//------------------------------// // 15: Enter the Physiotherapist // Story: The Life and Times of Caughlin Mare // by Casca //------------------------------// Caughlin flinched as a noise rattled above her. It was late afternoon and she was feeling sick with inactivity. All she could see, as it had been since the bandages had been re-applied, was the empty black of blindness, though she could at least feel the warmth of the sun outside on her hooves. That was something she had developed quickly, was quite fond of - the only avenue she could pursue - her other senses were heightened from the complete shutdown of her sight. Compounded with her characteristics giving her access to sensations she had never noticed as a unicorn, the world was clearer in ways she busied herself with. The shift of air currents as the ventilation chambers switched on and off. The vibrations of movement from steps dangerously close to her door. Birds and insects that buzzed outside her window - somepony had left it open, it seemed, judging from the gentle breeze and the harsh heat pouring through from her right. The rattling grew. The nurse was not due for another two hours - not that the nurse came in from the ceiling - so who was this? A hinge creaked open - that of the ventilation unit. She felt the sudden shift of air just as a bubbly, high-pitched voice called out: "Hi there! You must be one of the new ponies that needs to learn how to move again! I mean, I heard that there were a bunch of new ponies but there's only one of you here, and speaking of hear, heeello, can you hear me? Because you have funny wrapping around your head, and I'm not sure whether that's blocked your ears, hey you look like can-" "What do you want?" managed Caughlin, unsure of what to feel. "I - buh?" "I'm your new physiotherapist, Surprise!" said the voice. At least Caughlin had been expecting that. The doctor had informed her that she was scheduled for a rehabilitation program to regain the use of her limbs; he had admitted that the pony in charge was a tad unpredictable, and so he was right. "Oh. You had me scared for a minute. Color me surprised, all right." Caughlin tried to grin, or at least wobble her lips left unwrapped by gauze.. "I'm Caughlin Mare, your new patient. What's your name?" "Ooh, what colour would that be? Maybe it could be white because that's what I am, since I'm Surprise - which is what I said, silly!" said the voice, giggling. "Wait, your name is Surprise? I can get used to that." Caughlin attempted to prop herself up and face her. "I'd give you a hoofshake but, well, I'm crippled and all. You know that already." "Of course I do! That's why I'm here!" "Right." Assertive and friendly. Pretty good start. "So, what's first on the list?" "We get to know each other better," said Surprise. "I'm Surprise!" "And I'm Caughlin Mare," replied Caughlin, wondering where this was going. "So, are you single?" Maybe too assertive. No, that's not the right word. Too... unorthodox? "Uh, yes," tried Caughlin. "The pretty alicorn who were in here moments ago called you 'Mother', though," said Surprise. "So is that your final answer?" "Alicorn? Wait, somepony was in here before?" "Well, yeah. I mean, it was sort of weird. She opened the door really quietly and stood there, looking at you. She whispered something to herself and then left. And then I came in! But back to the topic: you have foals?" Surprise's voice had moved next to her, to the chair most visitors sat on at her left. Caughlin let her head sink back, and decided to play along. "I do. Two of them, Luna and Celestia. You've probably heard of them." "Who's the daddy then? Don't tell me they don't have a daddy," chided Surprise. "They don't," said Caughlin, feeling her voice tighten. She inhaled. "They were engineered in a complex thaumic setup. Engineered. Not born by, er, copulation." If her head had not been wrapped up, she would have looked away in embarrassment. "So... they're not yours?" "Oh, they are mine. I just didn't give birth to them." The idea of her settling down with somepony and mating, while not new - she was a mare, after all - was left just that. An unexplored, vague idea. Her work had taken precedence; not only did she not have much to say about it, the little she knew was far from she wanted to discuss with strangers - anypony, really. Wait, am I supposed to give those two... the talk? Caughlin frantically pushed the thought out of her mind. "But if you didn't, who did? Everypony has to be born from somepony! I know that because I'm a physiotherapist!" You know... she's actually right. Both of them were newborns before undergoing the alicornfication. Caughlin tried to nod. "I don't know their real parents. I'm their... adoptive mother. Yes, that sounds right." "Ooooooh." The air currents around Surprise did a small loop-de-loop. "I see. That happens a lot here. Adoption I mean. It's both sad and happy, you know, that there are these foals about without parents but then they find new ones and they sometimes fight and all but it's all good and-" "Miss Surprise-" "Oh, you don't need to do that. Just call me Surprise!" "Surprise. I love a good conversation and all, but I can't help but ask if you had something you, ah, needed to tell me?" "Whoops. Sorry." Surprise laughed again, bashfully this time. "I tend to do that a lot. Many ponies say I'm easily excited. But, yeah. So you're a single mother of two. That must be tough." Surprise had shrugged the point off, but Caughlin decided to not let it bother her. It wasn't as if she had more important things to do, and it had been a bit lonely lately. Not to mention that this was, come to think of it, the first proper conversation she was having with a new acquaintance from the overworld, Furhich and medical staff excluded. The conversation would be educational, at least. "It's not that hard," said Caughlin off-handedly - the darkness all too quick to remind her of the error of her statement. "I mean, there's pretty much grown up now, and they're good at taking care of themselves." The best there is, in fact. "How about you, miss Surprise?" she added. "Well... there is this stallion." Caughlin could almost imagine the blush on Surprise's face, and began to regret the initiative. "I mean, we've known each other for a few months. He was good to my family when we settled down. We were refugees from the north, and we moved down to Ponyville, and he basically helped us get set up. I'm not sure what he thinks of me though. I mean, he's actually pretty old, older than me, and I'm not sure what the norm is-" "Ponyville?" The name forced recollections faster than she could banish them. "There are ponies living there?" "Um, yeah? The ground was an Order mining spot before, or so they said. When they removed the abnormally high amounts of metal from the ground, they found it to be fertile, and ponies have been growing things there as best as they could. They're trying to grow apples on the hilly areas, since it's less prone to flooding. Food is the main concern, but they're experimenting with other things as well - rocks and sand for construction and glass and equipment, and cotton, and sugar cane... not that I'd know how to grow rocks, I mean, can you imagine that? Little rock plants from the soil... um, Caughlin? Caughlin?" Her breath had caught in her throat. Taking loud, deliberate gasps, she tried to calm down the odd turbulence in her breathing. "That's... that's great, Surprise. I... didn't know that the area was being put to use again. It's good, it's really good, isn't it?" "You don't sound all right, Caughlin. But the monitors would've sounded if you really weren't... do you need something?" "No, no, I'm fine. Just re-relieved." "That's good then! Being relieved is almost as good as being happy!" The voice had switched sides. "And being happy is almost as hard as being recovered, because there's so many ponies who are recovered but aren't happy... Which reminds me, what do you do? Wait, I know the answer. The Order's made you top priority which means you must be one super-special pony. Are you a... spy?" Caughlin felt a wave of minty breath waft over her nose briefly. "No, wait, you don't look like one. A sciencepony, yeah! Oh, and now I get it, with the alicorn who called you 'Mother' and all!" "You're surprisingly quick," said Caughlin, feeling slightly lost. "Yeah, you're right. I'm a scientist. I worked on Project ALICORN, but before that I worked on other things. Accele-growth grass? Deep-root potatoes?" A tinge of warmth spread across her numbed cheeks. It was a queer sensation. "Maybe you might have seen some of the work we've done." "I'm not a farmer, so I wouldn't know. But those sound super cool," said Surprise in awe. "And useful, too. I wish I could do something like that." "You're a physiotherapist, Surprise," said Caughlin kindly. "I'm sure you're good at that. What's your cutie mark like?" "I don't have one," came the reply. "Wait... what?" Beneath the wrappings, a frown creased itself across her eyes. "Well, yeah, silly. It's not like it's my one true talent or anything, it's just something I do for a living." Her voice was softer now. There was a light thump of hooves descending on the ground. "You're really lucky if you have the time to discover your cutie mark, what with Discord wrecking everything every so often. A pony's gotta do what a pony's gotta do, right? You grab every opportunity you get." Surprise then hastily added: "It's not that I don't enjoy it, no. I just... don't feel that it's it, that special thing I'm meant to do." Caughlin shifted uncomfortably, her rump pressed reassuringly against the beddings. "I... see. Yes, it would be hard, with Discord around. I can't imagine what it must be like if your special talent was - um - baking, maybe? Probably good for you if your special talent is farming or building, though. That must make you really popular with other residents." "Oh, yes. Mister Stallion has a cutie mark of a pointy rock, and so the townsfolk keep him around even though he has weird moments," said Surprise, cheering up. "He says it's a rare sort of thingummy-jig, but it just looks like a piece of flint to me. Hey, if you had a cutie mark, what sort would you want?" "Er. Um." Caughlin bit her lip. I'm not going to lie to her, am I? Would she resent me if she knew? "I haven't really thought about that." And that's the truth, since I got mine at an early age, never thinking about it after that. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, whispered herself in reply. "Hmm, good point. I've never thought about what I'd like, either. Too busy with stuff. But I know baking sure isn't one of them," giggled Surprise. "It seems so easy, but it's harder than I thought! I even tried to make up a little ditty to help me: Things may seem a little down, what with Discord liiiiiiving But you'll see that there's a spot of light right even in the daaaark Caughlin's ears pricked. She wasn't expecting this. She was thankful for the gauze that covered most of her expression; she wasn't sure what kind to make. Use a cup of flour, add a touch of flower A pinch of salt and sugar, a shot of milk like Kruger Crack an egg or twoooo, whip 'em up with a screwww Crumble in bread and spices, mixing in vitami-ins Aaaand "-that's all I've got. But it never turns out the way I want it to. Always burns or comes out of the oven undercooked." "Um. Bravo? Catchy, I think. I mean, it is. Heh heh." "It's a work in progress," said Surprise, with the tonal equivalent of a shrug. "I think I have to get a new melody, though I'm keeping the old one for reserve. There's even more recipes to remember, and that's just the simplest!" The buzz of wings as she shot up accented her pitchy voice. "But I still do it anyways. It's fun to bake, even if eating your results, well, isn't." She snorted at the thought, barely stopping a giggle. "You just try your best, right? And that's the most important. And that, missy," she said, now turning directly to Caughlin, "is what we're gonna do with you. I mean, you're smart, and you've got a lot of friends. They drop by really often, and I'm sure they're hoping to get you back on your hooves. So as long as you don't give up on getting better, neither will I!" "I..." That's right, Caughlin remembered. I'm bedridden. But for the past few moments, this mare had made me forget. "Oh, you don't have to say anything." Before she could respond, she felt two forelegs reach out, wrapping gently over her shoulders in a hug. "Your face says it all." "You can't see my face, Surprise," murmured Caughlin, swallowing as heat spread out from her chest through her arms. "How do you know? Ooh, you're good." When Surprise left, Caughlin found herself looking forward to their next meeting.