After a while Flashlight grew bored and left the three of us to talk at the table. After talking for a while I learned that the stallion who had set Cherry off was named Shock Blitz, and he was the son of Rainbow Dash. Shortly after he talked about his heritage, he said that he didn't like talking about his relationship with his mother and while he didn't say exactly why; he only mentioned that it had to do with his father and another mare. He talked about his role in the Wonderbolt Airforce and how he helped rescued Cherry, myself, and the others from the arena. He seemed quite proud of himself for doing so and he listed a few other accomplishments of his, though I was a little too busy eating to listen. After a while Blitz left to attend some training, leaving Cherry and me to talk.
I planned on asking Cherry about him
"So, are you and him a thing?" I asked as soon as Blitz had left the dining hall.
She coughed abruptly, her chair teetering underneath her. I was surprised she didn't fall over.
"M-Me and him? W-what? N-No of c-course not!" She stammered as her face flushed face bright red. "A-a handsome, s-strong stallion like that and an ordinary little mare like me c-could never work out," Her voice calmed down, but it was still quite obvious to me that she had feelings for the stallion.
I laughed at her, "You're hopeless."
"H-hey! It's not my fault! He flirts with me!" She added scrunching up her nose.
"In that case, you should say something to him," I teased her, though I was being genuine at the same time.
"Well, I thought about it, but it's not that simple. He has a little bit of a fan group . . . and I would just seem like every other ordinary mare to him," She sighed, flicking her ear as the redness in her face slowly began to fade.
"Then you will just have to show him that you are no ordinary mare, right?" I added.
She smiled. "Thanks, Terra." I smiled back at her.
The two of us took the garbage from our meals and tossed it into a garbage can by the door, and then made our way back out into the great hall. A few more ponies had gathered around the room, especially a few younger foals. I was watching a small pale pink unicorn playing with a slightly older tan colored mare with a long blonde mane, large smiles on both of their faces. This did seem like a perfect sanctuary in the chaos that was our world; one where families could grow and live as if everything was perfect. I almost believed it until I remembered the Games I had been in a few weeks ago. I shuddered.
Cherry noticed. "Still not quite used to this place yet, huh?" She sighed. "I know. It seems so perfect, but I wonder how many of them know exactly what is going on outside of this shelter?" I looked at her and based on her reaction I figured that I had a depressing look on my face. "Come on, don't make that face. I'm sorry I mentioned it. Everything should be fine."
I opened my mouth to say something else, but I shook my head, forgetting what I wanted to say. Instead, I asked a question. "I think I remember somepony saying that it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see the nurse or go to the infirmary or something?"
Cherry nodded. "Sure, I can take you there."
We walked towards another door on the other side of the hall, this one opening to a spiral staircase that went down a few floors. We finally came to a part of the building that replicated a hospital. Or at least what I imagined a hospital should look like. The hospital in my old district was small and not as pristine looking as this one. There was a front desk with a pair of ponies sitting at it, and they appeared to be twins. They were older and most of their colors had faded, but they still looked healthy and happy. Off to the side, there was a long, straight hallway with staggered doors lining each side. The hall went down quite a ways before it divided into two, and I guessed that each hallway led to more rooms. Almost everything was carved out of clean white crystal, and wasn't as edgy as the rest of the building. A few boring painting hung on a few spots of the walls paired with supposed inspirational quotes like "Keep smiling" and little things like that. Round, hazy white lights were hung up and down the hall, emanating a very soft buzzing sound.
The two twins looked at us with happy smiles. The blue mare with a pink mane spoke first. "Good afternoon Cherry! I see you have brought Terra down here for a change," She looked me up and down over the desk.
The pink mare with the blue mane spoke second. "Yes, we were wondering when you might show. Nurse Red Heart will probably see you now. I believe her meeting with Sweetie Belle is finished."
Her sister nodded, and then Cherry asked a question, "Is Gaelan also down here?"
The blue mare nodded. "Yes, of course, here on another checkup, it seems," she said, glancing through a few pieces of paperwork on her desk. "He's in room 057 if you wish to see him."
Cherry smiled. "Thank you! Terra, when you are done, you should meet me down there. He'll be happy to see you," She said, before happily trotting down the hall.
"Well okay but-" I was confused that this was going on so quickly. I had just gotten down there.
I glanced back at the two mares, one of whom was speaking again. "Red Heart will be in room 034, down the hall on your right. Thank you and have a nice day."
I blinked at them and then began to walk down the long hallway. It was eerie, and once I had gotten myself a fair distance away from the desk, the hallway just seemed longer. The walls seemed closer and the faint buzzing of the lights seemed to become louder the farther away I was from the two twins. What were their names? I don't think the told me. I don't remember seeing a name tag either. Or two. Goodness, my head was hurting now. Was I dehydrated or was I just losing my mind? I didn't like this hallway. I wanted to run back to the comfort of my bed in my room. Even though it wasn't technically mine.
Where was I going again? My hooves were just going through their motions, clicking on the stone. Stone. Like the cave where Code Red and his mare friend found me. What was her name? I don't remember either. It was too long ago. And she died. Probably because I left the group chasing after that stallion. Or whatever. What room was the mare in again? 034? Where am I now? Am I even going the right way? That door's number read 022, and that one read 023. I must be going the right way. But haven't I thought that before? I don't know.
Come on Terra, focus. You can do this. 027. . . 028. . . You're almost there. There won't be any surprises. 030. . . 031. . . It should be this one. Right here. The number on the door says so. But are those voices inside? Were the mares at the desk confused? Wrong? What are those voices saying? I pressed my ear up to the door to try to listen.
"But Red, this shouldn't happen! At my age, this could only cause some health complications for me! What if I die? What if it does? I'm forty-five! A mare at that age should not be expecting a foal! I was never even able to get pregnant until now! I thought I would never have one!" She was squeaking a lot as she was talking.
"Sweetie Belle, please. I know you are scared but we have great doctors here who have successfully delivered foals before and they have never lost one. You will be fine."
"But none of them were as old as I was!"
"You will be alright. Just calm down and take a deep breath. You need to keep a straight head in this."
"But Red I-"
"Please. Besides, If you have tried to have a foal before I'm sure the father will be delighted to hear about this regardless of your age."
"The father." She sounded mortified.
There was a pause before the voice I had begun to assume was Nurse Red Heart spoke again.
"Yes?"
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no! I don't know who the father is. I mean I'm married to Button Mash and I have slept with him recently, as most married couples often do, but I've also gotten close to. . . to. . . Her father. And that is what worries me. What would she do if she found out? What would everyone else do if they found out? I could not only ruin my relationship but hers as well!"
"Sweetie Belle, are you talking about Terra's father?"
My eyes widened and my heart tightened in my chest. For a split second, I thought that I might pass out. Who was this mare? How did she know my father? Did she really sleep with him? Ew. Is she going to have his foal? Double ew. Will I have a step-sibling? I wouldn't hate it, but goodness I hope not.
"Shhh, you never know who could be listening!" She paused again before talking a little quieter. "But yes. So many ponies warned me when I helped him escape his district several years ago that this could happen. That a mare like me could develop feelings for him and cause conflict in my own personal life. But I didn't listen, and I should have. I thought that I would be fine. Goodness, I really do hope this foal is Button's. Because if it isn't, my life is going to get a whole lot harder."
"Sweetie Belle, you will be fine. Whatever happens, there will still be ponies who will love and care for you and your new foal when it arrives. You've developed enough friends to last two lifetimes."
"May I leave?"
"Well, I guess so, Yes. Please visit again soon. And if not as a patient, then as a friend."
I quickly backed away from the door, holding my breath a little, and lifted my hoof to sort of pretend that I was about to knock. They didn't need to know I had heard what they had just said. Goodness knows what might have happened if they did know.
The door opened, and the mare in front of me froze in her tracks, her eyes wide. She looked me up and down, and I did the same to her. She was a white mare who did look like she was in her 40s as she had stated through the wall. Her pink and purple mane was long and curled but swept back out of her face, exposing the faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and around the corners of her mouth. Her white pelt was well cared for and shimmered almost like snow, and even her mane only had a few streaks of silver in it. Her eyes were a soft green, and her eyelashes coated with a thin layering of mascara and her eyelids lightly shimmered. She was a very pretty mare, even for her own age.
She blinked at me, then slid out of the doorway and began to walk quickly down the hallway. I watched her for a few moments before I made my way into the room.
The room wasn't anything special, but then again I wasn't expecting much either. The white stone made up everything again, and there was a fairly large bench on one side of the room with an actually comfortable looking purple cushion resting on it. A few random posters hung around the room, similar to the ones in the hallway. A small counter and a few cabinets were tucked away in one corner of the room, and a white mare with a pink mane was lingering next to it.
I cleared my throat, and she spoke in a soft voice, but it was the kind of voice that came from the person you wouldn't want to make angry. "Good afternoon Terra. I was beginning to wonder when you were going to stop by for visit." She paused and with a flick of her ear she gestured to the bench. "You can take a seat. This is going to just be like a physical check-up and I will ask you a few questions. Nothing too complicated."
Overall, it seemed like a regular doctors appointment, but she was pressing for solid answers and clearly wanted me to be more specific. She checked pretty much every inch of my body for any stress or pain or injury, having me stretch and move my joints around as much as any average pony should be able to. She checked the crack in my hoof and remarked that it appeared to be healing well and then prescribed an ointment to apply to it daily to help speed the healing. She asked me a few questions about what I did when I had arrived, who I talked to and where I had been. How I felt emotionally and any thoughts I had. I answered truthfully, but I was a little vague on purpose. She eventually stated that it appeared that I was suffering from some PTSD and that I probably need some therapy and medicine as well. Great. Other than that, I was fine and that I should come back if anything changes or if I needed anything else. I said I probably would but I don't know if I was telling the truth. And then I left.
I walked down the hallway and decided that I wasn't a bad idea to see if I could visit Gaelan. What room was he in again? 057? That sounded right. I made my way down the hallway, passing a mare with a small foal walking at her side. She smiled at me and I nodded back. I heard the small foal whisper something to his mother, no doubt about me. And she whispered something back. I didn't know what it was, and I didn't care. My hooves clicked on the floor again. The lights faintly buzzed. This place seemed more and more depressing the longer I walked down that hallway alone.
Thankfully I reached door 057. The door was open a crack, so I pushed it open rather easily with a tap of my hoof. I watched it swing open, and was a little surprised to see that the room was a lot different than the one I had been in. The entire floor was a purple mattress and the room itself seemed quite larger than the room I had been in. One wall was covered in a mixture of counters and cabinets, and a bench was tucked away in another corner of the room. I stepped inside, letting my hoof sink into the thin, plastic-y mattress.
As soon as I had done so, my name was called by a familiar voice, pulling my attention towards the pale blue griffon who was laying on the ground, with a pony doing something to his wings. Wings. Wait a second, he has two wings now? But he had only one a while ago. I looked closer as I made my way over to Gaelan and spotted that the new wing that had been attached to him was fake. It was made of a mixture of what looked like metal and some kind of soft looking plastic, but all in all, it looked just like his other wing. It had even been styled and looked like it had feathers in it. I don't know if it worked and if he could fly again, but the fact that he had two wings again made my heart leap and spread a smile across my face. He looked happy too, and so did Cherry who was tucked away in the corner watching him.
"Gaelan, you have a wing now. . . two wings! That's fantastic!" I said.
His smile broadened. "I know, isn't it great! I had no idea that this could happen. Now I actually might have the possibility of flying again. I can be a pegasus again."
"How long have you had it?" I asked curiously.
Cherry looked over at me as Gaelan answered. "Well, it's been on and off since we got here. Trying new things here and then, making sure it's perfect for me. This is the third one they have tried and it feels like it might be the best one so far."
"Well that's good, is it comfortable, any irritation anywhere?" The pony mending to his wings asked quietly.
"No. It feels just like my other wing, same weight, and everything," he responded before looking back at me.
"How does it work though?" Cherry asked. "It looks like a wing alright but surely it doesn't have any nerves or anything in it."
The doctor smiled. "It's a combination of unique unicorn science and magic. I can't quite explain what they do, but whatever they do it is amazing and it works. Currently we are trying to find the perfect wing to match his own as close as possible but still remain comfortable. Once we find it, he will undergo some surgery to have it attached permanently and then he will undergo therapy to adjust to it again."
"Have you done stuff like this before?" I asked.
"Yes, several times and with quite a few different circumstances. We've performed this on two pegasai before and have done similar things to other ponies. Why even Apple Jack had her hind legs replaced after she lost them. In fact, it was her that inspired Princess Twilight to search for something she could do for her friend. Without her incident, we would not have the science we have and the ability to cure as we do. It's remarkable, really."
"Well, that's pretty cool," Cherry said. I wasn't sure if she was being sincere or sarcastic.
"By the way Terra, I am glad to see you. I heard you locked yourself in your room after you arrived so I was wondering when I would see you again," Gaelan mentioned, changing the subject.
"Yeah. Things are. . . different here. I needed some time to myself," I responded, my body reacting in a way to almost make me feel smaller.
"Oh yeah, after everything we have been through that's probably normal. Jockey hasn't left his apartment yet and no one has seen Code Red. I was asleep for such a long while when I came in. I only began to socialize because I needed to walk around a bit. Sleeping for as long as I did leave me really stiff," Cherry explained.
"When was the last time anyone had seen Code Red?" I asked, a little concerned.
"It sounded like when he was brought to his apartment. No pony saw him walk out after he went in, but his family said he wasn't in there. I haven't even since him since we escaped the arena. I'm worried about him," Cherry continued.
"Well I understand your concern for your friend, but it sounds like he just needs some time. He will come out when he is ready, as did all of you did," The doctor in the room commented."
I sighed. "It would be one thing if we knew where he was, but we don't."
After chatting with them for a while longer I made my way back to my apartment by myself. I walked in silence, staring blankly down at the floor. I heard whispers around me as I walked, but I paid them no heed. A few greeted me, including the stallion I had met on the first day, Cheesecake, and I only nodded in reply and walked past him. I stood alone in the elevator as it rose, a few flashbacks coming back into my head from the hotel I stayed at before the games. I shuddered and was thankful when the doors finally opened on my floor. I walked out quickly, and then made my way down towards my apartment.
I had almost reached it when I stopped in front of another door. I looked it up and down and instinctively knew that it was Code Red's family's apartment. Or maybe I just counted down from my own apartment and remembered that this is where it was. I don't know, maybe both. I knocked on the door, not really knowing what specifically I was doing but following a sort of gut feeling that I had in my stomach.
A few moments later a small black colored pony opened the door, smiling but confused. She was aged and her mane had grown silver. The wings at her side fidgeted as she spoke in a soft, delicate voice.
"Oh, Terra, hello. How can I help you?"
"Hello, ma'am. Is Code Red here?"
She frowned, her face instantly showing that she was upset. "No. We were told he had come to our apartment but I have not seen him. I don't know where he is."
"Oh okay, thank you anyways. I'm sorry." I had begun to back away from the door as she begun to close it, but my gut feeling hit me again. Why? "Actually, and this might be an odd request, but may I see the room that would have been his?"
She blinked at me, her blue eyes a little wide. "Well, sure, I suppose," She replied, opening the door back up again and moving aside to let me in.
She closed the door behind us and then begun to walk down the hallway. The apartment was similar to my own, but the decorations and the layout of the furniture was a little different. Overall the size was the same and the rooms were in the same location and the same shape. She guided me towards a bedroom and then opened the door smoothly. She glanced at me, and then turned around and left, muttering softly that she would be in the living room if I needed something and that I was free to look around. I didn't really know why she seemed so comfortable with a pony who was like a stranger to her walk around her house, but I decided to leave her be as I made my way into his room. Almost everything seemed untouched, the more I looked at things. The cabinets and dressers were not opened at all and the chairs had not been sat in. But surely he had been here.
I made my way over to his bed, and tried to look at it closely. The pillows on the bed seemed. . . off. They had been placed nicely and looked as if it had been there for a while. But they were the slightest bit off center, it seemed. Or perhaps whoever set the bed did a poor job at it. But I looked closer at the pillows and noticed something else. They had been laid on. I gently stroked my hoof over them, feeling the lumps of the fabric and the cushioning inside. It had been bothered and someone had slept on this pillow. It did not feel like a fresh new pillow. I don't know what that had to do with anything and for all I knew, I might just be losing my mind, but even if there was no proof I knew he had been in this room. I could feel it.
I looked around the room, trying to find something else. Anything. And I did. There was a vent in the corner of the room, near the floor, tucked behind the chair. I moved it aside, carefully, trying not to make any noise or scratch up the floor, so I could get a closer look at the vent. It looked like it had not been touched since it's installation. But I wonder. Using my magic, I carefully unscrewed the bolts at the corners and placed them aside, then removed the vent cover. It was certainly large enough for a pony to fit inside. I wasn't that large and Code Red was about my size so he could surely fit in here.
I took a breath and squeezed my way inside. Goodness, I am crazy. Imagine how this would look, just popping up to a friends house, who isn't home, and crawling inside his vent. Yeah, that's crazy. Laying on my stomach, I inched my way farther into the venting system, eventually lighting my horn so I could see better. I reached a larger duct vent that a pony could stand up in, but it went vertically instead of horizontally. There was enough room for a determined pegasus to fly. I thought about calling out, but for all, I knew there could be other vents connected to this and if I yelled surely it would freak ponies out if they heard voices coming from the air vent. But then again, I might not know if he was in there or not if I didn't. And I probably couldn't climb up easily. I didn't see any ladder.
I tried to think. I was in a vent so it made it a little difficult. I wish I could fly. That would be nice. Or even just float I guess? Were there any floating spells? I wonder. Maybe I could try? I don't know if I knew what I was doing. I was just going with it. Holding my breath and closing my eyes, my horn began to glow brighter, flickering like a candle in the wind. I tried to imagine myself floating, feeling as light as a feather, drifting around like I was in out space. Could I do that?
A few moments passed and nothing happened. I sighed and gave up. I had no idea what I was doing, so I suppose I have to find a way to climb up. If I went high enough up, surely there would be an air pocket or something? I just hoped that I didn't hurt myself. I reached for the other side of the vent with my hoof, then twisted myself to put my back against it. I looked up, then placed my hooves against the other side of the air duct. Carefully, I moved my hooves up and against it, sliding my back farther up until I was was no longer touching the bottom vent. I moved my hooves and then I moved my back, continuing in that pattern until I was comfortable and developed a rhythm. I did that for a while and eventually developed beads of sweat on my back and my forehead. Finally, I spotted a light above me, one that was natural and not pony made. Was it sunlight? I kind of hope so. I haven't seen natural light in what feels like forever. Even the sun in the arena was fake.
Seeing the light made me excited and I picked up speed. It proved a little difficult since my back was sticking to the vent because of my sweat, but I was determined.
I finally reached the top of the vent, and there was a small space at the top where a pony or two could sit. There was a panel that was open, similar to the one I had removed to get into the system. Beyond it, I could see the orange, red, and golden rays of light that emit only from a sunset. It made me smile. Natural sun, and the first sunset I had seen in such a long time.
But there was something else I saw that made me sigh with relief. It was Code Red. He was staring at me, his eyes droopy and sad, but trying to give me a confused look. His red mane was messy and he looked skinny, so I figured that the had not left this spot. I didn't blame him though, I didn't leave my spot either. His body was twisted towards the vent opening, which made me guess that he had watched the world outside while he was up here. His glasses had developed a small crack in them and were now dirty. I could tell that he had not been taking this new world well.
"T-Terra? You're . . . but. . . how did you find me?"
I smiled, shifting my way to sit across from him the tight space. Our legs hit each other, but I didn't care, and I don't think he noticed. "Considering you do a very good job at hiding yourself when you want to be hidden, it wasn't easy. I just followed my gut."
He scoffed, turning his head to look out the vent. "No one knows me that well. So the fact that you did that really is surprising," he said softly. His voice cracked, and I could tell that he had not talked for quite some time and he had probably been crying or sobbing to himself. It made me want to hug him.
"Well, I might not know everything about you, but you're my friend. And I care about you. Sometimes caring about somepony is all that is needed," I added.
He looked back at me, his eyes still sad. His lip trembled, trying to find something to say, and he couldn't. Instead, his face scrunched up and he closed his eyes and silent tears fell from his face. My heart ached and I didn't quite know what to do, but I was going to sit there with him until he felt better.
"I'm sorry," he managed to say, "I just wish that my mare friend could have been here to see this. She would have loved this place and we would have been happy here. She would have loved seeing all of the technology and interacting with it. . ." He sobbed. "And her family could have lived here too. . . it would have been such a better life for them, for her. . . " He hugged himself and rested his head on the vent. "A-and who knows, maybe one day she and I could have. . .we could have. . . we. . ." He broke down and started crying again. I shifted over to sit next to him, gently leaning up against him so he knew that I was there for him.
"I know. It's okay," I whispered.
"I don't think I will have that again with anypony else. . . the feelings that I felt for her," He started again. "I was sort of fine for a while. I thought of her a lot after she-" he paused, " a-and I never cried about her since then until I got here. So much reminds me of her, and I don't know what to do or how to handle this. . . I want to go home but I don't think it would be better," He sighed, trying to calm himself down. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear this," He muttered.
"No, no. It's alright," I explained, trying my best to sympathize with him. "Like I said I know how you feel. I was under my bed for about three days and I didn't come out. I didn't quite know why but I was there. And while I was there I found myself missing my colt friend. I kind broke up with him before I left the games, but I knew that I would feel safe with him. . . but he's not here and I don't think I will ever see him again," I sighed and closed my eyes. "And it's a little painful. I miss him."
We sat there in silence for a while after our brief discussion, both of us just sort of thinking and trying to clear out our heads. I was trying to let him clear his and finish his crying. We watched the sunset through the cracks of the vent, and slowly watched the moon rise until it was high up in the sky. It really was nice seeing the natural sky again, even if the image was a little obscured. I think it was good for us to have somepony else to relate to, even just a little bit. Our situations weren't quite the same but we both sort of had similar pain. Even if we weren't talking any more it was nice to not have to sit alone for a while. I began to wonder if somepony noticed that I was missing from his room and I wonder if they had noticed the vent. They would want me to show up soon and they probably would freak out a little bit if they figured out I was in the venting system.
Code Red eventually confessed that he thought it was time for him to come out of the vent. He acknowledged that he had been here for quite some time and that he probably should take a shower and find something to eat. I agreed and he smiled at me. He finally smiled.
"Thank you, Terra, by the way," he said before we started to make our way down the vent. "It's really nice of you to come looking for me, and I don't know if I would have come back if you didn't."
I smiled at him. "Of course. I am your friend, and as your friend, I will be here to help you whenever you need it. After all, this place is going to take a while to get used to. Having friends at our sides will surely make it easier."