Thankfully, I didn't wake up tied to a chair this time, but I did wake up to the wonderful smell of sterilization. Cracking open my eyes slowly, I found myself staring up at pastel white panels forming a ceiling. Beneath me, I could feel a mattress pressing against my sore skin. Groaning, I tried to sit up only to have a firm hoof stop me.
“Stay still. Still recovering.”
“Silent?” I asked in confusion, turning to see the thestral seated in a chair beside my bed. His neutral expression remained in place as he eased back into his chair. The rather large book next to him told me what he'd been doing prior to me waking up.
He nodded to my question and started speaking in his usual way, “Multiple fractures, bruised and battered body, and near hypothermia,” he nodded at me, “still alive. Good job.” Tilting his head to one side, he parted his jaws and I watched as he issued a supersonic call.
When he returned his attention to me, I asked the important question, “What happened?”
The response I got in return was not encouraging. He shook his head, claiming, “others will tell you.” With nothing left to do as he returned to his reading, I let out a sigh and stared at the ceiling while we waited. It wasn't a long wait.
The handle of the nearby door turned and permitted a few familiar faces to enter. The first was none other than Martial Cadence herself, followed by Agent Glass, but it was the final pony that caught me by surprise. Dawn Breeze finished off the group that came into my room and for a moment, I had the vague hope that maybe I could steal a kiss.
It wasn't meant to be, however, as Martial came up beside my bed. She was looking at me with a peculiar expression. Then, to my surprise, she pulled off her helmet, letting her orchid mane cascade down her neck to where it terminated just over her shoulders. I have no idea how she hid it so well.
“Lucky Signs, on behalf of the organization, I must apologize for the current state you find yourself in.” I stared at her. Who was this mare and what had she done with the lieutenant. I looked down at myself, taking in the bandages that covered most of my body. I assumed that some sort of numbing agent was in the cloth, because I couldn't feel much.
“Okay, I'll bite,” I responded after a moment of thought, “what organization and why do you need to apologize on their behalf?”
There was a collective hesitation among the assembled ponies that I didn't like. Glass looked at Martial, Martial looked at Dawn, and Dawn was trying to look anywhere that wasn't at me. Now, I wasn't the type of pony to be overly paranoid, but the entire situation here stank of conspiracy.
It was Dawn that finally broke the silence, “We had thought that you would at least be safe in Canterlot proper. We knew that you were in a... critical point and didn't want to approach you until you'd had proper time to consider your own feelings. If we had acted sooner, we could have moved you somewhere that Sunslayer couldn't find you.”
I let my gaze travel between the three mares, letting my brow raise higher and higher with each passing moment without an explanation. Finally, I had to ask, “Who is 'we?' And why does it sound like you all know something that I do not?”
The three of them exchanged another look before nodding. In a flash, Glass cast a spell that settled over the room with the slight glow of magic. Earning my questioning look with that move, she told me, “Privacy spell, Rookie. Nothing major, we just don't need anypony out of the loop overhearing.”
Martial took the lead now, standing rigidly at attention. It was something she did when she was uncomfortable, “Normally, we would be going through several more tests, but our time table has been drastically reduced. Lucky Signs, we are here now representing the Heavy Equestrian Response Division. No, you have not heard of them and if anypony asks, you still haven't.
The HERD has had its eyes on you since the first incident here in Canterlot. We consist of ponies that may not be the strongest on a field of battle, but each individual possesses their own unique talents. Talents that can change the tide of things by their presence alone.”
Dawn Breeze stepped forward, giving me a soft smile, “Coming from all walks of life, the HERD recruits ponies that we believe have nearly superpony abilities. On the surface, they don't look like much, but each of them can affect a mission before or during the active phase.
We've been tracking reports of this Sunslayer for nearly a year now, but we'd never had the breakthroughs we needed until you entered the picture. Lucky,” she stepped forward and took my hoof in her own, “the HERD needs you.”
At any other time, I was sure that I would have been putty in her hooves. Right at that moment, however, I'd just survived an attempt on my life. Specifically my life. I'd never had anyone dislike me with that kind of passion before and I wasn't sure how to deal with it.
So, when I pulled my hoof back, they all looked at me in shock, “No.” I stated simply, feeling my emotions shut down. I hated the feeling, but it was just something I did whenever I was feeling overwhelmed for one reason or another. I turned away from them, looking out the window nearby at the clear sky beyond it with a shudder.
Immediately a trio of voices were shouting various things at me, but I ignored them. I'd served my time. All I wanted was to not get wrapped up in something that was over my head again. They few times that I'd done anything worthwhile had been times where I'd had no other choice. I'd give them the information that I knew, but that was it. I was done. I'd go play dead and never show my face again.
Strangely enough, it was Silent Stroke that boomed the loudest, “SILENCE!” he roared. The three mares froze like he'd cast a spell on them. In his own strange way, Stroke berated them, basically explaining all the things that were going on in my head. Well, most of them, but I wasn't going to stop him when he was on a roll.
I missed the vast majority of him quickly shooting down attempts to convince me. By the time that I tuned back in, he was shooing all three of them out the door. He made as if to follow them out, but turned an eye toward me, “Lucky. You've done enough. No one blames you. Just desperate. Go home, while you can...”
There was a sadness in his voice as he left the room...
**
Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as just leaving. The doctors were sure to inform me that I wasn't going anywhere until they were sure I wasn't going to keel over the second I stood up. It was a wonder how I managed to avoid fatal injuries from being pummeled, dropped into an icy cavern, and nearly frozen solid.
In the end I was going to have to stick around for a few days, but I made it very apparent that I didn't want anypony working for the Royal Guard or its subdivisions visiting me. I felt tired. Tired and, much to my displeasure, scared. Even without my request, they had decided to make sure that I had a group of guards all around my room. I could see pegasi flying outside and a pair of unicorns scanned all the doctors that came to check on me thoroughly.
You would have thought that I was some sort of secret weapon for all the precautions they took to keep any assassins from sneaking in.
I'll admit that after a while, I was starting to go stir crazy. Corium even came by on the second day to see me. He'd heard through the grapevine that I had been seriously injured, but for some reason, that wasn't what caused him to pause at the door. He and I both knew what he was feeling as he stopped there with on hoof raised.
He'll never know how grateful I was that he didn't ask about it. He let me have my thoughts and keep them to myself as we chatted about random bits that had happened in Los Pegasus. When he left, I was still staring at the ceiling tiles, wanting to just wake up and realize that everything over the past few months had been a bad dream.
Speaking of dreams, I could feel my eyelids starting to droop. I remember thinking that it was odd, since it was still daytime outside, but I couldn't resist the urge. Closing my eyes, I slipped blissfully into unconsciousness....
**
I was back on the old farm. Just the way it had looked so many years ago before the land was sold. I don't know why, but I was seated in the back of my wagon, staring out over the fields that stood between me and the house. It was a simple thing, a three-room, one story house made of wood.
My ears flicked as I scanned over the waving grain, catching movement between the stalks. I trembled there, unwilling to move. Fear, real fear, closed in around me like a noose. I could hear Sunslayer's voice, see the rage filled eyes of Storm through the gaps in crops, and feel the cold that settled in all around me.
Then I heard hoofsteps. Clear and gentle, but firm and commanding. As they drew closer, the field stilled. Silence came upon the air, warmth filled my body, and I could forget how much that little mare hated me. I could sense somepony standing behind me, but I didn't want to turn. To turn around was to admit something... to them and myself. It hurt because I didn't know what it was I was admitting.
“...look at me.” came the soft-spoken order and I could feel the sheer weight of the presence behind me. She was strong, stronger than I could ever be and we both knew it. I looked down at my hooves, shaking as I clenched my eyes shut.
“I...I can't...”
“Yes you can. Look at me.”
“No... I can't... if I do...”
“You'll see the truth?”
“...Yes...”
“...I understand your fear. I truly do, but now is not the time for fear, Lucky Signs... turn... look at me.”
I couldn't ignore or disobey her for multiple reasons. As much as I didn't want to, I could feel my body turning to face her as tears slid through the gaps in my eyelids. I had never felt more scared in my life and not knew why. All I knew was that if I looked at her, she was going to make me face it.
“Open your eyes...”
I'm stallion enough to admit that I was sobbing as I slid my eyes open. As the wavy vision I had cleared, I looked upon a mare as tall as Martial, but twice as confidant. She looked down upon me with a firm, but gentle look as her blue eyes regarded me. A piece of the night sky graced her features in place of a mane and the black regalia marked her for the royalty she was.
Princess Luna, Diarch of the Night, Shepard of the Moon, and Co-ruler of Equestria looked upon me and I knew...
I knew that I was going to break...