit her moving about in her injured state. But right then, all he felt like doing was sleeping. He fell forward in the next moment and face planted into the dirt alongside Twilight.

Rainbow saw him collapse and sped up her run to a painful speed. She reached them and immediately looked down at Daybreaks face, his eyes were still open and he was smiling at her. That goofy smile of his, she couldn't understand why, until she looked next to him and saw Twilight's chest rise and fall with her breathing. Then she too started to tear up and sat her haunches next to them, waiting for Shining Star to come see for himself. Daybreak had no idea what was coming with his black out, whether it was death or something else, but if it was death, than this time he could die happy. He closed his own eyes as they began to fill with haze and eventually...darkness.

.....

The next time Daybreak opened his eyes, he took his sweet time. Consciously being aware that he wasn't dead was a nice thing and he wanted to enjoy whatever scenery they might be at on their way home. However...the mass of which he was laying on, did not feel like earthy ground, a sleeping bag, or tent. In fact...it felt like...

The door slammed open and Daybreak gave a yelp of fear, sitting straight up in his bed.

"Wait what!...Bed?!"

He looked around at the pale whiteness of the room in which he was now laying. He was indeed in a bed inside some hospital yet again. This seemed like a frequent occurrence with him now that he thought about it. He looked towards the source of the door slam and found his mouth drop open. Pinkie Pie was standing in the doorway with her face contorted in a similar brand of shock as his, she was also carrying flowers in her hoof. That were presumably for replacement with one of the piles of dead ones that seemed to encircle his bed, they were all likely from his friends, they also seemed to encircle the area next to him, which had the blinds drawn closed to provide privacy for the patient, Daybreak quickly wondered who it might be. Pinkie stood in the doorway only a moment longer, before venturing a step forward and allowing the door to shut behind her. She griped the flowers she held in her hoof tightly and stared straight at Daybreak, but he was unable to return her gaze. The memories of the things he had down to his friends came rushing back to him, Pinkie's in particular and he found himself unwilling to look at her.

"Hey Pinkie...that you?" A familiar voice suddenly rang out from no where.

"Uhhh..y-yeah Dash it's me.."

"What's wrong Pinks, you sound like you've seen a-" she ended her sentence as soon as she opened her drapes and saw Daybreak sitting up.

Rainbow Dash stared at Daybreak, then back to Pinkie. Her wings suddenly flared out and Daybreak could see the new cast that had been attached to her wing, it looked much comfier than his had been on her. The trio remained in a silent staring contest for a moment, until Pinkie finally ventured forward closer to Daybreaks bed and replaced a bouquet of flowers that was dying, with her own. Daybreak wanted to say something to his pink friend, something that would make this horrible feeling of guilt and awkwardness filling his gut go away. But every time he opened his mouth his tongue felt like lead. It wasn't until Pinkie looked up from replacing the flowers that Daybreak finally felt like talking. It was her smile, she was smiling at him, and although it was a normal occurrence for Pinkie to smile at everypony, Daybreak saw the sincerity in her eyes. She wasn't upset at him, or judging him by his actions, she was genuinely happy.

Daybreak reached up and scratched his head with his hoof looking for something to say but stopped dead.

'Hooves?...Why do I have hooves?"

He looked down his body and found he was indeed in his stallion form. He must have been really exhausted for him to revert back in his sleep. Pinkie was still looking at him and smiling, while Rainbow still showed the awkwardness on her face that Daybreak felt inside. Finally giving in to the pink mares stare of happiness, Daybreak opened up his arms and spread his hooves, motioning for a hug. Pinkie's eyes sparkled with glee, and she dove onto the bed crushing his body in her hug of death. She squeezed until Daybreak swore he could feel his bones breaking underneath her embrace. She nuzzled her face against his neck and even planted a daring peck on the cheek before finally releasing him. The rush of air that filled his lungs during her release was a small taste of heaven for the exhausted stallion. He felt as though he owed her the apology she deserved

"Pinkie Pie...I..."

"Shush" She silenced him with a hoof in the mouth, he was forced to taste her hoof against his will as she practically gagged him to keep him quiet. Other than her tasting oddly like candy and the impossibly large grin she wore, this wasn't weird at all.

"Don't say it Daybreak, Pinkie don't wanna hear it, and your gonna listen to Pinkie this time, riiiiight?"

Pinkie winked at him ad wiggled her eyebrows causing him to blush as he realized what she meant, he nodded lightly and she removed her hoof from his windpipe. Instead of an apology Daybreak came at her with another question instead

"Soooooo...Pinkie...Where is everypony? Are these flowers all from them?"

Her smile never dimmed, in fact he could have sworn that it grew bigger as she spoke

"Well of course there from everypony silly, I mean I tried to get you a whole room full of flowers myself, but the nurses wouldn't let me...big meanies, so I just settled for replacing mine everyday. Everypony else has stopped by to see you and Dashie every other day, but I come every day to see my bestest buddies! Applejack came by three times, Fluttershy came four times, and Rarity came by once...Oh oopsie and I forgot, and I come by every single day...oh and then there's Applebloom..."

Daybreak barely listened to her next words as the only part that rang in his mind was that she stopped by everyday...Everyday...How long had he been here.

"Hey Pinkie..." He didn't mean to interrupt what she was saying, but he knew if he didn't she'd never stop. She didn't seem to mind though

"Yeah, what's up?"

"How long have I been here"

"A week, seven hours, and five minutes.."

Daybreak head whipped around to face Rainbow Dash, whose expression looked bored beyond any face he could ever muster

"You've been counting?"

"Yeah dude, unlike you mister snoozy, I've been awake this whole time and bored off my flank with nothing to do. I actually considered coming over there and straddling your unconscious ass just to wake up and entertain me."

The image of Rainbow Dash straddling him while he was unconscious brought a heavy blush to his cheeks. Pinkie however, seemed unfazed, or her smile was just so big it blocked out the ability for her to blush.

"I'd usually just get Twilight to bring me some Daring Do books when I'm stuck in here...but umm...well..

"Go on" Daybreak urged, but neither Dash nor Pinkie seemed to want to continue

"Is she still out cold or something?" he scanned his expression between the two mares, both whom seemed to be trying to hide theirs. It was Pinkie who answered this time

"No...No she's plenty awake...I don't think her voice has ever been more awake actually.."

"Pinkie!" Rainbow practically hissed at her and the pink mare finally managed a blush through her planet sized grin.

"Am I missing something?" Daybreak asked, still very confused

"Well..." Rainbow seemed to wrestle wit the idea of telling him, then gave in to herself.

"Yeah, you are missing alot dude...While you where out cold, the Princesses came to visit...all of them...and even Discord..."

"Oh no.." He could only wonder how that might have gone over, unluckily for him, he didn't have to wonder as Rainbow continued

"Oh yeah...it wasn't pretty. They visited Twilight first and at first everything was normal...until Discord, of course, brought up the issue which he knew would set Twilight off her rocker."

"And that was" But he already knew the answer

"Your punishment...well the short version of it all is...after about an hour of yelling and screaming, Princess Celestia basically banished you from Canterlot...for like...ever"

Daybreak winced, that was harsh, but not unexpected at all, truthfully he had been expecting much worse.

"Who was yelling and screaming?"

"Twilight...and Celestia....at each other"

"What!"

"Yeah...It got to the point where Nurse Redheart actually came in to quiet them herself, but when she saw who it was, she left without a word and instead had a unicorn put a sound proofing spell around this wing of the hospital. So we still got to hear the whole thing. Celestia is furious at you...like big time furious dude...I thought she was gonna throw you in jail at first, her sister and Cadence protested, but she seemed dead set on jailing you...Discord even threatened to go back to his old ways if she arrested you...but none of them made her budge until Twilight got involved. I've never heard Twi use words like that before, but she was cursing up a storm in there, it made even me a little jealous, that big brain can sure come up with some creative phrases for how idiotic a pony can be."

Daybreak felt like his fur had turned a pale white and his eyes had shrunk to tiny little balls. If Twilight had destroyed her relationship with Celestia over him, that would be too much and he would have to do something. Rainbow seemed to read his mind

"Don't worry dude, after they both screamed at each other for an hour or so (most entertainment I've had this whole time by the way) everything seemed to settle down, Twilight somehow talked down every punishment Celestia wanted to give you. But she couldn't make her lift her ban on you. That's what got her in such a fowl mood lately, whenever the Princess tried to visit, Twilight tried everything to get her to let you back, even going so far as to tell the nurse not to let Celestia in to see her...unfortunately that didn't really work out so well...royal authority and all that came into play and Celestia was in pretty quick. Although Twilight is still pretty pissy about the whole thing...though that might just be the hormones"

Daybreak raised his eyebrows at Rainbow, where could hormones possibly come into play here "What are you talking about Dash?"

"Shhhhhhhh Dashie, your not allowed to spoil it remember?"

Pinkie had on a very serious, yet somehow still happy, face as she glared at Rainbow. The cyan mare chuckled and nodded motioning for her to take it away. Daybreak was befuddled once again

"What's up with you two...you're acting very...suspicious, what aren't you telling me?"

Pinkie began to giggle madly and bounce up and down in place "You'll see soon silly, can you walk?"

"Well of course I can walk, why would you ask that- wahhhhh Pinkie what are you doing?!"

The pink party planner had latched her jaws onto Daybreaks exposed leg and pulled him from the bed, then began dragging him by the tail toward the door. Once outside, Daybreak pulled his tail free from her teeth and began to follow of his own free will

"Come with me buster, so you can see"

Rainbow Dash chuckled and hoped out of bed herself, following them down the hall. Once Pinkie made a right and began passing several windows that peered into the rooms, Daybreak began to notice an odd pattern with every room they crossed, there were newborn foals in every one.

"Pinkie, where are we going?"

"Shhhhhhhh, mister noisy, you'll wake the babies, just follow me and be Silent Bobby for a moment ok?"

"Fine" he grumbled, not understanding why she couldn't just tell him.

Rainbow trailed behind them watching his face with several snickers, she was clearly enjoying herself, or maybe she was just happy to be out of the room for a change.

When they finally came to a halt outside a room that looked larger than the others, just by the fact that it needed double doors, Daybreak collided into Pinkie without noticing her halt. Luckily her bushy tail was the perfect air bag and he bounced right back unharmed. he looked around his pink friend and saw her motion him to go forward. He pushed open the doors with his hooves and was suddenly shoed through the by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, then he heard the doors being pulled shut behind him.

Rolling his eyes he took in the room in front of him, it was certainly large and well equipped to handle just about any need a patient could have, he even spotted a bath tub that looked like it belonged in the spa house. But what caught his eyes wasn't the decorum or the room, it was the purple mare before him, who was pacing back and forth in that cute way he had always loved. She failed to turn and see who had actually entered and kept to her pacing, so it was no surprise when she regarded him as Pinkie.

"Pinkie Pie, I told you...I'd rather be alone right now...and I swear if you leave that woopie cushion in my bed one more time, I'm gonna turn your hair yellow and your coat white while your sleeping"

He smirked and just couldn't resist "Well, maybe I should just leave then?"

Twilight halted midpace and did a one-eighty. Her eyes fell on him and exploded into happiness, suddenly she was on top of him in a bone crushing hug that reminded him all too much of five minutes prior. She assaulted his face with kisses and covered ever inch of his muzzle she could get at. The look of sheer joy in her eyes was more than enough to satisfy Daybreak as she cuddled against him on the cold white floor. After a few moments, she remembered where they were and released him to his hooves. Once he was successfully standing, she gently nuzzled his cheek and they started their recap.

"When did you wake up?"

"Five minutes ago, Pinkie Pie hads never been the subtlest with doors...she umm...filled me in on what happened between you and my mother"

Twilights gaze suddenly shifted to disdain and she looked utterly pissed

"You shouldn't call her that?"

That one took Daybreak by surprise, it seemed today was full of them

"Why not Twily?"

Although her gaze did soften a bit at her cute nickname, she still held the venom in her words

"Because she doesn't treat you like a son...especially not when she talked about you earlier...she talked as if you were a criminal, it was all I could do to not lose my temper"

Daybreak raised her an eyebrow and she challenged it

"What?"

"Sounded to me like you didn't really restrain yourself when Pinkie told the story."

Twilight blushed crimson

"How much did she say?"

"I got the detailed yet short version of it, you know Pinkie, but apparently you used some words that made even Rainbow Dash jealous...and proud" he added with a snicker

Twilight face flushed even more

"Well you would have too if you heard the things she said about you"

"Can you blame her Twilight?"

"Yes! I most certainly can blame her!"

Her voice rose to higher and higher pitches the more annoyed she got, he found it so incredibly cute.

"Twilight, I broke into her castle, beat up most of her guards, and then for the icing on the cake, I fought against her and Aunty Luna, to steal a book of unknown and unstable darker powers!"

"To save me! You weren't doing it for personal gain or the 'glory' of defeating Sombra, you did that for me! You should be getting a medal and a feast, not a prison sentence"

He shrugged his shoulders in a way he knew she hated just to get under her skin "Differing view points Twilight"

She was back in front of him in a single teleportation, glaring him directly in the face with the best 'Stare' she could manage, but the moment Daybreak stared back, then smirked, she broke. She burst out laughing and flared out her wings in glee. He loved seeing her like this again, hell...he loved seeing her again in general. After her laughter subsided they had their real talk where they explained what had happened to each of them during their time separate. Daybreaks stories of Shining Star and Aecious clearly captured his loves attention and she felt for him when he described what it was like to watch Aecious die. He made a mental note to find out what happened to everypony later. He also explained everything he and Solar Eclipse had learned together. Solar Eclipse was clearly her favorite topic and she kept wanting to know more, but Daybreak finally managed to subdue her questions with the promise that he would tell her everything once they were home together, as a proper family.

However at the mention of the word family, Twilight's face broke out into blushes again and suddenly she was back to standing up and pacing worriedly. Daybreak wrapped a loving hoof around her neck to stop and comfort her

"What's got your big brain wired love?"

She found difficulty looking him in eyes and instead stared at his sunrise Cutie Mark.

"Well...umm...do remember back before this whole thing started...that night...up in the sky?"

Daybreak recalled exactly which moment she was referring and could understand her blush, she had said some pretty...intense stuff.

"Yeah.."

"Well..do you remember what I said?"

"I believe you were screaming 'I'm your mare, I'm you mare' and 'impregnate me' am I right?"

A pillow suddenly struck his face, followed by another, and another, and then one more before he finally heard Twilight say, with a very obvious blush "You...big...aggghhh"

He chuckled and pulled her close to him in a hug, where she quickly bit his neck in annoyance, not enough to hurt but enough to get the message across and pulled away

"Anyways...do you remember what I said might happen because you were a stallion that night..."

Daybreaks eyes bulged with realization

"No way." he whispered

A piece of parchment was levitated over to him, which he took in his hooves...it confirmed his thoughts with the results on the page, he looked up to see Twilight blushing.

"Daybreak...I'm pregnant"

"SURPRISE!"

"Ahhh!" Twilight and Daybreak yelped in fear

The twin doors flew open to reveal Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie both grasping her party cannon, and firing it's confetti contents straight into Daybreaks and Twilight's faces. Twilight felt her blush intensify as Pinkie and Rainbow danced around them happily

"We both knew before you did dude"

"And we just couldn't resist waiting outside to throw you a big party in celebration!"

"Yeah, by the way, next time, don't take so frickin long to catch up, we've been waiting here for like, ever"

Daybreak merely held the piece of medical parchment in his hooves and stared at the results, he felt...happy. But also a great fear, their life just got a whole lot more complicated.

Author's Notes:

Ok so I lied about two things
1) this isn't the final chapter, the next one is
and 2) the Discord Chrysalis explanation will take place next chapter also
Why you ask? Well...normally I have a good excuse prepared...but let's face the facts...I just plain forgot to add them here, luckily it still works though so life is good

But hey, Twily's pregnant...that's gonna be loads of fun right?...Right?