I admit, I’ve been curious about what his species females looked like, especially after he mentioned pictures a while ago. But actually getting to meet one fills me with a whole other kind of academic excitement. It’s both difficult and not difficult to guess the difference between femininity and masculinity for their race… but no more do I need to guess!
I failed to notice myself walking into a dome of magic as I was lost in thought. I had just been following Princess Luna the whole time, so when I found myself outside, I was mildly confused. Looking around, I notice four guards, assumedly the ones assigned to Null and Kaia. I’ve seen each of them accompanying Princess Luna from time to time, but never actually met them. I’m still skeptical of the princesses' decision regarding that unicorn, but if they trust him, then I can’t really complain. I am a bit jealous though...
Looking around more, specifically at the dome I had bumped into, I see Null, and a second individual who must be ‘Kaia’. The difference between their gender isn’t immediately apparent aside from their choice of clothes; I genuinely thought I was looking at a duplicate for a moment. The one who I assume to be Kaia is standing in the middle of the arena, flexing some sort of barrier in various ways, with Null standing off to the side watching her.
I find the whole thing fascinating; it has some similarities to traditional barrier magic, and she seems to exhibit an extreme level of flexibility with it, if lacking in control.
Null takes a look at his watch and then looks back up at his sister, putting his hands in his pockets. “Alright, time to call it. Go ahead and end the duel.” She brings her barrier to shape a shell around herself before it dissipates, and walks up to him while taking a knife out that I didn’t notice she had before. She gives it a quick flourish before taking a swipe at his neck; but instead of her being caught by the arena’s magic and closing the misused dueling circle, he disappears and reappears across the arena behind her.
She looks thoroughly confused before he speaks up. “What are you doing, I thought I told you to end the duel?” he asks in a genuinely confused tone. Turning around, she looks at him with an annoyed look, and she walks back up to him again, this time just standing in front of him. She pokes him with her free hand, and he stays there, looking at her with a confused look of his own. “What was that for? Ya gotta go for a killing blow, remember?”
She quickly goes for a stab at his throat, but like before he disappears. “Quit playing around, I’m gettin tired of standing on my legs, Kaia.”
I hear Princess Luna snicker beside me, and I start to understand what he’s doing. Kaia seems to understand as well, as she assumes a combative stance, and rushes him with her knife at the ready; however, he blinks next to her, hands still in his pockets. She doesn’t give him a chance to say any snarky remarks this time, as she goes for another swipe at him, to which he blinks away again, still keeping relatively close to her however. After a few more close ranged blinks, he creates a bit of distance between them, finally letting a smirk show on his face.
“Ya know, without that eye, I’d have gotten you by now.” she remarks, keeping her breathing even.
He simply shrugs. “Perhaps. I told you already, it’s not a cheat or a crutch; It’s part of me. Just like yours is a part of your life now.”
She ponders his words for a moment before taking a deep breath and brings her barrier out again. He smirks a bit wider, and finally takes his hands out of his pockets.
Then, she does something I’ve never seen someone do with shield magic, and forms wide tendrils from her barrier that are moving freely; if a bit wobbly. Said tendrils suddenly dash towards Null, and his eyes widen in shock as he blinks away just in time to avoid them crashing down on him. The spot where he used to be standing is decimated, leaving a relatively decent sized crater in the ground.
She doesn’t let up however, and redirects the tendrils towards him. He starts to retaliate, sending blasts at the tendrils, sending them off course; however, one of them still hits true, slamming into his left arm, and smashing it into the arena walls.
At the exact same time, a sickening snapping sound resounded throughout the area followed by him crying out in pain. A moment later, he blinks out of being pinned by the tendril, and winds up relatively in the same spot. I cringe hard as he groans and clutches his arm tightly, and lifts his arm a bit, watching it hang limply.
Immediately, Kaia cuts off her barrier and rushes over. “Oh my god, I’m sorry! How bad is it? I didn’t know you’d do that!”
At this point, I notice Luna walking over to the Arena, and presses her hoof into a marked brick, bringing the barrier down, thus ending the duel.
“Luna? When the hell did you get here?” Null asks through grit teeth.
“Before you started this impromptu duel with your sister.” she replies evenly, kneeling down to get a better look at his arm. “Definitely broken.” she says offhandedly, before casting a spell, after which Null calms down a bit, but still clutching his arm.
“Why’s it still broken? Didn’t you just cast a spell to try to fix it?” Kaia asks confusedly.
“No, all I did was numb the pain.” Princess Luna replies.
I find myself standing there awkwardly, not exactly sure what to do considering how the situation turned.
The four guards all walk into the arena, crowding around them. “Because it’s just a broken arm. Not that big a deal.” the male thestral says.
“Damn, you got whooped boy. Multiple times!” the pegasus chimes in, to which the female thestral smacks him in the back of the head with her wing.
“Not that big a deal? His arm is broken!” Kaia exclaims.
“It’s not just that; healing magic is typically draining, so they are saved for emergencies, not to mention I don’t know his medical anatomy. It’s not a life or death situation, so not an emergency.” she states evenly.
“Sorry if it seems we’re being insensitive, we’re just used to this kind of stuff. We’re numb to it.” the male thestral says.
“Yeah yeah, enough chatter, can I go get this looked at already if none of ya are gonna fix it yourselves?” Null says as he shakily stands up. “Someone lead the way, I don’t know where the infirmary is.” he says, looking towards the castle. It's then that he notices me. “Oh hey Twilight! What brings you around these parts?”
Twilight ends up looking like a deer caught in headlights. A twinge of pain in my arm reminds me of my current predicament, and I shake my head. “Nevermind, walk and talk.” I said through grit teeth. This snaps her out of her momentary stupor, and she turns and walks back towards the castle, looking behind her to make sure I’m following. I hear the rest of the group catching up behind us, and my sister rushes to my side.
“Why did that even happen? I thought you said it would catch us!” she exclaims.
“Yeah, if you were about to land a killing blow, or one that would take me out of the fight.” I answer.
“You’re telling me a broken arm wouldn’t take you out of a fight?” she asks skeptically.
“Nope. Had Luna not stopped it, I’d have kept going. I said I’ve never seen anyone die in those arenas; never said people don’t get hurt.” I explain.
She looks down in apparent shame, regret all across her face. I sigh, and bump into her, making sure not to jostle my arm too much. “Hey, it happens, okay? I’ve had and seen worse, so don’t beat yourself up over it too hard.”
“I’d rather not imagine that…” she says, cringing.
I shrug and look back to twilight, who Luna has now caught up with to walk alongside with. “So, again, what brings you here Twilight?” I ask.
“You two, actually. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna asked me to work on creating a spell to get you guys back home. I admit now, there is a chance it’s not possible, though I promise to try my best.” She answers with an off kilter smile, trying not to look at my arm.
"Just one pony?" Kaia asks from beside me.
"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty talented with magic. It is my cutie mark after all." Twilight answers, her smile turning more genuine.
"I wouldn't be able to tell talented magic from regular magic, so I'll take your word for it. But it's not your skill I was questioning; wouldn't it be faster with more than one person working on it?" Kaia asks, her mood drifting towards a slightly more positive one.
"Sometimes, yes. However, Twilight Sparkle is currently one of the few we could entrust this task to. Fret not though, she is not my sister's student for nothing." Luna chimes in.
Twilight beams proudly at the praise before looking back at Kaia. "I do have to warn you it can't be done overnight. This can take anywhere from a few months to a few years; even if a full team was working on it. And that's assuming it's all possible." Her smile turns a bit more somber.
"A few years huh…" Kaia repeats downtrodden. "Wonder how long that would be back home."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asks curiously.
"time moves faster here. Jeice went missing eighteen years ago, but he's been here for two thousand years apparently." Kaia replies.
"Jeice?" Twilight tilts her head in confusion.
"My birth name, which I had forgotten." I answer.
After a bit more walking, we get to the infirmary, and I’m immediately seated by the royal medical staff. “Alright, Null I’m sure it was? I’m Doctor No, I’m gonna take a few scans of your arm to see the damage.” I raise an eyebrow at the strange name of the doctor, but carefully extend my arm out to him anyways. He covers my arm in his magic, and looks at it thoughtfully while holding it up with his hoof.
“No offense, but what kind of name is ‘No’?” Kaia questions from the side.
He looks up and over at her. “Hm? Oh, that’s just my first name. My full name is No Harm, but I find it amusing to go by No. Creates many comically comedic situations.” He chuckles.
“I imagine it does. Though, you seem a bit too chipper, despite knowing who you’re workin on here. What gives?” I ask a bit skeptically.
He smirks at me. “Well, aside from the fact that it would be unprofessional to be rude to you, not to mention in front of so many others, I’m a doctor at heart. I made an oath to help others, no matter who they may be and what they may have done.”
I nod in understanding. Rare to find someone with dedication to their ideals in spite of someone they don’t like. I respect it.
“And while others may have various opinions on you, I have a more mixed opinion on you. Working in the castle, you hear things. I’ve treated some of those you’ve hurt, and those same ponies watched one of their own get put on trial over you; They also watched how you stood up for him, and shared as much.” he says, motioning towards Skyline with his head.
Skyline for his part simply nods, and I'm just left glad that the guy in charge giving me medical aid isn't going to secretly try to kill me.
"Moving right along, it seems you managed to not only break your arm, you shattered it." Kaia cringes in regret, but I wave her off. "I'll be honest, I'm amazed at your pain tolerance right now. This kind of pain would have most unconscious, or at the least unable to focus on anything other than the pain. I'm curious, does your species not feel pain?" The Doctor asks with a tilt of his head.
"Oh don't get me wrong, it hurts like a bitch and I do feel like I'm about to pass out, even with Luna's numbing spell; But crying about it isn't gonna help it at all. Besides, I'm used to physical pain. Doesn't mean I like it though, speaking of which, can we move on to the part where you fix the damn thing?" I ask impatiently.
"Yes, yes of course." As he says that, the glow from his horn intensifies a bit, and my broken arm starts to go even more numb. "Now, I cast a spell that should dull the pain, but it will only do so much, especially if Princess Luna herself already cast a numbing spell. This should take roughly a few minutes." He explains while keeping his gaze on my arm.
"Hold on, a few minutes? To fix a shattered arm? That doesn't sound right at all, shouldn't there be a surgery or something?" Kaia asks from the side.
He looks over to her with a sideways tilt of his head. "Not particularly. Not to say that a surgery isn't a potential way to go about it, but that's a bit unnecessary since we can just regenerate the bone fragments, mend them together and re-set it in place. Have you not broken a bone before?" He asks.
"No, I haven't but my dad has. He got a surgery, and has a rod of metal in his arm now. We don't have magic where we're from." She replies.
"I see. Well, not to worry, he'll just be wearing a cast for a few weeks is all. Now onto the actual work." He says as he brings over a relatively flat piece of semi hard rubber and puts it in front of my face. "Bite." He orders. I comply with a raised eyebrow, biting onto it. He pushes it back in my mouth a little with his magic before nodding to himself. "Now, this shouldn't hurt that much, not enough to need to put you under at least. If it gets to be too much though, knock on the medical table seven times, and I'll stop. Ready?" He asks after his explanation.
I nod, and immediately notice his work. Without the excruciating pain flooding my senses, I can clearly feel every movement of the bones inside my arm.
"Onto another topic, the six of you will be moving to Ponyville soon." Luna drops into the conversation out of nowhere with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer.
I raise an eyebrow and let out a questioning grunt, muffled by the block in my mouth as everyone turns their attention to her.
"Since Twilight Sparkle here will be working on this spell for you, it would be convenient and helpful to her to have you closer by. Thus, your guards will be accompanying you two by proxy. Not only that, Ponyville is a much less hostile environment."
The Crescents in the room simply nod in acceptance, and I'm about to spit out the bite block to reply, but quickly bite down on it with a groan as a particularly tender spot flares up in pain.
"What kind of place are we going to be living in then?" Kaia asks in curiosity.
"We'll be securing a house by the end of the day, you'll be able to move in tomorrow. You'll also be taking a hidden train under the castle to get there, as we are trying to keep this under wraps. Twilight would be better suited to tell you more about the town itself." Luna answers, turning to Doctor No.
"Speaking of which, I trust you will keep this to yourself? This information is not to leave this room." She asks in a way that doesn't leave any question.
"Of course princess, I wouldn't dream of it. Wouldn't be the first time I've had to keep secrets for the crown." He replies without looking back at her.
As she nods in acknowledgement, I spit the block out into my good hand and clear my mouth of saliva. "Isn't that a bit hasty? Tomorrow?"
The Doctor looks at me in annoyance, grabbing the block in his magic and coaxing it back into my mouth, which I accept reluctantly but am glad I did as I bite hard on it and curl my good hand into a fist. It seems he's setting the bone.
"Perhaps it's a bit quick, but the sooner the better, for everyone's case." She replies.
I let the tension go as the Doctor finishes setting it, ending the onslaught of pain, and breath heavily. He takes the block and throws it into the trash, and brings over what my eye tells me it's the stuff for the cast. The rest of the time in the infirmary is spent in relative silence, until I hear what sounds like rapid clacking.
Looking to the source of the sound, I see Kaia spinning a knife with pivots on it's dual folding handles. A balisong trainer my eye informs me. It's red with a black blade.
"What manor of weapon is that?" Luna asks in curiosity.
Kaia catches it after tossing it up in an interesting way, then holds it open. "It's a fake weapon, a toy; though there are ones with real blades. Better than the stupid fidget toys most kids play with. It's called a butterfly knife, or balisong. It's fun." She explains as she runs her finger along where an edge would be, bringing it up to show that it's fine.
"It definitely seems entertaining, if designed for more dexterous creatures." Luna replies.
"Right, as exciting as a toy is, I'm sure Null will be more excited to know that he's free to leave." Doctor No. Replies with a gentle pat on my cast. "Now be careful with it, try not to get it wet, and don't go banging it on anything." He says as he brings over a small bottle of pills. Take one each morning until they run out. After that, you can either come back here or go to a hospital to see how your arm is coming along. Any questions?" He asks.
"Yes. Do people with a stutter also stutter in their thoughts?" I ask with a straight face.
His face scrunches up in confusion at the odd question. "I… I suppose?"
My face cracks into a smile and I laugh. "It's a joke. Have a good day doctor." I say as I get up and test the range of motion I have with my now bound arm, pocketing the medication and walking out the door.