//------------------------------// // Infirmary (Under revision) // Story: After Life // by Silverness //------------------------------// After Life Infirmary Next thing I knew, there was a sharp pain aching within my body. It felt like my insides were being scrambled by a mixer, but much worse. I groaned weakly and tried to move my forelegs to clutch my stomach. I couldn’t feel them at all, feeling completely immobilized. I tried opening my eyelids and even with my struggles, they stayed shut, leaving me blind in whatever state I was currently in. The only thing I could feel was a soft surface below me; a feather bed or a cloud, perhaps. On further inspection, it seemed that my ears hadn’t been affected by any outside forces, judging by the incessant beeping of a machine nearby. Even with all this, I had no idea where I was or how I got here. The last thing I remembered was drowning in a pool of water before losing consciousness. I knew I had to get out of here, but first I needed to find out where I was for my own sake. No, for Scootaloo’s sake. I had to find her before something terrible happened to her. Then again, I had no idea if she was even around here. I rolled my eyes in my eye sockets, making sure they were still there in case I was permanently blind. Again, I tried to force my eyelids open to no avail. I grumbled in thought, and winced as I put more effort into it and tried once more. This time, a bright light pierced through the dark cloud that covered my sight, which gave me some hope. I slowly opened my eyes, but they had been closed for too long and I quickly shut them as they were exposed to the searing light. Quite frankly, it was getting frustrating since this was the third time that had happened so far. The burn gradually ceased and I reopened my eyes after deeming it safe. There was a slight blur as they readjusted, but I was finally able to take my first look at my new surroundings to get my bearings straight. In front of me, I could see a small lamp shining down above me, swaying back and forth as the wind pushed it gently. The light wasn’t as bright as it had seemed, but I guess the dark has a huge affect on your eyes. To my left, I could see a railing keeping me inside what looked like a bed. A large rack also stood beside me and held up a clear bag filled with some sort of liquid. I couldn’t make out the words on it, but I could see a line running through the pack, leading all the way to my foreleg where an IV had been inserted. On the other side, a row of monitors displayed different kinds of lines and numbers that didn’t make sense to me other than the pulsing red line, which I knew was the heart rate monitor from my previous visits due to crashes. Based on what I could see, I came up with two possibilities. The first sounded crazy, but it involved a mental asylum. I really hoped that wasn’t the case, but all those encounters in the room and with Celestia were reason enough for it to be a possibility. The second one was more believable than the first, which seemed to suggest a hospital theory. If that was true, that’d explain the heart rate monitor and bed. Now, if only there was a doctor to help prove my theory, then I’d be glad to know I’m not mentally insane. “Doc!” A male’s voice yelled nearby, very close in fact. “She’s waking up!” I moved my head in the voice’s direction where a set of light fuchsia eyes stared back. They seemed to show a sense of urgency, which didn’t suit well in my situation. I smiled weakly, hoping it’d calm him down before I began to get nervous. When the stallion noticed my smile, he began to relax a bit. He sighed, which gave me time to notice his appearance for the first time. He had a cerulean coat that went well with his white mane. His cutie mark was a cloud with rain droplets, and from his looks, he seemed to be an ordinary pegasus. A strong one at that. A small silence followed after, but the stallion opened his mouth to say something. Before he could, the doors opened up and three ponies came waltzing in. You could easily tell which was the doctor and the nurse, but the last one was the most interesting of the bunch. She was a filly, about eight or nine by looks of it and wore a small nurse hat on top of her light pink mane with a familiar symbol on it. That same symbol matched the cutie mark on her flank, which was a red cross with four pink hearts at the corners. Yes, everything seemed to match one specific pony, but the thought left me when the group approached my bedside. “Ah, glad to see you awake, Miss. We thought you’d be stuck in that coma for a while longer, but it’s good to see you’re okay,” the doctor, a brown stallion with a stethoscope, said. I blinked in confusion at the statement. “H-huh? I was in a coma?” I barely managed to squeak out, my throat feeling very sore and in need of water. The doctor nodded, taking hold of a clipboard the nurse held in her mouth. “Yup, a week in fact. You have your friend here to thank for that.” He pointed to the stallion, who only blushed when everypony began looking at him. “He carried your body out of the water and brought you to the hospital. Clinically, I believed you were a goner, but I may as well eat my own words.” “T-thanks...” I muttered towards the stallion, smacking my lips for needed liquid. “Can I get some water?” I sighed as I bit my lip for asking. “Please?” “OH, right. Sorry about that, Miss,” the doctor replied before turning to the filly. “Miss Redheart, I’m going to need your mommy for a bit so could you be a dear and get this nice young mare a glass of water?” My eyes widened as Redheart nodded and gave a cute salute. “Yes, Doc Brown!” The doctor smiled slightly at the declaration. “Um... I’d prefer Stable and not my cute nickname, Miss Redheart, but whatever floats your boat I guess? Just as long as you get that glass of water.” Miss Redheart nodded once again before disappearing off through the doors. I blinked in shock multiple times, coming to terms with the everything unfolding before me. Here I was, lying in a bed with four ponies in a hospital room. Not only had I been in a week long coma, but a filly named Redheart was working as an assistant. That’s the same name as Nurse Redheart in my period. What makes it even weirder is that both ponies have the same cutie mark, which could only mean one thing.... I wasn’t in the present nor the future. No, I was in the past, about fifteen to twenty years ago from the present I had left, or a few years from Celestia’s disappearance and return of Nightmare Moon. That cauldron must’ve sent me back here, that was the only logical answer. I silently cursed myself for touching the liquid. I looked back at the doctor and hoped that no one had heard. He smiled back and wrote a few more things on his clipboard before handing it back to the nurse. She took it back, her eyes going through the doctor’s writing until giving an approving nod. I tilted my head in confusion and wondered what had been written. I figured it was about me since they kept pointing at me at random intervals as they whispered. The two continued doing so for a few more minutes. As they did, ‘Little Redheart’ as I had dubbed her, came running back into the room with a glass of water. Some of it spilled out of the glass, but I didn’t mind. It seemed like she was worried that I might die if she didn’t get the water to me as quickly as she could. I chuckled at the thought and looked down at the glass before me. Little Redheart’s eyes grew wide with anticipation, a small toothy grin on her face. I smiled weakly at her grin, providing my own. She giggled, which made it totally worth it. After she had her laugh, I thanked her for getting me water and grabbed the glass with my hoof before quickly taking a large gulp. Instantly, the water soothed my throat as it slid down my esophagus. “Thanks kid.” I coughed into my hoof. “If you keep that up, you’ll become a fine nurse someday.” Redheart’s eyes lit up from the comment and eagerly lifted herself up to the bedside. “Y-You really think so?”     “Think so? I know so! I bet you’ll become one of the greatest nurses this hospital has ever known. Just never give up on your dream, kid,” I said. “Wow, thanks Miss!” Redheart grinned with happiness, but it faltered slightly. “Wait, how did you know ‘being a nurse’ was my dream?” I procured a sly grin. “Just a lucky guess...” And you told me while I was stuck recovering from a concussion. “Now run along, squirt. I believe the Doc has something to tell me.” Redheart nodded and gave a wide smile before jumping off the bed and back to the nurse. Dr. Stable’s gaze followed the little filly, but it was short lived and he trotted forward with the clipboard now in his grasp again. “Well, I have good news and bad news. Which would you prefer?” I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Ugh, good news, bad news. I really don’t care as long as you say them.” Stable huffed and adjusted the lenses on his face. “Very well. The bad news is that your recovery is coming at a slow rate so you’ll have to spend a few more days at the hospital. It’s just a necessary precaution in case you have trauma, a concussion, or anything else that might put your life at risk.” “Figures... I may as well read a book or something if you got any.” I thought for a moment, an idea coming to mind. “You wouldn’t happen to have any Daring Do books, would you?” Stable looked at me, a blank expression on his face. “Um, not that I know of. Is that a new book?” I blinked once and realized that Daring Do hadn’t been written yet. It’d be roughly seven years until that happened. “What about any Wonderbolt books? You’ve gotta have at least one, right?” “I don’t believe we do, sorry. It’d be nice to have some though,” Stable replied. “It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door?” “Never heard of it.” “I, Changeling?” “Nope.” “Fifty Shades of Friendship?” “Wait, what now?” I sighed loudly and grabbed my head before I could make an outburst. I probably shouldn't lose my temper when I barely know anything about this place yet. “Fine, what about Iron Mare or any of those comic books with awesome flank kicking action? I’m pretty sure you guys have those.” His expression stayed the same. “Comic books? You mean those new picture books with ponies in masks and suits?” I nodded and hoped they had some, at least one on their shelf. “Nope, can’t say we have those. We do have these classic books for long reading enjoyment if you’d like them.” I shook my head and gritted my teeth. They didn’t have a single book I liked. How is that even possible?! Steam came out of my ears, but made an effort to bite back the shock and surprise in my throat, including the anger that I really wanted to release. “Thanks for nothing...” I took a long pause to gather myself up. “I’ll just sit here and rest, bored out of my mind.” “Okay?” Dr. Stable said, standing awkwardly to the side as he shuffled his way back to the door. "I guess I’ll leave you here with this fine young stallion and we’ll be on ou-” The stallion huffed. “In case you forgot, I’m married, genius.” Wow, way to make it even more awkward. “Oh, my bad. Um, yeah... I think I’m going to go and check on the other patients.” Stable rubbed the back of his neck, turning red as he did. “Might be for the best,” I added, letting my hooves drop to the bed. I turned toward Little Redheart climbing on top of the nurse, much to her disappointment. “I’ll catch you around, kid. If I can.” Little Redheart stopped in-between her climb and turned around, another grin on her face. “Bye Miss whatever your name is! I hope I get to see you again!” She waved a tiny white hoof back at me before the nurse carried her back outside where the doc was doing the same. He came to a halt after opening the door slightly and came back around towards me. “You never did tell us your name, Miss...? We kinda need it for our records in case you get in another serious accident.” Stable lifted the clipboard to his face, a pen in his mouth as he waited for my name. I gulped and realized that I hadn’t though about a new name. I couldn’t use my real name, that was for sure. That’d only draw suspicions later on when the other Rainbow Dash vists in another eight to nine years or so. There was no way I’m about to consider the other me the real Dash when I’m still kicking. Even then, it’d be hard to trick myself if I ended up face-to-face with her. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be the case. “Your name please?” Dr. Stable asked more forcefully this time. I snorted. “Geez, can’t you just wait a bit? I’m trying to remember.” I started to panic a bit as I desperately tried to come up with a name that didn’t sound ridiculous. Dashing... no. Raindrops? Nope, that’s taken. Rainbow Crash? Oh geez, definitely not that. Mayb- “Well, think harder. I have other patients to treat you know and I rea-” “Give the mare a damn break, Stable.” We both turned towards the cerulean stallion, who now had a pair of goggles on his head. How had I missed that? I had no idea. It made him look more like a racing kind of pony, which made me think of all the known racing ponies of this period. None that I knew matched his description, but you never know who you'll meet. “She’s already in a bad way. You don’t want her looking worse than she is now, right?” When Stable shook his head, the stallion smirked. “Then, why don’t you wait patiently instead of rushing her. Unless... those rumors are true.” Dr. Stable frowned at the stallion, who moved closer with a cheeky grin on his face. He grumbled something inaudible before sighing. “Fine, I’m sorry. I just have too many patients to deal and much too little time. You know how it is when you’re trying to rush through everything all at once.” “All too clearly,” the stallion sighed. I also thought of the phrase, knowing how hard it was to clear the weather a few times and train the new Wonderbolts when it was needed. “So now that we got that out of the way, how about that name?” Stable asked through the pen in his mouth. It still rested on the paper, waiting to be written with whatever name I chose. I thought quickly and remembered the colors of my mane. They were like a colorful spectrum every time I flicked my tail or flipped my mane. I looked up, barely noticing that the colors were gone and replaced with vanilla white. Yes, that was it. That’d be the name I’d pick. I chuckled and grinned slightly. I realized that the magic must be working if my mane color had changed, which only made me giggle even more at the thought of my new name. The two stallions looked at me strangely and waited to hear my answer. “Name's Spectrum: awesome speedster, daredevil, and one of most all-around, coolest ponies you'll ever meet. At your service.”