VI. Unfortunate Developments
VI.
Twilight stepped aside as a crew member brushed past, a glowing box floating in front of him.
“How many do we have left?” Autumn asked, standing across from Twilight.
The unicorn controlling the crate of supplies glanced back. “This is the last one. We’re all done.”
“Great!” Autumn turned to Twilight and the other Elements. “We’ll start moving you and your friends soon.”
It was late in the afternoon, and the Guards and the Bluenose's crew were busy ferrying the ship’s contents to shore. This morning, after a delay of twenty-four hours, word had come back confirming that they would be staying in the nearby lighthouse, and a huge effort was underway to unload the entire ship by the day’s end. The backup generator had given out last night, and nopony wanted to stay on a dark and stuffy ship overnight.
Twilight gazed at the lighthouse through the hatch in the Bluenose’s hull. She had heard that the Guards had spent all of yesterday hammering out a deal with a local, a griffon that had promised to help them. That was the reason for the delay. Twilight thought it was a bit odd, since Golden had made it clear back in Whinnypeg that they were not going to get near anypony outside of their group.
Then again, we are stuck in a country on the other side of the ocean, she thought with a grimace.
“Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Pinkie Pie will be in the first group,” a Guard beside the hatch announced.
Applejack looked at the trio. “See ya’ll on land soon!”
They headed towards where the Guard was standing. The rowboat that would carry them was floating in the water beside the Bluenose’s hull, and the Guards that would be doing the rowing were already in the boat. Twilight could see them moving around some crates and making room for the two ponies and dragon that were going to come aboard.
The setup’s biggest obstacle was the uncomfortable drop from the hatch to the rowboat. It didn’t matter with the crates, as crew members could easily lower them in, but the gap was too much for a pony to attempt without risking the rowboat tipping over. The crew’s crude solution was to use a plank of wood as a ramp, propped up between the rowboat’s hull and the hatch’s floor. The Guards had the double task of holding down the ramp while making sure that the rowboat was staying still.
A Guard in the boat motioned at the ponies and dragon standing in the hatch. “We’re ready!”
Pinkie looked around. “Wait, am I first? I am first! Neat!” She hopped out the hatch and began her characteristic bounce down the ramp. The Guards gave a panicked shout, thinking that Pinkie was going to tip the ramp – and boat – over. Incredibly, though, the wooden plank barely shuddered as the earth pony bounced down it.
“What is it?” Pinkie, hearing the shouts of the Guards, had stopped on the ramp, her head tilted quizzically to one side.
“Erm…nothing,” the Guard holding the ramp said, still in disbelief. “Carry on.”
In the hatch, Twilight and Spike, who were used to Pinkie’s logic-defying acts, shared a small grin.
Pinkie got into the boat, and a Guard quickly moved to the opposite side to counteract the new weight. Twilight nudged Spike to go next.
Spike, being smaller, easily travelled down the ramp. He even sprinted a little, and hopped into the boat. The Guard holding the ramp waved at Twilight – now it was her turn.
Twilight was heavier than Spike, and didn’t have the ability to defy physics like Pinkie. She was going to have to be more cautious than the others. The unicorn carefully laid down a hoof on the ramp, making sure it was stable. It held, and Twilight continued, glancing down at the plank as she did so.
However, when she was halfway to the boat, a strong gust of wind picked up. Twilight twisted her head as her mane billowed to the side, shaking her head a bit to mover her bangs aside.
Then a shout from the boat drew her attention.
She looked up. The wind had caused the rowboat to shift, and the ramp was slipping off. The Guards were hurriedly trying to push the boat back into place, but the stallion gripping the plank was already straining to hold it up.
Twilight looked behind her, wondering if she could get back into the ship in time. But it would take much too long to turn and run. She was going to fall into the water if something didn’t happen soon.
Thinking fast, Twilight charged up her horn for a spell. Just before the plank completely slipped from the Guard’s grasp, she teleported into the rowboat.
The boat rocked from the sudden weight, but Twilight had calculated correctly. She had appeared in the middle of the boat, preventing it from tipping over. The plank fell into the water with a splash.
Autumn, hearing the sound, appeared at the hatch. “Did you just lose somepony?” she shouted.
One Guard pointed at the wooden plank floating in the water. “The boat shifted from the wind, Captain. Miss Sparkle here was just about to get dumped into the drink; good thing she teleported.”
A cyan head peeked out from behind Autumn. “What just happened?”
“Nothing. Everything’s fine,” Autumn reassured Rainbow with a wave of her hoof. The pegasus disappeared from sight. “You all going to depart now?” the captain said to the occupants of the rowboat.
“Yep. Come on, Rough, let’s move.” Strong moved to one side of the boat, picking up the oar sitting across the benches. Rough mirrored his actions. With a final wave at Autumn, the group departed.
Pinkie sat on her bench, her head zipping from side to side as she drank everything in. Spike, being smaller in size and weight, was comfortably perched at the bow of the rowboat. He shielded his eyes with a claw as he gazed ahead.
“Look, Twilight!” Spike pointed ahead of them. “There’s the other boat.”
Twilight’s hoof lifted to her brow. The Bluenose had two rowboats that were ferrying supplies, and to speed things up, they alternated between shore and ship. The vessel Spike had spotted must be returning to the Bluenose.
Strong and Rough waved at their fellow Guards in the other boat. They waved back, and their vessel began shifting direction. The two boats pulled alongside each other after a few minutes.
“These are the last supplies, I take it?” a Guard in the other boat guessed. He motioned at the crates behind Twilight.
“Yeah, they are. I think you and Steel are going to ferry the rest of the Elements,” Strong said. “How’s that griffon doing?”
“He can still fly, so we’ve declared him healthy and lifted his probation, lucky for him,” Steel replied. “Golden’s still telling us to be careful – but hey, when hasn’t he?”
Strong chuckled at the jab at their superior. “True, true.”
“Don’t get me wrong, though; Golden’s definitely softened up,” Steel continued. “He even let Long here conduct a full-out questioning session with the griffon.”
“We got some interesting stuff,” Long spoke up. “But I’ll leave that to Golden and White to tell you about. We’d best get a move on.”
“Sure thing.” The two parties exchanged a final wave before continuing on their separate ways once again.
As the boat moved through the water, Twilight’s mind digested what the other Guards had said.
They got some ‘interesting stuff’? she thought as she brushed her bangs aside. Like what? Maybe how we’ll get another ship? I hope so.
The shore grew closer, and the boat made landfall with a gentle bump onto the sand. Spike hopped down from his perch and waded through the shallow water. Strong and Rough began unloading the crates, and Pinkie and Twilight followed Spike up the beach.
The wet sand squelched underneath Twilight’s hooves as she walked, leaving behind circular prints in the beach. Spike was busy scooping up the sand in his claws, letting the grains filter through.
“A real beach on the ocean! Wow, I think we’ve visited something like this only once before,” he commented. The baby dragon brushed some sand off his claws.
Pinkie was excited for a different reason. “Can you believe we’re going to meet a griffon, Twilight? He’s going to be the third one I’ve met since well, ever! I just hope he isn’t a mean-meanie-pants like Gilda was. Oh, that reminds me of Gustave! Remember him, Twilight?”
“Gustave? Yeah, I remember him. He was one of the other bakers for the national dessert competition, right?”
“Yep! Actually, he was kind of mean when we first met him, but I liked him in the end. I hope this griffon’s like him!”
This griffon…“Spike, do we actually know the griffon’s name?” Twilight asked.
The baby dragon cocked his head to one side. “Now that I think about it, no, we don’t.”
Twilight added that to her mental checklist. “Guess we’ll have to ask for ourselves.”
They climbed the hill that the lighthouse was sitting on top of, stopping outside the lighthouse’s entrance to let the Guards catch up with them. The two stallions were at the base of the hill.
“Whoa!” Rough’s crate tilted to one side as he began climbing. The Guard quickly shot a hoof up to steady it before it could fall off his back.
“Easy, Rough, easy,” Strong cautioned. “You got it?”
Rough nudged the crate before continuing up the hill. “I’m fine. Don’t mind me.”
The two Guards reached the others at the top, and Strong pounded on the door with a hoof.
“Golden! It’s Strong and Rough! We’re here with some of the VIPs!”
The door opened with a click. “Then let’s not keep them waiting, shall we?” Golden replied.
They entered the lighthouse through what Twilight guessed were the living quarters. She was surprised at how much space there was inside. It was almost as big as the first floor of the library back in Ponyville, and Twilight recognized familiar household objects such as a stove and a dining table.
“’Scuse – unf – us, please,” Strong blurted out as he adjusted the crate balanced on his back. The others cleared a path for him and Rough, and they disappeared into a room on the left. Twilight glanced in, and found that the room was stacked full of supplies. She saw Aris and another Guard standing beside the chest in the middle of the room.
“Wait; so if this place is going to be filled with our supplies, where is everypony going to stay?”
“Right in here,” Golden replied, opening a door ahead of the group. They walked in, and looked up…and up.
“This tower’s empty right now, but once we move bedding and mattresses from the Bluenose, it’ll serve us nicely.”
“Wow! This is ginormous!” Pinkie said. She tilted her head upwards. “Echo!”
They wandered around, taking in the massive artificial cavern. Sunlight filtered in through a row of five windows, so it wasn’t completely dark in the tower.
Spike looked around, and he frowned. “Where are the stairs? I thought you could go to the top of a lighthouse.”
“Stairs? Aren’t they over…” The sentence died in Twilight’s mouth. Spike was right; the only thing that led upwards was a column in the middle of the tower.
Pinkie giggled. “You’re funny! Griffons don’t need stairs.” She sprung up onto her hind legs and flapped her forelegs. “They just fly around everywhere.”
“That…actually makes sense,” Twilight admitted.
The squeal of metal caused the group to look upwards. A square hatch was opening in the ceiling far above, allowing more sunlight to beam in. Then a silhouette of a head appeared, and an accented male voice called down to them.
“Qu'est-ce que c'est? What’s going on?”
“That’s the griffon,” Golden said to the mares and Spike. “I’m showing around some ponies!” he shouted back.
“More ponies? Do not leave yet – I would like to meet them,” the griffon replied.
They could see the griffon shifting around the hatch. He then dropped through, wings spreading out on either side of him as he glided down to the group below.
The griffon landed beside Golden, folding his wings once his claws and paws were on the ground. He extended a claw in greeting. “Hello! I am Gael,” the griffon said with a smile. He was grey in color, not unlike Gustave.
Finally, a name, Twilight thought. She shook Gael’s claw. “Pleasure to meet you, Gael,” she said. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle. And this is Pinkie Pie –”
“Hi!”
“– and Spike.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight could see Golden’s mouth tug down into a sliver of a grimace.
“Wait. Are you…are you a dragon?” Gael asked Spike.
“Yep!” Spike grinned. “I’ve got the scales, the fire-breathing, everything.”
“Wow! I have never seen a dragon before.” To the others, he added, “Not many griffons get the chance to see one.” He turned back to Spike. “I have so many questions for you.”
“Well, you’d better save them for later,” Golden cut in. “We’ve still got ten or so other ponies to ferry over here.”
Gael’s head bobbed. “Of course. Well, I will look forward to when we can talk some more later.” He flapped open his wings. “Goodbye for now!”
Gael flew back up to the ceiling. He squeezed through the hatch, and closed it behind him.
“He seems like a nice guy!” Pinkie said. “But I wonder why he’s all the way up there.”
“It was just a precaution,” Golden explained. “We didn’t know if he was sick or not, so we had him stay up there until we were sure he was healthy.”
That’s what Steel was talking about in the boat, thought Twilight.
Golden began moving out of the tower, and the other three followed him. But Twilight barely noticed herself moving. Meeting Gael, and talking about the sickness, had brought up some memories…
“Here’s another one: The Beginnings of Equestria.” Spike looked around the library. “That’s under Pony History, right?”
Twilight nodded as she levitated a trio of books towards a shelf. Reshelving Day had come again, and the pair was busy sorting out the hundreds of books of Ponyville’s library.
“Daring Do and the Trek to the Terrifying Tower. I think Rainbow Dash said she wanted to read this again.” Spike set the book off to the side before reaching into the pile for another. Just then, a sharp series of knocks drew their attention to the door.
“Miss Sparkle?” a muffled voice uttered from the other side of the door.
Twilight cut her telekinetic hold on the books and walked over to the door. She opened it, and was surprised to find a Royal Guard standing outside.
“Miss Sparkle, Dr. Stable would like you to come to the hospital. It has to do with the changeling.”
“What happened?”
“It died,” the Guard said bluntly.
Twilight blinked. “Excuse me?”
“It died,” the Guard repeated.
Twilight was startled at how casual the Guard was with the news. “Oh…okay. Um, can you give me a minute?”
The Guard nodded, and Twilight closed the door. Spike got up from the floor.
“I don’t have to come, do I?” he asked nervously.
“Of course you don’t have to!” Twilight said. “You’re a baby dragon, after all.” She rubbed her face. “I don’t want to see a dead changeling, either, but the Princess will want to know what happened.”
“Speaking of which…” Spike produced a blank scroll and a quill. “Do you want me to send a letter to her?”
“Ah, good thinking, Spike.” The dragon began writing as Twilight dictated the letter to him.
“Dear Princess Celestia. A Royal Guard has just arrived at the library, and has told me that Dr. Stable would like to see me. Apparently, the changeling we hospitalized one week ago has died. I don’t know anything other than that, but once I come back from the hospital with more information, I will send another letter to you. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”
Spike finished writing, flourishing with the quill a little at the end. He rolled it up, inhaled, and incinerated the letter with green flame.
“It’s on its way,” Spike announced.
“Great.” Twilight moved towards the door. “I’ll be back soon, hopefully.”
Twilight walked out of the library, answering the Guard’s “All set?” with a “Yep.” She shut the door behind her, and the two ponies began their walk to the hospital.
“Are my friends going to meet up with us?” Twilight asked the Guard.
“We didn’t call the others in, no,” was the response. “It’s the middle of the day, after all, and I’m sure they’re all busy working.”
“Or eating,” Twilight commented, glancing at a group of ponies conversing in a café.
“Plus, pulling them out of work could get some questions from other ponies,” the Guard continued.
“Dr. Stable doesn’t want the news to get out, huh?”
“Not without Princess Celestia’s permission.” They turned left onto a side path. “The doctor’s also afraid of what the news will make ponies think of the hospital. After all, a patient dying doesn’t look very good for your image.”
Twilight nodded. This changeling’s death was sure to cause a stir among the town; if the news ever got out, that is.
They reached the hospital doors. Entering the lobby, they found a bespectacled light brown unicorn with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. The unicorn raised a hoof in greeting.
“Thank you, sir,” he said to the Guard. The armor-clad pegasus nodded, then left.
“Sorry about dragging you down here on such short notice,” Dr. Stable directed at Twilight. “Does the Princess know about what happened yet?”
“I just sent a letter to her a few minutes ago,” Twilight said.
Stable nodded. “That’s good, that’s good.” The doctor began down a corridor, and Twilight followed him.
“I’ll start from the beginning,” Stable said. “You know how we do – sorry, did – three checkups on the changeling every day. Well, Nurse Coldheart was the pony who did the morning checkup today. According to her, the changeling was already…uh…gone when she entered.”
“How’d she know for sure?”
“Coldheart tried to take the changeling’s pulse. When she got nothing, well…” Stable shrugged, his sentence trailing off.
The pair reached the familiar door of ICU 1.
“Go on in,” Stable said as he held the door open.
Twilight entered the room. Her first thought was: Well, it doesn’t look much different than before.
It was true. The changeling still lay on the bed, eyes closed, just as it had for the past week. The only difference now was that it lay completely still, and the various tubes that had been hooked to it now hung limply off to the side.
Twilight involuntarily shivered.
“Creepy, isn’t it?” Stable commented.
She nodded in agreement. It felt odd being in the same room with a dead pony. Twilight wanted to reach out and touch it, as if contact with another pony would break the unnatural stillness of the changeling.
She jumped a little when Nurse Redheart entered the room.
“Twilight Sparkle? There’s a visitor in the lobby demanding to see you.”
Twilight furrowed her brow. “Me? But I thought nopony knows I’m here.”
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call him a pony,” Redheart replied.
So that would be... Twilight abruptly pushed past Redheart, ignoring the nurse’s surprise, and hurried back to the hospital’s lobby.
“Spike!” The baby dragon was bent over and breathing heavily, visibly exhausted. “What are you doing here? I thought you said you didn’t want to come.”
“Yeah, but…Princess’s letter…came here as fast…” Spike squeezed out between his huffing and puffing. He held up a claw, a scroll securely grasped in it. Twilight telekinetically lifted the letter from his grasp and began reading. It
was a short letter:
My dearest Twilight;
This is very unfortunate news to hear, and is a development that we must pay the upmost attention to.
I won’t be able to visit Ponyville for myself to see the changeling; court duties are keeping me busy. However, I have sent one of Canterlot’s finest pathologists to investigate the changeling’s passing. You and the doctor should expect
her to arrive in about half an hour of sending this letter.
Signed, your loving teacher, Princess Celestia
“What’s it say?” Stable and Redheart had caught up to Twilight, and the doctor pointed at the letter.
“Princess Celestia is sending a pathologist,” Twilight told him. “She’s supposed to be here in half an hour.”
“Half an hour?” Stable twisted his neck upwards to look at the clock. “It’ll be one by the time she comes.”
“We’ll have to wait, then,” Twilight said.
“I have to go check up on some other patients of mine,” Stable said. He shrugged. “Sorry that I can’t talk with you some more. But we’ll meet up again once that pathologist arrives.”
“Okay, Doc,” Spike said. Stable nodded, and then left the two to themselves.
It was then that Twilight realized she and Spike had no idea where to go. The walk back to the library would take twelve minutes both ways, leaving only a few moments in between. And she didn’t know where they could go in the town.
“There’s a cafeteria in this hospital, right?” Spike asked Redheart.
“Yes, there is.” The nurse lifted a foreleg as she sat back down at her desk. “Go down that hallway, and you should find it on your right.”
“Okay. Thanks!”
“Hungry, aren’t you?” Twilight commented as they left Redheart behind.
Spike opened his mouth to answer, but a low gurgling from his stomach did the talking for him.
The hospital cafeteria was small, composed of four tables and a serving counter that took up an entire wall of the room, behind which stood a blue earth pony. There was also a yellow pony with a light-blue mane at one of the tables, facing away from Twilight and Spike.
The pair strode over to the serving counter.
“Hello!” the mare behind the counter greeted them. She brushed some loose strands of her turquoise mane away from her face. “Are you two ordering something?”
Twilight looked at the menu posted on the wall. “I’ll have a daisy sandwich. Spike, what do you want?”
“Is there anything with gems?”
Her eyes scanned the menu. “Doesn’t look like there is. Do you want some hay fries instead?”
Spike shrugged. “I’ll take that, sure.”
“One daisy sandwich and one basket of hay fries, please,” Twilight said to the mare behind the counter.
The mare opened a refrigerator behind her and plopped the two items down on the counter. “That’ll be seven bits.”
Twilight’s hoof automatically reached up for her saddlebag, but realization then struck her. She felt like giving herself a good smack – how could she have forgotten such a basic fact?
Twilight gave a sheepish grin at the mare. “I just remembered: we didn’t bring any money with us.”
The mare frowned. “Well, sorry, but I can’t give you your food if you don’t have any bits for it.”
“I’ll pay for it,” a voice behind Twilight and Spike said. They whirled around to find that the yellow pony had left her table and was now standing behind them.
“I’ll pay,” she repeated.
“No, no, you don’t have to,” Twilight said.
The pony was adamant. “I insist you let me help you. It’s the least I can do for you two, considering what you’re dealing with.”
What we’re dealing with? Does she mean the changeling?
The pony took Twilight’s silence as agreement. She squeezed past, and the clinking of coins followed. “There we are. Seven bits.”
A blue foreleg swiped across the counter, the gold discs sliding away. “Are you feeling okay, Coldheart?” the mare behind the counter asked. “You’ve been acting a bit strange since you found –”
Coldheart waved a hoof in dismissal. “I’m fine, Winter. Don’t worry about me.” Despite what she said, Coldheart’s eye giving a slight twitch.
Twilight levitated the basket of hay fries down to Spike’s claws before taking the plate with her sandwich. The pair followed Coldheart back to her table.
“How did you know who we were?” Twilight asked as she sat down.
“All of us nurses know about you,” Coldheart replied. “Dr. Stable made sure we did, in case you visited while he was out. Go on, dear, eat up.” She pushed Twilight’s sandwich towards her.
Twilight lifted her food off her plate. “The doctor told me about you, too.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah.” Twilight paused for a moment as she swallowed. “He told me you were the one that found the changeling.”
“Then you know why I wanted to help you out.” She gave a slight shudder. “Seeing a dead pony is just unnerving; touching it is worse. It feels…different, somehow, almost colder.”
The three sat in silence for a while, none of them sure how to continue. Then Coldheart sighed. “I’m sorry; I must have completely ruined your appetite talking about this.” Her chair scraped on the floor as she stood up. “I’ll leave you two alone now.”
“Thanks for paying for our food,” Spike said. Coldheart gave a slight nod before hurrying away.
“I feel bad for her,” Twilight said. “She’s obviously real shaken up about the changeling.” She chewed slowly before swallowing. “Walking into a room, expecting somepony to be alive, only to find that they’re not…” Twilight quit talking before she made the mood even gloomier.
The unicorn and dragon finished eating in silence, each of them left to their own thoughts. Twilight glanced at the clock.
“Looks like that pathologist from Canterlot should be arriving soon.” She pushed back her chair. “Come on, Spike, let’s go.”
“Just a sec,” he replied. Spike snapped up one last hay fry before hopping down onto the floor.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you this since the Princess’s letter came,” Spike said to Twilight as they walked back to the lobby. “What’s a pathologist?”
“They’re ponies who help doctors figure out if a patient has a disease or not,” Twilight lectured. “That’s the basic definition. There’re actually several different kinds of pathologists, though the one we’re going to meet will probably be an anatomical pathologist.”
“Okay…”
“You didn’t understand that, did you?”
“No, I did!” Spike defended himself. “Just not the last part,” he added in a mutter.
They reached the hospital lobby, and found Dr. Stable conversing with another unicorn that was dark brown, almost black. The newcomer had a briefcase on the floor next to her. Upon noticing Twilight and Spike, Stable waved them over.
“Dr. Lieza, this is Twilight Sparkle, and her assistant Spike,” Stable said to the unicorn.
Lieza extended a hoof in greeting. “I’ve heard a lot about you two,” she said with a warm smile.
“You have?”
“Of course!” Lieza said. “All of Canterlot does, you two being so close to the royals and all. I’d actually like to chat sometime.”
“Heh…” Twilight had no idea they were that famous. They weren’t even the ones that had saved Canterlot from the changelings; that title belonged to Cadance and Shining Armor. Perhaps it was a matter of them being more accessible than the newlyweds.
“Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked,” Lieza said, telekinetically lifting her briefcase. “The changeling?”
“This way,” Stable said as he began to walk away.
Spike spoke up. “Umm…can I stay back here? I don’t really want to see a dead body…”
Stable grimaced. “How could I forget? Yes, of course you can stay back here, Spike. We won’t be long.”
Spike nodded, and the others continued on to ICU 1.
“I’ve already put a gurney in here for moving the changeling,” Stable said, pointing at the wheeled stretcher in the hallway.
“Prepared, I see,” Lieza commented.
Once inside the room, the pathologist immediately began examining the changeling.
“It’s been lying here ever since it died?” she questioned. “You haven’t moved it?”
“I originally planned to, but then thought against it.” Stable adjusted his glasses. “I didn’t know if you needed to see it undisturbed or not.”
Lieza set down her briefcase to move the blanket of the bed, fully exposing the changeling. She flitted around the bed, pausing every now and then to take a closer look at the body.
“Could you help me move the changeling, Doctor?” she said to Stable. “I’d like to see if there’s anything on its back.”
Stable closed his eyes as he focused. As Twilight watched, the changeling was enveloped in the magic of the two doctors. The deceased creature floated above the bed, then flipped face-down.
“Thanks,” Lieza said. She went back to examining the changeling. Its wings rustled as she lifted them up, interest evident on her face.
“Impressive how these flimsy things can support all this weight,” Lieza mused. “They must move incredibly fast to do so.” She released the wings, letting them fall back down. “Or, if changelings have one, the cigamal lobe is more involved in flight than a pegasus’s.”
“Hmm…you’re awfully excited over this,” Twilight commented.
“It’s my job,” Lieza responded. “Plus, this is a changeling, something most ponies have never heard of.”
The pathologist straightened up. “Well, I’m done here,” she announced. “There’s nothing suspicious yet – I should find more in the autopsy itself.”
“I’ll get the gurney,” Stable said. He quickly ducked out of the room before coming back with the wheeled stretcher. The doctor rolled it over to the bed.
The changeling levitated again as Lieza and Stable moved it onto the gurney. The doctor covered the body with a blanket before wheeling it into the hallway, and the other two unicorns followed him.
“You’re done?” Spike asked them when they emerged into the lobby. The baby dragon was sitting on one of the chairs, idly swinging his feet back and forth. He gave a nervous look at the gurney and its concealed cargo.
“Not quite,” Stable said. “We’re going to go downstairs, and then we’ll be done. Okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” Spike said.
To the left of the hospital lobby was a stairwell that led down to the basement. A ramp accompanied the stairs to the side. The three unicorns made their way down, Stable and the gurney descending along the ramp.
The basement of the hospital was a sharp contrast to the rest of the building. Instead of being a cheerful green, the walls were stark white, and bare electrical lighting took the place of sunlight. Instead of hardwood, the floor was composed of grey tiles, chilly under Twilight’s hooves. She could tell that this place wasn’t visited very often by ponies.
“In here,” Stable said. He had entered the first room on their right. Above the doorway was a brass sign with the word “Morgue” stamped onto it. Inside, Twilight found the room to be something straight out of a laboratory. Two tables occupied the middle of the room, both covered by white cloth, and one wall of the room was composed entirely of sinks. Pipes and tubes hung everywhere, and stainless steel cabinets lined the room.
“Wow. This place looks brand-new!” Lieza said.
“Probably because it’s barely been used,” Stable quipped.
The two doctors lifted the changeling off the gurney and onto one of the tables. Stable then went to a cabinet and began rummaging through it. Twilight stood by the doorway, taking it all in.
“Where are they? It’s been too long…” Stable muttered to himself, the clinking of metal audibly coming from his cabinet.
Finally, he produced a metal box from the cabinet. “Here you go, Dr. Lieza. Our autopsy tools.” The box rattled as he set it down on the second table. “Not a lot, may I add, but enough for the job.”
“That’s perfectly fine,” Lieza said. She lifted her briefcase. “If they aren’t enough, I’ve brought along some tools of my own.”
So that’s what’s she had in there, Twilight thought.
Stable joined Twilight beside the doorway. “Well, we’d best let you start working, Dr. Lieza.”
Lieza nodded. “If I need anything, I’ll go upstairs and call for you.”
“Should I come back later?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t think you need to.” Lieza glanced at the changeling. “Autopsies are long; most of them take five hours, at least. You can come back tomorrow morning for anything interesting I find.”
“Okay,” Twilight said she began out the door. “See you tomorrow, then.”
Lieza raised a hoof in farewell. “Have a nice day!”
Twilight and Stable returned the gesture before leaving the morgue. Behind them, Lieza opened the box of tools Stable had given her. A collection of metal rose into the air, divided into a dozen pieces, and settled down on the table.
After selecting a scalpel, she went to work.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Duffman18 · 18k words · 63 7 · 2.4k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.107 seconds
Total duration
1,012 users online
1,396,521 hits today, 1,688,390 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Uhh, do you need an editor?
2737038
)
I don't have one at the moment (unless I can count myself as my own editor
Was there something you didn't like in the story?
There were a few minor mistakes...'
2737114
Okay, list 'em and I'll fix 'em.
So.... when does the human tag come into play?
2737219
It will come into play later, as the plot and backstory progresses. It's not one of the major tags, if that's what you're wondering; the other two tags are much more prominent.
More?
3238117
Progress has hit a...roadblock. I've found that my planning was less than thorough when I began writing this.
More chapters will come eventually - I'm not one for leaving things unfinished - but there will likely be more of a hiatus as I continue sorting everything out.
I'm sorry for keeping you waiting.
Why'd you stop writing this COOL story!?
8877572
he's dead, i'm sorry if it depressed you i'm so sorry
9479764
My condolences.