When James didn't come back the previous night, Taylor became very worried. "Why hasn't he come back yet? Oh gosh, I hope that nothing bad's happened to him! I warned him again and again that Flutters was bad news, but he didn't want to listen to me!"

As Taylor was still contemplating this, a nurse suddenly came into his room. When Taylor saw her, his concern increased tenfold. She was red in the face, and clearly out of breath.

"What's wrong Nurse Starlight?"

"You need to come right now!"

"What, why?"

"It's James! He's dying!"

"WHAT?!?!?!" Taylor screamed. "WHAT HAPPENED!!!!"

"That's what we don't know! He looks like he was attacked by a wild animal!"

That was all it took. In a flash, Taylor was out of his chair, and running as fast as he could to the Emergency Room. He was barefoot, and although he was wearing his pants, he wasn't wearing a shirt, but only a bathrobe. Taylor however was too panicked to notice this though.

When Taylor arrived at James's room a few minutes later, the first thing he could do was run to the sink, and throw up. James was barely even recognizable anymore. His entire body was covered in dirt, dried blood, horrific scratches, and his clothes were in shreds. His skin was so pale and ashen in color, and he was throwing up extremely violently. However, he wasn't throwing up vomit. From what Taylor could see, James's was throwing up blood, and something that seemed to be bile.

James's eyes were wild with fright, and when he wasn't puking, he was crying and screaming in pain. Taylor ran out of the room, and collapsed in the hallway, also crying. It was like this that Nurse Starlight found him a few minutes later.

"Oh god Nurse Starlight! What happened to him?!"

"That's the scary thing Taylor, we don't know. James seems to be critically injured, but he also seems to have contracted some sort of disease. This is why he is being moved to the isolation ward immediately. Whatever he has is unlike any disease that we've ever seen."

While Nurse Starlight was talking, Taylor saw James being wheeled out of his room on a gurney. The gurney was encased in a magic force-field, and just after they left, a specially trained team of ponies entered the room to secure, and decontaminate it.

The stress of everything that he had just witnessed pushed Taylor over the edge, and he blacked out.

"Oh goodness!"

With help, Nurse Starlight managed to get Taylor back to his room. Once he was back in his bed, she had Nurse Freckles get onto the intercom system.

"Will Nurse Redheart please come to Taylor's room please? I need Nurse Redheart in Taylor's room please."

A minute or so later, Redheart arrived. "I came as soon as I could! What's happened, is something wrong?!"

"I'm afraid so Redheart. There's nothing wrong with Taylor, aside from a severe case of shock, but Ensign James on the other hoof......"

Starlight then explained everything that had just happened. "And so that's where we currently stand. James could very well be dying from a terrible illness, not counting his injuries, and now Taylor's in shock because of what he saw of James as well."

"And where is James now?"

"Just a few minutes ago, he was moved to the Isolation Ward. There he will remain until we can figure out what's wrong with him. Meanwhile, his old room is in the process of fully being decontaminated."

"And where's Taylor?"

Starlight pointed behind her. "He's lying on his bed."

Redheart looked, and sure enough, Taylor was there. He was conscious, but yet at the same time, he clearly wasn't all there.

Redheart went over to comfort him. "T-Taylor? Can you hear me?"

Taylor then turned his head to look at her. "Oh, Redheart!" He then pulled her into a hug.

"It's ok Taylor, it's all ok. I'm here for you." She kept hugging him.

"Oh Redheart, it was so horrible! I've never seen James like that before! Who could have done this to him, and why?"

"I don't know Taylor, I really do not know. However, you may have really been onto something when you warned James about Flutters. I've always thought that there was something about her that seemed not right."

"No kidding", Taylor whispered. "However, there is the chance that it was not Flutters, but we won't know for sure until James wakes up, or until he's been fully examined."

Redheart nodded, as she continued to comfort him.

Two more days would pass before James would be fully evaluated. When the examinations were finally complete, what the doctors found, was unlike anything that they had ever seen. James appeared to be normal, however, his skin was ashen, his eyes were very bloodshot, the dark circles under his eyes went all the way around his eyelids, and he had a number of very serious cuts, and slash marks on him, as well as a concussion from hitting his head on the headstone.

"I have never seen a patient like this", Dr. Stables muttered, "He should be dead from blood poisoning, or brain damage, but, he isn't."

Indeed, James heart was still beating, albeit, slightly faster than normal, but, when samples of his blood were sent to the hospital's lab, something very disturbing was found.

"According to these notes doctor, Mr. James's blood has severely clotted in several places, due to two different types of blood being mixed together."

"What type of blood was it, Nurse Freckles?"

"Um, well, according to these notes, at first, the lab techs were unable to identify where the blood came from. However, they eventually did find a match."

"What was the source though?"

"I'm getting to that. From what the techs were able to determine, the blood at fault, came from a wolf."

The doctor was very suprised. "What?! A Wolf?!"

"Yes, a wolf. And not just any wolf, a Mountain Timberwolf. And not just any Mountain Timberwolf, one that's been dead for a while."

"Wait, what did you say? Did you say, 'A Mountain Timberwolf that's been dead for a while'?"

Nurse Freckles nodded. "Yes, that's what it appears to be."

"But that doesn't make any sense. From James's testimony, the wolf that attacked him was clearly alive and well. Dead wolves can't attack, they can't scratch, bite, or rape! It's just not possible that the blood came from a dead wolf!"

"Well, I can send the blood back to the lab for another test if you want doctor."

Dr. Stables nodded. "Yes, please do that. Maybe something got messed up, and a sample was switched, or something."

"I'll send another sample of blood to the lab right away."

Nurse Freckles then went to prepare another sample.

About a day or so after this, Taylor was finally permitted to see James. He had been moved out of the Isolation Ward, and back to the room that he'd been put into the first time. When Taylor lay eyes on James again, he was still shocked, although this time, he didn't throw up. James's skin was still ashen, and his eyes had dark circles under them. Some of his reddish hair had turned black, and his eyes were rather bloodshot. His face, body, and limbs were crisscrossed with scars, scratches, and stitches.

"Um, J-James? How are you feeling?"

"I still feel God-awful. I feel like I'm dying from the inside out. They keep telling me that I'm fine, but if that was the case, why do I look the way that I do? Besides the scratches of course. Also, I do not believe the load of bullshit that they told me about Missy."

Taylor was curious. "Um, what load of bull about Missy? And come to think of it, who's Missy?"

"Missy is Flutter's pet albino Mountain Timberwolf. And from what they told me earlier today, I'm supposed to believe that that furry bitch, the same one who attacked, scratched, bit, and flat out RAPED me, was dead! It's absolute bullshit! Completely, f@#king, bullshit!"

Now Taylor was extremely confused. "Ok, this isn't making any sense. Do you mean that Missy was later hunted down and killed?"

"No. I mean that, at the time of her attacking me, Missy had been dead for approximately 2 weeks."

Taylor was unsure what to think about that. "Gosh, Missy must sure be one mighty strong dead wolf then!"

"Oh, F@#k you Taylor!"

Now Taylor was angry. "Hey! You cut that language out right now James! I was just making a harmless joke. That's no reason to fly off the handle at me. And don't you dare do that again, do I make myself clear?"

James nodded. "Clear as glass. And, I apologize. I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry for lashing out like that."

"Well, you're forgiven, but just don't do it again."

"I won't. But, on another note, how can Missy be dead? She seemed very much alive when I saw her."

Taylor sighed. "I don't know, but I'm about to go see if I can find out!"

Taylor began to leave the room.

"Wait, where are you going?" Now Redheart was extremely concerned for him.

"I'm going over to Flutter's house, and see if I can get some information out of her."

"But, b-but, you can't! She's DANGEROUS! And she has a rapist pet wolf!"

Taylor nodded. "I know. That's why I'm taking this with me." Taylor then revealed the Navy-issued revolver that he'd had with him when he crashed in Equestria. "I have my revolver if anything turns nasty, but I'm hoping that it won't. However, if I'm not back in 4 hours, send a rescue party for me."

Redheart reluctantly agreed, and Taylor quickly went on his way.

With directions given to him by James, Taylor was able to locate Flutters's house.

"Gosh", he said when he saw it. "Are they sure that anypony even lives here anymore?"

Indeed, the place really did look run down. Most of the plants and grass surrounding the cottage were dead, broken birdhouses still hung from dead trees, and there was a lot of trash and debris.

"Huh, I guess that 'Miss Flutters', really isn't to keen on keeping her house and yard neat and clean."

Stepping around as carefully as he could, Taylor then made his way up to the front door. It was wooden, although the wood was starting to crack a bit. Nevertheless, Taylor knocked.

"Hello? Miss Flutters? Are you home?"

Taylor knocked for a bit, but there didn't seem to be anypony home. "Huh, I guess that she's not here."

Just as he was turning to leave though, he heard the sounds of floorboards creaking close to the door. "Who is it? Who's there?" A mare's voice asked.

"Um, Miss Flutters? Is that you?"

"Yes, now who are you?"

"Um, my name is Charles Taylor. I'm a close friend of Ensign James. I've come here to ask you a few questions about him."

The door then opened, and a mare with orangeish-yellow fur, and a purplish-pink mane and tail, as well as a few tattoos, glared out at him. "What kind of 'questions'?"

"Um, well, for starters, where was James last night? He didn't come home, and the next time I saw him, he was in the Isolation Ward of the Ponyville Hospital. Where was he last night?"

"He was out in the pet cemetery."

"Oh? And what was he doing out there so late?"

Flutters shrugged. "I dunno. It's none of my business. He said that he wanted to stay."

"Why?"

"Like I said, I don't know."

"Ok, well then, who's Missy?"

Flutters then turned behind her, and whistled. In the blink of an eye, next to Flutters, there appeared a massive white wolf. She was big, she didn't smell good, her fur was matted, and her red eyes glared at Taylor angrily. Her mouth was also open revealing a lot of sharp teeth. She also was growling angrily.

"Wow. So, that's Missy. She seems......pleasant."

Missy then barked angrily, causing Taylor to recoil ever so slightly. "Ok, I guess that she doesn't like me too much!"

Flutters smirked. "Well, no shit Ponelock!"

"Where was Missy last night?"

"Missy comes, Missy goes, what's she up to? Who really gives a f@#k?"

"Um, I do, because James is my comrade."

Flutters then lit up a cigarette. "Like I said, I don't care."

Taylor sighed. He could see that his question and answer session was getting nowhere. "One final question before I go. Where were you last night?"

Flutters blew a cloud of smoke into Taylor's face. "I said piss off! I'm done answering your questions!"

Taylor coughed. "Ok, now that was just flat out rude! All I asked was....."

"I SAID, if you don't PISS OFF, I'll let Missy have you!"

MIssy then began to bark angrily.

"Ok, well, I can see that those teeth are not for show, so I'll just be going then. Goodbye Miss Flutters."

"Goodbye Taylor. It HASN'T been a pleasure!" Flutters then slammed the door.

"Well, I know where I'm not wanted!" Taylor then turned around, and began to walk away. As he was walking though, he turned his head back around, and asked, "Are you sure that you don't want to come see James Miss Flutters? I thought that he was your friend?"

For a few moments, there was only silence. This was then broken by shouts of "SIC HIM MISSY, KILL HIM!!!!!!"

"SHIT!!!!"

Taylor then took off faster than if the devil himself had been chasing him. As he ran, he periodically kept looking behind himself, fully expecting to see Missy, but he never did. He figured that Flutters was bluffing, but he didn't dare call her on it. He kept running, and didn't stop until he was back to the safety of the hospital.

Author's Note

Well, here it is at last, Chapter 4. So now James is sick, Taylor's freaking out, and he had the displeasure of finally meeting Flutters and Missy face to face. What will he tell James when he gets back to the hospital? How will James react? Is Missy really dead? What's going on with that? Well, stay tuned to find out!

Also, I appologize that this chapter took so long to write. It should have been up last night, but my internet decided to leave the building at around Midnight. I had to wait until now to finally get it up. At any rate though, here it is, and I hope that you enjoyed it, if you could that is.

Anayway, I'll see you all again in Chapter 5

ScarFox out for now.