//------------------------------// // Farewell, Twilight // Story: Revelations: The Dark Void // by GhostofSandwich //------------------------------// "Spike, you've been alone for two days now." The five mares stood over the small dragon, who was curled up in Twilight's bed. It had been two days since that night at the hospital and Spike had only gotten worse. "Maybe I want to be alone..." Spike curled even tighter into the ball. "Come on, Twilight wouldn't want you to be sulking about." Rainbow's words hit the dragon like a brick wall. He knew she would never want him to be sad, no matter what happened. But every time he thought of her being in the hospital; thought of growing up without waking to her smiling above him... It tore him up inside. "Please, just leave me be..." The truth was, he didn't want to be alone in the home. But he also didn't want to be around other living beings. All he wanted was to be by Twilight's side, but that wasn't possible at the moment, since the hospital required a 48 stay to get the patient settled in. For Twilight's case, they needed a bit more time. She'd be allowed visitor at sundown today. "Okay Spikey... Please, take care of yourself." Rarity put on a fake smile as the dragon looked up to her. But even a smile from Rarity wasn't enough to cheer the small dragon. "I'm going to the hospital tonight..." His voice was completely emotionless. For the two days he had been alone, he had been crying nonstop. But at least he knew that tonight he would be able to be by her side. "But only her family-" Pinkie raised her hoof to Rarity. "Okay Spike. Be safe." Pinkie nodded to her friends and slowly exited the house, looking back once to the small dragon. The five ponies descended the stairs, the sound of a door shutting moments later. Not wanting to get up, he closed his eyes and hoped for a dream to take him away from the world. Unfortunately, he awoke three hours later to find he had just had the usual dreamless sleep of the last few days. At least he rest assured knowing Twilight was probably having a coma dream where she had everything she wanted. A quick glance out the window revealed the sun to be setting. Pretty soon Twilight would be able to have visitors, which meant he should probably go. He wanted to be able to be alone with her for a tiny bit before her family got there. Standing up, he quickly cleaned himself up and wiped the dried tears from his face. Upon ensuring he didn't look like a complete train wreck, he exited out into the warm summer evening. As he walked down the street to the hospital, the ponies around him gave him concerned looks. Some whispered to each other, while some just outright came to him and said they were sorry. Even though he knew they meant the best, he was angered at their pity. Why were they giving him the pity, when it was Twilight who was in the hospital? But that was just the way the world worked... Nopony felt sorry for the ones that were actually hurt. The hospital loomed in the distance as Spike neared it. Each step made his heart beat a little faster. What if she is getting worse? He shook his head and forced himself to not think bad thoughts like that. She was going to be completely fine, and they would return to their life as before. He sighed as he realized that wasn't true... Even if she recovered, there was still the fact that she probably wouldn't be able to use her magic as well. Still, he hoped for the best; for her to have a complete recovery. The hospitals' front doors slid closed behind him as entered to the lobby. The reception office was pretty much empty, probably on account that Celestia, Shining Armor, and Cadence were showing up. Two princesses and the captain of the royal guard coming to the same place is sure to clean it out. Security risks and all that. "Sorry little guy, the hospital is closed to visitors for the evening." "I'm here to see Twilight Sparkle. I'm with Celestia's group." "Oh, then in that case go on ahead. She was moved to room 305." "Thanks." He waved to the pony in scrubs as he walked away. A few minutes later, he arrived at room 305. Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he entered her room. The first thing he was greeted with was the sight of the sunset, which made the sky a glorious pink color. The room itself was tinted orange from the remaining sun, which made the room seem so much warmer than it was. "Hey Twi." Twilight laid in the bed, her mouth slightly open. Her breathing sounded slightly labored and her heart rate was slightly lower than normal. Spike wondered if he should tell the nurse, but decided against it since he wanted at least a minute to see her. "Don't know if you can hear me or not, but it's me, Spike." He sat on the end of the bed between her hind hooves. "Been a hard two days without you, but I looked out for the library. Cried a lot too, you know? I know you want me to be strong... But it's so hard. If you can hear me, don't feel bad." He stopped talking and walked over to the window for a moment. The sight of a carriage ran by a royal guardsman landing near the hospital was the first thing he noticed. "Looks like Celestia and your family are here. Your mom will be coming and... "Tears began to fall from Spike's eyes once more as he looked at Twilight. "Twilight, please wake up! It's been two days now... Everypony is worried... They keep wondering if you're ever going to wake up... The time is probably flying by in whatever dream you're having, but out here... Each day without you seems like an eternity. Even Pinkie hasn't smiled in two days." He wiped his eyes and looked out the window again. Celestia and the others were just now entering the hospital. "Everypony's heading in right now." He stood from the bed and sat on a nearby chair. A minute later, the door opened and Twilight's family entered. "Hello there, Spike." Twilight's mother sat next to the small dragon and smiled half-heartily. Even though she was terribly worried about her daughter, it wasn't in her nature to be sad. Twilight's father, however, immediately began crying when he saw his daughter in the hospital bed. Despite all that, Shining Armor was the first to near his sister. "Oh, Twiley... It seems like just yesterday that you were smiling as you showed off your magic... " He leaned down and nuzzled his sister, before backing slowly away, his eyes still on her. Cadence was the next up. "Never thought I'd see you like this... I... I can't do this." Tears flowing steadily from her eyes and sobs escaping from her throat, she ran out of the room. "I'll go make sure she's okay..." Shining Armor, whose eyes were slowly pooling with tears exited out of the room to console his wife. Celestia, knowing it was her duty to be strong, simply stood back and stared at her student in the bed. The struggle to keep herself from crying was near impossible, but she managed it. For three minutes, everypony remained quiet and simply stared at the lavender unicorn. "I'm sorry, I'm fine... I'm fine." Shining Armor and Cadence re-entered the room and stood next to Celestia. "Where's Luna?" Spike's voice broke the silence, as he feared he might explode in a bout of tears of the silence continued any longer. "Somepony has to run everything while I'm gone. She'll get around to coming around soon." Spike nodded slowly and returned his gaze to Twilight. As they sat there in silence, he wandered if she could feel them all staring at her. Five minutes that seemed like hours passed slowly, everypony just staring at her. Nopony said a word, as they all knew that the second they even tried, they would just burst out in tears. Without any warning, the heart monitor began to beep. This obviously served the cause and immediate panic among the visitors, but they all remained calm and collected long enough to move out of the way for the doctor who entered. He didn't ask them to leave, even though it was standard procedure to do so. After about a minute, he managed to stop the beeping, which meant he had returned her heart rate to normal. Everypony began to fear the worst as he turned around, gazed everypony in the room, and sighed. "I'm afraid that... She's made a turn for the worse... She might not make it through the night." Everypony in the room gasped lightly. This news was too much to handle and everypony started crying. All of them wanted to simply keel over and just burst into tears, but what if Twilight could hear them? None of them wanted to put her through knowing she was causing such sadness... "It's best you say your goodbyes now. I'll leave you with her." The doctor swiftly exited the room, leaving all of them sobbing. None of them said a word as Spike neared the bed. "Twilight... No..." The tiny assistant climbed onto the bed and latched tightly onto her chest. His tears steadily flowed from his eyes onto her chest, leaving a wet spot on it. "Please... Please don't go!" He continued to hug her, never wanting to let go. "NO!" Everypony immediately turned to the sound of the yell, which was Celestia. She shakily breathed between sobs as she looked to the ground. Nopony said a word as the princess of their kingdom cried. None ever though they would see it happen, but they all knew that no matter what, she was still just a pony. "This can't be happening again..." Celestia knew she was immortal... That is why she almost always avoided making friends with her subjects. But despite all of her attempts, she always managed to make a good friend every once in a while. But when it came time for them to pass... It only reminded her that she was going to outlive everything. "My daughter loves you, Celestia." Everypony, including Celestia, looked up as Twilight's mother spoke. "She speaks so highly of you, almost as if you're a second mother to her. This isn't easy on any of us..." Tears began to pool on the arm rest of the chair as she talked. "You and I both know that she's tougher than this... I don't know if she can hear us, but if she can... We need to keep our hopes up. Not for us, but for her." She turned to her daughter and frowned. "Yes..." That was the only word the princess could think. She had quieted herself to a mere soft sobbing, but she still wanted to just let it all out. That, she would have to save for home. All of the ponies sat around Twilight for about an hour and a half. While there, they made small talk about Twilight and other various topics. While they weren't talking, they were looking at Twilight's whose breathing slowly got worse. All of them knew that tonight might be the last time they saw here alive... But none of them allowed themselves to grieve in the same room as the pony they were trying to instill hope in. Eventually, her family stood and began to show themselves out, each kissing her lightly on the cheek or forehead before they left. "Goodbye, my favorite student..." Celestia leaned over and nuzzled her student on the cheek. "You made me happy, Twilight. I'll miss you." With some hesitance, she leaned in and kissed the unicorn on the forehead. A sad nod to Spike, she exited the room. They had recently got a hold of Twilight's best friends, whom were all now probably just getting here. Spike's lower lip quivered as he looked at Twilight. "This can't be goodbye..." He sobbed quietly as he looked at her. "Goodbye, Twilight..." His throat closed up as he said Twilight's name, which caused him to finally explode into a bout of tears. This sight was immediately witnessed by Rarity, who had just entered the room. She wanted to assist the poor dragon, but decided that it was best if he was alone. Looking up, he saw the five mares, who themselves were beginning to have tears form in their eyes. "I'll be at the library..." Still crying out of control, he stood and exited the room. "This isn't happening..." Pinkie neared her friend and placed her hoof gently on her. The heart monitor nearby was slowly counting down on numbers and Twilight was feeling colder than normal. "This can't be happening." The five cried softly as their friends breathing continued to slow. "Ah hate to say it, but we have to say goodbye..." Applejack took her hat off and stood next to her friend in the bed. "It's been quite the rodeo, Twi. but," she took a deep breath and held her hat over her face, "I know you'll make plenty of friends in the next life." The sounds of her sobbing echoed slightly out of the hat. Replacing the hat onto her head, she took a seat and awaited the tearful farewell of her friends. "Twilight, you were the best friend that a party pony could have..." Pinkie pulled a napkin from nowhere and blew her nose. "Even though you'll be gone, I'll be sure to throw some parties in your honor." She blew her nose once more and sat next to Applejack. "Darling Twilight... Even though you were never much for fashion, I always admired your sense of style. Made me remember sometimes that fashion isn't everything. Promise me that you won't change your fashion sense in the next life." She turned to walk away, before turning back to her. "Don't worry about Spike... I'll take care of him." Her mane fell limply to its side due to her not caring for it today. For the first time in a long while, it was the last thing on her mind. "Twilight, umm... I..." Fluttershy quickly ran from the room crying harder than anypony else had since she went to the hospital. "You guys go check on her. I'm going to say goodbye..." Rainbow's friends left to tend to Fluttershy, leaving Rainbow Dash and Twilight alone. "Never thought I'd be doing this..." Despite Dash's usual toughness, she herself was now sobbing pretty hard. "See? You went and made me get all sappy..." She chuckled lightly. "Despite being an egghead, you were pretty cool. No, you were awesome!" She smiled and looked at the ceiling, allowing the tears to drip from her chin to her chest. "This happening... It's just so... not cool." The four other mares entered once more into the hospital room. They silently stared at their dear friend as her heart monitor continued to go down. 70 bpm. The friends all engaged in a final hug with Twilight. 60 bpm. All sniffling, they wipe their eyes and smile warmly at their friend, hoping that she may somehow see them. If she could... They'd rather that she saw one final happy sight. 40 bpm. The heart monitor began to beep, causing a doctor to run in. The friends however stand idly aside... Who were they to prolong her life if she would just be stuck in a coma? 20 bpm. The doctor began to try and keep her heart going. 10 bpm. "Farewell, Twilight. We'll all miss you." The five friends let a single tear drip from each of their eyes as Twilight stops breathing. Flatline.