The Hearts of Man: Chapter 2 -Glass-

Chapter 2: Glass

 

>"How is he?"

>"Not good. Seems the blow he took to the head did more damage than we thought. He'll be in this state until he shows signs of recovery."

>"But... but when will that be?.."

>You open your eyes a crack, and see the faint outline of two people standing over you.

>Mom?..

>"I don't know ma'am. Injuries like this can lead to all sorts of complications. We'll have to-

>Darkness

>"-just wait for him to wake up I guess. I don't even know what this... thing... is, anyway."

>"What about you, Fluttershy? You know a lot about critters, so you seem like the one to ask about this sort of thing?."

>Flutterwhat?

>Your eyes spring open and you bolt upright.

 

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>Your movement startles the three ponies in front of you, causing the yellow one to let out a frightened squeal and jump back.

>Your eyes dart around the room. You're still in the bakery.

>They're looking at you closely now, and you shrink back nervously.

>Didn't you hear someone say something about your head?...

>It's all hazy now.

>You put your face into your hands and rub your temples, trying to dispel the confusion.

>"Ahem," a pony says next to you

>You look to your side and see the third filly looking at you with a stern expression on her face, her purple eyes, staring daggers at you, are twinkling in the light.

>Twilight: "Can you speak?"

Yes.

>Twilight: "What are you doing breaking into the Cake's bakery in the middle of the night?"

 

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>The events from that night rush back to you, as you lower your head and blush, as guilt and embarrassment set in.

I've been lost.

>Twilight: "Lost."

In the Everfree forest.

>Twilight: "For how long?"

Two weeks give or take. I couldn't find any food while stranded there, so when I found the shop I... well...

>You turn to Pinkie Pie, who's still bouncing up and down.

I'm sorry Pinkie. Really.  If you need me to fix the window, I will. I'll even help you bake more cakes and pies. Just-

>Pinkie: "Oh don't worry about it! You can help me fix it tomorrow! And you know how to bake? Oh boy oh boy oh boy!"

>She's not even mad at you. She just smiles.

>Twilight: "Pinkie, he PUNCHED your window to pieces and ate some of your cakes!"

>Pinkie: "I KNOW right? Wasn't it funny? He had chocolate all OVER his face!"

>Twilight: "But Pinkie-"

>Fluttershy: "Um... excuse me.."

>Pinkie and Twilight stop talking and turn to Fluttershy. She's hiding her face as best has she can behind her mane, but you can see one of her eyes looking down at your hand.

>Fluttershy: "Shouldn't we help his hand? I mean, it looks like it hurts a lot."

>The mention of your wound sends pain shooting through your arm. You bring it up to your face and inspect it. It's cut up and bloody, and you can feel tiny shards of glass embedded into the cuts.

>Every time you move it you feel the shards digging into you, making you grimace in pain.

Is there a sink I can use?

 

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>Fluttershy: "Oh, um.. I'm sure Twilight wouldn't mind using a healing spell for that. If that's okay with her though."

>You look at Twilight, who doesn't seem all to thrilled to be dealing with you, especially with the current situation.

>Twilight: "Why would I help him? He's lucky the Cakes are out of town to visit family, otherwise he'd be dealing with them and not us. I say let him deal with the injury."

>Fluttershy looks slightly shocked. "Bu-..but he's bleeding. Surely we can-"

That's fine. I don't want to burden you more than you have to. If I can just get to a sink, I can clean all this up myself.

>Twilight raises an eyebrow of surprise, but settles on a look of apathy, and points one of her hooves towards a door near the end of the hall.

Thanks.

>You stand up and walk down the hall, mind racing.

 

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>Tiny shards of glass slowly make their way down the drain of the sink, swept away by crimson tinted water.

>Most of the pieces are big enough for you to pick out of your hand, but you'd need tweezers to get the smallest ones out from your wounds.

>Drying off your hands, you return to Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle.

>They've been talking diligently while you were out.

>Twilight turns and walks up to you, her horn glowing.

>A broom and dustpan float over to you and drop at your feet.

>Twilight: "We've decided that you'll clean up the bakery, seeing as you were the one to break in. You'll sweep the store, clean the counters and make sure this place was cleaner than you left it. Rather than fix the window tomorrow, you'll fix it tonight. There are extra window panes in the cellar, and you'll sleep down there once you finish. Tomorrow, we'll figure out what to do about you."

>She spins around on her hooves and makes her way to the door. Fluttershy glances at you, back to Twilight, and then timidly walks over to you.

>Fluttershy: "Is your hand alright?" she asks you, almost in a whisper.

Yeah. It stings still, and it's bleeding now and then... but I'll be okay.

>You smile down at her

Sorry for all the fuss I've been making.

>She returns your smile with a small one of her own and nods shyly, as she too makes her way out of the shop.

>You look to Pinkie Pie who gives you a grin. She yawns.

>Pinkie: "Twilight said I should keep an eye on you to make sure you don't run off or try to eat more of the bakery. I told her that you looked pretty sorry about it, but she's pretty persistent."

That's fine... I'm just going to get to work now if that's okay.

>She lets out another yawn, longer this time. You can see that's she's very tired.

Pinkie Pie, just... go to bed, alright? I'll fix up the store and sleep in the cellar, just like Twilight said.

>Pinkie: "You won't... run away?" she says, nodding off in the middle of her sentence.

Nope. I won't run away.

>Pinkie: "...Promise?"

Promise

>She stares at you a bit, trying to get a hint of a lie. When she doesn't, she smiles and walks up the stairs to her room to sleep.

>You look at the havoc you've wreaked, and get to work.

>It's going to be a long night.