//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: An Unexpected Journey // by DRWolf //------------------------------// Doc didn’t know how long he was out, but he knew they had to have been teleported away from the Timber Wolves. The sounds of growling had now been replaced with a new sound of blowing cold winds. Slowly he sat up, rubbing his eyes and quickly trying to gather his bearings. A familiar pounding headache throbbed in the front of his temple from the sudden flash of light. He snarled at it, wishing one day that would stop happening every time he was startled by lights or even reading for long periods of time. Pushing back the ache in his head, he regained his feet underneath him and quickly realized they were not even surrounded by woods or trees anymore. Instead, he was met with the sight of a dark and brown land, with large alien-like vines protruding from the ground with sharp threatening spines on them. It was clearly a dark and gruesome terrain that was not welcoming of any creature. To say they were better off was a stretch just by looking at it, but at least they were no longer a certain meal for a pack of wooden creatures.  The bipedal wolf shivered as another burst of cold wind slammed into him, seeming to penetrate right through his vest, his shirt, even his fur. He quietly gave thanks to himself how blessed he was to be an Arctic wolf at the moment due to having better defense against the cold, but needless to say he knew Lightning well enough that her tolerance was less than average. Suddenly it dawned on him.  'Where is Lightning Bliss?' He frantically whirled around in search but quickly discovered she was a foot behind him, laying on her side seeming unconscious. He dashed to her side fearing she was in worse shape and was met with a nasty sight of her injured wing. It was completely shredded, with primary feathers missing. It looked mangled and crooked in places, broken? And there were clearly teeth marks showing through the skin. “Lightning? Lightning?” He patted her face trying to wake her, “Lightning?! Lightning! Wake up…Please wake up so I know you’re okay…” To his relief, her eyes began to flutter then slowly open up. “Did...did I fall asleep at my desk again..?” She lifted her head up to him. Then in an instant, everything came back to her memory, “TIMBER WOLVES! Doc, are we okay? Did they? OUCH!” She immediately felt the pain in her shoulder that stretched down to her featherless limb, and remembered the attack, the wolf biting down on her wing in her attempts to protect Doc.  “Easy!” He attempted to say calmly only for it to come out more firm. He came closer to inspect her injury only to his annoyance she pulled away from him. “Don’t touch it don’t touch it!” She pleaded with him much like a young filly would. “That’s enough Lightning!” Doc intentionally spoke firmly that time, making her freeze in place, while he took his vest off. “That was so foolish of you! What were you thinking making me ride on your back like that!?” “Gah” she winced as he tied his one of his two pieces of clothing around her side and wing, in an attempt to make a primitive sling and bandage at the same time.  “Well...what was I supposed to do? Let the Timber Wolf eat you?” She mustered the will to speak as he worked quickly. “I suggested we quickened our pace Lightnnning,” he intentionally dragged out her first name to make his point, “but instead you decided to go ahead and try to make me a rider in less than a few seconds…” “It was going to be faster!” “It. Was. Reckless...” “It would have worked, you grumpy old-” she snorted and pulled away just as he finished, turning her back to him.  Doc curled his fists, for the first time in a while, he was angry. Not that he wanted to say he was, but he knew she was too, but in the end, now was not the time for heated tempers. Realizing it wasn’t so much he was angry at her, but rather it was fear of the circumstances they were in. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, a familiar tactic he used when trying to relax or calm his nerves, and stepped away to give her some space as well as himself. “I was...just trying to help…” he heard her say after their moment of silence.  He sighed. “I know you were, Blissy,” he looked back to her while she still faced away from him, “I just don’t like seeing my friends get hurt. I feel like this could have all been avoided somehow if I had been able to assist…” She turned around to look back at him, recognizing his familiar worrying tone again.  “I...I made a mistake Doc, it was never your fault. I should be apologizing. It was my fault-” “No Lightning...It was neither of ours.” He took another breath and placed a paw on her shoulder, “I am sorry for snapping at you. I just have never been in these sorts of situations before. But right now I’m concerned about you. That wing looks really bad and could get infected... We need to find help soon. Do you know where you teleported us?” Bliss blinked and realized she hadn’t quite taken in their new surroundings. She too began to look around at the barren new land. It’s dark and eerie brown in color like nothing could ever live there. She couldn’t even see a break in the murky clouds above them, or was it because it was already getting dark here too? The wind was cold and constantly howling, and the ground seemed to feel more like grounded dry dirt, almost sand-like in texture. But worst of all, she could see no signs of civilization anywhere. “I've...never seen a land like this before.” She finally spoke, “Nor have I heard anything about it specifically. Gosh...where did my magic take us?” “Dear me…” Doc stood next to her, looking equally concerned, “and with your wing injured, we cannot fly. Is it possible you could teleport us again?” “I could try, but I wouldn’t know where we’d end up. I could make us more lost…” She lowered her cyan eyes down to her feet, “I need to know where I am so I have a direction of where to go to…” “Hmm...Then perhaps we should start walking, see if we can find someone to help us. Are you well enough to walk?” He watched and grew more concerned as his friend slowly and wobbly stood up on her hooves. In time he knew her magic would return, but with all the effort she exerted into fighting the Timber Wolves, it had made her very weak...he didn’t know when she would recover. “As long as I don’t move my wing too much,” she clenched as her wing shifted in the makeshift brace made of his vest, “I think I’ll be okay.” “Blissy please…” Doc pleaded with her, “please let me know if we need to stop…If for any reason, please don’t hesitate to ask me to stop. In all seriousness...I know you don’t handle the cold very well...and I’m an arctic wolf by birth. If for any reason you need assistance-”  “Doc I’ll be fine-” she bluntly cut him off, “let’s...just get going” She gritted her teeth and started walking in the direction they were facing, grunting with every step she took. With concern in his face, Doc sighed and followed closely after, shielding his eyes from the blowing sand and dunes. As the hours ticked by, the terrain started getting harder and tedious to navigate. The light was no longer shining in this part of the world they were in, if anything it was getting darker. There were no signs of water or shelter to be found. The cold wind stung at their faces, though more painfully to Bliss then to her more qualified counterpart. Whereas she knew Doc was born in much colder climates and had the capacity to survive in harsh conditions, she was more used to warmer climates, like back home in Appleloosa or Ponyville.  Trying to keep going, she pictured being in warmer climates, like her home rainbow meadow, or a cafe that served hot chocolate in Ponyville, but the wind continued it’s attack, piercing into her skin and bones. Not helping matters was that with every shift in her weight the sling holding her wing would slump, sending a wave of pain into her limb and shoulder all the way up her back, reminding her of the trouble they were truly in. Each step was agony, with every use of her muscles forcing her broken wing to shift, making each little dune they walked over feel like climbing mountains. Still, she was determined to keep pace, but even though Doc was easily able to walk past and was leading the way, she slowly and surely began dragging further behind.  “We-e ne-e-ed to find shelter...and soon…” Doc called out to her over the wind. “I’m...right...there...with-” another wave of pain enveloped Bliss’s body, like a tremor, forcing her to a stop. Her wing was throbbing, her joints ached, her muscles trembled. In one last-ditch effort, she looked up, seeing a blurry white blob shape she assumed was Doc coming towards her. “Lightning…” he walked back to her, “are you still with me?” “It’s just...cold…” was the last thing she muttered before the world went black. “LIGHTNING?!” Doc doubled back running to the pony’s side. He noticed she was shivering, completely unconscious and whimpering in pain. He placed a paw on her forehead, and despite her shivering, she was actually burning up. “A fever? Goodness no, she’s worse than I thought. Stubborn mare! I told her to let me know if she needed to stop! She knows she doesn’t do well in the cold! ...By the Princesses…What do I do now…?” He looked up across the landscape. There was nothing for miles, no evidence of civilization or any life for that matter, nothing but blowing dirt, sand, and those eerie alien vines. The temperature was dropping more by the second, and his little pony sister was freezing to death. What could one bipedal wolf do? Trying not to panic, Doc sat next to her, trying to keep her warm as he tried to think of the next step. He reached back to his earlier days when he first traveled to Equestria with his dragon brother Teric. He recalled getting sick, much like what happened to Bliss on their travels, and how Teric was able to take care of him. He'd been able to carry him to a small oasis he knew in the landscape that had supplies, food, and water. But Doc knew he had neither of those things. Bliss had lost her saddlebags in the escape from the Timber Wolves he recalled, not that they had much to offer anyway, other than Zebra Oils.  The logical thing to do would be to start a fire, but nothing in sight looked fit for the job. Despite the howling winds surrounding them, his ears twitched in worry hearing the sounds of Bliss whimpering from the cold and illness she was battling. He placed a paw on his brow, anxiety beginning to build. “Oh, Teric...Teric where are you....” he silently pleaded out, “Brother I need you, you would know how to manage this terrain better than me…” “Did you say Tirek?” Doc jumped up at the sound of a new voice he had never heard before. The voice was deep and gruff like the being was in a constant state of anger. He turned slowly as his eyes were met with a being four times his size, if not taller than Princess Celestia. The being had a long snout, bat-like wings, stood on two legs much like a Minotaur and was very furry from the top of his head down to his legs. He sported a thick mane like a lion’s with only one bit of clothing, a rag cloth with a belt, that gave him plenty of freedom for his long prehensile tail. “I...N-no? Who? Who are you?” The unknown being gruffed again seeming rather annoyed but firmly replied back. “Been a long time since I’ve seen a pony here,” he bluntly pointed to Bliss, “but I don’t think I’ve seen one of you before.” Doc looked taken aback nervously staring at the accusing finger the creature had pointed at him.  “The name is Scorpan,” the new being declared dropping his finger, “I’m not here to cause you trouble. No time for pleasantries, we’re getting out of here, right now.” He took a blunt step forward toward Bliss, prompting Doc to stand with his arms out open in defense. “Please wait, slow down! Did...did you say your name is Scorpan?” Doc spoke back worriedly, “That...that name. I remember it from somewhere...Of course! Scorpan!” “Yes...that is me? Have we met before?” “Forgive me no but…” Doc took a moment to remember, slowly lowering his defense. He had recalled the name Scorpan in his file before he went to have that special visit for Tirek upon Princess Celestia’s request. This was his younger brother? Scorpan? The one brother who refused to take part in invading Equestria, and even warned Celestia and Luna of Tirek’s plans for domination?  “I-I know of your brother, Tirek,” Doc finished. The tall brown creature let out another grunt before taking another step forward. “I take it my brother is in a safe place at least?” “I’m…” Doc hesitated again but replied, “I’m afraid he’s been long since imprisoned in Tartarus for crimes against Equestria. But no harm has come to him if that’s what you mean. I’m sorry if I’m the bearer of bad news but-” “We’ll talk about this later,” Scorpan cut him off, “but I think your companion needs help. Now. Come on. Night is here and it will get colder.” Despite Doc’s hesitation, Scorpan pushed him aside and lifted Bliss off the cold ground, turned and began walking supposedly where he came from. “Um, of course, yes please,” he slowly agreed and followed, “Her wing was torn by a Timber Wolf. We’ve been traveling for hours to find shelter but we’re not even sure where we are.” “Timber Wolves huh,” grunted Scorpan, “You two are a long way from Equestria...You’ll have to explain to me how you got here when we get to my home. Oh, by the way, I didn’t catch your name little one.” “Erm… Most ponies call me Dr. Wolf. Or Doc if you prefer. My friend there is Lightning Bliss.” “Hmm…” the tall being took a moment to look down at the little white mare he was carrying, and managed to muster a small smile, “Heh, she’s kinda cute.” “Erm…” Doc rubbed his head awkwardly, for once grateful that Lightning couldn’t hear her trigger word compliment. “I suppose so eheh...Is your home far?” “Not far. Keep up, wolf creature, or get left behind.” “Indeed!”