Apple Bloom woke up to the feeling of something soft, cold and wet beneath her. Cracking her eyes open, Apple Bloom saw she had somehow fallen out of Eventide's arms and had landed in the snow.

“Huh? How'd Ah get in the snow?” Apple Bloom muttered to herself. “Eventide must've fallen asleep, Ah guess.”

Wiggling around as best as she could, Apple Bloom managed to get herself out of the blanket that was covering her.

“T-Timber,” Apple Bloom heard Eventide moan. Looking over, she saw that Eventide was slumped over. “C-Crystalis,” Eventide continued as Apple Bloom approached her cautiously. Hearing her moan again Eventide moaned out, "S-sister."

“E-Eventide, y'all alright?” Apple Bloom asked hesitantly.

Apple Bloom very quickly took notice of a large, red stain on the tree that Eventide had been leaning against. Before she could examine it further, she heard the sound of growling coming from behind her.

“W-Who’s there?” Apple Bloom looked behind her and screamed. Taking a step back, she shouted, “GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!”

Before her stood a huge wolf with piercing, red eyes. It's head and front legs were covered with white fur, but the foliage growing out of its body and the traces of wood peaking out betrayed its true identity: a timberwolf. It was the oddest timberwolf Apple Bloom had ever seen, but it was a timberwolf nonetheless, and Apple Bloom knew she was in danger.

Apple Bloom, ignoring the pain in her leg, quickly covered Eventide with her own body as she yelled, “Eventide, there’s a timberwolf here!” She placed her front hooves onto Eventide's breastplate, shaking her as she desperately tried to wake her up. “Wake up! Wake up, already!”

“T-Tim-Timber,” Eventide moaned out softly. “Mother...”

The timberwolf took a step forward, eyeing Eventide, causing Apple Bloom to scream, “No! Y'all can’t have her! She ain't a snack!” Apple Bloom hit the timber wolf with her hoof. “Get back, you monster! Ah won’t let y'all take her without a fight.”

The wolf shook off the blow, then tilted its head to the right, whimpering sadly. Apple Bloom remained between the wolf and Eventide. Quickly looking down, Apple Bloom spied one of Eventide's axes. She grabbed it in her teeth as she swung it back and forth in her mouth. The weight started to hurt her neck, but she kept a strong front.

“Ah said get back!” Apple Bloom tried to say with the axe in her mouth. “Ah'll use this. Ah mean it!”

Apple Bloom watched as the wolf began to back away from her, growling at her while clearly showing signs that it was about to attack. Before the attack could come, both she and the wolf heard a loud stern voice call out from above them, “Stay your attack, Timber!”

To Apple Bloom's delight, a large pony suddenly landed in front of her, wearing silver armor. The pony continued sternly, not taking her eyes off of Timber, “Apple Bloom means you no harm. She is only trying to protect Eventide, as you yourself are doing.”

Hearing this Apple Bloom dropped the axe, asking, “How do you know my name? Who are you?”

Turning around once she was sure that Timber wasn’t about to attack, the pony said softly, “My name is Braveheart. The wolf behind me is called Timber.”

“Well, that's one question answered.” Apple Bloom mumbled, not getting off of Eventide. “How do you know--”

“APPLE BLOOM!” a very familiar voice called, causing her to look behind her.

“Oh, thank Celestia we done found y'all!”

“Applejack!” Apple Bloom yelled while she tried to run to her sister as happy tears ran down her cheeks. “Applejack, am Ah happy to see ya!”

Hugging her sister and her friends warmly, Apple Bloom very quickly filled them in on what had occurred only moments ago. Looking to Iron Will, Fluttershy said softly, “Oh, my.” Trotting over to him with Twilight and Dr. Hooves in tow, Fluttershy said softly, “It doesn’t look good, does it, Twilight?”

“No, it doesn’t. Eventide did a real number on him.”

“He’ll be in bed for at least six months, maybe longer,” Dr. Whooves said sternly. “What type of monster could do this to him?”

A loud, quick whistle quickly got everyone's attention. “If you're done insulting my charge, I need your help to get her medical attention. The minotaur's not the only one hurt here.”

Twilight began to trot back over to Braveheart, stopping when she felt something cold and metallic under her right front hoof. Looking down she picked up a locket in her magic, opened it, and stared almost bug-eyed at the photos within the locket.

“How can this be?” she muttered to herself. “There are photos of Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna here in Equestria.”

“Put that thing away and get over here,” Braveheart snapped. She looked over to Fluttershy, who remained back a bit, trying to stay out of the way as Braveheart almost barked out to her, “You are the one called Fluttershy, yes? I need you to call Discord here now.”

“But, I--” Fluttershy tried to protest, “I mean, he isn’t--”

“Eventide will die without medical treatment.” She stomped to punctuate her declaration, the gesture causing Fluttershy to take a step back. “I can’t carry her on my back; she's too big. Discord is the only one that can save her.”

Before Fluttershy could protest further, Braveheart took Eventide's helmet off and set it down next to her. Everypony present immediately gasped in horror. Rainbow and Twilight looking sick, Applejack looking away in horror, Fluttershy looking like she was about to faint, and even Dr. Hooves looking slightly ill at the sight. Upset, Braveheart said, “Really? You all fought against Queen Chrysalis before, and a few scars cause you to lose your lunch?” Looking back at Eventide as she moaned in pain from her injuries, Braveheart continued bitterly, “If this is what an Element holder does to one that needs their help, I am fully ashamed to call myself an Equestrian Guardian of the First Order.”

Rainbow's eyes widened as she suddenly realized whom they were dealing with. Before she or anypony else could say anything, they all heard Eventide moan in pain. A soft whistle from Fluttershy, and Discord suddenly popped out of thin air next to her, saying with a lopsided smile, “Why, my dear Fluttershy, what a surprise seeing you here! And oh, look, is that Braveheart the guardian of Snowflake Monastery? What a surprise, indeed!”

“Either help Eventide, you monster,” Braveheart snarled out, ignoring the fact that all eyes were watching her, “Or I swear I will send you to Tartarus!”

“My, my, is that any way to talk to the one creature that can save your friend?" At Braveheart's glare, he continued, "Eventide, you say? Why, is that strange pony that thinks she is a creature from another world still around?” Discord batted his eyes playfully, looking just past Braveheart. “Why, so she is! I don’t believe this! After all the trouble I went through, giving her a body more suited to the world she's convinced she's actually from, she goes at gets herself mangled! The nerve!” Seeing the angry looks on everypony's face as they all realized why Eventide looked like pony with a human body, Discord smiled and said, “Oh, did I say that out loud?”

“DISCORD!” Braveheart screamed. Discord turned to face her, clearly more afraid of her then he was of either Twilight or Fluttershy, who stared bitterly at him. “Take us to my monastery now!” Quickly looking around, she added “Don’t forget her weapons, her shield--which you will fix, by the way--and Iron Will.”

“Oh, very well, if you insist, Braveheart. I was trying to have some fun, is all. Honestly, you ponies have no sense of humor.” Before Braveheart could retort, Discord quickly said, “Which way?”

“North by north-northwest. If you get us there in one piece, I’ll forgive what you did to her when you first met her two years ago. Now hurry up and get--”

Discord wasted little time. Snapping his fingers, everyone soon found themselves standing in front of a large, stone monastery. Braveheart quickly trotted up to a large, silver gong, kicked with her hind legs, then said to the monks that came out of the monastery. “Take Eventide to the lower chambers and bind her wounds, then put her to bed and make sure she stays there.” Turning to face Twilight, who looked worried, Braveheart continued, “Fear not for her, Princess Twilight. Eventide Shimmer Solies is very tough and rather stubborn. It will take more than a minotaur to take her down for good.”

As everypony went inside, Twilight turned to Discord, saying to him softly with tears falling down her cheeks. “I can’t stay here. I want to learn how she's doing, but I have to get to Sunset. Discord will you please--”

“Say no more, Twilight.” Discord snapped his talon again, sending himself and Twilight to her castle. Twilight ran inside, calling back, “Thank you, Discord! I will not forget this, I promise.”

“Take care of Sunset for us, Twilight. I fear she will be needed soon enough.” Snapping his talon again, Discord popped back up at the monastery, finding Fluttershy outside, sobbing. “Why, Fluttershy, what's wrong, my dear?”

“It’s Eventide, Discord. She has severe bruising on her back and eight broken ribs,” Fluttershy sobbed, “How could Iron Will do that to her? Her spine is so damaged, she might not be able to walk again.”

“Fluttershy, let me see if I can help her. It's the least I can do for what I did to her.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I disappeared the time after you told me off, I went to the Crystal Empire and found her crying. She was a complete pony, at this point. She had a photo in her hooves, and sobbing, she told me she wasn’t a pony at all. So, while she cried herself to sleep, I used my magic to try and help her.”

Sniffing hard and whiping her hoof under her eyes, trying to dry her tears, Fluttershy said just barely above a whisper, “And how does Braveheart know of this?”

“She,” Discord answered, rolling his eyes in disgust, “is the pony that saw me and demanded that I change her back. I tried to tell her that I couldn’t change her into what was in her photo but that I could make it so she could at least walk upright, and that's what I did.” Looking to the entryway of the monastery, Discord continued, “I think it was shortly after I returned to your side and cleaned up my actions at Applejack's farm that Eventide was taken here and shown how to survive in this world.”

“I think you're keeping something from me, Discord. What--”

“Oh, would you look at the time! I have to, uh, go now!” Discord interrupted, showing Fluttershy a clock that read "Run!', "Retreat!", "Vamos!", and "Skedaddle!" where the twelve, three, six, and nine should've been. As she stared at it, Discord made a hasty retreat, leaving behind a medium-sized photograph. “Bye, Fluttershy!” Fluttershy simply shook her head, picked up the photo, and headed into the monastery.

Twilight, meanwhile, had gathered her belongings and headed through the mirror. Stepping through the other side a few moments later, she quickly made her way into the school.

Next Chapter: Hospital (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 24 Minutes