When she had finished, the alicorn stood up shakily. But when it looked like she might fall down into the patch of mud she had just created, the three of them quickly rushed forward to help guide her away.
"Here, Princess," Mack said, guiding her back to the saloon. "You'll be better off back over here."
"Yes, dearie," Filly told her. "You've been through a lot. But you're safe now. Let us help you. You need to get more water in you, and we'll get you some food once the Dried Date opens up."
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Doc asked her. "Can you tell us what happened?"
The alicorn didn't reply to either pony. But she did seem to actually see them as she turned her head and blinked at each when they spoke to her. To Filly's relieve, her eyes didn't seem nearly as glazed as they were last night. But the otherwise lack of response worried her greatly.
They guided her to a clean area of the floor, in front of an undamaged section of the bar. Doc stayed with her while Filly went into the back room to pump up some more water and Mack grabbed the mop and bucket to start swabbing up the dirty area on the floor where she had been laying.
"You know, it's a lucky thing that Tumbleweed and Miss Filly found you last night," Doc said, getting her focus by speaking to her. "She told us how it looked like you was about to walk right back out into the desert, as if you didn't even see the town."
She just stared at him and blinked.
"How long had you been out there wandering?" Doc asked her, hoping to get her to talking so he could assess how badly her mind was affected by being out there in the wilderness.
She just continued to stare at him, blinking occasionally.
"Can you tell me if you're hurt anywhere?" he tried again.
There was no response other than her steady look at him.
This is almost as bad as trying to talk with Chestnut Hooves, Doc thought of Mack's two deputies. And Celestia help me if she turns out to be more like Cletus, he morosely thought as he rubbed his scraggly grey mane—but then he suddenly jerked at the rather sacrilegious idea. Whoa, there, Doc—this IS Celestia!
Filly came out with a full barrel of water at that moment and set it behind the bar. Dipping a mug into it, she hoofed it over to the alicorn.
"Here you go, Princess," she told the alicorn, immediately getting her attention. "Drink it slowly, now."
The alicorn instantly snatched the mug with her hooves and began gulping the mug, taking deep mouthfuls between swallows, closing her eyes in ecstasy as she drank.
"Not like that!" both Filly and Doc exclaimed, trying to grab the mug from her. But her height held the mug out of their reach.
She quickly finished the mug before setting it down to gasp for breath.
"Okay. Don't fill it up so much, next time," Doc told Filly.
"Quarter mug it is, from now on," Filly agreed, taking the mug back to dip it into the barrel again.
While they continued to fill the tall mare up with water at a much slower rate, Mack finished mopping up the last of the dirt on the floor and took the cleaning supplies into the back room to wash them out and set them to dry.
Celestia seemed to finally get her fill of water by the time he came back to the bar room.
"Hey, Miss Filly!" Tumbleweed called as he stood at the doorway, looking into the saloon.
"Hey, Tumbleweed!" she happily greeted.
"You open already?" Tumbleweed eagerly asked.
"Afraid not," Filly responded. "In fact, the Long Tree's not going to be opened today at all, with all the damage and with us needing to deal with the emergency."
"Oh," Tumbleweed sadly replied, his enthusiasm instantly deflating.
"Wait, Tumble," she called out to him. "Get in here. You can help with the repairs as well as the Princess. And while you're working for me, the salt's on the House."
Doc would've sworn the stallion suffered whiplash just then as his head snapped around, with his ears straight up and his eyes bright.
"Really!?" Tumbleweed happily exclaimed.
"Within reason!" Filly instantly amended her offer. "So don't abuse it!"
"I—I—sure!" he replied, prancing quickly inside.
Throughout the entire exchange, the alicorn was quickly turning her head back and forth, trying to follow the conversation.
"Has she recovered, yet?" Tumbleweed inquired, looking at the now pristine alicorn, with her gleaming white coat, her almost gleaming feathers, and her multicolored mane that was waiving in a non-existent breeze.
"We don't know," Doc replied. "We only just finished cleaning her up when dawn broke, and she just woke up a bit ago. She hasn't spoken anything yet. That's a worrying sign."
"How are you, Tumbleweed?" Filly asked.
"A few stitches," he mumbled, taking a glance down at the bandages on his legs and body. "Not too bad. Doc got all the glass out of the cuts. Thanks, Doc."
"Sure thing," Doc replied. "That was quite a whack she gave you two," he said, glancing at the damaged part of the bar and the broken tables and chairs. "I'm surprised you both didn't get hurt worse."
"I think our pride got the worst of it," Filly chuckled. "I don't think she knows her wings can hit that hard, even if she had been aware of it. I wouldn't want to see what she could do in here during one of our weekly brawls. Think you can take her, Mack?" she teased the marshal.
Mack snorted, shaking his head.
"From what you told me, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd be able to buck me from here to the Dried Date," he chuckled.
"Or through the Dried Date," Filly agreed, laughing as she rubbed at her bruised eye with a hoof.
"So, who is she?" Tumbleweed asked. The three ponies all glanced at each other before Filly answered.
"We think she's Princess Celestia."
Tumbleweed's eyes shrunk to pinpricks.
"Th-the P-Pr-Princess!?" he stammered. "H-here!? In-in th-the Long Tree!?"
"The hotel should be opening soon," Mack told them. "I'll go on over and get something for her."
"Tr-tr-tree…" the alicorn suddenly croaked out.
"What was that, Princess?" Filly asked.
"Tr-trees," she repeated, but it was a few moments before she continued. "I almost—I almost forgot what trees look like. They're … tall, right? And thin? And brown? With large—bunches—of green—somethings—on top?"
"Leaves?" Doc gently prompted her, hoping to get her to open up more.
"Yes. Green—leaves—on top," she confirmed.
"Where did you see the trees?" Doc asked. "How long ago?"
"A long time ago," she replied after taking several moments to think about it. "The trees were on—mountains, I think they're called. Yes, mountains. I was walking—then the mountains were gone, but the trees were still there. But then the trees were gone, and—then—something else," she trailed off, staring blankly as if lost in her memories.
"What was the something?" Filly asked her.
"Not trees," the alicorn said. "Not tall. Short. Green and short," she said, holding a hoof up at chest height. "Just so."
"Grass?" Tumbleweed inquired.
"Grass," she repeated, nodding. "Yes. Grass."
"So large fields of grass after the trees?" Doc asked, to which she nodded. "And before that, trees and mountains?" Again, she nodded. "Do you remember anything before the trees and mountains?" She tilted her head and stared blankly for several minutes.
It went on, and the other ponies began getting nervous, and began to share glances at each other, as if wondering if they had finally broken the alicorn.
"Falling," she finally replied in the same disinterested sounding voice as before.
"Falling!?" Doc exclaimed. "Do you remember hitting the ground!?" She nodded.
"I—I landed—on my side," she said, turning her head to look at her left side.
"That could explain the bruising!" he muttered, rubbing his scraggly mane. "Do you remember anything before falling?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Just—just falling. Then the ground."
"Were you hurt?" Doc asked, anxiously.
"No," she muttered disinterestedly. "No. Not so much. I felt—I felt—stiff. And then I was walking."
"So, after you fell, there were trees and mountains," Mack said, "then just the trees, then the grass plains. Then what?"
"The grass went away," she slowly answered. "Then the land—looked—broken? Then more mountains. Just broken mountains. Then dirt and sand. A few more mountains. Then just—dirt. Dirt. So much dirt. It covered everything. The ground. The air. My—white wings," she trailed off as she looked around to her right, partially extending her member.
"Oh! They are white!" she exclaimed. "I forgot what they looked like." She continued to stare at her feathers, as if trying to study them.
Her self-scrutiny went on, beginning to worry the other ponies.
"Princess?" Filly asked, tentatively reaching a hoof out to get her attention.
"Dirt. Dirt everywhere," Celestia said, resuming her monotone report as if there were no pause. "Until here."
"Sounds like she walked the entire Bad Lands on foot!" Mack exclaimed. "No telling how long she's been out there!"
"With no food? No water?"
"No food. No water," she replied.
"What about all the critters out there to attack a pony?" Tumbleweed asked.
"Somethings bit me. I kicked them," she dispassionately muttered, flicking a hoof that loudly tore a hole in the bar where she sat, making the other ponies dive for cover. "Or I stomped them. They don't bite me again. They don't move either," she finished, not paying attention to how everypony was dodging the debris from her hoof stomp.
"Easy! Whoa there!" Mack called out, hoping he could get her to listen to him. It was clear there was no way he could wrestle her down if it came to it. "Try not to take down the whole building, Princess!" She stopped and looked at him quizzically.
"Well, there goes another hundred bits," Filly ruefully grunted after coming out from behind the bar to see the additional damage.
"I—I'll—I'll go on over to the Dried Date and get her some breakfast," Mack shakily said. "Think you can keep from asking her any questions that will demolish the place while I'm gone?"
"We'll do our best, Mack. Just hurry back! Before she realizes she's hungry!" Doc grumbled as he got up from where he had taken cover.