CHAPTER 6
MEETING FLUTTERSHY
Dr. McCoy approached the cottage dwelling that he was told belonged to the Pegasus mare called "Fluttershy". The house looked to have been built out of a grass mound. To Dr. McCoy, it was very reminiscent of the Hobbitt dwellings he had read about in The Lord Of The Rings when he was younger. While he was at Starfleet Academy, he even saw the movie trilogy made by Peter Jackson back in the early 21st century. He doubted, however, that the ponies on this planet would even know what a Hobbitt was.
It was obvious to McCoy that whoever lived here was a Veterinarian who loved animals a great deal. The entire front yard was filled with bird houses and bird feeders of all kinds. The birds themselves were busy flying about feeding and chirping away!
He crossed the bridge that was built over a small stream and made his way to the front door of the dwelling. Off in the distance, he saw the border of a very thick tree line. The Everfree Forest, no doubt, McCoy thought to himself. He was told that Fluttershy's cottage was near the border of the Everfree Forest. McCoy also thought he saw a cloaked pony figure galloping off towards the forest. McCoy thought this was peculiar, but shrugged it off as nothing important.
He arrived at the foot of the door and knocked on it. Moments later, a yellow coloured Pegasus mare with light pink mane, tail and light blue eyes appeared through a crack of the door that she just opened. "Sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for Fluttershy…" McCoy said.
Fluttershy was surprised to see a tall dark grey unicorn stallion with brown mane and tail right there on her doorstep. She had never seen this male before, and thought it unusual that he would look for her. Usually, only the ponies that she knew would come to visit her, not strangers. I wonder who he is, and what he would want with me, she thought to herself. "Well, that's me." Fluttershy heard herself say rather meekly. "May I help you?"
The dark grey unicorn stallion smiled. "You sure can! My name's Doctor Goodwill. I'm a Medical Officer on board an exploratory sailing ship. I was in town for a couple of days, and I was looking to learn more about the… health of the local population. You came in highly recommended by a mare called Applejack that I met in Ponyville. Said she was a friend of yours!"
"Applejack? Yes, I know her…" Fluttershy said after a few moments.
"May I come in?" Dr. McCoy offered, still smiling.
Fluttershy seemed unsure. She was not in the habit of letting complete strangers into her home. "Uhm… sure." She finally said, thinking that she'll risk it.
She pushed her door fully opened to invite the dark grey stallion in. "Thank you!" he said graciously.
"Nice place you've got here!" He commented after he took a look around. "I can tell you like animals a lot!" He said as he noticed several small animal dwellings here and there throughout the living room. There were even some small animals scurrying about.
He glanced back to see Fluttershy kind of looking to the floor, not wanting to meet his eyes. She was surprised to feel a light pressure on her left shoulder. She let out a light gasp. "Don't be afraid!" McCoy said in his bedside voice. "I'm not here to hurt you. I can tell you're shy, but you have no reason to feel shy around me." She looked up to see his tender smiling face. This told her that he was sincere.
"Well… that's reassuring." She said softly, smiling. "I… wasn't sure if you we're here to do-"
"Have no fear, miss!" Dr McCoy interrupted. "I took an oath not to harm any patients… or anybody, for that matter; whether physical or emotional." He smiled again.
Fluttershy thought it odd that he would say "anybody" rather than "anypony". She figured he must not only tend to sick ponies, but other creatures; such as minotaurs and griffons. She had always believed that pony Doctors stuck to their own leaving any ill members of the other sentient species in Equestria to their own Doctors. Fluttershy began to relax.
"I'm glad." She smiled and said softly. "So, what is it that you would like to know?"
"Well, why don't we start by letting me examine you." He said. "I'll get a better idea of the health level of the… ponies who live around here."
Fluttershy thought about it for a moment. "Uhm… okay." She smiled lightly.
Dr. McCoy smiled and pulled out his medical tricorder; but his projected self looked to Fluttershy like he was pulling out a small black box out of his saddlebag using unicorn magic.
"A black box?" Fluttershy asked curiously.
McCoy stopped. "Yes. It's a little invention of mine. With it, I can measure your heart rhythm, your blood pressure; and detect any health anomalies you may have."
Fluttershy seemed hesitant.
"Don't worry, it's completely painless!" Mc Coy smiled reassuringly.
After a few moments, Fluttershy nodded her consent.
A warbling sound could be heard as McCoy scanned Fluttershy with his tricorder. To Fluttershy, though, it looked like he was just waiving the small black box in front of her.
"You're as healthy as a horse, my dear!" McCoy announced after he was finished with his scans. His tricorder revealed that her internal anatomy was exactly the same as a pony from Earth; which meant that if he ever had to tend to a sick pony on this planet, he would have no trouble in that area.
Fluttershy smiled lightly.
"But I would like to learn more about the health of the local population. How healthy are they? Any unusual or exotic diseases you've encountered personally?"
"Well, I haven't had much experience in dealing with pony illnesses. I mostly look after animals. But I can tell you about stuff that I've seen and heard of personally…" Fluttershy smiled lightly.
"It's a start!" McCoy smiled.
For the rest of the day, Dr. McCoy learned from Fluttershy all about the health of the local pony population. She told stories of illnesses and diseases she has encountered or heard about among the local inhabitants. Dr. McCoy was astonished to learn of an earth pony filly, which also happened to be Applejack's younger sister, contract a rare disease called "Cutie Pox" after abusing from a magical potion brewed up by a local zebra called Zecora, who actually lived in the Everfree Forest. The little filly abused the potion because she was desperate to earn her cutie mark, and became infected as a result. The first thought that came to mind when she heard about Zecora was "witch Doctor". Personally, McCoy never liked tribal shamans; but knew that some of the natural medicines they concocted had some benefits.
Dr. McCoy also learned that Fluttershy's cutie mark, which was three identical purple butterflies, was meant to represent not only her gift for looking after animals, but also her immense kindness. Fluttershy thought Dr. McCoy's cutie mark was a bit odd. She commented that she had never seen anything like it, even among pony Doctors. Dr. McCoy said that it represents his gift for taking care of sick beings of all kinds, and his extensive knowledge of medicine.
In exchange, McCoy told Fluttershy about his experiences as a Medical Officer aboard the made up sailing ship captained by Tiburon Tamer. McCoy made sure he left out any knowledge of exotic alien diseases he encountered, for the sake of the Prime Directive. Fluttershy was quite impressed with McCoy's medical knowledge, and actually enjoyed talking to this unicorn pony. She even showed McCoy her back yard that had a chicken coop where she kept several chicken to produce the eggs she used for cooking, but also as breeding stock; where she would sell the newborn chicks to local farmers, once they were weened.
Their conversations went on for hours. Fluttershy called a halt to their exchange with the excuse that she had to attend to some sick animals she was confided by somepony just yesterday. McCoy accepted her excuse, and prepared to leave, thanking Fluttershy for her time and information. Fluttershy watched the male unicorn pony leave thinking that she'd never met a nicer male in all of her life. She wondered if he really was staying in town for a few days, and if she'll see him again.
Upon leaving, McCoy realized that he still had a few hours before he met up with the landing party again back in the Ponyville town square. He figured he'd do some exploring, and perform additional scans of the local population incognito. Since it was now getting close to midday, he'd probably grab a bite of lunch somewhere. More apples? McCoy thought. Or maybe some vegetables. Gotta stick to this pony diet! With this thought in mind, he made his way back towards town.
Meanwhile, in the ruins of an old abandoned castle in the Everfree Forest, the mysterious cloaked pony was making his way down into the basement. This used to be the entrance to the castle dungeons that were used to detain many a criminal. This was the Royal Palace from a thousand years ago, and was the site of Princess Luna's rebellion. After Celestia defeated Luna, and banished her to the moon, the palace was abandoned. The tragedy of the events were just too painful for Celestia, so she and her court left the palace shortly after. When Canterlot was built a short time later, the Royal Court moved in.
The cloaked pony knew all about Luna's recent return in the form of the demonic Nightmare Moon, and that it was here that the confrontation between Nightmare Moon and the wielders of The Elements of Harmony took place. During the course of the battle, the Elements of Harmony wielders were able to defeat Nightmare Moon and free Luna from her demonic possession. The newly freed Princess Luna was then reunited with her older sister, and the two have been reigning over the Equestrian Empire ever since. The mere thought of those two being united as one again was enough to make him shudder!
He soon found the gateway that lead to his master's realm. It was a simple archway that was about the size of a large door with a black crystal at the top of it that was constantly radiating with black magic. What he thought was amazing was that the archway stood smack dab in the middle of the rather large dungeon room without any visible support, other than by the dark magic that radiated from the black crystal that was at the top of the archway! He only realized it after he came through the archway from his master's realm for the first time to find himself in this old abandoned palace. He had a mission to carry out, and he wasn't about to disappoint his master!
He simply stood there and waited. Sometimes, he literally just sat there for hours waiting for his master to come calling. In those instances, when he asked him what took him so long, his master simply said that he was busy, or resting; and that it wasn't his place to ask such things of his master. He quickly bowed and apologized out of fear of severe punishment!
This time, though, it wasn't long before his master's large eyes came shining through the gateway. As the eyes appeared, the black crystal above the gateway began to emit that dark purple haze that was a part of his master's dark magic. He was greatly intimidated by his master's green eyes with piercing red irises! It was a sight that he was unable to get used to! What got him the most, however, was the constant stream of dark purple haze that came out of the eyes; a definite sign of the black magic powers that his master possessed! This was not a being he would want to cross!
"You're late!" the eyes immediately said in a deep menacing voice.
"Apologies, master!" the cloaked pony said, bowing quickly. "There was a lot of activity in the town square today. It took me awhile to get away!" he said. He decided to keep the hood of his cloak on his head, and you could see the light blue of his eye shine emanating from underneath the hood.
"Have you anything to report?" his master asked.
"Nothing out of the ordinary for the ponies that live here." The cloaked pony replied. "Except…" he hesitated.
"Except what!?" the eyes pressed, narrowing in anger.
The cloaked pony swallowed the lump in his throat. "T-there was a group of strangers that came into town today. Four ponies I've never seen before. All males! One of them was a bat pony."
"A bat pony, you say?"
He nodded. "Yes! That in itself is very odd…"
"Indeed! Indeed, it is. What else?"
"Well… t-their leader seems to be a great explorer. A stallion of great influence and power."
"Hmmm… Curious!" his master became pensive. "He could prove to be a powerful ally… or a threat to us! I want you to follow him, watch his every move; and when the time is right, I want you to capture him and bring him to me!"
"C-capture him!?" the cloaked pony exclaimed in surprise. "B-b-but master, d-do you really think that's wise?"
"SILENCE!" the green and red eyes yelled. The dark crystal above the gateway flashed brightly with the surge of power, which caused the cloaked pony to cower back. "It is not your place to question my DECISIONS! Need I remind you that when you defected from your home land, and came to me with the offer of forming an allegiance, I told you that I would take you in my service on condition that you do everything I say! DO NOT break that condition! UNDERSTAND!?"
"Y-y-yes, master!" the cloaked pony bowed deeply.
"Good!" the eyes said. "Do not return here until you've completed your task."
"Yes, master!" the cloaked pony bowed again and the eyes disappeared. The magic aura surrounding the black crystal faded and everything became dark. The cloaked pony sighed deeply and made his way back up the stairs to leave the ruins of the palace.
