The Healing Harms

Act 1

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Fluttershy asked her hospitalized friend worriedly.

"OF COURSE she'll be okay!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she flexed one of her foreleg muscles. "Derpy's tough! This eye surgery? Nah, it's got nothin' on her! I mean, the doctors have had her in here for weeks now! There's no WAY they couldn't get this right! Why, I'll bet all the sweets in Sugar Cube Corner that she'll come out of this surgery seeing better than all of us!"

The grey mare laying in the hospital bed chuckled, "Aw thanks! But, the surgery already happened." She smiled and pointed to her bandaged-covered left eye. "They did it yesterday morning. They said I had to rest a while before I could go."

"Pinkie!" Twilight entered the hospital room, wheeling Rainbow Dash in a wheelchair. Gasping for air, she continued, "You could have at least waited while I got Rainbow."

Pinkie gave a huge smile as she giggled, "But if I did that, then I wouldn't have been able to sing my 'Hope-The-Eye-Surgery-Goes-Well-And-Don't-Die-Song song!'"

Derpy raised her eyebrow as she affirmed, "But my surgery was yesterday..."

"Then it worked!" Pinkie exclaimed as confetti exploded behind her. "This calls for a PARTY!!"

Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hoof, "I... I don't remember a song..."

"Oh, that's because the author couldn't think of a song for me to sing, so he just had me sing it before he began writing." Pinkie answered, still smiling.

"...Author?" Twilight asked. Dismissing that last sentence as Pinkie just being Pinkie, she gasped as a sudden realization hit her, "Wait, did you say the surgery was yesterday?"

Derpy nodded, "Yep."

"PINKIE!" The Alicorn glared, "You told us last week it was today!"

The pink mare shook her head, "No, silly billy! I SAID it was the day before the day of the day that the Semi-Bi-Annual Sugar Hungry Games falls on if it lands on a rainy day in September!" A long pause fell among the mares as they each tried to figure out what their pink friend had just said.

With her hoof on her chin, Derpy was the first to speak up, "...But it's March." Shaking her head, she dismissed that confusing time conundrum with a question. "Wait, why is Rainbow Dash in a wheelchair?"

"Oh, that's right!" Rainbow exclaimed. "They put ya up in here before my accident!" She chuckled as she recounted what had happened. "Well, y'know, it's the usual stuff. Practicing some tricks. Hit a tree. Couple of cuts and bruises. Oh, and I busted up my wings pretty bad." She laughed nervously as she showed her friends her two heavily bandaged wings. "Doc says very little movement for the next few weeks."

"Ow..." Derpy commented. Then, she laughed, "That makes my eye seem like not a very big deal!" She sighed. "Y'know, I'm gonna miss the way my eyes did that thing where they went in different directions. I feel like it made me special..."

"Aw..." Pinkie cooed. "Don't say that! God made you special! It wasn't your silly eyes! Your special to Him whether your eyes are normal or not. And if you're special to Him, then you're special to me!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "I'm still not so sure about that whole God-thing," She gave a gentle smile, "but I also believe it's for the best."

Derpy closed her eye and smiled, "Yeah, I guess you guys are right. Hey," Her eye opened and shined, "at least nothing went wrong. It's not like I lost my eye or anything!"

Everyone laughed as Rainbow commented, "Yeah, that would kinda be  worst-case scenario!"

"Which is why we have to throw a PARTY!!!!" Pinkie exclaimed, hardly able to keep herself on the ground. "I can see it now! The Derpy-Almost-Died-But-Not-Really-'Cause-Now-She's-Got-New-Eyes Party!"

Derpy furrowed her brow, "I didn't almost die... At least, I don't think..."

"Um, excuse me?" A nurse popped her head through the now-slightly open door. "We must do a follow-up for Mrs. Hooves, so if her friends could kindly excuse us..."

Twilight cleared her throat, "Ahem. Yes. We were just on our way out. Thank you."

"And I've got a party to plan and no time to waste!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced out towards the exit.

"Pinkie, wait!" Derpy called.

The pink mare stopped bouncing and smiled at her friend. "Yeppers?"

Derpy began fishing around in her bedside table drawer. "I almost forgot something." After a few seconds, the Pegasus pulled out a rather thick, brown book with two thin bookmarks hanging out of the bottom and offered it to Pinkie. "Thanks for letting me borrow it."

Pinkie's huge smile faded into a small grin as she slowly walked over and reverently grasped the book and placed it in her mane. "Mm-hm."

"What is it with you and that book anyway, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "I mean, I'm all for treating books with the utmost care, but you take that to a WHOLE different level with that book."

Pinkie chuckled thinking about how Twilight was the one who had brought her the book about three months prior, just after the revolt against Celestia. She remembered how Twilight had to retrieve her crown from a strange world, and how one of the inhabitants knew about the God that she had started serving because of Celestia's actions. She remembered how Twilight said the book was called a 'Bible' and that the creature said she would need it.

And boy, was she excited. This 'Bible' told her all about the God she followed. It even taught her to survive the struggles of daily life. Of course, she was able to do that before, but now she could do it better. She studied that book much like Twilight studied pretty much everything else. She even found the passage that led her to her decision.

"Pinkie?" Twilight put the brakes on her memory train. She tapped her friend's head, "You in there?"

Snapping back to reality, Pinkie shook her head, "Oh, um, no- I mean, yes- I mean, CUPCAKES! Wait, what was the question?"

The Alicorn sighed and rolled her eyes, "Nevermind. But we should go. I'm sure the nurse would like to do her follow-up."

"If it's not too much of a problem." The nurse gently smiled.

"Oh, not a problem at all! I have a party to plan anyway!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced out of the room.

"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted as she rotated Rainbow's wheelchair towards the exit. "Wait for us!" Just as she exited the room, she turned and called, "See you later Derpy!"

"Bye Twilight!" The mailmare waved. "Thanks for stopping by! It really means a lot."

"Mm-hm." Twilght smiled. "That's what friends are for."

She shifted her gaze to the long hallway outside the room, only to see that Pinkie was long gone. "...Darn it." Giving a long moan, she concluded, "C'mon Fluttershy! We've got a Pinkie Pie to find!"

With that, the Alicorn rushed across the clean tiled floor of the hospital with Rainbow in front in search for their party pony friend.

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Happily hopping along the tiled floor of the hospital with a huge smile plastered on her face, Pinkie pondered what exactly should be used at Derpy's party. "Hmm. Cupcakes. Definitely cupcakes. Muffins too! That's a good idea!" She gasped, "AND BALLOONS THAT LOOK LIKE EYES! YES! Maybe, some cherry-chongas? Why not! And maybe even-"

"Mom... the d-doctors say he's not going to m-make it..." A mare's mournful voice interrupted her party planning.

Not able to bear the fact of anypony being sad, Pinkie searched for the bearer of the voice. Running as fast as she could, she turned a left corner, then a right corner, then another left corner before finally finding a white unicorn mare with a crimson mane sobbing over the hospital telephone.

"What's the matter?" Pinkie asked.

The mare gave the party pony one glance before her tears overwhelmed her.

Now worried, she attempted to investigate further, placing her hoof on the mare's back, "...Is everything okay?"

A colt sitting against a nearby wall next to the entrance of the baby nursery answered, "Our... Our son..."  But that was all he could muster before burying his face into his hooves. "Dear God, please..."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Is he hurt? Or sick?" She gasped as she thought of the worst possible thing, "Has he never had a birthday party?!?"

The mare, like taking a blow to the stomach, doubled over and sobbed as she shook her head.

"Well," Pinkie's smile returned, "that's easy! I be back in a jiffy!"

However, as she started to bolt away, she got distracted by a nearby window to the nursery. She had always been fascinated by little fillies and colts and always loved to see the ones just recently brought into the world.

She gazed into the room, delighted to see all the newborn foals wriggling in their cribs. She giggled, "One of these days, I'm going through a party for each and everyone of you!"

But then, she noticed one foal that was smaller than the rest. It was a unicorn that didn't seem to be much bigger than her hoof. Its skin was red and veiny, barely sketching over its tiny bones. Only small patches of silver fur spotted its body rather than a full coat. The foal's limbs looked like it hadn't even developed properly, and it had been wired to a weird machine.

"Ah, young Silverdust." Pinkie turned her head to see mare with a white coat, pink mane in a pony tail and a nurse's bonnet. "He was born only a week ago."

"Silverdust?" Pinkie asked.

The nurse nodded her head, "He belongs to that couple right over there." She pointed to colt and mare that Pinkie had just finished talking to. The nurse sighed wistfully, "We had to hook him up to the ICU machine almost immediately..."

"What's that?" Pinkie asked. Then, she gasped, "Is it an 'Immediate Cupcake Upgrade' machine?!?" She gasped again, "I want one! Where can I get one? Oh, wouldn't it be so awesome if I could shoot cupcakes out of my hooves? It be like," she raised her two hooves, "'BAM! BAM! BA-BAM! BAM! BA-"

"No, Pinkie..." Twilight responded grimly as she quietly wheeled Rainbow Dash, followed closely by Fluttershy. "...'ICU' stands for 'Intensive Care Unit'..."

"Oh..." Pinkie dropped her hooves as a downcast frown replaced her joyous smile.

"Ahem. Yes," The nurse continued. "he is a premature foal... He was only five months into the pregnancy when he was born..."

"WHAT?!?" The mares exclaimed as Pinkie's mane and tail deflated.

She gave a heavy-hearted sigh. "I fear that tonight is his last night in this life."

Everypony froze. Pinkie set a forlorn gaze on Silverdust as she placed her right forehoof on the glass.

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"Seven days old in the ICU tonight..." She gazed at the couple, then back at Silverdust. Tears welled in her eyes as she finally understood the problem fully. "Little baby boy, they don't want to have to say goodbye... Your mommy's on the phone, your daddy's in the hall... Praying, 'God save his life'..."

Tears now freely flowing, Pinkie closed her eyes, "He sees you... He's near you... He knows your face, He knows your pain... He sees you! And He loves you! He knows your name... He knows your name..."

She felt a hoof on her back. "I think we should go..." Twilight quietly spoke. Pinkie nodded as they slowly walked away from the nursery. They had only gotten four doors down through before Pinkie stopped and pressed her ear against the fourth door.

"Pinkie!" Twilight hissed, "We can't just-"

"SHHH!" She shushed as she listened to muffled voices resonated from the behind the door.

"Doctor, he just won't wake up..." A mare's voice somberly proclaimed. "He just crashed so hard... I fear that we cannot support him any longer... We have to pull the plug..."

After a long, heavy silence, a different mare's voice cried out from the room, "No! Not tonight! Please... God... Where are you?"

That was Pinkie all could handle before pressing her forehead against the wooden door. Her tears now uncontrollable, she cried out, "He sees you! He's near you! He knows your face! He knows your pain! He sees you! And He loves you! He knows your name... He knows your name..."

"Pinkie..." Twilight gave Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy and turned Pinkie Pie to face her. "I know you believe in this God, and I respect that. But this is getting rather ridiculous. It's just Celestia, Pinkie... And we all know how well she turned out... There is no Go-"

Without warning, Pinkie wrapped her arms around her Alicorn friend, tears drenching her mane as she sobbed, "Maybe you're alone in the corner of an empty house... Or maybe you're the one nopony notices in the crowd..."

Shocked, Twilight turned her face to her Pegasi friends to plead for an answer, but each had nervously tried to avoid her gaze. She squinted. That's definitely peculiar...

This thought was cut short as Pinkie continued. "He sees you... He's near you... He knows your face... He knows your pain... He sees you... and He loves you... He knows your name... He knows your name..." Unable to break free from the hug, Twilight sighed and returned the embrace as Pinkie continued to mutter, "He knows your name... He knows your name..."

"It's okay Pinkie," Twilight consoled. "Let it out."

As Pinkie continued to cry, a pair of doctors- one male and one female- rushed a gurney behind Twilight.

"What's wrong with her?" The male doctor shouted.

"I don't know!' The female doctor replied, "But we've got to get her to the emergency room, STAT!"

Within moments, the doctors had disappeared around the corner. After a couple of silent seconds, Rainbow Dash shakily spoke, "Uh, T-Twilight?"

Finally prying Pinkie off of her, Twilight turned and responded, "Yeah, Rainbow?"

With pure dread drowning her face, Rainbow Dash muttered, "...That was Derpy."