//------------------------------//
// Broken Equality 
// Story: Humans Assemble! 
// by Mistershield 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 37- Broken Equality   


“Nate! Nate!” Phoenix screamed out, moving his left hand out to the treasure hunter. Otacon and Dan moved out to look down at the fallen one. They were the ones sitting closest to him afterall. Dan moved to get to his knees by Nate’s face, frowning. Dazed for a second, Otacon shook his head to the sides and snap out of it. He moved down to his knees also, moving to inspect Nate. 

“He’s still alive!” Dan said, moving his fingers back from Nathan’s nose. “He’s still breathing!”

“Who did this?!” Dan said, lifting his head up to look around. Otacon and Snake were the most likely the culprits, being the ones sitting next to Nate. 

“Shut up,” Snake said, frowning. 

“Don’t tell me to shut up you-” Dan fell silent up though, seeing Snake lifting his left hand up. “Did you just tell me to talk to the hand?!” The Element of Anger said, mouth open in shock. Really, the 90’s? A lot of the other humans moved to stand up, looking over the Element of Equality on the floor.

“Dan, let Snake work,” Phoenix pleaded. “Nate’s life is on the line!”

“Fine,” Dan said, looking down at Nate. He was one of the few guys he didn’t only respect, but  also liked.

“Give him space, but don’t move him,” the stealth agent commanded. “Otacon-”

“Yeah, I see it,” Otacon said. There was a small dart sticking out of Nate’s back. Otacon moved to pluck out the dart and hand it to Snake. In turn, Snake moved to take out his M-9. He unloaded a single dart to compare it to the other one. The tranquilizer darts had different colors- The tranqs was red, and this one was black. But the needles they each used were the same length. Two and a half inches. Snake then moved to sniff the foreign dart. 

“I think it’s poison, but I can’t tell for sure. The symptoms are not from anything mild I ever heard of. Only toxins can do this.” Snake said. 

“Can we suck it out?” Soma asked. He had been sitting across from Nate, so he was one of the few looking down at Nate closely.

“Give him space! And I don’t think so. This dart was in his spine...” Otacon said.

“Allow me,” Blue Spy said. The other humans moved back when the human pulled out a switchblade with a daft right hand. He got down on his knee across from Otacon, moving to cut the shirt off Nate’s back. “We should still try,” Spy said. With the shirt off, Otacon pointed to the spot where the dart had been. It was impossible to tell where the dart had struck otherwise. Nate’s back looked like it also lost a healthy color.

“Spike! Tell the mares Nate’s been poisoned,” Phoenix said, turning to look at Big Macintosh and Spike. “We may need to take him to the hospital.”

“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh managed to say, as Spike was in shock at what just happened. The baby dragon couldn’t think right. Ralf rushed to the door, pushing past Sokka and Phoenix to lift his right arm and punch through the barn doors. Subtly be damned at this point. The large red doors opened to the sides with no problems at the soldier’s larger than life fists. Big Macintosh raised his forehooves up to bicycle kick the air before taking off. The toddler dragon finally responded, holding on to Big Mac’s mane for dear life.

“Does anyone have any antidote or healing items?” Dovahkiin asked. He looked around, and the others quickly begun to look through their things. Soma picked up his head, remembering he did carry such things.

“Forgive me comrade,” Spy said, frowning a bit. He used Otacon’s finger to guide him, and then stabbed the spot the dart had been. He was careful, making sure not to make the wound deep. Instantly, red blood begun to escape from the wound. 

“Ow...” Nate finally responded, feeling pain in his back. 

“Nate?” Dan asked, picking up his eyebrows. He was still conscious?

“Keep him talking! Keep him awake!” Snake said, moving to place the poison dart into his M-9 for safe keeping. 

“Samus, you said you were resistant to diseases, can you suck his blood?” Otacon asked, lifting his head to look at the woman. She nodded, moving over. The engineer got out of the way, letting the bounty hunter take his place. Spy in the meantime, moved the knife sideways. This kept the wound from closing up, and also made the wound bleed in the meantime. He had to be very careful, avoiding the spine. 

“Nate, help us out. You are the only one with CPR training. Tell us how to help you!” Dan commanded, moving towards Nate’s face.

“That... really hurts guys,” Nate said, frowning at the knife. “You... gotta suck the blood out. Don't swallow it. Duh,” the poisoned human said, trying to smile. Who knew training for jellyfish or manta ray stings would actually pay off? “It’s hard to think... So fuzzy. Keep my legs elevated.” Nate stopped talking a second, taking deep breaths. “Stops blood flow.”

Once Samus got on her knees, Spy moved his knife out of the way and to Nate’s legs. It was awkward though, with Nate being on his belly. She ducked down and begun to suck the blood out to spit it away. The other humans frowned, unable to do anything. Jack and Sokka took steps back, one unable to do anything. The older human looking around for the sign of any hidden assailants. Was it a ninja? Jack hates ninjas.

“I didn’t see anyone escape,” Ash said, finally looking around. He had been at the last end of one of the lines. “And I don’t remember hearing any door open.”

“Or windows,” Samurai Jack said, turning to look over at Ash.

“It means whoever did this is still here,” Sokka added, frowning. Ralf turned around, both of his hands still in fists. The soldier’s teeth were clamped shut, grinding them together as his arms shook. 

“Whoever did this...” Ralf started to say. 

“Please, this is not the time guys!” Phoenix said, trying to calm the others down. Samus by this point had sucked out three mouthfuls of blood. Travis turned his head to look, seeing dark red stains of spat out blood against the floor. This was the way of the assassin, but not his way. This was a coward’s act.

“I’ve got an antidote!” Soma finally procured a serum from his inventory. He smiled, thankful that for once he did keep one of them on him. 

“Oh thank god,” Phoenix said, letting out a breath of relief. 

“Give it here!” Spy said, holding out his hand. Soma quickly handed it over, and then took a step back. 

“Nate, how do we apply this?” Dan asked. He had to get low, bringing his face closer to Nate’s. Dan did not like the look of Nate’s pale skin or his eyes.

“You.. gotta get me... to kneel... or sit up,” Nate said, his voice very weak. 

“You heard him!” Dan said, lifting his head to look around. Samus and Snake slowly moved to his sides, getting him to kneel. Sitting him down did not look like the best thing to do. Spy moved up to stand, needing to get into a higher position to give Nate the antidote. The masked man moved his left hand to hold Nate’s face up, while the other hand moved to pour the antidote into the lips of Nate. 

“Expelliarmus!” A voice yelled out. A blue flash emerged from a spot close to the end of the barn. A wand poked out for a second before it vanished into view. The flash struck Spy’s arm, sending the antidote to fly out of his hand and crash on the floor. 

“No!” Spy yelled out, his hand that once held the antidote spilled out. Everyone watched as the contents of the antidote spilled across the floor when the glass cracked. 

“What the hell was that?” Ash screamed out, pointing at the spot the flash came from. 

“LAAS YAH NIR!” Dovahkiin shouted out again. Damnit, why he had not seen that! He should have been able to count that there were too many people in the room! “There! Something’s invisible!” The dragonborn pointed. 

With little choice knowing he was found out, Snape bid a hasty retreat. The wizard moved the invisible cloak around his form in a rapid swing and into a black swirling cloth. The cloth turned into a dark shadow and vanished out through the opened window.

“Darn it!” Sokka said. The boomerang he had thrown suddenly hit empty walls. Jack also frowned, there was too many people in the way for him to run at the vanishing demon. 

“That was my last antidote!” Soma said, walking over to look down at the broken vial.

“Where’s Nate!?” Rainbow Dash asked. She was at the door the fastest, having flown over here. The cyan pegasus looked around, seeing the humans worried. “What happened?!”

“Someone poisoned Nate with a dart from the back...” Phoenix said, walking over to his partner. “You have got to lead Soma to the hospital.”

“Wait, the teen should do it?” Sephiroth asked, picking up his head to look over at the entrance.

“What, me?” Soma asked, turning to look at Sephiroth. 

“Yes, you can carry a pony with no problems and still move at the fastest out of us all. You gotta take Nate,” Phoenix said with a nod. Soma quickly nodded, understanding now. 

“On it,” The Element of Acceptance said. He got down to switch out his combat boots for the sonic boots. With that done, he also placed the panther soul back on.

“You got it!” Rainbow Dash said. She just hoped the people at the hospital were still too mad at her.

“Come, we must get him ready to move then, we’ve done all we can,” Samus said. Spy and Snake nodded at her. 

“You ever have..... one of those days?” Nate joked, feeling himself being brought to his feet. 

“Living through one of them now,” Otacon said, trying to smile at the situation. Dovahkiin moved over, using his restoration spell to at least heal Nate’s back wound. He should have learned more restoration magic damnit! 

“Where’s Nathan!” Rarity asked, rushing over next to the barn. “Nathan?!” Rarity almost screamed out, turning to look at Samus and Snake held him standing somewhat. Each one had Nate’s arms over the shoulders. 

“What have they done to you!” Rarity said, her chest heaving up and down. Water was starting to form in her big eyes. “Please tell me you healed him!” The white unicorn said, looking around at the others. Ash and Phoenix shut both their eyes, looking away from her. 

“Rares, not the time!” Rainbow Dash said, moving her friend from the exit. 

“I’m ready!” Soma said, moving to stand up and kick his boots into his toes. He held out his arms, letting Nate rest belly down over his arms.

“This is so embarrassing,” Nate managed to grin, looking at Rarity. Least he thought it was Rarity, he was able hear her- But she looked like a white blobish marshmallow.

“Be careful with him!” Dan said. “We need um... for something,” Dan said, trying to think how useful Nate was. Soma nodded, turning to look at the entrance. Rainbow Dash nodded, kicking her wings up to float and fly away. 

“Panther Soul,” Soma said in a low voice. With a blur, the teen took off after his guide. Rarity quickly took off after the two.

“Was that black swirl a changeling?” Sephiroth asked, turning to look at the others now that Nate was taken away. He turned his head, seeing the other mares arriving quickly.

“Otacon!” Twilight said, moving in through the crowd. The other mares had also moved in to check up on their partners. “What happened?”

“It looks like Nate was poisoned,” Otacon said, frowning to sit down back on his haystack. 

“Was anyone else hurt?” The purple unicorn asked. She lowered her head, quickly moving the left side of her face to nuzzle against his injured leg. 

“Ah, no,” Otacon said, a bit touched by Twilight’s concern. He picked up his head, turning to look at the others. It seems that the humans were having a tough time with their partners. Zecora simply moved to nuzzle against Spy’s legs. Spy blushed, not sure what to do. Even with all of his womanizing, no lady ever rubbed against his legs like a cat. Phoenix blinked, as a few of the mares were still coming in to flood the barn. He was joined quickly by Fluttershy, who was frantically looking for Soma.

“Soma’s fine. He‘s carrying Nate to the hospital,” Phoenix said, unable to help smiling. Fluttershy looked like a nervous wreck. When she heard the news, she closed both eyes to fall to the floor in relief.

“Thanks goodness... I don’t mean that! I mean, its horrible Mr. Drake got poisoned! Oh I am a horrible pony!” Phoenix simply shook his head to the sides. 

“One thing at a time. You should go check on Soma. Do you mind taking me? Rainbow took off without me, so I could use a guide,” Phoenix said to start walking.

“Oh of course! Lets go,” Fluttershy said to stand up and lead the way.

“Do not expect a hug, I am only showing concern that my savior is alright,” Trixie said with a blush and closed eyes. Snake rolled his eyes. Sephiroth bowed at his waist as Lyra joined him. Lyra sighed in relief, though she should've known better. Sephy was tough. 

“Dan!” 

“Not again!” Dan screamed out. He braced for impact as Pinkie Pie had charged into his form and got knocked off the box he has used. Yep, another tackle glomp.

“Oh Dan, I was so scared you were gone again. I am so happy you're ok!” Pinkie Pie said, kissing him on the cheek. She had used her whole body to hug him to her.

“I am not going to be if you keep this up!” Dan said, more angry that someone dared hurt someone he considered a friend.

“I’m so happy you’re okay!” Derpy said, moving to fly up to Sokka and give him a quick hug. She grinned. “I have so much I still have to teach you about muffins! Sokka immediately frowned, but moved to return the hug. He needed a friend now. 

“Sir Travis,” Luna said, flaring out her wings. This made a lot of the humans and mares spread away and give them room. 

“I’m fine!” Travis said, not wanting to get a tackle thing from the giant pony. He looked at Dan, and that looked uncomfortable. She merely moved her head in, nuzzling against his face. He sighed, moving a single hand up to pet her night sky mane. The moon princess shut both eyes, calming down at his fingers. Luna was ready to lose it.

Applejack and Cherilee were more reserved, merely standing close to their partners. Dovahkiin merely shook his head to the sides and sigh. While he wanted to hug the cowpony, it was not the right moment. Ralf had his arms still shaking, clearly pissed off. Cherilee said nothing, only rubbing her head against Ralf’s right hand.

“Let’s go the hospital, ok?" The fuchsia pony suggested. She turned to look, as Big Macintosh, Spike, Jack and Samus already took off.

“Look! We don’t have time for this! Take us to the hospital!” Dan commanded. Slowly, they all begun to move out, heading out to follow.
______________________________________

Ponyville General Hospital is a rather quiet place, at times. Many of the ponies kept themselves healthy, and even then there was little emergencies from accidents. Most of the time, ponies only came to the adorable little building for check ups or birthing foals. The most excitement Nurse Redheart ever had was the time so many ponies were poisoned by eating bad cupcakes.However, Nurse Redheart was going to get a rude awakening.

First, a cyan pegasus burst through the front doors, slamming them to the sides to look around. She was soon followed after by a creature dressed in white, who was carrying another creature in its arms.

“We need a doctor!” Rainbow Dash shouted, looking around. “There’s been an emergency!” Soma ran to to front desk, placing Nate down on the counter gently. 

“He’s been poisoned!” Soma said, turning to look at the nurse. Both of the teen’s eyes were narrowed, looking up from the nurse and Nate. The treasure hunter moaned a bit, feeling now nauseous besides weak. Redheart quickly nodded, pushing a button to call for some orderlies. A hospital stretcher was pushed through a set of white two way doors. The orderlies stopped though, seeing who their patient was.

“Hurry, get him on the bed, we have a poisoning case!” The nurse pony said, looking over at the orderlies- A female earth tan colored pony and an earth rusted colored pony. The female had a candy striper apron for a cutie mark, while the male’s arm was a blue cross. They quickly nodded, helping Nate to the bed.

“Hold on Nate, you’re in the hospital now, they'll help you here,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile. She was not worried anymore now that they reached the hospital. Doctor Stable walked out from the side, having heard the emergency button pulled.

“What’s the trouble?” Asked the light brown unicorn doctor. He looked rather young, resembling Caramel a lot.

“Doctor, my friend’s been poisoned,” Soma said, walking over to the doctor. 

“And you brought him here? Shouldn’t you take him to the vet?” Doctor Stable joked with a smile. Rainbow Dash facehoofed. Bad move doc. She was going to yell at the doctor about his stupidity, but Soma looked more than upset. The white haired teen felt his hair move. His dark aura begun to collect around his shoulders. The aura building resembled a small flame, dancing up and down as it slowly grew.

“My friend has been poisoned and may be dying,” Soma spoke, his voice deadly low. His coat begun to flap against frame, an unseen wind causing the duster to shake against his frame. “And you make jokes?!” Soma said, lifting his head as his eyes lost their concern. Instead, the shape of the eyes changed into small narrow slits. Soma begun to walk to the doctor, causing steps he took to crush against the floor and send debris up into the air and then vanish into his aura. 

“You are so dead doc,” Rainbow Dash said. She wanted to stop Soma, but this pony was asking for it. Dash hated hospitals anyway.

“Maybe, I should kill you doc... Maybe, take your soul and its medical knowledge to save Nate by myself!” Soma shouted, making both of his arms to shoot out to grab Dr. Stable by the front of his medical jacket and hoist him into the air. The pony found his legs failing in the air. 

“Please! Please! Stay calm sir! It was just a joke! Not all poison cases are deadly! This could just be an allergy, and his life may not be in danger at all!” The unicorn said, trying to calm down Soma. The malice the teen was giving was frightening, and that grin was nothing short of an insane patient. “For all we know the virulent agent could be just to make him weak!”

“Doc! Apologize!” Nurse Redheart said, trying to pull back Soma. She was having no luck though, tugging at his arms was impossible. the soul hunter moved to push the doctor against the wall and pin him there.

“Calm down Soma! We need him to look at Nate!” Rainbow Dash now said, flying over to try and talk some sense into the Element of Acceptance.

“Yes, do it!” Soma said, almost screaming. His aura had built up so much now that  Rainbow Dash was unable to get close. Nurse Redheart was forced to let go of him.

“I’m sorry! Please let me go?” Doctor Stables said, trying to smile a bit. Soma’s fingers twitched, his arms shaking as he debated letting go of the doctor. 

“Come on Soma! What would Fluttershy think?” Rainbow Dash finally said, getting desperate. She hovered in the air, looking around to see if any orderlies would show up. Soma stopped for a second, turning to look at Rainbow Dash. He lost his smile, instead simply he frowned. 

“Yeah, come on. Do you want to make Fluttershy cry with your attitude?” Rainbow Dash said.

“He started it!” Soma said, moving his arms to push the doctor once more against the wall.

“Please sir! We need him to look at your friend! He already apologized!” Nurse Redheart said, clearly afraid now.

“Fine!” Soma said, releasing the doctor from his fingers. The light brown doctor fell to the ground, coughing once and slumping against the wall. The nurse quickly moved to his side, helping him up. “I suggest you work quickly doc,” the soul hunter said. His aura slowly was repressed as Soma turned to walk back to Rainbow Dash.

“You okay Soma?” Rainbow Dash asked. The pegasus moved to land on the ground, lifting her head to look at his face. While not as intense, he still looked pissed. 

“I’m... I’m okay now. I simply lost my cool there,” Soma said, really not in the mood to feel guilty. He was finally able to breathe though, moving his chest up and down. It seems that only Rainbow Dash and Soma were the only ones in the room, as anypony else that was still around quickly vanished. Doctor Stable and Nurse Redheart quickly left to look after Nate.

“Nathan!” Rarity screamed out, running through the main entrance. She quickly looked around, her chest moving up and down as she tried to catch her breath. The fancy unicorn almost fainted several times, but she was more worried over Nathan that may need her.

“Rarity! Calm down! The doctors are looking at him now! We can’t see him yet,” Rainbow Dash said to trot to her friend. Soma turned to look at the doors behind her, seeing many other quickly coming up. 

“Has he gotten better?” Rarity asked, looking at Dash.

“We don’t think so, but we did get good news. The Doctor we spoke with said most cases of poisoning are not fatal. He could just be getting sick and not dying,” the Element of Loyalty said a smile. Rarity calmed down at the news, lifting her head up. 

“Really?” 

“Really! He could just be a big baby right now and just be getting sick,” Rainbow Dash said to look at Soma. She closed her eyes a bit, trying to motion Soma for some support.

“Oh. Oh. OH! Yeah, she’s right!” Soma said, finally catching wind. “The doctor was really serious when he said this,” he said with a grin.

“Soma! Are you okay?” Fluttershy said, flying through the doors next with Phoenix in tow. Rainbow Dash sighed, glad others were here. With Fluttershy around, Soma would not go nuts again. 

“Fluttershy, I’m okay. The doctors are looking at Nate now,” The teen said with a smile. The butter yellow pegasus flew over to him, rubbing her face to nuzzle against the left side of his neck. 

“Thank goodness,” she said, eyes closed.

“Sorry if I made you worry,” He said, closing his left eye to smile and have his face pushed a bit.
“That’s great news actually,” Phoenix said, his chest moving up and down. He really needed to work out more. Dash walked over to Phoenix and sighed.

“What am I going to do with you. You couldn’t keep up with Fluttershy? She’s not that fast! Thats it, we are going to have you start exercising.” In reality though, she was so happy Phoenix was alright. He could also handle Soma in case he went nuts.

Rarity finally felt better, but she was still upset she could not see her partner. She walked over to some of the seats in the room to sit down. The others looked so happy. Dashy was dating Phoenix, and Fluttershy seemed to be on very good terms with Soma. And she had still yet to go on her date.

The other picked up their heads, seeing the others arrive quickly. Soon enough, the most quiet building of Ponyville found itself filled up with the most original conglomerate of power ever assembled. Phoenix briefed the others of the situation, so all there was to do was wait for the doctors. In about 15 minutes since Soma dropped off Nate, Nurse Redheart finally walked out. She nervously approached the group.

If these creatures were anything like Soma, she wanted nothing to do with them. Some were sitting down on chairs Like Otacon and Dan, and other opted to stand like Dovahkiin and Ralf. Luckily, all of the mares with them made her calm down.

“Can... I get someone to talk to about the incident? And not you,” The nurse said, motioning to Soma.

“What is that about?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Soma said, blushing a bit. His partner refused to leave his side. In fact, even Big Mac and Spike refused to stay away from their partners. They were attacked once, and there was no way of knowing when another attack could come again. Snake and Spy were on high alert, while Samurai Jack was on guard duty. Ash and Travis were sitting down across from each other. The salesclerk wanted to learn what he could from Nate, and Travis seemed to like Nate more than the others. In fact, it was Travis’ concerned face that made Ash ask him.

“I was there,” Dan said, lifting his hand to step up. The white earth pony nodded to Dan, and lead him aside to ask questions about how he got poisoned and what emergency procedures were taken.

“Nurse Redheart?” Twilight Sparkle asked, moving over to join Dan and the nurse. “How is his condition?”

“You mean Nate? We honestly don’t know, all we have done is drawn blood samples and given him all of the antivenom serums we have, but none of them seemed to have helped. Then again, its only been about 10 minutes. It doesn't help that we have no idea about his chemical, metaphysical, or biological blueprints. Doctor Stable is flying blind.” The nurse said.

“That bad?” Dan asked, not sure that meant. Still, it made sense. They needed a human doctor. 

“It would help if we had-”

“The dart?” Snake asked, stepping over to the group. He held out the dart, making the nurse nod.

“With any luck, we can get an analysis,” Red heart said with a smile. “At least he hasn't gotten worse.” While the group was talking, Rarity stood up to walk over to look around. She was too nervous. All the others were busy with their partners. Of course they were worried, but they were all secretly glad it had not been their humans. Noticing that Rarity had stepped away, Fluttershy tilted her head to the side.

“Rarity? Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked as she followed after the elegant unicorn. 

“Oh I am fine, just looking for something,” Rarity added, walking to a spare room to peek her head in.

“Maybe I can help you find it,” Fluttershy offered. She felt horrible for thinking only about Soma and not over poor Nate.

“Oh yes. I need a scalpel,” Rarity said to take her head out of the doorway.

“A scalpel? What for?” Fluttershy asked, stopping in her tracks.

“Nate will only stay here if I’m alright, correct?” Rarity smiled, finding a tray that had various medical instruments that looked sharp inside the room she found. It looks like a pony had just had a cast cut off not too long ago. Rarity smiled and walked inside the former’s patient’s room to look at the various instruments on a tray. This had been a room one of the orderlies had been in. She used her magic to lift the scalpel in her white magical aura.

Author’s Notes: Alright, you guys wants Nate to live? Guess I can off Rarity as an alternative... So hard to decide now. Chapter proofreaded by LyonAzakura.