Advent of Victory

A brilliant light shining in my eyes dredged me out of the black of unconsciousness. It flashed off and on centimeters away from my right eye, and I made out the warbling sound of someone talking. It tried to focus on the light, and it was made easy by how insanely annoying it was.

As I came back to the world of the living the first thing that struck me was how warm I felt. I had no idea where I was, but I was so comfortable that I never wanted to leave. I looked around and my blurry eyesight began to rapidly clear. Everything around me was a stark white that bounced the overhead lights around everywhere, and just screamed for me to dare to sleep.

A few ponies were milling around talking to each other but all I was able to make out were trumpet noises coming from their mouths. I was reminded of Charlie Brown and laughed a little bit to myself at how dumb the situation was. My own laugh came out garbled or at least what I was able to hear of it. Another warbling sound started going off to me right causing me to lazily turn my head towards it.

The light once again reappeared, and I tried to swat it out of my face to only find my legs unresponsive. I laid my head back against the pillow I just noticed I had and stared at the bright thing moving back and forth while more random sounds continued to assault me. The light suddenly turned off allowing me to make out the crude form of a brown pony holding a thin flashlight that he was shining in my eyes.

I saw that the noises I was hearing was him talking, but I still couldn’t make anything that he said out. I tried to tell him so, but really had no idea what I said myself. He put a hoof to my face and pulled back my eyelid to stare at my eyes very closely; a definite invasion of my personal space. I tried to push him away just again to rediscover that my legs weren’t moving.

He turned and said something to some other pony that I couldn’t make out, and the world around me once again started to disappear into black. The feeling of warmth came over me once again and I gladly drifted off to sleep once more as the cloud I felt myself lying on lulled me to sleep. I didn’t dream.

I came to again sometime later with a constant ache in my side nagging at me. Everything itched except for my front paws, which were strangely numb to everything. I reluctantly opened my eyes once again to take in the world and found I was in the same very white room. A constant beeping to my left alerted me to the heart monitor I was hooked up to, but something sounded off about it.

I tried to lift my head only for the ache in my chest to intensify dramatically bringing me crashing back down into the pillow I was resting on and panting for breath. The heart monitor began racing in its offbeat fashion alerting my roommate to my awakened state.

“Oh you’re finally up huh?” came a voice from my left. I turned my head towards the speaker and was greeted with a white sheet separating us; giving a small modicum of privacy. A red hoof pulled the curtain back and I recognized the face of Scarlet staring back at me as I tried to slow my breathing.

I tried to reply to her with something witty, but all that came out was a coughing fit. I finally noticed that my throat was insanely dry, and I really needed to get something to drink. There was a glass of water on the left side of the bed beckoning me, and I tried to reach towards it in hopes of quenching my thirst, but my legs wouldn’t move. The water remained just out of my reach as I looked back to where my front paws were suspended above me in casts with wires holding them in place.

I whined a little and stretched my neck as far as I could despite the pain towards the glass of water sitting on the bedside table. Grabbing the glass with my teeth I reclined back and knocked it to the side to get some in my mouth. I felt a rush of could that increased the aching in my chest as most of the water spilt all over me, but my thirst was quenched by the small amount I managed to down. All the while Scarlet just sat there watching me with a bemused smile on her face.

After I finished cleansing my throat with another coughing fit I took the time to look over myself. My front paws were held stiffly in the air, and I couldn’t move them at all no matter how much I tried. Thick bandages constricted my chest where most of the pain was coming from, and all sorts of wires were running into them and onto my fur beneath. An IV drip was hooked up to one of my front legs supplying me with some unknown clear fluid. I tried to remember how exactly I had gotten here, and it all came back in a rush.

I saw the snake crash to the ground and me along with it. I stopped channeling whatever spell I had figured out to use, and all of the pain had suddenly returned. I remember seeing the skin along my paw crack open, and then everything was completely black. How had I survived?

“How long?” I asked with my still slightly raspy voice as I turned back towards the red mare.

“Two days,” she replied immediately.

Two days? I had been in what I could only assume was a hospital for two whole days, and I was only waking up now. I knew that I should have just left the snake along and taken off, but no I had to rise to Deciduous’ challenge. Why can’t I just let people down?

“That was really awesome what you did to that snake,” Scarlet said causing my attention to snap back to her.

“What?”

“The way that you tore it up and put it out. Why didn’t you do that to the other on that was attacking you guys on the road? If I could go all super claw on some monster I know I would.” She imitated me by punching at an imaginary foe in front of her. Oh great, a red Rainbow Dash.

“Well I didn’t exactly know I could do it, and just look at what it got me,” I replied motioning back at my forelegs with my eyes. Whatever trauma they had received was no doubt the cause of that spell that I had recklessly used. I didn’t even know what it did, and I just took off and kept it on for who knows how long.

“Yea that kind of sucks, but you definitely saved everypony. We were all about to drop by the time that you brought it down. Then you started screaming and everypony was freaking out, and that green earth pony had to hold you down while the nurse took care of you. Anyways, thanks for saving our flanks I guess I owe you this time.” She smiled at me and sat back in her own bed.

I started looking her over too, searching for the obvious wound that would have landed her in the hospital, but I couldn’t find anything. “Why are you in the hospital, I didn’t see you take any hits during the fight.”

She cringed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well it wasn’t during the fight.” She rolled over to show me her other side where her wing was bandaged up, and most of her fur had scorch marks. “I was helping out with the fires after you took down that snake, and a burning beam fell on my wing, and trapped me for a bit. Kind of embarrassing that I can go toe to toe with a giant monster and then a plank of wood gets me.” She laughed and rolled back over to look at me.

“Nothing embarrassing about saving ponies from a fire in my opinion. What did they do with the snake by the way?”

“Well they hauled it away of course. Garthok has had a giant bounty on her for years, and you finally caught her. I thought it would be impossible to get the extra bits for bringing her in alive, but you managed it somehow. Sweet Celestia I just can’t get over how cool that was.”

“There was a bounty on a giant snake?” I was shocked someone would actually do something like that. Who was supposed to bring it down all on their own? Was there anyone crazy enough to try?

“You didn’t know about the bounty? Wow, I just assumed that was the reason you came to Rubyton in the first place like me. Ha, well I guess that makes you one rich chick now doesn’t it?” She put her hooves behind her head and sat back in the bed with a sigh. “That would have been one sweet payday.”

“How high was the bounty?” I asked.

“It was up to five thousand bits if you can believe it, and there was a bonus thousand for bringing it in alive. Hunters have been coming to Rubyton for years to take a shot at her, and the price has gone up every time. I bet you were the first one to think to rip its spinal cord out though so good job on that,” she said nonchalantly.

“So that’s what you are, a monster hunter?” Now the pieces were starting to fit together.

“Sure am, I thought you might have been one too when I saw you fighting on the pass. You really need to watch out for the tails more you seem to have a real problem with that. Anyways, I saw you in trouble decided to help out a fellow hunter, but had to jet and get back to my search for Gathrok’s lair. It is really weird that she came out and attacked the settlement; she hasn’t done something like that in I think forty years.”

“How old was that monster anyways?”

“Well I looked through old newspapers and research materials to get a good handle on what I would be dealing with. There were reports of a giant black snake attacking ponies along the pass for over a hundred years now, and it was always getting bigger. Don’t really know why those caravans keep using the same pass if snakes keep attacking them, but hey that’s their business am I right?” She laughed and reached for her own glass of water and downed it.

“I figure that I owe you for saving me back with that first snake.” It was true; I had been hoping to actually run into her again so that I could repay her.

“Don’t worry about it you saved me right back.” She dismissed the thought with a wave of her hoof.

“Even so I would feel better if we settled up. How about you take my bonus and we can call it even. That is assuming that I even get any money.” I said as I tried to get into a comfortable position, which is really hard to do when your limbs are suspended in place.

“I don’t know still sounds kind of crummy of me. Especially when you are obviously going to have a lot of hospital bills to pay. Tell you what, in return for the thousand bits I will stick around with ya until you are at one hundred percent and help you out. When you are all good again then we will be even.” Having apparently decided what was what she turned over in her bed. “I am going to go to sleep now I am feeling kind of tired.”

“Yea sure, I will try to keep it down,” I replied as I also started to drift off. For some reason I was feeling really tired.

The next time that I found myself conscious it was because a nurse was shaking my shoulder lightly to get my attention. As soon as the magical spell that was sleep broke over me I shot awake as the ache in my chest that had been bugging me earlier grew to epic proportions. The nurse pushed me down with a firm hoof until I was once again lying back in bed.

“I will put you back on your pain medication, but the doctor needs to speak with you while you are still coherent,” the middle aged yellow mare informed me as she turned a knob on the IV.

I watched as the clear liquid traveled along and made its way into my leg where a warmth immediately touched me, and began to spread through my body. I sighed in relief, and saw the mare leave and be replaced by a brown stallion levitating a clipboard in front of him. He walked over to the bed and didn’t acknowledge me for several moments before finally sitting at my bedside, and sticking his hoof on my neck. His hoof was unnaturally cold, which was the clearest indication that this pony was in fact a medical professional. He held his hoof there for a long moment as he studied his watched with his eyes before finally taking his hoof off my neck and looking up to me.

“I really cannot get a pulse at all through all of that fur,” he said with a smile, and actually managed to make me laugh. “I am Doctor Bedside Manner,” insanely obvious, “and I have been attending to you miss Vixen for the past few days. Tell me, can you remember how you ended up here in the hospital.”

I began to recount events to him as he waved his stupid flashlight pen in my eyes checking on something I had no knowledge of. When I got to the part about finding my paws burned to a crisp he frowned and sat back looking at his clipboard once again. He hummed to himself as he looked over the board once again before turning back to me.

“Yes, while I have never treated one of your species before I have to say that you are very fortunate to still be breathing. The wounds you sustained along your front paws were third degree magical burns, and if we didn’t get to you immediately after you acquired them then you might never have walked again. As it stands now we were able to use magical grafts to save your paws, and once the fur grows back over them you should hardly notice the difference. Unfortunately, you will likely never regain sensation in them.” Well that explained why they were so numb. So I was never going to be able to feel with them again; at least I hadn’t been crippled by my own stupidity.

“Also, you broke three ribs, one of which had to be removed since it was completely obliterated. The other two will take a few weeks to completely knit, but after some time they should be as good as new. As we were looking you over we discovered that you had a slight arrhythmia; tell me how long have you been living with this,” the paper on his clipboard crumpled loudly as he flipped the page and produced a pen to write down whatever I would tell him.

“Honestly Doc, this is the first time I am hearing about it,” I replied honestly. It is always best to be one hundred and ten percent honest with medical professionals since a single lie could lead to me dying. Plus, they can’t go around spreading whatever I say to anyone else because of the whole doctor patient confidentiality thing right?

He scribbled something down on the clipboard while he thought for a moment. “Well, it is a good thing that we caught it now. It isn’t anything serious, but it can cause lightheadedness, dizziness, and low blood pressure. It also puts you at increased risk for heart related diseases such as cardiac arrest and strokes. My advice to you would be to avoid any activity that is incredibly strenuous so that you don’t aggravate it and it doesn’t develop into something more serious. Though, seeing how you took down old Garthok I doubt you are the type to listen to your doctor huh?”

“You saw that huh?” I asked sheepishly.

“I was out there treating ponies when the beast finally fell. It has been terrorizing citizens of Rubyton since my grandfather’s grandfater’s time so I think we all owe you a debt of gratitude for finally taking it out. The entire town is still getting over the tragedy, but as soon as they are I suspect that they will be singing your praises for years. The guard even saw fit to pay for all of your medical expenses, which is very lucky for you because I don’t come cheap.” He turned his clipboard around to show me the astonishingly high price that all of this would have cost me.

“Why did they do that?”

“Commander Beam said something about helping out a cursed mare. I wasn’t really paying attention since I was so distracted by digging around in your ribcage for bone fragments. Anyways, you will be out of here in five days, and we will be getting those casts off when you are let out. I will be turning up your morphine drip now so you can make full use of our facilities while you still have the time,” he said with a wink before the knob on the IV turned slightly more to the left and the warmth I had been feeling spread through me like a wave, washing away the pain and the world around me.

I didn’t see Decidous until a few days after I had first woken up in the hospital, which was extremely worrying for me. A small part of me had been afraid that he had up and left me stranded here in Rubyton, but I knew that was a ridiculous idea. Deciduous seemed like the kind of person that was loyal to a fault, and would always try to do the right thing. Those kind of people were few and far between.

“Oh you’re awake,” he said as he entered the room like his absence had been nothing. I was alone in the room now that Scarlet had finally checked out when her wing had been fixed up enough for her to be let out.

“And where have you been?” I asked indignantly.

He shrugged it off, he was getting way too used to how I acted. “I have been collecting the bits you earned, and seeing about how we are going to get out of here. The doctor said that you will be released in two more days so I booked us some train tickets to Las Pegasus on the train that comes through that day. Unfortunately, we will be having a layover but that shouldn’t be more than a few hours.” He took off my white saddlebags that I just noticed he had been carrying and set them on the floor beside my bed. The jingling of money was heard plainly as they hit the hard tile floor.

“You know if you keep going at this rate you will be able to afford a mansion pretty soon,” he joked.

“You mean I can’t buy one now? I should have well over twelve thousand bits saved up shouldn’t I?” Once again my ignorance about currency was going to come back and bite me in the ass eventually.

“With that you can buy some really nice stuff like a big house, or an airship, or a cottage with a large plot of land, but it will not buy you a whole mansion.” Wait did he just say what I think he said.

“What was that second one again?”

“An airship? Yea, they are these big ships that fly around in the sky and can go wherever. I don’t think twelve thousand is enough to get you a really big one, but it could definitely buy you a nice one. Why are you interested?”

An airship, they had fucking airships in Equestria! Of course I wanted one and I wanted one now. Why wasn’t I already sitting on my very own airship right now flying around with a cool steampunk leather suit on? Oh my god I wanted one so bad. Have I mentioned that I have some pretty bad impulse control when it comes to spending money?

“I want one. Go get me one right now,” I told him; motioning to the saddlebags he had just set down.

He laughed and looked back at me. “They don’t sell them here. There are only a few places where you can even buy one, and like I said before I don’t really know how much they go for. We will see about getting one later, but right now you should focus on getting better.” As if his own words triggered it his face turned dark and serious. “I’m sorry about getting you hurt. It was all my fault that you fought that snake in the first place.”

I sighed and waited a long while before replying. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t blame him for it somewhat, but it had been me that had rushed off after that monster in the end. I had made the decision to help out, and it looked like it had turned out for the best in the end. Sure I had been laid up in the hospital for a week and had gotten some permanent nerve damage, but I earned some money and saved a town in the process. Once I was aboard my very own airship I would probably forget all about this.

“Don’t worry about it, Deci. Everything turned out for the best in the end, and I am only going to be in here for a few more days. After that we can get back to what we were doing in the first place, and get you home. They took me off the morphine yesterday so I can’t really talk too much, and I am feeling a little tired. I am going to go to sleep so I guess I will see you in the morning?” I replied.

“Yea sure,” he said smiling as he got up to leave. “Vixen, you are one seriously tough mare.” With that he turned off the lights and left me alone to sleep.

The circular saw buzzed and sent plaster flying everywhere as the doctor gently cut through the casts on my paws. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t in the least bit scared he would slip, and slice them off completely. I winced as the saw neared my skin and with a crack the plaster cast snapped open, and with some prying the doctor managed to get it off of me.

I started to study my numb paw as he went to work freeing the other one. They had told me that the plaster had been enchanted to speed up the healing process, but I hadn’t expected so much of the fur to grow back yet. A thin layer of fur obscured any of the hideous burns that might have lied just beneath. I flexed my digits and smiled happily as they moved to my every whim; I just couldn’t actually feel them moving.

With another snap the other cast came off, and I practically jumped out of the bed I had been confined to for a week. The first thing that greeted me as I made it to the ground was the cold hard tile as it smacked me in the face. I honestly hadn’t expected trying to walk to be as hard as it apparently was now. Ever tried walking with two legs that fell asleep? It is not very easy.

Deciduous helped me back to my feet, and I hesitantly took a step forwards quickly followed by another. I noticed my legs wobbling a little bit, which probably meant they had atrophied somewhat. I willed them to come back under my control and soon I was walking just fine, though I had to pay attention to the ground in front of me more now that I couldn’t feel it below my pads.

“Well now that you are finally out of that stuffy bed we should probably hurry to the train station,” Deciduous said as he walked next to me, going at the excruciatingly slow pace I was.

We made it out of the room and down the hallway slowly towards the front desk. I had always thought that hospitals had a policy to make people leave in wheelchairs, but apparently that didn’t follow through to Equestria. It kind of made sense with how most everyone was a quadruped and a wheelchair would work strangely for most of the general population. At the front desk I was presented with a big stack of papers to read through and sign before I could leave. Being as excited to leave as I was, I just opted to sign everything without reading it first just to expedite the process. I finished signing the papers to check out sloppily with a pen in my mouth, before I spat the thing back out onto the desk.

“We have two stops we need to make before we go to the train station,” I informed him.

“Oh yea, where?”

“Firstly we need to find Scarlet, and get her payment to her. She will probably not want to accept it or bring up this ridiculous deal where she is going to follow me around for a bit. Secondly, I really need to take a shower.”

“Sounds good to me,” he replied. “I just hope we will be able to make our train or else we have to wait a few more days for the next one.”

“I swear to god that we will not be doing that again,” I said, taking the lead. “I have seen enough of Rubyton to last a lifetime.”