//------------------------------// // 2- Trauma Care // Story: Twilight's Adventure // by wille179 //------------------------------// Twilight's eye twitched. All of this mindless prattle about her nautilus fossil and “Bird Jesus” was really getting on her nerves. She was starting to wonder if it was worth keeping. Keep it, I say. “No pony asked you.” “Go into the house (and eat the cookies).” Before Twilight could protest that the cabin was probably owned by somepony, her hooves were already carrying her inside through the unlocked front door, which she closed after passing through. Inside, there was a used sleeping bag, a small nightstand with a picture of a mare on it, the table that held the plate of cookies and cotton candy cloud's milk bowl. The unicorn could tell that this place was little more than a makeshift shelter. Hungrily, yet against her will, Twilight stepped up to the plate and devoured the cookies. They were delicious, but made her both very thirsty and very guilty. She eyed the bowl of milk. Twilight knew that it was not hers to drink. She had already taken the owner's cookies without permission, so she vowed to ignore the milk and search for water elsewhere. “DrInK tHe ChOcOlAtE mIlK rIgHt NoW.” Again, against her will, her body acted, summoning her telekinesis to lift the bowl to her lips. It too was delicious, as all of Discord's chocolate milk was. She was only on her second sip when the cabin door slammed open. The sudden noise startled Twilight, causing her to jump. Her magic spiked, causing her to launch both the fossil and the milk bowl back behind her, where they crashed into the nightstand. The framed picture teetered before plummeting face-down into the expanding puddle on the floor. The old, pale-orange earth stallion that had entered the doorway shouted, “Who are ya and what are ya doin' in my...” He trailed off as he saw the state of the room. “No!” Twilight, stunned and desperately trying to think of an excuse that wouldn't make her sound crazy, merely stood there as he barreled past her. The stallion dove for the picture on the floor with a cry of, “GUMDROP! Oh, Gumdrop!” He picked up the soaked picture. As he removed it from the frame to help it dry, Twilight could hear him mutter, “Don't worry, Daddy's here.” “I, uh, I'm really sorry...” Twilight muttered apologetically. “YOU!” The stallion whirled around and glared at Twilight, his eyes ablaze with murderous rage. “YOU ALMOST RUINED GUMDROP'S PICTURE!” His features suddenly softened as he began to cry. “You... you almost took her away... *sniff* You almost cost me the very last thing I have of my family.” “Oh Celestia. I'm really sorry. I... hope you can forgive me. And at least the photo is undamaged.” He sighed and set the photo by the window, hoping that soon a beam of sunlight would shine through to help it dry. “What were you doing in here anyway? And... oh dear, you're hurt!” Twilight idly touched her still-stinging cheek. Meanwhile, the stallion trotted over to a saddle bag resting in the corner of the room. He reached in and withdrew a small packet of adhesive bandages and a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and then returned and set to work patching up Twilight's face. “Hmmm... not that deep. That's good. I'll need to clean it out first with some sting juice. This will burn a bit at first...” He poured a few drops into the wound. Twilight winced. “Now, who are you and what are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you, of course. I've been alone so very long now. I'm Trauma, best field medic in Los Pegasus. My special talent is keeping ponies alive until they can get to a hospital. Annnnnnd... done! All better, Ms... ?” She smiled back at the stallion. The mare noticed his cutie mark, a first-aid kit, adorning his flank. “Twilight Sparkle, Librarian and local 'Egg-head' of Ponyville. Thank you, Mr. Trauma.” Ally acquired: Trauma: Earth pony, elderly. Occupation: Field medic. Distinguishing features: Left eye is glass, scarred left side of face is hidden by bangs. Trauma nodded in response to her introduction as he packed away his supplies. “Now, we have the 'who' covered, so why were you in my cabin, helping yourself to my milk?” Twilight was about to reply when her eyes noticed something amiss; the plate that the cookies were on was gone, as if it had never existed. She mentally shrugged. “It's a long, strange story. You won't believe me.” “Twilight, may I call you that?” She nodded. “We live in the second era of Discord; nothing is that weird now.” “Well...” Twilight paused. What should she do? Option A: Tell the whole truth. Option B: Tell a trimmed-down version of the truth. Option C: Lie. Option D: Dodge the question and talk about something else. And in the future when you comment, it's easier on both Twilight and I if you start your comment with A/B/C/D/etc.