//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: The Grapefruit // Story: The Unity Pact // by Truthseeker //------------------------------// I have no idea how long I sat on the floor of the bathroom. The entire right side of my face more resembled a lumpy sack of small potatoes than anything that could ever be called Human. For more than thirty years I had stared into mirrors, secure in the knowledge that the person staring back at me was, in fact me. For the first time I doubted what I saw. The left side of my face looked the same as it always did and the front matched it, with the recent addition of a scruffy beard. From the edge of my right cheekbone, reaching a bit past my ear was hideously misshapen skull and scarred flesh. Whatever had hit me, had done so with the unrelenting and unstoppable force of a speeding train. I slowly reached my right hand up and lightly ran my fingers across the disfigurement. To my horror, the bones beneath my scarred skin were solid and unmoving. I caressed the hideous flesh, MY hideous flesh as silent tears rolled down my hairy cheeks, 'It's real.' the thought did nothing to help. I felt my anger rising and rising fast, 'It's real! It's real! IT'S FUCKING REAL!' I brought my hands forward trying to shatter the mirror as I vented my anger at the only breakable object I could see. Alas, it was merely impotent action. I was simply too weak to damage the glass. Exhaustion overtook me with remarkable alacrity. After only a few swings of my arms my energy was spent. My hands fell onto the floor with an audible slapping sound and I found I couldn't maintain my balance. I fell onto my left side, unable to muster the strength to even sit up under my own power. I lay on the floor, helpless until my strength returned. My mind continued its thoughts despite any contrary wishes of my own. With my physical exhaustion, mental exhaustion followed hot on its heels, 'This is real.' the thought was a sobering one. In a very literal sense, I was a different person. I had, previously in life, always been described as 'husky', 'chunky', 'big-boned', or 'hefty'. In all truth, I was simply just fat. I had been content with being fat. I was comfortable, I was mobile, and I didn't get as cold as other, thinner people. I had always been somewhat stronger than most people and far more flexible than my size normally warranted, but to call me anything other than 'fat' meant that someone was really trying not to hurt my feelings or was being extremely polite. I had always wondered what it would be like to be thin, 'I guess I'll find out.' I thought sourly, 'But being emaciated and weak from . . . atrophy, isn't the way I wanted to do it.' My mind began to clear of anger and I was left with a type of hollow feeling inside. A random thought brought me out of my inner monologue, 'I'm hungry.' a sharp pain in my stomach drove the point home even further, 'Strike that, I'm starving, and for the first time, literally.' I tried moving my arms. They responded with only weak sluggish motion. I drug my right arm across the floor and planted it, palm down, next to my head. I clenched my eyes shut and focused all my attention onto pushing down. My torso slowly rose and before long I had succeeded in rolling onto my back, thus freeing my left arm, which had been my original objective. I rested on my back for a few minutes as I let my muscles relax. I stared up at the ceiling and huffed heavily, 'This sucks.' I groaned and balled my fists then tensed my stomach muscles and slowly sat up. About half way into a sitting position I had to brace myself with my arms to complete the task. It was tiring even doing that. I sat upright on the floor and caught my breath for a few minutes. My narcissistic side forced me to look at my reflection in the low set mirror again. I was no prettier than before but at least I could only see my left side. I was still freakishly thin and grotesquely bearded but I still resembled the me I remember. After a few more minutes of navel contemplation, I decided to try standing up, 'This ought to be rich.' I thought in an Australian accent. I slowly bent my knees and inched my heels toward my thighs as closely as I could manage. I braced my weight with my arms and lifted my backside off the floor. Once in the 'crab walk' position I inched my feet farther under my center of balance. It was awkward as hell. Once I judged that my feet were in position I pushed my arms downward and heaved myself up into a crouch. I very nearly overbalanced and face-planted on the floor but the wild, nearly panicked swinging of my arms somehow stabilized me. I stayed in the crouch, once more catching my breath and regaining my strength. After a few more minutes I decided to attempt standing. I reached out my right hand and braced myself against the right wall of the bathroom then began slowly bouncing my self up and down using my calves and thighs for momentum. I bounced and bounced and finally, after about the fifteenth bounce, I tensed my muscles and straightened out my legs, 'You are now in an upright position.' I thought, mentally imitating the narrator of an old Disney cartoon. I panted heavily for a minute or two but I recovered much more quickly than I had expected. My stomach growled loudly and another hunger pang hit me. I groaned softly and clutched my left hand to my stomach, 'Damn. I've been hungry plenty of times before but these things are killer.' I couldn't stop my mind from thinking about food. Images of a juicy steak with sides of broccoli and mashed potatoes flooded my mind and made my hunger worse. I slowly shuffled my feet along the floor, using the wall for support as I made my way to the bathroom doorway. Once there, I faced a decision, 'Should I try to get back to the bed and use the blanket for some kind of toga, or should I try to find someone to help?' The incessant and increasingly severe pangs of hunger in my stomach made the decision for me. Slowly rounding the left corner of the bathroom doorway I looked across what felt like an insurmountable distance of four feet. I had to cross the gap to get to the other door and I already knew it would be arduous. I raised my right arm, grasping weakly at the door frame. It was too great a distance to reach yet. I shifted my weight and propped my left hand on the side of the frame I was already leaning against with my shoulder. My knees wobbled as I slowly pushed off one side of the door frame toward the other side. I started to overbalance, fortunately in the desired direction. I placed my right hand against the right side of the door frame and slowed my fall. My arm was still too weak to support my full weight but my right shoulder hit the wood of the door frame and stopped my fall. Holding tightly to the wooden frame, I inched my feet farther underneath me as my hands slid farther and farther up the frame and slowly came back to a standing position. From there I could reach the lever of the door which led outside the room. * * * Razor Wit shuffled her thick piles of lists and flash cards neatly then levitated them into the left side of her saddle bag and closed and fastened the clasp. Her right saddle bag was already bulging from the myriad of educational items held within. It was good to see her apartment in Canterlot again after nearly two months. She had been brought back to Canterlot by the Princess herself when she returned, via teleportation. Razor shook her head knowing full well that any sort of teleportation was far beyond her skills in magic. Her practice with Spirit magic while tracking the Humans had paid off beautifully though and she knew she could cast the Proximity spell on a whim any time she wanted, not that she was ever likely to actually use it. The Princess had sent a messenger early in the morning with a missive which stated that the doctors were going to wake up the injured Human who had been recovering. The news had excited the linguist to no end. She had been looking forward to meeting and working with the Human ever since she heard about how he had risked injury and death for his people. In a way, she considered him a kindred spirit. She had done the same thing seven years prior when she was seventeen. She had ventured out on her own to find a local pack of Diamond Dogs that had been harassing her home town of Trottingham. The thefts were significant but nopony had been injured. She had found the pack and, through a long process of daily interactions which spanned nearly a full year, had deciphered their language. She had used her new found linguistic skills to broker a trade arrangement with the pack, which ended the thefts. Razor had taken her time that morning. She had bathed thoroughly and brushed out her coat, mane, and tail. In truth she was happy to be away from the gruff Royal Guards. They were polite enough but she was an outsider and their habit of constantly referring to her as 'civilian' grated on her nerves, 'That and I was getting tired of every single stallion making polite speeches at me.' She shivered all over, 'They were nice enough but I swear I'm never going to court a former Royal Guard. They way some of them looked at me made me nervous.' She knew she was judging them harshly. There had been no incidents of sexual aggressiveness toward a mare in ages, but it had happened at some point in history. She knew they were good stallions but their demeanor disturbed her. She had eaten a hearty breakfast of oatmeal flavored and sweetened with peach slices. She had packed a large lunch and was eagerly looking forward to skipping dinner because of the depth of her involvement in learning a new language. She was so happy and excited she nearly danced in place. She had given the doctors until noon to wake up the Human and she was rearing and ready to go. * * * I lowered my left hand onto the door lever and pushed down. The lever clicked and opened inward slowly and silently. I gingerly inched my way forward and poked my head out the door. The door led to a wide hallway, such as is to be expected in any hospital. Directly across from my door was another door but it was shut. I inched my way around the door and looked left and right down the hallway. To my right was a dead end, but to the left, the hallway stretched on for hundreds of feet. There were doors set into the walls every forty or so feet, all of them were closed. I peered down the hallway and noticed for the first time that I couldn't hear any of the sounds one would find in a normal hospital. I listened and listened but I heard nothing, nothing at all, "Did they abandon me?" I asked no one. My voice sounded much more smooth than I remembered. I had been a somewhat raspy tenor ever since I had reached adult hood, but my voice suddenly sounded smooth as silk. Puzzled, I sang a few lyrics of the first song that came to mind. "To hide be-hind, the mask this ti-i-i-m, and try to believe . . . " I was floored, "I guess it COULD be a fair trade. I can finally hold a tune, but my face looks lime I played 'chicken' with a train and lost." I chuckled at my poor joke. My humor had always been more than a touch macabre and it was good to know my personality hadn't changed. The slight change to my voice puzzled me to no end though, 'Did they try to perform some kind of reconstructive surgery and end up fixing my vocal chords instead of my fugly face? Naw, too far out there.' Another hunger pang brought my attention back to my present circumstances, 'I'm hungry as hell and there is no one around, which means I have to find someone.' The thought was decidedly unpleasant, 'Yay, I get to creep naked down a hallway, stumbling like a crack-head and looking like a starved version of the Wild Man of Borneo until I get something to eat. Joy. Well I'm guaranteed to make a hell of a first impression.' I gently pushed off the right side of the door frame and caught myself on the left then inched my feet over as I gripped the door frame. I turned the corner and began sliding down the hallway in search of, well anyone. * * * Razor Wit stared at the Unicorn mare in front of her in disbelief, "Catatonic?" she asked, "What do mean the Human is catatonic?" The Unicorn mare, Dr. Saving Grace, or just Grace to her friends, stared back at the tan mare who had inquired about her most unusual patient, "As I said, the Human displayed absolutely no response to any sort of stimulation. His pupils dilated when I shined a light into his eyes, but he responded to neither physical stimulation or verbal. We even had the Unicorn mare he had interacted with previously present to ease any possible fear or panic but he never moved a muscle. His eyes didn't open, his limbs didn't twitch, and he never uttered a peep. I haven't declared him catatonic yet, but I'll be checking on him later tonight when his regular nurse goes to feed him." "Well, may I go see him?" Razor asked, "I spent the last month around his species so I might be able to figure out how to wake him." Dr. Grace pursed her lips, "I'm already breaking protocol by telling you about his condition. If you didn't have a writ from the Princess herself I would have denied his existence completely." she placed a comforting hoof on the tan mare's shoulder, "There are two Royal Guards stationed at either end of that entire floor. If the Human wakes up they'll know." "Is there a nurse up there right now? Shouldn't somepony be feeding him?" Razor asked. Dr. Grace shook her head, "You have no idea how much trouble we've had with feeding him. The first few days were fine. We gave him a large quantity of a liquid mush of fruits, vegetables, and hay twice a day, as per normal Pony requirements. On day three he threw up some sort of gold liquid and with his jaw wired shut, he very nearly drowned in it. If it hadn't been for the quick response of a nurse checking up on him he would be dead. We do know that he ended up inhaling a large amount of the liquid but he coughed it all up afterward. Since that incident, we figured that we had almost certainly been feeding him too much so we decreased the amount that we fed him. A bit more than a week later he threw up again so we decreased his food intake a second time. About two weeks later he nearly threw up a third time so we decreased his food once more just to be safe. My only concern is that he has been losing weight. I don't know much about his physiology but he seems to be in rough shape. I truly hope he wakes up soon or else I fear he may starve." Dr. Grace bit her lower lip, "Catatonic or not, he's too thin. If he isn't awake by tomorrow I'm going to increase his food intake, vomiting or not." Razor Wit cocked her head to the side inquisitively, "How much are you putting into the food servings he receives?" Dr. Grace smiled, "Two stalks of celery, eight kidney beans, one potato, ten raisins, and five cherries. The liquid comes from fresh milk donated daily to the hospital. I measure his meals carefully myself every morning and evening." Razor Wit felt her eyes widen, "When he threw up, it was his body adjusting to our world! According to Princess Celestia Humans are from another world where magic doesn't even exist! He wasn't reacting to too much food, his body was adjusting! Humans need fruit, vegetables, and fish! He's losing so much weight because he's starving! His body has been cannibalizing itself!" Dr. Grace blew out an exasperated breath, "I know he's not getting enough nutrition, but I cannot simply take the word of a linguistics expert." she sighed and rubbed her forehead with her right fore hoof, "Look, I'm not all that busy right now, if it will make you feel better I can escort you up there and you can try to wake him." Razor Wit nodded, "Please do. Let's bring some food with us too. Do you have a bowl of fruit?" * * * I reached the end of the hallway and looked back. It looked like, and felt like I had traversed miles. I looked around the immediate area in front of me. Not twenty feet from me was what looked like a nurse's station. I poked my head out of the hallway and looked around farther. To my left and right were two more hallways. At the far end of each, I judged them to be about two hundred feet, were Kavim wearing gold colored armor. 'Where are all the other Kavim? Where am I, and why are there armored Kavim posted here?' I was growing concerned. My musings distracted me from what I was doing and before I knew what was happening, I overbalanced and nearly fell onto the floor. I managed to catch myself on the corner of the wall but my vocalizing, "Oh shit!" was clear as day. The armored Kavim immediately burst into a run, in my direction. Their reaction time was impossibly brief. It was like someone had them resting on a starting line for hours and had finally fired the gun. They were so fast they almost looked like blurs. I already knew I had no chance of outrunning them, so instead I just stood in place and waited . . . trembling in fear. In less than three seconds they pulled to a stop, not two feet from me. I could see that they had wings, like the first Kavim I met. They stopped and stared at me in silence. The four of them were scowling as if I was some hideous creature . . . ,'Derp Dan. You ARE a hideous creature to them.' the realization did absolutely nothing to make me feel better, 'Well, I was looking for somebody aaannnddd I found somebody. I sure hope they're smart enough to understand basic hand motions.' I slowly turned and braced my back against the wall, freeing up my hands to communicate. The four Kavim never moved a muscle, hell I wasn't sure they blinked. I opened my mouth and held up my right hand, as if I were holding an apple then proceeded to bite into said imaginary apple. I chewed the false fruit then made an exaggerated swallowing motion. I looked back at the four armored Kavim. No reaction. 'Great.' I thought sourly, 'Either they are dense, I'm not communicating well enough, or it doesn't translate well.' "Pebun raa evanin sefnun." one of the armored Kavim said in an authoritative tone. I could easily tell he was, well a 'he' and I noticed a lot of 'n' sounds in the words, but other than that, I was completely lost. Without even actually thinking about it, I cocked my head to my right. The Kavim must have understood the sign of incomprehension because he raised his right hoof and pointed back down the hallway I had just come from. At least I had SOMETHING to understand. With a slight sigh, I turned and began stumbling back toward the room in which I had awoken. I could hear the clopping sounds of the Kavims' pseudo hooves on the stone floor as they followed behind me. I reached the doorway to the room and stopped for a breather. Apparently that was not allowed, as one of the Kavim behind me nudged me, none too gently, in the small of my back. The force of the nudge sent me stumbling forward only to fall on my face since I was incapable of maintaining my balance. I impacted the floor before I could bring my hands up to brace for the fall. My head smacked the floor, face first, with a heavy thump and stars danced in my vision. I could feel my nose running and figured it was probably bleeding. I brought up my arms and slowly pushed myself up and rolled over onto my back. I saw a several droplets of blood on the floor where my face hit and touched my nose, 'Yup, it's bleeding alright. Thanks guys.' I thought irritably. I glared up and to my surprise, the armored Kavim were all looking at each other with what appeared to be worried expressions. I was right next to the bed so I raised my right arm and pulled as I slowly got to my feet. The armored Kavim stayed back as I cruised my way to the bathroom, like a toddler learning to walk. I inched my way along the wall and sat down across from the odd-ass commode. I reached up and pulled several pieces of toilet paper off the roll, 'Huh, if I didn't know any better, I'd say it looks like Angel Soft brand.' I folded the tissue and plugged up my bloody nose. * * * Dr. Grace pushed open the door to the fourteenth floor with her magic and stepped through, immediately looking around, "Where are the Guards? There are supposed to be two Guards posted on either side of the doors." Razor Wit followed the doctor through the door and didn't see the Guards either, "That's odd. Maybe they went to see the Human?" "They're not supposed to leave their posts . . . " Dr. Grace realized she was talking to herself as the end of Razor's fuchsia tail disappeared around the corner of the hallway toward the Human's room. Dr Grace shook her head and trotted after the tan mare. * * * Razor sped down the hallway at top speed. She could clearly see two golden tails sticking out of the last room on the right. The two Guards, whose tails were sticking out of the doorway, turned and spotted Razor Wit. In a flash of movement they were side by side, wings out, blocking the hallway. Razor skidded to a halt right in front of them, "Where is the Human?" she asked. The two Guards didn't move, nor did they give any indication they had heard her, Razor's blood boiled, "I have a writ from Princess Celestia!" she said levitating the writ out of her saddle bag, "You WILL let me pass!" she unfolded the writ and levitated it in front of their faces. After a moment the two Guards stepped aside and folded their wings. They did not nod and they did not say a word. Razor huffed loudly and pushed past them and into the room. The first thing she smelled was the overwhelming stench of blood, the smell made her instantly queasy and nearly made her throw up. She looked around but didn't see the Human anywhere, she did notice two more Guards in the room, standing on either side of the door to the bathroom. The bathroom door was wide open so she slowly crept over to it and peeked around the corner, past the Pegasus Guard. * * * I could easily hear the rushing clop of pseudo hooves against the stone floor as, what I assumed to be another Kavim, dashed down the hallway outside the door to my room. The clopping stopped and was replaced by what sounded suspiciously like a female's voice. The voice sounded upset but I couldn't, for the life of me, understand what she might have been saying. The clop of hooves began again but much more slowly. I could hear them coming closer and turned my head toward the door, just as a fuchsia mane came into view around the right side of the doorway. The mane was closely followed by the tan horn and face of a Unicorn mare. I still had my hands up on my nose but I decided to be polite. I lifted my bloodied left hand and waved, "Emooli." The tan mare seemed to shrink back from my hand so, logically, I lowered it. She lowered her head and slowly stepped around the corner and halfway into the bathroom. I tried to smile through the bloody tissue in my nose but thought better of it once I realized the mare's face was turning a frightening shade of red. I flinched as she turned to her left and began yelling furiously at the armored Kavim who, I already knew, had taken up position on either side of the bathroom door. Her words were spoken like a verbal machine gun that I had absolutely no hope of following. It was not particularly obvious what she was upset about, but then again I had absolutely no idea who the mare was, or why she was in my room, or why she even had any sort of interest in me in the first place. One thing did become readily apparent though, the armored Kavim remained reactionless despite the mare venting her spleen on them. I couldn't hear a single word from any other Kavim except the one tan mare. In the background of the vocal onslaught, I could hear the distinctive sound of another set of hooves clopping down the hallway to my room. Since the arrival of at least one more guest seemed eminent, I figured I should probably at least try to make myself presentable. I had already quite forgotten that I was naked until that moment. I briefly debated trying to step past the irate Unicorn mare, but decided that I should probably do my level best to stay out of her way. Instead, I slowly crawled over to the bathroom sink in hopes of washing off my hands and face. The Unicorn mare ignored my movements and continued on her tirade. I managed to attain a sitting position in front of the sink without too much difficulty. The sink was roughly two feet off the ground and, thankfully, was constructed with a lever mechanism set behind the spout of the faucet. I halted my movements as something occurred to me, 'The Kavim walk on their pseudo hooves, why the heck would they want to wash them? They would be instantly dirty once they touched the floor. Furthermore, how would a Kavim wipe themselves once they're done using the bathroom?' The questions were all but circular. I decided to ignore them in hopes of the facts being revealed in time and decided to get on with the task of washing my, badly soiled, hands and face. I reached up with my left hand and turned on the faucet. I gingerly released my nose and cupped both hands under the flow of the water. I picked up the small, white bar of soap on the rim of the sink and scrubbed my hands as best I could given my weakened state. I finished with my hands and began working on my face. The lumpy skin of my head felt oily and grimy under my fingertips as I massaged the soap into my pores. I scrubbed my face as vigorously as I could and rinsed. I reached over to the right side of the sink and snagged the small white towel hanging on a bar nearby. I dried my face and carefully removed the pieces of tissue that I had stuffed up my nose. No blood followed their removal and I smiled, glad that I wouldn't be losing any more blood. I took notice of the silence that had descended and turned to look at the doorway. A second Unicorn mare had joined the first one. The second mare was a peach color in her coat and her mane and tail were mahogany, both looked to have been pulled up in buns. The second mare was also wearing what looked suspiciously, strike that, exactly like a doctor's lab coat. The two mares stared at me silently, it was honestly kind of creepy. I finished cleaning up the splashes of water I had inadvertently left on the sink before I turned and regarded them. I knew that I was naked and the fact that I had been so in front of hundreds of my own species had absolutely no bearing on how I felt right then. I whipped the little white towel in front of my crotch trying to conceal my genitals. I decided to try to get back to the bed. I held the towel against my crotch and gripped the sink with my right hand. I grunted with effort but, slightly to my surprise, I did manage to bring myself to an upright standing position. The two mares seemed to understand what I was about and politely moved out of my way. With the tiny shreds of my dignity hanging by a thread, I slowly inched my way through the door and back to the bed. I sat down on the white sheet and pulled the cover over my lap then folded the towel up and put it on the bedside table. I turned back to the mares. They were both standing in place watching me. My hunger was steadily growing more and more severe so I repeated the 'eating an apple' motion I had used on the armored Kavim. The tan mare seemed to catch on instantly. Her horn lit up in a light fuchsia glow and a grapefruit floated out of her saddlebags. I skittered across the to the far side of the bed so quickly I nearly fell onto the floor again. "THE FUCK!" I yelled. I could feel my heart beating heavily against my ribs. The last time I had seen a glowing horn was from the filly who put her horn to my head just before I blacked out. My mind spun with thoughts of a thousand horrible things that could happen. The tan mare startled at my reaction and took a step back. The other mare shrieked and practically jumped out of her skin. The grapefruit hung, suspended in the air just within my reach. My initial reaction abated quickly since nothing horrible was happening and my inquisitive side kicked in with a vengeance. I slowly inched forward and examined the grapefruit or more specifically, the aura around it, 'Hmm, fuchsia colored telekinesis.' I glanced back at the tan Unicorn, 'The aura is the same color as her mane and tail. I wonder if that's common?' another thought came to me, 'You know, it kind of looked like she was handing . . . passing it to me.' I slowly reached out my right hand and left it under the grapefruit then looked to the tan mare. She seemed to come out of her daze when I examined the fruit and so nodded encouragingly when I extended my hand. I smiled and cupped my hand around the levitated grapefruit. The second my fingers came into contact with the citrus fruit, the aura vanished with a sudden, almost violent blink. I saw the ghost of a ripple in the air between the mare and myself just a split second before she cried out loudly, fell to the floor and put both hooves to her horn. The peach mare in the lab coat, 'I'll just call her Doc.' Doc was at the tan mare's side in an instant, fawning over her. I was puzzled, 'O.K. What just happened?' I began going over the events in my mind, 'There was a fuchsia aura around the grapefruit and a fuchsia aura around the tan mare's horn. That matching colors are likely indicative of 'possession' or 'source' of the aura. When I grabbed the grapefruit I must have disrupted the energy that was maintaining it, like disrupting the electrical current of a circuit. I didn't feel anything though.' I looked down at the tan mare, 'It sure looks like it hurt though. Crud, I never meant to hurt her. I should probably do something to show her I didn't mean it.' I was so hungry I almost felt sick, but I had literally nothing else to offer. I slowly slid over to the side of the bed that was closest to her and held out the grapefruit toward her with my right hand. Good grief, that damn thing felt like it weighed fifty pounds. Doc looked up at me with an angry expression. That expression faded, however once she saw me holding out the grapefruit. She lowered her head and nudged the tan mare while mumbling something quietly. The tan mare looked up with only one open eye. She was still cringing at the, apparently painful energy backlash, but her face softened when she saw me holding up the grapefruit. Doc helped her struggle up to a standing position. She was shaky but standing. She moved toward me and gingerly nuzzled my hand back toward the bed. I was confused and offered it to her again, but she merely nudged my hand back a second time, this time with a slight smile. I might have been tempted to protest but I was too hungry to argue. I set the grapefruit down on the bed and positioned the thumb of my right hand over it to break the skin. I had seen my hands several times already, but that was the first time I really noticed the state of my nails. Each nail looked like it was roughly half an inch long. They had obviously been cut but it had been some time ago. The cuts on my nails were straight across, almost as if someone used a pair of scissors to trim them. I decided it was something to ponder at a later time and dug my thumb nail into the grapefruit. * * * Razor Wit turned to Dr. Grace, "As you can see, he is certainly awake and obviously hungry. I'm assuming there are quite a few tests you need to run on him and I'm sure to be up here with him all day. Would you be so kind as to show me where I can find food to bring him before you go retrieve your equipment?" Dr. Grace nodded, "Yes, but the only reason you're getting access to the kitchen is your writ. Come on, follow me." "In a moment doctor." Razor said then turned to the four Guards, "Remember what I said. Princess Celestia is referring to this Human as an emissary. As such he is to be protected," she narrowed her eyes menacingly, "Not pushed around. I have no authority over any of you four but know that I will personally see to it that the Princess stations you guarding the catacombs of the Royal Palace for the rest of your lives if he has even one more bruise. Do I make myself clear?" The four Guards had positioned themselves with two outside the main door and two inside. None of the Guards moved a muscle, but a trickle of sweat down one's face was all the answer Razor Wit needed.