The Theory of Dove And Grenade

by TLC

Interlude

"Oh..." My eyes opened and I was instantly blinded by the room's florescent lighting. After they adjusted, I got my barrings and quickly realized where I was. I laid in a hospital bed, tubes sticking out of me and wires attached to my fur. My right wing was lying open and wrapped in gauze. I lifted my blanket to see my torso in the same fashion. My whole body was sore, my neck felt like it was put through a taffy machine, my stomach felt full for some reason, and I couldn't even feel my wing. Like I'd use it anytime soon anyway.

The door opened, revealing a white pony and red hair and and a syringe cutie mark. "Good, you're awake."

"How long have I been out?" I asked. The nurse frowned slightly.

"For about...forty-eight hours."

My eyes opened wide. Two days?! "Two days?! But I-Ow!" I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in my stomach laid me back down.

"Be careful!" The nurse said as she approached the bed. "You'll rip the stitches out. Yes, you were out for two days. Your mother came in yesterday and told me to tell you she was leaving town on a business trip." She saw me form a frown at the news and laid a hoof on mine. "There, there. Somepony else is here to see you, too."

"Really?" I asked. "Who?"

She smiled as she walked back to the door. "She didn't give me her name. She was the one who brought you in her."

My face went cold, and probably would've went pale if my fur wasn't already white. That mare. She saved me, but killed those guys! I wasn't scared. Much. This mare could be a murderer, and just waltzes in here with me on her back and stays. "W-Wait!" I called after the nurse, but it was too late. She left the room.

'Don't panic.' I plead to my self. 'Don't panic, don't panic! You freak out when you do, so don't panic!' The door opened once more. Hoping to see the nurse again, I laid still in bed, gripping the sides. The mare walked in slowly. I could see her clearly now, she had beige fur. She had a cut on her cheek, and that was it. Her yellow and black jacket was off, and I could finally see her face. She was...stunning, to say the least. Her yellow eyes looked around the room. As if I wasn't even here.

"You know the thing about hospitals..." She spoke. "...they never fail to creep you out. Whoa!" She turned to me and rushed over. "You have like a bazillion of these wires sticking out of you!"

I sat in disbelief. "Uh, hi."

She looked away from the heartbeat monitor to me. "Hi."

"...You saved me." I said.

"I did. You were pretty much bucked until I did, too." She answered quite bluntly. "You know, you shouldn't walk around neighborhoods like that by yourself. Ponies who do that might've ended up worst than you."

My expression changed from confused to annoyed. "Buck those guys. They came looking for me, I didn't just walk in and instantly get targeted."

"Why were they looking for you?" She asked, looking less blunt as I went on.

"The black one, Darkstar? Yeah, he thought I hit on his fillyfriend. I didn't. So, he took it upon himself to 'teach me a lesson.'" I said, each one of my words filled with more hate than the last.

"And you let them push you around like this?" She sounded like it wasn't obvious that I was weak.

I sank down into the hospital bed. "I'm like a twig."

The sides of her lips curved down into a frown. "Aw, don't put yourself down like that." She place a hoof on the bed. "You're not a twig. You're more of a...." She thought for a second. "A dove!"

"A what?" At least now I knew she was crazy.

"A dove, dork. You know, those things with wings that sit around the city? The ones that crap on statues?" She turned away and went over to the t.v. in the corner. She pressed a button and it turned on. "There's really no point in me doing this. Hospitals always have shit channels."

I couldn't take hearing this stranger anymore. At least, not without knowing who she is. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

The mare turned back to me while flipping through the channels. "Me?"

"No, the t.v. Of course you!"

She smiled and walked to the other side of the bed. Then hopped on to the bed and laid next to me, her eye lids closed half way and her tone changed. "Well...who are you?"

"Uh..." I froze. My mind went fuzzy. She place a hoof on my chest and started to draw circles in my fur. "My name?"

The mare, I guess, didn't hear me. "My name is Emmy."

"Emmy?" I snapped out of her trance long enough to say that.

"Nah, it's Summer." She confessed. "Summer Night."

"Where are you from?" I asked.

Summer stopped drawing circles on my chest and turned towards the ceiling. "I don't know, really...So what's your name?"

She didn't explain her answer, which made me pause before I answered "Hail." I said. "Hail Showers."

Summer snorted. "Hail Showers? What kind of name is that?"

"What kind of name is 'Summer Night'?" I shot back.

Summer sighed. "Good point." We laid there in silence, the pony on t.v. was talking about ways to make a meal only using carrots and turnips. "I'm not calling you that."

"What?"

She turned her face to me. "I refuse to call you 'Hail Showers'. It's too...dorkish."

I huffed. "Whatever. I thank you for saving my life, but refuse to have you lay here and criticize my name. And what makes you think I'd want to be even an acquaintance with you after I leave this place?" I made another attempt to sit up, ending in the same sharp pain from before. "Ah!"

"Dude. You need to lay still." Summer said, laying me back down. "You'll rip your stitches out."

"Why do you care?" I asked.

"You're the kid who was about to be murdered by a bunch of hoodlums, and you're asking me why I saved you or if I care?" She said with a know-it-all tone.

I sighed and closed my eyes. "Doesn't matter. I could've died out there and nopony in this city would've cared."

Summer sat up and loomed over me, holding a shocked expression. "What?! How could you say that?! Everypony's life matters! From the smallest ant in the dirt, to the biggest dragon..." She said, using her hooves to show how big or small the things she was mentioning. "...all life deserves to live. Even yours, Dove."

I soaked up the lecture she gave me, taking in what she said. All up to her last sentence. "What did you call me?"

Summer smiled. "Shh, shh now, little one." She reached over and pulled the blanket up to my chin. "The nurse said you'll be well enough to leave tomorrow at noon. Until then, bed time."

"But-" I tried, but she silenced me, placing the tip of her hoof to my lips.

"All questions will be answered as we come to them." Out of the corner of my eye, I see her turning some sort of wheel. Before I knew it, she placed a mask over my muzzle.

"Wait! I don't....think....you...should..." I felt woozy, lightheaded. My eye lids grew heavy and my mind began to slow. Summer gassed me. Before I could retaliate, I lost consciousness. Not before seeing her lean down next to my ear and whisper.

"Nighty-night, Dove."

~*~\~^~/~*~

I woke up again several hours later. My head felt heavy, and my abdomen stopped hurting. When the doctors came to remove the wires and tubes, I saw the nurse talking to Summer. She looked a little embarrassed. I wondered why, but didn't pay much attention as the doctor were pulling tubes out from my stomach. I still cringe when I think about it. They told me that I'll have to be in a wheel chair for a few days and not to stretch as much, so that the wound can close. I had no problem with that. The more time away from school, the better.

When the nurse wheeled me outside, she stopped me at the sidewalk. When I turned to her, she was walking back into the hospital. "Wait!" I shouted. "I don't think anypony's picking me up!" I called after her, but she was already inside. I was alone. On a sidewalk in the middle of Manehattan.

"Surprise!" A familiar voice shouted from behind me. I yelped as the wheel chair leaned backwards so that I faced the sky. The yellow hooded Summer Night entered my view of vision, her smile beaming down on me.

"Oh. Great." I said sarcastically. She leaned down and nuzzled my forehead.

"Now don't be a foal. You're not going anywhere with out somepony watching your flank. And guess what? I'm that pony." She pushed the wheel chair back vertically, almost launching me out of it.

"Oh Celestia. Fine. Can you take me home then?" I groaned. "If I'm going to be crippled, I might as well like where I am while I am." Summer scoffed.

"Okay, Dove." And off we went.

"Can you stop calling me that?" I asked. I think she either didn't hear me or ignored me, but Summer still kept pushing the wheelchair. We made to the end of the block where there was a cross walk. The light went green, and we went forward. "Can I ask you something?"

Summer leaned her chin down on the top of my head. "You just did, but Sure. Shoot."

I hesitated to ask. "Did you...when you showed up..." She stopped the wheelchair. Before I knew it, we sat outside some adults club. She sat right in front of me, removing her hood.

"You want to know if I killed them and why, don't you?" She said. All I could do was nod slowly and nervously. She sighed.

"Alright. First...yeah. I killed them."

My heart skipped a beat. I felt like crapping myself and spontaneously combusting all at the same time. She just told me that she killed four ponies, without a hint of regret or remorse. My mouth struggled to make words.

"They were attacking you, and I couldn't just sit back and watch somepony die...so I did it." Summer's expression dropped to confusion. "But you know...I don't really remember it. I saw that black one stab you and...poof!" She waved her hooves in the air. "The next thing I knew, four bodies laid beside you. I picked you up and brought you to the hospital."

"I saw you take something out of your jacket." I explained. "What was it?"

She looked down and searched in her jacket. Eventually, she pulled out a brass ring. It looked to fit over her wrist and fit perfectly. "What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know." She said. "I've always had it though..." I could see her mind was starting to trail off. I took this time to get a better look at her. Her dark pink hair dangled into her face, covering her eyes from the morning sun. I wanted to see her eyes again, I don't know why, but I did. The glow from that day still clouds half of my mind. Did it have to do with her blanking out?

"Hey, Summer?" I asked. Summer snapped out of her mind trip.

"Yeah?"

I looked away, facing the few ponies just leaving the club, their eyes tired and bloodshot, their legs wobbly. I looked back at her. "Thanks again. You know, for saving me."

She looked at me and smiled. "No prob, Dove."

I face hoofed. "Ugh. If your going to call me that..." She place a hoof on my head and ruffled my mane. "Hey!"

"Hehe, alright kid. Where do you live?" She asked, standing up and pulling me away from the wall.

"Oh, right. Just down this street." I said. Summer pushed us further down the sidewalk we were already on. I was still a bit iffy about my whole situation, my mom was out of town, my life almost ended...and now, I'm being pushed around by some murderous, goofed out mare. *Sigh* I can only hope something good will come out of this...

~*~\~^~/~*~

"Sir! We've got something!"

"What is it?"

"I think we found her..."

Comments

[Dr.Shisno]

SCAVA... i see what you did there

I'm really liking this :D