"I swear to Celestia, if that clock goes off right now…"

Despite the attempts from the hamster in his head to stir him from his slumber, Troy stubbornly kept his eyes closed. As he tried to turn over, he noticed an odd restriction in his wings and back, and his bedding felt a lot firmer than usual. Slowly opening his eyes, Troy realized he wasn't on his cloud. In fact, he wasn't on any cloud at all; he was on a large mattress set on the ground with several blankets rolled around it, similar to a makeshift nest.

As he looked around the pale white-and-tan room, Troy saw from the window to his right that it was bright again outside, although the clouds still looked rather miffed. To his left, the gryphon saw a large table, on it a large arrangement of flowers, balloons and various cards; most of which said things like “Get Well Soon!” or “Great Job!” Troy scratched his head, confused as to why such an arrangement was lying there.

It all came flooding back into his mind: the storm, the bloodied hoof, the flash of lightning, the Princess... Troy instantly sat up in his mattress. All he could recall after the storm was a calm voice, and the ruffle of purple feathers before he blacked out. As he looked down at the bandages around his torso and wings, a noise jolted Troy when the door opened.

Troy looked up to see Twilight Sparkle entering the room. Behind her walked in a tan unicorn with a thick, chocolate-colored mane, glasses, and a heart monitor emblazoned on his flank. The stallion wore a white doctor's coat with a nametag titled "Stable M.D.” The unicorn lifted the stethoscope around his neck with his magic toward Troy's chest. Twilight walked up to Troy's side, overjoyed to see him awake.

"Oh, Troy, I'm so glad you're okay!" Before Troy could reply, the alicorn wrapped her forehooves around the gryphon in a surprisingly strong hug. Stammering, Troy’s heart raced just as quickly as it did when he was in the field. Of all the things he expected to happen in his lifetime, being hugged by Royalty was not on that list.

“P-Princess! I, um…” The gryphon’s face burned as he scrambled to respond.

Twilight pulled away from him, giving him a warm smile, saying, “It’s alright, Troy, you’re safe now.” She cast her eyes to his haphazardly strewn-together bedding, trying not to wince. "Ummm… I’m sorry about the accommodations. There weren’t any bed frames large enough for gryphons."

“It’s, uh, it’s fine, Princess,” Troy muttered. Twilight’s smile dipped slightly, almost imperceptibly.

But before anything else could be said, though, Doctor Stable stepped forward as he pulled the stethoscope from Troy’s chest. "Well Troy, you're very lucky to still have your wings right now,” he said, summoning a clipboard and scribbling across a sheet.

Troy's eyes widened, and he tried to turn his head around to glance at the bandages on his back. He attempted to flutter his wings, but they were restricted under the tight wrappings.

"The lightning strike didn't hit you directly,” Doctor Stable said. "You were only grazed. Nothing indicates that you’ve suffered any serious injuries." Troy closed his eyes and sighed in relief. The Doctor looked up from the chart to Troy, and gave him a slight smile. "In fact, you could actually leave the hospital today if you want. After a quick look-over, of course."

"That would be great, Doc." As Troy readjusted his weight so he could sit easier on the mattress, he looked back over to Twilight, who was now standing at the table and looking at the various cards. "How long was I in here?"

"Since last night,” said Twilight. “Although you've been unconscious for most of the day. It's almost four already."

Troy’s mind grinded to a halt, and he looked at the clock sitting above the doorway. As his eyes went back to the table, and all of the well-wishes and trinkets lined along it, Troy’s brows furrowed. "What's with all the cards and stuff?"

Twilight looked back at him as though he had sprouted a horn of his own on his forehead. "Seriously? After the news spread around about what happened, ponies wanted to show their thanks for what you did. I mean… you saved somepony, Troy! Who knows what would have happened if you weren’t there."

“THE PONY!” Troy immediately shot up from the mattress. Despite Stable's efforts to restrain him in fear of the bandages ripping open, he rushed over to Twilight. "What happened to him? Is he alright?"

Twilight's ears dropped slightly, which caused Troy’s face to fall.

"The stallion's condition is stable for now," Doctor Stable assured, annoyance clear in his tone from Troy’s actions. Removing his glasses with a forehoof, he said, "Honestly, he’s doing much better than he was when the two of you first brought him in. Although..."

“Although what?” Troy looked between both of the ponies as his expression grew more concerned. “Why is everyone beating around the bush!?” The gryphon winced as soon as the question came out of his beak. Twilight and Stable cringed as well, clearly catching the awkward wording in relation to what happened.

Doctor Stable wiped the lens on his glasses with a white cloth via his magic, sighing. "The pony had to undergo emergency surgery due to the extensive damage to his skull. Particularly his right eye socket.”

Troy’s throat tightened, even though he wasn’t too surprised given how bad the pony’s eye looked. "A large part of the socket was caved in,” Doctor Stable said, “and the internal bleeding could've caused serious damage if you hadn't found him." Stable levitated the cloth back into his coat pocket, and placed his glasses back on has he spoke. "Luckily, we were able to repair the skull and possibly save his eye... But that wasn't the most troubling thing."

"What…” Troy blinked a couple times. "What do you mean?"

Doctor Stable closed his eyes. "Well… The stallion was also showing signs of extreme dehydration and fatigue, and the state of his hooves was the worst I've seen in a long time." Troy could only nod as the unicorn went into more detail. "The muscles in the pony's legs were in rather bad shape from overuse, and combined with the signs of severe exhaustion, it would seem like…”

"Seem like what?" asked Troy. Twilight stepped in closer as she listened in, clearly concerned as well. After a brief pause, Stable looked between both of them before giving his answer.

"It would seem like... the pony had been running himself to exhaustion for days before you found him."

After letting the doctor's words hang in the air for a moment, Troy looked back to Twilight. Twilight had her muzzle clenched shut in worry, not wanting to show that she already knew about most of this. As he thought about the pony's condition, Troy asked her, "Do you… Do you think maybe he was chased by something? Like a dragon or a manticore, or...?" He waved his claws around as though to pull the answer none of them had from the air.

Twilight slowly shook her head, looking away into nothing as she tried to think about Troy's theory from a logical standpoint. "I don't think the pony was chased by anything that big. If there was something like that terrorizing ponies, there would've been a report of it somewhere." A purple forehoof came up to her chin as she pondered. "And if something was chasing him, I would think it would give up after a while. I don't think any creature would keep a pony running for days on end like that."

"I don't believe he was injured by a creature at all."

Troy and Twilight turned their heads back to Dr. Stable, who looked back at his clipboard as he explained: "The damage done to his eye was most likely done with a weapon or blunt object. And looking over the other bruises and injuries on his body, most looked like they were done by hoof."

"Whoa, wait a second!" Troy exclaimed. "Are you telling me that some pony did that to him? He could’ve died!"

The doctor solemnly nodded as Troy looked on in a state of utter disbelief. Gryphons may have been a more brutal species than their Equestrian counterparts, but even they rarely took things to such bloody extremes. For a pony to enact such violence against another pony was almost impossible to even conceive. There may have been fights here and there in Equestria, but most of them were just petty squabbles or arguments that almost never turned physical. And even if they did get physical, absolutely none of them would've ended like… that.

As he looked back at Twilight, Troy could see from her expression that she was feeling the same way. Unsure about how to respond, both were slightly taken aback when Stable spoke again.

"However, that’s merely a theory. The stallion is still unconscious, so at the moment I have no concrete idea as to what happened to him. I'm not sure when he'll be lucid enough to speak, but we'll be sure to let the both of you know as soon as it happens."

Doctor Stable looked over Troy one last time before giving him the okay to leave the hospital. Even though he was happy to leave the cramped room to get back to his cloud, his hopes fell when the doctor told him to stay off his wings for a couple of days.

As he packed all of the cards and a majority of the flowers into his satchel―as well as tying several of the balloons on the strap―Troy was surprised to find Twilight waiting for him when he left his room. Despite how jarring it felt to be so casually close to someone so renowned, Troy tried not to look to overwhelmed as he strolled alongside the Princess through the hospital halls. He was unsure of where he was going to stay while his wings recuperated, since he knew that he couldn't just simply fly home. But before he could work himself up about where he was supposed to sleep for the next few days, Twilight surprised him by asking, "So Troy, do you want me to get you a ride back to your place?"

Taken aback by the sudden offer, Troy said, "Oh! I-I couldn't, Twilight. You already helped me so much. I just... I don't want to impose or any―"

"It wouldn't be a problem at all to help you." Twilight said, smiling brightly. "I can arrange for a carriage to carry you back home, no sweat! If you don't mind, of course."

"Um…” Not knowing how to respond, Troy decided to just let her help out. He did want to get back to his bed again. "... I guess I wouldn't mind. After all, I wouldn't want to turn down an offer from a Princess."

Twilight giggled with an understanding shrug, and replied with, “Trust me, it’s a lot harder for me to ask for things as a Princess. You’re perfectly fine.”

Troy ended up smiling a bit more naturally, not expecting the alicorn to be so humble outside her royal duties. As they waited for Troy’s carriage, the two ended up having a rather nice conversation over how life in Equestria had gone for him so far. Troy was relieved to find Twilight to be incredibly down-to-earth and an absolute pleasure to talk to, whether the topic was about the intricacies of atmospheric electricity and manipulation (something Troy was elated to discuss at length with someone so passionate about the subject) or what brew of tea was the best cure for aching wings after a long day of flying (charming as she was, Twilight’s tastes were just unfortunate in Troy’s opinion).

Soon enough, the discussion came to a close with the arrival of the requested carriage, but its conclusion also included several thank-you's from the gryphon, for both the carriage and for her efforts the previous night. Of course, Troy was still rather stunned by Twilight’s generosity when his eyes fell upon the carriage she had arranged, which was piloted by four Royal Guards to fly him back to his cloud.

When he finally left the hospital, and waved down at the lavender alicorn below with a kind goodbye, Troy's mind slowly went back to the stallion still at the hospital. Despite Doctor Stable’s reassurances regarding his condition, Troy was still concerned about him. As the wind blew through the feathers on his face and chest, questions pummeled the gryphon's mind about the pony.

Did he do something bad?

Was he part of some crime?

Was it something serious?

Who the buck would clobber a pony like that?

Why?!

It wasn't until one of the guards caught his attention that Troy realized that he was back at his modest cloud. He made sure to thank the guards as he hopping from the carriage, offering them a kind farewell before walking into his abode. By the time the carriage left to return to Canterlot, Troy ended up dropping face-first onto his cloud bedding.

His body grew weaker, and his thoughts grew more discordant as the seconds passed. Troy knew he had a few days of confinement before he could fly again, but was grateful he had enough food in his kitchen to keep from starving during that time. With a deep sigh, the gryphon moved himself into a more comfortable position on the bed, despite his binded wings causing a lot of discomfort. Not to mention, Troy couldn’t help the growing difficulty with thinking about anything other than that pony.

Whatever happened, Troy thought as his eyes slowly closed to get some much-needed shuteye, I really hope that stallion will be alright...

Just so any newer readers are aware, I've recently been undergoing a big project to turn the Brushed Away series into physical books for individual sale. Because of that, I just wanted to make a quick note for which chapters have been revised so far, including this one.

I want to give my deepest thanks, as well as some well-deserved credit to the editors helping me out with this process: SirReal, and Double R. Forrest. And if anyone is interested in helping out with making this project a reality, I highly recommend checking out my Official Ko-Fi page dedicated to it.