Nausea crashed over Sideralis like an ocean wave hitting the rocks. His skull felt too tight around his brain. He lay still, too afraid to move, slivers of pure agony lancing through his head. Even his horn ached, it throbbed, as though a second heart had grown inside of it.

“Look, I’m telling you, Princess Celestia appeared, I saw her.”

Stout’s voice was muffled, soft, and not far away. Sideralis felt himself start sweating as his headache intensified from the sound. He wasn’t sure that he could bear any sort of conversation, sound, or noise right now.

“I’m not doubting that you saw her, I just can’t explain the method… there needs to be some rational, reasonable explanation for what has taken place. We need to know that we’re not being tricked or that this isn’t some devious ploy—”

“It was her! How dare you say otherwise!”

“I wasn’t there!”

“Twilight, Stout, please, do not raise your voices. Stop that, both of you. Be quiet.”

“I’m just saying that we should take some caution, that’s all… we have enemies.”

“Twilight, it was her… I don’t know how I know, but I promise you, it was her! There were ponies there that knew her… it was her voice, her mannerisms, it was her.”

“Stout, changelings can mimic a pony’s voice, their mannerisms, they can even fool the ponies that know them best—”

“Well, yeah, I did it when I was impersonating Princess Cadance. I had everypony fooled but Twilight.”

“Chrysalis—”

“You know, Twilight, I seem to recall that you were certain that you were right and you were quite put out by nopony listening to you. You were quite hurt as I recall because nopony believed you.”

“Chrysalis, what is your point?”

“My point, oh pontificating purple one, is that you are doing to Stout what was done to you. How does it feel?”

There was a dreadful, but welcomed silence. Sideralis treasured the quiet moment. He wanted to whimper, but was fearful of what the sound might do to his head. The pressure was about to cause his eyeballs to pop out. His legs made feeble kicks against the bed.

“Oh… fuck everything!”

“Twilight Sparkle! That was unacceptable! I will not have swearing in my home! Don’t make me get a bar of soap, young lady! You know I’ll wash your mouth out, I’ve done it before and I will do it again!”

“Sorry, Fluttershy, I’m sorry… Stout, I’m sorry. Everypony, I’m sorry… I—”

Sideralis heard the sounds of sobbing. He lay there, unable to move, unable to do anything, paralysed with pain, hoping and praying that his Auntie Celestia never again used his horn as a means of long distance communication.

“Oh, you poor dear, you’ve been under so much stress… Stout, tell her that you accept her apology, please?”

“Yeah, sure, look, I can’t fault Twilight for being suspicious… Sid and I had a conversation about being paranoid… he is too. They’ve both been hurt… Twilight, let me get you some tissues.”

“So let’s just assume this is, in fact, Princess Celestia. Somehow, she has found a way through Sideralis’ horn to show herself to ponies… we know that Sideralis and Twilight are both different types of alicorns. The Sunny One can’t channel herself through Twilight without Twilight’s head exploding, and it certainly isn’t good for Sideralis either… I doubt that Little Miss Sunshine knows what she did to Sideralis as a consequence of her actions.”

“His nose bled for hours and his left eye turned red with blood… the hospital said that he was okay, even though he was showing symptoms of having a stroke, it wasn’t a stroke… still, he’s been out for a little over two days.”

“Stout, the doctors said they understood physical sickness, not magical. I’m only a nurse and even I know that something is seriously wrong.”

“But we don’t know what it is.”

“No, Chrysalis, we don’t, but I have a feeling that he’ll be okay. Look how fast he has recovered, he’s started walking, his vision is getting better, he’s eating soft solid foods now, he’s made months of progress in weeks… so I have to say that, going by experience, he’ll recover from this.”

“I hope you are right, Fluttershy. I’d hate for his brains to be scrambled.”

Sideralis really wanted a drink… even flavourless water. Just something. Anything. But he couldn’t bear the thought of speaking, not with the way his head hurt. His whole body ached and his stomach churned with pain.

“Twilight, are you okay?”

“No!”

“Oh, Twilight, come here, let me hold you.”

“Ah, love… so much love.”

“Chrysalis, don’t make this creepy. I know you need to eat, but please don’t make things weird for us, okay?”

“Sorry.”

“The council meeting is coming up. I need Sideralis up and on his hooves for it! We need support… we need ponies to start believing again! I keep hearing rumours! Chrysalis keeps telling me stuff that her spy network keeps hearing… it feels like everything is flying apart… it feels like everything is close to being over.”

“Twilight, maybe things are over—”

“Fluttershy, how could you say that?”

“Let me finish… hush Twilight… maybe things are over… maybe this chapter of our lives is done, and what we’re feeling is everything wrapping up. Now it is time for something new to begin. We rescued Sideralis. We followed the plan Princess Celestia and Princess Luna made. Princess Celestia revealed herself… and while I am a teensy weensy bit upset with her for giving Sideralis a big boo-boo, she has clearly shown that she is still in charge and still has a lot of control over the situation. We’ve waited for over twenty years, we have to be patient and wait a little longer… but maybe, just maybe, this time of waiting is over and something new is about to happen. All things have to come to end so that new things can begin.”

Sideralis, even experiencing pain as much as he was, tried to give some thought to Fluttershy’s words. He tried to shove the pain aside so he could think. Twilight might be smart, but Fluttershy was wise. Perhaps there was a reason why he was left with Fluttershy.

“Twilight Sparkle, maybe it is time that you assert your role as a Princess of Equestria rather than just trying to be the commander of the fleet—”

“Chrysalis, don’t start with me right now!”

“Twilight, you can’t run forever! At some point, as heavy as the crown is, you’re gonna have to wear it! Ponies need you! I know this is a sore subject—”

“Damn you, Chrysalis, that is all that Equestria is! A fleet! A few warships, some dirt and a few trees from home, me, some survivors, and that’s it! That’s all we have! All the foals being born now… they’re Saddle Arabians! They have no idea what home is like! They might not even want to go home! Equestria will be a ruin for centuries when we return! It will be uninhabitable! It is all rubble and wreckage! Who will want to live there?”

“I do—”

“Stout—”

“Shut up, Twilight, I was speaking… and Mom, don’t you give me that look, you were the one that taught me it was rude to interrupt other ponies... now, as I was saying, I do. I am not like other ponies. I can live in a ruin. I can survive where other ponies can’t. So can Mjölna. So can Apple Bloom. We are more than machines of war… Mjölna, all by herself, can build a house in a single day. After the fighting is over, we can rebuild. We can make Equestria habitable again. We can give other ponies a home to come home to. The war doesn’t end when the fighting stops… it ends when the last bit of rubble is removed and the mess is all cleaned up. And we C/Equines are the ideal creatures to do that.”

“Stout, you’re an amazing pony.”

“Thank you, Twilight, Fluttershy here had a lot to do with that.”

Sideralis felt tears in his eyes, but not from the pain in his head. In the back of his mind, he was seized with a powerful need, but he wasn’t certain that he could do what needed to be done. But he knew that he had to try.

“I never, ever thought I’d be saying this, but for once, I agree with Queen Chrysalis.”

“Spike?”

“Twilight, I’m sorry. But you owe these ponies more than just being the commander of the fleet. They need a Princess of Equestria… and a Prince right behind her, even if he is now some feeble minded victim of some kind of magical stroke.”

“Spike… I…”

“Twilight, I get it, I really do... You never were comfortable with the whole princess thing. You went on and you lived your life as a normal pony, as if nothing had changed. Look at you now. Look at you! You are a war hero. You’ve survived hundreds of engagements with the enemy! You can boast that you’ve killed thousands, and there is plenty of evidence to back that up! You have gone into impossible situations and you came back out alive. You rescued Sideralis when the entire council believed it was a suicide run. Even when you were ordered to stay here, you took off in The Ouroboros and you proved them wrong, all of them. You assaulted the fortified city of Las Pegasus, you pushed through the enemy ranks, you broke into the vault, found Sideralis, you pulled him out, and you lived to tell the tale. Like it or not, that is some Princess Celestia or Princess Luna level shit—”

“Spike… I’ll get the soap!”

“Sorry… please, not the soap… it slipped.”

“Don’t do it again!”

“Anyway, my point is… Twilight, you are our princess… look at you… you have that little streak of grey in your mane that makes you look dignified. You are all these ponies have, and if they’re forgetting Equestria, it is your fault. You need to be Equestria for these ponies. You need to get them to dream again.”

“Spike, you’re right.”

Hearing Twilight’s words, Sideralis felt something in his heart burn like a little coal. His tail thumped against the bed as he tried to flop around. Moving sent spikes of pain through his head. He needed to move, pain be damned.

“The council is going to come down hard on Twilight for defying their orders. I don’t know what is going to happen, but I keep hearing chatter about something. The council itself is in chaos. I know that some of them want to move on, the dream is over, it’s all said and done, and some ponies just want to forget about Equestria, pick up the pieces, and begin again. They believe that we’re fighting a war that we can’t win. They honestly believe that if we sue for peace with Mariposa and give her Equestria as the new changeling homeland, that she will let the rest of the world live in peace.”

“Chrysalis… we all know if left in peace, Queen Mariposa would build an army that would overrun the world eventually. Right now, she keeps her army sequestered within Equestria because she is fearful of Twilight’s attacks.”

“Correct, Spike, which is why we need to keep attacking and engaging Mariposa’s forces. It’s like lancing a boil or a cyst to relieve the pressure.”

“Gross!”

“Sorry Fluttershy.”

“One time, Twilight had a pilonidal cyst on her dock and I had to pop it—”

“Fluttershy…”

“Oh, sorry.”

There was a soft meep followed by a lot of groans of disgust.

“Twilight was big baby about that too, now that I think about it. I had to run around after her, begging and pleading with her, chase her down, and I had to get help so I could take care of it. I think Twilight might have some issues—”

“Okay… I get it! I get it! I have some problems asking for help and looking after myself! SHEESH! I give up, I surrender, I submit! Just stop talking about my enormous butt boil!”

After a great deal of effort, Sideralis slid off of the bed and stood on wobbling legs, his knees knocking together, and his tail whipping his sides. He took a few unsteady steps, fought to remain upright, and headed towards the door, which was ajar.

“We need to be ready for anything at the council meeting tomorrow.”

“I agree, Spike. That is why Stout, Mjölna, and Apple Bloom are going to be there.”

Sideralis nosed the door, his muzzle hitting the edge of the wooden door caused his head to ring with hundreds of bells. He almost fainted from the pain. The door opened, and he pushed his way into the hallway.

“Oooh, Stout, be careful, I get so worried when you go into danger!”

“Mom… I don’t even know how to respond to that. I don’t run from danger, danger runs from me. The only thing that is remotely dangerous in my life is Sideralis, and he’s a big fussy root beer drinking baby.”

“Who kicked a five hundred pound cybernetic pony out of his bed somehow.”

“I’ll admit, hearing that surprised me.”

“You and me both, Chrysalis.”

“Spike and Chrysalis are getting chummy, what is the world coming to?”

“Keep flapping those lips, Stout… keep flapping those lips.”

Sideralis stumbled down the hallway, moving towards the living room, his tail flicking with almost every laboured step. Each muscle in his body screamed and his vision slid in and out of focus. He moved through the archway and into the living room, making jerky, agonised steps.

“What the fuck?”

Sideralis winced at Twilight’s exclamation. Her voice was like white hot metal shards inside of his brain. There was a thump as a five hundred pound cybernetic mare moved with an alarming amount of speed for being so bulky and heavy.

There was a flash of yellow in the corner of Sideralis’ vision, he could not make out what it was. Something orange flashed and he felt the pull of the world relax. He felt himself pulled into a warm, fuzzy embrace. He closed his eyes and went limp.

Sideralis felt something cold and metal against his ribs. He cracked open one eye and saw Fluttershy, she had a stethoscope and was listening with an intent expression upon her face. He felt his fetlock being grabbed and then something was pressed just under his jaw.

“I’ve found his mandibular artery, be quiet, I’m trying to check his pulse,” Fluttershy said.

Sideralis felt his tail being pulled. He let out a faint, soft, pained whinny and then something cold and slippery was pushed inside of him as he was lowered onto his back. He lay there, unable to do much else.

“Fluttershy?” Stout asked.

“Pulse is fifty six beats a minute, it’s a little elevated,” Fluttershy replied.

After a moment, Sideralis felt something pulled from his backside, leaving him feeling greasy, slippery, and squishy just under his dock. Sideralis didn’t like the feeling, not in the slightest.

“And his temperature is at one hundred and two, which is a teensy weensy bit high. He’s had higher, though.” Fluttershy’s voice was filled with soft worry. “Sideralis, is there anything you want?”

Sideralis tried to nod, but felt as though his head was going to explode. He licked his dry lips, his tongue felt like sandpaper on his cracked, parched lips, which had felt moist when he had woken up a while ago, or at least moister than they felt now. He took a deep breath, looked up into Fluttershy’s eyes, and then managed to say two words.

“Root beer...”

Author's Notes:

Soon...