Sawblades opened the slot he had built into his door, peering out. Somepony had been banging on his door frantically for the past two minutes, and that could mean only one thing; an emergency.

Sawblades was a street doctor, the kind of pony whose job it was to take in patients and patch them up with no questions asked. He’d treated all manner of injuries in his time. Scorch marks from incendiary spells, broken bones, even a few ponies that were bleeding out completely. He was one of the best street docs in Canterlot, and you didn’t earn a reputation for being the best lightly.

Still, sometimes there came along a patient that broke his heart.

Sawblades’s eyes widened, his mind torn from the bonds of sleep as he took in the sad sight before him. The pony waiting outside of his door was none other than Sky Runner. He’d treated her for a great many broken bones and bruises over the years - the nature of her work, of course - but something about her panicked, pleading expression gave Sawblades the impression that it wasn’t her who was in trouble. Curious, his gaze crept to the barely-breathing mass on her back, and his heart dropped into his stomach.

“Come on in, quickly now.” He said, remaining calm as always as he pulled the door open. Sky dashed inside as quickly as possible, depositing the bleeding little filly on the makeshift operating table that Sawblades used for all of his clients. He looked her over, lifting her forehoof up and feeling for a pulse.
“She’s alive, but she hasn’t got much time left.” He whispered solemnly. Whirling around, he pulled over a trolley full of medical supplies, giving Shadow a second look. She was unconscious by now, barely breathing.

“You...you can save her, right?” Sky asked, panicked. “I did my best to help her, but she won’t wake up.” She was shaking wildly, her legs barely able to support her weight. Sawblades looked up at the little mare, almost in tears, and gave her a soft encouraging smile.

“I can save anypony, Sky. You know that.” He looked down at Shadow again, her breathing shallow, laboured. “Nonetheless...you might want to say goodbye...just in case.”

“No!” Sky stamped her hoof. “Come on Sawblades, I’ll pay whatever it takes! Just please, please fix her! I fucking need this!”

Sawblades held up a hoof. “Look, I’ll do my best. She’s pretty far gone, but I’ll do my best.”

Sky nodded reluctantly. “That’s really all I can ask of you. Just please make her better. I need her…”

“I know you do. Now please, step outside and wait. Clear your head. I’ll come and get you once I know something for certain.” He gave her a sympathetic smile. Sawblades had dealt with a great many panicked ponies before, and Sky’s attitude was nothing new. She loved her sister very much indeed, and she’d always done her best to take care of her. Seeing her like this...it was traumatic. The sort of thing that that pony would no doubt have a lot of difficulty recovering from.

As Sky reluctantly left the makeshift clinic, she cast one last sad look back at her little sister, before stepping out into the dark tunnel where Sawblades had made his home. The street doctor sighed, looking down at Shadow and brushing his hoof over her cheek.

“Now then, little one. Let’s see what we can do for you…” He sighed softly, pulling over a blood pack and getting to work.

Sky trotted in circles outside of Sawblades’s place, in the dark catacomb where he’d made his home. Her entire body was covered in cuts and bruises, her white back stained reddish-brown with the matted blood of her little sister. When she was certain that nopony was watching, she stopped where she stood, finally allowing herself to cry. It was near-silent as befitted a pony of her profession, just letting the tears drip down onto the cobblestone floor. She let her wings flop down by her sides, useless as they were. They hadn’t helped save Shadow, hadn’t helped her get away, and now Sky was waiting to hear whether or not her little sister would survive the night.

Without constant action to spur her onwards, a feeling of panic set in. The waiting. Sky hated waiting, especially for something so important as this. When she had been running down here, she’d at least felt that something was being done, that in some way she was working towards her sister’s safety. Now all she could do was sit there, listening at the door for all the good it did, crying and sniffling in the darkness.

It wasn’t often that Sky felt vulnerable. There were times when she was overpowered, outmatched, times when the ponies who wanted her head on a stake were stronger or smarter than she was, but she and Shadow had always had a few tricks hidden up their sleeves. In this state, this void in which she sat, Sky had nothing. She didn’t have darts that could heal the damage, didn’t know any tricks for stemming the flow of blood. She didn’t even know what to say to help Shadow feel better. She could only sit there, waiting, and it was the most horrific feeling in the whole world.

“Please be okay, Shadow.” Sky whispered to the tunnel at large. Only the distant squeaking of rats answered her, part of an uncaring, big world that wouldn’t even know that that little filly had existed, that she’d come along one day so many years ago and made Sky happier than she’d ever imagined she could be. The idea of losing her, the very thought that that little hoof might someday not be holding hers, that Sky wouldn’t be woken up in the night by a scared little filly crawling into bed and begging for somepony to cuddle with…Sky’s chest felt cold.

Even the annoying shit that Shadow did, Sky reflected on. The way she acted when she had coffee, when she’d read entries from her diary out loud to anypony who happened to be passing the tower, how she’d fill up Sky’s shower cloud with green coat dye and leave her looking silly all day long. Even that bloody horrible thing she did where she stole Sky’s good underwear and put it on top of a cloud before making her bargain for them back. Those annoying little things, her cute little giggle and that mischievous grin, they’d all become part of Sky’s life, an inseparable part of her existence that she couldn’t bear to lose. That pony, with all her quirks, all her tricks and jokes and schemes, meant the world to her.

Sky was pulled back to reality by the door opening. Sawblades stepped outside, a bloodstained apron around his neck and a rather blank expression on his face. He had that dead look of a doctor who had seen far too many ponies in conditions like Shadow’s. The dead look of a doctor who hadn’t been fast enough to save them.
A part of her brain that she wasn’t going to acknowledge told her that there was nothing that Sawblades need say. Nevertheless, she met his gaze, shaking like a leaf.
“We...well? Is she gonna be okay?”

Sawblades put a hoof on her shoulder, opening his mouth to tell her the results of his hasty operation. However, when he spoke, his voice was faded, sounding as if it was muffled beyond comprehension.
“Um...sorry?” Sky asked, narrowing her eyes and perking her ears. Perhaps it was panic preventing her from focussing properly.

Sawblades opened his mouth again, but nothing came out except the same unintelligible mumbling. Sky could see his lips forming the words, could tell that he was speaking clearly, but it was as if he were talking through a pillow. No matter how loudly or clearly he tried to speak, no matter how he tried to explain what had happened, the words simply wouldn’t come clearly. Sky tried to push past him to see her, and he stood in her way, stalwart.

“Sawblades, get out of the way. Let me see her.” Sky said weakly, trying her best to get around him. The street doc, a big heavy earth pony, shook his head and kept standing in her way.

“Come on Sawblades, this isn’t funny. I need to see her. Get the hell out of my way.” Sky’s voice was cracking, overridden by panic.
Why the hell isn’t he letting me see her? I’ve got to see her. No...no, don’t take her away from me…

The pony shook his head again, and Sky completely lost it. She started pounding his chest with her soft, weak forehooves, screaming at him.
“LET ME SEE HER!” She begged, tears streaming down her face. Her mind screamed at her that her worst fears had been realised, but she defied it as strongly as she could, “I NEED TO SEE HER AGAIN, SAWBLADES! PLEASE! PLEEEASE!” Her legs were shaking, her vision growing blurry as she glared at him with a mix of desperation and fury.
Don’t do this...don’t fucking do this...don’t keep me from her…I need her...
As Sky glanced through the gap between Sawblades and the doorway, trying to see the operating table, the lamp that hung above it glowed brighter. The young filly was enveloped by the light, which now filled the entire room, shining past Sawblades and blinding Sky for a few moments. She squinted through it, trying to see her little sister again, but there was nothing now but flickering silhouettes.
“Wait, what’s happening? What the fuck’s happening? Sawblades, get out of the fucking way! Sky panicked, redoubling her efforts to try and get inside.
No...she can’t be leaving...hold on Shadow, I’m coming…
“Sis? SIS!” Sky screamed, as the world began to dissolve around her. Even Sawblades was more incorporeal now, becoming ghostly, consumed by the light like everything else. Sky, screaming, crying, sobbing and trying her best to find her little sister, was left alone in a great white void.

Moonlight crept through the window and fell on Sky’s face, and the little pony scrunched her snout and woke up.

Pain shot up through her body as she got up. She took a second to check her hooves before the events of the previous afternoon came back to her. The chase with that ridiculously resilient unicorn, the bruising that both she and Shadow had taken, her little sister’s concussion…

And the mess with Sawblades...that was just a nightmare. A scarily detailed and familiar nightmare, but unreal nonetheless. Sky couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. The idea of that little pony getting hurt was painful in of itself. She’d had her in her life for so long, that life without her was unimaginable.

However, the events of the day before still nagged at her mind, and she felt compelled to check on Shadow. She had to know for sure that she was okay. After all, she hadn’t woken up since Sky had brought her home. Sky limped out of her room, heading over to Shadow’s bedroom and peeking inside.

The little filly was laying there, her breathing soft and quiet, a dozen bruises on her body caught in the moonlight. Sky couldn’t help but crack a little smile as she looked at her little sister, trotting forward and nuzzling her.
“I know I don’t say this enough, but you’re a special little pony to me.” She whispered. “All the arguments we have, the pranks we play. They don’t mean anything. I don’t know how I’d be able to live without you, sweetie.”

Shadow lay there on her back, her big wings splayed out on either side of her as she sighed in her sleep. She was certainly unconscious, but she gave the tiniest excited little flutter as she heard her big sister’s voice.

“I don’t think it’d be a good life, though.” She admitted, putting a hoof up on Shadow’s cloud-bed and nudging her. “You kinda...bring a lot to it. You’re kinda the only pony I really talk to. You’re sweet and brave and you’re...well...not just my sister. You’re my best friend too.”

And with that, Sky rested her head on the bed next to Shadow, nudging her with her soft fluffy nose.

“Si...sis?”

Sky’s ears perked, and she looked up at the little filly. “Ye...yeah?”

“You can stop being a sappy bitch now.” Shadow smiled, cracking an eye open and fixing her gaze on her elder sibling.

Sky felt a massive grin playing about her features, and when Shadow reached out for a hug, she picked her up and held her close, squeezing her tightly and refusing to let go. The younger pony made a noise that you could only recreate by treading on a rubber duck.

Shadow struggled for a moment, beating her wings to try and get free, but as she looked down at Sky, she saw a pony who loved her very much indeed, who’d been unable to sleep properly for worrying about her so much, who’d been willing to cry her heart out by her bedside, ecstatic to see her again. It was one of those rare moments when Shadow’s expression softened a little, and she settled for nuzzling her instead.

“It’s okay, sis.” She whispered quietly, hugging her back. “I’m fine...it’s okay.”

“I know.” Sky nodded, squeezing her. “I just...I was scared.”

“Come on, it takes more than a charging hippo in a unicorn costume to fuck me up.” Shadow grinned confidently.

“Yeah...I guess we can add it to the list of shit we shouldn’t have survived, huh?”

“Exactly.” Shadow stopped beating her wings, wrapping them around her sister instead. “Sky?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, kid.”

And as the two of them hugged in the moonlight, both little ponies couldn’t help but ruminate on what they’d almost lost. Sky had been scared for her own life, but the idea of losing Shadow made her sick. However, as she felt her little sister’s soft fur against her own, she sighed with quiet relief. She could travel the whole of Equestria and all four corners of the globe, but no matter how she tried, she’d never be able to replace Shadow.

After all, there was no better little sister in the whole wide world.