//------------------------------// // This will be a shaky recovery // Story: Purple Tears v.2 // by Doukzor //------------------------------// "Are... Are they gonna be okay, Twilight?" a rough feminine voice asked. "I'm not sure, to be completely honest. I think they had a seizure earlier, but I'm not sure yet. They're stable for now, though." the unicorn sighed, her mood deflating as time went on. An hour, two hours, three hours passed... And the foal hadn't woken up. "This is gonna sound rude, but- are they a guy or a girl?" the hoarse voice hesitantly wandered across the question. It belonged to an oddly and somehow more colorful pony than Twilight- but this one bore wings and a rainbow themed mane. "Rainbow Dash I swear, I- I... I don't know!" Twilight cried. "I don't know anything about this child!" She realized her volume had been much too high as the foal stirred. They opened their eyes weakly, blinking as they took in their surroundings. Instead of the dry road and a blinding sun to boot, they were laying on a comfortable mattress surrounded by dim lantern lights. Two ponies stood in front of them- one they remembered from before, but only hardly. Stronger than before, they managed to sit up without much difficulty. They tried to look around, but they found their vision whirling with the slightest movement of their head. Instead, they opted to ask a question, staring away from the ponies, face covered with a hoof. "...Wh..Ere, Am... I?" it came out a lot quieter than they'd meant for it to, but Twilight still heard. "You're at my house. It's not much, but there aren't any nearby hospitals, and it's easier to teleport home than anywhere else." she answered as quickly as possible. Her anxiety levels were increasing as she watched the tiny foal's body for any sign of a seizure. She continued, "My name's Twilight Sparkle. This is my friend Rainbow Dash. What's," she stopped for a second. She might have to choose her words wisely so as not to disturb the child's fragile state, "what's your name?" The black foal lowered their hoof, curly black hair shifting in front of their eyes. "I... I'm... C-Cuh, no- I'm..." they looked at the two- Twilight's eyes widened while Rainbow cringed. The blue pegasus exchanged a glance with Twilight and elbowed her, whispering "are you sure they're okay?" Twilight shook her head and pushed Rainbow's hoof away. She must not have noticed it before. She was clearly mentioning the foal's eyes. They were completely black- the iris, or pupil itself glowed a dim white. Their face was creased in worry as they tried to mouth out their name, not taking in the two's reactions. "I'm... Chuh... Cha... I- I don't... Remember." they looked down at the bed, crestfallen. "H-Hey kid, it's fine," Rainbow finally spoke up to the foal, "if you don't remember, you can like, I don't know, pick a nickname or something?" The child seemed to mull over this suggestion as she looked out the window- or tried to- their vision swam and they forced their self to stare at the bed sheets in front of them again. After a long minute they nodded, brows creasing in a subtle determination. "O...Oh...Kay." they managed out. Another moment passed and a cup of water materialized in front of them. "Here. Take it slow, your throat sounds dry." Twilight ordered softly as the foal took the cup between both of their hooves. They drank it, wincing, but they still seemed thankful for the refreshment. "Like Rainbow Dash said, you can just go by something else for now if you want. Do you have any nicknames?" The foal didn't respond, but they smiled for a split second. It wasn't a happy smile, they were implying that any name they were called wasn't sensible- probably cute things their parents called them. Twilight then took notice of their cutie mark- it was a brown X with four white lines attached to the ends. It took her a moment, but she faintly remembered they were used to hold puppets up or something of the like. "So, your talent... You're a puppeteer?" she asked coolly, keeping the environment inviting. The foal took a look at their flank, eyes widened, and shook their head. They put the cup down beside them on a nightstand. "N-No. I don't... Like dolls... Much." They sniffled dryly. Confusion and subtle horror both crept onto their face. Rainbow shooed Twilight away to deal with the situation. "Ey, that's cool- I get it. They can be sooo overrated." she stole a glance at Twilight- which flickered between her and the purple unicorn's precious plush deviously. Twilight scoffed playfully. "So... What do ya wanna be called?" she resumed the conversation. "I... D-Don't... I don't know." was their only response. "Hmm," Rainbow thought about how to word her question right, "you wanna cool name like mine? Or somethin' more girly?" "Thank you, but... I don't care." the end of the statement hitched slightly- they were about to cry. No clear answer on the gender issue yet. "Wait, hey, please don't cry- I bet you'd sound epic with any nickname you went with." "T-That's not it." they sobbed softly. "Well let it be 'it' for now, alright? Hey- Look at me." Rainbow demanded as she flew in front of the bed. The black foal obliged and their wet dark eyes met her (intensely staring) blazing irises. "You're cool, everything's cool. Repeat after me, okay? Everything's. cool." she put both of her hooves on the tiny foal's. They looked at Rainbow in confusion, but still went along with it. "Every... Th-Thing's..." "Cool." Rainbow added, trying to be patient. "Okay." They said instead. "... I'll take it." she replied, shrugging. "Now, you're cool. C'mon kid, please- we can't call you 'kid' forever." she pleaded. "I..." the foal looked at their cutie mark. She glared at it momentarily, but eventually sighed in defeat. "... String Play. Call me... That." "String Play? Alright, cool! Sounds awesome!" Rainbow patted her on the back a bit too hard, but they accepted the sentiment all the same. Twilight stepped up beside her as the blue pegasus flew away some. "Hey, that's great! We're making progress, see? How about I fix you lunch or something, huh?" she suggested cheerfully. String Play didn't answer immediately, but did nod slightly. The unicorn smiled and walked away, tugging at Rainbow's wing with her magic, and the two disappeared past the frame of the doorway. "What is it?" the cyan equine asked, though about a million possibilities popped into her head. "Look at their eyes! Wait no- just look at them!" she whispered urgently. Rainbow sighed and nodded along. "I know. She or he, er- they look wrong! Not... In a 'dragged through the dumpster' way but... Still." she waved her hooves around sporadically. The purple unicorn continued as she poured water into a pot and put it on the stove. "Something's troubling them, but I'm not sure how to help them." "Twilight- I got a name out of 'em, and you're sooo much better with this kind of stuff than me- I'm too rough!" the rainbow maned pegasus sat on a wooden stool. The whole room was carved out of a giant oak tree- to Rainbow's dismay nothing interested existed in here but Spike and Twilight's pet owl. Everything else was all... Nerdy. "I know, I know, but..." Twilight Sparkle began to murmur to herself as she plopped tea bags into the pot and let it begin to boil. She moved onto opening a can of soup. "Maybe if you like, I don't know, play with them or something they'll open up more! There's this place that opened up down the roa-" "Frazzy's Friendly Pizza?" Twilight asked, doubt leaking into her voice heavily. "No- Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria! Geezus Twilight, I thought you would've took Spike to that place already!" Rainbow laughed. It sounded forced. "Well, it only just opened, and I was really busy today. Or, I was going to be- anyways. I might try taking her over there." she pretended not to hear the strain in Rainbow's voice. Instead, she took the pot off the stove and poured it into a small pitcher along with some sugar. "Well, you should take them. Just... I don't know, be careful okay? I've heard a few shady things about the company that runs that place." the pegasus added cautiously. Twilight stopped and gave her a raised eyebrow. "Now why would you recommend someplace and then tell me something like that?" she asked. The soup was about done, and the tea was ready to be poured into individual cups. "W-Well, I'm not saying I'm scared or anything! It's just, there are spooky rumors, and then there are just... Dark ones. And this place is full of the latter, aight?" Rainbow argued back immediately. "Anyways, I think it'd be a great place to take them. Maybe they'll open up more th- there..." she didn't finished her sentence. The black foal shambled into the room slowly- they were eying the two ponies warily. After a moment they closed their eyes and sighed. Almost as if embarrassed they muttered, "I got hungry." Twilight giggled cheerily. "Great! Cause I made tea- and the soup is almost done. You don't seem sick, but I think we're better off eating it right now anyways." The foal nodded slightly and clambered onto the couch. Twilight levitated a stool over in front of them and placed a cup of tea there. "Are you feeling alright?" Rainbow piped up, trying to break the stale anxiety wafting around the room. "I think." they shrugged in response. Rainbow nodded swiftly, then began to fumble around with her hooves. "Sooo... String Play," Twilight tried the name out, hoping they didn't mind, "where do you live? We should get you back home as soon as possible. Your parents are probably worried sick about you." String Play didn't move, didn't look up, and almost didn't breathe. They shuddered slightly, however. "I..." they thought for a moment. "...I didn't live."