What Happened to Them?

Twilight and Sapphire left Paint as they charged down the hall, looking for the room where the missing friends were, but as soon as they got there, they were in for a surprise.

"Well, well, well, isn't it my old friend Twilight Sparkle! How lovely it is to see you here to witness the end of the Elements of Harmony AND Equestria! Too bad one of your annoying friends wouldn't shut up, and she suffered the most." He moved out of the way to show the passed out daredevil. Twilight gasped, but Sapphire didn't, mostly because she already seen her state. "You won't get away with this, Tirek! I will save my friends and the Elements of Harmony! You will never take over Equestria! No matter what! As long as the magic of friendship lives on, you are powerless against us!"

Tirek laughed his evil laugh. Twilight was used to this, fighting evil before, so she shot magical blast, which knocked him right off his feet. "Ha, ha, ha! You are one little fierce princess, Twilight Sparkle. But, you will never defeat me!" He shot a fireball towards her. She dodged it, and the ball went right through the wall, setting off an explosion. She lead the fight away from her friends, as Sapphire looked quickly for the key.

Back to where Paint was on the look out, she fought every single guard that charged at her. "Wow, watching Dash doing all those tricks really does pay off." She thought to herself as she did a flip as two guards flew at her from opposite sides, knocking them out. She heard another explosion and rushed to help, while still dodging and fighting guards.

Sapphire eventually found the key, and unlocked the door. As the girls ran out, Sapphire helped Fluttershy pick up Rainbow, and ,see their way towards a window where they could easily escape. "All we have to do is get her out of here, I don't think she can take anymore of this pain, okay Fluttershy?" Fluttershy simply nodded as they made their way out of the castle, and hid her in a shelter. "Listen, you have to stay here and watch over her, don't move unless they find you!" Sapphire left Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and flew to aid the others

Twilight was easily hitting Tirek with her magic, thanks to the spells Sapphire brought. But all this fighting was sucking her energy, and she was slowly falling down. As her exhaustion took her down, Tirek created a really large fireball, but as soon as he launched it, a pink party pony jumped right in front of Twilight.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The fire ball hit Pinkie, and she fell to the ground, singed with ashes. Tirek was too confused of what just happened, that Paint Splash and Sapphire kicked him right in the face as hard and fast as they could. He flew to the ground, and was knocked out. "Don't worry, Paint, the others made it out, and Fluttershy is with Rainbow." Assured Twilight.  A bright light then took up the room, and no one other than the three missing princesses appeared.

"Twilight! Are you okay?" Asked Princess Cadence with much concern.

"We don't have time to worry about me, we need to defeat Tirek's guards and save Pinkie snd Rainbow!"

Princess Celestia walked up to Twilight and looked at Pinkie, who still lied on the ground. "We will take care of Tirek and his remaining guards, but you and your friends need to get Pinkie and Rainbow to the hospital, quickly. You shouldn't waste another minute.

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Twilight, Paint, Sapphire, Fluttershy, Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom all waited for the doctor. Twilight and Fluttershy tried to calm down Scootaloo, Rarity stared into space, Applejack held her hat while holding a crying Apple Bloom in her arms,  Paint Splash constantly checked for a doctor, while Sapphire sat with Spike.

"Twilight, Fluttershy? What if Rainbow doesn't make it? What if she never gets to leave the hospital? What if--" Fluttershy put her hoof up to Scootaloo's mouth. "Now, knowing how worried you are, you have to know that the doctors are working as hard as they can. If she makes it, we will be by her side to help her recover. If she doesn't, we will work through it together, all of us. Trust me, you will be okay either way."

Apple Bloom, overhearing Fluttershy, looked over at Applejack. "Will Pinkie make it to?" Applejack sighed. "I honestly don't know, Apple Bloom. But just like Fluttershy said, no matter what, everything will work itself out. You just got to have that faith in her, just like the rest of us do in Pinkie and Rainbow."

Paint was more mad than sad. "I knew I should've saved her! I should've been there when she probably needed me! I should--" Sapphire put her hoof on Paint's back. "Don't say that. If she never moved to Ponyville, she would've never met Twilight, who wouldn't be keeping the harmony throughout Equestria. I know this sucks, and you want to know she's okay, but we just have to wait. For the better or worse."

Paint let a few tears escape before she sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Thanks, Sapphire. I really needed that."

Then the doctor walked out of the door and turned to the worried friends. "I have good news and bad news. Good news is that Pinkie Pie's burns were not as bad as they looked. She suffered a second degree burn and should recover. We just have to run some test on her before you can visit her. Rainbow Dash, however," he sighed as he told the news, "her injuries were too deep and too severe. There's a 99% chance she won't make it, and if she does it will be a miracle. She's hooked onto life support, and you can go in and check on her. I suggest you call any other relatives to tell them the news, and let them decide what happens to her. Again, I'm so sorry, we tried everything we could. Now if you excuse me." And with that he left, letting the girls sink in what they just heard. Rainbow can't die, can she? No, it seemed impossible, she wasn't want just give up!

Paint and Scootaloo were the first to enter Rainbow's room, where stitches and bandages covered most of her body, and many wires hooked up to her. Scootaloo wanted to turn around and cry, but she knew that Rainbow would want to her to stay strong. Paint had tears running down her cheeks as she looked over her twin sister. Rainbow Dash, the one who was her missing half, the one where she missed most of her life, the one who she reunited with after years of being separated. Why did this happen?

Paint stepped back into reality as Twilight called her and Scootaloo's name.

"I just got done talking to your parents, Paint. They said that her life support plug should be pulled next week, that gives them enough time to say goodbye and give her time to see if she will wake up or not. I'm sorry, guys, but pulling the plug will be better than keeping her on it."

Scootaloo, now crying, looked up at the purple alicorn. "Why is that better? She'll die when that plug is pulled!" Paint knew what Scootaloo needed.

"Listen, when somepony has to be put on life support, that means they're suffering so much that they need a machine to keep them going. What Twilight's trying to say is that, that Rainbow is better off lying peacefully in her coffin than alive, suffering and not being able to do anything. I know it's hard, trust me I barely know my own twin sister and now I'll never know more, but I would rather have what's best for her. Just know, you're not alone, and I'm here for you. As well as Twilight, Apple Bloom, and everypony else here!" She pulled Scootaloo in a hug as the two cried on each other's shoulders.

Twilight sniffed and left the room to leave the two crying. She knew this was hard, for Paint AND Scootaloo! If she was told to pull the plug on Spike or Shining Armor, she would be crying as hard as them to.