//------------------------------//
// Caretakers 
// Story: Twilight Sparkle's Anguish 
// by Trailblazer Rocker 
//------------------------------//

    "OWW!" yelled Trailblazer as the trunk crashed down on him.
"Trailblazer!" AppleJack shouted once the trunk landed on him. She ran up to him and started to lift the trunk off of him. Twilight said the same thing, but yielded when the cowpony reached him first.
"God- dammit, son-of-a, BITCH!" He began to lift the trunk off of himself, but AppleJack was more able to get it off. She lifted it off, carried the end away, and dropped it.
"Are you still okay??" she asked him urgently.
"A damn tree fell on me," answered Trailblazer with a snide tone of voice.
"C'mon, yer gonna be okay! Easy, easy...!" She helped Trailblazer in picking himself up, trying not to hurt him even more.
"Here, take this." Twilight used her magic to pull out her first-aid kit and gave it to him once he got back on his feet. Trailblazer took the kit and started to use the gauze to stop the bleeding caused by the bark scraping his body.
"S---. Gotta heal my ass," he said as he started to patch up himself.
The other six looked at each other, a bit confused.
"Was he trying to be funny, or what?" Pinkie wondered.
Rainbow Dash cracked a small smile, and AppleJack followed suit. Though the cowpony's smile was a bit forced.
"Phew. Better," said Trailblazer.
"Are you sure you're still okay, darling?" asked Rarity, a bit concerned. "Because I don't want to see you push yourself too hard now."
"I'm with Rarity, here," Fluttershy added. "Are, you going to be okay?"
"I'm fine. I've worked with worse situations in a, worse condition before." His voice cracked with a little bit of pain in the middle of it. Then, under his breath, he whispered, "Something doesn't feel right..."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Because I still think you broke something."
"Do I look like I have any broken bones?"
"Um, no?"
"Then I'm fine. Let's go."
"All right then..."
They continued to walk farther into the woods, trying to keep up the pace with each other. Occasional chatter came as they walked.
"Do, any of you have any... bug spray?" asked Rarity, as she got bit by mosquitos.
"...Oooooh, you could try covering yerself with mud," said AppleJack.
The fashionista recoiled. "What?!"
"Actually, that's true," Twilight answered. "Mud can repel mosquitos."
"So, what'll it be, Rarity? The mud, or that there imported mud ya get all the time?"
Trailblazer started laughing. "Look at you, AppleJack. Giving Rarity some crap!"
Rarity reacted by turning around and grimacing.
After five more minutes of walking, the woods started to become less thick. A lake got into their field of view.
"That must be Lake Oxpow!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "We made it!"
"You see that rock in the middle of it?" Fluttershy said. "That, um, must be the cave."
All of them reached the clearing around the lake. There, they saw a tall wide rock with multiple holes at the top of it. It's perimeter was around half of a standard football field. Trailblazer turned around.
"Now, before we jump in and try to find the enterance, I just want to be clear on this: I know I can swim, but raise your hoof if you can swim too."
The ones that did raise their hooves were AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.
"Okay, so that leaves Twilight and Rarity off."
"We aren't leaving them behind, are we?" wondered Rainbow Dash.
"No," he answered. "I'm thinking we'll have them hang on to us."
"May I just, stand guard out here?" asked Rarity. "I'd rather not slow you down, and to get my mane wet... Truly."
"Come on, Rarity. You can always fix it later," said Fluttershy as she hovered over her. "We'll get it back good as new when we get back."
"Well, Fluttershy..." She let out a frustrated huffy sigh. "I suppose..."
"Are you ready, Twilight? I'm going to need to use your magic when we're underwater," Trailblazer said.
"Well, I hope so..."
"Are you still concerned about something?"
"What if I start suffocating?"
"Just tap me on the shoulder if you feel like you're about to pass out, okay?"
"...Okay."
"All right." Trailblazer walked into the water until he started to paddle to keep afloat. "Get up to me and ride on my back."
Twilight walked up to him, and then got on his back, like he instructed. "Where do you want me to hold on?"
"Just keep your forelegs around my chest."
"Your chest? Well..."
"What?"
"What if they slip and end up around your neck?"
"....On second thought, put them under my shoulders."
"Hm? Oh, yeah, they shouldn't end up around your neck for any reason." As told, she put her forelegs under his shoulders and anchored them around his chest. Trailblazer began to swim to the rock with Twilight Sparkle hanging on.
"Everything okay so far?" he asked her.
"I'm good."
Twilight felt a sense of security around him. As he carried her across the water, she saw him as the guardian that wasn't going to let her drown. She wanted to admit it, but Rarity was keeping a promise. She had to keep quiet about it too.
As Fluttershy carried Rarity across the water, the others walked in and started to swim out to the rock along with Twilight and Trailblazer. Together, they swam through the lake until reaching the big wide rock in the middle.
"All right. There's only one way to find the enterance to this underwater cave," Rainbow Dash said. "We're gonna have to dive and look for it."
"She's got the right idea," AppleJack agreed.
"All right, Twilight," Trailblazer was speaking. "When we're down there, we'll want to see where the enterance is, as well as where we're going."
"And you need my magic to do that."
"Yep."
"I thought so. Leave it to me then, I got your back."
Trailblazer turned around to face the water, but he stopped and realized that Twilight just said a pun.
"Um, yeah, no pun intended."
"Whatever."
With a deep breath from all of them, they dove underneath the water. Twilight utilized her magic and lit up the water they were swimming through. Trailblazer kept diving using the breaststroke, and saw the base of the rock that they saw earlier. He started to swim around it, but couldn't see a hole to get into the rock.
Twilight tapped Trailblazer on his shoulder, which told him that she couldn't hold her breath much longer. He swam straight back up and reached the surface, taking a deep inhale as he surfaced. Twilight did the same. A moment later, the others came back up to breathe in.
"Find anythin'?" wondered AppleJack.
"I know I reached the bottom..." said Rainbow Dash.
"I did too..."
"What about you, Pinkie?"
"I found it!" she answered in her usual sing-song voice.
"Nice!" said Trailblazer. "How about you lead the way!"
"Okie-dokie-lokie! Say, you ALL did know that I was going to do that even without you asking, right?"
"Eh, kind of."
"Maybe you and I need to hang out together more." Once she took in a big gulp of air, she dove again.
"Pinkie! Wait for us!" Trailblazer dove under the surface again to track her down, with the other five following them.
With Pinkie Pie leading the way, she swam to a hole in the rock. She pointed to it and went through it. Once she was in the hole, she started to swim upwards, disappearing from view. Twilight's light shone for the others to see where she went. With the others close to them, they went through the hole and swam up the passage. The light provided by Twilight showed them the walls of the cavern enterance. Upon swimming up, they saw Pinkie's hind legs floating below the surface. The other six swam up to meet up with her. Once they surfaced, they saw the underwater cave for themselves. In the area they surfaced at, there was a small pool of water that was their enterance and exit to and from the cave. They then looked down a wide corridor with a room in the back end. That room was in the shape of a perfect circle. At it's very far end, there was a plate on the wall with a strange inscription on it. At their distance, it was hard to tell what it read or if it was actual writing.
"So, what do we make of that there plate on the wall?" AppleJack asked as she climbed out of the pool.
"I still say it's worth checking out," Pinkie answered.
The rest of them climbed out to walk down the hall and get a closer look. Twilight climbed off of Trailblazer's back and walked off to the room as well.
"I'm sure that with my magic, we'll be able to..."
A tremor shook them again. It felt like another Sario Hole earthquake, but it was much more violent than before.
"Hold steady!" Rainbow Dash warned. She got airborne to avoid the earthquake, leaving the others to try to withstand it. Fluttershy got airborne along with Dash.
Trailblazer tried to run for the room at the end of the hall for more space, but the rock walls and floor shook on him as well as against the others. As he ran, a part of the floor shook against him, causing him to lose his balance. He tripped and fell, and then tried to quickly get back up on his own. Just then, a part of the ceiling collapsed, and many rocks fell on top of him. A few boulders landed on him as well. Light poured in from the hole of the ceiling that fell down.
"TRAILBLAZER!" AppleJack shouted at the rock pile. All of them could hear him yelling and writhing in pain.
"AAAAAOOWW, get these rocks off of me!! Get 'em off!!" came the muffled cries for help.
The earthquake stopped as soon as the rock pile settled. Immediately, all of them started to frantically take the rocks off and get Trailblazer out of it.  When they got him out, they noticed that he was lying on his side, cringing, and bleeding.
"Oh my God, Trailblazer!" AppleJack ran up and began to pick him up.
"Ow ow OW, son-of-a-!" Trailblazer tried to get her to let go, but any movement that involved the use of pectoral muscles hurt him. "Let go!"
She turned to face him, and then set him back down on the ground. Once set back down, he moaned again.
"Okay, now, he's WAY more hurt than usual..." Twilight's horn glowed and she used her magic to try to get an x-ray read on him. Upon using it, she noticed that half of his ribs were shattered. She jumped and looked scared at this. "Oh my..."
"What, what is it, Twi'??" AppleJack pressured her to get an answer.
"It's worse than I thought..." she answered with.
"What??"
"Half of his ribcage is fractured."
The rest of the ponies yelped and exclaimed in surprise ans shock. AppleJack's pupils and her ears shrunk and became laid back simultaneously. Freight and worry gripped her. "Oh, no, Trailblazer! Oh, why...?"
Short, rapid breaths came from him as he tried to tolerate the pain.
"You hang in here, darling, I need to help you out," Rarity reached into her saddlebag to pull out a first-aid kit, but didn't see one. "Um, Fluttershy, you wouldn't happen to have a health kit on you, would you?"
As she looked into the saddlebag of her own, the others looked into their saddlebags to find a first-aid kit. However, none were found.
"Oh, don't tell me... We don't have a first-aid kit at all??" Rainbow Dash looked amongst the others as she asked that.
Twilight looked into her own to find one, but also didn't have one either. "No... None at all," she said as soon as she was done looking.
"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!" wheezed Trailblazer.
"I wish I could say that..."
"Oh, no... HELL no...!"
"Well, what are we supposed to do?? We can't just leave him here like this!" AppleJack yelled, nearly panicking.
"Here, let's get him into the other room," Twilight instructed. She lifted him into the air with her magic and walked into the circular room with the tablet in the back. The rest followed her into it to see what was in the room as well. Twilight looked around the room, but only found right angles at the places where the floor and walls connected.
"So, where are we going to put him?" Pinkie asked.
"I think one of you is going to have to be a headrest for him... Any volunteers?"
"Ah'll do it," responded AppleJack.
"Fair enough."
AppleJack laid down on the floor next to a wall and stayed there. Twilight then gently laid Trailblazer back on the ground, on his back, with his head resting on AppleJack's side.
"Ah sure hope Ah'm comfy enough for ya, sugarcube..." The cowpony was full of concern for his wellbeing.
"You're fine, AppleJack... It's, this, broken chest I have that is, REALLY getting to me..." Trailblazer said.
It hurt AppleJack to see him this injured and unwell. "If only Ah could do somethin' to help ya..."
"Really, you're doing all that you can..." He then coughed and moaned in pain again. AppleJack then rested her chin on her forelegs. She knew that they were going to stay there for a while.
"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Rainbow Dash asked the group. "I mean, ANYTHING?"
"I don't know..." Twilight looked at Trailblazer again, and then looked back up. "Maybe Princess Celestia can help."
"Okay, well... Go ahead then."
Twilight's horn glowed in a unique way. She tried contacting the princess through telepathy, just like she did for them back in Rautsong.
"C'mon, c'mon..." Twilight said, wishing for the call to get through.
"Twilight...?" she heard.
Yes! she thought. "Princess Celestia? Can you hear me?"
"Certainly," answered Celestia.
"Okay, good. Look, we're in a really bad situation here..."
"And what is the issue?"
"Trailblazer is suffering a life-threatening injury, and we don't have any supplies to heal him."
"I see..."
"Perhaps you have something to help us out?"
Princess Celestia paused before replying. "I DO have this potion called the Vial of Vigor."
"Will that help him?"
"Why, yes. The Vial of Vigor will restore anypony's stamina, as well as heal any and all physical injuries they've sustained."
"Oh, whoa... Okay, anyways, could we have one of those vials?"
"Usually, I keep them as emergency rations for my guards here..."
Twilight grew worried again.
"...But you are in more of a need than they ever will be, and you're all trying to keep the world from being destroyed... In that case, I can spare you a potion for him."
"You can?! Oh, thank you so much, Princess!"
"I'm willing to give him this potion, but there's a small problem."
"A... Problem?"
"How am I going to deliver it? And where should it be dropped off at?"
"Uh..." Twilight turned to look at Rainbow Dash. "Maybe you should listen in on this." She allowed the telepathy call to be heard by Rainbow Dash, who was now part of the discussion.
"Princess?" wondered Dash.
"Can you hear me?" she asked her.
"Yeah."
"Okay, then. Here's the thing... You're the fastest flier I know. So, that should leave you to be the one responsible for the delivery of this potion."
"Rainbow, this potion is quite potent, and it will be able to heal Trailblazer," added Twilight.
"Okay, but, what should I do about it?" wondered Dash.
"I need to know where it'll be picked up. I was hoping that we'd be able to agree on a location."
"Hmmmm..." Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. "How about the Ponyville docks?"
"Well, now, let's think for a moment... Do you know where it is from your location?"
"I do. Really."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"And, I have faith that you'll be able to make it here and back in time. I'll get one of my servants to deliver the potion to you there. Do you find this acceptable?"
"Yeah."
"All right, it's settled. Meet him there and get the potion from there."
"Will do!"
"Very good. Celestia, out."
The call ended between the three.
"Help is on the way, Trailblazer! Just hang in there," Twilight told him.
"Ugh, I'll try..." he responded with.
Rainbow Dash flew out of the hole in the ceiling left by the rocks that tumbled on the colt. Then, she stopped to look at the sky.
"Ummm, guys?" she said. "You might, want to see this..."
The rest of the ponies, excluding AppleJack and Trailblazer, walked up to the hole to see what was out there. From what they saw, the Sario Hole took up two-thirds of the sky.
"Oh, my, that thing's enormous!" exclaimed Rarity.
"Time's running out..." Fluttershy added, tense as ever. "You had better hurry, Rainbow Dash."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." She continued to fly out of the hole and into the open, where she could fly back to Ponyville and get the potion. Upon her exit, she spotted Red Rover on the ground.
"Ain't it a beaut?" he asked her, smug.
"You! I remember you! You're that guy who threw that rock at me at the volcano!"
"Yeah, that was a pretty good throw on my part!"
Rainbow Dash glared at him, then turned around and looked back into the hole. "Hey, Fluttershy? I need you here."
"What? Why?"
"Get over here, c'mon!"
Fluttershy flew out of the cave to see what was going on.
"Okay, I need you to distract this guy while I go get the potion."
"What??"
Before she could get an answer, Rainbow Dash took off as fast as she possibly could.
"So, what's going on in there?" Red Rober asked in his usual smug manner. "Mind if I take a look?"
Fluttershy got the hint. "No, I can't let you in!"
The red pony immediately got the hint. "Well then, let's see HOW badly you want to keep me out of there! Now, put 'em up!"