`“Well…that was certainly a…experience.” Twilight Sparkle mumbles underneath her breath, reaching up with a lavender hoof and trying vainly to wipe away a few of the stray crumbs still stuck in her coat. What had originally just been a quick stop by Sugarcube Corner had somehow escalated to the point of an all-out food fight between Applejack and Pinkie Pie, she didn’t really know how it happened, but she was fairly certain Pinkie was to blame.
She’d ended up walking in to find the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner covered in pastry, crust, and candy. Apparently the two hadn’t been getting along during their partnership for the big muffin sale today, they’d been arguing and insulting each other the entire time and everything had come to a head when Applejack had ended up getting a hoof full of raw dough to the face. Thankfully the pair had managed to work it out after one of Twilight’s signature lectures, and she was pleased with the thought that Celestia would soon be getting two brand new friendship reports by the end of the day.
That’s when the lavender unicorn notices something rather peculiar, the thick wooden door to the library was open, just a crack. For a moment she feels a seed of worry worm its way into her chest, what if it was a thief, or villain? After all, Twilight and her friends had encountered more than a couple antagonistic types in their days as the Elements of Harmony, and the thought that one of them may come back seeking revenge hadn’t escaped her. Then she puts her thoughts to ease by rationalizing that it had probably just been Spike, maybe he’d popped outside for a few moments and forgotten to shut the door all the way when he’d gone back in.
“Spike, I’m home!” The unicorn shouts, peeking her head in around the door, startled to find that the room had been submerged in darkness. Had Spike turned off the lights? What on Equestria would he do that for? “HEY SPIKE!” She shouts again, her horn lighting up as the door swings open, she quickly slips inside, she feels her chest tighten and her stomach start to turn as her call is met only with eerie silence.
Her horn lights up as she reaches out with her magic to turn on the lamp nearby, the main room of the library is awash with a white light, the sudden brightness forces Twilight to blink her eyes multiple times as her pupils adjust to the glow. When she finally does regain the use of her vision, the sight she’s greeted with is enough to make her stomach tie into knots. The new bookshelf was lying toppled upon the floor, splintered wood and crumpled books lay scattered about the room.
“Oh Celestia Spike are you under there!?” The unicorn screeches, fear breaking her usually calm and disciplined voice. She feared the worst, had Spike gotten too brave and decided that he could put in the bookshelf on his own? She certainly hopes not, but right now that seemed to be the only logical conclusion she could draw.
Twilight takes a deep breath and fights down her panic, her horn glowing brightly as she envelops the entire bookshelf in magic, grunting with effort as she forces the heavy wooden piece of shelving into the air, she screws her eyes shut as she forces it back against the wall, loud thumps resounding throughout the room as more books tumble from the shelf, striking the hard wooden floor of the library, any other time and such a mistreatment of literature would have driven Twilight insane, but right now the only thing on her mind was the safety and wellbeing of her closest friend.
The unicorn lets loose a relieved sigh as her magic surrounding the bookshelf dissipates, fizzing away as the old wood of the shelf creaks and groans as it’s pressed up against the wall.
“Oh no…” She groans in despair, Spike hadn’t been crushed by the bookshelf, thank Celestia, but somepony had, Twilight sprints across the room, screeching to a halt as soon as she reaches the mangled and bloody body laying twisted and broken upon the floor, a purple aura enveloping her horn as she performs a quick spell, after a moment of silence her face lights up in relief. He was still alive, but wouldn’t stay that way for long unless she got some help.
Twilight rears up on her hooves, running as fast as her hooves would take her out of the library. “HELP SOMEPONY FETCH NURSE REDHEART!”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The world around you passes by in a blur; the jumbled shapes and spinning lights running through your vision were cluttered and impossible to make out. There’s an ever present group of shadows passing by overhead, stark silhouettes against the bright white flashes from above. Your body is numb, that deep achy kind of numb that means you’re hurt real bad but too out of it to know where. Your brain throbs and stings as the sudden influx of information overwhelms your senses, your heart starts to beat rapidly as a strange sort of panic sets in, and you try to move your legs in a desperate attempt to escape the strange whirlpool of lights and color, only for them to be forcefully shoved back down by a firm yet gentle hoof.
“Don’t move…” The voice seems alien and far away, but you obey it, if only because your attempt at flailing your legs had caused a deeper, more noticeable pain, to run through your body.
You become aware of several sounds now, but all of it is too mixed together to make any sense. There’s a constant squeaking noise nearby, like that of a shopping cart, and several loud and authoritative voices shouting back at one another as those dark shapes from before continue to hover over you. You hear a loud bang and a slam as your body suddenly comes to a stop, you hadn’t realized you were moving earlier, but now that your mind is slowly piecing itself back together you feel yourself becoming steadily more aware of your surroundings.
“-atient is suffering from multiple lacerations along sides, back, and belly.” The voice slides into the realm of audibility, you’re still far too out of it to know exactly what it means, but the words are at least comprehensible. “Multiple fractures and breaks along legs, bruised jaw and chin but most of bone seems intact, deep laceration along the side of the head, could we get some pressure on that cut? We need to stop the bleeding.” You can feel something dry and warm press against the side of your head. And then there’s a bright flash of light in your left eye, but not the right. “Pupils in left eye dilated correctly, no point in even checking the right one...”
There’s a sudden shock of pain in your chest and you can feel the rest of your body start to lock up! You start to twitch and squirm in panic, unable to comprehend what’s going on.
“Patient’s going into shock! Somepony get me that anesthetic now! If we don’t operate right now we’re going to lose this one!”
There’s a prick in your arm and the pain stops, you slowly ease into the comforting numbness that’s clouding your mind, and once again fall into the peaceful land of oblivion…
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Rarity bursts through the hospital entrance, a loud bang sounding throughout the room as the heavy metal door slams against the wall. The unicorn looks around in exasperation, as soon as Rainbow had given her the news she’d sprinted across town to get to the hospital, but now that she was actually here she came to the stark realization that she didn’t actually know where she was supposed to go.
“Twilight!” The unicorn’s face lights up as she spots her lavender friend across the room, trotting over as fast as her tired legs would carry her. “Twilight what happened to him!?” The fashionista asks, before the startled mare can even get out a word. “Dash wouldn’t tell me a thing!”
Twilight shifts her eyes away from Rarity’s, refusing to look her despaired friend in the face. “It’s…my fault.”
Rarity shakes her head, stunned by Twilight’s words. “Your fault, how so!?”
The purple unicorn swallows the lump that had been building in her throat, taking a minute to collect herself as she prepares to share the details. “I just bought a new bookshelf today, and I hadn’t managed to put it in by the time I left. When I got back I found him…lying underneath it. I-it fell on him Rare…”
“Oh Celestia…” Is all Rarity manages to utter, she’d seen how big the bookshelves in Twilight’s library were, and she was willing to assume that getting crushed by one was going to cause far more than a few minor injuries.
“I should have been more careful! If I’d taken the time to put a ward around it or something, this whole mess would never have happened!” Rarity snaps out of her worry at the sound of her friend’s voice, looking over to see the fellow unicorn berating herself.
“No Twilight please…it isn’t your fault.” Rarity places a comforting hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “There’s no possible way you could have known something like this would happen.”
“Yeah bu-”
“No buts, if it wasn’t for you he might not have even made it to the hospital.”
Twilight doesn’t argue, that was true after all, after Nurse Redheart had been called it was Twilight who had teleported you to the hospital, Redheart had insisted that the chariot was fast enough, but the unicorn was confident in her own abilities, and knew that it was without a doubt the fastest and safest way to get you there.
“Will he be okay Twilight?” Rarity asks, her voice quivering, she didn’t really know if she wanted the honest truth.
Twilight shakes her head a little and once again turns her eyes towards the floor. “I…I don’t know, I didn’t really get a good look.”
“Twilight please…” The fashionista pleads, her beautiful blue eyes round and quivering, any minute now and she was sure to start crying. “Just tell me.”
The unicorn chews on her lip, contemplating the best way to say what needed to be said. “I honestly don’t know Rarity, I’m not a doctor and I haven’t read through any medical books in a couple weeks...but.” The unicorn’s purple eyes meet with the fashionista’s. “…it didn’t look good.”
Rarity feels her throat swell and her chest tighten up, the tears in her eyes threatening to overflow. Oh Celestia please let him be okay. She prayed, hoping that the sun goddess could hear, she didn’t even really know if Celestia was omnipresent in that kind of way, but she figured it was better than nothing. Rarity stiffens as she feels a comforting hoof rest against her shoulder, looking up to see Twilight giving her a comforting expression.
“Are you okay Rare?” The bookworm asks, tightening the grip on Rarity’s shoulder.
Rarity, despite her deflated mood, lets out a tiny chuckle, reaching up with a dainty white hoof to wipe the tears out of her eyes before they could cause her mascara to run. “I don’t know Twilight, I really don’t know. How long has he been in there?”
Twilight frowns. “A couple hours at least, I don’t know what they’re doing in there, but I’ve picked up on some magic in the air. I’m assuming that they’ve taken the drastic approach and are using magic to heal his wounds directly.”
“I see.” Rarity nods. “And how successful is that typically?”
Twilight’s demeanor becomes somewhat pensive as she attempts to recall some of the information she’d attained over the years concerning healing magic. “Well, I know that, if used correctly, magic can be used to heal some extremely severe injuries. There’s a bit of a problem though, it’s a very advanced form of magic it takes a lot of energy to sustain healing spells over any extended period of time and it’s not unlikely that a unicorn may get too tired to finish off what they’ve started, but typically you can counter this by having multiple unicorns work together at once, now this causes a chain reaction us in the magic community call a….”
Rarity nods in understanding, or at least she thinks she understands, to be honest she hadn’t really been paying all that close attention to what Twilight was saying, she was more or less just using it as a sort of distraction to keep her mind from wondering just how badly hurt you were. Such an attempt was in vain however, as she found herself tuning out Twilight’s voice about halfway through her impromptu lesson.
Twilight realizes that her words are being ignored, and, though usually such an action would upset the studious unicorn, she understood why exactly Rarity was finding it hard to pay attention. The mare feels her heart swell up as she spies the deflated look on the unicorn’s face, and she can tell that right now Rarity needs her support, not a lecture. Twilight really wasn’t one for emotional stuff, typically Fluttershy had that department covered, and right now she wished the shy Pegasus was here to try and ease some of Rarity’s worry, but she wasn’t and Twilight was going to have to make do.
“Hey, come here.” Twilight cooed, pulling her fellow unicorn into a warm embrace, she was surprised at how receptive Rarity was, the fashionista eagerly burying her head into Twilight’s chest and repressing a few quiet sobs, apparently this was hitting her harder than she was willing to admit. “He’ll be okay, I promise.”
Minutes tick by as the pair of friends hold one another, and despite the display, Twilight’s surprised to see that nopony passing by really pays them any mind. A distraught pony inside of a hospital apparently wasn’t all that uncommon. Twilight continues to comfort the fashionista as best she can, she had read a few books over how to do such a thing, but that information was hard to recall since she’d never had a need for it before this moment.
Eventually Rarity seems to regain her composure, gently pushing the lavender unicorn away and quickly reaching up with a hoof to wipe away any stained makeup; after all, being incredibly upset was no excuse for looking unladylike.
“Th-thank you Twilight dear.” She says, sniffling lightly. “I don’t suppose you have a handkerchief on you?”
As luck would have it the unicorn did, she always kept a few on hoof in her saddlebag whenever she went out. Her horn lights up with a soft purple glow as her saddlebag, which was lying nearby, she’d discarded it after teleporting to the hospital, opens up. And a faint smile touches upon Rarity’s face as she reaches out with her own magic to take the handkerchief, mumbling a thank you before quietly blowing her nose.
“You must think I’m acting ridiculously.” The fashionista says, shaking her head and frowning. Twilight opens her mouth to speak but is cut off before she can. “After all, I’m sure he’s okay. It’s just, everything was going so magnificently and now something like this has to happen.”
Twilight frowns. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being upset about this Rarity, you have every right to be.” Rarity doesn’t respond. “And if you need anything I promise to do whatever I can.”
“Well, now that you mention it.” Rarity says, recalling something rather important. “I left Sweetie Belle back at the boutique, Rainbow promised to watch her but I don’t really think she’s…cut out for the task, to put it gently.”
Twilight chews on her lower lip, out of all the things Rare could’ve asked it had to be the one thing she couldn’t do. “Um, would you mind if I ask Fluttershy to do it?” Twilight inquires, trying to sound like as little of a jerk as possible.
Rarity cocks her head to the side, giving her friend a curious look. “Why, I suppose that would be fine. But, is there a reason why you aren’t willing to do it? I know the little dear can be a bit of a hooful, but I’m sure you’d be just fine.”
Twilight represses a building groan, she hadn’t wanted to tell Rarity about Spike’s recent disappearance, after all, the unicorn was already distraught enough and Celestia knows she didn’t need more bad news. Especially since evidence pointed to the purple dragon being the cause of her beloved’s injuries. But Twilight had to tell her eventually…now seemed like as bad a time as any.
“Spike has um…” She scuffs a hoof against the cold tile floor of the hospital. “He’s gone missing.”
For a moment Rarity’s face is blank, like she hadn’t quite heard correctly, then her cherry red lips morph into a disheartened frown, her head drooping and a hoof coming up to hold her face. “Oh Celestia, first my coltfriend is nearly killed and now my poor Spikey Wikey disappears…” The unicorn gives a distressed shake of her head, before she cranes her neck upwards, a saddened expression upon her pale white face. “Twilight you don’t think that he’s responsible, do you?”
The purple unicorn’s silence is enough to answer that question. Rarity’s head droops once again.
“Oh…this is the worst possible thing…”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
The world around you is spinning…twisting…changing, everything’s a bit of a blur; you seem to recall the sensations of being pushed down a hallway of some sort. And you can smell the faint scent of disinfectant and medicine somewhere off in the distance. It’s a strange otherworldly feeling, like your floating in-between reality and, well, not reality. For a minute or two you’re confused, scared, and even a little panicked, but after a while you start to relax. After all, what was there to be worried about?
You were just sitting at home, waking up in your bed after a long night out with friends. You sit up, the silky red covers of your bed falling from your body, and you look around the familiar spacious layout of your room with fondness in your eyes, everything was there, your desk, your smooth leather chair, your expensive bookshelf, and even the giant cheese wheel that rested at the foot of your bed.
Wait what!? Giant cheese wheel? Why that was preposterous! You didn’t have a giant cheese wheel in your room; it was supposed to be a carrot! There was only one possible conclusion to make…this cheese wheel was an imposter! Well you couldn’t stand for something like this!
“Charge!” You bellow, bravely tackling the cheesewheel to the ground.
You’re sitting in your dad’s office, a glass of fancy scotch in your hoof as you read the label, only to find yourself surprised that it actually had none. Well, it was your father’s; surely it was safe enough to drink. You pour the alcohol into a tiny cup, smiling in satisfaction as you bring the cup to your lips; you’d wanted to drink some of your father’s fancy scotch for years! And now was finally your chance!
*Ring*
*Ring*
You frown as your father’s phone begins to ring, what on Equestria could somepony want at this time of day? No matter, you couldn’t just leave it there, it could be something important after all. You reach out with a hoof, securing your limb around the shiny piece of metal and bringing it to your ear.
“Hello?”
“They’re lying you know…” You pull the phone away…that voice…it sounded so, familiar.
“What?”
“Your parents knucklehead, they haven’t been honest with you since day one.” You feel your muscles tighten and you start grinding your teeth, you didn’t know who was on the other line, but you did know that you weren’t a fan of their tone.
“You’d better shut your mouth…” The words came out as more of a growl than anything else, but that was fine, you felt as if it got your point across.
“Ha, see you around pal.” Wait, what did he mean by that?
You begin to fall, your legs flailing helplessly as you tumble through the blackness, you open your mouth to cry out but no voice can escape.
You fall…and fall…and fall…
You can hear the gentle sounds of lapping water nearby, followed by the occasional splash, as if someone or something was diving in and out of the water. You can smell the chlorine and feel the moisture in the air, these familiar feelings are what clue you in to the fact that you are resting besides the pool your father had recently put in, the same pool your sister loved so much.
“Oh hi, welcome back.” A tiny feminine voice causes your ear to twitch, and you look over to see a light blue filly approaching where you lay, throwing her sopping wet green mane back with a brush of her hoof, walking over and plopping herself down on the spread out towel you were sitting on, grabbing a corner of the fabric and wiping off some of the moisture clinging to her young body, her emerald eyes looking up at you as her lips curved into a smile. “I was wondering when you and I would get a chance to talk.”
“Aquaria, is that you?” This filly looked exactly like your little sister, but the way she was talking made it seem as if the pair of you had never met.
The filly smiles coyly at you. “Well, kind of, I certainly look like her don’t I? But I think that’s only because you’re thinking about her right now.”
You blink, shooting the filly a confused expression. “I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
The blue filly sighs, rolling her big round eyes in a show of annoyance. “Of course you don’t, I suppose that’s to be expected, after all it’s not every day you get crushed by a bookcase and then put into a coma.”
Bookcase? Coma? You have no idea what this pony is going on about, and then you feel it, a slight tingling sensation at the back of your mind. Like you were trying to remember something...but can’t quite figure out what.
“Ah, there it is, you feel it don’t you? You know what I’m talking about, Twilight’s bookstore, organizing a new bookcase with a certain backstabbing little dragon, ringing any bells?”
“What…no I don-” You begin, before the realization hits you like a freight train. Now you remembered! Twilight’s library, you’d knocked the shelf over and ended up crushing yourself after a certain dragon knocked the ladder out from under you. You can still recall the sheer feeling of overpowering terror and fear as you saw that bookshelf looming over you, steadily beginning to fall as you lay upon the ground, helpless.
“Oh yeah…” You can see the filly smile from where she sits as an expression of understanding dawns over your face. “But, shouldn’t I be at a hospital? Or wait, am I dead!? Because if this is what being dead is like being dead sucks!?” Panic worms its way into your voice as you start to think that maybe that little accident had been more fatal than you thought. You couldn’t be dead! Rarity would be absolutely devastated if you died!
“Relax lover boy.” The filly says, patting a tiny hoof against your back in an attempt to calm you down. “You’re not dead, though you are about as a dead as a pony can be without actually being…well…dead.” For some reason that didn’t exactly help ease your troubled thoughts, “I’m pretty sure you’re just in a coma or something.”
“Oh great, really that is way better!” The sarcasm is thick in your voice, and the filly doesn’t really seem all that amused by your choice of words, giving another hard roll of her eyes. Speaking of this filly just what exactly was she.
“I’m just a figment of your imagination.” She says, as if reading your mind. “And yes I did just read your mind.”
“Oh, but why do you look like my sister?”
“Dunno, but if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s because right now you’re working through some deep emotional issues regarding your family, and about what they kept from you.”
You bite your lip and look away, a grimace forming on your face as some…unpleasant memories worm their way into your mind.
“I’d really rather not talk about that…”
The filly gives a dismissive shrug of her shoulders. “Fine, this is your head, we can do whatever you want in it.” Then the filly fixes her big blue eyes on you. “But I can’t help but wonder…what do you think Rarity is going to do when she finds out about your, shall we say, unique position?”
You grimace, feeling lines of worry worm their way into your expression as you think. Rarity loved you…she wouldn’t care. Would she?
“She might, after all, she does put a lot of stock in her reputation. Being in a relationship with a pony tha-”
“Shut up.” You grumble, you weren’t in the mood for this, not right now.
You didn’t need to look at the filly to know she was grinning again. This filly looked like your sister, but she certainly didn’t act like her, it was like somepony was punishing you by taking all of your sister’s most obnoxious of traits and turning them up to eleven.
“You know you can’t run from your problems forever. Eventually she’s going to find out…and I’d suggest you be the one she hears it from.”
You don’t respond, there was truth to the filly’s words, but did Rarity really need to know about that?
“Well anyway, it’s been a fun talk.” You snap out of your thoughts in time to see the filly stand, popping her neck and stretching her legs. “But I think it’s time you woke up. After all, there’s a certain white unicorn back in reality that I’m sure would be absolutely ecstatic to see you.”
The filly doesn’t wait for a response, and you hear a splash as she dives back in to the pool. Your brain goes fuzzy, and you roll over onto your back as a blinding white light burns into your vision…
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
You blink once or twice as you slowly regain consciousness, there’s a heavy ringing in your ears and it feels like your whole body is running on slow. Your vision comes out blurry and strained, everything around you looks like one big splotch of color and fuzz, like your brain is struggling to give your surroundings the proper shape. Your mouth feels like it’s filled with a mixture of cotton and sand, and nothing but a strange gurgling sound is heard as you try to speak. You can feel something soft and warm wrapped around you, and in an attempt to find out what it is you reach down and give it a couple curious pats, whatever it is begins to stir, and in a matter of moments it shoot up and starts to look you over. From where you were sitting all it looked like was a mesh of color, but there was still something oddly familiar about it.
You can hear faint mumbling noises as the figure speaks, the ringing in your ears dying down as the words slowly become comprehensible.
“Darling! Darling can you hear me!?” That voice…oh you were afraid you’d never hear it again.
You are unable to vocalize the sheer joy you feel by Rarity’s mere presence, due to your floppy mouth, so to show Rarity how much you missed her you reach up with your left hoof and affectionately start to stroke her face, you can see her cherry red lips morph into a smile at your sensitive touch, grabbing your wandering hoof in her own and holding it close, as if scared to let go.
“I’m going to go get a doctor okay?” She says, slowly and softly so it’d be easier for you to understand. You’re only able to let her know you did by frowning and giving her a tiny nod.
You hear a squeak and feel a heavy displacement in the bed as Rarity hops off, you feel cold and lonely as soon as she does and you absently wonder if Rarity had been sharing the bed with you. That was nice of her. You think, your thoughts still a little mixed up. It sure is awfully cold in here. As if to amplify that remark you can feel a shiver race up and down your spine, wherever you were they could certainly stand to turn up the heat.
“Doctor Stable! Doctor Stable! He’s awake!” You can hear Rarity calling off in the distance, and you force your achy head to spin around as you look for where she might be, why on Equestria was it so hard to see out of your right eye? This was worse than when you’d been punched in the face. Eventually you manage to spot your beloved across the room, sticking her head out the open door as she called for a doctor.
You can hear her sweet voice say something else as the door opens the rest of the way and an oddly familiar looking pony steps inside. You can’t make out what exactly she said but you can hear the relief in her voice, she must have been terrified throughout this whole ordeal. You can see that familiar pony approaching, and you feel a sense of recognition as you finally manage to place his appearance. Why, he looked just like Caramel, his yellowish coat and well combed brown mane resembled that of your friend to an almost exacting degree. There were a few key differences though, you knew that Caramel wasn’t a doctor for one, and his cutie mark was that of a heart monitor, unlike Caramel’s three silver horseshoes. Therefore he couldn’t be your friend, maybe they were related? You make a mental note to ask when given the opportunity.
“Hi there, how are you doing?” The doctor’s voice is soft; he reaches up with a hoof and adjusts his glasses. The only response you can offer is a slow blink and a groan.
“I don’t think he can talk Mr. Stable.” Rarity says, and you smile as she pops up next to the left side of your bed, nodding to show that she had said correctly.
“Ah, I see, well that’s not all that uncommon. Just give me a moment.” You can see the doctor’s horn light up as he levitates a couple of bits in the air. “Here, there’s a pop machine around the corner, I think a bottle of water might help.”
Rarity nods and her own horn lights up as she takes the bits. “I’ll be back in a minute dear.” She says reassuringly to you, before trotting out of the room.
“Alrighty then, let’s have a look here.” Dr. Stable mumbles, more to himself than anyone else, out of the corner of your eye you can see him levitating over a clipboard. “This should do…now where did I put my pen? Ah, here it is.” The stallion places the clipboard on your chest, and then proceeds to very rudely shove the pen in your mouth, you groan in distaste and the doctor quickly apologizes.
“Sorry about that, but I need to make sure that everything’s okay as soon as possible. Now, do you feel any pain when I do this?” You can feel a gentle prodding along your right side, and, aside from a touch of discomfort, you don’t feel anything inherently painful.
You quickly scribble the word no onto the clipboard, though it didn’t exactly look all that great, your mouth didn’t seem like it was willing to do much other than lay slack right now, but from what you can see it’s at least slightly legible, with enough squinting you’re sure he’d be able to make it out.
Dr. Stable leans over and takes a quick peak at what you’d written, smiling in satisfaction, apparently he was pleased with your answer.
“Good, very good, now I’m sure you’re a little confused right now. Do you know where you are?”
You scribble the word Hosptial onto the paper, fully aware that you’d spelled it incorrectly but in no mood to fix it.
“Yes very good. What about that mare who was in here? Do you know her name?”
You fight the desire to roll your eyes. Of course you remembered Rarity’s name, she was the mare you were in love with, and it’d take a hell of a lot more than being smashed by a bookshelf for you to forget her.
You quickly scribble out your response, one good look and the doctor smiles again. “Very good, it seems as if our fears of permanent brain damage were for naught, let me just take that for you.” You blink as the unicorn’s horn lights up and he retrieves the clipboard and pen. Permanent brain damage!? Just how badly hurt had you been?
Before the doctor can say anything else you can hear the door swing open and Rarity quickly makes her way inside, an extremely appetizing looking bottle of water floating only a few inches away from her face.
“Here darling, drink this.” You can feel Rarity wrap a dainty hoof around the back of your head and slowly prop it forward, before placing the lidless bottle of water to your lips and beginning to pour. You eagerly gulp down the cool liquid; a bottle of water had never tasted so good.
“Why Miss Rarity, I have to say your bedside manner is superb.” The doctor chirps up, grinning while he does so. “Have you ever considered being a nurse?”
Rarity giggles lightly and slowly removes the now empty bottle from your lips. “No I haven’t, but ever since I’ve started a relationship with this fellow.” She lightly prods the side of your head in a cheeky manner. “I’ve found myself spending more and more time at the side of his bed, taking care of him. Maybe I should make myself a nurse’s outfit anyway, if I’m going to be spending the majority of my free time looking after you I might as well look the part hm?” The fashionista continues to chide, flashing you another smile.
“…ugh, be as sassy as you’d like Rare, I know you love me.” You finally seem to find your voice, and it causes your favorite unicorn to perk up a little. She leans in and gives your dried lips a tiny peck, you try and move your left leg to wrap it around her own, eager to feel her close to you again, but you stop as soon as another, more masculine hoof, comes into contact with it.
“Ah ah, try and keep the movement to a minimum.” Dr. Stable interjects, gently laying your hoof back down on the bed. “You’ve undergone exstensive magical operations, the likes of which we’ve never had to perform before. Now I don’t want to worry you, but I think it’d be best if you just keep still for a while, at least until we can get another doctor or two in here and check everything over.”
You swallow hard, trying to muster up enough strength to speak again. “Extensive magical surgery?” You ask in dismay. “Doc, just how badly hurt was I?”
Out of the corner of your eye you can see Rarity’s face grow pale, that was about all you needed for an answer.
“Well, healing magic is something we only use in extreme cases.” The stallion explains. “And you were a pretty extreme case.”
“I could barely recognize you when they finally let me look…I don’t even want to know how bad it was before they started.” You look over to see Rarity’s dark blue eyes moisten with tears. “I thought that you might…” Her voice trails off, finding herself unable to finish that sentence.
You give her a comforting look, silently telling her that everything was going to be alright.
“Well, now I’m sure that you two would like to spend some time with one another.” Stable speaks up yet again, you were pleased to see he could take a hint. “But, if you have any questions for me before I go I’d be glad to answer them as best I can.”
“Well I can’t really see out of my right eye.” You say, giving the right side of your head a quick poke to emphasize your point.
Rarity’s face takes on a concerned expression, and the unicorn turns towards the doctor, asking silently for an explanation.
“Hm, I was afraid that something like that might have happened. You see sir, when we brought you in your right eye had been…well…it was pretty much gone.”
Your face morphs into an expression of surprise, you hadn’t expected to hear something like that.
“We had to sort of, put it back together during the surgery.” The doctor reaches up with a hoof and quickly adjusts his glasses. “I’m sorry but I doubt your eye will ever really work correctly again. Maybe with enough time, and with some magical therapy you can regain some of its use, but I don’t honestly think that there’s anything else we could have done.”
You sort of sink backwards into the plush pillow that’s holding your head up. Feeling slightly depressed, there were worse things that could have happened you suppose, but the knowledge that you were now technically half blind was still quite a bit to swallow.
“It’s okay dear…” Rarity says lovingly, and you smile at her attempt to cheer you up.
You see the doctor making his way towards the door, trying to leave, apparently he figured that you were out of questions, but he couldn’t be more wrong, there was still one very important thing you had to ask.
“Mr. Stable! I have one last question.” You say, forcing your voice a little louder than it could handle, and you grimace in pain as the back of your throat starts to scratch.
The doctor turns around, a soft smile resting on his face. “Of course, whatever you need.”
“Do you know Caramel?”
Stable’s face takes on a slightly surprised expression, apparently he hadn’t expected a question like that. “Why yes actually, he’s my cousin.”
You smile, you knew they had to be related at the very least. “I thought so, anypony ever tell you two that you guys look alike?”
Stable chuckles lightly before responding. “Oh yes, once or twice, our mothers used to get us mixed up when we were colts. Are you a friend of his?”
“Yeah, you could say that. He was letting me stay with him a couple weeks back.” You reply.
“Ah, he always was a generous one. Well I’ll leave you two alone, but try and keep the physical contact to a minimum. Like I said, we won’t know if we managed to heal everything until we get a couple more doctors to look you over.” Stable gently warns, apparently expecting you two to get a little more ‘intimate’ than was probably safe. Not that he actually had to worry about that, you can’t believe your honestly thinking this but, sex honestly didn’t sound all that appealing right now.
There’s a squeak and a gentle click as the door leading into your hospital room shuts, and with Stable’s absence the room falls into silence once more, Rarity sits on a chair pulled up next to your bed, and you smile over affectionately at her as she represses a yawn, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that she had spent the last few days of your coma sitting right there, by your side. The evidence was right there on her face, it was true Rarity still looked pretty great, despite the circumstances, but signs of her fatigue were pretty evident. You could see that her luscious purple mane was slightly smashed and rough, like she’d only spent about half an hour combing and spraying it rather than the usual sixty minutes or so, her makeup seemed a tad sloppy as well, she’d coated her lipstick on a little too thick it and her eyeliner was a tad squiggly, her blush looked a little too light as well.
The poor mare probably didn’t get a wink of sleep through the whole ordeal, or at least not much. And you know for a fact that she’s in dire need of it, and though you’d like nothing more than to keep her here with you for the rest of the day, you weren’t about to sacrifice her health for your own personal pleasure.
“Rarity princess…” You do your best to make your voice soft and loving, lightly wrapping a hoof around her own as she gives you an affectionate smile.
“Yes dear?”
“You should go home.” The fatigued unicorn’s bloodshot blue eyes widen in suprise.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, you should go home Rare…I can tell you’ve been with me this whole time, and believe me I think that’s the most romantic thing in Equestria.” You squeeze her hoof a little tighter to show that you were sincere. “But you look absolutely exhausted my dear, so you should go home.”
Rarity reaches up and quickly tries to wipe the bags out from under her eyes, denying her fatigue. “No no no, I’m perfectly fine I assure you. All I need is a cappuccino and I’ll be fit as a fiddle.”
“Rare please, you need to sleep.” You give her a puppy dog stare. “I don’t want you to fall dead from exhaustion because of little old me.”
Rare opens her mouth to protest, but when her gaze meets with your pleading eyes she lets out a heavy sigh of defeat. “Very well, my amant tetu, in a few moments I’ll head back to the boutique. But I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning to pay you a visit.”
You give her a warm smile, knowing full well that there was no way she’d be showing up any earlier than late afternoon, but still you appreciated the thought.
“Good, and be sure to eat something to.” You advise, exhaustion typically went hoof in hoof with hunger. “You look half starved.”
“Yes, daddy I’ll be sure to eat my breakfast in the morning.” The unicorn chides, leaning in and affectionately nuzzling your cheek. “Now you need to give me a goodbye kiss, and it had better be a good one.”
Not one to disappoint you gently push Rarity away, closing your eyes and leaning in, gently pressing your lips against her own, slowly you fork your tongue out, and you can hear the unicorn squeal in delight and surprise as it starts to play with her own. It was far from the heated, passionate, Franech kissing you two performed the other night, but it was about the best you could do at the moment. But it didn’t seem like Rarity was going to complain.
“Oh my…” The fashionista moans as your mouths part, her cheeks flushed and her eyes wide. You fail to fight off the confident smirk spreading across your face.
“How was that?” You ask confidently.
“Most delightful,” She leans in and you can feel her hot breath on your face, the sensation sending tingles up and down your spine. “I’d say it almost makes up for making me sit in here for the past three days…almost.”
“Well, what will I have to do to make up for the rest of it?”
Rarity flashes you a coy little smile. “Well, I’ll come up with something I’m sure. But rest assured the experience should be most pleasurable for the both of us.”
“Oh, well I’m looking forward to it then.”
She presses her cherry red lips to your cheek, giving you an affectionate goodbye gift in the form of a crimson stain on your face, this conjures up fond memories of the first time she’d ever kissed you, and this recollection brings a tiny smile to your face.
“There, that should keep those nurses away from you while I’m gone.” Your sweetheart jokes, rubbing a hoof against the stain her lipstick left behind. “Well, now that you’re awake, and now that I’m leaving the hospital for the first time in days, I imagine a few ponies are going to know you’re awake and well. So don’t be surprised if you get a few unexpected visitors, your poor friend Caramel and his fiancé will probably be the first, those two were about as worried about you as I was when they first got the news. But I figured you’d like a little heads up.”
“Thanks for the warning Rare, I’ll be sure to make myself look presentable.” You say, smiling at her as she hops off the bed, starting for the door.
She turns to look at you over her shoulder as she magics the door open. “Yes, very funny dear. Now you try and get some rest, I may be in need of sleep, but so are you. Goodbye, I’ll see you in the morning.”
You give the mare one last wave goodbye as she exits your hospital room. And you find yourself all alone with nothing but the ambient sounds of the hospital and your own thoughts for company. Despite being in a literal coma for the past three days you find yourself still rather tired, and you find yourself dozing in and out of restless sleep for two hours or so. You are disturbed twice during this gentle snoozing, once by a nurse who’s name you fail to recall, she had come in, giggled once or twice at the lipstick stain on your lips and cheek, then dropped off some dinner for you to eat, dinner which oyu had promptly set aside, hospital food was always the most disgusting stuff you could ever eat and you’d rather starve to death before eat that slop. And about fourty minutes or so after that Doctor Stables had come in to tell you that they had scheduled a magical scan for you two days from now, you would be forced to remain in the hospital until then.
You had requested a piece of paper in order to respond to your mother’s letter, you had after all vowed to get it sent the day of your accident, but you had fallen asleep about halfway through the first sentence. You spend another hour or so in a deeper more restful sleep, before finding yourself awoken yet again by that very same nurse who had delivered your food. You sit up in your bed and pop your neck, ready to listen to what she has to say.
“You have a visitor.” The nurse says gently. “Would you like me to tell them to come back another time?”
You wipe away the sleep from your one good eye, after all, no amount of rubbing would ever get you to see out of your damaged one. You shake your head no and smile at the nurse.
“No go ahead and let them in.” You repress a building yawn with the back of your leg. “They’ll just be back to bug me tomorrow after all.”
The nurse nods and walks away, you lean back in your bed and await your expected unexpected visitor. Apparently word had already gotten around, any minute now and you expected Caramel to pop his head in through the door, get well cards and flowers in hoof. You smile at the mental image, Caramel probably hadn’t actually gotten you a thing, he wasn’t exactly the most thoughtful of ponies, but maybe you’d get lucky.
You can hear the door knob jiggle and the hinges of the hospital door creak as the door leading into your room slowly slides open. You immediately feel that jovial smile fall from your face,that was not Caramel…
You feel your expression morph into a scowl as you sit up taller in your hospital bed, trying to make yourself look more intimidating.
“Hello, Spike…”
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
A/N I am real sorry this took so long guys, I've been so busy lately that this barely got the attention it deserved, and if you're wondering why this is only half the length of my usual chapter that's because this is just the next chapter split in half, this is also why nothing incredibly important happens in it. But I figured I needed to get something out there, so I hope you enjoy what I was able to get done, I promise to really really try and get these done faster, but I'm sorry if it takes so long. Again, thank you all for being so patient.