Clouds

by ramdom_player201

Chapter Three

Author's Note:

I did want to get this done sooner, but I had difficulty deciding on Seth's name, and then I just kept procrastinating past that point. I hope to get the next chapter done much quicker this time.

I am standing alone in one of the hospital rooms. The nurse had left pretty much as soon as we had arrived and Rainbow also had to leave explaining that she had to quickly go check on her friends. It is as I am standing there that I notice a mirror tucked behind a curtain. I realise that I don’t really know what my new body actually looks like, other than that it is most likely similar to the other pegasi I have seen. I carefully trot over to get a better look. It appears to be mounted on a wheeled frame, but unfortunately, the curtains obscure the reflective surface too much to get a clear view of myself.

I reach up to grab the curtains, but my hoof just brushes uselessly against them. Mildly frustrated, I hook my foreleg around the back of the fabric and attempt to pull it across; it is heavier than it looks and so I nearly lose my balance. After readjusting my position for stability, I slowly pull back on the curtain; but it slips over my hoof before I can get it out of the way of the mirror and it falls back into its original position.

Okay, one last try… how does a pony do this? After staring for a moment at the stubborn curtain, I have a new idea. This time, I nose my head into the gap behind the curtain, then sidestep my whole body. The heavy curtain resists, but I am eventually rewarded with the grinding of metal on the curtain rail as I shift the fabric mass out of the way. Stepping back in front of the mirror, I can finally examine my new body in detail. As I already knew, I am covered in short orange fur. But where I once had hazelnut eyes, they are replaced with large blue pony eyes and my head sports a mint green mane; a mane which looks more like a bird’s nest than anything else.

I let my eyes drift to my new wings; they are covered in orange feathers of the same shade as my fur. They are also an absolute mess. It seems like every other feather is broken and almost all of them are splayed at seemingly random angles, not a single one lays flat. On top of that, there are even a few stray twigs sticking up painfully through them. I turn slightly to try to get a better look behind me, but my extended wings block my view. I conclude that my new form is completely unrecognisable and shares next to nothing with my old body. The only thing that seems to have carried over is my voice.

I am interrupted from my musings by the sound of the door opening. I turn to see the nurse walk back in, she is followed by a brown unicorn male.
“Sir, I’m so sorry about the wait. My name is Nurse Redheart and this is Doctor Stiff Hoof.”
She looks expectantly at me.
“Oh, sorry. My name’s Seth… Seth Greenwood.”
“Alright Zeph… Zeph’s short for Zephyr right?”
“I guess?” I say, nodding dumbly.
Doctor Stiff Hoof speaks up. “Alright then, let’s get those wings of yours cleaned up and you can tell us how it happened.”
The stallion starts walking round me, studying my wings.
“Well, I was on a… cloud? And… and I fell off it.”
“And why did that happen?” prompts Redheart.
“I slipped,” I state dumbly.

I feel a strange tingling in my sore wings, not that I could tell what normal should feel like in limbs that I didn’t have an hour ago. I wince in pain as something yanks on my wings. I turn to look at them, but don’t see anything… except now, all the sticks are gone, strange. I turn to face the ponies, Doctor Stiff Hoof seems to have finished his examination. His horn is glowing strangely and my wings are still tingling. His brow furrows in concentration and I feel my feathers start to shift… and then more pain.
I turn to watch my faintly glowing feathers bending back into place, well the intact ones anyway. About half my feathers are now missing. I watch as another snapped feather is plucked from my wing and floats over to join the rest, a floating ball of broken feathers.

It’s at this moment that the door opens and a familiar blue pegasus steps in. She stops in her tracks at the sight of me. Rounding on the two medical ponies she almost shouts. “What did you do to his wings?”
She facehoofs and mutters softly to herself as she walks over to me.
“Just look at the state of them…”
I look once more at the wings; the feathers that had just been reset are already starting to bend back out of place. I can feel them sagging in exhaustion at being left open for so long and concentrate on letting them close, they respond and begin to slowly fold themselves to my sides. A feather falls out as they do so.

The doctor speaks up. “Alright Mr Greenwood, no flying for at least a week, and make sure to keep good care of those wings.”
“I also recommend doing 15 minutes of gentle wing exercises twice a day, morning and evening to keep them from seizing up. And remember, no flying,” Redheart continues.
“Zeph, you’re free to leave now if you want, do you have anywhere to stay while in Ponyville?” Doctor Stiff Hoof finishes.
I glance out a nearby window and notice that it’s quite a bit darker than it was when I got here.
“Actually no, I don’t have anywhere to stay while I’m here,” I feel something on the top of my head fold down when I say that.
“Hey. Zeph was it? I have an extra room if you wanna bunk with me?”
“Actually, Miss Dash, remember that Zeph isn’t allowed to fly,” reminds Redheart.
“Oh, right…”
“Zephyr, feel free to stay here at the hospital tonight as it’s already getting quite late,” Redheart offers.
“Thanks, I think I’ll do that.”

We are led back out into the corridor and up a set of stairs to the first floor. I am brought to a door and let inside.
“Here’s your room sir,” the Doctor states before hurrying off somewhere.
“If you need anything, just give us a call,” Redheart says before also leaving.
“I best get back home, see you tomorrow Zeph,” Rainbow says cheerfully, before also turning to go.
Now left on my own, I turn to my room.

I nudge the door closed behind me and wander towards the bed. I realise just how tired I am from the day’s events. I also realise just how much I need to use the bathroom. Luckily, there’s one adjoined to my room and I hurry inside.

It did take a while to figure out how to use, but I somehow managed it. I head back to the bed and clamber in. I roll onto my back, but yelp as my injured wing is caught under my body and I am forced back onto my belly. I bend my neck round to look back at my body, and can finally get a clear view of my back. My wings, now free of trapped undergrowth, still look terribly messy and feel slightly itchy. My tail is quite long and hangs over the side of the bed and out of sight. I sigh and reach my neck towards the covers. I contemplate how I should do this, before I simply take them in my mouth and pull them over me.

I take one last look around the small hospital room before I rest my neck on my pillow and let my eyes drift close.

Comments

[Phetiamwantip]

Very good on your new chapter, I like it! Seth's is going to do some gentle wing exercise without hurting them. Self-confidence is a superpower. Once you start to believe in yourself, the magic starts happening.

[Munro]

rainbow seem's to have a very short attentionspan here

good story so far

[KittyrinnAiko]

11342329
About normal for Dash.