The Night Rider

Braeburn ran; he didn’t care if his hooves stung in the snow or if his shoulders ached. He NEEDED to get into Ponyville as soon as possible! Over his back was the limp figure of a small mare, her baby blue and lemon yellow mane falling softly over his flank.

Finally, he entered the town with thundering hooves, blonde mane flying behind himself and his hat just barely staying on his head. “Anyone? Help!” He called into the streets, and many ponies turned their heads to see a coatless stallion, looking weak and hungry, standing over a limp mare on the ground with a protective expression. “Please!”

A whole group of ponies rushed over, gushing questions like;

“What happened?!”

“Is that poor dear okay?”

“Will someone get Nurse Redheart?”

However, suddenly one voice rang out over all of them. “Al’ight, break it up everypony! What in tarnations is goin’ on here-“Applejack had pushed through the crowd, before freezing. “Cousin?”

Braeburn looked at the hoard of ponies warily, as his cousin trotted speedily over. “T-The girl… she showed up on the edge of Appleloosa… she was just collapsed at the edge o’ town. The town nurse said it was real bad-“he paused, thinking of the blinding, elderly pony that really should have retired years ago. “-but we don’t have any medical stuff near as good as Ponyville. S-So I ran here.”

Applejack’s jaw hung in disbelief. “You RAN here? From Appleloosa?”

He nodded, seeming less stable by the second. “Yep. Hey… I’m kinda tired….” With that, Applejack got next to him and he put all of his weight on her, so as to not pass out from exhaustion.

Nurse Redheart was now at the mare’s side, and was searching the small thing carefully before she declared, “The poor thing has been awake this whole time…”

Chaos Bloom coughed and her eyes closed, as she blacked out. However, in her own mind she knew throwing herself in front of that buffalo herd was the right thing to do. Now she seemed like an innocent victim. Her cutie mark was hidden under make-up and mud; she was safe, for the time being.

With that, Chaos Bloom went completely still and gave into the pain, blacking out completely. She heard the nurse scream something urgently, but she could not stay awake long enough to listen.

~~ ~~         ~~      ~~`       ~ ~ ~~

Chaos Bloom’s eyes fluttered open softly, mouth dry and legs sore. Her eyes, feeling rather stiff somehow, scanned her surrounding immediately.

She lay down in the bed of an infirmary, a blanket covering her lower half and lamp light illuminating the small humble room she stayed in. There were other hospital beds, but they were all empty. Her back was to the door, so she squirmed painfully and bucked off the sheets, slipping from the bed and feeling the coolness of tile on her hooves.

It was so quiet, she could hear her own breathing and the freezing rain splatter on a closed window. A dove chirped in the snow outside as it looked for cover from the downpour.

It was so quiet, she could have probably heard a pin drop.

So, as you can imagine, she had a right to be scared half to death when a voice came from just behind her ear.

“Well, howdy partner! I’m happy to see that you finally decided to get you’re sleepy hooves outta bed!”

She whipped around, heart leaping into her throat and eyes so wide the whites showed. What she saw was almost terrifying. A small group of horses, some wearing cowboy hats and some wearing boots… she noticed they’re cutie marks all had something to do with apples, so she suggested they were all family.

There was the horse she remembered, from the town she had been found in; he was a rather handsome looking horse with a golden mane, and bright green eyes. She noticed he was covered in bandage, from the long run they had embarked on. There was an old, green mare with kind eyes and a walker, a younger mare with a cowgirl hat and freckles, then there was…

HIM.

As soon as her eyes locked onto his, she blinked and looked down.

The stallion was red, with calm looking eyes and a green apple cutie mark. Something about him reminded her of her own older brother; yet his presence was more warming, more welcoming. He returned her gaze, and then nodded politely.

Applejack grinned, “Don’t be frettin’. We aint goanna hurt you; we’re all just real happy that you’re okay! I’m Applejack, this is Granny Smith,” She pointed a hoof to the elderly mare, then to the pony who had saved her life. “-This is cousin Braeburn-“finally, her hoof was at the direction of the red stallion, who was chewing on wheat. “-This is my big brother, Big Macintosh.”

Big Macintosh nodded, and greeted “Yee-up.”

Immediately, Chaos Bloom looked to make sure her cutie mark was covered. It was, still with caked blood and mud; good, in a way. “H-hello…” She greeted, and Applejack immediately noticed a certain elegance of this small mare. “My name is-“she paused for a moment, before lying “-Orchid. It is very nice to meet you all. Also, I must thank you for my life, Braeburn.”

The stallion nodded, grinning widely. “It’s real nice to see that you’re okay. You gave us all a real fright.”

“If you don’t mind me asking… We are in Ponyville, correct?”

Big Macintosh answered, “Yee-up.”

“T-Thank you.” She found herself swishing her own small, deer like tail nervously at his voice. “I have no idea where I came from… where did you find me? May you fill me in, Brae burn?”

“Fill you in?” Applejack grinned warmly. “We’re goanna do more than that! We’re goanna give you the ol’ Apple Family welcome!”