Empire of Mercy

by Daelyx Len Auphydas

Wounded Pride

“So then I had to shut the whole place down. It’s crazy what some ponies think they can get away with.” Windlancer chatters away to the other guard on duty at the front gate, shaking his head.

Ruby hooves shakes her head in response, chuckling. “Tell me about it. Noble's have been getting real uppity lately. Think they forget who keeps their precious 'status' intact."

"Uh, hold up. Hooves, do you see that?" Windlancer points a hoof at a flying object coming gradually closer as the two stand at attention.

Ruby Hooves gapes up at the sky, holding a leg over her eyes to shade them. “Is... Is that what I think it is?” The two guards watch in surprise as the shape of the wounded pegasus comes fully into view. “Lancer, go get a doctor. They look hurt.” Ruby Hooves orders, prompting Windlancer to salute quickly and then dash inside the palace.

That leaves only Ruby Hooves standing guard as the wounded prismatic pegasus soars down to the landing in front of the palace, landing with a fierce expression somewhere between “Agony” and “Bursting with fighting spirit”.

“I’m here to... See... The princess!” The filly hisses out between clenched teeth, presenting, to Ruby's surprise, a royal signet hoofring... Just before promptly collapsing on the spot.

---

“Lemme up! I need to see the princess!” Rainbow Dash shouts from the bed where she is currently restrained. The restraints in question were not there when she arrived—They had been placed afterwards, on account of the pegasus’s persistent attempts to get up despite her injuries.

“You are in no position to go anywhere, much less a royal audience.” The doctor on duty—An odd looking earth pony, with greyish stripes over an ashen coat, named Bonezaw—lectures, harshly. “I have no idea what you’ve been through on your way here, but it’s a miracle you’re in one piece. What did you do, pick a fight with a cloud sprite?”

“Yes.” Rainbow Dash responds bluntly, not recognizing the doctors sarcastic tone. “Three of them. Well, they picked a fight with me, and I was too tired to outfly them, so...”

Bonezaw looks at the filly incredulously. “Why is a filly like you out flying on your own and picking fights with cloud sprites?”

Rainbow Dash puts her chin in the air, fiercely. “I’m here to see the princess.” She states, stubbornly.

The doctor shakes his head, groaning. A good bedside manner is really not his strong point, given that his job mostly consists of helping guards who get injured in training accidents or out on patrol. Dealing with a stubborn filly like this is kind of outside of his wheelhouse. “Well I’m sure the Princess would rather see you properly rested and bandaged than wearing battle wounds like you just got out of a skirmish. So if you’d just sit still and let me patch you up before you do any permanent damage to yourself, I’m sure you’ll see them that much sooner.”

Rainbow Dash reluctantly settles in at that, suppressing the occasional grunts of pain as Bonezaw applies poultices to her wounds. He does not work gently, but efficiently; And though that does mean it hurts more, Rainbow Dash finds herself thankful for that, as it means the experience won’t last as long.

“Ok, now. Drink this, and I’ll be out of your mane.” The doctor offers the filly a tonic, which Rainbow Dash stares at dubiously.

“What... Is it?” She asks, warily.

“Electricity suppressant. It’ll neutralize the Cloud Sprite magic residue and allow your lightning burns to heal easier.” The medic states, directly.

Rainbow Dash eyes the tonic warily, but eventually relents to downing its contents. After all, she is inside the palace of the Princess of the Sun themself... If she can’t trust the ponies here, she can’t trust anypony. The tonic is bitter, a bit salty, as it goes down, and Rainbow Dash makes a disgusted face but resists complaining.

“Now, if you could just expl-“ Before Bonezaw can finish his sentence, he is interrupted by the door being bucked open by a thunderous kick.

“Where is she?” An imperious voice demands from the other side of the room, and the doctors belligerent tone instantly disappears as he slams down to the ground and lowers his head.

“P-Princess! She’s right over here!” The doctor stammers out, momentarily taken aback before regaining his cool. “She’s been asking to see you ever since she got here.”

Rainbow Dash picks out the clatter of hooves on tile for just a moment before the princess themself wheels around the curtain beside her. The filly tries to force a weak smile at them, but the Princess is apparently not ready to focus on her just yet.

“What is her condition? Is she safe?” Celestia demands, a certain ferocity entering their voice which Rainbow Dash had not heard at all when the princess had visited her in Cloudsdale.

Bonezaw cringes at the forcefulness of the demand. “I-I’ve patched her up as well as able. She had electricity burns but her pegasus magic was able to keep them from damaging her nervous system, so she should make a full recovery, other than some scars. Some of her veins popped and there was some severe swelling as well as cracked skin, so I gave her a poultice and electricity neutralizer to prevent further damage. She's in rough shape, but I’ve seen much worse.”

Celestia breathes a sigh of relief. “Good. Leave us, I wish to speak with her alone.” The medic nods affirmative, picks up his medical equipment, and quickly leaves the room. The princesses gaze softens as they look back over Rainbow Dash, sitting by the bedside.

Great, the first time they see me in Canterlot, and I’m bandaged up and bedridden. What a great second impression. Rainbow Dash winces, but before she can say anything, Celestia speaks.

“I’m surprised to see you so soon, my little pony. What happened?” All the fervor of mere moments ago had completely left Celestia’s voice, leaving it gentle and reassuring. Rainbow could swear that Just the sound of it eases the pain in her legs. As Celestia speaks, her horn lights up with a gentle glow, and a thin thread of golden magic siphons from the horn before swirling into Rainbow Dash's legs. There is an odd buzzing sensation as it courses through her veins, and the pain in her legs fades away.

“What did you do?” Rainbow Dash can’t help but gasping in relief. She hadn’t even truly realized just how much pain she had been in until it was suddenly taken away.

Celestia looks exhausted as they fix Rainbow Dash in a tired, but caring, gaze. “I just lent you some of my magic to aid your body in repairing itself, as well as shutting down some of your pain receptors. It would still be best if you don’t move too much, as you might injure yourself without realizing it. But at least you can be comfortable while you recover, and speed up your recovery as much as possible.” Celestia sighs. “Now, you answer my question. What happened? And how did you get here so quickly?”

Rainbow Dash winces, hoping nothing she had gotten up to would get her in trouble. “Well, um, I decided this morning I wanted to take you up on your offer. Now, Cloudsdale was going to move south tomorrow, so I didn’t have a lot of time to leave, so after I told everypony, I flew here.”

Celestia stares at the rainbow filly in shock. “You... Flew across the Everfree, by yourself?” She asks. Rainbow Dash hesitantly nods her head. “I... Expected you would wait until Cloudsdale was over a railway, then your parents would bring you here. I never thought... You would just come here directly.” Celestia fixes her in their gaze, and Rainbow Dash finds she can’t look away. “Do your parents know where you are?”

Rainbow Dash nods again, and Celestia breathes out a sigh of relief. “They must have a lot of faith in you to allow you to make the journey on your own.” Celestia keeps the thought that they might just not care enough within themself. From what they had seen the previous day, Rainbow Dash seems very well loved. “Then... How did you get hurt?” Celestia’s voice is gentle again, and Rainbow Dash sighs in relief- At least for the moment, it seems she is in the clear.

“Uh, while I was flying over the forest, I landed on a cloud to rest for a bit.” Rainbow Dash starts, conveniently leaving out the detail of what had exhausted her—Failing to perform another Sonic Rainboom. “But it turned out it was a cloud sprite nest. I tried to escape, but I was too tired to outfly them, so I was forced to fight... And this happened.” Rainbow Dash motions at her legs.

Celestia’s hoof goes up to her mouth as she blinks in shock. “My goodness...” She mutters. She had known the filly was tremendously talented, but this... This is just unprecedented. She knew seasoned soldiers that are less brave than this... Or at least, less reckless. “I’m relieved that you are alright. Or at least, relatively alright. I simply couldn’t conscience it if something were to happen to you because of my offer.” And with that, Rainbow Dash suddenly finds herself wrapped up in an unexpected embrace from the most powerful pony on Equus.

“H-huh? Am I not in trouble?”

“What? In trouble? Heavens, no! I’m just thankful that you’re alright.” Celestia steps back, raising back up to their full height towering above Rainbow Dash. “But in all seriousness, please do not try anything so reckless again. It did not even occur to me that you would come to Canterlot the same way I did. And at such a young age, too. I’m astonished you were able to make the journey in just one day.” The monarch clears their throat, returning to a more stoic and serious tone of voice and expression. “So, you’ve chosen to take me up on my offer, then..?” They ask, showing an odd amount of hesitation.

Rainbow Dash nods yet again. Should I tell her that I wasn’t able to perform the rainboom again..? No... No, she can’t know. The thought of disappointing the regal pony before her is just too much.

“Well. It shall be my honor to teach you all that I can, my little pony.” Celestia bows their head before Rainbow Dash, causing the small pegasus filly’s cheeks to warm up. The princess of all Equestria, and here they are, showing her deference. What is up with that? Is she dreaming? It's just too surreal. “I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here, for now. At least until you recover enough to walk. We don’t want to aggravate your injuries any further, after all. But once you are healed, we shall see about getting you a proper room in the palace, near my own quarters.” Celestia dictates in the benign, tender way they do.

“A-Alright.” Rainbow Dash stammers, taken aback by the care being shown for her. But while she is getting that attention, there are a couple more things she needs, she remembers suddenly. “Oh! Can I have a quill and a few scrolls? My folks back at home would want to know I’m ok, so I need to send them letters.” Rainbow Dash asks, followed by her stomach gurgling hungrily. Blushing slightly, she rubs her mane—Or at least what is left of it, given how much of it had burnt away to smoke earlier that day. “...um, and maybe something to eat? I’m starving.”

Celestia smiles at the pegasus, and nods their head. “Of course, Rainbow Dash. I'll have it right in.”

As Celestia stands up, and strides out of the room, all Rainbow Dash can think about is the bizarre course her life has suddenly taken, with the solar princess themself waiting on her as she rests in bed. If I’m dreaming... Please don’t wake me up yet.

---

Much to Rainbow Dash’s shock, the food and quill she'd requested is not been delivered by a servant or chef or nurse or anything of the sort, but by Celestia themself. By the time she has gotten over her surprise from that and finished her meal, it is well past sundown and the sky outside of the window is pitch black.

Given her struggles through that entire day, and how early she'd gotten up that morning, Rainbow Dash feels absolutely exhausted. But despite that, she can’t quite allow herself to sleep just yet. There is still one last thing she has to do.

The filly stares down at the scroll in front of her, clenching the quill in between her teeth, wondering what to write. She is not a very wordy pony in the first place, and the exhaustion of that day’s events did not help that, but she feels she needs to at least write something to tell her parents she is ok.

Hey mom, hey dad.

Rainbow Dash briefly considers writing about their injury, but quickly decides against it. Her parents don’t need to be given reasons to worry about her. But, that doesn’t mean she can’t brag about the fight.

Some cloud sprites bugged me on the way here, but I gave them what-for and they left me alone after that. Now I’m here in Canterlot, in the palace. I got here at around sundown, and I already got to see the princess!

They tell me I’ll be getting my own room in the palace, and the food here is to die for. Don’t know yet when I’m going to start lessons, though. I’ll keep ya posted.

From, Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash reviews the letter she had just written, only to be interrupted by another pony’s voice.

“You ready for lights out?” Bonezaw asks. “Celestia didn’t tell me when you were supposed to go to sleep, but I imagine they want you well rested for tomorrow.”

Rainbow Dash stretches out the scroll she had just written with barely-legible hoofwriting. “Um, sure, but could you drop this off at the mail office? It needs to go to Windy Whistles and Bow Hothoof in Cloudsdale.”

The doctor just gives her a dull, unimpressed stare. “Really, kid? I’m a doctor, not a...” Bonezaw sighs, remembering the gentle way Celestia had treated the filly, and reluctantly reaches out his hoof. “Alright, just give it here, I’ll make sure it gets to them.”

Rainbow Dash gives the stallion a grateful smile as he takes the letter, before shutting the lights off and closing the door behind him. Done with her letter, and in surprisingly good comfort following Celestia’s spell, Rainbow Dash closes her eyes and allows herself to get some rest.

---

The next few days are dreadfully boring for the young pegasus. At one point, another pony is also hospitalized in the same room—A unicorn guardspony, with a dappled dark blue coat with white spots and bright white mane. But other than that, Rainbow Dash is largely left alone while she rests and waits for her hooves to heal enough. Although they don’t hurt, courtesy of Celestia, that doesn’t mean she’s free to get up; apparently, she could hurt herself more if she put weight on her hooves too early.

It’s on the fourth day when Bonezaw comes in for a routine bandage change and examination. Rainbow Dash heavily considers just bolting out of there as soon as her bandages come off. She is just so tired of sitting still, it's agonizing for a pegasus who is as obsessed with flight and movement as her.

But before she can make any admittedly stupid decisions, the doctor’s words cut through her distraction. “Well, it looks like you’re healing well. I think it’s about time we got you on your feet.”

“H-huh? I can go?” Rainbow Dash utters, excitedly.

The medic looks up at her with suspicion. “No. I said you can stand. If you are doing ok, then you can slowly start trying to move around, and we can see about getting you out of here. Normally you would have been in here for a while longer, but you seem to be healing remarkably quickly.” The medic fixes Rainbow Dash in a serious, somber stare. “You should thank Celestia for that.”

It takes Rainbow Dash a minute to realize that the medic means that statement literally, and not just as a saying. “Why? What did she do exactly? I remember her taking the pain away but, she didn’t really explain what the magic actually did. It didn’t stitch up my wounds or anything.”

Bonezaw shakes his head. “No, it wouldn’t, that is my job. Not to say it would be impossible to stitch up wounds with magic, just... Exceedingly, and unnecessarily, exhausting. Its like... Hm, how would I explain...” The medic pauses for a moment, thoughtfully. “So everypony has magical reserves—yes, even earth ponies—that fight to keep us healthy. They protect us from harm, and help us recover when we are hurt. That is why seasoned guardsponies can survive injuries that would kill a lesser pony outright. The princess just... Reinforced yours with their own to bolster your natural healing processes. Thats why you don’t have any scar tissue, otherwise you’d likely have some ugly lightning-shaped scars crisscrossing your hooves the rest of your life.” The doctor’s tone shifts from instructive to more grim and somber. “The Princess does not do that for just anypony, they don’t have the endurance to do so willy-nilly. Even guardsponies usually only get the treatment if their wounds are life-threatening. You should feel extremely grateful.”

Rainbow Dash is taken aback. The princess did that just for her..? But why? She can’t understand why the monarch of the nation has taken such a keen interest in her, even if she is awesome. A sinking feeling emerges in her gut as she remembers that she hadn’t been able to repeat the Sonic Rainboom... Will the princess be angry, learning that she had come here under false pretenses and wasted her time? She can't keep up the ruse forever, sooner or later the princess would want to see her perform the feat again.

That sense of fear is almost enough to counteract Rainbow’s excitement at being able to stand up. Almost. “Alright, well, I can get up now, then?”

“Slowly.” The doctor cautions. “No tough filly acts, now. You’re likely to feel faint after being stuck in bed for this long. If you need somepony to lean on you had best tell me right away.”

Rainbow Dash is tempted to ignore the warning and just run, but reluctantly admits to herself that taking the time to carry out the medic’s orders will probably serve her far better in the long run. The sooner she jumps through his hoops the sooner she can be out of here.

And it's good that she did, because when Rainbow Dash slowly slides out of bed and places her hooves on the ground, she feels fine for a moment. And then, she starts shaking on her legs, her vision turning dark and hearing hazy as an intense feeling of wooziness washes over her. “Ugh...” She murmurs, leaning on the bed for support while the doctor holds her by the other hoof.

“Are you alright?” Rainbow’s vision clears, though the pins and needles sensation throughout her entire body has not.

“Y-yeah, I’m ok. Just... Woozy.” Rainbow Dash reports, shaking her head to try and clear the confusion.

“That’s normal. Your body is used to lying down, so it doesn’t know how to keep getting enough blood to your head. You’ll just need to take it slow for a bit, you should feel better soon enough.” Rainbow Dash nods in response to the instructions and starts unsurely putting one hoof in front of the other.

The ground feels different to anything she’d been on before. If stormclouds feel more physical than normal clouds, then this is far more physical than either. Instead of the soft, spongy feeling that the “ground” in cloudsdale has, the rock floor here is solid, hefty, and sturdy.

The feeling gives the filly a small shock. She is here, for real. Somehow, in all the time she had been laying in bed, it hadn’t really set in. But now, feeling the unfamiliar ground, the full weight of it sets in upon her. She’d flown all the way to Canterlot, by herself!

After Rainbow Dash had successfully crossed the room a couple times, the strength quickly returning to her legs once her body was able to get used to it, Bonezaw signs off on their clipboard. “Well, you seem alright. I’ll walk you out to your quarters, but you will have to check back in here in a week to make sure you are healing properly. If anything happens that aggravates your injury, you will have to come back here again. Consider that a threat.” The doctor smirks, as if amused by his own jest. “So take it easy unless you want to spend another night in bed.”

Rainbow Dash gulps. That point certainly cut right to the heart of it, so she nods. “Y-yeah, you got it.”

Comments

[TerrorCooper]

Seems that RD’s still got some doubts eating at her, & has actually impressed some more folks with her feats. & possibly also gotten Celestia pretty damn close to a heart attack from worry. Also, First!