The Darkness Within Us Allby Some Guy Who WritesChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Author's Note If you are wondering why this has so many thumbs up it is because this story was originally posted in 2012 and I just resubmitted it and began rewriting it due to me being unhappy with the quality and how it was rushed in my opinion. TLDR, this is hopefully a better version but now with season 7 content, and maybe an appearance from prince green antler aka Thorax Chapter 1 You awake in a hospital, how you got there is a mystery, but the more you wonder how you got here you start to wonder where exactly here is. You look around and everything seemed to be a bit on the small side, maybe you're in a children's ward? No, you highly doubt they would scale down the equipment to match the bed and furniture. You looked down and found your chest punctured with various tubes going in and out with sanguined gauze help in place with soaked in blood. You looked around your immediate vicinity and saw the tubes leading to various machines, and an IV drip a foot and a half above your head with some kind of numbing agent mixed in, you could feel the pain but it wasn't overbearing. You tried to move your legs but the soles of your feet were inches off the floor, did they have no bigger beds? Focus, you try to remember what happened, all you remember was that you were home alone, paranoid, as usual, dad went for groceries...Then it just all goes black. The more you thought the more strenuous your headache got and the tighter the bandages on your head felt. your head was pounding. For now, you should just be glad whatever happened didn't kill you... You just stared at the ceiling, you began counting the specs on the ceiling tiles around the hanging incandescent light fixtures, they were a pale almost neutral green, kind of like the ones at the hospital you stayed at for a while. You shake those thoughts out of your head, you needn't go back there, you're here now, everything is fine, everything is fine, no one is out to get you, you're fine. Just as you finished your new mantra you heard someone outside the door and then the doorknob started to turn, wait, even the door was small if a bit wide. You tried to turn onto your left side to look away from the door but the wound on your stomach caused you to severe pain, you just decided to close your eyes and pretend to sleep. You never liked doctors. "Huh, thought it'd be awake by now... Guess we can tell the night shift to just monitor its vitals and call us if anything goes into the red." The doctor said as he walked around, a separate set of footsteps followed him not two feet back. I'm a person, not a thing, also why did he bring a nurse in with him? She must have literally been walking in his footsteps because the clop of their shoes was nearly on top of eachother The door clicked shut with the doctor and his associate disappeared behind the distorted glass, you probably think they use that so people can't peek in on patients as they walk by, but they can see people walk by and get a view of the outside, after all, this room was without a window. You just look around, the chairs are low to the ground and are rather... what was the word? Ah, arciform, it was kind of rounded and arched in the back, maybe this was a special room for those with back problems? Maybe dwarves? You had no idea, but with nothing else to do you just lay there and theorize their choice of furnishings. Everything seemed a bit child-sized but wide with ample back support. From what you knew kids didn't usually lean back, rather they lean forward, why the focus on cushy chair backs? Too much funding? It was all a similar pale neutral green as to match the door, the walls, the shade on the light fixtures that hung from the ceiling and pretty much everything that could come in a different color didn't Time languidly passed until the clock on the wall read midnight, you hadn't heard any footsteps outside your door in over an hour, they always came in pairs, must be a university hospital where students shadow their seniors and learn from real-world experience. Something just didn't sit right with you as a heavy panic began to sit in. You need to get out of here, something isn't right if this was a legitimate emergency where were your parents? Nothing added up, you had to get out, now... You start to sit up, the painkillers had fully taken effect as the pain you felt earlier was absent. The act of sitting up tugged on the tubes and one came unplugged and a low hiss could be heard as air could be heard leaving a tank behind your bed you couldn't see from your original position. you do a countdown from three and lean forward with all your energy and somehow get to your feet, you are as unsteady as a newborn giraffe on your feet and your bandages are dripping with blood but you just had to get out, nothing added up. You began hobbling towards the door but as your reached it a pair of footsteps went by. You held your breath as they went echoed down the hall and faded away. About a minute after the footsteps went away another patrol came around, it followed this pattern for ten minutes, so after the next pass, you left as soon as you heard the gait of the pair vanished. You quickly opened and carefully closed the door and made a break for the direction the personnel went because you saw down the hall that it curved right, meaning this was a loop, you stayed a hundred feet behind them, due to the medicine your vision was blurry but you could at least make out the bright white coat of the doctor but you still heard two pairs of footsteps. Focus, they must be in a line, yeah, the intern must be in front or something You rationalize. Hunched over "running" down the hall as fast as your body could manage you find the elevators, again for some reason they are rather short, it doesn't matter, you weren't going to use them anyways, you looked around for the stairs knowing the next round would be soon. You found them in the corner of the building a bit further down the hall just before the footsteps grew closer, you slipped into the stairwell before they could notice you. As you stood at 5 10 your head was too close to the ceiling for comfort. Who made this building, dwarves? You shook your head and tried to focus, you were pretty ADD at times, you crept down the stairs floor by floor until you reached the second, your room was on the fourth, but just before you hit ground level an alarm rang. Had you been spotted? If so, why did they just now ring the alarm? You looked down and in the dark, you saw a what could be considered a Hansel and Gretel trail of blood droplets in your wake from your bandages dripping consistently heavily over during your escape. It didn't matter, you were near the bottom floor and then would make a break for it, you heard frantic movement beyond the door to the hallway on the ground floor and waited till you heard the clear "ding" of the elevator going up then you ran for it. Everything, again, was a bit low to the ground, the reception desk was about three feet off the ground, but other than that and the fact that everything was a bit wider proportionally to the height it seemed like a normal hospital... As Nurse RedHeart made her rounds her mind had drifted from her usual duties to the weird creature that now inhabited room 4-12. it was clearly mammalian, bipedal, but it was as tall as Celestia! It had no fur except on its chest, forearms, legs, and top of its head but it really couldn't be considered fur, almost like a mane, well, except for the body hair...It was definitely male and somehow it landed in the woods outside and was found by one of the patients who was on a "nature walk" to get some fresh air, there was so much blood, a- Her attention was drawn to something red on the floor. Did somepony forget to put the old bandages in the waste bin on the cart before moving them again? As she followed the trail it led not to the nurse's station as she expected but to the stairwell and her calm demeanor was shattered in an instant and replaced with one of deep concern for her patient. It ran away?! With those wounds?! In a panic, she rushed behind the desk, broke the glass and sounded the alarm on the wall. She wasn't worried about what the creature might do to somepony, but what it would inadvertently do to itself, with those wounds and the rate it must be moving they would surely open again. If it wasn't treated soon she feared the worst. Just as she was heading back to her cart to get some much-needed sleep the great and powerful Trixie from her day of kite flying kites with Starlight, who for some reason really liked this activity, she was passing through the park entrance and through town. She always did admire Luna's work on the night sky, it was just so relaxing watching the stars as she fell asleep. She continued her venture home when she noticed a trail on the ground, it was kind of sticky as it matted the fur near the bottom of her leg just above her hoof, her curiosity piqued, she followed the trail wondering what the substance was. It led through town and to the market, it had left large pools in its wake, meaning whatever was causing it must have stopped for a moment. Who would carry around red paint at a time like this? They really should be more careful, it is not as easy as ponies think to clean off acrylic paint, Trixie would know... She looked about and found it continued down an alleyway between two shops that had long since closed for the evening. Throwing caution to the wind she ventured down the dark alley, sure Ponyville was perfectly safe even at night, but this was just a bit creepy for the show mare. She went further down the alley and next to a dumpster she found the source, whatever it was it was bleeding a lot considering she had been following the trail for fifteen minutes, even with it stopping periodically which left a well-sized blood stain on the cobblestone road every couple hundred feet. Not knowing what to do or if this thing was even alive she ran for help. It was past one in the morning at this point and Twilight was more than enjoying her much needed sleep, her snores echoed back at her in her large crystalline room, it was peac- "Twilight!!!" And there it went, ugh, couldn't Trixie just wait till she got up to hang out? Late night kite flying ventures are fine but Twilight didn't see the need to impose the activity on her, she just had no interest in kit- "Twilight!!!" Trixie called again this time sounding closer. Ugh, why wasn't Spike dealing with Trixie? Twilight had spent all day dealing with mail and public appearance requests, i- Twilight!!!" Trixie screamed mere inches from Twilight's face, bloodshot eyes, a hysterical look on her face. "Trixie, what is it? Did your kite fly away again? I know you and Starlight made it together but tracking it with magic takes a toll on me, can't we look for it la-" "Be quiet! I found a trail of blood in town and it led to something in the alley between that ridiculous fan supply store and the empty building next to it!" "Wait, what?!" This had Twilight's full attention now, she looked down at Trixie's hooves and there were indeed slight red smears on them, and on her comforter. "Follow me!" Trixie commanded before bolting out of Twilight's room, the alicorn followed right behind her to the aforementioned alley, when they got there the body was gone. "B- Whe- It was right here!" Trixie stammered. "Did you really smear red paint on your hooves to prank me Tr-" "Does this smell like paint to you?!" Trixie thrusted a hoof to Twilight's muzzle, yup, blood. "So where could it have gone?" Twilight looked around and saw a few hoof prints with the slightest red outline on them, whoever carried it away also left a trail, "Let's go." The two followed the trail back to the hospital and burst through the entrance, startling the elderly mare working the early morning receptionist shift. "How may I help you, princess?" The mare asked as she got up and walked around the desk to greet them. "We followed a trail of blood here, is the pony okay?" "Oh, that, one of our more exotic patients made a break for it and his wounds opened up before he could make it anywhere, Nurse Redheart followed the trail into town and we had some of the staff carry him on a stretcher back to his room." "Exotic? How exotic? Like a gryphon, or a zebra?" "Some sort of male, bipedal mammal with a short curly mane, patchy hair, and about as big as one o' the princesses." This caught Twilight's attention. "Can we see the patient?" "Why sure, now that he is secured he won't be going anywhere." The mare said as she began walking towards the elevator. "Is it that dangerous?" Trixie asked as the two followed the senior. "Pfft, doubtful, it has no horn or wings and is hooked up to so many doo-dads it wouldn't make it outta the hospital again." She said confidently. "What happened?" Twilight asked, as then the mare told Twilight and Trixie how a foal had found him and how he had landed not in, but above the trees outside the hospital. "Whatever it is, it had a not so safe landing amongst the branches, one in particular "caught" him hence all the stitches and tubes, he even had a punctured left lung. Mostly fractures though and lacerations beyond the injuries from the branches." She said as they exited the elevator. "Why did it appear there, how did nopony notice?" Twilight asked. "We don't know why it is here, and we didn't notice til little Rumble down the hall kicked his ball too hard, and when he went to go get it he said he saw something hurt. When the nurse appointed to him on his little excursion saw it we got it set up as fast as we could. Well, they did, I just got here as we ended visiting hours at seven. Here's the door, and if it tries anything let me Nurse RedHeart know so she can sedate him." She advised before walking back to the elevator, just as they opened the door loud beeping and shallow breathing filled the small room. They looked on in awe at what they saw, a giant monkey looking creature that was half mammal, half machine covered in blood-stained gauze at this point was taking up the entire bed with its legs hanging prominently off the end of the bed frame. "What is it?" Trixie asked trying to piece together what this thing was. "I don't know but it must have been scared, why else would it run from a hospital of all places? " "Maybe it just wanted to go home?" "Maybe, it doesn't look like it belongs here, but for whatever reason, it is here, and we should see what we can do. maybe it is a whole new species come to visit us." Twilight said hopefully. "You are being such a princess right now." Trixie commented, only to earn a glare from Twilight, "In a good way!" "Ugh, you go to the castle and tell Starlight and Spike what happened in the morning, use the guest room, for now, I'm going to wait here and see if it wakes up." "You sure?" "Yeah, plus, kites are not appropriate gifts for the injured." Twilight teased, and with that, Trixie left for the castle and Twilight lay down on the couch and went back to sleep, hoping in the morning she could interview the new arrival. Chapter 2Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 3As Fluttershy excitedly pranced about her cottage looking through books trying to piece together what this new species could be Twilight just sat watching the pegasus reach Rainbow Dash levels of speed. "You said it seemed hairless?" "Yeah, except for the top of its head there was only light hair on its forearms, legs, and chest, why?" "Well according to this book some primates share a similar hair pattern in some species, more or less, and you said it was bipedal?" "Yes, and it stood as tall as Celest-" "Right, right, go on..." Fluttershy said absentmindedly as she began to flip through a book so large she didn't need to set it on a table for the pages to be at eye level. "It also has fingers and toes like a Diamond Dog but more joints." "So more simian-like in design?" "If you want to put it like that, I guess?" Twilight was confused where Fluttershy could be going with this, it didn't have a tail, monkies don't eat meat, nor are their bodies in such lengthy proportions. "and it had canines so you think it could eat meat?" "That's what nurses and I the thought, plus it has been losing weight since it got here yet it devours everything it deems edible." "Is it a picky eater?" "No, well, only if it comes to anything with oats, raw tomatoes, or hay, otherwise the food goes faster than Rainbow Dash to the bookstore for the latest copy of Daring Doo." "I think you girls are onto something, let's bring it some variety of protein to see what it likes or needs," Fluttershy suggested as she went to the kitchen and open up the freezer. Twilight really had never seen the contents of her large freezer, she had an idea what was in there but never realized the extent of it, frozen steaks, fish fillets, smaller rodents and even some preserved insects! "Fluttershy, you really keep all this stuff in your fridge?!" "Uh huh, otherwise it would go bad too quickly for the poor animals to eat and I can't fly to the market that sells this so cheap every week." "But I thought you loved the mice that live in the field? Why do you have dead ones?" "For Mr. Snake, we have a deal, the mice are safe from him so long as he can eat them when they die all on their own, if there aren't any recently dead ones he eats some substitutes I make for him." "And you're okay with that?" Twilight asked in disbelief. "Twilight, you realize they are animals? They need to eat to survive and sometimes that involves eating each other, so this way they can but without anyone being a meany-face." Fluttershy said as she dug out a small red steak, a fish fillet, and some seasoned crickets some of the smaller reptiles who occasionally visited enjoyed. At this string of logic Twilight could only come to one conclusion, she didn't give the timid mare enough credit, she really had this down patent, who knew this squeamish mare could tame the circle of life? Twilight thought to herself until she heard the freezer door slam shut and Fluttershy began packing up the goods, apparently, she had some pre-cooked food. "I thought Berry ate them raw?" "Yes, but sometimes he likes it warm on cold nights, just as long as it is still red inside he's quite happy with it." She said cheerfully. "Okay, just bring some utensils for it, we brought in some raw vegetables and he had a lot of trouble chewing through some of them, either he has a weak jaw or he's not used to this sort of diet," Twilight stated. "Oh, thank you, I would have felt so bad if he couldn't eat the food I bought for him." She thanked as she fluttered over to the drawer near the sink and pulled out a sharp serrated knife and a large fork. "Why do you have a knife like that?Don't tell me..." "Berry is a civilized bear Twilight, he just doesn't always have the time to sit down and eat like we do." Fluttershy reminded her. "Right, sorry," Twilight said sheepishly as her friend lead them out of the house and headed for town. Fluttershy was giddy with excitement the whole ten minutes there, she had a death grip on the basket of meat for a possible new friend, Twilight was still a bit worried over the upcoming encounter with the patient. "Fluttershy, you do remember it doesn't speak, or at least hasn't to us, giant, casually broke from adult pony restraints and was unphased by a nurse ready to stop him with sedatives?" "Yup!" "So how are you so calm because I am a bit nervous," Twilight said as she remembered him lurching at her, well not at her but in her direction still was a bit scary, it even seemed as if it didn't notice their existence. "Well, maybe he's just as scared as you are?" It was almost as if Fluttershy also had read her mind. "But-" "Just because he doesn't show it doesn't mean he doesn't feel it," She pointed out, Twilight simply nodded in turn as they entered the hospital. "Ah, welcome back dearies, here to see the unique case again?" The secretary asked as she signed the girls in. "Yes, in fact, Fluttershy here brought some food to see if something has been missing from his diet." "Ah, yes, he has been showing signs of muscle loss, although that could be from no exercise, the beginning signs of a minor case of anemia would lead us to the to that conclusion he is lacking protein." "Anemia?" "His blood isn't carrying as much oxygen as it could so he's having a bit of trouble catching his breath on occasion as has developed a terrible cough." She mused as she handed the two their visitor's pass. "Oh my, could it be he is a carnivore?" Fluttershy wondered as she looked at the meager basket of meat and fish. "I hope not, otherwise we've been feeding him the completely wrong thing, not a good first impression, that and he hasn't spoken or said anything since he's arrived." "Well, we should get going, thanks, Barbara!" Twilight said as she pushed the frozen Fluttershy down the hall as the timid pegasus wondered if she should have brought more meat or some supplements, tea, snacks, or- "We're here Shy," Twilight said shaking her out of her trance of worry for the patient. "Oh, thank you, let's see if we can cheer him up with some home cooked food." Fluttershy hoped as she opened the basket, the smell of lukewarm steak was weak but was strong enough for Twilight to switch to mouth breathing, she never really hated meat but the smell was mildly unpleasant to her, call it unicorn stereotypes being somewhat true. "Um hello, would you like something to eat?" Fluttershy asked the patient who was sitting straight up in bed staring out the window at seemingly nothing. "C-Can you hear me?" Fluttershy questioned as she took a step closer, not getting any reaction from him. Ignore them, they aren't real... They never are You thought to yourself, this time the hallucinations were very persistent, you could swear you could touch them this time, but as the doctors have said countless times they are all in your head, just pretend they aren't there, pay them no mind and they will go away... It's been over a week, how long will I have to endure this? Why must I suffer? What did I do wrong to deserve to not be able to tell what is real, what is fake, what is there, what is not, who I am or- Who we are? They're not real...None of them are... Chapter 4As Fluttershy Put the cooked food in front of the patient they waited for him to start eating but he just stared at the opposing wall for three minutes. "Uh, you think he knows the food is for him?" Twilight asked wondering if he even noticed their presence in the room. "Well, Berry always digs right into a hot meal when I place it in front of him, maybe he's a picky eater?" Fluttershy taps her chin in thought. "Let's get the nurses' opinions and thoughts, maybe they have ideas how we can get him to eat this?" Twilight suggested as she motioned for her and her friend to leave the room and find Nurse RedHeart. With the hallucinations gone, you can finally relax and take a bite of your food, that, and it was a bit too hot to eat when the lunch staff had brought it to you. Huh, guess it's my birthday or something, why else would they give me something this expensive? Or they feel like it would be wise to get on our good side? You don't exist, now let me have a decent meal for the first time since this massive trip started. You dig in and cut the steak and fish into small cubes as your jaw had begun to hurt from your injuries or maybe a bad reaction to your new meds? Who knew at this point, hopefully, that nurse you could swear was a hallucination herself would be back with the blood tests soon. Hopefully, they could tell you if the new antipsychotics and mood stabilizers were working or wreaking havoc on your brain chemistry again. You finish your meal in record time as it had been a while since you had the chance to get your hands on any read meat, let alone something this good, you wipe your face and carefully put the dishes and utensils back where they belonged in what looked like a basket but you were sure was actually a food cart. "Nurse RedHeart!" The mares called out looking for the nurse in charge as they wandered the upper level of the hospital wing. "Shhhh!" the head nurse chastised them as they were making a ruckus in a healing unit which was labeled as a quiet zone near every entrance and exit. "Sorry." Twilight replied sheepishly, "We were looking for you so we could find you and ask if you had any idea how we could encourage him to eat the meat we brought him." "Barbara told me of your two's idea, and honestly I almost kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner, he has canines so it should have been obvious." She sighed as she explained, "Sadly though, I don't have any idea what would make the food more appetizing to him, he never eats with us in the room, we never see him even touch it, we stood in the for a full hour the first solid meal he was given and he didn't move a muscle other than occasionally looking in my direction." "Maybe he likes you," Fluttershy said hopefully. "I doubt it, I'm just the only one with enough nerve to draw his blood for testing, the other nurses are too nervous around him to hold the syringe steady which would cause undue pain and complication for the patient. I think he just keeps an eye on me because I'm one of the only ponies here who isn't afraid of him." "You really think he is like that?" Twilight asked. "Possible, his arms were as big as small trees when he first got here, he obviously had the muscle composition to stop us from getting near him if he were at full strength, but due to his injuries, he is left to let us treat him. He doesn't know us, trust us, and could possibly not even understand us as he has given us no verbal feedback to anything we say." "You think his kind could be the top of the food chain?" Fluttershy asked trying to figure out all she could about him. "We have no idea, but if he isn't I would hate to see what is, he seems to be more intelligent than we thought as well." "How so? He doesn't talk." "As a nurse was giving him his dose of medicine and morphine in the morning in a sleep deprived state she almost gave him a lethal dose even for something of his size but before she could he covertly unhooked his IV and it just dripped on the ground." "If it just went to waste how do you know it would have killed him?" "Because when I went in later on my rounds I saw the puddle near his bed and had it tested and it contained enough morphine per liter to knock out a manticore." "You mean just by looking he knew she had made a mistake and even in his subdued state figured it out before she could open the bag?" "Exactly, he is smarter than we give him credit for, and due to his overall size and how he must feel all nurses besides me since that incident have advised to avoid him." "Why? he hasn't hurt anypony." Twilight asked. "Twilight, how would a manticore act if it were injured and trapped?" Fluttershy asked rhetorically. "It might lash out?" Twilight answered skeptically. "And hurt itself further in the act of trying to protect itself." "Wow, you really put a lot of thought into this." "Of course, as a medical professional I have knowledge of most sentient species, besides dragons, and I would prefer to have a happy patient rather than an accident that could lead to further problems down the road." "Right, like what if there are more of his kind and they think we mistreated him?" Fluttershy stated. "You really think this species is native to somewhere outside of Equestria and-" "He could be related to someone important it could go badly, I highly doubt any of this but we must take all precautions possible, for all we know he could have just wound up here by mistake and he's the only one of his kind left." She explained. "That's very diplomatic of you Nurse RedHeart," Twilight said. "Well, when you have a princess of Friendship down the road and the Diarchs make frequent visits you pick up diplomatic knowledge." "Ah, right, well should we go back and check up on him?" Twilight asked. "Sure, he's probably done eating by now anyway," RedHeart stated as she walked past the girls. "I doubt it, we gave him a steak and a huge fish fillet," Twilight said. "You have no idea how much he can eat in this amount of time we've been talking." She said as the three mares headed back down the hall. By the time they all made it to the room and entered the plates and utensils had been cleaned and put back in the Fluttershy's basket neatly. "See?" Nurse RedHeart knowingly. "How did he do all this in the time we were gone? Not even Berry can eat that fast and do the dishes." "He has a routine, a ten-minute shower every morning at five am on the dot, so it would make sense for him to want your plates to be clean before returning them as well." "How nice of him." Fluttershy beamed. "I don't think he did it to be nice, more likely to be out of habit." "Oh, well it is still nice," Fluttershy smiled. "Well he is looking at you now, maybe he wants to thank you." She said as Twilight and Fluttershy looked at him who was now looking at the yellow pegasus out of the corner of his eye through his bandages. "Uh, h-hi?" Fluttershy squeaked out, and he nodded back in return surprising the nurse. "Fluttershy, you did it! You got him to respond to us!" RedHeart tried not to, but still inadvertently squealed with delight, She quickly cleared her throat and tried to regain he professionalism. "I did? I did!" Fluttershy cheered happily. "Wow, leave it to Fluttershy to make a friend with something who doesn't talk." And then the hallucinations leave happy they made "progress" and you sit there wondering what was going on. They don't seem bad... But they never do Keep an eye on them, something isn't right
Chapter 1Author's Note If you are wondering why this has so many thumbs up it is because this story was originally posted in 2012 and I just resubmitted it and began rewriting it due to me being unhappy with the quality and how it was rushed in my opinion. TLDR, this is hopefully a better version but now with season 7 content, and maybe an appearance from prince green antler aka Thorax Chapter 1 You awake in a hospital, how you got there is a mystery, but the more you wonder how you got here you start to wonder where exactly here is. You look around and everything seemed to be a bit on the small side, maybe you're in a children's ward? No, you highly doubt they would scale down the equipment to match the bed and furniture. You looked down and found your chest punctured with various tubes going in and out with sanguined gauze help in place with soaked in blood. You looked around your immediate vicinity and saw the tubes leading to various machines, and an IV drip a foot and a half above your head with some kind of numbing agent mixed in, you could feel the pain but it wasn't overbearing. You tried to move your legs but the soles of your feet were inches off the floor, did they have no bigger beds? Focus, you try to remember what happened, all you remember was that you were home alone, paranoid, as usual, dad went for groceries...Then it just all goes black. The more you thought the more strenuous your headache got and the tighter the bandages on your head felt. your head was pounding. For now, you should just be glad whatever happened didn't kill you... You just stared at the ceiling, you began counting the specs on the ceiling tiles around the hanging incandescent light fixtures, they were a pale almost neutral green, kind of like the ones at the hospital you stayed at for a while. You shake those thoughts out of your head, you needn't go back there, you're here now, everything is fine, everything is fine, no one is out to get you, you're fine. Just as you finished your new mantra you heard someone outside the door and then the doorknob started to turn, wait, even the door was small if a bit wide. You tried to turn onto your left side to look away from the door but the wound on your stomach caused you to severe pain, you just decided to close your eyes and pretend to sleep. You never liked doctors. "Huh, thought it'd be awake by now... Guess we can tell the night shift to just monitor its vitals and call us if anything goes into the red." The doctor said as he walked around, a separate set of footsteps followed him not two feet back. I'm a person, not a thing, also why did he bring a nurse in with him? She must have literally been walking in his footsteps because the clop of their shoes was nearly on top of eachother The door clicked shut with the doctor and his associate disappeared behind the distorted glass, you probably think they use that so people can't peek in on patients as they walk by, but they can see people walk by and get a view of the outside, after all, this room was without a window. You just look around, the chairs are low to the ground and are rather... what was the word? Ah, arciform, it was kind of rounded and arched in the back, maybe this was a special room for those with back problems? Maybe dwarves? You had no idea, but with nothing else to do you just lay there and theorize their choice of furnishings. Everything seemed a bit child-sized but wide with ample back support. From what you knew kids didn't usually lean back, rather they lean forward, why the focus on cushy chair backs? Too much funding? It was all a similar pale neutral green as to match the door, the walls, the shade on the light fixtures that hung from the ceiling and pretty much everything that could come in a different color didn't Time languidly passed until the clock on the wall read midnight, you hadn't heard any footsteps outside your door in over an hour, they always came in pairs, must be a university hospital where students shadow their seniors and learn from real-world experience. Something just didn't sit right with you as a heavy panic began to sit in. You need to get out of here, something isn't right if this was a legitimate emergency where were your parents? Nothing added up, you had to get out, now... You start to sit up, the painkillers had fully taken effect as the pain you felt earlier was absent. The act of sitting up tugged on the tubes and one came unplugged and a low hiss could be heard as air could be heard leaving a tank behind your bed you couldn't see from your original position. you do a countdown from three and lean forward with all your energy and somehow get to your feet, you are as unsteady as a newborn giraffe on your feet and your bandages are dripping with blood but you just had to get out, nothing added up. You began hobbling towards the door but as your reached it a pair of footsteps went by. You held your breath as they went echoed down the hall and faded away. About a minute after the footsteps went away another patrol came around, it followed this pattern for ten minutes, so after the next pass, you left as soon as you heard the gait of the pair vanished. You quickly opened and carefully closed the door and made a break for the direction the personnel went because you saw down the hall that it curved right, meaning this was a loop, you stayed a hundred feet behind them, due to the medicine your vision was blurry but you could at least make out the bright white coat of the doctor but you still heard two pairs of footsteps. Focus, they must be in a line, yeah, the intern must be in front or something You rationalize. Hunched over "running" down the hall as fast as your body could manage you find the elevators, again for some reason they are rather short, it doesn't matter, you weren't going to use them anyways, you looked around for the stairs knowing the next round would be soon. You found them in the corner of the building a bit further down the hall just before the footsteps grew closer, you slipped into the stairwell before they could notice you. As you stood at 5 10 your head was too close to the ceiling for comfort. Who made this building, dwarves? You shook your head and tried to focus, you were pretty ADD at times, you crept down the stairs floor by floor until you reached the second, your room was on the fourth, but just before you hit ground level an alarm rang. Had you been spotted? If so, why did they just now ring the alarm? You looked down and in the dark, you saw a what could be considered a Hansel and Gretel trail of blood droplets in your wake from your bandages dripping consistently heavily over during your escape. It didn't matter, you were near the bottom floor and then would make a break for it, you heard frantic movement beyond the door to the hallway on the ground floor and waited till you heard the clear "ding" of the elevator going up then you ran for it. Everything, again, was a bit low to the ground, the reception desk was about three feet off the ground, but other than that and the fact that everything was a bit wider proportionally to the height it seemed like a normal hospital... As Nurse RedHeart made her rounds her mind had drifted from her usual duties to the weird creature that now inhabited room 4-12. it was clearly mammalian, bipedal, but it was as tall as Celestia! It had no fur except on its chest, forearms, legs, and top of its head but it really couldn't be considered fur, almost like a mane, well, except for the body hair...It was definitely male and somehow it landed in the woods outside and was found by one of the patients who was on a "nature walk" to get some fresh air, there was so much blood, a- Her attention was drawn to something red on the floor. Did somepony forget to put the old bandages in the waste bin on the cart before moving them again? As she followed the trail it led not to the nurse's station as she expected but to the stairwell and her calm demeanor was shattered in an instant and replaced with one of deep concern for her patient. It ran away?! With those wounds?! In a panic, she rushed behind the desk, broke the glass and sounded the alarm on the wall. She wasn't worried about what the creature might do to somepony, but what it would inadvertently do to itself, with those wounds and the rate it must be moving they would surely open again. If it wasn't treated soon she feared the worst. Just as she was heading back to her cart to get some much-needed sleep the great and powerful Trixie from her day of kite flying kites with Starlight, who for some reason really liked this activity, she was passing through the park entrance and through town. She always did admire Luna's work on the night sky, it was just so relaxing watching the stars as she fell asleep. She continued her venture home when she noticed a trail on the ground, it was kind of sticky as it matted the fur near the bottom of her leg just above her hoof, her curiosity piqued, she followed the trail wondering what the substance was. It led through town and to the market, it had left large pools in its wake, meaning whatever was causing it must have stopped for a moment. Who would carry around red paint at a time like this? They really should be more careful, it is not as easy as ponies think to clean off acrylic paint, Trixie would know... She looked about and found it continued down an alleyway between two shops that had long since closed for the evening. Throwing caution to the wind she ventured down the dark alley, sure Ponyville was perfectly safe even at night, but this was just a bit creepy for the show mare. She went further down the alley and next to a dumpster she found the source, whatever it was it was bleeding a lot considering she had been following the trail for fifteen minutes, even with it stopping periodically which left a well-sized blood stain on the cobblestone road every couple hundred feet. Not knowing what to do or if this thing was even alive she ran for help. It was past one in the morning at this point and Twilight was more than enjoying her much needed sleep, her snores echoed back at her in her large crystalline room, it was peac- "Twilight!!!" And there it went, ugh, couldn't Trixie just wait till she got up to hang out? Late night kite flying ventures are fine but Twilight didn't see the need to impose the activity on her, she just had no interest in kit- "Twilight!!!" Trixie called again this time sounding closer. Ugh, why wasn't Spike dealing with Trixie? Twilight had spent all day dealing with mail and public appearance requests, i- Twilight!!!" Trixie screamed mere inches from Twilight's face, bloodshot eyes, a hysterical look on her face. "Trixie, what is it? Did your kite fly away again? I know you and Starlight made it together but tracking it with magic takes a toll on me, can't we look for it la-" "Be quiet! I found a trail of blood in town and it led to something in the alley between that ridiculous fan supply store and the empty building next to it!" "Wait, what?!" This had Twilight's full attention now, she looked down at Trixie's hooves and there were indeed slight red smears on them, and on her comforter. "Follow me!" Trixie commanded before bolting out of Twilight's room, the alicorn followed right behind her to the aforementioned alley, when they got there the body was gone. "B- Whe- It was right here!" Trixie stammered. "Did you really smear red paint on your hooves to prank me Tr-" "Does this smell like paint to you?!" Trixie thrusted a hoof to Twilight's muzzle, yup, blood. "So where could it have gone?" Twilight looked around and saw a few hoof prints with the slightest red outline on them, whoever carried it away also left a trail, "Let's go." The two followed the trail back to the hospital and burst through the entrance, startling the elderly mare working the early morning receptionist shift. "How may I help you, princess?" The mare asked as she got up and walked around the desk to greet them. "We followed a trail of blood here, is the pony okay?" "Oh, that, one of our more exotic patients made a break for it and his wounds opened up before he could make it anywhere, Nurse Redheart followed the trail into town and we had some of the staff carry him on a stretcher back to his room." "Exotic? How exotic? Like a gryphon, or a zebra?" "Some sort of male, bipedal mammal with a short curly mane, patchy hair, and about as big as one o' the princesses." This caught Twilight's attention. "Can we see the patient?" "Why sure, now that he is secured he won't be going anywhere." The mare said as she began walking towards the elevator. "Is it that dangerous?" Trixie asked as the two followed the senior. "Pfft, doubtful, it has no horn or wings and is hooked up to so many doo-dads it wouldn't make it outta the hospital again." She said confidently. "What happened?" Twilight asked, as then the mare told Twilight and Trixie how a foal had found him and how he had landed not in, but above the trees outside the hospital. "Whatever it is, it had a not so safe landing amongst the branches, one in particular "caught" him hence all the stitches and tubes, he even had a punctured left lung. Mostly fractures though and lacerations beyond the injuries from the branches." She said as they exited the elevator. "Why did it appear there, how did nopony notice?" Twilight asked. "We don't know why it is here, and we didn't notice til little Rumble down the hall kicked his ball too hard, and when he went to go get it he said he saw something hurt. When the nurse appointed to him on his little excursion saw it we got it set up as fast as we could. Well, they did, I just got here as we ended visiting hours at seven. Here's the door, and if it tries anything let me Nurse RedHeart know so she can sedate him." She advised before walking back to the elevator, just as they opened the door loud beeping and shallow breathing filled the small room. They looked on in awe at what they saw, a giant monkey looking creature that was half mammal, half machine covered in blood-stained gauze at this point was taking up the entire bed with its legs hanging prominently off the end of the bed frame. "What is it?" Trixie asked trying to piece together what this thing was. "I don't know but it must have been scared, why else would it run from a hospital of all places? " "Maybe it just wanted to go home?" "Maybe, it doesn't look like it belongs here, but for whatever reason, it is here, and we should see what we can do. maybe it is a whole new species come to visit us." Twilight said hopefully. "You are being such a princess right now." Trixie commented, only to earn a glare from Twilight, "In a good way!" "Ugh, you go to the castle and tell Starlight and Spike what happened in the morning, use the guest room, for now, I'm going to wait here and see if it wakes up." "You sure?" "Yeah, plus, kites are not appropriate gifts for the injured." Twilight teased, and with that, Trixie left for the castle and Twilight lay down on the couch and went back to sleep, hoping in the morning she could interview the new arrival.
Chapter 3As Fluttershy excitedly pranced about her cottage looking through books trying to piece together what this new species could be Twilight just sat watching the pegasus reach Rainbow Dash levels of speed. "You said it seemed hairless?" "Yeah, except for the top of its head there was only light hair on its forearms, legs, and chest, why?" "Well according to this book some primates share a similar hair pattern in some species, more or less, and you said it was bipedal?" "Yes, and it stood as tall as Celest-" "Right, right, go on..." Fluttershy said absentmindedly as she began to flip through a book so large she didn't need to set it on a table for the pages to be at eye level. "It also has fingers and toes like a Diamond Dog but more joints." "So more simian-like in design?" "If you want to put it like that, I guess?" Twilight was confused where Fluttershy could be going with this, it didn't have a tail, monkies don't eat meat, nor are their bodies in such lengthy proportions. "and it had canines so you think it could eat meat?" "That's what nurses and I the thought, plus it has been losing weight since it got here yet it devours everything it deems edible." "Is it a picky eater?" "No, well, only if it comes to anything with oats, raw tomatoes, or hay, otherwise the food goes faster than Rainbow Dash to the bookstore for the latest copy of Daring Doo." "I think you girls are onto something, let's bring it some variety of protein to see what it likes or needs," Fluttershy suggested as she went to the kitchen and open up the freezer. Twilight really had never seen the contents of her large freezer, she had an idea what was in there but never realized the extent of it, frozen steaks, fish fillets, smaller rodents and even some preserved insects! "Fluttershy, you really keep all this stuff in your fridge?!" "Uh huh, otherwise it would go bad too quickly for the poor animals to eat and I can't fly to the market that sells this so cheap every week." "But I thought you loved the mice that live in the field? Why do you have dead ones?" "For Mr. Snake, we have a deal, the mice are safe from him so long as he can eat them when they die all on their own, if there aren't any recently dead ones he eats some substitutes I make for him." "And you're okay with that?" Twilight asked in disbelief. "Twilight, you realize they are animals? They need to eat to survive and sometimes that involves eating each other, so this way they can but without anyone being a meany-face." Fluttershy said as she dug out a small red steak, a fish fillet, and some seasoned crickets some of the smaller reptiles who occasionally visited enjoyed. At this string of logic Twilight could only come to one conclusion, she didn't give the timid mare enough credit, she really had this down patent, who knew this squeamish mare could tame the circle of life? Twilight thought to herself until she heard the freezer door slam shut and Fluttershy began packing up the goods, apparently, she had some pre-cooked food. "I thought Berry ate them raw?" "Yes, but sometimes he likes it warm on cold nights, just as long as it is still red inside he's quite happy with it." She said cheerfully. "Okay, just bring some utensils for it, we brought in some raw vegetables and he had a lot of trouble chewing through some of them, either he has a weak jaw or he's not used to this sort of diet," Twilight stated. "Oh, thank you, I would have felt so bad if he couldn't eat the food I bought for him." She thanked as she fluttered over to the drawer near the sink and pulled out a sharp serrated knife and a large fork. "Why do you have a knife like that?Don't tell me..." "Berry is a civilized bear Twilight, he just doesn't always have the time to sit down and eat like we do." Fluttershy reminded her. "Right, sorry," Twilight said sheepishly as her friend lead them out of the house and headed for town. Fluttershy was giddy with excitement the whole ten minutes there, she had a death grip on the basket of meat for a possible new friend, Twilight was still a bit worried over the upcoming encounter with the patient. "Fluttershy, you do remember it doesn't speak, or at least hasn't to us, giant, casually broke from adult pony restraints and was unphased by a nurse ready to stop him with sedatives?" "Yup!" "So how are you so calm because I am a bit nervous," Twilight said as she remembered him lurching at her, well not at her but in her direction still was a bit scary, it even seemed as if it didn't notice their existence. "Well, maybe he's just as scared as you are?" It was almost as if Fluttershy also had read her mind. "But-" "Just because he doesn't show it doesn't mean he doesn't feel it," She pointed out, Twilight simply nodded in turn as they entered the hospital. "Ah, welcome back dearies, here to see the unique case again?" The secretary asked as she signed the girls in. "Yes, in fact, Fluttershy here brought some food to see if something has been missing from his diet." "Ah, yes, he has been showing signs of muscle loss, although that could be from no exercise, the beginning signs of a minor case of anemia would lead us to the to that conclusion he is lacking protein." "Anemia?" "His blood isn't carrying as much oxygen as it could so he's having a bit of trouble catching his breath on occasion as has developed a terrible cough." She mused as she handed the two their visitor's pass. "Oh my, could it be he is a carnivore?" Fluttershy wondered as she looked at the meager basket of meat and fish. "I hope not, otherwise we've been feeding him the completely wrong thing, not a good first impression, that and he hasn't spoken or said anything since he's arrived." "Well, we should get going, thanks, Barbara!" Twilight said as she pushed the frozen Fluttershy down the hall as the timid pegasus wondered if she should have brought more meat or some supplements, tea, snacks, or- "We're here Shy," Twilight said shaking her out of her trance of worry for the patient. "Oh, thank you, let's see if we can cheer him up with some home cooked food." Fluttershy hoped as she opened the basket, the smell of lukewarm steak was weak but was strong enough for Twilight to switch to mouth breathing, she never really hated meat but the smell was mildly unpleasant to her, call it unicorn stereotypes being somewhat true. "Um hello, would you like something to eat?" Fluttershy asked the patient who was sitting straight up in bed staring out the window at seemingly nothing. "C-Can you hear me?" Fluttershy questioned as she took a step closer, not getting any reaction from him. Ignore them, they aren't real... They never are You thought to yourself, this time the hallucinations were very persistent, you could swear you could touch them this time, but as the doctors have said countless times they are all in your head, just pretend they aren't there, pay them no mind and they will go away... It's been over a week, how long will I have to endure this? Why must I suffer? What did I do wrong to deserve to not be able to tell what is real, what is fake, what is there, what is not, who I am or- Who we are? They're not real...None of them are...
Chapter 4As Fluttershy Put the cooked food in front of the patient they waited for him to start eating but he just stared at the opposing wall for three minutes. "Uh, you think he knows the food is for him?" Twilight asked wondering if he even noticed their presence in the room. "Well, Berry always digs right into a hot meal when I place it in front of him, maybe he's a picky eater?" Fluttershy taps her chin in thought. "Let's get the nurses' opinions and thoughts, maybe they have ideas how we can get him to eat this?" Twilight suggested as she motioned for her and her friend to leave the room and find Nurse RedHeart. With the hallucinations gone, you can finally relax and take a bite of your food, that, and it was a bit too hot to eat when the lunch staff had brought it to you. Huh, guess it's my birthday or something, why else would they give me something this expensive? Or they feel like it would be wise to get on our good side? You don't exist, now let me have a decent meal for the first time since this massive trip started. You dig in and cut the steak and fish into small cubes as your jaw had begun to hurt from your injuries or maybe a bad reaction to your new meds? Who knew at this point, hopefully, that nurse you could swear was a hallucination herself would be back with the blood tests soon. Hopefully, they could tell you if the new antipsychotics and mood stabilizers were working or wreaking havoc on your brain chemistry again. You finish your meal in record time as it had been a while since you had the chance to get your hands on any read meat, let alone something this good, you wipe your face and carefully put the dishes and utensils back where they belonged in what looked like a basket but you were sure was actually a food cart. "Nurse RedHeart!" The mares called out looking for the nurse in charge as they wandered the upper level of the hospital wing. "Shhhh!" the head nurse chastised them as they were making a ruckus in a healing unit which was labeled as a quiet zone near every entrance and exit. "Sorry." Twilight replied sheepishly, "We were looking for you so we could find you and ask if you had any idea how we could encourage him to eat the meat we brought him." "Barbara told me of your two's idea, and honestly I almost kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner, he has canines so it should have been obvious." She sighed as she explained, "Sadly though, I don't have any idea what would make the food more appetizing to him, he never eats with us in the room, we never see him even touch it, we stood in the for a full hour the first solid meal he was given and he didn't move a muscle other than occasionally looking in my direction." "Maybe he likes you," Fluttershy said hopefully. "I doubt it, I'm just the only one with enough nerve to draw his blood for testing, the other nurses are too nervous around him to hold the syringe steady which would cause undue pain and complication for the patient. I think he just keeps an eye on me because I'm one of the only ponies here who isn't afraid of him." "You really think he is like that?" Twilight asked. "Possible, his arms were as big as small trees when he first got here, he obviously had the muscle composition to stop us from getting near him if he were at full strength, but due to his injuries, he is left to let us treat him. He doesn't know us, trust us, and could possibly not even understand us as he has given us no verbal feedback to anything we say." "You think his kind could be the top of the food chain?" Fluttershy asked trying to figure out all she could about him. "We have no idea, but if he isn't I would hate to see what is, he seems to be more intelligent than we thought as well." "How so? He doesn't talk." "As a nurse was giving him his dose of medicine and morphine in the morning in a sleep deprived state she almost gave him a lethal dose even for something of his size but before she could he covertly unhooked his IV and it just dripped on the ground." "If it just went to waste how do you know it would have killed him?" "Because when I went in later on my rounds I saw the puddle near his bed and had it tested and it contained enough morphine per liter to knock out a manticore." "You mean just by looking he knew she had made a mistake and even in his subdued state figured it out before she could open the bag?" "Exactly, he is smarter than we give him credit for, and due to his overall size and how he must feel all nurses besides me since that incident have advised to avoid him." "Why? he hasn't hurt anypony." Twilight asked. "Twilight, how would a manticore act if it were injured and trapped?" Fluttershy asked rhetorically. "It might lash out?" Twilight answered skeptically. "And hurt itself further in the act of trying to protect itself." "Wow, you really put a lot of thought into this." "Of course, as a medical professional I have knowledge of most sentient species, besides dragons, and I would prefer to have a happy patient rather than an accident that could lead to further problems down the road." "Right, like what if there are more of his kind and they think we mistreated him?" Fluttershy stated. "You really think this species is native to somewhere outside of Equestria and-" "He could be related to someone important it could go badly, I highly doubt any of this but we must take all precautions possible, for all we know he could have just wound up here by mistake and he's the only one of his kind left." She explained. "That's very diplomatic of you Nurse RedHeart," Twilight said. "Well, when you have a princess of Friendship down the road and the Diarchs make frequent visits you pick up diplomatic knowledge." "Ah, right, well should we go back and check up on him?" Twilight asked. "Sure, he's probably done eating by now anyway," RedHeart stated as she walked past the girls. "I doubt it, we gave him a steak and a huge fish fillet," Twilight said. "You have no idea how much he can eat in this amount of time we've been talking." She said as the three mares headed back down the hall. By the time they all made it to the room and entered the plates and utensils had been cleaned and put back in the Fluttershy's basket neatly. "See?" Nurse RedHeart knowingly. "How did he do all this in the time we were gone? Not even Berry can eat that fast and do the dishes." "He has a routine, a ten-minute shower every morning at five am on the dot, so it would make sense for him to want your plates to be clean before returning them as well." "How nice of him." Fluttershy beamed. "I don't think he did it to be nice, more likely to be out of habit." "Oh, well it is still nice," Fluttershy smiled. "Well he is looking at you now, maybe he wants to thank you." She said as Twilight and Fluttershy looked at him who was now looking at the yellow pegasus out of the corner of his eye through his bandages. "Uh, h-hi?" Fluttershy squeaked out, and he nodded back in return surprising the nurse. "Fluttershy, you did it! You got him to respond to us!" RedHeart tried not to, but still inadvertently squealed with delight, She quickly cleared her throat and tried to regain he professionalism. "I did? I did!" Fluttershy cheered happily. "Wow, leave it to Fluttershy to make a friend with something who doesn't talk." And then the hallucinations leave happy they made "progress" and you sit there wondering what was going on. They don't seem bad... But they never do Keep an eye on them, something isn't right
