//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Endless Pain // Story: The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds // by Kamahido //------------------------------// The next morning the ship lands in the Crystal Empire in front of the castle. Medics board and help transport Steel Hammer and Silver Hammer to the nearby hospital. Arc and his friends walk down the street to join them. Hammer is the first to speak. “I, uh… hope you’re friends make it, Arc.” Arc nods but does not looks toward her. “Me too. But Redheart said they were slowly going downhill all night.” Rainbow Dash seethes. “That really sucks and all. But I still don’t get why Decimus went out of his way to go after them.” Fluttershy nods sadly. “Yes, they’re very nice ponies.” Applejack sighs. “Skilled craftsponies too!” Rarity shudders. “He must’ve had a chip on his shoulder for them.” Pinkie grits her teeth. “They didn’t deserve what he did!” Auriel bows her head sadly. “Agreed. Both of them welcomed me into their shop when I was new in town. Neither treated me different because of my race either.” Sereb nods. “They did the same for me as well. Very understanding ponies, those two.” Cherry calls out to Arc telepathically. “Nopony knows who they really are, do they?” Arc sighs inwardly. “I didn’t mention it to anyone, no. After all, they wanted to remain anonymous due to their past deeds as the former Heroes of Light. And now I see why.” “You think Decimus knows who they really are?!” “It makes sense. After all, what other reason would he have to go out of his way to hurt them?” Reaching the hospital, Arc and company walk up to the front desk. “I’m here to see the doctor about Steel Hammer and Silver Hammer.” The nurse nods respectfully. “Yes sir. I apologize, but they’re still being examined at the moment. Shall I have you escorted to one of our family waiting rooms?” Arc nods. “Yes, thank you.” She calls for another nurse whom leads them down a long corridor. Hammer looks around clearly impressed before turning to the nurse. “Nice hospital you got here.” “Thank you. It’s the largest one in all the Crystal Empire.” “Empire, huh? So you’re ruled by an emperor?” The nurse shakes her head. “Princess Cadance is the ruling monarch, ma’am.” Hammer raises an eyebrow. “Just her?” Applejack nods. “Yup.” Fluttershy smiles. “She must be doing well. After all I hardly ever hear anything bad from this corner of Equestria.” Rarity shrugs. “Other than circumstances outside of her control, that is.” Hammer frowns. “Oh? Like what?” Arc sighs. “The Yakyakistan invasion, for starters.” Hammer chuckles. “Let me guess? Large talking yaks?” Rainbow Dash grins. “You got it, cupcake.” “Wait, what?!” Auriel turns to Hammer. “Is something wrong?” “I was just joking! You mean it really is a country of yaks?!” Arc groans. “It’s a bit strange to me sometimes too.” “Are they friendly?” Sereb sighs. “That is… complicated.” Arc looks to Hammer. “Yes and no. You really have to be able to understand their culture to talk to them properly.” “Does a princess rule over them too?” Pinkie shakes her head. “Nah! Their leader is Prince Rutherford! He’s a REALLY big yak! Friendly too!” Arc shrugs. “Friendly if you talk his language.” “He’s bilingual?” Arc rolls his eyes. “No, I meant you have to follow his cultural traditions to get him to listen.” “Can you give me an example?” Arc looks away. “Well… when I went there during their invasion of this city he told me that the former leader, General Wind Rider, had offended him in some way and that we wanted revenge for that.” “How did you get him to stop?” “By speaking his language.” Rainbow Dash grins. “He punched Rutherford in the face!” Rarity frowns. “Rainbow Dash, please! It sounds bad when you say it like that!” Fluttershy nods. “But that’s really what happened.” Sereb frowns. “We were out of options by that point. Something drastic had to be done in order to avoid all-out war.” Hammer shrugs. “I can respect that. After all, I’m a big fan of using violence to stop violence.” They arrive at the family waiting room. A very happy looking room with numerous couches and comfortable chairs sit around the perimeter of the room. A table and chairs in the center of the room has prepackaged snacks on it. The nurse turns to Arc. “Will you need anything else, sir?” Arc shakes his head. “No, thank you. Just let us know when the doctor has something to report.” “Yes sir, I’ll pass on your orders immediately.” Bowing slightly, she backs up and closes the door behind her. Hammer turns to Arc and grins. “You really have the ponies of this land bowing and scraping!” Fluttershy smiles. “Well, he is the Hero of Light after all.” Rainbow Dash nods. “And the former Lord Regent too!” Rarity looks up to Arc proudly. “It’s only natural for them to want to show respect for such an individual.” “Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of it.” Auriel appears surprised. “Really, Arc?” “Yeah. In fact, that’s what I like about all of you. You just treat me like a normal citizen.” Applejack chuckles. “That’s probably because we knew you before things really took off.” Pinkie bounces up and down. “You’re still Sugarcube Corner’s number one customer!” Arc walks over to a window and looks out over the city. “Another reason is that I can always count on all of you to be frank with me. Tell it like it is without being worried about how I’ll respond.” Hammer nods. “Honesty, huh?” Auriel sighs. “I had similar issues back in Tartarus. No one could be trusted, as they were only after my position. Fortunately since I stayed out of sight in my father’s library it wasn’t too big an issue for me.” Sereb frowns. “But Arc cannot stay under wraps.” Cherry calls out to them. “Not for long, anyways.” Pinkie giggles. “He does kinda stick out in a crowd.” Applejack shrugs. “Well, that can’t really be helped. Think about how many ponies saw him just on the way here earlier.” Arc clenches a fist. “Yeah, well… this is the life I’ve chosen. Or I suppose one might say… it chose me.” Rarity walks over to stand by his side. “That may be. But you don’t walk this path alone.” Hammer stands on his other side and puts an arm around him. “Right. We’re with you too.” Sometime in the late afternoon a nurse enters the room and walks over to Arc. “Sir, the doctor wishes to speak to you now. May I escort you to the patient’s room?” “Yes please.” As he turns to leave Rarity gives his hand a quick squeeze along with a comforting smile. Giving her cheek a quick touch with his fingers, he smiles sadly and leaves the room. Hammer looks to Rainbow Dash. “Everything’s… going to be okay, right?” “Probably.” Applejack sighs. “I don’t think so.” Pinkie appears confused. “What?!” “That look on the nurse’s face. I’ve seen it before.” Fluttershy frowns. “Where?” Applejack turns and looks out the window. “A doctor’s face when my parents…” Meanwhile, the nurse leads Arc to the patient’s room. Knocking lightly, she opens it and steps inside. “Doctor, the Hero of Light is here to see you.” The doctor nods soberly. “Let him in.” She steps aside to allow Arc entrance. He walks slowly over to the beds and looks at his friends. Innumerable machines run to both of them as the rhythmic beeping of the electrocardiograms and the small hiss of a respirator down Silver Hammer’s throat being the only noise. Not taking his eyes off of either, Arc speaks. “What is their condition, doctor?” “Not good, I’m afraid. First, I must apologize to you for taking such a long time to appraise you of their condition. They’ve been in and out of surgery all day now in an attempt to stabilize them.” “What exactly happened?” “Both of them have needed to be defibrillated numerous times today. They’ve been on the edge most of the time.” “And now?” “Tentatively stable. However, they’re not out of the woods yet.” “What was the damage?” The doctor speaks as he looks over their charts. “Fractured legs, concussions, and nearly all ribs were broken in both patients. But that doesn’t even come close to the damage internally.” “Oh?” “Your Chief Medical Officer tells me they were found strapped down and facing each other. Is that correct?” Arc nods. “Yes. That’s how I found them.” “Were they perfectly lined up?” “I guess so. Is that important?” “It does explain how it happened then. You see, ribs are connected in the center of the chest by a larger bone called the sternum. It’s a very durable bone that helps maintain structural integrity of the ribs which in turn protects the major vital organs. However, with both sternums pressed together, there was no place for the force to go other than down. And when the pressure became too much it broke almost every rib in both of them.” Arc gasps. “That sounds beyond terrible!” “It must have been absolute agony for both of them. Especially since I don’t think the pressure stopped there. The only saving grace for them was that they most likely passed out shortly thereafter from the pain.” “Organ damage?” “Mostly to the heart and lungs. Their hearts were strained and both sets of lungs had several puncture wounds from the ribs being stabbed into them. It’s a miracle they didn’t bleed out before receiving medical care.” “So they’re both the same?” “No sir. Silver Hammer was hurt much worse than her husband. Tell me, was she on top or bottom?” “Top.” The doctor sighs. “That explains the extensive damage to her hooves, fetlocks, and legs. It was much worse than Steel Hammer’s.” “I don’t understand.” “This is just a theory on my part, of course. But I believe she had been attempting to hold the press up to allow them both to breathe. However when the pressure became too great her legs broke and she was pressed sternum to sternum with her husband.” Arc clenches a fist. “And that’s when the ribs broke.” “Yes sir. However… it’s a bit more complicated for her.” “How could it get any worse?!” “We looked over the x-rays from your ship’s Chief Medical Officer as well as took our own to verify the results. It would appear that Silver Hammer also has a broken back. Judging from the damage, it would appear it broke long before her legs did.” Arc’s eyes grow wide. “So you mean that she kept pushing the plate up… with a broken back?” “Yes sir.” Arc looks at his friends for a long moment before turning back to the doctor. “Will they recover?” “Steel Hammer will have an extended stay along with physical therapy over the next six months or so. While he may never fully recover, at least he has a chance to come back from this horrible event.” The doctor turns to Silver Hammer. “His wife… not so much.” “What do you mean?” “The damage to her back is extensive. I spent several hours doing surgery just to stabilize her. However, the trauma to her spine was more serious than we originally thought. Does she have any other family?” “A daughter. But she’s just a filly.” “You might want to contact somepony to bring her here.” Arc groans. “I’ve already done that. She should be arriving here on today’s train.” The doctor looks up to the clock. “It was scheduled to arrive about twenty minutes ago.” “Just a moment, doctor.” Concentrating, Arc reaches out to Scootaloo. “How’s it going over there?” “Not the greatest, Big Brother. Platinum Valve is really upset about her parents. All I was able to tell her was that you got them out.” “Are you still on the train?” “We’re walking up the steps to the hospital now.” “Alright. I’ll send word to have you two brought here immediately.” He turns to the doctor before continuing. “She’s just arrived. Notify the front desk to have her brought here at once.” “Very well, sir.” Picking up a telephone he rings the front desk. A few minutes later Scootaloo opens the door leading a very nervous Platinum Valve. She gasps and hurries over to the beds. “MOM! DAD!” Looking to the doctor she speaks with a broken voice. “Are they… going to be okay?!” “I was just talking to the Hero of Light about that, miss. Both of your parents were critically injured. Your father will most likely recover with a good bit of rest and physical therapy.” “And my mom?!” “The damage to her spine was more than originally thought. It’s likely that her spinal cord was… damaged.” Platinum Valve chokes back tears. “Wha… what does that MEAN?!” “She may be paralyzed.” With a shaky hoof, she reaches out to touch her mother’s fetlock. As she does so, the heart monitor increases its beeping. The doctor looks at it as Platinum Valve steps back. “Did I do something wrong?!” “No, miss. In fact, that was quite a good sign.” Arc turns to him, confused. “Doctor?” “Even though she’s in a coma, the fact she responded to your touch indicates that she felt your hoof. Perhaps there is hope yet for her spine.” Platinum Valve turns to the doctor. “What happens to them now?” “Lots of bedrest here in the intensive care unit with around the clock care.” “How much longer until they wake up?” “We don’t know, miss. At the moment it’s very helpful to the healing process, as they need all the rest they can get.” “What can I do to help?” “Stay with them and talk. If they can hear you it will be a great comfort to them to hear your voice.” Platinum Valve appears hopeful. “Can I stay here?” The doctor shakes his head. “I’m sorry, but hospital rules say that visiting hours for the intensive care unit are only from…” Arc interrupts him. “Irrelevant, doctor.” “Sir?” “You will allow this filly to stay here by her parent’s side as long as she wishes. No matter how long it takes.” “But, I… yes sir.” “Thank you. Can you tell us anything else about their condition?” “Only that whomever did this was clearly very skilled at it. Perhaps even a literal monster. I certainly hope you took care of them, sir.” Arc clenches a fist. “No. But believe me when I say that they will be… dealt with.” “I’ll let you two have some time with them while I check on my other patients.” Platinum Valve nods as she looks down at her parents. “Thank you, doctor.” Leaving the room, the stallion closes the door behind him. Platinum Valve looks to Arc, clearly shaken. “What… who did this to them?!” “I’m guessing it was either Decimus, or someone under his command on orders to torture them.” “But why?!” Arc sighs. “Probably to bait me into coming out.” Platinum Valve turns back to the bed as she speaks. “My parents… they weren’t a threat to anypony!” Arc puts a hand on her shoulder as he kneels down to her level. “As I told the doctor, you can stay here with them. Or if that’s too much, I’ll have a room prepared for you in the Crystal Castle.” Platinum Valve shakes her head as she looks Arc in the eye. “I want to stay here. Be by their side when they wake up. Is that okay?” Arc nods. “Yes. That’s fine.” She sniffles as fresh tears course down her face. Holding out his arms she rushes into them and sobs. Arc holds her close as she continues crying. “It’s going to be okay, Platinum Valve. I’m going to find whomever did this… and I’m going to end them.”