Nurse Redheart was just about ready to go home.

Currently she was resting her head against the cold front desk of the hospital. It was way past visiting hours and most ponies had already gone home. Well, except for her of course, but that was only because she had drawn the short straw on who had to stay behind tonight. Even though most ponies came in during the daytime, there were always those special cases that came in for the night. This mostly included mares who had been drinking too much, or the ones who needed to bring their stallions in after some accident that caused them to have severe wounds.

None too proud of it, Redheart had to admit she was apart of the former.

Sure she was a nurse(doctor now ever since the Equestrian Preservation Law was passed) and she loved to help ponies who were hurt. However, everyone has those times where they are just so stressed out and need to unwind. For her, it was when she thought about all the ponies she had let down.

She sighed a little bit, thinking about the ones who she just couldn’t save. Pony medicine had advanced farther than before. But even then, they couldn’t save everypony. There were always the ones whose condition was too severe, too hopeless, too….everything. She still remembered the pain of telling them, “Everything would be alright,” just to have them die on her a day later.

When she thought about those times, she would get sad. She began to doubt herself, doubt her ability as a doctor. It was at these times that she would go home or to a party at a neighbor’s house and chug down a large amount of apple cider. The drinks basic ingredients couldn’t get anypony drunk only ingesting a small amount of it. But in a large enough quantity….

And she had recently heard about one of DJPon3’s parties going on right now.

But just when she was thinking of walking out the door, it slammed open and three bipedal figures came through it. Two of them were on the left and right side of the third one, and seemed to be carrying him. The nurse would have said something, when one of them spoke:

"There’s no time to explain! My friend was poisoned by a hydra, and my other companion's leg is bruised! We need medical attention STAT!"

Have you ever blacked out to a point where everything around you looks like it is on fire? Well, I guess when you black out, having visions is a given. But I mean like, when you black out, you tend to know you blacked out. Like, your brain can just tell you that you are currently laying on the ground somewhere letting time just pass you by, and it normally gives you happy dreams to amuse yourself with. At least, that’s what I always assumed. I haven’t really blacked out before. I’ve spent most of my life on the straight and narrow, so I’d never really experienced anything of the sort.

But my question is, have you ever had it happen to you and all you saw was fire?

Seriously, this isn't just some plot device the author of this thing cooked up for no reason. The entire fucking world was literally on fire. There was so much, I wasn’t even sure where the scorched earth began and the fire ended.

"What the Hell?" I asked no one in particular. I was standing right in the middle of the fire-filled landscape. Strangely, I was out of my armor and had no clothes on for some reason. Yet the flames seemed to stay away from my otherwise flammable tanned body. I visually searched the surrounding area, looking for some semblance of life. "What the Hell is going on here?!" I shouted to the world, hoping someone would answer me.

But no one did.

There was nothing, but all consuming fire.

“There are currently 4 different ways we can escape from this place. One is to jump out of the window; that would certainly be the fastest way, but Ray and Nick could sustain more injuries. It could also alert the entire town to our presence, since when Nick lands he will likely cause quite a racket with his armor on. We could always go without the armor, but that would be quite risky, since we don’t know these ‘ponies’ full capabilities yet. If we lose our armor, we would be at an extreme disadvantage.”

All of these thoughts and more were circling in my head as I sat on the windowsill of the hospital room. One leg was propped up on it while the other dangled off the side with my bow. My face was still darkened by the hood, and thanks to the moonlight anyone coming through the door would've seen the vision of a shadow. This way, no one would see my figure before I put them down. Not so much in the ‘kill shot’ sense, more like the ‘leg shot’ sense. I was currently watching over my companions and the room we were in. The room itself seemed like, well, a hospital room. Grey walls, bed, door, bathroom, and window all in the places you would expect. The door was right across from me, so if anyone tried to sneak into the room, they wouldn't get far.

My thoughts were primarily focused on creating a plan of escape for us. We were in unfamiliar, possibly hostile territory. There was no telling if the news of our little 'escapade' in the woods had reached this town yet. Worse, there was no telling what reaction the town had had to learning of us, if this was the case. We could’ve been wanted criminals, and I wasn’t taking any chances. Especially since Skyhold had said that this was the place where those mares from last time (the ‘Elements of Harmony’ I believe they call themselves) lived.

Right across from me, Nick lay in a hospital bed with his armor off and wounds healed up. His tan skin was contrasted with the white bed sheets he had been given by the nurse. On the downside, she had been the only one on duty. On the upside, she had enough skill and sense to treat my friends without asking any questions.

I frowned, there was that word again. 'Friends.' I looked over at Ray, also sleeping. She was slumped in a chair, hood off and black hair hanging off the back. Her armor was still on, however I knew that she had been healed as well. I was there after all.

I must say, this magic sure was interesting. That nurse, Nurse Redheart (how ironic) I believe, didn't even do much. All she did was give Ray a potion, and her bruises were gone. Even so, she still suggested staying off of it for a while.

Nick, was a different case. While his wounds weren't severe, the poison in his body had spread to his stomach area. Given any more time, and it could've reached his heart killing him. In order to properly take care of the venom, the nurse needed to inject the affected area with anti-venom. Which meant the armor had to come off.

However, to our surprise, she couldn't get it off. Every time she tried, it wouldn't budge. I started to think that it might be cursed, but then Ray just popped the pieced off without any trouble. So the armor wasn't cursed, but enchanted so that only we could take it off? Good to know.

After the armor was off(apparently we had to get it all off to see the progress of the poison. I didn't know human skin could get that purple), the nurse took out a bottle of this blue liquid. She said it was the anti-venom and began to fill a needle with it. I would've been skeptical, but Nick was about to die and I couldn't let that happen.

I frowned again. Or couldn't I? The antidote had worked and Nick's skin color returned in full, but why did I care about that? In fact, why did I care about any of this? I’d just met these two in a cave a day ago and I already trusted them. Why? And while on the subject, why did I care about this world? It wasn’t my world, it was theirs. If they wanted to live a life of misandry, that was their choice. What right did I have to change it? Why was I obliged to help these creatures? Because some floating heart said to? Because I was here? Why?

On top of that, how could I help anyone? Hell, how could we help anyone? Judging by how that hydra had come out of nowhere, I'd say that it was just a wild encounter. And we got our asses kicked by it. Ray got a bruised leg, and Nick got poisoned. Not very 'hero-esque' now, is it? And it was all my fault, me being the one that shot at the hydra in the first place.

I put my head in my hands, sadness threatening to overcome me. I was the one that froze up when Ray was getting attacked, and the one that did nothing while the monster poisoned Nick. They were my very first friends. You’re supposed to help friends in their time of need, protect them, not let any harm come to them.

And the first chance I got, I blew it.

I looked up at the ceiling, and shook my fist at it. I was hoping for an answer from something, anything. How could I save a world, if I couldn’t stop two people from getting injured?

Nick's words from back at camp rang in my head, "We were sent here by that weird black heart to help this world! We will fight to win! And we will win!" I looked over at him and laughed.

“Yeah buddy, you're right. We were sent here to help and I'll be damned if I let one hydra stop us. Feeling sorry for myself won't help a thing. And the best thing I can do right now, is to make a plan.”

Unfortunately, it was then that I was reminded of most basic of human needs that I had been neglecting for quite a while.

I yawned.

Laughing to myself yet again, I closed both of my eyes and settled into a comfortable position. The sun would be up soon, so I couldn't afford to sleep long.

By the sun’s golden rays, the town of Ponyville began to rise. It was a small town, not much to say about it. Over the years nothing had really changed since Tirek's downfall. The newly made Princesses’ castle was as pristine as ever, a shining example of all the friendship and love in the town.

Ponies went about their peaceful existence. They went to their jobs, had picnics, played with their children. The entire day just seemed like...a normal day. No monsters. No evil. No trouble at all. Just relaxing and peaceful.

Well, all except for a certain, energetic, pink mare.

Pinkie Pie knew something was going to happen today. Call it just a feeling, call it a hunch, but she just knew something was off today. She just couldn’t figure out what.

She was currently walking(well more like, bouncing) through Ponyville, waving to mares who stopped to say “Hi” to her. There were even some of her new griffon and changeling friends she had seen walking along the street. When she saw them, her heart leapt for joy at how before they had been such meanies before. Now, they were all living together happily in Equestria!

Pinkie, hopping along in her pink tank top and designer pants made by Rarity, didn’t really understand the Equestrian Preservation Law that Twilight had passed. All she figured was that if Twilight passed it, then it must be good. Besides, because of it, she was able to make soo many new friends in Ponyville! How could a law be bad, if it caused this much happiness.

She kept hopping along the road, heading to Twilight’s library. Her eyes always stayed up towards her target. All she saw was a her goal and any friendly mares she had come to meet along the way.

Never once did she look down.

Twilight was doing what any OCD having perfectionist who overreacts when just one little thing is wrong with her world would react to something new popping up in her life and turning it upside down.

She was reading.

Sitting down in the main room of the library, she was currently scanning through the latest issue of “Equestrian Wildlife for Dummies”. Twilight didn’t consider herself a ‘dummy’. She was after all, Princess Celestia’s former student, Bearer of the Element of Magic, and Princess of Friendship. However, when you’ve gone through almost every book on Wildlife in your library and come up with nothing, your options are very limited.

She never once lifted her eyes. All of her brain power was focused on finding the information she needed. This could be proven by the twenty other books she had left on the floor in a neat pile.

Her mind was set. Her goal was clear. Nothing would disrupt her adamant-

“Hi Twilily!”

Twilight’s concentration was shattered. She began to fail her arms, as the sudden surprise had caused her jump back against her chair. Her balance and composure gone, Twilight completely forgot about the fact that she had wings or magic and fell with the chair landing on her back. Thankfully, her wings softened the fall, but it would sting the next time she tried to fly.

Twilight rubbed the small of her back, “Ow…” she whimpered looking up at who had startled her. Unsurprisingly, it was Pinkie Pie. Twilight stood up, “Hello, Pinkie. What are you doing here?”

Pinkie continued to bounce around the room as she talked, “Well, IwasatSugarCubeCornerjustmindingmyownbusinesswhenallofasuddenIgetthiswierdfeelingthatsomethingisgoingtohappenI’mnotsurewhatitisbutit’slikeoneofthosetimeswhenyou-”

Knowing that her friend would probably go on like this for about an hour, Twilight placed a hand over Pinkie’s mouth. This stopped her tirade, while at the same time stopping her in mid air somehow, “Pinkie, can you please try to shorten what you are going to say? I know that you are excitable, but I’m a little busy here.” She said sweeping her free hand to indicate the books she had yet to put up.

Pinkie nodded her head, and Twilight released her,” Sorry Twilily! I was just trying to say that I got a feeling that something is going to happen! Something big!”

Twilight turned around and grabbed her chair. She placed it upright against the table and sat back down. “What is it,” she asked concern overtaking her demeanor, “Pinkie Sense?”

Pinkie nodded at her bookwormish friend. True to the librarian theme, Twilight was wearing purple rimmed glasses, a white button up shirt and black pants. “Yeah! And not just a doozy this time! Something worse!”

Twilight’s eyes turned to pinpricks. The last time Pinkie had got a ‘doozy’ they had almost been eaten by a hydra, and she had begun to believe in Pinkie Sense. “What could be worse than a doozy?”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie admitted, her hair deflating, “All I know is that whatever is about to happen will change everything.” Then her hair suddenly perked back up, “Or, it just means that I need to start preparing another party! Oh! I hope its the second one!”

Twilight facepalmed.

“But,” Pinkie continued, “I do know that if we want to see it, we need to gather the girls and head to the hospital right now!”

Twilight sighed, “Pinkie, I can’t. I’ve been trying to find out more about those ‘humans’ from yesterday.” Twilight’s horn began to glow as she levitated the book she was reading on to the table. “I have looked through every book I have on Equestrian wildlife and have come up with nothing. There's nothing on their anatomy, their culture, their aging process, and most importantly, their genders.”

Pinkie seemed confused about that last part, “But Twilily, why would that matter?”

“Because, Pinkie,” she said while turning a page of her book, “we need to know what their genders are so we can act accordingly and differentiate them at a glance. From what I observed from yesterday, one of them seemed to be about as tall, if not taller than Big Mac, while the other one was about our size. Because of Rainbow’s brashness, we did get an idea that the big one might be male, but as far as we know their females may just reach that height when they grow and they maybe a species filled with hermaphodites.” Twilight was starting to get excited. She always got this way when learning about a new species. This was when, what Rainbow called, her ‘Eggheadiness’ took over.

“Hermaphro-what?” Pinkie asked.

“A she-male. Somepony who has both male and female sex organs. It was in one of the books that talked about dragons.” Twilight shuddered slightly, “I’m glad Spike wasn’t born like that.”

“Oh! Where is Spikey anyway! I need to get his 18th birthday party ready, and I need to know what he wants!” Pinkie asked. It was true, within a weeks time Spike would reach the official dragon age of 18. It was when he would finally become an official adult. Since the day was getting closer and closer, Spike had been practicing his transformation abilities. As of now, he could appear about as tall as a fully grown mare, so he could finally walk around town with the respect he deserved.

“He’s off with CMC trying to help them get their marks.” Twilight felt a bit sad at the thought of Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootalo. They were all 16 now and, they still didn’t have their cutie marks. However, they didn’t seem as bothered by it as others their age were.

Twilight shook her head, “At any rate, I have to stay here and keep reading. We need to know what we’re up against.”

Pinkie replied with something that instantly changed Twilight’s mind, “What if I what I sense are those two? And they’re at Ponyville hospital right now?”

After a small moment, Twilight slammed the book shut, used her magic to put all the books back into their proper places and grabbed Pinkie by the wrist. “What are we waiting for?! We can’t miss this chance to learn about a new race!” Twilight’s eyes were wide and there was a massive smile on her face. The smile made her seem mad.

Pinkie simply said, “Yay!” and her and Twilight went to gather the rest of the mane six.

"HOLY SHIT EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE!" shouted Nick as he shot up from his bed. His voice reached the ears of his two companions. These two, fearing for his life, took this as reason to act accordingly. Ray jumped up, her leg fully healed by now, both daggers ready to sink into flesh. Mike still sat on the windowsill, but this time, his bow was up and drawn. His eyes darted around the room, scanning for any intruder whom he could put an arrow into.

A collective sigh fell over the room as they realized they had reacted to nothing. This was then followed by a hearty laughed shared between the three humans as they all settled back into their original positions. Nick, choosing not to put his armor back on yet, sat down on the front of the bed, giving him full view of the entire room. Ray went back into her chair, this time choosing to sit a bit on the edge, while Mike leaned against the windowsill. He chose to stand this time, planting his feet on the grey tiled floor, "So, how was your sleep?" he asked Nick.

Nick waved a hand at him, "Eh, no big deal. Just pictures of an entire continent being on fire is all."

"Is that normal for you?" Ray asked.

"Nope, normally I dream about being surrounded by ladies feeding me grapes."

Ray face palmed, "If what Skyhold says holds true, the mares are gonna get a kick outta you."

"Hey, that rhymed," Nick pointed out. He then slammed his fist down into his hand, "Oh, that reminds me. Mike I've been meaning to talk to you about our codenames."

Mike raised his eyebrow, although his hood covered up the action, "What codenames?"

"You know, Blur, Bomb, and Predator? Yeah, they just don't sound right to me."

"What exactly brought this on, Nick?" Mike asked. He didn't see a problem with the names. They masked their identities, and seemed to work for each of them. Especially after Nick's.....reaction last night.

"Well, the names sound more like titles to me," Nick answered. "And titles should be earned, not just given. Otherwise we're no better than those villains on video games who call themselves something like "The World Eater" for no reason."

"I'm sorry, Nick but what is a video game?" Mike asked.

Nick's jaw dropped, "You seriously don't know what a videogame is?"

Mike shrugged, "None of the books I read ever mentioned one of those 'games'." He made air quotes to emphasize the point.

Ray chose this point to but in, "We can get into that later. I think the main thing we should talk about is how Nick here went all psycho on that hydra last night.”

Nick looked confused, "I went...psycho, last night?"

Mike sighed, "Allow me, Ray." He adjusted himself into a more comfortable position. Then he began....

I couldn't do anything. I had looked at this situation over in my head about 10 times. I had seen this end in ten different ways. And I wasn’t too keen on any of them.

Blur,(“Remember what I said about the names?” Nick interrupted.) Ray was trapped. The hydra loomed over her, master head in the middle, secondary heads to the left and right of her. They formed a circle, stopping any form of escape Ray could manage. Even though manage was an overstatement. I had only caught a brief glimpse of her leg, but that was all I needed to see it was bruised. It would slow her down, and unless she felt like injuring it further she needed to rest it. And the only way out of that hydra trap, was to jump.

I drew back my bow, but I couldn’t find an exploitable opening. The only weak spots on this thing were its eyes, mouth, underbelly, and middle head. The rest of it was covered by scales, far too thick for my arrows to pierce. And even if i managed it, I would probably be more annoyance than threat. It would ignore me and just continue to eat Ray.

I didn’t know what to do. I froze, unable to move do to the horror of the situation that suddenly dawned on me.

We hadn’t been on this world for two days.

And Ray was about to die.

However, luck must of been on our side that night. For that was the moment when Nick decided to say “Fuck you!” to the hydra.

It was then that I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t sure what it was, just that it passed in front of me and headed straight towards the hydra. At first I thought it was just a bird passing by the conflict that had flown a bit too low to the ground. However, I was also able to see the spot where Nick had fallen at the edge of my vision.

The spot was clear, except for a new cloud of dust that had settled over the ground.

Looking back at the hydra, I saw Nick rushing across the ground his hands stretched out behind him, sword held in his right hand. His feet were a blur of movement as he seemed to duck, roll, run, then jump all at the same time. You would think that his sword would’ve flown out of his palm, but he kept a firm grip on it with his rune covered gauntlet.

Before the hydra could even try to make a move for him, he had reached the leftmost head. This head was the one facing towards us and it didn’t have any time to react as Nick struck. He planted his right foot, pivoted and grabbed his sword with both hands. Swinging in a upward arc, his sword cut across the ground until it finally struck flesh.

The cut was clean.

The head came off.

As the head span in the air, Nick leaped up after it. Switching his sword back to a one-handed grip, which by the way is an almost impossible way to hold a great sword, and stabbed it into the still airborne head. The sword cut cleanly through the scales and came out the jaw, buried to the hilt in the forehead.

Not done yet, Nick flicked the sword to the right, sending the head careening into the forest. Dashing forward Nick sheath his sword, faced downward, and shot towards the hydra like a red missile.

Aware of what was happening by now, the hydra turned its two remaining heads upward...only to have the right head slammed back into the ground when Nick finally hit. Grabbing the head by its lower jaw, Nick pulled and pulled bending the head towards the body. The head continued to bend at an unnatural angle, until finally snapping sound began to resonate across the forest. Nick kept pulling, his armored boots giving him purchase across the back of the hydra. The beast was helpless as its main head couldn’t reach far enough to snap at Nick, and its other was in an unbearable amount of pain.

The head kept snapping until the flesh of the monster couldn’t hold on, and with a great wet ripping sound, the head was finally ripped off. The hydra thrashed its final head, as it roared to the heavens.

Then the thrashing stopped.

The last head was gone.

Nick, his body glowing with red runes, had tossed the other head away. This freed up both of his hands, allowing him to grab his still sheathed sword. The head’s thrashing was his perfect opportunity. He spun on his right foot, doing a full circle, as he swung in a horizontal slash. The head, flinging around in the air from the hydra’s frenzy, sailed off down the road. It passed over the horizon, out of sight and out of mind.

“After that, you seemed to come to your senses and passed out on top of the hydra’s body. Me and Ray then took your body and carried you all the way to Ponyville. There we found the nearest hospital and here we are,” Mike finished up.

Nick’s eyes were wide as he listened to the retelling of his ‘episode.’ “Wow, I took on an entire hydra. By myself. And killed it.”

“I was just as shocked myself,” Mike said. “I never knew you had that side in you.”

Nick shook his head, “I never even knew I could do that! I was actually a pretty chill guy back on earth. The only times I ever got into fights were when others started it.”

“What do you think could of caused it?” Ray said, leaning back in her chair. “When I first saw you after you killed the thing, you looked like the Devil incarnate. Your armor was covered in red runes that seemed to float around in a pattern.”

Nick rubbed his head in thought, “I really don’t know.” His eyes widened with a sudden realization, “Do you think the armor is-”

“Cursed? No.” Mike had anticipated this line of questioning and was prepared for it. “When we got you to the hospital, the nurse on duty wasn’t able to take it off of you, but Ray here could. It’s more likely that the armor is enchanted, so that no one but us may take it off.”

Nick relaxed, “Whew, that’s a relief.”

Ray nodded, “I don’t even want to think about what would it would be like if-”

“Wait,” Mike said holding up his hand to demand silence.

Ray, not getting the meaning, asked, “Huh? What’s going-”

“Shhhh!” Mike hissed. Ray got the meaning and stopped talking(although she was slightly pissed at Mike for hissing at her).

Mike was sure he had heard it. It was faint at first, but was slowly getting louder. Focusing more, he began to discern distinct sounds. The type of sounds that sentient creatures would make when going somewhere.

Voices, talking.

Footsteps, moving.

In their direction.

Mike relayed the information to his companions. Ray was a bit worried, but Nick seemed happy,”Dude this is so cool! Now we can properly introduce ourselves to the populace!” Nick began to get up and move towards the door.

“Wait,” Mike said. Nick stopped about 3 meters from the door, “You need to put your armor on!”

Nick looked back at Mike puzzled, “Why?”

“Because, I don’t think anyone here thinks it’s a good idea to have our first impression on these ponies be a half naked dude!” Ray said.

“On top of that,” Mike continued, “We still don’t know if the populace is hostile or not.”

“Pfft,” Nick said, “You’re overreacting.” Although it was true, all Nick had on at this point was his white boxer shorts, and white undershirt. Looking himself over, Nick nodded and went to look for his armor. Mike pointed under the bed. Nick looked and lo and behold, there was his armor in all its glory.

Nick was a little unsure of how to put the armor on, but figured it couldn’t be any different from putting on a normal shirt and pants. Then something weird happened. As soon as Nick’s hand touched the pauldron on the chestpiece of the armor, a bright red light burst forth. The three companions were blinded by the intense shine, all of them having to cover their eyes. Then the light died down. And standing on the right side of the bed, his back facing towards the door, was a fully armored Nick. “Well now, that sure is handy,” he commented as he flexed his arms to make sure the armor felt comfortable.

Nick put down his arms and looked towards Ray, “Plus, don’t you remember that Skyhold was naked back in the forest? And how he said that clothing isn’t allowed for males?”

Ray replied, “Yeah, but those are their rules. And we don’t have to follow them! At least I’m not gonna! Plus, they don’t know that you and Mike are guys yet! Based on what you told me, they suspect you are, but don’t know for sure! I think we should keep it that way.”

“I have to agree,” Mike said, his hand resting on the string of his bow, “I’d rather not have to be a slave to some perverted pony bitch. Pardon the language.”

Nick was going to reply, but a click was heard from the door. Nick turned back towards it and noticed the door handle was turning slightly.

Looking at his friends, smile hidden by his helmet, Nick said, “Alright, showtime!”

Turning back to the door, Nick’s smile quickly vanished when he realized who had opened the door.

There was a newcomer that he had never seen before. This one was a white unicorn mare, with a doctor’s uniform on. She had a red cross stitched to the front of it on her right breast and her mane seemed to also be a deep shade of red. He guessed that she must of been the one to treat him when his friends first got here. Her face showed that she was surprised at how quickly Nick was able to recover. To tell the truth, Nick couldn’t blame her. It hadn’t dawned on him when he first awoke, but he healed surprisingly quickly for someone who just got hit by a hydra. But he just chalked it up to the fact that the armor had absorbed most of the blow.

However, that wasn’t what made Nick’s smile fade.

It was the fact that she had brought the mares from yesterday with her.

And, with the exception of Pinkie one who just had a smile on her face and the Princess who was looking him up and down like a piece of meat, they did not look happy to see him.

“Oh, shit.”

Author's Note

Welp, here you guys go. The next chapter of The Protectors is finally up. I hope you all enjoy it. And I'd like to give a shout out to CreatureofHabit for pre-reading and editing this chapter. Thanks for the help man. In the interest of other stories I'm writing and time, I shall be doing what some authors on this site do and release chapters to be pre-read and edited later. If you guys did not enjoy this chapter, well that is ok. For I shall be finishing this story no matter what. Thank you all for your support and I hope to see you at the next chapter.