//------------------------------//
// Happiness from the Sky 
// Story: Equestria's Borderlands 
// by lightningst0rm 
//------------------------------//


Scarlet


This is one of the best days of my life! No, focus, um okay, I was going to get some fruit from one of stalls for Chris. I'm not actually sure if he eats the same things I do but I don't care. He's just so handsome and charming. His coat is the same shade as the sky, his hair is the color of shining silver, and his eyes, I've never seen eyes that deep blue. I'm just a simple medicine mare, the filly that no stallion would marry, but Chris, he's different, I think he actually likes me. Before Chris, no one but the Elder ever told me I was beautiful. After paying for the fruit, I practically danced back towards the tent, but I remembered I needed to talk to the Elder about Chris's offer. Luckily, the Elder's hut isn't far from my hut, which also serves as the medical tent. I walked to the Elder's hut and took a breath before I entered. Sometimes the incense the Elder burned was to strong for me to stand for too long. I entered his hut and was relieved to find he was burning the strawberry ones. The dragon's breath incense was really strong. He turned to face me with the usual smile. I sat down on my usual spot across from him.

"How is our guest doing? Must be doing well seeing as you already went to get food for him."

I guess I started blushing, because the Elder started to chuckle. 

"There's no need to be embarrassed young one, it's perfectly normal, but you didn't come to hear an old stallion prattle on did you?"

I sometimes wonder if he can sense when something's wrong, because he always seems to have a solution to any problem I have. I'm not sure how he'll respond to what I'm going to say to him though.

"Y-yes," I managed to say through a stutter, "I wanted to talk to y-you a-a-b-bout the b-ba-bandits."

He tensed up. I know he's been trying to avoid talk about the bandit problem. They came about half a year ago, and while we were able to chase them off, they wouldn't leave us alone. Soon they began attacking any villager that went out alone. Sometimes we'd find hunters hung from the trees, but any mare that gets captured doesn't return, but there have been rumors of new bandit mares who resemble those who have gone missing. The village is scared, so is the Elder. After a long moment of silence, he finally answered.

"Why do you bring up the bandits Scarlet? I told you that you need not worry."

"I might have told Chris, the stallion I found, about the bandits. He has offered to help chase them off."

He didn't relax after I said this. I could tell he was hesitant, I was just has hesitant about letting Chris do this too. He sighed and relaxed when he next spoke, but his voice was still serious.

"Scarlet, you must tell him what he's up against if he really wants to help. These bandits aren't normal criminals, if they catch him, they will kill him. I know about where he came from and what is told about the outside world. While not entirely true, the one truth is that there are savages, those who have been spawned by the hatred of being left outside the havens. They're not criminals anymore, they've become-"

"They've become monsters."

I turned around to face Chris. I actually couldn't believe that he had been able to stand up and walk. I don't know why, but I started blushing. Do I really find Chris that attractive?

"How l-long have you been s-standing there?" I managed to sputter out. 

"Long enough to here him talk about the bandits," he replied calmly.

"You, don't seem very frightened."

"With all do respect, I've dealt with murderers before. From what I've heard though, they don't really have much power," Chris said with a steady tone. "You haven't said much, but I know they use sneak attacks to catch others, but they're afraid of those creatures."

"Many ponies would be afraid of an adult bunyip."

"True, but have you ever seen them using tools that make loud bangs and then leave holes."

The Elder was silent, as if he didn't want to speak out. I could tell he didn't like talking about this, neither did I, but he sighed and gave Chris an answer.

"The leader used one. It was nothing like I've seen but it terrified me. It was like polished, red stone in silver armor with two pitch black eyes at the end and a blade bearing serrated teeth beneath those eyes. He called it Bone Chipper."

"He's using a gun. I've been taught how to use one but the Elite Guard are given swords. I could be a shot gun, some have two, three, heck, some have four barrels. At close range, they can rip you apart, but with enough distance-"

"Chris was it? I appreciate your offer, but in your current condition, you have no chance against them. I think you should heal a bit before we make a decision."

Chris opened his mouth like he was going to argue but he stopped and let out a sigh. He stood up again, letting out a grunt of pain, and bowed to the Elder. He then turned and left the hut. I still couldn't believe he was able to walk with wounds like that. Maybe he could manage to beat the bandits.

"Scarlet."

The Elder's calm voice brought me out of my thoughts. I had been so quiet since Chris walked in, I had forgotten why I was here.

"What is it Elder?"

"I can understand that you only wanted to help, when you brought him here, but I know where he came from. Scarlet, the ponies that control the great cities aren't as they seem. It's the main reason I left, giving up my love in doing so."

"You've told me this before, but I think Chris is different."

"Scarlet, I used to know ponies who acted like Chris. They always thought of others long before they thought of themselves. Unfortunately, that also led to our falling out. When the havens were risen, we all had different opinions, our leader wanted to follow the princesses, but others, like myself, thought we should also help those unable to enter the haven. Eventually, we all just gave up on each other. I left the city and my love, taking only prized possessions, and my regrets. My regrets still follow me. Change is something we all fear Scarlet, do you think your friend will be brave enough to accept it?"

I had never heard Elder speak of his past like this before, I didn't know exactly what to say about it. Part of me wondered if Chris only wants to get back to the city to reclaim his old life, and the other part wondered if he cares enough about the outside to want help change it. I didn't know, I just didn't know, but something inside me was giving me an answer. Something that most would ignore but I felt I should hear out. It spoke one word. One simple word.

"Yes. I believe Chris can help us. I believe he could change."

The Elder stared at me for a minute before cracking that smile that always seemed to calm me down. He chuckled as he stood up and moved aside the cloth that covered the entrance to his living space. I waited, listening as he searched through his things. About a minute later, he came out holding a small vial with a closed top. It was small and made of glass, and inside it contained a golden liquid that seemed to give off a dim light. He swirled the contents of the bottle as he spoke.

"This Scarlet," he began, "is a potion I made almost a century ago. Currently, few would be able to successfully produce this potion. It is a healing potion, one so powerful, that only a single drop can heal the most fatal wounds. I'm giving it to you Scarlet. Place a drop into one the fruit and give the fruit to Chris. By tomorrow, his wounds should be fully healed, the only reminders being scars. The one who taught me to make this died a long time ago. How did she tell me how it worked? Oh right! With only one drop, the pain will stop, and the wound you knew, becomes a tattoo."

"I've never heard anyone speak like that."

"She liked to speak in rhymes. I'll admit, I sometimes didn't know what she meant."

We both laughed at that. When I was little, I loved Elder's stories of the past. I once asked how long he could live. He told me that while he could live close to a thousand years at the most, the princesses were already over a thousand and still young. He then added, that if I thought that was amazing, one of his friends was over ten thousand. When we stopped laughing, I stood up and turned to leave, but the Elder stopped me.

"Remember Scarlet, only a single drop. Nothing bad would happen if you added anymore, but that is the only vial of that potion I possess. If all of it gets used, I might not be able to make another."

I nodded and left his hut. Was what just happened a sign, was he going to let Chris help? Maybe he'd even let me leave with Chris when he's done. I guess I'll know when it gets there.





I entered my hut expecting to see Chris sitting up, but instead I found him asleep. I decided to use this time to do what the Elder told me. I sat down beside Chris and pulled my knife out from my satchel. It wasn't a knife that's used for battle, just a knife I carry for cutting bandages, vines, ropes, fruit. The Elder gave it to me when I first became a medicine mare. The blade is made from a stone he called obsidian that he enchanted to make it stronger. I rarely need to sharpen it, which is sometimes good and bad. It's great for cutting open my favorite fruit. I wasn't sure if he'd like this fruit, so I decided to give him the smallest one first to see if he'd like them. After I cut it open, I opened the vial and let single drop of the potion fall into the fruit. The fruit has a really strong scent so I quickly screwed the top back onto the vial and put it in my satchel. Chris sat up after I had finished closing my satchel. He made an odd face when he sniffed the air.

"Wow," he said, "that is strong. I mean it smells good, but woah, what is that?"

"It's called Chu Chu fruit," I answered, "Its scent is strong but it's really good."

He took the fruit slice from me and sniffed it. I hoped the potion didn't have a smell. I didn't sigh out of relief when he tried it. He scooped the slimy innards of the fruit with his hand and seemed confused on how to eat it. He managed to finish it without spilling it, which was good. 

"You're right, that is good. Kinda tastes like cherries. Can I have some more?"

I breathed a sigh of relief as I handed him another piece. I cut open another for myself but I dropped my knife in surprise when I looked inside.

"What's wrong?" he asked after swallowing another handful of the slime.

"This one was too ripe. You can always tell when they're over ripe when the eyes had formed."

He stopped and looked down at the fruit in his hands, then to the one in my hands, and finally to me before he responded.

"Eyes? Did you say eyes?"

"Sorry, I should have mentioned that. Chu Chus are strange creatures that are born out of the fruit. Before they're born they're basically just edible slime. When they're adults, they look like living slime balls with eyes. They come in more than just one color, but red is the most common."

"So, they're living tree sap?"

"I guess you could say that. It doesn't change the way it tastes and the red jelly helps heal injuries."

That last part was more or less true, you have to heat the red jelly until it becomes juice for it to help heal wounds. I said that in hope that he'd decide to keep eating. I relaxed when he continued eating, albeit not like before. At least he was eating. I had barely finished mine before he asked for more. When we had finished off the fruit(except the one with eyes), I asked him about what it was like living in the city. He told me about the vehicles that they drive around, the weapons some of the knights use, and about the different food. I really liked the story about He who Watches, a mysterious specter that supposedly lived in the last remaining piece of Canterlot Castle, a tower that Celestia herself once lived in.

We talked for a couple hours but Chris must have been tired because he fell asleep in the middle of a story. By tomorrow, the potion should have helped his wounds heal, but I hoped that they weren't healed enough for him to fight the bandits. I believed he could stop them, but I was still worried. What if he got hurt? What if they kill him? What if he joins them? That's it, I won't let him do this alone. I'm going to help him fight the bandits. I'm not going to be just another medicine mare. I want to see the world and hopefully, Chris can help me do just that.


End of Chapter 2...