Rainbow awoke to the scent of blood and medicine. She tried to raise herself up, but was pushed back down by a heavy pain that swelled up in her head. She scowled and groaned out in pain, bringing her talon up to rub her temples. Well, she would've, if when she reached up, revealed that the prosthetics were gone. In panic, she used her hind legs to scoot herself back against the wall, righting herself.

She rolled her head around, taking in her surroundings. She was in a white, tiled room with several bits of machinery. Sticking out of her upper foreleg, she saw a wire connected to an IV bag. A constant beeping echoed through the room, which came from a heartrate machine. She was in a bed with green sheets, and was in fact wearing a dull green hospital gown. Other areas of her body, at least the ones she could see around the blanket and the gown, were covered in bandages.

She looked over to the door opening. A doctor entered the room, a clipboard held in his magic aura. He said, "Ah, you're awake, Ms. Dash. How are you feeling?"

"Er, fine? And where am I?"

The doctor set down the clipboard, and began to examine the heartrate machine. "You're in the Canterlot Hospital, brought here after you fell unconscious during the battle."

"For what?", she said. "I feel fine! And what happened to my forelegs?"

"Well, you do now", he said. "When you were brought here, however, you weren't. Internal bleeding, imbedded shrapnel, a few broken bones, and some other small wounds. If you were brought in ten minutes later, I don't think you would've made it. And, as for your prosthetics, they were taken off so we could get at some of the shrapnel."

Rainbows eyes widened, and she looked down at the sheets. "I, I could've died?" She'd always known her job was dangerous, and that she could conceivably die. But, even at the Battle of Pryha, she'd never come so close to death.

"Yeah, but you haven't. A few hours in a magic induced coma, a few good healing spells, and you're fine. Now a day or two resting, some medicine, and you should be good as new."

Rainbow sighed, leaning back. "The miracles of magical healing, eh?"

He let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"So, what exactly happened? I mean, we obviously won, but what exactly happened?"

By this point, the doctor had checked everything, and was just standing by the door. "Well, after that big group of them you convinced to surrender did so, the remaining pockets either followed their example or tried to fight on or escape. Their last hopes were crushed when the Crystal Empire arrived in a bunch of airships." He opened the door, then turned back and said, "Now, I have to go. Even after the quick battle, the hospital is packed. A nurse will be along soon to bring you some dinner. Try to get some sleep."

The next morning, Rainbow awoke to the door being shut. Having gotten her prosthetics reinstalled by the nurse who brought her dinner last night, she was able to sit up much easier. On a tray on the nightstand next to the bed, she found a plate of hospital food. Oatmeal, an apple, and a glass of OJ, which Rainbow reluctantly began to eat. The oatmeal was bland, the apple was soft, and the OJ was pulpy, but it was better than some of the 'food' she had to eat back in her courier days.

Looking up from her food when she heard the door open, she saw her family. Her dad entered first, saying, "Hey, dear. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, dad", she said. "Trust me, this isn't the first time I've been in a hospital, and definably not the worst I've been hurt."

Scootaloo came up to the side of her, a small platter on her back. "Hospital food?"

"Yeah. Tastes like shi-Tastes terrible."

She smiled, sliding the platter onto the nightstand. "Well, your Quartermaster, on our way out of your camp, gave me this. Don't know what it is, but he just said to give it to you." She pulled the cloth off of the platter, and Rainbow grin grew to be a mile wide.

"Bacon!" She practically threw the tray off of her lap, grabbing a particularly large slab of the fatty meat and stuffed it in her maw. After a few pieces down her throat, she looked over at her family, who had developed a universal disgusted look. " *Hurmph* Want some? It's good meat", she said, mouth full of the heavenly meat.

Scootaloo, holding up her hoof over her face, said, "Uh, I'll, uh. I'll pass." Her parents voiced their agreement. Rainbow just shrugged, and continued to eat the pile of meat.

"Your loss." After she polished off of the pile of meat, she said, "So, how have you been? I take it my troops haven't been too much trouble for you?"

"No", her mom said. "Your men have been quite polite and respectful."

While she said this, Rumble said, "The ones we can understand, anyway."

"Well, let's put it this way", Rainbow said, still ripping into the bacon. "My regiment is stationed along the Griffonian border. More of my troops speak equish when compared to others. In fact, consider yourself lucky. If you had gotten one other the regiments by the Zebrican border. I imagine you'd have to get Zecora to translate everything!"

"Am I interrupting something?", a voice outside the room said. Looking past her parents, she was greeted with sight of a demigryph. One wearing a golden breastplate, a royal purple cape, and a golden laurel wreath.

"Ave, Caesar!", she cried out, saluting as best she could in bed.

Meanwhile, her family from Equestria and Rumble just looked at him in confusion. Speaking of Rumble, he said, "Umm, who are you?"

Rainbow, trying not to hiss it out, said, "This is Caesar Diocletian the Reformer, monarch and executive head of the Pryhan Empire."

He held out his paw to her mother, saying, "Hello, Ma'am. You must be Praetor Dashs family, correct? " Rainbow translated for them, and her mom used her wing to shake it back.

"That's right, sir."

After translating for the Caesar, he said to them, "I'm honored. Your daughter is a loyal and dedicated servant of the Empire. You must be very proud."

Rainbow laughed. "You have no idea, Caesar." She then translated what he said to her family. After another round of translated speech, she asked, "So, what are you doing here, Caesar? With, all due respect."

"While Princess Luna promised us rewards for helping them, we hadn't solidified anything. Besides, we still have to deal with the Changelings, and to help our allies make sure they get what was promised. I'm here to formulate that treaty."

Next Chapter: 104~Aftermath (Redux) Estimated time remaining: 22 Minutes