:Wake!:
:Wake! It is time?:
:It is.:
:Yeeeeeeee:"ssssssss..."
The figure slumps upwards, like a puppet on strings. Which, considering the circumstances, isn't that bad of an analogy. Valiant finally felt warmth flow through his body for the first time in what had felt like ages. He had been so cold, so alone... for so long. Where was he? And why couldn't he see?
He realized with mild irritation that he was still in the ridiculous costume. Valiant felt the first few rounds of intense malaise. Something wasn't right here, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. He wished he could take off the stupid mask. Then a few breaths of fresh air would sort him out. He sniffed, realizing that there was a horrible, reeking stench. Coming from him. He sniffed a bit more before it dawned on him; his supply of herbal scent had melted into nothing but rot.
Retching and gagging, Valiant struggled to remove the mask covering his face. For some reason, he couldn't pull it off. Valiant gripped the mask by the beak and tugged hard, resulting in nothing but a sore muzzle. He tried to remove it with magic; but that too came to no avail.
Falling onto his haunches with a sigh, Valiant tried his best to ignore the terrible smell as he took in his surroundings. He was in some sort of cave, judging by the darkness and the occasional dripping sounds echoing about. He wished he could hear more than that. The stupid doctor's mask obstructed is hearing. He swore he could hear voices in the shadows, but something told him that those voices weren't in his mask. They were in his head...
:Get out.:
:Escape the darkness:
:The Plague must spread once again.:
Something was with him down in these caverns, wherever he was. Something that didn't want him there.
Valiant sat up once again and reached out a tentative hoof into the darkness. His covered hoof struck stone. Progress. Valiant began to slowly poke and prod his way through the labyrinth. He hated the dark. And now, something inside him seemed to magnify his hatred tenfold. He felt a burn of anger swell in his belly. When he smacked his beak-like mask into a stalagmite, he lost control.
"I HATE THIS STUPID-" he felt something in the stale underground air grow agitated as he screamed, but he didn't care "-BUCKING-" the energy collected around him "-CAVE!" The energy swirled about his horn, and it sparked into a toxic green light. The light dissipated but did not vanish; it formed a misty green trail that glowed on the cavern floor, making a path of sorts.
Valiant blinked several times.
He wondered how in Tartarus he had done that. Last time he checked, he only knew basic healing spells and how to levitate objects. Valiant shrugged off these nagging thoughts and decided he was better off following the glowing path at his hooves.
615 B.C. - BEFORE THE PLAGUE
"Hey, Val."
"What, Merry?"
"You ever wonder... if maybe we're not doing what we were always meant to?"
"Merry. Why are you getting all philoso-psycho on me?"
"I dunno. I just have this feeling... like we shouldn't be doctors."
"You're talking crazy. Merry, you have the cutie mark of a bandaged heart. My cutie mark is a caduceus. Obvious symbols that we were meant to heal. And face it; we're the best doctors since the Founding! We've saved lives, Merry. We help ponies! Why would you not want to help ponies? Why would you ever want to quit?"
"I... I dunno... sometimes I just feel like I should quit while I'm ahead. I mean, you've heard about that disease coming in from Yakyakistan, right? What if... I don't know..."
"What if it comes here?"
"...Yeah."
"And it starts infecting ponies?"
"...Yeah."
"Then we'll just have to stop that from happening."
"..."
"..."
"Valiant?"
"Yes, Merry-Go-Round?"
"I'm scared."
"I'll admit that I am, too. That's a harsh illness, from what I've heard. But don't worry about it, we'll be fine! We're doctors, like I said before. And damn good ones at that."
"..."
"Merry? You okay?"
"Val..."
"Yeah?"
"I... I love you."