Episode 18: Dr. Whooves on the Daily Show

Despite his background Jon wasn’t much of a religious man, nor was he one to put any stock in the workings of superstition. He may’ve ironically thrown some salt over his shoulder or walked into a casino backwards just for the sake of novelty but for the most part he knew that everything could be explained through analytical reasoning.

But even now he felt as if he was looking down on himself, watching as he saw how he was knocking on the door containing his once snarky friend Trixie, in what other not so like minded people would call an “out of body experience.”

When he tried to think about how he ended up in this situation and the events that ultimately led up to it his mind went blank. As if the door in front of him going into motion shattered everything around him leaving only the here and now for him to dwell on.

But while Jon had a hard time focusing on what series of events brought him here he knew that a majority of it was spent by him imagining what kind of state Trixie was in. Was she doing better, or was she still connected to the wall, did she get worse or perhaps maybe she had gotten cured of whatever might or might not still be afflicting her. In practice his mind punished him by making him consider the worst possible situation, like him having to accept that the scenario existed where he would arrive only to find her in laying in bed with her blanket placed completely over her head.

Slowly the door to Trixie’s hospital room opened up, gradually revealing the scene before him like an image being loaded on an old Macintosh computer on dial up, with Jon’s brain registering the image at about the same speed.

The image before him was, thankfully, not what he had expected... but what he had hoped.

When Jon’s eyes finally adjusted as to what he was looking at he was stunned with a familiar sense of paralysis taking over his body. The first person he saw wasn’t Trixie but was in fact a kind of Nurse Unicorn wearing scrubs that were the same shade of light blue as her body, which contrasted nicely with her fluffy white hair which made it look like clouds were constantly following her.

She opened the door revealing a plain looking single room with only one small reading desk next to a bed and a window on each side; one showing a view of the outside of the castle main gate and a decent view of a courtyard.

The inside decor was similar to the color patterns on the wall, done in a way to lead a person’s eyes to the next. The floor was a purple and white tile pattern which matched a large silk curtain in the middle of the room which separated the area in half if a patient wanted privacy.

However today the curtain was recoiled since the suite was only currently being occupied by one person. That person being Trixie who was in the center of the room. There she half sat and layed in her bed, by herself with no earthly possessions to keep her company other than a cafeteria tray of food on her lap, containing a banana, some pudding, and a cob salad.

She had no tubes up her nose or machines strapped to her legs. In fact the only piece of technology in the room was the one television in the corner where the ceiling and walls met. Slowly Trixie turned to face Jon as she idly chewed on her remaining food, it was there that Jon got a good look at her for the first time since the attack. Their eyes met and as if they were each other’s mirror image they smiled at the same time. Trixie did not look sick, injured, or subject to any other kind of ailment, she looked... great.

Neither of them said anything which made the nurse step up to speak, though her words were just muffled noises to them both.

“Hi my name is Bundle, I’m the assistant nurse to Doctor Gallops who is taking care of Trixie here,” she said. “And you must be--”

“JON!” Trixie interrupted.

“TRIXIE!” Jon yelled back as he burst his way into the room. Without even noticing Jon bolted past the door so forcefully that he knocked over the nurse in the process, but even if he did notice he wouldn't have helped her as he was too busy making his way to his friend with open arms.

In response to the Jewish giant heading her way Trixie giddily threw her hooves up to prop herself up to a sitting position. In the process she inadvertently tossed her tray of food into the air whereupon a large portion of horrible tasting pudding found its way straight into the face of the nearby nurse and the bowl of salad on top of her head.

Picking herself up to all fours the nurse wiped the glob of cream like gelatin away from her eyes just in time to see the two friends sharing a loving embrace. Rather than continuing with her introduction she casually made her way to the door to give them some privacy... but not before falling back down to the ground when she slipped on the banana that also fell on the ground.

“Trixie I’m so glad to see you’re alright!” Jon said in a muffled tone, with his face buried into her shoulder and mane. “I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too Jon.” Trixie gasped for breath as she tried to match Jon’s intensity by hugging him as tightly as he was her. “You’re holding me too tightly.”

Quickly, though delicately, Jon distanced himself from her whereupon she took a deep breath so quickly she began to cough. In response to this a guilty looking Jon began to frantically throw his hands back and forth, like he wanted to comfort her but was afraid that he would hurt her again.

“Oh shit!” he exclaimed as Trixie continued to gasp for breath. “H-here I’ll get you some water!”

Failing to keep his composure Jon began to scurry around the room to try and find anything that could help his friend. He looked to see if she had a water bottle (something which didn’t even exist in Equestria) or glass of water that came with her meal, but found nothing.

He then turned his attention to the room’s almost nonexistent fixtures to see if he could find a sink, but he found none in this minimalistic environment. With the door still open, and partially blocking part of a counter top, he quickly went to shut the door in the hopes of perhaps finding a hidden water cooler or sink. Unknown to him the nurse who first tried to help him popped her head back in to see if they were alright only to receive a face full of door from Jon at that very moment.

Running back to Trixie’s side he searched for some kind of button designated for calling a resident to come help them when something grabbed ahold of his sleeve. Turning his attention back to the bed he saw Trixie had now stopped heaving and was holding onto her human friend with both hooves.

“Jon... calm down,” she advised. “I’m fine... you seriously need to relax.”

“Yeah... yeah, you’re right.” He sighed as he sat down next to her, out of breath, and holding his heart.

“Are you going to be alright?” she asked as she gently rubbed his back to encourage him to breathe.

“I’m alright, I’m alright,” he assured her as he took off his jacket and loosened his tie. “I just need to... catch my breath.” Reaching over to the desk on the other side of the bed Trixie took something and handed it to Jon.

“Here, drink this,” she said handing him a glass of water. “It’ll help.”

“Thanks,” Jon said doing as she asked.

Out of concern for his well being Trixie continued to massage his back as Jon let himself sink deeper into the memory foam mattress. The way he breathed with such difficult reps as he clenched his heart gave the impression that perhaps he needed to see the nurse more than Trixie.

Eventually Jon did catch his breath and it was only when he did finally calm down did he feel something grab on to him yet again. It was Trixie who once again threw her hooves around Jon (their size difference meaning that she could only go halfway around his stomach) and squeezed as tight as she could.

“Thank you for visiting me!” she said while simultaneously holding back tears of joy. “For a while... I thought I’d never see you again.” Instead of verbally comforting her Jon gently placed his hand around her shoulder, applying more pressure on her with his one arm then she could with all her hooves combined.

A moment of sentimental silence took effect, leaving Jon to look around and take stock of how little there was in this room. He wasn't expecting a luxurious five star room with all manner of amenities at one’s disposal but this was a hospital located in the Castle and he wanted nothing but the best for his pony friend.

“They could have at least put you in a better room,” Jon sneered as he looked in the direction of where he thought Celestia would be.

“Actually... I was the one who requested this room,” Trixie revealed. Changing position she sat up to address him better which she found difficult with Jon lovingly scratching her behind the ear. “When I started to feel better I asked that they move me to this room instead... I didn’t want them to waste an upscale suite on me when somepony else could have used it.”

There was always an understanding on Jon’s part that underneath her off putting exterior Trixie had a soft spot but even he was surprised by this kind gesture. The Trixie he first met would have demanded the best room the hospital had if she so much as stubbed her hoof or got a splinter.

“How long have you... you know... felt better?” Jon asked.

“About a week after the incident,” she answered in a voice like it was no big deal.

In Jon’s old age he found it increasingly difficult to understand certain aspects of life. As an adult he couldn’t see why kids loved cinnamon toast crunch and in addition he also had a hard time seeing why Trixie seemed laid back about the prospect of her almost dying. It would appear by her straightforward attitude that she was more strong willed about the subject than Jon, or perhaps she was just trying act brave in the presence of her dear friend.

Had Jon been paying more attention he would have noticed that despite being in this hospital for months according to Trixie her condition was better only a few weeks after the attack which meant that she was being held longer for some reason.

The reason he didn’t catch this was because there was something else he noticed, or rather something he didn’t notice. And that was the fact that her room was completely devoid of any balloons, flowers, or get well cards, really anything that showed that someone other than him came to visit her and wish her well. It would seem that even with one hoof in the grave the people of this world still didn’t appreciate her as much as he would have wanted.

This made the room look even more empty than before which made him recall something that he had nearly forgotten.

“Oh right! I almost forgot!” Jon said as he reached into his breast pocket. “Here, this is for you.”

Scooting down the bed a bit he presented Trixie with what looked like an ordinary sheet of paper folded in half with the words “To: Trixie” on the cover in sloppy handwriting. Carefully she opened it and saw what was inside which prompted her to place a delicate hoof over her mouth as if she was trying to hide her glowing smile.

“Awwwwww how sweet!” she proclaimed as she marveled at the image before her. It was a crayon and marker drawing of the Stewart family, which included: Jon, Tracey, Maggie, Nathan, and of course Trixie.

The background was of a house with all five of them standing in front of it. The bottom of the card was colored in green while the top part was blue to indicate earth and the sky respectively, leaving the center of the picture plain white like they were in purgatory.

Everything from the house to the character designs were sloppily done with irregular proportions, evidences of mistakes, and failed attempt to color inside the lines. The project was childlike, hokey, and home spun, and it worked effectively in touching Trixie right in her heart. Especially with the phrase “Get well soon” on top like a banner in increasingly smaller letters, as if whoever wrote it realized they were running out of room.

“This is... so sweet.” She sniffled as she wiped a tear from her cheek. Leaning forward she placed the card on her nightstand where it stood by itself facing in their direction, giving her a good view of the entire thing. “I love it! Tell Maggie and Nathan it’s my favorite drawing yet!”

“Oh um, well actually... I uh... I drew that,” Jon said after an embarrassed cough. “I uh... when Celestia told me I could visit you it was... such short notice that I didn’t have time to get you anything so I... I used some of the kid’s arts and crafts supplies that they left in the living room.”

Utterly speechless, though still very much appreciative for the gesture, Trixie looked back at the drawing and noticed some tell tale signs that perhaps an adult had done this rather than children. For one the names over each person’s head as well as the banner were all spelled correctly and in somewhat neat handwriting. But at the same time it still looked artistically amateurish which at first she believed was because a child did it but now realized that it was because the person doing the drawing was in a hurry.

The faulty dimensions of the house and the fact that Trixie was only drawn with three legs seemed like something even the young Stewart kids would have picked up. Even though this revelation was still new and hanging in the air Trixie was still very much touched by the gesture.

“O-oh I see. It’s... it’s really nice,” she complimented, trying to salvage the awkwardness of inadvertently calling Jon’s art child level. Leaning forward she began to point at different portions of the picture. “I really like the uh... I really like how the house is the same size as us... and uh... I really like the shade of... um, why instead of blue... do I appear to be purple?”

“I ran out of blue drawing the sky,” Jon sighed. “Sorry.”

“No, no, no I love it! Really!” she assured him. “I especially like how I seem to be holding... some kind of orange ball?”

“That’s a tangerine,” Jon corrected.

“Oh...OH! I see it now!” she fibbed as she tilted her head to look at it from a different angle. “Um... why am I holding a tangerine?”

“Oh no reason,” he answered. “I just really wanted to use the orange crayon at the time.”

Like before Trixie was fully prepared to accept this explanation and compliment his decision accordingly, but the way he answered made her double over in laughter which made Jon do the same. Were it not for the thick walls some of the other residents would have been awoken by the sound of the two literally falling over each other in hysterical laughter.

“I’m... I’m sorry!” Trixie giggled. “But you are terrible at drawing!”

In response to this Jon grabbed a nearby pillow and threw it at her face with such force that it sent her head flying back to the bed, almost hitting the backboard in the process.

“Oh shit! Sorry!” Jon apologized, as he leaned forward to help her, trying to stop his laughing ahead of schedule. “Are you alri--”

Before he could finish his sentence Trixie retaliated by grabbing her other pillow and slapping Jon across the face with it. He tried to regain his composure but before he could he was hit again and again. This time their laughter was so loud those in the rooms next door could hear them clear as day.

Some of the neighbors and nurses on staff thought about breaking it up but they all collectively decided not to... this was the happiest they had ever seen her.