To Rescue a Soul

By Windrace

I had never been to Ponyville. It was a pleasant, little town filled with enjoyable characters. The rumors that everypony were extremely friendly was true, that is why I decided to start my new life here. Well, it's not like I could go back to Canterlot, not after what I’ve done. I just hope my past doesn’t follow me here. I guess it’s something my late mother said, “Good ponies sometimes make bad decisions.” Unfortunately, I wish I could believe that. I feel like a bad pony. I wish to start new here, make some friends, and live the rest of my life as a good pony and hopefully make up for what I did.

I trotted around the snow-covered town, nodding back to the smiling faces that passed me. The peaceful, laidback atmosphere was a huge relief from the demanding, hectic world of business in Canterlot. I decided to trot around the park and watch the ice skaters perform their perfectly calculated dances around each other. It was a beautiful sight; families laughing, friends singing, everypony smiling. The pure happiness seeped through my tough, cold coat and kept me warm from chill. I closed my eyes and soaked in the joyful sounds of the ponies around me.

“HELP!” somepony shouted.

My eyes shot open and searched the area for signs of distress. Only after the ice skaters scattered did I see the little hole in the ice.

“She’s under the ice!” another pony screamed.

My body snapped into autopilot as I raced toward the scene. I did not think, I just did; and reaching the tiny hole I dived into the freezing water leaving a larger hole behind me. The extreme cold immediately started to numb my senses as I franticly tried to find the filly who was trapped under the ice. After my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I spotted her twenty feet from me, squirming around trying to break the solid icy ceiling preventing her from breathing. I swam as fast as I could, but had to fight the current pushing toward the river connecting the pond. I grabbed her with my forelegs, and flipping upside down, kicked the ice. It was more solid than I thought and it took many failed attempts. I realized time was closing in, looked down, and panicked when I saw the little filly was no longer moving. I myself was losing consciousness and my lungs were aching. So I mustered up as much energy as I could, kicked with all my strength, and finally bucked a hole through the ice. I shot through to the surface placing the filly on the ice before trying to pull myself out. Ponies came galloping over to help and immediately threw a blanket over the filly. Two ponies came over to help me out, but I lost my footing and slipped back into the hole, banging my head against the ice. I lost my consciousness to the darkness below.

Water was lapping at my face as I half-opened my right eye. I was lying on the side of the riverbank, some ways away from the pond. I tried taking a breath, instead water came sputtering out. I was alive, but just barely. I lost all feeling and could not move anything. A soft, cold breeze hit my soaked body like a train and sent a repulsive shiver down my spine. Ice quickly began to form on my yellow coat as my body commenced the impending shaking. I had never experienced it before, but I knew I was going into shock and needed help quickly otherwise my time here would cease. With what feeling I had left in my ears, I heard the familiar clopping of hoofs and tried to shout for help. The numbing cold prevented any words from coming out. Blackness was closing in and I soon slipped out of consciousness again.

****

Pins and needles were all I could feel throughout my sore body. I tried opening my eyes, but they refused and remained sealed shut. As I slowly regained consciousness, I noticed my location had moved from the riverbank to a soft, warm bed. To my relief, my limbs moved on command as I shifted my position, wrapping the fleece blanket around me. I moaned when I felt a sharp pain in my right side.

“Oh, good! You’re awake. Try not to move a lot,” said a nurse who trotted into the room upon hearing my moaning.

“What happened?” I asked fearing the worst.

“You broke a rib, that’s all,” she said smiling. “Now what’s your name sweetie?”

I panicked, why would she ask that so quickly. Maybe the Equestrian Police was looking for me after all. I didn’t know what to do and just stared at her.

“Hun, can you talk? I just need to know your name so I can put it on your charts,” she said holding up a clipboard.

“Shadow Star,” I whispered, hoping she wouldn’t know it from some officer who was asking around.

As she wrote my name down, the doctor came in with a smile. Everypony smiled around here, it was nice. The two smiles reassured me that everything was going to fine.

“So how’s, ummm,” the doctor said looking at the chart, “Shadow Star! How are you feeling? You had quite a week.”

“A week?” I asked somewhat puzzled.

The doctor saw my concern and tried to explain what happened to me, “You went missing for a whole day after you saved that little filly’s life.”

“Is she ok?” I asked remembering her lack of movement.

“Yes, yes, she’s going to be just fine. She bounced back to life in a day. She owes you her life,” he replied.

“That’s good,” I said sinking into the bed, letting out a sigh of relief. “How did I end up here?”

“Somepony found you half-drowned and half-frozen about a mile down river the next morning and brought you in. You’ve been out cold here in the hospital for about four days. We were afraid you might not wake up.”

“Well, here I am,” I joked.

“Now, I have to take a look at that rib,” the doctor said turning to the nurse. “Nurse Redheart, could you help Mr. Star turn over on his side please.”

“Yes Doctor Hooves,” she said trotting over to the side of the bed and gently pushing my back to turn me over.

I have to admit the pain was more than I would expect from a broke rib, but then again, I have never broken anything before so I wouldn’t know.

“Thank you!” a little voice shouted. I heard small hooves clopping into the room and the next thing I know, I have a little purple unicorn jumping on my bed, giving me a huge hug accidentally stepping on my side sending a pain searing through my body.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was so afraid. I fell through the ice and was so afraid, but you saved me. Thank you for saving me. You’re MY hero. THANK YOU!” continued the screeching.

I ignored the pain and hugged her back saying, “You’re welcome.”

It was nice to have somepony call me a hero; it made me feel like a good pony. The doctor saw I was in pain and picked up the little filly telling her I was hurting and needed some rest. After saying thank you a hundred times more and she  galloped out of the room. I laid back down feeling pretty good about myself, until the pain returned with the doctors’s examining hooves poking my side.

****

My little admirer came to visit me every day after school. She was a charming little filly, full of life and very open about her life. Her name was Chrystal. She loves to ice skate and dreams of joining Equestria’s Royal Ice Dancers. Chrystal is at the top of her class, surpassing everypony in both grades and magical ability. She also was originally from Canterlot and moved to Ponyville a few years before. For hours we would chat about the shops, museums, and sights of Canterlot. I did miss the place, but I wanted to know more about Ponyville.

“So Chrystal, what is it like to live here?” I asked her during one of her visits.

“Oh Shadow, you would love it here!” she yelled excitedly, “Everypony is so nice, everypony is friends with everypony. I can’t think of any other place a pony would want to live.”

“Tell me, what do ponies do for a living here. I want to move here!” I said hoping she could tell me about a job I could do. The only response I got was a filly-scream.

“YOU’RE GOING TO MOVE HERE!” she shouted jumping up and down on the bed.

“I hope to, but I need to find a job first,” I told her, “and maybe a nice house too.”

“Well, you’re looking at Ponyville’s number one information knower,” she stated proudly. “What can you do?”

“I was a member of the Equestrian Search and Rescue team,” I replied.

“Ummm, besides the occasional pony falling through ice, or getting lost in the Everfree Forest, I don’t know if there is a job that requires that type of, ummm, skill,” she said in deep thought.

“Ponyville doesn’t have a Search and Rescue team?” I asked surprised, thinking every town in Equestria had one.

“No, we never needed one,” she replied

“Well, what if you and I start one?” I could see Chrystal’s eye brightening.

“That would be . . . AWESOME!” she shouted ecstatically. “Ummm Shadow,” her voice became soft, “how do you start a team?”

I sat up and wrapped my forelegs around her, “Well, the first thing I need is a second in command. Now I wonder who I could find to that for me?” I said in a sarcastic voice.

The little unicorn’s hoof immediately shot up, “Ohhh, I can! I can!”

“Alright, now we need potential candidates who are willing to train and learn what it takes.” I said, repeating what my team leader said to me when I first joined.

“I heard the doctor say you can get out of here today,” she said joyfully.

“Yep, that’s right. I leave the hospital today,” I said sadly, remembering I had nowhere to go.

I wondered if this talented filly could read minds because the next thing she asked me was if I had anywhere to go. When I told her I didn’t, she immediately offered to have me stay at her house.

I never liked to impose on other ponies. I guess it was the "be your own stallion" type upbringing I got from my parents. “Thank you Chrystal, but I can’t, not without asking your mother first,” I said.

“Not without asking me what?” said a grey pegasus standing in the doorway.

“Mommy!” Chrystal shouted jumping of the bed into the legs of the lazy eyed mare. “Can Shadow stay with us until he finds his own house?”

“I would be delighted if he stayed with us,” the grey mare said smiling at me. “I wanted to come and thank you for first, saving my daughter, and secondly being such a good influence on her,” Chrystal’s mother said turning to her, “How about you go get us some water, ok hunny?”

“Yes Mom!” Chrystal joyfully shouted hopping out of the room.

“You have no idea how helpful you have been to me,” She said turning her attention to me.

“I'm always glad to help anypony I can and thank you so much for helping me and allowing me to stay with you,” I gratefully replied.

“I have been very busy with my job since my husband passed away. I haven’t been able to spend a lot time at home with Chrystal, and she doesn’t have many friends. You have given her somepony to talk to and send time with until I can come home. Thank you so much,” the grey mare said.

I felt bad now for staying with this broken family, “I’m sorry, I can find a hotel. I don’t want to trouble you.”

“Oh no! I couldn’t let you. Sir, you saved my daughter, letting you stay with us is the least I could do,” she said with teary eyes.

I gazed into those eyes, looking past the crooked features, into those beautiful yellow eyes, “Don’t call me sir, it makes me feel old. Please, call me Shadow Star.”

“I’m Derpy,” she replied staring into mine.

“Whatcha doin’?” Chrystal’s high-pitched voice rang out. “Can we go home?”

We both broke our gaze and looked at the purple filly standing with three water bottles balanced on her back.

Derpy returned her attention to me and said, “Yes, let’s ALL go home.”

****

We arrived at the little red cottage as the sun was getting ready for Princess Luna to raise the moon.