Razor Wit and Oriana were pacing back and forth in Artex' hospital room, while the man himself grumbled at the fresh stitches on his right arm. All the flying and bouncing he had participated in earlier in the night had left its fair share of lacerations, but thanks to his Earth Pony strength and constitution, not a single broken bone. He was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed while Steady Hoof continued sterilizing his scrapes.

The extra doctors that Fancy Pants and Fleur-de-lis had brought with them had been instrumental in saving lives and Fleur herself even donned nurse's scrubs for the night. The casualties were being tallied and were unfortunately slowly mounting. The Arch Magister had a collapsed lung and had to be rushed into surgery. Princess Luna had suffered some blood loss and the tendons in her legs would have required surgery, but thanks to her Alicorn nature, she was recovering. She had ordered the doctors away, confirming time and time again that her natural magic would heal her better than any doctor could. She claimed that she had plenty of magic and that would be enough. Rose Thorn had, by some miracle, survived being shot in the chest. She was still in surgery for her own collapsed lung and damaged ventricle arteries, but Bobby claimed she had a good chance at recovery. Of all the officers that had been in the fields for the ambush, only Rose Thorn and the Captain had survived.

The Sorcerers had lost a number of their own as well and Full Spectrum was chomping at the bit to ask the Arch Magister for permission to strike back at the Bloodmages. Unfortunately Catalyst was still in surgery so Full Spectrum would have to wait. Chris had survived the ordeal completely unharmed, as had Razor Wit, Oriana, eleven Sorcerers and the other Unicorns from the School. Captain Joyner had suffered five broken ribs and some minor lacerations, but overall had been left relatively unharmed when compared to the others who had suffered injuries.

The Changelings were in mourning. Vaiawa had been perforated by three crossbow bolts and had been declared dead even before she made it to the hospital. Nobody had taken the time to tell Rifin yet, but the other Changelings who had been staying with Mario, had formed a circle around their fallen sister and refused to let anybody close. They claimed that according to their legends, some rare Changelings who were gravely wounded, would sometimes rise from a death-like state. Nobody had the heart to tell them that Vaiawa was already starting to enter rigor mortis.

The Diamond Dog Bloodmage that had his skin melted off his body by Night Flare was being kept alive and slowly healed thanks to a long series of spells courtesy of a certain Princess of the Night. Luna refused however to delve into his mind and take his memories by force. She was willing to keep him sedated and even heal him enough to survive, but she refused to rape his mind, even after his crimes. She did state that she would enter his dreams and see if she could, in her own words, 'convince him of his wrongs and... persuade him to share information'. The Diamond Dog Bloodmage was unconscious but under guard and as soon as Luna gave the word, the C.W.G. officers would descend on him and begin the questioning. Cessily had been assigned to tend to him physically while he recovered. She was not to leave the room unless or until the Captain told her to or of her own volition, even if ordered by Luna.

Artex was frustrated and grumbling to himself, "Fat lot of help I was. I should have just taken those crossbow bolts and tried to save more people. Now even more people are dead, all because I wasn't fast enough... ouch!" he slapped his hand over the cut on his chest as Steady Hoof dabbed iodine on it, "Damnit, cut it out! I'll be fine! Look, I'm ready to walk out of here. I'm not in any danger of infection..."

Steady Hoof shook her head as if coming out of a daze, "I apologize Emissary, I have something that I need to take care of in the patient fluid storage cabinet... but for the life of me I can't remember what it is. I'll be more careful sir." She continued applying the iodine before Artex even answered.

Razor Wit and Oriana hopped up onto the hospital bed on either side of their boyfriend and nuzzled either side of his chest. Oriana seemed calm on the outside, but Razor had a steady stream of tears flowing down her cheeks ever since the ambush. The young mare had never been exposed to direct violence and murder. She had been in tense and even dangerous situations before but she had never seen such violence before in her life. She was in shock and had refused to leave Artex or Oriana. She nuzzled against her boyfriend and tenderly kissed his right arm, "Behave for the doctor, please Artex?"

Oriana, on Artex' left, nuzzled his left cheek and sighed, leaning her weight against him, "Cooperate please. We almost lost you tonight." she spoke quietly.

Artex huffed irritability, "Had I been faster, there are several people who would not have lost loved ones of their own." he clenched his right fist till it shook.

"Stop that Mr. Emissary." A loud voice called from the doorway.

Artex looked up into the hardened face of Darryl Hord. The former Marine's face was stony and neutral, but his tone was commanding as he approached the bed, "You are going to secure that shit right fucking now!"

Artex opened his mouth to argue and received a heavy slap in the jaw as Darryl reiterated, "Right. Now." Artex closed his mouth with a sullen expression. Razor and Oriana opened their mouths to protest, but Artex silenced them with a shake of his head, "It's a Human thing. I'll explain later." He wasn't certain what his friend would say, but he trusted Darryl enough to listen.

Darryl nodded solemnly and continued, "Right now you're dealing with a combination of adrenaline, shock, and survivor's guilt. You go over what you could have done differently or better, who else should have lived instead of you... well just stop it. You're here, they're not. Stop whining about what you could or should have done differently. Suck it up and appreciate the two girls you have with you. Take some time, relax, sleep, get laid, whatever. You did DAMN well for a civilian so be proud of what you DID accomplish."

Darryl crossed his arms and looked Artex dead in the eye, "So, are we going to hear any more whining out of you today, big baby? Or are you going to put on your big-boy panties?" he finished with a grim, but somehow warm smirk.

Artex and Darryl stared each other down for several full minutes. Neither one moved or spoke. Artex had some things to think about and Darryl was not about to rush his friend. The two men shared a moment of recognition and respect before Artex cracked a grim smirk of his own, "Heh, I guess I did need to change my tampon, huh?"

Darryl smiled sadly, "Yeah. Just keep it together for now." he placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, "Later on, you'll feel it. When that happens, don't stop it, just let it come and accept it. That's the only way you'll deal and move on." The former Marine looked at Razor and Oriana, "When he loses it, he'll need both of you. Don't leave him alone, even if you have to tie his ass down. He won't know it, but he'll need you."

Darryl stepped back and sighed, "The Arch Magister just got out of surgery. She's going to make it. Rose Thorn is too. Still nothing from the Changelings guarding Vaiawa though. Bobby gave them 24 hours before he uses a spell to preserve meat, to ensure she doesn't make like Beethoven with an eraser."

Artex groaned at the joke but Oriana and Razor were lost, as expressed on their puzzled faces, "What does he mean?" Razor asked.

Artex shook his head, "It's macabre. Beethoven was a classical music composer. The inference is that if he had an eraser he would be 'decomposing'. Dead bodies decompose in a different sense, but the word has duel meanings."

Razor and Oriana shuddered and looked somewhat ill at the prospect. Darryl pursed his lips, "It was in poor taste. I apologize. Anyway the whole town is awake right now and rumor has it that Celestia and the other Alicorns are on their way." Darryl leaned in close to Artex, "We need to... talk to that Diamond Dog. We need to know where the Bloodmages took Merlin and Tina."

"You can forget talking to him." Cessily spoke up from the doorway, "He doesn't know." she reclined against the doorway and crossed her arms, "Yeah, we'll be reprimanded later and maybe face charges, but we can do what needs to be done." Cessily giggled mirthlessly, "Hell, I already did."

Darryl turned to her and bit his lip, "What did you do Ces?"

Cessily clicked her tongue and scuffed her feet, "Mind rape."

Oriana and Razor Wit gasped loudly at the admission. Cessily ignored them and continued, "He doesn't know where they took Tina, Merlin, or the other Sorcerers. He can't actually tell us anything. If he did, he would die. At least I think that's the case."

Darryl's brow creased in concern, "Some kind of... geas?"

Cessily shrugged, "Close enough. He can't betray the other Bloodmages and he doesn't know where they took our people. I couldn't get to the spells he knows and so forth. I thought Luna would have been too distracted since she was plumbing his dreams, but she noticed after all and boy was she pissed. Honestly I don't care at this point. He's a murderer and I see a noose in his future."

Darryl waved her final comment away, "So where does that leave us? Do we have any way to find our people?"

"We sure as shit do." A new female voice called from behind Cessily, it was Full Spectrum, "The Arch Magister knows some Blood Magic and I'm willing to bet she knows a tracking spell for finding people. The only problem is that she suspected the Bloodmages had a thrall among us. Somebody who was working for the Bloodmages who didn't even know it. She said it was the most likely way they knew where to find Tina and Merlin and besides, the Bloodmages need the blood of the species they plan to affect in order for their spells to work. That means that they had a sample of Human blood." She ground her jaw, "I've given it some thought and logically, where would be the single best place to acquire Human blood other than the only hospital in town?"

Darryl's eyes narrowed, "One of the medical staff then, or at least somebody who has access to blood..."

Artex suddenly cut in, "Bobby would know who has access, heck any of the staff would." He looked down, trying to spot Steady Hoof, "Wait, where did the Pegasus doc go?"

Cessily jerked her thumb over her left shoulder, "She walked out right when I walked in. Didn't you notice she was gone?"

Artex shook his head, "No, I didn't..." he trailed off and his eyes slowly widened, "Aw SHIT!" he suddenly leaped off the bed, "We have to find her NOW!"

He darted for the door and Cessily and Full Spectrum barely had time to move, fortunately Darryl was not standing directly in front of him, "What..." Darryl slapped his forehead and bolted after Artex, "FUCK!"

Cessily turned and motioned for the mares and Full Spectrum to follow her. She yelled over her shoulder, "Steady Hoof is Bobby's second in command here in the hospital! I've worked here, she would never have left a patient's room without saying why! She has access to the blood!"

Please comment and detail on all typos herein and point them out so I can fix them.