To Find Your Smile

by FlashKenshin77

Getting Things Settled

        One of the benefits of being unconscious is being oblivious to world… Unless it contains the beep of a heart monitor. That always managed to wake any pony up. It wormed its way into his skull. Inky groaned and opened his eyes and quickly shut them, the bright lights of the hospital room blinding him.
        “Whoa…” He muttered, putting a hoof over his face. “Can somepony turn off the sun…”
        “Inky! You’re awake!” Derpy said excitedly.
        Inky blinked again and uncovered his face; Derpy sat there with a big smile on her face, a bandage trapped her wings to her sides. A few tears fell down her face and she wiped them away. “Hey, what happened to you?”
        She looked down and blushed. “It’s nothing… b-but are you alright?!”
        “I think so… wh-why wouldn’t I be?” he asked, confused.
        She paused and looked at him. “Don’t you remember?”
        “N-no… wait…” The memories came back, beating at his head. He grimaced, reliving the pain. “Well… you sure did a number on me.”
        A few tears fell onto the bedsheet. “I’m so so sorry!”
        He grunted and leaned forward, pulling her into a hug. “It’s alright Derpy, I’m fine.”
        She pushed out of it. “No you’re not! I… I… hurt you really bad.”
        “Nah, I’ve had worse. At least you didn’t crack the horn.”
        She was silent and stared at him, wiping a few tears from her eyes. “Why did you do that!? I could’ve killed you!”
        He chuckled and held his side. “No offense Derpy, but I don’t think you could’ve.” He looked up at the ceiling. “And why? I’m not sure, I could feel how much you still hurt, and how it haunted you… I thought maybe I could help you find closure.” He looked at her and grabbed her hoof. “Derpy, you helped me after my little outburst…”
        “It was no big deal, you don’t just ignore a crying pony.
        “But most do, most don’t care… You’re different, because you know what I felt…” A moment of awkward silence fell between them, neither sure what to say. “So… uh… how long have I been out?”
        “A few days, Doctor Stable fixed you up pretty fast. Said the only thing left was to let your body rest back to full health. Also warned you not to use magic for a few days… I sorta messed with your ley lines… or something.”
        “Oh, alright… not that bad then.” He leaned forward. “So… how are you?”
        “Me? I’m okay… a little sore. I pulled a wing muscle and fractured a bone, nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”
        “I’m sorry you had to lug my sore flank to the hospital…”
        “It’s alright, I’m sorry that I beat you up…”
        “Hehe… I don’t think my friend would ever let me live it down.”
        “You’re right, I won’t.” Mystic said as he grinned. “I leave you for a few weeks and you end up in the hospital. This is why I had to always watch you…” He walked over and gave a little bow to Derpy. “I do apologize for my friend Ms…”
        She blushed. “Derpy, my name is Derpy… and I should be thanking him. He… well, he helped me get over quite a bit.”
        “See? I’m useful!”
        “Finish that chapter yet?”
        “...Shush! I’ve been busy! Anyways, why are you here?”
        “Well that’s a bit rude!” he chuckled and motioned to Derpy. “She wrote to me and explained what happened.” Derpy’s cheeks got redder. “Thought you needed a friend. Came here last night.”
        “Oh… thanks Derpy…”
        “I-it’s fine… Well I better go check on Dinky, I left her with Roseluck…” She quickly got up and almost rushed out of the room.
        “Dinky?” Mystic asked.
        “Her daughter…” He coughed. “Look, you didn’t have to come all the way-”
        “Nah, I wanted too. You haven’t written since you got here and I wanted to check up on you…” He sat down where Derpy was sitting. “So… did you run into a pink mare with a fluffy mane and tail?”
        “Pinkie? Yeah, she was the first pony I ran into here… What’d you think of her?”
        “Very… hyper.” Mystic chuckled. “So… Derpy eh?”
        Inky blushed. “What are you talking about?”
        Mystic grinned. “I don’t know~ your face says otherwise…”
        “Will you just shut up about that!”
        Mystic held his forehooves up. “Alright, alright… Sheesh, calm down.”
        Inky sighed and leaned against the pillow. It was silent between the two for a moment, the beep of a regular heartbeat the only noise. “How’s Moon-”
        “Don’t ask.”
        “But I want to know.”
        “Inky, if you trust me as a friend, please. Forget about her and move on.”
        “It’s not that simple Mystic!” Mystic was silent and looked at him with concern. “Don’t give me that look! I’m tired of everypony pitying me!”
        “It’s not pity, it’s sympathy.”
        “Big difference,” he muttered sarcastically.
        “Inky, please. I understand what its like to go through heartbreak-”
        “I was going to propose Mystic!” Inky grunted and leaned forward. “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her… I wanted her to be the first thing I saw in the morning…”
        Mystic patted Inky’s hoof. “I know, I know… But look on the bright side…”
        “The bright side? I have a hundred bits to my name and now I’m going to have to pay for a hospital visit. I have no job and no house.”
        “Ah, well I can solve a few of those problems. It seems our publishers are helping out with some of them… They heard about your, err… relocation and since we’re one of their more popular sellers, they’ve loaned you two hundred bits to get settled.”
        “Why would they do that?”
        “Because if you’re scrambling for a job, you can’t work on the book. Can’t work on the next book and our audience forgets. They forget and our publishers lose money and we lose a job. They want us as comfortable as possible.”
        “Never bought us an air conditioner though…”
        “It wasn’t that bad…”
        “Says the pony that was always “so hot, I’m gonna die”...”
        “Hey! It was hot in the summer!” Mystic grumbled and shook his head. “Anyways… I was hunting around and found you a nice loft above the bookstore no less!” he laughed. “I talked to the mare in charge and was more than willing to accept you. Even would give you a job if you want but understood that you had a deadline and whatnot. Also got her to be negotiable about the price, being a writer and all.”
        Inky was speechless. “Mystic… I-I don’t know what to say…”
        “You’re welcome for starters,” he tapped his chin. “So all we gotta worry about is the hospital bill… because that’ll probably be a hefty sum… What about your parents?”
        “Nah, don’t want to worry them. You know how Mom is…”
        “Right, right… Hm… Well, depending, I’m sure I can get us some emergency funds that they’d take out of our paycheck.”
        “No, I won’t make you suffer for my problems… I think we can work something out with the doctors. If not, well… hopefully they won’t arrest me till after the book is published.”
        “I doubt they will… Well, I guess we’ll worry about that when you’re released… Speaking of, when is that?”
        “Derpy said that I just need to recover. She whacked me good man, knocked a bunch of my ley lines off.”
        “Essh, sounds painful… If I may, why did all this happened? She seems like such a nice mare.”
        “It’s… a rather bit personal. I don’t think I should say, ya know?”
        “Alright, I understand. Just had to ask.” They sat in silence. “Well you know if you need any help…”
        “Thanks Mystic, but I think I just need a few days to relax… It seems ever since I moved here, I’ve been going nonstop. I need a bit to get myself back together… “
        “Sure no problem, I got it…”
        “How long are you gonna be here anyways?”
        “Only till tomorrow night. I gotta go back… I er… sorta postponed a date.” He nervously chuckled. “She wishes she could’ve come…”
        “Aww, that’s sweet of her. Tell her I said thanks…”
        “I will. You know if you ever come back to Manehattan, you always have a spot with us.”
        “I know… and thanks, I might take that offer up sometime… after all this.”
        Mystic nodded. “No problem, it’s what friends do.”
        “Oh! Before I forget, guess who I ran into.” Mystic tilted his head. “Remember that cowpony I dated back in grade school? She lives here too.”
        Mystic laughed and sighed. “Only you would get into this much trouble…” He shook his head. “Everything fine between the two of you? I remember you said you didn’t leave on the best of terms.”
        “I… I think we did, I explained everything the best I could… so hopefully. She did say she wanted to start over, as friends that is… I really don’t want any relationships right now…”
        “I see… well then, you’re just Mr. Popular with the ladies, eh? Derpy, that cowpony… anypony else?”
        “Uh… first, shut up. Second of all, there is no list, they’re just friends.”
        “I don’t know, seems somepony is very defensive~”
        “Shush!” He crossed his forehooves across his chest and looked away.
        “Oh quit it, you know I’m kidding.”
        “Yeah, yeah…” He chuckled before turning back to his friend. “You know Dinky’s a big fan of ours?”
        “Oh really?”
        Inky shook his head. “Yeah, I bet if she knew, she’d bug Derpy to no end…”
        “I bet… how is Dinky?”
        “She’s a nice filly, very intelligent for her age. Would’ve gone to Celestia’s school if Derpy could’ve afforded it.”
        “I see…”
        “Yeah…” Inky sighed and leaned against the pillows, rubbing his head. “I got such the headache…”
        “Hehe, I’ll go see if we can get you something… I doubt they’d let me get you a drink…” Mystic said, getting up and leaving the room.
        Inky looked around and saw a large window off to his side. The sun was just about to hide behind the Canterlot mountains, the moon starting to gain strength. How long was I out for… He took a deep breath and sighed. Why did I do it… He knew he gave Derpy an honest answer, but he still can’t believe he did what he did. Guess I am pretty stupid, huh… He chuckled to himself.
        Mystic returned with some pills and a glass of water. “Doc said to take these, minor painkillers. Said it might knock you out, but at least that’ll help with the pain.” He hoofed them over, along with the glass.
        “What about you? Rather not fall asleep on you.”
        Mystic shrugged. “I can’t stay much longer, visiting hours are almost over.”
        “Oh right, that’s a thing.”
        “Haha yeah, I got about twenty minutes before they kick me out.”
        Inky took the pills and took a big drink before setting the glass on the counter and leaned back against the pillows. “Hey Mystic…”
        “Hm?”
        “Do… do you think I’ll ever get over Moonbeam?”
        “Of course you will, in no time flat! We just gotta get you back on the dating scene, maybe go out to clubs or something…”
        “Yeah… no… I’m not a clubber.”
        “Pfft, party pooper…” He smiled. “But I think you will, eventually time will let you get over it.”
        “How cliche…”
        “Hey, I’m a writer, it’s my job.” He turned around and headed back towards the door. “Get some sleep Inky, I’ll be back in the morning sometime.”
        “Thanks Mystic… for everything.”
        “It’s what I do, g’night.” He left, leaving Inky alone in the hospital room.
        The pain pills were kicking in already, the room starting to get dim as his eyelids started to droop. He fought against it, his brain trying to think of everything at once to keep him awake, but it was futile. In the end, the pills forced him into slumber, the moon just reaching its peak in the sky.