Final Fantasy: Equine Quest

"Needle Goes Where?"

Complete and total darkness. Well that was anti-climactic. I feel like I’m weightless in an endless void. I've somehow acquired a nice gray robe with auburn trim that matches my eyes. I can see a blurry image off in the distance. But now it's gone, where did it go?

And why is something poking me in the forehead? I recoiled and tried to swat away whatever it was, but for some reason I couldn't feel my legs and I could feel that the robe was gone.

"Oh yeah, he's alive and doing fine now." I heard a male voice say. My throat hurt and I tried to open my eyes but all I could see was a dull orange.

"I told you to stop poking him!" This other voice was feminine and smooth as silk.

"Look, though, I fixed him, he woke up didn't he?" I couldn't help but cough out a chuckle at his logic. "And he likes my jokes too!" I heard a dull thump, "OW!"

"You may have found him half-dead in the river, but you asked me for help. Would you stop poking him!?"

I finally swallowed hard and uttered in a hoarse voice "I don't feel anything..." Wow, I sound like I'm in really bad shape.

I could hear movement and metallic clanks. "Wait, you couldn't feel that? That's not good, hold him still again." There was genuine concern in her voice. Hooves were suddenly holding my legs down against a cold, metal surface.

"Why are you doing this?" I managed to say. I really want to know, these ponies don't seem very friendly.

"You may not have reacted very much when I poked you, but you clocked Serenity upside the head earlier. I'm guessing it's because you can still feel the needles. She's asked me to hold you down so you don't make her face look any better." I take that back, this stallion is kind of friendly, but a little loopy.

"I have an extra needle here, for anypony who needs it." This mare seems kind of crazy.

"I really don't think you should stick him with two needles at the same time." I felt the stallion shift away from the mare's voice. "Stop trying to hit me and stab him already!" Forget that, he's downright strange.

She sighed with emphasis, "Why I always help you with your weird ideas and adventures is beyond me. Next time you show up on my doorstep with a dying pony, I'll boot your flank to the curb." Is this a common occurrence for them? I was about to voice this concern, but she put her hoof on my side. It felt so soft as a small wave of calmness washed over me. "Okay, ready?"

"I got him, do it."

"No, no, please-" But I felt the needle make contact near my shoulder. OH MY SWEET CELESTIA! This needle must be the size of a sword! My chest suddenly feels like it's been set on fire, and I can sure feel my legs now that the stallion's weight is the only thing keeping them still.

I suddenly felt another, but thankfully smaller, needle pierce right above my neck. "Sorry I have to give the sedative second, the medicine doesn't work as well if you already have it in your system."

I opened my mouth to ask what medicine, but my head felt heavy all of a sudden. Just what exactly are these ponies pumping me full of?

I can't feel my legs again, or the rest of my body for that matter. "A few more minutes and you should be out like a light, champ. I'll be back when you wake up to see if we need to stick you some more."

"The only pony in here should get stuck anymore is you if you don't stop that." I wasn't feeling the humor either, and I could hear another thump.

"Mare, stop hitting me and leave this poor stallion to have some rest. Out with you!" The mare nickered indignantly and I could hear the door slam after two sets of hooves left the room.

The pain has started to recede and I’m actually starting to feel much better now. There's no way I’m going to be able to figure out where I am right now, so I think I’ll take a short nap.

I awoke to a shuffling sound coming from across the room. Alright, let's state facts here. I'm pretty sure I’m not actually dead. They are two questionably insane ponies who seem to have my well-being in mind. I still can't see anything, but there's something in the room with me.

A jab to my side just gave it away. "If you don't stop poking me, I’ll ask that nice mare to come back and punch you again." I couldn't help it as a big grin made it's way across my muzzle.

"Oh, it's alive!" He poked me again and added "I'm following medical procedures. You obviously felt that this time, so you're doing even better than the last time you were awake. Serenity told me to make sure you could still wake up before I went to bed. She is home sleeping now so you and I can talk without her listening. I'd like to ask you some things, if that's all right with you." I heard him pull up a stool.

I suddenly felt irritated about my current situation. "Tell you what, I'll trade you questions for questions."

He paused for a while. "Fair enough, you've probably got more than I do so you can go first."

I looked where I thought he was sitting. "Why can't I see anything?"

I heard him chuckle lightly. "Serenity says blindfolding the patient is part of the 'healing process'. Apparently, the less you use your senses while the medicine is active, the better it works." I reached up and started fumbling with the cloth. "It's pretty dim in here so it shouldn't hurt too much, let me get that for you."

I closed my eyes in anticipation as he reached over and pulled my blindfold off. Suddenly everything was white, even through my eyelids. I blinked a few times and began to look around as my sight adjusted. I've been laying on a metal table in the middle of some sort of workshop. Sitting beside me is a green stallion with a blue mane. His colors seem awfully dark, especially with the blackened fur around his muzzle and black freckles, but his eyes were a light, cheerful green.

Looking around, there are all sorts of tools covering most of the walls. I was faced away from a really nice set of Bay windows. "Do you live here?" I'm actually mildly impressed with this setup.

"It's not bad, it's not something you'd find in the Lunar City, but..." he sighed and continued, "Yeah, this is my home. I'm afraid I only have one bed. I'll bring you some blankets or something and you can prop yourself up in the corner or in a chair somewhere. The name's Locke by the way, tell me yours and I’ll let that second question slide."

I guess he's alright, but I don't see any of my armor in the room. "I'm Basalt, nice to meet you. Did i have anything with me when you found me in the river?"

He paused for a moment, then reached up and started rubbing his eyes. "I know for a fact that the techniques she uses prevents and restores any memory damage." He put his hoof down and looked right at me.

"You said you found me half-dead in the river. Just what exactly are you insinuating?"

He slammed his hoof on the table and I recoiled as he glared at me. "I found you with almost no pulse, hanging upside down by a hunk of twisted metal in my orchard! Why were you in there? how did you find it?" Oh boy, he was seething.

"Hey! I swear I have no idea what you're talking about!" I could see the doubt in his eyes. "One minute I'm fighting a giant monster near Luna's Watchtower and then falling into a giant pit of magma. The next minute, I'm getting stabbed with needles by two ponies I’ve never met before!" His ears shot up when I mentioned the Watchtower. "If I had any clue why I'm still alive, you'd be the next to know."

He was eyeing me carefully. What was I doing hanging from a tree? Where's Sour Note? Where's my armor? "What the hay were you doing near the Watchtower? Only the Celestian Knights go anywhere near that place and you don't look much more than the militia rabble."

Oh no he didn't. "Listen here, punk, I'll have you know that I'm a Solar Knight! I was on my way to escort a prospective Lunar Knight home." I bit my tongue, no one outside the Order is supposed to know things like that.

He suddenly closed his eyes and leaned back on his stool. He looked contemplative but troubled. "I guess we can't all be that honest." I looked at him, but he just kept sitting there.

I suddenly had a strange feeling about him, as if he'd always been my friend. "If i had either of my blades, you could see the emblem on the hilt." He just nodded his head and mumbled. "I'm being completely serious right now. I have no reason to lie to you. I just want to go home and I’ll probably need your help. Please..."

"I have no doubt about the authenticity of your claims any longer. "He opened his eyes and stared out the windows. "The emblem is there on the hilt of both your broken blades. Now it makes sense why they look as if they've been melted." I looked down at my hooves. "Aw, don't worry about it, I'm sure that my buddy can add blades to them."

"He can't." I looked up and Locke was looking at me with a puzzled expression. "They were crafted from a superior metal, and the buster sword is too thick to smith by normal standards."

"Okay then, I’m sure he could smith something to appeal to your superior tastes." He started snickering but I was still concerned, and it showed. "Oh, don't worry about your armor either. I'm sure i have some steel plates lying around that we can strap to your chest." We laughed for a few minutes.

The fact that Locke lied to Serenity was still bothering me though. I looked over and he didn't seem to be tired yet. "If you don't mind me asking, just why exactly did you tell Serenity that you found me in a river?" His posture suddenly stiffened.

"Oh... well... there are things she doesn't need to know."

That was informative. "Why would you lie to such a pretty mare like that? I would never dream of lying to her."

He looked at me and smiled. "You know that wave of calm that you felt before she stuck you with the needle?" Changing the subject, but maybe this is going somewhere. I nodded the affirmative. "It has side-effects that you should probably know about."

I looked at him side-ways. "What do you mean?"

"I'll put it this way, the last time she used that spell was on an injured mare while we transported her for medical care. Basically, the mare was visiting some of her family but had slipped and fell down a cliff while playing with her nephew. The road back was really bumpy and we had to carry her in a carriage. Serenity sat next to her in the carriage and used that spell more than once to keep her alive on the way back, the broken bones might have cut some major arteries if she tensed her muscles too much, you know. What started throwing red flags was when the mare got better, she grabbed Serenity and kissed her before she departed. I think I was the only stallion there who was more concerned than... having other emotions."

I interrupted his tale with a chuckle. "Sorry for interrupting, but I don't think you need to explain that one." He smiled back before continuing.

"We sort of knew the mare, she'd visit every couple months because she didn't like that her siblings had moved away. So it was weird when she showed up the week after that. I'll spare you the rest of the drama and such, but what happened was she actually proposed to Serenity, but she was obviously declined. So the next thing we know, she's trying to kidnap Serenity. With her siblings' help, she was more or less forcibly removed from the community. Now her siblings go to see her, and she's finally stopped asking about 'that beautiful mare who single-handedly saved her life'"

I remember stories of ponies becoming addicted to anesthesia spells and certain poultices during recovery in hospitals. Most of those incidents only concerned lingering pains that had no cause, but I’ve never heard of altered behavior patterns. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"I'm just saying, i saw the look on your face when she hit you with the spell. I'm just concerned for her well-being. Now that I know you're military, I’m worried that we wouldn't be able to stop you if you tried to do what that other mare did." He gave me a stern look.

"You must be tired or something, you're being delusional. I would never harm such a nice pony. I think you'd better go to bed." I've had enough of this conversation."

He got up, smiled, and said, "Alright, but I'll notice if you start staring at her flank for an extended period of time." He started strolling away and added, "Don't worry though, you'll be able to feast your eyes in the morning."

I could feel myself start to blush. "Would you just be quiet and give me some blankets?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll get you some right now." He tapped the door open and left. He's being awfully friendly to somepony he's never met before. After finding me in his precious orchard no less. Wait, why did lie about finding me in the orchard?

Some blankets came flying in the room at me. "There you go, buddy. I'll make you wash those if you happen to spill anything on them."

The warm feeling returned. "That was a very clever redirection you pulled there. Don't think I’ll let you do that again."

"Just stop thinking about her and you'll be fine.Good night, Basalt, your maiden awaits your awakening!"

I could hear him laughing as he walked away. Enough of this tomfoolery, I'm going to bed. I spread the blankets over myself and used the cushion that was with them as a pillow. I'll try to figure the rest out in the morning when I see Serenity.