24 - Reassignments, Part 1 of 3
Sparklefly began by stretching her wings. They had been bandaged for so long, she'd almost forgotten how good it felt. She'd been practicing the simple act for the last week in preparation for this day. The Baltimare Fever had passed. The medicine Zecora had brewed from the moss did ease the symptoms of the sick; they were all finally recovering, and the quarantine had been lifted. It would be back to regular training by morning, but for this day, Sparklefly was going to attempt to fly again.
Ever since they had removed the bandages, she'd been careful to stretch more and more each day to make certain she wouldn't injure herself by using her full range of motion in her wings. The soreness was gone, and she finally felt ready for this.
"Very good," Sparklefly's medic friend said to her.
He was the same one that had watched Duster so she could sleep. He was brown with a darker brown mane, and crystal-blue eyes. When he looked at her, he didn't seem to notice her eye patch. It was as if he saw beyond her mangled face. In a way, she felt like he could see right through her icy tough-girl facade that she tried to exude at all times. In spite of that apparent ability, he accepted her anyway. That intrigued her.
Since the illness was no longer a threat, he'd been helping with her wing rehabilitation. She was glad of this, but would have been terribly embarrassed if anypony else knew that she was nursing a huge crush on him. The EUP regulations for such fraternizations were clear, so she kept these thoughts to herself for the time being.
She felt rather silly about it, but the thought of being around him was almost intoxicating. Oddly enough, she had never asked his name. She did know that he was from Manehattan, hated chocolate, and zap apples were his favorite food, even though he'd never had one before he’d come to Ponyville. He also had a morbid fascination with strange illnesses that Sparklefly couldn't understand. In his off-duty time, he could always be found with his nose in a book, a past time she could understand.
"How does this feel?" he asked as he pressed on her wings, paying special attention to the joints on her left side.
Feeling a tingle, Sparklefly hoped she wasn't blushing.
"Fine, no problems," she said as flatly as possible.
He nodded, walking around in front of her.
"Well, I think you're ready to give it a try and see how some actual flying feels," he spoke with a smile.
She liked his bedside manner, but he could be a bit clinical. Sparklefly took a breath and unconsciously adjusted her eye patch. Standing still, she began gently flapping her wings. They went faster and faster until she felt the earth gently fall away beneath her. She maintained this pace, staying only a few inches off the ground. After only about fifteen seconds, she touched down again.
"Perfect!" he exclaimed. "Any pain?"
"No," she panted, "but that's a lot harder than I remember."
She hadn’t realized just how much effort it took to get off of the ground. Before she’d been grounded, it was almost effortless, unlike the serious strain she now experienced. This was somewhat disconcerting.
"That's to be expected," he replied stoically. "After an injury like you sustained, immobilization causes muscle atrophy. It'll probably take you a few weeks to build your strength up again."
Sparklefly felt a little disappointed at this, remembering her weight training as a cadet.
"How about you take a real test flight?" he suggested.
Grinning, she nodded, taking off at a canter and spreading her wings. She poured on more speed, her wings whipping the air, and the ground fell away much faster this time. The rush of the wind against her body was exhilarating. It was so good to be in the air again. She picked up some altitude, remembering to control her breathing, and did a barrel roll. The breeze kissed her face and tossed her mane; it felt fantastic to be flying.
...
Beigh had to smile as he watched his patient fly, shoot, zip and soar up into the air. She wasn't really "his" patient, but he had been trading shifts with all of the other medics to make sure he was the only one that got to do her physical therapy for the last week. The devotion Sparklefly had shown to her brother was what first had caught Beigh's attention. Her first physical therapy had been a chance encounter, but a welcome one. After that he kept finding his thoughts drawn to her. The battles she had fought, and her genuine humility about those accomplishments fascinated him; he always looked forward to their time together.
She soared through the air, growing smaller in the distance before banking and coming back around. Sparklefly looked even more graceful in the air than she did on the ground. Beigh found himself wondering what it would be like to be with her up there. While Sparklefly wasn’t unattractive, it wasn’t such that drew him to her, she had a determination about her that was intriguing. It wasn’t really a romantic attraction at all. It was more a derivation of celebrity. He’d heard of her, but meeting the Hero of Canterlot had been a completely different experience. She was just so normal.
Beigh had come to join the EUP after the fall of Canterlot. He'd been studying medicine in Manehattan when the attack happened, and like many others, he went straight to a recruitment office when he heard about it. His plans of becoming a doctor were put on hold, much to the chagrin of his parents. Not only was he not becoming an archaeologist as they had originally wanted, but now he was putting all of his higher education on hold to go fight a war. The letter they sent expressing their disappointment mainly served to make Beigh feel like a complete failure and harden his resolve to excel at something of which his parents did not approve. His feeling on this had improved somewhat when he was accepted into the EUP medical auxiliary, and they'd given him a useful crash course on first aid and triage. This soldier business on the other hoof was rather frightening.
At the time he'd signed up, emotions were running high. Everypony had the will to fight back. That stalwart resolve lessened as time went by and victories began being won. It gave way to feelings that the EUP was going to succeed, even without more volunteers. Unfortunately for Beigh, he had already signed up. During the beginning of his training, he longed to return to medical school and finish his studies. But that was all before he met Sparklefly.
This mare was some kind of special. She had saved thousands of others in Canterlot, was injured, continued fighting, got wounded again saving the princess in the Everfree Forest, and then fought through a siege for a week. Everypony said she had single-hoofedly killed over a hundred timberwolves. Still, there was a softer side to her that was brought out by her relationship with her brother. The Hero of Canterlot was truly remarkable.
Sparklefly made a large sweeping arc as she began descending. She circled around twice more as she came down, finally making a precise touchdown just in front of Beigh. She was glistening with sweat, and there was a large grin on her face.
"Not bad; good as new, don't you think?" he said.
"I certainly do," she said as she stretched her wings out one more time before folding them up again. "Thanks again for all your help with the rehab."
"It was nothing," he replied.
"Looking good over there, LT," a yellow pegasus with a tan mane and tail called out.
There were two of him. It was Lightning Dasher and LD.
"Sergeants," she said to them.
"You'll still never be as fast as me," LD said.
"Or as good looking," Lightning Dasher finished.
Sparklefly snorted at them. Beigh decided they must be good friends to talk that way to each other. It seemed rather undisciplined. Drill Sergeant J's words echoed in his ears, as did the sting of an attack on his nose on the first day.
"So, glad to be back in the air?" LD asked.
"Very much," she replied.
"We've started early morning flights around camp," Lightning Dasher started.
"Just the two of us," LD continued. "Now that you're feeling better, you should join us."
"I'd love to, thanks," she answered.
Beigh felt something akin to jealousy, but it passed quickly. It was more like a mild case of envy. He wanted to join them as well, but being a unicorn, he'd be rather ill equipped to even ask.
"Well, you're definitely fit to fly, just take it slow the first few days, and remember to drink plenty of water," Beigh said.
"Right, thanks again," she said.
He turned and walked off, back toward his duties. They were chattering away, barely noticing his departure. It must be good to have friends here. The medics always did stuff together, but the others were different from Beigh. They just didn't really hit it off too well. For one thing, most of them showed promise with the fighting aspect of soldiering, but Beigh was completely ineffective at it. Though he was a unicorn, his abilities at offensive magic were totally feckless. He could make some passable shields, but he'd never been talented with that particular part of his biology. That caused him to draw no small amount of ridicule from the drill instructors, not to mention the ire of his peers.
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The plot charges its drive core. Soon, it will start to advance.
8115794 Indeed yes.
Aw, the two have a crush on each other but don't realise it
That said, after the enormous amount of casualties ponykind has suffered, they're going to have to do something to repopulate after the war is over
8237336
A crush you say?!? If you're right, you get a cookie! If you're wrong, I get the cookie!
A medic would not be involved in physical therapy. A military medic is not a doctor, they don't stay back and get "patients"
Their job is merely to get the wounded back to aid stations. The most they usually do, as far as I know, mainly from what I have read, is stop bleeding and add minster injections to dull pain.
Or as Doc put it in rvb
A doctor cures people
A medic makes them more comfortable...while they die.
8741331
While usually I would edit my post to fix the typo I won't this time to demonstrate why I hate my tablets autocorrect
8741331
A valid point. One that would need addressing in a rewrite. Thanks!
Hah, note to self. Don’t get shot!