Don't Give Up

Don't Give Up

Chapter 1

Awoken

It was like nothing she had ever seen before; a light brighter then she thought possible. She could see nothing. All around her was the blinding white light. She could feel that her eyes were closed, but her eye lids did little to protect her.

BEEP

Slowly, she raised her hoof to try a shield herself from the light. She couldn't move her hoof. She couldn't even feel her hoof. It felt like she was floating, as if her body was not there at all. All she could feel was the pain from the blinding light.

BEEP

She started to panic. It was like she was in a void, there was nothing. Nothing but the light and her, and she wasn't even sure if she was there at all.

“H-Hello?” She called out, she heard the words, but not out loud. She heard them in her head, but they never left her mouth. What was going on? This had never happened to her before. She felt... helpless. She hated feeling helpless.

BEEP

Then she started to feel another sensation other then the burning in her eyes. The felt something underneath her. It was soft, almost fuzzy, but not quite. It was also warm. For the first time since she woke up she realized she was laying on her back. Her body slowly came back to her, she felt her hooves beside her, her mane behind her head, her chest slowly rising and falling with each breath.

BEEP

Slowly, the light started to fade. At first it wasn't noticeable at first, but as time passed is slowly faded from blinding white to bright, then dull, then eventually nothing but a bright grey. Slowly, she dared to open her her eyes. As soon as the first crack opened, she immediately shut them again; though the light had faded it was still painful to look at.

BEEP

Eventually she gathered the will to once again try and open her eyes. She opened them just a crack and was hit once again with the light though this time she didn't snap her eyes shut again, she kept them where they were' adjusting to the light. After a while the light stopped being painful and was just bright, so she slid her eyes open another few millimetres. Again, she was met with a brighter, more painful light, but this time she was ready.

BEEP

Without another moments hesitation she snapped her eyes open. Wincing slightly from how bright it was, though this time it was not painful, just uncomfortably bright. She tried once again to raise her hoof to her face, but once again found that she could not move it. Though this time she could feel it.

BEEP

Suddenly a burning, intense pain shot through her entire body, causing her to tense up in both surprise and pain. It was as if somepony had thrown her into a fire and stabbed her with hundreds of tiny needles at the same time. The fact that she hated needles didn't help the matter. The pain was in every part of her body, as if her very blood were boiling.

BEEP

She tried to focus on anything that didn't involve pain. So, naturally, she focused on the thing that hurt the most; her back. To points, one on either side of her back, felt as if she had been stabbed with two wooden stakes. She couldn't move, the pain was too much to even form a coherent thought as her body writhed in pain.

BEEP

Slowly the pain receded, dulling to a slight throb. Once again the light started to fade. Going from bright once again to dull, then dim, until eventually there was nothing but black. She slowly became more aware, she could feel something on top of her. Feeling almost identical to the thing below her. She tried to sit up, but nothing happened, it was as if her brain and her body were disconnected. She could not move, but she could feel the pain coursing through her.

BEEP

Once again she tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn't even open. Once again she felt helpless. Mentally sighing, she gave up. If she could move she would have slouched deeper into whatever it was she was on. If she couldn't move, then there was no point trying.

BEEP

That's when the light returned, only more focused this time. A perfect square in what she could only assume was a wall. It made it's way towards her; getting closer with each passing second.

BEEP

The light was almost upon her now. It was odd; he felt oddly calm looking at it. As if she had wanted it her entire life.

BEEP

The light was directly in front of her now

BEEP

It over took her, she was fully engulfed in the light, but it did not blind her, instead it brought comfort and calmness.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

That's when she heard it. It was like nothing she had ever heard before; a scream. Like somepony had been stabbed and the blade was being twisted. Worse yet; she recognized the voice. It was her best friend. It was a mare she trusted, that she had known for almost 3 years. It was the mare that she was proud to call her friend. It was Twilight Sparkle.

Immediately she pulled away from the light. Although her body itself did not move, she could feel the light receding. Letting her go. It dimmed back to black, and she listened, hoping to once again hear her voice. But nothing came. She waited in silence, then she heard it.

BEEP

A single, lone sniffle. Like a foal crying when she fell off a swing. But it was not a pained sniffle, it was almost happy, but not quite. She became even more aware; she heard something else. It started as a low drone of white noise, but eventually the noise took shape into distinct patterns. The noise forming into sound. Sound forming into voices. Voices forming into words.

BEEP

She felt something wet hit her coat. Just below her shoulder.

“What happened?” The voice said. It was a voice she recognized, but one that she could not attach a name to.

“I don't know. She went into cardiac arrest, we thought we lost her.” Another voice replied. Again, she could not recognize it. It was nothing but a solid, dull tone.

“She... She's going to be alright now... Right?” She knew that voice. She knew exactly who had said that, but the name escaped her. It was like it was a hair on the end of her tongue that she couldn't spit out.

“Only time will tell. She got lucky this time, but it may not be this way next time.” The voice was sad, like it had delivered the most terrible news in the world. But there was a strange comfort in it, as if it had done so many times in the past.

BEEP

“Then you don't know her very well. She'll make it through, she always has.” The same voice replied. The voice that she still couldn't put a name on.

“It's alright y’all, she'll pull through. She always has.” Heavy southern accent, distinct confidence, truth practically dripping from her voice. She knew who that was, but once again the name eluded her searches.

“I hope you're right,” She paused to sniffle, “I don't think I could handle another scare like that.” That voice. That nerdy, bookish voice, that was Twilight. Wait, why could she remember her name, and nopony else? What was so special about her? She liked all her friends the same, and yet she remembered her name only.

“You alright sugarcube? Y'all seam more emotional then flutter's over there.” The southern accented voice replied. THAT WAS HER NAME! Fluttershy. Not the southern accented one, but the first speaker, the one who asked if she was going to be alright now. She was rather proud of herself for remembering her name. Though she felt a twinge of guilt for forgetting it in the first place.

“Yes, I'm fine. Its just... That's the closest I've ever come to losing somepony close to me. I couldn't imagine it." Twilight replied, her voice seamed to be calmer and a little bit steadier.

BEEP

The heart monitor nearly made her jump out of her skin. Well, she would have could she actually move. Then she realized something else; that was a heart monitor. Who's heart was it monitoring?

“Uh, guys?” She tried to speak, only to let the words dies in her still tightly closed mouth. This was so confusing, and she still couldn't see anything. Then she realized something else; her eyes were still closed. She could have sworn she had opened them ages ago when she first woke up.

She tried to slide her eyes open, but they would not respond to her demands. Still closed tightly over her eyes.

BEEP

NO! She refused to be beaten by her own body. Gathering all the will and strength she could, she forced her eyes open.

Just as she had expected, she was blinded by the light. Through the ringing in her ears and throbbing in her skull she could hear a collective gasp, and one sigh.

“Her eyes! They're open!” Gasped a yellow Pegasus.

“Yes. That happens quite often actually. It is neither a good or bad sign. It simply means she's still alive.” A tan stallion replied.

“The fact the she's alive is a good sign to us!” Cried out one very angry pink earth pony.

BEEP

The room eventually came into focus. Instead of blurry blobs of color her friends became solid objects. And she recognized each one.

They were all there, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle. Most were standing on the far side of the white, overly-clean looking room with what she could only assume was a doctor based on his stethoscope cutie mark. But there was one who wasn't. A certain lavender unicorn was right next to her. Holding her hoof and crying on her shoulder.

“Come on, Rainbow. Don't give up."