“I have to say, I’m impressed. You must have made quite an impact for that colt to come and apologize on his own,” Dad said, sitting by the window. Starry had left only moments before. I didn’t have the chance to tell him about the whole chat I had with Brick, but it didn’t take me long to tell Dad about it. “You really are getting stronger by the day.”

That threw me off. “Huh? What does that have to do with anything?”

Dad smiled. “Well, Crimson, this is something I strongly believe in. You have a strength in yourself, everypony does. I don’t mean physical strength— it is your strength of will. That strength is fed by kindness; those who are kind help you get stronger. You have so many ponies around you that show you kindness that you have strength to spare. Despite your challenges, you have opened your heart and shown kindness to others, giving them strength as well. Your kindness toward your friend Blackhawk is not only giving him strength, but it also seems to have helped this colt Brick gain the strength to stand up to this other colt, Boulder— on your behalf, no less.”

It was an interesting idea, but I didn’t get the chance to think about it for long. There was a knock at the door before it opened slightly to reveal the tips of a sky blue hoof and horn.

“Can I come in?” Her voice was low and slow.

“We can talk more about this later,” Dad whispered. I nodded at him, and he went to open the door. “Come on in, Tesla. I was just heading out.” Dad winked at me as Tess entered the room, then he left and let the door close.

Tesla’s head faced the floor as she approached my bed. “I’m sorry, Crimson.”

Those weren’t the words I expected. Apologies seemed to be a common occurrence today. “Sorry for what, Tess? What in Equestria do you have to be sorry about?”

She sniffled. “Well… since Starry gave you that painting, I’ve been wanting to give you something, too. But… I don’t know what to give you. I’m not good enough with my magic to do anything cool yet, and I can’t think of anything else to do. That’s why I haven’t been here for so long. I’ve been trying to think of something, but I just can’t!"

I sighed; Starry was right.

She continued, "I really wish I could help you get stronger so you’d be out of here sooner. Then maybe we could go out crusading again.”

“Tess, you don’t need to give me anything.” What Dad had said only moments before really registered now. “You’re already giving me what I need.”

“Huh?”

“You, Tess. All I need is your company, your kindness, and your friendship. You’ve been giving me that for years. That’s all I need— all of that makes me stronger. It’s why I’m still here.”

A small smile crept onto her face as I saw a tear stream down her cheek. In moments, she had climbed up onto my bed and given me a hug. “Well, if you say so. That’s easy to give— I can give you as much of that as you need until you’re out of here.” Her small smile widened.

“Thanks, Tess. Sounds good to me.”

“Hey, listen.” Her tone took a serious shift as she looked me square in the eyes. “If you need me here, then I’m not going anywhere, so you better not either, okay? You better promise me that.”

I grimaced. “I don’t know if I can guarantee that, but I can promise you that I’m gonna give it my very best shot. That okay?”

Tess narrowed her eyes at me. “I guess I’ll hafta settle for that. But if all you really need is me being here to make you stronger, you better believe I’m gonna be here every day. Got it?”

I smiled at her. “Perfect. Will I still get those hugs when I’m outta here?” Her expression softened back into a smile of her own as she nodded and hugged me again, but this time she didn’t let go.

And that was fine with me.

I opened my eyes about a half hour later to find Tess laying on the bottom edge of my bed with her eyes closed. Dad sat by the window, quietly talking to somepony who I couldn’t quite make out. Since I was still groggy, I wasn’t positive who the purple pony was at first. I didn’t give it much thought as I shifted my weight in my bed. At the same moment, the pony turned from the window to look in my direction. The worn face, along with the chalkboard and chalk upon her flank, revealed everything about the pony I needed to see.

“Gramma!”

Tesla’s eyes bolted open as she slipped and fell off the bed. “Ow!” I heard soft laughter and the slow clop of hooves. “I thought I had a good hold on those sheets.”

“You know, it might be wiser to lay in the middle of the bed next time, dear.” Tess was helped to her hooves by a sturdy grip. “Would you be Tesla, by any chance?”

Tess glanced up at unknown eyes before she responded, “Umm, yes. Hi. Sorry, but who are you?” My grandmother chuckled again.

“She’s my gramma!” I said, as she turned to me and gave me a hug. “How’s school?”

She sighed. “A little too well, Sweetheart. I would have been here sooner had I not been so busy with conferences. Of course the Baltimare board of education decides to start changing things in our favor right when I want to be leaving. I had to be there to head the teachers’ council. Otherwise I would have been here in a heartbeat.”

Dad remarked, “Don’t go into that again, Mom. He’s got enough on his plate.”

She turned to my Dad and said, “Believe me, dear, I am well aware.” Then she turned back to me. “You do know I will always be here when you need me, don’t you? This one snag with the school was very important, but if anything absolutely urgent had happened to you, I would have dropped everything and galloped here if I had to.”

“Don’t worry, Gramma, I know,” I responded with a smile.

She smiled back at me and said, “Good. Dear, where are you off to?” I looked in the direction she had faced. Tess was reaching for the door handle.

“Hey, yeah! Where’re you goin’?” I asked.

Tess flinched and turned around. “Oh, I was gonna go home. I—”

“What, with no ‘goodbye’?”

“Well… I…” She fidgeted on her hooves.

I smiled. “Calm down, Tess. I’m busting your chops.”

My grandma spoke up, “You don’t need to leave on my account, dear.”

“Oh, no, I just… I probably ought to go home. It’s getting kinda late. I’ll see you tomorrow, Crimson, okay?”

“Sounds good. Say hi to the fam for me.” I gave her a little wave.

“Alright.” With that, she slipped out the door.

I looked at my tiles, then at the board, and my jaw dropped. No way. No freakin’ way. “Just making sure, but ‘brazen’ is a word, right? I thought I heard somepony say that once.”

Gramma nodded. “It is. Are you adding on to that ‘braze’ I just put down?”

“I’m adding a lot more than that.” I smiled and picked up my tiles, spelling the word out as I placed them on the board atop my bed. “J-i-n-x-i-n-g. ‘Jinxing.’ I can’t believe I got those letters just right.” I counted the points in my head, then out loud. “Okay, ‘brazen’ is 17 points. ‘Jinxing’ alone is 22, the ‘x’ on the double letter makes it 30, and the ‘j’ on the triple word makes that 90. Using all of my letters gives me another fifty points. That’s… 157 points!” I raised my hooves up in the air, causing the bed to bounce and the letters to jump around.

Gramma leaned back in her chair as she shook her head. “Wow, and I thought I had a good move with that ‘z’ on a double word. I must admit, you’ve certainly gotten better. It’s good to see you’re still sharp as a tack, even if you are stuck in here.”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to keep up with the work Miss Turner sends me.”

Gramma smiled. “It seems to be working. Well, there are only three tiles left in the bag, you’re ahead by 112 points, and I’ve got nothing but vowels. I concede.”

“What’s that mean?”

“You win.”

“Sweet!” Gramma never gave up against me in Scrabble, but with those odds, I guess it was a lost cause. Dad refused to play; he was tired of getting his flank whooped at, well, everything.

“Okay, mister Scrabble champ, I’m going out for a bit to grab some lunch, but I’ll be back within the hour. Would you like me to get you anything? Maybe something other than Harry Trotter to read?”

I had already eaten lunch; the hospital food was surprisingly edible. In terms of other things, I had to think for a minute. My train of thought shifted to somepony else that I hadn’t seen for a little while. “Actually, Gramma, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Is something wrong?” Her tone changed completely, with worry reverberating from her voice and concern etched into her face. “Do you need one of the doctors?”

I waved my hoof. “No, no, I’m fine. It’s just, well, Dad told me about all the money stuff you’ve been doing for me…” She arched her eyebrows at that. “…So, first I want to say thank you.”

Her worry faded into a smile. “You are very welcome, honey. I was lucky enough that your grandfather left me with the ability to do that. I’m hoping you will be able to do the same for your children and grandchildren one day.”

“Yeah, Dad told me that, too.” I smiled back at her. “So anyway, a friend of mine that’s down the hall isn’t exactly that lucky. If you’re going by the bookstore, could you maybe pick up some Power Ponies comic books that I could give to him?”

Gramma held her hoof to my cheek. “You are such a sweet colt. Of course I will. What about something for you?”

“Umm… How about some sudokus?”

“Ah, yes. I forgot we have mister puzzle master here as well.”

“And maybe a donut from Donut Joe’s?” I smiled with an innocent arch of the brows.

Gramma laughed. “I swear, you are SO your grandfather’s grandson!” She kissed me on the forehead and trotted out the door.

Dad had been sitting by the window reading the newspaper. After Gramma left, he put it down and trotted over to me.

“You really are an incredible kid, buddy. Even with the situation you’re in, you want to get something for another colt when you should be waited on head to hoof.”

“Well, I’ve got it pretty good in here compared to some of the other kids. A lot of the stuff they have in the PonyLife room is for really little ponies. There isn’t a lot for some of the older kids to do. I’ve got plenty to do, so I figure Blackhawk could use some new comics to read.”

Dad paused for a minute and scratched his chin. “You know, that gives me an idea. Do you think you can hang out in here yourself for a few minutes?”

“Yeah, I’ve got the call button if I need anypony. Why?”

“I want to talk to somepony at PonyLife.”