My Little Teelo

by Ardwolf

The Butcher's Bill

As the club came down and the world turned white Teagan felt the massive club slammed aside by some unstoppable force that even Crush couldn’t ignore. She screamed in rage as the iron club slammed into the ground instead of Discord’s skull.

The explosion of dirt from the crater was enormous. She was thrown backward, fully expecting to land in the broken glass but something caught her and kept her from hitting the ground. Discord’s body was thrown upward by the blast, flopping back bonelessly into the crater.

“Ow!” He complained as his jaw slammed into the crater’s edge.

When the dust cleared she found herself floating in mid air next to Princess Celestia, who was looking at her with a sad and concerned expression.

“Why did you stop me, Princess?” Teagan asked, tears streaking her face. “After what he did to you, what he did to me, and that thing,” she pointed to the torture device, “he was going to use on Fluttershy? He deserves to die!”

“Oh thank goodness you arrived in time, Celestia! That madwoman was going to murder me in cold blood!” Discord said in relief.

“Discord, shut up.” Celestia said calmly. “Your fate still hangs in the balance.”

Teagan looked at her quizzically. “Princess?”

“Discord took your choice away from you when he brought you here, Lady Teelo.” Celestia said gently. “I gave it back to you when I let Sun Hammer give you a weapon. But I don’t want you to suffer the same fate he did, being forced down that long lonely road with no way to come home. You still have the choice. If you choose to kill Discord, then so be it. But your choice won’t have to be made in the heat of battle like Sun Hammer’s was. No one should choose to kill in the heat of the moment when there’s no time and emotion runs high.”

“So you won’t stop me?” Teagan asked, tightening her grip on the club.

“No. If you choose to kill him I won’t try to stop you. But before you decide I want to ask you a question. If you kill him how do you keep from having become him?”

Teagan gaped at her. “That’s just stupid! He’s evil! He hurt innocent creatures that never would have hurt him at all! He was going to torture Fluttershy for days just to destroy the Elements! I would never do that!”

“Before you came here would you have seriously considered killing anything?” Celestia asked gently. Teagan flinched under that sympathetic gaze, suddenly reminded of her nudity. But Celestia wasn’t looking at her body she was looking at her soul…

“No.” She admitted.

“So Discord has changed you already, has he not? If you kill him doesn’t that mean he succeeded in making you a killer? Wouldn’t that mean he won this final battle? That you lost?”

“A rather pyrrhic victory.” Discord muttered in the background.

Both alicorn and human ignored him.

“There is also the matter of his accomplice.” The alicorn continued.

“What?” Teagan asked, jerking alert. Her feet were killing her and she was feeling cold and light headed.

“The demon Nightmare aided his escape, Lady Teelo. The demon influenced Discord just as it influenced my sister. I could have killed Nightmare Moon but I chose to try and save my sister instead. A decision I celebrate with every breath I take.”

“Discord won’t stop.” Teagan said, watching the alicorn.

“I know that.” Celestia nodded. “It is his nature, he can’t change his nature.”

“Then why let him live?” Teagan asked. “What excuse is there to harbor a poisonous snake like him?”

“Is it Discord we should hate, or the demon Nightmare?” Celestia asked quietly. “If any being deserves to die, surely it’s Nightmare who has caused so much grief over the centuries?”

“Then show me this demon thing and let’s kill it.” Teagan challenged.

“It hides in him.” Celestia said, indicating Discord.

“Me? But no demon could possess me!” Discord scoffed. “I am the Spirit of Chaos! Nothing can control me!”

“Really?” Celestia asked, looking him in the eye. “We have known each other for over a thousand years my old enemy. In all that time I never saw you deliberately hurt anything. There were accidental deaths from your chaos, yes. But you never tried to murder another creature like you did Lady Teelo or Fluttershy. Not in all the years we have fought.”

“Yes, well spend a thousand years sealed in stone, Celestia. Then tell me how you’d be the same pony after you got out.” Discord snarled. “Where do you get off lecturing me, Princess? You stole the world from me! Before you ponies came the world belonged to me and beautiful chaos was everywhere! Now look at what you’ve made of the world you stole from me! You tamed it! You’ve stamped Chaos out of every last corner of the world. There’s none left!”

“Ponies have a right to live, Discord. I have always tread on this world as lightly as I possibly could, changing only what I must.” Princess Celestia said, unperturbed.

“Your dainty tread destroyed my world, Celestia!” Discord said bitterly. “You took it away from me, destroyed everything, and now there’s no place for me in it except as a stone statue to decorate a garden no one ever visits! Light tread indeed! Nightmare was right about you, right about everything.”

The bitterness in his voice made Teagan’s anger cool just a bit--until she looked at the machine again. That brought it back full force.

“Put me down.” She said.

“Are you sure, child?” The princess asked sadly.

“I’m sure.” She said quietly.

The weight on her feet made her gasp harshly, each step she made forced her to clamp her jaws together to keep from screaming. Four hobbling steps through Hell brought her to Discord.

“Tell me, Discord, who came up with that machine?” Teagan asked, gasping for breath. She felt like she was going to pass out.

“Nightmare.” He said, mismatched eyes glaring at her.

“Why did you agree to make it?” She asked, using Crush as a cane to take some of her weight as she rested on her undamaged heels. The screaming agony in her feet subsided to mere fiery anguish.

“I wanted to be free again.” He said. “Wouldn’t you? Do you know how long a thousand years is, human? Nightmare showed me some of your history. A thousand years ago the Europeans didn’t even know your country existed. They thought the sun circled the Earth, the cretins! They thought sickness was caused by evil spirits, they thought humans in other countries had mouths in their stomachs! That’s how long a thousand years is! Its 15 human lifetimes! How would you like to serve 15 life sentences one after another, unable to move, unable to see, but not asleep, feeling time creep along, but not knowing how much time had passed, one eternal second following another?”

“Is that true?” She asked Celestia.

“I don’t know.” Celestia admitted. “To keep my little ponies free of torment I and my sister had to imprison Discord for eternity, lest all pony kind be destroyed. We knew the spell would encase him in stone, we had thought he would be inert.”

Teagan didn’t say anything, enjoying the burning in her feet as a lesser pain to the one she had known as glass slashed its way through her flesh with every step.

She studied the machine Discord had built at Nightmare’s direction. Everything about it breathed hatred of life, from its dark color to the jagged edges of the saw blades designed to restrain the pegasus in maximum agony. It was horror distilled and made real, a nightmare made flesh.

She thought about being trapped for a thousand years and what she might become from that. The pain she was suffering now was bearable, but what if she were pain free for a thousand years, but blind and deaf, all alone and unable to move?

Well? She asked the club, sending her thoughts toward the closed eyes.

They opened, regarding her indifferently.

Why do you ask me? Kill him and have done with it. The voice rumbled through her, unheard by anyone else. I exist to kill my Master’s enemies. That is my entire purpose. I know not nor care about their suffering. I seek only to end them. Of course that ends their suffering, but how long my Master chooses to let them live before killing them is not my concern.

You’re a lot of help, she thought with sardonic amusement.

I am a weapon, not the hand that wields it or the mind that guides the hand. I do what I was made to do and leave my Master to do likewise.

So, do you have any powers you haven’t revealed yet? Can you kill a demon? She asked.

I have never been wielded against one before. But I am made to kill. If a demon can die then I can kill it. If it cannot die then I might still destroy it, if it can be destroyed. I am the weapon of a king, my Master. I was made by the most cunning wizard ever born to the trolls. But even though you are not a troll, you possess a will equal to any of them. I will serve you, I will acknowledge you as my Master, but do not ask of me that which I cannot do.

All right. Did your creator give you any knowledge of magic or demons?

No. I am the heart of the mountain, I can strike with the weight of a mountain, and nothing can break me. I can turn my weight in any direction I choose, and withhold it until commanded. These things I can do. I am aware of no others.

Teagan blinked. That sounded pretty impressive to her! Still, it didn’t solve her problem.

“Princess Celestia, let’s say for the sake of argument I was willing to let Discord live and kill Nightmare instead. How can we pry the demon out of him? How do we make sure it doesn’t jump into someone else?

“When the light from the Elements of Harmony strikes Discord, Nightmare must flee or be destroyed by it.” The princess answered. “So long as no one is close to Discord Nightmare cannot jump into them. Nightmare cannot abide the light of the sun for long. Deprived of a host it will be destroyed.”

“What about that thing?” Teagan nodded toward the torture device. Celestia’s horn blazed and the abomination shot high into the air, becoming a vanishing dot, soon lost to sight.

“I have sent it to plunge into the sun, Lady Teagan.” Princess Celestia said calmly. “The sun’s light will burn out all evil from it, and the final plunge will vaporize it until there’s nothing left.”

“Kill it with fire writ large.” Teagan quoted from a website she’d read once. “Too bad we can’t solve our Discord problem the same way.”

She sighed.

“I’m very tired, Princess Celestia. Would you pick me up please? I can’t take another step. I guess you could say I’m completely lame.”

“Of course, Lady Teelo.” The alicorn replied with a gentle smile.

Teagan felt herself lift off the ground, the fire in her feet subsiding at last. With a sigh she watched Celestia spread her wings and lift gently into the sky until they were both ten feet off the ground. Celestia backed away, and was joined by Fluttershy.

“Teelo, thank you so much!” Fluttershy was crying and shuddering so badly she could barely fly. “If you hadn’t—”

“It’s ok, Fluttershy. That nasty thing got dumped into the sun, it’s gone forever.” Teagan said tiredly. “I’m sorry too, you caught him twice for me and I just didn’t move fast enough to deal with him. I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, Lady Teelo.” Princess Celestia said firmly. “Discord alone is a match for my sister and I, or the Elements of Harmony. Without their power you were no match for Discord—but you defeated him regardless. Your victory is the most amazing thing I have ever seen!”

Her words seem to cheer up Fluttershy and gave Teagan a thrill of excitement. The most amazing thing she’d seen in a thousand years? That was really saying something!

“What about the others, Your Highness?” Fluttershy asked. “Can you free them?”

“Yes. Now that Discord’s magic is broken it should be simple enough. Watch.”

Teagan found herself floating toward the alicorn who placed her gently on her back. They both had to maneuver a bit to avoid the alicorn’s slowly beating wings.

“I need my horn to free them, Lady Teelo. Hang on tight!” Princess Celestia said as she landed gently and walked up to Twilight Sparkle. With a single touch the roots pulled back into the ground, freeing Twilight, who worked her neck gratefully. Another touch of Celestia’s horn and the twisted ball of roots covering Twilight’s horn crumbled and fell away.

“Oh, that is so much better.” Twilight said gratefully, her horn lighting up. “Thank you Princess!”

“You’re quite welcome my faithful student. Help me free the others.”

“Of course!” Working together the two had the others freed in a couple of minutes.

“Now, my little ponies, it is time to put Discord to sleep and destroy the demon lurking within him.” Princess Celestia said as the Elements emerged from her saddlebags and floated to their respective bearers.

“His magic has been broken. Your barb wire necklaces are gone. You may use the elements now.”

There were shouts of joy at the news as the ponies verified it for themselves.

“Listen, my little ponies, this is very important! I have just become aware that my sister and I did a great evil to Discord when we imprisoned him the first time, and you six repeated that evil unknowingly. We thought Discord was inert while stone, but we were wrong. He was awake and aware the entire time.”

The ponies gasped in horror.

“Yes. So when you wield the elements this time you must do three things before turning him to stone. First, you must repair his body. Lady Teagan and Crush managed to smash many of his bones and twist his body unnaturally. Normally injuries inflicted by Crush cannot be healed by magic. But the power of the Elements may not be countered by mortal magic, no matter how strong.”

“After that you must drive the demon from his soul. You will know it when you encounter it. Drive it out and I will deal with it. Once that has been done force Discord into enchanted sleep, Twilight you know how this is done?”

The purple unicorn nodded.

“Good. Then, when all these things have been accomplished, and only then, imprison him in stone.”

The process turned out to be totally anticlimactic. The six moved off to the side, they glowed brightly and a solid rainbow of light arched from them to strike Discord and lift him from his crater. From her perch on Celestia’s back Teagan watched, shielded her eyes, but she couldn’t see anything through the glaring light.

The only bit of oddness was a stream of black smoke that shot from the rainbow. It writhed for a moment before a spear of blinding light from Celestia’s horn made it catch fire and burn away.

In less than a minute a white marble statue was standing near the crater Crunch had made. Celestia walked slowly until they were close enough to see the statue clearly, mindful of the battered girl on her back.

“He looks—peaceful.” Teagan said, studying the statue. The eyes were closed and the face relaxed with a slight smile on his lips. His arms were crossed across his chest and his whole pose looked as if he truly had fallen asleep on his feet, his tail bracing him so he didn’t fall over.

“Isn’t this a better ending than you becoming a killer, Lady Teelo?” Princess Celestia asked gently.

“Yeah. Now that it’s over I can see that.” Teagan admitted. “It sure didn’t feel that way at the time though.”

“It never does.” Celestia sighed. “Now we have to treat your wounds, young lady. We’re five hours from the nearest healer so I’m afraid it’s going be rough and ready, and hurt more than a little. Applejack, Pinkie Pie can you channel the pain for her?”

“It’d be ma privilege, Princess.” Applejack said firmly.

“For Teelo? Of course!” Pinkie Pie said with a broad happy smile, even though there was a burn mark between her shoulder and her neck, probably from where Little Pinkie had been struck by lightning.

“Fluttershy, I assume you brought medical supplies? We’re going to need sterile sutures and bandages. Soothing balm would be extremely helpful too, if you have any.”

“I brought as much as I could carry. I was afraid we’d need it.” Fluttershy said, nodding.

“Rainbow Dash, I need you to fly to the chariots and tell them to come for us. Then I need you to fly all the way to Canterlot and inform my sister of what’s happened so she can arrange for a healer for Lady Teelo and anyone else who needs more healing than I can supply with magic.

“My faithful student, I’ve already used up most of my magical reserve. I need to conserve the rest for emergency healing and to raise the sun tomorrow.”

“Since I can’t, will you cast the spells to remove the glass from Lady Teelo’s wounds?”

“Of course, Princess.” Twilight nodded, her face turning serious.

“And finally, Rarity, I’ll need your delicate stitching to close the wounds in Lady Teelo’s feet so the scarring is minimized. Will you do this?”

“I would be proud to do so, Princess Celestia. Although I must admit I’ve never sewn a living creature before. I will do my best for darling Teelo.”

“I never thought I’d be wearing Rarity’s stitchery literally, Teagan said, laughing to hide her nervousness. This was going to hurt and they hadn’t said anything about having anesthetic. Just something called soothing balm, which sounded like it was for use on the outside.

Still, Celestia had been badly sliced up and now there wasn’t a sign of it, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

“Let us begin.” Celestia said gently. “Be brave, Lady Teelo. You faced Discord after running across broken glass. This will be nothing in comparison to that.”

Teelo found herself lifted gently in the air and spun onto her back, lowering gently to the ground. Pinkie Pie had produced a blanket from her saddlebags on which they laid the girl. A makeshift sawhorse held her ankles off the ground to keep dirt out of the wounds. Before they began Celestia treated Pinkie Pie’s burn with magic, the burn fading to nothingness under the gentle glow of the alicorn’s horn.

Everyone couldn’t help but notice how Celestia’s breathing got a bit labored during the healing, and how she hung her head afterward, still breathing hard.

After a couple of minutes she recovered and smiled at the concerned looks.

“Don’t worry my little ponies. As I said, I’ve used a lot of magic today. I’ll be fine. Pinkie Pie, Applejack please take your places.”

The two ponies lay down on the blanket with their heads facing Teagan’s sides, the three forming a large plus sign. Each pony laid her hooves on Teagan’s bare belly. The feeling wasn’t as harsh as she’d expected, it was almost as if they had flexible suction cups over their hooves.

“What are you doing?” She asked them curiously.

“Helping with the pain, Sugarcube.” Applejack said cheerfully. “See when the pain comes up yer legs only a third of it will make it up to yer head. Pinkie ‘n me will suck up the rest and channel it into the ground. That aways none of us feel more than a third of it.”

“Wait, you’re going to feel what I feel?” She asked horrified. “Applejack I can’t let you do that! Nobody should ever have to do that!”

“Yer ma friend, Teelo. Let me ask ya sumthin. If it was me a lyin’ there and you could do this for me, would ya?”

“Yes.” She said, surprising herself at how easily the answer came. Applejack nodded.

“Then hush up and let Twilight and the Princess get on with it. The quicker it’s done the sooner you’ll feel better.”

“Are you ready, Lady Teelo?” The alicorn asked where she lay near Teelo’s feet so she could observe everything and apply healing magic where needed.

Teelo nodded, wondering how badly this was going to hurt.

“Then begin my faithful student. Use a visualization spell to find the glass shards and use your magic to draw them out.”

Twilight nodded and did something that made Teelo’s feet light up.

When her horn started glowing Teelo nearly blacked out. Pinkie Pie squeezed her eyes shut and tears leaked out.

“Horse apples!” Applejack yelled angrily. “Twilight, what are yer doing? Feels like hot pincers!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Twilight said frantically. Teagan slumped as the pain stopped.

“There’s too many pieces! Dozens!” Twilight was near panic, her eyes white rimmed.

“Let me do it, Twilight.” Rarity said in a firm voice. “I am used to dealing with delicate fabrics and handling multiple objects at one time. It is my talent, after all.”

“Twilight, keep the visualization spell going. Rarity, are you sure?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Yes, Your Highness. I have a very delicate touch. Twilight is far stronger, of course, but I have much more finesse.”

“Go ahead, Rarity.” Teagan said. “You can’t be any worse, and we don’t exactly have a lot of unicorns to choose from.” Teagan laughed shakily. “Twilight, no offense, but that hurt.”

“I’m sorry! I never meant to hurt you, there’s just so much glass!” Twilight was near tears.

“Steady, my faithful student. To each pony the task best suited them.” The princess said softly. “You be the eyes and Rarity the tongue.”

“Yes Princess.” Twilight said taking a deep breath.

“Ready?” Rarity asked the two earth ponies and the patient.

“Do it.” Teagan said, closing her eyes and clenching her teeth.

This time the pain was negligible. It felt like someone was probing her foot with needles, but it was very bearable. Teagan opened her eyes and looked at Pinkie Pie, who was wincing occasionally, but smiling back at her.

When she looked at Applejack the orange pony just shook her head and grinned.

“Shucks, this ain’t nothin’, honey pie. I hurt worsen’ this after a really hard day o’ apple buckin’. Long as it don’t get worsen’ this I might jes fall asleep.”

“It isn’t horrible.” Teagan admitted, relaxing. As the procedure went on she could hear small clinks and tinkles as the pieces of glass landed on a plate placed to catch them.

“There, her left foot is all clear. Princess, it looks like there’s some bleeding, could you please heal the inside of her foot?” Rarity said. “A piece of glass may have nicked a blood vessel.”

“I see it.” Princess Celestia’s eyes were unfocused as her horn began to glow very softly. Teagan felt the pain fall to almost nothing in her left foot. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s amazing, Princess.” Twilight said. Her own eyes were unfocused as she followed the spell her mentor was using. “You’re using almost no power, but your control is unbelievable!”

“I’ve been practicing magic for a thousand years, my faithful student.” Princess Celestia said with a chuckle. “I would be a poor mage indeed if I hadn’t learned a bit of control in all that time.”

“All right, let’s wash the blood off and then apply soothing balm.” Fluttershy said, opening a jar with her hoof. Teagan was just floaty enough to be mildly outraged.

“Fluttershy, how the heck are you opening a jar with your hoof? Teagan demanded. “That shouldn’t be possible!”

“It shouldn’t?” Fluttershy asked, gripping a brush in her other hoof.

“Well, no, you haven’t got fingers.” Teagan raised her own hand and wiggled her fingers. She giggled, feeling a bit loopy.

“She’s going into shock, Rarity.” Fluttershy said in a worried voice. “Pinkie, we need to cover her and keep her warm. Get another blanket.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie dove into her saddlebag and pulled out another blanket, which Twilight wasted no time covering Teagan with.

Teagan was feeling more detached from her body now, she barely felt Rarity stitching her cuts closed and she faded out for a while.

When she came back to herself she found a warm furry body pressing against her on both sides, and a blanket over her.

“Welcome back, Sugarcube.” Applejack’s voice said from her left.

“Mmm, is it over?” She asked drowsily.

“Yes, you were very brave.” Fluttershy said from her right. “You’ve been asleep for most of the day. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up before moving you. You gave us a bit of a scare, but you’re going to be fine. The Sun Shield is here and Princess Luna sent Spring Water.”

“Rainbow Dash made it back to Canterlot in less than two hours! One of the guards told me the city was buzzing about her flight, she used several sonic rain booms to make the trip faster, nopony’s ever done that before!” Fluttershy enthused.

“I’m thirsty, is there any water?” Teagan asked, not meaning to be rude but still a little out of it.

“Of course, here you go.” Strong pony legs helped her sit up and gave her what looked like a wineskin. She took it and drank greedily.

“Wait, not too much!” Gentle hooves took the skin from her. “You don’t’ want to make yourself sick, Teelo.” Fluttershy admonished gently.

Teelo felt a little chilly and remembered how Discord had stripped her naked in front of every pony in Equestria. She felt a bit of panic before discovering she was wearing her undergarments.

“How?” She asked, indicating the cloth.

“We found yer clothes, Sugarcube.” Applejack said. “Course the lower ones was beyond fixin’, Rarity said. But yer top one and yer underclothes weren’t no problem. We knows how ya are about yer clothes so Rarity did her best fer ya.”

“Thank you.” Teagan said gratefully. “Where’s my shirt?”

“Here you are, Teelo.” Fluttershy said, handing it to her. Well, hoofing it to her. Remembering what she’d seen just before she passed out Teagan gently grabbed Fluttershy’s hoof and examined the bottom of it.

“What are you doing, Teelo?” Fluttershy asked, puzzled.

“So that’s how you can handle objects with your hooves.” Teagan said. “The edges of your hooves are flexible!”

“Um, no they aren’t.” Fluttershy gently corrected her. “The flanges fold up against the bottom of our hoof when we don’t need them.” She demonstrated and a soft flexible band of tissue unfolded, extending about an inch beyond the edge of the pegasus’s hoof. It flexed several times, reminding Teagan of fingers in a mitten, and then folded back up and completely disappearing.

“Now I understand! That’s how you can carry stuff! It was driving me nuts trying to figure out how you did that.”

“All ya had ta do was ask, Teelo.” Applejack chuckled. “Ah’d a been glad ta tell ya if’n Ah knew you wanted ta know.”

“It’s been a really eventful trip. I just never got around to it.” Teagan laughed, pulling the shirt on over her head. Since the undergarments were pretty much a bikini anyway Teagan decided she could pretend to be at the beach for her own piece of mind. She’d done it often enough at home.

The self-deception worked and she found it much more comfortable to be around strange ponies, even the stallion guards, dressed this way.

Nobody would let her walk anywhere. Her bandaged feet were very tender and Spring Water was adamant the stitches wouldn’t hold if she tried to walk. So Twilight used her magic to float the girl around, first to retrieve Crush, who refused to allow itself to be moved by any pony, and then to the larger enclosed chariot that Spring Water had arrived in. It turned out the Earth Pony was afraid of heights and a completely enclosed chariot was the only way she could travel by air. Since it was larger it was a bit slower than the other chariots, but Teagan could comfortably lie down in it full length without having to worry about falling out.

It took nearly six hours for the return flight, slowed as it was by Spring Water’s special chariot. The girl spent the time alternately dozing and chatting with the healer, who in human terms would have been in her late thirties.

The first thing she asked was how Princess Celestia was doing.

“Her Highness is feeling much better. She was able to sleep after your impromptu surgery. I must say I was very impressed with Rarity’s ability. I’m told she extracted nearly three dozen pieces of glass from your feet, Lady Teagan.”

“That many?” Teagan asked, startled. “I knew I was pretty bad but that’s amazing! I barely felt anything. Of course I was pretty out of it toward the end. Hey, what’s the deal about channeling pain? Pinkie Pie and Applejack were doing that for me.”

“It’s part of earth pony magic.” Spring Water explained. “We have a deep connection to the earth you see. It makes us stronger than unicorns or pegasi, and it gives us certain abilities as well. Most healers are earth ponies because we can feel the flow of things through the body. We can also channel that flow. An earth pony can pull part of the pain out of someone and force it through their own bodies and out their rear hooves into the ground.”

“Wow. Does the pony feel all the pain they channel?” Teagan asked, remembering how Applejack had yelled at Twilight.

“They do feel what they channel.” Spring Water admitted. “But the more earth ponies that channel pain, the less the patient feels and the less the ponies themselves feel. A typical channeling team is made up of five ponies.”

“So they all feel one sixth the pain, including the patient?” Teagan asked.

Spring Water nodded. “That’s right.”

“But how can any pony volunteer to do that regularly?” Teagan asked. “I mean, in an emergency maybe, but as a profession?”

“Some ponies are willing to go above and beyond.” Spring Water said. “Members of a channeling team tend to have naturally high pain tolerances anyway. Healers with low pain tolerance would never join a channeling team.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Teagan said.

The flight landed in the middle of the night and Twilight carried Teagan and Crush up to their suite, where Pentas and Lantana fussed over her and put her to bed. Pentas didn’t have Twilight’s sheer power, but she was still amazingly strong, able to easily lift Teagan into bed with her horn’s magic.

ooOoo

It was a week before Spring Water said Teagan was healed enough to begin walking. They had recovered Teagan’s sandals but Spring Water had dictated they were too rough for her still healing feet, so the Royal Cobbler, a stallion named Stitchwell had been commissioned to create a pair of soft supportive slippers for her.

It turned out the stallion was a master cobbler, and able to create shoes for nearly any species that visited Canterlot Castle. The other remarkable thing about Stitchwell was his coloring. Except for his cutie mark he could have passed for a normal Shetland pony—he was a bay with a black tail and mane.

In Equestria that made him practically unique.

After another week spent recovering Teagan was fully healed and ready to go home. She was eager to go.

Comments

[More Dakka]

Discord really must be possessed and or insane if he saw human history and still pushed her that far.

[Mossy Mare]

2518064
Yep. All the stories I've heard... even among animals, you don't go any nearer a cornered feral thing than you have to. An enraged human with a weapon is something else entirely.

[Ephedianroyalty]

“What about that thing?” Teagan nodded toward the torture device.

Celestia turned and looked at the statue, and she cursed. “Shit. Forgot about that.”

Celestia’s horn blazed and the abomination shot high into the air, becoming a vanishing dot, soon lost to sight.

“I have sent it to plunge into the sun, Lady Teagan.” Princess Celestia said calmly.

{OMFG that’s hilarious}
(Audience) stared at Celestia, flabbergasted.

“Kill it with fire writ large.” Teagan quoted.

What the FUUU