After our laughter subsided, I sighed and said, "Alright, how are we going to handle names? I'm pretty sure I can't really be called Ralph anymore when I'm like this."
Tim brought his hand to his chin, thought for a few seconds, and then said, "I'd say we just keep doing what we were doing before, with your name being Celedon." Then he got a mischievous grin and said, "Or I could call you Kelly."
I fixed him with a flat glare before saying, "Would you like me to call you Timmy?"
He stared at me while he processed the thought. Then he shuddered.
"No. Never. Ugh," he said in a disgusted tone.
"Then don't call me Kelly," I stated, smirking.
"Fine," he sighed. He continued, "I guess you can just call me Berserker while anyone else is around."
I nodded once, then I chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Tim said as he quirked an eyebrow at me.
I let my giggles fade, and then said, "Well, it's just like the anime. No one knows your real name, for the most part."
"Ah."
"Are you two lovebirds done in there?" a tomboyish voice said from outside the door.
For all his effort to stay cool, Tim still blushed, probably thinking about inappropriate things.
Annnnnd I'm gonna stop that thought right there.
I shook my head and said, "Yes, we're done talking. And that's all it was." In preparation for their return, I turned the lights back up to full brightness.
The group walked back into the room, led by Celestia.
I want to meet these people, but being strapped to a bed while blood drips down from your feathers is probably not the best way to talk to someone.
Before anyone could say anything, I asked Celestia, "Your majesty, if I could ask a favor, I would like to get my wings cleaned as soon as possible, so I can get off this bed." She didn't look too surprised and just waved her hand to the door. A woman dressed in a work uniform stained with oil and grease walked in. She had one long black braid that laid over her right shoulder. Her eyes were yellow, and wherever she looked it was like she was appraising a price for the item or person in question.
She looked around for a little bit before she settled her eyes on the princesses. She looked a little tired as she said, "Your highness, I know you called me to the medical ward for some purpose, but I don't see it."
Celestia just smiled and said, "Well, I don't order my subjects around with no purpose, do I? Take a look at the woman on the bed, and see if you notice anything off about her."
The woman turned her piercing eyes on me. She then stepped back in surprise.
"That...that's not possible," she whispered.
"What isn't possible?" Celestia said, still smiling.
The woman shook her head and averted her eyes from me, before looking back. Somehow, her eyes didn't look as scary as before. She then saw the blood on my wings and breathed a sigh of relief.
What did she see?
"Right, okay, I can clean off the blood," she said, bringing out a can of something that looked like oil, and a plain white cloth.
She was avoiding the topic of what she saw. Something spooked her, and I still don't know what.
"Celedon, can you talk while Smithed Steel cleans your wings?" Celestia asked breaking me out of my thoughts.
I nodded and said, "I don't see why not."
Smithed Steel stepped forward to kneel at my left wing. She then opened up the can of oil stuff and dipped the cloth into it.
"Celedon, I would like to introduce you to the Elements of Harmony," Celestia said.
The six girls stepped forward, led by the girl in purple.
"This is Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said, indcating the lead girl. Smithed Steel was wiping my feathers down now, and whatever she had on the cloth just swept it all away. She was doing it feather by feather, quickly and efficiently. It tickled a little bit.
"Hello! It's nice to officially meet you," Twilight said, nodding in my direction. Her outfit was a traditional good-school girl type outfit. She had a purple sweater-vest on, as well as a long-sleeved white button-up shirt. She was wearing plain blue jeans which had a purple six-pointed star on her right hip. I couldn't really see her feet, due to my position.
"Sup! I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!" the rainbow haired girl said suddenly. I could tell that she was a little bit on the arrogant side. Just a bit. She was puffing her chest out, which was covered in a sky blue tank top. She had on dark blue track pants with a jagged rainbow stripe going down each leg. At both of her hips, the stripe seemed to start from a fluffy cloud.
"Hello dear, my name is Rarity, and I absolutely must know how you get you hair to shine the way it does!" a purple haired woman said. Is was obvious from her tone, manner of speaking, and outfit, that she was quite a bit more refined than the rest of her friends. She was wearing a white business shirt combined with a straight cut black skirt. She also had on a very light grey jacket that really only covered her arms. Over her left shirt pocket was a set of three blue gems embroidered into the cloth.
Smithed Steel had finished my left wing and started on my right while the girls introduced themselves. I looked over and saw that my wing was shining much more brilliantly than before. Light danced off the surface of the golden feathers, shining tiny spot lights all over the room.
"Howdy! Mah name's Applejack, it's nice ta meetcha!" a girl with a blonde pony tail and a Stetson on her head said. This girl's outfit was very physical labor oriented, and reminded me of farmers from the Deep South. Her accent encouraged that notion. She was wearing an orange plaid ranch shirt and blue jeans, with an apple emblem sewn over both of her pants pockets.
"HI! I'm Pinkie Pie, but you probably remember that from a couple chapters ago! *Gasp!* Please don't say you forgot about me already!" the hyper girl shouted, suddenly in my face. Her outfit was a pink t-shirt with a trio of blue and yellow balloons on the front. She was wearing jean shorts that came to about mid thigh.
Once she backed off, the final girl was hiding behind her long pink hair, and I heard, just barely, "Hello, I, um, I'm Fluttershy..." First off, I have to say that the first thing I wanted to do when I heard her voice was go hug her. She was so adorable! Fluttershy was wearing a yellow sweater and a loose brown dress that reached to the floor, I think. Perspective was still not that good due to my position.
"It's good to meet you all, officially, though I wish it was under better circumstances," I said with a chuckle.
Beside me, Smithed Steel rose and wiped her hands off on the rag. I could totally imagine her having a cigarette in her mouth. Her scary eyes had come back, but she only glanced at me before turning to Princess Celestia. She said, "Alrighty, I believe that your friend here is ready to go."
Celestia nodded and raised a hand, a yellow aura encompassing it. The cages enclosing my wings glowed the same color, before there was a click, and the front pieces of each cage were pulled backwards by an unseen force. They laid against the walls on hinges. Smithed Steel nodded and then walked out of the room. However she glanced at me time one last time. She tried and failed to suppress a shudder. I still wanted to know what she saw whenever she looked at me.
However, I shook that thought from my head before I sat up and stretched my arms and wings, taking care not to clip anything with them. I made a satisfied noise and began to pop my knuckles. However, I looked over at Tim to see that he was blushing heavily for some reason. I then looked over at the girls. Some of the more innocent ones were blushing slightly, like Fluttershy and Twilight, while Rarity looked like she was about to fall in love for some reason. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just squinted at me while Pinkie Pie had pulled a pair of sunglasses from...her hair...and she put them on her face.
Excuse me, what?
Celestia giggled, causing me to look over at her. Behind her, I saw shadows wavering before disappearing. Luna had pulled a disappearing act, probably to attend to some royal duties. However, what I was interested in was the reactions of everyone.
"Uh, Princess Celestia, could you explain why everyone is acting this way?" I asked, slightly nervous.
She chuckled and shook her head, before waving a hand through the air, magicking up a mirror. She then levitated it towards me, back first for some reason.
I quirked an eyebrow at this as I grabbed the mirror. Slowly turning it around, I was scared to see what I might find.
...
HOLY FRICK, I'M GORGEOUS.
AND SHINY.
Ahem. My face could accurately being called that of an angel's. Nothing looked out of place, and if I saw a person like myself walking down the road I would probably walk into a lamp post just from the sheer beauty. But one thing I did notice was off were my eyes.
When I first looked at the mirror, I could barely look into it. Then, the glare was suddenly gone. Looking at my eyes now explained this. Instead of regular eyes, my eyes had changed to be all gold, except for the pupil. But were they even normal to begin with in this body?
"Right. Uh, sorry if I blinded you guys," I said sheepishly as I handed the mirror back to Celestia. I turned to Tim and asked, "Now, why are you blushing, Berserker?"
He tried to stammer out a response, but I decided to tease him a little from that 'Kelly' comment. I interrupted him by saying, "Nevermind, I'm sure you just couldn't resist looking at my beauty and being amazed." I punctuated this with a toss of my hair, which garnered everyone's attention as light bounced all in the small room.
Tim looked like he was about to object, but just huffed and turned around. He looked and sounded like a pouting child, crossing his arms like he did.
Celestia smiled at this, but it slowly changed to a neutral expression. She then asked, "Now that we have that taken care of, could you tell us what caused you to collapse in the way you did?"
Surprised by the sudden change in topic, I saw many pairs of eyes focus on me.
I nodded before I closed my eyes and remembered.
...
Chimes in the air, filling the world with dread and despair