There I was, sitting in the hospital lobby with a desire to just crawl back into bed and pretend recent events would just undo themselves if I hid long enough.
And yet, the local alicorn princess was there, practically squirming as she wrote down notes and inadvertently making sure I'd never live it down as she geeked out about studying my next advancement of filling into my foreign magic for the ump-teenth time.
"I've heard æther mixing with the Animus Mundi's magic in some of her servants, and I recently learned that Alicorn magic is æther based but still laced with a touch of quintessence. The Tree of Harmony even used its link to the Animus Mundi to sustain itself when the elements are not nestled in its branches. Yet this is the first example I've ever heard of quintessence being used with the Animus Mundi's magic—at the same time and for the same task!"
I passed my mistletoe over my palm, and called out "Auntie, food please?"
Immediately, the berries appeared in my hand for the fourth time in the last hour. For the third time that hour, Princess Twilight's eyes went wide as she saw the readings from the portable machine I was unwillingly hooked up to.
I unceremoniously let the berries roll out of my hand and into the bowl just as the doctor bowed in gratitude and took them away.
"One more time, please!? I want to see the data for it when you apply your upcasting technique!"
I finally let the emotions I had been letting slide into lament of my choice turn back into anger. Turning around, I gave her a solid glare.
I growled for half a second then barked my response, "No!"
I pulled the wires off and calmed myself enough to give a proper explanation to the not quite scientist like scholar of magic who was also a member of the royal family.
"Lesser restoration is a level two spell and can't be used with a level one slot. So I have agreed to use those on the berries. But all my level one slots are spent now and I have to conserve my level two spells and up for healing the sick."
Turning to the nurse that was coming up to me, I waved the princess off. "After the crisis maybe, but not right now."
The nurse bowed with gratitude just as deep as the doctor, and spoke, "Thank you for assisting with feeding the children this last week. One even found his cut leg healed up upon eating his."
I gave the nurse a nod in kind then, having a shrinking suspicion to what he wanted, I responded, "Yea, that's kinda due to my caster link with Archimedes. The quintessence I got from him boosts most any healing spell involving wounds, not just the ones I cast through him. So what is it this time? Need me to substitute for the trio again?"
The nurse nodded apologetically and gestured me to follow. "Sadly, yes. Their work is as effective as their father's circle but-"
I interrupted him as I came up beside him. "Teacher."
He pulled his head back a bit and stopped. "What?"
Pressing on my amulet on the off chance it had gone out just then, and to reset the timer, I repeated myself, "He may be their father, but I've been studying language and I realized that when referring to their capacity as healers, they always referred to Claps to Thunder as their teacher. Using the term father is reserved for less professional times.
I mentally finished to myself, "At least, that's the only explanation to why Listens in Anger always switches to using 'father' when speaking to Speaks with Talons about Claps to Thunder."
With a blush of embarrassment, he continued both his walking and his conversation.
"Yes. I mean, their work is as effective as their teacher's circle, but they just can't do it nearly as much as the proper masters of their art stationed in the big cities. The masters in Manehattan are healing around thirty five creatures a day, and their teacher's circle in Canterlot is managing around forty to forty five creatures a day. But the griffin apprentices, while more advanced than the other apprentices, are only managing around a dozen now without straight up exhausting themselves. The population is less dense here and there are far less in critical condition now that the gangrene outbreak is stabilized and on the recovery. Nevertheless, the load Ponyville and the surrounding areas has still put a terrible strain on them."
Turning to walk down the hall that led to another wing dedicated to the disease in question, I piped in with a bit of dry wit to try to lighten my mood.
"And, unlike the gangrene, these newer diseases that are taking their turn at reaching their critical phases can't just be fixed with a simple surgery."
The nurse tilted his head, missing the humor entirely and kept his half sincere and half forced smile.
"We are grateful for you volunteering your limited reserves to give our surgeons a much needed rest alongside the griffin apprentices when they were in their highest demand. Most of them will be able to help more out here on the floor as normal doctors now."
With a turn to a patient's room, a sickly mare lay in the bed with a teary eyed husband sitting next to her.
"Well it's still a welcome distraction to purifying food or working with wires sticking out of me."
When they saw me, I just walked in, cracked my knuckles and put on my sly, don't want anybody to like me, business man voice, "So, would you like the version that drains about three years of her remaining life span, or should we bump it up to five just to make sure?"
Hours later, at Fluttershy's cottage.
I was doing what I could to clean up, including cleaning my familiar's bird house.
"Your behavior this last week has been exceedingly cruel of you." I heard Archimedes call to me for the first time in six days. His mental voice had a strong sense of vinegar to it.
I nodded at his statement of disgust and called out to him. "But you'd want me to do it anyway, given our circumstances. No?"
"Your lies about your foreign magic requiring them to give up a part of their life force does allow you to conserve as many spell slots as possible with the demands of the community. I won't deny that. But we both know that is not your intended goal."
I said nothing as I wrinkled his replacement bedding blanket to make it a little easier for him to adjust it to his liking.
When he saw I wasn't going to respond, he said it for me.
You don't want them to see you as a good person. You want them to dislike you so that they don't blindly trust other humanoids that might come again in the future. Now that they see you as a fully fledged healer, you're doubling down on this.
With my continued silence basically being taken as a confession, we didn't speak further on the matter.
* * *
After I had the list of chores Fluttershy left me completed, I finally sat down with my notebook and tried to restore the one spell slot.
It was for naught, though, because I heard a knocking at the door.
When I answered it, I saw Princess Celestia, flanked by Tempest and Fluttershy and Scraps kept in check with a guard.
With her regal, yet gently spoken mannerisms, the princess nodded and asked, "Hello, Moss. May we come in?"
With an uncertain mind, I just numbly pressed the amulet and answered, "Two of you live here, and I can't exactly deny any princess, much less the eldest. What is this about?"
The princess just laughed and everypony relaxed.
She grew a merry smile and spoke to the ponies behind her, "You are right. His behavior when he knows something is up is tense to the point of it being fun to watch. Thank you both."
Fluttershy gestured me outside so that we could sit at the garden table.
With all of us seated, I asked, "Joke at my expense aside, is this bad news or even worse news?"
Tempest rolled her eyes and spoke up, "Disgustingly sweet and good news, actually."
I gave her a skeptical eyebrow.
She bobbed her head in begrudged agreement to my look and corrected herself, "Well, we got some news that is good but sounds bad, but we also have the good news."
The princess looked at me again from the far side of the table, notably up wind of me just to make sure I wasn't carrying any latent diseases. "Before we go too much further, I do wish to clarify your little stunt in the hospital about lying to patients will have to stop lest it create hysteria. When this epidemic is over, I will expect you to write a personal letter to each and every patient you claimed to reduce the life force of, apologizing and clarifying the lie you made. That said, in light of recent events we have finally decided you are ready."
She nodded to Tempest, who brought out a piece of paper and read it in a formal tone,
"To the water genasi known as 'Moss.' The board of the Office of Rehabilitation and Reintegration has evaluated your cultural, lingual and ethical studies of Equestria as a nation, as well as sufficient growth in skills applicable in employment. We also have made additional note to your progress in your personalized program of combating your emotional isolation and your new ability to open yourself emotionally enough to form bonds with others, corporeal or otherwise. In light of this, the office of Rehabilitation and Reintegration do here by recognize your ability to provide for yourself and perform as a productive member of Equestrian society, and do here by declare you a properly graduated parolee. Therefor you are now granted the status of a legal, independent resident of Equestria with all the rights, freedoms and responsibilities there of."
After Tempest finished, they sat there silently for me to respond. I waited several seconds before I could think of anything to say.
"Does this mean I can't stay with Fluttershy at this cottage anymore?"
The princess bowed her head with a genuine smile before coming back up. "That will be between you and Fluttershy, but she will not be able to take another charge until you manage to move out."
I nodded. "And she won't be able to make legal calls for me anymore if something happens?"
With a furled brow to match her smile, she answered just as openly. "By default, yes. But it is not unheard of for graduates to fill out the forms needed to entrust their former RRE officers with such authority until they find a more suitable pony."
Once I had a moment to let all of this sink in, I gave a pained look towards Fluttershy.
"So, if that's the sorta good, sorta bad news, then what is the good news?"
A soft, pained and yet sincere smile came across Fluttershy's face in response to my question, coupled with a slight blush and a gentle folding back of her ears. "That was supposed to be the good news."
Knowing the mood went from bittersweet to outright sour, I turned back to Tempest and the princess.
The princess spoke in an almost not quite apologetic tone, "The one you know as Dalock has been sighted near the city of Canterlot. Once we manage to track him enough to discern his location without magic while not letting him know he's being tracked, we will be attempting to detain him, but..."
She looked at me like she had something to say, but despite all of her nigh-ageless skill and charm, she still had the thought caught in her throat.
I looked at Tempest's eyes, having learned how to read them from so much time and so many adventures together. Without any further hints, I nodded and finished for the princess.
"But it will be a lot easier if you have a bait you know he won't be able to resist. Something he has strong feelings for or against. That is to say, me."
I could see the princess's demeanor falter and her posture fall into one fitting pained guilt as I saw what I knew to be genuine tears coming from her eyes. Almost immediately, she caught herself and got her posture back, even getting the tears to fall in such a way that their trail was almost invisible in her coat, but that brief moment of exposure cued me in. I could see great pain behind the face that now looked more like an expertly developed mask as she simply nodded.