//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Recovery // Story: The Centurion Project // by TheEighthDayofNight //------------------------------// Journal Entry: Day 1470 Town of Eastwood That’s the third settlement this week. Raiders rolled in, enslaved or killed the townspeople, I rolled in a few days later and butchered them all. One of these days people are going to figure out that they are never safe. I just hope the raiders don’t figure it out before I kill them all. Ammunition is starting to run low, even with what I’ve been picking up from their corpses. I need to find an alternative soon. Maybe after I catch up to those traitors, I can look into it. Still, Eastwood is burning, survivors, 0. Elias coughed it into his arm. His eyes burned as he tried to peer through the smoke, desperate to find the battlefield again. Above him, the treetops were beginning to catch fire. Using his arm as a shield against the smoke, he advanced, using his gladius to cut through any burning brush that got in his way. 'Have to find them,' he thought. 'Have to get them away from here.' Elias heard a scream to his right. He paused and tried to look in that direction, but saw nothing except fire. Another scream rent the air, this one distinctly female. He took a deep breath, then set off at a sprint. He did his best to skirt the areas that were burning, but after he was almost crushed by a burning log, he decided to ignore the pain in his feet and just push through. As he dipped around a particularly large tree, a pair of faceless men swung bats at his head. Elias dipped under one swing, and caught the second one on his left arm. Elias did his best to ignore the sickening crunch and the wave of pain that attempted to overwhelm him. His gladius cut through the throat of the man who had broken his arm, and the man collapsed with a bloody gurgle. Elias spun around just as the other man hit him in the arm again. Elias screamed this time, but it was a scream of both pain and rage. Elias kicked the man in the chest, sending him stumbling back into a tree. Elias then screamed again as he plunged his gladius deep into the man’s stomach. The sword embedded itself in the tree, but Elias didn’t care. Using his good arm, he grabbed the man’s chin and forced his eyes up. And then the face changed. Elias yelped as he leapt backward. The man was gone. The only sign he had been there at all was Elias’ still bloody gladius embedded in the tree. Elias stood in shock for a moment. He had just killed… Another scream echoed in his ears and Elias sprinted toward the sound, leaving his gladius in the tree. He stumbled several times, almost collapsing in agony more than once, but he pressed onward. Anything to be away from that face. The ground changed when he wasn’t paying attention. Elias rolled down a steep hill, only stopping when his chest slammed into a stump. He coughed into his hand, barely registering the red covering it. He staggered to his feet and looked around. The smoke was gone, as was the heat of the flames. If anything, the forest was quiet, peaceful even. A light, white mist decorated the ground amongst the tall pine trees. Elias fell to his knees when the scream appeared right beside his head. Over and over again. Scream after scream, so many different screams. A woman first, then a man’s scream. Cries of agony, pain, grief. So many screams. Elias shut his eyes as tight as he could and tried to cover his ears. Still the screams got through. They happened in his head, interrupting his thoughts, tearing him apart from the inside. He couldn’t take the screaming. He couldn’t take… It all stopped at once. Everything was quiet again. Elias didn’t want to open his eyes. He knew only one silence that was so heavy, so deep. It was a never ending pressure that crushed his chest, but he just couldn't open his eyes. He didn’t want to see it again. Didn’t want to bear witness anymore. His eyes opened anyway. Elias looked across the desolate battlefield. Not even the birds wanted to disturb its silence. So many bodies. In the distance, the standard was raised high, its bearer wearing a smile on his face that Elias could see even from so far away. They were all smiling. Every single one. He could see every face, could remember every single one. Elias tried to forget. Tried to erase their names from his mind. Tried to invent terrible lies to make it so he wouldn’t remember this time. They would start to speak if he remembered. Elias almost smiled when a sword tore through his chest. Elias shot awake, a hand clutching the wound in his chest. His eyes were wide as he tried desperately to get his breathing under control. He was covered head to toe in sweat, and if he had been wearing any clothes, he was sure they would have been soaked clean through. It was that oddity that allowed Elias to bring himself fully out of his night terror. Gradually, he got his breathing under control to a point that he noticed it didn’t hurt to take deep breaths anymore. Elias flopped back, his head hitting a pillow. He used his right hand to brush the sweat from his brow and he left the limb there, allowing the solid feeling of his hand to focus his mind. After a few more deep breaths, Elias began to take stock of the room he was in. It was dark, the large windows clearly indicating that it was nighttime. Moon beams filtered into the room, allowing enough illumination for him to see a short row of empty beds beside him. 'An infirmary,' Elias thought to himself. IV stands sat next to all of the beds, including the pole that sat next to him. The line attached to the bag dangled to the ground, and Elias could just barely see a blood-stained needle on the floor. He looked at his arm, quickly finding the leaking hole that the needle had occupied moments before. He moved to staunch the bleeding with his left hand, only to find the entire arm suspended in a cast. Elias looked back and forth between his bleeding arm and his broken arm, debating what his next course of action should be. At that moment, a unicorn opened the door at far end of the infirmary and their eyes met. The horse’s eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight, and Elias didn’t want to blink for fear of the creature suddenly appearing at his side like some kind of wraith. The unicorn flipped an unseen switch and brilliant yellow light suddenly blinded Elias. He tried to raise his arm to cover his eyes, but the unicorn was already by his bedside, Elias’ arm gripped firmly between its hooves. The sensation was strange. Although there was clearly nothing that should allow the hooves to grip him, it felt like a pair of hands were wrapped around his arm. The unicorn tsked and Elias watched as a bandage floated off of a nightstand he hadn’t noticed. “Looks like you blew the vein. I really don’t want to put another IV in this arm if I don’t have to.” The unicorn was male if his voice was any indicator. Elias did his best to memorize different details about the apparent doctor. Yellow fur covered the horse, but Elias had expected this, the books he had read giving him a basic description to work off of. Horses had fur, and these ones should be no different. The similarities ended there, however. Ignoring the obvious horn sticking out of his head, the unicorn was smaller than normal horses. Elias estimated that the top of its head would come up to the top of his stomach while standing. The eyes of the horse were large, taking up most of the space on the unicorn’s face, and oddly, they both faced forward, giving his face an almost human like quality. The nose was also smaller than he thought it would be. Finally, the unicorn was wearing a white coat, which Elias found that he wasn’t entirely shocked by. After all, the horses from before had been wearing armor. The horses from before… In a mild state of delirious panic, Elias attempted to jerk his arm away from the unicorn, drawing a confused look from the horse. “You aren’t in any pain, are you?" It asked. "I thought I had put a powerful enough numbing spell on your arm so you wouldn’t feel it.” Elias winced as he tried to formulate the words in his mind. “Don’t trust,” he said in a low growl. His voice was a bit hoarse, and the front and back of his sentence dropped off. The words that he had spoken sounded forced, like his tongue didn’t quite remember what proper speech felt like. It had been months since he had spoken last. He had yelled many times, sure, but he hadn’t shared any words with anyone. There was simply no need, but now that there was, his tongue needed to warm up to the task. The unicorn’s brow furrowed. “May I ask why?” he asked. “Pursued by armored ones,” Elias said slowly. His voice sounded lower than he remembered. “Don’t know why, just wouldn’t leave me be.” Elias winced at his rough speech. It was coming back slowly, but he would need a bit of practice if he wanted to sound vaguely intelligent. The unicorn laid a hoof on Elias’ shoulder. Elias felt his eye twitch as he looked at it. “Look at me,” the unicorn said. Elias’ eyes shifted to the unicorn’s face, and he saw… concern? “You are safe here. If you had truly done something terrible, the princess wouldn’t have brought you in for healing. Nopony is going to hurt you.” Elias didn’t believe him. He couldn’t. It was a fever dream. Nothing was that simple, that easy. “I attacked them. Hurt at least one,” Elias said. The unicorn smirked. “Who? Thunder? All you did was leave a big welt on his thick skull. He was madder that he lost his helmet than the fact that you hit him. He’s fine now, back to guard duty the same night.” Elias didn’t believe that. He had snapped necks with the hits like that. Sure, that unicorn had still been breathing when he had left him, but it should have been weeks of recovery at least. It had to be a lie. Make him let his guard down. Still, they couldn’t know he was aware of their attempt at deception. Elias didn’t know what they intended for him, but he had to play his cards right, or he wouldn’t get a chance to escape. He laid back against the pillow and relaxed his arm. “Where am I?” he rasped. The unicorn seemed to take his relaxation as a good sign and resumed work on his arm. “You’re in the castle medical ward. You’ve been here for two days now. It gave me quite the scare when Princess Luna brought you in all torn up like you were. I’m one of the best ponies in the business for battlefield medicine, but I haven’t seen wounds like that in all my time as a doctor.” Elias noticed that the unicorn omitted any actual locations, confirming his suspicions. It was a sham; they were hiding something. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the unicorn finished wrapping his arm. The unicorn then levitated the clipboard into one of his hooves. “Still, the princess couldn’t have timed it any better. I was just finishing organizing the supply room when she came in. I had all the tools I needed to fix you up ready in a snap. Once we got that armor of yours off, it didn’t take long before we got that nasty arrowhead out of your chest.” As he looked at the large bandage on his chest, Elias once again realized he was naked, his privates free for the world to see. Knowing any attempt to cover them would simply bring attention to his nakedness, he turned his head to the unicorn and asked; “Where are my clothes?” The unicorn looked up from his clipboard and scrunched his nose. “I’m afraid we had to cut away the shirt. We couldn’t get the wound clean with it in the way. Your undergarment is intact, however. We removed it to ensure that it wouldn’t interrupt circulation. I can get it for you if it would make you more comfortable.” Elias nodded. “I’d appreciate that.” The unicorn smiled a bit and trotted off to retrieve Elias’ underwear. Elias simply stared at the ceiling, a plan taking shape in his mind. If he was lucky, the razor blade he had sewn into the waistband was still there. It wasn’t a substantial weapon, but it was better than nothing. It took only a few minutes before the unicorn returned; the underwear suspended in his magic. Elias began to swing his leg out of the bed, but stopped when the underwear disappeared from the unicorn’s aura, reappearing around his crotch. He eyed the unicorn, who smiled back at him. “That spell’s pretty easy for getting clothes on. It is a lot harder to do under surgical stress. I’m sure the princess will be more than happy to help you find a tailor to get you new clothes once you’ve talked in the morning.” Elias did his best to hide his grimace. Morning couldn’t be more than a few hours off. He needed more time to think. Still, the unicorn couldn’t be allowed to figure out what he was thinking. Elias gave a single tired nod to the horse and turned to his side. The unicorn sighed and began to walk away. “Sleep well. And remember, you are safe here.” The light clicked off, and Elias waited until the unicorn’s footsteps faded from earshot. Then he counted to a hundred. Then he did it again. After the two hundred counts had passed, Elias flipped to his back and used his right hand to feel along the seam of his underwear. It should be right where the tag used to… there. Elias didn’t remove the blade, he wanted to keep it hidden for now. He would need time to make an escape plan, and in truth, all he needed to do was convince these “princesses” that he wouldn’t do anything. Elias briefly rubbed the bandage covering his chest wound. It didn’t hurt much, which he considered a positive. He had no idea what the condition of his leg was, but he had a strong feeling that he could run if he had to. His eyes drifted shut as his exhaustion took over once more. He was in the woods again. The treetops were burning, as was the brush in the distance. Heavy smoke obscured the space between the trees. A scream tore through the forest. Elias hesitated for a moment, then sprinted in the opposite direction. He ignored the wall of flames that rose up to oppose him. He ignored the pain he felt as his hair began to burn, his arms charred from the heat. Another scream echoed through the woods, sounding just as close as it was before. Elias tripped over an unseen root and collapsed to his knees, his chest burning from the exertion. He looked at his hands, expecting to see burns, but instead found them perfectly fine. They looked as healthy as normal. Elias looked up and found that he was in the same clearing as before. The fire was around him, but distant. He looked up as a third scream tore through the air. The tops of the trees were burning. Elias remained on his knees until he heard a fourth scream. He decided to match it with a scream of his own. Maybe if he could drown it out… Elias opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Briefly, he felt like he was being smothered, and then he caught his breath. A scream. Closer this time. Elias drew his sword. “What do you want from me?” he screamed into the fire. Nothing answered. Elias stared into the trees, daring anything to appear. A twig snapped behind him. Elias spun around, sword at the ready, only to find the scene different. The woods were silent, a light mist crawling across the ground. Elias felt his breath quicken. He shook his head, clutching his sword with both hands. He wanted to run, to yell, anything that would keep the screams at bay. He even considered gouging his ear drums out, but he knew it wouldn’t work. Then the screams would simply be in his mind. This time, they started as a whisper. Elias spun wildly, trying to find the source. A figure slipped through the fog, a shadow that Elias saw only out of the corner of his eye. He searched the mist, looking for anything. He took a cautious step forward, only to be driven back immediately by a scream in his face. Elias could almost feel the heat of someone’s breath behind this one. He reflexively tried to cover his ears, but then decided to try a different approach. Elias roared at the scream, cutting the air in front of him with his gladius. The noise stopped immediately, and Elias grinned. Was that all he needed to do? Elias bit his tongue to hold back a scream of pain as the gladius dropped from his grip. He clutched at his right hand, which was now bleeding profusely from a deep gouge in his palm. It looked almost as if it had been cut by a pocketknife. The screams took advantage of his momentary weakness, and returned in full force. Elias searched for his gladius, but found that it had disappeared. He was defenseless. He couldn’t make them go away anymore. Elias pressed his hands to his ears, knowing that it wouldn’t help. He screamed again. He didn’t care that it didn’t help. It just felt right that he should add his own voice to the hell trapped in his ears. Elias momentarily winced at the sound of his voice. It sounded like he had been screaming for hours; his throat felt raw. Then he heard it. A voice was cutting through the screams. It felt more real than the rest. Less familiar, but more at the same time. Elias latched onto that voice, and used it like a scythe, cutting through the screams as he dragged himself back to reality. Elias escaped the night terror slowly this time, his senses coming back one at a time. The first was sight. The room spun in brightly lit circles, but eventually his eyes were able to focus on the face in front of him. It was the unicorn from before, he was talking. Elias shook his head, his eyes wide. He couldn’t hear a thing the unicorn was saying. Touch came back second. Elias felt his chest heaving, his throat burned, and his right hand was in agony. Elias lifted his damaged arm, quickly noticing an alarming amount of blood dripping down his arm. His hand was covered in lacerations, and it didn’t take him long to see the razor blade suspended deep in his palm. A hoof grabbed his face and pulled it back so that his eyes met the unicorn’s. His hearing came back in a rush. His desperate breathing, his heart thudding away; he even thought he could hear the blood rushing to his injured hand. On top of all of that was the unicorn, trying desperately to calm Elias down. “You are safe!” the unicorn said, his voice almost at a yell. Elias could tell that he had been repeating those words for some time. Only vaguely could he remember hearing them in his dream. Elias leaned his back against the nightstand at his back and stared at the ceiling as he slowed his breathing. He tried to pinch the bridge of his nose with his left hand, only to find the motion blocked by the cast. Elias let the arm drop to his lap and closed his eyes. “I’m fine,” he whispered to himself, over and over again. He counted to a hundred before he opened his eyes, swallowing roughly. His eyes fell on the unicorn in front of him, who at some point had stopped speaking and was instead just staring at him, concern obvious on his face. Those wide eyes searched Elias’ face desperately, looking for some sign that he wasn’t out of his mind anymore. Elias felt his eye twitch momentarily before he shook his head and leaned back again. “I’m fine,” he repeated, as much for himself as for the unicorn before him. “It was just a dream.” “That was no ordinary dream,” a voice said. Elias’ eyes quickly found the source, a blue horse with a long horn and wings. Beside her stood an even taller white horse, again with a horn and wings. The pair seemed to be some sort of mix between a unicorn and a pterippus. Both had looks of concern painted clearly across their faces, mixed with something that Elias was all too familiar with, suspicion. His eyes flicked momentarily to the razor blade in his hand, then back to the pair of horses. For some reason, Elias couldn’t hold their gazes. He shook his head before letting his eyes settle on the empty bed next him. “I’m fine,” he repeated, his voice sounding a bit more confident. His eyes flicked back to the pair of horses, who both held doubt in their eyes. Elias’ eyes finally fell on the unicorn in front of him, who didn’t look like he believed Elias for a moment. Elias let out a long breath, his chest finally steady. “I’m fine,” he said with finality. The unicorn looked like he wanted to argue the point, but he instead nodded silently and set to work on Elias’ hand. Elias winced as the unicorn’s aura forcefully removed the razor blade and floated it out of Elias’ sight. Elias silently cursed himself at that. His one out had been discovered only because he couldn’t keep control of his dreams. A stupid mistake that might cost him everything. Elias bit his tongue as the unicorn applied antiseptic to his hand. He watched the doctor work, studying how his hooves functioned like hands, even without the extra digits attached. He became distracted from this however, when he felt a strange, warm sensation across his body. It almost felt like a sheet was dropped on him, and then it disappeared, the sensation vanishing instantly. Elias’ eyes narrowed and immediately shot to the pair of horses standing above him. “What did you just do?” he asked. The white one smiled. “I simply cast a warmth spell little one. You are shivering, and I thought it would make you more comfortable.” Elias didn’t believe a single word. “I don’t believe you,” he said. The white horse’s smile fell slightly and the blue one shifted just a bit closer, almost in a protective manner. Internally, Elias panicked. Why had he said that? He had been tortured dozens of times, and had resisted a variety of truth drugs as well, lying was second nature and his thoughts were always closely guarded. What had they done to him? Luckily for Elias, the unicorn finished bandaging his hand before his traitor tongue could spew any more of his thoughts to the world. “Let’s get you back into bed,” the unicorn said as he moved to Elias’ side. Elias brushed the unicorn off and attempted to get to his feet on his own, only to be driven back down as his vision swam. The room spun as pain coursed through his body. The unicorn once again moved to Elias’ side, and slid under Elias’ arm. Elias grimaced as the unicorn helped him up. He felt frail, like his legs were going to give out at any moment. Coupled with all of his injuries, Elias wasn’t confident he could stand unsupported, let alone put up a fight if he had to. Still, when the unicorn tried to move him toward the bed, Elias resisted, electing to remain standing. He took a deep breath and met the gazes of the two horses in front of him. They were both watching him closely, likely looking for any sign that he intended to attack them. Elias took a deep breath and rattled his brain. His diplomacy skills were extremely rusty, to the point where he believed that any attempt he made to get out of this situation peacefully would be met with stiff resistance. Yet, these creatures had taken the time to patch him up, and since he had woken up, they hadn’t explicitly tried to threaten him. That at least meant that they weren’t an immediate threat. Elias took another deep breath. “I believe that we have gotten off on the wrong foot,” he said slowly, choosing his words carefully. “I am naturally a… cautious man, and with recent events I think you can understand a bit of… paranoia on my part.” The white horse’s smile returned slightly. The blue one however, still looked wary, and kept a close eye on Elias’ movements. “I apologize if my actions have caused any harm, they were merely acts taken in desperation. It was not my attention to spread havoc to those who did not deserve it.” Elias winced, and rubbed at his chest wound briefly. All of this speaking was agitating it, his lungs were unused to the motion of taking breaths between sentences. He’d been alone for far too long. He pressed forward regardless. “I am willing to co-operate with you as much as I can, at least as payment for saving my life. However,” Elias felt his gaze harden as he locked eyes with the white horse. “I will not do so under any sort of compulsion. I may be a stranger in this place that I do not yet know or understand, but I can tell when someone is messing with my mind. Trust is a two-way street; I will offer mine only if I am afforded it in return.” Elias flexed his injured hand, trying not to flinch as pain flashed through it. “If you are willing to meet that demand, then I will do my best to remedy any… mistakes committed on my part. Alright?” Elias extended the damaged hand shakily. His body felt close to giving out, and it showed. His hand quivered in the air as he fought to keep it suspended. Elias did his best to ignore his exhaustion however, and instead tried to hold the white horse’s gaze. Her eyes fell in thought for a moment, before she nodded slowly. Elias watched her horn light up, and immediately felt the affect as she stripped her “spell” away. While he did feel a bit colder, he also felt more in control, as if his thoughts were his own once more. The white horse met his eyes again, a smile still on her face. “I too must apologize little one. I can become rather protective of my ponies, and I will do anything to ensure their safety.” The white horse raised a hoof and tried to gently grasp his hand, but Elias flinched anyway, the pain of the fresh cuts causing his hand to briefly spasm. Elias didn’t let the pain show on his face. “You are right however," she continued, "we must trust each other if we wish to build a better relationship for the future. I promise to you that I will do my very best to make sure that you are treated with fairness as long as you are our guest.” She turned to the blue one. “This reminds me of a friendship lesson Twilight sent the other day,” she joked. “Imagine what she would think if she saw this!” The blue one smirked for a second, but still watched Elias closely. Elias extended his hand toward her as well. “And you?” he asked. The blue pony took longer to respond, her eyes holding much deeper suspicion than the white one. 'That or the white one is better at hiding it,' Elias thought. After several tense moments, the blue one also nodded slowly before firmly taking Elias’ hand. Elias bit his tongue, ignoring the force behind the handshake. “Very well," the blue horse said in a low tone. "But be warned, any action taken to harm our subjects will be met with swift retribution.” It was clear that the blue one was not nearly so free with her trust, and she was more than willing to let Elias know. Her piercing eyes never blinked as she spoke. As Elias’ hand dropped back to his side, the unicorn spoke up. “Princess, with your permission, I think that that is enough for today. He is clearly in great pain and needs more rest before his next healing session.” As he said this, the unicorn tried to nudge Elias toward the bed. Elias shrugged him off again. “I’m fine, it’s just pain, I can ignore it.” The unicorn looked at him incredulously. “Ignore it?” he sputtered. Elias nodded and shrugged. “Life is pain,” he said. “What’s a little more?” Elias looked to the tall ponies. “In fact, if I get my gear back with a bit of food and water, I can be out of your hair by sundown. Point me toward the nearest patch of wilderness, and you’ll never see me again. You have my word.” The white pony shook her head, the smile still on her face. “That won’t be necessary. You are more than welcome to stay as our guest until you are fully healed. I would not be doing my duties as princess if I sent you into the Everfree in your current state.” Elias filed that information away quickly. He had no idea what the “Everfree” was, but it sounded important, perhaps even a good hiding spot if he ever needed it. More importantly, she had called herself a princess, which meant that as long as she was in the room, he was likely being watched closely. His eyes darted around the room, looking for cameras, or any hidey-holes where a guard could be waiting in case he made any sudden moves. Elias didn’t search for long, however. Instead, his eyes quickly found their way back to the princess. Her eyes were studying him, though her face didn’t show it. In all likelihood, she was doing the same thing he was, watching every movement, stealing what information he could get from what few words were spoken. Elias inclined his head. “My thanks then, Princess…?” The pony’s smile seemed to widen, which Elias took as a good sign. It wouldn’t hurt to build some positive affinity for now. 'Especially after what she just witnessed,' Elias thought. “I am Princess Celestia,” she gestured with a wing toward the blue pony, “and this is my sister, Princess Luna.” “Elias,” he replied simply. “And I am Doctor Steel Scalpel,” the unicorn butted in. “Now that introductions are out of the way, Princess I really must insist that Elias gets more rest before you talk more. Even with the healing spells, he is still badly hurt, and shouldn’t be on his feet.” The unicorn emphasized the last part of the sentence by pushing Elias closer to the bed. Elias opened his mouth to speak, but Scalpel cut him off. “I swear if you say “I’m fine” one more time I will knock you out and strap you to the bed until I say that you’re fine.” Elias raised an eyebrow, and his gaze flicked back to the princesses. Both now had smiles on their faces, Celestia especially. “I believe that Doctor Scalpel is correct, our questions can wait until you are better rested.” Turning to Scalpel she asked, “Would it be possible to have Elias well enough for conversation by tonight, say around dinner time?” Scalpel nodded. “Yes Princess, I believe I can have him in a better state by then, if he begins resting immediately.” As he said this, Scalpel gave Elias a death glare and another nudge toward the still empty bed beside him. Elias glared back, but relented, grunting as he lifted his leg onto the bed. He flopped into the bed, dragging his injured leg up beside him. Elias briefly felt each of his ribs poking out with his fingers, then decided to simply rest his hands on his chest. Once he was settled, he looked back up to the princesses. Celestia still had a smile on her face, while Luna had returned to watching him with suspicion. Elias felt his eye twitch. Celestia needed to be watched closely. Nobody honest smiled that much. Suspicion, and even outright hostility he could understand, they were the standard emotions anyone felt when confronted with the unknown. But not happiness, or whatever that smile was hiding. The unknown meant danger, and only the insane or those with malicious intent smiled at danger. Still, Elias kept his thoughts from his face, maintaining his normal serious frown. “It has been good to see you awake Elias; I believe I speak for both of us when I say that I am eager to talk with you more,” Celestia said. “Doctor, once you have finished with today’s healing session, the guard outside can escort Elias to his room to prepare for dinner.” Scalpel nodded and gave a slight bow. “Very well Princess.” Celestia gave a slight nod to Elias and then began making her way toward the door, with Luna following in tow. The blue pony shot a quick glance over her shoulder at Elias, but said nothing as the pair left the infirmary. As the doors closed, Elias felt Doctor Scalpel’s breath on his arm. He slowly turned his head, and met the pony’s rage filled eyes. “What,” Elias said. “What? WHAT?!?” You had me sneak in a bucking razor blade? Are you mad? What, we’re you going to try to fight your way out of the castle with it? Attack the princesses perhaps?” Elias shook his head. “That’s not what the razor is for,” he replied. “And just what is it for then? What could possibly possess you to carry a razor blade in your clothes?” “How many toes do I have?” Elias asked. The question halted the anger radiating from the unicorn momentarily. “Why? What does this have to do with the razor?” Elias pointed toward his feet. “How many toes do I have? Go ahead, count them.” Scalpel looked at Elias’ feet and counted, then shook his head and said, “Eight. I count eight toes.” Elias nodded. “Alright, now count how many fingers I have.” The unicorn looked at him incredulously, but counted Elias’ fingers as well. “Ten.” Elias nodded again. “Normally, those numbers match, used to match for me as well. Then I got captured by some less than savory individuals. They beat me half to death, then burned the bottoms of my feet so I couldn’t walk. When that wasn’t enough to get me to rat out the settlement I was working for at the time, they took a toe from each foot. Made me eat them too.” Scalpel paled visibly, but said nothing. Elias continued. “I got lucky. A real bad storm rolled in that night and as their tents began to wash away, I crawled into a flooded stream and let it carry me down river. After that, I decided not to rely on luck, and made a contingency so that I would never be held in a situation like that again. The razor is that contingency, a simple but effective out.” Scalpel shook his head at Elias' words. A look of clear disgust sat on his face as he began to gently press on the injured areas of Elias' body, checking for further damage. “I'm going to just ignore what you're implying and focus on what's important. Why did you cut up your hand like that? Surely your nightmares would have caused an issue before today.” Elias looked away. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. It's never gotten that bad before.” “Do you need somepony to talk to about it? I’m sure Princess Luna would be more than happy to…” “No,” Elias replied sharply. “They’re just dreams. They’ll fade in time.” “Elias, that isn’t healthy.” Elias snorted. “Because I’m just the pinnacle of health. It’s fine; nothing I can’t handle alone.” He said the word ‘alone’ with force. Scalpel sighed. “If you say so. We can talk more on your “dreams” later. Right now, let’s heal your physical wounds. Lie back, this may hurt a bit.”