A Rainbow Colored Heart

Okay guys I wanted yo give you all a heads up. This Chapter is a HUGE character development chapter, therefore, this chapter does not contain as many pony scenes as you may like. HOWEVER, this chapter is beneficial to the story so if you you TRULY enjoy this story please read on, but if not, sorry to disappoint.

ALSO I stuck a little reference in the chapter, if you can guess what it is you win respect points from me.

I awoke early the next day, feeling unusually better than normal, as if I had finally gotten a decent night’s sleep for once. My head was lying on the familiar blue pillow, my body covered by the white bed sheets. I felt a small steady breath against my chest reminding me of the events that had aspired the previous night. I pulled back the covers revealing the familiar blue pegasus now wrapped in my arms like a teddy bear. I removed my arms from around the small pony, leaning up to look out the window as I supported my body with one of my arms. The storm had passed, and whatever was left of the rain was now turning to ice.

“Another cold one” I muttered.

I turned to face Rainbow Dash who was still asleep and didn’t seem to notice that I wasn’t holding her in my arms anymore. She looked so peaceful, her smile warmed my heart immensely and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. A light scent suddenly caught my attention breaking the trance the young mare had out me in. I knew that smell anywhere; bacon.

I slowly got up from bed, taking care not to disturb Rainbow Dash as I covered her body with the sheets, watching as she shifted underneath to get herself more comfortable.  I couldn’t help but smile as I walked away from the bed and out towards the kitchen finding Matthew in front of the stove, bacon sizzling in front of him. He turned to me as I approached the kitchen table.

“Morning Star Shine” he greeted; his voice definitely caring a clearer tone to it.

“Someone’s feeling better” I stated.

“Much. Fluttershy’s soup did wonders for whatever crap was getting to me yesterday”

“Same here” I said as I yawned.

Taking note of this Matthew chuckled. “Didn’t get much sleep last night?”

“I slept fine, no thanks to your loud ass snoring”

He chuckled flatly as he continued to poke at the bacon strips in front of him.

I looked around the room, noticing Applejack or Fluttershy hadn’t woken up yet (which was probably for the better since I hadn’t gotten around to explaining meat to Rainbow Dash or the others yet).

“So, I heard your concert last night” Matthew joked making me hide my face in my arms which in turn made Matthew laugh harder. “What was that singing for anyway?” he asked.

I looked away avoiding the question, knowing I would be made fun of again if I told him why, besides, odds are Rainbow Dash hadn’t told a lot of people about her fear.  I remained in silence hoping in the back of my mind that he would somehow forget what he just asked me.

“Well?” he pressed dashing whatever hope I had of avoiding the topic.

“It’s complicated” I argued which finally seemed to make him back off. For some reason I just did not want to explain what I was feeling; not until I understood it at least.

Matthew had cooked up enough bacon for the both of us. In a way, it was sort of my alarm clock in the mornings; I guess my stomach would think before my brain in the mornings. Sitting down across from me Matthew placed two plates of carrying a pile of scrambled eggs, and three strips of bacon on each; it was the only thing Matthew could cook from scratch.

“So, you and Rainbow Dash, what’s going on there?” Matthew pressed on and he lifted a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

I dropped my fork out of irritation making it fall onto the plate making a distinct clank sound. “I thought I made it clear I wasn’t going to talk about it!”I said raising my voice probably louder than I should of.

“Hard to ignore when I found you sleeping in her bed this morning” he argued with a smirk and a raise of his eyebrows.

I was lost for words. I didn’t know whether to ignore him or deck him across the face. I ran a hand through my hair putting it to the back of my mind as I shook my head, I wasn’t about to put up with Matthews trolling, at least not this early in the morning and he knew I was irritated, I could see in his face that he wasn’t about to start something intentionally. We sat there for half an hour in silence as we ate our food, neither wanting to say a word that would set the other off. It wasn’t often the two of us would get at each other’s throat.

Taking a breath of courage Matthew finally spoke “Seriously, what do you think of her?” his voice calm, collected. It was a side of Matthew rarely seen, under his joking demeanor; he was truly like a brother to me, caring, kind, and often, protective.

I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and middle finger, running it over my mouth taking what Matthew had just asked me into consideration. In many ways Rainbow Dash had become more than just a friend to me. Even in the small amount of time that I had known her she had grown on me, and after the previous night’s incident, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Matthew straightened his throat bringing me back to reality, as well as the situation.

I sighed as I looked up at him feeling his gaze crush me where I sat. I was unable to answer, unable to even find the right words to say how I felt about Rainbow Dash.

“You like her, don’t you?” he asked.

I nodded, in a way coming to terms with it myself. Matthew leaned back in his chair finally setting his fork down onto the plate. “You going to make fun of me now?”

He shook his head. “If your fine with it. So am I.”

I was taken aback, shocked that Matthew was so accepting to the fact I actually liked a pony. “I don’t know what to say”

Matthew held up a hand in protest. “Don’t worry about it, if you two are happy together, who am I to judge right? Besides; I think she likes you a bit too if she let you sleep in her bed”

“I don’t think that was what she had in mind when I went in there last night”

“Still, she seemed pretty content when I peeked in there this morning”

I laughed out of embarrassment as I went to finish what food was left on my plate, enjoying the bacon especially since I hadn’t had it since Rainbow Dash and the others had arrived. It felt good to finally get the knot that had embedded itself in my chest out, although I wasn’t planning on telling Rainbow Dash anytime soon how I felt about her; I was happy Matthew knew.

As the days went by in the small apartment, our small group had gotten increasingly closer in our friendship. Fluttershy had really opened up around Matthew and enjoyed spending time with him, even if it meant only sitting by him as we watched TV. Applejack would often play a simple board game with whoever was able; she enjoyed talking to us, and would always break the silence in the room had a conversation fallen dead. Rainbow Dash didn’t ever really mention what had happened the night of the rainstorm. In all honesty I don’t think she ever remembered me falling asleep in the bed with her that night, she had fallen asleep before I had gotten onto bed with her and was still asleep when I had gotten up the next morning. However she seemed to grow closer to me, always looking over my shoulder as I cooked food or sitting against my leg whenever I was on the couch.

Although we had decided Applejack would stay at my house with Rainbow Dash and me, we all stayed at Matthews’s apartment for the remainder of the week, since my appointment at the hospital was scheduled for the upcoming Saturday and Matthew had offered to drive me. Rainbow Dash and the others still didn’t know about my heart condition, I hadn’t told them yet, I figured that if I had gotten a clean bill of health from my doctor I wouldn’t have to.

When the day had come for the check-up Matthew made the excuse that the two of us had a job that needed to be attended to, so they would have to stay put until we got back. After bantering back and forth for several minutes; they agreed, allowing Matthew and I to set off for the hospital on the other side of town.

The truck was silent, neither wanting us to address to the situation at hand. Matthew tapped the steering wheel with his finger, obviously trying to think of a way to lighten the mood.

“So… Christmas is coming up, you going to buy the girl’s anything special?” Matthew asked

I had completely forgotten about Christmas. I had been so wrapped up with the situation with the ponies that I had completely forgotten the holiday, my parents had even sent me gifts through the mail sense they had to be across the state for one of my Dad’s book signing’s.

“I’d like to ya, how about you?”

“Same here, although I don’t know what you but for three small ponies” he joked.

“I’ve never thought about that” I admitted.

I continued contemplating ideas even as the black truck pulled into the hospital parking lot, bringing me back to the situation. Staring up at the large red walled building, I let out a nervous sigh, a feeling of uneasiness washed over me.

Matthew placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “You ready?”

I shook my head unable to form an answer in my head.

“Nervous?”

I nodded

“Me too, I say let’s get this over with” he said as he stepped out of the truck.

Stepping out, I followed Matthew through the automatic doors up to the elevator which would take us up to the floor my doctor was on. I hated hospitals, everything about them creped me out; doctors, needles you name it, they all left a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. The elevator came to a slow halt, the door opened, and the two of us stepped out immediately being met with the surrounding patients, as well as the receptionist behind the desk dressed in a floral scrub uniform.

“Do you have an appointment?” she asked as we approached.

“Yes; Matthias Thorn, five o’ clock with Doctor Dorian” I said weakly.

She pulled a blue binder from a slot in desk which read “Dr. Dorian” on the top turning to the middle and running her finger down the page until she found what she was looking for. “Here you are” she stated as she removed a sheet from one of the pockets in the binder and then placed in on the desk in front of me followed by a pen. “Please sign that at the bottom and we will be with you shortly”

I scribbled my name down with a shaky hand before I returned the paper and pen to her and went to the wooden chairs in the waiting area, Matthew sitting next to me as I waited. I don’t know how long I sat there waiting, twisting a strand in my hair as tight as I could pulling it out and then doing it again as I often did when I was nervous, until another nurse called from beside desk. “Matthias”

I followed the young red haired nurse down the hair looking at the motivational “hang-in-there” posters on either side of the hallway until she stopped at room with a closed door which I had grown to be all too familiar with. She opened the door to reveal the familiar hospital room which consisted of a single bed with an x-ray screen above the headboard, an I.V. not far away in the corner next to the large window looking out to the street below, a large set of cabinets on the opposite side of the room.

“Please have a seat, Doctor Dorian will be with you momentarily” the nurse said as she shut the door behind me.

I didn’t bother sitting down, I knew the process all too well by then. What they would do is what they always did, take me into yet another room, take x-rays, and tell me whatever the verdict was this time as they showed me the pictures. The door opened just as the young doctor stepped in.

“Hello Matthias” he greeted. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine”

“You ready to see how we did?”

“As I’ll ever be”

“Alright, follow me” he said as he opened the door again holding it open as I began to follow him.

The process was grueling, and the wait was killing me, in all honesty I just wanted them to give me the news so I could get out of there as fast as possible. They took the X-rays along with a blood test and then left me in the room just as they had before only forcing me to sit on the bed this time as I waited. I rubbed the spot where they had stuck the needle wincing at the soreness just I turned to look out the window. The snow had finally seemed to lighten up, although it was still very cold it seemed as if the worst of it had passed.

The door opened making me turn to face Doctor Dorian as he stepped inside, Matthew was following close behind. In his hands he held a single tan folder, I tried to read his face but he had done a great job at hiding any emotion throughout his career, so the feeling of un-easiness returned upon seeing him. He walked over to the X-ray screen and placed two sheets next to each other before turning on the light behind them.

“This one” he started pointing to the one on the left. “This is your heart before the operation” I took note of all the distinct tumors located on the small piece of paper. “And this” he said moving a finger over to the next sheet. “This is your heart now” There were no tumors on this picture, it looked normal. “In my opinion the surgery was a complete success, congratulations”

I let out a sigh of relief feeling a smile on my face as I turned to Matthew who was also smiling.

“We will need to check back in with you in another month or so but you won’t need to come here for the check-up, odds are there is a Doctor nearby I can refer you to and he can just send me the results.” He stated. “Do you have any questions?”

“Is there any chance of it coming back?” Matthew asked

“Only in rare cases, and it is more common when you are older. Matthias is young and has good blood. The odds are in his favor.”

I laughed slightly no longer able to hold in my happiness. Matthew shared the laugh with me as I took one more glance at the picture of the X-ray. The nightmare was finally over.