//------------------------------// // Getting Help // Story: Tea Party Gone Bad // by Readingyay //------------------------------// “Gallus, Smolder I didn't see your names on the tutoring list?” Twilight had questioned. “Oh well the more the merrier” She said smiling “Why don't you two go ahead and take a se-” She was interrupted.  “Actually Twilight we’re not here for tutoring. We need to talk to you outside. Preferably now.” Gallus said motioning towards the door.  While they were talking Smolder was looking at the students. It was a small class. She noticed Ocellus and Yona exchanging looks when they saw her and Gallus. When she saw that it snapped her back into reality and she looked back at Twilight who had a concerned look. The three of them walked outside as Twilight told the class to sit tight. When they were outside the classroom Twilight spoke. “What’s going on?” She asked in a concerned voice. Smolder’s mind started to go blank like it did earlier before she passed out.  “Well you see me and Smolder were in her room when she pass-” Gallus had started before Smolder had moved closer to him while grabbing onto him. Noticing what was going on he wrapped his wing and an arm around her to hold her up. At this moment Ocellus and Yona had came out of the classroom for they wanted to see what was going on as well. Looking from Smolder to Ocellus and Yona to Twilight, Gallus continued “When we were in her room I noticed that she was shaking a lot. I didn't think much of it until I went to leave and she had passed out. Now you’re probably thinking that isn't a big deal but the thing is when she woke up it was like she couldnt move. She couldn't hold herself up. She was in a lot of pain and she was freezing. I told her that I was gonna make her go to the hospital but then remembered that she was scared of the hospital”  Gallus grunted as Smolder's claws started to dig into him. Tightening his grip on her he continued “I told her that if I brought her to you and you could figure out what was wrong I wouldn’t make her go to the hospital, so help.” Gallus said looking back at Smolder who looked like she was gonna fall at any second. And then she did. She fell out of Gallus’s grip and onto the floor before he could get her. This time she hit her head on the ground knocking her out. Gallus lifted her up and back in front of him like he did in her room. Holding her up with his body he checked her head to make sure she wasn't bleeding. Meanwhile Twilight and the others stood shocked for a bit before running over to make sure she was alright as well. “Why friend Smolder pass out?” Yona asked looking at Gallus. “Gee I have no idea, maybe that's why I came asking for help” Gallus snapped at her immediately feeling bad after. “I’m sorry Yona I’m just worried” he said looking back down at Smolder.  “Yona, Ocellus, you two go back in the classroom. Me and Gallus are gonna take Smolder to the nurses office.” Twilight told them ------ Gallus has carried Smolder on his back once before but this time she was a lot lighter for some reason. Walking with Twilight to the nurses office he decides to ask again. “Do you have any idea of what's going on?”. “I’m sorry Gallus but I don't have a clue. Hopefully nurse Nadia will be able to figure it out”. Twilight answered. “What if this is some kind of dragon thing? Should we send a letter to dragon lord Ember?” Gallus asked with a bit of a panic. In all honesty he doesn't even know why he's so worried. It’s most likely just some type of dragon cold he tells himself. He knows that Smolder is his friend and all but with the way he's starting to panic it kinda feels like more than that to him. Snapping himself out of his thoughts they walk into the nurses office and try to lay Smolder down on the bed. Not long after nurse Nadia walks in and is surprised when she sees them. She looks over to Smolder who's lying unconscious on the bed and mumbles “Oh dear”. ------ After checking her pulse and temperature she turns to Twilight and Gallus. “Everything seems to look okay. Do you happen to know if this has ever happened before or is this the first time?”. Gallus remembers what Smolder had said and starts to explain “When I was in her room I noticed her shaking a lot. I ignored it at first but then noticed it was getting worse. When I did I had asked her about it and she said that she often gets to shaking like that just not as bad as it was then.” “Huh” Nadia says “I wonder what caused it to get worse. I’m sorry but as I am the school nurse I'm not authorized to do any blood tests or anything like that. With me not being able to do that I won't be able to find the answer you need.Your best bet is to take her to the hospital so they can thoroughly check her.”. Gallus looks at Smolder for a bit and then looks down at the ground. “I know she's scared of the hospital Gallus but if that's what it takes to make sure this doesn't happen again then so be it” Twilight said sadly. “I know I know it's just…” Gallus began to say.  “It's just?” Twilight repeated.  “I don't know” looking at the ground Gallus was trying to figure out what he was feeling. Standing up he looks back at Twilight and says “We should get going”. He then walks over to Smolder to put her back on his back and walks out with Twilight. There's a long silence while walking to the hospital. Twilight looks over at Gallus trying to figure out what's on his mind. “I’m sure she's going to be okay, Gallus” she tells him. She waits for him to respond but realizes he didn't hear her. “Gallus” she says again, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Huh” he responds looking back at her.  “Are you two a thing or something? I’ve never seen you get this worried about Smolder even when she had that dragon flu last Spring” She asks with a bit of curiosity in her voice.  “What? No!” He responds with a tint of red appearing on his face. “Do you like her then?”  “No” he says almost in a whisper but the red on his face was telling her otherwise. “I don't know why I’m so worried honestly”. With that he starts to feel Smolder moving a bit. Opening her eyes a bit she finds that she's on Gallus’s back with Twilight beside them. “What happened” She mumbled while trying to sit up “You kinda fell and hit your head” Gallus responded though she didn't hear. Instead she was looking around to see they were outside. “Please tell me we’re not-” “We’re taking you to the hospital so you might just wanna sit tight” Gallus interrupted. “Please no I’m sure I’m fine i don't need to go to the hospital” Smolder started to beg. “Smolder you fell and hit your head. You’ve been out for an hour now. What do you think would happen if you were alone?”. She stayed quiet.  “Why are you so scared of the hospital anyways?” Twilight asked which made Smolder flinch and look away. “I dont wanna talk about it” She mumbles. With that they turned onto the trail to the hospital where it was in sight and Smolder's heart dropped. She wanted to fly away back to her dorm and she was about to until she looked down at Gallus. She knows that he's been worried and if she flys away it wouldn't do any good. Knowing that she pushes back the urge to fly away and looks down trying to distract herself.  Though it didn't do her any good. The closer they got the more she thought her heart was about to stop. Ever since Dragon Lord Godwin did what he did to all the innocent dragons in the hospital she refused to go anywhere near a hospital again. She still remembers what he did to her little sister when she got sick. (Dark warning) The closer they got the more she couldn't stop thinking about her sister. She remembers standing on the other side of the glass of her sister's room when the doctors ruled her too weak to be healed. She can still feel the fear she had felt when she heard the doctors say that. She knew what it meant. It meant that Dragon Lord Godwin would find it useless to use their resources on her and that he would drain her blood to kill her. She still remembers hearing her sister yell for her to save her from the other side of the glass but she couldn't. She knew if she tried Godwin would kill her too. So instead she forced herself to stand there to at least let her sister know that she cared unlike their parents. They gave up on her the second they found out she was sick. It definitely wasn't easy but Smolder kept reminding herself how much she would have wanted someone to be there for her. After her sister had passed she wouldn't leave her room for weeks. When she found out she was going to be an older sister she was thrilled. So when her sister hatched she had promised to keep her safe and after the day she passed she felt like a failure. Over time the pain did get better but some of it was still there. It had always been there. (Done) She is terrified of the hospital. That is no lie but the one thing she never told her friends was after the day her sister passed she swore she would never go to a hospital again. Not only for what they did, but also because she felt like she didn't deserve it. She felt like she didn't deserve to be healed or treated for anything because her sister never was. Getting out of her thoughts she saw that they were at the front door of the hospital which did her no good for how she was feeling. She was able to hide most of her fear apart from accidentally scratching Gallus. With that she jumped off of Gallus’s back, almost falling again. Twilight and Gallus helped her regain her balance and then walked up to the front desk with Smolder still looking at the ground which did her no good. Even the smell told her she was in the hospital. It was like she couldn't escape it. “Hi” Twilight says, walking up to the pony at the front desk. She started talking when Gallus looked back and noticed Smolder had stopped walking. He walked back over to her and wrapped his wing around her again. “It’s okay Smolder” He said, trying to comfort her. Turning her head a tear fell from her face which really started to make Gallus feel bad. He just wants to make sure she's okay but this seems to be hurting her even more. Pulling her in with his wing he gave her a hug which she obviously tried to push away from. Then Twilight and a nurse walked up to them to take them to their room. When they entered the room there was a hospital bed with a monitor next to it. The walls were painted white and one wall had a sink and some cabinets. On the other side was a large window looking over ponyville which immediately made her feel safer. Before they had entered the room the nurse went ahead and had her pee in a cup for her to test it. Smolder walked over and sat on the bed while Gallus and Twilight sat in the chairs in the room. “Okay,” the nurse began “I’m going to ask you a few questions since your name isn't in our system and then I’m going to check your temperature and blood pressure”. “Okay” Smolder responded “Okay first off what is your full name?” “Smolder Gron Day” “How old are you?” “Fourteen” “What's your birthday?” “April 6th 6000” “Okay now let's check your temperature” the nurse says standing up. She walks over to the monitor and gets the thermometer and has Smolder put it under her tongue. After she does that the nurse checks her blood pressure. Now that ponies and dragons are friends some dragons decided to come to ponyville and get jobs here. A few decided to become doctors because ponies don't know enough about dragons to help them. So the fact the nurse is a dragon makes Smolder feel a little better as the nurse knows more about dragon bodies. “Ooo okay. So your temperature is very low and your blood pressure is high.” the nurse says and then looks over at Twilight. Before the doctor comes in I would like to run a blood test to see what all is going on there”. “Okay I don't see a problem with that.” Twilight responds. The thing is though, there is a problem with that. To do a blood test requires the nurse to draw some of Smolder's blood which is exactly what Godwin said to patients who he was wanting to kill. Feeling a panic attack coming, Smolder looked over at Gallus. She doesn't know what it is but everytime she gets scared or panicky looking at Gallus for some reason calms her down. Gallus saw this and flew over to her to calm her down. The nurse was confused at first but immediately realized what was wrong as she too grew up in Godwins terror. “Not like that. I would never do that nor would I be a part of something like that.” She walked over to Smolder and sat on the side of her that Gallus wasn't at. “Listen Godwins not here anymore. He was killed, remember. He will never be able to hurt anyone ever again. Not you. Not me. Not anyone.” With that the nurse stood up “If you want I can take you to the Nurse's room to draw your blood if that will make you feel safer.” Even though the nurse's words calmed her she still couldn't speak so she just nodded yes. The nurses room looked exactly like the room they were just in except bigger and it had different machines. The nurse led Smoler and the others over to a chair with an extendable arm rest. She has Smolder sit while she looks for the stuff she needs. Gallus is sitting directly next to Smolder to make sure she doesnt start panicking. The nurse finds her things and walks back over. “Okay now which arm do you want the needle to go in?” she asks. Smolder lifts up her right arm showing she wants it done on that one. The nurse nods and sits in the chair in front of Smolder. She moves the arm rest so Smolder can put her arm down on it. The nurse cleans the area on Smolder's wrist and ties the band around. All was going great until she pulled the needle out causing Smolder to flinch and put her face in Gallus’s chest. Gallus wrapped his arm around her and held her while the nurse stuck the needle in. There are a lot of things Smolder knows but at that moment the only thing she knew was she did not want to watch and so she didn't. The nurse started drawing her blood. After the ninth tube of blood she took the needle out and put a bandaid where the needle was. “All done” the nurse said as she took the band off her arm. “We should get the results in about two hours for her blood and pee” she says moving the arm rest for Smolder to stand up. “What do we do in the meantime?” Twilight asks the nurse. “Well you guys can stay in the room or you can go to the cafeteria. I heard they’re serving salad” she leans over to Gallus and Smolder and whispers “As well as seafood for the meat eaters in the hospital”. That immediately made Smolder feel even better. She loves seafood but rarely gets it now that she's at the school. The nurse takes them into the hall and shows them where the cafeteria is. She then walks away to take the blood she had drawn to get tested. “Oh” she starts and turns around “Just be sure you guys are back in the room before 6 so I can give you the results” and then she walks away. In the cafeteria Smolder got the cooked salmon with lemon shrimp and Gallus got the shrimp with crab. Of course Twilight got the caesar salad with a tomato sandwich. Twilight understands that meat is important in both dragon and griffon diets so it doesn't bother her of what they’re eating. She's even tried a bit of meat herself as she was curious about what it tasted like. As they find a place to sit Gallus notices Smolder walking directly beside him. ‘Maybe she feels safer around me’ he thought to himself. After they find a place to sit and start eating a question comes up in Twilight's head. “Hey Smolder, what did that nurse mean by Godwins not here anymore?”. Gallus looks up from his food immediately knowing that it’s a sensitive topic since Smolder didn't answer right away. Looking at her he could tell she froze up.  “Hey Twilight that should probably be a question for Ember” he says trying to keep Smolder from having another panic attack. After a long silence Smolder looks down at her food and starts to talk. “He-” she struggles to get out. Smolder closes her eyes for a few seconds to breathe and then opens them back up. “He was a bad Dragon Lord.” she says. “What did he do?” Twilight said with the same curiosity in her voice. Hearing her ask that made Smolder wanna hit her. ‘What kind of question is that?’ She thought to herself. She should be asking what didn't he do. Knowing that most creatures probably never even heard of his name made her mad. He was worse than all of Equestrias villains combined. Then her sister came back to her mind. At that moment she wanted to leave. She hated being reminded of her sister. With that she started to get mad. She didn't shout though. She didn't hit anybody. She was just mad. She was mad at Godwin. She was mad at herself. She was mad that nobody knows what he did. She was mad at her parents. She was mad at the doctors who didn't even try to protect her sister or anyone else in that rotted out hospital. She was mad at the dragons who did nothing to stop him. But most of all, She was mad that after the years of torment that everyone went through in the dragon lands, all it took was an 8 year old with enough rage and hatred that went by the name of Smolder to kill him. After killing him it told her that no one even tried. No one tried to get rid of him. No one tried to stop him. She knew that dragons were creatures full of greed and hatred but the least they could’ve done was try and they didn't. Smolder turned her head to the side as she was starting to cry. With how much she loved seafood and was starving, she lost her appetite. The thought of eating after being reminded of all of that made her wanna throw up. She wanted to scream. She wanted to shout. But most of all she wanted her sister and her childhood that she never got to have back. But all she did was sit there. She wanted these thoughts to be taken away. She wanted to never be reminded of ‘the Dragon Lord that doesnt deserve a name’ again. But she knows that's never going to happen. She knows that every day she's gonna remember his name till the day she dies and that's what made her mad the most, that she couldn't erase the past and start a new life. At this point Gallus and Twilight could tell her thoughts were brewing up a storm so they started trying to change the subject. “Mmm this food is really good! Wouldn't you agree Gallus” Twilight said, trying to keep Smolder from losing it. “Yeah it is! It’s been awhile since I got to have seafood. What about your’s Smolder?” he asked her. Smolder looked at him from the side and realized now wasn't    the best time to get mad. “Uh yeah” was all she said. She turned her head back to her plate and started to mess with her food. She lost her appetite but she didn't want them to know that. Especially not Twilight cause then she would think that she messed up when really she's just curious. Smolder should've known Twilight was gonna ask that. And she should have been prepared to answer it but she wasnt which she wanted to be mad about but she ignored it. She tried to eat another shrimp but then she really started to feel sick reminding her why they were there. But this time it wasn't just a feeling. She put her fork down and got up to walk to the bathroom when it hit her. She flew as fast as she could to the bathroom before she could even have a chance to puke on the floor. She flew in and kneeled on the floor in one of the bathroom stalls. At that point it was like she couldn't stop throwing up into the toilet. Luckily there was a nurse in there who immediately ran over to help her. Smolder is one of those dragons who hates throwing up. To her it’s like she can't breathe and it burns the back of her throat making her cry. “Hey hey it’s alright” the random nurse says running up to her and rubbing her back with her hoof. But the second the nurse touches her back she shivers from how cold Smolder is. Her body was beginning to feel like a blizzard even though she was sweating like crazy. She couldn't really take the time to acknowledge it though since her eyes were filled with tears and she couldn't stop throwing up for 2 seconds. (Puke/blood Warning) At that moment Twilight comes in and sees her in the stall. “Smolder, are you alright?” she asks. When she gets closer she sees why she flew in so fast. Twilight walked closer to see it looked as if she was puking chunks of blood up but when it hit the water it was forming into icicles. Twilight looked over at the nurse who was practically keeping Smolder from falling on her side and the nurse gave her a worried look. The nurse herself has never seen anything like this before. Each time Smolder puked it was as if she was getting weaker and weaker. She noticed her tears were not the only thing blocking her vision at that point. Her vision was going black. ‘Is this some kind of black out I’m having’ she thought to herself.  (Done) And then everything went black. Everything became silent and her whole body became numb. In a matter of seconds she became this lifeless thing that was left only in her thoughts. She couldn't feel herself puking anymore. She couldn't hear Twilight or the nurse. She couldn't see the toilet that had been infront of her. Every sense that she had was gone in a matter of seconds and then she started to panic. ‘Am I dead?’ she asked herself. And then everything came back. Only now her body was burning like hell and she was dying to make it stop. “Help me” she managed to get out before puking again. After about 30 minutes Smolder had stopped throwing up and found the strength to get up on her own. She stumbled over to the sink with Twilight and the nurse not too far behind her. She turned the water on and started to splash her face. The heat that was in her body died down and she could feel the cold coming back. Everything was going back to how it was when she was eating apart from the fact her stomach was killing her which she hadn't noticed until that very moment. And when she did she started to yell. She crouched down and leaned up against the wall while trying to stop her stomach from hurting. ‘What the hell is going on?’ she thought. “Twilight” she had said weakly “I can't believe I’m saying this but I want to go back to the room”. “Alright” Twilight said then turned to the nurse “Do you think it would be okay if she walks or should we get her a wheelchair?” “She probably needs to walk the pain out” the nurse said ~Meanwhile~ Gallus started cleaning up their table. He knew whatever was happening wasn't good considering they've been in there for about 30 minutes. He knew that once they got out Smolder would need to go back to the room. Not only because of her getting sick but also because of her test results. The nurse said they needed to be in the room by 6 to get the results and it was 6:40 right then. Not too long after he cleaned up Smolder and Twilight came out of the restroom. “Gallus we need to take Smolder back to the room” Twilight said. “Okay” he said and grabbed their boxes of food. When they got back to the room Smolder tried to lay down on the bed but that only made the pain in her stomach scream at her so she sat back up. But that didn't do her any good as she immediately had to run to the bathroom again. Luckily there was one in their room. (Puke/Blood warning) Outside of the bathroom Gallus and Twilight could hear her throwing up again. “Gallus” Twilight said “You need to go take a look. It's like her throw up is blood chunks that are turning to ice. While you’re doing that I’m going to go back to the castle to have Spike send a letter to Ember”. With that Gallus walked in there to help her and saw what Twilight meant. “What the” was all he could say. But Smolder heard it and started to panic even more. ‘Maybe he was right. Maybe this would've been bad if I just stayed in my room’ (Done) After she stopped throwing up Gallus helped her back to the bed when the doctor came in with her test results. From the look on his face both of them could tell it wasn't good.  “You are Smolder Gron Day right?” he asked in a shaky voice. Smolder nodded her head yes. “You-” he began  “You have-”