//------------------------------// // A Cape of Gold and Red // Story: A Handful of Crumbs // by *Squee* //------------------------------// Rarity felt herself moving, fast. Almost like flying, but she knew she was laying down. Someone must have been close to her face because she felt a calm, steady breath very close. But something was wrong. It was... Cold. How could someone's breath be cold? The flying sensation continued, she didn't like it. It wasn't a good kind of flying, it was rushed and jolting. As she slowly regained consciousness, Rarity opened her eyes, which were greeted by a very harsh bright light and indistinguishably shaped shadows. Her vision was very blurry. She squinted and raised her hoof to block the light, she felt a strange tug on her arm and turned to focus on the out-of-place feeling. Inserted in the crease of her arms there were a few thin tubes held in place by a small strip of medical tape. She was going to use her magic to remove the foreign objects, but her head was too woozy. So she attempted to brush them away with her hoof. All she managed to do was lightly place her hoof on the tape before she gave up, but she continued to stare at her arm. There were some distant muffled voices, some shouting, but she couldn't understand a word. They echoed in her head, making it hurt. Her thoughts were jumbled, but she was too dazed to try to sort them. Only one came to mind. "Sweetie Belle?" she muttered. It was odd, it sounded as if her voice stopped maybe and inch or two from her face, like they were being blocked. "Sweetie Belle?" her other hoof fell back over to her side. She tried to look down her face, to see what was blocking her words. She saw a big plastic bubble rising of her face, and resting over where the steady cold air was continually breathing, hitting her face. "What the....?" Suddenly she realized what was going on. She was flying.... Forward. On something rolling.... A gurney? She was in a hospital? But that can't be right she was just at the boutique...... The memory of what had happened a mere handful of minutes ago starting slamming into her head like a battering ram. A wrecking ball laying pain and waste to whatever it touched. "Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle!" though her voice was hoarse, weak, and blocked by the bubble, she called for her little sister. Her head lolled back and forth as she tried to search the bright blur around her. It wasn't helping that the staff that was pushing her were running fairly fast. Why am I on a gurney? I'm not hurt.... "Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle!!!" Rarity began writhing about, trying to remove the tubes, throw the bubble off her face and get to where-ever Sweetie Belle was. The distant voices, sounding closer now, shouted something about her. She couldn't quite tell what it was and she tried to look at the staff pushing her, but all she could see was dark blobs in the brightness. She finally managed to remove the bubble from above her mouth, shoving it under her chin. "Sweetie Belle!" "Rarity, you need to calm down honey." a voice said, it was female, and it echoed as if the mare was at the end of a tunnel. But she knew from the movement of the shadows around her, the mare was very close to her face. The same shadow replaced the bubble on her face. She could almost make out the mare's features as her vision began to clear. "Let me out of this..... Sweetie Belle!" her voice cracked harshly as she tried harder and harder to get her voice out of the bubble. She thrashed wildly trying to get off the gurney. "Rarity, calm down. Rarity stop." the mare said calmly holding her down with a firm hoof. "Let. Me. GO!" She screamed knocking away the hoof. "Sweetie Belle!" "She's having a fit, I can't get her to calm down." The mare spoke loudly to one of the other shadows. "We have to knock her out she can't be thrashing like that. Put the anesthetic in her IV." a stallion's voice replied. Rarity continued her struggle, but she found herself growing very tired very quickly. Her vision reverted to blur before going entirely black. Her heart and breathing slowed as her flailing ceased, and she drifted off to sleep. The bright, harsh light greeted Rarity's eyes once again as she regained consciousness. There was a steady, muted beep and an IV still tugged at her arm, but the bubble was gone. Apparently the staff decided she was capable of breathing on her own. She was fully aware this time. Blinking away the blur in her vision, she could see the room clearly. She had always despised hospitals, but honestly who doesn't? The decor is simply dreadful. The blank oppressing walls making you feel trapped, the awful green-blue gowns and curtains that were flattering to nothing and only reminded people of sickness. Not to mention it's a place of sadness, sickness, injury..... and death.... On that thought Rarity again remembered why she was here. She knew she wouldn't be able to get up and walk. Her head wasn't stable and the fact that she was in a hospital bed instead of with Sweetie Belle told her that the doctors wouldn't be too happy if she attempted such a feat. But she didn't care, she was getting to her little sister whether the liked it or not, with or without their help. In the midst of plotting her escape, Rarity heard the door knob turn and pause. As if the pony behind it wasn't sure to enter. It was a few moments both Rarity and the door remained still. Assuming it was a doctor, the white unicorn prepared her argument to get to Sweetie Belle. The muted beeping sped just slightly. But the door opened to reveal a very distraught purple unicorn mare with puffy red eyes underlined with bags as if she hadn't slept in days. "Twilight." Rarity croaked realizing her voice was still very hoarse. Tears welled in her eyes. "Rarity, are you okay? AJ told us what happened and we came as quick as we could." Rarity was just about to ask why she said "we," when a soft yellow pegasus peeped out from behind her looking as disheveled as Twilight. "Fluttershy, I'm glad to see you two......" Rarity said as the two approached the foot of the bed where she laid. "I would have come sooner... Well, we both would have come sooner, but we had to help with the girls." Fluttershy said in her quiet voice. "I didn't wake up until now so it wouldn't have mattered." Rarity replied with a forced halfhearted smile. "I need you girls to help me. I can't be laying about in this dreadful room, I have to find Sweetie Belle." "I'm afraid we can't let you do that." an unknown voice spoke from the door. Though she didn't know the owner, Rarity knew she had heard this voice before, when she awoke the first time. She looked past her two friends to see Nurse Redheart approach the bed in a brisk walk. "Nurse, I don't need to be in here! I need to be with my sister." Rarity said quickly becoming cross. "Well we found you at the site of the crash unconscious so we have to keep you for observation." "I passed out from shock! You're really going to waste the time that I need to be with my sister because I blacked out for a little while? I fainted, it happens all the time. Let me out of here! I have to be with Sweetie Belle!" the mare fumed "Medically speaking, I cannot allow you to move until we're positive you're alright....." the nurse said calmly. "I am fine. I don't need your permission. I need to be with my sister! She's hurt and I have to be with her. Take me to her now, or I'll get there myself." Rarity shouted positively livid. Somehow her anger cleared the dizzy feeling in her head, and she was prepared to leave no matter what this mare said. Nurse Redheart was just about to object once again when Twilight interrupted. "Nurse Redheart, I'm aware that you are only doing your job, and it's much appreciated, but this is a very bad time and Rarity needs to be with her sister. Could you please just let her go?" the purple unicorn reasoned. The nurse mare sighed walked up beside Rarity, and using her magic levitated a flashlight before her face. A small click was heard among the beeping of the heart monitor, and a bright beam of light struck Rarity's eye, after a moment the nurse moved the spear of light to Rarity's other eye. With another click the light was gone. "Her vitals seem to be okay, but there's still a chance of concussions or other conditions," the nurse cautioned, "But under the current circumstances I can understand the need to be with your sister. I'll call for a wheelchair." She turned to Twilight. "Wheel her to room 301 in the ICU wing. That's where Sweetie Belle is. Her condition is critical, and I can only allow you three in the room at once." Twilight nodded in acknowledgement, and the nurse exited the room in the same brisk walk she entered with. Tears spilled down Rarity's cheeks. "Critical? It's that bad?" she asked Twilight, utter despair coloring her tone. Twilight could only nod once more, as she too began to tear up once again. Rarity looked down pulling in a shaky breath. "You mentioned the girls? Applebloom and Scootaloo. Are they alright?" Twilight couldn't speak, so Fluttershy filled in, "Scootaloo is with Rainbow, so far she hasn't stopped crying. She thinks the whole thing is her fault because it was the trick that she taught Sweetie that had her in the road." She said in her gentle voice. "No, it's not her fault. It was an accident, a horrible accident. If there's anyone to blame it was the carriage drivers. They were going way to fast and didn't pay attention...." Rarity said choking with sobs. She was completely heartbroken that Scootaloo blamed herself. It couldn't possibly have been her fault. Fluttershy nodded, "I think she knows that but it..... It all happened right in front of them you know? It's traumatizing....." Rarity then nodded. She knew all too well how traumatizing it was. You can never fully imagine seeing someone you care about get hurt like that. The girls were all very close, almost sisters sometimes. It had to be just as hard on them as it was on Rarity herself. "And Applebloom?" Rarity asked, becoming antsy. Where is that nurse with the wheelchair? I could just walk.... Fluttershy grimaced. "Applebloom is.... I think, a little worse off than Scootaloo. She's just..... Blank. She hasn't said a word, she's in complete shock I suppose.... She just sits there with tears running down her face. Applejack has no idea what to do, none of us do." "Pinkie Pie was going to try to help," Twilight said finally finding her voice, "Or at least be here, but she has to babysit for the Cakes." Fluttershy piped up once again, "I told the Rainbow and Applejack to take the girls to Zecora, maybe she has a tea or something that can calm them down and pull them out of the shock." Finally, a young nurse appeared with a wheelchair. She removed the IV from Rarity's arm and slowly assisted her into the wheelchair. Once she was sat down, the nurse left and Twilight began to wheel Rarity out of the room and into the quiet halls of the hospital. Reaching the ICU wing the pace changed as there were much more doctors and nurses rushing about to tend to and bring in more patients. Everything was moving very quickly, and the three mares had to move fast to get out of the way and to Sweetie Belle's room. They tried their best to not hinder the speed of care needed to help the multitude of patients in desperate need of medical attention. Reaching room 301, the girls had to quickly duck into the room to clear the way for a speeding gurney, missing each other by mere inches. The room was slightly cramped and much more crowded with machinery than Rarity's room had been. The slow beeping of the heart monitor was a little louder and the steady hiss of the oxygen mask, that was obviously required, worried Rarity about what she was about to see. The bed, a hybrid between the bed Rarity had laid on and a gurney to remain mobile if necessary, practically swallowed Sweetie Belle's small inert form. Rarity didn't see her until she was almost right against the edge of it. The relative silence was broken by Rarity's sharp intake of breath, as she examined her sister who lay broken and bruised before her. Sweetie Belle's coat was covered in dark mats where blood had held the short white fur together from the extensive cuts that spread across her body. The thin sheet that covered the small filly from the waist down was also stained here and there with dark spots of blood. Among the deep cuts and scrapes were dark bruises that were seen fairly easily in contrast with Sweetie's white coat. Her left arm was casted, her neck braced, and a bandage wrap rested around the top of her head and a little of her horn somewhat visible under her pink and purple mane. Rarity quickly broke down into sobs at the sight of her little sister being so utterly broken. Her drug induced sleep being the only thing keeping her from the pain. The oxygen mask lightly fogged regularly as her breathing was steady but shallow. The room was quiet, apart from the machines keeping Sweetie Belle alive, as Rarity wept with chest-racking sobs for her little sister. All she could do was sit there and cry. Even here thoughts were reduced to incoherent sobs. Her wails echoed in the small room, and she placed her hooves on the edge of the bed. With several deep shaky breaths, she was able to repress her sobs and reduce them to hiccups. She could hear the other two, their breath shaky as they had probably been crying as well. It was a tragic scene before them. Rarity remained still, her breathing still shaky but her tears dried off white trails down her face. In any other less tragic event, Rarity would have been concerned about her makeup running down her face, but now she didn't think about it nor did she care. Though, by chance, it did not run she knew for once it didn't matter if she looked like a bedraggled cat. Cat. "Fluttershy?" Rarity said quietly. "Yes?" Fluttershy's gentle voice responded. "Would you be able to take Opalescence for me tonight? I can't leave." "Of course." she agreed in a whisper. "Thank you." She said almost as loud. "They found this near you two." Twilight spoke up as she levitated a piece of material before Rarity made of red and gold with a blue patch. "Sweetie Belle's Cutie Mark Crusader cape." Rarity acknowledged with a slight hitch in her throat. "I took it off her when I got to her." she said her magic taking over the material and laying it on her hooves. "I thought it might be good for you to hold on to." Twilight said quietly. Rarity opened her mouth to thank Twilight, but just as she did one of the machines in the room began beeping loudly in an erratic pattern and not long after a nurse and doctor appeared in the room. "What's happening?!" Rarity shouted as the medical staff approached Sweetie Belle. "She's going into cardiac arrest!" the doctor shouted, the nurse already in motion as the beeping became on long shrill note. "We're losing her!" the doctor shouted as they began to revive her. "No, no, no. Sweetie Belle! Stay with me Sweetie Belle." Rarity encouraged. "You have to stay with me, you can do it. Stay with me." After the most tense and terror-filled seconds of Rarity's life, the beeping of the machine returned to a steady pace. But something seemed odd and it nagged at the back of Rarity's mind. "Something's not right......" she said looking at the doctor with wide eyes. "What happened? Something's wrong, I can feel it." "Nurse Redheart, could you please levitate a flashlight for me?" the doctor asked as he carefully raised Sweetie's eyelid. "Rarity is it? Can you tell me where your parents are dear?" "I.... uh.... They're on a cruise, in the South end of Eternity's Crossing." she replied her worry increasing. Something was definitely not right..... "And you're caring for your little sister?" he asked moving to her other eye. "Erm.... Yes, I was watching her while they were on vacation. They aren't supposed to be back for another three weeks." she said nervously, she hadn't yet had the chance to contact them. Had anyone contacted them? Did they know what had happened? "Doctor, please, what's wrong? I know something's wrong." "Your sister has some severe head injuries, this has caused some internal bleeding in her brain." He said dismissing Nurse Redheart with a nod. When the nurse exited the room, for some reason the air itself seemed to thicken. Weighing Rarity down with each ragged breath. There was a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach as she waited. "Rarity," the doctor said looking in her eyes with regret, "Your sister has slipped into a coma."