Twilight was in it's final hours.

Just as Twilight Sparkle seemed she might even be in hers.

As the sun disappeared slowly over the hills, five ponies ran forward with all their might, with two trailing, and one leading. Applejack slowly caught up to Big Mac, panting as she moved, Rainbow holding her hoof around her neck tight enough to remain in place, but not tight enough to hurt.

"AJ?"

Applejack turned to look at Twilight. She was almost ghostly pale, and her breaths were becoming more labored, her swollen hoof sticking out more and more as the rest of her body drained away. "She's not lookin' too good. Ah dunno how long she's gonna last..."

Everypony was afraid for their friend. Rainbow Dash stared over at the alicorn, worry painting her face. 'Here I was, feeling bad because of broken limbs...' she thought. 'Twilight... she might not even make it to see tomorrow...' As the group hurried, their worries began to seem to fade as their beloved home town came into sight. Applejack grinned wide, turning to her friend. "Twilight, y'all hang in there, alright? We're gonna make it!"

And so, everypony else ran. Applejack looked to her friend. "Twilight, you better not let this take you down..."

The doors burst open, and from them, six ponies emerged into the lobby of the hospital.

"We need a doctor stat! Our friend here got bit by a pretty nasty spider!" shouted the orange mare leading the small herd.

Everypony turned to face them; many injured, some visibly so, others seeming just sick. The nurse approached, looking over Twilight. "Oh my... what kind of spider?"

"Blue Sage." said Big Mac.

The nurse winced. "Oh my goodness..." She looked over Twilight, eying her condition, analyzing the bite, then looked up to Applejack. "How long has she been like this?"

Applejack shrugged. "Mah brother says she said she was bit last night..."

"Last night?" The nurse's eyes widened. "How long has she been unconscious!?"

Big Mac gulped. "Thirty minutes..."

The nurse shook her head. "Oh goodness, get her to the E.R. We don't have much time, assuming we have any at all. Follow me!"

Twilight lay in the hospital bed. Still. Motionless.

Quiet.

Everypony looked at their friend in grave concern as the nurse approached, carrying a syringe. She gently pushed the needle into Twilight's forehoof and pushed on the plunger, pushing the anti-venom into her system. Once she was done, she placed a bandage over the point of entry, and turned to her friends.

"You got her in here pretty late... a Blue Sage bite usually takes in the area of twenty four hours to do irreparable damage. I have no idea if she's passed the point of such suffering herself..."

Applejack winced. "What kinda damage we talkin' here...?"

The nurse shook her head. "Most often, organs begin to fail, often requiring a transplant... occasionally outright dooming the pony infected. Once they lose consciousness is usually when the venom begins doing it's worst. All we can do now is wait..."

Rarity stepped forward. "How long until we know how she's going to be?"

The nurse looked to Twilight. "Come tomorrow, we'll know how serious the damage was."

Everypony began to clear out of the room, save for Big McIntosh, who stared at the alicorn gravely.

The bite wasn't small. In fact, it was very obvious. Had he been paying more attention to her, would he have noticed sooner? Could he have gotten her here faster? Had he not been acting like a foal who had a treat taken away, would this not have happened? Maybe he should have just let her make her shelter. If she had done that, sure, she might mar the woods a little, but maybe then she'd be alright.

It was then something struck on him.

Here was a princess of Equestria. An alicorn of noteworthy magical power. Student of Celestia herself, savior of Equestria several times over. And now, she was fighting for her life against a spider bite.

It seemed sad, really, that she might possibly lose to something so mundane, so small in comparison.

He looked to the nurse. "Can Ah speak to her?"

Nurse Redheart looked to Twilight, then back to Big Mac. "Sure... just try not to keep too long." With that, she turned and walked out of the room, giving him a little privacy. Big Mac gave a slight nod, then trotted next to Twilight and sat on his haunches. It was almost gut wrenching how pathetic she looked. An IV plugged into her hoof, a breather on her muzzle, a heart monitor beeping with each beat of her heart.

"Twilight...?"

She didn't respond.

It had been a strange few hours at this point. Big Mac wasn't really familiar with this mare, but that didn't mean he didn't care for her condition. It almost hurt him to stare at her in her current state, and much as he wanted to look away, he couldn't. He drew a breath, staring at her and closed his eyes.

"... Ah dunno if you can hear me.... but..."

Big Mac looked around, putting a hoof on the back of his head. "Ah... Ah aint good with words, so forgive me if this don't sound as good as Ah want it to... Ah'm gonna be honest... when y'all took Lil' Orchard... er... Smartypants from me.... well, Ah was pretty upset..."

The only response he got was the beeping of the machine.

"Heck, Ah think th' only things more painful than that were a time when Apple Bloom said she hated me, an' when mah folks passed on..." He gulped a bit, looking down at her saddlebags; they had been removed from her and set next to her bed for the sake of making things easier on her. "An'... truth be told... Ah think... Ah think that maybe... maybe fer just an instant... Ah did hate you..."

He winced a bit at the words. He hoped that if she could hear, that she wasn't drawing conclusions.

"... But... it was only an instant... because Ah remembered... Ah remembered how Ah felt t' have that doll. How much comfort she gave me, an' how much Ah felt like Ah had a friend when Ah had her 'round... an' Ah realized... that had Ah been in your shoes... Ah woulda been upset too..."

He reached his head down, pulling her saddlebags open. From them, he pulled out the doll that had started it all, and set it next to her. "She's a good friend... an' you need a good friend right now. An' Ah know that Ah don't know you very well... but Ah hope that... in spite of whatever animosity there seemed ta be between us... that maybe we can be friends too?"

Silence was all the response he got.

"Twilight... Ah know y'all can pull through this. Ya got too many ponies who need you... an' one pony who couldn't live knowin' that it was his fault that yer in this mess in the first place..."

If she heard, she certainly didn't acknowledge it.

Big Mac sighed and nodded. "Ah'm gonna go now, Twilight... Ah promise Ah'll come back t'morrow with AJ an' check on ya. An' when we come... Ah hope its with good news waitin' fer us..." Slowly, he turned, stealing one last glance at the mare, hooked up to so many machines, with a doll resting between her foreleg and her body. He gave a nod, and turned from the room, trotting out.

Left alone, Twilight lay motionless in the bed.

Then, her hoof slowly, weakly pressed the doll against her body.

A weak, tired smile crossing her face.

Rainbow Dash lay in a hospital bed, wearing a gown, staring at a wall.

"A few broken ribs... broken wing... broken foreleg... fortunately, none of the damage seems too severe, and you should be quite alright, given time, Ms. Dash."

Rainbow gave a slight nod.

"Well, that's good t' hear..." said Applejack, patting her friend's shoulder gently. "Ah was afraid that she mighta punctured a lung or somethin'..."

Doctor Stable nodded. "Just give a few weeks for the bones to mend, and you'll be right as rain, right, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. The Doctor turned, looking to Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. "I'm afraid visiting hours are over... please return to your home, or if you'd prefer, you can wait in the lobby for the night."

Applejack shook her head. "That's fine, thanks..." she turned to Rainbow, smiling. "Y'all take care now, y'hear?"

"We'll throw you and Twilight a super amazing 'get well soon' party!" shouted Pinkie.

With that, the four ponies made their way from the room, out into the hallway, and began to file out, into the lobby, then out of the hospital entirely. Big Mac was already waiting for them, and Applejack turned to the group and nodded. "Well y'all, Ah'ma head back on to th' farm. Gotta be up bright n' early t' check in on Twilight."

Rarity gave a nod. "Yes, I shall do the same. I can't even imagine what trouble my sister has been up to in her unexpectedly extended sleepover..."

With that, Rarity went her way, and the Apples another. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were left alone. Fluttershy looked at her pink friend, who simply grinned in response. The situation seemed so unbearably awkward to Fluttershy; if Pinkie agreed, she sure didn't show it. The butter mare decided to steel herself, and just say what needed to be said.

"Uhh..." said Fluttershy. "Pinkie? Mind if we talk?"

Pinkie nodded. "Sure! What's up, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy gulped a little, rubbing one forehoof over another, trying to pick the words as best she could. She had to tell her friend what she felt, and she couldn't bear keeping it to herself longer than she had to.. "You asked me about having crushes... in the woods... and I wanted to say something..." She took a deep breath, and decided to get it all out at once.

"Pinkie Pie, I'm not interested in you in that way but I still want to be friends please don't hate me!"

It fell quiet for a few seconds. A few agonizing seconds that seemed like an eternity to Fluttershy. 'She probably hates me now...' she said to herself. 'I've broken her heart, I just know it...'

And then Pinkie burst into a fit of giggles.

"Wha... what's so funny?"

Pinkie fell to her back. "Y... you thought I was talking.... that I meant...!!" Immediately, she sat back up, blushing and smiling. "N-not that there's anything wrong with you! You're a great mare, pretty and friendly! It's just... I don't think you and I would work, silly!" To emphasize her point, she held a hoof out. "I'm a hyperactive, fun and games party pony!" She held the other out. "And you're reserved and shy! It'd be like a horrible sitcom!"

Fluttershy let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Oh, thank goodness... I was so worried..."

Pinkie smiled and nodded. "Besides, I'm currently seeing somepony!"

Fluttershy gasped. "Wh... really?"

Pinkie nodded. Then, she let out a gasp. "Oh my goodness! I forgot to tell Pokie Pierce I was going camping! He probably has NO idea what Gummy is doing in his house! Gotta go, see ya later Fluttershy, bye!" With that, Pinkie bounced away.

"Hehe, Fluttershy thinking I had a crush on her... wait 'til Rainbow hears about this!"

All was quiet at the Apple family table; quieter than usual.

BIg Mac and Applejack's late arrival was not entirely unforseen by Granny Smith, who had kept an eye on the Crusaders all day (as much as an elder mare might if she spent a lot of time sleeping), and she had even prepared a nice meal for them to return home to. However, she could sense something was amiss between her grandchildren.

Applejack was eating a bit slower than she was normally prone to; especially when it was such a good meal! She seemed to be taking precise, almost careful bites of her food instead of practically enhaling it. Big Mac, though always silent, was especially quiet at this point, and every once in a while, Granny noticed he'd turn his head to look out the nearby window, towards the direction of the town.

Neither of them had told anything about their trip.

"Ah'll take it by th' silence somethin' went horribly wrong?" Everypony looked towards Granny; including Apple Bloom, who then turned to look at her siblings. "What went wrong?"

Applejack shook her head. "Well... things coulda gone better, but Ah don't think Ah got it in me t' recount all th' trouble jus' yet..." The way she said it was tired, anxious even. It was the sort of way Applejack talked when she had a lot on her mind and no idea what to do about it.

Big Mac just nodded; which was very unverbal, even by his standards.

Granny Smith hummed. "Y'all didn't give inta those nasty rumors about our family an' curiosity an' experiment on one another didja?"

Applejack and Big Mac both turned towards Granny, jaws falling wide open and faces turning red. Redder in the case of Big Mac. "Granny Smith!" shouted Applejack. "How could y'all say such a thing!? And fer yer information, no! Never! Not in a thousand years!" Big Mac's jaw worked soundlessly, unsure if he should say 'eeyup' or 'nope', uncertain if the reaction might be misinterpreted.

"What? How would Applejack experiment with Big Mac?" said Apple Bloom. "Ah didn't know y'all were science types!"

"Uhh, yeah that's what she means..." said Applejack, biting her lip, hating that she had to lie to her little sister, even if it was for her own good. "Jus' forget what she said an' finish yer meal, Apple Bloom..." Applebloom huffed and continued to eat.

"Ah'm an' old mare, Applejack. Ah don't care what Ah say no more" said aformentioned old mare in a very matter-of-fact way. "If'n y'all didn't do th' forbidden deed, then what's got yer cows all up in a bunch? Ah aint seen so much tension since yer daddy found out yer mama was with foal an' they weren't even married! Th' Oranges wanted t' keep her an' Big Mac with 'em an' raise 'em without their... what'd they call 'em...?" Granny tapped a hoof to her chin. "Oh yeah! Mud-wallowin' hillbilly trash daddy!"

Everypony fell silent.

"...Ah'm a bastard...?" said Big Mac, jaw agape.

"Psh, naw!" Granny waved a hoof, chuckling. "Yer pa married yer ma before y'all were born. Proposed to 'er th' night he found out she was pregnant!"

Big Mac frowned. "... Ah always imagined our folks havin' been a bit more romantic than that..."

Granny smirked. "Well, they was romantic alright! Ah caught 'em bein' romantic once or twice in th' barn! Buuut in his defense, yer pa was gonna propose anyway. Findin' out Clementine was carryin' you only sped things up a bit."

"Alright, too many bad images in mah head..." interrupted Applejack.

"Question stands. What the hay happened in yer lil' trip? If'n y'all don't talk now, Ah'ma jus' gonna bug ya 'bout it t'morrow."

Applejack and Big Mac exchanged glances. They knew if they forgot about it for now, she most likely would too. Tempting as it was, neither of them had it in them to take advantage of their granny's lack of memory.

"Well... it started off a good trip...." began Applejack.