//------------------------------// // Part 11 // Story: Silent Ponyville: Reunion // by Chapter 17 //------------------------------// Silent Ponyville: Reunion End of small sanctuary. Part 11 ------ He felt ashamed of himself. He hadn't cried so hard since...since... ... He didn't want to think of the last time he had cried so hard. Not with Posey right in front of him, alive. She had been so understanding, just like he remembered her. She had let him hold her until he had practically exhausted himself all over again sobbing, even though this was the last place he should have been indulging in such shameful blubbering. Lance wiped another tear from his eye as he watched her looking through his...well, her saddlebags. There was no way she hadn't recognized them as the pair he had made for her all those years ago, but clearly she wasn't going to interrogate him about it just yet. She was always so good to him... "Just blank bits of paper..." She muttered quizzically before stepping around to the other saddlebag and unlatching it. He couldn't help but smile at her for a moment before diverting his gaze to the apartment around them. She had been right, it looked exactly like it had been before they moved back to Cloudsdale. The chair and couch were in the same spots against the walls, the shelves were lined with the same books, and even the pictures on the walls were in the same arrangements. The kitchen appeared likewise untouched, though obviously he couldn't account for the various pots and pans hidden in the cupboards. There was not a spot of dust to be seen anywhere either, everything was just as pristine as the rest of the complex now that whatever nightmare he had slogged through had seemingly worn off. "Oh, here!" Posey said as she stuck her nose in the saddlebag and emerged with a plastic bottle in her teeth. Lance recognized it as the generic health drink he had picked up in apartment G-1 before the sovereign had rammed her way into the building. His wife walked over and set it down next to him, "Drink this." He still regarded the health drink as little more than snake oil. But if somepony had been able to slap a label on it and sell it without getting arrested that meant the worst it could do was taste funny. Lance popped the top off and gave it a curious sniff, finding it certainly smelled medicinal. "C'mon, it'll help." She insisted while nudging the bottle a bit closer with her nose. Hay with it, he had yet to drink a drop of anything since waking up desperately thirsty in the hallway. He took a sip, found the flavor mostly bitter with a hint of strawberry to take the edge off, and swallowed. Despite the unpleasant flavor the feel of even just that small amount of the cool liquid washing down his throat was incredibly soothing all on its own. His body demanded that he drink the rest, an order he dutifully obeyed as he quickly downed the remainder. The mixture soon proved capable of more than just slaking his thirst though. Moments after drinking it a soft, numbing sensation began to spread throughout his body, reducing the sharp pain of his wounds to a bearable ache. His limbs became lighter as a new vigor filled them and the prospect of standing up or even walking suddenly became less dreadful in his mind. He blinked twice and then looked down incredulously at the empty bottle. "What the...what's in this stuff?!" Lance asked as he poked the bottle with his hoof. He turned it over looking for a list of ingredients on the label but was only greeted with the sight of an obnoxious yellow smiley face where such a list would usually be printed. His investigation was interrupted by the sound of Posey setting a pot in the kitchen sink then turning on the tap. She had apparently made her way to the kitchen whilst he had been enraptured by the bottle of miracle drink. "I don't know, but before I found this place I spotted a bottle sitting on a fence post outside. I was really thirsty and, well, I had no idea what it could do...I'm just glad you found one too." She answered while watching the pot fill. "What are you doing?" Lance prodded as he eyed the sink with a worried expression. "You're still thirsty right?" Posey responded before grabbing hold of the pot handle with her teeth and walking over carefully to avoid spilling any of the contents. "Well, yeah, but I'm not exactly eager to drink any of the water from the pipes in this place. Have you seen some of the bathrooms here?" She was unable to reply until after she had made it over and set the pot full of water down right next to him, "No, but this water looks and smells and tastes fine to me so drink up." "Water that looks and smells and tastes fine might still be-you drank this?!" He replied before his own incredulity interrupted him. As it turned out Posey was not going to continue the argument any longer, "Do you see that blood trail right there?!" She asked while pointing back towards the door. Lance looked past her to see that there was indeed a dark red path trailing from the door to...right where he was currently lying. She only waited for his eyes to trail back from the door before starting in on him again, "That all came from you just from my dragging you in here, there's even more of it outside, and right now the last thing I need is for you to go all germaphobic on me again after I found you out there with your wings torn off and covered in your own blood so just drink the bucking water!" ... "S...sorry Posey." He apologized meekly before sniffing at the water in the pot and giving it a cautious sip. That was all his thirst needed to shove aside his learned paranoia. After Lance began gulping down the water Posey allowed herself a sigh of relief before moving next to him and easing herself to the floor. She understood of course. A vast knowledge of infectious diseases came with the curse of...well, a vast knowledge of infectious diseases. But that very moment after having lost so much blood was no time to let it control him. She hated to yell at him but it was far from the first time one of them had found themselves needing to nudge the other back to their good senses. Before long Lance had drank all the water and was left to lick at the bottom a few times to gather up the few stray droplets remaining. Once the water-lust had died down the same fears as to the water's possible contamination came creeping back, but a look into his wife's face cut them off before they could find any more purchase. They were replaced by something altogether more worrisome. "You feeling any better?" She asked. "A bit." He replied. They settled into an uncomfortable silence. There were countless questions to be answered but the conversation in which those questions would be asked was certain to be a painful one. Neither of them wanted to be the one to start it, perhaps Posey most of all. Despite the massive gap in her memory she could tell just from Lance's face in that awkward moment that she was about to tear open wounds far more numerous than the ones she had just cleaned and bandaged. She wasn't so naive as to think she wouldn't inflict a few wounds upon herself in the process either. ... All the same, she placed her hoof atop his. They had to talk. The gentle prod brought him out of his hesitation at least, "...I don't even know where to begin." "That's okay...I don't really know either." She scooted a little closer to him, "Just...start with how you got to this town I guess?" That was a fair starting point...doubly so in that he wouldn't have to think of ways to tip hoof around certain subjects. "Okay..." He drew a breath and let it out before he began telling her about how his nightmares had been causing him to endanger the lives of his patients... ------ "After that, I woke up out there in the hallway. Everything was back to the way it had been when I first came in, aside from the body bag, the police tape, and the writing...then again I hadn't been on this side of the wall yet so for all I know it might have already been there before I even came in here. Then...here was apartment G-4 right in front of me. You know the rest." He said in conclusion as his head rested on the carpet. Normally he would be using his forelegs for a head rest but the pain of putting pressure on his cuts would far outweigh any comfort. Lance wasn't looking at her anymore, and hadn't been for a few minutes now. Posey hadn't taken the story well despite having told him several times to continue. At around the point where the scavenger had torn his back leg to shreds he had looked away, because he clearly wasn't going to be able to finish if he saw what it was doing to her. His concluding words hung in the air for a very long minute before he finally looked her in the face once more. Posey was devastated, sitting still, hoof over her mouth, eyes reddened with tears streaming down her cheeks. She set her hoof back to the floor and let out a shuddering, breathy sob before wiping some of the tears from her face with her other hoof, "You...you're telling me that while I was hiding in here...you were out there being chased by those things all this time?" "I...yes, but, how could you have possibly known-" "And that's not even the worst of it!" She wailed as she set her head on the floor and covered her eyes with her hooves, "You were in this same building when the worst of it happened! No...not just inside this building...right outside our door! I was less than twenty feet away while that screeching hissing thing was beating you...and...and tearing your..." She grimaced even harder as the end of the sentence got caught in her throat and refused to come out, so she abandoned it and chose another route, "And I didn't lift a hoof to help you." Words had always come to mind so easily when she was like this before. All he would have to do back then was listen and wait for inspiration to strike. Eventually he would always think of just the right thing to say or just the right thing to do. But now...now he hadn't a single Celestial clue. The bloody, bandaged wounds and the two stumps that used to be his wings were not something he could just talk away. He'd never fly or walk without a limp again. This damage was forever, and there was nothing he could do about it...but he could still say something despite it. He reached out with a hoof and coaxed Posey into uncovering her tear reddened eyes, prompting her to look back to him with a sad sniff, "Posey, listen. This happened. There's nothing we can do about it now. But none of this is your fault. You didn't do any of this, and you didn't somehow allow this to happen either. When I was in that other version of the apartments it's possible I was somewhere else entirely somehow. Hay, I bet she could have done the same thing to me in this room and you would not have heard a thing." She looked away and wiped another batch of tears from her eyes, contemplating his words but finding no comfort in them. "Besides," Lance continued, "What if you had heard us out there? What if you had come out and tried to stop her? Can you think of anything that would have happened that wouldn't just be both of us ending up like this? Where would we be then?" Posey shut her eyes tightly, "I know, I know, it's better that one of us isn't hurt, but you're still telling me that it's a good thing you were alone out there with her and I don't want to hear it so let's talk about something else now okay?" "Okay." He quietly replied with a nod. She was silent for a long moment after that. Her eyes were cast downward, moving to and fro in thought several times as she searched for something in her head she couldn't find. Finally she swallowed and let out an uneasy breath of her own before speaking, "Lance...I can't think of any gentle way to ask this so I'll just come right out with it...how did I die?" Lance visibly stiffened, barely managing to only widen his eyes only a bit. Oh, you know, Fluttershy just confused 'see what you want to eat' with 'stab you to death', silly thing. "I'm sorry...I know it's hard for you to answer but I just want to know." She apologized as she saw the obviously alarmed reaction, "Please?" He was able to relax a bit before he betrayed any more of a hint as to how traumatic an exit she had made. There was no way he could tell her. While he had long ago come to terms with that fact that their daughter had turned into an absolute monster for a time, Posey would surely not take that bit of news well, especially right after hearing his story about how his wings had been clipped and his body mangled. Lance slowly let his head back down to the carpet and closed his eyes...because if she was looking right into them as he spoke there was no way she wouldn't be able to pick his response out for the lie it was. "We were...wishing you goodnight. You gave Fluttershy a kiss and I put her to bed...then I came back. We talked. We just...talked. I can't even remember what it was about but we talked like we always used to...like we hadn't ever since you got sick. You'd been home for a couple weeks but, that was the first time it felt like you were really home. I wondered why we did that at the time, just out of the blue like that. But in hindsight I think it was because we both somehow knew what was going to happen." He paused. Whether it was because he needed to cement the lie in his head or that he was actually finding lying difficult he didn't know, and he wasn't sure he even wanted to, "When I came in to check on you in the morning you were gone...the...the coroner determined that your aorta had ruptured...probably in your sleep." Had that been too detailed? No, wait, why wouldn't it be detailed? It was the last night of her life, of course he would remember it well! He certainly remembered the actual event well enough...probably even more than that. Oh no, was his story not detailed enough? Did the little things he actually did remember like the exact arrangement of her cards and flowers on the night stand even matter to her in this story? Would she be suspicious if he didn't mention them? No, that was crazy. Or was it? What if the entire thing hinged on it and he had just given himself away somehow?! What would she think of him if his first attempt was a lie?! What would she- "Oh..." ... Lance opened his eyes. Posey was still there beside him, a bittersweet smile on her face, "So the last thing I saw was my little girl and my husband...that doesn't seem so bad..." She replied as she wiped yet another batch of tears from her face. It was a lie. It was a bold faced, fabricated, easily falsified, outright lie...and it made his being unable to not return her smile feel so wrong. But he couldn't help it. It was the look on her face; still sad but greatly at peace all of a sudden. It was beautiful. It was everything he'd wanted ever since her death. An unmarred jewel he thought he would never have been able to feel for himself or even just see, yet there she was right in front of him again. Even if it was a lie, his wings had been a trivial price to pay for it. Something was so, so wrong with him. Posey's look of peace receded as something else occurred to her, "Oh goodness, Fluttershy didn't see did she?!" A bright red flag suddenly went up in his head but he ignored it, "Oh, no, she...I...I closed your door and...I just told her mommy was gone. I think it was maybe three hours before she stopped crying long enough for me to make the necessary calls...she wanted to go in and see you so much. It would've been easier to just send her to school and act like nothing was wrong instead of telling her but...lying didn't seem right." Ha. She frowned and looked downward as though she'd somehow wronged her little girl in her passing. Fortunately she seemed to resolve the emotion fairly quickly and gave Lance a soft kiss before nuzzling against the side of his neck, "You did good Lance...I wanted to see her grow up so badly...she did okay, right?" Whatever entity in his mind that was responsible for red flag raising went above and beyond, tearing the flag from its pole before trying to smother him with it. Unfortunately since she was pressed against him he could do little to hide the small flinch he made when she asked that question, "Lance?" Well she did alright for a little filly whose father almost drowned her before deciding it would be better to rip her life apart piece by piece with abuse until she ran away. "Lance." She repeated, pulling away from him. "I'm sorry, I...she's fine. She doesn't live at our house anymore, and we don't keep in touch, but she's fine." He replied truthfully. "What? Why don't you two keep in touch?" Posey asked with a slight head tilt of confusion, "Not even just a letter?" Lance sighed in resignation. It was time to lie again. At least the realization made him look forlorn enough to be believable. He looked away before speaking, "Posey, after you died she...sort of blamed me for it. I never really disagreed with her about it either. We almost stopped talking entirely, and it was like that for years. Then one day when she was old enough she just up and told me that she was moving out. I told her I'd miss her and...that was the last conversation we ever had." His wife's expression quickly turned from puzzlement to somber sympathy as she nuzzled against him once more, "Oh goddess Lance that's awful!" "It's okay honey. She's doing fine...more than fine actually. Our daughter's an element of harmony, she and her friends saved all of Equestria last year on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration. I heard she's even in one of the stained glass windows in the royal palace at Canterlot." He said in an attempt to make her feel better. "I don't know what the elements of harmony are. It's good to know how well she's doing though, but she's not who I'm worried about you silly pony." She replied with a touch of admonishment in her voice. "What?" Lance was genuinely blindsided. "It's true I'd like to have a word with her about blaming her father, but she's clearly doing alright. What about you Lance?" She looked him right in the eye as she asked the question, but then her eyes widened and she averted her gaze momentarily, "Aside from...you know...all of this." She clarified, making a circular motion with her hoof to signify their general location and his condition. He raised an eyebrow, "Well...I still have our house. It's in good condition. Money's never been an issue. I'm living quite comfortably when I'm not at work." "You know that's not what I meant Lance." ... "You're alone aren't you?" She concluded when he didn't make any further reply. "Yes." Lance replied, thinking nothing of it. "Why?" Posey asked simply. "Why not? I already met the love of my life, our daughter's grown up and healthy, I...was taking good care of all my patients. Things just seem...done for me. Why get involved in somepony else's life when mine has run its course already?" Almost without realizing it he set his head back down on the floor as he spoke, as though the words coming from his mouth were sapping his energy all on their own. Perhaps that wasn't far from the truth either. Posey pulled away again as the neck she was nuzzling descended, looking down at her husband with concern, "...to be happy Lance. That's why. You're talking as though love is something that only happens once...and like you're already dead. I remember what you were like in those first dates. I looked at you and saw a colt convinced he'd just have to endure life instead of live it, just like you said on the roof when you proposed to me. You became such a wonderful pony Lance. It just makes me sad...knowing that after I was gone you went back to how it was before." Lance said nothing. "You deserve to be happy, and I know that you're only truly happy with somepony at your side whether you admit it or not." She continued. He didn't lift his head but he did look back up at her as he spoke this time, "What difference does that make now that you're right here in front of me, alive?" "And how did you know this was going to happen?" She countered as she stood up, moved to his front, and lay down again, placing her head on the floor in front of his, "If it hadn't, you were just going to live the rest of your life alone like that right?" "...probably." He confessed while moving his eyes away. "I love you Lance...not the fact that we're married, not how you've been faithful to me...you. I don't like that notion in your head that your life was over when mine was. When I was sick it was a comfort to me, thinking that the stallion I loved wouldn't put a vow to a dead mare over his own happiness for the rest of his life. Now I hear this...that when I died I dragged you down with me?" She gave another sad sniff, drawing Lance's gaze just in time to see her cover her eyes again to stop any new tears from escaping, "I'm sorry, you've had an awful enough time without me crying any more, just...if we ever get pulled apart again, promise me you'll move on and be happy...alright?" "..." There was nothing else he could have possibly said just then except, "Alright...I promise." That peaceful smile came back to her face before she uncovered her eyes, still glistening from the held back tears, "Thank you." The silence this time wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't particularly comfortable either. It was just the two of them, together, despite every single bit of logic and sense having said it was impossible. Everything was out in the open...or at least for Posey it was. Lance had just lied. They hadn't just been any lies either. They were lies of the deepest sort that made the version of reality she was drawing so much comfort from nothing more than a thin facade. Why had he done that? What did he think would happen? Was it possible that, deep inside, some part of him was foolish enough to think this wouldn't come back to bite him? ... He needed her to trust him. Yes...that was it. That was the reason his lying was justified. She would never trust somepony who had so viciously hurt her daughter over such a long time. The last thing they needed in this place was to be second guessing one another, not with monsters all over the place. When they got out and back to the world they knew and loved it would be fine if she found out. No doubt he would never see her again, and he would probably be arrested and thrown in prison for his crimes, but she would be alive again. The world would have Posey. That was worth it. Well you're just a saint aren't you? "Um...are you still thirsty?" She asked, finally breaking the silence as she got back on her hooves. "I could drink more." He admitted. She nodded and took the pot back into the kitchen to refill it. This time when she returned he drank much more slowly. It gave them time to think without the lack of words being exchanged feeling so odd. There was a lot to process...but most of it fell by the wayside in favor of a single driving question. Neither of them knew how they got there in that strange, foggy version of a town neither of them had visited before, but they both knew they couldn't stay. Even if the monsters didn't get them, even if their luck with the water pipes in G-4 held out, they would still probably starve if they just stayed there...starve or go insane, either seemed likely. Lance felt that his thirst had at last been quenched when the second pot was around three quarters empty, and so he stopped, licked the water from his lips, took a breath, and asked the question for the both of them, "Now what?" "Not that difficult a question to answer really. You said you were only coming through here to go to the hospital right?" Posey answered with another question before she picked up the discarded health drink bottle and took it into the kitchen. "Hrm...when I started in this direction I was under the impression I was following two other ponies that I would meet there, but that obviously isn't true anymore." Lance pondered, looking down at the remaining water in the pot before taking one last small sip and then wiping his mouth, "So...I have no idea what I would hope to find there now." "How about medical supplies?" She pointed out as she turned the spigot off and pushed the cap back onto the now water filled bottle, "If nothing else we need to find you a change of bandages soon." As she opened her right saddlebag and pulled out the bottle she had found outside, Lance looked down at his bandages. He must have been out of it for a good few hours as they already looked quite crusty with dried blood, and they would only get worse. It made his nose wrinkle unpleasantly, "Good point...wait, 'we'?" Posey replaced the cap on the second bottle of water, made sure both were on securely, then walked over and picked up Lance's saddlebags by a strap in her mouth, carrying them over to him as she made a muffled answer, "Huv cowfe 'we'" "But you're safer in here with all those monsters in the stree-" He was prevented from finishing his sentence by the cream colored hoof that had been shoved against his mouth. "Do' efe..." She stopped momentarily to drop the saddlebag, lest her words be found difficult to take seriously, "Pleh. Don't even think about suggesting I stay here in the condition you're in. If anything you should be the one staying here, but like hay am I going to let you out of my sight after the story you just told me, so we're going to the hospital together and that's the end of it. Got it?" Lance hesitated, but nodded in understanding, if not complete agreement. She responded with a single nod of approval and lowered her hoof, "Now, where is the hospital anyway?" "Um...a ways north up the road from here if I recall, it's marked on the map in one of my bags." Lance attempted to point at the aforementioned bag but the slight shifting of weight aggravated his back leg and caused him to wince. The attempted gesture caused Posey to briefly grimace with sympathy. For a split second she felt a serious doubt regarding her plan to get him to the hospital. She knew Lance could still move, his fleeing from her to the wall earlier had shown that, but even at his fastest right now he was clumsy and, well, not really that fast. If the monsters he had described were still out there he wouldn't stand a chance on his own...but would having her around be enough? Posey had always been the more physical of the two, being the oddball pegasus who took after earth ponies as opposed to the oddball pegasus who took after unicorns, but she hadn't been in a single fight in her life, much less tangled with the sort of creatures Lance had just told her about. That wasn't even taking into account the rampaging alicorn monstrosity. If they ran into her again she had no idea what they would do...it would pretty much be over. ...maybe staying there a while longer would be best? Posey closed her eyes and pushed the thought away as she stepped over to his saddlebags to get the map out. Staying there longer wouldn't make the torn flesh of his leg suddenly regrow, and without proper attention and supplies they were risking his wounds becoming infected. If they stayed there things would only get worse, not better. It wasn't worth considering. After unfolding the map and briefly widening her eyes at the two bloody hoof marks her husband's mysterious mare benefactor had left behind, she found the sketch of the apartment complex and wall he had made. Her eyes followed the road northward past the park and found the hospital's location clearly marked on the west side, "Looks like a pretty simple trip then..." "Don't count on it." Lance remarked dryly. ------ Whilst Posey was rummaging around the apartment looking for anything remotely useable Lance had limped into the bathroom hoping the mirror inside was still intact. What he found wasn't technically intact but still at least usable. The top half of the mirror had been broken off, the shards scattered on the floor below, but aside from a few cracks the bottom half still managed to sufficiently reflect. What he saw when he looked was a pony who appeared to be every bit as much of a wreck as he felt. A thick gauze pad covered the gash that the sovereign's 'tap' had left on the side of his head. It was held in place by a strip of cloth tied around his aching skull and covered with a bandage. Though it covered what was doubtlessly the nastiest bit of the wound, there was unmistakable bruising peeking out from the edges. Looking downward he saw the bloodied bandages wrapped around both of his forelegs where the drowning mares had cut him. Those certainly hurt but they didn't impact his mobility too significantly. No, that privilege was left to the last couple of injuries. The two bumps where his wings had once attached to his body were covered by an arrangement of gauze pads, cloth strips, and bandage covering identical to the one on his head. They were bound tightly to minimize the amount of painful rubbing he would have to endure every time he made any movement of consequence. Finally Lance looked back at his chewed up hind leg. Judging from the percentage of his medical kit's contents in which it was covered, this one had clearly caused Posey the most concern. He could only imagine what sort of irreparable damage the scavenger had done to the muscle tissue before he'd managed to kick half of its head in. In summation he was a flightless limping pegasus that would probably have an ugly scar on the side of his face the rest of his life...all of which he had already known. "Why did I even come in here?" He grumbled to himself as he limped back out into the hallway just in time to see his wife pull her head out of one of the kitchen cabinets with another health drink in her mouth. She set it on the counter as she spotted him, the surgical light attached to the front strap of his saddlebags making him difficult to miss. "This is the only thing I could find, do you want to drink it before we leave?" She asked while holding a hoof up to keep from being blinded. Lance briefly considered it but then shook his head, courteously switching his light off, "No, I'll probably need it more later, after the first one wears off." "Okay." She said with a nod of agreement. Posey picked the bottle up again and carried it over, carefully unlatching his saddlebag and slipping it inside, "There, you've got a bottle of water in your right bag, and the health drink in your left. Everything else is just where I found it when you came in." "Thanks honey." He replied with a gentle smile. "You're welcome hubby." She said before giving him a quick kiss. The bit of warmth they both felt at the brief but tender moment vanished in short order as they both turned to face the front door. ... "Ready Posey?" "No. Are you?" "No." ... "Let's go then." Posey said as she took the initiative once more and pulled the door open while Lance turned his surgical light back on. As much as she hated letting him go first there seemed little other option since he was the one with the light and the watch after all. After limping out, Lance looked one way to see little else but cobblestone wall, and the other to see a blissful absence of aberrations, backed up by the the silence of his watch. The miniature crime scene he remembered seeing earlier seemed to be oddly absent though. Still, no monsters nearby, that was just spectacular. "Looks clear." He said before starting for the exit with Posey right behind him, "Feels kind of weird to be walking out of our apartment on the ground floor instead of the third." The remark caused Posey to lift an eyebrow in puzzlement, "What? We never lived on the third floor." Lance stopped just short of opening the exit door, "Huh?" "Yeah, G-4 was always our apartment." She corrected with a point backward. ... That was right. G-4 had been their apartment. So then...why did he keep seeing a door marked 303? ... "Right, right...sorry...memory's not the best right now." He said dismissively before bringing his hoof back up the doorknob. "Can't really blame you." Posey replied understandingly as she listened for any movement down both ends of the side hall. Finally they emerged into the crisp autumn air outside. It was somewhat refreshing after what felt like ages inside the pitch black apartment complex of variable cleanliness, but the omnipresent thick fog put a damper on any such relief. There was no stoop or mat of any kind in front of the door, just a wedge of flattened dead grass that gave way to tall dead grass extending out into the fog, a testament to just how much the building didn't belong there. "Okay, we just head left around the corner then go along the river until we find a way across." Lance said at a near whisper while recalling his mental image of the map. He was thankful that this time he was actually talking to somepony. She gave him a silent nod in reply. The river was right where Lance remembered it thankfully. They followed it north, Posey making sure not to outpace him, and the both them making sure not to make any unneeded noise. The sound of the rushing water in the river was fortunately masking any of the rustling noises they made while navigating the tall grass, but at the same time it would probably keep them from hearing the watch until whatever might be approaching was practically on top of them. Fairly soon they happened upon a row of dead, grey barked trees that looked to have been quite purposely planted in that arrangement. "This must be the park." Posey whispered at his side. "So there should be a bridge just a bit farther..." Normally this would've made Lance move a bit faster in anticipation but he was already moving as fast as he was able to. Suddenly he stopped moving at all, leaving Posey to take a few more steps before noticing his absence and turning back. "What? What's wrong?" "The watch." He couldn't hear the buzzing but he could feel the vibration against his chest. They both started looking around for any shapes in the fog and soon spotted the silhouette of a pony lying motionless on the nearby dirt path that lead further into the park. "Oh no...that's one of them isn't it?" She managed to keep her voice to a whisper but it was quite obvious how difficult a task that was. "Shh, it's okay, it's one of those masked ones so we just need to keep away and it won't do anything." He explained in a much calmer manner as he pressed onward, still glancing back to make sure he was correct all the same. Posey swallowed her fear and followed close behind, trusting him to stay on the right path since she didn't dare take her off of the fog shrouded creature. Lance proved correct though as it faded into the mist behind them without having made the slightest twitch. The vibration of his watch had gone down considerably...but was still present, which worried him. It wasn't much longer until they reached the thankfully still intact stone bridge, a sight Lance wasn't used to being so welcoming. But before he could enjoy his new-found appreciation for river spanning architecture any further, he felt the persistent buzzing against his chest beginning to rise again as they grew nearer. He was about to start looking around when he felt Posey tap his flank to get his attention. "Over there, another one on the other side." She said while directing his attention across the river with a pointed hoof. He could see it too. There was another drowning mare lying in wait on the other side of the bridge. Although Posey could obviously just fly over and land a safe distance away, there was no way Lance could cross without waking her up. He sat down and sighed before turning back to his wife. "Any ideas?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her rattling nerves before bringing a hoof up to her chin, "Well...you said they were pretty slow right?" Lance nodded. "Then I could probably fly over and lead it away while you cross." She offered while spreading her wings. "What? No I..." He tried to object but couldn't find any logical grounds to do so. It was actually a good plan. He certainly couldn't think of anything better now that he tried, "...okay. Just be careful, don't let it anywhere near you." "I won't." She assured him with a brief peck on the cheek before turning and taking to the air. On the other side she looked down and got her first look at one of the drowning mares without any fog in the way. Posey found it...unsettling to say the least. Having the pale mottled grey pony creature described to her was proving to be something entirely different than seeing it for herself. The mare below really did look dead, but she knew better, she knew exactly what would happen when she touched down, and it was making it difficult to convince her wings to let her do so. But she wouldn't let herself be deterred by her own fear. This was for Lance. With one last push of willpower she forced her wings to let her descend, and then stop flapping entirely to let her drop the short distance to the ground. She was close enough so that she was certain it would wake up, but not so close that she was in danger of being cut. That is why Posey found it quite surprising when the drowning mare did not respond to her presence in the slightest. "Maybe this isn't close enough..." She muttered to herself before taking another step toward the creature. Then another. And another. And yet another. "What are you doing?!" Lance called from the other side. Still no response. Posey was probably five steps away from being in hoof's reach but the drowning mare was still lying deathly still. Was it...was it actually dead? Could they be that lucky? Though she still wanted to be anywhere else besides next to one of those things the fear had at least subsided the slightest bit, letting her get even closer. When there was still no response forthcoming she actually dared to reach a hoof out and poke the back of the drowning mare's leg. Still nothing happened. Even a second poke failed to provoke it. Posey sighed with relief then flew back over the river to deliver the good news, "I think it's dead." "It must be if it didn't do anything when you were that close...thanks for the heart attack by the way." Lance remarked, grateful that his wife was still alive and he hadn't chipped any teeth from clenching them so hard. "Hehe, sorry." She apologized with a sheepish grin before they got moving again, still having a bit of distance to cover before they reached the bridge, "I don't know why it would just be dead though. It didn't even look hurt." They reached the bridge and turned to cross it. "No bruises or anything? I saw the big one smashing one against the ground before, she might have just been this way earlier...I hope earlier..." Lance said as he started across the bridge. "Nope, nothing. It's like it was just-" She was interrupted by a wretched gagging noise. "-ignoring me!" Posey said in surprise as her wings unfurled. Her natural instinct was to put herself between it and Lance but she suppressed it in favor of trying her original plan, flying over the two and landing behind the drowning mare as it got on its hooves and stumps, "Hey over here!" It ignored her still, beginning to shamble towards her husband. Lance backed up a step, weighing his options. There looked to be plenty of room on his side of the bridge, but he was neither sure of what was waiting in the fog behind him, nor certain that he could even maneuver around it like he had managed back in the apartments. "Behind you! Look!" Posey shouted in a continued attempt to get the creature's attention, "Right here! Standing so close! You could just whirl around and cut me!" She was still ignored. It was almost halfway across the bridge now. Lance had his hind hooves on the dirt path off of the bridge and was preparing the turn around a limp away as fast as he could manage. That tore it. "Stop darn it!" She growled as she rather thoughtlessly grabbed the drowning mare's hind leg between her hooves and yanked backward. It was unprepared for the sudden pull and hit the stone bridge surface with a pained grunt that got cut off by one of its periodic choking convulsions. Despite the cream colored pegasus holding its leg, the drowning mare still tried pulling itself forward by its stumps, seemingly hellbent on getting to Lance no matter what tried to stop it. Noting that she both had the leverage advantage and didn't seem to be in danger of retaliation, Posey gripped the drowning mare's back leg even tighter and starting pushing backward with her hind hooves. The drowning mare's stumps proved laughably inadequate for gaining traction and despite her best efforts she was being dragged away from her target. It only got worse when the two reached the loose dirt road, and worse again when Posey dragged her into the dew slicked grass. The farther away from Lance she got the less lively the drowning mare became, until eventually her choking stopped and she was just as deathly still as before. Posey stopped and gave the leg in her hooves a few test shakes just to be sure before she let go and caught her breath, "You...stay...there..." "Posey?! Are you okay?!" She heard Lance shouting as he limped across the bridge with all the haste he could muster. All he had seen was his wife retreating into the fog with a monster in her hooves, for all he knew she was getting cut to ribbons. She spent a moment more catching her breath before putting his mind at ease and starting back towards his voice, "I'm fine Lance! Just stay there, I don't want her waking up again!" That had perhaps not been the best move. There might have been something else waiting for her in the fog she all too willingly back into, then what would she have done? But in the end she had been fine, so she thought it best to chalk this one up to a cheap lesson and move on. Besides, she had learned that these drowning mares didn't seem interested in her in the slightest. Knowing that would make keeping them away from Lance a simple task indeed...well, simpler at least. "See? All in one piece." She said reassuringly as she got close enough for the fog to pull back and reveal a panic stricken Lance. "I can't believe you just...! I mean...! There could have been...! You might have been...! You almost-" He semi-replied as several scoldings got stuck in his head all at once and clumsily tried to claw their way out of his mouth. "I know, I know, I'm sorry I scared you again, but I'm fine." She apologized as she gently nuzzled against him again to try and calm him down, "Besides, now I know those things ignore me. Next time we see one I can just push it out of the way for you and we can avoid all this fuss." Lance was silent a moment before he let out a stressed, shaky breath then placed a foreleg around her and hugged her tightly, "Let's...just keep going." "Good idea." After finding the road they headed north and through a small group of seven houses. Lance's watch had begun buzzing just once more during the trip but whatever had triggered it had fortunately missed them in the fog. In short order they found themselves standing in front of Ponyville Hospital. Unlike the cafe or the apartment complex this building looked like it undoubtedly belonged there despite the construction that looked much sturdier than the thatched roof houses all over town. It was a modest building as far as hospitals went, but as Ponyville wasn't that large of a town it wasn't hard for Lance to imagine that it provided sufficient medical care to serve everypony's needs. Now they could only hope there were enough supplies inside to serve their medical needs as well. "That was a bit more straight forward than you said it would be." Posey observed as she trotted over to the front door. "Probably means the door is locked." Lance replied as he limped after her, looking around again to check if they had any visitors. She brought a hoof up to the handle and was rewarded for her effort by a stubborn click as it remained immobile, "Yep...wait, what's this?" Lance finally made it to the door as Posey sat and picked something up off the ground. It was a bundle of four rusty bolts held together by a ragged leather strap with a single word messily burned into it: 'WHY' "What the hay..." She muttered, not quite sure what to say about her strange find. "Keep that in your bag, we'll probably need it...somehow." Lance said, though he couldn't imagine what use four rusted bolts could be to them, he was sure he would soon be enlightened. "If you say so." Posey said with a shrug before slipping the bundle of bolts into her bag, "So what now? Do we look for a back entrance or something? Maybe have me look for a window to fly into?" "No, I couldn't follow you through the window, and we shouldn't split up." He replied as he leaned against the wall to give his leg a bit of a rest. "Maybe there's another door then-..." "Yeah, it would be worth looking I think. If this is anything like Cloudsdale General or Manehatten General there's probably a few ways to get in." Lance pondered aloud. "Lance." "Though I doubt this place has as many." "Lance." "Then again if there was a way inside unlocked already why would we have even found this bundle of bolts right in front he-" "Lance." "Hrm?" Seeing that she finally had her husband's attention, she pointed at the source of her worries, prompting Lance to turn around and see a familiar silhouette in the fog...