Dinner at the Pie House was usually a quiet affair with little speaking. Not tonight, however, as Igneous Pie cleared his throat.
The family matriarch looked up from her bowl of salt lick soup, “Yes Igneous?”
The father stood, “About Pinkamena.”
“I see.” The Matriarch’s face soured. Clearly this wasn’t the first time the issue was broached, “And what of our daughter then? What incident didst thou wish to share?”
“No sense in bucking about the boulder. Pinkamena has expressed… Dissatisfaction with the farm.”
“Dissatisfaction?” Cloudy Quartz said, “Dissatisfaction with honest work?”
Pinkamena cringed and hid behind her bangs. Her father meant well perhaps, but he had also put her in the path of her mother’s wrath.
“No mother,” she meekly responded, “that is not what was intended...”
“Then pray tell, what didst thou intend?”
“I-”
“Yes, spit it out.”
“Dear,” Igneous spoke again, “I hath spoken with her on the subject. Twas not an issue of discipline, twas an issue of the nature of the work.”
“And what is wrong with the nature of the work?” Cloudy’s voice rose an octave. “We are Earth Ponies! To work the rocks and ground is what the Sun and Lands intended!”
Igneous shook his head, “Perhaps our path is not for our Pinkamena… She is much too bright for this work… Perhaps mine old friend, the healer Lady Poppy Seeds, couldst take her as an apprentice?”
Cloudy Quartz sighed, “Fine... Perhaps Pinkamena is not fit for our work then. She will pack tonight and leave on the morrow.”
The matriarch of the family stood from her seat. Her soup, and the argument, finished. While the sisters of the Pie Family sat stunned at this revelation.
~~~
“Why didn’t you say anything?!” Limestone Pie cried as she barged into Pinkamena’s room.
“About what?” Pinkamena replied bluntly as she dropped a rock into her luggage.
“You know damn well about what! About leaving us!” Maudlin and Marble trotted in behind Limestone as she continued to grill Pinkamena.
“Look, things happened fast alright?” the pink filly responded as she slammed her luggage shut. “I was going to tell you Lime… Honest. But I just- I wasn’t expecting Father to say anything tonight.”
Limestone stewed with the unintended betrayal by her sister as she stormed off. Maudlin and Marble gave sympathetic shrugs but clearly felt some of the same sentiment. Pinkamena could only sigh as she flopped backward onto her bed, preparing for whatever awaited her tomorrow.
~~~
Her father was the only one to accompany her on the train ride, his old friend apparently living far, far away from the fields of the Pie Household. She saw the land steadily grow greener and lusher before her father gently nudged her side; they had made it to their stop.
“Now arriving at Ponyville!” the ticket master at the front of the cart bellowed as Igneous collected his daughter’s luggage.
The two made their way onto the platform and were greeted by a red-coated unicorn with a twin medical cross cutie mark. She looked… younger than Pinkamena was expecting, but her eyes betrayed age beyond her body.
Well-worn smile lines on her muzzle, the mare greeted the pair, “Igneous! Glad to see you again, old friend. Is this one of your little ones?”
The elder Pie responded, “Greetings Lady Poppy Seeds, and a pleasure as always. Yes, this is the one I told thee about, mine Young Pinkamena.”
The pink filly in question hid behind her father. For all she was craving a life outside the farm, this was still her first time away from it. Everything seemed so… loud.
The healer mare seemed to pick up on the filly’s trepidation as she spoke gently and leaned down to the pink filly’s level, “Hello Young Pinkamena. Your father has told me a great deal even just through one letter. He says you are quite the eager learner.”
The pink filly nodded as her father rolled her luggage to her side.
“Well, I may not look it, but I am quite the old mare…” Lady Poppy Seeds said with a warm chuckle, “Just that much more to teach you dear.”
A train whistle blew from the other track and the Elder Pie turned to take his leave.
“Make good my dear Pinkamena,” said Igneous as he waved goodbye to his daughter, crossing to the other rail.
~~~
“This is your room,” Lady Poppy led Pinkamena upstairs to a comely alcove overlooking the clinic, “I hope it isn't too small for you Pinkamena.”
“Oh, no it's perfectly fine Lady Poppy Seeds,” Pinkamena responded.
“Haha, your old man told you to call me that? Please don't be so formal dear, you make me sound old! You may call me Poppy, Ms. Poppy if you must insist.”
“Wait… Father said you were a healer?”
“Oh yes, I have a doctorate, but working at Ponyville General… Ah, a story for another time dearie! A growing filly like you needs her rest, we can start your apprenticeship in the morning,” the mare turned and softly shut the shutter to the room, leaving the filly to stew in her thoughts.
“So… This is life outside the farm.”
Pinkamena flopped onto her new bed.
“I wonder how Limestone is doing… I hope Maudlin won’t miss me too much… Marble…”
The pink filly shut her eyes and drifted off to the embrace of the dark, thoughts of her family swirling as she did.
~~~ 2 Weeks Later ~~~
Pinkamena was inventorying the shelves when the patient arrived. An orange maned earth mare came through the door with a herding dog puppy in the crook of a leg.
“Nur- Oh! Sorry dear, do you know where Nurse Poppy Seeds is?” The mare asked gently.
Pinkamena turned from the shelf slowly, “Uh… In town right now, did you need-?”
“Oh, you must be the apprentice! And, no, not for me dear- Winona here got in a tangle with some garden snakes again…”
“Oh, well, that is quite easy to treat,” Pinkamena pushed her mane out of her face as she grabbed a small baggie of leaves and a clean rag.
“Whisperleaf should reduce the swelling,” the pink filly said as she ran the rag under the sink before trotting over to the orange mare. “May I?”
“Oh of course dear, you seem to know your way around,” she said with a motherly chuckle before setting the dog down on an open table.
Pinkamena cleaned the bite wound but when she tried to get Winona to eat the whisperleaf, the dog scrunched its muzzle and backed away.
“Come now… It’s good for you…” the pink filly growled under her breath, which only made the dog back away more.
Pinkamena’s struggles were cut off by a familiar voice from the front door, “Hello Pinkamena did you- Oh, Pear Butter! What a pleasant surprise, Winona again?”
The orange mare that Pinkamena now had a name for responded, “Nurse Poppy Seeds, good to see you too! Your apprentice here got the jump on that, actually.”
Ms. Poppy grabbed a jar of peanut butter and scooped out a spoonful before trotting next to her apprentice.
“Here dearie… Allow me,” the Nurse said before gently pushing down Pinkamena’s hoof.
The filly watched as she rolled the Whisperleaf into the peanut butter and gently coaxed the puppy into taking its medicine. Winona only took some convincing before happily lapping up the spoon of peanut butter. After the exchanging of bits, Pear Butter bid the two goodbye before trotting back down the road.
“... I did not know you treated animals as well,” Pinkamena said before dusting herself off.
“I do many things for the town young Pinkamena.” The Apothecary vaguely replied. “Nice work by the way.”
“Oh no I- I mean I couldn’t even give that dog its medicine…”
“Ah, but you remembered the correct treatment! Look at you, 2 weeks in and you already have basic first aid down!”
“But- But I wasn't able to finish…”
“Yes, you didn’t.” Ms. Poppy Seeds said simply before ushering the filly back inside the clinic. “But to be frank, it’s your bedside manner that’s the issue, not your skills. You can be blunt dear, though I suppose I can’t blame you considering where you are from.”
“Ah… I will try my best in the future then La- Ms. Poppy Seeds.”
“Don’t worry dearie, it’ll come with time.”
~~~
Your dreams were strange as always.
Hundreds of smokey mirrors of yourself pushed rocks in circles around the farmhouse with no rhyme or reason. An accusing statue of Mother whispered in your own voice.
“Run along home sister.”
Pinkamena woke up in a cold sweat, before easing slowly back into sleep.
~~~ 3 Weeks Later ~~~
“Ms. Poppy Seeds,” Pinkamena asked the older mare, “Why are- Why are we going into the Everfree Forest.”
“To visit an old friend like your father Dearie,” Ms. Poppy answered as the two walked down the path off the side of the cottage further into the forest.
“But- The Everfree is dangerous.”
“Oh yes, wild and chaotic… But also the growing ground for so many of the herbs and roots we need at the Apothecary dearie. You don’t suppose ‘Poison Joke Extract’ came from Pleasant Fields hm?”
“I- I suppose not… Is this a chance for me to learn how to find things like that?” The pink filly’s eyes lit up at the prospect of learning more about the trade.
Ms. Poppy chuckled warmly, “I admire your enthusiasm dearie, but you were right about the Everfree being dangerous… No place for a filly to trifle with. Perhaps when you come of age Zecora will teach you.”
“Zecora? Is that the name of the pony we’re meeting? It sounds… Strange.”
The unicorn laughed again, “You’re half right dearie. You’ll see in a moment, we’ve arrived.”
Pinkamena looked ahead to the small hut built into a gnarled tree that her teacher had brought her to, she felt uneasy but froze when a cloaked figure trotted out of the strange building.
“Poppy Seeds, it is a pleasure to speak once more. Please come in, through my open door,” the figure spoke in a strange lilting manner.
“Zecora, nice to see you in one piece!” The mare unhitched her cart and greeted her friend warmly. “Oh right, this is the new apprentice I mentioned in my letter.”
“Ah, the new charge I have heard so much about? Tell me… What is your name, little sprout?” The figure pulled down her hood to reveal a striped visage.
“Woah you have- Uh I mean!” The filly stumbled over her words. “I meant to say, my name is Pinkamena Diane Pie.”
Zecora raised an eyebrow, “It is rude to stare, young child. I admit my appearance may seem strange as I come from the far off wild.”
The pink filly bashfully turned her head down, “Apologies! No offense meant Lady Zecora…”
“Lady Zecora… What a welcome change to the status quo!” The mare snorted. “Your apprentice has more brains than you, all those years ago!”
“Yes, yes… Keep telling the story of how I screamed in terror at your welcome mask,” Ms. Poppy Seeds rolled her eyes, but said the retort with clear fondness, “Miss Zecora here is a Zebra dearie. She’s from somewhere very far away from here, further than you dearie.”
“Ah… Apologies again for my reaction Lady Zecora…”
The zebra responded with an easy smile, “No harm done young one, I know you meant no true animosity. Only simple foalish curiosity.”
She turned back towards her hut, “Well, let us not delay any more. Come in, and see what I have in store.”
The trio went inside and a few hours later, Ms. Poppy Seeds left with a month's supply of herbs and Pinkamena left with some new reading; Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super.
~~~
Your dreams are strange as always.
Silhouettes. You and everyone else in the train car were all shadows. The car eerily silent, with even the trundling wheels absent. You look out the window to see fields and fields of rocks.
You stood up, the aisle empty as you wandered the train. Familiar figures in shadow watched from the seats, eyes glowing a ghostly blue.
Your Father.
Limestone.
Lady Poppy Seeds.
You made your way to the front of the train, five figures turned away from you. Recognition tickled the back of your mind, but you couldn’t connect the shapes to anypony you knew.
One of them turned around, a unicorn.
Her eyes glowed a brilliant white, and flooded the car with blinding light. Shapes and colors thrown in your face as you are blown away from the train.
Pinkamena jolted awake, rubbing her eyes like somepony shoved a lantern in front of her face. A stabbing pain in the back of her head as she groggily fell back asleep.
~~~ … ~~~
Pinkamena threw herself into her learning, her time spent bouncing between Zecora’s hut to learn brewing medicines and Lady Poppy Seed’s Clinic to apply her healing.
Occasionally, Ms. Poppy Seeds sent Mena into town to perform an errand or two, but the summer months blurred on.
~~~
“Mena dearie, could you get some disinfectant?” Ms. Poppy Seeds said as she calmed down Winona, the pup having gotten into another scrape.
“Yes, Ms. Poppy Seeds.” The pink filly dashed around the clinic before returning to her teacher with a blue bottle. Her brain caught up to the statement as she hoofed it over. “Wait, Mena?”
“Well Pinkamena is quite the mouthful dearie. Besides, the other option of ‘Pinkie’ unfortunately doesn’t convey the proper respect does it?”
The pink filly thought for a moment as she rolled a whisperleaf into a spoon of peanut butter, “I… Suppose so.”
~~~
“Watch closely Young Pinkamena. Herbology is today’s arena,” Zecora said as she brought Mena to her herb pantry.
“This is a powerful pain reliever, Poppy Straw, however one must be careful as it is addictive if prescribed raw.” Zecora brought out a jar of dried Poppy pods. “It calms the body and mind, but could easily lead to one becoming hollowed out and blind.”
Mena nodded along as Zecora continued her lesson, pulling out a jar of powdered Zaproot.
~~~
Soon enough, Mena had become a local peripheral sight to Ponyville. Sometimes accompanied by the town’s old healer, sometimes on her own, but the pink filly had carved a place for herself in the town.
~~~ … ~~~
“Mena dearie, could you come down here for a moment?” the unicorn mare called from the clinic room.
“Right away Ms. Poppy Seeds,” Mena said as she shut her newest herbology book from Zecora shut. The filly trotted down as her mentor threw on a coat.
“Mena there’s something I’ve been putting off for far too long. I’ll be at Ponyville General for a few hours, you think you can handle closing up tonight?”
The filly nodded as Ms. Poppy Seeds turned and took her leave, “Thank you dearie.”
Mena waved her teacher off before turning to tidy up, “Maybe an hour of cleanup and I have the night to myself… What an easy night.”
~~~
Sunshower’s mind raced. Fluttershy had trusted her and Open to find someplace that could take Ms. Tenderhoof, her squad was counting on her to find someplace to take Ms. Tenderhoof. Then she saw it, a little cottage on the edge of the forest with its lights on.
“Open! Bring Night Glider this way, I got someplace!”
The filly landed and only a few moments later the rest of her panicked squad joined her on the dirt path leading to the cottage. The foals had tried their best to wrap their teacher with their vests but the red gash was starting to bleed through.
Sunshower fiercely hammered the door, “C’mon, c’mon! Please! Please open up!”
~~~
Mena grumbled as she trotted to the door, “Yes? We’re closing so if-”
Her pre-rehearsed speech died on her lips as a panicked filly slammed into her, “Oh thank Celestia! Do you have a phone in there?! Our teacher, she-”
Mena’s blood ran cold seeing the gravely injured Pegasus being held up by three other foals, “Get her inside. Get her inside now!”
Mena turned and scrambled to roll out one of the gurneys, “Get her on!”
“Our teacher- she- the Ursa- It,” One blubbered out.
“You- you can’t be older than we are!” Another of the foals, the mint green one, said.
Another shouted, “Who are you?!”
The uproar of the panicked foals made her thoughts swim and she couldn’t focus. The winds from the chill night air seeped through the open door as Mena froze up.
“I- Dammit! I need to think! I can’t focus… I can’t do this!” Mena thought as she braced herself on a table when, suddenly, something in her mind clicked into place and the world seemed to slow.
… Click!
“No, you can do this. You took to this like a fish to water, you just need to breathe. Calm down.”
“Who- What is this?”
"No time! Dying patient on your watch sister, and this little trip to your braincase only bought you moments! What are you going to do?”
"Major laceration to the chest, that much is obvious… One of the foals mentioned ‘Ursa’, an Ursa Minor attack?”
… Click!
“You need to take control of the situation now if you want even the slightest chance to treat your patient. Calm down these panicking children.”
“Everypony quiet!” Mena shouted. “Yes, most likely I am the same age as you but we don't have time for this! Your teacher, I can help her but I need to know exactly what happened!”
There must have been something in her tone, or the focus in her eyes, but the sheer authority calmed down the panicking pegasi.
The navy blue one stepped forward, “We- we were in a training exercise, we’re from Wint’moor. The Ursa Minor came out of nowhere and… Well, our teacher was flung pretty hard from it. I- I don’t know how bad it is.”
Mena’s tone softened as she turned to diagnose, “Well… you certainly know your first aid and kept her from bleeding out…”
… Click!
“These ponies did a pretty good job of staunching bleeding, it’s partly why the pegasus is still kicking.”
“Your patient winces when you touch her side, a good sign she’s still lucid. Swelling in her wing joint and hip, indication of dislocation? Contusions on the thigh corroborated the story.”
“You’re getting a pretty good picture of the extent of the injuries now, and it’s not a pretty one. You can only stabilize her, but she’ll need proper treatment if there’s any chance of recovery…”
“-Ponyville General Hospital. Built 8 years prior and commissioned by Mayor Mare-”
“... As much as you hate to admit, it is most likely in your patient’s best interest to be treated at Ponyville General.”
“I’ll send one of them off with a message.”
“Which one of you is the fastest?” Mena asked. Two raised their hooves.
“Fine, you!” She pointed to a short gray filly, “Get to Ponyville General and tell them to send a wagon! If you happen to run into somepony named Ms. Poppy Seeds, bring her back!”
She nodded and bolted out the door, while Mena was already on her hooves again.
“Ok, treatment… treatment…”
… Click!
“-Poppy Straw, from which Distilled Poppy Extract can be made. A useful ‘wild remedy’ counterpart to commercial morphine-”
"Painkillers. Additional bandages must be applied, although initial first aid was done well, blood soaking through is not good. You need to apply pressure soon."
Mena raced around the clinic in a rush and worked like a machine, a blur of pink carefully dosing painkillers, wrapping fresh bandages, and staunching bleeding. Mena was so focused she didn’t notice the flash of light on her flank, there was only the thought of making sure her patient would live.
The wagon from Ponyville General arrived with her mentor which was what finally caused Mena to stop. Paramedic ponies came to take the injured instructor and the pink filly slumped down into an open chair as the pegasi foals were ushered outside.
“Wait- Wait!” Mena called out through her exhaustion, “Injury report- Table by door…”
Sure enough, though messy, the compiled cursory injury report was found as a baffled nurse pony took the slip of paper and followed his coworker into the medical wagon. Ms. Poppy Seeds saw the wagon off before coming back inside to check on Pinkamena.
“Mena dearie… I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have been thrown in the deep end like that.”
The filly slurred her words, “Dn’matter… Saved a life… Just like you taught me Lady Poppy Seeds…”
The unicorn smiled sadly, as she wrapped the pink filly up in a blanket and carried her up to her room setting her down gently to bed. Celebrations for the new cutie mark could wait, Young Pinkamena more than earned her rest.
~~~
Your dreams are strange as always.
You stood in the middle of town, luggage by your side as starlight flowed like water between the buildings.
Deep in your chest you knew what you were seeing, the Spirit of Ponyville.
But, you’re suddenly ripped away, this is not for you.
Not Yet.
But you know not what the town wants from you.
You’re blown to the Apothecary, but now the cottage lay in the middle of the rock fields. The smoky mirrors of yourself trudging trenches into the ground.
“What are you looking for, sister?”
Pinkamena tossed and turned in her sleep. But eventually found rest in the dark.
~~~
Mena blinked the sleep from her eyes as she stretched and got up. Strangely her tail twitched but she chalked it up to it still being asleep.
Groggily she made her way downstairs to be greeted by her mentor with a towering stack of pancakes.
Ms. Poppy Seeds smiled broadly and ushered her apprentice to the dining table, “Congratulations dearie!”
“... This seems a bit much just for treating my first patient,” Mena said with a raised eyebrow.
The unicorn only chuckled as she pointed to Mena’s flank, the filly following as her eyes went wide realizing that she had a cutie mark. Twin medical crosses just like her mentor but a bright white sash of gauze tied the two together.
“Oh,” Mena replied simply before her face morphed into a small smile.
Ms. Poppy Seeds snapped a photo of the pink filly to capture the rare smile from her student, “While I wish that we could celebrate longer dearie, we do have something else to do today… A bit different from usual.”
Mena tilted her head in confusion, “What do you mean Ms. Poppy Seeds?”
“Tell me dearie. Have you ever visited Canterlot?”