Dawn broke over Ponyville, and Thorax was roused by somepony entering his room again. He craned his head to see who it was.
"Oh dear, did you fall over in the night?" Redheart asked.
"No," Thorax mumbled, "I did this myself."
"Hmm," Redheart said. She leaned over Thorax's prone form, raised a hoof, and slapped him on the flank.
"Yowch!" Thorax shouted, remaining completely still.
"The feeling has come back, I see. Damn-near incredible, it's been fifty-five hours and you've got sensation and limited movement."
Thorax grumbled, but said nothing.
"I've been studying up on your anatomy, and I must say it's amazing stuff. Hey - ", she said, leaning in close, "can you switch back to your insect form for me?"
Thorax looked up at her. A peculiar earnestness had replaced her gruff exterior.
"Why?"
"So I can see it."
Thorax released the grasp he had on Hist's form, and let it slip away. He shimmered and returned to the shape he had spent all his life inhabiting. It now felt strange to be this way, to have holes in his legs and to feel his fangs again. It was not helping that Redheart was poking them.
"What do you use the fangs for? The book doesn't say. Do you drink blood, or something?"
Thorax thought back to his days in the hive.
"I sometimes use them to open packages."
Redheart's face fell, then brightened again.
"What about the holes in your legs? What do those do?"
"They can be filled with rolled up paper during training, or to carry small objects."
"Your back! There's a hard chitin on your back!"
Thorax strained to turn his neck to see what she was referring to. On his back, near his wings, his fur coat became thin and there was a hardened part of his skin that shone in the daylight.
"I suppose that keeps my wings from slapping my back too hard."
Redheart was flabbergasted. "Wow, how am I going to write my research paper now? Don't you do anything cool?"
"I can shapeshift," Thorax offered. He transformed back into Hist Amine, to prove he could still do it.
"Well I already knew that. Thanks a lot."
Redheart stormed out of the room as another pony came in. She looked much like Redheart, in that she was wearing a white hat with a red cross on it. Otherwise, she looked nothing like Redheart. Ponies, Thorax reasoned, do all look kind of similar.
"What'd you say to her?" the pony asked.
"I don't know," Thorax replied.
"Right, whatever. Time for your sponge-bath."
"My what?"
"I am Nurse Tenderheart, and I am going to wash you with this sponge. After that, I am going to go punch Nurse Redheart in the face for making me do this."
"Why?"
"Because I don't normally give sponge-baths, that's the a job for nurses, not doctors."
Thorax was, rather understandably, confused. "What?"
"I didn't go to school for eight years so I could wash your sweaty back off. I owe her a favour because apparently she's going to let me co-write a paper with her. Supposed to be really juicy stuff that nopony has written on before."
"But didn't you just say you were a nurse?"
"No, I said I'm Nurse Tenderheart."
"What?"
Tenderheart grimaced. "My nickname is Nurse. I got it in med school and now everypony calls me that. Some cheeky intern even wrote it on my office door."
"But you are a doctor?"
"Yes, internal medicine."
"Is Nurse Redheart a doctor?"
"Yes. She's a surgeon."
"And you have the same nickname?"
"No, Nurse is her first name."
Thorax's head was spinning.
"Just shut up and take the sponge-bath," Tenderheart said.
About twenty minutes elapsed as Thorax felt odd sensations across his body. Tenderheart was skilled indeed, and cleaned him off quite nicely as he tried to keep his muscles from tensing as the wet cellulose glided across them.
"Stop whimpering," Tenderheart said.
"Sorry..."
Thorax resolved to quietly endure the treatment as he waited for Octavia's return. Surely nothing had happened to her, surely her mission had been successful.
Spiracle, still disguised as Octavia, and Vinyl departed the train. They did this four hours later than they were supposed to, as Spiracle had fallen asleep and they had missed the junction. Vinyl took it surprisingly well, and didn't mention at all how only cowards needed sleep, as opposed to naps. Not that Spiracle would have known that was a thing.
"So, you gonna go fork over the stuff?" Vinyl asked.
"Yeah," Spiracle said.
"Great. I'll leave you two alone, you'll probably want some privacy."
Oh yes, Spiracle thought, this Octavia is definitely his special somepony.
The two split up and Spiracle made her way to the hospital. She had never spent much time in Ponyville, and Thorax would no doubt know the town's layout far better than she had, but the hospital was easy enough to find. The large building stood out among the small rows of houses and each street corner had a large sign with an "H" and an arrow. It was impossible to miss.
Nopony paid her any attention as she checked the list of patients. Thorax was in a private room on the third floor. Spiracle made her way up the stairs, and hesitated at the doorway marked 'Private'. She glanced at the hallway around her, taking note of the small details. A potted plant ruffled from a gentle breeze which rolled in from the corridor's sole window. Some boring art on the walls, painted by some local artist. A few stains on the carpet, brown, unidentifiable. She was not being followed, at least.
Spiracle stepped quickly into the room, and neatly shut the door behind her. She quickly locked it and waited, holding her ear close to the glass. No hoofsteps followed her. She turned around and ambled towards the sole bed in the room.
Thorax looked uncertain as she approached.
"Octavia?" he asked.
"Uhh," Spiracle said. How to break this to him? "Listen, Thorax, I have something to tell you..."
"You're a changeling?"
Spiracle could hardly speak.
"I - yes! But - "
"Oh, good! Twilight Sparkle told me last night, don't be alarmed. What hive are you from? Are you from my hive? Dusty Dries?"
"Yeah, I - hey! Wait! I have - "
"Wow! What a coincidence! My mentor, Spiracle, said I was the only one assigned here! Do you know her? Do you have any tips for me? This is so exciting!"
"Shut up, Thorax!"
Thorax shut up instantly.
"I have some bad news."
Thorax craned his neck. His eyes grew wider as Spiracle let her disguise drop.
"Spiracle! You were Octavia? No, that's not possible... is it?"
"I'm not Octavia!" Spiracle finally shouted. She shut her mouth and ran to the door, listening again. Her heart seemed to echo in the silence beyond.
"Ah, that makes sense. You do not shine like she does, I should have known. Where is she?"
"She... I'm sorry, Thorax. Really sorry," Spiracle said as she returned to the bed.
Thorax remained as earnest as ever. "Why?" he asked.
"The guards picked her up, they think she's me, I think. It might be a while before they figure out she's not a changeling. Hell, they might charge her with treason, for all I know. It's gonna be bad."
Thorax said nothing.
"I'm so sorry," Spiracle said.
His face sunk, his eyes focused on his chest. He said nothing.
"Listen, it won't be so bad. They might let her go."
A tear pooled on Thorax's eye. He blinked it away.
"You gonna be okay?" Spiracle asked.
"I'm fine. Why have you come? To tell me this?"
"She said you needed this Nectar, though I don't know why. Why didn't you just feed off of her? You didn't hurt your stomach, did you?"
"Feed off of her?"
Spiracle's mouth slowly opened as she realized, gradually, the full extent of what Thorax had just said. She quickly snapped shut as she realized she was very near to drooling.
"Seriously" Spiracle asked. "Seriously? You - you - you idiot! How can you go your whole life and not even know how to eat!?"
"I know how to eat..." Thorax mumbled. Suddenly he was unsure.
"You've been feeding off her, I can see it! Hell, we should have made you a Harvester, you're going to burst! And you still sent her to buy Nectar for you? Here I was, feeling sorry for you. I thought you might have wised up since you're not dead yet, but nooooooooooo."
"I caused this."
"Don't interrupt me, I'm not done berating you!"
Thorax ignored her. "I caused Octavia to be captured."
Spiracle reversed her attitude. "Hey, woah, you can't go blaming yourself like that. Life sometimes does that."
"No, it was my fault. I have failed in everything I've ever done, except one thing. And I just caused that thing to be arrested."
"Meal time!"
Redheart unlocked the door and backed into the room, a cart in tow behind her. It held a wide range of foods and food-like materials, such as kelp, a sandwich, paper towels, a doorstop, and some fast food from down the street. She stopped as soon as she saw Spiracle, who likewise froze in terror.
"How did you open the door!?" Spiracle demanded.
Redheart's face lit up like the sun.
"A female changeling! OhmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOSH, it's like Hearth's Warming eve but in summer!"
Spiracle eyed the window as a potential escape route but, before she could react, Redheart had positioned the cart in front of her, and was blocking any escape.
"Are you his friend?" she asked.
"I suppose you could call me that," Spiracle answered.
"How do changelings reproduce? Is it a pregnancy? I've heard it involves eggs and cocoons, is that true? Could I examine you? I'm writing a paper, you see..."
Thorax interrupted her gushing, "We must save Octavia. Spiracle, will you help me?"
"What? Are you nuts? Do you have any idea how much security there's going to be around her?"
"No, and I don't care."
Spiracle glared at Redheart. "Your patient might try to flee the hospital. Better lock the door."
Redheart's eyes went wide, and she charged to the door and quickly relocked it. She pushed a chair in front of it for good measure, then stopped and looked up at Spiracle. "Wait, he broke his back. He's not going anywhere."
"I will do what I have to, to save Octavia," Thorax said. He used his forelegs to push off the bedsheets. Redheart gasped, Spiracle did not.
"How the - " Redheart asked.
"He's practically a volcano," Spiracle observed, "He's got enough love in him to feed two hives and then some". She looked at the forgotten vial of Nectar, still held in her forehoof. "Can I keep the Nectar, then? I'm kind of on the outs right now, bit of a dry spell. I don't need it, but you know..."
Thorax ignored her. He rolled over and stood up, as Redheart was stunned into silence. He leaped off the bed and landed somewhat awkwardly, then trotted over to the window. As he did, he dropped his disguise as Hist Amine. He paused, and turned back to Spiracle.
"I owe this doctor a life-debt. Please help her any way you can, I am not sure if I will succeed. If we do not see each other again, it has been a pleasure working with you, Agent Spiracle."
"I wish I could say the same to you, Agent Thorax."
"Thank you," he said. Spiracle sighed.
Thorax pushed open the window and leaped out, beating his wings with fervor he had never before felt in his life. He did not know where he was going, but he knew, intrinsically, where Octavia was. It was as if there were two suns in the sky, one of them blinding, the other a soft, warming glow that drew him towards it . It was located somewhere near the great city on the side of the mountain he had seen earlier with Octavia. That place she never wanted to return to.
Redheart sidled up to Spiracle, who still had not resumed a disguise. The pony doctor was studying her in detail, it seemed.
"Yes? May I help you?" Spiracle asked.
"What was that about a life-debt?"
"It's a changeling thing. It means I should do you a favour."
"Oooh, I'm not a sociologist but I know one. She'd be really interested, too."
Spiracle sighed. "Let's get this over with. What do you want?"
"To get some questions answered. Your fangs, just what do you do with them?"
Spiracle thought. "I usually use them to open my mail," she said.
As Thorax flew towards the city of Canterlot, he hesitated only slightly as, behind him, he could hear the sound of somepony screaming in frustration, followed by several curses which presumably were taboo in the pony world.