A Toy for Children

Darkness spread out to the corners of her vision as Twilight opened her eyes.  She was floating through a rippling void with a peculiar feeling like she was both weightless and somehow drifting in a random direction.  The alicorn twisted this way and that, ruffling her feathers as she tried to get a better view of where she was.  Her coat was a paler shade of her usual color with a winding tendril of magic, seemingly attached to her stomach, trailing off into the distance.

'Okay...  I'm obviously not dead...'

An array of light exploded around the alicorn as she felt a wave of numbness spread through her body.  Once it reached the tips of her hooves, a slight feeling of constriction overtook her.  Her neck felt as stiff as a board while her legs ignored her will to move.

'That's odd...'

Rippling darkness filled Twilight's vision as the feeling of weightlessness returned to her body.  Her vision came into focus just long enough to admire the faint intricate swirls for a moment.  She shifted her hooves and wings and blinked weakly a few times.

Claws brushed her side and some sort of cloth pressed around her barrel, causing her to wince before she tried to move her head.

'That has to be Spike, but where was I just now?'

"Twilight?  C-can you hear me?"  Spike's trembling voice continued, "you're going to be okay, everything is going to be okay.  I found Fluttershy and told her to get help."  Ears snapped back against Twilight's head in response to the pangs that assaulted her under the crude bandages as the dragon desperately kept applying layers.  "Twilight, say something.  Let me know you're all right..."

A variety of brightly colored shapes swirled in Twilight's vision as the loss of feeling once again arrested her body.  Faint melodies danced onto the edges of her hearing as two bipedal blurs rushed by her in a fit of high-pitched laughter.

'Pinkie?  No, it can't be.  Gah, I wish I could see...'  The familiar sensation of magic washing through Twilight's head would have felt calming if it weren't for the nagging fact that she hadn't cast it.  Her sight sharpened when the wave of magic came to a focus in her forehead, feeling like a water balloon had been molded around her horn.

One of the figures stopped shortly after picking up some sort of apparatus off the wall, grabbing Twilight's attention.  'Are they wearing clothes?'  The other shrieked and ran away as the first gave chase.

A door slammed somewhere as pain returned to Twilight's body.  "Spike, I'm here, Fluttershy sent me, what happened, where's Twilight!?"  The flutter of wings and roars of a mare nipped on the edges of her hearing.

"I don't know!  She was trying to do some old experiment and it just exploded!"  There was a gasp before a set of hooves clattered and scraped to a stop.

"Wha... why is she covered in bandages?"

'Bandages?  How hurt am I?' Twilight opened her eyes only to see her surroundings swimming around her in a haze.

"I'm trying to fix it, but I can't make it stop,"  Spike whined, "make it stop!"

Teeth clicked together as another flutter preceded the clack of hooves near Twilight's head.  Her eyeballs rolled in their sockets as she tried to focus on the spectrum of colors that assaulted her vision.

"Don't just stand there," barked the mare as a hoof gently wrapped under Twilight to pick her up, "send a letter to the Princesses!"

"Huh?  But, wh-"

"Just do it, Spike!"

Twilight's head limply dangled around as a pair of forelegs hooked under hers.  All she could see was red when her vision dropped to the ground.

'That's not my... that can't be mine...'

Everything seemed sideways as Twilight swayed to and fro.  Some sort of hairless jointed appendages were pressed up against a clear material in front of her, slightly distorting her vision around them.

'Are those fingers?'  Looking past them, rows of aisles stretched away from Twilight, surrounded by speckled white floor tiles and a high white ceiling.  'But, I didn't walk through the mirror...'

Twilight's thoughts stopped for a moment she passed by an aisle where a woman was inspecting what looked like a wooden spoon.  'Yeah, those are *definitely** humans.'*

Sharp prickles of pain riddled Twilight's side, causing her to gasp as her eyelids shot wide open.  Ceiling lamps almost blinded her before she grit her teeth and squinted.

"Nurse Redheart, she's awake!"

Another prick sent a shiver through her body as a metallic clatter sounded nearby.  "Good, make sure she stays that way, Tenderheart."  Nurse Redheart's voice was slightly muffled.  "We are not going to let Ponyville's beloved librarian go anywhere, now, are we?"

"No, ma'am."  A set of hooves cradled her head before a mare cooed.  "Twilight.  Twilight, dear, can you look at me?"

The din of two mares arguing somewhere caught Twilight's attention, but she grunted and tried to answer the mare.  Magenta eyes locked with her own as the bright fog in her vision slowly came into focus.

"Good, Twilight, my name is Nurse Tenderheart.  Do you know where you are?"

Something cold buried itself in Twilight's side, eliciting an involuntary twitch.  It was wrenched away not a moment later with what felt like a splinter being ripped out of her.  Twilight tried to reach towards her side with a hoof, but struggled before going limp.

"Ah, ah, it's okay, Twilight.  You're in Ponyville Hospital.  Nurse Redheart is trying to remove all of those pieces of crystal.  Do you remember what happened?"

'Crystal?'  Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but the only sound to escape was a pitiful squeak as her throat seized.  Nurse Tenderheart's eyes twitched when something collided with one of the walls.

Somepony else's hoof found its way to Twilight's as Nurse Tenderheart kept her attention.  "Snowheart!"  Nurse Redheart's thundering voice seemed to make the lights shake.  "Tell Rainbow Dash to leave and then get in here, I require your assistance!"

Twilight's head fell back into a pillow as her eyes fluttered shut.

"Twilight?  Twilight, dear, can you still hear me?  I think we're losing her!"

The hoof in Twilight's grasp gently tightened.  "Not while I'm here.  Get another saline bag and the oxygen.  And for Sun Butt's sake, get Nurse Snowheart in here!"

*Blip*  *Blip*

White trusses lined the ceiling above Twilight.  A hand soon leered over her grasped down around the casing and then simply moved her along.

*Blip*

The motion continued upward until Twilight came face to face with a young woman.  Her smile broke as her eyebrows raised under her blonde curls.  "Oh, are you buying this for your little sister?"

A deep voice resounded across from her.  "Nnope, I'm getting it for a friend of mine."

'What, am I being purchased?  That can't be right...'

One of the girl's eyebrows found it's way halfway up her forehead as the other squished a light blue eye.  "Uh huh..."

"That's not a big deal, right, miss?"

Her eyes closed and she shook her head slightly.  "Whatever, man."  She placed Twilight down facing herself.  The girl was wearing some sort of blue apron with a name tag that read ‘Veronica’.  "Your total is seven fifty-three, would you like a bag?"

'This has to be a mistake, ponies shouldn't be bought and sold.  How could she, doesn't she see I'm alive?  I'm right here!'

"No, thanks.  Uh, oops, I left my wallet in the car.  Do you mind?"

"There's no one else in line, go ahead."  A muttered 'thanks' managed to reach Twilight's hearing.  Her gaze started to wander, glazing over a plethora of brightly colored products on a multitude of racks before settling on the bright screen next to the girl.  It was covered in lights, buttons, and what looked like a receipt.

Her heart sank with the realization.  'I'm a toy...'

A shorter girl with a mop of straight brown hair and the same apron slunk around the corner.  "What's going on over here?"

"Some guy is buying a pony."  She sighed pushing her curls out of her face to rub her forehead before seeing the other's quizzical look.  "I think he's one of those weird 'Brony' guys."

'Now, where would they have heard that slang?  I only hear Shining call his buddies that.'

The shorter girl was finishing an exaggerated pouting motion while Twilight was thinking.  "He seemed sort of cute, though.  You should ask him out."

Very unladylike laughter broke from the first girl.  "Right, I'll just go ahead and do that when the Autobots start wearing pink aprons and baking cakes."  She giggled some more as the brunette gave her a smirk and waved a hand.

'What in Equestria?  What's an 'Autobot'?'

"I don't know about that,"  the second girl winked as she edged back around the corner, "I think Optimus Prime making cupcakes in a french maid outfit would be damn sexy."

'These humans are weirder than I remember.'

A flickering of something dark and shadowy darted through Twilight's concentration, making her feel removed from her confines.

*Beep*  *Beep*  *Beep*

Twilight's heartbeat pulsed through her ears in time with the rhythmic tone.  There was an even pressure against most of her body.  Rainbow Dash and Rarity could barely be heard engaging in the harsh whisper of an argument with a third mare.

Something slipped on Twilight's head and Applejack's warm smile greeted her as she opened her eyes.  "Hey, there, sugah'cube.  We're all mighty glad to see yer all righ'."  She reached up and adjusted something on Twilight's head before holding her left hoof again.

Twilight swallowed hard and winced after releasing a muffled grunt.  "Shoosh," Applejack gently rubbed her hoof, "ya don't have tah say nothin'."  Her warm smile and bright emerald eyes beneath that tousled mane put Twilight's mind at ease.

'Thanks, Applejack.'  She smiled slightly with a nod as she squeezed her friend's hoof back.

Wrinkles formed in the stiff hospital sheets as Twilight shifted her gaze around the room.  "Get Well Soon" was plastered in bright letters on the face of several balloons.  Tangled pink hair at the foot of her hospital bed obscured Fluttershy's face as her ears twitched slightly between quiet sobs.  Cupcakes with three different shades of purple frosting were set on a silver platter atop a dresser in the far corner of the room.  Pinkie Pie's straightened mane cast a shadow across the right side of the hospital bed in the orange glow of the evening sun.

As Twilight's gaze settled upon her, Pinkie's muzzle perked up into a small, sad smile before she spoke, "Hey, Twilight, it just wouldn't be a party without you."  Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes.

'Oh, Pinkie Pie, I'm so sorry.'  Pinkie carefully wrapped Twilight's hoof in her own as it was feebly stretched towards her.  'I didn't mean to make any of you worry.'

Fluttershy's silent fit of coughing snapped Twilight's attention to the end of her bed.  Ignoring the spasming protests of her bandaged leg, she stretched out to gently nudge her friend's hooves.

Wet pink hair dangled as Fluttershy simply recoiled further into her own embrace.  "Don't hurt yerself trying, Twi."  Applejack lightly rubbed her hoof while her caring demeanor took on a more somber manner.  "She plain won't listen and won't quit blaming herself fer not going with you an' Spike earlier."  Twilight winced at the ball of a weeping pegasus.  "Ah know, ye didn' want anypony else there in case things went sour, but ye know how much we worry about ye when ye go off and do things like that."

Sheets covering the wounded alicorn's body were thoroughly examined on the side opposite applejack.  'I do know, but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I ever let another pony get hurt.  How could I live with myself if any of you were injured because of me?  Spike's a tough little dragon, he's stronger than I let him know, but we're just ponies...'

The quartet stayed like that for a time, as if they were objects of affection on a canvas hidden in the studio of a maddeningly depressed artist.

All the calm and quiet in the room didn't prevent the argument on the other side of the door from reaching its apex.  "No," Rainbow Dash blurted out, "you don't get to tell me 'no'!"  Fluttershy's sobbing intensified with the involuntary shivers that coursed through her body.

"Well, excuse me for doing my job!"  The huffing of Nurse Redheart made Pinkie close her eyes and bring Twilight's hoof to her forehead.  "But you!  Oh, you're in here every other week because you're such a thick-headed mare.  Don't tell me how to do my job when you can't even take of yourself!"  Applejack cast a worried glance towards Pinkie when she began rocking herself before shifting her gaze towards the door as Rainbow Dash whinnied indignantly.

"Now, now, Rainbow, you know I agree with you," Rarity cut in, but anger fringed her words, "but we need to stay calm and have this conversation like mature adults."  A curt snarl from Rainbow Dash silenced Rarity with a squeak.

"Mature adults!? forget that, I want answers!  That's our friend in there and I, at least, care if there's something we can do to help!  Why is she so unresponsive?  Give her some of my blood if she needs it, I know our antigens don't match, but she's lost so much that she won't produce the cells to fight it!"

Derisive laughter heralded Nurse Redheart's reply.  "Seriously?  I already gave her some of my own after I stopped most of the bleeding.  Snowheart and Tenderheart have already gone through our records to find suitable donors."

"If you're so good at your job why is she still in such bad shape?  Do you even care about your patients!?"

"That's it!  I will not tolerate personal attacks!  Leave my hospital this instant!"

Utterances formed and died in Rainbow's throat during which Rarity seized the opportunity to diffuse the situation.  "Come now, Rainbow, we wouldn't want to make Twilight's head nurse any angrier than she already is."  Rainbow audibly seethed with frustration.  "That's final, let's go before she decides to not even bother helping Twilight."

With a groan of disgust from Redheart the flapping of wings accompanied four sets of hooves as those involved in the argument dispersed.  'Well, I can't say I didn't expect that to happen.'

Pinkie's rocking motion stopped and she placed Twilight's hoof back on the bed while Fluttershy returned to her quiet sobbing.  "Listen, Twi," she looked up at Applejack, "ol' Redheart is doing the best she can.  I'm sure yer gonna be right as rain thanks to her."  The only response the cowpony got was the look of Twilight's eyes glazing over as her head slowly fell to the side.  "Twilight?  Ah, shoot..."

Broken was the caring embrace shared by their hooves as Applejack ran towards the door.  'No, please come back...'  was all Twilight could think before the shadow overtook her mind again.

Clear material obscured Twilight's vision while a low mechanical hum and soft music crept into her hearing.  A faint momentum interrupted by intermittent bumps occasionally moved her around.  Two particularly resounding thumps sent Twilight jostling into the air before the container she was in settled on its back, affording her a better view of where she was.

Leafless trees flew by beyond the panes of rain-streaked glass.  The sky beyond them was dark save for the occasional yellow-orange orb that flew by.  There was a male in a rainbow-streaked blue shirt holding the steering wheel and humming along with the music as his sharp brown eyes darted over whatever was on the other side of the window.

Loud jingling notes sounded near Twilight, prompting the person to send his hand shuffling around her prison before picking up a cell phone.  He gazed at it for a few seconds with an audible grunt before flicking it open and holding it on his shoulder.

"Hello, there, hot stuff."  The voice on the other end of the conversation was barely audible, but Twilight could tell there was another person speaking.  "Yes, of course I picked up the phone while I was driving...  No, I wouldn't want to ignore a phone call from you...  Yes, I'm on my way home from the store, I was getting a gift for a friend of mine...  No, it's not porn, I got him a little figure of his favorite pony...  Yes, I know you want to talk about this, but right now I'm driving, I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?...  All right, good night, dear... dear?"

He removed the phone and looked at it before grunting again and tossing it back next to Twilight.  "Bleh, women..."

'Hey!  I resent that!'

Darkness began creeping into the edges of her vision before swirling like a fog.  'Uh oh, this is new... wait a minute, did we stop?  Why can't I feel the car moving?'  The human's hand hit the center of the steering wheel while his mouth formed empty words.  'Well, I hope I wake back up in the hospital this time.'

Her hazy vision flashed a dull blue before Twilight was overcome with a tugging sensation.