//------------------------------// // Heart Monitor // Story: God-Fearing // by MenialLabor //------------------------------// Nurse Gauze had been having a boring day. She sat behind a white-blue desk, inside of the Canterlot Palace infirmary. The desk was immaculate, as it had yet to have a reason to be messy. The room itself was your basic sterile white deal with a few health motivational posters hung up to give the illusion of taste. The room in which actual patients were held was behind a blue push door, which had remained closed for a while, due to a lack of patients. Gauze was the only one working the infirmary that day. She was, as usual, at the front desk waiting for something to be done. At an actual hospital or at the very least an infirmary that gets used often, there would be a front desk employee where she sat rather than a nurse. As it stood, the infirmary was just too barren to bother with overstaffing it. One nurse to handle the occasional medical mishap was all they needed. She sighed despondently, her white Red Cross headdress skewed slightly to her left. The light green unicorn mused that perhaps a lack of patients was a good thing, but honestly things had been ridiculous as of late. In all of Canterlot Palace, the last pony to get injured enough to end up in the infirmary had only an infected hoof, and that was a week prior! She supposed it was her own fault; she shouldn’t have accepted the transfer. Really, what did she expect? Canterlot itself hardly had any injuries. The infirmary only being relevant to Canterlot Palace, however, meant that she never had anything to do! Every once and a while somepony will stumble in with a mild cold in need of diagnosis, but besides that, nothing! Nothing interesting had happened since that Changeling incident, and Gauze was visiting her parents in Trottingham that week! Those dumb black vines weren’t even worth mentioning, as all they did is cause massive property damage and scare the willies out of ponies (aside from the whole foalnapping the princesses thing, but they weren’t even mildly scraped by the time they were freed). She didn’t go through all the trouble of getting a nursing diploma to just sit behind a desk reading a book! Then, as if answering her unspoken prayers, in came a guard with a very, very dirty colt on his back. The guard looked as all guards do once they put on that fancy enchanted armor. Blue eyes, white coat, blue tail, weird brush helmet, blue star on breast to add contrast to the (uncomfortably heavy) golden armor. Fellow was an earth pony, as was obvious from the lack of wings and horn. The colt he was carrying? Out cold, as far as Gauze could tell. First she thought he had a brown coat until he was close enough for her to make out the crustiness of his fur. Tail was also caked with dirt to the point where its original color was unrecognizable. The colt was young, judging from size, and an earth pony, once again noted from the lack of wings and horn. “Hey...” Gauze was going to say the guard’s name, before she realized that she didn’t know any guards personally and even if she did they all look alike after the don the armor. “...you.” She finished lamely. “What happened to the kid?” “Fell off a balcony.” The guard grunted, before moving towards the door to the patients’ area. Gauze quickly sat up and followed. “Into what I’m assuming was a giant puddle of mud?” She asked, grimacing at the state of the boy’s coat. “Cobblestone, actually. From what I can tell, he was like this before he fell.” The guard said as he pushed the door open. The inside of the infirmary was largely sterile white. The white walls had a dull blue stripe wrapping horizontally around the room to give it a small modicum of color, whilst the tiled flooring remained stark sparkling white. Beds with white sheets surrounded by mobile blue curtains lined the walls, while unused medical equipment remained at the front of the room gathering dust. “Cobblestone?” She asked, her horn lighting up in a light green aura while she levitated the colt from the guard’s back over to the bed nearest to the door. “Must not have been that great a fall.” “At least ten stories.” Gauze looked at the guard with a grimace. “Ten stories into cobblestone? Considering you brought me a colt and not a pancake, I’m going to assume something happened?” The guard nodded. “Princess Celestia saved him.” Gauze smiled at the thought. Their princess was benevolent, no doubt, but she rarely was in the right place or time to take direct action to save somepony’s life. The colt was lucky, not just to be alive, but to be saved by the kindest (not to mention most famous) pony in all Equestria. Her horn lit up again, and a light green flat aura appeared above the colt’s head, and slowly began sliding down his body. The spell was normally used for cleaning wounds; it would be the first time she felt the need to use it on one’s entire body. It was incredible, really. The colt looked like he lived in a mud pit his whole life and had never heard of bathing. Slowly, his appearance became cleaner. His mane was first in line, clearing away the dirt revealed that his mane was naturally a light, somewhat dull blue color. His mane was still tangled, but at least it was clean. The tips of his ears regained color, and became clean as well, before this slowly spread over the rest of his coat. His coat was a dull, light orange. The color appeared unhealthy, and the coat seemed like it hadn’t seen a brush in ages. Once again, it was clean, but the tangles and generally unhealthy appearance of the coat remained. The colt had a couple of worrisome scars. There were two scars on his sides that went disturbingly deep. They seemed symmetrical as far as placement went as well. There was a scar on his neck that looked like it was caused by a fang, like a vampire bit him or something. Numerous little scars dotted his front hooves and barrel, some more recent looking than others. “Oh, and make sure to restrain him.” The guard said. Gauze looked back at the guard, bewildered. “Whatever for?” “The princess said that he’s unstable.” He shrugged. The nurse frowned. She didn’t like it, but the princess knew best. She wordlessly called upon her magic and conjured straps around his forehooves, and attached them to the bed. He wouldn’t be able to leave without her permission. The guard, seeing the colt restrained, saw his job done and retreated from the room. Gauze barely spared him a glance as she prepared an advanced diagnosis spell. As soon as the guard left, the cleaning magic met the colt’s flank. Gauze’s eyes widened as she gasped with horror. On either side of the colt’s flanks, his fur gave away to pink, ugly looking scar tissue roughly the size of an average cutie-mark. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She unconsciously let go of the diagnosis spell as she stared in disbelief. The colt’s cutie-mark had been removed. Removed with a blade. “-he just... jumped!” Luna halted in eating to look at her sister from across the table with her eyebrows raised. “Jumped? Surely you say this in jest, dear sister. Did he believe himself to be a pegasus?” “I do not believe so.” Celestia sighed sadly as she stared down at her untouched plate, a brilliantly prepared omelet rapidly getting colder. “Luna... I think he was trying to take his own life.” Luna’s fork abruptly dropped to the table with a loud CLANK. Celestia wasn’t surprised by her reaction. To take one’s own life intentionally was... unthinkable. Unheard of within Equestria and perhaps all the world. “S-Sister! Perhaps he took a wrong turn, or simply didn’t know how high above the ground he was! You do not truly believe somepony would just... kill themselves, do you?” Luna asked. Intentional suicide was simply too horrifying to consider, especially when the one attempting such is so young. Celestia dipped her head. Perhaps she was wrong, and the colt wasn’t trying to kill himself. It didn’t make her feel any better, considering he was wounded and almost died because of her. The one of the doors to the private dining room suddenly opened, revealing a solar guard. “Nurse Gauze is here to report, your majesties.” He said. Celestia only nodded in response, watching as the guard saluted and a light green unicorn walked into the room. The princess’s heart sank when she saw the look on the unicorn’s pale face. “How is he?” The solar princess asked, hoping to get right to the point. Gauze did not answer. She didn’t even react. She simply walked forward with a file held in her magic. She wordlessly deposited the file on the table, and left the way she came. The door closed shortly afterwards. The two alicorns stared at the door. That doesn’t bode well, is all Celestia could think. “The damage can’t be that bad, can it?” She quietly asked, Luna watching curiously as Celestia floated the file over to herself. The only immediate injuries she detected were fractures and a concussion. Could she have cast the diagnosis spell wrong? She hadn't done something like that in... centuries! She wordlessly opened the file and took the first document out to read. Diagnostic Report (FOAL PATIENT) Identifying Information Name: Unknown Race: Pegasus Gender: Male Celestia blinked at the obvious misprint. The colt was clearly an earth pony; hence the lack of wings or horn. Cutie Mark: Unknown D.O.B: Unknown Age: 12-14 (Unknown) Address: Unknown Parents’ Names: Unknown No cutie mark? Poor foal must get teased relentlessly for being so old without one. But there are so many unknowns here. Celestia frowned. Does the colt have no records? Case History/Background Information Unknown Well. That answers that. Celestia found her worry steadily growing. Spell Diagnosis: Current Concussion (grade 3) TREATMENT ADMINISTERED Laceration, left rear hoof (infected) TREATMENT ADMINISTERED Hairline fracture, left scapula TREATMENT ADMINISTERED Fracture, right carpus TREATMENT ADMINISTERED Fracture, right long pastern bone TREATMENT ADMINISTERED The colt had an infected cut? Celestia winced; the poor dear must have been in a lot of pain. The infection probably made him feverish, which is probably why he made the rash decision of jumping off a balcony several stories above the ground. The severe concussion was something to worry about as well; brain damage could be sustained. Celestia hoped the colt would be okay. Spell Diagnosis: Detected History Celestia’s eyes widened at the very, very long list she was graced with. Her mouth dropped open in horrified shock at the very first item. The detected race was not a misprint... “Sister? Sister, what is wrong? What does it say?” “The colt was a pegasus.” Celestia numbly said. Luna’s face contorted with confusion. “But you said he was a-“ “His wings were amputated.” The lunar princess’ eyes went wide. “W-what!?” “Oh my goodness...” Is all Celestia could say as she continued reading the list of past wounds. “O-oh my goodness...” “What else does it say? Does it say why his wings were removed?” Luna sat up, and trotted over to her sister to read over Celestia’s shoulder. The siblings sat in horrified silence as they read the list, and reread it, and reread it. “...cutie mark removed with a kn-knife...” Luna mumbled shakily. “...w-wing tendons s-severed with toothed saw before being r-ripped off by hoof...” Celestia shook her head, as if attempting to will away the document in front of her. “...possible memory tampering...” “...history of s-severe beatings...” “...possibility of attempted... g-genital muti-mutilation...” “...severe burns on abdomen...” The document abruptly slammed down onto the table. The sisters looked at each other. Silence. For the first time in a very long time... they were both at a loss of what to do. Questions swirled in their minds; who could do this? Why? Where are the colt’s parents? Where... Where did the colt come from? Celestia’s horrified face slowly turned into a determined one. “Guards!” She shouted. Immediately, four guards in shining golden armor busted in through the door and saluted. “Take this to the captain.” The sun princess levitated the document over to a guard. “Tell him I want a team assigned to finding the origins of this colt. I want to know who his parents are and where they live, I want to know what his cutie mark was, and I want to know who amputated his wings.” “Yes your highness!” The guards replied in unison, stoic as ever. Despite this, Celestia could see the unease in their eyes after hearing about the wings. “Dismissed.” With that, the guards flooded out of the room. The princesses remained, their meals untouched. Their expressions no longer displayed shock and terror, but rage and determination. “Even if we cannot fix this colt, we will find the ones who broke him.” Celestia growled. Luna nodded, her face contorted with righteous anger. The night princess had never seen her sister like this, but given the circumstances, she would be very upset if Celestia hadn’t reacted like this. Celestia almost seemed to visibly deflate as the anger flowed out of her features, replaced by concern and sadness. “But in the meantime, there is a horrifically damaged colt in the infirmary who seems to believe he has done something to wrong me. I will dissuade him of such notions.” She stood up, but was stopped by a blue hoof on her shoulder. “Sister by your own description the colt was terrified of you. Are you certain this is wise?” The solar princess frowned. “It would be best to put his fears to rest as soon as possible. He probably thought he was trespassing, and considering his past treatment, he probably thought I would... punish him for such a thing.” Celestia put a wing around her sister. “I’m sure that after I assure him that he is in no trouble, he will trust us to help him.” The white alicorn let go of her sister, and began walking towards the door. “I suppose you’re right...” Luna finally said. “After all, for what possible reason would a colt who’s done nothing fear you so?” Beep...beep...beep... Coal Dust moaned as his head pounded. He attempted to crack his eyes open, only to close them shut after a bright light invaded his eyes. He heard... something. Beeping? A... heart monitor? He felt dazed and confused. Where was he? What happened? He tried and tried to remember, only for the memories to seemingly slip out of his grasp. He tried harder, remembering a... very angry Lunar Empress, which didn’t bode well... Then his eyes shot open. Beep, beep, beep, beep The bright white light burned his eyes, but he didn’t care. He remembered. He jumped! He jumped because he wanted to die, because... because... Beep beep beep beep beep The Solar Empress was after him. He tried to get up, only to find his limbs bound. No, no no! He struggled, struggled so hard. He thought he heard voices, shouting and yelling. He couldn’t hear, he couldn’t see. He was trapped. The Solar Empress had him trapped! She kept him alive! Why!? Why!? NO NO NO NO NO NO! Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep He was hyperventilating. Struggling as hard as he could against the restraints, feeling his muscles ache and his bones groan in protest. He didn’t care, he would cut off his legs if he had to in order to get out of the restraints. He felt hooves on him, trying to hold him down. He barely noticed. His eyes were wide but they didn’t see anything, as he continued to struggle and writhe until- SNAP! Bebebebebebebebebebebebebe Coal’s world erupted in agony as he felt his right foreleg’s knee break in his attempts to get free. Despite the pain, despite the sensation of blood in his mouth as he was no doubt biting something, he tried even harder to pull his right foreleg through the restraint, which only exacerbated the injury. He could feel the shattered bone grinding into itself as he redoubled his panicked efforts. Then he felt a prick in his neck. Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep His efforts weakened, his breathing slowed. Beep beep beep beep beep beep He blinked his eyes rapidly as he slumped back into the bed, dazed. He weakly turned his head to see a syringe in his neck from the corner of his eye. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep He looked up, and focused on a light green unicorn’s alarmed looking face. He blinked slowly, not quite understanding what was in front of him. Her horn was glowing. Why was it glowing? Coal slowly turned his gaze back to the syringe in his neck, and noted it glowing the same color. Oh. Coal found it difficult to... feel anymore. Everything felt duller, no pain, no fear and desperation. No, wait, the fear was there but simply... tired. Resolved. In his drugged mind, he forgot how unlikely help was. So he spoke. “Please... help... me...” he rasped. The unicorn said something, still all he felt he could hear was the steady beeping of a heart monitor. Beep...beep...beep... “I...I’ll be... good I never... wanted to leave... I’ll... go back... I swear please... I’ll... go back to... the camp...” His vision dimmed. “Please don’t... take me to... her...” The world faded. A hunter stalked its prey. Red mane puffed, a scorpion tail swayed back and forth threateningly. Slitted, amber eyes gazed balefully at the unaware light blue unicorn. The manticore tensed, ready to leap. With a roar, the manticore was sailing towards its target. The blue unicorn spun around, horn glowing magenta and looking totally unafraid. A beam of light magenta struck the manticore in the chest, knocking it back slightly. It shook its head, and watched as the unicorn casually walked away. The manticore attempted to rise, but felt great pain when it attempted to. It looked down at its paws, and watched in horror as the skin and fur sloughed off of the muscle, and as the muscle seemed to unravel itself and fall off. Blood pooled around the manticore as it let out a gurgling whine, its skin and muscle dissolving and leaving behind bleached white bones. In a few seconds, all that was left was a skeleton on a puddle of blood and half-dissolved viscera. Lulamoon narrowed her violet eyes as she wandered through the strange forest she had been deposited into. She had to get back to her ponies, she had to continue the rebellion. It was the first group that had actually done something and succeeded under the rule of the Celestial Tyrants. They needed her. She had attempted teleporting back, but every time she had the destination in mind, her horn ached marking it out of range. She could be anywhere. Lulamoon sighed as she thought back to the slaves she had saved. They needed her too. The rebels she was leading... many of them could be monsters in their own right. They could see the ones she saved as useless and ‘mercy’ kill them, or worse; simply put them in the same situation they escaped working for different ponies. Plus that one slave, the mere boy that she had attempted to take with her... she had no idea where he was. Probably dead. It was a miracle that Lulamoon herself survived such a stunt; using such a powerful spell to power teleportation of all things. Lulamoon shook her head. At least it was a painless death, she mused sadly. It was better the slave boy die like that than be caught with her by the Lunar Empress, of all ponies. She couldn’t dwell on it. If she dwelled on all those she had failed, she would go mad. Or worse... become like those she tries to desperately to fight. Lock away her feelings; see ponies as only tools to be used and discarded like all of the leaders before her. Besides, she had other things to worry about, such as finding out where she was. After a long while of trudging through the dangerous forest and exterminating any wild creature that got in her path, she finally reached the edge. ...and was graced with the view of a very strange and... idealistic cottage. The roof was actually growing grass, like the hut was a living thing. Little fluffy animals such as bunnies and squirrels ran about doing who-knows-what. Intending to find the door of the strange overgrown hovel, Lulamoon circled it. Birdhouses were all around, in nearby trees or on the house itself. The house was elevated on a small hill, and appeared to have a bridge over a small creek that separated the hellish forest from the rest of the world. A simple wooden door marked the entrance to the home. Clearly somepony lived within the cottage, so Lulamoon stepped towards the property. The animals only stopped for a few seconds to observe her, but otherwise let her pass unmolested towards the cottage door. She knocked three times, and quietly prepared a very nasty spell just in case the homeowner is hostile...