Equestria's Borderlands

by lightningst0rm

Eye Opener and a Cute Red-head

Chris

If you've ever been knocked unconscious, you know what it's like when you wake up. Your head is sometimes pounding or you notice pain that you didn't before, but all in all, it sucks. For me, I woke up and my head was killing me, like when you wake up after a hangover. It took a few seconds for my vision to focus, and when it did, I found myself lying on a makeshift bed inside what looked like a hut. My armor was still on, the claw marks reminding me of the fight. It surprised me how easily that creature was able to tear through my armor; it was built to withstand gunshots and this thing tore through like it was butter. I checked my arm to see how bad it was and was surprised to find it was wrapped in fresh bandages. I touched it cautiously and found that it wasn't hurting either. Whoever did this had a very good understanding of medicine.

"Yaxşı, siz oyaq edirik," said a voice to the side of me. I jumped a little bit because I hadn't realized there was another pony in the tent with me.

I turned over to see a mare who was currently mixing something in a bowl. She was an earth pony, but she had tribal tattoos around her neck, above her left eye, and around her wrists. She had red hair that covered her right eye and rested on her shoulder. Her coat was tan, making her look like that pegasus mare that founded the Central Haven Hospital, but if you darkened her coat and mane. She was cute.

"Necə hiss edir?" she asked me in a language I didn't understand. "Siz məni başa bilməz? Əziz Oh. Elder, o, məni başa bilməz."

She must have noticed that I couldn't understand her. I don't know what she said but after she said it, an elderly unicorn stallion pushed aside the cloth that acted as a door. He looked at me for a few seconds before turning to the mare.

"Siz o Scarlet anlamaq deyil əminsinizmi?" he spoke with a gruff voice, but in it there was a hint of great wisdom.

"Bəli, o, səhv görünür."

"O, hələ tam şüurlu ola bilər, ancaq çox təəssüf təhlükəsiz olmaq daha yaxşıdır güman edirlər."

I honestly had no idea what they were saying, but the elderly stallion reached into a pocket in his robe and pulled out what looked like a pin shaped like a pair of wings. I wondered why he pulled it out and what it for, but before I could ask, he grabbed me by the head and placed the pin on my fore head, just below my horn. Was he going to stick that in my forehead? I'm normally calm in situations like this but I was never fond of needles, so I was beginning to panic.

"Um, look, I'm thankful for you tending to my wounds but you don't need to give me a piercing," I sputtered out.

Still, the elderly stallion positioned the pin, it now just occurring to me that he might not understand me either. I closed my eyes and held in a scream as I felt the pin go into my fore head. It only took a few seconds, but it felt like longer. To me; it felt like it took several minutes. The pain subsided to a dull ache after a few seconds.

"So, tell me young stallion, can you understand me now?" said the elderly unicorn in perfect English.

Hold on; did he just speak English? Just seconds ago, he was speaking some form of gibberish.

"Excuse me; I said can you understand me now?"

"Yeah, I can understand you now. Can you understand me?" I said while still trying to understand what was happening.

"I could actually understand you to begin with. Everyone in the village wears a charm like the one I just stuck in your forehead."

Naturally I had questions but I chose not to ask them. I need to get back to the haven. Maybe these ponies could help me. I tried to sit up but was forced back down by a searing pain in my chest. I then realized why I still had my armor on.

"Neither of you know how to take off my armor, do you?" I asked through the pain. The red haired mare answered first.

"I was the one tasked with treating your wounds but I've never seen "armor" before, so I couldn't treat the wounds on your chest. I asked the elder, but he didn't know how to remove it either."

"Hehe; at least not this armor," the unicorn added with a chuckle.

I didn't hear him; I was focused on the mare sitting next to me. Her voice was soft and gentle. I couldn't find anything else to describe it besides those two words and I wish I could find more. I must have been staring because she started blushing. I blushed too after that and she giggled at my reaction. I'll consider that my first victory of the day. That aside I realized I need to remove my armor if I wanted help removing my armor. I went to undo the first strap but I stopped as a thought crossed my mind.

"Hold on, I was told that any ponies living outside of the havens were either savages or bandits," the elderly stallion noticed my suspicion and the mare seemed distressed(which made me regret saying it), "How do I know you aren't going to kill me as soon as I remove my armor?"

The elderly stallion was quick to answer. "You don't. For all you know, I could have a dagger and I'm just waiting to strike. You'll never know until you get there. The one problem with your theory is that we planned to kill you, why would my young medicine mare have risked her life to save you, and then carry you back here by herself to heal you?"

I have to admit, he did make sense. They could kill me, but if I don't remove my armor, the wound will get infected and I'll die from that. I guess I don't have choice in the matter. I let out a sigh and began undoing the straps for my armor. After I lifted it over my head, I finally got a good look at the wound. It was much worse than I thought it was. I also realized I had been wearing my favorite work shirt. None of us moved for about a minute, and once again, the elderly stallion spoke first.

"As you can see, neither of us tried to kill you. I'll leave Scarlet to tend to your wounds. Maybe when she's finished, you and I can have a conversation," and with that said, the stallion left the hut.

I let out a sigh of relief, maybe because I was still alive or because he left. The mare had picked up the bowl and was mixing it again. Every few seconds she'd glance back at me or maybe it was my wound. The silence in the hut was bothering me so I decided to ask some questions that I wanted to ask.

"So," I began, "Scarlet right?"

"Yes, that's right," she responded without looking up.

"You have a really beautiful name. Such a name fits an equally beautiful mare."

She almost dropped the bowl after I said that. I must have sounded like an idiot. Sweet Celestia, why did I have to say such a cheesy line? I was never good at talking to mares. The only mare I can talk to is Chelsy, and that's because she's one of my best friends. I'm such an idiot.

"I'm sorry," I sputtered, "I shouldn't have said that."

She almost dropped the bowl again.

"No, no," she responded, her face almost as red as her hair, "You just caught me off guard. I'm not used to getting compliments. The stallions of my tribe give gifts to mares they find attractive, and because I'm one the medicine mares, I'm not allowed to get married unless I left the tribe."

"I'm sorry, if I would have known, I would've had something to give you."

She giggled this time, ending her giggle with a snort. I had to keep myself from laughing. Her laugh was adorable and funny at the same time.

"I'm sorry, your way of speaking is new to me. I'm almost finished with the medicine for your wound but I need you to remove your shirt."

"That's probably a good idea. The shirt is pretty much ruined now."

I now got to see what she had been mixing. She had been mixing herbal powder with a paste. I removed my now ruined shirt. Normally I don't get to remove my shirt until I get home, so stretching my wings early was felt amazing. I thought I might have accidentally knocked the bowl from her hand, because when I finished stretching, I heard the bowl clatter on the ground. I turned to see Scarlet staring wide-eyed at my wings.

"Hey," I began, "I didn't mean to-

"ELDER!" she screamed before I could finish.

I instantly assumed the worst. I wasn't sure what happened, but then I remembered that any alicorn born in the haven must join the council to stay an alicorn. If they choose otherwise, they lose their magic or their flight. I chose to keep my magic. Since I'm outside the haven, I can assume they don't see alicorns very often. I began to sweat when the elder walked in and saw my wings.

"I'm g-guessing being a-an alicorn is a b-bad thing," I stuttered.

The elder looked at Scarlet and smiled. I found myself becoming calmer when I saw that. It was weird.

"Scarlet, there's no need to scream. An alicorn is not unnatural, although, one with wings of that size is unnatural. I wouldn't mind hearing your story son."

"Uh sure I guess? Well, in the havens, the Council of Celestia are a group of alicorns that helped keep the kingdom running after Celestia died. Whenever an alicorn is born, the council is immediately alerted to the birth. The child is given eighteen years to live normally, but when they reach the age of eighteen, they're given three choices."

"What are those choices son?"

"You become a member of the council, or you choose between becoming a legal pegasus or unicorn. They don't remove your horn or wings but they do make it so you can't use them. Those who choose to become pegasi have their horns sanded down into bumps, and those who chose to become unicorns, like me, magically cease the growth of the wings. While I can still move them, they're practically useless. I chose to become an Elite Guard so I could patrol the haven walls. It puts me close to the sky."

"You wish you could still fly."

"Yeah, I do..."

There was a long moment of silence. I felt like I didn't need to be pitied, but I felt glad that someone understood me.

"You and I have more in common than you think."

My ears shot up. what was he talking about. How would he know? He chuckled as if he read my thoughts.

"I had wings too once. I lost mine during a fight with a stallion who came to my village with his gang. He demanded our mares and anything of potential value. I agreed to nothing. He ordered an attack but his men were no match for me. Neither was the leader himself, but he still cut off my wings. I never used to pay them any mind, but you never really think of something until it's gone."

"Wow, I'm sorry. I should feel glad I still have mine."

I turned to Scarlet. She currently replacing the medicine that had fallen on the ground with the bowl.

"I'll leave you two alone now. I can see you two already get along quite well," and he said this with an added chuckle before leaving the hut.

Scarlet was blushing again. I guess I blushed too. What did he mean, we've barely known each other for twenty minutes. I kinda wish it were more than that.

Scarlet finished the medicine faster than last time. She sighed before turning to me.

"I need you to lie down for this. The medicine is going to sting for a bit, but that's it burning away any possible infections that have begun."

I did as she said and leaned onto my back. She must have done this many times before because while I blushed a little knowing she was leaning over me, she had the same gentle smile as before. The medicine paste was a pale green color, and just like she said it would, it stung. She rubbed it over the wound and would occasionally press her fingers into the wound. After a few seconds the pain begun to dull and I relaxed a little. After about a minute she stopped rubbing the medicine over the wound.

"Okay," she began, "I need you to sit up now. I need to wrap it so no dirt can get in."

I found myself following every direction she gave me without a thought. She pulled a long ribbon of clothe out of a basket and began wrapping it around my waist. She continued to do so until there wasn't any visible blood soaking through the bandages. I leaned back when she had tied the ribbon to keep it in place.

"I actually need you to stay sitting up. I need to check and see if any of your ribs are broken"

"Huh? Why would you need to do that?"

"The bunyip smashed you with its tail. I just need to be sure."

"Yeah, and before that I did fall about three hundred feet."

Next thing I know, she's poking me in the chest, feeling my ribs, checking my ribs and other places in search of broken bones. I was sore in some spots, but to my relief, no broken bones were found. I guess I got really lucky. I actually felt more relaxed right now then I have in a few years. I began to day dream but was brought back to reality by her voice.

"Do you mind if I ask what your name is?"

"Huh? Oh, my name. My name's Christopher White, but you can just call me Chris."

"Okay, um, Chris. In truth, I actually saw you fall. I had been gathering herbs when I heard you screaming. Unfortunately, that screaming set off our village's bunyip."

"Wait, hold on, you mean to say that the thing that attacked me lives in this village?"

"Yes, it also helped bring you back to the village. It's trained to protect the medicine mares when we go out collecting herbs, so when it saw your sword, it charged. There's a group of dangerous bandits who live deeper in the forest. They capture any villager that happens to be alone."

"Do you think I could help you with that problem?"

"Well, I'd need to talk with the village Elder, but I suppose you could. Your wounds would need to heal before you could do anything."

She was right about that, I wouldn't be going anywhere until my wounds healed a bit. I began estimating how long it would take but was interrupted by my stomach. I had no idea how long I was out, so I was starving.

"Hey Scarlet?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you have anything to eat?"

She giggled again because the second I asked that, my stomach growled. This time, I found I was the one embarrassed. I must have blushing pretty hard because she was laughing now, occasionally snorting while she did. Her laugh was adorable but that didn't keep me from blushing.

"You rest here," she said while trying to keep from laughing, "I'll go get some food and talk to the Elder."

I found myself staring at her plot as she left the tent. Maybe being betrayed wasn't the worst thing to happen to me. In fact, I'm beginning to like it.

I'm still going to kick Travis's ass...

End of Chapter 2...