Pain.

From tinkering with chemicals, to scalding hot metal, Iron had become accustom to the feeling over the years. Though all of it was his own doing for the most part, it left him still with a rather high tolerance of the sensation. Seldom did he take pain meds, or even cold medication at that, the colt usually just left things run their course to heal up.

In his mind, it made him stronger in the end, as it forced his body to adapt and change.

That said, when the colt was forced to take medication by a doctor, or it was injected in him while he was out cold from whatever injury. It typically left his mind trailing behind in what seemed like a different dimension, while he skipped along his neurons’ path.

‘Oh this is just… great…’ the colt stretched out in his head, letting the subtle magical energies flow through him, as he could feel the mind it had working all on its own. ‘Maybe this is why I don’t do drugs?’ Iron pondered in a mind all on his own, ‘I probably wouldn’t stop.’

Though with him finding the most comfortable position he could in his head, something began ticking along in there with him. Not loud enough to disturb the colt should he pass out again, but just enough to draw his attention, as Iron could feel his eye twitch from every tick that went by.

‘I’m going to k-il-l-l whatever that is.’

Silently, he could feel his body twitching more and more from the steady tick of what could be described as a metronome. First it was his eye, then followed by his jaw, and soon the rest of his body followed suit as he rested. Beckoning the colt to do but one thing…

Wake up.

Steadily reading the reconnaissance reports of the crash site. Egyes sat there by himself in the med ward, just across from the colt that still laid there sleeping his pain away. He didn’t wish to try and wake him, as far as he was concerned, Iron would come around when he’s ready.

“Any change?” another voice asked as the stallion walked in to check on him.

“Nothing yet…” Egyes answered the colt, making another glance over to the bedridden stallion, “maybe if we both leave he’ll wake up sooner, like he did with you?” the two of them chuckled for a moment, before Freefall checked the clock on the stand next to Irons’ bed.

“It’s almost midnight now, and I haven’t slept for shit,” Free said quietly, drearily rubbing his eyes after being up sense his return from the field, “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go hit the hay. Want me to bring you something to eat before I go?”

Waving the offer off with a claw, the gryphon continued looking in to the reports, “Na… I’ll be good,” he answered, picking up a mug of coffee, “besides, I’m enjoying a good story before bed.” He held up the report for his friend to see.

“I’m going to break that fricken clock…” they heard a hiss from the bed, as the colts’ eyes slowly started to peel open, “Seriously? Who puts a clock next to a pony who’s trying to sleep?”

“Well… I was going to ask how you’re feeling,” Free said as he and Egyes got up to meet Iron by the side of his bed, “but considering you haven’t lost your humor, you’re doing rather well?”

Iron ran a steady hoof across his face, wiping his eyes clean of the sand that started to cake on their edges, “I’m high as a kite right now, so I suppose I can’t really complain…” he started to giggle, though quickly stopped when he realized that even with the meds. The pain was very real out here in this world, “Ugh… Is this what it felt like for you?” he asked his winged friend.

“Meh… more or less,” Free answered while he read Irons’ face, knowing what broken bones looked like on a stallion. “Though I had someone heftier to catch me, that said, I still gotta give it to her,” he looked over to the bed next to them, “She seemed to have done her damndest to help save ya.”

Iron turned his head to meet the one he had to thank, and laying right there, was Princess Grace. A few bandages trailed over her body, from what he could see above the covers, but for the most part she looked unharmed. Battered, bruised and bloodied in some places, but alive none the less. Slowly a smile started to grow on the colt, as he realized that his final move before they landed, may have just worked to save her life.

Better him crunch in to the ground, than her land with him on top.

“How long have we been in here?”

“Couple days now…” Egyes explained, “you two landed in a farm a few miles from the capital, actually on top of a barn to be more precise.”

“Hell that’s the reason you were able to get in here so quick,” Free commented, “the farmer came out originally to watch the airship crash just off part of his property, when he saw two figures go through his barn.” The Pegasus looked back over to Grace, noting her injuries for what was probably the dozenth time across her lilith frame. “I’m still wondering how you managed to take most of the brunt, while Grace here nearly walked away unscathed.”

“Because he’s a idiot…”

Grace slowly but surely rolled her body over to meet them all face to face. Stretching out as best she could, the subtle wincing of her eye told them all they needed to know that the mare wasn’t completely in the clear. Though as she looked at the two standing with a smile, it grew ever wider as she looked to the one in the bed beside her. Before it turned to a playful scowl.

“You brought your back to the ground, hoping to break my fall under you?” she asked rhetorically, never paying attention to the faces that the colt was getting from his friends for his actions, “was your suit supposed to be more comfortable?”

“Oh I’m so sorry your majesty,” he held up a single hoof, “would you rather have dealt with the barn then?”

“Well next time we’re tumbling through the air to our death, I’ll let you know.”

“Planning to try and kill me now, are we?” he raised a brow to her.

“What?” the mare asked sounding surprised, “and miss all the glorious adventures that seem to follow you along?”

“I told you then, and I’ll tell you again,” he paused, grinning from ear to ear, “I don’t hear you complaining…”

From that alone, Graces’ face went red as she started grinding her teeth in to one another, staring daggers at the colt. However, those blades of hers were dull, and even with the most serious face she could managed. It didn’t last long given the nature of the two, and shortly both bedded parties were sniggering back and forth with one another. Leaving the other two present to just look back and forth for answers.

“Okay so you both seem to be fine then…” Free answered for himself and Egyes, before turning his attention to the gryphon, “you see what I mean?”

Not missing a beat, the gryphon started nodding vigorously, as he tried to suppress a smirk of his own. “Oh I see it as clear as crystal…” Egyes watched as Iron and Grace snapped their attention to the two of them, “Would be cute, now wouldn’t it?”

Those words alone, told Iron all he needed to know about what the two were talking about, and soon his own weapons were staring down his winged friend. As Free tried to look as innocent as possible to him, “Free… I will kill you,” Iron hissed.

“Na, you’d miss me too much,” the Pegasus stuck his tongue out at him.

“Okay before we go about trying to slit one another’s throats,” Egyes held up the report in claw, before dropping it on the table between the beds. “Would either of you care to hear what has happened sense you were out?”

“Fire away there, Egyes,” Grace said calmly, as she settled herself, and calmed the fire burning on her face.

“Well, for starters… the gryphon leaders that took Rhorkins’ place, after his untimely death,” he looked to the colt that was there, “have called for peace. Their army’s devastated in terms of moral, weapons, and even personnel for that matter.”

“But there wasn’t even a large scale fight with the gryphons?” Grace brought to light, “how did they lose enough soldiers to pull out of a fight?”

The gryphon leaned himself against the bed, preparing himself for the rather gruesome explanation, “Being around Bronze, I’m assuming you got the chance to see some of her toy soldiers?” the words alone brought up memories of herself in her bedroom, having beaten the empty helmet off one of them. With the shocking image still fresh in her mind, Grace simply nodded to him, “It would seem that before Bronze left the kingdom to fly here, she let off one last spell…”

“A spell the likes of…?” Iron asked curiously.

“She wanted to wipe the slate clean, by any means necessary,” he emphasized those words of the mare, “all her automatons were scattered between the gryphons, the DDR, and what she probably brought with her to attack Boralus… though upon her command, they were set to kill everything,” Egyes let that sink in for a moment, before he picked back up.

“I saw them myself turn on other gryphons, and even that drake that was once under your command…” he pointed to Grace, never uttering his name, “they ripped them apart, and the few that were left over after the crash did the same thing to some of those that searched the area, before they were brought down.”

“And it’s not just the Gryphons,” Free took over from there for him, “we’ve gotten word of the same thing happening over in the republic, troops being slaughtered by the very soldiers that were created to help them… or so they thought.”

“And what of the crash?” Iron asked, leaning forward to them as much as his body could allow, “What else did you find there?”

Egyes looked to Free for a moment, before nodding to him, “Nothing,” the gryphon answered, “it was a burnt out husk that still smoldered by the time any patrols got there. The weapons were nothing more than twisted metal from the heat, any gem stones that brought the thing to life were long detonated from the blast…” finally Egyes got to the part Iron was looking for, “and there was no trace of the mare either.”

“That fire melted away most of the metal, and just fused it to one another,” Free answered Irons’ unasked question, “any trace of her that was there, is now part of the machinery that she created.”

Irons’ mind stopped there, as the three continued talking about what was found or remained of the wreckage. Tuning them out, he turned his mind to the mare, as he tried to think of any avenue she could have taken to get out of her own fireball. But with her wings clipped, and drained from the fight from what he could tell. Bronze was in no position to lift a claw, let alone escape a combusting airship. Though, instantly his mind jumped to but one thing.

Looking on either side of him, the colt finally realized he wasn’t in his armor any more. Dotting his eyes around the room, thankfully he soon rested them on the very piece of hardware that saved his skin a number of times over the last several months. All the nicks and dents he would have to repair, the weapons he could add given the ideas in his head, and the improvements he could make. It all started to make his mouth water, but one thing caught his attention.

“Her wings…” Iron pointed out, as the others stopped talking, “Where are her wings?” he asked as he looked at the barren back piece.

“Oh, those had broken off as you were hauled in here actually,” Free commented, looking over the pile of metal, “they were left with it when I was last in here, but were probably scrapped by one of the doctors when they had to remove your suit.”

“Well now… that’s a damn shame,” Iron looked at his friends’ back, or more so his wings. All the damage they went through from Reinhart, he could still see under the wounds that healed. From the subtle twists or chinks in their form, to the missing feather to two, he knew they wouldn’t carry the Pegasus very far in the future.

“What are you thinking?” Egyes asked.

“Kinda throwing the idea around of making a prosthetic pair of wings for Free,” he stated, watching as the pony in question just rolled his eyes at the comment, “What? You saw how well they worked for Bronze, what could it hurt?”

“I don’t feel like having my wings shoot out rockets, or ray spells, or damn daggers…” he shot his friends idea down, “so to answer your question, Me.”

Crossing his hooves with one another, Iron pouted at him, “Party pooper…” his mind started to wander once more to a different mindset, “Though that doesn’t mean I couldn’t make a pair for my suit…”

Grace looked at the suit herself, which admittingly, she was grateful for him having at the time. Otherwise she would have woken up to the news of his death, instead of his sarcasm. ‘I’m still trying to figure out which one I would prefer…’ she pondered in silence as Iron and his two friends continued chatting with one another. Though the more she looked at the trio, and to the colt in question, the more she already knew the answer.

“…He does seem to grow on ya,” she muttered under her breath.

The doors of the ward opened up, and in came a young unicorn colt making his rounds for the night. Checking off notes on a clip board he held in front of him, he got to the beds before realizing that the two had finally come around.

“Ah, good to see you two are awake,” he took a respective bow towards his princess, “welcome back your majesty.”

“It’s good to be back,” she replied, gesturing him to get back up, “though I guess the next question would be when could we leave here?” Grace felt the many tinges of pain in her body, and could only imagine what Iron was going through, but the question still had to be asked.

Flipping through their charts, the unicorn did some quick mental math as he calculated and added their injuries up to something they would understand. “Whelp, for starters… it’s a wonder you two are alive.”

“…Shocker there.”

“Don’t be rude, Iron,” Grace silenced him for a moment, as the colt did as he was told to her surprise. Before she turned her attention back to the nurse, “Ignore him, please… continue.”

“As I was saying, Princess Grace your wings have sustained quite a few tears from the crash,” he looked over the diagram of a Pegasus wing for reference of the notes, “along with similar cuts and bruises. However, the tears are just muscular and will heal in a few days, just keep from flying all that much. The rest is just superficial.”

Flipping the chart on the princess over, he looked over the colts’ injuries, and that’s where his jaw line started to cringe all on its own from the many details that were listed. “Ahh you’re a whole different story… Mister Knight is it?” he waited for the colt to look at him, “you have about a dozen torn ligaments across your entire body, several fractured ribs, a severe concussion, multiple burns from exploded magical gems, and a missing horn…”

That last one on his list Iron had been waiting for, though as he was about to lay in to the colt, a single stare from Grace silenced ever thought he had. Sighing heavily, Iron looked back up at the nurse and changed his statement, “Not the first time I had to live without a horn really,” he pondered the thought from his earlier years, “Will I be able to at least walk soon?”

“That I personally would say yes to, the tonics and potions that are literally being pumped in to you,” he pointed to the several IV’s that dotted around the stallion, “have been helping to heal you up quite nicely. Though you will still have a few months of pain and discomfort before you’re completely healed.”

“And…” Grace wanted to ask, “what of his horn?”

“That will heal just as fast as his ribs will, which will take the longest. It is just bone after all, and will be of use to you once more when it’s done,” the nurse answered sincerely, “I’m still learning as a med student, however the doctor tomorrow will be able to give you a more formal and in depth explanation of your injuries, though I still see both of you out of here in a few days…” he looked over Iron once more, “that said, I would still recommend somepony keep an eye on you for a bit, just to be sure that concussion doesn’t come back to haunt you.”

“He’s already delusional,” Egyes pointed out, having figured that much about the colt already, “how much worse could it get?”

“Still, it couldn’t hurt…” the nurse remarked, ignoring the glares that Egyes was getting from the stallion in question. As Free and Grace relished in their friends’ demise, “for now though, I would say wait till morning and get some rest for the time being. The doctor will see you then.”

Hanging their clipboards up on the foot of the beds, the nurse turned around and walked out to continue his rounds. Leaving the four there to themselves. Though with the night finally taking its toll, Freefall yawned wide at the prospect of sleep, knowing that his friend was going to live to fight another day.

“As I said earlier though, I’m going to hit the hay,” the colt stretched from where he stood, resting a gentle hoof on Irons’ bed. Giving him a gentle embrace with what remained of his wing, as the colt gladly returned the gesture, “glad to have ya back, have a goodnight you two, take care Grace,” he turned his attention to the mare before parting ways.

However, as science has proven, yawning is contagious. With Egyes soon following the stallion, his eyes started to droop even after the cup of coffee, and it wasn’t long before he said his own parting farewells to the two. Now only the two remained in the room, awake, but more drained than they felt before. Surviving that much will take a lot out of ya, as Iron and Grace found themselves laying their heads back down on their pillows.

Yet with them now to themselves, Graces’ mind was left to wander, and it found one thing she hadn’t quite gotten to say just yet. Given the current circumstances, “…Iron?”

“Yes, Grace?”

“…Thank you,” she whispered enough for him to hear under her soft breath, “Thank you, for everything.”

Although she wasn’t looking, Grace could feel the colt smiling back at her, and the only confirmation she needed. Was his next words, “Remember, It’s what I’m here for…”