Neon Pink
For Nick
Who invariably gives me nothing but positivity, every day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
35 days before
I burst into the hospital room, my eyes wide and my face covered in sweat. The unicorn doctor and Pinkie Pie turn their heads, surprised. Pinkie's lying in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown. It might just be me, but she looks more tired than usual.
"Who let you in?" says the doctor, somewhat shocked but trying keeping a calm expression. I barely notice him.
"Pinkie Pie!" I say, maybe a little louder than I need to. "I heard. Are you okay?"
Pinkie Pie nods, smiling. "I'm alright, Dashie. The doctor was just finished giving me his diagnosisisisis." She turns to look at him. "Pretty neat timing, huh?"
The doctor recovers and gets his formal tone back. He says, "You can stay, Rainbow Dash, but you have to remain quiet and respectful. We promised Pinkie she could rest without being disturbed."
"Oh, Rainbow Dash isn't a disturbance, she's my friend!" said Pinkie. I sit down and do my best to calm down.
The doctor turns to me. "You should know that Pinkie Pie has a serious illness that was the cause of the stroke. We'll need to keep her here a while for treatment. I'll leave you two alone," he says, walking out.
I walk up to Pinkie's bedside, and we give each other a hug. "I'm so glad that you're okay," I say.
We pull out of the hug, but I still hold her hoof tightly, like I'm worried what might happen if I let it go. Pinkie keeps her smile on. "I'm glad I'm okay too. Having a stroke isn't very fun. Thanks for coming, I hope you weren't busy with anything."
I'm actually supposed to be clearing the sky right now, but in light of the emergency, Thunderlane agreed to cover for me. I smile back at her.
"Are you kidding?" I say. "If anypony I care about needs me, I'm right there."
We stay like that for a while. We talk about little things, like what I've been up to today and Pinkie's plans that had to be cancelled because of what happened, but our being here with each other is the important thing. Pinkie's being not just being comforted, she's comforting me, too. When Ditzy Doo told me Pinkie Pie had had a stroke and she was in the hospital, I was scared. More scared than I've ever been of anything before. The idea that Pinkie was in serious trouble and I couldn't do anything about it was almost too much for me to take. Almost.
The door opens behind me, and I turn to see the rest of our friends coming in with worried expressions. They relax a little when they see Pinkie with her usual grin.
"We came here as soon as we could, Pinkie Pie!" says Twilight. "Are you okay?"
Pinkie nods. "I'm fine, everypony. I'm feeling a lot better now, but the doctor said that I shouldn't do any walking until they know it's okay." The way she looks at her friends is enough to cheer up anyone. I feel like we all need that right now. It's a strange situation, but as long as Pinkie feels okay, we can treat it like any other hangout.
"What did the doctor say happened?" Rarity asks.
Pinkie explains everything she knows, and I'm surprised at how much medical jargon she remembers. I think she's quoting him word-for-word. As talks, it's like the room gets progressively darker. The bits I can understand don't sound good, and the way Twilight's expression changes, I can tell that it's serious. Twilight's having trouble making eye contact, looking at the ground constantly. Pinkie finishes, and we all sit in silence for some time.
I turn to Twilight, feeling embarrassed. "Can you explain what that means, in a way I can understand?"
Twilight doesn't look at me, but she replies. "Pinkie's condition has to do with a lung infection. It's uncommon, there are only a handful of cases in ponies each year. There's no sure-fire cure, and three times out of ten it can be..." her voice shakes a bit. "...fatal."
It's a good thing I'm sitting down, because if I weren't those words would have knocked me over. Pinkie Pie has a potentially fatal disease. It gave her a stroke today. She can die soon. These thoughts run through my head and I can't stop them, I can't hold back the feelings they're bringing. I'm afraid, I'm terrified, and I can't believe any of this. I barely register that there's conversation going on until Pinkie taps my shoulder.
"Rainbow Dash?" she says. "Are you okay?" I'm suddenly aware of everypony else again. They're all staring at me. I can feel myself blushing.
"Uh, what?" I say, glancing at them in turn. Applejack gives me a reassuring look.
"Rainbow, try not to worry too much. I've seen Pinkie pull off all sorts of crazy things, and I'm sure she'll be able to bat this thing down like it's nothing. Right, everypony?" Everyone in the room cheers and says something positive, and I can smile again. Of course Pinkie's gonna be okay. She's always okay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30 days before
I'm tired, but I can't sleep. I've been in bed for an hour, but it's like my body and my mind disagree on whether I should be awake. I usually drift off easily, but It's been getting harder every night since Pinkie was hospitalized. I'd hoped she might get out by now, but there's no such luck. The doctor's diagnosis and Twilight's affirmation were right, and her life is currently at risk. I stop by to see her every day, at least for a little while, usually for about an hour.
At one point, she said it hurt. I asked her what hurt, and she motioned across a wide part of her chest. I asked her how bad it hurt, and she said:
"It's really bad, Dashie. Worse than most pain I've felt before. But you and the girls coming in so often for my sake makes it easier to bear. Thank you so much."
It's almost funny. When I think about her circumstance right now, it makes me scared, nervous, and sad. But when I think of her as a pony, and think about anything she says, it makes me feel so good inside. I remember how it feels to be near her and it's like just remembering gives me a little hint of that amazing feeling. I'm calm thinking of who she is. I love who she is.
I can sleep now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
28 days before
"You ready, Rainbow Dash?"
I nod at Cloud Kicker, and we get started on kicking the clouds. Some rogue Everfree clouds came over the fields just outside Ponyville today and we were sent to deal with the problem. We both fly left and right, swiftly bucking each gray cloud that would threaten to rain on today's sunny parade. This is pretty fun, and it's something for me to focus on. I get worked up when I don't have anything to do. That's when I start thinking, and lately my thoughts aren't very nice things to have.
Focus, Rainbow Dash.
We're almost done. I have an agreement with the rest of the weather ponies that whenever we're clearing the skies, I always get to destroy the last cloud, and do a cool trick at the same time. As soon as Cloud Kicker gets the second to last one, I go into my maneuver. I start pulling up into a loop. I'll reach my peak right above the cloud, then start spinning as I mirror my upward path going down towards—
"Hey, Dashie!"
As the voice of my marefriend hits my ears, I feel three things: curiosity, pure excitement, and a dangerous loss of control. I bail out of the maneuver and readjust my flight path so as to not break my face when I make the now-neccessary landing. I brace for impact, and... slide across the ground, stopping unharmed. Nice. There's a reason I'm the best. Now, I need to talk to somepony. I signal Cloud Kicker to get the cloud, then turn to face the pony that nearly got me another two weeks with a cast.
"Pinkie Pie!" I exclaim. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be getting treatment for your disease."
Pinkie's wearing her normal happy, energetic grin that I haven't seen since she had her stroke. It seems like she's back to normal. She makes her smile even wider as she walks up to me.
"The doctors said I was free to go! They said I still have to keep track of my activities and eating, and keep them in a certain range, and a bunch of other stuff, but unless something else serious happens, I'm finally out of that old bed. I feel a lot better, too!" She puts a hoof on her chest, where her lungs are. "I can't jump or run as much anymore, and I have to stick to a lower calorie diet until they're sure it's completely gone, but I can go back to my job at Sugarcube Corner, sleep in my own bed, and visit my friends when I want again!"
"I'm happy for you, Pinkie Pie," I say.
I'm happy for myself, too. I've been so worried about her. It's like I've been carrying something heavy for a long time, and now I can finally put it down. I feel elated to have her back with me. I guess it's not like she was really gone. She just wasn't at her best. She still isn't, really. I have to remind myself that she's not completely through with this yet. Having her here, though, able to walk with me after so long, is the best thing in the world.
My stomach rumbles, and Pinkie sticks out her hoof. "Do you want to go get something to eat?" she says. "It's almost one o' clock."
I turn around and see that Cloud Kicker is gone. She must have gone back into town. I take Pinkie's hoof in mine. "Yeah, that sounds great." We go off to have a nice, relaxing afternoon together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
23 days before
"You know, you really should be more careful."
I don't know where I am or what's going on. Everything is dark, and my future is uncertain, all because of this crazy pony. I'm starting to regret letting her get so close to me, but it's too late now. I have to be brave.
"Pinkie, the reason I keep bumping into things is because you put this blindfold on me!" She holds my hoof to guide me, but I keep running into trees or bushes or stepping on rocks. I'm not really getting hurt, but this could be easily avoided if she didn't insist that—
"It has to be a surprise! If you didn't have this blindfold I let you borrow, it would completely spoil it."
"Let me borrow? Pinkie, you popped out of a bush, said, 'here, put this on!' and then, without letting me say anything, blindfolded and kidnapped me."
"You know, if you didn't like it, you could have just taken the blindfold off."
Fair enough.
"We're here!" She removes my blindfold, and my eyes take a second to adjust. When I can see again, my mouth drops open. We're in a small clearing outside of the woods. There is absolutely nothing noteworthy about this place whatsoever, except the small hill with a steep drop that's too short to be called a cliff but too tall to be a mound. The grass is a normal shade of green, there are as many living things here as anywhere else, and there's no amazing sight to be seen right now. Yet this is one of the greatest places in Equestria.
"It's this place! The clearing!" I say. "I can't believe you found it!" Pinkie grins, and I can tell she's resisting the urge to jump around me in a circle.
"I know! I can't believe I found it either! But I had to find something to do, and everypony was busy today, and since most of my in-town alone pastimes involve some kind of acrobatics, I decided to try taking a hike! And it's the most amazing thing, because I followed the trail and took a few random lefts and rights and suddenly I was standing right..." She moves to a certain spot near the entrance of the clearing. "... here! You remember why this place is so special, right?"
I roll my eyes. "Of course I remember, Pinkie Pie..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
286 days before
What a day! It's late in the afternoon, and I've been working really hard. I'm just gonna rest on this cloud here and get a well-deserved break from being awesome while moving, and just be awesome sitting still. Every time you go to rest on a cloud, it's like a nice surprise, because you never remember just how good it feels. You can just lay down, let your eyes shut, really relax, maybe take a nice, long—
"Hey, Dashie!"
She startles me so much she makes me literally jump off of my cloud. My wings start flapping automatically so that I can hover effortlessly. Turning around, I see that my perfect cloud has been destroyed, and the bouncy pink spot responsible is on the ground in the clearing below me. What's Pinkie Pie doing out here? I picked this spot randomly and it seems like the perfect place to get some alone time. Oh, well. I might as well see what she wants. I fly down and land next to her.
"Pinkie, you startled me! What do you want?" I think I'm a little too harsh, because her smile quickly becomes more shaky and less happy.
"I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something," she says. Is that sweat? Why is she so nervous?
"What is it?" My voice comes out concerned. I guess I am concerned. After all, I care about Pinkie more than I'd like to admit, and probably more than is good for me. She looks down and stamps the ground a couple of times with her hoof, while I stare at her expectantly. Is she being... shy? Pinkie Pie has done some surprising things in the time I've known her, but being shy is the most surprising thing I've seen her do. She's never been afraid to speak her mind. What could she possibly be unwilling to tell me?
"Rainbow Dash, will you go out with me?"
"YES!" Oh, shoot, did I say that out loud? Quick, cover it up, play it off. "I mean, uh, I might want to. Why do you ask?" Great, now I sound like a jerk.
Pinkie Pie seems more comfortable now that she's heard my thoughts. "Because I like you, Dashie! I mean, I like every pony, but I like you In a more special way. So I was thinking we could get something to eat, and maybe talk about things, but do it in a romantic way, like in all those dreams Rarity tells us she has."
Celestia help me if I live one of Rarity's dreams. Right now, I'm busy with one of mine. It's time for the part where I say something really cool and accept her invitation.
"Yeah, sure, that sounds fun." I guess that could have gone worse.
"Yay! Thanks, Dashie!" She wraps her front hooves around me in a hug. I notice it's different from the hugs she normally gives me. This one's softer, gentler, like I'm fragile and she's worried she might break me. After a second I decide to return the hug. When we're done, Pinkie scratches the back of her neck. Suddenly, she points to the western horizon.
"Oh look, the sun is setting! Can we go watch from the top of that hill?"
"Sure, I guess."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
23 days before
"...After the sun had set, we both realized that neither of us knew the way back, and so we had to find the way back to town with a LOT of trial and error."
We've been sitting together for a while, retelling the story of how we first started dating. We never did find this place again, and in retrospect, we're lucky we found our way back to town so quickly. I could have gotten back easily, but Pinkie can't fly, and she doesn't have x-ray vision. I had to stick with her on the ground, but I occasionally flew up and got my sense of direction again. After we got home, we never found our way back to the clearing. Until now, that is.
We each tell how we remember it happening, and then we the conversation goes into other things. We talk about other memories, usually leading in with something like, "Oh, that reminds me of that one time when Applejack swallowed that beehive!" or "Oh, that's a bit like when Apple Bloom replaced all of my flour with sugar!" Our conversation goes on for some time as we remember bits of the past that were fun, cute, or epic. In what feels like a few minutes, I notice that the sky is starting to change colors.
"Man, the sun's going down already. How long have we been out here?"
"Two and a half hours," says Pinkie, looking at her hoof. I didn't know she wore a watch. Wait, she really doesn't have a watch. Her guess seems right to me, though.
"Do you think we should head back?" I ask.
"Can we stay and watch the sunset? I haven't seen one in forever." Pinkie gives me a look a lot like the one Scootaloo puts on when she wants me to take her somewhere, one that's adoring and a little too flattering. It's also one that I can never turn down.
"There's nothing I'd like more," I say.
We venture up to the top of the hill. From our fine vantage we have a wondrous view before us. The treetops are illuminated in the orange rays of the setting twilight sun, whose glow grows more brilliant as time wears on. But neither it, nor the trees, nor the sky and its colors are the most beautiful part of this joyous moment. The true radiance of this instance comes from the excellent mare who rests beside me, and whose form I cannot resist wrapping my wing around, as she does the same with her voluptuous hoof.
I need to stop reading those poetry books Twilight keeps sending me.
Truly, this feels awesome. Neither of us needs to even say anything, we just sit and watch the sun move slowly down the horizon. Glancing from the scene to Pinkie's face, I see that she's enjoying herself. She must like sunsets. I suppose that makes sense. After all, she has a thing for multicolored spectacles.
I find myself thinking of every great thing she's ever done for me, for everypony. Every party she's thrown, every friend she's made, every smile she's put on every face. Her illness did a lot of things to me emotionally, but especially it reminded me how important Pinkie is to me, and how much I care about her. She deserves to be shown just how much everyone cares about her the way she cares about everyone else.
That's it! I'm going to get everypony together and plan a party for Pinkie Pie. We're all going to get together and return her the favor for being so amazing. Plans are already forming in my head as I assign roles and decide the times of events. No wonder Pinkie loves planning parties so much, it's really exciting. The anticipation of every moment of fun, from the surprise to the cake to the games, and most importantly, the look on the face of a pony I love.
The sun finally disappears over the horizon, and I focus again on Pinkie, who's still looking at where the sun just was.
"Well," I say, "I guess we should head back."
We start down the hill toward the entrance and walk down the path, with Pinkie leading the way. When we come to a fork in the road, she suddenly stops, and I see a blank look on her face.
I say, "You do remember the way back, right?"
Pinkie's silence is the only answer I need. I sigh.
This is gonna be a long night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
19 days before
Waiting is the worst. Sitting still and anticipating something is a lot less interesting than something actually happening. But in this case, I can manage. This is gonna be nothing short of the greatest day of Pinkie's life. Oh, here she comes. I planned exactly how I'm going to do this. I'm here in the bush, and she's walking on the street that goes right next to me. She's getting closer... now!
"Here, put this on!" I pull out the blindfold she put on me four days ago and wrap it around her head before she has time to react. She now can't see anything, perfect. After a second, she realizes what's happening and laughs. It's that adorable, high pitched laugh. I freaking love her laugh.
"Rainbow Dash, what's going on?"
"Role reversal! Come on, this way!" I take her hoof and drag her, and unlike some ponies who do this kind of thing, I'm careful to make sure she doesn't run into anything. Our destination is Twilight's Library. When we get there, It will be awesome.
"What's the big surprise that you need me to be blindfolded for?" she asks.
"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise, silly!" I say. I could definitely have fun mimicking her attitude like this.
"Fair enough. But it'll have to be a super big surprise to top mine! Whoa, slow down, slow down."
I do as she says and turn to look at her. She's breathing heavily. We have been half-running to where we're going, but I'm still a little surprised. Pinkie almost never gets tired.
"Are you okay, Pinkie?" She nods.
"I'm fine, I just needed a moment. Really, I'm okay."
We continue moving, this time at a walking pace. Before long, we're on Twilight's front doorstep. I open the door slowly and guide Pinkie in. I get the sense she knows what's coming next. We walk into the library, which has been redecorated for the occasion. Food and drinks are out, and our best friends and good acquaintances are all here. I slowly undo Pinkie's blindfold, and as it comes off...
"SURPRISE!" Nearly everyone in Ponyville is here. The other four Elements, the Cakes, the Crusaders, the extras. They're all here for Pinkie, and I can see the gratitude all over Pinkie's face. She turns to me, clearly struggling to keep herself from screaming with joy. This is the face I wanted to see, and it's all the reward I could ask for.
"Rainbow Dash, thank you so much! This is so nice of you! You didn't have to throw me a party!"
"Maybe I didn't have to, but I really wanted to. You're special to me, to all of us. I wanted to find a cool way to say 'thanks'. Did I do a good job?"
She gives me a hug. "A great one, Dashie." She releases, and I think she just wants to keep cuddling with me, but I don't like doing it when there are other ponies watching.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" I say. "Ponies are here to talk to you, games are here to be played, food is here to be eaten. Get started!"
She nods and goes to talk to some of our friends while I go and take a break from all this intense romantic nonsense. I go to sit by a bookshelf and watch as Pinkie starts to take control of her party. Music starts playing, and she gets to the middle of the floor and starts dancing. Soon, other ponies join in with her, and before we know it everypony is dancing together. When Pinkie's satisfied with the amount of reserved boogying she's done, she walks off the makeshift dance floor, but everypony else continues. I see ponies laughing and having fun together that would never have spoken to each other elsewhere. This is one of the best things Pinkie does. She brings ponies together.
How lucky I am that she brought me together with her.
Hours pass, and as evening comes ponies start to leave. I get compliments from everyone on what a great job I did on the party. They say things like:
"Awesome party, Rainbow Dash!"
"I feel like I could keep going all night!"
"It was almost as good as one thrown by Pinkie!"
I feel like I don't deserve words like this. After all, I'm not the one who made the party fun. I just set the groundwork for the fun to happen. The life of the party, as usual, was Pinkie Pie. The one who runs around so full of energy and smiles all the time. The one who makes everypony happier just by being around.
Soon, all that's left is me, the other girls, and Spike. We start to clean up the mess that's been made, and between the seven of us, it doesn't take long. When we're done, we say good night to each other and start heading to our own houses. I offer to escort Pinkie home, and she accepts. We start towards Sugarcube Corner, which is a few blocks away. We walk for a couple minutes before she says something.
"That was awesome, Dashie!" says Pinkie. I can see her usual smile in the moonlight.
"I wasn't the only one that made it awesome. You were— Pinkie?" She's not walking next to me anymore. I turn to see her standing still, looking straight ahead. Without warning, she collapses to the ground, struggling to breathe. She moves her legs, trying to stand, but she fails. I can only look on and watch as each of her limbs goes limp and she closes her eyes, with a tear running down her face. She lies there, unmoving, and for a second I stand still as well, like I've been paralyzed. Then I gain my senses and an understanding of what just happened.
Before anything else, I feel a twinge of annoyance that we have to go through this again.
"Pinkie Pie!" I shout. She doesn't do anything in response. She must be unconscious. Or... unconscious. I look around. The street is empty, save for us. No carts or anything I could use to move her. I'm gonna have to do this the hard way. I lift her onto my back, and immediately get the overwhelming feeling that I can't do this. Ponies are heavy, and while I'm strong, I just wasn't built for this.
I have to try.
Once I'm sure she's secure, I move forward. Pinkie's weight is making each step an individual challenge. I've been to Ponyville Hospital enough times to know where it is. Once I'm confident I can walk like this, I start to run. Occasionally I hear her take a gasping breath and make a slight movement, but she's not waking up. I'm almost there. turning a corner, I can see the hospital. I go from a run to a sprint, and before I know it, we're in the emergency lobby. There's one pony sitting in a waiting chair and another sitting at a desk, wearing a nurse's hat. I do the first thing that comes to mind.
"HELP!"
In retrospect, that would have been a good thing to shout a few minutes ago.
The nurse calls for some others, and soon the hospital staff has takes Pinkie into the Operating Room. Once they're in control of the situation, I allow the world to fade to black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
18 days before
The familiar smell of the hospital is the first thing I notice as I wake up. The second thing I notice is that I'm in a hospital bed. The third thing I notice is that Pinkie is sleeping in a hospital bed next to me, and suddenly I'm fully awake. She's breathing normally again, and her expression is peaceful instead of painful. As is habit for me when I end up in situations like this, I check all the parts of my body. I can feel everything as normal, and my back and legs hurt only a little. It's not important.
The door opens, and the doctor I remember from last time notices me.
"Ah, Miss Dash. You're awake." I start to ask a question, but he cuts me off.
"You passed out shortly after you arrived. Pinkie Pie was in critical condition, and the operation took sixty-four minutes, but she's better for now. You did a good job bringing her here, Rainbow Dash. Thanks to your ability to take action, Pinkie's life was saved. She will need to stay for longer, as we were able to confirm that her illness is still present and was the cause of this incident. You will be free to go as soon as you're ready. Any questions?" It takes me a moment to come up with one.
"I'm not sick or hurt. Why did I stay the night here?" He chuckles.
"As a general rule, when you become unconscious in a hospital, you wake up still in the hospital. There was no place to send you and no reason send you anywhere, as we had plenty of extra beds."
"How bad is she?"
"You mean Pinkie Pie?" His face becomes serious. "Worse than we initially thought, but not a lost cause by any stretch of the imagination." Not a lost cause, he said. Like it could even be considered for her to be at risk of... permanent unconsciousness.
"One more question, doctor. Where's the bathroom?"
"Out in the hall, three doors to the left on the opposite side."
I make my way out of the room and walk carefully to the bathroom. Locking the door behind me, I position my face above the toilet, hold the rim with two hooves and let the contents of last night's party violently pour into the water. When that's out of my system, I wash myself a bit and head back into the room, where the doctor is waiting patiently.
"All done?" he asks. I nod.
"Well, then," he says, "You can go whenever you like."
I look at Pinkie, still sleeping in her bed. "Can I have just a moment?"
"Of course." He gets up and starts to leave.
"By the way," I say, "I never learned your name."
"Call me Doc," he says, then leaves. That's nice and easy to remember.
I walk over and sit down next to Pinkie Pie. It's interesting watching her sleep. Her chest rises and falls slowly, gently. It's like she's not a bouncy hyperactive bundle of pure joy, she's just a happy lethargic filly that's napping after a long day of play. I wonder if I look this adorable when I'm sleeping. Nah, nopony can be as adorable as Pinkie Pie. It's just not possible.
I could stay like this forever, just watching her silently, but soon she stirs. She opens her eyes slowly, and I'm the first thing she notices.
"Rainbow Dash," she says, with enough weakness to make me feel sick again. "What happened?" I try to put on the most reassuring look possible as I answer.
"You had a little bit of a problem with, uh, walking. So I got you to the hospital and the doctors took care of you. We both stayed the night, and here we are."
"Am I gonna have to stay here again?"
Keep it together, Dash. "Yeah, you are."
The look of sadness on her face is the most heart wrenching thing I've ever seen. I know she hates being in this place. I always hate it too. The sense of not being able to go anywhere you want, having ponies baby you all hours of the day. Frankly, it sucks. I don't know what I can do about it, though. Pinkie needs all this medical attention. I can only find ways to make it more bearable for her.
Unless...
"I mean, we are," I say.
"Huh?"
I feel myself smirking confidently. This is an absolutely foolproof plan! Pinkie doesn't have to be depressed and stuck here all alone. I can see to it.
"I won't leave here until you're able to come out with me."
Pinkie brightens up, but she looks concerned. "That's great, but don't you have a bunch of other stuff you need to do? Spending time with friends, flight practice, a job?"
"Pshh. I'm so efficient, I've worked up, like, a month of vacation time. It may not be paid vacation, but it's excused time off. And it's not like I'm gonna lose all of my touch if I stop practicing for a month. I might be a bit rusty, but it's no big deal. As for our friends, I care about all of them a lot. But right now, I care about you more than anypony else. If our friends have time and want to talk to me, they can come and talk to you, too. You're the best friend I have, and you deserve that title."
Pinkie does the only thing she can do after hearing something like that. It's the only thing she needs to do. She gives me a hug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
17 days before
Doc said I could stay, but he seemed a little peeved.
"It's a big hospital, a small town, and we aren't very busy. You can use that bed as long as she's still here, but you're responsible for your own food. I understand your circumstance and am willing to let you do what you want. However, when I say we need Pinkie to rest and be alone, she will rest and be alone, no exceptions. Understand?"
I understood.
I leave the hospital to go get meals, but aside from that, I stay with Pinkie. We talk about whatever comes to mind. We try not to talk or think about sickness and mortality, we just keep it casual and lighthearted. She appreciates me being here, I can tell.
Twilight, Rarity, AJ and Fluttershy each came in at different times today. It was the same ordeal with each of them.
"Pinkie, I was so worried..."
"...It's good to see that you're well..."
"...I know it don't look so good right now..."
"...But I'm sure you'll be better in no time!"
They each stayed for about an hour, and with every minute they were here, I could tell Pinkie was getting better and better. Emotionally, at least.
Pinkie never stays hurt emotionally for long.
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I LOVE this story soooooooooooo much.
OH MY GOD! It is so well written! This is GOLD!
It's a great story so far, but some constructive criticism is never a problem
Some words are repeated an unnecessary amount of times i.e
you used the word 'down' twice in the same sentence.
The "runs to the hospital carrying dying friend; pass out as a result" cliche.
The scene with Rainbow Dash going to the bathroom and puking is a little underdeveloped. It would seem less "mechanical" if she:
. 3: ran down hall to nearest bathroom.
1: woke up. 2: got immediately sick
In that scene in your story, it seemed like she vomited on will rather than on reaction which is a little weird.
The scene with Pinkie Pie passing out on the street is also underdeveloped. It sort of happened too fast. Instead of building suspense in the earlier scene with her semi-running to the party and asking Dash to slow down, it would be better if the suspense mostly happened around the time of her leaving the party. And maybe drag it out a little bit more. Maybe add her choking for air, stumbling to the ground, thrash about, and then go limp, while Dash is in "HOLY-SHIT-WHAT-DO-I-DO" mode.
The part where Pinkie Pie asks Dashie out is underdeveloped. Rainbow Dash's word choice in both dialogue and thought didn't really express her hidden feelings too well, and Pinkie Pie just happened to find her cloud in the middle of the forest.
Also, Pinks was very fast in her dating proposal to Dash.
It can be simplified as:
"Hey"
"What?"
"Lets date!"
"Hell yeah."
I actually giggled whilst typing that dialogue.
And while this isn't a problem, what's with all the hugs!? It's Friendship Is Magic, not Friendzone Is Magic. If you're gonna ship, than you had better ship it all the way!
I am the Ship Master General, hence my name tag.