//------------------------------// // Chapter XLVII: An Outsider // Story: As I'm Falling to Pieces // by Pinkamena Diane Pie //------------------------------// Chapter XLVII: An Outsider They walked out of the amphitheatre, followed by most of the Bunkers population. Most we talking excitedly about the opportunities that this cure would allow them. “We could finally leave the Bunker!” one mare said to her friend as they passed. Lighting smiled when he heard this. it would be a long time before they would be able to live on the surface. But it was good to know some hope had been restored in the ponies. They started to turn towards the stairway, when Fluttershy suddenly broke away. “I need to go see if Angel is alright. I will be there in a few minutes.” then she trotted up the stairs and out of sight. Lighting watched her go, then walked over to the elevator doors. They piled in and rode up to the hospital. The doors opened to the familiar scene of doctors rushing around. Cora walked up to the receptionist desk and asked what room Sky was staying in. “Solitary. Room Twenty-Four.” she said when she returned to them. “That is strange. They only keep mental patients in solitary.” “I guess they wanted to make sure that he was cured.” Rainbow said, starting off down the hall, the others on her heels. After a couple minutes of searching, they found his room. Lightning knocked on the door, and Twilight’s face answered him. “Oh, hi!” she said surprised, opening the door more. “I thought you would want to stop by and see him. I just teleported him back up. He didn’t look too good after the presentation.” Lightning nodded, looking at the single bed in the room. Sky sat in the bed, eyes closed. He was awake, but just resting. He looked slightly pale, and, now that they were this close, Lightning could see large bags under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept in days. But other than that, and the scars, he looked as healthy as any other patient could be. Cora walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. Sky opened his eyes and looked around. “H- Hello.” he said. Talking quietly, his voice was slightly raspy, as if his vocal chords had been damaged. “Hello.” Applejack said, walking over to his bed as well. Lightning could tell she was thinking of the time that she had been infected. “How are you feeling?” Sky chuckled slightly. “Well, besides the massive headache and the healing wounds, pretty well. But I guess that is to be expected.” “How did you get here from Baltimare?” Lightning asked. “I honestly don’t know.” Sky said. “I guess I just walked here...” his voice trailed off. “I’m sorry, maybe I should know your names.” They introduced themselves one at a time. Sky nodded at every name, but his eyes stopped on Rainbow. “What happened to your wing?” he asked, eyes wide. “Did you get attacked?” “Oh, no.” she said, extending the metal wing. “Just got shot a couple times. No biggie.” Sky continued to look at it for a few moments, then shook his head. “Sorry. So, is there anything I can do for you?” he asked, not looking at them Lightning couldn’t tell if he was worried what they thought of him, or if he just wasn’t social. “No, we just wanted to see you.” Rarity said walking towards him. “Just wanted to see if you were OK.” Sky didn’t respond. “Oh, dear.” he said, taking in her appearance. “What...What happened to you?” Rarity backed away slightly, not looking at him. “Oh, well...” she said, looking for the right words. “I had a run run in with some.... unpleasant ponies.” “Oh.” Sky responded. “Well, it is a shame they had to hurt such a lovely pony. And you wanted to see me? Aren’t you afraid that I will, like... eat you?” Phoenix chuckled. “No, we aren’t. If there is one this we learned, it is to trust Twilight’s work.” Sky smiled slightly at that. “Ok, well..... Sorry, I am not good at this sort of thing.” he said, avoiding eye contact. He opened his mouth to say something, but then the door opened. Fluttershy poked her head in, smiling at them. Sky looked at her for a moment, then looked away, blushing. Lightning raised an eyebrow. Could it be? “Umm... Hi.” she said, walking into the room. “How’s umm... How are you doing?” she asked, not looking at him either. Sky didn’t look up, but his blush had faded away. “Good. W- What about you?” “Fine, I guess....” she said softly, dragging a hoof along the floor. Lightning looked back and forth between Applejack and Fluttershy, silently having a conversation the whole time. They seemed to agree upon the same thing. “Well, it was nice to meet you.” Applejack said, trotting over to Lightning. “But we have got to go.” Cora and Phoenix nodded, getting the idea. “Yeah us too. Fluttershy, why don’t you stay and talk with Sky.” Cora said. “I think he would like to talk to somepony like you.” They all filed out, even Twilight. Shutting the door, leaving a helpless look on both Fluttershy’s and Sky’s face. When they were a far enough distance away, Rarity turned to face them all. “Well this is wonderful!” she said, beaming. “They should really hit it off.” “Yeah, but would either bother saying anything?” Rainbow asked. “Neither of them are the bravest of sorts.” “Well, we will have to wait and see how this pans out.” Applejack said, walking down the hall. “So, Twi. Why didn’t you tell us about this cure? I think all of us would have liked to know.” “I would have, but it was under extreme secrecy. We just were able to announce it.” Twilight said, trotting to catch up with Applejack. “And like I said before, it will be awhile till we can put it into full production.” “How long will that be?” Phoenix asked. “Another couple months or so. The transformation process takes awhile, and to see if they survive it...” her voice trailed off. The conversation seemed to stop after that. They walked down the halls until they were back in the lobby. Twilight said she had to run some test, and she left the group, as did Cora. It was almost her shift at the hospital as well. One by one, everypony left, leaving Lightning and Applejack alone. “Well. This has been an interesting day.” Lightning said, smiling. “I wasn’t expecting that when I got got back.” “Yes, I have been meaning to talk to you about that.” she said, looking up at him. “What all happened out there?” Lightning sighed. “Want me to start from the beginning?” Applejack nodded. “Alright. it started out with me getting captured...” ***** The next week passed without any sort of interruption. Fluttershy was spending more and more time with Sky in the hospital, sometimes the whole day. Twilight was also gone most of the week, but for different reasons. Making the cure safe to use was taking up most of her time. All the other ponies also had some excuse to be away. Phoenix was working on some project he had planned for awhile now. Rainbow was working with the weather team. Cora had taken up a couple new shifts in the hospital, as had Fluttershy. All this left Lightning and Applejack alone, which they didn’t mind. They did the same as they had in the months during Rarity’s recovery. They walked on the surface, hoof in hoof, talking about whatever they felt like talking about. Leisure like this was in their lives, so they took full advantage of it. But one day, something cause Applejack to begin to worry. “What do you think happened to Pinkie?” she asked, her voice showing the worry her expression would not allow. “I don’t know.” Lightning said. “But I would think, since you five survived, she would have as well.” “I really hope so. I just hope that--” She was cut off by a sudden light shining from behind them. They turned, shielding their eyes from the glare. it looked like a blue ball of magical aura, floating in the air. It swirled and turned for about thirty seconds, then disappeared, dropping something to the ground beneath it. “What the hay?!” Applejack said, backing away from it. But Lightning could only stare at it. It was a scroll. About a foot long, written on yellowing parchment, and seal with a blot of wax. But that was not what caught Lighting’s eye. Not, it was the symbol that was cut into the wax. Luna’s symbol. He slowly walked over to it, bending down to pick it up. He popped the wax off with the tip of his hoof. He unfurled the scroll, eyes slowly moving down the page. The whole time, Applejack was watching him closely. Finally, he stopped reading, and turned to face Applejack. “We need to talk to Twilight. Now.”