//------------------------------// // Old Friends and Fighters // Story: Happy Adventuring, Twilight! // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// Twilight eventually discovered that her injury, unlike most of Pennington's wounds, healed quickly. Within only two days in the medical ward, she was back to using her magic as if nothing had happened at all. The two medics that she had seen upon their first meeting with Sure Shot eventually introduced themselves as the Care sisters. "Close and Constant" were both their names and their mottos. Close Care, the elder sister with the purple mane and white body, excelled in both creating and administering medicine of all kinds, including the magical booster that she had been given to carry Pennington onto the ship. Watching her mix different chemicals and powers, many of which Twilight recognized as being potent poisons, as if they were the toys of a young filly filled Twilight with both awe and an increased respect for the field of medicine. She was very focused on his work, and had a solemn personality that reflected the seriousness with which she treated her practice. The younger sister, Constant Care, was equally gifted in creating and using medical equipment of all kinds, from vital-monitoring readouts to electroshock therapy. After seeing that Pennington was refusing to lay down and rest until his leg recovered, she had created a new, less bulky splint for him. Inside were a series of springs that prevented most of the impact of taking a step from reaching his hip allowing him to work the injury without overexerting himself. The design was simple, yet elegant, something Twilight admired in her work. Along with working in the field her sister did not cover, she also compensated for her sister's monotone voice and personality with a cheerful demeanor that reminded Twilight very much of Pinkie Pie. But, it was when the two sisters worked together that something truly amazing came into existence. Twiligth first saw it on their third day in the sick ward. She had been dismissed from the care of the two sisters when her magic returned, but had refused to be moved to a private room. "Pennington and I were injured together, we came here together, and I'm not going to leave that moron to his own devices now!" She replied when asked what room she would like in the living quarters. "I'll stay here." It was the middle of the night when Twilight awoke to the scuffling of hooves on the floor. She tell from the moment that she opened her eyes: a skylight in the ceiling had been opened to reveal the rising moon. As she looked around the room, trying to spot the source of the noise, she created a bright light with her newly restored horn. "Hello? Who's-" Twilight was cut off as Close Care appeared out of the darkness, pressing a hoof against her pursed lips and hissing for her to be quiet. "Shhh! Don't wake him up!" Constant Care whispered, stepping into the light beside her sister. "This works best if he's asleep." She shot a glance at Pennington, who was still soundly asleep. "What are you doing?" Twilight whispered as the two mares walked to opposite sides of Pennington's bed. "Why does he have to be asleep?" "It's nearly impossible to get Pennington Inkwell to relax, and that's a critical part of this proceedure." Close Care pulled out a small pill, which she slipped into Pennington's mouth using her magic. "There, he has the tranquilizer..." She nodded to her sister, who was watching his vitals on a small monitor nearby. "His heart and breathing rates are low enough. If he was pretending to be asleep before, he sure isn't now!" Constant's voice rose from a whisper to a normal speaking tone. "What are you two doing?" Twilight's tone held and edge of accusation as she began to feel a swell of protective instinct rise up as she saw them giving Pennington some kind of treatment without his permission. If he wouldn't allow it when he was awake, why would they do it now? "We're healing him with magic." Close replied, raising an eyebrow at Twilight's tone. "The reason that we have to do it this way is because Pennington refuses to relax when he's awake, and one wrong move while working with magic can be dangerous. Especially something as delicate as magic that permeates the body at the cellular level. So, we make sure that he's sound asleep-" "And then we do our best to stitch him back together!" Constant Care finished her sister's sentence, much more cheerfully. "He'll recover much faster this way, maybe even taking that splint off in a day or two!" "Oh..." Twilight tried to think of a better reply, but found herself unable to think of anything except for the moments that she had read about physical recouperation through magic. Mostly, it was only used as a plot device in some kind of fiction novel where the leading character had been badly hurt, and rendered unrealistic results, such as growing back a limb or a horn. "But, I thought that kind of magic was just an old, outdated practice that was dismissed years ago... When several cases of malpractice emerged." "Well, we don't make mistakes." Close leaned down, putting her horn forward over Pennington's body. "Those doctors were the ones who didn't manage to get their patients to relax... Thus, the tranquilizer. Ready, Constant?" "You bet, Close!" Constant leaned down, crossing their horns at a ninety degree angle. "Don't worry, Twilight! We actually do this pretty often for ponies that get hurt worm hunting with Sure Shot. We have lots of experience." Twilight watched uneasily as their horns began to glow, but decided not to question them further, and focus instead on the proceedure. The two unicorns stayed completely still as the lavender glow from their horns grew into an orb of light. Twilight squinted her eyes, trying to look closely without being blinded. The orb continued to build in intensity, and the two seemed to be waiting for something. That something came in the form of white light that built up from the center of the energy field, until all traces of the original lavened energy was gone. The two sisters slowly bent down, each moving the tip of their horns towards Pennington's body as the white light grew brighter and brighter, forcing Twilight to raise a hoof to her eyes to blott out most of the light and focus instead on the body below. As the tips of both horns simultaneously came to rest on opposite sides of his back, waves of white light washed over Pennington. Twilight watched as the orb continued to move downwards, dissipating along his spine. The waves of light continued to flow across his body at faster and faster speeds, reverberating when they met the end of a limb and cascading along his sides and stomach, creating something akin to ripples in a pond. "There... Now, the energy will be used in repairing his body... and generating new cells." Close Care muttered, panting for breath. "He'll feel as fit as a fiddle... when he wakes up!" Constant Care was wearing a satisfied grin on her face, despite the fact that she was even more winded than her sister. "He won't be, yet... But he'll feel like it!" The two sisters began to walk away when a thought came to Twilight's mind. "Umm, wait! Would you two mind teaching me how to do that, some time?" She suddenly felt very immature, asking for favors from her bed like some kind of filly asking for a glass of water. To her surprise, both sisters (including the normally monotonous Close Care) turned back around with smiles on their faces. "Sure. You can help us the next time, since the best way to learn is to participate." Close Care nodded. "You can give us an energy boost. You'll see everything that we see, but you won't be able to make any kind of mistake." "That sounds like a great idea!" Constant chirped loudly, prompting Pennington to moan and turn over from his side and onto his stomach. She cringed and quickly followed her sister out of the room, waving goodbye to Twilight as she shut the door to the sick ward. Twilight smiled as she turned to face Pennington and laid down in the bed. He was the only pony that she knew who slept on his stomach, an action that he attributed to preventing his paralysis. Either way, it was another one of his many quirks, which Twilight was beginning to learn better and better for herself with very passing day. When Twilight woke up in the morning, the first thing that she noticed was that Pennington was still soundly asleep. It must be that tranquilizer, it's helping him sleep... As she watched him, she couldn't hold back a bemused smile. It was one of the few times that he would sit still. Twilight quietly rolled out of bed, making sure not to wake him, and quietly walked out of the sick bay. "Well, you seem to be feelin' better! Goin' around without Pennyton!" Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin when the green pegasus was standing just around the corner. "Oh, Sure Shot!" Twilight's hoof flew to her chest as she tried to catch her breath from the sudden scare. "What- What are you doing here?" "Close and Constant told me he might try somethin' stupid today: goin' without that splint. I'm sp'osed to make sure he doesn't. Ol' Pennyton doesn't know what's good for him..." Sure Shot shrugged. "Why do you call him that?" Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "Penny-ton? He doesn't like anypony calling him 'Penny.'" "Well, he thinks it's 'cause of my accent... But really, it's just a loophole. It's so I can call 'im that without gettin' in trouble." Sure Shot gave a mischevious smile. "We've been buds since we were foals, me and him. We were in Miss Cheerilee's very first class together, when she first started teaching! I even gave him his pen name!" Sure Shot laughed quietly. "Oh, those were some good times... Anyway, I just call him that to annoy him, like old friends do." Twilight nodded, remembering the times that her friends, most of all Applejack and Rarity, poked good-natured fun at one aother. "I can understand that... But, if you're from Ponyville, what are you doing way out here? The Plains of Lore certainly aren't any place a pony would go to for fun..." "But it IS a place where there are good bits to be made! Do you know how much a bottle of sand worm oil sells for in the outlying countries? We didn't just rescue you, we made our biggest haul of the month!" Sure Shot gave her a wink. "Besides, if you hang around Penny long enough, you start to want an adventure of your own, you know?" "I... Might." While Twilight understood what he was trying to say, she also found herself on the brink of... empathy. I only came out here to make sure he doesn't die. Because he refused to come home... Not because I wanted to! "Don't call me 'Penny!'" A sleepy voice called out from behind the door to the sick bay. "That applies to you, too, Twilight!" "Uh-oh!" Sure Shot chuckled. "Looks like he's up again! Go on and do whatever you like, Ma'am. I'll take care of my buddy!" He gave her a wink and walked into the sick bay, leaving Twilight on her own. For about a minute, Twilight argued with herself about whether or not to go back, taking a moment to listen to the conversation inside. "What do you think you're doing?" Sure Shot asked the question like a parent catching a child red-hoofed in the cookie jar. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking this splint off!" Pennington replied. "Now, hold your horses, Pennyton! The Care twins told me themselves that the brace does NOT come off 'til they do it themselves." "Oh, come on! Nopony knows my body like me! I know when I've healed!" "Regardless, that's their orders!" Twilight could still hear the light rattling of Pennington trying to remove the brace again. "Penn, you better stop it!" "Penny! Don't make me come in there!" Twilight called, sticking her head through the doorway. She could see Pennington's hooves on the buckles of the straps holding his splint in place, but he seemed to have stopped the moment that she had spoken. "If the nurses say that you shouldn't take it off, yet, then don't take it off, alright?" As Pennington looked back at the straps, then at Twilight with a pleading look, she added, "If anything, humor me?" Pennington stared at Twilight for a moment, then laid back in the bed with a begrudged grunt. "Fine... But you're still underestimating me, Twilight!" Between his crossed arms and his stubborn pout, Pennington was beginning to once again remind Twilight of a young foal, moreso the age that she could be babysitting, rather than following into complete and utter danger. "Thank you, Pennington. I'm sure that Close and Constant will appreciate this, as well." Twilight smiled and walked away again, hearing just a few more lines of conversation. "Uh, did she just call you-" "No. Let it go, Sure Shot." "But why didn't you-" "Let it go." "Alright, Penny..." "Don't call me that!" "So, you're the one who came in here with Pennington? Did you see him fight?" A yellow earth pony asked Twilight enthusiastically in the cafeteria. She had sat down to eat her breakfast, oatmeal with diced apples, by herself, when the pony had walked over to eat with her. "Well, yes... Who are you?" "Oh, I'm sorry! Ha ha, I'm afraid that I tend to go the the point a bit too quickly. The name's Quick Strike." She held out a friendly hoof. "I'm the combat instructor here at the NLR's far eastern base." Twilight took the hoof with a smile, noting the strength of her grip. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you. Yes, I did come here with Pennington, after Sure Shot rescued us from that dune worm!" "You two were fighting a dune worm? I've always wanted to tangle with one!" The pony pounded her hooves together with a grin. "But, they aren't exactly interested in earth ponies." "You... want to fight a dune worm?" "Well, maybe not on my own... but add in a few of my best students, like Pennington, and we could take it on!" The yellow pony brushed her light brown mane out of her face. "I wouldn't need a harpoon or a crossbow! Just my own two hooves! So..." She leaned in a bit closer to Twilight, her eyes glistening with excitement. "How did Pennington do in the fight?" Twilight thought for a moment. "Well, he really didn't have much time to fight. He took a pretty hard hit while trying to distract it... when I distracted him." To her surprise, the pony recoiled in confusion. "Distracted? Pennington?" She picked up the toast from her tray and took a large bite. "He was always very focused when I knew him... He must be slipping since he graduated." "So, you taught Pennington how to fight?" Twilight asked, remembering the times that she had seen Pennington standing tall and battle-ready, confident in his own abilities. "I didn't teach him 'how to fight,' I taught him combat." Quick Strike leaned back in her chair with a smile. "Armed, unarmed, hoof-to-hoof, even fighting opponents of different species or much larger size!" "You taught him well!" Twilight smiled and took another bite of her sweet oatmeal. "He single-hoofedly faught back four gang members trying to rob us with hardly a scratch!" She decided to leave out his later exhaustion, since it hadn't been a result of his fighting abilities as much as his magical talents. "He disarmed them and incapacitated them in less than two minutes!" Quick Strike looked disappointed, a frown crossing her face. "There was a time when he could have disposed of four armed ponies in half that time... Either he's getting weak, or he was taking it easy on them." She folded her arms across her chest. Twilight was worried that she was making him look bad in the eyes of his teacher. "He holds himself with the attitude of somepony who's ready for anything! He's a better fighter than I've seen in a long time, even the guards that my brother trains for the Princesses!" Quick Strike didn't seem impressed, but her disappointed frown left her face. "Well, that makes sense. He was going to be one of the Royal Night Guards." She took another casual bite from her toast. "He had already applied, passed the tests... If I remember correctly, he even got his acceptance letter!" Twilight's jaw dropped. "He- he was going to be a royal guard? Why?" "Who sees more action in the kingdom? Not to mention, it would put him close to Princess Luna. What's not to like?" "But... why isn't he a guard, then?" Twilight was once again shocked into disbelief as she learned something new about Pennington. "I dunno, he never told me." Quick Strike shrugged, finishing the rest of her toast. "I knew that he was ready to be a guard, I ran him through my toughest paces before he left, and he passed them all. He was even accepted in spite of his... illness." "You mean- his sleep paralysis?" Twilight's voice dropped to a whisper, she was unsure of whether or not it was supposed to be a secret. "Yes, that. We thought that it might keep him from being accepted, but they were willing to induct him, anyway!" She shook her head in frustration. "He was a promising warrior, to say the least... but he just gave it all up. I haven't seen head nor tail of him, since." "Well, that certainly explains the idea of why he fights so well... But I can't understand why he would give that up!" "Well, I'll have to spar with him before he leaves. Make sure that he hasn't lost his touch..." She grinned. "Injuries are no excuse for weakness!" Twilight was beginning to believe she had found the source of Pennington's hard-headedness. "Once he's out of the sick bay, right? Right?"