A Nightingale's Song

Act 1

Happenstance

For the first decade or so of his life, he had grown up in a small town. The town of Coltsburg.

Pleasant, idyllic, quiet. A characteristic trio that his parents had loved. To the east of Canterlot, near the coast, at the base of the mountains where the princess resided. It was a corner of Equestria that few, besides traders, travelers, and those who wished for a quiet, humble life ventured to.

Fire. Smoke. Burning.

He didn’t remember much of the town—and he would never be able to, anyways. Circumstances had provided the terms that the town of Coltsburg wouldn’t have any more visitors anyways. But, what he did remember, were the rolling greens of the hills, the warm sun, and the cool dew drops of early mornings.

The burning incense of gas, flame, and glue, filling his nostrils.

He did remember the orchard—an apple orchard, where members of the Apple clan lived up to their name, periodically harvesting the apples. He did remember the occasional times at which the resident branch of the Apple family would temporarily depart for some sort of reunion at some town to the west, leaving the orchard in the hooves of a few family friends—including his father, one of their trusted workers.

He wretched, he coughed, but he couldn’t see through the thick haze of burning wood and stone.

His father? He didn’t remember much of his father, besides the fact that the stallion was generally quiet. His father loved him, he knew that much. But sometimes, he felt as if his father was more interested in… refuge? Safety? He wasn’t sure. His mother, too, was the same way. Warmer, yes, than his father, and she loved him, but she would always look to the west—always to the west—on cold nights, as if watching, alert, for some sign of danger.

The masks, in pursuit. The masks, in hate. The masks, their minds sundered by time.

And yet, all of that watching, all of that love, had been for naught, when, on that fate-less day, the ones in masks had come.

Fury and hate.

He awoke, a slight discomfort spreading through his body as he shifted. He felt the warm spread of a blanket atop him. Where was he? A bed? A room?

He attempted, slowly, to open his eyes, only to gasp when a pale light pierced through his eyelids, blinding him. A hiss of pain sputtered out from his mouth, as the pony raised his hooves to his eyes.

After a few moments, he decided that he would attempt, once more, to open his eyes. Slowly, carefully, he spread his eyelids, the light now cool, yet comforting. His vision was blurry, yes, but after a few moments, accompanied by a couple blinks, it cleared.

He was in… a hospital room? A type of room he was somewhat familiar with. He was lying in a white bed, and the room itself was bathed in pale shadows, as a golden light pierced through the shades of a nearby window. He looked down upon his body, to see an array of bandages spread about him. One of his wings was held up by a sling, and gauze covered one of his hooves. A slight beeping noise came from his right, and he daintily turned his head to see a cardiac monitor. Yes, this confirmed he was in a hospital. But where?

With a groan, the pony lifted himself from the bed, his joints and muscles screaming in protest. Ignoring the aches and pains, he stood up, his hooves and legs wobbly under the pressure. He stepped forwards, towards the window, making sure to take careful, quiet steps. He approached the window, raising a shaky hoof to spread the blinds. Peering out between the shades, the stallion took in the sights.

A pleasant town, it seemed. Rolling green hills, thatched roofs adorning the tops of village-style houses and buildings. What looked to be a carousel? A large tree, out of which a violet pony was leaving, accompanied by a small purple and green figure. And, farther to the left, a house made of… candy? Sweets? A curiosity, to be sure.

A sudden noise, loud and clear, behind him—he turned around rather quickly, a gasp of pain escaping his lips as he shifted his neck. The door was opening, to reveal a pale blue mare with a minty green mane. She wore a white cap adorned with a red cross—the universal symbol of aid, and hospitals. As her eyes took in the standing patient, she gasped, before rushing over.

“Sir, sir, you should not be standing up like this!” She grabbed the stallion, leading him back to the bed.” Come, lay down. You’ll hurt yourself, standing up like this—you need to recover first.”

“But—“he attempted to protest, his mouth feeling dry and raspy, but the mare shushed him, forcing him back into the bed.

“No buts! Lay down, and sleep. The next time you wake up, Doctor Horse will be here to talk to you. But, for now, sleep!” She gave the pony in question a commanding look, before turning around to leave.

A frustrated sigh emerged from his mouth, but, nevertheless, he closed his eyes. Maybe some rest was in order—after all, he was still feeling tired and fatigued.

He didn’t know how long it had been since he had first woken up, but he did know one thing. As he opened his eyes, feeling somewhat better, he noticed that the light outside had disappeared. It was likely nighttime, and the sounds of civilization had died down outside the windows. Turning away from the windows, he noticed the nurse from earlier, looking at him.

“Oh, good! You’re awake! I’ll get Doctor Horse here, and he’ll check up on you and see how you’re doing. Just wait one moment.” She turned to leave, leaving through the only door into the room. A few moments later, during which he deigned himself to fiddling with his blanket, the nurse returned, with a tray adorned with cups and another pony in tow—an amber unicorn stallion, with a chocolate-brown mane, a clipboard in his hooves. The nurse set the tray next to the bed, before the stallion spoke.

“Hi there! My name is Doctor Horse.  How are you feeling?”

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say, before responding. “Alright, I guess.” His mouth felt dry, and it was a bit painful to speak. “Sorry, m’mouth is pretty dry.”

“Feel free to take a drink of water. It’s why we brought it, after all.” Doctor Horse watched as his patient took a cup of water from the tray and took a sip, before smiling. “Now, I’m just here to see how you’re doing, and get some medical records on file. Before we start, though, what’s your name?” The doctor hefted his clipboard, his horn glowing with magic as he raised a quill into the air.

“My name is, uh… Nightingale Shade.” A simple matter, to say his name, but at the same time, Nightingale felt vulnerable, freely giving out his name like that.

“Okay, Nightingale. Now, we obviously don’t have you in any of our records, so we might as well go through and ask you a few questions. Is that alright with you?”

Nightingale nodded, his blue eyes gauging the doctor and nurse. “S’alright, but under a few conditions. I might not want to answer a few questions, depending on what they are.”

“That’s quite fine, I assure you. Now, my first question. Where are you from? A pegasus like you might hail from Cloudsdale, but, of course, you could have grown up anywhere.” Doctor Horse asked, his quill at the ready. Nightingale gazed at the doctor for a few moments, hesitating before his answer.

What would he say? There were a few options, but he didn’t know what the right answer would be, in this case. Coltsburg, maybe? That was his hometown, after all. Or perhaps Baltimare, his place of residence for a time during his adolescence.

He did live with one of the many tribes of buffalo, for a time, but that was outside of Equestria, and the buffalo didn’t tend to have named cities. And there were, of course, the other two places he resided in for longer periods of time… neither of which he cared to share about.

“Doc, sorry, but I’d rather not answer that question, if that’s fine with ya.” Nightingale finally responded, noticing the still-waiting doctor.

Doctor Horse nodded, his quill scribbling across the board. “That’s quite alright. Now, onto our next question…”

Inwardly, Nightingale Shade groaned, before listening to the doctor’s next query.

It had felt like ages later when finally, the doctor had asked his final question, the sky outside a dark violet as the night continued on.

“Now, Nightingale, last question: do you or your family have a history of gastro-intestinal nosocomial disease?”

“Uh, no, doc, not that I can remember, I don’t even know what that—“ Nightingale was interrupted when the door opened once more, revealing the nurse from earlier—Nurse Tenderheart, as he had been told.

“Doctor Horse, I’m so sorry to interrupt, but Twilight Sparkle and her friends are here to visit Mister Shade. Something about a tour, or other.” Nurse Tenderheart said, an apologetic look on her face.

Doctor Horse sighed, putting his quill and clipboard away, before responding. “How did they know his name? Miss Sparkle said earlier that she didn’t know our patient at all.”

“Well, they didn’t know his name. I told them, but they just asked for a pegasus with Nightingale Shade’s descriptions.” Nurse Tenderheart replied.

“Well, I guess they can come in to visit our patient here. I’ve just finished up my questions, anyhow, so there’s nothing else for Mister Shade here besides rest and dinner. Very well, tell them to come in, Nurse Tenderheart.” The doctor made to leave, nodding towards Nightingale Shade. “And, Mister Nightingale Shade, do take care. I’ll be back tomorrow morning for another check-up, and to see how that wing is coming along. Have a good night.”

Nightingale nodded back towards the doctor, watching as the two medical ponies left, before thinking inwardly. ‘Twilight Sparkle? Who’s that? Should I know whoever that is?’

He had still been thinking when the door to the hospital room opened again, to reveal a gaggle of multicolored ponies, all led by a violet unicorn mare. Beside her were two vaguely familiar ponies—a buttercup-colored pegasus, and another unicorn—and a pink pony with a mane that strangely resembled cotton candy.

“Hello. My name is Twiligh—“ the first unicorn was interrupted when the pink earth pony bounced forwards, knocking her backwards.

“Hi!” She exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her hooves. “My name is Pinkie Pie and these are my friends! Is your name Nightingale Shade? Oh, I love it when new ponies come to Ponyville, it’s always so exciting! And that means—“she gasped, her hooves cupping the sides of her face. “Another Welcome to Ponyville Party! That’ll be so exciting, with streamers and cake and cookies and cake and pin-the-tail-on-the-pony and cake! Oh, the cake to be had—“

Noticing Nightingale’s growing discomfort as he retreated further and further into his bed, Twilight Sparkle pushed Pinkie back, before smiling down at Nightingale. “Sorry about that, that’s just Pinkie. But my name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends. How are you feeling? I assume your name is Nightingale Shade?”

Off-put by the seemingly insane earth pony’s behavior and rapid-fire speech, Nightingale Shade gazed warily at the visitors before replying. “Uh, yeah. That’s my name. I’m doing alright, but I’m afraid I don’t know who you are besides your name, so, uh… sorry. Nice to meet you.” Genuinely, Nightingale was curious as to why these strangers had deemed it necessary to visit him.

“Oh, you don’t know?” Twilight watched as the pegasus stallion shook his head before responding. “Well, my friends Fluttershy and Rarity here are the ones you saved in the Everfree, from those timberwolves, and I brought you here to the hospital after Fluttershy patched you up.”

Before Nightingale could respond, the white unicorn, whom he suspected was Rarity, spoke. “Well, he tried, at least. He was knocked unconscious before he could do anything, after all.” Her words were met by Twilight’s glare.

“Rarity!” Twilight scolded, a frown upon her face.

“What? It’s true. A valiant effort nonetheless, dear, don’t worry.” She smiled warmly at Nightingale, who shrugged in response.

“Yeah, I think I remember now. You guys were attacked in the Everfree, and I stupidly came running, only to get blasted by a wooden paw.” He nodded, before looking back at Twilight. “But, I don’t think that’s why you’re here. Why’d you come visit?”

“Well, I guess you’re new in town, and you tried saving my friends. We just wanted to check up on you, see how you were doing. Fluttershy here was especially worried, since she had tried her best to bandage you up as much as she could.” Twilight Sparkle paused as Nightingale nodded his thanks to Fluttershy. “And, I’d also like to give you an offer.”

Nightingale Shade raised an eyebrow, immediately cautious. “Hm? What’s that?”

“Well, you’re the newest pony in town, so once you’ve recovered and everything, I’d like to give you a tour. I was once the newest pony in Ponyville, and everypony welcomed me with open hooves, so I think it’s only fair we do the same for you.” Twilight smiled at Nightingale, her eyes warm. Nightingale looked away for a moment, hesitating, as the gathered ponies awaited his reply.

“Well, I guess that’d be fine. Can’t do it now, of course.” Nightingale frowned as he gestured to his body, covered in bandages, gauze, and splints. “For some obvious reasons.”

“Yep, that’s okay.” Twilight nodded in understanding, before continuing. “Well, I guess that’s it. By the way, we left your saddlebags with the hospital, so I would think the doctors have them right now. Thanks again for, well, at least trying to help out my friends. We’ll leave you so you can get some rest.” The unicorn smiled warmly, turning around to leave. The others with her followed, Nightingale's mouth curling into a nervous frown as the pony deemed Pinkie Pie whispered 'party' in a disturbingly devious fashion.

‘Interesting,’ he thought. Though it would have been nice to have friends and contacts so soon after he had returned to Equestria, Nightingale knew that he still had places to be and ponies to see—he couldn’t afford to stay in this town—Ponyville, was it? He couldn’t afford to stay in Ponyville for long. Who knew how long Cryptic Eye would remain in Canterlot, only to leave Equestria again, just for Nightingale to follow him to wherever that cranky old scholar traveled?

Closing his eyes with a content sigh, Nightingale let his mind drift off, simply resigning himself once more to the embrace of sleep.