Don't you remember?

by PinkieIsMahWaifu


Wounds

'How bad is it?'
The white alicorn looked Zecora in the eye.
'You don't need to sugarcoat anything. I need you to be honest with me.' Celestia anticipated news of her friend.
'His leg is broken, I am afraid, but it should fix soon, with my aid.
As you saw, his eye took a bad hit. I'm sorry to say I could not help it.
His pupil can no longer dilate; his eyes are uneven, as of late.' The zebra sighed, wondering if Celestia would receive the news badly. She took a lot better than the striped pony expected.
'And... his wings?' She asked through a fake facade to hide her despair.
'His wings are fine, my little dear. What is giving you this fear?' Zecora's melodic voice chimed.
'What? No, they were broken! They...' The Princess paused, feeling slightly woozy at the memory of your mangled wings.
'Don't hide things from me.' Her voice took an uncharacteristic serious, almost angry tone. 'I wish to see him.'
'He is resting, it is unwise-' Zecora was cut off before she could even finish the rhyme.
'LET ME SEE HIM!' The alicorn's powerful voice echoed through the vaulted ceiling, causing the zebra to recoil in fear.
'Very well. Come with me.' Zecora sighed. 'Do not be upset at what you see.'
The small zebra turned and lead Celestia into another room. You were asleep on a bed in the center. The bed was no short of what would be expected in Canterlot Castle; it was large, draped with a purple canopy. The sheets were silk, the pillows were velvet. Beautiful gems glistened, making patterns on the exquisite woodwork. It was truly fit for royalty.

Celestia wasted no time, immediately making her way over to your side. She pushed back the cloth separating you from her, and looked at your limp, broken body. She gently grasped the base of your feathered wing. It was odd... it wasn't broken in any way, when just a few hours ago it was clearly shattered. The plumage wasn't even singed... it was fluffy, like it was just newly grown. The white alicorn turned to face the medical zebra.
'This isn't possible... Look, they're not even blackened from the flames.... His father threw him against the wall. You saw the body of that thing! The tiles where he landed cracked from the impact! I saw... I saw his wings. They were broken...' She trailed off as Zecora came nearer. She leaned in and looked at the wing Tia was holding.
'This is strange. This is not right. His feathers are new; fluffy and bright.
Are you sure his wings were harmed? There could be reason to be alarmed.'
Celestia furrowed her brow in confusion as she tried to figure out what could possibly have happened. It couldn't have been that chimeras heal quickly; his tail took normal time to fix after the incident with the guard. Zecora's face suddenly became thoughtful.

'What is it?' The alicorn asked.
'It seems that they are newly healed. The reason why is yet to be revealed...
Tell me, did your tears flow? And in which direction did they go?' The zebra's riddle confused Tia slightly.
'You mean did I cry?' The royal sister became slightly embarrassed as Zecora nodded at her question.
'Um.. Yes, yes I did...' She murmured. 'And I think the only places my tears went was on me... Although, a few might have hit Discord's back... Anyway, was has this got to do with his wings healing so quickly?'
'Do not fear, my little flower. It is said alicorn tears have mysterious powers.'
Celestia stopped and looked at Zecora, unable to tell if she was joking or not.
'Wait. So you're saying.... my tears just fixed his wings?'
Zecora smiled at the young princess and nodded.
'So you're saying... when things go wrong, or somepony gets hurt, I can just cry and make it all better?'
Zecora's smile turned into a frown.
'Your tears are much more powerful than you think. You should not just use them in a wink!
You will not realize, but you are drained. You should rest, do not strain.
Your parents did not cry, you see; they knew how dangerous tears could be!'
Celestia became worried at the sudden seriousness of the issue. She didn't realize crying could be so harmful. She would have asked Zecora more about it had you not started to stir. Celestia realized she was still holding onto your wing and quickly let go.

As you blinked your eyes open, the first sight you saw was her beautiful face. You sprang up out of the bed when you remembered where you were and what had just happened.
'Oh my god! Are you okay?' You frantically circled her (hobbling slightly with the cast on your leg) trying to find any sign of injury. In your haste, you actually reached out and picked her up. You were surprised at how light she was, and held her up for a few seconds before replacing her on the floor, noticing the odd looks you were getting from the guards. You didn't know, but in the seconds you were holding her, her heart beat quickened.

She looked at you, gazing in your eyes. You became slightly unnerved and could not hold her gaze. She realized she was staring and quickly broke eye contact, but you knew something was wrong.
'What's the matter?' You asked.
She began to walk away, over to the other side of the room. You sat down on the edge of the bed sadly, thinking she might be upset with you about her parents. You looked at the floor wondering how to fix this, when you felt a slight tapping on you shoulder. It was Celestia, holding a small ornate mirror in her mouth. You took hold of it and looked into it, quickly realizing what she had been staring at.

'Oh. Well that's new.'
You inspected the recent changes to your eye. One seemed slightly larger than the other.You were about to look closer, when a sudden light shone in your face. It was Tia, holding a torch in her telekinetic grip.
'It doesn't dilate, see? When you took that fireball to your eyes, this one was damaged. It doesn't adjust in light like the other one does.'
She was right. You watched the other pupil change, growing smaller in the light. The other pupil remained the same size.
'Great.' You laughed. 'It matches the rest of me. Ugly as sin.' You grimaced. You turned to Celestia, expecting her to laugh with you, but she had a serious look on her face.
'You're not ugly.' She said in a very sincere voice.
'Um... what? Tia, look at me. I'm a freak. Nature's Frankenstein.' You groaned.
'No, you're not, Discord.' Her voice was firm, but caring. 'You're perfect the way you are, and I wouldn't change a thing about you for the world. I like you as you.'
I love you as you. She longed to say those words, but knew you couldn't possibly feel the same way. You were different species, I mean, that just didn't happen. She didn't want to scare you off. As she turned to walk away, you called after her.
'Hey, Tia.' She turned around.
'Thanks.' She smiled and continued walking, feeling the sisterly urge to go and check on Luna. It was going to be a long night. Literally.