There existed a place in Equestria that few ponies fully understood. It was frightening, expansive, and overall the exact wrong place to be if one wanted to maintain their good health. It played host to a multitude of dangerous and exotic creatures, from the hodgepodge bodied Manticore to the more literal Timber Wolves. One could argue that should one find themselves lost in this mysterious locale that their chances of survival were dismal, at best.
This place was known as The Everfree Forest, and one day a new creature joined its ranks.
But this new addition had none of the trademark features of the monsters who called the Everfree their home. It had no claws, its teeth were hardly sharp, and it could make no poisons or other natural defenses. Instead, it walked on two legs, and had the advantage of opposable thumbs.
That’s right, a human had found himself in the forest known as Everfree.
He knew did not know how he came to be in those dangerous woods. The only thing he knew was that he must keep running. And he did just that, fleeing from an unknown horror as the trees blurred in his peripherals. The only sounds he could hear were the rapid pounding of his heart, and the deep gasps of his breath. Leaves and twigs cracked under his feet as he ran, but he paid them no attention. The branches of the trees reached out for him, leaving scratches on his exposed torso in droves. His pace did not slow despite the pain that wracked his body, for his fear of the forest was greater.
A howl echoed through the trees, and the human doubled his pace to escape the treacherous woodland. The only thoughts passing through his mind were those of self preservation. He had to run, to escape from the monsters that hunted him. He could feel their presence at his heels, just waiting for him to stumble. Then, they would have their next meal. He suddenly burst through the foliage into a large clearing. Sunlight washed over him unfiltered for the first time since his arrival. Its warmth was welcome on his aching skin. He spun rapidly in the small, open field. HIs long brown coat whipped in the air behind him, revealing the denim pants he wore. He could not see his pursuers, but they were there, he knew it. Suddenly, a growl came from his left and he began his flight anew.
Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Ponyville, another creature was exiting her home.
“I won’t be gone long, Spike! Keep shelving those books!” She shouted, closing the door to her home.
“Yeah, yeah,” came the disgruntled response.
Shaking her head, a small grin adorning her face, the purple pony trotted along a well worn road, saddlebags bobbing up and down on her sides. She greeted others along her way, enjoying the glorious sunny day.Her destination was a looming mass of trees on the border of Ponyville.
Just outside the village, she found herself stopped by an excited pink pony.
“Twilight!” she heard, the voice belonging to none other than her friend Pinkie Pie.
“HI, Pinkie Pie,” she replied, still moving.
“Hey, that rhymes! I love rhymes, they’re so much fun! Have you ever heard this one? Silver is-”
Twilight stopped and held a hoof up to quiet her friend, chuckling as she did so. “Pinkie, I’m actually on my way to Zecora’s right now. Was there something you needed?”
The bubbly pony held a hoof to her chin in thought for a moment, before replying with a smile. “Nope! I just wanted to say hi. Oh, if you’re going to Zecora’s, can I come too? She rhymes all the time!”
Twilight spoke, still grinning. “Of course, I’d love to have your company.”
“Yay!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, falling into step with her friend.
They followed the slowly disappearing trail, leading into the Everfree. Now, it could be said that only a fool willingly enters that forest of dangers. That anyone with half a brain would know not to endanger themselves by purposefully going into an environment where death was not only common, it was expected. But there were a few ways to skirt the danger present in the terrifying woodland. The easiest of which was to not enter in the first place, but Twilight and Pinkie Pie didn’t have that option. The other was to stay near the edges, to go no deeper than absolutely necessary. After many years of strife, the ponies of Ponyville had successfully established a boundary with the predators of the woods. This allowed for some ponies to enter the forest, albeit not deeply. One such example was the zebra Zecora, who lived just close enough to the border to stay safe.
Calmly walking through the forest, Twilight felt an odd sensation in the back of her mind. It was as if a string had attached itself to the back of her consciousness, and was tugging lightly. The feeling was disconcerting, to say the least.
“Hey, Pinkie,” she asked, turning her head towards her friend, “Do you feel something odd?”
The bubbly pony scrunched her face up in thought as they walked, and replied “now that you mention, I kind of do. It’s like someone is trying to tickle me in my head, but not as much fun.”
Twilight furrowed her brow, and told her friend “We had better keep an eye out for danger. I don’t like this feeling, it’s like something big happened.”
With a nod from the pink pony, the two continued on. The rest of the trip passed just as any other with Pinkie Pie would. That is, filled with the hyperactive pony’s silly rambling. The purple unicorn took it in stride, not expecting anything different from her friend.
Soon enough, they were at Zecora’s home. Just as Twilight was going to knock on the door, a loud crashing noise came from deeper in the forest.
With a nervous glance at Pinkie, she knocked loudly on the door.
“Zecora? Are you home?” there was a tinge of fear evident in her voice.
“It’s us! Your friends Twilight and Pinkie Pie!” the pink mare added.
The door opened, revealing the zebra. “Come in fast, or you may not last!” she said to them, letting them inside.
Once inside they gathered around a window, waiting for whatever beast the forest had to offer to appear. The noises of crunching leaves and the occasional snapping of a stick grew louder. It was clear that something was coming their way.
“Oh, I wonder what made that noise.” Pinkie said, “I wonder if it likes cake?”
“Pinkie,” Twilight admonished, “Whatever is making that noise is probably some big monster that would probably rather eat us than cake. I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t even know what cake is!”
“Doesn’t know what cake is? That’s horrible! I’ll have to get it some, stat!”
Twilight rubbed her hoof across her face, “Pinkie, whatever is out there probably has huge claws, gigantic teeth, and maybe even wings or some sort of poison.”
She removed her hoof when she heard gasps come from her friends. “What? Did something happen?”
“I can not believe my eyes, even though they tell me no lies.” Zecora said, staring directly out the window.
“Oh! It doesn’t have any of those things you said, Twilight. Does this mean I can give it some cake?” Pinkie asked, looking to her friend.
The intelligent unicorn, rather than answer her friend, looked out the window. What she saw caused her eyes to widen and her jaw to drop. “What is that?” she shouted, rushing out of the hut.
Her zebra friend tried to stop her, but Twilight was already out of the door, Pinkie not far behind. Sighing, she followed the two ponies outside, hoping that no trouble would come from the creature that had stumbled out of the trees.
He was leaning against a tree, taking a quick break. His breaths came in strained gasps, as the adrenaline rush he had been running on began to wear off. Luckily for the three who had exited the hut, he was not facing them.
“This is amazing,” he heard a female voice say softly, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Oh, look at its clothes! They look pretty cool!” a more high pitched voice added.
“Quiet,” a third voice added, sounding rather African to him, “Or it may riot.”
He praised every deity he could think of, thankful that he had finally found civilization. He turned to face the three women he heard, standing as straight as he could in his exhausted state.
“Oh, thank goodness. I-” the words died in his throat as he came to face the three equines.
“You can talk?” the purple one said. Was that a horn he saw on her head?
“Hi!” the pink one ran up to him. She only came up to a bit above his waist, but she locked gazes with him anyways. “My name is Pinkie Pie, what’s yours?”
His mind froze, still addled by the fear and adrenaline coursing through his body. Perhaps had he not just run farther than he had in a long time, what happened next may not have happened. “T-talking horses?” he gasped, putting a hand to his head and groaning “Oh, my head.”
The three female’s eyes followed him as he fell backwards, barely missing a tree. They could tell, he was unconscious before he hit the ground.
“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted, dashing beside the strange creature, “Couldn’t you see how scared it was?”
“Could you not see yourself, pony?” Zecora chided.
The unicorn mare blushed a bit as she realized that she had also spoken to the creature. “Sorry,” she apologized, turning towards the strange being.
“What is it?” Pinkie asked, nudging a hand with her hoof.
“I don’t know,” the curiosity was evident in Twilight’s voice. “It has hands like a Minotaur, but no horns. It’s hair is the same shade as Zecora’s black, but it isn’t very long. And these clothes, where could it have gotten them?”
Zecora joined the other two as the intrigued unicorn continued to ramble questions. She looked at its exposed chest and feet, noticing the large amount of blood.
“Perhaps we should take it inside. It looks as if it almost died,’ she told the other two, pointing at its extensive injuries.
“Oh, wow. You’re right, Zecora, it needs help.” Twilight looked to her pink friend, “Pinkie, you should go get Fluttershy. She should be able to help.”
The cheery pony took on a serious look, and saluted her friend before taking off as fast as she could.
“Okay, I’d better be careful. Zecora, can you take its arms while I levitate its legs?” she asked, “At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what those are.”
The zebra simply nodded rather than speak, and wrapped its arms around her shoulders as best she could. The two slowly carried it into the hut, and gently set it on a mat near Zecora’s cauldron.
The potion master began to brew up some medicine for their find. Minutes passed in relative silence, only the occasional clink of glass as Zecora made her brew. Twilight was just beginning to worry when Fluttershy burst into the hut, a determined look on her face.
The yellow pegasus was quickly by the human’s side, inspecting his wounds. Pinkie came through the door a moment later, bogged down by saddlebags full of medical supplies. The animal loving pony called her over, and soon started dishing out orders to the rest of her friends. They listened as if in a daze, all amazed at the commanding tone in their normally timid companion’s voice.
The whole procedure passed in what felt like only a few minutes. But when Fluttershy fell back onto her haunches and wiped a hoof over her brow, it became clear that much longer had passed. She looked down a bit, and quietly said “I’m sorry for being so bossy.”
A round of assurances that everything was okay came from the others. Twilight, though, had a thoughtful look on her face as the other three sat down as well, and said “Have you ever seen anything like this before, Fluttershy?”
The animal loving pony shook her head and answered “No, I haven’t. And I thought I had seen every kind of animal in the forest before. It’s a good thing we found it, though. I don’t know if it would have survived with all of those cuts it has.”
The purple unicorn rubbed a hoof across her chin, and levitated some parchment and a pencil out of her saddlebags that had been tossed aside in their rush.
“Fascinating,” she muttered, taking notes, “We may have just discovered a new species today, girls.”
“Does this mean I get to throw a “Discovered a New Species” party?” Pinkie Pie sounded excited at the prospect.
Fluttershy sat back and only half listened to her friends chatting about the creature. Her mind was racing with questions, but one took precedence. What were they supposed to do with it now? It couldn’t go with Twilight, she lived in a public library. It wouldn’t make sense to hide something like him in a place like that. And Pinkie Pie would be an even worse option, living with the Cake family.
That left her and Zecora as possibilities. She supposed that Zecora would be sufficiently out of the way, making her hut a good place to keep the creature while it healed. But at the same time, Fluttershy wasn’t sure her zebra friend knew how to handle a possibly wild animal as well as herself. Not that she was doubting her friend, or anything. She just wanted the best possible care for such an injured animal.
She pondered how she could steer the conversation in that direction without seeming pushy. Luckily for her, Twilight had the same question as she asked “Where should he go for now? Should we just leave him here?”
Zecora looked as if she was about to accept that proposal. However, Fluttershy quickly interjected “I think he should stay with me! I know I’m closer to town, but he also needs care that I think I can provide better than Zecora.” She paused, and looked around, “If that’s okay with you, that is.” The timid pegasus hid behind her mane as best she could.
Zecora, Twilight, and Pinkie all shared a look, before Twilight slowly nodded and said “I suppose that makes sense. He’ll go stay with you, then.”
The gathered ponies all stood, deciding it was time they left. “We’ll have to be careful taking him to your cottage, Fluttershy. We don’t need ponies asking too many question.”
The yellow pony nodded as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Pinkie doing the same. His legs were wrapped in a magenta glow as Twilight took up her portion of his weight. They carefully exited the hut, bidding Zecora goodbye.
“If you need help, do not be afraid to ask. I will do my best to assist, no matter the task!” She replied, waving a hoof as they walked away.
As they made sure to walk around Ponyville as much as possible, Twilight asked Fluttershy if she could tell her anything about the creature.
“Well,” she started, “I’m pretty sure he’s male. His body structure reminds me of some of the larger primates, which would make him a mammal. And Pinkie Pie said he talked, so I guess he is intelligent. Not to doubt you or anything, Pinkie, but are you sure he spoke Equestrian?”
“Yeah! He looked really tired, and when he saw us he called us talking horses, which wasn’t very nice. We’re not horses, we’re ponies!” The pink mare replied in her usual tone.
“Thank you, Fluttershy. I think I know where to look in my books now. I’ll have to report this to the Princess, too. This isn’t something I should keep from her, and I’m sure she’ll know what is best.” Twilight said to her friend.
The shy pony gave her a quiet “You’re welcome,” and the rest of the journey passed with Pinkie’s energetic yet random questions making most of the sound.
“Oh, this is so cool! We just discovered a new animal! What if it has super powers or something? Like, what if it could fly, or teleport, or has super strength?”
“Pinkie, the only thing you listed that ponies don’t have is super strength. Even then, there are some pretty strong Ponies out there. For example, Big Macintosh.”
“You’re right, Big Mac is pretty strong. I wonder who is stronger, monkey-thing or Big Mac?”
“Monkey-thing? Why did you call him that?”
“Well, Fluttershy said he looks like a primate. And primates are monkeys, right? So, if he looks like a primate then he looks like a monkey, duh.”
“Umm, Pinkie Pie, there are a lot of monkeys who don’t really look like him at all. I was thinking more of a Chimpanzee than anything.”
Their conversation continued right up to Fluttershy’s door. Once inside her cottage, they set up a crude bed with some spare blankets and pillows the animal loving pegasus had.
“Now, are you sure you can handle this?” Twilight asked as she was stepping out of the door.
“I’m certain. He just needs someone to take good care of him, I’m sure of that.” Her friend reassured her.
“Well, alright,” the purple pony said. She then levitated a pencil out of her bags, and it glowed brighter in her magic for a moment. “Take this,” she told Fluttershy, “I’ve enchanted it so that if you break it, I’ll know. If that happens, I’ll come running, okay?”
Her pink-maned friend nodded and smiled, saying “Don’t worry Twilight. I can handle him.”
Twilight’s worry only lessened a bit as she walked away with Pinkie Pie. They chatted amiably about the day so far. Eventually, the pink party pony left, saying that she had to get to work.
A quick trot later, Twilight was walking into her library home.
“Spike, are you home?” she called, closing the door.
A second passed and she heard a shout come from the bathroom, “I’m in the tub!”
The studious pony rolled her eyes, mentally groaning “Spike and his bubble baths. I guess I’ll have to write the letter myself.”
Withdrawing paper from her bag and a quill from her desk as she walked into her room, she began the letter to her mentor.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
I made an amazing discovery today! I was with Pinkie Pie on my way to see our friend Zecora when an incredible creature came from deeper in the Everfree forest. We had never seen anything like it, although Fluttershy later told me that it had features resembling primates. It was walking on two legs, and even wore clothing! Then, it spoke to us in perfect Equestrian! When we had first found him, for we deduced that it was male, he seemed really tired. He heard us speak, and turned around to face us almost seeming relieved. But then he saw us and called us ‘talking horses.’ After that he fell unconscious, and we realized that he was badly injured. We took him inside Zecora’s hut, and the whole time I just couldn’t believe what we had found. A whole new species, an intelligent one even! After that, Pinkie went to bring Fluttershy to help. We cleaned and bandaged all the cuts on his body, and decided that he would stay with Fluttershy for now.
I’m sending along with this a copy of the notes I took after we finished helping him. I was hoping you could tell me if the royal archives have any information on creatures like this. Also, it seemed prudent to ask you how I should proceed here. I’ll understand if you want to take over the situation, seeing as he is a new species.
On a more personal note, I have to admit that I am extremely excited! This is just so amazing, we may have just discovered a new species!
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle”
She rolled the letter up and sealed it. She would have liked to force Spike to send it then, but she didn’t want to be mean to the little dragon. Although if he stretched his bath too far, she wouldn’t hesitate to drag him out of that tub. All that time in the water couldn’t be all that great for his scales.
Elsewhere, Fluttershy was entering her home, a bag of bird seed on her back. She sat them on a short table in her modest living room, and looked to her stove. They had made the bed for the creature there, as it was the only place that wouldn’t intrude too much upon her other animals.
She walked up to him, to make sure he was comfortable. She wasn’t far away when she saw him shiver and draw the blanket over himself closer.
“Oh!” she whispered, “He must be cold.”
Rushing over to a closet, she took the thickest blanket she could find. She then quickly draped it over the cold animal. His shivering stopped soon after, and he seemed to relax in his sleep.
“There,” she smiled, “All better.”
Still close, perhaps closer than she should have been, Fluttershy took notice of his features. His dark hair did not come down fair on his head, stopping short of his eyebrows. Along his jaw and around his mouth she noticed stubble growing, but only barely. His jaw didn’t seemed neither narrow nor broad, taking somewhat of a middle ground between the two. His cheeks also look healthy, by her best guess.
Lost in her observations, she didn’t notice at first when he moved. By the time she realized he had, it was too late. He had a long arm wrapped around her, and was pulling her in. She struggled feebly, but his grip was tight as he held her to his chest. The timid pony began to breath hard, quite frightened.
As she tried to escape his grasp without waking him, she heard him mumble something in his sleep. “Jessie,” he said, strengthening his hold on her.
He didn’t seem to want to harm her, but the situation was still too much for her. After little more than a minute of escape attempts, the fear got to her. Fluttershy joined him in the land of dreams as the sun set.