Don't Give Up

Don't Give Up

Chapter 2

Memories

If breaking your wing was annoying, then being in a coma was worse then hell. When she had broken her wing she could at the very least get up and walk around, or play a board game, even play with the lamp. But what can you do when your entire body has basically shut down? Apparently nothing, as Rainbow Dash was quickly learning.

Occasionally one of her friends would come in, keep her company for a while. While she couldn't talk back, they still talked to her, though she got the feeling that they didn't think she could hear them. She based that assumption off some of the gossip she got from Fluttershy of all ponies. She made a mental note to keep it her little secret that she was aware when she finally got out of her head.

Speaking of getting out, when was that happening? Surly she couldn't just stay comatose forever, right? Giving yet another mental sigh, she imagined herself with a very bored expression. Not that her expression ever changed.

It had been 3 days. 3 long days of being a prisoner in her own head. 3 days of staring at a white, featureless hospital room. It was awful. The doctors had given her a clean bill of health... well, aside from the coma, at least. Though she still couldn't remember what had happened. The most recent memory she had beside waking up in the hospital had been going to the library for some reason. She couldn't remember why, but she did know she was excited for some reason.

“Go on in.” Rainbow was torn from her thoughts when the door opened. Another visitor. She heard whoever it was thank the nurse before walking into the room. Though she couldn't see the door from her position, staring at the ceiling, the quiet flapping of wings gave her a good idea of who it was.

A red pegasus with a blue main and brighter red highlights came up to her bed. Who was that? She had seen her before, she just couldn't remember where.

“Uh, nurse? This isn't Frost.” Said the mare, she sounded like she was around Rainbow's age, though had a much deeper voice. It almost sounded like she was angry.

“What? Oh, sorry, he's in the room next door, my apologies. This way.” The nurse said, having come back after the mare had called for her, and with that Rainbow was alone once again.

“Oh well, time to get some sleep.” Rainbow thought to herself, before letting her mind relax as the world around her unfocused.

“You know me.”

“What?” Rainbow said, startled by the unknown voice.

“You know me, now who am I?” The voice repeated, this time with more force.

“Who do I know”? Rainbow asked, looking around the black void surrounding her.

“Me.” The voice replied calmly. Almost unnervingly calm.

“Um... I'm pretty sure I don't know you.” Rainbow said, very confused at this point.

“Think about it.” The voice sounded as if it were coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“That's kinda all I've been doing for the past 3 days, coma and all... wait, can you hear me?” Suddenly realizing the flaw in what was going on. She was in a coma! How could it hear her to respond to her?

“Please wake up.” Now the voice was different, it was a higher pitched voice, and was not calm, almost desperate.

“What? What happened to me knowing who you are?”

“Come on Rainbow, I know you're in there. We all miss you.”

“Okay, are you even listening to me anymore?” Rainbow was even more confused then she had been a few seconds ago. This voice had gone from trying to make her remember it in a creepy, calm voice, to trying to get her to wake up in a panicked, desperate voice.

“We just miss you so much, you know pinkie hasn't thrown a party for 2 weeks?”

“Okay, this is ju- wait, Twilight? Is that you?” Rainbow recognized the voice now. She searched all around the void, but all there was was blackness. Suddenly, everything got very bright, and once again she was in the hospital. Laying comatose on a bed in a very ugly white room. Every moment Rainbow had to look at that room the uglier it got.

One thing in the room, however, got prettier the more she looked at it. Wait, what? Where did that come from? Once again, Rainbow gave a mental sigh, shelving the thought for later when she was alone. Sitting in the chair next to her bed, like she had everyday just after lunch, was Twilight. It was a fantastic way to tell the time, she had found.

“You know, it feels like just yesterday I asked you over to the library to help me move some book shelves. I can't believe it's been nearly 3 weeks.”

Wait, 3 weeks? That would mean she had been sleeping for... like, a long time. Math was not her strong suit. Then another thought occurred; BEST. NAP. EVER!

“Fluttershy has barely left her house, AJ wont stop working for more then 10 seconds. It's all falling apart, Rainbow, and I don't know what to do. I've tried to keep everypony together, but Rarity won't help, she says she has too many orders to fill, and Pinkie hasn't even baked a cupcake since it happened.” Twilight was on the verge of tears, her eyes already moist and her lip quivering.

“I just don't know what to do...” She couldn't hold it any longer, openly crying over the comatose pegasus.

“Twi...” If Rainbow could move she would have been hugging the purple unicorn next to her. For some reason seeing Twilight as such an emotional wreck just tore at her heart.

“I know you can't help. Hay, you can't even hear me, I just needed somepony to talk to, even if they can't talk back...” Twilight was slowly gaining control of her tears, stopping them through will power and the back of her hoof.

“Though I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to see me again. Not after what I did...” Her voice was thick with guilt.

“I didn't mean to do it, please believe me when I tell you that, I didn't mean to. I just don't know what happened, I haven't lost control like that since I got my cutie mark. But... I just lost it, I didn't where you were, and I didn't know what to do... I-I just had to do something to release the power... there... there was so much blood... I didn't know what to do, I panicked. Maybe if I had been able to control myself you would be fine... If only I knew what to do!” Twilight had once again given into the tears, flowing in streams down her face onto the floor, her head hung in shame. “Just so much blood...”

It was like a dam breaking in the back of Rainbow's mind. All the memories of that night came back. Flying to Twilight's house, helping her move the bookshelf. And then that scream she had heard, that blood curdling scream. She had tried to turn around and find out what was wrong, but before a word could leave her mouth something hit her in the back of the head and pinned her to the bookshelf she was moving.

She was pinned between two huge bookshelves, one encased in a purple glow. There was a tiny crack between them where she could see a lavender unicorn, eyes glowing bright white and an expression of intense pain. Then the bookshelf behind her forced harder into her back. She could feel her ribs breaking, feel every twitch of her body, and all movement led to more pain. She could make out a deep red stain forming on the ground under her. Then It had gone black, but not before a bright purple beam had shot through the crack and filled her vision.

“That spell was the only thing I could think of, and it may have done more harm then good.”

“Y'all know that ain’t true, Twi.” Twilight spun her head around to face the second voice, expecting to be alone. “Without that there hocus pocus of yours she'd have died long before we got her here.”

“Oh, Applejack, hey. You scared me, I thought I was alone.” Her face growing slightly red, realizing that she, the most logical and down-to-earth pony she knew, was talking to a pony who couldn't hear her, never mind respond.

“Y'all ain't alone, Dash's here, ain't she?”

“Well, yes, but-”

“No buts, Dash is here, y'all ain't alone.” Applejack stated matter-of-factly. Twilight just sighed and looked back down at Dash, oblivious to the fact that she was looking right back at Twilight.

“I suppose I should get back to the library, spike might be able to clean the place, but he doesn't know how to help ponies check out books yet, and I can't keep it closed forever, bye AJ.”

“See y'all later then.” Applejack called out to the purple unicorn already half way out the door.

“When is that girl gonna stop blaming herself for this?” Applejack muttered to herself, sitting where Twilight had been moments before.

“She blames herself? What? She saved me, surly she knows that?” Rainbow thought, watching the farm pony sit on the chair and place her Stetson on her lap.

“She hasn't left the library, 'cept to come here, and even then she don't say nothin', just walks back and forth everyday. I don't think she eats much anymore either. We're all concerned, but she won't listen to us, keeps saying she's fine, when it's clear she ain't.” Placing her hat in the chair next to her, Applejack got comfortable in the chair, before sighing and looking back at Rainbow Dash.

“It's been a tough few weeks for all of us. But she's taking it the worst of all of us. Poor girl.” Applejack sighed one more time before sitting in silence. Just watching the steady rising and falling of Rainbow's chest, the steady pumping from the machine next to her drowned out all other noise from the hall outside.

“Twilight, I don't blame you” Rainbow's thoughts were like a hurricane in her head. She could remember what had happened, she didn't know why it had happened, but she knew what, and that's all she needed to know it wasn't Twilight's fault.

Sure, maybe Twilight had lost control, and sure, maybe she did squish her with a bookcase, but she also saved her life. That magic she used managed to knock Dash unconscious and stopped her broken ribs from puncturing any organs. She had saved her life, even if a side effect was a coma, at least she could recover from that. But death? There was no coming back from that.

“I should probably be going, you have enough of your own problems to worry about ours. Hope you get better soon.” Applejack stood and walked to the door, opened it, then stepped outside before closing it once again.

Alone.

Rainbow Dash hated being alone, there was nothing to do when she were alone, she couldn't even read if she couldn't hold the book. She couldn't take much more of this, 3 days and already she was going crazy, she had heard of comas lasting as long as 6 months. She was pretty sure she would die of boredom before she lasted that long.

Grumbling to herself about being stuck like this, she just looked at the ceiling. The ceiling she had grown to hate. The ceiling who's only purpose was to mock the fact that she couldn't turn away from it. The ceiling that faded to black as she closed her eyes and tried to let her mind rest, there was nothing else for her to do, besides, she loved napping.