The World that Came After

by Aslfrasle

The Doctor Will See You Now

Chapter 4 The Doctor Will See You Now

“Everypony needs sleep,” said Grey. “ignoring your body’s needs and running off to dangerous places while sleep deprived is probably why you got so badly injured last time you here.”

“I’m fine. I’ve never had that much of problem with sleep anyway,” Noir said in response. “My body got used to operating on less sleep than normal and now it just doesn’t need as much sleep.”

Grey was about to explain everything wrong with what she had just said, when a startling revelation dawned on him. Looking over her body, he could see none of the signs of sleep deprivation that he had seen in numerous patients over the years. Her shoulders were not slumped, she had no bags under her eyes, she even seemed more alert and focused than she had during the day. It was almost as if her body thought it was daytime she had just woken from a good night’s sleep.

“I don’t know what kind of crazy mutation is going on that you don’t need sleep, but I certainly don’t have it,” he said. “Unlike you, I’m dead tired right now and I’m going to need at least a few hours of sleep to be ready for searching the hospital. I don’t wanna run in there sleep deprived and get injured like you probably did.”

“I wasn’t injured because I was sleep deprived, I was injured because something snuck up on me and got me from behind,” she retorted.

“I would say your senses were dulled by lack of sleep but that probably wouldn’t change anything,” he mused, “regardless, I still need sleep before I’m willing to go in there.”

“How about this, we’ve still got a couple of hours left until we get there, right?” she asked. Grey nodded in response. “You can sleep all you want, and I’ll carry you with my magic. When we get there I’ll wake you. Deal?”

“Are you sure you can hold something with your magic for that long?” Grey asked. “I do weigh a bit more than your average pegasus and it’s still a ways away.”

“The weight doesn’t really matter,” said Noir. “I’ll just make you weightless with my ability so that it the strain on my magic will only be minimal.”

Grey was about to give up. Even if he got to agree to wait, she’d probably just run off the moment he starting sleeping. Though if he agreed he’d be completely defenseless against this psycho mare who didn’t seem to have much of a conscience.

“How do I know I can trust you?” he asked, “How do I know this isn’t one of your little cons and the moment I close my eyes everything I own will be gone when I wake up?”

“If this was a con sweetie, would I have really told you about how I go around conning people?” She had a point. “That seems kind of counterintuitive, don’t you think?”

“That could all be part of some massive plan you have to lull me into a false sense of security,” said Grey.

“I think you might be over-thinking this. Besides while you may be a goody two-horseshoes you’re not that bad,” said Noir, “plus, if I stole all your stuff and left ... I’d never be able to find out whatever story is hidden behind that dead flesh sewed to your flank.”

Grey was surprised. While he made no huge effort to hide it his doctor’s coat usually covered it. “That is a private matter and I would thank you not to go digging too deep into my affairs,” he said.

“Whatever,” said Noir, “anyway do you want to sleep or not. The decision is yours so either sleep or stop complaining about being tired.”

“Can I trust you?” Grey said with a harsh tone. “I ain’t gonna go along with this without knowing there’s some degree of trust that I’ll be safe.”

“Geez, you really are paranoid aren’t you,” she said. “Fine, how about this. When I was a kid there was this urban legend my friend and I heard about. There’s a special kind of promise you make, I think it was called a ‘Pinkie Promise’ and if you ever break it a pink demon comes out from Tartarus to chase you down until the end of your days. Is that good enough for you Mr. Trusty Pants”

“I guess it’s the best I’m going to get so it’ll have to do,” said Grey with a sigh. “So how are you supposed to do it?”

Noir lifted her right hoof. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” While she was speaking, she used her raised hoof to emulate the motions she was describing. “It’s that simple, now you have to do it too,” she said.

Grey couldn’t believe how silly that little display was, but if this is what it took to gain her trust it was what he had to do. He raised his hoof.

“No, it has to the left hoof,” said Noir.

“Ugh …” he raised his left hoof, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my ey–ACK!” Grey shouted as he poked himself in the eye.

“There, now can we get on with this little journey? Or do you need me to walk across some hot coals, or maybe even save your life before you’re willing to go to sleep?” she asked.

“Fine,” he grumbled, “here’s hoping that your word is a good as you say it is …” said Grey. “I won’t be long, I should even be fine before we get there. Just a little shut-eye is all I nee—”

“Just shut up and go to sleep already!” Noir shouted.

Grey felt himself get lighter as Noir adjusted his weight. He found a nice spot on the ground to relax and slowly drifted off into slumber. The last things he felt was a calming breeze washing over him as her magic enveloped his body.

* * * * * * * *

Grey awoke to a feeling of something nudging his flank.

“Hey wake up, already! We’re here,” said Noir.

“Ugh…what?” he asked.

“Come on, we’re at the hospital and you need to wake up!” said Noir

“All right, all right, I’m up,” said Grey.

“Now is her royal majesty ready to go find that bit, or do you wanna sleep for a couple more hours?” Noir asked.

“Jeez, what crawled up your flank and died? Last thing I remembered we were on almost friendly terms?” said Grey.

“Yeah, well you didn’t just spend the last half-hour carrying someone, only to find out that they were gonna stay asleep for another two hours after we got here!” she spat. “I even got you up a couple of times and you literally refused to get up like some little colt!”

“I don’t remember any of that. I guess I might of been more tired than I thought I was,” he said with a sigh. “Sorry about that.”

“Whatever, let’s just go inside and find that bit so we can leave,” she said.

Grey picked himself up and began to walk up to the entrance of the hospital alongside Noir. He examined the ruined building as he and Noir passed through the one of the ruined hallways. The once clean white hallways were now stained by grime and the blood of raiders and explorers alike. Ruined chunks of wall and ceiling were scattered around the floor and the paint had almost entirely chipped off. Inside rooms everything that wasn’t nailed down had been taken, drawers turned inside out, scraps of posters hanging from the walls...it all seemed almost familiar.

He shook his head. It couldn’t be, he thought to himself. Though he had seen this hospital many times on his flights to and from Appleoosa he had never been inside before. He couldn’t remember going inside any hospitals since the Blight hit. The last time he remembered being inside a hospital was his father’s clinic a few months after the Blight’s initial wave. His father was preparing to go out and help people in need when there was a banging on the front door. He went to answer, and then…

Grey’s body spasmed as he remembered that day at his father’s clinic. It had been suppressed so deep in his psyche he had forgotten it was even there.

“No…No…Don’t do it…Don’t open the door…They’re going to…” he muttered to himself.

“Grey, what’s going on? You’re starting to freak me out,” said Noir.

“No… You can’t…Stop…. I have to…Dad’s…” He let out a pained scream and collapsed on the dirty floor of the ruined hospital.

“Grey!” shouted Noir as she rushed to his side. “Wake up, you need to tell me what’s going on! Come on, what’ wrong with you!?” She tried slapping him across the muzzle but he just lay there unmoving.

“Celestia dammit wake up Grey!” she shouted.

Still nothing.

“Ugh…Well, if you’re gonna take another nap, I can’t have you doing it out here in the open.” Noir picked him up with her magic one more and began carrying her into a nearby room where she lay him down on the medical bed inside.

* * * * * * * *

Grey awoke to a feeling of cold, grainy feeling on one side of his body. He did not remember falling asleep though. The last thing he remembered was walking through the hospital with Noir when he felt a massive migraine and everything went black. As he opened his eyes, he saw he was lying on a medical bed in some side room. As he pulled himself back onto his hooves, he saw Noir walking in.

He groaned, the pain still wracking his brain, “What happened to me?” he asked.

“You looked like you were thinking about something, then you just screamed and fell over. I tried to get you up but you weren’t having any of it. I dragged you in here so you’d be safe while I scouted the area looking for that bit” she explained. “What happened?”

“Since we entered I had been feeling this weird nagging feeling, like something was horribly wrong but I didn’t know what. I thought it was nothing because I usually get that feeling near hospitals and it never really amounts to anything,” he said. “This was the first time I can remember being inside a hospital though, and as I was looking around something in my brain clicked and I remembered why I usually stayed away…”

“What was it?” she asked. “I need to make sure you’re okay before we keep going. I can’t have you freaking out when there could be creatures lurking in the shadows.”

“I remembered the last time I had been in a hospital…the day my family was murdered.” Grey’s breath became irregular as he dredged up the memory again.

“Oh...Gray…I’m sorry,” she said, “I didn’t know…Are you going to be okay to keep going though?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I’m gonna faint every time I start thinking about hospitals. I’m not really in any condition to move around right now,” he panted.

“How about we try something that might help.” said Noir. “Back in Manehatten, I saw plenty of folks who’d been traumatized by the Blight or what they’d seen. There was this doctor there, he talked to them, gave them a way to work through the pressure calmly and quietly at their own pace. Maybe that’s what you need to do.”

“You think it’s that easy? I just talk about it and *poof* trauma begone?” he shouted. “ That’s not how it wo—”

“Grey, just listen to me for a moment!’ she shouted back. “I’ve seen it happen, we can get through this if you’re willing to talk to me. I’ll only sit and listen, no buts, no fuss, I’ll even use a memory spell after if you want me to forget about it, but you need to work through it. Otherwise we might s well just head back to town!”

“I still think this is a load of horse apples, but I don’t see you changing your mind any time soon…” Gray sighed.

“It one of the first couple of weeks after Blight’s initial wave. Our family wasn’t fancy enough to make it into one of your precious domes, so we prepared a back-up plan. We stocked up on food and other necessities, then once we had a small fortune we found a band of traveling ponies, one of the original tribes of the Unworthy. Just like us they were banned from entering the domes and had joined up to find a way to survive. Together we came up with the idea for the massive series of tunnels that make up the Unworthy’s empire today. With the help of the Diamond Dogs, we created several small city-sized communities connected by tunnels. My family lived there for 6 years while the initial wave passed,” Grey said.

“That doesn’t really explain the whole ‘hospital-phobia’ you got going on though…” Noir said.

“You said you’d listen! No buts!” he shouted. “I’m getting to that if you’d just wait a second.”

“A couple of months after the first wave, the world outside was livable again, though I use that term loosely. My father wanted to leave, to help the ponies and everyone who lived out in the wastes. He had plenty of apprentices so the city would be in good hands. The new leader of the tribes, former Prince Blueblood, wasn’t too keen on this idea and banned my family from leaving. My father had been planning an escape when Blueblood found out and he sent his men to ‘solve the problem.’ My father heard their knock on the door of our underground clinic, and when he saw who it was he had me hide in the bunker underneath the main room…they burst in and...and...” Grey had started shaking.

“Grey, look at me. You can get through this. I’m here. Just look at me, and keep talking. Now what happened? If you want to calm down, we can talk about something else, like Blueblood. From what I’d heard he almost never left Canterlot back then,” said Noir.

“Okay. I don’t know much though, only what I heard from my parents,” said Grey. “When the princesses first created the domes to protect Equestria’s major cities Blueblood wasn’t allowed into them. Even though he was a prince, they said he wouldn’t contribute anything contribute anything to new domed society. After this he actually created the Unworthy to fight back against the domes and the princesses. According to Blueblood, they were raiding Canterlot when the arrival of the first wave forced them out. A couple of weeks later we met up with them.”

“And that’s how your family became part of his underground city?” Noir asked.

“Yeah,” he said.

“I’d never heard any of that before.” she said. “Are you feeling a little better now? We can talk about other things if you’re still not up to it.”

“No, I can do it. Like you said, this isn’t just going to go away on it’s own. I need to get past this.” said Grey as he resumed his story. “That’s when Blueblood’s goons appeared at our house.”

“They burst in. They wanted to know what my father was doing. Why he wanted to leave when he was so important to the city.” Grey’s voice became haggard, his breaths short and shallow. “He told them nothing was going on and that he had decided to stay after all. Then they hit him, smacked him to the ground with a metal rod. They told him they knew about his escape plans and that Blueblood had deemed him ‘too dangerous to keep around.’ My mother jumped in to protect him but she was beaten down without much trouble.” Grey had begun to hyperventilate.

“Gray, focus. Breathe with me. In, out… in, out.” she said.

His breathing calmed a bit. “I saw them grab her through the gate. They said she was ‘too pretty’ to kill-off. He tried to free her but, one of the bigger ones, a minotaur, grabbed him by the throat. I heard him tell my father. ‘You’re gonna die here pal, so I hope you don’t mind if we take this pretty young thing offa your er… hooves.’ I wanted to scream but my father simply looked at me out of the corner of his eye and told me to stay quiet. ‘Oh don’t worry,’ said the minotaur, ‘we ain’t gonna rape her or nothin. We’re just gonna sell her to one of the slave caravans. She’ll fetch us a hefty sum,’ he laughed. Then I remember everything going white as I saw him tighten his grip and slowly crush my father’s throat…”

“Oh my Celestia…that’s just monstrous. I can’t believe you had to live through that Gray. How did you escape though? Wouldn’t they have seen you leave the city?” she asked.

“I was abnormally small for a colt, so I was usually able to slip by people unnoticed. I spent the next two years after that living on the streets. My father’s clinic had been repossessed so I had nowhere to live. I was supposed to be dead, so I mainly ate out of garbage cans and slept in dingy back alleys where no one would look. One day I went back to the clinic and underneath the building in a hidden alcove I found a Blight Shard. My father had been studying it to reverse the effects of the Blight. The moment I touched it I felt a searing pain as it was absorbed into my body. When I woke up, I had the cloaking ability I do now, which I used to escape to the surface.” Grey sighed, he couldn’t believe he had forgotten about his father’s death.

“Wow, I’m honestly amazed you made it through all that. Do you feel better at all? Did talking about it help?” she asked.

“I don’t feel the pressure on my brain anymore, so that’s a start,” said Grey, “I’m not feeling as lightheaded or panicky either so, I think your Manehatten doctor did his job.

That’s good to hear Grey. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Noir smiled. I t had been the first time he had seen her smile. It was nice. “Are you ready to go now?We still have an entire hospital to explore.”

“Sure. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” said Grey. “Hey Noir…”

“Yeah?” she said.

“Thanks for the chat. I honestly feel a lot better and my head’s much clearer now.”

“No problem. Be careful though, I’m not some free shrink…Next time you’re paying by the hour!” she grinned.

Grey shook his head "What is it with you and money?" he asked as he followed her out the door into the ruined hospital again.

Author's Note:

I'm really sorry this took so long. I've been kind of busy with my college classes this semester, plus I'm going into my last year so I've been kind of busy. I can assure you though that the next chapter won't take nearly as long as this. I've only got two finals left before the winter break so I should have plenty of time for writing. The next chapter might be a little longer than this in terms of words as it is the end of this first arc of the story.

As always, I hope everypony here enjoyed the new chapter.

Comments

[Moonshine-Dusk]

- If you break that promise Noir... I WILL FIND YOU!

[Riptid3]

UPDATE!

[Midnight Words]

YAY! YES! NEW UPDATE!

[Aslfrasle]

3582423>>3580820>>3579787 Glad to see you all enjoyed the update. I'll try and be quicker on the next one if everyone here enjoys them so much.

[Ferote]

Hooah, new update.

[Riptid3]

3585973 Dude that'd be great.

[Aslfrasle]

3587334 well I only have one more final on Monday so I should have plenty of time for writing.