Theá stood and watched silently as the stallion worked, taking mental notes of what he did and how for future use. Who knows? It may come in handy one day to know at least some medical procedure. It wasn’t outside the realms of possibility that one of her followers would become injured and she needed to keep them alive until more professional help could arrive. At least that was how she justified it herself. She wasn’t much for admitting her own shortcomings, but so long as it wasn’t spread around that she would deign herself to learn from mortals then she was sure no problems would arise. She had sat down while he waited and had taken her braid into her magic to tighten it up again after it had come somewhat loose from her earlier incident. Her eyes, however, never left the doctor. [i]“Well?”[/i] He reverie was broken by the Doctor speaking up. Her eyes narrowed as she locked her gaze onto his, holding it fast for just long enough to make it known that she did, in fact, not appreciate being talked down to, least of all by a mortal. While doing so, she also did her best to remember what exactly it was that he had said. [i]Fragments. Small, difficult to extract. He needs his equipment from where he came from. Right![/i] Theá shook her head, dismissing his request almost instantly. “No, I’ll get them myself. T’is much faster… East side, you said? Meelo, keep an eye on him.” She spread her wings wide, giving a full view of their exact size, and pushed down hard, propelling herself into the air and shooting towards the east side of the crater at a leisurely speed which, to mortals, was about the fastest any non-athlete pegasus could match. From where she had been standing rose a black shape with a dark, smoke-like mane and tail, and pupil-less eyes of a lighter blue than the body. Upon coming to a rest hovering a few centimetres above the ground, it tilted its head as it looked at the doctor. “Haven’t I seen you before?” (unsure whether you want to have Meelo and Scalpel to have a conversation, but I wrote a reply to his question if you want to use it) Scalpel gave the bobbing near invisible entity a look and raised an eyebrow, a blade shifting under his waistcoat as he multitasked his magic in preparation for the worst. “I don’t think so, unless I reattached your leg in the Moon and Star campaign last year I doubt we have ever met…why? Do you know me?” [center]------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center] Theá sped across the wreckage of what had once been Old Hoof, heading due east as a green and brown blur. A few minutes passed before she spotted a couple figures at the edge of the crater. Figuring that those two figures, one small and the other big, must be the ones that the stallion talked about, she banked and started a spiralling descent, soon coming to a stop directly in front of them with little warning save a distant flap of wings, and then her appearing right in front of them. “Your guardian has requested your presence,” she told them in a brisk tone of voice even as she lit her horn and enveloped them in a rich green field of magic and lifted them up off the ground to hover beside her. ***- Honey gave the Alicorn a both surprised and suspicious look. She didn’t trust her for one minute, especially when said Alicorn acted so brazenly and decided to levitate them off the earth and fly them towards its chosen destination. Grunge didn’t entirely share her inhibitions and began to hum happily as he levitated through the sky making happy noises, his robes flapping through the air. He wouldn’t act unless order to, but he seemed at ease with the Alicorn so she decided to suspend her sense of doubt about its intentions. “Pretty pony!” He exclaimed happily, and waved a hoof at the god. Frankly Honey figured she didn’t have a choice with this creature anyway, they were in its magic so resistance would only result in feeble flailing, so she decided to go with the flow of the situation as they made their way towards what looked like a primitive camp in the distance. With a little more time she caught sight of Uncle on the horizon tending to some wounded and talking to a hazy bobbing creature which flickered in and out of sight. She frowned and turned her head to look at the Alicorn. “Who are you exactly?” she inquired, “do you work for Moon and Star? Because those are inquisitors down there that Uncle is tending to.” Her brow furrowed, “No it can’t be Moon and Star, they’d have locked you up to run endless tests on, not let you roam free…” “You are correct,” Theá replied, casting a sidelong glance at the filly. “In fact, I was the one who inflicted those injuries upon them, but someone I trust argued that I should at least make sure they survived. Frankly, I do not personally care seeing as they attempted to subdue me, and I view their suffering as justified, but every once in a while it may be beneficial for me to spare even those that would wish me harm.” She said no more as she angled her wings downwards, diving towards the ground while also slowing down enough so that they didn’t crash into the ground. What would likely have taken several minutes, if not an entire hour, had only taken one or two minutes at Theá’s speed. She touched down and let the filly and larger earth pony down on the ground beside her, gently, then turned to the doctor again. “I trust they are still alive,” she said, turning to briefly look at the unconscious inquisitors. “And Meelo.” She looked to the Nightmare. “I hope you behaved yourself.” The Nightmare smiled, or smiled as much as he could without a mouth. “I always do.” Theá only shook her head and turned back to watch the doctor and his entourage do their work. Honey ran across and gave her uncle a hug, relieved that nothing terrible had happened to her guardian whilst he had been away. Scalpel smiled and ran a hoof through her golden hair lovingly, “hello dear, I hope our Alicorn friend treated you well?” She gave a small solemn nod and he laughed, “Come on then, let’s get the packs off of Grunge and you can help me with treating these injuries, you need some practice.” They began unpacking from the great lumbering earth pony as Grunge hummed a merry tune from his past life. As Scalpel pulled out more medical instruments he casually broke the semi-silence and spoke up to the Alicorn, “I hope Grunge didn’t give you any trouble, he hasn’t been quite right since the accident, we think there may have been some damage to his brain.” He turned to look up at the Alicorn, “regardless I appreciate your assistance, and this will make the work much easier.” Thus the small disabled foal and the strange doctor set about finalising their surgeries on the last three which required it, the sound of small clinks as shards were pulled out settling into a steady monotony of background noise. “I forgot to ask” Scalpel spoke up, “What is your name ma’am? he grunted as a larger slice of stone came out one of the wounds of the three injured and nodded to Honey, who began to wrap up the wound with bandages as he cast a rapid healing spell. Continuing he looked at her with a questing gaze, “Also, why have you returned after so long? it also seems extremely curious to me if any of your kind were interested in returning peace to this place, waiting the better part of twenty years of perpetual civil war to turn up… after hundreds of thousands have died, it comes across as slightly… odd.” “I guess my main question is, for what purpose have you and your people returned?” He blinked and went slightly red in embarrassment at his poor manners, “I don’t mean any offense ma’am, but please take it from a mortal’s perspective; it’s not every day you see gods descending like lightening from the heavens, I hope I have not offended.” Theá shook her head. "You have caused no offense, although you are much more brazen and daring than most mortals. As for why we have waited until now," she looked off into the horizon as if contemplating as she spoke. "Passing through the weave that separates the Astral Plane from the Mortal Plane is not so easily done, nor is it something that should be done without due course." She was silent for a moment - Meelo continuing to just observe - before she spoke again. "Suffice to say that we have our reasons. What may appear as a great tragedy to you is little in our eyes. Many of us share the view that just a few hoofful of ponies surviving is sufficient for this world to survive, and that the death of the million others is of no consequence. I understand their view, but I do not wholly agree. As for who I am." Meelo watched with a hidden smirk as Theá took a step back and straightened herself fully. "I am Theá Erímo the Huntress, Goddess of Hunt, Wilderness, and Wild Animals. If what my ears are telling me is true, rumours are abound, picturing me as a figure speeding through the forests. You may have heard of me in that fashion."