To End Another War

Get up... Hurry, need to hurry... W- Why won’t my legs move? Come on... Move, John... Message, message needs to get out, to them, to help, or... or else everyone is dead... Move it... Damn it… move it... John thought as consciousness slowly returned to him though he could see nothing but pure blackness.

He could feel his limbs, but couldn’t move them as they each felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds. He couldn’t open his eyelids either. After what felt like hours, he was finally able to open his eyes for a split second and could barely make out someone standing at the end of his bed. He tried to ask where he was, but it just came out as a low, quiet moan. He heard someone gasp, and a clatter, as if they had dropped something metal.

“Doctor? Doctor, he’s awake!” he heard a female voice call out before the sound of someone rushing in. The voices talked in what sounded like hushed whispers for a moment before heavy footsteps approached him. Then it hit him. I must be in a hospital, he thought excitedly. The message must have gotten through. They rescued me, and everyone else! Thank god, we’ve been saved!.... How though? Did I just forget making it? No, how could I?.... Maybe I passed out from exhaustion once I told them. That has to be it, has to be.

The footsteps stopped at, what seemed to him, right next to the head of his bed before a male voice spoke. “Hello? Can you hear me? Make any sort of movement if you can hear me.” He tried to move his arm up, but was barely able to wiggle it. Everything was quiet for a moment before the footsteps got further away, and then there were more hushed whispers between, what John assumed, was a doctor and a nurse. Once they finished talking, he heard them leaving the room.

For what felt like years John tried to move or open his eyes, only to barely do either, and whenever he tried to speak it simply came out as a low moan or grunt. Eventually though a lot of people seemed to enter the room, judging from the loudness of the footsteps. Dead silence reigned back in the room eventually. John lay there, anxious to finally move or speak, so he tried again. “Where… Am….I?” he asked hoarsely.

The silence continued until a calm female voice spoke. “Do you know who you are?” John had to think for nearly a minute before managing to speak his answer.

“John… Edward… Law,” he replied in a rough, low voice. After another seeming eternity he heard more hushed whispers. “Am… Am I saved?” he asked, and the whispers ceased.

“What... What do you mean ‘saved’?” a young and curious female voice asked, after a moment of utter silence.

“Me…. Me and my company. We were stuck and alone in the forest for days,” he answered slowly, finding it easier and easier to speak, even if did hurt. “We couldn’t get a message through, and we were stuck behind the german line. But me or someone else must have gotten one through or else…. or else I’d be dead….. and so would the others.”

As he finished he tried to open his eyes again, and managed to see six blurry figures staring at him from the end of his bed. Two were in red and white, and he naturally assumed they were the doctor and the nurse, but the others were in strange colors from what he could tell. One appearing to be in white and gold while the one next to her wore all dark blue and black. Another seemed to be dressed in something pink, and the smallest one of the odd color figures had on light purple colour. He shut his eyes as they started hurting from the light that streamed in from a window in the corner of the room. Must just be my eyes playing tricks on me with the light. he rationalized.

The whispers continued as he built up strength to open his eyes again, and eventually he was able to keep them open long enough for them to focus a bit more. No one seemed to notice that he was staring wildly at them, trying to bring them into better focus. He blinked a few times and was able to open his eyes without waiting, only for him to believe they were lying to him. At the edge of his bed stood six horses!

His eyes bugged out of his head when he was able to make out the shapes of the figures. He closed his eyes for a full minute and reopened them again, only to be greeted with the same equine shapes.

Four legs, tails, hooves, and…… wings?! This can’t be real! I must be dreaming, John thought frantically as he closed his eyes again. Maybe everything before was a dream and I’m laid up in bed because….. Because, because I caught something real bad like… Like the influenza or smallpox and now I’m in a sick hospital. Maybe my fever is making me dream funny. He began shaking himself in an effort to wake himself up from this strange dream, but heard the whispers stop as another voice spoke.

“What’s he doing?” a caring but nervous female voice said suddenly as he shook “Is.. Is it hurt?

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up! He thought over and over again as a strange warm energy washed over his chest, holding him in place. “Come on, wake up. This is just a dream. This cannot be real. This can’tbe happening!” he mumbled as he opened his eyes to see the biggest of the horses staring at him with some odd glow at the end of a horn sticking out from its head. “W-What are you?” he demanded, in as loud of a voice he could muster as he struggled against the force.

“Calm down. Neither I nor anyone here has any intention of hurting you,” it said in a calming, crystalline, female voice. “While this may not be a dream, you are in no danger anymore. You’re safe.”

For some reason, John felt calmed by its words and began relaxing even though he never lost eye contact with it. After he’d stopped moving the warm energy dissipated, and he nervously spoke to it.

“What are you? An-And who are you?”

“I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of the land of Equestria-”

“Who are you? Why are you here? You are not what we expected.” The slightly smaller horse thing next to the one talking interrupted while looking at him quizzically and with an icy stare

“Sister!” The bigger one said angrily as it turned to face the smaller one who backed away, looking down.

“I’m am sorry, dear sister, but these are important questions. Why is he here? Who is he? Or better yet, what even is he?” The smaller one continued as it back away.

“Perhaps we should answer some of his questions first, Luna. I’m sure the poor thing has plenty.” The pink said as it put a hoof on the smaller ones shoulder.

“Y-Yeah, plenty.” John stammered out.

***1 day later***

“So, I have another question for you.”

John internally groaned as he was laying on the hospital bed, as the princess got ready to jot down another answer on top of the numerous questions she’d already asked. From the biology of a human, to their behavior and even mating habits ‘That was a somewhat awkward conversation’. “What do you wanna know now?” he asked.

John had tried to fake being tired or sleeping to avoid answering the relentless, living questionnaire. However, this seemed to only provoke the purple unicorn. The last time he had faked falling asleep, she watched him from the door with a floating scroll and a quill above her, just staring with her horn glowing a dim purple and jotting down notes. Needless to say, he wouldn’t be sleeping in her presence for a while.

“I’ve been curious about it since you arrived. From what I’ve gathered you were in a conflict with other members of your species. Why fight each other so… viciously?” Twilight inquired, head tilted at a slight angle in curiosity.

“I’d rather not discuss it right now. Any other questions you have?” John said, eyes looking haunted and tired. He gave her a small smile. “Perhaps we should talk about something… a bit different?”

“Ummm, alright. Well, how old are you and where do you come from?” Twilight replied, looking down on her list of questions. “I haven’t asked that one yet, mostly because I assumed the answer to your birthplace would make little sense to me, and I worried that asking your age might be considered rude amongst your species.”

“It’s not rude at all. I’m twenty three and I’m from Albany, New York.” John said, feeling another question about his answer coming “Albany’s a city in the state of New York which is in the United States of America in case you were wondering. My homeland and country of origin.” He interrupted as soon as she opened her mouth, then closed it and returned to writing down his answer, and most likely checking more questions. Though her questions were certainly tiring and gave him unexpected pangs of homesickness, these ‘ponies’ as they called themselves had kept him safe, fed and healthy. Those were three things he hadn’t had in what felt like ages, so it was fair to answer a few questions in return for their kindness, even if it hurt a little.

Even so, the constant barrage of questions from Twilight were starting to drive him a bit insane by the one sidedness of the situation. There’s no one to answer the questions I have and I really want to ask. What happened to the others? Did they make it out? Are they alive? Or are they dead while I’m here, safe and warm, eating the best food I’ve gotten in months while they rot and die in the mu-. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the nightmarish thoughts.

He’d grown a lot stronger over the past day, managing to move his limbs quicker and easier with what felt like every passing hour. All except his left leg strangely. He hadn’t tried to move it or even feel it at all, but he chocked it up to it being in a splint and being asleep… Still, his curiosity was getting the better of him. As he was slowly moving his hands over to his legs, Twilight gave his hand a light rap with her hoof. “Sorry, John. Don’t touch that.”

John frowned slightly at her, “Why not? I’m not going to mess with the cast. I just want to make sure it’s alright. Maybe scratch it a bit, it’s really itchy.”

Twilight looked at him then his leg nervously. “I guess you’ve had enough questions, haven’t you? I’ll let you get some sleep now,” Twilight said quickly, as she walked towards the door. “Sleep well John,” she said, as she turned off the light and walked out.

John watched her leave with a frown on his face. This hadn’t been the first time this happened. When the pink one had been here she had done almost the exact same thing, leaving as soon as… as the subject of his legs came up. His frown deepened as he looked over the covers, a slight sensation of wrongness settling in the back of his mind. His hand reached over them, ready to pull them off, and hesitated.

This is ridiculous, he thought. I can deal with a broken leg. He half sat on the bed, pushing his torso up, that unsettling sense growing deeper, and got a handful of the white covers. He took a deep breath, not knowing why, and pulled them away.

His left leg was gone. Everything below his knee was missing. All he saw was a thick mass of white bandages, covering the end of a stump.

His mind refused to believe what he saw. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, counted backwards from ten, everything he could think of to try and make it not real, but the lower portion of his leg didn’t magically reappear. He sat staring, his mouth hung open and his jaw quivering, for what must have been hours or mere seconds before he let out a startled, pained yell. He reached over and touched the stump to make sure it wasn’t an illusion. He felt the bandages that were wrapped tightly around the stump and pain when his shaking hand pressed too hard. “It’s… gone?” he said to himself, eyes wide in horror. “Oh God, my leg. Where is my leg?”

Memories came flooding back of everything that had taken place before he appeared at this place. He remembered the dull sensation of being lifted in the air, and crashing on the naked ground. He remembered the sound as an unexploded shell finally fulfilled its purpose, and he remembered the overwhelming pain that his mind ignored, refusing to accept what had happened. The full gravity of his situation set in, and he felt dizzy as he began hyperventilating, still staring at the stump that was now his reality.

The door slammed open as Twilight ran back in the room, noticing the lights were still on, and John staring at his stump, seemingly oblivious to her sudden entrance. She ran to his side, trying to get his attention.

“John, it’s me, Twilight. John, I know it is bad, but please, you don’t have to worry... Can you talk to me, John?” Twilight asked in concern, uneasiness settling in her voice when she failed to get any response from John at all. Not even a hint of movement beside his chest moving up and down, clearly on the verge of panic.

‘’John, I’m going to get the princesses, they’ll know what to do,”she tried to assure him before running off to notify them. She ran back out the door, shouting instructions, and a nurse quickly walked in to watch over him.

John barely registered Twilight’s presence at all. His mind was full of incoherent thoughts, noises, and faces, in a blur of hazy pictures and sequences. Almost playing out like one of the films he’d seen in a cinema before, where there was no color or sound. Just choppy and odd movements from the people around him and in his memories. Eventually he either fell asleep or lost consciousness with one final thought. I never made it to the trees. I didn’t make it.

I didn’t get help to them.