I have no idea how long I was unconscious, but most of the time was spent dreaming about fucking rainbows. One interesting dream consisted of me starting a communist revolution and leading a Bolshevik march on Canterlot. I hope that wasn't some foreshadowing because I really didn't wan't the New Soviet Union to be established let alone be the leader of it. Maybe I should change my last name to Lenin...
Anyway, I woke up to an annoying high-pitched beeping noise piercing my ears. I quickly found that it was a heart monitor beeping away like my fucking alarm clock back home. I took my right hoof and whacked it to the right forcefully. A satisfying crash sounded to my right and I closed my eyes with a satisfied smile. 'Stupid heart monitors... hate hospitals... so... tired...'
My peace was short lived though as somepony burst into the room obviously trying to figure out what the ruckus was about. "Whats going on in here?" I heard a masculine voice say.
"The monitor was annoying me, so I mutilated it..." I responded smugly.
I opened my eyes to see a doctor standing at my bedside with an angry expression on his face. "That's an expensive piece of equipment! If you wanted it turned off you could've just asked! Now I have to get it repaired!" he exclaimed.
"Well your in luck doc, cause I happen to be a repairpony." I replied with a smirk.
"Ugh. Just don't move... I'm going to get my assistant to give you a quick examination... and a janitor to clean up your mess..." he said before shuffling back out of the room.
I sat there with a smirk on my face for a few minutes until said assistant came in to check on me. A white mare with a nurse's cap on came into my room with a bag of tools in tow. "Wow when the doctor told me you broke the heart monitor I didn't believe him..." she said looking at the smashed machine on the floor.
"What can I say, I have a hatred for hospital equipment," I responded with a shit-eating grin on my face.
"Ugh, anyway I'm Nurse Redheart and I'm going to be preforming your checkup," she said pulling out a stethoscope.
"That's fine. Just don't touch the face." I replied trying to agitate the nurse ever more.
Nurse Redheart began giving me to good old check up while I just sat there making sarcastic quips. Apparently I was in decent health besides recovering from smoke inhalation and several burns and lacerations. The nurse packed up her stuff and hightailed it out of there not wanting to be near me any longer much to my amusement. I can be a dick when I'm bored.
Anyway on her way out she mentioned that I had some visitors and that she would send them in. And so after a few minutes to myself ponies began filing into my hospital room. First came Twilight then Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie (Who had her creeper smile on), as well as (much to my surprise) Celestia. I gave them a small grin before clearing my throat to address them. "Hey ladies," I said simply.
It was surprisingly Fluttershy who spoke up first among the seven ponies in the room. "Oh Vlad, we're so glad you're alright! When we saw you passed out in the street we assumed the worst!" she said squeezing me tight before realizing her actions and withdrawing mumbling 'sorry'.
"Glad to see you too..." I murmured my sides now hurting.
"I heard from the doctors that you've been terrorizing their hospital equipment, is that true?" Celestia asked with an amused smirk.
"Nah, the docs in this place are crooks. Trying to squeeze every last coin out of ya." I replied smugly.
Celestia just rolled her eyes at that while Twilight was giving me glare that said 'Don't you fucking mouth off to my mentor mister! I don't care if you're hospitalized, I will fucking throw you out the window'. At that very moment a janitor came in saying he needed to clean up the heart monitor that I had broken which was still lying on the floor. I could only grin sheepishly as the the seven ponies (except Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy) gave me amused stares.
Celestia was the first one to break the silence clearing her throat to get my attention. "Well Vlad, despite your... odd behaviors, we all are extremely glad to see you alive and well. The doctors have said that you'll be ready for release by tomorrow afternoon if everything goes well and that you should consider yourself lucky."
"Jeez what is it 'Scold the Hospitalized Pony' day?! I know my actions were a bit rash but I saved three lives!" I exclaimed defending my case.
"And those ponies are very grateful for your actions. They were released from the hospital a few hours ago but I notified them of you being awake and they should drop by later," Celestia said gently.
"Cool I guess... So is there anything else you wish to discuss or can I go back to sleep?" I asked with a yawn.
"Actually there is," Celestia began, "Your daring rescue managed to make national news. Ponies all over Equestria have heard of your act of heroism. As such it will be prudent that you be recognized for your actions. I invite you to Canterlot in a weeks time so we can do just that."
"Great just what I need, more time in the spotlight." I said rolling my eyes. Ever since college I hadn't minded standing up in front of tons of people or ponies in this case, but it wasn't something I was actively going for.
"It would only be a ten minute ceremony or so, I'm sure you'll live," Celestia said giving me her usual warm smile, "Now if you'll excuse me I must be off. Suspending day court for more than a few hours tends to make the nobles cranky."
And with a flash of light Celestia was gone and all that remained were Twilight and Co, each of which gave me their best before leaving me to rest. Pinkie even insisted that she throw me a party once I got out so that was something to look forward to. I managed to drift off back to sleep after closing my eyes and counting sheep (stupid I know but it works).
I awoke to the sound of the door to my room opening and hooves clip-clopping on the floor. I forced my eyes open to three ponies that I recognized but in my grogginess failed to properly identify. "Ughhfh, Hi can I help you? *yawn*" I asked rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
Upon my mind waking up I realized they were the family I saved. The mother and filly seemed perfectly fine save a bandage or two, the father wasn't bad but had quite a few more bandages than the rest of his family. Still, they were up and about which was good. I gave them a friendly smile and the father spoke up, "We're here to thank you for saving us. If it wasn't for you we wouldn't be standing here now." he said giving me an appreciative look.
"I just did what had to be done," I stated simply.
The father looked surprised at my answer but decided to respond none the less, "You are a hero in all our books even if you don't believe it yourself; and to show you our appreciation we decided to get you a gift," he said pulling out a brightly wrapped gift box.
"Uh thanks, you didn't really have to..." I murmured.
"Of course we did dear, you saved our lives," the mother said softly.
I decided that arguing any further would be futile and began unwrapping the gift. As the wrapping paper fell off a interesting object that I had never seen before revealed itself. It was a necklace from the looks of things but attached to the end was a crystal of some sort. I examined it a bit before turning to the family for an explanation. "It's an Eternal Stone. Legends say that anypony who wears one is allowed to cheat death once in their lifetime. It was passed down in our family for generations but we believe it would best in the hooves of you," The mother explained with a soft smile.
"I....I can't accept this, it must be worth a ton!" I stammered.
"We have no use for it, and we see it fit for somepony who risks his life for the safety of others," the father said.
"I...uh...thank you! It means a lot!" I replied finally accepting the gift and putting it around my neck.
"It was nothing dear," the mother said, "Now why don't we take our leave so you can get your rest."
"Uh...wait! I didn't catch your names!" I blurted out as they were turning for the door.
"Oh silly me, we must of forgot," the mother said bashfully, "My name is Silk, this is my husband Iron Forge and our filly Violet."
"Nice to meet you... formally," I said which caused Silk to giggle softly, "I'm Vladimir Korzhakov, accidental inter dimensional traveler and crazy Russian."
"I though you looked familiar," Iron said, "That was some speech the other day."
"Yea, I guess it was..." I said sheepishly.
We went into a very awkward silence at that point. I had nothing really left to say to them and they seemed to be tied between leaving or waiting for somepony to speak up. That was until a small voice decided to speak up. "Um mister?" the little filly named Violet asked.
"Yes little one?" I said giving her a soft smile.
"Thh...Thank you for saving me and my mommy and daddy," she replied hugging my foreleg tightly with small tears of joy coming from her eyes.
"You're welcome kid, you're welcome," I sighed in content with a lone tear digging at the corner of my eye.
After the cute the little hug was over the three departed promptly and left me alone with my thoughts. 'You know, I may be injured to all hell but saving that family was the right thing to do...'
I drifted back to sleep after a few minutes of staring at the ceiling and found myself in the dreamscape once again. Wondering the reason behind another meeting so soon I spoke to the figure that would no doubt be showing up any moment. "What can I do you for Princess Luna?" I asked.
The figure of said lunar diarch appeared seconds later with a look of concern on her face. "Apologies Vladimir, but I come bearing most troubling news. I have learned from one of my special agents that somepony is following you."
I looked up in confusion at the information, "Following me? What for?"
"I am not sure at present, but it may have something to do with your origins. My agents are attempting to learn anything about your shadow and who they are associated with as we speak. I do not believe them to be a threat to you for the time being, but I have plans in place to protect you should they decide to act."
This was shocking information to say the least. I tried to think who would care about my origins so much to potentially hurt me. It brought me back to a strange encounter I had shortly after my arrival in Equestria.
"Shortly after our second meeting in the library I randomly passed out and woke up in a black room with a table and telephone. When I picked up the phone an ominous voice spoke saying it knew my origins and potential and was coming for me. I thought it was some exhaustion-fueled hallucination at the time but it seems to have some similarity to what you're describing." I explained to which Luna's expression turned from intrigue, to puzzlement, and finally anger.
"This means we have a mole somewhere in our ranks!" Luna exclaimed stomping her hoof, "Nopony would know of your origins or your species capabilities at the time unless they were listening in on our conversation that day! The only ponies close enough to hear us would be the guards that were stationed at the library. This is most disturbing news indeed, I will have to launch an internal investigation to find the pony responsible."
"Are you sure it was a guard? What if somepony snuck into the library prior to our conversation and was listening in?"
"It is unlikely that was the case. My sister and I both magically scanned the room while you were talking to detect anypony present. Unless the perpetrator had a magical cloaking device powerful enough to repel alicorn magic then there was nopony else in the library." Luna scowled still in a fowl mood.
"So what does this all mean? What could I possibly know or do that would give them reason to target me?" I asked now very much concerned for my well-being.
"It is likely that they heard of the weapons you described your people using. They may wish to recreate these weapons here in Equestria and use them to some nefarious end. They most likely think you may know more than you let on about your species' weaponry and intend to retrieve the information by force if necessary. Should they be able to manufacture items such as the "nuclear bombs" you described, they would be nearly unstoppable."
"Sucks to be them cause I have no idea how any of that crap is built or works. I'm not some nuclear technician, I'm just a wet-behind-the-ears engineer!" I scoffed.
"I still advise you to be cautious. I do not believe they are ready to make any moves yet and that they are only doing preliminary scouting but we must be prepared for anything. I will continue to have my agents monitor your shadow and ensure your safety. We cannot make a move to arrest them at this time until we can properly identify their employer. Be careful Vladimir, you are a friend to myself and Equestria and I would not wish to see you harmed."
"Will do," I grunted back.
The dreamscape dissolved and I was left with my thoughts once again.