Chapter Three: Loyal to the End
XXX
I had been sliced along my side by our nightmarish leader in my dream, and when I woke I found the wound sustained into reality. I was horrified and scared for my life. Anything that happens in my dreams can really hurt or even kill me! I was just so needy and I just need my love back, I can't believe I told her about the Elements.
How dare that mother-bucker tamper with my dreams! I remember when Princess Luna entered my dreams once to help me face my fears, and she was very polite and tentative to my fears and needs. I miss Luna, and Celestia too.
Mac brought me to the hospital, and I got stitches and bandages and even got a lollypop afterwards. I would be off work, as my superiors said, and this didn't sit well. I had to keep working, and I had to keep working to find the Elements and the ponies of power. Now that Nightmare moon knew about some power I supposedly had and the fact that Fluttershy survived the overthrowing, this changed everything.
Flutters was in danger, and I volunteered to stay back and protect her, and Mac reluctantly agreed as he was the only able-bodied pony in our trio and he had to work. Now that my plant growing abilities weren't going to be there, Mac had to work harder than before and came home exhausted that night.
I wasn't going to give up then; we still had a fighting chance.
I was only more motivated by my injury.
I would not stand oppressed any longer.
XXX
It was midnight, the moon glaring down at the land with a harsh silvery glow that it always did. This unsettled Hector as he made sure both of his roommates were asleep before he pushed the door quietly open, thanks to the fact he'd oiled it recently, sneaking out into the night with a bag of his belongings.
Everypony was asleep, the town was too quiet.
Hector felt the pain in his side, pressing his hoof to it and wincing to remind himself it was real. Nightmare Moon had more control over him than he'd first anticipated, and it frightened him. Honestly frightened the stallion.
He'd never been tempted to run from a problem and never had he dared do it at night… and without anypony else knowing. He couldn't run as it was ill-advised by the doctors and could re-open the wound, leaving him vulnerable at a light trotting pace.
A morbid place in the back of his mind wanted be targeted.
As he walked, he felt a cool breeze soothe his coat, gently tussling his jet coloured mane and making goose bumps form all over his dual coloured coat. It was a pleasant breeze, and eased his worries as he made his way out to Ponyville limits and took a deep breath, stepping outside of the fair town into the grasslands.
He got out his map, checking which direction he should search in first, deciding with the path he was on already. He'd cut through Canterlot in the process, and would make progress on finding other ponies of power, at least. Then there would be the mountains, cold and unforgiving. He doubted he'd make it that far without proper clothing, and he had only Applejack's hat and the small blanket that had held the Element of Kindness.
He gulped, walking all while ignoring the small buzz of pain in his side that became more and more insistent as he walked, stopping every half mile or so from the pain alone. A stitch or two had pulled and he could feel air on his wound under the bandages snaked around his gut, wrapping the blanket around it for warmth and protection.
After a long walk, about a day's journey he came to Canterlot where ponies of high society lived, going about their lives all while the moon still hung in the sky. Eerie feelings hit Hector like a tidal wave, knocking him temporarily into shock. Canterlot was the very Hub of where Nightmare Moon was.
"Just go get clothing, food and then leave. She can't know I'm here, it'd be too easy. I'm in her domain now, she could arrest me and lock me up for merely existing" he warned himself, walking to a store labelled "General Goods" and walked inside, buying supplies with the bits that had accumulated from his hard work.
He received a few suspicious looks from ponies, but they resumed their doings quite quickly, as if they were only going 'oh look, a peasant pony, back to eating gold encrusted caviar'. He just had to go to Canterlot Hospital and have his wounds checked out, and he'd be on his way regardless of what the doctor's word was.
Time was not on his side.
Canterlot Hospital was similar to Ponyville Hospital, but was much bigger and much more expensive looking. Flowers wilted by the doors however, and with a gentle touch and a whispered "Hello my friends," to the flowers, they perked up and retained their colours, amazingly fragrant.
The mare at the receptionist counter saw this and trotted over, smelling the flowers and smiling at Hector. "Oh my stars, I've tried everything to get them to grow but without the sun they wouldn't! How did you do that? It's amazing!" she smiled, rouge coloured eyes shimmering in awe.
Hector shrugged "It's just what I do, growing plants fast" the Earth stallion said, nodding to his cutie mark; a beautiful red flower emerging from a black seed. She nodded "Oh, I wish I could do that. The only thing I'm good at is taking calls and directing patients, not like I wanted to become a florist…" the unicorn mare sighed.
She shook it off "Well, would you like to check in? Normally you have to be quite wealthy, but since you helped my lilies grow I owe you a favour, but if you're just passing by I still owe you something. My name is Gilded Lily. Yours?"
"Hector, and I think I am going to check in, but only for a little while. I have to keep going, I'm… on a road-trip" Hector said, and the bubble-gum pink mare nodded and let him into the fancy marble-floored, high ceilinged, pillared and beautiful hospital.
Gilded grabbed a sheet, but Hector stopped her. "I'd rather not have records of being here. Someone's after me," he said, her beautiful face holding a confused expression until she spoke a single word "Stalker?" in a quiet, worried tone. He nodded, having to go with that. She nodded and smiled, putting the sheet away "Oh I understand, I've had a few stalkers before. Creepy mother-b… mind my language sorry."
He shrugged "Don't worry, I've heard my girl cuss worse than that. She dropped a barrel on her hoof, and boy, she swore like a sailor." Gilded smiled "Well, still though, sorry for my language. Let's get you to a private doctor, he'll see you over. What exactly did you need… oh my Celestia, how in sweet blazes did this happen?" she asked, gesturing to his covered wound.
"Work related injury," the Earth stallion said quickly, smiling nervously. He couldn't just say that their new leader had snuck into his dreams of his potentially DOA love and sliced him with a dream-sword because he possessed magical energy like the elements of Harmony did.
Gilded nodded, trotting upstairs with the much taller stallion, knocking on the door of a fancy looking white door with a gold letter and number boldly placed on it. The door opened in a mere moment and a tall, thin stallion with neat auburn hair tied back in a plait, jacket holding a pocket protector and a stethoscope around his neck.
A nametag on his jacket read: Dr Amber – PHD.
"Yes? Who's this?" he said in a higher voice than Hector had anticipated, adjusting the thick framed glasses perched on the end of his nose. The unicorn mare smiled, gesturing to the taller more buff stallion beside her "Amber, this is Hector. He's suffered a 'work-related-injury' and needs medical attention. I'll leave you to it!"
The blue coated stallion nodded to Gilded who trotted away happily, leaving the two stallions alone in the hall. Amber nodded and cleared his throat "Well then. If Gilded likes you, it means I can trust you. She's nice, but doesn't trust many ponies, rough childhood and all, but come on in. Let me see that wound."
Hector walked into the large, tastefully decorated room and was laid down on the cot by the large bed in the room by strong red magic from Amber's lightly arched horn. The blanket and bandages were removed, and the unicorn winced at the sight of the wound. "In all my years here, I've never seen an injury like this… how'd it happen?"
"I uh… I was lifting um… uh… w-with my friend and uh…"
The doctor was not pleased at the makeshift excuse, looking at the wound closely, realising something. "This looks too similar to a sword wound, I know because my papa fought for Celestia's Guard and got sliced just like this… I'll get clean dressings and give you fresh stitches as well as antiseptic to stop it going… septic. Wait here," the lankier stallion instructed, going to retrieve said items.
While laying back, he heard something through the relatively thin walls. Two ponies talking. "Did you hear about that special rainbow mare that they're going to take off life support after her injuries?"
"Oh that one, yes, I heard she looked like that mare… Rainbow Dash, I think her name was."
Hector stood with a wince, rushing out into the hall and seeing the two rich looking mares gossiping in the hall. "Where is that mare you were talking about?" he asked, and the mares seemed surprised to see him there, but the one with obvious hair extentions spoke "Down the hall darling, to the left. 2R it was. Why?"
Hector hadn't heard her question, he had already sped off down the hall towards 2R where the mare Fluttershy had described for him supposedly was, about to be taken off life support. If this was the Rainbow Dash who held the Element of Loyalty like Fluttershy had told him about, he had just chanced upon luck.
Just as the amber eyed Earth stallion burst through the door, he saw the mare. Cerulean coat, bandages wrapped around her head to cover her eyes, mane coloured with every colour he could imagine… and a single white cloud cutie mark with a rainbow lightning bolt.
Joy filled him, until he saw the doctor still going to pull the plug, rushing at him with all his strength and ramming him into the marble wall to fall unconscious. He looked to the bandaged and bloody mare, sadness falling over him like a wet blanket. She could be on her last leg, her final breath could have already been exhaled, but no. Her chest rose and fell with breath, the heart monitor steadying.
Dr Amber burst through the door, seeing Hector up and about, wound open and beginning to bleed again. He frowned "Hector, why did you run? Just let me patch up your wound before you go running off, here!" he said, levitating the Earth pony over to him, applying antiseptic (that stung) before stitching it closed and bandaging it with a little clip. "There all better. Now why did you run?"
Hector directed the other stallion's attention to the mare he presumed was Rainbow Dash, hearing a soft gasp. "Oh my, I… I remember her being checked in, and why was Dr Tender in here? He was supposed to be performing an operation on a foal with a tumour in her leg," he asked, standing up by the heart rate monitor and watching the mare's chest rise and fall steadily.
"He was just about to pull her off of life support,"
Amber gasped "What?! Tender would never do that! He loves life! I never remember giving him permission to… look!"
Hector looked, following the other stallion's pointing hoof to see 'Dr Tender' change shape, shifting into blueish-sparkling smoke, drifting away through an air vent into the night. A chill went down his spine; Nightmare Moon had been following him, planning to take the Element of Loyalty off of life support so she couldn't be threatened by the Elements' return.
Before the brown and white stallion could do anything, he realised Amber had already began to work some sort of medical magic on the comatose Rainbow Dash, stitching and fixing, mending and healing until not a single scratch was embellished on her sky coloured coat. Her eyes fluttered open, and they met amber ones.
The very instant her eyes opened, her hoof connected with Hector's nose, sending him stumbling back into the wall wincing. The mare sprung up, wincing at her still healing injuries, going into fighting stance at the two stallions in the room with her. "Come on, fight me! I'm not letting Nightmare Moon win! Um… huh? Where am I? Where's the girls? Where' s Nightmare Moon?" she asked in a tomboyish voice.
Hector winced and stood "You're in Canterlot Hospital, Nightmare Moon won. You've been comatose for two years Rainbow Dash, and I'm here to help you. Trust me, I'm with you there. I want the sun back I want Applejack back," he said, and Rainbow's brows went up "Applejack? You're… you're Hector, the stallion she was always telling me about. So… we lost?"
"Not quite, I've got Fluttershy back in Ponyville… but I can't go back. Nightmare Moon gave me this darn slice down my side, and she's looking for me. She almost took you off life support, the sick mare, but never mind. I'm looking for the rest of the Elements and the ponies of power, and I could use your help" Hector informed, earning a signature gung-ho grin from Rainbow.
"You can count on me Heck, I'm not going down without a fight! We need to get Flutters though, she's an Element too" Rainbow reminded the buffer stallion who nodded "The only reason I didn't bring her with me is because Mac would hate me if I just left with his fillyfriend, so we'll have to go get her. Up for it?"
He received a flap of two powerful wings and a smile "Let's do this."
But then another problem arose. What about the Loyalty necklace? The actual Element itself? "Rainbow, do you know where your necklace actually is? We need it, obviously" Hector asked, and Rainbow paused to think, nodding. "It should still be in my house, but it kinda plummeted from the sky into the fields just past Sweet Apple Acres to the west. If we're lucky, it should be still under my pillow."
Then Hector turned his attention to Amber, who was standing there looking scared for his life. "What should I do now? Nightmare Moon knows I've helped you! She'll come after me, lock me up even! W-what am I to do?! A-and Gilded! She helped you too! Goddess almighty, we're all criminals, treasonous criminals!"
He never liked to, but Hector had to slap the stallion across the face "Keep it together Amber, you're not a criminal, ok? Just lay low and stay safe. She left before you helped, so how is she to know?" he said reasoningly, the unicorn rubbing his cheek to soothe it "You're right. How would she know? I'll continue work here…"
The brown and white Earth stallion smiled, turning to Rainbow. "We'll get Fluttershy first, then the two of you can retrieve the Loyalty necklace from your house and we can start searching for the other ponies of power. Got it?"
"Yeah!"
"Then let's go."