Twilight Sparkle yawned loudly, dark bags hanging heavily under her eyes. As each night came and went, she had a harder time getting to sleep. Not only was she working with the other mares around the farm to help Applejack, but she was also reading very late at night. Medical books were sprawled all over the library floor, and she would always leave it to Spike to reorganize and clean everything back up. She was grateful for that. But every book she read, every page she dove through, every word she absorbed...None of it would be able to help Big Mac. None of them.
She wasn't giving up hope, though. It had been a month since he had been in his coma, and his body was healing up even though he wasn't conscious through it. A few of the bandages had been taken off, and his red fur was starting to be visible again. However, his eyes were still closed and there would be fresh new scars if he woke up. WHEN he woke up.
She lightly tread through the hospital, her books in her saddle bags. Today was her day off, and everyone expected her to get some extra sleep in. But there was no time for her to sleep. It was almost like she was punishing herself for putting Big Mac through that horrible situation. Each of the six mares blamed themselves horribly for it...Especially Applejack.
The orange mare herself was coping different with the situation as time went on. Sometimes she acted like Big Mac was away on business, laughing and smiling to convince herself. Other times she was depressed and crying, her work slowing down immensely. She was looking worse everyday, but her friends would always be there for her.
Applebloom was still not speaking to any of them. She went around with the cutie mark crusaders like usual, but she wasn't her normal self. She was more serious, and she would get angry at random times. She visited Macintosh everyday before school and after school. Twilight had noted to visit the big red stallion during school hours.
She pushed the door open to his room, walking in silently. His eyes were closed, his chest moving with his weak breaths. She cracked open a window, letting the fresh air enter the cold room. She then seated herself at a stool, taking a few books out of her saddle bag and opening them up.
"What would you like to hear today, Big Mac?" She asked with a light smile, " Harry Pony and the Sorcerer's Stone? Or another Daring Do book? I was thinking of reading the next Daring Do for you." She was answered with silence and opened up the Daring Do book, her mind traveling somewhere else as she read with quivering lips.
It was like any other day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, and the birds were chirping. And Twilight was having another one of her weird fits.
"Oh no..." She shrieked, going through book piles like crazy, "Where is it?! Where?! Where?!" She cried out, diving into another pile of books, kicking them all away as she screamed and yelled, waking up a very cranky and very upset purple dragon.
"Twilight...." Spike yawned, peering his head over at the bottom of the steps, "What's wrong now?...Celestia already said that it was okay to not send her a weekly report....was the deal now?...."
"What's the deal?...." Twilight twitched, popping her head out of the pile, "What's the DEAL!?" In a bright flash and a puff she disappeared and reappeared next to the dragon, making him shriek and hide in his basket.
"First of all...." Twilight twitched again, her hair looking like a complete mess, "All the books were disorganized, there were pages that were stained with ketchup and mustard, more than half of them need repair and I CAN'T FIND MISS SMARTY PANTS!" She screamed, teleporting again. This time she was right on top of Spike, her eyes twitching again, "Have....have you seen her?...." Spike cowered into his blankets and pillows whimpering.
"No?..." He said, afraid to see her reaction.
"I....I thought so...hahah...ha..." Twilight walked sadly down the stairs before sitting down at a table, a huge stack of books right next to her. Spike had to gather his courage and peer down at her to see how his friend was doing.
"A brief history of Manehattan..." She grumbled, "Pages 18, 24, 54, and 78 have mayonnaise stains on them....this needs REPAIR!" She tossed it into a huge pile filled with books that Spike could only guess were ones that he had accidentally spilled food on.
"Um...Twilight..."
"Not now Spike..." The purple unicorn snapped, picking up another book, "Chewbacca's Wookie Cookie Cookin'..."
"Hey! That's my favorite!"
"SHUTTUP!" Twilight yelled, throwing the book at the purple dragon, "I'm busy!" She was so agitated that she didn't even hear the door open behind her, a weirded out red stallion stepping softly onto the wooden floor of the library.
"Gallop With the Wind..." Twilight sighed, holding up another book as she went through it, her horn glowing as the pages flipped by quickly. "A classic...REPAIR!" She tossed that into the pile, still not noticing the large pony behind her who was clearing his throat.
"Um....Miss Sparkle?..."
"Hold on..." The purple unicorn grumbled, "I'm in the middle of checking damaged books...REPAIR!" Another book hit the pile and spike winced.
"I...have something to talk to you about Miss Sparkle."
"I'm busy!" She twitched, "REPAIR! REPAIR! REPAAAAIR!"
"Twilight...."
"I said I'm- She spun around, her eyes widening as she faced the largest stallion in ponyville: Big Macintosh. Applejack's brother was known as a soft spoken pony, and she never really had a conversation with him. The realization of him seeing her like this made her cheeks grow red, her eyes widening as she realized what she probably looked like at that moment. Her mane was all crooked and messy, her eyes were wild and huge. She probably looked like she needed a long hot shower and some sedatives.
"Miss Sparkle...." Big Mac cleared his throat, "Are...are you alright?" He looked over at the books and back at her, "And do you need any help?"
"Well...I...." Tears welled up in her eyes and she suddenly hugged him, shocking the red stallion, "Things are just piling up on me...it feels like I'm suffocating!" Big Mac gave out a small sigh smiled, rubbing her back with his hoof, "C'mon, Twilight. Let's get this all cleaned up."
Big Mac then went over to her repair pile, neatly stacking them up as she continued rummaging through the books, her mind a bit more clear. She was able to work faster, her magic under much more control as she was able to scan the books with haste. Big Mac wasn't slowing down on his part and kept up organizing the books by name. Twilight soon lost track of time, and when they had all finished the sun was beginning to set on the far horizon.
"We're....we're done...." She blinked, practically collapsing onto her table from relief, "We're done!" Macintosh was finishing up picking up books, all of them in neat stacks below the shelves. Twilight would be able to put every book in its place with her magic but at the moment she was completely spent. The red stallion smiled at her, plopping down on a seat right to the right of the purple mare.
"Looks like we're all finished up here." Big Mac didn't look the least bit tired and he chuckled lightly to himself, "AJ's gonna be a bit mad that I wasn't at the farm for very long today. But I'm glad I was able to help a fellow pony in need." Twilight nodded, her eyes slowly staring to close. Big Mac smiled at her and stood up, placing something soft next to her as Twilight began to fall asleep.
"Have a good night sleep, Miss Sparkle."
Twilight blinked her eyes open, the morning sun peering through her windows. She sat up and knocked something onto the floor. Something...Fuzzy? She glanced down and instantly squealed, her hooves picking up the thing that she had been longing for.
"MISS SMARTYPANTS!" She cried out, hugging her plushie tightly, "YOU'RE BACK!" She felt something odd and held it out, examining her childhood toy.
All the small tears and rips had been repaired, and her button eyes were sowed on expertly. She was clean as a whistle, and there wasn't even a speck of dirt to be seen on her. Twilight was baffled...Who could have done this?...Her mind then shifted to the day before when Big Mac had helped her.
"Big Mac..." She whispered, staring at the doll, "He did this...for me?...." She was staring at the plushie for what seemed like forever before a loud yawn woke her up from above.
"Twilight...." Spike yawned, rubbing his eyes as he glanced down at her, "What are you so happy about?...." The purple mare grinned sheepishly.
"Oh nothing..." She chuckled, her cheeks blushing a bit, "Nothing at all...."
The door to Big Mac's hospital room opened, and Twilight's tired eyes took a few seconds to focus on the familiar figure that walked in. She noticed the flowing beautiful mane and the brilliant white coat of Princess Celestia and immediately jumped off her stool, going right into a bow.
"P-Princess Celestia!" Twilight greeted, "I'm sorry that we could hold a special greeting for you! Its....its just its so surprising to see you come here out so suddenly!"
"My most faithful student..." Princess Celestia smiled, "You didn't think that I wouldn't visit a dear friend and brother of such important ponies, would you?" She noticed the bags beneath Twilight's eyes, biting her lip as she did so. All of the friends were probably taking it this hard as well. Big Macintosh...what did you mean to these ponies?
"Twilight..." Celestia spoke softly, "I would like you to gather the other five and tell them to meet me here. I would like to see all of them."
"Right away!" Twilight nodded and scampered off, leaving Celestia in the room. The powerful princess quietly shut the door and made her way to the red stallions side, her eyes showing her sadness and deep concern for his well-being. She took a seat, watching him breathe weakly. Even if he woke up there would be a definite change in him. There was no way to recover completely from something like this...He would need a miracle. They would need a miracle.
Princess Celestia was the most powerful being in Equestria. Her magic could demolish her enemies, topple evil castles, and cleanse the lands of darkness and malice. But no matter how hard she could try, no matter how strong her determination was...she couldn't bring back Big Mac. She could heal his wounds, sure...But she couldn't heal his heart and mind.
It wasn't long before the six had entered, and Princess Celestia was startled by what she saw. Aside from Twilight's condition, they all looked horrible. Each of them had bags under their eyes and she could feel the sadness in their hearts. Applejack was the worst of them all. Each of them went into a bow, and Celestia had to force a sad smile.
"My little ponies...." She started, "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner. As soon as I heard, I did what I could to come here."
"Princess...is there no way to help him?..." Applejack asked, her eyes bloodshot and teary.
"I'll do all I can...But there is nothing I can guarantee." Celestia said quietly, looking back to the crimson pony, "If there is something I know, its that he's strong. And he needs you all to be strong for him." She looked back to the mares and gave another sad smile.
"He needs all of you. He may be asleep, but that doesn't mean that he should be alone. I know that he is dear to each and every one of you, and that means that he's very dear to me too." Celestia looked back at Big Mac, "There is always hope. And let's keep that hope alive."