Sweetie Hell

Slowly, almost painfully so, a steady high-pitch beeping noise pulled Sweetie Belle little by little from the depths of slumber. The young filly willed her eyes to open; an almost impossible feat given that it felt as though weights had been tethered to her eyelids. An uncomfortably bright light was the first sight to greet her, compelling Sweetie to squint her eyes out of reflex. When it seemed her vision had adjusted to the glow, she pushed her eyes further open until she could at last get a view of her surroundings. The wall opposite where Sweetie Belle lay was eggshell-white and utterly devoid of decoration. Looking right she saw a window with the curtains pulled apart to allow for a mostly unobstructed view of the outside world. There was an empty chair just to the right of the bed Sweetie realized she was resting upon. Her ears swiveled to the left, at last alerting her to the noise of many voices talking at once. She inclined her head to see what the commotion was, and found that beyond the empty bed next to her was a large hall of ponies; nurses and doctors going here-to-there discussing patients, treatments, medicinal supplies, and other points of interest to those in the medical profession.

Then one very familiar pony came into the room from the hall. Her usually flawlessly-styled mane and tail were a mess of stray hairs and split ends, heavy bags hung beneath her cerulean eyes, and a paper cup of steaming liquid (presumably coffee) bobbed through the air beside her. The unicorn took notice of Sweetie Belle; she gasped very audibly, hurled her drink across the room, and leapt upon the little filly's bed.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity bawled as she clutched her little sister like a life preserver, all but crushing the air out of Sweetie's lungs in the process.

Hearing the commotion, a nurse rushed into the room to see what was the matter, and upon seeing Rarity cradling a freshly woken Sweetie Belle hurried off to share the news with any other interested parties. A short time later the room was almost overflowing with faces desperate to see the young unicorn. Parents Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles were first in the room and took up positions on either side of the bed to embrace and cry happy tears over their daughters. Immediately following them were Sweetie Belle's best friends Applebloom and Scootaloo, who were tailed by Applejack and Rainbow Dash respectively. Fluttershy entered with Spike riding astride her, and bringing up the rear was the doctor apparently overseeing Sweetie Belle's case. The physician waited patiently for friends and family to all have their turn at welcoming the young filly back to the waking world. Sweetie smiled and thanked one and all for their presences and their kind words, though she was at a complete loss as to what exactly was going on. Rarity adamantly refused to let go of her baby sister and could not stop crying into Sweetie's pillow, so Sweetie Belle simply stroked Rarity's hair to try and calm her.

"Thank Celestia you're okay!" Applebloom said with joyous relief. Her ever-present pink bow was in a similar state of disrepair as Rarity's hair.

"You sure gave us quite the scare," Applejack stated with a tired smile.

"Scare? What happened? What'd I do?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"You...You don't remember, sweetheart?" Her father said, his face a mess of tears.

"Memory loss is to be expected." All attention shifted to the doctor, and it was apparent from the expressions on several faces that her presence had heretofore been completely unnoticed. She was a serious looking mare with a tall and slender build that belied her advanced age, long hair tied back into a bun that was once silver but had dulled with time, hard hazel eyes, and a dark chestnut coat underneath the sky-blue scrubs and white lab coat. "Head trauma tends to be more severe in unicorns due to the dense volume of nerves housed in the external cranial organ." The only response she got was a room full of blank stares.

"Lady, what the heck did you just say to us?" Rainbow Dash demanded aggressively.

The doctor cleared her throat and clarified her statement. "The horn is very sensitive, and unicorns don't like being hit in the head."

"Hit in the head?" Sweetie removed a hoof from her sister's mane to feel around her forehead. There she found a bandage wrapped around the circumference of her head and also covered base the of her horn. She flinched visibly when she barely touched the junction between the appendage and her skull, but the pain did not travel up into her horn like she expected it to.

"We are keeping your horn numb to restrict any pain to the wound site and prevent use of magic in order to avoid exacerbating your injury," the doctor said.

"What happened?"

"I will let your guests tell you. In the meantime, just know that there is no permanent damage and you should recover within a week, two at most. Getting plenty of rest and avoiding usage of magic will help with the healing process. Parents, I will be just outside when you are ready to discuss plans moving forward." With that, the doctor vacated the room to give Sweetie Belle time alone with her friends and family. During this time she was informed, or rather reminded of the events which hospitalized her. She and the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders were at Sweet Apple Acres assisting with a barn raising alongside many other ponies both within the Apple family and without. During construction, someone lost their grip on their hammer, which fell through the air and struck Sweetie Belle exactly at the junction where her horn met her skull. Even on an adult unicorn such a blow would be quite severe, likely inducing heavy dizziness or brief loss of consciousness. On one so young as Sweetie Belle, the impact pitched her into a coma that lasted nearly four days. Applejack had immediately rushed the little filly to the hospital while Rainbow Dash raced off to notify Rarity, Hondo and Cookie. Out of those closest to Sweetie Belle, the only ones unaware of the incident were Princess Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, who were away on a friendship mission.

"We thought you died," Scootaloo said once the tale was told.

"It definitely sounded a lot worse the way you told it when you and Applebloom plowed into me in the market chasing AJ," Spike said with a half-lidded glare directed at the young pegasus filly. He turned his attention to Sweetie Belle, smiled and reached out to gently squeeze her hoof. "I'm glad that wasn't the case," he said. Sweetie felt her cheeks blush as she smiled back at him. Suddenly a not-completely-unladylike snore drew all attention to Rarity, who at some point during the conversation had fallen completely asleep. Sweetie Belle did her best to shift her big sister so her face was not completely buried into Sweetie's pillow, which was damp and deeply stained by tears. Rarity obliged in her unconscious state, but did not release her hold on the younger sibling.

Cookie Crumbles moved to lovingly stroke her eldest daughter's mane. "Poor dear. You know she almost never left the hospital while you were unconscious."

"Really?" Sweetie said in a subdued voice in deference to Rarity.

Hondo Flanks nodded and wiped his face when he felt his eyes begin to water at the sight. "She worried over you night and day. We all did, but Rarity about made herself sick with it. Only time she'd ever leave was to get a shower because Mom told her to, and then she was straight back here once she got all cleaned up. Nice to see her finally get some sleep."

"When I heard Rarity was staying here at night instead of going home, I took Opalescence to my house to look after her since no pony knew when you were going to wake up. I'm glad we didn't have to wait too long," Fluttershy said with a smile. "Not that I mind taking care of Opal! She's a very nice cat, and I'm happy that I was able to spend so much time with her. But I'm sure she's ready to go back home, and I know she'll be excited to see you're okay," she added hurriedly.

Sweetie Belle could not help smiling at the love and concern her friends and family had showed while she was comatose, and had to wipe at her face as tears welled up in her eyes. Then, after they took turns to plant affectionate kisses and nuzzles on their children, Hondo and Cookie left the room together to speak with the doctor about Sweetie's future in the hospital.

"So, kiddo; you have any wicked, crazy dreams while you were out cold?" Rainbow Dash asked while looking for a chair to sit in.

The young unicorn searched her mind for several seconds, but curiously could only recall vague pieces. "I don't really remember. I think there was something about caves, ghosts, and...ice. I don't remember anything other than that."

"That sucks. Three whole days of sleep, and you can't remember what you dreamed about? I was hoping for a super awesome story full of monsters and adventure and stuff. Sounds like a waste of sleep," Rainbow said dejectedly.

"Three days of rest after gettin' her bell rung by a hammer fallin' twenty feet is a 'waste of sleep'?" Applejack looked at the cyan pegasus with a half-lidded glare. This quickly turned into a heated argument between the two ponies, which Fluttershy felt obligated to try and bring a peaceful ending to. The three youngest ponies and dragon whelp all rolled their eyes simultaneously and ignored the dispute.

"So what's been happening while I was asleep?" Sweetie Belle asked of her friends. Sometimes taking turns and sometimes all at once, Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Spike gave a detailed accounting of everything they had been up to as a group and on their own in Sweetie's absence. They also told her about the affairs of Ponyville's other citizens to the best of their ability. As she listened to her friends recount numerous tales of adventure, love, and comedy, Sweetie Belle felt a sense of relief come over her that she couldn't explain. For reasons unknown to her, she was glad to be home at last.

Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, outside on the windowsill peeking in was a snake. It was six feet-long and not a single inch over, though its size was obscured from the casual viewer by being coiled on itself, and its scales were slightly tan all over save for the top of the head, which was decorated with a patch of burgundy. It's eyes were as green as the heart of the deepest, oldest forest, and those glorious emeralds peered through the glass directly at Sweetie Belle. The serpent observed her for a long moment, watched her converse and laugh with the other children in the room, and then, seemingly satisfied with what it had seen, casually abandoned the windowsill for the ground and disappeared into a nearby hole.