//------------------------------// // Three Poisons // Story: The Strongest There Is // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// It wasn't a particulary large snake that had Fluttershy backed into a corner, nor would it have been able to resist her stare if she had decided to use it. Most of all, snakes and Fluttershy usually got along fine. The reason that this particual green and brown serpent was going out of control was because a hawk had happened to leave a row of talon marks in the snake's back, causing it considerable distress. The discomfort had driven the snake to do things that it would not normally do, like attack Angel Bunny (which nopony in its right mind would do) or try to bite the pony who was trying to help it. The poor snake was just in pain. "N-now Susie, I know y-you're hurt, but I can-EEP!" Fluttershy squeeled as the snake (named Susie) nearly bit her in the nose, making her retreat even further. Twilight and Banner weren't sure what to do, since the snake was too dangerously close to Fluttershy to try anything. Levitation would probably cause Susie to lash out at everything and maybe hit Fluttershy. "Twilight, can you do anything?" Banner asked in a whisper. "Hold on, I think I might have a spell that can calm her down," Twilight muttered as she started to concentrate her magic, letting it flow from her horn to the snake's back. Although the spell was supposed to heal the snake's injury, the moment the snake felt something from behind it immediately spun around and lashed out with its fangs at Twilight. Banner saw the movement and acted on reflex. "LOOK OUT!" he yelled as he pushed Twilight out of the way, placing himself between the snake and Twilight. "GAH!" Banner cried out as the fangs sunk into his skin. He could feel the poison begin to enter his body, but Susie let go almost right after she had bitten him. He watched as she sputtered violently and slithered towards the forest, still spitting. He looked down at his injury while Fluttershy and Twilight came to his aid. "Doctor Banner, are you alright?" Twilight asked in concern for the second time that day. "Oh dear, she didn't hurt you, did she?" the yellow pony with the pink mane called Fluttershy asked in equal concern. Banner nodded, preparing for the surfacing of the Hulk. But the rage never came and Banner remained Banner. He would have been relieved if he weren't bleeding. "Yeah, I think I'm fine," he muttered. That wasn't good enough for the two ponies. "We need to get you to the hospital right away," Twilight said firmly. Banner watched Fluttershy nod her head in agreement and he knew that there was no point in arguing. Twilight and Fluttershy ran off to the hospital with Banner following right behind them, looking closely at his puncture wounds. He watched with a grim face as the poison was completely overpowered by his gamma-infused blood cells, quickly making short work of the poison. If the doctor asked, he would just tell them that the snake never injected any venom into him. It was better than the truth. -----------=-------=----------=-----^----- Banner had to admit, the Ponyville Hospital was a lot more modern than he would have believed possible. While he was being rushed to the emergency center, he saw microphones, x-ray machines; even what looked like a fully electric-powered operating room. But that didn't make sense. If the ponies had the power to use electricity, why did they still use candles and lanterns. Or maybe that's all he had seen of Equestria so far and there was much more to be discovered. He was immediatly seen by a brown pony in a doctor's outfit, which caused Banner to raise his eyebrows a few times. Banner sat patiently on a bed while the doctor examined his arm. Things started to go down hill from there. "Well Doctor Banner, there seems to be no poison in your blood, from what I can see from examining it, and the wound should heal up nicely in a few days," the doctor muttered, looking at Banner's arm in interest. Banner was something of an interest in Ponyville now, and in the few hours he had been there, rumors had started to spread like wild fire. "So does that mean he's clear to go?" Fluttershy asked in a worried voice. "Yes, he should be fine," the doctor responded, causing the two ponies to sigh in relief. "However, I would like a quick blood sample to make sure the venom's completely gone." Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Alright Banner, just a quick blood sample and we can--" "No," Banner said in a flat voice, standing up off the bed. The doctor and the other two ponies looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean, no?" the doctor asked. "What I said. No blood samples, no needles; no." "Doctor Banner, I really need a blood sample. I will get one--" "And it will be the last thing you ever do." The doctor and Fluttershy slowly backed away from Banner, while Twilight looked at him in confusion. Why didn't he want to have his blood drawn? Was he deathly afraid of needles? And why was he acting like this. Even when Applejack had hog tied him outside her house, he had still retained his carefree nature. And...had his eyes always been that deep a green? She was about to say something, when the doors flew open and a nurse rushed in. "Doctor Cleancut, we need you immediatly! A foal has a ingested a very serious poison and the other three doctors are out!" "What, all of them?" the doctor asked in disbelief, forgetting about Banner for the time being. The two rushed out of the room, leaving the two ponies and Banner alone in the room. The moment the doctor left, Banner came back to reality and chased after the doctor. Twilight tried to follow, but was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. "Fluttershy, what's wrong?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy looked scared. "Your friend...Banner, why did he say that?" she asked in a frightened voice. Twilight looked to where he had rushed out the door and shook her head. "I don't know. I've never seen him act like that," Twilight said. 'Or seen his eyes glow green before,' she added to herself as the two chased after Banner. They found him in another room next to the doctor and nurse, all of them standing above a very sick foal on a bed. His mother was standing off to the side, a look of terror on her tear-stained face. The foal had white fur, but his face was blue and he was gasping for air. "Nurse, get me an anti poison potion," the doctor ordered, examining the foal. The nurse shook her head. "We're out. The shipment that was supposed to come in today got delayed," she replied in a panicked voice. The doctor swore between his teeth. "Do we have any healers on hand?" "Doctor Lifeline was the only doctor with us who can perform poison removal and he's on break." "Then go get him!" The nurse ran out of the room, while the doctor turned back to the bedside. It wasn't good, the foal didn't have long to live. "Get me charcoal." All the ponies turned to face Banner, who was now standing above the foal. "I SAID GET ME CHARCOAL!" he bellowed with green eyes and the doctor ran to where the charcoal was kept. He grabbed some from the cabinet and rushed back in. Banner grabbed the charcoal and handed it to Twilight. "I need you to get this above 600 degrees celsius. Can you do that?" Twilight gave him an odd look. "Yeah I can, but--" "Do it." Nopony was arguing with him at this point, so Twilight quickly super-heated the charcoal to what she assumed was the right tempurature. "Good, now cool it." Once the charcoal was cooled, Banner broke off a small piece and advanced towards the foal. The others watched as he forced open the foal's mouth and placed the charcoal inside, before helping the colt swallow. Banner backed off with sweat dripping down his brow as he and the others waited. After an agonizing long minute, the foal began to breath normally. Banner let out a sigh of relief and sat down, ignoring all the awestruck faces in the room. "How did you do that?" Doctor Cleancut asked in awe, asking what all the ponies wanted to know. After taking a few breaths to lower his heart rate, Banner began explaining. "When charcoal is heated to anywhere between 600 and 1200 degrees Celsius, it becomes active--one of the best methods for removing ingested poisons," he said with a sigh. All the ponies looked at him with a new sense of respect and awe, but Twilight was the only one to realize that his eyes were no longer green. Banner rose back up and stretched. "Twilight, mind if we leave. I don't think I'm needed here any longer," Banner said with a smile, looking at the mother who was hugging her foal. Banner, Twilight and Fluttershy all left in silence. Fluttershy and Twilight were silent because they weren't sure of what to say, whereas Banner was silent because he was lost in thought. 'Even if it was at the proper temperature, the charcoal shouldn't have reacted as fast as it did or been as powerful. Maybe these ponies have a stronger poison resistance than humans and a simple stalling medicine can fully heal them,' he mused in his mind. "Um, Doctor Banner?" 'The pony's question jerked Banner out of his train of thought, and he turned towards Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her mane. "I just wanted to say...thanks for saving me from the snake and thanks for saving that foal. I thought you were scary, but...you seem nice. It was nice meeting you." Banner smiled at her words, feeling the truth behind them, knowing that she was speaking from the heart. After years of being lied to, he could tell. Fluttershy waved goodbye and started back to her cottage. "So which one of your friends am I going to meet next, Twilight? Twilight?" Banner repeated, seeing that Twilight wasn't with him. She was also deep in thought, but his tone caused her to snap out of it and she shook her head. "Oh, um...Rainbow Dash! We're going to see Rainbow Dash!" Banner shrugged at her odd behavior and started walking, not noticing that Twilight stared at him with a concerned look. Why had his eyes changed to green? ------======-------------------------------====== The two found Rainbow Dash on the edge of a field, having a heated disscusion with a very enraged griffon. Twilight and Banner stood back and watched the two go at it. "What do you mean you think you could out race me?" A pony with a rainbow mane (Rainbow Dash, Banner presumed) shouted at the griffon. "Please, just because you can do some stupid sonic rainboom doesn't make you faster than me!" the griffon yelled back, puffing out her chest like a large bird. Banner raised an eyebrow at the "conversation," turned to Twilight and asked, "Who's the griffon?" Twilight sighed and shook her head. "That's Gilda, a VERY boastful griffon. She and Rainbow Dash, on the left, used to be friends, until everypony found out what a jerk she was," Twilight explained, watching the two bicker. "Doesn't make me faster? I'm the fastest there is!" Rainbow Dash responded with a smirk. The fastest there is? Wow, did that bring up some memories for Banner. Of course, in those memories the word 'fastest' was replaced with 'strongest' and there was usually a lot more destruction, but memories all the same. "Rocks can move faster than you!" Ignoring the banter, Banner had another question for Twilight. "So what's a sonic rainboom?" "A sonic rainboom is when Rainbow Dash flies at supersonic speeds, breaking the sound barrier, which results in a huge rainbow. It's really cool!" That was interesting. That pony could fly faster than the speed of sound AND shatter the light spectrum while doing it? Impressive. However, he was getting tired of this argument, so he decided to step in. "Excuse me, ladies?" Banner politely cut in, walking up to the two. Since neither of them knew what he was, they both stopped arguing and stared at him in wonder. RD looked behind him and saw Twilight, answering her question. Gilda was still confused. "Who the heck are you?" she asked in a tough voice, but Banner heard the fear hidden behind it. "I'm Doctor Banner," he repied with a slight bow, "and I couldn't help but overhear your interesting conversation. If the two of you would allow, I believe I can settle this dispute." "Alright, sounds good to me," RD said with a smirk. Gilda sneered, but nodded in agreement. "The solution to who is faster is simple. Rainbow Dash here claims that she can fly past the speed of sound, which if I remember correctly, is about 768 mph. Now Gilda, if you believe that you can fly faster than that, I would like you to give us a demonstration." Banner said, pointing to a starting line politely, which irritated the griffon even more. She KNEW she wasn't faster than RD, but her pride wouldn't allow for her to fail. She walked past the taller Banner and crouched down, spreading her wings with a glare on her face. "And go," Banner said with a smile, squiting his eyes as Gilda blew by him. She flapped her wings as fast as they woud go, reaching some impressive speeds. When she reached a certain speed, she was forced to close her eyes from the wind in her face, completely blinding her. Unable to see, she quickly ran out of field and smacked into a tree near the field's edge. CCRRAAACCKKK! Banner raised both eyebrows in mock surprise while RD rolled on the ground laughing. Twilight shook her head and came over to introduce the two, when Gilda got up in a fury and stormed over to Banner. "I suppose you think that was funny, didn't you? Making a fool out of me? I bet you're trying to fight back tears." "Actually, I'm more astounded that you survived an impact like that. You creatures are a lot tougher, but a bit dumber, than I would have thought." That comment pushed Gilda over the edge. "Oh, that's it. You're bird food," she growled, trying to get to Banner. Twilight simply caught her in a magic bubble and floated the angry griffon over to her. "Let me outta here!" twilight gave the trapped griffon a smile. "I'll only let you out if you promise to leave us alone, understand?" Gilda didn't look happy with the offer, but had no choice but to take it. She flew off in a rage when Twilight released the bubble and quickly vanished from sight. Twilight turned towards the smiling Banner and the still laughing Rainbow Dash. "That wasn't very nice," Twilight scolded. "I'm not a fan of braggarts who are bullies. I enjoy proving the saying, 'brains over brawn,'" Banner shrugged with a smile. RD had finally stopped laughing and walked up to Banner. "I don't know who you are, Doctor Banner, but anypony that can do that to Gilda is a friend of mine," RD said with a chuckle. Twilight rolled her eyes. "Would the two of you like to get better acquainted," Twilight asked. "Love to, but can't. Promised to take Scootaloo to the Wonderbolts races and she's been dying to see them. Later," she said with a smile and shot off into the sky, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. "Wow, she really was fast," Banner noted. Twilight groaned and started to walk to their next destination. "So, whose's next?" "Pinkie Pie," Twilight said with a groan. She had saved Pinkie for last because she was the more...unusual of Twilight's friends. But she did love meeting new ponies, so maybe she'd also get along with Banner. As the two walked off, neither of them noticed the griffon watching from the clouds.