//------------------------------// // 4. Learning // Story: The Mute Unicorn // by Pureheart 352 //------------------------------// Apologies for the shorter chapter this time. College, you know. But it's up now! :D Enjoy until I have the next one finished! Those few days in the hospital ended up being some of the best days of little Half-Beat’s life. The nurses adored her. Many of them were mothers with fillies at home, and it seemed the silent unicorn in the empty hospital room reminded them of their own children. At first the timid child was somewhat afraid of the nurses, not sure if they were good or not. Her experience with her parents had taught her to be suspicious of grown-ups. But overtime, through gifts, playtime, and loving care, the hospital staff earned Half-Beat’s trust. For the second time she could remember, Half-Beat experienced real love. That was not a typo: the second time. Princess Cadence had been the first. Every now and then the unicorn remembered the princess who had taken pity on her and wished to see her again. “There you go, honey,” one of the nurses, a unicorn, stated happily as she finished brushing the two-toned blue mane. She levitated a small mirror in front of the child. “Take a look!” Half-Beat stared at herself in awe. Her mane was beautiful! The split ends had been clipped off and the tangles carefully combed smooth. The filly smiled with delight and hugged the nurse. “And I believe you have a visitor,” the nurse added with a wink. “Somepony you’ll love to see.” Intrigued, Half-Beat grinned in anticipation as the nurse left to bring in the visitor. About ten minutes later a knock came at the door and a gold-shoed hoof pushed it open. If the filly could have screamed in delight, she would have. Princess Cadence! Before she could even bow the princess was hugging her tightly. “Hello, sweetie! How have you been?” Unable to vocally reply, Half-Beat simply nuzzled the princess happily. Her mane smelled like roses. Cadence gently pushed the child away and smiled sadly. “That’s right, you can’t talk anymore. But you know what? There’s more ways you can have fun and make friends without talking. Here!” She opened a saddlebag she’d brought along and levitated out a notebook and some crayons and pencils. “Do you like to draw?” Half-Beat nodded excitedly and the princess laughed. “Me too! Why don’t you draw what you want your cutie mark to look like?” The filly could easily have filled a notebook with that idea. Finally she settled on an acoustic guitar, her favorite instrument. She gripped a pencil in her mouth until the princess gently extended a hoof to stop her. “Use your magic, sweetheart,” Cadence intervened. Half-Beat frowned. Her basic motors skills involving her magic still were significantly lacking. Cadence smiled. “It’s okay if you don’t do well the first time. Just keep trying. Just imagine the shape you want the pencil to draw.” The little filly concentrated hard and managed to levitate the pencil. Delighted, she imagined the vague outline of a guitar. The pencil moved toward the paper—then fell on the floor. Half-Beat was frustrated. Magic was harder than it looked. “Don’t worry,” Cadence smiled, “all unicorns have trouble learning to use magic. Just keep trying.” Literally hours passed of the frustrated child and the extremely patient princess practicing basic magic skills. But it was finally worth it. Little Half-Beat gazed in pride at the papers spread across her floor. Most were covered in shaky scribbles, products of her unpracticed magic and a horn that had not been maintained. But a few—the more recent ones—held actual pictures. With a little imagination, a viewer could see an acoustic guitar on one and a drawing of a pair of sunglasses on the other. Still other papers were covered in attempts at writing with magic. One in particular was covered in Half-Beat’s name, starting clumsily at the top and slowly growing neater and neater as it approached the edge of the paper. Cadence gave the little filly a big hug. “You’re a good girl, Half-Beat. Keep practicing and soon your magic will be great.” The happy filly hugged the princess back. But not all of her time at the hospital was happy. As sunlight began to stream into the room, a songbird chirped outside the window. Half-Beat lazily opened one eye. Nothing big was happening today; she could sleep a little longer. As the bird continued to chirp Half-Beat grimaced in exasperation and pressed the pillow over her ears. But the pillow couldn’t muffle the crash of the opening door slamming into the wall. Startled awake, the filly looked up—and her blood turned to ice. Her father, once again looking drunk and angry, stumbled into her room. “There ya are, you little brat!” “Help!” Half-Beat screamed before pausing, shocked. Had she just spoken? “Get back here!” The stallion leapt onto her bed and growled at her. In panic mode now, Half-Beat struggled to open the window and escape. She just kept screaming, “Help! Somepony! Anypony! Save me!” “Wake up, dear! It’s just a dream!” Shaking violently, Half-Beat opened her eyes to find a nurse standing over her, looking very concerned. “Are you alright?” Once again mute, the unicorn shook her head shakily and glanced around the room. Quickly she grabbed paper and a crayon off her table. The nurses had given it to her so she could color, but now she had to write. Gripping the crayon in her mouth, too shaken to use magic, she wrote “BAD DREAM” in shaky letters on the paper and held it up for the nurse to see. “Oh, honey…” The nurse reached out to stroke Half-Beat’s mane. “I’m right here. You’ll be okay.” She brightened. “Maybe somepony can help you with your nightmares.” Puzzled, Half-Beat wondered what a nurse could possibly do. After all, a dream was a dream—just a vapor that disappeared in the morning. Nopony could do anything about a dream. Right?