Night had fallen and the moon shone brightly through the tree thicket. The only sounds that could be heard were the lonesome hoofsteps of the injured and lost Pegasus. Broadsword didn’t know where he was nor where he was heading, but he knew that for whatever reason he had to get as far from where Crescent Moon was as possible. Thoughts of the dark blue mare ran through his mind, why did she want him to run? Why was she so sad? Who was the friend that said thank you? These questions circled his head, but trying to remember anything from before the moment he met her was painful.
Deciding to take a break the Pegasus stallion took a seat next to a fallen tree, as he leant back against and let his back rest against the tree’s trunk he noticed something strange… Why wasn’t he tired? It had been several hours since he’d begun running and yet he felt fine almost like it was early in the afternoon. “Maybe I’m nocturnal” He thought aloud, but his thoughts were a lot more focused on trying to remember his past. Nonetheless this little snippet of information was something he could hold onto; at least he now knew more than just his name, still this was little comfort to him.
Moments passed he sat there thinking what he should do next until a commotion from the bushes caught his attention something was coming and whatever it was it was big! The stallion struggled to his hooves knowing that he was in no shape to brave whatever was on its way; the noises grew louder as the creature approached and taking the only safe path Broadsword ducked down a near embankment. He staggered down the slope like a foal learning to walk with every patch of mud causing him to lose balance and slip. With the beast drawing ever nearer Broadsword had no choice but to try to hide in the bramble thicket, he knew it would hurt but it was better than facing whatever was stalking him.
Broadsword felt his heart race when the beast came into sight; its snarling fangs and sharp claws were unmistakable as being those of the feared chimera. The monster thundered through the trees smashing any that blocked it to splinters, it could smell the dried blood on Broadsword’s coat and easily found him in the thick patch of brambles. Broadsword tried to evade the beast but it was too close and with a mighty blow it swatted the Pegasus and threw him like a rag doll into a thick oak tree. As the Pegasus pony tried to stand he found himself quickly smashed back down, the pain from each hit causing him to cry out. As the beast rose its claw for another blow Broadsword instinctively flicked a small pebble into the chimera’s eye, the beast recoiled in pain giving Broadsword an opening to make his escape. He rolled out of the way of the chimera’s clumsy steps and quickly staggered to his hooves, using the last strength in his legs he fled to the edge of the forest which stood atop a steep cliff. With the beast recovered and time running short the brown Pegasus decided to take a leap of faith to try to land in the river below.
He hit the water with his full weight causing him to scream out in pain and swallow a lot of water, but at least he was out of the chimera’s reach however this moment of respite was cut short when he noticed the waterfall that was mere feet away. All he could do was brace for the fall and hope that the water below wasn’t hiding any rocks, as the current dragged him over the edge the last thing he saw was the moonlight peering over the dark silhouette of the forest.
***
Trixie awoke to the sound of a loud cry coming from the water fall near where she had chosen to camp out, she didn’t know what it was, but she had to investigate it. Grapping her cape the azure mare galloped out of her caravan and headed to the edge of the river, an anxious feeling grew in her heart as she watched the silhouetted figure fall from the peak of the falls. Trixie made haste and ran as fast as she could to try to catch the rapidly falling figure with her magic; the lavender glow from her horn caught the figure as they hit the water, the strain on her power was immense but she dug deep and managed to pull the figure to the shore.
After she had placed the figure on the bank of the river Trixie moved closer to inspect what had fallen from the cliff above, but on examination she discovered that the figure that she’d saved was a large Pegasus stallion. He looked badly hurt and worse it looked like he’d swallowed a lot of water, the light blue mare’s heart raced what if he had drowned? What if he was dead? These thoughts had to be pushed from her mind, there were more important things to do than wonder on what ifs; she knew what she had to do. She had to try muzzle to muzzle it was the only way to clear the water from his lungs, but… she had never kissed anypony before and this was just like that, the very thought of pressing her lips against somepony else’s made her blush. Still, there was no time to worry about that somepony’s life hung in the balance.
The young mare drew closer as her heart beat grew more rapid, it felt like it would burst from her chest; she took a deep breath and leaned in to the other pony until at last their lips touched. Her breath filled the other pony’s lungs and she leant back to take another deep breath before repeating the act. After a few attempts the stallion coughed up the water and started breathing rapidly, he was alive but still not in the best of states; she didn’t want to but she had to take him to ponyville to see a doctor.
Trixie leant her head down using her teeth to grip the cloak around his neck and begun dragging him to her caravan, but his body was very heavy which caused the small pale blue mare to slip several times before she finally managed to put him in the mobile home. After fixing the harness to her back she headed towards the town that brought her so many bad memories. The azure mare wasn’t very popular in ponyville due to her less than truthful boasts, but she wasn’t a bad pony she was just a performer why couldn’t the other ponies have understood that? Her thoughts drifted to the fateful night she when she was humiliated by the one mare she never wanted to see again; Twilight Sparkle. As she grew ever more anxious about going to ponyville, her stallion cargo had begun fading in and out of consciousness.
***
With a groan Broadsword opened his eyes to catch brief glimpses out of the window at the front of the caravan, it was still very dark and the moonlight wasn’t as prominent as it was when he had fallen, but that however didn’t stop it shining off of the silver mane and tail that was pulling the trailer. The mere sight of the azure unicorn with the silver mane was breath taking to say the least and he found himself staring at her almost entranced by her beauty, but each glimpse was just that has his consciousness faded and drifted off into sleep again.
***
Hours had passed since Trixie had saved the stallion with her magic, but no matter how fast she walked she was no closer to the hospital on the other side of town; the silver maned unicorn was exhausted and her cargo wasn’t doing much better. If she couldn’t find help soon the stallion in her trailer could die, but fate is a strange force and as luck would have it at that moment a yellow Pegasus came racing across Trixie’s path chasing after her pet bunny. The Pegasus tried to slow herself, but to no avail and the two mares collided sending each other flying in the process. It was at this moment Trixie realised that she could ask the Pegasus mare for help and she leapt over to pin the other pony beneath her.
“The great and powerful Trixie requires your aid, there’s a stallion in my wagon that needs immediate treatment.” she said in her usual habit of speaking in the thirdpony.
“Um…” the confused yellow mare squeaked before turning he head to see in the window of the caravan.
“Oh my gosh what happened?”
“The great and powerful Trixie found him falling from a cliff and saved him, but… he seems hurt. Please I beg you help me.” The pale blue mare stared into the pink eyes of the yellow pony, her eyes filled with concern at Trixie’s statement and she felt compelled to help; if not for Trixie’s sake then for the stallion’s at least.
“O…ok I’ll help, please help me take him to my cottage… it’ll be um… easier to check his wounds, if you don’t mind” the yellow pony was still fighting her shyness as she went with Trixie to her cottage.
“I…I…Um I’m Fluttershy” she stated in a softened tone while hooking her forelegs under the brown Pegasus’s front legs, Trixie did the same for his hind legs and the two mares carried him in to Fluttershy’s cottage.
Fluttershy worked deep into the earliest hours of the morning to bandage the injured stallion’s wounds with her faithful (if rather rude) pet bunny named angel playing the role of assistant. Trixie paced back and forth, true she didn’t know the Pegasus but nopony wants to see another pony hurt or at least she didn’t want that. Hours passed and Trixie began biting her hoof in anxiety, a habit that she hadn’t done since she was a filly; the azure mare found herself trying to sneak into the ‘operating room’ but whenever she got close thoughts of things she didn’t want to see entered her mind and discouraged her from entering.
After many hours of treatment, Fluttershy finally exited her room looking exhausted; her hooves were covered in blood from the wounds the stallion had all over his body but at least he was fixed up now.
“Miss Fluttershy, the great and powerful Trixie wishes to know how he is” Trixie was concerned but her attitude didn’t change at all, she still spoke in the thirdpony and she still spoke as if she were royalty; but Fluttershy could tell she was genuinely worried so she ignored the façade.
“Uh um yes.. well.. he’s fine but… his err cutie mark is..” The yellow mare was cut short by Trixie who blurted out her question “what of his wings?! And what of his cutie mark?”
“His wings are… um bad, but they will heal… um.. he won’t … erm… fly again.” She said sadly “and his cutie mark isn’t there… I mean he um …doesn’t have one.” Fluttershy announced in a bit of disbelief herself.
“What do you mean he doesn’t have a cutie mark?” Trixie demanded and stepped towards the room where Fluttershy had left the brown Pegasus to rest.
“wait… but… erm..” she squeaked being ignored by the unicorn mare, who was getting closer to the door.
“WAAAAAAAAAAIITT!” The yellow mare cried out to the sudden surprise of the azure unicorn.
“You have to let him rest … um… I mean please.” she said sheepishly, Trixie turned to face the shy mare but no matter how she thought about it she couldn’t make an argument to justify her waking the stallion up. “Fine, the great and powerful Trixie will wait.” And with that she sat down on Fluttershy’s sofa.
“Um… Trixie? Are you not going to your trailer? I… I... mean if you don’t mind.” Fluttershy timidly asked as she sat down next to Trixie.
“The great and powerful Trixie will stay here and grace you with her presence while she waits.” The unicorn mare boldly stated, to which her yellow host could only reply.
“…okay…”
***
The sun rose high above and it was getting close to noon, Broadsword felt the warmth of the sunlight hit his muzzle and stirred from his slumber.
“ugh!” the stallion grunted as he turned on his side and put pressure on his wing, the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as it was last night now it was just uncomfortable. Broadsword quickly realised that there was something wrong, where was he? This was a bed not the rocks beneath a waterfall and his wounds were now bandaged, but most curious of all were the voices outside the room where he lay.
“Fluttershy what’s Trixie doing here?”
“Hello Twilight how are you feeling since yesterday?”
“The great and powerful Trixie is waiting if you must know.”
”Erm.. she brought.. the…”
“what do you mean you’re waiting?”
“Trixie is waiting that is all you should know.”
“Um… she brought… him with her”
“Did you say he was an adult blank flank? Oh goodie goodie goodie I’ve never seen one before, maybe he’ll wanna be friends and we can go have a super special ultra mega get your cutie mark party.”
“Er.. I don’t think that’s a good… erm… idea…”
“Seriously? He’s an adult blank flank that is so lame! He should have found his talent by now.”
“Ohohohohohoho!!! Maybe is super special talent is doing nothing or maybe it’s an invisible cutie mark can you get those?”
“Pinkie do you even hear what you’re saying?”
“Well duh of course I hear what I’m saying Dashie otherwise that would be weird, oh what if I can only hear what I say after I say it or before or maybe…”
It seemed that the conversation (or rather conversations) outside the room was largely dominated by the subject of a stallion without a cutie mark, but who was it? And still how did he get here? there was no mention of him. Just as those thoughts crossed his mind he realised, where was his cloak? The cloak that Crescent Moon had given him was nowhere to be seen, maybe it was lost in the waters; either way he needed to explore what was going on. Broadsword struggled to climb down from the bed, but after a few moments of discomfort he finally had his hooves on the ground.
His wings were still very sore and his muscles weren’t much better, but at least he was alive; whoever had helped him deserved his thanks and it was only fair that he try to pay them back for their kindness. Broadsword stepped closer to the door, but as he drew closer it swung open and in rushed a pink pony riding a cannon that was firing confetti. Strangely this didn’t seem to shock the other ponies but the sudden surprise of the door bursting open and being face to face with a cannon had caused Broadsword dive backwards and flatten himself against the wall.
As the pink pony was pushed aside by the others and a purple unicorn stepped closer to the now panicked Pegasus.
“Hello, I’m Twilight…”
“Make way for the great and powerful Trixie” The purple mare was cut off abruptly by the obnoxious azure unicorn forcing her way through.
“Look upon me, your saviour in gratitude” she stated in the usual manner and moved closer to the Pegasus.
“Now can I talk Trixie?”
“You may.”
The two unicorn mares stared at each other like dogs about to fight over a piece of meat, but then the purple mare turned to face Broadsword again.
“Ahem! As I was saying I’m Twilight Sparkle, what’s your name?”
“Erm… My name is Broadsword, who are all of you?” he asked, finally getting himself calmed down enough to get his thoughts in order.
“Oh, that’s right! Where are my manners?” the purple mare thought aloud. “the mares in here with us are, Fluttershy”
“oh um.. hello” the yellow mare said shyly and hid behind pinkie who then blurted out her introduction.
“Hi I’m Pinkie Pie nice to meet you! Oh I need to get you a party ready *gasp!* that reminds me I have my welcome wagon and cake cannon ready outside, why wouldn’t you let me bring them in Twilight?” she rambled on to herself for some time after but the others payed her no attention so they could finish their own introductions.
“If you were wondering who the awesome mare you see before you is, her name is the fantastic Rainbow Dash!!” the blue mare with the rainbow coloured mane said almost boasting as much as the azure mare that followed.
“And I am the great and powerful Trixie! I am the one who saved you from that horrific fall and single hoofedly brought you here, you may now look upon me with awe.”
“and.. um I… bandaged you…” Fluttershy interjected as she revealed herself again.
This odd gathering of mares made Broadsword uncomfortable not because they themselves were odd but because he felt so out of place.
“well miss Trixie and miss Fluttershy, thank you for your kindness and erm… if its not much trouble could you tell me where my cape is?” the stallion asked feeling a little naked without the garment
.
“Oh of course, Fluttershy can you go get it and girls please wait in the lounge we’ll be out soon. I just have a few questions that I need to ask him. ” Twilight said gesturing to the other ponies to leave the room, but Trixie paid no attention to the purple mare and stood looking at Broadsword with a great deal of concern secretly hidden in her eyes.
“You too Trixie.” Twilight commanded, still Trixie ignored the order and simply made a statement of her own.
“The great and powerful Trixie wishes to stay and look after the stallion who owes his life to her.” And with that the azure mare sat next to Broadsword.
“Okay?” Twilight was kind of confused by the sudden change in Trixie’s attitude; in fact she found it a little unnerving in a way.
“Alright. So, Broadsword where did you come from? And what we’re all more interested in is why don’t you have your cutie mark?” the purple unicorn asked while preparing to take notes on the peculiar Pegasus’s answers.
“I’m not so sure where I came from but I do know that… wait? My cutie mark?!” he looked down at his own flank. “what? Where is it?!” he panicked as he patted the area it was supposed to be, clearly he didn’t know he was a blank flank and this was all knew to him.
“So you didn’t know? This is fascinating. Do you even remember what it was? Or have you ever had one?” Twilight inquired further.
The questions were causing Broadsword’s head to hurt and he cried out in pain. “Aahh I don’t remember! Leave me alone!”
The purple mare stood astounded by his outburst. “I…I…I…I’m…” she stammered, she’d never seen anypony do that to a few simple questions. Broadsword clutched his head and tried to calm the pain, but it was no use the stabbing pains wouldn’t subside. The sight of him in such a state forced Trixie to step up.
“Twilight Sparkle you’ve done enough! All you’ve done is cause him more anguish, just leave Twilight before you hurt him some more!” Trixie’s attitude really had changed it was a side that Twilight, neigh, nopony had seen before and if she was honest Twilight felt that Trixie was right, she had pushed too far with her questions.
“Alright Trixie, I’ll go wait with the others and Broadsword? I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry.” Twilight said and quietly left the room.
Trixie turned back and put her front leg around the stallion, this was a lot for him to take in and the last thing he needed was a barrage of questions.
“Its okay, I wont ask you anything. Trixie will just wait with you till the pain stops. ” Her voice had softened and her usual cocky demeanour was dropped. Now, there with the injured stallion sat the true Trixie, a kind and very compassionate pony who knew exactly what he was going through because there was still a lot of pain from her past that was too painful to remember. ..