It had several hours since they brought the strange creature to Fluttershy's cottage. Since then, Twilight, as well as the rest of her friends, and had been pondering on how to brief Princess Celestia on the strange occurrence. So far the creature had remained still, only shifting slightly and making the occasional strange "blargargh" noise. After some more observation, the creature did appear that it was going to be alright, however, it would need time to heal. Twilight had determined that it the creature was male, but that was the extent of her knowledge. She still had no clue on what he was.
“Ugh, when is this thing gonna wake up?” Rainbow Dash grumped impatiently, using a stick she had brought in from the outside to firmly poke the creature in hopes of waking him.
Twilight shot her a glare and levitated the piece of wood from her, snapping it in half with a loud crack! “Stop it! He needs rest, Dash, and you should know better anyways. ”
“Hey!” Rainbow protested, dismayed that her prodding stick was now gone. She was about to make an argument, but quickly figured that it wouldn't do much good. With a huff, she sat down roughly on one of Fluttershy's numerous chairs and crossed her hooves, staring moodily out a window.
Rolling her eyes, she turned in search of her assistant. Seeing him next to Rarity, she intoned, “Spike, I think it's good of time as any to send a letter to the Princess about this. I was hoping that he would have of regained consciousness by now, but at this rate he could be possibly be out for another day, and it would be irresponsible to wait so long.” Twilight finished with an ever-present sense of urgency.
“Sure thing, Twi.” Spike replied, as he unfurled a blank scroll from somewhere (Twilight had never found out where they came from.)He dipped his quill into an inkwell, ready to write down whatever Twilight told him to.
Twilight paused for a few moments, trying to decide what to tell the princess, but was cut short by sudden bout of loud coughing from the creature. All of the ponies jumped in in shock and looked towards the creature, “I think he's startin' to wake up!” Applejack exclaimed nervously, pointing at the waking creature. After several moments, the creature stopped convulsing, letting out a loud groan while attempting to move his bound arms.
As soon as he found resistance, the creature opened his eyes and peered around the room, “Well, this is new.” he rasped, his voice hoarse and the words coming out slightly slurred. The creature turned his gaze over to the ponies and one dragon around him, “Oh, rainbow ponies and a purple iguana! I must of hit the ol' noggin' pretty good to be seeing this.” he chortled. “No matter, I'll just close my eyes, and when I open them again everything will be right as rain!” he said, shutting his eyes and hummed idly for several moments before opening them again, “That should do it! And whenever I look back the ponies and iguana should be normal humans!” he laughed excitedly, looking back towards them with a wide hopeful smile. “Oh, wait, they're still ponies...” he mumbled, clearly confused.
The group of ponies look at each other in confusion before Twilight stepped up, clearing her throat before speaking, “Um, hello! I'd like to be the first to welcome you to-” Twilight began, but was soon cut off by an excited laugh from the creature.
“Oh my, what have we here? Talking rainbow ponies?” The creature asked, a wide grin on his face as he spoke. He tried to move his arms and legs but found them bound by rope, “And it would seem that this new species of intelligent equine have taken me hostage! How exciting!” the being squealed with a nasally laugh.
“Um, anypony else getting the feeling that this guy is a few screws loose?” Spike said uncertainly before being hushed by Twilight.
“You're not being held hostage, sir.” Twilight responded nervously, using her magic to untie him. The creature slowly sat up, rubbing his wrists a bit.
“Well, it did seem that way, I must admit.” he says before looking towards Twilight, “But that doesn't matter! I discovered a new intelligent species here on Earth!” he said, excitably clapping his hands together and snorting.
Rarity took a step back from the creature, disgusted by the noise it was making.
“Um, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight introduced, offering a hoof to the eccentric creature.
The creature looked at Twilight's hoof for a few moments before he clapped his hands again. “Why, we have similar greeting gestures! Smashing!” he said, taking her hoof and giving it an excited shake up in down, “My name is Sir Nigel Archibald Thornberry!” he said with a wide smile, “But you can just call me Nigel.” he added with a small giggle.
Twilight smiled slightly, and poised to speak again before Pinkie Pie pushed herself passed Twilight and into Nigel’s face, “Hiya!” she vociferated excitedly, her face beaming in a wide smile, “My name's Pinkie Pie!”
“It is a pleasure, Ms. Pie.” Nigel said, smiling back at Pinkie.
Pinkie takes a deep breath before speaking, “Where do you come from? Whatcha do there? Do they have cupcakes from where you're from?” Pinkie asked rapidly, her words coming out as an unintelligible mess.
Nigel gave Pinkie a blank look, trying to interpret what the pink pony had just said, “Erm, I’m sorry dearie, but I’m afraid I didn't quite catch all that.” he said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head.
Pinkie opened her mouth to speak again, but Applejack pulled her away, “Sorry about our friend. She can be a tad...high strung.” she said, glaring a bit at Pinkie.
“Oh, it's quite alright.” Nigel said, chuckling a bit in amusement at the pink pony's antics.
“Right, well, as I was going say.” Twilight said, clearing her throat before looking back towards her friends and pointing at them, “These are my friends; Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and ...” she paused and scanned the room in confusion. “Hey, where did Fluttershy go?” she asked.
“I’m- I'm right here.” A small, nervous voice said from behind a chair, Fluttershy's head peeking out from behind it slightly.
Twilight let out a sigh before speaking, “Fluttershy, it's alright. He isn't dangerous.”
A few moments passed before Fluttershy slowly emerged from behind the chair, awkwardly scuffing her hoof against the floor and refusing to make eye contact with Nigel.
“Erm, did I do something to offend the poor creature?” Nigel whispered in Applejack's ear.
“Wha? Oh, nah, Fluttershy always acts like this 'round strangers.” Applejack replied, waving a dismissive hoof.
“Oh.” Nigel said with a small mutter before raising himself off from the sofa. He wobbled a few times, his legs feeling shaky from lying down for so long but he managed to keep his balance. Slowly, he moved towards Fluttershy and kneeled down slowly, “There's no need to be scared of me, Fluttershy.” Nigel said softly, holding out his hand slightly. Fluttershy looks at him from the corner of her eye, her body shaking slightly. Slowly, she reached out with her hoof and shook Nigel's hand. “There.” Nigel said, smiling at Fluttershy before rising up and looking towards the other ponies. “Well, I must say this has been a jolly good visit, but I really must be going.” Nigel said, smiling widely at them before heading towards the exit, “I'm sure my family is worried sick about me.” He said, “If I keep them waiting much longer I’m sure Marianne will have my head!” he said with a chuckle.
He moved towards the door, but found Twilight in front of it, blocking his exit, “I'm afraid you can't leave here just yet.” she said, looking up at him.
Nigel looks down at Twilight in confusion, “Why not, if I may ask?” he ask, raising a brow at her.
“Well...” Twilight thought a bit before speaking, “I kind of have to write a letter to the Princess and, well, the ponies in town are a tad jumpy around strangers.” she said, recalling the whole ordeal with Zecora in her mind.
Nigel stared at her blankly for a few moments, not entirely sure what she was getting at. “I still have to check on my family, though; I can't keep them worried about me.” Nigel said, trying to edge around Twilight.
“I'm afraid your family isn't here.” Twilight said, shaking her head a bit even though she didn't know for sure it was the truth, but she couldn't take a chance of Nigel causing a panic in town.
“Oh, don't be silly! Of course my family is here!” Nigel said with a laugh, “I bet I’m less than half a mile from the Comvee, which is currently stationed besides the Argun River.” he said with a small laugh, looking out the window of the cottage.
Twilight stared at him in confusion before shaking head, “Um, I have no idea what any of those things are, but I can guarantee that you're farther away from home than you think.” she says.
“Then do you mind telling me where I am?” Nigel asked.
“Absolutely, but you'll want to sit down. It'll be quite the lengthy explanation” Twilight replied, motioning back towards the couch where Nigel was before. Nodding, Nigel heads back to the couch and plopped down, causing it to creak slightly. After Nigel was seated Twilight trotted over and began to explain the situation. As Twilight continued with her explanation, Nigel's face started to grow more and more confused, a grim smile appearing.
After about an hour, Twilight had finished. She answered some of Nigel's questions about Equestria after the initial explanation.
“This...this is a lot to take in.” Nigel says, looking down at the ground while he spoke.
“I know, Nigel. We'll find a way to return you home, don't worry.” Twilight said reassuringly, nodding a bit.
Nigel nods too, “Would you mind giving me some room? I could use some time alone to collect my thoughts.” Nigel asked, looking up towards Twilight.
“Of course. Come on girls; let's go outside for a few moments.” Twilight said, heading towards the back door of Fluttershy's cottage, her friends following from close behind.
“Okay, Spike, I think now is the time to write that letter.” Twilight said after several moments of musing. Spike nodded and once again pulled out a quill and scroll and prepared to write. Twilight has Spike write a lengthy note about the day's event and after she is satisfied she has him send it to the Princess.
As soon as Spike sent the letter Nigel pushes the backdoor open, and takes a deep breath through his nose, “Ah, I feel much better after a bit of fresh air!” Nigel said cheerfully.
Twilight looks over at Nigel, smiling a bit, “Feeling better?” she grinned.
“I'm feeling absolutely smashing considering my situation!” Nigel says, smiling widely and walking over towards the ground of ponies. As he made way, Nigel tripped over a molehill, “Blargharg!” Nigel flailed his arms and grasped at the nearest thing, which just happened to be Rainbow Dash.
“Hey, what the buck?!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she was roughly brought down to earth, landing on top of Nigel who was still flailing his arms and making that odd noise.
Twilight watched the scene and sighed once more. “I have a feeling this is going to end badly.”