My New Life

by Ark125

The Flesh

My New Life

Chapter 25 - The Flesh

Luna's POV

Everything seemed to blur together over the next few hours. After Pure Heart passed out, he was rushed to the hospital and I tried my best to stay by his side.

As soon as he was admitted, he was placed into the ICU and I was not allowed to see him. After hours of pacing the floor, the doctor came out.

"How is he?" I asked.

The doctor took his glasses off and quickly rubbed them on his coat before replacing them onto his snout. "He is stable."

I sighed in relief.

"But..."

My ears perked up. "But what?"

"But he is in a state of unconsciousness the likes of which I have never seen before. His vital signs are very low and his core body temperature is below the norm and it remains in a slow descent."

"What does that mean?"

This time the doctor sighed. "To tell you the truth Princess, I haven't the slightest idea what this could mean. In all my years, this is the first time I have ever heard of this happening."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Hope for a miracle. If his body temperature doesn't come back up soon, he will be too far gone to help."

I began to cry softly. It was then I felt a wing curl around my shoulder. I looked up and saw that it was Tia. I saw tears in her eyes as well. We both wept for a while.

---

12 Days Later

In a dark alley way in Canterlot, a pony was taking a shortcut to the train station. He wanted to cut some time out of his daily commute from the college back home.

Though, just as he was about to exit the alley, he was grabbed from behind and thrown into a few garbage cans.

"What the-" Before he could utter another word, he was punched across the face.

"Shut up!" The attacker said.

"Who are you?" The black alicorn asked. He then saw the gleaming blade in the moonlight. "What are you gonna do with that?"

"Not much. Just gonna take some of you with me."

His eyes grew wide with terror. "No. NO!"

Schlinnk!

Luna's POV

Two weeks had gone by since Pure Heart had been admitted. I had gotten barely any sleep the whole time I had been there. As of yet I had not been allowed to see him.

The doctor assured me that his condition was stable and that his body temperature has not changed in over a week.

"Luna."

I looked up to see Tia standing over me.

"You really need to get some sleep."

"I can't. How am I supposed to sleep when I am not allowed to see my husband?"

"I know you are worried, but do you really think he would like to see you like this?"

I turned my head. "But..."

"No buts. You need to get some rest. I promise you, he will still be here tomorrow."

"Well... Okay." I began to walk out of the lobby when several doctors ran through the entrance of the hospital.

"Out of the way!"

I stepped out of the way as the doctors quickly wheeled somebody in on a gurney.

I stopped one of the doctors. "Excuse me, but what happened?"

"This pony was found in an alley way unconscious with a strip of flesh missing from his left flank."

"Do you know who he is?" Celestia asked.

"His identification depicts him as a Mr. Eclipse."

"What?!" We exclaimed.

I looked at Tia and saw that she had already summoned a quill and paper and began to scribble a message to her student. She then sent it and a minute later a reply was received.

"She will be here as soon as possible."

In a flash of light, Twilight Sparkle appeared in the lobby.

"Where is my husband?!"

---

Celestia's POV

Two hours later, Eclipse got out of surgery and Twilight Sparkle was now at his bedside. Luna had gone home to get some much-needed rest.

"How is he doing?" I asked as I walked in the room.

"He is doing better. The doctors were able to clean the wound and prevented any infections that might have started to set in." Twilight said without looking up once.

"Do they know what happened?"

She shook her head and remained silent.

I walked farther in and sat next to her. The only sound we could here was the IV dripping.

"How do you deal with it?" She suddenly said.

"What?"

"How do you deal with the worry?"

I sighed. "You just need to have the faith that he will pull through." I reached for her and pulled her into an embrace. "Don't worry, we alicorns have an amazing healing curve."

She chuckled slightly. "Tell me about it. Just the other day, I got a paper cut and it healed within a few minutes."

I smiled. "See, so there is nothing really to worry about."

After a few more moments, she spoke again. "How is Prince Pure Heart doing?"

My smile turned into a frown. "I don't know. The doctors keep saying that he is stable, but they still won't let anyone see him."

"Not even Princess Luna?"

I shook my head. "She is taking it very hard."

"Oh." More silence. "Well, like you said, we alicorns heal remarkably fast."

I nodded. "Yes, though this must be a very intensive injury. We have not received any news of him regaining any health. He just seems to stay in this state."

Before Twilight could offer a reply, she was interrupted by a commotion in the hall and an announcement over the speaker system.

"Attention. We need every available doctor in the ICU. I repeat. We need every available doctor in the ICU."

I turned to Twilight. "Stay here." I walked into the hallway and watched a crowd of doctors make their way down the hall. I looked from whence they came and thought I saw a doctor walking out the doors.

"Hold him down!"

"I can't!"

I put the thought out of my mind as my attention was brought back to the current situation.

I stopped one of the nurses. "What is going on?"

"It's the prince! He suddenly regained consciousness and then began to scream in pain."

"Take me to him."

"I am not supposed to."

I glared at her. "This is not a conversation. Take me to him now."

She nodded in reluctance. I began to follow her back to the ICU. As we ran there, I could hear the screaming of my brother-in-law.

"Doctor! His core body temperature is decreasing rapidly!"

"Quick! We have to get him into the bath!"

There was the sound of a splash of water and then a scream of pain.

"Princess! You aren't allowed back here!" A doctor said.

"I am when it sounds like you are torturing your patients."

I pushed him aside and quickly reached the source of the screaming. It seemed now there were more voices screaming now, none of which sounded like Pure Heart. But as quickly as it started, it quieted to a low growl. All the doctors were standing outside the room.

"Why aren't you in there?" I asked.

"As of now, that room is under quarantine." One of the doctors said.

"What do you mean?"

One of the doctors stepped forward. "As of a couple of minutes ago, the prince woke up in extreme agony and began to tear away at the flesh on his chest. The attending doctors found that his body temperature was well below freezing. They tried to warm him up by placing him in a warm bath. This only seemed to anger him and he lashed out at a nurse.

"He had hit her in a pressure point that caused her to collapse. When one of the doctors checked her pulse, they found her to be dead. After that we all ran out of the room and locked it so he could not get out. Not all of us made it out of the room in time, though."

"What is wrong with Prince Pure Heart?"

"I do not know. But I can tell you this. That is definitely not the prince, at least, not anymore." He gestured to the window.

I looked through the window of the ICU and gasped at the sight that lay before me.

The room was in ruins. Carts were knocked over, jars had been broken, and syringes littered the floor. There was a single light hanging from the ceiling. It was a dim fluorescent bulb that flickered from time to time.

Through the gloom of the poorly lit room, I saw what appeared to be my brother, standing over a nurse. At first, I thought he was trying to administer CPR on her. But upon further inspection, I saw a pool of blood spilling across the floor.

I banged on the window. "Pure Heart! What are you doing?!"

He stopped, and lifted his head away from hers and it was then I saw that there was no longer any flesh left upon the nurses face. Nothing but a barren skull devoid of any living qualities.

"Pure Heart! What did you do to her?!"

The light flickered off and an instant later, when it came back on, there stood a beast. All I saw of it was its snout pressed up against the window and two beady yellow eyes that had sunken into its skull. The fur on its muzzle was ragged and sopping wet with blood.

I screamed and it screeched back at me. It destroyed the last remaining light source in the room and then crashed through the wall letting the moonlight pour in. It let out another screech as it escaped into the night.

"Open the door!" I demanded.

The doctors did so and I rushed into the room. I ran to the hole in the wall and was about to pursue the beast when something squished underneath my hoof. I took a step back and gasped at what was there. It was a piece of skin.

I picked up the piece of flesh and quickly ran out of the room.

---

"So what was the big commotion about?" Twilight asked as I walked back into Eclipse's room.

"Twilight, does this cutie mark look familiar?" I held up the piece of flesh and she gasped.

"That's Eclipse's!"

I nodded. "But there is a lot missing from it. It seems to have been chewed on."

"By what?"

I gulped. "A beast."

Author's Note:

Hello everypony! Thanks for reading! Shout out to Infuze Blackheart for beta reading and being my first ever beta reader as well. Still looking for people to help with the movie, so send me a message if you can help. Please R&R and happy holidays!

Bro/Sishoof - Ark125

Comments

[Traintrax]

Nice chapter, and merry Christmas, happy holidays, or whatever it is that you celebrate.

Also, the scene with deranged Pure Heart reminded me of something out of Dead Space.

Google it, if you dare.

First?

[Ark125]

1860044

First what? First to comment on the chapter? Its been a while since I have seen that. Happy Holidays to you too.

[Traintrax]

1864151 First to comment on chapter, yes.

[Fireeaters]

Moar!