The next few days passed without anything important happening. Sirius studied and trained, preparing for the tournament; Iclyn studied and trained, and also spent her nights with him, lying by his side, giving warmth to him. She thought Sirius didn't suspect a thing. However, he knew what she was doing at nights and simply allowed her to be so close to him. It was warm and comfortable, and he didn't have nightmares ever since she started doing it. Overall, he didn't feel the need to push her away.

After that one dream, no other appeared. Sirius saw only blank void devoid of anything, but still warm and welcoming. The change was good — it allowed the former human to finally relax and have good, undisturbed sleep. He began to wake up refreshed and ready for the day ahead. Even the dark circles around his eyes became less prominent to the point where they became bleak shadows, almost completely unnoticeable. Overall, his face became less threatening and certainly much less creepy.

However, his figure remained the same — thin, almost unhealthily so. He didn't care for it much, but Iclyn was worried about him. He ate but didn't gain any weight whatsoever. Why was it happening? Iclyn was unsure. She didn't know if she could help him with it either. She hoped he would search for a way to fix his body shape.

Her hopes were answered just a few days before the tournament. After the lessons on that particular day, it was announced that all students of her class were to pass a yearly medical examination. During it, all ponies in the class needed to go through magical scan to determine whether there was anything bad with their body in terms of its function, and then pass a couple of tests, including those on hearing, eyesight, muscle reflexes, dietitian, dentist, and finally a psychologist. Then, a conclusion would be made and each pony would receive personal advice on how to keep good health and stay fit.

Sirius was fine with everything excluding the last doctor. He would need to be especially careful with that one or else something bad might happen to him. He was sure that he would get locked up in a mental hospital probably indefinitely — he believed his issues were too deep to be cured by what doctors had to offer. He would most likely be sedated and put in a straightjacket, and then forgotten in a soft-walled room where he would remain for the rest of his miserable, drug-filled life. He would die with his mouth salivating and his eyes wide open in madness.

He couldn't allow it to happen — he didn't want to spend what was left of his life on hard drugs.

With those dark thoughts in his mind, he awaited his turn at the magical scan. Unfortunately, there were only two ponies that could perform the needed spell and decipher the results, and thus the line moved slowly since it took a few minutes to complete the scan. Iclyn was sitting by his side, glancing at him nervously. He was much too quiet and focused on something she didn't know.

Suddenly, a crack sounded from the outside. Everyone turned their heads towards the nearest windows and looked. A few moments later, a flash appeared in the sky. Five seconds later, the loud crack sounded.

"Oh no..." Iclyn said fearfully.

"It is just thunder." Sirius said calmly. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know where you come from, but a thunderstorm is bad news." the filly replied. "It is an outburst of uncontrollable weather energy. We will have to wait here for hours, maybe even a whole day until it ends. Going outside during it can be dangerous, especially with all those lightnings around. You carry metal, and it's really bad when there's thunder outside."

Sirius frowned. He didn't expect to be stuck in the hospital for longer than needed. Alas, he could wait. It wasn't like the thunderstorm would last forever.

Only a few moments after that lightning, a heavy rain started, greatly limiting the vision.

The former human sighed. He'd be better if he were back at the apartment. He didn't like hospitals much. He hoped they had at least some sort of food and maybe even entertainment. He didn't want to die from boredom, that's for sure.

Finally, his turn came. He stepped into the room and was greeted by a unicorn.

"Good day!" he said, a confident smile on his face. "Please, step on the red square on the floor. Don't move, and I promise it won't take long."

Sirius complied without a word. Soon, the doctor lighted his horn, and the former human felt a tingle going up and down his body.

In a minute, everything was done.

"Well, it seems everything is fine." the doctor said in conclusion. "Though... there is something different about you. However, everything is within the borders. But I must say that you are unhealthily thin. I'd recommend talking with a dietitian — she knows more than I do. Now, proceed to the second floor to the room two hundred."

Sirius nodded and left. He was certain that his eyesight and hearing were at least good if not perfect. He was also sure his muscles functioned properly. He didn't do fencing for nothing, after all. Years of training definitely paid off in the right way.

***

As expected, he passed those three doctors without a hitch. His hearing was actually sharper than average, and his eyesight was indeed perfect. It was the time to go through the last three remaining doctors. First of all, Sirius went to the dietitian.

"Oh my, you look extremely unhealthy, colt!" the doctor said, looking at Sirius from all sides. "Malnutrition... I know that teen years can be hard, but you don't have to starve yourself to death! How much do you even eat?"

"A lot, it doesn't help." Sirius replied. "I was told it's, um... er... passes through generations."

"Ah, genetic? Forgive me, I didn't know. Well, it may be..." the doctor tapped her chin. "I will think about your case. Check in with other doctors and return to me as soon as you're finished, alright? We'll certainly figure something out, young stallion."

Sirius nodded. He had no problem with that, he was patient enough. Besides, it didn't look like he was going anywhere anytime soon anyway.

So, he only had a dentist and a psychologist to pass. He decided to leave the latter for later.

A few minutes later, he entered the needed room.

"Good day!" the dentist greeted him. "Please, come sit there." he gestured at a rather small hospital bed. Sirius complined, getting onto it and sitting on his haunches. "Alright, open your maw wide and let me look at those teeth. I hope you've not been eating too much junk food."

Sirius opened his mouth, revealing a row of perfect white teeth, including two pair of rather noticeable fang-like canines: two bigger ones on the upper jaw, and two smaller on the lower.

"Oh my... Lunar pegasi ancestry, eh?" the doctor said. "In perfect condition, too..." he added, using a small mirror to look at the back side of the teeth. "Though, if you'd like them removed..."

Sirius shook his head.

"Alright, then." the doctor nodded. "But if they give you any trouble, don't be afraid to check them by a dentist. Many actually don't know, but many illnesses are connected with the maw and how it works. You may go, have a nice day!"

It went perfectly, the former human was sure he didn't spend more than just a few minutes. His teeth were fine, that was all that mattered. He was glad he cleaned his teeth each morning.

Onwards to the next and the last doctor — the psychologist. Sirius hadn't seen one until that very moment — he could hide his feelings well enough to fool others into believing he didn't need one. Besides, he last visited a hospital a very long time ago, and the only reason he visited it in Equestria was its mandatory state and his desire to keep the disguise of just another, albeit strange, pony.

Fearfully, he entered the office. What if the doctor could read minds? It would be bad for Sirius.

However, the office looked rather welcoming, having a homely and comfortable feeling to it. Even the doctor himself wasn't dressed in the lab coat, option for casual nude look instead. He was pretty young by Sirius' standards, probably still in his twenties. He bore a small welcoming and honest smile.

"Hello, young stallion." the doctor greeted Sirius politely. "Come, take a seat, please."

Sirius did as asked, sitting on a comfortable pillow right in front of the doctor. It wasn't uncomfortably close, leaving some distance between them.

"I'm Soul Prescription." the doctor introduced himself. Sirius chuckled in his mind at the name. He thought pony names were silly sometimes. "Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Sirius." the former human introduced himself. "Likewise."

"Ah, Sirius... I've heard about you." the doctor tapped his chin. "Why, yes... I'm going to be honest with you, your attitude is... unusual, to say the least. However, I don't mean that you're strange, bad or weird. We are all individuals, and all of us have certain characteristics." the doctor paused, watching Sirius' reaction. So far, there wasn't one. "Unfortunately, it came to my attention that you are... violent. Can you tell me why is it so?"

"I give them what they give me." Sirius replied. He decided to be honest with that one. "I haven't hurt anypony but bullies, and bullies hurt other ponies. I couldn't allow them to hurt me or continue hurting others."

"Ah, so it seems that your self-defense was overly exaggerated and was presented to me as needless aggression. Thankfully, it was proven untrue. Desire to protect yourself and others from harm is natural, and sometimes resorting to violence might be the only way, I can understand that." Soul nodded. "So..." his eyes shifted towards the longsword Sirius was carrying. "This is why you carry a weapon, I presume?"

"Yes." the former human nodded. "I also do fencing."

"I admire your pursuit of this noble art." Soul's smile widened slightly. "But... it seems your body isn't fit enough." a disappointed glance passed over Sirius' thin frame.

"It is genetic. I eat but I don't get much weight." Sirius explained. "Maybe the doctors will find way to help me."

"It would be good for not only your physical health, but your mental as well. It is as a saying goes: a healthy mind is in a healthy body." the doctor nodded. "So, is there anything you would like to talk with me about? Don't worry, we doctors respect our patients' privacy, and thus everything that you say here will stay secret as long as said secret doesn't hurt you or others."

"There isn't anything else." Sirius replied firmly. Maybe even much too firmly. The doctor just looked at him without saying anything for a few moments.

"Alright, then. But remember — do not hesitate when there are problems. We're here for you, and we can help." Soul nodded yet again, this time slower. "It was a pleasant conversation. I hope we would be able to meet someday as ponies, not as a doctor and a patient. Good day to you, young stallion."

Sirius nodded, stood up and left.

The conversation he had left confusion and disorder inside him. On one hand, he was pleasantly surprised — the psychologist was not how the former human expected him to be. He wasn't intrusive or annoying, he was honestly caring and obviously liked his job, liked helping ponies. It was the first impression the former human got.

However, Sirius wasn't going to trust him — he was just too much a stranger. Sirius had no fear of strangers or doctors, but he disliked both for the same reason he disliked most of humanity, including himself. Pony or not, they had intelligence, and trusting someone who can speak or even understand him wasn't a very good idea in his mind.

***

"I suppose I understand your case now." the dietitian said after Sirius returned. "It seems your body lacks protein, which is vital in many bodily processes. Judging by the presence of long canines and the fact that the magical scan you had passed at the beginning tells me even more, it is apparent your digestive system is omnivorous, capable of consuming many other kinds of food regular ponies can't process. Thus, you need meat to sustain yourself." the doctor tapped her chin. "So... You can get fish and chicken eggs in the griffin shop at the edge of the city. They deal in meat and other protein-containing animal products." she handed him a piece of paper. "Here's my prescription, it will allow you to get some food free of charge. It should be enough to sustain and develop your body. The prescription also includes the certain address of the place you need."

"Thank you." Sirius nodded, securely packing the prescription in the belt.

"Alright, good luck to you, young stallion!"

As a storm raged outside, Sirius found himself sitting at a window and looking in the rain. As he discovered, the only books the local library had were of medicine, and he had no interest in it. He discovered a decent cafeteria, which he then proceeded to metaphorically raid for food, which was of mediocre quality but still sated him.

It was predicted that the storm would last until morning, and thus beds were prepared for the students. However, they had no intention of going to bed yet; instead, they chatted their time away and played different games, including tag, hide-n-seek, and some other games.

Sirius, however, continued to sit and stare out the window. He didn't feel like doing anything else. All those ponies, maybe with an exception of Iclyn, didn't matter to him at all. He preferred solitude over fun. He didn't mind fun with a close circle of people, but with total of more than five? He lacked both willingness and courage to make such a huge step of socialization. He wasn't and couldn't be ready for it in all of his short life full of problems with different people, including those he thought he knew well.

"Hey, Sirius?" he heard someone calling him. He turned his head and caught Wave Rider in the corner of his eye. "Um... Wanna play some Truth or Dare?"

Sirius thought. Maybe he should, especially if it considered ponies around him. He could make up whatever they would ask him about, and he would be able to learn more about his classmates, which might prove useful in the future.

So, the question was — should he take the chance or ignore those ponies?

Author's Notes:

I suggest that you, my dear readers, answer the last question. Should Sirius play or should he not?

Tell me if you think he should and why he should, and if not — tell me why he shouldn't. I'm interested in seeing how well you can understand Sirius and his actions, not to mention how he can use information to get benefits. However, you should remember that he is hiding the real truth down below, deep inside his wretched mind.

So, should he do it or not?