I was discharged from the hospital late next night and was brought back to Wings of Care. Thankfully it was late enough in the night that most of the other kids were well asleep by now. When we arrived back, Virulent Lesson had guided me to the bed rooms. Personally I was far from tired after having just spent half a day knocked out in a hospital, however I was eager for some alone time. Unfortunately the rooms were shared with the rest of the other foals and young creatures here. I let out a groan to which Virulent hushed me.
“Hush, the others are sleeping. But I assure you it's fine, I have taken disciplinary action with Albatross. He's also in dorm three, you’re in dorm one so you’re safe,” he said with a gentle smile. I did not reciprocate the comforting action however. Honestly taking another beating didn't worry me as much as it probably should have. Instead I was more frustrated with the fact I had to share a room with a dozen other creatures.
“If there's any problems, my room’s at the end of the hall. Don't be afraid to get me.” He rubbed my back in a comforting motion before pushing me towards my new bed. It was a plain flat rectangular cloud with a brown wool sheet draped over it.
“Now I'm going to get some rest. You should do the same Phoenix. Remember if you need me for anything, I'm here,” Virulent said before departing from the room.
After he left me to my own devices, I stepped up to one of the widows and looked out to the slumbering city. I was too restless to sleep now. I just wanted to let my mind wander for a bit, away from this world.
Outside the confines of the orphanage rested a sky both open and free. A sky in which a certain cloud city rested. It laid under the cover of cool blue and darker purple hues as the shadows of the night enveloped it. All of which gave the large, open and admittedly already magical city, a mystical feel. Above the city rested dozens of stars that shimmered with a radiant golden white light. It was almost a peaceful site, however the loud, obnoxious snores from the children around me kept me from truly becoming engrossed by its sight.
A silent yet frustrated groan pushed past my muzzle as I looked back to the dull and poorly illuminated room. Dozens of bunk beds littered the room, each filled with one creature or another, all of whom seemed to be in a deep sleep. Not every bed was filled though. Some of the children still seemed to remain up, intermingling amongst themselves whispering stories here and there to one another. I guess they came slithering back out after Virulent Lesion left, as they weren't up when I first arrived.
In total there were five children still up, two ponies, two gryphons and a changeling, a reformed one specifically. The ponies were a mare and stallion respectively, both some hue of red, yet the lighting made it difficult to pin their exact hues. The mare seemed to be a darker wine red while the stallion was something analogous to maroon, and both wore black manes and tails. The gryphons both seemed to be guys; one coated in feathers of a dark purple and tuskin brown fur, the other, while sharing the same hue of brown for fur, had more of a teal tint mixed with a thick layer of grey for feathers. Giving him a very muted and unsaturated appearance. The bug was harder to pin down, their features seemed androgynous and their colors seemed to shift depending on how the light hit their chitin. Ranging from seafoam greens to a sunset orange. After taking a moment to adjust to the bizarre sight I felt my ear gently perk up to listen in on their quiet night murmurs.
“I'm just saying,“ the female pegasus began before being interrupted by the stallion.
“And I'm just saying, you're wrong.” The remark carried with it a thick layer of jovial teasing. The comment managed to score a bemused giggle from one of the other night owls, namely the bulkier purple gryphon.
“That's not fair! You didn't even let me finish! you don't know what I was going to say would be wrong if I don't finish explaining,” the mare huffed causing her cheeks puffing up like two small red balloons.
“You don't have to watch a falling rock hit the ground to know it will,” the other pegasus retorted with a devious smirk, as if he was trying to prod a bear in all the wrong spots. If that was his plan, it was working as the mare flared out her wings; holding back a loud groan of pent up frustration.
“Calm down you two,” the teal gryphon interrupted, “no need to be trading hoofs, especially at this hour.”
“You know that's my job,” the purple gryphon added with a thick layer of sarcasm.
“We need to rest anyway,” the changeling added in.
“FINEEEEEE,” the stallion began with an over the top tone of disappointment followed by a giggle, “guess I'll have to prove you wrong later, Ribbon.”
“Shove it Zeal,” the mare replied through gritted teeth, “or I'll have Tretorn here knock your lights out.” The comment made the large purple gryphon scowl a bit.
“You know I would never, especially to one of you,” he objected.
“What if it was to knock some sense into my idiot brother?” the mare asked.
“Older, idiot, brother,” Zeal playfully added.
“By one second!” Ribbon snapped back with a guttural snarl of annoyance.
“Still one second faster than you,” Zeal hummed lightly jabbing her side with his fore knee before adding a quick, “love you!” This only seemed to make Ribbon more annoyed, though after a second of snorting out an air of raw frustration she calmed down to begrudging acceptance.
“Ya ya…Love you too.”
“Good. Now that we're all settled down,” the teal gryphon sighed, “can we just sleep?”
“You can if you want Star,” Zeal replied, “but I’m going to stay up and watch the stars a bit more.”
“Better not use your tiredness as an excuse again when we race tomorrow then,” Ribbon quipped. Zeal seemed to ponder the question for a moment, as if to decide whether to push her buttons again or not. After a few moments of internal debate he simply shrugged.
“I won't,” he promised. On that note, the crew began to disburse before Teratorn suddenly stopped; his face jolting as if it had just recalled something.
“Oh hey, Carapace,” he began causing the changeling to turn to him, “do you still have my copy of Three Eagles?” The changeling closed their eyes in thought before scratching their head.
“Umm, yea should be under my bunk. I’ll grab it,” they assured before trotting off and returning with a small yellow book. To which the large purple gryphon happily snatched up and fluttered off back to his own bed. As the group disbursed, for the final time, I turned my gaze back to the window nearest to me. Though before I could let my thoughts wander the voice of the changeling surprised me from behind, causing me to jolt a bit.
“You know, it's rude to spy on other creatures' conversations,” it warned. Though its voice sounded less hostile than I expected from such an accusation. If anything it sounded almost playful in a way. I sat still for a long moment debating what to say next, but ultimately decided to say nothing.
“Don’t worry Phoenix, I’m not mad or anything,” they tried to assure me. I felt my skin crawl a bit as I felt their eyes fall on me. They were dissecting me for information, like an interrogator might do with a suspect looking for any subtle body language to get a read on them.
“Sorry I… I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.” The changeling's voice was quieter and more timid now. Feeling a slight pang of guilt I figured I could at least give a reply to hopefully calm their nerves.
“How’d you know my name,” was about the only coherent thing I could muster up at the spur of the moment.
“Oh, Virulent Lesson said it when he introduced you,” they reminded me; I gave a soft nod in return. The answer sounded right, but I was personally unable to remember much else other than the beating.
“Sorry about that by the way,” she continued, “we’re not all like that here.”
“I really don't care if you are or not,” I replied. It came out colder than I intended, but it was the truth. I didn't really care about any of that, or any creature here, or anything in this world. I just wanted to go back home. I noticed the changeling cringe a bit at the answer out of the corner of my eye, before opening their mouth to try and voice words they'd never say. Instead they sat quietly at my side for most of that night before slumping over in exhaustion. My head swayed from side to side as I gazed out the window once more to watch the sun rise over the city. It rose slowly, at first, but quickly sped to its apex, far above the clouds; banishing away all the shadows that were once gripping the city.