#aqm

After quickly composing herself, Aurora spent most of that nodding diligently, adding “yes ma’ams” here and there. She was taking it all in expecting her to go into another one of her rants But she stopped short and simply gave her the keys for medical. Aurora stood up straighter. “I won’t let you down ms.Redheart. When you get here in the morning it’ll be just how you left it, I promise!”

Nurse Redheart squinted her eyes. “Riiight, I’ll be holding you to that you know. I hope you still remember what happened last time you left a mess for me in the morning.” Aurora visibly shivered at the thought.

As Aurora shook her head she noticed Nurse Redheart was already heading for the door. “Good night ms. Redheart! I’ll see you in the morning.” Redheart waved to her as she left the office. With the office now in her hooves and having nothing else to do, Aurora sat back in her chair and pulled out her book, and started reading.

Night passed as uneventfully as Aurora thought it would. She was enjoying it though, sitting back reading while casually taking bites of the cake her sister Eclair made for her shift.

Nice and calm.

The door to medical slammed open as two guards barged in with somepony on a stretcher, bandages wrapped around their face. From the pained moans he was making it sounded pretty bad. Aurora’s eyes shot wide as she jumped out of her skin for the second time tonight. She quickly ran over to her station and waved them over. The guards set the wounded bat on the table. “He’s hurt pretty bad doc. I wasn’t allowed to know what had happened on orders from director Brass Tax. All I know is it’s pretty bad damage to his eye. We were told to leave him with medical and report back.”

Aurora’s mind was going a mile a minute as she tried to process what she was being told. The guards started to walk towards the door when Aurora came back to reality. “W-wait you’re just leaving him with me!?” all she got was a yes ma’am before the door closed behind them. “Oh dammit why tonight while Redheart is out? Oh we’ll just leave you this seriously wounded guy with no explanation of what caused it! It’s fine you’ll figure it out’.”

As Aurora was pacing in circles panicking, the bat pony spoke up. “Miss I don’t suppose you have any painkillers. Not to rush you or anything but this does hurt pretty bad.”

His comment snapped Aurora out of her panic. “I’m so sorry! I’ll get started right away!” Grabbing a nearby by bottle of painkillers, she shook out two pills and grabbed a little paper cup and filled it with water.

Aurora gave him the medication and pulled over her tray of tools and supplies. “ That should help ease the pain while I get started working on your injury.” He took the meds as Aurora cutaway the bandages to see the injury for herself. Getting through the layers of bandage she started to see the part where blood was soaking through. Most of it was around his left eye area, primarily on the eye itself. Once the last of the bandage was carefully removed she was able to take stock of the damage. It was bad. He had a deep gash in an upwards direction that started just beneath his eye and crossed over the eye itself, ending just above the eye. He also had a cut on his cheek that would probably scar but it was the least of her worries. Without even needing to take a closer look she knew his eye would never work again. The cut was incredibly deep, and she could make out parts of the eye that had been completely destroyed.

The work she had to do could not be done while he was awake, that was for sure. “Sir I’m going to need to put you under for this. It’s going to be a while and I can’t have you moving an inch.”

He nodded as best he could. “Got it. The names Nox by the way, and I’m assuming it’s pretty bad?”

As stoic as he was trying to act, Aurora could tell he was feeling nervous and worried. She grabbed the small mask that was hooked up to a canister and placed it over his muzzle. “Don’t worry Nox, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Now just try to relax and let the anesthetic do its job.”

Nox tried to say something along the lines of ‘I trust you’ll do fine, what Aurora actually heard was “Ib truffulduu fiii” before he passed out completely. With Nox fully sedated now she was able to start her work on repairing all the damage to his eye. As her work continued she found that, while the eye was a lost cause, the damage didn’t go any deeper than the eye. The socket was fairly intact with only some light superficial damage. The cut above and below the eye would scar for sure but it would also heal up rather quickly. The cheek cut was a little deep but didn’t pierce it so the mouth was safe. Once the area was clear she stitched up his cheek as for his eye, she had to sterilize it since it was just one big open wound. Once the eye was sterilized and sealed, Aurora put a large patch bandage over it with some antibiotics to keep the area free from infections.

Her work was done at this point, nothing left to do but watch over him and change out his bandage when needed. She only wished she knew him other than just his name. Aurora would usually try and contact friends and family at this point but Aurora figured she’d just have to ask him when he came too.

A little over 2 hours had passed when Nox finally woke up again. Aurora heard the sharp inhale come from him as the painkiller was wearing off. Aurora quickly hopped over to Nox to check on him as she reached him she also got another dose of painkillers and some water in case he needed it.

Nox rolled over to lay down on his stomach rather than on his back. He reached up to rub his eye reflexively when Aurora quickly swatted his hoof away. He looked at her as she blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Heh, s-sorry about that, just habit. Um…please don’t rub your eye, I don’t want the stitching to come free. Oh and don’t move your face muscles too much. And don’t lay on your face… Just try not to do much with your face at all really.”

Nox laughs a bit before giving her a much more somber look. “I wanna know though, how bad was it. You mentioning that it’s stitched probably means I won’t be seeing out of this eye again right?”

Aurora sighed. “The eye was completely gone. No matter what I could have tried it was never going to heal. Luckily the wound wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”

She paused for a moment before asking the question that’s been eating away at her for the whole process. “I have to ask…What exactly happened? I mean it’s not every day sompony comes in here with a real injury and your’s was really bad.”

Nox giving his neck a rub tried to look anywhere that wasn’t Aurora. “Honestly I can’t actually say. That information is kinda lock and key if you know what i mean. The best I can give you is that I was asking the wrong questions in the right places and not covering my tracks very well.”

Aurora’s eyes lit up a bit. “Oooo, that sounds so cloak and dagger! Are you a spy or…a… Right can’t tell me. Regardless try and be more careful, Nox. If whoever did this was able to do the damage they did they probably could have killed you.”

Despite the pain in his eye Nox tried to ease Aurora’s worry. He gave her his honest attempt at a genuine smile. “It’s not as bad as it looks”

Aurora was trying to prep his replacement bandage she looked over at him with a knowing and worried look. “I’m not sure you’re a good judge of that right now.” She finished readying the bandage and slowly removed his current one. She was happy to see that her work was holding and there was no sign of additional bleeding or infection. With his bandage replaced she figured now was time to ask about friends and family to contact.

Aurora put away the supplies she was using and grabbed a quill with paper. “So Nox, I need to fill out who to contact, friends, family, that sort of thing.”

Nox smiled but Aurora could feel his slight dis-interest in the subject. “Well most of my friends probably already know, or will know pretty soon. As for family, I have a sister named lavender. She’s probably at home so you can send a runner to my address. Don’t bother filling out the space for parents, Mom’s dead and I have no interest in seeing my waste of space father again.”

Aurora felt a little bad from the sting on the way he said ‘father’. “Got it. I’ll send for your sister right away. For now please just try and get some rest.

Things had finally calmed down again. Aurora was now sitting back next to Nox reading her book while he got some much needed rest. Two chapters into her book and Nox sound asleep at this point, things were good.

The door to medical slammed open once again. Aurora jumping out of her chair in a panic and only managing to end up sprawling on the floor. Nox meanwhile jumped to his hooves in a defensive stance. When Aurora looked up she saw a young, wide-eyed, lavender coloured mare standing in the door looking frantic. When she spotted Nox, she let out a gasp before sprinting over and taking him in a seemingly bone crushing hug.

The lavender mare let go of Nox but still kept him in her hooves. “Sweet stars! Are you alright!? What happened!? Who did this!? Are you going to be able to see again!? How long have you been here!? Do..”

Before she could go on Nox gently put his hoof over her muzzle. “Calm down, Lavender. It’s alright! I’m fine thanks to Aurora over there.” Aurora still reeling at the situation, just raised a hoof and waved.

Nox gave a calm smile and continued. “There was a complication with work. Sadly that’s all I can say, and it’s for your own safety. But all you need to know is I’m fine now and it’ll be okay. I’ll be honest, I won’t be seeing out of this eye again. But before you say anything, I knew the dangers of this job before I jumped into it.”

Lavender let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I know you’re okay and that you knew the risk. It’s just..just.” She once again threw her forelegs around Nox but in a much softer hug. Tears started to stream down her face as she cried into his shoulder.

Aurora finally got up went walked over to close the door, giving the two a bit more privacy. She also decided it was best just to go sit back at her desk on the other side of the medical office and read to give those two some time together.

A little while later and Lavender finally let go. Watery eyes looked up at Nox. “Please never scare me like that again. You’re the only family I have left, and I don’t know what I’d do if ever you didn’t come home.”

Nox was softly petting her mane. “Sis you know I can’t promise that…But I can promise to try my very best to make sure that never happens. Remember, if anything like that ever happens to me, Glacial’s already said she’d look after you in a heartbeat.

Lavender clearly didn’t like the idea, but she grit her teeth and nodded. She let go of Nox and walked over to Aurora. “Thank you for taking care of my brother, Aurora. I really appreciate what you did.”

Aurora giggled a little at Lavender’s timid thanks. “No problem sweetie, it’s why I’m here. If you’d like, he’s free to head out with you. Just make sure to keep him balanced until he gets used to only using one eye.”

Aurora then looked over at Nox. “And you, remember to check on your eye in the morning and look for any signs of infection. Also if you start feeling any pain, remember to take your medication. For any other problems, you’re welcome to come right back.” Now dropping her more serious tone in favour of a softer one, she continued. “And please try and take care of yourself out there.”

A swift nod and thanks from Nox and the two of them headed out, leaving Aurora once again in a silent and calm medical office. And a rather messy one now that she looked at it, probably should have been cleaning in the down time.

Aurora was just about to start cleaning when for the third time in that night, or rather unfortunately dawn now, The door swung open. Once again startling the hell out of Aurora as Nurse Redheart flew into the room.

Her eyes scanned the room and then immediately landed on the now prone Aurora. “What in tartarus happened last night!? I hear that an intelligence operative is wounded severely and in your care, the office looks like a disaster, you didn’t feel the need to contact me about something so drastic, AND you’re just laying on the floor!”

Eclair’s time in Prance was not as fun as she had hoped it to be, much of the opposite in fact. Eclair loved her home back in Canterlot. Despite being from a family of pure blooded bat ponies, her family wasn’t wealthy. In her household, they’d decided to simply live alongside the other races of Equestria, rather than flaunt their genetics. But in their modesty, they still had a nice house just outside of the main city of Canterlot. She missed waking up and helping her mom bake for their small bakery. She missed having to drag Aurora out of her bed after a late night of studying for medical training. She even missed her dad’s annoyed rants about the “stuck up'' pure blood nobles looking at him funny. 

Here in Prance, every day was long and not quite pleasant. It wasn’t from a language barrier or anything; Eclair had a very good understanding of Prench, and most schools in other nations taught Equestrian standard as the official second language. What had really started to get to her was the culture. People were more reclusive, keeping to themselves most of the time. Eclair and her sister had been taught by their mom to always try to make friends wherever they went. The two of them took that to heart and would always strike up conversations with anypony they found themselves standing next to. Here though, they just gave her odd looks anytime she tried chatting with someone she waited in line with or passed in her school. On occasion even going as far as to mock the ‘silly foreigner’. 

Eclair did take solace in the fact that she was almost done. Two long years of studying in Prance were coming to as close as their final assignment closed in. 

And Eclair was in full panic mode. 

Eclair had never been bad at baking or decorating, far from in fact. But even though she was good at what she did, she had no idea what to make for her final presentation. She knew that the ponies back in Canterlot loved fine foods from all over Equestria. But she also knew that the ponies who lived in Canterlot castle, the place she wanted to work, preferred seeing stuff that was more locally classic, but with a flare from other nations. It was Eclairs hope that she could really master the art of making Prench spins of classic Equestrian fair. However anytime she made something like that, the teacher would insult her dish, saying it was “An insult to Prench cuisine,” or “A failure to understand the finer things.'' It was frustrating to say the least, but she had pushed through it this far and wanted to finish. 

The problem was that her teacher had assigned each of them a recipe to carry out, and she had even stopped to tell Éclair specifically to make it the actual dish and not “A peasant’s rendition.” Aside from feeling insulted by her remark, Eclair was in a panic as she tried to figure out how to make her dish special, but traditionally Prench. The dish in question was eclairs, She figured it was her teacher's version of a joke. As to say that if she did poorly, she failed her own namesake. 

Eclair flipped through one of her cookbooks frantically and pausing every once in a while to compare recipes with those from another book she had found in one of the campus libraries. As she tried desperately to find a good starting point, a pony she only knew in passing sat down next to her. The pale pink unicorn with a two tone red and silver mane that she knew as Étoile Rouge, or just Rouge because it was easier to say. 

She wore a nervous smile. “Your name is Eclair right? I saw you grabbing a bunch of books for baking and I was wondering if you wanted to swap ideas for the assignment.” 

Eclair was honestly a little shocked, because for the entire time she was at the school, her interactions with other students had been either occasional small talk or some of them being rude to her. “Yeah, and sure, I’d love to work with you! …I do have to ask though… Most ponies haven’t really approached me the whole time I’ve been here. So why now?” 

Rouge looked rather embarrassed. “Well to be honest, I don’t think it’s personal for most ponies here. You see, in this part of Prance, ponies are really reserved. It’s a culture that exists in many of the larger cities here. For example, I come from a rather wealthy family from here and growing up, I was taught to reject anything seen as unrefined or uncouth. For most it means that we often shy away from foreign ponies as we can’t really gauge you. For others, they’ve actually grown to resent ponies like you as inferior.” 

“Hmm, well that explains a lot. Honestly I kind of feel bad for you. Does it ever bother you that you need to look at everypony under a microscope, rather than just giving them the benefit of the doubt and having a conversation?” 

Rouge’s expression turned a little douer. “Yes, every day.. Don’t get me wrong, I love many facets of my life here in Prance, the art, the music, the food... But I’ve always felt like I didn't belong. Then you came here and I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of what you had. And to answer your original question, I was hoping to get a chance to really learn about you and Equestria’s heartland as a whole.” 

Eclair blinked. “Sooooo, you’re saying that you want to be my friend?” Rouge blushed and nodded. Eclair was smiling widely. “Yes! Finally I can actually talk to somepony. Help me figure out a good recipe for my eclairs and I’ll tell you everything about back home!” 

Rouge gave a sheepish grin. “Actually could you also help me with a recipe for cupcakes that’s like something you would make in the Canterlot region? I know our teacher won’t really like it but I already have great grades and I would love to learn about your cooking.” She then paused for a second. “And wait a minute, She’s having you make eclairs? Seems a little mean.” 

Eclair laughed despite the stress. “I know right? And I’d love to show you some of my recipes!” 

The next week was by far the best week Eclair had during her entire stay at the culinary school. She finally had somepony pleasant to talk to, and she was making real progress towards a final product her teacher might actually like. She had come to really see Rouge as a friend, and through her, she learned more about Prance as a whole. Getting to see the country through Rouge’s eyes made her see why she had trouble fitting in. It actually felt similar to when she was a filly going to a nice school in upper Canterlot. The parents there would make snide comments about her befriending “lower class ponies” and acting improper for a “pure blood”. Only now, she couldn’t really escape it, She was, however, experienced in just dealing with it. 

Eclair wasn’t the only one learning from the unlikely pairing. Rouge had always felt out of place in Prance, and the more she listened to Eclair talk about life back in the heartland of Equestria, the more she longed for a life like that. She had also been learning to put an unorthodox spin on her dish that she knew their teacher would hate, but her grades were already stellar and she was guaranteed to pass anyway. 

It was the last night that they had to work on their assignments and both of them had a final recipe ready for the morning. It was finally time for R&R as the two relaxed in Eclair’s dorm room. Eclair was packing up her stuff since her airship would be leaving the evening after the teacher graded her final assignment and decided whether she passed or not. 

She looked over at Rouge writing a letter. “You know it feels like they’re really trying to shove me out the door. I mean do I really need to leave the day of my final? Can’t I have like one more day?” 

Rouge sighed, also dreading losing the one pony she felt like she really got along with. “It’s how they usually run it. They aren’t exactly eager to keep foreign students in Prance for longer than needed. It mainly comes down to old grudges really.” 

Eclair stopped packing for a moment, really starting to feel the sting of having to say goodby. “I’m gonna miss you Rouge, and we better keep in touch.” 

She just smiled back at her. “Oh don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t forget about me. Now come on, you should be packing. I mean, we do need to be getting some sleep soon.” 

The moment Rouge turned back to the letter she was writing, she felt Éclair throw her hooves around her in a crushing hug. Startled and blushing she launched her paper and quill across the room before settling. After their hug, they shared a laugh as Rouge then needed to go pick up her papers and practically pull her quill out of the wall. 

The next morning was a blur as Éclair flew around her workstation, sometimes literally, putting her dish together. She had made a recipe that was far more Prench then how she normally made her eclairs, but it would definitely buy her more points with their teacher. All that stress and testing would finally pay off as she pulled the finished product out of the oven and put it together with the chocolate and filling. 

She brought it before her teacher, brimming with excitement. The teacher simply gave her a stern look. “Eclair perhaps you should save your excitement until after I’ve tried your dish. And if you truly want that certificate, this better be an improvement on the other parodies you served to me before.” 

Eclair deflated as the gravity of the situation flooded in. She silently begging her teacher to like the pastries. Otherwise, the last two years would have been for naught. She watched with bated breath as her teacher tested the dessert, watching for any change in expression or sign that she had done it. 

Finally, the teacher put it down, made some notes, then looked at her. “Well Eclair, I must say, you have actually managed to impress me. This éclair actually tastes comparable to something made here in Prance. I asked that you show me improvement and you have. Keep baking like this and I’m sure there is a bright future ahead of you. You’ve passed.” 

The teacher signed off on a certificate with Eclair’s name on it and gave it to her. Eclair silently and respectfully took the now rolled up certificate in her wing. “Thank you miss. I’ll keep improving.” 

She made her way out of their classroom and into the hall. The moment the door was closed though, she started jumping up and down. “Yes! I did it, I’m finally done!” 

Rouge had been waiting outside for her to finish. “Congratulations Eclair!” 

She ran up and now she was the one hugging Eclair. The two stayed there for a little while talking about the final. Sure enough, the teacher was rather displeased with Rouge’s dish. Asking why she had chosen to throw away all her knowledge and make something so uncouth. All Rouge did was smile and tell her that she was mixing things up a bit. 

As much as both of them wanted to stay and chat for the rest of the day, Eclair had to get ready to leave. Rouge stayed with her all the way up to the skyport and they said their goodbyes as Eclair boarded her airship. One fifteen hour flight later, and her airship was arriving at the Canterlot skyport. Eclair had made it just into the main building when she got her welcome. 

“Eclair!!” She suddenly felt her hooves leave the ground as a dark blue blur slammed into her. Now sprawled on her back, her wide eyes looked into the equally wide eyes of her sister Aurora. She was quickly pulled up into a hug. “Oh I missed you so much! We have so much catching up to do, and I wanna hear all about your classes, and try all your new recipes, and I’ve gotta tell you aaaaall about my job at the castle!” 

Eclair hugged her right back and started telling her about her time in Prance. Some of it was a bit of a shock to Aurora, hearing about the unfriendly nature of the ponies she was meeting. 

“I’ll have to tell you more over some coffee when we get home. And I definitely want to hear about how your placement in the castle clinic is going.” Eclair started dusting herself off. 

Aurora clapped her hooves together. “And you’ll bake me some of your pastries that I’ve been missing for two years?” 

Eclair laughed and ruffled her mane a bit. “Yes, I’ll bake you one of your favourites. Now come on, I’m sure mom and dad want some time together too.” 

“Oh, and you aren’t going to introduce me?” Eclair’s spun in place to see Rouge standing a little bit behind the two of them, carrying two suitcases in her crimson magic. 

Eclair looked at her in disbelief. “Rouge? What are you doing here!?” 

Rouge walked up to them so she could put down her bags. “Well I told you about how I feel back in Prance. And that letter I was writing the night before you left was to my family, a sort of formal declaration of my moving to the Heartland to pursue my passion. They’ll probably be livid, but I don’t really mind. All I want is to work in some small bakery here in canterlot.” 

Aurora took the chance to speak up. “I know a really cute little cafe in lower Canterlot looking for a baker!” 

Rouge smiled at Aurora. “I assume this is your darling sister you told me so much about. If I remember right, your name is Aurora.” 

Aurora blushed a bit, hearing that Eclair had been talking, which usually meant she told the embarrassing stories. Not really saying anything, she simply nodded to Rouge. 

Rouge hopped over and threw her hoof around Aurora’s shoulder. “Well I’d love it if you could introduce me to the pony who runs it! In fact, How about you give me the directions and I’ll meet you two there at five for coffee?”