//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19 
// Story: Friendship Is Magic! ... Unless You Are a Human 
// by Huk 
//------------------------------//

Apple Bloom lay in her hospital bed, her dull eyes fixed to the tiled ceiling above. The ICU was like a tomb – empty, dark and quiet, with only the tune of beeps coming from the monitors spoiling the silence. A place adapted to help patients sleep.

But she couldn’t sleep, not after what she had heard. While the fire she had shown a few hours ago burned itself out, it left her in a state of confusion. Lost in thought, she was trying to put together the jigsaw puzzle of all the events she had witnessed in the last few days when the door to the room opened softly.

“Hello? Anypony there?” The curtains around her bed moved, and a gloomy figure stepped forward. “Sweetie Belle?! It’s like three in the morning, what are you—”

The vice-like grip hug was the answer. Sweetie Belle clung to her neck as if trying to squeeze the life out of it. Her eyes turned into sprinklers, flooding her coat with fresh tears. Tears of joy.

“Never, EVER do something like that again, you hear me?! Do you have any idea how scared I was?!”

“I’m... sorry?” Apple Bloom said with a sheepish smile. The blush that followed was a dead giveaway that she felt a little guilty. “Is Scoot with you, too?”

That simple question was a splash of cold water, washing away the bittersweet expression from Sweetie Belle’s face, and filling it with a frown. To say she looked angry would be putting it mildly.

“Don’t you mention that darn dodo!”

“Sweetie Belle!”

“No! I’m not apologizing, not after what she did!”

“What do you mean?”

“She ran away! You were unconscious on the ground, not breathing and... she just ran!”

“She did?” Apple Bloom didn’t sound angry, maybe a little confused, but not angry. “She must have been scared...”

“I don’t care! That’s not what friends do!”

“Sweetie Belle...”

“Don’t you ‘Sweetie Bell,’ me! First, she knocked down the darn beehive, and then ran away like a chicken!” She shook her head and let out an angry snort. “If I see her, I’m gonna kick her flank!”

Apple Bloom said nothing. Sometimes she wasn’t sure anymore who was the tomboy in their group, but she was the one expected to be the voice of reason. Burdens of command.

“Fine... You do what you want. When I get out of here, I’m gonna talk with her.”

Sweetie Belle rose her hoof, ready to counter, but the stare coming from Apple Bloom’s squinted eyes began chilling her to the bone. But before her cold gaze could pierce the thick unicorn skull, the door opened with a bang. Startled like a feral cat, Sweetie Belle had barely enough time to jump to the next bed and close the curtains, before voices filled the room...


***


A second later, someone hit the switch, and the room lit up. Another bed started rolling in, with pony nurses behind it. Through the crack in the curtains, Apple Bloom saw a mummified figure with a dozen tubes and wires leaving his body. A creature from a horror movie.

“OK, I’ll take this side...” Redheart began connecting the monitors. “What a night...”

“Pay up...”

“We didn’t bet!”

“You said, he won’t survive the operation, I said ‘I bet you ten bits he will!’”

“That wasn’t a bet!”

“We could spend all day arguing whether we bet or not. Give me my ten bits. Unless... you wanna bet fifty he’ll make it through the night?”

“So you can strangle him with a pillow just to win? Nice try.”

“Seriously? You think I would do that, just to win fifty bits?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“No, I would not! I’m a civilized pony, you know...”

Sweetheart frowned. That little hurtful expression would make most ponies feel guilty and back down. But years of working in a toxic environment made Redheart immune to it.

“By that, I understand you would use something other than a pillow, huh?”

Redheart’s voice was calm and warm, melting Sweetheart’s frown and turning it into a smirk. They both loved those morbid games.

“Pavulon my dear – no struggle, no fear, no pain! You just stop breathing and peacefully pass to the great beyond—”

“More like to the morgue in the basement, when they cut your organs and set it to some unnamed restaurant in Griffonstone for the highest bidder.”

“The circle of life, Redheart, the circle of life.”

“Ah, my bad. I’m sure your victim would be glad to hear that.”

“I’m glad we agree…” Her lips curled into a wicked smile. “So, about that bet—”

“Don’t even think about it...” Stables walked inside, his tired eyes fixed on the chart he was holding with his magic. “I just spent three hours patching him up.”

“Ugh, the party popper strikes again...” Sweetheart rolled her eyes. “Shouldn’t you be doing what doctors do? You know, like... sleeping on the couch, or something?”

“So you can strangle me with a pillow? Nice try, Sweetheart.”

“Well, it was worth a shot...” She smiled, but once she glanced at the bed, concern filled her face. “Jokes aside... Do you think he’ll make it through, Stabie?”

“Until morning? Maybe, but... all in all?” Stables shook his head and paused. His expression was louder than a thousand words. “It would take a miracle. Oh, by the way,” he pulled out the device James gave him, “remember, if he dies when I’m not around, push that button on top until it starts flashing.”

“Yeah, we heard you the first time, doc.”

“Good, now let me see how our other patient is doing...” He opened the curtain, to find Apple Bloom with a somewhat... disturbed expression on her face. “Err… I thought you were asleep... Did you... hear all that?”

“Kind of, yeah...”

“Do you promise not to tell anyone? Or do you need some... incentive?” Sweetheart’s face was like a stone mask, her cold eyes gaping. The orchestra of beeping-noises filling the air was an indication that her performance was top notch. “Err... Sorry, Apple Bloom. You know, I was joking... right?”

The sound of Stables’ facehoof was loud enough to escape the room and echo through the empty corridors. Nurse morbid had struck... again, leaving the filly shaking.

“Yes, I’m sure she knows!” Stables said. “And the elevated heart rate, dilated pupils, and shivers are just part of an act!”

“Apple Bloom, you have to excuse nurse Sweetheart, she’s just—”

“S-scary?”

“I would say... morbid, but scary is good too,” Redheart’s smirk pushed Sweetheart’s face into a deep frown. “She’s not really killing anyone.”

“It’s never too late to start...” Sweetheart shot her a glance and grumbled, then turned to Apple Bloom. “Sorry sweetie, but um... You won’t tell anyone about this, would you? It could cost me my job.”

“Um... My lips are sealed.”

“Good girl… What about your lips... Sweetie Belle?”

Stables opened the curtains to the next bed, revealing the young unicorn crouching on it with a sheepish smile. Like a kid cough with a hoof in a cookie jar.

“Um... what’s up, Doc?”

“Very funny, Missy... You shouldn’t be here.”

“How did you know she was there, anyway?” Sweetheart said.

“Sweetie Belle, did you happen to ‘borrow’ some expensive perfumes from your sister’s room?” The red blush of her cheeks was the answer. “Here you go. She smells like Rarity, I could recognize that delightful scent anywhere...”

His lips betrayed him, involuntarily curling into a gracious smile. It lasted maybe for a second, and he had hoped nobody noticed, but the wicked grins on the nurses faces were screaming a different tune. They knew his weak spots and went for the kill.

“Really?” Sweetheart went first – who would have guessed... “I don’t recall Rarity coming to the hospital recently...”

Her words were sweet, almost caring... But her smile was screaming wicked innuendos.

“She was here... before the tour!”

“Really?” Her smile turned to grin. “I don’t recall—”

“I remember! It was a few weeks ago...”

Redheart to the rescue! One of the few nurses with some conscience left. That made her practically an angel or a saint. A ray of sunshine on a rainy day. Stables madly bobbed his head. Maybe he would get out of it yet.

“And you gave her a full physical, right?”

Redheart’s lips curled into a wicked grin. The angel turned out to be just another devil in disguise.

“Is my sister sick?! Is that why you were in the boutique that day?”

Stables turned into a statue, his hollow eyes fixed on the hospital floor, admiring it as if it suddenly turned into a majestic work of art.

“She’s fine, Sweetie Belle,” Redheart smiled. “I’m sure Stabie here, took a long and hard look at her...”

“What she said, he’s expert kiddo, I’m sure he checked Rarity… in and out, in and out. Probably multiple times just to be sure... Didn’t you, Doc?”

A setup! That’s what it was! Two smugly grinning faces were proof of that. Stables took a long deep breath and exhale in defeat.

“Yes, my... colleagues are correct, Rarity is fine... Now, how about we get back to the matter at hoof?!” There was murder in his eyes, but his revenge would have to wait. “How do you feel Apple Bloom? Any headaches or dizziness?”

“I’m fine, but my throat hurts...”

“Not surprising, since it was cut open just a few hours ago. Magic or no magic, it will hurt for a week or two... Ah, I almost forgot!” He levitated something in front of her. “Hospital’s policy is to destroy such objects, but... I thought you may want to keep it, as a lucky charm or... something. After all, it saved your life.”

Apple Bloom cocked her head at the piece of scratched and dull metal in her hoof. Something about it seemed oddly familiar, but she wasn’t sure what.

“Your vitals seem perfect... You’re one lucky girl, you should be out of here later today...” Stables let out a sigh. “I wish I could say the same for your friend...”

“Which friend? Did something happen to Scootaloo?!”

“Um, nothing that I’m aware of… I was talking about him...”

Stables motioned at the mummy on the opposite side of the room. Apple Bloom squinted her eyes, and the realization of who it was sent chills up her spine... but it died down a moment later. Not so much for Sweetie Belle...

“What happened to him?!” Sweetie Belle’s yelled, gaping at his damaged body.

“He fell down the gulch near the old castle.”

“B-but, he’s going to be OK... right?” The awkward silence was louder than a scream. “No way... You have to do... something!”

“We’re doing the best we can, but... I won’t lie to you, his chances are minimal. Maybe if Gastovski would give us some of that technology of his we could save him, but—”

“I don’t care...” Apple Bloom’s voice was emotionless and empty. “He’s not my friend... Not after what he did!”

“If you mean the tube, then I already explained it to your sister—”

“No, not that...”

“What then?”

An awkward silence spilled all over the room again. Apple Bloom couldn’t decide whether to tell them or not.

“That wouldn’t be about that chase he gave your sister when he arrived, would it?” Sweetheart sudden interjection was like a lifeboat, saving her from the dilemma.

“Y-you know about that?” Apple Bloom sounded surprised.

“What... chase, Sweetheart?”

“After Rainbow Dash gave him the... shocking encounter, Gastovski, and Princess Celestia visited him a couple of times and I... accidentally of overheard them talking... Apparently, when the poor guy got here, he almost had Applejack for dinner...”

The room went silent again, as their eyes turned to John. The sudden revelation hit Sweetie Belle the hardest, leaving her frozen and gaping. Apple Bloom just kept shaking her head and giving him a disgustful look. A look of betrayal.

“Accidentally, my flank!” Stables let out a snort. “I bet you brought your favorite glass, Sweetheart!”

“I did not!”

“Stabie, she’s a civilized pony, remember?” Redheart’s grinned. “I bet she uses a stethoscope…”

“Hrmph! It’s the last time I told the two of you anything!”

“Are you for real?!” Apple Bloom’s voice boomed through the room, her eyes wide in shock. “He almost killed my sister, and you’re joking about it?!”

“Sorry Apple Bloom, it’s just...” Stables sighed. “Those things happen from time to time.”

“W-what?”

“Carnivores... Some species eat meat. As disgusting as that may be for us, it’s a fact of life.” Apple Bloom kept gaping at Stables in silence, her eyebrow and lip arched. “You want to hate him? Fine, but... in that case, you should hate all the dragons, griffons and hippogriffs, too.”

“T-they eat ponies?” Sweetie Belle said.

“Not usually, but... To give you an example – just a few months ago, we had a griffon suffering from a mental illness. His condition suddenly worsened, and he came at nurse Sweetheart with his claws, beak, and everything! He wanted to gobble her up!”

“R-really?” Sweetie Belle’s grinned with a mixture of fear and excitement. “What happened?!”

“It’s nurse Sweetheart, we’re talking about... A quick jab, somersault, and a few bucks, and he was seeing stars before he could say nighty-nigh.”

“Not before he bit my darn flank! Couldn’t sit straight for a week... Imagine my surprise when I saw that idiot a week later, with a bouquet of roses, groveling on the floor, begging for forgiveness and trying to... ask me out!”

Both fillies began to blink, and their lips curled into a perfect circle. They were cocking their heads, tilting them back and blinking again, stuck in a daze.

“Hold on...” Sweetie Belle was first to leave the land of confusion. “He tried to eat you and then... wanted to be your special somepony? What did you do?”

“I told him to f... fly away at a fast pace...” She snorted. “A crazy, pushover boyfriend, that’s all I need.”

“Right...” Redheart smiled. “You prefer a push-button one.”

“Didn’t fail me yet!”

“You were fine with that?” Apple Bloom interjected, blissfully unaware of the exchange. “I don’t know if I could do that...”

“I understand you’re confused, honey, but from what I overheard, our patient had no idea he was in Equestria at the time.”

“And we’ve been hearing good things about him,” Redheart said. “He saved Cheerilee from the bullies and tried to protect her during this stupid mob. Not to mention he saved your life, so maybe—”

“What?” Apple Bloom turned to Sweetie Belle. “But, I thought you...”

“You... don’t remember?” Sweetie Belle said. “You woke up on the way here, he was carrying you before we switched.”

“I remember the bees, my hoof getting all puffy and... then it’s a blur... until I woke up here.”

“Short term memory loss and confusion are common, do not be alarmed,” Stables interjected.

“I see... But, I thought Sweetie Belle rescued me.”

“I wish...” Sweetie Belle’s eyes turned crystal, and she exhaled slowly. It was a sigh of guilt. “Apple Bloom, I panicked... I had no idea what to do. You were just lying there, unconscious, getting blue and I... I...”

She shut her eyes, but it was too late. Tears flooded her face, and she whimpered, shaking like a leaf during a storm. A tight embrace was around her neck before she knew it.

“It’s OK, Sweetie Belle. It’s OK...”

“No, it’s not... I should have done... something! If he didn’t show up, you... You would be dead…”

This time it was Apple Bloom’s eyes that were starting to get a little too moist for comfort as they darted between Sweetie Belle and the figure on the opposite bed. Voices in her head were screaming conflicting innuendos.

“You should have seen it, Apple Bloom... He knew exactly what to do! He smashed that metallic arm of his, then found the bottle, and then...” She let out an audible gulp, the recalled images made something turn in her stomach. “H-he... shoved that big pen of his, up your throat. I thought I was gonna puke...”

“He... what?!”

“I know it’s... horrible, but we had no choice!” She said, but Apple Bloom was transfixed, gaping at her like a statue. “You, OK?”

She wasn’t. Her eyes exploded and she jerked around, ripping off the cables connecting her to the monitors. She needed to know. A moment later, the tubular piece of scratched, dull metal was lying in her hoof, cold and gaping. And then she saw it, the blurred ‘World’s Best Dad’ writing was the proof she was looking for.

’This pen is a gift from… someone special… It is very important to me.’

John’s voice echoed through her mind, quickly followed by a simple question: why? The combination was a broken record she couldn’t silence, playing in her head over and over.

“Are you all right, Apple Bloom?” Stables’ voice brought her back. “Apple Bloom?”

“I’m... fine.”

“You sure? You’ve been staring at that thing in silence for like a minute...”

“I’m, OK...” A lie, or maybe just an omission, she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. “Doctor, could you leave us alone with him?”

“You ripped off the sensors. We need to reconnect you—”

“Please?” Her round, glassy eyes were staring into Stables’ melting his heart. “Ten minutes.”

“Ordinarily, I would say no, but given the circumstances...” He smiled gently. “Ten minutes, and then nurse Redheart will reconnect you, and give you some mild sedative to get you to bed, and Miss Belle will leave the premises, no questions asked. Deal?” The confirming nod from both fillies was music to his ears. “All right then, come on ladies, let’s give those some privacy.”

The door closed, filling the room with eerie silence...


***


The silence continued long after the door was shut. Apple Bloom kept gaping at John. Looking at the machines blew cold air into his lungs, to feverishly get it out a moment later. Each intake, like a morbid reminder of his life running out.

“Apple Bloom... You wanna say something?” Sweetie Belle said, confused by the wait. “Why did you want me to stay?”

It took another moment of silence, followed by a deep, long sigh before Apple Bloom had found the courage to respond. Her words like a confession.

“That pen... He told me it was a gift from his daughter. That it was... very important to him.”

“So...?”

“After all he has been through, after all those things ponies did to him, not only did he saved me, but he sacrificed something personal to do it... I look at him right now, knowing what he did to Applejack and...” She shook her head. “I know family should stick together, but I can’t. I just can’t...”

“I... don’t understand.”

“Do you remember how Grand Pear came back to Ponyville after all these years? When I found out about mom and dad, and about this whole feud between our families, it was all so... stupid.”

“Well, the way you described it back then, you’ll get no argument from me. Must have been hard on your mom, being ditched like that...”

“Yeah, Granny told us it was – especially at the beginning. She was missing her family, sometimes crying, denying it later, and so on...”  She let out a sigh of melancholy. “But, the weird part is that Grand Pear was also missing her, all this time.”

“Then why didn’t he just come back earlier?”

“’He was proud and stubborn’ – his words... What’s worse is that neither Granny nor he even remembers how that feud started…” She let out a dark chuckle, adding to Sweetie Belle’s confusion. “Do you understand? Because of some stupid pride and conflict over something nopony even remembers, both mom and Grand Pear suffered... for years!”

“Um, OK. But what’s that have to do with John?”

“I look at the figure lying in that bed, and even knowing what he tried to do, I can’t stop asking myself... What if it really was a big misunderstanding? Or, what if he did it by mistake and then tried to fix it all, but Applejack didn’t give him a chance?”

“Well... the way the doctor and the nurses talked about him, sure make it look as if he was trying to redeem himself...”

“Exactly…” She grunted in frustration, shaking her head. “A small part of me is still mad at him, but... I don’t want him to die. Maybe it’s because he saved me, or maybe... because of what had happened with mom, I don’t know. But I want him to live... No matter what he did, I want him to get better...” Her voice was packed with guilt, some of it turned into tears, escaping through her glassy eyes. “D-does that make sense?”

Sweetie Belle answered by placing a reassuring hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder and smiling – a beam of approval emerging from her face.

“I think it does, and... that it makes you a very good pony. Your mom would be proud.”

“Y-you really think so?” Another reassuring nod. “Applejack won’t see it that way. She went crazy after what he did to her. She’ll feel betrayed...”

“Hold on... Didn’t you tell me she acted weird for weeks, now?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So... how could he be the cause, when he arrived a week ago?”

Apple bloom cocked her head. Just when she thought she had it all figured out, her theory fell apart like a house of cards. The jigsaw her mind put together was suddenly incomplete, and key puzzles were missing.

“You’re right... I completely forgot about it, but... if he’s not the cause, then what? What could top almost getting killed?”

“Somepony spreading rumors about Braeburn and her, behind the barn?”

“Oh, yes, that could get her going, all right!” Apple Bloom said with a chuckle. “But I don’t think that’s it...”

“You think it can be even worse than this?”

“Honestly, after how she’s been acting lately I’m not sure of anything anymore. She’s not herself, the Applejack I know would never...”

“Never what?”

Apple Bloom glanced Sweetie Belle in her perplexed eyes as if trying to buy herself more time, praying for someone to enter the room and interrupt them. But Lady Luck wasn’t in the mood, and Sweetie Belle would find out eventually.

“Applejack I know would never try to... k-kill anyone.”

Sweetie Belle froze, gaping. Her eyes darting between Apple Bloom and the figure on the bed. She couldn’t get a sound out of her throat, but her petrified expression was louder than a thousand words.

“Yeah... That was my reaction too...” Apple Bloom said. “I don’t know what happened exactly, but she said it herself.”

“Has everyone gone mad lately?!” Sweetie Belle exploded like a volcano. Her eyes were burning with pure rage. “This is, this is—”

“I know! Believe me, I know... I spent the last few hours thinking about it...” She shook her head, her glassy eyes fixed onto the floor. “When Princess learns about this... I don’t even wanna think about it... Will they lock her up?”

“I... I don’t know—”

“I don’t want to lose her, Sweetie Belle!” The glass in her eyes turned to liquid, flooding her cheeks. “No matter what she did, I don’t wanna... And I don’t wanna lose him, either...”

The water from her friend’s eyes extinguished the inferno inside Sweetie Belle’s mind, and her hoof wrapped around Apple Bloom’s neck in a tight embrace. She was still angry, but her friend was in need, and for a moment, nothing else mattered.

“Someone should get those two together and give both of them a good old spanking with a solid belt!” Apple Bloom said, laughing and sniffling at the same time. “This is all so stupid...”

“I know, Apple Bloom, I know... Look, um... I don’t know what will happen, but I’m here for you, you know?”

“Thanks…” Apple Bloom’s lips curled into a smile. “If Scootaloo saw us right now, she would be like: ‘Ugh, mushy stuff!’”

Sweetie Belle smiled herself. “Yeah, probably.”

“Sweetie Belle... We need to find her... I know you’re angry, but... We can’t just abandon her for being scared.”

Sweetie Belle sighed – Apple Bloom was right, as always. This whole mess was one bad situation after another, escalating like a wildfire, and the withering victim was on the bed in front of them. Adding hay to the flames would help no one, and no matter how bad she messed up, Scootaloo was still in bad shape and needing their help.

“Ugh... Fine... I will try not to strangle her at first sight. But you better stick close to me, just in case—”

“Sweetie Belle, did anypony told you, you have anger management issues?” Nurse Redheart came out of nowhere with Sweetheart right behind her.

“Yes, my therapist, doctor Psyche said that... But James told me to, um… ‘ignore the old quack.’”

“And he’s right!” Sweetheart grinned. “When someone deserves a punch, you don’t hesitate, you punch them!”

“Please, ignore her... She believes that violence is a solution for everything, and likes badmouthing doctors who disagree.”

“What? I would never dream of saying anything bad about another doctor… Especially such a useless drunk as Psyche…”

“Ugh, anyway. It’s been ten minutes, I need to hook you up, Apple Bloom. And you Sweetie Belle, need to go home.”

Surprisingly, there was no protest. The fillies returned one last hug, and Sweetie Belle turned to the door. The situation was still grim, but at least she knew that Apple Bloom was OK, and she would try to make things right with Scootaloo. She thought that maybe, things would finally turn for the better.

That’s when John’s monitors went crazy, and beeping-noise boomed all over the room…