An Unwelcome Home

Jim was at his parents' house in Trottingham. He'd taken the oppurtunity to visit them from ponyville- a Pegasus can go anywhere if he fancies it. He was having a cup of tea with his father, catching up on business deals he'd made, how his wing was doing after it got injured a few weeks back and just random chat. His dad was better than most business ponies when it came to their son. They normally became very distant from their family due to their work. Jim's dad had made some sort of arrangement that meant he was always home in the evening to see his little lad, as he called Jim.

But Jim had to leave. He had to be at the clinic tomorrow, and ponies' lives were at stake. He hugged his parents, left the house and trotted down the streets of Trottingham. As he walked however, Jim noticed the pub. He went here all the time with his mates when he was studying here. (After he came of age of course.) he went in and ordered a drink. The Barmare recognised him, and they did some catching up. Jim had fancied her for a while but then started focusing more on bring a doctor, so it had kind of fallen at the roadside.

He looked around and noticed a pony crying in the corner. Normally Jim would've ignored it but he felt something was different with this one. Not a drunk just suddenly letting a few gripes become bigger problems- there was real pain in this one. He trotted up to the pony and sat beside her.

"Are you alright? Well, you aren't of course but never mind. The point is that you're obviously in real emotional pain. Do you wanna talk about it it would you rather I sod off?"

Virgo Auxiliatrix has recently finished another one of his many easy cases. The head of his apartment had told him that he had been working for quite a while. Being the perfectionist he is, he denied the observation and insisted he kept working. Again, he was told to take a break. Virgo remembered not to question higher authority, it never meant good.

It has been a while since he had been at his home in trottingham. The detective is always out on cases in other places. Virgo opened the door, and peered inside. He hardly remembered the inside, minus well have cobwebs in it. Instead of entering he left his saddlebags at the door and left to roam.

His curiosity led him to the entrance of the pub. This was a place he had always enjoyed coming to. Not for drinks, maybe the occasional meal, but mostly to figure out the other ponies. Virgo was seated in the far corner of the room. He ordered nothing, but just looked around. The detective emitted energy from his three horns, and formed a veil over his eyes. He looked upon a few of the surrounding ponies. Statistics and facts flew across the veil. Among every pony he saw, two caught his eye.

She was a sad mare. Crying on the table, his magic revealed that she had experienced an emotional loss of some sort. He was next to her, a pegasus stallion. He saw that he worked in the medical fields, and was trying to comfort this mare. He stopped using his magic veil, as it vanished. His mouth rested on his hooves, as he listened intently on what would happen.

Jim felt his heartstrings tug a little. That was pretty tragic when ponies were ditched like that. He felt like hugging this mare to comfort her, but that wasn't a good idea. In his experience hugging somepony in distress generally made them confused and gave them an outlet to take out their frustrations on. As it stood, he simply kept at talking distance.

"That's a right shame that is. Do you want anything from me or would you rather I left you alone?"

Jim had to pick his words carefully- ponies under that kind of distress are highly unpredictable. You have to be as neutral as possible to avoid getting screamed at or decked. He ordered himself a cider and drank it. He looked around the pub and noticed a three horned unicorn staring at them from a table further away. Jim raised and eyebrow but didn't do anything. That stallion wasn't doing anything wrong. Jim looked to the crying mare.

"My name's Medic Jim. What's yours?"

(( it's been more than three days since I've notified Virgo. his turn is skipped.))

Erigo looked up at the Stallion with tears still in her eyes. "I-I'm Erigo. Erigo Wallen." She sniffled. The stallion really seemed to care. "I-I'm ok..." She didn't quite believe herself. She was crying her eyes out in a public place. There's no way she could be ok. She didn't know this Stallion at all. He seemed trustworthy since he didn't freak out about her saying 'her wife'. "I guess I just need a friend right now..." She resigned, laying her head back down in her forelegs.

Jim felt real sadness for Erigo. He gave her a friendly pat on the back.

"Well, consider me a friend. I hate it when ponies are hurt like that. Anything I can do for you or would you rather I left you be?"

He ordered himself a mug of cider. He sipped from it, looking around the tavern. He wasn't sure what to do with Erigo. He knew a little on how to act, but not how to exactly fix it. He supposed it wasn't something you could really fix. Time might help but he couldn't speed up the flow of that. He kept quiet, waiting for Erigo to speak. He was tempted to ask about her wife but that wasn't a good idea.

He gave another look at that stallion in the corner. What was up with him? He seemed to be studying them almost.

((It's been long enough to skip Virgo again. the next time is the last time I'll wait.))

Erigo sniffled and looked up at the stallion yet again. "You'd really be my friend? You don't even know me..." Erigo was genuinely surprised by the stallion's generosity. She hadn't seen much of that lately. Looking at his cider, she had to admit that it looked good right now. Taking a deep breath, she decides to at least make an effort to pull herself together.

sitting up and fixing her mane a little, she orders herself a cider as well. "I apologize for the show. it's been a really hard couple weeks."

Jim smiled- it was good to see that this mare was starting to compose herself. That's what kind of interested him with depression and sadness and all that- the victim's worst enemy was themselves. He watched as the barmare passed her a cider and thought over what she said.

"Think of it this way- yeah, I don't know you, but this is a good way to get to know you. You seem in real pain, and a doctor naturally develops an urge to curb that."

He drank his own cider and looked around. He was reminiscing over his past memories. That wall was where flame made a prat of himself to the waitress. That table was where Berry beat the snot out of that massive pony from school. And they all thought the guy was unstoppable, yet one of the smallest stallions in their lot conked him pretty soundly. He then smiled a little at Erigo's comment.

"Your wife left you. If that isn't justification for feeling like hell then there's no justification, which of course is utter hogwash."

((It's been long enough to skip Virgo again. This is the third time he's been skipped, so Virgo is no longer in the rotation.))

Erigo thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess that's true. I just feel bad about acting this way." She said, looking into her cider. she swishes it around a little and sighs. "ugh, I need this." Taking a drink, she stretches her wings a little, a few joints popping from not being moved in awhile. 

She had about as low of an alcohol tolerance as her sister. her sister would be drunk enough to fall onto her plot from a standstill after only two drinks. Erigo wasn't much better. she's only ever managed three. But this was the least of her concerns right now. "So. you're a doctor, huh?"

Jim smiled happily at the thought of being a doctor. He remembered all those times he'd fixed up his friends as time went by. True the colts that had bullied him had left him friendless, but after Jim had a...word with them they left him be. He gained a pretty good, close-knit circle of friends. As time had went by they'd all got hurt in their own ways. Flame got his leg sprained, Word had hurt himself by running into a wall.... The list went on.

He felt himself tearing up a little. He missed them so much, but gradually everypony had moved away to get jobs and such. Jim had been the last to go, and on the day he left he went around town, going over memories. The pub where they'd plan how to get mares and discuss their daily lives. The little wood they played in when they were really young, before the bullying started. The spot where Jim had decked those bullies. What he would have given to relive those moments. 

He looked to Erigo, wiping his eyes. "Yeah. I've been training to be one all me life. I remember when I first learned I was going to be one. One of my mates had got a scratch from a thorn outside the woods. I remembered my dad told me that if they scratched me I needed to get it disinfected really quick or it'd hurt like hell. I fixed up my friend's scratch and my cutie mark appeared. What do you do for a living?"

Jim's eyes widened. "Woah. What happened exactly? Sounds like an interesting story."

He looked around the pub. He was getting done with his cider- he could feel the nip of the alcohol starting to get him drunk. He'd need to leave soon. Come to think of it, he had to get home at a decent time anyway. Then again, this was a serious thing he had to deal with- he was sure the boss would excuse him.

He saw a couple of drunks fighting some way away. He smiled. This was why he loved this pub: in other towns, a fight would be broken up and the guards would nick him. Here, they just let the ponies fight it out. It was good sport, and you could bet money on it.

Jim nodded at Erigo.

"They'd naturally forget about it. It's a big city after all- lots going on for them to think about."

He thought about that. All these ponies passing by, all the stories they could tell, yet nopony cared. That's what really got to him- the ignorance of ponies. They all seem to adopt an 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality when other ponies are concerned.

He snapped back to reality. Jim looked to Erigi, noticing she seemed happier after a drink.

"If I were you I'd cut the drink at this point. The hormones from the stress of recent events won't react well with the alcohol. Plus getting drunk of your arse isn't a good idea either."

(( Considering I've forgotten about this thread multiple times and I've lost all interest in it, I'm declaring this thread dead. Sorry! ))