Ponyville was preparing for a storm. Earth ponies and unicorns had toiled all day to clear away loose branches while Pegasi prepared the clouds for the coming storm. The once blue sky was rapidly replaced by seething seas of grey clouds.
Applejack passed a hoof across her forehead as she wiped off a thick sheen of sweat. It had been hard work securing some of the weaker trees in the orchard for the storm, but it was secure them or lose them. In the distance loomed the red wooden panelling of the barn.
"Phewee, that there was a lot of hard work," Applejack said to nopony in particular, "Ah'll be glad to finally get home and get some grub in me." Images of freshly baked apple pie bombarded her mind, but Granny Smith had taken Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom to Manehattan to see the Oranges. They’d asked Applejack to come too of course, but Applejack had had enough of Manehattan to last a lifetime. Oh well, she thought to herself, a nice glass of apple juice and a homemade apple fritter should just about cover it.
It was a long trot across the sea of grass that stood between her and the farm house. Her mind still full of the delicious texture and taste of apple fritters, so much so that she didn’t notice a sudden spark briefly breach the beclouded breadths of the sky. There was no reason to worry anyway; she was feeling good. Nothin’ compares to a day of hard work. The orange earth pony had a spring in her step and a song in her heart, a song that just had to escape. She broke into a whistle to accompany her stride. The upbeat tune propelled her hooves a little faster as she broke into a carefree skip. A second bright light in the sky caught the corner of her eye this time. The whistling instantly stopped as she turned her gaze skywards.
Applejack screwed up her eyes as she focused on where she’d seen the spark."Typical pegasi! Ain’t got the patience to wait til’ everypony’s home!" She shouted angrily at the flashing sky. Another flicker of light broke the cloud cover and barrelled towards the stationary pony. Apple pie forced its way out of her mind as Applejack saw death shooting towards her. With a grunt, she threw herself to the side at the last second as a small metal object smashed into the ground right where she had been stood, throwing up huge clumps of mud. This ain’t no storm! Is it a meteor shower? She thought to herself, Nah, that there object looks hoofmade.
Yet another glint of light broke through the cloud barrier, followed by an assortment of small metal objects trailing red flames. “Oh horseapples.” Applejack’s eyes went wide as the objects powered through the sky towards the farm. "Ah’ve gotta get to the cellar!" Applejack broke into a gallop as she made a beeline for the distant farm house. A loud bang from her left told her that the objects had started crashing. She threw her weight left and barely avoided a metal plate sent spinning from the clouds above. A speeding wheel forced her to dodge right, while a shower of small metal objects pounded the ground behind her. A giant black propeller filled her vision as it fell from the sky ahead of her. She stuck her front hooves into the ground in a desperate gamble to stop. Her rear hooves lifted up and threatened to throw her off balance, but she managed to just force them back down to the ground. The propeller smashed into the ground right in front of her; large plumes of dirt were sent shooting upwards as each heavy object collided with the soft earth.
The heavens themselves started to shake as a colossal bang reverberated throughout the sky. Applejack cast a worried gaze back up towards the sky. Tearing through the clouds was a strange large metallic contraption that belched huge black clouds of smoke as it lurched through the atmosphere. The machine was shedding huge pieces of metal as it slowly twisted onto its side. Every lost chunk was accompanied by a brief burst of bright light. “What the hay is this thing!” Applejack shouted in disbelief. It looked nothing like Pinkie Pie's flying machine, but it somehow managed to fly by itself. Huge wings made it almost look like a colossal bird, but made entirely out of metal. As she watched a large piece on the side burst outwards, and flew straight through the roof of her barn. “Hay!” Applejack bellowed angrily at the beast that roared overhead. Behind the removed panel, two figures, ponies by the look of it, scrambled to hurriedly put on what looked like saddlebags. Once they had the saddlebags securely clipped onto their back, the two ponies jumped out of the door; as they leapt the saddlebags erupted into huge cloth balloons, allowing the two ponies to float off. Applejack watched as the balloons floated towards the thick foliage of the Everfree forest. The metallic bird, however, continued downwards. It barely missed her house before crashing into one of the many hills that dotted Sweet Apple Acres, and started sliding down through the apple trees. In its wake trailed a huge line, carved into the mud deeper than any prow. With another almighty crash, the thing hit the bottom of the hill and came to a stop.
Now what the hay do Ah do? Applejack thought to herself, Ah could get Twilight, she might know what the hay that large metal thingamajig Is, but it’s still on fire; what if it explodes again? Think, Applejack think. Applejack rapped her hoof on her forehead as she tried to wrap her head around what was happening. Maybe Ah should put it out first but there's a storm coming soon that should sort it out... Ah think... hmm. Applejack began to pace as she nervously eyed the flaming bird-thing. A cough suddenly punctuated the crackling of the flames. Applejack didn’t hesitate. She galloped as fast as she could towards the crash site and charged the burning wreckage. Consarn it! It’s gonna take me a heck of a long time to replant all those there trees. No, wait a cotton picking minute. Ah've gotta stay focused; Ah’ve gotta be in and out before the storm starts up. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind when a loud grumble came from overhead, and rain began to pour from the sky. The ferocity of the rain quickly drenched her mane, plastering it to her face. Despite now being partially blinded by her own blond hair, Applejack charged on undeterred. There's the hole those ponies made. Ah can enter through here. Applejack had to duck to get through the partially crushed portal.
Split wires cascaded electricity dangerously close to her face as she crawled along the narrow space. Applejack held her mane to her face with a hoof in an attempt to filter out the thick smoke that filled inside. She dragged herself out of the crawlspace and into an area where the ceiling hadn’t caved in. Up ahead was a large metal door, coughing could be heard on the other side. She pulled the handle, but the door stuck fast. Thunder rumbled overhead again; it sounded dangerously close. She gulped. If there's one thing Twi’s taught me about them thunderstorms: it's to not stand near anything made of metal, but Ah can’t just leave any pony to die. She turned around and performed her patented Apple-buck which sent the door burst flying open. Choking clouds of thick smoke billowed through the open door. The smoke was everywhere.
Applejack couldn't see through the black clouds, but she could still hear the weak coughing.
"Ah'm here to help! Are you alone?" Applejack shouted at the top of her voice.
A voice replied amidst a coughing fit, "No... in the other chair..." Applejack turned and squinted through the smoke, only just managing to make out the outline of a pony in the second seat sat worryingly still.
"Ah can't get 'em out through here! The smoke's too darn thick!”
"Press… blue… on the console." The pony wheezed. Applejack turned to see a load of coloured buttons on a large console, and pressed the blue one as told. The seat carrying the other pony shot out through a hatch that opened up in the ceiling.
"Now get out of here, go!" The injured pony insisted.
The smoke took the opportunity to clear out of the hatch, and quickly cleared enough for Applejack to see the pony's outline, but he was still too obscured to make out any fine details. The pony was a dark blue pegasus, but there were shocks of scarlet all throughout his fur which she quickly realised was blood. The pony was clutching a huge gash along his throat which wouldn't stop bleeding. Applejack panicked; there must be something she could do.
"It's too late for me, run!" The pony tried to shout but ended up just gurgling. A flash of lightning illuminated his face briefly and Applejack instantly recognised it. One of the greatest heroes of the Adventurer Academy, the pegasus who saved Celestia herself from a rabid Ursa Major: Voltage. He saw her clearly too and called out, "The Element of Honesty! This must be fate." Every time he spoke, blood flecked with saliva dribbled down his mouth. "I need you to get my friend, Crosswind, to Princess Celestia! He knows exactly what to do." His voice grew gradually quieter as he spoke, concluding with a whisper. "Only Celestia must know... about him... please... tell... her." His head drooped and his hoof dropped, causing more blood to run down his chest from his throat matting his beautiful fur.
Applejack was speechless. She had just met one of the greatest heroes in Equestria, and watched him die. A niggling thought reminded her that she needed to get out of there, but she still took a few minutes to honour Voltage’s passing. With a solemn nod, she turned around and clambered through the hatch. She took a lungful of the clear night air along with a bounty of rain from the skies, but she didn’t care. After cooling her strained throat, she turned to see the chair that she had sent through the hatch. A grey pegasus with a frazzled black mane lounged unconscious in the chair. Scratches and cuts covered his body, but the wounds seemed mostly superficial, other than the massive bruise on his head which was a nasty purple colour. She grabbed him from his chair and balanced him on her back. A bolt of lightning shot wildly to the ground and hit an apple tree just in front of her. Applejack took that as a sign to start a mad dash back to the farmhouse as fast as she could. Every bolt of lightning made her wince as her hooves pushed her onwards. With a sigh of relief she leapt into the building and pulled the door behind her. As she closed the door, a bolt of lightning hit the metallic monstrosity that marked the grave of a great hero. The thing exploded in a brilliant blast of orange light, leaving only a massive crater as evidence of it having ever existed.
Unseen to Applejack, a pair of black equines emerged from the forest just in time to see the lightning take out the wreckage.
"There’s no way that anything survived that," One of them said to the other.
"Yes, I think we can chalk this mission up as a success.” The other beamed a wide smile, showing its sharp fangs, before taking to the air on a pair of green wings. “Race you to the Academy."
"Bring it!" The two equines buzzed off into the distance.
Jasmine had been waiting for this moment for her entire life. After writing a constant stream of letters, she finally got approved for a meeting with the administrator of the Adventurer Academy. This is it, she thought anxiously, my one shot, my one chance to fulfil my dream and become a mighty adventurer. At least I hope they asked to see me for my adventurous flair and enthusiasm, and not just because I'm a zebra. Her mind cast back to the playground where she was mocked constantly; she shivered at the memories. No, this is my chance to be a hero! She trotted across the threshold and into the marble hallways of the academy. It looked exactly as she had pictured it during those trying schooldays: huge marble corridors lined with statues of famous ponies. She noticed a sultry looking female statue with a single red rose on its head. There's Rosé who charmed the evil unicorn Bezel into releasing control of the hamlet of Ponyton Plough. Twisting around, she saw a large earth pony with a sword on its waist. And there's “The Blade”, he defeated the necromancer Hagitha. Her excitement exploded when she saw a statue of a pegasi wearing a pair of thick black goggles. And there's Voltage! The pony who saved Celestia herself from a rabid Ursa Major, a living legend.
Jasmine hopped from statue to statue, doting on each one briefly as she recalled their adventures from the stories she had read. Each one of them had saved pony lives and Equestrian soil from all matters of monstrosities. She lingered briefly on six small statues that represented the current bearers of the Elements of Harmony, before finally arriving at the administrator’s office. As Jasmine reached towards the door with her hoof to knock, she was hit by a pang of guilt. Normally her father would place a hoof on her shoulder and reassure her that everything was all right, but she feared she had broken his heart. He had always disapproved of her adventuring dreams.
"They're just stories," he used to say. "Do you know how many ponies survive their first year? 1 in 4 ponies either drop out or fall in action!" Just that morning she had stormed out after another of such arguments. He had seen the letter with the two golden A’s. He knew what it had meant. There had been begging, there had been screaming, and it had all ended in tears. “You don’t have to prove yourself to everypony else, Jasmine, you’ve already proven yourself to me.”
"I'm sorry, dad," she whispered to herself, "Sometimes you just have to follow your dreams." She reached out with her hoof to knock.
Suddenly the door burst open throwing her backwards onto the floor. In the doorway a red unicorn the size of Celestia stood proud and tall with her back to her. "This is of the utmost importance Quillius, I want to mobilise tomorrow."
A voice from inside the office replied in a slightly irritated tone, "Fine, I'll appoint three teams of our most trusted ponies, but we still don't know enough about the enemy to commit to any serious action." He sighed deeply. "But I trust you Blaze, your instincts have saved my life on enough occasions to know to stick with them."
"Thank you Quillius, these rumours are too pervasive to be mere chance. One big hit and maybe we can end this blasted war.”
"Yes, yes. I’m sure that we’ve got this. Now out off with you, shoo!" Quillius motioned towards the door with his hooves before sighing deeply and sitting back down.
Blaze stepped out of the doorway and almost tripped over the prone form of Jasmine. "Whoa!" She attempted to steady herself. "Umm... excuse me, but why exactly are you lying on the floor?" Blaze crouched down to examine the pony in detail.
Jasmine's tongue felt like paper as she strained to speak. After a few seconds, she managed to say just two words, "The door."
"The door?" Blaze looked quizzically at her and then it dawned on her. "Oh my apologies, I didn't realise, here." Blaze's horn glowed a bright red and Jasmine felt herself begin to float in the air as she was placed back in a standing position.
"Oh.. uh... thanks," Jasmine murmured, suddenly gaining great interest in her hooves.
"If you need any help in the future just remember; you can call on Blaze." Blaze announced and started to trot away.
When Jasmine finally got over the shock of meeting one of her heroes, she tapped lightly on the office door.
"Yes, yes, please come in." The voice from earlier called out. Jasmine carefully opened the door with her hoof and entered the large office. Despite how large the room was, it seemed almost claustrophobic. All the walls were lined with bookcases and filing cabinets. Small tables were dotted throughout the room, and every available surface was covered in open books and pieces of paper.
Sat at the largest desk in the middle of the room was a short but rather rotund yellow pony. He was wearing a pair of small half-moon spectacles on the edge of his nose, and had a quill tucked behind his ear. A short horn protruded through his even shorter light blue mane. His cutie mark was an open ledger with an inkpot and quill. The pony beamed a smile and offered a hoof. Jasmine placed took the hoof and gave it a tentative shake. "You must be the letter writer, Jasmine Dhula. My name is Quillius Scrib, and I am the current administrator of the Adventurer Academy, but I'm sure you already knew that," He boomed in a loud and rather impressive voice. "I read your application and, frankly, I’m quite impressed. You would be a welcome addition to the Academy despite your lack of cutie mark. We have had zebras in the Academy before, but not in decades; not since the great zebra hero, Grey Stripe, who saved Canterlot from a rampaging dragon, and that's only because of my bigoted predecessor, Big Bucks. He wouldn't admit to being saved by a zebra, instead blaming her for summoning the dragon rather than his inept son. She was forced to live in exile as a result.”
Quillius sighed and stood up from his chair. "But you should find it most welcome here, we try to teach a message of tolerance now that I'm in charge." Quillius announced as he trotted over to another large book. His horn lit up with an orange aura and the book opened on a certain page. He briefly lifted it to its face and scanned the contents with a nod; he then twisted it around and laid it in front of the zebra. "I'll need you to sign here please, and here and here." He said levitating the quill towards her and pointing to three blank spots in the ledger.
Jasmine took the quill with her teeth and penned her name as neat as she could. "Is that neat enough?" She asked.
The administrator peered intently at the scribbled words, before breaking into a smile. "That's very impressive calligraphy from a non-unicorn." He nodded appreciatively before continuing, "Your mentor will be Crosswind, a pegasus who is quickly gaining a name for himself throughout Equestria. You'll probably find him in the storeroom with the Quartermaster. Give him this." Quillius handed her a scroll sealed with a large golden Q. "Good luck, Jasmine." He waved her off with his hoof, opening the door with a spark from his horn.
"I can't believe those clowns fell for the old copycat manoeuvre, I mean I thought that pegasus took out the Wormvale Sect.” A pegasus that looked exactly like Crosswind laughed crudely.
"Yeah, all it took was getting them onboard the Academy jet with that chaff about a chimera in Hoofdale." The Quartermaster laughed back. A knock on the door silenced them both. The Quartermaster cautiously opened the door seeing Jasmine standing there sheepishly.
"What do you want?" He growled in a slightly menacing tone. Jasmine's tongue twisted into a knot at the sight of this huge Brown Earth Pony with a cutie mark of a stack of boxes on his flank.
Manners, Merch!" Crosswind chided as he trotted over to the doorway and saw the young zebra.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed having never seen a zebra before. "What's with the stripes?" He eyed her suspiciously.
"Don't you remember me, Crosswind?" Jasmine felt hurt, was she really so insignificant to the hero who saved her father's life.
"Uhh..." Crosswind had a reputation for never forgetting a face, and he couldn't blow his cover. "Is that scroll for me?" He pointed to the scroll she was holding in her mouth. "One of Quillius's by the look of it." He said as she handed him the scroll. He unfurled it and read through. Another apprentice? Now? Crosswind began to panic. This can't happen now! Not when our plans are so close to fruition! But Quillius has signed it. There’s no way that I can't reject her without revealing myself.
"Is something wrong?" Merch boomed in a deep voice as he noticed his friend's discomfort.
"No, No... everything's fine." Crosswind quickly memorised the name on the scroll. "Jasmine here is to be my apprentice," He said, attempting a smile "Welcome to the team, Jaz." He held out a hoof. She took his hoof and they shook somewhat awkwardly.
"You'll be bunking with the kid... uhh... Rhubarb Whirl, she's the third member of our team.” Crosswind stopped in the hallway and pointed towards a door. "I'll be just in here if you need me," he said as he entered the door opposite. Jasmine entered her room, and was immediately stunned by how bright it was. Vivid red paint coated the walls and a brilliant blue ceiling mirrored the sky. The large room was obviously once a bunk room for many, but only two beds remained. There was junk everywhere. Toys lay sprawled across the floor as well as screwed up bits of paper. To Jasmine, it looked a lot like her own bedroom back home. She sighed loudly as memories of her dad began to resurface again.
A small Pony suddenly appeared in front of her with a poof of smoke. "Pick a card, any card!" She practically screamed. Jasmine flinched backwards, almost tripping up as theatrical smoke filled her eyes.
"Wha..." she spluttered but was quickly cut off.
"Pick a card." said the Pony again. The smoke cleared and Jasmine saw a red and blue unicorn filly magically holding out a deck of cards with her eyes closed. Jasmine shrugged and picked a card at random with her mouth. She transferred it to her hoof and looked at it. The seven of Diamonds.
"Okay I've got one." Jasmine stated humouring the filly. The unicorn shuffled the deck with the magic from her horn and pulled out a card at random. Without looking she held out the card to Jasmine. "Was it the four of Spades?"
Jasmine looked at her card and saw the four of Spades, but she was sure she had picked out the seven of Diamonds. "Did you just magically alter my card?"
"I swapped them!" The filly beamed at her.
"Doesn't that ruin the point of guessing?"
"I'm trying to work it into a bigger trick, I just needed to test that it worked."
Jasmine noticed underneath her pink cloak was a cutie mark of three playing cards side by side facing away from her. "I see you do a lot of tricks." Jasmine pointed at her cutie mark.
"Guilty as charged; Rhubarb Whirl is the name and tricking opponents is my game." Rhubarb bowed low before rising with an outstretched hoof. Jasmine went to shake it when electricity coursed through her veins. Rhubarb Whirl burst out laughing as she held out a joy buzzer. Jasmine sighed from her position on the floor. This is going to be a long night.
Rain lashed fiercely against the windows of the small farmhouse. Torrents of thick droplets fell freely from the dark and moody sky. A ferocious wind buffeted the small Apple farmhouse, causing it to creak and sway like an old tree. Every so often a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, accompanied by a loud clap of thunder. Applejack looked away from the windows with a sigh. Across from her, Crosswind was sprawled in Granny Smith’s old creaky rocking chair with a haphazardly wrapped bandage around his head. Fresh blood had already saturated the cotton, dyeing the pristine white a deep red. Two more bandages were tied around bad cuts on his chest.
"Argh!" Applejack screamed in frustration as she went through her predicament in her head one more time. Voltage tol’ me to keep Crosswind away from the authorities… but, if he stays here, he may never wake up. Think, Applejack, think. What the hay do I do? I-I-I need a drink. Applejack trotted over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of hard cider. She took a swig and instantly began to feel the evils of the world start to peel away. She could feel the adrenaline in her body dying down. Her heart stopped its mad pounding and slowly reduced back to its normal rate. A deep, therapeutic breath later she managed to defog her addled mind. She returned to the seating area and collapsed into her dad’s old armchair. Her hoof brought the bottle to her mouth and she took a long draught of the sour drink with a relaxed sigh.
The pegasus before her didn’t seem to be having any trouble breathing, but beyond the rise and fall of his chest there was no other movement. Nursing the bottle between her two forehooves, she slowly started weighing up her options. I guess the best option is to rally the girls an' then we can bring ‘im to Celestia. First of all though he’s gunna need more fixing up than I can manage. Now the real question is who to go to first? Fluttershy or Twilight I think. Twi's got magic on her side and lives in a library full of books, but Fluttershy is a vet and should have at least a basic idea of how to treat ‘im. I don't rightly know how Fluttershy would react to me arriving with a strange injured pegasus in the middle of a storm though. What if those two ponies who escaped that flying contraption were the ones that Voltage had warned me about? What if they go after Crosswind? I can't put Fluttershy through that. Applejack sighed heavily. Twilight it is then.
A few minutes later and Applejack was struggling to put on her mack. With a tug of the cord with her mouth, she finally secured the jacket around her chest. She gingerly pulled the front door an inch when it suddenly slammed open throwing her backwards. The storm was still in full effect and Applejack struggled to get to her hooves against the howling wind. With slow, strong steps she managed to push herself outside. Around the side of the house was an old yet strong cart that she used to move the vast quantities of apples that she harvested around. Despite her mackintosh, she was already completely soaked. She carefully attached the harness of the cart to her back and brought it around to the front door. The rain’s endless barrage felt like being pummelled by small stones, but she continued to push forward with determination. It was then she noticed that through the deafening wail of the wind were the faint cries of animals in trouble. Her eyes went wide as she remembered a piece of large metal smashing through the roof of her family’s ruby red barn.
She kicked open the barn door to a realm of chaos that would rival Discord’s reign. The hole in the roof from the debris had let the harsh rain and punishing wind inside the barn, free to cause as much havoc as they could. Soaked animals ran to and fro, occasionally crashing into each other. Luckily the metal had crashed into the middle of the barn. The large hole in the floorboards attested to that. Another burst of lightning nearby sent the animals into frenzy. I can't just leave them here like this, but Crosswind ain’t gunna last much longer. These animals are part of my livelihood; I can't just leave them here to die! Applejack bit her lip in intense concentration. I got it! The farmhouse! I'm going to have to bring them all into the farmhouse until this ‘ere storm stops. Applejack sprinted around the barn and opened up all the pens.
“Okay, guys, this storm has done a real number on the barn. We’re gunna have ta move out to the farmhouse.” The animals began to slow their frantic runs and turn to the pony they recognised as master. Applejack vanished back out into the storm and returned with her apple cart. She let out a loud whistle and several of the smaller animals clambered into the cart.
"You're gunna have ta follow me straight to the house. No hangin' around, kay?" Some of the animals replied with grunts and other noises. “On the count of three. One. Two. Three!” Applejack burst out of the barn in a mad dash, dragging the cart full of animals on the path to the farmhouse. The ground was coated in thick wet mud and she was fighting against a strong headwind, but she dragged the cart along slowly. Every so often it would get stuck in the mud and she would have to give it a powerful kick to free it. It was a hard slog with rain lashing at her skin through the mack, and the animals panicking whenever lightning struck. It took all of her skill to keep all the animals calm despite the extraneous circumstances, but eventually Applejack made it back to the house. She unhitched the cart by the front door that still hung open, letting all of the animals stream in and out of the wet and cold.
Once she was sure they were all in she pushed the door shut and sprinted into the lounge to find Crosswind. He was still sprawled unceremoniously in the old rocking chair. The bandage tied around his head was now completely scarlet and yet more fresh blood poured from the over-saturated bandage. “Well, AJ, It’s now or never,” she whispered breathlessly. She left the animals to their own devices as she fetched Big Macintosh's rain mack. Wrapping the Pegasus in the overly large mack, she hoisted him onto her back and left the house. Once outside, she placed the pegasus in the cart, making sure he was still covered by the mac. Fortunately, the wind was now on her side and it was mostly downhill all the way to Ponyville. Summoning up all her reserve strength, she broke into a gallop.
Applejack arrived in Ponyville town centre in a matter of minutes. She flew past the coloured cottages, making a beeline straight for the library without breaking her extreme pace. Applejack’s legs were so sore that they felt like they were on fire. Each step sent shooting pains up her already aching legs. The pegasus on her back might as well have been made of lead to the pony at this stage. Twilight just has ta know what to do about this; she just has ta.
Applejack pulled up at Twilight’s house with a screech of suddenly stopping wheels. She shook off the collar and let the yoke fall to the ground, before charging towards the large tree that housed the local library. She stopped at the large wooden door and bombarded it wildly with her hooves. A frenzied fit of knocks rang out with each hit. She heard muffled speech from the other side and the door opened to reveal a familiar small purple dragon.
"Spike! I gotta big problem!" Applejack shouted, although Spike could read it off her face plain as day. The frantic breaths and wide eyes attested to that. "Is Twilight home?"
"Yeah, she's in the library with Rarity. They’re looking at the fashions of Zebrica," Spike replied earnestly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You can find as many books on practical medicine as you can; I've got a pegasus with me who won’t wake up."
"Really? How long have they been out? Are they here? Now?" Spike tried to look around her before meeting the pleading look in her eyes. "Okay! Okay!” Spike made a pushing gesture with his hands. “Don’t worry, Applejack! You can count on me!" Spike turned and rushed inside. Applejack gingerly lifted Crosswind out of the cart and brought him inside the house.
Rain continued to lash against the window panes with its constant hammering while lightning soared through the sky. The lightning rod above Twilight’s house did its job though, each bright white bolt that got too close smashed into the rod with a resounding crash.
A purple unicorn sat at her desk, staring intently at the book in front of her. Books were everywhere, lying open on different pages containing complex diagrams. Twilight Sparkle would read a page or two and then toss the book carelessly behind her and pull out another one. In the centre of the room a table had been cleared and on it laid the injured Pegasus on a spare bed sheet.
A white unicorn with a strained but still styled purple mane stood over the injured pegasus wearing what had once been a pristine white baker’s apron. Despite the fact that the apron itself was covered in red droplets of varying sizes, Rarity had managed to avoid getting a single splodge on her own white coat. She hummed somewhat distressedly as she worked, and her eyes had that wide open quality typical of a slight disconnection with reality at this moment in time. Rarity's horn glowed and a needle coated in blue light threaded another stitch. Cutting it with a pair of scissors, she rethreaded the needle again and started another line. “Twilight, my dear, I can keep on fixing up these scrapes, but we both know why he isn’t moving.”
“Argh!” Twilight shouted as she tossed another book behind her. She then turned to Spike. "Spike! None of these books have anything on how to treat head trauma! It’s all just theory!" Spike saluted dutifully and sprinted off into the depths of the library.
“I know, Rarity! I’m trying to find a way to fix it!” Twilight shouted as she pulled another book from the pile with a burst of purple magic.
Both ponies returned to their work in silence for around a minute. Twilight’s eyes scanning every page as her she magically skimmed the book. Rarity took care of another nasty gash on the pegasus’s hip.
“I can’t believe the hospital would be closed to an emergency like this,” Rarity said conversationally.
“The whole town knew about the storm. Everypony’s safe in their beds by now. Except us it seems.”
“Speaking of beds, do you think Applejack is going to be okay? She looked positively exhausted when she pushed through that door.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine after a bit more rest,” Twilight replied flatly. “Spike!”
Spike rushed back from the library carrying just one book a few seconds later. “Bear Griffon: Survival Tips for the Intrepid Adventurer” was emblazoned across the top. A picture of a rugged looking griffon in a faded green vest holding a machete filled the rest of the space on the cover.
“Spike! Now is not the time or place for a book like this!” Twilight seized the book with her magic and prepared to toss it over her shoulder.
“No, wait, Twilight!” Spike shouted with an outstretched claw. Twilight hesitated and the book held fast in midair above her head. “It’s got a big section on emergency medical techniques! I checked the index and it said there was something about dealing with head trauma on page ninety-six.”
Upon hearing this Twilight slammed the book onto the desk in front of her and instantly flipped to page ninety-six. Sure enough there was a detailed set of images depicting how to perform emergency surgery on an injured friend in the wilderness using just a knife. Twilight pored her attention onto the pages in front of her, committing the images to memory. Twisting away from the book with a nod, she approached the table.
Rarity finished a suture and took a step back as Twilight trotted over. Twilight went straight for the swollen, purplish bump that graced the grey pegasus’s head. "According to my books, bruising of this colour is normally a sign of massive internal bleeding. Let's hope he hasn't haemorrhaged yet... I wonder…" Twilight muttered aloud to herself. She gave the bruise a light prod and something sloshed inside. "There's no helping it. We’re going to have to cut his head open.”
“What?” Rarity spluttered.
“Bruising of this colour is indicative of blood pooling in the cranium. The longer we leave it, the more chance there is of a blood clot forming and that might kill him. On top of that, it could be due to pressure building up or, more likely, something is stuck in there.”
Rarity looked dumbstruck at the cold logic employed by Twilight. “B-b-but, you want to cut his head open.”
Twilight lit up her horn and touched it to the ailing pegasus’s forehead. “There’s definitely something in there. As soon as it’s out, he can start the recovery process.”
“Are you sure, Twilight? It just seems so… barbaric,” Rarity asked awkwardly.
“Don’t worry, Rarity. I know what I’m doing. Bear Griffon says that it’ll be over before you know it. Spike, fetch me a sharp knife from the kitchen and sterilise it with boiling water."
"T-t-twilight?" Spike stuttered back.
"Don't argue Spike; this Pony is dying!"
Spike paled a little but he still gave a dutiful nod before sprinting off into another room.
“Rarity, I’m going to…”
Rarity continued to stare at the injured pegasus with a glazed look in her eyes.
“Rarity!” Twilight waved a hoof in front of Rarity’s face, earning a jump from the mare.
“Twilight,” Rarity whispered before she realised what she was doing. “Twilight! I don’t know if I can take this. Sewing him up was one thing, it reminded me a little of sewing a dress, but this is quite something else. I-I don’t know if I can handle so much blood.” Tears began to well up in her eyes, and her mane was growing more and more dishevelled by the second.
“I’m sorry Rarity, but I’ll need your assistance. Somepony needs to restrain him while I work. If he as much as nods during the procedure, I could kill him.” Rarity’s body began to shake with barely suppressed fear. “You wouldn’t need to look. If you could just hold him in place for me, it’d boost his chances considerably. You could use the same spell that you use on clients.”
Rarity gulped audibly, but gave a slight tip of her head.
Just then Spike ran in holding a knife that she’d typically use on particularly tough plants with a red-hot blade.
Twilight’s gaze hardened as she enveloped the blade in her purple magic. "You might want to look away Spike," She said coldly as she lined the blade up with the picture in the diagram. "Now Rarity!”
As soon as the pegasus was surrounded by a field of blue magic, Twilight stuck the knife in to the pegasus’s skull. It slide in with surprising ease, akin to gathering butter, and she used it to follow an imaginary dotted line as if she were cutting paper. Hot blood began to leak down his skull as his body started to move seemingly of its own accord. Rarity closed her eyes as she tightened her concentration and the blue light that left her horn and enclosed the pegasus began to shine brighter. Twilight finished the incision and gently placed the knife onto the table. With morbid fascination, she gently lifted off the top of the skull and placed it onto the table too. She peered inside the pegasus’s brain box and a large grin grew on her face.
"There's the problem!" Twilight shouted in triumph and her horn glowed. A sickly squelching noise accompanied a spray of blood as a jagged piece of metal was ripped out of his brain. Unfortunately for Rarity, the rain of blood was thrown directly at her. A high pitched scream left her lips as the horrid red substance hit her luxurious soft fur. Rarity released her magical hold and galloped into the bathroom.
Twilight stood deathly still, but nothing happened. The pegasus remained still on the table, apart from the weak rising and falling of his chest. Twilight lofted up Rarity’s needle and thread with a sigh and started to work on stitching up his head.
Rarity eventually came back downstairs looking a bit calmer. Her coat was once again a lustrous alabaster, while her mane was a perfect prismatic purple. Twilight had finished up with a rough stitching job which could only be described as functional, and was tidying away the books she had thrown around. Spike was back with a mop and bucket that he used to mop up the blood that had spread around the table.
"Did it work?” Rarity called out from the stairs. "Will he finally wake up?"
Twilight sighed without turning from the shelves. “According to the book with any neurological trauma there is always a chance of brain death, but I think he should pull through. We've done all we can and it's up to him to pull through."
Another bolt of lightning struck the rod above with a crash.
“There’s no point you going home now, Rarity. In fact, I think it’s time we all called it a night.”
Spike yawned loudly and Rarity nodded in agreement. The trio left their tasks half finished and began to walk up the stairs.
“You can share my bed, Rarity. There’s no need to disturb Applejack,” Twilight said quietly as they vanished into a doorway upstairs. There would be no slumber party this time as they all went straight to bed. Memories of the impromptu surgery still burning fresh in their minds like the hot blade that did the task.
Downstairs a pegasus stirred briefly and rolled onto his side.
