“Mom, they are coming. Just hold on.”
Vinyl kneeled on the floor beside her mother, Claret was still twitching on the floor, but she began to calm down slowly.
Outside, Vinyl could hear an approaching siren in the distance. Soon, Vinyl saw a stallion pulling a blinking carriage stop in front of the house. The doors at the rear of the carriage burst open and a mare leapt out with a stretcher laden with equipment. The stallion unharnessed himself and followed her to Vinyl’s front door, knocking sharply.
“Ponyville emergency services; we got a call from this address! Is anyone home?” the stallion called from outside.
“Door’s open! Hurry, my mom needs help!”
The two opened the door and quickly went to Vinyl where they saw Claret trembling on the ground.
“Please back away. We need some space to see what’s wrong.”
Vinyl nodded and moved over to the side. The mare grabbed a small pillow and placed it underneath Claret’s head, then knelt behind her and placed her hooves on Claret’s shoulder and midsection to make sure she remained still. The stallion grabbed a bag from the stretcher and began withdrawing equipment.
“What’s your name, kid?” the stallion asked, holding an oxygen mask in his hooves preparing it.
“Vinyl.”
“Well Vinyl, I’m Crush and this is my assistant Tender. What happened before we got here?”
“I got home about ten minutes ago and I found my mom twitching on the ground, she’s calmed down a bit after I called but it’s hard for her to talk and she doesn’t want to get up.”
“How long has she been like this?”
“About a minute or so after I got here. I don’t know how long before that.”
“All right,” Crush nodded, he placed a mask over Claret’s muzzle to give her oxygen.
“Is she going to be all right?” Vinyl fidgeted her hooves.
“She’ll be okay. You did the right thing by calling us immediately. Does your mother have any medical history? Take medications?”
“She’s been having bad headaches ever since I was a foal. She has these pills she takes for them. That’s it, I think.”
“Do you know what she takes?”
“Um, no.”
“If you know where it is, can you give it to my assistant? We don’t want to administer anything if it might have bad side effects with her medication.”
“R-right.”
Vinyl dashed over to the kitchen counter and grabbed an orange container filled with pills, she passed them to Tender while she inspected the label.
“Relaxin. It’s used to mitigate migraines,” Tender said, placing the bottle next to her.
Claret then opened her eyes, breathing heavily into the oxygen mask.
“Ma’am, can you hear us?” Crush said, directing his attention to Claret.
“Y-yes.”
“Can you tell me your name?”
“Claret... Rondeau.”
“All right Ms. Rondeau, how are you feeling?”
“I’m… dizzy. My head hurts and everything is a bit blurry.”
“Okay, from what we’ve seen and heard from your daughter, you may have just had a seizure. Have you had one before?”
“No,” Claret said faintly.
“Okay, we are going to need to admit you to Ponyville Hospital for the doctors to examine you.”
“Vinyl, are you okay?” Claret said, moving her eyes around the room to find her daughter.
“I’m here mom.” Vinyl said, standing behind her.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just a bit shaken.”
“Tender, let’s prep her for transport.” Crush said, lowering the stretcher next to them.
“What about me?” Vinyl said, still standing to the side.
“Do you have anyone else here to take care of you?”
“No.”
“You can ride with us as long you stay out of the way. Once we arrive though you will have to remain in the waiting room at the front entrance while your mother is being admitted. Do you understand?”
Vinyl nodded.
“All right Tender, ready?”
“Ready.” Tender said.
“Okay. One, two, three!” They both lifted Claret up onto the stretcher and wheeled her outside, Vinyl followed behind closing and locking the door to the home. Tender gently placed the stretcher into the back of the ambulance and climbed aboard while Crush went to hitch himself back onto the carriage.
Vinyl stepped on and sat to the side, while tender began setting up an IV bag and checking Claret’s oxygen.
“All set back there?” Crush yelled out front.
“Ready to roll.” Tender said closing the back doors to the chariot as they immediately took off.
Vinyl remained by her mother’s side during the ride, placing her hoof on top of her mother’s. She smiled at Vinyl.
“Vinyl, it’s going to be okay.”
“I know, I was just… scared. Scared something really bad was going to happen.”
Claret nodded her head, “We’ll get through this.”
“Yeah.”
After a short trip, the carriage stopped at a side entrance to the hospital. Tender opened the back doors to the carriage and pulled the stretcher out, Vinyl hopped out while Crush came around and assisted with moving Claret to the large doors that lead to the ER. Claret was facing behind as they pushed her forward, Vinyl began following them until Crush stopped and placed his hoof on Vinyl.
“Sorry kid, this is as far as you can go. You’ll have to go to the waiting room while we admit and examine your mother.”
“Mom?” Vinyl said, looking at her mother.
“Listen to the staff, dear. They need their space when working.”
“But—”
“Vinyl… please.”
Vinyl knew she wouldn’t be able to argue with her mother and only nodded.
“Be sure to stay out of trouble, okay?” She waved at Vinyl with a smile before going through the doors, “I love you.”
Vinyl raised her hoof to wave, but Claret was already through the doors by the time she did. Looking away from the door, she walked from the hospital's side entrance to the front.
The waiting room was well lit and filled with a few ponies sitting around, probably going through similar situations to hers. She first decided to sit down and collect herself for a moment. What in Tartarus just happened? Her mother did have headaches from time to time, but they only lead to minor pain and nothing like this before.
She tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling, sighing. “I gotta tell Derpy.”
Vinyl got up and approached the front desk.
“Um, excuse me.”
“Hmm?” A mare said, focusing her attention on Vinyl. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Do you have a phone I can use?”
“Just take the hall down there,” she pointed to her left. “There’s a vending area past the restrooms. Should be a payphone in the corner.”
“Thanks.” Vinyl nodded and began walking down the hall. It was dark and barren compared to the waiting room. Vinyl passed the bathrooms and saw a payphone tucked away in the corner.
Taking a bit out of her pocket, she placed it in the payphone’s coin slot and punched in Derpy’s number. The phone rang several times. How was she even going to bring this up?
“Hello, Derpy speaking. Who is this?”
“It’s Vinyl.”
“Oh hey, Vinyl. Sorry about earlier, but I am close to wrapping up my project. I was just about to call and ask if it would be okay for me to come over after all.”
Vinyl cringed. She wished today were that simple.
“…Derpy.”
“What?”
“It’s mom,” Vinyl paused. “I went out for a few minutes this afternoon and when I got back I found her on the ground.” The image of Claret twitching and muttering Vinyl’s name from earlier formed in the back of her mind, “I- I had to call an ambulance.”
“Goddesses…” Derpy said over Vinyl. “Is she okay?”
Vinyl remained there still not able to get the image out of her head, she began to cry while Derpy brought her back into reality.
“Vinyl!”
“S-she’s fine now; she gained conscious a few minutes later when the ambulance arrived. She’s being admitted to the hospital now.” Vinyl placed her back up against the wall and began falling down onto her haunches. “Derpy, I don’t—“ Vinyl stopped, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know what’s going on!”
“Vinyl, calm down. Where are you?”
“Ponyville Hospital. I’m stuck in the waiting room while they examine her.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“...Thanks.”
Vinyl hung up the phone and remained on the ground, she tried to control herself but ended up bursting into tears, crying by herself.
Derpy walked through the entrance door to the waiting room, scoping out the area. She couldn’t find Vinyl and walked up to the front desk.
“Excuse me? Miss?” Derpy asked, tapping on the desk to get the mare’s attention..
“Ah!” The mare jumped in her seat and looked down at Derpy, smiling broadly. “Hello there, young lady. Are you all right? Do you need assistance getting around the hospital?”
Derpy realized the mare was making unusually good eye contact. “Um… I’m fine. I was wondering if you saw a young mare here earlier; she is a bit shorter than me. Blue mane? She called me earlier and I wanted to check up on her.”
“Oh,” The mare at the front desk was a bit embarrassed. “Um, yes. She asked me where the phone was and I showed her down that hall there. She may still be in there.”
“Thanks.” Derpy walked off.
“I’m sorry about the... you know.”
“You aren’t the only one.” She groaned.
Walking down the hall, she passed the bathrooms and soon saw the vending area. She heard someone crying inside and peered her head in to find Vinyl sulking in the corner.
“Vinyl?”
Vinyl sniffled. “Hey.”
“Are you all right?”
Vinyl lifted her head and looked straight at Derpy. “No.”
Derpy kneeled down the ground in front of Vinyl and pulled her into a hug. “How about now?”
Vinyl remained still for a moment, if anything a bit surprised. But she then wrapped her forelegs tight around Derpy and buried her head in her shoulder.
“I-I can’t unsee it Derpy. Her on the floor, trying to call my name. It was horrible.”
Vinyl cried into Derpy’s shoulder while she patted her on her back.
“Vinyl, we should go into the waiting room so we know when they call for us.”
“Just a few more minutes.”
“All right.”
After a while, Derpy managed to get Vinyl to calm down and they returned to the waiting room.
They sat down next to each other and Vinyl rested her head on Derpy’s shoulder. It was nice, but the fixed armrest digging into her side eventually forced her to change position. She checked her watch. It had been five minutes.
“Say, Derpy?”
“Yeah?”
“How long does it take to scan a brain?”
“I don’t know. Probably a long time.”
Vinyl groaned and looked around the waiting room. Derpy sifted through the magazines covering the table in front of them, eventually opening one on mares' fashion. Vinyl took a look as well and sighed. "Golf, golf, home decor, golf, gardening... how can you read any of this?"
“What else is there to do to pass the time?”
“I dunno; anything's better than that.”
The conversation died again, so Vinyl watched as a mother and son's number was called. The colt's hoof was stuck in a teapot.
“So... really, what else is there to do?” she whispered to Derpy.
“Well, if you don't want to read... I dunno. Count the ceiling tiles or something.”
Vinyl muttered to herself for a few seconds. “Seven-hundred and ninety-two.”
“That was fast.”
“Yeah, I counted the sides and multiplied.”
“Cheater.”
The nurse came back into the waiting room. “Claret Rondeau? Family of Claret Rondeau?”
Vinyl’s ears perked up and she rose from her seat, raising her hoof.
“That’s me. I’m her daughter.”
“I am a family friend.” Derpy said behind Vinyl.
“Follow me.”
The three stepped into the elevator and went up to the third floor. They exited and walked through a series of endlessly-turning halls until they came to the neurology ward. The nurse buzzed them through the double doors. “Your mother’s in room 315” she said.
They kept walking down a hallway until Vinyl spotted the room number. The mare opened the door, “Go ahead, she’s waiting.”
Vinyl walked inside with Derpy following closely behind her. Claret was resting on a reclining hospital bed, propped up in a seated position. An IV ran to one of her forelegs.
“Hi dear,” Claret smiled.
“Mom…” Vinyl said, quickly running to her bed and giving her a hug.
“A-are you okay? Is it anything serious?”
“They have to examine the scans and test results dear, but I can tell you I feel fine.”
“That’s good to hear.” Vinyl smiled, Claret looked over at Derpy standing at the other side of her bed.
“Derpy, it’s good to see you.” Claret said.
“Well, I had to check on my best friend, and I was worried with what happened Ms. Rondeau.” Derpy replied.
“Well, I’m fine.” Claret said, her smile then went away. “Though…”
“Though?” Vinyl said.
“They said they may have to keep me here for a night. Or two,” she added reluctantly.
“Two nights!?”
“Vinyl, calm down. They need to make sure it’s nothing serious, unfortunately there isn’t any space for you to stay here and I can’t send you home by yourself.”
“Where am I going to go, then?”
“I was thinking of giving Rarity a call, you haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Rarity?” Derpy said, a bit puzzled.
“She owns a large boutique in town, my mom and I are friends with her. She makes a new dress for her tours each year.” Vinyl said.
“Oh, cool.”
“Is it okay if Derpy spends the night with me, mom?”
Claret looked at Vinyl a bit confused, but then knew Vinyl probably wanted someone to talk to after today.
“I can let her know your best friend is coming over, I’ll call her now.”
Claret attempted to reach over for the phone, but was unable to.
“Vinyl, can you get the phone for me and dial her number? The doctor told me I shouldn’t strain myself which includes using magic.”
“Sure.” Vinyl quickly picked up the phone with her magic and passed it to her mother, then dialed the number.
“Thanks, dear.” Claret said, holding the phone in both of her hooves while she waited for Rarity to pick up.
“Hello, Rarity; it’s Claret... No, no, I am not looking to make an order yet. I actually need you to do me a favor.”
“Well, long story short, I am in the hospital right now... No no! I am okay, I just need someone to house Vinyl and her friend for a night or two.”
“You can? Thank you, Rarity. I will be sure to return the favor sometime. They’ll come over later this evening. Thank you again; goodbye.”
Claret passed the phone to Vinyl so she could finish hanging up the call.
“Still chatty as ever. She said she would be able to keep you over as long as we need, though, Vinyl.”
Vinyl and Derpy remained in Claret’s room for the rest of the afternoon to the early evening, Claret had her first hospital meal while Vinyl and Derpy had what was offered by the vending machines.
“I think it’s time for me to get some rest.”
“Right now?”
“It’s been a long day, dear.”
“Yeah…” Vinyl sighed.
“Derpy, I’m going to need you to look after Vinyl in my absence. Can you do that for me?”
“I’ll do my best, ma'am!” She smiled and saluted.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Vinyl.”
“See you tomorrow, mom.” Vinyl waved while both her and Derpy left the room.
They walked through the confusing halls until they reached the elevator and began going down once the doors closed.
“You think she’s all right?” Vinyl said to Derpy.
“She looks healthy to me. Are you still concerned?”
“Just, the two nights thing.”
“Hospitals, or anyone for that matter, don’t want to rush and make mistakes. It’s best to take our time.”
“Right.”
The doors opened and they made their way back through the winding halls to the waiting room. It was a bit emptier than before, but some ponies were still sitting around. The hospital seemed to never have break.
Walking through the entrance doors it was the evening, the full moon lit up Ponyville while Derpy and Vinyl walked through the business district of town. Most of the businesses were closed for the evening, with the convenience stores and local bar being the few businesses open.
“So, this Rarity, is she a friend of yours?”
“More with mom, but yeah. You can call us friends, I just never have much to chat with her. She always raves about dresses, fashion, stuff like that. It can get very tedious.”
“I see…”
Vinyl and Derpy came upon a castle-like building. The windows on the bottom floor were pitch black while the second and third floor lights were fully lit.
Vinyl pressed the doorbell and footsteps were heard inside until the door was opened by a unicorn past her mid 20’s with a white coat and highly stylized purple mane.
“Vinyl!” She said, hugging Vinyl lightly and soon letting go. “It’s good to see you! I’m sorry to hear about your mother, I hope she gets better soon.”
“Hi, Rarity.” Vinyl said, not adding much to the conversation.
“And who is this?” Rarity said, looking at Derpy.
“My name’s Derpy.”
“Well, come in. It’s very late.”
The two walked in and Rarity closed the door behind them, locking it with a flicker of her horn as she trotted ahead to show them the way.
“Now then, this was fairly short notice, so I’m afraid I’ll have to work on some projects late tonight; you know how deadlines are. Well, perhaps you don’t. However,” she said with renewed energy, “I managed to prepare the guest studio on the third level floor for the two of you. Is there anything the two of you need before I return to my work?”
“Not really. I’m exhausted from everything tonight, and Derpy has to get up early for school.”
“Don’t you have to go as well?” Rarity said turning her head.
“Yes, but… I’d really rather spend my time with mom at the hospital. Whatever I miss in school, I can make up.”
“Hmm. Well, all right. But if your mother should ask, I told you to go to school. Okay?”
“No prob.”
“Well, I need to get back to work. You know where most of everything is Vinyl so if your friend needs to know where everything is I am sure you can guide her there.” Rarity waved to the two while she walked up the stairs. “Good night you two.”
“Night Rarity.” Vinyl said.
“Night,” Derpy yawned. “Ms. Rarity.”
Vinyl walked over to the kitchen while Derpy stood at the entrance between the two rooms.
“So she both runs a business and lives here?”
“Yeah, she decided to go straight into business rather than college. Don’t know how she pulled it off, but she’s been in business ever since then.”
“That’s quite an achievement.”
“Yeah, I hope to do the same with music sometime.” Vinyl walked over to the fridge and pulled it open, looking for something to drink.
“You are not going to college after school?”
“Never planned on it. Mom was a bit concerned, but everybody already knows what my talent is. And since I’ve got her to practice with, there’s no need to go to a conservatory or anything like that. What about you?”
“I heard there was a community college in town, and the adoption house said they would help with my tuition and books if I get good grades all throughout school. It’s why I’m always working hard on my schoolwork.”
“I just kinda figured you were some kinda nerd, y’know?” Vinyl said, sticking out her tongue. “Like you liked it.”
Vinyl grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge, tossing one high in the air to Derpy. It struck her hoof and bounced to the floor. Vinyl sighed.
“I guess you’re right.” Derpy sheepishly smiled, picking up her water bottle. “But honestly, no one actually likes homework.”
Vinyl nodded, “Let’s go upstairs. I know you are tired and I could use some rest too.”
Walking up the stairs past the second floor where the sound of Rarity’s sewing machine could be heard, Vinyl reached a small landing with a door. She opened it to reveal a full suite complete with a small living area, bathroom, and a large single bed.
“Wow, this place looks amazing.” Derpy said, wide eyed looking at the well furnished room.
“Rarity has always had very… posh tastes. I guess that’s the right word. I think she wants to share that with guests as well.” Vinyl walked over to the bed. “So, who's getting the bed?”
“What? Vinyl that bed is big enough for the two of us.”
“Uhhh…” Vinyl immediately turned red. “You don’t mind sleeping with me?”
Derpy placed her hoof over her mouth to keep herself from laughing loudly. “You don’t have to say it like that. It’s just a sleepover, Vinyl. It’s not as if this will be my first time having to double up.”
“Right, sleepover.” Vinyl shrugged. “I guess it just seems weird thinking about it because I’m, you know.”
“I don’t think so. Hey, I promise I won’t make it weird if you don’t. Deal?”
“Deal,” Vinyl said with a laugh.
“Well, It’s past my bedtime and I need to get some rest.” Derpy went over to one side of the bed and pulled the covers back. She hopped in and tugged them up over herself. “Goodnight, Vinyl.”
“Night, Derpy.” Vinyl glanced over at the bathroom and thought about taking a nice bath or shower, but decided it would be best to get some sleep as well. She went over to the opposite side of the bed and took off her glasses, placing them on the bedside table. She then tucked herself into bed and lay on her back, staring at the ceiling.
Though she was tired, she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened. The image of her mother laying on the ground, muttering Vinyl’s name wouldn’t leave her mind. The EMTs rushing into their home, Vinyl breaking down in front of Derpy, all while her mother still had that same smile of hers.
Vinyl teared up, her breath catching in her throat. She did her best to wipe the tears away as they came, silently swearing that she wasn’t going to break down again. The tears just leaked out around her hooves and she whined through her pursed lips.
“Vinyl, you all right?” Derpy mumbled, rolling over and squinting at her.
Vinyl threw her hooves around her and howled.
“AHH! Vinyl!”
“I’m sorry! I just can’t! I can’t get it out of my head... I close my eyes and I just see her there.”
“When she was on the ground?”
“Mhm.” Vinyl sniffled, nodding.
“We saw her this afternoon, Vinyl. She told us she’s fine.”
“But is she really?”
“...I don’t know.”