Sirius was left to his own devices once Iclyn departed to transport her belonging to the mansion. He was happy inside — he wouldn't be so alone in the mansion. While there was Flora, a rather kind mare that is nice to be around with, she was way older than him and thus not a companion he wished for.

In boredom, he decided to check what the TV could show. He unbuckled himself from the wheelchair cart, and then flopped onto the sofa in the living room. Sighing in relief, he used his magic to get the remote. He was surprised to find such an advanced piece of technology in the medieval-looking country. Though, he was glad it was there.

He pressed a button, and the TV turned on. The image was colorful, albeit the quality wasn't as good as he was used to seeing. Though, it was still pretty good.

The first channel displayed news. It wasn't something Sirius was interested in, so he pressed a button to move on to the next channel. It was a music channel, and a music not unlike electronic one he used to hearing on Earth sounded from the speaker. He wasn't interested in it either, and so he switched to yet another channel. This time, it was the channel about nature. A mare was sneaking on a crocodile, trying to take a better picture. The next channel was showing an advertisement, and Sirius immediately switched. He never liked commercials. The next thing to pop up was an animated show. It showed simplified images of ponies, and everything was colorful and cartoonish, certainly not unlike the early cartoons on Earth. It was a show about six pony friends who discovered more about the value of friendship and overcame different challenged and obstacles on his way.

Surprisingly, Sirius found it somewhat enjoyable. The simple, somewhat naïve, and yet so truthful presentation was what caught his eye. He used to watching a lot of cartoons during his childhood, and remembering his earlier years of life made him smile slightly. As in the show, everything was so innocent and so colorful, untainted by the horrors of the real world he had to face later.

So, the former human spent some time enjoying the show. The episode that was playing at that time showed as two ponies competed for the title of the best one, but ultimately found that each had their advantages and disadvantages over the other, making the argument obsolete and pointless. The episode taught how friendship isn't built upon competition but acceptance of others. It also managed to elicit a couple of chuckles from Sirius — he liked a few jokes thrown into the mix.

Overall, his mood was greatly lifted after he watched the episode of that show. He noted the channel, and then turned off the TV. As much as he enjoyed himself during the little watching session, he realized he was tired. His strength and endurance were both lowered by his coma, and he had to make sure he got enough rest to replenish them.

He tiredly stood up from the sofa and buckled himself to the wheelchair cart. Then, he made his way upstairs and entered the bedroom. Unfortunately for him, his stomach decided to voice its concerns over its yet unfulfilled need. Sirius didn't want to deal with it but understood that he needed food.

He felt it would be tiresome to use the wheelchair, and thus he took it off and placed in the corner of the room. He went back, limping along the way.

As he came to the stairs, he made his way down carefully and slowly, making sure he controlled each and every step. He made it without any accident, and then limped to the kitchen.

He looked inside the fridge. There were quite a lot of food to choose from, and he decided to grab a carrot, a few cucumbers, bell pepper, a bottle of apple juice. Outside the fridge, he found a basket full of apples, and grabbed some of them as well. He added a few slices of brown bread as well.

He discovered there was a folding table. He unfolded it, and then found a chair for himself to sit on. He hopped on it and rested his damaged hind leg.

Having no desire or will to prepare any meal, he just washed the items he found in the sink, and then ate them fresh and uncooked. He devoured the food quickly, and then downed the bottle of juice in one go. He let out a small burp, and then sighed.

He had apple cores and a glass bottle to deal with. Not caring for anything, he ate the cores, and then placed the empty bottle inside the fridge. He would figure out what to do with it later.

Sirius stood up from the chair, folded the table, put the chair back where it was, and then limped back to the stairs. Once he made his way to the second floor, he went to the bedroom and flopped onto the bed. He yawned tiredly, and then almost immediately fell asleep.

After Iclyn gathered everything she needed, she told the receptionist she was moving elsewhere.

In truth, the pegasus filly didn't have many personal belongings. A few books, hygiene things, everything she took to the school on a daily basis, and a few photos. It was all that she had and felt the need to move to her new place.

She wondered what she would do in the mansion. It was rather big, it would certainly allow her to stretch her wings even inside, which was a big plus to her. There was also a training program that would help her train outside the school. Overall, the mansion had everything she needed.

As she flew to it, her mind turned to Sirius once again. What would happen between her and him? Obviously, he was confused. There was something else to it, too. After she confessed her feelings, Iclyn saw something in his eyes. Was it fear? It could be so, she thought. Did he fear a closer relationship? He already told her he didn't want to hurt her, and he even told her how he had hurt his previous romantic interest. However, Iclyn felt there was something deeper, something more than the fear to hurt.

Did he fear... love? Could he even understand love? Of course he could — he even told her that he used to love someone else. There was sadness and regret in his voice as he told her how he treated her. True, he was possessive, at least according to his own words.

Iclyn was sure there was something else, something hidden deep inside his mind, something he didn't even want to remember. What was it? Even committing a murder didn't affect him as much, though Iclyn could tell he wasn't right ever since the wedding, even not counting the physical damage he suffered. There was something worse than murder that affected him in a horrible way.

But what was it? Iclyn feared that the discovery would separate her from him. She promised herself she would help him, but even then she wasn't sure if she would be able to stay until the end. The more he revealed himself to her, the more she saw the bad side of him that overshadowed his good side. There was definitely some good left inside him, but it was buried deep underneath all the pain, fear, anger, and hatred.

Iclyn just had to help him rediscover that he wasn't a bad person, just damaged. She believed all damage could be fixed. While some might remain and remind of pain, it could still be dealt with. Every experience that Sirius had passed made him who he was, and Iclyn was sure he could still change. It might take years, but he would eventually change. She saw he wasn't stubborn, he could admit he was wrong, and he definitely could learn from his mistakes. He had those redeeming qualities, and there was still hope for him.

Finally, Iclyn reached the mansion. She landed in front of the main building and headed inside.

This time, everything was silent. As the day came to evening, the lighting became dimmer and dimmer, submerging the surrounding into gentle darkness.

Iclyn decided to unload her belongings first. Most of them would go to the bedroom, but some things would better stay in the bathroom. So, she made her way upstairs and into the needed room. She turned on the light and found the place to put her hygiene care products in. After leaving them there, she went for the only existing bedroom in the mansion.

She opened the door gently and peeked inside. There, Sirius was lying on the bed, sleeping soundly. His eyes were closed, his chest rose and fell as he breathed. Iclyn decided not to disturb him and just join him in his sleep. She put down her saddlebags and went to the bed.

Iclyn stopped and took a look at Sirius. He looked tired. She could even notice that there were gray strands in his mane, making him look older. While his mane was still rather short, almost a month of no shaving made it long enough for the gray to be visible. The filly didn't know if it was there before but it definitely was there at that moment.

She walked around the bed and looked at him from another angle. The back of his head featured a fresh scar. It resembled an upside down V with slightly jagged edges. The fur would eventually grow there since the scar already looked rather well, only its fleshy color distinguished it from the rest of the head.

Iclyn sighed in relief — Sirius wouldn't be left with another scar for the rest of his life. He already had a share of them, and in her opinion, he didn't need any more scars. While they didn't make him ugly, they were reminding him of how he received them in the first place. At least it was what Iclyn thought.

Her eyes trailed to his right hind leg. It looked alright from that angle, though she knew Sirius would limp for the rest of his life — the damage done to it rendered it irreparable.

Iclyn remembered the details of him getting the injury, she remembered what was there after he used the revolver on Chrysalis. Sirius was lying on the ground in his own pool of blood, unconscious. Chunks of bone protruded from his broken hind leg, making even more blood flow out of his body. His eyes were closed, blood plastered across his features. His weapons were lying around: both his blades were covered in blood that wasn't his, and some smoke was coming out from the recently used revolver. Dead silence rang in the hall as everyone stood silently, frozen in shock.

Iclyn remembered the next few hours in haze. First, she was galloping towards Sirius, fearing he was dead. Next, he was carried on a stretcher to the hospital, and Iclyn cried, walking nearby. Then, she was forced to stay away for a while as the doctors brought him back together. They had to reconstruct his hind leg as it was shattered in many places. They had to ask for blood donations, and it was discovered Iclyn had the same type as Sirius. There were minor differences, but it was safe to use her blood. Without hesitation, Iclyn gave the needed amount. The process made her sleepy, and the next thing she was made to do was eat a lot to regenerate the blood. But in the end, it saved Sirius' life. If not for her, the doctors would have to search for another pony with the needed type, and unfortunately the ponies had plenty of blood types, making it a hard task to accomplish. There hadn't been injuries that would require so much attention, and that was why there wasn't readily-available blood on the go.

Iclyn didn't care about it as long as Sirius was alive. She had to wait more than a week to be able to talk to him again. It could've been months if he even survived the loss of blood in the first place.

She could still see fresh scars on his damaged leg. They were still fresh as the scar on his head, but they would heal even sooner, thankfully.

Iclyn got onto the bed and lay next to the one she loved. She hugged him in his sleep and nuzzled him softly, giving him the warmth he so desperately needed, the warmth he lacked for more than a week. The pegasus filly found the comfort enjoyable, and she could see why Sirius needed it as well.

She didn't know if physical closeness made her fall in love with him in the first place. It was a weird thing — love. Sirius was very different from Iclyn, and yet she loved him. Her heart ached as he lay in coma, Iclyn could remember it well. While the two might be different, she hoped the relationship would work out for both of them.

Iclyn would start it by showing how much she actually cared about Sirius. He was damaged and he needed help, something she definitely could provide.

She was sure the road to recovery would take long for Sirius, but it would certainly be worth it, she didn't doubt it.

Iclyn was full of hope and determined to do whatever she could to help Sirius change for the best.

Author's Notes:

As far as I know, horses' blood types are way more complicated than what we humans have.

So, will Iclyn be able to convince Sirius that love isn't a bad thing? Remember, he thought about it in the previous chapter, and how he sees love isn't exactly true or nice in any way.