Heart of Ice

Heart of Ice

Chapter Three: Waking up in a New Land

As Sub Zero stated to stir, he immediately winced in pain and clutched his head. He had splitting head ache and a very painful sensation coming from the left side of his chest. His throat felt like sand paper every time he swallowed. He could hear a high pitched beeping noise in the background. He then realised where he was lying down. He was in a bed. When did that happen? He didn't remember getting into a bed. Searching his memory, he remembered what had happened. His battle with Scorpion, Quan Chi's portal, the flash of purple light and... A talking horse? He brushed the thought off as a strange dream of some sort while he was asleep. A talking horse was preposterous.

He drowsily opened his eyes and surveyed the room he was in. It looked like a hospital room. Spotting the glass of water on a table at the left side of his bed, he removed his mask and proceeded to drink all of it in one go, his body temperature cooling it down. Seeing where he was, he remembered the wound he was given by Scorpion. He looked to his left side and noticed that he was still in his armour but his chest piece and his robes were missing. Using his right arm to sit up and inspect the damage, he saw that the entire area had been bandaged superbly. He wondered who had done it, the last thing he remembered was being in the Netherrealm and he highly doubted they had hospitals there. The flash of purple light must have taken him somewhere. He was about to question where when he heard a knock on the front door. He tied his mask back on and turned his attention to the door.

"Enter." He said, expecting a shaolin healer or Raiden.

What he saw blew his mind entirely.

Another colourful horse, brown this time, with a lab coat on, entered and smiled at him.

"Good morning. How are you feeling today? My medical team had to work fast to make sure you didn't bleed out."  The brown horse said with concern in it's voice.

Sub Zero stared wide eyed at the horse for a few moments. He was no stranger to different species, thanks to his battle's against Shao Khan, but this was more strange than seeing a Tarkatan for the first time.

"I-I am well." He said still just staring at the horse. If his mask had not been there, his jaw would have hit the bed.

"I am Dr. Red Cross, I am the one who operated on you earlier, which I am happy to announce was a complete success." Red Cross said cheerfully.

Sub Zero merely stared at the apparent doctor pony, for what felt like an age, until the doctor finally spoke up.

"You do have some visitor's if you are feeling up for it. I'm sure you want to meet the mares that saved your life." Red Cross said to him with a smile.

Sub Zero nodded uneasily, though still taken a back by the situation, he did want to know who had saved his life. Red Cross said his goodbye and he heard him tell someone outside his room that it was okay to enter. Six diversely coloured horses entered the room, each varying in colours from light yellow to obscenely pink.

The first one he saw he immediately recognised. It was the lavender horse he thought was a dream! As he got a closer look at her, he examined her and her associates carefully. He noticed they each had an individual mark on their flanks and some of them had a horn or wings or nothing at all. They gave a respectable distance between his bed and themselves and each gave him looks varying from wariness to concern.

The lavender one seemed to be their leader, as she spoke up first.

"H-Hello, how are you feeling?" she asked in a very sheepish voice.

Sub Zero did not know what to say, he was still unsure if this whole thing being an illusion by Quan Chi.

"I am well, are you the one's that brought me to this place?" He questioned, searching for answers.

"Y-Yeah we did, you were b-bleeding badly so we took you to the hospital." She answered, as if she had done something wrong.

"You need not fear me horse, I am indebted you and your companions." Sub Zero told them.

"Who you callin' a horse!" A cyan winged one with a mane that was coloured like a rainbow said to him sounding offended. Sub Zero glared at her as if she just challenged him.

"Rainbow!" The lavender one scolded her. "I'm sorry about her, but can I ask, what are you?"

"I could ask the same question to you, horse." Sub Zero said plainly

"Okay, my name is Twilight Sparkle and we're not horses, we're ponies." She stated matter-of-factly.

'Ponies? This land could not get any stranger.' He thought. He knew what a pony was, he had seen them before, back on Earth Realm, but talking ponies with pastel coloured coats, horns and wings? This was downright insane. He was broke out of his train of thought as the others introduced themselves.

"I'm Ranbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria!" The rainbow one boasted proudly, seeming to have completely forgot her last outburst. He gave her a curt nod as the horned one next to her started to speak up.

"I am Rarity, and I must say darling, your robes are simply marvellous." The white one complimented.

Realising that his torso was still bare, he turned his head to the white one.

"What has become of my robes?" He asked patiently.

"Oh, they were terribly damaged from that dreadful cut you had, so I took the liberty of repairing them." As Rarity said this she levitated his robes over to him with her horn. Sub Zero raised an eyebrow at her levitating his clothing to him. He had seen levitation spells before, so this was not really new to him. He was still thought it was strange that all of it was controlled from a horn though. He looked over his robes, and to his surprise, they were masterfully repaired and even washed pristinely.

Seeing that he had no intention on harming them, the other three ponies stepped forward to introduce themselves.

"Howdy, Ah'm Applejack." A orange pony with a Stetson said to him, her mark being three apples.

As Sub Zero acknowledged Applejack, a pink blur whizzed up to his face and started speaking at one hundred words a second.

"HiI'mPinkiePieandIwassososoworriedthatyouwouldn'tbeokaybecauseyournewandthatmeansthatIhavetothrowyouapartybutifyouweren'tokayIwouldn'tbeabletogiveyourpartybutyouareokaysoIcan-" She was interrupted as Suz Zero held a hand over her muzzle. She felt that his hands were freezing.

"Speak clearly." He said in a firm voice. The pink mare nodded and Sub Zero released his grip.

"I'm Pinkie Pie." She said with a sheepish smile, as she backed away from him.

Sub Zero rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the last of the ponies. She seemed to be hiding behind her very long pink mane. She squeaked something inaudible and continued to cower behind her hair. Sub Zero could feel the fear coming off her. He knew he needed to be gentler with this one if he was going to get any information out of her.

"I am sorry if I had intimidated you, pony, but rest assured, I will not harm you or your companions." He said in his best reassuring voice.

This seemed to have some effect as the pony spoke up again

"I-I'm Fluttershy." She barely whispered.

"I'm sorry but I still did not hear you." Sub Zero tried again.

"I'm Fluttershy!" She said quicker than a whip.

Now that they had introduced themselves, Sub Zero rose from the hospital bed and slipped on his chest piece and robes. The ponies all gasped slightly as he rose to his full height. He was huge compared to them! He placed both of his hands together and leant forward slightly in a bow.

"If you truly saved me, then I am in your debt, ponies. I am Sub Zero."