//------------------------------// // A Hard Night // Story: The Mailmare And I // by MaxBeezy //------------------------------// For the next two weeks, Dinky’s request hung over my head like a row of giant neon signs in Las Pegasus, and instead of a different sign every time you pass, it’s the exact same one over and over again. I couldn’t tell Derpy what Dinky asked of me, how could I? For all I knew, she wouldn’t believe me, tell me that her sister wouldn’t say such things, call me a liar, and THAT wasn’t even the worst case scenario in my highly negative mind. But, what if she did believe me? Would she think that Dinky thought she was ugly? Would she think that I thought she was ugly? My mind spun so completely out of control that I couldn’t even think straight! I barely ate, I barely slept, and I couldn’t write anything resembling a coherent sentence on a piece of paper! What do I do?! Just then, I heard the door slam shut, and Derpy ran past my office, straight into the bathroom, shutting the door in the blink of an eye. I heard the shower running, and the faintest sound of her crying. “Derpy?” I called out. No answer. I got up from my chair, and headed to the bathroom door. The sounds of her sobbing became louder as I got closer. “Derpy?” I knocked on the door. “Don’t come in!” she shouted, “I don’t want you to see me like this!” Hearing that, I had to know what was wrong. Slowly, I opened the door. There she was, kneeled down in the shower. I couldn’t see her face, but looking at the bottom of the tub…I saw blood. Rushing to her, she turned to me, revealing a cut above her right eye. “Derpy! What happened?!” I yelled as I started cleaning her wound. “I…I was leaving the Apple Farm, when I got dizzy. I hit an apple tree on my way out.” “Did any of them see this?” Derpy shook her head. “I told you I didn’t want you to come in here. Now you’re mad.” “I’m not mad, I’m worried!” “Well, don’t worry about it! I’ll be fine!” “This is a bad cut; I’m taking you to the hospital.” Before I could leave, she latched onto my foreleg, bringing me back down to her. I could see the tears pouring from her eyes. “No!” she said, “I don’t want to go to the hospital. It’s okay. I’ve been through worse.” “Worse?” my eyes widened, “Worse than this? I can’t just stand by and watch you get hurt!” I tried to leave again, and she forces me back down. There was no stopping her. “Please…” she pleaded, “Don’t go…” As I looked upon her eyes, I sighed. Against my better judgment, I did not leave. I put my hoof on her cheek, and kissed her under the running water. “I’m not going anywhere.” I reassured her. I gave in to her wish. I didn’t take her to the hospital, even though I wanted to. Instead, I helped cleaned the wound, applied the bandage, and she went back to her cheerful self. It was hard for me to see her like this, but a thought went through my mind; if she wasn’t happy with herself, why would she be so reluctant to see a doctor? Was it denial? Stubbornness maybe? I honestly didn’t know. The next couple weeks were better. No accidents, no wounds; she came home on time, with that familiar smile that I loved. Her cut healed quickly, and didn’t leave any mark. I was relieved, thinking that the wound was much worse when I first saw it. Maybe I was being over-dramatic, maybe things would be okay, after all. Then came…that night. I’ve played this event many times in my head, trying to figure out how I was going to write this. This is easily the hardest part of the story to tell. Remembering every little detail, every emotion that I felt, every tear dropped, makes me fall to pieces. It was the event that ended up being the catalyst to everything that would happen from then on out, and it all started for me…after it happened. It was nighttime, around three o’ clock. I was fast asleep in bed, and I assumed Derpy was right beside me. Then, I was broken out of my slumber by a loud noise. That noise was the sound of something falling down the stairs, but it wasn’t something…it was somepony. I looked to the side of the bed where Derpy would be, but she wasn’t there. Then, as the thought hit me like a speeding train, I bolted out of the bed and headed downstairs. That’s when I saw her…Derpy was lying on her side, bleeding, barely moving, in pain. “Derpy!” I screamed. I ran down the stairs so fast, I almost fell down myself. I kneeled to her; she was going in and out of consciousness, every touch from my hoof brought winces of pain to her face. “I…I fell…” was all she could muster. This was it; I couldn’t ignore this any more than I already have. “I’m taking you to the hospital, right now!” I told her. She didn’t resist. I used all of my might to put her on my back. She screamed something terrible. I could only imagine the excruciating pain she must have been in. I did all I could to fight back the tears that were desperately trying to break out of my eyes. I had to be strong for her, I couldn’t falter. I rushed out the door, not even bothering to close it, and ran as fast I could to Ponyville General. The groans from Derpy were getting weaker, she was slipping out of consciousness. “Stay with me!” I said. We were getting close. I burst through the front door so hard, I nearly knocked it off its hinges, shocking the staff inside. Nurse Redheart was the first to see us. “What in the name of Celestia?!” she yelled. “Nurse Redheart! Derpy’s had an accident!” I turned her to face them, and they saw her on my back. Redheart and the other Nurses gasped in shock, immediately rushing to her aid, taking her off my back, and onto a gurney. Derpy was out, she didn’t respond to the movement, she didn’t respond to anything. The Doctor came out, applying a ventilator to Derpy’s muzzle. “Can you hear me, Miss?” he said to her, “What happened?” Nothing. She doesn't answer. “She told me she fell!” I replied for her. “We’re bringing her to the ER, STAT!” he shouted as they disappeared behind two great swinging doors. I tried to follow, but Redheart stopped me. She used a great deal of strength to hold me back. “We need you to stay here!” she said. “No! I have to see if she’s okay! I have to…” She pushed me all the way to against the wall. I struggled and struggled, but I couldn’t get away from her grip. "Let go of me! Let go of me, please! I have....I have to....." The words were barely coming out of my mouth. “She’ll be fine! They are taking care of her as we speak! I need you to calm down…now…” Soon, I stopped struggling. I did not move anymore. “Easy….easy…” her voice became softer, more gentle, “That’s it.” My strength was gone, I couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears ran down my face like a waterfall. Redheart let me go, and I immediately fell to the ground, breaking down in the hardest cry I’ve ever experienced. Redheart knelt down to my level, rubbing her hoof on my back, trying to comfort me. “It’s okay…” she said, “It’ll all be okay…” A feeling washed over me as I lay there; the feeling that I failed. That I failed Dinky. But most of all, that I failed Derpy. I was too reluctant, too stupid to act upon Dinky’s wish to help her sister sooner. I thought it would get better, that I wouldn’t need to find her a cure, but I was wrong. I let my ignorance get the best of me, and now she was in the emergency room, and I had no idea what state she was in. This was entirely my fault, and if she died, it would haunt me for the rest of my life. Nurse Redheart never left my side for the entire duration, offering me water as I waited for the results. Like I said before, she does her job marvelously well. As day began to break, the Emergency Room doors opened, and the Doctor passed through. I got up and walked to him the moment I saw him. “How is she? What’s wrong?” I said, in rapid succession. “She’s stable. We had to give her a sedative to help her relax. She was in a lot of pain.” “Will she be okay?” “She looks to have taken a pretty bad fall. Along with the bruises she sustained, her left leg was fractured, and her right wing was broken in five places.” Hearing the news made me want to cry again. “She’ll have to stay at the hospital for a couple days…” he continued, “And then we’ll release her in your care. She’ll need to stay home for another week after that.” “Can I see her?” I asked. “She’s resting now, in intensive care. I don’t think it’s a good idea, at the moment.” “Please. It’ll only be for a second. I just want to see her.” The Doctor reluctantly got out of my way. Walking into the intensive care ward, I prepared myself for the worst. Even though he told me of her injuries, my imagination ran wild with what I would see. Finally, I saw her, her wing and leg in a cast, the ventilator still in her mouth, and a heart monitor attached to her chest; she was out like a light. My heart skipped a few beats when I saw her. I walked to the side of her bed, looking over her. A single tear fell from my face and onto her cheek. “I’m sorry.” I whispered to her. She couldn’t hear me, but I kept talking. “I’m so sorry, Derpy. I’ll make you better. I promise.” I kissed her on the top of her head. No movement, no indication that she was aware of what was happening. With no other choice, I left the hospital, letting her rest until I returned for her.