//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Whatever Way the Wind Takes You // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// From the journal of Gloomy August— Waiting is the worst. Somehow, I endured my strange pregnancy, and Princess Cadance assured me that it was a pregnancy for me. I was hormonal, I gained weight, I was grumpy, and my mental state gradually changed as it dawned on me that I was going to be a mother. It was a strange transition too, because it was so unexpected. One minute I was on a whirlwind adventure trying to find myself and the next I was in the Crystal Empire sitting on an egg. What gives? My custodial helmet also changed, going from handsome headwear to a nest. The egg fit in there so perfectly, even with a warm blanket wrapped around it. It gave me peace of mind, too, because the helmet was hard and protective, and any little peace of mind improved my mood. I must confess, there were times when my mood was pretty awful. Shining Armor threatened to put me in armor and have me guard the Crystal Heart because I was so fierce. Even now, all these years later, as I look back on these events, I can still remember the day that everything changed, the day that Silver Lining existed. It still makes me misty eyed to think about it, and even now, I can feel a tug on my heartstrings. Seeing her outline inside of her egg for the first time changed me as a pony, forever altering everything about me. Nothing would ever be the same. At that moment, Silver Lining wasn’t just a precious egg, no, she was a creature, a living being that was so very helpless and exposed, with only an eggshell to protect her from the world. The pressure this put on me was unbelievable and I don’t know how griffons do it. Thankfully, I had friends coming and I just didn’t know it yet. “Miss August, if you could please try to calm down, it would be very much appreciated. Thank you. I assure you, your egg will be fine. Just a few tests, a checkup, and a candling.” With a cool calm, the doctor placed the naked egg down upon the padded scale to check its weight and Gloomy let out a powerful snort. “Nurse Waffles, looks like we’ve lost one point five grams—” “Weight loss?” Gloomy lunged forwards, but was held back by Nurse Waffles, who stroked her neck to ease her anxiety. “Weight loss is normal as an egg approaches the time for hatching.” The doctor leveled his calm, serene gaze upon Gloomy and gestured at the egg on the scale. “A little of the moisture evapourates out through the shell and a little air seeps in. Miss August, I do believe you’ll be in for a bit of a shock when we candle the egg.” Gnawing on her lip, Gloomy allowed herself to be held by Nurse Waffles, and she sank back into the unicorn mare’s comforting embrace. The egg, her egg, lay on the scale, secure on some padding. Fretting, she rubbed her front hooves together and her wings slapped against her well-padded sides a few times. “Miss August, this sympathetic pregnancy of yours concerns me. You’ve gained almost twenty pounds in two weeks and this is worrisome. How have you been sleeping?” “Not good,” Gloomy replied while she squirmed against the nurse and wished that her egg was covered. It just had to be getting cold. “I’m tired and cranky all the time but I can’t sleep. I wake up panicky and feel so alone.” The doctor lifted the egg from the scale and held it in the soft orange glittery glow of his magic. It changed colour, turning pink for a moment, alarming Gloomy to no end, and she could feel Nurse Waffles redoubling her grip around her, followed by the words, “Woah, steady girl,” being whispered into her ear. “You have a girl,” the doctor said while the egg transitioned back to its pale white colour. “Congratulations, Miss August.” “A girl?” Too stunned to respond in any other way, Gloomy sank back against the nurse and stared at her egg. “For pegasus ponies, and especially pegasus ponies who have endured trauma, nesting instincts can be rather powerful. I have a guess about your problem, though I can’t say for certain. You don’t have a nestmate to keep watch while you sleep and I wonder if having somepony watch over you while you are sleeping might help.” “Doc, I have some trust issues—” “Oh, I know.” The doctor’s eyes darted down to the bandage around his foreleg and when he looked at Gloomy again, the suggestion of a smirk could be seen lurking on his muzzle. “I will say, Miss August, this sympathetic pregnancy of yours is quite fascinating. How the different tribes handle pregnancy is of great interest to me. Pegasus ponies and their fierceness stands out in sharp contrast to how earth ponies and unicorns behave.” Gloomy too, glanced at the bandages around the doctor’s leg and felt a stabbing pang of guilt. The taste of blood, his blood, was still strong in her memory, as well as the sensation of her teeth parting flesh and grazing bone. She had been startled by the doctor’s sudden appearance and then he had tried to take her egg. Gloomy couldn’t even clearly recall the moment leading up to the chomp, just a confusing red haze. Now, Gloomy was a special patient, a patient that was hugged into submission by Nurse Waffles during every visit with the doctor. “Doc, if you don’t mind me asking, how’d you get so much know-how about griffons?” The doctor, an older stallion, slumped back in his chair—which creaked beneath his weight—and his eyebrows sagged as if he was tired. “I’m an old military sawbones. A doctor for the Royal Navy. When I started this post, I didn’t know a thing about griffon physiology. I lost a few patients, something I’ve never forgiven myself for.” “Is that why you’re here?” Gloomy asked, intrigued. “In the Crystal Empire?” “You’d think after a lifetime of extraordinary service that the guilt would go away, but it hasn’t. So I came here, to this place, to join Princess Cadance’s ever-growing stable of doctors and specialists. Almost all of us are here for some reason. There’s something about this place and about Princess Cadance’s mission that’s good for the mind. But that’s neither here nor there. How about we do a little candling, Miss August?” With the overhead lights now turned off, the only source of active illumination was the doctor’s horn. Gloomy tried to make herself relax, but this only increased her nervousness somehow. The doctor had her egg and held it in his glowing telekinetic field. After a moment, it was sat down on something resembling a suction cup and Gloomy waited with bated breath, not knowing what she might see. When the doctor flicked on the background light, Gloomy wasn’t sure what she saw at first, as it was far too confusing. “That glowing bit at the top, that’s the air cell, and it looks fine. The dark reddish bit down at the bottom, well, there’s your little girl. Can’t see much detail, I’m afraid. The egg is fully viable and I expect for it to hatch soon. All of your hard work has paid off, Miss August. I think everything is going to be fine.” “How long?” Gloomy asked while every muscle in her body tugged and pulled taut against themselves. “Twenty-one to twenty-eight days, give or take. It’s already been a little over two weeks, so not much longer now. You’re going to be a mother, and a very special one at that.” Stunned, Gloomy fell back against Nurse Waffles, her ears ringing while her heart pounded against the confines of her throat. She thought back to the day when she had come across the griffon and the manticore—a dreadful day—and of each day that had come after. Eyes burning, Gloomy’s vision fuzzed over and she could no longer see the egg in front of the candling lamp. She clutched at the nurse’s foreleg, overcome with a terror that she could not comprehend, and for a moment she worried that she might pass out because she couldn’t breathe no matter how hard she tried. Against impossible odds, the egg had survived. A brutal chance encounter in the wilderness, a stubborn mother who somehow held on for help… and one pegasus who had been carried by the wind, in the right place at the right time. Which all lead to… now, this moment, this miraculous impossible moment. The griffoness’ final words still echoed in Gloomy’s ears, even now: You will find a way. Against all hope, a rescuer came for me. Do what you must. These words had infected her dreams and could be heard almost every night. What sort of griffoness had the fallen warrior been? A fighter, obviously, but also so much more. An optimist, just like Gloomy herself was. Gloomy believed in the good in the world, and that things would just sort of work themselves out somehow. And for this egg, they had. “There is still some good to be had,” Gloomy said to herself, remembering that day, that moment, in perfect clarity. “There is always a silver lining in even the darkest cloud.” Overcome with emotion, Gloomy pressed herself against Nurse Waffles and wept. The hallway leading to the throne room was lined with ponies and Gloomy—a common sight in these passages—paced its length as she had done hundreds of times before. Sometimes, she was able to cheer somepony up, or make them smile, or make the wait a little more bearable. There were so many seeking help today, and there was only one Princess Cadance—just one. Seeing the doctor had left her unsettled, shook up, and in need of sorting out. Helping others, she had found, was the best way to get sorted out, and Milkweed, the ancient mare, was also prowling these halls, no doubt looking for just the right pony to assist. You could just be walking along and sure enough, it would happen. Something might catch your eye, or you’d get a feeling, or a hunch, but something would happen and you’d find yourself in a heart to heart with somepony, because that is how this place worked. The Crystal Empire and the Crystal Heart called every troubled soul to them, every mind beset with weighty thoughts, and every broken spirit in need of mending. Around her neck, her egg was a reassuring weight held snug in its sling. Her hooves made little sound against the crystal floor, as she had been here long enough to learn how to be quiet. Just as she was about to turn around to wander off and find food, she saw him. “Hachikō?” Gloomy felt her barrel constrict from the rush of emotions threatening to overwhelm her. “Hachikō, is that really you?” Frozen, rooted to the floor, Gloomy tilted her head back so she could glance up at the tall, forlorn-looking diamond dog. The sad expression vanished almost at once, his tail wagged a few times, and then, he kneeled down to the floor to be closer to her. “Hello, Gloomy.” Hachikō bowed his head and his ears fell back against his skull. “I have come here seeking purpose, because my life feels empty. Before you left, you gave me much to think about. How about you, Gloomy? Why are you here?” “Oh, Hachikō… some bad things happened. I came upon a manticore and a griffon and they battled to the death. Now I have an egg and I’m going to be a mother. I’m going through a sympathetic pregnancy. I was so messed up by what I saw that it busted something in my brain and now I keep seeing a blood-soaked nightmare version of myself in the Pool of Tears in the Gallery of Glass.” “You have found purpose.” Hachikō somehow managed to bow his shaggy head a little more. “For this, you are blessed. You are female and blood is symbolic of much of your life and existence, tiny winged one.” “How so?” Gloomy asked. “Is not new life forged with blood? Does not a female bring new life into the world awash with her own blood? Does she not sometimes die to continue life? All things valuable are paid for with blood, and this is doubly true of females.” “Uh… I dunno.” Gloomy shrugged, not fully sure what any of this meant. Every single feather of hers fluffed out, the hair along her spine rose, and at the base of her neck, her scruffle erupted into an inviting pooft that was in sore need of smoothing out. “It is such a relief to see you, Hachikō. It’s been so hard and so confusing. Where are Jasper and Gleamgood?” “I could go and fetch them for you if you’d like—” “Oh, that’d be great!” Gloomy gushed as her knees flexed, which made her whole body bob up and down. “I really need my friends right now. Any friends. Hachikō, I realised that I haven’t made very many friends in life. Existing is not living.” The diamond dog shook his head from side to side. “Oh, I have so much to tell you… oh, you don’t have to find them right now, don’t give up your spot in line! I’ll sit here with you. I’ve met Princess Cadance and I am sure that she will help you. This is about you leaving Inujima, isn’t it? Still having trouble with that?” This time, the aged dog nodded. “This is the right place to get sorted out… really, it is. Trust me.”