Day 4:
Birds were chirping, that was the first thing Twilight noticed as she woke from her sleep. She listened closely to the sound and found that it wasn’t actually birds chirping, and it wasn’t pleasant to listen to, at all. She looked up and out the window. Nothing there… She stood up and trotted over to the window to look outside, what she saw, well, it wasn’t pleasant for the pony in question, but it wasn’t unpleasant to look at, at least. The sound was coming from what seemed to be the ambulance cart, dragged by two of the hospital ponies. She thought she recognized the pony that was hurt and she did, it was the mare who had seen Twilight almost fighting with the Steadfast stallion. That put a spot of guilt in Twilight’s stomach as she decided to go and thank the mare for her very random and very helpful appearance just the other day. That’s when she noticed the stallion that had been accompanying the mare was now trotting up the hill towards the hospital, he didn’t look very happy. Well, that was to be expected when one’s marefriend had been hurt. Nodding to herself, Twilight decided to go and eat before visiting the two of them in their affirmed room at the hospital.
She chomped down on her food as usual, not really minding the taste. The door to the cafeteria opened, this wasn’t something that had happened while Twilight had been in the hospital, it was usually really quiet and not a lot of ponies in the main part of the hospital. The pony who stepped inside was the stallion she had just seen outside the hospital, Colt Train, she remembered his name being. She waved a hoof at the stallion, making him see her and bring forth a smile and walk towards Twilight. “Well, how odd to see you again.” He said with enjoyment in his voice, the fact was going right through Twilight as she didn’t notice his enthusiasm for this conversation.
“Yeah, I certainly didn’t expect to see you here of all places, considering how we first met. I can't stress this enough but thank you for saving us.” She said as she brought forth a hoof and shook the stallions hoof with her own in greeting.
He sat down at the opposite side of her table and started to talk. “You’re quite welcome, that was a really special sight to see, or rather, something you don’t see every day. I’m happy I could be of service. As for why I’m here, well, let’s just say that the house we moved into is living up to its price. It wasn’t exactly expensive. In these parts though, I wouldn't exactly expect houses to be overpriced. But this one was really cheap, and well, apparently, we now have a basement. Somepony had filled over the hole to the basement with planks, hiding it for some reason. Anyway, my marefriend fell down the hole and broke a couple of bones, but, she’ll be fine, at least, that’s what the doctors are telling me, and I can’t exactly complain.” He explained, tearing up slightly when he had mentioned the part where his marefriend had fallen down the hole. He sighed and looked at Twilight with a slight smile. “Well, that’s my story, care to explain why your pegasus friend is in the hospital. And one more thing, have you looked at the blood samples for her? I saw that the doctors took one when I was going in here, it had completely solidified almost exactly when they had taken it from her, don’t you find that odd?” As he mentioned this, Twilight started to sweat slightly, but she smiled sheepishly, hoping that he wouldn’t notice.
“Well, I don’t know about the blood part, that’s new to me, but the least I can do for your help is tell the story, so that’s what I’m going to do!” She said with a smile, but just as she was about to start, he stopped her.
“Wait, wait, wait. I want you to tell the whole story, including the bits of her condition, and no, I’m not talking about her being in the hospital, I’m talking about her fangs and her apparent vampirism.” Twilight’s face turned white as he talked. Her was expression completely blank. “Now, I know this because I saw her fangs when she got knocked out, when we were a bit farther away, just before you arrived in fact, but I thought I was seeing things, but as we came closer, I knew that she indeed had fangs. This troubled me, but I didn’t look it to it until yesterday. I went to the local library and asked about myths involving ponies with fangs and such. The librarian was a very nice dragon, I assume you are familiar with him, what with you living here and all... Anyway, I found that the only pony-like creature to have fangs are Changelings, but only in their original from, or vamponies, and that’s how I guessed it, and judging from your expression at the moment I’m going to assume that this is the case, so please, do tell me the entire story, from start to finish, if you please?” Twilight was shocked, this guy was amazing! He had researched this out of sheer curiosity and was now questioning her about it, it was brilliantly done of him!
Twilight looked down and sighed sadly, knowing that this guy wouldn’t accept anything but the truth, so that’s what she decided to do, tell him the entire truth, from start to finish, excluding what she had done to Rainbow’s ‘love’ as it were…
“I see… That’s a lot of things happening at once. Can’t say I blame her though. She doesn’t exactly seem like a bad pony, at least by your words. I can say though, you are blatantly in love with that mare, I recognize myself in you, you should know that. That feeling before I got the answer from my marefriend, it was horrible not to know, but when I finally asked and she said yes to being my marefriend. The pure bliss I felt at that exact moment is how I imagine every pony feels when somepony answers to their affections. So again, I don’t judge her for her condition, considering she’s not any danger, at least, not in the current state of affairs. I hope you fix this Twilight Sparkle, and may force of love be with you, always.” He finished, walking away dramatically from Twilight, leaving her completely exhausted and flabbergasted at the stallions understanding of the situation. She looked up at the clock, it was now 8 pm, this really surprised Twilight, she must have had quite the tale if that’s the time it had taken her to tell that story, it wasn’t even that long… Yet…
When she came back to Rainbow Dash’s room, the first thing she did was… Fall asleep.
Day 5:
Twilight awoke with a shock, something had shaken her. She quickly looked around the hospital room and found that nopony was in there, except for her and Rainbow Dash, of course. This, Twilight found odd, but she couldn’t quite figure out why, she looked up at the nearby clock on the wall, it was now 12 am. Well, not that late at least… She shook her head and looked outside the window to check if she could see the Running of the Leaves going on outside, since that was supposed to be today. She could indeed spot the finish line from her location, she sighed, remembering how her first Running of the Leaves had been. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were having their grudge match, which had followed from the Iron Pony competition, which incidentally, Twilight judged. She allowed herself to smile slightly as she could see ponies accumulating on the starting line of the race. She was barely able to point out Applejack in the crowd. Twilight knew she was going to run, Applejack wouldn’t go for anything less. Only thing being, today Rainbow wasn’t present, so Twilight doubted that Applejack would even have the drive to try for first place. Not that she had anything to prove to anypony.
Twilight retracted herself from the window and went out the door to get food once again. It was the normal thing, nothing special happened today. This made her think about yesterday. Colt Train had seemed rather forward with his behavior, but he seemed harmless at the core. He didn’t seem like the kind that would be mean; he actually seemed rather nice, at least from what she had experienced so far. She couldn’t even blame him for the research into vamponies, if Twilight had been in his situation, she would probably had done the same as he did, she couldn’t blame Colt Train for being curious, at least not when she was exactly the same. But she still couldn’t shake off the feeling that something about him seemed off, but it was probably nothing.
Twilight shook her head and left for Rainbow’s room once again. She was getting rather bored with this place, but that was only due to the extreme lack of books and things to learn, but she could manage, at least for Rainbow Dash. She almost felt obligated to do this… Twilight did feel kinda bad for manipulating Rainbow’s feelings the way she did, but she couldn’t change that now. All she could do was help her friend, in every way possible. Even so, if a friend did get hurt as much as Rainbow Dash had been, she probably wouldn’t sit at their bed as much as she was doing with Rainbow Dash, and she did feel kinda bad about that… But what can you do when you’re in love?
Her train of thought was interrupted by something shaking the bed, she looked up at Rainbow Dash, what she found, well, it was something. Rainbow’s body had just now twitched, this meant that she was close to waking up, even if it would still be a couple of days till that happened. Twilight smiled, this was probably the highlight of the day, finally an end to this incredible torture called a hospital would end.
And thus, she was interrupted by the door opening, in stepped Applejack, she didn’t have a medal, this, Twilight had been expecting, Applejack didn’t exactly have anypony to race against this year, so her motivation wouldn’t have been the greatest, but at least she still raced. “Good day Twilight,” Applejack said emotionless as she stared at the unconscious body of Rainbow Dash as she sighed. “Ah thought ah would come here and pay my respects and tell Rainbow that she missed the race. We need to do that another time.”
Twilight smiled as she looked up towards Applejack. “Aj, don’t worry, that will probably be soon, she just twitched, that means she’s only days from waking up, faster than anticipated, but it could still be a while.” Twilight noticed that there was a faint smile appearing on Applejack’s face as Twilight explained this, Twilight smiled back. She liked her friends happy, not nearly as much as Pinkie Pie, that pony thrived on it. “And yeah, I will tell her about you two having a private race when she wakes up, I promise you that.” Applejack nodded, Twilight smiled back.
Applejack tipped her hat to Rainbow Dash and Twilight and bid farewell, nothing more needed to be said that day, it was simply a conversation of few words; it didn’t need to be more. Twilight sighed as Applejack closed the door, it was a really boring day, Twilight concluded as she leaned back in her chair, trying to think of something she could use to drive her time away.
You could try talking to me, I see myself as quite the conversationalist actually, and the other day just proves that. No but actually, I just wanted to point something out before going away again, I have things to do, even if you think I don’t. You see, the guy from yesterday, and yes, I did see him, I just didn’t talk to you, that’s how it works. Anyway, he was weirdly perfect in every assumption he made, now, I’m not saying anything, but I think you two are the same, ready to do whatever it takes to get an answer, and I like that Twilight Sparkle, I like that a lot. Secondly, Rainbow Dash and you, that’s gonna happen, we both know it, it’s just a matter of time till Rainbow realizes it herself… That’s all I have to say… Tally-ho!
Twilight could hear a small ‘poof’ sound as the spirit disappeared from her head. Twilight sighed, if Clover could visit her mind without Twilight knowing, it could cause problems, especially if certain things were to happen… Not pointing any hoofs, Twilight shrugged, she trusted Clover not to be a complete idiot, she trusted her that much, and thus, Twilight fell asleep once again.
???:
“GENERAL!” A voice shouted, hurrying his followers to react, it soon followed by one of the bigger ponies in the crowd walking towards the voice.
“Marshall, sir, what seems to be the problem?”
“There is no problem, General, this is a good thing, look at this.” The Marshall removed his hoof from its position, revealing the sparkling light of the sun. The Marshall raised his voice, “COME NOW, MY BROTHERS, RAINBOW DASH AWAITS US!”
Screams could be heard as the Marshall hit the wall with all his power, completely shattering it and leaving a huge hole in the wall, allowing them all to be released into the world.
“I’m coming, fellow alpha, you better be prepared.” He laughed maniacally as she he took to the air, followed soon by his lower standing soldiers.
Day 6:
Twilight yawned, still lying down on the bed. She looked up at Rainbow Dash’s face, it twitched, making Twilight smile. The time was nearing, this was good.
Twilight stood up from her chair and stretched her back with a huge yawn. She walked out the room to get her breakfast once again. Nothing was happening as usual, but that was to expected, there weren’t exactly a lot of accidents going on in Ponyville since it wasn’t that big of a town. So, the only patients in the hospital at the moment was Rainbow Dash, and that Rose Lilly pony, the marefriend to Colt Train, the extremely smart private investigator, or whatever he’s supposed to be. There were also some random ponies Twilight had no idea who it was, but they were still here, so it would be good to note. Twilight sighed, she could already tell that today was going to be eventless; she could feel it in the air, it felt, well, boring. The door to the cafeteria opened, in stepped Colt Train and his marefriend, who was slightly leaning on the stallion, she didn’t look great, but at least she could stand, but from Twilight point of view, she could see that she was limping. That was to expected, Twilight rationalized. The condition the mare was in wasn’t the best, but you could see that it would take a day or two before they would let her get out of the hospital, just to be safe. Twilight smiled as she looked at the couple, she could almost see them radiating, it was something she desired now that she was seeing it.
The scene was interrupted by a huge slam from the door, Twilight looked at the source of the slam, it was a stallion, and he looked exactly as... Well, Colt Train, it was hard to really see the details of his person due to him wearing something over the entirety of his body, it was a huge cloak, hiding almost every detail of him, it seemed odd at first sight, but Twilight brushed it off as nothing.
“Colt Train, what happened? I tried to get here as fast as possible, but getting here from Stalliongrad is a trouble, especially if you have to take the train… I am so, so sorry bro… And you, Rose Lilly, are you feeling ok?” The stallion almost shouted as he ran over to the couple, Lilly only nodded to the question. That reminded Twilight, she had never heard Lilly speak even once, but that didn’t faze Twilight, she was probably just a mare of few words.
“Tic Tac, my brother, it’s fine, you don’t have to be so worried, she’s fine, I got her here almost immediately, so there’s no need to worry, ok? You didn’t even need to come, I have no idea how you even got the message, I don’t remember sending a letter.” Colt Train said sternly as he held his marefriend and looked at his brother with piercing eyes.
Twilight chuckled to herself, it was a pleasing sight, siblings caring for each other, that was the feeling she always had for her brother, and she would do anything for Shining Armor. Twilight smiled as she went back to Rainbow’s room. When she entered the room she noticed that Rainbow had turned herself to the side. Well, at least the time was growing closer, this made Twilight smiled even wider at the prospect of Rainbow finally waking up.
Dawn of Final Day:
Twilight woke from her sleep once more, in the same spot, she had almost gotten used to it by this point, which could never lead to anything good. She yawned and went for breakfast as usual and quickly came back.
She sat at the side of the bed, looking at her friend, and crush… She sighed, she knew it would be soon, but it was hard to wait, she knew she was being greedy, though, she did feel like she could be, the two days before Rainbow’s coma had been hard on the both of them, mostly Rainbow Dash, what with her life turning almost upside down in a matter of hours and days. Twilight had a hard time placing herself in a similar position, it was a hard thing to do, you never know how good you had it until something comes that turns your life upside down. This had certainly been one of those times. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment and tried to relax.
Her concentration was interrupted by the door opening, Twilight looked at the perpetrator. The pony standing in the door wasn’t who she had anticipated would stand there, so it was a bit of a surprise for her, it was Colt Train once again. He was sure showing up a lot these last days, it was inevitable, what with them being almost the only visitors in the hospital in the last few days.
“Hello there, Twilight Sparkle…” He sighed silently. “I just came to say goodbye, it was good talking to you the other day, though, and I must apologies for my forceful behavior. I am pretty sure I didn’t exactly come off as such a nice pony, but I came here to say sorry. I am a bit of a private investigator, or I’m just really curious about everything, it’s hard to specify.” He bowed slightly before walking into the room to the opposite side of Rainbow’s bed, he sat down in his own chair and looked over at Twilight. “I still can’t believe I saved your life, it’s an honor to save a pony, I didn’t even intend for it to happen, it just happen. I’m glad it did though, you two seem very special, I haven’t met Rainbow Dash in person just yet, but I can feel something in the air, in this very room, and it’s somehow oozing of the tow of you, it’s almost like magic… It probably is, but what do I know?” He then stopped, he didn’t want to impose on the Unicorn and her friend too much, so he just stood up from his chair and turned for the door when—
“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew into the ceiling with a shock as she awoke. “GET OFF ME!” She screamed, she seemed to be in a state of extreme confusing as she was flailing all around as she laid there on the bed, yelling her lungs of, trying to fight off whatever it was she was imagining.
Twilight quickly realized what was happening, she was hallucinating about the battle, she had fallen unconscious during the battle and her reflexes were suddenly flailing all around her, trying to fend off Steadfast, as the stallion had been called. “I-I-I Have no idea what to do...” Twilight looked at Colt Train, “help?” She asked with pleading eyes.
“I have just the thing!” He quickly exclaimed, jumping to the side of Rainbow Dash, poking five spots on her body with the tip of his hoof, and suddenly, Rainbow Dash stopped.
Twilight was staring at Rainbow, who was still visibly shaking, but she didn’t move, she was simply squirming in fear; it made Twilight’s stomach feel sour as she asked a question. “What did you do?” Was all she could mutter as she stared at her friend who was slowly but steadily calming down.
“Pressure points, my family forced it on me, sorry about that, but I had to paralyze her entire body, or else we would have been unable to reach her. But look on the bright side, the paralyzing effect only lasts for about one hour, so that could be counted as a plus, at least for me.” He explained with a smile.
Rainbow’s vision was slowly coming back to her as she stopped shaking, she could start to make out figures around her , which quickly turned into ponies, it was Twilight and… Some other pony… “Uhh… My head…” She said really silently, only stopping the two ponies, making them look at her. “Hi there Twilight, what happened?” Was all she could utter before losing almost all of her breath. She felt exhausted, this was rare…
“You fainted Rainbow, for a week… But I have to say this Rainbow, Welcome back.” Twilight said with the biggest smile Rainbow had ever seen on the mare.
“I… That was a long time to be out, and I missed the Running of the Leaves… At least I’m still alive, right Twi’?” She said with a small sense of victory as she smiled at the unicorn.
Twilight could only nod as she gave the pegasus the biggest and longest hug she had ever given to anypony in her entire life.