Beep
Beep
Beep
Beep
Beep
What’s going on? Oh I hate that noise. On and on, beep beep beep. I see light. I think my eyes are closed. I try to open them, but I can’t. I can’t quite feel anything. Why am I so tired?
Faintly I hear the clip clop of hooves on tile floor. Something irritatingly familiar about that sound… something… oh no. I’m in the hospital again. I don’t know what’s going on! What’s going on?
Think, Dane. Think.
I try… I try so hard to think. How did I get here? How did I– I can’t remember! Alright. I’m in the hospital bed. Right. I can’t feel anything. I can’t move. Can I move? Focus. Move my arm. Come on! A finger? Blink my eyes! Argh. It’s not working!
Think.
Ok, I can’t move. I can’t see. But I can think. I’m in the hospital. Ok. My heart! It must be. The annoying beeping machine… I listen to the beeps… oh it does not sound good.
I wonder if there is any hope this time. After all, how many second chances could I get?
All I can hear is that horrible beeping machine. I hear no one else around me. I am alone. I am… dying alone! I have spent my entire life to come here… and be among friends, while, in the process, watching all my real friends die one at a time. I watched my dear, sweet, beautiful wife die! I was alone, so alone. Then I came here, I made it! I jumped through the portal, and I was with friends once again, but now I am alone… again. Dying alone. Oh the irony! That I should be in Equestria, yet still die alone.
I suppose it’s a fitting end for me. I’ve been alone for so very long. I’m the last of my kind, after all… the last brony. And I made it here… but at what cost? While we toiled away trying to achieve the impossible goal of going to the promised land, we wasted any chance we might’ve had at keeping the My Little Pony fandom alive. I say ‘we,’ but really, it was me. All me. I did this. It’s no wonder there were never any new bronies popping up, I hoarded all the diehard fans all in one place… and all we ever did was work on a stupid machine… when we should have been spreading the love and good word of the ponies.
I can see that now, so clearly, but sadly, it’s far, FAR too late. I destroyed the fandom. I am the last brony, and I’m also the reason that I’m the last… What have I done? I can’t believe how much of a bastard I am!
I think I hear someone walk in. “Dane? I don’t know if you can hear me, but I brought the best doctor, and we’ve got a box full of the latest medicine. The doctors are talking now. Hang in there, sir…”
It’s Tyler. Oh, Tyler… I’m so sorry I almost blew up your dreams and ambitions. Why did I do that? It was selfish of me. I’m such a bastard. He said he wasn’t mad at me for it… but I hope he forgives me. Please, please! Tyler, forgive me!
I think I hear somepony crying… I think it might be Twilight. Poor Twilight… I hope my intrusion into her world hasn’t ruined anything for her. I’m sorry that she’s weeping for me, I wish she weren’t. That’s never what I wanted. I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m sorry! I wish I had another chance to tell her… I’m sorry that I intruded… I’m sorry that I caused your mental breakdown. I want to think that you will get over it, and you will, but it will forever be a scar on your soul, just as it is on mine.
Somepony else walks in the room. “Miss Sparkle?” It’s Dr. Sutures, my surgeon.
“…Yes?”
“I realize this must be very hard for you right now, but… you are the closest pony we have to a next of kin.”
“What about Tyler?” I think that’s Spike.
“He’s not actually related to Dane. And Dane has been living with you, in your care, so that makes you the one we have to inform.”
“What… what’s wrong with him?” She asks, still sniffling.
“To put it simply… he’s had a stroke.”
“Is he going to pull through?”
“Unfortunately, it seems it was several hours before Mr. Tyler found him in the library. These things are very time-critical, and… it does not look promising.”
“Well, what about the human doctor that Tyler brought over? What did they have to say?”
“She concurs with me and… several of our doctors do as well. I’m sorry…”
“What about magical treatments? Maybe I can find some spell…!”
“I’m afraid now is not the time for unconventional techniques. He’s far from stabilized at the moment, and even if he was, we’d have no way of knowing how he’d react to magic…”
“Hey, doc.”
“Yes, Spike?”
“What are the options here?”
“I’m not legally allowed to answer your questions unless Miss Sparkle permits it.”
“You can answer any questions Spike has…”
“Well, Spike, we can wait and see what happens, or we can… take him off of life support.” The doctor sighs.
Twilight starts crying again.
“Doc, if we wait and see, what’s the best case scenario for Dane?”
“I’m afraid, Spike, that right now, the best case scenario is that he might gain some lucidity, but he would likely remain on life support, in a nursing home… for the rest of his life.”
“How did this happen, anyway? He seemed just fine!”
“These things just happen sometimes. He’s 82 years old. I didn’t even realize he was that old when we first operated on him. If I’d’ve known his age, I probably wouldn’t have.”
I suppose I’ve been lucky… to have what little time I’ve had here. I so wish Patty could’ve been here with me to share it. She would’ve loved this place – obviously – but now that I’ve been here, I know even more how much she would have enjoyed it. We could have been together… at the picnic, in the hospital, even. We would have painted Ponyville red. Oh Patty… we’ll be together again soon, pumpkin. I suppose it won’t be long now…
“Hey, doc,” I hear Spike again.
“Yes, Spike?”
“If we… um… pull the plug, will he be in any pain?”
“We will do everything we can to ease his suffering.”
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
“Erm... Spike, I’m afraid I’d have to hear it from Miss Sparkle. And… aren’t you a little bit young to be making that kind of weighty decision?”
“Listen, doc, I have a writ from Princess Celestia herself, giving me power of attorney.”
“…You… Really?”
“Yeah, it’s right here.”
I can hear little fleshy feet walking closer to me.
“It’s alright, Dane. Everything’s going to be alright. I’m… I’m going to take care of you. Ok? Twilight… she’s in no shape to make choices for you. So I’m gonna have to do it for her. For you. Ok? …Ok.”
Good call, Spike. Good call. The last thing I want to do is become even more of a burden on Twilight than I already have been.
I hear Twilight sobbing again, very close to me. In fact, she’s not the only one. I hear lots of ponies crying. In a way, I hope it’s all of the girls. I hope they’ve come to see me off. But then, I hate that they have to be here. That they should suffer because of me. Even if they’re suffering for me. Because that’s what grieving is. And I’ve selfishly put this upon them. It seems everything I’ve done is selfish. I’ve intruded into their world, and they’ve accepted me. I knew they would, and I took advantage of that kindness. And I hate myself for it. I have so very many regrets… but I did it. I got my wish…
Now I wish I hadn’t…
A kind voice whispers in my ear, “I’m sorry I never got to know you better.” It’s Nurse Redheart.
“Rest now…”
The End.