It's Raining Mares!?

by Synli

Chapter 2

“Dear? Can you tell me what happened?” A worried voice seemingly addressing her was the next thing that Cinnamon noticed. She flinched as she felt the hooves of another poking and prodding at her matted flanks. When she opened her eyes they were assaulted by a stinging sensation courtesy of the bright fluorescent lights of the clinic. With a huff of frustration the gray mare retreated further into the springy surface below her.

“I’m okay.” Despite the touch of what had likely been intended as a consoling hoof on her back, she continued to gaze down at her hooves. Perhaps having sensed the Unicorn’s unease the hoof fell away from her back and allowed her some manner of silence to compose herself. After a few more blinks to reduce the irritation from the overhead lights, Cinnamon turned her attention to the mare that had been attending to her.

A nurse’s cap sat atop the lengthy brown mane of the Earth Pony that stood before her. Despite the down to earth tone of both her coat and mane a section of her bangs was an eye-catching bright red. The kind gaze from the Nurse caught her off guard for a moment and she stammered meekly before she was struck by a realization. “Is she okay!?”

The sudden outburst from the seemingly timid mare almost knocked the Nurse’s cap to the floor. The other mare gazed at her with wide eyes as she adjusted the askew headpiece before her kindly demeanor returned. With a gentleness likely cultivated through years in her profession she smiled and gave a confident nod. “She’ll be alright. She’s lucky that you were around to help her.”

The light gray mare’s cheeks flushed an uncharacteristic scarlet before she glanced over towards the double doors beyond the nurse’s station. The Nurse noticed her wandering eyes and gave her a well-practiced smile that could have easily been used to win most other ponies over before she took her place back behind her desk once more. “I’m Nurse Valorie, by the way. If you need anything at all just let me know!”

As time moved onwards the doors were opened several different times for several different ponies, though none of them possessed the fiery red hair of the Pegasus she had carried. Eventually her line of sight to the double doors was broken by a stallion in lab coat. Despite her attempts to lean around him and continue staring at the inert doors she was finally forced to acknowledge him as he spoke.

“Miss? Are you the one that carried in the wounded Pegasus?” The politeness in the Doctor’s voice allowed her to banish enough of her building anxiousness to turn her gaze towards him and give a silent nod. The stallion was an Earth Pony just like the Nurse, and just like her he also possessed a brown mane with a crimson streak. Come to think of it he shared more than a few passing similarities with the mare at the front desk. Before she could lend her voice to the sudden thought a friendly smile spread across the male’s face.

“Hey. Your friend is going to be fine. None of her injuries look too bad, I’m guessing that’d be thanks to you.” Her earlier anxiety forgotten, Cinnamon sprung up from her spot and clasped the Doctor’s front hoof with both of her own. Despite the half-step back the stallion took upon her sudden shift in temperment, he smiled back at her. As she allowed his hoof to drop back to the floor tears of relief began to well up at the edges of her vision. “Thank you so much, Doctor. I’m so glad…”

“Please, call me Valor Force, Doctor seems too impersonal.” The earth toned pony gave her a gentle smile with just a hint of natural charm as one of his hooves came to rest against her front leg. Cinnamon glanced back and forth between the Doctor and the Nurse at her station one more time as she noted the familiarity to bring up later. Upon finally realizing she had been staring wordlessly without offering up her own name she bashfully stammered out. “C-Cinnamon Swirl. Thank you again for what you did, Valor.”

Without another word she began trotting towards the hospital’s exit. As her hoof came to rest upon the door to the moonlit street she became aware of somepony else’s hoofsteps behind her own. “Don’t you want to see your friend? She probably owes her wings to you, after all.”

A small sigh slipped from Cinnamon’s lips as she paused in her attempted escape from the sterile room. “We’re… not exactly friends. I just found her out in the forest and brought her here.”

“The Everfree…?” The concern in the stallion’s voice was practically audible as he spoke more to himself than her. Though she couldn’t see his face, Cinnamon could practically feel a disapproving stare bore into the back of her head. Despite bracing herself for a reprimanding tone, it never came. In fact, nothing was spoken until a reassuring hoof came to rest on top of her head.

“Well, you can go home now if you would like to. But if it would help you feel better, you ‘could’ check on her first.” One of his hooves pointed to the double doors as he gave her an understanding smile. The sight of the closed doors as well as the thought of the mare within made Cinnamon wince. With a sigh of defeat she nodded to the doctor and fell into pace alongside him as they stepped into the sterile and unfamiliar hallway.

Ya know… The name Valor Force seems like it would have been more fitting if he was Royal Guard instead of a Doctor.

Two pairs of hoofsteps echoed down the plain white hallway as the ponies passed by room after unoccupied room. As they neared the end of the hallway Cinnamon spared glances left and right into the vacant rooms. Eventually her shuffling hooves brought her before the only door adorned with a chart. Through the small window in the wooden door she could barely make out the back of the blue-coated mare and her striking red mane.

Despite the somber silence of the room being broken by the entrance of the two ponies, the Pegasus remained still in her bed. While the shy Unicorn remained by the door as she gazed inwards, the stallion strode quickly beyond her and began to go about his doctorly duties. With an air of melancholy the bedridden female went along with the routine checkup. Surprise replaced the indifference on her face when she caught sight of Cinnamon silently peeking into the room.

As soon as their gazes met, the purple-maned mare let loose a surprised squeak and averted her eyes as a blush colored her cheeks. Though her gaze passed quickly over the contents of the room she couldn’t help but shake the feeling of the patient’s eyes on her. Cinnamon wasn’t a stranger to imagining judgemental gazes but the one she felt from the other mare felt different somehow. As she ran out of places to look her eyes began to drift to things that were closer and closer to the other mare. With a heavy sigh she turned to face the other occupants of the room only to notice the Pegasus’s eyes had drifted closed and the Earth Pony was staring at her with a strange look on his face.

“Uh… heh…” The gray-coated mare’s blush brightened as she kicked nervously against the white tile. With one more glance to the close-eyed mare she hastily departed the room and pulled the door closed behind her with a sudden slam.

Author's Note:

If you have any questions, comments, or criticism I'd love to hear what you have to say!
...I don't like hospitals either *Shudder*