//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 (Yeah I know I forgot the name for the last one... so sue me) // Story: Failure has Its Own Price // by BigMacAttack //------------------------------// Big Macintosh was woken by the stream of sunlight cascading through the open window in his sister's bedroom, and the series of heavy thumps on the door of the house. Panic set in as he snapped his attention to the bed, expecting the worst. She was still laying there, her eyes were closed to the world and so was her mind. She just lay there, barely breathing, barely holding onto her own life. But she was still alive, she had survived the night at least. The massive thumps on the door to the house persisted. With a groan Big Macintosh heaved himself off the floor and set off down the stair to find the source of the commotion. "Give me ah sec, will ya!" he muttered, stumbling down the rest of the stairs. he passed the couch he had told Fluttershy he would be sleeping on for that night, so much for that idea. "Ah wouldn't have properly fit on the blooming thing anyway" he chuckled as he opened the front door to greet his persistent guest. "Now what can ah-" He was interrupted mid-sentence by a carrot to his left eye. "OW! WHAT IN TARNATION!" Another carrot hit him in the muzzle and a small white form streaked by his field of vision. "COME BACK HERE YA LITTLE-" snapping a hoof out he pinned the small white blur to the wall. Snapping his head around, he focused his remaining eye on the creature he had now trapped. "Now care ta tell me why yah almost cost me ma left eye, ya tiny varmint?!" he had trapped a small, enraged and adorably cute white rabbit. the rabbit responded by biting him on the hoof, hard. "Now what tha hay do you expect that to do? Big Macintosh was huge, the rabbit couldn't reach past the hardened hoof to bite anything that would have cause the massive stallion any pain. While his left eye still smarted, and his nose did hurt a little, Big Macintosh wasn't the type to get angry without any good reason. The rabbit sighed, he couldn't win in this instance, so he resorted to a comical attempt at sign language. "Hmm, lets see. Seeing? Looking? ah you are looking fer something? Oh...Ya wouldn't be looking for Miss Fluttershy would ya? The rabbit's jaw hit the floor, no-pony had ever understood his hand signs on the first attempt. Big Macintosh just chuckled, he had spent his whole life listening rather than talking. A simple game of Charades was nothing for him. " Ah, guess ya tracked her scent here,huh?" A nod confirming his suspicions. "And ah'm guessing ya smelt tha blood too?" Another nod. "Well ah can't blame ya for acting like that now can I? Truth be told ah probably would have done tha same." Big Macintosh chuckled as he let the rabbit drop to the floor. "Now miss Shy is still asleep upstairs, one o our friends was mighty hurt yesterday so we had to taker her back here and fix her up. She isn't doing so well right now, so ah reckon that Miss Shy is gonna need all tha help she can get. And her sleep. So ah can make ya a bite to eat if'n ya want till she wakes up. What do ya say, partner?" he held his hoof out to the small rabbit. The rabbit leant back a little, still shaken from the previous encounter, but he placed his tiny paw in the massive stallion's hoof. Big Macintosh just smiled. "Now lets get some breakfast inter ya, ya know ya really did give me a solid hit back there." Big Macintosh chuckled, rubbing his swollen eye. "Ah never knew that rabbits could throw that hard." At this the Rabbit's chest swelled with pride. "Ah guess ya might just be strong enough ta protect her when that time comes, right? Oh take a seat on that stool by tha table." Big Macintosh pointed with his nose at the stool that Applebloom used to reach the high table, while he busied himself around the kitchen, making breakfast for the two of them. After a nice breakfast of apple pancakes, the two creatures stared at one another across the table. Big Macintosh broke the silence just before it started getting to the awkward stage. "Ah was thinking, ya use sign language ta talk right?" the little rabbit nodded. "Why don't ya try talking or writing down ya thoughts?" the rabbit's ears drooped at this remark, and he sadly pointed to his own throat. "Something wrong with ya throat?" The rabbit pulled up the fur around his chin and Big Macintosh almost fell off of his chair. There was a massive pink scar running the length of the rabbits neck, his thick fur had hidden the majority of it but it was clearly an old scar. the size and shape had indicated theat the rabbit's neck had been slit at one time or another by a ragged implement. Big Macinstosh just shook his head. "Ahm guessing that Miss Shy found ya like that and healed ya? Make sense that ya care for her so much then." the rabbit then made the gestures for drawing and made the thumbs-up sign. "So ya can write then at least?" The rabbit nodded, "Well wait right here then, ah have something ya might be able ta use" Big Macintosh headed out towards the living room and left the rabbit by himself. Angel still couldn't believe that all this had happened. After Fluttershy hadn't returned that night or the following morning he had begun to worry and had decide to track her down, he had followed her scent all the way to the farm and had come across the wreckage of what looked to be a major struggle. He had followed the trail of blood in a panic, fearing the worst. And now all this had happened. he tilted his head downwards and stroked his scar, why had he let this strange pony know about his scar? why did he believe him when he said that Fluttershy was just asleep upstairs? The smell of blood was so strong about the house, but he could make out the smells of three distinct ponies, one was the smell of the huge pony, another was the smell of Fluttershy, but the third smell was so familiar. The smell of sweat and a distinct lack of bathing. His curiosity got the better of him and he jumped down off the stool and followed the scent up the stairs and into the bedroom. Seeing a form inside ht ebed he hopped up onto the stool next to the bed and got a good look at the pony in the bed. And promptly fell off the stool, he had recognised the hair colour and the slight bits of fur visible through all the blood-soaked bandages. He leapt back onto the stool and stared at the broken Pegasus. This pony was Fluttershy's closest friend! He had met the Pony often when she had visited Fluttershy in her cottage, and Angle had begrudgedly taken a liking to her. Tears started forming in the corners of his eyes, the horror of what he saw before him shook him the the very core of his tiny body. "She is doing well ta be alive at the moment, she hit a tree at her maximum speed. We did all we could, but the nurse is away for the next two weeks. Fluttershy fixed her up as best she could, but in the end there is little we can do. It's up to her right now." Tears had formed in the eyes of the stallion that had silently snuck up behind Angel. "And the worst thing is, ah'm buckin' useless ta them both right now. Ah can't heal others and ah can't do ah thing!" the stallion's head was almost touching the floor as tears fell freely from his face. The feeling of uselessness was completely overwhelming him to his very soul. The knowledge that he could do nothing was painful. *Cough* *Splat* Big Macintsoh felt something warm and liquid splash against his chest, at first he couldn't see anything because of the tears in his eyes and the fact that the liquid blended right into his bright, red coat. The body of Rainbow Dash was convulsing and coughing as blood began to trickle down the corner of her mouth. "NO!" Big Macintosh screamed. He rushed to the bed as Dash began to whimper and her eyes slowly cracked open. "Wha-?" she muttered as her eye rolled back into her head and she passed out, the continuing to ooze out of the corner of her mouth. Big Macintosh couldn't do a thing, he just stood there as his mind registered the fact that she was dying... "NO! NOT NOW!" He snatched the towel next to the bed and began to wipe away the blood from her mouth. "FLUTTERSHY! HELP! YA CAN'T DIE YET MISS DASH!" but no matter what he did the blood wouldn't stop. Fear gripped his heart as the cloth in his hoof stained the bed-sheets red. "Move aside" the voice was small but it commanded the force of a thousand orders, Fluttershy stepped up to the convulsing Pegasus and placed a small herb bundle in Dash's mouth. Fluttershy massaged Dash's throat and force the Pegasus to swallow the bundle. almost immediately the herbs began to take effect and the convulsing stopped. "Get me a cloth and a bowl of water. Quickly." Big Macintosh sprang to attention, bolting down the hallways to the bathroom and procuring the required items. Her returned and Fluttershy took the items from him and set to work. it was a tense few minutes but finally Dash's body eased it's tension and she relaxed once again. they descended the staircase and made their way outside, leaving Angel as a capable guard at Rainbow Dash's bedside. "She is fine now, until the next time. We need better equipment. Or somepony with more medical talent then myself." Fluttershy was still talking to Macintosh in that quiet soothing voice that she had used earlier. "Ah'm so sorry...A-ah guess a am u-useless after all." Big Macintosh's normally stoic demeanour had shattered completely. and he openly wept in front of the yellow Pegasus. He was surprise when he felt her forelegs wrap softly around his head, her wings beating a gently tempo behind him as she hovered above his head and rested her head on top of his. "Shhhh. It's ok, not everypony is meant to tend to others. But everypony should care for others, and as far as I can see, you are one of the most caring ponies I have ever met Mr Macintosh." Her voice broke through his depression and warmed his heart. Soothing the raging emotions inside his body. *Sniff* "Ah'm sorry about tha Miss Shy, ah guess we need ta take a time inter town ta get some medicine?" he wiped the tears from his eyes and straightened himself up, Fluttershy still on his back. "The least ah can do is carry ya down to the town." He fortified himself and drew strength from her weight on his back. "Thank you Mister Macintosh, I would like that greatly." she blushed as she relaxed into his back and closed her eyes, exhaustion claiming her as she slept the whole way into town.