Fullmetal Drill Sergeant
Chapter 47
“Where’s Rarity an’ th’ girls?” Applejack asked as she and the group walked into Scootaloo’s room. Shadow and Screwball decided not to stay very long. They just felt it really wasn’t their place to intrude.
“The girls were being...well, the girls, and Zecora wasn’t feeling the greatest, so Rarity took them all back to her place,” Rainbow said as she stood up.
“And after we got back, Big Mac took Fluttershy home. She looked like she needed to get away from everything,” Ditzy said as she wheeled AJ through the room.
Rainbow’s attention was drawn to the chair by a pained groan coming from AJ. “What’s wrong with him?” asked Rainbow Dash as Ditzy parked his wheelchair near Scootaloo’s bed. AJ was slouched over in the wheelchair with his hoof on his head. After Pinkie’s over zealous attempt to make him feel better with over sweetened treats, it didn’t take long for all that sugar to run its course through his body. On the way to Scootaloo’s room, he was actually fairly hyper for one who had just lost one of their limbs. By the time he reached the room though, the crash had hit him, and hit him hard. His head throbbed as he pined for the somewhat comfort of his hospital bed.
“Pinkie put too much sugar in her cupkies,” Screwball said matter-of-factly.
“What’s a...cupkie?”
“I can go get the box if you want,” Screwball said with a bright smile on her face.
“Don’t go get th’ box,” Applejack said in a low, yet demanding voice. “We don’t need ta risk another pony fallin’ victim ta all that sugar.” She gave the two of them a wave as they stepped out of the room to leave.
“Besides, don’t you usually eat at Sugarcube Corner like...at least once a day?” Ditzy asked with a hoof to her chin.
“Yea, so? I can’t help it if I get these cravings for sugar,” Rainbow said defensively. “And pickle stuffed pineapples smothered in ketchup,” she added under her breath.
“Trust me, I know all about cravings. Just make sure you don’t eat too much. I don’t think I ever did lose all of that weight,” Ditzy said as she poked her flank.
“A sugar rush is the last thing you need,” Sunny Delight said as she brushed a hoof through Scootaloo’s mane. Both she and and Sunburst looked tired and exhausted. Neither of them must have gotten much sleep last night. Nopony would blame them though. You try getting some sleep while your daughter’s in the ICU.
“Yea. You’ll want to try to cut down on the sweets. You already needed to cut back on your flying. In a couple weeks, you may need to stop flying all together,” Ditzy said as she remembered back to when she was pregnant with Dinky. “Being hocked up on sugar makes the whole no flying thing much harder to deal with.”
“What?!”
“Ya sure about that?” questioned Applejack.
Both Ditzy and Sunny nodded their heads. “It’s the hormones...I think,” Ditzy said with an unsure look.
Sunny nodded her head to confirm what Ditzy said. “It’s pretty common for pegasi to become airsick due to all the extra hormones.”
“WHAT?!?!?!”
“Kinda ironic, don’t you think?” AJ asked as he looked up at Sunny. “What about the ones that live in Cloudsdale?”
“They either stay home the entire time, or, the more likely choice, they move in with some grounded friends or relatives until the foal's born. Most just decide to move for the year. That’s what Sunny did when she was pregnant with Scootaloo,” Sunburst as he motioned to his wife. “After awhile we just decided to get a house instead. It was getting awfully lonely in that house without her. Besides, it was nice in Ponyville. A longer flight to work was a small price to pay.”
Applejack put a hoof to her chin as she looked over to Rainbow Dash. She looked like somepony had just slapped her upside the head multiple times, which, with her flying habits, they may have well have done so. “We should probably get’er some wing bindin’s then. Knowin’ Rainbow, she’ll try ta sneak in some flyin’ here an’ there.”
“No! Out of the question!” cried Rainbow. “I refuse to wear wing bindings!”
“Would you stop shouting in my ear? My head already hurts,” whined AJ as he rubbed his temple.
“Aw, come on. We could even get ya one with th’ wonderbolts logo on it. Maybe Braeburn’s cutie mark ta show yer his,” Applejack said in a teasing manner.
“It’s either that or self control, and self control’s one thing you don’t have,” Sunburst said knowingly.
“Looks like we’re goin’ shoppin’, when this is all over,” Applejack said with a smile. “Maybe Rares can make ya somethin’.”
“Don’t I have any say in this?” cried Rainbow over the fact that the decision had been made for her.
“Not when it comes ta yer foal. Besides, Ah think Braeburn would want ya ta be as safe as possible.” Rainbow tried to retort. She tried to think of something to say to turn this in her favor, despite how right everypony else was. In the end, she crossed her legs with a pout on her lips. She grumbled something about Braeburn. “What was that?”
“I’ll get some for Braeburn,” she said with venom in her voice.
“Good girl,” Sunburst said with a smile.
“How’s Scootaloo doing?” Came AJ’s voice; derailing the current conversation.
Everypony turned to him. While he was still rubbing the side of his head, his focus seemed to be on the filly in the bed. “Scoots? She…” Rainbow fell silent as she looked over to the bed.
“She hasn’t gotten any better, has she?” questioned Ditzy.
A suffocating silence filled the room. Even the beeping of the heart monitor seemed to be drowned out because of it. “Y-you know, when we first saw Scootaloo just...lying motionless in this bed, a small part of me was...seething mad at you,” Sunny said as she looked at AJ. “Like...why didn’t you take better care of our little girl? Why did you allow this to happen to her?” She glanced over at Applejack with a guilty look. “...Why her and not the others.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “But the rest of me knew that if you hadn’t been there in the first place...we’d probably be planning her funeral right now instead.”
“The same goes for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle,” added Sunburst. “Rarity, and their parents. You and your brother,” he motioned to Applejack. “We wouldn’t be the only ones in this boat. That giant...flower thing probably would have gotten them all.”
“The girls also told us about the razorbacks.” Sunny looked back to Scootaloo. “We’re sorry our daughter put you through so much.”
“Razor...backs?” asked AJ.
“They’re like cute piggies, but with lots fur,” Dinky said excitedly.
“Don’t forget th’ razor sharp claws an’ blades that sprout from’em,” Applejack said in a low tone.
“Don’t you remember anything about some razorbacks?” asked Ditzy.
AJ slowly shook his head as he tried to piece everything together. “It’s...after the flower, it all kinda becomes a blur. I remember being chased by something. I got...bit, I think, in the leg...Apple Bloom and Sweetie took Scoots to Zecora’s to could get away. Other than that it kinda just blends together.” Other fragmented memories flashed in his head. Stumbling up to Zecora’s hut. Being rushed through the forest in a simple cart with Scootaloo. Big Mac joining them at some point. Being taken into a building, now known to be the hospital, and being separated from the rest of the group. The fragmented memories didn’t make much sense to him right now. “It all happened too fast.”
“An’ we can only tell ya so much. Only what Apple Bloom an’ Sweetie Belle told us,” Applejack said as she sat down by Rainbow.
********************
”I thought you said Zecora’s place was just beyond those trees,” AJ said as he continued to run through the forest.
“Ah thought it was,” shot back Apple Bloom. She was leaning on AJ’s head and neck while Sweetie Belle made sure Scootaloo didn’t fall off of his back. “It must just be further than Ah thought! Ah know it’s in this direction, just keep goin’!”
“M-m-maybe you’re just remembering wrong,” commented Sweetie. “You usually go from the other…”
“Ah know where Ah’m goin!”
“Not the time to start a fight Apple Bloom!” AJ said as he came to a clearing. He skidded to a halt when five small boars came into view. They were about half the size of him, were covered in brown fur, and looked like they had paws instead of hooves. They were all sniffing at the ground.
“How come we stopped?” asked Sweetie Belle as she looked around AJ’s head.
“It’s just a bunch of boars. Just need to avoid them and we’ll be…”
“Run,” Sweetie said in a low voice. Her eyes were full of fear.
“Huh?”
“You need to run,” Sweetie said in a slightly higher voice. Her face grew paler as one of the boars turned towards them.
“I know, but we need to…” AJ was interrupted by a loud squeal echoing through the clearing. Apple Bloom and AJ turned to the boars who were all staring at them now. “Mmmmaybe we should…” AJ could have sworn his eyes bulged from their sockets when long claws shot from their paws. Long, sharp blades sprouted from their fur, covering their backs in a deadly sea of razor edged metal. AJ couldn't even finish his thoughts before bolting out of the clearing. “What the fuck are those things?!”
“Razorbacks!” shouted Sweetie as she hung onto Scootaloo for dear life.
“Razorbacks do not have jutting metal blades,” AJ retorted as he dodged through the trees.
“They’re carnivorous pigs! They’re incredibly territorial, and incredibly dangerous!”
“Not th’ time fer a lesson Sweetie Belle! Just keep runnin’!” shouted Apple Bloom.
“Don’t worry, I think we lost them.” AJ let himself relax slightly and was about to have Apple Bloom point him to Zecora’s when he was suddenly cut off by something blowing by him. He was barely able to stop in time as one of the razorbacks blocked his path. His ears twitched as a grinding sound filled the air around them. He looked around to see the other four razorbacks rolling around before coming to a stop. They surrounded him on all sides; getting ready to strike.
“Oh, of course they can spin like Sonic the fucking Hedgehog! Why WOULDN’T they be able to?!” He tried to keep tabs on all of them, but five on one, the odds were against him. “Sweetie, are these things easily startled?” AJ asked as he started pouring magic into the tip his horn. Sweetie didn’t answer. She was too busy cowering. “Sweetie!”
“I-I don’t know!”
“We better hope they are then!” Aiming at the ground directly in front of him, he launched the large orb. He shielded his eyes as the spell went off, covering the area in a large, colorful explosion. The razorbacks could all be heard squealing along with a cacophony of grinding sounds getting further away.
As the sound started to die down, he chanced a look around the area. His plan had worked. The explosion, while marking both them and the ground around them, had scared the razorbacks off. He let out a small sigh. “Let’s hope we can get out of here before they decide to come back. Apple Bloom, where to from here?”
It took a second, but she was able to get a bead as to where they were. “She should be that way!” she said as she pointed her hoof.
“Alright, let’s hurry before…” Before he could start running again, the grinding sound of the razorbacks started getting louder once again. “I swear to GOD I am going to BURN down this FUCKING forest! Hang on!” He took off as fast as he could in the direction Apple Bloom gave him.
“They’re gettin’ closer!” Apple Bloom shouted as she looked around.
“I can hear them Apple Bloom! Tell me when you can actually see them! I can’t keep an eye on the path and look for them at the same time!”
“Got it!” Apple Bloom remained on edge the entire time. For about a minute, the sound of the razorbacks haunted them as they ran through the woods, though it didn’t get any closer. As she looked around for any hint of where they were, she noticed something familiar about the forest around them. “Hey, Ah know where we are! Zecora’s ain’t much further!”
“Good! Just keep an eye out for…”
“Look out!” shrieked Sweetie Belle. AJ looked to the side just in time to see a Razorback lunge out of some bushes next to him.
There was no time to dodge out of the way. The razorback tackled him from the side, firmly embedding it’s claws and teeth into his left foreleg. The fillies on his back fell to the side of the path as the boar knocked AJ to the ground.
Apple Bloom was the first to shake the cobwebs from her head. The first thing she heard was AJ’s cries of pain, causing her to turn her head. Her eyes widened. The razorback that had tackled AJ held his leg in place as it bit down with all its might.
“A-Apple Bloom!” cried out AJ.
“H-huh?!”
“Get to Zecora’s! Don’t worry about me!”
“A-A-Ah’m not goin’ ta leave you!”
“Just geeeaaaaaAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” The blood curdling scream filled the forest as the razorback yanked it’s head back, tearing a chunk from his leg.
Apple Bloom had to force back her nausea after what she just saw. She quickly turned away to see Sweetie Belle looking over Scootaloo. “Sweetie Belle, get’er on mah back!”
“B-but what about AJ.”
Apple Bloom turned back to AJ. It looked like he was actually managing to hold the razorback off with his magic to keep it from taking another bite.. “H-he’ll be fine, just hurry!”
Sweetie looked between Apple Bloom and AJ. “B-b-but…”
“Just do it Sweetie!” AJ yelled before using as much force as he could to push the razorback off of him. Unfortunately for him, it’s claws had gotten him good, and didn’t come out cleanly; tearing deep wounds in his leg before finally leaving his body. Fortunately, the razorback was thrown in the path of a second one who had just come to join the feast, getting cut up and impaled by it’s blades.
As Sweetie helped lift Scootaloo’s body onto Apple Bloom’s back, AJ did his best to stand up. He was successful, but the problem was staying up. The pain in his leg was unimaginable, but by now, he was running on pure adrenalin. “I’ll hold them off, just go!”
Apple Bloom chanced one last look back. By now the other three razorbacks had joined in. AJ’s leg was bleeding profusely, and it looked like he was having trouble standing. She swallowed a lump in her throat before motioning to Sweetie Belle to follow her.
********************
“Shortly after th’ girls made it there, ya managed ta stumble yer way ta Zecora’s before blackin’ out. Apple Bloom had ta build a cart usin’ parts of Zecora’s cart ta carry both you an’ Scootaloo ta th’ hospital.”
“Blacked out? B-but I remember some things. Like Big Mac running with us.”
“You must have kept going in and out of consciousness,” reasoned Sunburst.
“How did Big Mac know about everything anyway?” asked Rainbow.
“He was at Fluttershy’s cottage helping her feed the animals when Zecora and the girls came through the trees near her place.” Everypony turned to look at Ditzy. “What? I asked him how he knew AJ was hurt.”
Applejack looked at AJ who looked like he was in his own little world right now. He was reaching over; rubbing his stump with his leg. “It all feels so...surreal,” he said to himself. “Like one big nightmare you just can’t…”
AJ’s thoughts were interrupted by a commotion coming from outside the room. Three voices could be heard arguing. Well, two were arguing, one was apologising profusely.
“Is dis da room?”
“Even if it is, you will not…”
“Is dis da room!”
“Sir, I am so sorry. She’s just a little cranky right now.”
“You vill tell me now or I make sure you vill need one of dese rooms!”
“Is that a threat? Because I’ll have you know that…”
“IS DID DA ROOM?!?!?! TELL ME NOW LITTLE MAN OR I VILL MAKE SURE YOU GET FIRED!!!”
Everypony in the room looked completely confused. Everypony except AJ. He was staring at the door with a look of pure, unadulterated fear. He knew that voice. “Why are you so scared? Who is that?” asked Ditzy in a hushed voice.
AJ didn’t answer. He just continued to look at the door. “It must be somepony really bad if he’s that terrified,” reasoned Applejack.
“Do you think it’s one of those slaver scumbags coming back for him? Do you think one of them got away from the guards?” Rainbow asked as she got into a defensive stance.
“No,” AJ said in a low tone. “It’s much, much worse.”
The door was kicked open with great force. Standing in the doorway was a stern, middle aged, silver unicorn mare with a half grey, half greyish blue mane. Her mane was done up nicely in a bun, and she had on a nice, light blue and gold coat with a royal crest strapped over her chest. The colors matched the colors of the royal guard’s armor. Her tail was medium length, and was nice and straight. Her cutie mark was a piece of paper with a flaming pile of silver powder in the middle. She seemed to stare a hole through everypony with her grey eyes. The strangest detail about her was her right hind leg. Starting just below her hip, her leg was metallic.
Standing just behind, and to her left stood a greyish red unicorn stallion. His silver hair was short to medium length, and was slicked back. His tail had been cropped. He was wearing the same outfit as the mare, though he didn’t have the crest. He wore some red saddlebags with the same insignia on the mare’s crest. He looked between the mare and the group in the room with his sky blue eyes. His cutie mark was a rocket with a lit fuse. After a moment he put on a sheepish smile and waved to everypony.
“F-F-Flash Powder sir, I mean ma’am!” cried AJ as he sat up straight in his wheelchair; offering a salute to the mare.
“Flash Powder? Isn’t that your teacher in Canterlot?” asked Ditzy.
“Not teacher, drill instructor!” Flash Powder said with more force than necessary.
“It’s really just some training. Calling them drills is just a formality,” the stallion behind Flash Powder said before a sharp look from her shut him up.
“Well whatever ya are, you really shouldn't be in here,” Applejack said as she got in Flash Powder’s face. “Ah think you should just walk right out that door.”
Flash Powder stared Applejack in the eyes for a moment before her horn flared to life. Applejack’s hat became engulfed in an orange light before it was forced over her eyes. Using the hat, Flash Powder pushed Applejack out of the way to clear the path to AJ. “So, dis is vhere you’ve been hiding.”
“What do you mean hiding? And why did you just burst into our daughter’s hospital room?” demanded Sunny.
“Yes, hi. I believe I can answer that,” said the stallion behind Flash Powder. “First off, my name’s Lit Fuse, and I’m terribly sorry for the…”
“Get to da point!” demanded Flash Powder.
“S-sorry mum.”
“Mum? Poor guy,” Rainbow said under her breath.
“Well you see, AJ was supposed to report to Canterlot for drills yesterday, but failed to show.”
“That was yesterday? I thought it was on Tuesday? You know, today.”
Ditzy leaned in close to whisper in AJ’s ear. “Yesterday was Tuesday.”
“...Oh. Well excuse me for losing track of what day it was.”
A loud stomp drew everypony’s attention again. “Enough small talk. Explain to me vhy you missed your drills.”
AJ swallowed the lump in his throat as he collected his thoughts. “W-well, aside from losing track of what day it was, I was...indisposed for most of the day,” he said as he motioned to his stump.
Flash Powder eyed AJ’s bandaged body with a scrutinizing gaze. “...Explain to me vhat happened.”
“Wh-what happened...you want me to tell you everything?”
“It’s probably best if you just tell her,” said Lit Fuse. “The sooner you give her what she wants, the sooner she’ll leave you alone.” He turned away from everypony. “And the sooner I can get back home to my wife and kids,” he added under his breath. He cringed as Flash Powder gave him a quick kick to the ribs.
AJ knew Lit Fuse was right. Unlike his mother, he was generally a pretty kind pony. He had his moments where his mother’s side came through, but he could usually keep it under wraps. “R-right. I just heard the story myself, so excuse me if I miss some details.”
********************
It took AJ a bit, but he did eventually get the whole story out. He needed a bit of help here and there from Applejack and Ditzy to make sure he got some of the details right though.
“When I woke up today, I wasn’t even aware that my leg was missing until I was told.” He took a deep breath. “That’s pretty much everything there is to tell, or at least everything I know.” As he looked back to Flash Powder, he noticed the look of annoyance on her face. He knew that look. It was a look she wore fairly often during drills. “Ma’am?”
With the look plastered on her face, she slowly turned to look down at her right hind leg. Or more specifically, the small foal that had been poking at it for the better part of the last five minutes. When he finally realised he was being watched, Knight lifted his head to look at Flash Powder. The two of them had a stare down for a few seconds. When AJ realised what was going on, he was pretty sure he felt his heart stop. To AJ, the staredown felt like it lasted hours. ‘Pleasedon’tmakehermadpleasedon’tmakehermadpleasedon’tmakehermad,’ he thought to himself over and over again.
“How come your leg’s all metal and stuff?” And that’s exactly when AJ wished he could turn invisible.
He was even more scared when she didn’t say anything. Her horn suddenly came to life. Knight became surrounded in an orange glow and began lifting off the floor. “I believe dis is yours,” Flash Powder said as she placed Knight next to AJ’s chair. Once the annoyance was taken care of, she stared right back at AJ. “And you are sure da story is true?”
“An’ just why would we lie about somethin’ like an amputated leg?!” asked Applejack who was long since annoyed at Flash Powder’s attitude.
“Silence hick pony!” shouted Flash Powder before using Applejack’s hat to shove her off to the side once again. She pointed a hoof at AJ. “You! Speak now!”
“A-as far as I know that’s the true story, yes.”
The room was mostly silent as Flash Powder began thinking things through. The silence broken only by the heart monitor and the grumblings of Applejack. “Lit Fuze…”
“Yes mum?”
“Get ahold of Monkey Wrench. Tell him I have a job for him.”
Lit Fuze pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his saddlebags before turning to his mother. “I have a feeling I know what you’re talking about, but shouldn't we get his permission to do this first?”
Flash Powder glared at Lit Fuse with a growl before whipping around to look at AJ. “Vat are you going to do now dat your leg is gone?”
“Uhh…”
“Vhere you going to just sit dere and sulk?”
“Well…”
“Do you vant a your life to go back to normal?”
“Umm, yes?”
“Good enough for me. Send da letter to Monkey.”
Lit Fuse just shrugged before starting to write the letter. “An’ just what did he supposedly agree to?” Applejack blinked when she noticed the absence of something on her head. She looked up to see her hat floating over her head surrounded in an orange aura. “Oh fer th’ love of…” She was silenced as her hat smacked her in the face, shoving her off to the side.
“In a couple days Monkey vill be here to build your new leg.”
“Build his new...what? I’m sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?” asked Ditzy.
“Monkey Wrench will build him a sort of...biomechanical prosthesis...if that makes any sense to you,” Lit Fuse said with a tone in his voice that hinted to the fact that he himself didn’t really understand it. “If you want an example, just look at mum’s leg. He built hers for her.”
Flash Powder nodded as Lit Fuse finished the letter. Once he was finished, he began digging in his bags for an envelope. “Assuming da mail gets to him quickly, he should be here in a couple days,” Flash Powder said with a blank face. “I vill give you to da end of January to recover and get used to your new limb,” she said as she turned around. “But I expect you to be at da castle on da first of February, vhere you vill be mine for one full veek.”
“Wait, till the end of January?” Lit Fuse asked as he finally placed the letter in an envelope. “But whats Party Popper supposed to do? AJ’s her partner during the drills?”
“I guess you’ll just have to step up again. Just like yesterday,” Flash Powder said as she walked past him.
“Of course,” he said under his breath. Lit Fuse turned back to the group in the room. “Well, this certainly was an adventure. I hope you all had as much fun as I did.”
“Yea, loads of fun,” grumbled Applejack from her spot off to the side. She was hiding her hat behind her so it couldn’t be used against her again.
“Once again, I apologise for mum’s forwardness, and hope we haven’t caused you too much trouble.” With a slight bow, he followed his mother out of the room.
“She is such a bitch,” Applejack said as she finally placed her hat on her head once again. “No wonder yer so tired after trainin’. Ah’d be exhausted after havin’ ta deal with her all day.”
“The drills are no cakewalk either,” AJ said as he slouched back in his chair. “I hope nopony cares if i just go back to my room. I’m not feeling up to entertaining anypony right now.”
“Yes, I think it would probably be best if everypony left right now,” Sunny said in agreement, a sorrowful look on her face.
“Did...did you want me to stay, or did you…”
“We’d like to have some alone time with our daughter, if that’s okay with you,” Sunburst said as he comforted his wife.
Rainbow nodded her head before standing up. “R-right. If you need me, you know where you can find me. For a little while longer at least.”
“Yer free ta come stay with us ya know. Ah just gotta make sure AJ get’s inta bed, an' pick up Apple Bloom from Rare’s place, an’ Ah can get somethin’ set up fer ya,” Applejack said as she began walking out of the room. She waved to Sunny and Sunburst before walking through the door.
“I was probably going to ask Fluttershy if I could stay there till this is all done,” Rainbow said as she followed.
“Come on you two. Let’s go back to Daddy’s room,” Ditzy said to Knight and Dinky as she got behind AJ’s chair. AJ took one last glance at the filly before he was pushed out of the room.
********************
With Ditzy’s and Applejack’s help, he AJ was once again lying in his bed. He took a deep breath as he began to relax. He looked at the clock in the room and sighed “It’s only 3 in the afternoon and it feels like an entire day’s gone by.”
“Well, ta be fair, ya’ve been through a lot today,” Applejack said with a slight smile.
“Yea. You’ve been through way too much excitement for one day,” Ditzy said as she pushed the chair into the corner. “Way too much for a pony in your condition. You should have been getting more sleep instead.”
“You’re probably right,” AJ said as he let a yawn escaped.
“Awwww, you’re going to sleep again?” Dinky asked with her big, puppy dog eyes.
“Yea! I wanna play!” added Knight.
AJ leaned over to look at the two of them before letting out a sigh. “I guess I really haven’t been a lot of fun over the last couple of days, huh.” He thought for a moment as he looked around the room; his eyes falling on the TV. “Hey, I know it’s not much, but why don’t we watch some cartoons together? I can’t exactly do much else right now anyway.”
Ditzy and Applejack watched as the foals looked at each other with a smile. Dinky helped Knight up on the bed before leaping up on her own. She just barely made it as the bed was a little higher than she was used to, but Knight helped pull her up. Ditzy turned her head when she felt Applejack nudging her shoulder. “Hey, Ah wanna ask ya somethin,” she whispered as she motioned away from the bed.
Ditzy nodded as she followed Applejack to the far side of the room. She had a feeling she knew what this was about. “...Is this about…?” she asked in a hushed voice
“Yea. Ah was just wonderin’ if you were goin’ ta tell’im now or tomorrow. Ya did say you were goin’ ta tell’im when he was feelin’ better.”
Ditzy laid her ears back as she thought. “I...think he’s been through enough today. I’ll tell him tomorrow.”
“Tell me what tomorrow?”
Both Applejack and Ditzy were pretty sure they felt their hearts stop at AJ’s voice. It was then they also realised just how quiet the room was. Ditzy swallowed the lump in her throat as she turned her head. AJ, Dinky, and Knight were all looking in their direction.
Neither Ditzy or Applejack knew what to say. All they did was stand there and stare with wide eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“No no no, nothin’s wrong. Nothin’ at all” Applejack said with an unconvinced smile, following it with an equally unconvincing laugh.
Ditzy quickly glanced over at Applejack. “U-umm, yea. N-n-nothing’s wrong.” Her smile was even more unconvincing.
The three of them just continued to stare at the mares for a minute before AJ let out a deep sigh. “If you’re going to lie, at least try to make it convincing.” Both of their smiles slowly started to falter as they looked between each other and AJ; silently trying to figure out what to do.
Ditzy swallowed the lump in her as she ran everything through her head. “It’s...it’s nothing important. Nothing that can’t wait till tomorrow.”
“Nothin’ important?” whispered Applejack knowing just how much of a lie that was.
“Okay, it’s really important, but it can wait till tomorrow. I promise.”
“Oh come on, you peaked my interest now,” AJ said with a smirk
“No really, it can wait till tomorrow. You should just relax.”
“Pleeeease,” he ‘whined’ as he attempted to do the puppy dog eyes, failing miserably. It came off as more pathetic than anything else. Dinky and Knight began laughing to themselves at his attempt. “It must be something juicy if you’re being so reluctant.”
“Ah think it might be best ta tell’im now.”
Ditzy turned to Applejack. “B-but…”
Applejack placed a calming hoof on her shoulder. “He already knows ya got somethin’ ta tell’im. No point in holdin’ back now.”
“What’s wrong? The way you’re acting makes me think that it’s something bad.”
“I-it’s not bad. At least I hope it isn’t.” Ditzy took a few moments to attempt to gather up her courage. “I wanted to wait till you were feeling better, but you’ve already been through so much today. You sure you don’t just want to wait till tomorrow to hear it?”
AJ had to take a minute to think. With something like that, he could only imagine that this...thing...Ditzy needed to tell him about was something important, and probably going to give him a shock. With all the shock he’s been through today alone, it probably would be a good idea to wait till tomorrow. But… “If it’s as shocking as you’re making it sound, I think I wanna get it out of the way. That way I’ll hopefully be able to go a day without some life changing event taking place. I mean, after today I probably already shaved a few years off my life, what with the freaking out over my leg, and the surprise appearance of Flash Powder. Whats a few more days.”
Ditzy and Applejack looked at each other for a moment before Applejack shrugged. “He’s got a point.”
“Yea, I guess he does.”
“Do you want me to send the kids out of the room?” AJ asked as he pointed to the foals on the bed with him.
“No, no...they should hear this to. Especially Dinky.” She took a deep breath as she readied herself for the worst. “W-well. You know how I was kinda...out of it yesterday?”
“Nnno, not really. I really don’t remember much from yesterday, remember?”
“Oh...right.”
“I do,” chirped Dinky. “You were acting all weird in the bathroom. And then you put that thingy in the waste basket.”
“Thingy?”
Ditzy nodded her head. Sweat began rolling down her face. “Yesterday I just got this feeling that something was...off. Something that felt strange, yet familiar. So I went to the store early and got a test.”
“A test? What for?”
“Put it together genius. What kinda test would a mare take in th’ bathroom?” Applejack said with a smirk
Ditzy turned to Applejack with a slight glare. She turned back to AJ with a sigh. “It...was a pregnancy test.”
AJ wore an unreadable look on his face. He just stared at Ditzy as he put things together. It took him longer than really should have, with the anesthesia still somewhat affecting his mind what did they expect, but he eventually put two and two together. His tired eyes widened. “Are...are you saying that you’re…?”
Ditzy nodded her head. “I-I’m...pregnant.”
“I-i-i-I’m gonna be a dad?”
“Technically yer already a dad, but yea,” Applejack said, happy that things haven’t taken a turn for the worse. At least, not yet.
“Preg...nant?” asked Dinky. She’s heard that word before. But where? Her ears suddenly perked up, and her eyes got wide as a giant smile grew on her face. “You’re pregnant?! I’m gonna be a big sister?!”
AJ’s face pretty much ran a gambit of emotions. After a bit, Applejack was sure she saw his lips began curling into a smile. His smile half formed before immediately falling. His face turned slightly pale. “W-w-w-what’s wrong?” Ditzy asked expecting the worst.
Applejack noticed AJ’s eyes begin to roll back into his head. “Uh oh.”
“G-goin’ duwn,” AJ mumbled before his head abruptly fell back down to his pillow.
The other four ponies in the room stared at the passed out pony. “I think you killed him,” Knight said with a completely straight face.
“Well...Ah guess we really should’ve waited till tomorrow.”
“W-w-what does that mean? Is he happy? Mad? Does he want to break up with me?!”
“Just calm down sugarcube. It was probably just too much of a shock fer’im. Like we said, he’s been through a lot today. We’ll just ask’im tomorrow how he feels ‘bout it.”
“But what if he’s not happy? I-I-I don’t know if I can handle the pressure of not knowing!”
“Snap outta it!” shouted Applejack, getting everypony’s attention. “Ah’m sure everythin’ll be fine.” A smile grew on her face. “Besides, Ah’m pretty sure Ah saw a smile there before he passed out. Now come on, Ah think we should let’im sleep an’ come back tomorrow.”
“Aww,” came the combined voices of Dinky and Knight.
“Don’t you ‘aww’ me,” Applejack said with a smirk. “Th’ more sleep he gets, the faster he’ll get better, an’ th’ faster he gets better, the sooner you’ll get ta play with’im. Specially if that new leg thing's goin’ ta work like it’s supposed to.”
“But…”
“No buts,” Applejack said before grabbing Knight off the bed. “You want us ta walk ya home?” she asked as she turned to Ditzy.
Ditzy gave a slight nod. “Y-yea. I’d like that.”
********************
”AJ…”
“Mmmm.”
“AJ.”
“Mmmdad?”
“Wake up.”
AJ’s eyes cracked open. The bright, blue sky, filled with light, fluffy clouds greeted him. He felt a light breeze blowing through the air; teasing the hair in his face and the leaves on the tree just behind him. The grass underneath him felt so soft. It was like he was lying on a cloud. Up above he could see a couple pegasi playing around in the clouds before flying off to do something else.
He started to sit up, but as he began to move, he felt something strange. He could feel parts of his body that he no longer had. Fingers and toes that he had given up when he became a pony suddenly felt real again. He lifted his arms, first noticing the distinct flesh color of his skin. Gone was his indigo coat and hooves. As he stared at his hands, he flexed his fingers to make sure what he was looking at were actually hands. After a couple seconds he sat up and began feeling up his body. His face, body, hips, legs . He even had shoe covered feet at the end of his jean covered legs.
He wasn’t sure what happened, but he was a human once again.
“No way.” he said breathlessly.
It took him a moment, but he finally stood up and took a look around. He was on a hill top. A very familiar hill top. One that meant more to him than it did to anyone, or pony, else. He stood there with mixed feelings as he stared at the makeshift gravestone he placed at the base of the tree. Part of him felt at peace seeing it again. The rest of him, however, felt conflicted. Even with all the help he’s gotten since coming to Equestria, some part of him still felt guilty over what happened.
“AJ.”
Hearing the voice behind him, AJ whipped around to try to find the source. Nothing was there. All he saw was Ponyville off in the distance. He was too far away to tell what was going on, but he could only imagine how busy the market must be right now.
“AJ.”
Hearing the voice behind him again, he turned around yet again. This time, however, was different. He suddenly felt an intense tightness in his chest. His stomach began twisting and tying itself in knots. His face went pale, and his body began to shake. Tears began welling up in his eyes as he stared at the smiling figure before him.
“D-d-d-d-dad?” His dad just nodded as his smile grew. AJ fell to his knees as tears began rolling down his cheeks. “I-I-I’m sorry. It’s all my…”
“Shhhh,” shushed Mark with a finger to his mouth. He walked up to AJ and put a hand under his chin; lifting AJ’s head to look him in the eyes. “It’s not your fault.” AJ felt a comforting warmth begin to flow through him.
Before anymore could be said, the breeze began to pick up slightly. AJ turned his head only to see Scootaloo of all ponies flying towards him and his dad. After doing a loop in the air, she landed just to the side of them. She seemed to ignore AJ’s presence. “Okay, I’m ready to go!” she said with a big smile.
Mark looked down at the filly with a smile. He stepped away from AJ and back to the gravestone with Scootaloo following him over. He made eye contact with AJ one last time. “Remember, I am, and always have been, proud of you.” Nothing else was said. Both him and Scootaloo suddenly began to disappear. From the ground up, they began vanishing into nothing. Scootaloo just waved to AJ before she was gone, while Mark just smiled.
The last thing AJ saw was a single, glowing tear falling from his dad’s eye.
********************
AJ’s eyes shot open and he quickly pushed himself up. He had to quickly try to catch himself as he pushed himself to the left. After catching and righting himself, he noticed he still had his glasses on, and took note of his surroundings. He was in a dark hospital room. He couldn’t see the clock, but if he had to guess, it was probably around midnight, maybe a little later.
Remembering what just happened, he began patting his body down, noticing the distinct lack of a left arm, or foreleg, as the case may be. He was a pony again. Lying in his hospital bed after having his foreleg amputated. He let out a sigh before flopping back onto the bed. “It was just a dream,” he said to nopony in particular. “...Of course it was just a dream.”
As he lay there, the contents of the dream mulled around his head. He played it through again, if for no other reason to get a positive memory of his dad to think about.
That’s when he remembered Scootaloo. She was there. Along with his dad, they vanished into nothingness. Why was she there? What did it mean? Was Scootaloo okay, or did she…?
AJ’s eyes got wide. When they left Scootaloo’s room, there was still no telling if her condition was going to get any better or worse. He had been asleep for hours. What if in that time she had gotten worse? What if she got so bad that she died?
Numerous outcomes began running through his head. None of them ended in a good way. He knew he had to go see if Scootaloo was okay. He sat up again, this time making sure not to push himself off the bed. He threw the covers off of himself before forcing himself to the edge of the bed.
This was going to be the hard part. He knew he should use his wheelchair. In fact, he could see it in the corner of the room. The problem came with getting around in it. With only one foreleg, he had no way to move it around, and with the drugs still dampening his magic, the chair was a no go.
He knew a doctor or a nurse would just tell him to stay in bed, and with nopony else in the room to help him he was on his own. He took a minute to look between his three limbs and the floor. It didn’t take a genius to know what he was going to have to do.
Then came the problem with trying to keep his balance with only three legs. He had enough trouble getting used to four. Now he had to completely change how he would walk.
“Ooooh, this is gonna suck.” He took a deep breath before scooting himself forward. It felt okay as his hindlegs hit the floor. Now came the hard part. He lurched his body forward, trying to gently place his foreleg on the floor. It didn’t matter how gentle he was. As soon as his leg hit the floor, pain shot through his chest. He fell to the floor, causing even more pain as he collided. He tried and failed to fight back the tears as he writhed on the floor.
After about a minute and a half, the pain slowly started to ebb away. He lay there, breathing heavily through his teeth. “I-I-I guess I know why my chest is wrapped now.” He took another minute before trying again. Lifting his body off the floor proved slightly easier. He still had to contend with the searing pain in his chest. That was just from standing there. He took another deep breath for courage before taking a test step.
It hurt. It hurt a lot, but it was bearable enough where he could get around. He swallowed the lump in his throat before hobbling towards the door. Luckily, his magic was at least strong enough to open the door again. He poked his head out the door, making sure nopony was around before hobbling into the hall, and towards Scootaloo’s room.
Even when he heard another pony down the halls he passed, he couldn’t stop. Not because he was worried about Scootaloo, he knew she wasn’t going anywhere, but because putting a stop to his momentum would alert everypony in the building to his presence as he crumpled to the floor and cried out in pain. He was just moving too ‘fast’ to be able to stop on a dime without causing himself an immense amount of pain.
Unfortunately for him, a door a little down the hall from Scootaloo’s opened as a doctor walked out. And not just any doctor, this was a doctor he’s become very familiar with over his time in Equestria. Trotsworth closed the door before stopping to let out a deep sigh that sounded like it was one part sigh and two parts yawn. “I honestly just don’t know how Healing Touch does it. This shift is going to be the end of me. Let’s hope I won’t need to do this again for a very long time.” He turned his head when he heard a thud followed by a muffled scream. His eyes widened when he saw AJ’s bandaged up body writhing on the floor a few meters down the hall. “What in Celestia’s name are you doing out of bed?!” he asked as he rushed over to his aid.
As he writhed, he tried to push Trotsworth away, knowing he would just take him back to his room. It took a little bit, but the pain began ebbing away. “J-j-just get away.”
“I don’t think so. You need to get back in bed. I read your charts when I came in, and I know about that wound on your chest. You may have re-opened it with this little stunt of yours.”
“D-don’t care. Have to go see Scootaloo,” he said as he tried getting up again. “Just get out of my way.”
“Scoota…?” Trotsworth let out a slight frustrated grunt. “That can wait until tomorrow. It’s 11:54, and you are going back to your room.”
“I’m going to see Scootaloo whether you help me or not.”
“Look, Scootaloo is…”
“Doctor? Is everything alright?” came a nurses voice from down the hall.
Trotsworth stood up and turned to see one of the night nurses coming down the hall. “Define okay. I need you to get me a wheelchair and 2 ml of xylazine.”
“Right away,” the nurse said before he turned and rushed to get what was needed. As the nurse turned the corner, Trostworth let out a sigh. He knew that when he turned around, AJ was going to be gone. Sure enough, the floor in front of him was unoccupied. Though just down the hall, he could see AJ opening the door to Scootaloo’s room. He took one last look at Trotsworth before entering the room.
AJ didn’t make it far into the room before he noticed something was wrong. His eyes widened as he took in the room. There was no beeping heart monitor. The bed was not only empty, but it looked clean and immaculate. It looked like nopony had ever been in that bed. “S-s-scootaloo?”
“I tried to tell you before,” came Trotsworth’s voice behind him.
AJ turned to look at the brown Earth pony. “What do you mean? Why isn’t Scootaloo in her room?” Trotsworth just stared at him for a second. “What happened to her?! Tell me?!”
“Would you just calm down? You’re going to give yourself an aneurysm.” He walked in and sat next to AJ. He just sat there for, what seemed like, an eternity just waiting for AJ to calm down. “A few hours ago, around 8:30 to be more exact, her condition began to improve. Quite a bit in fact. So much so that they were able to move her out of the ICU without fear of her relapsing. I guess the antivenom finally started doing it’s job. She’s lucky though, and strong willed to boot. A weaker pony would have sucomed to the venom a lot sooner than that. She’ll get far in life.” He noticed the look of pure relief on AJ’s face. It looked like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “What did you think happened to her?”
AJ played the events of his dream in his head again. More specifically, the end. “I...I don’t know.”
“Doctor? Ah, there you are!” the nurse said as he entered the room with a wheelchair. He had a small syringe hovering next to him in his magic.
“Ah, yes. Thank you for this.” Trotsworth said as he grabbed the syringe.
“What’s that?” AJ asked as he stared at the clear liquid in the syringe.
“Just a little something to calm you down and help you get to sleep again. Besides, it’ll be much easier to check your stitches if you’re calm,” he said as he noticed some blood beginning to soak through the bandages He motioned for the nurse to help him get AJ in the chair. After injecting AJ with the syringe, he allowed himself to smile. “Now, you better stay in bed. If I find you pulling a stunt like this again, I’ll make sure to strap you down.”
********************
“You idiot!” shouted Ditzy as she paced alongside AJ’s bed. She ran into Trotsworth, who was finally getting off from the overnight shift, and was told about AJ’s little adventure through the hospital. This was the last thing she wanted to hear after such a stressful day at work. AJ knew he was in for it when Ditzy practically kicked his door in. “What the hell were you thinking getting out of bed and traipsing around like that?!”
“Th-th-that I needed to check on…”
“Scootaloo was fine!” Ditzy shouted, cutting off AJ. “Her parents came by to tell us all as soon as they found out!”
“I-I-I didn’t know.”
“Did you ever think to, oh I don’t know, ask a nurse or something?!” AJ swallowed the lump in his throat before shaking his head. Ditzy let out a frustrated sigh as she rolled her eyes. “Great. I’m in love with an idiot. You’re just lucky you’re already in the hospital, or I’d probably put you in here myself.”
Ditzy let out one last huff before moving away from the bed. She didn’t leave the room, she just wanted more room to pace around. As Ditzy grumbled to herself, AJ took this time to take things in, and collect his thoughts. Something he really hasn’t been able to properly do since before he and the girls went into the forest. His thoughts eventually turned to Ditzy. Namely, what she said yesterday. At least, what he could remember. It’s all kind of a blur after Ditzy mentioned she was…
“You said you were pregnant?” he asked to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming when she said that.
Not two seconds later he heard a thud. He looked over to see that Ditzy must have tripped over her own hooves. Her chin was firmly planted on the floor. She quickly picked herself up and looked at him; a half scared, half hopeful look on her face. “W-w-what was that?”
“Yesterday, you said you were pregnant, right? I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t a dream too.”
Ditzy stood there for a moment trying to read the unreadable look on AJ’s face. She took in a deep breath before nodding her head. “Y-y-yea. I just found out about it the other day when you were in surgery.”
A suffocating silence filled the room as the two of them had a staredown. Ditzy swallowed the lump in her throat as she resisted the urge to bolt from the room as fast as she could. AJ could see the fear in her eyes. He let out a sigh as he started to push himself up to a sitting position. “Come here.”
“W-w-what?”
“Come over here.”
“B-but…”
“Don’t make me come over there.” Ditzy just stared at him. “No seriously, don’t make me come over there. I still hurt after what I did last night.” Ditzy quickly nodded and got closer to the bed; moving to the side he had shifted over to. Though she still kept her distance. AJ just rolled his eyes. “Closer.”
Using his still dulled magic, he gave Ditzy’s flank a slight pinch causing her to yip and jump a little. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”
She closed the last couple feet and sat next to the bed. AJ wasted little time reaching over to hug the pegasus to the best of his ability. It was a lot harder to do with only one leg. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even know what he could say. Ditzy, while slightly stunned, was also silent. After a few seconds, she shakily returned the hug. AJ could feel Ditzy’s tears hitting his shoulder. He let go of her just long enough to swap to the other side of the bed. She didn’t need to be told twice to join him. Nothing would be said between the two of them. The only sound coming from the room were the sobs of a pegasus who needed to let it all out.
********************
“My, my. Sounds like you’ve had a pretty rough month,” Soft Spoken said as she took a sip of some apple juice she had been offered. “I can see why you had to push back this appointment a bit.”
At this moment, AJ was lying on the couch while Soft Spoken, his therapist, sat on the chair a few feet away. Soft Spoken was a snow white pegasus with a deep pink mane. She had sapphire blue eyes, and a smiling teddy bear as a cutie mark. Though he had to push back the appointment, he had quite a bit he needed to tell her about. “Yea. It’s been...eventful...to say the least. I’m just happy everything seems to finally be going back to normal. Well, as normal as life can get when you have a mechanical leg,” he said as he lifted his left leg to look at it. "But I guess it wasn't all bad. I mean, Apple Bloom did get her cutie mark because of all this."
"She did? What for?"
"Well, I can only guess she must have gotten it for building that cart they used to drag my sorry butt to the hospital." He remembered back to one of the days Applejack came to visit him in the hospital. Along with her was an overexcited Apple Bloom who literally bounced into the room. Before he knew what was going on, she shoved her flank into AJ's face to show him her cutie mark. It was a wooden cross, the same one that was on sign for the hospital, though it didn't have the hearts. It was painted red, and had a paint covered paint brush next to it. They could only guess that she must have gotten it after building the cart, and nopony noticed till then due to everything that happened. Including Apple Bloom herself.
“Good for her," Soft Spoken said with a bright smile. "Though I’ve been wondering about your leg actually. That’s not like any prosthesis I’ve ever seen. How exactly does that work?”
AJ looked between his leg and Soft Spoken for a few seconds. “I don’t suppose you’ll take ‘science’ as an answer, will you?” The knowing look told him no. “Well, I had to be awake during the procedure, so I can give you the basics. It’s basically a steel skeletal structure covered by a protective, metal shell. Then of course you have all the other bits. Tubes, joints, all that fun stuff. I probably should have asked more questions about the innards of this thing.”
“And how are you able to move it like that? Does it have a powered crystal inside it?”
“I wish it was that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“You see how it’s anchored to my body like this?” he asked as he motioned to the plates that reached past his leg. “Well, when he installed the anchor, he also had to attach it to my body.”
“I’m...I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“I really don’t understand how it works, but this thing is actually connected to my nervous system. Moving it is just as easy as moving any other limb on my body. At least, it was after I got used to it. That’s why I had to be awake during everything. To make sure everything was hooked up properly. You ever have your nerves played with directly?”
“Nnnno, can’t say that I have.”
“It sucks. It sucks a lot. Almost as bad as having a chunk of your flesh torn off by a razorback. If not worse.” AJ couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “Scootaloo says I remind her of the main character from one of her manga, Fullmetal Alchemist. Speaking of Scootaloo, she’s doing just fine. Hell, she got out of the hospital like...almost a week before I did."
Soft Spoken let out a small giggle of her own. “I can only imagine how heavy that leg must be.”
“You don’t know how right you are. That’s what made getting used to this thing so hard. I can’t even recall all the damage I did around the house. Broken drinking glasses, dishes, cracked bathtub, dents in the floor. I even broke a decent sized hole in Applejacks door when she was doing...personal things, just by knocking on it.”
“Hey! That’s not somethin’ ya need ta be tellin’ anypony!” came Applejack’s voice as she poked her head out of the kitchen; her face was flushed red.
AJ just rolled his eyes. He knew she’d get over it. “As I was saying, I eventually learned the necessary restraint. Haven’t broken anything in the last week.”
“The restraint was bound to come with time. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you still had an accident from time to time. I assume it’s waterproof too?”
“Mmhm. Monkey Wrench did give me some cleaner and metal polish to help keep it clean though. Said I should clean it about once a month. It may be waterproof, but hot, soapy water just ain't going to clean it like a specialized cleaner would.”
“Can you get this cleaner just anywhere, or is it something special that you’d need to special order?”
“He said I could always just let him know if I needed a refill. Otherwise he gave me a list of cleaners that would do the job.”
Soft Spoken had a soft smile on her face. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to ask you how your relationship with Ditzy Doo’s doing.”
AJ let out a chuckle. “Oh man, things are going great. No, scratch that. Better than great. Did you know that in about tenish months I’m going to be a dad.”
“Oh? Congratulations! Though, technically you’re already a dad. Unless I’m remembering wrong, Knight Wind is you’re adopted son, right?”
“Yea. And I love him with all my heart. I love Dinky too, but this feels...different.”
“I think I may know why this feels so...special.” AJ looked at Soft Spoken with an expectant look. “While you love Knight like a son, he’s not your blood related son. The foal you’ll be having with Ditzy, you had a hoof in it’s creation. It’ll be your blood related child.”
AJ raised a brow as he looked at his therapist. “You seem to know quite a bit about this situation.”
“I had a friend who went through the exact type of thing. She thought she couldn’t have a foal of her own, so she adopted. Loved that little filly as if she was her own. Two years later, she ends up getting pregnant with a foal. She felt that special feeling towards the foal, the same one you’re feeling, even though he hadn’t been born yet. Though she was worried that she was going to stop loving her adopted daughter as much when her foal was born. Turns out she was worrying over nothing. Four years later, and she hasn’t stopped loving either of them.”
“Oh trust me, I wouldn’t be able to stop loving Knight. Not after all we’ve been through.”
“Well that’s good to hear.” Soft Spoken noticed the clock on the side of the room and let out a slight sigh. “Ooh, it looks like our times almost up for today. Is there anything you’d like to talk about before I have to say goodbye?”
AJ put a hoof to his chin as he thought for a moment. A small grin formed on his face. “I...I had a dream about my dad while I was in the hospital.”
Soft Spoken’s ears perked up at the mention of his dad. That did seem to be the origin of most of his internal torment. She got comfortable once again. She’d be willing to go over the appointment time for this. “Oh? Was it as bad as the last one?”
AJ’s smile only grew as he shook his head. “No, not at all. It...It was actually a happy dream. Probably the best memory I’ve had of him in nine years.”
A smile grew on Soft Spoken’s face. Hearing some whispering, she turned her head to see Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom all ‘secretly’ listening in from the kitchen doorway. They all pulled back when they noticed they had been seen. “Well I’d love to hear about it. Please, go on.”
“Gladly.”
****************************************
If you wanna know what his leg looks like, It looks like this...
but with an anchor to his body like this...
FMA (c) Makoto Inoue, Hiromu Arakawa, Viz Media
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Coooooooolll...
I thought it would be something like a mechanical limb.
The dream was really cruel. Even I thought Scootaloo was going to die. And in the moment I read that, I had to do a restart on my PC! It took me ten minutes before I could read that Scootaloo was alright. That really scared me...
You evil monster! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME THINK BEST CHICKEN DIED!
At least it was just a psychological hiccup slamming him in his guilt, trading the relief of his dad with the grief of losing Scoots. Honestly, seriously, Scoots should finally learn to fly. Do it. There are robotic prosthetics, they can make wing augmentations for lame or deficient pegasi
Now he has a leg like the small kid.
4941916 She's been able to fly for most of this story. She even flew during chapter 5. She just doesn't do it very often.
4942307 Well now I feel sheepish. "Alright you ba-a-a-a-ad boy! Slow down your reading!" Because while I knew I had read her flying recently in a story, I couldn't remember if you did that already or not, what with you making Scoots a dancer instead of a daredevil.
4942528 Cause in the season 1 episode The Show Stoppers, she showed she can dance. Or at least she was good on her hooves.
4942538 Yeah, but she's also shown that she's a real thrill seeker, and able to pull off moves with her scooter like a filly version of young Tony Hawk
4942538 I KNEW YOU WOULD PUT A FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST REFERENCE IN HERE!!!!!!!
a metal leg.....he's now a cyborg? huh kinda reminds me of the cyborgs from UFO: Aftershock, a sub race of humans who are augmented with mechanical arm, legs and chests.
5037290 I didn't say how it was cut. Yah git.
Diamond Powder, crushed diamonds. We have reliable historical sources telling us that 6th century Indian lapidary workers and 10th century Islamic jewelers. European diamond cutting would have originated in Venice, shortly after 1330. You truly are an uniformed person.
5037290 Also on a side note. Go to this here to learn the history of diamond cutting.
http://www.langantiques.com/university/index.php/A_History_Of_Diamond_Cutting
5121363 I...never actually intended it that way. Bully for you for finding the unintended double entendre
I just finshed the series until now and if it does continue with the the ditzy, rd and, fluttershy pregnanty
o the wait will kill me
I'm just sayin you could of ended it there with no complaints from me
5121363
is this supposed to be a gay joke? Like that curved sword thing with skyrim?
When I read the last chapter, I figured Aj would end up with Automail. I am glad to see Scootaloo is ok. When AJ had that dream and saw her room was empty, I thought the same thing he did.
5243692
You're welcome kind sir!
5243692
Would I!?
Would you?
Would I!?
Would you?
Would I!?
Would you?
Would I!?
Would you?
Would I what?
5403787 I actually do go back and make changes here and there. Nothing too big. Maybe a sentence, or a word or two to make them flow better. Going back to rehash though? Eh, I don't know. Maybe when it's finished.
Fullmetal alchemist meets fullmetal jacket... I approve.
5456443 I just went off of my own experiences. I've had Pneumonia 3 times, and the last time I had it, when I was like...6-8 or something like that, I remember getting an x-ray of my chest. Using that, they determined I had it.
fanthrose correct me if im wrong but in bubblys worst fear"" when bon-bon says “Well what do you want me to do? I couldn’t find the key anywhere, and Lyra and I aren’t into this kinda thing. Unless you expect Ditzy to magically appear at that door, I gotta break the bed.” then ditzy appears and bon-bon says “Holy shit. It’s like I can predict the future or something.” was this you trying to make her sound high , a dumb ass , was that something thats happend to you... the say someone needs to appear then they do noy the hoofcuffs thing?
sorry i ment not instead of noy
5470978 It was just a silly joke, nothing more. Besides, if anypony were to be the one to get high, it would be either Carrot, to help her relax (and obviously not when Ditzy and Dinky are around), or occasionally Fresh Start and Maxie when they're just having a night to themselves. Obviously we're assuming that clover (my Equestria's version of pot) is legal all around, or at least not seen as a bad thing.
By all things holy... you made me think Scoots died... don't do that to me! Now I have to go cancel that hit I put out o you. Pretty sure I can get most of my deposit back...
since no one posted this yet I give you the opening that should of played at the beginning of this chapter:
The story was pretty good, but I think I'm gonna give up on it. I feel like the main character is just being used as a punching bag at this point.
Best of luck in your future writing.