"James. James! Wake up!" My groggy mind barely started to register that someone was calling me.
"What? Why? The sun isn't even up! Let me sleep." I told her while I covered my face with a pillow.
Yesterday's events just now started returning to my mind as well as my current situation. To confirm that it wasn't a dream I sat up in bed and looked at Fleetfoot, only mostly sure she wasn't imaginary.
"Come on, I wanted to show you something. We pretty much have all day, we just have to be there for Spitfire's class this evening. Besides, I think you'll like it."
"Can I take the pillow with me?" I meant it seriously, I would pet a grizzly bear if it meant I could keep a pillow like this.
"No. Hurry up, if we do this now we can still have time to get breakfast before we find you some new clothes. Unless you'd rather keep those shorts forever."
"Alright, so what are we doing now?"
Fleetfoot simply smiled and walked to the door. "I invited a unicorn over earlier while you were still sleeping and with what you said yesterday I think you'll thank me after this. He waiting just outside, come on, this will be all the better with the stars out."
"Okay, well let's go meet him." I hopped out of bed and joined Fleetfoot just before she opened the door, revealing a light blue pony like herself except he seemed to have a bigger frame in addition to being male, and rather than wings at his side a horn with a spiral pattern on it adorned his head.
"I'll need to cast the spell outside, please follow me." he said briefly before taking off on a light trot down the hall. Fleetfoot and I followed. Once we were outside the building he led us to a small clouded wall that formed the end of the city.
"James, his name is North Star. He's going to give you wings!"
"Wait, really? Awesome! But how would I fly with them? I've never flown and I have no idea how I'd even control them." I asked, I was thrilled about the idea of flying but nervous that for whatever reason it simply wouldn't work for me.
"Understand that these are temporary because this is a difficult spell to do. They will last at least two hours, any longer than that and they could start fading without warning so keep an eye on the time. You won't be capable of true flight but you will be able to glide so remember to keep your wings outstretched. Fleetfoot here can help keep you flying and make sure you're safe. Anything more and Fleetfoot can explain it to you." Soon North Star's horn began to flicker to life. "Just hold still. This will hurt a little but you should get used to the wings quickly."
A blue light erupted from him and impacted my shoulder. It stung like hell for a few moments as the impact felt like it burned from my shoulder straight to two spots on my back where the pain eventually subsided. Then a pair of long, white, almost angelic appearing wings grew from my back. They remained folded and close to my side however.
"H-holy shit...this is...wow...thank you. How do I move them?" I tried to shrug my shoulders and while that moved the wings I couldn't directly control them doing that.
"Simply think about what you want your wings to do. Focus and think clearly about exactly what you want them to do and they will do it. Try reaching me with your wing."
Following his command I closed my eyes and thought hard about my intent, simply reach out with the right wing and tap him.
"Good job. Now you can also hold small object with your wings but don't try to pick up anything you couldn't with say...two or three of your fingers, otherwise you can damage them and it will hurt. Now stretch your wings as far out as you can."
I did as North Star asked and pictured myself stretching my wings as far as I could, reaching up towards the sky. My wings followed my thoughts and reached out and up to the air above me.
"Good, good, you learn quickly. Well that's about it. Listen to what Fleetfoot says and enjoy your wings. James, Fleetfoot, have a nice day." He bowed his head and Fleetfoot returned the gesture and promptly turned away to leave.
"Soo...what do you think?" Fleetfoot walked in front of me with a smile on her face.
"I love them...thank you so much. I don't know how to really thank you, or North Star, really."
"Don't sweat it. Now come on, let's try those puppies out!"
"Okay so what should I do? Just spread my wings out and say hop to that cloud out in front of us?"
"Sounds good. Good luck!"
"Wait, what are you..." I thought Fleetfoot was doing something but before I could figure out what she pushed me off the cloud.
"AHHH FLEETFOOT! HELP! I'M FALLING!!"
"Open your wings!" She called out from above me. My mind was on the verge of panic but I tried my best to open my wings quickly. I closed my eyes and tried to not imagine splattering on the ground below. I imagined my wings stretching out and taking me to the cloud I was aiming for and when I opened my eyes I was relieved to see that they had opened and turned my falling into a gentle glide. After a couple moments I saw Fleetfoot fly parallel to me with a knowing smile.
"See, I knew you could do it. Just keep calm, I'm going to help take you back up higher so you can aim for that cloud again." Fleetfoot put two hooves on my sides and proceeded to carry me up higher with her. Soon we were high enough that I could glide to the cloud I had missed.
"Okay, when I let go you're just going to glide straight over to that cloud, keep calm and remember I'll be right behind you. Ready? Go!" she shouted as she threw me forward and into a gentle glide. I flew steady and focused as best as I could, though I couldn't help but hear a noise come from the right as what sounded at first like a small whistle became a giant blast of air as a blur of air passed inches in front of me. Before I could make sense of anything it felt like I got hit in the ribs by a train.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" I cried in pain as I began to spiral down through the sky. Fear gripped my heart as I watched the ground come closer. I looked to the right and noticed Spitfire falling right next to me, only she didn't seem responsive, she looked unconscious. I glanced up and saw Fleetfoot bearing down on us as fast as she could.
"JUST HOLD ON!"
Come on...focus...focus...fly damn it... I thought to myself, the agonizing new pain in my side made it all the more difficult to focus and I only managed to stretch my wings a little but it was enough to stop the spinning after a few seconds. I looked back down and saw just how high up we had truly been, we were far away from the ground but the distance was shrinking fast and even if Fleetfoot made it in time I wasn't sure if she could carry both of us.
I tried to guide myself to where Spitfire was falling and dove downwards to catch up with her before putting both hands on her back. The wind in my eyes made it hard to see what I was doing but I managed to turn with her in still in my grip. Soon I had my back facing the ground with her above me as I held on and and tried my hardest to stretch my wings out. I chanced a look back down and swore my heart skip a beat when I saw how fast we were approaching the ground.
Open damn it...open! I focused on my wings more and ordered them to spread apart into a glide. Fleetfoot was just about to catch us but it didn't look like she'd be able to slow down in time even if she did make it. I closed my eyes and concentrated. Hard.
Open your wings... a calm voice in my head repeated softly.
I felt the muscles connected to the wings respond properly and open at last. We were still going fast but now we were gliding rather than falling, then I felt my back brushing past the grass before impact. All I could feel was sheer pain as my hands were forced to let go of Spitfire and I began to tumble and bounce on the dirt before sliding into the dirt, leaving a long trail behind me. My vision was blurry as I finally came to a halt.
So much...pain...Spitfire...have to check... my hazy mind was just barely functioning as I blinked a few times to look for her, though my vision remained terrible. I stumbled to my feet before collapsing to my knees within a second. Just a short way ahead of my impact zone I noticed Spitfire laying on the ground though she left a couple dirt patches versus my crash site. I crawled towards her and only managed to make a quick check. She appeared to be breathing at least and I didn't see anything that was too bad, but she wasn't too much better off than me. I put one of my hands on my back and tried to stand back up when I felt blood running down my hand, my back was still numb and only now could I feel something on it.
I caught a glimpse of Fleetfoot galloping towards us with Soarin shortly behind her before everything began to fade and I blacked out, falling to the ground with a gentle thump on the dirt.
"What the hell happened! Spitfire doesn't look to out of sorts but look at fucking James! The doctors have never worked on a human before and they aren't even sure he'll wake up!" I could barely make out the sound Fleetfoot shouting to someone. It was strange, it felt like I was almost dreaming, time crawled by and it felt like my body took every way around waking up.
"We were on the patrol checking for anyone falling from the city! We turned a sharp corner and before we could react Spitfire crashed into him and I just barely missed doing the same! It's not our fault about what happened. I know you're concerned but this isn't the time to be throwing around blame."
"I...I know...but the doctors already said Spitfire would be fine, a week of recovery, at the most. James, they aren't sure about. They said he could wake up and recover within days or not wake up at all. They said it was lucky he didn't break his back, but that he was bleeding a lot from his back and there were cuts all over him, probably from going over some rocks. I should have been faster. I could have caught both of them." Her voice began to waver as she made a sniffling sound.
"Hey there, come on, Fleet. He'll be fine, don't worry."
"At least he managed to slow down and glide before he hit, otherwise it would be worse. He even managed to save Spitfire."
"True, I'm impressed, if it weren't for him, she could be far worse off...even..."
"But she's not, he saved her life." she said somewhat proudly.
The entire time they talked it all still felt like one of those lucid dreams, only I couldn't respond, as if I couldn't find the right muscles to open my eyelids. My whole body screamed in a numb pain, I could still just barely feel wings on my back, it must have still been very recent. I had no idea where I was now, I didn't feel dirt anymore. It felt more like...cloth, a bed maybe? I could feel it close to my back too, probably band-aids.
Ugh...I...wake...wake... I tried to will myself awake but to no avail. Soon I heard a weak voice speak next to me.
"I...oww...shit...what in the world...how'd I get here?" Spitfire asked in a raspy voice.
"Woah, take it easy, Spits. You were injured, you're in Cloudsdale Central Hospital." Soarin called in a gentle voice.
"Soarin said that you were on a patrol this morning when you guys turned a corner and hit James. I called a Unicorn earlier in the morning that gave him temporary wings and he was learning how to use them when you crashed into him. He was hurt but still awake and you were knocked out on impact. While you two were falling he managed to catch you and slow the decent enough for you to survive. I saw him try to crawl to you and collapse right after he got close. He's right next you. He still hasn't waken up yet..." she said in an increasingly sober tone. "The doctors don't have any experience with his kind and aren't sure how humans handle trauma. They took some blood from James just before you woke up and are running tests to see what they can find out about him, like if a blood transfusion would work with him. He doesn't have any deep lacerations but he still lost so much blood..."
Silence followed briefly after Fleetfoot's summary.
Just how bad did I get hurt? I can hear them but it still just feels like a bad dream. What if it is? Come on...I should be able to wake up...
Slowly but surely I could at last begin to feel my hands and feet, soon I could sense the rest of me and honestly I would have rather stayed asleep because it hurt beyond words. Sensation slowly flowed back into me.
"Look, Fleetfoot. None of this is your fault. We know you did your best."
"But it still wasn't good enough..."
Pain. So much pain, but it has never felt more wonderful at the same time. Slowly I could feel the engines in my body start to run again, my heartbeat drummed to a new tempo and I felt the wind drawn into my chest. I clenched my fist and took in a fresh breath. I could sense the room around me grow silent as I did. I sat up and was finally able to open my eyes. They burned for a moment from the brightness of the room but they adjusted and the first thing I saw was Fleetfoot and Soarin by the foot of the bed I was in, Spitfire was revealed with just a glance to my right.
"JAMES!" Fleetfoot shouted with glee and wrapped me in a warm hug, I felt her quickly land a kiss on my cheek before backing away with a smile on her face, practically bouncing with excitement.
"You're okay! We were worried! You saved Spitfire's life you know." she said eagerly. As she spoke I couldn't help but notice a couple tears finishing their race down the side of her cheeks.
Soarin smiled and nodded. "Thanks for catching Spitfire, how are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a train and it decided to back up, then I got thrown in a washing machine full of hammers." I groaned in pain and held my stomach, I looked down and realized that much of me was covered in bandages. I was dressed in a light robe that at least covered my manhood and whatever wasn't covered by the bandages. As I looked at it Fleetfoot spoke up quickly.
"Oh right, I got that for you while you were out, I know how you are about being naked. Your shorts are done for though." she said as she held up my shorts for me to see. At first they looked fine but she turned them around, revealing a giant hole that had formed over nearly the entire back side. If I wore them my ass would stick out like a pair of white bongo drums.
"Yeah...and sorry about hitting you. I truly appreciate what you did. I owe you big time." Spitfire said, glancing away and rubbing the back of her neck.
"Don't worry about it, glad I could help, though if we had been more careful it wouldn't have happened to begin with."
"No...we shouldn't have gone that fast around a blind corner. It was just an accident." Spitfire replied.
"Heh, hardly been a day and you're already becoming a bit of a hero to people." Soarin grinned while Spitfire and I returned confused looks.
"Oh, right you two were out. There's a small crowd outside waiting to meet the alien that saved our captain." He cast a quick glance my way. "They all wanted to come in and see you two right away but Fleetfoot looked like she would tear apart the first pony to try." Fleetfoot smiled sheepishly and looked around the room as if she were innocent of such an accusation.
"I wasn't being that scary."
"You threatened to feed one of them to a manticore." He stated bluntly.
"So..."
"Anyway, James. I mean it, thank you."
"No problem, might as well get out of bed though." I sighed as I swung my legs over to the side of the bed and gently placed my bandage wrapped feet on the cloud-stone floor, it gave very little while walking but it still managed to remain comfortable at the same time, lucky thing too considering it felt like someone hit my feet with a meat tenderizer. As soon as I stood up and put weight on my legs I collapsed to my hands and knees. Soarin and Fleetfoot rushed to pick me up by my shoulders.
"Whoa, careful. You nearly died a few hours ago, don't go bouncing around like you just woke up from a refreshing nap. I don't know how resilient humans are but you need to take it easy for a while." He said as he tried to guide me back to the bed with Fleetfoot's aid.
"No, please I want to try the use the wings again, just a little more before they go. Just a short distance, doesn't have to be high up. I know the spell is going to wear off soon." I begged as I struggled to stand up, trying to hide how much it truly hurt.
"James, no. I'm sorry but you can't. Sorry to be blunt but you look like shit and a filly with a broken leg could probably whoop your ass right now.
I gave a short huff in response. "Fine, but I'm gonna lay down when I'm ready. My legs might hurt but they're also cramped to hell.
Fleetfoot rolled her eyes. "Alright, but if you collapse again I'm going to say I told you so."
I tried and failed to suppress a laugh. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Says the cripple." Fleetfoot smirked as I stumbled and grabbed onto the bedpost.
"Oh...fuck you." I waved my hand back at her and Soarin as I made my way to the window.
"Sorry bud, you're not my type." Soarin responded with a cheeky grin.
"You two are just awful, adding insult to injury, literally." I responded, trying to hide the smile already on my face.
"Welcome to the family, good luck getting out." Spitfire laughed and reclined back into her bed. "Eh...Rapidfire's going to have a cow...if he asks about me tell him that I don't need my baby brother to make soup five times a day for me." She waved her hoof vaguely towards Soarin.
After finally reaching the window I could look down and saw that they weren't kidding about the crowd. Their "small crowd" was probably at least a hundred ponies gathered around the hospital doors.
"Wow...that's a lot of people. I don't understand, I didn't jump off a cliff to catch Spitfire, I was falling and I simply caught her and tried to minimize the impact for both of us." I said, backing away from the window so as to not get spotted.
"You hadn't even had those for ten minutes and you still managed to save not only yourself but me as well. That's an impressive feat in my book." Spitfire said plainly.
"Alright, come on, you need to lay down." Fleetfoot stood on her back legs and directed me back to my bed. She backed away a pace or two when I finally laid all the way on my back. "You would not believe how fast news spreads by the way. I already got a letter from Vinyl asking to meet you and I think there's more ponies on the way to town just to see you. A new species arrives and folks usually don't take a ton of notice but when that same person saves a celebrity the next day, it makes headlines."
"Wow...I'm not shy but I mean...I've never really been the center of attention, I still don't feel like I totally deserve it though."
"Imagine how we feel. One time I rescued a cat from a tree in Ponyville and they acted like I just fought a bear one on one. Though at least they aren't always that bad you get the idea." Soarin continued.
"Yikes."
"Yeah, hold on, let me get the doctor. I'll be right back." Soarin slipped out the door and returned only moments later with the doctor in tow, who looked shocked to seem me sitting up in bed awake.
"Incredible. You should barely be breathing, you look like you wrestled a dragon and you're awake already. I wasn't expecting that for at least another day or so." the doctor commented.
"You should have been in here a moment ago, he was trying to walk around and even wanted to go out to try the wings again." Fleetfoot told him. He returned an impressed look.
"Astounding. Well before I'd say you should spend a few weeks here recovering but you look like you could walk out yourself in a day or two. Do you possess any magical abilities?"
"Um...not that I know of, humans can't use magic."
"Simply amazing...I hope you wouldn't mind if I ran some more tests, we need to change your bandages as well."
"I suppose it's alright..." I breathed. I just hoped that it wouldn't involve a lot of needles. Unfortunately it involved a shit load of needles. About nine different needles to be exact. None of them drew a lot of blood on their own but with their added effect I was starting to feel light headed. After that was done he started to take off the bandages on my legs and replace them with Fleetfoot standing in the hallway. I was becoming less covered by the second, with only my waist down and some spots on my arm still covered.
"Oh um hey Fleetfoot, would you mind waiting with the others?" I asked as the doctor pulled the ones off my arms and replaced those as well.
"Nah."
"Why?"
"Makes you uncomfortable." she grinned.
"Please? At least close your eyes? It's still kinda weird for me."
"Oh fine." Fleetfoot sighed. "If it really bothers you. Let me know when I can look again." Following her word, she closed her eyes but remained in the doorway.
Once her eyes were closed the doctor pulled off my robe and continued replacing bandages. After the he stripped the bandages from my torso he tossed the bloody gauze in a marked bin next to him. Once the bandages were off my back I felt open wounds exposed to fresh air, and with that a fresh sting.
"Ah...hey, mind if I see how bad it is?"
"Alright, there's no permanent damage and it should heal well but it's not pretty." he warned. He pulled a pair of mirrors out of a drawer and angled them so I could see my back clearly. It was pretty torn up and was red almost all over, it look almost like I had been whipped then dragged over cement. "There will be scars, but just pop in here and mention Doctor Torch and I'll come and make them disappear. Magic can make it look like you never got injured."
"Thanks, Doctor Torch, I really appreciate it."
"My pleasure." he responded as he began to replace the bandages he had taken off. "By the way, I noticed you bleeding a little freely when Fleetfoot carried you in, poor dear looked like she was going to fall apart. I'd recommend drinking plenty of fluids and eating some more salts so your blood congeals faster. Eat something too after we're done. You lost a lot of blood today and I know the needles didn't help in that regard but it will help me greatly, especially if you come back here. Stop by the hospital's cafeteria before you go if you're heading out of here today, eat something filling.
"All that's left it to finish the bandages around your waist." I avoided what would be awkward eye contact as Doctor Torch replaced bandages around my waist and lower abdomen. After inspecting me as a whole, checking that all of the new bandages were secure he backed up a step and handed the robe back to me.
"You can look now, Fleetfoot."
She blew out a bored breath and opened her eyes and watched the Doctor finish his examination.
"James, I may not have great knowledge about your kind but I have worked with plenty of mammals and I can tell what a creature is in good health or not. I'd say you are a healthy, strong, well-endowed young male in his prime. As far as I can tell you're the model of health."
"Hmm well-endowed, Doc?"
"Huh? Oh why yes he appears to have fair muscle density and no deformities as far as I can tell and ohhhh...well that too I'd suppose." Doctor Torch said as he rubbed his chin. Meanwhile I stood in awkward silence as Fleetfoot wiggled her eyebrows at me and began laughing to herself. I looked at the Doctor with an accusatory glare.
"What? It's not a bad thing. Isn't she your mare-friend anyway?" He got the message when I simply continued glaring. I noticed Fleetfoot blush out of the corner of my eyes as well, bright velvet showing easily on her blue cheeks despite her best effort to hide it.
"Um...no doc, we're just uh...friends."
"Oh, my apologies, when I saw her carry you in I had thought you two were courting or-" I gently nudged the doctor as an indicator that now would be a good time to stop talking.
"Right, right, sorry. Well when you leave be careful, don't want you to get swarmed by the mob outside."
I followed Fleetfoot out the door and back into the room that Spitfire was still laying in with Soarin beside her as she banged the back of her head into her pillow out of boredom
"Ah, you're back, care to join me in my endless boredom?" Spitfire asked sarcastically.
"Sorry, not a fan of hospitals." I shrugged.
"I'll stay with ya, Spits." Soarin told her.
"Thanks, well don't let my broken ass keep you guys here, at least I don't have to make it through a swarm of paparazzi." she chuckled.
"Come on, we'll get you back to my place and we can take it easy. Also don't let the folks out there get too close, they'll be excited to see you but if they get too close they can topple on top of each other and then you. Happened to me once. Would be bad in your condition." Fleetfoot said as she guided me away from Spitfire's room and down the hall, then down the elevator that led to the ground floor.
"Alright, thanks. I'd rather just eat when we get back as well than risk getting mobbed in the cafeteria." I told her as I fiddled with the robe, trying to to find a way to secure it better. Before long the elevator doors opened and we could see the collection of ponies waiting beyond the glass doors of the entrance.
"Alright, stay close to me and try to not get kidnapped. Happened to me once, though it was actually kinda fun, it was three mares and they took me bowling with them. It was nice, we actually keep in contact too."
"You just have all kinds of interesting stories don't you?"
Fleetfoot simply grinned while we continued walking towards the doors. As we neared we finally caught the attention of the mob outside, who were now shouting and eager to get a word from us. It was like watching children ready to break down the door to a candy store.
"Ready.?"
"Nope."
"Great, let's go!" Fleetfoot said as she pushed open the doors, the wave of sound that was outside now hitting me full force as I heard the crowd buzz with questions. They did their best to squeeze in question after question.
"Stranger! What were the circumstances surrounding your saving of Spitfire!?" One of the reporters asked, trying to put a microphone in my face for an answer.
"Tall one! Is it true you're already engaged to Fleetfoot!?" a second voice called out.
"Is it true that you're the hybrid of a dragon and minotaur and can breathe fire!?" yet another asked, which I honestly couldn't put a serious response into words for that one.
"Are the wings real!?"
"Did you plan Spitfire's injury to further your own agenda?" one asked with an accusatory look.
Soon the barrage of questions came even faster as the crowd closer in, asking increasingly strange things as I backed up closer to Fleetfoot, too nervous to even form a response to any of them.
"QUIET!!!!" Fleetfoot roared back to them. All noise ceased and it was as if the air itself did its best to be silent.
"Now. James is very injured and really shouldn't even be walking so give him some space." she ordered. The crowd obeyed and gave me some breathing room."
"We are not engaged nor are we dating. He is not a hybrid and cannot breathe fire. He is a male human and he means no harm. His wings are from a spell that was cast on him this morning that should wear off within an hour or two. What happened that put him and Spitfire into the hospital was purely accident, simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Any more questions?" She spoke with practiced ease and confidence to the crowd, something she surely had experience doing.
A single pony raised his hoof. "Can he use magic?"
"No." I responded myself.
"All of what Fleetfoot has told you is true. My names is James Winter and I only wish to help."
"Mr. Winter?"
"Please just call me James."
"James. How does being a hero make you feel?" A mare in the back called out.
"I'm not. I just did what I could and tried to prevent her from getting hurt if I could avoid it."
"What would you say you are?" she responded.
High off my fuckin' ass... I was tempted to say as I remembered that I'm still in fact in a flying city talking to ponies.
"Lucky." I smiled as I raised my wings and saw how torn and beaten they were, if they weren't going away soon anyway they would take weeks, maybe months to completely heal. Apparently the photographers thought now was the perfect time for pictures if they wanted any and a mess of cameras were raised from the sea of ponies as they began snapping pictures with my beaten wings still in the air. Though I had to admit, it did look kinda cool.
"Now please, everyone let us through. As I said James is badly hurt."
"Why is he wearing a robe?" a gray mare up front asked. "Are the injuries all over him?"
"He um...has a nudity thing, his kind usually wears clothes."
"If he's male why does he have nipples? Is he a hermaphrodite?" she returned. She now looked at me specifically. "Mr. Winter? Are you sure you're not a female? Lots of mammals can have relatively small mammary glands, there's no need to be ashamed." she said in a consoling tone. As if that wasn't enough a couple more mares joined in.
Great. Now everyone thinks I'm a chick...
"Yeah, I can see it, he, or she appears rather feminine in appearance."
Oh this is bullshit.
Fleetfoot who I thought was on my side was now just barely suppressing her laughter, water formed at the edges of her eyes as she tried to keep it bottled up. Eventually she burst out laughing like a maniac.
"Traitor..." I whispered to her.
"Come again miss?" She smiled mischievously back.
"You know for a fact I'm a guy."
"I don't know...I haven't seen proof." She said, sticking her tongue out at me. "Just open up your robe a bit and they'll believe you. They're not the one with the taboo."
"Sounds like you just want to see me naked."
"Sorry, dear, I'm not into girls." she said with a cheeky grin.
"I'm still not gonna flash a crowd on my second day here..."
I noticed the crowd was barely paying attention to us for the moment now at least. They were too busy throwing back evidence as to whether I was a male, female or something in between apparently.
"Yeah but their reaction would be priceless and it's not like you'll get in any trouble."
"You have a warped sense of humor." I told her.
"Do it and I'll see about taking you to Canterlot and meeting Vinyl at her club, first thing tomorrow. It costs extra and hurts but the doctors can heal you and Spitfire up completely before it even gets dark, though both of you are gonna want some bed-rest right after, assuming it doesn't knock you right out. You'll feel better after but it hurts like hell while it's happening." she said in an attempt to persuade me.
"If you don't, they will keep this debate going on for weeks until you find a photographer stalking you through your window."
"You're making that one up."
"Wait a few weeks and tell me that." she said as she looked around at the sky. There were even pegasi with cameras up there as well taking aerial photographs.
"If I get arrested, this was all your idea." I whispered to her as she laughed, her head still pointing up at the pegasi in the air. While she wasn't watching I took a long breath and threw open my robe, flashing a crowd of pastel colored ponies as they all watched in silent surprise. I caught the small sound of a voice in the back saying "Damn."
Once the initial stupor wore off they started reaching for their cameras but I covered myself just before any pictures were taken. Only once I was covered up did Fleetfoot notice I had done something.
"Wait, I missed it?" she asked.
"Yep."
She shrugged and looked to the crowd. One voice spoke to her.
"He's a guy alright." a stallion said bluntly.
"Now that that's over with...let's go back in so they can clean this up. I'd rather not feel like a cripple for a few weeks." I told her, already walking back into the hospital.
Once inside we made our way back to the room I had been in. Spitfire was already out cold and Soarin refused to carry her to her quarters, saying that last time she dislocated his jaw when she kicked him on accident after waking up.
"Alright. Here's a rope for you to bite on." Doctor Torch said as he put a rope in my hands as he pulled a table near me. The last thing I remembered after that was a glowing sound and the doctor's voice. "Now this might sting a little..."
"Ah...Fleetfoot? What happened?" I groaned as I sat up. I realized I was back in Fleetfoot's room and in my bunk again. Everything hurt, most notably my jaw and ass for some reason, though I noticed the injuries themselves were gone. Equestrian medicine thus far seemed to function strangely.
"Well he cast a minor memory wipe spell on you, just so that you wouldn't remember the procedure because it did look quite painful. Then he cast a paralysis spell over most of you so you didn't thrash about or hurt yourself. He called in a nurse to slowly take off your bandages while he healed the injuries themselves. Once that was done he took your temperature with a rectal thermometer to make sure your body didn't overheat itself. Let me tell you that thing was HUGE." Fleetfoot said, putting her hooves about ten inches apart from each other to give a size estimate. "I think it was the kind they use on dragons usually, they didn't have any normal ones on hand but don't worry you took it like a champ!" She said gleefully with a false smile of innocence.
Even if my pride was wounded at least I know why my ass hurt now...if she told anyone else I might just have to strangle her...
"Why didn't he use an oral thermometer!?"
"Because the rope was stuck in your mouth and I thought it would be hilarious so I asked him to." she said, batting her eyelashes at me and putting on another innocent smile.
"You're not right in the head."
"That's common knowledge." she replied casually.
"Where's all of the sheets? And your mattress?" I said after i noticed the bed felt a little different. Fleetfoot stepped to the side to reveal a surprisingly impressive pillow fort, though it looked like she had taken pieces from half a dozen beds to build it.
"Where did you get all that?"
"I kinda sorta maybe raided the supply room...come on it'll be fun, it's plenty big for both of us and it's stable so you won't wake up with a sheet in your face in the morning."
"Alright sure, you already stole the sheets anyway." I surrendered. That and I secretly really wanted to sleep in a pillow fort. As soon as I stood up pain shot through me and I fell to the floor, landing on my back. Fleetfoot whom has already disappeared into the fort quietly reached out to me and pulled me in, like a beast dragging its helpless prey home. Once inside I realized that Fleetfoot did actually plan this out, there was plenty of room for me to stretch my legs and lay down and the floor itself was like a giant pillow with how soft it was. There was enough room for Fleetfoot to stand on all fours as well.
"I know it's still in the afternoon but you're going to want to sleep the rest of the day, if you start moving around a lot that pain is going to catch up to you, besides it gives me an excuse to sleep some more too." she said with a chuckle as she crept into an especially comfortable corner of the fort. It already seemed like night but that was probably just because she did a good job of keeping the light out of the fort.
"You did a great job with this fort, Fleetfoot. And we can still go to Canterlot tomorrow like you said?"
"I did say we would, whenever you get up we'll catch a balloon ride from here to Canterlot, look around a ways and stuff before heading to Vinyl's club that night. I'm pretty sure your class today and tomorrow will be cancelled considering how Spitfire will be feeling."
"Alright, great. Well I'm not one to turn down some extra sleep. Just don't let me sleep in too late." I told her as I stretched out, careful not to do anything that could risk bringing pain again. I think it just happened when I tried to move too fast. I looked at my back and noticed that my wings weren't as pronounced anymore, they were slowly shrinking into nothing. Now they were only half their original size. At least I did get to try them out earlier, maybe I could see about getting that spell cast again some time. Soon I felt my mind began to blur and slip into slumber while the wings started shrinking faster now.
"Sleep well, James. You did great today." she whispered encouragingly as my mind began to shut off. As painful and brief the day had actually been I still enjoyed it overall. The wings Fleetfoot was kind enough to help me get had easily been the best part of the day and I was happy that my injuries were gone, though the pain was trying to tell me otherwise. My thoughts drifted to how generous Fleetfoot had been and how helpful she was as reality faded into dreams and I fell asleep inside her giant pillow fort.