A Bounty Hunters Work

"Twi darling, beating yourself up won't make matters any better. There was nothing else you could have done." I heard Rarity say, ushering my mind back to reality.

"I know...I know. But you saw the state he was in when we arrived. It's a miracle he survived." I said, my ears flattening against my head.

"I mean that syringe with...what did he call it? Bacta? Yea. The bacta syringe did make things better, to be fair." Dash chimed in, giving her two bits.

"Still doesn't make me feel any better," I whispered.

It's been a week since the Crystal Heart was returned and Sombra was defeated. Fen was found not too far from the palace with severe and some life-threatening injuries. Multiple lacerations, multiple minor burns, a broken left humerus and ulna, his right femur was broken, a few broken ribs and a punctured lung.

We had thankfully got to him in time to administer bacta into his system, but the small dosage was designed for only minor injuries. He said it himself. We had to provide a large amount of magic to his system as well, but even then, the Hospital staff needed to perform emergency surgery. As I said, it was a miracle he lived through it.

During this time, the ponies of the Crystal Empire had all come together to fix the damage that had been done by Sombra and continued with the festival, mostly to boost morale. Repairs are still an ongoing endeavour. But it's not all good. Some will have to undergo rather intense phycological therapy because of the events of recent and past, but they have more than enough support to get through it.

"Do you think he'll be up soon?" Fluttershy asked, idly combing her mane as she spoke.

"Honestly Shy I'm not sure, it's hard to tell. I've never seen anypony, never mind him, in such a state before. He could be out for quite a while." I said. "But if I know anything about Fen and it's that he's tough. He'll be fine in the end. All we need to do is wait."

Pain and agony are all I felt. Sanguine caked my hands to the wrist as tears and flakes of white blurred my vision as I threw my helmet to the ground, my hands darting to her side in a mad rush to bind the wound closed. Her word words of comfort did nothing to alleviate the oncoming sorrow. Knowing there was nothing I could do, I gingerly placed my hand on the back of her head and brought it to mine, taking her hand in my own.

Letting loose a deep breath, the remnants fading in the cold winter night as her hand fell unceremoniously to the ground, leaving me alone as I silently sobbed, her now limp body still within my grip, refusing to loosen as the world around me darkened.

As my eyes fluttered open, they were assaulted by a bright white light, causing them to slam shut quickly after. I opened my eyes again after a brief moment, slower this time as to allow them to adjust to the light. Taking in a deep breath, a slight ache surprisingly being the only form of pain I felt. Opening my eyes fully, I saw the source of the stinging light. I was in the hospital. The obnoxious but necessary beeping now registering in my ears. I first noticed my helmet was still, for some reason, on my head.

I lay there in silence as the numbness I felt in my body begin to subside, control becoming the predominant force once more. With my motor skills now back in action, I looked around the room. It was about as generic as you could get, nothing remarkable or sticking out. Trying to shift my position, a sudden pain shot through my chest, causing me to gasp and groan, my hands shot to the area that was affected.

"Oh my gosh, Fendral!"

Looking up, I saw none other than Selene clambering from a seat situated near the bed I lay in, a tired look of distress locked onto her face. Seems she's become quite attached. Steadying my breathing, I got the pain mostly under control, now only being a mild, but annoying ache. I lightly waved my hand, giving her a none verbal confirmation that I was fine. I slowly leaned back into the surprisingly soft hospital bed, letting another groan escape my lips as I did. Hearing the sounds of scraping, I looked over to Selene as she brought the chair closer and let my head limply fall back to the headrest.

"You look exhausted." I chuckled, my voice coming out gruff and deeper than usual. A clear sign that my throat was in dire need of water.

"What does that say about you?" She chuckled back, her smile disappearing soon after. "We thought you wouldn't make it."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Clearly."

For a while, we simply sat there, not saying a word, the only noise being the heart monitor, the beeps akin to a metronome.

My fight with Sombra plagued my mind, playing in my mind an innumerable amount of times and with each replay, something became clear to me. Sombra wasn't even trying. Sombra was a mythical dark magic-user. He could have ended the fight as easily as a snap of his fingers, but he didn't. He didn't even use magic other than a few basic spells, but even then they were catastrophic to me. Was he toying with me? Did he want to make an example of me? I don't think I want to know.

Shaking those thoughts from my head, I cleared my mind to make way for another, hopefully, more positive way of thinking. Shifting my head slightly, my eyes landed on the Lycan next to my bed and a thought appeared in my mind. One that confused me slightly as I thought about it.

"Selene?" I hollered, my words shaking her from her daydream.

"Hmm?"

"How long have I been out for?"

"Roughly a week I think." She said, taking a glance at the nearby clock.

"And have you been by my side the entire time?" I ask, steadily shifting my body carefully into a sitting position.

The question seemed to give her pause. Opening her mouth, she quickly closed it and appeared to be cannily considering her words. Soon her ears flattened to her head, a look of apprehension on her face. Looking to me, a look of sincerity taking overtaking her features.

"I have." She said.

"Any reason for this," I asked.

"You directly saved my life more than once. You placed your life in danger so that I could live. Within my culture, when a being willingly does this, the Lycan, of any subspecies, forever owes that being their life. This is called a 'livets offer' which roughly translates to 'life's sacrifice'." Stopping briefly, she took a deep breath. "When a 'Life's sacrifice' is established, the saved person is obligated to pledge their lives to protect and looking after their saviour, even to the point of sacrificing their own life, should they deem it necessary."

"A life debt," I said, letting my head fall back to the head of the bed.

"Correct. So I am now obligated to do everything in my power to ensure your safety."

I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that statement, which gained a curious head tilt from Selene.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"That's my line."

Once I said this, a nurse entered the room and swiftly took notice of my awoken status.

"Oh, your awake?" He said, making his way over to my current bed, Selene moving to give him room to work. "That's a good sign. We had estimated you to be asleep for a few more days. You had us worried for a bit there."

"Have you eaten or drank anything yet Miss Selene?" He added, looking to the Lycan in question.

"Not yet Nurse Monitor."

"Well I think now would be a good time to do so, you wouldn't you?" He said, looking over his glasses like an expectant father.

Nodding, Selene got up from her chair and quietly left. The nurse waited a couple of seconds for her steps to disappear before turning back to me.

"She seems quite fond of you doesn't she?" He said, a kind smile on his face. "Before we can continue, I'll have to bring in the Doctor to conduct a few tests. I'll be right back"

Swiftly leaving, he soon arrived with the Doctor he mentioned with a jug of water. The tests were about what you'd expect. Things like: Heart BPM, Blood pressure, even my cholesterol, as well as checking the external and internal injuries and a fitness test. I was honestly surprised by the severity of the wounds, no wonder Selene was concerned.
Soon, the tests were done, leaving me laying in my bed once more. During this, Selene had come back from, I assume, having eaten the meal the Nurse suggested she have. The Nurse and Doctor were looking over the results and came over to me once they were finished.

"Well it seems your external and internal wounds have healed over remarkably, but the external ones have scarred due to how deep they were. Your bones have healed nicely as well it seems." She said. looking over the clipboard in her hand. "But I would recommend taking it easy with any strenuous tasks and just slowly work yourself up, just to be on the safe side of things."

"It's honestly amazing just how quickly you healed. Even with magic helping the healing process, wounds like this would typically take weeks to heal." The Nurse chimed in. "Especially with how last minute the surgery was."

"That would be from the help of a healing fluid my people created," I said, sipping on the water the Nurse brought through a straw under my helmet.

"Ah yes. The Element of Magic briefly mentioned it when they brought you in." The Doctor responded. "I believe it would be an immense benefit to hospitals all over the world. Could we perhaps have a sample to see if we could replicate it?"

Thinking for a bit, I honestly couldn't find a reason to say no. I have more than enough to do me for a while still, so giving them a sample wouldn't be of any detriment to me. I'm not sure why I haven't given it to the health industry sooner.

"I don't see any reason not to. You can take one of my syringes when I have my effects back in my possession."

"Sounds wonderful." She said, an excited smile never leaving her face. "Now I believe you have visitors waiting for you. Shall we send them in on our way out?"

"Please," I said, taking another sip from my water.

Politely nodding, they left, leaving me and Selene in the room alone again. We didn't have to wait long, however, as hoof steps could be heard coming down the corridor and soon enough, eight ponies and a dragon made their way in.

"Fen! Your ok!" Pinkie practically shouted as she came into the room, coming up to me and giving me a soft hug

"Elek pinkie, I'm fine," I said, patting the energetic Earth-pony on the back before letting me go.

"We were worried there, big guy. Glad you're ok," Dash said, lightly grabbing each others forearm In a warriors handshake.

As she backed up, Shining Armour and Cadence came up to my bed, an unreadable expression upon their faces. Staring them down, a deep sincerity quickly replaced the seriousness they had.

"Thank you," Cadence said.

"What for?" I asked.

"For defeating Sombra. Without you, we may have never been able to win, to retrieve the Crystal Heart and cleanse the Empire. And for that we thank you." Shining Armour said, bowing his head once we were finished, Cadence copying him.

I simply stared at them for a bit, before irritably sighing, shaking my head at the statement. This received a look of confusion from the group next to me, the bewilderment clear on their faces.

"I got my shit pushed in. If not for your impeccable timing, I would have lost. Hell, even then I still technically lost and the only reason I'm still here is because of you three." I said, indicating my hand to Shining, Cadence and Spike. "The fact I was even able to get a hit in should be a testament to that. Sombra wasn't even trying and I had to give my all. I don't deserve your thanks."

"Fendral, whether you believe it or not, you were paramount to his defeat. You delivered the fatal blow to him. You saved the lives of thousands." Cadence said, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "You can accept our thanks or not, it doesn't make anyone any less grateful."

"As long as everyone is safe, I can rest easy."

Cadence nodded and backed up, knowing I wasn't going to change my opinion. As she came to Shining Armour's side, she looked at him expectantly. A few seconds past and she looked back at him. Sighing and rolling her eyes slightly, she lightly nudged him in the ribs, as a look of realization came to his face. Coughing into his hand, he stepped forward, looking at me with a smile.

"We had found this near we found you. We thought you'd like to have it." He said, holding his hands out, a brief flash and an object I became rather familiar with appeared in his hands. Sombra's axe.

Reaching out, I tightly gripped the leather-bound grip of the wooden handle and took it out of His hands. Taking it in both hands, I admired the intricately designed runic patterns that were inscribed into the metal and noticed an equally intricate pommel at the base of the handle, possibly acting as a counterbalance.
I bounced the axe in my hands a couple of time to test the weight. Not too heavy, but not overly light. Shifting my hand down to the middle of the handle, I let the axe sit on my index finger to find the balance and waited for it to sit still. It wobbled a small bit before becoming still. Perfectly balanced, just as it should be.

"Thank you. I'm sure this will be put to good use." I said looking back to the royal pair.

"Of course. It was the least we could do." Cadence replied.

The next few hours were spent simply talking and me being informed of what had transpired during my coma. That being said, I wasn't exactly happy that most of the populace had the same mindset about me that Shining Armour and Cadence had, but who am I to tell them otherwise. At some point, Shining and Cadence had to leave to some sort of business matter, not for me to know, leaving us to mingle amongst ourselves, drinking hot tea as we did.

"So Selene." Applejack started. "What ya gonna do when Fen's outta Hospital?"

"My home was destroyed in the initial attack along with the vast majority of my personal belongings. That and there's the debt I owe Fendral." She said before taking a sip of her cup of tea. "So I'll be joining you back to Ponyville."

"Will that be the 'debt' you mentioned before?" Rarity asked, gaining a soft nod. "I won't claim to fully understand it, but as long as your okay with leaving."

"I don't have any friends here, not really, just people I get along with and have no family in the Empire." She said taking another sip before continuing. "So I won't be leaving much behind. I'll be ok with leaving"

"Well, you'll be able to make plenty of friends in Ponyville!" Pinkie said, the ever jovial-optimist.

"Heck yea!" Dash joined in, high fiving the pink Earth-pony next to her, Fluttershy quietly joining in with their enthusiasm.

"I can get used to the idea," Selene said, a smile spreading across her lips.

~~

The ensuing weeks were slow, to say the least, working back up to my previous self, taking it easy as the Doctor had suggested, getting daily check-ups to monitor my progress. That being said, my recovery was quickened with the help of magic, naturally. I had asked if they removed my helmet any time during my stay. As it would turn out, they used a version of the Golem spell to perform the surgery needed to save my life, as they had been informed of my customs. For some reason, they respected my culture and used a Golem spell, which didn't count a living being, for which I was immensely grateful.

My time in the hospital wasn't as bad as I initially suspected if I'm to be honest. The staff were more than accommodating, being either kind natured or having a wicked sense of humour, making my stay more than amusing. And as I expected Selene didn't leave my side, Nurse Monitor, my assigned Nurse, having stopped any attempt to get her to leave. Plus the food wasn't nearly as some Hospital food I've had before. Could be because the Empire is several hundred years behind some current practices.

Now I was able to walk the streets of the Empire now and then, unimpeded by a seemingly insurmountable task weighing on my mind, free to take in the sights properly. I've encountered many things in my life, but this was probably one of the most beautiful places I've been to. No wonder Rarity was so enthusiastic about it.

For one reason or another, Twi and the gang had decided to stay and wait for me to recover fully, coming in for daily visits, never once missing a beat. Truthfully I was thankful that they decided to stay. It makes the process less arduous.

As I lay in my bed, I stared blankly at the ceiling above me. I had not been able to sleep the previous night, leaving me to lay awake for hours, until the sun came up. I'm not sure how long I lay there, but eventually, Nurse Monitor had come into my room and started taking some vitals.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked, taking my blood pressure.

"No." I quickly replied.

Simply nodding, he proceeded to do the rest of the test, eventually documenting the information on the clipboard placed at the end of the bed.

"Well Fendral, I think you'll be happy to know that you can finally be able to be discharged today." He said, a smile spreading across his face. "You made a remarkable recovery. You surprised all of us. Let me get the documents sorted and I'll bring you your belongings."

Swiftly leaving, a smile of my own made its way onto my face. It hadn't been bad here, just long. Looking over to the chair next to my bed, I spotted Selene sleeping soundly with a blanket wrapped snuggly around her, lightly snoring. I didn't have to wait long, however, as Nurse Monitor came back with my armour in hand, clearly struggling to lift them and placed them on the end of the bed.

"Here you go. You go get changed and I'll wake Selene here up." He said.

Nodding, I got up, gathered my things and made my way over to the bathroom on the other side of the room, swiftly locking the door behind me. Stripping myself out of the hospital gown, I removed my helmet and began changing into my armour, starting with the robe-esque armour weave undersuit, attaching each piece of Beskar in their rightful place. Finally putting my helm back on my head.

Unlocking the bathroom, I walked out and saw an awake Selene and an amused Nurse Monitor. Nodding in satisfaction, he indicated for us to follow him and we did so. Walking through the Hospital, we eventually came up to the front desk. The receptionist pulled out an information sheet from a drawer behind the desk and put them in front of me.

"Sign here, here and here please." Nurse Monitor said, pointing to a few empty sections in the information forms.

Quickly putting my name in the allocated sections, the receptionist took the forms once I was finished and put them into a different drawer from where she got them from.

"Thank you Monitor for what you've done," I said, putting out my hand.

"Of course, it's my job after all." He said, taking my hand giving it a firm shake.

"Oh, and before I forget," I said before reaching into my satchel and pulling out a Bacta syringe. "As promised."

"Thank you. We will put this to good use I assure you. Thank you again." he said taking the syringe from my hand.

"I know you will," I said before making my way to the front doors.

As I walked out, I was greeted by the sight of eight certain ponies and dragon. Exclaiming, they all jumped towards me. I did not attempt to dodge them and decided to just accept my fate. Spreading my arms out, I welcomed the oncoming technicolour tidal wave.

"All right girls, I think Fenradl's had enough near-death experiences recently, don't you?" I heard Cadence asked, her and Shining Armour being the only ones to not tackle me.

Letting the group climb off of me, I lay there for a few seconds, taking the hand Selene offered and swiftly pulled me to my feet with a grunt. Thanking her, my gaze shifted to the ensemble in front of me.

"Now that I'm up and about, what's the plan?" I asked. "Do you guys want to stay a while longer, or do you want to leave now?"

"If you're feeling up to it, I think we could leave today," Twilight said. "The train service was fixed a few days ago and one is scheduled to arrive in roughly an hour. So that gives us plenty of time to pack."

"Ok so, we meet back here in an hour then?" I asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Applejack replied, everyone else happily agreeing.

So that left me and Selene to walk for a while, greeting the residents as we did. The idea I was the one who had 'defeated' Sombra had spread like wildfire through the Empire, almost everyone shared the same mindset Cadence had. I decided to just let them think what they want, rather than tell them otherwise. Seemed easier that way.

"So any place you'd recommend, or do you just want to go on an adventure?" I asked.

"OH, an adventure sound fun!" Selene said, a childish grin spreading across her face.

And so for the next hour or so, we walked to-and-fro, from new housing estates to the market area, talking as we did, no place was out of bounds to us. Before long, time had flown by and we made our way to the station, Selene leading the way being more familiar with the area. Eventually, we came to the station and spotted the group of seven. Cadence and Shining armour were with them as well.

Coming up to the group, the train could be heard in the distance, its whistle an unmistakable sound. As the train stopped at the station, the girls said their goodbyes and boarded the train. Letting Selene say bye first, she walked onto the train before I did the same and was about to walk onto the train, but was very quickly stopped by Cadence.

"She seems quite fond of you, doesn't she?" Cadence asked, a hinting tone behind her words.

Knowing what she meant, my shoulders visibly sagged and my head hung slightly, the Princess of Love caught this and looked at me with concern clearly written on her face.

"It wouldn't work," I whispered.

"Why? Does your religion restrict you from loving somepony?" Shining Armour asked,

"No."

"So why then?"

Pausing, I looked to the window and saw Selene happily mingling with my friends. Memories of the past flashed in my mind as a sigh managed to escape my lips.

"I loved...once. But that was a long time ago." I said before walking away and towards the train, the doors closing behind me.

The moment I walked into the cart, my mood improved drastically as I saw the group begin to pull out the same games we had played when we were on our way to the Crystal Empire. It's amazing how time can fly by so quickly. As we played, I could help myself but smile the whole time, as we had more fun this time around. We played for another unknown amount of hours, the cold and frozen north changing into beautiful sprawling green fields. We were nearly home.

As we neared Ponyville, I could see that Selene was getting quite nervous. Looking over to me, I gave a nod, reassuring her it was going to be alright. We soon came to Ponyville's train station and quickly stopped. The doors opened, the girls and Spike picked up their luggage and walked out. As Selene came up to the doors, she paused before taking a deep breath and walking onto the wooden floor.

Coming up behind her, I put a hand on her back, I took a glance at her, an unseen smile on my face as I looked over the now quiet town.

"Welcome to Ponyville."