Wing and a Prayer
Chapter 2
“Ah hope you kin come visit again soon, Babs.” Applebloom and the rest of the CMC were at the train station to see Babs off.
“Me too. A weekend just isn’t enough time to get to spend with you guys. But hey, I should have some new members for the Cutie Mark Crusaders soon.” This news was met with cheers from the three founders. Timbre cheered a little as well, but without as much gusto. The friends said their goodbyes and Babs departed on the train.
Timbre and the fillies all piled into the CMC’s wagon. Sweetie Belle looked at Timbre quizzically. “Can’t you just fly next to us?”
Timbre thought about this for a moment. “I’ve never really had friends that I could spend time with, so I just want to be in the wagon with you instead? It’s not that I can’t.”
Scootaloo was about to step onto her scooter when an idea popped into her head.
“Hey Timbre, you want to take a shot at pulling us? I’ve always wondered what it feels like to be pulled in the wagon.”
“Are you sure it’s okay? I mean, it’s your scooter not mine.”
“Totally fine. Just don’t run into anything.”
“Yeah,” Applebloom interjected. “Not like Scootaloo did to you yesterday.” Scootaloo huffed indignantly.
At Sweetie Belle’s insistence the four arrived shortly thereafter at a café that served her favorite milkshakes. The friends talked amicably and sipped from their shakes for several minutes, Timbre having ordered Mint flavor.
“Okay, so Timbre, what do you think we should do today to get our cutie marks?” Sweetie Belle looked at him. Timbre gulped nervously. He’d never really thought about the things he could try to earn a cutie mark. After all, this was part of why he joined the crusaders; because he wasn’t good at thinking of things to try. He took a moment to try thinking but nothing came to mind.
“I’m not sure what we should try, I’m sorry.”
The three fillies didn’t pick up on the defeated sound in his voice, but Applebloom was ready with a suggestion.
“What kinds of things have you tried before? Maybe we can go off of that for today.”
Timbre thought back over the last several months. There hasn’t really been much that he found interesting or particularly noteworthy in his life that he wanted to take a shot at, and except for time spent with Button Mash most of the time he’d spent in Ponyville was with his mother unpacking and cleaning or going to school. With nothing else to go on, he brought up gaming with Button Mash.
“I tried learning about and playing video games with Button Mash, but it just didn’t really seem like much fun. Most of his games are single-player anyway, and watching someone else having fun without getting to participate was boring. That and I never really got the point of playing those kinds of games.” The girls all looked at him differently. On Applebloom it was plain confusion. Sweetie Belle looked like she was remembering a bad experience. Scootaloo, however, was more vocal about it.
“Ew, why would you want to spend your time playing something fake anyway? And with a colt? I’d rather spend my time with all you girls than with any colt.” Timbre looked away, face sporting a hint of red which Scootaloo misinterpreted. “You don’t LIKE Button Mash, do you?” Scootaloo sounded scandalized.
“No. I don’t like him like that,” Timbre replied, blush gone and face deadpanned. He sighed internally. ‘I just wish I knew how to tell you all that I’m not a filly without losing your friendship.’ Before he could dwell on this for long, Scootaloo took charge of the conversation again.
“I know what we can do! Rainbow Dash’s favorite book is about Daring Doo. Maybe if we started exploring like she does we could get our cutie marks in Exploration or Treasure Hunting!”
“But where would we explore,” Sweetie Belle asked. “We’ve been all over town and I think we know it pretty well.”
“The Everfree Forest! We’ve been in there several times but we were always in there for something else. Why don’t we actually explore part of it?”
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other nervously. Memories of chasing a chicken into the forest coming to mind.
“Okay, that sounds like a plan.” The two fillies looked at Timbre mistaking his ignorance of the forest’s dangers as confidence and bravery.
“I think we should let somepony know we are going in there. Just to be safe.” Sweetie Belle’s voice faltered slightly as she spoke. Scootaloo disagreed with her.
“If we tell somepony then they’ll just tell us we can’t go in there. Let’s just go and be back in a few hours. We’ll be just fine as long as we don’t go in too deep.”
Timbre finished his milkshake and hopped away from the table. “Anything I need to bring with me?” They shook their heads. “Okay, I’ll let my mother know to expect me back by dinner and meet back up at the clubhouse.” Hearing an ‘okay’ from his friends he left the café to make good on his word.
XXXXX
The four friends approached the border of the Everfree Forest several minutes later. As they walked Applebloom was talking animatedly with Timbre Pitch.
“Ah can’t believe yer mom was okay with all of us going. Most ponies don’t like it when we enter the forest.”
“I can’t see why. I think more it was that my mother was excited that I was spending so much time with friends instead of at home studying or flying along the train tracks. I don’t blame her though. Spending time with you three has been great even if it’s only been a day.” They all stopped on the path entering the tree line. “I’m ready when you are.”
“It was my idea, so I’ll take the lead,” Scootaloo said with more confidence than she felt, now that they were actually here. Timbre, you take up the rear and just follow us.”
“Got it, Scoots.” Scootaloo smiled at the nickname.
The four friends entered the forest. For a good hour they wandered around, exploring all the strange things that made the Everfree Forest so different from other forests. Timbre noticed how it was so wild and chaotic. Trees and other plants grew anywhere and in any way. A few animals and birds were seen and the way everything looked just felt strange, but exciting. For Timbre, getting used to Ponyville took some time because he grew up most of his life so far in Cloudsdale. Going from Cloudstructure to wood and masonry was an adjustment, but it was still organized and planned. The forest however defied even that.
After that first hour the CMC started to notice other things and point them out to each other, every now and then checking each other’s flanks to see if they’d earned a cutie mark. Scootaloo just said they must need to find something more interesting and kept the group’s spirits up as they continued to explore. They were certain that they were seeing more of the Everfree than anyone in Ponyville ever had.
“Hey Applebloom, is Zecora’s home near here,” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Nah, we’ve been heading the wrong way to be going to see her. But I know Fluttershy’s cottage is probably close. I think. Maybe.”
“I’ve never met Fluttershy,” Timbre said. “But Pinkie Pie said once that I was almost as timid as her.” He paused for a moment as they walked. “Do you girls think I’m really timid?”
“No way, you came in here after all, and Fluttershy won’t come in here unless she has to.” Scootaloo’s grin reassured him a little.
“I don’t think you are timid; maybe a bit unsure of yourself sometimes though.”
“Like yer one to talk, Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom spoke up with a smirk. All three of the fillies had a laugh which Timbre joined even though he didn’t know Sweetie Belle very much. She seemed confident most of the time he had seen.
A few minutes later Scootaloo pointed to something shining in the distance to their left. The group galloped to the source of the light and found a piece of broken mirror lodged in a tree next to a rope bridge. On the other side of the bridge was an old ruin. For the three fillies, their faces looked like Hearts Warming Eve had come early.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS RUIN EXPLORERS! YEAH!” Timbre covered his ears with his hooves behind them.
For the next several minutes the four wandered around the ruins, finding fascination with everything from the vines growing on the walls to the loose rubble in corners to the strange apparatus in one of the towers. They spent a lot of time imagining the kinds of ponies that might have once lived there, or other creatures that might have made it their home. They pretended to be rulers, knights, and even stealthy ponies that would hide until their unsuspecting foe got too close, then would pounce and tickle them into submission. Timbre won most of those because his wings boosted his speed enough to get away before the tickling became too much for him.
Finding a tapestry that was still in usable condition, Scootaloo draped it across herself and proclaimed herself the ruler of the castle and commanded her subjects to search for the treasury and bring her something cool. The other three giggled at this but decided to comply. The search found nothing, but they didn’t care.
The time to play came to a close and the four friends crossed the bridge to begin the trek out of the forest. Timbre wasn’t sure why most ponies didn’t like to come into the forest like Applebloom said. Sure it looked weird and everything was a big mass of mess, but they had a lot of fun in it. No cutie marks, but he didn’t care. It was nice that he had some friends to spend time with doing fun things.
Timbre took a deep breath of satisfaction, but the last of his breath smelled horribly of something he couldn’t identify. He heard a growling from ahead.
“Uh, Scootaloo is that your stomach?”
“Ew, after smelling that? I couldn’t possibly be hungry after that smell.”
The growling came once more, but this time it was much more obvious that it came from a source not their own. They all looked around nervously and were met by two pairs of glowing green eyes from where they found the mirror shard. Coming out from the shadows were two large creatures Timbre had never imagined in his nightmares.
Made from of conglomeration of wood, leaves, pitch and bark, two monstrosities on four ‘legs’ made their way slowly toward them. Nothing in their movement was benign and fear took over the three fillies who shouted.
“TIMBER WOLVES!” Timbre reigned in his fear. The girls took off across the bridge back to the ruins in a panic. Timbre looked back at the timber wolves and his mind raced with what to do. He knew very little of these monsters other than what he could see. If they were held together by strong magic then there was little he would be able to do but run, however if the magic was weak, he might be able to beat them by hitting them fast enough. His decision made he opened his young wings and took off, making a loop over the bridge to gain some speed.
The impact with the first timber wolf lanced his body in pain. He tried to tuck his shoulder low and twist just before impact so that he would avoid hitting head first. He crashed through the timber wolf which did indeed break into pieces, scattering everywhere including down into the ravine the bridge covered. However because of the twist he struck wing first and he wasn’t sure if all the noise of clattering wood didn’t include his wing, but it sure felt like it. There was no time to find out though as the other timber wolf leaped at him and swiped a foreleg into him, causing him to roll several feet and into another tree. More pain came, but this time it was muted by the feel of adrenaline, powering him and providing him with strength to save his first true friends.
Timbre staggered to his hooves then looked up defiantly at the lone wolf ahead of him. Opting for a straight charge at the enemy he galloped as fast as he could. The timber wolf opened its jaws and Timbre leapt at it, twisting around and coiling his hind legs. Thus prepared he bucked with all his might into the timber wolf’s open maw, breaking wood and loosening what little magic held it together. The sharp wood making up its teeth left their mark on his tiny legs as they passed through, leaving a few small cuts on them.
“Oh Celestia,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as the trio of fillies cautiously made their way back over the bridge to Timbre. “Are you okay, Timbre?”
Timbre turned to face her, keeping his scratched hind legs out of sight. He reassured them he was okay, though the pain told him otherwise. Scootaloo looked ashamed. She scuffed the dirt with a hoof as she spoke.
“That was incredible, Timbre. I, uh, would have joined you to take out the timber wolves, but I had to protect the others. You know how it is, right?”
Timbre smiled through the pain but said nothing. He nodded his head though and turned to walk away, leading the group toward home.
XXXXX
Because of the time spent in the ruins and the unwanted attention from the forests wildlife, the Cutie Mark Crusaders only knew the general direction to get home. They’d been walking for almost an hour and the light through the trees was starting to dim by the time they found something other than a continuous mess of trees and brush. Thankfully, they did not run into any more timber wolves. They had kept up some conversation during that time about their more recent forays into the forest. Timbre was particularly upset to learn they had faced a cockatrice last time with Fluttershy.
“I didn’t know there were dangerous creatures in here. Why would you want to come in here without an adult?” The question was met with reasoning from Applebloom that she’d been in many times to see Zecora whom lived in here. Before the cockatrice encounter she'd never seen any monsters on her previous trips. And why tell the adults when many of them were too scared to even see Zecora unless they had to? Besides, Timbre only got a few scratches, right? Why worry so much?
Timbre on the other hand knew that those scratches weren’t the only injuries he took. Since the adrenaline from the fight wore off the pain had returned and brought friends. His ribs and wings ached and he had managed, while making excuses to relieve himself in private, to carefully fold his wings back into a position that looked normal. He secretly hoped that with some bed rest he’d be okay. His mother would probably ban him from seeing his friends again if she knew he’d gotten hurt in a place even adults didn’t want to go.
The thing they had just stumbled upon was a small clearing in the forest that had a pond in it. The most unusual thing wasn’t the pond or even the clearing itself. It was the pony that was sitting on the far bank, looking into the water.
The pony had a grey coat and light blonde mane that while not styled was not particularly messy either. She was an adult mare that all four knew. The seven bubbles on her flank made up her cutie mark. Resting next to her was a small satchel used by the Ponyville Mailmares.
“Derpy! What are ya doin’ in here,” asked Applebloom as they approached her. The grey mare looked up at the trio of fillies.
“Oh, I come here often after I’m done with work. It’s quiet and peaceful.” That it also kept her away from some of the ponies’ looks at her eyes was left unsaid. It didn’t bother her as much as it used to, but it was still a sensitive topic for her when she caught those pitying looks. “But why are you three here? You know it’s dangerous.”
“Oh there aren’t three of us, Derpy. Timbre is with us,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo added excitedly. “Timbre fought two timber wolves and beat them both! It was amazing!”
Derpy looked at them confused. She lifted a hoof and pointed at all three as she counted them. “I only see three of you.” She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. When she opened them both eyes were properly focused and she counted again. “Yeah, still only three. Where is Timbre?”
The three fillies looked around. Timbre wasn’t anywhere near them. They called out his name and headed back to where they entered the clearing from. It was only a few steps before they noticed a small patch of almost white fur among the tall grass.
“C’mon, Timbre. We’re all tired but we need to get home. No sleepin’ in the grass.” Applebloom approached him and nudged his side. Timbre gave out a yelp of pain that no one missed. “What? Ah barely touched her.” As Derpy approached the young colt she gasped. A tiny patch of the grass in front of Timbre’s mouth was red and his breathing was getting labored.
“Oh my Celestia! He’s injured! You say he fought timber wolves?”
“Well, yeah. But she didn’t look hurt when it was over,” Scootaloo stood nearby but Timbre blocked the view of what Derpy could see. The three of them described the fight for Derpy.
“Fluttershy’s cottage isn’t far from here.” Derpy pointed a hoof in the appropriate direction. “It’s a short walk to get out of the forest. Go straight home now and don’t worry. As often as I come here I won’t get lost. I need to get him to the hospital fast.” Derpy gingerly scooped up Timbre in her hooves and took flight in the direction she had pointed, an extremely worried look on her face.
The fillies looked at each other now more worried about their friend than ever. It was Sweetie Belle who spoke first.
“Did Derpy call Timbre a ‘him’?”
XXXXX
There were few places in Equestria that had the smell of absolute cleanliness as a hospital, and Ponyville’s ward was no exception. In many cases hospitals were relatively quiet. Not to the extent that a library usually is, though the Grand Oaks Library in Ponyville was noisier than most, but more so than most shops. Tonight however, the waiting room was anything but quiet.
“How in Equestria could you three DO such a thing?!” Rarity, a white coated unicorn with perfectly styled purple mane was currently the worry of the hospital staff as she shouted down the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Honestly, it’s bad enough that Applebloom keeps going in there alone to see Zecora, but to go exploring in areas of the forest that no pony has been in?! And now look, one of your friends has been hurt!” Each word was another little blow to their hearts.
“But,” Sweetie Belle started meekly. “The doctor will fix Timbre up just fine, right? She’s a strong filly.”
“My son is a colt, young lady.” Timbre’s mother was the picture of calm on the outside, but inside she was as frantic as any parent would be while awaiting the diagnosis of their child’s injuries. “I know he’s pretty, but still. He’s always been sensitive about that.”
Anything else the three fillies might have said was lost in the shock to their minds. They had let a colt into their club. Oh my.
“That’s beside the point,” Applejack said. She had already yelled a bit but was quicker to calm down than Rarity was. “The point is if’n ya want to go explorin’ someplace dangerous you should wait until you aint a little pony no more. An lookit what ya done. The doctors are good, but if he was coughing up blood who knows what’ll happen.” A nurse at the counter gave an indignant look that no one noticed.
“But…” Applebloom started. She found, however, that she really had nothing to say about that. Her big sister was right. And now one of her friends was in very bad shape because of them. How were they going to make this right? Was there anything they COULD do to make it right? Their hearts were bouncing between being in their throats and deep in their bellies.
After a moment of silence the sound of hoofsteps alerted the group to the doctor returning. They turned to face him as he came in.
“How is my son, doctor?”
The doctor sighed. “He isn’t in any danger. His injuries are stable now and he will recover. A few of his ribs are broken however, and we’re keeping him here for a few days at least. However that’s not my biggest concern.”
Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie belle looked at each other. Knowing their friend was going to recover helped their hearts lighten a little, but if something was of greater concern to the doctor it was probably not going to be good. They all looked at the doctor with expectant, worried looks.
“Please doctor, what is it,” Timbre’s mother asked.
The doctor sighed again. He took a moment to collect his thoughts of how to say it. After a moment he steeled himself. It would be best to be straight to the point and get it over with, he decided.
“Both of the young colt’s wings were injured. Badly. Well, they are broken.”
Rarity looked at him oddly. “Is that all? Rainbow Dash came here with a broken wing once and you didn’t seem so concerned. What aren’t you saying?”
The doctor looked away for a moment, biting his lip. It was never easy to give this kind of news to anypony. Again he sighed, then directed himself to Timbre’s mother.
“Some of the bones in his wings are completely shattered. We’ll do what we can, but the truth is that he may never fly again.”
Two hearts in the room became as shattered as Timbre’s wings, and while his mother cried in Rarity and Applejack’s embrace, Scootaloo ran as fast as she could. She did not stop running for hours.