//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: Helping Hooves // Story: Brushed Away // by TheVClaw //------------------------------// Underneath the cloudline, the Equestrian landscape was being bombarded by the storm. Right up above it, the mood was just as overbearing, as every pegasus zoomed around the cloudscapes to make sure everything was in order before clocking out. Volunteer vests were put away, tools were returned and accounted for by maintenance, and among the crowds of tired ponies stood Twilight Sparkle, checking off everything on her clipboard. With a purple aura of magic surrounding her clipboard and quill, Twilight was on her third look-through of all the completed tasks. Satisfied with her flawless line of checks, she glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who was ungracefully slouched on a pile of clouds shaped into a reclining sofa. "Rainbow, did you finish looking over the crew list yet?" The cyan pegasus shifted her weight on the chair, and belted out a particularly loud snore. "Rainbow!" Twilight shouted, startling Rainbow Dash who shot up from the chair with both her eyes and wings wide open. As she stood up, her eyes slowly drooped as she readjusted to a state of passable awakeness. "Wha... whatdoyawant?" grumbled the pegasus as she brought a forehoof to the back of her head and scratched her technicolor mane. Twilight sighed before reiterating her question: "Is everypony on the attendance list accounted for?" Rainbow Dash responded with a purposely loud groan. "THAT'S what you woke me up for?!" Looking more than upset about her nap being interrupted over a list, Rainbow Dash stumbled back to her cloud chair where her clipboard was, and hoofed it over to Twilight. "Okay, there! Everypony has been crossed off, see?” She watched as the Princess looked over the list, humming to herself with her eyes narrowed studiously. Rainbow didn’t wait for confirmation as she dragged herself back to her chair, hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep in before― "Wait, where's Troius?" "Who?" Rainbow asked as she looked back at Twilight. "Troius Clawston. He's the only name on the list that isn't crossed off. Are you sure he's here?" As she unravelled the cobwebs from her mind, Rainbow tried to remember who Twilight was talking about. After a few seconds, the pegasus' head shot up. "Oh yeah, Troy! The gryphon! Yeah, I saw him earlier." Twilight's eyebrows furrowed with worry, and she asked, "You saw him?" "Yes, Twilight! I saw Troy!" Rainbow then huffed with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “Jeez, I don’t think it’s too hard to remember seeing a gryphon around here.” "Above the cloudline?” Twilight locked her sights on Dash more sternly than before. “Before the storm started?" Rainbow Dash's eyes, first darting around as if trying to find the specific memory, suddenly shot wide open in shock. "Oh no! He―I think he's still down there!" "WHAT?!” Twilight grabbed the pegasus with her forehooves. "What do you mean he's still down there!" "H-He said something about seeing a bush or something by that road sign! I thought he would’ve gotten back by―" Before Rainbow could finish, a bright flash of purple light appeared in front of her where Twilight once stood, leaving nothing there afterwards. As Rainbow Dash looked around, she quickly realized what her egghead friend just did: the newly appointed Princess of Equestria just teleported herself into the middle of a severe-level thunderstorm! Almost two hours had passed since the first raindrops fell. After all the animals were moved, and everypony managed to find shelter, the area under the rain was empty. Celestia's sun had already dropped past the horizon a half-hour earlier, making the overcast skies that much darker―almost pitch black without the illumination of Luna's moon or stars. The field was completely still, save for the pounding rain that drummed every square inch. A flash of purple light appeared, bringing forth Twilight as she materialized at the road sign Rainbow Dash told her about. She was immediately pelted by the heavy rain, but Twilight Sparkle illuminated her horn as she looked around the wet darkness. "TROOOOOOOY!” called the Princess frantically. "Where are you?!” Realizing the state of her fur after only a few seconds out in the storm, Twilight quickly summoned a force field spell around herself. It wasn't the most practical use of her magic, but it certainly worked as an effective replacement for an umbrella. With the added light from her dome, the pony looked around, hoping to see anything that’d indicate Troy was nearby. When she looked back at the bush, Twilight noticed something in the middle of the road. Upon closer inspection, she saw several singed feathers in the mud, confirming Twilight's worst fears: a lightning strike. She knew how dangerous lightning could be even before she gained her wings, and she studied the dangers even more since she became a Princess. Twilight grew more worried about the gryphon, knowing that he could be in serious trouble. She noted the sign next to the bush, and guessed that if Troy was able to move, he would head to the hospital. With a quick change to her forcefield to allow it to move with her, Twilight spread open her wings and flew along the road. With each step his paws and talons made in the increasingly thickening mud, Troy felt like he was going to pass out then and there. The darkness around him made it almost impossible to see further than a few feet, but he still tried to keep a steady pace with the unconscious pony propped on his back. His legs were burning intensely from the exertion. Each forced breath he took stung his lungs like he was inhaling pure ice. The freezing rain hitting his already-soaked fur and feathers only helped to emphasize how royally bucked this situation was. He wasn't sure how long he had been running through the storm, but the unrelenting rainfall made it feel like an eternity. All he knew was the hospital was still a long, long way off. The gryphon slowed his pace to catch his breath, his heart feeling as if it was going to burst at any moment. Even though his legs were practically begging to give out from the weight on his back, Troy kept his posture up as he struggled to keep his mind in focus. He needed to get help! He painfully started to move his legs again, unsure of how much energy he had left in him. He only moved forward a few steps before noticing a strange light coming from behind. Looking back, Troy could make out what he’d describe as a floating ball of light speeding toward him. Twilight caught sight of Troy below, and alighted on the path before him. She dissipated the force field the moment her hooves touched the muddy ground, but didn’t seem to care about her matted fur when she ran up to the gryphon. "Troy!" shouted the soaking-wet alicorn. "Are you oka―” Twilight went silent as her eyes grew in horror, noticing the hurt pony slumped on Troy’s back. Struggling to keep his balance, Troy tried to regain some strength to explain what happened. The pony on his back remained lifelessly limp, and was staining the gryphon's grey coat with the mud and blood from his own battered body. After finally gaining enough air in his lungs to speak, Troy tried to tell Twilight that he needed help. Unfortunately, each word he spoke came out between several deep, exhausted breaths. "I… I found him… under a bush… He―” Before Troy could finish, he saw the worried Princess light her horn once more. She illuminated herself with an especially bright, purple glow before a flash engulfed the both of them. For a brief moment, Troy was weightless―not particularly flying, but… floating, as if he were a mayfly trapped in a vat of viscous gelatin.  As suddenly as the sensation took him, it left; Troy then fell onto a cold floor with a wet and ungraceful thud. An even brighter light pierced his sight from above, leaving him unable to see where he was. He could tell that there was no more rain, but that was about it. As his eyes readjusted, he realized he was no longer even outdoors, but now standing on a laminated tile floor as he heard Twilight nearby calling for help. Troy felt the weight on his back being lifted off; two nearby unicorns carefully laid the injured pony across a stretcher, both of whom wearing what looked to be hospital scrubs. Troy tried to say something, but his exhaustion left him barely able to stand in that moment while the injured pony was pushed further into the building. The gryphon looked around the white-painted room, and started to understand where he was at: judging by the lines of chairs along the walls, along with the several panicked ponies who were seated across them, it seemed that Princess Twilight had teleported them to the hospital, right in the middle of the waiting room. The gryphon blinked a couple times as a bout of grogginess hit him with the force of a brick. His head started to spin violently, and he could only hear bits of what was being said by Twilight and the staff before he collapsed on the floor again. The voices started to fade away, and Troy's mind began to blank. Before he completely passed out, he could hear Twilight's relieved voice above him. "You did a great job, Troy. You both are going to be just fine..." After that, all Troy could feel was warmth and silence as the darkness encompassed him, and he finally let his aching body get some well-earned rest.