Chapter 3
Scarlet
After being brought to Equestria by some crazy witch lady and nearly getting killed by a 20-story tall Ursa Major, I was happy to get some sleep, I just wish the sleep hadn't come so abruptly and with enough pain to make the toughest of men cry for mommy.
I woke up to find that I was no longer in the forest, but rather in some kind of cabin. I tried to get up to inspect my surroundings, but something heavy was keeping me to the bed. I looked to see what it was, and saw a unicorn mare lying next to me, sleeping peacefully. Now I'd like to say that I reacted calmly, but when I saw the mare lying next to me, I jumped so high that I hit the ceiling and tumbled to the other side of the cabin. This, not surprisingly, woke the mare up.
Confused and sleepy, she asked “Huh,What's going on?”
“You....you...why were you sleeping next to me, and please tell me nothing happened”
It took the mare a few seconds to process what I had said, and when she finally put it together she blushed a deep red “I...I'd never do something like that, especially not with some strange zebra I found half dead on the outskirts of the forest.” she said, the deep red blush not disappearing the entire time she was talking.
“Okay, then why were you sleeping next to me” I said, my face feeling hot, no doubt I was blushing too
“As I said, you were half dead, I brought you here to get treated. I gave you some herbal remedies for your wounds, and I noticed that you were cold as ice. I tried heating you up with some blankets, but they didn't work, so I decided to use my body heat to help you. I wasn't planning on falling asleep, but it was late, I was tired from treating your wounds, and I just...” I held up a hoof to stop her
“Stop, I think I've heard enough, now if you'll let me get in a few words please.” I said in a polite tone
“Okay then, go ahead.” the mare said, the blush disappearing from her face.
“Thank you, now first off, I apologize for reacting the way that I did, it's not often that one finds a mysterious mare lying to next to him now is it. Secondly, thank you for treating my injuries, I have no doubt I'd be dead without your help. Third, where's the claw I had with me when I passed out?”
“Oh, well, it's right here” she said, her horn glowing a bright gold as she lifted the claw up with magic.
Seeing the claw, I stood up and rushed to the bed to retrieve it, making the mare jump back a bit as I plucked the claw out of the air.
“Thank goodness, I thought I had lost it” I said excitedly
The mare looked offended “Of course you didn't lose it, you said it was important, so I picked it up when I was saving you, no small feat I might add, that thing must weigh a ton” she said, slightly insulted that I doubted her
“Really, it doesn't feel heavy at all to me” I said, swinging the claw a bit for emphasis
“Where did you even get that thing anyway?” she asked
“Oh, an Ursa Major tried to kill me, so I tore out it's claw and stabbed it through the head” I said, a look of sadness on my face as I remembered the creature whose life I had taken.
The mare just stared at me “WHAT! You killed an Ursa Major, but that's..just..impossible.”
“Well, I guess you can't say that anymore.”
“ But....but...how did.....who are you?”
That was a surprisingly tough question. I mean, I knew who I was back on earth, but I wasn't on Earth anymore. Back on earth, I was a boring average nerd, but here I was an Ursa Major slaying zebra with no idea where I was.
“I don't really have an answer, sorry” I said, confusion in my voice
The mare wasn't happy with this answer “Oh come on, that is not an answer, at least tell me your name”
Another difficult question, I had a name back on earth, but I don't think that name would work here. I needed a new name, a new identity, a new life. I thought for a few moments, trying to figure out what I should call myself.
The mare was getting a bit annoyed “Oh come on, if your gonna ignore me, at least step out of the shadows.” she said, her voice sounding ever more annoyed.
A light bulb immediately popped up in my head, knowing what my new name would be, I stood up and said “Shadow, my name is Shadow”
“Okay, Shadow it is then”
“And what pray tell is your name madame” I said as politely as I could
“I'm Scarlet Breeze, just call me Scarlet” she said, getting out of bed
After sorting out all the craziness, I was finally able to get a good look at Scarlet. She was a unicorn mare, with a light green coat, a scarlet mane, and a red cross wrapped in vines for her cutie mark.
“Well, now that all that's sorted out, I need to ask you some questions, like where am I?”
“You're in Hoofton, a small village bordering the EverFree forest, now I have a question for you”
“Okay, what is your question?”
“What were you doing in the EverFree Forest, nopony goes in there without a very good reason, so what's yours?”
This mare was beginning to sound like a police interrogator, she was asking me all the questions I didn't have proper answers, and therefore have to lie about. She knows I'm hiding something and is asking the right questions to get the truth out of me. I could see this mare wouldn't stop asking me all these tough questions unless she either got the truth, or an extremely ridiculous lie, which in my case can be one and the same.
Putting on the best poker face I could muster, I said “You've got me Scarlet, fine here's the truth, I'm not actually from this world, I'm from a planet called Earth, dominated by a race of tall hairless monkeys called humans. We have all manner of advanced technology that makes Equestria look like it's in the stone age. I am one of these humans, brought here to Equestria by some crazy tattooed witch lady, dropped into the EverFree forest, where I had a nasty run in with an Ursa Major, fought it, killed it, got teleported here somehow, passed out from pain, and got saved by you.” I inhaled a long breath after I was finished.
Scarlet just stood there, a look of utter shock and disbelief on her face. Before she could say anything else, I said “Well, if that will be all for you, I'll be on my way, thank you for all your help and I apologize for troubling you.” I bowed before turning to walk out. Hearing my departure must've snapped Scarlet out of her shocked stupor, because when I had just opened the door, she used her magic to close the door. “You're not going anywhere, you 're still my patient and until you're fully healed, I'm not letting you out of my sight.” she said, an unexpected fire in her voice.
“Look, I appreciate you treating me and all, but I can't stick around for long, I have a lot of things I need to figure out, plus I don't like owing people, so if you don't mind I'll be going now.”
I reached for the door, only to have my hoof be encased in gold energy and hurled against the wall hard enough to make my head spin. When the spinning stopped, Scarlet was in front of me, glaring at me with a fiery stare. “YOU. WILL. STAY. PUT! You are my patient, and while you are in my care, you will listen to me and do what I say.” she said, a sort of sad anger in her voice, the kind that only comes when you've lost too many people to bear it anymore.
Hearing the pain in her voice, I gave in “Fine, I'll stay, but only until my wounds are healed, then I have to leave, we clear.” I said as calmly as I could, letting my body relax.
Seeing me giving in to her demands, she looked at me, a few tears forming in her eyes and said “Oh, well, good, in that case lie down so I can change your bandages and check your wounds.”
I did as she instructed, not noticing the bandages around my body until now. I lied down, letting Scarlet change my bandages without a word of protest. She had a completely new look on her face, a look of fierce focus, blocking out everything except the task at hand, which I have to admit was a little cute. When she had finished taking off the last bandage, she inspected my wounds, and a look of utter surprise spread across her face.
“What, that's not possible” She said, looking at my wounds in utter shock.
“What, what's wrong, are my wounds infected or something” I said, worry invading my voice
“No, they're not infected, they're....healed.” she said
“Healed, how is that possible!?” I said, a look of confusion and shock now plastered across my face
Before we could ponder how my wounds had miraculously healed overnight, there was a loud crash outside that made us both snap out of our shock. Screams could be heard from the outside, as well as a roar that sent a chill up my spine. I jumped out of bed, tied a string around the Ursa claw and slung it on my back , and bolted for the door. I was once again stopped by Scarlet, who grabbed my tail with her teeth to try and stop me.
“Wait, you can't go out there, it's too dangerous, and you promised you'd stay put until your wounds were healed” she said, her words coming out muffled from still having a grip on my tail
“As I recall, you said my wounds WERE healed not a few seconds ago, did you not?”
She let go of my tail, thinking over my question “Uh, I suppose so, yes.”
“Well then, if you'll excuse me, I have something to fight, bye” I said, bolting out of the cabin before she could protest any further and ran off to fight whatever it was that was causing all this trouble.