Bush Whacker

To most ponies the night means crawling into a warm bed to sleep and dream, time to relax and rest from the day. For Bush Whacker it was when he often found himself being needed the most, the Everfree is already a maze during the day but at night even grown mares and stallions can get turned around and lost, night is typically when Bush Whacker was most awake and alert. Every danger had their own unique sound that tended to carry for a ways in the undergrowth, the most obvious was a pony calling for aid, but the occasional animal growling or smoke from a survival fire weren’t uncommon to him. It couldn’t have been long before midnight, maybe an hour, when one of the worst sounds reached his ears, falling rocks and debris followed by the sounds of somepony in pain.

A landslide or bad fall over a cliff often leaves ponies with broken legs or wings, making getting them back to ponyville somewhat of a challenge. In some cases he had to send his dog, Back Up, to the hospital with a note for help. Bush Whacker grabbed his bags with his first aid kit and sped off into the direction of the sounds. After the initial pained screams had died down he heard the other pony’s voice calling, it sounded like a stallion, at least Bush Whacker knew he wasn’t unconscious, that makes things easier.

“Help, somepony, anypony!” The voice called in the distance, growing louder with each step Bush Whacker took. “I heard somepony lives out here right? Please, help me!”

The pegasus had finally come to where he could see what had happened, a pony had been walking along a cliff face before stepping on a loose step and falling, debris burying a leg on it’s way down. However it was the trapped earth pony that made Bush Whacker stop in his tracks still in the brush and undergrowth. A dark tan coat and a mane bleached from having dyed it too many times in youth, Dusky Star, a pony Bush Whacker never thought nor wanted to see again.

The memory came back to him in an instant, as clear as it was when it happened, and just as haunting as every time it wormed its way back into his thoughts. It was just after a sports class in school, Bush Whacker was already avoiding any kind of contact with his classmates as much as possible but that wasn’t enough forever. He couldn’t even remember how it started, what triggered it, but he remembered it with a clarity that would make even crystal ponies jealous. Young Bush Whacker suddenly found himself pushed against a wall of lockers as he was changing, no less than three locks jabbing into his wings and back. Reeling away from the wall in shock and pain he found himself on the floor, being kicked and stomped by three other colts, Dusky Star being the ringleader and antagonist. It may have only been seconds but to Bush Whacker it felt like an eternity, crying endlessly in a defensive position on the floor as he was beaten and none of his classmates got help. They just stood there, shocked, and watched.

The memory had haunted Bush Whacker since he was a blank flank, it was part of the reason he lived here now. The red stallion could feel his jaw clenching and his hooves tightening, his anger rising beyond whatever it was before. His breath stopped being the normal quiet as it turned deep enough to flare his nostrils. The pegasus learned a lesson that day not many know, a lesson that should be reserved for the likes of Nightmares and tyrants. That day Bush Whacker learned what true hatred was. Not to simply dislike something or somepony, but to despise something so entirely, to want nothing to do with it, to learn a shade of burning red that very few should ever see and even fewer deserved to see; to well and truly hate. A hundred scenes played out in his mind, some worse than others. Dusky hadn’t seen him yet, he could leave the earth pony, at least for a little while…

‘No! You can’t have those thoughts, that’s not you! “On my honor I will do my best to help other ponies at all times; to be trustworthy, helpful, friendly, kind!” You made those promises, you swore that oath! You can’t leave him here, he’s hurt! Who are you if you leave him? What does that make you?’

Another call for help and his recent thought snapped the pegasus back to reality, taking a deep breath he ran forward as fast as he could to where the accident occurred.

“Oh thank the Sisters!” Dusky shouted out between breaths of pain. “I knew somepony would help, you’re the one who lives out here right? The one that helps ponies get out?”

“... Yeah. Why were you out here so late anyway?” Bush Whacker immediately began digging Dusky’s leg out of the rubble. ‘Either he doesn’t recognize me or he isn’t acknowledging it, fine by me either way.’

“I wanted to get a gemstone for my marefriend, I-I wanted it to be special so I went here to get one myself.”

“How chivalrous.” It was getting hard for Bush Whacker to mask his feelings with sympathy, the only thing helping was his concentration on first aid. “Tell me when and where this hurts the most and how bad.”

“Thank yo- ow. Buck, that hurts!.. That’s not as bad… You look kinda- Ah, please stop touching me there.” Dusky’s voice was more of a panting at the sudden jolts of pain.

“Well it’s not the worst I’ve seen but your hind leg has a stress fracture, a small crack on your bone. It’s not broken yet, but I need to get you to Ponyville General. I’m going to get a splint on it and I’ll help you up, use your good legs and I can get us there alright?”

“Yeah, that… that’s a good idea. I think I can do that. Hey uhm…”

“Keep that leg off the ground as much as you can and as high as you can.”

“What’s your name?”

“... Bush Whacker.”

The walk to Ponyville General was long and silent save for the occasional pained moans from Dusky Star. The two had trekked the entire way in silence towards each other, Bush whacker keeping his word to get Dusky to the hospital. A few feet from the doors Bush Whacker put the wounded earth pony into a wheelchair outside, Dusky finally broke the silence as Bush Whacker turned to leave.

“Hey Bush Whacker!”

The pegasus simply stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly to look back over his shoulder.

“I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out… and about schoo-”

“Dusky.”

“Yeah?”

“Nothing between us has changed.” He didn’t wait for a response, Bush Whacker took flight towards his home before he could hear anything else.