Melodia stood in the doorway, she couldn't believe what she saw.

"Fluttershy..." she whispered.

Fluttershy lay there in the hospital bed. Her eyes were closed, breathing weak, and looking near death.

Moving from the doorway, she carefully walked to the chair in the corner of the room and sat there.

Silence. She hated silence.

For hours, Melodia could only sit there, not daring to leave her alone with strangers. Fluttershy never woke up, but she didn't care.

It was surreal. The friend that laughed with her, always alive and happy, now pale and lifeless.

"Five minutes." the nurse said, poking her head through the doorway.

Melodia just continued to stare at Fluttershy. "What happened to her?" she whispered.

"Snake bite." answered the nurse, "A pony rushed her in when she fainted. The mare said she had been acting strange and looking pale, but she was saying she was fine, when her friend asked."

This pulled Melodia's attention away from the sleeping Pegasus. But only stared at the doorway, as the nurse left.

"Attention, visiting hours are over." came the monotone voice on the intercom.

She sat on the couch, strumming hard on the guitar. Trying to calm down, she had decided to work on her song. It did well on her stress, but not on the strings.

Let's see what I've got... thought Melodia.

Her song didn't seem to mean anything anymore. Ponies go by her so fast, and the ones that come close go faster, and it makes the meaning for most things just fades to gray.

With Fluttershy in the hospital near death, and her mother gone, happiness made her sad.

She didn't even notice that she was playing, it just came to her. It was like she was meant to do this.

Melodia practically jumped out of her skin when there was a bright flash behind her. When she turned, she was shocked to find a pink cloud, and a star made of eighth notes sticking out of the cloud.

Silence.

The animals ran around the house the next day like it was any other while Melodia filled their food bowls, and made sure the indoor animals had enough water.

When all of them were happy and fed, she strapped on her saddle bags and opened the door to leave, but a certain bunny stopped her before she did.

"Yes, Angel?"

Angel made a series of gestures and squeaks mostly towards the door, he wanted to go see Fluttershy.

"Okay. But stay in my bag, and be quiet!"

He nodded, and jumped into Melodia's bag when she leaned to the side and pulled down the front of it.

The two of them made their way to Ponyville's Hospital, Melodia walking, and Angel in her saddlebags, stuck in between the gifts for Fluttershy.

At the front desk was a smiling mare, a great contrast from the mare yesterday.

"Hello!!" the mare practically screamed at Melodia.

"Um, hi." whispered Melodia, "I'm here to see Fluttershy? Room 112?"

"Oh, she got moved to 211!" she pointed left, "Second to last door on the right!"

Melodia finally turned into the room. A tan-brown unicorn stood over Fluttershy writing on a clipboard. He had a brown mane and tail, and wore a white lab coat. His head turned to Melodia when she knocked.

"Yes?" he whispered.

Melodia felt uncomfortable. Angel was shifting in he bag and she was sure he could see it.

"Um," she cleared her throat, "I'm just here to see Fluttershy - in a way I'm kind of… family. So, yeah." again, she cleared her throat. Why was it so blocked up?

"Oh, yes." he looked down at the sleeping mare, "She should be waking up soon."

He left. Closing the door, and leaving her alone with Fluttershy.

They could be complete strangers, and Melodia could be there to do something horrible to Fluttershy. Yet he just trusted her with it, didn't ask for verification, just trusted her with a mare that couldn't defend herself in the slightest.

It's uncommon to find a pony who would trust a stranger with their lives, or someone else's.

It would be a while until Fluttershy woke up, so Melodia let Angel out of her saddlebag. She settled down in the chair with a book. While Angel laid by Fluttershy, nuzzling her side. The two sat there peacefully. Enjoying the quiet of the room, as they waited for their dearest friend to wake up.

Fluttershy shifted and groaned. Her head hurt like hell, and it felt like there were needles stuck in her arm. She was dizzy, confused, and cold.

The light blinded her when she opened her eyes. There was no color, only white, and the lights were directly above her.

What happened? Where was she? And why is it so painful just to lay there?

The beeping of a monitor is the only sound in the room, indicating she was alone. At least she thought she was.

"'Shy?" came a whisper, "You awake? 'Need anything?"

Melodia. It was a relief to know that somepony was there with her. Especially a close friend.

Fluttershy couldn't form word. She was tired and confused, and her 'yes' came out a weak groan.

A hoof touched her, and Melodia rubbed her shoulder softly, as if trying to comfort and relax her.

"I'll get you something to eat and drink. Don't worry, I'll be back in a second." the door opened and closed quietly.

Alone, all Fluttershy could do was wait for her to come back, or somepony else to walk in. But it was silent, and it was like that for a couple minutes, before the door opened softly, and closed even softer.

"I'm back." whispered Melodia. She sat by Fluttershy again, and put a foam cup of water, and crackers on the tray attached to the bed, "I know you hate processed food, but the staff said that this was the only thing they had that wouldn't be a danger for you to eat."

Fluttershy only groaned.

"You need to eat 'Shy." getting up, Melodia walked to the back of the bed Fluttershy was laying on, and adjusted it so she could sit up. Once the chair was adjusted so Fluttershy was comfortable and could eat. Melodia sat back down and held out the crackers for Fluttershy.

With a painful groan, Fluttershy took the food in her hooves, and took a small bite from it.

"Just eat those," Melodia gestured towards the crackers she was eating, "Drink some water, and get some sleep." she looked at the clock, "I should go, visiting hours are almost over. I'll be back tomorrow."

Melodia hugged Fluttershy softly, left the books from her bag, and held the bag open, for Angel hop back into it,. She left the room quietly. Leaving Fluttershy alone with the quiet beeping of the beat of her heart, and the thoughts that screamed at her, saying that she left them alone too long.

It was exactly like when she was a filly. The quiet was so loud nopony heard it but her.

Sometimes the emotions are the loudest.

Sometimes the quiet ones feel pain the most.

Broken and abused. Forced to silence.

She is.

I am...

She had been singing a lot, now that she had found her talent. Her true meaning. Herself. Inspiration flowed through her magic like rivers in the summer when she wrote. When she sang, strumming her guitar, or striking the keys of a piano, the melodies seemed to come through the tips of her hooves.

If you were devoted enough to a creative talent, you found how to bend that inspiration to your will. Easy, unless you haven't found your creative outlet. For Melodia, she had already found it. The same thing that gave her, her cutiemark. She had written a couple songs (or at least fragments of songs), and finished a song to play for Fluttershy today while she was in the hospital.

That song didn't make the cut, though. It was too... depressing. In no way would it make her sick friend better, only worse.

She came up with another song two hours later.

Perfect. That was the song! Today she'll play it for Fluttershy, but for now, Melodia would practice, until she got every note, every beat, and every word, of the song memorized in her head.

Unfortunately, she was not able to practice long. While she woke up early, and visiting hours were later in the day. Melodia had things to do, and animals to feed.

Author's Note

So yeah, I was really happy with part of this chapter, it kind of puts a little more ground on this. Hope you enjoyed it! Not so happy with the last couple paragraphs. I don't know why, and I can't seem to change it so I feel more confident in it... anything that might fix it up a bit?