Chapter 53 (After Action Report)
Chapter 53
The soft rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor was the only sound in the room as Allen lay quietly in his hospital bed, his chest rising and falling softly as he slept.
Following his collapse at the farm, he and the rest of his workers had been rushed to Ponyville General as fast as the two guards could run. Upon arrival, Allen had been immediately rushed to the ICU after a short preliminary checkup showed that he was suffering from acute magical exhaustion.
However, a quick mana transfusion, along with a standard IV drip, stabilized him enough that he wasn’t in any immediate danger of dying or suffering permanent damage to his systems. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be doing much of anything for several days, though at present, he wasn’t aware of this as he hadn’t woken up since his collapse yesterday.
In the meantime, Clover, Rye, Honeysuckle, and Brulee were all given their own checkups, and after being given a clean bill of health, they were released, only for the local Guard to swoop in and bring them back to the Ponyville guard station for questioning. Penny was spared this fate as she was still being tended to, and Dr. Stable was adamant that she be given time to recover before he would allow the investigators access to her.
This meant that Clover and the others had the solo and undivided attention of Lieutenant Palisade and his ponies.
“Alright, Mr. Clover Leaf, would you, in your own words, tell us what happened yesterday at Mr. Ross’s farm?” asked Palisade politely from behind his desk. A nearby scribe dutifully recording every word said for the report that Palisade would eventually be writing to send up to the brass in Canterlot.
“Um, well, I’m not sure what more I can tell you in addition to what the others have probably already said,” replied Clover nervously from his seat in front of the lieutenant’s desk.
Giving the nervous earth pony a reassuring smile, Palisade said, “Mr. Leaf, please be at ease, you’re not in trouble, nor is anypony else. This interview is merely to try and obtain as much information, from as many different sources as possible regarding the recent timber wolf attack at the farm. While it is true that your friends have told us a lot, you might have seen something that they missed, and we want to make sure that we leave no stone unturned in this endeavor. So please, take a deep breath, and just tell me what you saw happen from your point of view, alright?”
Taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, Clover gave a nod before letting the trapped air out in a *whoosh* and beginning his account of the incident.
“Well, we were loading wood on a wagon to take it up to Allen’s house while we waited for him to finish cutting hay when we suddenly heard howling coming from the Everfree Forest. At first, we didn’t see anything, but then all of a sudden, six timber wolves ran out of the forest and came right for us.”
“Did you notice anything strange in the time leading up to the appearance of the wolves?” asked Palisade.
Clover slowly shook his head. “I don’t think so? I guess it would depend on what you would call ‘strange’.”
“Oh, things such as out-of-place sounds, lights, smells, vibrations, unusual weather phenomena, that sort of thing,” replied the lieutenant with a wave of his hoof.
Clover took a moment to try and think back to his experience from the day before, but he couldn’t think of anything odd that he experienced in the lead-up to the attack. So shaking his head, he said, “No, as far as I can remember, there was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just a sunny, summer day, no clouds in sight, even over the Everfree, and none of the birds were acting odd until the wolves showed up, but that’s to be expected, I would suppose.”
Nodding, Palisade looked down at a stack of notes in front of him. Some of these notes were things that he observed at the site of the attack himself, others were mentioned in Cloud Kicker’s report while the rest were things that he’d thought of as he was questioning Allen’s workers. It had led to some of them getting irritated as he’d needed to have them come back in several times after they had given their original testimony when he’d thought of a new question that he hadn’t asked before moving on to another pony.
However, he figured he was done doing that, as by the time he’d gotten to Clover, he felt he had pretty much gotten as much information out of this group as he was going to get. However, protocol dictated that he interview everyone, and so that was what he was going to do.
“Alright, then we’ll move on to the next question. You, Rye Grass, Penny Farthing, and Creme Brulee were all bunched together when the wolves attacked, correct?”
“Yes sir.”
“How did Ms. Farthing get separated from your group?”
Clover let his head fall down a bit in shame. “That was my fault,” he replied quietly. “When the wolves attacked, we all grabbed whatever was at hoof and rushed to the fallen tree trunk, while Honey ran to get help. Our plan was to use the already cut branches as makeshift spears to try and keep the wolves from crossing the river, as they could only cross in a single file line. Rye and Brulee took up positions on the right sight of the tree, and Penny and I were on the left. Penny was using her magic to hold up a smaller branch and jab it at the wolves as they tried to cross. The rest of us were meant to just keep them from jumping down, and for a little bit, the plan worked. The wolves couldn’t jump over our makeshift spear wall because anytime they tried, Penny would hit them with her branch and unbalance them, and anytime the wolves tried to push through, we would push them back with a strong jab with our spears.”
“So what happened?” asked Palisade, even though he already had a pretty good picture of the events that had unfolded from the others by now.
“I wasn’t fast enough during a jab and the lead wolf managed to bite into my spear and yank it out of my hooves, at which point I tried to grab another one, while the others tried to keep them back. But one slipped through and snapped at me and I lost my balance and fell on my back. Before anypony could do anything to try and stop them, the lead wolf managed to jump clear and land next to Penny.”
“And that is when it bit her?”
Clover nodded quietly. “She’d just shot off a distress spell when it bit her and she screamed before shooting it in the face with a magic blast. It let her go and she took the opportunity to grab me with her magic and chucked me over the tree to land next to the others while she retreated underneath the remaining tree branches.”
“I see,” said Palisade as he jotted down a note. Looking back up at Clover he asked, “And what happened next?”
“I landed on the other side, and the others quickly pulled me up and gave me a new branch to fight back with. We all ended up going back to back when two other wolves managed to get across and start circling us.”
“And is that when Allen showed up?” queried Palisade.
Clover nodded. “Yeah, Rye was the first to see him come roaring into the field on his tractor. I didn’t really see him at first because I was looking towards the river, but I heard the tractor.”
“So you didn’t see him when he ran the first wolf over?”
Clover shook his head. “No, I was too busy trying to keep the other wolf away from me. But I saw what happened to the second wolf.”
Jotting down another note, Palisade motioned for Clover to continue speaking.
“Well, I guess the second wolf saw what happened to the first one, because it tried to run away, but Allen didn’t let it,” continued Clover.
“What did he do?”
“He ran it over with his tractor,” replied Clover with a shrug, as if it should have been obvious.
“Did you notice anything different about Mr. Ross during this time?”
Clover quietly nodded. “Yeah, it looked like his eyes were glowing blue, and his tractor’s lights were also glowing blue. When he passed by, they would leave blue, wispy streaks behind that quickly disappeared after a few seconds.”
“What happened when Mr. Ross hit that timber wolf? Did you see it?”
“Yeah, I did. The second that his tractor touched the wolf, it exploded in a shower of wooden fragments.”
“Did you see anything else?” pressed Palisade.
Clover bit his lip and softly chewed on it for a second as he debated whether or not he should say anything further. After a few moments, he finally added, “Well... I’m not sure, but I think I saw a wisp of greenish smoke get sucked into the front of the tractor when it hit the wolf. But it could have just been a trick of the light or something,” he replied hesitantly.
Palisade felt his ears perk up and he hastily wrote down Clover’s reply. “I see, anything else?”
Clover shook his head. “I don’t think so. After Allen ran the second wolf over, he turned around and went after the last one. The other wolves on the Everfree side of the river had already run away by this point, so there was only the one trying to get at Penny left, which Allen chased down and ran it into the fence. After which, Cloud Kicker showed up, and you probably already know the rest.”
Writing down a final thought, Palisade stood up and leaned across his desk, offering Clover his hoof. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Leaf, you and your friends are free to go now. If we need to ask any further questions, we’ll let you know.”
Standing up, Clover returned Palisade’s hoof bump and made to leave, Palisade escorting him out of his office.
Stepping out into the hallway, the two stallions walked along quietly. As they reached the main entrance, Clover suddenly asked, “So what happens now?”
Palisade looked at him and asked, “What you do mean?”
“I mean, what happens to us and Allen?” asked Clover meekly.
“Well for you guys, I would say not much. Other than answering questions, there really isn’t anything else that we need from you. As for Mr. Ross and Ms. Farthing, they’ll obviously need to recover from their injuries, and then probably answer some questions themselves. After that, I’m not sure,” replied Palisade with a shrug of his wings.
Clover slowly nodded, an unhappy look on his face at Palisade’s answer. However, there was nothing he could really do so he slowly turned away and trotted out of the guard station.
Palisade watched him go before turning around and heading back to his office to finish writing his report on the timber wolf incident, along with the small mountain of other office paperwork that needed doing daily in order to keep the higher-ups happy.
Sitting down at his desk, he pulled various papers over and began to read them. Occasionally, he would grab a quill with a wing and scribble a note or two on another piece of paper or sign his name on the page he was reading. It wasn’t the most exciting or glamorous part of being a guard, but paperwork was what made things happen, though from how slowly military bureaucracy moved at times, Palisade wondered if it was something worth doing at times.
However, unlike some of his classmates from West Hoof, Palisade was never one to shirk his duties and slack off.
Though the temptation is there some days, he admitted to himself as he set aside another signed report.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud commotion coming from down the hall. Looking up from Clover’s testimony, Palisade glanced up at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was nearly ten o’clock at night.
Strange, I could have sworn it was only four o’clock just a few minutes ago, wondered Palisade to himself as he stood up and stretched his stiff muscles. After a couple of satisfying pops, he trotted around his desk and poked his head out into the hallway to see what all the commotion up front was.
Looks like visitors, he observed when he noticed a pair of golden armored pegsi standing to either side of the entrance and the low murmur of voices drifting back towards him. Deciding to see who all was bothering his evening duty stallion, Palisade left his office behind and casually trotted down the hall to see for himself what was going on.
As soon as he reached the front lobby, he felt his eyebrows hike up in surprise upon seeing that his unannounced visitor was none other than Prince Blueblood.
Blueblood, hearing Palisade’s hoof falls on the wooden floor behind him, turned his attention from the desk guard and affixed it to Palisade.
Seeing that the prince’s attention was now on him, Palisade quickly snapped to attention.
“Good evening sir!” he barked out crisply.
“Good evening, lieutenant,” nodded Blueblood in reply. “I was just asking your desk sergeant where I might find you. I’m glad to see that I will not need to go far.”
“Yes sir, I was in my office when I heard you come in,” said Palisade in response, hoof still raised in salute.
“At ease lieutenant,” remarked Blueblood with a wave of his hoof.
Dropping his hoof and adopting a more relaxed posture, Palisade attempted to subtly adjust his rumpled uniform in an attempt to make it more presentable.
Seeing Palisade’s attempt to stealthily fix his uniform, Blueblood smirked. “Do not worry lieutenant, I’m not here on an inspection tour, and contrary to popular belief I am not that much of a pompous twit that I would rake you over the coals for a uniform that isn’t perfect after a long day of performing your duties.”
Palisade felt a rush of relief flow through him as he ceased trying to fix his uniform.
“Thank you, sir,” he began, “Now may I ask what brings you to Ponyville at this time of night?”
“I received word that several of my business associates were involved in a timber wolf attack yesterday, and I wished to check up on them. I would have been here sooner, however, I just got back to Canterlot from Manehatten a few hours ago. Thankfully these gentlecolts,” he waved a hoof at the pair of armored pegasi by the door, “were kind enough to fly me down here on short notice.”
Looking from the pegasi guards to Blueblood, Palisade slowly nodded. “I see,” he said before stepping to one side and inviting Blueblood down the hallway and to his office.
“If you would like, I can bring you up to speed in my office, Your Grace.”
“I think I would like that, thank you,” replied Blueblood with a satisfied nod. “You two are dismissed. Go see if you can find something to eat. I’ll send for you when I’m ready to leave,” said Blueblood to the two pegasi who’d brought him to Ponyville.
“Thank you, sir!” They replied with crisp salutes before turning and trotting outside in search of someplace to eat.
Turning back to Palisade, Blueblood trotted after him as the lieutenant guided him to his office.
Entering the office, Blueblood made sure to shut the door behind him and after taking a seat in front of Palisade’s desk, he let himself relax as he waited for Palisade to take his own seat.
“Is there anything I can get you before I begin the briefing sir?” he asked.
Blueblood shook his head. “I’m alright, but if you need something please feel free to go and get it before we get started.”
“I’m fine sir,” replied Palisade easily as he sat down behind his desk.
“Very well then,” began Blueblood, “let us begin then.”
“Yes sir, where would you like me to start?”
Blueblood brought a hoof to his chin and idly rubbed it while he thought. After a few moments, he said, “Start with the attack. How did it happen?”
“A pack of timber wolves were able to cross the river on the eastern side of Mr. Ross’s farm due to a large oak tree falling across it after a heavy rainstorm washed away the river bank from underneath it. Apparently, Mr. Ross was in the process of cutting it up when the incident occurred,” answered Palisade as he told Blueblood what he had learned during his short investigation.
“I see,” commented Blueblood eventually as Palisade finished speaking, and leaning back in his chair, his hoof still idly rubbing his chin, Blueblood asked, “Is there any protocol here to keep something such as this from happening?”
Palisade felt his ears fall against his scalp in embarrassment. “There is, yes.”
“And what would that protocol be?” asked Blueblood curiously.
Clearing his throat nervously, Palisade replied, “The river is to be kept clear of anything that creates an easy access point between the Everfree and settled lands. Normally, a pegasi patrol is organized to fly along the Everfree’s border and report any such access points back to the local authorities so that they may be quickly removed, and or have the local guard keep the crossing under observation so that if anything crosses, a defensive response can be organized quickly.”
“Something tells me that this crossing wasn’t reported,” commented Blueblood with a raised eyebrow.
Palisade hung his head in shame and gave a shallow nod. “No sir... it wasn’t. The storm happened the night of the fourth and fifth and we did not know about it until yesterday.”
“And why did you not know about it, lieutenant?” pressed Blueblood, a hint of disapproval in his voice.
Palisade chewed the inside of his cheek as he tried to figure out what to say.
Blueblood, seeing the lieutenant’s hesitation, stopped rubbing his chin and leaned forward. “Tell me the truth lieutenant, and do not try and sugarcoat anything. Ponyville falls within the boundaries of my duchy, and its citizens and their safety are ultimately my responsibility. If there are problems, I need the unvarnished truth, no matter how distressing it is. So please, tell me why this happened so that we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Palisade gave a single nod and prepared to kiss his career goodbye.
“Well, the truth is that I don’t have enough ponies to cover Ponyville and the surrounding area as protocol requires. If I tried, my ponies wouldn’t be able to do anything other than patrol, and they would be constantly tired.”
“How many ponies do you have under your command?” asked Blueblood.
“At present, there are thirty-eight, including myself,” replied Palisade with a sigh. “Though that number will drop further at the end of the month due to retirements and transfer requests going through.”
Blueblood blinked in confusion. “That can’t be right. If I remember correctly, my aunt authorized that Ponyville would receive a full-strength company to help with local security after the Discord incident. That was in addition to helping protect the Element Bearers, as well as keep an eye out for further chaotic incidents caused by Discord’s spell that brought Allen here.”
Palisade nodded. “Yes, that was all included in my orders when I was assigned here after initial contact with Mr. Ross.”
“So why do you have only thirty-eight ponies instead of the normal one hundred?” pressed Blueblood.
“Because I wasn’t assigned one hundred ponies to start with, and what I was assigned hasn’t been replenished as ponies have retired or been reassigned to other posts,” explained Palisade quietly.
Now Blueblood was even more confused. “Lieutenant, this is not making sense to me. You were supposed to have a full-strength company as well as the local guard to aid you in protecting this area,” he paused and suddenly looked around at Palisade’s office, a scrutinizing look on his face. “Lieutenant, correct me if I am wrong, but your office seems rather...”
“Barebones?” Palisade offered with a rueful chuckle.
“I was going to say rustic, but that works too,” admitted Blueblood.
“We just moved in a few days ago. We’re hoping to have the barracks finished next week, and the armory next month. Though that is under the assumption that we receive the required building materials and money to make that happen,” replied Palisade, a touch of bitterness coloring his voice.
By now, Blueblood had stopped rubbing his chin and had leaned forward and was staring intently at Palisade.
“Lieutenant,” he began, his voice dangerously soft, “are you telling me that you have been without proper accommodations and facilities since your arrival in Ponyville?”
Palisade nodded bitterly. “Yes sir, Canterlot considers us a low priority, even with the princess’s command that a garrison be established here. If I had realized that we were going to be this badly slow-rolled. I would have prioritized the barracks being built first rather than the administration building we’re sitting in right now.”
Blueblood slumped back in his chair and sighed as he rubbed a temple with his hoof. “Even though you probably already have, I still need to ask, have you informed Canterlot of your needs and current situation recently?”
“Every single week since I got here sir,” replied Palisade with a bitter chuckle. “As I mentioned, they view Ponyville as a low priority. Which is evident by the state that the local town guard is in, as it is both small and underequipped compared to Canterlot. Not only that, but their training consists of four hours twice a month. If it wasn’t for Lieutenant Cloud Kicker, I doubt they would have any kind of training or equipment.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Blueblood.
“Because 1st Lieutenant Willow spends more time in Canterlot schmoozing with the higher-ups in the hopes that she can transfer up there, than she does down here doing her job,” replied Palisade, an annoyed and disgusted look on his face. “From what Cloud has told me, she’s had to call in a few favors with family members to even get Ponyville’s guard equipped with what it has, and it isn’t even new stuff either. Basically, a bunch of old, worn-out hoof me downs that were destined for the scrap pile before being diverted here, and don’t even get me started on their pay rates. Epona knows Mayor Mare wants to pay them better, but the money just isn’t there, as such, not many ponies are willing to sign up and help out.”
“How many?”
“About a dozen ponies, but that is only in an emergency. Usually, it’s only about five or six that show up for regular training and occasional patrols.”
Blueblood’s headache wasn’t getting any better as he groaned. “Wonderful.”
Palisade gave a helpless wing shrug. “Could be worse, sir. Ponyville could have no local guard at all. From what Cloud Kicker told me, for a long time, that was the case. The only reason they have one now was because of what happened to the Apple family nearly ten years ago.”
Blueblood grimaced in remembrance of that particular event. They wouldn’t have died if they’d had at least a couple of damn house guards like every other noble out there. Even the poorest noble has at least a few on staff for security.
He shook his head. “Yes, that was a terrible day,” he replied, “they never did find Bright Mac and Pear Butter’s bodies. Though whether that was a mercy or not, I am not sure,” replied Blueblood quietly.
“Yeah, Mayor Mare said that it really shook up the town when it happened. A lot of ponies suddenly wanted to have a local guard to help protect them and they all pitched in with additional funding to outfit them as well as joining up. She told me that at its peak, Ponyville had nearly a hundred ponies in the local guard, but time and budget constraints saw that number dwindle down to what it is now. They had to sell pretty much all of the old equipment to pay to repair the town hall after lightning struck it a few years ago.”
“Wonderful,” remarked Blueblood sarcastically. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “Alright, let us return to the matter of why you didn’t receive a full-strength company when you arrived here.”
Scratching the side of his head, Palisade leaned back in his chair and gave a helpless shrug with his wings. “I’m not entirely sure on that myself, sir. All of my orders were cut right after Discord was taken care of, and while we had plenty of ponies in Ponyville at the time. Few of them stayed when everything was said and done.”
“Were they assigned to your company?” asked Blueblood with a cock eyebrow.
Palisade nodded. “Most of them were yes, but the ones that could, pulled strings to be returned to their original postings before the Discord Incident. A few just up and left and returned to their old units, and unfortunately, we haven’t been able to properly identify those ponies so we are unlikely to get them back or met out punishment for going AWOL.”
By this point, Blueblood’s headache was one step away from turning into a full-on migraine and he dearly wished for something to take the edge off. “I see,” was his only reply.
Shrugging helplessly again, Palisade said, “Could be worse, I could have no company at all sir. Seeing as how chaotic the operation was, and how hastily everypony was thrown together, I doubt any proper orders were dispatched that would allow us to untangle this mess. The fact of the matter is that most ponies were under the impression that this was a temporary assignment and that they would return to their old units upon completion of the operation. Not only that but thanks to Discord shuffling the entire Equestrian military around like bingo balls in a tumbler, unit cohesion was practically non-existent following the incident.”
“I am aware of how screwed up everything was lieutenant,” replied Blueblood wearily, “that still doesn’t change the fact that ponies disobeyed their superiors and disregarded direct orders from the princess to create a new unit that was meant to safe guard the Element Bearers against more mundane threats, such as timber wolf attacks so that they could focus on the big stuff. Right now, if someone wanted to, they could waltz right into town, foalnap or kill one of the Bearers and our greatest defense would be neutralized. This is unacceptable.”
“So what are we going to do, sir?” asked Palisade softly.
“You are going to remain here and continue your mission to improve local defenses. I am going to return to Canterlot and kick some sense into those hoofdraggers up there. Worst case scenario, I’ll call in some favors and dip into my funds so that Ponyville can at least have a functioning guard unit.”
Palisade simply nodded his head. Though after a few moments of silence, he tentatively asked, “Did you want to go and see Mr. Ross and Ms. Farthing?”
“It was my main reason for coming down here, yes,” replied Blueblood with a nod.
Pushing himself away from his desk, Palisade stood up, buttoned up his tunic while trying to get the worst of the wrinkles out of it, and motioned for Blueblood to follow him with a wing as he opened the door and stepped out of his office.
Following close behind, Blueblood waited as Palisade closed the door behind them, and fell in alongside as the two trotted down the hallway and out into the front office area.
“Sergeant Hill, I’m stepping out with His Grace for a bit, if anypony needs me or him, they can find us at the hospital,” said Palisade as the two headed for the exit.
“Understood sir, I’ll pass the word along if required,” replied the earth pony sergeant with a crisp salute.
Giving a nod in reply, and a return salute, Palisade and Blueblood stepped out into the night air before turning and heading for the hospital.
The walk there was quiet as neither stallion really had much to say to one another. Eventually, the dim outline of the hospital came into view. A few lighted windows signaling that there were still ponies working at this late hour.
Reaching the front door, Palisade opened it and waited for Blueblood to enter ahead of him before following behind.
Striding up to the receptionist's desk, Blueblood greeted the night shift nurse with a nod of his head and said, “I’m here to see Mr. Ross the human and Ms. Farthing the unicorn.”
The pegasus nurse looked up at Blueblood and replied with an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry sir, but visiting hours are over.”
“I understand that, but I will not be able to wait until tomorrow to see them, and I merely wish to confirm their health and speak with them for a few minutes if possible. Is there a doctor on duty that I may speak with?”
The nurse looked between Blueblood and Palisade for a moment and slowly nodded. “One moment, I’ll go and get him.”
“Thank you,” replied Blueblood with a gracious nod.
The nurse quickly departed, leaving the two stallions alone in the waiting room.
“Are you going to push to see them?” asked Palisade quietly.
Blueblood shook his head. “No, if the doctor won’t let me see them tonight, then I will send a representative later to check in on them. In the meantime, I will simply leave a message for them when they wake up. This visit is just to make sure they are going to be okay, and to soothe my own worries, nothing more.”
Palisade opened his mouth to reply, however, the return of the nurse with another pony forced him to close it.
Stepping forward, Blueblood held out a hoof and said, “Good evening, am I to presume that you are the doctor on duty this evening?”
The doctor bumped Blueblood’s hoof with his own and replied, “Dr. Crash Cart, and yes I am. How may I help you, Your Grace?”
“Lieutenant Palisade, and I were hoping to see Mr. Ross and Ms. Farthing this evening,” replied Blueblood easily, pleased that the doctor had recognized him, and hopeful that this meant he had a better chance of seeing Allen and Penny this evening as a result.
“I see, and what is your relationship with these patients?” queried Dr. Cart.
“They are my business associates, I’ve invested in Mr. Ross’s farm, and Ms. Farthing used to work for me before I transferred her employment to Mr. Ross. In addition, Mr. Ross is, for lack of a better term, a ward of the crown, due to the circumstances of his arrival here in Equestria from his world. We are currently attempting to return him to his world and Princess Celestia has tasked me with watching over him while he is here, as he lives within the boundaries of my duchy.”
Dr. Cart nodded. “I see,” he paused and idly tapped a hoof against the tile floor in thought. Turning to the on-duty nurse, he asked, “Nurse Soft Touch, would you bring Mr. Ross’s file to me? It should list everypony that is allowed to see him after hours.”
“Of course Dr. Cart, did you want me to bring Ms. Farthing’s file as well?”
“Might as well,” replied Dr. Cart with a wave of his hoof.
Giving the doctor a quick nod of understanding, Nurse Touch quickly trotted off.
Turning his attention back to Blueblood, Dr. Cart said, “While Nurse Touch is retrieving their records, is there anything in particular you wished to know?”
“Will we be able to see them?”
The doctor shrugged. “If you are an emergency contact, then I can allow you a few minutes. Otherwise, you will need to wait until tomorrow morning.”
“I see, then are you able to tell me how they are doing? The information that Lieutenant Palisade provided to me on their condition is several hours old, and I am wondering if there has been any change since then.”
Dr. Cart scratched his chin and replied, “I cannot go into detail until I’ve seen their records, but I can say they are both alive and stable.”
Blueblood breathed a small sigh of relief. “Well, that is good to hear at least.”
“Hmm, yes I am sure it is- Oh, thank you Nurse Touch,” said Dr. Cart as Nurse Touch suddenly returned, a pair of folders tucked in her wing.
Taking them both from her in his magic, the doctor quickly scanned the both of them and after a few minutes nodded. “Well, it appears that you are in fact listed as an emergency contact for both of them and are allowed access to them, even after visiting hours, within reason of course .”
Blueblood felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips. It’s good to be the prince sometimes.
“Excellent, may we see them now then?”
Passing the files back to Nurse Touch, Dr. Cart sighed tiredly, “I suppose, in truth, it’s about time for me to do my rounds anyways. Though if they are asleep I ask that you not wake them,” he cautioned.
“Of course,” responded Blueblood with a nod of his head.
“Very well then, follow me,” said Dr. Cart as he turned and headed deeper into the hospital, both Blueblood and Palisade falling in behind him.
The trip to Allen’s room was quiet as nopony had anything to say, for which Blueblood was glad as he didn’t really feel like engaging in small talk at the moment.
After a few minutes, the group arrived at Allen’s room and Dr. Cart softly opened the door and stepped inside to check on Allen. Both Blueblood and Palisade waited patiently outside until the doctor cleared them to enter.
Stepping inside, Blueblood noticed that Allen was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, while his heart monitor beeped softly. Turning to Dr. Cart, he softly asked, “Has he woken up since arriving?”
Dr. Cart shook his head and replied just as softly, “I’m afraid not, though we do not think he is in any danger. His body is just tired. He expended a large amount of mana during the fight and his body is not used to that sort of strain. Thankfully our preliminary tests seem to indicate that there was no damage to his thaumatic system. So he just needs plenty of food rich in mana along with some rest and he should be good to go in a week or two.”
“That is good to hear,” replied Blueblood as he softly lit his horn and carefully pulled out a small ‘Get Well Soon’ card from his vest pocket. Placing it on the bedside table, he turned to leave.
“That’s it?” asked Palisade after the doctor had closed the door behind them.
Blueblood nodded. “As I said, I just wished to confirm their wellbeing with my own eyes. I had no intention of waking either of them if they are resting. It would be poor form on my part.” Turning to Dr. Cart, Blueblood inclined his head and said, “And now Ms. Farthing’s room please.”
“Right this way, Your Grace,” replied the doctor as he turned and trotted away, with Blueblood and Palisade following quietly behind.
When they arrived at Penny’s room, however, they found that, unlike Allen, Penny was wide awake, as evidenced by the light spilling out from beneath her door into the dimly lit hallway.
Dr. Cart carefully opened the door after a brief knock and poked his head inside.
“Ms. Farthing? You have visitors,” he said gently.
A muffled response caused him to pull back and motion for the two stallions to enter. As Blueblood was walking past, Dr. Cart stuck out a hoof and stopped him. “If I am not currently needed, I have several other patients that I need to check in on.”
Blueblood nodded. “That is fine, we won’t be long and should be able to find our way out.”
“Very well, have a good evening Your Grace,” bowed Dr. Cart as he turned and left.
Giving the doctor a nod goodbye in return, Blueblood stepped into the lit hospital room and took in the sight of the battered mare lying in the hospital bed.
Seeing his concerned look, Penny gave Blueblood a small smile and replied, “It looks a lot worse than it is, Your Grace, though it does still hurt a bit when I move my leg wrong.”
Trotting up to her bedside, Blueblood lit up his horn, pulled another ‘Get Well Soon’ card out of his vest pocket, and floated it over to Penny.
Taking the card in her own magical field, Penny quickly looked the card over and gave Blueblood a grateful smile. “Thank you, sir, this was very sweet of you.” She then set the card down on her bedside table next to a few others.
“You’re welcome, I figured it was the least I could get you considering the circumstances. Though to be honest, my secretary was the one to pick them out,” he admitted sheepishly.
Penny laughed. “Well, it’s the thought that counts, thank you.” Taking a deep breath, she allowed her smile to soften and adopted a more serious look. “So, with that out of the way, were you wanting a report from me on the incident sir?”
Blueblood shook his head. “Only if you want to give one. I’ve gotten the majority of it from Lieutenant Palisade here when I arrived, in addition to other issues that contributed to the attack, though you will need not concern yourself with those, I will take care of them so that this doesn’t happen again. In any case, I just wanted to stop by and see how you two were doing.”
“I am doing alright, all things considered. The doctors told me to stay off this leg,” she gently lifted her left leg in emphasis, “for several weeks until it heals, and to take it easy once the cast is off for a few months. Thankfully, they told me it looked as though there wasn’t any permanent damage beyond maybe some small scarring. Considering the reputation that timber wolves have around here, I came out of this encounter relatively unscathed,” she paused and bit her bottom lip in worry before asking, “Is Allen okay? They wouldn’t really tell me anything about him after I woke up, only that something happened to him after I was flown out.”
“He’s suffering from magical exhaustion. Apparently, he somehow managed to cast a spell while working to save you, and his body wasn’t ready for it. We just came from his room and he’s resting. The doctors say he will be fine with rest and time,” replied Blueblood gently.
Penny sagged in relief. “That is good to hear, I was worried when they wouldn’t tell me what had happened to him after I woke up and asked for him. Though,” a worried look suddenly crossed her face, “who is going to look after his farm while he’s in the hospital?”
Palisade stepped forward with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry ma’am, that shouldn’t be an issue. If you want, I can pass word along to your employees that you need to see them tomorrow and you can brief them on what needs to be done in Mr. Ross’s absence.”
“Would you? Oh thank you so much,” replied Penny with a relieved sigh and smile. “That’s a load off my mind,” a sudden yawn forced her to cover her mouth with her good hoof. “Oh, sorry, I must be more tired than I realized.”
Glancing up at the clock on the wall, Blueblood saw that it was past midnight and said, “That is alright, it is getting late anyways, and we should let you get some rest. I will send somepony down shortly to help you with things while you and Allen recover.”
Penny opened her mouth to argue, but a raised hoof from Blueblood stopped her. “This is not open for debate, you and Allen need to recover your strength, and you cannot do that if you are forced to work. You and he are to focus on getting better, and you will let my pony take care of the workload. All you will need to do is bring them up to speed and double-check their work. Understand?”
Penny felt her droop slightly. “Yes sir,” she replied as though she were a student having been scolded by their teacher for overworking themselves.
Blueblood gave a satisfied nod. “Good, now unless you have something further to add, the lieutenant and I will let you get some rest. Good night, Ms. Farthing.”
“Goo-” another yawn interrupted Penny’s thought, “-d night, Your Grace,” she finished before adjusting herself in bed so that she was more comfortable.
Ushering Palisade out before him, Blueblood turned off the lights as he shut the door behind him, leaving a now slumbering Penny to walk amongst the land of dreams.
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Did you mean for Penny to say "it's a lot worse than it looks" or did you mean "It looks a lot worse than it is"
awesome chapter..
i am hopping we get 2 or 3 chapters sprinkled in the chapter of Blueblood raising hell in Canterlot that would be a vary good read as i am liking this Blueblood.
I was just looking at the dates, you have had this story going for over 10 years this is amazing and awesome you should be vary proud of your work.
With the hell This Blueblood is going to raise in Canterlot, hes going to have to ask Rarity for a certain special order uniform worthy of an Imperial Interrogator.
Pity Pinkie doesnt have a spare Dreadnought.
Another excellent chapter. Well done.:D
Palisade's statement on the conditions of his detachment strikes me as the flint spark to flare up a full-blown Internal Affairs investigation in the Guard. The situation he described is, like Blueblood said, absolutely unacceptable, and it was only thanks to Allen's magical berserk rush that this incident wasn't a whole lot more tragic. Worse because it had a precedent!
I'm sure the Prince is busy to almost overwork degrees (sure sounds like he is), but he will gladly make a gap in his docket to fan the fires that this is going to cause in Canterlot.
No worries about taking your time. By this point I suspect the extra farmwork hours refine your narrative focus even further.
One could come away with the impression that some ponies never once in their lives stopped to consider that any serious threat to Ponyville that crops up is already uncomfortably close to Canterlot as well to begin with.
I get the feeling that when Shining Armor finds out he will also be on the warpath. I think several ponies in the military are going to be forcibly retired very soon.
You know I was just thinking about this story the other day. Good to have you back.
Oh dear, time for Blueblood to raise some hell. Shameful that the Duke himself has to unkriff basic personal and requisitions for a town garrison.
11706461
Shining Armor on the warpath!!
Some snafu ridden chair jockey put the life of his baby sis at risk?
Not to mention that a certain pink alicorn Is going to rather upset about the safety of her sister-in-law.
Now include Celestia in the mix and the penguin census unit at the south pole is going to have an influx of new personnel with new orders to collect fecal samples from each bird. Said samples to be collected under the watchful eye of the new commandant.
11706627
Penguins? Nope, the Crystal Empire has needs on the Yak border, or was it the other border?
The situation with the guards is suspicious.
Huh...
No one mentioned this little quip?
And as we roll into October I wonder if Alen will have to deal with a Tractor with a mind of it's own? For better (Herbie) or worse (Carrie).
The scene with Allan on the tractor and the music playing is still going through my head. So epic!
Anyway, I wish luck and sense to the poor sap who is supposed to take care of Allan's farm. I hope they aren't stupid enough to try messing with tools they do not understand... especially the guns locked in the cabinet.
A good chapter, the security situation is honestly described very realistically. “Secondary priority” units that are “in the middle of nowhere” often suffer from a lack of budget and are sometimes forced to literally assemble with their own hands security posts, fencing and other things from the garbage lying somewhere nearby, and the people assigned to them can “get lost” and this really depressing. Armed fighters in such places have weapons from 80-70 years old, it comes as a set and it’s good if everyone has it, and not the “conditional” selected 2-3 people out of the “conditional” 10 patrolmen. Something took me to the wrong place, the chapter is really good.
11707009
More likely just corruption & officer politics than anything malicious
Great story so far and interesting to finally see him use some magic.
Sentient tractor sentient tractor.
All hail the Machine God and the Motive Force!
May the Machine Spirit guide it to vengence!
And good hay cutting. That too.
The story has been awesome so far thank you for writing it
11707039
"Christine", not "Carrie". Though both are from Stephen King.