Behind the Veil

by FeralFox

Chapter 17

Twilight and Marckus sat in the waiting room, the worry on both of their minds building with each slow tick of the dial clock that rested above the check-in/out station. Being too big for the seats, the man resigned himself to sitting cross-legged on the floor. He had two towels covering either side of his back with a heavy blanket across his shoulders. As he sat on the floor, he put his elbows on the sides of his knees, laced his fingers, and rested his chin on his hands. Twilight was also donned in a towel and blanket, but she was only somewhat damp at this point. She looked at Marckus and noticed that he had started shivering.

“Marckus, are you okay?” She asked, hoping she wouldn’t have to worry about two of her friends’ health. He merely stared straight ahead and nodded silently. Twilight couldn’t help but be a little concerned, but she accepted his wordless answer, regardless.

Time went on as they waited and they watched all the other ponies in the room get escorted out one by one. Minutes passed as they witnessed the occupancy of the waiting area dwindle away. Minutes slowly turned into excruciating hours and the two were inevitably left alone in the room, waiting for any news on Rainbow’s condition. The room’s normal hushed atmosphere turned into a morbidly silent one, the clock’s rhythmic ticking resounding loudly in the vacant room. Every now and then, the chattering of the huddled man’s teeth could be heard through the dense quietness. The evening wore on and threatened to reach dawn as the pair waited patiently.

The sound of the door swinging open was instantly awarded with their full attention. A mint-green mare with a curly violet mane leaned into the room and silently gestured for them to follow her. They stood from their seats, Twilight having folded up her blanket and towel as she stood, but Marckus decided to keep his linen draped over his body for the time being.

As they walked out into the hallway, they were greeted by a slate-gray stallion in green hospital scrubs. They walked side-by-side down the sterile corridors towards where they assumed Rainbow was resting.

“I’ll tell you right now, it was touch and go for a while there.” The doctor said wearily. “Her heart was giving us some problems, and she was in the first stage of hypothermia.” With that, he turned up to face both of them, locking eyes with them for a moment each. “I’m going to be honest with you, if you hadn’t done what you did and got her here when you had, she most likely would have died out in that rain.” He spoke with a melancholic tone. “But thank Celestia that’s not the case.” He concluded with an air of relief, indirectly taking some weight off of the over-burdened shoulders of the two walking with him.

They rounded a corner and headed down a hall lined with patient rooms on both sides. When they approached a room marked “184C” the doctor stopped them.

“It’s not going to be pretty, and she’s sleeping, so please try to keep your voices down.” He said just above a whisper. They both nodded understandingly at the stallion and he let them in. They passed the first bed which lay empty and leaned beyond the blue privacy-curtain to see Rainbow Dash lying, asleep, her right side covered in bandages and plaster casting. Her head had a towel dampened with hot water resting across it, and her left arm was hooked up to a pick line, a steady stream of saline dripping into the tube. Any part that wasn’t covered in medical equipment was covered in thick blankets. The sight was truly un-nerving. Marckus would have been mildly shocked, had he not been at his mother’s bedside throughout her entire battle with cancer. Twilight, on the other hand, was finding it quite difficult not to gasp and cry in horror at the scene.

Marckus reached out of his veritable shell of fabrics and stroked the back of the lavender unicorn’s neck gently, consoling and comforting her. She turned up to him, her eyes quickly having fogged up with held back tears, and he withdrew his arm back into his cocoon of warmth.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be alright. She just needs a lot of rest.” He whispered softly, his tired eyes glancing over at the wounded mare. “Time cures all wounds, as they say. This one’s just gonna take a little while.” He reassured. He walked over to one of the large benches that sat against the wall in front of Dash’s bed and hesitantly sat on it, testing its strength. Finding it safe to rest on, he once again assumed the position of elbows on knees, fingers locked, chin on hands. “Speaking of rest, you might wanna head home, Twilight. It’s prob’ly really late…or early, I’ve lost track.” He suggested, turning his head to the mare so that he could keep his voice down.

“Well, what about you?” She asked, wondering what he would be doing in the meantime.

“I’m gonna stay here in case she wakes up so that I can tell her what happened. Seeing a friendly face should make it a little easier to bear.” He explained.

“Are you sure? I mean, where are you going to sleep?” She queried, concerned for the shivering man. He waved a dismissive hand at the comment.

“Never mind that, just go home and rest. You need it more than I do.” He said, a certain finality to his quietly given order.

"Marckus, you've done enough as it is, you should really get some sleep." The unicorn persisted. The man simply stared stoically at her, not vocalizing whatever he might have been thinking. "I'm serious, Marckus, come back to the Library and rest." She demanded.

"I'm not moving." He finally said, his tone more casual than the situation demanded. The lavender mare huffed quietly at his stubbornness and stared intently at him, as though she were trying to issue a silent ultimatum - Either get some rest or else...something. But alas, Twilight could see that there was no hope in budging the man from his seat, so she did as she was told, begrudgingly and sincerely thanking him, as well as many of the nurses and doctors she passed on the way out.

The storm had calmed down significantly, making the trot home much more tolerable than before. She made it home with no incident, heading straight for her bed, snuggling up under the warm comforters, and falling asleep.

Marckus sat and waited, ever-vigilant, watching and waiting for any signs of Dash’s waking. Once more subject to hours upon hours of silent waiting, the man’s exhausted eyes became heavy with the onset of sleep. His eyelids began to droop lower and lower, finally closing. Marckus had, after five hours of sitting in the same place, waiting, fallen asleep in the same position he had been sitting in.

The remnants of the night passed with usual pace, and Twilight was woken by the sound of a knock on the Library’s front door. She wrestled herself out of the bed and frantically brushed the tangled mess of her mane into something presentable as she made her way for the door. Placing the brush on a far-off bookshelf, Twilight answered the door. It was an orderly from the hospital. She came asking that Twilight come back to the hospital, but it wasn’t urgent. Twilight nodded to the mare and they made the trek back to Ponyville Urgent Care.

The two made their way up to Rainbow Dash’s room and Twilight could see the problem from the hallway. “We think he fell asleep like that around seven o’clock.” The mare said. “She still hasn’t woken up, but either has he.” The orderly explained. Twilight nodded and walked into the room quietly. She approached the sleeping man, still shrouded in his layers of blankets. Even in his slumber, he shook from whatever was ailing him. “Ma-“ Was all Twilight managed to say before Marckus’s eyes popped open, completely blood-shot. He turned his head to the lavender unicorn and put a finger up to his lips, giving the universal “Shh” order before pointing his finger at the still sleeping Rainbow Dash.

“She’s still asleep.” He said in a gravely whisper, his throat having dried out overnight. He then took back his arm and returned to his sitting position, staring drearily out at Rainbow Dash.

“Marckus, you should really get some rest.” Twilight insisted, seeing how obviously exhausted he was. Once again, he shook his head slowly.

“I’m fine.” He replied.

“Then what’s all that shivering about?” Twilight noted.

“My clothes are still damp from the rain last night, so they’re pretty cold.” He explained, pulling the thick blanket tighter around his shoulders. “But that’s not important right now. What is important right now is that you let your other friends know about what happened. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on her in case she wakes up while you’re gone.” He instructed. Twilight couldn’t help but worry about the man, but she nodded and looked at Rainbow Dash, staring worriedly. “Well, go on, get!” He shooed Twilight quietly. “Hurry and y’all might make it back before she wakes up!” He said, keeping his voice very low. Twilight snapped out of it and took off out of the room. Marckus readjusted himself to get more comfortable on the small wooden bench.

The closest stop was Sugar Cube Corner, so Twilight planned on going there last. She figured it would be easier to travel from place to place with fewer ponies, so making the last stop be the closest to the hospital made sense to her. Thinking on the other end of the spectrum, she headed for the farthest – Fluttershy’s cottage. She decided that, for the sake of time, she would just teleport herself there. She closed her eyes and wove the intricate strands of arcane power through her horn, conjuring up the spell. She cast it and a great ball of intense violet light encased her in a flash. In the blink of an eye, she traveled across the Town of Ponyville, arriving directly in front of her yellow friend’s home.

She trotted up to the beautifully crafted wooden door and gave a triplet of firm knocks. Within moments, the door was opened by the soft-spoken pegasus.

“Oh, hello Twilight, so nice to see you.” Fluttershy said with a warm smile. The look on the other mare’s face was much less soft and friendly.

“Hello, Fluttershy. There’s something that’s happened.” Twilight said in a grave tone.

“Oh dear, what’s wrong?” The timid pegasus asked, concerned.

“I’ll tell you once we’ve gathered everypony else.” The unicorn said, beckoning Fluttershy out of her home. The buttercup mare followed, shutting the door as she exited.

The next farthest stop was Applejack’s place, all the way at Sweet Apple Acres. That was quite the distance away, so Twilight once again decided to use the convenience of magic to transport both herself and Fluttershy to the farm in an instant. Summoning a great amount of power into her horn, Twilight cast a teleportation spell built for two, and the pair arrived just inside the gate of the work-pony’s property. The lavender mare stumbled and panted, having expended quite the deal of magic with that last spell. After a moment, she recovered and they both walked up to the large farmhouse in which Applejack lived.

Twilight knocked on the door loudly and waited for a response. After just a moment’s wait, the door was opened by somewhat bored-looking filly.

“Howdy Twilight, hey Fluttershy.” Applebloom greeted.

“Hello, Applebloom. Is your sister home?” She asked quickly, time being of the essence.

“She ain’t in the house, but she’s out workin’ the fields with Big Mac.” The yellow filly informed.

“Thank you.” Twilight said. With that, she turned away and the two mares headed towards the plots of land dedicated to the family’s other crops. Luckily, they didn’t have to look far; Applejack was walking out of the barn just a short distance away. “Applejack!” Twilight called, quickly trotting over to her with Fluttershy following closely behind.

“Well howdy Twi’, Fluttershy. What’re y’all doin’ here?” The farm-pony asked genially.

“Something’s happened.” Twilight said, just as grimly as before. AJ looked to Fluttershy with a silent question on her face. Fluttershy shrugged helplessly, so she turned back to Twilight with the same expression. “I’ll explain when we’ve got everyone together.”

With that, Applejack nodded and galloped to the farmhouse to inform her sister that she would be gone for a while before returning to join Twilight and Fluttershy. The pair-now-trio hastily made their way back into town, heading straight for the Carrousel Boutique – Rarity.

Quickly approaching the door to the elegant place of business, Twilight rapped on the door several times, to which the fashionista responded to in her normal way.

“Welcome to Carrousel Boutique – where everything is shique, unique, and magnifique!” She said while opening the door, only to see it was her friends, and not potential customers. “Oh, hello Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy. What brings you all to my shop?” The eloquent unicorn asked.

“Something’s happened.” Twilight repeated urgently.

“Oh dear! What’s happe-“ Rarity began to ask, only to see Applejack and Fluttershy shake their heads, indicating that there would be no answer to her question. Without any further delay, the pewter unicorn left her place of business and merged with the slowly building group.

Thankfully, Sugar Cube Corner was not very far away, so the walk there was a rather short one. They reached the confectionary store in just a couple minutes, and walked in to see their intended target waiting happily behind the counter.

“Hi-ya girls! Whatcha doing?” The pink mare asked jovially.

“Pinkie, you need to ask for a break, or something, because there’s an urgent matter that concerns us all.” Twilight said quickly.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie responded without the slightest waver in her smile. She bounced out from behind the counter and leaned her head into the kitchen. “Hey Mrs. Cake! Twilight says that I need to leave for something really urgent!” She said, her tone quite the contrast to the severity of the situation.

“Oh my, yes! Of course Pinkie! Go ahead and take the rest of the day off, it’s pretty slow today anyway.” The Mrs. of the Cakes replied. Now even happier by the day off, Pinkie bounced back to the others.

“Alrighty, I’ve got the day off. So what’s going on?” She asked. Now having gathered everyone together, Twilight could finally answer that same question that was on all of their minds.

“Rainbow Dash is in the hospital.” The purple unicorn said. The group gasped collectively.

“My goodness! What’s happened? Has there been another accident involving her amazing stunts?” Rarity asked, thinking that it might have been another flight routine gone wrong.

“No, I’m afraid it’s much worse.” Twilight said with a dark tone. This caused even more worry from the four others. “Last night, during that big storm, Rainbow was…doing something, and she was struck by lightning in midair.” The news gave reason for another collective inhalation by the others.

“How did you find out? Ah mean, Ah cain’t imagine who else would be out in that kinda storm.” Applejack asked.

“Marckus saw it happen. He and I were outside watching the storm and he just happened to notice Dash off in the distance.” The violet mare explained.

“Watching the storm?” Rarity questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know either.” Twilight said with a shrug. “Speaking of, he’s been waiting at the hospital since it happened in case she woke up while I was gone. We’d better hurry there in case she’s still sleeping.” She said, receiving nods from the four other mares. They took off for the hospital, hoping that they’d be able to make it in time to comfort their friend as she woke.

They reached the large medical building not much later and followed Twilight up to Rainbow’s room. She stopped them in the hall and gave them the same warning the doctor had for Marckus and herself.

“It’s pretty bad, so if she’s still sleeping, be sure to keep your voices down.” Twilight warned. Again, they all nodded and quietly walked into the room to see the man still sitting on the bench as he was before, gazing tiredly at the fallen pegasus, only turning to the group for a quick glance. They rounded the blue curtain and immediately recoiled at the sight, though they were quick to suppress any noises they might have made. Even Pinkie’s unfailing grin fell at the morbid sight.

“She still hasn’t woken up.” Marckus said hoarsely. They all nodded and gathered around Dash’s bed, making sure not to bump into it or cause much noise. They looked down on their friend sadly, each wanting to take her place just so she wouldn’t have to wake to it.

“She looks awful.” Fluttershy commented even quieter than normal.

“She might not even have made it if it weren’t for Marckus.” Twilight whispered back. All eyes were suddenly on her, silently asking her to elaborate how such a thing was possible. “When she got hit, the lightning caused her heart to stop working properly. He told me what to do to get it back to normal. She could’ve died right there.” She explained with a sense of trepidation at recalling the frightening scene. “After that, he wrapped her in his coat and carried her here.” The four all had looks of awe on their faces and turned to see their friend’s savior, only to see the man lying across the bench, using his arm as a sort of pillow. He was out cold.

“How long has he been awake?” Pinkie Pie asked, still looking Marckus.

“He was up all night last night, until about seven. He fell asleep siting up on that bench and woke up not much longer after that.” Twilight recalled.

“Poor fellow. He definitely needs rest, though I wish he had fallen asleep on something a bit more comfortable than that little bench.” Rarity said, looking caringly at the sleeping man. They all nodded in agreement to her sentiment. Then, an idea struck Twilight.

She stepped away from Dash’s bed and took a moment to concentrate. Her horn glowed with a feint purple aura, then, an identical aura surrounded Marckus entirely. Using extreme care, Twilight lifted him off the bench and into the air, slowly bringing him over the empty hospital bed and setting him down gently. He grumbled something softly and curled up on his side into a tight ball, crossing his arms over his chest. The bed was just barely able to contain him in his current position. Twilight took the blanket that was still around his shoulders and did her best at covering him up with it, though the way he was lying left the large blanket with plenty of room to accomplish the job.

“Well done.” Rarity chimed with a thankful smile. The room returned to its near silence, Marckus’s light snoring being the only real noise in the room.