Torchbearer

by TracTix

II. Caballio non grata

II.

The train car jolted yet again as the Royal Express chugged eastward. Twilight barely noticed it. The unicorn, despite her best interests, was still awake. Her mind was far too active with constant thinking and pondering to deactivate and let her fall asleep.

She flipped on her side. Above her head was the window, and behind the window was the landscape of Equestria whipping past in a blur. It was still dark, so she could see little more than the black outlines of hills and mountains against the nighttime sky.

Twilight let her mind dredge up the memories of the last time she and her friends had left the Crystal Empire. It was right after they had helped defeat King Sombra and restore the Empire to its past glory. She remembered how eager they were to be returning to their homes in Ponyville.

And then the letter came…

My faithful student Twilight:

First, let me congratulate you on a job well done. I have received word of the success of you and your friends in the Crystal Empire, and am pleased to say that you have passed the test with flying colors.

I am writing this letter to say that you and your friends do not have to stop in Canterlot. Instead, I have another assignment concerning a situation in Ponyville. It is one that requires urgent attention, and I’d like to tell you everything about it in this letter – indeed, you’d probably like the information as well – but I simply don’t have enough time. Fear not, though; I will be at the Ponyville train station when you arrive. There, I will explain everything.

I look forward to seeing you and your friends. Signed, your loving teacher, Princess Celestia.

The sharp squealing of metal against metal caused Twilight to look up from her reading. She could feel the train beginning to slow down, hisses of steam accompanying the sound of the brakes. Twilight and her friends rocked backward as the train, with a final clank and hiss, came to a full stop.

“Ponyville! All off for Ponyville!” came the conductor’s cry.

“You still reading that?” Spike motioned at the letter which was still floating in front of Twilight’s face. She telekinetically let go of it, allowing gravity to pull the manuscript towards the ground. Spike deftly caught it before it hit the floor of the train car. “What is this, your seventh time looking over it?”

“I want to make sure I’m prepared,” Twilight said in defense. Spike rolled his eyes, muttering what suspiciously sounded like “You think too much.” Twilight decided to ignore him.

“Come on, you two!” Applejack called from the door of the train car. She and the other Elements were already leaving. “Don’t wanna keep the princess waitin’, do we?”

That got Twilight moving. She trotted over to the door and descended the steps, her friends waiting for her outside. The moment her hooves were on the wooden planks of the platform, she swivelled her head around to look for Celestia.

“There she is!”

The princess of the sun was waiting at the end of the platform. Behind her were the steps that led to ground level. Two pegasus Royal Guards flanked the monarch, their faces neutral as always. The group hurried over to Celestia.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia greeted. “I trust you received my letter?”

“Of course I did, princess!” Twilight answered. “But what’s going on in Ponyville? You said that you had another assignment for us.”

“That I did,” Celestia said. She began to turn around. “Follow me. I will tell you everything.”

Celestia left the platform with the Elements and Spike tagging close behind. The two armor-clad Guards escorted the group on either side. Being the personal student of the princess, Twilight took the lead while the others hung back a bit.

“Shortly after I found out of your success in the Crystal Empire, I received word from Ponyville that an unknown creature had stumbled into the town from the Everfree Forest,” she began.

“A Royal Guard found out and told you?” Twilight guessed.

“Not exactly,” Celestia said. “A local mailmare arrived at the Royal Castle with a letter detailing the incident. Perhaps you know her; she had eyes that…aren’t easily forgotten, so to speak.”

“So what was this creature?”

“The letter described it as an odd-looking black pegasus with holes in its legs and hooves. Once I realized what it was talking about, I decided to visit Ponyville without any delay, but not before notifying you and your friends.”

Twilight recognized the description too, as did her friends. “Wait…are you saying a changeling walked into Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash said in a shocked tone of voice.

Celestia nodded. “I was surprised as well, my little pony. Like many others, I thought they had all been banished when Cadance and Shining Armor used the power of love at their wedding.”

“Isn’t that thing dangerous?” Applejack said. “Shouldn’t you be shippin’ it to a jail in Canterlot or somethin’?”

“I would, but this changeling is an odd one,” Celestia explained. “I was told that when it arrived in Ponyville, it did absolutely nothing to conceal itself. As well, it apparently passed out a few minutes after being spotted.”

“Where is it now?” Fluttershy asked.

“I had it sent to the local hospital, though the ponies there didn’t like the idea when I told them what it was.”

Twilight had been uncharacteristically quiet during the revelations of the past minutes. Her face was furrowed in a mask of thought and concentration. Something that Celestia had said was bugging her.

“Princess Celestia, you said that the letter described the changeling as a pegasus, right?”

“That is correct, Twilight,” Celestia answered without hesitation.

Twilight could feel a paradox-induced headache coming on. “But…but that can’t be right! How can the changeling be a pegasus when it has both a horn and wings?”

“You will see once we get to the hospital,” Celestia said. “Like I have said, this changeling is very different from the ones we encountered in Canterlot.”

“And let me guess: you want us to look after it,” Rainbow Dash said.

“You don’t have to do that,” Celestia said. “A check-up and report every few days will do.”

The Ponyville Hospital was located on the edge of town. As a result, it took the group a couple more minutes to reach it. The Royal Guards took the lead, being their duty to clear the way for the princess. The stallions opened and held open the doors of the main entrance, allowing the mares and Spike to continue without missing a beat.

In the lobby of the hospital, a white earth pony with a nurse’s hat perched on top of her head sat behind the reception desk. The mare looked up, eyes widening at the sight of Celestia. She quickly got up from behind the desk and greeted the princess.

“Princess Celestia! Back so soon?”

“Yes; I’d like to show my student and her friends the changeling,” Celestia said.

The nurse, whose name Twilight believed to be Redheart, glanced at the Elements and Spike. “Dr. Stable is out currently; would you like to wait until he gets back?”

“No, that’s fine. They can follow your lead instead.” Celestia turned to face the group. “I’ll leave you seven with Miss Redheart. Right now, I have to return to Canterlot. No doubt my advisors will want to hear about what I’ve learned.”

“See ya, Princess!” Pinkie said.

The others waved goodbye as Celestia and her Guards exited the hospital. They then followed Redheart who had been patiently waiting for them. Deeper into the hospital they went, numbered doors coming and going in a steady stream.

“Here we are,” Redheart announced. She had stopped in front of a door labelled “ICU 1”. The nurse opened the door and entered the room, the others filing in behind her.

Before them was the changeling, lying with its eyes closed on the hospital bed. The sheets were pulled up to its neck, almost giving an impression that the creature was in a morgue. Its chest rose and fell, however, indicating that it was still among the living. Its wings, translucent panes of blue, were folded along its sides, and its dark mane was flattened against the bed. A tube snaked down from an IV bag and into one of the changeling’s forelegs, pinkish liquid dripping through.

But what grabbed their attention the most was the changeling’s forehead. The spot where its horn was supposed to be was bare, a light grey discoloration being the only thing that hinted of its former presence. Twilight could now see why the letter had described the creature as a pegasus instead of a pegacorn.

“Has it been like this since it wandered into Ponyville?”

Redheart nodded, a sour expression on her face. “We think it’s suffering from a coma, though we’re not sure of the cause behind that.” Twilight opened her mouth to ask another question, but was anticipated by Redheart. “And before one of you ask, no, we also don’t know how it lost its horn.”

“The poor thing,” Fluttershy said, her face a mask of concern.

Rainbow Dash rounded on her friend. “Poor thing? Come on, Fluttershy! That changeling deserves it!”

Fluttershy gasped at the harsh words. “Rainbow Dash, how can you say that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because those things tried to take over Equestria?” the cyan pegasus replied sarcastically.

“That was in the past,” Fluttershy shot back. “Just because they were nasty to us doesn’t mean we have to be the same way.”

“Right…” Rainbow Dash drew out the word, obviously unconvinced.

“If you two are done…” Twilight interjected. Her friends, getting the hint, ceased their bickering. Twilight turned back to Redheart. “Can you tell us anything about how the changeling might have lost its horn?”

Redheart bit her lip in thought. “We decided to blame trauma in the end; it sounded like the most reasonable explanation. But if you’d like to decide for yourself, I do know that Dr. Stable has a book in his office on medical conditions and such. There should be something in there about broken horns.”

The mentioning of a book had caused Twilight to perk up. “That sounds perfect!”

“His office is nearby,” Redheart said. She let the Elements and Spike exit the room first before closing the door behind them. Redheart hadn’t been exaggerating when she said that Stable’s office was close to them; it was only two doors down from the ICU.

Upon opening the door, a square of light fell through the doorway and into the office. It was assimilated into the scene when Redheart flicked on the lights. Stable’s office, being a doctor’s, was incredibly neat and orderly. Directly in front of the group was Stable’s desk with some papers and pencils. An examination table was pressed up against the wall to their left, two chairs beside it. On the opposite side was a countertop with various medical devices laid on top of it, as well as a small bookshelf bolted to the wall above.

The book Twilight selected from the shelf was one titled “Study and Treatment of Medical Conditions – Sixth Edition”. It was massive, one of the largest books that Twilight had ever seen. She levitated it over to Dr. Stable’s desk and opened it. The pages and her horn glowed magenta as she flipped through the book, letting her researching skills take over.

“Horn…horn…aha! Here it is,” she said triumphantly. The others gathered around her as she read aloud the following passage:

HORN FRACTURE

ETIOLOGY:

“Etee – what?” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

“Etiology,” Twilight repeated. “Basically, it means why this condition occurs.”

Trauma is the most common cause of fracturing and is typically due to an object impacting the horn with high force. Because trauma is rarely delivered to a specific calibrated location, fractures will vary widely from case to case. Keratoporosis, a rare but very serious condition that structurally weakens the horn, will cause more severe fracturing than normal when the horn suffers trauma.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

A normal unfractured horn will have several grooves running around it horizontally. The number varies depending on age; one for foals, two for fillies and colts, and three for mares and stallions. A fractured horn, in addition to these normal grooves, will have several lines running at random angles around it. The visibility of these lines will vary depending on the extent of the fracturing. In the most severe cases, a fractured horn will have various pieces of it broken off.

DIAGNOSIS

One should first ask the patient of the events leading up to the injury in order to get a better understanding of its severity. Physical examination will typically be the method of diagnosis due to the horn being a visible appendage of the pony body.

TREATMENT

Once horn fracturing is diagnosed, the horn must be placed in a cast or brace similar to ones for fractured bones. Once secured, the horn should be left to heal by itself. If the fracturing is more severe, magic may be used to further ensure stability. In an extreme case where an entire piece of a horn has broken off, magic must be used immediately to graft the piece back on.

Twilight looked up from the book. “What do you think?”

“I think the changeling tripped and fell on its horn and broke it!” Pinkie offered. “Like this!” she said before comically falling on her head.

“I don’t know about that, Pinkie,” Spike said. “If it did, shouldn’t there be a little bit of horn left over? That changeling had nothing.”

“What other possibility is there?” Rarity said. “The book didn’t state any others.”

“It didn’t,” Twilight agreed. “But it also says here that trauma is the ‘most common cause’. That doesn’t mean it’s always the reason.”

“Still, I agree with Pinkie and Rarity. The changeling probably hit its horn on something in the Everfree and broke it.”

She shut the book, a resounding thump emerging from hundreds of pages falling on each other.

Twilight rolled over in her bed. I should have known, she thought. I should have known that answer was too convenient.

Her mind had slowly been numbed by fatigue during her recollections, and before she knew it, her eyelids had slid shut. Darkness immersed her, and soon, her snores joined those of her companions.

Author's Note:

This chapter is a "flashback chapter": one that reveals some backstory. They'll appear here and there to piece it all together.

As always, thanks for reading!

Comments

[TracTix]

2240916 Fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.