For one brief moment...
Chapter 8: For one brief moment...
Luna exhaled deeply as she finally set the sun, then went right to work moving the moon to it's rightful, glorious place in the sky. Lowering and raising the sun, however, was exhausting the poor mare.
How does Tia do this every morn and eve?
She groggily walked to her bed and fell into its plushy embrace. "I wonder how Tia is doing over in the human realm..." She pondered. She sighed and shut her eyes, letting her magic seep into the foreign world. She came to the entrance, but was stopped by an invisible force. It was like a brick wall was plastered between the realms, magic not being able to get through.
She pushed past the barrier, which she had to strain to do. "Finally..." She muttered. "Alright, Tia, lets see how you're fairing." She followed the path of her sisters life essence. It wasn't a long trail from where she ended up. When Luna saw Tia, however....
Tia was lying on a metal gurney, a strange man operating on her. "WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS THIS!? Tia, what has happened?!" She shrieked. She jumped off her bed and ran onto the balcony.
"I will seek the aid of Twilight Sparkle! She'll know what to do!" And with that, the moon goddess flew off towards Ponyville.
Loner continued the surgery of Celestia's eye. It was shattered pretty bad, but he managed to put it back together as best he could. Tia was tough, so this wouldn't slow her down. Next, came the surgery on her collar bone. Popping it back into place wasn't enough. If bone marrow were to seep through, it could poison her body. He had to make sure it was properly mended.
He completely removed her ripped shirt and cut at the skin on the bone, peeling it away to reveal the tiniest bit of muscle, and the cracked thing itself. He grabbed both the pieces of bone. As he thought, they weren't properly realigned with his brute force tactic. He leaned in and easily slid the bones back together like a disturbing jigsaw puzzle.
Finally, the swelling. Left unchecked, it could easily cause her to hemorrhage. He grabbed the cold packs and squished them, activating the chemicals inside to create the numbing cold. He placed them on either side of her head and sewed up her wounds. Loner sighed happily and wiped his hands of the blood.
"She'll be alright." He told himself happily, walking over to the IV he set up for himself. She lost plenty of blood during the attack and the surgery, so it was up to him to replenish it. He was the universal donor, so he had an obligation to help.
He wrapped his belt around his arm and shoved the large needle into his vein. His blood began to fill up the pint bag quickly. He laid next to her as she slept in her comatose state.
"Tia, why am I sticking my neck out for you like this?"
"Cuz you like her, nigga." Came Allan's voice at the entrance of the tent. Loner contemplated about telling the man off, but just sat and let his blood drain. Allan came in and sat next to him.
"Look, I know we don't see eye to eye, but, if ya like her, just tell her. Can't hurt, seein' as how we's all gonna die sooner rather than later."
Loner smiled and nodded. "Well, well. When did you become Mr. Philosophy?" Loner asked.
"'Bout the same time you became Mr. Chatter box. Which was when she showed up. Face it, she's changed yo ass. For the better, I might add." He said nicely. Loner looked up and sighed.
"Why don't you go wait with Cho. We'll be done in about an hour." Loner said, gesturing for the door. Allan got up, taking one last look at Celestia on the gurney. He muttered one last thing before he left under his breath, but Loner heard it all the same.
"Hopeless romantic..." And with that, he went off to his rounds of guard duty. Loner turned to Celestia, who began to stir slightly. It would still be an hour or so before she toke up, but he'd wait for her.
He looked down to his side to see the small bag engorged with blood. He took the needle out of his arm, then began the task of hooking her up. He poked her delicate skin and his blood began to flow into her perfect body.
"You are something else..." Loner lit a cigarette and laid back down. It had been hours since his last one. Usually he'd go through a pack in a couple of hours.
"Guess something else has been on my mind." He chuckled. Tia shouldn't be affecting him like this. Especially after... maybe he shouldn't be thinking about it.
"I'd like to know..." Tia said weekly, cracking her eyes open. Loner smiled and scooted closer to her. "Who was she?" She asked.
Loner was floored. "How did-" He began, but Tia raised her hand and stopped him.
"Please... I've been alive for over a thousand years. I think I can tell when somepony has dealt with a loss. What was her name?"
"E-Emily..."
"What did she do?"
"She was a Doctor... same as me."
Celestia frowned. This man went from saving lives, to taking them in the blink of an eye. His life had been turned completely upside down from this apocalyptic hell.
Celestia placed her hand in his. He hung his head low and she could... see tears? "Tell me, what happened?"
"Why should I?" He huffed. She sighed and sat up, looking at the needle in her arm and the packet of blood. She smiled, realizing he had given a piece of himself to her to save her life. Here, it probably meant nothing.
But in Equestria and to her? It meant somepony truly cared and would do anything to keep you safe. She felt a lump in her throat and she hugged him tight.
"Please, tell me what happened. Let me listen, as you listened to me." She pleaded. He looked away form her large, pink eyes, holding onto his last shred of dignity.
"Not yet... I-I'm just not ready. I'm sorry, Celestia. but your story wasn't as tragic as mine." He sighed. She frowned and nodded. She knew that reliving a fresh death was hard for somepony to deal with right away. She'd have to respect his wishes if she wanted to keep their shaky alliance together.
To do that, she'd have to apologize for their fight before.
"I want to say sorry for my behavior before. It wasn't my place to yell at somepo-body who was trying to help me. I never did thank you, by the way, which isn't the way I should treat my subj-... Friends."
Loner felt his mind race and kept his emotions under control. Allan was right, he did like her. But, he couldn't get attached to someone in this hell. Death was constant, loved ones died. Nothing would be certain in the future.
But why not live for the now?
"I'm sorry too, Tia. I shouldn't have said the things I did to somebody... somepony I care about... God that's just weird to say... But, I mean it. You're something special, and though... you may never return home, I want to make you as comfortable as possible here. The only reason I act the way I do is out of necessity. I didn't used to be a psychopath." He chuckled dryly. Celestia ran a nervous hand through her long hair. She hadn't realized that maybe the survivors she met back home had to act the way they did to survive. This was a dragon eat dragon world, and she didn't consider you had to live tough or die nice.
"Loner, I understand. I understand everything now. Maybe it's time I did some research of my own..." She mused. Loner gave her an odd look.
"What are you talking about?" He asked. She smiled as warmly as she could and scooched closer to Loner.
"My faithful student, Twilight is currently studying friendship in the town of Ponyville." Loner scoffed, but she ignored it and continued. "Every week, she'd send me a letter about what she learned about friendship and how she and her friends furthered their bonds. Maybe I should tell... somepony who I care about what I've learned?" She said, gazing at him. Loner humored her and nodded.
"What did you learn, Tia?"
Celestia gave another smile and nodded. "I learned If you judge someone based on the way they act at first, doesn't mean they're bad. It just means you need to go deeper than just the surface. Beneath a tough exterior could be a soft, tender soul. Maybe I shouldn't have judged the others and you so harshly at first. You're not a monster," She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hesitated and returned the gesture as warmly as he could. She sighed and continued.
"You're a friend. A true, pure friend. And I couldn't have asked to be stuck with anypony else. Thank you... for everything." She pulled her head back to face him. Loner gazed longingly into her pink eyes. He just wanted to kiss her right then and there, but she seemed to be reading his mind.
She pressed her forehead into his and giggled. "Not too fast, Loner. I know that look." Loner joined the laughter and released his grip from her.
"Lets... go eat. You need to build up your strength. I also think the freezer section has some produce. How about a nice salad, seeing as how you don't eat meat?" He asked. She nodded and shakily got to her feet. Loner slowly pulled the needle from her arm and they walked back to the group together. It had been a long two days for the both of them, and they were just glad that the bad was over.
But the worst? That was still to come...
"Luna! Calm down!" Twilight yelled, but the Moon goddess continued her frantic sputters.
"TIA! DANGER! TRAPPED! MUST HELP!" She yelled, rummaging through every magic book in Twilight's collection. Twilight just sighed and picked her up with her magic.
"Unhand me! This is urgent!" Luna yelled. Twilight leveled her to her eye's and spoke slowly.
"Luna? Calm. Down." Luna took a deep breath and steadied herself. She nodded and Twilight released her from her magical grasp.
"W-we saw Tia in distress. Some human was operating on her... or dissecting her!" She realized. She freaked again, but the stare Twilight gave her calmed her down. Twilight's expression went from stern, to worry. She needed to find the other survivors. Maybe they had answers to what the heck was going on. Louis was upstairs in the guest room sleeping, so he was the first to get.
"Huh.. wha?" Louis groaned, being shaken from his slumber. It felt like he'd only been asleep for five minutes. Looking at his wrist watch, that was exactly the case. He sighed and rolled over to see Twilight and a darker pony, a foot taller than her standing over him.
"What is it? Who's the new mare?" He asked. Luna rose into the air and smiled. She took a deep inhale and Twilight covered her ear. Louis couldn't help but wonder why she would-
'WE ARE THE GREAT PRINCESS LUNA! RULER OF THE NIGHT AND CO-RULER OF EQUESTRIA!" She boomed. Louis was shot back by the force of the voice. He rubbed his soar ears and frowned.
"Jesus! A little quieter next time, please?" Louis pleaded. Luna got a sheepish grin and giggled.
"Sorry..."
Louis stretched and frowned. "Any reason you two woke me up?" He asked. Luna cleared her throat and stepped forward.
"Celestia... Her magic doesn't work in your realm..." She said sadly. Louis chuckled, which upset Luna just a little bit. "What is so funny?!" She asked shocked.
"I told her we don't have magic in our world. She didn't believe me, but I told her. What can we do?" He asked, getting out of bed. Luna followed him as he walked back downstairs, as did Twilight.
"With a little force, I was able to get a seeing spell into your world. There's some sort of natural barrier separating our worlds. I saw... someone over her, hopefully operating on her. She was... injured badly."
Twilight shot forward. "You didn't tell me that!" She freaked. "Did she look okay?! What was he doing?! TELL ME!" She pleaded.
"She was pretty, how do you say, banged up? Her face was bruised, and she had... quite a bit of blood on her." Luna confirmed. Twilight felt the lump in her stomach grow and she fell on her haunches. Louis frowned and began to pace.
"Well, hopefully she fell in with the right crowd. It's kill or be killed there. So, what was he wearing?" He asked. Luna shut her eyes and tried to remember.
"He had a mask on, a small blade in his hand... and some kind of apron..." She trailed off, then, satisfied she was correct, nodded. "We are sure of it."
"She was being operated on. So, she must have found a doctor. Lucky break." He said happily. "But, what can I do?" Twilight and Luna looked to one another and shrugged.
"Want to help us find a book with the spell she used?" Twilight asked. "Maybe we'll find out how she got there, or open up a portal of our own so she could return."
Louis nodded. "Alright. Let's get searching!" He said enthusiastically. Twilight, Luna and Louis rummaged through the library, intent on getting their Princess home safe.
Francis continued his walk through the empty streets of Ponyville. He liked walking at night, especially when nobody was around. He rounded the corner to see one thing he never thought he'd see.
"Hoh-lee shit! A bar!" He shouted happily. He ran through the doors and was greeted by a couple of odd stares, but the patrons quickly went back to what their business.
"What'll ya have?" The bartender asked. Francis eagerly looked over all the booze. There was gin, beer, vodka, whiskey; pretty much anything and everything.
"Gimmie a shot of whiskey, please!" He said happily. The bartender nodded and slid a glass his way, using his magic to pour the drink. Francis grabbed the cup in his teeth and chugged it down.
"Damn, that's good stuff!" He chuckled. He heard someone sit by his side. He looked over to see a purple mare, clearly inebriated.
"Hey you! I've nev-hic-never seen you in town before! Who are ya?" She slurred. Francis signaled for another drink and chugged it down.
"Names Francis. What about you?" He asked. The mare smiled and put a hoof on his shoulder.
"Berry Punch. Say, I like that vest..." She said, eyeballing him up and down. "Looks good on a fine Stallion such as yourself."
Francis grinned and gestured the Stallion behind the counter to leave the bottle and shot glasses there. He poured himself and Berry Punch a drink and they chugged them down. Berry exhaled and smiled.
"How well can you hold your liquor, big boy?" She asked. Francis got a cocky grin and poured another shot.
"Well, you gotta good head start on me. Let's see what you got." He challenged. She grabbed the bottle and poured twice as much into hers, chugging it all in a second flat.
"You're on."
"Mr. And Mrs. Cake! I finished cleaning up! Is it okay if I go out?" Pinkie called out from the kitchen. Mr. Cake came in with a smile on his face.
"Very good job today, Pinkie Pie. Here's your pay." He said happily, passing a bag of bits to the pink mare. She caught it in her teeth and smiled.
"Thankies, Mr. Cake. I'm gonna go out for a bit. See you later!" She waved, happily hopping out the door. She smiled and let the cool air blow through her mane.
"Ah, such a nice night! I wonder what everyponies up to right now." She hummed. She made her way towards the Library to visit Twilight, and to see if Francis was there.
"Oh, Francis! I wish today happened... Curse bad timing." She pouted. She shrugged and took a right, taking her usual shortcut.
She stopped in front of the pub when she heard cheering and shouting from inside. Curious like always, she poked her head inside and saw many of the patrons surrounding the counter. She slowly scooted her way inside and pushed her way through the crowed, wanting to see what all the fuss was about.
Francis downed his tenth shot and grinned like an idiot at Berry Punch. "You-hic-wanna give up now, babe?" He asked. Berry shakily did the same and her eyes went cross.
"Nopenopenope! I'm still... still..." And with that, she fell out of her stool onto the floor, knocked unconscious. Francis spun his stool and wooed like an idiot. The crowed cheered and passed bits to one another. Pinkie got through the crowd and got to Francis' side.
"Francis? What's going on?" She asked confused. Francis turned to her and frowned. She gulped and sunk in her shoulders, knowing exactly what was coming. "Uh-oh..."
"Well, well, well! If it isn't Pinkie sky-"
"Pie..."
"WHATEVER! The pink pony who pushed me out a goddamn window!" He glared at her, then burst into laughter, falling onto her shoulder. "Hahaha! You should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!"
Pinkie eased up and giggled herself. "Francis! You scared the candy out of me! So, you're not mad at little old me?" She asked batting her eyes. Francis slammed his mouth onto hers, she let out a surprised 'oomph' and let the laughs and cheers of the patrons melt around her.
Francis pulled away and smiled. "Your folks home tonight?" Pinkie frowned and nodded.
"They're not my parents, and yeah, they're home... Sorry?" She hoped this didn't upset him. He just shrugged and downed one last shot before standing to leave. The bartender laid a hoof on his shoulder and glared at him.
"Gonna pay for all that, bub?" He asked. Francis chuckled and shook his head.
"Not today, pal. Just put it on my tab."
The bartender dug his hoof into Francis' shoulder tighter. "We don't do tabs here, kid. Now, pay up." He barked. Francis' eyes shifted around and his smile faded slightly.
"Don't have any money. Sorry, buddy." He pushed the bartenders hoof off his shoulder and tried to walk away, but was slammed against the wall, the bartender holding a small knife to his throat with his teeth.
"Better find shome bud." He said through the knife. Francis began to sweat and squirmed. Pinkie shot forward hopping to help out.
"W-wait! How much does he owe?" She asked quickly. The bar tender turned to her, his slack on Francis lessening.
"120 bits. Why?" He asked. Pinkie sighed and pulled her bag of bits out of her mane. That was her entire weeks pay and she relinquished it all. The bartender smiled and took the bag. He shoved Francis away and glared at him.
"Next time, how 'bout you come in with money, bub!" He yelled. Pinkie picked Francis up off the floor and he violently turned to face the bartender.
"Next time, how bout you stop being so damn ugly! HA!"
Francis let Pinkie guide him through town. He smiled at her and chuckled. "You didn't have to do that, Pinkie. I would 'ave just bashed him in the balls." Pinkie giggled and shook her head.
"No, you wouldn't have. Red Rum is kind of a bad pony. It took me a while for me to get him as a friend." She chuckled at the memories. Francis grinned and kissed her on the forehead.
"Well, thanks. I owe you big." He chuckled. Pinkie stopped walking and kissed him hard on the lips. Francis felt her tongue graze his lips and returned in kind. She pulled away and gave him half lidded eyes.
"Well... Maybe I can think of something..." She said suggestively, trotting off to the Library. Francis chuckled to himself and followed after her. Maybe he could teach Pinkie the magic of making Louis feel like crap.
"Wait up!" He called out after her. She kept on trotting, forcing him to keep up. They walked up to the Library and Pinkie gave a few solid raps on the door.
"Come on in!" Twilight called out. The door opened and in walked Pinkie and Francis. They looked somewhat happy to see him. Francis looked over the ponies, especially the moon goddess.
"Who's the black chick?" He asked.
"That sounded pretty racist." Louis chuckled. Princess Luna cleared her throat and the girls and Louis covered their ears. Francis raised a brow.
"Why are you guys-"
"WE ARE PRINCESS LUNA! RULER OF THE NIGHT AND CO-RULER OF EQUESTRIA!" She bellowed. Francis flew through the front door and skidded to a halt in the street.
"Holy shit!" He yelled, getting to his hooves.
Everypony looked to the door, then to Luna. "Perhaps We should work on our introductions..." She said sheepishly. They all nodded as Francis shakily made his way back into the room.
"Okay. So, what's going on? Why is Princess Looma-"
"Luna." She quickly corrected.
"Moonpie!" He said sarcastically. "Doing here?"
Twilight stepped forward now and stared over everypony in the room. "Princess Celestia is... trapped in their realm." She said, gesturing to Louis and Francis. Pinkie gasped and placed her hooves to her mouth.
"OH NO! THAT'S TERRIBLE!" She shrieked. She turned to Francis and gave him a pleading look. "PLEASE! You have to help her! DO IT FOR ME, CUPCAKE BUTT!" She pleaded hugging his neck.
Louis began to tear and his cheeks inflated, trying to hold back the laughter caught in his throat. Francis glared at him and made a slicing motion across his throat. Louis shook his head and smashed his face into the wall, trying to push the laughter away. Francis rolled his eyes and looked down at Pinkie.
"Cupcake butt? Really?" He asked. She giggled and nodded.
"Mhmm. I think it's super cute for a super cutie like you!" She gushed. Twilight's jaw unhinged and swung freely.
"Pinkie? Are you and Francis-" She was cut off as Louis literally exploded with laughter, rolling on the floor like a psychopath. Francis let out a loud grunt and ran at the former IT guy, pinning him to the wall. Louis just wiped a tear away and smiled.
"Hi, buddy! Trying to be a tough guy in front of your girlfriend?" He taunted. Francis pressed his grip tighter and his eyes furrowed.
"Shut. The. Fuck. Up... NOW!" He yelled. Louis just rolled his eyes and smiled.
"You don't scare me, Francis. How many times have you threatened me and had a weapon at the time? Now, you're a Pony and you want to rip me a new one when you have nothing? Smart." He pressed further. Francis dropped Louis and walked back over to Pinkie Pie, who gave them both an odd stare.
"What was that about?" She asked hesitantly. Francis snorted and grinned.
"He's just jealous, Pinks. Don't mind Mr. Sunshine ass."
Pinkie shrugged and walked over to Louis. "You okay?" She asked. He smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm good. How do you put up with him?" He asked. She shrugged and giggled.
"I dunno... He's just so sweet!"
Louis rolled his eyes. "Yeah. So sweet." He murmured, rubbing his throat. Twilight clopped her front hooves on the ground and loudly cleared her throat.
"Alright, can we focus on Celestia?" She asked. Louis and Francis shrugged and nodded.
"Alright. First things first... How do you feel about a rescue mission?"
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Celestia created quite a ruckus! Francis got drunk, tried to skip on the bill, made out with Pinkie, and nearly kicked Louis' tail in. So much fun. More to be had!
1362186
I love this story but...
DO IT FOR ME, CUPCAKE BUTT!
Sweet Mother of God that's priceless. Of course I can never play L4D and look at Francis the same way again, but that's a small price to pay seeing as how I only played as Bill.
Why isnt there a romance tag?
1362667 Been lazy. I'll do that now.
haha
>resc-
The second-to-worst thing in video games, defeated only by escort missions.
With the exception of cases in which the rescue mission has also, within itself, an escort mission.
ZOMBIES! Glorious gore! Breathetaking blood! Oh the glorious massacre! Ahahahaha! Nikolai! Fetch me Mister Bowie! It's time for some field dissection....
luna look at celestia agen before u jump
1362186 And then Bill shows up, says 'Hi', and someone has a heart attack because of it.
Cupcake Butt.
Oh, Celestia wat.
1370735 Well, can't please them all.
Sorry you aren't gonna read it. Here's an abandon thread gif for you, good sir, and thank you for the feedback.
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/165/678/Abandon-Thread.gif
1370742 wow. that was funny as fuck... cant wait for more of this story. I LOVE THE GIF BY THE WAY!!!!!!!!!
1370742 You...I DEMAND moar!
kelfen.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/moar.jpg
1415478i.chzbgr.com/completestore/12/4/19/K_ucZN5L_0K_2YMQtYmsBA2.png
Bit quick but im willing to look past that, at the plot.
Interesting developments