James : A Technicolour Story

Chapter Four : Healing

Jim scrambled to dry his face and prayed his eyes weren't red as he watched the silhouettes of the two ponies he assumed to be Rainbow and her 'help' closing in on him. He could hear them making conversation, however could not make out any of what was being said. He decided to stand up.

Bad idea. He howled in pain as he'd split his weight equally to all his legs. Including the bum one, which he'd forgotten about. "Damn it all! I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine!" He said, wincing as he attempted to recover from the searing pain. Forcing his eyes open, he saw Rainbow's face inches away from his own. She'd apparently flown at light speed the moment she'd heard his yelp.

Surprised at the gross invasion of his personal bubble, he took a step back. With his left leg. Yet another yelp was let out into the meadow. "Dammit! Why are you so close?!" Jim was in a bad mood, firstly for being hurt and not being able to hide it, and secondly for Rainbow's proximity.

"I just wanted to see if you're okay! Clearly not. Your eyes are red. Does it hurt that much?" Rainbow blurted out, curious as to why he'd been crying, again, thinking about what she'd heard when she was watching him. Jim was moments away from blurting out 'no' at Rainbow at the top of his lungs, but paused, a moment.

Rainbow'd noticed a sudden blank expression in his face, and quirked a brow, waiting for the response. Jim's mind was as blank as his expression. He had no idea which path to choose. He went with the latter, as, again, there was only one resounding thought in his mind. I'll go on alone with the pain. I swear, I won't complain.

Rainbow was losing her patience, and wondered if he'd maybe hit his head in the fall, but the thought was quickly tossed to the side as she watched him wince again. "Gah.. er, yeah. It hurts. A lot. How long 'til I get hel-" He was cut off by a purple pony, who he could only assume to be the help.

"I'm the help Rainbow was getting you, er, what was your nam-" Twilight was cut off by Rainbow, who blurted out "Soft Maple!" she paused, noticing both ponies had suddenly given her a quizzical expression. "I mean, uh, his name is Soft Maple." She said, awkwardly.

"Rrrright..." Twilight said, noticing the conversation wasn't going very far. "Well, Soft Maple," she emphasized, his name, as if to scold Rainbow Dash for interrupting her. "What do you think is wrong with it? If it's just broken, I know a spell to fix it, unless it's already healed, which would be a bad thing."

Jim looked around, dumbfounded, until he recalled what his name was supposed to be. "Oh, right. Me. Yep. That's me! Uh, er.." He was terribly uncomfortable, not sure how to go about getting used to an entirely new identity, he figured it'd just take time, so he shrugged it off and continued, noting both mares had been giving him a curious look as to why he received the name so awkwardly.

"Well, I've had a broken arm--I mean front leg, once before, and I'm recalling it feeling something similar to this, but I'm still unsure. Is there a way for you to check?" Jim asked, just as awkward as before. Rainbow was stifling a laugh at his discomfort, and, tossing a glare her way, Twilight began.

"Er, yes. There is a way, although we have no painkillers and it is definitely not recommended." Jim thought about this, and decided it could be a chance to prove that he had a solid pain tolerance. "I'm sure I'll live, regardless of how painful it'll be." He groaned.

Rainbow silently quirked a brow, but refused to say anything until he could gallop, figuring to let colts be colts. Twilight sighed. "It's always the stallions that want me to do this to them. Okay.." she shrugged, closing her eyes, her horn began to glow. Jim braced himself with a straight face and opened eyes, refusing to blink.

His rear leg had been enveloped in purple glow, and he just figured this to be something normal, since, you know, Celestia more or less did the same thing. Twilight started to speak. "I'm going to have to make sure it's broken. This means I'll have to move the bone. You'll feel some immense pain, so I recommend bracing yourself." Jim nodded, "Way ahead of you."

Jim was suddenly assaulted with terrible pain. His face went pale, but his expression remained blank. "This.. is nothing.." He forced out of his throat. Rainbow reached a hoof over, to hold his shoulder, but Twilight's magic held her still. "Sorry, Rainbow. This is a very delicate process. Any sudden movement can pierce the muscle with the bone.

Rainbow gasped, realizing just how terribly painful this must have been, and her eyes fell back to Jim's face. She quirked a brow when she noticed something particularly questionable. He'd been crying just from the pain of his broken leg, but not from having it moved around magically? Something was up.

After a moment, the magic let up, and Jim had regained some color in his face. The process was still being done, but the worst of it seemed to be over. "So, uh," Jim had been trying to catch his breath, as he'd been holding it for the entire time he'd been worked on. "So uh, it was broken, huh?"

Twilight sighed for a moment, still working on his leg, managing an "mhm" through her concentration. Jim looked to Rainbow. "Uhm, Thanks. For the help, I mean." Rainbow was surprised at the display of gratitude from the terribly rude pegasus before her. "Yeah, yeah. It's alright. Er, I mean you're welcome. All in a day's work." Rainbow was uncomfortable, and Jim enjoyed this, managing a small chuckle.

Twilight's purple glow faded from both Jim and her horn, and she raised her head. "I think.. it should be done." She said, sheepishly. Jim looked at her, and smiled. "Thanks, er, what was your name?" The color had been fully returned to his face, and Twilight was silently surprised he wasn't passed out on the grass before her.

"Twilight, nice to meet you." She smiled, and watched as Jim tested out his newly set bones. "Oh this is great! It feels sturdier than before! How do you do it?" He was particularly interested in Twilight and Celestia's magic, and wondered a moment if he'd have been better off if her were reincarnated as a unicorn.

"Oh, well it's just a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo, I doubt you'd be really interested if I got started on explaining." Twilight replied. Rainbow didn't like this, She was being left out of a conversation. She can't take that lying down! She spoke. "So, Softie, I guess you need a place? For awhile, at least? You're welcome to stay with me."

Jim was taken aback by the invitation. "I er, I guess that'd be nice. I don't really have a plan. I was sent out before I could ask where to go or anything." Both Rainbow and Twilight quirked their brows at this, mirroring eachother. "Sent out?"

Put on the spot, and not wanting to have to out himself to the only two ponies he'd met, Jim lied, remembering that his body was at least 10 years younger, leaving his actual age somewhere between 18 and 21, deciding on 20 to be a good number, he put on a face. "Yeah.. I uh, well, I was kicked out from home. Family.. issues."

Now, family evicting family is a rare phenomenon in Equestria. Family issues have occurred, but not to the extent that a pony would be made homeless. This was terrible news for Twilight and Rainbow to hear. Twilight started, Rainbow's mouth still agape from the shock. "Well, Rainbow and I can take care of you until you can get on your own hooves. We swear it, on our elements!" She exclaimed.

As if to emphasize, Twilight placed her right hoof on her heart, or where it would be on a pony's chest, and used her left hoof to shut Rainbow's gaping muzzle. Rainbow awoke from the shock enough to manage a "That's right! We're here for you!"

Jim, surprised to have so easily won these two ponies favour, especially Rainbow, considering her lack of enthusiasm for being hospitable to him earlier, could think of nothing to say besides a simple "I'll be relying on you, then." He bowed his head, not sure if or how ponies could shake hooves.

Author's Note : Hey guys, pumped this out in about an hour, I think I'm making some major improvements in my writing skill, considering I do very little prewriting for each chapter. All I plan is what I eventually want to happen, and that's always changing. I hope I can meet everyone's expectations, at least!

As per usual, thanks for reading and I look forward to any and all feedback I can get!