La Bruja Enojada

by Strider Sicks

Heridas Frescas

Screaming.

It was an action he had done many times in the past in a variety of situations. When he was but a wee babe he screamed for comfort and love, chubby childish arms reaching up towards the towering giants around him as his immature lungs screamed out his full heart’s desire. At times the immense creatures would bend to his earsplitting whims but more often than not they would ignore him, turning their heads away and focusing upon something else more relevant to their own skittish interests. When he was a child he screamed out in pain, his body howling out in a painful wail as impact after impact connected with his bared flesh; angered goliaths striking him for infractions that none could hope to stop.

When he was an adolescent he howled with sorrow, his ragged voice carrying for miles around as he screamed out his frustrations and his pain in the center of a cold and heartless city. When he was a teenager he cried out in ecstasy, passion and desire flowing through his body with every pulse of his heart as sweat rolled from every pore. His muscles ached, his heart pounded out of his chest, but through it all he withstood and allowed the pleasure to swallow him into the unknowing oblivion.

However, at the moment he only screamed for one thing.

Rage.

Just as with screaming, anger was nothing new to him; it was a common occurrence, a wizened advisor, and an old friend. Wrath had helped him overcome the harshness that was his world, the callousness of those around him, the inane stupidity and unyielding bigotry that seemed to spout from various lips until the end of eternity. With every contemptuous comment anger was there to feed his fires, a flaring inferno of vengeance spewing from his lips as the fuel of fury pumped through his quickly tensing muscles. As every foolish hate-filled strike fell against his tanned skin the dressing of rage quickly mended the wound; angered adrenaline racing through his veins and silencing the sting so that he may continue to clash. When the tides of battle began to turn ferocity felled any thoughts of mercy, any wayward fantasies of kindness upon his opponent; instead anger brought out the inner beast, the lingering monster inside whose only goal is to destroy, to win, and to triumph no matter what the cost.

It was with this mindset that he found himself rising from a deep crater in the loamy earth; his smoldering body pulling itself from the fuming basin without a pulse of pain passing through his bleeding skull. Instead there was only that eternal, guttural scream, and his dear friend wrapping its greedy, claw like fingers over the controls…

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“What in Equestria was that?” Twilight muttered in surprised confusion, her brilliant violet eyes staring in wonder as the object came to a rather spectacular crash landing. The soil beneath her feet rumbled in agreement, a shivering of the earth that spoke volumes to the sheer strength of the impact that the object had inflicted. For a moment Twilight could almost feel the gears in her mind spin, the well oiled and finely tuned machinations of her massive mind spinning at harrowing speeds in an attempt to remember any sort of information on unique storms and the objects that could fall from them.

In mere seconds Twilight could see the hours she had spent over her numerous tomes, images and information about meteorites, comets, and other astronomical objects falling from the heavens crossing her mind’s eye with the speed of lightning bolt. However, just as quickly as the images and the information came they were swift to leave, the low groan and choked sobbing of the cyan colored filly at her side snapping her attention from the unique phenomenon to something much more important, “R-Right, no time!”

Twilight immediately turned her attention to the shimmering violet shield that surrounded the library, the thick walls of condensed magical energy able to withstand an incredible amount of force before it even came close to cracking. Yet, as Twilight put just a bit more focus into her magical barrier she could feel something odd, something rather unexpected given the events of the past few minutes. Instead of the constant pressure and pulses of powerful micro-bursts against her shield Twilight felt nothing, a void of activity that seemed to indicate that the winds that had just been flying mere moments ago had vanished leaving nothing but scattered debris in their wake.

Taking another second of observation Twilight could not hear the noise of the calamitous storm but in its place was the gentle sway of the summer breeze; instead of the whirlwinds of leaves, grass, and various other wreckage on the other side of her purple bubble Twilight only saw swiftly clearing skies and the gentle curls of a delicate late afternoon wind.

“Is…is that it…is it over?” Spike pondered his voice and posture unsure but hopeful given the lack of activity on the other side of the force field.

Just as the question passed through Spikes lips the torn lime-green clouds above parted even further, their sickly jade hue rapidly dissipating from the sky and allowing the bright majesty of Princess Celestia's sun to grace the land once more. As the warm rays of sunshine fell down upon the group Twilight gently released her hold on her magical shield, a fresh jet of cool, post-storm air fluttering through her coat and mane, “I think it is Spike…” Despite the peace that the world seemed to be at now Twilight quickly shook her head, her wonder at the suddenness of the storms end being broken by her ever responsible nature, “Spike, I want you to go back downstairs and close the door just in case the storm comes back.”

“But Twilight,” Spike offered a weak protest but Twilights intense amethyst gaze cut him short.

“No Spike, I need you to stay here and be safe,” Twilight said with a determined snort, “this might be our last chance and I can’t risk more of my friends getting hurt.”

Spike’s gaze was apprehensive, his mind torn between staying with Twilight and hiding in the secured safety of the basement. After a few moments pause he merely nodded, his emerald eyes cast to the side as he softly muttered, “Be safe okay?”

Twilight responded to the nod with one of her own as a thin veil of violet energy encompassed the earthly form of Equestria’s fastest flier, her mouth letting lose the slightest of pained whimpers at the sudden movement before she quickly silenced herself with a bite of her tongue. While levitation was one of the safest and most cautious of ways to carry any injured body that didn’t mean it was pain free; not that Rainbow Dash would ever admit to feeling something as ‘weak’ as pain, “Th-Thanks guys…”

Twilight declined to respond; instead she simply ran with the full force that her legs could carry her. Twilight’s hooves bolted over the ground like rolling thunder as she hastened for the hospital with Rainbow Dash following behind in a floating cast of magical energy. As the duo headed for the hospital Twilight couldn’t help but wonder what became of her other friends during this storm, what was their fate in this mysterious typhoon? Also…what had fallen from the sky?

Taking a brief glance towards the direction of Everfree Forest Twilight felt her intellectual curiosity building, a bubble of resolve forming in the back of her mind before releasing itself to the inner workings of her psyche; she would find out what fell from the sky and what it had to do with this sudden supernatural storm, even if she had to do it alone.

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The world began to take on the hue of freshly spilled blood, the fine coloration of brilliant scarlet covering the landscape like some perverse pair of rose-colored glasses. Had he taken the time to examine himself he might have found that most of this crimson sheen came from a deep gash that spanned the width of his forehead, a wide wound among many that seemed to cover his physique from head to toe. Over and over his body seemed marred by the sheer amount of lacerations that decorated his flesh, freely bleeding lesions that turned his normally tanned skin a deep and ruddy red. However, the greatest of these injuries was the one about his cheek; a wide and crudely cut slash that had seemed to cauterize into a permanent scar on his once youthfully clear face. His clothes lie in tattered ruins about his body, mere scraps of fabric clinging to his figure through the adhesion of the blood and sweat that poured from him.

If one were to look upon him one would think he was but a walking wound, a shambling mess of pain and agony that seemed mere seconds from falling to the ground in death.

And none of it stopped him…

Instead his body continued to move forward, deep ochre eyes burning with fury as shadows continued to dance in the corner of his vision. The wounds, the tattered clothing, the loss of blood; it all held so little influence in his outrage hazed mind. Instead all that mattered was his anger, his fury directed at the being that had caused him this pain. Those dully gleaming white teeth, the skin that looked like aged leather, the flowing and dully colored robes of a Brujo Negro…and those infuriatingly smug shimmering golden feline eyes!

The mere thought of the man send a fresh tsunami of ire throughout his body, muscles tightening and mouth opening in another horrific scream. Long ago his voice had given out from his incessant shouting; instead all that rose from his open jaw was a wheezing snarl, his shattered vocal cords becoming animalistic and brutal in nature. In a way it was a poetic representation of what he had become; a mess of blood and bone, each bloodied step crushing grass and flower alike beneath his ruddy foot falls. He was no longer a man, no longer human, simply a creature full of anger and a single overwhelming purpose.

To kill

As the scream in his throat died so did another rise, a horrific and ear splitting howl that shattered the forest for miles around. However, unlike the bellows of the past this scream came from a new source, this deafening roar causing his teeth to clench and his body to quiver with excited fury. A slow and jerky turn of his head brought his livid chocolate brown orbs to rest upon a shaded section of the forest, a dark and foreboding patch where the light of the sun above refused to enter. For a few long moments he remained completely still, the only movement throughout his form being the heavy heaving of his chest and the slow grind of his teeth in his mouth.

With a sudden thundering crash the underbrush seemed to explode towards him, leaves and branches alike bursting out and showering him with a heavy wave of various plant debris. For a few brief seconds his eyes widened in surprise as the sight that greeted him, yet it was only a heartbeat later that he quickly narrowed his gaze into dangerous slits of sight. The cause of the explosion stood before him tall and proud, a massive creature of at least six feet tall that crawled forward on four distinct and very powerful looking legs. Upon a first passing glance he would have easily mistaken the beast for an abnormally large female lion, the smooth and lean musculature of a dominant hunting cat playing beneath the monsters sleek-looking earth brown fur. The creature’s paws looked very much like a lions as well, the thickly muscled limbs and sheathed claws drawing his attention away from the fact that the back pair and the front pair were grossly mismatched from one another in size. The creatures face also resembled that of a lion, the narrow predatory eyes of a hungry lioness on the prowl causing the briefest shiver of primal fear along his spine as a rough sandpaper-like tongue greedily caressed two rows of razor sharp fangs.

Yet, it was at this point that any resemblance to an earthy lion ended and the additions to the monster brought about even more surprise in his eyes. Perched atop the monsters head were a pair of horn like ears, wickedly curved structures that were covered in earth brown fur on the outside leaving the inside to be coated in a deep bloody red coloration. Those evil ears twisted towards his body, listening intently for any shift in movement or any signal that he might try to run. Connected to where the monsters shoulder blades should be were a pair of tremendous bat like wings, massive webbed limbs that splayed out in a magnificent display of power and size. The flying limbs looked to be at least one and a half times the size of the creature if not more, their brown furred backs only accentuating the murky ruddy ruby of the inner skin. At last his eyes traveled to the creature’s tail, his gaze widening even more at the unique and deadly addition to the monsters already impressive physique. Curling up and across the monsters back was a vibrant scarlet tail, a segmented appendage that appeared more suited to a scorpion than any animal of soft fur and warm blood. At the very tip of this unique attachment was a deadly looking stinger, a needle sharp growth of carapace that dripped and oozed aqua-marine venom.

In the back of his mind he could feel his fight or flight instincts wage war against his rage, his fury fueled form calling out for him to take action against the beast while every single one of his survival instincts told him to turn tail and run with all the speed he could muster. His mind fought and fought over his next course of action, his panting breath and shivering coffee colored eyes being the only outward sigh of his internal conflict. Yet, as he stood there he could see the monster take a confident step forward, a slow grin forming across its lips and a smug sense of satisfaction dancing in its eyes; a look that he had seen in the eyes of a cat mere seconds before it began to play with its meal…

The same eyes that belonged to the gilipollas that did this to him.

With a great surge of strength his rage toppled his instincts, the wrath of his memories silencing any opposition with deadly efficiency. That gilipollas…that bastard, the horrible things he said, the things he did…the things that he would do to the bastard. Quickly he took a deep breath, his scratched and scarred chest swelling with air before he let it loose in a great and terrible wail, his own voice echoing throughout the clearing as the shadows in his eyes grew ever larger. Louder and louder did his sweltering song become, the volume of his inhuman howl shaking the trees that surrounded him and causing the offending monster to halt in its tracks in confusion and curiosity.

As he continued to scream the shadows in his vision swept in and out of his gaze, a dark and misty lens flittering across his pupils with greater frequency the longer he bellowed. This, however, was ignored as a small bit of satisfaction crossed his mind; the monster before him taking a tentative step backward and its once cocky and hungry head pulling away from him in trepidation and caution. With a slight grin on his face he took a heavy step forward, his foot hitting the ground with an authoritative and surprisingly loud thud. His furious heartbeat pounded a staccato rush of blood into his ears, the repetitive thumping of his racing chest drowning out all save for the hastening war-drum of his flesh. His muscles tensed and flexed, their previous exhaustion vanishing under the lava-like sear of his fury saturated blood and being reborn even stronger than before. Shadows danced, blood flowed, and throughout it all rage continued to spread…

His wrath so absorbed his consciousness that he completely overlooked the violent vibrations of his single intact side pocket and a pair of brilliant ivory horns sprouting from his own bloodied skull.

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Twilight let loose a grateful sigh as she saw the hospital standing proud and tall amongst the destruction that surrounded it. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had almost expected it to be demolished along with many of the other buildings in the area. However, as luck would have it, it seemed that the magical wards and superior construction of the emergency facility held true and the vicious tearing winds that had raged for several hours before were easily withstood. It was with this sense of elation and relief that Twilight picked up her pace, her hooves racing with all of their might into the doors and shouting out in desperation, “Please, somepony, anypony, I need help!”

Instantly Twilight found herself face to face with a very stern-looking pristine-white earth pony mare, her ice blue eyes glaring at Twilight with all of strict and authoritative powers granted upon her by her position as head nurse of Ponyville General Hospital, “Miss! I’m going to have to ask you to be patient and wait your turn! As it is we are already over capacity due to injury incurred by the Pegasus weather team trying to stop that freak storm and please don’t get me started on the ponies whose homes collapsed on top of them.”

With this spoken the nurse waved her hoof across the whole of the hospitals waiting room floor, the vision that met Twilights eyes causing her pupils to shrink at the sheer number of injured ponies present. Almost every inch of first floor not needed for personal locomotion was covered in hospital beds, each one containing a pony with at least one injury that required immediate medical attention. Twilight felt tears prickle at the edges of her vision, her heart sinking in her chest as she felt Rainbow Dash groan in the confines of her magical gurney, “But-”

“I’m sorry but no buts,” the nurse said with a heavy tone of regret, her once proud and unyielding posture weakening as the fatigue of her station truly began to show, “there have been so many ponies hurt because of this storm…I don’t know if we’ll be able to save them all…all we can really do is hope that the help we sent for from Canterlot arrives before it’s too late.”

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat, the tears that had pooled in her eyes beginning to trickle down her cheeks as she spoke, “I…understand. But please…my friend…”

Twilight couldn’t finish her statement and instead opted to bring Rainbow Dash forward, her broken and bloodied form catching the nurse’s eye and causing a horrified gasp to break past her lips, “Oh dear! What happened to her!?”

Twilight sniffled, “She tried to break up the storm…but she said something about being knocked out of the sky by an object…”

“This…isn’t good,” the nurse muttered, her teeth biting at her lower lip in consideration and concentration. After a few moments of apprehension the nurse spoke out softly, “This mare…she’s Rainbow Dash isn’t she? The bearer of an Element of Harmony?” Twilight could only nod as the chromatic maned mare moaned in pain, her freely bleeding wounds turning many patches of her cyan blue fur a deep scarlet. The nurse took a deep breath, her head shaking slightly as she muttered, “I’m so going to lose my job for this…come with me, quickly.”

Twilight looked up in surprise as the nurse took off in a quick trot, a single ice blue eye cast over her shoulder and watching to make sure the violet unicorn was doing as she was told. All Twilight could do was offer a weak smile, her head nodding as she quietly whispered, “Thank you…”

The nurse either didn’t hear Twilight or she just didn’t care, something that was apparent in the way that the pointedly refused to respond and instead led Twilight through halls filled with rushing doctors, panicking nurses, and hospital beds filled with pained ponies. Twilight was only numbly aware of her surroundings; instead her focus and much of her massive intellect had delved deep inside of her own mind, puzzling away at what she had seen and what it could possibly mean. What object had injured Rainbow Dash so seriously? Was it like what she had seen fall from the sky earlier? As a matter of fact, what HAD she seen? Was it just some particle from space or was it alive? If it was alive, was it friendly or was it hostile? What could be done if it was hostile or even worse, what if it brought some sort of disease? If something with a foreign disease had landed in Everfree Forest how long would it take to spread? What if Rainbow Dash already encountered it? What if it was a disease without a cure? What if…

“Nurse Redheart!” a sudden and irritated shout broke Twilight from her increasingly frantic musings, her head snapping up from its gaze toward the floor and towards the scene before her. Standing before Twilight Sparkle and the nurse, apparently a mare named Redheart, was a male unicorn of tan colored fur and brown colored mane. Perched upon his nose was a pair of glasses, thin oval silver rims encompassing pristinely kept lenses. Draped over his back was the white laboratory coat of a doctor and slung around his neck was a shimmering stainless steel stethoscope, “There had better be a VERY good reason you have brought this patient to me seeing as we are beyond strapped for help as it is.”

It was obvious to Twilight that the stallion was a doctor and a very important one at that given that his badge was significantly larger and more ornate than the other doctors that she had seen in the building. Twilight felt herself shrink back slightly from the enraged doctor, her tail tucking slightly between her legs as her ears flattened against her head in an attempt to appear even smaller and somehow avoid his understandable ire.

However, while Twilight seemed to recoil from the doctors anger Redheart only seemed to be bolstered by it; her chest puffing out and her body standing tall and strong and she spoke, “I understand that doctor but this situation requires your immediate attention.”

The doctor let loose a harsh sigh, his nose huffing in irritation at the nurses claim, “Nurse Redheart, need I remind you of protocol in this building? All of the staff is working as hard as they can and there just isn’t enough room for any ‘special cases’ you might have.”

Redheart’s gaze turned absolutely frigid and for a moment the doctor looked taken aback by her gaze, “Of course they are working as hard as they can ‘Doctor’ Stable, it can’t be helped when some of us don’t put their whole heart into it and leave the rest of us to pick up the slack.”

In the blink of an eye Redheart’s immobilizing glower was sliced through by the doctors furious glare, “How DARE you! I should fire you right on the spot Redheart!”

Despite the sharp rebuttal Nurse Redheart remained unmoved, her stare hard enough to lower the temperature in the hospital down a few notches as she spoke, “No, how dare YOU doctor? Do you think I haven’t seen you sneak off early on your shift to play golf or take your precious ‘beauty naps’ in your office? You might be one of the most talented doctors here and you might be the hospital manager but that gives you NO excuse to shirk your duties!” As Redheart continued her rant the doctor seemed to deflate before her eyes, his once confident and righteous stance vanishing as he started to back away from the rising threat of Redheart, “Even in the middle of this crisis you don’t think I haven’t seen you hiding in the break room or sneaking away to your office for thirty minutes at a time!?”

“B-But-” the doctor began only to be cut off by Redheart shoving her forehead against his own.

“No buts! You have a patient in emergency condition and you will give her the best bucking treatment she has ever had or so help me I will write a letter to Princess Celestia HERSELF and explain why you should be exiled from Equestria and locked up in the land where you are exiled too! That also wouldn’t be that hard seeing as the patient is a barer of an Element of Harmony and I’m pretty bucking sure that the pony that brought her in is also a bearer as well as Princess Celestia’s own student!” Nurse Redheart’s voice turned harsh as she screamed at the doctor, his body now lying flat against the floor as his eyes stared upward towards Redheart in pure, abject horror, “DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?”

“Y-Yes Mam,” The doctor stuttered, saluting Redheart with a single shaky hoof and a quick nod.

“Good,” Redheart barked, her head turning from the doctor and to Twilight with lightning speed, “If you would kindly place Ms. Dash on the gurney by your side I’m sure the ‘Doctor’ would be happy to take her to the ICU.” Twilight couldn’t nod fast enough, her wide violet eyes looking at Redheart with a combination of gut-wrenching terror and shocked respect. With a quick pull of magical energy Twilight placed Rainbow Dash on the gurney and gingerly stepped clear of the war-zone as fast as she could. It took only a single cursory glance from Redheart to get Doctor Stable on his hooves, his body rushing past the two mares and grabbing hold of the gurneys handle with his teeth before he quickly pushed it in the direction of the ICU, on a mission not only to save a life but also to run from the white furred demon glaring icicles at his back.

For a few moments Redheart looked at the space where the doctor had once been, her eyes locked in what seemed to be a permanent stare that was almost determined to turn around the corner and follow the ‘illustrious doctor’ to the grave and beyond. With a sharp turn of her glacier blue eyes Redheart looked around the surrounding area, several gazes meeting her own and each with a varying degree of fright and surprise, “Can I help you?”

Instantly everypony was back to work, all of them pointedly looking away from Redheart and her haunting azure irises. With a slow turn Redheart faced Twilight Sparkle once more, the lavender unicorn giving Redheart the exact same look of astonishment and terror. It was in the face of the powerful unicorn’s fearful look that Redheart gave off a small smirk, the anger in her eyes vanishing from view and being swallowed by a look of amusement and satisfaction, “Ah…I’ve been waiting for that for bucking ever. Thank you very much Ms…”

Seeing that the ivory earth mare was waiting for a response Twilight Sparkle shook her head, clearing her nerves as she did her best to not allow her knees to knock, “Twilight Sparkle.”

Redheart gave a soft chuckle, a warmhearted sound that was at ends with her once furious voice, “Thank you very much Twilight Sparkle, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to call him on all his nonsense. And if I’m not mistaken I was right about you being Celestia’s student hm?”

Twilight nodded slightly as she offered her own small smile and allowed herself to relax around the snowy nurse, “Yes I am, and for the record I would have no problem putting that letter through to the princess if what you said is true.”

Redheart smirked, casting another glance to where the doctor vanished before shaking her head in entertainment, “That and more Ms. Sparkle; but I think things will be a lot smoother around here after that little speech.”

Twilight giggled a bit, her past fear of the medical mare dissipating in the face of her true friendly nature, “I agree, but I want you to know my offer still stands. If not for the fact that what he is doing is wrong, then as thanks for helping my friend. I don’t know how I can ever repay you…”

Redheart grinned, “Just drop by every so often so we can chat alright? It’ll keep him on his tip-hooves.”
Twilight offered her own smirk, “I think I can do that.”

“Good,” Redheart responded, her body already starting to turn towards the crowded halls of the hospital, “now unless you have any further questions I really have to get back to work.”

Suddenly a light bulb popped into existence over Twilight’s head, a thought sparking across the neurons of her mind as she spoke, “Actually yes, do you know if any of my other friends are here? Their names are Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.”

Nurse Redheart tapped a hoof to her chin for a moment, her sapphire eyes looking up toward the ceiling as she tried to think of any instance in which she had heard those names, “Hm…actually now that you mention it the name Applejack does sound familiar. You might want to give a trot around the third floor; if I remember right that’s where the less injured patients were taken.”

Twilight smiled, nodding her head as she responded, “Third floor, got it. Thank you very much Nurse Redheart.”

“No problem Twilight, good luck finding your friends in this mess,” Redheart said with a slight tone of exasperation, a wry chuckle on her lips as she turned and wadded into the thick of the mess that was Ponyville General.

After being dismissed by Nurse Redheart, Twilight raced for the third floor, her mind and body on a mission to find any of her friends that might have been injured in the storm. Up and down she paced the halls, wide eyes glancing form room to room searching for any semblance of her friends. After the third pass through the crowded walkways she was just about to admit defeat when a very familiar tan colored hat slid into her line of sight, “Applejack!”

Instantly the head wearing the hat snapped upward, blond mane fluttering from the sudden movement as a slim and distinct orange colored muzzle turned from side to side in confusion, “Twilight?”

Twilight’s heart leapt into her throat and she quickly bounded over to her friend, a bright smile on her lips as she shouted, “Applejack! Over here!”

As quick as a whip the orange coated mare turned to face the approaching violet unicorn galloping her way, a smile swiftly crossing her lips as her shimmering emerald eyes sparkled with joy, “Twilight! It IS you!”

After a bit of acrobatics that would surprise many who knew the sedentary studious habits of the purple mare Twilight came to a stop directly in front of Applejack, her body reaching forward so as to give the southern pony a gentle nuzzle of comfort and relief, “Thank Celestia you’re alright.”

Applejack gave a soft chuckle, responding to Twilight’s nuzzle with one of her own before speaking, “It’s good tah see yer all right Twi. That was one mighty crazy storm…”

“Indeed,” Twilight said with a worried tone, her body taking a small step back so at to look into Applejacks eyes, “How is your family holding up?”

Applejack sighed, “Well Big Mac went ‘n got himself all busted up fierce durin the storm but other than that we’re alright.”

“Oh my, what happened?” Twilight asked with sudden concern.

At this Applejack snorted in amusement and, to a point, annoyance, “Sometahms ah think Mac’s heart is bigger ‘n his head. He went out intah town in tha middle of that storm an brought a whole mess a Ponyville folk to our farm so they could hide in our apple cellar. An THEN he goes an tries tah hold the cellar door closed all by himself with all that freaky wind blowin!”

“Wow,” Twilight said with wide eyes and disbelief in her voice, “that was incredibly brave of him.”

“Yeah I s’pose,” Applejack muttered, a single sherbet hoof scuffing the floor, “An he didn’t get ALL that hurt…but still, he shouldn’t a gone ‘n scared me like that! Doc says it’s a miracle he ain’t dead or more hurt than he already is. As it is he’s lookin at a week ‘er two ah bed rest ‘an with the storm knockin out a ton of our orchard we’re gonna be really hurtin for hooves to help out.”

Twilight gave Applejack a soft smile as she placed a comforting hoof on the orange ponies shoulder, “Applejack, what your brother did probably saved the lives of many ponies and I wouldn’t be surprised if those ponies jump at the chance to give you and the rest of your family a hoof at fixing up the farm.”

For a moment Applejack appeared to be in deep thought, her glinting jade eyes looking down at the floor in deep contemplation over the words Twilight just spoke. Then, just as quickly as she had slipped into silent introspection Applejack remerged, a brash smirk on her lips as she spoke, “Yah know what? That’ll work out jus fahn Twi. With a little bit ah help ‘round the farm it gives me some time tah tan his hide fer scarin us like that.”

Both mares shared a soft giggle at Applejacks tough love for her brother, a kind of silly joy that came as a great relief in the midst of such a painful situation. Yet, as the laughter died a nagging question gnawed at the back of Twilight’s head, a thought that came out in the form of a simple inquisition, “Applejack, have you heard anything about the rest of our friends?”

Applejack, hearing the sudden severity in Twilight’s voice, quickly nodded her head, “Big Mac was able tah get Rarity an Fluttershy over to tha cellar, same with tha Cutie Mark Crusaders. Ah think after tha storm broke Rarity an tha Crusaders went back to the boutique to see how it fared an Fluttershy went tah help care for any of tha animals that were hurt. Pinkie Pah…well, Pinkie was in our cellar before we got there, yammerin somethin ‘bout her pinkie sense goin crazy so we didn’t bother askin but right when tha storm broke she hopped up and bounced right out of tha cellar like nothin happened. Didn’t find hide er hair of Rainbow Dash though.” At the mention of Rainbow Dash Twilight’s expression fell, something that was instantly caught by Applejack, “Wait, do you know what happened tah Dash Twilight?”

Twilight nodded, a heavy weight pressing down on her back as she spoke, “Yes…you see, apparently Rainbow was trying to break up the storm but some sort of…debris must have hit her and knocked her out of flight. She crashed through the window of the library in very bad shape.”

“Aw Ponyfeathers,” Applejack sighed, her head sinking towards the floor as well, “Dash went an tried tah be a hero again huh? Shoot, how many times gettin hurt is it gonna take for that silly filly to stop doin these crazy stunts!?”

“I don’t know but apparently she’s being given the best care the hospital can provide,” Twilight said with a thin grin, her entertaining conversation with Redheart and the grimness of the situation clashing to produce an expression somewhere in-between the two emotions. A raised eyebrow from Applejack prompted Twilight to tell the orange mare the whole story, something that brought a deep chortle and a wicked grin to the country mares features.

“Land sakes, sounds like that miss Redheart is one hay of a spitfire,” Applejack said, her grin growing by the second, “and tah risk her job fer Dash like that, have tah say she’s almost beatin my brother fer usin her heart instead of her head.” Sitting back on her haunches Applejack tapped the edge of her chin with her hoof, a semi-contemplative look in her eye as she continued her thoughts, “Maybe ah can arrange it so she can be Mac’s nurse. See if she can knock some sense intah that thick skull ah his.”

“Or maybe even get him to say more than two words at a time,” Twilight playfully jibbed, her thin smile forming into a fully fledged grin as Applejack gave her a light punch in the arm.

“Yah just might be onta something there Twilight.”

Just as Twilight was going to respond with another jest a violent pull on her peripheral senses sent her head spinning, a massive wave of vertigo sweeping over Twilight and causing her to stumble backward and eventually fall onto her haunches.

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted with surprise as she rushed over, her head pressing itself into Twilight side in an attempt to help the violet mare stand, “is everythin alright!?”

Ignoring Applejack’s sudden cry, Twilight’s body moved on its own, her form rising from the cold linoleum of the hospital floor and taking a few steps towards the nearest window and the center of the abnormal magical pull on her senses. The closer Twilight came to the unbroken pane of glass the more her heart pounded, her trembling muscles only barely able to take her to the window before she fell once more onto her rear.

She recognized it…this feeling.

She had only caught a glimpse of it once and even then it was very weak.

But now it was much stronger.

And it seemed to be growing…

Comments

[chavis54]

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[Glare]

Shits about to hit the fan.