Bruised Apples, Lightning Storms

Keep Her Alive

The familiar discomfort of the cheap mattress woke me more effectively than any alarm clock, rusty metal stamping my spine through thin layers of linen. The room remained just as dark between opening and shutting my eyes. Groggily sitting up, I gasped as pain hit my body like some perverted game of polish pong.

The bed springs above squeaked with slight pressure, but whatever was up there must have weighed very little. I groaned, resting back on my elbows; it was too early to be dealing with another opossum, or god forbid a raccoon. The extra noise I made startled the mystery creature, making it rustle around faster, possibly in the attempt to escape.

Seconds later, Rainbow swooped down from the top bunk, clinging upside-down on the rails, almost face to face with me. Ears floppy and mane disheveled, it would have been adorable if I hadn't so easily mistaken her for a marsupial, completely forgetting my housemate after almost a week of her presence. Sure, she'd been asleep for two of the five days, but still. Not my proudest moment.

"AJ! Are you feeling okay?" She cried, fretting at the disturbance of my slumber.

"Peachy." I croaked, blinking blearily in the near-darkness, the soreness in my throat bad enough to alter my voice. "Even if I sound like radio static."

Rainbow let out a shaky breath. "Thank goodness. And yeah, Twilight says you should start taking some medicine to help with the pain, for the things she couldn't fix easily with just magic." She explained, clutching the wooden base of the top bunk imperceptibly tighter.

I raised my eyebrows at the suspended pegasus. "Princess Fussbucket? Fix me?" I questioned, half surprised, half amused. "Did you have to sell your first born?"

A laugh met her and quickly departed. "No, I think she was worried about you. By the time I'd got there...your hooves and legs, the floors, all covered in blood... " She inhaled sharply, swallowing past a mouth drier than the Sahara.

The pain increased as a pit in my stomach deepened.

Then her face broke into a shy grin. "For a second, I thought she'd stabbed you. But I heard her muttering incantations under her breath, saw the wounds healing. She saved you, even if she doesn't really like you that much."

"Oh." I replied, stunned. Was it my fault? What had I done to the princess to make her detest me as much as she did?

Noticing my disillusioned stupor, Rainbow gracefully cascaded to the ground, the small amount of redness which had collected in her face draining away. "Hey, it's okay, Twilight invited us back tomorrow. Well, today." She yawned, stretching her legs and winking. Leaning over on my mattress to see past the top bunk, a crack in the rotting ceiling revealed a darkened sky, barely enough to distinguish the barren room; nautical dawn. It must've been about five in the morning. Observing Rainbow, sleep marks covered her body, her eyelids unable to keep themselves open for longer than a couple seconds at a time.

I flushed. "Sorry for waking you up this early. Farm schedule n' all." I mumbled, embarrassed at my ridiculous working hours. "Should probably get workin' on-"

A wave of searing pain shocked through me and I crumpled into a heap on the floor, rolling to lay on my right side, less damaged than the left. Rainbow hesitated, crouching to my level.

"I don't think I'm letting you work today." She yawned, softly laying beside me on the cold floor. "You're a danger to yourself."

I subconsciously shifted closer to her, taking in the subtle heat. "Fine, I'm not one to turn down a sick day," I grumbled, ", but I'm still making breakfast."