Davis awoke to the sound of thunder and the patter of rain, sitting up with a massive gasp, panting in panic as he remembered the strange events of the dream he'd been in. The room was dark, and the bed was far softer than the one in his cabin. Had he been rescued after all?

He shook his head, his head feeling strange as he does so, his ears feeling like they flapped around with his shake, and that only further confused him. Thinking he must have hit his head pretty hard, he decided it might be better not to do that again. It hadn't been painful, but rattling a hit head probably wasn't the best idea.

He looked at the window, a flash of lightning giving him a short view of the room, but something just below his eyes blocked a part of his vision. Reaching up to check his face, he realized his fingers felt strange, and his arm bent in a very strange fashion. Another flash, and he saw it. Not his hand...but a claw!

He gulped, feeling his mouth and teeth, only to find something hard and sticking out, the strangeness only continuing as his body did its mental checklist of what all was there, and coming up with nothing familiar. He tried to breath slower, not wanting to panic again. A dream, this HAD to be a dream! But...the one constant in his dreams is he never woke up into the dream. He always just...was suddenly there. No waking moment. But this...there was just no way it was real, right?

He eventually got his breathing under control, only to be startled once again as a flash of lightning was followed by a very loud rumble, meaning it had been awful close by. But the shock wasn't what made him nearly panic again, but the feeling of something on his back suddenly spread apart! Trying to look behind himself, his face was met with a bundle of feathers, and he felt them, not just on his face, but he felt his face from the feathers, and...they felt like they were all over his upper torso too!

He did the only thing left to him...and screamed, or...at least he tried to. He felt the air rush from his lungs, his throat strain, but his vocal chords simply did nothing. He knew their feel, knew their control, for all the training he'd did to make his great voice even greater through exercise, just for the sake of making wonderful music with it. But he couldn't even moan or grunt very well now, though he did try rather desperately.

He sniffled, even that simple motion feeling so strange with the new structure of his face. He could feel himself shudder with the onset of tears starting to flow over the feathers. He moved his talons around himself, checking over his body as he tried to make sense of it all. He couldn't even put together the pieces in his mind as to what he was now. Only that he didn't want to move, for fear of feeling something even more strange than all that was already piercing his limit of sanity.

He gulped, trying to stabilize any thought that would keep him from losing himself in the madness. He took more deep breaths, his right talon sliding off his leg, and tapping something metallic. A guard rail! Maybe if he made some noise, someone would come check on him! They could tell him what was going on! Maybe he was only hallucinating what he felt. He'd heard of such things, but wasn't sure. But first, someone to help!

He rapped on the guard rail, the metallic clinking loud as he struck it with his tough talons. Moments later, the door opened onto a dark hallway, a short figure trotting in...yes, trotting. The sound of hooves on tile could not be ignored. He took a shuddering breath, trying his utmost to keep some sort of calm as the figure said something that escaped him for a moment. He tried to speak out, but again, all he got was a puff of air. Something about light?

So said, so happened, as a lamp to his right flickered dimly to life, his visitor gently coming into focus, a white coated equine peering up at him with the cutest eyes he'd ever seen on anything. A lilac mane lay across its neck to the right, and with similar coloration in its eyes staring up at him. A hat with a red cross rested between her attentive ears, as he stared right back.

"I'm assuming you wanted someone's attention with all that bangi...sir?"

He'd jumped when she spoke, his body automatically responding to his desire to get some space between him and the talking equine, though he only managed to crowd himself up against the headboard.

"Sir? What's wrong?"

She looked around as if expecting someone else in the room to have spooked him. But he pointed with a talon at her, confusion written upon his face...then he looked down, and saw that the feathers he'd discovered on himself only went halfway down. The other half of him, his lower half...looked furry, and his feet were no longer feet, but hooves. He gulped, looking back at her, his pleading eyes trying to say 'what AM I?'

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to startle you! Please calm down and lay back in the bed. You've checked out fine so far, but we need to make absolutely certain nothing is wrong. It'd be a miracle if such were true, if what Twilight told us was accurate. Now, first and foremost, I'd like to get your name? I'm Nurse Cloudheart."

She held out a hoof towards Davis, who shakingly held his claws out to her. She bumped it gently with a smile, which faded a little when he didn't speak.

"Sir? Your name?"

He shook his head, and put a talon to his throat, making a huff as he tried to speak, his face sorrowful as he tried to reach her with his lacking voice.

"You can't speak?"

He nodded quickly, coughing for a moment as he'd caught his claws against his throat when he did. His wings flared open when the Nurse hopped her front legs onto the bed, before putting one against his throat, the hoof turned away while her fetlock gently braced against his adams apple.

"Try again for me?"

He tried to say his name, the movements of his beak, for that was no doubt what it had to be, and tongue feeling odd, but somehow right for his name in this new body, but nothing once again. She sighed and frowned, putting the same hoof she'd tested him with against her chin in thought.

"No vibrations at all. We'll have to have that checked by Dr. Syringe, but that won't be until the morning. Meanwhile, you'll be staying here, ok?"

He nodded to her, then after a moment's thought, put his talons in front of him as if he were a child, and acted as if he were lifting something to his face, making drinking motions.

"Hmm? Oh! Some water? I'll get that for you then."

She trot off to a corner of the room that was unlit by the lantern, and after a sound of running water and some clinking, she came back with a glass held in her front right hoof, walking on only three legs with practiced ease, and she set it next to him without spilling a drop. He reached for it...and with some careful motions, managed to pick it up. It seemed fine, but it felt strange as he brought it to his beak, and attempted to tilt it in...only to spill it all over his chest feathers, sputtering as some tried to go down his throat before he was ready.

"Oh dear. There might be a concussion after all if you're having trouble with the glass. Hold on, I'll bring you another and help."

She promptly vanished into the darkness once again, returning with a fresh glass and propping herself up on the bed again, holding the cup out to him.

"In case the damage is to your muscle memory, here, place your lips on the glass, I'll tilt, you drink, ok?"

He nodded once again, and did as she asked, slowly sipping the water down, knowing that gulping it greedily might make him choke.

"That's a good patient. If you need anything else, just tap again. I'll be here all night, after all. Just stay in bed and rest. Nurse Redheart will be here for the day shift."

He sighed at having quenched his thirst, the lack of sound coming with it still concerning him. He looked at the nurse, tilted his head, and tried to at least make the facial motions of saying 'thank you', his body telling him he got it right somehow, but the oddity of it still making him unsure. The bright smile on Nurse Cloudheart's muzzle said it'd made it through.

"It's no problem sweetie. It's what I'm here for. Sleep well.."

She trot out of the room, leaving behind a very confused Davis. He shrugged, his wings flipping out as he did, making him shudder once again at the involuntary reaction of his new appendages. Waiting for them to settle of their own accord, he wriggled his way back down into the sheets of the bed, laying his head back upon the pillow a little higher than earlier.

Sighing to himself and trying to think of what was going on, he decided to see if he could get a look at himself, and sat back up, looking around for a reflection, which he got when he looked out the window thanks to a flash of lightning once again. The reflection gave him all he needed to know.

He looked away quickly, wriggling further down into the bed and looking at the ceiling intently, avoiding the glass at all costs. The steel grey feathers, the wings, the half bird, half equine body that looked like it belonged in a cartoon, no...none of that was what had really made him look away. Not even the large eyes or iron grey feathers and fur he was covered in. No, what had made him look away was what had been in his eyes.

He'd always been proud of his sky blue eyes. His homely appearance had been what had made it easy to stay out of the serious limelight, but his eyes had been the one thing 'pretty' about him. But in that reflection, they were no more.

They were now steel grey, and he looked, at least from the distorted glass, like a creature with a hardened heart. Completely opposite the mark he'd seen on Cloudheart's flank, which had matched her name by being what appeared to be a heart shaped cloud. With tear filled eyes, he tried to sleep.

With a large yawn and a bone cracking stretch, Davis sat up in his bed, blinking the sleep away from his eyes as he looked at the now fairly lit room, thanks to the sunlight streaming through the window. It was sparse, for certain, the only things in the room besides his hospital standard bed and the nightstand, with the lamp which had been turned off sometime during the night, probably thanks to Cloudheart, was a sink with a pair of drinking glasses laying upside down on it, and a door to what he assumed was the bathroom.

Before he could even rap upon the bed rails, the door opened to let in another white equine, this one with pink hair and tail. He saw she too had a mark upon her flank, this one of a familiar looking red cross, though the hearts in the corners of the cross seemed to make it even more meaningful in his eyes. Her nurse's hat had the same hearts upon it, whereas he remembered Cloudheart's having been just the cross.

"Good morning dear. I'm here to check up on you and ask if you've had any aches, pains, or headaches before the doctor comes to finish up and possibly discharge you."

Her professional demeaner was only complimented by the smile on her face and the charm in her voice. He nodded gently in confirmation.

"First, Cloudheart said you couldn't speak? Is this still true?"

He opened his mouth to try and say something, but all he got was the same rush of air leaving his lungs. With a puff of a sigh, he shook his head.

"That's unfortunate, but hopefully when the Doc checks, he'll know what to do. Any pains or headaches?"

He shook his head again.

"That's a good sign at least."

She reached a hoof forward from the bedside, popping a thermometer into his muzzle and held it there, until she was sure the red liquid had stabilized.

"Hmm...99 degrees, so no fever. I'll be back later after your chat with the Doc, and help you get discharged. In the meantime, I brought you something to snack on so that you don't get too hungry."

She lay a small box on his lap, his mind wondering where exactly she'd hid it this whole time, as she trot out of the room. Shrugging, and once again shivering at the strange feeling of his wings, he decided to open the box. Inside were what had to be the most aromatic cookies he'd ever smelled, and the tasted like they smelled...heavenly. He normally didn't care much for oatmeal cookies, but these were an exception to that rule it would seem. He'd just finished the third and last when the door opened once again. This time, the one that entered was covered in black fur with a bright orange mane, and...was that a beard? On a horse? With a mustache?

Davis' eye twitched a couple times, but thankfully, with a deep breath, he simply put it to the side. HE was an equine, bird...thingie at the moment himself...one walking in with a mustache and beard weren't that weird in comparison, as far as he was concerned. Perhaps what he should be more concerned about was the horn on this one's head. It looked dangerous to him, and he didn't care to have it anywhere near him...but if this was the doctor, he'd have to bear with it...like bearing with a doctor that was giving you a shot.

"So, Redheart says you check out fine with everything but your voice. Is this correct?"

Davis nodded, suddenly realizing just how much not being able to talk was starting to bother him. Only so much could be said with body language after all...and he wasn't even in his normal body to begin with.

"Alright. Well, the physical scans have been inspected, and nothing seems to be wrong with your body in any way, shape, or form. Mental scans indicate nothing wrong there either. Finally, the magic scans indicate some residual chaos energy, but that should wear off in a matter of days. If you would allow me to check your throat? I'm making a guess that said energy is fixated there, which would explain your lack of a voice."

Davis had raised an eyebrow at the mention of magic, but...again...here he was, a...hippogryph, yes, that was the proper word for a bird-horse hybrid if he remembered right. He was a hybrid monster from legends. Magic? Sure, of course there had to be magic. No way was someone going to explain THIS situation with science! With a nod, his permission was given to the stallion. His orange horn began to glow, and he felt a strange tingle on his throat, probably the Doc's magic.

"Well I think I just proved my theory. There is indeed a large amount of the chaos energy centered on your vocal chords. I give it nine days and you'll be able to at least whisper. A good seventeen before you have your full voice back. Sadly there's no immediate remedy to chaos energy, but it always goes away over time. Well, my patient, you are free to go from this hospital. If you'll follow me?"

The Doctor indicated the door, and Davis paled. He had yet to set hoof out of the bed, and gulped visibly at the prospect.

"Something the matter sir?"

Davis sighed and nodded, but leaned to roll out of bed, aiming to set his hindhooves down first...only to lose balance and fall flat on his face. He mentally kicked himself. Quadruped creature, four legs, ALL on the ground. Not just his hindhooves.

He gauged himself for a moment, trying to think what to do, and decided to try doing a pushup with his talons, and...felt something take over for a mere moment, and there he stood, on all fours, and he was steady. He recognized the feeling too. Reflexes. Instincts. That natural process that let you do things without much thought, but...where had he gotten reflexes like that? No...he had to stop thinking too much about these things, or he might never move forward.

Forward...yes, that's what he had to do. Move forwards, literally. The door and Doctor were right ahead.

Taking a deep breath and putting a talon in front, he walked through the held door and into the hall...into the claws of turmoil.

Author's Note

Well, that's three chapters in, and so far I feel alright about it. I'll admit I'm a little scared. Both of this being a failure, and also fear of success. I just hope that if y'all like it, that I can keep it up and not fail any of you.

And as before, Comments/Critiques/Suggestions are more than welcome.