Under the starry night sky at the edge of the Everfree forest, there was a silhouette of a Pegasus pony pacing back and forth as if it was contemplating about something. I can do this or my name isn’t Dark Cloud, he thought. He stopped for a second and tapped his chin, musing. Wait.. that’s not my name at all, he thought again and this time he let out an exasperated sigh. The Pegasus had a light grey coat and a dark grey mane. He had a rainbow peeking between two white puffy clouds as a cutie mark. He nervously looked back and forth between the Everfree forest and Ponyville, pondering on what he should do next.
“What did you get yourself into, Raincloud?” he said to himself as he looked down at the ground, saddened.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Two hours earlier, in front of the Cloudsdale weather factory….
“Hello there, Raincloud.” A dark green coated and red mane Pegasus greeted him, wearing a weather patrol vest and a friendly smile tugged on his face.
“Hey there, Forest Fire.” He greeted back with a hint of sadness in his voice.
“So.” Forest said as he sat beside Raincloud. “You got fired, huh?”
“Yeah…” the grey Pegasus nodded.
“Why?” asked Forest, raising a questioning eyebrow.
“The boss said that I’m not brave enough to help out the others to clear out the storm clouds.” He explained.
“I see…” Forest said, nodding sagely. “I think I know how you can prove to the boss that you are brave enough.”
“How?” Raincloud asked, looking at Forest with a hopeful smile.
“You go to the Everfree forest and collect a single magical mushroom called Muria mushroom.” He said with a grin on his face.
“Are you crazy?!” Raincloud exclaimed questioningly.
“Yup.” Forest nodded. “But if you manage to get the mushroom, the boss will be totally impressed and he will hire you back in no time.” He finished with a wide smile.
“If I actually agreed to this suicidal plan, how can I recognize this Muria mushroom apart for the other mushroom that might be nearby and besides… what does this mushroom do anyway?” Raincloud asked, giving an uncertain smile.
“You can’t miss it; it gives an orange glow at night.” Forest said with the widest grin he could muster. “The effect? I dunno. I never finished reading the article about magical mushrooms.” He said, shrugging casually.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Present time, at the edge of the Everfree forest….
Raincloud paced back and forth at the edge of the Everfree forest with uncertainty on his face. What should I do? He thought. Should I bail out? He thought again, looking at Ponyville. No, I can do this. He thought for the last time, and stomped his fore hoof as finality. He looked at the threatening scenery of the forest and nervously gulped then, he entered the forest with determination in his eyes.
His determination faltered when he was deep in the forest and strange things began to happen. He looked to his right and he heard an owl hooting at the distance. He looked over his shoulder, to see if somepony was following him. He often felt he was being watched. Then a few minutes later, he walked into a clearing. In the distance, he saw an orange glow between fallen branches. He gave a victorious cheer when he saw what he was looking for, the Muria mushroom. He quickly galloped to the mushroom pushed the branches away and picked it with his mouth. He gave an annoyed groan when he realized that he didn’t bring his saddlebags. He gingerly carried the mushroom in his mouth and began to trot back to Ponyville.
Then suddenly he saw a silhouette of a manticore flew upwards into the sky right in front of him. He tried to gasp but it backfired when he accidentally swallowed the mushroom. “Oh..no…” he said, with fear in his eyes. He tried to fly to Ponyville for immediate help but his wings became unresponsive and his vision began to ripple. He let out a chuckle and started to wobble away.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
At the Ponyville clinic, Nurse Redheart, a white coated and light pink mane earth pony, just finished organizing the medical cabinet and filing all the paperwork for the day. She walked outside and locked the doors to the clinic and began to trot back home. Then, in the corner of her eyes, she saw a grey-ish colored pegasus staggering out from the Everfree forest. She gave a slight gasp and galloped to the wobbling pony.
“Are you alright?” she called out, as she approached the poor stallion.
“Mommy?” the Pegasus slurred, still struggling to stand up straight.
“Are you okay, sir?” she asked, looking concern to the bruised Pegasus.
“I’m fin- woah!” the pegasus face planted onto the hard soil.
Nurse Redheart helped the staggering stallion to get up to his hooves and she could feel the stallion could barely stand up properly.”What’s your name?” She asked, while trying to balance both of their weight.
“I’m…” he closed his eyes for a while, momentarily forgetting his name. “Raincloud,” the grey Pegasus giggled.
“I see. I’m Nurse Redheart and you need help.” She said, as they slowly walked towards the clinic.
“I see… you!” Raincloud giggled and wobbled uncontrollably.
“Ugh… Sir, please stand still.” She said with annoyance began to seep into her voice.
“Okay…” This time he said in a sad tone.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Few minutes later, Nurse Redheart had a little difficulty to persuade Raincloud to enter the clinic. Raincloud tried to wobble away from the clinic because he has a fear for injections. Nurse Redheart had no choice but to drag the scared staggering Pegasus into the clinic by his tail.
Raincloud’s body shook in fear as his eyes started to shift, looking around nervously inside the clinic. The smell of medicine invaded his nostrils and it made him even more scared than before. He looked at Nurse Redheart, who was rummaging through a medical box made him starting to whimper in fear. When nurse Redheart turned her head to look at him, he quickly ducked and clasped his hooves on top of his head, attempting to protect himself.
Nurse Redheart looked puzzled to the reaction of the Pegasus. She approached slowly to the cowering pony and tapped his head lightly. He flinched as he felt a hoof was tapping his head and slowly looked up to see the puzzled nurse.
“What are you doing?” asked Redheart, raising a questioning eyebrow.
“I-I-I’m s-scared.” Raincloud stammered, still shaking in fear.
“Scared of what?” she asked again, this time she lower her head to his eye level.
“I-I-Injections.” He stammered and clasped his head tighter, shutting his eyes tight.
Redheart let out a sigh and sat on her haunches. “Look, I’m not going to give you an injection. I just want to know if you are okay or not. Also, I need to check to some of the bruises that are not starting to swell on your wings.” Redheart explained.
After listening to Redheart’s explanation, Raincloud began to relax and slowly raising his head. He wobbled lightly when he sat on his haunches, right in front of Redheart. “Well…” he began, rubbing the back of his head. “At first I was fired from work an-“he was cut off by Redheart.
“Wait, why is this related anyway?” she asked.
“I dunno,” Raincloud giggled.
“Are you okay?” she asked again, now she was getting a bit worried.
“No…” Raincloud sniffled sadly.
“Um…” was the only thing Redheart could say as she noticed the sudden change of mood. She extended a hoof to touch his forehead but quickly slapped away.
“Don’t touch me.” He said angrily.
“Are you sick, Raincloud? Are you taking any medication?” she asked quietly, now starting to really worry.
“Of course not, silly. I’m healthy as a horse,” the grey Pegasus giggled.
“What did you eat today?” she asked again, standing up and slowly stepping closer.
“I don’t know…” he said in a sad tone again.
She managed to touch Raincloud’s forehead and she confirmed that he has a normal temperature. Then her hoof got slapped away again by Raincloud, with anger in his eyes.
“Well.” Redheart said, slowly stepping backwards. “It seems that you have a normal temperature. Now, may I ask you what are you doing in the Everfree forest?” She asked with a worried expression on her face.
“Well.” Raincloud giggled. “I got fired from my job at the Cloudsdale weather factory because I wasn’t brave enough. Then, I got a friend that suggest that I should get a mushroom from the Everfree as a proof to my boss that I am brave enough.” He said trying to stifle a giggle.
“I see…” she said, tapping her chin. “What mushroom you are seeking for?” she asked again, trying to confirm her worry.
“Muria mushroom.” He said again, his voice quivering in sadness. “But I ate it.”
“What?!” Redheart exclaimed worriedly. “Are you insane? Muria mushroom is one of the dangerous mushrooms in the Everfree forest. If anypony eats it, the mushroom slowly causes the pony to enter a coma with a few side effects.” She explained panicky.
“It was an accident, okay?!” Raincloud yelled in anger. “I accidentally swallowed because there was a manticore that scared the flank out of me and I accidentally swallowed in attempt to gasp.” He said in a huff. “Besides, I don’t feel anything weird happening to me anyway.”
“Now that is where you are wrong.” Redheart said frantically rummages in the medical box. She continued to explain as her head was still in the box, “You already showed all of the side effects of the mushroom. You have to control of your balance and you are experiencing from a serious mood swings.”
“What? That’s silly. I’m perfectly fin-“before he could finish, he felt a needle was inserted to his shoulder. He looked at the syringe from Redheart’s mouth and he slowly losing his vision. He felt like the world was spinning around him until it fades into the darkness.
Nurse Redheart pulls out the syringe from Raincloud’s shoulder and muttered, “Sorry.” It was the only to be sure that Raincloud would be safe at the moment. She quickly dropped the syringe back into the box and began to trot quickly to the clinic’s bookshelf. “No… no… no… not you…” she muttered as she frantically searches a specific book. “Aha!” she cheered as she found the book she was looking for, ‘Supernatural’.
She quickly turned the pages to find a specific entry. She stopped when she found it. Redheart read that Muria mushroom poisoning can be cured by mixing the mushroom with a few chemical solutions. She knew that the entire chemicals needed were there and she only needs the mushroom. She quickly put on her saddlebags, filling it with the chemicals needed and a vial. Then she galloped towards the Everfree forest, leaving the unconscious Pegasus on the clinic’s bed.
Nurse Redheart bravely galloped into the Everfree forest, frantically looking everywhere to find the mushroom. She entered through where she had found Raincloud and started her search from there. She heard a few non-pony sounds from far ahead but she continued nonetheless. Her determination lies on saving a pony’s life. Her love to save lives is far more than her fear of the Everfree forest.
Her paced slowed as she saw an orange glow ahead. She smiled as she approached the mushroom. She crushed the mushroom with a nearby rock and took a little piece of it and put it into the vial. She took out the chemicals and poured a little about of it in to the vial as well. She sealed the vial with a cork and shook it until the chemical solution turn into a glowing orange liquid.
She was pleased by the result and gingerly put the vial in her saddlebag. She started to gallop home then suddenly she stop as a manticore was slowly approaching her from she came from. The manticore slowly approached its prey with extended claw. Nurse Redheart’s eyes shrunk until it looked like a dot on a white plate. She let out a scream.
At the same moment, Raincloud groggily got out from the bed and looked around if somepony was with him. He noticed that he was alone. He wobbled away from the bed until he saw an open book on top of a desk nearby. He looked at it and saw it was a procedure on how to make the cure for the Muria mushroom. He giggled as he read the procedure and stopped as he looked at one material that is required. A worried look began to creep onto his face and began to gallop back into the forest. Although he kept losing his balance but it was not going to slow him down. He tried to fly but his wings were still unresponsive, he silently cursed at that and continued to gallop as fast as he could.
He entered the forest from where Redheart found him. He began to pant out of fatigue and the effect of the mushroom that was taking over him. He heard a scream from far ahead and with that, he doubled his speed to the direction of the sound.
He finally entered a clearing and saw Redheart was taking cover between two large trees, avoiding the furious swipes of the manticore. He saw fear in her eyes and it made him more determine to save her.
“Hey!” he called out to the beast. “Come and get me.” He challenged the manticore by showing it a smug grin.
The manticore replied by giving out a primal roar and charged to the staggering stallion. It dug its claw into the dirt and launched itself into the air, ready to pouch the pony. Raincloud quickly dodged the pounce and quickly turned around. He bucked as hard as he could but he hit nothing but the air, his attack missed as he lost his balance.
The manticore jumped high into the air, ready to pounce once more. Raincloud quickly stood up and jumped to his side. He avoided the attack by only several centimeters. He took this chance as he mustered all the energy he that he had and bucked the manticore’s head. This time his attack connected, causing a few of the manticore’s teeth to fly out from its mouth. It gave a painful whimper and flew away in defeat.
Redheart saw the whole incident and she was impressed by Raincloud’s bravery and strength. But she panicked as she saw Raincloud’s body fell onto the ground with a loud thud. She quickly galloped to him and slowly shaking the panting Pegasus.
“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.
“I’m tired and my vision is getting darker.” Raincloud said between breaths.
“Oh!” she exclaimed and quickly pulled out the cure from her saddlebag. She pulled out the cork and slowly poured it into Raincloud’s mouth. She could feel Raincloud’s breath became slower in every second and then, a few moments later. It stopped.
Redheart’s eyes widened in shock as Raincloud was no longer breathing. “No…” she muttered slowly. “NO!” she yelled in to the sky. “Wake up!” she said, shaking Raincloud body. “Wake up, please!” she pleaded. “Please…” she slowly said, a tear fell from her eyes.
For the first time in her career, no, life… she failed saving a life. She supposes to save somepony’s life not the other way around. She hung her head and lastly slowly muttered, “I’m sorry.”
Just after she finished muttering, Raincloud inhaled a lungful of air, eyes widening. Then he coughed out some bits of undigested mushroom. He tried to sit up but he was quickly in an embrace.
“You’re alive.” Redheart said, completely relieved.
“Y-y-yes.” Raincould stammered, returning the embrace.
“I thought you were gone.” Redheart continued.
“I was?” he asked, surprised.
“Yeah…” she said as she broke the embrace. “Also, thank you for saving me.” She continued, looking embarrassed.
“Likewise.” He said, giving a soft smile. Then he looked at the brightening sky. “Hey, it is about time we head home.”
“Yes.” She replied, standing up to her hooves.
“Want a ride?” he asked, smiling sheepishly.
“Are you sure you are fit for flying?” she asked, worry began to creep in her voice.
Raincloud flapped his wings a few times for confirmation and smiled. “Yup.” He said simply.
“Okay.” Redheart said as she approached Raincloud.
Raincloud lowered himself and letting Redheart climbed on his back. He flapped his wings for a few times. He looked back over his shoulder and said, “Hold on tight.”
Redheart replied by grabbing his neck with a little bit more force. Raincloud took that as a ‘yes’ and quickly flew up into the sky. Redheart slowly opened her eyes and completely amazed by the view. She could see the sun was slowly rising in the horizon in front of her and the meadow that surround Ponyville. She let out a small excited yell into the air. Raincloud could only smile for her excitement.
He was getting closer to Ponyville and he felt a tapped on his shoulder. “Hey.” Redheart called out despite the wind made her voice muffled. This made Raincloud to reduce his speed.
“Yeah?” he answered back.
“Are you still looking for a job?” she asked softly.
“Yeah, why?” he asked back, wondering why she was asking about that.
“Well.” She said, holding Raincloud’s neck tighter. “I was wondering if you want to be a mailpony for the clinic. I need somepony to help me deliver the medicine to the patients.” She answered sheepishly.
Raincloud let out a soft smile even though Nurse Redheart could not see it. “Will I be seeing you again?” He asked, looking behind him with a wide smile.
“Everyday.” She answered, giving a wink.
Raincloud chuckled and said, “When can I start?”