//------------------------------// // Ch. 20 - Apologies // Story: A Trail Leading Home // by Hades Shadow 92 //------------------------------// Chapter 20 -- Apologies -- The Ponyville hospital was buzzing with doctors and nurses moving through the halls and rooms. The institute was welcoming, as much as a hospital could be. But the recent visitors couldn’t help but be uneasy as they sat in the waiting room.  Trail, Tala and Zala had already been looked over, their injuries minor and not important. Comet and her friends had also been allowed to stay at the hospital and wait with them. School was closed for the rest of the day as Princess Twilight attempted to sort things out.  Now the only patient that had yet to be released was Starlight Glimmer, who had a severe case of magical burnout, along with bruising and minor physical injuries from her fight with the basilisk.  Waiting there was hard for Trail, but he kept a strong demeanor for Comet’s sake. The poor filly had cried when she was released and heard of Starlight’s condition. Everyone gave her comfort, but the feeling of dread was still in the air around the group.  After what seemed like forever, the doctor came up to the group.  Trail immediately got up and addressed him, “How is she?”  Comet was right behind him, eyes wide with tears starting to form again.  The doctor was calm, but caring, “We believe she will make a full recovery. Her physical injuries will heal quickly. Her magic however may take some time to recover. No more than a few days. We would like to keep her overnight just in case though.”  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.  Comet walked right up to the doctor, “Can we see her?”  The doctor looked down on her with an unsure look, “I don’t know little one. She needs her rest.”  Comet’s eyes widened, the floodgates of her tears about to break, “Please?” The doctor saw this and couldn’t look away from the filly. After a minute of internal debate, he sighed.  “Alright. But only two ponies. I don’t want her being overcrowded. Fifteen minutes at the most.”  Trail walked up next to his daughter and looked to the doctor, “Thank you Doctor. We will make it as brief as we can.”  Comet looked back to her friends and aunts, all of them giving her looks of encouragement. She and Trail then followed the doctor to Starlight’s room, butterflies flying in their stomachs.  As they reached the room, the doctor poked his head in, “Miss Glimmer, you have some visitors.”  After a moment, the doctor opened the door fully, gesturing for the two to head inside. As they moved inside, they saw Starlight laying in a bed. Her horn had a little black mark on it, and her legs had some bandages wrapped around them.  “Comet, Trail. Nice to see you guys.” Starlight said, giving both ponies a smile.  Comet immediately ran to her teacher’s bedside and put her front hooves on the bed. Trail followed close behind, standing behind Comet and looking at Starlight with worry.  “You ok?” Trail asked.  Starlight sighed, “Mostly yeah. The doctor told me I shouldn’t use magic for a few days.”  “That’s like telling a pegasus not to fly.” Comet said glumly.  “That’s true, Comet. But doctor’s orders.” Starlight said.  Comet’s head sank, and her ears folded as they stood there. Starlight saw this change and took her foreleg, petting Comet’s mane.  “It’s not your fault, Comet.” She said softly.  “But it feels like it is. I couldn't do anything but scream the whole time.” Comet said.  “Basilisks are fierce creatures, sweetheart. And if this is anyone’s fault here, it’s mine.” Trail said.  Starlight looked up at him, “Trail, no. I should have seen the illusion sooner.” “I should have seen his little trick when he was with me! That little brat could have gotten all of you killed.” Trail said.  The room was silent for a moment before Comet spoke up, “It’s my fault.”  Both adults looked down at her in shock, “If I had just gone to Princess Twilight about Tourmaline when he first started picking on me, maybe we could have gotten this whole thing under control before the race even.”  “Sweetheart, that colt has been a problem for us long before you came to the school. I don’t know why he is so focused on you and your friends, but it is not your fault.” Starlight said.  “That boy will learn quickly that even the rich can’t get away with everything.” Trail said.  “I’m sure Twilight is working on settling this issue.” Starlight said.  “I hope so. He went way too far. The race was one thing, but this was unthinkable.” Trail said.  Both adults sighed and were quiet for a moment, neither knowing what else to say.  Trail finally broke that silence, “I am glad you were with them Starlight. Thank you so much for keeping my daughter safe.”  Starlight smiled sheepishly, “It’s my job to keep my students safe. I only wish I could have done more.”  “You did fine. Basilisks are nearly impervious to magic. And even conventional weapons aren’t that effective either. You wearing it down helped us greatly.” Trail said.  Starlight looked away with a little blush on her face. And almost on cue, the doctor came back in.  “Alright, Miss Glimmer needs her rest.” He said.  Suddenly Comet leaped up to hug Starlight gently, resting her head on her teacher’s shoulder. Starlight was shocked to say the least, her body went rigid as she didn’t know how to respond at first.  “Thank you for saving me and my friends. I’m sorry you got hurt, Miss Starlight.” Comet said, her voice a little shaky.     After hearing that apology, Starlight’s eyes widened and she quickly grew a smile on her face. She leaned in to rest her head near Comet’s. A single tear slid down her cheek.  “Comet, I was responsible for all of you. It was my job to protect you. I’d never forgive myself if I let anything happen to you.” Starlight said softly.  Comet let a few tears fall as well, nuzzling into Starlight’s shoulder before she separated from her and jumped off the bed. Trail put a hoof around her shoulder and smiled back to Starlight. Both ponies looked into each other’s eyes before the doctor cleared his throat, breaking the tender moment.  He led the two ponies out of the room and into the hallway before closing the door. Trail and Comet then made their way back to the waiting room, meeting up with everyone else.  “Comet, how was Miss Starlight?” Ocellus asked, running up to her friend.  “She’s ok. She just needs some rest.” Comet said.  “That’s good. Now let’s go teach Tourmaline a lesson!” Smoulder said, cracking her knuckles.  “You best leave that to me and your teachers Smoulder.” Trail said.  “But mean rich pony almost got counselor Starlight killed!” Yona yelled.  “Yes, but he is a student of Princess Twilight’s responsibility. She won’t let him get off scotch free.” Trail said.  “She better not. Or I’m gonna punish the little brat myself.” Tala growled.  “Sister, as much as I share your distaste for this colt, we cannot go about dealing our own punishment. This isn’t Griffinstone.” Zala explained calmly.  “I don’t care! Comet could have been eaten! All of them could have! And that waste of pony flesh led them right to it!” Tala yelled.  A cough came from the nurse’s station, making everyone look over to her, “I ask that you please keep quiet. This is a hospital.”  “Sorry Nurse.” Trail said.  Seeing as they had no more business as the hospital, Trail suggested they vacate the building, so as to not disturb anypony any longer. The kids didn’t argue, and neither did his sisters. The group then made their way to Trail’s home, as Comet and her friends didn’t want to go back to the school just yet. Trail and Tala decided to head up to the school by themselves to talk with Princess Twilight while Zala stayed behind to watch the children.  As they reached the large door of the school, they pushed it open and made their way to Twilight’s office. As they got closer, they could hear arguments coming from the room, very loud arguments at that. The door was open, so they let themselves in.  “I don’t care how rich he is! I’ll fly to Canterlot myself and drag him here!” Rainbow shouted.  “I have already sent a message to Princess Celestia. She will find him. He can’t refuse an order from two princesses.” Princess Twilight said.  “I cannot believe this has happened. What in Celestia’s name was Tourmaline thinking? I can understand rivalry, but this goes beyond that!” Rarity exclaimed.  “I agree Rare, there is no excuse for this! He could have gotten Starlight and her group killed!” Applejack yelled.  “I’m not happy about this either girls, but we need to keep calm and handle this professionally.” Fluttershy said calmly.  “Flutters is right. He might be a little meany, but we can’t be meanies ourselves.” Pinkie said.  “I don’t care at this point Pinkie! This kid has gotten away with too much! Do you have any idea how many kids have come to me about him!?” Rainbow exclaimed.  “And he won’t get away with it anymore Rainbow Dash. His father will come and deal with his son. I won’t tolerate this anymore.” Twilight said.  “I’d hope not, Your Highness.” Tala scoffed.  Everypony suddenly looked towards the door, noticing the pair finally.  “Trail Blazer, Miss Tala, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Twilight said.  “We wanted to come and see what was being done about Tourmaline.” Trail explained.  “He’s going down, that’s what!” Rainbow Dash said.  “Rainbow.” Twilight said, giving her friend a look.  Rainbow Dash sighed and rested her head on her foreleg. “Twilight has sent an order to Princess Celestia. Tourmaline’s father, Lord Rhinestone must come to the school to discuss his son’s future here, if he has one at all.” Rarity explained.  “And if he doesn’t show?” Tala said.  “Then he will be ignoring a royal command, which will not end well for him. He is a proud stallion, and will not want to draw attention to this by having us send guards to fetch him.” Twilight said.  “And when he gets here, then what?” Tala asked.   “We will have a hearing about his son’s actions. Not just in the forest, but also his past actions against the student body.” Twilight said.  “And given the astonishing amount of complaints we’ve gotten, on top of his crimes in the forest incident. I would be inclined to expel him from the school.” Rarity said.  “As much as I don’t like forcing somepony to leave our school, I agree with Rarity. He didn’t put any effort into classes other than Twilight’s magic class. He even called my animals vermin.” Fluttershy said, a look of disgust came to her face near the end.  “He has more tardies and absences than the whole student body combined! Like, what does he do when he’s not going to class?” Rainbow asked.  “I’m not sure. I see him in the library at times, but I think he mostly keeps to his dorm.” Applejack said.  “Yeah, it’s like he doesn’t care about making friends. This is the school of Friendship!” Pinkie exclaimed.  “Princess, with all due respect. This has gone on far enough. Starlight has told me of several students coming to her about Tourmaline. And the fact he targets Comet and her friends so much, I would also like to ask that he’d be expelled.” Trail said.  Twilight sighed and rubbed at her temple, “I never thought I’d have to expel anyone from this school. This isn’t what we wanted.”  “Twi, no one is saying that there is anything wrong with the school. Tourmaline is just a bad apple.” Applejack said, looking at her friend with concern.  “Yeah, everyone else loves the school! All the fun, the parties, and more friends than you can count!” Pinkie yelled out, bouncing off the walls.  “Absolutely darling. The school is running just like we had hoped. You cannot let one bad student bring you down.” Rarity said.  Tala then stepped forward, “I may not have been here long, but from Comet’s letters, I know this place is just what she was looking for. I’ve never seen her as happy as she was when I met her and her friends. This school helped her open up, and I can’t thank you ponies enough for that.”  Everyone was shocked to hear such kind words from the griffin, given her and Twilight’s interaction the other night.  “But this kid is a bad apple. And if you let him stay here, he will only make things worse. I won’t let him pick on my niece.” Tala growled.  Twilight nodded, “And he won’t. I will personally see to that.”  Zala walked up the stairs, making her way towards Comet’s room with a plate of cookies on her back. Double chocolate chip, her niece’s favorite. They were sure to perk everyone up. But as she made it to the hallway, she found Comet’s friends in front of her door. “Comet, come on. Let us help.” Ocellus said.  “Let us in please. We can talk.” Silverstream said sadly.  “What’s going on children?” Zala asked as she approached.  The group of friends turned to her with sad expressions.  “Comet no let us in. Yona can hear her crying.” Yona said, hanging her head.  Zala looked at the door with sad eyes. “Go down to the living room, children. I will handle this.” Zala said, holding out the plate of cookies to Smoulder. The dragon took them, but didn’t really even look at them as she started walking down the hallway. Sandbar, Yona, and Gallus followed after her. But Ocellus and Silverstream stayed, giving Zala pleading eyes.  “Will she be ok Miss Zala?” Silverstream asked.  Zala smiled at the you girls, lifting both of their chins up, “She will girls. Trust me.” They nodded and went to join their friends in the kitchen. Zala then turned to the door of Comet’s room.  She knocked, “Sweetheart? May I come in?”  After a minute or so, the door unlocked, and Zala opened it. Looking inside, she saw Comet on her bed, her head turned away from the door. Sobs and sniffles could be heard.  Zala moved to the bed and joined her niece. Laying next to the filly, she nuzzled her head, “What’s the matter dear?” “Why did this have to happen Auntie?” Comet asked.  “This wasn’t your fault dearest.” Zala said, brushing Comet’s mane with her hoof.  “Then why!? Why can’t he just leave me and my friends alone? First the Running of the Leaves, now this!?” Comet yelled out in frustration, tears streaming down her face.  Zala let her calm down a bit before speaking, “I cannot claim to know this Tourmaline or his motivations. But I know that you have done nothing to provoke him. You are not that kind of filly. I should know, I helped raise you dearest.”  “He has the top scores in magic class. And just because I’m getting better, he feels the need to pick on me.” Comet sniffled.  “Perhaps he feels threatened? You are improving from what Trail has told me. Starlight Glimmer is teaching you well.” Zala said, giving her niece a comforting smile.  “So he's scared I’ll be better than him? Why?” Comet asked.  “Who can say dear? The spoiled nature of Canterlot is only one of that city's problems.” Zala said.  Comet looked to her aunt, “Is that why Daddy won’t go there?” Zala expression paled, only for a moment. She quickly regained her composure.  “Yes dear. One of many reasons.” Zala said.  Before Comet could ask more, Zala spoke again, “But as I was saying dear, it is not your fault. And you need not place the blame on yourself. You are a wonderful filly, and will grow into a most beautiful mare. Both on the inside, and the outside.”  Comet blushed, “Auntie, quit it!” Zala chuckled, “Are you feeling better dearest?” “Mmhmm.” Comet nuzzled her aunt’s chest lovingly.  Zala returned the nuzzle, getting up off the bed. Comet followed after her, making their way down the stairs. Upon reaching the living room, Comet saw the plate cookies on the table, with everyone of her friends looking at her with a cookie in their mouths.  “Hey, you better have saved some for me!” Comet yelled playfully, tackling Silverstream, making them go into a giggling fit. The rest of the group joined in on the laughter. Comet took two cookies in her mouth, earning a protest from Ocellus.  Zala simply sat in the armchair, watching her niece with a warm smile.