//------------------------------// // 4. Insight // Story: Locksmith // by QuartzScale //------------------------------// I woke up back in my bed looking down at my hands. It felt weird but I guess everything that happened was just a dream. Then I mentally slapped that notion for being stupid as I saw the same bright sphere watching over me like the night the world supposedly ended. “So what happened this time. Did the world end?” “Nope. You are unconscious and in a hospital. I’ll admit I kind of flubbed up somethings for you. See I kind of worked through your mind’s idea of what you thought of Kingdom Hearts. So because you never saw wounds you kind of don’t see wounds in your world. In truth that first shadow managed to cut your side deep enough to cause you to bleed. So you started to bleed out. When you started to fall asleep you were falling unconscious unknowingly dying. On the bright side you managed to get rescued by a few pegasi. Bad side is that you’ll probably have to explain what happened to you. So before I leave you back to figuring out your world I think I should explain a few things to you.” “I’m not really good at this am I? Anyways I need you to give me some info on my race and where I live and what I can do. I need to be able to lie somewhat convincingly. Eventually I might be found out but until then I need to have a good cover story.” “I’ll give you a quick run down. You’re one of the thestrals from the Badlands tribe. You live in one of the expansive cave systems. The reason for traveling the world is more your right of passage or something to that extent. Anybody asks about the wings tell them that it's a genetic thing from your family. Parents have passed and you were an only child. In this body you are around a nineteen or twenty. Now quick heads up I’ve given you a lot more help than I should have and I don’t play favorites. Also I can’t fix your perceptions so you have to take your wounds seriously. You might not feel them but they will still be there. The reason I can’t fix your perceptions is because if I do I would have to recreate your body once again and the body you have right now would die. That’s not preferable. So last time I’m helping implicitly. Besides anymore would immediately drag one of the others towards you. You don’t want that right?” “No I don’t. I’ll be fine then hopefully I can keep this secret for a while rather than just three days or so. Thanks for the help.” The sphere simply bobbed up and down most likely a gesture of a nod. I rolled my eyes and just chuckled under my breath. It was stupid looking but after almost dying… I found the levity uplifting. The steady beep alerted me awake but I kept my eyes closed. Somebody… Somepony was in the room with me. Most likely the doctor. It sounded like a he and I didn’t want to answer questions just yet. “Well the patient seems stable now. Perhaps Ms. Raindrops could have given me more info on this stallion. I don’t even know his name and his cutie mark isn’t registering in any of the archives. Wounds seem shallow but there’s dark magic seeping out of it. Nurse Adrenal could you summon our mage specialist. We’re gonna need a more thorough healing spell.” “Right away Dr. Trotting.” The doctor kept muttering terms to himself though I think he was just wasting time until the specialist came in. I noticed that he tapped at least two of his hooves over and over again. A sure sign of either boredom or impatience. I was still tired and realizing that I needed to learn the cure spell otherwise I was going to be in worse places than this. Instead of waiting for something to happen I reviewed the facts God had given me in more detail. While he left the important things to our slight conversation he left a load of facts in my brain about things that would be important later. Luckily, I was laying down so if it had sent me into a seizure I was at least properly taken care of. “Ah there you are. What took you so long Red Cross?” “Sorry Trotty I’ve been busy. Is this the patient?” “Please don’t call me that… Yeah this is him. Dark magic was used to wound him. Right now the consensus agrees that it was probably a Timber wolf that did this to him.” “Ok I’ll cast on him right away. Then he’ll need a few hours of rest. Remember the last time we healed somepony up like this? They were so exhausted that they fell down and hurt their ankle and wound up being readmitted. Not our best day right Trotty.” I thought I heard the Doctor’s teeth grind into dust but he uttered out a groan instead and most likely slapped his forehead in a facehoof. There wasn’t another word as I felt something grab me. It was most likely the magic of what was probably a unicorn if the facts in my head were right. Magic seemed to course through my body as I felt my sides itch incessantly until the sensation was gone. I still kept my eyes closed but it felt more natural after that. It was more natural until a prompt appeared inside my still closed eyes. Obtained the power of healing. Cure now available. I wanted to scream in frustration that this was going to be how magic was going to be given to me. Basically I was working at it like Sora in a sense. No master and no guidance on what to do. Perhaps… that was a blessing in disguise though. I had never really accepted anyone to teach me how to be better. I wasn’t going to start now. I pushed the frustration down and mentally sighed in understanding of my circumstances. If my understanding was correct I basically saw myself in a video game like situation but this is reality now. Wounds would appear on me and I wouldn’t be able to see them because my delusions are so strong. It appears that the only way to fix them were to accept death again and be reborn in another form… or break my delusion by doing something I would never see in a video game. Fantastic… Reluctantly I slowly lifted one eye to see what was going on. The doctor and the specialist were still discussing things while the nurse had long left already. Then a knock came from outside the room. Another pegasus came into the room which most likely was a mare. I still am having trouble from telling stallions from mares but it was negligible should they speak out loud first. “Hi. I brought this pony in. Is he okay?” “Yes… Ms. Raindrops. He’ll be fine now thanks to Red Cross here the dark magic wound he was afflicted with won’t be a problem any more. Though why are you back here?” “Why wouldn’t I be? I am worried about this stallion since we found him heavily wounded out in the middle of nowhere.” “Fair enough. Are you going to stay here?” “Just until closing if that’s fine.” “Sure. We’ll be heading to our next patient. Should he wake up would you mind getting us. We can only do so much with him unconscious.” I think the mare nodded at that point. There were two sets of scuffling as the door closed behind them. Then I felt her gaze stop on me. She took a seat next to where my head was but I kept calm and collected, She carefully brushed my mane and seemingly examined me more closely. I felt so awkward and unsettled. Then she muttered to herself. “Never seen a pony quite like you. Even the rumors of the Night Guard only whisper about thestrals. What were you doing that got you in so much trouble.” She leaned back and I think she lost herself in thought only taking an occasional glance down as me. As time dragged on I finally relented and opened my eye a bit. That got her attention. “Mind listening to me before you rush off for the doc.” I managed to squeak out. I was parched. “Uh… sure. Within reason mind you. And if you tell me what happened to you.” “Bargaining mare, huh? I don’t mind but don’t freak out. OK?” She nodded and flipped her hoof towards me. It was a gesture to continue speaking. I’m pretty sure there is no way to actually flip someone the bird in this world without magic. “I had left my home to go on a sort of coming of age ceremony. While I was looking out for mushrooms that I knew about I was attacked by a manticore. It got lucky and tore my saddlebags off and they landed in a gorge. While I was running away from it I stumbled upon a group of timber wolves. The manticore that was hot on my tail also ran into them. And in the calamity I managed to get slashed at by a lucky shot from a timber wolf. So I’m wondering if you got any idea where I could get a few quick tasks done to earn some bits. I gotta replace them.” “That was… certainly a mouthful. I’m surprised you got away from them. Couldn’t you fly?” “Panicked. I was not prepared as I would have liked to be. By the way, Nebula Gray.” I raised my hoof out to her. I think I surprised her by my candidness. I always knew that catching someone off guard came from being ‘honest’ about my life. Even if it is one I fabricated in twenty seconds. “Oh… Sunshower Raindrops. Nice to meet you Gray. Um… I could talk to someone in the weather service here. We need a temp later tonight to keep an eye open for any rogue clouds. You know how to do that?” “Slightly. We kind of lived in a cave system so the only time weather was necessary is when there were flood warnings.” “I’ll tell you right now it’s just gonna be cloud watching. The stallion that usually has the late night shift missed his days too many times and we needed someone who doesn’t mind being awake at night.” “Yes, of course that would be wonderful. It should be enough to get me back on my feet… Why do you keep staring at my wings?” “Nothing.” She instantly shot off towards the door to get the doc. I’m pretty sure now that wings are analogous to other ways of saying you have a big whatever is the stand in for what ponies look at. Regardless plans are at least a go and there is a good lead to making something better for myself in this world. Also I think she bought the lie but until then I need to keep it up. I also need to avoid any Apple family members. I think they can suss out lying way too easily. Sunshower Raindrops raced for the doctors and got their attention. While he walked off to see the patient her eyes were drawn elsewhere. A newspaper had just been delivered for the staff and her eyes were drawn to the front cover SLUICE GATES BROKEN INTO. GRISLY SCENE FOUND. Late last night unicorn maintenance workers found one of the larger sluice gates opened and little sign of effort used to open it. Several of the workers were flabbergasted which soon turned to horror. Within some of the tunnels was the visible scene of blood leading towards said sluice gate. Whomever was dragged into the sewers was brutally beaten and most likely gotten rid of. Blood traces proved inconclusive to active royal guards on the scene. Samples were tainted with strange markers not found in ponies. No suspects have been found but guards are on the case.