"So, why is he with you again, and where is his parents?...... If you don't mind me asking, that is......" Fluttershy asked, her voice quiet, and nervous, like how it usually was when she spoke to other ponied, even if those ponies were her friends. , They had found a good place to stop, in a nice, clear area, even if they were still surrounded by some trees from the forest, and even if the whether was cloudy.Rainbow let out a small sigh, as she looked at her two friends that were walking with her, and the small human child that she had gotten to know so well over the past couple of days.
"Well, you see Flutters....." Rainbow Dash started, with a little bit of a nervous gulp. Normally, she never had this much of a hard time telling something to her friends. It was hard enough when she tried to tell Pinkie, but she managed to tell her all the way through, but Rainbow wasn't sure if Fluttershy would even be able to handle Drake's story.
"After we came here, I found him in-between a dark alleyway..." Rainbow said, and Fluttershy gave her a confused look.
"Why would you go into an alleyway? And why was he in there?" Fluttershy asked, and this time Pinkie had a response to this.
"Well, that's because she was also being chased by humans that were similar to the ones that were bothering you, you silly filly!" Pinkie said, in her usual hyper active self. Fluttershy let out a small "oh" as a response to this.
"Anyway..." Rainbow Dash said, getting annoyed that they kept cutting her off like that. "He was in an alleyway, because he didn't want to go back to his home." Fluttershy wanted to ask why he didn't want too, but she felt like she had asked enough questions, so she decided to let Dash continue her story. "When I found him, he offered me to let him stay at his place until I found the rest of you guys, and that's when I first knew that something was bothering him."
"Wow, you never explained like that before." Fluttershy said.
"I know, but this is serious." Rainbow said, as she continued her story. "Once we got back to his "house", I found that it was a complete mess! I think the kitchen had mold, dirt, and just everything was such a big mess, that it even shocked me! I've never seen anything like it! That's when I found out he lost his mother, and that his father blames him for it... So you can imagine how bad it was when his father got home..."
Fluttershy gasped, and looked back at Drake, Pinkie now being next to him, who was looking at the ground. She couldn't tell what emotion he was feeling by looking at his face, but she could feel what emotion was emanating off of him. It wasn't sadness, it wasn't anger towards his father, nothing like that. It was emptiness. It was an emotion, yet at the same time, it wasn't. That's all Drake was feeling at that moment.
"Pl-please tell me that his father was scared of you, a-and didn't even try to mess with you at all...?" Fluttershy pleaded, hoping that she was right, hoping that nothing bad had happened, hoping that nothing got out of hand, or hoof in her case. Rainbow, to Fluttershy's dismay, slowly shook her head.
"No Fluttershy.... Things didn't go smoothly at all... When his father got him.... He.... He put his hand thingy in his pants...." Rainbow said. At first, Fluttershy was confused on why he would have done that, but then.... It clicked. The reason he was wearing cloths in the first place, he didn't have any fur to hid his.... Parts. She didn't want to believe that any creature was capable of doing such a thing, but from what Rainbow just told her, that's what happened. Fluttershy was no Applejack, but she could easily tell that Rainbow wasn't lying.
"Maybe it was just a misunderstanding...." Fluttershy suggested. "I mean, maybe his father is poor, and maybe he's doing the best he can for his son, and that he did that for a different reason-"
"No!" Rainbow Dash shouted, catching the shy yellow Pegasus off guard."No, it wasn't some misunderstanding, I heard him HIT him, not only that, but when he did put his hand there, he said, "I haven't had a good time since your mother died" How is that just a misunderstanding?!" Fluttershy flinched back, startled at Rainbow Dash's outburst. Once she realized that she yelled, she immediately put an apologetic look on her face.
"Fluttershy, I'm so... Sorry." Rainbow Dash said, as she gave her friend a pleading look as well. "It's just that, with everything I saw... and everything he went through... It's hard to believe that he survived this long, living under the same roof as his father, who is.... He's just a monster..." Fluttershy gave her a soft, sad smile, as she walked up to her friends, and gave her a light hug.
"Oh Rainbow, It's alright, I know that your just upset of what Drake's dad did to him, but.... Where is his dad? What did you do to him after that happened?" Fluttershy asked, and Rainbow, though grateful that her friend forgave her, could now again feel the tension rising up in her. She really didn't want to say it, but she knew that she needed too.
"His father..... Might not even be alive anymore..." Rainbow replied, with a gulp. Fluttershy gasped once again, as a look of horror appeared in her eyes.
"What happened Rainbow? Did.... Did you kill him....?" Fluttershy asked meekly. Rainbow hesitantly shook her head.
"No, I didn't kill him..... but he did get killed by somepony, or more like some human..." Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, before she inhaled a breath of air. "Drake.... Was the one who killed his father...." Just when Fluttershy thought she couldn't be anymore shocked at what she was hearing, she was proven wrong, after this revelation.
"He did what?!" Fluttershy asked, shocked, still not sure if she heard her rainbow maned friend right, but she finally realized again that Rainbow Dash wasn't lying.
"Why... Why would he do that? I know his dad was abusive... But.... I- I just can't believe it!" Fluttershy shouted, while trying to keep her voice down. Rainbow felt a sting of guilt course through her body. The guilt came from the fact that Drake did it to save her. While she expected this reaction from her shy friend, she felt torn over whether it was the right thing to do or not.
"He did it.... To save me...." Rainbow Dash replied, giving her friend a sorrowful look. Fluttershy's face was unreadable at that moment. Rainbow couldn't tell if she was just shocked, or whatever else. Rainbow sighed, as she continued to explain what had happened.
"Somehow, his father managed to get me into a uh, what was it that Twilight called them again? I think it was a... "Choke hold?" She looked at her friend, who confirmed that she was right. "Right, anyway.... I, I just couldn't fight against him, he hit me with a plate, and that got me on the ground, and he just began to choke me, and that's when....."
Her voice trailed off at the memory. The memory that was still new, but a memory that would most likely not be forgotten for a long while. Fluttershy placed a hoof at her mouth, as she could easily guess on what happened next. She then saw a few tears leak out from Rainbows eyes, which made Fluttershy more concerned for her friend. She never really saw her cry, but this is one of those moments, where she just had to let all the tears out of her system.
Fluttershy walked up to her, a smile of comfort adorned her face, as she put her foreleg around Rainbow.
"Don't worry Rainbow , everything is going to be fine...." She said in a motherly, but comforting tone. Rainbow looked up at her, her cheeks still stained with the tears from her eyes.
"I really hope so, Fluttershy." Rainbow said, putting a hopeful smile on her face. "But..... The kid doesn't have any other humans here that can take care of him.... He's really alone here..." She took a breath once again, before continuing. "Even if he's alone here, that doesn't mean that he would have to be alone in Equestria...."
"Wait, are you serious?" Fluttershy asked, looking down upon Rainbow. "I mean, yeah he does deserve a good home and everything, but I don't want to take him away to Equestria if he has family here that could take care of him, and would be heartbroken if he just all the sudden went missing." Rainbow's look of sorrow returned to her face.
"Oh..... He doesn't have any other family here, does he?" Fluttershy asked, and Rainbow nodded her head.
"That's why I want him back in Equestria, so that he can forget about this world that we ended up in. I want him to have a great foal-hood, even if that means I have to raise him myself." Rainbow said. Fluttershy had an unsure look.
"Rainbow... Are you sure that Twilight will let you even bring him back?" Fluttershy asked, Rainbow just nodded in response. "I'm glad you want him to come to Equestria to have a better life and all, but are you sure that you don't want any of us taking care of him? I don't think he can walk on clouds either, and you live in a cloud house...."
"Fluttershy, there must have been a reason why I found this kid, I know there is...." Rainbow said, as she turned her head away. "Even if raising him means that I have to give up my dreams of being a wonder-bolt or if I have to give up my nice house, I will be willing to do that all, to give him a second chance of having a good childhood." Fluttershy, had a shocked look on her face, bit that look was soon turned into a look of understanding, and even happiness.
"Rainbow, I'm so proud of you." Fluttershy said, pulling her friend into a hug with her wing. "You've matured so much since the first time I met you, back all those years ago in flight school. " Rainbow smiled at her friend, as their hug was broken.
"Come on, let's check on how the little guy is doing." Rainbow said, as she turned back to the child and the Pink bouncing mare that was keeping her eye on him.
While Rainbow and Fluttershy were walking back, Drake was looking down at his hands, with a look of fear in his eyes. His hands looked normal, but in one instant flash, they became covered with the red liquid of his father. He closed his eyes, to try to block the images, to try to forget what he done to his father, but it was no use.
I killed my dad..... I stabbed him...... But he deserved it, right? I hate him... But... Was it the best thing to do...? Drake thought to himself, with teary eyes. They hate me because of it, they all see me as a heartless monster.... Even though he was only five years old, he was smart at around a fourth to fifth grade level. He studied a lot, in hopes that he could get a good job one day, and escape the nightmare that was his fathers house.
He turned his head, and saw that Rainbow was with Fluttershy, they were both walking back towards them. I wonder if Rainbow Dash see's me as a monster... She is the only one who knows why I did what I did.... Drake hopefully smiled to himself, as they both finally reached them. Maybe... I'm not a monster to her...
"Hey, how are you holding up kid?" Rainbow asked, causing Drake to snap out of his thoughts in an instant.
"I'm... Doing fine, yeah...." Drake said, as he rubbed his arm. Rainbow gave him a quick smile.
"That's great, kid. Anyway... Do you know what time it is here?" Rainbow asked, and Drake nodded. He always carried around a watch, along with his lighter, one of his dad's questionable choices for him. He looked down at it, trying to get some of the sunlight off of it so he could see better. The faded numbers read "11:07".
"It's eleven o' seven." Drake said, as he showed the small watch to Rainbow. She saw that he was right, and that they still hadn't gotten any breakfast.
"Is everypony still hungry?" Rainbow asked, hovering herself into the air. "We still haven't gotten any breakfast from earlier, so maybe we should look for some, or stay here, whichever one you guys want." After she said that, they heard someone's stomach growl, and a giggle from a pink pony.
"I guess my stomach's still hungry, better feed it!" Pinkie said, as she began to bounce down the other trail that they didn't come on.
"Pinkie, wait!" Rainbow said, as she dashed over to her friend to stop her from going any further. "Wait for us, we're all hungry, okay?"
"Okie Dockey Lokie, Rainbow, you should have just said so!" Pinkie said, as she suddenly went as still as a statue, as Fluttershy and Drake began to catch up to them. Once they were caught up, they continued their walk down the path.
Meanwhile.... In the same forest.....
Twilight was walking around a forest, that was dark and gloomy, but she was using this to her advantage. She had seen those other "human" things, and they chased her around, saying that they never seen anything like her, and that she had to go with them, just because of the fact that she was a pony.
"Those things are crazy! I've only been here for a day, and yet I can't learn anything about these humans because the're insane!" Twilight shouted to herself, taking in a breath of air after doing so. "I just can't even study in this world..... I don't even care about studding right now, I need to find my friends, and get out of here."
Twilight looked around the area of the forest that she was in, and could only see grass, trees, and bushes through out the land.
"Why does everything need to be so difficult? The chances of me even finding my friends in here, is a very low one." Twilight said to herself, with annoyance clear in her voice. As she continued to walk, she stopped, when she heard the familiar voice of her Rainbow maned friend, somewhere in the woods.
"Maybe we can find some sort of apples to eat or something, I don't know...." The voice said, causing Twilight's ears to perk up. Was that really Rainbow Dash. He ran over to the source of the noise, in a full gallop.
"Rainbow Dash, Are you there? Hello?!" Twilight called out, as she continued her run down in the forest.
"Twilight?" Her voice called back, but this time, it was coming to the right of her. She changed her direction, and began to run in that one instead.
"Rainbow Dash, where are you?" Twilight called out once more, and was rewarded with the voice of Pinkie Pie instead.
"We're over here, Twilight!" The pink mare called out to her friend, and it was in the same direction Twilight was running in, for her luck.
"I think I'm getting closer to you girls, hold on, don't move!" Twilight shouted, as she kept running faster and faster. She then saw four figures. Three were ponies, and one was what looked like a small human. However, she couldn't see well in the dark, that was until she got close enough to see them.
When she did, she saw a shy yellow Pegasus, a bouncing pink earth pony, and a rainbow maned Pegasus, but there was another. It was a human.
"TWILIGHT!!!" Pinkie shouted, as she ran up to her friend, and trapped her into one of the tightest hugs that you could ever get yourself trapped into. as Pinkie squeezed Twilight to a point were she couldn't breath, Twilight knew that she had to take action.
"Pinkie, I'm happy to see you too, but you're crushing me!" Twilight yelled, as Pinkie released her grip on her.
"Whoops! Sorry about that!" Pinkie said, as she bounced back over to the group. Twilight looked at them, that at the human child, who flinched the moment that Twilight set her eyes on him.
"Um.... Girls, who is this human?" Twilight asked, pointing a hoof at the young one himself. Rainbow walked up to her, with a shy smile.
"His name is Drake Twilight, and right now, I'm watching him..." Rainbow said, causing Twilight to put a dumb founded look on her face.
"You're.... You're watching him?! But why, shouldn't his parents be doing that-" Twilight was saying, but then she stopped in mid sentence, as she looked at Drake, who had a pained look on his face. Twilight realized that he didn't have any parents to look after him.
"I'm... I'm sorry...." She said, putting on an apologetic look on her face. "I didn't know..." Rainbow walked up to her friend, and put a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look up.
"It's okay Twilight, I know you didn't mean anything by it." Rainbow said, putting a smile on her face as well. Twilight looked back at the child, who was looking down at his feet, with an unreadable expression stuck on his young face.
"What happened to them?" Twilight asked. "His parents, I mean..." Rainbow had put on the same expression that she did when she told Fluttershy the same heartbreaking tale, but she sighed, and looked up at her friend.
"Well, you see-" Rainbow started, but then was cut off, when the sound of thunder roared through out the forest. She felt something make contact with her muzzle. It was a raindrop. "I'll tell you later, looks like there's going to be a thunder storm." With that, all of her friends nodded in agreement, as they all quickly made their way to a place that was dry.
After a few minutes of walking, they came across a cave, that was dry inside. Luckily, this was good for them, as they entered. After they got in, Drake was extremely tired, and fell asleep in some soft dirt inside the cave. After that, Rainbow began to tell the same story that she told Fluttershy. After she was done, Twilight got a look of uneasiness on her face.
"You're not over exaggerating, are you?" Twilight asked, just to be sure, and Rainbow nodded.
"Yeah, I think he's doing better though-" Rainbow was saying, but then got cut off by Twilight.
"No Rainbow, he's not doing better, in fact he's doing worse. I can tell just by looking at him." Twilight said, calmly. Rainbow once again had that look of worry return to her face.
"What do you mean by getting worse?" Rainbow asked, and Twilight gave her a solemn look.
"Rainbow, if what you said was true, and he has been abused, and nearly the "r" word, nopony would ever forget something like that happening to them." Twilight started. "Rainbow, his mind is broken, shattered into pieces, like when you break a mirror, or break through ice. He won't be able to forget what happened to him, he probably blames himself for both of his parents death's, he's losing his mind." Twilight stopped to take a quick breath, before continuing.
"Rainbow... If he does not get the proper help he needs, then he might do something that he could regret for the rest of his life.... He already did something like that once, and he shouldn't have to do that again...." As Twilight said this, Rainbow came up with an idea.
"What about therapy?" Rainbow asked. "We have a lot of great doctors back in our world, and they would probably be more that willing to help." Twilight looked at her with a smile, yet with a unsure look.
"I'm not against you bringing him back to Equestria, believe me I'm not, and since he said he doesn't have any other family here, than I don't see why not." She stopped for a moment, before taking in a breath of air. "I think that Drake would be a great addition to ponyville."
Rainbow smiled at her, before giving her a hug. "Thank you Twilight, thank you." Rainbow said, as she broke the hug. "I know that we can fix his mind, and give him a great home..." Twilight nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but we need to get our other friends before we can do that." Twilight said, as she yawned. "I'm getting pretty tired myself, I think I'm going to take a nap too." She walked over to some soft dirt, and rested her body on it, falling asleep. However, Rainbow wasn't tired, she was awake, when she would have normally welcomed sleep, she just wasn't tired enough. She looked over at Drake, with a smile.
We can fix you, Drake. I promise... And you will have a better life than you did before... Rainbow thought to herself, as all she could do, was watch Drake sleep. Soon.... I promise.....