“Witch Doctor! Look!!!”
Witch looks up from the borrowed tome and smiles as she sees her ward beaming fit to burst as the green marble hovered (erratically, probably due to the colt’s excitement and inexperience) before him. Her azure eyes flick over Trick Step’s head to meet Fancy Pants’ and he nods slightly at her, one corner of his mouth twitching upwards in amusement.
“Good job Tricks… But you should calm down and get back to Fancy’s lessons…” Witch says encouragingly, giving the colt an affectionate ruffle of his mane before gently nudging him back towards their landlord. Tricks practically bounces back to the table near the fireplace in Fancy Pants’ library, marble bobbing before him. Witch follows him with her eyes, silently noting that his aura had paled some, now a pale amber compared to the dark honey color it had been before the reconstruction. Idly, she wonders if the color change is due to the white porcelain-like tip of his horn.
Dismissing the digressive thought, Witch turns her attention back to the book, her hoof knocking her glasses askew as she rubs at her eyes. The book is a trial to get through, full of vague theories and insubstantially-founded suppositions about the old Equusese culture. It had only been a day since she and Luna had discovered the prophetic words inscribed on her bracelets, so the books Luna had promised had not yet arrived. Fancy Pants had been more than happy to allow her access to his extensive collection while he taught Tricks how to use his magic.
Sighing, she closes the book as her magic grabs a pen and writes short line about what she could gather the author’s conclusions were based on in her notebook. Perhaps, if she had more information, she might be able to draw her own ideas…
“Sir? There is a pegasus gentlecolt at the door asking to see Doctor Witching Hour.” Both Fancy and Witch look up at the butler standing in the doorway.
As Fancy opens his mouth to reply, a sing-song voice comes floating in from behind the butler, startling the poor elderly stallion. “Oh big sis!” the voice calls, drawing out the vowel of ‘sis’. Witch’s ears are immediately erect, her chair scraping on the floor as she stands quickly.
“LEAF!” she shouts, leaping towards the door and knocking the poor butler over in her haste. Sure enough, the wine-red stallion had let himself in after the butler, and Witch throws her arms around him. She would have bowled him over too, if not for his quick reflex to catch her and take their momentum airborne so they wouldn’t crash to the floor.
“Oof! When’d you get so strong?” Leaf asks as he sets them back down and scoops up his drab olive pith helmet to put it back on his head. Witch grins at him while he straightens out his matching jacket and saddle bags.
“A month with the Wonderbolts will do that, I suppose… Weren’t expecting your big sister to get tougher than you, huh?” she asks with a laugh, her eyes sparkling with mirth as she reaches up and knocks his hat askew to ruffle his pink and purple mane. He quickly bats her hoof away with his wing as he hastily straightens the mess she’d just made.
“Gah! How is that the way you greet her highness’s mail-pony?” he retorts, only a little irritated at her teasing. “And you’re not tougher than me… You just took me by surprise!” he adds, smirking down at her.
Witch blinks rapidly, her brain having caught when he mentioned bringing mail from Luna. “Wait… Luna sent you to give me the books I need?! Last I heard from you, you were with your friend in Neighpon!” Her entire demeanor changes from playfulness and confusion to eagerness and she drags him into the library, shooting the butler an apologetic smile. The butler simply sighs and goes back to whatever he’d been doing before Leaf had arrived.
“Yeah well…” he chuckles, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle. “When a Princess asks you a favor, you find the nearest sling-shot and do it as quick as possible… Especially when it’s a favor for your favorite sister…”
“I’m your only sister!” she retorts, giving his shoulder a light punch.
“And thank Celestia for tha - ow! Hey!” he complains as Witch jumps atop him and starts giving him a noogie, his hat clattering to the floor again. Her playful ire is short-lived, and she hops back down, her magic floating his hat back to him.
Pulling him over to her landlord and ward who’d been watching the whole exchange with bemused or eager interest, she quickly jumps into introductions. “Fancy! Tricks! I’d like you to meet my younger brother, Leaf Wind. Leaf, meet my landlord, Fancy Pants, and my ward, Trick Step.” Fancy eagerly steps forward to shake Leaf’s hoof.
“A pleasure to meet you, old boy!” Fancy says, grinning as he releases Leaf’s hoof. “Your friend wouldn’t be Miss Yearling, would it? I believe I saw a dedication to a Leaf Wind in one of her recent novels,” he asks curiously as Leaf chuckles.
“Guilty as charged,” Leaf replies, a sheepish smile on his face. “I usually only call her that when I want to irritate her, though.” Leaf looks down as Tricks attaches himself to Leaf’s foreleg, hugging the limb tightly.
“Yay! I have an uncle!” the auburn colt cheers.
Leaf look between Witch and Fancy with a confused and panicked expression. “Bu- wha?” he stammers, making Witch laugh outright while Fancy does his best to politely cover his smile.
“That’s right Tricks,” Witch agrees with a nod to Tricks, making Leaf blanch further. She smirks at her brother, obviously unable to keep her mirth contained. “Well I told you I’m his guardian. He already calls mom ‘Nana Brew’,” she says, taking far too much amusement from Leaf’s obvious discomfort.
Leaf cautiously lifts his foreleg in an obvious attempt to extricate himself from the colt’s hold, but Tricks hangs on, giggling as he rises. Leaf gives his leg a gentle shake back and forth, but again, Tricks’ hold is unaffected and the colt gleefully whoops. “Do it again!!!” Tricks shouts happily, and Leaf gives Witch a pleading look.
Unable to contain her mirth any longer, Witch falls to the floor, clutching her sides and laughing hysterically at the stricken expression on her brother’s face. Fancy, conversely, takes pity on the poor bewildered pegasus, and clears his throat. “Trick Step… We have a lesson to get back to, my boy…” he prompts. As quick as a spell, Tricks releases Leaf’s leg and immediately goes back to the table, immediately taking up his green marble in his magic and levitating it… Though with notable difficulty, no doubt due to his excited state of mind.
Witch recovers her breath at last, her laughter fading to occasional chortles at the purple-eyed glower of her brother. “C’mon… I’m working over here,” she says, nodding in the direction of the corner she’d taken over. Sighing and rolling his eyes, Leaf follows Witch over to the table strewn with books and papers with hastily written notes.
“Looks like you’ve already started your research,” he comments dryly as he pulls his saddlebags off and sets them on the table.
“Insomuch as I can… The Equusese Empire is so ancient that all I can find is vague conjecture… Even the old tribes had little information beyond myths.” Witch falls into her chair with an irritated sigh.
“Well… Hopefully some books my friend and I found in Mesotrotamia and Saddle Arabia will help…” Leaf replies, pulling the books gently from his bags and setting them atop the notes nearest Witch.
“Hopefully, indeed!” Witch says, pulling the closest book towards her. Immediately, she spots a problem. “Oh for buck’s sake…” she groans, putting her head in her hooves. “Of course it’d be in Arabic…”
Leaf chuckles. “Well… if you ask me nicely… and keep that kid from calling me uncle too often, I’ll teach you,” he offers, smirking at his sister’s frustration. Witch sighs again, peering at him from between her hooves.
“Sir, I -” the butler’s voice again interrupts those assembled in the library, but is interrupted himself as a dark blue pegasus with a bright yellow mane in Wonderbolt uniform crashes past him into the room. “Doctor Witching! You’re needed at the Compound!” she says, looking around the room with wild eyes as she flips up her flight goggles. Within moments of her precipitous entrance, her amber eyes fall on Witch, and she immediately closes in on the bewildered unicorn.
“I think someone might be popular today…” Fancy comments in his bemusement as the Wonderbolt starts dragging Witch towards the doors.
“Wait a minute! What’s going on!?” Witch protests, making the pegasus sigh in obvious frustration.
“We found Commander Soarin and Miss Rainbow Dash. They’re in the Trainer Room, and Head Trainer Bliss wants you there ASAP!” she explains to Witch’s ever-widening eyes. With a brief flare of magic, Witch vanishes in a puff of sparks and returns within a moment with her bag and her lab coat half-donned.
“Lead with Point A, next time. Don’t start at ‘M’,” Witch says jokingly as the pegasus bends her knees slightly to allow Witch to climb up on her back.
“Less talky, more getting back to the Compound!” she urges as Witch situates herself between the Wonderbolt’s wings.
Witch casts one last glance back over her shoulder towards Leaf and Fancy. “Watch over Tricks while I’m gone!” she calls before the pegasus takes off and flies away.
“Yay! Time with Uncle Leaf!” Tricks cheers in the ensuing silence, latching on to Leaf’s foreleg again.
“Oh Luna owes me big time…” Leaf mutters resignedly.
“This is probably gonna hurt. A lot,” Witch says, looking at Rainbow Dash’s dislocated wings. She catches the rolled up towel that Cinna sends floating towards her and Flash and she sets it before the injured pegasus. “Put this in your mouth, it’ll keep your teeth from grinding together when the pain hits,” she adds and Dash gulps nervously. Witch couldn’t help but flinch in sympathy.
Flash moves to Dash’s other side and together they gently grab Dash’s wings, trying to cause as little pain as possible before putting the joints back in place. “Ready?” Flash asks, garnering an otherwise-incoherent sound of assent from their patient. “Okay,” she continues, looking over Dash to meet Witch’s gaze with a nod. “One.”
“Two,” Witch adds firmly and they pull hard on Dash’s wings, popping them back into place with an audible snap. Dash let out a muffled scream, sitting up and flaring her wings out, knocking both Flash and Witch to the ground. Flash gets up quickly, the towel snagged on her horn.
Witch clamors up as well as Dash makes loud noises of discomfort coupled with relief, and laughter rings out from the table across the aisle. Commander Fleetfoot is already debilitated with giggles and clutching her sides, and Commander Soarin is smiling in affectionate amusement at Dash’s reaction.
“I think she’s good to go,” Soarin comments dryly, a few chuckles escaping him as Bliss checks him over as well.
“That’s a strong wing reflex you’ve got there,” Fleetfoot manages to say between giggles. Dash turns a pouty glare on Witch.
“That was not cool! Why did you go on two?! Who does that?!” the rainbow-maned pegasus fumes, still flinching slightly at the obvious soreness still present.
“It’s a common practice,” Witch starts calmly, pushing a lock of her mane out of her face. “you were expecting us to go on three. Your body would have tensed in anticipation. By going on two, your body is still relaxed, and we can cleanly put your wings back in place,” she finishes explaining smoothly with a slight smile to Dash.
“It’s easier to put a nail in a pillow than a rock.” Soarin comments wryly.
“Exactly,” Witch agrees, her smile now turning to the commander. Witch motions for Dash to lay back down so she can finish tending to Dash’s various cuts and bruises. She tunes out of the conversation when it turns to how the Wonderbolts had found Soarin and Dash, pouring disinfectant on a piece of gauze to clean a cut.
Until Fleetfoot mentions Discord…
“Discord?!” Dash exclaims, perking up at the same time as Witch jerks, accidentally pressing the gauze to the cut harder than she’d intended.
“A prophecy no less, involving your dear hopeful student, Witching Hour!”
…
“And I would beg to differ, little Witch Doctor… Being the student of a goddess is enough to make any pony special.”
“Please… Hold still,” Witch commands, somehow keeping the tremor out of her voice. Memories of the draconequus’ words ring in her ears as though spoken anew, and her mind spins. She forces the crushing weight on her shoulders away with a slight shake of her head and bends all her focus to tending Dash’s cut.
Done quickly with her patient no longer jumping at odd moments, Witch gives Dash a few words of caution and encouragement, pausing only to smile briefly at the pegasus’ thanks, before slipping away quietly.
Taking refuge in a corner, Witch hides until the pegasi leave, and stays there even after that, lost in her own thoughts.
“Witchy?” Bliss’ voice brings Witch from her thoughts with a small start, and she immediately notices the concern in Bliss’ green eyes. “Step into my office a moment?” she suggests, though Witch can also hear an edge of an order mixed in. Wordlessly, Witch nods, following the Head Trainer into her office.
“Do you want to tell me what that was about?” Bliss asks gently after they both sit. Witch sighs, remaining silent while she tries to put her thoughts in order.
“I… I met Discord yesterday… After Miss Dash and Commander Soarin went missing…” Witch replies shakily, blue eyes flitting everywhere in the office but Bliss.
“That’s not the problem though, is it?” Bliss prompts, making Witch sigh again and shake her head. “So what is it, sweetie?”
“I… I just want to help ponies… That doesn’t make me special… Why does it make me special?” she says quietly, almost to herself. If Bliss hadn’t been paying close attention, she would’ve missed Witch’s reply.
“Witch… Why do you think it’s so hard for ponies to become healers?” Bliss queries, but Witch doesn’t look up at her, forcing the Head Trainer to continue explaining. “It’s hard because it takes a toll on a pony that most can’t bear… Seeing ponies hurt, sick or dying… It’s hard to remember that there’s still good in the world… But you… With your friend Monkey, or with your ward Trick Step, you helped them see that things would get better… You haven’t given up hope for others, and that is, frankly, amazing in our field of work.”
Witch sits in silence, hearing Bliss’ words and they lift some of the weight on her mind, but still…
“Is that all there is?” Bliss asks, almost as though sensing that something still bothered her colleague.
Witch opens her mouth to say ‘no’, but closes it quickly, a flash of pain flitting through her eyes. She wants to tell Bliss everything; the bracelet writing, the crystals and how they affected her, but Luna’s injunction against it stops her. She sighs before softly replying, “Yes… That’s all…”
Bliss gives Witch a skeptical look before shrugging, filing it away to talk to Luna about when they next sat down for tea. “All right,” Bliss says cautiously. “If you have any other worries, you can always talk to me, Witch,” she says before letting the matter drop.