Silence.

Sometimes, silence can be a good thing, but it can also be unsettling at times.

Rainbow Dash sat in the waiting room of Ponyville Hospital, her hooves twitching as she waited for an update on Scootaloo. Her little sister had gone into surgery not too long ago, since she had lost a lot of blood and didn’t have enough in her body to keep her alive and well. Also, her condition was critical, and that meant that she most likely wasn’t going to live much longer… but she had to, or else she would break poor Rainbow Dash’s heart by leaving her… for good.

No. Rainbow Dash would never let that happen. She was Scootaloo’s big sister, or mentor, and she had promised the little filly that she would always be there for her, no matter what happened.

Unfortunately though, Rainbow had been so caught up in her Wonderbolt training session that she didn’t notice Scootaloo falling down towards Ponyville, where she crash-landed and severely injured her wings, forelegs, and hind legs. The cyan Pegasus quickly left her training session that morning and flew down towards Ponyville. She felt terrible after seeing her little sister on the ground, unconscious and losing blood. She called an ambulance to take her little sister to the hospital and flew after them, never wanting to leave Scootaloo’s side. However, when the ambulance made it to the hospital, Rainbow Dash had to step back and wait until her little sister was settled in a hospital room.

Now, here Rainbow Dash was, sitting in the waiting room with her hooves twitching as she waited for her sister to get out of surgery.

“Miss Rainbow Dash?” Nurse Redheart trotted over to the cyan mare and handed her a glass of water. “We finally have some news on your little sister Scootaloo,” she said.

Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank Celestia,” she said, taking a sip of water. “How is she?”

“Well, I have good news and bad news,” Redheart replied. “The good news is that Scootaloo just got out of surgery. The bad news is… she most likely will not wake up.”

“What?” Rainbow asked, taking another sip. “What do you mean?”

“You see, she lost a lot of blood, and her condition is quite critical.” Redheart looked at Rainbow with a sympathetic look. “However, we’ll help her get the blood she needs by doing what we call ‘a blood transfusion’,” she said. “And thankfully, her blood type is quite common, so it’ll be pretty easy.”

“But…” Rainbow began. “Is there a chance that it might not work?”

Redheart nodded. “Surgery is risky,” she said. “But I promise we’ll do what we can to save her.”

“Thank you,” Rainbow said, putting the now empty glass down next to her. “That’s all I ask. Now… can I see her?”

“Not yet. She needs to be in a room before we can let you see her. Fortunately, it won’t take very long, so you can just sit here and wait.”

“Okay. Do you know how long it’ll be?”

“Probably fifteen to twenty minutes.”

Rainbow sighed. “Even it takes longer than that,” she began. “I’ll do anything for my little sister.”

Redheart smiled. “I’m proud of you,” she said. “Most ponies don’t want to wait that long, so they just leave and come back the next day.”

“Well, Nurse… I’m not one of them. This is the Element of Loyalty you’re talking to right here.”

“Right.” Redheart cleared her throat. “Anyway, I’ll come back to get you when Scootaloo is in a room, okay?” she said.

Rainbow nodded. “Thank you, Nurse.”

“No problem, Miss Dash.” With that, Redheart walked through the double doors and disappeared into the back, where Scootaloo and many other sick or injured ponies were being treated.

Rainbow picked up something that was also sitting next to her: a picture of her and Scootaloo with Fluttershy and her animal friends. Oh, they looked so happy together. She smiled and ran a hoof over the picture, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked closely at it. This was the day before Scootaloo had ended up in the hospital; she and Rainbow Dash had helped Fluttershy take care of her critters, especially sassy and picky Angel Bunny.

Boy, he was a beast to take care of; he was quite the Mister Picky Pants.

“Angel sure is hard to cheer up,” Rainbow said to herself. “At least he got to eat what he wanted. I mean, we couldn’t let him starve.”

She let out a sigh and put the photo back down on the chair. Tears fell down her cheeks as she continued to wait.

And wait…

…And wait…

…AND wait.

“Miss Dash?”

Rainbow opened her eyes and gulped when she saw Nurse Redheart standing in front of her with a clipboard held in her hooves. Rainbow must’ve fallen asleep.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and let out a yawn. “Is she…” she stuttered. “Is she… in a room?”

“Yes,” Redheart replied. “That’s why I came to come get you. You can see her now, but she’s asleep.”

“Asleep?” Rainbow asked.

Redheart nodded. “She’s currently on life support,” she said. “We had to hook her up to several machines to keep her alive, even though she’s pretty weak.”

“Okay,” Rainbow said. “But… did the transfusion work?”

“Yes. We managed to successfully transfuse the blood she needed.”

“Thank goodness.” Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. “So, uh… will she survive?” she asked.

“Oh… that’s the thing.” Redheart gave the cyan mare a sympathetic look. “She is in critical condition,” she said. “So… there’s a good chance that we could lose her.”

“No…” Rainbow gasped. “You don’t mean…”

“She’s in our Intensive Care Unit,” Redheart said. “That’s where everypony goes when they’re-“

“I know what the ICU is all about,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “But still, I just want my little sister to be okay.”

Redheart sighed. “Well,” she began. “She’s alright now, but like I said, there’s a high chance that we could lose her, since her condition is very critical.”

“I… I understand,” Rainbow said, trying not to cry in front of the nurse. “Please… just let me see her.”

“Of course. Right this way, Miss Dash.”

Rainbow got up from her seat and followed Nurse Redheart through the double doors that led into the back. The doors closed behind them with a click.

“Oh, dear sweet Celestia…”

Rainbow let out a gasp when she finally saw her little sister. Scootaloo was laying in the hospital bed, her eyes completely shut. An oxygen mask covered her muzzle, providing the poor filly with much needed oxygen and medicine to keep her alive. Lots of bandages covered her forelegs, hind legs, and wings. Several IV needles were attached to her, pumping blood and medicine through her body. Rainbow’s hoof covered her mouth as tears began to well up in her eyes again; this was almost too much for her to bear.

“Nurse,” Rainbow said. “I hope she’ll be okay…”

“That’s all we can hope,” Redheart said. “I’ll give you some time alone. I need to go check on other patients.”

Rainbow nodded and watched the nurse head out of Scootaloo’s ICU room. Slowly, the cyan Pegasus walked over to Scootaloo’s left side and sat in the chair beside her bed. She took her little sister’s hoof in her own, giving it a gentle and reassuring squeeze, silently letting Scootaloo know that her big sister was here with her, even though the filly couldn’t notice her.

“Oh, Scootaloo…” she whispered, slowly beginning to cry. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for… for not being there for you when you fell. I’m so sorry, kid. Please wake up… please. Don’t leave me… your my sister. I… I love you…”

Rainbow closed her eyes and allowed her tears to fall down her cheeks, not wanting to stop them from falling. She needed to cry… she needed to let all of it out. She needed to let go…

The sound of slow, steady beeping filled her ears as she continued to hold her little sister’s hoof while crying her own eyes out. All Rainbow wanted, at this moment, was to see her little sister wake up and look at her, but it was almost impossible. Scootaloo was in critical condition, and there was a high chance that she was going to slip away at some point this afternoon, or sometime this evening…

“I can’t lose you,” Rainbow cried. “I just can’t. Y-You’re my little sister… and I need you. Please, kid… please wake up. D-Don’t leave me… please.”

“Miss Dash?”

Rainbow turned to see Nurse Redheart standing in the doorway with a sympathetic expression. “I hate to say it,” she began. “But visitor hours are over. You can come back tomorrow.”

“Nurse,” Rainbow said. “If I leave her, I may not see my little sister again.”

Redheart nodded and walked over to the heart monitor attached to Scootaloo, frowning when she looked closely at the orange filly’s vitals. “Well, I’m sorry to tell you this,” she began. “But she’s going to slip away at any second.”

“No…” Rainbow gasped. “This can’t be… I can’t lose my little sister.”

“I’m very sorry, Miss Dash… we tried all we could.” Redheart felt tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke. “All you can do now… is say your last words to her before she dies.”

Rainbow sighed. “Well, as much as I don’t want to say my last words to my little sister,” she began. “I’ll do anything for her.”

The Pegasus stroked her little sister’s mane and took a deep breath. “Scootaloo,” she said, her voice breaking. “You are my favorite thing in all of Equestria. I don’t want you to go… I had so much more to give you, and now I can’t give it all to you. You are going to die, and I don’t want you to. But everypony knows that we don’t live that long. I hope you know how much I love you… just like how a big sister would love her little sister.”

As if on cue, the heart monitor began beeping rapidly. Rainbow gulped and leaned forward, kissing Scootaloo on the cheek. “I love you…” she cried. “I love you so much, little buddy… I-I hope we see each other again. Goodbye, Scootaloo…”

And with that, Rainbow kissed her little sister’s nose and let go of her, allowing her to slip away in the darkness…

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Scootaloo passed away.

With tears falling down her cheeks, Rainbow stood in front of her little sister’s grave, holding a photo of her and Scootaloo smiling together. She placed the photo down on the grass in front of Scootaloo’s grave and looked closely at it.

“See you in my dreams, kid,” she said, wiping her tears away. “Remember how much I love you. You’ll always be my little buddy… whether you’re here with me or not.”

“Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy came walking up towards Rainbow and wrapped her forelegs around her friend. “I heard everything,” she said. “I can’t believe she’s gone…”

“Me too, Fluttershy…” Rainbow whispered, wrapping her forelegs around the yellow pony. “Me too.”

“But I know that she’s happy in heaven,” Fluttershy said. “You know that, right?”

“Of course I do,” Rainbow said, letting go of her. “But it still hurts when you realize that she’s… truly gone.”

“I know.” Fluttershy sat down next to her and pulled her close. “We’ll all miss her, Rainbow Dash,” she said, tears falling down her cheeks. “It won’t ever be the same without her.”

“You’re right,” Rainbow said, smiling at her. “But anyway, Spitfire understands how miserable I am, so she let me have three weeks off.”

Fluttershy smiled and continued to hug Rainbow Dash. For what seemed like an eternity, the two Pegasi just sat by Scootaloo’s grave, holding each other close and comforting one another. The text written on the photo of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo smiling said something that Rainbow Dash already had stored in her head.

Thank you for being my little sister. I love you kid. Always.

Love, Rainbow Dash

The End

Author's Note

So… it looks like we’re back to the sad genre, everypony.

This story was hard for me to write without crying my eyes out, so please tell me what you think. I’d really appreciate some feedback.

Until next time!

CookieKait01