//------------------------------// // Brown Cottage // Story: Out of the Blue // by Br0nydom //------------------------------// Brown Cottage Fluttershy simply stared in reply. During the events of the last several minutes, she had not been given a chance to gain a full view of this new creature and his baffling apparel. He was covered from nearly head to toe in bulky, dark green clothing. Or is his body just bulky? she pondered as a side note. His feet were concealed inside a thick, black casing, which seemed to be somewhat form-fitted. His claws, no wait, are they claws? They seem pretty stubby... were wrapped in a material similar to the color and design of the rest of the clothing. Strapped to Stanley’s chest was a hefty, dark-tan vest. The vest was lined with a multitude of pockets, and Fluttershy could only make wild guesses at what they contained. Included were a mess of blue straps and metal buckles and fasteners slung around his lower abdomen and shoulders, continuing behind his back. Why would he wear so much? Fluttershy wondered. Is the rest of his body devoid of hair just like his face? It doesn’t seem to be meant for fashion. What is the purpose of wearing the clothing? Warmth? No, it’s late summer right now. Wouldn’t it be too hot? Is that why there’s so little hair on his head...? Alright, I guess I should just tell him to get all of this off first... Stanley must have read Fluttershy’s thoughts, because he broke the motionless silence with, “I guess I should get this gear off first, huh?” She slipped out of her trance and responded. “Um... yes, that would probably help, if... if you don’t mind.” Stanley wordlessly obliged, beginning to loosen and remove his vest. As soon as he tried to lift off the vest with his right arm, he flinched and grabbed his arm in pain. Fluttershy quietly scolded herself as she moved to help Stanley. Fluttershy, you are so stupid! Why did you expect him to use his arm? It’s clearly broken! She took hold of the bottom of the vest with her hooves, helping Stanley get the vest off, along with several of the confusing straps. As Fluttershy expected, there was the same clothing underneath the vest as everywhere else covering Stanley. She could see now that the clothing was all a single piece, excluding the “claw” and feet coverings. Removing both of these, Stanley then moved to unzip the one-piece using his left arm. He then proceeded to step out of the wrappings as Fluttershy cradled his right arm, making sure to prevent him from using it again. To Fluttershy’s surprise, Stanley had yet another layer of clothing underneath! Wow. He’s wearing a lot more than I thought, she noted. This new layer was almost an identical green to the outer layer. This layer appeared to be a one-piece as well, albeit much smoother. Repeating the process, Fluttershy held on to Stanley’s right arm as he unzipped the layer and stepped out. And of course, there was another layer. Although, this layer seemed to be much thinner than the last two, this time a light grey color and a little better conforming to his anatomy. Maybe this is the last one, Fluttershy thought. As Stanley stepped out of this final layer, his body was fully revealed. The only exception was a small covering around what she assumed was his midsection. Fluttershy decided to let Stanley leave that part on, since the article was probably there for privacy reasons. Her attention, however, was seized back by the rest of his body. Without the multiple layers of clothing, the creature was far less bulky than anticipated. As Fluttershy expected, his body had very little fur across his body, leaving the pale white skin exposed to the elements. No wonder he wears so much. His body is just so exposed. With so little fur, Stanley’s muscle definition was on full display. Even though she had never seen such a creature like him before, she took a fleeting guess that Stanley was decently built and in good athletic shape. His “claws” were clearly not claws as she predicted, but stubbed and covered in skin. On the front side near the top of the stubs were a small, hard, and somewhat shiny material, appearing to be a natural part of the stubs. The structure was quite similar to Spike’s claws. Fluttershy recalled how the small purple-and-green dragon used his claws to hold objects like quills. Stanley’s feet also were developed, not too different than Spike’s. Just like Stanley’s (not) claws, his feet were wrapped in near-hairless skin like the rest of his body, with the same hard shiny material adorning the top of the stubs lining the front of his feet. Stanley’s leg structure was far longer and more complex than Spike’s. Fluttershy recalled his slow, stretched-out stride as he walked. She took note of the large but fairly minor burn on his lower left leg. Checking for further injuries, Fluttershy brought her eyes up to Stanley’s abdomen. She immediately was transfixed on a massive scar. The scar consisted of a quadruplet of upward curving lines running from the top right of his chest all the way to the bottom of his ribcage on the other side. Having treated the injuries of wild forest creatures for years, she recognized it as a strike from the paw of a bear, and one that had apparently been extremely aggressive. However, the scar appeared to be very old, how old? “Oh my, what happened to you?” she asked, pointing at his chest with one of her front hooves. Looking at his own form then back at her, he answered, “attacked by a bear. Long story.” Fluttershy slowly walked around Stanley, stopping as she was directly facing his back. What she saw left her equally amazed and terrified. Adorning the middle of his back was a pegasus, wings fully spread and in a shallow dive. But not like an average pegasus such as herself. This one appeared much larger in stature, a body more like that of Celestia without a horn. Unlike Celestia, this pegasus had no mane, or coat for that matter. In fact, the pegasus consisted of literally nothing but bone— a winged skeleton. From where the eyes would have been sat a ball of fire in the socket, trailing flames and smoke as if having been blown back by the wind. The bones of the wings were wrapped in the same flames, trailing its own cloud of smoke. In the background sat a distant object surrounded by what seemed like dark blue water. This dark grey object was completely flat and lined with even smaller objects on the top. Sticking out through the flatness was a small rectangular structure, top with grey branches not unlike that of a tree devoid of leaves in winter. Below the flat side, the object curved inwardly into the water, as if the water was being sliced like butter. Cresting the top of the design was a strange phrase, a language Fluttershy could not recognize, curving across his shoulder blades. It read, “IGNEM EX CAELUM” Fluttershy’s mind seemed to be frozen in time, unable to do anything but observe this mesmerizing design decorating Stanley’s back. It was clearly not a natural part of his body. It was some sort of... body art, like someone had used his back as a canvas. Fluttershy’s conscience urged her to gain more information from Stanley about this, but her mouth would not respond to her brain’s demands to move. Her muzzle was stuck, gawking at his back. Her legs lightly quivered underneath her delicate frame, unsure whether or not to be deathly afraid. Once more, it took Stanley’s voice to break Fluttershy’s trance. “Anything wrong back there?” he asked, as he craned his neck to see what she was doing. Stanley must have seen her motionless gawking, because he added, “Fluttershy? You okay?” He seemed to have figured out what she was staring at as well. “Also a long story. Don’t worry about it for now.” The pegasus shook her head back and forth rapidly, trying to give her mind a chance to regain full functional ability. Remembering her current responsibility, she continued her examination of Stanley’s back. Besides the odd design, she found no abnormalities, not that she truly knew anything about his anatomy. The only issues evident to Fluttershy were the leg burn and broken arm. Oh, and don’t forget his violent coughing. I wonder if he has a cold or something. She made the decision to treat it like a lung infection, seeing the way he clutched his chest whenever he coughed. “Um, Stanley, can you stay here please? I’m going to go and find some medical supplies,” Fluttershy told Stanley, falling into her usual shy tone. ------------------------------------------------ “Oh, sure,” Owens replied, as the yellow pegasus trotted out of the room. He decided to spend this short time alone by surveying the room in a little more detail. He realized he was standing on a dark red rug, doing little to cover the unusual green wood floor. A large grey fireplace lining one wall called the most attention, even with no fire burning. Surrounding the mantle was a network of miniature staircases leading to and fro around the earthy brown walls of the room, and even into pathways along the ceiling. A few minor pieces of furniture sat in the room, including a small bookshelf, a green dresser, a green chair, and a brown and green couch. Not to mention the small table in between the two seats and tiny pet bed in one corner. Seems to be a fair emphasis on green. Well, this pony-pegasus thing Fluttershy does seem to be the nature-loving type, Owens thought, observing the color scheme. The seats looked like they would be far too short for him; they looked as if they were made for a kindergarten classroom. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be able to sit there. With that, Owens carefully lowered his body to the ground, using his non-fractured arm for support. Taking mental note of the burn on his leg, Owens sat with his right leg sticking out and brought his left closer to his chest. He leaned back lightly on his left arm, letting his right arm dangle freely. While he was still looking around, Fluttershy came back in, now with two packs on her sides stuffed full of what he presumed to medical supplies. She was the first to speak. “Oh, I’m really sorry I took so long,” the pony said, her voice holding a slight bit of anxiety. “It’s fine,” Owens replied in a calm, welcoming tone. Glancing once more around the room, he added, “Nice place you have here.” “Oh... um, thanks.” Fluttershy seemed to have been taken aback by the statement. “I don’t get visitors very often. I really need to tidy up a bit.” She let her eyes drift across the room, taking in the visuals much like Owens had seconds before. Looking back at him, she said, “Alright, let’s get you taken care of,” as she walked toward the center of the room where he was sitting. He watched as Fluttershy reached her muzzle back and grabbed the strap between the bags with her teeth, then she brought the bags forward and set them down on the floor. Owens noticed that there was a design on the side of the bags, which seemed to partially match her coat color. The design resembled the butterflies on the pony’s flanks. Once again using her muzzle, Fluttershy opened up the tops of the bags, revealing a collection of wrapping and tape. She removed this along with a small scalpel. Why does she have a scalpel? he thought with uncertainty. Glancing at her, Owens mentally slapped himself in the face. Oh yeah, duh, she doesn’t have hands. She’s probably just going to hold it in her mouth while cutting the tape. That makes sense... his thought trailed off as he felt Fluttershy’s hooves holding his broken arm. For such a hard surface, she had a surprisingly soft and gentle grip, probably owed to experience in animal care. “I’m going to try to find exactly where the bone is broken, okay?” Fluttershy said as she looked straight into his eyes. Owens realized now just how... big... her eyes really were. In fact, they seemed to take up nearly her entire face. And those eyes... those deep blue eyes seemed to see straight through him like a window, reading his every emotion. He couldn’t help but be entranced. Her eyes seemed to project pure kindness and caring, like she was born a caretaker. Owens was ripped out of this trance, however, by an all-too-familiar pain shooting through his arm as Fluttershy’s hooves found the point of the fracture. He let out a short grunt of pain. She picked up on this instantly. “Oh, I’m sorry! I guess I pressed down to hard.” The pony moved to grab the wrapping. Holding the end of the rolled-up strip, she held onto the roll with her hooves as she wrapped the white strip around Owens’ upper right arm, acting as a makeshift cast. After having swaddled his arm snugly enough to keep the damaged bone within from shifting out of place, she cut off an end with the scalpel, holding it in her teeth as he had predicted. After taping down the loose end of the cast, Fluttershy proceeded to make a sling out of the rest of the wrapping, securing the length all the way around his back. Owens could feel her eyes pressing into him as she saw the tattoo covering his back. Each time she wrapped the strip around behind, Fluttershy slowed down and sometimes stopped, obviously to stare at his body art once more. “Okay, your arm is taken care of,” she said, looking directly at Owens again. “Let me see what I can do about that burn. Could you be so kind as to lift your leg up so I can get a better look?” As he silently complied by bringing his left leg up off the ground, the pony dug her head into one of the bags and pulled out a small gray bottle, which he assumed was some sort of ointment. With this she also pulled out a white roll of gauze. Setting the bottle sideways on the ground, Fluttershy squeezed a healthy portion of a blue-colored gel into her other hoof. She then proceeded to carefully rub the raw skin on Owen’s leg, spreading the gel around. His leg twitched slightly. The substance felt like ice on his tender red skin. The discomfort quickly faded away, though, as it was replaced by a calm, tingling sensation that made its way across the entire side of his leg. This, combined with Fluttershy’s gentle touch and rubbing motion, helped Owens calm down some, even slowing his raspy breathing. Once the ointment was fully applied, she finished off by wrapping the burned area in gauze, much like his arm. His leg was taken care of, Fluttershy turned toward the final problem: Owens’ breathing. His coughing had not yet fully ceased, and the pain in his chest still made each breath a chore. He knew that Fluttershy could tell. “You seem to be coughing a lot. Do you think you might have a cold? A lung infection?” she asked. “Oh, that wouldn’t be good.” “Nah, it’s uh... I’m pretty sure I have chemical poisoning,” he responded, his mind still not wanting to form a complete and fluent thought. Fluttershy just stared at him, this time a look of confusion lining her features. “What do you mean?” she inquired, clearly unsure about his terminology. “Never mind. I think you can treat it like a lung infection,” he said in reply, followed by a short but very heavy coughing fit. Owens’ lungs tightened hard, like a whole set of rubber bands had been wrapped around his ribcage. “Oh... my... I think I can find something to help you. I’ll be right back.” With that, Fluttershy dashed into the other room a second time, followed by a muffled cacophony of cabinets being open and shut. After a few minutes or so, she returned with a clear glass in her mouth, containing a dark purple liquid. Setting the glass down to the left of Owens, she said, “This will hopefully help with the coughing and chest pain. Also, there’s some nice herbs in there that will help you sleep. You really do need to get to sleep soon too, if you don’t mind.” “Alright.” Following his short reply, Owens took a hearty swig of the purple liquid. It had a distinct and strong herbal taste to it. But it was also very soothing, nothing like the nasty, thick cough syrup the Navy had. No, this stuff flowed down his throat like liquid heaven, coating every part of his esophagus with a minty sensation. The pain he had been experiencing for the last hour gradually faded to being almost nonexistent. Wow, this stuff is great, he thought. I’ll take this over that nasty red crap any day. Letting out a sigh of relief, Owens slowly rose to his feet again, feeling far more relaxed than when he had arrived. Looking around the room again, he looked at Fluttershy and asked, “So, uh, where can I sleep?” Fluttershy brought her hoof to her face and shook her head. “Oh, so sorry, I forgot about that. Silly me. Um... I think you should sleep in my bed for the night, if that’s okay with you. You really do need to get some sleep.” “Oh, sure, thanks. Where to?” Fluttershy pointed her hoof towards a staircase leading to the upstairs. Owens quietly nodded and motioned her to lead. The two proceeded up the short staircase, leading to a bedroom, obviously Fluttershy’s. Based on what she said earlier, Owens guessed that the pony most likely didn’t have any guest rooms. The bedroom was much like the main room downstairs, except that in the center was a small blue bed, lined with sheets displaying a diamond-checkered pattern with butterflies. Seriously, what is it with this pony and butterflies? Owens made the decision not to express that out loud. He heard Fluttershy speak up. “Oops, I think the bed might be too small. You can probably rest your feet on the chest by the bed.” Indeed, there was a blue chest lying at the foot of the bed, a perfect footrest. He began to feel sleepy, a testament to the fact that the medicine was indeed doing its job. His eyes began to grow heavy, like his eyelids were being pulled down by bricks hanging from an invisible string. Owens let out an audible yawn, signaling that he was ready to turn in for the night. Pulling back the multi-colored sheets, he slipped himself into the bed, the mattress creaking softly as his significantly greater weight bore down on its structure. He tried rolling onto his right side, only to remember the bulky cast around his arm. “Oh, you really should avoid rolling on your side,” Fluttershy told Owens, worried about him rolling over in his sleep and putting pressure on the fracture. “I need to make sure you don’t accidentally do that again. This might help.” She pulled out one of the pillows lying next to the one supporting Owens’ head and delicately tucked it under the cast. Looking at the cast on his arm, she commented, “Maybe I can have Twilight come here tomorrow with a bone-healing spell or something. This cast might not work alone.” Puzzled by her comment, he asked, “Who’s Twilight?” Mumbling from the drowsy state he was now falling rapidly into, Owens didn’t expect Fluttershy to hear him. Surprisingly, she did. Just before she walked out of the bedroom, she turned her head back toward him and said, “Oh, that’s my friend. She’s a unicorn. Well, um, good night Stanley.” His vision growing lightly blurry and eyelids heavy, he drowsily responded, “G’night. Oh, and... Fluttershy? Thanks... for helping me... and stuff...” His words transitioned into a deep yawn. “Oh, um... you’re welcome.” With that last exchange of words, Fluttershy slowly walked out of the room. Owens could hear the faint sounds of foot—hoof—steps as the pony travelled down the staircase. Despite his mind being caught in a fatigue-induced haze, a million questions swam through his head. What is this place. Am I even in Denmark still? How’d I end up in a forest? How did I meet a flying talking pony? How is it dark outside? It was morning when I launched. And what did that pony mention? A unicorn? A unicorn? Are there more of her kind around here? Am I still hallucinating? Am I dreaming? Is this even real? How soon can I get back to friendly troops? Ugh, this just doesn’t make any sense! Screw it, I’ll just find out when I wake up. His scrambled thoughts faded into the distance depths of his mind as the thick black fog of sleep took control. Letting his head lazily fall to one side, Owens drifted off to sleep. ---------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy groggily made her way towards her green couch. This day had already been longer as it was. And with the mystifying aerial anomaly plummeting from the sky combined with the discovery of Stanley, that strange two-legged talking creature, her energy felt completely depleted. Even trying to put one hoof in front of the other proved to be quite a strenuous task in and of itself. After turning out the lights, she collapsed onto the soft, inviting couch. Fluttershy had missed its comfort, ever since she had been denied rest by Angel. Despite her exhausted state, a million questions swam through her head. What was that falling thing? Why was it on fire? Why did it burn so fiercely? Why did it explode!? How did Stanley know it would? He did seem to know what was going to happen, the way he threw himself on me. Speaking of that, who is he? What is he? Why have I never seen or heard of a creature like him? He looked a lot like an ape, but then why did he have so little fur or hair? Why was he wearing such bulky clothes, so many layers of clothes? Was he somehow connected to the strange falling-burning-exploding thing? How will the rest of Ponyville react to this? Should I really tell my friends about Stanley? He was kind of frightening at first. And that... that mark on his back. What was that? Why was there a pegasus skeleton on fire? And what is “ignem ex caelum”? What kind of language is that? What does it mean? Oh, why does all of this not make sense. Now I know how Twilight felt about Pinkie Pie. She chuckled quietly to herself, recalling the humorous incident. Oh wait, not that great. We almost got eaten by a hydra. Good thing I have friends that protect me like they do. What would I do without them? Oh, forget it. I really hope I can figure this out in the morning. Fluttershy gave up on trying to answer this overload of thoughts, letting sleep consume her. Curling herself up, she rested her head on her front hooves as she drifted to sleep. Author’s note: Hey guys and gals! Sorry for keeping everyone waiting so long for a new chapter. The dreaded third-quarter slump hit me hard this year. As such, my creative writing ability has been kept down with a ball and chain. Hopefully, though, I shall soon break free, and get back to writing more frequently (Hehe, that rhymes). On a side note, in case you haven’t quite picked up on the details fully, Owens is suffering symptoms of acute jet fuel poisoning. This includes euphoria, headaches, vomiting, painful and/or difficult breathing, and so on. Not exactly an enjoyable experience. I hope you all are enjoying the story so far as it is. Sorry that not much is happening right now, the next chapter will bring in more characters and interactions, as well as possibly the experiences of the other ponies from the crash. -Br0nydom logicianMLP: Ghost explained to me that you can't fit much more under a pressure suit, but this is going to confuse some readers when she basically has him strip to his skivvies and neither says anything about it. austingarnett1: 1) Not a pressure suit. It's a multi-layer flight suit 2) what should I do about it? Sent from my iPhone logicianMLP: The description of the _Nimitz_ is very vague and could be many different things. This might not be an issue since the reader already knows where he's from. I dunno. Give it some thought.