//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Talon Really Likes Hospital Food // Story: Talons of the Storm // by Storm Talon //------------------------------// Pinkie and Fluttershy arrived soon, checking in with the secretary before heading back to the room that Talon was staying in. As they got to the doorway, they saw the nurse gently wiping some dirt off of Talon’s coat and feathers. “Talon?” Called out Fluttershy as she poked her head around the door frame, followed closely by Pinkie poking her head out from above her. “I brought a friend who wanted to see you. Is that alright?” “Uh...” Talon stared at Pinkie while responding. “Yes?” Talon's eyes widened when Fluttershy walked in, as Pinkie simply stayed where she was for a few moments before withdrawing and entering from the opposite side of the door. Fluttershy made her way over to one of the chairs at the side of the room, while Pinkie just walked over to stand at the side of the bed instead. “Hi!” She extended her hooves into the air as Talon scooted to the other side of the bed. “I'm Pinkie Pie. It's nice to meet you, but Fluttershy never told me you were a...” she trailed off before putting her hoof up to her mouth and whispering far too loudly. “Psst, Fluttershy. What is he?” “We don't know yet, Pinkie. As far as me and Twilight can tell, he's unique.” “Ooooooh,” responded Pinkie, her eyes widening before she turned back to the bed. “Anyway, what's your name?” “Name Talon,” he answered, glancing over to where Fluttershy sat placidly. “Well Talon, I was wondering what you normally do for fun.” Talon shifted a bit after the nurse finished and left, having gotten quite a bit of his coat to shift from brown to dull brownish-gray. Fluttershy even thought she could see a little blue peeking through his feathers. “What fun?” he asked. Pinkie's eyes widened dramatically “You don't know what fun is?!” Pinkie cried, losing a little (or a lot) of her volume control and causing Talon to flinch away before Fluttershy placed a calming hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. “Pinkie, he doesn't know Equestrian very well. You'll have to explain some words to him.” “Oh, okay,” she replied, turning back to face Talon. “Well, fun is what you enjoy., I guess?” Talon thought about that for a minute. “Oats?” he said simply, shrugging his shoulders. “No, silly!” Pinkie chuckled. “Fun is stuff you like doing, not stuff you like eating. I guess you could like eating.” “Oh. Not do.” This caused Pinkie's poofy mane to droop suddenly. “You... don't have fun?” she whispered sadly. “Sorry. Show Stealer say not do.” Talon explained, cringing away more the sadder Pinkie got. “Huh? Who's Show Stealer?” “Pinkie... I think that Show Stealer must be the stallion who kept Talon locked up.” Fluttershy whispered into her ear. “But that's... so sad...” Pinkie trailed off, looking listless. “I've got it!” Suddenly, her mane bounced back as she pounded one hoof on top of the other. “I'll just have to help you have fun. We'll have to start small while you're in the hospital, though.” Talon looked over at Fluttershy. “Pinkie is... okay?” “Yes, I think she'll be fine.” Fluttershy assured him while Pinkie trotted out of the room, asking the nurse for some paper and a pen. She came back in, a small smile on her face, brandishing her newly acquired items. “So, Talon, this game is called dots and boxes...” she explained as she began to put down a small grid of dots. After he and Pinkie had played dots and boxes, tic-tac-toe, and a few other games, Pinkie and Fluttershy left. Fluttershy promised to visit again that afternoon. He couldn't see why Pinkie had been so insistent on him participating in the games, but had gone along with it. At least it kept him from being bored while he was stuck in the bed, and he really didn't want to make any of the ponies angry. After they had gone, Nurse Care came and brought in his lunch. “Well, Talon, we wanted to try and see if we could figure out what food you can eat safely, so we have a few things for you to try. I have a spell crystal that will tell me whether your body can accept them as food, and I want you to know that it won't hurt you at all.” Finishing her explanation, she set the tray down next to him. On it was a smaller bowl of... something lumpy that reminded him of what Show Stealer fed him, a small plate with bits of grass, some green leaves, and some orange discs. Another plate held small bits of fruit of various types, while a dish held some white substance with yet more lumps. Farthest away from him were some flowers and a gemstone. “We put together some barley beans, wheat grass, lettuce, cabbage, maple leaves, carrot slices, orange, banana, apple, and pear chunks, as well as some cottage cheese, dandelions, daisies, and emeralds,” She listed off as she pointed to each item in turn. “Of course, there are a lot more kinds of foods, so you can try those later. Don't worry about eating everything if you're not hungry, you can always try more later.” Talon hesitated at the variety before him. He vaguely recalled some of the items from before his time with Stealer. Now he had words to go along with them. Scooting forward slowly, he decided to start with the cottage cheese. Carefully, he picked up the spoon provided and did his best to maneuver it as Fluttershy had shown him. Nurse Care's horn lit up, and a small ding sounded from a stone on her clipboard as it glowed green. Based on her smile, Talon guessed that was a good thing. After he finished the cheese, he curiously picked up a few bits of the grass. He couldn't remember ever eating grass, but the nurse was looking at him expectantly, so he bit down on a piece. It tasted slightly sweet, but mostly bitter. As her stone let an unpleasant low buzz, the nurses expression fell in a frown. He tried the leaves as well, only about half of which got the good result. He continued to try each item in turn, when suddenly his attempt to try the flowers was interrupted by a LOUD noise and Nurse Care hurriedly swiping it away with her magic. “Okay, that could have been bad.” After she had gotten both herself and Talon calmed down, she made some notes on her clipboard. “Can't eat wheat grass or maple leaves, and definitely not dandelions or daisies. Would you like to trying the emeralds, dear?” Talon sniffed at the green rock warily. He really did not want to set off the spell again, and he'd never eaten rocks before. Hesitantly, he picked up one of the smallest ones and bit down on it a bit, keeping his eye on the nurse. Surprisingly, her stone let out several rapid dings, surprising both of them . Nurse Care motioned for him to continue as she released the energy powering the spell, and he slowly chewed the stone. It tasted like the apples, only slightly sour as well. “Emerald good?” He could eat rocks? He didn't remember ever eating rocks... “Evidently so.” Nurse Care reaffirmed, marking something down on her notes. “Tonight we'll try a few new things with your dinner. Tomorrow, though, nurse Redheart will be taking care of you. She can't perform the spell, so you'll have to wait until the day after to try anything new.” Before he even realized he had fallen asleep, Talon woke to Fluttershy smiling at him from his bedside. Her smile subsided a bit as he flinched away, but settled back onto her face as Nurse Care trotted in with a tray across her back. Talon yawned as she set the tray down and encouraged him to try out the new foods. Oak leaves and bluebonnets set off the alarm this time, while trout, meal worms, and eggs received the fanfare. To everypony's surprise, roses appeared to be fine, as well as wheat germ, yogurt, honey, molasses, celery, and mashed potatoes. “So far it appears that you can't eat most leaves, grass, or flowers. Everything else seems fine, and protein and gemstones seem to be the best for you. I think we can make some more educated guesses the next time we do this.” Nurse Care flipped through the list of foods she had brought, making notes in the margins. “Protein?” Talon asked. He hadn't eaten anything but what was on the tray. “Oh, she means things like fish, bugs, and eggs.” Explained Fluttershy, smiling at the thought of how quickly those particular items had disappeared from the tray. “Well, it's good that we tried this before he managed to accidentally eat something he shouldn't,” commented Doctor Oath as he walked into the room holding Talon's chart. “Now that he's awake and we're figuring out his diet, it should only be a few more days before the fractures in his legs can bear weight. His wing will take longer to heal, but he should still be able to check out by then.” He glanced over the chart toward Fluttershy. “How is the paperwork going? Not too much trouble for the Princess, I hope?” “Oh, she said that it will take a few weeks to get all the paperwork through to establish Talon as an Equestrian citizen, but that the rest of the paperwork would be very simple.” Murmured Fluttershy. She smiled a bit as she continued.“Knowing Twilight, though, it would probably take anypony else months to get it all done.” “Yeah, that sounds about right.” Oath chuckled. “Maybe we should take a moment to explain some of this to our patient, though.” “Oh my, I'd almost forgot.” Fluttershy suddenly turned to Talon “They say that you can leave the hospital in a few days, but it might take longer for you to get all the way better.” “Oh,” muttered Talon, his ears drooping. “Okay.” “What's the matter, Talon?” “Sorry, is okay! Go Show Stealer...” he trailed off, looking down. “What? No, of course not. You won't ever have to see that stallion again, Talon!” Burst out Fluttershy. Talon froze, the gears in his head grinding to a halt. Eventually, however, his thoughts came together enough to give a well-thought out and eloquent response. “Huh?” Fluttershy had said something about coming to live at her house. He hadn't really understood the rest very well, and most of it was directed at the doctor anyway. He had seen a lot of houses but had never been in one. Him and his parents had always camped out; he couldn't remember a time when they weren't traveling. His main question was why he wasn't being given back to Show after he got better. He had thought that the hospital stay was simply a result of his being too injured for Show to care for. Now that he considered it, though, a lot of the things that the ponies had been doing made more sense now. Had something happened to Show Stealer? Were these ponies his new owners? Eventually, he decided that there was nothing he could do about it, so he settled in to sleep as the ponies left. That night, he dreamed of being back in his cage, with a crowd outside of it as Show Stealer announced the merits of his 'exotic beasts'. It had been a while since he had, and he certainly couldn't remember any dream where he knew it was a dream. Soon, he realized there was one pony among the spectators who looked like a larger, darker version of Twilight. “Who are you?” he asked hesitantly, then went cross-eyed as he tried to look at his snout. He didn't speak pony that well, so he had no idea how he had said that. “I am Princess Luna, young one. Who are you, and why have I never before seen your dreams in my lands?” She queried as the crowd dissolved to allow her a walking path. “I'm Talon. What do you mean, your lands?” “I watch over the dreams of all beings in Equestria. Yet I have never before seen your dreams,” she explained. “I think I might not have been in Equestria before.” Talon guessed, lowering his head a bit in apology. “I'm not sure, though. It's rather confusing.” “What is confusing you, Talon?” Asked Luna as she sat next to him, the bars of the cage melting away to allow her access. “I don't know where I am, really. One of the ponies said something about a 'Ponyville Hospital', but... I really have no idea where that is.” Slumping to the ground, he continued. “And I don't understand what's going on. I can barely understand the ponies around me, and they don't act like the ponies I'm used to.” “Well, I know where Ponyville is quite well. It is actually not too far from where I live.” Smiling, she wondered aloud, “what are you used to ponies acting like?” “Normally they either want to pet me or are afraid of me. Except Show Stealer, he gets mad a lot.” A thought crossed his mind suddenly. “Why can I talk so well? Normally I have a hard time talking with ponies.” “In the realm of dreams, our minds can understand each other much more easily. Any lack of proficiency with language is made up for by my own knowledge.” Luna's smile turned to a frown. “And I certainly hope you have not been treated so by the ponies in Equestria. I will have to have words with my sister. In any case, it is time for you to awaken, young one. Perhaps I will speak with you at a later time.”