//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: A Welcome Wagon // Story: Well, This is New... // by Dumbgamer99 //------------------------------// Chapter Three: A Welcome Wagon Tired sighing could be heard as two figures rested on the side of a trail. One laid on the ground, nearly still save for its breathing. The other reclined against a tree, heaving from the effort. Needless to say the one still standing was having a wee bit of trouble with relocating the other. Fluttershy had worked quickly in trying to move the ape's body through the darkness that composed of the Everfree Forest. She didn't know what she was going to do when she brought him to her cottage, but she did know she was going to help the poor thing if it was the last thing she did. Hopefully, it wouldn't have to be the last. Contrary to what many would believe, the little caring Pegasus had large reserves of hidden strength. However, it hadn't enough to be able to carry the ape-like being without needing to rest periodically. She didn't mind really; it gave time for her friend Rainbow Dash to do what she needed to do. 'Shy looked over at her ragged companion, the biped who fell from the air without being able to fly in the first place. He had long since stopped breathing heavily, though instead he had fallen into a deep sleep. One that persevered through even her own attempts at coaxing him from his slumber. Her eyes roamed over every detail about the creature. Now that he was motionless, Fluttershy could easily see some features about him that she didn't before. For one, the wounds outlining his body seemed less deep than they had several minutes prior. She didn't know whether that was the result of her eyes being mis-led, but that still put her at ease to a degree with not having to rush the ape home. The older wounds though still mystified her in a gruesome way. They were still bloody and horrifying to look at, but at the same time she couldn't help but be impressed. Not many animals could still be alive (let alone fight a Manticore and win) after having injuries of that severity. And yet... as Fluttershy attempted to continue trying to drag her companion, she suddenly hadn't been sure that he was simply just an animal. He did not move like other animals did. She had seen animals fight before, and never had one of them fought with such intelligence. So much that even some of the twists and turns the beast did was unknown to be possible to Fluttershy before-hoof. Uneasily, the Pegasus looked down at her cargo. The ape's head remained hung and susceptible to gravity as it swayed with the pumps of strength exerted by her wings. She simply sighed in a rather exhausted manner as she looked back up to see more of the same darkened path. Oh, what am I going to do with him once I heal him...? "Ugh..." Fluttershy squeaked in her usual manner as she heard the sound come from right under her. Without thinking, she immediately released the shoulders of the ape and brought them up to be curled under her chin in fear. This only resulted in the creature's face plunging into the soft dirt with another barely audible groan. He's awake! Location: Sugarcube Corner. Ponyville, CPE (Center Province of Equestria) Time: Approximately late-afternoon, specifics unavailable The day was winding down for Equestria, and Ponyville's Sugarcube Corner was not singled out in the effects that followed such. Any customers in the shop were quickly filing out to prepare for their evenings, and as such the flow of business steadily declined (and by 'steadily declined', it was actually 'an abrupt halt'). It was usually at this time that Pinkamena Diane Pie (known locally as Pinkie Pie) would attend to the affairs needed to be dealt with to ensure that the bakery would remain functional. Clean the dishes, relocate the scattered containers of ingredients, things of that nature. Things that any normal being would consider 'mundane' after a while. Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie was far from a normal being. While cleaning had to be done, this didn't always mean work was done. Today was a day that this came into play, for orders still had to be made in order to be shipped out the following morning. One such order required Pinkie to create a cake made out of reagents that most would consider clashing in taste. It was meant to be a double-decked cake made out of chocolate. For the coating, a nice white blend of vanilla and sugar. Resting on the top was a trio of strawberries grown and hoof-picked from Ponyville's very own Sweet Apple Acres (the berries aren't as famous as the apples, but they get the job done). However, the thing that threw the cake off from being average was the fact that the customer specifically requested that the cake had a orange sherbet filling. Now, normally fillings would be no problem for the hyperactive mare. However, issues arose from the fact that they wished for 'sherbet', and not 'sorbet'. In order to make sherbet, you would need to have milk. Something that the local bakery was out of, and couldn't resupply due to... well, it would sound silly to say that the cows for Sweet Apple Acres went on strike (despite that being exactly what happened). Which was precisely why they used the excuse that there were difficulties from a lack of time to be able to acquire some. Not the best excuse, but there weren't any other options. It was bad enough they had to lie to their Canterlot customer who was on a very tight schedule while resting in Ponyville to obtain his cake. They didn't want any other faults to pile onto that as well, which was why they needed 'till the afternoon so they could order in from a different out-of-town source. I wonder if the customer would've noticed if we'd have simply made the sorbet and filled the cake... Pinkie thought quietly as she stirred the batter. It was one of the few things that could organize her thoughts from being a complete jumble of different things whizzing about everywhere, and she really appreciated the focus it brought. She couldn't bake anything without complete concentration, after all! Nah, they probably would have noticed. Besides, I Pinkie Promised Mr. and Mrs. Cake that I wouldn't accidently mess up another order- Her mental process skidded temporarily to a halt as she heard the door to the Corner slam open with way too much force put into that. It didn't faze the party pony for more than two seconds, before she set down her spoon and curiously began walking across the kitchen to see what was happening. She took on a grin though when she saw it was Rainbow Dash, but it soon shrank when she saw the worry and anxiety on her face as well as she nearly bowled over a set of stacked stools getting to Mr. Cake. He was running the counter, and he certainly wasn't expecting the pegasus to launch towards him outta nowhere with panic in her eyes. "Mr. Cake! I need Pinkie!" Rainbow basically shouted, attracting the attention of Mrs. Cake who had been descending the stairs. "It's an extreme emergency, and really important!" In response, Mrs. Cake only shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash; Pinkie Pie is working on an urgent order, and both Mr. Cake and I need her here to work on it." There was a short pause, before the cyan Pegasus spoke again in a tone that demanded no rebuttals. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I really don't wanna do this, but... As an Element of Harmony, I am ordering you to let Pinkie come with me. Trust me; I wouldn't pull Pinkie away from an important job if the reason was more important." Pinkie didn't even need to see Mr. Cakes face to know it was filled with surprise and confusion. "Er, all... right." Awkwardly, he turned his head to call back into the kitchen. "Pinkie Pie? Your friend Rainbow Dash is here asking for ya. It's apparently urgent." Despite realizing the seriousness in the situation, that didn't stop her from bouncing out of the kitchen with airy springs before landing perpendicular to the parallel line that was her friend and Mr. Cake. "Hi Dashie! What's up?" Without speaking, Rainbow Dash went behind her and grasped her tail in her mouth, before backpedaling quickly away and out of the confectionery. "Oh, where are you taking me? Are we going to play a game? I love games!" When no response was given, and Pinkie was nearly out of the doorway, she waved at the older couple staring at her with bewilderment. "I'll be back, Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Please finish the batter without me-" *Slam!* An awkward silence was left in the Corner as Rainbow Dash finally relinquished her hold on her friends tail. After taking a moment to try and get the taste of cotton candy out of her mouth, she began speaking. "Pinks, we gotta situation." The edge to her friends voice caused Pinkie to become serious herself. "What's wrong? Is there another meany-pants Ursa on the outskirts?" "No-" "Pack of Timberwolves?" "No-" "Oh oh, it's a Manticore, isn't it?!" Rainbow winced at the memory, before irritation quickly set in as she covered Pinkie's mouth. "Not... no, none of those. Look, all I need you to do is get Applejack and Rarity. I'm going to snag Twilight, and we're all going to Fluttershy's. There's something... we all need to see." Pinkie began to speak again, but it was muffled due to Dash's hoof. Realizing what she was doing, she pulled her hoof away curiously. "-hat we need to see, but you can count on me Dashie!" Pinkie Pie finished with a mock salute, her eyes suddenly taking on a disciplined form. Rainbow simply blinked for a moment before she returned the salute with a humored smile on her face. "Thanks Pinks. Remember: Applejack and Rarity, Fluttershy's place. Right now. Got it?" With a nod in return and the message in place, Rainbow quickly flew off in the direction of the Golden Oaks Library as Pinkie began to gallop towards the Acres. Two minutes, later... Anyone could obviously predict that in a library, it would be extremely quiet. But in the case of Golden Oaks, it was absolutely ridiculous due to the severe lack of readers beside Twilight Sparkle herself. She expected it, but it was still infuriating to the mare when she got around to thinking about it. Like she had been doing for hours previous, she was resting behind the check-out counter while reading her book on Leylines. It had been a rare copy meant as a gift that she only got through her connections with being the pupil to the Deity of the Sun itself, Princess Celestia. What surprised her even more was that before she got the copy, she had never heard of Soft Story before-hoof. Goes to show that you learn something new everyday, Twilight mused to herself as she turned a page. Her assistant Spike was still out, mostly likely attempting to desperately woo his crush, Rarity. She tried to break it to him before that it most likely wasn't going to work, but she just couldn't smash his hope. He would figure it out on his own, eventually. A ringing of a bell being tapped by an opening door alerting the librarian that someone entered her business. She glanced over, expecting it to be Spike. Who she saw instead pleasantly surprised her. "Lyra!" Her acquaintance that she knew back in Canterlot during her studying moved to Ponyville very shortly after herself, and soon they became friends after the musician stopped by the Library for texts on musical theory. They clicked so well, Twilight couldn't understand how they didn't become friends all that time ago. "Hey, Sparks," Lyra murmured with a smirk as she trotted over. Twilight only rolled her eyes in response; she had been given that nickname shortly after they met up again. "I finished those recommended books you gave me, so I'm here to return them." The librarian nodded in response eagerly, levitating the library cards out of the books while simultaneously moving the books to the 'Check-In' rack situated next to her. She took a fleeting glance at one of the cards, before stopping the flow of movement and doing a double-take. "Um... Lyra?" "Yes?" The aforementioned mare asked distractedly. "According to the return dates on these cards, you were supposed to have had these back in last week..." "What?" The confusion in her voice was obvious. "Let me see." With a quick flick of her magic, Twilight transferred her arcane hold on the card over to the other unicorn across from her. She quickly brought it up to her own face, before she lowered it in embarrassed bafflement. "Eh heh... right. I didn't look at the one... uh, Sparks. I know this would invoke a late fee, but I'm kinda low on bits-" "Oh no you don't, Lyra. This will be the third time I would've cleared you for your late fees. And what do you mean 'low on bits'? Don't you do those occasional orchestral pieces in Canterlot?" In response, she uneasily gulped as she looked away. "I-I know, but c'mon Sparks; I won't have another performance in weeks! Please, just cut me a little more slack?" An irritated and tired sigh left Twilight. "I don't know how you talk me into these, but fine; that's the last freebie you're getting out of me about fees." She looked up concerned at her friend. "However... Lyra, is something the matter? You seem... off today." Being called out about her unawareness was the last thing Lyra was expecting Twilight to do. She considered for a brief moment on lying, but she realized that it was impossible to do such to her friend. A weary hoof came up and rubbed Lyra's eyes as she spoke. "It's... it's been rough lately. Trying to wind down my Canterlot accent so the ponies here wouldn't look at me like I thought I was superior to them, attempting to manage my repertoire of music for the concerts... it's all been just very tiring for me, Sparks." Another hoof, this time coming from Twilight rested on Lyra's face. Only to gently brush away the hoof obstructing them from having eye-contact. After establishing such, the librarian spoke with a kind smile. "For one, the ponies around you don't do that. Trust me, I had the accent with me for a while and nopony looked at me the wrong way. And if you're having trouble organizing your music sheets, why didn't you tell me? You know I'm good at organizing, and I wouldn't have minded doing it for a friend." Lyra's appreciative smile could light every city in Equestria, and with the thankful nod thrown in with it, they both hugged on it like friends do. At least, they did until Rainbow Dash collided face-first through the entry door of the Library, and skidded on her hooves right into a bookshelf. Oh, Spike is not going to be happy to clean that up... Discarding that thought, she brought herself back from over the counter and walked around towards her Pegasus friend. From the looks of it, she was dazed. Her eyes were slowly rolling about in her head, and it didn't help when another tome from the top came down and cracked against her skull. At the same time though, it snapped her out of her groggy state. Looking around, she quickly locked sights with Twilight, and immediately removed herself from the pile and launched her body to be inches away from the librarian's face. "Twi', we need to go. Now!" An ever-growing headache caused a pained expel of breath from the Unicorn as she took a step back so she could see her friend more fully. "What is it this time, Rainbow Dash?" "Fluttershy found some... thing in the Everfree. Some kinda monkey. It's hurt, bad." She only responded with a raised brow. "O...kay. And why do you need me?" Rainbow's voice became animated as her anxiety became expressed through her motioning hooves. "It's something neither of us have seen before. Some new species, maybe. But that's not the point! It killed a Manticore!" "Was it short, or tall?" Lyra asked as she stood on the sidelines, an odd look in her questioning eyes. Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked over surprised for a moment at having forgotten the Unicorn, before finally Rainbow hovered up about an extra hoof, and stuck it straight out. From that height, the ape was quite tall; it would be able to look directly into Princess Celestia's eyes without either having to crane their necks. Twilight's eyes bugged out in surprise. "Really? A new species of ape that size, beating a Manticore?!" "Not only did it kill a Manticore, it did while wounded. Twi', there were holes in him." "Him?" She paused before the entire sentence set in. "Wait, holes? Oh my Celestia... How hurt is it?" "It's hurt a lot. Either way, I left Fluttershy alone so I could-" "You left Fluttershy of all ponies alone with some unknown species that killed a Manticore?! Rainbow Dash, what were you thinking?!" "I wasn't, okay?!" Rainbow shouted nervously. "Besides, Fluttershy is good with animals. She can handle herself, but we need to get the other girls to her cottage!" Twilight simply nodded determinedly as she quickly trotted past Lyra (who at this point was simply standing there in confusion) and towards a seemingly random and unscathed bookshelf. Lighting her horn, several books as well took on the magenta hue as they formed a circle above her. As she did this, her saddlebags marked with her Cutie Mark fitted themselves onto her back and opened themselves. Soon, all the books she selected were snugly held in the compartments. Trotting back to Rainbow, they both nodded to one another before heading for the door. "Wait up, Sparks!" Lyra called suddenly, stopping the duo from heading out. "Let me come with. During my academic researches, I think I read about a rare kind of tall ape. I could help with identifying it, maybe?" Twilight thought about it for a moment, and glanced over at Rainbow. The Pegasus merely shrugged, and with that Twilight returned her focus to Lyra and nodded. "Any possible lead is better than no definite lead. Let's go!" Twilight exclaimed as she galloped out. Rainbow followed suit, with Lyra bringing up the rear. But not before she snagged a book that rested in a pile of books that needed to be organized, and slipping it into her saddlebags as she rushed off to catch up. Several minutes, previous... My body contorted in pain as I felt myself collapse on the unforgiving ground. The corpse of the mythological Manticore lying next to me served only as a reminder that my luck was only going to go downhill even further during my time in this Universe. I heard the take-off of something flying off (most likely one of the Pegasi), before I saw the blur of the other above me. This was when unconsciousness claimed me. Now, unfortunately for me, a lot of times when I go unconscious, something else happens. The normal situation would be me not recalling the space of time of exiting awareness until I came back. However, since the Editor is hooked up to my mind and is a powerful artifact, there are instances where I remain conscious while still being unconscious at the same time. Freaky shit, I know. The really weird thing is that during the moments where I'm in that limbo, I can feel only whispers of things happening outside of me through instinct alone. I could have the Editor project the situation outside for me... if it wasn't still recuperating from the escape of the Irida. "Hey, don't be trying to point fingers. We both wouldn't have to worry about situations like these if you would have just taken a vacation." Ed mumbled in my head irritably. 'I know, I know...' There was a brief pause before I heard him speak again, though this time in a calmer voice. "Eh, don't beat yourself up about it. We'll be fine. So, since the Editor is preserving your mental consciousness... there's some things we should discuss." 'Right. Let's start with the mismatched color-palette that made up those two mini-Pegasi.' "Hell, let's just start off on those things in general. We haven't seen those type of Equines since you poked around in the Ancient Roman myths several millennia ago." 'They looked feminine in build and color style.' "Indeed. And since Pegasi are herbivores, we won't have to worry about them eating us." 'Unless we're in some fucked-up alternate reality that has meat-eating Pegasi.' "I doubt it." After that, there was a large lull in our conversation. Most likely Ed had gone off to manage the nanobots in my system, or try and prep another M.L.P. Scan to detect any nearby settlements. Unfortunately, this let myself with nothing really to do. So I sat, and waited; content to rest in the confines of my mind until I could eventually obtain complete and utter consciousness- *Thump!* The sound echoed as I felt the impact. In this short span of time, I felt myself regain my longed-after control of my body. Only to discover that my face was buried in dirt. And also that my mouth had somehow been opened, which meant the dirt was now in my mouth. I coughed and sputtered, as well as spat for some good measure to get Mother Nature off my tongue. The dirt absorbed a great deal of saliva, making me feel parched farther than I already had been. No water for hours, after all. Though, while laying there I heard... the flapping of wings? Confusion rang out in me as I attempted to fully comprehend what was going on. I didn't detect the presence that would've been the form of the Manticore, which meant that I had been moved. And the only things I knew of that existed in this Universe at this point was Pegasi, and that now-deceased cat-hybrid. Which would mean that one of those flying-horses moved me themselves. Slowly, I placed my hands on the ground and raised myself. If I rose too quickly, it would just make matters worse. Controlling my breathing was a difficult thing to do as well, but after a few seconds, I got a hold of myself. I looked around blearily, piecing together my current location to still be in the forest, but on a path instead of the clearing. The almost impossibly-faint breeze being generated by the flapping of the Pegasus' wings behind me reminded me that I was not alone. I didn't flinch, nor turn, or say anything. It's not like I could do that last one; my throat felt like it was filed away with sandpaper. Even if I hadn't been connected to the Energy Barrier for the Universe, that didn't stop my natural senses from picking up information. For one, my companion was apparently behind me... about five o' clock, hovering around three feet in the air. If the creature became hostile, kicking out with my leg at a high angle would buy me enough time to plan my next action. From what I would've called at that moment, both of the Pegasi had been small. This meant that the option of pouncing was very well feasible— "It's all right, little one," I heard behind me. The gentleness accompanying the voice surprised me, especially since it came straight from... Oh, there was no way. Turning carefully, my left eye caught sight of the yellow Pegasi from the duo back at the clearing hovering near me with a nervous smile on her (no doubt with that tone) face. My eyes simply stared at her in surprise. To be frank, I hadn't been expecting a fucking pink-haired female miniature-Pegasi to talk to me like I was a pet. Really, I hadn't even been upset that she said it, simply because the event had me in a minor flabbergasted state. I attempted to make a rebuttal, which proved to be a horrible idea as the rasp in my throat caused a pretty severe coughing fit and prevented even a syllable to have been formed. Ed mentioned in the back of my mind that I wasn't ill, but that I should refrain from speaking until I acquired some water. Couldn't have agreed with him more. "Take it easy..." the Pegasi cooed to me again, coming closer towards me. I was wary of her (anyone should be if they had been dragged along by a speaking mythological being), and even if she didn't seem a threat, I wasn't going to take the chance. I had faced things before that seemed innocent, only to turn out to be quite vicious. I had tensed up staring at her not with fear, but with a reserved aggression that was the basic equivalent of 'Come-closer-and-I'll-strike'. She stopped instantly, unsure of what I was going to do. My response to her apprehension was to simply stay knelt down and retain my harsh look. Now, to be honest in most cases this would not have been the norm of a first contact. I would have greeted the first sentient I met, most of the time stay incognito about my work until it slipped out accidentally, and then I kicked baddie ass to balance the Universal Scales of that realm. Instead, the Fates decided that this first contact needed to be me having a one-sided stand-off with a feminine Pegasus that had a yellow coat, long pink hair, and three butterflies on her hindquarters- Wait... butterflies?! No, I hadn't been imagining it. From my angle, I had clearly seen a trio of pink butterflies on the horses' rump. Truly I didn't know whether to start laughing like a madman or not when I saw it, but instead I settled simply to cock my head at it in interest. On the corners of my peripherals, I saw that it- she had not moved an inch since I showed my weariness of her approach. "Storm. I'm fairly certain she means you no harm, especially since she was dragging you most likely to her home so she could heal you." 'I can heal myself just fine.' "Yes, but she doesn't know that." My thinking paused as that comment from Ed sunk in. I looked carefully into the two sapphire-spheres that made up the Pegasus' eyes. On the surface, I could see no malice. And through my honed senses, my ability to detect lies on a deeper level proved that she had literally no evil intent in her period. As I knelt there and looked at her with mistrust, I realized as well that I had no grounds to stand on for showing disrespect to her. This fellow may be an asshole, but even I knew that causing fear to be the first prominent feeling in my first contact could only lead to disaster. With that thought, my terse gaze softened considerably, and I let out a pained sigh as my head lowered to the ground. I watched as I pushed myself away from the ground, and soon I stood -- rather shakily -- on my legs. The Pegasus was by my side in an instant, locating her hooves in an expert manner to help me steady myself. I really wasn't used to having another be in contact with me unless they had the goal of murdering me, so one could understand that I was on edge for the first ten seconds or so of contact. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," she murmured soothingly into my ear. "I just want to bring you to my home so I can help you, all right?" I just nodded; I wasn't going to attempt to speak again. That coughing really hurt my throat like a bitch. On that note, the Pegasus stayed side-by-side with me as we both limped down the trail. Neither of us shared any words for a while (not that I could have anyway), and as such an oddly comfortable silence hung as we navigated the dark and foreboding forest. I was vigilant in making sure nothing would jump me again, but it seemed Nature knew not to mess with me after the brawl with the Manticore. Not that I had been complaining on that aspect; I felt pretty much like crap. Suddenly, as we rounded a bend I could see the opening out of the forest up ahead. It was still a considerable distance 'till that point, but at least it was a straight-forward route. I squinted in vain to see anything outside of the entry, but the distance plus the dim light was simply too much for me to get anything discernible out of the try. My curiosity went back towards the... mare? I thought that would be the proper term since she was a female horse. I had been looking at her not because I was curious about the markings on her hide, but because I was sizing her up. If there were things like Manticores in the forest, why would she be in there? There were nothing on her possession, which told me she had not entered for picking any worthwhile herbs. Which meant... She and her friend came in for me. I considered the implications. With falling from two-thousand feet in the air into an obviously-dangerous forest, it truly didn't surprise me that an airborne-type of horse would see me. My worry was, did her nearby settlement know as well? From the looks the pair gave me, they had not expected to find me of all things diving from the sky. "We're almost out of the Everfree now," the mare whispered to me as we both continued down the path. My face scrunched up in confusion. 'Was that the name of this forest? I wonder if it was given the name by the same settlement this Pegasus came from...' "Possibly. I wonder how advanced their species is..." 'If the Universe relies on an Energy Barrier, I'm going to make the guess that here Magic exists. Since I highly doubt this is going to be some futuristic realm with flying cars driven by mages, I'm going to expect that their technology isn't going to be beyond Medieval Times.' "Hmm... damn. Oh well, at least dealing with a sentient race of horses is something new to us. And that's difficult to find after how long we've done this song and dance." 'Quite.' And with that, me and the mare finally reached the end. I had to raise my hand to shield my eyes from the sudden change in lighting, despite it being not that much if you heavily thought about it. After a second or two, I removed my hand to see a rather beautiful sight. It seemed the Everfree Forest was located on a plateau of sorts with its general elevated flatness; one-of-a-kind as I overlooked a valley. Nestled towards the center (but closer to us) was a sprawling town. Buildings mixing with shingled and thatched roofs dotted the area around the square that held semi-tall and most likely important structures. To our closer left was a truly massive apple orchard, that sported acres of apple trees surrounding an easily-recognizable barn. As I looked farther out, I could just barely spot a city of sorts on a distant mountaintop. Except that it was hanging off the side of the hunk of rock. It wasn't built into it like I've seen many cities do. No, this one was simply built on a semi-steep hump in the side of what appeared to be the tallest natural object in the surrounding world. The weirdest thing was that most of the mountains (indicated by height) were shaped more like giant, narrow hills. I picked up all of this as we walked down a snaking path that almost ran parallel to the Forests edge. There was no obvious goal at the end of the path, but I hoped that if it led through the town that not too many Pegasi would cause a ruckus at my state. Speaking of that state, I looked down at my chest. The wounds that I accumulated were already beginning to recover, the effects of the Nanobots healing serum doing their engineered genius. I expected that unless the mares home was nearby, that the wounds would be mostly healed before she could even get bandages out. While I was absorbing everything, I did not forget my acquaintance who was still trying to keep me erect despite me obtaining my balance long ago. She seemed more focused on making sure I didn't fall over, and most likely didn't notice me looking around with a hint of interest. Though, when she did finally look over, she was looking past me to where I was also staring at; a building made out of... gingerbread?! "That's the town of Ponyville. I live on the edge, so I can have my privacy when I'm working with my animals," I heard the Pegasus speak softly as we looked on. With those two statements, several things had become known. One was that the town was named Ponyville (which quite frankly nearly made me fall over from laughter if I hadn't bit my lip). Another was that thankfully we were not going to be flaunting my wounded self to the populace. The third was that the mare was an animal caretaker, which would explain why she spoke to me like I was an animal myself (which I take minor offense to, by the way). And the final thing was that if I stuck around and I had the trust of the town (or preferably, the species), I was going to discover just what that gingerbread house was used for. If there was a witch living there, the most likely result would be me having to recover from wounds acquired from busting ribs due to guffawing. I swallowed, and that was when I realized just how dehydrated I was. Staring down at the town of... Ponyville, I noted that there was a system of streams running through the town. My brows furrowed at the water taunting me as we walked. I glanced back over to the horse- "Actually, considering how the town she lives in is called 'Ponyville', I'm going to expect that here they prefer being called Ponies rather than horses." 'Hmm... you may be right. That could help me dodge a bullet later. Thanks, Ed.' "No problem." Looking back over to the pony, I motioned with my free arm gently to release me. She blinked in a surprised manner, but didn't go against me as she brought her hooves away from me. To be honest, that was mostly for reasons involving personal space. With her attention, I shaped my hand so it was similar to a cup, and mimed drinking from it. I only received a blank stare in return. My head hung at that, before I waved ahead of me. Somehow she properly interpreted this action, and she took point three feet ahead of me. We had most likely been walking for ten-to-fifteen minutes, and as such the given time-frame allowed the regenerative function in the Nanos to heal me a great amount. My thighs were completely healed, though still held some minor soreness. The gash on my head from a grazing bullet was utterly gone, with not so much as a headache. The shot to my ribs was still going to take another dozen minutes to be considered good. Looking up, I spotted the descending sun. It was most likely early-evening, but what was interesting to note was that the sun did not give off glare. This allowed me to stare at it unhindered, which led to the discovery that compared to Earth's usual Sun, the version in the Universe was slightly larger- "Notice: Reserves Are: 40%. H.U.D (Heads Up Display) Is Now Available." I blinked in surprise at the Editor interrupting me with its auto-alert. However, the warning unearthed some tests I had wanted to run with the HUD, but weren't able to due to plain forgetfulness. 'Ed. Enable the HUD, all settings online.' He wordlessly did as I asked, and I closed my eyes to allow the addition to be installed easier. It took a total of three seconds, before I opened my eyes to investigate. I was greeted with the Editor's signature load-timer (a slowly-spinning green hourglass) in the center of my vision. Once that dissipated, I examined my rather cluttered view. Towards the top-left, I saw a dark-green hologram of myself. Most of me retained the green hue, except for my thighs which had a lighter shade, and my ribs with had a dim-yellow. Satisfied that the Editor was still able to identify the condition of certain parts of my body, I looked towards another corner of my sight. Towards the bottom-left, the wall-clock had its hands spinning around wildly. I watched as the two skinny black sticks went at different velocities, sometimes changing directions entirely whenever they felt like it. This had simply brought a frown onto my face. 'Ed. Calibrate HUD Clock to match Dimension Time.' "Calibrating..." I watched as the spinning hourglass appeared over the clock, and as it turned the clock slowed. It finally stopped on a time, before the visual loading aide vanished. A moment passed as the built-in indicator of the clock meant for determining the dates slowly clicked away until they set themselves. "Time-Clock Is Now Calibrated." I affirmed the time with the position of the sun in order to ensure there had been no errors. Content that the time reading 'Six-thirty P.M.' was the same, my eyes focused onto the date. 'One-Eight... and several question marks. Okay...?' "The Editor doesn't have enough historical data to be able to instantly align. And it'll take a while on its own to measure the age of the planet, which would then give us the year in how long this ball of rock has existed. Something that doesn't help us out all that much." 'I see. But, wait... Is it the eighth of their first month, or the first of their eighth month?' "According to how the scans relayed the data, this planet's position and rotation has a similar if not nearly-identical season-system with Earth. So, luck you; you don't have to work with new seasons, it seems. And, considering that bunch of trees away from the Everfree over there has orange leaves rather than no leaves..." My eyes found focus on the bundle, and nodded to myself as I was basically walking on auto-pilot behind the mare. 'We're in the fall.' "Yes. So, borrowing the calender you're familiar with, we've technically entered on this planet October 1st." 'Huh. All right then, thanks for the clarification Ed. I hardly use this HUD thing anymore...' Redirecting my focus to the top-right, I was greeted with a single empty bar. Recalling that to be linked with helping me see how much Mana reserves I had, my eyes lazily left them. After all, it had no use to me until I could have several hours uninhibited to Sync with the Energy Barrier. Letting out a brief sigh that went unnoticed by my 'guide' who was still flying along in front of me and letting my subconscious use her lead to maintain where to go when I was focusing on more important things, I settled my attention onto a darkened circle. Well, it was mostly dark save for a trail of light that slowly crawled along. 'Ed. Activate the 'Auto-Set Waypoints' on my Mini-Map.' "Activating... Are you going to even be using this, by the way?" 'Probably not. But if I set it up now, and I do end up needing it later, well... preparation keeps the wise alive. You can shut all of this crap off when you're done. I only aligned it for any possible emergencies later on.' "Got it. Also, you're nearly at your destination. Focus." I simply nodded in understanding as I returned my attention to the Pegasus who I nearly bumped into. She landed finally after doing her hover for maybe twenty-minutes, before she turned to me. She seemed like she was going to say something, before she paused as she looked at my healing chest before her eyes. When I gave no reaction, she simply shook her head and turned back around to point a hoof at a building down the hill we stood on. "My cottage is right over there. I see my friend Rainbow Dash got the others, so let's not keep them waiting..." I followed after her, before my brain realized what she said. '...Others?' "Erm... I'm sure it's nothing? Welcome-Wagon, maybe?" 'I hope so...' -WTIN- Our approach to the mare's cottage did not go unnoticed. The large slew of animals surrounding her home squawked and chattered at the return of their caregiver. And then almost instantly after, they all fell silent as my scent reached them. I was surprised that there were familiar birds like blue-jays and hummingbirds alongside recognizable critters like squirrels and rabbits. But I was more surprised at what happened shortly after my scent hit them full-force. Now, past experiences had animals become naturally friendly with me. They bonded with me without much difficulty, and animals made a great asset at times. At least, the common ones that weren't afflicted with possession or hunger. So, the same effect would happen again with them liking myself, right? Yes. But it's still terrifying to see a pure mob of adorable animals coming at me. What was probably more horrifying was the mare who had been next to me suddenly standing in-between and literally shout at the creatures. It was brief, it was concise; hell, it wasn't even a word or that loud. But the sheer aggression behind it, stopped every single animal in its tracks. I was insanely impressed. And by 'insanely impressed', I mean I was only vaguely close to slightly impressed. Still, I hadn't been expecting the demure mare to do what she did, so at least she had that brief moment of surprise outta me. Maybe it counts for something, somewhere. I wonder if there has been an economy established that would take my surprise as currency. It would have probably fallen into ruin due to the severe lack of anyone living to tell how they acquired my surprise- "Storm. You're mentally rambling. Again." 'Ah, I am. Thanks for reminding me.' I shook my head, and luckily appeared to have snapped out of my brink to insanity as the Pegasus was motioning for me to follow her. Wordlessly, I obliged as I went after her over the bridge that had a stream flowing underneath (one that I was tempted to drink from) and between the two groups of animals on the other side that had yet to move after the shout directed at them. Soon, I had found myself in front of the door of the mare's cottage. It was... peculiar. Looked really overgrown, but in a managed way that was one with Nature. Or some crap like that, I didn't know at the time; the dehydration, soreness from wounds, and exhaustion was still having an effect on me at that point. She glanced over at me in trepidation. "Now, I'm not sure how my friends will react, but..." A warm smile graced her face as she patted me gently on my left calf. "There won't be any harm to you. I promise." My only possible response to that was a nod showing I understood. And with that, the gates to Hell opened. Nah, just kidding. Though, the opening of the front door certainly brought about a deathly silence in the cozy and rather quaint abode. From my position, I could see what was most likely a living room. And it was filled with... three, four, five, six... six mares residing within. I saw that three of them were Unicorns (another type of horse "pony" that I hadn't encountered for a good period of time), two who lacked both a horn and wings, and then finally the last Pony was one I recognized if only a bare amount; the blue Pegasus that was there when I fought the Manticore. While I hadn't been used to the facial expression on the Ponies, I had clearly gotten that there was awe, fear, shock, and slight over-protectiveness with a hint of disgust on all of the mares parts. For a moment, it seemed like there was going to be several more moments of me standing there awkwardly while being stared at by Ponies, before the yellow Pegasus next to me spoke. "I need to wrap up his wounds. Rainbow, there's a medical kit upstairs in my bedroom. Could you please get it for me?" I saw the one from before nod slowly as she didn't take her eyes off me. "Sure, Fluttershy. No problem..." As I watched her ascend up the stairs, it was then that I realized I now knew two of the Ponies names. More importantly that the one who owned the home I was standing in was named 'Fluttershy'. ...Well, I had guessed the names fitted. For both of the mares. Returning my attention to the living room, I saw that they were all still staring at me. If it hadn't been for my damnable throat feeling like it was a desert, I would've introduced myself. Instead, I had to rely on... Fluttershy, to do my greeting for me. "Girls, as Rainbow may have told you... this is why you're here." I heard an awkward clearing of a throat before one of the mares, the orange one without any addition (perhaps they were called horses?) on her body nodded to me as she removed her stetson- Wait, a stetson? "Ah'm Applejack, nice ta meet ya..." And she has a country accent. Oh, Fate. You're a bit of a jokester, aren't you? Not knowing what to do, at that moment I simply did what I had been doing every time something in this realm talked to me; I nodded. All of the mares had raised their eyebrows like me nodding my head was something they weren't expecting. Clearly, they needed to stop underestimating me and all of my sexiness- "I got the kit, 'Shy," the one named Rainbow called out as she descended the stairs mid-flight and landed before the two of us. Her eyes flicked over to me for the briefest of seconds, before she handed (or would the verb be 'hoofed' with their species?) the box over to her friend. Fluttershy had waved me over to the unoccupied couch that rested against the stairwell in the parlor. I found it odd that none of the Ponies had been using it, but apparently they seemed content on standing in a semi-circle opposite of me as I sat down. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw them turn their attentions to one another as they whispered to themselves. No doubt about myself. But even with the softness of their voices, and my distance, I could still hear them. It was slightly humorous to myself to hear them ask each other things like 'What is that thing?', only to be answered with 'I don't know' every time. Also, through my unintentional eavesdropping (they made it too difficult for me to not hear them), I learned some of the Ponies' names further. The orange mare that had greeted me beforehand was apparently named Applejack, a name that seemed fitting with the trio of apples on her flank. As for the alabaster Unicorn she was conversing with, I heard the nickname 'Rare'. The diamonds adorning her side only confused me further. But at that moment, I had a feeling that I wouldn't get farther with getting the full name due to the country ponies' way of speaking. My attention had then went to the conversation between the mint-green and lavender Unicorns. I really had to struggle to hear, but apparently the aquamarine mare was named 'Lyra'. Her lyre tattoo (the closest thing it resembles, anyway) agreed with the name. As for the other... I was slightly stumped. The one called Lyra referred to her as 'Sparks', which is obviously a nickname. However, the problem arose as to what her full name was. A star intermingling with other stars as her markings proved to be lead-less in my attempt, before I finally gave up all together. And that was all I could obtain before Fluttershy had finished whatever she was doing. I had felt her fussing away at my injury to my ribs, and then the stab wound from the Manticore's stinger to my shoulder as I was gathering information. To be honest, I had forgotten that the wound was there from the fight, as well as the slash marks on my chest and back (both of which had been gone a while ago). I nearly cracked an amused smirk at the amount of surprise in the Pegasus' eyes. My body had a natural healing effect due to being in-touch with the Editor for so long. Add that with Nanos that went around in my system and sprayed their regenerative serum, and nearly all of my wounds had been repaired on their own. Though, that didn't stop the mare to go on and wrap up my shoulder with an herbal salve. Fluttershy seemed satisfied with her work (which was mostly just examination), before she turned to address the others that were still whispering their thoughts to one another. "Okay, I did what I could." Strangely enough, the soft voice of the mare stopped their conversations. "He'll be more than all right..." At this point, I hadn't been expecting what would happen next. My thoughts would conclude normally that with their herd mentality, the Ponies would've forcefully brought Fluttershy away from me. If my eavesdropping had proven correctly, then they didn't know about Humans. Instead, I watched as the one named 'Sparks' opened a pair of saddlebags that bared her hip-mark. Her horn lit itself with a velvet glow, one that encompassed multiple books that floated out of the storage bags before she promptly closed them. She turned her attention to me for a brief moment, looking me up and down. Furrowing her brows, she cracked open one of her books and began sifting through it. An awkward silence ensued then as we all watched her go through her books. I had a fair idea that those were books relating to bestiaries, and she was searching for an entry on my species with a fervor-driven intent. Though, her mounting irritation had told me then that she wasn't having much luck. Finally, as she tore through her own books, Sparks made some sort of guttural sound. "Ugh, I can't find anything about this creature in any of these texts. There's not even records of anything resembling it in the 'Equestrian Guide to Myths and Beasts'!" "So, he is a new species then?" Rainbow asked. "Apparently, yes. It- er, he is the first... well, I'm not sure what his species is." As they had begun to talk to one another, I watched the sidelines at the one called 'Lyra'. Out of all the Equines in the room, she was the one that seemed the most calm about me (besides Fluttershy, possibly). She stared at me with a giddy smile on her face, taking interesting especially in my hands. Since my company was busy arguing with each other on what to do with me, I decided to make my own entertainment. I flicked out my index finger. Her eyes gravitated to the random movement. I did it again, this time doing a wave effect with my fingers as I reclined against the couch's back. I noted that her smile grew wider, and that she was starting to walk towards me. She came right up to me, an action that went unnoticed by the others as they pulled in their numbers (including Fluttershy) to discuss me. With reserved interest, I watched as she climbed up right next to me... and then sat just like me. I admit; hadn't been expecting that. My eyes widened slightly in confusion, but beyond that I showed no other emotion to her movement. Lyra's attention had still been locked on my fingers, extremely curious about them. Considering how they had hooves, the concept of opposable digits was an understandable revelation. To humor her, I started tapping a beat with my fingers. The beats hadn't been anything overly complex, but it held her attention as I randomly played melodies on the wooden arm of the couch. What I didn't notice at that moment though, was that as I lazily played, the other mares gradually fell silent. I was getting into it now, still using my single hand to strike the frame to create a steady rhythm. Occasionally, I had formed my hand into a fist and gently (but firmly) slammed it down to accentuate a deeper bass beat. My eyes closed shut as I gradually became louder. It wasn't like I had cared at that point; music was always an element that calmed me, whether it was my own or another's. Bringing my original drumming hand over the arm, my other hand joined its compatriot on the wooden bar to ease the difficulty in creating a more complex beat. I payed little attention to the outside world in a sense as I continued on, making the strikes become more frantic and intense. And suddenly, I stopped after heavily slamming my index fingers down on the frame. There was an odd silence that hung in the room, and when I had opened my eyes I discovered the semi-ring of Ponies had reformed around my own person. Looking over to Lyra, her pleased smile dominated most of her face as she hovered up a tattered scroll. My eyebrows arched in response, but the others beat me to it. "Lyra, what is that?" Sparks questioned, having shaken herself out of the stupor my act of music placed her in. "Remember how I mentioned that I researched an obscure tall ape, Sparks?" That surprised me. Had there been previous Humans that existed in the Universe? If they had, they must've been obscure indeed to only have one-out-of-seven have even a slight clue about my existence. "I... I think this is the one." "What? How?!" The lavender mare across from me replied. "I just searched ever bestiary the Library had, and I couldn't find so much as a mention!" "I know. But, there was an article that I recalled that had a biography on this creature back in the Canterlot Archives!" I simply blinked in response as I stared at the tattered parchment still by Lyra's side. "...Is that the article there?" I glanced over at Lyra's guilty smile. My eyes widened as Sparks voiced my own thoughts. "You didn't... You stole the article?!" "'Stole' is such a harsh word, Sparks. I borrowed it in the interest of academic research!" "You took it without permission, Lyra! That's the same thing!" "Does it matter?" The mare next to me countered calmly. "We have a source on what species he belongs to! Besides, if you want the Archive to have the article back, then I'll give it to you so you can send it to them. Tell them it got mixed up, and you only just discovered it." The irritated groan that left Sparks surprised me, before I heard her speak again in what was quite clearly a restrained voice. "All... all right, Lyra. Just... give me the article." As I watched the scroll unfurl in the new Ponies' possession, I suddenly had a very bad feeling. The feeling skyrocketed when the mares soon looked up at me from the scroll in horror, and Sparks' horn glow with a vicious purpose. 'Oh... shit...'