At Her Hospital Bed

"Excuse me, miss? I am here to see Rainbow Dash!"

The secretary looked Pinkie up and down with an unimpressed look. Her greying mane was done up in a tight bun, and even her eyes seemed to scowl at her as she paused to skim over a sheet clipped to a clipboard. "Name?" she muttered. "Pinkamena Diane Pie. But you can just call me Pinkie Pie, that's what ALL my friends call me." she chirped. "I should be on the list to see my friend."

The bedraggled secretary nodded. "Yup, there you are. Take this, Ms. Pie." she said dully as she handed Pinkie a visitor's pass. She pointed with her hoof down the hall. "Room 20, walk straight down there and it will be to your left."

"Thank you!"  Pinkie grinned, bouncing down the hallway exuberantly. Hmm. Room 20? Room 20. Room 20. Room 20! There you are! Pinkie sat her flank down on the cool tiles, raising a pink hoof to the door and giving a soft knock. She waited a few seconds outside, until a tall stallion wearing a white scrub and a stethoscope draped over his neck opened the door for her.

He looked away, calling over his shoulder. "Rainbow Dash, we have a visitor here for you. Would you like me to let her in?" Pinkie could hear a feeble voice reply "Yeah, she's my friend." The doctor nodded and opened the door wider. What Pinkie saw melted her heart completely, tears caught in her throat so only a devastated squeak escaped her mouth. She galloped in, rushing to the hospital bed.

"R-Rainbow?" Pinkie whimpered as tears stung her eyes.

The crippled form of a once-great Pegasus lay with eyes barely open. Several tubes connected her forelegs and muzzle to plastic packets of blood and medicinal liquids. Bruises and scrapes were all over her body and both wings were bent at awful angles that could not be comfortable. A screen beside her bed showed a green line, which gave a mechanical beep as it indicated her weakened heartbeat. The doctor gave Pinkie a sympathetic look. "Rainbow Dash was in a horrible accident. She needs her rest, but she insisted she see you, Pinkie. I will leave you two alone, but if anything starts to go wrong, I have two highly capable nurses waiting outside."

"Thank you, Doctor." Pinkie said with a meek smile. Her head snapped back to the injured Rainbow Dash. Rainbow blinked, groaning slightly in pain. Her eyes fluttered and then opened wide, as if she had only just noticed Pinkie's presence. "P-Pinkie?" she rasped. "You came."

Pinkie grinned, taking a seat in a wooden chair beside her bed. "Of course I did, Dashie."  Rainbow managed a weak smile, but it soon faded as another moan of agony escaped her mouth. She coughed and shifted to face Pinkie. "I guess I banged myself up pretty bad, huh?" she joked. Pinkie couldn't help but giggle along with her, it was in her nature. "Yeah."

Rainbow blinked, craning her neck to survey the room. "Where's Twilight and the others?" she frowned, resting her head on the pillow once more. "They were all out of town, but they heard what happened and are doing their best to get here." Rainbow grunted as if saying 'oh'. "Look, Pinkie. I invited a *cough* -another friend over. I hope you don't mind."

Pinkie blinked her blue eyes cheerily. "Of course I don't mind, silly! I LOVE making new friends." Rainbow struggled to laugh, but could only manage a pained sigh. "How about old enemies?"

At that moment, the door swung open, revealing the doctor with yet another guest by his side. Pinkie's jaw dropped. "...Gilda." she growled through clenched teeth. She was immediately knocked aside as the griffon surged past her, over to Rainbow's bed. "Dashie? Aww, man. Dashie. You really got it bad this time. Are you okay?" Gilda blurted, her claws resting on the side of the bed. Rainbow smiled. "Hey Gilda. Meh. Wing's a little screwed up but I think I'll be fine."

Gilda pivoted on her heel, turning to face Pinkie. "Pinkie! How good it is to see you." she sneered, obviously unimpressed to see the pink Earth pony that she found so annoying. She snapped her head to face Rainbow Dash. "Ugh. Dashie, when will you get rid of this lame-o pony?" she snorted. "Hey! I can hear you, you know! Why do you have to be such a meany mean-pants all the time?" Pinkie retorted, her voice nearly reaching a full-blown yell.

"Seriously, Dashie. What gives? You know we hate each other, so why did you schedule for us to visit at the same time?" Gilda snarled. Rainbow Dash simply gazed at them blankly, a faint smile on her face. "Yeah, Dashie!" Pinkie piped in. Rainbow shrugged, wincing in pain."Because you two are my friends. I-"

Her hoarse voice was interrupted by the slamming of a door as the doctor and two nurses cantered in. The doctor had a worried expression on his face. "Pinkie Pie, Gilda, I will have to ask you to step outside for a minute. I have some news for Ms. Dash." Pinkie and Gilda exchanged confused and horrified looks, and slowly stepped outside. Their was a long awkward silence between the two of them as they desperately tried to avoid eye contact.  "Hey, um. Pinkie Pie? Look, I am sorry for being such a jerk back there. I realise that if Dashie here cares about you so much, you can't be all that bad after all." Pinkie blinked in surprise. Was this the real Gilda? The stuck-up obnoxious jerk? Apologizing? Despite her mixed emotions, Pinkie couldn't bring herself to be angry. "Thanks, Gilda."

Pinkie turned and pressed her ear up against the door, straining to make out the doctor's mumbling. She could clearly hear Dashie sobbing. "I am so sorry to tell you this, Rainbow Dash. But it appears your condition is much worse that we anticipated. Your wounds are... fatal. We know this must be so devastating for you, but we feel you have the right to know. We estimate you have within two or three days. We extend our deepest sympathies for you and if there is anything I can do for you to make you more comfortable, please do not hesitate to ask."

By this point, Pinkie had long since burst in to tears. Gilda stared in pure shock, she opened her beak but no words managed to escape. "We will let your friends back in now so you can spend time together. Once again, we are so sorry. We are doing everything we can for you." With that, the doctor, with his head hanging, escorted himself and the nurses out. He paused to speak. "I am so sorry for your loss."

As if paralyzed in fear, Rainbow Dash lay sprawled out on her bed, her teary eyes fixed on the ceiling. She rotated her neck slightly, and her sadness seemed to deplete as two of her best friends came into view once more. "Pinkie... Gilda..." Rainbow rasped.

"I'm dying."