Chaser

by sslacyhadals

A Quick Recovery

“Ooh...” The world was coming back into focus. Slowly.

I wasn't sure I wanted it to.

My head felt like it had been hit by the train, repeatedly, and my legs were being used as pincushions, while my underside was under attack by a horde of angry ants. The sounds around me faded back into my awareness, bringing my ears a cacophony of noises and voices I couldn’t hope to untangle from each other yet. Then came my eyesight. Barely visible, distorted blurs of color shrank and stretched into rough pony-like forms, and eventually sharpened themselves into the shapes of the crowd that still lay around me.

My memory kicked in last of all, and the rush of information from the past few minutes sent my heart racing again, pulse pounding in my still buzzing ears as I recalled what had just happened. The train, Rumble and the weather-vane, the mayor’s announcement... I tried to get to my hooves, but my legs weren’t responding correctly. My body felt weak and slow after collapsing. I was still trying to figure out how to get everything to move properly when I heard a familiar voice amongst the din of the crowd.

“Clear a path, everypony! He needs air! Are the EMT’s comin’?” Applejack was shouting at the crowd, trying to contain the scene as they waited for help to come for somepony... me, I realized.

I was gradually regaining my faculties, and I began to sit up, rolling off my side slowly, shaking my head to try and speed up the process. Before I could get all the way upright, Applejack was at my side, her features creased with worry lines as she firmly placed a hoof on my hip and guided me back down.

“Don’t try and get up, Chaser. Pinkie’s getting help. Paramedic’s are on the way.” She looked up at the sound of hoof beats rapidly approaching and smiled. “Here they are. Just lie still, unless they say otherwise, alright?”

“But, I’m fine...” I said slowly. My mouth still felt a little fuzzy, and for that matter, so did everything else, but I was sure I’d be alright. I didn’t get time to prove it, though. The paramedics surrounded me, three of them, moving me quickly onto a stretcher. I was instructed by one of them not to move, and to try and relax, as the other two began lifting the stretcher to carry me out of the noisy crowd. I didn’t try to argue; it was probably the easiest way to get out of the crowd, and I had wanted to go to the hospital anyhow, so it was worth feigning weakness for a few more moments. It wasn’t entirely acting, either—my body and mind were taking their sweet time getting back up to speed.

The scene whizzed by after that. I think I lost consciousness again, although it may have just been sleepiness brought on by all the stress, I’m not really sure. The next thing I was fully aware of was that the sound of the crowd had gone, and the stretcher had been loaded into the back of a wagon. I saw Applejack climb into the back with one of the paramedics, and the two of them began talking about what had happened as it started to move. I didn’t really catch what they were saying, as another of the medics started asking me questions.

“Sir, can you tell me your name?”

“My name?” Couldn't Applejack have given her that?

“Yes, sir. I need to make sure you haven't suffered any brain trauma.”

Ah. That made sense. “Oh, right,” I replied, “Uh, my name is Chaser.”

“Do you know where you are?”

“In the back of a medical wagon?” I partly answered, partly asked.

She laughed lightly. “Very good. Do you remember what happened?”

This went on for a few more questions. By the time she was finished, the coach had stopped, and I was quickly carried out again, to the familiar site of the hospital above me.

I was ferried in and taken with barely a word to an exam room in the opposite wing from which Fluttershy was staying. The bright lights of the hallways made me blink rapidly as we entered, and I saw spots for several seconds, and was still blinking them away while I was gently lifted off of the stretcher and lowered onto a supportive, if not overly comfortable, exam room bed. One of the paramedics told Applejack that the nurse would be in momentarily, and then they left. Applejack stood across from me in the spartan white room for a moment, and I rolled over onto my other side to look at her without craning my neck.

“Applejack?”

“What is it, Sugarcube? You need somethin’?” She leaned in expectantly, waiting for me to suggest some way for her to assist.

“No.” I shook my head and sighed. “I, uh, just want to get out of here, really.”

She was looking at me far too seriously. “Not until the doc says you're alright. You dropped like a stone out there. Gave us all a real fright, after what the mayor had just said. Everypony about lost their minds.”

I hooved my face, dragging it slowly down to stretch my features out in an exaggerated grimace. “Ugh. The mayor... What was she thinking? Saying all that.”

“Prob’ly thinkin’ she was thankin’ you for what you done.” She tried to smile, but the look she saw on my face put a stop to it midway through, and she dropped her gaze. “Look, Chaser, I know you didn’t come here for attention, but it ain’t really so bad, is it?”

“Applejack,” I began as I sat up, testing the strength in my limbs now that the tingling had finally stopped, “I don’t figure you’d understand, but...” I sighed deeply and flomped back onto the bed with resignation. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.” I glanced over at her, noting she still wasn’t looking at me. “Hey, how come you didn’t mention that both of us saved Rumble? Why give me all the credit back there?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly—”

I stopped her with a raised hoof. “Yes, you did. You said ‘he grabbed Rumble from under the weather-vane. If it hadn’t been for him, I don’t think he would still be with us,’” I paraphrased. “You didn’t even mention yourself, or the fact that I couldn’t move the wreckage, so you had to switch places with me. If I’d been strong enough to do it in the first place, it would have been you grabbing Rumble, not me. You would have been the hero.” I frowned in thought. “So why... Why not try and take any of the credit?”

She laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of her head as she answered. “Well, I guess I forgot to mention it. I'm right sorry. Must of slipped my mind while I was busy dealin' with Thunderlane.”

I sighed again. “It's alright. I didn't think you did it on purpose. I just don’t do the whole attention thing very well. I’m more of a... background pony, I guess.”

“Well, maybe today'll be the day what changes all that.” She smiled full this time. “Really, it’ll be alright. Folk'll be excited for a day or two, Pinkie's gonna throw a party, and things'll go back to normal. You deserve it, anyhow, you know. You did do something pretty heroic today; you should get a little attention.”

“All I did was the right thing, Applejack. That’s not heroic.” I crossed my forelegs and tried not to look her in the eyes.

She stared at me for several moments, and I finally turned my gaze back to meet hers. She was looking at me with a strange severity, as though I had missed something very important. When she finally spoke, she said simply, “That’s all any hero does, Chaser. They do what’s right.” She turned and started for the door, and I thought I may have seen a tear in her eyes as she did. If she was crying, her voice didn’t show it as she said over her shoulder, “I’ll just head over to Fluttershy’s room, now, let her know what's goin' on. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Take it easy, alright?” She didn’t wait for me to answer, and the swinging door was the punctuation her sentence had left out—I had said something very wrong.

I tried to think about what could have stung her so badly, but before I had much time to ponder, the door swung open again. A stallion in a nurses outfit came in, looking intently over a clipboard. “So, Chaser is it? The crowd a bit too much for you?” He didn't smile, but he sounded like he was delivering a punchline more than a question.

“Er,” I stuttered, “Y-yeah. Something like that.”

“Well, let's just take a quick look at your vitals.” He proceeded to his usual nursely duties, checking my blood pressure, listening to my heart and lungs, and getting my temperature. After he finished, he smiled at me and wrote down a few things on the clipboard, nodding to himself as he did so. “Well,” he said as he picked up the board, “The doctor should be here in a few minutes. Try to relax, and we should have you out of here soon.” He turned and left before I had a chance to say anything in response.

“Thanks,” I muttered behind him as the door swung shut again.

I had sat alone in the exam room for a few minutes, looking at the ground, trying to plan my next move, when I heard a familiar pair of voices outside the door.

“Um, are you sure it's okay to go in?”

“Sure as shootin'. Now, get on in there and see him. I'll just wait right out here—don't wanna crowd the room none.”

The door opened slowly, and a lock of pink hair preceded a soft, gentle face, which poked around the door frame to look for me. When she spotted me, Fluttershy smiled. She walked in calmly, coming over to stand by my exam bed as she divided her attention between me, and a floor tile. “Hello,” she uttered quietly.

“Uh, hi, Fluttershy. You must be feeling better.” She certainly looked it—the color had returned to her coat, and she was steady on her feet again. The doctors here did a good job.

She nodded, looking to the fresh linens over her wing, and the wrapping around her midsection. “They just put new bandages on about an hour ago. The doctor says if everything looks alright this afternoon, after my last check-up, then I can go home.”

I couldn't help but grin. “That's good. I'm glad to see you've made such a quick recovery.”

“Well... I couldn't have done it without your help.” She looked up at me as if waiting to see how I'd respond.

I should have corrected her—she wouldn't have had to recover from anything at all if I hadn't shown up yesterday—but I didn't. Instead, I smiled and said, “Uh, well... it was nothing, really. It was just the right thing to do.” I stopped, stunned at my response. This whole mess was my fault—why did I feel so... good?

“Oh, it was so much, though!” she insisted, “I mean, I know you feel guilty–“ she leaned forward and placed a gentle hoof on my foreleg, smiling up at me warmly as our eyes met, “–but it's okay. Even if I did think it was your fault—and I-I don't, really—you still saved my life, and that means a lot.” She looked away slowly, and began to lower her hoof.

At any time before that moment, I would have stoically refuted her praise, and told her that my actions after the fact didn't absolve me of my mistakes. But I didn't say it. I didn't say anything at all for several moments. My voice had gotten caught in my throat in a large lump, and I had to swallow deeply to clear it. “Fluttershy...” My voice cracked. She turned to look at me again, and our eyes locked for a second time. She waited patiently for me to continue, as I searched in vain for words. I wanted to say something, but I wasn't sure what...

Before I could discover what I was trying to say, the door flung open, and the doctor strode in, whistling the Equestrian army march in a low octave. It startled both of us, and we jumped in unison. Fluttershy let out a little yelp, and the doctor glanced over at her in surprise. “Oh! Why, Fluttershy, what are you doing in here?”

She pawed the tile as she responded, blushing. “Oh, I-I was just seeing how my friend Chaser was doing. I heard he wasn't feeling well, and after what he did for me yesterday, I thought—“

The doctor interrupted with an excited tone, “Yes, he's quite a rising star in our little town, isn't he?” He turned to me and stepped forward, shaking my hoof firmly as he turned me slowly to dangle my hind legs off the bed, to better examine me. “A pleasure, Mr. Chaser. Now, open wide and say 'ah.'”

I obliged, though I didn't quite manage an 'ah'. “Iss yus haysah,” I tried to say as he examined my... whatever it is doctors examine when they make you do that. Tonsils, maybe?

“What was that?” the doctor asked as he removed the stick from my tongue.

I tried to remove the taste of wood from my mouth before answering. “I said 'it's just Chaser.'”

“Oh, yes, of course, of course.” He reached behind me and grabbed for a small otoscope, which he promptly began shining into every orifice on my head, making 'hmm' and 'uh-huh' noises as he did so, as though decoding a great mystery. I recalled with disdain why I disliked doctor's visits.

Fluttershy stood awkwardly off to the side, inching slowly towards the door, trying to stay quiet. She had managed to get all the way across the room, and was raising her hoof towards the door handle, when the doctor proclaimed, “Right! All done. You've got a clean bill of health. You seem to have recovered remarkably quickly from your ordeal.” He whirled around to face the door, and the nervous pegasus standing in front of it, the otoscope cord almost hitting me in the face as he turned. “Fluttershy, since we're both here, why don't I have a quick look-see at those injuries now?”

Fluttershy blanched slightly, but reluctantly lowered her hoof away from the door handle and walked over towards the bed. “Um, alright.” I hopped off the bed, flitting my wings quickly to fly over the doctor towards the door, and Fluttershy hopped daintily onto it in my place.

I set down right in front of the door, grateful to be done with the whole ordeal. “I'll, uh, be right outside.” I slipped through the doorway as quickly as I could, to let the doctor and Fluttershy proceed. I almost bumped into Applejack the moment I stepped out into the hall. “Gah!”

“Well, I'm not that scary, now am I?” she said, grinning.

When I landed again, I allowed myself to smile as I felt my face reddening. “Frost, am I jumpy!”

“Well, considerin' the crowd outside, you might just have reason to jump.”

“Crowd?” I walked past her, going as far as the end of the hallway, and peeked my head around the corner into the main foyer.

The staff were ushering the last of the crowd of ponies out of the building, looking rather disgruntled to be doing so. I tried to count the bodies outside before the doors shut, and I managed to spot at least twenty. It didn't look like everypony had followed us here from the train, but I still couldn't believe that ponies were clamoring to see me. I felt, more than heard, Applejack walk up beside me, and I turned to look at her exasperatedly. “Why is there a crowd outside?” She didn't answer, but chuckled as she looked at me. “I don't... Oh, frostfeathers. How do I get out of here?”

“Well, I thought you might ask. I got an idea, but you'll need to wait a few minutes for me to get back.” She started towards the doors slowly, looking over her shoulder at me. “You okay with that?”

“I'll wait as long as I need to, if it means not going out into... into that.”

“Alright then. Wait here with Fluttershy. I'll be back as soon as I can find her.” Applejack trotted out the doors, into the excited crowd. Several heads perked up and tried to glance inside in the moment the doors were open, hoping to spy me, I supposed. I slid against the wall and breathed out heavily, trying to collect myself as I waited for Fluttershy to emerge from the exam room.

Far too late, I turned to ask, “Wait, find her who?” In answer I received only silence. Oh, well. I would just have to wait and find out, then.

Applejack had a plan to get me out of here, but then what? Spend the rest of my time here avoiding ponies? After everything I'd been through this morning, the last thing I wanted was more attention, but that was a bit extreme. I was considering how hard it would be to get to the train station before anypony noticed. If I could find a back route, maybe climb out a window... I had my bag this time, and no pony would be expecting me to leave so suddenly. I thought maybe it would work. I could just head to another town, maybe Appleloosa... But then again, I was just starting to make some honest-to-Celestia friends.

The thought made me pause. I had friends here. Real friends. Ponies who knew my shame, my flaw, and had decided to stick around and get to know me anyway. They accepted me—wasn't that what I was after in the first place? I couldn't just up and leave them like that. Not after the kindness and help they'd shown me.

I wiped my suddenly watery eyes, and stamped my hoof on the tile of the hospital floor—a bit louder than I meant to—as I came to my decision. I would stay in Ponyville. If ponies here were willing to stand by me, I could do no less for them. Come what may, I was not going to give up on my quest, or my new friends. Even if it means being the center of attention.

I was just standing up again as the exam room door opened and Fluttershy walked out, looking a bit cheerier than before. “Thank you so much, doctor!” The doctor followed closely behind her, holding the door for her as she left, then exiting himself.

“Now remember not to try flying for a few days so we can make sure your wing heals properly. We don't want you tearing those stitches out before it's time.” the doctor told her.

She nodded. “Oh, of course. I won't.” She turned to head up the hallway, and saw me standing there, suddenly feeling like an intruder in the hall. “Oh! Chaser, you didn't have to stand out here for me... Where's Applejack?”

“Er,” I tried to explain, “she's gone to get... help.”

“Oh. Well, the doctor just told me it's safe to go now, as long as I promise to be careful for a few days.”

I beamed, momentarily forgetting my worries outside. “Oh, that's great, Fluttershy! I'm so glad you're okay! I...” I stopped, collected myself, and tried again, attempting to sound a little more reasonable. “I'm really glad you're feeling better.” I smiled sheepishly.

She blushed slightly and answered, “Me, too. I have so much to catch up on, and I'm sure my animal friends are all waiting for me. Would you like to walk with me? I could...” she paused and looked down. “I could really use some help today,” she finally uttered.

“Of course!” I responded, quicker than I had meant to. “I mean, I'd be glad to help out. It really is the least I could do.“

She smiled at me. “Oh, no. You don't have to feel like you owe me anything. I told you before, it's enough what you did in the forest.” She blushed again. “Not that I wouldn't like you to help. I just don't want you to feel obligated or anything.”

I thought for a moment, arguing with myself for several seconds as we stood awkwardly in the hallway. Finally, I nodded slowly. “Alright. I don't feel obligated.” I smiled, knowing I meant what I said, and feeling a little bit pleased with myself about it. “I would still like to help you, though. If that's alright.”

She brightened instantly, and I watched as her mane flipped up momentarily as she lifted her head, settling just atop her right eye as if framing her face on purpose. It was really quite lovely. “Oh, yes! That would be wonderful.” She started towards the doors of the main lobby. “I can't wait to see all my little friends. They were so sad when they had to leave last night.”

She was headed for the doors. “Uh, Fluttershy, wait.”

She stopped, and looked back at me quizzically. “Is something wrong?”

“Um, no, I just... told Applejack we'd wait here for her.” It was mostly true, and I couldn't risk her stepping out and getting trampled by the small fan club I had developed outside. I also didn't want her leaving without me. She was the only friend I had near me at the moment, and seeing as they were a rare commodity for me, I was in no rush to be without at least one. “She said she'd be right back, though. Why don't we just wait in here?”

“Oh, but it's such a nice day.” She gestured over to the windows, which were letting in beautiful streams of light. The sun seemed to be beckoning ponies outside to bask in its warmth and glow. Any other time, I'd have been more than willing to concede. If I stepped out those doors now, though, I'd be walking into a trap.

“I know, but, uh, I'm still feeling a little woozy from earlier.” I hated lying to her, even a little, but I couldn't think of anything else quickly enough. “I don't think the sun would be good for me until I'm, you know, feeling at my best.” I tried to smile, and I'm fairly sure I tried too hard—the nurse at the front desk looked over at me and rolled her eyes heavily.

Fluttershy seemed to believe it, thankfully. “Oh, well, I don't want you falling down again.” She stepped sideways, over to the chairs situated against the wall to one side of the doors. Several of them were currently being lit by the windows, and she sat down in one of them. “How about we sit here, then?” She patted a chair next to her gently.

I sighed in relief. “Sure. I think that would be good.” I started for the chairs, grateful to have a moment to just sit, and relax—at least until Applejack returned, anyway. I tried not to think about that. Instead, I looked over at Fluttershy, who was smiling expectantly at me, and took the seat next to her, feeling for once like things might just turn out alright... Maybe.

Author's Note:

Aaaaand we're back! Enjoy!

Comments

[MC BR0N3]

This is a great story!
And I can totally understand why Chaser doesn't like the limelight.

[TimeLord_Whooves]

Excellent, wonderful, and bravo! Another great chapter. Looks like Chaser and Fluttershy are getting a bit closer... Can't wait for the next chapter

[gear crash]

this is getting better and better every chapter

[Sendor]

This is very nice. I can't wait for more.

[JakJak75]

2589330 its the citrus it hurts the eyes...

[JakJak75]

Ah shaking subsiding, Chaser fix assimilated.

[Medic_inc]

ChaserShy!!!! <3

Moar please!!

Mane Medic

[XxgoldknightxX]

great story I'm enjoying it so far keep up the awesome writing

[TheDeolex]

Well look at that

What did I say? This story really did turn up to be a good read...

[HeavyStripes]

I liked this almost a year or so back when it was one measly chapter but forgot to favorite it, lo and behold I find it looking for zecora stories :3 she's always helpful.
But back to my earlier point, I'm glad this sorry turned out to be majestic. Bro-hoof for the good read and epic D'awws.

[Moongaze14]

Hi, I want to say that this is one of the best stories in the site and considering the fact that you dont have even a single dislike I can say that most people would agree with me. Still, I, along with many others, would like for this story to be updated. You weaved a delightful plot using a very likeable character and it would be a shame if his adventure remained without an ending. Please, if possible, at least give us a signal that the story will continue. From one of the many fans of this story.

[XxgoldknightxX]

I really hope your okay.. You haven't been on in some time.. I really enjoy reading this story. I would hate for it to end with a sudden stop to it.