The Rhythm of Love

by lockheed

6: A Guitar

As I watched him, Test Tube began to stir from his slumber. He stretched his legs out and let out a loud yawn before opening his eyes. He immediately looked over to me and his eyes widened when he saw me looking back at him. "How long?" I asked him, my voice scratchy and my throat feeling as dry as a desert. He quickly got up, grabbed something with his magic, and second later a straw was poking at my lips as it tried to enter. I opened them just enough to let the straw in before clamping down on it and sucking on the straw, water rushing into my mouth a moment later. Sweet Celestia, that was the best feeling in the world right then. Once I let go of the straw, he levitated it back over to the small table at my bedside. "How long have I been in here?" I asked, whatever they had me on, it probably had me out for days.

"You've been here for almost a week." He replied, his voice sounding overjoyed that I was awake but upset that I was in there. "You scared the Tartarus out of us." His voice seemed to falter a bit, almost like he was going to cry. "They...they didn't think you were going to make it for the first couple of days. Everypony has been so worried. I'm just afraid of what would have happened..." He paused and sniffled but still no tears fell "what would have happened if I hadn't found you in time."

"You were the one that found me?" I asked him as I attempted to get myself situated in the bed but I let out a loud hiss in pain as I did so. As I sat there, my mind raced back to the day of my attempt. "My leg. Did I lose the leg?" I asked in a cold tone, my brain knowing the answer already but I didn't really want to believe it yet. Test nodded his head and I carefully reached a forehoof over to the blanket to pull it aside. When I did so, I looked down at my leg and saw what was left of it. From about halfway up my thigh and down was gone. Bandaging was around where the leg ended and I then looked further up my body at the bandaging around my midsection. "Why?" I asked him. Test looked at me again with a raised eyebrow as my heart suddenly felt like ice. "Why did you save me? Why not be merciful and let me bleed there in the forest?"

"Why? You ask me why I wouldn't let you bleed to death? You ask why I didn't just accept that you would die?!" He was clearly about to cry now but I still didn't care. "Maybe it's because you're the best friend I've ever had! Maybe it's because you're probably the one pony who actually understands me!" He stopped and looked me in the eyes, taking a deep breath before what he had to say next. "Maybe it's because I don't want to go to another funeral because of a suicide." Those words managed to jam a pick through the ice around my heart and I immediately reached a hoof out to him despite the extreme pain it caused in my side.

"Come here." I told him. He slowly inched over to me until I could grab him with my hoof and pull him into a hug. He seemed surprised to say the least but quickly accepted it as he carefully hugged me back. As we hugged I noticed the warmth that he gave off, probably from him wearing that dark grey hoodie all the time, as well as the scent of oranges. I had always loved oranges. Especially those little orange slice candies. But there was one other thing in that moment that made me forget the oranges. It was the gentle thumping of his heart. The combination of his warmth and his heartbeat reminded me just how much I cared for this stallion. How much I loved him. Even if he didn't really understand love or the fact that if he did he would never go for a stallion like me, he was still going to be there for me as my best friend. Somepony knocking on the door before it opened made us break the hug and look over at the doctor who had entered. His eyes widened and he looked up at the clock above the door.

"What time did he wake up?" He asked Test as he looked back to his clipboard.

"Ten minutes ago at the most." Test replied as he looked over at the small bag that was by the chair he had been in.

"Damn. I had ten this morning in the betting pool." He said as he wrote down the estimated time. I stole a glance at the clock and saw it read 11:45. I believed it with how bright it was outside. The doctor looked over the chart at the end of my bed and jotted down a few more notes on his clipboard and then left to presumably take to the nurses. I looked over to Test as he plopped back down into his chair.

"So, how long have you been here?" I asked as I pressed my forehooves together.

"Ever since I brought you here." He replied as he pulled out a book from the bag by the chair. His magic levitated it over to me and he gently set it down on my chest. I looked at the book as he continued to talk. "So, about a week. I've only left to take a shower and grab some things from home." The book he'd given me actually looked pretty good. Actually, it looked very familiar too.

"Where did you get this book?" I questioned as I lifted it up.

"Oh, that one I grabbed from your place on my way back here from my house. I thought that when you woke up you might want something to read so I grabbed a few of the books from your office for you." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he fished out a science journal from his bag for him to read. I looked at the book cover again and saw the silhouette of a royal guard on the front against the white cover.

“This was my grandpa’s book.” I said as I opened up the cover and looked at the note written inside. The writing had faded too much to read many years before but I knew the story behind it well. “He served under Shining Armor’s grandfather in the Royal Guard.” Test looked up at me and set his magazine down.

“I didn’t know your grandfather was in the Guard.”

“Yeah, he didn’t ever really talk much about it. He was over in Zebrika during their civil war as part of a team to get Equestria’s ambassador over there out. Grandma said that for years after he came back from there he would wake up at night screaming.” I told him as I set the book next to me on the bed. “He would talk about all the places in Equestria they sent him and the close calls with the Gryphon Kingdom. But he would never discuss Zebrika with anyone but my grandmother. One night after he’d gone to bed and I was old enough to understand, she told me what he’d seen over there. The tribes over there can get brutal when they want to and the civil war was brutality like nopony has seen since. Grandma said that when his airship was fifty miles from Zebrika, the stallions in his unit could smell burning flesh. After they had landed, they were met by impaled soldiers from both sides as a warning from each side to the other. They saw dead zebra foals lying in the streets after they had been caught in the cross fire trying to escape.” Just the thought of it made me nauseous but I continued on. “When they got to the embassy, they had to turn back and return to Equestria. The natives had dug a trench around it in the night and camouflaged it. When the ponies inside tried to escape, they fell into the trench and were impaled on bamboo spikes. Apparently when they arrived, some of them were still alive despite their impalement. One even being there for over twelve hours without dying. They couldn’t even recover the bodies without setting off other bobby traps that had been set.”

“That’s awful. I can’t say I blame him for never wanting to talk about it. How in Celestia’s name did a musician end up in that situation?” Test asked as he leaned forward on his seat, clearly wanting to know how.

“It was back when they still had mandatory service. He didn’t have much of a say in the matter of serving. His armor, uniform, and all his medals are in the chifforobe in his old office. I haven’t looked at them since his passing.” I looked over at Test and smiled too him. “You have any family in the Guard?”

“My older brother was. He was the only pegasus among us kids but it was so great growing up so much younger than him. He was eleven years older than me and since I was so much smaller, he would let me ride on his back for a flight around Ponyville. It was so great. Being a unicorn but being able to touch the clouds. Seeing the world from a view most unicorns or earth ponies can only imagine.” His eyes looked over at something and I turned my head to see what was behind me that he could be looking at. There in the corner where I hadn’t noticed it before was a small table that was overflowing with flowers and balloons. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure if you would want those in here or not.”

“No, it’s alright. I like flowers. Are there any in a pot?” I asked him as I couldn’t see very many past the front ones in the vases.

“A couple.” He said as he leaned back in his chair.

“Any daffodils?”

“Yeah. Why?” He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“I like daffodils. They’re always so beautiful when they bloom. They’re not around very long here in Ponyville. But when they are, it’s always so beautiful. It’s times like then that I wish I was a unicorn like you.” I said with a small laugh as I looked out the window. “I’d just sit and paint the flowers all day. I bet you could make good money off that too. What kind of flowers do you like?”

“Well, I always liked roses.”

---

“So how’re you feeling?” Lyra asked as she and Bon Bon sat by my bed.

“Alright. Been better. Being worse is how I got here.” I told her with a small laugh at myself. She frowned a bit at the joke but said nothing as Bon Bon opened her mouth to speak.

“Is the food in here as bad as they say?”

“No clue. The green stuff, I have no idea what it is. Usually I just give Test Tube some bits and have him get me something from the vending machines.” I said as I looked out the window at the sky. The sun was starting to sink towards the horizon and the sky began to take on a pink hue. “How’s your shop doing Bon?”

“Good. Although I have to make about five batches of lemon drops if Troy and his brothers show up.” She said with a small smile about it.

“Yeah, what’s up with gryphons and lemon drops?” I asked her to which she shrugged her shoulders as she placed a hoof on Lyra’s shoulder.

“Well, should we go and give Rhythm a chance to rest?”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow buddy.” Lyra said as they stood up. “Is there anything we can get for you before we come back tomorrow?”

“Yeah, actually. Can you bring a couple of my records and” I grabbed a nearby piece of paper and a pen. I wrote down which records I wanted and something for my next request. “take some of the roses from my rose bush to this address.”

---

I smiled as I watched Test’s magic picked at the strings on the guitar on his lap. He wasn’t playing any particular tune; rather he was just winging it and see where that led him. He stopped playing and looked up at me. “You got any requests?” Test asked to which I thought for a second before smiling a little.

“Do you know The Way You Look Tonight?” I asked and this time he had to think.

“Does it go like this?” He asked me as he began playing the guitar again. I smiled as it was indeed the song I wanted.

I sang the first couple of lines until a sharp pain went through my mid-section and made me hiss in pain. The guitar fell to the floor as he jumped up and hurried over.

"Are you alright? Do I need to get the doctor? What's wrong? Do you need help?" His barrage of questions seemed to come at a hundred miles per hour and I held a hoof up to silence him.

"I'm fine. I just shouldn't have done that while I'm still wrapped up like a mummy." I replied as I smiled to reassure him that I was fine. He seemed hesitant to believe it at first but nodded as he returned to his seat. "I never knew you could play an instrument." I said as he sat down and started picking at the guitar strings again.

"Another gift from my older brother. He was so good at it for a pegasus. I guess feathers served as pretty good guitar picks for him cause he would always hold the guitar with his hooves but strum with his feathers." Test said, his voice having a depressed tone to it.

"If I may, why do you always talk about him in the past tense?" I asked him and he immediately stopped playing as he looked up at me.

"He killed himself when I was ten. My sister found him hanging in his closet." He replied in a monotone voice before he began picking at the guitar strings again. Well shit. That made me feel like an ass for asking.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." I told him to which he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's alright, Rhythm. I spend all day doing science experiments. I can understand somepony having a curious streak in them." Test said as he continued to play random strings to make up some song. "He also told me something his commander in the Guard told him once that I think would fit well for you recovery."

"What's that?" I asked him.

"His commander told him that he didn't judge a stallion's success by how high he climbs but by how high he bounces when he hits bottom. You hit bottom Rhythm. Now let's see how high you can bounce."

Comments

[BeatenLover]

Amazing :3

[lockheed]

7333838
Thank you

[Applejack224]

Wow, that poor stallion