Cure for Pain

“DUDE!” I yelled, waking Coleton up. After my transportation spell last night, I had taken him to the ship’s medical wing. I would probably catch hell for abandoning my position at the technology room, but I didn’t care. My best friend was alive.

“Wha-“ Coleton woke up, and surveyed the white hospital wing. “Where am I?” I laughed, half out of relief and half out of legitimate entertainment at his confusion. “You’re in the medical wing at the hospital. Do you not remember what happened with the Changelings last night?” Coleton searched his mind, and the memories of last night came hitting him like a gunshot.

“Dude… I can’t believe I’m alive.” He said, laying back down to absorb the information his mind was feeding him. “But wait… was that you who did that teleportation thing?” I sat down on a chair beside the bed. “Yup.” I said. “That was me.” After the initial “holy crap my friend is alive” feeling, my mind was filled with an anger that I couldn’t place. I walked over and slapped him hard across the face. My conscious was taking an off-day, and I was motivated by pure rage. He gave me a look of confusion and pain. “What was that for?!” My mind said to not talk, but my mouth was going to anyway.

“You were just gonna die. You were gonna leave your friends and relationships behind. Do you realize how stupid and selfish that was?” I wasn’t controlling myself anymore. It was almost as if I was watching a person just completely let out all emotions on their best friend. “I’VE KNOWN YOU SINCE WE WERE TOO YOUNG TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF WAR! WE’VE KNOWN EACH OTHER SINCE WE WERE TO STUPID AND IGNORANT TO UNDERSTAND FRIENDS! And you thing that what you were going to do was ‘heroic?’ ‘brilliant?’ ‘going out in a blaze of glory?’ Well, let me tell you that that was the OPPOSITE of what you were going to do.”

I looked at Coleton, still rubbing his cheek from the place I had slapped him. An awkward aura was present in the air, and we sat in silence for the next few minutes. “I’m sorry.” Coleton said, finally breaking the silence.

I sighed, my temper having died down considerably. “Don’t apologize.” I said. “I should apologize for what I said. It’s not your fault war is hell. It’s not your fault that you lost motivation to leave. You didn’t eat the lotus plant of your own free will; the war force-fed it to you and made you swallow.”

No sooner had the words escaped my mouth that I heard the hospital door open. I looked back to see our commander; he looked as if a fire was about to explode inside him.

“I don’t want to know WHY you did what you did,” He said, struggling in his anger to form a sentence. “but you did it. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” He yelled, getting right in my face. I was tired, and I didn’t feel like defending myself, so I just sat down and took it. I eventually zoned out and thought about home. Coleton would see Dash again, I would see Octavia again, and we would see our friends again. Our lives were preserved, and we would go back to Ponyville.

“DO YOU HEAR ME, MAGGOT?!” I heard, snapping back to consciousness. His face was of pure anger, and his brutish figure was contorted with rage. It was too easy.

“Oh, I’m sorry, what?” I asked, a devilish grin spreading across my face. “I was just thinking about how many insecurities you must be masking with that angry demeanor of yours.”

I can’t say I wasn’t expecting him to punch me. It didn’t really hurt, but it was enough to leave a bruise. “You’re of no use to the military anymore, kid.” He said, regaining his composure long enough to sound sincere. “You’re being sent home with your friend here tomorrow.”

A smile spread across my face, and I looked over to see that one was spreading across Coleton’s too. “Thank you, sir. I don’t wanna stay here, anyway.” I said in a final act of defiance as he left the hospital room, filled to the brim with rage he couldn’t let out.

The nurse entered again, avoiding the brute of a drill sergeant barreling down the hall. “Feel free to stay in the hospital tonight.” She said, giving a smile. “You’re very weak from all the effort you exerted doing the teleportation spell over such a long distance. Get some rest.”

With that, I laid down in the bed provided, took out my CD player, and listened to Credence until my eyes gave out, and I fell asleep under the clean sheets of the hospital bed.

“Hey.” Coleton said to me on the boat the next day. “What do you think happened to Helix?” I gave him a tired look. “I don’t really know, and if it makes me a bad person to say I don’t care, then I’m a bad person. I’m just glad we’re in one piece, you know?”

He smiled, flipping through a music magazine he brought from the hospital. “I know what you mean. I just can’t wait to see Dash again. She must be so worried.”

I thought about Octavia, and how I felt much of the same way. I missed her more than anyone while we were gone, and while it had only been a few days since I’d seen her last, the fear of the possibility that I wouldn’t see her again made those few days seem like an eternity. I was glad that I would see her after a few hours of traveling, and that made home seem that much more desirable.

“Hey, man.” Coleton said, looking up from his article. “I just realized something… you don’t have a drum set anymore. That Changeling destroyed it.” The words finally sunk in, and I realized that he was right; what would I play on when I got home?

I looked at him and laughed. “I figure Celestia can repay me for going to war with a new drum set.” He laughed. “yeah, and maybe I can get that new Schecter guitar!” We shared a laugh.

I laughed. Everything was normal. But as I laid down on the bed in our room, I pondered how long it would be normal. Assuming what I saw in that control room was any representation of how the war was going to play out, I had the feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time I had to participate in that war.

But I drowned my worries in L.A. Woman. That was future-me’s problem.