//------------------------------// // That Summer Night // Story: Our Hearts: 2 // by maxxxxxx //------------------------------// Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked together, their strides matching perfectly. The heavy atmosphere of their earlier conversation had faded away, giving room for more laughter and bright smiles. Their soft fur brushed up against one another as they leisurely made their way to Golden Oaks Library. They walked intentionally slow, trying to savor their date as long as they could. Dash tried to push the throbbing pain in her head to the back of her mind, focusing instead on the warmth radiating Twilight's body and into hers. The sun hung low in the sky. Vibrant shades of pinks and blues painted the horizon and bathed the small town in a gentle orange glow. “You know Twi, today's been amazing.” Rainbow beamed, her eyes glittering in the low, warm colored light. “Thanks for giving me a chance.” “I wish I had seen what our friends saw between us a long time ago.” Twilight pressed herself against Rainbow Dash and wrapped their tails together. “Today was amazing. I loved every minute of it and I cherish every day we've been friends, but I wish I had given us a chance sooner. I loved it when we were friends but this... this is something really special and I regret not seeing it sooner. Rainbow, despite how oblivious I was, I’m thankful you gave me a chance.” With a content sigh she closed her eyes, taking in Dash's scent, feeling the steady but rapid beat of her heart. A sudden convulsion in Dash's sides shook Twilight from her bliss. She looked up to Rainbow, who was struggling to breath through her fit of laughter. “Twi, you're such a sap!” Dash continued chuckling, barely trying to suppress her giggles. “Hey, I was serious!” With a glare of mock annoyance, Twilight slammed her side into her marefriend's. Dash's wing wrapped over Twilight's back and pulled her as she stumbled from the impact, nearly pulling both of them to the ground. Shifting her weight back, Twilight pulled both of them out of the fall. Despite the near calamity of getting their coats any dirtier, Dash's laughing continued unabated. Her powerful wing pulled Twilight tight against her. “You don't need to thank me for anything anyways; we're together now so let's make the most of it and stop worrying about the past. Today was awesome, tomorrow will be awesome and every day we'll spend together will be just as awesome, if not more!” Turning her head away, she ran her eyes over the town before her. Thoughts seemed to swirl in her mind as she worked up her nerve. With a deep breath she brought her gaze back to Twilight, her eyes now steeled with passionate fortitude. “You know, when I got up this morning, I was really annoyed and just didn't want to go. I thought of telling Rarity that it wasn't worth it. Now, though, I'm really glad I didn't.” “Now who's being sappy?” Twilight teased with a lighthearted nudge against Dash's shoulder. The library peeked into sight as they rounded the corner. Twilight's heart sank as she realized their date was coming to an end. “But I'm really happy you came. We should probably thank the girls tomorrow. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have had this date, and we wouldn't be marefriends.” With just a little effort from our friends, our lives have been changed. I have a marefriend. She's loyal, courageous, strong and beautiful. One different decision from anypony and that wouldn't be true and I would never have known what I was missing. There's a magic all its own in this, something unexplainable. A pleasant, warm sensation spread from her chest to her hoof tips as she thought of their date, and even further as she thought towards the future. The couple came to a stop in front of Golden Oaks Library. Dash's soft wing lifted from Twilight's back, allowing the cool dusk air to flow over her. Instantly, she missed her marefriend's warm touch. “You're right. We'll thank them tomorrow when we're getting our Wonderbolts tickets! I can't wait to go with you! It's gonna be so awesome!” “Yeah, I can't wait either...” Twilight trailed off as the two came to a stop in front of the library door. “I guess this is it, huh? Our date's over.” Dash spoke the words at the forefront of Twilight's mind. “Yeah, I guess it is,” Twilight said as Dash looked off to the sleepy town while Twilight took a keen interest in the ground. It's been an incredible day. I-I wonder if it's too soon for a kiss goodnight? It probably is. I shouldn't get ahead of myself, it's only our first date. I think I would be lying if I said I wouldn't like it, but I'm not going to ask for it. She doesn't need to think I'm desperate or something. Oh, she's looking away, am I boring her? I should say something! “Um, tomorrow... I have all of Daring Do. I-if you want to, you could come over in the morning. I could make breakfast and we could read together. If you want.” Twilight couldn't help but get a sense of how Fluttershy must feel as she fumbled with her words. “T-that sounds really good. I'll be there.” Dash's face was now sporting a light blush as she spoke. “I should probably let you go, it's getting late.” “Oh, yeah, It is starting to get dark...” Twilight gently prodded the ground with her hoof. Do I just leave? It just doesn't feel right somehow. Is there something else I should say? I- Her thoughts were interrupted as Dash took a tentative step towards her. The once-light rosiness in her cheeks had turned to a furious blush as Rainbow looked at the ground from the corner of her eyes. Twilight's heart raced. Her body felt hot, completely negating the pleasantly cool breeze. With one more step Dash was close enough for Twilight to feel her warm breaths, their faces now only inches apart. Is this really happening?! I- is this going to be my first kiss? With Rainbow Dash? I don't know what to do! I've never kissed anypony before! What if I mess up? No, calm down Twilight. Just relax and close your eyes. Her eyes fluttered shut. She could feel Dash's moist breath against her lips. Twilight. A familiar voice called from seemingly all around her. “What was that? Rainbow, did you—” She opened her eyes to find that her marefriend had vanished. Twilight. The voice called again. She could make out a distinct drawl in her voice. “Applejack, is that you? Where are you?” Suddenly the town and sky faded to black. The air became cold and still. Twilight! ********************************************************** Twilight's eyes shot open. Instead of the familiar setting of her home or Ponyville, she found she was in a sparsely decorated room painted a light shade of green. She lay uncomfortably on two chairs placed with seats facing each other. Fluorescent lights bathed the room in an almost oppressive white glow. Her back was sore and her mind was hazy. Where... “Rainbow Dash!” She bolted up to her hooves, now fully alert. Frantically scanning her environment she found Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie their dull and tired eyes looking down, the feeling of defeat hung heavy in their demeanor. Applejack took a slow step closer to Twilight. “Sorry I had to wake you, sugar cube, but the doctor...” In place of finishing her sentence the farmpony gestured with her head, directing the motion behind Twilight. Her heart was racing as she turned to see a middle-aged stallion with a dull brown mane, a solid grey coat and round glasses. His expression was hard to pin: a mix of disappointment and empathy that made Twilight's fears soar. All she could do was stare blankly at him as she struggled to reign in her swirling emotions, building like a massive storm. The doctor patiently waited. He must have seen it before—the chaos in Twilight's eyes—because his look softened. Empathy and tenderness filled his expression. “R-Rainbow Dash... We were on a date. We were happy and laughing. I… I—” “There's nothing you could have done,” the doctor said softly. “No! No, we were together! I told her we would be together tomorrow!” Her voice cracked as a painful lump constricted her breathing. Tears welled up in her eyes, the growing droplets quivering as she trembled. “I'm sorry.” “Don't apologize!” Twilight screamed as she lunged forward at the doctor, gripping at his collar with her magic and forcibly pulling him towards her until only inches separated them. She bared her teeth and blind rage burned in her eyes. “Bring her back!” “Twilight, get a hold of yerself!” Applejack reprimanded as she stepped between Twilight and the unfortunate doctor. After the glow on Twilight's horn faded, releasing the doctor from its iron grip, Applejack put a hoof on her quivering shoulder. “Listen to me!” Applejack firmed her grip on her friend's shoulder to quell she shaking. “That's not going to solve anything, ya know that. Ah know it's a lot to ask, but we need you right now, Twilight. None of us know what happened and we're all scared and devastated. Please, calm down.” As Twilight returned to her senses, she stopped and stared at her friend. Applejack was shaking too. For the first time since they’d arrived at the hospital, she looked into her friend's eyes. They were bloodshot and puffy. Long dark trails ran down her cheeks to her muzzle. Twilight's burning anger ebbed, leaving only an icy void of sadness. Never before had she wished as much as she did that moment to be angry again—it was so much easier. Her legs became weak; she felt as though she couldn't hold herself up anymore. Tears that had been pooling in her eyes flowed over as though bursting through a dam. The small drops stung her eyes as they dripped down. “Applejack...” Feeling her strength quickly waning she dropped to the floor. She rested her head on her friend's chest as she sobbed into her coat, her teeth clenched as though in physical pain. “I don't want to lose her.” “Ah know... Ah know.” Applejack delicately rubbed her distraught friend’s back. She could feel Twilight’s hot tears burning into her fur. Her own eyes were tired from crying. Yet despite her fatigue, tears once again streamed down her face and dripped into Twilight's mane. Ah can't... Ah just can't stay strong, Rainbow. I wanted to, I really thought I could keep it together for their sake... Ah just can't. Forgive me, Rainbow. No sooner than that thought came to Applejack’s mind, did she too dropped to the floor. How am Ah supposed to hold everypony together when Ah can't even keep myself together? Pinkie and Rarity padded to their friends' sides. No words would do any good, nothing could be said that could ease the pain they all shared. Deep down, they knew no gesture could help either. Yet something in their hearts compelled them to be at each others’ sides, an innate sense that none of them should suffer alone. All they could possibly do was stand and suffer together. Pinkie placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. Her tears flowed silently down her blank face to her cheeks, pooling on the floor beneath her. Her sombre eyes lacked any of the vitality and spirit that was the core essence of herself, crushed beneath the cold grief. Still, Pinkie gently stroked Twilight, the desire to see her friends happy shining through the gloom surrounding them. “It'll be alright, Twilight. It'll be okay...” Pinkie whispered, her voice choked from held-back sobs. Twilight didn’t look to her friend, she didn’t say a word. Still sobbing into her friend’s fur, Twilight reached her hoof up and took hold of Pinkie’s, holding it tight. “I'm sorry, I know this is a painful time,” the doctor interjected in a cool and calm voice that, were it not for the empathy in his eyes, would have come off as uncaring. “but we need to notify next of kin before we go any further. Do any of you know how to get a hold of her nearest living relative?” Pinkie and Rarity looked to each other for an answer. Applejack too looked up, trying to remember an instance of Dash mentioning where her parents are. “She doesn't have any. We're all she has.” Twilight said quietly, staring down at the floor. Memories of the days earlier conversation came to her mind and with it, the realization that indeed, they were all she had. An empty feeling permeated through her body. The sadness of the revelation was so gripping that it was beyond tears as her eyes all but dried up. She wished she could simply continue crying, but this pain would not be expressed. 'I wonder if her father would come, just for this. Surely he would, this daughter is... she's not well. Where would we even find him? Cloudsdale? She's alone right now, I should be by her side, I should be with her. Oh, what's happening to her? She was happy and full of life, how could she have just... Oh Rainbow, forgive me, I should have seen this coming.' “I'm afraid, without an advanced medical directive or consent, I can't share the details with you for privacy-” before he could say another word, a door at the opposing end of the room swung open. There stood Fluttershy, her mane bedraggled and dark bags beneath her reddened eyes. A bag hung over her shoulder and rested on her side, within it was a manilla folder bulging with papers. Fluttershy was huffing hard from exertion and her body was shaking but her eyes, through the glistening of tears, were alive with strength and determination. All eyes rested on her, her friends were fixated by the conviction and strength that lay just behind the hazy clouds of pain and sorrow in her eyes, even in the wake of of this calamity. She cantered towards them, reaching into her bag with her mouth and pulling the folder out. The volume of the papers within it was so great that she could barely hold it in her mouth. “What's this?” the doctor asked as his horn glowed with a light yellow magic, enveloping the envelope. The folder floated out from her grasp to him. “It's Rainbow's advanced directive, she's named the five of us as her medical proxies. Her medical records and history are also in there.” Her voice became soft and pleading as tears welled up in her eyes. “This is everything about her, please, save her. Save our friend.” Opening the folder, the doctor pulled out the first pages that were stapled together at the top. It was a legal form naming her friends as her proxies, giving them full medical authority if she lacked the ability to do so herself. After he confirmed the legality of the papers, his professional demeanor began to drop. His breath shook as it left his mouth and his eyes became misty. “You... you may all want to sit down for this.” The gravity in his tone made their hearts skip a collective beat, fear and anxiety nearly overwhelming them as they sat together in front of the doctor. “I'm afraid Rainbow Dash had an aneurysm in her posterior inferior cerebellar artery. The aneurysm ruptured, likely due to a recent trauma to her head, leading to profuse bleeding in her brain. The pressure and lack of oxygen to her brain stopped her heart within seconds...” He stopped, the horrified faces of his patient's only family, the ones who's hooves she placed her life in, were now looking up to him, pleading with him, begging him to tell them she would be okay. This was the hardest part of his career, it was some of the hardest moments of his life. Those next words, he felt as though a little of his soul was torn away from him with each utterance. The least he could do, was look them in the eyes when he said it, so he did. He steeled himself and took a deep breath. “There's nothing more we can do. The bleed killed the part of her brain responsible for regulating her heart and breathing. She's on life support now, but I'm afraid, there's nothing left of her. She's gone. I'm sorry. You can all say your final goodbyes, then, as her doctor, I recommend... you take her off life support.”