The Everfree Medicine

by PonyJosiah13

Chapter One: Pedal Fast, Pedal Hard

Along the edge of the Everfree District, there sat a cottage on the eastern block of the city, not too far from where the Everfree Forest itself encroached upon Ponyville’s borders. The little white house on the miniature block stood out for being an image of picturesque beauty, with a small garden and crystal blue pond in the front yard surrounding a healthy pine tree. Next to the well-worn dirt pathway stood a sign. Written upon it in flowery script was “Doctor Fluttershy: Veterinarian and Animal Caretaker.”

A green earth pony, her red mane drawn in dreadlocks, trotted up the pathway, her shadow cast before her by the evening sun. “Good to be home,” she sighed, shrugging to adjust for the weight of the purple bag slung over her shoulder.

“Whoa, Thunder! Whoa!”

Tree Hugger looked up with a smile as a familiar yellow pegasus was pulled along the sidewalk by a little black terrier, who yipped excitedly as he tugged against his leash, tail wagging frantically. Tree chuckled warmly and crouched down.

“Little dude giving you trouble, Flutters?” she asked, warmly petting the little dog as it licked her hooves.

“You haven’t been using him in your experiments, have you?” Fluttershy panted.

“Nope,” Tree replied, leading Fluttershy up the path to the door.

“How was the yoga class?” Fluttershy asked, fumbling for the key she wore around her neck.

“Righteous!” Tree glowed. “Teaching classes like that are just what I need to exercise and focus the mind after working all day. And getting to help other ponies cleanse their chakras and find their centers makes it all worthwhile.”

“Good to hear,” Fluttershy smiled, unlocking the door. “You know, I really do appreciate you coming and helping with the bills. I do what I can, but—”

Tree interrupted Fluttershy with a warm kiss on the lips, chuckling through the embrace. “Dude, you're welcome, but seriously, you’ve been thanking me every day for two moons now. It’s getting kinda embarrassing. Besides, I’m the one who needed a place to crash. Turns out solo practice is expensive.”

“Right,” Fluttershy admitted with a small blush, entering the hallway. Immediately, both mares were attacked by a swarm of fur, feathers, and scales, the animals letting out a chorus of joyful greetings. “Well, time to tend to our charges,” Fluttershy said.

“You little dudes are on the verge of eating us all out of house and home,” Tree chuckled as they proceeded into the sitting room, followed by their charges. Unlatching the food cabinets, Tree and Fluttershy began to dole out rations to the animals.

A squadron of eight mice pranced up to Tree Hugger, lining up before her expectantly. “Oh, you guys know what’s up,” she smiled.

“Why don’t you go take care of them, Tree?” Fluttershy offered, pouring out some suet and seed for the injured birds that were now hopping and feebly flapping up to the large bowl. “I can take care of these little friends.”

“Righteous,” Tree said, finishing up pouring kibble into a bowl for Thunder, who pounced on the meal with a furiously wagging tail. She took out two smaller food bowls and filled up both seeds and small bits of fruit, then placed them on a tray that she picked up in her mouth. “C’mon, dudes,” she said around the wooden grip.

The mice followed Tree Hugger down the hallway past an exam room with an exam table and desk, decorated with forest and nature scenery freshly painted on the walls. Hanging up on the wall opposite the door were two framed diplomas from the University of Baltimare: a magna cum laude doctorate in Veterinary Medicine for Fluttershy, and a summa cum laude doctorate in Potions and Herbal Medicine for Tree Hugger. A thrill of pride ran down Tree’s spine at the sight.

Moving past the exam room, Tree and her parade proceeded down the basement stairs towards a faint orange glow, Tree clicking on the light switch at the bottom. The lights snapped on to reveal rows of terrariums laid out before them, warmed underneath orange heat lamps. In the corner sat a long work table, with a microscope, sets of medical equipment, notebooks filled with notes, and a typewriter, with stacks of blank paper on one side, and stacks of typewritten notes on the other.

Sitting next to the typewriter was a framed portrait of a smiling cerulean mare, her reddish mane done up in a cone, a blue and yellow-striped mask tucked beneath one foreleg. Mage Meadowbrook, the mother of modern medicine, the model that all healers aspired towards, watched kindly as Tree descended into the lab.

Tree placed the tray with the bowls up on a high shelf, out of reach of the chattering mice. “Just a couple minutes, guys,” she reassured her charges. “We gotta, like, do this first.”

She pulled out a set of graph paper with eight rows of hoofwritten notes upon it. One mouse hopped up to Tree. “Eager to get started, Swiss?” Tree chuckled, putting on a stethoscope. “Is it because you like being in an experiment, or is it because you're hungry?”

Swiss wiggled his nose in reply. Tree chuckled and placed the stethoscope at his chest to note down his pulse, then wrapped a tiny cuff around his tail to measure his blood pressure, jotting them both down in the notebook on Swiss’s row. Tree proceeded to take each of her friends’ pulse and blood pressure.

This complete, Tree then walked over to the terrarium on the far left and opened up a hatch to access the plants within. The small buds each had five leaves, burnished green with light red and orange around the curled edges. Tree clipped off a few leaves and placed them in a mortar and pestle. As she ground the leaves into a paste, she glanced over her notes on the typewriter.

Ortus basium, sunrise kiss fern. Native to the outer edges of the Everfree Forest. I began researching it when I noticed that birds and other animals who ate the leaves seemed to become significantly more energized afterward, and also noted that there was very little research on the plant. I hypothesize that there is an active ingredient in sunrise kiss that has a strong stimulant effect.

“Okay, dudes, let’s get to work,” Tree said, taking the two bowls of seeds and fruit. She mixed the paste from the plants in with one bowl and set them both on the worktable. She plucked four of the mice up and placed them in front of the normal bowl, and then picked up the other four and placed them in front of the experimental bowl, smiling as the little rodents devoured their meals.

Once all the mice were finished, she proceeded to line them up and take their pulses and blood pressure again. “Far out,” Tree said, noting that the mice who had eaten the plant mixture had increased pulses and blood pressure. “Now, let’s see if we can find the active ingredient in there.”

A chirping drew her attention up to the mice, who had plucked some more sunrise kiss leaves and were holding them up for her. “Thanks, dudes,” Tree chuckled, taking the offering. The mice chirped and skittered back upstairs.

Creating another mixture of paste, Tree placed it under a microscope and started studying the contents, humming to herself as she jotted down notes in her notebook. So enwrapped was she in her work that she didn’t notice Fluttershy trotting down the stairs until she tapped her on the shoulder.

“Tree, it’s almost eight o’clock. Did you eat yet?”

Tree’s stomach answered for her by letting out a loud growl. Both mares chuckled. “Pancakes?” Fluttershy offered.

“Sounds awesome,” Tree said, rising.

“How’s your research going?” Fluttershy asked.

“I think I’ve got my hypothesis confirmed, but I’m still working on separating ingredients,” Tree stated as they headed into the kitchen, following the mouth-watering aroma of fresh pancakes and maple syrup. “You think Twilight could help us out with that? She’s, like, super good with chemicals and stuff like that. And I think her lab is a bit more well-stocked than ours.”

“I’m sure she’d love that,” Fluttershy smiled, laying out two full plates for them.

Thunder yapped loudly and hopped up on the table, tail wagging. “No, Thunder! You’ve had your dinner,” Fluttershy scolded, picking him up and placing him back on the floor.

Thunder tilted his head and whined, swishing his tail. “That’s not going to work,” Fluttershy said sternly. “It’s our dinner now. Why don’t you go play with Prince Fluffy and Promenade?”

The Gerwhin shepherd and Prench poodle both looked up from the rope toy that they were wrestling over and wagged their tails at the mention of their names. Thunder looked over at them, then back up at Fluttershy and let out another small whine.

Both mares glanced at each other and sighed. “Dust will be back soon,” Fluttershy reassured him, bending down and petting him. “I’m sure she’s just...staying over again.” She forced a smile onto her face and patted Thunder. “Go on, go play.”

Prince Fluffy brought over the toy, tail wagging invitingly. Thunder studied the other canines for a few moments, then happily took the rope toy in his mouth and tugged, growling playfully. The shepherd let out an amused chuff, barely making any effort to retain his possession even after Promenade joined Thunder’s side.

Fluttershy sighed to herself as she started pouring syrup on Tree’s pancakes. “I wish Dust would come back on time,” she said. “We both know she’s—”

“Shy, not at the dinner table,” Tree interrupted gently, placing her hoof atop Fluttershy’s. “You don’t need that kinda stress, love.”

Fluttershy frowned, then closed her eyes, took in a deep breath through her nostrils, and let it out slowly through her mouth. “You’re right,” she admitted, sitting down. “Let’s just relax and enjoy dinner.”

They enjoyed idle talk over the pancakes, giggling over the day’s absurdities, discussing milestones of their patients and charges, plotting out plans for the rest of the week. Once dinner was finished and everything was cleaned, Fluttershy looked out the back window into the backyard.

The night sky was clear, the sky blessed with a scattering of Luna’s stars and a bright crescent moon. The backyard stretched out in gently rolling hills, a few patches of flowers and vegetable gardens planted in artful formations (Fluttershy had to admit, there actually was something to that “feng shui” thing). A few trees had pulled away from the copse and stood sentry on the eastern border of their yard.

“It’s too nice a night to be sitting indoors,” Tree said, wrapping her forelegs around Fluttershy’s soft middle. “You up for sitting underneath our tree and jamming with me?”

“That sounds lovely,” Fluttershy said, nuzzling Tree.

“Far out,” Tree smiled, exchanging a kiss with her. “I’ll go get my strings.”

Fluttershy walked out the back door into the cool embrace of the evening air, holding the door open for Thunder and a few more of their friends to exit with them. Spreading her wings, Fluttershy floated along the yard past the gardens and up to one of the trees that sat atop a small rise, lit by the stars and moon and by a few dancing fireflies that buzzed through the leaves.

This tree was unique: it was actually two Lovebloom Trees joined at the base in a great cylinder until it split back into two trees to form a beautifully symmetrical U-shape that reached up to the heavens. The branches hung from the tree in a wide, drooping canopy formed of vivid scarlet roses the size of softballs. Fluttershy sat up against the trunk, closing her eyes and letting out a contented sigh as she listened to her charges romping through the grass.

She opened her eyes at the sound of hoofsteps approaching. Tree was walking up with a guitar strapped to her back; the guitar was old and slightly battered, but well-loved and cared for. Tree sat down next to Fluttershy and plucked a few chords, then hummed and started one of her favorite songs.

“Yeah, it’s been a bumpy road
“Roller coasters high and low…”

Sighing happily, Fluttershy leaned back to listen when she heard Thunder barking. Thunder had his eyes focused on a turquoise and golden streak rocketing through the sky, zigzagging back and forth between the stars. Fluttershy watched as the streak did three tight loops, then swooped down and landed in front of the mares in a rush of wind.

“Hey, Thunder!” the golden-maned pegasus said, petting the dog as he pranced around her, wagging his tail and yipping. “Did you miss me? Huh?”

“Hello, Lightning,” Fluttershy said, a small smile all that she could genuinely manage. “How was work today?”

“Dull as ever,” Lightning Dust scoffed. “Delivery work barely gives me a workout, and the manager won’t let me practice my tricks on the job.” She put on a mocking countenance. “‘It’s against company policy and is a liability hazard.’” She scoffed.

“So you still haven’t given up on the Wonderbolts?” Fluttershy asked.

“Rock on, dude,” Tree Hugger said, raising a hoof in solidarity. “Always follow your dreams.”

“I intend to,” Lightning Dust smirked. “The Bolts would be lucky to have me.” She frowned for a moment. “If only this job didn’t pay next to bupkis, I could afford the testing fees.”

Fluttershy’s eyes went to Lightning’s inflamed nostrils to the small traces of red dust clinging to Dust’s upper lip, small but evident against the turquoise coat. A comment about how Lightning Dust should be spending her money more carefully came to mind, but she fought it down.

“Oh, by the way, thanks for taking care of Thunder,” Lightning said, giving her dog some belly rubs. “It means a lot to me that I have somepony I can trust to take care of my buddy.”

“It’s all good, dude,” Tree said, playing a light tune on her guitar.

“Thunder really missed you today,” Fluttershy said, looking at the little terrier. “He was pretty upset when you were late again.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Lightning said. “I, uh, got caught up on some stuff.”

“Lightning,” Fluttershy said. “We both know what that stuff was.”

Lightning scowled at Fluttershy. “I just do it to relax,” she snapped. “I need a few hits after working at that drudgery, okay? You gonna call the cops on me or what?”

Fluttershy sighed in defeat. “No,” she admitted. “But it’s really not—”

“Oh, dry up,” Lightning scoffed. “It’s my life. C’mon, boy.” She placed Thunder atop her shoulders and took off with a rush of wind, disappearing into the stars.

Fluttershy and Tree both watched her go, then leaned back against the tree, staring up at the winking lights that buzzed around them. All was silent save for a soft wind rustling the leaves.

Author's Note:

And so we begin.