A Troublesome Life

The few days, I couldn’t help but think what it’d be like if I had gone to Rarity’s first. I’d probably have gotten the job. Then, I remembered: I didn’t have the spa job full-time. I got a good salary from the spa; but still. I decided that before I went to the spa, I’d ask Rarity if she needed any help. I trotted towards the boutique. As I was walking, I hummed a little tune. I stopped when I saw something odd out of the corner of my eye. I turned and… well… how to explain this without scaring the youth? Hm… bah, screw it, I can’t. I turned, and saw a pack of timber wolves eating… something. I couldn’t tell what it was, but they tore the flesh from the bone, and ate it as if it was the tastiest morsel. I saw it, and instantly felt fear. What if they’ll come for me next? I remember it saying in the journal that timber wolves can regenerate when they are killed or disassembled. I had no clue how to face them, so I tried to keep my distance. One of them turned to me. I instantly hauled ass and ran like hell. I could smell its foul breath, and I could hear its steps behind me. I heard a few of them roar, and I could hear more join the one behind me. I know two things: 1) Sure you could dismember it, and slow it down, but 2) the timber wolves will remember you, and come back for you. I tried to think of ways to get rid of them. Shit, shit, SHIT! I thought. Let’s see, I can dismember some of them, but it’d take too long, and another would pounce… maybe if I tantalized them… what do they like more than meat? The thought struck me, and a wave of hope came down. Zap apples! They love zap apples! Then the hope drained as I realized zap apples weren’t even growing anymore… they were old, and grew a while ago, but, due to the taste, most ponies ate them until no orchards were left. I continued to run.

I remembered something; yelling. It gets ponies’ attention, and makes them look for what’s going on.

“SOMEBODY, HELP ME! PLEASE!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. My voice cracked a bit, but who gave a shit?! My life was on the line! I heard a CRASH and a clattering. I made the motion of looking behind me, and saw one of the timber wolves was missing its head. It dropped, and fell apart. A wave of relief hit me… and then oaken teeth sunk into my rump. I bucked at it. I heard a crash and clatter. Two down, four to go, I thought. Then the pain hit me, and I fell to the ground with a yell, holding my flank where the wolf sunk its teeth into. The bite was deep and it was quite heavily bleeding. I looked away; in an attempt to not go into shock. Okay, it’s not so bad, you’ll be fine. Only a little bite, like that one dog gave you when you were little. It’s only a scratch, you’ll be fine. I kept trying to reassure myself, and then I remembered the other wolves. My head shot up, and I looked in the direction we had come from. There was a pile of twigs, branches, leaves, and sap. At first I was confused, then I tried to stand. Pain shot up my back, and I fell back down with another yell. I heard another clatter. I looked up, and my eyes widened in horror:  for the piles began to glow an ominous green, and went into the forms of six timber wolves.

“Well, it was a nice run.” I would’ve said if I were a much braver, and  more witty stallion, I yelled something more on the lines of “F***! AH F***, F***, F***!” And, I usually don’t use that word unless I’m really angry, or I’m extremely terrified. One of them got up, and jumped unto me. I tried my best to keep it at ground, but it bit into my left fore-leg. I yelled in pain, and kicked it. My vision began to swim at the sight of my blood pouring from my for-leg. I tried my best to fight it off, and gave it a hard head-butt. My vision swam, and my head throbbed. The wolf’s head blew apart, and the rest of it clattered to the ground, and on me. My vision began to go as the others crowded around me, growling, and giving me some eyes that I could only think was hunger. Then it went black.

~~~~~~~~~~

Well, when I was in this blackness, I had a few thoughts; where the hell did those timber wolves even come from? What was it they were eating? Where am I? Am I dead? Am I in purgatory? Hell? Heaven? Nirvana? Am I waiting to be reincarnated? Which of these are the real after life? Where will I end up? I wonder if I’ll be a bee, or maybe a dragon.

After hundreds of thoughts, my eyes began to open, and a relief hit me that I’m not dead. I heard the sound of a constant beeping. I tried to move, but only twitched a bit. I tried to open my eyes more, and a harsh light blinded me. I shut them again, and slowly opened them, trying to get them to focus.

I looked to my left; a heart monitor, and to my right, a window, and a nurse.  I realized my left eye was covered with… something. My hoof began to rise to it, and pain shot up my fore-leg. I let out a yell, and dropped my hoof. The nurse must’ve jumped at the sudden noise, because I heard a gasp, clatter, and a thud. I looked over, and confirmed my suspicions; the chair was tipped over, and the nurse was on the ground. She looked up to me, and smiled.

“So, you’re awake?” She asked.  I looked around, and looked down at my body. I had a patient’s gown on, and my body was bandaged and wrapped in a few areas. My head thumped against the pillow, and I let out a grown.

“So, what happened, why is my head bandaged, and who saved me?” I asked. She looked at me in surprise. I suppose she hadn’t really known what happened.

“Well… uh…” she checked a clip board.

“You had multiple bites that were very deep, and you’re left fore-leg was broken from a large amount of pressure that we could only assume was from the creature that bit you. “ She read from the clip board.

“And, my eye?” I asked. I was truly curious to why it was patched. I wasn’t conscious when it happened, obviously.

“Well, you had a large bite across the left side of your head, and there was a large amount of bleeding.” She looked up from the clip board, and saw my terrified face.

“Don’t worry, your eye is fine.” She said with a reassuring smile. I let out a sigh of relief, and slumped my head back unto the pillow. Then I went back to my earlier question.

“And, how about who saved me?” I asked her. She looked up, and smiled.

“There were three ponies who brought you in.” She said. I thought of who they could’ve been. I was near Rarity’s, so maybe she was one of them? Also, someone fast… fast enough to destroy those timber wolves… Rainbow Dash? Probably. Who else? I was stumped on who the last could’ve been. Oh well, I’d find out soon, no doubt.

“How long have I been unconscious?” I asked. After all, I was very curious. She checked her notes.

“Let’s see, they brought you in at 9:00 a.m. … so…” She did a few calculations, and checked the time.

“Two days, and three hours.” She said perkily. My eyes shot open, and I jolted up-right.

“TWO DAYS?!” I screamed in disbelief. Again, she fell over. After all, to find out you’ve been in a slight coma is very shocking news. I started to wonder if my payment was docked, and how worried I’ve made everyone, and how much time I’ve lost! I once again seemed to grab my chest. I was about to go into shock, then I felt the nurse’s hoof on my shoulder her. I turned to her, and she was looking into my eyes worriedly. I started to breath slowly, and tried to calm myself.

“Sorry, it’s just… it’s very shocking.” I said. She smiled at me, and it made me feel better. You know when nurses act nice to you to try and make you feel better, and it usually never works? Well, it worked this time.

There came a knock at the door, and a few ponies entered; Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie. They all had faces of worry, then faces of relief when they saw me… and then back to worry. They started asking me if I was all right, and they asked the nurse the same question. Pinkie gave me a ‘get well soon’ cake, which, I haven’t a clue where she got it from. Of course, we all ate it. Who doesn’t like cake? After a while, I decided to ask them the important questions:

“Who saved me?” I said it so grimly that everyone stopped and their smiles faded.

“What?” asked Twilight. I took a deep breath

“I said, who saved me?” I repeated. Dash flew onto the end of the bed, and stood triumphantly.

“I did! I was the only one fast enough to take out those timber wolves while they chased you! Oh, by the way, not only did you run pretty fast, but you screamed like a little filly.” She said, laughing. My ears slumped, and I think I may have blushed. Do I really scream like a filly? I thought to myself.

“Well, thanks.” I said. Somehow, I think the only reason she saved me was so she could be in the spotlight. Either that… or she’s just willing to help out friends. Wait a second, she’s the element of loyalty, of course she’d help out friends. Another question that had some significance:

“And, where’d the timber wolves come from anyways?” I asked, in a bit of a lighter tone. Twilight was the one who spoke up.

“Well, there is a large amount of timber wolves in the Everfree Forest. Sometimes they’ll leave the forest… but mostly when following prey, or during zap apple harvest.” She explained. I laughed a bit at the zap apple part.

“But, sadly, zap apples haven’t been around for years.” I stated. Twilight’s head tilted.

“Actually, Apple Jack has a whole orchard of them. Sweet Apple Acres is the only place in all of Equestria with zap apples.” She said. My jaw dropped, and I closed it. This was new news.

“So, they followed prey… I suppose that’s what that carrion they were eating was.” I said. Dash looked confused.

“Carry on what?” She asked. My shoulders slumped, and my ears did too.

“Dash, carrion, not carry on. Carrion is-“ I tried to state, but I was cut off by Twilight.

“Carrion is usually a corpse, or some sort of carcass of an animal… or… pony.” She said, pondering the last part. We were all thinking about it. We didn’t know what to say.

“If you don’t mind” I began, “can you please go and see what it was? I am very curious, and-“I gestured to my body, “-I cannot go on my own.” I stated. Twilight nodded her head, and Dash flew out of the window. We waited for her to get back. We chatted amongst ourselves for a few minutes, and Dash flew through the window.

“Good news and bad news.” She started. “Good news; it’s not a pony.  The bad news; Fluttershy will be sad about a missing chicken.” She said. We all let out a sigh of relief. I smiled and looked up.

“Well, I wish I could leave but I-“ The nurse spoke up.

“Actually, you can leave. You’d just have to be in wheel chair.” She stated with enthusiasm. I perked up at this. I looked to my friends with pleading eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I was rolled out of the hospital in an un-spectacular wheel chair. I was being pushed by Dash, who, I could tell wasn’t enjoying it. It made me feel a bit better, though, I’m not sure why. Every once and a while, a pony would walk up to me and her, and ask what happened. I decided to speak up to Dash.

“Hey, Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” I knew that I’d never be able to thank her enough. She’d saved my life.

“Eh, it’s fine.” She said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. I knew it wasn’t, but I wouldn’t push it anymore.

“Also, take me to the spa.” I said with a small smile. She looked at me in a bit of disbelief.

“The spa? Really?” she said. I turned to her and smiled.

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“Well, it’s just that I wouldn’t see what I guy like you would need to go to the spa for.” She said. Wait a moment…

“What do you mean a ‘guy like me’?” I was truly curious. She blushed a bit.

“Well, it’s just that you seem kinda… cool.” She said. Well, this was new news. I laughed, and decided to tease her.

“The great Rainbow Dash: admitting someone else is cool.” I said sarcastically. She punched me in the shoulder. I laughed, and she did too. Then we went into the spa.

I asked my bosses about my pay. And sadly; I will not be payed while I healed up. And, I had decided; if I get a job at Rarity’s, I am going to quit the spa. It wasn’t a place that I liked, after all. The work hours were good, and I got to hang around mares, but, the thing is, the pay wasn’t good, and, frankly, my bosses where… well… bitches. I don’t mean that harshly, it’s just that they are very mean to me, and wait for me to mess up so they can punish me. I hated it, to be honest. A few days of working there, and it was almost un-bearable. So, I then told Dash to take me to the Carousel Boutique.