To Devour a God

by the7Saviors

Chapter XXII – A Red Heart and a Chocolate Cake

At some point, I must've blacked out because when I next opened my eyes I was in an entirely unfamiliar place. Upon lifting my heavy eyelids, I immediately had to slam them shut again against the too-bright glare of fluorescent lights above me. I gave an exhausted groan of irritation before trying again, this time turning my head away from the ceiling and blinking my eyes open to get rid of the spots in my vision. Once that cleared up, I cast a quick confused glance over myself and saw that I was still in my dark blue Daeus Hunter uniform. I frowned and lifted my bemused gaze back up to see that I'd woken up in a sterile-looking white room. Half the scenery was blocked by a white divider and when I tried to lift myself from the supine state I was in, I could hear the tell-tale crinkle of a plastic sheet stretched across a thin and uncomfortable cotton mattress shifting beneath me.

Reminds me of those terrible beds they use in... oh.

It was just as my sluggish mind was putting two and two together that I noticed the sound of footsteps getting closer beyond the half-closed divider. I turned just in time to see the divider being pulled to the side to reveal an unfamiliar earth pony mare in an open physician's lab coat thrown over black slacks and a maroon blouse. With clipboard in hand and concerned frown on her face, the mare looked every bit the typical doctor she most likely was. The white of her fur and pale rosy mane wrapped in a loose bun from behind seemed to match the rest of the room—the infirmary—perfectly. The moment she pulled the divider back the rest of the way and saw me sitting up on the bed, the worried look in her sapphire blue eyes turned to pleasant surprise and the frown vanished.

Sheesh, she kind of reminds me of mom... but somehow I feel like I'm not the only one who gets that impression...

For me, it was mostly the worried expression, white coat, and sapphire eyes—though her fur was a shade or two lighter than my mom's, whose coat was more a light grey color.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Miss Sparkle," the mare greeted warmly, "my name is Nurse Redheart, and yes, 'Nurse' is part of my given name, as it's been for the rest of the mares in my family," she gave a small chuckle before her smile fell slightly into something more serious as she continued, "I'm the resident physician for this Branch and this room here is the infirmary. I hate to get on your case when you've no doubt just woken up, but how are you feeling?"

Good question...

"I... I guess I'm okay," I replied, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes, "I'm a little sore, but it's nothing too bad. My arms and legs do feel a bit heavy and it kinda feels like I can't fully wake up."

"I see... I thought that might be the case," Redheart muttered as she scribbled something on her clipboard. She fell silent for second before making her way back to a desk I hadn't seen behind the divider. Pulling the swivel chair out and over to where my bed was, she sat down and continued speaking with the same smile from earlier, "well, you'll be glad to know none of those symptoms are anything to worry about. They should be mostly gone within the hour. Tell me though, what do you remember from before you woke up here? Anything?"

"Um..." I lowered my head, closed my eyes, and frowned in thought as I tried to recall what happened last. It didn't take long at all for the memories to resurface, "we—the rest of the new recruits and I... a-and Spike and the Lieutenant, we all went to the slums to try and rescue any stragglers in the Vargren attack..."

From there I proceeded to recount the events leading up to my collapse in as much detail as I could, which was a fair amount for the most part. Strangely enough, or perhaps naturally, the clearest memory I had of that night was of locking eyes with the Cannibal. I thought the memory would leave me shaking, but where the fear was supposed to be, all I could feel was awe and bewilderment. If I dug just a bit deeper I could feel a sense of curiosity so intense that I even surprised myself. I had dreaded the idea of getting up close and personal with the Cannibal—and to a great extent, I still did—but now there was another desire welling up within me. Maybe it was the scientist in me, but I wanted to know more—I had to know more. I'd never seen anything like that Avidaeus, and though it was strange to admit, that was kind of exciting in a way. At least, that's how I felt after having seen the creature for myself.

There's something... special about it...

"...the Cannibal fled, and beyond that... I'm not really sure," I continued. My frown deepened slightly, "I think the others carried me back to the truck and I remember them trying to tell me... something, but everything else is a blank more or less." Finished with my explanation, I looked back up at Nurse Redheart, "what happened to me out there? Why did I just... shut down? I mean it was a terrifying experience, yeah, but I don't think anypony else just passed out like that."

The physician gave a small hum and leaned back in her chair, looking to the bright lights above as if they would reveal the right words for her to say. She tapped her pen against the clipboard she was still holding in silence for a second or two before lowering her sympathetic gaze back to me. Rather than answer my question, she asked one of her own instead.

"When you were out there," she began, "did you feel any drastic changes in your body or perception? Anything out of the ordinary, like your senses being heightened even further, maybe the sense that time was slowing down?"

"Right... yeah, it did kind of feel like my perception of time was distorted somehow," I replied, trying to remember the sensation, "I got this sort of... rush, and there was this mix of... hyper cognition and hyper-awareness, but it wasn't overwhelming like it should've been."

That last bit wasn't completely true, not at first, but once it happened I was able to adapt fairly quickly, even if I had no idea what was going on at the time. Still, I wanted to know what that was; I had an idea, but it looked like Nurse Redheart might've been able to confirm whether I was on the right track or not.

"What was that?" I asked, "is that what being a Daeus Hunter does to you? Something to do with the Hive Cells in the body?"

"Ah, that's right, you were a Hive Cell researcher before you transferred here I believe," Redheart answered as though just remembering the fact, "have you studied the effects of Hive Cells within the equine body?"

"I'm still a researcher," I replied in a slight huff before shaking my head, "and no, not in any great detail. I'd planned to get to it eventually, but I mostly focused on how Hive Cells affect each other and the world around us."

In truth, I'd been avoiding the subject. It made me uncomfortable just thinking about it, and even if I'd gotten a bit used to it—having already been injected directly—the idea still made me shudder in disgust internally that these things were inside of me. Still, it wasn't like I wasn't aware of the potential benefits of that kind of research and that there was a precedent for it; I just really, really, really didn't like the idea of Hive Cells interacting with the equine body or any kind of body for that matter, be they equine or otherwise. Of course, I told Nurse Redheart none of that.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to imply that you'd given up research for combat," Redheart chuckled, "I'm aware of your situation, Twilight. And to answer your earlier question, that is absolutely what it means to be a Daeus Hunter, though the experience varies a bit for every creature—ponies, dragons, changelings... everybody and anybody who wields a Daeus Arm, really."

She leaned back again, crossing one leg over the other, and her voice took on a lecturing sort of tone that reminded me of whenever Moon Dancer and I would get into a debate. It was kind of nostalgic in a way and I found myself thinking about the mare. Though it hadn't been all that long since I saw them last, It surprised me just how much I already missed her and the others I left behind in Canterlot.

"It's all about how the Hive Cells interact with adrenaline once it reaches a certain threshold," Redheart continued, "I'm no expert on the subject—you'd do much better to ask Time Turner—but from what I do understand, once the body produces enough adrenaline, which can happen in certain high-pressure situations like with what you went through, the Hive Cells 'activate' in such a way that causes a reaction unique to each individual injected with the cells," she gave a small shrug, "some creatures may have a higher threshold to reach before the cells activate, but it happens to all Daeus Hunters at some point."

"Okay, so this is just one of the changes brought on by the injection then," I surmised with a small nod of understanding, "but wait... none of the others reacted that way, at least not that I saw. Does that mean I have a low threshold for this kind of thing?"

"Not necessarily," the physician answered readily, "perhaps the others have a higher threshold, or perhaps you just happened to be far more high-strung than the rest at the time," she gave another shrug, "either way, the end result of you passing out tends to happen to a lot of new recruits whose Hive Cells activate for the first time. I'll most likely see your fellow newbies in here for the same reason as you before long," she paused and hummed in thought for a moment, "actually, now that I think about it, I saw your friend Fluttershy in here for the same thing already."

"Wait, really?" I asked, shocked, "when did she... oh... it must've been back then."

The only time I could think of was when she'd come out of the Daeification Chamber, but did that really count? I wasn't sure and I didn't elaborate on what I meant to Redheart, but evidently I didn't need to, as she nodded and replied anyway.

"The poor dear was so distraught from the experience of her Daeification that her Hive Cells activated almost immediately after her armlet was attached," the mare explained with a sigh, "they very nearly went out of control, but somehow she managed to fight back and pulled through in the end. You see that sometimes with some of the recruits. The fact that she recovered so quickly is impressive—admirable even."

I smiled a bit at that.

Given what I'd seen of the mare so far, I wasn't all that surprised that she pulled through. Though the fact that she only barely made it made me somewhat anxious and reminded me of what the Doctor and Director had told me about my brother, I felt I could trust a little more that Fluttershy would be okay in this kind of environment—more so than other ponies would probably give her credit for anyway.

I just hope I'll be able to manage as well...

"Oh, and don't worry," Redheart added almost as an afterthought, "the strain on your body lowers drastically with each activation so you and Fluttershy shouldn't need to visit here again—not for this at least."

That put my mind at ease, if only a little, but more than that, Nurse Redheart's mention of the others reminded me that I had some other questions I probably should've asked earlier.

"How long have I been out, by the way?" I asked, "and what happened with the others?" I paused, "and how did you know Fluttershy was my friend?"

I'm not even sure Fluttershy's my friend. I don't think that was ever established anyway, but... maybe? Does she think of me as a friend? And what about Vinyl Scratch?

"Oh, you haven't been here too long," Redheart replied, putting my pondering to an end, "the Hive Cell activation combined with a lack of proper sleep took a bit of a toll which lengthened your stay somewhat, but it's a little past 6 p.m. so you've been asleep for roughly fourteen hours or so."

Like Tartarus I haven't been here too long! That's practically a day!

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," she continued, ignoring my inner gripes, "most everypony's been out and about helping clear up the collateral damage from this morning's attack, including the other recruits who were with you, and as for how I know Fluttershy is your friend..."

A small smirk suddenly crossed Nurse Redheart's face as she motioned to something on the other side of the bed with the end of her pen. Bemused, I followed her gaze and my eyes popped open at the realization that I'd somehow completely missed a waist-high bedside stand with several things atop it—namely a plate with a large slice of chocolate cake, a small plain brown paper bag next to a small dark green flower pot, and what I assumed were several cards wishing me well. My assumption was further cemented by the many mylar balloons tied to one of the legs of the stand with phrases like 'WAY TO GO!' and 'GET WELL SOON!' painted on them in wacky fonts.

Wow, that... seems like a bit much. I mean, it's not like I was dying or got horribly injured or anything...

"Who..." I began as I slowly plucked up one of the cards and flipped it open, "you're saying Fluttershy brought all this?"

"Well, she brought the flowers anyway," Redheart answered, "a gift for buying time for her and the rest of the recruits to escape, according to her—apparently she makes an effort to grow them herself, and I have to say it's a fairly impressive effort given she's not an earth pony."

"Wow," I muttered, setting the get well card down and turning my attention to the healthy pink and yellow flowers jutting out of the soil in the pot, "these are... daisies, right? You said she grew these?"

"That's what I said, and she even threw in some nutrients for them there in that bag," the mare confirmed, "she says they're Zebrican daisies. Don't know where she got her hands on the seeds, but evidently the yellow daisies are a sign of friendship, so there you go."

In another age—namely the Age of Peace—you would've been able to find flowers like these anywhere and everywhere, or so I'd heard. Nowadays, there were a rare few who managed to make it work, but gardening as a hobby was largely considered a lost art. Now the Avidaeos had all but robbed the planet of most of its flora. The situation was so dire that we were relying on some of those very Avidaeos to continue producing oxygen into the atmosphere by way of adapted photosynthesis. When you took a step back to consider things like that bit of tragic irony and the fact that we evidently used to be able to just up and eat flowers right out of the ground, it truly was no wonder this age was referred to as the Age of Ruin.

In any case, most ponies didn't bother with using real flowers as decorations. Most decorative flora was made of polyurethane which did an admirable job as an imitation, but the feel and smell of the flowers in front of me...

These are definitely the real deal...

"The cake and balloons are from Pinkie," Redheart said after a moment, "there's a card from her too, along with some other cards from a few other ponies who came to visit you."

I placed the small pot of flowers back down on the stand and focused back on the cards. It was true; each of the cards had been handwritten by several different ponies. They all had their own little flourishes and quirks, from the confetti that somehow shot out of Pinkie's card like a party popper, to Vinyl's rather impressive artistic rendition of herself giving a thumbs up and one of her signature lazy smiles. There was a card from Rainbow Dash, written in a barely legible scrawl, and another card—the last one from what I could see—written in an elegant violet script from a pony whose name I didn't recognize.

"Who's Rarity?" I asked, looking up from the card and back over to where Nurse Redheart was still sitting, "I don't think I've heard the name before, is she part of Captain Applejack's team?"

"That's right, the most senior member after Applejack in fact," came Redheart's bright response, "she's been the Captain's right-hand mare since Applejack took over as head of the 1st Unit. I'm sure you'll get to meet her soon enough—"

Our conversation was suddenly cut short as the door to the infirmary slid open. We both turned to see none other than Captain Applejack herself walk through the entrance, sporting her knee-length duster, her stetson, and a pensive expression. The moment she saw I was up, however, her face brightened considerably.

"Well look at that, finally up an' ready to seize the day are ya?" she chuckled lightly and stepped the rest of the way inside, "well, ah suppose it's a bit too late fer that now, but nevermind that. How are ya feelin'? Better ah hope?"

"I still feel a bit sluggish, but doing better I guess, yeah," I answered with a half-hearted shrug, "Nurse Redheart filled me in about everypony trying to clean up the mess the Vargren made out there in the slums."

"She did, did she?" Applejack replied. She turned to Nurse Redheart, "so she's up to date?"

"On everything that I know, yes," Redheart said, "and I've got just about all the information I need. We were basically making small talk when you showed up, Captain," she looked over to me, "the only other thing I really had left to say was that your body has almost recovered, but isn't quite there yet so I'd like you to stay for at least another half hour before you head out."

"Really?" I asked dumbfounded, "I slept for fourteen hours and I'm still not well enough to leave?"

I am still a little out of it, but I should be fine if I just walk around for a bit, right?

"Don't bother arguin' with the mare, Twilight," the Captain cut in with a shake of her head, "believe me, ah get antsy when ah have to stay cooped up in here fer too long, but it's best to just do what yer doctor says."

"She's right," Redheart agreed with a strange smile that made me shiver slightly, "those that don't listen to their physician don't tend to last long out there in the field, so I recommend staying put for the time being, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

My response was immediate and full of the kind of obeisance normally reserved for one's irate mother. It turned out Nurse Redheart may not have been the kindly physician I thought she was—not completely anyway. Applejack for her part just chuckled at the exchange and moved past Redheart before plopping herself down onto one of the empty beds next to mine.

"So she told you about the slums, huh?," Applejack said, "well, ya heard right; everypony who can is doin' their part to get the slums back into decent shape."

As she spoke, she casually brought a hand to the inside of her duster, but thought better of it at the sudden glare from Nurse Redheart and lowered her hand again with a resigned sigh. I looked between the two of them with a bemused frown, but didn't say anything on the matter.

What was that about?

"It ain't the prettiest part o' town, sure," the Captain continued, "but there's still infrastructural standards we gotta uphold. The ponies that live in the outer district are good folk. They're the foundation that keeps this old Branch afloat—the roots that keep this tree healthy an' standin' tall—and we all have to do what we can to support 'em."

"Wow... when you put it that way I kinda feel bad for spending so much time conked out in the infirmary," I replied after a second, "I'm not sure what I would've been able to do, but..."

"Aw, don't ya worry none, sugarcube," Applejack waved a dismissive hand at my comment, "ain't yer fault ya wound up in here. Ah heard from Spitfire that ya stood up to the Cannibal to buy some time—heck, ah heard ya even scared it off."

"That... might be a bit of an exaggeration," I corrected, rubbing my arm uncomfortably, "I didn't really 'scare it off' so much as it just... up and left. It just... looked at me and ran off."

"Oh really now?" Applejack laughed, "sounds to me like ya scared it off."

"Anyway, now that you mention it," I said, choosing to move on, "what happened with you guys? You and the rest of the Daeus Hunters that fought the Vargren and Cannibal I mean. Just before the Cannibal ran off to where we were, we all saw this huge pillar of flame shoot into the sky."

"Ah, that," Applejack sighed and adjusted her stetson, seemingly out of habit, "yeah, it was somethin' else alright. Ah'd like to say we had it on the ropes an' it pulled a desperation move, but that'd be a lie. Really, none of us know what happened; we were doin' what we could against the Cannibal, but then it just suddenly lit up like a firework and before we knew it, everythin' went up in flames, includin' the rest o' the Vargren," at my worried expression, she hurried to elaborate further, "now don't ya worry yer pretty little head, Sparkle. Everypony managed to back out just in time with nothin' more'n a few minor burns here an' there. We made sure to draw all the varmints into an open empty space in town so nothin' else caught fire neither."

"Well that's a relief," I replied, "I'm glad everypony made it out relatively okay."

"You an' me both," Applejack agreed, "an' havin' said all that—an' now that yer awake an' all—ah think it's time we got down to why ah decided to pay ya a visit in the first place."

"Oh?" Redheart asked, turning to me and catching my eye briefly before looking back over to the Captain, "and why is that?"

"Two reasons really," Applejack replied. She stood up and stretched her arms out as she spoke, "first an' most important is that the Doctor and Director both want to see ya in the Director's office once yer well enough to leave."

"Doctor Whooves and Director Mare?" I raised my brows in surprise, "what do they want from me?"

"A firsthand report o' what happened with the Cannibal most likely," the Captain answered with a shrug, "should be nothin' to worry over."

Ah, right, I guess it makes sense that they'd want to talk to somepony who'd gotten an eyeful of the beast before it fled.

"The second reason ah came was to have ya formally meet the rest o' yer team if ya were awake," Applejack continued, "you an' Fluttershy still have some trainin' to do before yer actually part o' that team, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to know who you'd be workin' with once ya passed the trainin' phase," she made her way back to the entrance and turned to me with one last lazy wave, "anyhow, that's all ah wanted to say. Ah got somethin' else to take care of, so I'll leave ya be fer now," she paused and glanced over to the stand next to my bed, "ya ought to try that cake afore it goes stale by the way. Pinkie made it herself, an' nopony bakes a cake like Pinkie, lemme tell ya."

And with that, and one last chuckle, she exited the infirmary, leaving me and Nurse Redheart alone once again. The other mare gave me an indulgent smile before rising from her seat.

"I suppose I'd better be getting back to my reports as well," she back as she pushed her chair back over to the desk near the back of the room, "I'll be just over here if you need anything, but you should get some more rest in the meantime."

As Nurse Redheart went back to work typing away on her desktop, I took that moment to look over to the aforementioned cake still sitting tantalizingly on the stand. I'd never been a particularly huge fan of chocolate cake, preferring coffee and carrot cake myself, but I was hungry enough—and grateful enough—not to complain. With that in mind, I picked up the fork next to the plate, the plate itself, and took a bite before enthusiastically digging in.

It turned out Applejack wasn't lying about Pinkie's baking skills, and that I might've had to rethink my position on chocolate cake, especially if Pinkie was the one making it.

Comments

[Kye Belmont]

Yay! This story is still alive!

[the7Saviors]

10193434
Of course. It wasn't that long ago that I released the last chapter.

[lazyreader19]

Woot, an update

This was a pleasant hospital visit. Loving the dialogue between the characters

[The Cynical One]

After a raw experience that could only be described with by awe and a hefty helping of screams our local Twilight is back in action! Of course, our little director visit has an ominous feel... or maybe it's nothing. Who knows! Only bureaucracy does! We're also introduced to a few new mares and the hope that our protagonist will get some training in her head and some muscles in her legs!

What does the future hold? Was that fateful encounter with the Cannibal more weighty then even we can imagine? Will there ever be a monster that Twilight will merc? Well duh, but we'll have to see later! Onwards!

[PonyofEntropy]

Cool update.

[Greenstaroftheplane]

Yes totally worth the wait.........Now we wait