2. Slow First Steps
That hug seemed to have finally broken the ice between the two. The filly looked much calmer now, no longer cowering under her blanket, albeit still crying. Maybe now was the right time to be asking questions? If she doesn’t mind that is. Who knew what this foal went through. It’s probably much worse than what most ponies in Ponyville ever experienced.
“Are you alright, dearie?” she asked in a practiced, soft and reassuring voice.
The young filly’s eyes looked down, almost embarrassed. “Y-Yeah...” But as she moved one of her forelegs, a terrible pain jolted down her entire body and she struggled to keep her eyes from watering. She squealed, grasping the nurse for help.
Feeling concerned, Nurse Redheart pushed just a little harder. “Sweetie, if it hurts; don’t be afraid to let us know.” She lifted her head so that the filly could see her reassuring smile. “We are all here to help you, there’s no shame in admitting that you need help. In fact, we’d love to help you as best as we can!”
The filly responded, but her voice was but a whisper. “O-Okay...” Despite having her heard facing the nurse. The filly’s eyes were looking off to her side. She was avoiding eye-contact entirely. Her eyes stared in confusion at the tube with the crimson liquid connected to her foreleg. She followed it, seeing a bag of that same liquid.
"You lost a lot of blood. So, we're giving you blood that is compatible with yours. That way, you'll be strong and healthy again!" Redheart explained.
The filly observed more of the machines around her bed, feeling a slight sense of anxiety at their incessant beepings.
“Say, you still haven’t told me your name. Do you have one?” Redheart asked in a sweet tone.
The filly opened her mouth but hesitated to respond for a moment. “O-Olive.” She whispered, not daring to raise her voice any further.
“Olive? That’s a wonderful name, sweetie!” Redheart admitted, putting on a bigger smile. Cute name, but it feels kind of... shallow? Shallow to name somepony after their eye colour. It would be like calling the nurse Blue instead of Redheart. It just feels... weird.
The foal was immediately startled by it and pulled back as far as she possibly could in her bed, breathing heavily.
It is the smile! Why is she so scared of my smiles? Redheart thought as she backed away nervously from the bed.
Just as she did, Olive stared at her with clear signs of distress in her eyes. They were wide open with fear and regret. She looked terribly nervous and reached out her forelegs towards the mare, begging her to come back. At least, she was getting attached to her, but smiling too much was a no-go apparently. Still, the nurse felt satisfied with the progress she was making.
This filly was broken on an emotional level, but she can still be saved. They just need to give her time to adjust to her new surroundings.
“O-Oh! Don’t worry, dearie; I’m not leaving you!” Redheart said carefully, taking a small step towards the bed. The filly immediately pulled her closer and embraced the nurse. “I’m just going to get you something to eat! You must be terribly hungry, right?”
The filly was getting agitated but nodded nonetheless. It took a while for her to loosen her grip. “P-Promise me you’ll come back.” she said in a broken and anxious voice, her pleading eyes finally locking onto to the nurse's.
“Of course I’ll come back.” Redheart softly said. “Nopony is going to leave you here. We’re all here for you, remember.” she closed her eyes and smiled without showing her teeth and that seemed to work. The filly looked noticeably less distressed.
That’s odd. She’s only startled if I show my teeth when I smile...
The nurse turned on the radio and left, leaving Olive alone for some time. Feeling quite hurt, she looked at the many wounds on her body, now bandaged up. Seeing as said injuries were still recent, the bandages were all stained with her blood. She felt a wave of nausea overcome her, causing her to look away before she could then stain the hospital’s floor. Her broken leg couldn’t move anymore, and that was making her feel weak, pathetic, sad. She didn’t even know what to think anymore. She was surrounded by strangers, in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar town. In only a mere few days, her entire world was turned upside down but... maybe there’s light at the end of this dark tunnel.
My heart that's looking for you, it burns fiercely
It will melt and scatter everything,
for our love!
Olive stared at the radio, a sense of unease creeping into her soul.
The door opened and just as Nurse Redheart promised; she came back with a delicious plate for Olive. For good measure too, she brought a toy in too in case the filly would get bored. The happy expression of the filly warmed her heart. There never was a pony that looked this happy to see her before. It made her feel special. It was nice.
“Look what I brought!” Redheart said in a cheerful voice. “Tons of fruits and vegetable. Mmm! Delicious! It’s all going to do wonder for your health.”
Olive examined the plate with her tired eyes, looking strangely confused. Then, she raised her head to the mare. “Th... There’s no meat?”
Redheart’s heart definitely skipped a beat on this one. Wh-What did she just say? She cleared her throat. “U-um, sweetie... Ponies don’t eat meat. It’s not a part of our diet.” she explained, albeit slightly losing her practiced and reassuring tone.
The foal didn’t seem so sure. “B-But daddy’s friend said that meat was delicious and good for me.” As soon as she finished her sentence, she freaked out and covered her face with her blanket, her frightened eyes hurting the mare's soul.
Redheart’s eyes were wide open and her jaw had dropped. Realising her mistake, she tried to reassure her. “I-I’m not going to punish you or anything, dear! You just need to know that we’re not supposed to eat meat.” she stammered. “You’re not at fault for anything. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared.”
Olive’s statement only raised more concerning question for the poor nurse who was unsure of what to do. We should get the guards involved in this! A carnivorous pony is never a good pony! This poor filly’s entourage must have been nasty ponies. Redheart’s whirlpool of thought overwhelmed her briefly, but she quickly regained her composure. A nurse who’s freaking out in front of their patient is a bad nurse. She had to make the filly feel at home.
“D-Did your daddy eat meat too?” she asked, her slightly quivering voice betraying her seemingly calm exterior.
Olive lingered for a moment, scared to answer. “H... He did. He loves to eat meat.”
Carnivorous ponies! Or was she raised by griffons? Thankfully she’s still young. We can stop her before she goes too far down.
Her heart ached for the poor filly. She had a feeling that her “daddy” wasn’t her biological father. At least, she hoped he wasn’t otherwise that’d be too horrible for her to imagine such an awful father indoctrinating his own daughter into being a monster. Carnivorous ponies always develop an appetite for their kins’ flesh.
She just had to change the subject. “Oh! I just remembered, there’s a special somepony who’s coming in a few minutes.”
Olive looked nervous, her legs swaying left and right quicker than they did before. She looked to the nurse for comfort, whimpering.
“She’s the pony who saved your life.” The mare started. “She’s also very concerned for your health. I hope you’ll get along with her! Oh what am I saying? Or course you will!”
The filly crossed her forelegs and looked away, worried.
“Don’t worry! She’s a very nice mare. I’ve known her for years.” continued Nurse Redheart, readjusting her falling hat in the process.
Outside the room, Applejack waited anxiously with Nurse Sweetheart, her eyes constantly shifting from the clock to the door. The nurse herself wasn't really any better. She shifted her weight from hoof to hoof and overall looked uncomfortable. She has been observing the whole situation between Olive and Redheart and she was rather... troubled to say the least.
"So, uh... C-Can Ah come in?" Applejack asked, mindlessly scrubbing the floor with her hoof.
Sweetheart quickly turned around to face her, almost looking surprised. "Oh, um... I-I'll ask to see if it's okay." She raised her hoof to the doorknob but stopped. "Um, before I let you in. I need to let you know that this filly seems quite... a-abnormal." Her eyes slightly widened, realising the mistake she just made. "No, I didn't mean to say a-abnormal, he he. I meant to say she's different from other foals."
"Really? What makes 'er different from the rest?"
Sweetheart tapped her hooves together and briefly looked away from Applejack. "Well, for starters, she never really makes eye contact. She's very hesitant to verbally respond to any of our questions and lastly she's generally afraid of us, except for Nursery Rhyme, who's also the shortest nurse in Ponyville General."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Huh, mighty strange, but Ah'm not lettin' that deter me from meetin' that lost filly."
Nurse Sweetheart smiled. "That is very sweet of you, Applejack."
The clicking of the doorknob caught the attention of the two ponies. Nurse Sweetheart peeked in the room and waved at Redheart.
“Applejack is here. Should I let her in?” she gently asked.
Redheart turned to face Olive. “Do you want to see Applejack, dearie?”
The filly hesitantly nodded. "Hm hm."
“Okay! You can let her in.”
An orange mare entered the room. Nurse Redheart was surprised to feel two small hooves holding her tightly. Her heart practically melted when she was just how adorable the little foal looked, clinging onto her for comfort. She was actually earning her trust! That, or this filly was clinging on to the first pony in her life that had shown her kindness.
Applejack bit her lips when she saw just how screwed up the filly was. Multiple blood stained bandages were covering her from head to hoof. She nevertheless looked mighty relieved to see the filly awake and apparently managing just fine for the time being. “Hey there little fella! Ah’m Applejack. What’s yer name?”
The filly hid her face behind Redheart’s hooves, and so the nurse had to answer that question herself. “She said her name is Olive. I can see why. She’s got beautiful eyes.” She said that in a very cheerful, bubbly voice but Applejack couldn’t help but notice there was something else hiding beneath that tone.
Better not prod right now. Not in front of that filly. Applejack thought. She’ll ask her later once they’re out of her room.
“Mighty cute name, sugar cube, but Ah’d like to hear yer voice too.” Applejack continued, tipping off her hat to Olive. “Ya don’t have to be scared, Ah’m just simply worried about ya.”
Olive strangely avoided eye-contact with the earth pony, but she did, however, look in her general direction when she finally said something. “Th-Thank you for saving me...” Her voice was barely audible, but Aj heard it loud and clear somehow. The adorable filly was also blushing as she said it, looking embarrassed to admit it.
“Aw, shucks. Ya don’t have to feel embarrassed about thankin’ somepony, sugar cube!” Applejack reached out a hoof to hopefully be able to shake hooves. After all, greetings are an important part when introducing yourself to somepony new.
Seeing as she wasn’t shaking Applejack’s hoof, Redheart leaned closer to Olive and giggled. “She just wants to shake your hoof, sweetie! That's how we greet other ponies.”
“Y-you shake hoof to greet other ponies?” gingerly asked the filly, whilst looking in the general direction of Redheart.
“Y-yes!” quickly answered the nurse. “H-How did your family greet other ponies?”
“They only raised their hooves when they were angry...”
Unsure of what to say next, Applejack was just about ready to put her hoof down when Olive finally shook hers. “Oh! Well, Ah gotta say it’s real nice meetin’ ya! If ya don’t mind, Ah’ll be comin’ every once in a while to vis-”
Olive rubbed her hoof over her blank flank, almost like she was scrubbing off dirt from herself. This... strange act caught Aj off guard.
“Uh, what’s she doin’?” Applejack whispered, leaning close to Redheart.
“I don’t know.” responded the nurse. “I haven’t seen her do this to me. We probably shouldn’t ask right now.”
Then, the room fell in an awkward silence as none of the mares knew what to say next. The filly wasn’t very talkative, though she seemed to respond to questions just fine.
Olive was now eyeing the toy and the food on her plate.
“Yeah, sweetie; you can eat if you’re hungry.” Nurse Redheart exclaimed while rapidly waving her hoof around. “Don’t let us hold you back!”
Noticing that their “conversation” wasn’t going anywhere, Applejack gestured at Redheart to go outside. “Ah’d like to talk, you know, in between grown-ups.” she explained to Olive.
The filly looked reluctant, but the nurse managed to convince her that she’ll be back in only a few minutes. Now outside the filly’s room, Applejack could finally ask what she really wanted to know.
“Now that it’s just us.” Aj briefly looked at the door behind her. “Ah want to know what ya learned ‘bout Olive.”
Nurse Redheart finally dropped her cheerful smile, exchanging it for a frown. “Just two odd things. First off, she’s deeply unsettled when ponies show their teeth when they smile.”
“Wh-What in the hay..?” Aj rubbed the back of her head, perplexed.
Redheart’s brows furrowed “That’s not the worst. From what I’ve heard, her so-called family are meat eaters! Maybe they’re ponies, or maybe they’re not... I don’t know. I neglected to ask her this question.” she finished, looking a bit disappointed.
Applejack’s breaths were cut short by this troubling revelation. Her eyes, wide with shock. “Ah... A-Ah sure hope that filly was simply raised by griffons.”
“Yeah.” stammered Redheart. “That’s... certainly better than the alternative.”
Applejack sighed. “Mighty good thin’ then that we got a detective workin’ on finding out what happened.”
“You mean... the scary stallion with the cold stare?” Applejack nodded.
“That stallion. Ah have a feelin’ he know’s what he’s doin’.”
The sound of a falling object coming from Olive’s room snapped their attention back to the filly. The quickly opened the door to see what happened. Nothing much... except for a broken toy on the floor and a little foal with a very dirty muzzle. The filly stuffed her face in her food with all the voracious apetite of a timberwolf, biting and ripping food away.
“Uh... dearie? You should eat more carefully; you’ve dirtied your entire face.” Redheart approached the filly and grabbed a nearby tissue to clean her face.
Olive simply stared back and blinked, seemingly not understanding what she meant. “How do I eat more carefully?”
Both Redheart and Applejack were taken aback by this unexpected question.
“You, uh? You just pick your food carefully from the plate instead of stuffing your face in?” Nurse Redheart answered, confused.
Olive blinked. “I didn’t know that. I thought everypony ate like that.”
Ya didn’t know?! What kinda parents did ya have?! Applejack thought angrily. Who could be as uncaring as to not teach their foals proper manners? This filly was no doubt heavily neglected and/or abused to be this oblivious as to how to perform such simple tasks.
“Well, uh, ha ha. Now ya know, sugar cube!” Applejack awkwardly exclaimed, swinging her hoof around for a more comedic effect.
For the first time, little Olive giggled. It only lasted a split-second, but it was more than enough to lift the spirit of the two mares. They have finally made a bit of progress!
Oh gee, things sure are calm around here...
Like any other town, Ponyville has its fair share of therapists. These therapists, however, don’t really see a lot of work considering the general safety of the town. It’s mainly urban cities like Manehattan or Fillydelphia that often gets terrible cases of traumatised ponies seeking help.
As such, Counselor Care was understandably bored right now, just signing paperwork. She’d rather be helping ponies overcome their issues, it’s why she even moved out to Ponyville in the first place! She also chose to specifically help out foals as mares often had an easier time relating to the youth. Someponies attribute it to maternal instinct, an interesting theory that has yet to be debunked.
Her head was lowered, staring intently at the various papers scattered across her desk. With a sigh, Care got to work. Signing and reading and... oh, let’s just skip the boring part.
She raised her head to wallow in boredom and nearly had an heart attack when a big, dark blue stallion suddenly stood in front of her desk.
“Counselor Care. I hope I’m not disturbing your work.” he said, his voice as strong as steel.
“O-Oh! N-Not really!” She responded, awkwardly smiling at him. “I-Wait... I think I know you.”
The unicorn nodded. “I am Looking Glass. I work for the Canterlot Bureau of Investigation. My missions have made the deadline in many newspapers.” he stated in a matter-of-fact tone to the point of sounding dangerously robotic.
“Ah! A celebrity, I see.” playfully said the therapist. “Well then; what brings you to Ponyville?”
“An earth pony has found a filly on the edge of the Everfree Forest. She was badly wounded, almost fatally so. She has been brought to Ponyville General and has survived the surgery.”
Counselor Care’s face slowly turned to horror as the stallion explained the whole story. “Why wasn’t I notified of this? Th-Th-This filly needs my help!”
She tried to jump out of her seat, but Looking Glass held her in place with magic. “Wait just a bit, I’m not finished.” he said, his voice still remaining terribly calm despite the situation. “From what I’ve heard, the wounds she has sustained were not caused by timberwolves. I have a feeling this attack was perpetuated by ponies, criminals most likely. This is why I've opened a case and am currently investigating it.”
He placed a small piece of paper on her desk. The paper contained an address. “As a therapist, you’ll surely be able to find out what happened to her. I’ll be counting on you to tell me everything you learn along the way. We will be doing this for the sake of justice and the filly. Do I have your support?”
Care looked at the address for a while. “Yes. I’ll help you catch the monsters who hurt an innocent little fill-” As she looked up, she was surprised to see... nopony.
Looking Glass left without a sound, leaving the counselor speechless.
How’d he do that? He left the front door opened. Didn't use any magic...
A real detective comic enthusiast perhaps? Huh, cute.
Out on the street of Ponyville, Looking Glass stopped to stare at Canterlot’s castle, resting over in the distance. There is perhaps another ally he could get to help on the case. The one pony who could get in other ponies' heads. The one pony who could see the manifestation of their hopes and their fears. The one pony who can enter other ponies' dreams: Princess Luna.
The stallion smirked and chuckled to himself. “Shouldn’t be too hard. She'll do anything in the name of justice.” His expression immediately returned to a serious one. “I can only hope that I’ll be dealing with low lives this time. I've had enough of anarchists.”
The last thing he’d want, is to deal with another case of total anarchy. The dungeon riot that occurred a few months ago in Canterlot was more than he could chew. It took the lives of many guards and just as much for the inmates. But... a good detective always has to be prepared for the worst. Especially when he has a bad hunch that a special somepony might be involved. A pony he utterly detest.
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
1,130 users online
1,810,922 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
11635150
Really good, one of my favorites on this site.
someone correct me if im wrong, english isn't my first language, but in description there is phrase "She tenderized the fields" and i dont believe that is something you can do with a field, maybe you meant to say tend the fields? or if it was act of softening ground maybe "plow the fields" would be more accurate?
11635644
Probably meant "tilled the fields."
Hm... can't be Cozy, possibly Discord?
Hum Thestrals maybe 🤔?
11635042
I’m not sure there are any similarities with Past Sins other than a foal found in the woods.
More good
11636077
Yes. Me will make more good.
Honestly considering everything unicorns and pegasi would probably need something like fish to be put in their diet for the extra energy protein gives you and horses can eat meat in fact a small amount of protein is beneficial for them the easiest way to get it is meat
This is really getting interesting (as if the first chapter wasn't already).
I like it.
The young filly could be raised by Diamond Dogs? I mean Griffons aren't the only carnivores, there's hippogriffs who eat fish, dragons unless their entire diet is only gems.
OHHHHH!
OKAY!
SOOO...
yeah um Celestia im gonna need the ENTIRE ROYAL GUARD TO DROP ONTO WHOEVER THIS "FRIEND" IS!
GET OUT THE RESERVES IF NEEDED
Umm thats a lie!
THAT IS A LIE!
Ponyville gets a attack like Every other week!
It kinda sounds like this filly escaped from a cult
You would think a tiny Town like ponyville would not have more than one Therapist.
From what this sounds like is pummies can eat meat but they do not. Because the little girl said she's been eating it for a while. Definitely if she would ask for it. When I heard that statement I thought this was the human and pony body but the signs doesn't seem to be there for that
Okay so we have three options here 2 being far more likely than 1 of the options that being this is a human soul given a new body since well the kids not freaked about talking animals. Which leaves either parents we're a different species clearly carnivorous or like Redheart is dreading cannibals which could mean the chunks the kid is missing are from them. Or I am wrong on all accounts and it's because of something else either way should be a interesting read.