fyre-flye

by uhrora

Fed

One quick stop by her quarters and Applejack was saddled up. Climbing the ladder back into the hallway, she began to make her way down the belly of the ship towards the passenger quarters. She kept an eye out for any of her crew, but the halls were cleared. Going to get one of them would just eat up precious time now that a Harmony Alliance cruiser was on its way. As she began to descend the stairs into the cargo hold, the question of the fed’s identity played on her mind.

Twi. Octavia. The Doctor. Who was it? There was really none among their new passengers Applejack could rule out. They were all well-educated, wealthy and from the Central Planets. They wore outfits that probably cost more than Sereinity’s monthly food allotment. And they all seemed as if they had something to hide, the captain realized with a sense of dread. Damn. Maybe they're all in on it together, she thought to herself. Now, if only Fluttershy, Mac or Soarin was around, she wouldn't feel so bad going up against three feds. Though, really, she doubted that many lawponies had boarded the ship. Sereinity hadn’t done anything bad enough to deserve such government attention. More admittedly, it hadn’t been caught doing anything bad enough. One fed was a possibility, though. It always had been. Now it was a reality.

Still, one fed was bad enough. Especially since Applejack had no idea what sort of firepower he or she owned.

And that was when she remembered all those suspicious packages. What was more likely: a stowaway fed waiting dutifully in the passenger quarters, or rummaging through his or her bag of Alliance tricks? Applejack slowed her pace, treading carefully on the metal stairs. After taking the first two steps down, she realized Octavia and the Doctor were in the cargo hold. From the looks of things, they were caught in a disagreement. The captain crept down the stairs as silently as she could, glad the two were caught up in their own affairs, then crouched over on the catwalk above the cavernous room. She would wait here, listening, until she knew more.

But she wasn’t going to wait too long. That cruiser was on the way.

"You had better give yourself up right now," Octavia was saying.

"I haven’t the faintest idea what you're talking about," the Doctor replied, shaking his head and backing away from Octavia.

It was the Doctor. The Doctor who wasn't really a doctor at all. He was the fed. Applejack wasn't going to waste any more time with this so-called clock fixer. She rose and galloped down the stairs. "So what'd you tell ‘em, Persepony slime?"

The Doctor realized she was speaking to him. "W-what? Tell who?"

"Don't play stupid. I know everything."

Suddenly, Applejack noticed a shiny piece of metal sparkling off of Octavia and realized it was a gun. A saddle hidden beneath her fancy dress. An even fancier saddle; the kind that hid a gun and bit until activated. That meant—

"You. You're the fed," Applejack corrected herself, turning towards Octavia.

"Me?" the dark pony asked. "Oh, isn't that a position more likely filled by, oh, say, a unicorn?"

Applejack noticed movement from the shadows and turned her head. Twi was standing there behind them.

"Horse apples, you mean I guessed wrong twice?" AJ muttered. "It was you that sent the signal?" she asked Twi.

The lavender unicorn shook her head. "Captain, don't listen, she's just trying to distract you." She nodded towards Octavia.

Applejack looked back towards the earth mare, whose saddle was now pointed towards her. "Oh, for cryin’ out loud. I just can't catch a break on my own gorram ship, can I?"

Octavia smirked. "No, you certainly cannot. I apologize. That was fun. Yes, it was I. Now drop your weapons."

AJ hesitated, then slowly unbuckled her saddle with her teeth, dropping it onto the ground. She was caught. This was it. Smugglers and salvagers—okay, thieves—were not treated kindly by the Harmony Alliance. "Look, nopony else knew about it. Just me," she said. Least she could do was make sure the rest of her crew didn't get hurt by her stupid mistakes.

"Oh, really? You knew about Doctor Whooves' little secret?"

"Doctor who’s little what now?" Applejack replied, genuinely flummoxed. She frowned, glancing towards the brown earth pony stallion. "Wait. You're after him?"

"I certainly am. Shall I explain the whole sordid story? I'm afraid we don’t have much time. The cruiser is quite close." Octavia looked back towards the Doctor. "And so is your justice."

"Captain!" came a familiar voice from above. Applejack looked up to see Fluttershy swooping into the room, her pink saddle on her back. Soarin was behind her, and Big Mac thundered down the stairs. Both stallions were saddled up as well. The yellow pegasus looked between the three passengers, confusion on her face. But before she could figure anything out, the startled Octavia fired. The bullet tore through the air—

—and through Fluttershy's body.

"Fluttershy!" AJ gasped.

Soarin dove to catch the wounded pegasus just before she hit the ground. Her yellow coat was quickly reddening with blood, and shock was still plastered across her face.

Applejack spun and bucked Octavia with her rear hooves. The earth pony went flying, but landed on her own hooves and turned back towards AJ, saddlegun shining in the light. Not good, not good—

The captain leapt for her own dropped saddle and slung it across her, trying to secure it as fast as she could. But all of a sudden, Octavia's saddle was disintegrating, the gun warping in and out and all around itself. Applejack spotted the magical aura around it. Rarity's? But she wasn't here, and this aura wasn't the same color as Rarity's pale blue… She looked around, then realized it was Twi's magic. The unicorn lifted Octavia helplessly into the air until her weapons had all but turned to dust. Then, the aura vanished and the earth pony fell to the ground. Big Mac was beside her in seconds, slamming the side of his hoof into her head. It wasn't too hard, but it was enough to knock her out.

Applejack nodded at Mac, thankful he'd momentarily overcome his inability to hit mares, then looked back to Fluttershy. Soarin had laid her down onto the ground and was crouched over her. AJ and her brother ran to the pegasi.

"Fluttershy?"

"Never been shot before," the pink-maned pony replied, eyes still wide. "It… doesn't hurt as much as I thought."

"Oh, sugar cube." Applejack's mind was racing. She turned to Twi. "Look, you know any medical spells or any of that?"

The unicorn found herself shaking her head. "No, I don't. I'm so sorry. I specialized in defensive spells. I—"

"That's all right," Applejack hushed her. "Mac, go get Rarity. We're gonna need her spells. Try not to upset her and Derpy much." Her heart was pounding fast and she struggled to stay calm as she watched her brother gallop up the stairs. She turned back to the Doctor. "And you," she said accusingly, then reached down to her saddle and grabbed her trusty lasso with her teeth. Whipping it around, she threw it over the Doctor and dragged him towards her. "Jutht don't move," she demanded through gritted teeth, then spat out the end of the rope and placed it firmly under one hoof.

"I wasn't going to do anything," he replied softly.

"You got Fluttershy shot," Applejack snapped.

Dash's voice came across the com. "Captain, an Alliance cruiser just hailed us. Not sure what's going on, but it sounds important." She was playing dumb in case AJ hadn't caught the fed yet.

"I never thought it would be this way," Fluttershy was saying to Soarin. "Me down here and you there. Didn't even think you'd live, really."

Soarin blinked in surprise, realizing she was talking about the war. Sereinity Valley, when she'd saved him, six years ago. "Mine was much worse than yours is," he lied. His had been from about the same range, but they had found out later that the bullet had passed neatly through him, hardly nicking his insides, really. But Fluttershy… she had a stomach wound. He didn't know how much longer she would be able to keep talking like this. She was one tough filly, when it came down to things. He just had to keep her believing in her ability to breathe. "Rarity will have you fixed up in just a few minutes." The companion's healing spells could pull out a bullet and numb a pony, but they couldn't repair any organs that had been torn or damaged in the bullet's wake.

"Okay," Fluttershy replied. Her face twisted. "Kinda hurting more now. B-but, um, it's okay. I'm fine."

Dammit, Soarin thought to himself, fighting to keep his eyes dry. Luna damn it all. Fluttershy had saved his life, and he was helpless to do anything for her now. He jumped as he realized Applejack was standing beside him. "Captain. Should I take her to the infirmary?" he asked.

"Don't want to jostle her too much. She's losin’ a lot of blood," Applejack replied in a low voice.

"Am I? Oh, I'm sorry. Is the floor all messy? I'll clean it up later. Just used the mop last week." Fluttershy's breathing was labored. Her nose wrinkled as she strained to speak. "Hurts to talk."

"Don't talk, sugar cube. Save that for all us. You just work on breathing nice and steady now," Applejack told her. She looked back to Soarin. "We'll let Rarity do her work first, and then take her to the infirmary."

"I can levitate her there. Or magically keep her on somepony's back," Twi added.

"Well… Yeah. All right," Applejack decided with a nod. "The sooner we get there the better. Come on, let's hurry now." She glanced towards Soarin. "Soar, how 'bout you go catch up with Mac? Bring him and Rare to the infirmary."

Soarin nodded. Fluttershy began to glow, rising gently up into the air with Twi's magic.

"Wow, I'm flying! I'm not even using my wings…" Fluttershy marveled.

"Wait," came a voice. The Doctor. "I… I lied earlier. I am a doctor. A real one."

Applejack spun around to face the earth pony, still constricted in the lasso. She raised one eyebrow suspiciously. "A medical one?" she asked disbelievingly. "Or just some other rodeo trick like magic or music?" She glanced towards Twi. "No offense."

"Yes. I am a medical doctor."

"Can you help her?" AJ demanded.

The Doctor was nodding. "Yes. If you promise me one thing."

"What?" AJ asked, impatient.

"You won't give me to that Harmony Alliance cruiser. You turn and run."

She glared at him. "Turn tail on Alliance? That ain’t risky at all. I don't even know what you did. You think I want a murderer moseyin’ around my ship?"

"You'll be the murderer if you turn me in. Because as far as I know, I'm the only one on board who can save your pegasus there. She's dying."

"No she ain't! Don't even say that," Applejack hissed, pointing her hoof at him. The last thing Fluttershy needed to hear was that she wasn't going to make it. Nothing killed a wounded pony quicker than that.

"It's true. Do you want me to help her or not?"

It was always the same thing with Applejack. Doing the sensible thing any other sane pony would do, or saving her friends' lives? The problem was, a lot of the time it turned out that saving her friends made more sense than doing anything else. "Rainbow. Change course. Let's get the hay outta here," she barked into the com. Then she turned back to the Doctor and Twi. "Follow me. I'll show y'all to the infirmary.” She glanced at Octavia, still unconscious on the ground. She’d be back to lock her up. Fluttershy was more important right now.

Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Mac, Derpy and Twi waited outside the infirmary as the Doctor, Rarity and AJ worked to save Fluttershy. The doors were closed, but Derpy had her face nearly pressed up against the glass of one window as she watched, tears running down her face. Mac was at the other window, staring into the room with an unreadable expression. The others sat across from the doors, Rainbow leaning against Soarin and Twi using her magic to turn the pages of her book. She was reading Healing Spells: A Unicorn’s Hoofbook.

"There's so much blood," Derpy whispered. "It's not stopping."

Dash exhaled, exasperated. "Derpy, stop watching! You're only upsetting yourself. We got a doctor, a unicorn with healing spells and an army medic in there.” She’d done nothing but blame herself for making the calls to Fluttershy, Soarin and Mac that brought them to Applejack’s side. If Rainbow Dash hadn’t sent them the urgent message to find AJ, Fluttershy would never have been shot. It was all her fault, and she couldn’t stop hating herself for it. Still, that didn’t mean Derpy had to suffer for it. “It might be a messy operation, but that's the only way to do it."

Derpy looked back at her, puzzled expression on her face. "Applejack was an army medic?"

"Well… no," Rainbow Dash admitted. "But Fluttershy was."

"But anypony who's fought in a war knows a thing or two about bullet extractions," Soarin added quickly. "Me and AJ used to pull metal from our soldiers all the time in the war. We did it so much that she called it apple picking."

"Gross." Rainbow Dash grimaced. At the mention of the word apple, she looked towards Mac. He hadn't moved. With the exception of his own sister, Fluttershy was the pony on board he spent the most time with. The two quiet ponies really got talkative when one mentioned a certain kind of gun. They got along well, working as a team whenever the crew got into tough situations. They were each others' partners, so to speak. Kind of like Applejack and Soarin. A lot like Applejack and Soarin, Dash thought to herself, unintentionally glaring at Mac. But that wasn't fair. If anypony was partners with Soarin on board, it was his own wife, right? Maybe Rainbow Dash just needed to go on more salvaging missions with them. But she always had to stay with the ship. For all her attitude, Rainbow wasn't the best with firearms. Give Sereinity some guns, and she'd blow up any moon that looked at them wrong. But in her own hide, she'd never felt comfortable with a gun.

"So, Twi, right?" Soarin asked, breaking the long, awkward silence. Rainbow Dash hadn't even noticed it until he'd spoken, and her head snapped back to look at the unicorn. Like Rainbow, her husband was uncomfortable sitting still and doing nothing when one of their friends was in danger. Unlike Rainbow, he often tried to make small talk to pass the time. Which, for her, was almost as bad as sitting around and doing nothing.

"Yes," she replied with a tiny smile, the polite sort that must be used when one is not in an entirely happy situation. She didn’t seem upset with the reading interruption, though. After all, it wasn’t like she could learn a spell quickly enough to do anything for Fluttershy. She was still on the anesthesia chapter anyway. Lowering the book slightly, Twi tilted her head in thought. "And you are… I’m sorry, I just don't remember. There are a lot of new faces today."

"Soarin," he told her. "This is my wife, Rainbow Dash. Over there's Derpy, and that's Big Mac."

"Thanks," Twi replied. "And you are all permanent residents on this ship?"

"We're the crew," Rainbow Dash corrected, sitting up straight and pushing herself into the air. She was too restless to stay in one position for long. "Sereinity couldn't fly without me and Derpy here."

"Right, I remember. She's the mechanic. Machines speak to her," Twi recalled. She’d liked that description of the mechanic’s talents.

"They sure do. So what's a fancy Perseponian doing going all the way to Borears?" Soarin asked.

Twi smiled. "Well, uh… I just finished up my doctorate. I've been in school all my life. I was unsure what else to do at the moment, so I decided to travel a bit. A lot of my friends in school traveled around a lot, but I was always too busy studying over our vacations. So, here I am now!"

"Huh." Soarin frowned. They'd never had a pure traveler on board before. It was almost a foreign concept, traveling for the fun of it. Of course, he supposed that was a bit like what he did, but at least he had a job. He wondered how many bits this one had to her name, to be able to shoot around the ‘verse like so.

Derpy seemed surprised too. "Why didn't you take one of them fancy cruise ships, then?" The confusion over ship choice was one of the only things that could have pulled her away from watching the Doctor pull the bullet out of Fluttershy, despite Rainbow's warning.

Twi shrugged. "They're just not really that exciting. We're going to Whitefoal! How, uh... shiny is that?"

Shiny? She acted like it was the first time she’d ever used the word before. Maybe it was. Rainbow Dash stared at her for a moment, wings keeping her suspended in mid-air. "Not really that shiny. At all." How could she be saying things like that, when Fluttershy's life was at stake? Those Perseponians and their fancy doctors. They didn't know anything. It was easy to take life for granted when it was guaranteed to you. Out here in the sky, nothing was.

"Oh. Really?" Twi looked disappointed. “Wrong word, or...”

Soarin laughed. "Maybe it’s shiny for somepony who's never seen the Outer Rim before. Sure, it can be exciting. Until you get sold as some backwards tribe's bride-slave."

A look of horror crossed Twi's face. "W-what?"

Dash snorted, not amused. "Yeah. Or you get shot by feds," she snapped. Leave it to Soarin to joke around at a time like this. She knew him well enough to realize how upset he was. But he’d never show it—not in front of anypony besides Rainbow Dash, Applejack or Fluttershy, anyway. She should stay with him, support him. But she knew she couldn’t support this inane conversation any longer. Rainbow didn’t really understand how someone who cared so much for Fluttershy could act like he cared so little. "Derpy, come on. We gotta make sure we got away from that cruiser." She knew they had—wouldn't have left her post unless she was sure—but she couldn't stick around here anymore. Worrying over Fluttershy, or worse, making stupid small talk and jokes with some privileged Celestia's pet, didn't do anything but make her feel worse. Fluttershy getting shot was her fault, and the guilt was killing her. She needed a job to do. And Rainbow was fairly sure that Derpy could benefit from leaving the infirmary window as well.

"Okay," her mechanic replied reluctantly, before flying off after the pilot.

It was slow going in the infirmary, but they were able to pull out the bullet. The yellow pegasus lay on the operating table, magicked to sleep by one of Rarity's spells.

Finally, the Doctor stepped back. "That's all I can do until she stabilizes."

Rarity heaved a sigh, fighting the nausea that had nearly overtaken her during the bullet extraction. Sweat had beaded on her forehead as she worked her healing spells on Fluttershy. They weren't much, but it was the best she could do. And anyway, the Doctor had proved to be more than capable of dealing with the gunshot wound. His expertise manner surprised them all. There was a stereotype against earth ponies as doctors, favoring unicorns instead, as they could work healing spells and levitate tools. But the Doctor had the steadiest mouth any of them had ever seen.

"Will she stabilize?" Applejack pressed.

"We'll see."

"If she dies I'm turnin’ this ship around and taking you straight to the center of the ‘verse."

The Doctor studied her face carefully. “I wasn’t aware a ship of thieves would feel comfortable sailing into the ‘center of the ‘verse,’ as it were.”

“Are you kiddin’? Just call us the gorram Celestinium Express.”

"Now, now. Applejack. Be civil, please," Rarity scolded her. "He helped Fluttershy immensely."

AJ turned to Rarity, raising an eyebrow. "Don't take kindly to orders on my own ship, Rare. You know that."

"Only if they're from me," Rarity retorted with a roll of her eyes, turning back towards Fluttershy. "All right. Now, one of you better tell me what exactly is going on," Rarity continued, ignoring Applejack's warning. "I don’t require much information before I help save a friend’s life, but afterwards I need a bit more.”

"I'd like to know just that as well," AJ agreed, looking towards the Doctor. He’d turned away from them and was washing his hooves in the sink. "As far as I know, the Doctor here is on the run from the law. And the law—Octavia—so conveniently got a ride on Sereinity," AJ clarified. "Now, what we don't know is why exactly the Doctor is a criminal. Looks pretty clean, don't he?"

"Exceptionally," Rarity said. "Ordinarily I don't think it's right to get into other ponies' business."

Applejack shot her a look.

"Well, some of the time." Rarity shrugged. "But one of my dearest friends is lying here unconscious with a bullet wound to the stomach. I want to know what exactly is going on. Now." She looked towards the Doctor, imperious look in her blue eyes.

"Well, you see…" the Doctor began, then trailed off.

"Aw, forget him. Once he gets talkin’ again he’ll just twist it all up with his big fancy doctor words into nothin’. Nah, let's go have a looksie in that little blue box of his," Big Mac said. He'd stepped into the door of the infirmary. The usually mild-mannered stallion had fiery eyes as he stared down the Doctor.

"What? No! Leave that alone!" the Doctor protested.

"Well, you've got my attention," Soarin added. "See you there." He took off flying as fast as he could.

"Stop!" the Doctor shouted, running after him.

"I'll stay here," Big Mac told AJ as she and Rarity hurried past him. "Let you know if anything."

"Okay," Applejack replied, then took off at a gallop after the others. Twi was the last to follow, setting down her book and trailing after them at a much slower trot.

Soarin reached the box first, the pegasus winning the race with the earth pony. Even with the pain in his wing, he could usually move quicker than those stuck on the ground in the ship. Must have been all the stairs. "Let's see what the feds think is good enough to get Fluttershy killed," he growled, yanking off the lid of the blue box with his teeth. As he did, smoke rose from the opening and Soarin flew back a few feet, eyes wide. "What the hay?"

"Stop!" came the Doctor's voice as he ran across the catwalk and down the stairs, followed by Rarity and Applejack.

"What is it, Soar?" AJ called.

Soarin shook her head as he hovered over the box. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Um, it's a pony." He landed on the ground, breathing heavily from the exertion of flying so fast. The smoke was clearing from the box.

"A… a what?"

"A pony."

"Dear Celestia!" Rarity gasped as she trotted up to it. "You're right!"

Lying inside the box, curled into the fetal position, was a small grayish pink pony with a long, straight pink mane.

"I told you not to open it," the Doctor said lamely as AJ jumped around him to see the box.

"Well, this just got... stranger," Soarin muttered as he stared down at the pink pony.

"Eeyup," Applejack said, for lack of a better response.