*Thump Thump*
"Wha.... Huh?"
*Thump Thump*
"Hell...hello?"
*Thump Thump*
Twilight groaned. She felt herself forcibly drug into reality, and, immediately after, she felt the annoying pressure of blood rushing through her head, and liquid in her bladder. And so, she opened her eyes, and immediately found that she could see nothing but a mixture of vague blurs and smeared colors, not unlike her last attempt at painting with Rarity.
And, after looking at them for a moment, she noticed that one of them was moving. That certainly sounded familiar as well.
Rarity never did forgive her for that. Nor would she let her buy a paint set again.
"Hello? Umm... Wh-where am I?"
The Blur, or so she presumed, sighed, and shook... some part of it, before speaking in a very bored and rehearsed tone. "Hello. You are at the hospital, Miss Sparkle. You are currently being kept for a severe concussion."
Twilight blinked, (Or so she hoped) and thought for a second. Her vision was blurry, which might be a symptom. She tried to think of common side effects of severe head trauma, but her mind was drawing a blank. Ironic.
"OK, Miss. Could you tell me your full name, date of birth, and current residence?"
Twilight nodded, almost immediately forgetting the previous line of thought, and quickly struggled to answer the mysterious blur's question. While she didn't know who, or what the blur was, it simply wouldn't do to be impolite, and not tell this stranger all of her secrets. "My name is... Twierlight.... No, Twilight Delilah Spankle, er, Sparkle. I was born on... July.... Twenty third, 984 P.NMM. I live... In cama-canterlot. No... I moved, I now live in... The library. 2001 Oak street... In the oak tree."
The doctor nodded, or so she guessed. "Alright, miss Sparkle. I am here to inform you that you have some swelling in the cranial cavity. We are beginning anti-inflammatory spells, so your thought process, vision, judgement, and everything neurological will be impaired for the next several hours. As you are not mentally stable, do not agree with any suggestions or give consent for anything, even from the medical staff. We will also need you to keep conscious for the next several hours, until the spells take full effect for observation. Do you consent to this?"
She barely understood what he said, but, she certainly wasn't going to be a fuddy duddy. So, she gave a consenting nod.
The doctor gave her what she guessed was a approving smile, and looked back down to his chart, before starting again in with his "kill-me-now" style of bored monolog.
"Oh, and you have a visitor. She was quite anxious to see you. If you wish, I'll let her in. Do you consent to this?"
She nodded, and soon after, the doctor-blur left, and a pink topped yellow thing entered the room. Twilight couldn't tell why, but she felt as if this blur was a pushover.
"Hello? Twilight?"
As the push-over's voice entered her head, her mind connected a name to the madness. "Fluttershy?"
Immediately after voicing the name of the yellow one, she felt another question rise from the depths that was her magically addled brain. "Where... where am I?"
The yellow blur nodded excitedly, and she quickly went to her bedside. "You're in the hospital... Oh dear, How are you feeling? Is you pillow soft enough? Are you warm? Do you want some water- Wait, You're NCO, how about some Ice chips?"
Twilight sat there, before replying with the first thing that came to her mind. "Shy... I... I can't feel my wings."
Her friend, or who she hoped was her friend, looked straight at her. "Ummm.... Twilight? You don't, er, have wings."
Twilight groaned from a pang of pain, before trying to resume her statement.
"Then... how did I fly?"
Fluttershy just kinda... sat there, awkwardly, before responding as only she could. "I'm sorry, but, you never flew. Ummm.... Well, other then in your hot air balloon... So, um, sorry."
After that response, Twilight simply nodded. After all, if Fluttershy said it, it must be true. Nothing Fluttershy said was ever false. That's why she was the tough, honest one. "Ok. So... Ummm... When did you get here?"
Fluttershy seemed to smile at that, and sighed. "I got here just a few minutes ago. So, umm.. If you don't mind me asking... Why are you here? I only found out from one of my bird friends seeing you...and the doctor said you would explain it to me... He sounded so bored..."
Twilight thought about her affliction, and remembered something about inflammation. That meant bigger, right? "I... I can't remember. Something about... me getting bigger? My face or something Swelling?"
Fluttershy sighed at this answer. "Oh... Umm... Okay?"
For a moment, there was no noise but the beeping of her heart monitor, as Fluttershy tried to interpret Twilight's vague answer. But, after a few minutes, the yellow pegasus broke the silence.
"Oh, someone left you a card."
Her friend picked up the card, and read it, before turning slightly red.
"I'm sorry... I got.... you p...."
Twilight felt herself blink. P? P what? Did she wet herself?
Did someone get her something dirty?
"Oh... My... goodness." Her canary yellow friend mumbled.
Twilight felt her head swim again for a moment, before sighing. "I... have no clue what's going on. I blame the brain damage."
Fluttershy stared blankly at the card for a moment, before looking at Twilight. "Why is your brain damaged?"
Twilight thought for a moment. That was a good question. She forced her addled mind to do something it truly didn't want to; think. After a moment though, she vaguely recalling how she got brought here. She was mercilessly bludgeoned with a bathtub. Only one mare would do that. Dash, and her phobia of the clean. "I think it Rari, no, it was Dash."
Fluttershy froze instantly, before questioning Twilight. "You sure?"
Twilight though for a moment, and vaguely remembered being in a bathtub before waking up in the hospital. "Yeah, pretty sure."
Her friend sat there for a moment, before looking back to her. "So... where is Rainbow Dash?"
Twilight felt her breath catch for a second. Fluttershy sounded really serious, which was weird. She was normally the crazy party girl of the group. "I dunno."
Fluttershy expression became indiscernible for a moment, before shouting loudly. That there, that seemed normal. She was the loud one, after all. "ANGEL!"
Twilight winced at the shout, but almost immediately after, a small bunny sprinted into her room.
"Angel, I know you were getting us some food, but I need you to watch Twilight now. I have to go... talk with somepony. It's important."
The bunny gave a skeptical nod, and hopped closer to her bedside.
And with that, Fluttershy left the room, with a aura that seemed, at least to her, horribly unnatural. Maybe someone stole her drama couch again.
"Here ya go Tank. I'll be right back after ya do your stuff."
Tank gave her a slow, but thankful smile, and she couldn't help but return it. After giving a nice, gentle rub to her beloved pet's head, she gave a strong stroke of her wings, bringing her straight into the air. She flew straight for a bit, before bleeding off some energy by making a few loops. She couldn't help but feel giddy as she landed on her own doorstep.
After all, she did just successfully ask out the hottest mare in town. Well, she did last night. But it still felt awesome.
She grinned to herself as she opened the door, and, upon entering the homestead, looked around.
"Huh... Maybe I should clean up this place a bit. In case Twi wants to come over and hang."
And so, she started. She whistled as she cleaned off the coffee table, removing ancient wonderbolts magazines that predated Scootaloo and cups of liquids long since dried, wiping crumbs and various old foodstuffs off and wiping the table down. Then, as she hummed, she vacuumed the floor, cleaning the same bits of old crumbs and old molted down from the table off the floor. And after that, she actually did the dishes. And, after throwing away the newly crushed and shattered plates and glasses, She dusted, using a can of furniture polish she didn't even knew she owned.
It must have been from Fluttershy. She was always so insistent that she cleaned her home. But it wasn't like she had an actual reason before. It wasn't like anyone besides Shy could get up here anyway.
After she finished her living room, she went to the room that needed the most cleaning. Her bedroom.
And so, she did. She sang as she cleaned her closet, organizing her very few dresses, she made her bed, washed the neglected sheets and blankets, vacuumed, and, after throwing away the charred remains of what once was a vacuum, she even organized the bookshelf somewhat, realizing that she may have been overzealous in the purchase of a full bookshelf for roughly one shelf of books.
She even scrubbed the mysterious stain on her carpet. By hoof. To her, it was a big deal, even if all she managed was to get her hooves soapy. But, after all was said and done, the room looked... reasonably presentable.
Rainbow couldn't help but look around for a moment, feeling pride wash over her from a job... "finished". And it wasn't long before she was smiling to herself. "Thank goodness that's ove-"
But, as fate would have it, the universe decided to punish Dash for attempting to speak such slanderous lies, and Fluttershy crashed through her window and landed on her bed, showering her somewhat clean room with broken glass.
"Fluttershy!?"
As she stared at indignation at her pink haired friend, she watched as she shook her mane, freeing some glass from it.
"Shy, that was like, awesome and everything, but what are you-"
*SMACK*
Before she could finish her sentence, the yellow pegasus smacked her straight in the face. She stumbled back an inch or so, before looking forward to her suddenly enraged friend. "Fluttershy, what the heck!? That almost hurt!"
Before she could react, Fluttershy hit her again. "HOW DARE YOU!"
Rainbow Dash stumbled back a few more inches, before shaking her head. "What did I do this tim-"
Before she could finish the sentence, Fluttershy pushed her over. "How dare you do that to her!"
Rainbow Dash tried to get back up, but found herself rolled over, as gently as if she was a newborn.
"I'm sorry! I just liked Tank better! And I didn't want a kitty!"
Fluttershy growled. Since when did she growl?
"Not her, Twilight!"
Before she could react, She felt terrifyingly gentle hooves grab her leg.
"No-no-no-no!"
She tried to crawl away, but her still moist and slightly soapy hooves found no purchase on her freshly scrubbed carpet. It seemed that her failure to dry her hooves properly would be her downfall.
Just like her uncle Sven.
And, as suddenly as the pulling started, it stopped. And was immediately replaced with the feeling of course rope.
"Fluttershy, what are you-OOMPH!"
She immediately stopped her questioning when one of her dirty socks was stuffed into her mouth, reminding her of the importance of doing laundry. She tried to flail her two free limbs, to strike back at her unforeseen attacker, but they were all expertly dodged, making her resistance look less like a dramatic struggle, and more like the brutal mauling of a somewhat sad clown.
It was almost as if the mare had experience in tying up agitated animals. And, as quickly as her resistance lasted, her capture was even quicker.
And, as all of this happened, all she could wonder was that, of all of her friends, why was it Fluttershy that always was the one to tie her up.
"Oh dear, I'm afraid that didn't work either."
Immediately after he said it, he regretted it, for a long wail came from his... transformed associate, drowning almost every other noise out of the room.
"I'm going to be stuck as a horrible moo-oo-oose~!"
The doctor put on his best forced grin, and turned to his moosey... friend. Well, he wasn't sure about the friend part, seeing as all he'd heard from her was constant whining as to what she'd been changed to, but he was as sure as he was the doctor that she was a moose.
Anyone could notice that.
"Well, yes, but no need to reaffirm that fact, it's quite... obvious."
Another wail. What did she want from him?
"Doctor! She's already sad, you don't need to remind her of her... looks?"
More sobbing. At least it wasn't him that caused it this time. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm no good with this pony! If I act like she's beautiful, she cries. She's a moose, she cries. I compliment her antlers, she cries. And that one was genuine! They are rather fetching, in a strange way."
He sighed as her turned away from the mare, who called herself Rarity, and looked to his assistant, Ditzy Doo, who was frowning. "You just aren't being sensitive enough. How would you feel, if you were stuck as something you weren't?"
At this comment, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Now she was just teasing him.
Clever girl.
"...Oh, right, sorry. But you know what I mean!"
He grumbled a bit. "Fine. I leave the moose-mare handling to you, and I guess I'll just continue looking for a way to change her back without the cursed vegetable. I hope that dragon and midget pegasi get back here with it soon, along with their hell-spawn."
It was only after this comment, that the moose spoke up. "Wait. Are you telling me that you sent Spike and Scootaloo after it? I thought you said you sent two armed assistants, not children!"
He couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I did. I made those two my temporary assistants in the matter. And you can't expect me to believe those two are children. I mean please, did you see that owl? Only a very powerful pair of beings could spawn something that terrible. Besides, height doesn't have any correlation to power, as Dinky could attest. Small little filly can nearly move the Tardis, and she's twelve. Anyway, I gave them some of the best tools I, erm, "acquired" from the last time we went against the cyber me-, er, ponies. They'll be back in no time."
Before he could continue, he felt a tapping on his shoulder.
"Umm... doctor?"
He turned around, and found himself looking at Derpy. "Umm... was the little Pegasus actually named Scootaloo?"
The doctor gave her a nod. "Yes, But I am sure miss Rari-moose("*Sob*") is simply mistaken. I mean, She couldn't possibly be a mother of a demon and a child at the same time!"
Derpy shook her head, and sighed. "Doctor, Scootaloo goes to school with Dinky."
For several moments, the room was completely silent. It wasn't until the doctor recovered from this unexpected information that he said something. "...Oh."
He sat there for a moment, before turning around. "Okay, new plan. I stay here and try and fix miss Rari-moose, and you, Ditzy, my dear, will go hunt down the two of them. Any questions?"
Derpy tapped him on the shoulder again, and he turned to face her. "Yes. What exactly did you give them?"
"So, does anypony have any questions?"
Scootaloo looked around, and eyed her friends, before the yellow and red one, Applebloom, spoke up. "Yeah, what exactly are we gonna do about Owlicious when we get to him?"
"Good question, little Apple." Spike responded. He couldn't help but feel a connection to the ones under his command. He felt like a father to them. A father that was, in fact, younger than most of them. A little father. "When we get him, me and Scootaloo will catch him. The doctor said that he was a demon or something, so he told us to be extra careful with him."
Immediately after she finished, Apple bloom raised her hoof. "Only granny can call me that. But alright then, but how do y'all work these things ya gave us? And what exactly do they do?"
Scootaloo couldn't help but grin. They did get some really nice things. Mysterious, magical, mystical things. "Well, the one we gave you is a... burning tool thing. It cuts metal and wood and stuff. It's really cool, and it works kinda like unicorn magic, I guess."
Sweetie Belle lit up when she heard this. "So, these are enchanted? Like, real enchanted, not the silly normal enchantments ponies usually use? 'Cause they said in school that only real enchanted stuff can actually do stuff, instead of just sitting there and being useless, like the royal guard, or Princess Celestia on Hump day."
Spike scratched his chin, and shrugged. "I guess... I mean, all these things do stuff without us doing anything but pressing buttons, so-"
"Ooooh! What does mine do, Spike?"
"Your's... sticks things. To other things."
Sweetie belle smiled widely. "That sounds like it would be useful in catching stuff!
Applebloom nodded, and looked to Spike. "And what does yours do?"
Spike simply grinned, and twirled the thing in his claws. "It can make things bigger, or smaller."
"That's good too!"
Scootaloo nodded in agreement with a grin, and looked back and forth between her team. They all looked to her, and spike, for guidance. So, speech time. "Before today, I saw a buncha weenies, babies, and dictionaries. But, today, we all become... er, mares. And Spike. We will save equestria from the dark menace of the owl, and get our cutie marks doing it! We will hunt it down through the hills, the mountains, through the houses, and we will not rest until we have caught it! Or, until lunch. But we will succeed! So, who's with me!?"
She looked around, and saw nothing but complete resolve. Resolve, and possibly gas.
"Alright, Cutie mark Demon hunters Go!"