//------------------------------// // Counteraction // Story: A New Face in Ponyville // by MeowthRocket //------------------------------// Note: The song towards the end of this chapter is called "Gaeta's Lament" from the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took nearly two hours for Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie to come back into the hospital room and for them all to tell the teen what had happened. Twilight was in the other room now with her dragon assistant writing a letter to Celestia, probably one of the most horrifying ones she'd ever had to write. She knew she needed to dictate it in private, otherwise somepony would either puke again from the description or just start weeping. Dear Princess Celestia. It is with grave sadness I write to you now. This is not a scroll telling of a lesson of friendship, rather of a lesson of hate. Joshua, the human you had sent to help us learn more in the ways of friendship and wisdom from his world, is now resting in a hospital bed barely awake from a savage beating. Thoroughbred Phelps and the Equestria Pony Alliance were the ones responsible. They burned his legs nearly to ashes and cut him so bad he lost over 2 pints of blood. Dr. Whooves said it was a miracle he wasn't dead when we rescued him. It's gonna take a few days for the doctor to be able to conjure up enough magic to repair his injuries and none of us are going to leave his side until he's better. We need you to come here... Thoroughbred... all of them... they need to be punished. This is beyond unforgivable... Luna herself would have been sick at what they did. Fluttershy already DID get sick... and I don't blame her. I fear if they're not dealt with, they may go after Josh again... and possibly us. Please... help. Fearfully, Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle As she finished using her magic to write the letter, she couldn't help but swallow a lump in her throat, hoping that the princess got there quick. She had never been so scared, not when Luna had threatened eternal night, not when the parasprites had almost eaten Ponyville, not even when Fluttershy had taken Celestia's pet bird in a misguided attempt to heal it. Rolling it up, she gave it to the dragon, who took a deep breath and blew it into a green flame, watching it dissolve as it was sent to the princess. It was then Spike turned to Twilight Sparkle and looked at her in fear. "Twilight... do you really think they could come after us? Just because we're friends with a human?" The unicorn lowered her head, trying to hide the fear in her face. "I don't know, Spike... but I wouldn't put it past them now... to do this to any living thing... I fear that they-" "SEND HIM AWAY! SEND HIM AWAY!" Hearing the loud chanting outside the hospital windows, Twilight looked at Spike in horror. "It can't be...", she whispered before the two of them ran to the window, her friends quickly running in after her. It was too quick that her suspicions were confirmed as they all saw a group of ponies standing outside the building and chanting, some of them waving signs. "Twilight, they... they ain't...", Applejack started to ask in disgust, only to get a sickened nod from her. "They're... they're insane!", Fluttershy whimpered, holding onto Twilight in fear. "HUMANS GO TO HELL! HUMANS GO TO HELL!" "What in the name of Celestia is...", the calm voice of Dr. Whooves started to say as he walked over to where the others were standing. But when he saw the crowd below, his eyes widened and he found himself in absolute dismay. "Oh dear lord..." "They really want him gone... don't they.", Rarity asked Twilight, concern in her voice. But the unicorn didn't even have a chance to answer before Rainbow Dash screamed. "OK, THAT'S IT!" Puffing a gust of smoke from her nostrils, she turned and dashed out of the room towards the main entrance. Quickly, the others followed after her, sans Fluttershy who stuck behind to watch over the weakened teen, and found themselves looking at the same group of ponies that had been protesting before, only now it appeared it'd gathered its entire community. Some of them even had signs in their hooves that made Rarity turn pale, the messages with words that she would never let Sweetie Belle say. Rainbow Dash though was by far the angriest and she did not make any attempt to hide her rage. "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL?", she screamed, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" "We want you to send that demon away.. and for you all to go with him!", Thoroughbred sneered, the sign in his hoof reading a vile hateful message. "What?", Twilight gasped, unsure she'd heard that right. "You all accept this... CREATURE... into Ponyville... you're no better than him!" "You DARE talk that way to us?", Rarity growled, her eyes blazing, "Do you know who we are?" "Yer outta yer apple-pickin' MINDS if ya think ya can talk ta us like that!", Applejack added, gritting her teeth. "Yeah! Whatever happened to friendship and kindne-", Pinkie Pie started to say, but a shout from Thoroughbred cut her off. "ENOUGH! CELESTIA WOULD NEVER ALLOW A VILE HUMAN IN OUR SACRED LAND! IF YOU WERE ALL LOYAL CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA, YOU WOULD HAVE TURNED HIM AWAY! INSTEAD YOU WELCOMED HIS DISEASED FLESH INTO OUR PURITY! FOR THAT, YOU ALL MUST BE SENT AWAY, NEVER TO RETURN!" At this, Spike whimpered and hid behind Twilight Sparkle scared half to death. "Make them stop! Make them stop!", he cried. "ONLY THE PURE ARE ALLOWED IN EQUESTRIA! PONIES, UNICORNS, PESAGI! THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO BELONG... HELL EVEN THAT FILTHY DRAGON OF YOURS DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE HERE! IF IT WEREN'T FOR CELESTIA, HE'D HAVE BEEN TAKEN AWAY LONG AGO!" "If it hadn't been for me... none of you would be here..." The calm voice echoed into their ears and as Thoroughbred turned, he found himself looking straight at the faces of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, all the other ponies on their forehooves in respect. But Thoroughbred merely laughed in delight. "Finally! You can dispell this filthy human from our beautiful land! Return it to the purity it righ-" "Enough, Thoroughbred...", Celestia whispered in a voice that Twilight, nor any of her friends, had ever heard before. Gone were all the tones of compassion and kindness, replaced only with disbelief and anger. It was almost like Nightmare Moon had taken over her too, "Twilight has told me all you did..." "Wonderful! We have served you well by nearly dispatching that filthy beast! All we need is for you to cast him and those blasphemous pon-" "YOU WILL HOLD YOUR TONGUE!", Luna yelled, making Thoroughbred back away in fright, before she nodded at her older sister to continue. "I will be casting someone away... but it won't be Joshua or any of his new friends... no..." Celestia leaned her head down to where her snout was touching Thoroughbred's before she said the next part. "It will be you and your clan... get out of my kingdom..." At overhearing this, Twilight and her friends let out a cheer as Thoroughbred gasped for air. "Surely... you can't be serious! I'm one of the chosen! I'm pure!" "I brought Joshua here to help Twilight and all of Ponyville learn more about friendship and even take in his wisdom.", she growled loud enough to where all Thoroughbred's followers, Twilight Sparkle, and all her friends could hear, "and you all... you nearly killed him. I don't even know if he'll want to stay here after what you and your group did. I have never heard of such abhorrent behavior, not even from Luna. On top of this... you have your own filly daughter use her magic to trap him and leave him for dead... I will make sure she and all your other fillies are taken into better homes where I can only hope they will be able to have all you've taught them about hate and prejudice washed away... and you and all your elder followers... you have 1 hour to get out of Equestria before I have my guards throw you into Luna's dungeon... and believe me... she would love to have prisoners down there..." The cheers from Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were uproarious. Thoroughbred was being cast away by the same one he claimed to defend! "How's it feel to be cast away?", Rainbow Dash mocked. "Yeah, you big mean meanie pants!", Pinkie Pie added, sticking her tongue out at them. "But... but... this can't be...", the gray pony struggled to speak, unable to accept all this was happening. "Ya heard her, Phelps!", Applejack grinned, "Now get yer group and get the heck outta here!" "No... NO!", Thoroughbred screamed, his mind finally snapping, "NO! CELESTIA'S GONE MAD! IF SHE WON'T CAST HIM AWAY... I'LL DO IT MYSELF!" This horrified even some of his own followers, having never seen Thoroughbred talk back like that to the one he claimed to protect, and a couple of them shirked away in disgust. "I'm out...", a black pegasus murmured as he took his young colt out of the group. "He's going against orders from Celestia... he's not trying to defend her at all..." a green unicorn added, breaking away from the mob. "This is just shameful... he probably just wanted to kill that human to make Equestria in his own image...", Elrad muttered, "I'm done with this... I'm not letting him take me away from my home!" Thoroughbred could hear some of his followers voicing their dismay and it was all that was needed for the last few strands of his sanity to be severed. "So... so you all dare shun the purity of Equestria? Well me and my few loyal followers will gladly be watching you all from heaven while you all burn in the flames of armaggeddon... STARTING WITH YOUR PRECIOUS HUMAN MESSIAH!" and before anyone could stop him, Thoroughbred dashed into the hospital and started searching for the teen, taking a scalpel from one of the nearby trays and holding it in his teeth in anticipation to plunge it into the human. But he never even got into the corridor before a yellow hoof made contact with the side of his head, knocking him out and standing up by him, with an angered look on her face... was a normally timid yellow pegasus who now bore an expression of almost motherly protection. "You will not hurt him... ever again!", Fluttershy growled before she looked back towards the room where her new friend was. She had heard everything and wasn't about to let the boy be hurt anymore... "Even the Element of Kindness has a breaking point after all..", she thought to herself proudly as she listened to the hoofsteps of the other ponies rushing in... -------------------------------------------------------- Only 10 minutes had passed since Thoroughbred and his followers had been carted off to Celestia's palace to await judgement, Luna openly promising to make sure their punishment was severe. The mane 6, Spike, and Dr. Whooves were all crowded around the teen, telling him what had happened. "So now Thoroughbred's being taken away to Celestia's palace, hopefully getting the book thrown at 'em!", Applejack finished as she got done explaining to him what happened. "We understand if you want to go home...", Fluttershy said sadly, "You've been through a lot..." "You were brought here for a noble purpose... and you nearly died instead...", Twilight sighed as she bowed her head. Josh hadn't said a word through the whole thing and it had made her realize he couldn't even bear to talk to them anymore... and she didn't blame him. "Come on, girls... Let's go... I'll get Celestia to send him back home." But as they turned and got halfway to the door, they heard a voice croak behind them. "There is no home for me to go to..." Turning around, they could see the teen struggling to sit up in his bed, the bandages on his chest preventing him from doing so smoothly. "What do you mean, sugar?", Applejack asked. "I have no home to go to...", Josh repeated, "My parents were in an accident 5 years ago... I don't know whether they're alive or dead anymore... The rest of my immediate family blames me for their disappearance and I don't know why... This... this was the first real home I had in 5 years since I lost everything... If it wasn't for Celestia visiting me, I'd be still in a dark empty lonely house... But maybe... maybe the darkness is what I deserve... maybe Thoroughbred was right... I don't belong here..." "No! Please don't say that!", Fluttershy spoke up, her voice louder than even Pinkie Pie's and surprising everyone around her, "Josh you didn't deserve what they did!" "Fluttershy...", Rarity whispered in amazement. She had never seen the timid pegasus so fired up, not even at the gala. "Joshua, you said you were brought here for a reason... to help US! But I know now why she brought you here... she could see the sadness you were hiding!" "Fluttershy, calm down!", Twilight tried to say, but the pegasus was steaming and she wasn't about to let her words go unsaid. "She could see the purity in you! She could see a good heart! Thoroughbred's heart is empty and he wanted to make everyone else as empty as him!" "Yeah!", Rainbow Dash added, her own spirit getting raised, "You have been awesome to get to know! You can't let those... those... those ASSHOLES let you think otherwise! You are beyond awesome and they will never be able to take that away from you!" "YEAH! Those mean meanie pants shouldn't be allowed to make you sad!", Pinkie Pie added as well. "You're a wonderful person!", Rarity piped in, "Those creeps wouldn't know that since they can't see through the darkness not just in their hearts... but in their very souls!" "Sugar, I wouldn't trust those EPA creeps as far as I could throw 'em! You helped me wit' Applebloom and you helped me at the farm! No one selfish would ever do that!", Applejack chirped in. "Josh, in only the short time you've been here you've already made friends with nearly the whole town!", Twilight finished, "I don't think even I was able to do that so quick!" "Yeah...", Josh croaked coldly, "And I bet you haven't gotten the living hell beaten out of you either, leaving you tied to trees and left to die..." "Josh... please don't say that...", Fluttershy whimpered, her voice returning to its normal softness. "Josh, please stay...", Rainbow Dash cried, "We want you to stay... I... I..." Before Josh could do anything, Rainbow Dash had leaned in and hugged the teen, the tears streaming down her face. She rarely let the others see her cry, but right now she didn't care... she didn't want to lose him... "I... I love you...", she whispered. Josh found himself at a sheer loss for words... he hadn't heard those words in so long. He had long forgotten they even existed. But here was a pegasus he had only known all of a few hours telling him just that... and it felt amazing... but yet at the same time he didn't know... he didn't know if he could feel safe there... "I... I just need some rest... a chance to think... Rainbow Dash.. if you want to stay you can... But I just... I just want to sleep..." Without another word, the teen shut his eyes and sank back into the pillow, leaving 7 ponies and a dragon looking at him as he drifted off. But as he began to dream, they could see something that gave them all hope... The faint traces of a smile were forming on his battered face. Rainbow Dash knew then her words had sunk into the teen and she gave him a tearful smile. "C'mon girls.", Twilight Sparkle quivered, her voice choked up in spite of her normal demeanor, "Let's let him get some rest..." And with that, they all left the teen to slumber, hopefully having sweet dreams free of the trauma that had been haunting him for so long... As he watched them leave, Josh could see Doctor Whooves approaching with the knife... it was time for all the dead flesh to be removed and for the shards of metal to finally be extracted since not even their magic would be skilled enough to heal his injuries without them cutting into him. Because of the extent of his wounds, the pony needed the teen to stay awake to make sure he didn't cause brain damage from the piece of the knife that had gotten wedged in his head. "Are you ready, Josh...", the brown-maned pony asked as the other surgeon ponies approached. Josh nodded and he shut his eyes tight, bracing himself for the first cut... It hurt worse than anything that had ever hurt before, feeling them starting to gently cut a hole in his skull. The tubes in his nose allowed him the oxygen to stay conscious through the procedure and as he listened to the beeping of the monitor next to his bed... he began to sing, as if to distract himself from his pain... Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man... With my three wishes clutched in her hand... The first that she be spared the pain... That comes from a dark and laughing rain... When she finds love may it always stay true... This I beg for the second wish I made too.. But wish no more... My life you can take... To have her please just one day wake... It was then the pain grew too immense and he groaned, gasping violently, before he passed out. He could hear their voices echoing out as he faded into the darkness... "Doctor Colton, stabilize him!" "Saddler, get his heart rate stable!" "Josh, can you hear me? Can you hear me?" ------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 hours later, Josh woke back up... the darkness vanishing instantly and leaving him looking around at an empty hospital room. Weakly raising a hand to his skull, he could feel the tight wrapping of a bandage covering his scalp and even the slight indentation where they'd made the incisions. Looking down, he could see his legs were bandaged up and covered in dried blood and he knew his chest was in the same shape... As a tear slowly fell down his cheek, the teen sang once more, his voice now choked up and mixed with the pain he could still feel. To have her please just one day wake... To have her please just one... day... wake...