Close Bonds: Chapter Eighteen

Your name is Scootaloo.

You sit in one of the hospital lobby chairs, depressed, and quite worn-out despite the fact that you woke up not an hour ago.

An hour ago, you were sleeping peacefully in your bed. You were interrupted from quite a pleasant dream with the words, “Your dad is in the hospital.”

It was confusing. At first, you didn’t remember that your dad was even in Ponyville. But after some recollection, a panicked trot across town, and seeing your dad unconscious and missing half a leg…

…it led to this. Where you are now.

You just yelled and cussed at one of the best friends you’ve ever had…

Did he deserve it? Something you said yourself was that that stallion is no longer your father.

That’s hard to believe now. He’s still your dad, he just needs help.

So, what about Ivan now?

Your rub your temples, frustrated and confused. On one hoof, you’ve known him for quite some time. He obviously cares about you; that’s a given. On the other hoof… he hurt your dad.

Your dad broke into his house. He allegedly injured Rainbow, but you’re still having a hard time believing that she could be hurt by anypony, even your dad. You would see her yourself, but you know that if she’s awake, she’ll obviously come to Ivan’s defense…

And why not? If what everypony says is true, then Ivan was defending Rainbow.

But was it really defending if he stomped on your dad’s head long after he’d been disabled?

So confusing…

You watch a pink mare enter the building, smiling at everything in sight. She smiles at you, but you don’t return it.

Unperturbed, she turns to the pony at the front desk. They talk for a moment, the chipper mare suddenly taking on a shocked look.

A light-green unicorn emerges from one of the doors, quickly saying something before disappearing again through the doorway while the pink earth pony follows her.

You wonder what’s going on.

It couldn’t be something to do with your dad, could it? Neither of those mares were his doctor, at least you don’t think.

You rest your head against one of the leg-rests, sighing. When did life become so difficult?

Oh, yeah. Five years ago.

“…After that, she looked back at me and said, ‘And to think I used to trust you,’ and walked off.”

Cream nods, doing her best to recall and absorb every last detail of your story. She’d rushed into the room a little earlier with Lyra after learning about what had happened, and listened to your side of the story.

She has a contemplative look, as if thinking it all over before she says what’s on her mind. “Well, I really don’t know a lot about Scootaloo…” she begins. “I know I’ve seen you two talking, and it was kind of cute to be honest, but you need to know your priorities.” She points to the sleeping Rainbow. “Right now, she comes first, above all else. Focus on your mare; as soon as she wakes up, she’s going to need you.”

She’s not suggesting that you would even think of leaving Rainbow’s side at this point in time, is she?

The pegasus in question begins to stir, showing signs that she may be awakening soon. Cream pats you on the leg, before hopping off the chair and whispering, “My shift’s in two minutes. Good luck.”

She quietly closes the door behind her. As Rainbow awakens, you take her hoof.

“Hey, Rainbow,” you softly coo. “How you feeling?”

She brings her other hoof to her forehead, then waves it in front of her eyes. “Sto-o-oned…”

There’s silence for a moment, then the two of you burst out laughing. It’s not really that the joke is funny, more the fact that it was so… unexpected.

“…but seriously, I’m really thirsty,” she croaks hoarsely. There’s a glass of water on the nightstand, and you hand it to her. She takes it, bringing it to her lips and gulping it down greedily.

She sets the cup back on the nightstand, and sighs. “So…” She glances over at the cast on her wing. “Snapped?”

“Yeah.”

“How long ‘til it heals? Do you know?”

You gulp. “Uh… Sweetheart said this wasn’t for sure, but…”

Rainbow stares at you, wide-eyed.

Good job man, keep her in suspense.

“…six to eight weeks.”

She looks down at the sheets. “Damn.”

“I know.” You take her hoof again. “I’m sorry.”

The two of you just sit there for a moment, weighing up the situation and all that it implies.

“So… How’s your back hoof?” she asks, breaking the silence.

You look down at your gauze-covered appendage. “Oh, my foot? It still hurts. Walking a half mile kinda got that glass wedged in further, and when I got here, they just ripped that shit right out. No painkillers or nothing.”

“Ooh,” she winces. “Sorry about that. It didn’t look too good when we got here. Carrying me probably didn’t help all that much, huh?”

You wave your hand, brushing it off and trying to make light of the situation. “Nah, it’s fine, seeing as how I let your wing get broken. We’ll call it even.”

She picks up on your joking, and comes back with her own. “Uh, huh. Keep telling yourself that, but we both know you pussied out during that fight.”

Your breath catches in your throat. You try to smile, letting out a few chuckles that end up sounding more like whimpers.

She senses your discomfort, doing her best to slap you on the back from her position. “Calm down, Ivan. It was just a joke.”

You laugh just a tad bit more believably this time, but don’t turn all the way towards her. “Yeah, yeah. Back at ya…”

She frowns, not convinced. “There something wrong? Did I go too far?”

“Just a little.”

She rests her hoof on your hand, and holds it there. “You’re not blaming this on yourself, are you?”

You turn your head towards her. She looks intently into your eyes, prying for an answer.

“Urgh,” is all you manage. She sighs.

“I knew it. I knew it as soon as I woke up. You looked guilty, and I could tell.”

You roll your eyes. “Good job, Dash. I really wouldn’t think it’s such a big surprise, but now that you have it figured out, why not gloat about it?”

She scowls at you, biting back her tongue. “Look. Why are you beating yourself up over this? I’d really like to know.”

You groan. “Would you, now?”

“No shit, I just- Is there any reason you should be blaming this yourself? A good one?”

You sigh, then shake your head. “No, I’m just tired. It’s been a long night; I’ve been up since the break-in, and there’s been a shit-ton of paperwork, and... Let’s just forget I said anything, alright?”

She eyes you, squinting slightly. “It’s kind of hard to forget something like this. Especially when I know that it’s not nothing.”

“Oh, really? How could you tell?”

“I know you pretty well by now, Ivan. Besides, didn’t we agree not to keep secrets from each other?”

You scowl at her. “We never even talked about that.”

“It’s an unsaid agreement.”

You chuckle, shaking your head. “Unsaid agreement…” You throw your hands up in the air. “Fine. You want to know why? Because what you said was true. I did pussy out on that fight. I stood by while that damn bastard beat the fuck out of you. Happy now?”

She smirks. “Yeah, actually. Now I know just how much of an idiot you are.”

You glare angrily at her. “How is that-”

“You weren’t just standing by. You were picking glass out of your foot. I’ve flown into enough thorn bushes and splintered wood to know that that shit hurts.” She pauses, waiting to see if you have any argument. You say nothing, so she continues. “You ran with that hoof to come help me, saved my ass, then stomped on his head with- was it the same foot?”

“No.”

“Still, though. It was pretty badass. Not to mention you carried me half a mile, dripping blood and all.”

You raise an eyebrow. “…And this is supposed to make me a hero, or something?”

“To anyone else who isn’t a complete idiot, yes.” She smirks.

“Isn’t your goal to make me feel better? You just called me an idiot twice.”

“This ain’t no pity party, Ives,” she shakes her head. “I’m just telling the truth here.”

You sigh, rubbing your temple. “You have the weirdest way of reassuring people.”

“But did it work?”

You pause for a moment. “No…” you lie, trying to hide a smile.

She notices this, and smiles herself. “Good. Now, Ivan, could you do me a favor?”

You ready yourself to stand from your seat, happy to carry out any task for her right now. “What’s that?”

She pats the spot next to her on the small hospital bed, a small glimmer to her eye.

“Ohh…” you grin. “That kind of favor.”

She sticks out her tongue. “No, not ‘that kind of favor’. I just want you to get some sleep.”

You get a shit-eating grin.

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. But seriously, have you been up this whole time?”

You think back to some fuzzy memories. “Well, there was the whole deal with not getting arrested, signing hospital papers… I think so.”

She rubs the bed impatiently. “Then come on.”

You walk on up to the side of the bed. The space she’s indicating to you is quite narrow, and the bed itself may be too short. You give her a questioning look.

“Yeah, I know,” she mutters. “I would scoot aside, but this damn thing is keeping me in one spot,” she indicates to the contraption fastening her wing cast to the bed.

“Nah, it’s fine,” you assure her, lifting the covers. “I think I can squeeze in here…”

Slipping off your shoes, you slide under the sheets. Because of your close proximity, you find yourself smushed up against your little blue companion.

“You’re really warm,” you compliment, words nearly coming out as a sleepy slur. You can already feel your eyelids starting to droop, the events of the night having taken their toll on your body.

You feel a pair of lips touch and go on your nose. You move to return the favor, finding that you’ve unconsciously wrapped your arms around Rainbow’s small pegasus body.

“Night, Dash…”

…

“Hey, Ivan?”

You groan. “Dash, you told me to get some sleep. I haven’t closed my eyes for ten seconds…”

“What are you talking about? You’ve been sleeping for like five hours.”

You open your eyes, confused. Of course, the first thing you see is Rainbow’s face. She’s giving you a look, her eyes partially squinted over the top of a Daring Do book.

You’re starting to feel as if that’s all she ever reads.

You crank your neck towards the clock. Sure enough, from what you can see with your bleary eyes, it’s about noon.

“Oh…” is all you can think to say. Realizing that you’d been resting your head on her, you roll to the side and lay on your back.

For a minute, you stare at the ceiling panels- a ritual invented at and for school. This activity most often has one of two effects in the mind: either interesting or sometimes unsolvable questions will assault the thoughts of the ceiling-gazer, or, the person or pony in question will instantly fall asleep.

Using lecture time as a prime example, the former usually occurs. However, today it brings about the latter.“So, why did you wake me up?”

“You were drooling on my shirt,” Rainbow answers simply.

You look to where you’d buried your face earlier. There, on her green hospital shirt, was a large wet spot positioned just under the ribs.

That figures. For an athlete, she has such a soft tummy. “Sorry about that,” is your response.

She pinches a dry area just above the dark patch, looking at it with a slight repulsion. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind too much, but I hate how cold it is when it touches my fur.” She lets go, the damp fabric slapping against her stomach causing her to shiver. She then looks to her cast, frowning. “And it sucks, ‘cause I can’t even take it off by myself.”

You follow her eyes to the cast, where you’re mildly surprised to find her no longer bound to the bed. “You got your thingy off?”

The appendage twitches slightly. “Yeah, Sweetheart came in here earlier. I was awake by then, but you were still out, so we decided not to disturb you… So yeah.”

Explains how you had the extra room to roll over.

“Just wondering, you still going to work today?”

You turn your head towards her, eyebrow raised. “I was planning on staying here with you. Why?”

“Well, if you think about it, you’re kind of already at work.”

Her point clicks. You work at the hospital; you’re technically at work, even though you’re not really performing your job.

You hadn’t even thought of that.

“Huh.”

“You know, Ivan, if you worked, we would still be pretty near each other. You’re a janitor, right?”

You snap your gaze to her. “Orderly,” you correct with a frown.

She rolls her eyes. “You still have keys to the janitor’s closet, so same thing. But anyways, what if you spent all your time taking care of me?”

“Oh, you mean like at home?” you tease.

“Shut the fuck up, jobs don’t rain from the clouds. But don’t you usually go around cleaning things up and helping cripples fit into their clothes and stuff?”

The way she phrases it... It’s somehow very degrading. “Yeah, I guess. But I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to just take care of one specific pony. Usually I’m all over the hospital.”

You hear a loud squeak. The both of you turn towards the noise, finding Doctor Sweetheart standing in the doorway.

“Oh, good, you’re both awake,” she chirps. Trotting up to the side of the bed with a clipboard, she asks you, “Sleep well?”

You bring your hands behind your head, yawning. “Oh, yes.”

She turns to Rainbow. “And how are you doing, Rainbow Dash?”

She holds her novel up. “Just been readin’.”

“Good, good.” She writes something down on her clipboard. “Have either of you been experiencing any injury-related pains?”

You and Rainbow both glance at each other before simultaneously answering, “Yes.”

“I see,” she mutters, scribbling down something else before looking up at the two of you again. “Alright, well, Ivan. Unfortunately, your injury doesn’t warrant painkillers…”

You wonder why she even asked.

“…and Rainbow, we don’t want to be putting too much magic or drugs into your system. It’s not too unbearable, is it?”

She twitches her broken wing. “Kind of an aching feeling… But no.”

“Alright. I’ll be sure to have some painkillers and sleeping pills ready in a few hours in case you need them.” She writes one last thing down, then sets her pen and clipboard in her saddlebag. She turns to leave, but perks up and turns back around. “Oh! Almost forgot. You’re free to go, Ivan.”

You cock your head as much as you can do while prone. “Free to go? Wait…” Your eyes widen. “You mean I can leave this room?”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouts.

“I’m not actually going to leave,” you shoot back at her, somewhat annoyed at the way she practically yelled in your ear. You bring your attention back to Sweetheart. “But if I can go, that means the charges against me have dropped, right?”

Sweetheart shakes her head. “I have no idea, Ivan. I’m a medical doctor, not a lawyer.” She points to the door. “Some ponies came in here and told Cream that you’re free to go, and that guard by the door left. But you’re going to have to look into it yourself.”

You thank her for her help. “It’s no trouble,” she answers, all smiles. “Is there anything else I can do for you two?”

Rainbow takes her chance to speak up. “Yeah. I just wanted to know if Ivan will be able to work today.”

Sweetheart gets a curious look. “Why? You don’t want him to be in here with you?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d even let me leave the bed with the way you reacted earlier,” you joke.

She ignores you. “Well, he does work here, at the hospital. He wouldn’t be far away. And from what Ivan’s been telling me”

The doctor thinks about this. “I suppose that’s true, although the work day is probably about halfway over for him, and medical leave does provide a certain amount of pay anyway.” She glances at your foot. “He can probably work tomorrow if he wants to, but it depends on how his cuts are doing then…”

There’s a silence for a moment, likely because Rainbow’s trying to think of something else to say. Before she can, Sweetheart decides to make her escape. “Well, it’s always nice talking to you, Ivan; and you too, Rainbow. I’m going to leave right now, since I usually work the night shift anyways, and I’m running on overtime right now. Plus,” a small tug at the corners of her lips, “I have a stallion to go home to.”

“Ah, I see things work the other way around in your household,” you allude, receiving a sock from Rainbow. “I’ll talk to you later, then.”

As the door shuts behind her, the room is left in silence once more. “So,” Rainbow says, attempting to break the silence, “what now?”

You glance over at her. “I dunno. We just… hang out now? I think Fluttershy’s my emergency contact, so we should be expecting visitors soon…”

A knock sounds at the door. You smirk. “And there we go.”

Author's Note

In which I post a chapter where not much really happens.

Also, guys, I wouldn't expect once-a-week updates anymore if I were you... Though I'll try to not pass the two-week deadline again. Really wishing I could write more though :(

Again, thanks go to hwrogers for le proofreading.