Blue Syringe

Oh holy flank, this hurts.

Just when I think I get used to it, I slip on a damn wet patch and then a new level of fresh hell pierces my leg.

Bloody Pegas…

You know, let's not think about her for a second, still trying to get that image out of my head.

Looking around, I've nestled myself in a rocky outcrop about half-way up a slope, probably about two hours from when I left that cave.

And bloody annoyingly I no longer have a backpack, I think I lost it in the avalanche somewhere. Managed to get a few of my medical supplies, my books, and some food rations but everything else is gone. Including my stockpile of two-hundred bits, that one stings.

Sorting out my medical supplies, I take some painkillers to wane off the worst bits and then reapply the bandages and then the splint to my leg.

Need to somehow get to a town with access to either a bank or a courier trustworthy enough to go to a bank for me. Problem is I am pretty sure it's going to take me at least a week with my leg in the condition it is.

Oh and I also need to manage to hide from the guards.

Yeah, I had been walking near a very rocky area (Geography wasn't my speciality) earlier which I think was keeping me hidden and I noticed several guards, in some very scary looking armour, flying around and circling the area I had been about twenty minutes prior.

I'm not a betting type of pony but even I know my chances here aren't great… But there is still a chance.

Got to hang onto that.

Peaking my head out of the outcrop, I can't see any immediate dangers.

I know I need to move relatively quickly, I'd managed to recover about six days of rations and I probably can stretch them out to about nine if I actually bothered to do the maths on how much calories I'd need to eat per day.

Actually, it reminds me of the first time I ran away. I packed quickly when I left because my pre-planning skills were dire at the time and my child-like mind decided that as chocolate bars were calorie-rich then I should pack those and that's all I packed.

Two weeks I was eating those bloody things and I genuinely haven't touched one since.

Starting downhill, I try to keep a reasonable pace but falter at moments, I am going to need to let this leg rest for a month if I want to walk without issue after this.

Starting to have sympathy for the clients I used to deal with in Canterlot, I couldn't understand why they'd try to walk on a broken limb and apparently my high-pitch shouts used to be a great motivator to make them stop.

I manage to get to the bottom of the slope I'd been sitting on and looking around, I can see a few caves in the distance.

Might be a good idea to gamble with, I'm pretty sure that there weren't a lot of ponies looking for me or at least not yet and I need rest.

I suppose aside from the pain in my leg, which I am internally cursing everystep, I have the free time to think about what to do next.

They've confirmed i'm still operating and hell two have managed to touch me, though I am not sure what's going on with Pinkie - it might be related to the twitching tail and she released involuntarily but it didn't feel that way, so I am probably going to need to stop working in Equestria for a while just to make sure.

I am going to have to assume that they've worked out that I use newspapers to find potential clients, I just cannot see where I've made any other mistakes that have led to them being here, so a heavy priority is contacting my clients, which I can probably do when it gets dark.

Which is happening at a concerning speed, I hope I can get to this cave in time. If I get lost in this cold and it's dark, I'm probably dead.

And sadly the only pony that I can't resurrect is me.

I've considered it before but I can't really confirm it without shuffling off the mortal coil, it also requires me to understand time based spells to which I have no clue at all and finally, my body would need to be in a good enough condition to return to. Which if I am dead and noone is around to fix the more lethal wounds, then that isn't happening.

But yeah, onto a less morbid top…

I let out a stifled scream as I rolled my ankle on an uneven surface.

Oh Equestria that hurt, I hope nopony heard that.

You know, maybe I should start looking into it - the self-resurrection that is.

I do have an idea on how I can at least guarantee a level of self repair but it is fairly danger… scratch the fairly, its damn near suicidal.

That idea is a particular plant called the berserker's flower
So named after the Berserkers of the Iron Hill, a rare time in the history of Equestria where a band of warriors are remembered fondly, as they used to chew on the flower as they charged into battle.

Well a few of them did at least, the flower has impressive regenerative abilities and lethal injuries they took seemed to be shrugged off with a wave of a hoof.

Most ponies refused to try and face the tribe as it was considered madness to fight them.

See that's what the tribe had hoped, there is one particular issue with the flower.

You were dead in sixty minutes after eating it.

Turns out it was heavily toxic and destroyed your organs while bolstering every other aspect of you and the tribe hoped after a few sacrifices that they would be left alone.

Now that doesn't sound helpful I know but in theory you could use a counter-agent to lessen the impact on the body, not fully mind you I imagine a regime of medicines would be needed and you'd probably be bed-ridden for at least a month but I'd have about an hour of energy to both attempt to fix myself and get away from my assailant before I'd start to have issues, it'd be something at least.

Though this does require for me to make it out of here in one piece and to start finding the relevant ingredients needed to both keep me alive and will also need to work out the spell casting needed.

Looking up again, I noticed I have finally managed to make my way to the start of the cave and after a cursory glance for animal tracks, I make my way in.

I preemptively feel for the sleeping mat on my bag but only find the remnants of the bag I'd managed to strap together to hold what I'd had left.

Great, sleeping on the floor is soooooooo fun.

I cast a simple light spell on my horn as I lay on the floor and as I pulled out a very meager ration from my bag, desiccated carrot's which I must say is quite tasty, I then pulled out the leather tome.

Honestly, I got ridiculously lucky finding this. I'd prefer it was destroyed than some other pony finding it and I'd nearly given up looking as I was leaving and then suddenly I'd spotted it next to her.

Really bothering me for some reason, that particular sight but I'd fixed that now. Just hope that the solution sticks.

I flick open the book and reach into what's left of my bag for a quill.

Which I can feel isn't in there, Celestia damn it.
I sigh and put my book back into the bag,

Well, I need to hope that I can get some writing tools soon then.

Oh buck it, I am going to try and sleep.

I think I managed to get like four hours sleep, I am not sure but it doesn't feel like enough at the very least.

Had some odd dreams as well, felt like some pony was asking me something forcefully but I didn't want to answer but for some reason I can't remember it very well.

Glancing out of the cave entrance, it still seems too dark to go out and while I've risked it before I am still very worried about my leg.

I think that when I was hit off my sled, I probably fractured it on the landing and then I must have hit it in the avalanche because it felt actively broken. I'd brought some splints with me just coincidentally which has enabled me to start walking but these were designed for a pony to limp around their house, not full on go through a frozen mountain range.

Well, I'll get out of here and see if I can get it scanned for any flaws in the heal and if so we can re break it to make sure it heals properly.

As I seem to have the time, I start sketching a quick map on the cave floor and start trying to think of the best route to take if I need to remain stealthy.

Author's Note

Shorter chapter this one but trying to represent a shorter period of time to which I imagine the next couple of chapters is going to have a similar vibe.

Oh, I've mentioned it in the comments but there is a pattern to the character perspectives. If I break that, it is intentional and represents... something