The Rainbooms arrived at the hospital shortly after the ambulance. Without thinking, Rainbow Dash leapt out of the truck with Applejack's Stetson in hand, and darted to the reception.

"Rainbow!" Sunset called, but Rainbow didn't hear as she was already inside. Something's bugging Rainbow. I think whatever happened to AJ is affecting her, too. She thought, walking with the others into the hospital.

Rainbow darted into the reception, breathing heavily as she looked around for the receptionist. Is AJ gonna be alright?! She thought.

She finally found the receptionist, Red Cross, talking to a doctor. She wait impatiently for Red Cross to walk over. Finally, the young receptionist did and sat back down in her chair. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"One of my friends was brought here by ambulance. How is she?! Where is she?!" Rainbow yelped.

"Applejack? She is currently in Intensive Care." Red Cross replied calmly. "It seems she had been attacked by someone with a baseball bat. The doctors found a few splinters in her back and the back of her head."

Before Rainbow could reply, she was held back by a pair of strong hands and a purple blast of magic. "What? Girls?!" She asked, struggling to find a way out of the magic's grip alongside Sunset's strong hold.

"you need to calm down, Rainbow." Sunset replied, almost as calm as Red Cross had been just moments before. "Applejack is going to be fine, okay." She released her hold on Rainbow's waist but placed her hands on her shoulders. "You okay?" She asked.

Rainbow sat down on the seat behind her, one hand on her abdomen. "I feel like I'm gonna be sick." She said with a groan.

"Let's head outside for some fresh air, hmm?" Sunset replied, motioning for Twilight to release her magic grip, to which she did. Rainbow and Sunset walked outside and sat down on a bench beside the enterance to the facility. "what's go you so worked up, Rainbow?"

"I'm worried for AJ. The attacker must've done some serious damage is she's in Intensive Care." Rainbow replied with a sudden gag. "Just thinking about how bad her injuries are is making me sick to the stomach."

"I know." Sunset replied, rubbing circles on Rainbow's back. "But we all have to be strong for her. AJ, like all of us, is a fighter. She'll never leave her friends hanging."

"Yeah." Rainbow smiled softly before a sudden wave of nausea hit her like an out-of-control truck. Rainbow groaned and slowly stood up. "I think I'm gonna be sick." She moaned. Her head was pounding and spinning at the same time, while her stomach did backflips. She gagged as she began walking back inside the hospital, stumbling every once in a while.

Sunset instantly joined Rainbow and they both walked inside and over to the nearest bathroom. She continued to rub circles on her best friend's back while Rainbow emptied the contents off her stomach into the nearest sink. Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy entered the bathroom she took notice of how pale Rainbow Dash had become.

After dry-heaving for what seemed like the billionth time, Rainbow looked up at Sunset, weakly. "Thanks, Sunset." She moaned, still clutching her stomach.

"You okay?" Sunset asked with a hand around Rainbow's shoulders.

"Yeah, thanks." Rainbow replied. "But I think my guts disagree with my brain." She moaned.

"What happened?" Rarity asked.

"Nothing Rarity, I'm fine!" Rainbow returned. "Any news on AJ?" She asked.

"The receptionist said we could visit her and asked if we could try to get through to her." Pinkie replied.

"That's great news!" Rainbow muttered. Once again, Rainbow thought about the worst scenarios and collapsed to her knees, gagging once again as she refused to let more bile and stomach acid make it's way up her throat. Sunset noticed and placed a bucket under Rainbow's chin. Within a few moments of the bucket being under her chin, Rainbow emptied the rest of her stomach's contents and dry-heaved again before letting her head roll backwards into Sunset's arm. Rainbow groaned and leaned into Sunset as she slowly stood once again before all of them left the room, with Sunset carrying the bucket under Rainbow's chin just incase.

Once the girls reached the waiting room, Rainbow sat down on the nearest seat and coughed. "I feel terrible!" She groaned.

Oblivious, Pinkie poked her head out from behind Rainbow's seat. "You definitely look it, Dashie!" She said with a squeak.

"go figure!" Rainbow muttered, sarcastically.

Red Cross walked over to the group and asked, "are you Applejack's friends?"

Twilight replied, "yeah. Can we go and see her?"

"Not right now, dear." Red Cross replied. "It seems her vitals have become unstable. The doctors are trying to stabilise her before she deteriorates anymore."

"What do you mean, 'unstable'?" Fluttershy asked.

"her blood pressure dropped at an alarming rate and her heart rate is through the roof." Red Cross explained. "The doctors can't run any further tests until Applejack us stable enough."

"'further tests'?" Rarity asked. "What further tests?"

"Applejack took two beatings to her chest and spine and another to her skull. The doctors want to rule out any possibilities of paralysis and brain damage before they can continue." Red Cross explained further. This only made Rainbow's head spin and pound faster and harder. She closed her eyes and shook her head to rid herself of the dizziness, to no avail.

As the seconds drained by, Rainbow was becoming more and more pale and it was becoming harder and harder for her to concentrate on anything other than the urge to pass out right now.

She groaned, alerting Sunset and Fluttershy, who were at her side in an instant. "Rainbow, you feeling okay?" Sunset asked, putting a hand to Rainbow's forehead. She was burning up, and quickly. "Rainbow?" She called again, only to receive another groan from the rainbow-haired girl.

Worriedly, Sunset turned to Fluttershy and motioned for her to get Red Cross. Fluttershy nodded and walked over to the receptionists desk. Red Cross looked up gingerly. "How can I help you?" She asked.

"It's Rainbow Dash. Sunset told me to get your attention." Fluttershy replied in a small voice. Red Cross stood up and exited the booth before following Fluttershy to where Sunset and Rainbow were.

"What happened?" Red Cross asked as she sat on Rainbow's other side.

"I don't know." Sunset replied, concerned.

"Has she eaten anything she wouldn't usually eat?" Red Cross asked.

"No, not that I know of." Sunset asked.

"Rainbow did eat that cinamon and popping candy muffin I made this morning. She wasn't acting strange then." Pinkie added.

"Oh, yeah. She ate one of the muffins Pinkie made, then dissapeared to the bathroom for a short while before returning." Twilight commented. "She looked fine then!"

Red Cross frowned, picked Rainbow up and carried her to a room before hooking her up to a heart monitor. "I'll order some blood tests incase Rainbow Dash was poisoned." She said before leaving. "I'll let you girls know if there is any news on Applejack." She called.

A short time later, Red Cross poked her head into the room. "You girls can see Applejack now."

The girls nodded and left the room, heading up to the Intensive Care Unit, where Applejack currently layed, bandages heavily wrapped around her head and another starting at her chest and ending at her torso. Rarity, who had been holding Applejack's Stetson since Rainbow had dropped it by the bucket in the waiting room, carefully placed it on Applejack's chest. "Thank the lord she's okay!" Rarity spoke with a sigh of relief.

Sunset turned to one of the doctors nearby and asked, "how is she?"

The doctor, Healing Touch, looked up from a clipboard and replied. "The MRI shows no sign of brain damage. However, Applejack has sustained a 3rd degree spinal injury, resulting in a small chance of paralysis. The good news is that Applejack shall be moved downstairs soon and out of Intensive Care and she should wake up within a few days."

"That's great news!" Rarity replied. "Will you be doing a further investigation of the extent of Applejack's injuries?" She asked.

"We will keep her here overnight incase of any complications, but she will not require any further investigations." Healing Touch replied.

"'Complications'?" Twilight asked.

"While the MRI shows no brain damage, chances are that Applejack may never be the same again. There are more than one possibility of complications that could arise while Applejack is in a coma." Healing Touch explained. "For example, Applejack could develop epilepsy or she could be permanently paralysed for the rest of her life, we just don't know, and we won't know until she wakes up."

"But there is a chance that there won't be any complications?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes, there is a chance that nothing will happen that will affect Applejack, however, the chances are very slim." Healing Touch replied before turning back to the paperwork he was holding in his hands.

Author's Note

Turns out, it's a bit of both. Applejack is gonna be okay, but she might not.

Poor Dash. I just hope the Doc's find out what caused her to become so sick.