Rarity lurched with a start in her chair. Her jaw ached from gritting her teeth in her sleep. Her pulse was racing from the adrenaline rush of the dream. Her bounding heart was all she could hear, sitting alone in the hospital waiting room. Her hooves nervously held the handles of the gift bag in front of her. On the other side of the room, the door opened and Nurse Redheart waved for her to follow.
Opening the door to oncology, Rarity could barely bring herself to look at her little sister in the hospital bed. Her eyes followed the chemo IV line down to her hoof under the warming blanket. Rarity felt her jaw tense again.
It's not fair, she thought. It should be me, not her. She doesn't deserve this. Nopony does. But it should be me, not her! She balled her hoof into a tight, angry fist. This should be my fight! She wanted so much to just punch something. Punch the sickness right out of her sister.
She was almost unrecognizable without her fur. She looked so... frail. But it belied Sweetie's strength of spirit, bright and alive in her rich, green eyes as she blinked them open. Rarity's anger evaporated in a flash. She didn't want Sweetie to see her like that. Princess Luna's words from the dream echoed in her ear: This is not a monster that is defeated by destroying what we hate, but by saving that which we love.
Sweetie squinted at Rarity and tilted her head in confusion. Before she could even speak, Rarity shushed her and opened the bag she had brought, presenting her gift and placing it on her little sister's head. "This should help keep your head warm."
Once it was in place, Sweetie Belle reached up and touched it. "You can't-"
"But I already have!" Rarity said with finality. "You can give it back once-" Rarity felt her throat closing up, "Once you're better." Sweetie Belle's eyes watered as she felt the violet locks draping over her shoulders with her hoof. Rarity blushed and she touched her own, bare scalp where her luxurious, curled mane had once been, fashioned now into a wig adorning her little sister. She leaned over and hugged her. "It looks better on you, anyway."