//------------------------------// // Not So Ill Intentions // Story: Disappear // by ShimmeringStallion //------------------------------// Not So Ill Intentions Twilight and her friends knew the rules of the hospital, and seeing as how the lobby at least appeared calm (though a bit messy), they just walked in as they normally would. It made Twilight feel uneasy, acting so casual and timid, but she had to abide by the rules of Ponyville Hospital, or she and her friends could get tossed out. Besides, there was never a shortage of patients here; running through and acting reckless could cause an unnecessary panic. They walked up to the reception desk, where a yellow Earth pony greeted them while another receptionist spoke to a seperate visitor. “Good afternoon. Can I help you?” Twilight took charge. “Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle. My friends and I would like to visit a patient who was submitted here earlier today; her name is Derpy Hooves.” The receptionist gave a frown. “She is in one of the upper rooms, but I am not sure about her having any more visitors than she has already been receiving; she is probably still asleep, after all.” Twilight had a feeling this might happen, but saw the receptionist voicing her thoughts to herself. “Then again, I suppose that, given her condition… Yes, the sight of friends would be a good thing.” “‘Given her condition’? What does she mean?“ Twilight didn’t ask; the receptionist was about to give them the room number, and they didn’t have much time to spare. “Alright, she is in Room 202. As I said, she is on the second floor. Also, you brought in Rainbow Dash previously, correct?” Twilight was surprised that her friend would be mentioned, but nodded in agreement, as did Pinkie Pie and Rarity. “She shouted that she would help with the mess she made upon knocking over one of the doctors, when she entered the hospital. She should still be with Derpy, so tell her to come down and help, already. We’re busy down here, after all. She can see her friend again after she helps with cleaning up the lobby.” Twilight was about to continue down the hall, until she remembered something to ask. “Thank you. One more thing: You said that she had been receiving ‘visitors’?” The receptionist gave a curious look, upon being asked about such a thing. “Indeed. Rainbow Dash, and a rather polite stallion that came in here a couple of minutes ago. I haven't seen either one leave yet, and I’d know if they had left.” As Twilight feared, the visitor was here. She knew that there could be problems awaiting Rainbow, but right now, they needed to get to the room, and fast. Walking through the halls, they went from a casual trot to a speedy gallop, upon being out of the receptionists' fields of vision. The girls knew all about how to get around the hospital, since when Rainbow Dash was admitted here, she also had a room on an upper floor, and they came to visit her a couple of times. Heading into a stairwell and climbing up the stairs, Twilight was surprised to see, standing in the doorway to the second floor, the hat-wearing pony that visited the library. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something, and nudging the side of his saddlebag with his muzzle. He also seemed to be watching something that was occurring on the floor he was on, through a crack between the door and the doorway. Twilight signaled for the others to retreat down a few steps, but didn’t turn around to see them. She kept her eyes trained on the distracted stallion, and backed up until he fell out of her field of vision. She turned around, keeping her eyes looking to the floor he was on, and motioned for them to huddle close. She heard her friends close in, so she whispered to them. “That’s him: That’s the pony who came to the library, I’m sure of it. It doesn’t look like he’s found Rainbow Dash or Derpy yet. I need you girls to stay away from him, understand?” Pinkie Pie huffed, and whispered in a rather offended manner. “Well, why does Fluttershy get to go up to him, then?” Twilight turned around to see her friends in the huddle. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity were all there, but Fluttershy wasn’t with them. Sure enough, Twilight looked behind her and saw Fluttershy climbing up the stairs in a rather concerned manner. Twilight made a dash for her, but felt something grab her tail. “Hold it, Twi’.” Twilight stopped moving, and Applejack stopped biting her tail, spitting it out. “But Fluttershy could be in danger! We have to do somethi-…” Applejack stuffed her hoof in Twilight’s mouth to keep her quiet before the stallion heard them. “If she needs help, we’ll help ‘er, but let’s see what happens first, alright?” Twilight and her friends looked up from their spot, below where the suspicious pony was standing in the stairwell. The dark, dark blue stallion with the smoke gray mane couldn't deny that he was concerned for Derpy, and his thoughts wouldn't let him leave in good faith. “Sure, I was just following my designated orders, but I still betrayed her trust, and now she's here because of me... Derpy...” He didn’t know what to do, and he especially didn't know what to say, but he had a job to attend to, and didn’t have the time to simply loiter in the hospital doorway. He heard the commotion from Derpy’s room; it seemed that the doctors were either swarmed with confusion about her condition, or were dealing with the rude Pegasus pony that he ‘encountered’ back at the library entrance. Regardless, it certainly seemed like he wouldn’t be allowed to see her, at least not yet. Somepony was approaching, and not from the halls. He heard a gentle voice asking him something, and it was coming from the stairwell. He turned around to meet the eyes of a shy, yellow Pegasus mare. With a long, pink mane that was covering one of her eyes, and a long tail that matched the color of her mane, he couldn't help but notice that she appeared to be curious about something, though she seemed hesitant in voicing her concerns. “Excuse me, but… I-if you don't mind me asking, why are you just standing in the doorway? Are you alright?” The stallion gave a gentle bow, and pressed himself against the door, assuming that the Pegasus pony was politely requesting usage of the doorway’s access. “My sincerest apologies, but I sometimes forget my manners in hospitals, as they are a place I seldom find myself visiting. Please, go on through, my dear.” Fluttershy felt like he was asking her to leave him alone, but the stallion was clearly upset about something, and she felt almost an obligation to ask if she could help. She went next to him, away from the door so that visitors could pass, and asked again. “I couldn’t help but notice that you seem upset about something… are you here to visit somepony? I mean, if you d-don't mind me asking...” A cloud of suspicion rose from the stallion’s mind, hovering over the shy Pegasus pony, but he knew it was an honest question. “… Indeed. I caused somepony a considerable degree of pain. I do not expect a warm welcome from her.” He turned away from Fluttershy’s eyes, looking at the crowded hospital floor, taking note of the reduction of doctors outside Derpy’s room. “What does one say to somepony whose life they have practically ruined with their actions?” Fluttershy didn’t know how to respond to that, but she knew that some helpful words could be just what this pony needed. “W-Well, umm… I-I guess there really aren’t too many words or gifts that can fix that, but… you should still try something.” The stallion turned back to Fluttershy, who had begun drawing circles on the floor with her hoof, looking to the floor rather than to the pony she was speaking to. “I-I mean... from my experience helping my friends, doing nothing has never been a way to solve a problem.” Fluttershy closed her eyes in brief thought, before opening them and staring into the eyes of the stallion with a look of confidence she struggled to produce, but held on to adamantly. “Sometimes, you just have to swallow your fear and go for it.” The hat-wearing pony chuckled a little at the notion of simply ‘going in and saying hi’, but the mare was right: He wasn’t going to get anywhere, unless he tried something. “Hm. I suppose you have a rather… undisputable point, there. I know not, the reason of your presence in this hospital,” The dark, dark blue pony tipped his hat to her and continued, “but if it is to visit someone, akin to my own purpose here, then I can say with absolute confidence and sincerity they must be a very lucky pony to have a friend like you.” Fluttershy looked away and blushed in response to the compliment, smiling before speaking. “O-Oh, I’m not alone. I have a lot of friends here to see her. We were told to come as soon as possible.” Twilight had a bad feeling about the way this conversation was going, as the visitor spoke. “Oh? Well, my dear, it would be rather impolite for you keep them waiting, and I suppose I mustn’t keep Miss Derpy Hooves waiting, either.” Fluttershy's eyes widened and her smile was chased away, as the realization of where she was hit her all too quickly; all this time, she had been talking with the pony Twilight warned her about. She found herself unable to speak, only staring at the stallion, who now seemed concerned for her current state. “My dear, are you alright? You’re shaking rather badly; even your legs seem…” He stopped. Twilight had a very bad feeling as to why. “Hmm… So that is who you are. I should have expected that; Pegasi aren’t normally this nice, at least, from my own experiences with them… Didn’t you say you had friends you came with? I’d hate to see them lose a good friend… You, down there, the ponies who have taken to eavesdropping: Come up and tend to your friend at once, assuming you care for her.” He knew they were there. Twilight and the others ran up the stairs and straight to the stallion, getting between him and Fluttershy. “Get away from her! We won't let you-!” The pony tipped his hat up, and glared into Twilight's eyes with his own vicious gaze as she gasped just before he broke his calm, composed state. “YOU! You’ve got some nerve, approaching me after lying to me!” He started walking towards her, stopping her train of thought in its tracks. “I asked if you had the book on 'The Elements of Harmony', yet I know that you had it all along, and chose to not hand it over to me… it seems I had you pegged incorrectly, my dear.” He got right up in front of her, glaring angrily at her. “I thought you were honest. I hoped you were different than the insufferable, haughty, rude, ignorant unicorns I commonly encounter.” Rarity tried stepping in, but Applejack stopped her, knowing that, as a unicorn herself, Rarity would probably cause a scene. This interception allowed the angry pony to continue his accusations. “You… You don’t deserve your magic, you don’t deserve your library, and if what this poor mare shivering off to the side has said, is indeed the truth, then you especially don’t deserve to have friends like her.” Applejack was about to step in, but the stallion jumped back, looking down the hall. “If you excuse me, I have some business to attend to.” The hat-wearing stallion walked away, leaving Twilight in a stunned silence in the stairwell. She was just trying to put together the words that the pony had said to her. "He's furious with me, but… is his hatred well-founded?... Do I deserve it? Applejack snapped her out of it. “C’mon, girl, Rainbow needs our help.” She was right. There would be time to consider the stallion’s words later. Right now, she had a friend who needed to be told the truth about this strange visitor, and whether Twilight deserved her friends or not, she was not going to let them get hurt at the hooves of this guy; not as long as she could help it. She saw that Fluttershy had regained her composure, and the girls proceeded into the second floor lobby, unable to see where the other pony had trotted off to. ‘Room 202’ was on the placard in front of one of the closed doors, and Twilight could hear the voice of a familiar-sounding mare from within. All Twilight could do was hope for the best of outcomes once she opened the door.