//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The fight and flight response. // Story: Inner workings - Galsthan's stories // by HyperRandomness //------------------------------// Thursday, April 16th 2012. 1:08 P.M. Outskirts of ponyville. Two ponies tiredly approached Ponyville, one tall and brown, the other short and brown. It'd be a peculiar sight if anyone'd been in the streets that day. As Galsthan approached town, he noticed that first. Nobody seemed to be out and about, even though Ponyville was usually a very busy place. I wonder where everyone is? he asked himself silently, letting the question float a bit before coming up with some answers. Heh... knowing Quick Fix, she's probably somewhere in Ponyville, fine the entire time. I'd bet she rounded up the entire town into one big search party. he chuckled casually, feeling a bit relieved that he was now back in Ponyville, but a little off that his travelling companion hadn't said a word since they'd departed. He turned briefly and opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it again, not finding anything to say. Since they had left, a particular thought had never crossed Galsthan's mind. How had this complete stranger, who had been lost and likely hadn't heard of Galsthan being recognized as a member of the royal family, recognized that he was? This oddity bugged and picked at Galsthan until he came up with a seemingly sound solution, I'll bet he just thought I was because of how tall I am, however, he quickly re-thought this, then again, there have been other unicorns that are just excessively tall. Maybe this guy's just in-the-know, or maybe he got lost AFTER finding that out? These questions and more perplexed Galsthan, until he walked headfirst into a street lamp. His head rattled for a moment before he brought up a hoof up to stabilize himself, softly muttering "Ow..." and rubbing his head for a short moment before redirecting his path around the pole. Even though he had walked around it, he still felt a part of his body brush up against it lightly, which caused him to turn his head towards the pole from natural reaction. What he saw nearly sent him into shock. On his back, where there once was nothing, there was now a pair of fully-grown, brown-tinted wings. Galsthan passed out anyway. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When he came to, the first thing that came across his mind was, I need to stop doing that. The second thing was the brown-and-white pony standing over him, who he almost mistook for Quick Fix. He nearly became excited at the sight of his lost friend, until he realized it was just the pony he'd met earlier, who apparently was also lost. Galsthan stood up and shook himself off, sending a few bits of dust and dirt flying off of his body. His companion looked concerned, but he quickly stated "I'm fine." and they set off again, but Galsthan's mind was racing at a million miles a minute. How did I get wings? WHY do I have wings? Shouldn't I have noticed these growing in? Was I passed out when they were growing? Why am I escorting this guy in the first place? Where's Quick Fix, anyhow? These questions and more shot in and out of his mind, getting blown away by answers as soon as they arrived. Or at least, most of them did. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quick Fix had done most of her shopping for the day, so after making sure everything was secured, she started to make her way to her home. Along the way, there was a bit lying on the ground, just laying there, out in the open. Naturally, Quick Fix tried to pick it up, but it jolted away from her. She thought maybe she had kicked it by accident, so she followed it and tried again. Same results. It took her a few tries, but she eventually caught up with the bit, and happily placed it in her saddlebags. She turned to leave, satisfied with her catch, but she was stopped by a rough-looking, stupidly dressed group of stallions. Shoot. she thought quietly to herself. Her initial reaction was to back up, but she bumped up against a wall. The ruffians circled around her, giving her no way out. Her next reaction? Well, there's only one word for that. HELP!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No sooner did Galsthan take off than the moment her voice hit his ears. He recognized it immediately as his little Quick Fix, and she was in trouble. His travelling companion only watched with wonder as he took off faster than he'd seen anypony run. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next thing Quick Fix heard was: "HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" BOOM! The wall beside her exploded into rubble, sending two of the offenders flying. Through the rubble, she could see a lanky, brown figure charging at the remaining gang members, bucking a couple of their faces, slamming two of their heads together, tripping one hard, grabbing one and suplexing it while landing on another, and other painful things that would likely put this story higher on the age group rating. In general, he brought the pain to the table and force-fed it to them. He even went so far as to kick one so hard in the gut that a loud crack! could be heard, which was likely one of the stallion's ribs. After a pile of beaten and down-for-the-count stallions scurried away, Galsthan averted his attention to Quick Fix, eyeing her up and down, making sure the gang laid not a hoof on her. "Are you alright? Did they do anything to you?" were the first words out of his mouth, but instead of a worded response, he was met with a tight embrace. His brain took a moment to process what just happened, but he momentarily returned the hug. Quick Fix then spoke, "Oh, Galsthan, it feels so good to have you back." Tears threatened to find their way from her eyes as Galsthan responded, "Trust me, you have no idea how great it feels to know you're safe." Eleven stallions found their way to Ponyville emergency care that day, with injuries that the doctors there hadn't seen in a long time. Investigations were soon set to happen, unknown to Galsthan. Whether the initial observations and analyzations had shown even the slightest hint at any evidence of this being Galsthan's doings, however, were not told until much, much later. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took Quick Fix a few minutes to realize it, but she eventually noticed Galsthan had wings. She was first shocked, but then felt very happy for him. Many questions arose, such as how he got them, if it hurt when they grew in, why he had them and more questions, but most of them had no answer. Galsthan didn't know how or why they appeared, and he hadn't even been aware of their existance until he had brushed up against that pole by complete accident. As far as he knew, they had been painless to grow, or maybe he was unconscious when that happened. Quick Fix didn't really care too much about how Galsthan had gotten his wings, she just cared why. He was now an Alicorn, and as far as she knew, the only other two Alicorns in existance were royalty, just like he was supposedly, and they always seemed to be busy. A single tear was shed as she thought about the events that were going to occur, before she had known that Galsthan had gone back to find her for some extremely important reason. She knew that, if a member of the royal family stopped what they were doing and came looking for a pony, it must have been very important indeed. "So... Galsthan..." she inevitably brought it up as they walked through the near-empty streets aimlessly, "What WAS it that you wanted to tell me?" She looked up at him curiously, and he stopped walking. He turned to face her and gave a loving sigh, before responding, "I know how we can be together, and without you ever needing to leave." Quick Fix's face immediately perked up and threatened to explode from her sheer elation, but she managed to calm herself down long enough to hear the rest of his explanation. "Well..." he produced a small box from his saddlebags. While the viewers weren't looking, he'd gone and purchased something very special. He produced a large ring from his saddlebags and then knelt before Quick Fix, asking, "Quick Fix, would you marry me?" Quick Fix gasped very audibly while an unnamed gray mare applauded happily in the background. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (OH MY GOODNESS THIS CHAPTER WAS SO SHORT. Sorry about this chapter being short, but like I've previously mentioned, I have things planned out and I intend to stick to that plan. Expect a long chapter for chapter 9.)