Visual

[hattrickery]

Oh, look, it's Hayate. The view from the scroll really only shows her face, almost as if she's deliberately hiding the rest of her body.

"So, uh....hi! Hello, Ponyville, it's great to be seeing you all again, after Tirek and all the...unpleasantness that followed after his defeat and all...You'll note that I didn't get power drained! Couldn't...he couldn't manage that, heh."

An awkward pause, strangely not accompanied by the sound of rustling feathers.

"No, uh, he...he kind of broke both my wings, instead. It'll...it'll be a while before I can fly again."

Hayate moves her scroll out enough to reveal that both her wings are indeed broken.

"...And then, you know, I got turned into something I'm not, not anymore, and...I dunno! I didn't really like being human, because I'm a pony! I'm supposed to be a pony, right?"

Hayate sags a little, even her ears drooping.

"And it's like...all this has been really hard on me, and...I dunno. Anybody feel like having a chat?"

Comments

[hattrickery]

There's a small twinge when Hayate starts to reflexively spread her wings in greeting, but whichever doctor splinted them in place knew what they were doing.

"...you got any chamomile?"

Her voice is far more subdued than usual.

[tinkertytonk]

He has to set everything down, then peers at the lids where the pony at the teashop has written down what everything is. Bertie tries to move quickly. He saw that twinge and just seeing her wings as they are, up close, makes his own ache in sympathetic pain. Seeing them also makes him pull his own a little tighter to his body.

"Green, Earl Hay, blackberry, chamomile! Here we are." Bertie picks one of the cups up and holds it out to her. "Sorry, I really should have asked. I suppose I can, er... share the rest of these out in a bit.

"How have you been holding up, though? Did the doctors say how long they'd be in splints?" And if she'd ever fly again?

[hattrickery]

"Ah, thanks."

Reaching out, she accepts the cup of chamomile in one hoof and sits down, inhaling the aroma before taking a slow sip. At Bertie's question, she tenses a little before deliberately forcing herself to relax.

"I'm...coping, I guess? And the splints...they're coming off in a month."

There's a note in her voice that suggests she heard the unvoiced question at the end.

[tinkertytonk]

Bertie picks out the Earl Hay and frets quietly as he sits back on his own haunches. He'd hug her if he were the hugging sort. He's also not sure if that might tip her over some edge into tears if he brought his wings into the picture.

"A month? Well, we've spent years here, what? Hardly the blink of an eye!" It's an eternity. He knows that it will be an eternity for someone who's spent over a year hopping into the air whenever she'd like. Still, the stallion smiles at her, trying find the right words. They aren't coming to him easily.

"And you can always hop up on my back if you're needing a lift," he offers. "Have you been up in the clouds since you got those on?"

[hattrickery]

Hayate takes another long sip of tea, deliberately delaying her answer.

"I...thank you for the offer, but...I can probably cope."

The slight hitch in her voice at 'probably' hints that she's not sure of that herself.

[tinkertytonk]

Further fretting is had as at the hitch. Bertie really doesn't want her to start crying, though he thinks he might feel a bit like doing that himself in similar circs. "Probably should never do for my dear sister!" he says, loudly, brightly, trying to cover over any gloom.

"We'll get you one of those propeller thingummies if we've got to. Just until your wings are healed properly. Or have Pollo build you a new set like he did for that little toy car Andrew's got."

[hattrickery]

"NO!"

Despite the ferocity of the exclamation, Hayate doesn't look angry so much as...scared?

[tinkertytonk]

Bertie's ears flatten as he starts a little bit, wings fluffing up. "A-all right! We haven't got to get you anything." He covers the awkward silence by taking a gulp of very hot tea, but tries to withstand the scalding.

"Um... any reason why?"

[hattrickery]

...oh hey is she crying?

Yeah. Yeah, she's crying.

"T-the splints will c-come off, and, and...I'll fly all over the place! I will! S-so...so don't you dare TREAT ME LIKE A CRIPPLE!"

And now she's just breaking down into ugly, wracking sobs.

[tinkertytonk]

Oh, dear God. Bertie sits there, stricken for a moment, then chucks his tea aside so that he can wrap his forelegs around her in a hug. Is a hug what he's supposed to be doing? Is he going to get punched? He has absolutely no idea.

"There, there! I'm not- I didn't mean it like- You're not a cripple! You're not!" She might be a cripple, but he's hardly going to mention. "It's just, um... it's just like a crutch. That's all I meant. When you break your leg, you use a crutch until you get better."

[hattrickery]

Slowly, Hayate's sobbing decreases as Bertie fumbles his way through an explanation. Slowly, almost unwillingly, she laughs.

"...idiot."

Returning the hug, she kisses Bertie on the cheek.

"My wonderful, foolish little brother...thanks."

[tinkertytonk]

The laughing is better. Calling him names is a little annoying, but Bertram Wilberforce Wooster has been called far worse than 'idiot' in his day. And coming from a girl he cares for, it sounds almost affectionate, really. He'll allow it, not least because it seems to be helping with the tears. The kiss to his cheek makes them color in embarrassment, but calling him brother a moment later helps.

"Think nothing of it, my dear!" One last squeeze, and he lets her go, smiling lopsidedly. "So, um... what do you want to do, then?"

[hattrickery]

Don't be too miffed, Bertie - she said it with love❤.

Her smile wavers a little at the question, but she tries to put her thoughts in order and reply.

"I...don't know. If...if I didn't have my duty to think of, I'd...probably just hide in my room until everything was healed and then pretend it never happened..."

A slight pause.

"...wow, that sounds...really bad, doesn't it? Selfish."

[tinkertytonk]

Bertie laughs. He can't help it, the sound coming out sharp and strained. "Well, I'm glad I'm not the only bird who'd like to be about that sort of business." The stallion reaches out to her with his wings brushes her mane away from her face with his wingtips before withdrawing when he realizes that's awfully intimate.

"After I- after what happened with young Pollo and those shadow thingummies hurting us, I was rather keen to keep to the house. I'd been healed, you know, but I didn't feel very much like I had. And when I stopped hiding, I did everything I could to forget it." A rueful smile as he looks away. "Some days I still try to when it all comes back, when someone touches my wings when I'm not expecting or some poor blighter with red magic starts up nearby. It's all right to be a bit selfish. But you'll get through. You've got friends to help you."

[hattrickery]

Hayate is very silent for a long moment after Bertie finishes speaking.

"...I'm sorry."

[tinkertytonk]

"What?" Bertie cocks his head in confusion. "Oh, don't apologize, old girl! I just mean to say that even if you've got hard days ahead, it'll be all right. Just as all right as it can be. You're Equestria's guardian angel. We'd be lost without you, and we'll do our very best to buck you up on the rougher days."

[hattrickery]

'We'd be lost without you' - the words strike Hayate like a bolt from the blue, and she spends several moments staring at Bertie with a sort of stunned sheep look. Slowly, however, her lips curl up into a faint smile.

"Ah, well then...I'd better make sure I'm always around to lead the way, huh?"

[tinkertytonk]

A warm smile spreads across the stallion's face as he picks up another cup of his many teas to sip. This one would, apparently, be raspberry. "That's the spirit! Brave heart, my dear Hayate. You're the best angel we've known here." Also the only angel they've known apart from Angel Bunny, but that's to one side.

"What would the princesses say, if some devilish sort turns up and they haven't got you to call on, eh? Or what if Harvey goes absolutely mad and starts using that magic you taught him to set everypony ablaze? We'll need you heaving to to set things to rights by water, land, and sky!"

[hattrickery]

Despite herself, Hayate giggles.

"Harvey'll be fine. He's doing really good with his magic, actually."

[tinkertytonk]

"Is he? I'll have to ask after it. Well... just so long as we're not at the Commune for the fire bit." He wrinkles up his snout. "How the deuce did we manage to set the poor place on fire more than four times in two years? I know young Bertram's got a certain talent, but I didn't think it was the sort to rub off on other ponies."

[hattrickery]

Hayate shakes her head.

"I'm not even sure what's up with the Commune anymore. I'd think it was some kind of vengeful spirit, but I haven't seen one even when I went looking."

[tinkertytonk]

Bertie's brow furrows. "You... actually went looking for a vengeful spirit?" He'd been joking. The fact that she hadn't found one is encouraging, but that she'd made the effort. "I know there are poltergeists and whatnot in Equestria, but do vengeful spirits really exist?"

[hattrickery]

Hayate's voice is...somber.

"It happens to ghosts that build up a lot of resentment; it's why I need to be proactive in escorting spirits to the other side."

Her ears fold back as she remembers what happened to Jona's father.

"It can get...messy, otherwise."

[tinkertytonk]

That sounds like there's a story there. One that isn't pleasant. But perhaps there are pleasant stories of seeing spirits onward? "What does it all entail, then? Grabbing a hoof and flying them to the right place? Or... do you talk with them? I think I'd be a frightfully reluctant ghost." What with the possibilities of where he'd be headed in the afterlife still being what they are. Possibly.

"Oh... I say! Isn't that sort of meant to be the Pale Pony's job. The real Pale Pony's, I mean. The little car thingummy Andrew's got said something about an alicorn beazel snagging spirits and trotting off with them."

[hattrickery]

"Well, assuming they haven't gone bad..."

Hayate trails off, thinking.

"Honestly, I don't escort them. All I do is have a chat with them - so many people just want to put their lives in perspective, and then I just open the way and off they go."