Chapter 12 – Clinic Visit

To say he was nervous would have been an understatement, he and the pony he admired the most were somehow standing together lost in the city. The corner they stood at was nowhere near familiar, and nothing he could see meant anything. The two of them were wet and tired, it had not gone to plan at all, and the path they took to get there was nowhere near anything he had planned.

Earlier that day, when the two had actually gotten off of the train that afternoon, the day was bright and sunny. Pinkie Pie and Piks next to them as the four of them trailed the few blocks from the station, "Nothing like a peaceful train ride to get you in the mindset for a great deal." the Dryskian said as he stretched out.

"A deal?" Blade asked in surprise.

"Yeah!" Pinkie acknowledged, "Piks and I have an appointment with a collector of rare goods."

"Wait, you aren't going with us to the clinic?" Fluttershy asked in surprise.

"You'll be fine!" the party pony said in a sing-song voice.

"At least tell us where it is." Blade said as he tried to hide his panic.

"Just follow the signs, straight until you get to Corin, then left and…" the Dryskian started, only to get a raised eyebrow from all three of his new friends, "You can't read the signs, can you?" The three ponies all shook their heads, "Look, just follow your instincts, and if you think you're lost, ask for help and let them know you can't read the signs. Most Treeopons are actually friendly."

Blade thought about it, and pointed with his hoof, "Straight down here?" he asked.

"It'll be about six or seven blocks and you'll turn left." Piks said with a smile.

"I think a map in Equestrian is going to have to be our first purchase." he said to Fluttershy. She simply nodded.

Piks once again smiled, "I think you'll be fine." he said to them, "Meet back here in a few hours."

"And if you get lost, it's easy to find from the air." Pinkie said with a smile. And off the two of them went, turning to the left of the platform to make their way further into the city square.

"Well?" Fluttershy asked, and turned to her stallion friend, "At least we have some direction."

"I just hope the clinic is easier to find than I think it is." Blade told her as the two of them turned to leave.

"It should be, just look for the Treeopons that look injured I guess." she said in thought.

"Maybe." was his response as they began walking.

The assumption was made in haste unfortunately, there were no injured or sick Treeopons that gathered at any door, no real crowd of aliens in need of help, but rather a sign, one that looked like the figure of a cat that extended a paw out to the street. "Um…" Fluttershy said questioningly, "Are we lost?"

Blade looked around, then behind him to see if he had missed anything, "We might be." he said, and turned to the building with the sign above it's door, "Let's ask them. Maybe they know where we need to go."

"Or have a map we can read." the yellow pegasus added in.

Blade let the corners of his mouth lift into his smile, "Yes, or that." he agreed, and made his way to the door. The moment the two of them walked in, they stopped in surprise, several cat people were walking around, some in white coats and others in a bright blue one-piece suit that zipped up in the back and covered most of their body. They seemed to enjoy their work as they walked around talking while some quickly made their way down hallways or slowly into rooms that attached to the much larger room out in front of them. "I think we found it." he said in shock.

He was surprised when Fluttershy gasped a bit and turned to see a bright happy smile on her face, "Look!" she said and sued her hoof to point at a particular section of the room. There, behind a glass wall, a bunch of the critters that she had seen when coming into the planet were nestled safely. Bandaged and safe, some of them fast asleep as they curled up next to each other. She also noticed a sad-looking cat girl that leaned over the wall of the enclosure, near white fur with a blue patch on her stomach and chin as well as light blue hair that dominated the top of her head. The rest of her was covered in a white lab coat and her feet seemed to be bare, with claws on each toe. What she could see of the hands, they had skin that stretched in between the fingers, like the webbing on a duck's foot but only up to the middle knuckle. She placed her hooves to the window, catching the cat girl's attention as she tried to hide behind the wall, "So cute!"

Blade smiled as he came up next to her, his small smile, but a smile none the less. "Looks like an emergency pet clinic as well." he said and watched as the girl slowly shifted her head to look at the two of them in awe.

"What kind of alien is that?" Fluttershy asked a bit scared.

"She's really young for a Hylop vet." he said.

"That's a Hylop?" she asked, "So, we're looking for an older version of her?"

"Well…no." he admitted, "Hylops are cat people, yes. But they have almost as many variants as Ponies do."

They watched as the curious young one slowly made her way over to the door, "Maybe she knows Dr. Kalin?" Fluttershy asked.

At this, the young Hylop dashed to the door, her ears perked up and shock on her face, "You know my dad?" she asked.

"Ok…maybe we are looking for a Hylop like her." Blade said after a moment of shocked silence.

"And, why did you call him Doctor?" she asked.

"Um, isn't he a doctor?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

"I don't know what a 'doctor' is." she admitted, "Is it a healer?"

"Yes?" the yellow pegasus asked.

"Oh." the young Hylop said and smiled gently, "My name is Hulon. It's nice to meet you." With this, she thrust her hand forward, causing Fluttershy to squeak a bit in fright, and after realizing that it was just for a handshake, placed her hoof into the Hylop's hand with a nervous grin on her face, "If I may ask, what are you?"

"My name is Cosmic Blade, and this is Fluttershy." the stallion said as he traded his own hoof-shake with the young girl, "We're ponies, Pegasus' to be precise."

"You're like a Tegnuril." Hulon said as she tapped a claw against his hoof, "But mixed with an Eragim-ilitian." With this she leaned in, examining his muzzle and eyes. "But you have the mane of a common Earthling. And the wings of a Puprin."

"Excuse me." Blade said in disdain, "I do NOT have the wings of a Puprin. They are disgusting and dirty. I have the majestic wings of a Great Eagle from the planet Oblix." With this, he lifted his chin high in pride and spread his wings to show them off, this action caused Fluttershy to giggle and relax.

"I'm so sorry." Hulon said as she placed her hands to her mouth in surprise, "I…I didn't mean to offend you…" she said, and pointed a claw down the hall, "My dad is this way."

"I think you scared her." Fluttershy said as the two of them followed the Hylop.

"This fear isn't from just me." Blade told her, "I can tell when fear comes from just me. This is deep-seeded, something she's been dealing with."

"Really?" Fluttershy asked as they moved down the maze of halls.

He simply nodded, just as they arrived at a large white door, and Hulon slowly slid the door to the side, peeking in to see if she was interrupting anything, "Healer Kalin?" she asked as she poked her head in, "You've got some visitors."

Inside, the large brown colored cat man, sat there in his white lab coat, hunched over his desk with his clawed hand covering his face, "I'm your father Hulon, not your Healer." he said in a sigh and lifted his head to look at her, "You don't have to…" With the door slid open that little bit, he was able to see the coat of Fluttershy, the yellow contrasting greatly with the white hallway. "Hulon?" he asked as he stood from his desk, "What are those?"

"Oh, these are your visitors." she said and slid the door open all the way, "Galaxy Blade and Fluttershy. They're ponies."

"Ponies?" he asked, his chiseled chin and soft features stretching into a curious look, "From what planet?"

"Oh, I forgot to ask." she said, only to have Fluttershy speak up.

"We're from Equestria, sir." the yellow pegasus said shyly.

"Never heard of it." Kalin said.

"I made the same mistake," Blade said, "Equestria's not the name of the planet. It's the name of the country."

"Wait, what do you mean you made the same mistake?" Kalin asked, and ushered his daughter to come close to him.

"I'm an altered being from the Genesis Ark, once I was human. But thanks to unforeseen circumstances I'm now a pony, and living on that planet happily."

"But what planet?" Hulon asked as she ignored her father's ushering.

"Never got the name of it, but I don't think it matters." He continued, "You see, we're here because of a recommendation from a Dryskian you know named Piks. We work for Tusks as part of his team, and we would like your help."