Fade To Black

by BRBrony9

Waking Up

Darkness. Only darkness.

At first, that was all she could see. Her head was spinning like a top, but it felt like she was lying down. She could hear distant murmurings that might have been voices, though it sounded like she was underwater.

What the hell happened?

She could remember nothing of what had caused her to be in this state. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She could hear the distant, wavering voices again. They sounded as though they were coming from the other end of a long corridor.

'She's awake, doctor.'

'Good, good. Fetch me that flashlight.'

Doctor? So...I'm in hospital?

A sudden, blinding light stabbed into her blurry eyes. She cringed and closed them again, letting out a gentle groan. She tried to move a hoof to cover her eyes, but they felt like lead. She felt tired. Really tired.

'Well, she's responsive.' The voices again. They seemed to be discussing her as though she were not in the room.

Hey! I'm here, you know.

The light disappeared, and she slowly risked opening her eyes again. Her vision was still blurry, objects above her appearing out of focus. She blinked a few times. The voice, the doctor's voice, returned.

'Miss Dash? Miss Dash, can you hear me?' She tried to nod, but her head, like her hooves, felt like it was welded to what she assumed was the bed she was lying in. Instead, she groaned again.

'Miss Dash, you're in the hospital. You were in an accident,' the doctor said. 'Don't try to move, you were badly hurt.' Her vision began to fade back into focus, as if someone had wiped away a layer of condensation on a window. The doctor swayed into view. Her vision may have cleared, but it was still swimming. She felt like she was drunk on Applejack's best cider and that she hadn't slept for three days.

Applejack.

She groaned again, louder, her eyes going wide as the memories came flooding back like a tidal wave. The accident. Now she remembered.

Applejack had been with her. They were meant to be going out for dinner; a romantic dinner, just the two of them, at their favourite little restaurant. Though AJ was not the biggest fan of flying, Rainbow Dash had decided to take her there by air, just to show off a little to her marefriend. She had picked her up from Sweet Apple Acres, but she had not gone very high; Applejack would not have approved of leaving the earth so far behind. With AJ on her back she had flown over the rooftops of Ponyville, giving her marefriend a Pegasus-eye view of the town she called home.

Despite herself, Applejack had been enjoying it. She had even agreed to let Rainbow Dash do a loop. With her hooves around Rainbow's waist, she had clung on for dear life as the cyan Pegasus had spun through the sky, sending her whole world upside down before quickly righting itself again.

But that was where everything had gone wrong. She had been distracted by Applejack, she was flying too close to the ground when she started the loop, and when she completed the maneuver she was below rooftop height.

Or rather, she was below treetop height. The top of the library loomed into view ahead of her. It was almost too late to react, but she just had enough time to slam her body over to the left and up, missing the trunk of the hollowed-out tree by inches. Instead, she slammed into one of the branches side-on, the breath knocked out of her by the impact, her wing spasming in pain as it struck the branch hard. She flipped over the branch as if she were a gymnast at the Equestria Games, tumbling toward the ground. Searing pain shot through her wing as she fought desperately to keep in the air. She felt Applejack sliding off her back- there was nothing she could do. Her crippled right wing refused to work, and they spiraled out of control. She felt her marefriend's grip loosen, then, still a considerable distance above the ground, she let go completely, unable to hold on any longer. She heard Applejack cry out as she fell. She struggled furiously against her injured wing to try and right herself, to get to Applejack. But she could not fly- her wing just would not move. She heard Applejack scream again, then she hit the ground and heard nothing more.

Applejack...

She was starting to panic. The memories of the accident were drowning her, fear shooting through her body.

Applejack...is she ok?

She was shivering. The world seemed to be fading out again. She could hear the voices, distant this time.

'She's hyperventilating.'

'She's panicking. Miss Dash, can you hear me? You're alright, just try and stay calm.'

'She's tachycardic, doctor.'

'Try to stay calm, you're alright. It's ok. Try and take regular, steady breaths.'

She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the accident. She did as the doctor said, trying to regulate her breathing. The fear that had been clamping down on her mind slowly receded to its edges as her breathing slowed.

Applejack...

The doctor was standing over her again.

'Miss Dash, we need you to take it easy. Just relax, you were hurt but you're alright, you're going to be fine.' She tried to nod again, this time managing to moved her head just a little.

'I know you probably feel strange. It's just the after effects of the anesthetic, we had to perform a small operation on you, but it went well, and everything is fine now.' She could see Nurse Redheart standing nearby as the doctor examined her pupils again, successfully this time.

'Just try to relax, Miss Dash. Get some rest. I know you probably feel like you just want to sleep, and that's the best thing you can do at this stage.' He was right; she did feel like sleeping. Her brain, full of panic mere seconds ago, now felt like it had before; stuffy, heavy, like she had been up all night drinking. Maybe sleeping wasn't such a bad idea...

When she next awoke, the effects of the anesthetic had worn off. Her head was much clearer, but it also meant she could feel the pain. Her flank, the right side of her stomach, and her right foreleg ached and throbbed. Strangely, she found she could not feel her right wing at all. Nurse Redheart was in the room again. Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. It felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton wool. Nurse Redheart was there immediately, propping her up on a pillow and gently placing a cup of cool water against her mouth. She drank greedily, like a pony dying of thirst in the desert.

'I'll go fetch the doctor,' she said soothingly. She left the room.

Applejack...

She returned with the doctor a minute later.

'Miss Dash,' he began, picking up her chart from the end of her bed. 'How are you feeling?'

She worked her mouth, opening and closing it a few times, before replying.

'It hurts.'

He nodded sagely, as if this was some profound statement that had come as a complete surprise to him. 'Yes, we can increase your morphine drip a little, see if it still hurts then.' He looked up from the chart. 'You suffered some significant internal bleeding. We had to go in and operate to stop it. Your right foreleg is broken, and your right wing suffered...significant nerve damage.' She closed her eyes for a moment.

'Miss Dash...do you remember what happened?' he asked softly.

Applejack...

'I do,' she replied. Applejack...is she here? Is she ok?' The doctor glanced at Nurse Redheart before replying.

'I think it is alright for you to receive visitors now. Some of your friends are here.' Rainbow felt a surge of relief flow through her.

Applejack...she's alright! She's come to visit.

She nodded, and Nurse Redheart left the room to fetch them. The doctor studied her chart again for a moment, then said,

'Just...try to stay calm, Miss Dash. The nurse will be right outside if you need anything.' He left.

She spent a minute recollecting the accident, what a dumb idea it had been to try and loop so close to the ground. Then the door to her room opened, and her friends began to file in.

Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity.

Where's Applejack?

They wore grim expressions on their faces. Fluttershy looked as though she had been crying. Rainbow felt a lump forming in her throat. Her brain started to tell her what her heart would never believe.

Where's Applejack?

Twilight, at the head of the group, walked over to her bed. Her face looked strained, and she swallowed several times as she approached.

Rainbow Dash could see it in her eyes.

'No,' she breathed. 'No, no...' She could see Twilight struggling to find the words, though she didn't need to say anything. She already knew.

'No...oh Celestia, please, no...'

'I...' Twilight began. 'I'm so sorry...'

'No!'

The pain in her side flared, but the sudden pain in her soul was much, much worse. She couldn't breathe. Her head was spinning. She was dimly aware of tears flowing from her eyes, and a distant voice that sounded much like hers screaming.

She was aware of Twilight holding her, of crying into her shoulder. But she could not feel it. She could feel only terror that gripped her heart.

Applejack...

Comments

[Silvernis]

Psychologically, this isn't bad, but the accident seems more ludicrous than tragic. I don't think even Rainbow Dash would be careless enough to loop into the library like that, especially while carrying another pony. Plus, these ponies are tough. We've seen Rainbow demolish a barn by body-slamming it, and we've seen Applejack jump off a tall platform and survive the drop (Applebuck Season). It would take something considerably more severe than running into the library to put Dash in the hospital and (presumably) kill AJ.

[BRBrony9]

3451651 Well, something had to happen, and I figured it might as well be that. The whole point of this story will be that Rainbow Dash has to try and live with the fact that it was her carelessness that caused it. As to the physical side of things, well, a not entirely dissimilar, albeit offscreen, accident put her in hospital in Read It And Weep.

[Silvernis]

3451663
Well, like I said, the psychology isn't bad—actually, it's quite good. "Character copes with guilt" is a cliched story recipe, but it's still strong nonetheless.

As for the accident in Read It and Weep, I'd argue that Dash was going much faster and lost control in a much more spectacular fashion than she did in this story. I mean, it was so bad that they couldn't even show it. (That also doesn't explain how AJ apparently died from a fall that she should have been able to survive.)

[BRBrony9]

3451702 Well, in that episode, having just rewatched the crash scene, I have to say I can't even figure out how she hurt her wings at all! Following the eyes of the others watching her, she seems to go up, then down for a mere second before hitting the ground, presumably face first, not on her back. But hey, it's cartoon physics. You can view this story as taking place in a slightly more 'realistic' universe, one where AJ would have broken her neck every time she fell off of that platform!

[Madeline L-Equine]

The prose here is pretty solid, which is always nice. As has already been said, the general concept is one we've seen many times over, but this is only the first chapter. Here's hoping it goes to interesting places.

[KonataIzumi]

Ok the story does not seem bad at all.

[HyperMonica]

I love that you coukd have ended the story right here, yet you went ahead and wrote two more chapters.