Chapter 2
Healing Wounds
Twilight navigated the jungle, sticking to its edge and keeping the ocean in sight. She carefully navigated the rocks nearer to the shore to a more secluded area. When she was sure that she would be unnoticed, Twilight sat the sewing material and the small bottle of alcohol on the rocks to her left. Slowly, she removed the dress that she had been wearing. The parts of the material that were blood soaked clung to her fur, resisting extrication. It took a bit more effort, but eventually the garment was removed. Twilight draped it over a tree branch and turned back to examine her wound.
The cut was nearly six inches long, about an inch wide and deep, and ran from her mid-back down to the right side of her body. She touched the sore area with her hoof and tried to stretch the skin so that she could get a better look. She instantly regretted her decision and recoiled as the contact threw a burning feeling through her system. Twilight gasped and gave a weak laugh at her predicament. She would need another pony's help if she was going to repair the split tissue. She lowered her head, thinking about what to do.
A rustling in the leaves made her look up, just in time to see Mend step through the tree line. He caught sight of Twilight sitting on her haunches and chuckled. "I have to give you credit," he grinned.
Twilight was surprised by his acclamation. "Credit for what?" she asked confusedly.
"Trying to pull of an obvious lie like that." Mend navigated the rocks in a similar manner to Twilight, walking over to her. He noticed the small sewing kit and bottle of alcohol. "Planning on being a doctor, eh?" he gave her a smile.
"I was going to fix it myself," Twilight admitted. "I didn't want to stop you from treating the others that survived."
Mend twirled his hoof, indicating for Twilight to turn around. She complied, allowing him to get a better look at her injury. Mend gave an approving nod, "Not as bad as I originally thought."
"You expected more?" Twilight asked, a smile creeping onto her own face.
"Just trying to get a smile." Mend walked over to the rock that held the supplies that Twilight had gathered from the two suitcases. He opened the small sewing box and peeked inside. "Color preference?" he asked a patient Twilight.
"Is there anything that will match my coat?" she responded with her own question.
Mend rummaged through the bag. "Indeed there is," he said with a grin, extracting a needle, as well as a spool of vibrant, lavender thread that matched Twilight's color perfectly. "Whoever packed the bag you got this from obviously had you in mind," he joked.
"That would be Rarity," Twilight replied, "I got the thread from her bag."
"You know who these belong to?" Mend questioned.
"My friend. She and a few more of us were leaving Sydneigh after a brief vacation," she told him, "the sewing supplies were in case any of our clothes were ruined," Twilight pointed to the dress hanging on the branch, Mend noticing it for the first time since the beach.
"I bet that it looked great when it wasn't shredded." Mend picked up the small bottle of alcohol and unscrewed the lid, tipping the vial over into his hooves. He spread a small amount of the clear liquid over his hooves, leaving about three quarters of the container filled with liquor. He kept it open as he switched to the needle and thread, carefully sliding the string through the thin metal loop. "I just realized something," Mend pondered.
"And that would be?" Twilight urged him to continue.
"I don't know your name," Mend finished threading the needle and turned his gaze back to Twilight's back. He picked up the remaining alcohol and poured it over his patient's wound.
Twilight resisted the urge to cry out in pain as the liquid came into contact with her cut. "My name is... ungh... Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."
"Pleased to meet you, Twilight Sparkle," Mend said casually, "I'm Sure Mend." He carefully inserted the needle into Twilight's skin, through the laceration, and out the other end.
Once again, Twilight stiffened from the pain. "What happened to all of your other patients? The ones from the wreck?" she clarified.
Mend was silent for a moment as he concentrated repeating the stitching movements. "As it turns out," he started, "there was another doctor on the flight. More of a nurse then a doctor, actually. She assured me that she could handle whoever was injured."
"That's a relief," Twilight said. Twilight watched Mend as he continued to seal up her wound. She decided to distract herself somehow, and her gaze drifted down to Mend's cutie mark. A needle and thread was set in front of a white roll of gauze, symbolizing a skill with patching injuries. "I don't get you," she said after a while.
Mend paused, briefly looking up from from his work. "You don't get what?"
"How you're not scared by all of this," Twilight explained. "The crash, the injuries,... the death," Twilight added quietly.
There was more silence as Mend continued the stitching. "I was scared," he stated quietly, his smile turning into a sad line on his face. "I was afraid... I am afraid."
Twilight was surprised by this sudden change in character coming from the previously jovial stallion. "What did you do?" she asked, urging for him to continue.
"I thought about what I could be doing to help, not what I was doing right then and there, lying near the plane. I couldn't bear to not help anypony and I feel guilty whenever I don't. My guilt is what makes me fearless," he finished.
Twilight was amazed. "That's... interesting." She really didn't know what to say. Here was this pony that she had just met and had helped her and Cadence without a second thought. All because he would feel guilty about himself if he hadn't helped them!
"I bet you're trying to piece that statement together," Mend grinned.
Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts, but she nodded slowly. She had, indeed, been thinking that exactly.
"That's usually what everyone thinks of me," he explained, "they don't understand it."
"Why do you feel guilty," Twilight asked with concern.
"I'd rather not talk about it," Mend said quietly as he finished up the last stitch. He used the needle to tie off the loose ends and then snipped off the excess string with his teeth. He sat the remaining thread down along with the needle and empty alcohol bottle. He turned back to face Twilight. "Like it barely even happened," he indicated to the repaired cut. He was right. The thread color was perfectly matched to her fur, hiding the scar from everything but close scrutiny. There was some silence while Twilight and Mend just sat there, each giving the other time to organize their thoughts.
"So..." Twilight began, "we should probably get back to the beach. See if we can help anypony else."
Mend nodded, "Good idea." The doctor stood and offered Twilight an outstretched hoof.
She gladly accepted it, using his help to get to her hooves again. She didn't really need his help in standing back up, but she took it as a friendly gesture. "Thank you. To the beach?"
"To the beach," he repeated.
Before they left, Twilight reached out for her bloodstained dress and removed it from the tree branch. She contemplated the usefulness of the garment as she held it in her hoof. She gave a shrug and draped it over her back thoughtlessly. She and Mend then walked back to the beach in silence.
< - - - - - > = < - - - - - >
A brown earth pony mare with a silvery-black mane trotted along the beach, large branches balanced on her back. She made her way toward a large fire burning just off the left side of the wreck. As she neared, she noticed a stallion sitting beside a broken part of the engine that had flown off during the explosion. He had his head down, facing the sand in silence.
"Hey, you," she said to him. The mare's voice contained an obvious accent that resembled one from Horstralia.
The stallion instantly looked up and pointed to himself nervously, "M-me?"
"What's your name?" she asked him.
"I'm, uh, Bronze Shield," he answered back, slowly getting to his hooves.
"Well, Bronze Shield," the mare let two of the branches fall from her back, "we need help with the signal fire. No one will see it if it isn't big."
Bronze nodded and quickly gathered the two branches that she had dropped for him. "I'm on it." He followed her over to the fire burning nearby and tossed the sticks in. "What's your name?" he asked the mare.
"Bray," she replied.
"Bray," Bronze repeated to himself, "Got it. Yeah, I'm on it, Bray." The two walked off to gather more branches to feed the flames of the signal fire. They passed the metal scrap of the plane. Though desolate, the mass of steel was not completely abandoned.
A unicorn stallion with a lime green coat was poking his head into the remains of the plane's engine. His grey mane was dirtied with soot, the natural black streak running through it seeming to have grown many various branches. He mumbled to himself, the words nearly incomprehensible to everypony else. There was some mention of trajectory, velocity, physics, and self-sustained motorization, but, otherwise, it sounded like nonsense.
A second stallion, a unicorn as well, sat alone against the metal shell of the airplane. His cream colored coat was stained with black sections of singed fur. If one had just met him, they would have instantly thought that his coat was naturally spotted. His shaggy, dark blue mane was cut short and the edges of the hair were singed, as well. He held a lighter in his hooves gingerly, slowly flipping the top open and shut repeatedly. The clicking of the lid was the only sound, as he just stared at the reflective object, never once lighting the flame.
Further down the beach, a pink earth pony mare with an equally pink, cotton candy mane sat on a small mound in the sand, scanning the horizon with a sort of thoughtful expression. Pinkie Pie watched as the ocean foam swirled and frothed, large masses of silvery bubbles rising to the surface and dissolving into the salty waters.
Twilight and Mend stepped through the tree line and onto the long, sandy stretch of the beach. The pair walked past groups of ponies treating some of their own small injuries, while others were busy trying to arouse those who were unconscious. The initial pandemonium had ceased with the final destruction of the engine, but there was still the lingering sense of shock that came from such life-threatening ordeals. The metal carcass of the plane was a silver blemish, with scorched black parts, on the pale sand and green vegetation scattered about. Mend and Twilight walked by the plane, taking cautious glances inside the ruptured shell. To the relief of both, the only remains to be seen were those of the cushioned seats and burned metalwork.
"I pray to Celestia that everypony survived," Mend breathed.
"Judging from the lack of bodies, I believe that we're alright," Twilight remarked. Secretly, though, she prayed the same and was hoping that what she said was true.
They continued past the wreck and towards a more crowded region of the shore. Here, there were about two dozen ponies with varying injuries occupying the sand. Mend looked them over thoughtfully, judging who was in more serious condition. "I'll be right back," he told Twilight. The pony quickly took off toward someone lying in the middle of the cluster.
Twilight watched him run off and she, too, scanned the area. Some of the ponies lying before her looked to have broken limbs, major cuts, some worse then her own, and burned patches in their fur. She suddenly grew sad -and a bit uncomfortable- at the sight and averted her gaze from the unwelcoming scene. As she turned around, Twilight noticed Cadence lying on her side over by the shore. The pregnant mare was staring out into the waves that lapped up against the smooth, tide-flattened sands, stroking her bulging midsection. Twilight quickly trotted up behind her.
"Cadence!" she called. The alicorn of love was awakened from her trance and turned to see Twilight standing next to her.
"Hey, Twilight!" Cadence said happily, "How are you?"
"I'm more worried about you," Twilight smiled as she redirected the attention back to Cadence. She sat down on her haunches beside her and looked at the mare's pregnant stomach. "Are you feeling better, now?" Twilight asked with a caring expression.
Cadence gave a small laugh, "I'm fine, Twilight. It was just brought on by the shock and stress of the crash. At least that's what he told me," she pointed a hoof over at Mend, who was conversing with another pony, presumably injured.
Twilight gazed at him over her shoulder and turned back to Cadence. "His name's Sure Mend," she said. "He helped me with a scrape I had."
The pony beside her turned sharply. "Are you alright?!" Cadence asked seriously.
"It was just a small cut," Twilight waved off the question. "Besides, it's hardly noticeable, anyway." Cadence gave Twilight a concerned, sideways glance, but refrained from pushing the matter further.
The mares stared out at the waves in silence. They watched the liquid monsters viciously crash into the shore and hurriedly advance up the sandy incline, their descent slowing to a stop before retreating back into the water.
"When do you think they'll get here?" Cadence finally asked, breaking the silence of the moment.
"Who?" Twilight returned from her thoughts.
"The rescue teams?" Cadence clarified.
"Hopefully soon," Twilight reassured. "Planes have these special devices that are called 'black boxes,'" she explained. "They're designed to record the plane's flight throughout the journey. If anything problematic happens, like loss of contact with any ground crews, then the black box system alerts them of the break in contact. When we crashed," Twilight continued, "the black box sent that information to someone on a receiving end, informing them of the disaster. This allows them almost instant response to the situation."
Cadence nodded in understanding as the sun continued to descend toward the horizon, lighting the clouds' backsides and spraying rays of light out across the water. Cadence sighed, "I hope they get here soon."