//------------------------------// // Road to Recovery // Story: The Equestrian Gourmet // by Gamel_Lightshow //------------------------------// There are a many a great sounds to hear upon returning to the waking world from the ever silent void that lies, possibly, between the realm of life and death. The veil that shrouds the line between these two worlds are so thin you would think you could hear whatever is on either side, but on either side is apparent silence. Or maybe the assumption that the veil is thin is the problem. Either way, being bombarded by screams of either joy or fear are not something so pleasing to the ears after what may have been minutes, hours, days of silence. The once still form of Richard flinches and attempts to move his arms, which he finds are as heavy as a steel beam, to cover his head to the assortment of sounds can stop. It is moments like this where one actually appreciates the silence. "Girls please!" A nurse or doctor yells out of the vision of Richard's view, "He needs rest. He's stable for now but all this screaming is going to help him." "S-Sorry." Twilight, because of how distinctive her voice is, apologizes before the sound of several hooves clop away followed by the closing of a door. The nurse or doctor sighs before appearing in his view. The mare in question has a ponytail of pink hair hanging behind her on her head. In contrasts with her green eyes and gray coat pretty well. Richard wonders for a moment if that could be considered hot pink or just a regular pink for this world. "Afternoon sir. Assuming from that wince earlier I assume you can hear me." She asks gently. "Greh." Richard manages to get out of his very dry throat before starting to hack up a lung. "Oh sorry! Your body really had to compensate for restoring your mana fill." She says walking away. She returns soon after with a glass of water with a straw she gently brings down to him. She sips slowly while trying to ignore the burning of his throat as the cool liquid goes down. Whether it's from his coughing fit earlier or just the water itself lies a mystery on him. She pulls the glass away and sets it down somewhere nearby. "How do you feel?" She asks. "Heavy," Richard replies testing his voice, "Very very heavy." "Ah. Yes, that is one of the drawbacks." She says sighing. "Drawbacks?" "Yes! Magical drawback, otherwise known as mana withdrawal, on your body. You'll be feeling heavy for quite some time, but given proper care and nutrition you should be fine as long as you don't push yourself to the limit again." She says starting off cheerful and getting serious towards the end. "R-Right." Richard croaks out feeling a menacing aura radiating from her. "Well, I'm glad we're on the same page!" She says moving away and to the other side of him. "So, what happened?" "Oh right. You probably don't know what happened. Well as you can see, we're all fine and well. The soldiers and the mane six were able to push back the remaining of the dark forces and Celestia and Luna were able to expel the force that was summoning them here. The first group said they had you to thank. Whatever you did filled them with energy and made them feel like they could take on the world. In fact, Wild Ace told me to contact him as soon as you woke up. If that's alright with you of course." Richard sighs inwardly in relief at hearing that whatever was causing all this damage had finally been taken care of. He would have liked to be there to actively help, but beggars can't be choosers in the end. He just wishes he could bring up his screen and menus so he can check his stats and inventory. Then there's also the unknown progress of the only other person that seems to know what's going on in some form or sense. "Maybe later," Richard says not wanting to face him just yet. "Of course! Wanna make sure you get all rested and back on your feet!" "Yeah..." "I guess while your conscious, I suppose I should ask what your favorite color is." "Huh?" "Just tell me what you're favorite color is! It's fine I assure you." "O...Okay? Brown, I guess." "Alright! Brown it is!" She says overjoyed about something before the clopping of hooves is heard, "Oh! And before I forget, I'll be sending your friends in one by one to keep an eye on you. Don't need you passing out on us again." "Again?" "Be good now!" The door is heard closing leaving Richard to his thoughts once again. He can't help but ponder on what she means again. Could he have come too before after the first time the darkness swallowed him? He can't really remember anything and it didn't feel like time was moving at all. There wasn't any dreams or anything. It was like being trapped in a waiting screen. He shakes the growing coldness of his body away trying to forget the silence and all it brought. The thoughts and regrets that flitted through his mind where not kind to him. The things he wanted to do, say, and see. It all seemed to meld into one big creature of lingering depression and shame that have been hunting him down since he first woke up here. He considers the notion that he may be going insane but pushes it aside for a more rational train of thought. The first thing to come to his mind is whatever happened to the source of all this destruction. Sure it was closed, but how was it closed? Could it be prevented and can it be closed again by anybody using the same method? Were the other sources closed as well using the same method or a different method. Were they ever closed at all? His train is derailed as a gentle voice speaks up to him with a small tap on his body. He glances over to see a pink-maned and tear-soaked coat of Fluttershy looking down at him with those gentle spring green and black eyes. She goes to say something before tears start to appear again as she tries to hold them back. She must have feared the worse from the look of her. He wishes he could console her with more than just words. But he knows the next few minutes or so is probably going to go this way. As the last mare of the group clops out Richard manages to sit up in his rather small cot. He's able to absorb in the details of the surrounding areas somewhat as the fatigue slowly drops away from his body. He can move his arms better and his legs no longer feel dead to the world. This would be a cause for celebration if not for all the information he was just given by six different mares. Each of them having something different to either rant or talk about whether it be his health or his power. The two most persistent of them being Twilight and Fluttershy on opposite ends of the spectrum. At least Fluttershy had the thought of it might get tiresome to answer so many questions where Twilight just didn't stop until she could squeeze whatever she needed out of him. Both were hysterical and seemed to the point of obsession with his power or health respectively. Richard sighs and lets his arms slumps some after laying his hand on his lap. He can't help but wonder how long he'll be like this. He takes a moment, brought longer due to the strain on his arms, to bring up his stats menu up to see that not a lot has changed since he last saw it. His level is still the same and all the levels of his various skills are all the same. All that changed is the number that's flashing red next to a blue number. It displays 30/250. He knows that's probably where is problem lies in despite everything else being green or red to represent his health and SP. If mana withdrawal is this bad, he has to remember to keep an eye on all of his other bars as well. He closes it down and looks for the chat window to find that there are a bunch of red, green, and yellow numbers flashing. He slowly reaches out and pops it open to see not just one, but three people chatting in the room so to speak. The chat seems to have been going on forever so he looks back over the short version of the latest text indicating that the two new additions to this world being Armon and Liloth. The main talk seems to be around whatever happened and the counter that has appeared as a new menu. Richard makes a quick check and finds that, in fact, there is a new menu when once opened shows a counter counting down from 10 days 8 hours and 54 minutes. What's it counting down to is unknown it seems, but the theory of the group right now seems to be about whatever attacked the various points that they were all at. Beatrix says she was able to close hers on her own, but Armon and Liloth had to get help due to their abilities. All their locations are unknown it seems and the last statement is uttered by Armon who says she spotted a flying horse. And that was yesterday morning. Beatrix is no longer under the available people in the chat, but Armon and Liloth still are. He manages to slowly type out "Hello?" Minutes pass as he stares the chat down hoping for a quick reply, but receives none. The door to his room opens and he hesitantly lowers down his chat. "Sitting up already!? You're a quick one to recover aren't you!" The seeming doctor says trotting in carrying something on her back. The item in question in a rather large box that has several crystal-like locks upon it with the symbol of wings on top of it. She lets the box slide off at the foot of the bed and makes her way to unlocks it with a very odd looking silver key. Richard can feel himself tensing while warily watching the very happy and go lucky mare. "So... what's in the box?" Richard asks as she moves away from it after unlocking it. "Well~ Would you like me to open it for you?" "I think I would like to know what's inside of it first before you do that." "Well, that's no fun." "Does this have to go back to the question about my favorite color?" "Maybe~" "Well. I suppose nothing good will come from just leaving it closed. NOr will anything come from opening it probably.." "So is that a yes?" She says creeping closer to the box. "Yeah?" Richard says trying to scoot further back in his bed. The mare darts over and quickly yanks the box open to reveal. "... There's nothing in- Hey!" Richard yelps as something stabs him in the back. A cooling liquid follows after the sudden intrusion and small burst of pain. The mare comes out from behind Richard and plops down a bear that has a bunch of stars all over its body. "Sorry about that! A lot of my patients I get are really squeamish about needles so I come up with new ways of giving them shots." Richard winces as she carries the now empty tube and needle over to the hazard sink. The needle is indeed quite large and should've caused a lot more pain than it had. He still can't help but be bitter and wonder why she didn't just ask him first. He probably would've said yes. "Well jeez. Thanks." Richard mumbles out picking up the soft bear while feeling a bit more of himself return after the shot. "No problem! You be good now! Princess Celestia said that she wanted to talk to you later tonight!" She says leaving out of the room. Richard nods solemnly while looking the bear over. He wonders for a moment whether its been hoof made, by magic, or a machine. Is there even a sewing machine in a world that uses magic. Richard looks towards the nearest to him to see that much of the sun has really disappeared. "I'll just take a quick nap." He mumbles to himself.