Scarlet’s ears perked, at the mention of Sweeper, she knew the name of the alicorn, but not much else, “Servant of the ‘Lady of Cleanliness’? This is an alicorn and not another cult, right?”

Lens nodded as she was placing some gloves on her hooves. “Yes, one Sliver Sweeper. I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of her before. The Lady is one of the minor deities it seems.” There was a loud smack as the last glove was placed. Before grabbing the mask, the Scholar the floated the mug over and took a sip. 

Scarlet smirked, “I’ve heard of her alright. Apparently she’s quite the eccentric, no?” she glanced at the gloves, “Anything else you’ve noticed with the wound? I couldn’t tell if it had hit anything important, and all I could really do was cram some cloth in there.” [i]Really nice cloth, though…[/i] she thought glumly to herself.

“Nothing except said cloth, and hopefully we won’t find anything else. The gloves are just a standard precaution to prevent further contamination. As for Sweeper, I have not meet her myself, but know some who have. Eccentric would be the nice way to describe the alicorn.”

Nocturne nodded in agreement to the general consensus regarding alicorns “Ja, they seem to be a capricious race in general. One of my associates haben the ill luck to meet one personally, apparently rather ah…. ‘Bissig’, foul tempered or pickly I believe you vould say. They seem to variate from one to the other, but vith a distinctive fault in one form or another.” As she said this she she cleaned her hooves with soap and the sterile water which had been arranged for them and then put on a pair of gloves and mask for the operation. She emptied some surgical alcohol into a small container and began washing the equipment with it, emerging with a pair of tweezers between her hooves and guided by her wings as she moved to investigate the injury.

Removing the folds of cloth which covered the wound with a pair of tweezers carefully, Nocturne inspected the blood spattered wound with interest, trying to make her movements with her instruments as delicate as possible as she probed the injury. “Der vound looks clean, no fragments of vood or metal to be removed… thankfully the bolt did not go as far as the bone… this is wunderbar, trying to remove an arrow or bolt from bone is like pulling teeth…”

With a small piece of surgical cloth dipped in medical alcohol, Nocturne cleaned around the wound, wiping away the excess blood, leaving behind a small sanguine entry where the bolt had pierced Scarlets leg, “It seems Frau Skarlet, that this shall be a routine operation, simple cleaning of the vound, und then stitching it up und bandaging it, it will be over soon…”

Lens nodded in agreement. “Yes, fortunately nothing too serious.” The Scholar began to help Nocturne with the procedure. “As for Sweeper, Lilly and others noted she lacked a temper. Or the ability to focus on anything for a few minutes at a time. On the other hoof, she was generous and sociable.” 

Scarlet nodded, “Supports what I’ve heard about her. Though of course, that was only from one pony, divine nature or not.” She pasued, “Lot of Alicorns going around these days.”

Nocturne began work by cleaning the wound more with the cloth, but not so much as to disrupt the clotting of the blood in the wound, eventually the injury looked clean enough for her to approach the issue of applying a suture and closing the wound off. Whilst she did this she continued the conversation with Dr Lens. “Ja it does seem to vary as I said, aber I do not entirely trust them either, my associate as well. Haben sie gehort vas has happened in Old Hoof und Star Harbour?” she shivered slightly at the thought, “I vouldn’t vant to rely on them too much after such aspects of destruction, the sisters vere never like that...”

“Wait,” Interjected Scarlet, who didn’t seem too fazed by the surgery going on in her leg, save for some sweat, “What about Old Hoof?”

Nocturne looked up from her work, blinking at Scarlet in surprise, “I thought you vould know given your connections. Old Hoof has been destroyed, my associate says a god, the voodland one, brought a beam of light from the heavens und incinerated it in one blast. Nothing left but melted slag and roasted flesh.”

“Must be recent, then.” Scarlet mused, “I’ve been on the road a while. Last I recall I was somewhere near the Whitegold lands. Just where are we again?”

Then the rest of Nocturne’s words caught up with her, “Wait.” She said, eyes wide, “Just… obliterated in a flash? What the hell did they do? Burn down a forest?”

The Thestral shrugged, “Ich weiss nich, my associated found some charred cultists in the blast though, he was nearby at the time, perhaps she was antagonised by them?” she turned back to the wound and began threading a needle in preparation, “This might sting a bit…”

“Impressive work Nokky, though I would like to apply the sutures myself,” said Lens. “It’s much easier to prevent further contamination when using telekenesis.” Her voice was impersonal, showing nothing but cold professionalism.

“Cultists…?” Scarlet mused, “What were those creepy damn clowns doing in Old Hoof?” She glanced down at the needle, “Unless that thing’s barbed and serrated I’m not really concerned.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

Nocturne shrugged again and held out an open hoof with a threaded needle on it, “Be mein guest Frau Lens.” she turned back to answer Scarlet as well as she did this, neck angled back in an odd position, “Ja der toten clowns, aber it is not diffikult to figure out their motives. Never enough twisted bastards for der culten, probably recruitment drive… or vorse.”

Deadpanning, Scarlet replied, “I wasn’t aware they did recruitment. That implies voluntarily joining them.”

“Thank you,” Lens said, as the needle and thread began to glow. Lifting from Nocuture’s hoof, it floated over the injury and began to sew the wound shut. The Scholar had done it so many times, and the needle moved fast. “Alas, there are plenty of deranged minds in the land, and more than willing to join the Laughing Cult of their own will.” 

Scarlet’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly with each pass of the needle as she spoke, “Yeah, true enough. Can’t personally say I see the allure of walking corpses to be honest.”

Rolling her eyes slightly, “Of course if you like whiskey I know exactly where to go.”

Nocturne admired the swift and elegant threading that Lens managed to produce in the grasp of her magic. [i] sometimes I wish I had a horn[/i] she mused a little sadly before turning back to the conversation at hand. “Some don’t even join out of mental derangement, vhen life can be so terribly cruel these days some people fall into pits of despair, they’ll join anything vhich might resurrect the glory days. Und once they haben sie…” she smacked her hooves together in a dramatic gesture, “Boom! you can never leave, honey trap at its finest.”

Catching onto the last statement Nocturne eyed her in a way which almost suggested hunger, “You do? do tell.” grinning a little beneath her mask at the prospect. Remembering the job at hand she turned back to the leg and began rolling a bandage around it in a well versed motion, eventually sealing it off with a couple of stitches. “There! Fertig!” she announced proudly, admiring the workponyship of both doctors “Danke schon Frau Lens.” 

“And thank you, Ms. Nokky. The surgery went faster thanks to your aid.” Lens wondered [i] No mere nurse this one is. A minor surgical procedure it was, but the effortless skill indicates her training was much more advanced. [/i] 

“Somehow,” Scarlet mused, “I doubt Nokky is her real name.”

Nocturne pulled the mask done and gave both of them a big toothy smile, “Nein, Nokky is a... how do you say? abbreviation of mein name, much like I call Foaming Tankard, Tanky. My full name is Nocturne.” She turned and looked at Scarlet with large hopeful eyes, “Now… about that whisky you mentioned…”

Scarlet nodded, “Yep. Remember that alicorn I mentioned? While she hasn’t blown any towns up yet to my knowledge, actually I’m pretty sure all she’s done is lead Stormwing troops against bandits and Cult forces- anyway, she has a bag, that I’m pretty sure has some interior space enchantments. She Never. Runs. Out. Of. Whiskey.” She paused for dramatic effect, “And I’ve seen her drink a whole bar under the table with whiskey from that bag.”

Nocturne’s grin managed by some miracle to get even wider, “That sounds enticing… do tell us vhen she is next in town, I can’t vait to see if I can get mein hooves on it.”

“In any case, Ms. Scarlet, you’ll have to spend a day recovering before travelling. Though…” Lens gave a bright smile, actually genuine

. “... it would be a waste not to accept Tankard’s offer. Wench, get two more mugs over here!” 

In solidarity Nocturne raised a hoof in solemn agreement “As every good Doktor knows, alcohol is the surest guide on the road to recovery. Lets enjoy the night mein new friends! Time to... as they say, get smashed!”

Scarlet grinned, “Get me the strongest cider you’ve got.”