Under the Burning Skies
Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Doctor Whooves
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Chapter 6
Doctor Whooves
“Stay with us kiddo…” said a shadowy figure. There was movement around him, but it was too hazy to register anything significant.
“Blood pressure is dropping, I need that adrenaline now!”
“Liquid in the pericardial sack, get it out. Clear.”
His eyes shot opened at the sudden pain in his chest. Two doctors were holding him down while another one was pulling something out of his heart with a syringe.
“Prepare block 4 for immediate surgery. There’s shrapnel in there!”
His vision started to blur again, barely registering anything that was said or was happening.
“…too many… only a matter of time…” said a doctor, apparently working his magic into his chest. “He won’t make it.”
“Step aside.” Said a new, commanding voice, but somehow familiar. He could hear gasps.
“Doctor Whooves?!” Then silence.
Tony shifted in his bed sheets. He groaned and opened his eyes slightly. A blur of colors, coupled with the room spinning only made him feel sick. He closed his eyes.
“Mister Redmane?” asked an unknown voice. “Can you hear me?”
Tony opened his eyes again and looked around. At his left stood an unicorn doctor, who was writing something on his clipboard. The room was still spinning. He reached out a hoof to his forehead, no doubt very disoriented. The doctor then turned to see him.
“Any pain? Sickness?” he asked, in a rather unconcerned voice.
“Uhh… I…” his throat was sore.
“Here, drink this. It will calm the pain in your throat.” The doctor gave him a glass of what appeared to be some tea. Drinking ferociously, he sat back on the bed and sighed.
“Wh-what happened, where am I?” he asked, coughing up.
“You are in the Manehattan Hospital, in the E.R. I must say you are very lucky to be alive.”
“But… what happened, how did I get here?” he was starting to get impatient.
“Three days ago there was an explosion at the stadium, one hour before the concert. You were in the front line at the queue, when a zebra came and committed suicide, taking with him many more. You are the only one close to it that survived.”
Words began to sink in when he realized something. ‘Only one survived that?! No… no… this can’t be happening! They are alive too! They have to be!’
Clearing his throat, he made courage to ask about his parents’ fate.
“What about… my parents, a green unicorn and a yellow mare that was pregnant… where are they? Are they okay? Please…tell me they're fine.”
The doctor shook his head and sighed sadly. “I’m afraid they died shortly after the explosion. I’m sorry. Their wounds were severe. The green unicorn tried to save you and the mare, but she was too exposed. He took most of the damage on your side.” With that, the doctor picked up his clipboard and turned to exit the room. “Oh, by the way, somepony left a letter for you. It’s on your right.” The words didn’t seem to register, as the broken pony that lay in the bed just stared at the ceiling. “Well, I’m going now.” The doctor now left the pony to his own living nightmare.
Tony was too shocked to think. His heart ached so hard he thought it would explode in a million pieces. He simply cried.
Somehow he fell asleep after crying so much. The Sun was already rising in the east, bathing Equestria in its light and warmth. A new day. A new beginning. A new nightmare.
Tony woke up with an angry groan, wishing he would never wake up again. He had lost hope. His family, the only one he had, was dead. Killed by somepony else. Just like Jake. His heart ached. Sorrow and depression was soon replaced by seething hatred, as he hastily removed the covers off him to reveal a strange metallic device embedded into his chest. He stopped breathing in fright. ‘What the hay is this!?’ It resembled a miniaturized version of an energy reactor, although what kind of reactor this was, he wasn’t sure. I glowed a blue light. It was encased in a metallic cylinder that shielded it from the interior of his chest, the lungs and his heart. He then remembered that the doctor had told him that he received a letter from Doctor Whooves. Glancing to his right, he picked the envelop with his right hoof and opened it hastily. It read.
Dear mister Redmane,
You have my condolences on the loss of your family. I assure you the police is working hard to put together the pieces, as to why such an event occurred.
Now, onto the main reason for this letter.
I would like for you to visit me immediately after you exit the hospital. There are some important matters to discuss, regarding your future. As for the institute, do not worry, I have announced the principal of your situation and my intentions, and he allowed for you to leave school for a few weeks. Take as much time as you need to recover.
Regarding the device embedded into your chest, I will answer any questions you have when you reach me, although I presume you will figure out most of them, since you, as me, are a genius in development. I placed under your bed a small rectangular metallic carrier. Inside it lies the replacement cores for the generator. The device will let you know when the core inside it has been depleted by lowering the intensity of the glow. Now, to change the core, you have to unscrew it, and tap its back end.
That’s all for now.
P.S. It is of utmost importance that you look for me, in Ponyville.
Yours,
Dr. W.
‘This doesn’t make sense, what the buck does he want, and why did he put this inside me anyway?!’ he dropped the letter on the floor and lifted himself up. To his surprise, he wasn’t connected to anything else but a heart monitor. Ripping the suction-cup wires of him, he leaped off bed, only to land on his face after his legs gave out. ‘Oww, stupid, stupid floor.’ He looked directly under his bed. There was a metallic case with an ‘hourglass’ inscription on it. Picking it up, he opened it to reveal no less than 7 cores. By their looks, he assumed it was either platinum, or palladium. ‘So, I have to put this inside me? Buck that.’ As a sort of response to his question, the glow in his chest dimmed. ‘I guess I have to change it…’ With a frown, he gently unscrewed the generator and took it out. It looked like… a miniature ionized arc reactor! ‘How the buck did he managed to minimize that thing?! As far as I can remember, the arc reactor base model was huge… it’s impossible to make it this… small.’ He tapped its back end and gave a small yelp when it opened and revealed a rather steaming core, that was accompanied by a smell that reminded him of storms, a metallic taste in his mouth. 'Neutron damage, I presume.' He gently removed it and put in a new core, the device closing itself freely and radiating a brilliant light once more. Placing it back, he screwed it in position and gave a sigh of relief. 'That was odd.'
A doctor entered the room and gasped loudly.
“Mister Redmane, what in Celestia’s name are you doing down there?!” the doctor was shocked to see him moving around, having suffered such serious wounds.
“Ugh, I opened my Christmas present, something wrong doctor?” he replied, clearly annoyed.
“N-no, not at all, but it’s a surprise seeing you out of bed. How are you feeling?”
“Absolutely wonderful, I have lost my family once again and I’m the happiest pony in all of Equestria!” he yelled back at the doctor, then fell on his haunches, and brought a hoof to his eyes to stop any tears.
“I am very, very sorry to hear that…” the doctor looked away from him for a second, then spoke.
“The Doctor told me to give you this, as to give you an idea for… that thing.” He pointed out at the arc reactor. He then revealed a small plastic jar that contained something… Something vile. Upon closer inspection, he could make out the black objects as being shrapnel.
“If he removed it all from my body then—“ he stopped suddenly. ‘If he would have removed them all from my body, then there wouldn’t be a reason for me to have this thing inside me. That only means…’
“Not all were removed, Mister Redmane. Simply because they were unreachable, and any further attempt to remove them would have resulted in your death.”
“I understand. So, it's some sort of an electromagnet that keeps the shrapnel in place?"
“Indeed, it is. You will be released tomorrow morning. I will come later to check on you.” He received a weakly nod. “Good day, Mister Redmane.” The doctor then turned and left through the door.
Tony got up from the floor and sat on his bed. ‘I’ll see you soon, Doctor…’ He looked towards the window. 'I’d rather have myself killed, and have them live… Dillon, Margaret… Sister…’ At this, he started crying freely. ‘I will avenge you all. I swear on my heart!’ he yelled in his heart.
Tomorrow morning, he sat at the desk to check out. One receptionist was talking to him while the other prepared the papers for his release. His chest was covered in a large gauze, to hide his deformity.
“That is all, Mister Redmane. Have a nice day.”
“Thank you.” He then turned to leave. As he exited the hospital, he went close to the street and shouted for a ride. “Taxi!”
A carriage stopped near him. “To the train station.” The driver gave him a nod and started cantering towards the destination. During the whole trip, there was only one thing on his mind: pain. The pain of loneliness. He knew it all too well. With a sad sigh, he resolved around re-reading the letter he received from the Doctor.
Several minutes later, he arrived at the train station. He paid his fare to the driver, then trotted towards the ticket booth.
“One ticket to Ponyville, please.” The cashier nodded and handed him the ticket.
“That will be 30 bits, sir.”
Placing the money on the desk, he picked the ticket and boarded the train. A loud whistle followed by the shriek of the locomotive announced the departure of the train, which now gained speed and approached the exit of the town. ‘Funny, I’ve never left Manehattan before…’
The open plains were shadowed by large mountains that still carried marks of the winter, snow still visible on their tops. Meanwhile, in the fields, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns worked together to harvest the crop. Fillies and colts were helping the elders as if playing a game, enjoying the activity, together with their friends.
As the train passed more and more villages, it was nearing a chain of mountains, surrounded by a very large forest. Tony could make up the shape of the Capital City of Canterlot into the mountain beyond the forest known as the Everfree Forest. Something felt special about this location. The scenery was stunning, green plains surrounded by forests and mountains. It felt like... home.
The train was now exiting the forest and whistled sharp three times to announce the next stop before Canterlot: Ponyville. He rose from his seat and grabbed his saddlebags and prepared for the stop. Upon arrival, he exited the train and started trotting around town, to find the Doctor.
Ponyville was unlike any other village he had ever seen. It was full of ponies that had something in common: a wide smile on their faces. The village itself wasn’t spectacular, aside from a few shops he could make out, like the bakery shop, looking like it was made of candy itself. ‘Sugarcube Corner, eh? Sounds good for now.’ He entered the shop and approached the couple sitting at the counter. One was a blue mare with her mane in two shades of pink, while the stallion next to her was a thin and tall earth pony with a yellow coat and orange mane. Both had sweets for a cutie mark.
“Hello and welcome to Sugarcube Corner! Can I get your order?” Said the blue mare, with a smile on her face.
“He-hello, I’d like a cupcake with strawberries and rainbow frosting please.”
“Right away, sir. That will be 15 bits.”
He opened his saddlebags and placed the money on the counter.
“Thank you kindly, sir. Here is your order. Enjoy!” said the stallion as he pushed the cupcake towards him.
“Thank you. Farewell.” Right as he was about to exit the shop, he bumped into a pink earth pony with her mane poofy like it was cotton candy. She gasped loudly and disappeared faster than the speed of light. “What was that?!”
The Cakes chuckled. “Oh, it was just Pinkie Pie. She does that usually when she meets new ponies, since she knows everypony in Ponyville. Don’t worry about it.” Said the mare.
“Alright…” he said and turned to leave. ‘That mare scared the buck out of me.’
Trotting around town, he stopped in the park to rest for a while. ‘Now where the buck is that pony? I think I will go and make reservations at the inn for a night.’ He sat on a bench and looked towards what he could make out to be Cloudsdale. ‘Wow, quite the city in the skies. I wonder how does it feel to fly… Wait, what’s that noise?’ Turning around towards the source of the sound that was closing in he could make out a few words.
“WATCH OUT!!” said the figure which now crashed into him and send him into the small lake in the middle of the park.
Gathering all of his strength, he pushed the form off him and shot his head upwards, to breathe.
“Aughh, what the hay!? He said angrily as he inspected himself. No damage, but the gauzes were soaking wet and had to be changed. Looking around him he took notice of a blue Pegasus mare, that had a rainbow mane that was coughing and swearing.
“Bucking hay, I almost did it!”
“Yeah, you almost killed me!” he replied angrily at the mare, who was now flying and gave him a sheepish grin.
“Sorry, here, let me help you with that!” at that, she shot upwards and came down in a spiraling move at high speed, drying his coat. “There, you look just fine. It’s better than the first time I tried this on a soaked pony.” She couldn’t hold back a snicker. He still look unimpressed.
“Thanks. I gotta go. I must change my gauzes.” He then went over to his saddlebags, picked them up and left the park, not saying anything else to the now puzzled mare. She didn’t even follow him.
Nearing the exit of the town, he laid his eyes upon a clockwork shop. ‘If he isn’t here, he doesn’t exist.’ Entering the shop, he was amazed by the large number of watches present, each more beautiful than the other. It reminded him of his own, which got broken in the explosion. At the desk was a small bell. He rang it once.
“Coming” said a voice behind a door. Several moments later, the door opened and revealed a tall, cream colored earth pony, with dark mane and an hourglass as a cutie mark.
“Doctor Whooves I presume.”
“Ah, Tony, I’m glad you could make it. Come, we have much to discuss.” He motioned for Tony to follow him through the door he came. Taking a deep breath, he followed suite. ‘He looks similar to me. Now I know why some teachers called me ‘the brother of Whooves’.