He’d only heard one set of hoofsteps receding down the hallway when Nurse Redheart had left.
Now, he heard two. His pulse pounded against his fractured rib, making him grit his teeth. Unfortunately, he had been too busy dreading his upcoming conversation to actually plan out what he was going to say. But now that he could hear them approaching, the thought suddenly occurred to him. His eyes darted around the room as he frantically tried to piece together what he was going to say…
But before he could think of anything, the door opened.
Two faces, one being more familiar than the other, entered. Nurse Coldheart stepped off to the side to allow Twilight in ahead of her.
“I will be back later,” said the nurse. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
Air whistled through the gaps made by his missing teeth as he breathed out. A span of time went by before Spike mustered the courage... and the breath... to say a greeting.
“Hey, Twi.” He blinked slowly. He didn’t want his voice to sound so hoarse, but the pain in his rib was flaring up again. Despite his missing incisors, he forced a smile.
Twilight mirrored it for a moment, but it quickly disappeared. Her eyes widened as she stared at the tight bandage around his chest.
“Hey, Spike,” she breathed out. She walked to his bedside and placed her hoof on his leg. “You holding up okay?”
Spike brought a fist up to his mouth and coughed once. He winced. “Y-Yeah. I’m fine. Thick scales, you know how it is.” He laughed weakly. “Can’t feel a thing…”
Twilight grimaced. She pointed to the bandage. “Doesn’t look like it. Broken ribs aren’t anything to sneeze at, you know…”
Spike shrugged his shoulders in dismissal. He regretted it immediately. A stake went through his side. He bared his teeth with acute discomfort, bringing a hand to his chest. Twilight gasped.
“You okay?” She gripped his leg tighter. Spike lay flat as a board, eyes closed with concentration to keep his breathing under control. He nodded after a few moments.
“Yeah. Sorry…” He pursed his lips. “I’ve just gotta… agh… be more careful. Stay still and all that…”
Twilight smiled sadly. Her hoof traveled up the bed until it was resting on the top of his head. Spike closed his eyes, not saying a word as Twilight tweaked his headscales.
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that… Just lay back and relax for a sec…”
Silence fell over the room. Spike focused entirely on the feeling of her hoof tracing down his scales, plucking each one like the teeth of a comb. For a minute, he let himself slip into semi-consciousness, letting everything fade into the background.
He would have laid there all night if it meant delaying what was to come.
…
Nopony had known what to say when Twilight had left, so they all had remained quiet instead. Occasional glances between the room’s occupants were all that were exchanged.
Rainbow Dash was certainly not a pony to stay still for so long. Her limbs tingled with the lack of circulation that they’d become so accustomed to. She stamped her hooves lightly on the seat cushion to get the feeling back, but did little else. On occasion, she’d pick up a flurry of activity out of her peripheral vision, but she didn’t even bother to take a look.
Any observer on the outside may have perceived her deep in thought. But they would have been wrong. Her mind had drifted to a place where she hadn’t followed, and in all honesty, she wouldn’t have wanted to, either. The outside world had been rendered featureless through the light’s glare on the window; only hazy reflections of the ponies behind her could be seen.
She watched them with half-lidded eyes, seeing but taking nothing in: Some movement here, a turn of somepony’s head there. Another blur appearing in the hallway…
Somepony clearing their throat. All the blurred reflections moving in unison. Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened fully, and her head whirled around.
A stallion stood in the mouth of the hall. A stethoscope lay draped over his neck, and a pair of pens were stuck into the pocket of his lab coat. His open-mouthed and wide-eyed expression gave off a great sense of urgency as he looked from right to left. In front of Rainbow Dash, Cheerilee was the first to speak.
“Hello, doctor...” Her greeting was far from jovial. The stallion cleared his throat again.
“Yes, hello. I…” he paused a minute to remove his spectacles. He polished them on the collar of his lab coat before continuing. “I wanted to ask you all something. Is there anypony here that is, by chance, a relative of Scootaloo's? I would very much like to speak with them.”
The question came out quite abruptly, and its ominous implications were felt by everyone. Rainbow Dash shivered, feeling as though a chill had settled over her like a winter’s breeze. Suddenly, she realized that everyone else in the room was slowly rotating their heads in her direction. She wilted as all eyes focused on her, calling her out.
The doctor followed their gazes right to her. Rainbow took in a deep breath, counted to five in her head, and nodded.
“Yes, I-I am. Well, sort of. We’re not really related, but we’re…” She swallowed hard. “…we’re practically sisters.”
Rainbow felt a cold bead of sweat tickling the back of her neck. Her answer was good enough for the doctor, who stepped off to the side and waved her into the hallway like an usher. “That is fine. Do not be alarmed; I only need to ask some questions. Could you come with me for a minute?”
Despite his politeness, Rainbow didn’t feel like she had a choice. Nervous, she slid off the seat, hooves lightly clopping onto the tile. A fierce tingling, like someone had stuck her foreleg into a vat of glass powder, covered both of her front legs as the circulation came back to them. She gritted her teeth and walked forward anyway, glancing over at the seats to her right.
Applejack smiled a little bit at her in encouragement while Apple Bloom stared at the doctor. There was a frightened look on her face, but she said nothing. Next to them, Rarity was quietly whispering something to Sweetie Belle, nuzzling her on the neck while Sweetie Belle hid her face in her chest.
She was almost into the hallway when, unexpectedly, Cheerilee piped up from beside her. She raised up her hoof like a schoolfilly.
“I'll come with, too. I’m her teacher. Not quite family, but…” She stepped down. “She is one of my best students.”
The doctor cocked tilted his head slightly, as if trying to decide whether or not to let her in. But after a second, he nodded in approval, much to Cheerilee’s apparent relief. For Rainbow Dash, however, the feeling was even greater.
“Very well." He motioned to her with his hoof. "Come with me.”
…
When Spike opened his eyes again, Twilight was still staring at the wrapping around his chest. From the look on her face, she seemed to be in just as much pain as he was. She cleared her throat.
“Soo…” Her hoof didn’t stop its comforting caress. “I’m not the only pony here, you know.”
Spike had wished they could have stayed quiet forever, but as Twilight spoke, any hope of relaxation went by the wayside. His pupils expanded, and he bit his lip. Twilight turned away from the bandages to look at him. A smile masked the concern on her face, but Spike could see right through it.
“Lots of ponies came when they heard what happened. Applejack and Apple Bloom, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle… and Rarity’s here, too.”
Hearing this, Spike had to roll his eyes. He couldn’t say he was surprised. He stifled a laugh.
“Yeah. I thought she might be…” He smiled. Twilight set her hoof down beside his head on the pillow.
“She’s worried about you. You and Scootaloo, both,” she said. “She’d probably love to see you.”
She scooted back a bit and set her hoof back down on the floor. Spike made no indication that he’d heard her. He eyed the ceiling tiles, an almost contemplative look on his face.
Slowly, the gentle smile on Twilight’s face began to fade. Spike closed his eyes, lying face up on the bed as if he were on display in an open casket. She took a deep breath, held in it in for a moment, and breathed out through thinly parted lips. The scaly flaps above the holes of Spike’s ears twitched in reaction.
“Spike… something’s wrong. I know it.” She reared up on her hind legs and set both forehooves onto the bed. “You wouldn’t have asked only to see me if there wasn’t.”
Here it was. No more beating around the bush. Spike grimaced, but held his tongue. Twilight’s forehead wrinkled in displeasure.
“Spike?” She said his name again. No response. “Spike… something is the matter, and I want to know what.”
Gradually, her tone dropped in octave. Her forelegs tightened up, wrinkling the sheets. Spike tried to turn his face away, but Twilight only leaned over him further, forcing him to close his eyes in order to escape her. With a sigh, she hung her head.
Prying wasn’t working. He was scared, and her aggressive tactics were only making things worse. For a brief moment, she considered giving up.
But she wasn’t defeated just yet. In a natural, almost sub-conscious thought, her hoof drifted back up to his head, beginning to tweak his headscales again. The touch made Spike jolt slightly, but her soothing caress eventually lulled his body into a state of relaxation. She smiled, if only for a second.
“Look,” she began. “I’m worried, Spike. I’m very, very worried. About you, about Scootaloo, about just… just what in Equestria happened back there. I can’t get it out of my head. And now, seeing you laying there with something on your mind, something you’re so hesitant to tell me, I just…”
She trailed off. Spike’s eyelids flickered, but did not open. With a huff of air, Twilight gathered her thoughts and continued.
“I know it hurts to think about it, whatever it is. But you can’t keep whatever it bottled up inside. Maybe it’s because you’re scared, I don’t know. But I can tell that you want to let it out. You wouldn’t have asked to see me otherwise.”
Her hoof stopped its petting, coming to rest on the side of his face. Spike’s eyes flickered open, to see that she was right there, her nose almost touching his. Her expression softened.
“Tell me,” she pleaded. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. You can tell me, you know that. You went through something scary, I know. You saved somepony from a burning building, after all. But all that is in the past. Right now, I’m here for you. I’m here…”
“Okay.”
Spike interrupted her, cutting her sentence short. The lights from the ceiling glinted off his eyes, and his bottom lip quivered. Twilight’s pupils dilated until her violet irises were barely visible.
“I’ll tell you.” He gulped. “Everything.”
…
They had to go quite a ways before they were out of earshot. The doctor, a yellow stallion with a cutie mark of a bandage adorning his flank, led them around the corner and a good way down the hall.
The more she thought about it, the gladder Rainbow Dash was to have another pony coming with her. She exchanged glances with the Cheerilee, who looked just as uncertain and nervous as she was. Whatever he had called them down here for, she had a feeling it wasn’t going to be good.
The doctor stopped in front of a blank wall, in between two closed doors. Rainbow Dash and Cheerilee stopped a meter or so away from him, and he turned around. He looked to Rainbow with a grimace.
“I know this may come across as rather unexpected…” He shook his head. “… and I apologize if I alarm you with what I am about to say, but… There is a very important matter concerning Scootaloo that I wish to discuss with you. Something very serious.”
It was all he needed to say for Rainbow Dash to know that her suspicions had been confirmed; if she had been nervous before, then she was terrified, now. Next to her, Cheerilee gasped.
“What is it? What’s wrong with her?” she asked. The doctor coughed into the collar of his lab coat.
“Well, nothing is… wrong with her, per se. She is very drowsy from the pain medication we have been giving her, and she has hardly said a word to me or to anypony else since her arrival. But she is doing well, all things considered. But…”
He stopped, appearing hesitant. His lips pursed in thought. Rainbow Dash wrinkled her forehead in a mixture of confusion and fear.
“But… what?”
The stallion was hesitant to answer her. Nervously, he plucked the spectacled from the bridge of his snout and polished them on the pocket of his lab coat. When he had finished scrubbing the glass, he set them gingerly back on his nose and addressed the two of them with a low voice.
“There is something peculiar about the nature of her injuries. At first, I foolishly assumed them to be sustained in the incident, but upon closer inspection… there is no way this could be the case.”
The volume of his voice softened progressively until Rainbow Dash almost had to strain to hear. As the words sank in, she felt the breath catch in her lungs. Her entire body tensed up, freezing her to the tile.
“Uhh… What are you saying, then?” It was Cheerilee who asked. The doctor exhaled deeply, and turned back to her.
“Her injuries… were inflicted.”
…
Twilight gave Spike all the time in the world for him to get back his composure. More than a minute had gone by since their agreement, but she had no intentions of rushing him.
Spike tried his hardest to relax, but it proved to be a challenge. He unclenched his hands, which had been closed into fists since Twilight had arrived, and at last, he began.
“It was the first day I went running, a few days ago,” he said. “You know, the day I burned myself out… anyway, I, uh…”
He talked very slowly, lungs limited by the fractured rib floating in the space in his side. Twilight’s back hooves did a light tattoo rhythm on the floor from anxiety, but she didn’t dare try and push the matter.
“…when I was walking down South Main Street, I went down a road I’d never been on before. It turned out to be a dead end, so I turned around. But… when I started heading back, I… I heard something. I d-didn’t, I mean, I wasn’t sure what it was, but it sounded like somepony screaming. I stopped and tried to listen for it again, but I didn’t hear anything again, so… I left.”
The last two words were choked out. Twilight could see tears forming in his eyes, but she didn’t draw attention to them. Instead, she gently set her hoof down on his hand, taking a light hold of it. Spike’s eyes fell shut.
“Then… I heard you talking, today. When Cheerilee came over, I mean.” He sniffled. “I listened to you talking about Scootaloo. And when Cheerilee said where she lived, I-I realized… I mean, I thought that maybe… maybe it was the same place where I’d heard the scream. S-So… I went to see.”
As the story went on, Twilight’s eyes began to widen with understanding. Memory of the hastily scrawled note he’d left her just before heading out came back to her. It hadn’t made any sense to her before, but now…
“Wh-when I got there, her… sorry, I mean...” Spike was showing signs of losing his composure, but he held himself together as well as he could. Unwelcome images of the past started a new film reel in his head. “…In front of the house, I saw her scooter laying there on the ground. It was all bent up and ruined… and then I heard somepony crying for help inside.” He shivered. “A-and so I ran in, and I-I… she was…”
Tears spilled freely down his cheeks. He took a few shallow breaths and reached up with his left hand to wipe some of them away, but more took their place.
Twilight’s hoof tightened around his hand. As his tale went on, the pieces of the puzzle were fitting together, one by one. She cooed encouragingly, “It’s okay. You’re safe. She’s safe. It’s okay, Spike…”
Her soothing words seemed to calm him just enough to continue. He shook his head, ruffling the pillow beneath it.
“…Sh-She was beat up so bad, Twilight. Her leg was broken, h-her face was bleeding everywhere… it was horrible. She s-said her dad did it to her. I-I-I didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t stand up, so I went to go get help, b-but then…”
Spike’s eyes expanded with terror. Twilight’s expression soon matched his. His voice dropped to almost a whisper.
“…her dad came back.”
…
His revelation chilled the air. Rainbow’s jaw went slack.
“What kind of… inflicted?” Cheerilee finally dared to ask. Bits of her mane stood on end, almost as though a balloon were being held over her head. The doctor exhaled deeply.
“I mean that, whatever injuries she has sustained… they were done to her on purpose. And as for who could have caused them… my list of potential suspects is very short.”
He fixed them both with a grave stare. For a moment, it seemed like he had set his sights on them.
“…Are either of you familiar with any members of Scootaloo’s immediate family? Who she lived with?”
The question’s implications were not lost on either of them; there was only one suspect that came to mind. Rainbow Dash’s mouth gaped open while Cheerilee shook her head.
“As far as I have ever known, she only lives… lived, with her father.” She corrected herself. The stallion gave her a curt nod.
“And did either of you know him very well?” he interrogated further. “Would you have described him as… well, as a violent type?”
Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. Worry and realization were coming to a peak. She shook her head.
“I only spoke to him a few times. I did not know him well at all…”
Rainbow Dash barely heard anything Cheerilee had said. Instead, her mind drifted to the bruises. The black and blue ring beneath Scootaloo’s foreleg, the discolored lump above her hoof. Her nonchalant shrug and stammered explanation. Warning signs, so obvious and so telling.
And yet, she’d been so readily convinced…
“…you, Rainbow Dash?”
At the mention of her name, Rainbow gave her head a rough shake. “Wh-What?”
“Did you know her father at all?” Cheerilee, as well as the doctor, were looking directly at her. Taken unawares, Rainbow Dash fumbled over her words for a minute before she was able to answer.
“Oh, uh, uhh… no, I-I never met him, actually…” She gazed at the floor, shying away from their prying eyes. The doctor brushed a strand of loose hair from his face.
“Oh. I see… And are there any other guardians or caretakers? Her mother, an aunt or uncle?”
Once again, Rainbow was not the one to make a reply. Cheerilee shook her head.
“No… no other relatives I am aware of.” The schoolteacher took a step back, eyeing the doctor with a faint glow of understanding flashing over her features. She stood on the tips of her hooves. “Her mother died when she was very young…”
It was her final statement that managed to break through Rainbow Dash’s dreamlike state. She whipped her head around to engage Cheerilee with a gaze that could have cut stone.
“What did you say?”
The other two ponies appeared surprised by the suddenness of her outburst. Cheerilee frowned.
“Scootaloo’s mother died when she was very little. You…” She cleared her throat. “…I am sorry. Did you not know that?”
Her voice softened to something resembling a squeak. Slowly, Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, she, uh… she never told me.”
The moment the statement left her lips, she cringed. Images of Scootaloo’s face, beaming up at her with admiring eyes and a proud smile, wouldn’t leave her sight. The face of an adoring fan, she would have called it. Nothing less, and certainly nothing more. An endearing nuisance.
It was only now that she realized just how wrong she had been.
The stallion closed his eyes, pursing his lips as he reflected on the information he had been presented. Finally, after a period of stoic silence, he gave a heavy sigh.
“I see.” He nodded once before taking one step closer to them. “I apologize if I have made you both feel uncomfortable with all of this. I also wish to talk to Spike later, since he was also a witness to whatever occurred, but… with injuries as serious as the ones she has sustained, it is imperative that I find out who is responsible. And based on what I have heard from the both of you… I do believe the biggest suspect is apparent.”
Rainbow only partially heard him. All of the sounds from the outside felt muted, like she had just emerged from a pool of water. An onset of dizziness caused her to lean into the wall on her side for support.
Cheerilee, meanwhile, had locked onto the floor with a solemn stare. She sniffled, and a pair of tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
“Yes. I recently… very recently suspected as much.” Her voice warbled as she spoke. “She sometimes came to class with bruises. But when I… whenever I asked her about them, she’d always tell me a story about crashing on her scooter…”
She paused, lips quivering. Her fetlocks tightened, and the veins on her neck popped out as she gritted her molars together.
“And I believed her,” she said. “I believed all the stories. Every damn word. Until… until today.” Teardrops glistened on the tile below. “How, wh-why did I believe her…?”
The doctor smiled with sympathy, taking a step closer to her. While he appeared hesitant at first, he placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Cheerilee flinched from the touch, but did not object.
For the moment, they took no notice of Rainbow Dash. Her vision blurred, and a pain worked its way into her gut. It was not a nauseous ache, but rather, like someone had plunged a knife into her ribs. She blinked, but the blurriness went away for only a moment before it returned, even worse than before.
“It’s not your fault,” Rainbow heard him declare. When she peeled her eyes off of the floor tile, she realized he was directing his attention at her, as well. He smiled sympathetically.
“This is neither of your faults,” he assured. “I know you both care for Scootaloo a great deal. I know this has been difficult for you to hear… I am so sorry.”
Rainbow paid no heed to his apology, neither accepting nor rejecting it. The floor beneath her bucked and swayed like a raft amidst a typhoon, and she had to bend her front legs to keep her balance. Her wings twitched at her sides.
“I… I c-can’t…” She wasn’t even sure what she wanted to say, and the words came out as little more than a stammer. She stumbled backward like a drunkard, going weak at the knees. The doctor’s kind smile wilted into a puzzled frown, and he made a motion toward her.
“Is… are you alright?” he asked, hesitant. The question prompted Cheerilee to look over her shoulder, revealing tear stained cheeks and glossy eyes to her.
In a daze, Rainbow shook her head. Something warm trickled down her cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away.
Hey, Rainbow Dash! An enthusiastic, raspy voice echoed in her ear. Squealing of tires skidding over dirt, the feel of dust splashing onto her hooves. School’s out tomorrow, and I got nothing to do, so… you wanna hang out sometime?
Weather duty tomorrow. Waking up early. Too tired after. Sorry, Squirt.
She bit her tongue. The doctor said something, but she didn’t hear it.
Oh, hey, Rainbow Dash. The voice again. I was just wondering… the Cakes just came out with a new springtime ice cream flavor today. Strawberry and cream swirl! You wanna come and get a scoop with me?
Strawberry? Oh, gee, that sounds good. But I’ve got some intense flight training exercises to do for the Academy, and dairy messes with my stomach. Sorry, Squirt. Next time?
Next time never came. Her next breath escaped as a sob.
H-Hey, Rainbow Dash… The voice, softer this time. The slow clip clop of hooves plodding on the street, coming to a stop beside her. Sorry if I… I mean, I just was wondering if…It’s okay if you’re busy, o-or if you don’t want to, that’s fine, I just… wanted to ask if you could, since I, you know… A slight pause. … can’t fly, if you wanted to… teach me, sometime?
Rainbow’s eyes squeezed shut. Against all odds, and defying all her small charge’s expectations, she had said yes.
Perhaps she’d taken pity. Perhaps, deep down, she did still remember the promise she’d made that night in Whitetail Woods, with only the light of the moon acting as a witness. She had said yes.
And she had lied.
Then, she felt a touch on her shoulder. Rainbow jolted from the contact, and like a scared rabbit, jumped back away from it with a startled yell, thumping into the wall with a painful thud.
The doctor jerked his hoof away like he had set it on a hot stovetop. He did not make a second move toward her, eyes wary and wide. “A-Are you…”
Rainbow Dash only just now seemed to notice him standing there, remaining frozen to the spot. Tears ran unhindered down her face, meeting his apologetic stare for a long, unending moment.
Then, in a fit of sobs, she whirled around, took a running step, and bolted away as fast as her legs could carry her.
…
Spike’s sharp teeth could have ground a diamond into powder. Twilight inhaled sharply.
“Oh my gosh…” she gasped. She gripped his hand even tighter. But just then, Spike’s soft cries suddenly ceased. A flame flickered in his eyes that acted as some type of stovetop, bringing the tears to a boil until they evaporated off his face like steam.
“He saw me, a-and… he told me to leave.” His voice, formerly subdued, became clearer. “I told him no. He told me to leave again, but I still said no. Scootaloo was telling me to leave, too, b-but I didn’t listen…”
He took another minute of pause. Twilight felt his fist beginning to clench in her hoof, and she noticed the rows of sharp fangs beginning to show themselves through a thin space between his lips. His eyelids slid shut.
“… She was crying. She was scared, Twi. He was gonna hurt her again when I left, I know it. And I…” He bared his fangs, jaw muscles bulging as he grinded his teeth together. “I got so mad. I-I’ve never been so mad before, Twi. I went crazy. I wanted to rip him apart. I…I wanted to kill him. And…”
He bent his head down, hiding his face from her. He choked on his own air, and the next words he spoke could only leave as a muted whisper.
“…I did.”
The wake of his confession brought dead silence to the air. It was as though the very air around them cascaded down to the tile, leaving them without the ability to breathe.
Twilight’s grip of his hand, once tight as a vice, gradually loosened. Spike’s scaly fingers slipped through her grasp, and to her surprise, he yanked his hand away, letting it hang over the side of the bed.
She opened her mouth to speak, to say something, but all the words died on the way to her lips. The only thing that managed to escape was his name.
“Spike…” She said it as if she were the one with the broken rib. A trembling hoof went up to touch his cheek, but her assistant shied away from it, holding up his hand to block her advance. He wheezed, obviously in pain.
“The… the fire at her house. I started it, Twi." He winced, grasping at the bandage around his broken rib. "I got so mad, and I just… it was my fault. I burned him up, I started it, it was my f-fault…I-I didn’t even know I could…”
Through the sharp, stabbing pain, he began to cry. Every heaving, shuddering breath magnified the fire in his side, but he couldn’t hold himself back.
Seeing her assistant lying there, shaking in agony and fear, Twilight’s own eyes began to glisten. She reached out to him, but he weakly batted her hoof to the side.
“No, n-no…” He cringed and shrank away. His other arm went up to shield his head as his cries turned into weeps. Twilight tried again, but he once more thwarted her with another feeble swing of his arm. Her lips quivered.
“Spike…” She said his name again. “Spike, please, it’s okay…”
“No it’s not!” He shouted back. “It’s not okay, it’s… I wanted to kill him, I w-wanted to…”
He trailed off again, struggling to breathe. Twilight flinched at the loudness of his voice, but she stayed at his bedside.
“Spike…” His name, once more. It was all she could think to say, so she repeated it over and over again. Her hoof, for a third time, stretched out. “Oh, Spike…”
“No! Go—Go away,” he gasped out. His hand shot up to intercept her hoof, but she kept pressing forward, resisting the strength of his arm. “Go away…”
“No,” Twilight declared. She gave her head a single, rough shake, resolute. “I won’t go, Spike. I won’t go…”
Her hoof pushed against his hand, but only enough to keep it where it was. The veins showed from under the scales in his forearm, but he did not give up. His teeth scraped together with agony.
“Go away, just go away, damn it…” He still managed to yell despite his struggle to breathe. “I’m a murderer, I-I’m a monster…”
“No,” Twilight whimpered. Her voice was almost lost under the bawling of her assistant. “No, you’re not. You’re a hero, Spike. You saved her...”
The muscles in his arm twitched and spasmed from strain, on the very brink of collapse. With one last shove, Twilight finally broke through his last line of defense, and his arm fell limply onto the hospital bed.
“No…” He tried to fight back against her, but there was nothing left for him to give. He collapsed back onto the bed with a muted cry.
Leaning forward as far as she could, Twilight wrapped her foreleg around the back of his neck, cradling his head in her foreleg. Every wheezing breath he expelled tickled her cheek.
“And you’re my friend, Spike.” She choked. Tears spilled down from her eyes and onto the sheets below. “You’re my best friend.”
And, with this last statement, Twilight devolved into sobs. Her cries mingled together with his until they were indistinguishable.
“You’re my best friend… ”
And then, at last, Spike gave up any hopes of resistance. He fell limp in her grasp, melting into her gentle embrace. His wails became a crescendo as she whispered into his ear.
“…and you are a hero.”
She continued to hold him tight.
I'llfindyouandI'llcutyou.jpg
Well, this made my night.
I can only applaud. Nicely done.
Don't be afraid to tell me what you think! Won't hurt my feelings!
Well if you insist: Ok for starters this is really good and I'm glad its back and the scene with Rainbow Dash was freakin brilliantly done. Also this might just make my top ten all time fics list.
Interest found.
i.gyazo.com/a936c565d42a6d8c1073f9aeab585e57.png
Arrogance located.
Interest lost.
I just read this story and its prequel back to back. You often seem very insecure in the author notes about the quality of your writing. Throughout both stories there was only a single moment were I felt like something maybe didn't make sense, and it was really, really minor. Other then that, there simply is nothing I can fault the story with. At all. I'll be looking forward to the final chapter, definitely.
And since I'm sure you want to know, the minor thing was this: Sweetie Belle not knowing what a square root is and AB implying that they just learned about that today and they have a test about it the next day. I would think that maybe more then one day would be spend on it, and even if its only one day it wouldn't be the day right before the test. Seems like that would leave no room for the teacher to answer questions or help students struggling with the subject. (Case in point: Scoot. She asks what a square root is, Cheerilee never even answers it even though she states there will be a test about it the next day). But heck, maybe that actually is normal? I probably don't live where you do and I can't even remember if that happened with me at any time during primary school. Whatever the case, its really minor anyway.
And for the record, I personally don't think this story needs a gore tag. People use some tags a bit to quickly I think, on this site. Scares away readers when it really doesn't have too. I definitely wouldn't have given this a chance if it had a gore tag, especially since the prequel already had a tragedy tag... Not sure if it needs that either, just sad might have been enough.
Love it.
not bad
that's actually the response I thick spike would have in this situation, great job
OH. MY. GOSH.
THIS CHAPTER.... THIS CHAPTER.....
THE FEEEEEEEEELSSSSSSS!
BUT IT WAS SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD!
I think you accidentally repeated accidentally repeated a bit here.
Also,
That's probably supposed to say staccato, unless a "tattoo rhythm" is just something I've never heard of.
4575021 There are too forms of musicl tattoo friend.
The first
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo_(bugle_call)
The second, the tatoo refers to the drum beat you hear.
4575141
Well there ya go! I learned something today!
Still the kind of thing I'd recommend changing if I was the editor, since it's an uncommon term that the majority of the audience won't understand, and making people stop and google definitions takes them out of the story.
Still! That's very interesting!
I love this fic. I seriously hope that you continue with the series after this one. So many feels.
I hope Rainbow realizes it wasn't her fault that Scoots ended up like this. I know that she's beating herself up over it but Cheerilee made the same mistakes. Nopony is perfect and Rainbow is no exception. Her issue right now is that she's blaming herself too much about not noticing sooner but even if she did that's not to say anything she could've done about it. I do appreciate that she's upset about what happened to Scootaloo because that is the sign of a real loving pony and a good sister.
I think you mean hand.
Glad this finally updated.
All that's missing is for Twilight to say I love you to him (doesnt have to be romantic) ^.^
Well, I came across this story yesterday just before I went to bed and noticed there was a prequel so I went ahead and put it off for today.
And now that I finally read them back to back [Mwahaha, your cliffhangers couldn't get to me Even though the kinda did a little bit. ] I gotta say, I am impressed by them both. Each chapter left me eagerly wanting more and that's something that doesn't happen too often, if I'm being honest.
I noticed perhaps one or two errors but relatively minor and I seem to have forgotten where they were. Sorry
But moving on from that, I think these were two excellent stories and I'm half expecting one about Apple Bloom, as much as I want more, I kind of don't If that even makes sense.
But yeah, great stories! You've more than earned my follow for this.
4573317
I second that! Decided to read this before bed. Fantastic update, Arwhale. You made me like Spike. Wow.
I'm very much looking forward to when or if Rainbow Dash gets to talk to Scoots. The line where she realized that Scoot was filling the 'Mom' void in her life with affection and adoration for Dash struck a major feel. Ah we, you know what my avatar is!
4573312
Haven't found me, yet! Trololololol
...
But for real, though. Sorry about that ridiculous wait.
4573317
Glad it did! It's about freaking time, right?
4573394
4573500
4574205
4574510
4574762
4574810
Whoa, that's a lot of people commenting! I'm really glad you all liked it, and in some cases, even thought it was worth the wait!
The ridiculous, months long wait. Ridiculous.
4575021
4574181
4575374
Oh, wow. That is an embarrassing amount of errors. I guess it's pretty obvious that I wrote the majority of this thing in the middle of the night at, like, 2:30 am in the morning, but even so, I should have gone over this thing with a keener eye rather than being like, "IT'S FINALLY DONE!!!!!!" and rushing it into publication. I'll go back and correct everything you guys mentioned. Thanks a ton!
You won't be seeing any of that crap next chapter, I promise!
4575157
You make a good point. I'll do some thinking to see what kind of description I could replace it with, but I'm just going to leave it there for the time being. I'm tired.
4575265
Oh, I am definitely going to continue this. It's not going to be quite like Hoof Covers Bruise or Like Shattered Glass, but it'll still have the same sort of feelsy-ness.
4576187
Yay! *Hugs* as long as it's the same timeline. This AU is great.
4576187
Hey, errors are no biggie. The story's the most important part of the story!
And you've definitely got the story part down pat.
4576187
Indeed, but it was worth it. Not to sound sadistic, but I really liked Spike's guilt in this chapter. To paraphrase Clint Eastwood's line in Unforgiven, "It's a hell of a thing, killin' a stallion. Take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have."
this was very much worth the wait!
4575767
Don't worry, it makes sense. LuminoZero is always ribbing me about how much I 'love to torture' the CMC. Although, when I look at the stories I've published on here...
And thanks a ton for the follow! Glad you thought these big stories were worth your time to read!
4574204
Yeah, I gotta say, that was kind of how my schools were. Although, I probably shouldn't have modeled Cheerilee's class off of that.
And I kind of have to agree with you about the tags. I was really hesitant to put a Gore tag on this story again because I was afraid of giving off the impression that it was some kind of stupid grimdark feelsbait. An author named Isseus brought that problem to my attention way back when I posted the first chapter, and I gotta say, I'm glad he said what he did.
4575276
Yeah, Rainbow Dash is definitely the kind of character I think would probably beat herself up for her mistakes, so I think we both agree, there. She definitely does care about Scootaloo, but she's easily distracted and does have a bit of a selfish streak in her, so those kinds of things would definitely hinder her relationship with Scoots. It's only now that Rainbow is starting to realize what her hesitant dismissal of Scootaloo means to her.
Thanks for reading!
4576380 I hope it ends on a somewhat happy note.
4576385
"Like Shattered Glass" was tagged as a Tragedy. This one isn't.
All I'm gonna say.
4576396 ...your secret is safe with me.
4576244
Oh yeah! Chronologically the same, with the third one following this one.
4576256
Thanks! Still could do without the errors, though.
4576259
Glad you thought that Spike's guilt was believable. The last thing I want to do is write something that doesn't feel like it fits the context or is natural.
4576370
Glad to hear it!
4575866
Thanks, KK! I'm happy that you're looking forward to reading the next chapter. To be honest, I've been looking forward to writing it.
And you should always like Spike! He's the best.
*Looks at my two trollfics and sees that they're both about Spike*
... no really, he's the best.
4573792
...
I don't get it.
4576380
This story kept me busy during my 3 hour mail route (so good for you :P), and one more thing started to bother me a little bit. In the prequel I can see Twilight and Redheart not wanting to burden AJ with the truth. However, that does mean she can repeat her mistake, which is a bit of a risk. In this story its not impossible for what happened with Sweetie to happen again.
Ah yes. The child abuse. Nothing can beat abuse, when wanting to get a cheap laugh!
10/10 for some nice laughs!
4576883
I'm not sure if you're making an effort to be clever, or if you're just trying to troll.
Neither one seems to be working out.
4577549 As if I am only one who gleans joy from Scootaloo's pain. My friend, let us not beat around the bush and be straight up with it. You know and I know that Scoots is little orange punching bag....nothing more.
Scootabuse is second-best abuse
4576487
When I submitted a story to that group. the person who 'reviewed' it, said that he/she did not read it, and rejected the story because chapters were only around 1,200 words long, yet I see 1,000 word exactly one-shots in the group. As well as it came off as extremely rude arrogant, and downright like an asshole.
4576380
Well, perhaps torturing them is some weird way to show how much you love them
And you're welcome! I think Imma go ahead and give your others a read, in some time
See just how much torture you put these poor fillies through.
4578398
Eh, you know mine was rejected from there, too for a reason I never cared about finding out. Probably the same, probably not. But either way, he just states it once in the description and has the ribbon-thingy in the beginning of the first chapter, that's not what I'd consider arrogant. That's just taking pride in your work.
Sure if he stuffed it down your throat every time, I'd consider that arrogant but this?
4577790
Ohh... okay...
Sometimes, when I have the house to myself, I like to insert the tips of my nipples in between the tines of a fork and twirl it around like spaghetti.
4578456
Depression would have been a better term, as I become depressed each time I see it, but I still just ruins the story for me, maybe I will read it, maybe not.
It's made especially worse because the person had this attitude.
lolsheaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/You-Spely-Your-Name-Wrong.jpg
Maybe he/she was having a bad day, or didn't think/care abut wording, either way... depression, lost interest...
This is intense, even for a Scootabuse. I can't believe that rhymed.
yay update more please and dont wait forever next time
4579317
That's.. odd. I haven't seen that attitude from the author at all. Maybe there were a few comments when they were like that but otherwise they seem friendly enough. Besides, I know an author's attitude might demotivate you but I'd recommend reading the story if you can, it's quite good.
4579317
Wait... was this person me that you're talking about, or the person that reviewed your story that got rejected?
I don't ever try to be mean to people who leave comments on my stories, but if there's an instance where I came across as a jerk to you, then I sincerely apologize. I'll admit that I don't remember any instances of something like that with you, but again, if that happened, I don't blame you for being hesitant to read the story.
Still, I think you'd like it if you gave it a chance.
4579783
4580727
not the author, the person who rejected my story. pretty much ruined every story that says 'approved by Twilight's Library'.
I'll add this to my read later list, I can't read right now, internet modem burned out, and someone crashed into a power pole and knocked it over, which cut power to my town. I had to reply with my phone.
Hey Mr. Authorman! I think it was a pretty wise decision to kill off Scootaloo's dad in that fire because if you didn't...
...and he came out with a couple scratches and burn marks...
...something tells me a certain rainbow would not tolerate his existence anymore.
4573792
So much butthurt communicated with only six words. I'm actually kind of impressed.
Great to see another chapter pop up, i've been waiting for an update! well first off i'll say well done with another chapter completed. I loved the empathy you helped create as well as building the tension for these characters. One instance in particular i liked was spikes mindset leading him to think he's a murderer instead of a hero. Showing that even though his intentions were good, taking a life is still taking a life and no matter how good the intention, there's always still consequences. it felt alot more realistic this way instead of just throwing him a hero's welcome party as soon as he got up (even though with how you're writing has been, i wasn't worried about you doing that) Also really liked how you were able to really emphasize twilight's feelings towards spike and what he means to her. The only thing i was a bit iffy about was that at first it seemed like the chapter was a bit short, then i realized it was just as long as the others, but it looks like there was alot of hesitation from the characters and emphasis on them holding back dialogue (such as spike not wanting to tell twi) which led to lengthy pauses and delays. It kinda drug out the story without much really happening in the chapter. I'm not saying that tons of description is bad, on the contrary i love how much detail you put into their mental processes, as it helps us to gain a better understanding of their emotions, however i just felt that not a whole lot happened in the amount of time we read this particular chapter. it was kinda a damned if you do damned if you dont but however much it lacked in events, it more than made up for in quality of events. Kind of a strange review for me since it more feels like i'm saying "i liked this, but i also didnt like this" kinda confusing if anything though, i liked the chapter. It's finally narrowing the story down and coming together for everyone. Looking forward to the next chapter, but at the same time a bit sad it's the end of this story. lol way too much contradiction in this review! anyways take what you will from it and i can't wait for your next update! Great chapter keep up the good work!
4581527
Well then. I'd assumed you were talking about the author...