Rarity barely had time to wipe the tears from her eyes before she and Fluttershy heard a knock at the door to her hospital room. Gently flying over to it, Fluttershy opened the door to reveal a very nervous Rainbow Dash.
“I, um… I think I’ll leave you two alone,” Fluttershy stammered as she maneuvered around Rainbow, “All my animals are probably worried about me not coming home last night, especially Angel Bunny.”
Now Rarity and Rainbow Dash were alone, save for the awkward silence that comes from being around somepony who saved your life.
Rarity was the first to break the silence, “How have you been…?” She trailed off, thought they both knew the unspoken ending to that sentence.
Rainbow sighed, “It was rough in the beginning. The doctors said it was very touch-and-go, but they had never seen such a strong determination to live. They said that it was almost as stubborn as mine,” she laughed lightly at her own expense.
“It helps that I had a Loyal friend at my side,” Rarity said, watching Rainbow’s reactions, “But I do have to ask, are you still part of the weather team?”
Rainbow flinched, “They fired me after I didn’t show up for two weeks.”
Rarity gasped, “How have you been getting by?”
“I haven’t,” there was no emotion in her voice, “My home was taken back to Cloudsdale, I’m flat broke, and Fluttershy even had to take Tank back,” tears started forming in Rainbow’s eyes as she spoke, “I never thought I’d miss that little guy.”
“Darling, if you need a place to stay while you get some Bits back, you’re more than welcome to stay at Carousel Boutique,” Rarity said.
“I couldn’t do that. Not after you saved my life. There is such a thing as too generous, Rarity, and I couldn’t take advantage of you like that. I still have my pride, you know.”
Rarity huffed, “I will not take no for an answer, Rainbow Dash. You will be staying with me once I get out of this place. Besides, the décor here is absolutely dreadful. I can’t believe they make ponies stay here for extended periods of time.”
Rainbow laughed despite herself, “Your 3 month nap doesn’t seem to have affected your sense of style after all. Guess AJ owes me 50 bits. Least I’m not broke anymore.”
Rarity lifted an eyebrow, “You two were betting on how this would affect my personality? Honestly, Rainbow Dash, I figured that you of all ponies would understand how serious my condition is, and that you would show just a little more respect than everypony else.”
The more Rarity scolded her, however, the happier Rainbow got.
Noticing this, Rarity asked, “What are you smiling about?”
“I can’t believe it, but I actually missed this,” Rainbow said with a smile stretching ear-to-ear.
“Missed what?”
“This. You constantly scolding me, criticizing me, and trying to turn me into a proper lady. Apparently, I got so used to it that I started enjoying it, somewhere in the back of my mind.”
Rainbow then walked over to Rarity’s bed and climbed into it, gently pushing up against her.
“What are you doing? If our friends saw this, they might get the wrong ideas.”
“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked, “All I’m doing is making it easier for you to look at me. Plus, I’m so used to laying here besides you that it actually helps me relax.”
Rarity noticed that it did indeed make it easier to look at Rainbow Dash, as she was able to just lay her head down instead of holding it up and straining her neck. However, when she turned her head, Rainbow’s face was right there, and she accidentally pressed her mouth against Rainbow’s. Rainbow almost immediately pulled back, while a deep blush formed on both of their faces.
‘Oh my. I hope Rainbow knows that was an accident. And why did she taste like some sort of candy?’ Rarity thought to herself, as she looked at Rainbow.
‘I can’t believe that just happened. I mean, I wanted it to happen, but not like that,’ the voice in Rainbow’s head said, ‘Just look at her expression. She thinks it was an accident, and if I told her otherwise, it would only make things awkward between us,’ Rainbow mentally facehoofed herself, ‘and why did I pull away? Stupid, stupid, stupid.’
At that moment, Nurse Redheart walked in, saving both of them from saying anything embarrassing, “You’re finally awake?” She asked, noticing both pairs of eyes staring at her, “Good. That means we can finally start filling out the forms to get you out of here. I don’t mean to sound rude or impatient,” she quickly said, “It’s just that everypony in town has been worried about you, and they’ve been waiting for you to wake up so that they can finally see you walking around again.”
“How am I supposed to walk around if all my bones are still broken?” Rarity asked, nodding her head at the cast that covered her entire body from the neck down.
“You’re bones are all fully healed. They have been for over a month now, thanks to Miss Sparkle. If it weren’t for her magic, you’d still be in very serious pain, since most of your bones would still be broken.”
“Then why am I still in this cast?”
“It’s to prevent you from rolling off the bed again, and rebreaking a bone. Shortly after Miss Sparkle finished healing you and we removed the cast, you somehow managed to roll over Miss Dash there and onto the ground, where you broke your front right hoof in two different places. After that, we put you back in the cast, not just for that reason, but also to give the bones time to strengthen themselves back to how they should be. They should be fine now, but I would advise against any strenuous activities, such as running or jumping, at least until we know they’re healed for good.”
“What about my horn?” Rarity asked, “Has it grown back yet?”
Both Rainbow and Nurse Redheart flinched, but Redheart responded, “It hasn’t grown back yet, since it couldn’t be magically accelerated due to the fact that it’s used to channel magic. Miss Sparkle said that if she magically accelerated the regrowth of your horn, it would cause ‘impurities’ to form, which would make casting very dangerous, not only for you, but also anypony around you.”
“So how long do you think it will take to grow back enough for me to use my magic again?”
Nurse Redheart’s face fell even more, “Miss Twilight said it could take anywhere from a year to five years for it to grow back to a usable body part. Until then, it’s just like having a giant hoof nail on your head.”
“I see. In that case, could you please remove this cast, so that I might fill out the paperwork and return home to continue my work?”
“Of course,” Nurse Redheart said as she walked up to the bed. Putting her hoof against a single point on the cast, she applied a slight amount of pressure. The entire cast became limp and fell on top of Rarity’s prone form, leaving her buried under several pounds of cloth.
“How did you do that?” Rainbow Dash asked, curious.
“It’s a safety precaution, in case there’s a fire or earthquake and we don’t have time to properly unwrap a patient. There’s no magic involved, just clever wrapping techniques, so anypony can learn how to do it,” Nurse Redheart explained, “In the mean time, shall we go to the front desk so that you can start on that paperwork, Miss Rarity?”
“Of course,” Rarity said as Rainbow helped her out of the bed, “Lead on”