Antecedent 12
#12 of Antecedent
Remedy adjusted her mane nervously, dancing in place with uncharacteristic anxiousness. It was 6:45, and she had already been in position for a full five minutes. Somehow, the prospect of going on a date with Firebrand disturbed her. If it wasn't for that fact that she was the element of honesty, then Remedy would have just not shown up at all, for fear that it was all some kind of ruse or game.
Even now, she just wanted to turn around and go back to the castle. There were so many better things she could do than stand around waiting for Firebrand, or watching the pegasus gorge herself at some buffet or whatever it was she had planned.
Remedy was a moment away from leaving when a flurry of movement appeared besides her. Firebrand, having winged her way over the castle walls.
"Hiyas!" Firebrand said cheerfully, stepping over towards the nurse, "I see you didn't stand me up!"
Remedy blinked once, eyes widening.
The pegasus' white body was covered in long, flowing orange, multi-layered tresses that terminated in a very fancy white frills. Her mane and tail were unbound, the red contrasting well with the colours of her dress. Her entire form conveyed warmth and energy: as though she were alight. And she looked good.
After several moments, Firebrand raised a brow, "Is this okay? It's not... silly, is it?"
Remedy blinked once, and then shook her head mutely.
Firebrand looked Remedy up and down in return: the nurse was wearing a simple short pink dress and had a flower behind one ear, tucked into a lock of her pink mane.
"You look... nice," Firebrand said awkwardly.
"Nice?" Remedy asked, snorting once. "That's it?"
Firebrand bit her bottom lip, and then gave a helpless shrug of her shoulders. "The first word to come to mind was 'attractive', and then 'sexy', but I settled with 'nice' because it was the most socially acceptable."
The nurse blinked at that, and then smiled. "Well, you look positively ravishing. I'm afraid you're going to look pretty bad stuck with this tacky nurse tagging along. Where're you taking me anyhow?"
"To see a play at the Blueblood Theatre!" Firebrand said brightly, "It's supposed to be the next big thing!"
Remedy's expression turned uncertain, and she peered at Firebrand. "A movie?"
Firebrand gave a grin at that, and then waved a hoof, before leaning closer and whispering conspiratorially, "I got us the skybox, so we'll be all alone, with a bottle of wine. We don't even have to watch the show!"
The nurse paused at that, raising a brow at Firebrand suspiciously. "And how did you manage to get tickets to the skybox?"
The pegasus gave the nurse a stare. "I'm the Captain of the Wonderbolts," she said with a faint giggle. "I could get basically anything I want."
Remedy gave a nod at that, and then perked a single ear upwards. "And yet you choose the changeling to go on a date with?"
"Anything I want," Firebrand said with a grin, wiggling a hoof at the other mare.
"So were you serious about the dinner and a movie thing?" Raindrop asked, as she straightened up her mane. She didn't have any fancy dress to put on, and Sentinel wasn't one to dress up in anything other than armor.
"Sure was!" Sentinel said with a grin.
The two of them were walking down the road towards the amphitheatre, side-by-side.
"You are such a mare," Raindrop accused, shaking her head at the guard.
"But you love me nonetheless," Sentinel replied with a sly grin.
Raindrop rolled her eyes, "Somehow."
Sentinel stepped closer to her, and his wing extended lightly touching at her own, before the pinions wended their way through her wing and tugged it out to hold the interlocked feathers together.
Raindrop paused at that, her cheeks flushing with warmth. The reassuring sensation of his feathers interlocking with her own so perfectly was something that she had never expected to feel.
Sentinel raised a brow at her, "Raindrop... are you okay?"
Raindrop blinked once, swallowing past the sudden lump in her throat, and nodding jerkily. "Y-yeah, it's nothing."
The guard leaned in to peer at her closely, head tilting to one side slightly. "Are you sure? You're not about to get sappy on me, are you?"
Raindrop silenced him with a furious, intense kiss, holding his cheek with a hoof to keep him from pulling away. "I just love you so much right now," she almost sobbed.
Sentinel blinked, bewildered, staring at her as she let him go. "...Sure you're fine?"
Raindrop pursed her lips, looking away for a moment. "I just... it's stupid. It's silly. Forget it."
Shaking his head, Sentinel squeezed her feathers with his own reassuringly, "You can tell me, Raindrop. I'm your coltfriend, after all."
Taking a deep breath, Raindrop bounced slightly in place, agitated, and then peered sideways at Sentinel, biting her lower lip. "I just... when I was with Shine, I was always wishing, somewhere deep down, that I could just take his wing in my own... It's stupid, I know. It's just... It's just a winghold. But it felt more important than that to me..."
"Shine was a unicorn, right?" Sentinel queried, squeezing her feathers gently.
"Yeah... which just made it all the more stupid," Raindrop said with a rueful smile. "It's childish..."
"No it's not," Sentinel assured, smiling and wrapping his hooves around her shoulders in a hug. "You're just a mare, is all."
"But you're the mare in this relationship," Raindrop stated, blinking once.
"I know, but you're muscling me out of my spot. Now shush, or we'll be late. You can sob on my shoulder and cry and do all that mare-ish stuff when we're at the theatre."
A small explosion rocked the upper floor of the Canterlot Palace, sending the guards and visitors rushing this way and that to take cover or try to find the source of the disturbance.
A small griffon wearing an eyepatch, covered in a fine dusting of white plaster powder, and with wood chips in her crest.
"I think I used too much!" Wisp squeaked to Princess Celestia, a grin plastered across her beak.
"It was sufficient," Celestia said with a bow. "I trust you enjoyed the process?"
Wisp nodded eagerly, bouncing in place. "I've been wanting to try them out on something for a while now!"
Celestia gave a knowing smile.
Chitin waited until Wisp had disappeared down the nearby staircase and headed towards her personal quarters, before arching a brow at Celestia. "You did not really require the door to be blown apart, did you?"
Celestia smiled. "Of course not, I could have unlocked it with magic."
"And yet you asked the tiny bouncy one to blow it apart?" Chitin asked flatly.
The princess nodded again. "Indeed. It brings joy to her heart."
"You could have just unlocked it," Chitin stated flatly.
"And then Wisp would not have been happy," Celestia replied simply.
The amphitheatre was a recent construction built using the finest unicorns' magics after a fire claimed the original Blueblood Theatre. It was a giant half-circle construction, with many layered tiers as seating for those who wished to view the movies that played on the large wall in the centre of the theatre. The entire upper tier of the amphitheatre was set out as a restaurant, one of the best in Centerlot, serving fine wine and food to those who were wealthy enough to afford it.
The prized jewel of the theatre were the skyboxes: A trio of box-shaped rooms lined with red velvet suspended above the amphitheatre below, with a perfect view of the screen. Magically suspended on pylon's specifically farmed from the same rock as that which held up the Cloudsdale buildings, they were rock-steady and safe. A long staircase ascended to each box. The boxes themselves were private, cozy, with indirect lighting controlled by a console inside the box giving them a soft, warm feel.
"I've never been somewhere anywhere near this fancy," Remedy whispered to Firebrand.
Firebrand just giggled, and then whispered in response, "I'm a regular."
Sentinel pulled Raindrop's chair out for her, smiling.
They were on the top floor of the amphitheatre, getting settled in to eat dinner and watch the movie.
Raindrop sat down, smiling at Sentinel, and he moved to sit down as well, before pausing, blinking once.
"Raindrop. Is that... Remedy and Firebrand?" Sentinel asked, pointing with a hoof.
Raindrop turned, leaned to the side and stared, raising a brow slowly. "Why... yes. Yes it is."
Just then, the two mares who were ascending the stairs caught sight of Raindrop and Sentinel at the table, and blanched.
Remedy blanched, Firebrand looked completely unperturbed, Sentinel rose an eyebrow, and Raindrop gave a soft, amused giggle.
"Oh please... please don't tell me you two are here on a date?!" Raindrop asked, a hoof covering her mouth.
"Yes." "No!"
Two replies echoed at the same time in discordance.
Raindrop giggled again. "Oh wow. And here I was worried about you two trying to murder eachother."
"We're just seeing a movie!" Remedy protested, her ears pinning back.
Raising a brow slowly, Raindrop grinned, and then narrowed her eyes. "Firebrand... what exactly are you and Remedy doing here?"
"We're on a date," Firebrand stated automatically, nodding once in affirmation.
"That's no fair!" Remedy hissed at Raindrop, her expression murderous.
Raindrop gave an innocent giggle. "And Firebrand... who was it that... instigated the date?"
Firebrand paused at that, humming faintly and tapping her chin with a hoof. "I think Remedy was."
"That is a lie!" Remedy retorted, aghast. "And from the element of honesty no less!"
The wonderbolt captain shook her head slightly at that, peering sideways at the nurse. "You were the one who came up to me all shy and nervous," she said, with brutal honesty, "And I saw you lurking around getting up the courage to come over to me... or perving."
Remedy looked positively livid at that.
"You're awful quiet, Sentinel," Raindrop stated, raising a brow at her coltfriend.
Sentinel turned towards her with a solemn gaze. "I have no particular feelings about it one way or another."
Raindrop perked an ear at that, blinking once.
Remedy pushed at Firebrand with a hoof, to make her walk, urging in a haughty tone, "Walk, mare, walk!"
In moments, the two ponies had ascended the stairs to one of the skyboxes and disappeared from view.
Raindrop rounded on Sentinel then, staring at him. " 'No particular feelings either way'?" Raindrop parroted in a tone of disbelief.
Sentinel laughed faintly. "Oh c'mon, there were two of them! And you! I'm not stupid enough to say what I really think with those odds!"
"And what do you really think?" Raindrop asked, leaning closer and turning an ear towards the pegasus.
Sentinel gave a wry grin. "Those two are perfect for eachother. One of them will either murder the other in their sleep, or they'll end up happily married."
"So... basically us, a month or so ago?" Raindrop asked with a giggle.
"That about sums it up," Sentinel admitted, as he slid a menu across to Raindrop with a smile.
"Now we just need to find Wisp a passive-aggressive partner," Raindrop said, peering down at the menu thoughtfully.
"Can ponies and gryphons even..." Sentinel started.
"Screw?" Raindrop suggested, raising a brow.
Sentinel scoffed, looking away a moment. "I guess that is a pretty stupid question."
"The males are all pink and have feline things on their junk. Spines or something. Apparently, it's quite painful," Raindrop said knowledgeably, not even looking up from her menu.
The guard stared at her. "You don't... know from experience do you?"
"Thankfully no," Raindrop said with a giggle and a shake of her head. "But you think there isn't a Playcolt equivalent for mares?"
"And they have gryphons?" Sentinel asked, staring.
Raindrop nodded. "Gryphons, pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies... they even had a minotaur once."
"A minotaur?" Sentinel blinked slowly, shaking his head. "How would you even get one in a photoshoot? They're huge."
The female pegasus nodded sagely, "Big like this," she said, holding her hooves out the length of the table.
Sentinel's jaw dropped.
Raindrop gave a soft giggle, covering her mouth again and shaking her head. "Oh boys and your toys. They're not really that big. Actually, 'comically small' better describes their anatomy."
"Why are we even discussing this?!" Sentinel demanded to know after a moment.
"Because you're going to lose your appetite and I'm going to steal food off your plate" Raindrop said calmly, perusing her menu.
Remedy and Firebrand ascended to the skybox, the pegasus pushing the door open and holding it open for the nurse, who stepped through with a huff.
"What're they even doing here?" Remedy asked with a snort.
Firebrand closed the door behind them, stepping over to the viewing couch and pulling herself up onto it, settling down carefully to get comfortable, brushing her beautiful dress out so it sat flat and wouldn't get wrinkled. "I believe that they are here to watch the movie."
Remedy scowled, her ears splaying back as she stepped around the couch and then carefully pulled herself up onto it, brushing her mane out with a hoof self-consciously, and then peering out over the ledge and towards the movie screen set up in the middle of the amphitheatre. "Still... of all the places they could have gone..."
"Are you truly that bothered to be seen with me?" Firebrand asked calmly, raising a brow.
The nurse blinked at that, her ears splaying back. "Well... no. It's just... awkward."
"Awkward to be seen with me," Firebrand added delicately.
Remedy sighed, rubbing a hoof against her forehead slowly. "That's not it. It's just... I dunno. I did want to murder you not long ago and I have appearances to keep up."
"Very well," Firebrand said with a single sniff, resting her head on her hooves and casting her gaze towards the screen as the lights dimmed and the screen itself came to life.
The title screen came on, followed by the beginning of the movie. It was a pretty generic plot to begin with, a pegasus and a unicorn in love.
"This is the second time I've seen this movie," Firebrand said with a slight smile, waving a little bell. A few moments later, the door to the skybox opened, and a waiter appeared, holding a menu.
Firebrand ordered a cabbage stew, while Remedy stared down at the menu and the prices, her eyes wide.
"My treat," Firebrand said with a smile, noting the nurse's expression.
Remedy gave a sigh of relief. "I'm not used to this kind of prices before. Did they grow the hay in gold-encrusted soil?"
"Actually, it was sprinkled with crystals imported from the crystal empire, gives the bread a very nice taste, especially to dragon-folk. But it's also expensive," Firebrand explained with a nod and a smile.
Very carefully, Remedy chose something that wasn't too expensive, before passing the menu back, settling down to watch the movie with the pegasus.
Raindrop and Sentinel's menu was far less fancy, but still had some expensive dishes on it.
"I feel like splurging," Raindrop said with a hum, peering down the list. "So... red wine with minotaur cheese, and the crystal garlic bread for a main course?"
Sentinel blinked down at the menu and then gave an uneasy smile. "Sounds a little too... sophisticated for me."
"Oh come on," Raindrop said, rolling her eyes with a single snort. "Anything that isn't stewed to a uniform colour and consistency is 'too sophisticated' for a guard."
"S'not my fault," Sentinel said with a grin. "They train us to be rugged, and I guess the food is another form of torture."
"Well tonight is fancy-night, so you'll be eating what I'm eating," Raindrop said with a sense of finality. "And you'll be sharing an extra-large ice cream sundae with me, chocolate and caramel flavour, with a straw for both of us."
"Yes ma'am," Sentinel said with a mock-salute.
The movie continued. There were various action sequences, a romance scene, and then the female, the unicorn, was taken hostage by a group of shadowy figures.
Firebrand hummed faintly, and then her head jerked up, her eyes widening. She stared sideways at Remedy for a long moment, suddenly realising her mistake.
The nurse was quite happily chewing on a piece of bread, watching the screen, when her chewing slowed, and then stopped.
On the screen, the true villain was finally revealed. The pony had become a changeling. A very fake, very terrible changeling.
"Muwahahaha, I have tricked you all!" the changeling on the screen was saying, waving a hoof and grinning slyly. "All your love belong to me!"
Remedy paused, her ears visibly warming as she slowly turned her gaze towards Firebrand.
"I-I can explain," Firebrand began.
"I've seen all I need to see," Remedy spat, growling and tossing her drink at the mare.
Firebrand winced backwards, getting soaked with the crystal wine, her beautiful dress stained forever with the liquid, while her face and mane were drenched in stripes by the flying liquid.
And then, the door to the skybox slammed, and Remedy stormed down the stairs, growling deeply in the back of her throat.
Raindrop and Sentinel both looked up, a straw each in their mouths, suckling away at the chocolate and caramel sundae between them. Remedy was stalking down the stairs, taking them two at a time, visibly angry and distressed.
"I guess she's back to wanting to murder her then," Raindrop said with a helpless giggle, licking her lips clean of the icecream.
Remedy didn't even give the couple a glance as she stalked past, audibly growling, dissapearing down the stairs into the crowd.
Firebrand came bounding down the steps a few moments later, her mane wet and her dress stained with red. "Remedy, wait!" The pegasus paused in front of Sentinel and Raindrop, looking back and forth. "Which way did she go?!"
Sentinel pointed with a hoof lazily, while Raindrop perked an ear upwards. "So what did you do to make her want to murder you again?"
"The movie," Firebrand said, her ears pinning back, "The changeling bit obviously didn't gel with her."
"Remedy likes changelings?" Sentinel asked curiously, perking an ear and peering at where the nurse had disappeared to.
Firebrand's eyes widened and she twitched. "Y-you could say that."
Sentinel's eyes narrowed, and Raindrop tried to distract him, pushing the menu in front of his face. "Want something else, hun?"
Sentinel pushed the menu out of the way, eyes narrowing at Firebrand. "What aren't you telling me?"
Firebrand stammered, completely caught off guard. "W-what? What a-aren't I telling y-you?" she asked so fakely that not even a filly would beleive it. "I... nothing! Remedy is a perfectly normal... earth... pony..." Firebrand struggled to get the words out, biting them off unnaturally.
Obviously, Sentinel didn't believe her. It took him all of four seconds to put two and two together.
"...Remedy is a changeling..." the guard murmured, staring at Firebrand. "She is, isn't she?!"
Firebrand shuddered, biting her tongue hard and chewing on it. "N-no... she's a... a... normal pony.... gotta-go-bye!"
Without waiting for a response, Firebrand bounded away and then threw herself into the air, wings spreading to catch the air.
Raindrop silently banged her forehead with the menu.
"You knew?" Sentinel asked quietly.
Raindrop sighed faintly and then nodded. "Aye, I knew."
"And you didn't tell me that Remedy was a changeling?!" Sentinel almost snarled.
Raindrop frowned deeply, trying to shush her coltfriend. "C'mon hun. This isn't a conversation to have in public," she said, seeing the looks they were attracting.
"You didn't tell me!" Sentinel growled, incensed.
"Of course I didn't tell you!" Raindrop hissed, keeping her voice just above a low whisper. "Because you'd probably try to kill her!"
Sentinel gave a mutinous growl at that, turning his head and crossing his forehooves, his lips a thin line.
Raindrop sighed and shut the menu, pushing it off the table completely. "Well, this isn't awkward."
"Bloody. Changeling." Sentinel growled under his voice, shaking his head angrily.
Raindrop rose to her hooves, and then grabbed Sentinel by his mane, ignoring his protests. "C'mon, you. We're gonna pay for dinner and discuss this somewhere private. Somewhere with lots of alcohol."
Sentinel paced back and forth, growling in the back of his throat, his wings stiffened and flapping intermittently with his steps. He held a bottle of alcohol in one hoof, and occasionally took deep swallows of it.
Raindrop sighed softly, holding her own bottle against her forehead, letting the cool glass sooth a building headache. "You're going to wear out the floor, hun."
The rest of the patrons of the bar were giving the angry pegasus a wide berth, and the music from the jukebox was drowning out enough noise for Raindrop to be pretty sure they wouldn't be heard.
"She's a bloody changeling!" Sentinel hissed, having regained enough sense to keep his voice at a low growl, so that the rest of the bar wouldn't be privy to their conversation.
"And?" Raindrop asked, raising a brow slowly.
"Changeling," the guard reiterated in a growl.
Raindrop rolled her eyes, and then sighed faintly. "You're going to growl and hiss and snap and then wait a few days before finally coming to terms with the situation and forgiving her for being born like she is, right?"
"Something like that," Sentinel growled distractedly, taking another deep swig of his drink. "She could have told us!"
"She told me," Raindrop pointed out, a single ear perking.
"She could have told us both!" Sentinel responded with a snarl.
Sighing faintly, Raindrop shook her head again. "No she couldn't have. Because this would have happened."
"I need to use the toilet," Sentinel spat, stalking away towards the other side of the bar.
Raindrop heaved another sigh and then laid her chin on the counter, staring at her half-empty bottle of beer with a sad expression.
It was a full ten minutes before Raindrop started to get suspicious that Sentinel wasn't coming back. A quick bribe of a free drink to a passing unicorn gave her the news that the toilet was empty and the window was open.
Sentinel was gone.
Sentinel stood in the personal records room of the Canterlot Palace. Records for every employee of Equestria stood in filing cabinets on the walls. The place was deserted at this hour of night.
A single filing cabinet was opened, marked 'hospital staff'. A manilla folder bearing the name 'Remedy Nightshade' stood open on the desk. Remedy's personal information was written down there in neat lettering.
Name: Remedy Nightshade Occupation: Nurse Age: Unknown Marital status: Single Address: 25 Numoiu Lane, Ponyville Next of Kin: None
Note: Immigrant. Orphan. Medical knowledge, though with no prior certifications in any field.
It was very little information, and none of it surprised Sentinel. Her orphan status and unknown age were to be expected as she was a changeling. The immigrant status was a nice touch, any questions could be allayed by 'I don't remember' and there would be no records of her anywhere for cross-referencing.
But Sentinel had what he needed. Her address.
25 Numoiu Lane was a modest little house with wilting flowers in the garden, overgrown grass, a picket fence in disrepair, and the faint light of candles flickering in one of the windows.
Sentinel calmly leaped over the picket fence, and then stalked up to the window, peeking in it with narrowed eyes.
Remedy was sitting in the middle of the lounge room floor, looking rather unimpressed with life in general. An overturned wine glass was sitting besides her, with a small stain showing where she had spilled it. The nurse was drinking straight from the wine bottle, holding it up to her mouth with a hoof and then thudding it back down onto the floor. The bottle still had a fair amount left in it, but the nurse was quickly make inroads.
Changeling, Sentinel reminded himself, his eyes narrowing slowly as he stared at her.
She looked just like a normal pony, dealing with the date-gone-wrong. Sentinel stared at her, his hoof slowly kneading at the ground, grinding at the dirt, leaving a gouge in the overgrown grass.
He tried to think of what he would say when he walked in there. Would he open the door? Or would it be more impressive to just kick it the hell down?
Would he accuse her of being a liar? Or even make snide comments until she realised that he knew what she was?
The pegasus growled in the back of his throat, his wings flexing in anticipation as he stalked towards the front door. Trying the door handle, he found it unlocked. The door pushed inwards silently, everything she'd told them over the past few weeks. Every single thing. It was all a lie. What would Celestia say, finding out that the Element of Kindness was a changeling?
Sentinel stepped inside, letting the door close behind him, carefully twisting the handle so that it closed completely quietly. Growling ever-so-softly, he then started to stalk towards the living room, poking his head around the corner.
Now that he was closer, he could see that Remedy was crying quietly as she took great gulps of the wine, her cheeks slightly rosy with her tipsiness. Twin shining trails of tears spilled down her cheeks, and her eyes were red. She wasn't sobbing, but the tears were fresh.
Sentinel stared at the changeling, his eyes narrowed and his tail twitched slightly back and forth. His wings were half-erect, ready to pounce out from the shadows and lay down his accusation.
"What do you want?" Remedy spat, turning her gaze towards the doorway, her expression unhappy. "Come to laugh at me as well?"
The guard blinked at that, deflating instantly at being found out so easily. His ears splayed backwards as he meekly stepped out of the doorway and then stared at the nurse. "Why would I laugh at you?" he asked blankly.
The nurse snorted at that, looking away, seeming to realise something. "I... it's nothing."
Sentinel realised then, that Remedy had remembered that he didn't know she was a changeling. Or so she thought. "Firebrand was... she knew that the movie would insult me. That I wouldn't like it. But she still took me there. She just wanted to make fun of me. I thought she liked me... but she was just being mean in a stupid, petty, underhoof way... she knew that movie would insult me!"
Because you're a changeling! Every fibre in Sentinel's being told him to yell the words at the nurse. It was the perfect opening.
Rather than shout the accusation though, Sentinel found himself quietly say: "Firebrand lied for you."
Remedy blinked at that, sniffling once and placing down the wine bottle. "W-what?"
"She lied," Sentinel stated matter-of-factly. "I caught her in the lie."
"B-but... Firebrand doesn't lie..." Remedy stated quietly, her ears splaying back.
"Firebrand seems... very clumsy with the whole dating thing," Sentinel said with a wry smile.
Remedy didn't respond, sighing faintly and then taking an even larger swig from the wine bottle. "Screwing everything up..."
Sentinel gave an awkward sound at that, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.
"So... you're telling me that she liked me enough to lie for me and I went and threw my drink in her face and ruined her gorgeous dress for absolutely no reason? She probably hates me now..." the changeling trailed off, staring down at her hooves and giving a faint whine, tears building in her eyes again.
The guard winced slightly, cringing, before he awkwardly stepped closer to the nurse and wrapped his hooves around her in a soothing hug, beginning to gently rub his hoof through her mane. "I'm sure you'll be able to talk it out," he said reassuringly. "If she likes you enough to lie, then she'll understand, right?"
Remedy splayed her ears backwards, leaning into the hug slightly and staring down at her hooves. Sentinel was struck by how different she accepted hugs to Raindrop. Raindrop sort of clung to him, Remedy just sort of... leaned.
"I... I guess you're right," Remedy murmured, rubbing her hoof against her nose and then wiping her tears from her muzzle. "Gotta stop being so emotional..."
Sentinel nodded gently, pulling back and then peering at the nurse for a long moment.
"What did you come here for anyhow?" Remedy asked after a moment, looking up at him with red eyes.
"I... it doesn't matter," Sentinel said with a shake of his head, giving a wry smile and then rising to his hooves to leave. "I might tell you some other time."
The nurse snorted once at that, sniffling again and rubbing at her nose, and then calling out to Sentinel before he could leave, "I... thank you, Sentinel."
Sentinel paused in the doorway, looking back at the nurse, before he slipped out the door into the darkness.
Raindrop rolled over to the face the door as Sentinel quietly slunk in.
A single arched brow came from the female, and Sentinel sighed faintly, his ears drooping. "Was kinda hoping you'd be asleep," he admitted with a shake of his head.
"You have some explaining to do," Raindrop stated, glowering at him. "Especially after climbing out a bathroom window to get away from me."
"Evasion tactics. They taught it to us in the guard," Sentinel said proudly, a hoof at his chest, striking a pose.
"They also taught you how to smoothly change the subject?" Raindrop inquired flatly.
Sentinel deflated. "I missed that lesson."
"So, what did you do?" Raindrop asked simply.
"I... I confronted her," Sentinel said guardedly, his ears pinning back. "Went to her home and everything."
"And?"
"And... and... I wimped out," Sentinel admitted, lowering his head, his wings drooping.
"Big bag Mr Guard," Raindrop taunted with a giggle.
Sentinel huffed at that, pointing a hoof in retort. "What was I supposed to do?! She was crying!"
"Yes, because leaking liquid from one's eyes is the ultimate defensive tactic," Raindrop replied, rolling her eyes.
"She was crying!" Sentinel repeated, pursing his lips. "How am I supposed to deal with that?"
"And if you confronted her?" Raindrop asked simply.
"I.. Well I sure wouldn't want her to cry," Sentinel stated, chewing his upper lip uncertainly. "I mean, if she took a swing at me and that, I'm trained to deal with that. But a crying mare is just..."
"Crying changeling," Raindrop reminded.
"Changeling," Sentinel agreed, sighing faintly and stepping over closer to the bed, pulling himself up onto it and splaying out besides the other pegasus.
"So? Did you just leave?" Raindrop queried, rolling into her stallion's form, nosing her way in under one of his wings.
Sentinel shook his head. "She heard me coming with that freaky mare hearing."
"And? You wimped out?" Raindrop asked, preening at the underside of his wing idly.
"I kinda... hugged her and told her that Firebrand lied for her and then left," Sentinel said, ears lowering again.
Raindrop laughed at that, shaking her head. "And there you were all ready to go and snarl at her, and you ended up trying to help her relationship."
"I didn't look at it like that," Sentinel said, averting his gaze, staring at the wall, resting his head on his hooves.
"Oh?" Raindrop asked curiously, gnawing playfully at one of his wing-joints. "And how exactly did you look at it?"
Sentinel twitched his wing on reflex, peering back at his mare. "I... Well. When she spoke to me like that, all hurt and offended for no reason... I didn't see her as a changeling. I just saw her as... a hurt pony."
Raindrop giggled faintly. "Who knew you had a heart?"
"I couldn't go and confront her when she was already hurting from that..." Sentinel trailed off, sighing and shaking his head. "So go and call me a mare or whatever."
Raindrop snorted once, pushing her way up his form and then pulling him around to face her, laying a warm kiss against his lips. "That was very sweet of you. You might be a total mare but you're my total mare," she stated with a grin, licking his nose once.
Sentinel huffed and wrapped a hoof around Raindrop, holding her close. "I think you're the only pony I've ever met who can insult me and still make it sound like a compliment."
"Practise," Raindrop said with a grin, kissing him again.
Wisp hummed happily as she bounced down the street, a bag of coins jingling at her neck: a stipend from Celestia seeing as the young griffon was now in the employ of the state. It was a modest amount, but it was enough for her to get whatever she wanted. And now that it was morning and the shops were open, Wisp wanted a cake.
The young griffon came to a stop in front of Sugarcube Corner, and then pushed her way through the front door and made her way over to the front counter. She had to stand on her hindlegs to get her eyes above the level of the counter. She dropped the bag of coins on the counter, and then exclaimed, "I want a cake! A big one!"
The pegasus working behind the counter turned and beamed, bouncing slightly in place. "What kinda cake do ya want?!"
"Big!" Wisp repeated, waving a paw for emphasis.
"Chocolate? Walnut? Banana? Vanilla? Raisin?" The blonde pegasus ticked off various flavours.
"Uhm... uhm... I dunno!" Wisp whined, her ears lowering.
Grinning, the pegasus waved a hoof. "I've got just the thing!
The pegasus disappeared under the counter for a moment, all that was visible of her being the purple balloons on her white flank and the blonde tail, before she came up with a special cake tin with six different spaces inside it, like a pie-shape cut-out. "I'll make ya a cake with all the flavours!"
"Deal!" Wisp squeaked, slapping the counter with a paw.
The shopkeeper nodded and smiled happily, pulling out the cake batter and beginning to mix it all up into the different flavours.
"I'll be back to pick up the cake later!" Wisp squeaked, as she bounced towards the door.
The pegasus nodded and waved a hoof in between pouring flour into the mixing bowl.
The griffon stepped outside, and then immediately started down the road towards the private hospital. It was time to find the bearer of the Element of Generosity and convince him to help them.
Firebrand was back at work, putting the new recruits through their paces. Around and around the training grounds they went, flying through loops in a specific order. Firebrand was there in the iconic Wonderbolt flight suit and goggles, her fiery mane and tail making her stand out in the crowd.
Her second-in-command, Velocity, flew through the air besides the recruits, ordering them 'faster!' and 'harder!' while making sure that nopony fell behind or couldn't keep pace. They'd already culled two dozen or more ponies from the recruits, and the hoofful that were left were the best that was on offer for that month.
Firebrand's keen eye picked out one pony that was having trouble, his wings faltering every now and again.
Immediately, the Wonderbolt Captain gracefully flitted over to the group of panting, sweating candidates, sliding in amongst their ranks.
"Oi, rookie!" Firebrand called, sliding in besides the labouring pony. "Give it up, you're not strong enough."
The pegasus tried to pant a reply, his words catching in his throat and his wingbeats faltering.
Easily keeping pace with the struggling pony, Firebrand raised a brow, pushing her goggles up so she could look him in the eye. "C'mon, you honestly expect to be one of us?! You're weak!"
The pony grit his teeth, a low growl building in his throat. With a sudden surge of energy, he was at the front of the pack, his brows furrowed in concentration.
Firebrand watched the pegasus powering ahead and smiled.
Firebrand stretched slightly, curling around to tug down the zipper of her flight suit, wiggling slightly with glee as her sweaty fur was greeted by a cool gust of air. Leaning up against one of the lockers of the Locker Room, hanging her goggles over one of the locker doors and starting to undress as she headed for the showers.
"U-uhm, Firebrand?" a timid voice asked.
Firebrand looked around, half-in, half-out of her flight suit, expecting to see one of the rookies or perhaps even a fan looking for an autograph. Instead, she was quite surprised to find Remedy sitting in the corner, looking mildly nervous. A pair of wings graced her otherwise normal form, a rather jarring addition to her familiar look.
"Uh... hi," Remedy said lamely.
"Well hi," Firebrand said coolly, slipping off her flight suit completely and kicking it aside, striding into the showers and flicking them on. Steam immediately began to fill the locker room.
Remedy minced over to the doorway, peering around it nervously. "I just... uhm... wanted to talk."
"Then talk," Firebrand said, from somewhere in the shower room, hidden by the steam.
Remedy cautiously stepped into the steamy shower room, closing the door behind herself, speaking over the sound of water hitting tiles. "I wanted to apologize."
"Oh?" Firebrand asked, appearing through the steam in front of her, a brow raised.
"Yes," Remedy admitted, splaying her ears back. "I... may have acted a tad too hastily."
"Just a little bit?" Firebrand asked, pointing at her own face.
Remedy blinked, and then leaned a little bit closer, her eyes widening as she saw a faint line in Firebrand's white fur. A wine stain.
"O-oh wow... I didn't think it would stain your fur... I'm sorry!" Remedy whined, pinning her ears back.
"You owe me," Firebrand stated, her eyes narrowing.
"I... guess I do," Remedy replied meekly.
"Change."
"W-what?"
"Change." Firebrand repeated, waving a hoof calmly. "We're alone. No one else will see. Change. I want to see what you really look like."
Remedy gave a soft sigh, and then nodded once. She took a step back, and then closed her eyes, seeming to wince slightly. There was a flash of green light, and when it faded, it revealed a changeling standing in Remedy's place.
She was a standard changeling, though a little smaller than Firebrand, with black chitin covering her entire form. Remedy licked between her two large canines nervously, peering up at Firebrand and shifting her weight nervously from hoof to hoof.
Firebrand walked a slow circle around the changeling, looking her up and down appriasingly. "You'll do," she said finally.
Remedy blinked once. "...what?"
Firebrand smiled and then hugged Remedy.
Remedy squirmed in place uncomfortably for a few moments, before relaxing into the hug, not quite used to being touched in any way in her natural form.
"Apology accepted," Firebrand said with a nod and a smile, waving a hoof. "Now get the hell out of my locker room, I have a scary last-day-of-trials speech to prepare for!"
Wisp pulled herself up onto the examination table, stretching out, reaching with her forepaws and arching her back a little bit, delicately unfolding her wings. Without her coat on, it was quite visible just how badly mangled her wing was. The leading edge of her right wing was broken in at least two separate places, quite badly, and the bones had already healed. The wing itself wouldn't extend past the half-way point.
Doctor Heilung Klinge stood beside the examination table, a clipboard in hoof, humming thoughtfully down at the information there.
"Wisp, is it? You have no other given names?"
Wisp nodded. "That's the name my uncle gave me, because I'm so small!"
"And you have lived with zis condition all your life?" the doctor asked.
Again, Wisp nodded. "As long as I can remember."
"Does it cause you intermittent pain at all? When you try to move ze wing, or use it?"
The diminutive griffin splayed her ears at that. "I've kinda gotten used to never using it, to be honest."
"The muscles have atrophied from lack of use, and ze bones are set in place, it would be most difficult to set them right again, and inv-" Wisp cut him off.
"-Hey hey, Doctor. You know all about me, time for me to know about you! I'm not gonna let you know all this personal stuff without getting to you know first!"
The doctor gave a soft sigh at that, shaking his head slowly. "Very well. Vat is that you wish to know?"
"What's your name, for a start!" Wisp said with an earnest nod.
"My name is right on my tag," the doctor said, pointing at his chest with a hoof, raising a brow quizzically.
Wisp looked away, her ears splaying. "I... well, I can't really actually read."
"Ahhh, very well. I am Doctor Heilung Klinge," the doctor said, lifting a hoof to touch at his own chest.
"What does that mean?" Wisp asked, blinking once and peering up at the unicorn.
Klinge paused, pursing his lips. "Do you really vant to know?"
"I wouldn't ask if I didn't!" Wisp said with a happy grin.
"It means 'healing blade', in pony language," the doctor replied grimly.
"Healing... blade?" Wisp asked, bewildered. "But, blades don't heal!"
"It is a contradictory name designed to reflect my own contradictory nature," Klinge responded calmly, gently taking Wisp's wingtip in a hoof and tugging at it slowly, beginning to extend it.
Wisp gritted her beak, but didn't complain, squirming slightly in place as the stiffness and pain that began to make itself known, her tail giving an irritated flick.
After a few moments of stretching, Klinge had her wing extended as far as he was comfortable with, and quite further than Wisp was comfortable with, the griffon panting slightly, her ears pinned back and her free wing quivering in sympathetic irritation.
"You have had this injury as long as you remember, yes?" Klinge asked, to make certain.
Wisp nodded mutely.
"Very well," Klinge responded, starting to take measurements of the lengths and angles of her wing, measuring the bones and how far she could extend them. Once he was done with this, he released her wing, allowing the griffon to close it back against her side with a sigh of relief.
Klinge moved around to her other side, tugging her good wing out to examine it, and Wisp took several deep breaths before pressing him for more information.
"So... why do they call you 'healing blade'?" she queried, peering at the doctor. "Do you stab people?"
"Once," Klinge said, quite bluntly. "Vell... it was more slashing than stabbing, and it was several different ponies, but it was only the one 'incident'."
Wisp worked her beak in distaste. "Why did you slash ponies? You're not gonna slash me are you?"
Klinge laughed at that, shaking his head. "No, little griffon. I am not going to harm you. I may have cause to put you in significant pain in coming days, but I will not harm you."
Wisp bit the tip of her tongue at that, her ears splaying. "That doesn't sound very nice either way. But... why did you slash them?"
Klinge paused at that, biting his bottom lip and then sighing softly. "You must understand, my country is... different to Equestria. It is very much more strife-stricken than this land of peace. There were some very bad ponies who broke into my practise there, and wanted to steal morphine. Morphine that I vould use to treat patients, to keep ponies alive. I had foals there that needed that morphine. Ze guards were nowhere to be found, and so," Klinge paused then, frowning slightly as he looked down at her wing, his gaze hardening. "I took ze scalpel from ze cupboard. The same scalpel I use to save lives, and I used it to end them."
Wisp frowned deeply at that, her ears pinned back, one of her forepaws lifting to gently stroke against Klinge's shoulder soothingly. "I'm sorry you had to do that."
Klinge shrugged inwardly. "It vas necessary, and I do not lose sleep over it."
The small griffon blinked at that, frowning, her ears pinning back. "But... but... they were ponies. You shoulda had nightmares at least!"
The last was said with such confidence that Klinge leaned in and stared at her. "You haff taken the life of a pony before?"
Wisp splayedher ears again, looking away, before shaking her head. "No... I never killd anypony. Well, any pony."
Klinge furrowed his brow at that. "A griffon then?"
Wisp nodded slowly.
"And vhy did you do zis?" Klinge asked, peering down at the griffon curiously.
Wisp went quiet for a moment, and splayed her ears back. "My... uncle. He took me in when my parents abandoned me... but... he was a very bad griffon. He beat me and made me work on his old airship for hours and hours without food or water. And every time I got it wrong, he would pluck some of my feathers or grab at my wing, or tie my tail in a really really tight knot and squeeze it until it hurt..."
"Zis vas not a nice griffon," Klinge agreed, frowning deeply.
"And he was always drunk. So I made him chase me. I can't fly, so he... he knew I couldn't get away. I pretended to be all winded and slowed down, so he followed after me over the sand..."
Klinge nodded, to show that he was listening. "And?"
"Well, I led him across some really nasty sand. He was drunk, so he didn't see the darkclaw hole..." Wisp trailed off meaningfully.
Klinge gave a single blink, not understanding.
"Darkclaws are desert-dwelling beasts. They're kinda mean and nasty, like big grasshoppers that live in the ground. And when something falls in their hole, they jump up and-" Wisp made a terrible crunching noise. "And even though I heard him screaming and yelling for help... I just walked away..."
Klinge gave a nod at that, frowning slightly. "I... understand. Maybe ponies from here vould not. But ze have not such a turbulent life, yes?"
Wisp nodded slowly, but then perked up. "So! Now that we know eachother so much, why won't you give us any time?"
Klinge raised a brow, turning back to her good wing, inspecting it closely. "Time?"
"You wouldn't even come out of here for the princess!" Wisp said with a soft huff.
Klinge nodded. "Certainly. I am a very busy pony."
"But... why? Do you really need to earn so much money? You're supposed to be the element of generosity!" Wisp declared, waving a forepaw.
Klinge frowned at that. "Zis... vas all a front to ask me about this, yes?"
"Seemed to be the only way to get you to give me some time!" Wisp said, batting her eyelashes at him.
A soft sigh left the doctor, and he shook his head. "Very well. You had a hard life, yes?"
"I... guess so? but I've only had one! So I don't have anything to compare it to," Wisp said with an earnest nod.
Klinge nodded at that. "But it had hardship, yes? You vould have given much to not be in hardship? You vould wish not to be in hardship, yes?"
Wiosp frowned at that, pondering. "I guess so?"
"And zat is vhy I have no time," Klinge stated with a wave of a hoof, turning back to her wing calmly. "There is much hardship I must change."
"But there are other doctors!" Wisp protested, huffing.
"I am not just healing hardship with my talents, but with my coins as vell. How can I in good conscience, rest on my laurels while I could be using my time to work and earn coins and heal hardship? Every pony I see gives me coins, I can then dispense these coins and ease the burden of anothers pain."
Wisp stared at the doctor, her ears pinned back. "You can't be serious?"
"I am very serious," Klinge stated, writing something down on his clipboard and then releasing her good wing. He gently draped her coat back over her wings, and then cinched down the straps that held it on. "Your eye, zare is nothing wrong with it?"
Wisp shook her head, blinking. Her eyepatch had become such a part of her that she barely even noticed it any more. "Nono, it's a... well, a fashion statement!"
Klinge nodded, ushering the griffon off the table. "I vill converse with my nurses tomorrow. Come back tomorrow afternoon, and we'll see about fixing your wing."
Wisp stared up at him with one wide eye, her tail giving a slow, errant flick. "You can heal it?!"
"Perhaps," Klinge said with a soft smile. "And in between ze screams, you can try to convince me to part with more of my time, yes?"
Wisp frowned at that, feeling like she was being seen right through, and nodded slowly. "That's my plan, then!"
Klinge gave a wry smile, waving a hoof at the griffon. "Now shoo! I haff more patients to see!"