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“You did WHAT?!” Starlight screeched.

“He’s just a male!” Fluttershy echoed.

Amelia could only wince at these words, glancing around to see various other mare nurses and doctors walking by, some shooting her a stink eye. She looked around for a moment more before holding her hands up. “Look, we thought it was a good idea to have a sparring match,” she started to summarize. “Unfortunately, my… anger got the better of me….”

“Anger? What the hay would make you angry at him?” Starlight queried, frowning at her.

The NetNavi sighed. “It was an issue I started to notice in my-” the woman stopped, her expression freezing a moment before she took a deep breath. “In my previous dimension. In combat, I would start to get angry until I couldn’t focus anymore and was no longer aware of my actions. Over time it got easier to control, but….” She trailed off as she diverted her eyes away.

Fluttershy and Starlight shared a look, then sighed. “Just...try to be more careful, okay?”

The Navi closed her eyes and nodded. “I won’t let it happen again,” she murmured, looking up again. “But that does mean I’m going to need more practice.”

“Absolutely not,” said a familiar female voice. They looked to see the same doctor who’d been in charge of the Navi standing there, adjusting her glasses over her black dappled snout. “Mr. Hamin has a broken nose, several blunt force lacerations, and multiple broken ribs. I cannot advise more ‘practice’,” she made air quotes with her hooves. “Until he heals fully, and even then I’d prefer you refrained from such dangerous activities. The poor thing barely knows how to fight, and he shouldn’t need to in the first place.”

“I meant with something a little less alive than Hamin,” Amelia replied with a roll of her eyes. “I’m hot-headed, not stupid. To spar with him while still not completely in control of myself could end worse than a trip to the hospital. I could actually end up killing him.” The Navi let that expression fade as she looked at her hand as if there were an invisible stain. “That’s not something I want to repeat anytime soon.”

“Repeat?” Fluttershy asked, frowning.

The dark Navigator closed her eyes tight for several seconds. “...There was a scuffle in which I lost control,” she all but whispered, eyes glued to the floor, hands trembling slightly as she clasped them together. “From what I analyzed later, I cut off my opponent’s wing and they broke their neck in the fall. Even serving in the military on my Earth, that was the first time I actually took a life… and I didn’t even mean to do it….”

Silence reigned for a time, and when the Navi looked up, she saw the eyes of those around had softened a fair bit. The doctor sighed. “Alright. I’ll leave that matter alone for now.” She cleared her throat. “I came here to let you all know how Mr. Hamin is doing.”

“How is he doing?” The NetNavi asked, genuine concern in her voice as she looked up again.

“Well, he certainly doesn’t like being confined to a bed, I can tell you that much,” The good doctor let out a light snort. “He’s also apparently not fond of being hospitalized, but, other than that, he should make a full recovery in about two week’s time.” She levitated a clipboard up to her face, flipping through it. “Our magic thankfully works well in tandem with his biology, so good news there. Though what we found most peculiar is that his magical signature, when we ran our initial tests, labeled him as an adult dragon, yet also something akin to an Alicorn, which is preposterous.”

Starlight and Fluttershy blinked once. Twice. Starlight then cleaned her ear, as if thinking she’d misheard. “I’m sorry, but...what?” Fluttershy nodded her agreement.

“Even I’m a little in the dark here,” Amelia admitted, casting a quizzical look at the mare. “I may not have ever met any adult dragons, but Alicorns are nothing new, and an Alicorn he ain’t.”

The doctor shrugged. “This is just what we could gleam from our magical analysis of him. However, he did mumble something while we carried out the test, now that I think about it. Something about a Dragonborn?” The doctor shook her head.

It was Amelia’s turn to blink before sighing and putting her face in her hand. “Motherfucker…” she muttered to herself, wiping her hand over her face. “Well, that explains the dragon.”

They all looked to her.

“Do you know something?” Fluttershy asked.

“If he’s Dragonborn, then he has litteral dragon’s blood flowing through his veins,” the woman explained, looking up. “That probably explains how he was able to knock me out of my rage.”

“...WHAT?!” the three mares cried.

The woman winced and shook her head at the combined shout. “Maybe now wouldn’t be the best time to mention he gains power by devouring dragon souls….”

“
” they cried again, louder, eyes wider than should be possible and manes fraying. The doctor even dropped her clipboard.

“Cut it out!” Amelia shouted in return, holding the sides of her helmet. “Look, the only way we know for sure is to run tests on whether or not he can perform a certain kind of magic and, if he can, how powerful that magic is.”

The three mares tried to calm down, each of them taking deep breaths.

“O-Okay, so, he...can devour souls…?” Fluttershy asked, looking to Amelia with pleading eyes.

“It’s more accurate to say ‘absorb’,” the Navi elaborated, rotating her fingers in front of her. “But exclusively dragon souls, and really the only dragons that got absorbed were hostile and planning to cause global annihilation.”

“Okay, you’re literally just making me freak out more here,” Starlight said, sitting on her plot and fanning her face with a hoof. “Please back up and explain more fully.”

“I second that statement,” the doctor said.

“Okayokayokay,” the program answered, waving her hands. “In the lore of the Dragonborn, they are heroes of dragon blood whose purpose is to defend the world from a dragon named Alduin. Alduin and his followers want only to wipe the entire world clean and rebuild it in Alduin’s image. The Dragonborn hunts down Alduin and his followers, killing them and absorbing their souls so that he may better use their power to protect the world.” She stopped and looked over each one of them. “Is anyone following me?”

“Somewhat?” Starlight said, wobbling a hoof.

“I’m a little bit more confused. I’ve never heard of a dragon called Alduin before, and I used to study history,” the doctor said, adjusting her glasses.

“S-same here,” Fluttershy meekly agreed. “M-minus the whole history thing.”

“I’m not surprised,” Amelia agreed with a shrug. “Considering the story I just told you comes from a video game. I wouldn’t believe it either except,” she paused and activated CyberSword, the blade extending into the air, “video games seem to be a common theme with us.”

They all blinked, then sighed.

“Well, that helps,” Starlight grunted. “Sort of.” She shook her head and looked to Amelia. “So, these Dragonborns...what’s so special about them other than being able to steal power/souls from dragons?”

“They’re typically stronger, faster, more durable, and heal much faster than your average individual,” the Navi listed, extending a finger for each item. “Then there’s their magical ability and the Voice, a form of spoken magic. That’s what gets more powerful through dragon souls, as dragons are masters of Shouts.”

The doctor hummed, picking up her clipboard again. “That would explain why most of his wounds are healing so fast...normally things like this take months for ponies to heal from, but we just chalked it up to his biology…”

Fluttershy raised a hoof. “What are Shouts? And what is the Voice?”

“The Voice is what people call the magic of dragons,” Amelia explained further, the thought of how the Graybeards feel each time a player rolls through striking her. “Shouts are basically the spells of the Voice. Phrases like ‘Fus Ro Dah’ and ‘Yol Toor Shul’ are spells projected by your voice. Each spell has different effects and the more words you know of a phrase, the more powerful the Shout.”

“I imagine there’s more to it than that,” Starlight mused. “I mean, just saying the words seems too easy.” For emphasis, Starlight said, “Fus Ro Dah,” and nothing happened.

Amelia chuckled a bit. “That’s because you have to have dragon blood,” she replied, an amused look on her face. “Or be taught by a dragon, or taught by someone who already knows how to use the Voice. Otherwise, any two-bit con could use it.”

“I see…” The doctor mused, rubbing her chin.

“Still though, what about the whole Alicorn thing, Doctor...?” Starlight asked, turning to the doctor.

The other mare blinked, before chuckling. “Oh, sorry. I’m Doctor Heal Pulse.” She adjusted her glasses, smiling. “Anyways, from what we gathered, he has what seem to be dormant runic tattoos all over his body.” She flipped the clipboard over, showing them all a picture not too unlike an x-ray of the ‘tattoos’ that ran all across his form. “Those seem to be one of the sources of the Alicorn-like magic, but his signature seemed to go beyond even that. To what degree we can’t know without further testing, but when we asked him about them he said he only knew of something similar called ‘Will Lines’. He then later said it would be impossible for him to have them, though.”

“And now I’m back to being just as confused as the rest of you,” Amelia admitted. “I have no idea what any of that means.”

Heal Pulse shrugged. “We can figure that out later. For now, I’d simply suggest making sure that he does not strain himself and give him some time to heal. He should be able to move within a week and a half, and as long as he does not strain himself, he should make a full recovery in the aforementioned two weeks.”

“You’re the doc, doc,” Amelia replied, giving a little stretch. “I’ll help make sure he doesn’t do anything to aggravate his wounds. It’s the least I can do considering I inflicted them.”

Heal Pulse nodded. “Good.” She checked her watch, frowning. “Shoot. I have to get going. See you all later, alright?” She then trotted off briskly without any further words.

Starlight sighed deeply after the doctor left. “This is gonna be quite the headache to tell the Princess’.” She groaned. “Much less Spike.”

“I honestly think Spike might take it alright,” Amelia thought out loud, now leaning back. “He seems pretty level-headed. And once we explain that it’s video game logic, it might help curb any fears he has.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Considering how he and Button and Sweetie have bi-weekly game nights, I wouldn’t doubt it.”

Starlight blinked, looking to Fluttershy. “He does?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Mhm.” She quirked a brow. “Have you really not noticed?”

Starlight sighed, slumping. “I think being the Headmare and hanging out with Trixie on top of all this has made me too busy to notice…” She shook her head. “Anyways, let’s just give Hamin some time alone for now. I think he needs to sort out his thoughts.”

“I’ll bet he does,” Amelia agreed, letting out some air. “It’s not every day you learn you have power that can match gods.”

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