A wish granted
Melodia felt herself floating in aimless darkness, her chest still aching with pain. She knew she shouldn't have strained herself too much, but she didn't feel like she had much of a choice at the time. She wondered just how much time she had left before the inevitable. She felt scared. But as scared as she was, there was one thought that replayed itself over and over in her mind that gave her comfort. 'At least I got to spend some time with Fluttershy, one last time.'
Fluttershy felt so confused, as a whirlwind of emotions and questions began to take hold of her. Seeing her mother collapse like that had been so sudden. And what had her mother meant when she said all those words to her? Fluttershy wanted answers, and the best way to get them was to follow her mother and the nurses' aides to the hospital and get to the bottom of this. The rest of the gang also followed Fluttershy, wanting to make sure that everything was okay and being curious themselves as to what was going on with Meloida. The nurses wasted no time in putting Melodia onto a stretcher and attempting to keep her stabilized as they moved her into on of the hospital bedrooms.
"You've found her." said the doctor with short relief. "How's her condition?"
"Not good. She ran away from us as we tried to apprehend her and ended up having another attack." said one of the aides.
The doctor looked at Melodia's body worriedly and began to instruct the staff on what to do. "I want Miss Melodia on life support stat! Try to keep her stabilized while I conduct a full medical examination."
Just as the doctor turned to leave, he was stopped by a soft voice calling out to him. "Um, excuse me sir?" The doctor turned to see Fluttershy, behind her were all her friends. "Please, can you tell me what's going on? What's wrong with my mom? Is she going to be okay?"
The doctor stared at her for a minute and then let out a tired sigh. "I'm afraid your mother has a severe condition." he said.
"A severe...condition?" asked Fluttershy, eyes widening in shock. "What do you mean?"
"Melodia has always had a weak heart, and suffers from critical attacks, making it hard for her to live without medical support." he explained. "She's been like this all her life, and asked me and her previous doctors to keep it secret from you, saying she didn't wish to trouble you."
He watched as tears slid down Fluttershy's face, her voice caught in her throat.
"Forgive me, I should've told you the truth sooner, but Melodia was insistent that I not tell you. Though now, I don't see how I can hide that from you any longer, considering that you've just seen one of her attacks first hoof."
"But she's going to be okay, right?" asked Twilight, hoping to try and suffer what she knew to be shocking news for Fluttershy to hear.
The doctor hung his head. "I can't say for certain. There is a new experimental treatment that we were preparing to administer to her, but now it may be too late." he said sadly. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's not too late!" said Rainbow Dash, stepping up next to Fluttershy and resting a supportive hoof on her shoulder. "Melodia is still alive isn't she? Then there's still a chance that she can pull through!"
"Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy said softly as she looked at her friend, her words filling her with a little hope.
"I admit, it's practically a miracle that Melodia managed to live even this long, I will do everything in my power to help her, but after that, we will have to wait and see what happens next." said the doctor, once again turning to leave, heading down the hallway to prep himself for the patient.
Fluttershy placed a hoof on her chest as she looked down to the room where her mother was now resting. "Mom..." Her throat tightened with worry. All these years, her mom had been sick, and she hadn't even noticed! She wonder why she hadn't noticed, berating herself for not being able to do anything or being able to help in anyway. Her mother was dying, and there was nothing she could do. She recalled how happy her mother seemed to be earlier in the day, pretending that everything was alright and how she tried to spend time with her and her friends. Fluttershy's heart ached. It was the first time she could ever recall spending quality time with her mother, and having fun like that, and now, it looked as if she wouldn't get another chance again.
"Fluttershy..." Fluttershy's head whipped to look at Twilight, who had trotted over with a sympathetic expression on her face. "I know this must be a lot for you to take in." she said. "But if you want, we're all more than willing to stay here with you and wait to see how it goes with Melodia."
"Twilight." Fluttershy looked from the Alicorn, to the faces of the rest of her friends, each one ready to be there for her and to support her. She managed a tearful smile at them. "Thank you, everypony. I'd like that very much."
The girls headed for Melodia's room, but Discord stood in place, not moving. Twilight noticed this and lagged behind. She could see that appeared to be in thought. "Discord, are you coming?" she asked.
Hearing her voice, Discord looked up and replied, "I a minute, there's a little something I need to do first."
Twilight wondered what he meant by that, but didn't press the matter any further, and instead, went into the room with the rest of her friends.
Melodia's breathing became shallow, her body aching with each beating of her weak heart. All she could see was a blurry darkness, and she could hear the muffled sounds of the ponies around her. As she laid there and listened, Melodia could feel herself slipping in and out of consciousness, no doubt they were about to put her under for the examination. Soon, she was once again drifting, and all her senses seemed to dull down, as if the outside world was millions of miles away from her. She then began to think sadly to herself. 'Is this all there is for me? Am I meant to spend the rest of my life shut in from the rest of the world? I managed to experience what real life was like, even if it was only for a little while, but now, I don't think I ever will again.'
Melodia could sense another attack coming, beginning with a sharp pang in her chest that slowly began to spread. 'This is it...this is the end...' She fell back into the void, ready to accept her fate. Then, something reached out and pulled Melodia out of the void, taking her completely by surprise. 'Huh?! What is...?'
Come now, you really aren't going to give up that easily, are you?
The voice sounded vaguely familiar to Melodia, but she couldn't quite place it in that moment, as she felt her heart beat steadying, and strength slowly flowing into her body. What was happening? She tried to speak, to ask this voice what was going on, but found that she could not speak.
There are ponies waiting for you you know, and one of them cares about you a lot. It'd be a shame if you were to leave like this.
Melodia tried to see who was talking to her, but she was in her own mind, and could really see much of anything.
Consider this a gift from a friend for a friend. I'll see you again later.
'Again?'
And do try to take it easy from now on. I'd rather not have to do this again.
And like that, Melodia blacked out.
"Doctor, come look at this!" called Nurse Red Heart. The doctor went over and locked at the machines and data for Melodia, his eyes widening in surprise.
"O-oh my! This is truly amazing! It appears as though Miss Melodia is making an improved recovery." he said. He turned to Nurse Red Heart. "Inform her daughter and her friends of the news immediately."
"Yes, doctor." said Red Heart, as she left the room.
Fluttershy had watched as her mother was put under for the examination, and she and her friends had been told to wait in the hospital waiting room. She had sat there in one of the chairs anxiously awaiting the news, until Nurse Red Heart arrived looking quite happy. She then told them about Melodia's miraculous recovery.
"You hear that Fluttershy? Your mom's gonna be okay!" chirped Pinkie Pie cheerfully, pulling Fluttershy into a hug.
"She...she's alright?" asked Fluttershy.
The nurse smiled and nodded. "Yes. It's quite miraculous actually. It looked like she was about to have another attack, but then she suddenly started to get better!"
"Really?" inquired Fluttershy.
"She'll still need to go through the surgery in order to be completely cured, but it looks like she'll be just fine." replied Red Heart.
Hearing these words filled Fluttershy with joy, and at the same time, befuddlement. How had her mom gotten better so quickly? That's when her eye caught sight of Discord, trying to appear innocent and trying to hold back a smile as he leaned against a nearby wall.
"If you like, you're free to come in and check on her, but be careful, she'll need to get some rest as well." said the nurse.
"Are you gonna go see your mom, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked.
"Yes, but first, I need to talk to a certain somepony." she said and trotted up to Discord. "Discord, could I have a word with you?"
"Of course, my dear." replied Discord. Fluttershy pulled him off to the side so the two of them could talk. "Now, what is it you want to talk about?"
"You did something to help mom with her recovery, didn't you?" she asked.
Discord blinked, he looked as though he were considering denying such actions, but instead said, "Indeed, you've caught me Fluttershy."
"But why? I mean, I'm glad and all, but, you don't even no her. Why would you help somepony you've only met today?" asked Fluttershy.
"Because," answered Discord, a sincere smile creeping onto his face. "While I may not know her, you do, and I could see how much she meant to you." Fluttershy found herself speechless. "Of course, I only helped a little. I thought it'd be best for her to get better on her own than to have me do it all for her. Though, you don't have to worry about that. For you, I'm sure your mother will do whatever it takes to pull through."
Without warning, Fluttershy tightly hugged Discord, and whispered, "Thank you, Discord."
Discord smiled in return. "Any time, my dear." he replied.
Fluttershy went into her mother's room, where her Melodia had woken up. She saw Fluttershy and smiled warmly.
"Fluttershy."
"Mom."
The two embraced each other, not wanting to let go of the other.
"I'm sorry for scaring you like that, Fluttershy. I promise it won't happen again, and I promise I'll try to be more honest with you."
"Oh mom! I'm just glad you're alright." said Fluttershy.
Melodia's smile grew wider, her heart swelling with happiness and warmth, not feeling the pain she was usually accustomed to. "I love you, Fluttershy."
"I love you too, mom."