Silence flooded the tent, accentuated only by the sound of Barricade’s own heart beat. The sound beat like thunder, despite being the most quiet of noises. The Doppelganger’s livid gaze pierced the air life daggers. Barricade did not back down in the slightest. If this disappointed the Doppelganger, if this killed her, her conscious was clear.
“Than you can baptise your soul in the blood of the fallen. Thousands will die in the oncoming storm, but at least your conscious is clean. Live with the knowledge that the blood of innocents is on your head.” The Doppelganger’s voice was as even and calm as the night. “Into the darkness I’ll sing them a song.”
The Doppelganger slowly turned around and walked to the door. “If I cannot obtain your assistance, I will do this myself.” At that moment, all the ringing and skull-splitting pain she had been feeling intermittently throughout the night came back in one titanic pulse. Barricade collapsed, hooves to her temples and screaming at the top of her lungs. It felt like corkscrews were being tightened behind her eyes. Even though the initial spike was enough to drop the mare, the throbbing crescendoed more and more. Barricade was blind to the world, ignorant of everything except the white-how pain coursing through her brain.
“What are you doing to me!?” Barricade screeched. The poor soldier’s voice was scratchy and raw from yelling in a continuous stream. For just long enough, the pain abated enough for Barricade to recognize a blurred form through her painful tears.
“I’ve been implanting the necessary triggers ever since we started speaking, my dear, just in case you denied my offer. You will help me when I need you to, but I must say, if we meet on opposite sides again, you will be a worthy foe.”
“Who... who are you.” She whimpered.
“Brimstone.”
“What?” Barricade faltered.
“Brimstone,” she repeated
“Brimstone’s not a name.”
“This is your wake-up call, my dear.”
Another flash of pain blinded the mare. Nevertheless, she said, “I will fight you.”
The blurred silhouette of her copy came into focus and spoke. Contrary to the previous venom saturating her voice, this time she sounded almost... pleased. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“This is just a dream,” Barricade growled.
Brimstone lowered her lips to Barricade’s ear, “Does that make it any less real?”
Her Doppelganger smiled, touched her forehead to Barricade’s, and the pain began once more. Barricade didn’t know how long the pain lasted, but even a mighty warrior like her could scream for only so long.
Doctor Hemos jumped back as the Captain screamed and thrashed her way into consciousness.
“Sedative!” He shouted to the nurses. “Captain! Captain, it’s me!”
Lieutenant Chaser, disturbed by the sudden ruckus, rose to attention to find the hospital in instant bedlam to secure the panicking Captain. Barricade shoved Hemos abruptly to the side, leaving just the opening needed for the Lieutenant to exploit. The Night Guard snaked her way between the startled nurses and rose to her hind legs.
Smack!
“Snap out of it!”
Lieutenant Chaser’s hooves struck the Captain square in the jaw. The Captain’s head snapped back, startled by the blow, but it was enough to silence the Captain’s protests. The nurses pulled the Night Guard away and she willingly let herself be restrained, though her eyes were focused on the Captain.
Barricade’s eyes were wide and wild, but she had ceased her senseless screaming. Slowly, she turned to the startled group of ponies who watched the mare with caution. One of the nurses had prepared a needle filled with a crystal-clear liquid, but she had halted administering the injection with an unspoken directive to halt from Hemos.
“Lieutenant Lightning Chaser...” Barricade enunciated each syllable carefully, unsure of her own words. The lieutenant nodded quickly, still observing her superior for any signs of trouble.
“Captain...” Doctor Hemos approached slowly, not wanting to startle the Captain into another fit. “Are you well? You’ve been asleep for the past hour.”
Barricade put a hoof to her head and pulled it away for examination. Seeing nothing attached she examined the rest of herself carefully. Those present gave the mare the time to check herself out. They had frozen where they stood, all of them quietly waiting to see how the Captain would react.
“I’m... I’m alright.” The rest of the tent save for the Lieutenant and Hemos sighed in relief. The built-up tension in everyone’s posture eased, especially the eagle-eyed Honor Guard. Even if the danger had apparently passed, her eyes flashed across Barricade’s body, her eidetic memory taking absorbing everything in a single sweep. Elevated pulse, cold sweat, rapid breathing, fidgeting limbs; the Captain – the Captain Barricade – was shaking off a panic attack or the worst nightmare of all time.
“It was just a bad dream... what dream?” She could only remember vague impulses like light, silence, and pain, but not the actual contents of what brought her to the land of the living screaming like a moon-sick mare. Her hoof rose to her shoulder, rubbing a wound that was not actually there.
“I feel...” Barricade swallowed the bile rising in her throat. “I don’t remember what I was dreaming about, and I think I’m glad.” She felt the rising sense of self-loathing and embarrassment at her outburst. It was poor form to be caught in such a state of helpless and scrambling like a foal over such something as small as a bad dream. The quick-thinking Lieutenant’s strike snapped her out of her panic.
‘What happened?’ Barricade thought. She felt exhausted. Her past wounds and the exertion of recent events made the mare pay a heavy price. While she was floundering around on the bed, the only thing she could think of was fear and a complete, blind hatred. Of what, the Captain was uncertain. She was just grateful that the Lieutenant snapped her out of it. Of course, she would still speak with her at a later date about striking a superior officer.
Speaking of the night Guard, she was eyeing Barricade uncomfortably. It wasn’t fear, worry, or pity, it was cold, restrained analysis; the Lieutenant was still evaluating the Captain as a threat.
The Lieutenant saw the shift in the Captain as it occurred piece by piece. Her spine straightened, her eyes narrowed, her gaze hardened. The actions made cords of tightened muscles softened in the Lieutenant and she finally stood down. Bowing her head slightly, she said, “It’s good to see you alive, Captain.”
Barricade had already examined the patch of gauze on her flank and the layers of bindings wrapped around her stomach and found the bandages to be fresh. The creature really had done quite a number on her.
“Was I – ”
“No.” It was Doctor Hemos who responded. Now that the tent had calmed, He had resumed his duties by examining her vitals. Rows of machines blipped and flashed, projecting data that the Doctor understood in an instant. Blood pressure, pulse, O2 saturation, and a few specialty instruments used to examine magic and the pony brain. Concern flashed across the Doctor’s face and was gone in a flash. “I never lost you. I was worried the arrowhead would fracture upon removal and complicate matters, but its removal was swift and without incident.”
“Captain,” came a stern voice near the back. A pony had just entered in full military uniform.
“Major Stormcloud,” Barricade fought to sit up, but the Major held up a hoof.
“At ease, Captain. Rest easy, but I’m here with you on business until Princess Celestia leaves. I need you to come with me; reports say your new friend is getting a little antsy and I’d like to make sure he calms down before we leave.”
“With all due respect, Major,” Hemos said, “Captain Barricade is my patient and is under my care until I clear her to leave.”
“True, but I have the power to override preceding orders in the interest of security and public safety. Make sure she is fit to move for the next hour. I need her until then, where she shall then be returned to you, Doctor.” Without verifying his orders were followed, the Major turned on his hooves and left the tent. “Make sure she gets a cloud.” He told some unnamed soldier escorting him. The Guard nodded and followed the major out into the rain.
Hemos, disgruntled as ever, gave a disappointed snort. “Saddle up, Captain; we’re going on a trip – what’s that?” Hemos asked after hearing Barricade hum a soft tune.
“La la la la, la la la la... it’s nothing, just a tune that came to mind.”