The dream came back again.
Mender ran, his hooves pounding across the cobblestone path through the same decaying forest. He had to get home. His family needed him right now. His heart slammed against his ribcage repeatedly, in sync with a new sound that caught his ears.
beep...beep...beep...beep...
It sounded familiar. A heart rate monitor? He didn't hear this the last time he was here. No matter, he continued running until he reached the house.
As he approached the doorway, a shadow caught his eye as it fled from the side of the house. Against the billowing flames, the silhouette of a small pony ran from the burning house, down the path he came from. He wanted to chase after them, but he wouldn't abandon his family. Not now.
The doorframe was collapsed, there was no way he could get in from there. He looked around, and to his left was a closed window. Flames danced and twirled in the room beyond, burned beyond recognition.
He didn't have time to think before he backed up, and ran towards it as fast as his legs carried him. He tacked the window, glass fragments cutting into him all the while. Mender winced as some fragments remained embedded in him, but he blocked out the pain.
The roaring flames drowned out the beeping he heard before. His attention was directed toward the burning doorway that led into the hallway. Running through it, his head turned to left as he entered.
He knew what he would see, but it gave him no less comfort in thinking about it. His wife was collapsed on the floor, buried under the burning beam. She was knocked out from the blow the beam struck upon her.
An odd thought of relief crossed Mender's mind. She wouldn't be conscious when she died. She wouldn't suffer as her body burned to ashes, along with the rest of the house.
Realization of this thought caught him by surprise. Mender violently shook his head in disagreement. What was he thinking?! He shouldn't be thinking like this!
Panic took him as he tried lifting the beam. His hooves seared with heat on contact. The beam was too hot to even touch. No, he had to do this differently, but how? His horn?
...no, no! He couldn't use that. He couldn't. The last time he did, he...he...
He curled into a ball on the ash-covered floor. Grasping his head, Mender rocked on the floor violently as painful memories tried to surface from within the deepest recesses of his mind. The pain was head-splitting, to put it lightly. An image of his dead wife under the burning beam imprinted heavily into his mind before he woke up out of his nightmare.
-------------------------------------------
"Carol!" he shouted. His eyes were frantic, darting around for his wife's figure. It was then he noticed he wasn't in the shack.
He was in a patient room in a hospital. The bright white walls and the pungent odor of sanitizing cleansers assaulted his nose, which sported a fresh gauze bandage over the cut.
He moved the sheets downward and saw many more bandages wrapped around his body. Crap, he really must have taken some bad hits to be wrapped so thoroughly. For a moment, he entertained the thought of having died and coming back as a mummy...
He realized that would probably be a better explanation for his ego as opposed to telling others he was trampled by three fillies in his own home.
He heard a window open off to the side, and a sky-blue mare with magenta eyes poked her head into the room. Her mane was prismatic, shining brightly with the colors of the rainbow.
"Oh, thank Celestia! You're awake."
A small nagging pain began to form in Mender's head as he recalled the earlier events today. "Ugh...how long was I out for?"
"About an hour," she said. She flew into the room and touched down on the floor. Her cutie mark was a cloud with a tri-colored lightning bolt coming out from below. She looked at the bandages covering most of his body and chuckled. "Those fillies really did a number on you."
"Yeah. Turns out dressing up like a bloody spectral spirit around three prospective ghost hunters wasn't the best of ideas." Mender chuckled, but winced as his lungs ached from the sudden change in breathing.
"So you're telling me you intentionally dressed as a ghost?" she asked, a bit of surprise visible on her face. "It's not even Nightmare Night yet!"
"You're not one to pick up on sarcasm easily, are you?" he wheezed. "No, it was all a series of unfortunate events, really. Pretty sure I got it all sorted out with those fillies before I enjoyed an impromptu nap session." A small smirk formed on Mender's face.
"Hah! Well, anyone who can survive a Crusader trampling as bad as this earns some respect in my book...oh! Name's Rainbow Dash, and I took you here, in case you were wondering." She extended a hoof, and Mender obliged her.
"Able Mender. It's nice to make your acquaintance, miss Dash." She seemed trustworthy enough, and he didn't feel like lying to the mare responsible for his transport.
She stared at him for a moment, then rolled on her back and started laughing. "Hahahahahahaha, Able? What kind of a first name is that? Sounds like a girly name to me!"
"I-It is not! It is so masculine! It means I'm ready and willing to serve!" he shot, with a bit of nervousness in his voice.
"That's what she said."
"...Augh! I'm not dealing with this. I need to recover from the pounding I got earlier today," Mender whimpered,
"She said that too!" Dash couldn't stop giggling at this point.
"Uuuuuuugh," he sighed, "now my head's throbbing. I need to rest."
Dash laughed again. "Seriously, Mender, you're making this too damn easy for me!"
He groaned and pulled the sheets over his head. This mare was getting to him, and he knew it. He began to regret even having this conversation with her. Then he heard her speak, not in a mocking tone, but a concerned one.
"But...I understand. I was in this hospital once too, you know. I was recovering from a wing injury myself, so I know how it feels to be stuck in a hospital bed. Wasn't a happy feeling, but I got through it."
Mender pulled the sheets off his head. "Hah, I can see that. You don't seem like the type to stay cooped up in a place like this. What did you do to pass the time, read Daring Do?"
Dash stumbled back a bit, genuinely shocked at the question. "H-how did you know?"
"How did I know what?...oh, OH! Wait, I was right?" The shock spread to Mender's face upon learning of this revelation.
He then laughed heartily, ignoring the pain in his lungs as Dash cringed slightly. "Oh, now this is rich. A free spirited bookworm? I'm keepin this in my ammo belt for later, hee hee."
"Don't tell anyone, please," she pleaded, "n-not a lot of other ponies know about my reading habits. If this gets out, I won't be able to maintain my awesome reputation!"
Mender stopped laughing. She was shaken up from this, vulnerable and weak. He could be a dick now, he had all the opportunity to do so. But...he thought better of it.
"...nah, I won't do that. I may want to get even on you later for those jabs you gave me, but there's lines I don't want to cross unless I have to. This little Daring Do secret's safe with me, miss Dash."
A smile returned to her face and her eyes gleamed bright at the news. "Thanks, Mender...um, you know, you don't have to be so formal around me. You sound a little like those snobs from Canterlot."
Mender blinked a few times. "Whoa, dèja vu...um, I mean, you're not the first to say somethin like that to me, mi-...just Dash is fine, right?"
"Yep, works for me!" She grinned widely. Sheesh, that smile could be a beacon for trade boats in the ocean.
"Well, I need to get to work now...oh! Before I go, I should mention that the Crusaders are hanging out in the waiting room. Want me to send them up here?"
Mender wondered for a moment why they were still here. He thought they sorted everything out before he fainted. They said sorry for breaking down the door too...
It dawned on him in an instant. Those fillies didn't apologize to him for their little accidental assault.
"Thank you, Dash. Go ahead and send them up."