~one last party~
The doctor walked into RD's room to check on the pegasus's condition. He noticed Pinkie Pie resting next to Rainbow Dash. He moved closer to the hospital bed, looking at the beeping monitors and IV's. Rainbow Dash's pink eyes shot open as Dr. White Hooves started to move Pinkie from Rainbow Dash's protective grip.
"Please don't move her. She's sleeping." Rainbow begged in a voice no one had heard before. The doctor sighed, irritated.
"Rainbow Dash, I've got to get a muscle sample. She might get hurt if she's in the way." Doctor White Hooves explained. The cyan pegasus relaxed her grip on Pinkie Pie and the doctor moved her to a chair.
"Good. Now you have to move to your side, so I can get the muscle sample." Dr. White Hooves instructed.
"Dashie?" Pinkie murmured in her sleep.
Rainbow Dash rotated to her side as she formed a question in her mind.
"Hey, Doc, is it normal for ponies to talk in their sleep?"
The doctor rolled his eyes. "Yes, Rainbow Dash. She's probably dreaming."
He put some liquid on Rainbow's side, then carefully cut into it. The pegasus's face reddened in pain.
"Ow! That hurts, Doc!" she nearly shouted.
The doctor cut out a piece of diseased flesh with a look of pity. "Sorry we couldn't give you pain killers, Rainbow Dash. They're known to progress CBS rapidly, and considering your state, it was too dangerous."
Even so, Rainbow Dash squirmed in discomfort as the doctor patched up her side. In seconds, a clean white bandage covered the section of her body.
RD looked up at Dr. White Hooves with pink eyes as he placed the reddish tissue into a container. "I've got to test this to see how far the disease has progress. I believe you might be at Stage Four, where it will be... difficult to prolong your life."
The ill pegasus gulped. "How many stages of CBS are there?"
"There are four in total."
Rainbow Dash looked at her sleeping friend, then put her head in her hooves.
"How much time do I have left?" she wondered aloud, voice quivering.
"Well, Rainbow Dash, you'll have to see the test results before you'll know." he chirped as he casually left the room to go study the sample.
Rainbow Dash laid back in her bed, weighted down by her own thoughts. I'd do anything for more time with my friends. There are so many things I should have done. Pink eyes fluttered to a sleeping form. Especially more time with Pinkie Pie...
Rainbow Dash smirked weakly, then coughed up blood.
"I wish I could still fly..."
Her eyes shut as she drifted off to sleep.
"Dashie! Rainbow Dash, wake up!"
Rainbow's eyes fluttered open as she murmured sleepily. Pinkie Pie's face was right in front of hers.
"Okay, give me five more minutes and I'll be up to train." the half-awake pegasus begged.
"There will be no training for you today." A motherly voice rang out. Rainbow sat up to see Twilight Sparkle by the door of the room.
"Oh, hi there Twilight!" Pinkie Pie chirped.
"Hi Pinkie Pie." Twilight replied as she turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. "You're too weak to train now, Rainbow."
The cyan pegasus pouted. "I'm going to be able to fly again, right?" she questioned, even though she already knew the answer. Her unicorn friend glanced at the floor with uncertainty clouding her eyes.
"We'll have to see what the doctor says..."
Dr. White Hooves opened thew hospital room door with a fake smile painted on his face. The three ponies looked at him.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash! The test results are back." he announced.
Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to speak. "Test? What test? Was it a coolness test? Because Dashie is the coolest person I know!" Pinkie Pie stated enthusiastically.
A pang, sharper than steel, embedded itself in Rainbow Dash's heart. Pinkie is so oblivious. She doesn't even know how close I am to death.
The doctor shook his head. "No. You see, I to a sample of muscle from her side and ran it through a series of tests to confirm the stage of the disease." Bitterness rose up in Rainbow Dash's throat as she listened to Doctor White Hooves speak to Pinkie Pie like she was simple-minded.
"Oooh!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"So, Doc, what were the results?" Rainbow inquired.
He cleared his airways before answering. "The disease in your body is at stage four out of four. You've got barely a week to live at most, and even if you survived you would never be able to fly or train again."
The realization hit Rainbow Dash like a smack in the face.
Never fly again? A week to live? She struggled not to cry.
Twilight looked at the doctor with shock. "Isn't there ANYTHING we can do to help her?" she persisted as the pink earth pony burst into tears.
The doctor held in his voice a note of pain. "I'm truly sorry. At this point, there's nothing we can do but hope. Even if we used the untested drugs, they're useless at this point."
Pinkie Pie clung to Rainbow Dash, and something inside the pegasus snapped as her best friend's tears plopped on her chest one by one.
"I'm not going to die, Pinkie Pie. As Celestia as my witness, I'll make it out of here alive." she promised.
"R-really?" the party pony whispered.
The Element of Loyalty nodded.
Twilight put a reassuring hoof on the pink pony's shoulder. "Why don't we go get something to eat?" The purple unicorn suggested. Pinkie sniffed.
"B-but Dashie..."
"Rainbow Dash will be well looked after by the nurses and I. In fact, it's about time for her dinner. Run along now." the doctor instructed. Pinkie Pie whimpered, but headed out of the room with Twilight. She took one last look at Rainbow before a nurse with a tray of food and a Daring Do book came in.
"Bye, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said as the door shut.
"What if she got kicked out of the hospital? What if they aren't feeding her right? What if she's DEAD?" Pinkie Pie drilled Twilight with questions. The purple unicorn sighed as they waited for their sandwiches. Finally, she had enough of Pinkie's non-stop worrying.
"Pinkie, I'm sure Rainbow Dash is fine!" she interrupted Pinkie Pie's rambling. The pink earth pony put her head in her hooves.
"I know, I know! It's just that..." Even Pinkie, the one always willing to speak, found this hard to say. "I love her, Twilight. I'm so worried because she's the best friend I've ever had." Pinkie Pie got very quiet. "I can't lose her."
The purple unicorn tried to offer her best advice. "Try to stay strong. If Rainbow Dash is worried about how this is affecting you, she'll just feel worse."
The two females continued to speak even as their sandwiches were delivered.
"Dashie is so strong. Guess what she taught me the other day?" Pinkie Pie replied, laughing weakly.
"What did she teach you?" Twilight asked.
The pink earth pony smiled, her blue eyes bright.
"She taught me how to fly." Pinkie Pie closed her eyes as she imagined soaring through a cloudless sky, the sun shining on her coat...
Twilight Sparkle looked at her friend quizzically
. "How could she do that? You don't have wings. And even if you suddenly did, she's to sick to show you."
Pinkie Pie opened her eyes and began to eat her dandelion sandwich.
"It's easy, Twilight. You close your eyes and imagine yourself flying. It's amazing." she explained through mouthfuls. Twilight's eyes shut in concentration. Pinkie Pie waited patiently for her friend while eating.
Finally, Twilight's eyes opened.
"I don't get it." She deadpanned. Pinkie looked at her, eyes wide with understanding.
"I understand, Twilight. Some ponies just don't have the imagination." Pinkie Pie sighed.
"I wish Dashie were here. Can I go back to the hospital, Twilight?" The pink earth pony begged.
"Fine, but take Fluttershy with you. I don't think she's seen Rainbow Dash yet. She went to her cottage after the party."
Barely seconds after receiving permission to go back, Pinkie Pie raced towards the shy pegasus's cottage. She ran with a certain slowness – was it from sadness? Maybe it's my imagination, Twilight thought.
Another question fought its way to the surface.
If... If Rainbow Dash passed, what would happen to the Elements of Harmony? What would happen to us?