//------------------------------// // Ch.10 Recovery // Story: Past Actions, Future Consequences // by Rill //------------------------------// "...and so, with Ahuizotl defeated and the sapphire statue secured, the world was safe and sound once again, thanks to Daring Do!" Shadow slowly relaxed as Rainbow Dash closed the book’s back cover. He had started reading the book as soon as a nurse had gotten done feeding him, but he had quickly found himself struggling with the book’s Equestrian alphabet. By the end of the following day, if he could use his magic, he might have thrown the book across the room in frustration. Even after a whole day of reading, interrupted only by eating and the occasional doctor, he had barely gotten a quarter of the way through the first chapter. On top of that, the clone had disappeared as soon as had given it his dad’s potion book, leaving the injured colt to feel utterly alone. Much to his relief, Rainbow Dash had appeared around noon the next day. Admitting his trouble reading the book, he had all but shouted yes when the older mare offered to read it to him. He had been expecting the book to be good, considering the cover’s image, but he didn’t expect it to be this good. It was so good, that he considered it almost tied with The Diary of Summer Breeze when it came to which one was more exciting. As Rainbow read it, Shadow couldn’t help but imagine himself as the title character, exploring the ancient ruins while dodging the numerous death traps in the process. Rainbow Dash had even gone so far as to change her voice while reading it, giving the characters distinctive voices and accents that had only added to the colt’s enjoyment. Setting the book aside, Rainbow Dash surreptitiously glanced at one of Shadow’s monitors, smiling as his heart rate returned to normal. She knew he was enjoying the book, but it was only when she had glanced at the monitor during a particularly tense spot in the book that she got an idea of just how invested in the story the colt was. Glancing at the station across the hall, the injured flier saw Nurse Redheart look up at her, giving the younger mare a wink before returning to her paperwork. “So, what did you think” Rainbow asked, more than aware of the answer. “That was one of the best books ever!” Shadow replied, his enthusiasm obvious. “It’s too bad Daring Do isn’t real, because I would love to meet her.” The room’s lone pegasus smiled knowingly at the colt’s statement. “Oh, she’s real.” “What?” “Daring Do? She’s real. I met her once.” “Uh huh.” The colt’s disbelief, as well as his narrowed eyes, brought Rainbow Dash up short. “You don’t believe me, do you?” The colt’s raised eyebrow was his only response. Sighing, Rainbow sat back down in the chair in front of Shadow. “I first got hooked on the series when I was in here after breaking my wing when a stunt didn’t quite go as planned…” Shadow listened to the colorful mare’s story, his disbelief slowly, but not quite totally, disappearing. “Let me get this straight” Shadow said, holding up a bandaged hoof as his guest finished her story. “Ahuizotl is real, and the only thing that stopped him from turning a valley into a desert was Daring Do, you and your friends?” “Yep!” Rainbow replied, her chest puffing out in pride, “Pretty awesome, huh?” “Does Celestia know about all this?” “Of course she does.” “Then why didn’t she do anything?!” Shadow all but yelled. “I was wondering that myself, so I asked her at the Gala.” Rainbow Dash replied, surprised at the colt’s outburst. “According to her, she keeps a close eye on Ahuizotl, and knows that Daring Do is more than able to keep him in line.” Shadow didn’t know how to respond to Rainbow’s explanation. From the sound of it, Celestia hadn’t changed since his ancestor’s exile, relying on other ponies to contain potential threats, leaving them to slowly fester instead of dealing with them before they could get out of hoof. If he had been in a regular bed instead of the anti-gravity field, Shadow would have probably been banging his head against his pillow at the sheer idiocy of the solar tyrant’s answer. Perhaps a thousand years of ruling an entire country by herself was finally getting to the eldest Royal Sister. “How old are you?” “Eleven,” Shadow answered, an eyebrow slowly rising at the subject change. “Why?” “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you act a lot older than that.” “I kinda had to grow up quickly” Shadow replied, a short, mirthless laugh catching the pegasus off guard. “My sister and I were the favorite targets of anypony our age having a bad day, and the fact that we were half-breeds only made it worse.” “Half-breeds?” “Pegasus mom, unicorn dad; marrying outside your tribe wasn’t done, at least until my parents got married. Shortly after that, it became illegal.” Rainbow Dash slowly sat back. She knew what it was like to get picked on, having dealt with bullies ever since flight camp who’d pick on her for everything from her tendency to crash, to her mane. They’d usually shut up after she beat them in a race, or when she let her hooves do the talking for her, but being picked on because your parents were from different tribes? She had never heard of such a thing happening. Before she could say anything, there was a knock on the room’s door, causing both ponies to turn, or in Shadow’s case, turn his head as much as he could. Though he couldn’t see the door from where he floated, Shadow could hear two sets of hoof steps on the floor. One set had the longer stride that marked the maker as an adult while the second set was much faster and louder. There was only one pony Shadow knew who would make that much noise, purposely or not. “Hey there, Zecora” Rainbow said, getting out of her chair. "It is good to see you up and about. Unlike others, of this I had no doubt." The town’s lone zebra said as she closed the door behind her. "Wait… so other ponies thought I'd lay in bed all day?! Who said that?" "Who it was, I shall not say. I want no part in any pranks that you will play." “You weren’t one of them, were you?” The silence from the older mare told both injured ponies what the answer was. “Sorry.” Rainbow Dash said, wilting slightly at the zebra mare’s glare. “Unfortunately, they’re going to have to wait until Shadow here is out as well” She continued, gesturing to the colt before turning to him. “I have got to see that chair prank” “Can we continue, since on your revenge you have decided to wait? We are both tired from staying up so late.” “Really? What were you doing?” Instead of answering Rainbow Dash, Zecora gently set her saddlebags on the floor, opening one of the flaps to reveal a number of multicolored bottles. “We were up all night, because in brewing to help others we delight.” Taking that as its cue, the clone’s horn lit up, bottles slowly floating out of the bag a moment later. “Making new potions is a very rare pleasure. That book of yours Shadow; is quite a treasure.” “Thanks. What did you make?” “Oh, a little bit of everything” The clone said, setting the bottles on a nearby table. “We got stuff here for broken bones, torn muscles, burns, infection, even for re-growing fur.” The clone looked over the bottles for a moment before turning to Shadow. “Unfortunately, your dad didn’t have a potion to cure stupidity, so there’s nothing we can do about that.” The clone stuck its tongue out at its maker, mirroring the injured colt’s response. Before anypony could say anything, the sound of a throat being cleared caught everypony’s attention. At the door, a caramel yellow unicorn stallion with a brown mane stood watching the small gathering. Raising an eyebrow at the clone, he chose to ignore the chuckle from his patient as the clone’s tongue disappeared. Switching gears, the doctor let the door shut behind him as he walked over to the bank of monitors around Shadow. “How are we doing today, Shadow?” Shadow shrugged as much as he could, wincing at the slight pain it caused. “No complaints.” “That’s good to hear.” The doctor pulled a thermometer from his pocket and stuck it in the colt’s mouth. Turning to the others, he looked over the other ponies in the room. “It’s nice to see you up and about, Ms. Dash.” “Same here, Doc” The pegasus replied, holding still as the stallion checked her bandaged wing. “Not that I’m complaining, but what brings you around here, Zecora?” “We brought some potions for Shadow” The clone replied, pointing to the half covered table nearby. “I hope you weren’t planning on trying them without me” The stallion replied as he looked over the labeled bottles. “Not a chance with Nurse Eagle Eye out there watching us” Rainbow Dash said, looking out at Nurse Redheart who flashed a predatory grin at the pegasus. Smiling, the doctor pulled the glass rod from his patient’s mouth, eyeing the red line in the middle “Elevated, though not even nearly as high as it could be.” Turning to the potion laden table, the room’s lone stallion frowned, before picking up two bottles with the same label. “He’s not the only pony who broke something” The colt replied at the doctor’s questioning glance. “In that case, perhaps you would like to go first, Ms. Dash?” The downed flier eyed the bottle warily. She’d never taken a potion before, and while she trusted Shadow’s recipe and Zecora’s brewing skills, it still didn’t mean she didn’t have her reservations. Looking over at the zebra mare, Rainbow shrugged at the mare’s smile and nod. Why not? Taking the open bottle in her mouth, she tilted her head back, gulping down the contents in a few seconds. “So how long until-” Rainbow Dash winced as a brief flash of pain erupted from her injured wing. “Never mind” She said, gritting her teeth a wave of extreme discomfort rolled across her wing. While it wasn’t nearly as painful as the first wave, it didn’t need to be to catch her attention. As the discomfort passed, Rainbow Dash gently tested her wing, the grimace of expected pain vanishing as she felt none of the pain that she had come to associate with broken bones. As if to test whether she was dreaming or not, the pegasus prodded her wing, gently at first, only to get rougher at the lack of pain. Turning to the doctor, she let the stallion examine her bandaged wing. Shaking his head, the unicorn took a step back. “We’ll get an x-ray to make sure, but I think your wing is completely healed.” Backing off to give the jubilant flyer room while she celebrated, he turned to his patient. “You want to give it a shot?” Nodding as much as he could, Shadow watched as the doctor grabbed the first bottle with his magic. As he swallowed the concoction, the colt couldn’t help but notice the apple aftertaste. Almost as soon as the last drop rolled down his throat, Shadow gasped as what felt like a bunch of hooves punched him in the ribs, wing and legs. The noise in the room increased as a number of monitors became more active. Almost as soon as they began making more noise than usual, the room quieted back down as Shadow felt a sudden sense of warmth pervade his entire body. Gritting his teeth as the sudden warmth caused him to feel claustrophobic, Shadow sighed as he felt himself rapidly cool. It took the colt a moment to notice the sudden lack of pain from his legs and wing. Sighing, Shadow smiled as he opened his eyes, looking at the doctor. “Which one’s next?” In short order, the bottles on the table were quickly emptied. Shaking his head at how the colt before him had gone from half dead to ready to walk in less than an hour, the doctor positioned the floor’s mobile x-ray machine, settling the cross hairs over Shadow’s wing and ribs. Standing behind the shielded controls, he hit a button, causing the machine to hum briefly. Moments later, a black and white image appeared on the screen before him, and the stallion felt his jaw all but hit the floor as he stared at the image. He had worked on this colt in the operating room. He had seen first hoof just how badly he had been injured, yet he could find no indication of Shadow ever having had broken a single bone, much less the half dozen he had come in with. “Well?” The unicorn leaned to the side. “Completely healed” He replied, not bothering to hide his surprise. Hitting the power switch, the stallion moved the machine out of the way, replacing it with another machine. Lighting his horn, the doctor took a pair of scissors to his patient’s bandages, gently cutting them away to reveal the burned flesh beneath. Frowning, he spread a generous amount of gel on the machine’s probe before gently pressing it against Shadow’s side. Studying the image on the monitor, he looked to the waiting ponies outside, tilting his head to let them know they could come in. Shaking his head in astonishment one last time, he hit the machine’s power button. Wiping the excess gel from Shadow’s bare skin, he looked at the burns one last time before wrapping the colt in fresh bandages. “I don’t know what to say.” He said as he started on his second bandage roll. “Your bones are completely healed and actually look stronger than before. I also couldn’t find any signs of internal bleeding or bruising. On top of that, your temperature has returned to normal and I can’t find any signs of infection.” Finishing off the second roll, he looked at the bag of antibiotics hanging nearby. Shaking his head, he grabbed another roll of bandages, this time focusing on Shadow’s formerly broken wing. While the bones had healed, they had had to pluck a number of feathers while working on him. They’d grow back in time, but he felt that keeping it wrapped for the moment would be best. “The one thing I don’t get is why the burns weren’t healed as well.” Stopping as he heard the sound of pages being flipped, the stallion joined the rest of the room’s occupants as they watched the clone flip through the small potion book. Whether or not it knew it was being watched, the clone ignored the older ponies as it paged through the book before stopping about halfway through. Wincing, the clone cleared its throat before speaking, “‘While this potion is designed and proven to heal burns, its results have so far only been proven with normal burns. Its efficacy with magically induced burns is unknown, but based on the potion’s ingredients, is unlikely to be effective on such injuries.’” Closing the book, the clone swore before looking up at Shadow and shrugging. “I don’t get it.” Rainbow Dash said, finally breaking the silence. “I thought all burns were the same.” “It depends” Shadow replied. “While they’d look the same, a burn from a campfire would be different from one from a fireball.” “But there weren’t any fireballs in that fire.” Rainbow replied, not noticing the look Shadow traded with his clone. “The Everfree used to be soaked with wild magic, so maybe that has something to do with it. Not that it matters” She added. “After what happened to it, I doubt the Everfree will be much trouble.” “Though it has lost this bout, do not count it out” Zecora added at the flier’s pronouncement. “Despite its recent strife, in the Everfree I have seen signs of new life.” “So what now” Shadow asked the nearby stallion. “Now, we move you to a room with a better view.” The doctor said, taking one last note of the monitor showing his young patient’s heartbeat before shutting the machine off. “That also means we can take you off these monitors as well.” “What about that thing” The clone asked, pointing to Shadow’s horn. The doctor looked at the clone in confusion before seeing what it was pointing at. “I suppose we can lose that too.” Lighting his horn, the older unicorn pulled a small metal rod from a pocket. With practiced precision, he set the wrench into the small bolt holding the magic suppressor around Shadow’s horn in place. “You might want to brace yourself” He added as he removed the suppressor’s lone screw. “The sudden rush of magic can be overwhelming.” “Voice of experience, doc?” “I wore one for a week during med school to see what it was like. Thank Celestia I took it off near a garbage can” He added, grimacing at the memory. “Ready?” Shadow nodded vigorously. While he hadn’t noticed his lack of magic at first, he had quickly found himself missing it as it would have helped stave off the hours of boredom. As the doctor slowly pulled the ring off, the colt could feel a lack in his horn, like something indescribable was missing, leaving his horn feeling like it had a massive void in it. Watching the doctor set the suppressor down on the table; Shadow frowned as nothing seemed to happen. He felt the same as he had five minutes earlier. Just as he started to open his mouth to ask the doctor how long it would take, the world around him suddenly began to spin like a top as the magical void in his horn began to fill. Before he could begin to wonder how long the spinning would last, Shadow’s vision began to darken before disappearing altogether a heartbeat later. The first thing the young alicorn felt was something hard and cold pressed against his neck. Groaning, the colt slowly opened his eyes before quickly shutting them again as the world outside continued to blurrily spin. Slowly cracking an eye, he sighed as the room returned to normal. “What happened?” “You passed out” Rainbow replied as she watched him from nearby. “The correct term is ‘magically induced fainting’.” The doctor said as he set the suppressor in his pocket. “It’s not uncommon, especially with more magically inclined individuals. How do you feel?” Shadow closed his eyes as he slowly ignited his horn. Opening his eyes, Shadow focused on the half dozen empty bottles on the nearby table, lifting them into the air with as much effort as if he was lifting a quill. “Normal” Shadow replied as he made the bottles perform a quick dance before extinguishing his magic. “Wonderful.” The room’s lone stallion said, writing something on his clipboard before setting it aside. Igniting his horn, the stallion gently pulled on a tube, pulling the needle on the end from the back of the colt’s neck. Looking up as he set the used bag aside, the doctor smiled as Nurse Redheart and another nurse knocked on the door, an empty stretcher between them. With practiced ease, the three professionals quickly moved the stretcher underneath the floating colt, “Ready to get out of here?” Smiling at his young patient’s nod, he slowly released the spell keeping the young alicorn airborne. Seeing Shadow wince as he settled down, the older unicorn raised an eyebrow as he watched the colt’s horn light up. Temporarily ignored, the stallion probed the colt’s spell with his magic, finding himself surprised at the complexity of the spell. How did a colt know such a complex spell, and more importantly, why did he seem so experienced with it? “Better?” He asked as the glow around the colt’s horn faded. “Much.” Hearing a throat being cleared, everypony in the room looked down at the clone who casually tossed Shadow’s saddlebag onto the stretcher next to its owner. “You mind?” The clone asked, lifting an eyebrow. Igniting his horn, Shadow smiled in thanks to the clone as he dispelled it, the clone’s sigh of relief briefly echoing around the room. “Hey Doc” Rainbow Dash asked, breaking the silence left behind by the now vanished clone “Does he have to go straight to his room?” The room’s lone stallion paused. “Not necessarily” he replied as he gently settled a blanket over Shadow’s back. “I’d prefer it if he was in his room resting, though I suppose getting a bit of fresh air wouldn’t hurt. Why?” “I heard from some friends that there was going to be a small concert on the first floor, and that’s got to be way more interesting than being stuck in a room by yourself.” The doctor hummed as he thought over the mare’s words while he checked the bandages around his patient’s neck. Despite a few small reservations, he could see the pegasus’ point. An hour or two of something other than four blank walls wouldn’t hurt the colt, and would probably do him some good as well. “I don’t see why not, though…” he turned to Shadow “I don’t want you on your hooves until at least tomorrow and only with a nurse or therapist watching you. Understood?” Smiling at the colt’s nod, he stepped to the side, leaving a clear path between the Shadow and the door. “While I arrange your therapy and rehab schedule, perhaps these three fine ladies could take you to the multi-purpose room on the first floor?” Barely containing a smile at rainbow-maned mare’s cheer, he watched as the pegasus and two nurses pushed Shadow out of the room. As the young alicorn’s stretcher rounded the corner and disappeared from view, the stallion shook his head at how his young patient was leaving the ICU weeks before even his most optimistic prediction could have hoped for. Picking up the small pile of used bandages on the floor, the doctor’s mind turned to the new task of deciding which therapists he’d choose. Shadow’s head was never still for more than a second or two as he was pushed down the hall. To his left, a new room would appear every few second, some with a pony in a bed, some empty. Overhead, the colt could see light coming from tubes in the ceiling instead of the sky lights he had been expecting. How did these lights work? Was it just a trick to hide the candles or was it some magic-based device instead? Around him, every sight left a dozen questions in the colt’s mind. Here a pony was pushing a cart made of metal instead of wood on wheels that were clearly neither wood nor metal. There, a door or countertop was made of wood that was smoother than anything the colt had seen. Beneath him, the floor was covered in something that looked like some kind of stone, yet didn’t sound like stone when something was dropped on it. The walls were covered in some kind of fabric that had a non-descript floral pattern across it instead of simple wood paneling. Coming to a stop, Shadow nearly jumped out of his temporary bed as one of the nurses pushed something on the wall and a pair of metal doors retreated into the wall with an off-tone chime to reveal a small all metal room. With little warning, the injured colt found himself being rolled into the small room as the three mares managed to somehow fit themselves inside as well. Seeing the white and pink nurse push another button on the wall, Shadow jumped slightly as the room began to shake slightly. “Don’t they have elevators where you’re from?” Rainbow Dash asked as she watched the colt look around. “What in Tartarus in an ‘elevator’?” Before he could get an answer, the room came to a stop, the doors opening a second later with another off-tone chime. If she had said anything, Shadow didn’t hear Rainbow Dash as he looked around at the completely different floor. Where were they and how had everything changed so quickly? Despite his initial suspicion that it was all an illusion, a quick check with his horn told Shadow otherwise, leaving him even more confused. As he was moved down the hall, the colt slowly noticed the subtle change in the floor’s atmosphere. It was less quiet, trading the unspoken caution and uncertainty of the previous floor for a lighter sense of friendliness and openness. Rounding a corner, Shadow’s jaw all but hit the ground as he was pushed through an open doorway. Around him, the walls of the hallway vanished as he entered the largest room he had ever seen, its size leaving the colt stunned. The one thing that immediately caught the young pony’s attention was how the room didn’t have a single pillar helping to hold the ceiling up. Back home, the largest room he knew of was the town council’s main meeting room, yet that room, which could hold a fair number of the town’s population if ponies didn’t mind getting close, was maybe three quarters the size of Ponyville General’s Multipurpose Room. As his mind tried to figure out how such a room could exist with two additional floors above, it took Shadow a moment to realize that he had come to a stop near the back of the room. Looking around, a number of patients were either sitting on padded chairs or milling about near a small wooden stage. “How are you feeling?” “Overwhelmed” Shadow replied, before looking at the polychromatic maned pegasus next to him. “There aren’t many rooms this size back home.” “Really?” Shadow shrugged as he watched a couple nurses lead a group of a dozen young fillies and colts into the room. “No real point, I guess. It would take too much effort to keep it heated in the winter and other than the odd meeting, there’s no real need for a room this size.” The colt and mare watched as the group of children got settled in front of the stage. “The only building with a room nearly this size back home is the history museum, which still has stone columns holding up the ceiling.” “Anything good?” “Depends on your tastes” The colt answered as the two nurses returned, pushing him closer to the stage “Weapons, armor, clothes, other artifacts that families have donated over the years.” “Weapons?” “Swords, spears, shields. When our founders reached the island, they weren’t the first to get there, and the locals weren’t too thrilled to see them and since their ships wouldn’t last another day on the open ocean, they were forced to take the island. They even have a room dedicated solely to the skull of Stone Crusher.” Rainbow Dash’s raised eyebrow said everything. “He was a dragon probably half the size of this town. The leader of our founders killed him in single combat near my hometown and his body was thrown in a nearby bay.” Getting settled in her chair, Rainbow stole a glance at her young friend, who was resting his head on his hooves. Just where was he from? While she could understand having to fight because they couldn’t leave, why didn’t they get the princess involved when it came to the dragon? Surely she could have gotten it to move. Glancing again, the young athlete could see a frown slowly form on Shadow’s face as he looked around the room, no doubt wondering why he was there. Before either pony could say anything, five ponies in green sweaters trotted onto the stage, much to the crowd’s delight. Smiling at what was coming; Rainbow Dash leaned back as the show began. Shadow’s jaw dropped as the five ponies on the stage began to sing. He had seen ponies singing acapella numerous times back home, but none of them could compete with the five ponies before him. There was an energy to their music that he couldn’t remember ever seeing or hearing back home. What’s more, this was a mixed group with no one pony overshadowing the others. While a couple of groups back home were a mix of all three tribes, like the unspoken rule of never marrying outside your tribe, the lead singer was always an earth pony, with any unicorn members acting strictly as backup. By the end of the first song, Shadow found himself tapping an un-bandaged hoof in time with the music. Time seemed to take pity on the colt as it slowed to a crawl during the performance. Shadow didn’t know how long it had been, but as the final song ended, he knew he’d be singing the songs for days to come. Forgetting for a moment where he was, the colt tried to stand, only for a gentle hoof placed on his back to remind him why he couldn’t. Around them, ponies began to get up, some stretching while others talked to the singers or left for their rooms. Content for the moment to wait, Shadow began to hum the song the group had opened and closed with. He couldn’t remember the last time a song had gotten stuck in his head as this one had. Caught up with the song, the colt didn’t notice the other ponies around him until a distinctly feminine voice began to hum along, wordlessly harmonizing with him. Looking up, Shadow felt his heart stop as he found himself surrounded. Of all the ponies around him, the colt’s gaze was held by the large red and orange stallion to his left. How was it possible for a pony to get so big? Until then, the largest stallion Shadow had ever seen was Brick Wall, but even he would have been smaller than the massive pony next to him. Finding his mouth suddenly dry, Shadow swallowed and, unable to think of anything else to do, said the first thing that came to mind. “You’re big.” Behind him, Rainbow Dash’s laughter seemed to break the ice as everypony gently laughed at the colt’s observation. For his part, the stallion chuckled “Eeyup.” “Now you know why nopony calls him ‘Little Mac’” Rainbow said, finally getting herself together. “Shadow, meet the Pony Tones: Toe-Tapper, Torch Song” Shadow nodded at the first two ponies “Big McIntosh you’ve already met, Rarity and Fluttershy. Everypony” She said, turning to the assembled singers “This is Shadow.” “It is a distinct pleasure to meet you darling” The group’s lone unicorn said, her horn glowing as she gently smoothed the blanket covering Shadow. “You saved my little sister life during the fire and I want to thank you for saving Sweetie Belle and to let you know that if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask.” “You saved mah sister as well.” Big Mac added. “You have mah thanks and are always welcome at Sweet Apple Acres.” Nodding his thanks, Shadow didn’t complain when one of his nurses excused him, saying that they needed to get him settled in his new room. Quietly sighing to himself, Shadow smiled as he was pushed out of the room. To anypony looking, the colt was smiling in contentment. In reality, he was smiling partly in contentment, but also at the fact that he was no longer surrounded by ponies he knew nothing about. The young colt had never felt comfortable around ponies he didn’t know, even when his parents had been nearby. He’d try to be friendly, but there was always a voice in the back of his mind reminding him what would happen to him and his family if his secret was ever discovered. Shadow mentally shuddered at the thought, starting slightly as somepony laid another blanket over him. The trip to his new room was relatively short and as he was pushed into the room, the first thing Shadow noticed was the large, brightly lit window near his new bed. Feeling a cloud of magic form around him, Shadow fought the urge to kick and squirm as he was moved from the stretcher. He had never enjoyed being picked up with magic and, according to his dad, would cry if anypony did so when he was a baby. Igniting his horn, Shadow felt the sting of his burns vanish as the two nurses covered him with one of the bed’s blankets. Nodding in thanks, Shadow jumped slightly as one of the nurses turned a knob on a small wooden box he hadn’t noticed coming in, gentle music quietly filling the room a second later. Waving to Rainbow Dash as the pegasus was led out of the room, Shadow pulled on the blanket with his magic until it covered everything but his head and neck. Smiling, the colt began to hum to himself, completely ignoring the radio as he recalled one of the songs from earlier.