We finally made it out of the forest and into the bright moonlight. I was still on Tia’s back, barely awake the whole ride back. The rest of the girls were close by, talking about random stuff. I lifted my head up to the stars to see that they weren’t as bright as normal. Luna must be worried sick. I looked ahead of us. “Hey, Fluttershy. I can see your house from here.”
She turned to look and saw her little cottage about thirty meters away. “Oh dear,” she said softly. Fluttershy looked at me and Tia, who had just transformed back into Sunny. “I’m so sorry, but I really must get home. I need to check up on my animals.”
Sunny nodded to her. “I understand. We’ll let you know about Smith tomorrow.” Fluttershy grinned and nodded, fluttering off to her house.
“I should probably take off too,” Dash said, stretching in the air. “We have a storm scheduled for tomorrow night, so I need to spend all tomorrow morning prepping the team.” She flew off.
“Oh yeah,” Applejack said. “Ah should really get home, too, and get th’ farm ready for the storm.”
“And I have a huge party to plan!” Pinkie exclaimed and bounced away, Applejack in tow.
“Oh dear,” Rarity looked at us, frowning. “I’m terribly sorry, but I’m afraid I must leave as well. I’m already behind on orders as is.”
I chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine.”
Rarity smiled and looked at Sunny. “And you simply must come visit my boutique sometime, Princess. I would be absolutely delighted to design something for ‘Sunny Skies’, if that’s alright with you.”
Sunny started to shake her head, but I stopped her. “She would be happy to, Rarity. Is sometime tomorrow alright?” Sunny glared at me.
Rarity’s grin grew. “Oh, splendid! Anytime after noon will be just fine.” She turned and walked off. “Ta ta!” she called back.
After she had gone, Sunny turned to look at me. “Why do you keep agreeing to stuff for me?”
“Because I know you, Tia,” I said. “I know that you’ve been working way too hard lately, and that you need a break.” She turned away from me. “I also know that you would enjoy a party and a bit of fashion if you gave it a chance.” I used a hoof to turn her head back to me. “Please, Tia? Take a break for me?”
Sunny sighed. “Fine.” I cheered inwardly. “But only for one day.”
“That’s all I need,” I said. Sunny started walking towards the hospital in the distance, when I noticed Twilight still following us. “Are you not gonna leave us, too?” I asked.
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “No. I don’t have anything important going on, since the library’s closed tomorrow, and I’d really like to meet Mr. Smith.” I giggled at that. Generic name, for the win. Why did I never think of that?
“That’s fine,” I told Twilight. “I just hope he’s alright now.” I turned forward and saw a white pony galloping towards us. “Is that Nurse Redheart?”
Redheart got closer and stopped in front of us panting. “Oh good… I found you…” She looked up to see me on Sunny’s back, and raised an eyebrow. “Blast? Didn’t I tell you not to get yourself injured again?”
I grinned at her. “Technically you told me to not go crashing into any more fields, which I didn’t!” I raised my chin, smiling. Sunny bucked me off sideways and I crashed head first into the ground.
“Oops,” Sunny said with a smirk. “What about now?”
I grumbled as I stood back up and wiped the dirt off my face. Twilight and Redheart were giggling at me. “Ha ha ha,“ I mock laughed. I looked back at the nurse. “Anyways, I had just experienced a little magic fatigue and couldn’t walk for a while. I’m fine now, just a bit sleepy.”
Redheart stopped laughing and looked confused again. “Magic fatigue? I thought I told you that you are a Pegasus, not a Unicorn,” she said.
I just rolled my eyes. “Long story. So, why did you have to run over to meet us?”
The nurse stopped a moment. “Huh? Oh! Derpy came by earlier asking about your friend, the stallion with gold armor?” I nodded. “Well, a few hours after I last saw you, Zecora brought in an injured stallion of that description.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I asked. “Let’s go!” We all quickly trotted to the hospital.
Nurse Redheart continued as we walked. “He had a dislocated wing, a bad cut on his hind leg, and a few scrapes and bruises, but it’s all been treated and he’s fine now.” I sighed in relief. “He’s been unconscious since Zecora brought him in, though. He probably won’t wake up until tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, nurse,” Sunny said.
“You’re welcome,” Redheart replied. “I’m Nurse Redheart, by the way. I take it you’re a friend of Blast and Twilight?”
Sunny nodded. “Yes, I am. My name is Sunny Skies.”
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Skies,” Redheart said. “That’s a very pretty name, by the way.”
Sunny blushed a bit. “Thank you.”
“You’re the third pony that the party tomorrow is for, correct?” Redheart asked.
Sunny looked confused for a moment. “Huh?”
“Geez, how fast does that pony work?” I asked as we approached the front door to the hospital.
Nurse Redheart laughed. “Very, when it comes to parties. Pinkie stopped by here a moment ago to give this invite to your friend… Silver Smith, was it?” I nodded again as she pulled out an invitation from… wherever ponies without saddlebags store things. I should really research that in the future. “She was actually the one who told me where I could find you.”
She handed me the card as we stepped into the lobby. I looked around and grimaced a little.
“Are you alright, Blast?” Nurse Redheart asked.
“Y-yeah,” I said. “Just not a big fan of hospitals.”
Sunny smirked at me. “Well, with your history of head injuries, I’d shy away from them, too.”
Twilight started laughing and Redheart smirked. “So he gets injured a lot, then?” I felt my face heat up a bit.
Sunny giggled. “More times than I care to count. One time he managed to knock himself out by-”
“Anyways,” I cut her off, my face burning now. “What room is Smith in?”
“Recovery room 108,” Redheart giggled. “Down the hall and to the left.”
“Thank you,” I said and walked off.
Sunny trotted to catch up. “Oh, come on, Zack. I was only picking.”
“I know,” I smiled at her. “I just really wanted to see Smith.”
“I can see why you like him, Princess,” Twilight said as she caught up to my other side. “He’s cute when he gets flustered.” My cheeks started to burn again and I picked up my pace. Sunny just laughed.
We turned the corner and found Smith’s room. It looked identical to the one Rainbow Dash was in before. There were two beds, with a curtain between the two, and a small table next to each. At the end of the room was a window that let the moonlight in. The bed closest to the door was unoccupied, but the other one held a grey Pegasus stallion.
I rushed over to his side. “Thank God he’s alright.” Smith looked pretty much the same, minus the ugly green hospital gown. He was still asleep, though.
“It’s good to see he is fine,” Sunny said. “I’ll write to Luna, telling her about what’s happened.”
“Good idea,” I said as she walked out of the room. Twilight sat down next to me, and it went silent for a few minutes.
“So,” Twilight broke the silence, “you can still cast spells like a Unicorn, then?”
“Eeyup,” I replied, still looking at Smith. “Seems that way.”
Twilight smiled and looked at Smith. “Wait, if your internal magic still works like a Unicorn’s, and not a Pegasus’, does that mean you can’t fly?” she asked.
I looked up. “Hmm. That’s a sound theory, so I guess not.” I turned to her. “I still need to run some tests when I get back to Canterlot to find the full extent of my capabilities.” I smiled at her. “You can help if you want.”
Twilight smiled brighter. “Oh, that would be great! Imagine the kind of discoveries we could make by studying how a Pegasus body directs its magic flow.” Her expression slowly fell. “There’s just one problem. If you’re gonna be returning to Canterlot, we would rarely get to see each other. I’m still needed here to run the library, and all my friends are here.”
I just grinned at her and shook my head. “Don’t worry, I thought of that. How about this: You come visit me every Sunday, when the library’s closed, and I’ll visit you some other day of the week, and I can teach you a spell that’ll let us speak face to face over long distances any time we want.”
She instantly brightened up. “That would be perfect! Oh, thank you!” She hugged me tight.
I just laughed. She REALLY enjoys studying magic, doesn’t she?
“Ahem.” I heard Sunny clear her throat and we both looked back at the door to see her standing there, staring at us, expressionless.
Twilight blushed and jumped away from me. I laughed a little harder.
“I was just… He…” Twilight stammered.
Sunny smirked at her. “I know, Twilight, it’s alright. I heard what you two were talking about.” Oh, that troll. Twilight visibly calmed down.
“Get a reply from Luna?” I asked.
“Yes. She’s happy to hear that Smith is safe.” Sunny giggled. “She even requested that Zecora be knighted for saving him.”
“I’m sure she’d appreciate the thought,” Twilight grinned, “but I doubt she’d accept it.”
We all laughed, but stopped when we heard Smith shift in his bed. “N-no,” he mumbled. “Luna… don’t, don’t believe him… H-he’s lying…” He splayed out on the bed for a moment before turning over, sticking his muzzle into the pillow.
We all looked at each other. “What the-” Twilight started.
“I don’t even…” I said, shaking my head, and yawned.
“I think it’s time we all got some sleep,” Sunny suggested. “Nurse Redheart said we could stay the night if we wanted to.”
“No, I think I’ll head home,” Twilight said. “I have an extra bed and some blankets if you two want to come,” she offered.
“Nah, I think I’ll stick around here for the night,” I said. Sunny nodded in agreement.
“Alright, then. I’ll visit again in the morning.” We nodded to her as she teleported away.
-------------------
I woke up to the sound of somepony groaning very loudly. I opened my eyes and saw that it was still dark out. A glance at the clock on the wall showed that it was barely after 5 AM. Tia still has an hour till she needs to raise the sun. I laid back down and tried to fall back asleep.
I woke up ten minutes later to the groaning again. “Knight, if you don’t shut up with that insistent snoring, I swear…”
I moaned softly and raised my head. That sounded like Smith. I looked around and saw that I was on the extra bed. Tia- sorry, Sunny was lying next to me with a wing over me. I smiled. Aww she looks so cute, all snuggled up like that.
“Thank goodness…” Smith’s voice brought my attention back to him, well, his shadow on the curtain separating the two beds.
“How’d you know it was me?” I asked.
He scoffed. “I don’t think there’s a single pony in all of Equestria that can snore as hard as you. How anypony can put up with it is beyond me.”
I chuckled, causing Sunny to stir. He sounds healthy to me.
Sunny’s eyes fluttered open and she looked around. When she spotted her wing around me, her cheeks turned red and she yanked it back to her side. Aw, I was warm.
“Where am I anyways?” Smith asked.
“You’re in a hospital in Ponyville,” I said. I hopped off the bed and stretched.
“Ponyville? I’ve never heard of that place.”
“That’s because,” I said, grabbing the edge of the curtain and yanking it back, “you’re in the future.” Smith stared at me, wide-eyed. “Welcome to the year 3216 A.D. buddy!”
Smith’s mouth hung open. “K-Knight?”
I rolled my eyes. “Nooo, I’m ‘Blast Shield’,” I said sarcastically. “Of course I’m Knight, you twit!”
“Well, you definitely sound like him,” Smith smirked. He raised a brow at me. “What do you mean, future? What happened?”
I sat down next to his bed. “I was hoping you would remember more than I do.”
He looked down at his blankets. “Let’s see… I remember you scanning the Jungle’s edge. We were attacked by a pack of Timberwolves. I tackled you when one was about to attack you… The next thing I know, I’m in the middle of the Everfree in some sort of hole in the ground.”
“Unfortunately, that isn’t much more than we know at the moment,” Sunny spoke up.
Smith looked over at her in shock. “P-princess?”
“Hmm?” she asked. I motioned to her form. “Oh! Sorry.” She transformed back to her normal form and smiled warmly at Smith. “Greetings, Silver Smith.”
“Uh, hi, Celestia…”
Tia looked back at me. “So what do we do now, Zack?”
“Hold on,” Smith interjected. “‘Zack’? Can somepony explain what’s going on? Or why you look different?”
I groaned. I guess he deserves the truth about me. This’ll take a while… “Okay, it all started yesterday morning when I woke up in a field just outside Ponyville, a small town near the Everfree Forest. It’s called a forest now because it’s much smaller than it used to be. Anyways a nurse woke me up…”