Magic Mishaps

“So you found them near a dead manticore, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Interesting. Well, one of them was severely injured by the creature, judging by the cuts and bruises. Several fractures, broken bones, the works. It’s a miracle he survived.”

“What about the other one?”

“Yes, the unicorn… He was not injured in the same way as the pegasus. He was suffering from fatigue, and massive magical exhaustion. He had little to no injuries, but that alone could have killed him, especially on this scale. If he had been injured at all, he would have died.”

“Well, that was a close one.”

“Yes… And…”

“What is it, miss?”

“I was wondering how exactly you came upon these two. You don’t seem to be the type that spends a lot of time in that forest. If memory serves correctly, you are terrified of timberwolves. Why were you in the forest, miss Applejack?”

“Mah dog found ‘em. We adopted her from those there woods, and she loves to just disappear in them from time to time. Sometimes for a day or two. They must’ve found her, and let her get help when the manticore showed up. She came to me, and led me there.”

“Well. Thank you, miss Applejack.”

“You’re welcome, but ah just have a few questions to ask them.”

“Well, they owe you their lives. I’ll tell them both when they wake up, but don’t pressure the answers out of them. Let them tell you. I will however, tell you when they get out. They will no doubt want to meet you.”

“Thank you, Doctor Redheart.”

“Your welcome.”

---Thisisaline---

Trondason woke up with one of the worst headaches he had ever had in his life.

Good thing for him, he was in a pretty damn comfortable bed. He was in a room, probably a hospital given the smell, and he had a pretty vague idea as to how he got here. A memory of a dog flashed before him, and  memory of her beside him before he blanked out occurred moments after. “Winona… So you did come back.” He muttered before a small smile came across his face.

Trondason looked at the surroundings, and noticed the room looked pretty much the same as he had pictured  it to be. It was a large, rectangular room with a curtain splitting it down the room. There weren't many things in the room, aside from the heartbeat monitor, the one dresser under the window, and the one flower-filled vase on top of that one dresser.

He didn’t really feel like moving to call a nurse or something, but he didn’t really have to. Like the best room-service ever, two nurses rushed in to check up on him. They didn't really seem to notice that he was awake, as they just checked up on the machinery and equipment around him, and replaced the empty bag sticking into his arm with another one filled with a clear fluid.

They were about to leave before Trondason uttered a noticeable “Ahem.” Both nurses paused between him and the door, and quickly turned around and faced him. One was a mare, and the other was a young stallion. They both had reverse colors, like the spa twins; Aloe and Lotus Blossom, and they both even had similar mane styles. The mare had yellow fur and a light blue mane, while the stallion was reversed. They both had blue eyes, and were both earth ponies. “Oh, I didn't realize you were awake, sir.” The stallion said, while the mare closed her eyes and nodded silently.

“It’s alright, but I would like to know, how long was I out?” Both nurses shuffled uncomfortably, and it was obvious that they didn’t know. Given the shuffling, it became apparent to Trondason that they didn’t like being useless. That also could’ve been the reason they became nurses.

“I take it that neither of you know?” Trondason asked, but it wasn't really a question. Both nurses nodded. “Oh… Do you know where my friend it- let me rephrase that…” Trondason took a small breath. “I’m thinking that around the time I arrived here, there was another man-er-stallion here as well. He’s a grey pegasus, and has had plenty of manticore slashes. Have you seen him?”

Both nurses looked to each other for a moment, nodded silently, and looked back up towards Trondason. The mare spoke “Um, yeah. I saw him, but he was in pretty bad shape.” She spoke almost as softly as Fluttershy did. “Wait… Are you the other one that came from the attack?” Trondason nodded silently, hoping that she would say something about Black-light. He could feel the questions that were coming next, though.

And the girly squeal that came with them.

“What? Tell me what happened! How did you survive a manticore attack?!” She went on for a minute, asking a variety of questions that both did, and did not have anything to do with the manticore attack. Trondason caught a sympathetic look from the mare’s counterpart.

“Sister, please, allow him some time to answer, won't ya?” The stallion muttered under his breath. The sister heard him, and stopped, allowing Trondason to answer.

“Well…” He paused, searching for the correct words to use. He definitely couldn’t say that he woke up in the woods as a unicorn, and the stallion in another room did the same. “Me and my… Brother were walking through the forest with Applejack’s dog,”

“Applejack? Like the element of honesty?” The mare asked. Trondason nodded, and continued his story. The brother gave him a skeptical look when he said that Black-light was his brother, but that look turned faded after he heard about Applejack’s dog.

“Yes, the one and the same. As I was saying, we were walking through the woods, Winona, the dog, was leading us back to town. We stopped next to a road, and she just started barking. We didn’t realize we were being hunted until I saw rustles in the bushes. I grabbed Winona and hid, but my brother was frozen, and he looked to be hurt. I was about to help him, but the manticore had already pounced on him…” Trondason trailed off, and he purposely left out that strange sight he used. It would be best not to talk about that.

“I’m sorry… If it’s too much for you-” The mare tried to sympathising with him. “If anything like that had happened to my brother, then I’m not sure if I would be able to talk about it either.”

“Yeah, I really don’t want to talk about it, but I will say this; we both put up a fight. We wouldn’t be an easy target for that big beast, not now or ever!” He sighed. “But could you please tell me anything about my brother’s condition? Anything at all would help.” Both the twins (at least Trondason guessed they were twins), looked at each other, seemingly to have a psychic argument. Trondason thought they were kind of cute, given the way they act.

“Well, all we do know something…” The mare fidgeted, and looked at the ground. “But we don’t know much. Um, he hasn’t woken up at all, but most of his wounds have been sewn up. The doctors think he could pull through, but they don’t exactly have the best supplies. These things don’t exactly happen much…” Yep, she’s a shy one. Her male counterpart also looked towards the ground, and it became evident to Trondason that the mare was lying, or at least not saying the complete truth.

Trondason hoped to whatever deity existed that he wasn’t dead.

“Well then,” Trondason said while lifting himself from the bed. His limbs were shaky, but he was asleep for a whole week, so he’s good. “I need to leave this hospital as soon as possible. Do you have any books? A nearby library, perhaps?” Trondason knew this town, or at least has a general idea as to the outline, but it was advisable to keep that information from everyone. “If my ‘brother’ was awake, and he saw me doing nothing, he would kill me.” Trondason chuckled. ‘Can I just pay and leave? I have stuff to do.”

Trondason didn’t want to stay in this place longer than he had to. He was feeling fine, and would gladly pay to just get out of here and be on his way. He wouldn’t skip town until Black-light was able bodied, though.All he needed was either his or Black-light’s bag so he can grab the bits.

The nurses didn’t really like that he had wanted to leave so soon after gaining consciousness. That much was obvious. They murmured and opened their mouths to say otherwise, but they stopped themselves. The nurses obviously knew what knocked him out, being nurses, but Trondason wasn’t sure what it was, but a fair guess would have been over using his magical energy.

“Um, yes… Sweet Heart, go get this stallion’s papers. I’ll get Dr. Redheart.” The mare, now identified as Sweet Heart, nodded and walked out the door. “Okay, sir. I’ll get the doctor, but if you need anything in the future, my name is Dust.” He reached his hoof out to Trondason, who touched it with his (he didn’t know where the stallion was going with this, so he just dove in and hoped this would be a handshake), and shook it.

“My name’s… Midnight Scroll.” Trondason said. He knew the name would be fitting on a pony, but he felt like Black-light would get confused by this, and call him Trondason anyway, but he’ll cross that bridge when he gets to that.

“Oh, your cutie mark likes a scroll made out of a night sky, so that makes sense.” Dust said. Trondason looked at it, and saw whet Dust was talking about. Right there, on his right flank, there was a scroll that looked to be made out of a night sky. He never looked at that, as becoming a pony was a new experience, and he wasn’t paying attention. He also didn’t know how he just came up with a name that perfectly matched his cutie-mark, but he was pleased about it.

“I thought you were going to get a doctor to check up on me or something.” Trondason remembered out loud. Dust noticeably shrugged the question off. “Nah, she was just going to give you a physical and tell you to go somewhere, and I can do both of those. Are you feeling ready for one?” Trondason nodded, slowly.

Dust got a few supplies out from a nearby drawer, and laced them down on the small table next to the bed. “First,” he picked up a popsickle stick. “-I check your throat, say ‘Ah’.” Trondason opened his mouth, and accepted the popsicle stick. After a few moments of checking inside Trondason’s mouth, he pulled out the stick and wrote something on a paper. After writing, he grabbed a stethoscope, placed the buds in his ear, and placed the cold, sensitive end onto Trondason’s back. He asked Trondason to breathe deep breaths for a moment, then listened to his pulse. After he was done, he returned to the paper. “Alright, now we just need to check your blood pressure.” He grabbed the blood pressure cuff off the desk, strapped the cuff to Trondason’s forehoof, squeezed the pump a few times, looked at the meter, then recorded the results. “Alright, you’re done.” He stopped, and looked at the list for a moment. “Yep, you’ll be fine if you keep your magic use to a minimum. Once Dr. Redheart gets here and tells you where to go, you can grab your belongings and leave.”

As if they spoke of the devil, Doctor Redheart waltzed right on in. She was a pale white earth pony mare with light pink hair and deep blue eyes. On her flanks, Trondason could see the medical cross surrounded by pink hearts. Other than the doctor’s coat she wore,  she’s just like how he remembered her. “I’m so glad you woke up. I trust my nurse has informed you on your accomplice condition?” She cast a small glare at Dust, and he shrunk down and nodded. Trondason guessed she must have had a hard day. “Well then, I will just give you your physical, and-”

“I already gave him one.” Dust stated. She gave a relieved sigh, and continued what she was going to say. “Thank you, Dust. Well, let me just give you your-”  Nurse Sweet Heart walked in through the doors and spoke. “I got your papers, mister!” She exclaimed cheerfully.

“I actually want to know how long I’ve been out, and I also would like to see my brother, if I may.”

Doctor Redheart froze up for a moment. She looked tense, like she had bad news to tell. Trondason hoped the situation wasn’t worse than he was told. “Oh, um… You were unconscious for almost a week, and your brother… Well…  Follow me and I’ll show you.” Trondason quietly obeyed, and followed the doctor through the door. The hallway was fairly empty and white. Aside from the few ponies roaming about, the place seemed pretty empty. the temperature was low, but not terribly low.

She led him past several rooms, and some of them had people suffering from diseases to various wounds. This didn’t make the world seem like the happy-go-lucky thing Trondason was used to it being, but then this actually made more sense. It is the Hospital after all, ponies who are suffering come here to be cured, so as a result they would be concentrated here.

She led him through the long hallway, into a room with sheets covering the windows. “We didn’t want any foals that were wandering to come across this room, so we covered it up.” She opened the doors, and walked inside gesturing for Trondason to follow. “I hope you understand.”

In the room, was a bed. Not much of a bed, but it was more of a slab. There were tons of wires and machines connected to his body, and he was unconscious for the most part. All of his wounds were clean, and sewed back in. He had no blankets or coverings, and he probably had something done to him recently. “How bad is it?” Trondason asked. Doctor Redheart looked at the body, walked to a nearby table, and picked up a clipboard. “Do you want to know of the injuries?” She asked. “I was informed.” Trondason replied.

“Well, he woke up while we strapped him in, screaming in pain. We had to sedate him, and heavily, so we could operate. He was in pretty bad shape, and it was a miracle he survived, thank the stars.” She took a long look at Black-light’s body. “You know, you two don’t really look the same, but this wouldn’t be the first time I saw two siblings of different races, but still… You won’t happen to have identification on you, won’t you?”

Trondason stood still, staring at the doctor. “Hello?” She asked.

He knew it would look suspicious if he just stood there, staring at her, but it was all he could think of at the moment. On one hoof, he could tell the complete truth, and risk being kicked out and not allowed in the hospital until Black-light woke up, but that wouldn’t be the best thing right now. The other hoof, however was to tell the truth, but leave out specific things, and be as vague as possible.

Well that, or lie.

“No, I don’t.” Trondason said, simply. Although it was none of the options, it seemed like the best thing to do at the moment. Doctor Redheart looked at him for a moment, but then spoke. “Well, you can stay with your brother, or you could leave, and visit tomorrow. You would have to leave if somepony comes in here anyway, so it’s your choice.”

“As much as I feel I should be here, there is nothing I could do. I would just be wasting time twiddling my hooves. I will come back tomorrow though, and everyday till he’s better.” He answered. Redheart seemed pleased with his answer, and waved him to follow as she walked back through the doors. “Come with me.” She said, as she led him through the hallways of the hospital. He wasn’t surprised to not see elevators, but he was surprised when he saw that the stairs have no ramps of any kind.

After walking down several flights of stairs, the two exited double doors, into the main lobby. The room was as white as the rest of the hospital he had seen, but there were tons of windows letting in tons of light. In fact, one wall seemed to be made out of glass. He hoped it was thick glass.

The doctor led him to the large receptionist's desk where the receptionist, a white mare with a cream mane, handed him some paperwork. “Sweet Heart told me to give this to a dark grey unicorn stallion. Are you checking out?” Trondason, or Midnight now, nodded. “Well here ya go.” She handed him the paperwork, and he spent the next couple of minutes filling it out.

He came across a few typos, and even a few weird questions. He left those blank, and just blazed through the rest of the questions. He remembered hearing about how stupid his school district was from Black-light, and how terrible the tests are. Now, he could clearly see what he was talking about. Still, some of these only needed being reread twice, so he just let them slide.

The question that tripped him the most was when he came across the ‘family name’ portion. ‘What the hell do I name Black-light?’