”Oh glorious princess who raises the sun and raised Cut Agate to the dignity of Sainthood,” Redheart prayed absently, focussing on the small, rectangular packet between her hooves. The servos of the Sister Hospitaler’s power armor whirred fitfully, mindlessly trying to keep up with the increasingly violent tremors wracking the earth pony’s frame.
It was always like this, after the battle. Redheart gritted her teeth, focussing on her task. The copper tang of blood and the stink of viscera hung heavy in the air of the medicae shelter, but she hardly noticed.
“We implore Your Divine Majesty by her intercession…Ah!” With a grunt of satisfaction, the Sister Hospitaler’s prize came free— her last lho stick. She’d have to make it count. “…to give us health of mind, body, and soul.”
The lighter flared into life and soon Redheart was leaning back against some recently-delivered munitorum crates, blowing the acrid smoke through her nostrils as she felt the tension leave her. Her eyes closed as she puffed contentedly on the burning cylinder, trying to draw out the experience. The sporadic whirring of the power armor lessened, then ceased entirely. “Free us from those things which hold us bound to this life—“
“Sister? Sister Hospitaler!”
The shout nearly caused Redheart to bite her lho stick in half. Her eyes opened, though she did not sit up. “What.”
A breathless novice stood panting at the door to the shelter. Fresh blood stained the gorget of her otherwise pristine power armor— somepony else’s blood, or else the filly would have been dead where she stood. “It’s the— it’s… It’s bad. You’d better come quickly.”
Redheart rolled of the crates, dropping the lho stick and grinding it into the floor with a single practiced motion. She closed her eyes for a moment, drawing a ragged breath as she felt the shakes trying desperately to enervate her limbs once again. “…and let our spirit, like hers, rise to join your heavenly corps. Ave, Imperatrix. Amen.”
Blue eyes snapped open once again, transfixing the frightened novice with their intensity. Sister Redheart slung her medicae bag across her flanks. “Well? Don’t just stand there. Let’s go.”