I felt the doctor’s talons touch my bandages. They were just sharp enough to cut them, which happened after he applied a little pressure. He went through the process slowly, first freeing my legs, going afterwards to my arms and chest. He finished by cutting off what was still covering my face.

“There you go, all better n- OH MY CELESTIA! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?!” The griffon doctor yelled out, fear evident in his voice.

I immediately grabbed a mirror that was placed nearby, just to ensure a patient can check on himself. I stared at it, scared that I could have been scarred for life. The same blue eyes stared at me. My hair was a mess though, what wasn’t cut off earlier had grown longer, making me realize I needed to get to a barber shop. I moved my eyes towards my face. A bit more pale, but that was understandable, I was stuck in a hospital for four months. I couldn’t see anything that could have made the doctor react in that way.

I heard someone chuckling, and when I stopped looking at the mirror, I saw that it was the doctor.

“Just a little joke. You’re okay, kid. Still, treating an unknown kind of creature did raise your bill a bit.” He said softly, laughter still clear in his voice.

“It’s not funny.” I grumbled out, putting the mirror back on the nightstand.

His tone turned serious for a moment. “Take a look at your right arm first.”

I did and boy was I surprised. I could see reddish pink lines criss crossing throughout the length of my arm, up to my hand. They seemed to have an odd pattern resembling fern leaf.

“This kind of mark is left after a lightning strike. Usually it fades within few days, but it seems the damage was rather deep in your case. It may not heal at all, or it will just take alittle longer. I’m not sure.”

I stared blankly at the mark in question. The pattern was kind of cool, but the skin itself looked horrible.

Here I thought that scars gotten in a magical world would look like the anime ones... I was so wrong.

The doctor took off his glasses and started cleaning them. “Well, this is it. Get out of my bed.”

He laughed. “Ah, joking again.” He put on his glasses and glanced at me. “Seriously though, we’re releasing you from the hospital today. In other words, we are getting you out of the bed.”

I gripped the sheets of the bed. I didn’t even notice the passage of days. When Lyra visited, I tried to get to know her better, like Gilda told me to. When she was away, I worked on my laptop or read my grimoire, sometimes both. I totally did not play any videogames instead of doing something productive.

The doctor looked surprised at this question. “Your clothes were cut up as it was hard to get them off you without injuring you further when you were admitted. I assumed you knew. Can’t you go without them?”

“Ah, no fur. So even your ‘private regions’ are not covered... Well, it sucks to be you.”

Bonds Beyond Species

A My Little Pony: FiM Fanfiction

As presented by Yasahiro

Disclaimer: Tha’ followin' be a non-profit, fan based story. Me Little Pony: Friendship be Magic be t' booty o' Hasbro, reinvented by Lauren Faust. Please s’port th' official release.

“That’s what ye dragged me, Capt’n Stump, out here fer’? A disclaimer? If th’s all a’hm here fer’, then yah can go strai’t t’ Tartarus! Ah’m leavin’!”

“Somepony catch that griffon!”

Fortunately, the doctor decided to let me borrow a blanket for a day, long enough to buy some clothes. Gilda lead the way to a local tailor, while I tried to preserve as much dignity as I could. Wearing a blanket like a toga would accomplish such a thing, if I was one of those buffed up macho-men.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t. Therefore I looked like a pale shivering boy. Especially considering the fact that it was cold outside.

She looked at me over her shoulder. “Not that far.” She tapped her chin with her talon, thinking about something. “Why do you keep squinting?”

I sighed. “The doctor told me that my vision got worse from that lightning strike. I can barely see stuff in the distance.”

Gilda thought for a moment and walked faster. She slowed down once she was at least five meters away from me.

“I must admit, you have a different figure than what I usually work with.” The griffon seamstress said to me.

Her name was Silver. She was working efficiently, taking my measurements. It didn’t make it any less awkward though, considering that I had no underwear. Fortunately, she didn’t pay any attention to my, ehm, equipment.

“So your race wears clothes all the time? Oh my, if only I had more customers like you. Griffons and ponies usually wear clothes only for important occasions, unless they are nobles who wear them all the time. Dragons wear nothing at all, and it’s rare to see any other race visit my small shop.”

I looked around the building in question. It was made of two parts, with the area I was in being located in the back one. The entire structure was wooden, with the floor being covered by carpet. I could see many mannequins resembling griffons with some unfinished clothes on them. I noticed at least one that resembled a pony. Cloths and materials were stacked in neat piles. Everything else seemed too blurry to really make out any of the details.

“Yes, I can see it...” She sighed. “I wish I could use magic. Not only can unicorns take several measurements at once, but they don’t have to get that close, which some griffons find uncomfortable too.”

She gave me back the blanket, to give me some measure of privacy until she finishes her work. “Could you perhaps make me some... underpants?”

She nodded, turning towards the sewing machines as she took hold of some sort of material.

It shouldn’t take long, but... Lyra already spent so much money on me. Fortunately, she can earn a living as a travelling musician, but It feels like I’m some kind of parasite.

I went in my mind through any skill I held and I realized something. Nothing I could do would earn me any money in this world. I could always try being a storyteller, though. There was also a new skill that I was improving on.

Runes. Maybe I can make something using them and sell such items when we are passing by towns. Yes, it may wo-

I was surprised as Silver threw me a pair of underwear. She had two more already finished and set them to the side. In fact, they looked more like shorter boxers made out of cotton or some similar material. She directed me to a nearby folding screen, finally allowing me to get some privacy.

You wouldn’t believe how good it feels to have fresh and new underpants after traveling for so long and then being barely clothed in public. It was like being born anew.

“Now that this is out of the way, we can focus on something more... stylish.” She grinned.

“I’m telling you, hay sandwiches would simply not be as delicious as they are made out to be if the hay wasn’t slightly fried. It’s all thanks to fryi- Hey, Kaisei. Swell hoodie!” Lyra said to me as she and Gilda entered the seamstress’s shop.

I nodded to her with a grin on my face. I indeed had amazing clothes. I had black cargos with deep pockets that I would find useful on the adventure, a deep green undershirt, and a silver long sleeved shirt. On top of all that, I had a black hoodie with green lining the edges, splitting at my upper torso into three thinner lines that went diagonally into my sleeves, and circling around each other as they went further towards the ends of the sleeves. A new pair of black fingerless gloves also found their way on me. In my opinion, I looked stunning.

Though it took a bit of convincing for the seamstress to get this, so my opinion may be wrong.

Also, the effect could be ruined by the fact that my hair was still a mess and I was reading a fashion magazine while waiting for my friends to come back. Still, it is the thought that counts... probably.

“Okay?” Lyra shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her eyes went towards Silver. “How much will that be?”

“I never had a model like him. It was quite a nice and rewarding experience.” I could swear the seamstress smirked as she took out a piece of paper and started writing down the total cost. I couldn’t see how much it was, but judging from the look on Lyra’s face, it was quite a lot. Her head turned towards Gilda, as if waiting to be rescued. I could understand that, seeing as the one doing all the haggling when I was at the hospital was Gilda, from what I have heard.

Gilda simply shrugged. “I don’t know anything about the prices of fabric.”

Lyra closed her eyes, as if too scared to look. Her magic opened her saddlebags, and out flew a bag of bits. She opened it and the required amount landed on Silver’s claws.

I felt guilty for making Lyra spend so much money, but I couldn’t go naked. Fortunately, Silver made me one more pair of pants and another shirt, so at least she wasn’t some sort of greedy lady... griffon.

I felt a tug on my hand and looked down to see Lyra’s magic pulling me out of the building.

“Come back soon!” Silver said to us in a happy voice. I lamely waved to her with my free hand.

Lyra’s eyes were slightly narrowed as she lead me outside. Her voice sounded frustrated. “Remember that time when I said we probably didn’t have enough bits to take another airship?”

Now it wasn’t the guilt affecting me as much as fear. Fear for my life. I believe a wise man once said. “Don’t piss off women. Seriously, don’t.”

Luckily, Gilda took this second to say something. “Look on the bright side. Now, instead of saving our money, we can spend it all on other stuff.”

Lyra directed her glare at her. I could observe as Gilda was starting to cower in fear under Lyra’s eyes. She stopped when Lyra hung her head down and sighed.

She started walking towards the shopping district. I released the breath I didn’t know I was holding. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Gilda doing the same.

It was my first time seeing the shopping district in Silvercrest. It was huge. Shops of every kind, selling basically everything. I believe I have seen a stand with fish with handles attached to them, swordfish. Someone went too literal there.

Nevertheless, it was amazing. The merchants that lived in Silvercrest had far better shops inside the buildings. My eyes were immediately drawn to an armory. I started walking in that direction before a tug on my hoodie stopped me.

“I am not going to let you go shopping alone. Gilda is going with you.” Lyra said, her magic holding me in place.

The aura that held me in place stayed there. Apparently she remembered it quite well. “Gilda is going with you.”

“Okay, I guess? Could you please let me go now?” Lyra sighed at this and her horn stopped glowing. I wasn’t comfortable when held by her telekinesis. Call me paranoid, but it just didn’t feel right.

I sighed. “I need to learn how to defend myself. I mean, I know the basics of the very few martial arts I tried at my home world and even managed to get several kenjutsu, sword fighting, lessons. I remember you having a sword when you were still with Stump’s crew, though.”

She shuddered at the mention of that pirate captain. “Yeah, I did... Wait, you want me to teach you how to fight?”

From the silence that followed my question, I could assume that she was thinking this through. I did take out Stump, after all. However, I did have a reason for fighting the way I did.

We were entering the shop at this point, so I answered with a nod. Behind the counter was a burly griffon. Behind him on various stands, sometimes mounted on walls, were many types of weapons. I was unable to name all of them. Hell, some even looked like they were made specially for griffons. However, I could see something interesting, the blade proudly on display.

I turned towards the shopkeeper and nodded. I pointed towards the blade that interested me.

“Ah, you’ve got a good eye. This one is inspired by the Neighpon culture. Single-edged blade measuring seventy centimeters. Slightly curved. Long handle to allow use of both arms to hold it, skin of a ray allowing to ensure it won’t slip out. A small circular crossguard with a slight indentation just before the hilt to ensure the opponent won’t cut its owner by sliding their own blade along the edge. I believe I can sell it for abou-”

Gilda pointed at the sword. “The blade. How was it made? In a sword, this is the most important part. We need to know how it was made.”

I could see the shopkeeper sweating bullets now. I had to admit, without Gilda he would’ve wrapped me around his talon. She managed to find something a hole in his description and used it to her advantage.

Gilda simply shrugged with a grin on her face. “Hey, I lived here, that helped.”

We were going to the closest barber shop. I was long overdue for a haircut and we all knew it. Nothing interesting could be seen on the stands. No, let me rephrase that. Nothing we needed could be seen on the stands on our way to the barber shop.

Nevertheless, I still scanned the wares with my eyes as we passed by. I stopped walking the moment I noticed a stand selling jewelry. The one selling it was not a griffon, but an earth pony, to my surprise. A travelling merchant, I guessed.

My eyes weren’t drawn to him, though. They rested on the rings that were being sold.

“I see you are looking at the finest jewelry you can find from here to Saddle Arabia. Let me, Topaz Shine, help you find what you’re looking for.”

According to the grimoire that I still haven’t finished studying because runes are even worse than kanji, cobalt was a great magical conductor. It couldn’t store much magic on its own, but that was not the reason I was looking for it. If runes were placed on it, the energy would be sent into them with barely any loss, if it was subjected to magic. A highly useful material for an amateur rune-scribe.

He blinked at my question. “A... particular choice of material. Though yes, I do have some. What type and size do you require.”

He smiled at me when I said this and nodded. “I see. I’m sure your marefr- Excuse me, friend would like this gift. Do you know her horn measurements?”

That, I knew an answer to. The way of getting such an answer was a bit awkward, though. It began with a question to Lyra whether the length of horns meant anything. It was quite awkward.

Luckily, the jeweler was an earth pony, and therefore, no awkwardness happened. I happily purchased what I wanted.

“Unless you find a great way to give it to Lyra, she is still going to kill you. She clearly did not expect you to buy jewelry.”

Our next stop, the barber shop, was quite uneventful. It seemed like one of the old fashioned ones on Earth. Except the fact that the barber had used an old fashioned straight-razor.

On the bright side, I was cleanly shaven, and they even took care of my unruly hair, as their way of apologizing. They did a fairly better job with it, too. It was neatly trimmed and I truly looked amazing now. In my completely unbiased opinion, of course.

Considering I would be on the move, I bought myself my own razor. Beards didn’t look for me. Now, I only had to learn how to not kill myself with it. Piece of cake.

Finally, we got to the last place we needed to visit. The Optometrist’s store. There was one problem about it, though.

Correction, I don’t like choosing new glasses with other people. Griffons included. In the end, I had my way. While the frame itself was thin and rectangular, rounding off when they reached my nose. The temple arms were as wide as the side of the frames, becoming thinner once they reached my ears.

I had to admit, clothes bought in a magical world felt... well, magical. Buying clothes in a store on Earth was an activity I disliked. Here, it felt far more important.

In the end, we stood at the gate leading out of Silvercrest. The ring was hidden in my pocket and Lyra trusted Gilda enough to keep me from spending too much that she didn’t check how many bits we had left.

I took a deep breath, the fresh air from the mountains filling my lungs. We were all ready for the adventure. I took the first step towards our destination.

Bonds Beyond Species

by Yasahiro

Episode Six: Gear Up