Red and Black 2

The changeling who'd confiscated the axe from the scene of the slaughter sighed as he and Constantina watched their wounded guests intently. For the last few minutes or so, Charlotte had been twitching violently in her sleep, and as time passed her spasming became more and more violent. Eventually she started kicking and punching at Jonathan, but that did little to even shift him.

Constantina opened her mouth, but closed it as Charlotte jolted upright with a strangled scream. She rushed over to subdue her as the bloodstained horn began charging with crackling lightning. Despite the danger Constantina wrapped her forelegs around a barrel, and got punched in the muzzle for her trouble."G-get away!" Charlotte cried, flailing her legs desperately for a full minute before it occurred to her what exactly was holding her.

"Hey, it's alright now. Just take a few deep breaths," Constantina instructed, and she smiled as Charlotte took in deep breaths. "Slowly," she added as the breathing hastened again.

"Should I get her some food? She's looking awfully pale," the changeling still juggling the axe piped up, causing Constantina to turn to him. Constantina didn't answer; Charlotte's stomach gave a gurgle, more or less answering for her.

“Please?” Constantina asked in a soft voice. Charlotte merely grinned in embarrassment as her stomach gurgled again. "And make sure it's not moss, Minos. She needs the fiber."

Minos nodded, and turned to the axe. "Should I leave this here? It's theirs," he mumbled. At Constantina's nod, he lowered the weapon to the floor and bolted off down a freshly-opened hall so fast he was but a blur.

It was at this time that Charlotte began fidgeting in Constantina's forelegs. "C-could you let g-go, please?" she squeaked.

At the same time Charlotte made her utterance, another hallway entrance had opened up, and what was more that it let a series of chattering voices spill into the room with the sound of several hooves trotting about. The first to emerge from it was Thorax, followed closely by Patient. "Wh-who are you?" Charlotte piped up, still fidgeting in the pink clutches that didn't seem too keen on letting her go yet.

“This pony is a nurse. He is also an emissary from Canterlot; he’ll help you,” Thorax plainly stated, and he softly smiled as Charlotte ceased struggling on the spot.

Patient slowly walked over to the two ponies and Constantina, his horn already aglow to work a few spells. Slowly, he took his helmet off and set it on the damp, soft floor, which shuddered and groaned slightly at the touch of cold metal.

“I’m Patient Care. I’m from Ponyville,” he said softly, introducing himself.

“Ch-Charlotte. That’s Jonathan.” A blue hoof gestured to the pegasus for emphasis.

Patient nodded. “What happened?”

"A-alicorns… w… we w-were s-sent to Asgard…" Charlotte uttered, only to stop as her legs shook as another passageway opened to the outside and blew a cold draft into the room. She turned to glare briefly at the hole before returning her attention to Patient.

“Asgard? I was just there with my team! How…" he pondered for a moment. “How did you know about what happened to Asgard?”

"D-dragged out… as it… exploded in purple. I-I tasted… violet…" Charlotte stammered before lifting a hoof to cough into it. She retracted her limb and stuck her tongue out, likely in disgust. "W-went there… months ago…" Her eyes widened, and Patient got the impression that something clicked in her head. "Y-you know Sh-Shining?" she asked, her voice nothing more than a strangled whisper.

Patient nodded. “I take it you were sent in to thin the crowd before my crew and I got there?” he asked.

Charlotte hastily nodded. "W-went south, f-fast," she answered. "S-so many… f-foals…used for… b-bargaining… h-had to teach th-them… magic..."

"I'm starting to wonder if the alicorns that aren't the princesses are even sentient enough to grasp the concept of basic morality and decency," Rekka scoffed as he trotted into the room from the hall Thorax and Patient came from earlier. He stopped in his tracks upon seeing Charlotte, and his eyes nearly bugged out. "Holy… another one?" he asked, before turning to look at Charlotte's cutie mark.

“So you were the one Shining told me about. You taught those degenerates a shielding spell?” Patient asked as he focused on Jonathan’s smashed wings, all broken and limp.

At that, Charlotte shook her head. "N-no… o-offensive magics," she reported. "I… only know a s-single weak shield s-spell…"

“I understand. Let me take a look at you; tell me what happened.” Patient slid his torso armor off and let that fall to the floor, much to the groaning chagrin of the structure.

"That's the one I suspect to be comatose," Thorax piped up as Patient turned his attention on Jonathan.

“Yeah, I noticed," Patient snarked. ”Do changelings have anything that can be used for casts?”

Thorax nodded and immediately another hallway opened, revealing a fat, writhing worm-like creature with hooked segments and hideous white spots about as large as a pony. It slithered into the room, causing Patient and Charlotte to balk as it came closer.

“Keep that fuckin’ thing away from us!” Patient shouted, putting himself between the injured ponies and the larvae-like creature.

“Settle down.” Thorax rolled his eyes as the creature vomited a fibrous, glowing green substance.

“These are their builders,” Rekka informed the startled ponies. Outside, they could hear Foxfire giggling and assumed she had something to do with it.

"I call shenanigans!" Ember exclaimed from outside the room. "Foxfire owes me a hundred bits!"

Patient sighed and turned to the worm-thing as it came closer with a burble. “Now how can you help me?” he asked the thing quietly.

The pale worm shuddered and groaned in the same way the floor did and vomited a dark yellow paste, which stuck to the floor like paper mache; the ground made a deep grumble that could be construed as delight.

“I guess that’ll have to do for now,” Patient grumbled as the worm slithered back into the hall.

He used magic to slowly unravel the bandages and set the bones in Jonathan’s wings before slowly applying the worm vomit to them and folding them back closed. The material dried fast, and acted like a cast whose origins he did not want to question.

"Th-that was… now I'm d-debating whether or not to tell him wh-when he wakes up…" Charlotte stammered, looking at the new casts with a gaze somewhere between disgusted, perplexed, or wanting to get a chuckle.

"Tell him for shits and giggles," Rekka unhelpfully suggested with a smile on his face. The utterance had Charlotte groaning in resignation, and she shook her head with a mutter along the lines of 'Lord help me.'

“Okay. Now you." Charlotte froze as she felt Patient's gaze fall onto her again. Her ears folded back instantly.

"Y-yes?" she squeaked.

“Where does it hurt?” Patient asked.

"E-everywhere… but my h-head especially," Charlotte stammered, her rear legs shaking as she spoke.

“Okay.” He turned to Constantina. “Do changelings have any kind of pain medication?”

“Yes. There is a root we chew on. No worm botulism this time.” She smiled and finally let go of Charlotte for once, causing her to stumble to the floor. “I’ll grab some for you.”

“That would be best, thank you.” Patient nodded before turning to Charlotte again.

He noted her bruises, scratches, some unpleasant-looking white splotches that still lingered in her coat, and the chips and cracks running along all four hooves. "No farrier, I take it?" he asked.

"Al-alicorns… said they d-didn't need farriers…" Charlotte grumbled, shifting her legs to at least attempt to stand.

"I'll send for a farrier!" Foxfire shouted from outside again, before her outburst gave way to a set of hooves galloping away.

“Thorax told me about… well, what happened,” Patient solemnly spoke. “Normally, I’d need to use a kit to collect evidence, but since the perpetrators are dead, I’d say you and Jonathan can both shower and clean up as soon as you’d like. Preferably if you both were awake.”

Charlotte only nodded in response.

“Once the train to Canterlot comes around again in a while, we’ll have the both of you on that,” Patient reassured.

Immediately after Patient finished, however, a small series of explosions could be heard, rocking the side of the hive and causing it to groan loudly in agony. Everyone was shaken and some pieces fell over from the force. Patient picked up his armor and put it back on as he saw Rekka and the rest of his team sprint away.

“I’ll keep these two under close watch," Thorax shouted, rushing over to the two wounded ponies with all three horns ignited in a bright teal glow. “Go and see what’s going on!”

“Aye!” Patient shot back, picking up his weapon and sprinting off.