For the next week, things changed rather drastically for Troy. After his wings got back into flying shape, he was overwhelmed by how much attention he'd received around Cloudsdale. The story about him saving a pony during the storm had spread all throughout the city, and the gryphon had become something of a local hero. While he wasn't used to the constant barrage of ponies asking about what happened or telling him how awesome he was, Troy was feeling a lot better about himself and his place in Equestria.

However, as the days passed, Troy started to become more and more worried. It'd been a week since he had gotten that stallion to the hospital, but he hadn’t received any news regarding an improvement in the pony's condition. He knew that the stallion was in really bad shape, but he didn't think it would take this long for him to get better. Was he in a coma? Did his condition get worse? Not knowing what to think, Troy couldn't focus on much else by the time he flew back to the hospital for a checkup.

"Everything looks alright, Mister Clawston." Upon hearing Doctor Stable's approval, Troy smiled and closed his wings back to his sides. "You're very lucky to have only lost a few feathers from that strike. Celestia knows what would've happened if you were just a few inches to the right or to the left."

"That's great to know,” Troy said, running his claws over his head. “Um… so, Doc… Is that pony alright? I mean, has he gotten better, or…”

Troy was afraid to finish the question, worried about whether or not the pony had actually gotten worse. Fortunately, Doctor Stable didn't look upset; in fact, he gave a fair look of optimism to the gryphon.

"Well, his physical condition has greatly improved since the last time you were here. His hooves have healed up nicely, and his legs are regaining their strength and shape. Even the fractures in his skull are beginning to heal after several rounds of regenerative magic, so I'm confident that he'll be back in good condition very soon."

"Alright, good! That’s… That’s good." Troy wasn't sure what much else to say. However, he could tell that the doctor wasn't telling him everything. "Is he… Is he awake?”

The doctor's ears dropped, his expression darkening as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. "He's been waking up for a short amount of time for the past few days before slipping back into unconsciousness. We're not sure why, but we're hoping that he'll be fully awake and talking soon."

As Troy let this new information sink in, the doctor placed his hoof on his shoulder. "Please try not to worry about it too much, Mister Clawston. His condition is getting much better, and I know he'll be up and walking again in no time at all. I promise I'll let you and Twilight know when he's awake so you can talk to him. I'm sure he'll want to speak with both of you as well."

Troy nodded, making sure to hold his tongue. However, even when the appointment was finished and he was able to leave without his bandages, his thoughts still buzzed around the injured pony. As the gryphon walked down the halls to leave the hospital, he came across an empty hallway. Among the lines of closed doors and fluorescent lighting, Troy looked up the archway above the hall, which carried a sign reading “Intensive Care.”

After looking around to make sure no one was watching him, Troy crept down the hall, sneaking quick glances through the window of each door. Most of the rooms were either empty, or angled too oddly for him to see anything noteworthy. Before he decided to just head back out, he looked in one last door at the very end.

When he looked inside, all he could see was a darkened room with a small light illuminating the hospital bed. In front of the bed lied something Troy recognized immediately: the brown art bag with writing he picked up from the storm. Troy almost forgot even picking up the bag, and he didn't even notice it on him as he ran through the storm that night.

Troy then glanced at the bed, and was finally able to see the stallion he saved. Unfortunately, the dim lighting just made the shape on the bed look that much more depressing: a large amount of bandages covered each of the pony’s legs, each of them spread out across the bed in all four directions. There were also bandages covering the right side of the pony's face, as a rather nasty-looking red tube poked out from underneath the wrapping. Troy could also see a few other small tubes sticking out from the pony's body, all connected to the equipment surrounding the bed.

As Troy observed the unconscious pony, he was finally able to see the cutie mark on the pony's now-clean aqua flank: a painter's palette with a small paintbrush underneath.

A painter? Troy thought to himself while blinking repeatedly in befuddlement. How the buck does a painter end up like that?!

Troy heard the voices of some ponies in the distance, and he quickly left the hallway. He may have kept that pony from being killed, but he didn’t want to be caught snooping around where he didn’t belong. As he reached the main doors of the hospital and into the fresh open air, the gryphon sighed in relief when he was finally able to spread his wings again. But alas, even as he soared off into the sky, the comforting sensation of flying was just barely enough to help Troy in that moment.

Even though Stable’s words comforted him, he was now thinking about what could’ve led to such a cruel fate for that pony. Troy tried to shake his head clear of those thoughts, and decided to head back to Cloudsdale to get some groceries before going home. It may have been a temporary distraction, but he already knew he’d have a lot on his mind that night.

As the day drew to a close, and Luna's stars shined brightly above Equestria, the Ponyville Hospital was fairly still for the evening. Not many patients were admitted―only a couple of ponies were in the waiting room to be seen for their ailments, and the staff was taking their time, ready to help at a moment's notice.

Meanwhile in the Intensive Care unit, the aqua stallion with the painting cutie mark laid still, the motions of his chest syncing with the solemn beeps of the heart-rate monitor. The pony may have awakened a few times earlier in the week, but most of those moments only lasted a few seconds before the webs of oblivion once again entangled his feeble consciousness.

Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep…

The steady rhythm of the beeps rang monotonously inside the room as the pony laid motionless. Save for the lights from the machines and the small lamp near the bed that illuminated the pony, the room itself was shrouded in dreary shadows. But slowly, the stallion's right forehoof began to move and scratch at the sheets.

Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep…

While his eyes remained closed, his muzzle began to twitch and move. He tossed his head back and forth on the pillow slowly, and his breathing started to grow more erratic.

Beep.. beep.. beep.. beep.. Beep-beep-beep.. beep.. beep..

The pony gritted his teeth as he writhed on the bed, all of his legs struggling to move despite their thick bandages. His thrashing motions triggered the sensors on the machines, and the emergency call button automatically went off to the front desk staff. Meanwhile, the heart-rate machine started beeping faster.

Beep.. beep.. beep.. beep.. beep.. beepbeep.. beepbeep.. beepbeep.. beepbeep..

Two nurses rushed into the room and turned on the lights, finding the pony violently convulsing on the bed while his tubes were pulling at the machinery. The pony's face, eyes still clenched shut, glowed with fear and pain as the staff tried to wrestle his limbs down. The unicorn nurse levitated up a syringe while the pony's heavy gasping turned into groans and incomprehensible mumbles. The earth pony nurse kept her hooves planted on his flailing forelegs, and yelled at the other nurse for assistance.

"I need twenty-five C.C.s of morphine, stat!"

beepbeep. beepbeep. beepbeep. beepbeep. beepbeep. beepbeep. beepbeep.

The syringe was quickly carried to the nurse through magic, and she grabbed it with her teeth, flawlessly removing the cap in one motion with a flick of the neck.

"Get Doctor Stable right away!" she commanded, her voice muffled through the syringe.

beepbeep. beepbeep. beepbeep. beepbeepbeep. beepbeepbeep. beepbeepbeep.

As the unicorn nurse rushed out to the hall, shouting out Stable's name frantically, the second nurse was starting to have serious trouble holding the stallion down. His mumblings became louder with each passing second, sounding increasingly worrisome. His head thrashed around even more, and caused his long brown mane to start getting tangled with his bandages. Unable to get a good enough grip on the pony to administer the shot, the nurse called out for more help, the syringe still in her mouth. “I NEED SOME ASSISTANCE RIGHT NOW!”

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep…

In one final burst of energy, the nurse was thrown off the bed by the stallion as he shot upright with cold sweat beading his face. He looked like a victim in some horror movie, and his uncovered eye was wide-open as he started screaming his head off.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

At the sound of the pony's screaming, Doctor Stable ran into the room with the nurse right behind him. He quickly grabbed the morphine from the other nurse's mouth with his magic as he tried to calm down the hysterical stallion. The unicorn nurse used her magic to grab all four of the pony's bandaged limbs, and held him onto the bed as he screamed in confused terror. But even under the doctor's orange aura, the panicked stallion still thrashed around hard enough to make the bed rock around on its legs.

"No! No! Nononono! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Doctor Stable held down the pony as still as he could, and quickly administered the syringe into the pony's left foreleg. Despite how many times he many have administered an injection, he hoped that the pony’s writhing wouldn't break the needle off inside. As quickly as he removed the needle, the pony’s movements turned sluggish. Tears were now pouring from his uncovered eye, and the pony's screaming slowly went back to panicked mumblings. His heavy breathing soon turned to painful sobs as the drug took effect, and helped the pony to settle back down into his bed.

"No… No, no, no… I can't… I… Icantdothisan… anymnnh...”

With his last words being too unintelligible for the doctor or panicked staff to understand, they could only watch as the stallion fell back onto the bed. His breathing started to settle while the heart monitor slowed back down. Large parts of his long mane covered his face as his head rested on the pillow. Stable looked back at his staff, unsure of how to react to what had just happened, and could only say the first thing that came to mind: "So… what's the time right now? When did he wake up?"

The unicorn nurse looked up to the clock over the doorway. "Umm… A-At about 11:37, Doc.”

The stallion looked up to confirm her statement, and groaned as he placed his hoof to his forehead. "Darnit! I had ten PM in the betting pool!"

Some time later, the aqua pony stirred in his hospital bed once again. Fortunately this time, there wasn’t any screaming. He slowly lifted his hoof up to shield his eyes from the piercing light overhead, but realized they felt a lot… heavier than usual. Groaning as he lifted his head from the pillow, he could hear muffled voices nearby.

The stallion was surprised to see a veritable cloak of white and tan bandages where his greenish-blue coat was supposed to be. After lifting himself up until he was sitting upright on the bed, he saw that all of his other hooves were covered as well. He eventually moved his right forehoof up to his face, and felt the bandage over his right eye. He winced slightly at the pain, and he quickly dropped his hoof back down as the door opened.

Somepony in a white lab-coat entered the room, looking rather concerned to see the pony awake once more. He put up a hoof in a gentle, placating manner. "Please stay calm, sir. I'm a doctor. Doctor Stable. How are you feeling?"

As he looked around the room in fear and confusion, the pony opened his mouth to reply. "Where…” His eye widened from how weak his own voice sounded, and he cleared his throat before he continued. “Where am I?" After picking up his right hoof, the aqua pony felt around his head for his mane before he started stroking it, something Stable assumed was a nervous habit.

"Well, you're in a hospital, of course. Ponyville General Hospital, to be more specific."

The pony blinked a few times with his good eye, staring at the doctor with even more confusion. "I'm… I'm in Ponyville?" He looked back around the room and out the window, but all he could see from his angle was the night sky.

"That’s right,” said Doctor Stable with a nod, his expression remaining concerned. “And if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions, starting with your name."

After a moment of silence, the pony breathed out and looked back at the doctor. "Ummm… My name is Canvas. L-Like the material." He went back to stroking his mane.

"I see." Stable levitated a clipboard from the front of the bed, mumbling to himself as he wrote down the name on the sheet. "Well, Canvas, you've been here for just over a week now. Can you recall anything of the time before you arrived here?"

When he looked up from the clipboard, the doctor noticed the pony's face turn slightly paler. It seemed that Canvas was temporarily lost in thought before shaking his head. "No… No, I… I don't remember much, Doctor."

Stable's eyes locked with his as he spoke more sternly. "Canvas, I need you to be honest with me. If there's anything you can remember, you need to tell us." Canvas hesitantly nodded after a moment, gulping nervously. "Can you tell me where you're from?" asked Stable, trying his best to keep a casual tone for the patient’s sake.

Canvas' ears lowered as he looked away from the doctor, looking like he just asked him if a relative had died. "I… don't really have a place right now..." When he looked back at Stable, Canvas could tell that wasn't the answer he was looking for. He closed his eyes before saying, "I… I used to be from… G-Gallop Creek..." He turned his muzzle away from the doctor, biting his lip while Stable wrote it down.

"I…” As Canvas tried to speak again, he waited until the doctor stopped writing before he continued. "I really don't remember much about what happened. I don't think I can tell you much right now..."

Stable merely nodded, surprising Canvas quite a bit. The doctor breathed out heavily before placing the clipboard on the bed. "Alright, I understand. You just woke up, so I don't blame you if your memory is still a little hazy. It is rather late, after all."

After looking up at the clock to see that it was past midnight, Canvas turned back towards the doctor with a small shade of guilt on his face. "S-Sorry..."

"Oh, don't be!" Stable suddenly seemed a lot cheerier as he smiled at Canvas. "I'm just glad to see you're awake again, although your sleep schedule might be a bit off for a while. You've been out for over a week, so I'm sure that Princess Twilight Sparkle will be glad to know―"

"Wait, what?!"

Stable couldn’t help smirking a bit at Canvas' shocked reaction, and chuckled to himself before continuing. "Yes, you were found during a storm preparation west of Ponyville last week. Princess Twilight was organizing the event, and she personally helped to get you here."

Canvas' jaw dropped, the bedridden pony only able to look at Doctor Stable in stunned silence. Canvas―the same as anypony who didn’t live under a rock―knew exactly who Twilight Sparkle was. But at the same time, to think that he’d been saved by someone like her…

"I… I have no idea what to say. I mean… The Twilight Sparkle actually saved my life?" Feeling like he was going to break down any second, Canvas just slumped back in his bed and started to twist his chestnut mane around his hoof.

"Yes, Princess Twilight brought you to the hospital,” repeated Doctor Stable. “One of the preparation’s volunteers―a gryphon named Troy―was the first to try and get you help. To my knowledge, he’s the one who found you before the storm started." Canvas looked back up at Stable as soon as he mentioned the word “gryphon,” with his brows raised in confusion. "He apparently ran quite a long ways through the storm with you on his back before Twilight found you both."

Again, Canvas blinked a few times before dropping his hoof from his mane. "So… A gryphon and a princess helped me?"

Doctor Stable just smiled, fighting down a chuckle.

A small smile of its own settled on Canvas’ face. "Ummm… Well, Doctor, that’s… quite a lot to take in."

"I'll leave you to rest for a bit,” Doctor Stable said, nodding toward a device within hoof’s reach of Canvas. “Just press the call button by the bed if you need anything from the staff." As the doctor turned to leave, he looked back at Canvas, who was now looking down at his hooves again. "And just remember, if there's anything you can remember…”

"Yeah, I know." Biting his lip again as he took in everything, he looked back up at the doctor just before he crossed the doorway. "Doctor?"

Doctor Stable looked back at him.

"Ummm… have a good night.” Canvas gave a sincere, albeit meek smile to Stable. “And thank you."

Stable gave a smile and a slight nod of his own before exiting the room, closing the door behind him.

Now alone, Canvas looked around the room, staring at all the equipment he was hooked up to before noticing the mirror on the wall to his right. As he looked at his reflection, Canvas saw for the first time how heavily bandaged his face was. He gently lifted a hoof up to his eye, and carefully tried to feel the bandages clinging to his fur. He knew he was in bad shape before, but just seeing how much damage was done to him cemented how badly everything went for him.

How badly he was treated.

Canvas' good eye began to well up as he looked away from the mirror. Not sure of what to do, Canvas lay back on the bed, and grabbed a pillow with his bandaged hooves to cradle in his forearms.

He buried his face in the pillow, and only the sounds of the equipment could be heard in the room as he cried.

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.