• Published 6th May 2014
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Jackie - BronyWriter



Sweetie Belle has a new friend

  • ...
16
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 5,914

Get Her Out

As Sweetie Belle's current legal guardian, Rarity was the one who needed to sign the papers to give her over to Celestial Peaks Mental Institution. I held her hoof the entire time as the doctors pushed paperwork in front of her, and she scrawled her signature where they told her to. Once the paperwork was finished, the doctors put it all in a folder and left, mumbling apologies and sympathy. The moment they exited the room, Rarity broke down completely, and I wrapped my forelegs around her in a tight hug. I held her as she cried for an hour. The doctors didn't even allow her to see Sweetie Belle one last time before they took her away.

Once Rarity calmed down a bit more, I helped her up and led her to my home. I didn't think Carousel Boutique was the best place for her to be right now. The empty house would just drive Sweetie Belle's absence in even more. Spike had fallen asleep by the time we reached my house, something I appreciated, as it meant that I could avoid having to explain all of this to him. So, given the lateness of the hour, I led Rarity down to my basement and pulled out two of the spare mattresses I kept in a storage closet. I outfitted them with some basic blankets and pillows, and the two of us laid down on them.

I expected Rarity to completely break down again. She just had to sign Sweetie Belle over to the state for evaluation for Celestia knows how long. She didn’t break down, though. She merely stared at the floor with her head resting on the pillow. I grimaced and gently put a hoof on her back; she didn’t even acknowledge the gesture.

"Rarity, it's going to be okay. We're going to give Sweetie Belle all the help that we can, alright? She's going to be--"

"Stop it, Twilight," Rarity growled.

I flinched and took my hoof off of her back. "Rarity, I don't get what you mean."

"I'm telling you to stop it!" Rarity glanced up at me from the corner of her eye. "Ever since this nonsense has started, all I've heard is placating nonsense about how Sweetie Belle will be okay, and how we're going to help her. Well guess what, Twilight? Sweetie Belle isn't okay! She's rotting away in some hellhole loony bin, screaming about that bitch Jackie while doctors who have no real interest in her well being poke and prod her while taking judgmental notes!" Rarity scoffed lightly and rolled over in bed, turning her back to me. "We're going to that place tomorrow and we're going to help Sweetie Belle. We're going every day until she's out. Princess Celestia said that we can."

I sighed, but realized that I wasn't going to calm Rarity down much tonight. She needed to sleep; we both did. Things would look... well, I wouldn't say better, but I think we'd be able to think clearer in the morning.

* * * *

The next morning, I awoke to see that Rarity was sitting on the edge of her mattress, staring at the floor. I stood up and walked beside her.

"Did you sleep?"

"A little," she mumbled.

I nodded. "Good." I looked up at the clock and saw that we slept in till twelve thirty. Not surprising after the long night we'd had. "We can go see Sweetie Belle after we have some lunch, okay? Does that sound good?"

Rarity slowly got to her hooves and began walking towards the stairs. "I'm not really all that hungry, Twilight."

I grimaced and began walking next to her. "Rarity, you have to have some food. You need to be thinking straight today, okay?"

"... Fine."

In the end I got her to eat a few apples as well as a slice of buttered toast with some orange juice. As we ate, Spike came down to the kitchen, but a look from me let him know that it would be best not to bother us. I know it disappointed him, given how much he liked Rarity, but he didn't complain.

Once she finished, Rarity put her plate and glass into the sink and began trotting towards the door. I shoved the last of my toast into my mouth and quickly followed her, after putting the royal order from Princess Celestia in my saddlebag. I put on a little speed to catch up with Rarity. I didn't bother talking to her as we walked to the side of town where the mental institution was.

I kept glancing over at Rarity as we walked. She only stared ahead, not saying anything. She rarely even blinked. Even so, I could see her legs shaking as she walked. I sighed and looked forward. The bright, sunny day seemed to be mocking us. A happy day like this when Sweetie Belle was locked up? It seemed wrong.

Within ten minutes, we reached a large white building on the outside of town. Celestial Peaks Mental Institution. I grimaced and took a deep breath. "Okay, Rarity. Are you going to be okay? I know you don't think highly of these places, but--"

I turned my head to look over at Rarity, only to discover that she wasn't walking beside me anymore. I frowned and stopped walking.

"Rarity?" I turned around. "What are..."

I flattened my ears as my gaze landed on Rarity. She had stopped walking, and now sat on her haunches, staring wide-eyed at the building. I started walking closer to her and saw that she was shivering, and tears dripped from her face. I sat down next to her.

"Rarity? Rarity, can you hear me?"

Rarity blinked once, and her mouth flopped up and down for a moment before she spoke. "I... I can't do this, Twilight. I can't go inside one of those places. They're evil."

"Rarity, please." I began gently rubbing her back. "You need to calm down, okay? Take some deep breaths. Even if that place is evil, and it isn't, Sweetie Belle is in there. She needs her big sister to come see her and let her know that everything is okay; that you're going to do everything you can to protect her."

"But I can't protect her, Twilight." Rarity sniffled and leaned her head on my shoulder. "I haven't been able to protect her from anything since this began! I haven't protected her from the police, I haven't protected her from the crazy pony doctors, and..." A sob coursed through Rarity's body. "And I especially couldn't protect her from that awful Jackie!" Rarity wiped her eyes and looked up at me with a helpless expression that made me feel a little helpless myself. "What good am I in there, Twilight? How can I help Sweetie Belle by just putting on a false smile and saying that everything's going to be okay, when everypony in the room knows that it won't be?"

"Rarity, that's not true!" I said with a little more force. "Sweetie Belle is going to be okay, I promise! These ponies will not hurt her!"

"Physically no, but psychologically..." Rarity shook her head. "I can't trust that they truly know what's best for Sweetie Belle. They don't, Twilight. They're locking her up like a criminal. That doesn't help her in any way."

"That's why she needs to see you as often as possible, Rarity!" I stood up and held out my hoof to help her off of the ground. "Come on, be brave for Sweetie Belle, okay? If you truly can't do it, then I'll go in there to help her just so she has somepony, but she needs you. Even if she thinks that she wants Jackie, she needs you."

Rarity stared at my outstretched hoof for a moment before she nodded and shakily took it. I helped her up and began walking towards the institution. I illuminated my horn and opened the door for Rarity, allowing her to walk by me before entering myself.

The sight that greeted us reminded me of a normal doctor's office: not something that I expected from a mental institution, really. The room's blank, grayish-white walls were sparsely decorated by a couple faded inspirational posters that looked to me like they hadn't been taken off in potentially decades. A few "looks comfy but really isn't" type chairs were lined up against the back walls, and a potted plant or two gave the room a desperately needed splash of color. A receptionist's desk sat across from the doorway, where a light teal earth pony sat filling out some paperwork. I nodded to Rarity, and the two of us walked up to the receptionist. She noticed us approaching, and a warm smile crossed her face.

"Good afternoon, ma'ams, welcome to Celestial Peaks." The mare pushed her papers aside and connected her forehooves on the desk. "How can I help you?"

"We're here to see a patient," I said, igniting my horn and opening up my saddlebag.

The receptionist gave us a vaguely condescending look of sorrow, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but visiting hours are from five to six PM every night. If you come back in a few hours, we'd be happy to let you see your loved one."

A barely perceptible smirk crossed my face, and I pulled the royal order out of my bag. "Well, what about if we have a royal order from Princess Celestia herself saying that we can see Sweetie Belle as often, and for as long, as we want?"

The receptionist's eyes narrowed, and she took the order from me. She scanned it for a moment before nodding and standing up. "Give me just one moment while I talk to Dr. Karras about this." The receptionist took the order in her mouth and trotted through a door behind her desk.

I gave a satisfied nod and walked over to one of the chairs to sit down. I motioned for Rarity to join me, and she took a seat next to mine.

"Being Princess Celestia's protege has its perks every once in a while, wouldn't you say?"

Rarity gave me a weak smile, but it faded just as quickly, causing my own to do the same. I suspected that nothing would improve her mood short of Sweetie Belle getting out of this place. I think she'd even take Jackie back if she could just carry Sweetie Belle up to bed and tuck her in again.

After a few minutes of staring at the floor in silence, the door beside the front desk opened and the receptionist came into the main room, followed by a tan unicorn doctor with a mess of black hair and a lab coat. The doctor had the royal order levitating in his magical aura, and when he saw us he walked over with a nod.

"Good evening, Ms. Sparkle and Ms. Rarity. I am Dr. Karras. I am the doctor in charge of Sweetie Belle's case."

Rarity and I stood up. "How is she, doctor?" I asked.

The doctor grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. "I have been briefed on every aspect of the case by my colleague Dr. Thoughts, and in my opinion it's too early to tell quite yet." The doctor rolled the order back up and slid it into my saddlebag before beckoning us to follow him through the door. "I had considered asking you to come anyway, Ms. Rarity, as Sweetie Belle has been... less than receptive to us."

"And why wouldn't she be?" Rarity growled. "The last thing that happened to her before she came here was being chained up in a jail cell!" Rarity snorted and shook her head. "I suppose she still has that wretched horn blocker on?"

"Ms. Rarity, horn blockers are protocol for all unicorn patients. Even fillies can be exceptionally dangerous if they magically surge under duress. It's not hurting her in any way, I promise."

I looked over at Rarity and saw that she was trying to glare at the doctor, but she didn't seem able to pull off the normally unsettling look. If I thought that she was shivering outside the institution, it had nothing on how she acted now. Her eyes constantly darted around as if she expected something to come out of the wall to grab her and drag her away, never to be seen again. Her steps came unevenly, and she flinched every time we came to a door that the doctor needed to unlock or whenever an orderly walked down the hallway past us.

Long story short, this wasn't distaste for mental wards, this was flat out terror. Something happened to Rarity in a place like this. It's the only reason I can think of for why she'd act this way.

"Now, then," Dr. Karras began again, snapping me out of my thoughts, "I think its best that I update you on Sweetie Belle. She keeps asking for Jackie. No matter what we ask her or what we're doing, she'll inevitably ask if we can find Jackie for her. It's like she's forgotten the previous time she asked us. Sort of a switch being reset in her brain, if you will. I hope that your faces will improve her state. Either way, I'll have more information to work with."

"And... when can she come out, Doctor?" Rarity whispered. "When can I take her out of here? How will you know if she's healthy enough? How long will that take?"

Dr. Karras hesitated a moment before responding. "Er... well, she hasn't even been here a day, Ms. Rarity. I know that you want her home, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you can take her there, but I need more information on her. We don't even have a diagnosis for her yet. I'm sure you understand."

We reached a doorway and Dr. Karras opened it up, holding it open so that we could go inside. We walked in and saw that the room was plain white, with a single table and a set of chairs in the middle. On one of the smaller chairs sat...

"Sweetie Belle!"

Rarity rushed over to her sister and wrapped her up in a crushing hug. A guard in the room opened his mouth, presumably to tell Rarity that she couldn't touch her, but Dr. Karras frowned and shook his head. I agreed with the doctor. They both needed this very badly.

Sweetie Belle whimpered and leaned her head against Rarity's chest. "Rarity," she said, her voice so quiet that I barely heard it. "I wanna go home."

"I know. We're going to get you out of here as soon as possible, okay?"

"Okay." Sweetie Belle paused for a brief moment before speaking again. "Do you know where Jackie is? Can you tell her to come visit too, or bring her along next time you come? I haven't seen her since those bad ponies took me away, Rarity. I want Jackie back!"

"Sweetie Belle, I..." Rarity looked up at the doctor, who shook his head. Rarity nodded and looked back at her sister. "Well, we haven't seen Jackie. I don't know where she's gone."

"I want her back, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle said, tears now dripping down her face. "I don't wanna be here all alone! W-when Jackie was with me, she said that she'd be my friend forever and never leave me! W-why didn't she keep her promise, Rarity?"

"I don't know." Rarity gently nuzzled her sister. "Maybe Jackie just... wasn't such a good friend after all? I mean, wouldn't you rather see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo again? I know they're worried about you."

“No!" Sweetie Belle pushed away from Rarity and ran to the other side of the room, curling up in a ball in the corner. "I don't want Apple Bloom and Scootaloo! They aren't good friends! I want Jackie, Rarity! Sh-she's the best friend that I've ever had!"

I exchanged an uneasy glance with the doctor. Rarity needed to calm down, or Sweetie Belle might do something foolish again to her, and then Celestia knows what would happen to the filly.

"Then where is she?" Rarity said, standing up and walking to her sister. "I've talked to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and they're both desperate to see you! They miss their friend. They'd come see you the moment you asked. Jackie isn't here. She ran off."

"Stop it, stop saying bad things about Jackie, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle snarled, shooting to her hooves. "You always hated her! You always hated Jackie for no reason! She never did anything to you!"

"Yes she did, Sweetie Belle, she hurt you!" Rarity said, holding out a hoof to her sister. "That's the worst thing anypony could do to me!"

"Jackie never hurt me!"

"She told you to break those windows, and now look where you are!" Rarity sat down in front of Sweetie Belle, her hoof still outstretched. "We want you back, Sweetie Belle. The real you. Not the one who can only do what Jackie wants. Why don't you want that too?"

Sweetie Belle's face twisted into a glare, and she turned her back on Rarity. "Because Jackie may not be here, but I still love her more than you."

Rarity flinched back, and I saw her lower jaw begin to wobble. I walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder, feeling that she'd need a shoulder to cry on very soon. I heard Dr. Karras clear his throat and take a few steps forward.

"Er, Sweetie Belle needs to get to her next session right now, so..."

I nodded and nudged Rarity to her hooves. "Of course, Dr. Karras. I understand. Thank you for allowing us to see Sweetie Belle. We'll be back tomorrow."

Dr. Karras nodded and motioned for an orderly to get Sweetie Belle up off of the floor before leading the two of us out. Before we exited, Rarity turned back, tears in her eyes, and said, "goodbye, Sweetie Belle. Big sister loves you, and I'll do everything that I can to get you out of here. I'll not rest until you're safe at home, okay?"

Sweetie Belle's glare remained as she allowed herself to be escorted out of the room by the orderly. "Come back with Jackie or don't bother coming back at all, Rarity."

* * * *

The next day found us right back at the institution, despite Sweetie Belle's warning. We were met by Dr. Karras at the front entrance, who beckoned us back when he saw us come in.

"How is she today, Doctor?" Rarity asked as we walked down the hall.

"Worse, I'm afraid," he said with a grimace. "She never says anything unrelated in some way to Jackie. I tried asking her about her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo yesterday after you left, and she always moved the conversation back to Jackie. I have, of course, had conversations exclusively about Jackie before, but now if we aren't talking about Jackie she'll bring the conversation right back to her."

I nodded as we reached the visiting room. "How are you thinking about helping her?"

"We're looking into medications. Maybe some..." The doctor glanced over at Rarity. "Shock therapy." Dr. Karras must have seen the angry reply rising up inside Rarity, because he put his hoof up to forestall any retorts. "It's perfectly safe, Ms. Rarity. I assure you that ECT is painless, it's been proven to work, and its only done with informed consent. We genuinely believe that it will help your sister."

Rarity snorted and turned away to continue walking down the hall. I didn't think she'd take the news that they wanted to shock Sweetie Belle very well, despite all of my research agreeing with what Dr. Karras said. A look between the two of us gave an unspoken agreement that we weren't to bring it up to Rarity again until she calmed down a little.

We reached the visiting room and went inside. Sweetie Belle was already waiting for us, but this time her mane and light green patient’s gown were a little more disheveled. She only stared at the table, not so much as blinking. Rarity sat down next to her chair, gave her a weak smile, and put a hoof on her back.

"Hello, Sweetie Belle. How are you today?"

Sweetie Belle gave a little grunt in reply, not making any indication that she was a living pony otherwise.

"Are they treating you well here? If they're not, then I can get Princess Celestia to let you out of here."

Sweetie Belle blinked once and took a deep breath before mumbling something that I couldn't quite hear. I leaned in and swiveled my ear in her direction.

"What's that, darling?" Rarity asked as she began to rub her back. "Can you say that again?"

Sweetie Belle lowered her head and rested it on the table facing away from Rarity. "Where's Jackie?"

My heart sank as I saw the look of horror in Rarity's eyes. I can't imagine what it would be like to hear that in her position, made worse by Sweetie Belle's low monotone voice.

Rarity began blinking back tears, and wiped her eyes with the hoof not rubbing Sweetie Belle's back. "J-Jackie isn't here, Sweetie Belle. I don't know where she is."

"I want Jackie, Rarity," Sweetie Belle whimpered. "Where is she?"

"I don't know, Sweetie Belle." I saw a pair of tears streak down Rarity's face. "Dearest, try focusing on yourself right now, okay? Not Jackie, but making yourself feel better."

Sweetie Belle let out a low groan and slid off of her chair, pushing Rarity's hoof away. "Where's Jackie?" She walked over to the nearest wall and put her head in her hooves. "Where's Jackie, Rarity? Where is she? I don't know why she isn't here. Where is she?"

"I just said that I don't know!" Rarity shrieked, getting to her hooves. "Sweetie Belle, forget this Jackie nonsense, please!"

"I just want her back, Rarity. Where's Jackie?"

"Sweetie Belle--"

I walked up to Rarity and put my hoof on her shoulder, shaking my head when she looked at me. "Rarity, yelling at her isn't going to help anything, okay? She needs support, not anger."

Some of the desperation in Rarity's eyes faded away, to be replaced by a look of utter defeat. Rarity groaned and lowered her head before nodding. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry, Twilight."

Dr. Karras cleared his throat, and the two of us looked over to him. "It might be best if you left for today. Sweetie Belle needs to go to her next session soon, and there are some important things we need to discuss."

"Of course, Doctor," Rarity muttered, leaning her head on my shoulder. I gave her a comforting nuzzle before she straightened up and walked over to Sweetie Belle to give her a hug. "Big sister will be back tomorrow, okay?"

Sweetie Belle looked up at Rarity, her eyes holding the first spark of life that I had seen since we walked in. "With Jackie?"

Whatever small smile Rarity had before completely faded away for a moment, but she managed to keep it up. "We'll see. I'll try to find her, okay?"

"Okay," Sweetie Belle whispered.

* * * *

Just like the previous days, day three saw us back at the institution. Dr. Karras wasn't in the waiting room this time to meet us, but the receptionist went to get him as soon as we came in. We waited for about ten minutes before he came back, a grim look on his face that I didn't really care for.

"Hello, Ms. Rarity, Ms. Twilight." He took a deep breath and ran a hoof through his uncharacteristically disheveled mane. "I'm afraid that I can't allow you to see Sweetie Belle today."

"WHAT?!" Rarity shrieked. "We have a royal order from Princess Celestia herself!"

"Hey..." I put a hoof on Rarity's back. "Calm down, Rares." I turned to Dr. Karras. "Why can't we see her?"

"Because she's in no fit state to have visitors, I'm afraid." Dr. Karras gave Rarity a sympathetic look. "It's not that she's blank and only talking about Jackie, it's the opposite. She's constantly screaming and banging her head against doorways, trying to break through them to get out of here and find Jackie. We had to restrain her and put her in a padded room so that she wouldn't hurt herself. One time she hit her head on the door, and if she had done it half an inch to the right, her horn would have snapped from the impact." Dr. Karras walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, where he stared at the floor. "Not that she would have noticed, of course. On the first hit she hit something on the wall and cut her head open. She made no sign that she noticed at all. She just kept screaming at the top of her lungs, begging Jackie to come back to her."

I draped a hoof over Rarity's shoulders, grimacing when I felt her shivering. "They'll help her, Rarity," I whispered softly to her. "They're going to make her all better."

"How, Twilight?" Rarity whimpered.

I looked down at Dr. Karras, not feeling reassured to see that he looked as lost and hopeless as we did.

* * * *

It was three more days before we were allowed to see her again, but when we showed up on the sixth day, Dr. Karras informed us that the new change was even more drastic. We walked into the visitor's room and saw Sweetie Belle sitting in her usual spot, but she was hardly recognizable. Her face was gaunt and sunken, and it looked like she hadn't slept in a week. A small streak of white ran through the purple part of her disheveled mane, and I noticed that she looked leaner too. I'd bet she lost an unhealthy amount of weight since she'd come in. Rarity noticed too, to which she glared at Dr. Karras.

"What have you been doing to her? Have you not been feeding her?"

"Of course we have!" Dr. Karras said, putting a hoof up. "She just... doesn't really touch it. She might have a few nibbles, but not much more than that. She, uh..." Dr. Karras ran a hoof through his mane. "She doesn't sleep either. She spends all day staring at the wall, even when in sessions. I haven't heard her speak since yesterday evening."

I walked up to Sweetie Belle and sat down next to her chair, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Part of me wanted to run a magical scan on her brain just to see what the heck was going on in there, but the doctors wouldn't allow that, and I knew that they had probably tried that already.

"Sweetie Belle, it's me: Twilight. I'm here to help you and your sister." I glanced over at Rarity and Dr. Karras, both of whom were staring at me intently. I knew they were hoping that I could reach her. I doubted it, really. I sighed and looked back over to Sweetie Belle. "Do you remember me?" No answer. "Do you remember Rarity or Scootaloo or Apple Bloom?" Still no answer. I bit my lip, not wanting to resort to it, but feeling I had no choice. "Do... do you remember Jackie?"

A flinch.

A barely perceptible flinch was all I got out of her by saying "Jackie." Not good. I looked back over to my companions and shook my head. Dr. Karras nodded sadly, while Rarity just stared at her sister, both of them unmoving.

* * * *

I wanted to be supportive for Rarity, and I'd go to the ends of Equestria and back for her, but I started to lose hope for Sweetie Belle. Not only that, but I didn't know how much more Rarity could stand to hear of her sister’s continually deteriorating condition. She looked more broken and helpless every time we made the trek to the institution. I didn't know how much longer I could keep this from Spike or the other Crusaders. I guess I just kept thinking she'd get better and I could tell them all then.

Kind of stupid of me, really.

When we walked inside, we saw Dr. Karras already waiting for us. He wasn't standing by the receptionist desk, but rather sitting on one of the chairs, staring at the floor. He looked up when he saw us come in, then looked back down again.

"Dr. Karras?" I said as we went up to him. "How is she doing today? Any changes?"

Dr. Karras sighed and ran a hoof through his mane. "Yes, there is another change, and it might be the last one. I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Rarity whispered, fear in her voice.

"What I mean is that this morning we went into Sweetie Belle's room and found her in a vegetative state. She didn't respond to anything. She has no control of her body functions. Her vital signs are close to those of a pony in a coma. We've started feeding her through an I.V. which will help the slight malnutrition." Dr. Karras looked back up at Rarity, and I could see tears brimming in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Rarity. I don't know when she'll come out of it, or if she will. I can't sugarcoat it for you. She could come out of it in two minutes, she could come out of it in twenty years."

I stared at Rarity, waiting to see how she'd take the news. Heck, I wasn't sure how to take it myself. Sweetie Belle in a coma? I... well, what were we supposed to do about that? Keep her alive is all the doctor seemed to have to say. It didn't seem like much, considering the circumstances.

After a few minutes of staring blankly at Dr. Karras, Rarity took a deep breath and blinked once. "You will take me to her."

Dr. Karras nodded and slowly got to his hooves. "Of course. Right this way."

Dr. Karras led us into the back like normal, but instead of turning down the left hallway, we went down to the right. A sign a few hooves down the hallway said that the wing we were in was the medical wing. I could only imagine what Sweetie Belle looked like if she was in a hospital bed, hooked up to a bunch of beeping machines and monitors while lying there looking dead...

I didn't know how Rarity was going to handle it. For that matter, I couldn't answer that about myself either.

After a few minutes of walking, we reached a set of double doors, and Dr. Karras used his passkey to open them for us. Inside was a set of hospital rooms, many with the privacy curtains shut. Dr. Karras led us to one such room. Room 1408. He stopped at the entrance to the room and cleared his throat.

"Er... I'll give you some alone time, okay? I think you deserve it after everything. I'll just be right out here, okay?"

I nodded and ignited my horn to pull the curtain aside. "Okay, Doctor. Thank you."

Dr. Karras returned my nod and went over to a nurse’s station, allowing us to enter Sweetie Belle's room.

I flinched back when I saw her. I hadn't prepared enough. However gaunt and sunken she looked last time, she was worse now. Her shallow breathing gave only a slight indication that we weren't looking at a corpse. She had an oxygen mask over her muzzle, and an IV in her right foreleg. Several monitors went off around her, measuring her heart rate and whatnot.

I couldn't believe it was Sweetie Belle. She had always been so full of life.

I looked over at Rarity and put a hoof on her back. "Rarity, I'm so sorry," I whispered.

Rarity shrugged my hoof off and walked over to the bed. She sat down on it and gently wrapped her forelegs around Sweetie Belle's limp form, picking her up and holding her close. I exhaled and sat down in a nearby chair, watching tears pour from Rarity's eyes as she gently nuzzled her sister.

"I... I'm so sorry, Sweetie Belle," she whispered. "I didn't try hard enough. Big sister failed you. I'm sorry you had to become like this. I should have tried harder to help you."

The curtain behind us opened, and Dr. Karras trotted into the room. "So sorry to interrupt, but one of her monitors got unpl--" He stopped when he saw Rarity holding Sweetie Belle, and pointed at the two of them. "Ms. Rarity, I know this is difficult, but I can't let you do that."

Rarity sighed and nuzzled her sister again. "Dr. Karras: I appreciate everything that you've done for me and Sweetie Belle, I suppose, but I want you to leave this room, leave the hospital, and go straight to Tartarus. You will not stop me from doing this. I'm going to hold my sister, and if by some miracle she can hear me, then she'll know that I'm sorry."

Dr. Karras opened his mouth to respond, but I happened to be looking at Sweetie Belle at the moment, and thus noticed something no one else picked up on.

"Hey..." I pointed at Sweetie Belle, my eyes wide. "Her hoof just moved!"

Dr. Karras and Rarity both instantly looked down at Sweetie Belle, and sure enough, her right forehoof started subtly twitching. After a moment, it slowly began raising, and rested on Rarity's chest.

"R-Raree."

"She spoke!" Rarity looked up at Dr. Karras, then me, then back down to Sweetie Belle. "I'm here, darling! I'm here! Big sister has you now!"

Sweetie Belle's whole body twitched, and her foreleg moved up and rubbed her eyes. "Raree." Sweetie Belle nuzzled into Rarity's chest. "We home?"

Rarity let out a single sob, and I saw tears welling up. "No, Sweetie Belle, I'm afraid not. We can't go home just yet."

Sweetie Belle groaned and cracked one eye open. It landed on me first, and I saw the corners of her mouth twitch up in a friendly smile. Her gaze then trailed over to Dr. Karras, and her smile dissolved into a frown, and I saw confusion in her eye.

"Rarity..." Sweetie Belle turned her head and opened her other eye. "Where are we? What's going on?"

"You don't remember, Sweetie Belle?" Dr. Karras said. "You went into some sort of coma. You're in the hospital wing right now."

Sweetie Belle's jaw wobbled, and I heard a sob come from her. "H-hospital?" She buried her head in Rarity's chest. "I don't like hospitals."

Dr. Karras chuckled a bit. "Yes, I can see why that might be."

"Rarity, I wanna go home. I don't wanna be at this hospital anymore."

"We can go home soon, darling." Rarity wiped her eyes, then began gently stroking Sweetie Belle's mane. "We just have to make sure you're not going to be bothered by Jackie anymore, that's all."

Silence filled the room as Sweetie Belle lifted her head off of her sister's chest. She looked over at Dr. Karras, then over to me. I couldn't miss the confusion in her eyes. Finally, she looked up at Rarity and spoke, her voice full of uncertainty and fear.

"Who's Jackie?"

Author's Note:

Edited this time by Razalon the Lizardman and Hopeless Appraisal. Also, I did the Ice Bucket Challenge. Check it out!