Hyacine

Intro "Slowly spread your wings... yes, just like we did last time. Breathe deeply together with the doctor, okay?" "Relax a little. It's all fine... hmm, your wingspan has grown! You've been eating well, haven't you?" The candlelight cast a warm glow on the fluffy little head as the girl picked up the pony and gently placed it on the scale. "Don't worry. Soon you'll be just as tall and strong as the other winged beasts, okay?" Putting on the stethoscope, the girl began her examination. As she touched the pony's side, she felt a new "wound" beneath its ribs. "You're hurt?" She gently stroked the pony's wings, carefully stuffing cotton into the loosened crack before taking out a needle and thread. "It'll hurt a little, but don't worry, my stitches are steady..." "You've been training too hard again, haven't you? Because so many people keep telling you about your mother, your grandmother, and all the great ancestors? How they could soar into the sky with a single leap, and how they could shatter rock with a single charge?" "Everyone expects you to become a hero like the thunder itself, but no matter how much you train, it feels like you only let them down..." "Like you're completely different from them..." The pony remained still, its dark, glossy eyes gazing out the window. The thunder that tore through the sky still echoed in the distance, a storm stirred by the heroes of the sky city and their winged beasts. "Let me tell you a secret... I'm just like you..." In that lonely, dimly lit ward, the girl, bedridden for so long, clutched her doll and needle, practising for the hundredth time the medical techniques her father had taught her. "But maybe... a different kind of light has its own meaning too..."