[Canterlot] Honor in the skies of Canterlot (Ended)

[Tempest Rime]

"Zephyr!" Mal bolted up from where she'd been watching the flight lesson, rushing to his side. She glared daggers at Steelwalt. "What the hay do you think you were doing? What kind of stupid trick was that, he could be seriously hurt!" She blinked back tears as she yelled at the old mare. She didn't actually get in the way, however. She recognized the smelling salts, and while she did have a first aid kit, there were no salts in it.

She yanked out her own kit, just so it would be ready, but as she looked over him, she saw no obvious breaks. She didn't risk moving him yet, but she did pull out a bottle of iodine and a rag, floating it in to apply to the scrapes he'd picked up from the crash. "Zephyr!" She scolded his unconscious form. "You had better not die, or I swear to Celestia I will KILL you!"

[ZephyrBurst]

Zephyr wasn't sure if he went out for a few moments or not, but each time he opened his eyes, there was something different in front of him. Even when he did open his eyes, things were hazy and his hearing was a bit fuzzy. He could hear a voice in the distance, but he wasn't sure who it was. Zephyr mumbled a few unrecognizable words. When he tried to roll on his stomach, the pain from the impact sprung up again and he decided not to move. Pain was the only thing that seemed recognizable in these immediate moments, luckily it wasn't very intense. Zephyr was used to heavy impacts from a few previous crashes and his fights in Manehattan.

The impact, however, seemed to knock Zephyr into a few weeks ago. When he heard a voice, an immediate thought from then sprung into his mind. He attempted to push himself up, though it was slow, while he spoke somewhat mumbled words.

"Silver, be sure to keep your wings extended during your lift." Having just crashed, it brought his mind back to when he was helping Silver get over her fears of flying. She crashed quite often at first, he remembered. His vision and thoughts had finally stablized, and in front of him was a smelling salt that Steel had in front of him. To his other side, Mal was there with a concerned look as well as a threat if he died from the crash. Quite an illogical statement.

The pain started to subside and he gently nudged the smelling salt away from his face as he fully pushed himself up to an awkward sitting position. He glanced to Mal, giving her a look of confusion.

"If I was dead, how would you kill me?" He rubbed his mane, trying to wrap his head around why she would say that. To the two mares beside him, it appeared as if Zephyr was no longer affected by the pain, in fact, he seemed to brush off the fact that he just crashed. Still, it was easy to see he still wasn't fully there due to the crash landing.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal rolled her eyes. "Like this, idiot," she said, and darted over to kiss him, gently. She broke off quickly, glancing sheepishly at Steelwalt for just a moment before turning back to Zephyr. "So... you're alright then? Nothing broken I assume since you managed to push yourself up. A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing I'm not well-versed in patching up" She winked at him, frowning when she noticed his befuddled expression. "Hmm, I bet you're bit concussed, you look kinda out of it. Come on, see if you can walk, we'll get you checked out by a doctor, and NO FLYING, understand? The last thing you need is to fly around with a concussion and hit your head again."

"I told you not to go getting yourself killed," Mal grumbled, "and what do you do? Slam yourself into the ground! I swear, if the earth hadn't already done it for me, I'd smack you." She glared suddenly at the old mare. "And you! What in the name of Discord were you trying to pull with that stunt, anyway? I mean really, there's tricks and then there's just tempting fate, and that needlessly dangerous move coulda got him killed!"

[Apolline Allura]

Steelwalt cocked an eyebrow as the blue mare rushed back over to Zephyr's side from outta nowhere. She was showing more emotion for another living thing (that wasn't contempt or snark) to him that Steelwalt was sure she'd ever shown in her life. The older mare smirked.

'Lookit that...young love.' she mentally chuckled.

And what timing too. Malediction managed to make it over here the moment Steelwalt began helping out. Not that it bothered her in the least. She was treated to the amusing manners of the mare, sneaking a kiss and trying to play it off in front of her. She outright broke into laughter at that point before moving to see to her student, chortling all the while as Mal rounded on her. Her answer was basically the indication that she had no intention of not enjoying this moment. Especially after Zephyr managed to speak again. "I think he woulda wanted to be killed if he knew he had that to come to in the afterlife." said Steelwalt before leaning down to tap the stallions face lightly with a hoof. She wouldn't whack him around like she did early. Light slaps would get him up though.

"You alright, big guy?" she said to Zephyr.

[ZephyrBurst]

Mal sure was being affectionate, moreso than Zephyr expected. He smiled after her quick kiss, happy to see that she wasn't always so gloomy. She seemed to show her affection in unexpected ways verbally, at least unexpected to Zephyr. He was still a bit dazed and rather embarrassed that he mentioned Silver. After Mal gave him a bit of her mind, he glanced at her.

"I guess I did land pretty hard."

Steelwalt had to check up on him and for some reason, he had a feeling he knew what was coming. Sure enough, she tapped at his face a few times, asking if he was okay. Zephyr didn't like that, but he was too out of it to get upset, he simply swatted at her hooves. "I'll be fine!" He spoke in an agitated tone.

He was still on his back with his legs somewhat dangling in the air. This had to change, and Zephyr slowly rolled over on his stomach, giving off a low grumble as he did. Feeling more throbbing pain, he waited in that pose for a moment, simply looking ahead, his eye still half open. Once that passed, he lifted himself up, and looked around. "See, I'll be fine."

Zephyr ate those words as he took the first few steps and wobbled every which way. He still hadn't quite come back all the way. His vision blurred again and he began seeing stars, immediately he sat down to keep from wobbling over. Still feeling light headed, he had to lower his head somewhat and he knew one or both of the mares would come to his aid. He didn't want help in this and waved a forehoof blindly in any direction. "I don't want any help, I'm just dizzy."

That finally passed as well and his head was lifted. He glanced around and sighed. "Going to try this again." With that, he stood up again, and took another step. This time his wobble was subtle and his vision didn't blur. There was a bit of a throbbing pain with each step, but nothing unbearable. Satisfied with his condition for the time being, he glanced to the two mares. "See, I'm okay now." He passed a goofy, hopefully assuring, smile.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal rolled her eyes at Steel's comments as Zephyr picked himself up. "Please, who'd want to be kissed by this." She pushed aside her mane to give the old pegasus a good look at her missing eye and the claw marks running down her face.

Mal turned an irate glare on Zephyr. "You're fine huh? You're okay, you don't want any help." She snarled the words contemptuously. "It that what you were thinking when you crashed, too? Or when you pulled that stunt with the guards? And now you're a bodyguard, you're just letting yourself get taken advantage of?" Her voice rose as the continued. "This is just UNACCEPTABLE! You've gotta take care of yourself, and don't just... just push away anyone who tries to help you. If you aren't careful, you'll end up like me," she brushed aside her mane again to show off her scars. "Or worse! Now SHUT UP and let me HELP!" The hypocrisy of asking him to stop pushing ponies away was quite lost on her.

At that, she engulfed him in the red and green glow of her magic, carefully supporting some of his weight, though she didn't dare go so far as to actually pick him up. "Now come on, we're going to get you to the hospital, and that means NOW!"

[Apolline Allura]

Sighing, Steelwalt realized that the blue mare had all but full control of the situation. She let Mal lift him into the air, and was definitely sure that this was the end of their little flight lesson. Zephyr hadn't made it through the whole thing, but he did pretty good for a guy who was nearly ground chuck for trying to copy her earlier. She had fun herself, for she hadn't actually taught much, save for a few of her friends in the REA that had made it out alive from the dragon wars. And look at that! Oh how time had managed to fly. And she hadn't even broken a sw-

"Ah buck! My hip..." she gritted out as she approached Zephyr's suspended form. The old mare muttered angrily about youth and it being wasted in the young, for she could now feel the day taking it's toll on her. It was time to head back to the tower for some TLC from Cutlass.

'She better be makin' dinner tonight too...I ain't doin it this time.' she ground out mentally.

Looking between Zephyr and Malediction, she managed a smile at least, as her wings opened. She whacked Zephyr on the head once more with a hoof, not as hard as she had earlier, "There. You have a debilitating head injury now, and you need medical attention. Lucky for you though, you got Nurse Copperknot to the rescue!" Turning to Mal, she added, "And please, Copperknot, if I ain't but but a few feet tall, old as all hellfire, and got wings more beat up lookin than yer face, and I manage to get some, you ain't got nuthin to worry about!"

She began trotting away from them before she paused to look back. "When he ain't so dizzy, let 'im know he knows where ol' Steelwalt's tower is, if he wants to come back to pick up where we left off. Or if he just wants to talk to somepony. Course, the same goes for you Copperknot. And there's a little invention I've in the works for you. Expect it in the coming week."

Her wings beat once more, and she dashed forward once before taking off, flying back to her home. A messy head of jet black hair sat in the same position it was earlier, and Steelwalt smiled.

[ZephyrBurst]

Zephyr sighed, but he was happy to recieve help from Mal. Her magic was helpful and with it, walking while sore wasn't much of a chore. He began walking away slowly with Mal when Steelwalt approached, though she also seemed sore. Based on what she said, Zephyr figured it was due to her age. It seemed Steel knew Zephyr wasn't going to try again, as she opened her wings, but before that, a hoof came into contact with his head. Zephyr didn't like this sort of thing and he grit his teeth, growling lightly, while shaking a forehoof at Steel. "Stop doing that!"

Though she seemed to ignore his outburst and continued on with her statement. The two mares spoke in ways that Zephyr wasn't quite understanding. "Managed to get some...?" he spoke in a confused whisper to himself. He let it pass as Steel went on to her next statement. She seemed to think he was more out of it than he really was. "I'm not THAT dizzy!" he said to Steel, who again, kept going. After she was done, she flew away. Despite Steel's odd ways, Zephyr still had some questions for her, a bit about flying, and many about the REA and what it meant for her. If he found the time, he would visit the tower when the sun was at its highest the next day.

For now, Mal seemed to want to bring him to a hospital. He knew at this point there was no fighting with her. His injuries didn't go beyond a few cuts and bruises. Nothing Zephyr wasn't accustomed to by now. He passed Mal a warm smile, who he found to genuinely want to help him. "Thanks... Copper." He spoke quietly to her as he allowed Mal to lead the two of them to the nearest hospital... he hated hospitals.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal flushed a little and nuzzled Zephyr briefly before trotting ahead. "Don't think you're in the clear yet just because I'm glad to see you and that old harpy is gone. I'm still not happy that you hurt youself. Or that your community service turned out to be something dangerous. Seriously, you should at least be getting hazard pay, being forced to do this for punishment is unacceptable. If you get hurt you will totally have cause to sue the flank off this guy, and the guards who let him buy out your sentence. Seriously, is that even legal? It certainly sounds pretty shady to me."

Walking ahead, she led the way to the hospital. "Here we are. These ponies are pretty good at patching me up whenever I get myself into trouble. Just a heads up, though, they will ask you a lot of questions, keep your answers short and to the point or it'll take forever. Oh, and don't call me Copper in there, the last thing I need is for who I really am to get out. At least you weren't doing anything questionable, so you won't have anything to hide."

Mal took a deep breath and pushed open the door, holding it open for him. She looked back at him and smiled, a big, bright smile of the sort that had not graced her face in many years. Just hearing him say her name, just that once, had had quite an effect on her.

[ZephyrBurst]

She sounded rather angry and upset with him. Zephyr remained quiet the entire time, letting her release her frustrations with him and the situation. As the two advanced to the hospital, Zephyr became a bit nervous. Hearing Mal upset usually didn't make him nervous... she was almost always upset. But this time, it didn't stem from contempt, but concern. Nervous and heart warming, it was a different side to Mal that looked rare. The closer the two had gotten to the hospital, the more nervous he became. He hated them and associated them with mortal injuries. The thought of needing intensive care, even if it wasn't the case this time, frightened him. The thought of losing his wings scared him the most. Zephyr prided himself on his strong wings most, they were an important part of who he was, he felt. Flying and fighting were the only two things Zephyr has ever felt he knew well.

Mal's concern for him was both heart warming and troubling for his mind. He wasn't sure how to tell her of his uncertain feelings for her. Her warm smile as she held the door to the hospital both filled him with joy and worry. A smile in return as he passed her by into the hospital waiting room was all he could think to do to cover up any of his nervous thoughts that may be showing through. Worst of all, in his mind, he wasn't sure how Mal would take it if the uncertain thoughts stemmed from a knight.

One step at a time, he thought. First, handle the situation at the hospital and allow them to patch him up. Zephyr would take responsibility for the bill if that had occurred. As soon as that thought entered his mind, he let go a rather goofy smile. The thoughts of somehow getting this possible hospital bill paid for by Max through some loophole in his employment terms crossed his mind. He remembered after the first day that Max had both him and Silversword sign a terms of contract. There must have been something in there about getting injuries on the job paid for... If only the crash had actually happened on the job. If the wording was done in such a way that an injury must occur during the duration of his contract, that could work. The fact that these thoughts crossed his mind at all was troubling. He would ignore them, this crash was his fault, not Max'. Still, it was tempting, and hospital bills could get quite expensive.

He looked onward to what looked to be the front desk, then back to Mal. "So what next?" He kept his warm smile to her.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal frowned. "Next? You go talk to the doc and get yourself looked at." She pointed at a receptionist. "I'll grab you a number, it won't be too long. Don't worry about the minor injuries, I got everything you could need to patch up cuts and scrapes in my kit." She finally noticed his anxiety. "What's wrong, you afraid of doctors or something? Don't worry so much, these ponies will make sure you're fine, I've been here plenty. Much better to get looked at now than to come back when it's too late." She pointed a hoof at her missing eye.

She pushed Zephyr forward with her magic, helping him forward as she walked him to a seat. She released him slowly, making sure he didn't collapse in a heap before trotting to the receptionist. She exchanged a few pointed snippets of conversation with the mare before returning to Zephyr's side. "The desk pony up there thought I was here for me, she was shocked when I told her I wasn't the injured one for once." She grinned.

[ZephyrBurst]

Zephyr listened to Mal and took note to do what she said. Finally, she acknowledged his anxiety of the situation. It wasn't the only thing making him nervous though. Zephyr sat and waited, suddenly building up his anxiety more as with each second. He had never been to a hospital as long as he could remember, and in his head, this wasn't a good place. When she came back, he took note of the number...

"Yes, they make me nervous. I mean, there's a possibility that you might be unconscious around a pony that you don't even know!" He started working himself up with his own thoughts. To the point that he missed Mal's little joke about shocking the desk pony with an unexpected twist. He continued. "I've heard they sometimes cut you open a little, why would they want to cut you open? Would they put something in you? I bet they do!" Zephyr's voice was low, if not a bit raspy for a few reasons.

Zephyr rambled for a moment longer until the moment he dreaded arrived...

His number was called and he went silent. Zephyr's glance pierced slowly to the receptionist that called it, then back to Mal. There was no way she was just going to let him walk out. Zephyr knew that there really was no harm in this and that they truly wanted to fix up ponies that came into this place, but that didn't help fight off his anxieties about it. Mal didn't need to say anything to him, her stare was enough to spell out what she wanted him to do.

He took a deep breath and walked toward the front desk, his number held firmly within his maw. Once the receptionist saw the number, she pointed a hoof down a hall with a friendly smile, and told him to follow a unicorn standing within. Zephyr associated hospitals with unicorns, as it seemed unicorns were mostly into medical practice, at least from his observations. This didn't help his nervous walk toward the unicorn who was just as friendly as the receptionist. She led him to a room with a bunch of foreign devices, all of which kept up his nervous state.

'There is no harm in this.' He kept telling himself this phrase repeatedly. The unicorn told him to relax while he sat where she pointed him to, but that was hard to carry out. Unicorns usually made him nervous. Magic was such an uncertain and unknown element to him, this didn't help him either.

... ... ...

Some time later, Zephyr came slowly trotting out of the room and back into the front area where Mal awaited his return. He was smiling and much more upbeat than when he went in. When he stopped in front of Mal, he sat for a moment. There were a few bandages wrapped on his side where cuts were present, but nothing major. "She said I was fine. Just a few bruises and cuts. She said I got lucky after I told her how I crashed. I said pegasi were used to crashing." Zephyr tapped an over-confident hoof to his chest once. The bracelet gleaned in the sunlight that snuck into the front room. Luckily the unicorn mare did not ask about that, he was a bit too nervous at first to come up with any story for it. Zephyr's composure was much more relaxed than before. "You were right, the pony in there helped out a lot. For being a unicorn, she knew a lot about wings. Said nothing was wrong with them either." He smiled to Mal. "I keep my wings protected, most pegasi do."