Thirty Minute Ponies: Silly, Sad, and Sweet

by Stereo_Sub


Anything For A Friend (Prompt 111)

Prompt: "And then, she stopped."

Twilight Sparkle was running as fast her hooves could carry her.

The unicorn’s breath came in short, rasping pants as she bolted through the forest, branches slicing and whipping against her already-bleeding coat. Her mane was dirty and unkempt, with little patches torn away here and there as if they had been bitten. Twilight could care less. Nothing about her mattered now, not her mane, not her coat, not even the large gash on her flank that left a telltale trail of warm blood on the surface of the undergrowth.

No. The only thing she cared about now was the tiny vial clutched in her mouth, its precious contents swishing back and forth inside as she galloped through the trees. That vial contained the only thing that would save Rainbow Dash’s life, and Twilight wasn’t about to stop to rest with her friend fading away even as she ran.

***********

“With all my heart, I wish to lie, but without the cure... your friend shall die,”  Zecora said gravely, closing her eyes and turning away from Dash’s bedside.

The cyan pegasus’ expression was one of pure terror, and she grabbed Twilight’s head in her hooves, whispering, “T-Twilight... P-please... I don’ wanna die... I’m scared, Twilight...” She shuddered, her eyelids flickering, before falling back down onto the bed. A second later, her breaths resuming their fast, fevered rhythm, the same sickly metronome they had been adhering to since two nights before.

“You said there’s a cure, Zecora?” Twilight asked. “What is it? Tell me!”

The zebra sighed. “Of one such cure, I know indeed, but it must be found with utmost speed...”

***********

Zecora’s words echoed in Twilight’s head, and the unicorn gave a scream of frustration, urging herself faster and faster along the muddy path. Her well of energizing magic had long ago since run dry, and now the only thing that remained was a steady, burning pain that swirled around her like a deathly tendril.

Twilight gave a choked gasp as her forehoof snagged on a hidden root, sending her sprawling across the Everfree floor. She moaned, a horrible sound, like the last cries of a wounded animal, before forcing herself to her hooves and sprinting on. A wheezing, hacking cough wracked her body, and she slowed only long enough to spit out the blood it had brought up with it before she set off at a gallop again. She was close, so close. She would not fail. She could not fail.

Twilight began to feel her flank and hooves go numb as they pounded relentlessly against the mossy forest floor. Whether from overwork or blood loss, she didn’t know, but at this point, it didn’t matter.

With a final, desperation-fueled leap, the unicorn barely managed to clear the rotting log that marked the path towards Zecora’s hut. This was it. The home stretch. One more mile.

She would not fail.

The world began to slowly dim around Twilight, little motes of shadow dancing just behind her eyes as the unicorn pushed herself ever farther past her physical limit. So close... she thought, even as the blackness began to close in. Can’t fail... Won’t fail... No...

Her vision was all but gone. Her lungs felt like they were slowly collapsing inward. The entire bottom portion of her body was numb. And still, she ran. She would not fail.

Still she ran, past the battered signage that proclaimed “Zecora’s Hut: Half-mile. Trained Zebra shaman specializing in aches, pains, and ailments of all types.”

Still she ran, the salty taste of blood hot filling her mouth as her clenched teeth snapped down onto her tongue.

Still she ran, ignoring the cries of her friends as she skidded onto the path in front of Zecora’s hut.

“Is that... Twilight?!”

“Holy... Twi, sugarcube, you all right?”

“No no no, she’s not all right! Look at her! Come on, we need to help her now!”

“Oh... oh no...”

Still she ran, even as four pairs of hooves reached to try and stop her from slamming the fragile wooden door of the hut aside.

No. Can’t stop. Won’t fail. No...

Still she ran...

“T...Twilight? You... Oh Celestia, you brought it. Twi... Thank you.... thank you so much...” A thin, weak voice came from within the hut’s rapidly-dimming confines, and Twilight collapsed to the reed floor. She smiled, and in a voice even weaker than Dash’s, replied:

“Anything... for a friend...”

Twilight felt the vial being lifted away from her mouth even as Rainbow began a series of deep, hacking coughs. The unicorn’s breath came slower and slower, her grip on the world slowly loosening as the relief of completing her task washed over her like a soothing wave of warm water.

There was a shuffle of hoofsteps at the doorway.

“Where is she? Where’s Twilight? Oh... oh Celestia... no, please no...”

Twilight closed her eyes. Her breaths were little more than whispers now, tiny little things that barely rustled the reeds of the floor.

Dash continued her coughing fit, twisting and choking even as a desperate Zecora tried to force the vial of liquid down her throat. “Your friend, for you, her life may give, drink this now, so that you may live!”

Twilight’s breaths slowed...

Dash’s coughs continued...

Four pairs of terrified eyes widened...

And then, she stopped.