• Published 30th Aug 2013
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Solitary Pinion - Tystarr



In a strange world, in a strange body, Viktoria struggles to cope after encountering an unfamiliar mirror and what occurred afterwards.

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Chapter two: Questions

Los Pegasus General Hospital

From the desk of Doctor Remedial Oath,

The patient, referred henceforth as Jane Mare was brought in by Miss Cloudchaser and Miss Flitter. Jane Mare upon arrival was both unconscious and demonstrating clear signs of laboured breathing. On examination fluid was discovered within the lungs, symptoms that were consistent with the sisters account of the filly having fallen into a lake and encountered difficulties. Treatment for pulmonary edema was a success leading to breathing returning to normal.

Jane Mare shows signs of extensive physical trauma having been committed to her body with fresh tissue found over most of her body yet most prominently around the face, hind legs and hips. From what Miss Flitter mentioned about Jane Mare’s behaviour a magical scan was done to check for any anomalies within her cranium which came back clear.

In my professional opinion Jane Mare shows signs of immense physical and possible psychological abuse happening in her past. From what Miss Cloudchaser has mentioned about the patient’s difficulty speaking along with the absence of a cutie mark my conclusion is abuse at the hooves of other ponies or diamond dogs. Physical therapy may be required for recovery and a psychiatrist should be assigned to Jane Mare to aid with any mental duress she may/will be suffering.

Currently she is in a magically induced coma to allow her body time to fully recover.

Diagnosis: Jane Mare was suffering from the effects of secondary drowning and if not for the fast response of Miss Cloudchaser and Miss Flitter the outcome would have been death due to asphyxiation. Other than minor contusions she appears to be making a full recovery. Despite her age being roughly within her teen years she shows concerning signs of previous physical trauma and fractures of varying severity.

Further actions: Next of kin to be informed/contacted.

~~~~~~

Viktoria found herself waking in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed, in an equally unfamiliar body. Wincing, she closed her eyes, both to avoid the light assaulting them mercilessly and also to avoid staring down the muzzle she saw still protruded from her face. With a low groan escaping from her throat she knew better than to try and speak, left alone instead with her thoughts.

After several moments had passed she worked up the courage to open her eyes again, quickly followed with blinking several times while her eyes adjusted to the light. Reaching with one arm… no, foreleg she moved the furry appendage to block the light from her eyes. Curiosity soon got the better of her and she instead moved the limb about to observe it more fully.

Viktoria had never really been too much into horses but she knew enough to understand that the forelimb of a horse shouldn’t move as she was able to. Taking the time while she was comfortable on her back in the bed, she moved the limb around slowly to test how it could move. The hoof at the end was hard and surprisingly the same colour as the fur that covered her body, blending in perfectly. Having played around with her foreleg enough she lowered it over the cream sheets, looking instead around the room she had woken in.

As far as rooms went it was unremarkable, but given her eyesight she could only make out a few details so as to judge it. The bed she was in was situated so the door was on the wall to her left and what could be a large window dominated the wall opposite to her. There were indecipherable blobs of colour here and there and rolling her head she saw a stand beside the bed with a few items upon it. A vase with a collection of flowers was the first thing to be noticed; although she couldn’t see the tag clearly enough to make out what was written.

With no small amount of squinting she was barely able to make out a small device beside the flowers. The girl struggled trying to identify its purpose; the large button upon a flat surface implied a remote of some sort. Giving up trying to solve the mysteries of the big appealing looking button Viktoria instead rolled her head to gaze upwards again.

“Whaaaaa aaapuunnn’d?”

Despite everything so far Viktoria could only frown at her inability to voice her thoughts, although she had to be honest it was better than the previous attempts. The key it seemed was slowly moving the thick and unwieldy tongue over the sounds. Exhaling once more she moved her arms, no, forelegs slowly along the blankets before contemplating her fate. She was alone, confused and had no idea what was going on. Tears were already starting to moisten her eyes as she counted off what was wrong so far.

But… but, no matter what she was going to move forward and figure out what had occurred to her and why.

She had been changed into a winged horse-thing, which she might add she was having immense difficulty in moving like her old body. She had lost her contacts and thus was unable to see anything unless it was almost within reaching distance. Finally, she was by herself and had no idea where she was. Surprisingly she found herself missing Cloudchaser and Flitter; she had just met the two of them but at least they had been nice to her.

The transformed girl exhaled for the third time before rubbing her eyes with a foreleg, wincing at the feeling of the soft fur meeting her face. It wasn’t bad, just a completely alien sensation to experience. She had a choice to make, she could continue to lie in this bed and just cry which… was a deviously tempting option to be sure. Or, or she could go and try to find answers herself. The second option was by far the more daunting of the two but Viktoria had always been called a headstrong girl.

Besides, she had her panic attack at the lake and she was fourteen, fourteen year old girls didn’t just curl up and cry. Of course she quickly amended that last statement in her head as she knew several that would do that, but she was not one of them.

Sniffling to clear her equine nose and rubbing her eyes again she wriggled to try and get to the edge of the bed. Her wings felt weird but given she had only just acquired such appendages she was unsure if this was normal for her anatomy or not. Immensely grateful that her forelegs worked more like arms than she would have imagined, she used them to flip the blanket up. It took several tries but eventually she met with success to be able to look once more over her body.

Immediately she felt the tears build again upon seeing the equine form that was now her body resting on its side. Frowning she shook her head and focused on the task required, although she now saw why her wings felt odd; each was bandaged against her body, a situation she was thankful for as it was one less body part to worry about.

Taking a deep breath she squirmed and wriggled and eventually made her way to the edge of the bed. Looking over the edge she now realised a new problem faced her, how does one with four legs get out of a bed? Blowing some of the blonde hair… or mane out of her face she narrowed her eyes in thought. Eventually no clear plan had been reached so she decided to just try her best. Slipping closer she rolled onto her belly and with some effort got her left hind leg over the edge.

Slowly… slowly…

She was doing remarkably well all things considered, that is until too much of her mass slipped over the edge and the inevitable happened. Slowly she felt herself slipping off the bed uncontrolled and panic set in. Limbs flailed as she tried to find purchase, her right leg still on the bed kicking which only hastened the unavoidable outcome. Whether it was by newly acquired reflexes or pure desperation, Viktoria bit onto the blanket only succeeding in dragging it over the edge with her. All this led to a loud crash of a teenage pegasus meeting the tiled floor being accompanied with a garbled scream.

~~~~~

“Oh hello Flitter.” The receptionist smiled upon seeing the pegasus enter. Flitter and her sister had been a constant presence in the hospital ever since the ’Jane Mare’ filly had been brought in a couple of days ago.

“Oh, hello!” A pause was given as Flitter looked over her shoulder to adjust the saddlebags she wore, having flown straight to the hospital after doing her shift with the weather team. “Has there been any change?”

The receptionist, a unicorn mare who had been in the position for ten years felt herself smiling at the concern evident within Flitter’s question, it always warmed her heart to see a patient being cared about.

“I’m afraid last I heard she was still sleeping dear.” A pause was given as she flicked through some paperwork. Normally she would not be privy to such information but the young battered-looking filly had caused quite a stir when she was brought in. It went without saying that the entire hospital staff felt a little bit connected to the mysterious pegasus, especially since there had been no luck in tracking down any family members. “You can go on up if you wish. Will your sister be visiting as well?”

Flitter felt a little saddened by the news. She wasn’t sure why but there was something off about the filly, something that made her concerned. The doctor had briefly talked to her about it, only due to the fact she and Cloudchaser were the ones who brought her in. The filly had been abused, horribly which might go to explaining why she looked so… vulnerable and possibly why she had tried to-

Hey, we don’t know if that was true or not. Flitter mentally scolded herself as she found she was jumping to conclusions.

“Cloudchaser is finishing up with some weather for tomorrow, with Rainbow Dash visiting Canterlot for some reason we’re both having to pick up the slack a little… but she should come around later.” Flitter explained while realising just how much Rainbow Dash actually did. Some unfortunately saw the rainbow-maned pegasus as lazy, or at worst vain and glory seeking but after the Wonderbolt Academy she and her sister had seen the true side to her. After almost dropping out due to her partner’s behaviour endangering the others, Rainbow Dash had earned the respect of most of the candidates.

Still, it was curious why Rainbow had been called to the castle, perhaps Bearer of Harmony business?

“Ah, well she will be a busy mare then.” The receptionist followed up with a smile and a nod. “I’ll make sure to send her up when she comes in.”

Grateful for the gesture Flitter trotted down the hallway before making her way up the flights of stairs. Her mind was racing with unanswered questions, questions only the filly could answer. She and Cloudchaser had spotted her while flying back from setting up some rain over a few farms and at first paid it no heed. It wasn’t until Flitter had spotted the young pegasus either jump or fall into the lake that she had alerted her sister.

“I hope she’s okay, what happened to her?” Flitter quietly posed the question to herself and was rather surprised to have a reply given.

“That’s what we would all like to know.”

Flitter squeaked before seeing Doctor Remedial Oath waiting at the top of the stairs. The older green unicorn held a clipboard within his emerald aura while smiling seeing the mare’s reaction before apologizing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“N-No it’s okay, I was just lost in thought that’s all.” Flitter smiled before her eyes darted down the hallway to room 138. Clearing her throat she attempted to make some small talk, if for no other reason than to cover up her momentary surprise. “The receptionist said she is still sleeping.”

“Ah did she now?” The doctor sighed good-naturedly before turning his head to follow the mare’s gaze. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, she has caused quite a stir… unable to find any missing reports, no family contacting us, the injuries shown to be sustained in her past.”

Flitter could only nod as the bronze-maned doctor recited the list of problems. Shifting on her hooves she tilted her head before gesturing to the door timidly. “May I go in?”

“Oh! Of course, I am sure she would appreciate how often you and your sister come to visit her.” Doctor Remedial slowly trotted beside the pegasus as he looked over the chart before him. “I just came from there earlier; she seems to have recovered from the pulmonary edema brought on by the secondary drowning.”

Flitter blinked a few times before looking aside bashfully, biting her lower lip. The doctor upon noticing her expression gave a soft sigh before smiling.

“Pulmonary edema is extrusion of liquid into the lungs which can cause respiratory failure…” His attempt at explaining was met with Flitter nodding before blushing further, her eyes suddenly taking great interest in the floor ahead of herself. “Miss Flitter, if you don’t understand you don’t have to be ashamed.”

The pegasus mare winced slightly before seating herself down much to the doctor’s surprise.

“I’m not ashamed, I… some stuff goes over my head, and it’s just a little… frustrating I guess when I just want a simple explanation.” Flitter followed up by biting her lower lip, slightly flustered both at not comprehending what he was saying and having voiced as such so bluntly. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I just really want to know what’s wrong with her.”

“Flitter.”

The doctor’s voice snapped Flitter out of her reverie to look at him curiously as he continued.

“There is nothing to be ashamed about not knowing certain things. Now, be it my place to say or not but I see a lovely, and kind hearted mare before me who cares about a filly she just met.” His voice was kept soft and gentle as Flitter offered a small shy smile at the praise. “That young pegasus in there is lucky that you two came along when you did, and even more so that you are so concerned.”

“I guess…” Flitter stood, her ears flicking as she cautiously started walking again before clearing her throat. “S-So… um, what… did you mean exactly?”

Doctor Remedial gave a warm chuckle as he tucked the clipboard into a saddlebag before eyeing the embarrassed Flitter kindly.

“When somepony falls into the water they have a risk of getting water into the lungs.” A nod was given by Flitter encouraging him to continue showing she understood. “Now, the water, or fluid can act as an irritant or… problem inside the lungs. The body doesn’t respond well to this and it reduces the pony’s ability to breathe. This is when fluid gets into the air spaces of the lungs leading to a term we call pulmonary edema… which…”

A quick look at Flitter assured the doctor that she was understanding, or at least grasping most of what was said by the concerned expression on her face. Clearing his throat he continued as they neared room 138.

“Well let’s call it secondary drowning… it happens even when you get a pony out of the water, fluid is still in the lungs and the pony, well… drowns on dry land.” Doctor Remedial saw the horror pass over Flitter’s face before he smiled and eased her concerns. “But as I said, thanks to your quick actions we managed to prevent that outcome. I believe I told your sister but not you, but when she fell asleep on Cloudchaser’s back she was most likely already succumbing. We had to remove a remarkable amount of fluid from her lungs.”

Flitter gave a soft sound of relief but also realised how close they had come. If Cloudchaser hadn’t gotten impatient and started galloping they would never have made it in time.

“But she’s okay now right?” Flitter paused before the door as she looked at the older stallion, the doctor giving a nod of his head.

“Well… from that ordeal? Yes… but how she came across all those other injuries is another mystery, one we won’t solve until she wakes out of-“

That was when a loud crash cut the doctor off along with a garbled scream from within the room causing both to rush inside and to the sight presented to them.

~~~~~~

Viktoria whimpered pitifully as she found herself positioned almost upside down upon the ground, the blanket wrapped all around her limbs making even the tiniest movement all but impossible. Just as soon as she had fallen off the bed however she heard the door open, yet remained unable to see who exactly it was. She hoped for humans but that hope was soon thwarted as she heard the tell-tale sound of hooves on the floor.

Gazing out of the blankets she could only sniffle softly at her predicament while trying to pull herself free. The only thing her efforts succeeded in was entangling further within the nefarious and traitorous blanket.

“Hang on little one.” A male voice sounded out, possibly from the greenish blob that was slowly approaching as a strange sensation encompassed her. Shockingly Viktoria felt herself slowly being lifted off the ground which caused her to only panic further. “Please stop struggling; I will have you out of there in a moment.”

Viktoria wasn’t listening by that point, she could barely see, she was being lifted up somehow into the air and the panic was quickly catching up to her. Normally Viktoria considered herself level headed, but given everything that had happened to her thus far logic had taken a back seat about the time she was levitated. It took the strangely familiar female voice sounding out from the slowly approaching grayish-blue blob to calm her down.

“Let me try Doctor.”

Viktoria felt herself slowly be lowered upon the ground only to have the indecipherable mix of colour slowly get clearer as it approached. Her eyes went wide seeing the pale green hair with the pink ribbon tied within.

“It’s okay, you remember me right?” Flitter said with a warm smile as Viktoria gave a small nod and in the process ceased her struggles completely. “No one is going to hurt you, let me help you out.”

True to her word Flitter used her mouth to gently tug the blanket. After a little bit of manoeuvring and two or so minutes later she was finally freed from the linen, in no small part due to the filly somehow getting the blanket tangled in ways that defied explanation. Blinking slowly Viktoria offered a small shy smile towards her saviour who returned the expression prior to turning to look at the other in the room. As the blob approached she got a good look at the other pony, a little surprised by his colouration. If she thought the two mares were odd, this male one took the cake with his fur colouring. Helped to a standing position by Flitter, Viktoria took a deep breath as the male horse, or stallion as was probably the proper definition looked at her with an expression of concern.

It seemed wherever she was there were ponies instead of humans, or alternatively everyone had been transformed into a pony. The second option didn’t really ring true as everyone wasn’t panicking, so the first must be the more viable reason. At the moment she didn’t know exactly what to think, part of her knew she should be terrified by this revelation. Then again, the fact she was currently a talking pony-thing herself somehow muted the horror.

Or maybe she was simply in shock and it would all catch up with her again later leaving her a quivering mess?

“Miss, what are you doing out of your bed?” Doctor Remedial’s horn glowed again making Viktoria give a gurgling squeak and try to step back, only resulting in her falling over her own hooves onto the floor. The doctor immediately ceased the build-up of magic while raising a fore hoof defensively.

“Doctor Remedial, I… I think your magic is scaring her.” Flitter gently approached causing Viktoria to settle, the transformed girl’s eyes wide as she stared at the horse. It wasn’t exactly that she was scared, but more astounded upon seeing a unicorn. Granted a pegasus was strange enough, but now there was a unicorn… and it was casting magic of sorts?

“I believe you may be right Flitter, are you okay miss?” The doctor’s concern was evident and Viktoria gave a small nod, scrambling with Flitter’s help to get into a seated position which… all things considered felt incredibly awkward. She found herself seated like a dog, and despite how odd it felt, it felt… comfortable enough so she didn’t fight it.

Doctor Remedial exhaled in relief seeing the pegasus was at least calmed down somewhat before he tilted his head, the clipboard being levitated out of his bag while watching Viktoria curiously for any reaction. Noticing her wide eyes full of wonder he scribbled a few things down. “Can you tell us your name?”

“V-Vah… Vah… Vah doooreeeea.” Viktoria struggled around the syllables before she frowned afterwards, casting a look aside in frustration. She could feel her ears were flattened into her mane, annoyed and angry her strange body would not work as she desired. Flitter and Doctor Remedial shared a look before he coughed into a forehoof. Before he could speak Flitter chimed in, Viktoria surprised as she found lilac eyes staring at her above a warm smile on the mare’s face.

“It’s okay, something bad happened to you didn’t it?” The doctor seemed a little surprised by Flitter’s forthcoming but Viktoria could only nod, something horrible did happen to her. Seeing this Flitter continued, emboldened by the response, “and is that why you are… um, how you are right now?”

Viktoria blinked at that before nodding rapidly, it seemed someone understood her plight. A frown seemed to cross over Doctor Remedial’s face as he jotted down more notes while Flitter winced.

“Well, you won’t be hurt here anymore. Do you know where your parents are?” The Doctor asked, his anger growing which he tried to hide. Something or somepony had horribly abused this filly before him, and it took every ounce of his professionalism not to allow his emotions to seep to the surface.

Viktoria, unaware of their inner musings shook her head. She had never had parents ever since she was supposedly found a few months old, the fact she didn’t have any didn’t really concern her too much by this point in time. The reaction however from the two older ponies made her slightly concerned as they shared another glance at each other.

“I see, well don’t worry we’ll take good care of you here until you’re better.” Doctor Remedial nodded reassuringly and offered a smile, one Viktoria found herself cautiously returning. She didn’t know what was going on but anyone willing to help her was greatly appreciated. “But for now I need you to be a good girl and get back into bed, we’ll start your physical rehabilitation in the morning, okay?”

The young pegasus blinked at the last part.

“W-Whaaaaad daaaauuuu meeeeeeaaan?” Much to her surprise she found stressing the words out made it slightly more comprehendible as she smacked her tongue within her mouth experimentally. Flitter gave a small smile as she tilted her head.

“What does he mean?” Viktoria nodded as Flitter seemed to pick up the meaning, casting a glance at the doctor who smiled and put the clip board away.

“We’ll discuss it in the morning, but for now you need your rest… you had a very harrowing experience.” The doctor paused before he clicked his tongue and looked behind him at the wall on which sat a black blob that Viktoria could not discern the purpose of. “Tell you what, since you’ve been such a good girl so far, I’ll get the nurse to go get some books for you… but just as long as you stay in bed alright?”

Viktoria blinked at this and sighed. She wished she could tell them she was unable to see anything at the moment, let alone figure out how to read with hooves but instead she gave a small forlorn nod. It was then that another problem presented itself, her belly gurgling. A very odd and not at all unpleasant feeling built up in her abdomen, or where she presumed her abdomen as a winged pony was.

The two once more exchanged glances before Viktoria whimpered and tried to cross her legs, only resulting in her almost falling over from her seated position. Thankfully Flitter was close by and quickly used a wing for support.

“Do… do you need to use the little filly’s room?” Flitter’s question was hesitant yet kind and while Viktoria had no real idea what such a room was, she figured it was close to what she needed. Nodding quickly the doctor took a few steps back to allow access outside.

“The door directly on the opposite side to your room.” Doctor Remedial watched before blinking as Viktoria struggled to get onto all fours, yet again finding the balancing act far beyond her capacity. In truth it was easy getting upright, but taking a step she found herself overcompensating or worse, her hind legs not working how she wished them to. She was trying to crawl, but that wasn’t at all how her limbs worked. After several seconds of this Flitter gently nudged her with her muzzle and moved to place a wing to help support.

“Here, let me help.” Flitter smiled as Viktoria felt anger build at her body again, the desire to cry creeping up from the dark recesses of her mind. Taking the older mare’s help, she half limped, half staggered and somehow also half leaned to get out the door, all the while the stallion went back to writing notes, a frown growing across his brow.

In what seemed like an eternity she finally was assisted to the bathroom, Flitter nudging the door open before guiding her towards one of the stalls.

“I’ll be here if you need me, okay?” Flitter’s words were kind and Viktoria offered a shy nod. She was going to be strong! She wasn’t going to let this beat her, and she was going to figure out what happened to her and get back to her old body. Why she had been turned into a strange alien pony-thing was still a mystery, but one that took a back seat to her current predicament. Squinting she tried to see what the thing in front of her was, noting it was unlike any toilet she had ever used.

With great reluctance she moved and tried to posture herself. As luck would have it, the intricacies of such a move were beyond her sense of balance and she had a front leg slip from under her. In a panic her body tried to spread her wings which remained bound to her body, this in turn threw her off more. Hooves skidded over the tiles before she banged her head against one of the walls, dazing herself. Barely able to hear Flitter’s worried voice through the ringing she staggered, a cry of anguish passing her mouth as she tumbled resulting in a splash, and a very wet head.

Flitter almost immediately opened the stall door to see the sight of Viktoria with her head half in the toilet, scrambling to remove it. Quickly she approached only to back off as the young filly gave an angry sounding cry accompanied with smashing her front hooves against the ground. Finally Viktoria paused and sniffled, her mane half saturated as it dribbled down her face and onto the tiles. All the misery she was withholding rushed back as she moved her forelimbs over her head and sobbed quietly, barely aware of the soft wing gently resting over her back.

Flitter, unaware of what to say in the situation simply lowered herself down to provide what comfort she could, slightly surprised when Viktoria pushed against her and sobbed louder. The filly seemed to be trying to say something but it was all coming out garbled and nonsense, but the grief and fear within the words were enough to melt the pegasus’s heart.

Flitter was a kind mare; she didn’t harbour ill will towards anyone.

Nevertheless she would find whoever did this to such a young pegasus and make them pay, if that was the last thing she did.