Curtains flapped slowly by a gentle wind, and their shadows moved along the wall with a gentle light, illuminating the room. A beep echoed from the infusion pump next to the bed where Rainbow Dash slept, its constant pulsing a morbid tune that filled this room with its unappealing music.

Rainbow Dash let out a tiny moan and opened her eyes, shielding her eyes from the natural light from outside. ‘Uhh… what happened?’ She raised an eyebrow at the sensation of a soft cloth-like feeling over her body. She looked down and saw bed sheets over her.

Rainbow lifted the covers up and noticed a green gown underneath that shifted slightly against her fur coat. “Umm… okay? Am I in a hospital?” She stood still for a moment and went back to the sound of her voice. ‘W-why does it sound so weak?’ She then brought a hoof to her muzzle and felt something rest against her hoof. She didn’t feel her fur, but some kind of plastic tubing around her muzzle. ‘Wh-why do I need this?’

Rainbow groaned as she tried to sit upright. She gasped at a sudden pain that rose up in her chest. “W-what’s… going on?” As she laid down on her back again, the pain slowly began to fade, though she could still feel it lingering in the depths of her nerves.

Carefully she pulled the collar up to see why her chest was in so much pain. Rainbow shook slightly at the sight of a large scar stretched across below where her heart was. “Wait… was this because of--” She flinched at the reminiscent scream she heard in her head, that horrible creature and its terrible eyeless gaze.

She shuddered at the thought; now at least she knew what was behind this pain. “I… can’t believe what it did to me.” Rainbow’s words, the ones she had uttered before about how easy it would be to beat this monster, were all a farce. It had in fact shown her up and proved her wrong; a flaw in her own train of thought she had only begun to see now, too late. “Wow… I feel like an idiot…”

The door opened, and hid underneath her covers until she sighed and saw that it was just the doctor opening the door. “Good morning, Miss Rainbow Dash.” He smiled at her. “I’m Doctor Needle Pin. I was the pony who oversaw your surgery and will be watching over your recovery.”

Rainbow nodded and looked away from the stallion. “So… how bad was it, doc? My injuries… how bad are they?”

Needle Pin sighed and adjusted the glasses on his nose. “Well… Rainbow Dash, it is not easy to say this. But you were severely damaged by whatever happened in your accident.”

She flinched at the word “severe.” “And… how severe are they?”

“Well, Rainbow Dash. We were able to fully heal your liver and colon, so you do not have to worry about them. And you don’t need to fret about your trachea either, for that has also been restored as well.” He paused in his explanation, blinking once before he continued, “However… your lungs were another case altogether.”

“M-my… lungs?” Rainbow rested a hoof gently against her chest. “What happened to them?”

“Whatever attacked you, Rainbow Dash--The rest of the staff and I still have no idea what it was--damaged your lungs, which, when you arrived, had you in a very severe condition. We were able to heal your lungs, but only to a certain extent. And due to this… we have come to a conclusion on your condition.”

“Condition?”

“Yes… due to the severity and extent of the damage. We’ll be putting you on a prescription. From the day you leave this hospital you shall take this bronchodilator for your asthma.” Needle Pin levitated a small case onto her stomach.

She opened it up and looked at the small tube. ‘W-what…?’ Her pupils shrunk as she picked it up, and each breath she took slowly devolved to erratic takes of air.

“Easy there, Rainbow Dash. It’s just like a normal inhaler if a pony has asthma. However, this does mean that you can’t survive without it.” Rainbow turned her attention back to the doctor. “But even if you gave up flying with the Wonderbolts--we found that out--you’d still have a hard time trying to breathe without the inhaler. And if you tried to workout or fly faster than what is recommended without the inhaler, you could run the risk of suffocating.”

A silence fidgeted its way in the middle of this conversation. Rainbow Dash just stared at the inhaler on her lap. ‘S-so… that’s why I’m wearing this breathing tube…’ Rainbow shivered at what she was being told.

“However, once you take this inhaler--and remember to take it for every four hours of each day--everything will be almost like normal.” Needle Pin chuckled, but another bout of quiet tension ensued. He cleared his throat. “Well… I should let you get some rest. You need all the sleep you can get to help you recover quickly.” With that, he stepped out and shut the door.

The beeping of the infusion pump regained a disturbing authority over the room once more. Rainbow Dash shook while she listened to its constant pulses. ‘I… I don’t know what to say… h-how is this…’ She hiccuped as tears slowly broke through that immense dam that held her emotions. They flowed down her muzzle like gentle streams on a spring morning day. ‘I… can’t believe this…’ She began to see how close she had been to death. And how much that gap could have closed further if her friends had not brought her back to the hospital in time.

Yet this was all too much for her to handle. Rainbow Dash, a mare known for having a steel brace on her emotions, had finally broken down. This was just too close of a call for her to handle properly. Rainbow Dash rested her head against the pillow, sniffling and quietly sobbing. The only solace she could find at the moment was to let the world disappear in the warmth of sleep. Her cries began to slowly dim, and soon she cried no more, slowly lulled into the gentle embrace of sleep that could only save ponies like her from their dire situation.

She opened one eye and saw the hospital room again. She yawned and scratched her back. ‘How long have I been asleep?’ Rainbow swiveled an ear to a faint cry in the direction of her hospital room door. “W-what’s going on?” She listened in, but no other noise resonated from the outside.

“Okay… that was wei--” The cry got louder this time, and from the sound of it much closer. She turned to look around the room, only to see it disheveled: glass scattered across the floor with the windows broken out, the walls paint peeling off the walls, the floor a dark-greenish color. This could have been the end of the world, but Rainbow Dash shuddered, having no clue to what was going on. “I-is anypony there?”

Rainbow froze at the sound of a screech, the same terrifying roar of that monster. “O-oh no…” She heard hoofsteps in the hallway, glad to hear that another pony was coming her way. “H-hey! Please I need help, I--” The roar of the creature echoed in the hall. Its heavier footsteps caught up to the pony, followed by the gut-wrenching scream of a stallion. His horrified yelling intermingled with the creature’s in a disturbing and unsettling way.

She hid underneath the covers, shaking uncontrollably at the pitiful sounds of the stallion crying for help; those cries she knew were possibly directed at her. She tried to cover her ears, but the sound of ripping flesh and bones crunching were almost deafening and overwhelmed her senses. ‘J-just stay calm… -j-just stay c-calm…’ The stallion’s voice died out, and the sound of flesh being torn from the bones quickly followed after.

Rainbow continued to shake where she sat. She pulled the covers down below her eyes, daring to take a peek and see if she was safe. She stood still at the sound of the creature’s footsteps as they got closer and closer. Quickly she pulled the covers over her again. Closer and closer they got to her door. She did her best to remain absolutely still. ‘I-if it doesn’t see me move… then I’m in the clear, right?’ The door slowly creaked open as the creature stepped into her room, its growl echoing in the room.

Quietly as she could, Rainbow breathed in and out and just sat as still as possible. The footsteps slowly moved to the right of the room, its tail crashing against parts of the glass still on the window. She let out a tiny squeak and covered her mouth, but the creature let out a hiss and its footsteps came closer to the bed. Rainbow held her breath as she felt the hot breath of the monster hit the covers above her. ‘Pl-please… just go away…’

The monster’s hot breath left the right side of her covers; the echo of its footsteps began to slowly leave the right side of her bed. Rainbow let out a silent exhale. Suddenly, it screamed again and ripped the covers over top of her away. She tried to back away, but the claws of the creature pushed her to the bed. She cried out at the sight of its eyeless face once more, opening its jaws as it roared at her again. Rainbow saw a flash of movement to her right and watched as the tail soared straight towards her. The darkness returned, and she felt nothing again. Her breath left her for what she felt was the last time, and the shadows of this dark realm overtook her once more.

“Gwaahhh!” Rainbow screamed and sat upright, panting heavily, her frantic breaths of air echoing in the air tube on her muzzle. She scanned the room and saw the room as normal as could be. ‘B-but how… it was completely in ruins only moments ago.’ She yelped and quickly laid on her back, her chest pulsing with pain. ‘D-did I get up too quickly?’ She slowly sat back up, her chest still vibrating slightly with the sensations of that terrible stinging.

“This is just the worst,” Rainbow muttered to herself. She froze as the door clicked open. She screamed again and hid underneath her covers, the visions of that dream from moments ago invading her thoughts. ‘Please don’t let me die. Please, dear goddess, don’t let me die…’

“Rainbow Dash… are you alright?” Rainbow sat still. Slowly she lifted the covers off her head and saw Dr. Needle Pin standing in the doorway. “I heard screaming, and I just came here to make sure you were okay.”

She sat there for a moment, catching her breath before she spoke. “Y-yeah… I’m fine…” He nodded, once to her and once out to the hallway, and walked off.

She raised an eyebrow at the random signal. More hoofsteps echoed in the hall, so she laid down again. ‘So… that’s why he nodded. Who’s here though?’ Rainbow smiled when she saw her friends walk through, yet they wore frowns and stared at her with slightly wide eyes. She looked from the left and saw Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Twilight.“Umm… is everypony doing okay?”

The bed shifted slightly; Rainbow felt a warm presence on her chest. She looked down and smiled faintly at the sight of Fluttershy, who had wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash. “I-I-I was so, so w-worried that you weren’t okay… that y-you were g-gone…” Fluttershy murmured quietly, her soft crying muffled by Rainbow’s shoulder.

“We were all worried.” Twilight stepped forward and walked to the end of Rainbow’s bed. “After we saw what the Xenomorph did… what it was capable of… we feared that you wouldn’t make it.”

“Xenomorph? Is that what that… freak is being called now?” Rainbow Dash shuddered slightly, still holding Fluttershy in her forelegs.

“Yes… or that is what we learned when we found an alien’s ship.” Rainbow’s eyes slightly widened at the information Twilight was telling her. “Rarity, Pinkie Pie and I found it after an hour of searching the Everfree. Unfortunately, we didn’t know what was happening over on your end…”

Rarity nodded after Twilight spoke. “Truly, if we had known, then you and Applejack would not have gotten hurt the way you did.”

Rainbow sat still and gently pushed Fluttershy off of her. “Applejack… is she alright? What happened to her?”

“Applejack will be fine,” Twilight said. “She… wasn’t as severely injured as… well... you.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Yeah… such a smart mare I am.”

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity asked while she walked to the right side of the injured pegasus.

“The only reason I’m hurt this badly is because I wanted to fight the Xenomorph… although you can imagine now how well that went.”

“But you saved my life, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy smiled, tears still welled up in her eyes. “I-If it weren’t for you… then I wouldn’t be here right now. I’d be… well, I-I would have p-passed on…” She flinched at the word “passed on.”

“She’s right, Rainbow.” Pinkie bounced to Fluttershy’s side and wrapped a hoof around her shoulders. “If it weren’t for your bravery, then we could’ve lost Fluttershy. Then everypony would be sad…” She frowned, her mane deflating a little.

“The point is…” Rainbow then returned her attention to Twilight. “Even if your actions were… not as calculated as you wished them to be, you still managed to save Fluttershy, even at the peril of your own life.” Twilight walked over next to Rarity and smiled. “And we couldn’t be any happier about your survival.” Rainbow felt the warmth from Twilight, who wrapped her hooves around her neck.

She budged again as Rarity, followed by Pinkie Pie, joined in on their group hug. They stayed like that for moments, a little event that Rainbow cherished in these dark times. “Thanks, guys…” Rainbow murmured and rested her head against Fluttershy’s.

“Excuse me…” The girls looked up to see a Royal Guard pony standing at the doorway. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but there is a message from the mayor of Ponyville addressed to all of you.”

Twilight broke away from the group and walked over to the guard. She levitated the envelope in front of her, tore the seal with her magic and unfolded the letter. “Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, I am in dire need of you and the girl’s assistance.” She raised an eyebrow but continued on. “There has been an… ‘accident’ here in Ponyville. Something that has not happened in a very long time.”

“An accident? But what could she possibly mean?” Rarity asked Twilight as she and the other girls separated from each other.

“I… have no idea. Mayor Mare didn’t say what this is about.” Twilight looked to her friends with a frown until she returned to the letter. “Please, hurry back to Ponyville. Your faithful servant, Mayor Mare.”

“So… guess you will all be off then, huh?” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head.

“Afraid so, dear.” Rarity nodded. “But don’t worry. We’ll make visits up to Canterlot every now and then.”

“Alright then. I’ll see you all sometime later then, right?” Rainbow smiled when her friends nodded. “Okay… just be careful, alright? You already know the mistake I made…” A light flashed briefly. Rainbow looked up and her grin brightened at the sight of books floating in front of her. She grabbed them from a magenta aura and sighed at the sight of Daring Do on top of these covers. Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight who smiled back. “Thanks, Twilight.”

The four girls walked out of the room, the door closed with a quiet ‘clack’, and Rainbow was left alone. She opened up the first book, but as she focused on the story in front of her, she couldn’t help but shudder at the peril her friends would be going through. ‘I… I just hope they’ll all be alright in the end of this… and that they give that freak one for me.’

The beep of an infusion pump echoed in another room; its eerie pulse took over the room as well in a hauntingly unsettling tone. Applejack rested her head on the pillow, her eyes closed while she gently breathed in. She had her hooves crossed over her stomach, her chest slowly rising up and down. She opened her eyes and looked out the window.

The gentle morning rays of light poured through her window, and the curtains flapped in the soft breeze. She smiled, faintly so at the sight before her. ‘Feels ‘bout right. Ah… feel like I’m right at home.’ Yet this wasn’t home. Applejack knew that. This was just the hospital in Canterlot; she was far away from her farm. Sure, they made it feel welcoming, but this was no countryside like she was used to.

“Well… I, uh, guess I should be a lil’ bit happy. Even though I do enjoy my work on the farm, it can get tiresome.” She would never truly admit this to anypony, but sometimes work on the farm got a little boring. She chuckled a little. “I just hope my family ain’t missin’ me too much.” She could picture Apple Bloom fretting over where she could be. Of course Big McIntosh and Granny Smith were probably not as worried, but she knew they’d be a little concerned.

“Then again… I’m glad they ain’t found out about what’s happened. What’s happened to me.” Applejack turned her gaze to the cast that held her right foreleg. She shuddered; she could still feel where the tail had gone through her shoulder and the presence of that monster that had stood over her. Ready to kill her without any form of mercy. It had to be sheer luck that she made it out of that terrible situation with her life; it just had to be.

“It was going to kill me…” Her eyes slightly widened at the word she had used. “Kill”. That was never a normal word she would use in her vocabulary. Even her friends had barely uttered words like that. ‘Th-then… why are these words appearin’ now?’

She sat up at the sound of her door opening with a click. The doctor from earlier last night walked in with a smile. “Good morning, Applejack.”

“Hey there, doc.” Applejack greeted him with a smile. “How’s it goin’?”

“Well, everything is fine, Applejack. Just wanted to check on how you were doing.” Needle Pin flipped a piece of paper over his clipboard, looking at another one. “And you have company this morning.”

‘Company?’ She felt like she should have known who would appear, yet she wasn’t so sure about the feeling. “And who might that be?”

“They’ll be coming in shortly. And the ponies say they’re Apples from Sweet Apple Acres. They’ll be in momentarily.” He backed out of the room and closed the door.

Applejack blinked as she sat in the bed. “Well… that’s at least a good thing, right?” Of course it was, and she knew that. But she felt her stomach churn slightly, uneasy on how this would go. ‘Ah… guess I’ve just never wanted them ta see me like this. How am I goin’ to explain this to them?’ She could explain where they went and that Princess Celestia sent them on an investigation to find something that an eyewitness described. But still, even if when she was ordered to lie, could she really lie to her family?

The door opened up again with a creak. Applejack looked up only to flinch as two hooves wrapped around her waist. She smiled and ran a hoof through her little sister’s mane. Applejack lifted her sister’s chin with a hoof; her eyes met Apple Bloom’s own, filled with tears. “Hey there, Apple Bloom,” Applejack murmured softly, nuzzling her younger sister’s muzzle.

“I… I’m so glad that yer okay,” Apple Bloom replied into Applejack’s shoulder, sniffling a little.

Applejack looked up to see the door open again and the rest of her family enter. “We’re all glad that yer alright, young’un’.” Granny Smith smiled while she slowly walked into the room. Followed by her big brother, Big Macintosh, whose tear-filled eyes gave away that the stallion must have felt the same relief that Apple Bloom was showing.

She nodded, still retaining her smile. “Ah’m glad y’all came here. Although I didn’t want yah ta see me like this--injured both physically and my pride.” But even with what she said, Applejack still felt glad that she was alive.

“We’d rather have yah alive than somewhere else. Seein’ as how hurt you are,” Granny Smith said. She leisurely sat down on a chair in the corner of the room. “Last night, of all nights, we had a messenger come along from the Canterlot palace tellin’ us that our dear Applejack was injured and in need of medical treatment.” She shook slightly. “Nearly rattled the soul out of my body hearin’ such news.” Granny Smith then gestured to Macintosh and Apple Bloom. “Nopony back at the farm could get a good night’s sleep after the news. Afraid that we mighta lost ya.”

“E-eeyuup.” Big Macintosh nodded, rubbing his eyes with his right hoof to stem the tears that trickled down his muzzle.

Applejack felt tears tumble down her face. She already knew that they cared for her, but to see them at such a weak state in their own reaction towards her near death experience, she felt all the more comfortable about this process. ‘Still… Ah don’t like how that critter’s runnin’ about. Scares the livin’ daylights outta me.’ And yet, when she looked to Granny Smith, she saw a gleam of relief in her eyes. She knew that her grandmother would not show much emotion, but she knew she was worried for her all the same.

“We heard about Rainbow Dash too when they brought us the message. Before we left Ponyville, Apple Bloom visited her friend Scootaloo and told her the news. Poor dear was in such a mess when we last saw her,” Granny Smith said, turning her gaze out to the morning sun. “We never did hear what attacked yah two. But from the sound of it, it was quite a nasty mess.” She glanced to Applejack and asked, “What in tarnation happened?”

‘Oh no…’ This was the moment that Applejack had been dreading. How could she tell them without letting Princess Celestia down? She knew that they were family, and family never lied to one another. Yet they could not know what attacked her. ‘But… I’m the bearer of the Element of Honesty. How can I not lie?’ She just had to figure out a way, one that would insure that Apple Bloom, Big McIntosh, and Granny Smith would never discover what she and Rainbow Dash were attacked by.

“It’s alright if yah don’t want ta talk about it, Applejack,” Granny Smith assured her with a smile. “We just hope yah would let us know so we can help yah.”

Applejack looked down and closed her eyes while she contemplated the words she should use. “Thanks… I’m glad y’all could understand.”

Granny Smith opened her eyes and let out a quiet breath. “I’m just glad yer alright, Applejack. I wouldn’t know what we’d do without yah.”

Applejack smiled at the comment. She was just glad to be alive and not killed like those poor Royal Guards. She felt a hoof tap her shoulder and looked down to Apple Bloom. “Are yah gonna be able to come back today?” Her younger sister smiled with a gleam of hope in her eyes.

Applejack shook her head. “Afraid not, Apple Bloom. The doctors here need me ta stay just one more day. They’ll release me tomorrow, if that makes yah feel any better.”

The filly nodded her head. Tears slowly trickled down her muzzle before she hugged Applejack again. “Well… best be off then.” Granny Smith got up from her chair while she spoke. “We’ll let yah get some rest.” She smiled to her granddaughter before nodding to the other two. “Come on y’all. Let’s get a move on.”

Applejack waved to her family as they walked out the door, who waved back to her until the door closed shut behind them. With a heavy sigh, Applejack rested her head against the pillow on the bed, closing her eyes and gently breathing in. ‘Maybe Princess Celestia might let me tell them about the--’ Her eyes widened, pupils shrinking. ‘Oh no… they’re heading back to Ponyville. I gotta…’ She let out a sigh, a faint smile on her lips. ‘Right… they trapped the monster. There’s no need to get yer mane in a bunch then.’ It still did not feel right to let them leave without knowing about the creature. But Applejack obeyed her princesses’ wishes, and hoped that they would find some way to get rid of that monstrous Xenomorph.

Author's Notes:

Here's another updated chapter. Hope you like the changes!