//------------------------------// // Chapter 20 // Story: The Human Pet // by RushyFiction //------------------------------// Ever had one of those nights, where you suddenly emerged from your sleep as fresh as if you'd just gone jogging? Well, no matter. Now you do. You find yourself staring at the clock in your dimly lit hospital ward, underneath a heavy comforter. For the moment, it seems as if your fever has passed, leaving you healthy and happy... and aching, and permanently scarred... kinda hungry. Let's go adventuring! You throw the covers off and pull your heavily-bandaged feet out of bed. Fortunately, your mobility has been slowly improving and so you're not forced to rely on the cumbersome wheelchair. Instead, you take the pair of long walking sticks left by your Nurse. Crutches would have been preferable, but obviously there are none around that would match your specific height, so compromises had to be made. In any case, you are just about able to hobble around, provided you didn't rest your weight on either foot for too long. Using your elbow, you push the door open and carefully limp out into the eerily quiet, brightly lit corridor. You feel a mixture of guilt and elation - you had been going crazy sitting in your ward all day, but you do feel bad about disobeying Nurse. Still... surely a quick little stroll around the place wouldn't hurt anything? Maybe just a peek out of the first window you find and then back into bed? Yeah… Trying to keep the noise from your support canes knocking against the floor as low as possible, you slowly amble towards the next corridor, only to pause when you the telltale squeak of something heavy swinging from metal. Frowning, you pause and listen until narrowing the source down to what looks like a closet door. You grab the knob and try to push it open, only to have your way obstructed by a steel cabinet. You peek in through the sliver and see a pony hanging by its tail from a shelf, flailing around, stuck! You slam your body weight against the door, forcing it open just enough for you to be able to squeeze in. The ordeal hurts your feet like hell, but your curiosity overrides the pain for now. You're in some kind of a freezer room, filled with canisters of fluid, crates and packaged blood. You sit on one of the cabinets to ease your aching legs and look up at the trapped pony. By the jawline, you estimate that it's a stallion, with dark grey fur, but much longer than you're used to, giving him a bit of a shaggydog look. His spiky, slightly unkempt mane is reddish brown. Most notably, his crimson red eyes have slitted pupils rather than the orbs you're used to, and his wings are leathery and batlike, far different from the other pegasi you'd seen. They're also wrapped around his body with bandages, preventing him from steadying himself. "Hello there." You say. Shaggy swivels around and focuses on you. Even upside down, he's able to tell that you're nothing like he's ever seen before, and the pony freezes up. "It's okay." You rest the sticks against the cabinet and hold out your hands. "I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just here to help you down from there." Since the room isn't exactly designed for your size, you can move under the bat pony and support him all the way up to the shelf corner his tail got tangled up in, enabling him to loosen it up and drop down on his four hooves. He looks up at you with his fiery red eyes wide open in pure amazement. They are probably frightening to his own kind, you figure, but to you, they seem like an awesome add-on to a fluffy ball of evil. "There, that's better, isn't it? What are you doing, climbing shelves anyway?" You glance up to see the wrapped, stacked bags of transfusion-ready blood. Surely not… The bat pony opens his mouth and you can see the vocal cords pumping rapidly in his throat, but not a peep reaches your ears. A distant memory from school drifts into your mind. Bats make ultrasonic sounds, which cannot be heard by humans. The same seemed to apply to this creature. The sound of hooves clopping purposefully on the marble floors outside interrupted the two of you. Shaggy puts his hoof near his lips, motioning for you to be quiet. You nod and the two of you back into the shadows. There, you see the pony walking by stop at the door and shove its face through the space you left ramming through. It's Nurse, with a tense look on her face and a frazzled mane. You feel another pang of guilt. Please don't let her check the ward. Please don't let her check the ward… She slides in through the crack in the doorway and immediately stops in front of the cabinets, noticing the sticks you forgot there. Shit! Shit! Shit! You give up and limp out from behind the shelves, feeling awfully embarrassed. Nurse's eyes close to a squint, and you avoid her frustrated gaze. Using her mouth, she picks up your sticks and throws them in your general direction. Once you've caught them, she moves behind your back and basically headbutts you out the door. Outside, she latches onto your hospital gown with her teeth and pulls you away from the supply room towards your ward, clearly not satisfied until she's got you back in bed. You manage a passing glance back at the supply room door, from where two red orbs disappear as soon as you spot them, with the door shutting behind the bat pony. Back in the ward, Nurse leads you back to bed, where the two of you notice the bandages around your feet have turned red. Nurse has you rest them on a stool as she gets the kit from a nearby table. "I'm sorry." You know she can't understand you, but you want to say it regardless. Nurse looks up at you, her sky blue eyes gentle and concerned. She places a hoof on your chest. You hold onto it. "Hey, I promise I won't do that again." Nurse uses her teeth to slowly unwrap your feet and gets a needle and thread to repair your stitches before bandaging them back up again and then helping you under the sheets. At this point, you've gone from feeling terrible to feeling like shit for keeping her away from well-deserved rest. But you don't really know how to make it up to her, so all you can do is just lay on the bed like an idiot and watch as Nurse wiggles out of the door with your long walking sticks clamped in her mouth. As the door shuts behind her, you thud your head against the pillow in frustration and stare at the ceiling with a lump in your throat. Can't even fucking apologise… Not for the first time, a wave of anger washes over you as you ponder your inability to communicate effectively with the ponies. I don't really even know them. I can't know them. What's the point in being in the happiest place in the universe if you can't be a part of it? Do they even want me here? They seem to really like me, but maybe they're just scared of me. Except Sweetheart. But hey, what doesn't that mare like? And the fillies... but they're young. I'm just a big, cool thing for them until they find something new. A science project for Lavi… You toss and turn under the covers, unable to shake off your bitterness. A tear wets the pillow. It's at that point that you simply force your brain to shut up, so you could get some sleep at last. For the first time in your life, you know that you're dreaming. A sense of wicked glee comes over you as you manipulate your dream-self like a sort of puppet, floating around the ponies' town, all of them looking up at you with cute expressions of wonder. You wiggle one of your toes, tickling all of them at once. It's hil-ARIOUS! Look at the little fusspots, all laughing. Why, it's almost as if your being there has made them happier! Best not tell the princesses, lest they get jealous. Let's paint a pretty picture, shall we? Our canvas, the world. Starting with that bland blue sky. How we haven't gone mad with its constant blueness is beyond me. Oh well! Let's make it yellow. Shiny gold, that's more inspiring. And with little pink fluffs of cloud here and there. Yellow and pink, always a darling combination if you asked me. And that eternally green landscape, I mean really! You'd think the artist was blind. Why don't we add some variety? Purple is far more fashionable, and if we vary the shades in matching squares, the little ponies can play chess whenever, wherever! Pretty and practical, that's me. You snap your fingers and make it so. With the ponies busy-busy-bzzz like the worker bees they are, you skate your way up and down the hills in a melancholy mood. Though you're very proud of your redesign and cleverness, it doesn't help. You still feel lonely, fooling around in a toy landscape. It's been so so long since you enjoyed the company of an equal mind. You grumble as someone rubs on your shoulder, pulling you away from that delightfully zany dream. "What?!" You snap, forcing your sleep sand-coated eyes to open. Seeing two curious glowing red eyes with catlike slits staring back at you, you recoil slightly on instinct before remembering the friendly bat pony you encountered earlier. "Oh... hey. How'd you get here?" Shaggy merely cocks his head to the side and runs around in a circle before focusing on your hand and fingers. Dude's like a bored cat. With no shame, he latches onto your pinky finger and suckles on it slightly, running his rough tongue over your nail and then spitting it out again. His expression drifts to the ceiling, as if considering the taste. "Uh... Shaggy?" You wave a hand over his eyes, getting his attention. "The fuck you doing here?" Shaggy just blinks. Great, he's about as responsive as a cat too. With no warning, the bat pony hops onto the bed, right on your stomach("Oof!") and then beside you, so he can give you a hug. "Okay, hugging now... that's... yeah..." It was kinda nice to be the huggee for once though, especially given your foul mood earlier. He also rubbed the top of your head, which was also soothing. Definitely don't get this treatment from cats... maybe I should call Nurse. But she did want me to stay in bed... I'll stay here til something bad happens. Yeah... damn, this cuddle is nice though... maybe he's just glad I helped him out of that shelf… The rhythm of his breathing soothes you, until your nose wrinkles at a peculiar smell that you associate with the taste of… Copper. Bats. Blood. Teeth. You throw yourself out of bed and onto the floor, crawling as far away from the bat pony as possible. The bat pony jumps out too, but motions for you to slow down with his hoof. He then points at himself, and to you, and then makes shakes his head. Does he mean... he's not gonna hurt me? What if he's lying?! Realizing that you're not believing him, the bat pony's ears flatten onto his head, and he slumps a little. He looks so sad and dejected that you start feeling regret, but nonetheless, you still can't bring yourself to 100% trust the creature. With a doleful expression, Shaggy opens the door and leaves quietly. You make your way back to bed, once again fully awake and resigned to the fact that you're just not destined to get good night's sleep tonight. World-conquering insect ponies one day, snuggling bat ponies the other day... you snort to yourself out loud. "Oh well... what fun is there in making sense?"