Breath. Breath is hard to keep when you're at the bedside of the mare you love, wondering if she'll ever wake up. It's something that you cannot live without, and for Athens, he almost forgot what a privilege it was as he once again remembered to breathe.

Soul had performed a heart attack spell on Butterscotch, and the fall to the floor had only made it worse. He had stayed vigil at Butterscotch's bedside for 4 days now. Dark circles seemed to be stained underneath his eyes, "Scotch, come on, you're stronger than this. I mean, look at you. You reclaimed a stolen empire," Athens gently nuzzled her affectionately.

Butterscotch opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, her eyes still adjusting to the light. A familiar face was hovering over her, one who she was grateful to see.

Butterscotch was lying in a hospital room, white linens wrapped around her tightly, providing a sense of warmth in this air conditioned room. The walls were white-washed and as clean as the marble flooring. A radio in the corner was on, tuned in to the news.

"Hello everypony, welcome to our first broadcast in months. You may be asking, 'Why are they back on the air?', well today a rebellion caused the gruesome death of Prince Soul. You heard right, ponies, the tyranny of Soul has come to a close."

"'How?' you say? Well, more good news, Princess Butterscotch has returned. We'll have more information on Soul's death and Butterscotch's return at 11:00."

The radio put on soft music, almost a lullaby. Butterscotch returned her gaze to Athens, opening her mouth and finding her throat pretty dry. After taking a drink from the glass beside her bed, she tried again.

"Is it all over? How's Estelle? Where's dad?" Athens kissed her gently to quiet her.

"Estelle is okay, but she's still resting up. The binding spell took its toll on her, but she was conscious yesterday." Athens stroked Butterscotch's mane, gently smoothing the mess of tangles back.

"But what about dad?" Butterscotch moved a little, but it hurt to move very much. Her heart was still weak.

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that, Soul cast a heart attack spell. It did a lot of damage, but you'll recover soon. As for your father, he's with Estelle in the room next door." He said with a soft smile. He sat back down in the chair by Butterscotch's bedside.

"He doesn't know you are awake yet." he added.

Butterscotch thought for a moment and decided her next question was worthy of a story. "So what happened after I blacked out?" She said quietly.

Athens winced at the question, "Scotch, I may or may not have left him with a knife sticking out of his chest... But to be fair, I thought he had killed you." He smiled gently, but was shocked to hear Butterscotch's reply, "Did you make it hurt?".

"For you, absolutely." He smirked, "I should go get a nurse and tell the staff you're awake." He said before leaving the room.

Several years down the road...

Butterscotch was sitting in her room, excitedly chatting with Estelle, when there was a knock at the door. Athens poked his head in, and then proceeded to trot over to Butterscotch, closing the door.

"Estelle, could I have a moment with Butterscotch?" Estelle put on a giggly smile as if she knew something Butterscotch didn't. Butterscotch cocked an eye in curiosity, but pushed past it and moved over as Athens came to sit next to her.

"Scotch, you've been with me through thick and thin, like the stars that light up my night time when the sun goes to rest, like the rain that washes away my mistakes and gives life to the earth. Ever since the day we met, my life has been a thousand times better. We've been through a lot over the years, but all of that will be insignificant compared to your answer to my next question." Butterscotch's eyes widened as she saw him get down on one knee. He took a small box out and opened it, revealing a small golden bracelet.

"Do you think my mother would like this bracelet?" He asked with a cocky grin. Butterscotch slapped him, but he only laughed, "I'll take that as a no, but in that case... Will you marry me?" Butterscotch smiled with happy tears in her eyes that flowed down her cheeks.

"Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" She laughed and cried as he slid the golden bracelet onto her hoof and adjusted it to fit. She held him tightly and cried into his mane.

"Listen, Scotch," He pulled her back and looked into her eyes. "The tree that holds up our kingdom doesn't have a lot of time, so before it dies, I wanted us to get married in front of it." Butterscotch wiped the tears out of her eyes, "I'd love too." She laughed before giving Athens a long kiss.

Day of the Wedding.

Butterscotch sat quietly in her bedroom while Estelle did her hair. "You know, after this, you'll be a married mare. No going back." Butterscotch just laughed, "I'm not afraid." I-I'm not afraid... The realization took her breath away. She wasn't scared of going through with this, of settling down with Athens and gracing the walls of the castle with the soft pitter patter of foals.

After a while one of her bridesmares knocked on the door before poking her head in, "They're ready for you." She said with a smile before slipping back out. Butterscotch got to her hooves, took a breath to calm herself. "I'm ready for this." two young fillies came over to hold her train as she walked over to the small doors they had set up. The doors opened with magic and Butterscotch walked down the aisle after the flower filly.

As she reached the alter, she turned to look at Athens with the love and affection she felt reflected in his eyes. The bright sunshine shone down through the wilting leaves as the minister spoke and when the time came, Athens slipped a golden bracelet onto her hoof and vice versa.

She felt the magic increase in the air and they sealed their bond with a kiss. The magic between the two exploded with life, a mix of the colors of their magic.

Something unexpected happened, and the grass that was wilting turned green and stood up tall. The tree suddenly turned healthy and young looking. Fireworks went off in the distance as planned and it dazzled the crowd as all became well in the Kingdom of the Fae.