//------------------------------// // Fortitude // Story: The Cursed Prodigy and The Three Special-Grades // by I Ate Appiness //------------------------------// A couple days has past since the fall of Cloudsdale, and the casualties numbers are at a record high. Inside one of the larger emergency tents set up to house the gravely injured was nurses and doctors drawn from the Canterlot to provide immediate medical aid for the refugee. Among those in white attire was Twilight herself, tending to the gaping wounds of a pony with a shine of her horn. "Princess you should get some rest." Twilight turns to the voice, causing the sweat to drip from her chin from the swing, her eyebags and slightly dishevelled mane and fur was evident enough that she wasn't getting enough sleep. The head doctor stood before her, surgical mask covering the lower half of her face and speckles of fresh red blood riddling the cyan surgical gown. "All of the patients here are no longer in critical condition. You have helped us nonstop for the past few days, its best you get some rest too." "Ah. I see, thank you. Please continue to look after them." With that, Twilight got up from her seat and walked out of the tent, stretching her back and swings as she did so. Several audible pop could be heard coming from her spine, and a few more from her swings. Taking a sigh, her stature slumped a little. 'The exhaustion is finally settling in.' She thought. Twilight forced her neck up, seeing a range of mountainous white. 'The atmosphere too.' "Princess Twilight!" Off in the distance, a royal guard came galloping at full speed. In his magical grasp was a rolled up scroll. Digging his hooves into the ground, he came skirting to a halt, leaving a small trail of dirt behind him. A bead of sweat rolled down his face along with a slight pant. Correcting his posture before royalty, he puffed his chest with trained confidence. "I come to deliver the updated data regarding Cloudsdale, Your Highness!" Passing the scroll over to Twilight, she unrolled the piece of paper and began reading. All the while, the royal guard narrates some of the key highlights of the report. "As per your request, we have surveyed the vast majority of the remains of Cloudsdale. According to our findings and the calculations of the research and science department, the explosion that engulfed the Rainbow Factory took the lives of an estimated 30% of the residents of Cloudsdale. Of the 70%, roughly 54% are in critical condition while the remaining suffered non life threatening injuries. However, there was a strange phenomena plaguing the hypocenter." Twilight's brows furrowed upon reading the written report, leaning to reread it once more. Her eyes scanning the inked sentences, "The closer we got to the hypocenter, the more sickly the reconnaissance team felt. Some even fainted and incurred illnesses and poisoning due to the prolonged exposure. The only one immune to it was Sir Yuta Okkotsu. Not only that, according to his statement, the area was exhibiting a abnormally high concentrations of a substance called "Cursed Energy". " "These are the last of the creatures we are able to find." said a recon militant, handing over a stretcher with a unconscious griffon. "Okay, thank you!" replied a team of nurse carrying them over to a nearby tent. Yuta sat on a rock nearby, witnessing the exchange silently. It was tiresome work to be the only one able to survey near grounds zero, yet there was things that still puzzled him. 'Why would the cursed spirit expose themselves to me back then? Was it trying to buy time to set off that nuclear explosion? That seemed to be the most plausible answer. But if that was the case, why not have the talisman be closer to the factory? The distance the curse placed it was too far to have dealt any real damage to me... Or was it meant to kill the princess? No, else they wouldn't have needed to draw my attention, given their portal ability. Putting those into consideration. Maybe the point of that explosion was meant to kill someone, but what other purpose does it serve?' "Yuta!!" A sudden shout from a familiar pink pony behind him snapped him out of his concentration. "Ahh! Pinkie Pie! Oh goodness, you scared me!" "Nice to see you too!" "Haha, how're you? It's been a couple of days since I last saw you." Pinkie's mane deflated a little from the question. "Ahh.. Sorry to have brought up bad-" "No no! it's okay! it's just been tough these past few days y'know? Everycreature has been down in the dumps and I've been doing my best to lift their mood. I've hardly had any time to visit Rainbow..." "I see..." "Fights between everybody has been breaking out recently, innocent children crying from losing their parents, the unrest, the conflicts, the... losses... i-i I tried my best y'know? I tried to help them, confettis, balloons, parties!! Anything to get their minds away from all the pain and suffering." Yuta patted her head, stroking it ever so gently. Her eyebags looks heavier than a few seconds ago, "The endless infighting.. the rifts between everybody... I don't want to see them sad anymore... I-I tried my best... but I can't even find the time to console my best friend... Applejack's supplying food for the patients, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight are busy helping the medics. While I've been having fun throwing parties... I don't think I.. it hurts... I-I-" Yuta guides Pinkie's head into his shoulder, tears beginning to soak into his clothing though he didn't mind. Her muffled cries soft enough only for Yuta to hear. "You've done wonderfully, Pinkie." Pinkie coughed in between sniffs, her mane fully deflated now while she lifted her head up to reply. "B-but who did I help..." "Me. you helped me, Pinkie." Pinkie tilts her head in confusion. "I smiled didn't I? You have a comforting presence Pinkie. No matter how heavy the atmosphere, I always find myself smiling when you're around. It may not seem much, but eventually your efforts in cheering the refugees will pull through. Due to the current situation, it is all the more important people should stick together." Yuta pats her head again. "You're talent for cheering people up will be a light that shine brightly in times like these, so don't lose hope. Alright?" Grabbing his sleeves, he gently wipes the tears of Pinkie. The kind act coupled with the words of encouragement soothed her heart and eased her mind. Reenergized, Pinkie's mane filled with zest as she got back on her hooves . Giving an "Mhm!" with a head nod and eyes that convey the meaning of "I'll do my best!" Revitalized, Pinkie skipped away, thinking of the next party she could throw. "Yuta..." Yuta recognises this puppy tone, its a tone a poor soul would give to get the attention of a lover. Yuta glanced over and a partially manifested Rika pouting. "Haha, you did wonderfully as well, Rika." Raising his arm, he patted Rika on the head. Stroking her with familiar love. Yuta could've sworn heart shaped residual cursed energy was leaking from the sides of her. A couple of hours later, Discord, Applejack, a platoon of guards, and along with a couple of critters, loaded the last batches of food crates towards an available holding area. With that settled, the platoon lined up in formation. "We appreciate you lending a helping hoof, Ms Applejack, Mr Discord, and critters of Mrs Fluttershy." The head of the platoon thanked. "Don't mention it." said Applejack, waving it off. Taking off her hat, Applejack wiped the sweat off her forehead. Looking over to the critters, she gave a smile, "Y'all are free to go too, thank you for your service." As the bunch of critters scatter back into the wild, Applejack turns to face Discord. "I thought you've wanted to help Fluttershy." "Well, I do. Buttt I'm here on behalf of her's and Twilight's request. That's for the best, the last time Fluttershy and I tried cooking together we had to cut down that giant beanstalk. Remember?" Applejack's face quickly turned sour as her head lowered a bit. 'Ahh, right... That." "Good work, you two!" Discord and Applejack turned to see Fluttershy in a gown and mask similar to those worn by doctors and nurses in the nearby tents. The only difference is that instead of being covered in blood, she was covered in splatters of beans and speckled greens. Removing her mask, the sweat on her fur coat shined a brilliant hue in the setting sun. A cooling breeze tickles her mane, and a tired smile crosses her lips. "You seem worse for wear." Applejack comments. "Same to you, Applejack. I hope Discord hasn't cause too much of a trouble." "Heyyy, That's what you say to your husband after he breaks his back to help a friend move food crates?" Discord then proceeds to bend his spine at weird and unnatural angles to add to the comedic effect. This caused both ponies to remark in unison. "The same husband that grew a giant beanstalk-" "Okay! Okay!" The Draconequus interjects. "That said, since you're here, I'm guessing you're done with preparations?" Applejack asks Fluttershy. "The volunteers and I have been preparing easy to digest meals for the recovering refugees, whilst cooking meals for the royal guards and the volunteers contributing in other areas. We've only just managed to finish up and store the remaining unused ingredients. Thank you for your generous donations of apples again, Applejack." Applejack waved off her thanks. "Nah, It's the least I could do." "I'm glad everyone managed to finish their task before nightfall." Twilight adds, sauntering over to the group. Behind her was the Young 6, all with a troubled look on their faces. "I'm planning on visiting Rainbow in awhile, want to join me?" "Did you really had to ask? Of course we would." Applejack placed her hat at her chest, showing her sincerity. "Y'all alright? What's with the grim look on your faces?" The cowgirl asks the pack behind Twilight, Silverstream stepped forward. "After we were done with our tasks we went to check on Rainbow Dash, but she was cooped up and refused to talk to us." "No matter what we said, she didn't budge." Smolder added. "...The only thing she did say was in a whisper after I apologized to her... "It wasn't your fault." " Sandbar uttered in a culpable tone. "After trying everything to console her, we leaved her be and tried thinking of other ways to cheer her up. That's when we ran into Princess Twilight. And now we're here." "Great timing then, I guess we'll head to see her now. What about Pinkie and Rarity?" Applejack questions. "Rarity is busy mending clothing for the soldiers in the frontlines, and Pinkie has her hooves full mediating parties between creatures. Normally, I would be the one doing so but Pinkie insisted that she could handle it. I've already invited the both of them to join in but they said they'll visit when they're done and told us to first go on ahead." "Well if that's the case, shall we go then?" Fluttershy suggested. "Alright, you six should go and have dinner and rest up, it's been a long day. The five of us will go and see Rainbow Dash." Twilight directs the youths. Outside of a tent large enough to hold multiple occupants, Twilight glanced over to the bunch before giving a nod and entering through the curtain-style entrance. Inside, she could see a few rows of beds lined up. With injured creatures sleeping and bandaged up, some still somewhat drowsy from the exhaustion while others jumped in their casts slightly from seeing royalty. Twilight gave a reassuring smile and waved off any attempts to a bow as she along of Fluttershy, Applejack, and Discord walked over to the very corner of the interior sidewall. The smell of iron was heavy, not to mention salt as well, the combination of the two elements relentlessly assaulted the newcomer's noses. However, they were used to it by now. A couple steps later, they see a familiar sky blue pegasus with a bandaged head and wings cooped up in a foetal position with a messy and sullied blanket draped over body. Tear stains and mucus plopped and decorated the pillows and bedsheets, and the occasional sniffle could be heard from Rainbow. The arrival of the five guests casts a shadow above the motionless Rainbow, while another casts itself onto Twilight's heart. Empathy struck, the pain she see her dear friend in caused her face to scrunch up a little, as her wings shivered a for a moment. Taking the time to brace herself, Twilight opens her mouth. "Rainbow, let's talk."