Innocentius followed Celestia on the way to the infirmary, taking in whatever sights of the castle he could. Never in his life did he ever think he’d get to see such beautifully built architecture in person. He has always seen pictures of the inner building of castles in his former life. But this, this took the cake. On the way there, he passed what appeared to be a classroom of sorts. He couldn't help but stop and peek in at the students there. He leaned into the side of the doorway and saw the students diligently working. Some were practicing various types of magic while the others were face deep in their books.

One of the students peeked up from their book to see Innocentius peeking in. Once he released he had been seen, the colt hesitantly lifted a hand up to give a light wave and a small smile. The lavender filly unicorn blinked a few times but offered a hesitant wave herself. Innocentius smiled a bit more and nodded before looking toward Celestia who had returned to gently place a hand on his shoulder to remind him to follow her. Innocentius quietly nodded in return before waving one more time to the filly before he and the princess continued on their way.

As they walked, Innocentius just couldn’t help but ask about the other foals he had just seen “I take it that those other kids are more academically inclined than most?” he asked as they walked passed a small inner courtyard that had a fountain in the middle of it. Celestia nodded in response “Those are some of the more gifted children that I have taken under my wing, pun intended~.” she said with a rather cute giggle “You could be one of those students to should your magic prove useful.”. The colt shook his head with a “Mm-mm. I am afraid that I am not exactly the most academic colt. Sure, I can school just about anyone when it comes to medical, medicinal, or alchemical knowledge. But that was because I added that to the list of what I wanted to bring with me. I am still learning everything else as I should be learning it. After all, despite what power I have, I know I am still just a kid.”

Celestia smiled to herself as they walked along, she was growing fond of this colt already “And that is a rather nice quality you possess, little one. I have seen adults who crave your kind of power and turn to doing unspeakable things to get it, and still never reach that goal.” she said as they turned down another corridor. Innocentius shook his head for a moment “I don’t know about that. A couple of months ago, one of my bullies tripped me and made me sip a drink. I got so upset that I beat him down while using my healing magic on him at the same time. I couldn’t take it anymore and the adults were doing nothing to stop it…” he said as he felt like he might be judged by her for telling her this.

Celestia stopped and turned to face him before crouching down and resting on her haunches “What do you mean you ‘beat him down while healing him’?” she asked in genuine curiosity rather than disapproval. Innocentius brought up one of his hands and had the platinum aura shimmered around them when he formed it into a fist “Well, I can use my healing anyway that I please. Be it for offensive or defensive purposes. And so I can cause pain while curing it at the same time. Think of it like a phantom pain. Once I make the injury happen, the damage goes away, but the pain still lingers.” he said before lowering his hand back down to his side.

Celestia let out a soft “ooooh” as she saw just how beautiful his magical aura was. Never before has she seen a unicorn possess a platinum color like that. She has seen gold, silver, diamond, and various other beautiful colors, but never platinum. “I see. I must say that is a rather….unconventional way to use your magic. I can’t really tell if that is merciful or cruel..that is a real head scratcher..’ she said as she did indeed scratch the back of her head as she tried to decide on how she felt about it. Did she not know about other ponies who could heal using magic in the past? Or was it just such an obscure topic of discussion? Innocentius did remember his father telling him that ponies who could do such a thing were very few and far between.

“Princess, have you ever met another pony who could use magic to heal?” he asked while he was thinking about it. Celestia shook her head before standing back up “I have not. Out of all the years I have been in this world, you are definitely the first one I have met.”. The colt blinked a few times and quickly nodded in response. “So..she doesn’t know about other ponies that possess a similar power then..? I might be in trouble here…” he thought to himself as they continued toward the infirmary.

Once they walked into the room, Innocentius immediately recognized the scent of antiseptic and hospital supplies. He took in a breath and let out a sigh before smiling “Oooh the old familiar places…” he simply said before following Celestia to a guard who was lying in bed with a dislocated knee of all things “Let’s see what you can do about this pony here. From what he is complaining about, he says that his knee is bro-”. Innocentius shook his head as he cut her off, a more serious tone in his voice “It's not broken, just dislocated is all.” he said as he approached the stallion’s bedside, not wasting any time before the stallion could protest “Hey hey hey! Stop!” he shouted as he panicked when Innocentius grabbed at the dislocated knee before popping it back into place with a sickening but satisfying pop.

All was quiet for a moment as both the stallion and Celestia stared at Innocentius in absolute shock before turning their attention to the knee. Hesitantly, the guard started to lift his leg up and down and pull it forward and back “Heeeyy, look at that..” the guard said in astonishment. He felt sore, but he had the full motion of his leg again. “Send him home to recover for a day or so and put him on some pain relievers. He should be back on the job by the day after tomorrow,” he said confidently.

The guard looks between the colt and Celestia before speaking “Princess..who in the world is this kid..?” he asked as his eyes turned back to Innocentius. Celestia crossed her arms as she stared at the colt, genuinely impressed “A medical prodigy apparently…” she said as she then nodded and sent the guard off to head home for a couple of days. After this, she led Innocentius to another more severely hurt guard who appeared to be suffering from a form of necrosis. Innocentius’ eyes shot wide open for a moment before they lowered back down into a more focused state. He rolled up his sleeves and walked over to the cleaning station and scrubbed his hands as clean as he could get them before returning to the patient’s side.

“Get me the one in charge of the infirmary, I need to know how long this mare has had this wound,” he said before undressing the bloody bandages around the guard’s arm. However, he could already see that there was no saving it. He’d have to really do something drastic to make sure this guard remained alive. Soon the doctor who was in charge of the infirmary came to see why he was summoned before looking down at Innocentius with an annoyed look of contentment “What the fuck are you doing in here, kid?! Get away from the patron!” he shouted, not really caring that the princess was the one who had brought him here.

Innocentius wanted to shout back at the angered doctor, but now wasn’t the time “Doctor, have you seriously not done more than just bandage up this wound? That is a fucking manticore stinger wound…the venom is extremely deadly!” he said in a calm but evidently angry manner. “Necrosis doesn’t just stop at the point of trauma you idiot, if not treated right away, it can infect the whole goddamn body…” he said as he looked around the room for a bone saw. He eventually found one and shoved the doctor away from the patient who was standing there looking like a fish out of water before he ran around looking for a sedative he could use. Unfortunately, it seemed that this infirmary didn’t possess what he needed to ease the pain that would soon be forced upon the guardsmare.

“Fucking useless. Keep your damned meds in stock!” he shouted as he made his way over back with a folded cloth and put on a pair of latex gloves. At least they had those. “Hey, ma’am, I need you to stay with me alright?” he said as he turned to a more calm tone of voice for the mare. “I don’t have time to explain why you have a child tending to you right now, just please trust me and bite down on this…. your arm..is lost to the venom..” he said as he grabbed a tourniquet around her upper arm to prevent the flow of blood as tightly as he could before placing the bite stick into her muzzle, holding it until he could feel her teeth taking over.

The doctor looked over at the princess who he couldn’t believe was allowing this to happen. But as Celestia watched him, something told her that he knew exactly what he was doing. The seriousness is on his face, the focus in his eyes. It was as if he had done this before. But, this is where all his cheated knowledge came into play. He was finally becoming useful for once in helping keep someone alive, instead of others doing the same for him.

“Alright..here we go..you won’t feel it at first because the area is dead…but when I hit the bone, you are going to feel it.” he said as he looked back at the princess “You…might want to close your eyes and cover your ears,” he said as he placed the saw against the dead flesh. Buit, before he started sawing, he suddenly got an idea. A far quicker and less messy idea. The colt removed his glasses before his eyes glowed that golden yellow before a quick shot of his eye lasers severed the dead limb without having to worry about it being a messy cut. The mare’s eyes shut hard as she let out a cry of pain that was muffled by her biting down on the pain stick, her body thrashing and legs kicking before Innocentius calmly put his glasses back on and folded the cloth over the severed limb “Make yourself useful, doctor. Dispose of the dead limb however you do it.” he said before he turned back to the patient at hand.

“Hang in there for just a little bit longer, ma’am…” he said before placing a hand on her shoulder and holding his other hand out over the stomp that was once her right arm. He closes his eyes before he reopens them, that platinum glow forming in them along with his horn and around both of his hands. The colt was in deep concentration with his magic as the aura flared up slightly, suddenly, the mare’s arm began to gradually reform from the smallest piece of bone and tissue. It was like it was being weaved and formed like a 3D printer was recreating a prosthetic, but instead with bone, nerves, muscle, flesh, and fur. Innocentius continued to push his magic as far as he could to make sure that this mare would get her arm back, even to the point where he was starting to get a migraine from such an intricate use of his magic. At this point, he was sweating bullets.

Thankfully, the operation was a complete success. The mare’s arm was fully restored to the same way it was before the venom had destroyed it. Innocentius collapsed to his knees, knocking over a cart that had medical instruments on it as he fell to his side. He was completely exhausted from doing just this one regen operation. He rolled onto his back to see Celestia moving over to him quickly to make sure he was alright, getting down on her hands and knees to lean over him, gently tapping the side of his face to make sure he was still conscious as a look of worry rolled over her features “Innocentius…Innocentius!” she called out to him as she gently shook his body. The only response she got was him lifting a shaky hand into the air before it formed a thumbs up before it dropped back down to his side “I did it…I got to save someone’s life for once. I got to..give back to someone who was…in need…” he said before he closed his eyes, too tired to carry on.

Innocentius slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry at first before he blinked a few times. He felt his head resting on something rather pleasantly soft and warm. And the feeling of a gentle hand combing through his mane made him feel rather..nice. Once his vision had finally stabilized..well enough so without his glasses, he reached around for them before finding they were resting on his chest. He placed them back on before seeing a smiling Celestia gazing down at him. Of course, that large bust obscured most of her face “Welcome back, young one. Feeling better..?” she asked as she watched him slowly sit up and swing his legs off the bed he was lying on.

He sat there for a moment hunched over, rubbing his face with a hand “How is she?” he asked in a groggy tone, more concerned about the guardsmare than himself, just as a future doctor should be. Celestia nodded before answering “She is resting from the ordeal. But from what the infirmary staff can see, she has made a full recovery.”. Innocentius let out a sigh of relief before he tried to stand up, but plopped right back on the bed before letting out a grunt of disapproval at his current state.

“So..what is your verdict on my power then?” he asked as he tiredly gazed up at her. Celestia simply shook her head but smiled “You…really are something, kiddo. Never in my lifetime have I ever, EVER seen such a full recovery of a lost limb. You truly are an indispensable figure in this kingdom. We need to make sure that your magic is increased as much as you can get it though. We can’t have you passing out like this after you tend to someone like that.” she said as she placed a gentle hand on his back. He shook his head in response “That..was the first time using my ability to fully restore a limb. I only use my magic on severe injuries. And that was by far the most severe one I have ever dealt with. So..am I done..? Can I please go home now..?” he asked with a pleading look on his face. Celestia needed to remember that despite his abilities, he was still just a kid.

“Of course, sweetie. Let’s get you back home..” she said as she watched the two pegasi from earlier start to approach. But the princess held up a hand to stop them before gently lifting up the colt in her arms and cradling him close to her chest in a protective manner “I will be the one to take him back. I shall return soon.” she said as she got up and walked out with Innocentius in her arms.

Author's Note

Seems the boy has a lot to do to have greater endurance with his healing magic. Let's hope he gets that chance to improve on his abilities huh? And just in case you were all wondering how his name was pronounced. (In-no-ken-tee-us) is the proper way to say it.

May the darkness grant you peace.