//------------------------------// // 16 - Headache // Story: Sunburst to the Rescue // by David Silver //------------------------------// He groaned softly. A call had come from outside his bedroom, but that was all the sound he felt fit to make, hiding beneath the warmth of the blanket in a curled ball. "Sunburst?" asked Twilight from outside, her voice muffled through the door. "Spike made some breakfast and it smells really good," she called. "Are you in there?" She clopped a hoof against his door gently. He said something, he was certain of it. She only heard a faint grunt of a sound and frowned at it. "Are you alright? I'm coming in, is that alright?" When a response didn't arrive, she willed the door open. "What are you doing still in bed?" She approached at a light walk. "We both have things to do today." She took hold of the corner of the blanket and gave it a soft pull. Her annoyed expression gave way to one of concern. "You don't look so hot," she worriedly noted of her coltfriend, reaching out for him. He said something she couldn't make out, so Twilight ignored it, placing a hoof on his head. "You're burning up. Spike!" Her magic wrapped around him, hefting him into the air in her powerful magic. She broke into a swift trot, Sunburst hovering behind her. "Spike? I'm going to the hospital right now." She thought she heard a reply, and assumed that was sufficient. Wasting no further time, she vanished. She appeared in the front room of Ponyville Hospital, trotting towards the front desk. "Where... are we?" asked Sunburst as he weakly kicked out a hoof in a slow cycle. Twilight spied an unused gurney and set him on it gently just as a nurse hurried up to her. "Hello, Princess," greeted Nurse Redheart. "Is something wrong with him?" She stepped up to the gurney and gently began to poke and examine him. "Hmmm... Can you hear us?" "Mmmyes?" he weakly replied. "That's good, no loss of consciousness." Redheart nodded firmly. "Where does it hurt?" He raised a shaking hoof along his body until he could poke his horn. Twilight blanched at the sight. "We've been working..." She trailed off, her own horn glowing brightly. "Do you have the facilities for a quick horn scan?" "Of course," assured Redheart with a little annoyance. As if their hospital wasn't equipped to deal with all manner of ailment. "This way." She pointed and began to move to push the gurney when Twilight's magic snatched it away, the princess hurriedly trotting away with it. "Or... you have it." Redheart sighed softly as she followed along. As Twilight approached the examination room, Redheart tossed her head towards it. "In there. Princess, while it is lovely you are showing personal interest in your friend--" "--Boyfriend," hissed Twilight before she realized what she had said and began to color brightly. "That makes it even more important." Nurse Redheart placed herself between the gurney and Twilight. "Go wait in the lobby. You'll--" "--No! I mean, I have to see what turns up. This is a project we're both invested in." She pointed past Nurse Redheart. "Just pretend I'm not even here." She scowled at Twilight but slowly turned away. "You may be a princess, but this is a hospital." She pulled Sunburst's gurney into position and lowered a panel that was attached to the wall to be just behind his head. She pressed a button with a hoof and a bright flash overtook the room. "Mmm..." Slowly an image came into view on the screen, showing Sunburst's skull and horn. "Here we are," she announced, pointing at the monochrome image. "You've suffered an internal splinter and it came loose." Twilight hurried forward to see it. A nub of one of his many internal spikes had come free and lodged in something soft. She winced at the sight of it, imagining what it had come from. "This is my fault..." "No," he grunted, slowly rolling over to face her properly. "No..." He reached for her with a shaking hoof, but Nurse Redheart came between them. "He'll be just fine. We just need to gently remove the splinter and he'll be back on his hooves in no time." She nudged his hoof with her nose, pushing it back against him. "Now, if you'll allow us to work, Princess?" Twilight dipped her head and turned from the room hesitantly. "I'll be just outside, Sunburst... I won't go anywhere, promise..." With that said, she finally pulled herself away, her hoofsteps heard retreating down the hall they had come. Redheart let out a breath with relief. "That's some marefriend you have there." She reared up, putting her hooves on the gurney. "I'm going to take you to see a nice doctor and he's going to make you feel much better, alright?" Sunburst nodded a little, but remained where he was, watching the ceiling scroll past as he was pushed along. He heard her talking to another pony, the doctor, he presumed. This was confirmed when a new pony face leaned over him. "Don't you worry. You'll take a little nap and be better before you know--" He was out like a light. Applejack poked her head into the hospital, looking around before spotting Twilight looking nervous and fidgeting in a seat that was just a little too small for her. "There ya are. Twi, Spike said you were comin' here an' ah had to know what fer. Everythin' alright?" She trotted towards her friend, ears perked. Twilight jerked upright, forehooves clopping against the bottom of her seat in her shuffle. "Oh! Hello, Applejack. It's, uh, well..." She glanced towards the hall that Sunburst had vanished down. "Hopefully... it's... nothing." "A pony don't come down to no hospital cause 'nothin'' happened." She leaned in, a little smile on her face. "Ya can tell me. What's goin' on?" Twilight sagged with defeat. "Sunburst tried to defeat his condition with brute force, and I helped him! And now he's hurt and... it's my fault..." She raised her forehooves, rubbing one against the other. "They're--" Her words were cut off as Applejack suddenly grabbed her in a hug. "You don't never say that again." The hug was tight, almost painfully so. "Don't you ever go blamin' yourself. It ain't right... It... ain't what they want..." Twilight felt disarmed. Her emotions became a jumble as she wondered what she had stepped on with Applejack. "I'm... sorry?" Applejack drew back with a little wry smile. "Nah, I'm the sorry one, alright?" She wiped away a forming tear. "I remember the last time ah... thought that... Tweren't good for nothin', really... Just lucky Big Mac was there, so, uh... is he alright?" Twilight gestured with a toss of her head. "They're operating. She made it sound like it was... a routine problem, but I don't remember any unicorn I knew having a bone splinter... there..." Applejack winced softly. "Up there?" She pointed up at Twilight's horn. "Or somewhere else?" With a sudden pop, Starlight appeared, hovering over the ground a moment before she landed. "Where is he?!" The other two pointed down the hallway. As Starlight started into a gallop, Applejack threw herself at the other mare, the two going down in a pile. Twilight shook her head. "Did I look that silly?" Her magic wrapped around both of her friends, pulling them apart and setting them carefully on seats beside herself. "Sunburst is being treated for a bone splinter," she informed with a point up at her horn. "They said it should be a simple fix." Starlight huffed softly. "I presume no one at the school will be angry at me for being here instead. I'm not letting a friend go through this without being there." She drove a hoof into the seat she was on with a firm clop. Twillight paled softly. "I forgot to--" Applejack raised a hoof in front of Twilight. "Already handled, sugarcube. Once Spike came runnin' over to tell us, we assumed you'd be a might bit busy today. Starlight nodded firmly. "That's how I knew to be here." She leaned to the side a bit, trying to get a better view down the hallway. "We could shrink to the size of a fly and get a peek?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "While arguably effective, we shouldn't... interrupt them while they work." Applejack crossed her forelegs across her chest, one hoof tapping at an arm. "The only thing we kin do right now is wait and hope. He ain't givin' up easy, ah promise." Sunburst woke from a dreamless sleep, blinking his eyes. The great pain in his head had changed from a savage stabbing that echoed through his body to a soft ache that felt more like what one would get from studying a little too long. He raised a hoof towards his head with a little hiss. "Did... everything..." He looked around, but there were no other ponies present. The door to his room burst open, making him jump in surprise. He fell from the bed, but landed on his hooves, wobbling but upright. He saw Twilight, Starlight, and Applejack hurrying towards him and tried to put on a brave smile. "You all came? I mean, you didn't have to..." Starlight bonked him beside his horn. "Don't you even start with that! I swear, just enjoy having friends." Twilight slipped between Starlight and Sunburst. "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have encouraged this!" Sunburst frowned at her words. "It was my choice and I don't regret it," he said with conviction, stomping a hoof down and wobbling for the motion before his strength returned. "I mean, this is great!" Applejack tipped her hat on her head, peering at Sunburst. "How's this good again?" Sunburst put his hooves up in a wide wave. "Don't you see? I mean, it's not good the thorn got where it did, but it's still one less thorn. If we can do that, again, without letting the sliver get away, we could make real progress!" Twilight shook her head slowly. "You could have been seriously hurt, and you're already thinking about what we do next?" Sunburst lifted an ear at his marefriend. "Am I wrong? Besides, I'm fine, mostly." He bounced from hoof to hoof, only stumbling once. "I should maybe take today off." Starlight poked him on the end of his snout. "Maybe? Yeah, you're going home and getting some sleep if we all have to pick you up and drag you there." Applejack nodded in agreement. "Ah'm ready t'do it. Ain't no good for ya to be runnin' about jus' after this." Twilight's horn began to glow gently as a bubble sprang into being around Sunburst. "Starlight, would you assist me?" "With pleasure." Her horn joined in the glow, the color of the bubble changing subtly as their magic harmonized. Applejack laughed as she backed away. "Yer in luck, ya got two unicorns with their eyes set on ya. I'll leave ya to their gentle mercies." With a last tip of her hat, she trotted away, certain that all was under control. Sunburst was hefted up in the bubble, floating over the both of them. "Hey! I can walk!" Twilight pointed up at him. "You can, but you won't." Starlight nodded in agreement. "Just sit back and enjoy." With a loud series of pops, they all vanished. Redheart poked her head in the room, looking around before nodding. With satisfaction, she flipped the 'occupied' sign to 'available' for the next patient that might require the space. Another pony saved, and the day wasn't even over.