//------------------------------// // Medical condition // Story: Identity // by Hyper44 //------------------------------// It was a little difficult to pull both Ember Light and Valentine aside since the place was so often busy but an hour later they met Lightning Jolt in her room. It was the least likely place that they would be disturbed. They weren't entirely alone but the fourth pony wouldn't talk. Valentine was slowly rocking an infant. The baby girl would cry whenever she was put down so Valentine was giving her mother a break. "It's good to finally know something." Valentine said when Lightning Jolt was done telling them what had happened. "There was a few things that the New Wave speakers said that I didn't like but after this Starlight character I can't say that I like them much at all. Getting rid of cutie marks! Equal by no pony being their best? Can't even come to different conclusions about things, no talents? It's crazy." "I had actually never heard them speak." Ember Light spoke up. He had been quiet the whole time. "I came because I had heard good things about them through Equestrian journals, and they seem to speak of them quite highly, so I wanted to see for myself. Though now, I think I have when years ago ponies like them came to my village. Anyway, there’s one thing that I want to know," He said changing the subject. "That unicorn... what was his name?" "Smog." Lightning Jolt replied. "He was surprised at you getting the cutie mark that you had." "Yes, he said that I had had a different one before it." Lighting Jolt said looking down at her flank even though her cutie mark had been replaced by a fake one. "I don't know how, but I got a new cutie mark." "That is amazing but that's not the reason I'm asking." Ember Light replied. "You see when he was astonished about it one of the main reasons was something about you having a medical condition. He made out like you didn't fly or do anything that would give you such a cutie mark because of it. Did you wonder what medical condition he meant?" "I have but I assumed that it was something that had run its course." Lighting Jolt said. "I mean I'm not sickly like he said and I've been flying hard with no problems. He also mentioned that whatever it was, it had been fixed." She paused and though a moment. "Well often my lungs feel funny when I push myself but I thought that I was just out of shape and I certainly was. Though from the way Smog talked I was like that since he last knew me not some time ago. My heart does seem to have a strange rhythm..." She trailed off with her mind turned inward to pay attention to her breathing and heart. Every beat seemed too fast and her lungs felt strange with each breath. Valentine broke her out of it when she tucked the infant in the crook of her foreleg and shook Lightning Jolt's shoulder with her other hoof. "Lightning Jolt." She stated in a stern voice. "Everything you’re felling right now is all in your head. You were just fine all the way up till now and you’re not about to drop dead now. If you’re really worried about it we can just see a doctor which I actually do recommend since we don't know if or what it is. We do have a problem with it though. I don't know all the ends and out of this magic spell and a doctor might discover the wings or something amiss. We'll use one of the papers she gave us to send a letter to her and ask. No one is in here to see Ember Light use his magic and she put a spell on them to make them go straight to her when he teleports them." Ember Light was already heading for the door to retrieve the papers from his room before Lightning Jolt replied. "I'll be back shortly." He said. "I'm sure your fine though. It can't be much of anything!" He said to Lightning Jolt before he left. “I think he’s as worried as you.” Valentine commented. He was back shortly with the paper and Lightning Jolt wrote her message on it. She knew what Valentine was right in what she said earlier but now she couldn't get it out of her head. Ember Light made the letter disappear in a flash of light that was the same color of his coat. "She will probably reply soon." He said. "What do think it is?" Lightning Jolt asked them just the break the silence that fell. "No idea." Ember Light said with a shrug. “We only know as much as you do.” "Something that may have kept you flying but your flying now." Valentine said without looking up from the baby who had fallen back asleep. "This Smog character could also be a liar. He simply been making stuff up." "That's true and I hope so." Lightning Jolt said sitting down. "I was a weak flyer when found though. It would match." "Yes, be we also do not know all the possibilities, just one suggestion." Valentine replied looking up. "We really don't know your personality before. You could have been a book worm that never got out or just lazy. I've heard that Fluttershy is a weak flyer and she's neither." "That's true though-" Lightning Jolt was interrupted by the flash of teleportation magic. Instead of a letter an armored unicorn now sat in the room with them. "Sorry to interrupt." He said with a grin. "The princess Celestia wants to see you personally to discuss a few things and they have a hospital facility in the castle. She does not want you going to just any doctor who will ask too many questions and may discover something. I'm here to make sure the room is empty for teleporting you back." The three ponies gathered up. Valentine pushed the infant into the confused guards’ hoofs. "Just rock her gently and if she cries sing softly." "Uuuuu-excuse me. Sing softly?" He asked looking down at the young filly as if he was afraid to twitch and accidently disturb the baby. "It's all in the service of the princess." Valentine said with a grin. * * * The trio appeared inside the castle in a flash of light. They were in the throne room and Celestia herself was standing on the floor with her horn glowing. There were no guards around with only Rainbow Dash and Twilight standing next to her. "Now we have a few things to discuss," Celestia said, "But first how have you three been during your time in disguise?" "Not bad, kind of enjoyed it." Ember Light replied. "Much better than being locked away in a room." Valentine added which was Lightning Jolt’s sentiment. "So you want to find out what medical condition he was talking about?' Celestia asked and Lightning jolt nodded. "A good idea. Tell me do you believe that the stallion is truthful?" Lightning Jolt shrugged. "I'm not sure. The story seems a little farfetched but not impossible. He was trapped so he would have reason to lie but that doesn’t mean he did. I want to see if I have a medical condition like he said, though if it is true it doesn’t mean that the rest of the story is." "The biggest decider will be whether or not changelings are hiding in the ranks of the New Wave ponies." Celestia said. "I have already set a plan in motion." "How do you stand those ponies?" Twilight asked. "You know that most of them want to remove you and Luna from the throne right?" "In stride Twilight, I take it in stride." Celestia replied. "What am I going to do Twilight? Tell them that they can't speak what they believe and lock them all away? Even if ponies do not agree with me or do not like me being in charge I have to accept their right to do so or I will become a tyrant." "Good point." Twilight grumbled. "Now, still no memory returning?" Celestia asked Lightning Jolt. The mare shook her head. "Well, I thought I could at least hope. Did you feel any recognition of any kind no matter how slight when talking to the unicorn, Smog?" "No, as blank as before." Lightning Jolt said. "What plan have you set in motion?" "One, to check if the changelings are hiding among the New Wave ponies as Smog said. If so I will take action tomorrow when everything is set up. I will not let Canterlot be caught off guard again." She replied cryptically. "If there are changelings among the New Wave Ponies then does that mean that they've kidnapped ponies and taken their place?" Lightning Jolt asked. "That's what I remember when Twilight told me about the wedding." "Possibly." Celestia replied. "That is how they get the most amount of love, when it is directed at them. They can feed off love by just being around ponies but when they take the place of a loved one they can absorb all of it." "It's their food right? So they die without love?" Lightning asked feeling little sorry for them even under the crimstances. "No." Celestia said shaking her head. "Love is not food for their body but food for their magic. You see changelings can't create their own magic like we ponies do. They can only gain it from us. The more love, the more magical power they have. Once cut off from love their magical abilities decrease. The last thig to go is their ability to change from. They can hang on to it for a long time but eventually without love to feed on that will disappear as well." "I did a research paper of theories on how they can metabolize love into magic." Twilight piped up. "You see they-" "Nopony wants to hear that right now." Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Let's get Lightning Jolt to the doctors and see if there's anything wrong with her. Are you not a little bit worried?" Twilight thought a moment. "Well no not really since after all she had been through she hasn’t had a problem. I think either the unicorn was lying or whatever he was talking about is not that bad." "We still need to find out." Rainbow Dash said. “I didn’t say not to check it.” Twilight said in her defense. "And we will." Celestia said and her horn lit up. Their vision was blotted out by a flash of light and in the next instant they were standing in the medical room of Canterlot Castle. There was a unicorn doctor standing across the room looking over some notes. He didn't seem surprised as the sudden entrance. He had probably experienced it many times before. "Your majesty," He said with a bow. "What can I do for you?" "Heart Beat, this Mare needs a full physical." Celestia pointed to Lightning Jolt with a wing. "We have reason to suspect that there may be an unknown and hidden medical condition to be concerned about. We only have the word of a suspicious pony but it must be checked none the less." With a flash of her horn Lightning Jolt's disguise vanished and she was herself again. As vague and strange as that was the stallion, Heart Beat didn't ask questions but picked up a thermometer and stethoscope and walked over. "Won't ponies know that we're at the castle now?" Valentine asked as the doctor started examined Lightning Jolt. Celestia shook her head. "My doctors, like the guards are sworn to secrecy. Notice how he asks no questions." "What about changelings?" Ember Light asked. "That's the worst thing about them you don't know them when you see them." "My sister and I have conjured up and cast a spell that will expose any who enter the castle." Celestia replied. Heart Beat took his time examining Lightning Jolt. He checked her heart rate and sound, her breathing, took blood samples, examined everything from the inside of her mouth to the inside of her ears and the bottom of her hoofs. He had her tell her everything she knew about her own body and clipped off a small piece of a feather to examine it under a microscope. He even had her stand and pose next to Rainbow Dash and an average pegasus body chart as he compared them. "Wings are too large for your body." He noted. "Any trouble flying?" "It was a bit hard to stay stable but I learned to compensate." She replied. "That could be the condition mentioned." The stallion said tapping his chin as he thought. "You are smaller than a pegasus should be, hooves slightly deformed, they make a slight oval shape but it's nothing that will impair your stride." He said looking at the bottom of a hoof again. "Your overall form is a little different from the standard pegasus." "So what does that mean?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We she's very slightly deformed." He replied. "In growing her body didn't quite proportion right. Most of it is very minor, such as her legs are very thin compared to an average adult. Except for the wings only a doctor's eyes would be able to tell with most." "That could be what he meant." Rainbow Dash said looking relived. "Maybe but it's nothing serious." Ember Light said. "Nothing that would ground a pegasus." "Unless she was a hypochondriac." Valentine commented then ducked her head slightly, "Sorry, it just could be possible from how the unicorn describe you." "It's alright I'd rather you try to find out what the problem was rather then worry about my emotions." Lightning Jolt said. "It would be doing me no favors. Though, if it is just that then that would be awesome. I would rather be a hypochondriac rather than actually sick." "You’re also very mildly anemic but not enough to be a problem. Iron pills would fix it." Heart Beat said. "I want to check your insides for a cause of the slight deformity." He said walking into a side room. "It could be that something is going on on the inside that caused it." "Check my insides?" Lightning Jolt asked. "With an x-ray." Heart Beat said coming back out pulling a large screen behind him in a magic field. "What did you think I was going to do? Cut you open?" He positioned the screen in the middle of the room. His horn lit up and shot a beam of magic at the screen. The entire thing lit up with a faint humming noise. "This will show us both your bone structure and organs and we'll know if you've had any past surgeries." "I don't have any scars so I don't think I have had any surgeries." Lightning Jolt said. "Surgery gives you scars." "Not teleoperation surgery." Twilight said before the doctor could answer. "What the hay is that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It's a surgery done for ponies that are too fragile to survive being cut open as well as just to prevent scars." She explained. "It takes a very skilled doctor who’s also very skilled in magic. They have a pony in front of an x-ray screen like this one and use their magic and teleportation to work inside a pony." "I find that a little creepy really." Rainbow said. "It can save a life though." Heart Beat said and then nodded at Lightning Jolt. "Would you step behind the screen please?" He asked. "Make sure to lift your wings and turn sideways." A little apprehensive about what they might see Lightning Jolt slowly got up and headed for the glowing screen. Then she remembered what Twilight had said. It was almost what Valentine stated had before they came. She had gone this far without problems so most likely it was just the oversized wings and minor details. If Smog was speaking the truth then she probably was a hypochondriac before she lost her memory. She stepped behind the screen turning sideways and lifting her wings as instructed. From her side of the x-ray she could see the blurry shapes of the doctor, Celestia and her friends looking at her. They were quiet a moment then Rainbow Dash spoke up with, "Holy, moly!" "What is it?" Lightning yelped suddenly feeling a little sick to her stomach. "N-nothing. It's fine.' Twilight replied but even through the blurry screen Lightning Jolt could see her big, fake, reassuring grin and she felt her legs grow weak as her heart began pounding in that odd throbbing way.