//------------------------------// // Chapter 6- The Visitor // Story: My Little Pony: The Test of Friendship // by McThriller //------------------------------// Chapter 6- The Visitor Darkness filled the void, the black abyss was all that could be seen. No beginning and no end to this seemingly empty place, and yet the shadows of darkness continue to reside within. The silence would drive anything crazy, but voices start echoing through the air, each seeming to speak as if it were a part of a memory. “No matter what happens, we’ll always be proud of you.......” “This will always keep us together.....forever.....” “Starting today, we’ll be the best of friends!......” “Get him out of here!......” “Nooooo!.....” “Flamebolt!” Flamebolt’s eyes opened as he quickly sat up, his breathing heavy, sweat dripping off his body. After a minute, he calmed himself down, but flinched as pain started to spread through his body. He looked down to see his leg wrapped up to his hips with bandages, and noticed he was laying in a bed. Changing his gaze from his body to his surroundings, he noticed he was in a lone room with one bed, a night stand with a lamp, a door, a window, and a couple buttons on the wall. He realized he was not in the Everfree Forest anymore, but instead in a patient room at a hospital. Thinking back to what had happened, he couldn’t believe he had made it out of the forest in one piece, and was able to protect the small filly.  ‘The kid!’ He quickly pushed himself out of bed, only to fall to the ground. His body was weak and he felt dizzy from quickly moving. He forced himself onto his legs and wobbled away from the bed to the door. He had to make sure that Scootaloo was okay, since she was also hurt from their chase in the forest. As he approached the door, voices could be heard from the other side. With caution, he pressed his cheek up against the door, and used his ear to see if he could hear what was being said on the other side. At first, all he could hear was muffling, but the voices became more clear and he was able to discern words. The voices sounded familiar to him, and could hear his name being mentioned. (Outside the room) Beyond the door was a hallway branching off into different rooms, each leading to another patient’s area or a medical ward. Close to Flamebolt’s room was a group of the all to familiar ponies, residing of Twilight, Applejack and her sister, Apple bloom, Rarity, and her sister Sweetie Belle.  The group was talking to the doctor, a unicorn with dark brown hair, a lighter brown coat, and a lab coat with a light blue shirt and dark tie around his neck. He wore glasses that speckled against the fluorescent lighting, and had a stethoscope hanging on his neck. “How is he, Doctor Horse?” Twilight asked, concerned. The doctor’s horn began to glow as he levitated a chart to his face and read the notes he made on the patient. “Well, aside from some minor blood loss, he’ll make a full recovery as long as he rests and regains the blood.” Everypony sighed in collective relief from the good news. “Yes, it was a good thing you brought him in when you did.” He continued, “The fact that he went up against some Timberwolves by himself is crazy, let alone to fend them off and make it out of the forest with only one injury!” Sweetie Belle spoke up then, “He was protecting Scootaloo! If we hadn’t gone into the forest in the first place, none of this would have happened.” She looked down at the tiled floor, feeling guilty for all that had happened. “And he and Scootaloo wouldn’t be in the hospital!” Applebloom added, feeling the same guilt. The two older sisters each comforted their siblings and tried their best to reassure them. “Cheer up Applebloom, everypony made it out okay and that’s all that matters,” Applejack tried encouraging her to look at the bright side of a bad situation.  Rarity wrapped her hooves around Sweetie Belle and hugged her, not letting her go. “Oh Sweetie Belle, I know you're upset about this whole mess about dear Scootaloo, but please try and cheer up.” Twilight looked back to the doctor, “Speaking of Scootaloo, how is her injury?” “It was only a minor sprain and should heal quickly.” The Doctor stated, “It was a good idea, making that splint when he did, helped keep the swelling down and kept all the joints in place. We replaced it with a brace, and she’ll need to keep it on for the next few days in order for the hoof to heal properly.” “Thank you so much for your help Doc-” slam! Twilight was about to thank the doctor before a loud noise came from the entrance doors. The next thing they knew, there was panicked yelling as the sound of hoofbeats on the tile thundered towards them, “Scootaloo! Where are you!?” Everypony turned towards the sound to see a worried Rainbow Dash frantically searching for her. She noticed some of her friends were there and ran right up to Twilight. “Twi, I got your message from Spike! Where is she? Is she okay? How bad is it?”  She kept asking question after question, not giving anypony time to answer, but Twilight placed both her hooves on Dash’s shoulder. “Calm down....She’s safe, and she’s gonna be okay.” Twilight spoke calmly to help ease her stress. Rainbow Dash took a few deep breaths to calm down and regained her composure. Now that she wasn’t as overwhelmingly freaked out, Twilight was able to explain everything that happened. (In Flamebolt’s room) After overhearing the conversation, Flamebolt felt better knowing that Scootaloo was safe. He pushed away from the door and thought of the situation he was in. ‘Now that that’s taken care of, I’m gonna need to find a way to get out of here without anypony noticing me.’ He looked down at his body covered in bandages. ‘Since they treated me, there’s no way I’m gonna be able to pay the bill for this....and if this hospital is like any of the other ones I’ve been in, then...’ Before he could finish his thought he remembered the window, and moved as quickly as he could on his weak, wobbly legs, and managed to make an escape.  Looking outside, he noticed he was on the ground floor, which made it a lot easier for him to be able to slip out. He slowly opened the window and peeked his head out, scanning from his left to the right to see if there was anypony near him, but luckily he was in the clear. Lifting his body was harder than usual but with enough strength he was able to pull himself out of the window on his front legs. But in the transition back onto the ground, his legs gave in and he stumbled onto the earth. He pulled himself back onto his four legs and quickly looked around again to make sure nopony was around. He was about to push his wings to try and fly, but could hear the familiar sounding voice of a filly. He turned towards the voice and noticed a window next to the one he came out of opened slightly. He wanted to leave, but something inside him was telling him to go check it out. Going with that feeling, he pushed himself against the wall and slowly crept up to the window, crouching below the frame so as to not be seen. (Inside Scootaloo’s room) The little orange filly was laying in a bed the same size as the one Flamebolt had been given, only it seemed bigger for her compared to her much smaller body. Her injured leg was lifted a little over her with a couple pillows to help keep the blood flowing through her leg.  Rainbow Dash was the first to enter the room, and quickly ran over to hug her. Then the other crusaders followed suit. Then came Twilight, and the crusader’s big sisters. Rainbow Dash voiced her concern with what happened, and tears rolled down her face as she apologized for not being there when she was needed. But Scootaloo hugged her in forgiveness and kept a smile on her face. “It’s okay sis, I’m fine now thanks to Flamebolt!” Dash was surprised to hear that name, “You mean the guy I raced before? He saved you?” Scootaloo nodded, “Yup! He risked his life to make sure I was okay! And he fought a whole pack of Timberwolves!” Hearing this surprised everypony, since he didn’t present himself as a stallion that would do something so selfless and heroic like that, especially to a stranger. “Well shucks, I didn’t think I’d hear anythin’ positive about that fella. He looked more like an angry mule than a hero.” Applejack responded, with agreeing nods from everypony else. “And with a short temper like his, I would have found it hard to believe that he would do something so noble.” Rarity added with the same agreeing nods. “I thought the same thing at first, but he was actually not that bad!” Scootaloo replied, “ I mean, yeah he wasn’t the nicest guy sometimes, but he really went out of his way to keep me safe. The way he handled things was so cool, especially his moves when he took out those Timberwolves!” The little orange pegasus was pretty excited to talk about what he did for her. “And when they put themselves together, it was bigger than all the trees, and almost as big as an Ursa Minor!” “An Ursa Minor!?” The crusaders shouted in surprise. “Yeah! but he wasn’t scared at all, and actually wiped the floor with it! It was so awesome! Like, as awesome as Rainbow Dash!” She added. “As awesome as me huh? Well next time I see those Timberwolves I’ll make sure they never think of messing with my little sister, or my friends!” Rainbow Dash said, pounding her hooves together. “I know you would have protected me too, and you would have been awesome doing it!” She was still her biggest fan, so she added that to show she still looked up to her role model. “He beat a Timberwolf as big as that?” Twilight asked, thinking it seemed impossible for anypony to go up against anything that size, especially a lone Pegasus. “Well....I don't exactly know how he did it, or what exactly he did because I was still scared, and when he charged at it, I closed my eyes cause I was scared to see what happened at that point.....but when I opened my eyes we were high above the forest without a scratch....well almost without a scratch....” she dropped her face and felt the same regret she did when she first saw the injury that Flamebolt had. “Don’t worry Scootaloo, the doctor said he’ll make a full recovery as long as he rests.” Twilight could tell she was thinking about what happened to him, and relayed the good news to keep her spirits up. Scootaloo felt more relieved to hear the news, but was still a little sad, but remembered all the things he said to her and stopped feeling guilty. “I want to thank him for everything he did for me.” “We will make sure he hears that, luckily you’re right next door to him, so when he wakes up you’ll be the first to know!” Dash replied to her. Scootaloo nodded with the others, smiling to see that she was gonna be okay and that everything turned out alright. On the other side of the window, Flamebolt heard everything that was said, and decided that was his que to leave before they realize he’s not actually in his room anymore. He was about to leave again, but his gut was telling him not to leave yet, and suddenly knocking could be heard in Scootaloo’s room. He didn’t know why but something in his conscience was telling him that he needed to stay put for this. So he went back to his spot and waited for what was to come. Inside the room, the door opened and Doctor Horse entered the room. “Sorry to interrupt folks, but Scootaloo, you have another visitor here to see you.” Everypony looked to the door to see who it was that wanted to see Scootaloo. The door opened to reveal a new Pegasus that nopony else recognized. She was older than the rest of the group, wearing a worn out, once white apron. She had peach colored fur, and her mane and tail were turquoise blue with streaks of gray, frazzled and in a messy bun. Her eyes had a light tint of green with bags and wrinkles around them, showing that she was tired and probably worked more than she should at her age. Scootaloo gasped as she knew who this new visitor was, “Granny Care-Care!” Flamebolt’s eyes went wide as he heard that name, and felt his chest tighten up. He quickly peeked inside to see exactly what was going on. “Granny Who?” Applebloom asked, confused. The older pony quickly moved past the group and hugged her before anypony could react. “Scootaloo, I was so worried about you!” She returned the hug, “How did you know I was here?” “The doctor messaged me and I got here as soon as I could. How could you not tell me what you were doing? Do you realize how scared I was to hear you were at the hospital?” She fretted. She looked away from the older pony with regret, knowing that she shouldn’t have done what she did. “I’m sorry I worried you...” She hugged the filly again, “I’m just glad to see you are alright now, that's all that matters.” The others were confused about the relation of the two, but could see that they were close so it was okay and smiled at the site. Rainbow Dash cleared her throat to grab their attention, “Sorry to interrupt the reunion, but who exactly are you? And how do you know Scootaloo?” The two broke out of their hug, and the older pony turned her attention towards the group. “Oh, where are my manners, my name is Caring Heart, and I am Scootaloo’s caretaker at the Ponyville Orphanage. But the little ones call me Granny Care-Care.” “Orphanage?” Twilight asked as she was not familiar with it. “I didn’t know Ponyville had an Orphanage.” “Oh that’s because we are more in the outskirts of Ponyville, so no one can really see it. But luckily it’s not too far for the little ones to get to school.” She explained to Twilight. “I had no idea that there were ponies here without homes or families...” This new discovery made Twilight’s heart sink. “It’s alright, Twilight! Granny Care-Care and the others have been my family for as long as I could remember! Things may not seem great but I still have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in.” Scootaloo mentioned. “We try to get by as best as we can and the little ones are always so helpful.” Caring said as she patted Scootaloo on the head. “Gosh Ms. Heart, sounds like the orphanage is a tough job. How many ponies are living there?” Rarity asked. “Well besides me and Scootaloo....we have about 16 other ponies living there. More colts than fillies but they are all so sweet, though they can be hoove full at times.” She answered with a giggle. “Hoo boy Ms. Heart, I hope you ain’t the only pony taking care of all them.” Applejack replied. “Oh of course I am, but Scootaloo and some of the older ponies have also been doing a great job watching over the rest and helping with chores.” Caring answered. “While they keep them busy, I make sure to cook for them, clean them, make their beds, and make sure they go to school. But not all of them are old enough to go yet, so the rest stay with me.” “That’s a lot for one pony to handle.” Twilight voiced her concern. Caring Heart couldn’t help but laugh slightly, “Most ponies would say that, but it’s really not that bad. I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s become second nature for me, but I do appreciate the concern princess.” “Oh, you know who I am?” Twilight asked. “Yes, in fact Scootaloo has told me about all of you and your adventures. Thank you so much for taking care of her.” Caring bowed her head to be polite. She turned to the two fillies, “And you must be Apple bloom and Sweetie Belle of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I’m so glad she was able to make great friends like the both of you.” They both smiled, feeling happy to know that their friend talks about them at her home. “You two are more than welcome to come by the orphanage whenever you want to see Scootaloo.” She offered the two and looked to the rest of the group. “You’re all welcomed as well, the little ones have always wanted to meet you all for so long since hearing all the stories from Scootaloo.” “Of course Ms. Heart, we would love to come visit the orphanage some time.” Twilight said with cheer. Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Heck ya! I’ll show them my cool moves I’ve been working on with the Wonderbolts!” Everypony smiled and discussed ideas with Caring Heart about what they could do for the orphanage. Outside the window, Flamebolt had heard everything that was being said and clenched his teeth. His chest grew tighter and tighter while his stomach felt like it was falling into a continuous state of making knots. He could feel something that he hadn’t felt in a long time but quickly tried to push it aside as he moved away from the wall as fast as he could and tried to gallop off and away as best as he could. With the little strength he had, he expanded his wings and pushed with all his might to try and leave the ground. Slowly, he could feel his legs starting to float. but his wings sent pain through his body, making it difficult for him to push his body.  Back inside, Scootaloo was happy to see her caretaker getting along with the others, and hearing that they’ll come to the orphanage just made it even better. Taking in the view, she decided to check the scenery out the window to think. Before she was even able to enjoy it, she noticed a blue pony in the distance who seemed to be limping at high speed away from the hospital. At first she thought she was seeing things but when she saw the pony slowly fly off the ground she knew who it was, “Flamebolt!”  Scootaloo’s sudden yell brought every ponies attention to her, except Caring Heart, who seemed to froze in place upon hearing that name. Rainbow Dash was the first to respond, “Scootaloo, what the heck are you yelling about?” Scootaloo’s eyes quickly pulled away from the window and stared straight at Dash’s face, “It’s Flamebolt! He’s flying away!” Rainbow Dash and the others looked out the window and witnessed the struggling blue Pegasus trying to fly away.  He was surprisingly high in the sky for having just been bandaged up, but it was obvious that he was struggling to stay in the sky. Witnessing this, Doctor Horse gasped and started shouting in the hallway, “We got a patient on the loose! An injured Pegasus is attempting to fly away! We need nurses outside immediately to catch him!” The few nurse ponies who heard him quickly understood and took action to get outside. “What is he thinking? Nopony should be out of bed this early after surgery! His body hasn’t recovered and he’s trying to fly? We need to catch him before his body shuts down and he crashes,” The doctor warned. “Leave it to me! I’ll catch up to him in no time!” Dash volunteered as she galloped through the window and zoomed towards Flamebolt. “Good luck Dash!” Applejack shouted to her before she flew off. “What in the heck is wrong with that Flamebolt? He’s crazy if he thinks he can just mozzy on like that.” While everypony was watching the scene unfold out the window, Caring Heat snapped out of her frozen state and spoke up, “Did you say ‘Flamebolt’?” The group looked back to the older pony, noting the disbelief of her realization. “Uh yeah, he’s the one who saved Scootaloo-” Applejack started but Caring quickly hustled out the door. “G-granny Care-Care?” Scootaloo tried to ask, but she was already out the room. The room was filled with confusion, as nopony knew at first what was going on with her. “I’m going to check on her, you girls wait here till I get back.” Twilight announced as she left the room to follow after her. With Twilight now out of the room, the rest of the group sat and waited, while many questions started to build up in Scootaloo’s head. ‘What’s going on Flamebolt? Why are you trying to leave? And what was up with Granny Care-Care?.......D-do they know each other?’ In the hallway, Twilight was following Caring Heart, who was moving very fast for a pony her age. “Ms. Heart, where are you going?” But unfortunately her call fell deaf in Caring’s ears as she passed a few doctors and sprinted through the exit doors with Twilight in tow. ‘It can’t be....Is it really him?’ Caring thought, as she decided to flap her wings and fly towards the commotion, with Twilight following again in the air. (With Flamebolt) Flamebolt pushed himself as hard as he could to continue to fly but the pain he was feeling made it more difficult to continue his pace. He wanted to be out of there as soon as he could and be rid of this awful feeling he had. But even with how much he trained himself, his body couldn’t keep going, and he eventually lost all control of his body as his wings stopped moving and his body started falling towards the ground.  “Damn it! Not here....not now!” he tried to move anything in his body, but it was completely shut down as all he could do was just watch himself fall to the ground. Before he had a chance to react, his body was swooped up by a flash of rainbows and seemed to be floating in one spot. He looked down to notice he was still in the air but could feel a slender set of arms carrying him.  “You just don’t know how to give up, do you, hotshot?” The voice sounded a little raspy but familiar still. He looked up to see the famous Rainbow Dash looking down at him. Upon closer inspection he noticed her eyes were of magenta color, and her rainbow colored mane had a sweet fragrance to it. He continued to stare at her for the longest time, ‘This feels so familiar....almost like it happened before....’ The train of thought was broken when she spoke up, “Hello? Uhh, you okay there Flamebolt?”  His senses came back to him as he realized he was still in her arms, looking down he saw she was carrying him like a princess which caused his face to grow red in embarrassment. “I’m fine, just put me down already...it’s embarrassing enough to be held like this.” She smirked to his response, “What’s the matter? Never been carried by a mare before?” He looked away from her in frustration, “No, I haven’t, and I don’t want to be seen as the damsel in distress so drop me already.” She laughed, “Okay princess, here you go.” She descended to the ground and dropped him to the floor. His body was still weak so his legs had no strength, and he ended up landing on his back with a small grunt of pain. “Thanks soooo much for the soft landing,” he said sarcastically as he forced himself to stand up. She threw her hooves in the air and shrugged her shoulders, “You said to drop you.” “Well whatever, I already wasted too much time here,” He slowly limped past Dash away from the hospital. “Where do you think you're going?”  she asked, landing and walking next to him, “You need to go back and rest right now.” “Not a chance, no way am I sticking around. I don’t trust hospitals and I’m not gonna get suckered into their schemes...” he continued to limp further along. “What do you mean ‘their schemes’?” she asked curiously. He was about to say something but a loud shout interrupted him. “FLAMEBOLT!” He froze when he heard his name being called by a voice he recognized. Dash turned around and saw Caring Heart standing right behind them, trying to catch her breath as she seemed to have hustled here. She realised he had stopped moving, but hadn’t turned around to face her. She took a few deep breaths to collect herself before speaking, “Is...is it really you? Are you really my Flamebolt?” He didn’t speak, as he still continued to face away from her, almost like he didn’t have the guts to look at her. In the distance, Twilight was descending to the ground as she saw Caring Heart was with Rainbow Dash and Flamebolt. She landed a few feet behind Caring, and was about to call out to her, but was stopped when she continued to speak. “Please.....look at me. I need to see your face so I know I’m not crazy.” Tears started to build up in her eyes as she begged. “Please, say something to me...” Twilight and Dash were surprised to see what was unfolding in front of them. The sweet and calm Caring Heart was almost breaking down in front of them, and the stubborn and cocky Flamebolt was just standing there, frozen in place. Dash was about to speak up but Twilight quickly trotted up to her and placed a hoof over her mouth to keep her quiet. She knew this was a moment for them and didn’t want it to be interrupted. “You don’t have to tell me anything.....all I ask is that you please look at me so I can know it’s you...” The tears finally fell down her cheeks, holding onto the hope she had thought she lost long ago. After a few awkward minutes of silence, Flamebolt finally turned around. Slowly but surely, his body was now facing her, but his mane covered his eyes as he looked to the ground in front of him. He finally looked up at her, pain and regret was visibly shown on his face as his chest grew tight again. He lifted a hoof behind his head and scratched his mane, feeling awkward about this situation. He swallowed a lump that was stuck in his throat and finally took the courage to speak, “H-hey Granny Care-Care...been awhile...”