//------------------------------//
// 24 - Visiting Hours 
// Story: The Stars Beyond The Veil 
// by Charlemane 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 24
Visiting Hours



“So, hear anything more from the border worlds?”
“No, the military cut communication to the entire sector.”
“What fuck are they doing out there?”
“Dealing with a full-scale Griffon rebellion, apparently. Have you seen the estimates in the newsroom?”
“...”
“I’ll take that as yes.”
“Do you really think that they’re…”
“I don’t know what I think anymore. But I’m tired of being told to keep quiet about it. If someone doesn’t say something soon, I might just do it myself. We’re journalists, Check. Maybe it’s about damn time we started acting like it instead of bowing to a paycheck.”


3374 E.C. - Amidst media blackout on border world activity, 2.6 million griffons are slaughtered in state-sponsored xenocide.


I had a dream. In my dream I saw some black thing’s head explode. I heard crying, screaming, shouting, gunfire. I saw things. I saw the faces of all the ponies I’d seen killed, the flash of gunfire in the dark as Nightshade cut down a room full of ponies, the screams of ponies as they were ejected out of a cargo bay, Tripwire’s charred corpse floating in space and leaking body fluids. I saw glowing green eyes, a massive ship buckling under a malformed teleport spell, a flashbang. I felt horror. I heard someone begging me to hold on. A lot of things just seemed to mix together.

Vaguely I was aware that I wasn’t entirely dreaming. Vaguely I was aware that I even existed. I remembered pain. I remembered some garbled, screaming arguments between some older buck and a mare. I remembered odd lights and colors even while my eyes were closed. I remembered feeling something warm. I remembered feeling cold pricks all along my body. But above all else, I remembered one thing most clearly:
 
I was getting real damn tired of waking up in places I hadn’t gone to sleep in.

I groaned, slowly opening my eyes and instantly regretting it. The light in the room stabbed into my head, amidst the feel of soft, warm cotton sheets and the sensation of something tightly wrapped around my body around my waist. I squinted, my head swimming with equal parts nausea and pain. I was in a lot of pain, actually. I could feel it, but it was more of a weird, distant thing, like I was feeling someone else’s pain. The light stung my eyes, and it was only after a few blinks that I noticed that it wasn’t even that bright.

It was several minutes before I was conscious enough to even comprehend my surroundings. I blame the drugs. A rhythmic beep slowly wormed its way into my ears, and with a few more glances, I finally pieced together my location. I was in a hospital. Why was I in a hospital?
 
I fought through the fog, trying to remember what had happened the previous night and came up empty. Everything from the previous night, or maybe even nights was just gone. The earliest thing I could remember was walking with Tick the previous night. We’d fought over something…Tex. We hit up the market, she visited a shop, and then…
 
My eyes shot open, suddenly very aware of my surroundings. Changelings. A changeling had tried to kill me. He very nearly succeeded. My dream of the black thing’s head exploding was probably when I was saved.
 
I shifted in my sheets, feeling the aches and pains as more and more of the conversation leading up to my abduction replayed in my mind. I felt pain everywhere, something about me felt off, but everything past the point where I’d been drugged was just gone. I bit my bottom lip while thinking. It was probably for the best if I didn’t remember that part. But something it had said seemed important. If only I could remember the exact words.

I took a deep breath. The air was pretty stale, but still a shade better than the air on L6-C. Shifting in bed, I felt pain lance up my side and into my shoulder. Wincing, I adjusted my position, accepting the warm sheets for what they were, and instead took a long look around the room I was in.
 
I couldn’t really compare it to other hospitals. I hadn’t been in enough to really know what I was supposed to be looking for. There was a bed, a counter, a sink, the machine making a low beeping noise sat next to my bed, hooked up to my bedside, and also, I realized, the small wired patches that covered my neck and chest. My vitals beeped away, seemingly normal. It had numbers, not that I understood any of them. I just assumed I was healthy, considering how I felt. The bed seemed adjustable, but I couldn’t see the controls. A ClockDoc sat inactive in the corner, but it wasn’t one I recognized. Next to it was a computer on a swivel mount and a small stool for somepony to sit on. I blinked. My initial estimate of the room light in the room was off. The lights were actually off. The overwhelming lights that I had seen were coming from behind the curtains that were drawn closed. Maybe I was supposed to be sleeping.

I felt weird, looking at the curtains. Everything in the room seemed a little washed out, and vaguely I felt as if everything should have looked a little darker than it appeared. It was like there weren’t enough shadows in the room for the amount of light there was. I shelved the thought for some other time.
 
I shifted again, wincing as another lance of pain bit into my sides. Whatever the changeling had done to me, he’d done it pretty damn hard. Thankfully I was still covered in gauze. I dreaded to think what I would look like when the bandages came off. If they came off. From what I knew of hospitals, I could be there for months. But, at least I had painkillers. Pretty damn good ones too, seeing as I couldn’t even feel my...wings.
 
I took a very slow shuddering breath. Distantly I felt something shaking. It took me a solid minute to realize it was me. I didn’t look. I didn’t want to. I just kept telling myself that it was the medicine and stared straight ahead, listening to panicked beeping that the machine at my bedside was making. Oh, look at that, my heart rate is out of control.
 
The lights came on. I wished they hadn’t. My eyes snapped shut as I very distinctly heard a nurse enter the room. I must have made a noise or something, because a moment later, the lights dimmed to a more tolerable level. My eyes opened in time to see the nurse head to my bedside.

“Easy there, sir. You’ve had an ordeal. Please, just rest a moment and drink some water.” Her voice was calming, almost supernaturally so.
 
My throat was parched, the IV may have kept my hydrated, and probably fed, but it didn’t keep my throat from drying out. When a glass of water levitated its way to my mouth, I accepted it gratefully and as I drank, I managed to get a good look at my caretaker.
 
My nurse was a unicorn with a pink coat with a light blue mane like cotton candy. She wore a blue cleansuit with a white cross on the shoulder, as well as a small net to keep her mane tied back. When I had finished drinking, her TK withdrew the glass and set it on a small table attached to the bed.
 
The nurse smiled at me and nodded. “I’ll go fetch the doctor. I’ll be right back. I promise.” 
 
I nodded numbly. The nurse left the room, turning off the lights as she went. Left to myself, I sat back in my pillow and tried to ignore the knot of pain forming in my chest. I silently thanked Luna for whatever drugs I was on, at least this way I could feel numb.
 
A few minutes later, the lights came back on, and white Griffon with a brown crest walked in, flanked by the nurse from earlier. Well, mostly Griffon, judging by his relatively diminutive size and pony backside, he was closer to a hippogryph. On his head he wore a WAND with a clear, diamond focus.

The doctor smiled at me, levitating a small tablet in his WAND’s glow. “Good morning Mr. Seldat. My name is doctor Glide and I’m the one overseeing your treatment at our humble facility.” He gave a polite bow, the ruff on his head standing on end for a moment before returning to his normal posture. “I take it you’ve already met my assistant, nurse Taffy?”
 
I simply nodded my response. The doctor took it as an invitation. Sidling up to my bedside, he sat down, and regarded me with a warm, if hawklike, smile.
 
“You’re a very lucky buck, Mr. Seldat.”
 
“Please, call me Horizon,” I croaked. My vocal chords needed exercise too, apparently.

The doctor nodded knowingly. “Horizon it is. Do you remember much?”
 
I shook my head. “Only a little bit. It’s coming back to me piece by piece, but I can’t remember much of what happened last night.”

The doctor grimaced. “I was afraid of that. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Horizon, but it’s been two weeks since you arrived here.”
 
I blinked. “Two weeks?”
 
The griffon cocked his head, glancing briefly at the ceiling, “Well, twelve days, and six hours if you want to be technical, but I don’t think you’re going to be leaving here for another few days at least, so we may as well call it that.”
 
I took another deep breath, and swore on the exhale. How much had changed? At least it wasn’t two years. 
 
“I’ll understand if you need a few minutes,” the doctor said. “Ah, thank you, Taffy.” A small set of tools entered the Doctor’s TK, most of which looked harmless save for a scalpel and whatever the pokey thing was.
 
“What… what happened?” I asked.
 
“I suppose you want the long story. Don’t you?” The doctor said. 
 
I nodded.
 
He sighed. Nurse Taffy left the room with some promise to get food. I looked at the doctor with grim expectation.
 
“You were brought in by emergency services a little under two weeks ago via medical teleport. We had you in the emergency room in minutes.” He levitated a small tongue depressor in front of my face. “Open up please.”
 
I opened my mouth and a small plastic thing entered, forcing my tongue down.
 
“I’m not going to lie, Horizon,” The doctor peered down my throat briefly, his eyes shifting around across his face, “I was not optimistic about your chances. You are, and continue to be a very lucky buck.”
 
“What happened to me?” I asked once the depressor was out of my mouth. The doc set it on a tray nearby.
 
The doctor grimaced. “Are you sure you want to know? This can wait, you know.”
 
I shook my head. “No. I want to know. It’s better to get it over with now.”

The doctor nodded quietly. “You arrived in critical condition. Multiple breaks on your ribs and wings, lacerations all over where the…thing, cut you. He…” The doctor swallowed. “We believe your attempted murderer tried to remove your wings with a hacksaw. In the condition that you were in, we...had to amputate. I’m sorry.”
 
I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach as reality started to take hold. I took another slow breath and exhaled. The doctor was kind enough to wait. 
 
“What else?” I asked numbly, eager to push the topic to something, anything else.
 
“You were injected with a gene scrambler.” The doctor said.
 
“A what?” I asked.
 
“It’s a type of illegal drug designed to slowly corrupt your genome and fool the body into attacking itself.  It used to be used in lethal injection. From what I’ve read, It’s incredibly painful, and fatal unless it is countered early. If you had been brought in a few minutes later, then I’m afraid we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” The Doctor looked at me sadly, “You are a very lucky pony, Horizon.”
 
“This is lucky?” I replied, finally looking at him.

The doctor shook his head, “No, I suppose not. But you are alive, and you have your friends to thank for it, as I understand.”
 
My friends. Just where were my friends? I snorted. I probably owed Nightshade again.
 
“If you’re worried about medical expenses, by the way, don’t be. Your unicorn friend was very adamant that no expense be spared when it came to your care, and so far everything has been paid in full.” The doctor chuckled, “Doctor Graves was very surprised when she threatened to buy the hospital just to have him fired if he didn’t do something to help you. He was about to write you off, given the condition you arrived in.”
 
I shivered. “The scrambler… thingy. What about that?”
 
The doctor winced. “Dealing with that… was not so simple. While we were able to stabilize you from your external injuries, the scrambler was still doing its work. You would have been a lost cause if we hadn’t received a good gene sample from one of your progenitors.”
 
I blinked. No way.
 
“My dad was here?” I asked.

The doctor looked at me sadly. “Briefly, yes. Long enough to take some dna samples so we could reconstruct your genome. You may experience some permanent changes to your phenotype as a result, I’m sure you’ve already noticed how bright it is in here, yes? Well I can assure you, it isn’t.”
 
Son of a bitch.
 
“Mirror,” I said. “I need a mirror.”
 
The doctor shook his head, “The only mirror in this room is over by the sink, and I’m afraid it is quite solidly fixed to the wall. I can assure you, however, that your eyes have not changed, at least not outwardly.”
 
“So what happened? Why can I see like this?” I responded.
 
The doctor shrugged, “I’m not an expert on genetic medicine, but if I had to guess, your body’s magic is simply adapting to the information that was used to fill the gaps in your DNA. This ability of yours is likely a result of something that you already had, it’s just going to be more pronounced from now on. Overall, you shouldn’t expect too many more dramatic changes to your body,” he glanced to my ears, “save for a little extra hair in a few places.”
 
“So dad dropped in, saved my life, and then bolted without even saying hello. Figures.” I grumbled.

“I take it you’re not on very good terms with the stallion,” The doctor said, flattening his ruff.
 
“Understatement of the year,” I replied.
 
The doctor frowned. “I see.”
 
“Are my friends here?”
 
The doctor smiled. “Yes, actually. Visiting hours aren’t for another two hours, but as long as you get some food in your system I think I can make an exception. Nurse Taffy should be back shortly with your meal. Once you’ve finished, we can send your friends into see you.”
 
I nodded my head gratefully. “Thanks doc.”
 
He nodded back. “My pleasure. Now I don’t expect you’ll be with us for too many days longer, but once you’re well enough to walk we’ll see about getting you fitted with a proper prosthetic.”
 
“A prosthetic? Really?” I asked, my mind instantly shooting to the ponies on the trade floor..
 
Doctor Glide laughed, “Of course! You’re a pegasus, Horizon. I might not fully be one myself but as a fellow flier I can assure you, our wings are our lives. You didn’t think we would just chop them off and leave you be did you? Never, especially not since we have the best medical technology in the universe just a block away. Besides,” he added, “your friend is paying for them.” 
 
“You’re a saint,” I deadpanned.
 
The doctor smiled. “Tell that to the board of directors. I’m just a doctor.” The gryph drew himself up to his full height, which, considering his breeding, wasn’t too much more than mine. “Mr. Seldat, I’m afraid I have other calls to take now. The nurse should be in soon with your meal. Have a good morning.”
 
“Thanks doc,” I said.
 

*****


Despite the nurse’s assurances, the food sucked. It must be a universal constant or something. It was the most bland plate of food I had ever had in my life, and that’s counting all the times I'd sucked down a can of corn mash through a straw back in my old apartment. I’m not sure what exactly it was made of, but whatever it was it had the consistency of paste and texture to match. At least the dessert wasn’t so bad. Cherry jello, or what would have been cherry jello if the powder hadn’t been switched for nutrient supplements. I finished breakfast feeling unsatisfied.
 
After the nurse took my plate and changed my IV bag, I had a few quiet moments to myself before the door burst open and a white bullet shot into the room trailed by Nightshade’s slower more relaxed gait.
 
Jess’ ice blue eyes locked onto me with razor sharp focus.
 
“Oh, thank Celestia.” she breathed. Her breath hitched when her gaze met my sides, most of her energy pretty much evaporated after that. “You know, I was starting to wonder whether or not you would ever wake up,” Jess said, sympathy in her eyes. “You’ve been out for a long time. Not as long as some I’ve seen, but…well, dwelling on it won’t help I suppose.”
 
“I told you he’d make it,” Nightshade said to Jess before turning to me, “Have a nice nap?”
 
“Nice to see you too, Nightshade,” I replied flatly. “I suppose I owe you another favor now?”

Nightshade snorted, “If you should be thanking anyone, it’s Tick. She’s the one who ran in screaming bloody murder after all.” The comment earned a glare from Jess which Nightshade rebuffed with a smirk. “What? It’s true.”
 
“Somehow I wonder why you haven’t been shot yet.” Jess remarked.
 
“Who is to say I haven’t been,” Nightshade replied.
 
“Where are the others?” I asked Jess.
 
“Tick is here, sort of,” Jess said, scuffing one of her boots against the ground. “She really didn’t take the whole situation well. I’ve been trying to talk her down this entire week. She’s a wreck, Horizon. It was all I could do to get her to come today.”
 
“Can you blame her, though? That thing was practically wearing her, to hear Tex describe it,” Nightshade said.
 
“No, I can’t blame her, and I wouldn’t,” Jess replied. “I think she is blaming herself for what happened though,” Jess said. “She won’t say a word about it, but I’ve seen other ponies do it before. Especially after a bad run.”
 
“Is she coming?” I asked.
 
Jess nodded, “Yes. Whether she likes it or not, she’s coming. Estoc’s gone, by the way,” she finished dourly.
 
My eyes widened. “Where’s Tex?”

Jess blinked. “With Tick, why?”
 
“Wait, Tick? Really?” I asked.
 
“You’ll have to ask either Tick or Tex for the whole story. From what she told me, Tex contacted her because she was the closest and then Tick found your WAND on the ground. After that, she came to get us.”
 
“So where did Estoc go?”
 
Jess scowled. “Back to the NSR of course. As soon as heard you were down for the count, he booked a private shuttle in the hangar and took off.”
 
“You don’t sound so happy about that,” I said.
 
“Of course not!” Jess said, stomping a hoof. “What kind of stuck up asshole just gets up and leaves the moment one of his friends gets hurt! I don’t care what kind of house cleaning he has to do, at least have the fucking decency to send a get well card!”
 
“I told you it wasn’t going to work,” Nightshade commented.
 
“Shut up asshole,” Jess replied. Nightshade merely chuckled.
 
I laughed bitterly, “Well at least I can cross that off the todo list. Speaking of, has Fritter contacted you at all?” I asked. 
 
Jess shook her head. “Not a word. I’d be concerned too, but right now I’m just a little too preoccupied.”
 
I thought for a moment. “Have you told Prism?”
 
Jess flinched, “Not…really. I’ve been debating it for the past few days. She needs to know, but…I don’t know if she wants to know.”
 
“It’s the wings, isn’t it,” I said.
 
“For a pegasus you’re taking it remarkably well,” Jess said softly.

“No, I’m not,” I replied. “Maybe it’s the painkillers, but right now this whole situation has got me feeling so numb I can’t feel anything. I’m starting to think they put something in the cocktail to even me out. I should be a blubbering mess right now. Instead, I just feel…dead.”
 
Jess grimaced. “You almost were. Sweet Celestia, Horizon, if we never have a close call like that again it’ll be too soon.”
 
We were all quiet for a few minutes after that. Nightshade lounged in the chair, casually glancing at the hospital computer while Jess futzed with some of the settings on the bed.
 
“I heard my dad dropped in to save my life,” I said, switching subjects.
 
Jess stopped what she was doing. “Yeah, I met him. If only briefly. I didn’t realize your dad was a Thestral. You look nothing like him.”
 
“I told you, mom had a taste for the exotic,” I paused, “Don’t…don’t read into that.”
 
Jess laughed, “He seemed nice enough.”
 
“I hate him.” I grumbled.
 
Jess’ expression tightened, “He saved your life.”
 
“He abandoned me when I was fifteen,” I shot back.

“He had no choice, Horizon. he’s military,” she said.
 
“And I don’t fucking care! Anypony who has a child should at least spare the dignity to raise them instead of running off like a fucking degenerate!” I yelled.
 
There was a knock at the door. “Is everything alright in there?”
 
Nightshade started laughing.
 
The nurse came in, passing a quizzical look at Nightshade before fixing Jess with a glare. “If you’re going to cause a scene ma’am I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
 
Nightshade laughed harder.
 
Jess facehoofed. “Oh, gods. I’m sorry, I’ll keep it down,” she replied. 
 
The nurse’s glare compressed into a thin line. “Alright, but if I hear any more trouble I’m calling security.”
 
Technically she was security, but who was I to argue?
 
The nurse left shortly afterward.
 
“Well that’s one way to kill the mood,” I said. 
 
“I’ll say. By the way, I have the reports from raid where we recovered you. If you’re curious I can send them to you, once you have your WAND back, anyway.” Jess said.

“Thanks. I might just look those over. Might be useful when I’m more… myself,” I replied. I yawned. “I’m hurt and I’m tired Jess. Mind if I get some sleep for a while?”
 
She simply nodded. “I’ll grab Tex and drag her over here in a few hours.” Motioning to Nightshade they both filed out of the room. My sleep was full of nightmares.
 

*****


I woke up when the door opened a while later, how long that was exactly, I couldn’t tell you. Of all the things the hospital room had, a clock wasn’t one of them. Well, save for the one that just walked inside. To my eyes, the room was hardly dark, but the washed out colors let me know that the lights were at least off. There was still light coming in through the window too, so at the very least I knew it was still daytime, even if the curtains cut out most of it.
 
Tick stood in the silently entrance, seeming unwilling to move forward, before silently closing the door behind her and creeping inside. In the dark her coat looked almost white, the weird blend of color I was seeing distorting it in my mind’s eye. It was a strange sensation.
 
As she approached, I could barely hear her mumbling to herself.
 
“No, I know the door was loud, just shut up for a second!” Tick whispered, unaware that her voice was carrying. “Oh, jeez it’s dark in here. Where’s the lightswitch?”
 
I sat up a little more in my bed, staring as Tick continued to fumble around for a moment, flailing in the dark one hoof tapping methodically against the wall.
 
“Ugh I could have sworn it was over here somewhere.” She mumbled, and then added, “No, I don’t need your help, I can find it on my own.”

“Try about two steps to the right,” I said with a smirk.
 
Tick inhaled, going rigid at the sound of my voice. “H-Horizon?”
 
“Hi,” I said.
 
“Shut up!” Tick suddenly shouted, and then slapped a hoof over her mouth. “Oh shit! No, wait I mean, uh.”
 
I choked back a laugh. “Are you wearing Tex?” I asked.
 
A pause. “Um, maybe.”
 
“Cause, you know, I would have figured after the whole-”
 
“A lot happened oka-eep!” Tick shouted, then immediately covered her muzzle with both hooves. “I-I mean… a lot has happened.” She blinked. “It’s really dark in here.”
 
The lights came on.
 
Tick’s face scrunched as she yelled at the air, “You could do that the ENTIRE TIME?!”

“Tick, inside voice,” her face started burning red. I laughed. “So is this what I looked like when she was with me?”
 
Tick hesitated her face passing purple and entering cherry territory, “m...maybe,” she said quietly. She turned to look at me and immediately flinched.
 
I looked down. My sheet had slipped. The bindings around my midsection were clearly visible, as well as…
 
“I…” Tick whimpered, “L-listen Horizon I am so, s-so sorry.”

“It looks pretty bad, doesn’t it,” I said.
 
“I… um.” Her voice died in her throat, ears drooping.
 
“Nightshade told me I had you to thank for my rescue,” I said.
 
Silently, Tick nodded, still looking anywhere but me.
 
“I’m sorry…” Tick said quietly.
 
“For what? Saving my life?”
 
“No, for… um. All this.”
 
I held up a foreleg to silence her. She flinched. “It’s not your fault, Tick.”
 
“But it is my fault! If it wasn’t for me we would never have been there in the first place!”
 
“So?” I replied. “I was the one who suggested it, if you’re going to take the blame then I should too.”
 
“Why aren’t you angry?” Tick said, adjusting her glasses.
 
I shrugged, “Drugs, probably. I’m on so many painkillers right now I don’t even know where to begin—or pronounce.”

That only made her look even more miserable.
 
Tick frowned and looked at tiles between where she was sitting, suddenly talking in low tones “Shh, I know. Just… mmmph.”
 
“She’s quite the chatterbox, isn’t she.”
 
Tick made a weak snort, “Tex says she resents that.”
 
“What happened, Tick?” I asked. "Tell me everything."
 
Tick squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath. “Tex sent me a message while I was in the store. I almost ignored it, to be honest,” she said weakly. “I think I read it about four times before I actually understood it. I was too… absorbed.” Tick swallowed. “When I figured out what she was saying, I ran back out. I didn’t see you, and all I found was some… asshole trying to run off with your WAND.” She made a weak chuckle, “I nearly gored him when I tackled him.” Then, grimacing she said, “Security got involved after that.

“Tex dumped herself into my WAND the moment she was in range. I didn't read the request, I just thought she wanted to talk. I mean…holy crap, Horizon, I never knew. How can you think like this?”
 
I chuckled, “It takes some practice. How did you get away from security?”
 
“Simple, I talked to them,” Tick replied. “I may have been a little panicked at the time. Tex is the one who convinced them, I think. She sent audio of everything that happened until you were separated to the officer’s WAND. He stepped away after that and I ran to get Jess.”
 
She glanced at my side again and shivered. “I don’t… oh, gods I’m so sorry.” Her voice cracked, “I was there when security raided the apartment. I… I saw everything! I… ” With a soft fwump, Tick buried her face into the sheets of my bed, sobbing “Why would somepony do this?!”
 
I couldn’t really say anything after that. Nothing seemed appropriate. All Tick did was cry. All I could do was stare, numb and speechless.
 
Something bubbled up in my mind in the quiet between her sobs. A distant memory, something that I felt my killer had said sometime in the haze of my capture,
 
“This is survival,” It had said. I saved the thought for later.
 

*****


I got the full story about the raid from Jess on day two. Using her status as a PBJ headhunter, she attached herself and Nightshade into the strike team that took out my attacker, and Tick had to come along because she was holding Tex. Tex was the one responsible for finding me. They dropped in at central security, and Tex pulled the archives of every single camera in the sector, tracking my progress through the station until I arrived at the changeling’s hideout.
 
The apartment I had been taken to was listed as vacant, but conveniently absent from any of the public listings. The company that did list it, was a front. It paid taxes, but only had a few holdings in the entire station, all of them in vastly different areas. SWAT teams were dispatched to all of them. Only the raid on the apartment came back with any results. The organization behind the front company, sadly, was not able to be determined.
 
I was found in a bathtub, submerged in ice and bleeding everywhere. A med team teleported me to the hospital. The rest was history.
 

*****


My wings were gone. The reality of it didn’t sink in until day four, when the medical team started easing me off whatever drugs were keeping me level. Eighteen treatments with the ClockDoc had seen to my injuries, all save for the most important bits, and I was starting my discharge process, visibly shaking at my stubs for wings. My denial was strong. Two of the orderlies had to restrain me, injecting me with a mild tranquilizer to help bring me down off my panic attacks. It didn’t stop the twitching in my flight muscles, though. I spent the next day in observation, and stayed there until the doctors were confident I had calmed down. The depression set in just as I started looking at the prosthetics.
 
Tick had insisted that she come along and was accompanied by Jess, who wanted to make sure that whatever prosthetic I received wouldn’t just be superficial. That left me with a selection of cyberware to choose from with price tags that made me weak in the knees. Some of them made me downright queasy just to look at. Some were Industrial strength hover harnesses for the adventurous, more as a solution for non-pegasi than for anything else. Other options were fully actuated wing replacements that looked too heavy and too bulky for my weak, meaty flight muscles to support. Just wearing them would have required me to reinforce my spine, which just was not going to happen.
 
I wanted something natural, something as close to what I’d lost as possible, and that left me with frighteningly few choices, save for some more experimental pieces that would have cost the rest of my body parts to purchase. Tick demanded to pay for it, and so off we went.
 
What I ended up getting was a semi-detachable system that plugged directly into my nervous system, and was powered with a focusing crystal that bled off a fraction of my natural magic similar to how a WAND functioned. It was comprised of an ultra-lightweight metal alloy with a chrome finish, and the feather vanes were made of some flexible composite material that was only slightly heavier than the natural stuff. They assured me that the feathers would never break, but also told me that the assembly would need regular maintenance in order to maintain their function. They put me under for the install. I was released that day, with sympathetic glances from the pegasus doctor who saw me out the door.
 
On the way out I got a copy of the bill that Tick had paid off for me. Eighteen days of hospitalization, plus emergency medical care, scans, medicines, an exotic DNA transplant, incidentals, and the shiny new cyberware racked up a final total of 409,817 bits. Tick didn’t even blink.
 

*****


I wore my WAND out of habit, and Tex had moved back in. Absently, I thought it was interesting how she could only be in one place at a time. Tick wasn’t exactly glad to be rid of her, but considering the circumstances that led to my salvation, I could understand her attachment. They’d made up privately, as far as I could tell, with Tick now taking less convincing that Tex’s existence wasn’t a bad thing. She still had her concerns, of course, but they were a lot friendly now than they had ever been, and from what Tex told, she actually shared some of Tick’s concerns. I was just glad the Prince didn’t run off with her when he bailed for the NSR.
 
I sat alone in the pilot’s cabin of the Scrap Bandit, dolefully futzing with my new appendages.
 
“Oh, dammit.” I swore, as my wing shot open with a soft fssk. Consciously I tried to retract it, only managing to shoot the other one open in the process. Groaning, I banged my head against the console.
 
Come on, Horizon, you’ll get used to it eventually. Tex said. Just keep at it.
 
My wings were surprisingly quiet. I had imagined the sound of whining servos or other sounds I frequently associated with noisy hydraulics, and was surprised instead with a system that made, at worst, a whisper quiet hissing noise whenever the feathers mixed together, and the small sound of metals slipping over each other with only the lightest friction. I guess you get what you pay for.
 
I know, Tex, it’s just… different. I thought.
 
I understand what it feels like to be missing parts, Tex replied somberly. You’re not alone.
 
Do you? I asked. She didn’t answer after that. I managed to retract both of my wings, the strange metals sliding into place at my side almost as natural as could be. I hated the latency, though. It was oh so slight, but noticeable. Nothing beats the original.
 
Just then, the comm suite flared to life, with an incoming message from Jess’ ship. I looked up at the control board and accepted it with my WAND.
 
“Hey tiger, ready to go?” She said, voice crackling through the speaker.
 
Clenching my jaw, I started flipping the switches I needed to power on the main engine and brought the Bandit fully online.

“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s go home.” 
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