More Dreams

by totallynotabrony

Rehab

“Somepony get a doctor!” Applejack shouted, slamming open the hospital’s front door.

She rushed in, carrying Coloratura on her back, blood dripping on the floor.

“What happened?” asked a nurse, grabbing for a gurney.

“A rock,” said Applejack. “I think? This is how I found her. Please, you gotta help.”

“It’s what we do,” the nurse assured her. “Please have a seat and somepony will be out to talk with you momentarily.”

“Isn’t there anything I can do?” Applejack insisted.

“Do you know anything about facial reconstruction, skin grafts, or ocular surgery?”

“Uh…no.”

“There’s your answer.”

Employees of Ponyville Hospital had Bitchy Nurse down to a science.

Applejack reluctantly sat down in the waiting room. The reality of the situation had started to sink in. There’d been a disagreement. Coloratura had been hurt. To be fair, she’d insulted the Pie family, which was kind of sort of maybe also the Apple family, but to be even more fair, she’d been provoked. There was a rap battle in there somewhere.

To put a long story shorter, Coloratura wanted to use Holder’s Boulder in her show, had traded words with Limestone Pie, and gotten her face caved in by a rock the size of a bowling ball.

Nothing was simple. Applejack sighed. Valiant had said she would be a good leader, but was that what she wanted? Dealing with things like this all the time?

She sighed again. If she didn’t, who would? Who could?

The door was booted open and a filly waving around a sword barged in. “Where is that puta con cara de perro?”

“Are you looking for somepony?” asked the receptionist.

“What’s goin’ on, Cordoba?” Applejack asked.

“What did they do with Starlight Glimmer?” Cordoba demanded. “Is she in the morgue?”

“Rainbow and I personally made sure the body was cremated,” Applejack assured her. “Don’t want that one comin’ back.”

Cordoba relaxed slightly. She looked around and sheathed her cutlass. “Okay.” As if realizing something, she looked at Applejack. “Why are you here?”

“Friend of mine got hurt. Did you meet Coloratura?”

“Un poco.” Cordoba shrugged.

“You don’t strike me as a pop music fan,” said Applejack. “She’s a singer. Wears some real strange outfits.” She frowned, thinking about the damage to Coloratura’s face.

That in itself was worrying. The group of equals-sign ponies that had tried to take over Equestria just recently had all worn masks, many of them to hide facial injury.

A mare came into the waiting room. She wore a lab coat that reached the floor. There was a small gold pin on the lapel, with letters that read SOS. “Who just brought in the most recent patient?”

“Me.” Applejack stood up and went over. “Are you a doctor?”

The mare eyed her. “What, does that surprise you, a female doctor?”

“Huh?” Applejack frowned. “No, why would it? Equestria is mostly female. My friends and I routinely kick more tail than any stallion ever. I’ve watched that filly over there castrate a guy, kill in self defense, and commit a few other acts of violence. Believe me, I’m on board with girl power.”

“If you say so.” The doctor gave her a suspicious look, but let it go. “She was awake enough to tell us her name, though I’ll have to get some more information from you.” She leaned in closer to Applejack and lowered her voice. “Is it really Countess Coloratura, the celebrity?”

Applejack lowered her own voice. “It sure is, and if anypony makes a big deal out of that I’ll make sure y’all regret it. I want her to get her rest.”

“Ponyville is actually a popular place for celebrity rehabilitation,” the doctor said. “It’s a small town where they aren’t as well known and the regular monster attacks and such make for excellent excuses for the news to focus on something else.”

“Did you say rehabilitation?” Applejack asked. “She got hurt, she’s not addicted to anything.”

The doctor nodded. “Whatever you say.”

Applejack gritted her teeth, but changed the subject. “How is she?”

“Well, I’m not going to lie. We’re already past the window for a high-powered magic artifact or transformation to have much effect.”

Applejack nodded. She had some experience with such things.

“The facial bones can be fixed. She might even get away with only minor scarring of the skin. The big issue, though, is her eye. It was crushed.”

“Crushed?”

Annoyed, the doctor replied, “Like a grape, tomato, whatever your chosen fruit. It’s paste. She’s not getting it back. Clear enough?”

Again, Applejack gritted her teeth and changed the subject. “When can I visit her?”

“If she’s awake, soon. We’ll get her stabilized and put her on some painkillers.” The doctor gestured for Applejack to follow her. Cordoba hopped off her seat and came along.

They paused at Coloratura’s room. It was simply marked with a C. That gave Applejack some reassurance that the hospital truly was discrete about celebrities.

The doctor checked with the nurse staff and gave Applejack the go ahead to enter.

Coloratura’s face was wrapped up. Even though she still had one eye, it was mostly covered. Applejack sat at the bedside and touched her hoof. “Hey sugarcube.”

Coloratura moaned. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“You’re supposed to get better.”

“This is going to end my career. They already told me, AJ. About my face. What am I supposed to do? I didn’t even get that egg-shaped boulder, and now I’m going to miss my scheduled tour, on top of being ugly.”

“Come on, you aren’t ugly.”

“Oh, but I’m right about everything else?”

“I was getting to that. Look, sometimes things don’t go the way you want. At least you’ve got plenty of money to pay for this and to live on for a good long while.”

“That’s right,” Coloratura remembered. “Thanks for taking over as my manager, AJ.”

That was right. Applejack had agreed to manage Coloratura’s career after her last agent had been castrated and become a soprano singer in his own right.

“We’ll get through this,” said Applejack. “The best thing for you now is rest.”

Coloratura’s mouth was visible below the bandages and she smiled. “Sure. Wow, these pain meds are sure coming on strong…”

Applejack made a mental note to ensure Coloratura didn’t become addicted and end up back here.

As Coloratura began to snore lightly, hopefully not due to messed up nasal passages, Applejack left the room. She found Cordoba standing at the next door down the hall, whose tag read DS. The door was open and a stallion was lying on the bed inside.

“That’s Donut Steel, the action movie actor,” said Cordoba.

The stallion in question looked up and flashed a brainless smile. “Hey, a fan?”

“What is that thing you say in that one movie?” said Cordoba. “‘I heard you like bananas so I came here to kick your ass.’”

He frowned. “No! That’s not it at all!”

“Sorry,” said Applejack. “She’s not so good with the language.”

“Go be sorry somewhere else.”

Cordoba looked up at Applejack. “I want to kill him.”

Applejack sighed. She hated being in charge.

Comments

[Lithl]

Get an eyepatch, Coloratura. They're all the rage.

[Sidetrack]

Bionic Eye and mind control chip courtesy of Cordoba.

[Ultimate Bromaeda]

The Adventures of a Pirate Coloratura.

[General Grant]

Calling it now, there's setup for a terrible pun in here somewhere

[Kage no Brony]

6854729

Bionic eye, maybe. Mind control chip, depends on what you mean by that.

If it's what I think it is, I get the pieces when AJ's done with you.