Why weren’t they moving? Oh, god why weren’t they moving? I spun around like there was a solution, but everything was in chaos. Where was everyone? Where’d Doug gone? Where was a medical kit?
I gasped in pain as my shoulder rammed into a wall. The spin had put me off balanced and the wall was the only thing keeping me up now. I pushed myself off of it and stumbled back onto my feet. “Doug? Jesus! Doug!”
“John!” Scootaloo screamed. She clamped onto my leg and tugged at my jeans. “Help! Use the brown stuff! It helped before!”
“I...” A wave of nausea smacked into me. It was school all over again. He was here. He had to be here to cause this. Scootaloo continued to pull at me, but the chaos continued spreading. Sweetie was curled up in her chair and sobbing into the remains of the tablecloth, Pinkie was immobilized in her seat, and the rest were huddled around Apple Bloom and Angel. Doug was there and tending to them. “Doug! We need a med kit!”
He chucked a pair of keys at me in response.“There’s one in the b... the trunk of the car! With the camping gear!”
On reflex, I reached out with my right hand, but the keys only clattered against my cast. “Crap!” I ducked down and snatched up the keys with my left hand and darted out the door.
I was straining for breath when I reached the car. My side was on fire and my vision wasn’t doing so well either. I glared down at the keys and smashed my finger into the one with the trunk symbol on it. The back door released and I flung it out.
My cast took on a bulldozer nature and plowed through the suitcases while my left hand searched through everything that wasn’t mine. Damn it! Everything is camping gear!
I placed my legs on the edge of the car and dove deeper into the mess of a trunk. I spotted something box shaped and grasped at it. My hand pulled up an empty Coke box, which was quickly flung out of the car. I focused back down again and desperately continued searching.
Red Cross! Come on! Red Cross! My eyes went everywhere in the car. I even looked back to my own luggage to make sure I hadn’t lumped the med kit in with it. I smacked my left hand into the floor in frustration.
The floor shuddered and I spotted a flash of red. I reached out and used my arms to scoop up the entire collection of things in that area. Something jabbed me in the stomach. I recoiled back and saw that I’d hit myself with one end of a bow. I gasped for breath but froze when I saw a tiny white box on the floor. The cross on it shimmered a little in the twilight.
It was in my arms in an instant. I retreated out of the car and slammed the trunk shut. Luggage lay scattered around my feet, but I’d get to it later. I dashed off and back to the room, praying the kit would help.
I stumbled back up the steps and tripped on a few, banging up my knees. My chest was heavy and the hallway back to the room spun. I braced myself against a wall and shambled to the room.
The room number glinted in the fluorescent light and I leaned my weight into the door. I huffed and managed to get the key into the lock and turned the knob.
I lost my balance and little when I entered the room, but I braced my hand against the wall to correct myself. A jolt shot through my arm, but I focused on marching forward. The room was still in chaos. Doug hovered over Angel and Apple Bloom, while the others cowered in various corners. I loosened up and crashed to the ground next to him. “Med kit,” I rasped.
Doug took it out of my hands and propped it open. Free, I raised my hands up and unleashed a fit of coughing into them. When I recovered, Doug was leaning over Apple Bloom’s head. His hands held a threaded needle precariously over a nasty gash.
“I need Fluttershy,” he muttered.
“What?” I asked.
“Get Fluttershy. She can sew... she can do this,” Doug ordered.
I pressed against the floor and managed to heft myself up. Blood rushed to my head and made me stumble a little. My eyes swam around the room Fluttershy, Fluttershy, where?
She was on the side of the room where everything had started. She crouched next to Sweetie and had an arm draped over the filly’s back.
“My fault...” Sweetie sobbed.
“N-no... please, be... be brave,” Fluttershy replied. I couldn’t tell which one of them was worse. The table at least hid most of Sweetie’s face, but Fluttershy’s eye were red and puffy and her whole face was contorted with panic.
“Fluttershy...” I coughed, “Doug needs your help.”
“I...” Fluttershy recoiled from my voice. Her body shook, but she suddenly stood up. She lowered her head to Sweetie and rubbed her back. “I’ll be back.”
In an instant, she flew across the room and went to Doug’s side. That left me over by the table with Sweetie still in the midst of her breakdown. I pulled out a chair, wiped the glass off of it with my cast and seated myself next to her. “Sweetie?”
She clutched what was left of the tablecloth and twisted away from me. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please!”
Whatever else she said was an unintelligible wail. I hesitated for a moment, but then placed my hand on her back like Fluttershy had done. “Sweetie, it’ll be okay.”
“No!” she cried. “I... I hurt them!”
“Christ,” I cursed. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Pinkie and Scootaloo still standing aghast at the scene. I turned away from Sweetie and over to them. “Pinkie, Scootaloo, can you come over here?”
Scootaloo darted over in an instant. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Just...” I grasped for answers and looked back and forth between Scootaloo and Sweetie. “Just be here.” I rubbed Sweetie on the back. “Like this.”
“O-okay...” Scootaloo awkwardly reached out a hand and placed it on Sweetie’s back. “Sweetie?” She got a muffled moan in response. “H-hey... It’s not like we haven’t gotten hurt before.”
Sweetie suddenly reared her head up and glared at Scootaloo. “I did this!”
“No you didn’t!” Scootaloo screamed back. Tears trickled down her face. “I dragged us to the forest! If we’d just stayed safe...”
“No one is blaming anyone,” I stuttered. Sweetie and Scootaloo looked at me with grief stricken faces. “Please, it’s gonna be okay.”
“B-but I...” Sweetie started to sob.
“It’s not your fault,” I replied. My hand tightened around Sweetie and I brought her in for a hug. “It’s not.”
Sweetie’s hands reached out and clutched my shirt for support. Scootaloo got closer and hugged her as well. I looked up. “Pinkie?” I called out. “Sweetie could really use some hugs right now.”
Pinkie blinked and craned her head in our direction. She then silently drifted over and slumped next to us, joining in with hugging Sweetie. It wasn’t hard to notice the tears at the corners of her eyes.
“I drank all the Coke,” Pinkie groaned miserably.
“We... we can get more?” I half-asked, half-suggested.
Pinkie said nothing more and buried her head into Sweetie side. Unsure what to do, I remained quiet while holding the hug, but allowed my eyes to wander back over to Doug. He was still dangling over Apple Bloom, but the needle was now in Fluttershy’s hands and making its way across the gash on Apple Bloom’s head.
“John?” Scootaloo’s voice brought me back over to our group. “Apple Bloom will be fine, right?”
“Yeah,” I automatically answered. “I got through worse and I made it out.”
“But you’re a grown-up,” Scootaloo replied. Tears were welling up in her eyes again.
Sweetie gave another sob, but I brought my cast away from her over to Scootaloo’s back. “I am, but Apple Bloom could probably give most grown-ups a good fight.”
“John,” Doug called out. I broke my attention away from the hug and over to him. Angel was cradled in his arms. Fluttershy and Apple Bloom were at his side, with the latter’s wound stitched up, but she was still unconscious. “These burns need to be dealt with and it’s going to be a while.” He waved his hand over Pinkie, Sweetie, and Scootaloo. “I think you all could use a break. Maybe get some rest and fresh air. The beach isn’t too far from here. Might be relaxing.”
“No way,” Scootaloo argued. She jabbed a finger at Doug. “I’m not going until Apple Bloom is okay.”
“Fine, you can help,” Doug replied to Scootaloo. “The others need a break though.”
“Doug...” I took in the scene for a moment. “I think we need to go to a hospital.”
Fluttershy abandoned her position next to Apple Bloom and made a beeline over to our group. She put a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder and another on Sweetie’s back. She slowly lifted her head and looked directly at me. “John, can you please take my friends away for a while?”
Her vision shifted down to Sweetie, but her speech was still directed at me. “I-I know you’re worried. We all are. But more than two of us have been hurt today...”
“If...” I glanced down to Pinkie and Sweetie. Both were still sobbing. “If that will help.”
Fluttershy smiled in response and returned to Doug’s side. I patted Sweetie and Pinkie on the back. “Hey, Fluttershy had a really great idea. Let’s take a short walk by the beach.”
“B-but everypony,” Sweetie stuttered.
“Is going to be fine,” I finished. “Doug knows what he’s doing and Fluttershy is helping.”
“Well...” Sweetie raised up her head and sniffled. “If Fluttershy is helping..."
“That’s right,” I nervously replied and stood up. “So lets just go outside. I’ve heard that nights are very nice here.”
~~~
Sweetie and Pinkie’s legs were unsteady all the way down to the lobby. I supported both of them with my left side, which made me cough a bit. They detached away from me, but remained close once we were outside. I sucked in the cool night air and regretted still not taking my pills. There was now a constant throb in my side.
We walked away from the hotel along a sidewalk that led to the beach. It reached a point where it went from perpendicular to beach to parallel with it and I chose to go in the direction of the rising moon.
Sweetie stayed close at my side while Pinkie trailed a little behind me and to the left, closer to the street than the beach. Above, the stars were already glimmering and the moon illuminated the beach. “Nice night?”
Neither former pony replied. I reached out and tapped Sweetie on the back. “Ya know, the stars are totally different here.”
“I know,” Sweetie moped.
“Well... um, did you know it’s Fall here right now?” I meekly asked.
Pinkie sped up and gave me a confused look. “Isn’t it Fall everywhere?”
“No,” I replied. “It’s actually Spring where I’m from.”
“So...” Pinkie leaned closer and narrowed her eyes. “People change seasons at different times here?”
“It’s not up to us.” I stopped and made my way over to the sand. With my foot, I drew a two crude circles, one bigger than the other. I bent down and traced out the words “sun” and “earth” as well. “See, we go around the sun at a certain angle so that half the world gets hotter during this part of the year and the other half gets cold.”
Pinkie and Sweetie squatted down next to the drawing and stared at it. Sweetie continued to look baffled but Pinkie raised her head up after a moment. “That’s really weird, how do you plan holidays out then?”
Despite the curiosity in her voice, her eyes looked tired and dull. I reached out my hand and drew a smaller circle next to “Earth.” “Two ways, we either watch the moon change from new to full or we count by days.”
“That’s confusing,” Sweetie sighed. She shuffled forward and began to walk ahead.
“Could be worse,” I called out. An odd tidbit my mind latched onto made me chuckle out of desperation. I traced two half ovals on the top and bottom of my “Earth” circle. “Some places have no days or nights because of where they are.”
“What?” Pinkie asked.
Sweetie placed a hand against her head and said something I didn’t quite catch. I did hear the word “home” though.
“Sweetie?” I nervously asked. “Do you want to learn about some other stuff?”
“I do,” said Pinkie. “Dougie never really told us that much.”
~~~
The sand next to the sidewalk was now dotted with rough lines, circles, and other various shapes. I’d given up squatting and had taken up sitting in the sand. Pinkie traced out something that was either a circle or a hexadecimal and looked over to me. “That’s why those types of balloons don’t work.”
I rubbed my chin and stared at the assortment of shapes Pinkie had added to the sand “mural.” “When you explain it, it does make a little more sense.”
“Can we go back?” Sweetie asked. She pushed herself up from her seat in the sand and brushed the sand off her clothes with clenched fists. “I... I want to go back.”
I tilted my eyes up to the sky. The moon was nearly over our heads now. “Sure.” A light breeze blew through the beach and prickled my skin. “It’s getting a bit cold out.”
We all sat up and got back onto the sidewalk. Pinkie kept pace with me this time while Sweetie took the lead. I actually had to lengthen my stride to keep up with her.
Sweetie quickly glanced back at me. “John... Apple Bloom will be okay, right?”
“I trust Doug,” I replied. “He sounds like a pretty do-it-yourself guy.” My eyes drifted over to Pinkie. “That sound about right?”
Pinkie slowly nodded. “He... he cares. I mean, he’s totally a grump about weird things like clothes and the internet, but he knows his stuff. I’m not quite sure what that stuff is, but it’s good.”
“See?” I gave Sweetie a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”
“No.” Sweetie shivered and crossed her arms against the breeze. “Apple Bloom is going to hate me.”
Pinkie and I stopped, and I bent down to Sweetie’s level. “Tha—”
“That’s not true!” Pinkie interrupted. “We all know you never wanted to hurt Apple Bloom.” She leaned closer and wrapped her arms around Sweetie. It gave me a clear view of the tears rolling down her cheeks.
“She...” I looked back and forth between the two of them. “She’s right. It was a accident, Sweetie.”
~~~
The rest of the trip back to the hotel was silent, save for the occasional sniffle from Sweetie. Pinkie wasn’t in much better shape. At the door, I held up an arm to halt them. “I’ll go check on things first.”
I slowly pushed the door open and poked my head inside. The room was quiet too, which relieved me a little. Calm meant things were in some form of control. I stuck my hand out into the hallway and ushered Sweetie and Pinkie in, but raised a finger to my lips.
We tiptoed through the entrance and into the sitting area. One of the bedroom doors creaked open and Fluttershy slid out. “Oh... it’s you... did you have a nice walk?”
“It was... okay.” It was difficult to tell whether it was my side or the lie that made my stomach twist in a knot.
“Why don’t you go get some rest?” Fluttershy suggested and gestured over to the empty bedroom. “Everyone needs their sleep right now.”
Sweetie beat me to the the question that hung over all our heads. “W-what about Apple Bloom and Angel?”
“Oh...” Fluttershy’s eyelids drooped a little and her face softened. “They’re just resting, and so should you.” She glided over to us and gently nudged Sweetie over to the bedroom while Pinkie and I followed her. She helped Sweetie under the covers but left them open for Pinkie to join her.
I stood above the bed, torn about whether to stay up or not, but seeing it right there after the trip and recent events was too much. My frayed mind still had enough sense to turn away from the bed and leave it to the girls. I sighed and stumbled back into the sitting room and flopped onto the couch. I took off my glasses and closed my eyes.
~~~
I awoke to the sound of muffled footsteps. I twisted my upper torso towards the sound and was met with Fluttershy carrying Scootaloo into the bedroom. Maybe it was a dream and maybe it wasn’t, but my eyelids clamped down and I fell back into sleep.
~~~
This time, the sound of a spring coil scrunching woke me up. It was coming from the room I hadn’t ventured into. I lumbered to my feet and made my way over to the door that separated the rooms. My hand hesitated against the doorknob for a second, but I breathed in deeply and entered the room.
Doug sat in a chair, but it was clear from the slump of his back and his snoring that he was out like a light. Despite this, one of his hands was still outstretched and clasped Apple Bloom’s.
Apple Bloom was a little pale in color, but it was an improvement over the horrific mess from earlier. Her bedsheets rose and fell with each breath. The fact that that was noticeable took a little weight off my shoulders.
I heard a noise again and looked down. Angel had his elbows pressed against the bed and was doing the saddest army crawl I’d ever seen. He shifted around to try and get off his pillow and closer to the door, but he only managed to squirm a little. His teeth were bared and eyes completely on the door.
I went to my knees and stared at him. “Take it easy,” I whispered. “You’re hurt.”
“Fffff.... ffoooo,” he rasped back at me, not taking his sights off of the door.
I recalled our earlier encounter and got in front of Angels face. “Fluttershy will be fine, but not if you hurt yourself again. Please, rest,” I pleaded.
Angel glared at me for a moment and then buried his face into a pillow. Another rasp escaped from him mouth, but this time it was very soft. It reminded me of the time Kloe got sick in the car. I considered my options and slowly crept over to a nearby wall and leaned against it. “She’ll be happy to see you in the morning though.”
Angel didn’t stop making the sound for a while. When he finally stopped, I sighed and slid down the wall. Even plaster and carpet felt nice now. I closed my eyes once more and fell asleep. I could have sworn I heard Apple Bloom’s voice, but it may have just been another dream.