Basso Scale

by b00_j3nnn

Chapter II

Ash, still unconscious, had been transported with haste to the nearby Manehattan General Hospital, where he had been placed in a bed. Waking up a couple of hours later, he groaned and looked around to see where he was. Looking at his right wing, he saw it had been bandaged to a splint and was propped up on a pillow, awaiting further treatment. It still hurt badly, and he winced, looking to his left, and seeing Killjoy napping in a chair in the corner of the room. He coughed a little, and she woke, looking guiltily at Ash.

“What are you doing here?”, the wyvern sounded quite hostile towards the pegasus, who immediately ran to his bedside and began apologising profusely.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I promise I didn't see you when I jumped off stage! I wasn't thinking straight but that's no excuse! I'm so sorry!!" The remorseful mare began sobbing beside him and covering her face with her wings in shame. Ash couldn't bring himself to look at the mare he had idolised before. She was truly sorry, he knew that, but she had also done something reckless and hurt him.

"Look, the doctor will be coming in soon. I hope my wing isn't too badly hurt...", he tried to sound a bit less bitter about what had happened, but it was difficult, considering what her reckless actions had brought. He looked down at his bandaged wing, grunting with each tiny movement of his hand, knowing deep inside that his wing was definitely broken. A pegasus doctor walked into the room, holding an X-ray sheet, which he clipped onto a light projector on the wall.

"Good evening Ash, I'm Dr. Brightwing, I specialise in wing injuries here at Manehattan General. So we took the liberty of x-raying your wing while you were out, unfortunately, it does look like a rather bad wing fracture. From what I can tell, your hand was bent back pretty forcefully by the weight of Miss Killjoy here, both the main bones were completely broken at your wrist. The impact has caused several other minor fractures. I'm afraid I’m going to have to set your wing and then place it in a cast so that it can heal properly. I’ll get supplies for that, just wait here for a few minutes."

Dr. Brightwing left the room, leaving Ash to process what he had been told, who leaned back on his pillow and sighed heavily. With the harrowing news the doctor gave, the guilt that hung on her heart only grew heavier. A lump began to form in her throat as she choked back sobs. The pegasus couldn't bear to face her fan after that. She turned to the wyvern and stammered an apology.

"I am so sorry... I swear, I'll pay for all the treatments and fees and I know that's still not enough but I really don't know what else I can do...", she tried to finish her sentence, but buried her face further into her wings. Ash couldn’t let his situation consume him any more, and instead just turned to Killjoy.

"Look... I was just being bitter earlier. I accept your generosity. It's nice you would do this for a fan...", the wyvern managed to let out a small smile saying that, despite what had just happened to him.

"It's still not enough...", Killjoy breathed out, finally glancing back at the wyvern, guilt plastered all over her face. Ash tried to lift up his wings to gesture, hissing as the right one flared up.

"Ooh... look, I couldn't afford the treatment and recovery for this kind of injury, not on my salary, so your kindness really is appreciated!" Dr. Brightwing trotted back in, a nurse behind him pushing a cart carrying bandages and plaster. With the assistance of the nurse, he swiftly tugged on Ash's wrist to set the bones, causing Ash to cry out in pain, a burst of flame singing the ceiling. Killjoy was startled by the sudden jet of flame, and stared in astonishment at the dragon as she had never been so close to one before, she had only seen some from afar in the crowds of her shows.

"...ow", Ash weakly let out, a few tears beading in the corners of his eyes as he gritted his teeth. The doctor apologised and proceeded to fold up the wing membrane against his arm, before wrapping several layers of bandages and plaster around the wing, forming a solid plaster cast to ensure that Ash couldn't move his wing during the healing process. He then made a sling out of a triangular piece of cloth, securing Ash's wing in place. Shortly after the doctor had left the room, Killjoy hesitantly glanced back at the injured fan.

"Sorry, I never got your name... I'm Killjoy- oh what am I saying, you already know that-", she trailed off in embarrassment. Ash winced as he inspected his new cast.

"I'm Ash, it really is nice to meet you personally like this, even given the… circumstances...", Ash was grinning, and the pegasus swivelled back around to Ash and smiled back.

"You're too nice, even after, y'know...", she trailed off again until hearing hoof steps outside growing louder.

"Kill! Which room are you in?" "It's this floor, right?", two voices were heard faintly outside.

"That's Blast and Rose! Uhh should I tell 'em to not bother you, Ash?", Killjoy asked hesitantly. Ash's attention was caught, and he sat up in his bed, looking rather excited, momentarily forgetting about the pain in his wing,

"Wait! I'd love to meet them too! I love your band so much!", Killjoy nodded and trotted outside to fetch the rest of the band. As the pegasus ushered the twin unicorns in, the sound of discontent echoed.

"How many times have we told you not to stage-dive like that!" "I knew pre-show coffee was a bad idea..." "What are you gonna do now?! You went and injured a fan!" "Not to mention you LEFT US MID SHOW.”, as the two unicorns lectured Killjoy, the three made it into the room with Ash. It was hard not to feel pity for the pegasus as she nodded in shame. When they had all made it to Ash's bed, the two apologised profusely on Killjoy's behalf, almost like they were her parents.

"I'm so sorry for all the trouble Killjoy caused, if there is anything we can do to help, we'll try our best", Rosella offered while levitating a small piece of paper with the band's manager’s address.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout our Kill, she can be a major doofus sometimes." Blast scoffed while scowling at the frontpony. Ash smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head with his unhurt wing.

"It's fine really, she already offered to cover my treatment costs, but thank you for offering! Say... can I get your autographs? I don't have any paper, but I guess this cast will do just fine!” Ash rolled back his sling to show the plaster cast now adorning his right wing. The two unicorns smiled warmly while levitating a marker on the bedside table to sign his cast. After both sisters were done, the two glared at Killjoy as she trotted over to sign as well.

"Soh-ry aghain..." Killjoy apologised with the marker in her mouth. Ash grinned at the new signatures on his cast.

"Thank you so much, man all my friends at work are gonna be so jealous! Uh... not of the broken wing, that I got to meet you guys! And don't worry about it too much, Killjoy! You didn't mean to, and dragons heal fairly quickly, I'll heal faster than if you broke your wing like this." Killjoy let out a sigh of relief and smiled warmly at Ash.

"That's good to hear, but at least let me treat you to dinner or something, I'd feel bad if I didn't...", she offered, "...and because those two would kill me...", the mare quietly added. Ash looked happy at the prospect of a free lunch, especially with such a big star as Killjoy.

"Sure! But... I'm a carnivore, are you okay with me eating meat? I know a lot of ponies get rather squeamish at that sort of thing... but I know a great restaurant that caters to all sorts of species. Or if you know any places too that'd be cool!"

Killjoy paused hesitantly and glanced at both Rosella and Blast, who both squinted their eyes annoyingly as if telepathically threatening her to go, "U-uh, sure!", Killjoy quickly yelped. Ash promptly sat up in his bed, practically shooting up, suddenly things were looking up for him.

The two unicorns bumped Killjoy toward Ash with their rumps and said their goodbyes. As the pegasus followed Ash to the check-out area and paid for the fees and picked up his pain medication, her mind could not help but wander to haunting images of the meat-based meals. Feeling queasy, her front legs began to tremble. Ash signed the checkout form, rather sloppily with his left hand, a painful reminder of his current limitation. After leaving the hospital, he met Killjoy outside.

"Come on then, it's this way!", Ash tried to open up his wings to fly, forgetting about his broken one, and had to stop himself from letting out a pained groan as the cast and sling stopped him from moving it, grinning nervously back at Killjoy, “Hehe... on second thoughts it's not too far, we can walk..."

Killjoy regained her composure and smiled at Ash as she trotted over instead of flying hoping it was the polite thing to do in such a situation, "Y'know if they have donuts there?", Killjoy asked genuinely, now that her belly was rumbling.

"I don't think so. It's more of a sit-down meal restaurant, but they just cater to a wide variety of species. More of them popped up now that there's greater species integration in Equestria. I love their pork sandwiches!", Ash drooled a bit thinking of the food. Though the thought of meat was enough to make Killjoy nauseous again, her hunger persevered. The odd pair arrived at the restaurant and sat at an available table. As the two began looking through the vast menu, the pegasus ordered a daisy sandwich alongside a wheat smoothie.

"Whaddya wanna get, Ash?", Killjoy asked, almost hesitantly, knowing it would contain meat.

Ash looked through the menu, pondering the choices. He noticed Killjoy looking somewhat nervous at the menu, containing dishes like chicken, beef, fish, and pork, catered specifically for carnivorous species like gryphons and dragons, they even had a gryphon for their head chef.

Ash looked up from his menu at the clearly uncomfortable Killjoy, "I don't have to order meat if it makes you uncomfortable. I could always order something that's not meat, I could request some gemstones to make it more palatable, I have meat at home."

"No, please! don't mind me, just order whatever you like best! It's the least I could do...", the mare gulped, subconsciously readjusting her wings. Ash still wasn't convinced, but his primal urge to eat meat told him otherwise. A hippogriff waiter walked up with a notepad to take their order.

"Alright then, I guess I'll go with the fried chicken sandwich. With the amethysts on the side. Thanks!"
As their respective meals arrived, the familiar scent of the daisy sandwich calmed Killjoy down, quickly shot back down as the smell of cooked meat overpowered it. As much as Killjoy wanted to gag, she persevered and began biting at her burger.

"So, how long have you been a fan for, Ash?", the pegasus asked, in hopes of distracting herself. Ash cut his burger in half to make it easier to eat with only one hand free.

Ash bites into his burger, savouring the taste of the spicy chicken, before crunching down on an amethyst, speaking with his mouth still partially full, "I've been a fan for as long as I can remember, this was the first time I've actually been to one of your concerts though! I have all your albums, creatures say your second album was the best, but personally, I think your third one is!"

Killjoy’s regret at hurting Ash eased, seeing the dragon more cheerful, "Haha thanks! I remember for our third album, we locked ourselves in the studio for almost a week! We were on a roll!", Killjoy reminisced. "I'd love to see you again for our future concerts! Promise I won't crush your wing agai-", the mare joked which she cut abruptly as she was unsure whether or not it was appropriate.

Ash looked up at Killjoy, swallowing his food before laughing, "Yes! In fact, try to avoid crushing anyone's wings, or any limbs for that matter! It's really okay though, I'll be fine. I'd love to come to more concerts! But... money's kinda tight, I saved up for ages to get those tickets, plus I don't think a tightly packed concert's a good place for someone in my state right now. Maybe when I'm healed..."

Looking around her, a brand new idea hit Killjoy, her ears and wings flicking up enthusiastically, "How 'bout this! Pretty sure our manager can book us in for a gig at a small bistro 'round here sometime this week since we've got some free time. It's a public venue so feel free to drop by!", Killjoy offered, flapping her wings in excitement.

Ash looked a bit confused, "Isn't a bistro a bit... small? You know, for a band of your size anyway, you're usually filling out whole stadiums or concert halls!"

"Not if it's a pop-up! Nopony knows yet!", Killjoy giggled to herself, "Well other than you!... Please don't tell anypony, I'll be in a lotta trouble-", the mare quietly added, her ears drooping.

Ash waved his good wing dismissively before going back for another bite of his chicken, "It's okay, I'm good with secrets. I look forward to it!"

Killjoy sighed in relief as she continued digging into her daisy sandwich. Before long, creatures from other tables began glancing more and more toward their table. Killjoy noticed and whispered to Ash, "Is there something on my face?"

Ash looked at Killjoy's face, looking for any patches of sauce or crumbs, "Uhh, no not really. Couple crumbs. You're a star, of course creatures are gonna be looking at you. Did any news get out about the incident at the concert?"

"Oh no...", Killjoy trailed, burying her face into her hooves.
"Isn't that Lovejoy or whatever her name is?"
"Didn't she leave mid-set cos she injured a fan? What a joke..."
"No way… is that the fan??”