Hope

The Sun’s rays of light entered the hospital room, where an earth pony was turning and tossing in bed, sweating and talking in sleep. Crying. A nurse came inside the room to check on the patient.

“Good morni—“ she cut herself off when she saw the way the pony behaved. “Wake up, mister, you’re having a nightmare.” The mare shook him slightly.

“No… Jake, wait for… me” he whimpered in his sleep.

“Wake up!” the nurse said in a soft but commanding voice, eventually snapping the sleeping pony out of his bad dream.

“Huh, what, I’m awake, I’m awake… wait, what’s going on, where am I?” he asked the nurse, only for yesterday’s events to come back in a jiffy, making him hyperventilate.

“Was I almost killed?!”

“Shh! Calm down mister, you are safe. I just came in to check on you, to see if you needed anything.”

“Well, I could use some water, and… maybe something… to eat” he said, rubbing the back of his head and sighing. ‘Wait, was that mare here? Or was it just a dream?’ He shook his head gently and lay back on the pillow.

“Another nurse will come a bit later with breakfast, but for now, I must ask you, how do you feel? Any pain, dizziness?” she asked, eyeing him up and down, while checking his wounds, which were sewed up and bandaged.

“No, I just feel… weak, tired.”

“That is to be expected, it will take some time for you to feel better. I don’t think you need any more sedatives. Your blood pressure seems fine, so I will remove the blood drip.”

He watched as the nurse removed the needles from his left forearm and applied a bandage.

“There, everything should be okay. Oh, by the way, you have visitors.”

‘Visitors?! But who? Oh… OH! Buck, it’s –‘ his eyes widened when he realized who will come to see him.

“I will show them inside, be right back.”

‘Damn, what am I going to do!? He probably came here to strangle me!’ Taking a quick glance around the room, he rested his eyes upon the window. ‘The window! Maybe I can jump—‘ his thoughts were cut off by the door which swung open, revealing none other than the green unicorn, Margaret, the baker mare, and a nurse leading them in. ‘Buck, I’m done for…’ he cringed at the last statement.

“Good morning Tony” said Margaret, while nudging her husband to take a step forward and approach him. “I’m sorry we are late, but we had some business to take care off earlier this morning. How are you feeling?”

“Uh, I… well, good, I guess…” he said, shrinking further into his bed and covering his face with the sheets, hoping to avoid the piercing gaze of the green unicorn.

“Dillon…” The unicorn turned to the mare, receiving a glare that could make a dragon back off. “Say hello” the mare said to him, with a smug grin on her face.

“O…okay! Hey kiddo, how, uh, how are you?” said the stallion, rubbing the back of his neck, knowing that he was being pierced by the fiery gaze of his wife.

Tony popped his head from under the sheets and muttered a silent ‘hello’ to him.

Dillon sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for bringing you in this situation, but nopony, and I mean nopony! Will harm my wife.” Tony cringed and hid behind the sheets again, to which Margaret chuckled and planted a hard hoof in her husband’s cheek.

“Oww, what the hay was that for!?” he asked, rubbing his cheek.

“Don’t worry Tony, nopony will hurt you, now that I’m here” the mare said, with a smile so wide he could swear that her face would get stuck.

‘…stuck, hehehe’ Tony snickered to himself, earning him a few looks from those present in the room. “Uh, sorry. Random thoughts…” he said with a very bad poker face.

“It’s okay. Say Tony, the nurse told us you had a nightmare, and that you kept mumbling a name. Who is Jake, Tony? Is he a friend of yours?”

To this question, the colt cringed and felt anger building inside him, but managed to keep it within himself. “Nopony. Doesn’t matter.”

Margaret eyed him, concerned, seeing through his façade that he was hurt by the question. “I’m sorry Tony, I didn’t mean to startle you, but it seemed important. You can tell me whenever you’re ready, that is if you want to…”

“ Maybe some other day. When will I be released?”

“In a few hours, after we make a few more check-ups” the nurse replied while preparing a syringe.

“Whu, what’s that for?!” Tony asked horrified. He had never seen a syringe before. He never went to a doctor anyway.

“It’s an energizer, to help you recover” said the nurse, getting closer to him.

“Stand back! I’d rather eat these sheets than have an injection or whatever you call that!”

At this, all of them were laughing in tears, except for Tony.

“What’s so funny?! I mean it!” Tony said, confused as to why they were laughing.

“Alright, mister Tony, calm down, I won’t make you any injections if you do not wish. Speaking of which, do you have a medical insurance?”

“A what?” he asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

“Don’t worry nurse, we will pay for his hospitalization. After all, it’s a green unicorn’s mistake after all, isn’t it?” said the mare, looking her husband in the eyes.

“Yes dear!” he replied, saluting.

“We will come later to pick you up, we have some things to discuss. Me and my husband think we can help you a bit with your situation, that is if you want to.”

‘Help? Me? What can they possibly do for me, and why, after all I’ve put them through…’ he cleared his throat.

“Exactly how would you like to help me?”

“Maybe enrolling you into a school, so you can get on your feet and maybe improve your life. If you accept, we will help you with school taxes and such, until you can take care of yourself properly.” Margaret was smiling brighter than the sun.

‘School? This has to be dream come true! I can finally attend a school, have some friends! Oh boy, I did not think I would end up here after yesterday’s events.’

“I... I might accept your proposal, if it’s not a burden for you” he replied, with an appreciative smile.

“Not at all, we always wanted to have …” at this, the mare suddenly stopped and averted her gaze to hide her tears that started streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say anything to hurt you!”

“No, it’s okay Tony” said Dillon as he grabbed his wife in an embrace. “What she wanted to tell you, is that she wants to adopt you, since we can’t, well, you know…”

Tony was hit by this like a wall of bricks. ‘Adopted?! That’s why they are all so helpful!? But wait, through this maybe I can finally make a change in my life, become somepony. Somepony…’ the last word echoed through his mind. His lips curled into a wide smile.

“I understand. But I want you two to understand something about me.” At this, the mare stopped crying and looked straight into his eyes. “All I want is to study, learn something so that I can change my current life. All I want, is to have some friends, to be happy. If that is possible with you, then yes, I’d like to go with you.” At this, the mare cleared her throat and spoke softly.

“Welcome to the family then.” She then gave him a warm hug, which he returned with tears forming in his eyes. ‘A family huh? Sounds… good… Just like... Jake.’ He closed his eyes and cried softly.

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