//------------------------------// // Chapter X: This Damn Body (Edited by author) // Story: The Great Powers Within // by PanzerAsp RD //------------------------------// "Novy!" I heard the muffled yells of a pony standing to my left. "Novy, are you conscious? Can you hear me?" "I'm sorry..." I mumbled, only half-aware of what I was saying. I felt pain pulsing all over my body, I couldn't feel my own limbs at all. I felt myself being lifted, and I lost consciousness. I opened my eyes slowly, slowly regaining power over my own body. I was laying on a hospital bed, bandages all over my body, machines working to keep a display of my vitals. I tried to move my legs, but I felt so tired...I was hurting all over. I looked down at my body to more thoroughly examine my body, I had bandages covering my torso, and some on my arms and legs. My right side, and shoulder had been bandaged thoroughly. "Where's Twilight?" I asked aloud. I had to make sure she was okay. I summed up all the strength I had, and I pushed my left leg off the side of the bed, then the right one. I put my feet on the floor, and tried to put weight on them. I tried to stand up, but as I did, I lost balance. I fell forward and grabbed the nearest machine to keep myself balanced. I held my hand on the wall as I moved across the room. A nurse ran into the room and put her hoof out in front of me. "Sir, you shouldn't be up! You need to lay back down right now! Your wounds are too bad for you to try to walk so soon!" exclaimed the white-furred pony who was moving me backward, but keeping me steady. I sat on the bed, but not without the little resistance I could give in my current condition. "But I need to know if Twilight is okay!" I yelled, my voice sounded scratchy and dry. "She's being treated, sir, please, just let us work! We've got more patients coming in than we have rooms, and I'm not gonna waste precious time arguing with you. Stay in this room on this bed and don't move." She demanded. I decided that if Twilight was being treated she'd be safe. I felt horrible...I should've been able to kill Chrysalis...I wasn't strong enough...All these ponies died because I was too weak to kill the Queen... "She's gone too far...She hurt Twilight...killed all these ponies...She must pay." I said to myself as stared at my clenched fists. I saw a drop of blood fall down onto my hand, and I raised it to my face, feeling my nose. My finger had blood dripping off it, I grabbed the tissues sitting on the stand next to the bed and wiped my nose and fingers with it. I twisted up a tissue and shoved it up my nose. I laid my head back on the pillow and stared at the roof. One question remained unanswered...Why am I not dead? What happened to Chrysalis? The last thing I could remember was being stabbed and bitten repeatedly by all the Changelings surrounding me. I could remember a voice though...a very familiar female voice...Who did it belong too? I drifted off into sleep, welcoming it, my exhaustion making me overwhelmingly tired. "Novy, wake up...Novy, come now, you need to wake up." That voice, that's the voice! My eyes shot open and I looked at the alicorn standing before me. Princess Celestia was here, her voice was the one I recognized. "I'm sorry if I startled you." said the alicorn princess. "I'm sure you have questions for me." "Did you drive Chrysalis away?" I asked. "I did." She answered. "I brought my royal guards with me, and we drove the Changelings back." "How are Twilight and the others?" I asked. She had a grim look on her face. "I'm afraid they've received some very bad wounds...they will recover, but...the Cutie Mark Crusaders...they were in their treehouse when the Changelings attacked. None of the three fillies survived." She informed me. "This...This is all my fault. I should've been able to stop her..." I said to myself as I felt my heart being torn apart in my chest. "Novy...No one blames you. The only one who deserves any degree of blame is Chrysalis." She said, trying to help. "I'm going to make her pay...She will rue the day she attacked Ponyville. I'll make her beg for her life as I hold my sword to her throat." I said angrily. "I need to heal, so I can attack, and make my point to her." "Novy, you cannot fight her alone. The whole of Equestria is behind you. Chrysalis has been an enemy to pony-kind for as long as she's lived." said Celestia. "Thank you, Princess." I said gratefully. She nodded as she said goodbye and left my room. I looked down at the sheets of my hospital bed. Scootaloo, Sweetiebelle, and Applebloom...all dead. The six are probably in despair right now...Twilight is probably grieving, and I can't be there for her. This damn body isn't strong enough...I can't be what the world needs me to be...I laid my head back, and welcomed sleep, feeling exhausted from the soreness all over my body. I closed my eyes and let sleep take me over. I was sitting on a bench with a girl next to me. She had long curly brown hair, and wore a scarf with a blouse and jeans. She was laughing and seemed to be enjoying herself. She leaned over and put her head on my shoulder. I couldn't control what I was doing...I put my arm around her and she kissed me. I kissed her back, and we sat on that bench together for a while. I snapped back into reality, my eyes shooting open. "What the hell was that? Some kind of dream? No, it was too...real." I thought to myself, trying to make sense of it. Who was that girl in my dream..?