Fate of The Lostbelt Kingdoms
Chapter Thirteen
Rest & Recovery
“In all my years of medical studies, I’ve never seen anything like this.” Dr. Horse said as he looked over the injuries of both Ivan and Anastasia. It had only been a few hours since the servants were taken to the hospital and treated for their injuries early in the afternoon. Even though the sun was still up, it was now nighttime and Ivan’s and Anastasia’s injuries were almost perfectly healed. The doctor soon looked over at the servants, then at the book he was holding given to him by Twilight about the human body, and then over at Twilight herself with a dumbfounded expression on his face. “I know that the girl is a human, but the larger gentlemen…I….honestly don’t know what to make of him…And you’re saying they’re rulers from another country that you happen to run into?”
“It’s a…long story that will be explained later,” Twilight said with a somewhat awkward expression on her face. “What about Rainbow Dash and Patxi?” She asked as the doctor pulled out papers on the pegasus and yaga.
“For Rainbow Dash, just a few bruises and a hairline fracture in her left hoof. Nothing too serious, but she’ll need to stay off that hoof and not do anything that requires heavy lifting for a good two weeks.” He said before pulling up the papers for Patxi. “The…yaga that you call him…I don’t even know how to explain it.”
“What do you mean by that?” Celestia asked.
“Well…on all accounts. He should be dead.” Dr. Horse said as he showed her the results of Patxi’s condition. “It’s like something pierced through his body, hitting or grazing important arteries and organs, the right arm is completely broken, and a broken left eye socket…at least from what we could tell from the parts that were human organs from the book Princess Twilight gave us. Everything else is to that of a wolf…a wolf that we never heard of in Equestria.”
“Is there nothing you can do for him?” She asked as the doctor shrugged.
“We managed to do as much as we could to the vital areas. We’ll keep him under twenty-four-seven surveillance, but all we can do now is hope he’ll recover on his own.” He said before leaving the room. “You have about five minutes before visiting hours are over. I know you all have important matters to talk about, but that’s no excuse for prolonged conversations. Especially given how the foreign diplomats still need to recover after what has happened.”
“Understood, thank you for informing us,” Luna said as she watched the doctor leave before looking back at Ivan and Anastasia. “It would seem you weren’t kidding about servants recovering by absorbing magic from the surrounding area. Will you two be fine by the morning?”
“We should be,” Anastasia said as she raised a hand to flex it a bit. “This country has an unusually large amount of magic coming from just about everything alive.”
“Indeed, compared to Russia, this place is like a fountain of water where a servant can find shelter in and recover their strength,” Ivan said as lightning began to form around his tusk. “It’s oddly invigorating, to say the least.”
“It’s nice to see that you two are recovering rather well. But I hope you’re not planning on going after Minotaur?”
“Much as I would like to, we can’t go back. At least not without a plan to deal with him.” Ivan said as he leaned against the wall of the room they were all in.
“Isn’t there somepony that took down that monster from your world?” Applejack asked.
“The master of Chaldea along with his servants were the ones that took Minotaur down. Asking for the human’s assistance would be impossible given how he’s back on Earth where we were before coming to this place…Though she might be of some assistance.”
“You mean Atalante, don’t you?” Ivan asked as the ponies raised their eyebrows at the two servants before Twilight spoke up.
“Who’s Atalante?” She asked as Anastasia made a magical image of the servant, which took the ponies by surprise.
“Isn’t that the cat-human that gave us direction to the town?” Starlight asked before hearing Cadance speak up.
“She’s also the one that helped Celestia and me when that boar attacked us. You mean she knows how to take down that monster that attacked us?” She asked as the caster servant nodded.
“Well shoot, that shouldn’t be a problem. All we have to do is find her and ask her for her help, right?” Applejack asked as she noticed Anastasia’s awkward facial expression. “Something wrong?”
“Getting her help might be a problem,” Ivan said as he chimed in on the conversation. “For starters, finding her is going to be a problem seeing how she tends to move from one place to another with her pack. The second would be the fact that she doesn’t trust me…no, trust is an understatement. More like she’s willing to kill me if given the chance.”
“And even if we were to find her, getting her to help us is another problem within itself. Especially seeing how the three of us are enemies in our point of view. Though, unlike me, I can tolerate Ivan’s presence.” Anastasia said as she leaned back in the bed she was resting in. “For years the three of us never worked together because we never cared so much for each or cared about our subjects. Mainly Ivan and I.”
“So what you’re saying is?” Twilight asked as Ivan spoke up.
“If either I or Anastasia were to go and ask her for help, she would leave or attack us.”
“So getting her help is going to be a problem,” Luna said before placing a hoof on her chin. “Perhaps she might be willing to help if Celestia and I were to meet her?”
“It’s not impossible, but I’m more worried about the fact that you might end up having to fight her,” Ivan said as Anastasia made the image of Atalante vanish. “Some servants are willing to help depending on what you say. Others will help if you're strong. And given how you and your sister are rulers of a different country, she’ll most likely want you to prove to her that you’re strong enough to hold your own in a fight.”
“So we’ll have to fight her to gain her assistance?” Celestia asked as Anastasia nodded.
“But they can’t fight her.” Rarity said before flinching from seeing Celestia and Luna raise an eyebrow at her. “W-With all due respect princesses, but unicorns still can’t use our magic and don’t know when we’ll be able to.”
“That is true,” Celestia said before letting out a sigh of annoyance. “We’ll need a few days to think of a plan on how to deal with this matter.”
“Why a few days?” Fluttershy asked.
“We need to make a public announcement about our foreign diplomats and why unicorns can’t use their magic,” Celestia answered. “I prefer not to let false information spread around seeing how ponies saw us making our way through Equestria while on a demonic boar.”
“And everypony knows how gossip spreads. Hence the reason why Celestia ordered the royal guards outside to make sure no pony without proper clearance enters the hospital.”
“That seems a bit much don’t you think?” Ivan asked.
“Better to be safe than sorry, right?” Celestia said as she began to make her way to the door of the room they were in. “We’ll talk more in the morning. I believe we’re all due a nice restful sleep after today’s events.”
“But it’s still daytime,” Anastasia said as she pointed at the sun still in the sky. She soon noticed a slightly mischievous smile on the alicorn sisters' faces as Luna reached into the saddlebag herself to pull out a strange device that resembled a clock, but it had the sun and the moon on it. “Um…what is that?”
“I had Luna stop by Canterlot to get a device I made a long time ago whenever I get tired from work, or if I end up getting sick,” Celestia said as she motions for the two servants to watch the sky. Luna soon turned the arrow pointing from the sun to the moon as the servants noticed that the sun was setting and the moon soon raised behind it. A dumbfounded expression appeared on both Ivan and Anastasia’s faces upon seeing this…well Anastasia’s only. Ivan didn’t have anything that would be considered a facial expression, but he was dumbfounded as to what he saw. The two servants looked over at Celestia and Luna who were trying their best not to laugh. “I did say we could control the sun and the moon…though in this case, I suppose the small device will have to do as proof of what I mean.”
“...How is that even possible?” Ivan asked as he pointed at the device. “Something like would be impossible to exist let alone be made.”
“I’m willing to explain it, but you might want to brush up on Equestrian history first before anything else. Mainly because you both will be in Equestria for a while.” Celestia said before looking over at Twilight and her friends. “I would like for you all to help our new guest become accustomed to how things are in Equestria if you don’t mind that is.”
“Of course, we can do that,” Twilight said before looking at the servants. “I’ll stop by after my meeting with Mayor Mare to give you both books on both the history and laws of Equestria.”
“I take it you’re going to her because of the giant boar we rode on?” Ivan asked as Starlight spoke up.
“We managed to calm down some of the ponies that were scared upon seeing the pig walking through town, but that still doesn’t help when they want answers as to what happened, why is a giant cosmic-looking flower in the distance, and why unicorns can’t use their magic.”
“Needless to say, the explanation we told them didn’t help for the most part. So Twilight suggested that she talk to Mayor Mare to gather everypony to town hall and explain what’s going on.” Rarity said. “We’re hoping this will calm everypony’s worry and not see you three as invaders or something worse.”
“I suppose telling a small town would be for the best. Makes hiding out here less of a problem than in a huge city.” Anastasia said as she looked out the window. “Though something tells me it’ll take a while for them to get used to us.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Once we introduce you both to the ponies of Ponyville, I’m sure they’ll be accepting of you both.” Applejack said as she began to make her way to the door while yawning. “Not to say that I don’t mind talking with y’all, but I should head on home. Got a busy day tomorrow and I’ll need all the rest I can get.”
“We should be going to,” Twilight said as her friends nodded in agreement before heading out. “We’ll talk more in the morning, but for now. Get some rest and welcome to Equestria.” She said before the group left. Once they heard the sound of hoof steps leaving the area, Anastasia spoke up as Ivan turned his attention to the caster servant.
“You think they’ll be able to convince Atalante to assist us in fighting Minotaur?”
“It’s not like we have much of a choice in the matter. So far, she did help them in escaping from the boar and guided them to us. I think the biggest problem is trying to find her while making sure Minotaur doesn’t attack them.”
“Meaning that we’ll have to go with them to protect them?” She asked as Ivan nodded. “I feared as much. You have a plan on making sure she doesn’t run off?”
“Other than threatening her, I have nothing.” He said before pulling himself up and beginning to leave her room. “We’ll talk it over with the ponies when we’re ready to head back. For now, we should learn more about this country and its culture for the time being.”
“You, wanting to learn something that didn’t involve inflating your ego or conquering the world?” Anastasia said in a sarcastic tone to her voice which caused the former Tsar to pause.
“Russia is given a second chance. Though the blood that spilled on her can’t be removed, she along with her citizens deserve better…Something that we couldn’t do.” He said before leaving. Anastasia stared at the door for a moment before looking over at the night sky. For years, Russia’s sky had been blocked off due to the constant cloud blocking the sky and hailing down snow upon them. She had seen pictures of what the sun and the blue sky looked like, and she had seen pictures of the moon and the vast sea of stars. Never would she have dreamt to see both the endless blue sky of day and the endless cosmic sea of stars.
“Kadoc,” Anastasia said as she gripped the covers to her bed. “I hope you’re doing okay.”