"BOARD!"
"IT'S OFF!"
I whirled around, putting my body between the hoop and the other team's shooting guard. Everyone watched intently as the ball jammed itself into the rim, rocketing down at our power forward--straight into his hands.
"Kick it forward!"
I grunted as I snatched the power forward's pass, hucking it to our point guard almost at half-court. Sweat tickled my cheeks as I sprinted after him, the rapid thudding of high-tops on a wooden floor rumbling in my ears like a livestock stampede. Squinting through the perspiration dribbling past my face, I spotted our point guard, who was currently trapped behind two of the opposing team, twisting and pivoting to avoid a turnover.
"Hey! HEY!"
I clapped as loudly as I could, opening my hands just in time as the ball smacked into my palms. Giving a quick glance to check on my defender behind me, I looked across the key, hoping to spot someone in the white Country Day home jersey. My eyes darting around the court, they locked on to a flash of white just past a blur of green.
"Nash!"
I hurled the ball into the ground at a shallow angle, narrowly avoiding the exhausted defender between us with a risky, long distance bounce pass. Nash grabbed the ball, completely stopping to avoid having to dribble. Three of the opposing team were lined up between him and the basket--he needed to slow the play down, all while not wasting his dribble in case he had to move. I glanced at the clock--we were ahead by five. The clock was our friend--we had to run it dry.
I glanced back at Nash, who had begun to dribble. He glanced around, unsure of what to do as his defender approached.
"Call something!"
"Kings! Kings!"
Four of us lined up on the elbows and baselines on the key's edges as Nash took it back to the top. I took a spot at the top-left of the elbow, facing Nash, who had begun darting towards my side. He glanced at me expectantly. I immediately turned, struggling past my defender and setting a quick screen for our guard on the baseline. Brushing shoulders, I winced as his defender crashed into me, our arms slipping off of each other from the sweat.
As the ball snapped to my teammate standing at the elbow where I stood before, I shoved off of my overly-eager defender, rushing to the corner while glancing back up to the top of the court. My eyes widened as the ball hit the floor next to me, flying up right at my face. My hands smacking onto the dust-slicked leather, I pumped the ball upwards, readying for a jump shot as my eyes locked onto the rim. A green jersey enveloped my vision, my defender airborne and ready to block my jumper.
Almost as if in slow motion, I finished my pump fake, my left foot slipping to the right side of my defender. Cutting towards the baseline, I ducked under a sorry attempt at help-defense before going up, aiming for the backboard box's corner. An arm came down on my wrist, knocking the ball out of my grasp as a whistle pierced my eardrums.
"Foul! Green, 32. Hold. Shooting two."
Panting heavily, both sides shuffled to their respective positions around the key. A general silence fell across the gym as I trudged up to the foul line, both audiences sizing me up. My head drifted up towards the clock. Thirty seconds left, still up five.
Sink these two, and it's game over.
"Two."
The referee flicked his wrist, the ball bouncing straight at me. I held up a hand to catch it, but was surprised as it simply bounced off of my open palm, rolling awkwardly past the ref. He watched it go, his gaze returning to me with a puzzled expression.
"You good?"
"Yeah, yeah."
I shook my wrist, glancing at my hand before freezing.
I had no fingers. It was just a yellow stump.
"Shooting two."
The ball was coming again. I reached out with my other hand, my eyes widening as the process repeated itself. No more hands--only hooves.
"Wh-what..."
I stumbled forward, my high-tops slipping free. Stars winking in front of my vision, my head swiveled to get a look at my feet.
More hooves.
"No. No... What is this?!"
"Shooting two."
The ball bounced right over my shrinking body, my jersey now loose-fitting over my alien features. Hot tears joined the sweat on my cheeks, my eyes burning.
"No! No!"
My cries echoed through the gym, which was mysteriously silent. I whirled about from my prone position on the foul line--the court was empty.
"Shooting two."
The ball rolled straight at me, stopping deftly in the gentle curve of my elongated neck. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to one hoof, the other foreleg curled around the ball. Predictably, the ball slipped out of my clumsy grasp, rolling off into the darkness.
"No..."
I sobbed pathetically into my jersey, only able to watch as the backboard and basket faded away, leaving an eerily empty court. The lines peeled away from the wooden floor, rising and twisting like wisps of cigarette smoke as they also vanished. The wooden floorboards began to waver and curl, as if it was nothing more than chalk drawings fading away in heavy rain.
"Jay..."
"No..."
"Jay? Jay! Jay, wake up!"
My eyes snapped open before immediately falling to at-ease. The familiar sight of the sterile white of the hospital room greeted my vision. An unfamiliar scent of subtle lavender air freshener mixed with the slightly off smell of the heavily-used mattress.
Right. That's right.
"Hey, you okay?"
A white mare stared straight at me, her baby-blue irises darting around my features. I tried to sniff through my disgustingly stuffed nose.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
Feeling something dribbling off of my chin, I hastily wiped it away, my foreleg tracing the moisture to my eyes. Blinking rapidly, I rubbed them furiously before opening them again, the concerned-looking nurse still watching me. "Well, sorry to wake you, regardless. You looked like you were having a bad dream, there."
"Huh? Oh. Yeah; I guess I shouldn't have eaten so late."
The mare sighed. "No, you shouldn't."
"Sorry," I blurted, although I didn't feel sorry. I felt angry. This whole thing was just... so fucked up.
"Don't worry about it; you've been through a lot, from what I hear," she replied, looking straight at me. She looked a little sad, almost.
"Yeah... Not my best week, I guess."
She still stared at me with a slightly saddened expression before brightening up again. "I'm Nurse Redheart. I'll be helping you with your rehabilitation, today."
"Rehab? What for?" I asked, although I had a decent idea of why.
"It's possible your muscles have atrophied from your prolonged stay, as your weight is way below that of a standard male pegasus of your age."
I winced at the mention of "pegasus," although her seriousness made it less cringe-worthy. "Ah... I see."
"Can you stand up?"
"Yeah. One sec."
I tossed the sheets off, swinging my hindquarters over the side of the bed. I was surprised to see my hind legs hang down vertically, instead of sticking out horizontally as I expected. I was much more flexible than I thought I was, but the vastly different range of movement was no less foreign to me.
"Take it slow; use the side of the bed if you need it."
Taking silent heed of her words, I leaned heavily on the bed as I slowly shifted forward, letting my weight pull me off of the mattress and towards the floor. Progress was agonizingly slow (to me, at least); the floor seemed much further away than it actually was. The bed's mattress almost to my chest, I briefly felt the hard, slippery surface of the tiles below on the corners of my hooves. A little too eager to stand, I put all of my weight down, my rear legs slipping out from under me as I fell flat on my back, forcing a pained grunt out of me.
"Whoa! Easy!"
The nurse approached, grasping under my forelegs and lifting me up almost effortlessly. Leaning me against the bed, she forced me down as I struggled upright.
"Walk normally. I don't want you giving us another reason for you to stay," she tutted.
"Alright, alright. I got it!" I snapped, frustrated.
Redheart fell silent immediately, eyes a little wider than before. I shook my head.
"Sorry. I'll walk normally."
"It's okay; let's just take it slow," she offered, her voice gentle and calm.
Pursing my lips, I put one foreleg forward before moving the other. I looked up at the nurse expectantly. She only nodded and smiled. Returning hers with a nervous one, I moved my rear legs in a similar fashion before stopping. I could almost feel the steam blowing out of my ears; I felt so stupid.
"That's it. You'll get the rhythm."
Clenching my teeth, I tried again, this time, picking up my right foreleg again, but this time, trying to pick up my rear leg just after my front leg. I shifted my weight to my stationary side, sort of turning towards the left. Eager to have my other side catch up, I began the process again before overextending myself, sort of clopping unevenly on all fours as I struggled to get the correct order. My hooves clicked on the smooth tiles as I flailed briefly in an effort to stay upright, my balance returning slowly.
"Easy," Redheart murmured.
Holding back a retort, I stopped myself, choosing to start over. I could almost feel a headache setting in, my cheeks burning bright red.
Just walk. Nice and simple.
My body froze up, my tensed muscles feeling like they were tying my limbs up in knots.
Walk. It's easy.
I started trembling. I willed it to stop, but it seemed to be involuntary.
Take a step forward.
"Try picking up your front leg just as--!"
"I CAN DO IT!" I roared, my throat shredding from the strain.
"I CAN FUCKING DO IT! JUST--!"
I took a long, shaky breath, the exhale even more so.
"Urgh... Just... G-give me a second to figure this out."
There was a short pause before Redheart piped up again.
"Did you want to take a break? We can pick this up in a couple of minutes."
I gave her a sideways glance. Every time she opened her mouth, it only seemed to make me even angrier.
"No, I can do this."
The nurse tapped her chin with a foreleg. "Well... Hmm. I can't believe I'm saying this..."
"What?" I asked, my voice dangerously low.
"How did you walk back in your world? I mean, if what everyone says is true, then you were never a pony, were you?"
Although I was still angry at how nonchalant she seemed, I managed to push the anger back down to a mild irritation.
"No, I wasn't. I was a human."
"A what?"
"Human. Bipedal. Upright. Walking on--!"
"Two legs. I got it." The nurse snapped, her own anger flaring briefly before subsiding just as quickly. She turned to face the wall, taking a long breath as she glanced at the far wall for a second.
I felt a pang of regret, but I made sure to hide it, my pride preventing me from showing vulnerability to her.
Getting the peace she needed, she whirled back around, face back to normal.
"Okay, well think of walking on four legs like this: Imagine you're made up of two bipedal creatures, but you're trying to give the person in front a flat-tire all the time."
"What? That's... What?" I stuttered, bewildered and frustrated by the cryptic explanation.
"Alternate your steps." She spoke slowly and clearly, trying to keep her voice level. "The front leg goes up just as the back comes down."
I hated how she said it so "sing-song-ish."
"Sounds easy."
"Well, I'm sure it's not; I have a feeling your brain is going haywire reprogramming itself to walk using body parts it never had before this."
My emotions cooled for a moment as her encouragement washed over me.
"So don't beat yourself up, okay?"
I glanced up at her, nodding. "Thanks."
She gave a warm smile. "Now, let's try it again."
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
"Shh!" Twilight hissed, returning the worrisome stares of the hospital lobby's occupants with apologetic glances. In front of her, a short, purple dragon hopped about madly, flashing his teeth angrily.
"I WARNED you! EVERYONE warned you! And now there's a pony in there with EVIDENCE saying he--!"
Twilight clamped a hoof over his mouth, briefly silencing him. He wriggled away from her, eyes glaring daggers at her.
"We've been over this! And I know you all warned me--!"
"I knew I should have done something!" Spike threw his arms up, turning away from Twilight.
"Spike! Please!"
The dragon whirled on the purple unicorn, his face crumbling into a soft frown as Twilight's tear-streaked face gazed back.
"I'm sorry. Sorry may not even conclude how horrible I feel right now about the whole situation... But as selfish as it is to say, hindsight isn't helping anypony here."
Spike sighed, hanging his head. "I'm sorry, Twilight. It's just... I was so afraid something would go wrong, and now..."
The unicorn sniffed, drying her eyes with the back of her hoof. "That's why the Princess tasked me with finding him..." Her voice dropped a little lower, giving a nervous glance at the other lobby occupants. "...Finding him a ticket home."
The dragon perked up. "And how do you think that's gonna work?"
"Well, it's not going to be easy. And... I'm sorry that I have to pile my problems on you, but...?"
"I got your back, Twilight."
The unicorn looked up at Spike, who was wearing a proud grin. "I'd be ashamed to call myself your friend if I didn't."
She returned his grin with a sad smile. "Thank you."
He crossed his stubby arms. "Bu~t that worrying carriage ride really had me work up an appetite. Mind if I get a couple bits to grab something sweet?"
Twilight scoffed. "Alright. But you'll have to come to the room, first. I left my saddlebag in there."
"Okay, okay. Fine. Give me a lift?"
"Oh, alright. Hop on, lazybones."
Grumbling briefly, Spike clambered on as Twilight began to pull away. She made a beeline for a very out-of-place Royal Guard standing near the staircase, giving him a nod as she passed, although to no apparent effect other than his inaction to stop her at the threshold. Climbing up to the second floor, she turned to the right, room 617 visible just past another guardspony.
Spike clicked his tongue. "What's with all the security?"
"I'm sure it was just a precaution taken by the Princess. I'd imagine somepony from another plane of existence is a big deal."
As they approached the door, something was barely audible in the eerily silent corridor. It almost sounded like the hospital's intercom system was on, but only in the room in question. The rhythmic kick of a bass echoed down the peaceful hallway, earning some concerned glances from passing hospital staff.
"Wait... Is that...?"
"Sounds like music," Spike said. Twilight glanced at the guard expectantly, who simply shrugged and stared straight ahead. She leaned in to the door, pressing an ear against the lumber.
All these levels of these relative problems,
And benevolence is elegance for those who can solve them.
I'm feelin' pretty low like I'm stuck at the bottom
But I know I'll rebound like the Bulls with Rodman.
I am, just exactly what I will be...
"Oooh! He talks really fast!"
The last voice... It sounded strangely familiar.
"That sounded like Pinkie..." Spike noted.
"No, way..." Twilight breathed as she pushed through the doorway.
Sure enough, there was the pink earth pony in question, staring intently at a small, reflective rectangle perched on the edge of the bed.
"Yeah, he does. Now can you shut it off before it runs out of juice," another familiar voice snapped.
"Pinkie!"
The pink pony's head swiveled about, eyes sparking with even more excitement than before.
"Twilight! And Spikey!"
"How'd--?!" Twilight began, before casting a worried glance over her shoulder before dropping into a sharp whisper. "H-how did you get in here?!"
"She came in through the goddamn window!" Jay cursed, jabbing a hoof at the now-open aperture, the blinds rattling in the soft breeze blowing through. "She kept knocking on it until I agreed to let her in..."
Spike slid off of Twilight's back, scratching his head.
"Must've been creepy," he mused.
"Fuckin' A!" Jay hissed. "Scared the--!"
"Jay!" Twilight barked, silencing the frazzled pegasus. "Language!" She warned, nodding towards Spike.
"Huh?! O-oh..." Jay shook his head briefly. "Sorry, sorry."
"And you!" Twilight turned on the pink pony. "You've got some explaining to do."
Pinkie clapped her forelegs together in excitement. "Okie-dokie-lokie!" She squeaked. "But as long as you tell me why you're here, too!"
The two purple individuals shared a glance before nodding. Twilight turned to face Pinkie again, nodding.
"Alright. You first, though."
"Yay! Me first! Me first!"