//------------------------------// // In Which Link Gets Fed Up With My Bullshit And Names The Chapter Himself // Story: Whither Must I Wander // by thelegendarytoothpaste //------------------------------// The rabbit would not stop, and Link was beginning to lose his patience. It kept trying to stare into Link's eyes, and Link was doing all he could to avoid returning it. He figured that the rabbit probably didn't know that what it was doing was challenging him, but it was no less irritating. Link could feel himself grinding his teeth, and it was rapidly costing him willpower to just avoid returning that stare. Eventually, he'd had enough. If this rabbit wanted to see his power, he'd gladly show him wounded though he may be. He resolved to return the stare, and did so with piercing blue eyes. The pegasus returned to the room with a few dishes on her back and a smile. As soon as Link had begun to return the stare, the rabbit turned away to greet the pegasus. Link was less than amused. Coward. The pegasus gave the rabbit a gentle kiss on the head and a nuzzle, and Link watched in amazement as she took one plate off her back with a hoof and set it on the coffee table. She gave the rabbit a pat on the head while he began to wolf down the salad she offered. Then, the pegasus turned her attention to Link. She tilted her head, and rubbed at her face as if something were stuck on it, then approached him. Link observed her as she did her best to stay low and at eye level for him. "Yeemara?"1 Link blinked in silence, and she pointed a hoof at the rabbit, who was already almost finished eating. Farore, did he have a hollow leg or something? He felt his stomach, wincing at the bandages and pain he felt, and reasoned that she was asking if he was hungry. He nodded, and she smiled and set a hot plate on his lap. And then another next to him. And another on his opposite side. And one on the coffee table. You know what? Make that three on the coffee table. Each of them had a different meal prepared, as if the pegasus was expecting company but only he showed up. For a moment he wondered if any was for her, but the look on her face told him she wanted him to eat. He stared at the food all around him. Was she trying to fatten him up to eat him later or something? She prepped a salad, what appeared to be a pasta dish of some kind, a bowl full of scrambled eggs, and a variety of fish based dishes to choose from. Link sighed inwardly. He hated fish. He chose the eggs, and dug in. Fluttershy was curious, to say the least. From what she heard from Angel, the alien creature tried to hunt him, which made her think he was either carnivorous or omnivorous. However, she could not yet communicate properly with him, so she did not know what his standard diet consisted of. Based on the aura he seemed to give off, too, she did not think he would be too keen on having her feed him with a bottle. She thought he was kind of cute, though. The creature did seem to love his milk. He quickly polished off the glass when she filled it, and his milk mustache had to be the cutest thing she had seen in the last twenty minutes. Maybe even thirty! He did not eat everything she had prepared, though, and she did not expect him to. She simply wanted to get an idea of what, if anything, he would eat. Now she had that idea. He really seemed to love his dairy, so a vegan diet was out. He did too nibble at the salad here and there as well, and he took a bite of one of the fish dishes, though he did not seem to enjoy it. All in all, he was far more a civilized eater than Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie, something that Rarity would probably appreciate. Fluttershy was confident that the speech barrier would begin to crumble given a bit more time with him. Sometimes her innate ability to speak to animals and creatures took a bit to kick in. She believed it to be due to her proximity to the Everfree Forest and its known interference with magic. Given that friendship is magic, it came as no surprise to her that she would sometimes run into speed bumps. Angel nudged against her leg, and she sighed. Whenever he really got into trouble like he was now, he would try to be the kindest, softest, fluffiest bunny he could be. Anything if it meant getting out of punishment. He could be a real flank kisser when he wanted something. "Angel, that's not going to work. You're still in a lot of trouble. Now go to bed." Angel, grumbling, wandered off to another room. Fluttershy winced when a door slammed, and looked to the alien, who was reaching towards the coffee table. She thought he wanted more food at first, but it quickly became clear he wanted one of his instruments. She gave the blue one to him, but didn't want him playing too loud lest he wake up some of the sleeping animals. He seemed disappointed. Had she done something to upset him? He spared another look at his other instrument, and pointed to it with a pleading look. She eyed it and frowned. There was a rather large crack in it. He wanted that one, then? Deciding to humor him, she hoofed over the other instrument. To her surprise, he did not begin to play. Instead, he traced a finger along the crack and frowned deeply. The crack must have been much worse than he thought it was. It was the only time he looked totally defeated while he recovered in Fluttershy's care. "Strange one, it's okay," she said softly. "You don't have to be sad. I can get you a new one." He did not seem to heed her words. It was quite obvious he did not speak their language. She was not certain if he even spoke at all. Perhaps his kind used more physical actions to speak? If so, would she have to name him? She would have to worry about that later. Fluttershy watched him trace a finger over the crack in the instrument repeatedly. He did not cry. He did not make a peep. He was simply breathing and holding the instrument, as if it were a lost friend he found hurt. Instead of hugging him, Fluttershy sat next to him carefully and just watched. She slowly placed a hoof on his shoulder and rubbed it reassuringly. The creature did not respond to her and instead continued to trace the crack as if his instrument was the only thing in existence. She sat with him as the food long forgotten cooled off. Neither of them knew how long they sat for. Fluttershy eventually saw his eyes begin to grow weary, and she carefully took the dishes away from him as well as the blue instrument. She let him hold the broken one and she tucked him in as he held it close to his heart. "Sleep well, little one." Dear Princess Celestia, How you doing? Rainbow Dash here. I don't have a lesson for you though. Twilight forced asked me to write you this letter because she is at her wits end thinks it would do me some good. Spike is sick with the flu. Are you getting ready for the celebration okay? Need any help or something? Twi's all over that if you do. I'm not writing you of my own free will please come to Ponyville and save me for fun, though. Something happened recently. We found a creature in the Everfree. It was being attacked by timberwolves when we found it and was almost killed in the fight. It's not a pony. It's not a dragon. It's not a zebra. We have no idea what it is. What we do know is this: -It is male. -It was clothed and armed with various different types of weaponry. -It never got in the way of my tartarus forsaken letter writing like Spike did and Rainbow did and the volcano did and the fire did and I just wanted to send this bucking letter to you believe me I tried a thousand different times I am so sorry princess I know I failed you and I would accept any punishment you have for me but please promise me you will punish Spike and Rainbow and fire and that volcano and Murphy too because I'm about to scream and I hate this- Rainbow squinted. Behind her Twilight rambled on and on about how life was not fair and even the simplest things were impossible. It was getting tough to scribe the letter for her. "Twilight?" she asked. Twilight instantly stopped and Rainbow could feel her gaze boring into the back of her head. "Uhh... was I supposed to write that down?" Rainbow swore she could hear something in Twilight's brain snap. Just as she was about to respond (or commit murder), a voice from another room rang out. "Twiiiiiiiillllllliiiiiiiiiight!" Rainbow could actually hear strands of Twilight's mane begin to stick out of place. She turned her head cautiously to see one of Twilight's eyes twitch. Without a word, she left the room. As soon as the door shut behind her, Rainbow was out the window. Element of Loyalty. End of Chapter