//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven - The Waiting Game // Story: Love and Loss (WIP Title) // by Darkmale76 //------------------------------// Twilight sits up in her bed and looks out the window to see the glorious sun slowly rising into the sky. She raises her forelegs above her head with a yawn and then proceeds to wiping the sleep out of her eyes. Standing slowly, she walks over to the door and opens it. Walking down familiar corridors she makes her way down to the kitchens to get some breakfast. As she walks through the more populated areas of the castle, the ponies bow to her but she ignores them, just wanting to get some food into her empty stomach. When she arrived in the kitchen she asked for some oaty pancakes drizzled in maple syrup and a glass of OJ. She went and sat down in a secluded corner of the busy kitchen and waited for her food. A kindly waiter brought it over to her momentarily and smiling he said, "I hope you enjoy your meal, Twilight." Twilight was shocked that he hadn't called her "Princess", or "Princess Twilight", but she quickly recovered her manners and thanked him politely before carrying the tray out into an empty area of the provided eating area. There were few ponies around at this time of morning as the guards were changing shift (that usually happened just before the sun was raised but there had been a mix up with the roster so the night patrol had worked overtime while the heads of the Royal Guard sorted out the problem) and everypony was only just waking up and getting ready for work. A few of the passing ponies stopped to greet or bow to Twilight and she waved back to most of them, between bites. To Twilight's delight the pancakes were warm and cooked just how she liked them: a little doughy, just enough to make it spring back slowly when you prodded it, but not too doughy that it tastes like yeast. It was a perfect batch of pancakes and she could clearly taste all of the ingredients that went into creating the flavors. There was a blast of toasted oats combined with a pinch of salt, a spoon of sugar and a dash of milk, all combined with the maple syrup made it a feast for her taste buds. She paused in her eating to take a sip of her Orange Juice. It tasted freshly squeezed, because it was, and had a small amount of orange pulp, just enough to set her tongue on edge without making her gag on it. (When I have too much pulp in my OJ it feels like I'm drinking bits of soggy biscuit, you know, when you dunk your biscuit into your tea/coffee/hot chocolate and you drop it and then forget about it? Yeah, like that. *Shudders*. Disgusting.) Placing the cup back down on the table, she continued eating her pancake for a while before she realized that she'd finished it a few minutes ago. Calling one of the serving staff over, she politely asked if she could have another two oat pancakes with a bottle of maple syrup. He nodded and whipped back into the kitchen to tell the chef to prepare some more for her. While sitting at the table waiting for her order she stared at her half drunken orange juice. Feeling drawn in by the swirling pattern the pulp was making as it brushed the inside of the glass she blinked and was transported back into another of her memories. -- Twilight and her family were sitting in the Canterlot Hospital A&E department waiting to be let in to see her father. A nurse walked out from one of the doors labeled "Staff Only" and called out for the family of Nightlight. Twilight stood and followed the nurse with her family in tow. They walked down a few corridors before reaching a waiting room where they could wait to here news about Twi's father. The nurse that had escorted them to the waiting room explained to them that everything was going to be fine, and that they had done a good job keeping their father breathing until the medics had gotten there. It was explained to them that Nightlight would need to have an operation done on his heart to clear what they expected to be a clot, or a piece of plaque that had gotten itself lodged into one of the major arteries and had restricted the blood flow, cutting off the supply of oxygen to his brain. The nurse then said that they had a doctor in the hospital that specialized in this area and that he was one of the top doctors in that area in Equestria. After she had explained everything she asked them if they wanted anything to drink, they declined and so the nurse told them that she'd be back later to escort them up to the next area and then went off to do some jobs. While the family was waiting their uncle, on Twilights mothers side, showed up. He tried to assure them that they'd done everything that they could have and that Nightlight would be fine. The others just smiled and nodded meekly and then Twilight's mother recounted the story of what had happened. And then, minutes later, one of Nightlight's sisters showed up so Twilight's mother retold the story for a second time. The entire time this was going on Twilight was sipping on a cold water which she had poured herself from the machine in the room, and staring at her hooves and out the window, doing anything to distract her overactive imagination from thinking of all of the different ways this visit could end. Not too long after this the nurse returned and spoke to them again. "I'm afraid I can't leave my post to show you to the next area, but if you'd be so kind as to follow these two lovely fillies they'll take you up to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit." (CICU for short) Twilight looked at the two mares, who had tinsel wrapped loosely around their necks, and slowly stood and followed them. They led them down some more corridors to an elevator, which they used to go up one floor, before they arrived at their destination. "You can wait in here until you're allowed to visit him," one of the nurses said. "He'll be up shortly, he's just currently in the operating theater," the other one followed up. And with a farewell and a wave they headed back to the lifts. Sitting in the waiting room already were an older mare and an older colt, who were talking to each other like they knew each other, and a younger colt who was listening to the mare talking about how her partner had had a heart attack while mowing the lawns. "The grass is nice now," she was saying, "but now we've got one fucked bush. Her and the younger colt burst into laughter, while the older colt just sat there smiling idly with a look on his face that said "I've heard this story before, it doesn't get any funnier the more you tell it". Twilight and her family sat down, trying not to disturb the other occupants. Her uncle commented that now it was just a waiting game. And so the waiting began. -- "Um, hello? Miss Sparkle?" Twilight heard a voice say. "Huh? What?" she replied, confused as to where she was. "Miss Sparkle, your pancakes have arrived," the serving pony said, indicating to the pancakes in front of her. "Oh, right," Twilight answered, grinning sheepishly. "Thank you." The pony bowed and strode quickly away from the table. Twilight took a bite of a pancake. It was cold now. "I could send it back and offend the chef, or i could just leave it here on the table," she thought to herself, but then she decided to use a discreet heating spell on her food and the maple syrup. A very faint aura surrounded her horn, barely noticeable to even the trained eye, and she let the magic flow through her. As she watched steam- no, water vapor, she corrected herself- rose off the pancakes telling her that she could end the spell. She quickly severed her ties with the ebb and flow of the magic around her, and picked up the maple syrup jug with her hooves, feeling the warmth seeping into her hands. She poured the syrup over the rest of her breakfast and guzzled it all down, to the shock of the more refined in the area, eager to get out of this public place and back to the safety of her own room.