My nose woke up before the rest of me did. I had no idea where I was, but I could smell...
...You know exactly the smell if you've ever been injured. The smell of a hospital.
Oh damn it, what did I do now? I tried to remember.
Did I startle Sunshine again?
I had been going out for something. Yes, I had been going shopping. Did I get run over by a cart of something? Now that would have been a dignified end. Alicorn Prince, cause of death: Cabbage cart.
Must be pretty bad too, my brain is all loopy. I must be on the good drugs again.
I heard a sniffing sound I recognized and hated. A mare crying.
Forcing my eyes open, I found myself looking at Sparks sitting next to my bed. She had a book with her, but she wasn't looking at it. She was rubbing her eyes with one hoof.
"Hey..."
Her hoof dropped instantly and she spun to me, "Page! You're awake!" she exclaimed and quickly moved closer, putting one hoof at the edge of my bed, "How are you feeling?"
"...not feeling a lot right now," I admitted, "Everything is full of cotton. I'm on the really nice drugs, aren't I?"
Twilight sniffed again and nodded, "You are. What do you remember?"
"I.." I started to answer before I frowned. A memory, just a flash of an image. Wooden shaft, feathers, blood, "Some fucker shot me!"
"Easy, try to relax," Twilight said, putting her hoof on my side, "You're still hurt."
"...How badly?"
"Don't worry about it," she said with a small smile, "The doctor says you'll make a full recovery."
I tried to relax again, finding it really easy to do as my eyes started to drift closed, "...How long was I out?"
"Just over a week. The doctors didn’t want you waking up earlier. Sunset and I arrived yesterday," Twilight explained, "We were lucky, a train had just arrived. Now try to get some more sleep."
"Just going to close my eyes for a second. Tired."
I blinked and when I opened my eyes again, Twilight was gone. Replaced by Celestia. She was sitting and reading a book of poems I recognized.
"Hey Sunshine," I said, my voice sounding a bit raspy. I could also tell I was no longer on the good drugs as my shoulder really ached.
She closed her book and smiled at me, "Good morning, Page."
"Always is when it involves you."
Smiling a bit wider, she leaned in and gave me a small kiss before pulling back, "We've been taking turns sitting with you," she said to my unspoken question, "I just took over from Sunset an hour ago."
"How long since I spoke with Sparks? Is she doing okay?"
"...Eight hours or so," Celestia sighed and then shook her head, "And no, she's not. She's taking it hard that somepony would do something like this. Luna’s taking care of her."
I nodded slightly and shifted my wing. It pulled on something painful and I winced, "How bad is it?"
Celestia hesitated and then sighed again, "I'll leave the details to the doctor, but in of itself the damage wasn't that great. They barely missed your heart and lungs, but you lost a lot of blood quickly. It was a wide arrow head. It had been dipped in Witches Bane."
I knew that, it was a… some herb I think. Something to do with magic disruption?
"Did they catch who it was?"
Celestia shook her head, the temperature in the room seemed to rise a dozen degrees for a second before she answered, "No. Your guard found the crossbow, but nopony in sight. We are investigating but so far the only thing we are sure of is that they were a unicorn and one that knows the teleport spell. We haven’t found any witnesses yet."
"Well, I have pissed off a lot of ponies," I admitted, "Some with a lot of bits. I suppose I should have thought about this possibility. I take it my going out in public privileges are revoked for the foreseeable future?"
Smiling sadly, Celestia leaned in to rest her head against the bed next to mine, looking into my eyes, "I would never imprison you in such a way, Page. But I want you to consider the ponies around you if you get hurt."
"So..." I started with a small smile, "...Hoof cuffs are out of the question then?"
That brought a laugh I recognized and she sat back up with a much more natural smile, "Maybe I can make exceptions at times," she teased.
"If I try to sit up, will you stop me?"
"Most definitely yes," Celestia said with a smile, "And I doubt you could if you tried."
"...Okay, yes. That's very fair," I admitted and relaxed again, "Getting shot sucks."
"I most agree," Celestia said and smiled slightly, "I have, several times. Though admittedly, the last time was before the invention of the crossbow. Not that regular bows make it any nicer."
"...My side is hurting a bit," I admitted, "Any chance I can get back on the good drugs?" I asked hopefully.
Celestia shook her head, "Steady Beat said no. Now when you have started to wake up, he wants you off them as soon as possible."
"Which I get," I said, "But I'm really bucking tired of getting hurt. It wasn't even my fault this time," I grumbled.
"And we are tired of you getting hurt," Celestia said gently and brushed her wing gently against my side, "So please stop it."
"I'll do what I can," I agreed and then smiled at her, "...Read to me?"
Smiling, she nodded and picked her book back up.
It wasn't long before I was back to dreamless sleep.
Aww Hiver. Could have told milked a few extra days off after the last chapter.
An appropriate reaction indeed.
Watch it be some of the nobles. Or someone else closer to home. He was being tracked that day so someone knew his routes, had to get it from someone who knew them. Just my theory though.
So... where exactly whole angry changeling swarm army right now? Where ninjas that was always accompany page from shadow? How come wannabe assassin still alive and not sucked dry? Or changelings even more stealthy than we thought and assassin is already taken floor temperature challenge? Hm..... who knows.... we can only guess now.
The first Unicorn I can think of is Neighsay, but I belive he isn't dumb enough to try something like that. Blueblood is also out of the question. Maybe a lesser Noble he offended somehow?
11633385
Could also have been anyone able to bribe or blackmail a suitable unicorn into ‘merely’ serving as their getaway. So I wouldn’t take for example Razorwing (as per Ashfur’s suggestion) off my suspect list just yet.
So that assassin is now a pod pony in the hive. Cant imagine crystalis would be happy someone hurting HER pony
Almost anyone we can think of could hire an agent. Also could be a changeling from another swarm...one that might have ambushed Page's ninja, or realized he didn't have one today...
I am quite worried we may find out Amber bought the cow patty in this. Though seeing Page go full on godmode when he finds out about a dead bug..........
question, are alicorns immortal in this universe. or merly indefinate lifespans?
I'm surprised that Skitter & Chrysalis' changeling spy network isn't on the case yet. As one in the comment section said, Chancellor Niehsay would be the 1st Major Target for his Hardon of Hatred for Page. It also could be a Minor Noble pony who Page told fuck no on a ruling many years back. Or a Member of the Economic Council who thinks Nocturnis and the threstals are a waste of bits.
We will slowly know in due time within the upcoming chapters of Eclipse!
Yeti Storm King has access to Ponies, maybe Tempest Shadow 2.0?
11633440
Until someone kills them, because a accident or a deliberately assassination was I think the only way for them to perish.
11633378
True, actually hoped for the Changelings to swarm out to find the assassin! Chrysalis little Predator was hurt after all! Skitter must eliminate the threat to the Hives food support!
11633379
At least they didn't aim for the family Juwels...
11633383
Cliche would be Naysay, or is Blueblood retarded and envious enough for it?
11633384
Yep, they are hyped up a few stories ago, how disappointingly inefficient.
11633385
Only the Griffon former Ambassador comes to mind, he used poison in a declared duel after all.
11633426
Yep, assassination isn't always a singel person job after all.
11633428
That would be a nice option!
Maybe Chrysalis keeps it secret do Celestia start house cleaning, something long overdue!
Chrysalis:
"So we have the Assassin in our clawed hooves?"
Skitter:
"Yes, he was surprisingly effective in fighting of mind intoxication and interactions of the charming kind are inefficient as well.
Chrysalis:
"What of the threat to be delivered to Moonbutt, Sunbutt or Princess of Food?"
Skitter:
"He actually had anticipation, if not outright eagerness, when we suggested it."
Thorax:
"So we tried it with hallucinations poisen, mind alternation, death threats... How about we breed him to exhaustion and try it with Royal mind control, when he is exhausted and dehydrated from shooting until only blank come as a result?"
Pharynx:
"I am so proud of you, what made you come up with it?"
Thorax:
"Cadance made me Flurryheart godfather alongside Spike, we will get the Assassin boss so Flurryheart will never have to be sad again!"
Chrysalis:
"Very well... I shall do it myself, if I can break Shining Armor I can break a lowly Assassin."
Skitter:
"What if we can get him to cooperate?"
Assassin:
"Why are you casually hold this conversation in my presence?"
Chrysalis:
"Everypony has family, I am not beyond getting them all cocooned for life. It's a matter of Changeling and Alicorn future.
Thorax:
Agreed, noone will be spared so Flurryheart will never be sad again!"
Pharynx:
"I am so proud of you brother..."
Skitter:
"Prepare to snu-snu him into submission, he will yield, one way or another!"
Assassin:
"Ok - OK, I yield, but you leave my family and my stallionhood out of it!"
Skitter:
"Hm... I think I should visit my future swarm larve daddy..."
Chrysalis:
"Brilliant idea daughter, I prepared some meat collections for him as present."
Skitter:
"Thank you mother! He will love it!"
Assassin:
"Don't ignore me, I yield! You can have everything I know, just spare myself and my kin!"
Pharynx:
"Guards... Get him to the Snu-Snu dungeon!"
*Assassin is resisting kicking and screaming*
Thorax:
"Idiot, even I could tell he was lying. He didn't know anything useful, at least he will never again make Flurryheart sad again.
For the Crystal Empire Hive!"
Pharynx:
"For the Canterlot Hive!"
Chrysalis:
"And for my daughter, Queen Skitter!"
Skitter:
"For all Changeling kind!"
It's not like he planned anything to happen but trouble keeps knocking and this case kicking the door down. If Celestia wants less trouble for him find the source of trouble.
Were you making a reference to General George S. Patton?
Page got lucky, but frankly I wouldn't be surprised if this very legitimate attempt on his life triggered some kind of trauma mentally. If I knew there was someone out there who wanted me dead, with the resources to strike from the shadows like that, I'd be a complete nervous wreck for years.
11633458
This was funny, but in all seriousness Hiver, WHERE ARE THE DAMN CUDDLEBUGS?!
Nice
Page: Wait...is that changeling resin on the windows?
Celestia: Don't be silly...its a free-standing structure. Not connected to the hospital at all!
Page: Oh goodie. Building code violations were my top worry. Anyway WHY IS IT HERE?!
Celestia: Compromise with the Hive. They made a thirty foot wall surrounding the hospital to protect you.
Page: Really?
Celestia: Either that or placing you in a cocoon for four months deep underground.
Page: ...would the Hive give me unlimited access to drugs?
Celestia: PAGE!
Page: Fine fine. I'll stay here.
I’ll wager the Changelings may be able to uncover some clues.
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11633540
Unless his security detail was called away for some reason, I really expect that assassin to have a concerted tracking force on the case if they actually managed to teleport out after taking the shot. I imagine that they could've missed the sense of concentration and anticipation as the attacker lined up the shot, since they're not supposed to be doing more than skimming of the emotional state of ponies around them without a verified threat already known, but I also could see a case where the assassin was bugpiled and is being pumped for all the information Chrysalis can get before being turned over.
And in the terms of information security, she could even justify delaying letting anypony know about the capture, since there's a chance of a leak somewhere in the pony guard force. Paranoid? Yes, but sometimes they really are out to get you, and Chrissy's an old hoof at playing her cards close to her chest.
11633426
This is true, but adding another pony just makes things easier to track as the number of ponies in the chain gets larger
11633540
Especially considering they like page more than anyone who not part of the hive which is something considering if you're not part of the hive then you don't get liked. But his courage and kindness and determination have made an impression on the changelings and he has done his best help them.
Crossbows are easier to use, not any less lethal.
11633447
For all we know the assassin didn't actually teleport out, if you get my drift.
Great chapter
11633486
It's not the first time someone wanted him dead, he was foal napped as well. He is tougher than that.
Poor Page, first he gets hurt pretty bad and now he’s still in town when the smug Pretty Purple Pony Princes shows up. Guessing she won’t show too much mercy.
Guessing the Witches Bane will be how they find the perp.
Thanks for the chapter!
Have a great day!
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11633447
I wish to see a bit of a standoff/diplomatic crisis between ponies and the hive. The changelings should have already found the culprits and podded them for good measure. I see the problem arising when ponies try to force Chrysalis and Skitter to judge assassins by pony's lenient laws
11633458
I kinda wish they could do this but the story is pg so probably won't happen
Story: 'Normal life' by Hiver, chapter 14! Maybe its the same guy that try to rob Luna and Page back than?
11633982
You do realize Blank Page murdered Tirek until he was dead?
You do realize that a enemy Changeling Queen has been ripped apart by her own Hive?
It's simply being 'not to mutch in detail' as to keep is more open for general consumption of reader base.
One more reason to party hard in the comment section
11634682
But at same time they just left it to the imagination what happened so it might be possible for the changelings to do it but it wouldn't be easy without details on the bedroom fun.
11634046
Yes but no matter the problem you still have the knowledge in order to make a solution and he doesn't know enough to even begin to see an answer. My guess the bratty nobles want him gone for stupid reasons.
11634693
It's been often used as a funny/not so funny side plot that some entitled idiot try get rid off Luna or others.
Can't even go grocery shopping, but think themself clever enough to rule the world...
11634709
True but the nobles didn't even notice the fact that he was an alicorn in everything but title and they tried to take his title which was under prince away only for the fact that he is an alicorn and therefore royalty come out to them. How can you be so blind.
11634712
Willfully ignorance of the nobel class or they are literally retarded. Inbreeding results perhaps?
There are stories I can recommend where the nobel class tries to assassinat Luna, because they think she is to active in the political game and might tip.of Celestia of things.
There is even a story where Blueblood was assassinated! Great story!
11634716
Probably a mixture considering they are blind to the fact that he helped save them and they owe him. Yes we know that twilight would have saved the day but I like page way better because this stops the problem from happening again. Who to say that he couldn't get loose again someday. They can't count on the dog to stay without knowing why he left his post.
11634433
I doubt they would have the connections needed to pull this off
11634693
Paige stood no chance against Chrysalis but he chose to act instead of run. When the most powerful beings he knows, the Alicorns, gave in, he turned Tirek's greatest strength and the ponies' greatest weakness, reliance on Magic, into a weapon. And with the Storm King, well...
A pony would never think to do these things... but a human would. He made the best with the information he had in ways that no one else was willing to do. He never had the power to directly deal with these threats with brute force. Why should he consider to rely on raw power now?
11635129
Yes but with triek he saw a way to defeat him by turning him into an inside out pincushion.
All took for the queen to change her path was him be willing to fight when nobody else was to try to something and when he made that cut he ended making a new beginning a path to peace. When changelings grabbed him he understood their world enough to convince them to join the queen on his side and here he would have search thousands of minds in hopes of finding the guilty parties. Even Luna couldn't do that. They need an army of dream walkers just to have a chance at finding the right people before someone tries something else to get rid of him.
11635144
What I am hearing is he needs to be creative to find a solution instead of relying on raw power. My original statement was a critique that his views have changed since becoming an alicorn. From working with what he has, a very human ideology, to "needing a bigger stick" to do anything, a very Pony ideology.
That statement was made long before the assassination attempt and has no bearing on it. But even still it may need a very unpony-like, perhaps non-magic-reliant human-like, perspective to find a solution.
Even in the show, their reliance on using magic to solve a problem gets them into more trouble than it was worth. Most of the time the solution was non-magical. (examples: Bats! and Swarm of the Century)
11635157
I don't mind the non magic answer but they still need more information before they can make a move or they would hurt the innocent along with the guilty.
11635169
What I'm saying is the ponies are too magic-reliant and may need a non-magic-reliant perspective to find a solution. I'm not saying no magic. I'm saying that ponies may be too reliant on their magic to find a creative solution.
The defeat of Tirek required some backwards thinking. A pony would never consider the loss of magic to be the solution.
I want to see Page take a page out of Sherlock Holmes' book to, at the very least, narrow down the suspect. Here's my non-magical deduction: We know the culprit is a unicorn capable of teleportation, not common spell. We know that he or she has combat training to use a crossbow judging by the injury, just missing the heart and lung. We know the culprit has a vendetta against Page. We know the culprit is a unicorn with both the skill, tools, and motive to pull this off. The first place I would look is the guard with possible ties to nobility. A guard with a crossbow would not look out of place in the middle of the day.
11635182
Actually I look at the nobles most of all considering how hard they tried to get rid of him. The guards are jerks but murder of a princess husband seems like a no go for them. The fact is the unicorn school has the best and brightest students and some probably go on to teach there so they might be involved with what happened.
11635184
What Noble would have the training needed for a singular killing shot with a crossbow? Where would the noble get a crossbow? How would they get from point A to point B with a crossbow without being suspicious? A noble would have the motive but not the skill nor the tools needed to pull this off. When I say I suspect the guard, I mean past and present. Any nobility that served in the guard in the past is a suspect. Any nobility currently serving in the guard is a suspect. Any guard with close ties to the nobility is a suspect.
11635187
Maybe they hired someone considering cozy and tempest and starlight went to the bad why not someone who do anything for money.
11635192
That is the reason why in my deduction I said "the culprit" as in the assassin itself. If they are a Hired Gun then catch them and have them tell you who hired them. Whomever did this could walk around in broad daylight with a crossbow and had the skill to target a pony's heart. A guard, former or current, is most likely.
Consider the story beat. This just so happens when there are talk about the guard being trained in Nocturnis.
11635198
Yes but unless they have an idea who out of the hundreds of ponies it might be it might worth investigating the nobles to see what they been up to. The nobles can't easily run off without getting noticed and anyone else can.
11635204
And a noble with a crossbow before the incident would be very suspicious. While a perched guard Pony, or a pony in the guard's uniform, with a crossbow would not be and could blend in perfectly afterwards.
We are both forgetting the fact that the culprit teleported away. Teleportation is not a common spell due to its strain and difficulty. The culprit is somepony capable of reliably using a crossbow and capable of teleportation. That should greatly narrow down the suspects. Whether they are guard or Noble.
11635212
The guards rarely leave the castle or the royal family. They are supposed to be loyal to the royal family so them being part just doesn't seem in character for them. But it is up to the author.
11635218
But wouldn't the culprit just look like another guard Pony guarding Page at a glance? Somepony easily overlooked by other guards?
Also, the guards patrol Canterlot and can be stationed all over Equestria and are not just limited to the castle or the royal family. Wasn't Cloud transferred to Las Pegasus as an instructor? In this story, they seem to be written as a quasi-military law enforcement for Equestria as a whole.
I still say that the key to solving this quandary is the skills the pony has. Teleportation and combat training with a crossbow. Didn't take any magic to deduce that.