Sunshine was curled up as best as he could in the hospital bed, which wasn't much with the I.V. in his right fore-leg, and the wastebasket by his bedside and a vomit tray by his head. His nose stopped running after the doctors put him under for who knows how long, but the pain was still there, evident by his sore throat, cramps, and wet fur under his eyes. His mane seemed to have lost some of its waviness and even the color seemed dull.

Feeling another fit of shaking, he hugged himself on the stomach, the area now with a small bruise forming on it, and spit into the vomit tray. Shaking again, he heard the door opening but didn't try and lift his head.

"Hey, Sunshine," Eris said slowly walking in. "Feeling any better?"

He groaned in response, feebly shaking his head.

"Sorry to hear that," she said pulling up a chair to his bed. "Doctors say it was food poisoning. Apparently six other patients came in like you, well, they weren't as bad. How much did you eat?" She asked laughing shallowly.

"A-All... of it..." He got out.

She shook her head and, going on instinct, grabbed one of his hooves in her paw and held it. He squeezed it lightly, and she smiled at him which he tried to do but stopped when he began coughing. Putting her talon on his back, she gently rubbed it trying to comfort him while he held her paw.

"Why am I always the one taking you to the hospital?" She asked feeling her throat tighten.

"You're... nice like that..." He said pushing his head further up on his pillow. "Throat... hurts."

"I couldn't imagine why after vomiting so bad, or the tube they used to pump your stomach." She said letting go of his hoof to rub his leg. "You know, Luna has a date with Macintosh."

His heartbeat on one of the monitors by his side spiked momentarily while he visibly tensed up. She snorted at the feeble attempt at looking angry but than just started to feel the tears come. Hot and stinging her eyes at first, she cried into her hands when she felt his hoof slowly pull her to his chest where she could hear his shallow breathing.

"It'll... be fine." He said. " Water?" He said looking at the cup by his bed.

She looked up and, holding the straw steady for him, watched as he winced when it hit his throat, but he still drank slowly until half of it was gone. Setting it aside, he just looked up at her while she shook.

"You look good." He said . "I like your shirt."

Smiling at him, she looked down at her shirt which she had soaked with tears and straightened the wrinkles out. He reached out with his hoof again and she took it with both her claw and paw. Putting it to her fore-head, she let him brush her hair back until he brought her in for a short hug.

"Where's Luna going?" He asked letting her go to spit in his pan. "Ouch."

"His house so they can stargaze from his room." She said watching as his heart monitor piked again. "Don't worry, he's only looking at the celestial bodies in the sky, not under her shorts."

"He better." He said snorting that threw him into a small coughing fit. "Sorry about earlier."

"Sorry?" she said looking at him like he was crazy. "What do you have to be sorry for? I'm not the one laying in the hospital bed."

"Sorry," he spit again. "For scaring you. That shirt really brings out your eyes." He said turning his head enough for her to see his smile.

She blushed at the compliment and lightly hit him in the shoulder. As he coughed again, she held her fist where she had hit him and stifled a painful squeak.

"Sunshine," she said grabbing his attention from the vomit tray by his head. "Last night, at the castle, when I told you that I thought you were... You know." She said blushing again. "How did you mean charming? As a friendly way or... more than friendly?" She asked looking at him from behind her hair.

"I'm still trying to figure that one out myself." He said smiling. "I'm liking the ladder though."

She froze, not breathing but just looking into his eyes when she had raised her head. Reaching out, she brushed his mane away before leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek. It was short, loving, and enough for the both of them when she looked away as he blushed and closed his eyes.

"I need to rest." He said. "Talking is... tiring me out. See you later." He said sucking in a breath that she guessed was a yawn.

"You know, I would make a joke about kissing you," she started making sure he was still listening. "But I'm sure your mouth still tastes like vomit. I'll visit later, you just drink your fluids and rest."

Peeling herself off the chair, she took one last glance at him before going through the door and closing it. Standing in the hall with her paw still on the handle, and her head against the glass of the door, she let her paw slide off so she could begin trudging back to the lobby where the others were.

Passing the doctors and nurses on the night shift, they smiled and nodded to her as they went from room to room. Passing the sign-out desks, she pushed the double doors into the lobby open. Immediately, Twilight, Luna, Spike and their friends, even the Crusaders were there in the late hours, waiting to hear from her.

"How is he? Is he awake?" Luna asked running to the side of Eris who sat down and nodded. "Did he say anything?"

"He said he liked my shirt. That it brought out my eyes." She said casually. "He asked where you were going tonight."

She nodded and, threatening to break into crying herself, let Macintosh hold her. Twilight and the others looked just as downtrodden as Eris, and almost as bad as Luna who was trying her best not to lose her composure.

Breaking the sad moment, a portly green stallion came barging into the lobby with a piece of paper and a miffed look on his face. Spotting Twilight, the only other alicorn in the room who wasn't crying besides Cadance, he went up to her and shoved the piece of paper towards her.

"Who are you? What is this?" She asked looking at the slip of paper."A receipt? What do you want me to do with a receipt?" She asked trying to give it back.

"It's the bill for chowder head in there." He said nodding towards the double doors. "I kicked him out before he could pay for his food, now I want my bits."

"Are you crazy?" Eris said looking up at him with a disgusted scowl. "He got food poisoning from your garbage."

"Yeah, but he still ate my garbage," he said making the others who were near him back away like he was infected with some disease. "Who are you? His girlfriend?"

"No!" she snapped. "But I am concerned about his health. And you should be concerned for the other six ponies you gave food poisoning from eating your food."

"Them? They paid before they left," he said making Luna glare at him. "Cool it your majesty, it's just business. You can understand that, right?"

"I can understand your a greedy pig with no respect for those around you." She said snorting. "My brother is in emergency care because of you, the least you could do is wait until he gets out before you start trying to haggle his bits off him."

"Hey, is it my fault that garbage disposal decided to-"

He was sent flying into the other wall opposite of them when Eris punched him square int he jaw, angry tears going down her face as her knuckles cracked by themselves. He got up, disoriented at first but soon he came to his sense when he spit out his three front teeth.

"Don't you ever call him that again." She hissed with a seething anger that shook her body, her whole face turning red. "Or I'll make you eat the rest of your teeth, you overweight lard-ball."

"Hey! Hey, she just assaulted me!" He yelled looking at Luna while pointing at Eris, the whole time spraying blood each time he spoke. "Aren't you going to arrest her? She just assaulted me!"

Looking at Eris, Luna went up to the shaking pony, put a hoof on his shoulder that made him jump, and headbutted him to the floor. Flipping her mane out of her eyes, she left the unconscious cook to lay in his own blood coming from his mouth and fore-head.

"I extremely wish we could still hang ponies like him." She said sitting by Eris. "Guards!" She yelled and coming in the doors, two of her lunar guard stopped to salute her, neither of them paying any attention to the bloody mess on the floor. "Take that piece of trash outside and put him where he belongs, and as for his eatery, have more guards search his building for any unusual ingredients, check his orders with the amount of food pumped from the patients, and question his employees."

Without a word, the two guards dragged the cook outside and another two outside flew off towards the castle, leaving him to bleed by the dumpsters behind the building.

"Thank you, Luna," Eris said inspecting her bloodied and bruised knuckle. "I couldn't help myself... when he just kept talking about him like he was just another lost profit... I just..."

"None of us blame you." Luna replied rubbing her arm. "If it were me who had the first punch, I would have liked to see if his stomach could be put into his head."

"Unbelievable," Twilight said tearing the receipt up. "How could a pony just be so disrespectful towards somepony who can barely lift their head? Now I remember why I don't care for Canterlot so much."

"Fluttershy," Eris said grabbing the upset pegasai's attention. "I think I'll stay with Luna tonight. Is that okay with either of of you?"

"Oh, you take as much time as you need." Fluttershy said. "I understand."

"My home is just as much as your home, Eris." Luna said draping a wing over the distressed goddess. "Are you ready to go? Or would you like to calm down first?"

"I am calm." She said glaring at Luna. "I-I just need some rest. That's all."

"We all need rest." She said taking her wing off. "You all may go home, there's nothing we can do until the morning. I wish you all a goodnight."

Teleporting herself with Eris in tow, Luna planted the two of them in her room.

Luna's Bedchambers

Taking off her jacket, Luna kept on her shirt and just stared blankly at her regalia she had forgotten earlier. Sitting on the bed next to Eris, the goddess was looking down at her knees, small tears dropping from her chin as she silently wept. Luna put a hoof on her back and tried to comfort her by rubbing her, but she just gently pushed her hoof away.

"I'm... I don't know what I'm going to do." Eris said wiping her eyes dry. "Sunshine is in the hospital, again, I just punched a pony and threatened to make him eat his teeth, and I don't even feel bad about it. What's wrong with me?" She asked looking desperately at Luna.

"I don't think anything is wrong with you," she said forcing Eris into a wing-hug. "You were just protecting him. He's obviously close to you, but do you realize how close?" She asked making Eris slouch even more.

"I asked him if he thought I was charming as a friend or in a more than friendly way. He said the latter, but... He had so much medicine in him, I'm not sure if he even knew what he was talking about. And I don't even know what I think about him, I mean... I kissed him on the cheek, but it was in the heat of the moment."

"Give it time." She said looking at Eris. "He may have just been saying what he wanted to, or something to calm you down. I was the only one I believe, who heard a small sobbing coming from the hall when I tried and force my way through the medical staff."

"How did they stop you?" Eris said looking at the bashful alicorn.

"Sedative." She said quietly. "A lot of sedatives."

"I've seen you angry, they must have had to have used enough to take down an elephant." She said smiling.

"Look, that's the Draconequus I like to see. Happy, smiling, and constantly irritating me." Luna said patting her on the back. "Go to bed, I need my privacy if I'm to go into the dreamscape."

"Dreamscape?" Eris said looking at the alicorn close here eyes. "Wait, how do you do that? Look at a ponies dream?"

"Not just look into it, go into it, become a living part of it." She said suddenly staring at Eris quizzically. "Why do you want to know how to-oh. You want to see how Sunshine is doing." She said watching as Eris's face became even more desperate.

"Please?" She asked cupping her hands. "I just want to make sure he's not having any sort of nightmares. The last thing I want, that any of us want is for him to start choking on his own spit while he's asleep. I'm not asking for you to do this for me, I'm asking you to do this for him."

"Even now you still have your silver tongue," Luna said shaking her head. "But now you use it with a heart of gold. I will pass on my knowledge of dream walking to you, but only until he may come home."

"Thank-"  Eris was thanking Luna when she shot a small ball of blue light, the color of the sky right into her head. "My head!" She hissed grabbing the sides of her head. "What did you just do? Woah."

Looking around, the entire landscape before her was just black with small points of light speckling around into a web of stars. Even below her, the ground if there was one, was the same darkness with the same lights.

"Luna?" She called out feeling small in this new world. "Luna, where am I supposed to go?"

"Do you see the crimson dream? The brightest on to your left?" Luna asked appearing beside the goddess. "Welcome to the dreamscape."

Looking to her left, Eris looked at the multitude of dreams and, picking out one that seemed darker than the rest. Going towards that one, what seemed like miles turned into a few steps to the light which grew larger until it wasn't a light, but his outline, laying there in the hospital bed.

"How do I look in?" She asked knowing Luna was by her side.

"Touch the figure, and you should be able to go into the dream." She said. "If you wish to exit, just call for me."

Putting her paw on the figure's shoulder, the world went white momentarily before it was replaced by a dark forest. Looking around, the air was warm, the moon was shining through in some spots, the vegetation wasn't overgrown like the Everfree, but there was still some similarities.

"Luna!"

Looking towards the direction of the voice, Eris tried to creep by the plants but found she simply passed through them. Speeding up a little, she was passing through a tree when she saw, through a hole in it, Celestia standing in a small clearing clearly distressed as she called for her sister.

"Luna! This game is not amusing anymore!" She said calling out to nothing. "Luna!"

"Game? I like games."

Celestia froze, her wings outstretched slightly while she lowered her horn. Looking up from the hole she was in, Eris saw her male counterpart laying in a tree, watching in amusement as the alicorn spun in circles.

"Where are you?" She demanded.

"Just look up."

As she looked up, she gasped and backed away, watching as Discord stood up on a branch and walked to the underside of it. He smiled at her all the while turning his head to get a better angle on her.

"Aren't you a strange little pony?" He said walking in the air and to the ground while his head stayed in the same position. "Wings and a horn. Interesting." He said taking off his head and visibly disturbing the alicorn as he put  it back on.

"What are you, beast?" She asked circling the clearing while he did the same opposite of her.

"Me? I'm a Draconequus. Only one of my kind, and running for best looking one this year." He said making a mirror come into existence.

"How did you do that?" She asked taking a few cautious steps toward him. "You created that mirror from nothing. How did you do that without your horns glowing? I never saw any magic."

"How?" He said stomping on the ground twice so that a hole formed. "Maybe later."

As he disappeared, she ran to where the hole was and pawed at it lightly. Looking at it from  her hole in the tree, Eris smiled knowing her past self was right behind her, his head just over her shoulder.

As Celestia turned, she fell on her plot when she saw Discord standing there, looking down at her. She had a small blush on her face that he smiled at. Sticking his talon out, she flinched away but slowly took it, letting him help her up.

"How I did it, was through the use of chaos." He said. "All the disorder that's around us, from an acorn disturbing a pile of leaves to a dragon smashing mountains. Just making some objects is hardly any show of my power, do you want to see something really, really, chaotic?"

She hesitantly nodded, and watching the fluff on his tail form two fingers, snap and suddenly it was daytime. Looking up in shock, she saw the sun high above them, no sign of the moon or stars was there anymore.

"That is not possible..." She said putting a hoof to her chest. "Only my sister and I should be able to move the sun and moon. How did you accomplish that so easily?"

"Oh, practice and a large amount of chaos. Speaking of which, I just got a huge surge of for doing that." He said patting her head. "You know, this is so unlike me, I never told you my name, did I? I'm Discord."

"Celestia." She said smoothing her mane out. "Discord, you haven't seen my sister have you? An alicorn like me but only blue?"

"So that's what you are." He said rubbing his chin where a beard was beginning to grow. "Why, yes as a matter of fact I did while I was away. She's right here."

Tapping the ground again, a blue alicorn came flying out, did a roll across the ground and stopped just at the edge of a bush. Getting up, she looked around and spotting Discord by her sister, fired a small beam of blue magic. He took it smiling, letting his body become encased in ice as he gave a peace sign.

"Luna, why did you do that to Discord?" Celestia asked looking at the frozen Draconequus.

"It was-Discord?" She said staring at her sister as if she had grown a second head. "It has a name?"

"Yes, and it also has feelings." Discord said walking out from behind the ice. "Sorry to give you to give you the cold shoulder there. Very rude of me. Your sister here has told me so many fascinating things about you, Luna!" He said teleporting above her.

Scrambling out from under him, she glared at her sister who was smiling.

"You told this thing of me?" She hissed at her elder. "Why?"

"All he knows is that you are my sister. I told him nothing else."

"She told me you're an alicorn," Discord said landing next to her. "And that you're blue. You know, without the horn, wings and mane, you would probably look like a blue chihuahua."

Before either of them could ask what that was, he plucked her wings, horn, and mane off. Luna was feeling her bald head before she began jumping up to try and reach her missing body parts, Celestia though, had a wing over her face hiding her laughter.

"Give me my body parts back!" Luna said turning red in the face from anger and embarrassment. "You will hang for such an offense!"

Rolling his eyes, he brought her up to his eye level and put her wings on backwards, screwed her horn back on, and put her mane back where it was. When she tried to fly, she shot herself backwards in an attempt to ram him. Landing in a tree, she stood on a branch and took a deep breath just as he put her wings back on the right way.

"Fix my wings you vile creature or feel my wrath!" She yelled in The Royal Canterlot Voice.

Cupping his paw and claw over his mouth, he began yelling back but just nowhere close to her volume.

"Come and make me, moon-butt!"

Gritting her teeth, she turned around and with a flap of her wings, went further into the tree. Poking her head out, she had a bat covering her eyes that soon flew off showing how red in the face she had become. Down below, Celestia was laughing openly now, making her sister blush more from embarrassment than anger towards Discord.

"Luna, I think I'm ready to go. He's just dreaming." Eris said watching as the dream went away in a white flash only to be replaced by Luna's room.

Looking around, she saw the still clothed alicorn with her eyes closed and her horn glowing. waving a paw in front of her face, Luna did nothing, poking her didn't elicit any reaction either. Grinning, Eris brought out a yellow paint can and brush, dipping the brush in, she painted a yellow mustache on her that contrasted highly with her dark blue coat.

Teleporting away, Eris left a pony-sized mirror in front of Luna before she left.

Sunshine's Bedchambers

Standing int he empty room, Eris hugged herself, feeling suddenly cold. Looking at the balcony doors, she saw they were closed and no breeze was coming in, evident from the curtains remaining still. Looking at the bed, undisturbed since that morning. Taking off her shirt, she threw that to the floor and climbed in.

Getting under the comforter, she still felt cold, so rolling to the other side, an unfamiliar scent hit her nose. It was musky, like after she had jogged for a minute when she was still Discord, but it also had a cinnamon spice to it. As she was breathing it in, she shot up in the bed and blushed even as the chills went away.

"Is that Sunshine?" She said to herself. "Why am I smelling where he was laying?"

"Yes, why are you smelling the spot where a buff, handsome, stallion was laying next to you only hours ago? That's the billion bit question for tonight."

Looking at the mirror by the bathroom, she spotted her conscience grinning back at her from the edge.

"I'm guessing you had something to do with what I did at the hospital? The kiss on the cheek, the punch, and the threat?" Eris asked pulling the comforter further up on herself.

"Actually, like a thousand years ago," her conscience said frowning at her. "You didn't listen to me. You did all that on your own."

"Well, I'm listening now." Eris said laying back. "Any chance you could tell me what I really think of him?"

"Me?" She asked pointing at herself. "I just help make decisions. What you think about him is up to you."

"Than it looks like I'm back to square one." She said letting her head fall back into the pillow. "He's still like a friend but at the same time I feel attracted to him in some ways, but not actually attracted to him like I would if I was in love."

"You have never been in love, so maybe you're mind is just conflicted about the prospect of being in love. And could you stop breathing in his scent on the pillow? It's weird."

"I'm not doing it on purpose." Eris said turning over. "It's not my fault this was where he was laying before."

"You can help where you're laying though." Her conscience said making Eris shake a fist at her from the bed. "Just admit it, you're scared about the thought of him not here."

"I am not!" She said raising herself to glare at her conscience. "What do I have to be scared of? I can control the sun and moon, warp reality, and-"

"Have no experience of any kind talking to a mare or stallion in terms of all that mushy goo-goo stuff that ponies seem to like these days. You're scared because you don't know what to say, what he'll say, or what he might do."

"You know what?" Eris said raising the pillow above her head. "I'm not listening to you anymore."

She put her head on the mattress and kept the pillow over her head, but each time she took a breath, Sunshine's smell invaded her sense, slowly putting her to sleep.

"You're going to try and ignore me on purpose?" Her conscience said waking her up.

"Are you going to let me go to sleep?" Eris asked not even bothering to look out from under the pillow.

"I might or might not," she replied. "If you let me make one small decision for you, I'll consider going away."

"What is that?"

"If you let me move you to the other side of the bed. Really, you're just staying on that side because that's where he was."

"It's warm here and the room is freezing. Leave me alone." Eris grumbled lifting the pillow so she was laying her head sideways on it.

"See you in the morning, and all through the night." Next Chapter: A mystery under the veil. Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 20 Minutes