Goddess of the Moon

by Duke of Canterlot

Coma

Apple Bloom woke up filled with excitement. She couldn’t wait to tell every pony what she had learned about magic. Apple Bloom jumped out of bed and was ready to test out her magical skills.

However, what Apple Bloom saw stunned her. She could see Applejack and Big Mac standing still by Granny’s door. Both of them looked devastated.

“Sugar cube”, said Applejack, “we got some bad news.”

“Huh? Is..is..Granny..”

“She’s not dead but she ain’t doing well at all.”

“Nope”, said Big Mac with tears in his eyes.

“What happened?”

“We wanted to wait till you woke up – didn’t want to disturb your magic lessons”, said Applejack, “but Granny fell into a coma. She’s in the hospital now. The doctor said that…the doctor said..oh .. I can’t even say it.”

“No, it can’t be! Ah am gonna figure out how to save Granny Smith!”

“It takes at least eight years to become a doctor, sugarcube.”

“But ah have my magic and my potions! Ah swear to you both! Granny will be back in our home soon – happy and healthy! Ah am going to make it happen. You both will see!” Apple Bloom began to cry. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Would you like to go to the hospital with us?”

“Of course! Let’s get going. Zecora taught me this real powerful wake-up position. Maybe it will take Granny out of her coma.”

“I wish”, said Big Mac, “don’t think that’s how waking ponies out of comas work.”

“Let’s ask the doctor!”

“We want Granny to get through this as much as you”, said Applejack, “but every pony has an expiration date, you know – except those high and mighty alicorns which hey, that’ll be you soon!”

The thought of extreme longevity wasn’t appealing to Apple Bloom at the moment.

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Apple Bloom and her siblings arrived at the hospital. This was such a sad moment for the three Apples. None of them wanted to talk about Granny and her condition. They saw a nurse pony.

“Hello”, said Applejack, “we’re er.. here to see Granny Smith.”

The nurse pony said, “oh, of course. Let me take you to Granny’s room.” The three of them followed the nurse pony.

Apple Bloom couldn’t believe what she saw. Applejack wasn’t exaggerating. There was Granny hooked up to a feeding tube and doing nothing.

“Thank you nurse”, said Applejack.

“Sure thing”, said the nurse pony, “if you need anything, just ring that bell over there.”

“Certainly.”

The nurse pony left.

Apple Bloom was feeling useless. She tried to think of what she could do to help Granny. Apple Bloom groaned. How would being able to move a couple of objects be able to help Granny?

“Ah wish there were more ah could do to help Granny! This horn is so dang useless!”

“So what can you do with that horn now”, asked Applejack.

“Well, Luna taught me how to move objects last night. It was real fun. Oh, maybe Luna can help me get Granny out of this coma! And we’ll all be back to normal!”

“If a little unicorn magic could stop a pony from dying, we would have a lot less dead ponies around.”

“Luna is more than just a little unicorn magic. She’s an alicorn and ah am on my way to becoming one too!”

“Then why don’t all those alicorns just go in and stop ponies from dying? Sugarcube, hate to break it to ya but there’s nothing you and ah can do except hope that modern medicine does its trick!”

Apple Bloom knew that Applejack had sound logic, but she didn’t want to believe it. There had to be something she could do.

“Ah think ah know what Granny would want”, said Big Mac, “she would go and tell us, ‘don’t go worryin’ about me’, but of course ah’m worried sick!”
Apple Bloom felt especially bad for Big Mac. He never talked about his recent loss – but Big Mac was the youngest widower that Apple Bloom ever knew. Poor Sugar Belle – cancer is a bitch. Losing Granny too would be an especially big blow for her brother even if he never showed his pain.

“We all are”, added Applejack, “maybe that nurse pony knows more about her condition.”

Apple Bloom took that opportunity to ring the bell. In a flash, the nurse arrived. Apple Bloom took note that the nurse was a unicorn.

“Umm, Ms. Nurse Pony”, said Apple Bloom.

“Please, call me Daisy Fields – or Daisy.”

“Daisy, can you tell us more about Granny’s condition.”

“Oh dear”, said Daisy nervously, “I..I…”

“You can be honest with us”, said Applejack, “we’re Apples – we can handle it.”

“Very well”, said Daisy, “we have been doing tests and it er.. appears that the likelihood of Granny waking up from her coma is quite slim.”

“Damn”, said Applejack, “ah figured. All we can do though is hope for the best. You say that there’s a chance, right?”

“Certainly”, said Daisy, “Doctor Stable and I think there’s a chance. But Granny’s brain has too much damage. Even if she wakes up, she may never be the same again.”

“Ah have something that could help”, piped Apple Bloom, “you see ah’m training to become an alicorn!”

“Oh, I did notice your horn”, said Daisy with a smile, “how are you liking it?”

“Real good”, said Apple Bloom, “ah am learning how to move objects. Being trained by Princess Luna herself, she will help me save Granny and bring her to back to her normal self!”

“I like your spirit”, said Daisy, “honestly, I was never that good at magic. My dad was a unicorn, but my mom is an earth pony. You probably know more magic than me to be honest. I grew up with my mom and brother – both earth ponies. Never knew my dad.”

“Ah have very few memories of my parents”, said Apple Bloom with a frown, “Granny is basically my mom and dad. Sorry about your dad.”

“It’s okay”, said Daisy, “I just sincerely hope that Granny is ok.”

“Me too. Just keep us posted on Granny. Ah know y’all are doing the best you can to help her. But ah will be working just as hard to try to save her!”

“Certainly. I wish I could offer better news for all of you. Sorry.”

Apple Bloom surprised herself at how she was the chattiest of the Apples right now. Usually Applejack would do all the talking while she and Big Mac didn’t say much.

“Thank you, Daisy. We are lucky to have you taking care of Granny. Ah can tell that you’re a real caring pony”, said Applejack, “you know how to reach us with any updates.”

“Certainly”, said Daisy, “Granny is such an important part of Ponyville. We are all rooting for her!”

“Ah’m gonna go look up some of my potions now”, said Apple Bloom, “something in there must help Granny!”

“There goes my sister thinking she can save everypony”, said Applejack.

“Maybe that’s why Luna picked me”, said Apple Bloom, “because ah will save the world!”

Apple Bloom ran back to the farm.

She looked anxiously through her notes on potions. There had to be something!

Apple Bloom spent what must have been hours doing her research. She knew that Zecora had plenty of rejuvenating potions and Apple Bloom even invented one of her own. However, those were for healing things like boo-boos not going into a coma. The young mare was at a loss. She groaned with frustration. Why does everything have to be so hard?

Apple Bloom noticed that neither Applejack nor Big Mac were back home. They must have still been staying by Granny’s side. Apple Bloom face-palmed. She should have been there too. What the hell was she thinking that she could find a cure so easily?

No, no, no, thought Apple Bloom, she was smart and determined! If any pony could think of a solution, it was her. She thought about if there was anything with magic which affected the brain which she could use to her advantage. Apple Bloom had so many questions to ask Luna tonight. She had thought about cancelling the second night of training due to Granny’s worsening condition, but perhaps she would learn some new things.

Apple Bloom perhaps could enhance one of her potions with unicorn magic and that would be the trick to waking up Granny. She needed to try. She knew how awful her life would be if Granny were to die. Apple Bloom already felt the emptiness from Granny in her coma. She worked out some equations to see if she could figure something out now.

After a couple more hours, Apple Bloom began to grow tired. She didn’t want to give up but then she looked at the clock. Crap, her training was in five minutes. Apple Bloom rushed out to the deep part of her property. If any pony would know how to save Granny, it was certainly Princess Luna!

Author's Note:

Can anything be done to help Granny? Find out in the next chapter!