The next three days after waking up from the coma were the fastest ones White Mark had ever seen. They came and left with nothing truly memorable happening. He met some of Twilight's friends and most of the Elements of Harmony, discussed what needed to happen for him to remain healthy, and took some magic lessons from the Alicorn of Magic herself.
Today, however, was completely different. So far, Twilight had been teaching the colt about the history of Equestria and Magic, a few of her friends stopped by, and Nurse Redheart came in to check on him and give him his late lunch. The hospital food wasn't that good, but was definitely better than old, rotten food from inside a dumpster.
As he began to eat, Nurse Redheart let him know that he had a visitor. He asked who it was, she said it was the only Element of Harmony that he hadn't met yet. The colt looked confused at this, but told her to let the mare in. He jumped as a flurry of pink rushed into his vision, scaring him enough to hide under the covers from the sudden entrance.
After a moment, he risked a look outside his warm bunker of blankets, only to find a pink coated, pink maned Earth pony mare standing above him and staring down at him with her ocean blue eyes. He shrank back under gaze and whimpered silently. "Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie and you must be new because I've never seen you in town before, which means I need to throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party! And I'll invite everypony, so they can meet you and you meet them and you can become friends and even best friends! Maybe you'll even meet your special somepony! *GASP* Then I'd have to throw you two a 'Happy New Couple' party, then you'd get to have more cake and muffins and cupcakes and, oh! Cupcakes! I need to make some! Did you know there are many different types of cupcakes and that I know how to make every single one?! Maybe I should make you some, then I can make some for Twilight and Rarity and Fluttershy..."
White Mark began to tune her out at that point. He began rubbing his temples with his hooves to try and relieve the new migraine. She just wouldn't stop talking! On and on and on and on! What was she even talking about now? He didn't have time to try and listen when the pink mare suddenly gasped and rushed out the door at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash proud.
He sat there for a moment, holding his head from the intense pain that now flooded it. He even noticed a few drops of blood fall from his nose. He could barely move from the intensity of the pain. He sighed and strained to reach the call button. Hopefully Nurse Redheart could take the pain away like she usually could. Maybe she'd even allow him to cuddle with her again?
Finally! After three whole weeks of being in the hospital, it was time to be released. The hospital staff had been very nice and considerate of White Mark, but Nurse Redheart was always the nicest and most caring. He would definitely miss her, but he was glad to be out. Even if he had been in a coma for most of his time there, it still seemed like he had been couped up in the forever!
As Twilight finished the final sheet of paperwork, he was wheeled toward the front entrance in a wheelchair by his favorite nurse. As the reached it, White Mark could smell the fresh air as it filled his lungs, making him feel in pony heaven for a few moments. As he stood up from the wheelchair, he turned to give the white mare one more big hug and nuzzle before heading back to the library with Twilight. She smiled and returned the affectionate gesture before kissing his cheek and turning back to the hospital, putting the wheelchair back in its position and resuming her duties.
Twilight laid her right wing over his back and pulled him close to her, giving him her own afectionate nuzzle and sighing contently. "How's it feel to finally be out of the hospital?" She asked after a few moments, keeping her wing on his back.
"It feels great! I'll miss Nurse Redheart, but I'm definitely happy to be out of there." He returned, watching as the entered the small town. Ponies didn't seem to notice or care about him at the moment. They were just minding their own business.
"Good. Pinkie Pie has been telling everypony about you." Pinkie Pie? Was there something that he was supposed to remember today? If it was important, he'd remember it, right? "She said that there's a big surprise waiting for you at the library, though. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I was told to keep you away until three o'clock." This wasn't sounding good. 'What gift would the pink mare have for me' White Mark thought as he looked at the town clock.
"But, its only one-thirty. What are we gonna do for an hour and a half?" He asked after thinking a bit.
"Well, we could get some lunch. I bet you're tired of eating that hospital food, right?" She asked, knowing the answer already. The colt nodded rapidly and smiled. "We could get something to eat before heading to the library. How does that sound?" The white colt was literally beaming at the lavender alicorn as she spoke.
"Really? Can we?"He asked, practically jumping out of his skin in anticipation.
"Yes, we can." She smiled and giggled as he start jumping up and down, completely excited about getting to eat something beside garbage and hospital food. Twilight just laughed at his antics as he tripped over himself and into a bush. He crawled out a moment later, smiling sheepishly. "Come on, you silly colt." She said, leading him to the nearest resturaunt.
After filling their stomachs with hay burger and hay fries, the couple was finally heading back to the library. They kept the conversation from the resturaunt going as they neared their destination, laughing every so often about the funny things that had happened the past hour and a half.
After arriving, standing in front of the door, they talked for a bit longer. White Mark was starting to get suspicious. It seemed like she was stalling or keeping him from the library. Everytime he asked if they could just head in already, she shot back with an already used topic or something else that seemed distracting.
Finally giving in, Twilight let him open the door and head inside. It was a lot darker than he remembered. How was it even this dark during the day? Suddenly, the lights were turned on, blinding the colt for a few moments before a defening chorus sounded saying, "Surprise!" He jumped and yelpd as he was suddenly surrounded by ponies of all different sizes and colors, most of which he had never seen or met. His eyes grew wide as he looked around, beginning to sweat a bit.
He relaxed whe he saw the other Elements of Harmony shift their way through the crowd towards him. The pink mare was included of course. "Hey! I told ya that I'd throw you a great big party! What do ya think?" She asked excitedly, gesturing to the scene around them. The colt just smiled and chuckled nervously, the walls closing slightly.
"Well, c'mon then! There's a whole bunch o' ponies just waitin' to meet cha!" The orange farm mare said, grabbing his hoof and leading him to a small group. "White Mark, this here's Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, Derpy Hooves, Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia Melody." She gestured to a mint green unicorn mare with a white and slight less mint colored mane, a very light brown Earth pony mare with a pink and indigo mane, a gray pegasus mare with a yellow mane, a white unicorn mare with an electric blue mane, and a charcole Earth pony mare with a darker colored mane. All of their tails matched their manes. Each one smiled to the young colt as he nodded back, giving his best smile also.
The mares began to talk, giving the, now shivering, colt time to slip away and find someplace to calm down. That's what he was supposed to remember! That pink mare had said she'd plan him a huge party and she hadn't gone back on her word. He kept dodging between the big crowd of ponies, looking for a spot to hide, beginning to panic slightly.
The colt finally spied a small corner near the back, the buffet table hid it well, so nopony would find him there for a while. As he made his way through the crowd, he heard somepony begin to speak through a megaphone. "Alright, everypony!" It was the Element of Laughter! "Its time to meet the pony who this party is for! Give it up for the young colt, White Mark!" As soon as the spotlight flashed upon him, the crowd went silent. Where had she even gotten a spotlight that big? Better yet, how did she get it in here?!
Suddenly, all attention was on him. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were watching his every move. His eyes widened as he looked around. It was so silent that one could hear a pin fall to the floor. Then, the world began to spin, everything around him bled into something completely diffent. In a monochrome setting, he was looking down at a younger version of himself. he was being laughed at and teased at a school play. he had messed up the line and everypony was laughing at him.
Reality suddenly returned to him in full, everypony still staring at him. he now noticed the concerned looks on their faces. He felt something warm and wet slide down his face and something else slide down from his nose and further to nis neck. He was suddenly aware at how hard his body was shaking. It was like he was hooked up to a vibrating device that was set on high.
"White Mark?" A voice sounded to his left, bringing his attention from all the ponies staring back at him. He suddenly felt his legs wobble as hoofsteps approached him. They suddenly gave out, sending him to the floor with a thud and dull pain and numbness. Rapid hoofsteps came shortly before a pair of hooves slowly pushed him onto his side. The warm wetness was still there, now spilling onto the floor, forming a puddle of clear mixed with a dark red.
Everything and everypony became a blur as his senses faded, everything fading to black slowly. He felt exhausted all of the sudden. It was as if he hadn't slep in weeks! Technically, he hadn't slept well since he was chased out of the town he used to call home, but this was the worst he ever felt it. Soon, the blackness would envelop him, sending him to unconsciousness in seconds. He could only watch the ponies above; Twilight was trying her best to get him to focus on her, Fluttershy wiping the puddle below his head, Applejack talking to Rainbow Dash, before she flew out of sight, and other ponies just watching with concern and worry. White Mark suddenly felt the exhausting gripping him, his eyelids slowly shutting. The last thing he heard, with the last of his senses to leave, was the sound of Twilight's frantic pleading to get him to stay awake. Then, everything faded to black nothingness...