//------------------------------// // No Show [Final Mix] // Story: A Cog in the Machine // by Zoom zoom //------------------------------// Darkness and light make an ill mix. But that is what you see as you wake up in a hospital bed from the sharp pains. You shake your head a bit as you look around, the pain receding as you kept it still on instinct. Based on the clock, it was a little past eight. This meant you had been out of it for two hours or so. Your right leg seems fine enough. It’s wrapped in bandages and in a sling. You must have fractured your elbow on the impact to the ground. No pony else was really around, and in your head all you could think about were the three fillies’ faces when they looked at you. Your sure Scootaloo zoomed off somewhere now that you thought about it, and Applebloom had done something so Sweetie Belle’s concerned face was the last thing you remember before completely going under. Guess that’s the last time they’ll play with you if the first thing you did was get hurt during something they seemed to do all the time. No problem, “Not like I need friends anyway.” Outside your room you could hear two ponies talking. One was obviously Pinkie Pie, but the other wasn’t familiar to you. Slowly they voices rise to the point you couldn’t help but hear the foreign voice yell as your current guardian. “-and THIS is how you finally show up?” “I’m sorry, I was in the middle of work and-“ “So you’re saying work is more important that a colt you are taking care of?” “No, but-“ “And I overheard one of the children he was with. Seems all he had today to eat was half a sandwich that was given to him by one of them. Are you even feeding him?” “How dare you! We’re friends miss Redheart. I’d never let a pony starve.” “No, no you wouldn’t. But as I recall you didn’t leave that party we all had the other night even after I left at 2 am. And that started as a simple dinner party. Knowing you I don’t think you even got up to make the child breakfast.” “Well, no. But the Cakes could have fed him and-“ “The Cakes are not the legal guardians Pinkie. You are. By law I have to report this to the social services since if it was any other mare I’d think they were a horrible parent since I didn’t know them. I suggest you get your act together before that worker visits. If you don’t I’m afraid they will deem it better for the colt to stay at an orphanage if you’re the only option.” “Y-you can’t do that to him. No pony should go through life alone like that.” “He won’t be alone there. He’ll have others his age. I highly suggest you consider the fact you are not ready to care for another pony yet and relinquish your rights as a guardian if you are not going to take this seriously. Colt’s his age need family more than ever, but even no family is better than what you’re currently giving him.” You could hear the sound of Pinkie hanging her head. You couldn’t blame her. Even if somehow the Cakes trusted her with the twins, and even that was impossible to see, she would only need to care for them now and then when asked directly and get to play with them a little too with only responsibility over them in that time. With you she has to be responsible all the time. And for a pony whose entire purpose in life is to have fun and make sure others are too, that would cut into her time a lot. It was for the best you did leave before you or she got too attached. You turn over thinking about the last three days. While they did have their low points overall it was the happiest you had been since before you were taken in by Dilly Dally. That was sort of sad, but in its own way it was comforting. You waited for Pinkie to enter your room to check in. You two would have to talk about this and you knew it. She’d come barging in like the happy pony she was even if she wasn’t feeling that way on the inside and try to cheer you up first like she did the first two days you were with her. You would have to convince her to let you leave. She’d protest of course, just like yourself she didn’t like other ponies telling her she couldn’t do things. Heck, she’d likely try to raise you just to spite that friend she was just talking to. You mentally prepare yourself as you sit up, the pain your arm spiking for a moment in doing so. If you were going to make her see it was useless to raise you herself you had to be ready. This was a pony that literally and figuratively pulled things out of nowhere to win her arguments. You stare at the door waiting for her to enter. But she didn’t. You listened and heard her trot away. Had she already checked in on you before? No, if she had, you would have been woken by her instead of the pain from your shoulder moving during your little fantasy earlier. She wasn’t going to come in to see you. Somewhere inside you snapped, you felt a sharp sting. It was what you wanted, but part of you expected a happy dance and a song from Pinkie to make some of your pain go away. When did that happen? She was nothing but an annoying older sister of sorts if there was a relative one could relate to her as. And you didn’t know her for long. Most of what you knew came mostly from hearing other ponies and what you put into your mind after meeting her. Your vision blurred as you felt a tear roll from each eye. No, this is from the pain in my leg, and nothing more. It couldn’t be that you… Dilly Dally had been right, as was your father. Outside of him, no one truly cared about you. You knew it was true already and set out to prove it. And now that it was you should be happy. But all you can think of is the pain coursing through you as you lay there alone, forever alone. By the time you’re up again it is well into the night. Every pony has gone to bed or left. What little hope some part of you had for any pony coming to see you to cheer you up was gone. You sort of understand why nopony came to see you. You had woken up pretty late in the day and they all had school in the morning. Meaning all of them likely had a curfew. But another part of you growled that you were making up excuses. You had no friends, even Applebloom had said so herself that she was only trying because she promised her sister. So really you have no one. You hear the sounds of night outside as you think about what you had thought of doing long ago. It was actually the most logical thing for every pony really. You didn’t have a decent shot of surviving it but it mean you would be out of every pony’s mane. And if you did survive everypony would be happy. You were surprised how little security there was in the hospital. Then again no one expects an injured colt to try to leave much do they? You limp and wobble a bit, trying to get used to walking on three legs. It takes a bit but you get your stride soon enough as you begin your journey. You see sugar cube corner in the distance as you start, the lights in the apartment are still on. Guess Pinkie didn’t have a party planned for today. Then again if everyday had a party none of them would be very special would they? Taking a deep breath you continued. It takes what feels like an eternity but you finally make it too the forest again. The lights of the house nearby are enough to let you see the road. Chickens seem to go crazy as they notice you limping your way into the entrance. As the lighted path stops you start to hear a mare’s voice talking to the chickens. You do your best to keep from being heard, but at that moment you took a misstep. The distraction of keeping your attention in making sure you didn’t make a sound took what you needed to make careful steps in the dark. Searing pain shoots up your leg through the damaged elbow. It burns white hot and you want to cry out, but you hold your tongue knowing it will cost you all your progress if you do. “Is s-somepony out there?” Crap, she must have heard you. You bite your lip and stay as still as possible. Hoping your curled in pain body looks like a rock at this time of night. You can’t look back to see if this mare is falling for it or not. You don’t hear much of anything, though your burning pain may be covering that up. “R-Rainbow Dash? Discord? Red? Oh please, whoever you are, just don’t scare Elizabeak. She’s easily startled.” You’re not sure who she’s calling, you couldn’t even figure out her tone much. Time seemed to take forever as you waited. Laying on your elbow made it all the worse but you didn’t feel anything snap again. Finally, you hear a door slam and slowly you felt yourself lurch as you forced yourself to roll into the nearby brush. Just that had taken a lot out of you. By your guess you were still too close to ponyville so all you could do was hope no one saw you as you started to rest again. Soon enough you would be deep enough in the woods where you’d either be eaten or become a wild pony like you wanted for some time. For a moment you thought of some of the ponies in your life. Even Dilly Dally despite how bad she treated you, and especially your mother. Or at least what you could remember of her. You laugh a bit. When she was gone all love was gone from your life in any way. Your swelling eyes blur your vision again, this time more from your physical pain. As the night took you, you made a silent prayer to Luna. “Make sure the next party she has when I’m gone from her life is the best she ever had.”