//------------------------------// // The Sun Burns // Story: Wake Me Up // by Gumball2 //------------------------------// “Nothing beats a day like this for a picnic!” Pinkie cheered as she spread out a checkered blanket onto the soft grass atop a rolling hill. Nearby was a burly tree that provided shade from the midsummer sun. In addition, Pinkie felt a gentle breeze brush her poofy mane. She looked around to find that her friends haven’t arrived yet. It seemed odd to her that they weren't right behind her. But then an idea flashed in Pinkie's head. "Maybe they're coming up the hill right now!" She bounced down the side in the hopes of spotting her friends. But nope! They were not there yet. "Huh, I guess I must have gone a little ahead!” Pinkie said to herself. That was enough for a giggle. Pinkie Pie always found something to laugh at. It was just so funny! After a quick laugh break, she checked the bottom of the hill again. But sadly, they still weren't there. This confused Pinkie. She needed to find a solution to this! She needed to think! To do that, she hopped around a tree. Pinkie always found it easier to think while bouncing. "Where could they be? Come on, Pinkie! Use that brain!" And then it came to her like magic. “Oh! They must still be at Sugarcube Corner!” As the idea popped into her head, she closed her eyes. The blackness didn't last longer than a second before she re-opened them. Pinkie found herself behind the front counter of the bakery. And sure enough, her friends were in there. Each of them carried baskets and were standing completely still. “Hey girls!” On cue, the others turned to see their beloved friend. They all held huge smiles. “There you are, Pinkie. You’re just in time!” Twilight cheered. Pinkie answered with a wide smile, which was the face she was known for. She then jumped from the counter and landed in front of Twilight. Pinkie’s eyes darted over to her friend’s wings. “Have you started flying yet?” she asked while staring at the new appendages. “Yeah, but it’s much harder than I thought,” Twilight answered as she looked down at them. Rainbow Dash then zoomed over to Twilight and flew laps around her. “But I’m helping you out!” Rainbow Dash said, “Soon, you’ll be the second best flyer in Equestria!” As she spoke, she flapped her wings and rose until her head was touching the ceiling. She then closed her eyes. “After me of course!” The others laughed at their friend’s remark. As Rainbow Dash triumphantly descended, Pinkie opened the door to let the others out. They thanked her as they trotted out with their baskets. Pinkie was the last to leave and she got a glimpse of the glorious day and her companions before taking a routine blink. But when her eyes opened, she was awaited to a blank whiteness. Her friends’ faces were nowhere to be found and the streets of Ponyville had vanished. She looked up. White. She look down. White. Pinkie was floating in an endless sea of nothingness. “Twilight?...Girls?” she said as sweat dripped from her face. But none of the others appeared. “Very funny, Twilight…” She chuckled to herself as her legs trembled. She moved her head around the vast space in the hopes of finding somepony. “Great prank, Dashie...how did you get Twi’ to pull that one?” Pinkie hacked out more laughs. They just weren't coming out naturally. Her legs gave and she collapsed, but there was an invisible floor that saved her from an eternal fall. She squeezed her eyes shut and embraced the darkness. “I’ll just open my eyes...and then I’ll see you all...and then we’ll have a big laugh over all this…” Silence. “I’m opening them...now!” Pinkie jerked her eyes open. The whiteness persisted, but the sight was now capable of burning her eyes. In response, she clamped them back shut. Although it gave her some comfort, the light seared through her eyelids. Pinkamena also felt as if a hundred pounds had been dropped on her. She couldn’t move. “Pinkamena?” That voice. Pinkamena hasn’t heard it in years, but she recognized it immediately. However she remembered it as being monotonous. The one she heard was filled with curiosity and concern. “Mom?” Pinkamena asked herself. She opened her eyes again. They still hurt, but she was able to tolerate it. The white was dimming and her vision formed specific contours, colors, and shapes. Before her was a blank slate of white, but there was also a wall of blue. To her right was gray and green. And to her left were several ponies. One of them was right by her side. She was a gray mare with a tight mane to match. Behind her were four others. One of them was a brown stallion while the others were dull mares. “Pinkamena!” the older mare cried as she gripped Pinkamena’s hoof. Pinkamena’s eyes widened as much as they could in this foreign light. Her hoof was being crushed, but that wasn't what hurt her. Her eyes darted across the room, but she couldn't find her friends. The only ponies in the room were her family. She cared for them very much, but the Cakes were a second family and her best friends were a third. She considered herself lucky. Not many ponies had three families. But where were the other two? Pinkamena opened her mouth, but it just hung there. She wasn't breathing or talking. But after a moment, she found the strength to do both. "W-Where am...I?" Pinkamena whispered. She noticed a beeping noise that was gradually speeding up. At the same time, her breaths were coming faster. "You're in the hospital," she answered. Pinkamena's eyes raced in a desperate search for someone. She felt her upper body jump to life and she raised her hooves. "Where are you Twi? Dashie, show yourself!" she yelled. The older placed her own hooves on Pinkamena's shoulders. "Pinkamena, what's going on?" she asked. "Where are you? Where are you?" Pinkamena screamed while flailing her hooves. "Pinkamena, just calm down." the mare said. Panic was ridden on her face. The brown stallion raced to the other side of the bed. "Stop screaming, Pinkamena." he said. "Hear me! Why can't y-" Pinkamena froze. The erratic beeping was the only sound in the room. But then a thumping was made. Pinkamena had fallen back into her pillow. The gray mare's mouth hung open. Her wide eyes stared at the unconscious body. "Pinkamena?" she said. No response. "Pinkamena." Silence. "Pinkamena." Tears escaped from the mare's eyes, but she didn't notice. All she did was repeat that name to a space of nothingness. Even with the persistent beeping, she was convinced her daughter would never re-emerge. The mare also didn't register the stallion planting his hoof on her shoulder. Instead, she got louder with each word that came out of her mouth. "Pinkamena!" A green mare in a white coat rushed into the room grabbed her gray hooves. "What happened here?" the doctor asked. The colorless mare was barely able to see the doctor through her blinding tears. "S-She was awake! For a m-minute she was screaming...and then she fell down and she w-won't wake up..." She couldn't hold it in any longer and broke down. Her head plummeted into her chest and her throat tightened. The doctor grasped her hooves in an effort to comfort her, but it was of no use. "Mrs. Pie...are you saying that Pinkamena woke up?" the doctor asked calmly. Mrs. Pie barely noticed the doctor. Her sobs were overwhelming her mind and body. The stallion stared at the doctor as he rubbed Mrs. Pie's shoulder. “Yes doctor, she was briefly awake, but then she blacked out again,” he said stoically. Despite the crying mare, the doctor held a coolness as she faced her and her husband. She was confident in carrying out what she needed to say. “Don’t worry, Pinkamena is alright. When ponies first emerge from a deep coma, it’s normal for them to only be awake for short periods of time. As they recover, though, they will ease their way back to normal.” Mrs. Pie finally looked up with her watery eyes and her trembling mouth slowly opened. “How long will it that take?” she asked. “It varies, however it usually takes anywhere from several weeks to two months,” the doctor said. She took another good look at the family, “Does anyone have any questions or concerns?” Mr. Pie opened his mouth. “Will Pinkamena have any damage to her brain?” he asked. “I can’t say at the moment, however I can run some tests once she starts being awake longer.” Silence filled the hospital room sans the sounds being made by the machinery. The doctor realized she had done her job and turned to the door. “I’ll let you be,” she said before leaving. Tears fell from Mrs. Pie's cheeks and dripped on the white floor. Mr. Pie could only touch her shoulder. But an urgency shouted in his mind. He wanted to do something he has only done a couple times before. Even though he felt the need on numerous occasions, a mysterious restraint kept him from carrying it out. Only in those few instances was he able to resist it. And today he had the strength he needed to do so. He took another look at his morose wife before sliding his hooves around her body. It was a slow movement, but he was determined to see it through. His two hooves eventually met on Mrs. Pie's back. He locked them together and he gently leaned his wife's body into his. Mrs. Pie continued to cry into her husband's sturdy chest. Mr. Pie rested his head on her shoulder as he stared at three younger mares watching on. "Children, step outside for a minute," he said dryly. The three of them rose simultaneously and marched through the open door. The last one to exit closed it. Mr. Pie could only hold his sobbing wife and stare at his unconscious daughter resting in bed. "Igneous..." Mrs. Pie said through her tears, "I-I was so s-surprised when Pi-Pinkamena woke up..." Several more sobs choked her as she struggled to speak, "b-but then I w-was so afraid that she would be back i-in a coma all over again..." Mr. Pie was silent and his face was stone. He didn't know what to say to her. After all these years, he has tried to learn, but even that hasn't been long enough to break down a solid stone. All he could have done is say what he meant to himself. Even if the recipient never got it, he was relived whenever the message played in his mind. "It will be okay, Cloudy."