//------------------------------// // Chapter Three- Don’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover (Re-edited) // Story: Beyond Infinity // by Pen Dragon //------------------------------// Chapter Three- Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover     Marcus sat down silently across from Fluttershy. She had offered earlier to take the menu from him after he fumbled it around in his hooves several times.. Marcus couldn’t help but blush and look stare down at his lap.. It was a miracle that he was found by Fluttershy, he’d be much worse off otherwise.. He'd have to find a way to thank her someday.     However, something else came to mind that caused the stallion’s eyes to almost pop out of his head, Aw shit! I almost forgot, I lost my things somewhere in that forest. Crap, I’m going to have to head back in there and look for everything. I hope that nothing bad has happened to it, that’s literally the only thing I have left from home.     “So, um, Coal? Is there anything in particular you'd like? The salads are pretty good here, or um… if you'd like you could have those hay fries I talked about before?” Fluttershy asked, snapping the stallion out of his thoughts.     “Oh, I'm sorry Fluttershy, could you repeat that? I kinda spaced out for a moment heh!” Marcus asked, smiling sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, receiving a giggle in response from the yellow pegasus.     “Hehehe, it’s alright Coal, I was asking if you’d like a salad or some hay fries?”     “Well, I’m not exactly too familiar with hay fries, but I suppose I could give them a try,” he replied. The one thing he was sure about was that he wasn’t the biggest fan of salads. Even if Death herself forced him into the life of a herbivore and every string of fate beat against him, he’d still refuse to eat a salad. Not that he hated them, he could tolerate them to a certain degree, but that was before he had become a species that can only eat fruits and vegetables.     He knew that at some point in the near future he’d be offered a salad in front of other ponies and he’d have to do whatever it takes to avoid eating it. For now, though, he’d settle for eating hay that is fried. However, if he had to be honest, eating Fluttershy’s soup from the morning was incredibly delicious. He would much rather have that instead.     It wasn’t long until their waiter arrived with a tan-ish coat and brown mane.     “May I take your order?” he asked.     “Oh, um… may I get the apple and carrot salad with some water please?” Fluttershy asked.     “Very good… and for you sir-” he paused as he looked up to Marcus.     “Yeah, can I get some hay fries please… and do you guys by some chance have soda?” Marcus asked, earning a slight nod from the brown earth pony.     “Then can I have a cola?”     “Y-Yes, sir! Right away!!” He replied, quickly making a run back to the kitchen.     “Odd… Was it something I said?” he asked. His only response from her was a quiet giggle.     “Oh, I’m sure he’s just a little nervous because of… your height,” she answered.     “Hmm… I don’t think so… might be because of my voice,” he stated, earning another giggle from Fluttershy.     “So, what were you thinking about?” she askede. There were several times today Fluttershy could recall seeing Marcus lost in his own thoughts.     “It’s nothing- No, actually, I’ve been thinking about some of my belongings that I may or may not have lost in that forest I was in the other night,” Marcus replied, his face making it clear to the little pegasus that he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to share that bit of information with her. “But you don’t have to worry! I can get my stuff on my own, so you can relax. I’m sure I can retrace my steps if I really try-”     Before he could finish his sentence, Fluttershy suddenly stomped her hooves on the table, her wings flaring up as she suddenly glared at him.     “No, you can’t go! Not with those injuries you have! You could get hurt or worse!”     “I-I know Fluttershy, but I can’t have you do everything for me, plus I don’t want to burd-” he was once again silenced by the little mare before him as her eyes pierced his very soul. Marcus wasn’t sure what it was that was keeping him from speaking, but having to stare back at those eyes began to frighten him to the point that he’d be better off just listening to her. So he submissively squeaked, “Shutting up!”     It took Fluttershy a moment to realize that she was making a scene as ponies began to stare at the two. Once she realized that she had accidentally yelled at her new friend, she immediately took her hooves off the table and began to cower back into her chair. Her face had begun turning several shades of red as she tried to cover her face with her mane, uttering, “I am so sorry, I-I didn’t mean to shout at you… I-”     “I-It’s alright Fluttershy, I was just not expecting that side from you since you’ve been… Well, shy and soft-spoken. Seriously, I don’t mind, you’re not the first person to yell at me for having a dumb idea,” Marcus reassured his her before lowering his gaze again.     It’s probably best I hold off for another day… The last thing I want is to get scolded by her. Which is kinda funny, I didn’t think she was capable of getting angry, she’s honestly just full of surprises.     “I-I just don’t want you to get hurt anymore… than you already have, Coal. Your injuries were really bad and the Everfree Forest is a dangerous place., I-I just don’t want anything to happen to you. You are my friend,” Fluttershy explained, pulling her mane away so she could look up at the charcoal stallion who looked stunned by her words.     “O-oh, I guess I haven’t really… I thought about how you felt. Really, I’m sorry, I just didn’t think you saw me as a friend, especially since you… don’t really know me,” he replied, his ears folding back as he felt a bit ashamed for not considering his new friend. He honestly thought she was just helping him out because she was kind, not because he was her new friend.     “W-Well it’s true… I don’t really k-know you that well, but I had this feeling that you weren’t a bad pony, and that you were actually really kind. With you being new here in Ponyville and not knowing anypony, I thought I could be your first friend,” she said, smiling at the stallion.     “Fluttershy, I am honored to call you my friend,” Marcus said, grinning at the mare before him as she suddenly lit up with joy as a smile graced her face.     Heh, cute.     “I’ll hold off on going back to the forest, I’ll go after I recover some more, like a day or two,” he added, only to see his friend pout disapprovingly at his suggestion.     “Come on, Shy, I really do need my things, I promise that I’ll be careful. Um-Would it make you feel better if we both went together?”     “I don’t really like going to the Everfree Forest, but if you really need your things… okay. But if you get hurt anymore, we’re turning back,” she stated, and the alicorn knew that trying to argue was going to end with him losing. It’s not that she was commanding, mean, or anything like that, he saw that she was kind and cared deeply about her friends and knew when to put her hoof down when it counts.      He understood that now and knew that it would be better to just do as she says.     “Thanks, Shy.”     “Of course, Coal, that’s what friends are for.”     “...”     “...”     “Wait a second… Shouldn’t our food have come out by now?” Marcus asked.     The hay fries turned out to be a little better than Marcus had expected them to be. Crispy and nicely salted, dipping them in ketchup even made them more enjoyable to eat. After Marcus and Fluttershy finished their meal, the two began to talk about some of Fluttershy’s adventures with her friends as they started to make their way over to Twilight Sparkle’s Library, the yellow pegasus insisting that he meet her and explain his situation to her.     “I still don’t think it’s a good idea, Fluttershy…”     “You don’t want to meet my other friends?”     “It’s not that I don’t want to meet your friends, Shy, it’s just that I’m not exactly sure they’ll be ready to meet me with- you know, wings and all,” he explained, gripping his cloak tightly and receiving an “oh” in response from her.     “I suppose you aren’t exactly ready for that, but I think Twilight can keep a secret, it can just be between the three of us about your secret,” she reassured him, earning a sigh of relief from the alicorn as he continued to follow her.     “Alright and you said that she’s an alicorn like Princess Celestia, right?” he asked.     “Mmhm,” Fluttershy nodded.     “Neat., Aanyways I’m curious about- Huh? What’s that?” Marcus asked, pointing at a rainbow streak speeding around in the sky, beginning to make its way down towards them.     “That’s actually one of my friends… her name is-” But before Fluttershy could finish, Marcus was suddenly rammed in the chest by the speeding rainbow and sent crashing into a cart full of carrots.     “OH MY GOODNESS!!! COAL!!!”     “Ugh…”     “Hey, Fluttershy!” The voice came from a blue pegasus that was flying over Fluttershy, looking proud of herself.     “Did you see that!? I totally took that creep out, you’re okay though right?”      “I’m okay, Rainbow Dash, but he’s not-”     “No need to thank me, I saw that creep with you earlier and thought I’d tail you two until I found an opening!” Rainbow Dash explained, but that didn’t stop Fluttershy from running over to the charcoal alicorn who had struggled to get to his hooves, his cuts stinging from the carrot juices that began to soak into his bandages.      “Fluttershy! What are you doing!?” Rainbow Dash shouted, her jaw wide open in shock.     “Are you okay, Coal?” she asked, wiping his cheek off some of the carrot juice.     “I’m… okay… at least that’s what I’m telling myself but, I think that the owner… ain’t gonna be happy about this…”     “Oh my… don’t worry, we’ll get you cleaned up and rebandage you,” she said, helping the alicorn out of the broken cart as he limped his way out.     “Fluttershy!? Why are you helping that creep!!?”     “This… creep has a name! And it’s Coal Obsidian to you! AGH!” Marcus yelped in pain as his chest hurt like hell, but continued to glare at the rainbow menace that hovered above him.     “What the hell did I do to you!?”     “Rainbow Dash, he’s right, he didn’t do anything wrong… Why did you hurt him? He already has a lot of injuries that need time to heal. Now he really needs to get washed and disinfected again.” Fluttershy began to scold her friend.     “Everypony in town started talking about how this big guy came into town, and was holding you hostage. Forcing you to go out with him!” Rainbow tried to defend herself, but Marcus’ face looked confused, frustrated, and in pain. Which only made her argument look ridiculous.     “T-That’s it…?! You just assumed I was going to hurt her, even though you said you followed us and watched us the whole time,” Marcus responded, raising his voice as he tried to ignore the pain.     “Talk about judging a book by its cover!”     “Well sor-ry if I’m just looking after my friend!”     For a moment, Marcus began to feel a tingling feeling in his back where his wings were. He clenched his teeth briefly in an attempt to quell them. If they flare up now, that’s just more problems for everyone, and more importantly, me! Just calm down. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Let’s not prove her right.     “Look… I am in a lot of pain right now. I’m covered in carrots and carrot juice, which is also burning all of my cuts, I might add. However, this is just a misunderstanding, I’m not going to retaliate since you’re Fluttershy’s friend… So instead, all I’m going to say to you: Don’t judge a book by its cover.”     “He’s right, Rainbow! That wasn’t right, even if you were trying to protect me, which I’m always grateful for, but Coal is my friend and he’s one of the kindest ponies I’ve met in a while. He deserves an apology,” Fluttershy stated, standing in front of Marcus as Rainbow stood there silently with her jaw hanging out.     “What!? But he-UGH!! Look I’m sorry alright… I shouldn’t have tackled you. I was just looking after Shy, she’s been my friend for a long time and I don’t want anything happening to her.”     “Well… I will accept your apology. However, I want you to say one thing.”     “Oh, sure! What is it, dude!?”     “DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!” he shouted in aggravation before groaning in pain when that further riled up his injuries.     “Sheesh…  I… won’t judge a book by… it’s cover.” Rainbow Dash repeated back, gritting her teeth all the while.     “That’s all I ask…” panted Marcus as he took a slow and deep breath to calm his body down and ease the pain before saying, “I accept your apology.”     “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said as she smiled at Rainbow Dash before turning to her other friend who was in desperate need of attention. “Alright, Coal, we’re gonna have to take you back to the cottage and rebandage your injuries, do you think you can make it?”      “I-I’m not sure… I’ll try.”     “If you want I can lend a hoof if you want?” Rainbow offered.     “That would be very helpful, thank you, Dashy.”     “Oh, dear! What in the name of Celestia happened here?” Everypony turned to find a white mare with a purple mane and tail, who had three diamonds as a cutie mark.     “Oh, Rarity… Um… An accident happened and I was just taking Coal back to my cottage to get his wounds cleaned again and get him some new bandages,” Fluttershy explained.     “Absolutely not, dear! Your cottage is on the other side of town! My boutique is much closer, bring this poor fellow with you. I have a medical kit in my sewing room,” Rarity insisted, her horn glowing as she began levitating the larger stallion with her magic.     “Whoa- W-what is happening?!” he asked, as he was suddenly floating in the air.     “I’m taking you to my boutique, dear, to help get you all cleaned up and out of those horrid rags of yours!” Rarity explained, smiling at the stallion before winking at him, causing his cheeks to turn slightly red.     “Well, then I’ll see you guys around then, I actually promised to take Scootaloo out for flying lessons today! Again I’m sorry about the misunderstanding dude!” Rainbow said, apologizing once more before taking off to the sky, leaving a rainbow streak behind.     Marcus waved his hoof, saying goodbye to the rainbow mane pegasus as he was levitated in the opposite direction as the two mares made their way over to Rarity’s boutique.