Black Hawk Over Equestrian Skies

A door busted inwards with a violent bang as the knob impacted the wall next to it, hooves bucked it in with just enough pressure to undo the lock without harming the frame. First came two white ponies in golden armor, their steely gazes trained on every furniture and item in the scarcely occupied spartanesque room. Little more than a bed, a nightstand with a crystal glow lamp, a small drawer, and a desk lay before the new occupants to behold much less inspect. The drab unit with its crystal floor, walls, and ceiling barely even given enough rags to call it homely even by Zen followers, but it was to the delight of the guards who needed to do nothing to allow the others in.

First came another warrior equine whose hooves clacked on the hard mineral ground, their armor jostling as it scraped against itself with each movement made. Equally as imposing as they lead a floating gurney behind them, the pony soldier gently stood aside to allow the rest through. A team of lab coated animals flanked and trailed behind the long stretcher which held Goumann still in his flight armor, the man unconscious and unmoving like a rock in a flowing stream. A light flickered overhead and broadcast much needed light for anything to even see clearly without stubbing themselves in the few furnishings around. A slight sizzling sound erupted before the bloom of illumination was born, the horn of another guard pony who was one of the last to enter had caste the spell for the situation at hoof.

"Thankyou Seargent, we'll be needing that for the next few hours if not days." said one of the more casually dressed of the eleven plus the man who'd entered, a stallion with glasses and a two toned pasture green coat who looked as if they could use a year off.

The dull brown unicorn guard nodded sincerely as his illuminated bony protrusion shone a few levels dimmer than the spell itself, "Princess Celestia has ordered us to provide anything you may need for the VIP, we will work in shifts so that you may receive the sight you need to carry out the work. For whatever that thing is."

"It's not a thing..." one of the nurses mumbled under her breath.

Of the five apparent medical staff assigned to the subdued biped, two unicorn nurses moved the patient to the center of the room with their horns blazing holding his weight and the metal gurney. The mares strained visibly though they did their best to show some resilience besides the exhausted lines under their eyes, a Strawberry Mint and Keen Suture dubbed by the name tags hanging on necklaces identified themselves to the guards. Unlike their usual cards that glued to their fur during duties at the hospital, the guards had given them something more special inclined for the royal assignment they'd been forced into.

A white coated mare with pink mane and tail locks took position beside Goumann's head as she checked for any signs of distress. Finding none nor any cracks in the metal and fabric aerial armor beside the one which existed in the helmet's visor, she looked to the others with a very pleased smile as beads of sweat started to flow from her forehead. Among the five she showed the most stress, then again she was the first to see the creature who freaked out before her. All she had done was enter the room where she beheld the sleeping victim held in stasis, assured by the guards it wouldn't wake. Shortly then she was told to inspect it whilst Princess Luna investigated the dreams of the foreigner, of course how couldn't she feel positive with so many capable warriors on standby covering all entryways and weapons pointed at the entity?

She would have given two years worth of her salary and committed to overtime in the magical intensive unit if only she'd known. That moment she went to see what could even be done to an 'Alien' as she overheard one of the earth pony soldiers, a simple flashlight was all she used in order to peer past the haze of the shielding aura around it. Instantly the shape reminded her of a monkey or great ape from Zebrica, using her wits she pointed and clicked the lumin stick towards the faceless head with a mirror-like eye. As freaked out as she should have been she maintained her professionalism and tried to find any kind of pupil if not figure out what was an eyeball and where the cranium began.

Then it gasped for air in a mechanical way like the Iron Lungs for the breathless, her heart skipped three beats with an almost soul sucking cavity left in the wake. Yet she kept still as if moving might trigger an attack, the new patient reacted violently to waking which could only mean the Princess had either left its mind or it was fighting her off. Knowing she was well out of her league and needed more help along her line rather than the warriors she beckoned for her colleagues who were behind her stuck at the inspection barrier. Seeing the nearest doctor still seconds from being let in she looked back just in time to see something on the chest of the alien click and whirl as a dentist drill would sound.

'What in Celestia's name?!!' she froze just as the guards noticed and began to move in.

Some kind of armature of many joints disconnected itself from the metallic workings, at he tip chamber no bigger than a three pencil widths before what appeared to be a needle acted hastily. A pink liquid filled glass tube shot forth into the forward appliance that completed either a weapon or a syringe, the likes she couldn't fathom at least not in her current terror and intrigue dominated status. In seconds the so called weapon struck the neck of the alien and it calmed down, just as she was yanked away in time for additional magic to be applied to the already strong barrier. That was ten minutes ago, a long ten minutes which her blood still felt the remnants of adrenaline keeping her alert.

The mare gave a nod in satisfaction, "You did good girls, let's get ready to dive into the unknown shall we? Doctor? Where do we begin?" the nurse turned to the other two of her group who had engaged in small conversations with the guard before them.

Before responding, the maroon Ph.D gave a list from his coat pocket over to the soldier to took it eagerly, "We'll need these ASAP, there's no telling how injured the patient is and I cannot begin treatment without testing its physiology before administering any medication to ease any suffering." he affirmed before the mage left in a hurry, "Nurse Redheart, were you able to grab anything on the way here? I see you have a satchel with you?"

The stallion inquired as his eyes settled on the human, nearing closer as curiosity set in without the hustle of the Royal Guards pushing them to the castle. It had been a long thirty minutes from the hospital as it were and being torn away from those he swore to care for since he earned his job there. Yet when the command to attend another injured patient came straight from the Princesses themselves and with word that substitutes from Canterlot would be flown in to take his spot temporarily, he and the rest had no way of saying no. It was not until they neared Ponyville's castle that they were informed of why they were so abruptly grabbed from their stationed posts. Why they had to see somepony else when they themselves only recently recovered from Tirek the Red's hunger for magic, how badly needed they were already by their many charges whose conditions worsened by the magical deprivation placed upon them.

"Marvelous isn't it Nurse Redheart?!" whispered Dr. Acute Scope, his hooves stopping him just inches from the still shimmering stasis field that contained the foreign being and whatever unknown microbes or contagions that might be in its very air.

Redheart clipped off the one sided canvas medical bag that he had asked about and set it down two feet from the gurney. As she began to carefully organize what items and tools she managed to bring, the good doctor continued. His heart which ached for the ponies he should be rightly overseeing himself gave way to the light of saving the life from something beyond their comprehension. A sentiment the nurses however were less inclined to be as passionate about, they were already nearing the end of their long double shifts prolonged by the centaurs rampage and the desperate attempt to continue treatment for the hospitalized without magic.

"Until we can get an X-ray of its anatomy... I can only speculate what it is composed of?! To think the Biologis courses they made every student and graduate learn by heart, from the lowly cragodile golems to the rare spirits of the Lunar Ocean! I never would have expected all those nights burning all of the listed anatomical models and mana diagrams into my memory for just this occasion..." Dr. Acute seemed to quiver a smile at the corners of his mouth, though the awe held firm.

Nurse Strawberry cleared her throat, "Canterlot University's Medical Wing did host the honors for the most data on available species in the kingdom Doctor? We all had to learn about every possible patient we may be called to care for, ponies an non-equines in nature."

"Nothing from another world much less what this poor lad endured." Nurse Suture sighed as she brushed a curly lock of her messy mane from her eyes.

The second doctor joined Redheart as he used a sterilization spell to clean the work space the tool were placed on, the rush of magic forced any microscopic organism aside for as long as he kept the spell anchored. The teal stallion himself was one of the newly hired specialists who had a long list in his background of studies, how such a capable doctor ended upon in Ponyville General was beyond her want to know though the other staff rumored about it.

"Thank you Doctor Steam, I didn't have the time to grab a towel or tray." she expressed her gratitude through tired eyes and weary smile.

Goodwill Steam was his full name she remembered, always the last one of the hospital staff to be on the ball of such things, "Don't worry Nurse Redheart, I wouldn't fault you for it not with all this." he gestured towards the guards and the alien with his head.

"Simply breathtaking!" the other doctor sounded out again as he worked down the patients body with a superficial analysis.

"Seems we best be getting to work indeed, ya?" Dr. Steam chuckled at his superior's enthusiasm to which Redheart agreed.

With the armored ponies standing by ready for another reaction from the still creature, the unicorn nurses went to work themselves without a command. Their horns glowed softly as they erected another barrier around the heads of every medical pony present, a bubble formed as if blown by a foal that shone under the light of the unicorn's spell still above them.

"Perfect, thank you." said Dr. Acute, "Now first things first before we can even begin to help this poor creature... is to extract sample from it! I asked for our hematologist and they should be here within minutes if they are using portals to move our needed equipment and staff, so let us make haste."

Dr. Steam interjected, "Doctor? I'm afraid we won't have the luxury of hasty acquisition, I overheard something that there's another battle going on a few miles from here. Something about a level 2 threat level, so they're keeping magical acts to a minimum. That's as much as I know however..."

"Splendid, just splendid!" Nurse Strawberry shook her head as the spell she was about to caste fizzled out, peering at the guards nearby grimly.

Dr. Acute snapped up and starred at his youthful college, "You're not joking!?"

"I'm afraid not. Sargent? I'm sorry I did not get your name?" Dr. Steam looked to the unicorn guard who held the illumination orb alive for the healthcare to be given.

"Please elaborate on this? Our ability to help our patient cannot face such a decline of services!" the bullheaded nature of Scope poked through, much to the chagrin of his help who knew how sour he could get when obstructions arose in his line of work.

The air in the room seemed to go quiet, aside from the breathes of the armored guards and the others little else seemed o transgress. Both doctors gazed upon the lone officer who commanded the small detail in charge of the VIP, the nurses seemed to look to each other questioningly as if the famous doctor might even get them ejected from caring for the alien. Redheart however seemed unmoved, she knew where this was going to go having been at Ponyville General for the number of years under Dr. Acute. He would get his way for the sake of the needy, something about his special talent and empathy many others spoke of in both hushed tones and simple gossip.

The officer however remained impassive as a statue as he calmly replied, "Yes, as was just mentioned we have another hostile force present in the kingdom, I myself do not know much else nor can I say of what. Princess Celestia has enacted a Threat level 2 as the battle is magical and it is feared to be another Code Epsilon, therefore magic such as portal gateways have been banned until further notice. I'm sorry for the inconvien..."

The good doctor stepped forward before he stood muzzle to muzzle with the guard, all eyes upon the two with baited breath. At what seemed like a shouting match might occur and an arrest for the professional for unruly behavior against a soldier of the kingdom, devolved into nothing less than an educational moment for the very officer himself.

"Then let me make sure you understand what it is that we're facing right now. We have no idea what the patient is, what lives on and in it, and if we do not help it right away and learn about its physiology. Shall I bring up the infamous Horn Blight two centuries ago? The one caused by fungi where upon maturation the spores were spread by aerial dispersal? Now to use this example, if this creature decays from expiration... what unstoppable viral and bacterial pathogens might prosper that heat, chemical, and magical applications cannot kill? Just as the superbug which caused mass infection in Balitmare during the longest coldest winter they had three years ago which no antibiotic nor spell could remedy!"

The guard pulled back from the facts being placed before his hooves, "How can you excuse the denial of healthcare to this victim of circumstance and not expect repercussions if it's life is not given a single care? The commandments of Ponyville Hospital of medicine... secure, contain, study, and heal. Without the ability to study we cannot heal it, without data of what lives on it we cannot treat our own if something manages to escape containment! As a Guard of the Crown surely even you would fear seeing our Princesses brought low by foreign illness? Maybe a macrophages amoeba that eats at the brain or our neural pathways that facilitate magical capabilities!? The possibilities are endless as dangerous as they are! Do... I... make... myself... clear!"

The two were touching nose tips with the good doctor's lack of sleep and frayed nerves from excitement and anxiety pushing his angle of approach. Dr. Steam watched the shortly lived conversation end with the officer nodding vigorously in agreement, his horn flickering as his hold on the illumination spell wavered. He had heard about the good doctor, the sayings many at the university spoke of in jest but to see it happen was something else. Unlike others he knew who would have been more concerned over making themselves famous by investigating what was better a corpse to them than a live patient to heal. Acute Scope just seemed so caring in every word, it prickled at his own heart to see such caution for not just the alien but for all of Equestria.

"Rrrrii right!! Lt. Sledge!? Commandeer as many chariots we can use to move the supplies here by yesterday!" the mud colored pony ordered hoping to please the situation, "And get as many ponies as you need pulling the loads in!"

Another guard in the room saluted though with uncertainty in his eyes, he vacated quickly and vanished down the long hallway outside. Satisfied with the improvement, Dr. Acute smiled as he stepped a hoof back with such a quick turn of face.

"There, all anypony needs is a brief history lesson and we learn from our mistakes! So... back to the problem at hand." the stallion rejoined the medical team as if nothing had transpired, the other guards seemed weary of him by their anxious tails that swished about more than usual.

Redheart swallowed trying to wet her dry throat, "Yes Doctor, shall we begin extracting a piece of its 'skin' for research?"

"Shall I find a vein for blood sampling while Nurse Keen oversee's stasis shielding over all samples?" Nurse Strawberry added.

"Spot on my wonderful nurses! Spot on! Dr. Steam? Will you be so happy as to assist me in mapping out a general anatomical mapping with a full body scan? Since you are more than qualified would you prefer the skeletal or exoskeleton investigation or the tissue cartography?" Dr. Acute asked merrily as he stood side by side Steam.

"This is going to be a long treatment I'm looking forward to its conclusion." the teal pony commented before summoning the magic which trickled in to his horn still reluctant after not long ago having been ripped from his body by the centaur fell mage.