It was bound to happen.

It just had to come at this particular time, at this particular hour, after that particular moment. It just had to.

Fluttershy was staring out the depths of the room’s glass window, watching as the animals of the night came out slowly one by one, sniffing the night air as they went into the woods to hunt.

The nurses had locked the frames of the windows when she had woken up from her coma, and by that time it was already dark, the crescent moon already drifted to the top of the sky, illuminating the grounds with a pale blue aura.

She tried standing up from her position, only to find several tubes inserted into her arms, stopping her movement with it’s mechanical grasp, fierce and cold, threatening her with the constant beeping sound that came from the source.

“I can’t believe I got myself into this mess…”

She sunk back down to the awaiting pillow in a matter of self-defeat, her eyes staring silently at the ceiling of the hospital. If only it was the ceiling of her cottage. If only the bed was not a bed but the reliable green couch that welcomed her when she was too exhausted to go upstairs after a long day with her friends.

Her friends…

Their realization.

She lost consciousness when Rainbow Dash…

Unable to control herself, she started to struggle from the withholds of the machine, kicking and screaming like an injured animal in an inescapable trap.

“Let me out of here! Let me go!”

The electronics came alive in alarm to the sudden increase in movement, glaring red as it injected tranquilizers into Fluttershy’s body, forcing the mare to lose her will.

“Let…me…go…” She collapsed, the impact of the medical drugs sinking into her system, forcing her into a torturous sleep.

“Alright Spike, today’s the day. Did you get the checklist?”

“Yeah…but does it really have to be this long? I’m glad that you’re taking what I said seriously, but this list is even longer than the one you told me to construct when Celestia gave you that test…”

It was a rather busy start to the morning in the library of the crystal castle. Twilight had spent most of the previous night looking over all the books that were related to Sombra, Hessonite, horse biology, and magical chemistry.

“I know that the disease is incurable, but perhaps I can find a loophole in the biological system that can perhaps averse the effects of the symptoms related to the illness…”

“Twilight…” Spike said worryingly.

“Or maybe there’s a counter spell to the crystal that counters spells? It might not make logical sense, but according to the theory of maristocrats the sense of the senses counter the rhetorical…”

“Don’t you have an…I don’t know…an important appointment with someone? You know, the pony you promised to help?”

Twilight suddenly stopped short on her tracks and made a gasping sound that could rival the dramatizations of Rarity’s.

“Oh right! How could I have forgotten?! Oh wait…I didn’t forget, my stuff is right…wait…where did I put my stuff again for my visit to Fluttershy? Where is it?!” She gasped.

“It’s right beside you.”

She turned and found the leather bag slumping on the corner of the table, which Spike picked up and fastened to her back.

“Oh…right…Heh…Thanks Spike.”

“Don’t mention it…”

She took off through the castle windows and soared towards the direction of the hospital, leaving the dragon, who had his claws on his face as he closed the window that she flew through.

“Sugarcube corner, market, forest…Ah! There it is!”

She lowered her velocity and landed swiftly on the pathway, face to face with the entrance of the building.

“Alright Twilight, you can do this. Just be yourself, and make sure not to crack or show any sign of negativity. Stay positive.”

She walked through the doors of the hospital and immediately bumped into another pony, causing both of them to drop their belongings, and fall to the floor.

“You really do have a tendency to bump into colts, Twilight Sparkle.” The doctor said as he readjusted his glasses.

“Oh! Doctor Horse! Sorry about that. I was just too occupied with planning how to spend the day with Fluttershy.” She blushed, embarrassed.

“I see. So you’ve decided to visit her individually, with you being the first of the bunch.” He said while picking up the clipboards.

“Something like that. Though it won’t always be the same formula. We need to stay as positive as possible and make sure that she can move on without any sadness or regret.”

“I’m afraid that you already have a problem regarding regret to be solved, Twilight.” He remarked sadly.

“What do you mean Doctor?”

“See for yourself.” And without a second glance he continued on and out of the hospital, leaving Twilight behind.

“Can’t give up now. I have to see what the doctor meant.”

Room 349 was considerably dimmer the last time the mane 5 were there. Fluttershy however was awake this time, her vision dazed.

“Fluttershy?”

There was a pause, then the pegasus slowly turned to face the familiar sound, her ears perking as she saw one of her friends.

“Twilight! I’m so glad to see you!”

“I’m also happy to see you again, Fluttershy. How is life in the hospital? It can’t be as bad as Rainbow describes it, right?”

“Oh no, the doctors and nurses here are very kind and helpful to me and the rest of the patients when anypony needs their help. I’ve made a lot of friends since I got here.” Fluttershy replied.

“Really? I mean…you’re not scared of being alone by yourself in this room right? We can always accompany you through the night if that’s a problem or anything…”

“Don’t worry, Twilight, I’m perfectly fine.” Fluttershy interrupted Twilight, her eyes darting to the ground for a second.

“Well, I brought you some books about nature and animals, just in case you were bored. When you’re out of the hospital I can finally show you that rare phoenix species that Celestia lent me. He’s even more magnificent than Philomena!” She said excitedly while unpacking her sack, her horn glowing as she levitated the many books from the fallen bag to the shelf beside the pegasus.

“Thanks, Twilight. I’ll make sure to read them as soon as possible.”
She tried to take one, but hesitated at the last second.

“Need some help?”

“No, I can take the book without an issue. It was really kind of you to come and visit me Twilight, but you can go now if you want.”

“You don’t want me to stay?”

“Um…I do want you to stay, but you must need to have something else to do besides waiting for me to recover, and I don’t want to waste your time or cause any cancellations.” She said nervously.

“I schedule all my appointments and meetings. You know that Fluttershy. Is there something that you’re not telling me?”

“There’s nothing im hiding! I just forgot about that, that’s all!” Sweat was starting to show on the rim of her forehead.

Catching her body language, Twilight moved closer to Fluttershy’s bed and held her hoof with her own, her expression clearly showing a sign of both concern and curiosity.

“Fluttershy. Tell me what’s going on. I don’t want to put you in the spotlight or anything, but you haven’t been yourself since your picnic trip with Rainbow Dash. Is there a problem between you two that you’re not willing to talk about?” She questioned.

“I…I…I never had a problem with Dashie. Being friends who have differences, it’s common for us to have little arguments now and then, but in the end like all of our other friends, my friendship with each of you remains strong.” She answered quickly.

“………In that case, I’ll leave you alone then. I know what you’re going through and you obviously need some time by yourself.”

“Thank you, Twilight.”

She nodded silently and started towards the door, but not before taking a bouquet of pink peonies from her knapsack, and placing them on the empty vase on the desk by Fluttershy’s bed.

“They’re beautiful…”

“I’m glad that you like them.”

She gave a final wave and started to close the door from the other side, giving a small yet sad smile as the final parting gift.

“Twilight, wait!”

Her hoofs paused on the doorknob, and she peeked her head out of the gap of the doorway.

“If possible…can you bring Rainbow Dash here? I…need to talk to her…” She mumbled, barely loud enough to be heard.

“…Sure Fluttershy, I will.” The door closed, and the lights faded back to its original dim state, flaunting the area with paleness.

“So how did it go?”

Twilight was back in the castle with the rest her friends, who were sitting on the thrones of the center room, all previously staring at the empty chair with the butterfly symbol.

“Not good. She’s not willing to talk to me about anything related to either the disease or her feelings.” Twilight recalled.

“Is she depressed or sick mentally?!” Rarity pondered.

“Worse. She’s clearly hiding something from the rest of us, and I tried to persuade her to tell the truth, but it will take clearly more than a single speech to convince her otherwise.”

“But why is she doing this y’all? That” just ridiculous of her to lie to her best friends!” Applejack objected.

“It’s just not like her! I refuse to believe such a thing!” Pinkie grimaced.

“Calm down girls. I did manage to acquire a source for her to open up to us. She wants to talk with Rainbow Dash, who could be the only way we can find the truth about this whole scenario.”

There was a long silence as Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack looked at each other worryingly before turning back to Twilight.

“Um…Are you sure that she only wants to talk with Rainbow Dash?” Rarity choked.

“Yes, and I want to ask, Rainbow…” She looked around the room for the other pegasus, but there were actually two thrones empty.

“Girls…where is Rainbow Dash? Is she at her home or something?”

The three of them fretted once again towards each other. Finally, Applejack got off her chair, took off her hat, and went over to Twilight, who was perplexed towards their behavior.

“No. Since yesterday, the day where the doctor revealed that Fluttershy had lymph cancer, Rainbow Dash left Ponyville.”

“But…couldn’t we track her and…”

“We can’t. She took a hessonite crystal.”

Author's Note

If anyone asks, "chapters" and "days" are different, where one is the subset of the other. Chapters are the more important set that moves on the plot further while days can either be important to the plot, or just enforce the meaning of friendship/tragedy/sadness, etc.

By the way I would love it if anyone reading this would want to suggest what other creatures or ponies should visit Fluttershy during the 30 days of life. Any suggestions will be welcomed with open hoofs.