//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Doctors of Medicine and Rocks // Story: Over Yonder // by theNDinspector //------------------------------// A few minutes after arriving at the infirmary, Scootaloo started to regain some strength. There were apparently two doctors that worked at the academy, because the doctor currently looking over Scootaloo was not the same one who cared for her during her original accident or visited her home. This time it was a stallion by the name of Hunnicolt—a yellow pegasus with a brown mane and moustache. “Well, you seem to be all right,” Doctor Hunnicolt said with a smile on his face. “Great, can I go now?” Scootaloo was anxious to leave since she had enough hospital visits this past month to last her a life time. “Not quite yet.” The doctor pulled out a small cup with a removable lid and pointed towards a small bathroom on the other side of the room. Scootaloo’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?” “We got to check every possibility,” Hunnicolt shrugged. “But I didn’t have to do that last time I was here.” “We took a blood sample back then.” “Fine,” Scootaloo growled. She snatched the cup from the doctor’s hoof and walked over to the bathroom. A few moments later, she reemerged with a half-full cup and gave it back to him. “All righty,” he said jovially. “I’ll take this to the lab, and assuming I don’t mix it up with some lemonade, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Please wait right here until I get back.” Hunnicolt left, leaving Scootaloo and Blue Yonder in the examination room. Blue Yonder was sitting in the corner with her face towards the floor while Scootaloo was on the padded table. Scootaloo mad it a point to keep her partner out of her line of sight by looking at one of the many medical posters in the room. After shuffling her hooves around for a moment, Blue Yonder finally looked up. “Scootaloo…about today-” “I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Scootaloo interrupted harshly, not even turning her head. An awkward silence filled the room. Scootaloo grew tired of reading the complicated names of the various bones in a pegusi wing and looked around the room again—while still avoiding the far corner. She noticed a small radio on the countertop. She turned it on and tuned it to the K-COLT station just in time to listen to her favorite show. “Look into the sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it’s the Vinyl Scratch. Still the most popular talk show for nearly twelve years and counting. I’m your host, the maniacal megalomusician herself, DJ-P0n3.” “And I’m Octavia, still here after all this time. Seriously? Megalomusician? That’s not even a real word.” “You’re just jealous because I thought of it first.” “How can I be jealous of something so…juvenile?” “Hey, I’m not the one who swore over the air with thousands of ponies listening.” “I thought we agreed to never speak of that again! And I already apologized for that.” Vinyl snickered. “You know I’m joking. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that children listen to this show, I think you should do it more often.” “Vinyl!” “Anyways, we got a rocking show for you here tonight folks. Octy, why don’t you introduce our guest?” “What, really?” “Yeah. Is there a problem with that?” “No, it’s just…you usually introduce the guests to here on the show. I normally just sit here, and hope the whole thing doesn’t blow up in our faces…again.” “Hey, that incident with Iron Will was a one-time only thing!” “Sure it was.” “Besides, it’s your show too just as much as mine.” “Well, thank you.” Octavia paused for a moment. “It really means a lot. Anyways folks, we have a special guest tonight, Doctor Maud Pie.” Scootaloo lifted an eyebrow at the mention of that name. “A doctor, huh?" Vinyl said, catching Scootaloo's attention again. "Hey Doc, I’ve been having this pain in my flank, do you think you could take a look at it?” “VINYL! That’s entirely inappropriate! Have you no shame?!” “Nope.” Laughter could be heard while another pony groaned in frustration. “Just sit back down! I’m really sorry about all this Doctor Pie.” “Don’t worry,” a third voice said in a droll monotone. “I have three sisters and had to share a room with two of them for nearly twenty years. There’s not much that can surprise me.” “I see, but we still don’t treat our guests such a…vulgar way…usually. Please apologize, Vinyl.” “Why? She said she was cool with it.” “Just do it!” A loud thump followed by yelp of pain indicated that Octavia hit Vinyl. “All right ‘mother.’ I’m sorry for mooning you Doc.” “I accept your apology, though I should clarify that I am not that kind of doctor.” “Then what are you a doctor of?” Vinyl asked. “Rocks.” “Rocks? I didn’t know rocks even needed doctors.” “She means that she’s a geologist with a doctorate, Vinyl,” Octavia explained. “A geo-what now?” Octavia groaned. “She studies rocks.” “Well that sounds boring.” “Actually it’s quite fascinating,” Maud said, in a tone that sounded the exact opposite of fascination. “You see rocks can be formed in various ways like being compressed from the earth around it for thousands or millions of years and-” “Yeah, it was usually around this point where I zoned out back in school.” “Vinyl, that’s incredibly rude,” Octavia scolded. “She worked very hard for this.” “Yeah, but I’m not interested in that sort of stuff. The only rocks I care about are in Rock N’ Roll baby!” “Could you at least try to act interested?” “It’s okay Octavia,” Maud said. “I can understand her feelings. Geology and rocks aren’t something that interest most ponies. There are actually very few in that field of study. Usually they work for rock farms or mines, but I also study geologic formations formed through erosion, earthquakes or other forces.” “Now that you mentioned earthquakes, what do you have to say about the recent earthquakes in the region around Cloudsdale?” Octavia apparently decided to give up and tackle this interview herself. “That is actually an interesting case,” Maud said, continuing her monotone. “Mainly because the earthquakes around that aren’t really earthquakes.” “What do you mean? How can an earthquake not be an earthquake?” “Well, it is an earthquake, but not a normal one. Most earthquakes occur at tectonic fault lines, and the Cloudsdale Valley is far away from any known fault lines. It could possibly be an intraplate earthquake which is very rare, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.” “And why’s that?” “Because they are unpredictable and have little to no warning. Rocks are very surprising like that.” “Well, it certainly did seem to come as a surprise.” “To most ponies that would be the case, but I have been studying the charts formed by Richter recorders, and found that these tremors have actually been continuous. Earthquakes normally last for only a few seconds, but this one has been going on for months.” Octavia gasped, “Months?” “Yes,” Maud confirmed. “Near the beginning of this year, tremors started happening just north of the Ghastly Gorge. It has been traveling steadily northward ever since. It actually passed through Canterlot four weeks ago.” Vinyl spoke back up again, “Well, I don’t remember feeling anything.” “As I recall, Vinyl, about four weeks ago, you kept blasting the subwoofers all night long for an entire week about a month ago. How could we possibly tell with you shaking the entire city?” “Actually, these tremors have been rather low on the Richter scale,” Maud continued. “So ponies wouldn’t be able to feel it, but it was still detected. Most of this has actually been pretty low. It’s only been recently that the magnitudes have increased, and thy’re still heading north.” “Is there anything we can do about it?” “Not really. We might be able to manipulate nature a little bit at times, but we can’t control it completely—rocks are too stubborn for that. Besides, most geologists don’t even think that these events are even related.” “But you do?” “Yes.” “So what does it mean?” “Well, in my opinion, something is causing all of this—something that dwelt at the Ghastly Gorge—and it’s moving.” “Wow,” Vinyl said. “That would have been awesomely creepy, if it wasn’t ruined by the monotone.” “Vinyl! Why must you insist on constantly insulting our guests like that?!” “Because it bugs the hay out of you. Seriously, how long have you known me?” “Too long, it seems at times,” Octavia said with a muffled voice. “You know you love it. Anyways, that’s our show for the night. We’d like to thank Doc Maud for joining us tonight, even if she did put me so sleep for a bit.” “Thank you for letting me be here. I’m quite the fan really.” “Yeah, I can totally see that,” Vinyl said in a confused tone. “Anyways, thanks for listening, and we hope to shake your world the next time you tune into The Vinyl Scratch.” Scootaloo switched off the radio. She returned back to the examination table, deep in thought over what she had just heard. “Maud?” She muttered. “Where do I know that name from?” Before she could ponder any further, the door opened again. Doctor Hunnicolt walked in with his clipboard and a smile. “Well, Miss Scootaloo,” he said. “It seems that you’re drug-free. Your incident was likely due to some fatigue, but some food and a good night’s rest will clear that up. I can even just say ‘take two pills and call me in the morning,’ but you’ll be just fine.” “That’s good to know,” Scootaloo replied, hopping of the table. “Is there anything else?” “Just your signature here.” He held out the clipboard and Scootaloo took the pen to sign her name at the bottom. After signing the last letter she turned to leave, only to be blocked by another stallion walking in who was busy looking at his own clipboard. She recognized the stallion as Doctor Hawkeye—now much more suitably dressed for his line of work. “All right BJ, I’m here to take over the...” Hawkeye looked up to see the two cadets. “You didn’t tell me we were going to have guests; I’d have brought over some drinks.” Hunnicolt rolled his eyes, but then Blue Yonder walked up to him. “BJ? What’s the ‘B.J.’ stand for?” Hunnicolt shrugged. “Anything you want.” Blue Yonder stared at him in disbelief. “But-” “Come on,” Scootaloo interrupted, still fuming from the afternoon’s events. “Let’s just go.” With her stomach growling, Scootaloo walked out the door with Blue Yonder right behind—yet they could both still hear a conversation between the two doctors. “What does the ‘B.J.’ stand for?” Hawkeye asked “Anything you want.” “What, is it some kind of mystery? I’m your best friend. Why are you being so secretive all of a sudden?”