Author's Note

This chapter was written by both me and Flusk Flurry!
Expect a lot of drama on this part! It only get's more dramatic from here!

Chapter 4: Medicated

The sound of beeping from a heart monitor could be heard as Drizzle slowly opened his eyes. He squinted as they adjusted to the light of the room, seeing a white ceiling above him. He immediately felt different and almost rather restrained as he looked around him, noticing he was now in a hospital bed rather than the library.

He went to move his hoof to stretch out his arm when he felt a slight pull on his arm, noticing an IV buried in his arm. What even happened?..Why was he in a hospital hooked up to a bunch of machines. Better yet, why was he alone in a room with only a dresser and a window. He didn’t exactly like the idea of being left alone in a foreign place with no explanation.

He suddenly heard a door open and he jumped a little in the hospital bed as he immediately changed his focus to the other side of the room. The sound of soft trotting and the shut of the door was heard as his eyes widened at his visitor.

“Oh thank goodness. I thought you’d never wake up!” Flusk said happily as she grinned at him in relief.

“Flusk?..Where..What happened?”

Before his question could be answered, he heard the door fly open and the galloping of tiny hooves as all four of his children ran in with excited expressions.

“Daddy!” Young Bliss yelled as she jumped on to the bed and hugged him.

“Hey, you four weren’t supposed to come in yet.” Flusk said, looking at all four of them sternly.

“Why? We’re his children.” Honeysuckle replied, trotting in with baby Lance on her back.

“The doctors said we shouldn’t cause him too much stress. He’s already been through a lot.”

“But he’s our dad!” Sea Biscuit complained.

Flusk gave the children a rather stern stare as Sea Biscuit sunk to the floor. However, Bliss didn’t seem to notice much as she was busy nuzzling her father and hugging him and Honeysuckle remained the same, unphased.

Drizzle pulled his youngest daughter to himself and propped her against his chest a little so he could somewhat hold her without pulling out his IV.

“But..What even happened?” Drizzle asked once more.

“Well..You collapsed when I was giving my speech at the library so a few other ponies helped me carry you to the hospital and they took you from there. I went and picked up the kids from Song after that and we were waiting for a response from the doctors. Basically..You had a heart attack.”

“A heart attack?!” He yelled.

“Shh.” Flusk shushed him. “Don’t scream like that. You need to relax.”

“How am I supposed to relax when I’m in a hospital hooked up to a bunch of fucking machines and now I just learned I had a damn heart attack?!”

“What’s going on in here?” A doctor asked, poking his head into the room.

“Mr. Silver!” Flusk exclaimed. “I’m so sorry for all the noise. I was just trying to talk to Drizzle and-”

“It’s quite alright, Mrs. Flurry. I can take over from here.”

Doctor Silver trotted into the room, shutting the door behind him with his magic. Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit quickly moved out of the way, giving Doctor Silver space as Bliss looked up at him curiously.

“Young one, can I ask you to get off the bed for just a second? I need to check your father.” Doctor Silver asked Bliss in a very kind voice.

Bliss frowned at Doctor Silver and hugged her father, refusing to let him go. Bliss was a rather stubborn filly and wasn’t exactly the best listener. If she didn’t want to do something, it would take a lot of pushing to get her to do it. Flusk, Drizzle, and Song had a lot of issues with her because of this. She definitely wasn’t the most fun to foalsit, that was for sure.

“Hmm, a tough customer I see.” Doctor Silver said. “Well, I might just have a solution to that.”

Doctor Silver turned around for a moment as he dug through his coat pockets, searching for something in particular. He suddenly pulled out a large colorful lollipop and held it near Bliss with his magic.

“I’ll give you this if you let me check your father. I promise you’ll be allowed on the bed after.”

Bliss already seemed sold by this deal as her eyes widened at the lollipop and she snatched it, jumping off the bed immediately. Bliss sat on the floor licking her lollipop as Doctor Silver chuckled at her before turning his attention to Drizzle once more.

“So, Mrs. Flurry already told you what happened?”

“I mean..I guess? I still don’t really understand what’s going on.”

“You had a heart attack due to a lack of sleep and large amounts of stress. I assure you that you’re not at any type of risk by this, however, I do think prescribing medication would be helpful so it doesn’t occur again.”

“Medication?..”

“Yes, an anti-depression medication called Citalopram which stabilizes your mood and balances out your depressive states.”

Drizzle looked up at Doctor Silver with drained eyes. “So is that the only medication that I need to be taking?”

“I am also going to be prescribing you Metoprolol Succinate for balancing out your blood pressure to prevent future heart attacks. I will also be putting you on a third medication called Vistaril to help aid your sleep and get you back on track towards a healthier sleep schedule.”

Drizzle seemed rather overwhelmed by the amount of medications being prescribed to him at that moment as he looked downward at the blanket covering his lower half. He zoned out for a moment as Doctor Silver continued to explain. Flusk seemed to notice as she looked at him confused.

“Drizzle?”

“Huh?..Oh.” Drizzle snapped out of it.

“Anyway, we’ll keep you in the hospital for a week longer so that we can monitor you and make sure you don’t have another heart attack. Besides, you need the rest.”

Drizzle stayed silent as he looked down disappointed. He didn’t exactly enjoy the idea of having to stay in a hospital for a week rather than his own home. This hospital bed wasn’t exactly that comfortable and from past experiences, the hospital food was always the worst.

Flusk wrapped her hooves around Drizzle’s shoulder, slightly startling him. “Hey, it won’t be that bad, right? It’s only for a-”

Drizzle suddenly smacked her hoof away and she backed up confused. His eyes widened, realizing what he just did. It seemed the way she had wrapped her hooves around his shoulders reminded him of how Apate once did it to him a few nights ago and triggered a fearful reaction. He took a deep breath and calmed down.

“Sorry..I just..Don’t really want to be touched right now.” He said.

Flusk frowned but nodded, respecting his wish. After that, it seemed like the night just turned into a blur and it wasn’t before long that Drizzle’s family and Flusk were leaving so he could rest. His children left happily but something seemed to be bothering Flusk as the last thing he saw as she left was a look of concern.

Drizzle’s time in the hospital was incredibly boring as it mostly consisted of him lying in bed, being checked by the doctors, eating horrible food, and just really not having a good time whatsoever. He also hated the fact that he was forced to take multiple medications for certain things and no longer had much privacy.

Another thing was that it seemed Apate had followed him to the hospital as well and continually filled his head with depressing and negative thoughts that not even his antidepressant medication could stop. He normally refrained from talking to her when there were any ponies around but when he got the chance, he responded to her angrily and just tried to shoo her away. Although, of course, she never listened anyways and insisted it was her job to be there.

On the bright side, his children often visited and chatted with him or brought interesting stuff. It helped him get through the boring hours of staying in the hospital. Flusk also came by and brought flowers and chatted but she seemed to be a little weary after what happened and now stayed away from giving him hugs or other physical affection.

Everything seemed to be going well for the most part..Well, for a while anyways.

One evening, Honeysuckle was visiting Drizzle in the hospital after a morning of school and was making her way up to Drizzle’s hospital room when she suddenly heard Drizzle talking to somepony. She immediately stopped, wondering if she should wait in case the conversation wasn’t her business but at the same time, she wanted to know what it was about.

She placed her school bag on the floor and peeked through a crack in the door, trying to listen in on the conversation.

“No, I don’t need you in my ear again. I told you this once before, when are you going to leave me alone?”

Honeysuckle’s eyes popped open in surprise. She saw her father talking out loud to no pony. She put her hoof to her mouth in shock as she heard her own father speaking more words.

“Get the fuck away from me. I don’t need you hovering over my shoulder right now when I’m in such a fragile state. You’re always here and it’s bothering me.”

Honeysuckle’s expression changed to terror as she noticed that there was nopony in the room with him. She began to develop terrifying thoughts as she whispered under her breath to not be heard by her father.

“W-what if he has schizophrenia? W-what if he’s becoming mentally ill? Maybe he has dementia? I don’t think I can even handle this!”

Honeysuckle ran off crying her eyes out because of her genuine worry for her father. She loved her father more than anything. Seeing him in this condition made her emotions practically break as she ran down the hallway to get Flusk.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she yelled. “I can’t handle this! This can’t happen! I need to get Flusk!”

Flusk was currently seated in the waiting room with a book as she waited for Honeysuckle to finish her visit with Drizzle. Normally she would have come inside with her but she decided to pass today. Mostly because she felt as though Drizzle didn’t exactly want her there and thought it was best to keep her distance for now. She wasn’t going to stop bringing his kids to see him though.

“Flusk, Flusk, something’s wrong with dad!” She cried, galloping from the hall into the waiting room.

Flusk set her book down beside her and looked at Honeysuckle worriedly. “What happened?..Why are you crying?”

“He’s talking to nopony! He’s going crazy, I swear. I’m scared.”

Flusk embraced Honeysuckle and rubbed her back, comforting her.

“I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding or something. Maybe his medication he’s taking is making him a little confused or something. Either way, I’m sure he’s alright. It’ll be okay.”

Honeysuckle sighed as she calmed down a little, accepting Flusk’s explanation as a reasonable answer. Flusk was a little unsure though after hearing what Honeysuckle told her. She didn’t want to scare her so she didn’t say it but she was a little unsettled about the idea of Drizzle talking to himself. Maybe she should check on him..

“I’ll be right back, okay? You stay right here. When I come back, I’ll take you back to Song’s house.”

“Okay.”

Flusk gave Honeysuckle a reassuring smile before she got up and started to make her way towards Drizzle’s hospital room. She felt a little uneasy after hearing what happened but she was determined to find out what was going on with Drizzle.

She made her way up to the door and found it wide open this time. She hesitantly peeked inside and saw his room empty with him nowhere to be found. She trotted inside quietly, looking around the almost empty room. The blankets on his bed were messily pushed to the side this time but everything in the room seemed the same as usual..Well, except for one thing.

She noticed a small sketchbook and a pencil lying on a nearby table. Drizzle was an artist and often drew and created detailed pieces as a hobby. In fact, art and magic were his special talent. Flusk was amazed by a lot of the art he had shown her and she wondered if one of the hospital staff had allowed him to go back home and fetch his art supplies for something to do.

She looked around left to right to make sure he wasn’t there as she sneakily peeked into the sketchbook, flipping through the pages. At the front, there were detailed sketches of trees, landscapes, and even of himself it seemed. As she went on though, it seemed like the drawings got darker and darker as they depicted dark forests, darkness, and one even looked like a pony drowning in an ocean. She couldn’t quite make it out but it definitely looked like a pony shape fighting against the suffocating water around them.

And then..Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Drizzle had drawn a very graphic image of a pony being burned alive. The pony had a very fearful look on their face as they screamed in agony as the fire consumed them and ate away at their skin, exposing their rib cage and many other organs. Flusk could have sworn she had met this pony before in River Breeze which made it even more disturbing. The fact that Drizzle had drawn himself smirking and laughing in the corner was even worse.

Flusk immediately slammed the sketchbook shut and began walking backwards in shock and disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she just saw and was in utter shock that Drizzle of all ponies would draw something so horrible. Why?..What made him want to do that?..

“Flusk? What are you doing in my room.”

Flusk jumped, startled at the voice as she turned around. It was Drizzle Dots and he didn’t look too happy. He had almost a mix of anger and worry in his face but mostly anger.

“I-I um-”

“Were you..Looking at my sketchbook?”

An anger rose in his voice as he walked closer to her. With each step, she felt herself tremble a bit more in fear.

“N-No..I-I was looking for you! I-I just wanted t-to see how you were doing.” Flusk replied, stuttering a little in her sentence.

He paused and stared her in the eyes intensely. At this point, the mare was visibly shaking and it was clear that she had to have been lying. He knew that..Right? But what would he do if he did..She didn’t want to know.

“Hm..Well, I’m fine I guess.”

Drizzle simply trotted away from her to the other side of the room as she breathed a silent sigh of relief. He must have known she was lying but he didn’t yell at her for it. Why didn’t he yell at her?..Well, she wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

“Um well..I’m heading home.” Flusk said, standing at the doorway.

“Okay, bye.” Drizzle replied coldly.

She folded her ears, sort of hoping that maybe Drizzle would have more to say to her than just that but it seemed he had already said what he wanted. She looked at him sadly before she turned around and shut the door behind her.

Drizzle’s stay at the hospital had passed and he returned home after that, taking his multiple medications with him. He still had to stay on them despite not being in the hospital anymore but the unicorn didn’t seem to care enough to follow the doctors orders.

It also seemed he had changed a lot since he returned home. He was very cold and distant towards Flusk and his other friends and seemed to have a particularly short temper even towards small things. Flusk never forgot the confrontation she somehow avoided with him in the hospital though. It haunted her and made her uneasy..Especially the drawings she discovered. However, it helped knowing that Flusk wasn’t the only one noticing Drizzle’s change in behavior and was comforted by her friends.

Currently, Flusk was filling up a watering can with water as the sunlight shined brightly down on River Breeze. She found herself wanting to visit Drizzle. Drizzle of course was out of town visiting some of his relatives because his family was worried about his recent accident. She suddenly remembered she had a few things to bring back to Drizzle and Song Bliss as she rushed into her home, leaving her watering can outside.

Drizzle was done with his visit within a week and he started to head back home. He needed to drop off the children at Song Bliss’s house. They were divorced so they had separate homes of course.

After returning to River Breeze, Drizzle walked to her house, carrying some bags with his magic. On his way he saw a smoke filled sky when entering through Song Bliss’s street. He was walking with his children so they could visit their mother. Drizzle noticed the smoke filling the sky and a strong heat as he soon noticed a fire burning somepony’s house from across the street.

“What’s going on? Did a house fire happen here or something?”

Drizzle suddenly dropped the bags as his magic aura stopped glowing. His face turned into utter terror. Tears ran down his face in fear as he quickly galloped towards the house, noticing a bunch of colts who worked for the fire department surrounding Song Bliss’s home. The kids noticed the same and started running with their father. He stared at the house burning into a crisp and smoke rising from the house fire. Tears streamed down his face and his children started crying as well.

Flusk was seen standing at the house fire surprisingly. Flusk was trying to bring back some possessions she had carried for Drizzle when he was in the hospital. Flusk turned towards Drizzle and his children with tears streaming down her face. She quickly ran over to Drizzle.

“I’m...I’m so sorry Drizzle. I came here wanting to drop off a few possessions to her when I had carried some stuff for you and part of the things were Song Bliss’s..I..”

Tears streamed down Drizzle’s face as Flusk turned to his children and guided them towards her house across the street. Flusk knew that the children were too young to see this and she wanted to save them the trauma of seeing such terrible things. Her friend Crescent was over at the time so she was able to watch the children.

Flusk ran back to aid her friend in this difficult time after she dropped the children back at her home.

“Drizzle..Please..Don’t let this be a reason to shut yourself down. I’m so sorry. I wish I could have arrived a lot sooner. Maybe I could have taken her for a mare’s night only.”

As the fire was soon put out by the colt’s who worked in this area, Drizzle noticed some of the ponies taking out a metal table on wheels as they hauled it out of the smoky house that was now burnt to crisps. The metal table had a white sheet covering it with a form under the blanket that seemed to take the form of a mare. He quickly realized that it was Song Bliss’s body being carried out of the house. As Drizzle started to scream as he cried, Flusk grabbed him in a tight embrace. She let him cry on her shoulder and let his cries of agony out.

“Drizzle, you are a great father and a wonderful friend. I can’t believe this is happening to you and the children after so much happening in the two weeks before this. You don’t deserve this.. I’m really sorry..” Flusk’s voice cracked in sadness as tears formed in her eyes.

“You just..Don’t deserve this..”

As Drizzle was crying on her shoulder, he felt physically weak with depression.

“I can’t do this Flusk…”

He screamed loudly at the top of his lungs in anguish as his tears were still running down his cheeks. “I CAN’T DO THIS! I can’t live on knowing that she’s died. Even if we were just friends after the divorce, I didn’t want to lose her! I didn’t even care if we split up. I never wanted to lose her like this!”

During his emotional outrage. Apate soon appeared at the worst moment of all moments, appearing slowly from a smoky cloud of shadow.

“Hmmm...Just another thing in life that has gone wrong for you..Ey? Do you really still think that sticking around and being the mister goody two shoes will help your life in any kind of way?”

“Leave….Leave me alone..”

Flusk stared at him with sad eyes, thinking that he was speaking to her. “I...I was..Trying to help you..”

Drizzle ran off crying abruptly. Soon after, Apate followed him of course. Apate was floating along by his side as he ran off in a deep burst of emotion.

“I don’t need anyone, I never have! Life will fuck me over again and again! I’ll just be alone! I will never trust anypony or anything else ever again! I will never love again!”

“Now that’s the spirit Drizzle...You know that you can never get by in life with such a naive mindset. Friendship and rainbows don’t just happen..You need to take control of things. Good ponies don’t truly get their places in life. They just feed off the nectar called privilege. Such a good colt for actually listening to me for once and leaving those naive ponies behind..”