When I woke up I found that I was sitting in a bed with the ability that I could actually move my limbs. Good… that was a real trial and might have been bad in a long run. I couldn’t figure out why though. Magic?
“Ah you’re awake. Seems like you’ve been through a wringer. I mean seriously you’ve been through the wringer.”
“Uh… you are?”
“Oh right sorry ‘bout that. I’m Dr. Horse. And you are in Ponyville General. I’m sure you’re wondering about a lot of things but I think we need to address something more important. Right now we’ve been fixing you up and we’ve noticed that your body has been healing wrong. Whoever the unicorn that’s been healing you up is they have been doing it wrong. You’re so full of magical buildup that your body is slowly breaking up. I’ve managed to get most of it out of you but you need to stop this pony from healing you anymore until they actually know the spell right.”
I blinked in confusion. My spells were harming me on a higher level? Ok so need to find that magic teacher or finally get to that master I was thinking about. If Yen Sid exists in this universe maybe I could convince him… Wait, gotta say something.
“Right. I kind of got reckless. I needed to help out an old friend. Before I came here I got him to safety.”
“You did? Not important. We got you fully healed but you should really rest. You’ve been through a harrowing experience. Seriously I’ve never seen somepony lose that much blood and you managed to keep moving enough to get to safety.”
“I’ve always been pretty hardy I guess.”
“Hardy!? You barely managed to survive. Any longer and you would have been dead. Sweet Tartarus stallion, you lost more blood than is usually in a ponies body and are managing to get back up within the day. I understand the healing spell managed to keep your wounds regenerating but you shouldn’t even be alive at this point.”
I think I lost all focus and just stared at the doctor. Something was wrong with my head at that point… I was disappointed? Christ that’s weird. I’m not suicidal but I’m disappointed. Did I get a warrior’s background? No. No more thinking about it. It’s not important. Right now what is important is that I get out of here and make my way to see those ponies I sent the note to. I shook my head and pushed myself out of the bed and landed on my hooves. They still felt numb but that quickly passed. I needed an expert and I needed a master. One in this world who won’t immediately send me out to fight a war…
“You really shouldn’t be standing.”
“I shouldn’t be doing a lot of things and what I shouldn’t be doing is breaking my word. It’s not a Pinkie promise but I think I should keep my word.”
Thank you God for sending me memories of my world so I know what happens in this world. The doctor immediately flinched when he heard the words ‘Pinkie Promise’ and took a few steps back. I hated to use that as an excuse when I knew that I wasn’t in the best of shape. Apparently all the scars I got from my battle with the Demon Tide were healing and the magic used to heal me started to break my body for some reason. Another reason to get to Yen Sid or the same, it doesn’t matter. I needed to leave this planet and I had a ship to do so. But first I want to see those ponies I met.
“Here. Sign this release form and I’ll let you go. I’d rather not have that pink menace in my hospital when ponies here need to sleep. On another note, two ponies came to see you while you were under.”
“White unicorn and Gray earth pony?”
“Yes. You know them?”
“I’ve met them we are… acquaintances. Was anything wrong with them?”
“They seemed distraught when they saw you but they kept quiet overall.”
“That sounds bad. Is that bad?”
“It is bad.”
“That is bad.”
“Yes. Yes it is.”
“Okay well I’ll need to go see them. Did you see my saddlebags?”
He hoofed over the saddlebags and led me out of the hospital. I saw a few of the nurses stare at me. Either from fear or awe I didn’t know since I was managing to trot out at a brisk canter. One particular earth pony mare with an outline of a red cross filled and surrounded by hearts on her flank handed me an apple on my way out.
“Make sure you eat something. It’s like you haven’t eaten anything for a few days.”
I had actually eaten grass so I didn’t fully succumb to hunger and while I was still full I noticed that I was still always hungry. I really wanted to eat some meat… fish mind you. I took the apple and faked a smile. It was one I always knew how to do and practiced while I was still fully human. I think she noticed it didn’t reach my eyes and frowned.
“Thanks.”
She stared at me and tapped me on the shoulder and hugged me. The doctor didn’t say anything but for some reason hugged me too. These ponies noticed way too much. I sighed and allowed myself a genuine smile. It’s hard to not at least give some earnest smile and when the two noticed they patted me on the back and sent me on my way.
I ate the apple and trotted off through the town. It was the afternoon and a lot of the ponies who were still out and about looked at me. I remained confident… or as confident as I could be when I had just came out of a near induced coma. My legs were still awkward but didn’t impede my progress. The ponies around me returned back to their activities but every odd couple of minutes one would stare at me.
When I made it to the split house I heard a sorrowful tune coming from a string instrument. I had no idea why they were so sad but I knocked on the door and the music broke. What seemed like an angry stomp came to the door furiously opening up to show a very distraught Octavia. She glared angrily at me but the double take she elicited turned to a sorrowful smile. I think she wanted to hug me but she refrained from moving forward. Most likely the idea of high society probably still ingrained in her mind but she took a few steps back and let me in. Surprisingly, the two other mares I met, Vinyl and Raindrops, were sitting on the couch with a dour frown plastered in their faces which changed when I stepped into the room.
“Hello. I’m finally back. Sorry for the wait.”
They looked incredulously at me and waited for me to say something else. I didn’t though mostly because I had no idea what I could say about it. I was injured fighting heartless and Nightmare Moon. That’s a perfect way to explain who I am but at the same time I couldn’t really lie. The first time I did I used Timber Wolves as an excuse. I don’t think they would accept that as the reason this time.
“Um… so how are you three?”
“How are we!? What the buck happened to you? Octavia nearly lost her mind when Rainbow Dash told us you were covered in blood and flew off to Ponyville General.”
“To be fair it was my blood.”
“And that makes it better!?”
“Not really… But at least no one else got hurt. Right?”
Their eyes were staring at me and I noticed that they were all sad but they didn’t say anything. I didn’t like not saying anything but… what was I gonna tell them? I sat down in front of them and they all sat down on the couch and peered at me. It was uncomfortable and really awkward. I thought really hard about what to say and I sighed out loud. I could tell them a story which isn’t a full lie but something the jedi might find palatable.
“Well… maybe I should explain some things huh? I was told not to really say much about these things.”
That caught their attention and they waited for a while. I gathered my thoughts and sighed a lot because I didn’t really want to say something.
“You see… A while back I was tasked with dealing with monsters that hide in the darkness. I’m not exactly a guard but I am someone who deals with the darkness that hides in the world. It’s not a glamorous task but one I was chosen for. In fact, I was the only one they could choose. So my patron decided to give me the task because I was… the most trustworthy. I am not to tell anyone more than that but trust me when I say that it’s my job to deal with the monsters in the night.”
I think I broke them because all their jaws were slacked. I actually stepped down and walked to the closest one. Raindrops didn’t react when I shook my hoof in front of her face. I closed Vinyl’s mouth which fell open again. Octavia had a twitch and her mouth was closed in a grim frown. I sat back down and waited for their reply. They didn’t react.
“That’s pretty bad right?”
Vinyl was the first to react moving her mouth like a fish. Octavia kept twitching while Raindrops stared off into the distance. I don’t think they knew what to say about that. I guess the guards here are in more domestic and not used to actual combat. From my dreams I’ve noticed that most of the time they fight with pastries. I don’t understand why because not everyone can be won over by friendship. Then again, I was human and I knew exactly what it meant to fight for something to the bitter end. I’m not in the best mindset for this world. I think the others from what I heard immediately turned to combat and teaching their worlds combat. That was the context that I got from my conversations.
“Is that what happened to you? What the buck could do that to you? The doctor even said you shouldn’t be alive anymore.”
Vinyl was the most vocal and I think she couldn’t believe I was alive. Octavia bit her hoof and remained silent allowing her to speak. Raindrops appeared to be tearing up but kept it from overwhelming her sensibilities somewhat. She wasn’t doing too well.
“A monster. It was dangerous and I dealt with it. When Nightmare Moon escaped it found the perfect time to escape from it’s confines. It’s gone.”
She looked away and I think Octavia found her voice. Well it sounded like a voice because she mumbled something before coughing. She was trying and Vinyl kept quiet waiting for her to answer.
“And you do this often?”
“Yeah. There have been… four incidents. Three of them were minor and taken care of before they could turn into something actually threatening. The fourth incident was when Nightmare Moon was released. I’m just chosen to do the job. Not a chosen one mind you. Just the pony picked for the job.”
She mumbled some more things but kept quiet. Raindrops was the next one to actually speak. She was silently bawling though for some reason it didn’t affect her speech. Neat trick and very useful should tears overwhelm others.
“Must you do this? Isn’t there anyone else who could do this instead of you?”
“No. I checked. No one else can do it.”
She went silent as well and the three seemed to want to discuss something amongst themselves. I didn’t get up though because I didn’t know if that would piss them off. The moment I leave the house I’m gonna see if I can find the gummi ship then I’ll zoom around for a bit.
“Can you give us a chance to talk about this Gray?”
“Sure. I’m just gonna step outside.”
I did as I said and walked out the door. As I closed the door I saw a save spot near their front door. A small debate went off in my head. Most of my head wanted to leave and only a bit of me wanted to stay. I didn’t want to deal with this. I didn’t lie but I didn’t tell the truth. This is… disturbing. Won’t tell until I’m caught. The save point is off to the side and seems to be out of sight except for if they are moving up to the home. Time to wait.
“I wish we had Applejack at this point. She’s good at figuring out if others are lying.”
“Raindrops, you know she was busy, getting ready for Applebuck season. Do you really want to deal with that barrels of apples.”
“No but maybe we should have asked. It seems like this was really important to him.”
“Do you think he’s lying Tavi?”
“No. He was really conflicted about talking about it. Still that makes this hard. What should we do about actually making friends with him? He’ll probably disappear on these missions and there is a chance that we’ll never see him. This is gonna be rough if we get close. So reckless or let go?”
“Seriously? Reckless of course Tavi.”
“... I’ll go reckless. He deserves somepony to be by his side. I’m more worried about what he’s been fighting. What could have done that much damage to him? I’m curious.”
“Ugh… I’ll go along with this then. Reckless it is. Remember ladies we are risking a lot because of this. Hopefully we’re not gonna get more ponies to join this idea.”
“We’re still going on about it?”
“Well I wouldn’t mind Vinyl.”
“Right right. Well let’s get him settled in. I wonder what he’s gonna do before his next mission.”
“Let’s just worry about getting him back on his feet.”
The door opened up and I walked back in. That save point was still there. I needed to look around for other areas with a glowing save point. Either way the mares in front of me seemed to be in better spirits but I have no idea why.
“Everything ok here? Hope I haven’t scared all of you with my stories.”
“Not at all… We were just surprised that’s all. Is there anything you wanted to do before you have to… leave.”
“I want to see Canterlot before I go.”