Close Bonds: Chapter Seventeen

“Rainbow… I can’t even begin to express how sorry I am.”

You hold her hoof, gently caressing it with your thumb. She’s out cold, her wing splayed out in a cast hanging just a little above and to the side of her head.

“I just stood there, while that stallion… while he beat you. While he injured you.” You place your forehead in your palm, letting it wipe down your face until it comes to rest just under your chin, leaving you in a reflective pose.

“What’s wrong with me?” you ask the sleeping pegasus. She, of course, doesn’t answer, just continues her rhythmic breathing.

You take a quick glance at your foot. It’s covered in gauze, and still throbs a bit from the cut. Unlike with Rainbow, they didn’t give you any drugs to put you to sleep, or at least dull the pain while they worked on you. Sweetheart just talked with you, distracting you while they prepared to pull the shard of glass out of your foot.

Apparently, it was safe enough to yank out. Wasn’t that fun?

Your injury seems miniscule, however, when you look back at the near-motionless figure beside you.

You pinch the bridge of your nose, watching her chest steadily rise and fall. How’s she going to handle this? Flying… it’s basically her life. She’s renowned, aside from her role as an Element of Harmony, for being the fastest flier in Equestria. Not to mention her lifelong dream of becoming a Wonderbolt.

Even when that was stripped away, she’s always still had her wings. Up until last night, at least.

You can’t resist another stress-palm. You yawn; you’ve been up since three o’ clock this morning, sorting things out.

It had to have been frightening to the hospital staff who didn’t know you, or even the graveyard shift workers who did, to see the blood-soaked you standing in the doorway holding the equally disheveled pegasus in your arms. Combine that with the trail of red you left from walking half a mile with a piece of broken glass in your foot, and the near-dead stallion the guards found in your house when they eventually went to investigate…

You glance at the door, fully aware of the guard behind it. His job is to keep you inside this room, blocking any attempts at exiting you might try to make. You nearly got arrested this morning; had it not been for the fact that the incident took place in your own house, you could have been sleeping, to an extent at least, in a jail cell.

Not that you aren’t being imprisoned in this room. Still, though, you at least have the benefit of being able to watch over Rainbow, to protect her.

Like you should’ve done a long time ago.

The sound of a doorknob rattling grabs your attention. You look up, expecting a nurse, or maybe another guard come to interrogate you.

Lyra steps through the door.

Close enough, on both accounts.

“Hey, Ivan,” she says, her voice having an unusually sympathetic tone that you’ve only rarely heard from her.

“Ugh, hey Lyra,” you sluggishly greet back, doing your best to not sound annoyed at her presence. You fail at doing so.

She sits down on the chair next to you, leaning back on her haunches as she sighs. “Rough night, huh?”

You shake your head, not in disagreement but to express how you feel in a single gesture. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

The two of you sit in silence for a moment, neither of you sure of what you could say in an instance like this.

Lyra finally speaks up, addressing a rather touchy subject. “So, you really cut off his leg?”

You’re a bit taken off guard by her bluntness. It annoys you, but you know that she means well, so you try not to get mad about it. “Yeah. I was actually gonna aim for his neck, but I guess there was still a part of me that could still think, if only partially… Good thing, right?”

She shakes her head. “No, actually. Since he’s still alive, he could attempt a lawsuit. I’m not sure how far he would get in that way, considering he broke into your house and what you did was in defense of a national hero… But there’s always the species bias.”

Ah, yes. The species bias. Ponies are normally pretty accepting of all races, as their country in general has some amount of immigration, but there’s always been some amount of fear of the predators.

Chopping off a pony’s leg and then stomping on his head can’t be too good for your image, where fear is involved.

“Thanks for letting me know, Lyra,” you groan, half-sarcastically and half-sincerely. It really is a good thing that you’re aware of this, but it’s just another spoonful of spinach to add to your plate.

No retort comes from her. “Sorry. I’ll just see myself out.” She hops off the chair, and stands to leave, before you grab her by the shoulder.

“Wait,” you say. She turns to you, and you ask what’s on your mind. “Aren’t you gonna check Rainbow?”

Her face takes on a troubled look. “I- sorry, that’s supposed to be Redheart’s job…” She sees your disappointed expression, then sighs. “…but I guess I could. I don’t have any meetings until later.”

“Thanks, Lyra,” you say, watching her lean over Rainbow. She puts an ear to her chest, listens for a moment, then stands back and lights Rainbow up for a moment in a golden glow.

“She’s fine,” Lyra sums it up, heading back for the door. “The drugs are starting to wear off, so she might wake up soon.”

You nod, this small reassurance somehow making you just a tad bit more comfortable. “Thanks again, Lyra.”

The doctor only grunts in response, letting the guard shut the door behind her as she walks out. You sigh, deciding to lean back and find a comfortable spot in your chair.

As if on cue, Rainbow starts to rustle under the covers. Her movement is restricted a bit in order to keep her from damaging her wing even worse, so she stays mostly in the same spot.

You watch closely, just wanting so desperately for her eyes to open. Celestia, how much you want to see her awake.

They don’t open, but her mouth does, letting out a loud snore. You groan.

“I’m gonna see if I can get a bathroom break,” you mutter to yourself. You walk to the door, then knock a few times.

It opens, revealing a stoic guard. He stares at you blankly.

“I need’a piss,” you tell him. He raises an eyebrow, then steps to the side, allowing you to walk past.

Since you work here you already know where everything is, so you turn down the hall without directions. A few feet down and you hear hoofsteps behind you. You sigh, knowing that it’s probably the guard.

The walk to the bathroom is full of stares from everypony who’d been there a few hours ago. As you pass by the receptionist desk, you glance to see who’s behind it.

The mare at the desk, not Cream, looks up and smiles when she sees you. Not wanting to be rude, you meekly smile back at her.

It seems to take a long time, but you finally make it to the bathroom. You push open the door. Before stepping inside, you check behind you.

The guard stands behind you, quietly watching. You roll your eyes, then step inside.

After releasing the floodgates, which included everything you’d been holding in since the previous day, you wordlessly step past the guard. Ever-attendant, he follows again.

As you walk down the halls once again, you notice something out of the corner of your eye. You turn your head, and see Scootaloo coming out of one of the rooms.

Your lips curve up in a genuine smile, the first in what feels like a long time. Your voice comes out softly, almost in an appreciative way for her being there for you. “Hey, Sc-”

“You…” she hisses. You flinch, startled by her hostility.

She stares at you, the already-apparent dark rings under her eyes deepening. You say nothing, sensing an oncoming verbal beating.

“H-How could you do that to a pony?” she suddenly cries, her voice breaking. Tears immediately stream from her eyes. “How c-could you be s-so violent? I- I thought you w-were nice.”

Her voice isn’t heated with rage, rather spills over with hurt. Betrayal.

You stutter, your thoughts in a jumble. “I- I was protecting Rainbow. He hurt Rainbow.”

She shakes her head. “You stomped on his head. You stomped on his head, Ivan!” she yells, her voice echoing around the halls. “T-They told me everything. Everything that happened; including what you told them.” She wipes a large amount of salty fluid from her eyes. “Self-defense? Bullshit! You almost killed my dad!”

Her shouting attracts the attention of various medical staff and guardsponies around the area. A few nurses come to restrain Scootaloo, pulling her back into the waiting room as she continues to glare back at you angrily.

“And to think, I used to trust you,” she mutters bitterly, before complying with the nurses and letting them lead her to the front of the hospital.

Her last words stick in your head, as you stare blankly at the ongoing hospital scenery. She doesn’t trust you anymore? What did you possibly do to break her trust?

You did the right thing in defending Rainbow, right? You admit, stomping on his head was a bit excessive, but it was in the heat of the moment… You weren’t thinking, and you were just so angry…

You groan, deciding on going back to Rainbow’s room to sulk while she snores. As you turn, you see that the guard is still standing there, staring at you as emotionlessly as ever.

“Enjoy the show?” you ask irritably. You feel like punching him in the face.

He, of course, does nothing.

Author's Note

Enjoying the Scootadoption? >:D

Something I wonder, though... Why does Word close when you press the menu button twice? It's an effin' pain in the rear.

Once again, this guy :D >>hwrogers<<