Close Bonds: Prelude to Twentieth Chapter

“What?” Cream stares at you incredulously, setting the letter back down. “Twilight wants you to come to Canterlot? And you’re going to meet Princess Celestia?”

You raise an eyebrow at the cream-colored pony. “You do realize that Twilight’s a princess too now, right?”

She waves her hoof dismissively. “She used to be my neighbor. I've said 'hi' to her every time I've gone to the library, so it's nothing spectacular.”

Rainbow gives her a funny look, then turns to you. “She said she wants me to come too?”

You pick up the paper and take another glance at it. “Yeah, I think. She didn’t exactly invite you, but the way she wrote it, it looks like she assumed you were coming anyway, or something.”

An awkward silence fills the room. Rainbow takes to scrutinizing the letter closer, while you twiddle your fingers and count the ceiling panels.

You only notice that the pink-maned pony has left the room when you hear the door swing shut. You look on curiously, and it’s only a minute before she returns again, the handle of a leather bag in her muzzle.

Rainbow and you watch silently as she sets the bag down and pulls out two glass bottles full of a golden-brown liquid. She smirks devilishly, looking up at the two of you from the tops her eyes. “Beer, anyone?”

“What?” You step off the bed, picking up one of the bottles and turning the label towards yourself. ~_o Γ•_• σo § Γ, or ‘Golden Ale,’ it reads. “You snuck alcohol into the hospital?”

She nods, looking quite proud of herself. “I’ve had it in my desk for a few days now.”

“You realize you could get fired, right?”

“Well, who-o-o’s gonna tell, hmm, Ivan?” She inches closer to you with a playfully threatening demeanor. “None of the other receptionists will. Besides, there’s already alcohol in this hospital, has been for years.”

“Rubbing alcohol…”

“Same difference.”

“What’s your take on this, Rainbow?”

Rainbow still has a kind of shocked expression, most likely due to the letter, but does her best to shake it off. “I, uhm… That was really kind of random, Cream. Have you been saving that just for tonight?”

She nods enthusiastically. “Yup.”

The pegasus shrugs. “Can’t see why we can’t lighten the mood with a little drinking.”

She walks up to you and is about to take the bottle, but you pull your hand back. “Woah, woah, woah.”

Cream groans. “Don’t shit on our party, Ivan.”

“Yeah, what’s the big idea?” Rainbow looks up at you crossly, folding her forelegs over her chest.

You frown right back. “The big idea is that if you have drugs in your system and you drink this, you get sick and die.”

“Ivan, please,” she rolls her eyes, “I haven’t had painkillers in days.”

“Really?” You start to feel a little self-conscious about the pills for your foot. “What about sleeping drugs?”

She looks hesitant to speak. “I… I had some Nightquill-”

“See? There you go.”

“But that was last night!” she argues with you. “I’ve peed twice since then. I should be fine!”

“I don’t think that’s how it works…”

She suddenly changes tactics, giving you a threatening glare. “One way or another, I’m gonna have some.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Oh, really, now?”

You trot down the hospital hallways, hoofs clopping against the ground, rainbow tail swishing back and forth. You’re a little tipsy; you had some. Ivan is only letting you drink a little bit for now though, “In case you start to die,” he says.

You and Cream are planning a revolt to take back the beer.

Power abuse, alcohol, and uprisings aside, nature calls. It’s the reason you’re out here, and not in your room taking back what’s rightfully yours. Ivan was a little hesitant to let you to leave the room in your slight inebriation for fear of somepony seeing you (even though you aren’t nearly drunk), but you argued valiantly for your freedom to piss as you please.

“What if someone sees you out there, Dash? Then everybody’ll know that Cream brought beer into the hospital.”

“Well,” you say, turning to Cream, “Hoof me one of those empty soda cans. I gotta pee, and if I can’t leave, it looks like this is the only way.”

“Here ya go,” she slurs, tossing a grape soda can in your general direction, “Ya sure you ‘an make that?”

You slide off the bed, landing on your hooves and setting the can up straight. “I dunno. If I miss then Ivan can clean it up anyways. It’s what he does.”

“No, no, no,” he says, shaking his head, “Look. I’ll take you to the bathroom.”

You squat over it. “I might need another one after this, so get it ready, Cream.”

You chuckle to yourself. That was definitely enough to convince him. Not that he would’ve been able to stop you from coming and going as you please.

You suddenly feel yourself crash into another warm body. The both of you fall to the ground with an oomph, you swearing under your breath for the slice of pain sent down your broken wing.

You pick yourself up, prepared to give a verbal beating to whomever the hell hit an injured pegasus, and consequently sobered her up.

“R-Rainbow Dash!”

Any words of disdain quickly catch themselves in your throat as you realize you’ve just run into a rather familiar orange filly.

“Oh-oh, hey Scoots,” you greet in return. You’re quite aware of the situation between her and Ivan.

She picks herself up, and the two of you stand there awkwardly for a moment. “So… How’s your wing?” she asks.

You look to your side. As usual, your wing juts out at an awkward angle, but you’ve managed to keep it in closer to you as of late. You think of what Sweetheart told you: The cast? It should be removed sometime next week. As for flying… you’re going to want to hold off on that. Another month, at least; and you’ll need to wear bandages most of the time before then, too.

“It’s getting better,” you answer Scootaloo, flicking your working wing idly. “So, what about you? I mean, how are you holding up?”

She shuffles her hoof. “Better. I’ve been hanging out with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom a lot.” She smiles. “They’re good friends. And my dad’s been awake for a few days now, so I'm not as worried for him anymore. He’s probably going to jail, though…”

You simply nod, and a pause ensues. You begin to recall something, something you promised yourself you would do after a chat you had with Ivan regarding Scootaloo.

“Hey, Scoots.” At the sound of your voice, she looks up. “I need to ask you about something.”

A look of dread spreads across her face. “What?”

Her nervous bearing tells you that she already knows what. You place a hoof on her shoulder. She flinches back slightly, but remains in one spot nevertheless.

You take a deep breath before you begin. “I notice you haven’t talked to Ivan lately.”

She looks away, her eyes darting back and forth from the wall to you, as she seems afraid to meet your gaze. “Yeah…?”

“Why haven’t you?”

She still avoids eye contact, preferring to count the spots on the ground. “He… He betrayed me.”

“How?”

She stops for a moment, seeming to catch hold of her bearing. She raises her voice and looks straight into your eyes. “He hurt my dad.”

You’re taken aback, not necessarily by her claim but the sincerity and confidence behind it. “Your dad broke my wing. You realize this, right?”

All it takes is that little comment to push her back into a state of uneasiness. “Th-that doesn’t change the fact. He didn’t need to cut off his whole leg.”

You sigh, shaking your head. “Scootaloo, you know Ivan almost as well as I do. Let me ask you; how often does he resort to fighting?”

A pause. When you get no answer from the small pegasus, who merely hangs her head, you continue. “Right. He almost never fights. I can name another time he did, though; when he was defending you.

“I have almost never seen him freak out the way he did that night. I’ll be frank here; anypony who gets that response from Ivan, probably deserves it.”

You walk past Scootaloo. “I’ll see you later, Scoots. Just think about it.”

It is left at that.

Author's Note

Sorry for the shortness, but I just felt that this should be a chapter of its own. I also didn't think that it was long enough to be considered a chapter, hence the name.

Again, thanks to hwrogers for proofreading!