//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Canterlot General // Story: To Earn One's Wings // by HollowPony //------------------------------// To Earn One’s Wings Chapter four: Canterlot General A light stung Thunderbolt’s eyes. The smell of disinfectant invaded his nose. A steady beeping rang in his ears. He felt the comfort of a soft bed beneath him and the discomfort of tubes and bandages around his body. He sat up with a groan. An ache pounded through his bruised body. He opened his eyes and dumbly took in the room around him. Everything was blindingly white. The walls, the blankets, the bandages covering his torso, the white nurse’s cap on the white mane of the mare standing at the foot of his bed. It created a stark contrast with her black fur. She looked young. Like she had just graduated from nursing school. She was frowning at something. Her head shot up. Her bright green eyes locked onto Thunderbolt’s. Her eyes looked old. Like those of an old mare. The nurse with eyes too old for her face frowned at him. She pursed her lips. “I see you’re awake,” she barked. Her voice was harsh. Cold, even. But there was the tiniest hint of compassion in it. Like a cherry on top of an iceberg. “Where am I?” Thunderbolt groaned. “Canterlot General Hospital.” “Canterlot General?” he repeated, almost as if the words didn’t quite get through to him. “Yes, Canterlot General,” The nurse with old eyes repeated. Exasperation oozed from her voice. “What am I doing here?” “Because you’re injured, obviously. The Guard dragged your sorry flank in here with a broken wing and covered in blood.” Thunderbolt’s mind numbly processed the words. “Broken wing?” he mumbled. He tilted his head to the right. His right wing slowly extended. He tilted his head to the left. He tried lifting his left wing. It felt stiff and heavy. Something white was wrapped around it. “Stop moving,” the nurse ordered. “You need to rest. Even with magic broken bones take time to heal.” Thunderbolt lowered his wing and lay back with a sigh. His mind started wandering. ‘What the hell happened in the cathedral?’ he wondered. ‘What was that voice? Why was it so interested in protecting Aurum? What exactly was The Sage trying to accomplish by tearing a hole into the spirit realm? Does it have something to do with that shadow pony? His name was Dominus, I think. Then there is the-' Thunderbolt bolted upright. 'Wait, where's Aurum? Did she survive the fall?’ "I thought I told you to stop moving." "Sorry, Nurse." Thunderbolt fell back onto the bed. "A thought just popped into my head. The guard didn't find anyone else near the Cathedral? A pegasus mare. Auburn mane. Golden coat. Some sort of eyepiece on her flank." "I don't know. I'll ask the doctor when I see him." The sound of the door opening interrupted the conversation. Thunderbolt tilted his head toward the sound. A slim red unicorn stallion walked through the door. He was staring at a clipboard floating in a blue aura. “How’s the patient doing today, Nurse?” he idly asked. His voice had a soothing tone to it. A sharp contrast to the Nurse’s curt one. “The patient has recovered well, Doctor. In fact, he has recovered so much that he has finally woken up.” The stallion looked up from his clipboard. His eyes were lifted in surprise. “Really?” he asked. “I expected him to sleep for at least another day.” Thunderbolt tried to sit up. “Doc,” he croaked. His throat felt dry. Like sandpaper rubbing against sandpaper. The doctor glanced at the Nurse. “Nurse, if you will?” She nodded and approached Thunderbolt. He lifted a hoof to defend himself but she walked past him and started fiddling with something outside his field of vision. A moment later his bed started rising until he was sitting upright. “Thank you, Nurse.” “A pleasure, Doctor. Do you need anything else?” The Doctor looked back to his clipboard. “… No, I don’t think so. You can return to your rounds. I’ll call if I need anything.” The nurse nodded and marched out of the room. Then she poked her head back in. "One last thing, doctor. Did the guard bring anyone in besides this patient?" The doctor scratched his chin. "There was one mare. Her injuries were negligible so we discharged her almost immediately. Why?" "The patient was asking after her." "I see. Thank you, Nurse." With a nod, the nurse retracted her head from the room. “She’s friendly,” Thunderbolt commented. “Are all of your nurses so warm and compassionate?” “You’ll have to forgive Nurse Candy. She’s been prickly since the Canterlot Raid. She lost her lover.” “She has my condolences. I was in the city when the changelings attacked.” “Really?” The doctor pulled a chair closer. “What was it like?” “Why do you want to know?” “I guess I’m curious. I’ve never been in that situation before. I was on vacation during the raid.” “What you have to understand is that while these creatures look like ponies, they’re completely different from us. They somehow have the ability to change their shape, to disguise themselves as ponies and no one would notice the difference. This is what makes them so dangerous, doctor. The attack barely lasted half a day, but I say dozens of ponies lured in by a familiar face, or the safety a guard patrol.” “What happened to them? The victims, I mean.” “Those I found were empty husks. Like a lemon that had been sucked dry. Something was missing from them. They were just staring at something in the distance, but they didn’t react to anything.” The sound of the room’s door opening pulled them out of the conversation. Thunderbolt’s head swivelled toward the sound. A look of shock crossed his face. The doorway was filled by a giant beige pegasus stallion. His head nearly brushed the top of the doorframe. “D-Dad...” Thunderbolt stammered. He tried to cover his wings with his forelegs. “What happened?” Thunderbolt’s father growled in a voice that seemed to contain a few buckets of gravel. “I-I fell. It looks worse than it is. Really. What are you doing here?” “You’re more of an idiot than I thought if you even need to ask the question. What reason does a father need to visit his hospitalized son?” Thunderbolt’s father shifted his gaze to the doctor. “Doctor, what happened?” “I was about to ask Mr Stormbringer that question when our conversation got derailed. Please come in.” Thunderbolt’s father stepped through the doorway. A red pegasus mare with bright silver-blue eyes followed him. The moment she saw Thunderbolt was filled with relief. She sped toward him and wrapped him in her forelegs. “My darling,” she cooed. “I'm so relieved to see you in one piece. What happened to you?” “Ruby,” Thunderbolt’s father growled. “Give the colt space.” Ruby reluctantly detached herself from Thunderbolt and sat down at the edge of the bed. “So, Mr Stormbringer. Shall we go over your injuries before we get into how you got them in the first place?” “Uh, yeah. Let’s do that. What’s the damage, Doc?” “About two days ago you were dragged in by the Royal Guard. Your wing was broken along with a couple of ribs. What worried us was the fact that you weren’t reacting to external stimuli. Medical diagnostic spells revealed swelling of the brain. Sometime last night the swelling started to go down and we expected you to wake sometime tomorrow.” “What happens now?” “We want to keep you for a few days in order to observe your condition for signs of any long-lasting damage and symptoms. You should be able to go home in a week’s time.” “I’m just wondering how you got these injuries.” “Yes, my darling. What happened?” “I’m not really sure. It happened so fast…” “Doctor, where did the guard find the colt?” The doctor scratched his head. “They said they found him in the, uhm, church courtyard. They think that he fell from the tower.” “How tall is this tower?” “I dunno. Three or four stories?” “Three or four stories? Damn miracle the colt survived.” “Indeed.” A chime echoed through the room. The doctor’s eyes flicked to the clock hanging on the wall behind Thunderbolt. “Shit. Is that the time already? I’m sorry. I must be starting my rounds.” “No worries, Doctor. Don’t let us keep you.” The doctor nodded and rushed out of the room. He softly closed the door on the way out. Thunderbolt’s father narrowed his eyes at him. “What happened?” “Dad, I said that I had a bad fall. Don’t worry about it.” “Don’t worry about it?!” Ruby exclaimed. She swatted at Thunderbolt. She hit him right on his cast. He sucked air through grit teeth. “Don’t worry about it? I haven’t done anything but worry about you for the last two years.” “Ruby. Give the colt space. She is right, however. Where have you been for the last two years?” Thunderbolt looked out of the hospital window. The sky was turning orange. “I don’t really stay in one place for long. Work keeps me busy.” “Too busy to send your family a postcard every other month?” “It’s not like that, Dad.” “What is it like then?” Thunderbolt opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water as he searched for the words. “I-it’s a long story, Dad.” “We’ve got time.” Thunderbolt ground his teeth. “Just start at the beginning,” his father grunted. “You can trust us, son. We’re family.” “I-I guess it started-” BAM! The door slammed against the wall. Inside the doorframe stood a brown earth pony stallion with a blond mane. Notebook. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” His voice was high and excited. It was like hearing a hummingbird speak. His eyes caught sight of Thunderbolt’s father. He snapped to attention, his right foreleg almost hitting his forehead as he lifted it in salute. “Colonel!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” Thunderbolt’s father returned the salute. “At ease Lieutenant. I could say the same to you. What are you doing here?” “Guard business, sir. Speaking of,” the Lieutenant turned to Thunderbolt. A smile formed on his lips. “I have some good news, Stormbringer!” “What do you mean?” “Just that we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.” The Lieutenant shot an apologetic look at Thunderbolt’s father. “I apologize, sir. I didn’t expect you to be here, but orders are orders,” he looked back at Thunderbolt. “Thunderbolt Stormbringer, you are hereby under arrest for the 13 murders that took place in the Canterlot Cathedral on June 5th of this year. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”