One Heroic Apple
An eery and lonely darkness was settled over Ponyville hospital and the night outside was beyond freezing temperatures at this time of year. Frost collected in thin layers over the panes of the windows and made them cold to the touch and icicles hung from their sils.
The hospital was relatively quiet at the late hours of night and only a few staff and doctors remained in the building along with a group of a bunch of particular ponies who were anxiously waiting in the waiting room for the doctor arrive.
Three of the ponies that made the group were all sat together, consisting of a pegasus with an orange coat and purple mane with eyes to match by the name of Scootaloo, a pretty unicorn with a two tone purple and soft pink mane done in fancy curls and glistening, light green eyes named Sweetie Belle and the last who was sat between the two of them was an earth pony with a cream coloured coat and red mane with orange eyes called Apple Bloom, a close relative to the reason they were all here.
Sweetie sat on Apple Bloom's left while Scootaloo sat on her right, each of their hooves placed to her back and around her barrel. Occasionally, they would all take a glance to a single, lonesome clock on the wall that ticked and tocked, the sound echoing through the dreadfully silent hospital.
The rest of the group consisted of Applejack, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, Apple Bloom's big sister and brother and grandmother and the other five in the room were Applejack's friends, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie who were all here for some friendly support.
Rainbow and Twilight were both trying to console Applejack to the best of their abilities and the others were trying to do the same for Big Mac and Granny who were both in tears. As for Applejack, her face made it obvious to tell she wanted to cry but she held it in, trying to hide them with only a tear or two managing to break through and run down her cheek.
''Don't worry, AB, I'm sure she'll be fine.'' Sweetie smiled reassuringly to her friend along with Scootaloo. She didn't look up and a few tears dripped down and impacted with the floor, creating miniature puddles on the tiled floor. Out of all the Apple family, the bad news seemed to have hit her the worst.
With each passing minute, it felt like an eternity, every tick coming from the clock seeming to go on forever, reminding them of how serious it was.
When Applejack found out and told Apple Bloom what has happened to her favourite cousin who had not long since become a member of the Equestrian Military, she literally broke down crying and up to this point in time, hasn't stopped. The mare in question was Babs Seed, who through a short time of knowing Apple Bloom and her friends soon became really close, becoming completely inseparable.
Even through the time that Babs left to join, she has managed to stay in touch by sending letters every day she's been gone for and the two of them talked (or wrote about, rather) about how she was doing and what was happening back home so she could keep up to date with everything. Sometimes even Sweetie, Scootaloo and Applejack wrote, too.
''Ah wonder what's takin' so long. Do ya think everything's alright?'' Apple Bloom asked, looking down the corridor that lead to the many rooms that held one that was occupied by Babs. Sweetie held her gentle smile as she levitated a nearby tissue over in her green magic and wiped her friend's tears away.
''Apple Bloom, of course, she'll be fine. This is Babs, remember? She'll pull through.''
''Yeah! She's one tough mare and she never goes down without a fight! You'll see!'' Scootaloo joined in and despite her own doubts on her reassurance, her face still held traces of great sadness and worry for her fellow friend.
''Thanks, girls. It means a lot ta me.'' With her hooves, she wrapped them around her friend's backs and pulled them closer together in a friendly embrace.
Across from them, Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow glances over to the three and saw them consoling their friend, bringing a weak smile to her lips at the sight. Rainbow nudged her shoulder.
''Hey, don't worry AJ, Apple Bloom and her friends will be alright once Babs gets onto her hooves again.'' Rainbow hugged her friend and smiled thankfully to her rainbow maned friend.
''Ah'm glad ya could all be here for us. When Ah found out, Ah...Ah was so scared! Not just about Babs, but about how AB would take it.'' She wiped her eyes and Twilight held her shoulder.
''It'll be okay, Applejack. The doctors said that they are doing all they can for her. She surely is a strong, young mare for her age.''
Before anything more could be said, everypony's attention was drawn to the sound of a door opening down the corridor and their eyes were all fixated upon a unicorn doctor with a brown mane and off-yellow coat with green eyes wearing a doctor's coat stepping outside and coming towards them.
When he got closer, his saddened expression was visible for all to see yet it still held that professional doctor look from all the times he has announced bad news to loved ones to the patient. The doctor cleared his throat and looked over to Applejack, seeing how miserable she looked.
Before he could talk however, a yellow hoof tapped his shoulder and he turned to face Apple Bloom who had traces of tears in her glistening orange eyes and slightly matted cheeks.
''How's mah cousin doing, Doc? Is she alright?'' Her voice was quiet and low, tired from crying.
Knowing it wasn't going to be easy, the doctor offered a sympathetic smile and looked back to Applejack and her friends.
''Miss Applejack? Your niece, Babs, is stable for the moment but I think it would be best if you all go and see her now.'' He said sympathetically, seeing the heartbroken looks on everypony's faces.
''What? What do you mean 'for the moment', Doc? What happened?'' Applejack demanded, coming close to the stallion yet not as close as being muzzle to muzzle with him. Used to this kind of behavior from past experiences, the doctor kept his composure and managed to keep a straight face.
''I understand your concerns, Miss Applejack, but Babs suffered critical damage to her body and we were lucky enough to manage to get her stabilized for the time being. I'm afraid that we don't know for sure and that because of her injuries, we aren't sure how long she can cope like this. At this rate, she'll be lucky to make it through the night.''
Though infuriated from the heart wrenching news, Applejack kept a cool head and forced herself to stay calm. ''Can you take us to her?'' She asked, a heavily worrysome feeling rising in her gut for the well being of her niece.
The doctor simply nodded before motioning for the Apples to follow him whilst the others stayed behind in the waiting room. He lead them down the corridor and down to a room which was labeled with a number '6' on the door.
Upon opening it, Apple Bloom and her friends were the first to enter, followed by the others. The room wasn't any different than your average hospital room, with all the lazy coloured wallpaper and blank, boring surroundings and a weak antiseptic smell filled the air.
The occupant of the room was currently laid up the bed that was placed neatly in the middle of the room, placed up against the wall and Apple Bloom didn't waste time in rushing beside her, eager to know if she was alright.
Beside her bed stood a small table with a lamp on it and beside that lamp, a beret was placed, a pale khaki in colour and single, small silver plated line placed into it to signify the rank of First Lieutenant that sat comfortably within a darker khaki shield. Next to Babs's beret, a Purple Heart badge laid.
Almost all at once, the tears building in Apple Bloom's eyes began to fall, seeing her favourite cousin who she considers a fourth sister after Applejack, Sweetie and Scootaloo appearing so helpless was like a knife through her heart and it hurt her so bad inside. Her friends began to cry too but managed to keep it to a minimum to stay strong for their friend.
Babs was hooked up to a heart monitor, her pulse beating slowly yet enough to show she was stable. Her right hoof was bandaged up and her face had a bandage wrapped tightly and securely around it that went from the back of her head to over her right ear and over her left eye that was covered in a few layers of gauze that was stained with dark red blood, indicating how badly damaged she was.
On her cheek was a small scar that looked to have been created by a sharp object and hooked into her nose was some specialized tubing that provided her with enough oxygen to allow her to respirate.
Beneath the covers, her chest was slowly rising and falling as she shakily inhaled and exhaled.
''Babs?'' Apple Bloom asked, gently nudging her side but got no response. She couldn't tell if it was because she was sleeping or if it was just that she was so weak from what happened to her.
''I'll leave you all alone. If you need me, I'll be at the front desk.'' The doctor said before closing the door softly. When everypony in the room saw the condition of their friend, they too began to feel tears coming. Applejack came beside her sister and looked at Babs's sleeping face, watching her as she wrapped a hoof around Apple Bloom's shoulders.
''Babs, if ya can hear me, Ah just wanna say that Ah'm sorry this happened to you. Ah love ya, sugarcube.'' She took off her hat and placed it aside before leaning down and resting her chin on Bab's shoulder as she rubbed her cheek against her own.
''G-Getting sappy are we, AJ?'' A weak voice said and Applejack froze, along with everypony else. Slowly raising herself back up, she met the vibrant yet pale eyes of Babs and saw that she had a weak smile spread on her lips.
''Babs!'' Apple Bloom exclaimed, unable to control herself as she threw her hooves around her cousin, causing her to groan at the pressure against her aching and fragile bones as pain shot through her, enough to cause Apple Bloom to back away with an apologetic smile and blush.
''Ow. Yeah, nice to see you too, Bloom.'' She smiled before coughing harshly, wheezing. ''I see you've all got your cutie marks.'' She said softly, motioning with her eyes to Apple Bloom's and her friend's flanks that all held a similar cutie mark of a red, pink and purple shield. Apple Blooms had a heart shaped apple in the middle of hers, Scootaloo had a thunderbolt and Sweetie had a musical note. ''Congrats. So, anything happen while I was out of town?''
Seriously? She's the one who got injured in combat and she wants to turn the attention off? I Suppose I can't blame her.
''You ain't missed much. The farm's still as it always has been and you've inspired lots of ponies around Ponyville, ya big war hero.'' Apple Bloom smirked at her and Babs gave one back.
''I've heard that everywhere I go, cous. But what kind of hero like me lays here, useless and broken in bed? I can still fight, I-OW,OW,OW!'' Babs exclaimed when she tried to move her body to the side, something audibly crunching inside with a sound so sickening it made your ears wish they didn't exist and your stomach feel like emptying.
''Babs!'' Applejack said concernedly. ''Take it easy! Ya'll ain't doin' your body any good by moving so fast!'' Babs narrowed her eyes at her, surprisingly making her cringe.
''I d-don't care! We both know that I probably won't be walking away from this one, but I'm not going down without a fight!'' She growled softly, gritting her teeth and her voice shook from the searing pain running through her. ''I just can't believe I didn't see it coming, when that explosion coulda killed me!''
''Ease down there, youngun, listen to your aunt.'' Granny Smith said, coming beside her with a small, worried expression. ''She's right. Ya'll can't do this to yourself, Babs.'' Backing down from the glare of her elder, she slumped back in her bed and propped the back of her head against her pillow, in a semi-sitting position.
''I'm...I'm sorry, Applejack. Being stuck in one place and knowing that I survived whilst my friends died...I-'' Applejack came beside her and wrapped her hooves around her, being careful not to squeeze too hard.
''Shh, shh. It's all over now, Babs. You're safe and you're back home. The doctors here will fix ya'll up and then ya can come back to the farm for as long as ya'll want.'' She said in a soothing voice, trying to ignore what the doctor said before about her possibly not making it through the night from her injuries.
Despite the comforting embrace of her aunt, it only infuriated the young mare who pushed her away with a strong enough shove of her own hooves to get Applejack's hooves to release from the impact, practically throwing them off of her.
''No, it's not all over, Applejack! What happened to my friends was horrific and it cost me my eye!'' She pointed with her hoof to the bloodied gauze that was placed over her now empty socket. ''And you know what? It hurts! It hurts like crazy! The only thing that could ever possibly hurt me worse is the fact of knowing that I failed and my team died while I survived! I should have died in that explosion but because of my dumb luck, I didn't and now I'm stuck here, all useless and helpless! At this rate, you might as well pull the plug! It's not fair!''
''BABS!'' The voice of Big Mac boomed, taking everypony largely aback and making them all jump at the rumble that came with it. ''Listen to Applejack, will ya? Ya'll are safe now and that's all that matters! Would this be what ya friends wanted for you?''
Babs went silent for a moment, trying to process what the normally shy stallion was saying to her. She didn't want to admit it, but deep down she thought that he was right about that. Would this be what her friends would want for her? To beat herself up over something like this? What's done is done and there isn't no going back, so why keep hanging on to guilt?
''Well, n-no...'' She replied, her voice quieter than ever.
''Exactly! So stop beating yourself up, Babs! Ya'll sure as Celestia don't have dumb luck, and to us, ya are and always will be a war hero and ya'll certainly ain't a failure to anypony!'' Big Mac finished, and to his surprise, he found that Babs was smiling at him and her bottom lip started to quiver. It didn't take long before her eyes finally became so packed with concealed tears that her tear ducts let them rain loose down her cheeks and she covered her eyes with her hooves, allowing her broken heart to spill.
Taken aback by her sudden outburst of tears, the Crusaders, Applejack, Granny Smith and Big Mac all enveloped her in a close, comforting embrace. (Taking care not to squeeze her too tight, of course.)
They stayed like that for several minutes until Babs eventually began to calm down and her tears were reduced to a tolerable level before she was able to speak again. ''S-S-Sorry! I-I-I-It hurts s-so bad!''
''Y'all have every right to cry, sugarcube. What you went through musta been traumatizin'.'' Applejack said before the rest of the family broke from the embrace
''W-Well, that's a-an understatement.'' Babs said meekly and sniffled. ''Gosh, look at me. I'm a First Lieutenant and I'm laid up in bed.'' She chuckled half heartedly. Slowly, she turned towards the table beside her bed and picked up her Purple Heart medal and beret, staring mindlessly over them whilst she gently ran a hoof over the medal, feeling the shiny, well manufactured metal body of it.
The Purple Heart was a purple heart with a golden edge and in the middle of the heart was a golden face of a proudly posing pony's face, with their chin up and a hoof up in the pose of a salute over their ear.
''Apple Bloom? Here, I want you to take it.'' She held out her hoof with the medal in the middle of it, displaying it to her wide eyed cousin.
''Aw, Babs, Ah couldn't ever accept that. You earned it, not me.'' Apple Bloom dismissed with a wave of a hoof, surprised by the sudden request from her cousin. The Purple Heart was meant to show you went down doing your best for your country and is a sign of your courage and bravery, as well as your willingness to do what needs to be done.
''How? I got obliterated by a grenade.'' Babs said with a small, mocking frown. ''Also, that's Lieutenant to you.'' She laughed and booped Apple Bloom's muzzle, causing her to giggle.
Even all she's been put through, Babs still tried to make her laugh. That's what Apple Bloom loved about her the most, she would always make sure that her friends and family were happy.
Slowly but still unsure of the offering, Apple Bloom gently accepted the medal, taking it into her own hoof before looking it over with curious eyes, along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
''Thanks, Babs.'' She smiled gratefully to her and she gave a smile back.
''Any time, cous.''