A single, calloused hand reached over the cliff, setting down and gripping hard on the rough rock. A moment later the woman pulled herself back up, and brought another, equally calloused hand over the edge. Pulling herself the rest of the way up, she came to a kneeling position to catch her breath. When she finally stood up, she observed what remained of the battlefield.
Centaurs and humans alike were helping each other, whether it be regrouping or tending to the wounded a clear sense of unity had been achieved. But then there were the leagues upon leagues of minotaurs, most of which seemed to have collapsed, probably due to the disappearance of their leader. However, what select few that were still conscious were simply wandering around in confusion, completely defenseless, something that quite a few soldiers were taking advantage of.
This whole thing was a mess.
The woman then spied a familiar group off to the side, and decided to begin moving towards them. There were actually a few bystanders standing nearby, but none of them actually interrupted what was most likely a very tender moment between them.
Until now.
“We have a problem,” The woman said coldly
“Woah woah woah woah woah woah,” The zebrataur stepped in front of her, “Woah,” He finished.
The woman just grit her teeth.
“You can’t just interrupt a special moment like this!” He shouted, “They’re having an incredible heart to heart right now! Horse has to hear Rider’s final words!”
The woman looked past him, and at the girl laying on the ground, with the either brave, or stupid horse crying rainbow tears over her, the terms were interchangable. The girl though, who looked just barely old enough to not be considered a child, was holding her hand over her abdomen, with a decent amount of crimson liquid smeared around the area.
Inspecting the wound from a distance, the woman snorted at the obvious fact. “You’ll live.” Then she looked to the zebrataur, “But there are more important matters at stake here, now move.” She practically shoved him out of the way.
“What could be more important than this?” Another one of the horse’s herd asked, the pink alpacataur
The woman stopped, and gripped the key tightly from her belt.
“Yeah.” The shaman, Water Baby, joined in, “What could be so important that you have to stop this special moment between these two?”
“The Nowhere King is gone,” The woman stated,
The girl coughed from the ground, “Isn’t that a good thing?” She asked weakly,
“He isn’t dead,”
“What?!” Nearly every person there shouted at once.
“You didn’t kill him?!” Water Baby asked,
“I was going to,” The woman admitted, averting her gaze.
“Then why isn’t he dead?” Water Baby demanded,
“Because of this,” The woman said as she pulled out a stone, throwing it to the ground in front of the herd.
They all stared blankly at it for a moment.
“Because of a rock?” The horse asked,
“No, another gate.”
“So he’s back in Centaurworld?” The birdtaur asked, “Pfft, no problem, we could just go over there and beat him again.”
“No.” The woman said harshly, “He’s somewhere else,”
Cue more blank stares
“What do you mean somewhere else?” Water Baby asked,
The Bridlewood clinic was nowhere near the functionality of a full fledged hospital, considering the small population with a track record of little action, it just wasn’t necessary for it to expand past a simple doctor’s office. So that certainly made them ill prepared when five ponies to burst into the clinic carrying an unconscious stallion.
“What happened!?” The doctor nearly jumped from his desk, partially because of his job, and partially from surprise.
“We were attacked!” Sunny Starscout shouted, “We’ve got one injured and one who might be poisoned!”
The doctor froze, not entirely expecting the plethora of ponies in front of him, he still wasn’t used to seeing the other species, though his senses soon broke him out of his trance.
“Yes, right this way! Quickly!” He ordered, maneuvering around the desk and into a hallway that led to several examination rooms.
The group readily followed him.
“Okay, on to the bed, carefully.” He said, watching closely.
Through the combined effort of Hitch Trailblazer and Zipp, they set the unconscious stallion on the bed as carefully as possible, which wasn’t much, luckily the bed was soft. The doctor then rushed over to a nearby cabinet and grabbed a stethoscope.
“What do you know so far?” He demanded, placing the stethoscope on the stallion’s chest.
“Not much,” Sunny said, “He just sort of… appeared like that, all we know is that his foreleg is broken.”
The doctor glanced at the awkwardly bent limb and grimaced a little. “Second drawer on the left, third one down, there should be the materials necessary to make a splint, somepony grab them please.” He commanded, before leaning in to listen closely.
His expression soured more and more the more he listened,
“Weak pulse…” He listed,
“Even weaker breathing…” He switched to the other side,
“Abnormal respiration…”
It was then that the stallion coughed slightly, and a tiny amount of blood trickled out of his mouth, causing most of them to recoil, especially Pipp.
“Oh that’s what I was afraid of,” The doctor said, moving over to open another drawer and pulling out a sphygmomanometer. He quickly wrapped it around the stallion’s good foreleg and began pumping it with his hoof.
“Afraid of what?” Hitch asked, setting down the supplies for a splint on a table.
The doctor took a moment to read what the meter displayed before sighing, “Decreased blood pressure.”
“Is that bad?” Zipp asked,
“Bad enough that I can’t treat it,” The doctor admitted, taking off his stethoscope, “We don’t have the resources to deal with internal bleeding or a collapsed lung, possibly more.”
They all gasped at that,
“So what do we do?” Sunny asked,
The doctor gave a solemn look, “We’re going to have to transport him to another hospital.”
“Another hospital? But Maretime Bay is almost a day away!” Sunny exclaimed,
“And Zephyr Heights is at least two!” Zipp added on.
“Maybe on hoof,” The doctor said, moving over to another drawer, he reached in all the way back, and pulled out a set of keys, “But I have an ambulance.”
“You have a motorwagon?” Izzy asked, breaking her silence and surprising the group
“An old one, but it should work,” The doctor answered, “Hopefully.” He said more quietly, “Now help me get him on to a stretcher.”
Most of the ponies moved out of the way then followed as the doctor and Hitch rushed back through the clinic with the stallion on a gurney, making their way past the front desk and out the back entrance, which led to a garage, or more of a shed really. Upon going inside, it was obvious that it hadn’t been entered in a while, as the incandescent bulb revealed the large amount of dust in the air. Still, parked in the shed, and taking up a majority of the space, was an old fashioned ambulance, and while most of the paint had flaked off, and a lot of it was rusted, it still looked functional.
They quickly loaded the stallion up into the back, and the doctor went about opening up the garage door as he addressed the group.
“So who’s coming with?”
They all looked at each other for a moment, before they all nodded,
“Can all of us come?” Sunny asked,
The doctor counted them all, before nodding as well, “Sure, but three of you will have to sit in the back, there are only three seats in the front.”
They all nodded again, and Hitch and Sunny moved up to the front of the ambulance with the doctor while the rest climbed into the back. The seats were cracked, and it was a bit of a squeeze, but they all managed to fit into the front as the doctor got into the driver’s seat.
“You have a map?” He asked,
“Yes actually,” Sunny said, pulling one of the general areas out.
“Then you’re going to be guiding me, now let’s go,” He turned the ignition, and the ambulance roared to life, before lurching forward slightly. The doctor pressed down on the accelerator, and the engine whirred loudly, but the vehicle didn’t move any further.
“Oh whoops,” The doctor said, and he disengaged the parking brake, causing the ambulance to fly forward, nearly clipping the wall of the shed. He pulled the steering wheel to the side, and they skidded across the dirt road as the vehicle turned, coming to a stop right before a tree and almost causing the other two to fall over and out. A moment later he flicked a switch, and a loud siren began to wail overhead, with a flashing light next to it.
“Woah!” Hitch exclaimed, righting himself on the seat again, “Where’d you learn how to drive?!”
“I didn’t!” The doctor replied, “Have any of you?”
Hitch paused for a moment to think, then spoke, “Point taken.”
“Now which way to Maretime Bay?” The doctor asked,
Sunny looked down at the map, “Go out the Southside of town if you can, then follow the river for a bit.”
“Right then,” Was all the doctor said before he put the pedal to the metal, causing the vehicle to lurch forward once more.
There was no road, so to speak, as that would imply that the pathway was specifically made for vehicles or travelling. It was not, generations of isolation and alienation made sure of that. Still, there was at least a semblance of a path, and thankfully the terrain was mostly flat, but that didn’t stop it from being a bumpy ride.
The ambulance’s siren was turned off at this point, seeing as there was no reason to keep it on, and the rest of the ride was spent in relative silence. That is, until the doctor slid open a hatch to the back of the ambulance.
“How’s he doing back there?” He asked loudly.
There was some shuffling, and Pipp appeared in the slot,
“He’s um… Still alive… I think. He looks like he’s still breathing.” She answered,
“Good,” The doctor replied,
“I have a question.” Pipp continued,
The doctor looked back, “Go ahead,”
“When do we put the splint on?” She asked,
The doctor’s eyes went wide, “Right now would be good, we want to prevent as much additional damage to the area as possible.” He looked towards the uneven terrain again, “Do any of you know how to put one on?”
Pipp shook her head,
“Nope, sorry,” They could hear Zipp say in the back,
“I do!” Izzy shouted from the back,
“Go ahead and do it then Izzy!” The doctor shouted back,
“Wait,” Sunny said, “You know her?”
“Well of course, she’s one of my more frequent patients,” The doctor answered,
“That checks out,” Hitch said, nodding,
The doctor also nodded, and he looked forward again until he realized something else.
“Didn’t you say one of you guys was poisoned?” He asked,
“Oh um… yeah…” Sunny began, “Izzy… ingested something strange and we were worried that it might be toxic.”
“Well what was it?”
“Some black slimy stuff, it was disgusting.”
The doctor grimaced, while Hitch looked confused,
“From that thing?” He asked,
“What thing?” The doctor asked,
“Well…” Sunny trailed off, “There was this creature, it was the thing that attacked us, and it was all black and slimy.”
“And Izzy swallowed some of this creature’s secretion?” The doctor asked.
“The slime wasn’t from the creature, it was the creature,” Sunny clarified,
The doctor frowned, “Like a sludge monster?”
Both Hitch and Sunny looked at each other, then they both nodded at the doctor.
“So you guys were attacked by a sludge monster, and Izzy managed to ingest some of it?”
“Well um… I got some of it in my mouth too.” Sunny admitted,
“Did you swallow it?” The doctor asked,
“No.” Sunny shook her head, “It tasted so bad I immediately gagged and almost threw up.”
Hitch began to look sick to his stomach,
“Did Izzy throw it up?”
“She did, a lot of it,” Sunny said, recounting the events from earlier
“Good,” The doctor said, then continued a moment later, “What did it taste like?”
“Really bitter and sour, like somepony had taken a bunch of rotten fruit and curdled milk and blended it up into an awful rotten smoothie.”
Hitch gagged slightly.
“I’m never taking another smoothie from you again,” He said
Sunny rolled her eyes, though the doctor looked a bit relieved,
“Well if you both didn’t retain much, then I wouldn’t be too worried about its toxicity, I would be more worried about the biological hazards it presented. If it tasted rotten then it might’ve very well been rotten, so you might get sick.”
“Oh.” Sunny said, and she began to run her tongue throughout her mouth, thankfully there were no remnants of the taste, but she would still be brushing her teeth extra hard tonight, and rinsing twice as much.
“Just if you start to feel sick, then that’s probably what caused it.” The doctor said, “Now how much further do we have to go?”
Sunny brought the map up again, then looked ahead to try and see any identifying features to correlate with.
“About half an hour.”
The rusted, red, white, and especially muddy ambulance barreled into Maretime Bay, sirens blaring. Pedestrians in the street dove out of the way as it careened around corners and tore its way through the streets.
“Out of the way!” Hitch desperately tried to shout,
“Left! Right! Continue forward,” Sunny directed,
The ambulance drifted around another corner, nearly tipping over onto its side in the process.
“Could you maybe slow down?!” Hitch pleaded, holding on for dear life.
“This is an emergency y’know!” The doctor shouted back, “We can’t afford to waste any more time when a life is at stake!”
“Take a right on Gary street!” Sunny said,
Pulling the steering wheel hard, the doctor sent the ambulance flying around another turn, and they all cringed as they heard a thud from the back.
“How much further?” The doctor asked,
“Hospital’s just on the left! Stop!” Sunny said,
The tires screeched as they locked up, causing the vehicle to spin out of control as it came to a stop, right next to the front entrance. They all sat there for a second, taking in what just happened, then the doctor shook his head.
“Go Go Go!” He ordered, spurring the others into action.
They all quickly exited the ambulance, sprinted to the back, and flung the doors open. Luckily through all the twists and turns, the stallion had managed to stay on the stretcher, the others… not so much.
“Owww…” Zipp groaned, “Are we there yet?”
“Are you all alright?” Sunny asked,
“Fine, never better,” Izzy said, picking herself up from the floor
Pipp just sat there, looking frazzled.
“Can we just… stay here for a while?” Zipp asked
“Sure, fine,” The doctor said, “But we need to get the patient in as soon as possible,” He then turned to Hitch, “Now come on!”
Working together once more, they both wheeled the stallion out of the ambulance and into the hospital, with Sunny following close behind. Similar to before, they burst into the lobby, certainly surprising the pony at the desk.
“Trauma center! Stat!” The doctor ordered
The pony paused to stare at the unicorn for a moment, then nodded rapidly, “Right this way.”
Within moments a collection of nurses joined the group, helping wherever they could, Hitch broke off from the stretcher, and simply let the hospital staff take it from there. Sunny slowed down as well, watching as the stallion was taken through doorway after doorway, further into the hospital.
There was a moment of silence as the tension started to ease.
“Is there anything else we can do?” She asked,
“Not really no,” Hitch responded, “I hope he makes it.”
“Me too,” Sunny nodded, “We should go back to the others.”
Hitch also nodded, and they both turned to exit the hospital. By now a small crowd had gathered outside, but none dared to go near the ambulance, which suited the two just fine. They got to it just in time to see Izzy clamber off.
“That, was not as fun as I thought it was going to be,” She said, wobbling a little.
“Are you okay?” Sunny asked again.
Izzy shook her head to clear it, “Yeah, yeah, I’m good.”
Zipp then exited the back of the ambulance, “Hey guys, did he make it in okay?”
“Yeah,” Hitch said, “They’re treating him now.”
Zipp nodded, then Pipp got out as well.
“I’m never riding in an ambulance again,” She said, “NEVER AGAIN!”
The others gave some small chuckles at that, but then a moment of silence dropped over them.
“Now what?” Hitch asked, “I mean, that expedition wasn’t a total failure was it?”
“Not exactly” Sunny said, “Despite everything that happened I still got this book,” She showed it again, then looked at Hitch and Pipp, “Did any of you grab anything.”
“No, sorry,” Pipp said, looking down,
“Yes actually,” Hitch said, “I almost forgot, but I grabbed this book as well.” He pulled out a different, smaller book from his satchel. “It’s called, ‘An Apprentice’s guide to Intermediate Magic’ by Beatrix L.”
Sunny’s eyes lit up, “Score! That’s bound to have something useful in it, good find! Right Izzy?”
She didn’t respond.
“Izzy?” Sunny repeated,
“Huh?” She said, looking up from the ground, “Oh, yeah, it’s a good find.”
Sunny turned to face her friend directly,
“Izzy, are you sure you’re alright?” She asked for a third time.
“I-” She paused for a moment, “I don’t know.”
The rest of the group turned to look at her as well, all of them worried,
“It’s just,” She continued, “I keep thinking back to when that thing attacked us, when it attacked me! It would’ve-” She paused to swallow a lump in her throat, “-killed me if you didn’t stop it!”
Both Hitch and Pipp gasped at this.
“I guess I’m just worried about what it’s going to do now, especially since we kind of just left it alone.” Izzy finished.
Hitch grimaced, “I certainly wouldn’t want that thing wandering around in the wilderness.”
“I don’t think it would be doing that.” Sunny said,
“Why not?”
“Because it spoke,” Sunny responded, “I heard it, and I’m sure you two heard it as well.” She pointed to Izzy and Zipp, “Whatever that thing was it knew exactly what it was doing and chose to do it.”
“So what do we do?” Hitch asked worriedly,
“Well, like I said earlier, before we got interrupted, this book I found may hold some answers, and then there’s that stallion, he’s bound to know something, so we should definitely talk to him… that is… if he uh… makes it.” Sunny said,
They all gave a solemn look,
“Though for now,” she continued, gazing at the setting sun, “It’s getting pretty late.”
“Oh my goodness!” Pipp exclaimed, she pulled out her phone and checked the time, “Is it really six o’clock already?!”
“It’s been seven hours?” Hitch asked in surprise.
“I guess,” Zipp said, “Time really flies when you’re having…” She trailed off as she looked towards Izzy, “...spending time with friends?”
There was an uncomfortable silence for a while, but it was soon broken by Sunny as she put a hoof on Izzy’s shoulder.
“Do you want to spend the night with us? That way you won’t have to go back just yet.” She suggested,
Izzy gave a small sniffle, then nodded,
“What about you guys?” Sunny continued,
“Uh, Sunny, I don’t have that kind of space in my apartment,” Hitch butted in,
“Nah it’s cool dude,” Zipp said, “Zephyr Heights may be a day’s walk away from here, but it is not a day’s flight away. We’ll see you tomorrow… if you want.”
“For sure,” Hitch responded, nodding.
“Yeah,” Sunny added, “We need to see what this book holds.”
“Alright, goodbye then,” Was all Zipp said, then both she and her sister opened their wings, and took off.
“Goodbye,” Sunny waved as they flew away.
And with that, the two earth ponies, along with Izzy, turned and began to head back to Hitch's apartment, which he graciously let Sunny stay at while the lighthouse was being rebuilt. The arrangement was far from perfect, but it would last until the construction finished, though it would still take a while, considering along with the massive amount of structural damage, the engine of Sprout’s machine caught fire soon after the whole ordeal, meaning they pretty much had to build the new lighthouse from the ground up.
That was already being dealt with however, what happened happened, and now they had new things to worry about. So with three unusually long showers, a quick dinner with what could be scrounged up, and an extended period of dental hygienics, the three got ready to sleep for the night, though sleep itself did immediately come, at least for two of them.
Sunny lay in her cot, staring at the ceiling, going over the events of the day again and again. She spied the notebook laying on the table across the room, begging to be opened for the first time in however many years it had laid closed, but it would have to wait. Whatever was inside, whether it was important or not, was to be discovered in the presence of all her friends, they deserved that at least.
The other book however, was currently being read by Izzy, who lay in a cot next to her. Hitch had given it to her to possibly help take her mind off what had happened, and so far it appeared to be working. She was clearly engrossed in the complex equations, intricate designs, or whatever constituted the spellwork within. Sunny wasn’t sure she herself would be able to understand any of it, but Izzy had at least some semblance of how it worked, so she could probably make something out of it, but not right now, that would also have to wait until tomorrow.
Izzy then looked up from the book, making eye contact with Sunny, she gave a small smile, and Sunny returned it before looking back up at the ceiling. She then heard Izzy close the book, and flick off the lamp she was using to read it, leaving the both of them in complete darkness.
The next morning was… crowded. Hitch’s apartment was only intended for one pony to live in, add in one pony who would be staying for a while, and things got a bit cluttered. Then have one more stay for the night, and things got cramped. Finally, when two more arrived right before noon, they all soon found it hard to find personal space, at least if they all were in the same room.
Which they were.
“Alright,” Sunny began, sitting down on a stool in the absence of excess chairs, “Who’s ready to find out what’s in this book?”
There were several murmurs of agreement as they huddled around the smallish table.
“Should we start with the beginning?” Sunny asked,
“Seems like as good a place as any.” Hitch said,
“Okay, here. We. Go.” Sunny said, and she flipped open the front cover.
A small amount of dust was thrown into the air as the hard cover moved, and they all looked eagerly at the first page. Pipp was recording, both Hitch and Zipp were staring from opposite ends of the table, and Izzy was fidgeting in her seat at the far end of it.
“I can’t read it!” She exclaimed, tilting her head back and forth, trying to see it more clearly. “Whatsit say? Whatsit say?”
Sunny looked up and smiled, “Do you want me to read it out loud?”
“Yes please,”
“Anypony else?” She asked,
They all nodded slightly.
“Okay,” Sunny cleared her throat, then looked back down at the first page. “Log date, seven dash fifteen dash eighteen twenty six.”
“Eighteen twenty six?” Zipp asked, “That’s two hundred years ago!”
“Amazing…” Hitch said, before he saw Sunny’s unamused expression, “Oh, please continue.
She cleared her throat again.
Log Date
7-15-1826
My most recent assignment has been given to me, a direct order from the princess to study this mirror. However before I can begin any real testing, I have been instructed to research the history surrounding this artifact.
From what could be gleaned from the princess's own research, the device originated in ancient Equestria, dating back to around 100 AD. It was created by the legendary Starswirl the Bearded, and its use was to act as a portal between different worlds.
“Different worlds?” Zipp said, “This already explains so much.”
“Ahem,” Sunny said,
“Right, sorry,”
However it appears in the time since its creation, the errant magics that allowed its function have decayed, leaving it only able to access one world. As of today, the decaying process has progressed even further, and the original mirror is no longer functional without the apparatus constructed by the princess herself. Though it is still capable of crossing over to multiple worlds, to actually do so would require resources far beyond what is available to me as of this moment.
The goal of my tests is to document and observe the other world, as the princess believes it may prove useful to enter an alliance with them. I believe entering an alliance with a foreign entity only available through unstable means is not worth my time, though the prospect of coming across alien advancements intrigues me.
Nevertheless, I will complete my background research today, and begin the first test tomorrow.
“...And it stops there,” Sunny concluded, checking the next page quickly.
“Wow.” Was all Izzy said,
“I probably shouldn’t have smashed all that stuff back there then huh?” Zipp said, scratching the back of her neck.
“We didn’t have much of a choice,” Sunny said, “And I don’t think we could’ve rebuilt it even if you didn’t use the pieces.”
“Hm,” Zipp said, only slightly reassured,
“So that stallion is from another world?” Hitch asked, “What do you think it’s like?”
“Well if that creature is from there as well, then I vote not great,” Pipp said,
“I second that,” Hitch nodded,
“Third,” Zipp added.
Sunny frowned slightly, “Come on guys, we only know about two things from that world. I think there may be at least something good there. What do you think Izzy?”
Izzy put a hoof to her chin in thought, “I’d like to stay hopeful, but did you see the look in that guy’s eyes when he looked at you? His aura was way off, not happy in the slightest.”
“Mmm,” Sunny mumbled, then she sighed and sat up straight, “So now we have to figure out what to do with a creature from another world. Not to mention that guy as well.”
To Be Continued...