The nurse walked in. "Ok, Anonymous. Starlight, unhoof that pony right now. Go away!"
Not even a second after the last chapter ended, Starlight was already forced away from her cuddle buddy! "But I need cuddles!" Her face contorted into the proper position for a pout. Nopony would dare to tear her away now.
But one doesn't simply mess around in an emergency. The nurse grabbed Starlight off and set her on the ground. "Cuddles, puddles. You'll be fine. Bye, Felicia!" Starlight grumbled as she was escorted to the door. Knowing the nurse would stop her precious cuddles if she persisted, it was easier to walk out of her own choice. After the door closed, the nurse turned to Anonymous.
"So, you pulled a muscle, huh? Happens to even the best of us." A slight chuckle. At least the mare was trying to be cool and relaxed. "I'm Nurse Redheart." With the slightly red mane and tail, cutie mark, white coat, and beautiful eyes, the name certainly fit the pony.
"Well, you already know my name. So what's going on?" Anon, as much as he would like to look at this beauty more, wanted results.
"We are just going to find out exactly what muscle was pulled, and how severely." Then, the weirdest thing happened. "On this doll, please indicate where it is sore."
Anon raised his eyebrows. This seemed... unconventional? Let's go with that word. He indicated where the shoulder blade was, or roughly where it was. "Shoulder blade area."
"Shoulder blade." Redheart muttered as she wrote it down on a checklist. "Okay. Mobility test. How far in front of you can you stretch?"
Anon got ready to try, and it already hurt. He gritted his teeth and inhaled sharply at the pain. "I can't even try to stretch."
"How about downwards, towards your rear?"
That, again, seemed questionable. What nurse would... Fuck it. He did as told, not as much pain this time, but still present. "I can do that with some pain, but it's doable."
"How about lower than that?"
"Nurse? I just said-"
"Lower."
"Nurse?"
"Just kidding!" The blush on Redheart's face seemed to say otherwise, but her voice sounded genuine enough. Anyhow, there was no time for contemplation, as they tried all other directions. Even different positions.
After the mobility test, Redheart resumed. "Got that down. Now... Anonymous, I noticed that you seem tired. How have you been sleeping?"
"I went one month of getting three hours a night. So, shit sleep for quite a bit."
Redheart's eyes widened a bit. "One month of that? What exactly were you doing?"
Anon waved his good hoof almost dismissively. "Just designing and building an extra room to the Royal Castle."
"But... You never had a break in that month? No day off to sleep in?" At this point, Redheart had sat on her haunches. It seemed like she was more interested in talking than the test, but it was for science, the talking was! I swear!
"No. It was every single day. No time could be wasted."
"What about diet?"
"Nurse, I slept for three hours every night, worked for ten hours, got an hour for food, then ten more hours. It was hard enough to fit showering into the schedule, but I made it all work."
"You dodged the question. What was your diet during that time?"
"...Two, three slices of bread. Four if I was feeling adventurous."
"And what kind of work were you doing on the Royal Castle? Did you actually work, or just supervise, or what?"
"Oh yeah. I was part of the physical labor, as well as mental."
"So let me get this straight." Nurse Redheart stood up, her face contorted in worry as she stared at the clipboard in her hoof. "You slept three hours a night, pushed your body to limits without ANY proper nutrition, and overall took bad care of yourself? For what reason?" Now, she seemed concerned not as a nurse, but... a compassionate pony.
"Yeah, that's exactly it. But I got the payday to beat all paydays!" Anon could feel the pride swell in his body. He worked hard, and got the result he wanted and was promised: loads of bits! What was more fulfilling than earning a reward?
"Anonymous, you are really dumb. For real. Are you that short-sighted?" Redheart facehoofed, then took in a deep breath. "Now you can't work for months because of your injury, so it isn't really worth it, is it?"
"It was all outlined in the contract what had to be done, and I agreed to it. Simple as that. Injuries and all. And now I got promoted to a head supervisor, so I CAN still work, thank you very much."
"...That's good, then. But my point still stands."
"I get it, Nurse. I should have treated myself better so this didn't happen."
"So, I have to figure out this stuff. I'll be back soon." Redheart turned and headed out of the room.
"OK." And with that, the door closed. To fill the void, Anon started talking.
"I m not sure what they don't get. I worked at heights where if I fell, I could've died. I handled equipment that could burn me, dissolve me, melt half of my face. A pulled muscle sucks, but there was A LOT more risk that I surrounded myself with. Compared to everything, this is minute."
And that's when Redheart chose to walk in. "All right, Anon. I figured out a rough plan. So good news first, you can recover. It doesn't seem to be torn, just really pulled. So that's a relief."
"There's bad news, though, right?"
Her face fell a bit. "It will take a matter of months. About three. Maybe sooner, maybe later, but it just depends."
"Three months." Anon chuckled, but there wasn't too much humor behind it. "So what's the plan, Nurse?"
"Considering your physical state, you need to catch up on sleep. So you'll stay here about a week, possibly two, just depends on how much time you spend actually sleeping. As you may or may not know, sleep is when everything actually heals."
"I knew that."
"Good for you. Then you can leave here, and at that point, you can walk. JUST walk. If you try trotting, running, sprinting, or anything faster than walking, the risk of tearing it is almost guaranteed. Even basic stretching puts it at a risk, like reaching for something that isn't within five hooves of you. So your best bet is to stay with other ponies if possible to help lighten the load and help you out. I know Rarity is quite generous, so your best bet might be with her. Just saying."
"And how long would I be useless for?"
"After about a few weeks, it should be healed up enough to do basic stretches and maybe even more. Again, just depends on how much time you spend healing. Then just take it easy and don't push yourself until the three month mark, come back here, and we'll evaluate you."
"That's all?"
"Yup." Redheart looked up, and noticed something. "Though, you look like you want some time alone right now."
"I would prefer that, yes."
"I'll leave you to it." Once the door closed this time, it was for a longer time.
'Two weeks of looking at a wall and contemplating my existence? That sounds so great! Where the fuck do I sign up?! ...And I have a damn house to build. I still have to clear the rubble. Foundation is probably fine, which is good. That's the hardest part to do. Still doesn't change the fact that this shit will delay me. Damn Starlight. Damn cuddles. Damn it all. Now I'm good as useless. And staying with other ponies? As much as I don't want to, the undue stress if I DON'T have help would be more severe. So it's either stress on my muscle or my mind. And do I really want to deal with... 'them'? Those freaking ponies? Even if I don't want to, do I NEED to?'
"Fuck!" A thud resounded off of the walls. The dent in the mattress didn't seem like it would be going away any time soon. Neither did the pain in Anon's good hoof, but at least he didn't pull muscles on that side.
The door also thudded against the wall. "Are you alright?! What happened?" Nurse Redheart's eyes went straight to Anon.
"Um... It's nothing."
That answer obviously was bullshit. Unfortunately, Redheart picked up on that. "That was too loud to be nothing." She started walking towards the bed, and concern showed on her face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just pissed off. I had to get it out. I'm fine now."
If her eyes were any indication, she saw the mattress and dent. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I just did. Again, I'm fine."
"Ok. Just let me know if you need anything." The concern was replaced with reluctance. It seemed she didn't want to leave, but there were other things to attend to.
"Thanks." And a few seconds later, he was alone again.
'Huh. That happened. But she came in quickly. Like... She was right outside. Was she? Did she ever move away from the door? I got a little stalker, it seems. Huh. I mean, she could have been passing by at that moment. I don't know. It's just funny to think that thought.'
"And how much have I talked aloud?" Apparently, Anon had started talking without noticing. Embarrassment flooded him; how much WAS said aloud? Who heard what? "OK, I need to shut up. I need something to do." He had a thought, and oh was it devious. "Hey, Nurse?"
"Yes, Anon?" Again, quick response time. Anon just couldn't shake it off that something was up. After this, though, he would be alone, for sure.
"Could you get a gramophone and record in here? I'm already losing my mind."
"Absolutely. I'm sure the others would love to hear some music. I'll get the gramophone first."
After a minute or so, she came back with said device. "And what record were you thinking of?"
"'Labyrinth' by Fleshhoof Apocalypse."
The name threw Redheart off, and she tilted her head. "I've never heard of them."
"They're pretty good. I love them."
"If you say so."
Again, she left came back with said record and set the arm on it to start playing. "Anything else?"
"That will be all. Thanks, Red." Anon wasn't wrong in calling her "Red"; there was a slight blush on her cheeks as she left. Probably from the nickname.
As the intro to "Hoofborn" began, with the breathing, rain, and wind all entrancing listeners in, Anon relaxed. Not only was this record a favorite of his, but for the other ponies... this would not end well.
Then everything kicked in, and from there... it was chaos so delightful, Discord would have come in many ways and many places.