A colt's voice suddenly makes her jump, "…by that cloud formation. That's where the records say Equestria City was. I know I keep sayin' this, but if it weren't for the records aboard the Kenandra here we would never know our own history…it truly is a wealth of knowledge."
Autumn blinks. She is staring out a window on the space station facing the planet. The planet is all that is visible, as the station is in a very close orbit and the planet is massive. Dark, grey-black clouds cover the entire surface of the heavenly body in the window – rumbling, lightning-filled clouds that spark with the light blue electricity of nature every second or two. It is like watching a planet-wide storm from space.
It is watching a planet-wide storm from space. The clouds are an amazing view, completely capturing Autumn and her attention in a death grip as she stares for what seems like hours at the clouds rolling and tumbling in and over themselves in endless turmoil.
Suddenly, the colt's friendly, country-slang voice snaps her out of her gaze, "Hey…you okay there?"
Autumn looks over the source of the new voice, a light grey colt with blonde hair standing to her left, also standing in front of the window. He is wearing faded clothes resembling a uniform like hers…only very faded and old-looking. It takes her a second to realign her thoughts and form an answer, "I…don't know. Where…how did I get here...who are you?"
He replies without hesitation, "What's the last thing you remember?"
Autumn thinks for a second. Her mind slowly creeps along her memories and attempts to dig up something…anything. Scenes flash before her eyes. Are they memories? She sees herself standing in her doorway as a light grey-maned colt with gold-blonde hair approaches her. Its…the same pony.
"Morpheus helped me home…I got dressed…you…were walking up to me, outside my room I think."
The colt smiles, "Well, if you forgot the name, it's Lander. I was instructed by Morpheus personally to show you around the ship – him and I are real close friends n' all. I found you standing like a statue outside of your room, and introduced myself. Ya had a similar memory lapse after we exited the teleporter a little ways behind us, across the cafeteria."
"…memory lapse?" The mare raises an eyebrow as her eyes squint in an expression of confusion.
Lander continues, "Yep, I hear they're a normal occurrence durin' transition – when you to become fully biologically independent of the machines and, in simpler terms, just plain normal n' healthy. Which reminds me – you're due for a checkup in…ten minutes." He ends with a ponderous look on his grey face. "Better not keep the doctor waitin'. Here, I'll lead ya over there."
The blonde colt politely turns around and starts walking through the cafeteria, striding in between the rows of tables and ponies enjoying a meal or two. The cafeteria is rather large, and it takes a few minutes to follow Lander as he wades through the tables to the far side of the mess hall. The ponies eating at their tables stop chewing to stare at Autumn as she passes them. Not all of them stare, but only a few do not. Their hunger for food almost rivals their hunger to visually analyze Autumn. Lander stops at the teleporter door on the wall and turns around to see the ponies staring at the intimidated Autumn as she follows closely behind him.
"Hey! Don't you know starin' is rude! Quit it, or I'll put in a bad word for all ya'll to the captain!" He yells across the cafeteria. All the ponies stop staring simultaneously.
Autumn whispers, "Why were they all staring at me?"
Lander replies in a similar, hushed fashion, "Because you're the first pony to come here from Earth since the Saved discovered this place hundreds a' years ago. You're...special in that way."
Autumn blushes slightly at the comment as he mindlessly knocks his hoof on the teleporter door's black square. The wall phases and the two unicorns walk through the void into the small room. As soon as they are completely inside the teleporter, the wall phases back into existence and a flat, computer-screen-sized hologram pops up in front of Lander and Autumn's faces. Lander pushes one of the squares as the hologram follows his face like the screen is glued to the air in front of it. Autumn slowly backs up as the hologram follows her, hovering directly in front of her face. Lander notices the look of fear in her eyes, "It's okay! It's not going to hurt ya, just tap this square here..."
The colt taps a square in the grid of 30 or so squares in front of her face. The hologram disappears and she sighs quietly.
"That happens every time ya use a teleporter. It waits fer everypony to tap which location they want on the ship, and the teleporter takes the specific pony to that teleporter, individually transportin' the rest to their own destinations simultaneously."
A flash of light engulfs her and Lander as a sickening pulse of energy runs through her body. The urge to vomit escalates as she feels a rush of adrenaline and her heart beats triple their speed.
"Here we are." His cheerful voice reflects the fact that he doesn't seem to be effected by the teleportation.
Maybe he's just used to it…
Autumn follows Lander out of the teleporter and through several halls and corridors. First, they walk left, then right, and then right again. Eventually, she loses track and starts to get dizzy as the turns blend together. Her head starts to feel heavy as it lulls around in a dizzying state. Suddenly everything flips sideways and goes black. For a few seconds all she sees is black, infinite darkness engulfed in a silence so thick you could cut it with a saw. The distant sounds of voices slowly bring her back to consciousness. It's the accented voice of Lander,
"…like that. Maybe it was somethin' she ate? She was-"
She hears a cough, and nearly jumps before she realizes it was her who made the noise. She opens her eyes slowly. Candice is standing over her, while Lander nervously stands behind the doctor. Candice puts her hoof on Autumn's forehead,
"How are you doing, feel okay? You fainted right outside door C of the infirmary."
The doctor's calm and motherly voice is calming.
"I'm going to let you rest a minute before we do your scheduled checkup, alright?"
Candice turns around and glares at Lander before walking out of the familiar curtained room with a last note,
"Besides, you're technically right on time!"
Lander quickly walks up to the mare in the hospital bed, "I'm so sorry, I shoulda' been watc-"
Autumn quietly interrupts him with a small smile, "I'm fine. Thank you, Lander."
The colt forces a smile, although he is obviously nervous.
Why does he think he's to blame for a silly issue of me fainting?
"Can…I get you anythin'?"
Autumn thinks for a moment, "I guess some water would be nice, if you don't mind…"
The colt nods and quickly strides out of the room, completely gone before the woozy mare can even blink.
Well…okay then…
Before the mare can even finish that thought, Candice walks back in,
"Oh…where'd that farmer go?"
Farmer?
"You just missed him…he-" Autumn begins to say.
"Oh well, I guess its better he doesn't stick around anyway – privacy and all. He's a very smart colt, albeit a very naïve one too, at that. Anyways! I'm in a hurry because I've got a couple patients that need help right now, so I'll just tell you what's going to happen."
Autumn adjusts her position slightly on the gurney.
"I'm going to be putting some nutrients and other stuff you won't remember the name of anyway into your bloodstream through this IV. The nutrients are to make your body healthier in areas that it lacks, and the other stuff is mostly to get your body running the way it should be. The genetic mutation the machines did to you is almost completely fixable, and that's what I aim to do…fix you. You might feel a little…weird, since these chemicals reset your hormone regulations and the like. You will probably need the rest of the afternoon in bed rest, so I'll have someone escort you back to your room. Unless something's really wrong with you, these beds have to be open in case new patients are brought."
Autumn nods slowly, "How…long will it take?"
The doctor levitates an IV over to Autumn's left arm, sterilizing the target spot of her limb, "Only a few minutes, you only have to be given a small amount."
After the spot on her arm is sterilized, Autumn feels the unsettling prick of a needle being inserted into her skin and her heart rate increases a fraction. She never was easy with needles…if she ever was around any before she came to the space station.
Suddenly Lander walks in, carefully levitating a paper cup, "Oh…did I…come in at a bad time?"
"Not at all, Lander! Please, keep miss Autumn company until I return in a few."
Before Lander can respond, the doctor exits the room, leaving the two unicorns staring at each other at a loss for words.
"Well…here's yer water." The colt finally says, breaking the silence with kind words and a small smile.
Autumn nods semi-consciously as the IV's contents start to affect her ability to think.
Whats…happening…
The room around her starts to get bright and colors seem to intensify a million-fold. The lights in the ceiling are blindingly bright, and everything is so…vivid. A glaring, reflective white and textured substance hovers over to her face, and the distant sound of a voice is heard as it slowly mumbles through her distorted ears.
"…your water? Autumn?"
The mare lies in her bed unresponsive, except for staring at the cup as he levitates it in front of her. She blinks slowly and closes her eyes, seeming to fall asleep. The colt sighs and places the cup on the small table next to the bed as he sits down in a small chair by the entrance of the room. He looks around the room, trying not to stare at anything.
Eventually, his gaze lands on the unconscious mare. She is sleeping…or at least it looks like she is. She could be dead, and he probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
If she's in the doctor's care, though, she's fine.
A small, peaceful smile slowly forms across the colt's face as he stares at the mare, deep in thought…deep in thought about nothing at all.
The curtain slides open behind him, managing to make him jump a little in his chair. The doctor comes in and carefully removes the IV, looking at the monitors on the computer on the table. She levitates the cup of water behind her as her eyes are glued to the screen. Lander notices and grabs it out of her grasp, his gaze resting once again on the mare.
The doctor nods to herself before turning to the colt, "Okay, when she wakes up she'll be a little dizzy and I'll need you to take her to her room and make sure she rests until tomorrow morning, got it? She must rest, and I'm putting you in charge of making sure that happens."
Lander objects, "But I hav'ta work at Plantations 105-8 and 105-9…"
"I'll notify your employer, who in turn will request Morpheus's permission. I highly doubt I can't persuade my husband to let one unicorn have the day off for the safekeeping of another – especially this one mare…Trust me, Lander, I'll work it out. The station can survive a day without a plantation worker, even one as hard-working as you."
Lander nods, accepting the compliment and agreeing to her orders, and the doctor leaves upon seeing his agreement. He adjusts his position in the chair as he waits for the bed-ridden unicorn to regain consciousness and looks at the monitor next to the mare in question.
1:29
He looks around the room, occupying his imagination with random and irrelevant thoughts. Beeping of other monitors in the distance slip through the noise of the infirmary. Hooves walk on metal grating somewhere. Two unicorns' conversation echoes through the infirmary in the distance. After what seems like a few minutes, he drifts his vision over to the monitor.
1:30
"Ya serious!"
She slowly falls through a cloud of warmth. Her body feels weightless as she slowly feels it being arranged into a reclining position. The feeling of air brushing over her coat returns, as does the feeling of fabric beneath her. Her eyes slowly open, "Candice?..."
The colt jolts suddenly in his chair, nearly falling out of it, "Hey! Look who's awake finally…"
"Where's…Candice?" A confused mare asks.
"She's helpin' other patients, probably. She told me to help you home and make sure ya rest up. If you're ready now, I can help ya up?"
Autumn slowly sits up, before Lander walks over to her and puts a hoof around her, "Easy…the doctor said you'd be a little out of it. She wants me to stay with you a while and make sure ya get plenty of bed rest."
The mare is helped out of bed, yawning, "What…what time is it?"
The colt pauses for a moment, "Eleven forty-nine. The ship is in the shadow of the planet, so that'd make it 11:49 at night. Ya been asleep all day, pretty much."
The mare doesn't respond and instead puts her arm around the farmer, supporting herself as she steps out of the bed. Lander slowly guides her through the infirmary and corridors of the space station, eventually arriving at the teleporter after what seems like half an hour.
The door vanishes and he helps her into the small room. The holograms appear in front of their faces. Lander selects a square designating Housing 4-B. He taps the same square on the drowsy mare's hologram as she struggles to get her eyes to focus on it.
With a flash of light and a jolt from the mare, the two arrive at the teleporter on Housing Level 4, sublevel B. The cookie-cutter hallway greets the two unicorns as the blonde helps support the shuffling brunette down the rows of doors until she points a hoof at one on their left. Lander helps her over to it and she presses the square, phasing the door into a void as it recognizes her. The colt helps her walk into her room and all the way to her bed, where he lies her down among the messed up covers and pillow as the door phases back behind them.
She looks up at him and smiles, giggling once like a filly.
Geez, its like she's drunk or somethin'…Crap! I prob'ly left her cup of water in the infirmary!
"Lemme go get ya some cold water and food…"
The blonde-haired pony leaves the mare's side and enters the kitchen a few meters away, finding a glass in the cupboard and proceeding to fill it with water from the tap. The cold water looks refreshing, and he almost takes a swig from it himself.
He looks up from the sink at the mare, who is staring at the ceiling as she lies down on her bed. Looking back at the glass, he notices it is overflowing with cold water. "Shit!" He wipes the class with a nearby rag and opens the fridge.
She can barely hear his whispered curse from across the room. She sounds of the sink being turned off, and the accompanying squeaks of the knob turning, make her look up slowly. Lander is walking over to her with something floating in his magical grasp. It appears to be-
"Here's some water and bread, I forgot to give you yer cup from the infirmary. Sorry about that…"
She sits up; suddenly noticing how sweaty her uniform is as it sticks slightly to her warm coat. She suddenly gets a completely normal idea, "You mind helping me undo this velcro?"
Lander doesn't move a muscle as he stares at the mare for a few seconds, glass still hovering in the air as his brain tries to think of an answer.
"Hello? C'mon, I'm burning up in this thing." She looks at the zipper-cover-like fabric strip that goes down her chest and ends at her stomach. She bites the fabric flap, tearing the velcro away and opening the uniform slightly, allowing cool air to brush against her chest. "Well, fine. I'll do it myself. What a lot of help you are…" Her eyes fall on the glass as she speaks in sarcasm, the cup still being held by the blonde colt staring at her funny.
"Oh, thank you! I could use something cold-" She manages to say before she grabs the glass with both hooves and chugs a few gulps, stopping to gasp for air before finishing the glass, "Wow, that hit the spot! I'm going to get some mor-"
"No! Its okay, I'll…get it fer you. Ya hav'ta stay in bed – doctor's orders ya know…" The colt manages to nervously blurt out before walking away from the bedside and hastily filling up the glass.
What's with him?...
He returns and levitates the cup into her waiting hooves. She immediately grabs it and dunks the entire glass on her head, shaking her head violently right after. He winces at the cold water spraying on him, sitting down on the bed and grabbing the blanket to wipe himself off. The mare smiles, "Thank you, I feel much better now. I felt like I had a fever or…something…" She trails off into silence mid-sentence.
The colt stops drying himself off and looks up, "Hmm?" She is staring at him with a strange look in her eyes. "Autumn, the doctor said you'd be a little woozy, but are you sure yer oka-"
Before he can finish his question he is knocked back into the bed with an oof, barely bouncing on the hard mattress as Autumn lands on top of him, her hooves firmly planted in the bed on either side of his head. A lustful grin adorns her blue face as she smiles at him and lowers her head onto his, grabbing his surprised lips in a deep and passionate kiss as both their eyes close reflexively.