[3] I did another chapter!

[3]

I felt utterly terrible. It was the morning after my 21st all over again. I was sore all over except for my head. My brain pounded relentlessly against my defenseless skull. What the hell did I do last night? My eyes were pinched shut against the red glow showing through my eyelids. After racking my brain for a few minutes, I remembered happened; I wrecked my car.

Last thing I could recall was a drug-induced fantasy, so I really didn’t have much to go on. Unless, of course, I really was in Equestria… HA! Anyway, based on smell, I hadn’t hallucinated about actually being in a hospital. The main difference though was the silence. There was no beeping of a heart monitor. That meant I was stable, right? If I was well enough to not be constantly monitored, I wanted to see the true extent of damage from my accident.

I slowly began to peak open one eye and instantly regretted it. As soon as my eye allowed the slightest crack of light to hit my cornea, pain exploded. It felt like someone jabbed a hot ice pick into my eye and as electricity arced to my already in pain cranial cavity. I was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea and my stomach decided to relieve itself of its contents.

With little time to act, I threw my torso off the side of the bed as I violently retched. Contracting my stomach muscles hurt beyond all description but after throwing up, my nausea was over as suddenly as it had begun. Though the urge to vomit was gone, my gut still hurt from doing so.

“Ugh…” I groaned as I still lay prone. I tried to open my eyes again against my better judgment and to my delight, it didn’t hurt this time. It may have been a little too bright for my liking, but it was tolerable. Below my head I noticed a conveniently placed trashcan. At least my first impression in the hospital hadn’t been me making a mess of the floor, for that I was grateful.

Since I was done with the disgusting task of throwing up, I moved to re-situate myself to lie back on my bed. But of course, nothing in life is simple. When I went to sit up my gut flared up with pain again. I yelped in surprise. Fuuuuck! How long am I going to be stuck like this? Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait for too long. Almost as soon as I realized I couldn’t get up on my own, I heard the door open and a familiar voice speak.

“You look like you are in need of a bit of assistance,” the voice chuckled. Whoever it was really sounded like the gryphon from my dream. I guessed I’d heard him speak while I was out and my brain incorporated it into my dream. The mind is a tricky and mysterious place after all. “Here, allow me to help.” In the next instant I felt a pair of strong arms gently wrap around my shoulders and begin to lean me back up, “Aaand there you go. Sorry about that, anesthesia tends to cause a bit of nausea, and seeing how much was in your system this was no surprise,” he laid me flat on the mattress and I finally got a look at the “gryphon”.

Turns out the “gryphon” was actually a gryphon. Upon realizing this, I proceeded to do the completely rational thing: freak the ever-living fuck out!

“Fuck! You’re really a gryphon?!” I all but screamed. Soft Wing looked surprised for a second but quickly switched to classic medical stoicism.

“Yes,” he started carefully, “I am. And you’re a Draconequus. Okay, now that you are awa…” I cut him off with more mindless yelling.

“What the fuck do you mean I’m a Draconequus?” It was just a dream, right? There was no way this was real. I tore off the generic minty green hospital blanket and was speechless at what I saw. Just like in my dream, I was a Draconequus like Discord. “Oh gods! This isn’t possible!”

Soft Wing dropped the impartial doctor act and was suddenly very concerned, “It’s okay, just calm down and we can figure this out. If you don’t calm down, I’m going to have to sedate you.”

I knew he was right, and I really didn’t want to be sedated again, but I just couldn’t calm myself down. First I was in a car accident, then I had a drug-induced hallucination, and now said hallucination was real. And on top of it all, the hallucination took place in Equestria from a children’s show and adult’s guilty pleasure. Oh, and let’s not forget that I seem to be incarnated as the personification of chaos and one of the main villains from the show as well! I wound up quieting, but not calming, down.

After I stopped yelling, he began again, “There you go, just stay calm. What’s “not possible”?” He kept his voice soft and comforting.

I was so confused, “I-it’s not… I’m n-n-not… You… This! This i-isn’t pos-poss…,” I sputtered and started hyperventilating. Soft Wing placed a comforting talon on my shoulder. I feel like it should have freaked me out more than helped, but it actually allowed me to steady my thoughts. “This isn’t possible! Nothing going on right now is possible!”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand. How is nothing possible?” Soft Wing was obviously having a hard time figuring out what I could possibly mean.

I looked up into his amber eyes and readied myself for the shitstorm that this would most-likely end in, “I’m not what you think I am.” I really didn’t want to have to say it; I’d sound crazy.

“Whatever do you mean?” He inquired lightly. His quiet tone and bolstering touch really helped to calm me down. I was just about to elaborate some more when someo- somepony entered the room.

“Nurse,” somepony-I-couldn’t-see-because-Soft-Wing-was-in-the-way said, “the chariot is ready as soon as you and the patient are.”

Soft Wing looked over his shoulder at the door, “Oh, Thank-you Red Line.” I heard her hoofsteps retreat down the tile hallway.

Chariot? My train of thought changed direction, “Are we going somewhere?”

Soft Wing looked down at me and smiled, probably glad that the crazy switched seemed to be turned off for the moment. “Yes, actually. We received a royal summons not two days after you arrived from the princesses themselves. And by “we” I mean specifically you and myself.” He seemed as happy-go-lucky as ever, as if royal summonses were normal, which I doubted they were.

“Wait a minute, I just woke up; shouldn't I be in the hospital a little longer or something?”

He chuckled, “If this were a few decades ago or maybe some more rural hospitals, definitely. Thankfully though, we have exceptional medically trained unicorns employed here. They healed most of your injuries within a few days.” Huh, medical magic. I gave myself a quick once-over and noticed that he was right. There wasn’t so much as a scratch on me, except for my hand in a cast and some gauze (clear of any blood this time) on my chest. I motioned with my right hand to the cast and gauze. “Yes, well, some injuries were a little too severe and delicate to be simply sealed up. Your talon and tail seemed to be crushed required delicate re-alignment that required more of a conscience touch that magic cannot provide. Your midsection looked impaled but is still healing at the moment and is very tender. As for you head and face, one of your horns broke off and is very tender like a broken tooth and your eye seems to be fine aside from some mild swelling and is wrapped up as a precautionary measure. You’re also recovering from a concussion and there’s still some deep cuts on your head, but in accordance with hospital policy, no magic is to be used on head injuries; we’re going to have to change your bandages regularly for a few weeks,” he said all of this in one breath, and he still wasn’t done, “Now, contrary to popular belief, you’re perfectly fine to sleep with a concussion and you can be up and about as soon as you feel up to it, but you do need to be careful and be on the lookout for warning signs that could mean there is something worse than a concussion. Some signs are severe and persisting headaches, migraines, hyper-sensitivity to lights and sounds…” he probably could have gone on for longer, but I raised a hand to stop him.

“Dude, you’re giving me a headache,” I brought my hand to my left eye and lightly touched the bandages there. I hadn’t even noticed the fact that I couldn’t see out of my left eye until he mentioned it, This is going to be annoying. “So basically, you’re saying I’m good to go?”

Soft Wing looked sheepish for having rambled, “Oh, yes, you’re very much “good to go”. The only thing I could foresee impeding your leaving is the fact that we have no medical records on you, much less even your name! But we can figure that out on the way to Canterlot.”

Canterlot… Wow, this is really happening. I was absolutely terrified of what Celestia and Luna could want with me, but I’d probably just make matters worse if I avoided her. “Well, if you say I’m ready I guess I’m ready. Help me up?” It’s best I do this like a Band-Aid; If I take too long to think about it I’ll probably chicken out… I wonder if “chicken out” is insulting to a gryphon. With my head swimming, I like to think it’s thoughts like that that keep me sane.

Soft Wing helped me to my feet and let me use him for balance. I was very weak and dizzy which was apparently to be expected, along with possible muscle atrophy. Everything was going so fast I didn’t really have much time to process any of it, but I never minded. After all, I was in Equestria! I may look like a villain and about to visit my possible executioner but how many others can say they somehow wound up in Equestria? This was such a new and exciting thing so why take things slowly? I was fine with getting as much in as little time as possible (as I may not have much time left). I’ve just always been a crazy optimistic thinker.

Before we actually left, I took the opportunity to check myself out in the large mirror in the room. It felt extremely disorienting and foreign to see such an alien body when I looked in the mirror. I was indeed a Discord-esque draconequus, but much more feminine and young. The most notable differences were that I was much shorter than Discord including my neck, which was about half as long as his. My body was slightly curvier than his, but still almost painfully slender like my human self (the curves were actually a bonus as I’d always looked pretty androgynous to my dismay). It was pretty neat to have a tail and I couldn’t wait to use it, but alas, it was wrapped up in a splint. My head was the weirdest thing to see out of everything, ignoring the bandages wrapping around my head and covering my eye. I had a short little muzzle with my right canine showing even when my mouth was closed, yellow eyes with red, pupil-less irises (with my left eye covered, I wondered if my irises were different sizes), floppy ears farther up on my head than they used to be complete with my usual earring holes, and finally two nubby horns. Well, there would be two but my bluish goat horn was a jagged stump whereas my antler was only a few inches long and rounded at its three points.

Being coated in fur felt weird, as did having a mane. There was a short black mane running down the nape of my neck that was topped with a messy crop of white hair. I silently thanked the gods that I wasn’t bald like Discord but had retained my hairstyle and, believe it or not, hair color. My hair was about four inches long and completely disheveled with one lock of longer hair on the left side that reached about my shoulder. It was relieving to see something so familiar. My eyebrows were still white as well, but a lot thicker and more prominent. All in all, I decided I didn’t look too bad. In fact, I liked my new look.

Author's Note

Helooo there! Nifty little A/N box here :3 anywho, sorry about this chapter being very filler-ish, but hey, this is a proper story, not a *CLIMAXCLIMAXCLIMAX NORESOLUTION* story. Things will get moving next chapter.
Thanks again for sticking with the story and bearing through it... I know it's rough, but it's my first time writing and I'm still working out my own kinks and vices :P (next chapter in a few days btw, not a few WEEKS this time)
So yeah, feedback is greatly appreciated in the comments :D