[Park] The Midnight Hour Is Close At Hand [Closed]

[Zeph]

not looking for trouble...hmm... this pony seemed to be telling the truth... after all, he did not show signs of wanting to fight back. slowly, Angel got back up, her glow diminishing, but still maintaining her Radar Spell up just in case others tried to near them. "...we've got bigger problems..." she says in a slightly more relaxed tone, turning her head towards the other females. apparently, she overheard their conversation, not hard for her thanks to her keen sense of hearing.

"...sounds like Cinnamon is hurt... can you help us?" Angel turned towards Rook once more. the mare wasn't able to see him with her eyes, but she could tell from his vibrations and her magic that this stallion is quite strong. maybe he'll be able to help out in carrying the wounded filly out of this dreaded forest... she thought.

[Dio]

Rook

…we've got bigger problems…

The mare spoke with an airy, almost ethereal quality, like the air itself was speaking rather than her vocal chords. In fact, her voice was quite delicate; a strange disconnect from her obvious martial training and stolid disposition. It's oddly calming considering she was probably ready to dismantle me molecule by molecule…

sounds like Cinnamon is hurt… can you help us?

Cinnamon? The same Cinnamon from the train station? Rook held his facial expression steady. If it was, then this would be quite the coincidence indeed. He slowly stepped forward, giving Angelcake a quick once-over as he slipped past.

'I may be able to do you one better,' Rook replied. 'I think it would be much easier for all of us if Cinnamon can walk out of here on her own.'

As Rook approached, he lit his horn to provide illumination amongst the trees. He was sure to charge his magic slowly so that Angel's warrior senses wouldn't see it as a threat. As he sized up the ponies, he continued, 'Name's Argent Rook, but you can just call me Rook. I'm a doctor.'

In the dim light of his magic, he could see that quite a few ponies had gathered; a green Pegasus with uniquely colored plumage, a black Pegasus standing over a brown earth pony, and finally the brown earth pony herself. Well, well, what have we here?

'You… I remember you. You were at the train station!' Rook said with a chuckle. 'Now what kind of trouble have you managed to talk your way into this time?'

[Cinnamon]

Cinnamon was starting to get light-headed from the blood loss, and it showed. She was having trouble keeping her balance. When she tried to look Rook in the eyes, her vision started to blur. She clutched her head in pain, then looked at her legs, the injuries finally starting to register. She stared blankly at Rook, then said, weakly: "I.. was... going to fight.. the Gibberkin..." Cinnamon fell to her knees, desperately fighting to stay conscious, "..but it seems.. now... the honor falls.... to you.." she collapsed, gasping: "too soon... not.. ready... you must... learn...." Cinnamon lapsed into unconsciousness. She wasn't dying, but unless she could be treated soon, she'd be in serious trouble.

[RCTwilightSparkle]

'Oh good, a doctor... and he knows her!' Star Chaser thought to herself as she tried to calm down. As things started looking like they'd be alright, Cinnamon started fading fast. Before Star could do anything Cinnamon was on the ground and Star was totally panicked. She was starting to show all the physiological signs of being nervous which was very unlike her. Her knees were shaking a little and she tucked her right wing as close to her side as she could. Unfortunately she knew she couldn't do much to physically help at this point, leading her out of the forest was one thing but Star was in no condition to carry anypony anywhere.

Although this new pony Rook seemed like he met Cinnamon once or twice before he clearly didn't know her very well. So Star turned to him and started explaining "Well, I'm pretty sure she must have hit her head because she's been going on about 'Gibberkin'. Monsters of some sort that are immune to magic and watch ponies sleep? I'm not too sure I just ran, quite literally, into this situation myself. My name is Star Chaser and if there's anything I can do to assist you just let me know"

Once she started explaining what was going on she began to feel a little calmer, but Star was avoiding looking at cinnamon on the ground because that might get her nervous again.

[Dio]

Rook

Well, I'm pretty sure she must have hit her head because she's been going on about 'Gibberkin'. Monsters of some sort that are immune to magic and watch ponies sleep? I'm not too sure I just ran, quite literally, into this situation myself.

Rook jerked his head to face the black Pegasus. She was obviously nervous, very nervous. Probably squeamish. This one had quite the build to her as well, though she was conditioned for endurance in contrast to the unicorn's raw strength. Probably an athlete, judging by the amount of lean muscle she possesses and her large volumetric breath intake. Rook couldn't help but feel that he had seen her before; the recognition wasn't quite there and would probably bother him the rest of the night.

My name is Star Chaser and if there's anything I can do to assist you just let me know.

Star Chaser. Like a puzzle piece, the memory clicked into place. It was then that Rook registered the Pegasus mare's broken, bandaged wing for the first time. As if she knew his thoughts, the Pegasus hastily folded her good wing down, somewhat masking her one-winged profile.

'Star Chaser. I know that name. You're a Wonderbolt,' Rook spoke softly, doing his best to gain her confidence. 'And I'm glad you're willing to offer assistance. Good help is hard to find these days. Now to see what I can do about our friend Cinnamon, here.'

Rook looked back to Cinnamon. The wounds were still bleeding, though it wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected from the present company's behavior. Most of the wounds appeared to be superficial scrapes, but there were a few deeper tears that were disconcerting. Rook frowned. How could one filly possibly do this to herself?

He tapped her lightly on the shoulder. 'Cinnamon? Cinnamon! Are you okay?'

No response. She's out cold.

Using telekinesis, Rook lifted his first-aid kit out of his saddlebag and set it gently aside. Furrowing his brow, Rook cast a purple glow around his cloak and saddlebags, floating them off his body, being careful to leave his headwrap in place. He tucked the saddlebags under Cinnamon's head and shoulders, placing her in recovery position, and utilized telekinesis to ensure that her tongue was not obstructing her airway. He maneuvered his cloak to cover her flanks, leaving only her legs exposed so he could work on them. The unicorn doctor shivered against the night air, still unacclimated to cold weather.

Vitals. Rook knelt down and touched his horn to Cinnamon's left front leg first. Faintly glowing blue lines traced themselves over Cinnamon's body, forming a luminous grid that hummed with magical energy. Pulse is elevated, but still fairly strong. Looks like Class II hemorrhaging; substantial blood loss, but not fatal. BP is lower than normal, but comparatively stable. She's still breathing. If I work quickly, she'll be up and about by tomorrow morning. Rook adjusted the spell, its glow shifting color from blue to purple.

A purple pulse traveled up Cinnamon's leg to the shoulder, making the bone fluoresce before Rook's eyes, in spite of intervening skin and muscle. Good. No fractures. This will make my life a lot easier. Another pulse followed the same route, this time highlighting veins and arteries for Rook. The final pulse highlighted the deeper wounds, all of which seemed accessible from where he was kneeling. Rook repeated the process with her other three legs, getting similar results. Satisfied with his diagnosis, Rook cancelled the spell, causing the purple grid to dissipate into thin air, but leaving the fluorescent markers in place for the deep wounds.

'I'm going to need some extra hooves. Star Chaser!' he said, looking to the black Pegasus, 'The first aid kit; there's sterile gauze in it. I need you to apply direct pressure to the big cuts on Cinnamon's rear legs. They're marked with glowing tags. It'll stop the bleeding until I can fix it.'

Rook chose his intonation carefully; the last thing he needed was a hostile pony heckling him while he was treating a patient. 'I'm going to apologize for this ahead of time; I'm not normally this rude, but I don't know your names and I need your help.

'Miss Mask, drop the bag and get over here,' he said, motioning to Stagelight. 'I've got the supplies, but I require extra horsepower. I need you to apply direct pressure these wounds on this front leg while I get the other one.'

'Radar,' he said, motioning to Angelcake, 'I need illumination. I can't play surgeon and flashlight at the same time.'

The unicorn doctor took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. 'Okay, everypony, you know your places. Let's get to work.'

[NiccolaVonMask]

"Got it." Stagelight shuffled off her saddlebags and, with them, a few feathers. She had begun to molt, as she tends to do under stress. "Oh dear. This isn't going to be a problem, is it? Don't want any feathers getting into her wounds." She laughed nervously and tried to hold her wings away from the injured fillly.

Stagey brushed her hair out of her face, needing her right eye as unobstructed as possible. The mare no longer cared if those present saw her disfigurement. She knelt in front of Cinnamon and put her hooves on the pony's leg. "Like this?"

[RCTwilightSparkle]

As Star looked at Rook she could tell he was sizing her up, like he was trying to learn everything with just a glance. He was clearly not bad at it, he recognized her and she was feeling a little embarrassed about it. The feeling quickly faded when he spoke to her so calmly, and clearly wasn't judging her based on the accident. Sometimes it was hard for Star Chaser to think that ponies saw her for her entire career in the Wonderbolts, and not just the crash.

Star watched in a bit of awe as Rook used his magic on Cinnamon, she'd never seen a pony diagnosis quite like this before. Thinking about it she realized the same magic had probably been used on her, but she didn't remember that day. As Rook said her name, Star snapped out of her wandering thoughts and listened carefully. Once she had a set of instructions she did exactly as he said.

Walking over to the first aid kit she located the gauze that Rook was talking about used it to apply direct pressure to the marked points on Cinnamon's legs. After she was confident she was doing this correctly she looked up at Rook while still applying pressure and watched him work.

[Zeph]

oh, a doctor. that's even better! Angel thought as she watched him move over to the fainted Cinnamon. and just in time too... the mare watched from the sides as Rook began to work his magic, and quite literally too. thanks to her magic, she was able to see in great detail the gridwork and tags that he set up within the injured filly. such an amazing skill he had. Angel only knew a basic Heal Spell, which only sped up the healing process of minor cuts and bruises. she had to admit that such talent made her lightly jealous, but now was not the time to think about that. focus!

that's when Rook began to give out orders. being called Radar? Angelcake scrunched her nose and huffed. "it's Angelcake..." she grunted before focusing on her job. a Light Spell, simple stuff. the unicorn's horn gained a bright scarlet shimmer before slowly concentrating into a pure white light. she leaned forward, the glow of her horn easily illuminating the patient as well as the other ponies helping out.

[Dio]

Rook

'Yes, like that,' Rook said to Stagelight, gently nudging her hooves into place via telekinesis. Star Chaser had gotten it right the first time, and Angelcake was now providing white light, providing for more natural color balance and brighter illumination than the soft purple glow of Rook's diagnosis spell.

He chuckled lightly at Angel's remark. 'I already apologized ahead of time for not knowing your names. I'll be sure to keep Angelcake in mind from now on, though. Feel free to tell me your real name as well, Miss Mask. I'm not particularly creative with the nicknames I dispense.'

His extra hooves in place, Rook began his work. He chose a deep laceration on Cinnamon's left front leg, and gingerly touched his horn to it. A soft blue glow enveloped both his horn and the wound. Bits of gravel, a few splinters, and thin wisps of dust worked their way out of the wound, impelled by magical force. The cut now cleaned, Rook gently nudged the torn skin and soft tissue back together with telekinesis.

Though the wound still oozed blood from the removal of the splinters, Rook quickly staunched it by adjusting the spell. He pressed the two halves of the wound together and focused his spell, stitching it together with glowing strands of aether. Applying one final flash of magic, Rook delivered a burst of vitae at a cellular level, sealing the wound and forcing rapid regeneration of the damaged tissue. One by one, Rook addressed the deep gashes, cleaning, sealing, and regenerating each one until a pony could hardly tell that Cinnamon had been sliced up. He gently nudged Stagelight's and Star Chaser's hooves out of the way as he moved from leg to leg.

The minor scrapes, Rook cleaned, but purposely left untreated, as they would heal better without accelerated regeneration. The cosmetic damage, Rook wouldn't be able to fix; he was a doctor, not a plastic surgeon. You're going to itch like hell tomorrow, but it's better than bleeding out. Itching was an unfortunate side effect of the regeneration process that Rook had not yet managed to overcome. Barring minor discomfort, however, he was certain Cinnamon would be fine with a bit of rest and proper hydration. The blood loss had not been in a fatal quantity and with the wounds cleaned and sealed, risk of infection was practically nonexistent. He finished by removing all of the blood-stained gauze and placing it in a biohazard bag.

His work complete, Rook sat back on his haunches and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Swiping a fetlock across his forehead, Rook realized that he'd worked up a sweat, even in the chill of the night. The unicorn shivered against the temperature differential. Rook felt a tug at his eyelids and smiled at the exhaustion that came with a job well-done.

'Thank you, everypony,' he said. 'You've all been a huge help. Now we just have to get Cinnamon out of here.'

Using telekinesis, Rook reached into his first aid kit and withdrew a small capsule. Seeing odd looks from the other ponies, Rook explained. "Ammonium Carbonate; you might know it as smelling salts."

He held the capsule under Cinnamon's nose and snapped it in half, releasing a tiny wisp of white powder which proceeded to drift into Cinnamon's nostrils. 'C'mon, Cinnamon. Rise and shine!'