Chapter 1: Awakening
Darkness; it was the only thing her eyes paid witness to as they flicked open. Various shapes came into focus as she blinked rapidly, but it wasn’t as helpful as it could be as she found herself gazing right up at the ceiling. The worst part of it all was the simple fact that she could only make out the outlines of various things, even as she tilted her head slightly to the left and then to the right. Where was she? The room itself seemed to be about the size of a small apartment, perhaps just a tad larger going by what she could see and it was furnished just like one. This became very apparent as she slowly lifted herself upright to get a better view. Off to her left, pressed against the wall was a bookshelf that felt very familiar and to her right was a closed door, the likely exit of the room with another door along the wall as well. In front of her was what she thought was a recliner, small sofa and even a small coffee table. This arrangement coupled with the dark blue drapes all along the windows of the room eventually allowed everything to click.
“I’m....in my room?” she asked herself, though her voice was very hoarse in that sense. It was enough to make her reach for her own throat in the sheer shock of it. She could feel the dryness and scratchiness of her throat in just those words alone. This made her panic a little bit and as she moved her arm, it felt like lightning traveled throughout her entire body. It was enough to make her cry out and cradle her limb. This in turn only made the agony far worse, bringing tears to her eyes from the sheer intensity. ‘What...the hell...h-happened to me...?’ she thought, not wanting to strain herself more than she already had. This resulted in her just letting gravity take her and flop right back onto the bed for comfort. The soft surface dulling anything she felt upon contact.
As she gazed up at the ceiling, lost in thought about just how she had ended up this way and just how severe of a state she was in. It was all very perplexing as she considered every single one of the possibilities and the longer she thought about it all, the more questions she wanted to ask in regards to the situation. It was all very stressful for her already stretched mind, though this stress was very short-lived as a new thought occurred to her. Why doesn't she just heal this herself? Not only that, but it would allow her to at least check up on her injuries as well, see just how severe they actually were. As her mind went to this, she raised her head back up and her eyes locked right onto the door on the far side of the room. Never before had a bathroom been so far away.
The helplessness began to grow in the pit of her stomach and she absolutely hated it. She wasn't about to let just a little bit of pain defeat her. So as quickly as her body would allow, she slid into a sitting position on the left edge of the bed. Scooting right along it until she reached the corner, before forcing herself up. With every movement, even more pain filled every inch of her body. It was like she was being electrocuted; her joints were especially affected by this, which caused each and every movement to be slower than the last. Until now, she hadn't ever been thankful to be an equine; at least until her hooves and tail provided a greater sense of balance. Despite that though, it was still a struggle to remain upright. If it hadn't been for the bed right beside her, she likely would be on the ground right now.
‘I’ve pushed myself much harder than this!’ she encouraged, setting her sights on the bathroom door. From the corner of the bed, she pushed off, stumbling as she went along without any support. Each and every step felt like she was being branded with a hot iron, it was utterly unbearable, yet at the same time she pushed through it. Though it felt like an eternity, it had only been a couple of seconds and just a few steps before she reached the sofa. This allowed her to take a bit of the weight off as she followed along it, easing the pain just a tiny bit.
The relief however turned to urgency as she quickly reached the edge of her support. Desperation began to set in too as she continued to stare down the door. She swallowed, before springing forth in her last desperate attempt to reach the door before she fell onto her face. It seemed to take absolutely forever as she ran, the distance even felt like it was increasing as she drew closer, but this was due to in part to feeling her legs beginning to give out under her.
‘So close...’ she winced, finally taking a hold of the doorknob, relief never felt so close. With adrenaline pumping, she flung the door open and slammed it just as quickly. Upon entering however, her attention shifted to the very intense pressure in her bladder. Paying little mind to the reflection in the mirror for the time being, she shifted herself right over to the toilet, allowing her underwear to drop as she sighed in relief. Once that bit of business was handled however, her focus returned to the original goal. Just how severe were her injuries?
That question was answered quickly as she gazed at herself in the mirror, finding that not only was she wearing a thong and a tank top, but beneath the tank top were bandages and gauze. How could she have ended up in such a state? Were the injuries really that serious? She had to know and she had to know now. So, while she knew it was a huge risk, it needed to be taken. Slowly, she lifted off her shirt and tossed it aside before beginning to unravel the bandages from her black-as-night coat. As she did, her heart jumped a little bit as in the mirror she noticed a rather large scar right across her abdomen. Initially she panicked, but when she remembered that the scar had been there for years, she just sighed.
Once the bandages had dropped fully to the ground and she could see the actual damage, a frown spread across her face. None of it was that serious at all. While the two cracked ribs she had were serious, they were tolerable for the time being. Why had she been so heavily bandaged if it was just a bunch of small scratches and bruises? Unless of course she was far worse off than she realized. That was the odd part though; while it felt like she had taken quite a beating, it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.
After a few moments of admiring her own body and judging all the injuries, her attention shifted once again. It was time for her to fix herself up, and while she couldn't do a thing about the cracked ribs right now, she could at least deal with most of the other serious injuries present on her body. She immediately reached for the small pink cup on the counter and began to fill it with crisp, cold water, which she chugged in a matter of seconds.
When she did though, something startling and incredible happened. Steam rose from all over her body as the vast majority of the cuts sealed up. Once the wounds had stopped healing, she immediately filled and downed a second cup, finishing off most of her other injuries as well. It did, however, result in her touching her chest for just a moment, only to wince in pain again.
'Guess it's not enough to heal my ribs yet...' she thought, gently tracing her middle finger along the space beneath her breasts. She could feel the damage there, counting a total of two damaged ribs. While not too severe, they'd need at least a couple weeks to fully recover. She couldn't afford to get hurt there anytime soon.
Afterward, she snatched her brush from within the cabinet and ran it under the water before running it through her dark blue mane with purple streaks. Very slowly, she adjusted it, removing snarls and bringing it up to it’s original beauty again. The same applied to her tail before she gave a final glance into the mirror as she set the brush aside. Without her tank top, a four pack could be seen on her stomach, which was just a moot point compared to the rest of her well toned body.
The scar on her stomach aside, she had other visible scars on her back, unlike the one on her stomach though all of them seemed to have a visible tribal lettering overtop of them. It was as if they were being marked individually to remind her where she had gotten them. By far the most interesting though was the pair of swords on her right forearm that had lettering that read “Knights of Edithien”.
With her business done and her body mostly healed up. Despite a few small twinges here and there, she turned the doorknob again and flicked the light off at the very same time. Making her way back into her room where someone was waiting for her. Initially this caused her heart to jump yet again, but after her eyes began to settle it was easy to figure out whom it was. With a snow white coat and a fiery red mane that she’d recognize anywhere. This was in addition to being nearly two feet taller than she was. Luckily for the mare, she hadn't quite been spotted yet.