Fallout Equestria

Chapter 5.

Alive!

I was still alive!

As consciousness came back to me, I found myself laying on a mattress, with blankets tucked about me, feeling warm and rested and more comfortable than I had since before I left Stable Two three days ago. At least, I thought it was three days; I had no idea how long I had been unconscious. By habit, I lifted up my forehoof to check the date and time on my PipBuck. Doing so unsettled the blanket, which proceeded to slide to the floor.

"Oh! Look who's awake!" The pretty voice of a mare awfully close to me shocked me into full alertness. Looking up and about, I found myself surrounded by several ponies, only one of which I recognized -- and that was the pegasus who shot me up in the first place! I wondered if I was his prisoner.

The voice had come from an equally pretty white-coated earth pony whose cotton-candy pink mane matched the pink and yellow-stripped nurse's dress she was wearing. Scanning what I could see of the walls through the small crowd of ponies, I saw a line of three medical boxes (all the little pink butterflies perfectly in a row) and a faded pre-war poster apparently advertising jobs in health care services ("You don't need to be a Steel Ranger to be a Hero! Join the Ministry of Peace today!" announced the mare on the poster, barely more than a filly, who wore the exact same dress that I saw brought to life before me). Between the décor and the lack of ropes or chains, I concluded this was a clinic, and I was not a captive.

Besides, I was actually feeling quite good. Tired, almost like I needed a good nap... except I wasn't sleepy. Just tired, and kinda warm. I sat up and the room spun.

"Take it easy there, partner," the pegasus whose name I recalled was Calamity -- although I was a bit fuzzy on how I had learned that - said, stepping towards me. I scooted back on the mattress. Oh sure, he looked polite and gentle now, with all these ponies around; but I'd seen him when he was all murder-from-above guns-blazing death-pegasus.

"Candi?" one of the other ponies, a grey-coated earth pony with black mane and tail, asked as he looked to my nurse (although to me it sounded like he was calling her candy, and I felt an oddly cheerful urge to agree).

"Oh, she'll be perfectly fine. Ah mixed up the last healing potion she needed and gave it t' her less than an hour ago."

"Mixed?" The grey earth pony raised an eyebrow dubiously.

Candi smiled. "Why with apple schnapps, of course! Ah find the medicine always goes down better that way." I couldn't understand why the grey pony facehoofed. I felt perfectly fine now. Better than fine. And pleasantly warm.

The grey stallion started shooing all my guests away. That made me feel slightly sad, although I really didn't know any of them. I had felt so lonely the last few days, so eager to find civilization, and here it was, but he wasn't letting me keep it. A thought which I realized didn't quite make sense, although I wasn't sure why.

"Come on out when you're feeling up to it. I know there's some ponies who would like to see you." The grey stallion smiled at me. Then looked at the rust-colored straggler. "You two, Calamity. Out you go." Calamity took one look back at me before scooting out.

Candi pranced up to me, whispering dreamily, "Such a handsome stallion, isn't he?"

"Who?"

"Why Calamity, of course!" She giggled.

I was at a loss for words. No, no I wasn't. "He shot me."

She waved that off with a hoofwiggle. "Ah'm sure t'was just a misunderstandin'."

It was, I recalled, but... why was I having this conversation? If anything, I wanted to talk about how pretty Candi was (candy Candi!), not to talk about Calamity. Least of all whether or not he was handsome. None of which seemed to find a suitable way to be spoken aloud. Sulkingly, I fell back on reiterating, "He shot me..." Then added, "...a lot."