//------------------------------//
// The Awakening 
// Story: Wings for Him 
// by Laughing Jack 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4


The Awakening


Isaac


I regained conscience slowly, a familiar pang of hunger returning with it. Barely noticing the softer surface below me, I drew myself up, a low groan slipping from my mouth. There was a shuffling sound nearby, then something prodded insistently at my side. Opening my eyes revealed my rescuer—possibly my poisoner as well—the zebra.
It stood by my head, it's muzzle hanging over me as it looked me over. Nodding in apparent satisfaction, it walked to the cauldron that had held the soup from before. It ladled more soup, no longer steaming hot, into a bowl. Balancing the full dish on one hoof, it moved with practiced ease on three legs toward me. 
I couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive; the zebra had, in all likelihood, poisoned me. I held out my hand for the bowl, my stomach urging me to move past any misgivings I may have. All the same, my finger quickly dipped to the soup. Thankfully the soup had cooled quite a bit. Licking the dipped finger determined that it was also quite good too.
I looked to the zebra, pantomiming eating with a spoon. I was answered with a frown and a shoulder-shift that (I could only guess) passed for a shrug. I grimaced, knowing what I’d have to do, not to mention how demeaning it would feel. I raised the bowl to my mouth and drank the broth, humming in pleasure at the unexpectedly delicious taste. So caught up in the broth was I that I forgot about the more solid bits of the soup until a piece of skinned root fell onto my face. I froze. 
When it started sliding off I tried to grab it with my free hand, not paying attention to the soup sloshing around in the bowl the other hand was holding. Just as soon as I caught it, I felt something warm splash onto my lap. I groaned as I looked down on the new stain settling into my jeans. My embarrassment was doubled when I heard the creator of the soup giggling at my plight. Resignation crept over me, and I sighed. Almost as an afterthought I tossed the chunk of fallen food that I'd caught into my mouth. I refused to let my recent meal misfortune take that much from me.
The zebra prodded my leg, silently asking for my attention. Once I looked at it, the creature walked over to a wooden rack, unfolding it as the zebra dragged it closer to the fire. Understanding dawned on me when a foreleg was gesturing toward the souped on pants. 
I realized what was be I asked of me, and I struggled to hide the blush forming. Intellectually, I knew that it was offering to dry my pants. A part of my mind, however, kept telling me that it would end just like the first time I had been in a similar situation. Shaking the thought from my head, I dragged the blanket I'd been on over my legs before I pulled my pants off, leaving the blanket to cover my groin and bare legs, and handed them to the waiting zebra. 
The zebra raised a puzzled eyebrow at me, but accepted the pants in it's mouth. I watched as it draped the clothes on the structure. Rubbing the last of unconsciousness from my eyes, I pondered how best to communicate with my most recent caretaker.
As I struggled with the dilemma, I noticed the light slowly dimming. A single glance out of the nearby window confirmed that the sun was setting, though it was moving faster than it ought to.
It began as an itch in my back, something so small it was easy to ignore as I watched the sunset. The itch spread through my body, becoming more and more intense until it became a pain that consumed my body. It pricked and blazed throughout my body, my blood like molten slag dripping through my veins, the air I breathed became a cloud of needles flying into my lungs. Distantly, I heard screaming before being muffled when something was shoved into my mouth, large enough to fit between my teeth. 





Luna


I sighed in satisfaction as I felt my moon rise, a gentle glow replacing the overbearing light of my sister's sun in the sky. My reverie was broken by nearby hoofsteps approaching. I turned about to face Miss Sparkle, curiosity writ upon her face.
"Are we ready to be on our way, Twilight Sparkle?" I asked.
She nodded, though I noted a hint of curiosity about her. "Pri- Luna," she corrected herself, "why wait until now to leave? Wouldn't we have gotten there sooner if we left earlier?"
I nodded. "Yes, though it is likely we would have been caught at a disadvantage. Understand that, as Steward of the Night, my power is bound to the cycle of the day, waxing as night approaches and waning with the dawn."
Twilight blinked. "That," she said, "actually makes a lot of sense." 
I decided not to answer, instead pacing over to the open balcony. My wings unfurled, keeping still to feel the lingering breeze before I swept them down. The swift stroke launched me high into the air, and I paused for a moment to wait for Twilight to join me. When I heard wingbeats approaching I angled south, toward the castle ruins, to answers.





Isaac


Time seemed to crawl as the agony continued to tear my body apart. With no conscious thought, I couldn't keep track of how long the pain had lasted see far, though I got a vague sense of it moving throughout my body, as though trying to do an area it hadn't yet affected. 
It was gradual, but I noticed the pain begin to fade, starting first from my core, spreading out toward my limbs. As I lay where I was, raw nerves prickling lightly in my arms and legs, I tried to calm myself down from the pain-filled high I was just on.
There was a nicker to one side, then a striped muzzle made itself known beside me. Dimly, I turned my head to face my black and white equine caretaker. It waited a beat, then reached toward my face. I was suddenly aware of  a rough shape in my mouth, which turned out to be a chunk of wood when I spat it out from between my aching jaws.
I sat up slowly, my body still sore from the memory of agony felt only moments ago. The zebra began checking my body, hooves gently pressing in different areas while it's eyes guaged my reaction. Satisfied by my apparent wellbeing the zebra put a hoof against my chest. Exerting a gentle pressure, it guided me back into a resting position and pulled the sheet awkwardly over me, leaving me to wonder about the sudden bout of care as I drifted into a more natural sleep.