Chapters Doctor Horse: Adventures in Patience
Author's Note
Btw, this is a Unicorn!Reader story.
The Accident
You were excited. As a student of Celestia's school for talented and gifted unicorns, part of your study was to visit each of Equestria's three other princesses and see how they each fulfill their duties. Being the good student you were, princesses Luna and Cadence had already been visited, and there was only one princess left for you to visit.
Princess Twilight, the princess of friendship. You were particularly eager to talk to this princess, and to see her castle. It was supposed to be amazing. Princess Celestia had even contacted Princess Twilight and arranged to have you stay in the castle.
That's why you were on the train heading to Ponyville. Your car was empty besides yourself, and you had taken to practicing your introduction to the princess out loud. "Hello, Princess Twilight. I'm [name]. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."
"Does that sound too formal?" you asked yourself, "Well, too formal is probably better than too casual." Sighing, you turned to the window, resting your hooves on the windowsill as you looked out at the moving landscape.
You could see Ponyville coming into view, Princess Twilight's castle shimmering in the background. A nervous giggle escaped you. It was just so crazy that you were actually going to be able to stay with a princess!
You levitated your notes and books up around you, looking over your notes and research one last time. You would arrive in the town any minute now. You had to make sure you knew exactly what you were talking about when you arrived in the princess's castle.
You were barely into your final studying when a earsplitting explosion sounded from the front of the train. It lurched to the side and the brakes came on with a loud screech. All of your things were scattered to different corners of the car, but you started galloping for the front of the train, running through all the cars in between.
It wasn't clear what that explosion had been, but you just had to find out. Maybe you could help.
When you got to the engine room, the conductor was in a panic, yelling something as he clung to the brake level with all his might. When he spotted you, he shrieked. "The bridge to Ponyville is out! We're going to fall into the chasm!"
"Not if I can help it," you declared, concentrating hard and pouring magic into your horn. The engine car glowed, and based on how much the spell was draining you, the entire train much have been encompassed as well. Using your magic, you stopped the train. The conductor locked the break and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Wow, thanks!" he breathed, shaking your hoof, "Thank you! Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't been here." He glanced out the window. "Looks like we'll all be walking to Ponyville now. There should be a hoofbridge to get across the gorge."
"I'll start guiding people over," you said, eager for everyone to get going. You were going to be late for sure, but if people got going pretty soon, you might not be too late. And Princess Twilight would understand for sure.
You started going through each carriage, instructing passengers to get outside and prepare for the trek to Ponyville. You handed out explanations to any pony who asked, but you tried to keep it quick. You were in a hurry, after all.
You met the conductor afterwords as the crowd of ponies got their things together. You had packed light, just a saddlebag that you had easily slipped onto your back. "So, Mr. Conductor," you started.
"Yes?" he asked.
"How long until all these ponies get move out?" I asked. The conductor raised a hoof toward part of the group of ponies.
"You can take half of them in you want. The bridge is just a mile that way. It's a rope bridge, so keep an eye out. I'll bring the second group in a little bit."
You nodded. "Alright!" You galloped over to part of the group that seemed a little more organized. "I'm going to be leading you all to Ponyville. Come on. It's this way!" You turned and started off, with the group starting to follow behind you.
You walked for awhile, and you kept my eyes peeled for the bridge. It wasn't until you thought you must have passed it that you spotted the posts that marked where the bridge should be. You galloped over, only to find that, to your horror, the hoofbridge was out as well.
"How are we ever going to get to Ponyville now?" one pony asked. You squinted at the other side of the bridge and spotted the bridge, dangling from the other side. Using your magic, you lifted the piece of bridge toward the other side. Maybe you could tie it back on.
But it didn't quite reach. There was a short gap between the edge of the cliff and the bridge. The ponies in your group groaned unhappily. "Hey, why don't you each take turns jumping across. It's barely a foot. I'll hold the bridge up until everyone's across." You were a little tired still from the whole train ordeal, but you were confident you could keep the bridge help up.
The first brave pony hopped onto the bridge, and when it stayed up, other ponies started hopping on as well. They were still a little nervous, but they all eventually got across.
And then, of course, the conductor showed up. "What's going on?" he asked.
"This bridge is out too, and rope doesn't quite reach. I'm holding it up to let everyone cross. You can all go too."
The conductor raised an eyebrow. "You sure you can handle that, miss...?"
"It's [name]," you told him, "And yes, I'm sure I can. I'm a student of Princess Celestia." The conductor's group starting hopping onto the bridge, and you could feel the strain of holding up the bridge while all those ponies crossed.
"Well, alright," the conductor said, hopping the gap himself, "if you say so." After a moment, you were the last one. Alright, now was the tricky part. You had to keep the bridge up while you crossed it.
Both groups were waiting for you to cross the bridge. Uncertainly, you jumped the gap, suddenly feeling the strain of having to lift yourself. The bridge wobbled a bit as you took a few steps forward. You could feel the sweat beading on your forehead as you made your way across the levitating bridge.
A sudden feeling made you pale. It felt like when some pony else tapped your horn during a spell. Everything just quit. The spell dissolved, and you had barely made it halfway across the gap. With a shriek, you found yourself falling into the gorge.
"[Name]!"
And that's all you could remember.
Doctor Horse: Adventures in Patience
"Is she going to be okay?"
"What happened to her?"
"She fell into the gorge."
"Didn't someone try to help her!?"
"Of course they did! Dare Devil had a mattress, but she bounced off and landed in the water..."
"Will you all stand back?" A loud voice cut through the worried chatter, making you wince. "She doesn't need you all crowding around her."
With a soft groan, your eyes fluttered open, revealing a small crowd of ponies and Princess Twilight, who stood at your bedside.
Wait...bedside?
You were currently laying in a bed at the Ponyville hospital, swathed in bandages. Your entire body ached, and even small movements made you groan. "Wh...what happened...?" you asked, looking around at everyone and hoping for an explanation.
A unicorn stallion with a brown mane and a white doctor's coat stepped forward. "You had quite an accident. Apparently, you fell into the gorge outside Ponyville." The doctor walked around to the side of your bed and studied the bandages and casts you were in. Most of the crowd of ponies made for the door, until only the doctor, the princess, and a pegasus remained in the room. Based on his unruly mane and flaming skateboard cutie mark, you could only assume it was Dare Devil, the pony who had tried to save you.
He eyed you uncertainly. "She gonna be okay, Doc?" you heard him ask. The doctor, turned to him and smiled.
"Yes, Dare. Broken bones can heal. You don't have to hang around here all day, you know." The unicorn used his magic to readjust some of your bedding and bandages. The pegasus stallion nodded and trotted out the door, glancing back at you once.
"[name]," Princess Twilight said, "I'm really sorry this happened to you. This wasn't supposed to be a dangerous visit or anything, and I'm afraid being stuck in here will make it hard for you to do your assignment."
"I-it's okay, Princess," you said, trying to shrug but managing only to groan again, "I'll get it done somehow."
"I hope 'somehow' means after you've healed," the doctor said, glancing down at you, "You've got several broken bones... [name], was it? Well, you won't be going anywhere anytime soon."
You bit your lip. "How long am I going to be in here?" you asked uncertainly.
"Well, broken bones don't heal overnight," he said, shrugging, "It'll depend on how much you try to move around, because that may end up exacerbating your condition."
"But I can't just lay here."
"I'm afraid you have to, [name]. But don't worry, the rest of the staff and I will try to make your stay as comfortable as possible." The doctor looked over at Princess Twilight. "I'm very sorry about this, Twilight, but visiting hours are over."
"Oh! Sorry. I'll just be going then." She waved at me and headed for the door. "Bye, [name]. I'll try to visit you again if I can." You smiled a bit as she left, shutting the door behind her. Then you looked over at the doctor, who was still at your side.
"Well, [name]. I'm Dr. Horse. Your case is...particularly severe by Ponyville standards, so I'll be making sure to check in with you several times a day. Nurse Redheart will probably check in every so often as well." He frowned down at you. "Im afraid there isn't much we ca do at this point but wait for the bones to heal."
"Alright, Doctor..." you said.
"I heard you were very valiant today though. The train conductor was here earlier, and he told me how you stopped the train, and then held up that bridge for every pony to cross." An almost cross expression appeared on his face. "I'm a bit surprised that a student of Celestia would be so reckless with her own magical stamina."
An embarrassed blush rushed to your face. "I-I was just trying to help..." you stammered.
"I understand that. It doesn't make it any less reckless," Dr. Horse said, "Now, I expect you to be a good patient and stay in bed. Don't try to move, and don't use your magic." He tapped your horn, making you wince. "You magic completely faded out. It's going to take a little while for you to get to the point where you can use it again."
The doctor levitated the clipboard up off the end of my bed and looked over it absently. "I think that's all I need to tell you right now. Just...take it easy, alright? I'd hate for you to get worse or end up causing yourself to catch some sort of infection from straining yourself."
He put the clipboard back and offered you a kind smile. "If you can do that for me, you're going to be just fine, [name]." You smiled back at him as he turned toward the door.
"I'll do my best," you said softly.
"Well, good. Now, I have to check up with some other patients, but I'll be back, okay? Nurse Redheart will probably be by with your dinner sometime soon." You stuck your tongue out at that, though the doctor couldn't see it. You weren't exactly looking forward to eating hospital food.
As the door swung shut, you sighed at the ceiling. You couldn't move or use your magic, and there wasn't even anyone else in this room to talk to. This was going to be the most boring thing you'd ever experienced.
Doctor Horse: Adventures in Patience
Nurse Redheart arrived maybe ten minutes later, though it felt like hours to you. "Hello, [name]," she greeted you cheerily, "I've brought your dinner. Now, I know hospital food isn't the best, but you're going to have to eat it if you want to keep your strength up." You lifted your head to look at her.
She set the tray of food down on the table next to your bed, smiled at you, and then turned to go. It wasn't until she had left that you realized that you couldn't move or use you magic to eat the food she had delivered. With a light groan, you let your head fall back onto the pillow, grimacing.
You squeezed your eyes shut and wondered if this day could possibly get any worse. Not that you really wanted the hospital food, but you were kind of starving so any food would have been nice.
"[name]?" a voice asked, and you heard the door click shut. You opened your eyes and found Dr. Horse staring at you, a concerned frown on his face. "Why haven't you eaten anything? Is everything okay?"
"If I could eat it, I would," you muttered, "but I can't move or use my magic, like you said..."
"Oh! I am terribly sorry about that, [name]. I forgot to tell the nurse that you would need help. Well, no matter. I guess I'll just do it." The doctor smiled a bit and levitated a spoonful of mush off the tray, floating it over in front of your face.
"Wait, hold on--" you started to say, but Dr. Horse had taken the opportunity to stick the spoon into your open mouth. The mush tasted...strange, but not necessarily bad. Still, you didn't like having food shoved in your mouth while you were trying to talk, and you made a face.
"Don't fuss, [name]. You have to eat something," Dr. Horse said, levitating another spoonful of food to your face. You didn't try to talk this time, and you didn't open your mouth. It had been humiliating enough for him to feed you the first time. "[name], don't make this difficult."
"Is there any other way to--?" The spoon found its way into your mouth again, and you grumbled irritably. "Is there another way to do this?" you asked, frowning.
"I'm afraid not. Until you get your magic back, this is how we're going to have to do this." Dr. Horse levitated another spoon to your mouth, and you sighed and opened wide. This was the most humiliating thing you have ever been through.
You very awkwardly finished your meal, your face turning deep shades of red as you became more and more embarrassed about it. Dr. Horse didn't seem to mind, but he was a doctor after all. This probably wasn't the first time he'd had to spoon feed somepony.
"[name]? You feeling alright? You look feverish," the doctor pointed out, putting a hoof on your forehead. You flushed deeper and shook your head slightly, though the motion made you wince.
"No, no. I'm fine," you muttered, looking away. Dr. Horse smiled slightly.
"I know this is a little strange, but it's necessary. I know you might be a little uncomfortable, but I promise you, it isn't as bad as you think it is. Just be glad this won't be necessary once your magic comes back."
"Oh." You looked back at him. "How long will that be? How will I know when I can use magic again?"
"We have some monitors for that. Don't worry, we'll let you know. In the meantime, you might want to spend time getting some much needed rest. I'm sure you'll need it." Dr. Horse used his magic to pull a blanket over you.
With a soft mumble, you closed your eyes and tried to get comfortable, though it wasn't easy. It wasn't exactly comfortable, and you couldn't move to readjust myself. You knew that things would probably be a lot worse though, since Dr. Horse must have put you on some sort of painkiller. Ugh, how awful would it be without that? You didn't really want to think about it.
It had turned to nighttime, which meant the staff were mostly asleep, but you were still awake. You had nodded off once, but based on when you woke up, it couldn't have been more than ten minutes. And of course you couldn't do anything, so most of the time was spent just sitting around, achy and bored.
A nurse on night duty had wandered in once during the night, but you had just closed your eyes and pretended to be asleep. Thinking back on it, you regretted not saying something, but you didn't want any of the nurses to fuss about your lack of sleep. What could they do about it anyway?
Even after the sun finally came up, the hospital didn't quite wake up. You stared at the ceiling, feeling so exhausted that under normal circumstances you would have fallen asleep instantly, but you just ached so much that you couldn't. All you wanted was for someone to come in and save you from your boredom and exhaustion.
"Good morning, [name]. Sleep well?" Dr. Horse greeted you cordially.
"Hm...? Oh, yeah," you lied, smiling at him. The doctor gave you a suspicious glance, but apparently believed you.
"Well, good. I brought breakfast. It's...oatmeal, I think," he said, chuckling lightly. You laughed a bit as well, but stopped abruptly as a spoon appeared in front of your face.
Oh, right. This again.
You reluctantly complied to being force fed something that definitely didn't taste like oatmeal. You could feel the blush creeping into your face again, and Dr. Horse smiled at you. "Something wrong, [name]?" he asked, and you could hear the teasing in his voice.
"No..." you answered, blushing deeper as he set the bowl aside and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, alright then. I'll be back to check up on you in a bit," he said, carrying the bowl out as he left the room. You sighed and tried to get comfortable, but to no avail. Everything just hurt too much.
"It going to be a long day..."
Author's Note
Dr. Horse is really cute and kinda clueless...
