//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: A New Dawn, part II // Story: Onto the Pony Planet // by Admiral Biscuit //------------------------------// Onto the Pony Planet Chapter 9: A New Dawn II Admiral Biscuit Kate woke to a gentle nudging against her left hip. She groggily reached her hand down and bumped into something warm and furry. “Mmm, Daisy, do you need to go out?” She ran her hand lightly back and forth through the soft hair. “Can you give me a few more minutes to sleep?” Instead of a gentle woof or even a reassuring lick, Kate was answered by a feminine voice. What it said was utter gibberish—yet at the same time, it was gentle and compassionate. “Yeah, didn’t quite catch that, Daisy. I—” Her hand froze mid-motion. Daisy couldn’t talk, because Daisy was a dog. On the heels of that: I don’t have a dog any more—I haven’t had a dog in years. Well, maybe it’s Sarah’s dog. Did she come over last night? Kate cracked an eye open and looked down, expecting to see her friend’s black Lab. Instead, she was looking right into a pair of big blue eyes. She froze for a moment, her hand still on the creature’s back. It had a pure white coat, pink mane and tail, and was wearing a small hat with a red cross on it. Loud alarm bells began ringing in Kate’s head—it looked kind of like a miniaturized Shetland pony, crossbred with heaven only knew what, and while she liked horses as much as any other girl, the last thing she wanted was to have one of them in her bedroom. Kate’s heart leapt into her throat. She jerked her hand back and started scrabbling upwards in the bed, away from the creature. She pulled her knees up against her chest, tugged the blankets around herself, and grabbed her pillow as an extra defense, jamming herself up against the headboard while she waited to see what it was going to do. “Go on, get! You shouldn’t be inside. Ponies belong outside.” Rather than leave, it spoke. “Ka-th-rin,” it said carefully, proving beyond a doubt that if she wasn’t still dreaming, she’d completely lost her marbles. It pointed off to her left in a very deliberate manner, and Kate looked over where it was indicating. On the table next to her bed was a plate with a stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, toast, and a bowl of fruit salad. A tall glass of green juice sat next to the plate. As if on cue, the smell got her attention, and she suddenly remembered how hungry she was. It felt like she hadn’t eaten in days. The mystery of where she was and what the weird pony was took a back seat to her overriding hunger. While still keeping an eye on the creature, she reached out and grabbed a pancake, stuffing it in her mouth and chewing greedily. She washed it down with a few sips of the drink, grimacing at the bitter flavor. She added a spoonful of colored sugar from a small bowl on her tray, but it didn’t dissolve or sweeten the drink at all. Normally, she would have poured it out and gotten something else, but she was so thirsty she drank it anyway, despite the taste. She was halfway through the second pancake before she noticed its unusual texture. She looked at the pancake and noticed the green flecks poking out of it. She set the pancake on her pillow and pulled one loose, putting it on the top of her tongue and sliding it over her teeth, trying to figure out what it was. I think that’s spinach. Interesting. I’ve never had a spinach pancake before. There was a sharp, buttery, caramelized flavor to it, as well—probably cheese, although it was so subtle it was hard to be sure. Once she’d finished the pancakes, she moved on to the scrambled eggs, which were free of any surprises, then grabbed a piece of toast. The pony that had been nudging her remained in its earlier position, just watching her eat. Maybe it’s hungry, Kate thought, taking another gulp of the bitter tea. A small part of her brain was still insisting that she should be worried, but it was getting easier and easier to ignore. Shut up, brain. You’re grumpy when you’re hungry, that’s all. She held out her half-eaten bread toward the pony. “Go on, you can have it. Come on, it’s okay.” The pony shook her head. Shrugging, Kate ate the toast. “See, it’s fine. If I eat too much, I’ll get fat.” She patted her stomach to illustrate her point, suddenly noticing that her right hand was encased in a thick bundle of gauze. “Huh, that’s weird.” Kate poked at the back of her bandaged hand. “It’s completely numb. I can’t feel anything.” She tried making a fist, but got no response. “Hey, hand, wake up!” She poked it a couple more times, but nothing happened. Dismissing it as unimportant, she brushed the crumbs off her pillow, and looked over at the white pony. “Hey, pony, do you know where we are?” She had a vague sense of familiarity, of being here before; it was a nagging sense of deja-vu. She didn’t think she’d ever seen the room before, but her memories seemed disjointed and fickle. Whenever she tried to concentrate on something, it drifted away from her. Normally, she would have been worried about waking up somewhere this unfamiliar, but for some reason her mind didn’t seem to care particularly much. Since thinking wasn’t a good option, she settled on plan B—doing. She unbundled herself from her makeshift bed-fort, and climbed out. Kate didn’t really have a plan of action, and by the time her bare feet had touched the floor she couldn’t remember why she’d bothered to get out of bed in the first place. She looked around the room curiously. There was another unoccupied bed on the other side of the room, neatly made with clothes laid out on it. Kate looked down at her hospital robe and shrugged. “I’m going to see if those are my clothes,” she announced, staggering across the room. The pony didn’t respond; it turned away from her and said something. She picked up the shirt and held it to her chest, even though she already knew it was too big for her. It was a man’s button-down shirt, and it looked kind of familiar, although she wasn’t sure why. “These clothes are too big,” she mumbled, tossing the shirt back down. When she turned around, there were two white ponies looking at her. More importantly, her uniform and underwear were also there, hovering in the air, encapsulated in a shimmering blue light. As she watched, they drifted over towards her bed. Kate stumbled across the room after them, wanting to catch them before they got away from her. “Look, they’re tired,” she told the ponies, pointing to her clothes as they lay on her bed. She turned to scold her clothes. “That’s what you get for trying to run away. You get . . . you get—yeah.” She checked the room to make sure she was still alone, and then shucked her johnny, tossing it on the bed. She started humming. I need a doktor . . . something doktor . . . Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a glowing blue rope floating towards her. She tilted her head and looked at it curiously. It looked like a measuring tape, but there weren’t any numbers on it, just strange wingdings. Her mother had had that kind of tape, and she’d liked to unroll and re-roll it when she was a kid. She watched in wonder as it gently wrapped itself around her, causing her skin to tingle where it touched. The unicorn—horn enveloped in an identical blue glow—moved closer to her, bringing a piece of paper with a pencil busily jotting down notes. It must be a mare, Kate thought. Her coat is groomed to such a luster, and her mane and tail are permed. Curious, Kate walked over to the unicorn, smiling as the tape measure followed her, continuing its work. The unicorn took a step back as she got close, but the one with the little hat put a hoof on her withers and said something. Grudgingly, it seemed, the paper drifted away from the unicorn and turned so that Kate could see it. She grinned. “Hey, that’s me! Are you sketching me?” She struck a pose. The pencil returned to the paper and began scribbling frantically, while the tape measure kept up its work. After a few more minutes, the unicorn rolled up the tape measure and paper and stuck them in a bag, grinning broadly. It said something to the other one, then pointed to the bed and nodded. Kate looked back at the bed. Her clothes were sitting there, except for her panties—those were still in her left hand. She put them on, then went to get dressed the rest of the way. She ran into trouble almost immediately. The clasp at the back of her bra utterly defeated every attempt to fasten it and she finally gave up after five frustrating minutes. The white unicorn frowned as she took it back off and tossed it back on the bed. Before she could pick up her undershirt, the bra floated back off the bed, encapsulated in a blue glow. She turned to see the unicorn looking at her intently, a matching blue aura around her horn. “I can’t put it on,” she said, pointing to her bandaged hand. “It’s too hard to do one-handed.” The unicorn said something which sounded encouraging. Kate slid her arms back through the straps, then reached behind her for the traitorous clasp. She managed to hold the loop end in place with her right hand, but couldn’t get the hooks to engage. “See? It’s too hard.” She turned around to give the unicorn a better view of the problem. Kate felt a sudden warmth on her back and a weird tugging sensation, and a moment later the strap moved under her hand. She loosened her grip slightly, and the hooks fastened themselves. “Hey, thanks!” Kate turned back around, smiling at the unicorn, who was still a dozen feet from her. It—she—wore a broad smile. They’re pretty helpful little ponies. That’s nice. Are they service animals? She’d heard of ponies as service animals before, but didn’t know that they could be so useful. A bit of concern began gnawing at her—did she need a service animal? Was something so wrong with her that the doctors had already selected a helping horse for her? Kate got her undershirt and socks and pants on with little difficulty, although the button on her pants was problematic. She finally managed to get it by pressing the palm of her right hand against her waistband to hold her pants steady while she twisted the button in place. Her uniform shirt presented a similar challenge: each button was a fight, but unlike her pants, her shirt didn’t fall off if she missed the button-hole. She tucked it in and made sure everything was lined up properly. She couldn’t remember there being an orange stripe on her pants and shirt before, but the tape above her left pocket said “DYBEK,” so it must have been her uniform. Maybe they’d been changed. She didn’t remember getting new uniforms, but she didn’t clearly remember yesterday, either. When she threaded her belt through the loops on her pants, she noticed that all her equipment was missing—most importantly, her gun and spare magazines. If she couldn’t find them she’d have to fill out dozens of reports regarding their loss. She looked over at the small table hopefully—maybe they were in there? But a quick examination of the drawer revealed nothing except a small hard-bound book with a picture of a pony in a pith helmet swinging from a vine on the cover. Kate looked down at her stocking feet and giggled. She couldn’t report for duty without her boots; that wouldn’t do at all. And she had to take care of her hair. It was a complete mess. A quick inspection of the room revealed no brush, and she started to make do with her fingers as a makeshift comb when a polite noise from the unicorn caught her attention. Floating in front of the unicorn were two different brushes and a small mirror. With a squeal of delight, Kate grabbed them out of the air one at a time and began coaxing the tangles out of her hair. When she had finally finished combing, she started trying to braid her hair, a process which went nowhere. She couldn’t even separate it into three strands with only one hand, to say nothing of weaving it. This time, the unicorn was no help, even after she asked nicely. Kate tried to think of other hairstyles she could use, finally settling on a bun like the nurse had. She had to resort to pointing and gesturing, but the white unicorn finally figured out what she wanted and efficiently twisted her hair into a tight bun. I need to find my boots before I get busted for wearing white socks. Where are my black socks, anyway? She struggled to remember, but couldn’t come up with an answer. Something had come up in a hurry, and she’d grabbed the first pair she could find. There weren’t any extras in her car—not even dirty socks, so she hadn’t had time to change before they headed out on the boat. She looked out the window. She hadn’t thought to do that before; earlier, it had seemed unimportant, but now she was curious about where she was. It was no doubt some kind of low-care room in a hospital, although that didn’t explain the ponies. Still, if she could look out the window and see Lake Michigan, she’d know she was at Charlevoix hospital. Maybe I was in a car accident, she thought, looking down at her hand. Maybe that’s why my chest hurts, too. The seatbelt—no, that’s on the other side. It was weird that she couldn’t remember, but she just had a vague recollection of being on the RB-S and there was a beach—a boat accident? Did Ryan run the boat aground? Maybe that’s whose clothes were on the other bed. She heard the door open and looked curiously toward the entrance. Three more ponies came through the door, the last one wearing a robe. Luna sat at the high table in the dining hall, enjoying a bowl of oatmeal. It was her favorite kind, with walnuts and raisins and honey all mixed in, thinned with a tiny bit of cream. She could have told the chefs that she loved it, and they would have made it every day, but it was better to have it be an occasional treat. The doors opened and Celestia’s voice entered the hall, followed by the alicorn herself. “—and the second Pegasus wing should return to Canterlot, as well. Today, if possible. Also, I haven’t heard back from Bright Star or her professors yet; please send a telegram asking if everything is going well.” “Very good. Is there anything else?” Raven replied. “Send a formal letter to the minotaur embassy, asking for a meeting. The creatures most resemble them, and they’d be insulted if I didn’t ask for their assistance.” Raven scribbled a note on her ever present parchment. “It will be done before you have finished your breakfast. You have a meeting in two hours with a delegation from Baltimare.” “Thank you, Raven. That will be all.” Celestia nodded to her secretary, who marched out of the hall, pulling the doors shut behind her. The solar diarch looked over the food on the table, deciding on a slice of quiche, two croissants, and a bowl of bran cereal. She carried them over to her usual seat, setting them on the table before taking her place. “I missed you on the balcony yesterday,” Celestia said. “And this morning, too.” Luna set her spoon back in her bowl of oatmeal. “We were occupied, sister. We had much on our mind.” “Our ponies prefer when we keep a routine, no matter what troubles us.” Luna looked at her flatly. “Was our absence noted.” Celestia lowered her head. “Only by the castle staff.” She chopped the end off a wedge of quiche and speared it with her fork. “I will make no move against you, if that was the reason for your absence.” “We did not think thou wouldst. Tell us, didst thou consult thy legal tomes for a manner in which to wrest thy captive back?” “I did not,” Celestia said. “‘Tis so unlike thee, sister.” “I didn’t have time, or I would have.” She set the quiche back on her plate. “Is that what you want to hear? Will it please you if I admit I made a mistake?” Luna looked down at her bowl of oatmeal longingly. It was growing cold. “We did not offer the unicorn sanctuary to spite thee, sister. ‘Twas not meant as an insult. She asked—nay, demanded—and we could do naught but invite her in. She was on our threshold, she was injured . . . what else could we have done?” “What else indeed?” Celestia picked up her forkful of quiche and began chewing it, while Luna discreetly cast a warming spell on her bowl of oatmeal. The room fell silent except for the quiet clatter of utensils on dishes. The servants exchanged uneasy glances. Finally, Celestia spoke again. “Luna, you know what I most fear.” “I can save her,” Luna mumbled. “I know I can.” “Forgive me Luna, but you—” “Do not think that we have learned naught from our missteps, sister. If our cure fails, we shall fall upon her ourself.” She glared at Celestia. “Until then, nopony shall touch her. We gave our bond that she shall be safe from all others in our House.” Celestia tapped a gold-shod hoof on the table, the tap-tap-tap echoing loudly through the quiet breakfast chamber. Luna waited—it was a clear sign that her sister was deep in thought. “I shall defer to your judgement,” she said, lowering her head slightly. “But only if you promise to break fast with me every morning you are in Canterlot.” “We swear it.” She started to get out of her chair. “One more thing,” Celestia said. “Before you go. We need to discuss the creatures.” “Yes, the little souvenirs thy agent hath brought,” Luna smiled brightly. “We are surprised they are not galavanting around the castle yet. Our staff has heard many whispers from thy servants, and we—” “This is a very serious matter,” Celestia remarked. “It’s a diplomatic nightmare—or it will be, as soon as the other nations discover they are here. I have already granted them provisional ambassadorships, and yesterday the Nobles’ Council held a vote to nominate the new Equestrian ambassador. “No doubt the griffons will be lodging the first protest. To be honest, I’m surprised that I haven’t seen it yet. Maybe they don’t know—their spies are lacking in Ponyville, perhaps. Still, they’re shrewd. They can’t have missed the troop movements to Ponyville, and somepony will talk, sooner or later. The Canterlot Times has already asked Raven for a statement about the new ambassadorship, and she promised to give them one—late, so they’ll miss today’s deadline—but you can imagine as soon as they get word, somepony will be on the next train to Ponyville. “With that thought in mind—and in case this whole enterprise goes off the rails, I have already ordered that Lyra Heartstrings be court-martialled.” “Dost thou not think such a measure is overly harsh? She was just following thy commands.” “I know. But the griffons respect our laws, and if we have already done justice to Lyra, they won’t demand her head on a pike.” “Do they still do that?” “Every chance they get. I have a collection of head-on-pike demands. They’re quite creative. They like opening negotiations with a strong position or a strong demand. After we opened diplomatic relations with the minotaurs, they sent me a letter demanding my own head on a pike. I hung the letter on my wall.” Luna rolled her eyes. “The problem is, I need an impartial judge for the trial. Obviously, I cannot sit myself, since I gave the order. Cadance is out; she’s married to the Captain of the Guard. You, on the other hoof, have no allegiance to the Guard or to the creatures. You have never been in contact with them, so you’re as impartial a judge as any.” “We—” Luna bit her tongue. She’d been about to admit that she’d visited the stallion’s dreams. “We shall rule as we deem fit. We shall not be instructed about our verdict in advance.” “Please do,” Celestia said. “I would not insult you by demanding a verdict.” “How soon shall Lyra be tried?” “As quickly as possible.” Celestia nodded to a servant as a plate of chocolate eclairs was set on the table. She took one for herself and offered another to Luna. “Once the word gets out about the creatures, it will become political, and there will no longer be any point in having a court-martial.” She sighed, and took a bite of her eclair. “The decision will have already been reached by the public.” “Very well. We shall prepare. Have Lyra Heartstrings brought to us, two days hence.” Celestia bit off another piece of eclair. “I would rather have the trial held in Ponyville. Lyra is very busy with the male—Dale, he is called—since she’s the only one who speaks his language. I would hate to take his interpreter from him.” “He shall lose her if we decide she is to be put in hobbles,” Luna muttered, ripping her eclair in half. “Or dost thou hint that we should not take her from him?” “You should rule as you see fit,” Celestia said. “I trust that you will. But there is no reason to take her from him unless it is necessary. Surely, such a courtesy can be extended.” Luna nodded. “Yes, we see. Very well. We shall hie to Ponyville on the morrow. We shall convene in their Hall at dawn, two days hence.” “I will send word to Twilight and the Guard,” Celestia said, standing from the table. “Luna, please do your utmost to be discrete. I do not wish to cause a panic in Ponyville.” Luna finished her eclair and stood as well. “We shall be subtle. Nopony saw us when we assisted Twilight Sparkle and Octavia Van Clef.” Kate watched in awe as the zebra stood up on her hind legs and removed her brown robe, which she neatly hung over the back of a chair. Kate moved closer—she wanted to get a better look. Between her spiked mane and the hoops in her ears, down her neck, and around a leg, she had a more exotic look than any of the other ponies. Like some kind of African queen, Kate thought. As the zebra came close, Kate reached out her hand. The zebra stuck her nose right up to Kate’s bandage and began sniffing carefully, moving up and down Kate’s arm. Her ears lowered, and she looked Kate right in the eye, before speaking. Her voice was surprisingly musical. Kate thought it sounded like some kind of Arabic chant, maybe a prayer or something. Even though she didn’t understand a single word, she could detect a rhythm and rhyme to the zebra’s speech—something unlike the voices of the other two ponies. When the zebra looked back down, Kate ran her left hand across the zebra’s bristly mane. She crossed her eyes comically to see what was touching her, before returning attention to Kate’s hand. The other two ponies who had entered with the nurse—a mare and a stallion—were across the room talking to the white one with a hat, who was holding a drawing and pointing to it. Kate walked over to see what they were doing, and the zebra followed. When Kate was next to them, the stallion glanced up at her, and then the paper floated in front of her face. Kate smiled; this was incredibly fun to watch. It was like they were doing magic tricks for her benefit—first the white unicorn had been flying clothes and a measuring tape through the air, and now the stallion was doing it, too. I wish I was smaller. I bet it would be a lot of fun to get a horseback ride from one of them. She took the drawing, unperturbed by the small shock she got when she plucked it from the air. It showed three kinds of ponies, and they all had rays coming from them. The last drawing was of a man; he had no rays. Kate frowned. She had never been good at this kind of test. It was obvious she was supposed to discern the pattern from the first three, and apply it to the fourth—the man. It didn’t help that there were five pairs of eyes watching her expectantly. She could almost hear the steady ticking of the wall clock as a fourth-grade Katie sat hunched over her MEAP test under the watchful glare of Ms. Kennedy. If you don’t do well on this test, you won’t get into college. But she wasn’t in fourth-grade any more; she could afford to admit she didn’t know. Kate shook her head, and the equines began chattering at each other. Finally, the lone stallion pointed to the other unicorn, who walked out of the room. The remaining ponies went back to their discussion, occasionally pointing to her. She finally sat Indian-style on the floor. She patted her thigh, hoping that one of them would come over and consent to being petted, but they seemed more interested in their discussion than her petting needs. The stallion is the leader, she decided. He’s a doctor, ‘cause he’s got a stethoscope. The one with the light-blue mane is also a doctor, or maybe a senior nurse. She’s wearing a lab vest, just like he is. Only doctors and senior nurses can wear lab vests. That’s a hospital rule or something. That left her with three more to identify. The white one with the hat was easy; she was a nurse. The white unicorn might be a nurses’ assistant; that would explain why she was the one who’d brought the clothes, and she’d probably brought in the breakfast, too. But what on earth is the zebra for? Kate wondered. She looked down at her hand, which the zebra had been particularly interested in. Is she a physical therapist? Did I have some kind of hand surgery? Or she could be an anesthesiologist. Kate looked around the room, wondering for the first time why there wasn’t more medical equipment. I’d think a hospital would look more hospitally. The white unicorn returned with a flowerpot and a small cloud floating in front of her. A guard followed her, and looked at Kate warily. Flowerpot and cloud. Kate glanced back down at the sheet of paper. There wasn’t anything with flowers or clouds on the drawing. There should be a whale, too. Kate giggled. “I’ll call it ground. I wonder if it will be my friend?” “Ka-th-rin.” the nurse said. How does she know my name? Kate’s eyes went down to her dog tags. Of course! She glanced up at the nurse, who pointed to the male doctor. He motioned for her to set the paper down, which she did. Lifting a pencil from his pocket, he pointed to the picture of the unicorn first, indicating the horn. Then he pointed to the horn on the white unicorn. A blue light glowed around her horn and the flowerpot, and she picked it up, moving it around the air in lazy circles. A moment later, Kate’s breakfast dishes joined it, dancing through the air in an intricate pattern. She was so busy watching that it took several pokes from the doctor’s hoof before she looked back down at the picture. He indicated the ray from the horn, and pointed to the moving objects. Horn moves things. Got it. Why is he showing me that? It’s not like I haven’t already figured it out. Why else would a unicorn have a horn? She nodded, and the doctor moved to his next demonstration. He pointed to the rays coming out of a pony’s wings, and then the guard. Kate’s eyes widened as the guard unfolded wings from his side and flew up into the air, coming to rest on the small cloud. Once he was in contact with it, he laid his belly on the cloud and wrapped his hooves around the edge like he was giving the cloud a hug, then flapped his wings to bring the cloud down to ground level. He jumped back off the cloud, turned to the white unicorn, and spoke a few words. As Kate watched, she floated a fork over the cloud and let go. It clattered to the ground under the cloud. Kate clapped her hands, the sound oddly muffled by the thick bandage. Something didn’t feel right under there, but before she could figure it out, the guard had picked up the fork by sticking it to the bottom of his hoof. He took to the air again, hovering above the cloud. When he dropped the fork, it didn’t fall through. How come I don’t feel much buffeting? Kate had worked around helicopters before, and the downdraft from the Dauphins was horrendous. She wasn’t much of an expert in flight, but in a space the size of their hospital room, she should have felt a significant wind. Instead, there was only a slight breeze from the guard’s wings. You don’t feel a breeze from a duck’s wings; birds don’t work like helicopters. He landed again, on the side of the cloud opposite her. Using his wings for balance, he stood on his hind hooves and began tilting the cloud towards her. For a long time, the fork hung there, before it finally slid off the side of the cloud, clattering to the ground by her leg. Kate reached over and picked it up, getting a brief shock from the metal. She tossed it up at the cloud again, but it just passed through, bouncing off the guard’s armor. Curious, she tried to grab a handful of cloud, wondering if it would feel like cotton candy. It didn’t—it was just cold and wet, but still more cohesive than fog. She couldn’t pull anything loose from the cloud at all, or affect its shape. The guard noticed her efforts, and tore a piece off his side of the cloud, carrying it over to her on a hoof. He let it go just in front of her reaching hand, moving back before she could reward him with a pat on the muzzle. Kate batted at the cloud again; as before, her hand just passed through it, although the cloud tuft re-formed as it tumbled on the slight gust of air she’d caused. Giggling, Kate swatted at it a few more times before looking back at the doctor. Apparently satisfied that she’d learned something, he pointed to the picture of the winged pony again, indicating the vees off it. Kate nodded. The guard pushed the cloud out the window and marched out of the room, his head held high, although he kept one ear turned back in her direction. Meanwhile, the nurse brought over the flowerpot, setting it right in front of Kate. She sat on her rump and picked up the pot with both her front hooves, pressing the pot tightly against her frogs. She half-closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. For a moment, Kate thought that she was going to crush the pot between her hooves; instead, a moment later a sprout came out of the pot, growing about four inches before the nurse set the pot down and wiped sweat off her forehead. She patiently held her hoof out as the male doctor pointed to the bottom with his pencil, then back at the drawing. Kate looked at the hoof with interest—it looked fairly similar to the horses she was used to, but more developed. She’d never really been able to get a close look at a real horse’s hoof, since they were usually packed with dirt and stuff, but the nurse’s hoof was very clean. Kate ran a finger around the edge of the frog, tracing the heart-shaped pattern. It was warm, and kind of velvety. The nurse finally withdrew her hoof and put it back on the ground, and Kate looked back at the picture. They’d explained everything except for the ray on the hip, where the picture was on each of the ponies. Since he was closest, Kate reached over and poked the green square on the male doctor. Kate felt a strong tingle, but it was kind of pleasant. She slid her fingers across the fur, ruffling it back and forth, marveling that she couldn’t feel any paint or anything—the pattern must have been dyed in, and she couldn’t imagine how much time that would take. Even having highlights put in her hair seemed to take forever; a complex pattern must take ages, especially to have the colors so vibrant and natural-looking. The zebra would have had to had her hip bleached first, to lighten up the stripes. Unless she was a boring grey pony that had been dyed to look like a zebra. A low growl caused her to turn her head. The nurse was back up on all four legs, ears flattened, pawing at the ground with a forehoof. Meanwhile, the male doctor was staring at her hand, the female doctor was watching the nurse intently, and the white unicorn’s cheeks had turned bright red. Completely confused, Kate let her hand drop. The only equine in the room that seemed to be enjoying the situation was the zebra, who had a hoof over her mouth, barely concealing a large grin. The doctor stepped back and cleared his throat loudly, before glancing at the nurse and barking out a command. The nurse took a step back, and lowered her head. She stayed in that stance for a moment before moving up to Kate’s side and nuzzling her in the arm. Apparently satisfied, the doctor picked the pencil back up and pointed to the paper again, before offering it to Kate. She grabbed it out of the air and crossed out all the marks on the man—after all, she couldn’t do any of the things that the ponies had done, and she certainly didn’t have any tattoos anywhere. The doctor looked at it in interest, before looking thoughtfully at her. He seemed to be sizing up her arm. He was absently tapping a hoof on the ground as his internal debate continued. FInally, he seemed to arrive at a decision, pointing to the nurse and the other doctor and giving orders. They scurried off, along with the white unicorn, leaving Kate alone with the zebra and doctor. •        •        • The nurse returned first, along with a second nurse. The second nurse was pink, but wore the same cap and had a similar mark on her hip. Both her mane and tail were striped lavender and white. They wasted no time setting up. The two nurses pushed Kate towards the bed, motioning for her to lie down. White gave her a glass of liquid and motioned for her to drink it. Kate almost spit it back out—it was even more bitter than the tea she’d had with breakfast—but the stern look on the nurse’s face gave her pause, and she forced it all down. Pink climbed into bed with her and lay alongside her, with her head resting on top of Kate’s ribcage. She called a couple of orders out to White, who moved a beeping box around the head of the bed where Kate and Pink could see it easily. White put a second box on top of the first, trailing a thin lead off of it over to her right arm. She balanced Kate’s arm on top of a hoof and then leaned over with her mouth. Kate felt a brief pressure in her forearm, and when White’s head withdrew, saw that the wire was leading out of her arm. The second box immediately started tracing a pattern identical to the first one. Kate started to raise her arm, curious to see how the wire was fastened, but White shook her head. The doctor and zebra had finished setting up the operating area. A few trays of instruments were set out, and Kate paled a little bit at the sight of one tray full of what appeared to be acupuncture needles. On the other hand, there weren’t any scalpels, so maybe whatever they were about to do wouldn’t be all that unpleasant. She didn’t have a problem with needles. She giggled. Acupuncture might be fun; she’d never tried it before. The doctor came over and studied Kate’s arm before levitating a thick book from the bottom of the cart. She looked at it in surprise; the cover was in English. I thought Grey’s Anatomy was a TV show . . . is there a book, too? He flipped through the book until he found what he was looking for, and very carefully stuck an acupuncture needle into her arm. He continued with the process, and Kate lost interest after a few minutes. It didn’t hurt at all, and was kind of boring to watch. The doctor placed a pin, studied the book, and then placed another. Since she had a fairly captive pony, she began running her free hand through the mane of Pink, careful not to mess it up too much. She couldn’t resist scratching behind Pink’s ears, and running her fingers up to the tip. Her fur was so soft and clean, more so than any real horse she’d ever touched. Pink looked over at White, who shrugged. Kate ran her left hand through Pink’s forelock, moving slowly so that she wouldn’t tug her hair if there were any tangles. It was soft and clean—much cleaner than Kate’s hair. Just thinking about how dirty her hair was made her scalp itch. “Do you use mane and tail shampoo?” she asked the nurse. The other doctor came back in the room, and she was followed by a slightly taller unicorn, which was much more slender than the other ponies. The taller unicorn had a pair of saddlebags on her back, and once she got over to where the doctor was working, floated a piece of copper wire out, followed by two pairs of tongs. She used the tongs to pull a coil of thick wire that looked very much like oversized solder out of her bag. She set it, and the tongs, on the table next to where the doctor was working, then the two of them carried on a brief conversation. Kate paid the doctors very little attention. She was tracing her fingers around the small white spots on Pink’s cheek that looked very much like freckles. The male doctor took the copper wire and gently wrapped it around all the needles, making one loop around each one. When he’d finished with the last, he took the extra wire and made a spiral pattern out of it, which he set against Kate’s arm. Working carefully with the tongs, he next began wrapping the dull silver wire around her forearm, between her elbow and the needles. Once he’d made two turns, he bent the copper wire up, and continued wrapping. He kept the coils tight, making a dozen close turns before he was satisfied. Then he set the tongs aside, and pushed the copper wire down with his hoof. He looked up at the tall unicorn, and she nodded her approval. Kate had moved on to Pink’s withers, gently scratching the short hair. A soft hum of satisfaction had crossed Pink’s lips, before her face turned red, which provided all the encouragement Kate needed to continue. The taller unicorn looked at the two monitors and spoke to the doctor. The stallion leaned over Kate’s hand and lit it up in a light blue glow, which began faint but then intensified. Kate felt an odd tugging sensation as her arm rose a few inches before being set back down. Both unicorns shared a glance, and the taller one smiled, then touched a hoof to the coil of metal. Kate looked back at them, pleading with her eyes for the tall unicorn to come over. Her thinner face reminded Kate more of the unicorns she’d imagined as a kid, and her glossy coat just begged to be petted. The doctor stepped back and let White take over. She began unwrapping the gauze, while the doctor opened a small pouch which looked like it might contain a Crown Royal bottle. Instead of a bottle of cheap whiskey, he removed a large blood-red radiant-cut gem. Before she had time to wonder what that was for, Kate could feel an unpleasant tug as White reached the end of the gauze and had a sudden conviction that she didn’t want to know what was under the final layer. As if revealing a masterpiece, White yanked the rest of the bandage off. Kate didn’t need to know their language to know that it was bad. The tall unicorn took a step backward, and the zebra shook her head sadly, before moving to Kate’s side. She began to quietly chant in the singsong voice she had. Kate reached over and stroked the Zebra’s muzzle, hoping that Pink wouldn’t be upset with being ignored for a little bit. The doctor pushed the glasses up on his muzzle and leaned very close, then his horn began glowing brightly. Almost instantly, the top monitor went from beeping to a shrill screech. Kate felt an odd warmth in her arm, like warm water was being poured over it, along with a prickling sensation. White turned a dial on the top machine and it quieted down, reverting to fast-paced beeping. The doctor nodded in satisfaction and bent to his work. The intensity of the glow from his horn grew, until it was nearly as bright as an arc welder. Kate felt her forearm begin to grow warm, and wondered if it really was, or if that was just her imagination. There was a very strong smell of ozone coming from him, and she tried to pull her hand away, but it was stuck as if it were glued to something. For all the light and smell, it was absolutely silent. •        •        • Fifteen minutes later, the doctor was clearly beginning to tire. At one point, White had placed a hoof on his back, but the doctor had shaken his head and the hoof was removed. With sweat pouring down his face, the doctor’s horn-light flickered and finally went out. The tall unicorn stepped into his place, leaning close to Kate’s hand and bathing it in a new glow. She didn’t last as long as the doctor had, quitting ten minutes into the procedure. Kate was suddenly aware of a ravenous hunger and an incredibly dry feeling in her throat. Her head was beginning to throb, and she felt faint. She hoped lunch would be coming as soon as they were done working. The female doctor stepped in next. She had a bottle of some kind of thick cream, which she spread all over Kate’s hand. When she’d finished, she wrapped it back up in gauze, then rested her hoof over the back of Kate’s hand. Kate looked away just in time to see the stallion lift a milky-white gem off a metal tray and put it back into a pouch, which he then placed on the bottom of the cart. Before she could wonder too much about that, a tantalizing smell filled her nostrils, and she turned her head to see the zebra making room for White, who was sliding a platter of food onto her bedside table. Pink climbed out of the bed, and then the two nurses helped Kate into a more upright position. The mare doctor made sure that all the wires stayed in place as Kate moved, before going back to resting her hoof on the back of Kate’s hand. The first thing she reached for was a glass of water, which she downed in one shot. Then she lifted the lid off the large serving bowl and grabbed a spoon. The dish was unfamiliar—it was some kind of casserole with bell peppers, pineapple, and a mystery ingredient, over a bed of thin noodles and some sort of grain. Pink put a bib over her uniform, before motioning for her to take the bowl. Kate wondered if she was supposed to share, but there weren’t any smaller bowls or plates, so she concluded that it must have been all for her. The first bite was heavenly. It was reminiscent of sweet and sour chicken, but without the chicken. The mystery ingredient didn’t have the same texture as any kind of meat she’d ever had, which probably meant it was some kind of soy substitute. She didn’t care. Her stomach was making urgent demands, and she was going to satisfy it. She ate half the bowl before she was full. She hoped it wouldn’t turn out like most Chinese food and leave her hungry again in a half hour. She set the bowl back on the table and smiled at the nurses. Pink nuzzled her side. Once the nurses had taken her bib away and cleaned up the lunch tray, the female doctor began carefully pulling the needles out of her arm. With each one she removed, she glanced at the two monitors, which were now nearly in sync again. Finally, working with the tongs, she unwrapped the coil around Kate’s arm. She dropped it on the tray, placed the copper wire next to it, and began cleaning up. Once she had finished, White and Pink held a brief conversation with the female doctor. White was the more talkative of the pair, occasionally pointing a hoof towards Kate or Pink. The doctor nodded, and the ponies finally reached a consensus. The two nurses reached up and grabbed her pants with their teeth, pulling her legs off the bed. I guess I have to get up again, Kate thought. She climbed out of bed, and Pink walked towards the door with the female doctor beside her. Kate just stood there until she felt a pressure from behind. She looked back, and saw White gently pushing her with her head. The message was easy to understand—she was to follow Pink and the female doctor. The pair led her through the hospital, accompanied by the guard who had been stationed in the hall. They went down a flight of stairs, finally arriving at a room with a bar of soap on the door. •        •        • When she was younger, the highlight of Kate’s summer had been a week at the Manitou-Lin YMCA camp—specifically, the time spent at the Spirit Farms Riding Center, where she and hundreds of young girls had learned all about horse care, horseback riding, and in general been able to bond with the ponies they didn’t get for Christmas. She’d never expected to be groomed by an equine, though. The female doctor had helped her undress, and then Pink had taken over, first washing her hair and then scrubbing her thoroughly with soapy water and a soft brush. She’d tried to protest that she could do it herself, but Pink would have none of that, swatting at her hand whenever she tried to take the brush away. Finally, she gave up, wondering if Pink was getting revenge for the petting. The end result was worth it, though. She was spotlessly clean, and Pink had even allowed Kate to put on some makeup from the limited selection on the vanity. The doctor had helped her get dressed again, and then the two of them—accompanied by the guard—led her back to her room.