Honored friends (Burning Sage)

[Burning Sage]

Burning Sage walked along the city streets with an air of calm determination. His long, black hair was tied into four braids, each braid sporting a full sized bison horn. It would have been rather comical to behold had his face not been set as it was. Despite his attempts to seem calm and friendly, he knew full well that his overall appearance was rather intimidating. Ponies have seen Bison before, and even befriended them.

However, he doubted that anypony not living in Apploloosa had seen a Bluehorn bison like him, let alone a Bluehorn medicine man (and witch, but that's on special occasion.) He decided not to wear his face-paint into town so he didn't draw to much attention to himself.

But then again, a large bison walking through the city streets carrying a pack almost the size of a pony would be rather hard to miss. Looking at his surroundings, he sighed to himself. He had no idea were the hospital was, and he doubted he could use his healing salves, brews and herbs anywhere else without drawing suspicion to himself. These ponies had enough to be worried about, no sense in giving the guard a scare about an "unlicensed" healer. You could never tell with city ponies, but if the (rather wounding) looks of fear he was garnering were any indication, they would probably go off the deep end at the drop of a hat.

Finally deciding to swallow his apprehensions, he looked around for a guard to ask for directions. Finding a guards-mare easily enough in her golden armor, he approached with a polite smile.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you. I seem to be lost... can you point me in the direction of the hospital?"

[Stygg Whitefeather]

The terribly disinterested guard looked up from under her helm's visor, shooting the bison a once over, she sighed and motioned with her head towards a glum alley just to her right. "That way. Through the alley, turn left, up a few blocks through the ghetto. Should-" She let out an audible yawn with a smacking maw as it trailed off. "See it from there." She shifted against her spear, which she leaned lazily against. Stuck in a back-street duty clearly was not all that scintillating for the guard-mare, and her posture made it abundantly clear. "Anything else?" She paused, "Hay, aren't you rather far from your land? What business does a buffalo have in Fillydelphia?" She inquired with feigned interest. "Well, last I heard your kind weren't allied with the Diamond Dogs, so carry on." She shifted in her armor, "Oh, by the way, word of advice, the hospital is in Flayers territory. They've gotten a little more bold since the refugees have been flooding in - might want to keep your things close. Now carry on - I'm not an information kiosk." She said as she flicked her helm back over her head, which shadowed her eyes as she lazily dozed in a half-awake stupor.

[Burning Sage]

"Tʼáá íiyisíí ahéheeʼ, guardsmare." He says with a nod and kind smile. He wasn't all to sure who this "Flayer" was, but he was fairly certain that if he survived Diamond Dog ambushes, he could handle a pony or two. And if worse came to worse, there was always his witchcraft. Or, even more useful, was the 5 grams of "Ancestors Wrath" he had stashed, though with the albeit temporary damage it does to one's thought process, he hoped to avoid using it.

He set out, following the directions given to him by the guard, never letting his guard down. Unknown to him, his tear-streak painted face took on a look of a barely contained snarl, and his stride grew slightly heavier. Whoever these ponies might have been, it's foolish all the same to stand in the way of a determined buffalo.

Especially one of the ’Ánt’įįhnii, who could (but wouldn't) curse their entire bloodlines. He may not be able to do that yet, but they don't know that, do they?

[Live Wire]

The ghetto, by pony standards, was not a terribly ugly place, nor was it all too lovely. It was simple, quant even, with straw laden carts on stone streets that wound their way around old buildings, pot-marked with the signs of the occupation, with tight, dark alleys between them. There were ponies there, of all sorts, their few articles of clothes suggested poor or, just as likely, refugees that were resettled here by the military. One thing that stood out was the splattering’s of red paint in the image of a pony, splayed out with an obvious blood splatter around it upon the walls of a few buildings and street signs.

From down the block, Burning Sage could finally spy the hospital a few more blocks up. What else also now stood out, as the once moderately busy street was now empty, with the exception of a single, cream-colored unicorn filly who stood in the middle of the road.

“Oye, mister, you look a’lil lost. Maybe… I can help ya find your way.” Said the filly snidely. “For a fee of course. It can be dangerous in this parts-“ As she spoke, a few more young ponies, colts and fillies, begun to emerge from the alleys and roofs. Even a few fledge griffons and a filly zebra, dressed in rags and what appeared to be armor made of scraps and garbage, adorned with the same symbol as graffiti. Some flashed crude weapons; knives in the muzzles of the earth and Pegasus ponies, a male griffon with a red beret had a pipe with some device attached to it which made it looks like a very small cannon, while the other female griffon had a talon weapon with what appeared to be razors tied with wires to it, while the unicorns horns were aglow, including the filly in the middle of road. “Even for a… what are ya, exactly?”

“Ah Buffalo, zaps.” Said the beret griffon, as he hovered closer to the cream-colored filly known as ‘zaps’.

“Ya, what he said.” ‘Zaps’ stated as her cracked horn cackled with electricity. “So, about t’at tax.”

“Fee.” Said the griffon.

“But tax makes it sound more legit, don’t ya think?” Retorted ‘zaps’ as she glanced to the griffon floating in the air beside her, “Been thinking, how does t’e ‘War Orphans Fund Tax’, sound?”

The others of the gang glanced amongst themselves and nodded with comments of approval.

“Eh, w’atever, long as we get our bits.” Replied the griffon.

‘Zaps’ scraped her hoof against the stone street. “Ya, so hoof over ya bits, an’ ya free to go.”

[Burning Sage]

At her words, dark clouds rumbled away in his head as he took in the form of the filly trying to rob him. Rather young to be a highwaymare, isn't she? He didn't really have any bits, and he'd rather not deal with having-

He stopped suddenly, taking in the ponies currently blocking him. Maybe... just maybe...

"I appreciate the offer, Yázhí. However, my destination is there," he points to the hospital with a hoof, before bringing it back to scratch his head, "and I have no money. We don't use money where I come from." while his hoof was behind his head, he quietly grabbed a small bag, holding it out to the young filly with a disarming smile. "What I can offer you, however, is this."

Inside the bag was a weaker variant of "Ancestors Wrath", which would induce a lesser state of strength and painlessness, but would barely anger the user as opposed to the all consuming rage induced by it's parent strand. The herbs themselves were hardened into about 17 murky green hard candies.

"I am certain you could get some bits from this. I am the only one who can make these special treats, after all."

Hopefully, they wouldn't try one themselves and discover it's effects. They probably wouldn't go for much unless they were put in a candy store, either. But as much as he hated to (semi)lie like this, especially to a Yázhí (little one), he wasn't willing to give up just yet.


Hopefully none of them have a sweet tooth. He thought idly to himself.

[Live Wire]

“W’at did he call us?” Asked the filly, ‘Zap’, with a perplexed expression as she looked to the others for clarification. Most just shrugged, some muttered it was a slur of some sort, likely buffalo in origin. The griffons, tough as they are, appeared unfazed by the unfamiliar word.

“Dunno, don’t care.” The beret clad griffon said, before he swooped in and snatched up the sack of, what appeared to be, hard candy. He slipped back beside the vocal unicorn as his talon rummaged through the sack – inspecting the tiny confectionaries. “Seriously? Candy? What do you think we are, kids?”

“Uh… aren’t we?” Piped a very young earth pony colt.

Shh! Snapped the griffon. “That all you got? Seriously?” He said as he took a candy and popped it into his beak. He crunched down on it and ground away at it with audible cracks. “And these taste terrible. What kind’a candy is this?” He spat out a few shards, and then wiped his beak with a talon.

“Backwater buffalo candy, dur.” Chimed Zaps, “Fine, your candy sucks. What business do you have at our hospital? Gonna poison some foals with your junk candy?” She accused as she stomped forward, her horn pointed outwards like a threatening spear. “Tell ya’ w’at, hand over some of them nifty horns in your mane and maybe we’d consider letting ya pass. What ya say fell’as? Horns all around?”

A chorus of cheers erupted from the gang behind the filly.

[Burning Sage]

An alien thought entered Burning Sage's thick head as he beheld the cheering bandits. He tried being nice, he really did. They were Yázhí for crying out loud! But they spat on his gift, a grave insult among the buffalo tribes. Whether they meant it or not, they could have done nothing worse to offend him. A burst of anger pushed the last peaceful thoughts from his mind. Ranged weapons or no, armed and young or no, they would know their error.

"You want horns?" he asked, finally letting his anger show in his eyes.

In a flash of movement other buffalo weren't capable of, he drew and bit into the small packet of "Ancestors Wrath" before undoing two of his braids and hurling the horns at "Zaps" and the beret baring griffon before charging forward with reckless abandon, lowering his head, intent to either push past them, or trample them underhoof.

Or, if worse came to worst, ram into them, possibly impaling one of them on his painted horns.

The burst of rage from the herb fueled his already stoked fury which, in turn, fueled his people's infamous charge. He was confident in the herb's powerful pain-killing effects, so he worried little about their possible counterattack.

What the Yázhí no doubt didn't know was that nothing short of a house could stop a buffalo in full sprint.

"Ahu! Ahu! Ye shakaikatal, i-ne-yanga!! Ye shakaikatal, ai-ye-lo!!!" He cried as loudly as his lungs would allow (which was, by buffalo standards, quite loud) as he hurled another horn at the griffon toting the small cannon, not faltering in his charge.

[Live Wire]

"Oh buck!" Shouted 'Zaps' as she saw the rampaged buffalo barrel down on her. Her horn blasted a flash of light, the air fell thick with the scent of ozone, and in an electrical flash a shield enveloped the young filly and she was safely bounced out of the way of the buffalo from the force of him attempting to trample her. She rolled into a nearby wall, safe but dazed.

The rest of the gang begun throw and shot whatever they weld at the buffalo, knives, rocks, bricks, a few weak blasts of magic, and shot from slings though they were useless against his hide. The beret griffon, grazed across the rear-leg by the flung horn, fired a wild shot toward Burning Shot. The shot nicked the buffalo's own horn and ricocheted into a nearby hanging sign and knocked it off one hinge. He, Zaps, and the rest of the gang turned and begun to chase after the rampaged buffalo as the flung whatever they had at hoof reach. A whistle burst from behind Burning, then suddenly a rope went taught across the street, pulled by colts and fillies from opposite alleys. 

 Too close to stop in time, Burning Sage was forced to plow right through the line, but instead of being stopped in his tracks, he pulled the rope with him and with it, five young ponies and a zebra who held on for dear life by their teeth. As they flew down the street, knocking carts, stalls, and barrels every which way, Burning Sage would suddenly feel something drop on him from above - about the weight and size of a pony filly, dropped by the beret griffon who flew on overhead. 

"Hey, stop! You're gonna kill them!" 'Zaps' screamed, "I said stop!" Her horn's magic flared and a strong charge of electricity erupted through her body and into Burning Sage. His muscles seized for a moment and forced him to dead stop as his legs gave out under him. Both him and 'Zaps' rolled, head over hooves, into an asparagus cart off the side of the street.

There was a moment of silence, before Zap's voice could be heard from under the cart and buffalo. "Get him off me, get him off!" She pleaded as she emerged with a gasp from under the Burning Sage's neck and beard and flailed her forehooves against the ground. By then, the effects of 'Zaps' magic had faded and Sage would feel his muscles start to tingle as he regained control of them.

[Burning Sage]

The pain in his horn and muscles were dulled drastically, and already he was on his hooves as soon as the filly was free. He cast a quick look around, spotting the injured zebra and young ponies sprawled across the street. He was only four feet from the hospital, but his rage refused to let it go like that.

"Even as you hold me up in an alleyway as cowards would, I gave you a gift I crafted by hoof!! Do ponies and griffons let their children run rampant in this city, stealing and robbing and beating as they wish?!" He all but roared at the assembled group, his blood pounding in his skull and puffing steam from his nose.

"You spat on my kindness! Trampled on my offer of mercy! I come to this city to treat they who can't afford standard treatment, and you accuse me of attempting to poison them!! Is this how you thank those who only wished to help you?! BY ROBBING THEM BLIND AND LAUGHING AS COYOTES?!!"

He steadily grew louder with each passing sentence, until he was fairly certain the walls of the buildings shook with each word, before going dangerously calm, his eyes still burning with an ungodly anger.

"Now, I am going to help the doctors and nurses however I can, and forget this little encounter ever happened. I suggest you children do the same, lest you come across someone who won't give you that choice. But before I do, those horns you wanted so badly? Each one was impaled inside of a Diamond Dog. If you want them so badly, you should know of the blood that stains them beneath the blue paint." Taking a few breaths to calm his thundering heart and clear the stormclouds roiling in his head, he turned and walked through the doors.

[Stygg Whitefeather]

Once inside the hospital, Burning Sage found the reception area at near bursting capacity, with sick and injured ponies lining every wall, chair, and in many cases the floor itself as they waited for their turn to be seen.It was so packed to the walls, Sage would find it difficult to move forward. The few staff he could see, including the receptionist, appeared frazzled and stressed as they tried to attend to the litany of questions, complaints, and groans of pain - each claiming to be more serious than the pony next to them. The receptionist was currently receiving the brunt of this, exacerbated and tired, she yawned and waved off a stallion and foal to a corner as she explained they would get to them when they can.

She wiped her frazzled mane from her eyes as she made contact with Burning Sage, visually perturbed by yet another possible patient shuffle in, a very large one none the less and not visually bleeding. He actually looked rather healthy, compared to the rest in the room. "Sir, if this isn't a medical emergency, we're already beyond capacity, please come back another time."

[Burning Sage]

Burning took in his surroundings, shocked at the conditions of the hospital waiting area. So many ponies needed treatment, yet this place only had so much room...

"No no, I am not here due to any injury or illness. I had a feeling that this hospital could use some extra hooves. I am a healer, so I am well versed in medicinal plants and remedies." He glanced around again, taking note of all the ponies in pain, sick and injured, foals and adults. "I mean no disrespect by this, but it would appear as if you could use the help, with so many needing treatment here... I can't just sit by and do nothing."

He looks the mare at the counter in the eye as he says this, a sign of strength among the buffalo. A sign that conveys, I mean everything I said.

[Stygg Whitefeather]

The receptionist raised her brow suspiciously towards what the Buffalo has just proclaimed, which slowly melded into a smirk before she leaned down to grab a pencil with her muzzle and scribble something on her desk. She then tossed the note up on the counter for Burning Sage. "Tell you what, since you don't seem to be yanking my tail about this, we have a temporary triage unit setup around back, taking in military overflow and non-equines, also your heft won't get in the way." She slid the note closer to Burning Sage, "Give this to Nurse Redheart, the white mare with a red-cross cutie-mark. She'll find a place for you there." She then pointed behind Sage, "Outside and around the hospital block. You'll see some guards and tents sent up, show them the note and they should let you in." She then leaned over to look past him, "NEXT!" She yelled.

Meanwhile, outside, the gang were recovering from their run in with the enraged buffalo. A few meandered about as they checked on their crude weapons, tossing those too damaged to fix. Live Wire was angrily pacing on the curb opposite the hospital - they weren't allowed anywhere near the place nowadays thanks to a certain incident, or least so the filly was told. Happened before she had arrived in town with the other refugees, but that knowledge didn't do much to quell her temper. "Get a load of that, stupid bison." She spat.

The beret clad griffon tried to touch her but her horn sent out a zap of electricity to knock his talon away. "Hey, what gives!?" He shook his talon as he tried to get some feeling back in the extremity. "Let it go, Zaps, not worth the trouble. Those horns probably wouldn't have fetched a bit anyway."

"I should gallop in there and give him a piece of my mind, Caw; he nearly killed us!"

"Hey guys... Sunny Side is hurt." Sheepishly one of the colts pipped up from a nearby wall, on the ground, under the splinters of a broken barrel that had gotten jumbled in the struggle was a soft-yellow and white filly, she groaned as she tried to move and breathe - it appeared her ribs were injured.

"Great, just great. Stupid buffalo." Snapped Live Wire.

"Everypony, let's help her up." Caw commanded as he fluttered over to her - the others gathered to help her up, the unicorns using their magic to the best of their young abilities to assist while the other, stronger ponies lifted.

"And where are we gonna take her, we're banned from the hospital remember?"

The zebra colt interjected, "Maybe the thing they setup outside, on the other side? They're taking anyone, I heard."

Live Wire and Caw looked to each other and shrugged, "Worth a shot." And with that the gang moved the injured filly towards the triage unit.

[Burning Sage]

Burning Sage took the note with a nod and smile, quickly moving out of the way for the next pony in line. Once outside, he noticed the foals and griffon helping their injured friend to the tents he was heading to. Anger spiked again within him, but he calmed himself upon seeing the extent of the colt's injuries.

Injuries he was responsible for.

With a sigh, he left main reception area and headed to the tents out back, not saying a word to the foals behind him... for all of about three minutes.

"Is it bad?" He asked, his guilt clear in his voice, but his hoof was ready should he need to defend himself again.

[Live Wire]

"Oh look who it is..." Live Wire said snidely as she, and the others, noticed Burning Sage emerge from the main hospital, he could clearly see her snarl, not at all hiding her sentiment towards the foreigner. She would remember this bison and it would burn her with misguided hatred. Following quietly behind, carrying their friend towards the tents, Live Wire never looked away from Burning Sage, staring daggers into his backside. Caw, the griffon, slapped Live on her side, urging her not the to stare - essentially trying to act as a moderator between the two - as Live clearly considered using her unfocused lightning to electrocute the large buffalo, apparent by the sparks flooding from her slightly damaged horn; he also feared she would hurt Sunny Side inadvertently.

"Is it bad?" Burning Sage asked; Live Wire growled, Caw prodded her side.

"H'y, play nice. Now isn't the time." He remarked as she flicked her beret back over his crest feathers as he stared down the buffalo - clearly not comfortable he was here but not desiring another confrontation for fear of more injuries. "Dunno, but what 're ya doing here? 'Helping?' as you said, well we don't need your kind's help. We're doing fine ourselves."

Sunny Side groaned in pain, a bit of blood spilling from her muzzle - likely from a punctured lung causing blood to fill her chest cavity. Her breathing grew more labored and pained. Live Wire nuzzled against her for a moment, then looked up to Burning Sage with teary eyes. "If you had just hoofed over some bits this wouldn't have happened. We just wanted to eat, but nooooo, you had to act all high and mighty 'cause ya 'were helpin'. Unless ya' can help Sunny, maybe you should go back to Appaloosa or wherever you're from before you hurt more of us - this city ain't for the likes of you." She said matter-of-factually as she turned back to Sunny, reassuring her everything would be fine as she took her hoof into her own while Caw and the others argued with the Guard Ponies over letting them in - the gang of foals wasn't liked by the populace, that much was for certain.