Chapter Two: Friends so True
“Help me p-please!” Fluttershy pleaded loudly into the dark night sky, illuminated only by a lonely crescent moon. No stars were out on this night, leaving the sky to be one of the blackest blacks that she’d ever seen. Fluttershy breathed in deeply; she was about to scream for help again but was interrupted by a familiar whistle.
“Land sakes girl, ah heard you clear across town!” Applejack skidded to a stop in front of Fluttershy. “What are you screaming for?” she asked as her brother pulled up to her panting and sweating.
Fluttershy looked up at the siblings. “I’m fine. B-But Rarity isn’t.” She stammered out, rubbing Rarity’s mane softly and with even strokes.
“She faint again?” Applejack asked. Moving in closer she saw this wasn’t one of her prissy friend’s usual fits. Rarity’s mane was in a mess, her fur was matted from head to hoof, and not a single smudge of makeup was applied.
“Whoa nelly, this is serious!” Applejack exclaimed. Putting a hoof to Rarity’s body, she felt how cold her friend was to the touch. Pulling open Rarity’s eyes, she saw them rolled back and covered by a foggy barrier hiding the true blue of her friend’s eyes.
Applejack took her eyes off Rarity for a moment and looked up to Fluttershy with a curious gaze. “What happened to her? Why are her eyes so cloudy?” Applejack questioned Fluttershy who was looking at her with an empty gaze, tears flowing from her eyes. Big Macintosh by now had unhitched himself from the apple cart he was pulling and made his way over to them.
The large stallion looked on at Rarity in concern. He didn’t know the mare as well as his sister, but they still talked occasionally. They didn’t talk enough to be considered friends, only acquaintances, which was fine with Big Macintosh because he didn’t talk much anyway. He’d be lying to himself if he said his feelings haven’t changed since their last talk, but he’d keep that to himself. Big Macintosh shook the passing thought from his mind and tuned in to hear Fluttershy speak.
“I came over to her house a few minutes ago to see her because Opal was homesick.” Fluttershy breathed in slowly, trying to get her thoughts straight. “I found her in the bathtub underwater and—” She felt herself beginning to break down again; she sobbed trying to fight her emotions.
“There, there, it’s gonna be all right.” Applejack patted Fluttershy’s back, waiting for the mare to recover.
“I thought she was dead!” Fluttershy wept openly into her hooves. “T-There was a pill bottle on her vanity and a bottle of wine that was half empty.” She wiped a tear from her eye, flicking it onto the ground below. “I don’t know what the pills were or how many she took, but I think she took them with the alcohol!” She exclaimed worriedly.
“She’s gonna need her stomach pumped. We need to get to the hospital.” Applejack said hurriedly. She turned to her older brother. “Big Mac, I need you to take her to the hospital.”
“Eeyup,” he stated simply and knelt down on the ground. Applejack pulled Rarity’s limp body into the apple cart , securing her in place with a length of rope as she attached the cart to her brother’s harness. When she finished securing the cart to her stout older brother, she walked to his side and slapped his flank. “Now get going,” Applejack commanded. Big Macintosh took off with the apple cart in tow down the road that led to the hospital.
“Fluttershy, I need you to go get Rainbow Dash, so she can get the rest of the girls. I’ve got to get her parents and tell ‘em what happened.” Applejack exclaimed before running off down the road.
“I can do this,” Fluttershy chanted to herself. Giving her wings a mighty flap, she took off into the night sky. Flapping her hardest she flew as fast as she possibly could, racing to her friend’s cloud mansion. Minutes later, Fluttershy had the cloud home of Rainbow Dash in her sights. Leveling off and slowing her descent, she landed on Rainbow Dash’s porch with a ‘pomf’ as her hooves touched the cloud. Walking over to the home’s imposing door, Fluttershy swallowed hard. Rainbow Dash’s house had always made her nervous when visiting at night, the shadows it made were quite terrifying. Her hoof pressed gently against the doorbell, which began to play the equestrian national anthem.
Fluttershy sat quietly for a moment. The doorbell had stopped playing its tune, but Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. She stood up and reached toward the doorbell to press it again, but found her hoof smacked away by a visibly irritated Rainbow Dash. Rubbing the sand out of her eyes, Rainbow Dash looked towards Fluttershy expectantly.
“Well? What is ‘Shy?” Rainbow Dash asked drowsily. The poor pegasus had just been roused from a heavy sleep. She had not expected Fluttershy to come over but it wasn’t in her to leave one of her friends alone on the porch, sleep or no sleep. When she didn’t hear a response from Fluttershy, she blinked and saw why. Her friend was sobbing, she didn’t know why or what for, but her friend needed her. Quickly wrapping her friend in an embrace, Rainbow Dash brushed Fluttershy’s mane out of the way to see her face.
“Fluttershy? Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash questioned. She waited for Fluttershy to pull herself together. Rainbow Dash tried to comfort her crying friend. She wasn’t one to be very emotional, because of this she found herself at a lost at what to do. She did know, however, Fluttershy needed her, and she intended to give her friend what she needed. A few more moments and Fluttershy finally calmed down enough to speak.
“Rarity, something is very wrong with her,” Fluttershy said in an eerily quiet manner.
“What!?!”Rainbow Dash squeaked, stunned at what she had heard. It was true her fragile friend cried often, but never in the many years she’s known Fluttershy she has never seen her so upset, so she knew that something was wrong.
“What’s wrong with her?” Rainbow Dash asked trying to be calm, but failing miserably.
Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t think we have time. She’s on her way to the hospital, Big Macintosh is taking her.”
“Big Red is taking Rarity to the hospital?”
“Yes, Applejack said she’s going to need her stomach pumped. She left to go get Rarity’s parents.” Fluttershy stated flatly, having no tears left to shed.
“Well, we’d better get the rest of the girls and meet them there!” Rainbow Dash declared, bolting off into the night sky.
Fluttershy sat alone for a moment as she got to her hooves. Rainbow Dash flew back and grabbed her from behind. “Heh, sorry about that,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. Taking off again, Rainbow Dash dragged Fluttershy behind her like a rag doll as she approached terminal velocity.
~~~~~<>~~~~~
Gasping for breath with his head down low, Big Macintosh pushed onwards towards the hospital. He noticed the fauna on the path he was galloping on was starting to overgrow. The tiny branches on the scratched his hooves creating a bothering sensation, not enough to distract him from his current duty, but a bother nonetheless. Pacing himself, Big Macintosh made sure that his passenger was traveling at a safe speed for her condition. Taking a shortcut down an alleyway, he made a sharp left and saw the Ponyville hospital on a hill a couple hundred yards away.
Seeing his goal in sight the large stallion turned his head around mid gallop to check on how Rarity was doing. He saw that she threw up again, leaving the apples that he and his sister had failed to sell today covered in what little was left in her stomach. While a little disgusted, Big Macintosh didn’t mind much; Aafter all, those apples would be fed to the livestock anyway, so it didn’t matter.
A few steps away from the main doors of the hospital, Big Macintosh realized just how parched he has become. A nice gallon of water would quench his thirst, but he wouldn’t rest until he got his little sister’s friend to the emergency room. The mare in his cart was turning whiter by the moment, more so than he ever thought was possible. Wiping off the sweat that had collected on his forehead, he unhitched himself from the cart in front of the hospital. Quickly running around the cart, he jumped on top of it and began untying Rarity. Before thinking about it, he bit onto the scruff of Rarity’s neck; much like how a mother cat would do to its kittens. He stepped off the cart, Rarity still in his mouth. The weight that a full-grown mare was putting on his neck would break that of a lesser stallion.
Big Macintosh walked carefully to the front door and turned around. His left rear hoof made contact with the door, nearly sending it careening against the wall with a bang. The loud noise made the mare at the front desk drop her hoof file. He made his way into the lobby and made brief eye contact with the stunned mare. Placing Rarity onto one of the chairs in the lobby, Big Macintosh walked to the front desk.
“C-Can I help you, sir?” The startled nursing assistant asked, still stunned by the bang and Big Macintosh’s imposing frame.
“Eeyup,” he told the olive maned cream coated mare with a gauze cutie mark. “Ah need your help and Ah need it quick.” His voice boomed, not out of anger but concern. “That mare—,” Big Macintosh made a pointing motion to where Rarity was, “needs urgent medical attention.”
Pressing a button under her desk to alert the staff of the emergency at hoof, the nursing assistant pressured Big Macintosh for more information. “What happened to her?” She gave Rarity a once over. “She doesn’t look too good,” she finished, turning her head to Big Macintosh.
Thinking for a second, Big Macintosh spoke up. “Well, my sister and ah were just finished packing up our unsold apples and we heard an awful scream. My sister, Applejack, took off down the road and ah just followed suit. We came to where the screaming was at, and found my sister’s friend just a wailing her throat out. At first, Ah didn’t know what was wrong, but then ah saw her. Ms. Fluttershy was all teary eyed and sobbing, saying something about Rarity almost drowning and taking prescription medication while she was drinking.” Big Macintosh breathed deeply for a minute after talking the longest he had in years.
The nursing assistant brought a cream coated hoof to her chin. “Ooh, that does not sound good at all! She will probably need to get her stomach pumped immediately.”
Just then, the double doors to the medical ward slammed open, startling the olive maned mare so bad again, that she fell out of her chair and onto the floor.
“Ms. Gauze, this is no time to be lying on the floor. What seems to be the problem?” Dr. Stable asked with an air of authority around him.
The bug eyed mare responded with a croak. “This stallion brought in that mare over there, possible drug overdose.” Ms. Gauze said pointing out those in question.
Nodding, Dr. Stable continued. “Was alcohol consumed?” he asked, walking over to the still and silent Rarity.
“Yes, I do believe so.” She responded while hoofing a clipboard and pen to Big Macintosh.
“Very well, I’ll go get a gurney.” Dr. Stable turned towards her and Big Macintosh, “Make sure he signs that paper work, won’t you?” He quickly left back through the double doors he had recently come out of and left to find what was needed.
Big Macintosh looked over to Rarity again, her mane was a mess, and her body looked sickly and unhealthy. It was a shame, a mare once so beautiful, brought to her knees by alcohol and medication, just like his father. He tried not to think about it, trying desperately not to bring up memories of the past. He witnessed the downfall of his father, and he’d be damned if he let the same happen to his sister’s friend. Big Macintosh wondered if Applejack had reached Rarity’s parents by now.
~~~~~<>~~~~~
Applejack momentarily thought on what she would tell the parents of Rarity. She was sitting on their front porch, her hat held to her chest in respect. The crickets by the lake in front of the house chirped harmoniously with each other, creating a calming atmosphere for the heartbreak that was sure to occur. Applejack stared at her hooves unsure of what to do; it absolutely tore her heart to pieces that she had to be the bearer of such horrific news.
“What’re you standing outside for?” Rarity’s father, Magnum stood in the doorframe. The former linebacker for the Canterlot Imperials pro-football team looked down at one of his eldest daughter’s best friends with an eyebrow raised in confusion. Applejack gulped hard, her brother was the only pony in town that even came close to the stature of Mr. Magnum. She knew that she had no reason to be afraid of her friend’s father. From what she’s been told he’s a giant softy with a heart to match, she just wished she didn’t have to be the one to break it.
“Would you like to come inside?” Magnum asked, and then moved out of the way for the Applejack who only nodded in response.
Walking into the home’s foyer Applejack looked to the walls, which were a dark burgundy with a thick dark colored molding at the top and bottom of the walls. What was on these walls is what really caught her attention. They were decorated with pictures of the happy family and their relatives. Many of these photographs seemed to look back at Applejack with faux smiles as if they were aware of what was about to be told. These glaring pictures continued into the den where Sweetie Belle and Pearl were enjoying their evening. The stares of the photographs were only interrupted by the art that Pearl and Magnum must have collected on their travels across Equestria and beyond.
Taking her seat on the sofa in the den, Applejack saw little Sweetie Belle laying on the floor with a purple crayon in her muzzle, drawing on a piece of paper blissfully unaware of what was to come. Taking her eyes off the foal, she saw the matriarch of the Belle clan, knitting a scarf while humming a happy tune. Magnum stared at Applejack in concern. The mare that he’d known to be strong and courageous seemed to be lost and afraid, of what he didn’t have a clue. Perhaps he was reading too deep into Applejack’s behavior. Playing sports for most of his life gave him the ability to read ponies pretty well; however, it wouldn’t be the first time his assumptions on ponies got out of hoof. Unsure of what to say he elected to wait until Applejack had told them what was bothering her.
Pearl noticed an orange blur come into her peripheral vision before sitting across from her, coming into focus. After finishing the row she was knitting, she set the unfinished scarf down while simultaneously motioning for Magnum to sit on the opposite side of her. Taking a sip from the teacup held aloft by her magic and then setting it down on the coffee table that separated them from Applejack, Pearl began to speak.
“Hello deary, it’s quite late to be running about. What do you need us for?” Pearl questioned in a singsong manner. Applejack’s leafy green eyes met the teal of Pearl’s eyes with a gaze that seemed to speak volumes to the mother of two.
“Oh my hun, what’s the matter?” Being a mother gave Pearl a sort of sixth sense when it came to body language. She’d seen the same type of look in her own daughters. She knew almost immediately that something had to be very wrong.
“Ah’m here for Rarity’s sake.” Applejack spoke in a soft monotone voice that garnered Sweetie Belle’s attention.
“Oh, hi Applejack, how long have you been here?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking around the room excitedly. “Did you bring Apple Bloom with you?”
“Ah didn’t Ah’m afraid. Like Ah said, Ah’m here for Rarity and Ah have some mighty bad news and—” Applejack was interrupted when Sweetie Belle had jumped into her lap, eager to explain before Applejack could.
“Let me guess, she can’t watch me this weekend because she has a big order from one of those fashion obsessed ponies she talks so much about.”
“No, that ain’t it. Ah’m—” Again she was interrupted by Sweetie Belle.
“She has to go to fashion week again? No, it must be—”
“Sweetie Belle, hush now, Miss Applejack is speaking!” Magnum put an end to his youngest daughter’s rambling with an authoritative tone before adding, “If you start rambling any more you’ll turn into your mother.” That last quip by Magnum earned him an elbow to his side, courteous by his less than amused wife.
“Ah’m here with some bad news about Rarity.” Applejack let her words sink into the family’s ears.
“Is she pregnant?” Pearl asked, breaking the silence in the room.
Shaking her head, Applejack responded quickly. “No, she isn’t pregnant. Apparently, she took some prescription medication with that wine she likes to drink. It messed her up real bad, ‘bout gave Fluttershy a heart attack when she found her. Ah was packing up to go home with my brother, when we heard Fluttershy scream. We rushed on over there and found Fluttershy cradling Rarity. She was in bad shape, so Ah had Big Macintosh run her to the hospital.” Applejack finished to the stunned family.
“What?” Sweetie Belle cried, tears forming in her eyes.
Without saying a word, Pearl ran up the stairs and around the corner. Pearl’s gasp could be heard downstairs to those in the den. Quickly running back down the stairs Pearl jumped in front of her husband with an extremely worried expression.
“Magnum, we’ve got a big problem! I’ve just checked and some of our medication is missing!” Pearl screeched out in troubled cry.
Magnum sat there shocked for a moment. “Not again, I thought we were done with this.” He stood up and looked back towards the others. “We’d better get down there, my little filly needs me.”Pearl quickly picked Sweetie Belle up in her magic and laid her daughter on her back before rushing out the door with Magnum in tow. Applejack soon followed them, closing the front door they’d left open as she left.
~~~~~<>~~~~~
Across town in her leafy abode, the newly crowned princess went about her nightly rituals. Twilight tidied up the first floor of her home with her dragon assistant by her side. A quill was in his left claw and a checklist in his right, Spike checked off the tasks as they were completed. A tired yawn escaped his scaly lips as he rubbed his eyes, trying to stay awake.
“We’re almost done. Just a few more minutes Spike, I promise.” Twilight Sparkle turned, catching Spike’s contagious yawn.
“Yea, ok.” Spike replied softly. They continued to work for a few more moments. Putting the last book away, Twilight told Spike its three-letter identification so he could write it down. The dragon breathed a sigh of relief; his wrist was cramping bad. This was to be expected; after all, it was inventory day at the library.
A crash and a bang from upstairs alerted the pair. Wondering what caused such a racket, they soon got their answer when a familiar prismatic pegasus flew down the stairs at a blazing speed. Fluttering soon after the speed demon was their other pegasi friend, looking winded and quite in the disarray.
Twilight chewed her lip; as much as she wanted to yell at her rainbow maned friend, she held her tongue. Her friend was one to barge in uninvited, but she always had a good reason for the most part at least. Recently though, Rainbow Dash had been hounding her over the past few weeks because it was rumoured that the book would be delayed again because of a conflict with the publisher.
Raising an eyebrow Twilight fumed. “I suppose you have a good reason for barging in again… Don’t you?”
“Yea, listen Twilight we got a huge problem and—”
“What was the next Daring Doo novel delayed again?” Twilight Sparkle sneered, unamused at her friend’s usual catastrophe.
“No, last I heard it’s still set to be released next Tuesday; but, that’s not why I’m here. Rarity is in some real trouble and is on her way to the hospital as we speak.
“What!?!” Twilight and Spike said in unison.
Twilight was the first to recover from the shock. “Rainbow, I’m sorry I snapped at you. I didn’t think that it was this serious!”
“It’s all right.” Rainbow Dash said dryly.
“What happened to her?” Twilight Sparkle questioned frantically.
Rainbow slumped. “I don’t know, I wasn’t there.” She looked down to see Spike who was still in a state of shock. “If you want to know more, you should ask ‘Shy, she was the one that found Rarity.”
“Fluttershy, what happened?” Twilight commanding tone made the shy mare flinch.
The mare in question gulped. “I-I needed to see her about something. When I got there, her house was dark, so I let myself inside. I found her submerged in the water of her bathtub. I panicked and dragged her outside.”
“Ok, can you remember what was in the bathroom? Perhaps something that could explain why she was submerged?” Twilight questioned, a notepad floating beside her as she wrote down what she was told.
Rolling her eyes back in thought, Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin. “There were these pills on the counter which were a lot of different colors, but most seemed to be an off white color. Also, Rarity had a bottle of her favorite wine, Marelot no. 42, by the bathtub; I think she took the medication with the alcohol, but I’m not sure.”
“All right, I think that’s all I need to know.” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, can I trust you to get the medication and wine Fluttershy was talking about?”
“You got it!” Rainbow Dash bolted out the front door of the library. “I’ll meet you guys at the hospital!” she shouted behind her.
Tossing on her saddlebags, Twilight Sparkle deposited a few medical books as well as the notepad she was writing on earlier.
“We got to go get Pinkie Pie and get to the hospital.” Twilight kneeled down in front of Spike. “C’mon Spike, we don’t have much time!”
“…”
Twilight didn’t get a response; she figured her poor assistant must still be in shock, so she hoisted him up with her magic and placed him on her back.
“Alright Fluttershy, let’s get going. Sugarcube Corner is on the way to the hospital!” Twilight gave her wings a powerful flap and took off into the night sky.
Fluttershy took to the sky for the fourth time that night. They soared high above the town until the familiar pastry shaped structure came into view. Landing a few feet away from the entrance, the three of them walked to the doorstep. Twilight Sparkle’s hoof assaulted the bakery’s door, waking up its inhabitants.
A rather drowsy looking Carrot Cake answered the door. “Good evening Princess, Is there anything I can do for you?” He asked rubbing his tired eyes.
Twilight didn’t waste a moment. “We need Pinkie Pie, It’s an emergency!”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you Princess, she left here a little while ago and she was torn up about something, but she didn’t tell us what for.” Carrot yawned as he explained the best he could.
“Oh, ok sorry for waking you.” Twilight turned to leave and Fluttershy followed suit behind her.
“Anything to help the crown!” Carrot Cake called out to the airborne ponies flying towards the hospital.
The doors of the hospital burst open, startling the poor mare at the front desk again. Paying her no mind, they rushed past her through the double doors of an adjacent hallway and nearly collided with Rainbow Dash.
“Hey guys, Pinkie’s already here. Anyway, Twilight is this the stuff you wanted?” Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a half-empty bottle of wine and a pill bottle of various colored medication.
Twilight nodded as she and Fluttershy followed Rainbow Dash down the corridor towards the room that contained their white coated friend. Rainbow Dash led the way through the dark and foreboding hall before she ducked into a room, soon followed by her friends.
Fluttershy had remained silent ever since explaining what had happened to Twilight. Her mind however was in a frenzy, replaying the night’s events through her mind repeatedly in a search for answers. She stared down at the tiled floor beneath her in thought. The long bangs of her pink mane hid her tears as she followed her friends into the hospital room.
Nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to see. She looked up, but instantly regretted doing so. her friend lay there on the hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. A pained whimper escaped Fluttershy’s throat. An off rhythmic beep entered her ears as she saw the machines to which her friend was hooked up. Wires of every type were attached to her friend. Her once beautiful white coat now looked to be a dull gray, her coat matted, and her mane astray. A large plastic tube was lodged down her throat, pumping out a blackened liquid from her stomach.
Seeing this made Fluttershy clutch her chest, it broke her heart. Fluttershy went to cry again, but found she had no tears left to shed. Looking to her left she saw Rarity’s father, his straw hat held to his chest as the large stallion stared at his eldest daughter with a blank expression. Next to him was his wife Pearl, asleep with little Sweetie Belle cradled in her lap. Both of them appeared to have been crying, but now they sit in the chair asleep, wet tears still on their cheeks. Fluttershy saw a deflated Pinkie Pie chatting quietly to Rainbow Dash. Big Mac held his sister as she cried onto his chest. Fluttershy now turned towards the elephant in the room.
Her eyes met cold blue ones staring back at her. The darkened blue coat of the pony in front of her as well as the size of the mare in front of her told her who this was. She didn’t believe it, but the proof was in front of her. Fluttershy wasn’t the only one to notice this however.
“Princess Luna!?!” Twilight nearly shouted after seeing the tall alicorn mare sitting in the corner of the room.
~~~~~<>~~~~~