Medical Procedures

Spitfire tossed and turned in her sleep, unable to fully drift off to dreamland. How could she, especially with the ideas roaming around within her mind? An image even conjured itself forth, only to help her feel that much more depressed. It was of Twilight and Rainbow Dash, together, holding each other tenderly.

She lifted her frame up, and as she did, she also pushed the black and white blanket off from her head. Her messy mane was slicked back slowly by both hooves, but they remained laying on top. She thought for a moment in this position, looking down, and with such a stern face, too.

“Zecora?” she asked. The pegasus leaned over the railing to gaze down at the bottom bunk, which happened to be a hammock unlike her’s which was an actual bed, and asked, “You think this will ever be fixed?”

The zebra got up, but didn’t answer straight away. Instead, she simply walked a couple steps away, held her own head, and thought about this for a second or two. “Depends,” she finally began. “Your case is a nasty one, I can tell you that much. As for your answer, I have none. We’ll just have to proceed with a delicate touch.”

Spitfire jumped down, off of her bunk, and stared at her assistant blankly. “Why help me?”

The question almost made Zecora frown. “That’s what friends do. Besides, I don’t enjoy seeing such a beautiful, and rather orange pony like you be blue.”

They stared at one another for the longest time, neither one feeling at all sure of themselves. “But, you’re deceiving Twilight, and Rainbow in a way, right? They're your friends, too. Am I that much more important?”

Zecora finally developed a disheartened look of her own, and peered off to the left. “It’s just… you’re in true love, and I can see this. Twilight and Rainbow’s affection is a false one, filled with enchanted bliss. It’s not right, and unlike them, I have no fog in my sight.”

Spitfire nodded. “Then, you’re like me. The enchantment movement for medical advancement, it never did seem appropriate, did it?” Zecora sadly shook her head. “Just making sure, then… I mean, you house me, feed me, and let me stay here as compared to the Wonderbolt’s old hide-out, which is crap by the way. I was just curious.”

Zecora’s hoof rose. “About what? I’d never leave a friend like you in a rut.”

Spitfire had started to turn around, but hearing this made her look back at the mare’s pleasing smile. Then, she smiled as well. Without the slightest clue as to how she’d thank Zecora for all her kindness, Spitfire merely trotted forth, and hugged her with little regret.

It was a long hug, too; one that must’ve lasted at least a good couple of minutes, but even as she started to loosen her grasp, Spitfire just wanted to hold on forever, and break down. Even while holding onto another pony like Zecora for leverage, the picture of Twilight snuggling with Rainbow kept her from letting go.

Before she was able to release her rather reluctant grip, Zecora denied her the unwanted satisfaction, and returned the gesture with a tight squeeze of her own. Spitfire didn’t fight it either, and instead, gave into her darkest of emotions by collapsing to the floor, taking her close friend with her.

Tears suddenly drizzled down her reddened muzzle, and dripped freely onto Zecora’s back. As she cried, the Wonderbolt found herself asking aloud, “What’s wrong with her? I’m supposed to be with her! Not… Twilight! It’s not fair, Zecora! I saw her first.” She repeated herself, now with a much more dramatic tone, “I saw her first!”

All Zecora could do was try her best to comfort the poor mare into some sort of slumber, and in time, after several seconds of waiting, she did indeed fall asleep. Zecora placed her on the bottom hammock, and got into the upper bunk, a place she rather disliked, but only in secret.

As time ticked onward, Spitfire shot right out of her snooze, and hopped out of the sack she’d sunken quite deeply into. Only one thought remained in her mind, and that was the desperate need to see the two for herself.

The door opened rather loudly, waking Zecora up. She hopped out of bed to chase the pegasus down, but it was too late. Spitfire had already taken off for town with Zecora running close behind, yelling at the top of her lungs, “Please, you won’t enjoy what you see! Please, Spitfire! Leave them be!”

She didn’t listen, needless to say, and instead kept flying high above the Everfree trees. It only took her about half an hour to reach the center of the city, and about a minute more to remember where exactly Twilight’s home was located.

She stealthily landed next to the upstairs window on a nearby branch, and looked inside. What she saw, she’d never forget. Right there, in the bed, and wrapped around the unicorn's soft hooves like that of a life-sized doll was Rainbow Dash, snug and warm thanks to Twilight Sparkle.

“I don’t hate you, Twilight… But I’ll fix this. I’m sorry, but her love for you isn’t real, and thus, neither is yours.”

For a long time, Spitfire simply stared at the two through the blindfolds, tears once again streaming down to her chin. Everything about that sight tore a hole in her chest, right where her heart once was. Her hoof let go of the branch, and yet again, motioned her mane backwards.

She flew back to Zecora’s after that, her heart racing, and her eyes stinging thanks to the salty tears she'd created. The wind and fog of the dark forest didn't help much either. Her landing was graceful as always, but the way she tried to walk was anything but balanced.

Before her stood Zecora again, in front of the entryway, her expression blank. “Did you find happiness in this act? Or, more than likely, did it make you want to overreact?”

The zebra looked down at her guest with a displeased stare, for all Spitfire could utter was, “I’m sorry… You were right. I shouldn’t have gone. But, you should’ve seen them… They were like a tightly coiled ball, all sortsa snug… in that bed… She should be-”

“Enough!” Zecora demanded. “Come inside, child. Your mentality is anything but mild. I suggest you go back to sleep, and if you run off again, then it’s obvious that all you really want to do is weep.”

Spitfire didn’t fight it this time around, and instead, did exactly as she was told. She took the top bunk again, allowing Zecora the freedom of her preferred sleeping space. Just before drifting off, though, Spitfire mumbled, “What can I do about this?”

No answer came. Zecora ignored her companion’s question, and kept on falling deeper into her dreams. She’d had enough of her company's constant selfishness for one day, to where her views on the subject were becoming mixed. To side with Spitfire, even, was beginning to appear just as wrong as siding with Twilight and Rainbow.

Meanwhile, back at Twilight’s tree house, Rainbow was finding it hard to sleep as well. Her mind kept tracing back to Spitfire, and the day they trained together. She brought herself up from Twilight’s grasp, and sighed, waking the unicorn. “Rainbow…? What’s the matter?”

“I… just can’t sleep. I’m not entirely sure why, but I can’t stop thinking about Spitfire.”

Twilight lifted herself up along with her love, and faced her to talk for a bit. “I thought we discussed this. We’ll train you back into tip-top shape, and then everything will-”

“No, Twilight…” Rainbow averted her eyes. “It’s not that. I keep thinking about those flowers she sent me.”

Twilight questioned with a sceptical look, “What about it?”

Rainbow blinked, and then opened her mouth, but no words came out for a good moment. Then, she mumbled after pausing, “She’s never done that for any pony before, I think.”

“Done what?”

“Sent flowers to wounded recruits.” She returned her line of sight back at Twilight, and explained further in detail, “I never really noticed it until now. I’m the only pony she’s ever given flowers to. Normally, if the newbies get into an accidentor worse, hospitalizedshe would just lecture them. Sometimes, she’d even end their relationship for good by cutting them loose from the program.”

Twilight nodded acceptingly. “That’s not the case for you, though. She never even lectured you, and I remember sitting with her in the Ponyville Clinic lobby that day. She was very upset, but chose to hide it.”

Rainbow gulped before voicing, “You know I liked her more than a friend should, r-right?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes,” she said calmly. “That wasn’t much of a secret between us. But, then again, everypony probably feels the same way you did. I mean, I even sometimes fantasized about her.”

Rainbow huffed, “And… now that I’m with you, what if it turns out that she…”

“Wanted you?” Twilight finished. The two exchanged glances while remaining deep in thought. “Why else would she send you flowers special? Her liking you more than a friend should would certainly make for a better answer.”

“Or,” Rainbow began, attempting to dismiss the notion, “I’m just hallucinating, and she was just…” Her head shook as her eyes began to shut. “No, no… That doesn’t add up, not like her having a… a crush on me.”

Twilight mentioned at this time, “Which means, I could’ve stolen you away. I get where you’re coming from, and that’s why you can’t sleep.” Rainbow remained sitting before Twilight, unsure if this is all just possibilities, or the cold truth of the matter. “Rainbow?”

“Mmh?” the pegasus asked, her head held low.

“This might sound somewhat bad on my part, but you’re mine now, and there’s simply no changing that. It might be best to just… let that thought exit your mind, and replace it with the fact that; hey, I love you.” She held onto Rainbow’s shoulder with her hoof.

“Love you too, Twilight.” With a hoof of her own, she tugged the mare in, and kissed her the way she always does these days: open mouthed, and her tongue pressing past Twilight's lips, but only for a single, though passionate minute. Yet, even as they kept on kissing, Rainbow just couldn’t get Spitfire out of her head, and neither could Twilight.

Even as their kiss ended, Twilight felt obligated to mention, “I still have that bouquet down below the house, in the basement. Originally, it was upstairs.”

Rainbow smiled. “You held onto it? Why?”

“Well, it was a nice decoration.”

“But, where did you keep it before?” Rainbow asked with a curious smirk.

In response, Twilight confessed, “I had it over by the window, downstairs of course. I was a little surprised you never notice it, especially being allergic to all those tulips.”

“No way!”

“Yes, it was right in front of you, on many occasions.”

Rainbow shook her head with an odd snicker. “But, then, why didn’t I ever have an allergic reaction?”

Twilight brought a hoof to her muzzle to think, and offered, “It might be a mental thing. You know? Like, you just think you’re allergic, but considering you somehow didn't smell it, or see it, you didn't have that bad of a reaction.” She boasted further, “I must be pretty distracting for you to never realize something that important! Don’t you think?”

Rainbow started to laugh, and agreed, “Just a bit… We really should be heading to bed, though. It’s, like, really late now, and we need our sleep if I’m gonna get any training in later on.”

Despite their restlessness, Twilight knew her special somepony was beyond correct, and considered an unorthodox option. “I know of this spell… It’s not necessarily recommended, because it can give you nightmares, but it’ll put us to sleep pretty quickly.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Rainbow expressed with a bit of sorrow in her voice. “With the thought of Spitfire, and you ‘stealing me away’, as you put it, I think I’ll be having nightmares tonight one way or the other.”

There was no denying it, either. Twilight knew how Rainbow could be, and sighed with remorse showing in her voice. “Okay… Come and get into the sheets with me, and I’ll cast the spell.”

From beyond the outside fields, one could see a brief flash of light illuminating the atmosphere from upstairs. Then, everything fell silent. The only noise left in the world was the distinct sounds of strong winds howling loudly from just outside. Other than that, everything returned to harmony, but only for the time being.