The Road Ahead

     Sparkling in the sky, the stars shone like perfect pearls embroidered into a swatch of velvet the color of midnight. A breeze flowed like a clear stream, pouring through the evening air like silk. The leaves began to shudder and tremble in a crisp, melodic dance, to the tune of the sounds of the night. Luna's night enveloped the town of Ponyville, as the princess of night stood watch high above the ponies' heads.

      Sitting atop a small cottage, a butter yellow pegasus gazed forlornly into the distance, the lack of light turning her bright colors into somber shades of monochrome. The breeze stroked her mane back from her normally hidden face, and a pair of distant sea-green eyes. The night was often cause for nightmares for the shy pegasus, but recently the stars had seemed less like faraway, unfriendly strangers, but like warm friends gazing at her from the sky. Fluttershy, as she was called, had been unable to sleep, and had flown up onto the roof to be closer to them.

      Sighing, she gently floated to the ground, like a leaf falling in autumn. She began to pace. Life had thrown curve balls at her lately, and she couldn't think straight. She had begun to resent mornings, when a headache interrupted her thoughts with the force of a freight train and her throat tasted like slippery bile. She had begun to embrace Luna's nights, for it gave her time to escape and think.

      A small, white rabbit bounded up to her and gave her tail a gentle, soft yank, not painful but enough to get her attention. He looked at her with wide, worried eyes.

     "Oh, hello Angel. I'm just having some trouble sleeping. Go on back to bed, honey," Fluttershy said in a soft tone.

     Angel raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. He let out a series of varying squeaks, laced with suspicion and worry.

     "I know, I know, I have been up like this for weeks." Fluttershy reached up and rubbed her eye, feeling the bags under her eyes that were the results of sleepless nights. "I just haven't been feeling too well. I'm going to be fine. I'm sure it's just a little bug. I'll talk to Zecora about migraine medicine tomorrow. Don't worry."

     Angel sighed, and knowing there was no way to get through to her, he chirped a goodnight and bounded back into the house. Fluttershy soon tired of pacing, and flew up back on the roof. She rested her head on her crossed hooves, and her wide, pained eyes stared up at the sky. Before she could stop herself, her eyelids fluttered, and fatigue overcame her as she drifted into a restless sleep.

CRASH!

      Fluttershy awoke in a painful frenzy. She was on the ground, and an immense pain radiated through her body like a furnace. Trembling, she slowly rose up, only to feel the pain burn throughout her rib cage, and her left front leg couldn't bear any weight. When the reality of what had happened crashed down on her, she slowly began to limp towards town,the pain reverberating with every step. She fixed her mind on her goal to get to the hospital, and staggered of down the path.

     Almost delirious with pain, Fluttershy recognized the neon glowing red cross above the hospital doors. Her trembling hoof reached for the handle, then everything went black.

**********

      Light was all that Fluttershy registered as her eyes slowly opened. As she began to adjust, she registered buzzing, and beeping, and found herself surrounded by strange machines. Groggy, she realized she was wearing a thin green hospital gown, and was laying under scratchy hospital sheets. She attempted to sit up, then felt a sharp pain in her chest and had to lie down again.

     A warm chuckle emanated from the doorway. A tall stallion in a pristine lab coat trotted in, a gleaming silver stethoscope around his neck. "You'll need the remote for that." For the first time, Fluttershy noticed a bleak, grey side table with a remote on it. She picked it up, and after fiddling with the buttons, was able to adjust her bed into an upright position. The hospital's disinfectant smell filled her nose as she truly took in her surroundings.

      "You've been unconscious since we found you, so I haven't been able to properly introduce myself. My name is Dr. Bettera. We've been keeping a close eye on you since we found you on the hospital porch this morning. You've cracked a few ribs, and your leg was broken. We're preparing to put it in a cast now. May I ask how this happened?" He asked, as he began to set her leg.

     "I-I was on my roof last night, because I couldn't sleep. I've been having trouble sleeping, and I feel sick in the mornings. I guess I fell asleep on the roof, and next thing I knew I was on the ground with an intense pain in my ribs and leg, and I limped here. Next thing I knew, I was dizzy, and everything went black," Fluttershy explained. Dr. Bettera nodded, and began to set her leg in a cast.

     "Can you tell us about your symptoms in the morning?" Dr. Bettera asked, not even glancing up from the important job that occupied him.

     "Well, there have been headaches. They tend to go away after an hour or so, but I get this terrible taste of bile in my mouth, and occasionally throw up. I figured it was just some bug. Is there any medication you can give me?" Fluttershy asked.

     He looked up. "I suppose I can prescribe some painkillers for the headaches. I might have to run some tests to make sure that it isn't something serious. A nurse will come to take a blood sample soon. Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing bad."

     Fluttershy nodded, but a little tremble went through her. Needles had always frightened the shy pegasus.

     After finishing wrapping the cast, Dr. Bettera stood up and walked towards the door. "Now, Miss Fluttershy, it's best that you get some rest. The nurse will be by soon." he gave a smile and a cheerful wave, then trotted out the door.

     She sat for a long time. She desperately hoped it wasn't something serious. Her animals needed her. Dr. Bettera had said not to worry, and taking care of them would be hard enough in her current condition.

     The stress eventually got to her, and she slipped into a fitful sleep.

     A few minutes later, a cheerful pony with a starch-white nurse's cap walked into the room. Always a light sleeper, Fluttershy snapped awake instantly. "Oh, hello, Miss Fluttershy!" the kind mare beamed. "Sorry to wake you. Dr. Bettera sent me to come collect a blood sample. Don't worry, it won't hurt a bit. " The nurse removed a small cylinder from a box in her hoof. The cylinder had a needle at one end, so tiny all she could see of it was its glinting in the light. She relaxed a bit. It wasn't anything like the huge needles she had nightmares about.

     Gently, Nurse Redheart, as her name tag read, pressed the tip of the needle to Fluttershy's shoulder. Slowly, the crimson liquid filled the small cylinder, and it was over before she could register anything but the tiniest bit of pain.

     "The results will be a few hours, dear. I think there are some friends of yours in the lobby that want to see you." Nurse Redheart replaced the cylinder in the box, and left the room with a cheerful farewell.

     Fluttershy could hear commotion coming from outside the doorway, and suddenly two ponies spilled in. The purple unicorn stood up and shook her head quickly, righting her royal purple mane and quickly trotting towards the bed. She was followed by an orange earth pony mare, whom adjusted her ever-present Stetson and followed her unicorn friend to the bed.

     "Fluttershy! Are you all right? We heard what happened, so we came as fast as we could. Rarity and Rainbow Dash are feeding your animals right now. We figured all of us coming might be too much," explained the purple pony.

     "Oh, thank you Twilight. I've had a bad fall and cracked a few ribs and my leg, but I'll be fine." Fluttershy looked at her other friend. "It's so great to have you here, Applejack." She gave Applejack, the orange mare, a grateful grin. The two had been friends since childhood, when they met on market day.

     "'s fine, Sugarcube. Long as y'all are okay Ah see no cause te worry." Applejack smiled at her friend.

     "Would you keep my company while I wait for my test results, girls? I've been feeling under the weather in the mornings, so they ran some tests to see if I was ok. I'd like to have support when I get the news."

     "Of course!" Twilight assented, and she and Applejack took a seat in the worn chairs by her bed.

     The three friends talked about all manner of things, and wiled away the hours until Dr. Bettera entered the room, accompanied by Nurse Redheart. Both wore unreadable expressions, and Fluttershy would have squirmed nervously, if it hadn't hurt too much. Her stomach tied in a knot.

     Dr Bettera looked up from his clipboard. "Well, Miss Fluttershy, I have good news and amazing news. The good news is you tested negative for any sort of sickness or infection of any kind."

     Fluttershy exhaled an immense sigh of relief. "A-and the amazing news?" she stuttered nervously.

     "Congratulations! You're going to be a mother!" Nurse Redheart chirped, no longer able to hold in her ear to ear grin.

     "Beg pardon?" Applejack yelped. Fluttershy seemed to have entered a catatonic state, and Twilight was mumbling to herself and writing furiously on a scroll of parchment.

     "You're going to have a foal in about 10 months, according to our results. We'll be able to check the gender and any injuries it may have sustained during the fall in a few weeks. We'll need to keep you here for a few days, but after you heal more we'll set up an appointment."

     "A-a foal?! Oh, I've dreamed of having foals but not so soon..." Fluttershy trailed of. She was getting over her shock, and a smile tainted with worry appeared on her lips. "I don't know if I can take care of it..." she began to fret.

     "Fluttershy, we will help you in any possible way we can." Twilight took the shy pegasus' good hoof. "I promise."

     "We promise," Applejack added, and the three friends sat until the end of visiting hour, and when they left, Fluttershy slipped into a peaceful sleep, dreaming dreams of her future.