Chapter 2:
A Violent Introduction
Nurse Redheart walked out with a cup of coffee in hoof. “What's all the...” Redheart dropped her mug and it shattered with the rest of her question at the desperation radiating from Twilight. She had never seen so much fear in the young mare’s eyes before, not even when she faced down Nightmare Moon all those years back.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?”
“Hurry, it’s going to drown in its own blood if we don’t do something now!” Nurse Redheart looked at the creature draped over Twilight’s back and saw its labored breathing and in an instant she took action.
“Doctor Horse, prep for surgery! Tendercare, trauma victim in reception area. Get here now!” Redheart shouted into a mic behind the reception desk. “Twilight, take a deep breath and tell me what happened. Anything you can think of will be of help.” Before Twilight could respond, Tendercare ran in and levitated the creature onto a way-too-small gurney. She motioned for Twilight and Redheart to follow.
“Can you tell us what happened to this… Whatever this thing is?” Nurse Tendercare asked, taking a good look at the biped.
“It came through a portal I accidentally created when testing a new spell.” Twilight trotted beside the gurney. “As to what it is, I have no idea, but you have to save it! It’s my fault it’s like this! It wouldn’t be here if I didn’t mess up that spell!”
“We’ll do all we can, Twilight,” Nurse Tendercare assured. Turning her attention back to Redheart, she said, “Redheart we need a tracheostomy and an x-ray, stat.” They rushed along the corridor until they reached a set of doors when Nurse Redheart stopped, holding out a hoof to prevent Twilight from entering.
“Sorry, Twilight, but you need to stay out here.” Redheart then motioned to a bench. “You can sit in the reception area for now.”
**********
“I knew that something like this would happen,” Spike thought as he looked at the widening hole. He turned his attention to Twilight. She was obviously in full freak-out mode. It would be kinda funny if the situation wasn’t so dire. He racked his brain, trying to figure out what to do. His thoughts coalesced to one: send a letter to the princess. Spike ran straight for the room that he shared with Twi, grabbing a quill and paper. He quickly wrote out a short message to Princess Celestia and sent it with a puff of flame.
“Okay, Spike, go downstairs and help Twilight. You can do this,” he said trying to psych himself up for what he thought was going to be an epic battle. He ran out of the room and was halfway down the stairs, preparing a battle cry, when a thump reverberated through the room, stopping him in his tracks. He slowly turned his head towards the source of the sound and froze. “That isn’t what they looked like in the movie,” he thought. “What is that thing? It appears to be a monster, but nothing like the black, ethereal beings in the movie.” Then the last thing he could have expected happened: Twilight levitated the creature on her back and teleported away. He stood there, staring blankly at the spot where the monster and Twilight had been. After a few seconds, his mind finally rebooted and everything that had transpired sprang forward. “Why did Twilight teleport away with the monster? Why didn’t she banish it back to the rift it came from?” Spike was too wrapped up in these thoughts to notice Celestia had appeared on the landing below him.
“Spike, I came as soon as I got the letter. Where is Twilight?” Celestia asked with worry.
Hearing the princess’s voice gave him a start. He whipped around and put his claws up in a defensive manner. It took him a moment to recognize Celestia and put his arms down, still freaking out at recent events as he tried, unsuccessfully, to explain everything at once, “Hole, monster, Twilight, teleport!”
“Spike, take a deep breath and try again slower this time,” Celestia said in a calming breath. “And, perhaps, elaborate as well?” Spike nodded and did as she suggested before trying again.
“After I sent you the letter, I came back downstairs to see if I could get Twilight to calm down after this monster came out of the hole.” Spike pointed to the rift above their heads. “Then I saw Twilight teleport away with the monster to who knows where!”
“Spike, calm down. Twilight can handle herself. She will be fine. For now, let's take a look at this hole.” Celestia turned her attention on the rip, giving it a critical eye. Her gaze drifted to the floor and lingered on the circle, a small frown appearing on her face. She walked over to the circle and wiped away a single symbol. The glow faded, and, with a flash, the portal closed, causing Spike to jump forward in an attempt to get away from a nonexistent threat. Unfortunately, he forgot that he was still on the stairs and ended up tumbling the rest of the way down.
Spike got up slowly and shook his head to clear the spinning. Once he regained his bearings, he saw an amused Celestia trying to cover her mirth with a hoof. Spike saw right through it though, and it ticked him off that she was laughing at him at a time like this.
“Yeah, real funny. Twilight is off who knows where with a dangerous monster and you’re laughing at my pain,” Spike grumped.
“Don’t be like that, Spike. I have faith that Twilight is fine and I am more that willing to take you to her to prove it to you,” Celestia laughed.
“Please, if it isn’t too much to ask, could you?” Celestia’s smile softened at Spike’s concern. Though he tried to hide it, his young age did tend to show through every now and then. Celestia cast a scrying spell and located Twilight in the waiting room of the Ponyville General Hospital. With a flash, they left the library behind.
It took Spike a minute to get his bearings when they arrived. Once the world stopped spinning, Spike shot to his feet, ready to jump into battle at any second, but relaxed once he saw where he was. He looked around the room, confused.
“Princess, Spike what are… Oh no, THE RIP!” Twilight cried. “Oh, no! I need to go back to the library and fix the hole before it destroys Equus!” Twilight prepared to teleport back to the library, but stopped when Celestia held up a hoof.
“There is no need, Twilight. I have closed the portal already,” Celestia said with a warm smile.
Twilight's features showed relief that quickly morphed to shame as she hung her head, ears splayed back. “Princess, I’m sorry I endangered all of Equestria with that spell,” she said barely above a whisper. Spike could tell that there was more on Twilight’s mind than her mistake with the spell. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he had a feeling it had to do with the creature and why she teleported it to the hospital. He walked up to Twilight and gave her a reassuring hug. She returned the gesture with a strained smile.
“Do not worry. That spell wouldn’t have endangered Equestria, my faithful student,” Celestia reassured Twilight, “but I would like to see the creature that came through. Could you show me to it?”
“It’s in surgery right now. It was bleeding into its lungs.” Twilight turned her gaze up to the princess’s glistening eyes, ears pressed to her skull. “Please, Princess if there is anything you could do to help... It is my fault this happened.”
Princess Celestia smiled warmly at her student, “I will do what I can to help.” She walked to the double doors separating the waiting room from the rest of the hospital, a golden aura surrounding the door as it opened. She walked into the corridor, letting the doors swing closed behind her.
Spike expected the princess to be kicked out at any moment, but the seconds ticked by and nothing happened. He began to worry. Spike was still under the impression that this creature was an evil monster from beyond, and, as such, was planning something nefarious. Twilight mistook his nervous shuffling for worry over the creature. “There’s no need for worry. It’s going to be fine. Celestia, herself, is looking over the creature.”
“Yeah... right. Everything is going to be just fine,” Spike replied with a nervous chuckle.
The room settled into an uncomfortable silence as they waited for somepony to walk out and tell them the news. Neither one was willing to break the silence. Spike continued to glance at the clock, wishing that something would happen. The waiting was killing him. After what seemed like days, Nurse Tendercare and Princess Celestia walked through the doors.
With instantaneous relief, Spike let out a breath, relaxing at seeing the princess was okay. He opened his mouth to ask if everything was taken care of, but before he could utter a single word, Twilight cut him off.
“Is it going to be okay?” she asked, worry obvious in her voice.
“Yes, dear Twilight. He will be fine,” Celestia answered putting a slight emphasis on he.
“He. So it is a male of its–I mean, his species,” Twilight’s eyes glazed over as she lost herself in thought.
“Looks like we lost Twilight to her scholarly side again,” Spike deadpanned. He walked up to Twilight waving his claws in front of her face. “Yeah, she’s gone.”
Celestia chuckled at Spike’s display then cleared her throat, “Twilight I need somepony to watch over our visitor. Would you–”
Before Celestia could finish her question, Twilight rocketed through the double doors only to come back a few seconds later with an embarrassed grin on her face.
“Um… hehe… What room is he in?” Twilight asked, fidgeting with her front hooves.
Celestia laughed good naturedly and said, “He’s in room two-oh-four.”
Spike went to follow Twilight but was stopped by the princess. She gave him an appraising eye before speaking, “Spike, I want you to give this creature the benefit of the doubt and don’t label him an enemy just yet.” He gave her a doubtful look before he steeled his gaze, gave her a nod, and ran to catch up with Twilight.