//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Healing Process // Story: The Adventures of Fragment // by A Dark Reminder //------------------------------// With the recently self inflicted headache, I decided to take a break from magic for today, so I continued reading the history book. Most of the events described in it after Princess Luna's banishment were much less exciting; minor things like Starswirl the Bearded's research and how much he discovered in magic, along with many other things that didn't seem too interesting. Dammit Twilight, why didn't you bring the Daring Do books the first time? I thought as I looked over the other three books; I didn't really want to read them, but I didn't want mind numbing boredom, so I began to read the science book, and within five minutes I had enough thanks to all the big words I could barely pronounce. Well, this sucks. I thought as I began to eat the lunch that nurse Lightheart brought a few minutes ago; lightly buttered wheat toast, an apple, and oatmeal with syrup. "So, why do you think your wings healed so fast?" Striker asked. "Uh... um... " Fuck. Should I tell him that I fed off of Pinkie Pie and hope for the best, or say I don't know and hope I don't get found out? Either way, I'm playing the odds and hoping for the best. I'd rather not have lying come back to bite me in the ass. "Well... me feeding off of Pinkie Pie's happine―" "Fed off what?" He asked getting out of his chair with some anger surfacing. "Uh, Pinkie Pie's happiness." I said trying to back up slightly despite the fact I was in a bed that was against a wall. "But it was her idea, and if you don't believe me you can ask her when she comes over tomorrow." I said not liking how close to me he was getting. "When did you feed off her?" "When she was here with Rarity about ten minutes before you came back." I'll just leave out the fact that I've fed off of her twice for now; it's not lying, it's failing to tell. "I will speak to her when she comes here, and if she says differently from you, the Princess will know of it." He said in a threatening way as he went back to his seat. As Striker took his seat, there was a quick knock on the door and then a doctor came in the room. "Hello, Fragment. I'm your doctor, Doctor Hoofman, I'm here to inform you that the results from your most recent tests are back." He said as he closed the door behind him. "It seems your external injuries have healed either completely or at twice the expected rate. however, your internal injuries are only healing at about an extra fifteen percent faster then normal, but that is still much faster then we expected." "So, this is good news?" I asked. "Yes. If your recovery keeps this rate up, you'll be able to leave in about a week, and you'll be able to use your leg in less than three weeks." "Awesome! Anything else note worthy?" "Just that you really shouldn't be using your leg 'til it's completely recovered." "Do you know why I'm healing so fast?" "We have no definite reason why you'd heal this fast at this point in time." "Well either way, thank you for the news." I said feeling some of that excitement from when I use the levitation spell coming back. With a nod, doctor Hoofman left. "Isn't this great?" I asked with a smile. "Sure?" Striker responded with a shrug. "You still don't have any plans though, do you?" "Not a fucking one. But I should wait and see what the Princess wants with me before I make any definite plans." I said as I finished my food and went back to looking over the other books. Stupid smart pony books... I guess since I don't want to read the other books, I could just read the spell book and look over the spells but not actually try to use them. I began looking over some of the spells in the book, including the levitation, invisibility, and teleportation spells; Why an invisibility and a teleportation spell were in a 'basic' spell book for 'dummies' is beyond me, given the fact that both of those spells are very complex and the first thing they say is 'takes skill and time to master,' but either way, I read what the books said about those spells and pretty much memorized what it said about those three spells and looked over other spells that seemed interesting; like smokescreen, magelight, forcefield, and conjure mustache spells that I made note to try when I had the strength. (~Φ~) As time passed that day, which I had passed with simply reading the spell book more, it was clear that the last of the eventfulness was gone, so after I ate my dinner I went right to sleep; I was still pretty tired from the overuse of magic, so I quickly fell asleep, but unlike the other times I'd slept, I felt something. At first it was pain, but then I began to see. I was standing still, just staring out to something, my vision was too blurry to see what it was other than that it, along with most of the surrounding area, was white. I heard faint buzzing and hissing sounds in the distance. Then, without warning my surroundings changed from overlooking something to being in some long narrow path, I could almost say it was a hallway, but the blue sky above me told me I was still outside. But there was something at the end of this red brick ally, something white, but it was too blurry to see what it was. I was slowly getting closer to it, there was some kind of odd humming and hissing sound coming from it, this sound would change it's pitch as I got closer, though I still couldn't tell what it was saying, assuming that it was trying to say something. As I got closer, the pain grew and with each step I took, the pain grew, and I had no control over what I was doing. I couldn't stop, I couldn't ask what was happening, I couldn't even scream from the growing pain. The pain, just grew, and grew, and grew, and I tried to scream, I wanted to scream in pain but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't. Then, it stopped; The pain, the sounds, even the background was gone, and I had control again. I looked around trying to see signs of anything. Then, there was a flash of light from behind me causing me to turn around, and what I saw, well, 'surprised' would be an understatement, for the being that stood before fit this description: A dark blue coat, an equally dark blue horn, some kind of blue purple horseshoes, dark blue wings, a small black crown, and a cutie make of a crescent moon. And assuming that the history book is accurate, then this could only mean one thing: I was in the presence of Princess Luna. My eyes were as wide as I could make them and my mouth hung open at the sight. "P-Princess L-Luna." I said as I quickly bowed, I then noticed my left foreleg was both out of it's sling, and it wasn't in pain. Come to think of it, nothing that should've been in pain was. "Why do you bow to me? Surely you are not a subject of mine." She asked me raising a brow. "I didn't want to be disrespectful, your highness." I said still bowed. "You may rise." She said with a nod. "Do you know why I am here?" "To oversee my dream?" I asked as I rose. "Yes, as ruler of the night it is my duty to watch over the Equestrians as they sleep, but when I came here, I was quite surprised it was the dream of a Changeling that I had entered. More surprising is that you were in pain, so I ended your dream without waking you. But I feel compelled to asked you, what is your name?" "For now, my name is Fragment." I said simply. "For now?" She asked. "I have amnesia. My memories only span three or four days, so I don't know my real name. The only reason I know who you are is because of a history book I was given." "Ah, so you are the one Celestia told me about." "She told you about me? Well you are her sister after all. So what did she tell you about me?" "That you have amnesia, she made sure that you were professionally treated, and she will arrange for you to be taken to Canterlot." "I hope she isn't planning on doing something bad to me..." I said quietly to myself. "Wait, that history book I read said you were imprisoned in the moon." I said now wondering how she was talking to me. "I was, but my exile to the moon ended months ago, and I have been forgiven." She explained. "So, what do you think this dream of yours is trying to tell you about?" She asked. "I don't know; I can't make anything out." I said thinking on what I had seen. "And why do you think that is?" "I'm not sure... Maybe... maybe it's not just a dream, maybe it's a memory, and because of my amnesia it's more difficult to remember." I said with some pain returning as I thought. "And what do you think this memory is about?" The background returned as she asked that question, but it was still impossible to tell what it was as I stared at it, and as I did, the pain began to grow. "I think... I don't know, a wall? It's too blurry to identify." "Look closely, and you may learn what it is that you see." She told me as she stood next to me staring into the blurry background. Well, if she knows the answer then why can't she just fucking tell me? Oh well, I should probably do these things on my own anyway. Okay then, let's think. Think on whatever it is we're staring at. Think and focus, there isn't a whole lot you can do, but both of those are things you can do. As I stared I could hear the sounds returning as well, and the pain was growing again. "Pace yourself. Try to focus on the things you see first, not everything at once." She instructed. With a small nod of acknowledgment, I focused on the background and tried to ignore everything else, and slowly the sounds and pain faded again, and slowly the texture of the background began to change and most of the blur faded. I could now see colors other than white, and I could tell individual things apart from each other, while I still couldn't completely make everything out, I could tell that I was looking at a city with cobblestone streets and brick and wooden houses, and towering over this city, a large marble castle stood tall stretching high up the mountain that the city was attached to. "What is this place?" I asked turning to Princess Luna slightly, but the more I turned the more the background faded, so not wanting to lose what could be a memory, I turned back to the city. "This is Canterlot, the capital of Equestria." She told me as we stared. Great, there's only one reason why I'd be remembering the city that was attacked by the Changelings... "So what is your sister planning on doing with me?" I asked. "I do not know what she wants with you, but you have no reason to be afraid of her." The Princess told me with a small reassuring smile. "Are you sure she won't imprison me or anything like that?" "I am." She said confidently. "Now then, I have other ponies to tend to. Goodbye, Fragment. I might see you in Canterlot." "Goodbye, Princess." I said as I turned back to the blurry version of Canterlot and focused on it trying to make it clear, and slowly it began to clear to show greater detail. I was pretty far from the city from this point of view. I tried to get closer, but the moment I moved the sounds and the pain came roaring back and I was instantly crippled by it and a moment later, my surroundings changed and the pain grew, and I lost all control over myself again. It looked like I was now in that ally way again based on that it was a long and narrow space, but it was also a dead end, but what really got my attention was that I wasn't the only one in the ally. At the other end was a white pony, everything was too blurry to tell anything beyond that. I was approaching this pony slowly. I heard static hissing coming from myself and I heard the pony talking to me but I couldn't understand what the pony was saying because it was too distorted. Then, everything began to fade, but just before it did, I heard and understood one phrase it spoke. "You're in danger!" A mare's voice said to me as everything finished, fading into black... (~Φ~) My eyes began to open as I felt my head throbbing in pain, and the tiniest sound made the pain grow. I heard Striker snoring as my eyes opened and I brought my right forehoof to my head. 'You're in danger?' What was she talking about? If she was telling me I was in danger, I hope I'm not anymore... I looked out the window on my left to try to get an estimate of what time it was, it was then that I noticed that the whole time I had been here and using the sun's position in the sky to tell time, there was a clock on the wall to my left that I somehow had missed when I was brought here. It was nine forty-two AM. I really need to pay more attention. I thought as the pain slowly began to fade. I reached over the right side of the bed and got the spell book, I had no intention trying to use any spells right now, but I wanted some reading material while I waited for something to happen. All I did was read over the instructions of some spells, but for the most part I did nothing while I waited, a few minutes later a Nurse brought me and Striker breakfast, even though Striker was still asleep and snoring away. I ate my breakfast as I reread the spells I had the most interest in. By the time Striker woke up, his breakfast was cold, and I was quite happy he was awake, because if I had to listen to five more minutes of his snoring I would have thrown a book at him, but we kept to our selves that morning. About an hour later there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Striker said as he sat in his seat. "Good morning, Striker, Fragment." Twilight said as she, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy entered the room. "Hi Fragment!" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced into the room. "Hello." Fluttershy said as she slowly walked in. Once everypony was inside, Twilight closed the door with her magic and turned to me. "Hello." I said as I adjusted myself to more comfortable position. "How's everypony been?" "Everypony's fine. Rarity still has repairs at home to do but she told me that nothing irreplaceable was damaged." "Are you Pinkie Pie?" Striker asked as he stood up. "Yup, that's me!" Pinkie Pie said as she lightly bounced in place. "Is it true that you allowed Fragment to feed off you?" Striker asked. "WHAT?!" Twilight and Fluttershy asked in unison, though Twilight was easily the louder of the two. "Here we go." I said with a sigh knowing this was going to be the same as it was with Rarity, Just with more armored security, and I'm not the one who brought it up. "What do you mean he fed off her?" Twilight asked. I smelled disbelief in Fluttershy and disbelief and a hint of anger in Twilight. "Yesterday doctor Hoofman said his wounds were recovering faster than normal, I asked Fragment why that might be happening and he said it might have something to do with feeding off Pinkie Pie." Striker said as he turned to face me. "But she offered." I said defensively. "Pinkie, is this true?" Twilight asked. "Yeah. but he―" "Why would you do that? It could have been dangerous!" Twilight said becoming slightly hysterical. "It's fine, Twilight. I was fine the first time and I was fi―" "The first time?" Striker said turning to me again. "How many times have you fed exactly?" At this point Twilight and Fluttershy's attention was back on me, which made me very uncomfortable. "Only twice, and only off of Pinkie Pie, and only with her consent." I said almost wanting to hide from sight at the moment. "Why does everypony freak out when they hear about this?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Wait, who else knows about this?" Twilight asked as she turned back to Pinkie Pie. "Rarity was with me when I came here yesterday and Fragment told her about it and wanted to feed off me so he could try to use magic." Pinkie Pie explained. "And she reacted the same way both of you just did, but she seems fine with it." I added. "So do we really have a problem or do you just need to calm down?" "Well, it's surprising; I didn't know you knew how to feed off love. Wait... Cadence said Changelings take the form of a pony and feed off the love that others have for that pony." "Well it wasn't love I fed off of, it was happiness that I fed off of, and I really didn't know how to feed, I just let my instincts take control while I observed what was happening so I could do it again later without losing control, like how when Pinkie Pie and Rarity were here yesterday, I fed off of Pinkie Pie without losing all self control." I explained hoping I was at least close to being in the clear. "If Pinkie says she's okay, then I don't think it's that big of a deal." Fluttershy said much to Twilight's surprise. "I'm fine, Twilight. You really shouldn't worry so much." Pinkie Pie said. "Well," She sighed. "if you really did let him and you really are fine, then I guess there's nothing to be upset about." She said with a soft smile. "So how have you been, Fragment?" Twilight asked. "Fine, but bored. I've pretty much been reading the spell book you gave me over, and over, and over..." "Why didn't you read the other books? There was science and―" "I read the history book, but with the science book I couldn't even pronounce most of the words in it. And the other books just didn't seem too interesting." "Well at least I have the first two Daring Do books this time." She said as she pulled two books out of her saddlebag with her magic. "Daring Do and the quest for the Sapphire Stone; and Daring Do and the Temple of Doom." Twilight read the titles as she place them on the bed. "These should be a nice change from the other books." "Thanks." "How has using the levitation spell been going?" Twilight asked as Striker smiled at the memory. "Oh it hasn't. not really anyway. I tried to use it after I fed off of Pinkie Pie yesterday but I kind of..." I trailed off thinking of my stupidity. "He over used his magic." Striker said trying not to laugh. "How did you do that?" Twilight asked. but before I could answer Striker was already talking. "He levitated one of the books to the bed and got really excited, so he tried to use another spell to make the book invisible, and he got a massive headache out of it." Striker said with a big dumbass grin. "Fragment, what were you thinking? You can really hurt yourself trying to use spells you're not ready for." Twilight said with a look that called me stupid and a scent of pity. "Well I didn't know that! After I lifted the book with magic I thought I could do anything, so I tried to do something, and I thought that turning a book invisible would be cool." though an invisible book is a bit hard to read. "If I had more power I could've done it." I said crossing my forelegs in a small pout. "How much love have you actually consumed?" Fluttershy asked. "How am I suppose to tell?" "Well, how hungry do you feel right now?" "Well to put in terms of food, I'd say I've had a small lunch when I have a few days worth of eating to catch up on." I said trying to put in easy to understand terms. "Oh my. Are you really that hungry?" Fluttershy asked feeling sorry for me. "Kind of. I can ignore it pretty well, but when I smell an emotion that I can feed off of it gets kind of bad." "That's terrible. Why haven't you fed more?" Fluttershy asked. "Because I don't think it's as simple as feeding off that emotion, based on what happened to Pinkie Pie after the first time I fed off of her―" "Wait, what do you mean 'based what happened to Pinkie Pie'? What happened?" Twilight asked with a little concern rising. "Here we go again. Look, when I fed off of her the first time she was unbalanced and her eyes were unfocused and had rolled up into her head, and she told me she felt really lightheaded afterward―" "WHAT?!" Twilight shouted in astonishment, Fluttershy however, seemed less worried. I, unlike Fluttershy, was just plain irritated from everypony freaking out, and I was tired of trying to hide whenever somepony did freak out, this time, I was going to deal with it. "Oh for fuck's sake, calm down. does she seem hurt to you?" "N―" "Did she say she's hurt?" I asked cutting her off, which was something I was going to keep up in this. "N―" She tried to say again, but I cut her off as I had planed. "Do you think I would have done it twice if feeding did any real damage?" "... N―" "Then calm down." I said almost feeling proud of myself for dealing with that myself, but at the same time feeling a little ashamed for being such an asshole through the whole thing. "But as I was saying, the reason I haven't tried to feed more is because I don't think it's just the emotion, but life force. I mean really, what makes more sense: feeding off love, or feeding off life force? And that would make sense for how Chrysalis could gain enough power to beat the Princess and leave Shinning Armor too weak to cast his protection spell." I explained as the others listened. "That does make sense, and that's a good reason not to feed." Twilight said. "But if you need love for your magic, and you really feel that hungry, then I think you really need to feed, and I think we can help." "Wait, what?" Striker said being caught off guard. "Are you really telling me you want to feed me?" Am I really that persuasive? I wasn't even trying to do that. "Well if you can't use magic then it will be really hard for you to do things on you own while you heal, and at the least it would help with your hunger. So what do you say, girls?" Twilight said as she turned to her friends. "You want us to feed him?" Fluttershy asked being a little surprised. "Yeah. It's obvious that feeding off Pinkie alone hasn't been enough, so I think we should all pitch in." Twilight said. "Are you sure about this?" I asked almost in disbelief. "I think it's a great idea! It'd be mean not to help you after all." Pinkie Pie said happily. "Well, if Twilight thinks it's a good idea, I'll do it." Fluttershy said with a small smile. "Are you sure that you're sure?" I asked still not sure if they really came to this decision. "We're sure." Twilight said as they faced me. "Are you okay with this, Striker?" I asked surprised he hadn't objected to the idea. "If the Doctor hadn't shown me the damage to your brain, I probably wouldn't have let them in here in the first place. I don't trust you, but I do believe you." Striker explained simply. Seems a bit contradicting but okay. "Are you ready?" I asked as I turned back to the girls. "Ready." They said at once. Without anymore delays I began to feed on their general fondness of me, I guess I'm growing on them. Feeding off of Pinkie Pie was one thing, but feeding off of three ponies at once was unreal, every moment I felt myself growing stronger, I felt everything I had felt before, just on a much larger scale then before, but just like last time, I kept my eyes open to help maintain control, which was much easier than before. I watched closely to make sure I didn't take too much from them. I saw that Striker was also watching closely, I don't know if it was out of suspicion or curiosity. As I consumed, I saw them start to weaken, Fluttershy had brought a hoof to her head as if she had a headache, Pinkie Pie was beginning to wobble from side to side, and Twilight was struggling to keep her eyes open, and with that, I stopped feeding, and I felt more invigorated than ever before. "Wow..." Was all I said as the feeling lingered. "Are you all okay?" Striker asked. "I think so." Twilight said as she rubbed her head. "I feel a little dizzy." Fluttershy said as she took a seat in Striker's chair. "It feels really weird." Pinkie Pie said as she regained her balance. "How do you feel, Fragment?" Twilight asked as she faced me. "I... I feel like I could go for a jog. Really, wow..." I said as I could still feel the power fresh for use. "If feeding does help you heal faster like you suggested, then how quickly to you think you'll recover if you conserve that power?" Striker asked. "Well if I remember correctly, Doctor Hoofman said I'd be out of here in a week if my healing keeps this rate up, so... I think maybe two or three days, but we should have Doctor Hoofman run some tests or something to be sure." I said. I hope I recover that fast, that'd be awesome! And when I get out of here, I have to go to Canterlot and talk to the Princess. But for now, I'll wait. "I'll go get Doctor Hoofman. Be back in a few minutes." Striker said as he left for the door. "I should get going, I can't leave Spike to take care of the Library all day." Twilight said as she began to walk away. "I might come back tomorrow. Bye, Fragment. Bye, girls." She said a she left. "You two are staying here?" I asked Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. "I don't need to get back to my cottage for a few minutes, and you haven't had much company other than Striker, have you?" "No, I guess I haven't." I said. "Yeah! And I don't need to get back to Sugarcube Corner for another hour!" Pinkie Pie said. "Thanks for feeding me, and for sticking around." I said with a smile. "No problem, Fragment. How could I let my favorite Changeling be all alone while he's in the hospital?" Pinkie Pie asked with a big smile. "Do you even know any other Changelings?" I asked rising a brow. "No, but why would I be so mean to my first Changeling friend?" "You... consider me a friend?" I asked surprised. "Well, yeah! Just because Changelings attacked Canterlot doesn't mean all Changelings are bad. And it'd be so cool to have a Changeling as a friend; you can fly, use magic, and shapeshift! Imagine the pranks you could pull with shapeshifting!" Dammit, now I want to play pranks with shapeshifting! "Thanks, Pinkie Pie. That means a lot to me." "You can just call me Pinkie, everypony does." She told me with a smile. "Hey, as long as we're on the subject of friends, how come those other two, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, haven't come here?" "Well, Applejack works an apple stand in town, and she works on her family's farm most of the time, and Rainbow Dash is captain of the weather team." Fluttershy explained. "You all have jobs too, but you all made time to come here. It's because they don't trust me, isn't it?" I asked with my head tipped to the left. "Well... um... maybe?" Fluttershy said with a painfully obvious fake smile. "Yeah, I'm not buying it." I said flatly. "It definitely is, yes." She said sheepishly as she hid behind her mane. "And why don't they trust me?" "Well, I think Applejack plain and simply doesn't trust you because of the attack, but I don't know why Rainbow Dash seems to dislike you so much; I tried to get her to come here with me, but she wouldn't even talk about it. I'm not sure why, but she doesn't think we should have helped you in the first place." "So do you think either of them will give me a chance, or is that one of those 'in your dreams' kind of things?" "I think they'd like you if they gave you a chance, but it won't be easy to get them to give you one." "I'll save that for a later project." I said with an annoyed sigh. "I need to get going. I'll see both of you later." Fluttershy said as she headed for the door. "Take care of your self, Fragment." "Why? I have Doctors for that." I said with a smile as she left. As she did, Striker and Doctor Hoofman walked in. "So Striker told me you've been feeding." Doctor Hoofman said as he looked over my medical chart. "Oh did he now?" I said as I glared at Striker. "Yes, and he says you want to run more tests to see if it has any effect on your recovery." He said as a Nurse entered the room. "So if you're ready, we can take you and start running tests now." "I'm ready I guess." I said with a shrug. "What are you going to do, Pinkie?" "I could bring you some Cupcakes!" She said with a growing smile. "There'll probably be a bag of Cupcakes waiting for you when you get back from your tests! Bye, Fragment!" "B--" I didn't even have time to really say anything because she bolted out the door so fast, but nonetheless she was gone, and I had some tests to do. So with that, we were off to run more tests to see if feeding has any effect on my regeneration, but this time, I actually looked at the time to see how long it had been when I got back. It was eleven twenty-seven A.M. Just like before, I zoned out as the Doctors did what they were trained for, only this time I didn't have anything to think about while this was being done; I had already thought over what the Princess might want with me and that I shouldn't make any final decisions on what I'm going to do after all of this until I hear what the Princess has to say, so my only real option was to wait. some time later I was brought back to my room, and as we entered I saw that the time was one seventeen P.M. As my bed was put back into it's proper place in the room and Striker sat back down in his chair, a nurse brought me my lunch; broccoli, beans, and mashed potatoes. I looked over the side of the bed and saw the Daring Do books on top of the other books and next to a brown paper bag that wasn't there when I left, and there was a note attached to it with some tape. Focusing my magic, I brought the bag and the first Daring Do book to the bed, it was much easier to do this time, if it was because I had more power, used the spell before, or both, I was unsure, but regardless of that I began to read the note, which simply read 'Cupcakes for Fragment. Singed Pinkie Pie.' Using my magic, I opened the book as I reached into the bag. I slowly ate the cupcakes as I read the book, turning the pages with my magic, so I didn't risk getting frosting on the book and so I could better adjust to using magic. I will admit, I very quickly liked this book; the way Daring Do got through all the predators in the jungle and the traps in the temple, all of which without the use of her wings, due to the fact that one was broken, I was hanging on every word in the book, it reached the point where I had stopped eating the cupcakes altogether after eating the first one, I was about halfway through the book when I heard a knock on the door, I looked to the door, then to Striker's chair; which had a note on it, but no Striker. "Uh, come in." I said as I grabbed the note with my magic and brought it to me as the door opened and Doctor Hoofman, entered the room. "Fragment, your test results are... Where's Striker?" Doctor Hoofman asked as I read the note. 'Fragment, if you find this note before I get back, I'll be surprised. You didn't notice me leave the first time, which was to get the paper and quill to write this note, you didn't notice me come back, write the note, and then leave again. I left to spend some time with Lightheart while I'm in Ponyville. This note was written at one thirty-six PM, and I should be back by two twenty PM. Show this note to any Doctors/Nurses that ask for me while I'm gone. ~Striker.' I looked at the clock after I read the note and saw it was two forty-one P.M "I don't know where he is, but I know what he is; late." "What?" He asked as he raised a brow in confusion. "He left a note saying that he'd 'be back by two twenty,' but it seems he's behind schedule." Just as I said that the door opened again, and this time it was Striker. "Oh look, you're back. So how'd it go?" "Now then, the reason I'm here is even though not all the results are back, we noticed some immediate changes in your health; like your leg has healed dramatically faster than we thought, that and how most of your other injures have nearly, if not completely healed, and this is just a few hours after you last feeding, which tell us that feeding is not making you regenerate faster, but straight up healing you." Doctor Hoofman said. "Wait, what?" I said thinking I might be hearing things. "His feeding... is healing him? how?" Striker asked. "I don't know how, I just know that it is. It just shows how little we know about Changelings; for all we know you could regrow limbs just by feeding." Doctor Hoofman said. "That's incredible. If feeding causes everything to heal like that, then based on that how long do you think I'll need to be here?" "I can't be sure 'til all the results are back. And given that it doesn't heal your internal injuries like your external ones, you'll still need to stay off that leg for a few weeks. But as far as getting out of here goes, I'd say if all goes well and as expected, you might get out of here tomorrow." That last part made my jaw drop. "Are... are you... Really?" I said as my mind tried to catch up to what was just said. "With all of your external injuries completely healed, and your internal ones in much better shape than before, you can most likely leave tomorrow." Doctor Hoofman told me again. "We won't know for certain 'til the rest of the tests are back in a few hours." "... Wow." Was all I had to say. Well, I guess that means I'll be meeting the Princess a lot faster than I thought. "Thank you for the news Doctor Hoofman." Striker said as Doctor Hoofman left. I noticed a hint of sorrow in Striker's scent. "You don't want to leave Ponyville just yet do you?" "I didn't get to spend much time with Lightheart." He said with a sigh. "Then what are you doing here? If this is our last day here, then you should spend it with her, not foalsiting a semicrippled Changeling." "Are you sure?" "I mean really, what do you, or anypony for that mater, think I'm going to do? Sure I'm healing faster than expected, but I don't know how to fly, and my leg is still broken, so running away is kind of out of the question. If you really think I'm planning on doing something while you're gone, then stay, otherwise, go out and have fun." "I'll try to be back before midnight." He said as he headed for the door. "Oh, and Fragment." Striker said looking over his shoulder. "Thanks." He said with a smile as he left and closed the door behind him. With Striker gone and nothing else to distract me, I got the Daring Do book and resumed to re― FUCK! I forgot the fucking bookmarks, AGAIN! I thought angrily to myself as I began the search for the page I was last on. After ten minutes of searching, I found the right page and resumed to read. As I read further into the book, I was drawn into the story more and more, the pressure plates in the room with the Sapphire Stone, the lava and how Daring Do had to jump from pillar to pillar to escape, after I read it, I began to read the second book, but only made it a few chapters in before my dinner arrived, when it did I looked at the time, it was already six P.M. As I ate my dinner I decided to save the rest of the book for tomorrow; perhaps it will provide something to do on our way to Canterlot. As I drifted into sleep, I heard faint sounds in the back of my head and I felt some pain return, though it didn't keep me awake, I heard one thing before I blacked out in sleep: You're in danger!