Outlier

by SociallyAwkwardPegasus


Freedom

The heavy sigh of a lone mare filled one of the many corridors of Canterlot Castle.  The time was nearing the later part of the evening and as per usual for the last few weeks, the mare was just coming back from the guest wing of the castle.  Pushing open the large door to the throne room, the green-coated guard could make out Luna’s brilliant form sitting upon her throne.  In her company was a brown-coated mare sporting a pristine white lab coat and clipboard held in her magic.  The two were deep in conversation before a quick glance from the princess pulled their conversation to an end.
“Yes princess.  We will have all of the results tomorrow,” the mare replied before bowing politely and taking her leave.  Seeing this as her chance, the guard made her way towards the throne in the room before giving a quick bow of respect.
“Princess,” the guarded said, her tone firm and respectful.
“At ease Skylight.  There is no such  need to be formal when it is just us,” Luna stated.  Skylight took this as her chance to relax her posture into a more comfortable position, while also shedding the helmet that kept her short, black-mane hidden from general view.
“Thank you princess.  I am just here to give my report on our guest.”  Luna’s full attention was quickly situated on the mare, hoping for at least a bit of good news about their newest arrival at the castle.  However, just from the body-language of the guard, Luna could tell that the situation hadn’t improved since last night, or even from a week prior.
“I take it there hasn’t been a positive change in his demeanour?” Luna questioned, though already she knew the answer.
“I am sorry princess, but no.  We had the doctors take a look at him again this morning and everything seemed to be fine physically.  What worries me is what we can’t see,” she relayed with a bit of a frown.
“I understand, though the situation can’t be helped.  I do not wish to mislead him with any false information until we have all of the facts straight.  You, as well as I know that this is an opportunity we cannot afford to waste.”  The guard nodded her head in agreement, though still held a frown of guilt on her face.
“I just wish I could tell him something.  When he first came here, he was just so full of questions.  But for the last week or so, he hasn’t said a word to me or most of the doctors that were sent to check up on him.  Honestly princess, I think he just sort of gave up since you ordered us not to answer anything.  And keeping him confined to a guest room under lock and key isn’t doing well to boost his morale or trust in us either.”  Luna sighed as the guard voiced her frustrations of the situation.  Deep down she knew her guard was right.  The longer she kept her guest under lockdown, the more he would likely come to resent them, especially when he finds out that she held a part in bringing him here.  Though that talk could wait until later.
“I will admit, I agree with you that we haven’t done our best to keep his spirits high.  Though given the situation, I hope you understand why I am so cautious as to let him roam around or answer any of his questions.”  Skylight responded with a nod of her head, followed by another sigh of her own.
“I do understand princess.  But can I at least take him around the castle or something?  He has been in that room for over three weeks without so much of a chance to stretch his legs or to properly interact with anypony.  Trust me princess, when you keep a guard in the barracks for an extended period of time, they begin to go stir-crazy and tend to do things they know they shouldn’t.”  Luna raised an eyebrow at the statement, a hint of worry plaguing her features.
“You don’t suppose that he would try something, do you?” The guard took a moment to respond, thinking heavily upon the question.  Though after a minute or so, the mare concluded that there just was not enough information to confirm or deny such a possibility.
“I do not know princess.  From the limited interactions I have had with him, there just isn’t enough information to say yes or no.”  Silence soon found its way between the two parties, with the princess seemingly in thought.
“I see.  I suppose if it helps boost his morale, we can allow him free reign of the castle, but only with an escort of your most trusted guards.  One is the minimum when inside our walls and two if he should venture outside into the gardens.  Is that understood?”  Skylight beamed a happy smile towards the princess with a righted posture and salute.
“Yes princess.  Should I inform him now of your decision?”  With a quick glance outside the window of the setting sun and darkening sky, Luna shook her head.
“Perhaps you should wait until morning Major.  It is supposed to storm something fierce tonight and I would rather not have him venturing around during it.”
“Very well princess.  Is there anything else you require of me today?” the mare asked.
“Not that I can think of at the moment.  I only wish for you to make a list of the guards that will have escort privileges of him and to have it on my desk first thing in the morning.  Besides that, you are dismissed for the day.”  With another attentive salute, the mare responded as per any guard would before venturing off to her office for a bit of paperwork.  Once out of sight from the princess, Luna let out another exhausted sigh before turning her head towards the window of the room.  Black clouds and lighting were already starting to accumulate over the city as rain began to pour.  Finding this as good as time as any, Luna stood from her spot on the throne, raising her arms high into the air with an audible crack of her back and wings before pulling them back to her side.
“I suppose I should find myself something to eat.  I wonder what sort of confectionaries the chef has baked for me today?”  With a bit more energy and a smile on her face, the princess was quickly off to the kitchen to see exactly what sort of sweets she was going to gorge herself on before dinner.


Morning was soon upon the residents of Canterlot as pockets of dark clouds lingered high in the air.  To most, it would have been a comforting way to wake up to the soft drizzle of rain outside their homes as they indulged themselves in the lack of blinding sunlight and blissful welcome of warm covers.  However, that was not the case for everypony.
Stirring from a restless slumber, the sound of shuffling covers followed by a yawn filled the air of the guest room in Canterlot Castle.  It had been a particularly bad night for the stallion in bed, more so to do with the sensations of his newly acquired enhanced hearing.  He had woken up several times during the night, tossing and turning as he fought desperately to find a comfortable position to the let the sweet embrace of sleep take him.  But the torrent of rain and thunder kept him wide awake for most of the night and into the early hours of the morning.  He had only been asleep for a few hours before waking up again and lying in bed, staring at the stone ceiling in front of him as he resigned himself to his fate of yet another early morning.
“Might as well take a shower,” the stallion mumbled to himself before rolling his body out of bed.  It had been like this for the last few days, with the stallion unable to motivate himself to do much of anything besides, eating, sleeping, and the usual day-to-day activities of personal hygiene.  Being confined to any room for an extended period of time tended to have this effect on him, though he could only wonder how much longer he could stand it.  Pushing the thought out of his mind for the moment, he stood up from the king-size bed before shuffling his way across the cold-stone floor.  Luckily, a new addition to his body helped mitigate heat loss from his feet, a fact he was more than happy about.
Pushing open the door to the bathroom, the equine easily found the lightswitch.  Closing his eyes for a moment, he flipped on the switch before groaning softly from the intrusive light.  Slowly, he adjusted to the new lighting conditions, able to open his eyes in a squint as he made his way over to the sink.  Reaching for the red knob, the water flowed out before the stallion cupped his hands under the faucet and splashed his face with the refreshing liquid.
His face, he thought solemnly as he used a towel to dry off the excess water before locking eyes with his reflection in the mirror.  Instead of the figure he was so used to seeing, a new figure stared right back.  A tall, charcoal-grey equine with a deep-blue mane and tail replaced the vision of the former human.  An elongated snout accented with a pair of yellow eyes and sharp fangs accompanied the image along with a pair of ears sporting extra fluff near the tips.  A set of leathery wings rested along his back, though most of the time, they remained in their place.  The only thing he was truly grateful for in this new form, was the familiarity of his hands and feet, along with a decent set of chompers to consume meat.
After staring at his reflection for another minute or so, the thestral let out a heavy sigh before pushing himself away from the sink and towards the marble embedded shower.  Turning on the hot water, the stallion stripped down to his naked self, hesitating slightly every time he removed his boxers.  On Earth, the former human was able to humbly call himself average when it came to a certain department.  Though the new tool between his legs would put any man to shame when compared.  Granted, they were no longer the same species, but it had been the little, positive things that helped him keep his spirits from faltering into a state of utter depression.

Quickly shaking his mind of his recently dirty thoughts, the stallion entered the warm cascade of water.  The familiar feeling helped to relax his muscles and alleviate a small amount of stress he had accumulated since finding himself in this new world.  Opening an eye to glance around the shower once again, the stallion still couldn’t believe how large it was, easily spanning the area of nine king-sized beds.  The design was also simple, a walk-in type shower that somehow was able to retain heat better than most.

Using the abundance of extra space in the shower, the thestral soon sprawled out his body along the warm surface of stone before undoing his wings with his hands.  A soft coo of delight emitted from him as the stiffness near his unused wing joints began to soften.  Resting his head on his arms, the equine soon drifted off to sleep for just a while longer.


Only an hour had passed by since the early morning shower.  To his surprise, the thestral had fallen asleep for much longer than he anticipated, but was feeling completely rejuvenated, including a bit more of his attitude.  However, a sharp knock on his door quickly reminded him of the situation, souring his mood once again.  Not even bothering with a response, the thestral threw on a pair of loose fitting pants with minimal struggle.  He was getting much better minding his new tail, though the next part would take considerable patience.
“Good morning Devin,” a chipper voice sounded from the other side of the room.  Looking towards the mare in question, Devin let out a long sigh before grabbing his shirt and making his way to the edge of the bed.
“Do you need help with your shirt again?” the mare asked, a gentle yet curious smile on her face.  Without a word, the thestral held up his shirt for the mare with a look of annoyance etched across his features.  He didn’t like asking for help when it came to these sorts of things, but getting his noncompliant wings through the slots of his shirt was a near impossible task.  Luckily, the maid that came in every morning to check on him was more than happy to help, and Devin suspected she enjoyed ‘accidently’ feeling him up when helping him.
“You know, you are going to need to figure out how to do this by yourself at some point.  As much as I enjoy helping you, it wouldn’t bode well for me to keep spoiling you like this,” the maid teased, trying to elicit a response.  All she received was a snort before she threw the shirt over his body, careful as to mind his sensitive wings.  The process took less than ten seconds, which was still nine seconds too long for the thestral.  However, he was still grateful for the mare helping him, even if he didn’t really show it.
“Thank you,” Devin replied softly, earning him another warm smile from the maid.
“You are very welcome Devin.  I am just here to tidy up your room and change out your towels,” The mare added.  The statement quickly caught Devin off-guard.  Usually, the mare was there to delivery his morning breakfast, but noting the lack of a food cart, he could see this wasn’t the case this morning.
Great.  First they lock me in this room and now they are going to starve me to death, he thought with a frustrated sigh.  It was only when a second set of knocks and turning handle pulled Devin out of his thoughts.
“You taking care of our guest here Lemon Scent?” Skylight asked playfully, walking through the door with a smile.  The thestral became deathly quiet once again as he eyed the mare with a neutral expression.
“Of course I am.  Though he is probably a bit peckish, so you best get a move on,” Lemon Scent happily replied before venturing into the bathroom to gather the dirty towels.  This left the two other occupants in a bout of silence as Skylight tried her best to appear as friendly as she could.
“So, you want to come get something to eat at the dining hall?” Skylight piped up, breaking the silence with a hopeful tone.  Devin could only raise an eyebrow at the mare, wondering if her words were true.  Though from the lack of the food cart this morning, he was willing to bet that it was.
“Are you just going to come lock me up in this room again when we are done?” he questioned.  Skylight could sense the spite in his tone, even though his voice was never raised.  With a sigh, the mare shook her head.
“It is up to you really.  I have been instructed to let you have free reign of the castle, provided you have a guard escort with you at all times.”  Devin could only offer a scoff before standing from his position on the bed and walking past the mare.  Skylight let out another sigh before following after the stallion.  She knew she was going to be in for a rough day, but at least a nice cup of coffee from the dining hall would help ease her along the way.
The trip towards the dining hall took less than fifteen minutes for the duo.  This was mostly due to the fact that the thestral was taking his leisurely time, much to the annoyance of Skylight, though she tried her best to hide it.  It wasn’t until the two finally walked through the main entrance that Skylight was approached by another one of her subordinates.
“Major, Princess Luna is requesting your presence in her private study.  She has instructed me to watch over our guest until you have returned,” an all too familiar, cream-colored guard stated.  Skylight turned towards her subordinate with a questioning gaze before looking at the thestral.
“It seems I am being summoned.  Sergeant, please look after our guest until I return.  He is to be given free reign of the castle within reason, though I hope to be back before he is finished,” Skylight stated.  With a practiced salute, Skylight made her way out of the dining hall and towards the private study of the princess.  She didn’t particularly know why she was being summoned, though assumed it had something to do with the thestral.  With an exhausted sigh, a single thought shot through the mare’s mind.
I still didn’t get my cup of coffee.