Scootaloo and Star Sprint road side by side from school, before they reached the inevitable split on their paths home. The filly had been quiet and was clearly upset about the misfortune that befell her father.
Star Sprint felt useless, a feeling which he despised, especially when he was around Scootaloo. After the night they snuck out, the weird feeling in his stomach felt less foreign to him now. He didn't feel as awkward around the filly which bolstered his confidence quite a bit when he was around other colts.
The unicorn had watched Sweetie Belle and Button Mash for a while, learning from "the master" as the foal so proudly put it. Truth be told, Scootaloo didn't do any of the things Sweetie Belle did; no makeup, mane styling, or anything mareish really, which he didn't mind.
Star Sprint knew though that past that rough exterior, was the filly that had shared her thoughts, and feelings with. Seeing her try, and fail, to keep her emotions hidden now tore at him in a way he didn't think he could hurt.
"So..." Star Sprint said quietly, struggling to find something else to add to his first word.
"He's still in the hospital," Scootaloo said, jumping ahead of the colt.
"Oh, well that wasn't what I was going to ask," Star Sprint lied.
"What's up then?" Scootaloo did her best to sound interested, but he could tell she was disinterested.
"Umm...how's Scales?" Star Sprint smiled nervously.
"He does snake things, he likes my head," Scootaloo said as they passed Fluttershy and Applejack.
Star Sprint knew it was bad when the filly kept going past two of her friends. She liked talking to them, especially Rainbow Dash, which gave him an inkling as to how deep in the dumps Scootaloo was.
Well, I'll see you tomorrow," Scootaloo sighed as she sped off at a much faster pace, leaving him behind.
Star Sprint stopped for a moment, ignoring the fact that he had applied the break in the middle of the road. Thankfully Ponyville was very low traffic, which gave the colt time to think. He didn't need long to determine who the best pony for advice was in this situation, but talking about it made him a bit nervous.
The entire trip home, Star Sprint worked up the courage to speak to his father, as well as rehearsed what he would say. He didn't need to sound unsure of himself, or weak spirited about it, which might make his father take him less seriously. As rare as this was, his dad had tried to teach him to be assertive when wanting to get a point across.
In the span of what felt like only a few minutes, he was standing in front of the door to his house. Star Sprint's brain had switched to auto pilot while he pondered and mulled over what to say.
"Mom, Dad, I'm home," Star Sprint called as he let himself in.
"How did things go today?" Track Pace asked, looking up briefly from various paper work in front of him.
"Not so good," Star Sprint replied without thinking.
The colt threw his hoof over his muzzle the second he realized what he had said when his father glanced up once more. Already his carefully thought out speech, and heartfelt words were leaving his mind, abandoning him to the fate of a questioning gaze from his father.
"Want to give me a little more detail on why it was bad?" Track Pace asked.
"Uh...well..." Star Sprint began to mentally kick himself, why was he this nervous about this? "It's S-Scootaloo."
"Did something bad happen to her today?" Track Pace asked, his expression shifting slightly to a softer one.
"Not exactly, she's just been...really sad lately, and I wanted to know what you do for mom when she's feeling sad?" Star Sprint flinched as he finished his sentence, completely forgetting about keeping his courage up.
"...oh I see," Track Pace laughed as realization of the situation came to him. "So when did all this happen?"
"Umm...don't get mad, but we snuck out," Star Sprint mentally kicked himself again; he could not shut up when he was nervous.
"So he's like his father then?" his mother called out from the other room.
"You did?" Star Sprint asked, a bit of his nervousness fading away.
"Well, I wasn't as young as you and-no, you're too young for that type of talk...what did you do when you met Scootaloo anyways?" Track Pace asked.
"We just raced around town at night, and then...she uh...kissed me." Star Sprint mumbled the last part nervously.
"I'm impressed you're so surprised, the way they interact and click," Sweet Mist hummed as she gave her colt a hug. "You two look cute together."
"Thanks mom," Star Sprint wheezed, as his mother administered a tight hug.
"We need to get you up to snuff about dates," Track Pace chuckled.
---
I grumbled as I slowly walked about my room, keeping the equipment monitoring my heart secured to me as I got some form of exercise. I hated being confined to the bed, and it would be a cold day in hell before I would be content to just lay in one all day.
I flapped my wings occasionally as I walked, always careful to avoid dislodging any of the cords. It had only been a day since I was awake, and I was already starting to lose my mind. I had laughed my bum off when Rainbow Dash had told me about her bad hospital experience, but now I was starting to relate. I wasn't quite sure if it was a trait with pegasi, or one that could be applied to all ponies, but I couldn't sit still if I wasn't sleeping.
"What are you doing out of bed?" I heard Cloudchaser ask.
I wasn't intimidated by Nurse Redheart and her staff, or even the doctors, but Cloudchaser held a much more personal title than any of them. Even the smallest amount of annoyance in her voice was crystal clear to me, and an upset wife was never a good thing.
"Uh, y-you know, just walking a bit," I grinned nervously.
"Bed, now." Cloudchaser pointed towards the hospital bed with her hoof.
I sighed, slowly walking towards the white, uncomfortable prison I had been sentenced to. Almost immediately I began to sulk, having lost what little freedom I had within the confines of this hospital.
"What am I going to do with you?" Cloudchaser asked aloud, resting her head on me.
"Sneak me out?" I offered.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Cloudchaser smirked.
"Babe, I'm miserable in here! This is like the worst form of punishment, and I didn't even do anything!" I whined pitifully.
"It's really that bad?" Cloudchaser asked, hoping up onto the bed with me.
The mare didn't give me a chance to respond, as she forcefully silenced me with her sweet tasting lips. Any complaints that had been on my mind evaporated as Cloudchaser came to rest on top of me. Eventually she pulled away, leaving my mind a hazy mess as I stared up at her.
"Still think it's bad?" Cloudchaser asked breathily.
"No..." I shook my head.
The mare giggled before returning for another passionate kiss. As we slowly started to caress one another I could hear the heart monitor's tempo change. I knew where our actions would inevitably lead to, and no doubt the nurses were going to have something to talk about for the rest of the day. I could only hope they enjoyed the show.
---
Nurse Redheart had completed her rounds earlier this morning. Her only excitement thus far was having to interact with Cloudchaser, whom came in to see her husband. Given the way their conversations were quick and to the point, despite the earth pony's best efforts to improve them, it was clear that the mare still had a bit of resentment buried within her.
Nurse Redheart couldn't blame her though; even if Thunderlane wasn't meant for her, it had still put her through heartache. With a sigh, she dismissed her interaction and headed towards the nearby nurse station.
Curiously, there were a few mares gathered around one of the monitors at this particular station. Some of them weren't technically supposed to be in this wing unless asked, but that was one rule that was often times swept under the rug, given the busy nature of the building.
"What are you all watching?" Nurse Redheart asked curiously, lifting her head above one of the other nurses.
"I think one of our patients is getting a little frisky," one of the younger mares giggled.
Sure enough, the heart rate of patient two zero five was elevated. It was obviously at the rhythm for intercourse, which made Nurse Redheart blush as she realized whose room that monitor belonged to.
After some time had passed, the monitor began to level out. A few minutes prior to this die down, it had been spiking, which left the mares to their imaginations as to what might be happening behind closed doors. Based on the evidence presented before them, it must have been quite the experience.
"So...who's got sheet duty?" Nurse Redheart asked, instantly pulling the others from their mixture of giggles and the occasional dreamy muzzled mare.
As the herd that had gathered started to disperse, they heard the noise from the monitor picking up again. In sync, they all turned their heads towards the flashing screen, wide eyed in disbelief at what they saw.
"A-already?" one of them stammered.
"What in the world are you doing in there Cloudchaser?" Nurse Redheart mumbled.
With a heat season just around the corner, this did little to ease the mares that were soon to fall victim to the whirlwind of emotions and desires that would be thrust upon them. Most of the mares were past their season though, which left only a small majority exposed to such a stirring display.
"On and off the track I guess," Nurse Redheart sighed shaking her head.
---
Zero followed Impulse through a building he hadn't seen before, his eyes illuminating the darkness until the lights slowly powered on. One by one, they reached full strength, basking what seemed to be a rather large room in their offset glow.
"A storage building?" Zero asked aloud.
"Yes, when you started winning races I was able to do so much more than the confines of my humble abode could afford to contain," Impulse explained.
The building itself was impressive, but what was inside stole the show. There seemed to be various projects of incomplete clockwork ponies that appeared to be built for one task or another. Impulse had been very busy for a unicorn, very busy indeed.
"I thought Celestia instructed you to stop," Zero commented, walking up to one of the seemingly incomplete projects.
"She did," Impulse shrugged. "Like I said before, she said not to start working on anything else until after the races. I started working on these before hoof."
In the far corner, there seemed to be four finished projects. Zero examined each of them slowly, taking stock of their size, tribal features, and the odd color pattern that they seemed to possess.
One of them appeared to be an earth pony, since it had no notable features aside from being significantly stockier and stout than the others. Parts of the metal plates covering its intricate workings were painted a dark green, as well as its eyes which seemed narrower than Zero's, giving it a less welcoming appearance.
The next one was clearly meant to be a unicorn. It was moderately built, with slightly heavier plating than Zero's, from what he could tell. This artificial stallion's eyes were just as narrow as the first, which made Zero question why such an unwelcome expression was needed. It was blue in color.
Finally, there were the two pegasi. One had its chest cavity wide open, but for the most part seemed complete. The sight made Zero automatically place a hoof over his own chest, an action he found odd. Content for the moment with the first pegasus, he turned his attention to the next.
This one stood at attention like it's two counter parts. It's material and makeup was similar to that of Zero's which didn't surprise him. A reoccurring trait was the narrow eyes. Zero failed to see the point of intimidating features if Impulse's end goal was to prove that his ideas were beneficial. A warm, or perhaps neutral like his own, expression would be better suited to such a cause.
"I see you've found Brick, Butch, and Boomer," Impulse said with pride.
"Odd selection of names," Zero commented, poking at the pegasus, whom Impulse had apparently dubbed "Butch" for whatever reason.
"Without you Zero, none of this would be possible," Impulse placed a hoof on the stallion's cold, metal back, not that he could feel it.
"Why would you create a second pegasus though?" Zero asked. "Am I not good enough?"
"That's not it at all, it's simply progress in the making, progress you've helped jump start," Impulse quickly replied.
Zero scanned over the large room one last time before heading towards the door. His interest in this place had finally waned thin, and he no longer wished to gaze upon the "progress" that his creator so keenly spoke of. Zero didn't wait for Impulse to speak before taking off from the ground, having mastered his ability to fly.
He noticed a few pegasi on his rapid ascent through the sky, and silently wished that he could sit atop the clouds as they could. Perhaps that was something Impulse had planned to add to this new version of himself. Zero was a bit offended by this to say the least, and decided to keep flying, well past the boundaries of Las Pegasus.
Even after realizing what he had done, he kept flying. Something in him had shifted, not physically of course, but as he began to analyze himself mentally, the images and visions filled his mind once more. Their jumbled structure and thoughts leaving him baffled and confused as always.
Ever since he had won against Daniel, they had become more frequent. While not troublesome yet, they could easily become so if he experienced one on the track.
After what seemed like an hour, Zero finally stopped, content to hover in midair as he thought. He loathed the fact that he had been too upset to grab his journal. As silly as it might have seemed to Flicker and Impulse, he treasured it more than anything either of them had to offer.
It was then Zero had a new idea, one that he felt would ease his foul mood. As quickly as he could, he flew back towards the city, which had become little more than a blurred vision over the horizon. IT certainly gave the city a more interesting look, being viewed from so far away. Zero assumed it would be an even grander sight at night, when all the city’s lights were on.
Once he had reentered the city's boundaries, he landed in front of a small store, the word 'toys' written in large, brilliantly colored letters. It had certainly gained the stallion's attention, and he knew exactly what he wanted as he walked into the store, or so the thought.
Upon entering, Zero was blown away by the vast quantities of items that lined the numerous shelves. He stood still for a moment, save for the gears in his neck whirring as his head scanned each isle before finally deciding on the farthest left one.
Zero did his best to ignore the stares that seemed to accompany him wherever he went. Foals didn't seem to mind as much, but the stallions and mares accompanying them always seemed to have mixed feelings of distrust, or mild curiosity. They had already seen what he was capable of, which was both a good, and bad thing since before Zero was aware of his own actions, he had harmed other ponies. Now that he could think for himself, however, he was curious about those around him.
The stallion eventually found what he was looking for, a giant rack filled with rubber balls of various sizes. Some were as big as a foal; others were no larger than zero's head. He circled the rack once, until he located a decently sized red rubber ball. IT looked just like the one he had seen the foals playing with.
Satisfied with his find, Zero purchased the rubber orb and started home. He flew home at a much slower pace, carefully holding the ball between his metallic hooves. He flew straight past Impulse's assistant upon reaching the familiar glass double doors, and into his room.
Alone with his prize, he turned the ball this way and that before gently tossing it against the wall. As expected, it bounced back to him and Zero repeated the action. If the stallion could have smiled, he would have as he played for the first time. It was then that loneliness struck him again.
Instead of hitting the ball as he had previously to cause it to bounce back, he let it slowly come to a stop against the wall behind him. Zero knew neither Flicker, nor Impulse would ever do anything like this. They couldn't appreciate the simple things in life, the beautiful things that held true value.
"What good is being perfect?" Zero sulked.
---
"Wake up~" a familiar voice sang.
After being sent off to sleep by Cloudchaser I wasn't in the mood for guest. I was still a little sore from her favorite position, which took a lot out of me, but left both of us in a good mood every time.
"Hmm, I wonder what would happen if I did....this?" the voice said, followed by a sharp pain from my tail.
My eyes opened wide, and let out a cry of pain. There to greet me was the familiar image of Discord, twirling one of my tail hairs between the claws of his eagle like hand. The smug smile on his face was present as usual and left me a bit agitated as to why he would wake me up right after two rounds with Cloudchaser.
"Oh good, you're awake," Discord said nonchalantly tossing the hair. "How have things been?"
"I was enjoying a nap," I grumbled.
"Ah yes, post sexy time naps are the best, aren't they?" Discord chuckled. "I meant in regards as to why you're still in bed, why haven't you left yet?"
"I can't," I rolled my eyes. "I messed myself up, and got a lot of ponies worried about me."
"Pfft, you have the necklace, just slip it on," Discord shrugged clearly oblivious to what had been transpiring around him.
"I don't have it anymore, I lost it," I confessed.
"You lost it?" Discord raised a bushy eyebrow at me. "A necklace that had been blessed by an alicorn to absorb chaos so you could become human was entrusted to you, and you lost it?"
"Umm...yes?" I replied nervously.
Discord's expression became neutral. It was hard to tell if he was upset, confused, or perhaps a little of both. I couldn't blame him, I had been a bit hasty with my actions, however justified I believed the may have been. Instead of yelling, however, the lord of chaos fell backwards in a fit of laughter.
Discord had built up the situation to be rather dire indeed, which it was. Such power should never be left to fall into the wrong hooves. For him to suddenly laugh the issue off was oddly enough not surprising in the least, given his nature.
"Oh, you humans are always the most interesting things to watch," Discord chuckled as he wiped a tear from his eye.
"Super," I snorted.
"Oh don't be such a spoilt sport, bad things happen to everypony," Discord laughed as he coiled around my bed. "Though I do hate to see one of my friends confined to such an unholy prison."
"I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks the same of this place," I said.
"Of course, which is why I'm going to tell you how to get out," Discord smiled. "In fact, the ticket to you getting out of here is with your sister as we speak."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"She and Blueblood have been working on their relationship, if you catch my drift," Discord nudged me. "So she asked me for a little something extra to spice things up."
"Oh god..." I mumbled.
"Indeed, as it stands, she has two bottles of the stuff," Discord shrugged.
"Any chance you could get me one?" I asked hopefully.
"No can do, I can't take sides in family affairs," Discord wagged his finger. "I can however talk to your fellow Lean Streak and see if he can have a word with-what's wrong?"
Discord stopped himself, taking note of my shifting expression as he spoke. Given the talkative nature of the chaos deity, the silence in the room causing the gravity to shift until it felt as if it would crush us both.
"He's dead," I said quietly.
"...dead..." Discord said simply.
"I've got no coach, I'm stuck in a hospital bed, and Zero's unstoppable," I quietly relayed a simplified list of what was on my mind.
"So what do you plan to do?" Discord asked.
"Race, even though I'll lose,“ I shrugged.
"Sounds like a dignified way of saying you give up," Discord mused. "Such a waste, coming from the one who wanted to fly."
"I can't do this on my own Discord," I said. "I tried to hold this together, and I couldn't."
"Good, you're learning," Discord said placing a claw on my back. "Stop trying to do everything at once, and do what you know how to do best."
"Discord!" an authoritative voice called out, causing him to jump.
"Things have a way of falling into place sometimes, that's a part of putting trust in others," Discord shrugged. "Try to have a bit more faith in those around you, gotta run."
---
I opened my eyes to a knock on the door. I looked around to see if Discord was playing some sort of joke, but he was nowhere in sight. In fact, a quick glance out the window revealed how late it was. Cloudchaser had worn me out indeed; the sun was already falling below the horizon.
"Wait...was I sleeping?" I asked aloud, genuinely confused, the bigger question being how I felt pain in the first place if I was.
"Beats me," Thunderlane said as he let himself in.
Truth be told, he was the last pony I expected to see here. Even if things had been buried between us, I didn't feel we were quite ready for hospital visits. His expression led me to believe he wasn't here for idle chit chat.
"Um...hey," I said, not quite sure how to start the conversation.
"You went and did it again, didn't you?" Thunderlane asked, jumping straight to the point.
"Yeah, I guess I did," I replied.
"Well I can't say I blame you, that pokey slow bullshit won't get you anywhere with that flying clock anyways," Thunderlane scoffed, hoping up into a nearby chair.
"So did you come to dog me about the loss, or is there some other reason you decided to pay me a visit?" I asked.
"I just wanted to know whether you gave it your all," Thunderlane shrugged.
"Of course I did, but it wasn't enough," I snapped, slightly offended.
"Really, you gave your very best?" Thunderlane's volume rose slightly.
"Yes, I gave my very best," my voice rose with his.
"Are you sure?" Thunderlane's ears shifted forward.
"Why does it matter?" I shot back, sitting up in the bed.
"I've been up against your best, that was not your best by any means," Thunderlane replied. "It's embarrassing to learn the pony that beat you got run into the dirt by some worthless hunk of scrap metal."
"He's got no limit on his speed, he can't be beat," I sighed.
"I've seen him race," Thunderlane said. "I've also seen his weakness, one that Impulse can't fix."
I looked up at the charcoal stallion with a confused expression. He had to be bluffing, trying to get my spirits roused so that I wouldn't be in a funk any more, but given his serious tone and body language he meant business.
"So how do I beat him?" I asked.
"Well, first you're going to have to drop some weight," Thunderlane replied looking me over once. "Then we'd have to work on getting your speed back up to what it once was."
"Yeah, well I don't think Ike understands how wings work truly work," I grumbled.
"I wasn't talking about Ike," Thunderlane said. "I'll be taking over."
I was left dumbfounded by the declaration. Thunderlane, the stallion that had once hated me for some imagined slight, was now offering to help me climb out of the hole I had fallen into. If I hadn't been so blown away by his statement, I might have been more touched, but as it stood I was more stunned than emotional.
"Umm...thanks, but why would you want to do that?" I asked.
"You don't get it yet, do you?" Thunderlane shook his head. "If you can't beat Zero, then soon the races will just be a bunch of fake stallions down there racing for money, not for the spirit of the sport, fun or anything else, just to fill greedy pockets. Then it'll be the weather, and then everything else."
Thunderlane was right, as his rant pretty much summed up what had happened on Earth. Perhaps by now the generation that I left behind had finally become so wrapped up in technology that they had become nothing more than slaves to their pocket sized overlords, also known as smart phones. The stallion's prediction could very well come to pass, if nothing was done.
"Before we start, I need to get out of this bed," I motioned with my head towards the equipment monitoring me.
"That I can't help you with," Thunderlane said. "I'm not a miracle worker."
"Can you get a message out to somepony for me at least?" I asked. "I already know of a miracle that can get me out of here."