Fallen Eagle

Chapter IX: The Painful Truth

Hey guys. Thank you all SO much for beating my personal goal of at least 30 followers and favorites. And I'm really glad everyone liked the suspense of the fight in Chapter VIII between Cougar, AJ and the Timberwolves. Just saying that originally Rainbow wasn't going to be injured; she'd follow AJ and Cougar to the castle of the two sisters, but I wanted Cougar and Applejack to have a special moment together so Rainbow had to get her wing injured.

I'd also like to say I am really happy that some readers didn't question why Luna didn't show up to help. Well, as I was writing Chapter VIII, I was watching 'Sleepless in Ponyville' and Luna didn't rescue Scootaloo from the waterfall, and that was never explained as to why, so there's no reason Luna didn't save Cougar and Applejack. Also, this is where the whole premise of the story picks up, the ball is rolling, the pedal is to the metal. And to a reviewer whom suggested that Cougar get to meet Cadence and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire, that WILL happen, just not yet.

The plot for this chapter is Cougar and AJ are discovered in the castle and are rushed to the Royal Infirmary. However, one of the secrets Cougar wanted to never reveal is about to be exposed to Equestria. How will the ponies react? Find out…

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(The same night, Third Person POV with Rarity and Rainbow Dash)

A brilliant flash of light briefly illuminated the night as Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle appeared in front of the new Golden Oaks castle in Ponyville. "Is everypony alright?" Rarity briskly questioned her friends and little sister. The three little fillies nodded as nothing had injured them, but they were still frightened from the ordeal.

"Oh sure, we're alright, but my bucking wing is broken! I'm just dandy!" Rainbow cursed the fashionista pony.

"Watch your language in front of my sister Rainbow Dash," Rarity glared at her friend, "I know you are injured and scared, but that's no reason to reduce yourself to common vulgarity to get your sarcastic point across," she scolded.

"Well, why did you take us to Twilight's?!" Rainbow demanded, "why not take us to, oh I don't know, a HOSPITAL for Celesita's sake!?" The cyan pegasus mocked. The white unicorn ignored her friend and panically knocked on the main door to the Golden Oaks Castle. Without missing a beat, the door opened to reveal Spike with frazzled scales and a comic book rolled up in his right claw. He rubbed his green eye and gave out a great yawn.

"Rarity, Rainbow Dash, shouldn't you guys be camping right now?" A groggy little dragon asked. Before Spike knew it, he was knocked flat on his back as all five ponies burst through the door and into the castle, shouting for Twilight.

"TWILIGHT, COME QUICK!" Rarity shouted in her damsel in distress voice. Her cry for help resonated throughout the castle.

"Ow," Spike groaned, "what happened to you guys; where's Applejack and that Cougar guy anyway?" Spike questioned. Unfortunately for the little dragon, he didn't get an answer as a certain lavender alicorn princess of Friendship appeared in a zap of lavender light.

"What's the matter?!" Twilight reacted quickly to Rarity's pleas for help, "and what happened to your wing Rainbow?" She asked worriedly.

"Our campsite was attacked by a pair of Timberwolves!" Applebloom exclaimed in a horrifying manner. The purple dragon and lavender alicorn both gasped at the same time, knowing how serious this issue was.

"Where are Cougar and Applejack?" Twilight questioned as her wings unfurled from her sides to show her fear. By now, the entire group of seven had gathered in a circle to better communicate.

"Well, we were woken up by Cougar and then we started to pack up our campsite after he scared one off, but then two attacked us as we were hiking back down the trail," Scootaloo explained.

"Yeah, but Rainbow hit one in the side to buy us time to hide, but the other Timberwolf swatted at her wing and broke it," Sweetie Belle took over. "Then Cougar ordered Rarity to zap us and Rainbow Dash out of the woods while he and Applejack tried to fight them off," she concluded. Twilight's face fell once again as the information soaked into her nerdy brain.

"They're still out there?!" She demanded, "we've gotta find them! There's no telling what's going to happen, especially Cougar! He's never faced something like this before," The princess frantically exclaimed while flailing her hooves around.

"Then let us head off for the campsite darling!" Rarity declared and opened the castle door with her magic, but was cut off by Twilight. The alicorn Princess launched from the ground and landed in front of the white unicorn.

"Firstly, Spike you stay here and watch the Crusaders, secondly, let me get in contact with Princess Luna, she can manipulate the moon enough to give us more light to look and we can have her bat pony guards protect us if we need it," she explained.

"Aw, but we want to help you find mah sister!" Applebloom argued.

"Yeah, we want to kick some Timberwolf butt for attacking us!" Scootaloo continued. Rainbow put her hoof up to Scootaloo's face and took in a deep breath to suffer the pain in her wing.

"No way, this is WAY too dangerous for you three," Rainbow said sternly, "you three just stay here and try to not burn the castle down," she ordered. The three fillies' heads dropped low and they solemnly sulked over to Spike and stood behind him.

"Rainbow, you've got to get your wing treated too," Twilight added. Rainbow's face contorted into that of sadness and frustration at the sentence.

"Come on!" She whined, "I'm not going back to the hospital AGAIN! Can't you just cast a healing spell or something?" She begged. Twilight shook her head and pointed out the door with her own wing.

"I'll get you checked in to the royal infirmary and get your wing looked at Rainbow, I know this sucks for you, but I'm sure a broken wing can be mended in a few hours with the royal doctors," Twilight explained. The alicorn kneeled down on her forelegs and shut her eyes tightly as she began to contact Princess Luna via mental link. Suddenly, her eyes shot open in a bright white and blue hue as Princess Luna appeared in the middle of the castle.

"Princess Twilight, what is thy need?" The Princess of the Night asked.

"Luna, Cougar and Applejack have been attacked by Timberwolves near Winsome Falls!" Rarity explained, "we've only gotten back moments before, but they're still in grave danger!" Luna's face drained of color and her eyes widened.

"We need your help to save them before something bad happens!" Twilight continued for her friend. Before anything else happened, Luna's horn shot off a huge blue lightning bolt into the air of the Library and two of her midnight pony guards appeared.

"Midnight Guards, we are to head to Winsome Falls to find our friends Cougar and Applejack, does thou understand?" The princess asked. Her bat pony guards nodded and drew up a chariot for Luna, Twilight and Rarity to ride in to their destination. "Oh and young Rainbow Dash, my condolences about your wing," Luna shot a beam of magic at Rainbow Dash whom vanished into thin air.

"Spike, NO ice cream or other sweets this late, understand?" Twilight ordered as the chariot rose from the ground. Spike's eyes darted back and forth as an evil smirk spread across his face.

"Sure thing Twilight, you can count on me, your number one assistant," Spike bowed to hide his smirk. Once the chariot had left, Spike turned around to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, rubbing his hands together, "now then, how about cookie dough ice cream or chocolate fudge?" Spike licked his snake tongue.

*At the Campsite*

The chariot landed, and all five ponies (including the bat pony guards) began to search and call out for their comrades. "Cougar, Applejack!?" Twilight called out against the faint trickle of the stream next to the campsite. Luna manipulated the moon enough to shine more light upon the area they were searching to better see clues.

"Well, I can certainly see the struggle," one of the bat pony guards commented as he sniffed at the dirt kicked up in the scuffle. There were deep impressions with claw marks decorating the edges of said impressions of the dirt.

"I think I found some blood," Rarity gagged and looked away from a small puddle of something liquid on the ground. The rest of the group galloped towards her and inspected the liquid she had discovered. Luna bent down and sniffed at the substance before checking out the marks on the ground.

"No, this is tree sap," she explained, "it appears as though Applejack and Cougar put up a valiant fight against the Timberwolves over here," she pointed out the claw marks, human shoe prints and horseshoe prints near the trail head. "The footprints seem to head near the creek where this tree sap puddle sits," she continued. Her eyes scanned the area before Twilight shrieked loudly.

"Princess, is this blood on the ground?" The lavender alicorn worriedly asked. The other bat pony guard bent down and sniffed at the ground where Twilight was pointing. He froze when he stood up from the ground.

"This is blood, equine blood to be exact," he shuddered. "But look here, it looks like a Timberwolf fell to the ground near the blood," he examined the large indent in the dirt, "so maybe Applejack kicked one and the other scratched her somewhere," he pondered. Twilight couldn't look at the blood, but she followed the stream near to where the stream joined up with the river. Not looking where she was going, Twilight tripped over a branch and fell down to the ground.

"Princess!" One of the guards exclaimed and helped her to her feet.

"Thank you," Twilight thanked and got back on her hooves. "What did I trip on?" Princess Luna utilized her magic and removed several of the bushes behind Twilight. The bushes fell to the ground as the magic ceased and revealed what was behind the bush. The dead body of a Timberwolf lay in front of the group near the head of the river. All five of the ponies could not believe what they were seeing. Seeing a dead Timberwolf was a rare spectacle that not many had seen before.

"How, how did they do this?" Rarity questioned as she looked upon the rotting wood that once was a live Timberwolf. Princess Luna dispatched her bat ponies to inspect the body while she searched for more clues. "Eww, more blood!" Rarity whined as she tip toed around the droplets on the ground. Luna inspected the blood and found out that it was again, Applejack's.

"Is this, Cougar's shirt?" Twilight asked as her magic held up torn up fabric. Rarity eyed the fabric until reaching a conclusion.

"Yes, indeed it is Twilight," the fashion pony gulped in dread.

"But, there's no blood on it," Twilight replied as she looked over the torn shirt several times. Princess Luna looked at the torn fabric as well and her head dropped low.

"Perhaps a Timberwolf tore it off of him," the Night Princess said sadly. Rarity and Twilight took note of the Princess' sadness and put the shirt down. Luna trudged over to the side of the river and laid down in a saddened state.

"Princess Luna, are you alright?" Rarity asked.

"No," was all Luna said, "I am the Princess of the Night, but I failed to protect my friends from these monsters," she pointed to the decaying corpse of the Timberwolf only a few feet away, "what kind of princess am I that fails to protect her friends? I could've and should've been able to save them," Luna covered her eyes with her silver hooves, letting a few tears fall down her cheeks.

"Luna, please don't blame yourself," Twilight consoled her fellow Princess.

"Yes, it was a freak attack, but you had your other nightly duties to tend to, who could have foreseen the events that transpired her tonight?" Rarity added, "and besides, they could still be alive, maybe the fell into the river after killing the Timberwolf," Rarity too attempted to calm down the princess. The brief moment between the trio was cut short when one of the bat ponies cleared his throat.

"Ahem, your highness, we scrounged the area looking for whatever could kill a Timberwolf and all we found, was this," the guard held out a metallic looking cylinder in his hoof. Luna levitated it out of the hoof with her magic and brought it close to her face.

"I have never seen anything like this before Guards," Luna said whilst studying the strange object.

"Well, can you see into Cougar and Applejack's minds to see where they are?" Twilight questioned as Luna tossed the metallic object behind herself.

"Yes, but only if one of them is asleep, the only time I could do it when they were awake is if they were day dreaming," Luna explained while trying to get inside either being's mind. "Aha, success!" Luna declared after a few minutes of meditation, "Applejack and Cougar are in Celestia and mine's old castle, but we must hurry," Luna excitedly sprang up into her personal chariot. "I must lower the moon first so we can utilized my sister's sunlight."

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(Morning. Cougar's POV)

All night long, that's how long I had stayed awake, listening to the crackle of the fire in the fireplace. Sure I was exhausted and aching from my injuries, but I didn't want to run the risk of anything potentially attacking myself or Applejack if I were to fall asleep. The mare in question, was still sleeping soundly with her head resting upon my lap and her orange fur nestled against my right leg. The piece of my shirt that was tied to her leg was still soaked with some blood and dirt, but the bleeding had stopped long ago, though I feared that the wound was infected. My hand never stopped stroking her mane throughout the night, even when the rest of my body froze at the slightest noise, my hand never stopped trying to calm her sleeping form.

"I hope we can find civilization soon," I mentioned in a raspy voice to myself. Celestia's sun poured through the various windows and cracked walls of the castle, allowing me to know that a new day had started for the rest of Equestria, but not for me or Applejack. I had to keep myself from looking down at my left shoulder as it was covered with wooden teeth marks, splinters and other scratches. It hurt like a motherfucker to move it, so I kept that to a minimum. Thankfully with my Air Force training, losing sleep wasn't that bothersome, but I had exerted a ton of energy last night and lost some blood, both of those are a recipe for bad consequences. While stroking Applejack's mane, I heard her snort instead of snore, indicating that she was ready to leave her slumber. I lightly brushed some hairs out of her eyes while she blinked several times and yawned.

"Mornin' Cougar," she said tiredly and stretched her body until she yelped from the pain in her leg.

"Just take it easy, you got bit pretty bad last night," I comforted her. Ever so carefully, Applejack stood up on all fours and popped her neck a few times.

"'N you didn't?" She finally asked me, leaning against the stone block for support, "yer lucky that Timberwolf didn't take yer whole leg off or bite yer arm into little pieces last night," she exclaimed. She had a point there, but I really didn't care. The wolf was dead, and we were safe, for the most part anyways. Bracing my right arm on the stone block, I boosted myself off the ground and laid against the block as huge vibrations of pain shot through my left shoulder and right leg. Applejack gasped as she stared at my shoulder in the full light of the morning sun. "C-Cougar, yer-yer collar bone is broken!" She screeched. I looked down at my shoulder and indeed saw a huge bulge of my collar bone threatening to burst from my skin like Joe Theismann's leg bone. Gathering up the courage, I felt the jutting bone with my right hand, seeing if it was truly broken.

"No, it's just out of socket," I replied and started putting pressure on the bone. "GAH!" I screamed in pain and collapsed on top of the block. My breathing was coming out in rapid spurts like a three burst machine gun. The pain was unbearable; I wished that I had lost my arm instead of having a collar bone out of place.

"Careful!" Applejack warned as she patted my back. Sweat began to protrude from my forehead as my body reacted to the pain, "yer not a doctor; don't go tryin' ta fix yer broken bones!" The orange mare lectured me.

"Fine," I held up my right hand, "just let me try to think about how we can get back to Ponyville in our conditions; we still need medical attention," I added. Applejack begrudgingly rolled her eyes and laid her head next to mine on the stone slab.

"You're fairly warm by the way Cougar," she said out of nowhere, causing me to halt my thinking if only for a brief moment.

"Thank you," I replied, trying to hide my confusion so I wouldn't offend her. "Sorry if I scared you last night from my war cry, I don't know why; it just came over me," I explained.

"Eh, that's fine, Ah've jest never seen anypony take out a Timberwolf like that before, let alone TWO 'o them!" The mare exclaimed. I said nothing in reply, feeling like crap more and more as I went on without receiving medical attention.

"Sorry about your hat," I pointed out, trying to not relieve what I had done the night before. Her emerald eyes drifted upwards to her empty head before she chuckled.

"Ah don't give a damn Cougar, Ah've got dozens 'o them back at home," she chuckled. "Sorry 'bout you losin' yer shirt and yer other shirt and the rest 'o yer clothes in yer duffel bag," she apologized.

"As long as I have my pants, I'll be fine," I replied with a smirk.

"Maybe Rarity can make ya sum new shirts," AJ said. I was about to reply when the Castle doors burst open to reveal ponies with bat ears and bat wings?

"Your highness, they're in the foyer!" One of the bat-like ponies announced. All at once, I saw Rarity, Luna and Twilight appear in a light of blue magic in front of myself and Applejack.

"Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed and hugged her friend.

"Cougar, are you okay?" Luna tried to hug me, but I yelped and grimace in pain. "I'm sorry for hurting you Cougar," she instantly apologized.

"No, it's okay," I seethed through the pain and held my right arm around Luna's torso. Both of Luna's guards picked up AJ and supported her on their backs as they escorted us back to Luna's silver and blue chariot.

"Oh my Celestia Applejack, what happened to your leg?" Twilight asked as she spotted my ripped up shirt tied around Applejack's rear leg. The guards eased Applejack into the back seat of the chariot as Luna levitated myself to sit down next to the Orange Mare.

"A Timberwolf done bit mah leg pretty darn hard last night. Cougar here tore off his shirt to tie around the wound," Applejack explained. Twilight sat next to me as Rarity and Luna took the front seat and the guards hooked up to the front of the chariot.

"What happened to your shoulder?" Rarity asked me and attempted to suppress a gag at the protrusion of my collar bone. Twilight's magic held me down as the chariot lurched forward.

"Timberwolf bit into my shoulder, though I didn't realize my collar bone was busted until this morning," I replied and laid back against the seat. We were finally airborne and heading back to the royal infirmary at Canterlot Castle.

"So, how did you manage to kill a Timberwolf?" Twilight finally asked me, "nopony has ever actually killed one, they've only managed to demolish it and run," she explained. My head laid back against the top of my seat, hanging upside down with my eyes staring up at the blue sky above. I gulped, fearing that I would eventually have to explain that I used my pistol; then I realized that even though I lost my gun in the river, somepony could find it and potentially hurt themselves!

"Well, I uh tried to use my combat knife to stab them, but I dropped it in the river," I began, "so after Applejack and I climbed from the frigid water, I picked up a rock and bashed it against the chest of one of them and ripped its heart out," I explained. Everypony except the guards pulling the chariot and Applejack sat still inside the chariot, only breathing and contemplating what I had just informed them of.

"Seems a bit excessive don't you think Cougar?" Luna asked me as she turned around in her seat. Before I could say anything else, Applejack spoke up in my defense.

"That buckin' varmint woulda killed the both 'o us if Cougar hadn't done that," she defended me, "after losin' his knife, he didn't have much of a choice," she added.

"Okay, but that's just one Timberwolf, how did you kill the other one? We didn't find anything except a small cylindrical metal shell thing," Twilight chimed in. My eyes widened at the description of the bullet casing that they had found. 'You're Screwed Now' I thought to myself. Even AJ was looking at me funny, awaiting my answer.

"Yeah," Applejack cut in, "what was that loud weapon ya used last night?" The mare asked me. I was afraid to bring myself to explain what my gun was. Slowly lifting my head up from the head rest, I was met with eight piercing eyes boring into me. The sound of the bat pegasi wings flapping agains the air seemed to make the situation more uncomfortable.

"Cougar, just please tell us," Luna asked me kindly. Looking around, everypony had a reassuring look in their eyes, even Rarity had a friendly and understanding look. Sighing in defeat, I tried to sit up from my slouching position, but that only caused pain to vibrate throughout my leg and shoulder. I suddenly felt a warmth spread through my body as a dark blue aura flashed around me from Luna's horn. Instantly I felt the pain soothe and go away, almost like I was just injected with a five gallon bucket of novocaine. "It's only temporary, so take it easy," the alicorn of the moon warned.

"Thanks," I breathed out as I felt much better, though my injuries still remained. "Do you guys have cannons here?" I asked them.

"Yeah, they're all around the perimeter of Canterlot Caste as a means of defense, why do you ask?" Twilight asked me. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I finally revealed what my gun was.

"That's what I used last night to kill the Timberwolf. It's sort of like a miniature version of a cannon that is handheld and much more portable," I explained, "it's great for self defense in the right hands, or hooves."

"Okay, but how come Ah never saw this 'gun' before?" Applejack air quoted with her hooves, "why were ya hidin' it from us?" She questioned me.

"Because I was afraid how you guys would react to me having a dangerous and deadly weapon with me," I explained, "I had to have it in my survival pack in case I was shot down over enemy lines as a means of defense." Twilight and Rarity said nothing as their faces contemplated the sound of a portable cannon.

"That sounds really dangerous Cougar, why would your species invent a way to make the cannon even deadlier? Was crime that rampant in your world?" The purple alicorn asked me. I was extremely thankful that the chariot lurched to a stop as we had landed at the castle.

"Your highness, we have arrived," one of the guards informed his princess. Almost immediately, the novocaine spell wore off and Applejack and I found ourselves being lowered onto stretchers.

---

(In the Hospital. Cougar's POV)

"Ah, back again are we Cougar?" Nurse Candy Striper joked with me as Applejack and I were wheeled into the same room as Rainbow Dash. "Oh my, what on Celestia's good name happened to you?" the nurse asked me as she checked myself and AJ over.

"Yeah, you looked like shit Cougar," Rainbow chimed in, noting my swollen lip, blackened eye, deep gashed leg and protruding collar bone.

"Let me offer you a wing and a prayer," I flicked her the bird with the middle finger on my right hand. The cyan pegasus' face scowled at me as she flipped onto her side with her back facing myself and Applejack. Before either of us knew it, Celestia appeared in a flash of white and gold light, her face showing worry for the both of us.

"Oh my, are you two okay?" The Celestia being asked Applejack while Doctor Needle hooked the mare up to an IV machine and took the makeshift bandage off her hind leg. The doctor threw my piece of shirt away into a bio-hazard safe trash bin and started to rinse out Applejack's wound with water, but thankfully I couldn't see any puss or any sign of an infection.

"Other than getting mauled by evil tree branches, I'm doing fine," I said while Doctor Scope checked my eyes and heart rate. He then trotted over to get a rag and wash some of the dirt off my forehead so he could clean the gash left over from the claws.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you two; how did you escape a Timberwolf attack of this magnitude?" The princess asked me.

"Cougar saved the day," Applejack cut in, "he did what he had to do and saved me," she gave a weak smile as the the exhaustion from the previous day was still high. Celestia placed a Gentle hoof on my good shoulder and pecked my now clean forehead with her lips. I froze, not moving from the shock of getting a kiss from Princess Celesita.

"Thank you Cougar for showing bravery in a time of uncertainty and for putting your friend's life before yours, you truly are a good man," Celesita said to me and gave me some space.

"I-It's my honor to do the right thing," I replied and reeled back from the forehead kiss. Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal Luna, Rarity, Twilight, Soarin', Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"Rainbow!" Soarin' exclaimed in fear and rushed to his mare friend's side.

"Hey guys!" Applejack tried to exclaim, but the the IV fluid was making her sleepy.

"Ohmygosh!" Pinkie Pie hopped up and down, "Twilight and Rarity told us that you and Cougar were attacked by a pair of Timberwolves and Fluttershy and I were all Nuh-Uh! And Twilight and Rarity were all Totally!" The party pony talked a million miles a minute. "Did you wear a mustache to disguise yourselves?" She asked me.

"No, what the fuck would a mustache have done?" I replied in shock.

"Well duh, a mustache will make the Timberwolf think you're not you so he'd leave you alone! Basic trickery 101 Cougar!" Pinkie Pie bragged. I rolled my eyes and looked at Fluttershy and remembered that she loves animals.

"I can't believe you survived an attack like this," Fluttershy said in her meek voice.

"Look Fluttershy, I'm sorry I had to-" I began before the butter colored pegasus put her hoof to my mouth. I braced for a slap or a punch or something from her, but I didn't predict her to forgive me.

"It's fine Cougar, the Timberwolf is one animal that even I can't fully train. And while I normally berate somepony for even harming an innocent animal, I understand the situation you were in called for drastic measures; I don't blame you," Fluttershy said with a weak smile and patted my head. Our friendly moment was interrupted by the doctor peering into my eyes for a second time.

"Your eyes are completely blood shot, have you been getting sleep lately?" Doctor Scope put away his mini flashlight.

"Yeah, but I just had to stay up all night to make sure nothing else attacked myself or Applejack," I explained.

"Well, you're suffering from exhaustion right now, but that's completely normal considering you did lose a fair amount of blood, but not enough to raise alarm," he assured me, "you just need to get some sleep for now and we'll fix up your wounds for you," the doctor said.

"Is Applejack going to be okay?" I asked.

"Oh of course!" Doctor Needle replied from Applejack's bed, "she just got a cut on her leg that'll heal soon enough, but you my good friend have a bit of a recovery night. We can put your collar bone back into place, but we need to keep you under over night observation," he explained, "but other than your collar bone, everything can be fixed in a jiffy." I rested my head on my pillow and stared up at the white ceiling above me. I looked over at Applejack whom gave a wave to me.

"Ah'd do what the doctor says Cougar," she told me, "you've done worked yourself hard the past few weeks, rest yerself," AJ said.

"I shall watch over your dreams Cougar, now sleep," Luna's horn touched my forehead and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up.

---

(Hospital Room, 3rd Person POV)

"Alright then, now we can get to work," Doctor Scope announced as Cougar drifted off thanks to Princess Luna. Using his magic, Doctor Scope levitated a syringe of novocaine over to Cougar's shoulder and injected the numbing agent. "Anypony with a weak stomach, look away," He forewarned. Rarity and Fluttershy disappeared from the room while Celestia decided to have a chat with Twilight. Applejack, Soarin, Rainbow and Pinkie Pie all peered over to see what Doctors Needle and Scope were about to do.

"Careful now," Doctor Needle warned as the two doctors held Cougar's sleeping body down and shoved his collar bone back into socket.

"NEAT!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as Soarin, Rainbow and Applejack grimaced, but held down their stomachs. There was sort of a popping noise as the doctors kept moving around the bone until it settled back into place. The two doctors then took put a small tube of ointment and rubbed it over the human's eye to get the swelling down.

"Well, his gashes on his leg aren't as bad as I thought, but they still require some stitches," Doctor Scope commented as he brought out the needle and stitches.

"Right, I'll check out his throat, normal procedure," Dr. Needle replied as he cleaned off his glasses and peered into Cougar's mouth with a flashlight. "Uh-oh," he said and dropped the flashlight on Cougar's chest.

"What's up doc?" Soarin' questioned. The light blue pegasus and Pinkie Pie approached Dr. Needle to see what the problem was.

"I was just checking up on his throat to check for any soreness or redness, but I discovered something peculiar about his teeth," the doctor explained.

"Is there sumthin' wrong Doctor?" Applejack tried to see what he was talking about. Dr. Needle breathed in and flicked his flashlight back on to show the other ponies what he found.

"See, our teeth are more flat and rounded for eating fruits and vegetables," he began to explain.

"And Candy!" Pinkie Pie munched on a chocolate bar.

"But here, his teeth are more pointed and narrow, but in the back they are wider and more dense, these are called canine teeth, they are specifically made for one thing: ripping and tearing flesh," he announced. Everypony in the room froze at the statement. Princess Celesita walked over to see what the Doctor was referring to.

"So, he eats meat in other words?" The princess asked cautiously.

"I'm afraid so your highness, this man is a carnivore or an omnivore if he's been eating vegetables and fruits," Dr. Scope cut in for Dr. Needle.

"Yeah, he's been eatin' those, but he never done told me 'bout eatin' meat," Applejack narrowed her eyes at Cougar. Twilight gasped at the thought of somepony lying to Applejack.

"You mean, he said his species doesn't eat meat?" Twilight asked.

"Granny Smith asked him whut he eats 'n he said fruits, vegetables 'n bread," Applejack replied, "Ah can't believe he lied to me and Ah couldn't sense thu lie," AJ looked down upon herself. Pinkie Pie gasped and grabbed Applejack's head.

"If you couldn't sense a lie, then that must mean you're not Applejack at ALL!" She screeched and started to try to pull Applejack's 'mask' off her head. "Reveal yourself you body snatcher! Or maybe you're a changeling!" Pinkie started to shake AJ's body.

"GET OFF ME!" Applejack used her good leg to kick Pinkie Pie away.

"Yep, that's Applejack alright," Pinkie groaned in pain. Dr. Scope concluded sewing up Cougar's gashes and set his lab coat on the coat rack.

"Well, all he needs now is to keep resting and he should be fine, other than-" He cut himself off and left the room.

"I must say I am disappointed that Cougar didn't tell the truth about his species' eating habits, although I think that can be overlooked, he should know that lying is wrong," Princess Celestia announced.

"Well Princess, Ah'm gonna let him know that lyin' is wrong when he wakes up, you can count on that!" Applejack promised.

---

(Four hours Later. Cougar's POV)

I groaned as I woke up, feeling so much better after my nap. "Nice," I commented as I could finally move my arm around again, though I couldn't feel it, perhaps it was from novocaine or something.

"Mornin' Mr. Liar," Applejack cut in as I groggily wiped my eyes.

"What?" I asked her, "did I do something wrong?" Her emerald eyes glared at me as she sat up from her bed, an IV tube to longer attached as her gash was sewn up.

"How could you lie ta me Cougar? You said your kind doesn't eat meat, but the doctor done said yer teeth were specifically designed fer rippin' 'n tearin' meat apart," she growled at me. 'Oh fuck,' I thought to myself as Applejack towered above me.

"Like before, I didn't want to scare you and your family by telling you I eat meat, how would Big Mac or Granny Smith have reacted? What about Applebloom? She wouldn't be my friend would she?" I asked.

"We woulda been shocked at first Cougar, but with how you respectful you've been with us, we would've ignored that fact and accepted you fer who you are," AJ exclaimed.

"I'm sure you wouldn't have been so accepting had I told you I eat cows knowing that they talk to me when I milk them, would you have kept that secret from them?" I retorted. "I'm sorry, I like meat, it's in my nature, but I was willing to eat only what you ponies eat as vegetables just to keep you guys from being more afraid of me," I explained.

"Be that as it may Cougar, thu fact is that you still lied ta me, a fact that's hard fer me to swallow considerin' how close you are to me 'n mah family now, that you started the relationship with Granny Smith based on a lie," Applejack turned away from me.

"Look Applejack, I'm sorry I lied, but I just didn't want you guys to be scared of me."

"Ah know yer sorry, but Ah'm not ready to accept yer apology yet Cougar, Ah'll see ya around once yer out of the hospital," Applejack limped out of the room. I sighed sadly and laid my head down on my pillow.

"Rough Dude," Soarin' said out of the blue, "so you don't eat meat anymore?" He asked.

"No, I haven't eaten meat since I got here, besides, where would I have gotten meat to eat around here?" I questioned. He nodded, accepting my point as he stared down at Rainbow's sleeping form as her wing healed.

"Soarin' I don't suppose you'd be willing to get Princess Luna would you?" I asked him. The pegasus looked up from his mare friend and nodded at me.

"Sure thing; even though I know you eat meat now, I know you won't eat us," he said.

"Trust me, that was illegal where I came from," I proved his point as he left me with a sleeping Rainbow in an otherwise empty room. Feeling thirsty, I reached down and grabbed a glass of water and brought it up to my mouth when a new voice startled me.

"We haven't even been properly introduced and you're already wanting to kiss me?" A male and teasing voice asked me. I looked around the room, checking for wherever the voice could be coming from. "Down here," the voice said again. I looked down to see a pair of yellow eyes in the water glass looking back at me.

"AHH!" I screamed and chucked the glass against the wall. The water sopped onto the floor with the yellow eyes floating in the liquid. The water suddenly turned brown and the eyes stopped floating as the water materialized into what looked like the spawn of Satan himself.

"Now, now, isn't chucking a new friend against the wall kind of mean," the goateed creature asked me. He had what appeared to be a deer antler and gazelle or antelope horn, a lion's paw, an eagle talon, a bat wing and falcon wing with a pony leg and dragon leg and dragon tail.

"What the fuck are you?" I demanded.

"Oh excuse me where are my manners? Probably where you left yours when you threw me at the wall," the creature teased. "I am a draconequus, and my name is Discord, hence why I look the way I do," he explained.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, "you look like something Ozzy Osbourne smoked and shat out," I replied.

"Now that is a little rude wouldn't you say?" Discord put on a sad face and pouted his lips while twirling his tail in his hands. I almost felt bad before he snapped his fingers and I found myself floating upside down above my bed. "Now, I've heard so little about you 'Cougar'," he air quoted, "so tell me a little about yourself," he snapped his fingers again and had on a school girl's outfit and laid down on his own bed with he legs crossed and his head propped up by his fists.

"I'm a human that was in the Air Force, that's all I'm telling you," I crossed my arms as he lowered me back onto my bed.

"Aww pish posh, that can't be all! I heard you killed not one, not three, but TWO Timberwolves!" He disappeared in a puff of smoke only to reappear holding a spear and dressed as Muldoon from Jurassic Park, "you must teach me how to hunt like that," he threw the spear at Rainbow, but said spear turned into silly string and covered the sleeping Pegasus.

"I had no choice, they would've killed me and Applejack; I acted in self defense," I replied. Suddenly, Discord appeared in small form on the bridge of my nose back without any costuming.

"Ah yes, you and little Applejack, I must say you two make more of an interesting and weird couple than Rarity and Twilight's little dinosaur friend," the draconequus teased and got up right in front of my eye.

"Forget that! We're just friends alright? We don't have any 'feelings' for each other and she's pretty pissed off at me," I said solemnly. Discord turned to his regular size again and leaned his arm against my head.

"Right, the whole lying is wrong thing really hurt the element of honest, there's a shock," Discored hit my forehead with a joy buzzer and shocked me.

"Fucking bitch!" I screeched and rubbed my head.

"Hey, do I look like a girl dog to you?" He asked as he appeared as Lassie. "Anyway," Discord changed back to his regular form yet again, "being the spirit of chaos is fun of course, but even I know that lying is wrong because the little white lie can grow and grow until it comes back and splats all over your face," a cream pie suddenly hit my face. I wiped it off and clenched my teeth as I wanted to murder this guy. "Though you technically didn't lie from what I heard," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Discord groaned as he transformed into a sherlock holmes draconequus complete with a pipe and started smoking it.

"You never really lied to Applejack, you just kept the whole truth from her, and although it's a pretty bad thing to do, you never truly lied to her," he explained and then gobbled up the pipe. I contemplated his words, and soon discovered he was actually right.

"Well, how am I going to convince Applejack to forgive me?" I asked Discord.

"That shouldn't be too hard now should it?" The hodgepodge creature asked me, "just promise her that you won't lie to her ever again and case closed," He violently shut a brief case closed.

"But everypony has to lie eventually," I pointed out, "I don't want to lie to her about lying!"

"If you're so bent up about being 'honorable' and 'doing the right thing' then I suggest-" he started before a digital tone went off, "oh would you look at the time, I'm late for a tea party at Fluttershy's cottage, ta-ta now Cougar!" Discord tipped a top hat and walked out of the room, leaving me to think about how re-gain Applejack's trust.

End Chapter IX

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Okay, writing Discord is a ton of fun! I hope I can use him again sometime in future chapters! Please review everypony! Next Chapter, the Summer Sun Celebration!