//------------------------------//
// Alternate "Denial": Rumble and Button in the Hospital 
// Story: Someone Still Loves You: Scraps 
// by brokenimage321 
//------------------------------//

“Hold still, please,” Nurse Redheart said.

Rumble gritted his teeth as Nurse Redheart daubed at a cut over his eyebrow with a cotton ball full of something strong and antiseptic. It burned as it sank into his cut--something he almost found himself thankful for. Anything to feel something other than the deep emptiness in the pit of his gut. 

Button Mash sat across from Rumble in the small treatment room. A smaller mare, Candy Stripe, was in the process of bandaging his left eye, already swollen shut. His right, however, stared at Rumble, full of impotent fury. 

Rumble met his glare, then looked quickly away. He didn’t want to have to think about what he had done. 

He heard raised voices and glanced up. Through the small window in the door, he could see Miss Cheerilee and Button’s mom, Mrs. Mash. He couldn’t hear their words--but he had a pretty good idea of what they were saying. And it would only get worse when Thunderlane got here. 

Rumble bowed his head a little. Nurse Redheart tutted at him, but said nothing. She turned away, then returned with a small stack of butterfly bandages, which she started to apply to his cut.


[Rumble mopes, as in the published chapter. He needs to protect Scootaloo, because no one else will.]

But that didn’t mean that he liked doing it. He meant what he had said: he loved her, he really did. But he wasn’t a fighter. Not really. And, though he had come off better in their fight--he didn’t like the look that Button was giving him.

Suddenly the door swung open, and in strode Miss Cheerilee and Mrs. Mash. Mrs. Mash shouldered past Candy Stripe, knelt down, and took Button in her arms.

“There, there,” she murmured, “you’re gonna be okay.” 

“Geroff me,” Button spat.

Mrs. Mash began to stroke his mane. “Come on,” she said, “Tell Mommy where you’re hurt.” Button thought he saw her turn and shoot a look at Cheerilee. “Are any of your teeth loose?” she asked Button. “Anything broken? Could you still see out of your eye?”

Cheerilee rolled her eyes and sighed. “As I said, Mrs. Mash,” she said, “both Button and Rumble will be disciplined in accordance with Education Department guidelines--”

Mrs. Mash stood. “Both of them?” she said.  “Are you serious? Look at him!” she gestured angrily at Button. “Periorbital hematoma, tracheal contusions, third and fourth incisors loose—”

“And Rumble suffers from facial lacerations and a hairline fracture in his long pastern,” Cheerilee interrupted cooly. “Your point?”

“My point? My point,” Mrs. Mash repeated, irritated. She glared at Miss Cheerilee for a long moment before suddenly stamping her hoof. “By Celestia’s shiny white ass,” she hissed, “aren’t you going to do something?”

Rumble looked up at her, startled--as did Button, and, for a fraction of a second, Nurse Redheart. Rumble almost giggled--he didn’t know she even knew how to swear like that.

“We are,” Cheerilee replied, her voice calm, but sharp. “Both Rumble and Button are on three-day at-home suspension, effective immediately.”

“Three-day—” Mrs. Mash sputtered. “He beat up my baby, and you’re giving him a vacation?!”

Nurse Redheart snorted. She stood, then turned to face the two of them. “Contrary to your beliefs,” she said acidly, “this sort of behavior is not unusual.” Mrs. Mash turned to glare at Nurse Redheart, who returned her glare with one of her own. “Two colts fighting over a filly is completely normal, in colts who are…” she glanced Button up and down, then cleared her throat. “...of a certain age,” she finished. She turned back to Rumble, then applied another bandage. “True, they’re both rather young--though not entirely out of normal ranges--but the rules still apply: three days at-home suspension, to give them time to cool off.”





From here, the plan was to have Thunderlane show up. Rumble expects Thunderlane to be furious with him, but he's actually deferential and apologetic. Over the course of the conversation, Thunderlane would reveal that Rumble's been having nightmares, and that he keeps on calling for Scootaloo in his sleep. Understanding dawns across Button's face, and he suddenly speaks up, taking partial credit for starting the fight ("Sorry for calling you those names... I mean, goddamn, you pissed me off, but I woulda taken it the same way," that sorta thing). This would both help heal the rift between them, and calm Mrs. Mash down, though she'd still be mistrustful of Rumble for a while.