Cordoba walked into the hospital. She wore a pair of Valiant’s sunglasses. They’d served him well, and sure enough nobody recognized her.
She headed down the hallway towards where she had last seen Coloratura. It was a door marked with a C, easy enough to find. However, as she approached, she stopped just outside, hearing voices.
“What are we going to do about the AIDS?”
“It’s a problem, but we have bigger issues. Don’t forget about the electronics.”
Cordoba pushed the door open. Two mares wearing long labcoats looked up in surprise. Coloratura was not in the room.
“Where did the patient go?” Cordoba asked.
“Who are you?” one of them asked. The sun through the window glinted on the gold lapel pins both doctors wore.
“What were you doing in an empty patient room discussing weird things?” Cordoba replied.
The two of them glanced at each other before turning back to Cordoba. “We moved Ms. Coloratura down the hall.”
“Okay.” Cordoba turned to go. Something splashed underhoof. Water? Whatever. She headed down the hall.
Coloratura’s new room was easy to find and Cordoba walked in. She pulled out her cutlass and held it over Coloratura’s neck as she lay in bed.
“Who are you?” Coloratura muttered.
Cordoba took off her sunglasses. These things were the perfect disguise. Nobody had even noticed the sword.
“I’m here to kill you for what you’ll do,” Cordoba said.
“What I’ll do? Not what I’ve done?” Coloratura frowned. “Not that I can even think of anything I’ve done.”
“But you will,” said Cordoba. “And so I have come to take my prevenge.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Coloratura’s one good eye looked away. “It would be better than lying in this hospital bed, starving on hospital food. Not to mention the stuff they keep doing to me.”
Cordoba paused. “What stuff?”
“I woke up the other day and found out someone had been sticking things in my eye socket.” Coloratura gestured to her eyepatch. “Bad enough that I’ve lost my career and the hospital is trying to starve me to death. Now somepony is using me as a lab rat.”
Coloratura sighed. “And then you come to kill me for something I haven’t even done yet.”
“So what you’re saying is that death would be a mercy?” Cordoba frowned and then shrugged. “Okay. One living hell coming up.” She put away her cutlass and turned to go.
“Or you could make my life better and then suddenly take it all away,” Coloratura suggested.
Cordoba stopped. “And why should I listen to you?”
Coloratura pulled the sheets back. She’d lost a lot of weight. In addition to the terrible hospital food, something else must have been going on. There was no way a pony could get so scrawny without help.
“Look,” said Coloratura. “Even if I could go out in public with my face like it is, ponies would think I was an anorexic or something and every tabloid would run pictures of my nonexistent posterior. You get me a cheesecake and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?”
“Within reason.”
“Within reason doesn’t really apply,” said Pinkie, coming in with a cheesecake. “She’s one of Valiant’s after all.”
“Where did you get that?” Coloratura asked, her face lighting up.
“Oh, I have cheesecakes stashed all over Ponyville for cheesecake emergencies. Sounds like this situation sure qualifies. Sorry if this one’s a little stale.”
Coloratura’s face fell as she took the first bite. “Yeah, I think it’s spoiled.”
Pinkie tossed the rest over her shoulder and it slapped against the wall, sticking there. “No problem! Let’s go get donuts!”
She pulled Coloratura out of bed, throwing off the various probes and monitors and dragging her towards the door. Coloratura’s spindly legs barely supported her, and sure enough her ass looked like an axe head.
Cordoba stood there for a moment, processing. “Puta flaca mala,” she muttered. Now that Coloratura was out of the hospital, there was nothing to pressure her with. She should have killed her to start with.
Maybe she could team up with whoever was messing with Coloratura. Or kill them to have Coloratura all to herself. Either was a good option.
She should go join Pinkie and Coloratura. If they had donuts, maybe there would be coffee.