Chapter 11 - Comet's Conundrum
Rudolph laid in his hospital bed, head throbbing and arms, sore. A nurse sat by the bed, smiling at him.
"Good morning, Rudolph."
"W-who are y-you? How d-do you k-know m-my name?" She waved the clipboard in her hand. Rudolph said nothing.
"Did it feel good to fly again? Fly like you used to?" Rudolph said nothing.
"It's okay. I know you have mixed feelings about it. I have something I need to explain to you." Rudolph half-listened, half-thought about Rainbow Dash.
"Your skull is damaged. I'm sure you knew that, but it's damaged to a new degree now. Your acrobatic skill in the air will be unmatched if you push yourself. But at a cost."
"C-cost?"
"Yes. Every time you release yourself, every time you fly like you could, the damage to the motor function portion of your brain will worsen. Your flying and coordination will worsen to the point that you could only fly if you push yourself. After that..."
"Af-after that?" She said nothing for awhile, and then looked at him, the sadness apparent in her eyes.
"The Motor and Premotor Cortexs will develop an aneurysm, reducing you to a catatonic state." Rudolph swallowed hard, tears welling in his eyes.
"Wh-what am I s-supposed to d-do with that?" His sorrow stung his already aching head.
"I'm sorry, Rudolph," She felt just as bad having to be the one to give him the news. Using telekinesis, she set down the clipboard, and turned his head to look at her, gently. He stared into her light grey face. "Listen to me. You can't let this stop you." He didn't understand. "You... you have the potential to go out and be known for generations for your work and accomplishments. The things that hold you back can only make you stronger in ways you can never fully understand. Believe me when I tell you, pursue what you love until you can't anymore. You have to keep going. You can keep going."
"Wh-who are you? D-do I n-know you?" She released her grip and turned and walked away. She turned only once to look at him.
"Maybe. Good luck, Rudolph." And with that, she was gone.
He looked out the windows. Pegasi moved about in the sky, and he was jealous of every single one of them. Some delivered packages, some did acrobatics, and some did whatever they wanted. At that moment, Rudolph would've given everything to be any one of them. Age, sex, color, it didn't matter. To have the head and wings of someone normal. His self-pity was interrupted by a knock on the door. He turned and saw the one pony he truly wished to see standing in the doorway.
Rainbow Dash. Although one of her wings was clipped and casted, she was still unbelievably quick. She rushed over to the bed, apologizing and crying and mouthing off about his mother. He just looked at her until she stopped talking.
"R-rainbow Dash." He hoped she didn't beat herself up about this. It was the wrong message he wanted to come across.
"Red, I..."
"Shhh." He looked into those wet eyes of hers and smiled. He felt he was starting to know what that Nurse meant. "Y-your wing is c-clipped."
"I don't care about that. They told me you'd never fly again."
"N-not never. Sh-shouldn't."
"Did... did you hurt yourself? For me?"
"Y-yes. I w-wouldn't have d-done it an-any other w-way." She bit her lip.
"Why? Why me?" Although it hurt to move, he pulled her close and rested his forehead on hers.
"Because." He let her go when he heard a knock on the door.
Comet, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity, Cupid, Pinkie Pie and Applejack all entered. They carried assorted gifts, from flowers and cards to actually wrapped presents. Pinkie Pie had the remnants of a dozen cupcakes.
"G-guys."
"That was a brave thing you did, Rudolph." Rainbow Dash smiled at him when Comet said this.
"We just want you to know how thankful we all are. And all of Ponyville, too." Twilight was right behind Comet.
"So we're throwing a party!" Pinkie burst out some streamers and confetti, making a small mess.
"You are a true friend to Rainbow Dash," Rarity smiled at him.
"And a true friend to all of us." Fluttershy joined in the festivities. Rudolph couldn't help but smile a little and laugh.
"Y-yeah. Th-thanks."
He was in the hospital for three days after that to ensure he was stable physically and mentally. That made his stay a total of eight days in length, and without frequent visits from all his friends (and even more frequent visits from Rainbow Dash), he wasn't sure he would have made it mentally. He returned home to Ponyville to a welcome address by the Mayor and a cheering crowd of ponies. Although he couldn't fly, he knew he would be happy here, in Ponyville. Much to the dismay of his mother, his request to work full-time for Comet as Assistant Everfree Ranger was passed, and he was given a house right in the middle of Ponyville.
The next few days in Ponyville were spent preparing for a special celebration, Nightmare Night. Rainbow Dash, who, when flying carefully and slower than she liked, found she could fly with the help of a cloud as support. She spent the days before the festival with Rudolph, preparing a very special costume to call her own.
Comet didn't understand the purpose of Nightmare Night and, because of the recent storm, was sending multiple reports a day to the weather committee out of fear of something developing before the celebration. A watched pot never boiled, and Comet intended to keep it that way. This was much to Cupid's displeasure, but found that when she wasn't reading fortunes for ponies in her little shop, she would spend her time in Rarity's boutique, talking about everything and nothing, posing in new dresses for her to ensure they fit, and doing the occasional reading for Rarity.
"Rarity, can I tell you a secret?" She became very serious one afternoon in particular.
"Of course, Cupid, anything."
"I... I have a crush on Comet. I have for a long, long time. Longer than I've known you." Rarity would have laughed if it wasn't for the serious tone in her voice.
"I... see. What a... shocking revelation?" She sat down next to Cupid. It was obviously bothering her.
"It's just... he's been so busy lately. I want... I want to tell him how I feel."
"That's the spirit, darling! If you need anything from me, don't hesitate to ask."
"How... how would I...?"
"Well," Rarity knew what she wanted, and already had something in mind. "What about Nightmare Night? Everyone will be at the festival, so I'm sure we could put something romantic together." Cupid squealed in excitement, hugging Rarity. They immediately set to work, buzzing like bees and planning and giggling like the rest of Ponyville.
The night of the Nightmare Night celebration, Comet found that he was forced from multiple sides to dress-up, although the only person that came all the way out to his house for candy collecting was Applebloom. She was so cute in her "Wife of Coltenstein" outfit, Comet couldn't help but laugh every time she showed up. Although she was the only one that saw his friar outfit, he didn't especially care. After the third time Applebloom had come to the door, Comet was distracted yet again by another knock at the door. He had long since taken off his costume, and went about the house in his Ranger uniform.
"Applebloom," Comet laughed to himself, talking to her through the door, "I like your costume, but you can't keep coming all the way out here by you---" He opened the door to find Cupid standing at the door. She had a red and gold dress that shimmered in the moonlight, her hair pinned behind her head with what appeared to be one of her cards. She smiled at him, eyes glittering like the stars Comet was writing about.
"You... you look... beautiful..." Comet had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"What say you play hooky with me for a bit?" She gestured for the trail down the hill. She didn't especially like the lines Rarity told her to say, but she appeared to be more experienced than her at this.
"I... uh... well, Cupid, y'see..." Comet rubbed his two front hooves together, stumbling for words. Cupid made a pouting face.
"You'd waste away your night inside rather than going on a little walk with me?"
"I... eheh... sure, let's go." Comet shut the door behind him. Cupid sighed under her breath. She owed Rarity a gold coin for the pouty-face working. Comet felt horribly under-dressed in his Ranger uniform, but it was actually the most professional piece of clothing he owned. One of the only pieces of clothing he owned. They walked down the hill to the gate.
"Did you have some place special in particular?"
"Actually, I---" She caught a glimpse of camo-Rarity in the corner of her eye. She was motioning with her hoof, suggesting she didn't know where she was going. Cupid turned to him and smiled. "Actually, I have no idea. Let's just, take a walk."
"Alright." Comet didn't mind getting the chance to stretch his legs. He was disconcerted to find that she turned them toward the village.
"Have you been down to the festival yet?" Cupid tried to make small talk as they walked.
"You know, I haven't? I love your costume by the way. You look great." Cupid beamed at his compliment.
"Thanks. Rarity made it for me, special for Nightmare Night." Comet nodded. She did appear to be spending a lot of time with Rarity lately.
"Nightmare Night. It seems like a kind of silly holiday, doesn't it?" Camo-Rarity motioned to agree with him.
"Yeah. Pretty dumb, right?"
"I wouldn't say dumb. I mean, I love a good festival as much as the next colt, but I've always loved the night. Why do they have to mock the one that made it so beautiful?" Cupid felt stupid for suggesting the holiday was dumb.
"Nightmare Moon? Didn't she try to make it night forever?" Comet grinned at her.
"Would that be such a bad thing? A beautiful night like this one, forever?" Cupid smiled at him. That same smile that gave him butterflies in his stomach.
"I guess you're right. Oh! What's this?" They found the elaborate display of the town caught them both off guard. The decoration, the music, the festivities, everything was much more than either of them had expected. Games, food, comstumes, candy, it was all here. Applebloom was overjoyed that Comet had come down, but unsure why it was Cupid that succeeded and not her.
"Comet," a small friend of Applebloom's came up to him. Although he had never met Comet, she hardly ever stopped talking about him. "Why aren't you in a costume?" Comet wasn't sure what to say to the small, brown, and white one.
"Why Pipsqueak," Cupid had talked to the smallest colt a number of time, "Comet is in costume. Aren't you, Comet?"
"Of... of course." Comet grinned at the friend of Applebloom, "I'm a... Creature Catcher!" Applebloom laughed at this. He had remembered one of her stories.
"Isn't it a delightful costume, Pip?" The card in Cupid's hair stirred when she spoke. She had no idea it took as much, if not more focus to keep it still than it did to move it.
"Wow, Comet, that's amazing!" Pipsqueak jumped and ran around them. "Have you met Princess Luna?"
"Can't say that I have." Comet blinked. "Why, has she gobbled up anyone yet?"
"No, but she is really good at Tarantula Toss!" He ran off with Applebloom to be with the other ponies.
"It sounds almost as if he knows her personally," Comet laughed as he and Cupid got some drinks.
"I have no doubt he does. She was playing with them not even an hour ago." Princess Luna was in town? Tonight? Why hadn't anypony told him? He was locked up in his house for most of the evening, he surmised.
"There's a pony I would love to get a chance to talk to. All the bodies in the night sky, all the stars, there are so many questions I have for her." As Comet listed questions to himself on nebulas, planet formation, and constellations, Cupid wished there was some way she could get his attention back on her. From under the table, Camo-Rarity tried giving her suggestions for changing the topic. Games, food, anything. Games sounded like something they could laugh about later.
"Let's play a game, Comet." She stood in the square, awaiting his input. Ponies scrambled about, laughing and playing. Although Comet was perfectly happy watching, he didn't want to leave her hanging.
"Sounds like fun," Comet smiled at her.
"What game do you want to play?" Comet didn't have an answer for her. He looked at the assorted games and found that there wasn't a single one that he was particularly interested in embarrassing himself at. He watched the Cutie-Mark Crusaders work together to pitch a pumpkin into a target with a crude catapult.
"That looks like fun. Wanna check it out?"
"Sure." As long as she could be the center of his attention, she didn't mind. They approached a catapult, pumpkin at the ready. Comet aimed it carefully. If a collection of fillies in kindergarten could hit a target, so... could... h--- Comet's concentration was shattered by a crack of thunder. He leapt in fright and collapsed against the firing mechanism, unconscious. Bent at his weight, the catapult pelted the pumpkin over the target and out of sight. Comet rolled off the firing mechanism stunned and irritated.
"Glad to see you're feeling better, Rainbow Dash." He cleared his head with a good shake. She rolled on her cloud, laughing and laughing.
"You should've seen the look on your face! It was priceless!" Cupid was glad she saw her coming.
"I... I missed, didn't I?" Comet heaved a sigh. He looked at Cupid, hoping she would say something to cheer him up.
"It... it was really close, Comet," She lied, "If Rainbow Dash hadn't gotten the jump on you, you totally would've hit it."
"No way, Cupid, he shot it like 40 yards too far," Rainbow Dash laughed, thinking it was a joke. She shut up and zoomed off when Cupid shot daggers at her.
"It's okay, Comet," Perhaps games were a bad idea. "It's a lot harder than it looks." As they walked across the square, they passed the waitress from the restaurant. She was ecstatic to see Comet out of his house for once.
"He lives! Glad to see you get out of the cave. Enjoying the festival?"
"It's... okay I guess?" Comet wasn't sure if he was having fun yet.
"You should try the Apple Dunk. It's wild." She smiled at him under her bonnet. She was dressed in a dress that was probably as old as Comet's parents. It somehow fit on her.
"We'll check it out. I'll stop by for brunch tomorrow, okay?" He and Cupid turned to leave.
"Alrighty! Have fun you two!" She watched them go with a knowing smile. They approached Applejack's basin of apples, a group of giggling fillies running past.
"Well Ah'll be," Applejack was happy to see Comet out and about, "Ah was about to send a search pony. You came down for Nightmare Night, after all. Ah was afraid you'da locked yerself up all day. 'Tain't good fer ya, y'hear?"
"All right, all right." Comet laughed at her lecture. He had been holed up for the past few days, and he did feel a bit paler. "I'll try not to spend so much time in my work." He eyed the green fluid in the basin with apprehension. Applejack laughed at his reaction.
"It's just water, Sugarcube. T'ain't gonna hurt ya. Give it a shot." Cupid watched expectantly as Comet dunked his head in the basin. He had to come up for air a number of times before he was able to find an apple at all with his mouth. As time wore on, his search became more fervent, sloshing water all over himself. Cupid had to protect her dress a number of times.
"Don't hurt yourself, Comet." She wasn't sure he heard him. Finally, he surfaced with an apple in mouth, panting and out of breath. Cupid and Applejack both cheered for him as he chewed his apple triumphantly. Sopping wet and without a care, Comet decided that he maybe he should have tried Nightmare Night before shutting it down. He was actually really enjoying himself once he got into the spirit. Comet and Cupid talked and laughed for the remainder of the evening, chatting and joking with the rest of the costumed camaraderie. Once, Comet saw Twilight Sparkle walking with an allicorn whose mane sparkled like the night sky. His eyes widened at the revelation of who Twilight was with. He made eye contact with each of them for just a brief moment before Cupid quickly pulled him away.
Cupid had attracted quite a crowd by the end of the night, costumed ponies asking her for readings and tricks with her cards. Comet took that opportunity to slip away, looking for Twilight and Princess Luna. When he found he couldn't find them, he returned to Cupid's side to find that she had made an elaborate serpent with her cards, which slithered and clawed at the air. Distracted, he didn't think much of it until he returned home.
~~~
Twilight Sparkle returned to her library, flustered. Confused, Spike tried to decipher her frustration.
"Something wrong, Twilight?"
"Yes. No. I'm not sure." She paced about as she took off her hand-made costume. No wonder she couldn't find Comet. He was with Cupid the whole night.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, loads, Spike."
"Did someone do something wrong?"
"I... I'm not sure." She walked upstairs to look out the window. Spike wasn't sure what she meant.
"Was it Night- I mean, Princess Luna?"
"No."
"Was it Rainbow Dash's pranking?"
"What? No."
"Was it Rarity or Fluttershy or Applejack or Pinkie Pie?"
"No, no, no, no, no!"
"Was it Comet? I didn't see him at all tonight."
"He was with Cupid all night." Twilight played with her telescope while he talked to her.
"Why are you mad, though?" Spike wasn't sure if that was the problem.
"I don't know!" She snapped at him. "...I'm sorry, Spike. I just, I think it makes me angry, but I don't know why, and that makes me angrier."
"Uh... do you not like Cupid?" Twilight had to stop and think about it.
"I don't not like her, Spike. She's not a bad pony... I don't know." She flopped down on her bed, exhausted. It was a long night. She didn't want to think about it anymore. She rolled up in her blankets and fell asleep. Spike watched her snooze. He hadn't seen her so angry about something in a long time. Looking over at the telescope, he was curious to see what she was looking at.
Through the lens, he saw a dark figure sitting on the roof of a house, staring at the stars. He looked at Twilight Sparkle, unsure what to make of it. Too tired to think, he found his bed and curled up in it, falling quickly into a deep slumber.
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""Yes. No. I'm not sure." She paced about as she took off her hand-made costume. No wonder she couldn't find Comet. She was with Cupid the whole night."
Uh...Since when did Comet turn into a girl?
OMG Pronouns suck! Fixed it
"I don't not like her"
I freakin' hate double negatives with a passion.
I like what you have done with Rudolph :) He was a really boring character when you introduced him :)
@ Zyggy - It was intentional. She's frustrated and confused when she says it, so although it is incorrect grammatically, I felt it fits. I make a personal effort to seldom use them, so I hope this one can slide.
@ Natr1x - I'm glad. Characters that are simply background characters are never good enough for me. He is a very important addition to the story and is going to play a pivotal role in the future :3
Please don't not stop using them in in the writing that isn't not your own without not including characters that don't not happen to not belong to you.
What did I just write?
I really don't know.
17679
Translation:
Please stop using them in in the writing that is your own without not including characters that happen to not belong to you.
It's just like math. Double negatives cancel each other out.
@ Zyggy - I have a Rolix and I'm not afraid to use it
Thanks for your feedback. I'll keep it in mind that I should expect backlash when taking creative leaps in directions that some may not understand.
In all seriousness though, the double negative establishes a confusing grey area. If anything, your frustration furthers my reasoning for using it. It is improfessional. You are correct in that regard. I could rephrase it to say something similar without the double negative. Also true. However, the double negative (my first one and most likely the only one I intend on using) was carefully chosen because of the confusion it causes. It establishes a grey area that characterizes precisely how Twilight Sparkle feels about the situation. To not not like something does not necessarily mean you like it, but that it isn't something you dislike. This makes it not negative, but not necessarily positive which is what I was trying to establish.
17852
I understand it, it's just a pet peeve.
one that really, really sucks.