//------------------------------// // The Aftermath // Story: Perseverance // by Star Grazer //------------------------------// A subtle beeping came to her ears first, causing the pegasus to groan and shift onto her side. That was a mistake, as a spike of pain forced itself through her body, and she squeaked, turning over onto her back once more. Her eyes finally opened, and she took a moment to take in her surroundings. She was in a hospital room, nestled underneath the white sheets of the bed that was pushed up against one wall. A small IV cable was attached to her hoof, and a nearby machine continued its beeping as she continued to examine the room. After learning what her surroundings were like, Scootaloo pushed off the sheets from over her, letting her wings unfold, discovering quickly that only one of them would do so, the other refusing with a stab of pain. She winced, turning her head to look at it, her ears drooping at what she saw. Her wing was bundled up in a cast, twitching slightly as she tried once more to move it. Even more so than before, she was bound to the ground. She groaned, pushing her face into her hooves. That roof thing was a stupid idea. She shook her head, bringing it back up and laying it on the pillow, her mouth turned down in thought. Stupid fall. Bet I didn't even get a cutie mark from all of that. Even if I did, it'd probably be something stupid, like being stuck to the ground for life. She sighed, curiosity getting the better of her as she lifted her head and shifted to look at her flank. It was still as bare as ever. "Course not." She groaned again, flopping back into her previous position. She laid like that for quite a while, before vocally summing up her thoughts. "This really sucks." Time passed, as it always did, and the pegasus found herself bored, with absolutely nothing to do, until at last a nurse came in to check up on her. Scootaloo gave a sigh of relief, looking at the nurse with a somewhat concerned look. "Um... hey there. Will my wing be all right?" The nurse gave her a glance, before looking down at the clipboard held aloft in one of her hooves. "It'll be fine. You dislocated it when you fell. You'll be back up on your hooves in a few days or so." Scootaloo groaned at that, the nurse ignoring the filly and continuing on her check-up on the machines. "A few days? It might as well be forever!" She stared up at the ceiling, noting absently that there was a fan up there. "Isn't there anything to do in here?" "Rest, and there's some books that come around." Scootaloo shot a glare at the nurse, before sighing. Better than nothing, I guess. "Sure, I guess. Go ahead and bring me one." She waved a hoof at the nurse, who in return rolled her eyes and trotted out of the room, her check-up done. A few minutes later, she re-entered with a trolley in tow, two rows of books stacked neatly on both of its shelves. "Here, pick one," the nurse called, prompting Scootaloo to point at one at random, which the nurse pulled out for her. She placed it on the bed, before turning and leaving. "Enjoy." Scootaloo watched the nurse leave, before turning to the book at her hooves. She had nothing better to do, so with a sigh, she opened it and began to read. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Several hours passed, Scootaloo staring into space with the book laid to one side. A chapter into the book, and it was already some stupid, gushy love novel, the mere remembrance of which caused the filly to gag and shiver before pushing the book away. As an added measure of caution she turned onto her side, thankfully the one with the good wing. She didn't need pain to go along with a bad book. About that time, the door to the room opened, revealing another nurse's head. "Scootaloo, right? Some of your friends are here to visit." Scootaloo smiled for perhaps the first time since waking up in the hospital, pushing herself up with her hooves somewhat to get a better angle of the door. "It's about time they showed up!" She kept her grin as she looked to the doorway, and after a moment two other fillies entered, the familiar pair giving slightly nervous smiles back at Scootaloo. "Hey! With you two here, maybe I can finally not be bored! All I've had for company is this lame book." She didn't turn to look at the dreadful thing, sticking a hoof over her back instead to show its placement. That got a giggle from Sweetie Belle, who trotted quickly to the bedside, Scootaloo following her with her gaze. Applebloom, however, took on a more nervous cast. "Ah'm uh... how are ya feelin', Scootaloo?" She scraped her hoof on the ground, worried thoughts going through her head. "Ah mean... after Ah made ya do what you did..." Scootaloo sighed, glancing at Applebloom. "Don't worry about it. It just means I'll be bored for a few days." She shivered, not looking forward to the long days ahead of her. "Besides, you didn't do anything. I was the stupid one. Didn't even get a cutie mark after all of that." "Neither did we. Not that I wanted a cutie mark that was about watching ponies fall off of roofs." Sweetie Belle looked to the book, her eyes going wide as she took it in her hooves. "Why were you reading this, Scootaloo?" "Something I picked out at random. I don't care if you read it or not. Just not in front of me." She made a gagging face at the two of them, getting another giggle from Sweetie and a smirk from Applebloom. "Ya'll seem to be in good spirits, what with hurtin' your wing and all." Applebloom had lost the look of nervousness from her face, and moved over to join Sweetie Belle at the edge of the bed, who had already begun reading the novel their pegasus friend had cast aside. "I'm bored. What do you want me to do, lay here and say nothing?" She rolled her eyes at Applebloom. "I'm gonna be bored enough as it is without something to do while you two are here." "What if ya did somethin' while we're gone?" Applebloom scrunched up her muzzle in thought, before Sweetie Belle began to speak up. "Oh! Oh! You could try to get your planning cutie mark! Me and Bloom could bring you paper, and you put down plans on how to get our cutie marks!" Scootaloo stared at the unicorn for a moment, processing that, before brightening considerably and grinning. "Why didn't I think of that? Sweetie, you're a genius! Quick, get me some paper so I can do stuff while I'm here!" Applebloom gave a nod, before rushing out of the room. Sweetie had a smug look on her face, hopping around in excitement about the fact her idea had been accepted. After about fifteen minutes, Applebloom came back with a stack of paper on her back, along with a small pack of pencils. "Here ya are, Scoots! The perfect supplies for a plannin' cutie mark!" She grinned as she trotted up to Scootaloo, leaning her head back to grab the supplies and place them on the bed. "Ah bet next time we see ya, you'll have a brand new cutie mark on your flank!" "Of course! And with all the ideas I'll come up with, you two will get yours in no time at all afterwards!" The others laughed, clinking their hooves together as Scootaloo smirked down at them. They left soon afterwards, but not before nearly breaking the machines near Scootaloo's bed in curiosity. Scootaloo was once again alone, but far less bored than before. Even though the days passed, and none of them had their cutie marks to prove their ordeal, the three continued on with the plans Scootaloo drew up, persevering even through the worst of their adventures together. -------------------------------- Author's Notes Finally, it is finished! This chapter took far too long to write, and probably isn't the best of the three. Partially that's due to me simply being terrible at hospital scenes, and another part is that I've been distracted by a new game that I got and am currently enjoying to death. But thank you, to all of those that read this! This is by far not going to be my last fic, and definitely wasn't meant to be the feature presentation. But after this, along with A Day on the Farm and my other, less successful fic, I've come to really enjoy writing these kinds of simple, SoL stories. Expect more in the future, hopefully! As for my next fic, it'll be quite a bit larger than this short little thing, and while keeping in line with the whole Slice of Life thing, it'll also contain another element, somewhat larger than my experiments with writing down thought in this chapter. Hope to have you all reading then!