Chapter 42

Rainbow Monkey Princess in a Closet

"Nurse Goodfilly, what's wrong? Have you finished de-icing the floor? The ice blocking the door hasn't thickened has it?" Dr. Stable asked, a bit of frustration in his voice at what was happening being interrupted.

"Oh... yes. I've totally de-iced the floor... why would the ice on the door thicken...?" Robyn asked, her head tilting quizzically.

"Oh fer lemon curds sake..." Cream Puff sourly snided. "Cause H.B.'s got a sliver of ice wood in her an' it's feedin' on what she's feelin'! An- ya were there when it all happened! One got all icy an' slid inta a room an' the door closed, an' ya caught me with a net!"

"Oh, yes of course, how could I forget? Doctor, I need you to come with me, it's a bit of an emergency..." Nurse Goodfilly said.

"Can't it wait? We're in the mists of another emergency, if you can't tell..."

"Yeah!" Cream Puff hollered.

"I would, but..." She tapped her hooves together and then motioned him to come closer before whispering something in his ear.

Dr. Stable did a double take at what he had just heard. "Do you mind repeating that?" A reiteration in his ear didn't manage to make anything any clearer based on the deepening confusion plastered on his face.

"What is it?" Cream Puff asked, almost whining at the number of delays that kept happening.

"A necessary change of plans..." Dr. Stable cryptically replied. "Dr. Hoofer, please take Fluttershy and Cream Puff to magical maulities storage and acquire a pair of cold comfort tweezers, stat!"

"Uhm, can we go?" Dr. Puddin' Pop asked, with Nickers nodding expectedly.

"Right, Dr. Marshmallow, seeing that you're the only member of staff that's actually meant to be here, please escort these... two out of the hospital."

"Oh... okay!" Dr. Marshmallow said, grinning, about to remove the malpractice and lawsuit in waiting, before he was halted by Dr. Stable.

"Make sure Nurse Redheart follows the full search protocol for him..." Dr. Stable said, eyeing Puddin' Pop.

"Now, just hold on a-" Puddin' Pop began before being interrupted by the cheshire-grinning Marshmallow.

"Is that really-"

"Unless you want our head of security, Nurse Herniated Disk to be involved..." Dr. Stable slyly suggested hovering a box of hoof gloves in the air.

"Uhm, right. No need to waste time! I'll cooperate!" Puddin' Pop peeped timidly.

"Right, you all have your assignments, Nurse Goodfilly, lead the way," Dr. Stable gruffly said, hurriedly hobbling along.

=========

It was to a near forgotten hall in an isolated part of the hospital, in front of a large wooden door that the good Doctor Stable had been brought to of all things.

A basic frame, a basic door, a basic turning, though outdated, brass knob that was only there because back in the day, the majority of doctors were unicorns.

Yes, you would have your apothecarian earth pony, or a pegasus wing specialist, but the old knobs were a small reminder of 'who was in charge' in those days.

Reminders like these only remained now due to them always being last on the budget list. Or so the higher staff would always say.

"A janitor's closet?" Dr. Stable asked, head tilted, eyes quizzeled at the upwards triangle sign that contained a shadowed in mop, broom, and bucket.

"Never judge a book by its cover or a room by its door, Doctor..." Nurse Goodfilly said, pointing out the narrow gap at the bottom of the entrance to this closet of cleaning supplies and sanitation.

From within, contrasting on the ivory and ebony hospital floor tiles, was an unmistakable magical glow whose hue was a near ultraviolet with streaks of bright angry crimson...

Raising a hesitant hoof hinder knob wise, Dr. Stable shuddered.

All of Equestria had some sort of magical... essence... an arcane field that ran through it, but the area just in front of the door, maybe even the area stretching into this unassuming janitorial closet had none of that.

It was a magical null zone.

"That's impossible... only the most advanced unicorns or alicorns could do that..." he muttered. "How could any pony do-"

Nurse Goodfilly placed a hoof on the knob and somehow turned it with ease. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Dr. Stable stood bewilderedly at what, or rather who was waiting on the other side of the mundane door once it swung fully open and ended its creaking, squeaking, complaining at daring to be moved.

There, under the flicker of an electric bulb light, surrounded by bottles of harsh smelling detergents, a dripping of a faucet, and an outer VoYd like darkness that seemed to threaten those who dared enter, sat a symbol of Equestrian Royalty, the pinnacle of pony magic, the Highest of the High: an Alicorn Princess.

She was, however, unlike any that Dr. Stable had seen before.

Aside from a certain tan mare who was freezing in another room, she was the saddest creature he had ever laid eyes upon. Her ears hung low, her wings unfolded and swept out to touch the mildew and dust bunnies that called this place home. Her body sat uncomfortably on the floor in an awkward way that was as if her body was failing to follow her mind's instructions on how to sit.

She was, however, beautiful.

Her coat was the color of the night sky as it had just passed twilight: a gradient indigo.

Her mane and tail were long curly wavy mangled masses of a mess of colors: blobs of hues that formed and unformed, swirling and flowing, they were mostly yellow, green, indigo, with touches of blue.

This changed the moment that she realized that the door was open and she now had an audience.

Violet-purple eyes with small burning streaks of red looked at the interlopers, while yellow amorphous round shapes in her mane flashed brightly and her wings wrapped around her front like heron protectively.

"Well, you were most certainly right when you said 'I would have to see it to believe it...'," Dr. Stable said, clicking his tongue at the awe-inducing sight.

"Who are you?" she asked in a voice that sounded neither regal nor layered with the ages of wisdom and only had the barest whisper of musicalness to it. "A-are you the best doctor there is? I mean, in all the land? This fair land?" she asked, fumbling on her phrasing, flashes of blue starting to dominate her mane.

"I am a doctor, some have described me as the best." Dr. Stable humbly boosted attempting to walk forward. "I am Doctor Gregory Stable and I-"

"No!" The mystery alicorn cried out before the stallion could make it to the door frame.

Dr. Stable fumbled and Nurse Goodfilly pulled him back. "I-I'm sorry, but in order to help you, I need to see what's wrong..." he said, his hoof reaching out.

"You can't!" The princess said, the yellow in her mane and tail flowing back into the locks. "I... I'm not even s’posta be here... hence why the..." She paused, as if words were jumbling themselves in her mouth and she had to work to unmix them. “The hiding blanket spell cast itself."

"The hiding blanket spell...?" The magical null zone spell, if cast as a bubble, could theoretically act like a 'hiding blanket'. "Hiding from whom?"

"I... I shouldn't say..." she said, the red in her mane overtaking the other colors. "She told me that I cannot enter the boundaries until-"

A small fingered appendage reached weakly through her feathers and tugged on her ear.

"Sssh..." hushed a strained, squeaky voice.

"Until...?" Dr. Stable attempted to peer further into the closet to see who exactly this strange... fingered paw? Belonged to, only to be blocked by a wide eyed, impatient, snaggle-toothed grinning Nurse Goodfilly.

"Doctor Stable..." she said in an uncharacteristically gruff voice, attempting straight eye contact after clearing her throat a few times. "I think that there are more pressing matters to be had here other than her backstory! She's here, she's not meant to be here, she has a problem, and we already have another very dire problem to take care of..."

Dr. Stable took a deep breath through his nose. "I hate when you're right." He looked at the princess in the closet. "I am the best doctor in Equestria or that's what I have been told. What seems to be the problem?"

The yellow in the princess's mane persisted and she bit her lip before whatever she was covering her wings whispered something inaudible.

She then unfurled wings and tucked them back up.

"My monkey is sick!" she said pleadingly, the body of a macaque limply hanging on the crux of her forelegs.

"Mon... key... no... feel... good..." it said.

"Well, an unidentified rainbow princess with a talking monkey in a closet. There's a strange metaphor in there but for the life of me I'm not sure what it is..." Dr. Stable said, trying to grapple with the situation before him as the two mares gave him irritated looks. "I'm sorry, but I'm a pony doctor, not a veterinarian..."

"No... I'm sorry... I meant to say the best animal doctor in all of Equestria..." she sheepishly explained.

"Of course, Fluttershy. Well then, you're in luck, it just so happens that she's here, of you just follow us, I can bring you to her and-"

"No!" The indigo princess said, burning a brighter yellow than the sun. "She can't know, nobo- I mean, nopony can know I'm here! It's already bad enough that the both of you know!" she protested, trying to soothe the primate on her arms.

Dr. Stable looked thoughtful for a moment but then let out a sigh. "Alright, I have a way to do this, it'll be a bit painful for me but I can help you. All you need to do is tell me your pet's symptoms."

“Well... he’s uhm, fatigued, has a hard time moving, his wrist fractured, and he’s lost weight!” she fretted, holding and snuggling their face. “I’ve already lost someon- uhm, somepony! I-I can’t lose another, especially when he’s helping me with an important que-” tears in her eyes, a finger touched her nose while she started to choke up.

“Sssh... For-ever a-lone... Sea... quest...ered... Prince-” The monkey uttered, only to be quieted by a dust blue-purpley hoof.

“You, shhh! Save your strength!” She looked desperately at Dr. Stable.

“Right, got it.” Dr. Stable said, having just written everything down. “Alright, ladies... I’ll be right back. This is going to hurt...” he said, scrunching his brown and tightly closing his eyes.

“Wait! Go? But Fluttershy is on the other side-” Nurse Goodfilly protested only to have her turn at being interrupted with the sound of a teleportation spell and Dr. Stable vanishing in a dark blue cloud of sparkles.

=========

“Hey, Nurse Candy,” Dr. Hoofer said, leaning on the counter and winking at the white mare with the two toned pink mane. “”Why do they have a smart and lovely mare- I mean nurse like yourself back here?”

“What do you want, Hoofer...” Nurse Candy Striper said, thoroughly unimpressed by the ‘stallion’s’ attempts at intimidating Dr. Trot Studwell...

Cream Puff pranced in place. “We really need ta get them cold comfort tweezers! So cool it, Canternover!”

“Heh... Yeah, we have a selected patient that may have an ice wood sliver and we need those stat!” Dr. Hoofer said, straightening his tie and trying to return to a professional air seeing that his attempts at being flirtatious catastrophically failed him.

“Oh, huh, I thought I heard a code Ice Blue over the intercom, and that explains why the furnace suddenly got cranked up to eleven in the middle of summer!” Nurse Candysaid, jumping up and being practically bolted out of her malaise. “I’ll go get those right away!”

Just then, there was a sudden shift in the air of the room, a displacement that was followed by a magical ‘bamph!” cacophonous blasting sound as a stallion, Dr. Stable appeared in a dark blue sparkly flash.

“EEEP!” Flutttershy squealed as she jumped away from the sharp CrAcK of a noise.

“Sorry,” Dr. Stable gasped, visibly exhausted. “Give me a moment.” He held out a hoof as Hoofer and Fluttershy tried to approach.

“Are you alright?” Flutershy asked, once she had realized that there was no danger.

Dr. Stable nodded, leaning on his cane. “Fine, some spells just really take it out of me ever since the accident.“ He levitated two bottles out of his pocket. One of water and one of pills. After popping open the pill bottle and then popping three pills, he took a swig from the floating water bottle before stowing them back into their respective pockets.

“Alright,” He said after a moment and a deep breath. “Now-”

“We’re getting the cold comfort tweezers,” Dr Hoofer said. “I mean, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“If somepony would stop making eyes at the nurse...” Muttered Cream Puff.

“That’s great, but no,” Dr. Stable said, turning and looking at Fluttershy. His eyes closing, he put a hoof on her shoulder, mostly to steady himself. “I need your expertise in a matter actually.”

“You do?” Fluttershy asked, her wings flapping to spill off as a confused look made its way to her face.

“Yes,” Dr. Stable said, pulling her to the side. “Hypothetically, let’s say I had a monkey?”

“You have a monkey?!” Fluttershy excitedly exclaimed.

“No.” He said, raising a forehoof. “Hypothetically, if a friend...” Fluttershy, Dr. Hoofer, and Nurse Candy all looked at Dr. Stable questioningly.

“You have a friend?” Nurse Candy Striper asked, hoofing a white paper packaged pair of cold comfort tweezers to Dr. Hoofer. “Sign here,” she said, pointing to a line on a form on a clipboard while still looking at Dr. Stable only half expecting an answer.

“Hardy-har-har,” Dr. Stable retorted back before wagging his hoof and rubbing his forehead. “We have no time for questions like that. Fluttershy, let’s say that somepony hypothetically has a monkey and that monkey, theoretically is showing the following symptoms: fatigue, difficulty moving, fractured wrist, and weight loss. What would your expert diagnosis be?”

“Uhm well... you say fatigued, and difficulty moving, fractured wrist, and weight loss?” She asked, the doctor nodding and giving a hastened ‘yes’ to each. “It would be hard to say- oh! Was this monkey, I mean ‘theoretical’ monkey, did they happen to have twisted or uhm... gnarled fingers?”

“Fingers?”

“Oh, those would be a pony’s cannon bones,” Fluttershy explained. “If that’s the case, then it sounds like your hypothetical monkey has scurvy! It happens to lots of primates whose diets lack fruits high in vitamin C, and that’s because all primate ancestors primarily lived in the high trees where fruits rich in citric acid were,” she info dumped much to the astonishment of the others. “Which would be... what I would suggest as a.. treatment.”

“Ya sure know an awful lot about monkeys...” Cream Puff said.

“Oh... sorry, I took care of a very curious monkey for a pony named Banana Pie...” she murmured.

“Wait...” Dr. Hoofter said, tapping his chin. “In H.B.’s x-rays you said you saw a slight warping of the cannon bones, right?” he asked Dr. Stable.

Dr. Stable pulled out the x-rays and inspected them once more. “Well, I’ll be... I’ll need a blood sample to be sure, but you just might have stopped what could have been a bigger problem for H.B., Fluttershy. Uhm, good job.”

“I did? Oh! That’s wonderful!” she said, clapping her hooves and taking what win she could at this point.

“Yes. Now you three, to the room that H.B. is currently in with the tweezers! I have to go back for... reasons that I am not at liberty to divulge... Doctor-patient confidentiality...” Dr. Stable said, charging up his horn.

“Wait! Is there really a monkey?!” Cream Puff asked, but was too late as the grizzled unicorn was already gone.

=========

“Good, you’re still here,” Dr. Stable said once he caught his breath, took his pills and drank his water.

“Well, I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.” Robyn huffed. “I’ve to stand guard here and deter unwanted attention coming this way. Which is a lot more than you think! Several couples with glimmers in their eyes have come this way and we’ve had to deny their access to this far, out of the way closet!”

“Oh, who cares about that?!” the royal occupant cried out, trying to get their primate friend to drink water. “Do you have any way to help my monkey!?”

“Yes, Vitamin C.” Dr. Stable said, matter of factly.

The princess looked confused. “I... What?”

“What have you been feeding your chimp friend?” Dr. Stable asked, his voice carrying a little irritation and urgency.

“He’s a macaque, and whatever we can find really. Bread, leaves,” She looked hesitant. “Rice, tofu, whatever we can get from the kindness of strangers.”

“Well, try to get more citrus fruits in whatever situation you’re in. Your monkey friend is suffering from scurvy.” He said, shaking his cane. “Now with that out of the way... Nurse Goodfilly would you mind-”

Nurse Goodfilly produced a golden fruit- a lemon- from her mane. The other two equids looked befuddled at its sudden appearance. “What? I like lemon in my drinks, but so does Nurse Biscotti. I’ve had too many stolen from the breakroom!”

“Right, start a Vitamin C treatment for the monkey- three days should fix things up.” Dr. Stable said as his horn charged up.

“Alright, alright, go and save my little Heartbreak- I mean ‘H.B.’ already! I’ll stay here and attend to our mystery Princess,” she said. However, her sentence was not punctuated with an explanation mark, but the teleportation sound.

“Now that he’s gone...” Nurse Goodfilly began, rolling the golden fruit to the princess who quickly sliced it up into circles before offering them to the all too eager monkey mouth. “It’s time to deal with the matter of you,” she said, brandishing a snaggle toothed grin and practically delighted glowing crimson eyes, the giggle in her voice not coming off as sinister, but with the joy of a foal finding a new toy on Hearth’s Warming morning.

“Deal... with me?” The indigo Alicorn fretfully inquired, her horn preemptively sparkling. “P-please. I don’t want any trouble...”

“Who said aaanything about trouble?” Nurse Goodfilly asked serpententitly, her tail flicking playfully. “It’s an honor to meet you. Quite an honor...” she said, making a small bow. “I’ve been looking forward or backward as it were, in meeting you..” she glanced up, her eyes a glow. “Princess Sequestria...”

A terrified wide eyed expression passed the now yellow maned princess and the lemon slice fell from her primate companion's mouth.

“W... what do you want?” she sternly asked, her horn still charging, her wings readying for a fleeing fight.

“Tut-tut! There’s no need for those! And it’s not what I want...” Robyn looked thoughtful. “Well, it is and it isn’t.”

“Get to the point...”

“So hostile! No surprise seeing where you’re from… But... very well.. I can help you in where to go next in your... mission...” She spoke while making a motion near her chin, suggesting the tugging of something that wasn’t there...

The princess looked at the nurse confused. “What... how... nor... What do you get out of that?”

“Why, by helping you, It’ll help me and in turn help us all... but first, give me a second...“ She said, turning to her left and pulling out a high nine cliffhanger energy bar.

Author's Note

Oh... Oh... Oh... What do we have here...? So much added and so many little things for you all to chew on...
I thank Scared Ghost and The Pyschopath for helping proofreading my story and being there for this wild ride...
And thank you Luckyfanisaac for after reading proofreading!
... I think that I will give a shoutout to those who point out little mistakes for me to correct. I want them to feel special and that I acknowledge and appreciate their efforts...