This is not death.
There's too much green.
I follow the hum.
I clasp onto it.
I'm pulled out of the tan murk, ascending faster and faster with each heart beat.
At last, I emerge, my ears ringing.
Soft voices emerge from the haze.
One familiar. Another scarcely so.
"...simply in an alicornia-induced sleep. She should be up and awake at any moment."
"Is... is there any chance of... of...?"
"Brain damage? Fear not, Your Majesty. She simply overloaded the leylines affixed to the schism. I've read Nurse Red Heart's files on Miss Scratch quite clearly. This is something she's endured many times. It's an unfortunate albeit manageable consequence of living with her condition."
"You don't think that charging the crystal would have put her through extraordinary stress?"
"I'm... under the impression that the guard who intervened didn't know that Miss Scratch's leylines were so sensitive. But I assure you that no damage is done. Let's just be glad that medical assistance arrived precisely when—"
I sit up with a jolt. Cold sheets roll off of me. There are cables attached to my forelimb and horn. A crimson beeping sound persists to my side.
"Oh! Speaking of which...!" A wrinkly face turns towards me from across a tiny hospital room. Dr. Clark smiles, trotting away from Twilight Sparkle in the cold blue light. "Miss Scratch! A delight to have you awake! Now... just relax. Take deep, even breaths. You are in the best care in all of Equestria—"
His words fade, along with the colors of his breath. I'm looking left and right, eyes squinting against the naked lights. The world swims. I kick away at it, spinning the colors, sorting through them. It's a nightmarish task, entangling me with errant reds and golds and blues and...
Indigo.
There it is.
Tavi...
"—if you would just sit tight as I perform a few quick tests on—"
I burst out of bed. The cables are still attached, and I cause the table of equipment to shift and rattle.
"Miss Scratch..." Dr. Clark stammers, his voice hitting a rosy pitch. "Miss Scratch, please, you are in no condition to—"
Teeth, gnashing, I rip the cables off of me. I trot away from the bed, tossing sheets and a rattling bed pan.
"Miss Scratch—"
I shove past him, wheezing. A magenta splash, and I see Twilight rushing towards me. No. She's rushing towards the Doctor, blocking him. "Doctor. It's... It's alright." Gray and grayer. "I'll keep an eye on her."
"But... your Highness, this is most unorthodox—"
"She won't interfere in anything! I promise!" She scampers after me. I'm in the hallway now, or at least I think so. Everything's spinning. Ponies in white turn towards me. All is gold and gasps. "Vinyl! Vinyl! Hold up—"
I don't listen. I don't care.
I don't stop.
Indigo.
It's just a few doorframes ahead. Towards the right. Faint and fluctuating.
Goddess, please...
I'm stumbling, scampering. I knock into something... or I knock something over. I don't know.
"Vinyl—" Gray bursts behind my table.
I surf the magenta waves, rolling toards a lone door. Ponies are gathered there. Eyes flash my way, widening.
"Vinyl, she's okay! Listen to me—"
I slump against the door. Gnashing my teeth, I squint against the blinding haze, staring through the sheet of glass and metal wires.
Nurse Red Heart is pacing around a thick wad of white sheets. It takes a few seconds to realize that my best friend is lying beneath them. I see velvet gray fur. The hint of a sleeved leg. A mane... where is her mane? Where is her breath?!
"She's alright!" Twilight rushes towards me. "Tavi's going to be fine! Do you hear me?"
Telekinesis tugs at my shoulder, but I shrug it off, struggling to yank the door open. The knob won't budge.
"Nurse Red Heart can't afford to be interrupted right now. She's keeping Octavia stabilized." Twilight presses her hoof to my shoulder. "You kept her awake in time for Red Heart and her team to arrive. Your roommate's going to be okay. She just needs to recover with magic stabilization therapy. That's what the crystals are in there for, see? Just like the one you protected her with."
I stand tall, shivering. My gaping muzzle presses to the glass.
At last, Nurse Red Heart hears the commotion. She turns to blink at the face staring in through the door. A smile crosses her muzzle. She leans down towards the mare in the bed, murmuring something. There's the tiniest, most fragile flicker of indigo... and a bandaged hoof raises up, waving meekly.
I hold a hoof over my muzzle, shuddering.
"See? It's okay, Vinyl." Twilight's face drifts in to smile at me. I can't see it through the waves of magenta rolling out... among other things. "You did it. You saved her. Octavia's going to be okay thanks to you."
I clench my eyes shut. I shake. I heave.
"Now... please... will you come back to your room so that Dr. Clark can look you ov—Vinyl?"
I'm slumping down against the door. My legs are butter. I can't stop sobbing.
Somehow, through the dizzying miasma, I detect a sharp series of echoing hooftrops, followed by a lovely breath.
"Is she up? My goddess. Make way. Please. Everypony." Beau's strong forelimbs wrap around me. "Hey, girl..."
A squeak leaves my throat, almost knocking me out. I spin around and bury my face in his shoulder. He holds me tight, stroking my back and nuzzling me close.
"It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay, Vine." He murmurs in my ear, rocking me gently as the breathy waves weep out of me. "You're as brave as they get, girl. Don't you fret one bit. Tavi's lucky... she's so dayum lucky..."
Another sob. I hang onto Beau as the magenta tide drags at my legs.
There's somepony luckier...
For the next few minutes, I'm crying through a smile. At some point, Beau helps me back to my hooves and leads me back to my room. But I scarcely notice.
Indigo...
Blessed... blessed indigo...
I could drown in it...