What you Need

by Hemlock conium

Chapter 31: Lessons Learned

Nurse Healing Balm walked Phoenix through the labyrinth-like corridors of the hospital. While he didn’t like walking the filly out this far, the head trauma department was unfortunately on the near opposite side of Carapace’s care room. Worse yet the filly refused to let him use a wheelchair to cart her to the room. Every moment made him regret making the offer more than the last. To the point he almost just called off their whole trip or forced her into a wheelchair before she fell and hurt herself more.

To Phoenix's credit however, she seemed to walk on just fine despite the distance, well as fine as a filly in her condition could that is. While she wobbled from time to time and was slow, she otherwise seemed to carry on well enough. Admittedly though, he was unsure how much of that was from the actual healing and how much was from the filly’s stubbornness. Given their brief interaction though, he was inclined to believe the latter.

He looked down at the filly from time to time with a worried expression across his muzzle, though Phoenix didn't seem to notice and seemed to instead be lost in her own head. A twisted look of deep contemplation rested upon her furrowed brows as she stared blankly at the floor. He wondered momentarily what had her so enthralled, but he wouldn’t get his answer. As before he could work up the nerve to ask, they had found themselves upon Phoenix's other friends.

All of whom were sitting outside Carapace’s room with their Head Stallion chaperoning. Not that he was surprised, non-family and staff couldn't get into the head trauma center, so it made sense they were, instead, waiting here for a chance to see their other less vertebrae inclined friend.

While the children admittedly looked bored, waiting for approval to enter the room that quickly changed with the appearance of phoenix. A moment later the group seemed to spring to life from their onset boredom. The first was the red colt who bounced up with remarkable speed before basically crashing into Pheonix; causing healing balms heart to drop in terror.

“Hey she still isn't-” he tried to explain but was cut short by the colts over enthusiastic cry.

“Nix!” The colt happily cried as he swept her in a tight hug, “I thought for sure your head, or something exploded into like a bazillion pieces!”

“Zeal! You're going to crush her!” the other similarly colored filly cried. To which Phoenix just gave a curt grunt as she tried to wiggle out of the colt's grasp before stopping to hold her head.

“Alright,” the head stallion interjected, “that's enough.” A moment later he was pulling Zeal off as he helped the shaky Phoenix to her feet, quietly sharing a few words with her before giving a satisfied nod. He then slowly turned his attention back to the nurse.

“We beg your pardon. They are a... Rowdy bunch,” Virulent lesson bashfully apologized on behalf of his wards.

“I am not a howdy! I'm from Cloudsdale not some badland, squat town, place!” Zeal objected; puffing out his cheeks a bit.

“He said rowdy,” Ribbon groaned as she grinded her face into the fetlock of her hoof from secondhand embarrassment or maybe rather firsthand embarrassment was more apt given her relation to Zeal.

“Rowdy: to be coarse or boisterous in nature,” The residential encyclopedia casually defined from his seat. Healing Balm Blinked a bit in surprise at the diction of choice from the large gryphon, though his attention was quickly pulled back to the ball of energy that was Zeal.

“Thank you, Teratorn,” Zeal sarcastically grumbled; clearly flustered with being wrong, “I know what rrr, row-rwow-sy-rwowzy,” he lied; doing his best to hide his embarrassment beneath a deadpan look of seriousness. Ribbon, in response, gave a groan of embarrassed and drove her muzzle deeper into her hoof at her brother's blatant ignorance as if to try and escape the situation.

“In any event,” Teratorn continued, “it's great to see you in such immaculate Health Phoenix.” he finished only to lightly jab his fellow gryphon, Star, in the side for staying silent for so long.

“Hu? Oh. yea good to see you,” The gryphon halfheartedly added. This caused Healing Balm to scratch his cheek a bit in confusion over what could have spurred that response. Though in truth the answer he was seeking was much closer than he would have ever guessed.

“Alright then. With that out of the way, doctor-” Virulent began.

“Nurse,” Healing balm corrected, to which Virulent lesson cleared his throat with a cough and nodded.

“Sorry. Alright nurse,” he apologetically corrected, “can we all see Carapace now?”

“One moment,” Healing Balm said as he privately stepped inside to check on Carapace. After a few moments he stepped out and motioned the group in. Star was the first to leap inside to check on Carapace, as usual while the rest of the group followed in, in an unorganized fashion. With Phoenix hesitantly taking up the rear; only coming in with the assistance and insistence of Healing Balm.
Carapace herself sat in a simple looking bed; being smothered under the some odd dozen pounds of feathers and fur that was Star, who was eagerly hugging her to near death. This caused another miniature panic attack in Healing Balm as he had to rip off the gryphon from the bed ridden ling.

“She's still recovering,” the nurse cried in terror. Though admittedly while she was probably in better shape than Phoenix he still wanted to air on the side of caution. Regardless the whole ordeal made him start to second guess if it was a wise idea to let these children see their friends. While he didn't want these children to boredly stare at walls all day and didn't have any family, expect each other, to visit. Their naturally rowdy nature left him feeling nervous as if one of them were just going. His thoughts didn't get much further however as they were irrupted by a giggle from Carapace.

Carapace was, of course, thrilled to see every creature again, though it was when she caught sight of Phoenix that her mood really soared to new heights.
“Phoenix!” she beamed, “thank the hive above you’re okay. I heard you were recovering but part of me just didn't believe it. I'm glad you're okay.”

“I-? Oh, yea. Thanks... And thank you for keeping me from becoming a colored splat on the ground too,” the filly nervously replied; uneasily shifting from side to side. Carapace easily caught taste of the almost bitteresk unease radiating off Phoenix causing her smile to slowly fade.

“I'm okay, Phoenix, really I am, “she assured, “and we have Teratorn to thank for that.” She added, shooting a grateful nod his way. Causing the titanic gryphon to break out into a flustered blush as he shot a bashful nod.

“It was really nothing,” he replied.

“Oh, don't say that it was only because you caught us and redirected us into a cloud, and took the brunt of the impact we got off scratch free.”

“Really, it was nothing,” he insisted.

“Nothing?” Star interjected, with a hint of shock and frustration from hearing his friends laid back reply, “I think a broken wing and leg are more than nothing.”

“I well-” Teratorn began before being cut off by Phoenix who turned to him with a shocked expression. Suddenly Carapace could taste a bolstered wave of remorse and regret eat away at the white filly.

“You what?!” Phoenix cried.

“I’m fine really. And it was a dislocated wing and barely a transverse fracture,” Teratorn insisted, “not that it matters now. I’ve made a full recovery. Well least good enough to be cleared from the Hospital.” Carapace knew that was a half-truth at best. She could still see the way he occasionally winced when he put too much pressure on his foreleg and from the looks of it Phoenix didn’t buy it either. Teratorn however would abruptly stop any further conversation of his injury as he turned its focus back on Carapace.

“Anyway. How's your leg,” he asked with a cough. To which she simply sighed, laying back down in bed.

“Useless still. It's completely ruined and unusable now. I still can't even walk or stand,” she answered, but quickly continued before Phoenix could break out into a panic attack, “having said that, at least my next molting will make it as good as new.” Teratorn simply gave a satisfied nod while Phoenix sighed in relief.

“That's wonderful,” Star cooed; a grin exploding from his beak.

“Changeling bodies are weird. How does that even work?” Zeal questioned; looking to Teratorn for answers. Though all Teratorn gave in response was a simple shrug.

“What do you mean you don't know?!”

“I’m not a biologist, let alone a xenobiologist.”

“But you’re, like, super, mega, wicked smart!” To which the gryphon gave a sheepish smile.

“Thank you, but to put it laypony terms, this stuff is out of my field of expertise. If you want to know the meaning and themes behind Hamlet though, then I’m your gryphon.”

“Well how does it work then doctor?”

“Nurse,” Ribbon corrected with a groan. Healing balm just chuckled.

“That's a long and complicated answer but put simply: Changelings have a thing called an exoskeleton. Unlike us it can't just organically grow on the fly or heal. So instead, as they get older a new exoskeleton is built beneath their old one and when it's ready, they shed off the old one.” The nurse explained; causing Zeal to gag.

“That's gross,” Zeal said, sticking out his tongue to display his disgust.

“Possibly but it's not too terribly different from dandruff for instance.”

“How so?”

“Well dandruff is just dead cells you shed,” Teratorn interjected.

“I thought you said you weren't a biologist thingy!” Zeal quipped back

“I’m not but that's fairly common knowledge,” Teratorn rebutted.

“Children please.” Virulent warned, his patience clearly growing thin.

“Anyway, how long till your molting Carapace,” Starling asked as he turned attention back on the ling.

“Oh, maybe another two months or so,” she answered

“Gha thats way too long,” Star frustratedly complained as he titled his head in sympathetic annoyance.

“Sorry...”

“Don't be its not your fault,” Star assured gently, hugging the seafoam ‘ling again though this time much gentler as not to spark the panic of Healing Balm. Though Healing Balm probably would not have noticed, as his attention was on the white filly next to him who was grimacing at Star's comment. He nearly nudged her to assure Phoenix it was okay, but Carapace beat him to the punch.

“It's not your fault either Phoenix, and even if it was, I forgive you then,” Carapace beamed.

“Then whos fault is it’” Star demanded.

“No creatures,” she answered.

“This isn't like a freak storm! Things like this just don't happen,” Star scowled.

“Starling please,” the changeling pleaded, “there's no reason to point hooves.” The disgruntled gryphon was about to say something more, and though Virulent lesson stopped him before he could, the whole group seemed to know what he was about to say as they all primitively grimaced.

“That, is, enough,” Virulent said in a calmness that scared even Healing balm. A calmness that he could only describe as that controlled rage he had only seen from his mother when he was young before, she tore into him. Starling meanwhile just gave an annoyed groan and threw up his wings.

“Fine,” Star agreed. Though the situation seemed defused before it even began, the air still felt heavy with malice and Phoenix's head still hung low with renewed guilt.
The rest of the children's time together never quite recovered from the simmering unease buried just beneath. In fact, past that point the conversation lasted little longer than a few minutes before it just went to awkward silence.
Maybe this was a bad idea… healing balm thought.

“Alright children say your goodbyes. I think it's time we let Phoenix and Carapace get some rest,” Virulent lesson declared

“But its barely noon,” Zeal protested.

“Exactly, and I think that means you’ve missed enough classes for the day,” Virulent lesson replied causing the colt to groan. With that Virulent Lesson gathered up four of his six children and made their way towards the door.
Healing balm turned his attention to Phoenix who was looking at Carapace with a grimace of discomfort. Carapace on the other hoof just gave Phoenix a reassuring smile of comfort as if to say she'd be okay. The white pegasus opened her muzzle as if to say something in kind but just shut it and gave a nod with an awkward grateful smile.

“Alright Phoenix, would you like to stay a bit longer,” Healing Balm offered. The filly seemed to think it over for a long few minutes before shaking her head, though she didn't seem entirely sure of herself. After waiting a second to see if the filly changed her mind he began to speak.
“Alright then let's get you back to your room.”

“Alright, yea,” the filly complacently agreed with a nod. Healing balm held back a sigh, this had not gone as he planned, at all. Oh well, he began to reason, If nothing else it was at least a good chance to get her leg muscles out and stretched again.

As the pair left the room, Healing Balm made sure to proactively check for any mess the group may have left before closing Carapace door. Phoenix closely followed behind as he stepped out, careful not to get in the way of the stallion.

“Do you want to stop and get a drink or something before we get back to your room,” Healing Balm offered.

“It's fine,” the filly reactively shrugged

“That's hardly an answer,” he pointed out.

“Fine then,” the filly relented, “water is fine.” Healing Balm gave a nod as he guided her along for a fountain on their way back.

Author's Note:

As always thanks for reading and have a good one Ya'll. 🍻
(and sorry for the long waits )

Comments

[Witchery]

A twisted look of deep compilation

contemplation

[Hemlock conium]

11171448
And thats what i get for trying to edit it and publish it before work thank you ill fix it when im home

[Witchery]

11171501
No problem! You also missed the capitalization on a few names in the first paragraph, so I'd fix that too.

[shadow wolf1573]

Nice

[mustangdrew4]

Hopefully Phoenix doesn't let Carapace being injured because of his accident.

Who knows, maybe it'll be the push they needed to try and do something with their life as some sort of penance.

Either way, thanks for the entertainment!

[Cobalt Stout]

“He said rowdy,” Ribbon groaned as she grinded her face into the fetlock of her hoof from secondhand embracement

embarrassment
==============
Also, Don't worry about chapters taking a while to create. (I personally prefer Quality over Quantity myself...)

Cheers!🍻

[Hemlock conium]

11171913
The heat death if the universe might come first if you're willing to wait that long . Joking aside, in an ideal world yes, quality is always the most important part of any endeavor (artistic esspicaly). Limits have to be set howver, or itll never end; esspicaly when you have somone, such as myself, whos never happy with what they produced. Now having saod all that most this issues here, i.e spelling errors, could be fixed with the use of an editor as oppise to taking more time I'm too sheepish however to ask somone to do it for free and too broke from college to hire somone. So I'm stuck on the marry-go-round or rereading it 30 times over, and if you've ever written a paper you know how terrbile an idea that is. Anyway none of thats to discredit what you said I enjoy and appricate any thoughts on my work negtive or postive, privoded reassons for such feelings are given. 🍻

[driel]

While he didn't want these children to boredly stare at walls all day and didn't have any family, expect each other, to visit.

Pretty sure from context this should be except

Poor Phoenix, she probably can't help but blame herself that her friends got hurt saving her.

I've only just caught up with this and am quite enjoying the story. It's great to see the orphanage life and all the new characters that involves. Most similar stories I've seen go the direction of living with a pony in Ponyville.

A psychologist like Mirage would be a true nightmare for anyone dealing with issues of any kind. I have found myself wondering though, was Phoenix's earlier mental breakdown and comatose state because she was dumped into this new world and body, or more because of the way Mirage was treating her and ignoring everything she said? I could see either one, or both, causing a breakdown.

[Phoenix999]

“Children please.” Virulent warned, his patience clearly growing then.

*thin

Good update on the story.