Soft Snow let out a yawn, he felt exhausted from the day's revelations. He curled himself into a ball and rested his head against the soft fur of his belly and closed his eyes.
The larger pony like creatures were huddled together talking among themselves in their weird language. They seemed to come to an agreement as they fell silent. The sound of hooves striking the floor caused his ears to perk up. Something warm and soft brushed against his face, the touch was soothing and calmed his racing mind. He opened his eyes and saw the pink pony's muzzle less than a foot away from his face, she looked at him with a joyful expression on her face. Opening her mouth she spoke in a happy but final tone, as if promising something.
Bouncing towards the door she left the room. His eyes felt heavy but he managed a soft smile as he watched her leave. Closing his eyes once more, he let the world of the dreaming quickly claim him.
Pinkie bounced into the hall, where Caring Skies and Doctor Horse were talking quietly among themselves, their backs turned to Pinkie. Silently she crept closer to the two ponies to better hear what they were saying.
"Are you sure you want ask her to do that, she has a reputation and may be too immature for that role."
"Yes, I'm sure. No one has come forward as his parents yet so I will have to find somepony to foster him. You saw the way he acts around her, he trusts her and that is what is most important at the moment."
"I still think somepony else would be better"
"What are you talking about?" interrupted Pinkie causing both ponies to jump in surprise.
They turned and glared at her. Pinkie rolling around giggling "You should've seen your faces, it was priceless." Doctor Horse gestured with a hoof and silently mouthed 'See' to Caring Skies.
Caring Skies rolled her eyes at the doctor then took a moment to compose herself. "Pinkie...”, she started unsure how to approach the subject with her she decided to test the waters, “I noticed the colt... I mean Soft Snow seems to like you"
"Of course he does silly. Everypony likes me", confirmed Pinkie.
"What she means is you seem to have calming effect on him" Doctor Horse interjected "and we were wondering if we could enlist your help later today so we can finish his diagnosis." Caring Skies raised an eyebrow at Doctor Horse, she had not been expecting him to suddenly change his position.
"Ah, yes. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated" Caring Skies confirmed still skeptical of the Doctor Horse's intentions.
Pinkie's smile grew, "You can count on me." A giggle escaped her mouth as she gave an exaggerated salute.
"Thanks Pinkie, we'll see you in a couple of hours once Soft Snow has finished his nap", With that Caring Skies and Doctor Horse left Pinkie and walked towards her office.
Standing in front of the door she turned to look at Doctor Horse, "What made you change your opinion of Pinkie?"
"Nothing, I still don't think Pinkie would make a good long term foster parent but I am willing to give her a chance to prove me wrong".
Pinkie trotted, smiling cheerfully, the streets were quiet as few ponies willing to brave the elements. A small contingent of earth ponies worked diligently to clean streets, creating large snow banks against the sides of buildings that lined the road. After rounding a bend, Sugarcube Corner came into view.
The bell above the door rang as she entered, "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! What can I get you today?", said Mrs Cake from behind the counter. Mrs Cake was bored, few ponies had yet to visit her humble establishment due to the deep snow. Seeing it was only Pinkie who had walked in made her slightly disappointed, but she was careful not to let it show.
"Hello Mrs Cake," greeted Pinkie while looking at the deserted interior of the establishment. "I see you weren't kidding when you said it was going to be a quiet day."
"Hello dear. I think it will pick up soon, the streets are almost cleared," Mrs Cake said with a sigh, "How did welcoming the new colt to Ponyville go?"
Pinkie took a deep breath and told Mrs Cake about her encounter with the colt. She told her how he started off scared but after a long hug and some cupcakes he seemed to warm up. Mrs Cake nodded and smiled at the information but one thing bothered her, "Were they able to locate his parents?"
"Unfortunately no. I heard Caring Skies mention she put out missing foal notices for the colt but no one has come forward yet," Pinkie explained, her expression wilting. After a moment, she brightened as an idea popped into her head. "Oh! I know, I will get him the most super fantastic 'I am going to do everything I can to help you' present to cheer him up!"
"That's a great thought, have any ideas?"
"Hmm", Pinkie tapped her hoof against her chin in thought. "Ooo! How about....." She began but then shook her head, "Nope, never mind that won't work." Pinkie sat herself on the floor and resumed a position of contemplation.
Two minutes passed and Mrs Cake began to worry for her as she sat there unmoving as if petrified. Cautiously she approached her, "Pinkie?", Mrs Cake Tentatively asked gently giving Pinkie a nudge with her hoof. Frowning she tried once more to rouse the frozen pony.
"Ah-ha!" exclaimed Pinkie causing Mrs Cake to jump back in surprise. "I know the perfect present." Promptly getting up she galloped by the recovering Mrs Cake, up the stairs and out of sight.
Nurse Red Heart walked down the hall, her shift had just started and she had her eyes peeled looking for Lemon Heart so she could relieve her. She had been through most of the hospital but there was still no sign of her. Looking in the room on her right she finally found her, she was having a conversation with a lone stallion and from the tangled state of her mane she did not seem to be enjoying it.
Red Heart waited outside the door for Lemon Heart to finish with her patient. She did not have to wait long as Lemon Heart soon came storming out of the room slamming the door behind her. "Tough day?" she asked drawing the attention of her frazzled co-worker.
"Nah, it’s been fine, I just can't stand that patient." She let out a sigh, "He keeps calling me Lemon Drops as he tries to flirt. It's so aggravating I want to scream."
Red Heart let out a little chuckle, "Well other than your flirtatious friend is there anyone else I should be keeping an eye on, Lemon Drops?"
"Don't you start!" she warned, giving her an annoyed glare.
"Sorry, I couldn’t help myself."
"It's fine", Lemon Heart assured taking in a deep breath to calm herself. "There is one other patient you should keep an eye on though. You know the colt that you admitted last night?" Red Heart nodded remembering a distraught Pinkie holding a shivering colt. "He has had a couple of incidents since he woke up."
"Oh? What happened?"
As they walked down the hall towards the locker room Lemon Heart explained what had that morning. A frown appeared on Red Heart’s face and only grew deeper the longer she listened.
Red heart let out a mournful sigh as they stopped outside the door to the locker room, "That’s a bit concerning. I’ll be sure to check on him every so often."
"That would be best" Lemon Heart agreed while she opened the door, "Well, talk to you later." The door closed behind her leaving Red Heart alone in the hall.
Deciding to check on the colt first she made her way down the hall. Poking her head into his room she saw that he was curled up in a ball sleeping contently. Not wanting to disturb him she quietly exited the room.
Making her way back to the lobby she checked up on some of the other patients currently residing in the wing. The most interesting patient was an older stallion who had recently fallen and broken his hip. He was almost ready to be discharged and was in good spirits, telling her many stories about his misadventures. While she enjoyed hearing people's life stories, she was on duty and had to excuse herself after fifteen minutes.
Sitting behind the desk in the lobby she looked over her patient files trying to decide where she should make her rounds next.
"Hey Red Heart", said a cheerful feminine voice from the other side of her desk.
Looking up she saw Pinkie standing in front of her. "Hello Pinkie. Here to see the colt... I mean Soft Snow?"
"Yup," exclaimed Pinkie, "and I even brought him a super fantastic present!"
"Can the present giving wait for a bit? He was asleep last time I checked and I don't want to disturb him."
Soft Snow slowly began to stir, opening his eyes he was greeted with a wall of soft white fur. His heart raced momentarily but quickly calmed down as he remembered he was looking at his own fur. He doubted he would ever get used to seeing his new body. Looking around the empty room caused him to shiver, he was alone and he hated being alone. His last family member was dead and to make it worse he was stuck in a clumsy unfamiliar body. Curling himself into a tighter ball he sobbed quietly into his fur.
His brooding was interrupted by an uncomfortable pressure forming in his lower body. It was a new sensation but he quickly figured out what it meant, he had to go to the bathroom. Using his forelimbs he pushed himself into a sitting position and looked forlornly towards the door of the bathroom. Remembering his earlier attempt to walk he looked down at his hind legs and tried to will them to move. He could feel mattress under his legs but no matter how hard he concentrated his legs would not cooperate.
The need to go was becoming more intense, with great effort he pushed himself to the edge of the bed. He looked at his forehooves with disdain at their inability to grip anything. He dug his hooves into the bed hoping it would allow some grip as he lowered himself down towards the floor. Half way down his hooves slipped.
~thump~
"Ouch", he groaned as his body hit the cold tiled surface. After taking a quick breath, he reached forward with a hoof hoping to find some purchase on the smooth floor. He tried to drag himself forward but instantly lost his grip and rolled onto his side. Taking care to right himself he tried once more, this time instead of the using his hoof he used rested a large portion of his forelimb on the ground. He attempted to pull himself forward once more, ever so slightly his body moved. Repeating the motion with his other leg he crawled ever so slightly towards his goal.
Every inch forward was required more and more effort to progress. Three quarters of the way to the bathroom, his forelimbs refused to cooperate further, they had no strength left in them and felt like jello. The need to go was reaching a bursting point and he was unsure if he could hold it much longer.
"Help!", he desperately called out, hoping someone would hear his cry.
The sound of galloping hooves on hard tile could be heard coming down the hall. The door flung open and a white pony with a pink mane entered the room followed by the familiar pink pony. The white pony tried to approach him but he shied away from her presence. Looking over her shoulder she motioned for the pink pony to try.
The pink pony approached him, lowering herself down onto her belly she looked into his eyes, concern was plastered across her face. She said something in her own language in soft tone.
"I need to pee", he wined hoping she would understand him. She stared back at him confused so he tried again, "I need to pee." This time he motioned weakly with a numb forelimb towards the door of the washroom. Her gaze followed his hoof, her demeanor brightened with understanding.
Standing up she took a step towards him. Using her mouth the she picked him up by the scruff of his neck. Dangling in the air Soft Snow could not help but reflect on how weird being carried like that was.
When they entered the washroom he was surprised to see that the only thing he was not familiar with was the toilet itself. Gone were the large porcelain thrones, in their place was a elevated platform with a long oval porcelain hole in the middle. On either side there were indents where one could comfortably rest their hooves. A small pedal was placed just to the side of the front left indent
The pink pony carried him over and slowly lowered him towards the toilet allowing him to properly seat his fore-hooves. His rear legs though simply collapsed as soon as weight was applied to them. Fortunately his legs were spread far enough apart that his body ended up resting in a impromptu squatting position.
The she let go of his scruff, the sudden shift weight caused him to lose his balance. He let out a yelp as he rolled forward and fell into the bowl. He heard giggling coming from above him, cheeks reddening he flailed about trying to right himself on the slippery surface. Once he righted himself he turned to the pink pony and gave her an angry pout.
Her laughing stopped and she reached down and picked him up once more.and repositioned him careful and held on. He was a embarrassed to have someone standing over him as the went. Taking a deep breath to calm his nervousness he relieved himself.
The she moved him off to the side, placing him on the floor. The white pony who had been standing watch from just outside the door entered and hoofed over a clean washcloth. Once his hooves were wiped down the pink pony picked him up and placed him on her back and trotted happily out of the washroom.
Exiting the washroom Pinkie found a nice clear area near the window. Gently she placed Soft Snow on the floor, "I got you a present", she said in a sing song voice. Pinkie pulled a ball out from behind her back and placed it on the ground. Using his forelimbs, he pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked at the ball, then up at back up at her trying to figure out where she had obtained it. She gave the ball a soft nudge, it rolled until it came to a stop inches from his hooves.
A smile spread across his face as pulled himself closer to the ball. With both forehooves he reached forward and tried to grip the ball, but much to his ire it slipped out of his grip. Flailing his fore-hooves he tried to get it back under his control but it was to late and it rolled out of his reach.
"I got it", exclaimed Pinkie as she dashed to intercept the ball.
"When you said you brought him an amazing present, I wasn’t expecting a ball", interjected Red Heart who had been watching Pinkie interact with the colt.
"You got something against balls?" Pinkie asked, giving Red Heart an accusing glare while she rolled the it back towards Soft Snow.
"No of course not,” she assured waving a hoof in a dismissive gesture, ”I was just expecting something else."
"Well a ball is perfect, he can play with it anywhere and it's the perfect thing to help with his coordination."
"Huh… You’re right, a ball is the perfect present for him", Red Heart was dumbstruck, she never thought that Pinkie to be so resourceful in anything that did not involve a party.
Pinkie nodded in agreement then turned her attention back to Soft Snow who instead of trying to grab simply attempted to kick the ball back in Pinkie's general direction. The sudden shift in weight from his movements caused him to lose his balance making him to face plant into the floor. They both gasped worried he had hurt himself but instead of crying he broke into a fit of laughter though which made Pinkie grin, determined to keep the game going she retrieved the ball.
His next wild uncontrolled kick sent the ball flying towards Red Heart. She looked at the ball sitting in front of her hooves then back at Soft Snow who was giving her an expectant look with puppy dog eyes. Letting out a sigh of submission she joined the game. In an impressive display of coordination she took the ball and began pass between each of her hooves before sending it back towards the colt.
He smiled and broke into laughter as the ball was rolled back to him. In an attempt to emulate her he attempted to roll the ball between his forelimbs but promptly made friends with the tiled floor once more.
The game went on for half an hour. Soft Snow seemed to have warmed up to Nurse Red Heart. He was also getting better at using forelimbs and could now return the ball to them with a fair bit of accuracy, though he still tended to lose his balance.
A soft rumble emanated from the colt causing him to shy away in embarrassment from the two mare's amused expressions. "Looks like somepony is hungry," Red Heart let out a little chuckle, "Pinkie, why don't you get Soft snow situated on the bed and I will go grab something for him eat."
"Okie Dokie!" Lifting him up off the floor, Pinkie made her way towards the bed and carefully placed him on it while Red Heart exited the room.
Soft Snow laid on his bed letting out a content sigh, remnants of his meal stained his fur around his mouth and hooves causing them to have a sticky sensation. Curious to test his new adhesiveness he quietly dragged himself closer to the unsuspecting nurse who was currently in deep conversation with the Pink Pony.
Settling down into a makeshift crouching position he prepared himself for his attack. Using his forelimbs he propelled himself forward wrapping his hooves around her neck. Taken completely by surprise she reared up on her hind legs while letting out a surprised whinny. The test failed and he was sent flying backwards, bouncing twice on his bed he finally came to rest on his pillow causing him to burst into laughter.
The nurse held her hoof over her mouth and her cheeks were glowing crimson with embarrassment. She shot him an annoyed glare and did her best to wipe off some of the sticky mess left behind. Turning to the pink pony she pointed towards the washroom as she spoke.
Nodding the pink pony left the room then promptly reappeared with a bucket of soapy water with a washcloth on her back. Taking the washcloth in her mouth the white pony dipped it in the soapy water. Shifting the cloth to her hoof she reached out and began to clean the food from his fur.
The door opened and two familiar ponies walked into the room just as she finished cleaning him. They spoke briefly with the nurse then the brown stallion approached his bed. He was initially nervous but he buried the feeling, none of the ponies had given him any reason for him not to trust them instead they seemed to doing everything in their power to help him.
The stallion spoke in a comforting voice, closing his eyes he reached out with his hooves and gently moved them across Soft Snow's head. A slight tingling sensation followed where the hooves had made contact with his hide forcing Soft Snow to keep his body from violently shivering.
After a couple of minutes he stopped and withdrew his hooves.
Doctor Hooves let out a sigh, he was unable to to find any sort of head injury that could explain why Soft Snow seemed to have trouble with his body. He turned to face the others, "I can't find anything wrong with him, every scan I have run points to him being a perfectly healthy earth pony colt."
"That's good news, right?" Pinkie tentatively asked looking between Caring Skies and the Doctor.
"Normally yes, but in this case there is something obviously wrong but I can't tell you what it is and if the colt knows what has happened to him he can't tell us due to the language barrier."
"Are there any treatments you would recommend?" asked Caring Skies.
"As I said there is nothing wrong with him from my point of view so unfortunately there is nothing I can do to treat his condition immediately. One thing we can do though is start him on physical therapy. Hopefully in time we can get him back on his hooves."
Pinkie was concerned, young foals were supposed to run around, laugh and have fun but Soft Snow would be denied this. Wanting to do something do something more for him Pinkie looked up Caring Skies, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Well there is one thing, but I want you to think long and hard about your decision,” Pinkie nodded waiting for her to continue “Since no one has come forward as his parents I need to find somepony to foster him.” She took a moment to give Pinkie a serious look. “And I was wondering if you would consider taking him in? “
The room was silent for a full minute, Pinkie's expression unreadable as if she had been petrified. Pinkie’s opened her mouth to respond but she could not find her voice. “You...” she stuttered, “You really want me foster him?” disbelieving what was asked of her.
“I do”, assured Caring Skies nodding her head reassuringly, “But If you accept you must understand that he would be your responsibility to care for. Which will be much harder than normal as he will need somepony nearby at all times to assist him due to his condition. You will also have to provide him with a healthy diet not just pastries, when he is hurt or sick you will need to ensure he gets the medical attention he needs and once we figure out how to tackle the language barrier he will need to attend school."
"When you put it like that it sounds kind of scary, but.." She looked down at Soft Snow who looked into her eyes and gave her a small smile. That was all the encouragement she needed looking at Caring Skies with fiery resolve burning in her eyes, "If this is how I can help, I want to try."
“I am glad to hear that and to be honest if you weren’t a little bit intimidated I would be worried,” she assured, resting a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. “Now Soft Snow will need to stay here at the hospital till the end of the week so we make sure there are no other complications. It should also allow us to get him on a good physical therapy routine. You should use this time to prepare to take him home”