The Pinto of Ardennes

by Bronycommander

Chapter 7 Adaptation

Chapter 7: Adaptation

Pip couldn’t remember much, only swift silence, then a loud explosion and he blacked out. Faintly, he could hear music.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, everything ached and he quickly realized he had an oxygen mask over his muzzle. As his vision cleared, he realized that he was in a hospital, seeing that the music played from a radio on a table.

A doctor walked in and turned it off.

“You woke up, good.”

“W-what happened?” Pip asked confused and weakened.

“You were victim of a German V2 attack, being unconscious for a few days.”

“Is…Is Jack okay?” The colt asked as he could not see his friend anywhere.

“He’s okay. He was the one who brought you to the hospital. Now then…” The doctor then reached for something out of Pip’s view.

“Please try to relax. There is plenty of time. I need to explain something to you, but you mustn’t be alarmed.” The man showed the colt an x-ray of his body, seeing several small pieces of shrapnel everywhere. Also, his right foreleg appeared to be shorter than it should be, confusing him. ”This x-ray is of your upper body. You'd better look now. Best to understand your situation sooner than later. I know it's difficult, but please look down. It's best to see it with your own eyes. Be brave.” The voice and expression showed it wasn’t easy to tell the boy this.

Pip felt his heart steadily pound harder and faster as he felt his left foreleg, but couldn’t feel anything on his right side. Slowly, he managed to look down, his eyes went wide in shock.

His right foreleg was missing.

Only a bandage remained where his leg had been.

Pip panicked, his heart racing, his breathing rapid, trying to move as the doctor and a nurse grabbed him. “Try to calm down. Calm down. It’s going to be ok. Please calm down.” The doctor said in a calming tone as the nurse injected the colt with a sedative, Pip tried to stay awake but felt quickly sleepy, closing his eyes.

The boy couldn’t tell when he woke up again.

He looked again as the bandage where his leg had been.

Pip couldn’t believe this was true, wishing it was only a nightmare.

But no matter how much he tried to tell himself this, it was sadly reality.

His brain was in a storm of cross-information and confusion.

Would he ever be able to walk again? How would his friends and family react? Could his mother cope with her son being an amputee?

He knew that the loss of her husband and his father had hit her hard, despite him never knowing his father, only getting told by his mother of him.

As such, Nancy cared deeply for her son, doing anything she could to prevent him from getting hurt.

Pip feared that this could well break her, heart and mind.

He hated it to see his mother sad, always trying to cheer her up, making her happy again.

A knock on the door tore him out. “Come in.” He said, a bit surprised.

Jack, his wife and daughter walked in, the girl carried a basket with sweets and a “get well soon” card.

“Glad to see you've woken up, Pip. I’m sorry about your leg.” Lucy said with sympathy, a sad smile as she put both on the nightstand.

Upon being reminded of his lost leg, the pinto colt lowered his head, struggling not to cry, sobbing.

It was in vain as a tear escaped his eye, then he felt something warm around him.

“I’m sorry, Pip, I didn’t want to make you sad or wake bad memories.” Lucy had regret in her voice as she hugged him.

With his left foreleg Pip returned the hug. “it’s okay, Lucy. I don’t blame you. I just…” He sighed, “Need some time to get over it. Thank you for the card and basket though.”

“You were very lucky to have survived this, Pip. You were very close to the point of impact of the V2.” Jack sounded very relieved, having his head lowered in shame for not being able to been here in time for Pip.

The colt indirectly knew what a V2 was from Diamond Tiara’s human stepfather, as he used to guard the launch sites of it.

The world's first long-range guided ballistic missile, assigned to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings against German cities. Terrible, yet impressive.

It also made him realize: He had cheated death once again.

“About your leg, the doctor said he could replace your lost leg with an artificial one,” Lola mentioned.

“You mean a prosthetic?” The woman nodded to answer his question.

This made him think. Could he live with a prosthetic leg for the rest of his life?

“It’s your choice, Pip, it’s just a suggestion.”

“Of course. I’m a bit unsure if I can get used to live with an artificial leg.” The foal replied with concern.

Jack stepped forward. “If I may ask, has any of your friends experience with prosthetics?”

The colt thought for a moment. “Scootaloo. She’s a Pegasus filly from my class. She lost a wing and replaced it with an artificial one. She hasn’t problems with it ever since.”

“See? If she can live with it, why shouldn’t you be able to live with it?” Jack countered.

The colt slowly smiled. “Righto. I’ll do it.”

“Now that’s the spirit!” The man grinned. “You know, this kinda reminds me of Douglas Bader. He used to be a pilot in our air force, being captured back in August 1941. During his early career, he lost both legs in an accident, having both replaced with artificial legs. Despite others meaning he wouldn’t be able to walk again without a stick, he did it without one and even became an ace, despite his disability.”

“Sounds like a brave man.”

“Indeed.”

After telling the doc his decision, the prosthetic leg was being produced, the colt enjoyed some sweets to pass the time, wondering how it would look like.

After one hour, the doctor came in with it, it was made out of leather steel, colored like his coat. “Now, try to walk.” The doctor said after it was attached.

It was strange for Pipsqueak as he got up, being able to move his new leg yet not able to feel it.

As he slowly tried to stand, his entire body was trembling, due being not used to it yet. Upon making his first step he tripped, falling over. But he wasn’t one to give up fast.

The Wilsons were with him for support, Jack looked worried at the doctor, he could tell that the doc wasn’t hopeful that Pip would be able to walk without a stick, as he had a rather negative expression.

But Pipsqueak was determined.

As time passed, he tripped less and less as he practiced, his walk was more and more stable, slowly walking normally again.

It was late January when the doctors had good news for Pip. “Your healing is very well progressing and I’m admitting I’m impressed how fast you managed to walk again. You can go home.”

“Finally!” Pip was glad to hear this.

“I knew you could do it!” Lucy raised her hand for a high five which Pip returned, only to twitch afterwards, leading her to ask with worry, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s just…I feel pain in my right leg. Every then and now, I feel like this is my actual leg, not this artificial. And in my hoof tips occasionally when walking.” He explained.

“Sounds like phantom pain. Your brain remembers your actual leg.” The doctor explained.

Despite this, Pip had no problems with his new leg as they got home.

In the next days, Jack had to go back to the front, Pip said goodbye at the harbor. “I will miss you, be careful, Jack.” He gave him a hug.

“Of course I will, Pip.”

“Hey, can you give us a hand? There are some creates that need to be brought on board before we can leave.” One of the sailors asked both.

“Sure thing!” Pip exclaimed, helping with Jack to carry the creates into the storage room of the ship.

After the last crate was loaded, Jack wiped the sweat off his forehead. “These are heavy. I have to check something.”

“Okay,” Pip replied as the man walked out.

He let out a sigh of relief, glad that he could walk again, also hoping his friends and mother would understand. He knew London well since he stayed with the Wilsons, so he could get home alone, appreciating it that he could stay with Lucy and Lola.

A strange groan made him look around, wondering where it came from.

A shadow crawled over him and he let out a yell as one of the stacked crates fell on him, knocking him instantly out.

“Ugh…that…hurt…” He mumbled, rubbing his head as he came to in the sickbay of the ship.

The young soldier walked in, an expression of regret. “Ah, you're woken up. Unfortunately, we found you after the ship left the harbor, but don’t worry, my wife and daughter are informed and I will be deployed behind our lines to guarantee your safety.”

“Okay,” Pip replied, hoping nothing bad would happen.

Back in Antwerp, a British Officer informed them about the current situation. “I’m Captain Adam, pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Jack saluted him. He had green eyes and brown hair, appearing to be in his early thirties, with an average build, his body rather thin, a scar was on his right cheek. As far as he knew, the captain was a quiet man, having fought in operation Market Garden, having lost his men like Jack had lost his squad mates.

“The US counteroffensive drove the Krauts back for the most, there are only a few scattered units suspected in our lines. We have order to help out at St. Vith, it got recaptured just a few hours ago.

“Then let’s move.” Jack took the driver seat of a Willi jeep, Pip sat on his lap, while the captain took the passenger seat, driving through the snowy, wooden roads.

After a while, they came to a crossroad with two American MPs standing on the road, so Wilson stopped the jeep. “Where to, sir?” One of them asked him.

“St. Vith.”

“I’m afraid you’re going the wrong way, sir. St. Vith is south-west.”

Confused, Jack replied, “I’m pretty sure it’s the right way.” He looked on his map.

“May I see that, sir?” The MP asked and Jack gave him his map.

Pip couldn’t see his face, but somehow, he could swear he had seen this man before.

The Captain looked around, noticing what looked like prints in the snow, as if the sign had been changed, also swearing he saw movement in the woods.

Something wasn’t right.

His hand went slowly for his holster.

Pip tried to think where why the MP was so familiar with him. Maybe it was the voice or his face, he couldn’t tell.

Bang!

Blood splattered from the captain’s head and he fell forward, Jack and Pip gasped in shock as the MP on the passenger side aimed his pistol at them. “Put your hands up!”

“Up!” The other yelled, also having his sidearm trained on them.

The man and colt breathed heavily, looking at the dead body, unable to move before they got both pistol-whipped by the MPs, briefly blacking out.

Both shortly came to, seeing in the mirror how the soldiers inspected a crate in the back of the jeep, being distracted.

The colt looked at Jack, he made a gesture to be quiet.

The Brite reversed the car, causing the soldiers to fall over, then drove as fast as he could, his friend ducked as the soldiers got up and opened fire, yelling, “Stop! Stop immediately!” Their bullets splattering the windshield.

Pip saw flashes coming out of the woods as German soldiers in white uniforms fired on them too, causing Wilson to take a sharp left, the body of the captain was thrown out from the force.

A shot hit one of the tires and Jack lost control, crashing into a ditch, the impact was strong enough to throw both out of the jeep.

Pipsqueak let out a cry of pain as he landed hard on his back, his vision was blurry.

The last thing he heard before blacking out were muffled yells.