Crion was sitting up on the side of the bed, the gash on his head stitched up and starting to look better than it used to. His sword was resting against the bed. Kirileth was idly playing with a balisong, occasionally slashing it around a bit. The light blue hospital walls were lined with charts and figures, probably due to the purple alicorn that was now pacing the room of the general.
“You came here from another dimension? Where it’s perfectly okay to just… do this to somepony?” Twilight questioned the still wounded general, getting a sigh out of him.
“That’s what I said. Look, I still don’t understand how we got here, we attribute that to Sandrick and whatever he did to get us out of that… messy situation,” Crion clarified, getting another confused look from the princess.
“Sandrick? The pony without a mark?” Twilight asked, her interested renewed.
“Uh. Yeah. I guess I didn’t notice he didn’t have one…” Crion agreed without much confidence.
“... but you two do! I have to see what makes you different from him! Don’t go anywhere!” Twilight spouted out, rushing out of the room mumbling something about needing more quills.
“Kirilith, for the sake of my sanity, could you please get me out of here? I’m perfectly healthy and I would prefer if I didn’t have to tolerate another… examination,” Crion nearly begged, getting Kirileth to chuckle.
“Why didn’t you just say so? I’ve been itching to get out of here, but you’ve been half dead and surrounded by blokes in lab coats! C’mon, we’re getting out of here. Where did those two say they were going?” Kirileth asked while she opened the window to his room that was on the 2nd story.
“They said they were going to visit an old friend of Val’s. Just get me out of here, and I’ll think of something to do while we wait for them to get back,” Crion replied, wincing a bit as he touched the stitched part of his head.
“We could probably survive the fall down, but with your sense of balance that’s not going to happen,” Kirileth commented as she looked out the window.
“Hey!” Crion objected before he was silenced by Kirileth continuing to talk.
“I could use my pitons to get us down there, but then I’d be responsible for damaging the exterior of a medical institute. I’m fine with having diplomats on my list, but buildings are a bit more… fixable,” Kirileth continued, finally putting the balisong away.
“I’d already determined that we can’t get out through the window. We need to get out of here by normal means or not at all,” Crion conceded, getting the unwanted attention of Kirileth.
“OR we would just run through the hospital,” Kirileth shot back.
Crion paused for a second and looked at her with a looked of pain and determination. “I’m not exactly up for running, but I’ll sure try. Let’s get going,” Crion affirmed, stumbling as he completely stood up and wobbled on the foreign appendages.
Kirileth, however, was a bit more acquainted to moving on hooves from a few days of running around while Crion wasn’t in a state of conversation; mainly when Twilight was examining him.
“Bloody… hurry your flank along, Crion. We don’t have time for you to dawdle!” Kirileth half whispered half shouted at the slow-moving general.
“I’ve been out of commision for days. What do you want me to do about that? I haven’t exactly walked on hooves for too long,” Crion replied with a little less volume than Kirileth.
Unfortunately for the duo, they were sighted by a nurse that was passing by. She jumped a little when she saw them and galloped away before they could get a word out.
“This.. this is your fault Crion,” Kirileth groaned before getting behind Crion.
“What are you doing?” Crion yelled out, perhaps a bit too loud.
“Just making sure you’re able to get out of here at a decent rate,” Kirileth threw back with a menacing grin.
That was all it took for Crion to immediately start to run at a much faster rate. Even though she was now running behind him, Kirileth outpaced Crion by a long shot. After a short time of running at a fast rate, Crion slowed down, winded.
“You really need to get acquainted with how your body works here,” Kirileth sighed, rolling her eyes as she slowed down to match Crion’s pace.
“Excuse me for not being physically fit because I was confined to a bed in a hospital for a week!” Crion shouted back, outrage seeping into his voice.
Their conversation was short lived, however. Stairs down to the first floor greeted them and, naturally, Crion tripped on the last stair.
“You could at least trip further up,” Kirileth jested, getting only a groan in response.
“Let’s just get out of here,” Crion mumbled, his head hanging a bit.
That’s when they noticed they had reached the lobby of the hospital and they were getting some very weird looks from the hospital staff.
“Uh, can we help you?” A receptionist asked in a very raspy voice.
Crion chuckled a bit before replying. “Can we get you a lozenge?”
The receptionist looked offended and Kirileth spoke up before things escalated.
“What my rather rude friend was saying is that he finds it amusing that your voice sounds rough. If you’ll excuse us, we should really be going,” Kirileth interrupted, not really helping the situation in any way.
“If you’re going to leave, by all means, the door is right there,” the receptionist somewhat angrily replied, pointing to the main doors.
Kirileth grabbed Crion’s neck and quickly ushered him out of the hospital. “What is wrong with you? You do not insult medical personnel!” Kirileth lectured, getting a chuckle from Crion.
“No, but since when am I the pinnacle of politeness?” Crion shot back, causing Kirileth to roll her eyes and crack a small smile.
“Just get moving. We’ll hide out until Val and Sandrick get back,” Kirileth ordered before trotting off.
* * *
“I told him not to touch anything. They never listen,” Grolof tsked, smiling at Sandrick’s current predicament.
On the way down the stairs, Sandrick had noticed a glaringly different part of the entrance to wherever the stairs led. Being the individual that he was, Sandrick decided to touch it, setting off a trap that grabbed him by the back hoof and dragged him into an opening that had appeared in the side of the stairs.
“Can’t take him anywhere,” Val commented with a grin.
“Look, I just saw something that looked wrong. How was I supposed to know it was a trap?” Sandrick objected, getting Val to chuckle.
“Grolof, what are the odds of you getting him out of there?” Val asked the elderly pony, getting a grunt in return.
Grolof had some kind of remote in his hooves. He pressed a button towards the center and Sandrick went flying out of the hole, landing on his back hooves.
“A warning next time would be nice,” Sandrick complained, wincing at the unexpected pain.
“There ain’t gonna be a next time, right? I don’t wanna piss off Gramps here more than I have to,” Val punctuated the commented by gesturing to Grolof.
Grolof just grunted and motioned for them to keep walking. Sandrick did not touch anything this time, but he did notice a fair bit of things that he could have touched. He just didn’t.
The stairs finally opened to what looked to be an expansive workshop. All sorts of wrenches, hammers, and tongs lined the wall that they were facing. There was a forge that had a ventilation system that led to the surface to their right. Near the forge were an anvil, a trough, and a barrel. Several coffers could be seen to the left, their contents unknown to Val and Sandrick.
“Welcome to the most basic workshop you’ve ever seen,” Grolof blandly stated, trotting over to one of the coffers and opening it up.
“Basic? Even the royal blacksmith didn’t have a workspace as big as this one!” Sandrick commented, an amazed expression on his face.
“Just be patient now,” Grolof said out of nowhere, pulling out a gray and yellow looking material.
“I assume that’s what we came here for?” Sandrick inquired, getting a nod from Grolof.
“That it is. Unfortunately for you two, I’m one of the only ponies that can still make it. You can either watch me tediously make your weapons, or you can tell me what you want and wait upstairs,” Grolof finished, pulling out various weapon parts like spear shafts, chains, and grips.
“Uhm. A simple sword will be fine,” Sandrick sheepishly requested.
“Hah. A sword, shoulda figured. I’ll take a spear Grolof,” Val informed the smith, chuckling a bit.
“Good. I presume that you guys aren’t the only ones who need equipment. That’s not how you operate,” Grolof assumed, pointing an accusing hoof at Val.
“Hey, he’s right again! Who knew? Your presumption would be correct. We need another sword and a dagger, if you would,” Sandrick supplied the answer, getting some of his swagger back.
“Good to know. Now get out of my workshop and wait upstairs, would you?” Grolof requested, watching as Sandrick and Val trotted away.
“Oh, and Val’s companion? Don’t touch anything. I mean it,” Grolof ordered with a patronizing tone in his voice.
“Yeah, ok old man,” Sandrick shot back, right before he triggered a trap that had him fall about 4 feet.
“Hey, Grolof! Do me a solid and don’t help him!” Val shouted back, getting a laugh from the earth pony.
“No problem, Val. No problem,” Grolof confirmed, getting to work on the weapons.
“Hey Val, for the record, I really hate you right now,” Sandrick informed the former guard that was going up the stairs.
“I don’t blame you. Who doesn’t?” Val chuckled again, leaving Sandrick in the hole.