//------------------------------// // Rude Awakenings // Story: My Life as a Pony // by _Sugarplum_ //------------------------------// Fluttershy yelped in the middle of Ponyville General Hospital. The yellow pegasus’ heart nearly leapt out of her chest when the foal, who had previously been sitting on her back, had passed out suddenly. He hit the floor with a quiet thud. She yelped and quickly scooped the foal up and held in her forelegs as she hovered anxiously in the air. He felt a bit heavy but she didn’t dare let him go. “O-oh my gosh,” she muttered, her voice full of a mixture of concern and fear. “Please be okay…” The front desk mare soon returned with a doctor. The pony physician adjusted his glasses as he eyed the unconscious foal in Fluttershy’s hooves. “Goodness gracious,” he said under his breath. He cleared his throat. “You’re lucky that you got him here when you did, Miss Shy,” he stated, “We’ll take good care of him. I’ll need to take him from you now.” The pegasus hesitated for a slpit second but then relinquished the foal, giving him to the doctor. The Doctor carried him with levitation magic, walking off down the hall with him. He then took him into an empty room. Fluttershy stood back on the ground now, her ears folded backwards as she fidgeted anxiously. She was unsure if she should go back there with them, or just leave the doctor alone to do his thing. She opted on the latter. She didn’t want to interrupt the doctor or anything. She also did not want to leave the foal here by himself, so she sat down in one of the waiting room chairs. She waited in nervous silence for a few minutes. As she was perched upon the chair, her thoughts started to run a bit wild. She felt guilty for the foal’s state. If she had noticed that he was in her property, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt. She should’ve been better, she thought. She sighed heavily while fighting back a tear or two. She felt horrible. And what of his parents? Surely they’d be wondering where their child is. Someone would probably check with town hall about this lost and injured colt soon, wouldn’t they? She shook her head. She can’t let the thoughts weigh down on her. She can’t change what happened, but she’ll do what she can to make things right. Not long after she calmed herself down, the doctor returned. He walked over to her and then spoke. “Miss Shy?” She nodded her head slightly as she hid her face behind her hair. “The foal is going to be just fine.” He said. Fluttershy sighed in relief. “Oh thank goodness. That’s great news.” “Yes… but I have some questions to ask you, if you don’t mind,” he stated. “Oh?… Okay, doctor,” said the yellow mare. “Firstly, actually, I should inform you that he will need to be kept overnight for observation. The snake bite is a low grade toxin, which we had administered an antivenin for,” he explained. “But we want to make sure nothing else goes wrong.” He cleared his throat. “Now, on to the questions. For starters, what is the colt’s name?” He inquired as he held up a clipboard and pen with his magic, ready to take notes. “I…I don’t…. I don’t know,” she stuttered out with her typical sheepish tone. “Mhm… And how did the injury happen?” “I wasn’t there when it happened but… Y-you know I care for animals, right? Well I have a few snakes that come through my property. So it was probably one of them that did it.” “The injury occurred at your residence?” He asked with a raised brow. Fluttershy squeaked and nodded. The doctor sighed in response. “Accidents happen, I suppose. How did the foal end up there? You live a fair way outside of the village.” “I don’t know,” she said. “And I don’t recognize him belonging to anyone in town.” “Hm… Yes, I don’t recall seeing him before today either. Well, he may belong to a tourist,” the doctor suggested. “The summer sun celebration is in a week, after all.” She shrugged and nodded. “Maybe…. H-how is he doing by the way?” “He’s stable,” said the doctor. “He was given antivenin for the snake bite, and he should regain consciousness soon. Regardless of who he belongs to, he’ll need to stay overnight for observation. And so a missing foal’s report can be filling out properly.” “Oh dear,” mumbled the mare. “Don’t worry, Miss Shy,” he said. “We will do everything we can to take good care of the colt. You should head home and relax. I know how…. sensitive…you can be to stress,” he said softly. “Come back later, if you’re up to it.” Fluttershy wanted to protest but she knew her nerves were rattled by the whole ordeal. Her legs were trembling beneath her and she could feel her feathers twitch and ruffle as she thought. She eventually submitted though. “All right, doctor.” She said before leaving the hospital. Some sleep would do her good. My eyes opened and were stung with the fluorescence of hospital lights. I groaned quietly and rubbed my face with my hands. Hands?- I outstretched my arms and looked at myself as I sat up. All ten fingers were present and accounted for. I glanced at my body. Everything seemed normal. I paused and felt confused. Why am I in a hospital again? I coughed hard, starting to wheeze. I remembered now. I was sick. I caught a virus. After my coughing fit stopped, I sighed and looked around. I was alone in the hospital room. I looked at the tv on the wall. It was really hard to focus, the image was really distorted. But in the garbled image, I could make out what show was on. My old favorite. The screen was frozen on a warped image of a blue alicorn. There was a knocking on the door of the room, which took my attention away from the television. In stepped my mom carrying a bag of food. I blinked and time seemed to skip forward. I was now in the middle of eating while my mom sat beside me, talking. She held my hand. I couldn’t understand what she was saying. It sounded muddled, like when you get water in your ear. While she talked to me, I couldn’t absorb any of the conversation. I started coughing again and shut my eyes. The scene skipped again. She was leaning close to the bed, squeezing my hand. She said something and then ran out of the room. The only thing I could make out was “Help!” before my coughing resumed. I couldn’t catch my breath. Everything started to go dark. I laid down, wheezing. My eyelids fluttered weakly. My gaze drifted back to the tv. The same blurry image was present, but soon faded into darkness. Everything around me went dark, and my chest didn’t hurt anymore. Then the darkness became starlight. I was floating in space. I felt an awfully familiar sense of peace. The peace was interrupted by the sound of knocking. I grunted and my eyes opened as I awoke from my sleep. I huffed and smacked my lips. I sat and and cringed as a string of drool connected me to my pillow. I looked around quickly as I heard the knocking again. I looked over and then saw a nurse walk in. My vision was greeted with white mare with pink hair, pushing a small cart of medical supplies. Oh right, I’m in Equestria… I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “Oh hey, it’s nurse red heart” I mumbled as I yawned. The nurse’s eyes narrowed slightly at me for a moment before she went back to a neutral state. She then spoke. “Well it’s good that you’re awake now, sweetie,” she said. “How are you feeling?” I thought briefly about my dream… memory? Memory-dream. I shrugged and tried to think of a proper response. I can’t say that I’m mentally in shock over realizing that I died in another world. So I only offered a quiet “Fine.” “Are you sure?” She inquired with a head tilt. “Is your bite still hurting? You look bothered by something.” I shook my head. “I’m fine, r-really," I lied. Nurse Redheart walked closer and then stood beside my bed. She brought the cart with her. She grabbed a thermometer and held it in her hoof. “Let’s check your temperature to be sure,” she said bluntly. I leaned towards her slightly and opened my mouth. She quickly retracted her hoof, her ears folding as a blush somehow spread on her white cheeks. “Oh no, this one goes in... the other way” My face scrunched and I blurted out my offense. “Oh fuck no” The nurse then frowned very hard upon hearing my potty mouth. “We do not use that kind of language, young stallion!” She asserted. I rolled my eyes. “Sorry. But… ugh, d-do you really have to use the rectal one? Ya gotta have oral thermometers around here somewhere.” The mare sighed. “I’m sorry but this is just standard procedure for taking a foal’s temperature. I know it’s not fun but can you be a brave colt for just a few moments so I can check if you have a fever?” She asked. I fussed quietly but nodded my head. Soon enough I was turned tail-end towards the mare. I raised my tail and gritted my teeth. It was over fairly fast but my tushy felt tender now. I tucked my tail between my legs as I awkwardly sat back down. My brow was furrowed in a tight frown as I pouted. I fucking hate hospitals. Nurse Redheart seemed satisfied with my temperature and didn't mention it much again. She grabbed a clipboard and held a pencil in her teeth. She looked at me with a soft while and tried to hold a conversation, like she didn't just jab my bunghole a minute ago. "I want you to answer some questions for me," she said, talking pretty well despite having something in her mouth. I shrugged and nodded in response. It's not like I had anything else to do. "Okay, first, what's your name, sweetie?" She asked. It didn't feel right to use my real name. Especially since I know that 'that' version of me is...dead. I could just make a new one, maybe? I thought for a minute. A flash from my dreams came to mind. I seemed to dream of space a lot lately. "...Stardust," I said softly. "Okay then, Stardust," continued the nurse. "How old are you?" I was about to answer but then hesitated as I looked at myself. I didn't know how old a foal this size would be. Even in human form, I was always undersized. I wondered if that translated to my new form. "Um... how old do I look?" "Oh? Well you're on the small side but I'd say you're about 10, sweetie... You don't remember how old you are?" asked the nurse in concern. She sighed and then spoke again. "How about your parents? Can you tell me their names?" I froze up briefly, thinking about my mom. It didn't really set in until I'd had that dream that I'd never really see her again. I sighed and forced myself to say "They're gone." It was a lie. My mom was back home, probably heartbroken over what happened to me. A tear or two slipped from my face. Then more followed them. I couldn't keep a straight face. The nurse pony hugged me while I sobbed childishly. She petted my hair with a hoof, trying to calm me down. I sounded rather pitiful as I mumbled out. "I-.. I miss my mom."