With the Help of a Wolf

by bronzewolf78

Chapter 2

Chapter two

The doctor came back after a while. “I would love to let you go, but we still need to do a couple of things first. After your... miracle, we need to do another scan and X-ray...” He droned on about boring medical stuff.

“Hey, this is important!”

Cut the crap, Bronze. You made sure that I’m fine.

“He’s telling you when you can leave.”

“...and after that, you’ll be free to go!” Dr. Chrome finished, looking up from his clipboard.

Damn it. And no, Bronze, I’m not going to ask again.

The mares didn’t come back, and I spent the rest of that long day going through various medical and magical scans and tests, particularly around my wings and eyes. It turns out that wings are very sensitive; that was the most awkward physical I’ve ever had. Turn-your-head-and-cough was much better. That night I had trouble falling asleep.

...Bronze?

“Sup?”

Why can’t I sleep?

“Anxiety? Nervousness? Excitement? I saw the way you were eyeing that blue mare earlier.” The swishing started again.

Ok, good. It’s not something you did. And Bronze, she’s a horse.

“Technically, she’s a pony. And so are you.”

Ugh.

“What about the orange mare? Applejack, was it?”

Bronze-!

“I seem to remember you describing her with ‘attractive freckles.’”

I felt heat rising to my face. Goodnight, Bronze.

“Sleep tight, loverboy.”
---

The next morning, I woke to the beeping again. Bronze was snoring, stretched out on the floor. Maybe it was the snoring I woke up from. I looked around to see what time it was, but there were no clocks in the room, which seemed kind of odd. I layed there for what seemed like hours, until the doctor came in again. “Oh good, you’re awake.”

“Well there’s not much to do here.”

“True.”

We stayed in silence for an awkward moment.

“So what did you come in here for?”

“I’m trying to remember...” he started to flip through his ever present clipboard.

What.

“I had one last scan for you, but I can’t seem to find the paper.”

“I feel fine. Can I just go?”

Doctor Chrome sighed. “There’s always paperwork. Welcome to the business world.”

Great. I resigned myself to another day in the hospital.

“Gah, must have left it on the counter,” Chrome must have gone through his entire clipboard, because he looked up and continued. “I’ll be back.”

“Ok,” I said as he left.

This guy is a nut.

The lack of an answer threw me off a little, then I realized that Bronze was still asleep. Dr. Chrome didn’t take long to come back. When he did, he gave me his clipboard, a pen on the top.

“I just need you to sign here, and you’ll be good to go!”

“Alright...” I hesitated, looking at my blunt hooves. How do I write with these? Thinking quickly, I took the pen in my mouth, trying to ignore the strange look the doctor was giving me. I tried to make it look like I was just reading it over while I tried to come up with a name.

“If you want to take a minute to read, you can give it to the nurse on your way out. I’d stay, but I have more patients to attend to. You understand.”

“Of course.”

I was thankful that the doctor left, but after he did I heard him greet someone in the hallway. Three familiar ponies walked in (well one hovered).

“Hey guys.” The pen dropped from my mouth.

“Howdy, uh...” Applejack hesitated. “Ah don’t believe you told us yer name.”

“I don’t ... have one.”

Twilight blinked. “How can you not have a name? Everyone has a name!”

I stayed silent, the only sound in the room the beating of Rainbow’s wings. And Bronze snoring, but they couldn’t hear that.

Rainbow spoke up. “He looks like a Hot Head to me.”

Applejack gave her a look. Rainbow shrugged back. “What? He does!”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “How can someone look like a name?”

“I don’t need to defend myself! Someone can look like a name!” Rainbow threw her hooves up.

“Fine,” I tried to calm her down. “That’s actually a pretty cool name.”

Rainbow blushed and looked away.

I picked up the pen again and shakily signed Hot Head on the line.

“All right, I’m allowed to leave.” I had been waiting for this moment, but now I couldn’t feel excited about it.

“Great! Let’s go!” Rainbow swooped out the door again.

“Consarnit, Rainbow!” Applejack ran after her.

Twilight game me a sheepish smile.

“Is this going to be a recurring theme?” I asked her.

“Probably. You ready then?”

I thought I was, but then I remembered something. “Where are we going?”

“I thought we could show you around town a little.”

“Cool,” I slipped out of the bed. As soon as I put weight on a hoof, I found myself splayed out on the floor. I looked up at Twilight, embarrassed. “Umm... a little help?”

She giggled, then her horn lit up. There is no way to describe the feeling of weightlessness and helplessness of being held in telekinesis. She lifted me up to my feet and gently set me down.

Ok. Magic. That makes about as much sense as anything else going on around here.

“Thanks.” I purposefully made an effort to trot on Bronze’s face on my way following Twilight out.

“Ow! Wha...” Bronze growled as he realized what happened. “Of course you know that this means war.”

I smiled. Bring it.

I made my way to the front desk and left the clipboard on the vacant front desk. Nurse must be on break.

The sound of paws on tile followed me. “Kind of odd for a hospital.”

The sound of Rainbow’s voice interrupted my response. “What is taking him so long? We’ve been out here forever!”

I rolled my eyes. Something large and wet nudged my side, almost shoving me over. “Go on. Hurry up.”

I’m going. Geez. When Bronze nudged me again, he literally shoved me out the door. It was the second time I landed awkwardly in front of Twilight. I looked up at her again, and all I could do was smile. Before I could say anything, I was hoisted in the air by Rainbow. “You’re so slow! Let’s go already!” She threw me in the air and sped skyward. All I could do was flounder in a freefall.

My mind flashed back to my skydiving accident. I froze, just like I had right before I died. I shut my eyes, waiting for the impact. Suddenly, the wind stopped rushing past my ears, and I felt a different kind of weightless again. When I opened my eyes I was suspended in front of Twilight, above Applejack, who looked like she was trying to catch me. Once she realized I was safe, Applejack shouted to scold Rainbow, who was slowly gliding back to the ground. I looked at Twilight sheepishly again. “Thanks. Again.”

She put me down. “You haven’t figured out the wings yet, have you?”

“No. I’m actually scared of heights.” I admitted.

Rainbow’s voice broke into our conversation. That seems to happen often. “Well what pegasus doesn’t know how to fly!?!”

“I already told you, Rainbow!” I called over to her. She flew over as I continued. “I’m not used to this yet. I’m also trying to keep a low profile while I learn the culture.”

“That aint gonna happen,” Applejack put in. “This here’s a small town. Everypony already knows there’s a new pony.”

Every...pony? Oh my god...

“You called?” Bronze startled me. I ignored him.

“Great. I guess that Rainbow, then, should teach me how to fly.” I pointedly gave her a look that was a combination of a glare and a hint of a hidden consequence if she didn’t.

“Sure,” Rainbow scratched the back of her head. “They don’t call me ‘Dash’ for nothin’!”

“Dash? Oh, Rainbow Dash?”

“Hell yeah!”

“You guys have a second name?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

I looked expectantly at Applejack, who just shrugged. “Ah’ve only got the one. But now that that’s out of the way... Rainbow...!”

“What? Oh, right. Sorry,” she addressed the last part to me.

“Don’t worry about it.” There was a bit of an awkward pause, so I decided to break it. “We going somewhere?”

“Well, Ah’ve got to git back to the farm,” Applejack said, “They need mah help buckin’ apples.”

Bucking apples?

“You’ve got a lot to learn, buddy.”

“Bye, Applejack!” Twilight and Dash waved.

Once she left, Twilight spoke up. “So it’s kind of a small town, but there’s a lot to do here.”

“Kind of?” Rainbow mocked her. “Ponyville is one of the smallest places ever!”

Twilight sighed. “Should we start moving?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

Twilight and Rainbow showed me around town, starting with the market. They purposefully avoided a large cafe that looked more like a gingerbread house, and “You’ll see why later” was the only reason I got. When we reached the path that led to Applejack’s orchards (Sweet Apple Acres), Rainbow was telling me how that was the best place to take a nap and get a snack at the same time, when Twilight slapped the back of her head and scolded her about ‘corrupting the new guy.’ She sure gets told often, and it’s pretty amusing... maybe this won’t be so bad after all. Rainbow had been hovering the entire time, but eventually she landed heavily on my back.

“Rainbow-!”

“Relax, Twilight. It’s fine. I really don’t mind.” And I really didn’t. Rainbow was deceptively light. Or maybe I was a bad judge of weight.

“Well, if you say so. As I was saying, this is...” Twilight went on with her tour. At one point, Rainbow put her head down on the upper part of my back.

“Withers.”

I really couldn’t care less. How about you tell me something useful.

“Ok?”

Is she asleep on my back?

Bronze had been walking in pace with me, behind Twilight. He looked over his shoulder. “Wow. She must have been pretty comfortable to fall asleep that quickly.”

To be honest, this isn’t the most engaging tour. I’d probably fall asleep too if I already knew all about Ponytown.

“Ponyville!”

I laughed inside. It’s fun to get a reaction.

I could almost feel Bronze’s eyes narrowing. “Douchebag.”

Rainbow and I had lost interest in the guided tour given by Twilight long ago. We finally stopped in front of Twilight’s house.

“And this is the town library, as well as my house.”

“You live in a tree,” I said in disbelief.

“It’s actually quite spacious on the inside.”

“This place is so boring!” Rainbow blurted. “Why did we choose to stop here?” Her sudden outburst startled me, and I jumped. She took the opportunity to take off and hover next to Twilight.

“Rainbow Dash, my house is not boring! It’s one of the most entertaining places in town!” Twilight was murmuring something else to Rainbow that I couldn’t hear, but Rainbow straightened, eyes wide.

Did you get any of that, Bronze?

“I did, but I probably shouldn’t repeat it.”

Aww, why not?

“It seemed personal.”

Spoilsport.

“Plus, it’s the only place that we haven’t been to yet. <font size="1">You know, besides the other place</font>.” Twilight spoke up again, but this time I caught her aside to Rainbow.

“What, the gingerbread house?”

Twilight jumped. “<font size="1">Shouldn’t have heard that</font>...Yeah, that.”

There was an awkward pause as Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other and at me. I felt like there was some kind of conspiracy going on.

“Well, so uh...” Twilight floundered for a change of subject. “Books! Yes, library! You like reading, right?”

“To put it bluntly, I used to be that lonely kid reading in the corner in school.”

Twilight clapped her hooves together while Rainbow dropped her jaw. “I have so much to show you then!”

Rainbow interrupted. “But how? You look way too cool to be an egghead!”

I smirked as Twilight scolded Rainbow again. She turned back to me again, “And it’s getting dark, so if you want to stay here for the night, you are more than welcome to.”

“Ooorrr,” Rainbow interrupted again, “you can crash at my place. Clouds are sooo much more comfortable than other beds!”

“Thanks to both of you for the offers, but I don’t really want to be a burden or anyth-” I trailed off as my stomach started to make noise.

“Oh no!” Twilight looked like a schoolgirl who had forgotten to turn in a paper. “I didn't realize that you hadn’t eaten anything yet! And I’ve taken you around since this morning... Here, let me invite you over for dinner.”

“No, really, it’s fine-”

“Nonsense, you have nowhere else to stay.” She opened the front door and called inside. “Spike! Start making dinner for four!”

An adolescent masculine voice called back. “Including myself?”

“Yes, Spike!”

“Your brother?” I guessed.

Twilight smiled. “He’s like a brother to me, but no. He’s actually-”

*CRASH*

“<font size="1">Dammit, Spike</font>...” Twilight muttered. “Hold on a second. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared through the door frame, leaving me to wait outside with Rainbow.

“Soo, how about I show you some of my awesome moves?” Rainbow started hovering again.

What, like a fight? I’m not sure if I’m adjusted to this body enough for that... But before you say anything, Bronze, I’m not chicken.

“That’s not what I was going to say. I don’t think she-”

“Alright, sure.” Before I had even finished the sentence (fragment), Rainbow had already shot herself into the air and was doing tricks that I couldn’t even keep track of.

Wow.

Bronze went on as I stared in awe. “As bad as a judge as I am on pony figures, Rainbow Dash doesn’t seem to have the body for a fighter. I was going to say that she has the athlete look.”

Huh. You don’t say? Rainbow did a backflip corkscrew inverse 360.

It seemed that Bronze was caught up in his interpretations of figures. “Actually, you’ve got a pretty solid build yourself. You might be a pretty good fighter, if these ponies actually believed in it.”

I had been tuning him out, but that last part caught my attention. Wait, what?

“Yeah. Ponies, or mares at least, don’t believe in fighting. It’s part of their interpretation of ‘friendship,’ or something like that.”

Damn.

“Why so glum? It’s not like fighting is a good thing to have plenty of.”

I’ve always loved a good brawl. Dang it!

There was a pause as I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Bronze sit down and put a paw to his chin in thought. I took a second away from Rainbow to give Bronze a glance. Back to Rainbow. Much more entertaining.

“I’ll give you a good fight, if you want.”

I glanced at him again. What? Are you serious? No thanks. You’re a god.

Rainbow looked a little shaky in the sky. Bronze shrugged. “Your loss. Wouldn’t you like to be able to say that you’ve fought a god?”

Yeah, because people would believe me. It’s my funeral.

Rainbow started to dive again. “Now why would I kill you in a brawl if I had just gone through the trouble of bringing you back?”

I realized that Rainbow was coming straight for me. I figured she would know what she was doing, though, and that she would pull up before she hit the ground. Maybe that’s the kind of crazed sick fuck you are.

“You know, most people wouldn’t talk back to the god that just resurrected them.”

Well, I’m not like most-

Rainbow crashed into my side. We skidded and bounced for a long distance before I hit my head.

-----

I woke up facing a wooden ceiling. I thought the hospital had tile…

“It does. You’re not in the hospital.”

That took a while to register. Then where am I?

“I’ll give you two guesses.”

Not now Bronze, my head hurts.

“You ruin so much fun. Fine. You’re in Twilight’s house.”

The library?

Before Bronze could answer, I heard hoofsteps coming up what I assumed were stairs. I hadn’t moved my head, because it still hurt, and thus the only part of the room that I knew what it looked like was the ceiling. I didn’t make an effort to look towards the door. When I heard it open, I closed my eyes again and heard two sets of voices.

“Here he is, Fluttershy. He hit his head pretty hard when Rainbow slammed into him.” That was Twilight.

“Oh, let’s have a look at the poor dear.” I heard something land beside me, but I pretended not to notice. There was a muted thump the new arrival, Fluttershy, set something down. “What did you say his name was, Twilight?”

“Rainbow Dash named him Hot Head.”

There was a pause, as if Fluttershy nodded. “It seems to fit him.”

I felt soft hooves on my head suddenly. Well, softer than Rainbow’s, anyway. They searched around, then gently rolled my head to my right. There was an intake of breath as someone, Fluttershy I assumed, gasped. “Twilight, why didn’t you bandage this? He’s going to lose too much blood!” I heard frantic shuffling, as if someone were searching through a bag.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about first aid! I didn’t want to do anything wrong.”

“You’re right, Twilight. Thanks for coming to get me so soon. You said his name was Hot Head?” Another pause. The gentle voice spoke closer to my ear. “Excuse me, Hot head… Um, could you wake up for me please? I’d rather do this when you’re awake… Hot Head?”

I slowly opened my eyes to a field of bright pink that quickly disappeared with an “Eep!” to reveal Twilight standing in front of the doorway.

“It’s OK, Fluttershy, he’s wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Twilight tried to calm down the yellow pegasus shaking in place.

“B-b-but he did that to R-r-rainbow!”

I decided to speak up. “Actually, she crashed into me.” Bad idea. The sound of my voice freaked her out even more. She jumped into the air and sped out the door.

Twilight sighed. “Fluttershy!” She followed the butter creature out the door. Apparently Fluttershy was hiding behind the door frame, because Twilight stood in the doorway to talk to her.

Shoulda pretended to be asleep longer.

Bronze seemed greatly amused by the scene. I could hear his tail swishing on the floor. I took the opportunity to survey my surroundings with as little movement as possible. With my eyes, I looked around. Bronze wasn’t kidding; it looked like I was literally on the inside of a tree, laying on a couch.

“I’m not one to say ‘I told you so-,’”

I interrupted him. Yes you are. And don’t try to deny it, either.

There was a shadow of the couch in front of me, so it was safe to assume that there was a window behind me. The shadow was long, so the sun was setting. The girls’ conversation and my guessed position of the sun told me that I wasn’t out for too long.

I tried to sit up, but my head swam with a flash of pain. I must have made a noise, because Fluttershy swooped back over to me and gently forced my head back down and turned it to the side again, cooing sweet nonsense the whole time. I couldn’t focus on it though, my head hurt too much. I let out a hiss when the back of my head touched the couch.

“Twilight, could you hand me the salve and bandages? Thank you.” She set the bandages down next to me and took the salve in hoof. “Now this is going to sting a little…”

Oh no. That phrase never meant just a little. Why do medics even say- ohmygodthepainwhywouldyoudothistome. Stars flocked my field of vision, and when they left, she had already wrapped bandages around my head.

“Sorry bro, but if I do anything about it, they’ll know something’s up.”

“There you go, all done!” Fluttershy was saying. Next thing I know, there’s a weight on my chest as she gave me a tender hug. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.

“Oh, thank you Fluttershy! I don’t know what I would do without you sometimes.” Twilight said as Fluttershy started towards the door.

“It wasn’t a problem, really… It was a pleasure seeing you again Twilight.”

“You’re welcome to stay for dinner if you want, Fluttershy. I can have Spike make up another plate.” My ears twitched at the mention of food.

“I don’t want to impose… You probably already have plans…”

“I just told you Fluttershy, we have extra.”

“Well, in that case, if you really want me to…”

“I wouldn’t have spent the last five minutes standing here arguing with you if I hadn’t wanted you to stay, Fluttershy.”

“Were we arguing? I’m sorry…”

This is getting ridiculous.

“I find it amusing.”

“Yeah, Fluttershy, stay for dinner with us! I want to get to know you more,” I said, trying to sit up again, albeit more slowly this time. Fluttershy immediately hovered over to me again.

“Oh, don’t try to move yet. You took a nasty tumble back there. Let me help you.” She picked me up, bridal style, carefully minding that my head didn’t loll on my neck too much. Twilight smiled at us as I was carried out the door. I shot her a wink. Air Fluttershy was not a bad way to travel.

Author's Note:

Writer's block is a bitch... but I got past it!

Comments

[ClosetKnight]

Is this a chess game of the gods story?

[bronzewolf78]

3098892
I don't want to spoil anything
but yes, there are definitely going to be elements of that in this story
^

[ANearPerfectStudent]

Writer's block is a bitch...

I have no problems with this statement.

[AdamAperture]

Whats the "Writers Block"?

[The almighty bread god]

3569853 a term used to describe authors being stuck on something to do with a story that they're writing.

[Hoppa_21]

This is pretty good.

Only flaw would be, that Fluttershy would have problems to carry Hot Head. Even Rainbow said that he was heavy and in S1E1 it was made clear, that she is only used to lifting bunnies.

But that's just something minor anyway. Love the mental image of Fluttershy carrying him bridal style too much to care!

[VampireVinyl]

Is it just me, or does the god have the attitude of his best friend? Maybe it's just me

[mtf0330]

I know its not, but I always prefer fluttershy to be the romantic interest, but I doubt that's the case.

[Mr_Moon]

“I don’t need to defend myself! Someone can look like a name!” Rainbow threw her hooves up.

she's not wrong, I mean she has a rainbow mane and "rainbow" in her name.

“<font size="1">Dammit, Spike</font>...” Twilight muttered. “Hold on a second. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared through the door frame, leaving me to wait outside with Rainbow.

Also, the thing is broken.

[ramdom_player201]

Personally, I didn't like the name Hot Head much. Oh well, next chapter.