Mind Games

by flutterdashforever

Part II

When Twilight walked in the doors of the Ponyvile hospital the following day, it was to find the regular doctor at the desk, looking over some paper work.

“Hey Fill,” said Twilight, familiarly. “Just coming in to check on Applejack, how is she this morning?”

Fill looked up at her, his face registering surprise. “Oh, hey Twilight, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon but actually it’s really good you came.”

Twilight quirked an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“It’s Applejack,” he said simply. “She’s made a full recovery.”

Twilight gaped. “She’s what? I thought you said you’d have to keep her for a few more days.”

Fill rubbed the back of his head, looking a little sheepish. “Yea, I did say that, then she had to go and do something like this.” He passed Twilight the papers he had been examining.

She read them and then looked up at Fill for an explanation.

“Did you read it? Minor fractures in every rib, Remainder of a concussion that split her skull, possible pressure on the heart from the heeling ribs, kidneys squashed nearly to death and not to mention one hell of a case of gem-stuck-in-chest-ness.”
Twilight examined the chart again. “What is this?”

Fill smirked. “Yesterday’s chart.” He passed her another piece of paper.

Twilight opened it but before she could actually read it, Fill cut in.

“Today’s chart: kidneys: fine, skull: intact and no signs of concussion, heart: functioning normally, ribs: bruised but no longer fractured.” He frowned again. “Still a pretty nasty case of gem-stuck-in-chest-ness though. I don’t know what you did but she’s free to go. That’s actually why I’m so glad you’re here. I need to sign her over to somepony, just to keep an eye on her for a few days to make sure she doesn’t have any nasty injuries.”

“Twilight stared at the piece of paper she held in her hooves. Fill was right; this was not a mare who had just been nearly killed by a stone the size of Big Macintosh. She nodded absently. “Sure, sure, I’ll go get her, shall I?”

“If you would,” said Fill, smiling.

---

Ten minutes later, Twilight was helping Applejack walk stiffly out of the hospital. Her gait was the gait of a pony who had not walked for too long. She was painfully thin and her eyes were wide and moist, causing her to flinch back when they first walked in to the bright light of the sun.

Puffing but unwilling to show weakness, Applejack said, “It’ll feel good to go back home, did the doctors say if I can go back to apple bucking?”

Twilight tilted her head on one side and gave her friend a quizzical look. “You’re going to have to stay with one of us for a few days. They said that you’re going to have to be under surveillance, just until we’re sure you’re better.

“I see…” said Applejack, noticing how Twilight had avoided answering the question straight up. “But once I’m all better I’ll be able to go back to tending the orchard?”

“After a few days you can go in for a check-up and if they say it’s alright then I suppose so.” She said it noncommittally, as though she didn’t believe her own words.

It was the subtlest of giveaways and she would have missed it if she wasn’t watching but there was something in the way Twilight had said the words, her stance, her eyes that was whispering to Applejack. “What aren’t you telling me?” Her face was deadpan.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Nothing.”

If it something had been whispering before then it was screaming now. “Twilight, you just lied.”

Twilight slumped but when she turned to Applejack, mostly what her gaze contained was raw curiosity. “You were supposed to take a few days to get better, there was some pretty serious damage and, well, we weren’t expecting to walk you out of that building if you know what I mean. And then, the very next day, you walk out of there bold as brass. How did you do it? The doctors were saying you’d never make a full recovery.”

Applejack considered. In truth she had felt something warm, seeping through her body, relieving the pain and aiding her rest but somehow she didn’t feel like it was something she ought to talk about. “I don’t know. Maybe I wasn’t as knocked about as you thought.”

Twilight frowned disbelievingly but decided to change the subject. “Anyway, about who you’re staying with for the next few days: I’d like to offer for you to stay with me but there’s actually a lot of work I need to do that I’ve been putting off for months; you can’t stay with Rainbow because, well I don’t think anypony actually knows where she lives but it’s probably on some cloud somewhere so that’s not an option. I’ll cut right to the chase here, the only one of us who isn’t totally swamped in work is Rarity who is surprisingly un-busy for her line of work.”

Applejack smiled. “I guess I’ll be staying with Rarity then.”

“I’m sorry, I know you two don’t always see eye to eye but I’m sure she’d be happy to have you.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Applejack saw Twilight’s posture relax, had she really been that nervous about telling Applejack that she’d have to stay with Rarity?

The rest of the walk in to Ponyvile passed uneventfully. Applejack slowly regained her hooves and was even able to make idle chit chat about what had been happening since she had been in hospital.

At last the pair arrived at Rarity’s boutique. Twilight looked over at Applejack. “I Have to go. I already talked to her and she is more than happy to let you stay for as long as you need.” She turned and walked away, heading back to the centre of Ponyvile.

---

That night, Applejack tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable among the sea of blankets and pillows. She was in less pain than she had been the night before but her mind was plagued with strange images. Somewhere there was a small voice, growing stronger with each passing day and it was practically screaming at her.

After only a few minutes pleasant chit chat post arriving at Rarity’s boutique, Applejack had stumbled off to bed, claiming a headache. It was partially true, with all these thoughts streaming through her head it was beginning to throb.
When at last sleep overtook her, her dreams were just as disturbed.

No author's notes other than that I hope you enjoyed it.