"Where is she? Where's my little pup?"
"Right in here, hon."
"Oh - look at her! I came over as soon as I could."
"Who knows how long she has?"
"What do you mean?"
Surprisingly, very little hurt. I considered this predicament carefully. Possibility one; I had died, and had ascended to join my ancestors in the astral plane. There would now be a very nice, shiny star located in a little corner of space, preferably in the northern hemisphere - not that you could be too picky. While it might have explained the voices, I'd always imagined my ascension would be quieter with more harps. Possibility two; I had broken somewhere important along my spine, and had lost sensation to everywhere beneath my neck. Impractical, yes, but I would finally get the break I deserved.
Possibility three; I was in hospital (which would also explain the incessant voices), and had been given a dose of some seriously strong magic to remove any pain. Helpful, but not really improving the ringing in my ears.
"Well - with injuries like that - maybe she only has days - hours, even - before..."
"Ladies - the only thing we are waiting for is for her to wake up." In my drugged-up state, I smiled broadly. That was a nice, calm voice. All buttery and cool - like ice cream on a hot day. Of all the voices clamouring around me, I decided it was my favourite.
"You took your time." It was croakier than expected, but worked as well as could be hoped. Tentatively, I opened an eye, peering through the smallest gap. The room was too bright - all the walls were white and reflective, and it felt like it must have been midday. Nevertheless, I was rewarded with a glimpse of an unruly sapphire mane and a glimmering golden eye. Wow, these painkillers are strong.
"So did you."
"I'm allowed to - I nearly died."
"I told you!" A heavy thunk hit my stomach. "Oh, sweet sister! What would we have done without you?" Hooves grasped at my neck, stroking my cheek. I shut my eye again.
"Carry on as usual?" I tried to wriggle away, only to find my limbs unresponsive. Hypothetically, in a much calmer frame of mind than I ought to have been in, I wondered what I would do if I had suffered paralysis. Maybe use my wings as legs. Or just fly everywhere. My lungs were still working, at least. I could tell by the way I noticed them being crushed. "Could you maybe let go of me? It's just I can't -"
"We didn't even know you'd left Canterlot!" My assailant wailed. "To us, you would have just disappeared! We'd never hear from you again - but you'd be miles away - dashed against the rocks, unable to -"
"Oh, the horror." I grumbled, wishing that I could quietly vanish away right then and there.
"Don't joke, Nocturne!" The urge to disappear increased. Now there was another hoof on my face, stroking my mane. I didn't need to look to know it was my mother. "Your sister is right. Stars keep you - you ought to be dead." The hoof lingered just beneath my nose, making me want to sneeze. "Stars help me - I might kill you for the scare you gave us!"
"Sorry, Ma."
She didn't reply, choosing to snort indifferently. We managed to be silent for about ten seconds. That brief moment was the best I'd had since I'd woken up. My face was being prodded awkwardly, and my ribs were being crushed - but on a whole, not bad.
Then my mother burst into tears.
Horrible, messy tears. The kind with fluid running out of every hole in your face, and hiccups and sniffing and snorting and wailing. All of it started dripping on my face. But you can't complain - because that makes you an evil pony. Even though the pony crying is the one making everypony else feel awkward and guilty and upset.
I couldn't even move a hoof to act as an umbrella. Or hug her. Really, hugging should probably have been the first thought I had.
Inevitably, Fantasia started crying as well. She did that sometimes. There was even a little sniffling coming from the bottom of the bed. Taking a careful peek, I saw that it was the nurse quietly blubbing into a hanky. Perfect.
"Now ladies, let's move back a little, now." Orion's cool voice rose over the mayhem. Gradually, my face and ribs were released, accompanied by a great deal of hesitant sniffling. "Maybe you should go out for a bit and collect yourselves? Come back in the morning - I'm certain that after a little rest, Nocturne will be already be looking better."
A great deal of shuffling, sighing, and leg-patting passed before I finally heard the door close.
Venturing a glance, I checked the room.
"Thanks, Orion."
"No problem, Turny." I finally dared to open my eyes properly. Orion had risen from where he'd been sat, moved around the bed, dimmed the glaring lights, and thrown open the blinds. I was greeted by the ever-welcome sight of the Moon. I must have been unconscious for longer than I'd thought
"Orion...?" I flopped my head over on the pillow so that I was facing him. He'd settled down again, letting one hoof rest on the rail of the bed. "What's the damage?"
Golden eyes studied me carefully, pausing when they met my gaze. "At the moment? Not terrible. One of your hooves is being held up in a plaster cast, and your wings are nicely bandaged up in lovely clean, white linen. You can just make out some of the goo they've smeared on them - but most of it's covered. There are a decorative collection of bruises all over your body - some of which can be matched up to make the constellation of Gemini. Your three other limbs are covered by the blankets, so we don't need to worry about that. Oh, and they had to shave off some of the fur all the way down your right side - so you're all nice and pink now."
There was a slight hitch in his voice. Gazing up, I found him watching me carefully. A strand of hair had fallen in his eye, but he didn't try to move it. "What did it look like before they smothered me in bandages?"
"Oh, much worse." Unlike some ponies, I wasn't too fussed about my looks - and, thankfully, Orion was one of the few ponies who managed to see me at some of the lowest points. It made questions like this much less awkward. "The leg that's now in cast? It was bending in the wrong direction. All of the others aren't just grazed - you've essentially skinned them. Along with that side of your face. You're just lucky your mane was covering it, otherwise your mother might have seen. But they aren't really the problems.
"Your wings, now, they are a real mess. Shredded. The doctors have stitched the bits they can, and wrapped them all up. I've been told they'll heal - scarred, but serviceable - but you won't be flying for at least... oh - about three months." He patted my shoulder. "I knew that would cheer you up." For the record, my face looked like it had just fallen through the floor and several layers of soil. "So I saved you the good news for after - you won't be walking for a month."
"Oh, happy days."
That mischievous smile of his almost made an appearance, only to be quickly masked by a concerned frown. My stomach dropped to join my face in the mud.
"What else?"
"Now, I'm not judging you, Nocturne." Orion hesitated, as if taking a silent second to judge me. "I know what can happen in situations like this. You get desperate." He ran a hoof through his mane. "I have to say, a lot of other ponies are judging you. All of the guards I brought, everypony that saw your face; everypony that saw the griffon's neck."
"Oh."
"Oh, indeed." His hoof rested on my shoulder. "Now, nopony has told your mother or your sister - and as soon as I leave I'm going to talk to my soldiers - but I do need to know what happened."
"She was about to ram me into the cliff!" Nevertheless, I felt my protests dying in my throat. Defeated, my head hit the pillow while I exhaled deeply. "I guess, I thought I didn't have a choice. This leg was already broken. She had my wings. The other limbs had already been acquainted with the cliff." Imploringly, I held his gaze. "I spat everything out."
"Lovely." He shook his head. "You still remember the rules?"
"Like I could forget them." If I'd had a working limb I would have gesticulated wildly with it. "And then Thestra said unto the First Colony, 'You shall not drink the blood of any magical creature, lest your own blood become contaminated. In doing this, you are taking their magic as your own, and abandoning what gifts have been bestowed upon you. May all who persist in this practice be shunned and cursed until the end of their days.' Then Thestra alighted from the mount and said, 'Sweet Stars above, I could murder a cup of tea.'"
"I'm not so sure about that last part."
"It's the version we were taught." I shrugged lopsidedly. "That, or she went for a nap... Look, Orion - it was self-defence. Pure and simple. It's not like all of the fighting turned me into some blood-crazed monster."
"I know."
"... Just so I know, how many griffons did you catch?"
"Three; the one I mentioned who was lying on the rocks bleeding out; one that was floundering in the sea, who is currently being treated for hypothermia; and the one that pushed you over the cliff. I take it you were the one to rearrange his face?"
I snorted, then yawned. Lying down was hard work. Looking at Orion, sitting next to a bed was also hard work, judging by the dark rings around those eyes.
"You should get some sleep," I offered, "how long have you been here?"
"Since I brought you in." Stretching out his wings, he seconded my yawn. "I've been napping all afternoon, though. I didn't want to leave you here - I couldn't abandon you with your family. I was the one who asked them to come."
"You did what?"
"I know what you're like, Turny," he snorted, "you won't tell them anything because you think it's better."
"It is better!" I gave an exasperated sigh. "That way we avoid situations like the one we just had!"
"Your family should know about stupid things you do - they have a right to be concerned." He raised an eyebrow accusingly. "I know you still haven't told them about the manticore incident."
"Don't bring that up. I managed to hide it - they had no idea - everypony stayed happy. It was years ago, anyway."
"You could never have hidden this." His eyes softened to the creamy consistency of butterscotch. Another yawn escaped his lips, exposing fiercely pointed fangs. No wonder ponies were so quick to call us monsters.
Changing the subject, I suggested, "You should get somepony to take shifts with you. So there's always a pony to stop me falling out of bed or throttling myself with a drip." I frowned. "Where's the pegasus I sent you - Cloud Drift? I wondered if maybe he'd be here..."
"I sent him away." He shrugged, knowing when to let a subject drop. "He was panicking when he saw all of the blood, and he kept getting in the way. I think he mistook you for a blood-crazed monster."
"I'll have to talk to him later..."
"I'll do it when I see the rest of the guards - he's heading off soon with the detective inspector to arrest the egg thief you caught. I took the liberty of telling him that you wouldn't be able to do it yourself."
"Not if I can't fly."
"That's what I thought." Orion said before standing up. "I think all you're capable of doing right now is sleeping - your eyes keep shutting." I was about to protest when a large grey wing wrapped me up in a warm, yet acceptable hug. "Try not to fall out of bed." With that, he turned to the door.
"Just one last thing," I asked as light seeped in from the corridor, "who caught me? You didn't say I'd broken my spine, so I presume I never made it to the rocks?"
"I did."
Seconds after the door clicked shut, I was already drifting off, a happy smile plastered to my lips.