Of Magic and Steel
Reveille
I wasn't sure how long I was out, but as I slowly came to, I became aware of a gentle pulsing, slightly out of sync with my heartbeat. Through the darkness I saw, just on the edge of my vision, almost imperceptible flashes of…green?
Slowly my awareness began to expand and I began to hear heavily accented voices.
"Is he going to be alright?"
"I think so, he is fine physically, but Celestia knows what his mind looks like."
"Ja."
That final voice made the recognition of the accent click. I was in the care of Russians. Ones that spoke amazingly perfect English, but still Russians. And who in the name of all that is holy is Celestia?
Slowly I opened my eyes, only to shut them again as the light in the room stabbed my retinas like a bunch of rusty ice picks.
I think that I need to rein in my imagination a little bit.
"Owwwwww." I groaned as I slowly brought my hand to my face.
"Ah, he is awake. So how are you feeling my friend?" A gruff male voice asked in that heavy accent.
"Like I got thrown into the Cauldron only to be spit back out." I bit out as I pushed myself into a sitting position.
"Easy now. Here let us help you." A soft female voice said with that same accent as it came close accompanied, strangely, by the clip-clop of hooves.
I shook off the strangeness as two sets of hands, one most definitely male and the other possibly female but both were almost…furry feeling, helped push me up into a sitting position and helped me move to lean back against the headboard of the bed I was in.
Finally, I was able to open my eyes and take in the room I was in. It was fairly Spartan in its furnishings with a dresser, desk, a pair of nightstands, and a table with chairs in addition to the bed that I lay in, all made in a simple but durable design. The walls were the off white that usually accompanied being a hospital.
Of course, most hospitals aren't staffed by anthropomorphic ponies.
To my left there was a white furred anthro with reddish brown hair that consisted her mane. She was wearing a nurse's uniform that I would have to place somewhere in the sixties or seventies. White skirt, white blouse, kind of a beige cardigan sweater, even had one of those little hats with the red cross on it. The other was a tall muscular stallion that had a close cropped black mane with dark grey fur. He was wearing a Russian uniform, an officer's one judging from the shoulder boards. It appeared to be something from before the wall fell in ninety-one.
"It is good to see you awake! How are you doing?" He asked in a boisterous tone.
"Like I'm losing my gorram mind. Anthro ponies. What next? A pretty pink pony princess?" I snarked.
Well, she isn't pink, but if you want to talk to her we could send a letter to the Princess. It would take some time to get a response due to the distance and her rather busy schedule." The female responded.
I looked at her, blinked a couple of times, and face-palmed.
"You're serious aren't you?"
The pair nodded. I sighed. Then I realized something rather important.
"Why the hell am I naked?"
"Well, your clothes were completely soaked. We had to remove them to treat the hyperthermia." The nurse responded.
"Alright, I can deal with that. If they are dry, I would like to have them back. Also, did I have anything else with me when I was found?" I asked as I went through the motions of seeing if everything was attached and in proper working order.
"Yes, there was a rucksack and a rather large sword." The stallion replied.
I raised an eyebrow. "How big is this sword?"
"Well it is almost as long as you are tall and nearly as broad as you shoulders at the hilt" He replied.
My eyes widened in shock. He saw this and chuckled.
"I know. It took two of us just to move it into the barracks. Even now, two weeks later, we have to chase of the young colts who try to use it as a test of stallionhood." He said with a laugh.
I stare at him incredulously, until the nurse hands me a stack of clothing.
"Here you are. I hope that they didn't shrink when they were washed." She said in that accented voice. Now that I had a chance to listen properly, I noticed that while her accent was the same as the stallion's, it wasn't like the Russian accent that most Eastern European women had. It was softer, almost melodic.
"Thank you." I replied as I took the stack from the mare. Then without even thinking about it, I whipped back the covers and stood up.
Normally, I have pretty much zero modesty in my own home. I.e. I walk around the house buck naked. So I didn't realize that I had just flashed the pair until the nurse gasped out an "oh, my sweet Celestia."
I looked at her and followed her gaze down to my groin. Now, last time I looked down there, I was of average endowment for a white guy. Now, however, let's just say that all but the kinkiest of women would run screaming "Aw, hell naw!" when I dropped my pants.
"Huh. Well that's different." I said before shaking out the pants that I had been given.
"What do you mean?" The nurse asked, her blush evident through her fur.
"I was never this…gifted before." I replied as I buttoned my pants and slowly made my way towards then lone mirror in the room.
Once I reach the polished surface, I take in the changes that had happened to me.
My shoulder length brown hair had a few more streaks of silver in it, perfectly natural given what happened.
It appeared that I had gained an inch or two in height, pushing me just past the six foot tall mark.
The two biggest changes were my muscles and my eyes.
My muscles were defined in a way that I had been nowhere close to before the event. It was the definition that you can only achieve by going to the gym, without fail, for at least two hours a day, six days a week.
I sighed, now I'm going to have to really bust my ass to keep this new body up.
My eyes were by far the most startling.
First off, I used to have brown eyes. Used to.
Now I have blue eyes that seem to almost glow with an inner fire.
Check that, they are glowing.
Suddenly, I become aware of the pulsing sensation again. With each pulse the glow in my eyes intensifies. I fall to my knees.
I realize what the pulsing sensation is.
Mako.
The world tilts sideways as I lose consciousness again.