Lament of the Frozen North

by Gavel Coaster

Back In The Saddle

Chapter 4: Back In The Saddle

It took all of twenty minutes for the nurses to get her back to the operating table – there was no telling how much internal damage she had done to herself.

The Life Flight doctor injected another dose of sedative into the mare (pointedly ignoring Doctor Needles’ smirk) as they checked her over. “As if this wasn’t bad enough already…” he groaned, “she broke three of the splints we put on her and we’ll need to set them again. She’ll need fresh bandages as well…can’t risk contamination…”

He seemed to have forgotten Twilight and her friends, who stood by the entrance to the emergency ward, watching with wide eyes. All except Rainbow, who was giving the patient a nasty glare, apparently still stinging about being slammed in a hospital bed. “Rainbow…” Twilight muttered, “you should’ve known better than to pull a Rainbow Crash on a critically-injured pony like that…what in the hay were you thinking?!”

Rainbow twitched, apparently realizing for the first time what bad shape she had been in. “I…I…nngh, hey, she looked pretty okay to me if she was strong enough to beat up those stallions, Twilight!”

“That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt…and you could’ve killed her!”

Rainbow groaned again, “Twilight, Applejack was going to charge her too! I saw it!”

“But ah didn’t, Rainbow!” Applejack scowled, and then looked at the doctors, “An’ now I’m glad ah didn’t…”

She was right, the mare was a bloody mess all over again. The wounds had reopened, stitches popped by impact, and her bandages were rapidly turning brown. She was still twitching from shock, coughing blood in her sleep, with broken ribs making deep grinding noises that were almost painful to hear.

“I’m terribly sorry…” Doctor Needles said as he trotted over, his air of confidence apparently restored after getting one over on the Life Flight doctor, “but you have to leave. We are about to perform another surgery. We will inform you of the results afterward.”

Twilight took a long look at their ever more mysterious visitor, and nodded, “Let’s go everypony.”

“One moment more, please,” Doctor Needles said before she could turn away. “I’m afraid I must insist…no more magic on your next visit, Miss Twilight Sparkle. My apologies, but that spell caused an enormous catastrophe! And next time you must come alone! I don’t need to remind you that your pegasus friend is partially responsible for this…” he looked up at Rainbow, who crossed her forehooves in the air and glared in response.

“Hey, she seemed well enough to kick your flanks, Doc! You should be thanking me! She might’ve given you all a bucking over if I hadn’t done that!”

“And now she is in danger again, Miss Rainbow Dash. Do you really want to live with the knowledge that your violent behavior caused another pony’s death?” he replied without skipping a beat.

That shut Rainbow up pretty quickly, and Twilight lowered her head, ears drooping, “You’re right, Doctor. We should’ve made sure before we acted…I promise we won’t intervene any longer.”

Spike frowned from his seat on her back, “Hey, that’s not fair, Twilight! Those doctors would probably have just kept arguing all week if you hadn’t snapped her out of it!”

Doctor Needles’ face darkened again, “You must leave…now!” And he shooed them all from the ward. Rainbow was still fuming, and Rarity and Applejack also looked fairly put out. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy went along demure and submissively though.

“The nerve!” Rarity said with a disdainful sniff, tossing her mane over to one side primly, “I quite agree with Spikey-Wikey, Twilight. Those stuck-up, puffy, vain old windbags would’ve argued all over their own pride for days before realizing what was wrong!”

Pot calling the kettle black, Twilight thought, as she wearily sat her rump on one of the plastic seats in the hallway (sandwiching the protesting Spike against the wall in her haste).

“I mean honestly,” Rarity went on, taking the seat next to her and drawing the battered dragon to her side with a hoof, much to his delight, “how could they not have seen she was mesmerized?!”

“You didn’t notice either at first, Rarity…” Twilight replied, deadpan.

“An’ like tha docs said, that kinda thing ain’t supposed ta happen to an earth pony, sugarcube,” Applejack said grimly to Rarity, sitting on Twilight’s other side.

Rainbow, never a particularly patient pony, lost it. “What the hay are you talking about?!” she yelled, loudly enough Twilight knew the doctors still inside would have heard her.

Twilight looked up, but it was Rarity who answered her, “Rainbow dear, please don’t be so loud! They already threw us out of the ward! We can’t be thrown out of the hallway too…” she cleared her throat and struck a perfect lecturing poise, “Mesmerization is what occurs when a magical creature tries to cast a spell on or near to a trap made to drain magic. It shuts down the mind and prolongs whatever spell was used until the caster is depleted of magic…and…then,” she opened her eyes again and looked away, shuddering, “…that, darling, is a rather dangerous state for a unicorn to be in, I’m afraid.”

Twilight nodded, “That’s right, and, according to my research, it also happens if a magic metal called valaethium overloads and blows up in your face. Not just a unicorn either - that can affect anypony…like our excitable visitor in there...”

“Apparently so,” Rarity agreed, squinting in thought at the entrance to the ward, “Though I’ve never heard of anything like that happening before…”

“It’s not surprising, Rarity…” Twilight grumped, scowling down at the floor, “I found it in one of the oldest books the library and…I doubt anypony has seen any of that metal in Ponyville for years…”

Rainbow had stopped circling in the air and looked down at them, frowning. Fluttershy was staring at the ward door behind them, her eyes wider than usual and her mouth open. Pinkie Pie was standing on three hooves, the remaining one stroking her chin as she looked up and around, her face screwed up in the thoughtful expression of a little filly trying to think of what to write in her Hearth’s Warming Letter to Jolly Beard.

“Why’d you open the door for her, Twilight? Wouldn’t that have been, like…super-duper-dangerous?” she asked, “What if she got out of Ponyville? Then we would need to look all over Equestria. And Equestria’s a pretty big place! We’d have to look for her left and right, and then we’d go all around Equestria from Ponyville and then right would become left and left would become right and we’d...”

Twilight decided to interrupt before Pinkie could roll the snowball into an avalanche, “I had an idea, Pinkie…”

“An idea?!” Pinkie still sounded just a little too sobered to start bouncing.

“Well, you see…” Twilight paused, “this might sound a little weird, but…”

“Yeah?” Dash hovered overhead impatiently.

Twilight sighed, “She was looking for the thing that brought her here.”

*

“I’ve got it!” Scootaloo yelled triumphantly, jumping off her hooves and grabbing for the frisbee. It was high out of her reach, but the cunning pegasus filly knew, thanks to her trusty buzzing wings, she could get just enough of a boost to get over the heads of the blueys.

“Hey, no fair!” one of the blueys whined as she clamped her jaws down on the frisbee and landed neatly by the tree, “you can’t use your wings, Scootaloo! Cheater! We win if you do!”

Scootaloo ignored that and tossed the frisbee over the field back to the other redders over the raising whine of other blueys as they picked up on the “cheating”. She chuckled, knowing it would be allowed since some other pegasus fillies had been doing it for months. She straightened her overcoat and whizzed over the snow back to the other side of the field, flailing with her hooves to show she was open for another pass.

This is great, we’re really lucking out today, she thought, I don’t think we’ve ever thrashed the blueys so well in any game we’ve ever had before! She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her red teammates, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle prominent among them, laughing gaily as they passed the frisbee way over the other team’s heads without any of them even getting close, leaving the poor, flailing blueys face-down in the snow. C’mon…they’d just do the same as us if they were winning…

Applebloom caught the frisbee in her jaws with a flourish, spinning on the spot and drawing cheers from their teammates. She turned her head, noticed Scootaloo standing near the goal, and winked before drawing her head back and sending it spinning through the air.

As Scootaloo cantered to the left to catch it her red team bandanna slipped down over her eyes. In too good a mood to think she’d miss, Scootaloo pushed it back up nonchalantly…just in time to catch a wall of light pink slamming into her face.

Scootaloo stumbled, unbalanced, and toppled over onto her rump as the frisbee went flying overhead to land neatly in Diamond Tiara’s blue-banded forehoof. “Ohhh, Scootle-doo! Did I bump into you? I’m so sorry, blank flank…I mean I really am sorry - your blankflanky-ness might’ve rubbed off on me!” she said in a singsong tone with a nasty smirk on her face. She brushed her coat as if to cleanse it before she carelessly tossed the frisbee to Silver Spoon, who rose up and grasped for it with her forehooves before losing her balance and falling flat on her face.

Sadly, Scootaloo didn’t get to enjoy the sight for glaring. That smack had really hurt, and the little pegasus could feel pain rippling through her face as the numbness wore off, along with a familiar ticklish sensation in her nose. Before she could say anything, Applebloom ran over and stood beside her. “You did that on purpose, Diamond Tiara!” she said loudly.

Diamond Tiara gave a dismissive wave in reply as Scootaloo stood back up, pressing a hoof to her smarting face and pulling her bandanna down off her mane.

“Hey, this is a game of frisbee!” she said breezily, the nasty smile still on her face, “I couldn’t let the loser-team keep hogging it! It’d make us real ponies who already got their cutie marks look bad…”

“That don’ even make no sense…” Applebloom said, “You were losin’ fair an’ square! And you know slammin’ another pony like that is against the rules!” She gently tried to pry her friend’s hoof away to inspect the damage she was trying to cover up.

“Ha! Well, maybe it’s Scootle-doo’s own fault for being a weak little baby so easy to knock over if she gets in your way!”

…weak little baby…

Sccotaloo felt a rapid ripple of rage pass through her. She was ready to lunge for Diamond Tiara, but her anger was quickly staunched by pain and horror as she felt blood flowing from her nose.

Applebloom finally pushed Scootaloo’s reluctant hoof aside and gasped as she saw her face. “This what you call ‘knock over’?!” she asked, turning her friend’s head to show she was bleeding heavily from her snout.

At that, Diamond Tiara shut her mouth and looked down with a grimace, less sure of herself. Everypony had gathered around to watch and the fillies knew there was no way Diamond Tiara wouldn’t get in trouble if Scootaloo was badly hurt.

“I swearrr I’b goig to ged you fer dis, Diamob Diara!” Scootaloo gurgled with a scowl before Sweetie Belle ran up and started wailing at the sight of blood.

“MISS CHEERILEE! WE NEED MISS CHEERILEE!!” she screeched loudly, scaring off every critter in the trees overhead and forcing everypony to cover their ears in pain.

Their earth pony teacher had been over speaking with an observing colleague the last few moments – no doubt the only reason Diamond Tiara dared get heavy-hoofed – but at the sound of Sweetie Belle, she whipped her head round and spotted the dense huddle around the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief as Cheerilee rushed over, her red scarf flapping in the wind, the other foals parting to make way for her. She gasped slightly at the sight of her student trying in vain to staunch the blood flow from her snout with her bandanna. Scootaloo had her eyes tightly shut and was biting her lip to try and keep the tears from coming, but as Cheerilee gently moved her hoof away, she had to open her eyes to see what the teacher was doing.

Cheerilee cupped her muzzle and turned her head left and right to inspect the damage, “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, what happened?”

“Diamond Tiara knocked her down!” Applebloom blurted out at once.

There was an immediate gasp. Not everypony had seen it, and they all promptly looked around for the alleged perpetrator. The spoiled earth filly turned out to be in the back of the crowd, pulling her hood down and trying to hide behind Silver Spoon.

…weak little baby… Diamond Tiara’s mocking voice echoed back through Scootaloo’s head as the schoolponies all looked from her to the apparent culprit.

Cheerilee, however, didn’t look away from Scootaloo, still frowning at her bloody muzzle. She said nothing at first, so Applebloom went on, “I mean, we was all just havin’ fun - playing a frisbee game like you told us, Miss Cheerilee – an’ our team was winnin’, then I threw it over ta Scootaloo. But Diamond Tiara pretended she didn’ see her and slammed her flank into Scootaloo’s face real hard an’ stole the frisbee!”

“That’s a lie!” Diamond Tiara immediately screeched, louder than Applebloom - she must have figured that volume counted for more than how good her story was - “I really didn’t see Scootaloo there, Miss Cheerilee! And it wasn’t me who did that to her! That stupid Applebloom threw the stupid frisbee too hard and it hit her on the nose!” Apparently, she had decided the only way to get out of trouble was to pin the blame on somepony else.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both gasped, “Why you low-down, no-good, lyin’…” Applebloom went as red as her namesake and started forward with intentions of rearranging Diamond Tiara’s face. Her sister Applejack always told her that there was nothing worse than a dirty liar.

At that, Cheerilee broke her silence, “Applebloom! Stop right there! And Diamond Tiara, come over here!”

Brought up short, Applebloom scowled and backed off. Diamond Tiara slowly walked forward, each step more hesitant than the last as she got closer to their teacher.

Cheerilee produced a handkerchief from her saddlebag and gently held it under Scootaloo’s snout, “Your muzzle isn’t really hurt, but you might have bruise or two. Don’t worry, the bleeding will stop soon and it won’t hurt anymore.”

Scootaloo nodded, looking gratefully at their teacher through teary eyes.

…weak little baby…

Cheerilee turned around, frowning terribly at the other filly, “Well, Diamond Tiara, what do you have to say for yourself?!”

“But-but I told you, Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara said indignantly, “it was Applebloom who did that! She’s just trying to pin the blame on me!”

“Scootaloo,” Cheerilee said, turning her head slightly, “who did this to you?”

The sick look Scootaloo saw on Diamond Tiara’s face when she shakily raised a hoof and pointed to her somehow made her nose hurt a little less.

“B-but she’s just confused!” Diamond Tiara protested, “I was just next to her when that – when the frisbee hit her on the nose, Miss Cheerilee! Maybe that’s why she thinks it was me!” Apparently satisfied with her own story, Diamond Tiara stood up straight and finally looked Cheerilee in the eye.

“The frisbee did this, did it?” Cheerilee asked tightly.

She nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, it did. And that Applebloom threw it! So you see, she should get into trouble - not me!” Diamond Tiara gave a smug smile.

“No way!” Applebloom yelled, “Miss Cheerilee, you can’t believe her!”

Without looking away, the teacher picked up the frisbee from the snow. She held it up before Diamond Tiara’s face, and turned it over twice. The filly went pale.

It was a foal-safe frisbee made of plastic foam. For emphasis, Cheerilee lifted it and tapped it against her own muzzle a few times. The foam promptly collapsed and broke in under her skin. No matter how hard anypony threw it, it wouldn’t cause any more damage than a paper ball. Despite the pain and the blood falling down into her mouth, Scootaloo couldn’t help but grin broadly as Diamond Tiara was caught out in her lie.

She immediately started babbling, “But Miss Cheerilee – it was an accident, I swear! I didn’t mean to hurt Scootaloo, I just –“

“Applebloom, Sweetie Belle…” Cheerilee said, cutting her off, “take care of your friend. If she starts to feel sick or light-headed, bring her to me at once. Class, please head back into the schoolhouse early today. It’s too cold to spend all of your lunchtime outside. And Diamond Tiara, come with me!”

Diamond Tiara immediately teared up and started wailing as Cheerilee took hold of her shoulder, steering her in the direction of the small teacher’s office next to the schoolhouse.

“Feelin’ better?” Applebloom whispered with a grin as she edged over to Scootaloo. Their classmates were all walking back to the schoolhouse, shaking slush off their boots and overcoats as they hung them up and went inside.

She opened her mouth to answer-

-and then stopped, jaw hanging open, looking over Applebloom’s head.

She’d just seen a massive, winged silhouette dive into the snowy treetops of the Everfree forest in the distance. It was too far away to make out any detail, but it was big.

“Dib you see dat?!!” she blurted out, pointing with a hoof.

“What? See what?!” Applebloom twisted her head around, looked back and giggled, “Good one, Scootaloo! Ya got me alright!”

“Ndo!” Scootaloo shook her head, “A drabon! I dink I jusht saw a drabon!”

Sweetie Belle frowned, and squinted in the direction of her pegasus friend’s hoof, “I didn’t see anything…” she looked at her worriedly, “I think maybe Diamond Tiara hit you too hard, Scootaloo…”

“A dragon?!” Applebloom snorted with mirth, “c’mon, Scootaloo, stop horsin’ us around! Let’s get back to class! It’s a race!” She promptly cantered off, grinning over her shoulder.

Sweetie Belle sighed and called after her, “You always start races like that without us being ready, Applebloom! Hey, wait up! Scootaloo’s still hurt,” and she promptly ran off.

Scootaloo, however, was too caught up in what she’d seen to care. Was that really a dragon? What else could it be? I’ve never seen anything that big flying before…

She squinted hard, trying to see through the snowy mists over the forest, but there was no sign of the shadow she’d seen.

A dragon…

Scootaloo knew it was dangerous, but, being the adventurous filly she was, she was still tempted to go look for it. She had never seen a dragon up close before (except Spike, of course) - but that would mean going into the Everfree forest again, and the filly had learned her lesson about that a long time ago.

But…

…weak little baby… Diamond Tiara’s words echoed through her head again.

Scootaloo glanced down. What would her hero Rainbow Dash do?

Before Scootaloo could ponder that any further, she heard Cheerilee calling her name from behind. And all of a sudden, at the note of concern and motherly care in Cheerilee’s voice, she was aware of the pain in her muzzle again and the numbness of her face from cold. She fought to keep from tears again as she turned around and trotted back to her teacher.

*

“You’ve gotta be kidding, Twilight! The great three-eyed, sharp-toothed, deadly, pony-eating monster again?” Rainbow said, pointedly ignoring Fluttershy’s answering shriek.

“No, not monster! There is no monster!” Twilight snapped back, hoping to put an end to it before Fluttershy fainted again. “It wasn’t a monster at all! There’s no such thing! There’s no reason to be worried about any story like that!”

To Twilight’s relief, Fluttershy seemed to swallow it this time. She took several deep breaths and began to stop trembling, but then Rainbow butted in again.

“Then what was it, Twilight?!” she asked, resting her head in her hooves exasperatedly.

“Well…it wasn’t a great three-eyed, sharp-toothed, deadly, pony-eating monster…”

“R-really?” Fluttershy whispered hopefully.

Twilight smiled. “No…I think it was a dragon!”

THUD!

Unfortunately, that answer didn’t seem to go over better with their soft-hearted, animal-loving pegasus friend.

“Well, we’re already at the hospital anyway…” Applejack muttered as she glanced down at their latest casualty.

Rarity groaned, raising a hoof to her forehead melodramatically. “Dear me, another one?! Dragons, why is it always dragons?! Last time that happened…oh, those foul, greedy, uncouth, stinking-…will there ever be a dragon that doesn’t make a horrendous mess of things?!”

During the uncomfortable silence that followed, she remembered - too late - what she was holding in her hooves, looking down to see a sad face.

“Oh…erm…hello, Spikey-Wikey! Heh heh…er, you see, I…”

To Twilight’s relief, Spike was gracious, shrugging and smiling half-heartedly up at her, “It’s okay, Rarity…you’re right. Every single dragon ever passed through here has been trouble in some way or other. Even me…” his sad smile shifted into a wicked grin, “Especially me! Hehe!”

Rarity gave what sounded like a very forced chuckle and cuddled Spike so hard Twilight doubted the red-faced cub would have minded if she said dragons were giant inbred snakes with legs.

Rainbow Dash acknowledged the spectacle with her usual level of subtlety and maturity, poking her tongue out and gagging. “Aaanyway, admiration contest aside – how did you know that thing that brought her here was a dragon, Twilight?”

“It might seem a bit thin, but…that book I read told me dragons can firecraft valaethium. Since Equestria hasn’t refined that metal for centuries, there’s a good chance a dragon might have dropped that piece Applejack found...”

“We don’t know that, Twi…” Applejack said skeptically, “For all we know, it coulda been dropped by some fancy-pants antique collector or somethin’ on his way outta town…”

Twilight shook her head, standing up and pacing in thought. “I divined it, and it had been hit by magic a short time before you found it. And our friend in there was mesmerized, remember…”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Yeah, we remember alright. You’ve been saying that for the last half-hour without anypony who isn’t a unicorn having a clue what you were talking about…”

Twilight continued in a slightly annoyed tone, “…which links the two of them together. I doubt anypony would have been careless enough to drop any valaethium they might own, Applejack - what with how valuable it is. And it was all burned and melted by something - which means it had to be hot! And I mean really, really hot!” She paused, seeing looks of comprehension dawning on Applejack and Rainbow’s faces.

“And what’s the hottest thing in existence?” she asked rhetorically, cocking her head and raising an eyebrow.

Spike turned his head from Rarity’s nuzzling cheek and gave a tiny belch for emphasis. His flaming green breath instantly dissipated into the air, but it still warmed up everypony in the corridor.

Rainbow shook her head, “Oookay, so only a dragon should have one of those…whatever it was you called it…and it was full of magic and melted. Yeah, probably a dragon could do all of those things, Twilight, but ah, one little problem...” she placed her hooves on her flanks and looked up, “I was out flying all that morning and I didn’t see a dragon anywhere! C’mon, if a dragon flew over Ponyville and dropped a messed-up mare and a bit of magic metal, somepony woulda noticed! Even if I was slow enough to miss a dragon flying by – whiiich I’m not I might add!” she declared, standing up proudly in the air and buffing a hoof against her barrel, “there was a whole contingent of weather ponies on duty that morning too. And not one said they’d seen a dragon!”

Applejack nodded, “Ah hate to admit it, sugarcube, but Rainbow’s got a point. Yeah, even if yer books are right - an’ I ain’t sayin they’re not, but - it does sound mighty far-fetched...” She sighed, “Okay, so it ain’t likely anypony would just drop a piece o’ that magic metal outside Sweet Apple Acres. An’, yeah, the meltin’ and that mes-mah-whatchamacallit fits yer idea, but…” Applejack trailed off.

“Um…e-excuse me…” Fluttershy whispered sheepishly from the floor, opening one eye. “My animals didn’t get scared either…”

Rarity stared down at her, “Fluttershy darling, how long have you been awake?”

Fluttershy chuckled awkwardly, her face turning slightly red. “I woke up a few minutes ago but I didn’t get up because I…well, you know, I thought it might have been a little rude to make you all worry while…you - you were all still talking…” she said awkwardly, pulling herself to her hooves. “A-anyway,” she said with a gulp, “animals can sense dragons. Last time one passed by, I had to spend hours flying around trying to convince them to come out of their hiding places. They all get scared and hide inside their houses when they smell or hear one. That’s how I-I knew about the dragon migration last year and why I was…” she coughed uncomfortably and hid behind her hair, “why I was hiding under the bed when you all came to find me…”

Twilight facehoofed. Trust Fluttershy to come up with a critter-powered dragon alarm! Still, I guess that would explain how Owlowiscious knew where to find Spike that time but…wait a minute…

Apparently, their resident dragon had the same thought she just had. “Your animals don’t ever get scared of me, Fluttershy!” Spike jabbed a claw at himself.

She looked at him with a smile, “Oh, you’re a still a baby, Spike. And you might smell like a pony…” she walked over and sniffed at Spike, which seemed to embarrass him for some reason and made him dig deeper into Rarity’s coat.

“That wasn’t me, Fluttershy! I swear! Rarity did it!”

Twilight forcibly tuned out Rarity’s shocked response, trying with a grimace not to remember the biggest trial she’d faced bringing up Spike as a newborn. Dragons might belch burning hot fire out of their jaws, but what they belched out the other end was infinitely worse. Twilight discovered early on that you didn’t need fire to singe your eyelashes off…

“Okay everypony, focus!” she said before that train of thought could go any further, “Yeah, there might be some things that don’t make sense…but that’s still the only idea I’ve got…”

She decided to put her hoof down, “If any of you have a better idea why anypony would find an injured, mesmerized earth pony from out of town floating in a river in the middle of nowhere, and a piece of melted, magic-charged, dragon-made valaethium just minutes away, then I for one can’t wait to hear it!”

Rarity frowned. “I couldn’t argue, Twilight dear.” Fluttershy nodded slightly, her eyes darting around nervously. Applejack tapped her hoof against the floor, then slowly sighed and nodded. “Guess I got nothin’,” Rainbow said reluctantly, “but why would a dragon try to kill any random pony?”

The unicorn shook her head, “It didn’t.”

“What?” Rainbow asked flatly, rolling her eyes up at the ceiling.

Twilight glanced back over her shoulder at the ward, “If it was a dragon that attacked her…well…ah, let’s just say she’d be in a few more pieces, Rainbow. No, I think she was attacked by something else, something smaller, and a dragon snatched her up – probably to steal her or help her escape it…”

She sighed, knowing how farfetched this next part would sound, “Worst case scenario: it lost her or she escaped before it could take her to its lair to devour her. Best case scenario: the dragon flew around looking for a pony settlement and left her in the river here in Ponyville…”

Stunned silence for a few moments.

Pinkie Pie, however, was tapping her chin while looking up and screwing up her muzzle in her trademark ‘Pinkie-Thinkie’ pose.

Suddenly, she looked down and stared wide-eyed, at Twilight. “My Pinkie sense! Twilight, I remember now!”

Once upon a happier time, the unicorn scoffed at the thought of Pinkie’s so-called ‘Pinkie sense’ – precognitive nervous twitches that occurred in a certain order for certain outcomes. However, she had a little more faith now since the incident in the bog… “Remember what, Pinkie?”

“That morning! I had twitchy hind hooves, wiggling nose, and a floppy left eyelid!”

“An’ what’s that mean, Pinkie?” Applejack asked dryly, while Rainbow hung down in mid-air and groaned.

“It means I was gonna see a dragon!”

Twilight felt elated for a moment, but then she did a double take. She sighed and facehoofed, “You did, Pinkie. You met Spike, remember?”

She immediately reared up onto her hind hooves, waving her front legs in the air in denial and shaking her head so quickly Twilight was worried it might fall off, “Nuh-uh!!! I never get Pinkie sense for Spike! I never have! Never, ever, ever!!! I thought maybe it was just Spike too – and then I thought ‘oh, it’s the first time I got Pinkie sense for Spike so we should have a Spike’s-first-Pinkie-sense party’ and then I remembered I’d need a lot of gems to make a cake for Spike so I should see Rarity first, and then-“ Pinkie stopped suddenly, her eyes bouncing from one side of her sockets to the other like twanging rubber bands (from the sudden stop after keeping up with her running mouth, Twilight guessed).

“And then?” Twilight prompted.

Pinkie spoke the next part softly, with an almost-eerie calmness to her voice that terrified everypony in the room, “I got a twitchy tail, and…”

Then she promptly blasted off and did several somersaults in the air (reclaiming her record from Twilight – and the laws of physics could get bucked).

“I’ve got it! I’VE GOOOOT IT!!!” she screamed in the middle of several rotations at the apex of her leap, before unfolding into a glorious full-body flourish complete with poppers and confetti. “Twitchy tail!!! You’re right, Twilight! The dragon dropped her in the river! You’re right!”

And somepony gave a terse “ahem” from the ground next to her.

Pinkie, still hanging in mid-air, looked down and saw Nurse Redheart scowling at her and pointing to the ‘surgery currently in progress’ lamp over the ward door. Pinkie grinned sheepishly, tucked in her hooves…and crashed heavily down onto her rump without changing expression.

Redheart frowned at them all, “I’m not sure you should all be here chattering away like this. Hospital regulations permit you to stay in the hallway and wait for outcomes, not cause a huge disturbance! Please be quiet or leave!” And she turned her back on them and trotted away, grumbling under her breath.

“Ohhh, that nurse is a big, grumpy, old meanie-pants,” Pinkie hissed, slinking down and whispering as though she thought Redheart would pounce the instant she spoke up again.

“Yeah, she is…” Applejack agreed, looking around, “She’s right though. This prob’ly ain’t the best place to be havin’ this conversation…”

“A little late for that…” Twilight said, doing a little grumping of her own. “Okay, everypony, we’ve all probably taken too much time off from work today anyway! Spike, I’m sending you back to the library. I want you to mind the books for me while I stay here and wait for them to finish fixing up our mystery mare in there…”

“Sure thing, Twilight,” Spike said, straightening up and springing to a salute, “but…Pinkie sense is…I mean, are you sure it’s really a dragon?!”

Everypony looked expectantly at Twilight, who sighed.

“Well, if Pinkie’s Pinkie sense lines up with it too, and if it wasn’t just you setting it off for the first time ever…well, much as I hate to admit it, she’s usually not wrong. Everything points to her being dragged and dropped here by a dragon, even Pinkie sense…”

She then looked up at the ceiling and narrowed her eyes in thought, “Question is, why didn’t we see it? And where is it now?”

*

Zecora pulled her hood up tighter against the cold, hitching her bundle up on her back.

I know it is close. I know it is there. This creature must have made a lair somewhere.

She frowned. This was not too good. The Everfree forest had been her home for almost four years now, and she had woken to the songs and whispers of the animals and trees long enough to know something was wrong.

After their most recent visitor.

There was a horrible stink in the air. No doubt a herd of some of Everfree’s wild creatures had stayed in this snowy clearing and left in a hurry. And why wouldn’t they have left in a hurry after they saw it?

Zecora grimaced. She had only seen it briefly, but the dragon had brought all the terrible imagery of her nightmares with it.

She wrinkled her nose against the smell and pressed on, aware she did not have much time before it came out of hiding again to hunt.

The animals hide and shiver in fear, which means the dragon must still be here. Find it I must, before the day’s sun wanes. A dragon emerges and then panic reigns. Canterlot needs to know of this danger, and Princess Celestia will never waver.

Panic they will, the ponies will have a fit! I must find out… – ugh! I just stepped in some –

She froze in her thought, realizing the source of the stench in the air.

It wasn’t just a little free sample coating her hoof. Next to her was at least ten years supply of fertilizer.

Dragon-made fertilizer.

Zecora backed off in disgust, gagging at the suddenly much-stronger stink, the ingredients of which she didn’t even dare try to guess. Wiping her hoof on the grass (and making a mental note to disinfect it later), she turned away.

And crashed face-first into a tree.

She reversed yet again, blinking in confusion, scrunching up her face and working her jaw. Zecora could’ve sworn she’d just broken her snout against that wood.

Wait a long moment! A memory spark! That tree wasn’t there when I came to this – hark!

She looked up again at a low, foliage-rustling growl, to see two glowing green eyes leering at her from beneath leafy, snow-speckled eyebrows.

Timber wolf! Zecora quickly shrugged back her hood, revealing the bone charm stuck in her mane. The wooden canine immediately let out a whine and slunk back, lowering onto its haunches.

Zecora chuckled softly, approaching the pup and patting it on its twiggy head, “You didn’t recognize your zebra mistress…” She suddenly saw the wolf was scorched and looked like it had burned away to ashes and brittle kindling in places.

“Then you must be in horrible distress!” she said, her voice lowering seriously. The wolf had not been trying to ambush her – it had come seeking help.

She quickly dug into the bundle hanging on her back for the jar of salve she had brought along. She cracked the seal on the jar with a hoof and began to smear it over the pup’s burned hind legs and back, hearing it whine with relief at the soothing touch of the ointment.

As Zecora worked, she was barely aware of two others of the pack emerging from the foliage and approaching gingerly on burned legs. One of them had lost most of its smaller parts, and the other one was burned almost to a cinder, completely black and shaking off flakes of ash with every step.

The timber wolf before her was not yet fully-grown, and it was cruel that it had to suffer such painful and debilitating injuries so young. Fire was one of the few things that could permanently destroy a timber wolf, and of course, the creatures did not possess the ability to heal. Zecora felt a pang of sorrow for the poor pup knowing its legs and back would probably stay burned and brittle forever. This one would never have a chance to become the alpha male…

She finished seeing to it and turned to look at the other two. “This dragon is the cruelest of beasts, to give you pain with no hope of release,” she said gloomily. The larger one had lost its foliage, most of its teeth and all of its wooden claws. The smaller one was nothing more than a walking pile of ashes, and the zebra knew it would not survive another day in the forest.

She knew this pack. On nights when Zecora danced under the full moon around a blue fire, this pack had often joined her. They had ringed her fire and howled at the moon as the zebra twisted and turned (it did not bother her that they watched her dancing naked – they were only animals – and she didn’t usually wear clothes anyway).

Several times, they had nudged Zecora along afterwards to follow them back to their den - a hollow hill under the forest’s apex - where the zebra had slept warmly in the midst of the pack.

“Turned you out of your den, did he?” she asked sadly, “Stole your home as a lair for free?”

The answering, woodwind whines from wolves’ muzzles made her sigh. Timber wolves were actually much smarter than ponies gave them credit for. Although they could not tell the specifics of her speech, they knew from the tone of her voice what she meant.

She dipped her hoof into what was left of her salve and went to work on the smaller one, whose agony was so palpable she could hear (and smell) it in its breathing. She knew she could not save its life, but she could at least ease its passing.

Well, now I know where to find the green stranger… she thought, her face tightening and looking over her shoulder as she spread salve on the panting wolf’s head, but now the question is how to deal with the danger? This is one of those dragons not likely to leave, just because a lone zebra has had cause to be grieved…

She was interrupted in her thoughts by the sound of a distant buzzing. Zecora immediately raised her head, looking around. She noticed the sun had reached mid-afternoon, and more of the pack’s survivors had poked their heads out of the foliage at the sound.

The dragon is coming?! This is too soon! The pack must scatter, hide and wait for the moon!

She snorted loudly and lifted a foreleg, turning her head to the side and barking like a wolf.

The timber wolves just looked at her, and the zebra could have sworn from the twitch of their leafy brows and widening eyes that they looked incredulous. The charred one in front of her looked like he would have facehoofed had he been able.

The zebra groaned under her breath, feeling her face start to go warm. My timber wolfspeech is not the best I fear…she drew herself up. Best I use the universal language right here!

She jumped in a very undignified, childish manner, squawking nonsense and shaking her hooves in all directions to shoo the timber wolves away.

They took the hint right away and scattered, yelping. One of them carelessly plowed face-first into the pile of dragon leavings (no doubt adding a little extra fragrance to its breath) before running off, and the cindered one took just enough time to snatch up Zecora’s salve jar in its jaws before hobbling away into the undergrowth.

She sighed. I hope their pack finds a new den soon…I hope they’ll be with me to dance for the moon...

The buzzing sound was getting louder, but, Zecora realized, it was all coming from one small place. It was not the dragon.

As the buzzing sound grew closer, becoming interspersed with tiny, squeaky shrieks, the zebra’s eyes widened, “Unless my own ears are failing me too, I do believe that sounds like…”

CRASSSSH!!!

A small bright blue scooter blew out of the undergrowth, its driver flailing in panic and waving a hoof to shoo away the flashing, multi-colored telebugs. In her haste, she plowed right into a rock, the scooter flipped up, and she went sailing through the air to crash into Zecora.

They both went down, the zebra instinctively wrapping her hooves around the filly to protect her as they rolled over the leaves and mud. When they finally came to a stop with the zebra underneath, Zecora shook the stars from her head and opened her eyes to see a familiar pair of spiralling purple ones gazing right back at her.

“…Scootaloo?!”

It was the same filly, but not quite the same happy, bright little visage Zecora saw next to Applebloom almost every time the terrible trio came over.

Scootaloo was wearing a green helmet with leaves glued to it – and not too efficiently either, judging from how half of them were hanging off by strands of goo. She had apparently tried to use watercolors for green facepaint, and a watery splitter design was flaking off her cheeks. Even worse, small twigs and leaves had been taped to her sides and legs – so ludicrously it made her look more like a hippy chicken than a bush. The whole fiasco was topped off by the fact that her snout was wrapped up in a thick, shiny white bandage anypony could have seen a mile away.

Despite herself, Zecora groaned inwardly – whatever special talent this filly might fit, the art of camouflage is definitely not it…

“Scootaloo!” she said again as the little pegasus shook off her halo of stars and awkwardly got to her hooves on top of her. “Are you alright? Are you feeling any pain?! Did those pesky telebugs bite you in the brain?!”

“Zecora!” Scootaloo’s visage was blank with shock. “Wh-whab are you ndoing here?! Oh! Uh, sorby!” she awkwardly clambered down off the zebra’s torso, “Thanks fbor catching mbe…”

As Zecora tried to stand, she was suddenly away of a heavy, sticky feeling in her mane. She grimaced, oh, great shivering Poligna’s Rot, please tell me that I did not!

Scootaloo wrinkled her snout and grimaced, squeezing her eyes shut, “You smell, Zecora! Ah, sorry mbut…hab you been mbaking dose stinky potionds again?” She opened one eye and looked sideways at Zecora as the zebra clambered to her hooves.

And if the sudden wideness of her eyes afterwards was any indication, she noticed what her crash landing had almost sent them plowing into. Zecora groaned, not daring to run a hoof through her mane to see just how much dragon fertilizer had gotten stuck in it. I should consider myself lucky I only got that scrap, another few inches and I’d be covered in…

She forced herself back to the matter at hand. “Scootaloo, what are you doing out here in the Everfree? And why are you wearing that ridiculous get-up I see?!”

The filly stood up on her hind hooves, clasping her forehooves behind her back, looking down and grinning sheepishly. “I was…ah…mpicking zab abbles?”

If the slight frown and twitch of her eye didn’t tell the filly she wasn’t fooling anypony, Zecora’s hoof waving around in a circle at the snowy clearing and white-capped trees definitely did.

“Scootaloo,” Zecora said, making herself smile at her, “you need not fear my reaction. Zebras do not judge by a fraction. But the danger here is plenty real, for a lone little filly with a broken wheel…” she pointed to Scootaloo’s crashed scooter lying on its side for emphasis.

The pegasus promptly squealed at the reminder and ran over to her damaged treasure. The scooter had been smashed in at the front, the wheel hanging off on a broken hinge and the handle bent to the side. “It doesn’t look like it’s passed the totalling border, but sweet Scootaloo, right now it is out of order. Come, I’ll take you back to my home, and I hope you’ll tell me why you came alone…”

She cocked her head to the side, worried. If the dragon was where she thought it was, they were far too close for her to risk keeping a little filly in the area. Dealing with the dragon would have to wait until Scootaloo was safely back in Ponyville. Zecora knew it was best to pretend she hadn’t been doing anything important. No doubt if the little pegasus knew she’d…

“I wab looking fbor da drabon…” Scootaloo mumbled sadly as she slung her damaged scooter over her back.

…panic?

Her eyes widened momentarily. Sweet grass of Zebronia, how did she know?! Quickly, I must do some damage control so…

“Dragon?!” Zecora gave the best chuckle she could ham up, “Don’t be silly, Scootaloo. There are no dragons here!”

A few moments passed in silence, the filly looking up at the zebra, one green-painted eyelash cocked.

Catching on, Zecora applied hoof to face. Her friends knew the only time she didn’t rhyme was when she was upset or lying.

“Mbut I saw id, Zecora! When we were oud playing frisbee dis mborning, I saw it…from bdown by da schoolhouse. I told the teacher and all mby classmbates, mbut dey didn’ mbelieb mbe…so I cabe here to find ib mbyself afder school…”

“Whyever did you come looking for it, my little filly? Don’t you know hunting dragons this way is silly?”

“I know it’s dangerous, Zecora. Mbut I…I…” her face suddenly contorted and tightened, her eyes narrowing into a glare, “I’b not just a weak, liddle mbaby! A liddle danger doesn’t scare mbe! Jus’ like id wouldn’d scare a super-cool mbpony like Raibbow Mdash or Twilaid Sparkle! I’b not a weak, liddle baby!”

Startled, Zecora closed her eyes and replayed that sound to herself. After a few moments, it came to her. Ah, every browbeaten child’s little weakness…and reckless bravery to leave us all speechless.

“Tell me please, my dear Scootaloo…who on earth has said that to you?”

The little pegasus shuffled her hooves and looked down, nervously adjusting the weight of her scooter on her back.

Zecora took her shoulder gently, “No doubt another foal insulted you so, but walking into danger won’t help that, you know. Bullies and fools cannot judge what you behoove - trust me my little friend, you have nothing to prove…”

Scootaloo stiffened a moment, and then promptly wilted, taking off her helmet and looking regretfully up at her, “Yeah…yeah, I guess you’re righd. Eben if I went indo school tomorrow and tolb Diamob Diara and da odders I wen’ lookib fbor dat drabon I saw…dey prob’ly wouldn’ belieb mbe…”

Zecora really felt sorry for the poor filly before her now…and sensed she needed to do something about that swollen snout if she was ever going to understand enough of what Scootaloo was saying. Priorities first though, she had to get Scootaloo out of danger and then send a warning to the right ponies about the dragon.

“Everfree is dangerous, Scootaloo, dragons or not. Definitely not a place for a lone filly to trot. Come with me to my hut, my young friend. I’ll brew a potion and your pain will end…”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened at that – she had been on the receiving end of her potions before, and, of course, as Zecora herself had put it when she complained - ‘the more it tastes like leafy old goo, of course the better it is for you’.

She promptly gagged and looked like she was about to comment on the (un)usual taste of Zecora’s herbal medicine, but the zebra suddenly snapped her head up, raising a hoof to her lips to quiet her.

There was a distant thudding noise in the air, accompanied by the crackles and snaps of dense foliage twisting and bending to make way for a massive, pounding body. Zecora’s eyes widened – it was getting closer. And fast.

“What’s that?!” Scootaloo asked, looking around the clearing at the trees in alarm. She had heard it too.

They both had the same thought at the same time – two jaws falling open in unison.

The pounding on the ground suddenly sounded much heavier, and Zecora could see the puddles of snowmelt rippling with each pound. Close by, they heard the sharp crack of a tree being ripped off its roots.

Scootaloo looked like she was about to scream, eyes darting around wildly. Zecora looked around – they needed to hide. Now.

She seized the little pegasus in her hooves, leaving the scooter and helmet to fall to the ground…

…and then the thicket before them was suddenly ripped apart as the monster’s head poked through.

Zecora shivered as she beheld it again.

A ten-foot long scaly neck of deep, scummy green - crusty-hard, and mottled in places by deep, flaky crevices where new scales had grown inwards over old wounds. Some scratches were fresh and only half-healed, unmistakable by the boiling black blood seeping into the grooves between its scales.

Its cart-sized face was even more terrifying. The deep-set, cruel eyes were closed against the scratch of the thicket, but the zebra knew there were fearsome reptilian slits betraying not a hint of compassion or wisdom beneath. Tattered fin-like ears protruded from the sides of its skull, and the tip of its muzzle was missing - the flesh stripped away almost down to the bone, leaving a white, gristly horror of a snout.

But the mouth was the worst of all. Dragon’s teeth were always a fearsome sight, but this one’s outer lips had been clawed away to leave it with a permanent hideous, fanged grin.

And Zecora was one of the few beings for miles who knew enough of dragon culture to know what that meant.

She pressed a hoof over Scootaloo’s mouth before she could scream, looking around for anywhere they could hide – a tree, a rock, anything! Its eyes are still closed…

There was no time to even finish rhyming her thought. She swept up Scootaloo and hid.

In the only place they could.

*

The dragon stretched out her neck, snapping her teeth to work her jaw out, basking her head in the sunlight.

Her wounds had almost healed. And then it would be time for a feast.

Again, she wondered what good fortune had smiled upon her that the pesky creatures’ magic had sent her crashing right into the middle of the pony lands? Those annoying missiles they had speckled her with had been a painful blessing apparently.

Best of all, she was here alone, and there would be meat galore in her new realm. She could see no reason to go back just so her kin could eat all that was now hers by right. She was not as young as she used to be, and felt she deserved a little spoiling after centuries of lean pickings. A land of easy meat with no younger, more powerful dragons to take it away would be a life fit for a queen. And, here, those other annoying insects could not bother her any longer either.

Smiling (though with her Outcaste jaws, no-one else could hope to tell the difference), she opened her dull, crimson eyes and looked around for the morsels she had smelled.

It was the clearing she had passed through before shortly after her arrival, while she was on her way to her new lair. She could still see the evidence of her presence, together with two small objects she had to strain to make out with her bad eyes. One looked faintly like a helmet, though it was crusted with something, and the other was a tiny contraption like nothing the dragon had ever seen. A small platform with wheels it seemed.

But there was no sign of meat anywhere.

The dragon swivelled her head sideways and back, and sniffed the air.

Whatever scent she might have had was gone.

It mattered not. Soon enough, she would be able to fly properly again, and then there would be plenty to eat in the pony settlement just outside the forest…but she could not let them see her yet. No, not just now. That wouldn’t do. Meat in the first, freshest throes of terror was easier to savor…

She pulled her head back under the trees and turned away.

As she returned to her lair, her old ears failed to catch the tiny, stifled cry of disgust from the clearing behind her.

*

“I’m sorry to tell you that you must stay in this hospital for the time being,” Doctor Needles said, “your injuries are…severe…”

From the flicker in the mare’s eye, Twilight guessed that was the last thing she needed to be told.

She had been called back into the recovery ward earlier that evening after the surgery. Their patient had awoken again, this time chained to the bed with a respirator mask attached that couldn’t be shaken off.

“We found you two days ago in the river just outside of this town, Ponyville…” Doctor Needles continued, “we managed to save you…” he glanced sideways at Twilight as he said this, no doubt thinking of whether or not he should mention the princess’ help. But Twilight had been asked to please stay quiet this time, and she wasn’t about to let herself get kicked out again.

“…but after you regained consciousness, we discovered - as unlikely as it sounds - that you had been mesmerized…” Doctor Needles said crisply, with the air of a medical professional explaining the things patients needed to know (and omitting the things they didn’t). “This young magician here, Twilight Sparkle - one of the ponies who found you - deduced this was most likely because you had come into contact with a magic-conductive metal called valaethium…”

The mare’s eye twitched again, but she didn’t make a sound.

“…Unfortunately, when she woke you from mesmerization…well…I’m sure you must have had a panic attack. Our visitors’ rash action –“ (this time Twilight’s eye twitched) “- meant you required another surgery after you lost consciousness again…” he cleared his throat, “Your injuries are no longer life-threatening so long as you receive proper treatment, and any disabilities you might have developed can be magically repaired, but I’m afraid you must remain here in our care for recovery for now. Of course, we would be happy to send a message to your family or next of kin…?”

Since the mare was still wearing the respirator, Twilight had a notion the doctor was waiting for some vague, non-verbal response or reaction…but she didn’t move.

After a few seconds of a single yellow eye staring right at him, Doctor Needles coughed uncomfortably and went on, “Yes…well…perhaps when you’ve recovered and no longer need the respirator, you can tell us where to find them…”

He motioned to his left, “This is Nurse Redheart. She will be helping you during your recovery, taking care of your needs and monitoring your progress. I’m sure the two of you will get along splendidly…” he said with aplomb, rolling his eyes upwards at the ceiling.

Twilight might have giggled at that if things hadn’t been so serious. The mare’s persistent silence was more than a little unnerving. Even if she couldn’t talk with that mask on, she should still have been capable of nodding or grunting or something…

Redheart huffed, “About time, doctor! I think you’ve gone on long enough…”

She bustled forward and leaned over the patient, “Now…I’m going to give you your daily injections, baths, and change your bandages. Ask for me if you need something, and don’t make trouble, and we’ll do just fine…”

No reaction.

Redheart looked up irritably, “Is she deaf, doctor? Or does she just not understand Equus?”

He opened his mouth to answer…and then paused. He shut his mouth again and looked down in embarrassment, realizing he hadn’t checked either fact before his little awakening speech.

So Twilight decided to speak up, “No, Nurse Redheart, she’s not deaf - I’ve heard her speak. And yes, she speaks Equus.”

At that, the mare’s eye slowly drifted over to her, showing no expression on what little of her face Twilight could see through the bandages and mask. Twilight tried to not to show it, but she was relieved this mare was now well on the way to recovery. Soon enough, they’d all know the full truth about the things that hurt her, the dragon, and where to send her, and then things would go back to normal…

Nurse Redheart looked at her, “Yes, I remember now. The feathering mess she made after that little stunt you pulled snapping her out of mesmerization into a world of pain. How could I forget?”

The unicorn stiffened, biting her tongue. Obviously, this is the kind of nurse who’s seen so many buck-ups she’s forgotten how to be patient or subtle…I hope I never end up like that…

Twilight knew, relieved as she was, she didn’t want to stick around any longer in the same room with Redheart in this mood…and it was getting late anyway…so she turned away, “Well, I’m going to go back to the library...” she said, hoping it hadn’t come out as curtly as she felt, “I can see you have things in hoof here. I have to test that piece of valaethium again, find out what did…”

Thunk!

Twilight turned in surprise at the sound of a booted hoof hitting a steel tabletop. The mare was banging her chained forehoof on the steel stand next to her, staring at Twilight.

“Now now, please don’t do that!” Doctor Needles piped up, pulling the tray back out of her reach. The mare’s eye flashed at him, she started to struggle, prompting a startled yelp from the good doctor…

…and she started to mumble.

Jerking her muzzle, trying to shake the mask off…

“Doctor…I think she wants to speak,” Twilight said slowly. She wants to speak? To me? Her eyes widened, and she found herself slowly moving towards her, completely ignoring the fact she was supposed to be keeping her distance this time around…

Doctor Needles looked at her, and then at the mare, and then at Nurse Redheart…who slowly managed to stop herself from scowling and nodded. She bent over the mare, clamped the mask’s handle in her jaws…and slowly pulled it off.

“Huuurrrrhhhh…” the mare’s sudden, sharp intake of breath, unassisted by the respirator, must have been painful for her. Even the gasp wasn’t clear – Twilight grimaced as she heard little rustles and bubbly popping sounds that could only have meant holes and fluid in the lungs.

Nurse Redheart placed her hooves professionally on the mare’s chest cavity and rubbed, “Slowly! Yes, nice deep breaths now…”

She coughed, her neck jerking slightly from the pain, and tried to take another breath. It sounded, if possible, even worse than the first one. Twilight grimaced. How in Celestia’s name did she survive?!

The mare’s muzzle was indeed set with a long, jutting jaw that looked more akin to a cow than a pony. It made her head and face look very long. As she noisily gulped in air, Twilight could see her long pink tongue within, which looked very bright next to her sooty coat. She also had thick, close-set teeth that looked vaguely unnatural – completely flat and in perfect line with each other…

“V…v…val…”

The mare’s voice was deep and husky. Not quite Big Mac’s rumbling thunder, but rougher than Applejack’s country girl drawl. And it was bubbly and thick with pain and broken lung.

Twilight leaned closer to listen, “Yes? Yes?!”

With what looked like a tremendous effort, the mare drew in another breath, grimaced, sweating, and spoke.

“The val-valae…th-the metal…” she sounded fairly agitated. Twilight couldn’t blame her - she would be too in that condition. “…where?”

“Where?! In the library! I found it here in Ponyville. We guessed that dragon who brought you here must have dropped it, and…”

WHAM!

The mare’s hoof came down hard on her bed, hard enough to push through the mattress and pound on the frame below.

“NO!” she shouted, before grimacing and gurgling with pain as Twilight reared back in surprise.

“Nurse, put that respirator back on and sedate her!” Doctor Needles said immediately, “We don’t want her to keep hurting herself this way!”

“NO!” the black mare yelled again through her pain, starting to pull at her bonds as the ward erupted into panic, “NO! D-de-danger! Youuu must…”

“Calm down!” Twilight shouted despite herself, backing away. “The valaethium’s harmless now! I already discharged it! Whatever that dragon used it for can’t hurt you anymore!”

The mare tried to shake her head, but managed only a half-turn before Redheart tried to slap the mask back on and fix the straps in place. She turned her head in agitation, eyes wide with pain and panic.

"NO!” she said again, moving all of herself she could now. “N…not dragon’s! Mine! Hit her! Got her with it!”

What?! Twilight froze.

“She’s…here! Dragon a killer! It’s…danger! She’s…nngggh…KILLER!”

The last word was choked out as Redheart finally managed to fix the mask straps to her head. The mare struggled and pulled at her restraints as Redheart sunk another needle into her neck.

Slowly, her struggling stopped, and her eye glazed over and closed.

Twilight, rooted to the spot, stared straight ahead, “Did you hear that? Did you hear what she said?!”

Silence. Neither Doctor Needles nor Nurse Redheart seemed to know what to say to this revelation.

“She said she used the valaethium against that thing! If that valaethium…was some kind of weapon…th-then…the…dragon’s…”

More silence.

A horrible feeling descended on Twilight Sparkle.

She turned and bolted for the door.

Just in time for it to be thrown open in her face.

“TWIIILIIIIGHT!!!”

Author's Note:

And there you have it! Writing these chapters and trying to weave this web is taking a toll on my imagination, but I only hope I can make this exciting enough for you all. Next: with the web of mystery around Ponyville's visitor beginning to unfold, the threat of the dragon looms over Ponyville. We'll see Zecora and Scootaloo again, and what will become of our unknown friends battling in the snow? And the great mystery of this fic's name will be revealed! Find out in the next chapter of Lament of the Frozen North!

Oh, and by the way, since the point of view of an exhausted author can sometimes give a skewed view of how the fic might appear to you all, I'd like to invite any of you fine, interested readers to be a beta reader for me next time around. Maybe make some suggestions or corrections to help me out. Please let me know if you're interested. Ciao!

Comments

[Soaringhere]

I'm REALLY bad at giving suggestions But I'd be interested in what other people suggest
And I'm loving this story so far
I think your doing a great job with the twists and turns