Chapter 1: A Rush of Blood to the Head
One year has passed since that Hearts and Hooves Day where they met, and six months since the night they declared their love. Shadow had to return to the city, his work was something that couldn´t wait, and despite the distance, their love kept growing up.
Every week, the beautiful blonde pony received a visit from Derpy, even the mare of curious eyes knew about the romance between the pegasus and the element of honesty. In fact, after the "You Found the Love Party" that Pinkie Pie organized after they told them to rest of the mane six, a nickname that he gave to his marefriend and to the rest of her friends, all Ponyville learned about it.
"And remember, soon, very soon, before the last leaf falls from the trees, I´ll be with you, I love you my sweet little apple" Applejack finished reading the letter.
"Awww, that´s so sweet." Derpy exclaimed.
"PS, I can´t wait to kiss...." Applejack's face turned scarlet, "I think, I´ll keep that to myself." She laughed nervously as she put the letter under her hat.
"Oh, I see." Derpy said raising her eyebrows several times.
"Derpy… is not that sort of thing..." said Applejack even redder with embarrassment.
The mail mare laughed, "pair of lovebirds, ok, I gotta go, I´ll deliver your letter with the rest of the mail early in the morning, is almost dusk and Whooves will get mad if I'm late for dinner again, also, today is our game night with Dinky and I wouldn´t miss it for anything."
Derpy said goodbye with a smile and flew away. Applejack stood in Sweet Apple Acres´s entrance watching the sunset. A light breeze came from the north taking with it several leaves from the trees. The harvest season had ended a couple of weeks ago and autumn had come to the farm and the rest of the village. For the Apple family was the time of the last effort of the season, they had to collect seeds for next year and also had to gather supplies for the winter, after that, it would be time for relaxation and peace, for the farm pony, just knowing that she would soon be in the Shadow´s arms made her very happy.
While she walked the path to the house, Winona came to her followed by her three cubs. They were born a month ago and had become the worship of everyone in the house. The CMC took them for long walks around the village and even to Zecora´s hut. They companied Big Mac in the barn or when he was plowing in the field. Granny Smith was always fighting with them, they stole her sandals or yarn and she was always yelling, but when they looked at her, her anger disappeared and she hugged and kissed each one.
Applejack loved to lie on the ground and watch them run and play around her, sometimes climbing up her body and taking her hat. Looking at them, Derpy's words filled her mind.
"It's our game night with Dinky."
She sat on the floor, looked at her belly and caressed it with her hoof.
"A baby... a little one to make my life even better..."
She whispered, a motherly smile spread across her face. That night, in her dreams, she was with Shadow, they were sitting on a park bench, she leaned against his chest and he stroked his face with the blond mane of his beloved, the sound of small hooves running towards them caught her attention, then, a tender and sweet voice called her, mom.
***---***---***
The city lights filled his senses. Canterlot had begun to show the first signs of the next Hearts Warming Day celebration and that feeling of cozy warmth filled the air. A cheerful group of three ponies laughed and joked as they walked the streets full of bustle. Shadow left them and entered a jewelry store. It had been a great day, the case against a Changeling for the alleged identity theft on a millionaire fraud had ended with the victory of the pegasus over on the plaintiffs after proving that the money had been deposited in an account at the Griffin´s Islands by the secretary of the boss and owner of the bank, who had used the condition of his friend to blame him for the fraud, but when she knew her boss had a second lover, she decided to betray him and say what had happened.
“You´ll pay for this Shadow, I swear to Celestia that you´ll regret this day.”
Those were the last words the boss bank told to the pegasus, he had received threats in the past, but he didn´t care, it was his job and he was damn good at it. Shadow saw the engagement rings with great interest; his friends came to him and began to mock about it.
"So, you finally decided to take the big step? That´s our stallion, we will have to prepare a super bachelor party for you."
A white earth pony took him by the neck and rubbed his mane vigorously. A blue coated unicorn approached him and hugged him tightly.
"Our little Duster has grown. Do you remember that little foal who jumped from the second floor of the school trying to fly?"
The three laughed at the memory, that day, Shadow ended with one of his wings broken and with several cuts on his face. His mother came to the school only to find him joking and laughing with her lifelong friends, Lazarus and Backdraft.
"The face of your mother when you say full of happiness, I flew mom, I really did it."
"I had never seen her so worried, when we got home, she burst out laughing till she cried. That afternoon, when my father came and saw me all bruised and bandaged my wing, he started laughing too, like father like son, was what she said while I told them how all had happened."
Shadow remembered with joy that day, but his laughter died shortly after, a sense of nostalgia filled his being.
"I miss them so much."
His friends understood instantly and left him alone. He continued looking at the rings and smiled at one with inlaid diamond, it was surmounted by an orange apple shaped jewel.
"That´s it, it´s perfect, I´ll take it with me."
The mare owner of the jewelry nodded with a smile and prepared a packaging for the delicate piece. Duster paid and put it inside his saddlebag. While waiting for note, a black coated unicorn that covered his face with a hat entered the jewelry and stood behind him.
"Lawyer Shadow?"
"Yeah, that's me."
The pegasus turned around to see him, the only thing he managed to see, was to the unicorn charging his horn and attack him several bursts of magic. The sensation of burning embers made him scream in pain and the force of the impact smashed him into the shop counter shattering it. Shadow fell slowly to the ground, blood flowing from his wounds staining his gray fur. Time seemed to stop, he saw his friends and he could swear they shouted his name, but he only heard a deafening and sharp sound. The last thing he saw was to the unicorn charging his horn again, his friend getting closer at full gallop.
"Applejack."
Was the last thing he thought about, after that, all became black for him.
***---***---***
The Apple family was having dinner when the phone rang in the room, Applejack got up to answer.
"Apple family house, good night... yes, she talks... what?"
Those deep green eyes of the earth mare were filled with tears in just a moment.
"No... it must be a mistake... please, tell me it isn´t true..."
She said with quivering voice, in that moment, Applejack lost all her strength; she fainted and fell to the ground. Big Mac got up immediately and ran to his sister,
"C´mon AJ, wake up." he pleaded.
Apple Bloom was speechless and looked at Granny Smith walking up the phone, listen carefully and hang moments later, enduring her own tears, she broke the news to the rest of Apple family.
Chapter 2: Open Your Eyes
Autumn rain, as strange as finding a four leaf clover, always welcomed by the residents of Canterlot, because it always gave some joy to the old city, but not in this night, this night, it only served to increase the fear and pain of a certain mare. Inside a carriage that moved along Canterlot´s empty streets, Applejack sobbed bitterly against Rainbow Dash´s chest whom covered her with her wings and held her in a strong embraced trying to hold her own tears, Fluttershy softly stroked the blond hair of her friend while crying silently.
Rarity was sitting in front of her friends leaning against the Twilight´s body just as Pinkie Pie, who seemed to have lost all the joy that characterized her. The alicorn covered her friends with her wings, the three shedding tears, Dash couldn´t bear it anymore and ended crying like them.
The carriage stopped, all of them looked up as the car door opened. One by one began to descend, Twilight put a hoof on Applejack's shoulder and she turned to see her.
"Applejack... whatever happens, you have to be strong, we'll be with you until..." Her voice started to crack.
"Thanks Twily... thanks to all of you..." She said as she looked at each of her friends.
She left carriage and read the sign in the front of the building "Canterlot Hospital," a feeling of despair filled her being. Applejack began to tremble and her friends noticed it.
"Don´t worry darling... you'll see that everything will be fine." Rarity told her and kissed her cheek, she nodded, and the six entered the hospital.
The place was relatively calm. Only a few nurses doing their rounds walked along the halls. Applejack asked for Shadow's room, one of the nurses showed them where it was. They walked down the hall and stopped after seeing out of the room to a unicorn, he was covered with a blanket and taking some coffee to withstand the cold night. They approached; he stood up to talk with them.
"Applejack?" She nodded, "my name is Lazarus, Shadow´s friend, it is an honor to meet you, I would have liked it to be in another kind of situation but... no one expected this..."
The unicorn looked at the door behind him; his eyes showing pain and concern, Applejack realized it and knew that the situation was more delicate than it looked.
"What happened?"
He sighed and looked into the deep green eyes of the mare, they begged to know the answer despite how painful it was. Her friends were silent, but came to hug her and give her the strength to endure what was about to hear.
"We were on Rodeo Street, he entered into a store to buy something when..." his voice began to shake, "please, forgive me, is very difficult..."
Applejack put a hoof on the shoulder of the unicorn; he took a deep breath and continued.
“He was inside the place, and then this unicorn entered the store, moments later we heard him cry out and fall against the counter, he was in the floor with several hits of magical energy on his chest. In that moment we realized that this pony was there to kill him. We tried to stop him, but before we could reach him, he attacked again, this time, hitting him on the head."
He stopped for a moment; tears filling his eyes, his voice took a tone of fury and impotence.
"Backdraft was beating the unicorn while Shadow was unconscious and bleeding... his heart stopped before the ambulance arrived... I watched him die in my hoofs... however, the paramedics managed to resuscitate him... and brought him here..."
"The doctor who examined him said that his condition is critical, blood loss is only the tip of the iceberg. The attacker used special magic to avoid that doctors can heal him with a spell... so the wounds are still open and one of them is very close to his heart and the other in the head... well, now everything is in the hands of fate..."
Lazarus stopped talking, a weak smile crossed his lips but he hung his head to mourn in silence, Applejack let the words sink into her mind, like a crystal, all her being was shredded into pieces. She screamed and tried enter the room but her friends grabbed her and prevented it, they couldn´t let her do so, if they did, she will completely lost herself. Twilight stood in front of her, her horn glowed with a faint purple aura.
"I´m sorry Applejack, is for your own good..."
She touched her friend's forehead with his horn, moments later, Applejack fell into a deep sleep, she felt her body completely relaxed, all trace of pain and fear seemed to disappear. She stopped thinking, stopped fighting and allowed herself to dream.
***---***--***
When she woke up, Applejack noted that she was in a large bedroom, the ornaments and shiny marble panels made her realize that she was in Canterlot´s Castle. She looked around the room; it had five beds, each one occupied by one of her friends. She got up heavily and went out through the balcony door, the cold autumn air made her shiver; she sat on his hind legs and rubbed her body trying to get warm. She stood there, her mind focused on Duster, she couldn´t take away Lazarus´s words from her mind, they were like hungry wolfs trying to feed on her.
Immersed in her thoughts, she didn´t notice the hoof steps behind her. A blanket covered her body, soon after; someone hugged her in a comforting way. Surprised, she looked at Fluttershy, the butter colored mare gave her a smile full of understanding and tenderness. Both covered themselves with the blanket, Applejack wrapped her arms around the warm body of her friend; Fluttershy gently stroked her friend´s blonde mane while the morning birdsongs made them company.
"I do not want to lose him Fluttershy, why is life so cruel?"
The voice of the farmer pony broke. Fluttershy felt her heart breaking apart just by seeing her friend suffer like this. More so, because Applejack was an example of total strength for her.
"No, don´t think like that... he is strong, he will recover soon and you´ll be together again."
"But what if that doesn´t happen? I can´t help thinking that maybe... you listened to Lazarus, everything is against him... I don´t want him to die... if that were to happen..."
"You have to be strong; he will need of you... but if the worst scenario comes to happen... we need to think that it will be the best for him... just remember, we'll be with you until all this is over, no matter what happens, we will not leave you alone."
Fluttershy planted a kiss on her cheek crying with her, the two stayed there while the sun was rising behind the mountains.
***---***--***
It was noon when they returned to the hospital; Lazarus was not there, instead an earth pony walked from one side to another, his face showing despair. As he saw his friend's marefriend, he ran to her.
"Applejack, thanks Faust you're here... I'm Backdraft, the one who call you to... well that does not matter now."
"Nice to meet you Backdraft, how is he?"
"He suffered a crisis, the doctors are inside with him."
In that moment, the door opened and they saw a couple of nurses came out carrying several trays of healing material followed by a unicorn dressed with a medical robe.
"Doctor, is he ok?" He asked.
The doctor sighed deeply and looked at all the presents.
"The damage caused by the attack is greater than we had anticipated, the wound nearest to his heart opened and resubmitted bleeding, his lungs are responding to sixty percent of its capacity, we had to connect him to a respirator to prevent choking. The wound on his head is not healing and we had to cauterize it immediately, we took x-rays from his head, but we can´t tell how severe the damage is, the only thing we can do is wait for a reaction, however, if his condition does not improve in the next 72 hours... the probability of him entering into a coma is latent."
Applejack felt like if she was falling inside an abyss, but she kept her strength.
"Can I see him?"
"Yes, take your time."
The doctor turned and walked away, the silence floated among those present. Applejack dry her tears and walked to the door.
"Wait, are you sure?"
"Yes Dashie... I'm fine... thanks to all for being here."
She took a deep breath and entered the room. The curtain was closed, the place only lit by a small lamp placed in the night table. When her green eyes fixed on him, she felt her heart being pierced by a spear. She walked to his bed, Shadow lay there, inert, his body was connected to a serum dispenser, the oxygen mask helping him to breathe. The beep of the pacemaker was the only noise that made him company. With her hoof Applejack caressed his mane, she looked at his chest and head, he had several bandages covering his wounds. She leaned and kissed his lips before rubbing her face with his to feel his warm.
"Hi my love... I'm here... I know that maybe you can´t hear me, but there's something I want to tell you..." Her voice broke. "You are the most wonderful being I have ever met, I love you Shadow... please don´t leave me... you have to be strong... I don´t want to lose you."
Applejack placed her face under his chin, hugged him gently and let all her pain flow endlessly. As if the very nature shared her feelings, the sky turned gray and the rain began to fall over the City of Canterlot.
***---***---***
Days turned into weeks, during that time, she never separated from him. Her friends took turns to keep her company at night. Princess Celestia knew about what happened and let them stay in the castle for the time required. Several times they achieved that despite her foolishness, Applejack took a day to rest and recover in the castle.
Lazarus and Backdraft also took turns caring for their friend who seemed not to react and in the end of the second month, the biggest fear of all was confirmed, Shadow was declared comatose. The emotional impact was very hard for everyone. Knowing that he may never wake was hard to Applejack; still, she endured everything in silence, "hope is the last thing to die," she used to tell herself.
Night had fallen on the city, Backdraft said goodbye to Fluttershy whom had come to stay with Shadow during the night shift. The hours passed like in any other turn, she sat on the small couch in the room and covered herself with a blanket while reading one of the novels of Daring Do, sleep didn´t take long to fall over her.
Near three in the morning, the heart rate meter accelerated its alerts, Fluttershy awoke and realized that Shadow had begun to react, with joy, she saw him opening his eyes and sit on the bed, she saw in awe how he took off the oxygen mask, Shadow looked at his surrondings before fixing his eyes on the shy mare.
"Hi there... excuse me... where... where am I?"
She squeaked and hugged him, but inmediately she let him go, her cheeks red as a rose.
"I´m sorry, is just that, this is incredible. Shadow... you´re in Canterlot´s hospital, you suffered an attack and were brought you here to save you, you´ve been asleep for almost three months."
"That´s something to say, but, still I don´t get your name."
Something was not right, Fluttershy knew it.
"Don´t you remember me? I'm Fluttershy, Applejack´s friend."
She saw the gesture of utter confusion of Shadow.
"You remember Applejack... right?"
He stood silent for a moment, took a hoof to his forehead and looked at Fluttershy.
"Well Fluttershy, the truth is... that I can´t remember anything…"