What lurks in Equestrian Shadows

by Revy

Cadance

„Mr. Mane, was it?“

The face of the mare stepping into the small room where Lightning had been told to wait was familiar. He recognized the intense white of her coat as that of the very same guardspony who had been present, alongside her comrade, when he had been on Foal Street, encountering his first changeling.

„How is it that, after having heard of several cases of theft and robbery by a pony who fits your description, you have managed to acquire the fame of a hero within less than two days?“

So he was right, Lightning thought to himself, the mare really didn't buy into his whole „I knew he was a changeling“-story back then, she just couldn't prove him a liar.

„That's why I was brought here after having been washed down the sewers and into the cold sea, to listen to your accusations?“

„You're not going to be arrested for any of the numerous petty crimes I could probably prove you have committed if I would really want to,“ she replied. „I have more important things to do right now. As you may have noticed, Equestria seems to have a bit of a changeling problem. We want to, first and foremost, thank you for your help.“ The last sentence seemed a bit forced and it wasn't that farfetched to think that she had indeed been ordered to laudate Lightning Mane.

„It's a bit unusual to accuse somepony as a criminal when you want to thank him, but I'll overlook that. Was that everything you wanted?“

The white mare sighed exhausted, then sat down at the table in front of the pegasus. A cup of coffee was still placed prominently on it, Lightning had drunk only half of it yet. Some secretary had brought it earlier when Lightning was told to stay put.

„Look, as embarassing as this is to admit for us, you have done more for the safety of Manehattan right now than all of our guards combined. If you don't believe me, be sure to read todays newspaper. The press is putting a lot of emphasis on our supposed inability to defend against changelings.“ She was grinding her teeth in frustration. „We will be needing your help.“

This was unexpected.

„My help?“

„Your help.“

For a minute, there followed silence. Lightning still wasn't sure what precisely the white guardsmare wanted him to do. He wasn't even sure she really knew.

„What exactly do you want me to do?“ he finally expressed his confusion.

„First of all,“ the mare said with a tired look on her face. „you can tell us everything you know about the changeling threat.“

„Well, that's easy,“ Lightning boasted. „I know nothing at all about them.“

That earned Lightning an angry stare by the white guardspony. He could swear her right eye was even twitching nervously a little. Then she suddenly burst into a roaring shout of resignation: „Fine, forget it. I won't deal with this any longer. Maybe the Princess intends to put up with your insolence, but I am certainly not.“

„Prin...cess?“ the pegasus stuttered in reply, questioningly raising an eyebrow as he spoke. She couldn't actually mean that one of the royals would visit him, could she?

„Yes, that's what I said.“ she was still full of anger and frustration and Lightning hould hear it in her voice. „Princess Miamora Cadenza is apparently on her way to talk to you. At least that's what the letter said. So you better not move an inch before she gets here.“

„Isn't she supposed to be on a honeymoon or something?“ Lightning asked, recalling the talk on the streets about a royal wedding in Canterlot.

„Beats me,“ the mare shrugged. „Most probably she cut short her holidays to take care of this matter. Either way, that's just another reason – besides her being a princess and me making your life a living hell if you run away – because of which you should stay here and wait for her to arrive. Oh, and shut up, will you?“

He was about to return her attitude with some snappish remarks of his own, but in the last second, Lightning decided it was not worth it. No, he was too tired to fight some nameless guard for the title of biggest jerk in the room – something he usually could indulge himself in quite well. This was different, this all happened too fast. Lightning hadn't even heard of changelings until two days ago and by now, he was apparently not only targeted by them, no, as it seemed, the Equestrian government deemed him some kind of expert on changeling hunting now. All he really wanted was to go back and live his life.

He cringed when he realized the stupidity of that thought. Going back? To where? There was nothing left for him to go back to, he didn't have anything that deserved being called a life to begin with. Maybe he really did have some hidden skills he could use to aid Equestria in fighting the changelings. Maybe he could use it to his advantage?

„Hey, guardsmare,“ Lightning resumed the unpleasant conversation. She merely glanced at him. „Maybe there is some way I could help you with the changelings after all.“

Sceptically, but honestly hopeful, the white pony replied: „You're coming around after all? Don't leave Equestria waiting then.“

„Well, bear with me for a second. First of all, what's your greatest problem in fighting the changelings? Well?“

She sighed: „We don't even know where they are to begin with.“

„Exactly. Anyone could be a changeling. For all I know, you could be a changeling, too. Now, what if I found a way to reveal changelings? Force them to show their true identity?“

„Then that'd be extremely helpful.“ The guard said, blissfully ignoring the part about her being one of these monsters.

„Indeed, it would be,“ a gentle voice from behind Lightning Mane spoke. „And, perhaps, this coincides with why I came to visit you.“

Lightning turned around, but the guardsmare was quicker in proving his assumptions correct. „Welcome, Princess,“ she said, rising from her chair and with complete satisfaction proclaimed: „I will leave Mr. Mane to you.“

Cadance smiled and nodded, unphazed by the joy of the guardsmare over being able to finally leave the room and the blue Pegasus. She was larger than Lightning would have suspected, but maintained a more than subtle elegance about her every movement. For a second, he found himself lulled by her flawless appearance and admiring her... mane? Yes, he really liked her mane.

Reality rushed back into his brain with full force. This wasn't the time to muse over the superior looks of somepony who had enjoyed the life of royalty. There was a reason that Cadance, Princess Cadance, had come to see him, Lightning Mane, the thief, the thug, the criminal.

„Princess,“ he began calmly, „I do not fool myself into believing that it is the pleasant nature of my company that brought you to Manehattan when you should be enjoying your honeymoon. Clearly, there is something you think I can help you with and clearly it has to do with the changelings. It's not like I am known for any other notable incidents.“

Cadance smiled and nodded again. „You are, of course, perfectly on the spot.“

„Alas,“ Lightning Mane raised his right hoof in objection, indicating he was not quite finished yet, „you have to answer me one question first: why should I help you?“

She seemed taken aback at first by Lightnings blunt request for payment, but the speed with which Cadance regained control of her facial expression signaled that she had not come unprepared.

„I do realize that Equestria has not exactly treated you well in the past and that by any standard, we have done little to earn and deserve your aid. Let me first and foremost tell you: we are sorry. I am sorry.“ There was genuine regret in her voice and Lightning readily believed that she saw herself at least partly responsible for his miserable life. „From what I had been told about you, from what little information I could gather in the short time I had to prepare for this encounter, life in Manehattan has left its scars on you.“ She nodded in the direction of the Pegasuses limp wing, her eyes conveying worry about its condition. „Let me begin to change your relationship to Equestria by adressing an ill that has plagued you for a while now.“

Cadance had obviously prepared for this situation, as another pony entered the room at her sign. It was a fiery red unicorn, wearing a bright white lab-coat and having a stethoscope flung around his neck. Without doubt, he was a physician and for the first time since he had been brought to the headquarters of the Royal Guards, Lightning Mane let his composure slip. For more than just a split second, and definitely long enough for Princess Cadance to notice it, the Pegasus dropped his act and his heart jumped at the prospect that he may fly again.

„Now, Mr. Mane, let us not hesitate. I'll need to take a closer look at your wing.“

Lightning felt an excited pounding in his chest, the likes of which he hadn't felt in years. But equally fast as he had been given hope, the doctor took it away again.

„I'm sorry Mr. Mane,“ he slowly shook his head, watching Lightning Mane lose tension as that little glimmer of joy left his body. „Your wing is damaged beyond repair. You will never fly again, there is nothing I can do about it.“

Cadance had watched the scenery empathically, her compassionate smile withering away alongside Lightnings readily given faith. Had she betrayed him by lifting his spirit with the prospect of a healing that was, in fact out of reach? And would the Pegasus refuse to help her now? The Princess paced back and forth, weighing her options. She had bargained for Lightnings support by offering him new wingpower – she hadn't thought about the possibility that there may be no hope left for these wings.

As Cadance was nervously shifting in the background, the unicorn doctor seemed unimpressed with the situation. He was an obvious professional and was very particular about how close he let his patients misfortunes reach him. Apparently, he was just as well not touched by the larger, political considerations of his diagnosis, like the Princess was. The good doctor was doing his job and he was not finished yet.

„Your wing must be very painful.“

Lightning shrugged, regaining his composure in front of the doctor as well as Princess Cadance. Almost indifferrent to the question, he calmly noted: „sometimes“ and shrugged as he said it.

„It's obviously broken in four different places and the bones grew back together in a crooked position. This can't not hurt.“ The red unicorn now spoke with distinct interest in his voice. „There must be quite an exciting tale to how you hurt your wing so badly.“

His patient was less than thrilled. „None that I would want to tell and none that you need to know.“ The Pegasus had gone from frustration to overt hostility at the speed of just one question and the doctor decided that it was wiser not to stray deeper into that territory.

„I understand,“ he noted with respect. „However, as for the pain that must most definitely plague you, there is something we can do about it.“

With renewed interest Lightning watched the unicorn use his magic to levitate a doctors bag onto a nearby table. From within he then produced a number of medicamentations, pills and remedies, before finally locating the one he was looking for.

„This should do the trick.“

He let the small can float over to Lightning Mane, who grabbed it an took a look inside. It was a bunch of simple white pills and he didn't need the following explanation to guess their purpose.

„These pills are strong painkillers. Take one in the morning and one in the evening and you should be able to rid yourself of your pain.“ There was pride in his voice – the pride of a doctor who managed to help one of his patients, but that pride had gone amiss completely as he added: „wish I could do more for you. Once you run out of pills, come and see me... or any colleague of mine, it doesn't really matter. Just don't take too many of these at once. You'd get sick. Really, really sick... if you're lucky.“

„I still wish I could have been flying again...“ Lightning Manes emotional rollercoaster had taken another turn, melancholia had joined the wide array of feelings he had expressed within the last two minutes. „still... at least.“

Now Cadance returned to the conversation with renewed hope.

„I really, really would prefer not to have to do this, but I need to press on, given Equestrias state at the moment.“ Her eyes focused on Lightning Mane. „Will you help us?“

It felt as if the room had, all of a sudden, turned completely silent, as if the world had stopped and everypony was now waiting for an answer from the teal-colored stallion. Never before in his life had he felt remotely as important as in that moment. For all he cared, that was enough of a reason to make this decision.

„I am at your service, Princess,“ he said and bowed down. For some reason he had felt it appropriate, a sign he was attempting to be a loyal subject for a change. Working for Cadance was worth being given a try, Lightning was sure – after all, there was nothing he could lose, nothing he had which could be called much of a life.

Cadance smiled, visibly relieved that she had been succesful after all. „I'll need you to join me on a trip to Ponyville,“ she then said. „Where you'll have a chance to show your skills in practice.“

„Going to Ponyville? Now?“

But Cadance did not leave any time for his confusion. „You had been talking about a way to identify changelings hiding amongst us when I arrived here. There is a close friend of mine living in Ponyville and, well, I hope I'm wrong about this...“

The Princess started gritting her teeth. It was the first time since she arrived that Lightning noticed anything about her whole appearance that wasn't elegant and endearing and he took it as a sign of genuine worry for her friend.

„...well, she's been acting very strange ever since the changelings came. I just want to be sure. I just want some reassurance that she's well.“ Cadance sighed exasperated. „I hope you can ease my mind.“

„I will try my best.“ For some reason, his own announcement lifted Lightnings spirit. He was going to do something good and prove his worth in the process. That was already enough to satisfy him, given the fact that all he had been doing in his life up to now was less than gratifying. Yes, it was probably going to be over quite soon, but Lightning would enjoy the fame of a hero while it lasted.

„We can leave whenever you want. I don't have any luggage to pack,“ he couldn't help but add, torn between sarcasm and self-pity.

Then he realized, there was one thing he wanted to do, to try out, before they left. He opened his can of painkillers and flipped a single one of the small white pills onto his tongue. The effects came surprisingly quick as soon as he had swallowed the medicine.

It was only now that Lightning Mane realized how much the pain in his wing had always weighed him down.

Comments

[CommanderX5]

Pain killers are not cure, they are just temporary solution, and overtime he may need to eat more of them or they will just stop working and pain will return even stronger.

I do not think it is really a good reward since it wont last long.

[Revy]

2245161
There are actually cases where, for lack of an actual cure, painkillers are used to at least offer a symptomatic treatment. The goal must always be the cureof the immediate cause of the pain, but that's not always possible. Arthritic diseases may be an example.
In our world, anything resembling Lightning Manes case would have probably gone to the operating theater, rebreaking the crooked bones and allowing them to grow back together under a controlled environment - but for the sake of this story, I assume that Equestrian medicine is "just not there yet".