The wing of Pegasi E.U.P. Guards departed for Canterlot and Shining Armor sighed. It had been a long and stressful day. Thankfully Live Wire had warmed up to the Captain and had been openly helpful. Searcher had been placed under arrest for his part in the event and was awaiting the Princesses' arrival and judgement. Colossus had been adamant in professing Searcher's innocence but he had not interfered with the E.U.P. Guards holding the Unicorn. Colossus stayed close to his oldest friend for support and Searcher was grateful for it. Searcher had not put up any sort of fight or argument in his defense. When Shining Armor had told him he was under arrest, Searcher cooperated without complaint.
The Elements of Peace assisted Haysburg with the repairs and clean-up of their town while the Elements Of Harmony helped the residents with less physical tasks. The Gryphons had left around midday after Patriarch forced Gilda to apologize for her actions while in Ponyville. Trooper and Rainbow Dash were released from the clinic just before noon and were eager to help the town. The E.U.P. Guard had kept their distance from the unusual stallions after a firm warning from Shining Armor not to interfere with anything they did.
Mill Treader kept his distance from everypony. He was overcome with guilt once he managed to remember what had happened the other night. He helped the other townsponies, but if Valiant or any of the other Elements Of Peace came near, he made himself scarce. He moved around helping, but he rarely spoke. His guilt bore down on him like a lead weight.
Tinker was grumpy. She kept puffing on her cigars while she helped the Ponies of Haysburg rebuild. The smell from the smoke kept most Ponies from trying to speak to her. She felt used and violated. Somepony had used her body and forced her to attack innocent Ponies. She felt more shame and anger than anything else.
Molasses was still recovering from his burns, but he was as well-behaved as his 'Momma' would have wanted. He managed to get Trauma to play a game of chess when she took a break. Molasses was one of the few Ponies she was openly kind to. She knew he was mentally challenged and she felt it would be wrong to be as stern with him as she was with everypony else. To most, she kept up her stern facade, but in her heart and in quiet, private moments she was weeping continuously. She had dedicated her life to keeping her fellow Pony alive and well. For her to realize that she had almost killed somepony was almost more than she could stand.
Triage kept herself busy so she would not have to think about what she had done. She had set herself to ignore what her mind kept trying to bring to the forefront of her thoughts. She worked throughout the day with no breaks. She knew if she took any time for herself, she would end up a sobbing mess on the floor.
Surf & Turf helped out in the town and appeared to be his normal, cheerful self. It was all an act though. On the inside he was depressed, more so than he had ever been before in his life. He loved his inventions and gear. He loved adventure and adrenaline. He loved climbing and flying and all of his sports, and he absolutely hated himself for what he had done to Mend the night before. He had left his broken climbing hooks and damaged hang glider in a pile of trash. He did not want to wear them, look at them, or even think about them. When his mind wandered off and thoughts of his gear slipped into his mind, he felt nauseous, 'I hurt some dude with my gear.' He silently lamented, 'It's only supposed to be used for fun, not pain. I don't ever want to touch it again.'
Birdie watched from the edge of the swamp as the Ponies of Haysburg worked to clean up their town. Her cloak and veil were gone, lost the night before. She was not willing to show her mangled face anywhere in Haysburg for fear of what the Ponies would do to her. She remembered everything.
She was furious beyond words at what Searcher had done. Valiant had broken through to her and managed to get her to start coming out of her shell. She had worked alongside the Ponies of Haysburg. She had put forth as much effort as her frail psyche could muster. She had almost started to be accepted by her own kind for the first time, 'And HE... RUINED IT!' She shook with anger just thinking about it, 'For the first time I could have been accepted somewhere... he betrayed me. HE BETRAYED ME!' Her anger boiled over into rage. Rage was an old friend, but she could not hold onto it. It slipped away, leaving behind a lonely, frightened little filly who had been hurt again, 'How could he? How could he have done that to me? I thought he was my friend.' She felt the tears slipping down her deformed face, 'He was my first friend...' she could barely hold the thought before she ran off into the swamp, crying.
Little did she know that a royal blue Pegasus stallion had been watching her.
* * *
Due to the state of emergency in town, the Mayor had called for a huge communal kitchen to be created until the town stabilized itself. Ponies sat around chatting with one another while freely eating a food that was considered a delicacy in other parts of Equestria. Rice was everywhere, in all forms. There was rice pilaf, fried rice, steamed rice, stir-fry rice, boiled rice, rice and vegetable soup, rice balls, and something one of the adventurous residents called rice rolls. Rice rolls were kelp that was covered with rice and had vegetables and other foods lining the middle. It was rolled up then sliced into inch-thick little rolls. The Elements Of Equestria had never eaten such foods before and most indulged in slight excess.
Valiant had found Fluttershy during dinner and the two had eaten together, but there was a concern weighing on his mind: where was Birdie?
Valiant watched as Trooper trotted over to Dr. Mend, "Pardon me Doctor, but do you happen to know any way of surgically fixing deformities or birth defects?"
Dr. Mend blinked up at Trooper and swallowed his mouth full of avocado and cream cheese rice roll, "Corrective surgery is something I'm familiar with, yes. I have performed very few though. Birth defects are, thankfully, quite rare. Why do you ask?"
"I noticed a mare watching us from the edge of the swamp earlier today. At first I thought it was Fluttershy, but when I got close, I realized that she only looked like Fluttershy from a distance." Trooper did not notice Valiant approaching him from behind, "She was covered in scars and her face was deformed badly. She never said anything, but she watched for quite a while then just up and ran off, crying."
Valiant suddenly spoke up, "Birdie!" He moved around to the front of his startled cousin, "Did you see where she went?"
Trooper shook his head, "I fear I did not. She was swift and I did not wish to give myself away. I thought she stayed outside of the town because of her deformity and scars."
"Trooper please," Valiant asked, "If you see her again, don't try to talk to her. She's had a terrible life and she doesn't trust almost anypony. Be careful too. She wears steel shoes and she can fight like I've never seen. She almost killed a Gryphon by herself. If you see her, come and get me. I know her a little. I might be able to help." Valiant turned to Dr. Mend, "Trooper was right though, she does have a severe birth defect. Is there any chance you might be able to help her?"
Mend popped another piece of rice roll into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully before replying "I don't know what the deformity is, so I don't know if I have the materials to successfully perform the surgery. Could you describe the extent of the abnormality?"
Valiant lowered his voice, "Her head is sloped, almost in a twenty-three degree angle from her forehead to her muzzle. Her nose is almost rock hard and curls around the front of her nose like the beak of a bird of prey. It's stiff and sharp."
Dr. Mend's eyebrows rose, "Aurtial-Exmnacia." He said in surprise, "It's one of the more uncommon deformities , but I've successfully performed a corrective surgery for that condition on a newborn filly. I don't have the necessary tools to perform the surgery here in Haysburg, but in Canterlot, I know I would have access to what I need. It would take a few weeks of recovery, but I know I can fix that. It was for cases like that, that corrective surgery was pioneered in the first place. With Valiant's potion, she should be up and about in less than a week. How was she overlooked when she was born? The Crown pays for corrective surgeries."
Valiant shrugged, "I don't know her whole story, so I couldn't say." He turned to Trooper, "I'll keep an eye out for her, but if you see her first, come and get me as quickly as you can without alerting her."
Trooper nodded, "Certainly... cousin."
Valiant cocked his head to the side, "Cousin?"
Trooper nodded and smiled, "Indeed. Sea Blue helped me with remembering. Way back in my memory, when we were no more than foals, I remember a family reunion..." he lowered his voice, "Our families... they were killed by a tornado but..." he looked up into Valiant's eyes, "But I remember seeing you. Our fathers were identical twins and by chance, they married mares who were very similar too. That is why you and I look so much alike." He took a step forward and placed a calm hoof on Valiant's shoulder, "We're cousins... you have blood family, Valiant."
Valiant's eyes began widening as Trooper explained. He bit his lower lip, eyes misting and wavering in the evening light, "I... we... I've... got a family?"
Trooper smiled warmly at his cousin, "You did already, but yes, you have both my Mother and I. You have an aunt and a cousin."
Without warning, Valiant surged forward, embracing Trooper tightly. He felt his body quiver with emotion as he held onto his cousin. He adjusted his grip and hugged Trooper closer still. He closed his eyes and thanked the heavens that fortune had smiled down on him so generously. His hind legs gave out but he held on tightly to the other stallion. He could not believe it, and yet he did.
Valiant felt a second pair of forehooves embracing him and turned his head. Dr. Mend held him in a hug from the side. Valiant's chest shuddered as he drew a breath and it nearly came out as a sob. He closed his eyes and felt more and more forehooves join the embrace. He did not need to look around. He knew his friends, his family was right there with him.
* * *
The clean up of Haysburg continued the following morning. Birdie watched the town as she had the day before. Within her heart, she struggled with her inner turmoil. She was torn between staying hidden and approaching Valiant. She had not seen Colossus and she was under the impression that he and Searcher had been arrested or worse. Having no basis for making a good judgement call and without knowing almost anything about the E.U.P. Guard, her mind assumed the worst. She was confident that she could easily kill anypony who tried to apprehend her, but she feared that doing so might alienate her from Valiant.
She did not notice Trooper quietly taking flight from a distance off to her left, nor did she notice when he returned with Valiant. She had lost sight of the only Pony in the town that she trusted and it was making her nervous. She was not aware of how frail her mind was. Nor did she realize how skewed her morals and perspective were. She could not read or write, she had never gone to school, the only Ponies she had frequent, friendly interactions with had been Searcher and Colossus, and eventually Valiant. She felt little sympathy and almost no empathy toward others, her personality bordered on being a sociopath, and she had little regard for the sanctity of life. Yet she was unaware of any of these things. She only knew that Searcher had betrayed her, Colossus was nowhere to be seen, and Valiant had wandered from her sight. She felt isolated and she was afraid.
"Birdie?" A quiet voice addressed her from her left.
Birdie spun around and instinctively took a fighting stance. Valiant held still as he spoke, "Easy there, Birdie. I'm not here to upset you."
Birdie narrowed her eyes at him and Valiant realized she was still upset about how he had yelled at her by the fountain. He looked down at the ground and scuffed his forehoof into the soil, "I'm sorry I got so upset the other day. I didn't know how to react..." he glanced up and Birdie was still scowling at him. He swallowed nervously, "I... I wanted to tell you," he sighed then took a deep breath, "I have a friend who can..." he trailed off waving his forehoof in a circle, "Well to be blunt, he can fix your face."
Birdie's eyes widened significantly and Valiant took it as a sign to continue, "You won't even have to pay for it, the Princess will take care of that. Birdie..." he licked his lips, not quite knowing what to say at first, "I want you to come meet my friends." Birdie lowered her head and growled in a low tone. Valiant sat back on his haunches and waved his forehooves, "Wait, wait, wait! These are the Ponies who took care of me right after I lost my wings!" Birdie narrowed her eyes again, but she relaxed her posture somewhat. Valiant felt as if he were sweating, "They're good Ponies. Some of them are pretty odd, but I promise, they're really nice." Birdie gestured to her face silently and Valiant understood, "One of them is a seamstress. She can make you a new veil and cloak if you want. Heh," he laughed quietly, "She'll probably make them look good too. She designs clothes for a living."
Birdie shook her head and gestured to her face a second time. Valiant cocked his head, "Are you saying that you want to be covered before you meet any of them?" Birdie nodded silently. Valiant looked over his shoulder, "One of them has already seen you as you are right now and he doesn't care." He raised his voice slightly, "Do you Trooper?"
Trooper stepped into view and nodded at Birdie, "Indeed I do not. A pleasure to meet you, miss Birdie."
Birdie saw him and her mind flashed back to when she had fought him in the sky. She remembered how she had cut him up and how hard he fought. Her mind then latched onto the realization that he had seen her and she was conflicted. The two of them had fought viciously but once he broke her leg ring, she had carried him to the ground. He was so sliced up she thought he had died. She feared that he might recognize her, she was the only other Pegasus in the village as far as she knew, but he had seen her and was not disgusted and had not shied away from her. Birdie's malformed face creased into a scowl, but she nodded back at him.
Valiant cleared his throat, regaining Birdie's attention, "Ahem, if you want, I can ask Rarity to make you a veil and cloak." Birdie did not answer, nor give him any sign of reply. The royal blue stallion shook out his mane, "Birdie please," he nearly begged, "You need something to eat. You're going to starve out here. The Ponies of Haysburg were willing to accept you before and I KNOW my friends will be nice to you." He took a step forward and held out his hoof, "Come on, give me a hoof-bump if you're willing to try."
Birdie did not move for a few moments as she thought it over. She gestured to her face and Valiant nodded, "Sure thing. I'll get Rarity to make you a veil and cloak first. Please tell me you'll try." Birdie reluctantly bumped his offered hoof.