The terrifying creature continued its pleading on the other side of the thick door. It softly tapped at an even rate, and each hollow sound sent chills up our spines. All four of us wondered how we would escape this mess, and the changeling also wondered what he’d gotten himself into. Well, most of my thoughts were on how to best set my shattered hind leg. They weren’t taking me to the hospital anytime soon if I could help it.
This wasn't the first time I'd had to set a broken bone, but all the other times had been as a human. When I'd lost those two fingers, the other three on that hand had broke, and I'd treated that well enough on the fly. Technically, I'd lost all my fingers and toes recently, but that didn’t count.
Every second I spent looking at the wound reminded me how little I knew of pony anatomy. It didn’t look like the technique would differ too much, but the near future was still not something to look forward to. How did I break something from crashing the cart, but not from falling down that asinine hill?
"How—How much do you even have in your stomach?" The changeling looked very close to joining Vinyl Scratch in her tummy turbulence. His words had an insectoid quality to them, like I had half-expected a changeling's would, but it was only a very slight influence on an otherwise normal voice. When Vinyl didn't answer, he rushed off to his kitchen, muttering about a bucket.
I wasn't sure if I were making more of a mess or if she was, and if there was a decent way to measure, it would have been a close contest. I really needed to stop procrastinating about my leg. I wondered if there were refrigeration in Equestria. I wanted a place to store ice cream. No, bad mind, fix leg then acquire ice cream.
Tall Order looked back and forth between his sister and me until I shooed him away. "Go help her, I'll be fine."
I received an incredulous look, and he admonished me for what he assumed to be bravado. "Are you kidding me? Your leg is broken! We need to get you to a doctor."
My glare made him slightly wilt, but he tried to keep the same face. I sighed at him and rolled my eyes. "She's your sister. I've fixed stuff like this before, and it's just the lower leg. Besides, it's not like we're going anywhere with Mr. Darknesspants out there."
"Mr. Darknesspants?"
"I have to call him something." I shrugged and gave him a half-hearted grin. It was foolish to try fixing such a dangerous injury on my own, but better safe than trapped in a hospital for two months because you went in for an ear infection just before the zombie apocalypse went full swing and ended up locking yourself in a break room after fleeing your doctor-turned-zombie who then proceeded to moan and beat on the door for half your stay. Then you also find out listening to people getting eaten alive is almost worse than pop music.
"Woo, that was a lot of puke," Vinyl choked out. She tried chuckling at the situation, but all it did was make her gag and almost begin again.
"And I just found the bucket. Perfect." The changeling hung his head, tossing the bucket aside.
Vinyl sheepishly grinned at him and ran a hoof through her mane. "Right, sorry 'bout the mess. Went for a wild ride trying to get away from that thing."
"What was that anyway?"
"Not a clue. Thanks for opening that door by the way, I don't want to find out what would have happened if it had caught up to us. And sorry to be a bother, but do you have some spare rags I could use to clean this up?" There was quite a bit of blood, and maybe, just maybe, drinking that much alcohol was a poor idea.
"Clean what up? Oh! Oh wow..." he trailed off as he scampered into the kitchen and returned with plain linens. "Why were you being so quiet about it?"
"I'm not too worried about it." Gingerly cleaning the area and applying pressure was a test of resolve in and of itself. I was going to have to get it over with eventually.
"I think she's going into shock." Tall looked at my leg with nothing but dread. "Don't worry, Sterling. We'll get you out of this."
"I'm not in shock. No numbness, no excess swelling, no cold skin, blah blah blah. I'm fine, just a little injured. You guys might want to look away for the next part though."
"What do you mean?" His eyes widened in shock as it dawned on him. "Absolutely not. You're not doing this yourself. When that thing leaves, we're taking you straight to the hospital."
"And what if it doesn't leave?"
"That would be unfortunate for you three. I don't have much for pony food around here. I have to agree with your friend, though. Setting a bone yourself isn't a good idea." He glanced around the room as he tried to come up with a solution. His eyes settled on Vinyl. "Miss, is there any chance some unicorn magic will heal her? I'm afraid I don't know much about it, and there isn't anything I can do with mine." A chitinous hoof tapped against his horn.
"No dice. That's some heavy duty spellcraft you're asking for there. You'd have to specifically find a doctor to cast it. Or Princess Twilight for that matter. I don't think there's anything she can't cast."
"See, there's not another option. I have to do this."
"As a friend, I can't let you do this. If it weren't for you, we would have had to walk back to town and there's no way we could have escaped without your cart." Genuine concern showed in his eyes, and I felt a twinge of guilt for what I was planning.
"Why must you do this to me?" The soft pleading from the creature had suddenly escalated into a scream akin to a howling tornado. "I suffer and you do nothing!"
The building shook with the fury of the voice, toppling items on shelves and freeing pictures from the walls. Darkness swirled around the edges of the door, and the wood creaked dangerously, buckling inward. All other eyes were fearfully locked on the door, so it was then or never.
Aching muscles made just the act of bending into an appropriate position excruciating, but seizing the injured leg and forcing the bone back into its proper place was something else entirely. I tensed and screamed through gritted teeth, drawing their attention back to me and somehow quieting the creature. After an eerie silence, it resumed its pre-outburst tapping and begging. A small part of my mind noted the interesting behavior but was quickly buried.
"Sterling! What the hay!" Tall stomped a hoof. He started towards my leg, but froze. "Splint. We need a splint."
"Yep." One of the clean linens tightly bound my leg. "I would have found one before I set it, but I needed to do it before you three could stop me." I would not have anypony—no, I needed to start using “anybody” now that I was looking after a bunch of diamond dogs—risk their lives for me.
Vinyl's horn sparked as she magically flicked my ear and shouted, "Not cool. Are you trying to act tough or something?"
She averted her gaze from the harshness of my stare. "I don't do hospitals. Nothing but misery every time I visit one, and I don't expect that to change just because I'm in Ponyville. It's better for everybody if I don't visit one."
"You're afraid of hospitals?"
"It's not fear!" Pain from securing the binding fueled my shout. My breath almost burned my mouth as I quietly sighed. "I'm not afraid. I just try to avoid reliving my mistakes."
Snapping wood startled us and we looked to the door, expecting it to shatter inwards. Instead, we saw the changeling breaking the legs off a small table and levitating them over to my leg. "Sorry, didn't mean to make so much noise. Like this, right?"
Twirling a hoof, I explained, "No, it needs to be on the sides." While he repositioned the sticks, I bit a notch into the cloth. Using my forehooves and mouth, I tore it into two strips and mentally swore when I realized I had to tie knots down there.
"Will you let me do this at least?" Vinyl scowled as she sensed my irritation and picked up one of the strips. "Or is that another mistake you don't want to relive?"
"Don't give me that tone. I'm certain I have more experience with emergency first aid or I would have gladly let one of you take care of it."
She huffed and rolled her eyes. "What could have possibly happened that you'd rather do it yourself than see a trained doctor." She pulled the cloth a bit tighter than she needed to, and I doubted it was accidental.
"Maybe another time." They weren’t going to find out either. Whatever was going on had to be just the start of something worse. It may not have been a zombie, but I would find a way to stop it.
"Not like we're going anywhere until somepony else gets rid of that thing." She sat near me in a way that said she wouldn't move until I told her everything.
"No." I drew myself into an awkward half-standing position so I wouldn't have to look up at her. I knew the expression meant she was pissed, but pissed ponies are still ponies and therefore adorable.
"Leave her be, Vinyl, It's obviously a sore spot. I'm as ticked as you are about this, but she hurt herself far more than she hurt you or me. Sterling, you obviously know what you're doing, but wouldn't it have been better to walk one of us through it?" He looked hurt, and I couldn't bear to meet his eyes. A knot formed in my throat.
"I've always treated my own injuries. Comes from spending so much time alone." My leg ached fiercely under the bandages, but it was little more than an itch compared to the surge of pain earlier, but I would have gladly taken some painkillers if they were offered.
"But you aren't alone around here. If a pony, or changeling, sorry—" the changeling silently dismissed his worries "—wants to help, why don't you just let them?" Tall's caring tone was at odds with his clearly irritated face.
My eyes stung from memories dredged up by his words. What was wrong with me? This wasn’t the first time I’d thought about them, but here I was, crying like a baby. Actually, it’d be “filly” in this case, wouldn’t it? Was that this was all about? I was going to need Dave’s help if I wanted to figure out anything. "Because it gets them killed! If they take care of me, they aren't taking care of themselves, and I'm tired of losing others." I hung my head. "So tired."
Nopony spoke while I quietly sobbed, and even the creature let off the door as if it were stunned by my pathetic crying. A couple tears dripped off my snout and soaked into the carpet. Bleeding on it made me feel guilty—it looked really nice for something designed to be walked on. Why couldn't I stop? I was going to get all of us killed.
Two forelegs wrapped around my neck as Vinyl hugged me. She uneasily whispered into my ear, "Uh, I'm sorry?"
Tall joined her, and after I felt the slightest movement on his part, so did the confused changeling he had beckoned over.
"No, I'm sorry." I sniffled and wiped my eyes. "This isn't the best time for me to act like this. And I'm sorry I bled over your carpet before I even knew your name. That sounds like bad manners to me."
He snorted and excused himself from the hug Tall had roped him into. "It's Star Poem, if it helps. And before you try to apologize for the table—don't worry about it, that thing was so ugly this was a mercy."
"Thanks though, all of you. Except you, Mr. Darknesspants. I-I should be fine now."
Star Poem spoke like the words tasted funny. "Mr. Darknesspants?"
"Don't ask." Tall shook his head at the changeling.
"What is with that thing though? Freaks out, calms down. It's mood is all over the place."
"Just like yours?" Tall smirked, receiving a hoof to the shoulder for his troubles. "Lay off, sis. I was in that crash too, remember?"
Another twinge of sadness coursed through me at the reminder that Tall still had his sister. "We need to figure out a way to defend ourselves. That door won't hold forever."
Star's wings twitched restlessly as he looked to the front. "We'll be fine, right? The rest of Ponyville won't just leave us in here. Right?"
"I don't—" I started to tell him we couldn't rely on the other townsfolk as much as ourselves, but Tall cut me off with a gentle nudge of his hoof.
"No, they won't. Whether they deal with it themselves or call in help from Canterlot, we have nothing to worry about as long as we stay safe." While his reply had been directed at the changeling, his attention was focused on me, his azure eyes conveying how poor of an idea upsetting our rescuer would be.
Curtly nodding, I added, "At the very least, let me prepare for the worst case scenario." I moved to get up and found myself held in place by the siblings. I sheepishly smiled. "Please?"
"You aren't going anywhere yet."
"I agree with them." I just barely caught Star’s extra mutter "And they scare me."
"It's been a little quiet, hasn't it?" Vinyl stared at the door so fiercely I thought it would catch aflame. I found myself relieved, yet disappointed, when it didn't. "Maybe it got bored. I know I would have."
"Or it's a trap." I rolled my eyes and tried to get up again. "Seriously? Come on, you two.”
"Gears, we’re going to let you go now, but we’ll be keeping an eye on you to make sure you don’t do anything like that again,” Tall said.
"Whatever, just let me go so we can get back to doing nothing.” The creature’s thumping began anew, and while the door didn’t shudder like it was about to break, there would be some sizeable dents when this was all over. “Look who’s back.”
“Your attitude is not helping.”
My retort almost came out automatically, but telling him his face wasn't helping would just further cement his point. “I know, it’s just… never mind. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. We’re all stressed. We’ll get through this.”
“Oh, I know that. Do I look like the type who’ll give up before every last option is exhausted?”
Vinyl smirked. “Not even then. Take it easy for now though. After this is all over, I want to hear your story.”
It felt like I could trust her, but it wasn’t entirely a matter of trust. She wouldn’t believe me. Who would? Did I even want to tell any of them? “We’ll see.”
Tall cut off his sister before she could say anything. “She can wait.” The siblings glared at each other for a moment, then Vinyl harrumphed and looked away.
A long time passed where the only sound was the banging from outside. None of us spoke, opting to wait the night out quietly. I didn’t know how long it felt to them, but my leg made it feel like weeks were passing without us doing anything. Dave was still AWOL, much to my chagrin. Vinyl sat beside me, Tall stood off to the side and constantly looked between all of us, and Star paced in a circle like he was trying to cut a hole into the floor.
It felt like I should have said something, either to reaffirm I was fine or just to apologize again for earlier, but no words came whenever my mouth opened. Waiting until it got bored was a terrible idea, but what other choice did we have? We couldn’t straight up fight it, but I itched to do anything other than sit there and be watched like a hawk.
A bright light flashed behind the curtains, followed by a deafening peal of thunder. An inhuman inpony unearthly screech filled the air, and with my forelegs clamped over my ears instead of supporting my weight, I made friends with the floor again. Silence fell as the scream died out, and nobody dared breathe.
Two sharp knocks struck the door, and a muffled voice called out, "Canterlot Royal Guard. The creature has been dealt with. Please open the door."
Star Poem was at the door in an instant and heaved the bar aside with surprising strength. He tugged at the handle eagerly, but the door refused to budge until a faint glow surrounded the lock and Vinyl suggested he try again.
The kitchen was the best bet for a back exit, but if Star hadn’t already brought it up, there was a fair chance there wasn’t a back door we could use to escape. It had to be a trick. The whatever-it-was being dealt with so easily couldn’t be anything else. It was waiting for us right outside that door, and as soon as Star opened it, the night would start all over again.
“Gears, relax. We were waiting for the Guard, remember?” Even though she misunderstood my anxiety, the hoof she placed on my shoulder was calming.
Two identical, grey unicorns equipped with golden armor stood beyond the open doorway, stern yet concerned looks attached to their faces. The first rays of a new day brightened the sky behind them. "It's alright. You're safe now."
"I'm grateful you're here, but sheesh, deus ex machina much?" I couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. Switching to a more comfortable position failed as the motion tweaked my injury, making me cringe.
"Technically, this wouldn't be a case of deus ex machina. The Royal Guard showing up was expected to some capacity." Starry was unperturbed by my incredulous glance. "Sorry, I'm a stickler for literary terms."
The two guards shared a look and rolled their eyes. The one on the left scoffed. "So, would you like us to finish the rescue or leave you two to bicker about semantics?"
"Whatever's fine with you guys. I'm just going to head out since the beastie is gone. Thanks for that, by the way." Tall hurried over and pushed me back down. "And make him stop that."
The guard on the right sighed and rubbed his temple. He muttered to his companion, "I'm going to get us coffee. This is going to take a while." He paused and looked over all of us, his gaze settling on me the longest. "And keep an eye on the one with the injured leg. She seems a little… difficult."
"You don't know the half of it." Tall sighed and shook his head.