The Ward

I’ve never had a roommate before…

My old ward only had enough room for myself, my bed, and the equipment that kept me attached to this world.

Not like it affected me… It seems like I’ve spent my whole life lying on this bed… It has only been a month, but the pain makes time move by so slowly… Even when I fall asleep my dreams are excruciatingly long.

Dreams…

Sleeping makes me forget about my injuries and the throbbing pain I endure, but I loathe sleeping just as much as being awake…

My dreams tease and torture me as much as the big window in my ward.

So close to being free. So close to everything I love.

I’m almost happy…

…but then I wake up…

I wake up to the pain in my body and the torture that was in my thoughts. I wake up, and it’s still night time. I struggle to look at my clock; what seemed like hours in my dreams amounted to minutes in the real world…

The real world…

How I long to get out of this hospital bed and just walk around again. My dreams have tricked me into thinking I could walk or even fly… The third night I was here, I fell out of my bed in my sleep – dreaming about roaming Equestria for no reason - onto a cold unforgiving floor… That was one of the worst nights I had… Not to say any other night is comparably better… I fear for my life each night that I don’t dream about being free, but my mind is cruel and never accepts my pleas…

Dreams can’t pass my time… being awake can’t pass time… all I do is look out the window that torments me as much as anything else…

A few days after my family visited me, a nurse walked into my ward. I figured she was here to give me my dosage of morphine, but I looked at the clock and saw that it wasn’t time yet. She didn’t administer my drugs; instead she walked over to the empty bed next to me. She began to make it and moved my equipment to my side of the room, separated by a curtain.

“Guess what, mister?” she teased, knowing I couldn’t really respond, “A nice Pegasus broke her wing this morning and has to stay for a few days. Looks like you’ll have a roommate to keep you company. Good thing too, you look so lonely just lying there all day. Well, she’ll be here in a few minutes, her name is Rainbow Dash. Who knows, maybe you two will become friends,” she said, leaving the ward afterward.

…A roommate… Rainbow Dash?

I didn’t know what to think about it… But the first thing that came to mind was that that accursed window will be blocked most of the time…

A few minutes passed… a few days… a few months… a few years…

Two nurses walked back into the room, one closed my curtain.

“Sorry, but your new friend needs a little privacy for a moment,” she apologized. I didn’t care…

I heard the door open and saw the shape of my doctor through the curtain. He held the door open as I saw two assistants carrying a pony into the room. It looked like a mare, and I saw a wing hang limp from one side…

I looked at my own wing… the one that was still attached to me… And thought about what happened to her to cause this. My thoughts were interrupted by the doctor’s voice.

“Careful, she’s still unconscious,” He said. I strained my eye to follow the silhouettes of the assistants as they placed her gently on the hospital bed.

“Doctor, there are some ponies in the lobby that are anxious to see the patient,” a nurse interrupted.

“They can come in, just tell them to keep it down.”

“Yes, sir,” she said and left.

It was quiet again, so my thoughts centered around the mare that now joined me. She still hadn't woken up, he said… When I was brought to the hospital, the doctor analyzed my nutritional intake, and concluded that I was unconscious for two days before being brought to the hospital… Despite my own suffering, I couldn’t help but hope she didn’t suffer a similar fate.

The door opened again and I saw six figures enter this time. The nurse was recognizable by her hat, but I had no clue who the rest of them were. Judging by the silhouettes, they were all mares; about the same size as the Pegasus they just laid down on the bed.

The doctor said, “Keep your voices down, we don’t want to startle her.”

I heard one of them say, “A’right, thanks doc. We’ll keep ar voices down.”

They began whispering to each other, and I couldn’t make out what they were saying. One of them backed out of the group and began to hop around. I saw her shape stop when it faced the curtain. She bounced around to the end of it and poked her head through. A pink pony with a puffy mane that resembled cotton candy looked at me and smiled.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! My friend Rainbow Dash was just outside flying and was all shooom, eeeerrrkkk, zooooom, neeeerromm! It was daring and devilish and dazzling! But then she crashed and we had to take her to the hospital. We as in me and my friends Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight, but it was mostly just me and Rarity and Twilight because we were there when she was being devilishly daring and dazzling and when she crashed and – “

“Pinkie!” I heard another voice shout. A hoof yanked the pink pony out from the curtain, and a Purple mare replaced her. She winced at first after seeing my condition, but then smiled faintly.

“I’m sooo sorry. My friend Pinkie Pie likes to make friends and meet as many people as she can. I’m sorry if we disturbed you,” she said.

I merely stared at her… what else could I do?

After a moment, she smiled awkwardly again and retreated.

“Hey gang she’s waking up,” the first voice said. I saw the others then gather around the bed, “Is she gonna be okay?” she asked.

“Ohh, I’m so worried,” a soft voice responded

“Is her face gonna stay that way?” said the voice I recognized from my unexpected pink visitor.

All of a sudden, I heard a new voice let out a big groan, followed by the voice of the purple mare that also greeted me.

“How is she, doctor?” She asked.

“She’s going to be fine,” I heard the doctor assure them. “Luckily she has friends like you who got her over here in a jiffy!”

I knew then that the groaner must be Rainbow Dash. I was relieved to hear she got to the hospital quickly…

“How long do I need to lie here?” I heard her say, “I’ve got things I need to do!”

The voice sounded oddly familiar… but in the faintest sense…

“That all depends on your recovery, but I’d say a few days minimum,” the doctor replied.

“You gotta get me outta here! I’m gonna climb the walls!” She responded.

“Ooh, just like a spider!” said the one called Pinkie Pie. She quickly faced the doctor, “Did the crash somehow give her super-duper spider powers!?”

“Nnooo, nor did it give her amazing healing powers. She needs to stay in bed for a few days.”

“A few days? Might as well be a few months! Or a few years!” said my roommate. I was taken aback by this, but dismissed it because it wasn’t her fault I’m like this, nor does she know what I’m going through. Though I could connect with how slowly time goes by in this veritable prison.

“It’s not so bad, Rainbow Dash,” said the soft, comforting voice.

“Ah bet the chow here if hoof-lickin’ good,” came from the first voice. I wouldn’t know how the food tastes… I haven’t been able to eat normally my entire stay here. My “food” is given through more bags of nutrients and water. But I’ve seen the food, and it does not look appetizing at all.

“And the hospital gowns… theyyy match the curtains!” said yet another voice in a shaky tone.

“And look! You have a roommate!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she threw the curtain open.

I finally got a look at all of the room again. A white Unicorn was holing a hospital gown by the window. An orange Earth Pony wearing a hat and a yellow Pegasus stood next to the bed. The purple Unicorn from before stood behind Pinkie Pie, who had just broke the division in the room.

Then I saw Rainbow Dash. She was a slightly different shade of blue as the sky, as I noticed since she was in my line of sight to the window. She had a rainbow colored mane, and I saw her left wing in bandages. I looked at her, she looked back…

…Those eyes… That voice… Why do I remember them? This is the first time I’ve seen any of these ponies…

…No!

I looked away immediately…