//------------------------------// // Family: Bringing Another Into The Fold // Story: The Son of infinity // by Krystl_Fae //------------------------------// Celestia wretched as a knock came at the door. “Come in...” Equestria’s Princess tried to put on as much decorum as she could muster without causing herself further discomfort. She had already lost both her dinner and lunch, best not to see if breakfast would make an appearance too. Raven Quill opened the door and walked through with a yawn, closing it with a hoof behind her. She had a clipboard under one arm, but to those who had only seen her in her official capacity as Celestia's aide, that was about the only recognisable thing about her. Dressed in blue pyjamas with wild hair and black circles under her eyes, one could mistake her for an insomniac workaholic, which, although not far from the truth, was not why she was in Celestia’s office at such a sun-forsaken hour as three fifteen in the morning. “The medical staff have done their preliminary check-ups and are working on stabilising them enough to perform a CT scan.” Celestia’s assistant handed over a small leaflet of documents to the princess, who gingerly flipped through a few pages with great trepidation and no small amount of caution, as if the paper might start crumbling away in her hooves at the slightest touch. “There are no pictures in here, right?” “None, your highness. I think they noticed your reaction the last time you saw the cadaver of that...“ “Body, Raven. That pony is still alive, stars forbid. I don’t know how, ...but they’re not a corpse yet.” “Apologies, princess.” Celestia just waved a hoof to dismiss the apology. “Its fine, no need to be fancy at such an hour; we’re all tired. I called you out of bed just past midnight, it is no surprise you’re a little frazzled.” Just then another knock came from the door, as a servant pony walked in bringing a tray carrying two cups of coffee, steam visibly rising from the beverages in the cold. “Coffee?” Celestia asked with a sly smile, welcoming the chance to change the topic for a few moments. “Gladly, princess,” Raven responded with a grateful look, before chugging the beverage as though it was going out of style. Celestia, having had a bad reaction to caffeine in the past settled for her hot chocolate, which left a brown mark on her muzzle. The two friends looked at the “moustache” left behind on each other's muzzle by their drinks and laughed. When the princess calmed down, she went back to perusing the medical documents. Most check-ups had a form only a page long- two or three if they’d been in some sort of accident- but with no discernible identity nor prior medical records, they’d had to perform a full diagnosis of everything, down to the last scar. To say it… filled out the documents would be an understatement. Almost nine pages, containing row after row after row of injuries, diseases, mineral deficiencies, broken bones… and the list went on. Celestia felt herself shudder at the memory of when she first had a proper look at the foal she’d found. It had been too dark outside to see anything when she'd found him in the snow, and the memory she made in the medical wing that night might just haunt her for the rest of her days. What lay on the table in front of her didn’t even resemble a pony- a mass of black and grey fur, blood -both dried and fresh-, dirt, grime, occasionally through the matted fur and bone would be the pink of an open wound or sore- most with a sickly yellow pus seeping out of them, or blood oozing out with a consistency closer to that of lumpy honey. She’d had to run to the nearest bathroom after the nausea hit with the force of a fully-loaded train, only to be greeted with the sight of herself in the mirror when she was done. Her front hooves and back had been stained a dark crimson red , though occasional spots of yellow pus could be seen as well, having rubbed off onto her coat as she carried him back to the castle infirmary. She looked like a pony straight out of Tartarus, and not in a good way. It was no wonder everyone had reacted with as much chock and fear to her appearance as they did. Nearly two hours of alternating between evacuating the contents of her stomach and vigorous scrubbing with every soap on hoof short of straight-up bleach to get herself clean- and even then there was still a slight rose-coloured tint to her coat that wasn’t there before. It wasn't enough for the average pony to notice, but Celestia could tell the difference. Sitting here now in her office, she felt her eyes drift over to her wings again. They had been near impossible to thoroughly clean, and would require special treatment to remove the last of the stains left behind. She would have to call in some professionals to attend to her in the castle, in secrecy of course; she couldn’t have Equestria see her like this. For the time being, a simple illusion would have to suffice. Thankfully, occupying her mind was alleviating her nausea, though remembering the foal hadn’t helped in the slightest. An investigation was already underway, Celestia had made sure no time was lost, but it could take weeks to find anything. Records of the south-west corner of Canterlot were sketchy at best, and entirely falsified at worst. At least files that were missing could be accounted for, but discerning what records were accurate and which were gibberish was going to be a tedious and labour-intensive task. “Is something wrong, princess?” “No, no it’s just…” she inhaled, “…there’s a lot to take in, a lot to do. I don’t even know where to begin with the colt. No matching medical record, no missing pony poster, no birth certificate… we don’t even know if we can save him. His condition may be too extreme to properly heal.” Raven Quill reached across the desk between them and placed a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “What is it you’re always telling me when I feel a situation is hopeless?” Celestia nodded. “Keep moving forward, harmony will show you the way.” Raven nodded in return as Celestia took a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you, I needed that.” “You’re welcome,” she stood up, “I’m going to let everyone know we won’t be holding court today. Shall I tell them the princess is indisposed?” “No, I’ve made a speech each and every Hearth’s Warming for over two hundred years, I’m not giving up now.” Raven nodded and left the room. Celestia sighed. “It’s going to be a looong day,” she said to herself as she took another sip, eyeing the empty cup of coffee on the other side of the table and wondering if just this once she should consider giving up her abstinence for the brown bean juice.