Chapter 1 - A Friend Injured
Friends to the End
Chapter 1
It was a sunny day in Ponyville, everypony was out and about attending to their usual busniess. The sun was bright and it sent down warm rays like the waves of an invisible ocean, Mr and Mrs Cake were putting up a sign on their bakery that read "Closed for renovations, be open soon." Needless to say this put a hump in Pinkie Pie's Day as she tends to spent 22 of the 24 hour day at the Cake's bakery. Apple Jack had the day off from bucking the apple tree and was out to see Rainbow Dash, she had spent all day looking for her. And when she did Rainbow was doing her usual practice for the upcoming WonderBolts try outs.
AJ thought she was going at it a lot harder than usual and was very concerned, Rainbow Dash flew higher into the air than she believed she had ever done before; she felt the crisp morning air on her face as she flew at what she believed was more than 80 wing power. She slowed to a near stop before spinning around and dove head first toward the groud, she could feel the gravitational forces push her skin back; her wings pushed harder than ever to propel her forward.
With each flap of her wings she gathered water and moisture for her signature move the Sonic Rainboom, but just before she broke the sound barrier she felt herself black out. Her eyes closed and her wings gave out from behind her. And with a loud, wet and bone crunching smack she hit the nearby tree. She hit another tree before she was caught by a branch and fell to the ground with another loud unmistakable sound.
She opened her eyes briefly, her vision was fuzzy; but before she lost consciousness she saw Apple Jack sprinting towards her with a worryful and sad look upon her face. Apple Jack saw the accident unfold as if it were played in slow motion, her eyes went wide and she was moving faster than she ever had in her life, as she ran she saw a gorified trail of blood, she was on top of Rainbow in what seemed like a matter of seconds.
But when she got to her, all she saw was a heap of blood and matted hair; Rainbows right arm and left leg were bent in such a way that almost made her lose her stomach. Her wings were bent almost like a tree branch with her wing bones exposed through her fail skin and feathers. She Immediately ran to the nearest place she could think of which was Mr and Mrs Cakes bakery, in a flash she pounded on the door which had inadvertently made their two babies Carrot and Pound Cake begin to cry.
"Please ya have to help her, It's Rainbow, she really badly hurt. She's in the southern fields and she wont wake up." Mr Cake had a look of shock on his face, "Dear get the Doctor, tell him to come as fast as he can." Mr Cake and Rainbow ran as fast as they could to the southern fields when he got to Rainbows mangled body he quickly checked her breathing and pulse, for once he was thankful for all the hours of medical practice he had gotten, which he thought was pointless until little Pound Cake had accidently swallowed the cap to his icing squeezer.
"She's still breathing, but barely; but we have to stop this bleeding. Get the gauze out of my bag and press it as a hard as you can onto her forehead while i wrap her wings." They worked for several minutes until the Doctors, Nurses and Carriage ponies arrived at the scene, the Carriage unicorns used their magic to create a mix of red and blue flashing light just at the tip of their horns. AJ never loss the worried look on her face while they cautiously placed Rainbow onto a Stretcher, a soft but pliable brace was secured around her neck.
Several hours later AJ paced haphazardly outside of the emergency operating room, she was so nervous and upset. All her friends and family were there with her and each of them we worried, After another few hours a surgeon came out. He removed a laminated paper mask that you often see in a doctors office from his face. "Are you Apple Jack?" He asked and she nodded. "My name is Dr Healing Bones, We have done what we can but there is nothing we can do but wait." He said.
AJ's eyes shrank as she fell back to the chair, "We have bandaged and splinted her bones and other injuries...but she suffered an extensive head wound and has a very serious concussion. If she survives she may not be able to fly, however if she does survive there is a chance that she will not remember any of you." That sank AppleJacks spirit even further, she remember all the times filled with love and laughter. And of the times they got to spend alone.
Chapter 2 - A Time Spent Waiting
Chapter 2
A Time Spent Waiting
AppleJack sat next to Rainbow Dash's bedside, she had not slept for days. Instead she just sat next to her, softly holding her hand. Her eyes lookes like she had been crying for hours, her eyes were red and puffy with clear streak marks of dried tears down her cheeks. She watched and listened to the sounds in the hospital room, Rainbow Dash's haggered breathing, the dripping sound of her I.V. and the occcasional sound of beeping from her heart moniter.
A few hours later, the Dr came in and looked over her chart. "Is there any news Dr? Will she wake up soon?" The Dr shook his head "its all a matter of time." He said, slowly setting his hand on hers. "I will never give up on her, and you shouldn't either..She needs you now more than ever"
AJ smile, sniffling a little bit as she placed a soft kiss on her lips. A falling tear landed on Rainbows cheek, she slowly opened her eyes; focusing her vision on AJ's face. "Dr! She's awake!" Apple Jack yelled out of the room. Her vision blurred again before she started convulsing terribly.
"Doctor!!" She yelled trying to hold her down, the Dr and nurses came running in. They pulled her away from Rainbow Dash, she slowly backed away her eyes wide in horror. There was a loud beep from the heart monitor, AJ collapsed to her knee's. "She's flatlining! Get the defibrilator!" The Dr quickly grabbed the defibrilator and pressed it against Rainbows bare chest.
Each time there was a loud shocking sound as Rainbow Dash's body lunged a little, and it seemed that with each jolt AppleJacks heart died a little more. "She can't be..." Slowly there was another beeping sound as Rainbows heart began to beat. "She's back with us!" AJ looked up at her love from the floor, "I want a nurse in here every 15 minutes for a check up on her" Rainbow Dash slowly lowered her head to the side. "Call Dr Flash and tell him i'm putting in an order for a full series of XRays and CT Scan, i want to know what caused this seizure."
A few hours later, AJ walked along side Rainbows stretcher as she was wheeled into the Xray and CT Scanning room. Her hand never left Rainbows as the others waited in the waiting room. The Dr slowly lifted her off the stretcher and onto the Xray bed, and after a few brief moments she was slowly wheeled back into her room.
Later on the two Dr's came in and explained what they found. "Ms Apple Jack, from the Xrays we had found that her brain has a swelled greatly due to her head injury. If we do not relieve this pressure, there is only a matter of time before she passes away. Being that you are the only thing she has for a family we will need you to sign some forms."
AJ nodded, slowly tears in her eyes. Slowly taking the pen and clipboard, she began to fill out the paperwork. While she filled out the sheet the nurses prepared Rainbow for surgery. Several slow agonizing hours later, Rainbow Dash was moved out of the operating room. A white bandage wrapped around her head, the familiar beeping continued at regular intervals.
The Dr walked in, placed the chart on the wall. "Ms AppleJack, though we were able to relieve pressure on her brain; there is a chance that she could slip into a coma. However she could still wake up, so stay near her and call me if you need anything do not hesitate to call me." He said handing her a card. AppleJack slowly leaned toward Rainbow, softly kissing her on the lips. "Please, dont leave, sugarcube. I love you"
AppleJack walked out of the room and noticed that there were a group of Doctors huddled in a circle all of which were in varying degrees of frustration. AJ walked up to them "Pardon, but what is everypony so angry about?" Dr Quil turned around, he was a somewhat large with bulky muscles with greying black hair and a scar covering his right white eye. "Ah, miss AppleJack; we are having a discussion about inviting a very good Dr all the way from Manehatten. "But what is the problem Dr?" She asked.
"Well, He is a very good Dr but he is often using the more benign of medical practices, treating medicine as more of an experiment than treatment." AJ nodded, sitting down at the couch. "But if there is a chance he can help we have to get him here..." Dr Quil nodded looking at Nurse Redheart, "Nurse call Dr Cane and Manehatten and transfer it to my office please." Nurse Redheart nodded and went to the Nurses station.
After pushing some buttons on the phone a Dr Cuttly picked up. "Dr Cuttly, this is Nurse Redheart in Ponyville; we have a very confusing case down here and we need the assistance of Dr Cane. I am transferring you to Dr Quil" Once the transfer was made, she replied; "Dr Cane only takes the most severe cases what makes this case so important?" Dr Cane replied, "We have a 17 year old Pegasi who suffered a hard impact during flight training, having suffered a broken arm and leg as well as a head injury, upon admitting into the hospital she suffered a severe seizure and later fell into a coma. But without the usual signs, she has no high blood pressure but her brain is increasing in pressure. Her kidneys are shutting down as well" Dr Cuttly replied, "I will have his whole team on the next plane tomorrow morning, keep the patient as stable as possible until he arrives."
