Chapter 3 - May You Live In Interesting Times

Chapter 3

May You Live In Interesting Times

As Braxton walked out of the Everfree forest with the unconscious filly still wrapped up in his cloak to keep her shivering form warm, he took a moment to listen to her breathing. If he concentrated enough, he could even hear her heartbeat; he’d treated enough battle wounds to know what to listen for.

He was not encouraged by her weak yet rapid pulse, or her clammy, shivering form, recognizing the telltale signs of someone going into shock. He hoped that the little fledglings he was following knew of a skilled healer that could do more to help their white-furred friend than he could, which without access to more magic than he could spare at that moment, was limited to keeping her head below her feet, and trying to keep her warm. As they reached the exit of the woods, Braxton gave a soft whistle and pointed to a cottage near the edge of the forest. He needn’t have bothered, though; the two fillies were already racing for it ahead of Braxton and on arrival pounded frantically upon the door.

“Fluttershy! Open up, we need help!” Scootaloo said as she pounded repeatedly on the door under the deepening dusk, Braxton rushing up behind them as fast as he dared. To their relief, a few lights came on within the cottage and soon, a five-foot-five butter-yellow Pegasus with long pink hair answered the door. Her mane cascaded down over her voluptuous build as her soft teal eyes looked out the door window to see two fillies she knew. She was barely dressed, looking like she’d been getting ready for bed, but she gasped and quickly cast aside all modesty when she spotted Scootaloo's burned clothing and Applebloom's bloody and shredded clothes.

“Oh my! What happened?” she asked as, realizing that the blood and the burns she saw were real, she flung the door open to bring them inside, Only then looking up to see a very tall figure carrying Sweetie Belle's unconscious form in his arms wrapped in a strange mottled green cloak. She might have been afraid of him, but concern for her young friend overrode her misgivings as Fluttershy recognized that the way the alien figure carried Sweetie Belle was to combat shock. Though wary, she watched the figure set Rarity’s younger sister down very gently, keeping her hooves slightly elevated.

“He saved us! Don’t know who he is, but can ya help her?” Apple Bloom pleaded with the older mare, tears glimmering in her eyes, forgetting her own pain for a moment as she sensed that of her friend’s.

“I’ll do what I can, but she needs a doctor! You all do!” Fluttershy knew that time was short and she needed to fetch Nurse Redheart and Dr. Horse from Ponyville General Hospital. After tending to their immediate injuries, she then flew out of her cottage as fast as her wings could carry her with Sweetie Belle in her arms, not caring that she was only wearing a sheer camisole and high cut T back panties.

“Do you think anyone would mind her going out like that?” Kylnn Ka' Tar asked Braxton in a soft mental whisper.

“I personally didn't mind her showing up like that,” Braxton mentally stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he watched her leave with more than purely academic interest.

“You're a man after all. Of course you wouldn't,” Kylnn Ka Tar playfully teased

“I will without shame acknowledge beauty. Particularly coming from one as clearly kind as she,” Braxton returned the mental joust.

“Be that as it may, there will be a lot of fear and anxiety coming, because of those three fledglings I fear,” Kylnn Ka' Tar conveyed to Braxton, turning serious.

“Yes and when the three girls are deemed safe, matters will turn to you and I. We need to prepare,” Braxton said mentally.

While waiting for Fluttershy to return, Braxton sat on the floor keeping a watchful eye on the two young fillies in his charge. He opened the pocket at the top of his bandoleer taking out the little pocket book and unfolding it to the textbook as the two fillies watched in awe at the magic trick he had just performed.

Smiling at their reaction, Braxton opened the back of the book and took out ten pages of loose parchment, though he hoped he didn't need that many as he squeezed the book's spine and pulled out a calligraphy styled pen and a small vial of ink. Now possessing what he needed, Braxton flipped back to the front of the book and started writing while Applebloom and Scootaloo watched what he was doing with great interest.

Fluttershy entered the front door of the hospital, barely slowing down to a canter, before coming up to the nurse’s station. She drew quite a few eyes both from stallions and mares alike, to the point that a few mothers elected to cover the eyes of their impressionable young colts.

Fluttershy found Nurse Redheart at the nurse’s station and hurried up to her, a swaddled Sweetie Belle still in her arms The five foot three inch silvery earth pony had a carnation pink mane and tail and sharp blue eyes that were now assessing who stood before her.

With what she knew of the pony before her she instantly surmised that one or more of the CMC had gotten hurt, or Rainbow dash had done something incredibly stupid. She perked her ears to better listen to what the pretty pegasus had to say between pants, having flown in a hurry while carrying a load she was not used to.

“Nurse...Redheart...so much blood...the other fillies… hurt… burned… going to… get Twilight… get Doctor… Horse to… my house… to help them.” Fluttershy finished, passing her Sweetie Belle before running back out of the hospital and taking to the air again.

Recognizing the seriousness of Sweetie Belle’s injuries, Nurse Redheart quickly left the nurse’s station to find Dr. Horse and give him both the young mare and relate to him the overall situation. She gave the cloak to Fluttershy to cover herself for modesty's sake, and wrapped Sweetie Belle in a warming blanket.

Dr Horse, a five foot nine inch brown unicorn with brown mane and tail enjoyed the night shift with a cup of tea. He hoped that the night would be uneventful and even made a wish to the moon despite it being full. Medical professional that he was, full moon nights were always busy. Not a question of if, but a question of when. Dr. Horse put his tea down.

But the good doctor should have known better, as Nurse Redheart came into the lounge. “Doctor, we have a patient in bad shape, and it would also appear that there are more injured fillies were she came from,” she informed him, leading him to where Sweetie Belle was already being attended to by multiple nurses, who were removing the warming blankets and cutting her clothes away to give her a proper assessment for Dr. Horse.

“What do we have here, Nurse Coldheart?” Dr. Horse asked.

A stark white mare, five foot five, turned to address Dr. Horse. Her mane and tail was navy blue, and her crystal blue eyes looked toward the doctor. “We have a female filly, Sweetie Belle, roughly thirteen to fourteen years of age, presenting with Acute Stress Reaction, and mild hypertension. No traumatic injuries, Doctor.”

“Very well, Nurse Coldheart, elevate the filly’s feet above her head, keep her warm, set up a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder interview, notify the filly’s parents and monitor the hypertension for adverse changes.” Dr. Horse turned to Nurse Redheart. “Nurse Redheart, what are the facts presenting with the other fillies?”

Nurse Redheart gave the few facts that Fluttershy had related to her for the doctor. “It seems that the CMC have run into trouble and the other two are at Fluttershy's cottage. Injuries unknown, but Fluttershy talked of burns and blood.”

“I see. Let us not dawdle, Nurse Redheart!” Once Sweetie Belle was stabilized and left in the capable hooves of the other nurses, Dr. Horse grabbed his bag for house calls with Nurse Redheart in tow. His patient safe, he knew it was time to tend to others, so lit his horn and teleported off to Fluttershy's cottage.

Meanwhile, in the center of Ponyville at the Castle Of Friendship, a five-foot-tall dragon with scales of soft green and purple was attempting without much success to calm a near-hyperventilating five foot seven Alabaster white unicorn with deep violet hair and ocean-blue but very bloodshot eyes.

“Come on, Rarity, the other two CMC members are with Sweetie Belle. I'm sure she is safe,” Spike said reassuringly, spreading his hands in a calming gesture.

“Spike, Sweetie Belle has never been out this long! She left a note saying they were going into the Everfree with only the clothes on their backs, and you know how dangerous that is! This is the... worst...possible...thing!” Rarity said, melodramatically putting her hand to her forehead as she threw herself backwards as if she were fainting. She might have fell to the floor were it not for the red chaise lounge encased in a blue aura that slid under the fashionista to catch her.

A five-foot-ten-inch tan athletic mare with blonde mane and tail pushed her brown stetson cowboy hat back to show her tired emerald-green eyes as she sat in a throne of crystal with three apples embossed into the thrones’ high back. “Rarity, I swear you can be such a drama queen. Them fillies ain't been missin more than a few hours, not days. It’s way too early to panic, though Ah swear though when I get my hands on Applebloom, she's gonna learn not ta be out this late!”

While Rarity sat up upon her couch, a bright pink five-foot-three-inch voluptuous mare with an equally bright pink mane and tail paired with sapphire blue eyes came out of the kitchen nearby with a tray of cupcakes in one hand and some tissues in the other as she presented them to Rarity. “Tissue for the issue?”

“Thank you, Pinkie.” Rarity said as she used the tissue to wipe away the running mascara and dry her eyes.

“Hey!” Pinkie exclaimed in an excited voice, drawing the attention of everypony in the room. ”Maybe they are late because they got attacked in the Everfree but were saved by somepony exotic and are now being helped by him!?” she suggested as she set the cupcake tray down on the map table.

Rarity and Applejack's eyebrows went up and down giving Pinkie a “really” look as a voice drew the three mares attention “Pinkie, have you been reading Spike's comic books again?” A rather busty five-foot-six-inch lavender Alicorn mare put a hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn, looking to her friends running her other hand through her long blue mane that had a natural purple and pink stripe with the same complement to her tail.

Pinkie cocked her ears slightly. “It could happen, Twilight!” she insisted, passing around her cupcakes.

Behind Twilight, an athletic five-foot-nine-inch cyan-colored mare with a prismatic mane and tail walked into the room, already munching on one of the cupcakes as she looked to her friend. “Come on, Twilight, let the mare dream.”

Pinkie smiled, giving a small squeak as she did. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash!”

“She can dream if she wants, but sorry Pinkie, that sounds like something out of a Daring Do novel and it's just not pos...” Twilight sighed, putting a hand to her face, realizing what was about to come out of her muzzle. This earned a small round of giggles from all the mares in the room before her mind came back to the reason all of them were up so late, save one.

“Okay so Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo have been gone since ten this morning, and according to the note they left, they were going to the Everfree to make bows and arrows even though they knew they weren’t supposed to go in there unless they wanted to visit Zecora. But Zecora just replied to Spike’s dragonfire letter saying she hadn’t seen them, and worse, all of them know to be back by sundown. Given that it's now nearing ten o'clock, it’s been twelve hours since they left, so something must be wrong. I will cast a spell and see where they show up on this scroll map, and then we will go get them together.”

This brought a unanimous yes from the mares in the room as Twilight began to charge her horn for the spell the doors. But she didn’t get a chance to cast it before the door to the room slammed open, revealing Fluttershy in her night clothes, a mottled green and brown cloak billowing around her shoulders, and panting as though she had run a marathon.

“I think you missed in your spell, Twilight. Though it is great Fluttershy is here! And oooo… I think she may have been busy tonight!” Pinkie said, taking no little note of what Fluttershy was wearing.

Ignoring the eyes on her, Fluttershy walked in and leaned heavily on a badly blushing Twilight, completely out of breath. “Twilight… come now… my house...CMC...hurt bad… already have... been to ...hospital... attacked by creature... help...” she managed just before passing out from her exertion.

Twilight helped Rainbow Dash catch their friend, then kept her floating in the air; if the situation hadn’t been so urgent she might have taken more note of Pinkies' interest in Fluttershy's taste in nightclothes. “Okay, everyone gather around! We are headed to Fluttershy's right now!”

The mares and Spike didn't need to be told twice as Twilight charged her horn, everypony joining hands as the group vanished in a mass teleportation spell.

Before Fluttershy had even arrived at the castle, Dr. Horse and Nurse Redheart were first on the scene at Fluttershy’s cottage. Upon seeing the two burned and injured fillies and their strange companion, Dr Horse began treating Scootaloo while Nurse Redheart attended Applebloom.

Despite the bloodied clothes and a few minor burns, neither of the pair two had any signs of serious physical injury, but their mental and emotional state was another matter as Dr. Horse heard from both Applebloom and Scootaloo about the monster that attacked them. He quickly reassured them that Sweetie Belle was safe, being treated at the hospital, and he’d take them there once he was satisfied their injuries wouldn’t preclude them traveling there. .

Their patients treated, the two medical professionals then looked to the enigma in the room that seemed to be like the eye of a hurricane, staying out of the way while just finishing up scratching runes onto a sheet of paper.

“I know not your race, but they say you saved them. Are you hurt?” Dr Horse asked, turning his attention to the odd alien.

Realizing he was being addressed, Braxton looked up but said nothing as the healer before him spoke in a language he didn't understand, indicating his lack of comprehension by speaking a few words of his own language and shaking his head. Nurse Redheart was trying to figure out how she could ask to examine him when a bright flash filled the living room, startling Braxton as six more mares now stood within it.

Dr. Horse now had one more patient to treat as he saw the exhausted mare in both Rainbow Dash's and Twilight's arms. Nurse Redheart took Fluttershy to her bedroom with Spike’s help a and the next series of events for Dr. Horse and Nurse Redheart unfolded with all the speed of an Emergency Room weathering a small natural disaster.

Seeing her little sister's shredded and bloody clothes, Applejack screamed and ran to her, trying to see if her younger sister Applebloom was hurt, rifling off questions and accusations so fast the little filly couldn't get a word in edgewise before finally hugging her.

Rarity, upon learning that Sweetie Belle was more seriously hurt and now kept at Ponyville hospital, passed out with more justification this time only to be caught in Twilight's magic.

For her part, Twilight couldn't contain her excitement once it was clear the three girls were safe and attended to. For there was a human here, and she wanted badly to know how he got here, but was busy having to deal with Rarity at the moment.

Pinkie wanted to meet the newcomer as well. He tried to give him one of her flying welcome to Ponyville hugs only to crash into Fluttershy's wall after going through Braxton's displaced form, the real one watching her initially somewhat warily but then with more interest as Pinkie groaned with her face in the corner and her rear in the air.

Seeing this, Dr. Horse facepalmed. He was not surprised these six mares and the CMC were involved, but the addition of the strange creature added a new element entirely. knowing chaos would follow.

Braxton watched all of this unfold around him staying perfectly still, his senses taking in everything around him when a voice rippled through his mind

“What a curious world. We live in interesting times, my Brother,” Kylnn Ka' Tar noted flatly

“Indeed. But I'm still trying to figure out if that is a blessing...or a curse…” mused Braxton thoughtfully, wondering what surprises this new place had in store for him.