//------------------------------// // 3. Keep calm and flutter on - Day One // Story: The Guardian // by Alexshy //------------------------------// Apparently, he wasn’t dead… yet. Alex’s consciousness floated somewhere at the thin border between this world and the land of Eternal Hunt, with him being able to hear scraps of reality from time to time, but not yet see or move. After a while, he decided to fight for his chance and started floating through the nowhere towards the voices he heard. Slowly… Bang! The door slammed against the wall when Fluttershy pushed it and burst in. “Oh goodness, oh goodness!” muttered she, making a wide circle around the room. Curtains on the windows stirred up, caught by her wings’ turbulence. “I have only one bed. I can hardly put him anywhere else… Squee!” “Come on, Harry,” she landed at the bottom of the stairs and ran up. “Bring him upstairs… umm… please.” When in her bedroom she swept everything unnecessary from the bed in one swing, a book she read last night and teddy bear went into the armchair in the corner. She dragged the covers to the footrest of her bed. Loud footsteps entered the living room and now headed to the upper floor. Harry breathed heavily, surely the creature weighed not too much for a bear to carry, but the walk was long. Besides, he managed to hold the edges of the wound to avoid bleeding out and was to be constantly careful. Still, blood was everywhere. Fluttershy turned to the bedroom door, as Harry got up and was now standing in the doorframe with the “creature” in his fore paws. He pointed with his eyes to the wound and blood drops, forming a trail on the floor. “Oh, dear,” jumped Fluttershy on the spot. “Just bring him in and on the bed, I’ll clean everything up later. On the right side… please… if it’s OK with you.” “Wait a minute, we need to take those things off him,” she reconsidered. “Please hold him a little longer.” After a few minutes of futile attempts, they understood that they needed help, as Harry was to hold both the body and the wound and Fluttershy couldn’t get a good grip to remove strange dark-blue clothes. “Angel, dear!” White bunny, which ran somewhere, when they entered the cottage, appeared after a few more calls. The reason for his lingering became obvious when a large heap of bandages hopped in the bedroom. It seemed that he had raided the whole first-aid locker downstairs. “O-oh, dear, you’re so thoughtful,” Fluttershy flew up crossing the room and planted a small kiss on bunny’s nose, making Angel blush. “I’m so sorry, b-but I have one more task for you… if… you don’t mind… Please, go get Twilight here as soon as she can attend!” “Just be careful out there!” shouted she after him, when he saluted with the fore paw and burst jumped through the door. Harry sat on the floor, still holding the wounded creature. Fluttershy trotted downstairs to get her saddlebag with the potions, she hoped could help. The first one foamed, being poured on the terrible wound, cleaning it, pushing out dust and small pieces of wood and flushing them away. The second composition, applied by her caring hooves, was supposed to help stop the bleeding and boost the regeneration of the tissues. It was also to be applied with the bandage, but for the moment Fluttershy could only make a temporary one. She tried to apply it and fix as tightly, as she could to make the wound edges close. The creature didn’t react anyhow on her manipulations and Fluttershy trembled. Her touches, despite being careful and wary, should have certainly hurt. But he definitely breathed and the pulse was palpable when she checked. That made her calm down a bit. There was one more potion at her service, this one was to replenish the blood loss by stimulating the body to produce more and generally strengthen the patient. But it needed to be applied orally and no sane pony would pour something into the throat of the unconscious unless wanting to kill them. “Oh, dear…” tears started filling Fluttershy’s eyes. Her sad thoughts were interrupted by a loud snap almost making her dive under the bed. When the bright flash faded out, Fluttershy and Harry saw Twilight Sparkle, who transferred herself right into Fluttershy’s bedroom. Angel bunny jumped off her back. Fluttershy took a deep breath with her ears still flat and one of the fore legs raised. “Hi, Flutters,” Twilight waved one hoof in a greeting gesture. “Hi, Harry.” “What’s up with you guys? Angel jumped around me like mad, until I took him and got here fast. I was afraid something bad happened…” she stumbled as her eyes reached the body Harry held in his paws. “This… is not…” Twilight’s pupils almost filled the eyes. “F-Fluttershy, don’t tell you’ve found a human! How… ummm…” her wings wiggled unconsciously. “I-if you say so,” Fluttershy was a bit bemused by that reaction. “I-I don’t get it. I mean, s-surely that’s something rare, b-but… I wanted you here to help… i-if you don’t mind…” “I, of course, don’t, but it’s not just “rare”,” huffed Twilight. “It’s mythic. I’ve read something about them, but the information was scarce. Lyra should know more, you know. She is mad about those things… creatures, always talking about how marvellous it would be to have hands and so on. That’s while she is a unicorn,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Can you imagine? She is the one who told me about them initially, now I remember. Then I looked for some information myself and couldn’t find much… I wonder… where did she...” Twilight stopped to take a deep breath and think. “M-m-mythic?” re-asked Fluttershy quietly. “Yeah, must be it,” she approached. “Two hands with palms and fingers… just like minotaurs have. But the legs must be similar, I mean, no hooves… They have fingers there as well, just different ones, as they walk on those two legs only. Otherwise, they seem to be a lot like us.” “With one exception though,” Twilight’s tone became very serious. “There are none normally in Equestria. They are from another world, as far as I know. I know your love for the animals and… But how did you manage to get it, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy’s eyes dilated, she looked like she was going to fall. But she managed to take herself in the hooves after a second. “He saved me from a timberwolf in the Everfree forest,” she whispered. Then her voice became stronger. “And please, Twilight, don’t call him “it”, he was talking, he is definitely sentient… and… he saved my life.” Twilight looked sceptical. But she was ready to help her friend, as she knew, Fluttershy wouldn’t call her that late without serious reasons. “Okay, Flutters, I know you long and well enough not to argue. What do I need to do?” “Thank you, Twilight,” Fluttershy gave her a little smile. “He is bleeding out. I’ve cleaned the wound and used one of Zecora’s potions to slow the bleeding and make it heal.” “But he lost too much, he was muttering something we couldn’t get,” she added in despair. “Now he is quiet for a while and I fear that my treatment isn’t enough. I can’t use the Refilling potion, as he is unconscious, I don’t want to drown him. Besides, we need to get his clothes off and we couldn’t cope with that in his condition. We need your magic, Twilight, please…” “Okay, Okay,” Twilight remembered how enthusiastic Fluttershy could be when saving some “poor thing”. “Just let’s take it step by step.” They managed to take human’s “toga” off together, while Harry held the body. When they took off the boots, Twilight frowned. These were surely comfortable enough for human feet to take long walks, but they could also let more air in during those walks. “We should wash him somehow,” Fluttershy nodded noticing Twilight’s pout. “Nopony knows how far and long for he was walking.” “Then you should take off those as well,” Twilight smirked pointing her hoof to the underwear and Fluttershy blushed heavily. “Come on, do you still need him clean and recovering?” She gave her friend a sly grin. “Could you… maybe… help?” Fluttershy sighed. “I know you’re a princess now and so on…” “And besides it’s… okay, okay,” Twilight amended seeing her friend frowned, but her grin became wider. “He is your new… attainment.” Eventually, Fluttershy coped with her task, she was to use her teeth to help her hooves do it. Yes, that was evidently a “he” and the yellow pegasus’ face turned almost carrot red. “You both didn’t see anything,” she pointed her hoof towards Twilight and Harry when they put the human on the bed finally. “Especially you, Twi!” Twilight raised her fore leg in juratory gesture, Harry was whistling, while looking at the ceiling. “Oh, dear,” Fluttershy remembered what time it already was. “Harry… I can’t express, how thankful I am! Sorry for keeping you busy for that long. You can go… if you need to. I can’t probably ask for more.” The bear nodded with a smile on his muzzle. He then headed out shrugging, like saying ‘Have fun, girls!’ “Good night, Harry!” Twilight waved a hoof, Harry grunted something in a farewell manner. “If we need to wash him,” she turned to Fluttershy. “Why not doing that now, before I take a look on his wound.” Next fifteen minutes they spent washing the dust from the human – Fluttershy brought a washbowl with warm water and sponge. They tried to do with most possible care as when they attempted to turn the body more blood stained the bandages. When everything was finally done, Twilight asked Fluttershy to remove the patch accurately. The wound was indeed bad and even worse than she imagined. Despite all potions applied there was still enough work to do. Twilight’s horn produced the bright lilac glow, she decided to try the most simple healing spell, every unicorn filly should know to make wounds close up. She then touched the edges with her magic. She felt a small push and, to her surprise, no signs of her spell working. The wound stayed the same and as she was further trying to heal it, she started feeling slight dizziness. This very moment the flaming snakes feeling inside Alex finally settled, unnoticed by him, of course. Twilight interrupted her spell and staggered a little. Her yellow friend slid to her to catch her up. “No, no, it’s fine,” said Twilight, when Fluttershy looked at her with anxiety and surprise. “It’s just strange…” “I felt like my spell was draining and sucking magical force from me, but nothing happened. It didn’t help to close up the wound,” she explained to Fluttershy her condition. “Mind if I try something else?” “S-sure. But… P-please be careful…” “Of course, as much as I usually am,” smiled Twilight, readying another supposedly more powerful and effective spell. Same result. Nothing. This time the feeling of exhaustion was stronger and more noticeable, making Twilight sigh tiredly and back down. She sat on the spot with a very puzzled look on her face. “It’s the first time I could do literally nothing, Flutters,” she looked at her friend, who now checked the human’s condition more thoroughly – fortunately he didn’t get any worse. Twilight looked across the room to the table under the window, then levitated a cup from it towards herself. “No, my magic is fine,” she assumed, while Fluttershy was watching her. “And I didn’t feel any drain while doing this. It must be something about him that makes him… magic resistant.” “But that’s nonsense,” she added in disbelief. “Nothing is unaffected by magic one way or another in Equestria. Well… I must ask Lyra if she knows anything about humans being magic resistant. As far as I could remember, they aren’t…” Then she turned to Fluttershy, who was fluttering around the human on her bed, covering him up, making him comfortable, murmuring something melodic… In other words behaving, like it was her Angel bunny with a bad cold. Twilight was even unsure, she noticed how the patch was replaced and tightened with more bandages. “What?” Fluttershy paused and noticed that her friend was watching her with one brow lifted. “Oh, I-I… I’m sorry, Twilight, what did you say?” “I say,” Twilight still watched them fixedly. “I want you to tell me exactly how it was. How did you meet that… guy.” “Ummm…” Fluttershy tried to remember the vital details. “Remember you warned me about the timberwolves. I was so stupid not listening to you enough, sorry.” Twilight nodded in accommodating spirit. “It wasn’t even late, but they appeared and chased me and Angel,” Fluttershy continued her story. “I was so scared. Sweet Celestia, at least Angel was on my back at the moment it happened. I ran towards the rocks. Twi, it happened right near the mountain, you know, where the old road to Sister’s Castle is…” “Wait a moment,” Twilight nodded and headed to the nightstand, where the human’s improvised clothes lied. “I knew I saw something strange about this.” She then unfolded it and stared at the long wide piece of fabric… of the ancient tapestry. Night coloured with the Moon and… princess Luna stylized image. “I’ll be damned,” whispered Twilight and covered her mouth with the hoof right away, as if being afraid that Celestia might have heard her swearing. “This is princess Luna regal tapestry from the Old Castle. I need to write a letter to Princess Celestia as soon as I get home. Now even more than before…” “Oh, I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” she turned to her friend, who also came closer and now examined the tapestry over Twilight’s shoulder. “Can you please continue?” “Right… I-I was chased to the mountain side and when I stopped in the opening, I saw there was no way out except… except c-climbing the rocks. You know, I-I always had problems with that, back then… and during that incident with a d-dragon…” Fluttershy smiled sheepishly with her cheeks starting to blush. ‘Except you can fly,’ thought Twilight, but she said only. “So?” “So I turned and… w-well, it always happens automatically.” Fluttershy’s voice got more confident. “I’ve just stared the timberwolves… With the Stare I mean.” “They left, well, I thought so, but there were more than three of them,” Fluttershy’s eyes dilated when she remembered the danger she was in. “But I realized that later. I suddenly heard that somepony jumped behind me to the ground. He shouted, well actually those were only comprehensible words I heard from him, addressed to the wolf I suppose. He said, “No, you bucking don’t!” When I turned around, he was standing there with… a log or something. Timberwolf attacked, but the human dodged and then hit the wolf on the neck with that log. He sent wolf’s head flying far into the shrubs, it hit the tree and crashed. The wolf rolled over, but… I think it managed to hit the human with its’ paw somehow before dropping dead. Then the human fell down and soon fainted.” Fluttershy took the breath and looked at Twilight, who sat on the floor with eyes wide open. She then realized that the last few seconds she was jumping around her friend, waving her fore legs like a mad baseball stallion-fan. “Squee…” Fluttershy lowered to the floor with ears flattened and colour hitting her cheeks. “Sorry.” “Ahem,” Twilight cleared her throat. “Never mind… And what happened next.” “Pretty much what you already know,” answered Fluttershy with a tiny smile. “Harry came to assist… but he could never get there in time… So if that human wasn’t there, I would have been already… dead.” She couldn’t help but shiver at the thought. “We took him here and he was bleeding all the way, despite Harry managed somehow to close his wound for a while. Then I send Angel after you…” “Fluttershy, tell me one thing,” Twilight scratched her head with the hoof. “What makes you so sure that the human wasn’t just eliminating the rival? And had no plans to continue, what wolves started, if not being hit by the last of them? I’m just asking…” “I. Just. Know!” said Fluttershy quietly, but confidently. “I see,” said Twilight after looking her fixedly in the eyes for a few seconds. “Well, that still doesn’t change that I should write to Celestia about all that, considering Old Castle involved and the human appearing magic resistant.” “Just don’t make it look darker than it is,” pleaded Fluttershy. “You know me, dear,” Twilight tried to hold back a tired yawn, it was after midnight already. “I’ll write only facts and it’s up to princess to decide, what they mean and what to do with all that.” “Oh, okay…” “Now, if you excuse me…” Twilight got up. “Unless you still need my help… If I can be of any, as I can’t manipulate him with magic.” “Oh, no, I’ll cope with it, thanks!” Fluttershy smiled and returned to the bed to check how her patient was doing. “Then I’ll go back home. I need to think, write a letter and a reminder to myself to bring you more bandages tomorrow… Do you have enough?” “Don’t worry, Twi,” Fluttershy was an epitome of serenity and confidence when she got somepony to take care of. “Angel brought here all we had… and if necessary… I-I will rip one of my sheets. One more thing though...” “Yes?” “I’m not sure if you know how…” muttered Fluttershy. “I was unable to give him a refilling potion to compensate for the blood loss. Simply was afraid of drowning him. Could you do anything about that?” “This is a matter of minutes,” Twilight cocked her head proudly. “If you have a rubber tube…” “Twilight?!” “What? I’ve read about the whole procedure in a book, I have no reasons to distrust!” * This day had all the chances to end fine, but suddenly it all went down the gutter. And the four autopsies in the row were not the reason. Normally four was not even close to the workday record. It was the latest analysis results, which made him hate that day and his job – the rare case, as those who do, rarely become or stay pathologists. But the whole absurdity of the situation made him cringe. Miles hated when something couldn’t be explained logically and scientifically. This time he had to deal with the purely fantastic incident. As the case materials told there was a human, white, male, about 25-30 years old in the car, which remnants analysis results were laying on his table right at that moment. In the car, which got on fire because of gasoline leakage and was simultaneously hit by a lightning discharge. But… there wasn’t. Miles took off the glasses and rubbed the nose bridge. It could hardly be any worse. There were no trails of the human body (intact, decayed, burned or affected any other way) in the samples of seat and salon covers and the ash, into which the largest part of former car interior turned. But they must be there. There were two witnesses that the case subject got in the car before the incident and didn’t get out before or after car ignition. But some trails should have remained even in the centre of an atomic explosion. There was nothing though. The analysis returned only presence of some cloth, which wasn’t the salon cover, probably clothes, but completely nothing organic from the back seat area. “Fuck it in general and in particular,” Miles send the silent damnation to the burned car, the police who requested the analysis and the laboratory, which left him dealing with the blank result. “At least the report will be quite laconic.” “No trails of human (generally organic) tissues found in the presented samples” – just the same as the result which the damned lab delivered.” “I have a gut feeling, this will bring troubles in the longer perspective, despite there is nothing else we could do obviously,” Miles gritted his teeth, filling the forms with a frustrated sigh. Someone knocked on the door of the cabinet. “Come in,” called Miles not raising his head from the documents he worked with. “Evening, Sam,” the newcomer sat on the visitor chair opposite to the workplace. That was the police detective, working on this case, and at the same time a pal of Sam Miles, police pathologist. “Evening, Mathew,” replied Sam quite grumpily. Though his feeling was dictated purely by the results, not by his guest. “Can’t say though a good one!” “So?” Mathew was an epitome of briefness. “Nothing,” the pathologist grimaced in frustration. “No trails of the human body or anything at least resembling it in that car.” “But…” Mathew stumbled. “Well… Sam, I need anything you can comment about that case. Unofficially, of course… not for the report.” Sam put the glasses back on and examined his friend, like if he was seeing him for the first time. After a short pause, he said. “But I have nothing to comment on, frankly. I can comment, basing on the facts or test results. And the result is clearly saying – no body present. So, if you want, there was nobody on the back seat of that car in the exact moment, when it turned into ash and debris. I can make theories about the rest… but, I’m sorry, I somehow don’t want to.” “Look, there were two witnesses,” Mathew leaned forward and talked passionately. “Moreover, those witnesses were my own sister and her daughter. That is why I want to sort this case out, even if unofficially. I want to simply understand, what happened there.” “Umm…” “My sister is a sane and prudent woman and would never make up such a story, besides… what for?” continued the detective. “And the girl never told a word of a lie in her whole life. I know it sounds strange, but she simply can’t, she is like that.” “And they both saw that guy in their car just before it became an oven… with electric grille,” Mathew shivered at the thought of what they evaded. “He saved my niece, taking her out of the car just moments before it ignited. We found his car down the road, his personal belongings, documents. My sister was holding his jacket and cell phone, he gave her to call the emergency, right before he got into her car. We found his parents and his girlfriend.” “So he was a real person,” Mathew took a breath. “He was there in the car… and now you’re telling that he wasn’t…” “Exactly, despite how much I dislike coming to that conclusion myself,” shrugged Miles. “Look, I don’t know yet, what to do of that report… and you want me to click my fingers and make that guy… or his corpse, materialize here, don’t you? Well, with all respect… I simply can’t.” The daylight lamp on the ceiling buzzed unusually loud in the silence that followed. * First rays of sun and birds chatter, which sounded from outside through the open window, woke her early in the morning. Fluttershy found herself on the edge of her bed near the human, the place she exactly collapsed at about two hours ago (as the wall clock told her) after changing the bandages once again. It was 7 am and promised another busy day ahead, especially with new chores to attend to. She yawned and stretched, then remembered something and flew up to check her patient. Everything seemed normal. When she peeked under the patch, the wound didn’t look that awful as before. His breath was superficial, but even, the pulse – calm and palpable. “Hmm… Those humans must have fast regeneration,” she said to herself. “Or did Twilight’s spell finally work?” Still, it would be better to hold the edges tighter somehow without making it excessively painful for the subject. Thinking of how hard it would be to achieve, Fluttershy trotted to the bathroom to wash off the sleep and fatigue. She left the door open and listened to the sounds from the room while showering and brushing her teeth. Silence. She dried herself and entered the bedroom. Angel bunny jumped on the bed near the human and waved his paw to her, showing that he would stay and watch. He squeaked enthusiastically. “Thank you, Angel,” smiled Fluttershy. “What would I do without you? Could you watch him till I finish feeding others?” Angel nodded, letting Fluttershy stick to her regular morning business. “I need to hurry,” she thought. “First breakfast to all, then daily care for those who need, then check his bandages and apply potions.” “Sweet Celestia,” Fluttershy shivered remembering. “I hope Twilight comes before noon. There is no way I’m trying her trick with the tube alone, but he needs that.” It was already half past ten when Fluttershy was about to finish her morning routines. She examined a sick squirrel and decided to try a new Zecora’s composition on when she saw somepony heading up to her cottage from Ponyville. This newcomer jumped the road in a manner, he or she could compete Pinkie Pie, and appeared to be a minty-green unicorn mare with white-blue mane, when she came closer. “Oh, no,” Fluttershy rounded up her observation and hurried to the front door. “I’ve totally forgotten that Twilight wanted to send Lyra Heartstrings here to see the human and share her knowledge. Why do I suspect troubles to come?..” She greeted the minty coloured mare, while Lyra almost jumped around Fluttershy in circles. “Morning, Flutters!” she greeted cheerfully. “Twilight said you could use my help with your new pet. She said it was a human. Did you really catch one? Squee!” She was behaving like a school filly on her favourite DJ concert. “Well, most likely he is. But he’s not a pet,” frowned Fluttershy. “Oh, come on, Flutters!” grinned Lyra widely. “Why so serious?” “Because he is a human, right… Well, most likely as you didn’t see him yet to confirm,” replied Fluttershy irritably. “And because he saved my life in Everfree and now is severely wounded. I need help to make him recover. That is why I’m… deadly serious.” She took a deep breath heading to her cottage. “Are you coming?” “You brought him from Everfree?” Lyra blinked several times. “And he did what?” Fluttershy noticed to her satisfaction that Lyra stopped calling the human “it”. “Umm… Not me technically, but that doesn’t matter…” “Now if you please,” she stopped at the door, welcoming Lyra inside. Lyra shook her head then trotted after Fluttershy, not as jumpily, but still with an enthusiastic look on her face. “It’s me, Angel,” Fluttershy opened the door to her bedroom. “You must know Lyra. She came to see our guest.” Angel hopped from the bed to the armchair and pushed the teddy bear aside. He wasn’t very friendly with other ponies, except her close friends – Twilight and other few. Fluttershy was very surprised to see him helping with the human that willingly and even staying with him to keep an eye. Perhaps Angel felt grateful for not becoming a burger for the wolves. Fluttershy pushed Lyra into the room lightly, as the latter froze in the doorframe with eyes wide open. Minty unicorn made a few steps in and stopped again. “So? What do you say… i-if you don’t mind?” asked Fluttershy quietly. That seemed to break Lyra’s stupor, as she jumped high and yelped. “YESSSSSS!!! It is a human! One head, no hair on the body… almost… Two legs, two arms. With palms and fingers!!!” Lyra’s eyes dilated and the whole her look said, she was going either faint or grab the human as some sort of rare treasure. She rushed towards the bed and Fluttershy needed to react quickly to get herself between her patient and Lyra. “Lyra,” called Fluttershy, holding her with her fore legs. “Calm down! And please be quiet… if you don’t mind.” “Please, be adequate,” she added quieter when Lyra seemed to catch her breath and calm a bit. “That is why I needed you here. I know next to nothing about humans, except them being sentient and able to talk.” Lyra allowed to get her seated, took a deep breath and flooded Fluttershy with information. Next half an hour she talked almost without any pauses. Fluttershy sat next to her, listened and nodded, sometimes re-asking. It seemed like Lyra prepared for a lecture… or simply learned everything she could about humans. Evidently, they were her favourite subject. Fluttershy got to know that. Humans were from an entirely different world. That was expected by Fluttershy, yet getting it confirmed carried a tint of shock to it. “So h-he is technically… an alien,” she interrupted Lyra’s talk. “An extra-… equestrian creature.” “Yeah, they don’t commonly inhabit Everfree, you know!” smirked Lyra. “Where did that one come from exactly?” “I don’t know for sure,” Fluttershy smiled embarrassedly. “He might come from the Old Castle, at least I came across him, where the road to Sisters’ Castle starts…” Lyra’s eyes, which travelled across the room, stopped at the folded cloth on the table and widened. “… and he was dressed in that tapestry wrapped around him like a toga, underwear and boots,” ended Fluttershy, when she saw that Lyra trembled slightly. “What? What’s wrong with you?” “You don’t say… that’s an ancient tapestry of Princess Luna,” Lyra recognized the colours. Apparently, she was good at history as well as at human matters. “From the Sisters’ Castle Ruins?” “Perhaps. Twilight says it is. I-I was too scared… last time I w-was in the Ruins to pay attention to t-tapestry stuff. Does that really matter?” “And he came dressed in that, wrapped his body in?” continued Lyra. Her eyes moved from the human on the bed to Fluttershy, like if she wasn’t sure who now shocked her more. “I reconsider, I’d be careful with that creature…” “Oh, stop that Lyra,” Fluttershy laughed heartily, when she got, what Lyra was talking about. “There is no Nightmare Moon anymore. And princess Luna is back. She’s kinda nice…” “You know the legend though,” whispered Lyra. “…I’ve met her in person and saw that my fears were groundless. Come on, you’ve met princess on last Nightmare Night celebration. She’s okay, strange spoken, but who wouldn’t be, spending a thousand of years on the Moon.” “Exactly,” interrupted Lyra. “And I’m telling you, that legend is just… a legend. I can personally assure you there are no… “remnants” in the Old Castle!” Fluttershy calmed her down. “Besides Twilight founds that interesting, but nothing more. I trust Twilight when it comes to magic.” “Oh… Well… Perhaps it’s safe then… Perhaps,” Lyra seemed to relax a bit. Mentioning Twilight – the most promising student of princess Celestia – was the right idea. “So,” Fluttershy tried to return Lyra’s focus to the main subject. “What did you say about humans?” Humans usually lived in groups, be it families, tribes or other formations – this one could be lost and accidentally transferred to Equestria. How – that was an open question still. Humans were omnivores – that could bring some problems in future, but considering them sentient, Fluttershy hoped that could be settled easily. Humans were good warriors – that was apparently correct. “Yeah, that’s typical for them,” nodded Lyra when Fluttershy told her what happened at the mountain side. “When they defend beloved, family or their principles, they can take out an enemy way stronger than themselves, with the help of a good weapon even more. But why did he do that? He was putting himself in great danger confronting a timberwolf, moreover a timberwolf ready to pounce on its’ prey…” “That’s one thing among others, which makes me completely sure, he is sentient and carries no malicious intent,” said Fluttershy quietly. “Still doesn’t explain – why? You say he was wounded… Can I have a look?” “I was going to change bandages and apply the regular treatment,” Fluttershy trotted to the table to take necessary potions. “It is time to already, so I suppose it’s OK.” “So here is where…” sighed Lyra when a long wide wound opened to her eyes. “A bad one, but he seems to hold. And you treated it really well.” “Thanks,” Fluttershy gave her a smile. “I tried my best. That was the least I could do for him.” “…but you could do better,” continued Lyra, while her eyes examined the human’s upper body. “Humans treat bad wounds with stitches. They hold edges together and allow tissues close up faster.” “You mean sewing their skin?” asked Fluttershy with dilated eyes. “Yes, if you have durable threads and some pain-killing potion, I could help with that. You see, they possess no magic, so are to rely on simple things like that and medicine.” When everything was ready, they’ve spent twenty minutes sewing the wound up. Fluttershy held the edges together while Lyra operated a needle and thread with her magic. Potions worked nicely and there wasn’t much blood. The human seemed to not notice being operated. “Now apply the potions outside only,” explained Lyra when they finished. “Don’t try to get anything inside, thus the wound will close up faster. When it does, somepony needs to remove the stitches.” “I suppose that should hurt… a bit,” she added. “But nothing compared to what he has come across already.” “You said, they don’t possess any magic,” Fluttershy returned to what bothered her while placing the patch back on human’s side. “Absolutely.” “And what about being resistant to magic?” “Fluttershy, there were quite a few cases of human getting to Equestria, all of them resulting in different troubles with them, most ending tragically,” Lyra put on mentor tone. “But none of them were resistant to magic. In fact, I suppose this to be one of the reasons most cases ended tragically. Humans are easily affected by magic, thus easily affected by not only healing potions, which operate the body but by others like love potions, which operate the mind. They can be marionettes at horn, too.” “Hmm… Maybe this one is the first then?” asked Fluttershy. “Because he IS resistant to magic. And Twilight made sure of this with me witnessing.” “You must be kidding,” Lyra came closer to the bed still eyeing the human. Suddenly she grasped the covers with magic and tried to pull it off. “What are you doing?” exclaimed Fluttershy. “Stop!” “Ehh… I just wanted to check…” Lyra said innocently, but something in her eyes made Fluttershy frown. “What did you want to check?” she interrogated Lyra. “What did you expect to see? Two legs… as you said…” she stopped. “We, me and Twilight, were to undress him to wash the dust off and…” “And?..” Lyra giggled. “There was no “and”,” Fluttershy cheeks started to glow red, while her sight rushed to the floor. “We just c-cleaned him. You know… h-healing wounds need simple hygiene.” “I suppose,” Lyra was unbearable at that moment. She added with a sly smile. “By the way, did you know that a human male can last in bed at least 15 times longer than a typical stallion? Scientific fact!” Fluttershy facehoofed. “Theoretically…” Lyra’s face became carrot red under Fluttershy’s wild glare, but she still giggled. Suddenly minty glow enveloped human’s right hand. It got brighter then dimmer then again in a cycle, then a thin thread of the same glow connected it with Lyra’s glowing horn. Lyra staggered. “Lyra, stop!” shouted Fluttershy, running to the unicorn and pushing her with her body. She managed to break the glowing connection and Lyra leaned on Fluttershy, then tried to stop her eyes rolling. Fluttershy provided a supporting shoulder and led Lyra downstairs carefully. “How could you be that stupid,” asked Fluttershy when they got into the kitchen and she was making Lyra some coffee. “Sorry, I didn’t believe you,” Lyra’s apology seemed to be sincere. “I’ve tried to lift his hand with magic to check if he was resistant indeed.” “But instead of lifting,” she looked seriously bemused. “Instead of that, I felt magic drain. A strong one, like if something pumped the force from me. Sweet Celestia, even if he is not connected to Nightmare Moon, he can be dangerous.” “So can be a fork, if you stick it into your muzzle,” objected Fluttershy. “I’m very sorry, I haven’t mentioned the effects, but you should have listened when I said that he was magic resistant.” “Yeah, you’re probably right,” sighed Lyra, she seemed to patch herself up already. “And that makes him useless for me.” Fluttershy raised a brow. “I always dreamed to find out what it is to be a human,” confessed Lyra. “And hoped magic could help me getting closer if I come across a real one. I knew them being mythic creatures. What chances I had. And now – the irony – the only human I could probably meet in my life is magic resistant… unlike all the rest.” Lyra seemed to be completely upset. “You wanted to be a human?” Fluttershy didn’t believe her ears. “What for? And… excuse me… there are polymorph spells and so on… if you… want that so much.” “Polymorph spells are a totally different grade of magic,” elaborated Lyra, while sipping her coffee. “Maybe Twilight could perform that, but I was always quite realistic about my magic skills. Besides, they took much energy and were temporary. I always wanted something more… steady.” “As for why,” she continued her story. “It’s simple. Humans have hands.” “But you have magic,” retorted Fluttershy. “Magic is not always that convenient, everypony thinks it is,” sighed Lyra. “For example, you can scratch behind your ears. Nicely or not, but you can. What about your back then? What about writing and not being forced to hold the pencil in your mouth… if you’re not a unicorn? And that’s just a small part. You can do so many things with fingers!” she concluded pointedly. Fluttershy watched Lyra daydreaming with half-lidded eyes and decided not to argue. * “Hey, good day,” Twilight almost bumped in Lyra at the porch of the cottage. “You’re fast on decisions.” “Good day, princess,” Lyra followed the etiquette, but Twilight frowned. She wasn’t fond of friends and generally Ponyville citizens calling her “princess”, as she didn’t consider her own deserts comparable with other princesses. “Twilight” sounded just right. “When I hear “human”, I’m faster than light,” confessed Lyra meanwhile with a strange smile. “Especially when one needs to hurry before all good are taken.” Twilight raised a brow not sure, if she understood, what Lyra was implying. “I’ve told Fluttershy all that I knew, in brief of course. I’m sure I haven’t missed anything important,” Lyra scratched her nose and sighed. “Pity though this one is useless for me… at least in his current unconscious state.” “I mean, I can certainly learn more from him,” she elaborated. “When he wakes up… if you both don’t mind.” She added with a smile. “I would like to talk to him when it is possible. But he is resistant to magic…” Lyra shrugged. Then she wished the girls a good day and headed back to Ponyville. “I’m not sure, I understood her right…” Twilight turned to Fluttershy with question drawn on her face. “In which parts exactly?” “First, what’s about magic resistance being some kind of a problem for her?.. How’s she into his magic resistance at all.” “I’m afraid that’s m-my fault, Twilight,” Fluttershy’s ears flattened apologetically. “I told her, she shouldn’t use magic on him, but I didn’t tell, what might happen.” “Did she try?” breathed out Twilight. “She seemed fine to me…” “Yes, when I was distracted. And it was worse, than with you. She just tried to lift his arm and was backfired heavier. But it seemed to wear out when I pushed her and broke the connection.” “We must remember to warn everyone, who comes, about that reaction. It may be dangerous, especially if it is going to amplify with time. I wrote a letter to Princess Celestia, but she is busy with diplomatic stuff and I’m not sure, how soon she can attend. She promised to address this as fast, as she could though.” Twilight told very seriously. Then she remembered something. “And what was the phrase about… “all good are taken”.” “Oh,” Fluttershy blushed. “Lyra tried to get under covers… She said, she wanted to examine him better, but I guess, it was m-more in that curiosity… considering that h-human was obviously a male. I’ve stopped her and s-said, we were to undress him and wash… for purely hygienic reasons… you know. B-but she started giggling and joking about… then said…” “That a typical human lasts 15 times longer than a typical stallion?” “Yes… Squee!” “Scientific fact. But you’re right it’s strange how it is emphasized in every source I could find, same for Lyra it seems,” Twilight blushed as well, but suddenly smiled. “We’re lucky, she didn’t know who and how took off his underwear,” she whispered in Fluttershy’s ear. “We’re lucky Rarity doesn’t know that,” Fluttershy clung to the ground with her pupils narrowed from imagining the possible outcome. “I swear I won’t tell anyone,” Twilight dropped smirking. “But I won’t be so sure… knowing Rarity. Just give it time.” Fluttershy looked like if she was going to hide under something. “Oh, Flutters, I’m kidding,” Twilight hugged her friend. “I hope…” added she under her breath. “Come on, I’ve brought more bandages,” Twilight waved her head at her saddle bag. “And our rubber tube business is waiting.” Fluttershy couldn’t help shuddering. * It was about 5 pm when Fluttershy could finally take a breath. When they finished patching up their human patient and Twilight left, Fluttershy was to continue her daily routines with other animals, specifically ill ones. Fortunately, Twilight brought some convenience food, so the walk to Ponyville market could be delayed. Fluttershy made herself a cup of tea and was going to change Angel who watched the human upstairs when someone knocked on the front door. “That human definitely made your days more events and guests filled,” Fluttershy smiled inwardly, getting up to answer it. “… and I was coming by and thought about visiting a good ol’ friend,” said a strange creature behind the door. It looked like a mix of a dragon, pony, gryphon and even deer, with the long tail, unequal paws, horns and eyes of the different colour. “Why not, I said to myself.” “Discord!” Fluttershy smiled widely, yet she seemed surprised by something. “Come in. I wonder though since when you started knocking. You usually just pop out of nowhere.” “Since two minutes ago,” smirked Discord, showing single fang. “I’m just an old friend and when I sensed you’re not alone here… finally… I decided to knock. Just in case.” “Oh, that’s not that…” Fluttershy seemed confused. “Tea?” “Yup, with pleasure,” dragonequs snapped his long fingers and took an empty teacup out of thin air. “You shouldn’t be so categorical though. I’ve said long ago that friends are good, but you needed someone… you know…” he winked. “The one I sensed here, was different from those I know in Equestria. Well almost. So I thought it finally might be the case.” “That’s a way premature assumption,” smiled Fluttershy, but her cheeks gave out colour which didn’t come unnoticed by her company. “He is a human. Do you know about humans? I’ve met him in Everfree… W-well, “met” is a bit strong word…” she paused searching for words and pouring tea into the cup Discord held. “Umm… He saved my life… a-and got wounded. So I’m now taking care of him naturally,” she ended simply. “A human,” Discord turned to the stairs with interest, moving his cup aside. “So that is why it seemed familiar, I’ve met them a couple of times… long ago. But I’m absolutely positive – this one is different.” The tea continued to flow from the teapot in the air and… ended entering the cup nevertheless. Fluttershy didn’t bat an eyelash, she got used to those tricks of him. She continued pouring the tea until the cup was full then simply said. “You’re right, he is different.” “Hmm… Mind if I look?” Discord chuckled meaningfully at the word “he”. “Why not,” nodded Fluttershy, then stopped him. “But I must warn you, he is magic resistant.” “Now that’s interesting,” jumped Discord. “So you’re going to say, I will carry experiments on him? So much for a few years of friendship…” He pretended to be pouting. “Oh, come on,” Fluttershy frowned. “I know you well and I know you won’t do anything awful, but one of your jokes, if played, may backfire. Now, if you let me explain, you’ll find out that he is not only magically resistant but also drains magic applied directly to him. Yet he ignores magic that isn’t directed at him. And that reaction progresses. Two of my friends experienced that on themselves and it wasn’t exactly pleasant.” “Now I definitely must have a look,” Discord put his teacup on the table and got up. “One of those friends must be Twilight, right?” “Yes, but…” “I simply can’t imagine one of you six finding something unusual… and Twilight avoiding being in the centre of it,” he explained getting up the stairs. “What can I say,” Discord arched his body above the bed examining the human. “It’s definitely a human!” He sent Fluttershy a wild look. “Oh, come on,” Fluttershy poked him with a hoof. “Stop goofing around for once. Like if it was all you can say…” “Ouch,” Discord pretended the hit was very sensitive. “I will tell nothing if you keep beating me!” “Okay, Okay,” he returned to seriousness in a second, perhaps even too much seriousness. “I’d say whatever you do, DON’T apply magic to him. Not that you are going to do this in particular, but DON’T EVER apply destructive magic to him.” “I mean “any magical interaction, which can be interpreted as harmful to him”,” explained Discord seeing Fluttershy uncomprehending expression. “Interpreted by whom?” asked Fluttershy. “I could say by him, but won’t lie to you – I don’t know,” Discord twisted his moustache. “Yeah, yeah, don’t look at me that way, Flutters. Here is something concerning magic I’m unsure about.” “He possesses no magic on his own,” continued he, when they headed back into the kitchen. “And is resistant to any magic applied to him, this I can trust your experiments in. But according to my observation, while any neutral or positive influence is ignored and… “drained” as you call it, any negative impact can be reflected. Of course, this is theory as we don’t carry any experiments of that kind…” “… because I don’t want your cottage lay in ruins,” he ended with emphasis. “Is it that bad?” Fluttershy became worried a little. “I know chaos magic,” said Discord. “I’ve been on both bad and good sides, you know. As for the moment I don’t see anything evil in him. But at the end of the day, a simple fork may be harmful if you stick it into your muzzle…” “I’d say he is not dangerous,” he took his cup and made a sip. “Just do what you’re best at, Fluttershy – see no evil in him, and it won’t appear.” “I’d like to give you one more advice, if you don’t mind,” after a few minutes of thinking said Discord. “It’s all up to you, of course… But if you do feel like that or come to that eventually… stick up to him. I sense that it may appear worthy,” he winked. “I’ve never yet really thanked you for giving me a second chance once,” he raised the cup, then pointed his long finger towards the bedroom. “This may be it, I mean – what I said. Oh, and the tea is splendid… as usual!” They kept silence for a few minutes thinking about what was said. “One more thing,” Discord said without his usual mocking attitude. “Tell Celestia specifically about the magic impact being unwelcome!” Then a tall hat appeared on Discord’s head, he took it off and pulled a cuckoo-clock out. “Well, I’m a busy dragonequs,” exclaimed Discord, making a surprised face. “And need to attend to my tasks. Good-bye, Fluttershy!” With a loud snap, he disappeared with hat, clock and the cup. * “Bring thyself in, Tia!” Luna leaned on the pillows, but she couldn’t get asleep. The latest news, she got tonight from the Crystal Empire, were not very calming, the Dark Mist was noticed far to the North again recollecting itself. It looked like King Sombra was slowly gathering power to attempt one more break-in. “I am not resting.” The door to Luna’s bedroom opened, revealing princess Celestia, who trotted towards her younger sister with a concerned look on her face. She levitated an unrolled scroll. “Morning, Luna!” Celestia greeted. “How did the night passed?” “Peacefully, more or less… Hast thou got the report from the Crystal Empire yet? Is t what brings a troubled look on thy visage?” Luna seemed to be in her thoughts still thus slightly distracted. “Or some misfortune regarding today’s morning audience?” “I did get the report indeed,” Celestia nodded, her neck curving in a swan-like manner. “The news is important, but hardly yet menacing or demanding our immediate attention. We simply must be ready to provide Cadence and Shining all necessary assistance if they ask. Perhaps send a couple of strong mages to help them dissolve the concentrating Mist before it grows.” “And this morning’s appointment is just a nuisance,” continued she, trotting impatiently back and forth, while Luna watched her with growing interest – something bothered her sister more than Crystal Empire news. “Can you imagine, a few nobleponies from Fillydelphia combined their investments and asked for permission to upbuild a new factory. Obviously, they have no idea, how the factory runs and the mere fact of pollution becoming excessive for existing refineries somehow,” she huffed. “…slipped by their minds. I guess somepony like Flim and Flam brothers is standing behind their puffed confidence and money. Naturally, I planned to run over their hopes for the sake of all Fillydelphia. Well, until they come with a realistic and environment-friendly plan at least.” “But that’s not what bothering thee at that very moment,” concluded Luna, while Celestia was taking her breath. “Yes. I got a letter from Twilight yesterday, but wasn’t able to address the problem personally due to certain preplanned appointments,” Celestia seemed to have a rare case of self-disappointment mood. “But each time I reread it my concerns double. So today I can attend to the matter myself.” “I just want you to know the details, especially because you were interested in that event two nights ago – the strange storm.” If there were any signs of sleep or distraction, now they vanished completely. Luna listened to her sister with full attention. “Twilight wrote that Fluttershy came across a human in the Everfree, which saved her from a timberwolf…” “Human, timberwolf, that is expensive,” said Luna in half-voice. “For what I recall about humans those gents never were durable enough to face a timberwolf, let alone defeat t, despite rare books on the subject say otherwise. Humans prefer fighting in masses.” Her accent though revealed her concern about the subject, being contrary to what she displayed. “… and got wounded,” resumed Celestia. “She took him home and is taking care of now.” “But the main thing,” she said a moment later. “This human is magic resistant. Moreover, he is somehow capable to drain magic applied to him, despite being unable to cast anything on his will.” “While the human, being unable to cast magic, is believable,” Luna even raised a bit from her pillows. “I couldn’t imagine one resistant to magic, let alone draining it!” “Neither do I,” simply replied Celestia. “That is exactly why I need to see everything with my own eyes… and estimate, if he provides any threat to the stability of Equestria… moreover the Harmony.” “Nopony knew, how he got here, but Fluttershy supposed, he came from the Old Castle direction, as she picked him at the end of the road there,” added princess of the Sun. “He has suffered some accident according to certain evidence, lost almost all his clothes, except his footwear and underwear… and was dressed in your old Royal Tapestry instead.” “Oh,” Luna shrugged. “The Old Castle is in ruins; I suppose anypony can easily rip off or pick some fusty cloth thither.” But her voice seemed to soften somehow. “I want to transfer him here in Canterlot, keep secure and inspect… before making any final decisions. Perhaps they are mistaking some… thing for a human,” she explained. “There is one problem though, this appointment. It’s neither serious, nor important, yet I can’t leave it unnoticed. Luna, could you, please, see them for me?” “Besides, I thought that might entertain you a bit,” Celestia added quickly before Luna even opened her mouth. “I know that is not a common practice, but… You look bored and those snobbish stubborn stallions need a good kick. You could even give your Royal Canterlot Voice an exercise.” Luna smirked. She loved “playing Nightmare Moon” during Nightmare Night holidays, but those happened only once a year. She could never imagine harming foals anyway. This time was different, perhaps Celestia was right and she could have fun, making those upper-class jerks weak in their legs, no casualties though. In addition to that, an excellent idea came to her mind, considering the human was sentient, Luna could try and reach his dreams when he slept. That could be definitely interesting: to know something new and to tease the guy a little if he was in good enough shape to come through that. Despite Celestia saying he was magic resistant, Luna decided to try. Dreams were totally different kind of magic, a careful approach might play out fine. She was always a bit of curious troublemaker anyway. “Fine, sister,” Luna stretched and wiggled her wings. “I suppose I can hold myself awake for a couple hours more.” “Thanks, Luna. I’ll head to Ponyville immediately then,” Celestia turned around and trotted out of the room. “Just telleth me later, how it went,” exclaimed Luna after her.