//------------------------------// // 1 - Alive at Last // Story: Blink Again: Long Shadows // by Amarandream //------------------------------// The first time Rarity awoke, the light was blinding. She could not help but snap her eyes shut again. She would almost say it hurt, but there was this fuzzy feeling in the way—a feeling that applied not just to her body but to her thoughts as well, leaving her somewhat disconnected. There was, of course, only one explanation for the bright light and strange, fuzzy phenomenon: she had entered the great beyond. Yep, she was dead. Oh, woe to her! So young! So pretty! And to think, she had so much more to give the world! So many ponies in need of style! Ah, but perhaps it was only fitting. It was a timeless tale, the brilliant artist whose flame burned so hot, only to be tragically snuffed out before her time. At least it made for a good, if overdone, story. But did such a cliché end really suit her? For the pony called Rarity? There was nothing to be done for it now of course, but she would be raising these concerns with whatever power lay beyond. And really, what was she even doing when she... “It isn’t fair! We won! You’re supposed to live!” The memories of her last moments with Sweetie Belle came flooding back, and her heart stopped—a rather strange occurrence for a dead mare. She recalled now how she'd given her life for her precious little sister. A more than worthy cause, though one she was afraid would have effects on the sweet little filly. "Sis, what's the point of living if I'm all alone?" Sweetie wouldn't be alone. Of that much, she was certain. Even if one discounted their parents, there was still another Rarity out there. Assuming help and a way out did eventually come, Sweetie Belle would be taken care of. She knew because the truth was she'd give of her life for any number of Sweetie Belles. No sister of hers would ever be left wanting if any version of her had something to say about it. Though she wished that other Rarity the sincerest of apologies for the trouble. The stress of dealing with two Sweetie Belles would surely ruin her complexion. "Can we just pretend help is almost here?" A series of noises tickled her ear, indistinct yet grower clearer by the moment. Was that somepony talking? It hardly had the angelic ring or fearsome snarl she might expect from something in the great beyond. If anything, it sounded... frustrated? Rarity focused on that tone, trying to understand. If somepony was speaking, it was surely important. "...unchanged and her vitals remain stable. Still, no sign of conscious thought. Shouldn't she be up by now?" "Maybe, but this is an unusual case. I've never heard of so much magic poured into a single pony before. Please, Redheart, just continue to keep an eye on her. If Princess Luna says her waking spell worked, then I'd be loath to contradict her. I'm sure it's just a matter of time while the magic settles." "And what if you're..." The voices once again lost clarity, returning to a buzz in the back of Rarity's mind. Still, she didn't miss their meaning. She was alive. Help really did come. Which meant she'd wasted the last several minutes' worth of Woe Mes. What a way to mess with perfectly solid drama! She'd be embarrassed by mistaking waking for death had she not been so elated at being wrong. After all, this meant she could be there for Sweetie Belle, and see all her friends again outside of that blasted pocket dimension, and even meet another version of herself! That would be a treat. Ponyville beware, for fashion strikes twice! And just then she realized everything was becoming dim. Her extremities had no feeling; her thoughts slowed; the brilliant light from before could hardly be perceived. No! Not now! Not when I only just realized I still have some life left in me! Rarity tried to scream, tried to call out to the nurse only a few steps away. Not so much as a peep escaped her bone-dry throat. Getting desperate, she tried instead to kick, flap her ears, wag her tail, anything that might get her attention. Nothing moved. She was trapped. Her body a locked closet and she the old dress left to be eaten by moths. Help! Please, help me! She would cry if she could. Her efforts were hopeless, and soon everything began to fade. This second slumber would be as long and fraught with nightmares as the first. The second time Rarity awoke, the room was pitch-black. The only sound her own heavy breath. Even the medical equipment must have been off and the blinds drawn because there truly was nothing. The feeling of it sent shivers down her spine. It was all too easy to imagine piles of bodies hidden in that darkness. Had she imagined those voices earlier? Perhaps she was still in the pocket dimension—a most horrifying thought. Rarity tried to move her hoof, finding this time she was weak but not immobile. She thanked her lucky stars for that. Moreover, the movement brought her attention to the feeling of the hospital bed covers. Definitely not in the pocket dimension then. She almost cried from relief alone. She may have been weak and sore, but she was safe and clean. That was worth more than words could express, even after she noted the awkward feeling of the IV and catheter attached to her. "Nurse!" she called into the black. "I am awake, but I fear your lights have gone out. Might I request aid? Anypony?" She huffed at the lack of response. It seemed very typical for her to escape one prison only for negligent hospital staff to land her in a second. Come on, I want to go home. See my family. Didn't they have somepony attending to me? It hasn't been that long, has it? She knew it might not be wise to try magic so soon after everything, but it seemed she had little choice. Rarity directed a small flow of energy into her horn, creating a single spark of light at its tip and illuminating the room in a dim cornflower blue. It was a typical, sterile hospital room—though she noted with a shiver how long and dark the shadows seemed. Was she imagining it, or were they reaching toward her? It all made her head hurt, and channeling magic gave her the strangest tingling sensation after going so long without. She could hardly trust her own senses anymore. She felt a sudden spike of pain at the base of her horn, and the light went out. It seemed she was right in her initial assertion: magic so soon was a bad idea. Still, being plunged back into darkness brought on feelings of dread that almost left her whimpering. She could hardly help but try again. Alas, her horn failed to light the second time, and she received another painful stab for her efforts. A brief draft of wind stirred several hairs into her eye, quickly blown out by an irritated huff. "Well, that's splendid then, isn't it? First you leave me in the dark then it turns out you have ventilation problems! Where is that coming from anyway? I don't hear a fan!" When she once again received no indication of anypony having heard her shouts, she settled on grumbling to herself instead. Well, this is frustrating. Is something wrong, perhaps? She paused. Oh dear, there hasn't been some new malefactor that's gone and captured everypony, has there? I would hate to think I woke up on a Tuesday. A loud squeak from the direction of the far corner set Rarity's hairs on end. Every inch of her body froze stiff as a board. What could possibly have made that noise? Am I not alone in here? She struggled to quiet her breathing as she tried to recall what the room looked like. She only saw it for a single moment while her light was working, but she was sure she remembered a rolling stool in that corner. Perhaps that breeze had somehow shifted the stool, and one of its wheels just so happened to be squeaky. It didn't seem likely; the wind couldn't have been strong enough. She knew she was rationalizing. Something brushed against one of her hind hooves. She yelped, scrambling to push herself back to the head of the hospital bed. Medical equipment clattered across the room—not all of it from her own panicked movements. Her heart beat to the tune of a thousand drums. "Please," Rarity begged, "I know not what you are, but I swear I have nothing you want. Please, just go." She was at the point of tears. She was sure now that something malevolent was in the room, and after the pocket dimension, she just couldn't take it anymore. It was too much. "Don't be afraid, darling," a voice eerily similar to Rarity's, albeit colder, cooed from the bedside as a hoof stroked her sweat-matted mane. "I'm only here to help. You can trust me." Rarity screamed, instinctively rolling away from the voice and straight off the other side of the bed, hitting the ground with a painful thud. The tubes from her IV and catheter were pulled with her, causing a clatter as whatever they were attached to came crashing down. Something metal landed on her face, causing her to cry out as she felt a warm liquid begin to seep from her brow and into one eye. "Aw, you poor precious thing," the voice said with exaggerated sympathy. "You've hurt yourself. Here, allow moi." Rarity felt the weight of whatever fell on her disappear, presumably pulled off. Then came the tubes, rearranged to a more comfortable position. Through this, she remained frozen. But when she felt a cloth dab against her bleeding eyebrow, and the impression of a hoof through said cloth, she kicked. It was a weak hit, what with her strength at a fraction of normal, but it was still enough to elicit a yelp of surprise as her new roommate staggered back. Rarity wasted no time with the follow-up, swinging a hoof in a wide arc to catch the unseen adversary. This too was answered by a satisfying smack and a grunt in response. Her third strike, however, caught only empty air. By the sound of hooves scrambling across the floor, it seemed the other had retreated. She was already slowing down, breathing hard. Her weakened body was in no condition for any sort of prolonged effort. To her surprise though, no retaliatory attack came. Even when they both knew Rarity couldn't possibly defend herself for long. It seemed either her opponent wanted her uninjured, or it knew it only had to wait while she tuckered herself out. “Rarity,” the other said with a hint of amusement, “always so dramatic. But why the violence? Surely the element of generosity and purveyor of style knows better than to engage in such barbarism?” “I’ll give you a generous beating if you touch me again,” Rarity huffed, knowing it was a hollow threat. “You really thought I’d trust you? No, I have a better intuition than that, and right now it says you want to use me and throw me away. Well, guess what, you ghastly brute? That’ll happen over my rotting corpse!” “My, that place has made you morbid,” the voice mused. “Very well. Have it your way. I’m sure Sweetie Belle will be terribly saddened to learn you committed suicide. You just couldn't take everything you saw, couldn't readjust, couldn't face your friends again. She’ll understand. Surely such thoughts have entered her mind as well, given the trauma.” “Wha—“ was all Rarity got off before the thing was on top of her, pressing her to the floor as it wrapped some sort of cord around her neck. Rarity pawed futilely at the cord with her hooves, tried to beat at the other with her legs. She couldn't even slow it down. She was too weak, and now growing weaker by the moment. Each breath was a pitiful, bedraggled thing that provided no succor and was exhaled as little more than a whimper. "That's strange." A voice at the door? "The door's not locked... It must be jammed. Can we get maintenance down here with a bottle of oil?" One of the nurses. Or maybe her doctor. They could save her! Please, hurry!, Rarity thought desperately. I can't hold on... much... It was becoming too difficult to think. She had no fight left in her. She could only wait while her fate was decided by the leisurely pace of the hospital staff. Being a damsel in distress wasn't as much fun as the stories made it look. The pain around her neck lanced through her like steel as her lungs were doused in a thick, black oil and set on fire. It turned out, being violently murdered was a painful ordeal. At least with Fluttershy she'd had some ability to fight back. Here she just felt useless, pathetic. "You," the thing whispered at her dying mind, "do not deserve to take part in the mistress's salvation. She was mistaken to send me after you. And if you will not accept her glory, then I shall grant you the endless escape of oblivion. Fear not, I'm sure it'll look rather fetching on you. Do say hello to your friend, Fluttershy, for me if you get the chance. She was delicious." If the voice continued talking, Rarity could no longer hear it. She could no longer feel the pain either. That was nice, though she supposed it should have been alarming. In fact, she couldn’t feel much of anything anymore. It was calming, in a strange sort of way. Like drifting listlessly on one’s back in the pool. Then a little, indecipherable something began nagging at her ears. Quiet at first but growing ever so steadily louder. Was it somepony talking? A different voice from the first, to be sure. It sounded alarmed but in no way aggressive. "Let go! Miss Rarity, please, let go!" Rarity's eyes snapped open to find the room once again dazzlingly bright. Nurse Redheart knelt before her franticly trying to loosen the grip Rarity had on her own catheter tube. She released her grip the second she realized what she was doing, and the coil around her neck went slack. The nurse breathed a sigh of relief and quickly set about untangling Rarity and tending to her injuries. "Now why would you do a thing like that?" Redheart muttered under her breath. "All this work to save you and... well, I suppose it's not my place to comment." "I'm sorry," Rarity barely croaked out. "I..." she realized how hard it might be for the nurse to believe the truth, "had a nightmare. I must have done that in my sleep." A lie, to be sure, but the last thing she wanted was to be put on suicide watch. “Must’ve been some nightmare,” Nurse Redheart said doubtfully, examining a bruise Rarity sustained in the fall from her bed. “I suppose it wouldn’t be too surprising, given where you’ve been. Still, I’ll have to make a note of it, and I’d recommend seeing a counselor. Doctor Horse will probably tell you the same thing. He’ll be here in just a minute.” Rarity nodded, feeling her head swim with the action. “Of course. Say, you didn’t happen to see anything strange when you came in, did you? Maybe some unexpected movement, or perhaps the lights went out?” Nurse Redheart frowned, worry creasing her brow. “The lights were on and you were the only movement I saw. Why, did you see something? Or have you experienced any loss of vision?” “Uh, no,” Rarity hastened, not wanting the nurse to think her crazy. “It was probably just part of the nightmare. Um, when will I get to see my friends?” At least she could trust them with the truth. If anypony was going to believe this, it was them. “Very soon,” Redheart reassured her with a warm smile. “Let’s just get you cleared by the doctor first. Now, shall we get you back in bed?” Over the course of the next hour, Doctor Horse ran every test imaginable on the exhausted Rarity. And in the end, she learned everything she already knew. She was bone thin and badly malnourished, weak from her injuries plus close to ten days in the hospital bed, and now sported a series of scars crisscrossing her face and body. The old Rarity would have been most appalled by that last bit, but now she was just happy to be alive. Well, mostly. She suspected she’d feel more strongly about it once she had a mirror and the initial euphoria of survival wore off. Oh bother, how would she deal with those? She shook the thought away, considering instead the doctor’s orders. She was to engage in light exercise daily as a form of physical therapy, go on a special diet that would help replenish her after all that time eating meat, and see a counselor. He even had a list of recommendations. Nevertheless, she’d sooner wear a burlap sack and call it a ballgown. A counselor would only make her talk about it. The doctor also prescribed as much time with loved ones as she could stomach, saying it would be good for her mental and physical health. She could hardly disagree with this assessment. She intended to latch onto them like a shrunken sweater for as long as they let her. Celestia, she missed them more than anything. Once the doctor was gone—leaving behind a stern warning to avoid over-straining herself too quickly—she hardly had to wait a second before her first visitor came barreling in. Sweetie Belle didn't say a word. She just leapt onto the bed and pressed her muzzle to Rarity's side, hooves holding onto her insistently but gently. It was as if Sweetie feared she might break her, or lose her, and decided to physically safeguard against both in equal measure. For Rarity's part, she merely hugged back, cherishing the filly's presence like never before. Prior to the pocket dimension, she could never have known the stark terror of losing her sister. In the pocket dimension, she was afraid of it at every moment. And here, now, she finally knew just how much it meant to have her, safe and sound. So distracted was she by Sweetie Belle's snuggling, she didn't even notice the other pony standing at the door. That was, until Light spoke. "Rarity, we can’t express just how glad we are to see you’re alright. I don’t know what I’d do if my failure to stop Fluttershy got you killed.” “Light, y-your alive!” Rarity stammered in shock. “Wh-how? I saw the axe fall! You… wait. Light, what happened to your horn? Did the impact…?” Light nodded grimly. “Yeah. Apparently, what little was left became dangerous once we were back in Equestria and they had to remove it for my own safety. They saved my life though. Apparently, I was at death's door.” She gave Rarity a solemn look. "Much like you yourself." "Oh, dear," Rarity breathed. "I am so sorry. I mean, it's wondrous to have you alive, but truly, I couldn't even imagine what you've lost." She hung her head low. "And here I was worried my scars might bother me. It seems rather vain in comparison to your plight, does it not?" "Not at all!" Light rushed to reassure her. "That place has affected all of us. But the three of us are still a team, and that means we can all help each other with whatever comes next." "Well, then I shall endeavor to be the best teammate I can. And I'm sure there are at least a half-dozen more ponies willing to do the same." "Yeah, you're right." Light blinked a few times, then suddenly started laughing. "Huh, well would you look at that!" Rarity glanced down to find Sweetie Belle dozing peacefully against her side, letting out the most adorable yawn and subconsciously readjusting when Rarity shifted her weight. "She hasn't slept more than a wink while you've been out," Light added. "I guess she just needed her big sister to get comfortable." Rarity couldn't help but smile. "Poor dear must have been exhausted. Don't you worry, Sweetie Belle, your sister's going to look after you now. I promise." "That's good to hear," Light said, "but for now, why don't you let me carry her. We have somewhere to be, and you shouldn't strain yourself." "Why, wherever could we possibly have to be? I just woke up!" "Applejack's," Light grinned. "She called dibs on your first meal." Rarity's stomach rumbled in a rather undignified way in response. "Well, good. I suppose I could have a bite. But first, I should tell you that there is something we must discuss. It can wait until tonight before bed, but no later." "Oh, is there something wrong?" "Very much so." Rarity's tone turned grave. "It may be a matter of life or death, actually. But it can wait. Just a little bit. I would hardly wish to sour our meal." "Are you sure?" Light stepped up to the bed, setting one hoof upon the covers as concern etched into her features. "If there's a problem, we should take care of it right away. I'd hate to let it affect you any longer than necessary." "I said it can wait," Rarity insisted. "Please, darling, let's just go and enjoy ourselves for now. It'll be easier after some warm food and good company anyway. Now, why don't you help me out of this bed? I'm afraid my legs are not entirely stable just yet." "Right." Light put a foreleg around her. "It's time to bust you out of this joint." "Light!" "What? Not funny?" "No." She paused. "I am cleared to leave, right?" "Eh, who cares? It's not like they're going to stop us." Rarity gasped. "Light, I never knew you were such a rebel!" "Actually, I lied. I care quite a bit. I filled out a lot of paperwork for you—in triplicate, just in case—to make sure you were properly set to go. They said that wasn't all necessary, coming from a princess, but the hospital's policies were very clear! I should know, I read them all." "And... you ruined it."