//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Making Progress // Story: The Adventures of Fragment // by A Dark Reminder //------------------------------// My instincts and hunger were desperately telling me to feed off of Pinkie Pie’s positive emotions. I tried to fight them because the risks were too great, but it's easier to give in. Pinkie Pie had barely been in the room for five seconds and I was internally struggling not to feed. Control yourself, Fragment… Pinkie Pie placed the tray on the nightstand on my right. “I put chocolate chips in these ones!” “Sounds good…” So hungry… Must feed… No, NO! I can't just go crazy and feed. But I can't just sit and starve either. “Are you okay?” Pinkie Pie asked, her happiness changing into concern. Whatever part of me that wanted to feed wasn’t happy to see it go. “Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just hungry,” to say the least. “Oh, well then have some pancakes, silly,” she said, moving the tray of pancakes from the nightstand to my lap. Her happiness returned as she thought the problem had been so easily resolved. “Thanks.” I took one of the pancakes into my mouth and let its flavors soak in. It was better than the first ones, but it wasn't what I wanted. “Are you sure you're okay? You ate the first batch pretty quickly.” She caught on quickly. Since I couldn’t simply ignore my hunger and Pinkie Pie had become suspicious, I decided to come out with it. “No, I’m not okay,” I admitted as I released a sigh. “Remember how Twilight said changelings need to feed off of love?” “Ohhhhhh…” Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened as she realized what I was implying. The happiness that my hunger demanded began to fade again and was being replaced with unease. “Is there anything I can do to help?” “What? You want to help me… feed?” Is she joking? “Yeah! What kind of pony would I be if I didn't at least try to help you?” “Are you sure about this? I mean, I don't really know what I'm doing. It might be dangerous,” I said with a raised brow. “Well, Shinning Armor had a bad headache but he said it was from using his protection spell, so it can’t be that bad. What could happen?” She's not joking, she's insane. “Are you sure that you're sure? No one's going to like it if you get hurt.” “Oh, quit worrying, silly head. I'll be fine.” She gave a reassuring smile. “If you insist.” I was uncertain of doing this, but I knew I’d need to feed at some point anyway. “Just… I don't know, be happy; I think it’s something that I can feed off of.” “Okay.” She stood firm as she readied herself for whatever I was about to do. I let my instincts take control. I leaned forward a few inches, my mouth opened, my eyes closed and I inhaled slowly. I felt her happiness flow into me and my hunger being sated. Beyond that, the feeling was indescribable; I could feel her happiness transform into energy and strength. I could taste the happiness as I absorbed it. I felt my strength grow, my focus heighten, and the pain weaken as I consumed. I don't know how long I fed, but my feeding was interrupted when I heard a thud. I opened my eyes slightly to see what happened, but upon opening them the first thing I saw was some kind of green glowing energy flowing through the air into my mouth. I followed the energy to its source and my eyes went wide at what i saw. Pinkie Pie was on the floor, holding a hoof to her head and trying to get back up. “Pinkie Pie!” The stream of green energy vanished when I spoke. “Are you okay?” “I… I think so. What happened?” she asked as she struggled to regain stability. “It looked like you almost passed out. I knew this was a bad idea.” “Did it work? Do you still feel hungry?” she asked, the fact that she could be hurt seeming to completely slip her mind. “Aren't you concerned if you're okay?” “No, I just need to rest a little.” Her smile returned as though nothing had happened. I stared at her for a moment, unsure of if I should believe her, but she didn’t seem to have any lingering ailments nor did she seemed bothered by it, so with a sigh I said, “If you say so. Why did you do it?” “Do what?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head to her left. “Let me feed off of you. You didn't know what would happen, you don’t know if there are any side effects and on top of that you don't even know who I really am, so why did you do it?” “I like helping others; when I see somepony else smile, I smile. When somepony else is happy, I'm happy. So why wouldn’t I help you when you needed it?” she explained with a bright smile. I was surprised by what she said. After everything the changelings had done and without really knowing me, she gave me her happiness simply because she wanted to help. There was an awkward silence after that as I thought about what Pinkie Pie said, however the silence didn’t last long. “Um, hello,” said a familiar and quiet voice. “May I come in?” “Hi, Fluttershy.” Pinkie Pie motioned for Fluttershy to enter. “Hello, Pinkie. Hello, Fragment.” “Hello,” I replied. “Twilight told me we're taking you to the hospital today.” “I hope the ponies there will be as nice as the both of you have been.” “Don't worry about it, they’re nice ponies,” Pinkie Pie said, trying to reassure me. “If they weren’t they wouldn’t be nurses and doctors.” “I suppose. How long do you two think it will be until the others get here?” “Well, Ponyville isn't very big, so it shouldn’t be too long. Twenty minutes at most,” Fluttershy said while taking a seat in a chair in the left corner of the room that Twilight didn’t use for some reason. “So what do we do until then?” I asked getting bored just by the thought of doing nothing for twenty minutes. “Well, we could just talk.” “Yeah!” Pinkie Pie seemed to already like the idea. “About what? There's not a lot the two of you could talk about that I'd understand.” “Maybe we could talk about your future, if that's okay with you,” Fluttershy suggested. “What do you mean?” “Well, have you thought about what you'll do after you recover?” “No I haven't,” I said, realizing that I had no plan whatsoever. What am I going to do after I recover? I don't think a changeling will be able to get a job in Equestria. Go back to wherever the changelings came from? What if I can't find wherever it is, or I do and I'm not welcome? I'd rather stay in Equestria then go off to find the changelings anyway. Maybe I could talk to the Princess about it; if she's as nice as Twilight says then she might help me. More than she already is, anyway. “I don’t really know what I’ll do, but I should probably get everything sorted out with the Princess first. Do you think if I really needed it and asked really nicely, she’d help me with finding some kind of job? At least for a short time.” “I don’t know. I’m sure Princess Celestia would like to help you as much as she can, but I don’t know if she could just get you a job,” explained Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie quickly jumped in and added, “It doesn’t hurt to try! Unless you’re like Rainbow Dash and you’re trying a new trick and it doesn’t workout so you just wind up crashing. That usually hurts.” “I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but I get the idea of what you’re saying, Pinkie Pie.” “Excuse me.” We turned to the door and saw a white stallion with gold armor blue eyes and a blond tail standing in the doorway. I couldn't see his mane because of his helmet, nor his cutie mark because of the armor. However I could see that he had no expression on his face. “Oh, um, hello. Are you the guard the Princess sent?” Fluttershy asked. “I am. Name's Striker. I've been sent to guard the ponies from the changeling and the changeling from the ponies.” “So… you're a dividing line?” I asked. Striker didn't respond as he entered the room. “It’s nice to meet you, Striker. I’m Fluttershy. This is Pinkie Pie and Fragment.” Striker looked at me with disinterest. “Uh-huh, so how long ‘till we take it to the hospital?” It? I'm an it?! Screw you! Wait… “How did you know we're taking me to the hospital today?” “The Princess told me when I was sent here. When are we heading out?” “Twilight said to wait here ‘til the others arrive so we can all go together,” Fluttershy told Striker. Striker took stood next to the bed between the girls and I. Once he was close enough I took a sniff of the air around him; the emotion I got was hate similar to that of the pegasus from the day before. “So for now we're just waiting,” Pinkie Pie added with a smile. And waiting is what we did. Striker and I were awkwardly quiet while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy talked. Ten or so minutes later passed before we heard what I assume was the doors closing, followed by the sound of hooves against the wooden floor. It was a lot of noise to be one pony and Pinkie Pie seemed to figure the same thing. She swiftly made her way out of the room and down the stairs, where I heard some talking followed by the sound of hooves rushing up the stairs. Pinkie Pie then popped back into the room and announced “Twilight’s back with the others!” “Come on, Fragment, let’s get you out of bed.” Pinkie Pie helped Fluttershy get me out of bed. I had a strong urge to stretch once I was on my hooves, but the pain stopped me from attempting. Striker was the first one to start for the stairs. With me slowing Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy down, he easily got ahead of us. When we got into the hallway, he was already most of the way down. “Oh, I didn't know you had arrived,” Twilight said as Striker reached the bottom of the stairs. “Well, I haven’t really been here that long.” “Did Princess Celestia tell you we were here?” “I was told to come straight to Sugarcube Corner and talk to whoever was here for instructions. However, my main job is to keep everyone under control.” “I’m sure by ‘everyone’ he just means me,” I added as Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and I reached the bottom of the stairs. The same ponies from the day before were there. Rarity was the only one of them whose name I knew. The orange earth pony smelled of uncertainty while the cyan pegasus had the scent of hate and distrust. The smell was similar to that of something being burned. “Shall we get going?” Rarity motioned towards the door. “Are you ready to go, Fragment?” Twilight asked, turning to me. “No. Let me gather my luggage…” I said in a sarcastic tone. “Alright, I'm ready.” “Then let's go,” Twilight said as she began leading the way to the hospital. I was thankful there weren't many ponies around because the ones that were there stared at me with looks of dislike and fear, which was understandable after the attack and everything, but it still made me uncomfortable. It also led to reevaluate the idea of staying in Equestria. All of them are afraid of me… There isn't a good chance I'm going to just live in Equestria, at least for awhile. Twilight said changelings can shapeshift, if I can learn how then I might be able to live here. “So, um, Fragment is it?” Rarity broke the silence. “For now. If I remember my real name I'll probably use it instead.” “I was wondering, what do you plan to do after you recover?” “I'm not sure yet. I’m not going to stay here though, that's for sure.” “Why not?” “What do you think I'd be able to do here? With all the ponies that stare at me when we go by, topped off with her hate,” I said, motioning to the cyan pegasus with my head, “staying here isn't a good idea.” “I have a name, you know,” the pegasus said. “Yes, say that like you’ve introduced yourself.” I flashed a fake smile. I turned to the orange earth pony. “I don't know who you are either.” “Ah'm Applejack,” she said after a short pause. Oh; that's who Applejack is. “Nice to meet you, Applejack. And you are?” I looked back to the pegasus. “I'm Rainbow Dash,” she grumbled. “We're here,” Twilight announced. I faced forward and gazed upon the hospital. It was a tan, three story building that had maroon roof tiles and held an emblem of a medical cross in a red circle at the top. “I'll make sure everything’s in order.” We walked into the hospital and the moment we passed through the doors, everyone was staring at us. Well, me mostly. “Are you Twilight Sparkle?” asked a doctor as he came up to us. “Yes. You received Princess Celestia’s letter, then?” “Yes. The Princess sent a letter about the…” he paused as he looked over to me, “the changeling. We have a room ready and we can have him in an X-ray machine in a few minutes.” The entire room reeked of fear as many of the ponies whispered to each other while they watched me. “Is there anything else?” “No. However I can show all of you where he'll be staying if you'd like.” “Sure.” With that the doctor began leading the way towards what would be my room for now. We passed a few rooms along the way and everyone I saw in those rooms fearfully stared at me. This is going to be a bad time… “Room one sixteen is where he'll be staying if you come by for whatever reason,” the doctor said as we entered my room. It looked exactly the same as every other one we had passed; white tile floor, a bed with safety rails, an inactive heart monitor, and one window with two plain white curtains. “Looks cozy enough,” I commented. “If you could put this on and get in the gurney, we'll take you for your X-ray,” the doctor said as he gave me a hospital gown while a nurse came up behind us with a gurney. Where exactly the doctor got the gown from, I have no idea. With Fluttershy's help, I put on the gown and got in the gurney. “I'll be back later with some books for you to read while you're here,” Twilight said as the nurse and doctor began moving the gurney. Twilight and the others kept a pace just fast enough to be in talking range of me. “You're leaving?” “We all are. I need to get back to the library, Rarity needs to go back to her boutique and start repairs, Fluttershy has her animals―” “I get it; you all have lives. If you really need to, stop procrastinating and go,” I cut her off while showing a small, reassuring smile. “Don't worry, I’ll come by here tomorrow to check on you,” Pinkie Pie said as we reached our destination. “You will?” I raised a brow in surprise. “Of course.” She displayed a larger than usual smile. “Thanks, but if we're done, I don't think we should keep them waiting any longer.” Taking that as their cue, the nurse opened the door while the doctor pushed me into the room. “Why exactly did I need to come along?” I heard Rainbow Dash ask just before the doors closed. The doctor had the nurse help me into the X-ray machine so we could begin. Once that was done the doctor, nurse, and another doctor went into a separate room which I assumed was for controlling the machine. Given the fact that there wasn’t anything else I could do, I decided to think about my plans for the future more. Let's just assume for now that the princess doesn't hold anything against me, then what does she want to talk to me for? Maybe she wants to see what she can learn about changelings from me, or see if she can bring my memories back somehow. I guess I'll just have to wait until I meet her. But setting the princess aside for now, what am I going to do when this is over? The ponies clearly don't trust me, if it were up to them I probably wouldn't be here at all. I think that no matter what I do, I need to learn how to shapeshift; if I can get that figured out then I can focus on getting a job or something, therefore learning how to shapeshift should be my top priority. If I can shapeshift, I stand a chance. And while I’m not sure if I’ll truly need to know, knowing how to fly and/or use magic could be useful. I really don't know how much time I spent in each machine and test they put me through; the only way I had of telling time was the light coming through the windows. Especially since it never occurred to me to look for a clock. I was sure it was around noon when we got to the hospital and by the time we had finished, the sun was barely over the horizon. “The results of most of your tests should be back in the morning,” the doctor told me while a nurse helped me back into the gurney. “Is there anything you can tell me right now?” The nurse and Striker started pushing me towards my room, the doctor lazily keeping pace. “Well, based on the size of your skull fracture, I'd say you're very lucky to be alive. But as far as the brain damage itself goes, we'll have to wait ‘till morning when the results are back.” “Thank you, doctor.” “Now get some rest. As for you, Striker, will you be needing a room for the night or anything?” “No; I have strict orders to keep the changeling in my sight at all times.” “So you'll stay here for the night then?” “Yes,” Striker answered simply as he took a seat a few feet from the bed. “Suit yourself. See both of you in the morning I guess.” The doctor and the nurse then left the room. The room fell silent when they left; neither of us really wanted to talk to the other, him because I'm a changeling, me because I didn't like the fact that he didn't like me for being a changeling. I understood why he didn't like me, but it was still kind of frustrating. After about five minutes of silence, I broke it with “Goodnight.” And with that, I did my best to just clear my mind and sleep. (~Φ~) I was awoken when I heard talking outside of my room, so I slowly opened my eyes. Through the window in the door I saw Twilight talking to a doctor. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but based on Twilight's expression, it wasn't good. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Striker standing next to the chair he was sitting in before I fell asleep. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Not sure. Twilight got here a few minutes ago but has been talking to that doctor since then.” “Any idea what they’re talking about?” “You.” “Aside from that.” “Medical stuff.” I sighed in annoyance. The room’s door opened as the doctor walked away and Twilight walked in. I noticed that she was wearing the saddlebags from the day before. “Morning, miss Sparkle,” Striker said as she closed the door. “Good morning, Striker. Good morning, Fragment. How’re you feeling?” “Better than yesterday but still not very good,” I said as I adjusted myself into a more upright position. “I have those books I said I would bring you. I would have brought them here yesterday but the doctor said you needed your rest.” “Thanks for remembering me. I appreciate it.” I smiled. “It's not a big deal; I can't imagine having to spend four weeks in here with―” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, did you just say four weeks? Four weeks, here? Twenty eight days, here? Are you joking?” “They didn't tell you last night? The doctor just told me before I came in here that at best you'll need to be here for four weeks. The damage to your skull and leg was really bad, those alone will take a lot of time. He told me you shouldn't use your left leg for at least two weeks after they let you go and you've got some pretty bad internal damage. You're lucky to―” “Yeah, yeah, I'm lucky to be alive. I don't know what kind of books you got, but I hope they're long.” “I don't know what you'd like…” “Neither do I.” “So I got some of everything; history, science, biology…” “Did you bring me anything that isn't educational? It’s not that I have anything against learning, I just don’t want to do nothing but read school books for four weeks.” “Well, I could bring you some of the Daring Do books.” “The what?” “Daring Do. It's the most popular fictional adventure book series in Equestria,” Striker cut-in, causing both of us to look at him. “Or… uh… so I've been told.” His eyes started looking around the room randomly. “Well, anyway, I think I'll take you up on the idea. If it's not a big deal. I wouldn't want you to go out of your way just for me.” “It's no trouble. I'll be back tomorrow with the first two Daring Do books. Also, Pinkie Pie told me to tell you she will be here later today to see you,” she said as she got the four books and four bookmarks out of her saddlebag with her magic. “Okay.” “Oh, and you should read this first,” she said while placing a book on my lap with her magic and the rest on the floor next to the bed. I took the book into my hooves and read the tile out loud. “‘Basic Magic for Dummies?’ Are you implying something?” I asked with my eyes narrowing on the book in suspicion. “There's a levitation spell in there that I think you should try to learn; it would help you a lot while you recover.” “That's… a really good idea.” Note to self: learn that spell as soon as possible. “Well, I need to get going. See you later, Fragment. Bye, Striker.” “Bye, Twilight,” I said as she left, and with her gone, my attention went straight to the book. Index: Getting Started. Know What's Safe. Have S― Blah, blah, blah. Spells: Basic Ward Spell… Invisibility? On small objects… Dammit. Basic Illusion Spells, Mess Cleaning Spell. Where did they put the levitation spell?! After a quick and angry look through the non-index pages of the book, I found the page on levitation, conveniently near the end of the book. Finally, let's start working on this spell. I thought as I began to read the spell's instructions. I paid close attention to what was written in the paragraphs of levitation. Just, imagine myself picking it up? I summarized. Sounds simple enough. It should be; it's a book for dummies. I took my eyes off of the book for the first time in about five minutes. I then noticed that Striker was gone, causing me to look around the room to see if there was any trace of him, then I saw him outside talking to one of the nurses. I don't know what they were talking about, but she seemed to enjoy it; based on the smile on her face. So much for those ‘strict orders,’ huh? I looked to the books Twilight left for me. I focused my mind on the book on top of the pile. As I imagined myself holding the book in a hoof and bringing it back to my current position, I felt my magical powers come to life with a familiar feeling: happiness. The happiness that I fed off of Pinkie Pie was fueling my magic, but at the same time I could feel myself weaken from trying to use it. It fuels my life as much as it fuels my magic, using it for magic will make me need to feed more. I decided to hold off on trying magic until I had fed more. Good thing Pinkie Pie’s coming for a visit.