Turns out they didn’t have chocolate. They offered cherry, alfalfa, and apple. I was almost tempted to try alfalfa just to see what it was like, but went with cherry in the end. It tasted god-awful.
As I tried my best to enjoy what must have been a sugar-free lollipop, I felt the nurse staring at me. I met her gaze for a moment. She gave me one of those fake smiles.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you need anything else?” she asked, hiding an impatient tone. “Some coloring books, maybe?”
Coloring books? How old did she think I am? Actually, on that thought, how old was I?
“No ma’am.” I responded. “Maybe just a normal book?”
I could probably gauge how old she thought I was by what kind of book she brought. I swear though, she brings me something along the lines of what a first grader would read, I was flipping shit.
“Of course. I’m afraid after that there really are other patients I must see, but before I go, do you need to use the restroom?”
Okay, so I was very young. That or…
I stared down at my forehooves. Yeah, so using the bathroom as a quadruped with one of my limbs out of the question was actually a bit of an issue. That, and I didn’t really know how bathrooms worked here.
For a moment I tried moving around my tail. Twitching it even a bit. It didn’t work. Well, whole new set of muscles, what did I expect? Shit. Yeah, definitely gonna need help. Also gonna have to find some way to explain why I didn’t know how to move one of my appendages.
God, I was way too sober for this shit. Give me a couple appletinis, or rum and cokes and I’d have the patience for this. Maybe a-
Focus, you idiot! The nurse is waiting for my answer.
Alright, let’s get this over with.
I nodded my head and followed Sweetheart out the door.
Same organ, similar plumbing, my main issue was moving my tail, which I eventually managed looping around a rear leg with some help from the nurse. I didn’t have to look to know she was gazing at me strangely because of that, but screw it.
The bathroom was simple. It consisted of what looked like a piss trough built into the floor, descending in the middle to make a “v” shape, and having a drain on the end closest to the sink. On the other side of the trough was a hole, with a pull cord hanging down from the ceiling in front of it. There was a toilet paper holder rod built up from the floor next to it. I suppose a human-like toilet bowl wouldn’t work as well for quadrupeds.
After I finished up, sighing in annoyance as I needed help wiping, I made my way over to the sink. The faucet looked about the same, and the bowl to catch the sink water seemed a little smaller than I was used to. Thankfully, the hot and cold water levers -also the same as a human sink- were something I could just put my hoof behind and pull toward me, so I didn’t have to explain to the nurse why I had no idea how to do hoof magic.
After trying my best to wash my hooves, I gazed into the mirror. Well, I looked strange, for sure, but also kind of cute. The proportions were the same as the show, giant eyes in the front of my head, but I had noticeable fur. It wasn't completely smooth like I remember the show.
Okay, so what could I ascertain from my own reflection? My eyes were completely forward facing, so that implied a predator. After quickly comparing eyes with the nurse watching me through the mirror, it became clear that my pupils were naturally smaller. So I was more sensitive to light, or something along the lines of a low-light hunter. But I knew equines in both my world and the world from the show are naturally herbivores. To test my theory, I opened my mouth and gazed at the underside of my teeth. Well, they were all molars, but that’s not what grabbed my attention at first. What my eyes were brought to were… divots? There was a thin hole in front of both my front and bottom teeth. I closed my mouth and tried exploring this area with my tongue. The skin was firm, but parted with a bit of effort. That made me think they were natural and not carved into me, or some crazy other thing.
With a push, I got my tongue deeper into the area, and instantly felt my tongue get sliced open. I quickly pulled it out and clamped my jaws shut in response to the pain. A moment later, I felt something slide out from in between my gums. A quick look revealed all I needed to know.
I had fangs.
Right around my front teeth were four sharp fangs protruding from my top and bottom jaws, coming from the hole in front of my teeth. Not just that, but it looked like more fangs were peeking out from that hole. Okay. I had a complete set of incisors and a complete set of molars. The fangs sprouted after the pain, so I assumed they were a defense mechanism and not just something that came out if I decided I wanted to eat meat. I wasn’t hungry enough to consider devouring a mouse or something, so I couldn’t fully tell.
I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, after which I felt the fangs receding back into my mouth. I pulled back my lips and inspected my molars next. They weren’t pearly white, but tinted slightly yellow. There were no apparent cavities. So this body had dental hygiene, but hadn’t been keeping up with it, at least recently. It hadn’t been ignoring it for so long the teeth looked terrible, though.
So that, and the fact that I didn’t seem anywhere close to starving hinted at a solid diet. The condition of my teeth proved I was from a functional enough home that I did have solid hygienic habits, but also felt safe enough to not do it every day. At least, that’s what I took from it. Then again, if this body was just poofed out of nowhere, all my speculation was pointless.
Next I took a look at the scales adorning my muzzle and traveling up my face. I tapped on them. The sensation was dulled, but I felt it. From this, I assumed that it wasn’t meant as legitimate armor, but perhaps just an evolutionary quirk. Looked pretty cool, though. I twisted my head to the side to get a look at my mane. It was uncombed and there were apparent knots, but I did just walk through a forest and get attacked by a giant fucking wolf, so I dunno if I could really make any notes in regards to that.
Next, I spun around, trying to inspect as much of my body as closely as I could. There were no mysterious, unexplained bruises. No hidden lacerations that I could find. All in all, the only injuries my body had were the ones I had been there when I got. Well, minus the broken leg.
If my body had existed before I entered it, I think the chances were good that I wasn’t abused. So that means either I was thrown from the train, or decided to jump off myself for a reason that was centered in mental health. That, I couldn’t measure as well, especially from inside of the brain that could have had the mental health issues.
After unlooping my tail I turned around and nodded to Sweetheart, who led me down the short hallway to my room. The walls in the hallway were green and blue, and each treated with the same design. Thick white lines in a rough, yet consistent, hill-y shape all the way down. One interesting thing I did notice is how none of the rooms had designations. No sign saying what doctor’s room it was, no numbers, not even those color tabs you can pull out to signal whether the room is occupied, empty, or needs cleaning. I was three doors down and to the left when walking from the bathroom. That seemed important to know.
Sweetheart opened the door, and I was greeted to the same black and white checkered rug and the same bed with purple blankets next to a window with teal curtains. Sweetheart quickly explained that the “call nurse” button on the side of the bed would, shockingly, call a nurse in case I needed anything. After helping me up, she told me she was gonna go grab me a juice box and a book, then quietly took her leave.
As I waited for her to return I flopped onto my back and stared at the ceiling. The ceiling was those white tiles with all the black dots on it, and I amused myself by trying to count the dots. Quickly getting bored, I looked for something else. There were other things on the ceiling, I'm assuming lights and speakers, with weird symbols written on them. I know they were usually serial numbers, but these didn't look like any numbers I'd ever seen.
"Here you are, Sunny!" Sweetheart called out, pushing a cart into my room with a small bottle of juice with a straw and a book laying on it. I instantly recognized the cover photo of Daring Do. "Entertainment and a drink with a smile."
"Oh sweet, is the smile in the juice?" I joked. "Must be a pony thing."
Sweetheart chuckled and rolled her eyes. “No. Unfortunately, we’re not quite at the point where we can bottle happiness.”
“Oh, but we can.” I replied without thinking. “They just come in bottles that say 92 proof.”
It took several moments for my brain to catch up with what I just said. And when it did, I let out an unintentional cringe.
“Oh uh… I mean...” I stammered.
“Sunny, dear…” Sweetheart trailed off. “Do you know what that means?”
“I uh..” I stammered. “Well like, yeah, but it’s not like… um...”
“Has somepony made you drink something you didn’t recognize or didn’t want?”
Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!
“N-no, ‘course not! I just uh… h-heard my dad say that one time, and thought it sounded cool!”
“Dear, listen.” Sweetheart placed a hoof gently on my shoulder. “It’s okay if you were told not to tell anypony else. You aren’t in trouble, and I won’t tell… whoever asked you not to say anything that you told me. It could be our little secret.”
“No no, really.” I flashed a weak smile. “It’s just something I heard one time.”
Sweetheart spent a moment gazing into my eyes, her brows furrowed and a slight frown on her face, then nodded.
“Okay, Sunny. I am going to have to tell the doctor about this, okay?”
I nodded mutely, my whole body feeling numb.
“You should go ahead and try to get some sleep. Remember, that button will call me if you need anything.”
I nodded again as she left the room.
I waited until I was sure she was out of earshot before screaming into my pillow, then throwing it across the room.
“Stupid, stupid, STUPID!” I growled to myself. “What the hell was I thinking?”
I turned around and buried my face into the remaining pillow. There had to be a fix for this. I could have just have screwed everything up. What if they tried to send me to rehab or had some cop question me? Can you even send a child to rehab? And what if I did have worried family, family that actually cared for me searching for this body? Now I just got them in trouble too!
I cringed internally. The thoughts were racing through my head at a million miles an hour and the only suggestion my mind could come up with was another glass of mixed 92 proof. Or to get some way more serious painkill-
Morphine!
That's it!
It would have a different result than straight alcohol, but dammit, right now I just needed something to quiet my mind.
But the nurses had me only on regular pain tablets now, so I'd have to be crafty in convincing them I needed to step up to morphine.
I chewed on my lower lip as I gazed around the room, my sight eventually settling on the metal part of the bedframe. If I was gonna do this, I had to be convincing. I had to know exactly what to tell them. I could say I had a nightmare, but they just left and I…
I could play it to my advantage. Mysterious little girl with some issues, they’d overlook some of the logic, at least until after I got a little something to calm my nerves. And then, I’d imagine it’s far easier to play dumb as a child.
See, the problem was that I was a terrible liar. I couldn't tell what situations a little lie would save me a lot of trouble in, and even if I could, I was just straight up a bad liar.
But I was a decent actor.
I slowly extended my left foreleg and lined the injured portion up with the metal of the bedframe. I lifted it up and prepared to swing down, but froze. I tried again and froze again.
I didn't want to hurt myself. I could also fuck up my recovery, or injure the bone more!
“Stop!” I screamed internally. “This shit is why you need your crutch! Stop overthinking this and just do it!”
But I couldn't bring myself to finish the swing. I needed to distract myself somehow, I needed to-
I lunged forward and sank my teeth into my right foreleg as hard as I could. I tasted blood and fought back a scream.
With a shot of adrenaline, I lifted my left foreleg up and brought it down twice on the bedframe as hard as I could, unable to suppress a scream of pain as my foreleg felt like it exploded.
I curled in on myself as my eyes instantly flooded with tears. I felt around with my right foreleg and managed to find the "call nurse" button as I started shaking like a leaf.
Moments later the door clicked open and the cheery voice of Nurse Sweetheart called out.
"Hello Sunny, how can I- OH MY GOODNESS!"
She rushed to my side, gently picking me up and frantically looking me all over, growing several shades paler when she spotted my bad leg curled into my chest and my other foreleg dripping blood.
"I.. had a nightmare… bugs were eating me…" I choked between sobs, throwing the leg that wasn't broken around the nurse's neck and pulling her into a shaky hug for good measure.
"I-i-it hurts… so much," I sobbed into her coat as she carefully returned the embrace. "Help…"
I'll admit, I felt completely shitty for deceiving the nurse like this, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
"P-please…" I gave out a wet sniffle, doing my best to look just like an injured, scared child crying in pain. Turns out it's not hard to convince ponies you're vulnerable when you look like a little girl and are actually crying in pain. "Make i-it stop…"
"Redheart!" Sweetheart called out into the hallway. I briefly wondered if all the nurses' names ended in -heart. "Get the doctor!"
Looks like everything was going according to plan.