Chapter 1: Falling
De Pinnam
Falling:
It was the smell that woke me. The sickly stench of staunch sterility. It was the odoriferous scent of cleaning chemicals that almost masked the odor of pain. Of loss. Of unsaid regrets. It was the reeking, rotting musk that always filled a hospital.
The thought barely had enough time to float through my semi-conscious mind before I was moving, my head whipping up as I tried to get off of the gurney I was laying on. I was face down, straps on my arms and ankles, holding me still.
The restraints were broken before I could fully comprehend what I was doing, and I was up in a flash, instinctively protecting myself with upraised fists ready for anything that could attack me in the...
...empty room?
I could still feel my heart pumping madly away as I stood there. I felt like an animal caught in a trap, just waiting for the hunter to come by and skin me for dinner.
Needless to say, it took a moment to calm down and be able to competently examine my surroundings. I was in a small room, populated with a gurney, a semi-cushioned wooden chair, and a cart of medical equipment. The EKG machine I heard earlier had calmed down a bit, but it was still beating at a pace that I was sure was far too fast to be healthy. A closer look afforded me a few other curiosities, namely a small icon that looked like a cartoonized Greek Pegasus profile, and a language that I could not read. There weren't even Arabic numbers on it, which I had thought was a universal standard.
Ignoring the oddity, I finished my cursory examination of the room. There was not much else here. It almost looked like it had been a closet that was hastily transformed into a room. There was a comically small window on the far wall, and a slightly-too-small door across from the bed. I tried the door, but it was locked.
This discovery lead to a moment of panic, but I forced myself to calm down. There must be a logical explanation I thought to myself, pushing images of tyrannical doctors out of my mind.
Bored, and with nothing else to do, I sat in the surprisingly low chair and started thinking on what had landed me in the hospital anyway. Especially a foreign one. Last time I had checked, I had lived in America.
Let's see... I was walking to school..... There was a small snowstorm the day before, not enough to shutdown school, but enough to make me grumble about walking.... I put my iPod on to Disturbed..... and.... I passed a van.... One of those windowless vans... the backdoor was wide open...... and it was filled with boxes. As if someone was moving out. or in. I couldn't tell either way.
There was also a... dog cage in the far back.. A large dog cage. The thought of a dog cage made me start for a moment, but I shook my head. I... I passed by the van, thinking nothing of it, and.... and.... I couldn't remember much else, save for a vague stinging sensation.
Was I kidnapped? I thought to myself. Maybe... Ah well, the Doctor will be here soon, they'll tell me.... I couldn't even finish the would-be reassuring thought before another round of panic hit me. Why would I want to see a doctor anyway? Right? Their beady eyes. Their incessant tests. Their sharp needles. Their scalpels. Surgeries. Pain. Hunger. Cages. Sharp lights. Metal. Darkness.
I fell to the ground, clutching my head. I couldn't think. I could feel something pushing down on me. They wanted to tear me apart.
I felt myself beginning to slip. I tried to clamp down some control over my emotions, but it was too dificult. I wouldn't let the Doctors take me.
Just as I was about to lose my grip completely, the door opened, accompanied by someone speaking in a strange, lilting language. I looked up and time seemed to stop. There, in the doorway, was a small, white furry animal in a nurses hat. It had what looked like a pink, stylized head of hair.
It spied me and froze. In my mind the pieces clicked. I was insane. In an asylum. Or a coma. Neither thought was comforting.
The animal made another lilting sound in a low tone, presumably to another outside. It was enough to break me from the trance I was in.
:"NO! GODS NO! I REFUSE!" I shouted, backing away from the thing and into a corner. "I DON'T WANT TO BE A SCHIZOPHRENIC!"
I clutched my head again ans shrank to the floor, repeating the same phrase over and over again. "No, please, no."
I felt something soft wrap around me, like a blanket... but it was more than that. I could almost feel the thing. I could feel it around me. My own warmth on one side, the cool air on the other. It helped to calm me down. I slowly let go of my knees, uncurling from the fetal position I was in. I was alright. Hell, I'm even sane, right? Catch 22, I realized I was insane, so now I'm sane, right?
Then I looked down at the tawny, feathery blanket around me and screamed.
"...and then it just shouted at me and backed into a corner, crying to itself. After I left I heard it scream one more time." Nurse Redheart told the group in front of her. "I checked on it, and it must've fainted or something. I put it back on the bed, facedown again to avoid it accidentally hurting that wing even more."
"Do you have the footage from my scrying crystal?" A purple alicorn asked.
"Yes, of course. I'll get it right away, Princess!" Nurse Redheart said.
"I still don't get why we're still here." A tomboyish voice called down from the shelves where a cerulean, rainbow-maned pegasus sat. "Why should we care this much about a flying monkey that can't even fly?"
"Rainbow!" A soft, yet stern voice chided. "How can you be so mean? Didn't you see his cutesy-wutesy widdle face? how can you say something like that?"
"It's easy after trying to keep that sack of horseapples from crashing into the ground after it smashed into me! It even ruined my double-fruit-de-loop backwards flop!" Rainbow Dash replied angrily.
"Rainbow, darling, surely some new trick is not as important as a creatures life. Even if it was rather... garishly clothed." An alabaster unicorn said, scrunching her nose at the thought.
"I hate to sound callous y'all, but I'm with Rainbow here. We helped the varmit and got it patched up. Why are we still here?" An orange pony said with a southern twang.
"Girls, don't you get it?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "This is a completely new species. And the clothing may even mean sentience! This is an amazing discovery!"
"So we know why you're here, egghead, but why are we?" Rainbow retorted. "We've been here for hours waiting for that thing to wake up. And now that it has, it went back to sleep!"
"Well, nothing's saying you can't leave, but..." before she could finish a rainbow blur shot past her and down the hall "...don't you want... to be a part of.... history..." she finished lamely.
"Don't worry about Rainbow, darling. You know how she is." Rarity said.
"We're with you for now.' Applejack followed up. "Though I will be needing to get back to the farm soon."
"And I'll need to feed the animals." Fluttershy said. "But I'm fine for another hour."
"Thank you, girls." Twilight said.
A moment later Nurse Redheart returned with a small purple crystal in her mouth. "Hmpg Whffs Rinbah Daff?" She asked, before spitting the crystal out onto the desk.
"Sorry. Where's Rainbow Dash?"
"She left." Twilight said.
Nurse Redheart shook her head. "Huh. Anyway, here's the crystal."
"Thank you, Nurse Redheart." Twilight replied. "Now it'll take a moment to set up the spell. I modified the original spell so that now we can pause, skip through, and replay the recording...."
Twilight then closed her eyes and focused on the crystal. Seconds ticked by as her horn lit up, slowly increasing the intensity of the violet aura until a small bubble formed over the crystal in front of her. The bubble writhed and squirmed in the air, not taking a definite shape until it suddenly became a perfect sphere about the size of a marble. Then it suddenly grew in size until it was as big as a bowling ball. The center of it was pitch black, surrounded by a swirling vortex of purple light.
Then the darkness lifted, showing a small room with scant furniture. The most dominating feature in the room, however, was a large bipedal figure on a slightly too-small bed. It was strapped down, and appeared to be sleeping soundly. There was also a familiar purple alicorn, horn still glowing but powering down.
"And that should do it" The conjured Twilight said in a tinny voice. She turned to somepony that could not be seen and nodded.
"Alright Princess, I'll let you know when it wakes up.” replied Nurse Redheart.
"The connected crystal will be in your office." The faux-Twilight said, moving out of the room and out of view. I'll be waiting in the administration wing, I wa...” Then her voice faded from the recording.
Nothing happened for the next minute, save for the creature tossing and turning. Twilight then concentrated, and the hologram sped up. Within moments, they were at the approximate time. The first thing that filled the quiet space was a loud, rapid beeping.
"Looks like something terrified it. A nightmare?" Nurse Redheart said, sympathy detectable in her voice. Then, without warning, the creature sprang through it's feet, ripping apart the velcro straps like they were tissue paper. It's wings flared out behind it, filling the small room with their massive size. Around the left wing was a stark white bandage.
"And that looks like a typical threat response." Twilight said, pulling a pen and notebook towards her while maintaining the modified scrying spell. "Look how the forelegs are placed in front of the torso, and the wings are spread to make it seem larger and more intimidating."
"As if it weren't intimidating enough already." Applejack muttered under her breath. "Even my brother can't break through those medical straps."
Twilight looked up from her notebook questioningly.
"He don't like needles." Applejack offered.
Twilight shrugged and turned back to the screen in time to see the creature fall down into the chair in a slump. It seemed to zone out for a minute, until it suddenly sunk to it's knees, clutching it's head.
"Oh the poor dear." Fluttershy said, visibly worried. "He looks like he needs a hug."
"It looks terrified." Twilight said, concern in her voice. "I wonder what scared it."
A moment later the door opened and a familiar Nurse peaked into the room. The creature looked up from it's position and froze, staring at Nurse Redheart. Then it sprang to it's feet, a loud, guttural roar engulfing the room as it pointed one of it's digits at her and flared it's wings, before it backed up into the farthest corner from Nurse Redheart, which also afforded them a better view of it.
"Hmm..." Twilight paused the recording. "That was weird. If it hadn't retreated, I would've pegged that as a territorial threat display. The flaring of the wings and the loud noises would certainly fit the norm found in other bird-based species."
"But he looks so scared. And sad." Fluttershy said, placing a hoof on the scrying sphere.
"And that's what makes it so confusing. Normally, a display like that would be continued until the intruder was far out of the individual's perceived territory. I've never seen a backdown with no observable stimuli to generate one." Twilight replied, scratching at her ear. She then resumed the recording, watching intently as the creature wrapped it's wings around itself and calmed down.
"Now I know he needs a hug." Fluttershy said, watching the figure. "I mean, I've-" She was cut off as the creature opened it's eyes, looked down, and screamed before keeling over, the loud noise sending Fluttershy into a far corner behind a desk.
Twilight paused the recording at backed it up to the moment just before the scream and pointed a hoof at the face of the creature. "That right there concerns me. What winged creature would be scared of it's own wings?"
In the back corner of the office, Fluttershy shrank down behind her mane.
Running. White. Lab Coats. Tile flashing beneath my feet. Faster. Escape. Must escape. Corridor. Junction. Turn Right. Left. Right again. Exit sign. Follow. Running. People speeding by. Shots fired. Near miss. Needle in the wall. Have to go faster. There. Door. Exit. Light. Air. Fly. Need to fly. Out. Up and away! Clouds. Safe. Cruising away. Tired. So tired. No. Shouldn't be tired. Can't sleep now, have to run. Fly. There. In the leg. Needle. Stuck. Rip it out. Too late, Tranq is in me. Have to... Stay awake. Falling. Falling. Bright light. White light. Must stay... awake... must... ESCAPE!
I burst from the bed, breathing heavily. The nearby IV bag was nearly empty, drained into me. So painful. Has to go. The EKG is too loud. Off with the electrodes. The room... Too small. Walls... closing in. Must escape!
I ripped off all the wires connected to me, running over to the door and kicking it off its hinges. Outside, two of the horse-creatures were standing in gold armor and wielding spears.
Weapons. Pain. Run. Escape!
Almost on autopilot I launched myself from the room, taking the spear from the closest horse and smacking it with the butt. The second one attempted to attack me, but I dodged and then smacked him in the helmet so hard the spearshaft shattered. I didn't spare them another thought as I ran, feet slapping against the tiles. I had to escape. There was no other option. There. A large double door. Hopefully that would lend me a way out.
Through the doors I went, bursting through into what looked like an old-style office building, papers everywhere. In one area I could see two of the horse things standing there in alarm. I didn't spare them more than a quick evaluation of threat level, noting that one had wings and a small protrusion from its head, perhaps a natural weapon, but the wings were too small to allow it flight, so I dismissed it fully.
In front of me was a large window, which I broke by scooping up a small desk and tossing it, jumping outside just as I did so. Once out of the building, I spread my wings on instinct, feeling the heavy drops of a rainstorm pelt my face. Ignoring it, I focused on flapping my wings, but a spike of pain in my left wing stopped me. I fell, my right wing folding as my left was wrenched from its normal position. I cried out, the pain nearly making me black out. I saw the ground approaching at a speed that was too fast for my comfort. Bracing myself for a heavy landing, I positioned my body as best I could so I would roll when I made contact. The strategy would have worked if my left wing would close, however such niceties as properly working limbs were denied me that day.
A gust of wind struck me just before impact, sending me out of position. I plowed into the ground nearly headfirst, pain blossoming in my right shoulder as I drove a trough into the muddy ground. The world around me grew dark and blurry. The last shape I could remember seeing was a large purple blob floating down towards me, a violet haze descending over what little vision I had left. I felt weightless for a moment, and then I felt no more.