With the arrival of Luna and Pinkie's parents, Celestia and Luna first took care of their duties with the Sun and Moon, and then they all gathered once again within Dr. Whitehoof's office. After the doctor explained to the two of them just what happened, with the help of Applejack and Twilight, they then inquired on when they would be able to see their daughter.
"Right now, Mr. and Mrs. Cake are in with her. Where as she just recently came out of surgery, she should not have too many visitors at one time. If you do not mind, I do have questions I would like to ask," he tells the two. "Could you tell us how Miss Pie came to be without a horn? Her medical records from when she lived in Hoofington were unfortunately destroyed years back in the fire at Hoofington General. If you could fill us in on as much as you know, it could be of great benefit to your daughter."
Mr. Pie had expected this. He was worried though for his daughter. Even with how much has been done in society to remove as much stigma towards ponies with handicaps or disfigurements, such ponies were often still shunned. He did not wish to see this happen to his daughter. From the letters which he would receive from Pinkamina, and the Cakes, who took her in when she had arrived in Ponyville, he felt that her friends could be trusted with this secret. But what of others? And what happens if somepony inadvertently talks about this around the wrong ponies? This is why he hadn't even told his close friend and cousin, Mr. Cake about what happened with his adoptive daughter.
In spite of his fears, he knew that he needed to tell them the truth. If there was any chance that the knowledge would help Pinkamina recover, then it has to be done.
Taking his wife's hoof in his, he begins the tale. "As you know, our daughter Pinkamina was adopted. She was born to a pair of Unicorn parents who were an abomination in Faust's eyes. They were abusive to each other and to their foal. When Pony Services took Pinkamina away from them, we were the first ones to be offered the opportunity to take her in.
"When we first saw her, the bruises were fading, but she had a cast on her horn, where it had been fractured from the abuse she had received." Telling this story brings back painful memories for the grey Earth Pony, but he pushes through the sad feelings, and continues. "We had been home with her a week when one morning, heading back home from town, a cart being hauled by a pair of young stallions comes around a corner too fast. They were running late for something important, and in their haste to get the cart into town, they took the curve too wide. Their cart sideswiped the cart I was pulling, and my wife and daughter were thrown from it. When I got to the two of them, Pinkamina's horn had been broken off at the base."
This brings varying reactions from the other ponies within the room. The two most pronounced reactions being Twilight's and Rarity's. Twilight's reaction is one of horror, trying to conceive just how horrible it had to have been for an infant foal to have something so traumatic happen to her. Rarity was deeply saddened, thinking about how cruel fate can be, to rip something so precious from a foal so innocent. The others had various degrees of emotions, all strong, but they did their best to hide them, for the sake of Pinkie, and her parents, who needed to tell the rest of the story.
"When the two stallions realized what they had done, they were quite distraught. They immediately helped me right my cart, helped me and my family back up in it, and pulled it to the hospital for us.
When we got there, they rushed Pinkamina into the ER, and from there, surgery. They had to amputate what remained of her horn, but they felt it would cause more harm to remove her carbuncle. Still, without her horn, she would in essence be an Earth Pony for the remainder of her life. So, that is how we raised her," he says, finishing the story.
"Why did you choose to hide her Unicorn side from her though?" asks Twilight. "Why not let her know?"
"Prejudice. A pony with disabilities is often looked down upon by those who are not. As if they were less of a pony, just because of something that is out of their control. Even today, where views have started to change, in some communities, especially more conservative ones, such as Hoofington, she would be viewed with scorn by many. We did not want that for her. We thought this would be the best way to give her as normal of a life as possible."
"The love and caring that you show for your daughter is commendable. Mr. Pie, but I feel that the time has come that she should know the truth about herself," says Celestia.
"Well, this does explain how she is able to do the things that she does," Rarity pipes in.
"I'm surprised that you never discovered this when you ran those tests on her back when you was trying to understand her Pinkie sense, Twilight," Applejack tells her friend.
"I don't care what she is, whether she is a Unicorn or not. She is still my best friend!" exclaims Rainbow Dash. "Nothing will change that."
The doctor is pleased that this went as well as it did. Later on, he would like to find out just who the surgeon was who amputated Miss Pie's horn, so he could get a doctor's perspective of what happened back then. That could be done later though. For now, maybe Mr. and Mrs. Pie would want to be with their daughter. He expresses this to everypony there, and the Pies thankfully agree. The doctor escorts the two elder Earth Ponies to the room where their daughter rests as the remainder of them file out of the room.
* * * * *
Several days have passed. Other than the uncertainty of when she will come out of the coma, Pinkie Pie's prognosis was for a likely full recovery, at least physically. There was always the possibility of memory loss, or even worse damage which they would not be able to detect until she woke, but until then, all they could do is hope.
Pinkie's parents stayed for only a few days, before they had to head back to their farm in Hoofington. They did not want to leave, but Hoofington was not far away, and when they received news, they could be back quickly. One thing which they did decide was that they would be visiting often. The Cakes had promised that they would be always welcome, and that they would have a room for them on the times which they come by.
Inside the hospital room where lay the comatose mare sat Rainbow Dash beside the bed. Whenever she was not working, she would be spending her time at the hospital, either sitting next to Pinkie's bed, or somewhere nearby if the Cakes or the Pies wished to have time with her. It was very reluctantly that she would leave at night, when Nurse Redheart would come in and tell her that it was time for her to go home for the evening.
She had been sitting there since mid afternoon, refusing to leave her side. She hated hospitals with a passion, but it was way worse to see someone she cared for lying there. It made her feel powerless to not be able to do anything for her, so she did the one thing that she was able to do. She would make certain that Pinkie was not alone.
Damnit! Why did this have to happen? Rainbow Dash was feeling torn up inside. Pinkie had become her best friend over the past few years. and, within Dash, her feelings for the funny, quirky mare have grown stronger recently.
"You and I will have to come up with a whole lot of new pranks to pull on all of our friends, Pinkie. We'll have so much fun together. Please wake up Pinkie. We miss you. I miss you." Rainbow sheds silent tears as she talks to the silent form in the bed. "I need you Pinkie. I cannot bear the thought of you no longer in my life. Please come back to me."
The dam inside bursts and Rainbow Dash jumps up to hug her comatose friend, her tears now flowing freely. "Damnit Pinkie, I love you! Don't you dare die on me!" she cries out. She spends several minutes just holding the mare, crying the tears she had been holding in ever since the accident. After a little bit, she felt something gently brush against her side. It was Pinkie. She was waking up, and at that moment, Rainbow Dash's tears went from ones of sorrow to joy.
Outside the room, Nurse Redheart felt a joy well up inside of her. She had been silently praying that the pink Mare would waken, and it seems that her prayers have been answered. Dr. Whitehoof was by her desk, going over a few forms involving patients under his care. when he received the news, he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the worst should now be over. Looking up at the clock, she sees that visiting hours on this ward have ended, and she heads to inform Rainbow that the time has come for her to head home.
"Nurse Redheart, I think it would be ok this time to bend the rules a little," the doctor tells her. She could not have been happier to hear this. If anything, it would be good for the patient to wake up to someone who cares about her, that and she just did not have it in her to separate the two of them, especially when it was so apparent how the Pegasus felt about Miss Pie.
Yes, for tonight, the rules could be bent. "Will you be informing Twilight and the Cakes, Dr. Whitehoof?" she asks.
"Yes, I shall inform them as soon as I can get my coat. And I shall send a Pegasus to inform Miss Pie's parents in Hoofington.
* * * * *
Twilight had just received the news. She immediately had Spike send a note to the Princesses, and then galloped straight to Rarity's to pass on what the doctor had told her. From there, she headed straight for Sweet Apple Acres to inform Applejack and her family while Rarity went to inform Fluttershy.
Within the Apple household, the family was setting down for their evening dinner together. Even though they were worried for their friend, life did have to continue, and that included a hearty meal after a hard day of farmwork. When they heard the knock on the door, it had them puzzled, because normally, no one would be visiting them at this time of the evening. "I'll get the door," Applejack informs them, getting up to answer. When she opens it, she gets a chill when she sees Twilight there gasping for breath. She could only think of one reason why Twilight would have run that hard all the way from the center of town. "Dear Celestia, it's Pinkie, isn't it?" she asks, dreading the news.
When Twilight looked up still struggling to catch her breath, it was not a look of sorrow the farmer saw, but a look or elation. "She woke up AJ! She came out of the coma! She's going to be alright!" exclaims an excited Twilight.
Applejack immediately embraced the exhausted mare in a hug tight enough to crush a cider barrel, much to the now struggling to breath Twilight. "Thank Celestia! Come on in Twi, and tell everyone the news!" Letting go of the mare, she yells for her brother to fix another plate, and that Twilight has news for everypony. "Come on and grab a seat and share dinner with us Twilight."