Apple Bloom’s eyes fluttered open as she felt the rain pattering her face. Opening her eyes fully, the filly looked around without moving her head. It was still night and she was still in the Everfree Forest, but now a steady fall of rain had started up and was peppering the forest and there was a faint glow around her. Groaning in slight discomfort, the filly picked herself up and tried to rub the headache from her cranium. As she did, the faint glow brightened and her eyes met with a familiar sight.
The large deformed balloon creature was now glowing and looking at her, it cocked its head as she was getting up. It curled away again as the filly let loose a scream, wrapping its head and tentacles close to itself while it watched the pony in front of it scratch at the tree as if to climb it.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Apple Bloom repeated as she shook uncontrollably. She stuck a hoof out as the thing inched close. “No! Don’t cha come any closer, ya hear?! Ah know what the creatures of this forest do ta ponies! And my big sis told me that things with tentacles ain't ta be trusted! She never told me why though… B-But she told me she’d seen enough ta know they was bad!”
The creature ignored her pleas and brought its tentacles close to her. Apple Bloom tried swatting them away but it was no use. The balloon thing caressed the young filly with its cilia, trying to determine if she needed any more fixing.
Apple Bloom, despite herself, had closed her eyes and started giggling as she felt each little appendage look over her. It reminded the filly of the touch of a mother, caring and comfortable. Apple Bloom still tried to resist of course. “S-Stop it! Hehehe… Stop! Don’t… ahaha!”
The sensation of uncountable cilia on her instantly stopped, and the filly opened her eyes to see the thing floating off. Whatever it wanted with her, it seemed to have gotten it and was now going on to another task. It floated a few meters to where it had dropped some strange device (taken from the crash site) and started to tinker with the thing, its tentacles picking the device up and playing with it.
As Apple Bloom watched the balloon thing tinker, she finally noticed she was no longer near the crater she had come to explore. Now, she was in a small clearing. A small pond lay to her right and forest was all around her. And of course it was raining, that bit did nothing to dampen the dark mood. Apple Bloom wasn’t sure what the thing wanted from her. The filly became fearful as she thought of all the ways a flying tentacle balloon could use her for. Most likely it wanted to eat her, that’s what all monster want right?
Apple Bloom wasn’t going to wait to find out its intent was, the filly got up herself up and ready to make a dash for the tree line. Only four or five meters and she’d be able to lose it in the forest thicket. Right, her goes nothing she thought. One, two, three… GO!!!
Apple Bloom burst into a full run from the tree she was under. Rain poured onto her, making her realize just how hard it was actually raining. But none of that mattered; all that was important was the trees. Once she was in the trees, she would be free of that creature and go home and rest in her bed and forget any of this ever happened. The filly took one more look back to see if the balloon was chasing her. It wasn’t, and she soon learned that she had made a terrible mistake.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!”
The Huragok whipped its head up as the scream of the little hooved creature ripped through the wet night. Turning to the tree it had left her at, it noticed she was no longer there. Floating back to the tree, its little device in two tentacles, it gazed around for the little being it had repaired. Screaming, yelling, and crying were still shooting through the air, but the little thing was nowhere to be found.
The Huragok finally spied a hoof-print in the mud and decided on following that. Going straight from the hoof-print, the artificial life form was brought four point seven three eight nine three four one meters and was then met by the clearing’s tree line. Looking around, the Huragok saw the little being. She was stuck inside of a large thorn bush, cut up pretty badly and crying a lot. The Huragok put its little device down and started pushing the thorn bush aside. After all, technology is never beyond the repair of a Huragok, but organic life can reach a point of no return. With that logic, it was only prudent to help the organic life first.
Apple Bloom was not so enthusiastic about the balloon creature’s help. “N-No!” She said between tears, biting her lower lip as she felt another thorn dig into her and draw blood. “D-Don’t touch me!” The filly was afraid this creature was going to hurt her worse then the thorns.
Parting the thorn bush with four of its six tentacles, the Huragok grabbed Apple Bloom with its remaining two. Floating backwards, the Huragok picked up its device and turned around to float back to the tree. Placing the hurt being on the ground, she instantly crawled into a sobbing ball. She was so afraid that this was it; she was never going to get out of this.
The Huragok took its tentacle and placed the tip on the first cut it saw and began the process of repair. Its tiny cilia got to work, grabbing the ends of Apple Bloom’s torn skin at a microscopic level and pulling them together once more. The Huragok could see the filly flinch from the pain and the sensation of being touched. The gasbag mostly ignored her this time, but made a note to be gentler with the next cut. It didn’t want her to break from self-harm. With the skin pulled together again, it was a simple task to manipulate Apple Bloom’s skin cells to start multiplying and then sealing once more. Within the time span of maybe fifteen seconds, Apple Bloom’s cut was healed. The Huragok moved on to the next cut, and the next, and the one after that and soon Apple Bloom looked as good as ever, albeit a little dirty.
The filly had watched in amazement as the creature she had fear healed her without a second thought. Looking herself over and noting that she was completely healthy again, Apple Bloom got up and stretched. All good, she wasn’t paralyzed or mutated or any other terrible thing she could think of. It had really helped her, just like that. Looking to the creature again, she watched as it returned to work on its strange device.
“Ya… ya helped me.” She blurted out, unsure of what to really say. The balloon thing let out a whistle, though the filly wasn’t sure if it was in acknowledgment. Her previous beliefs proven wrong, the filly took up curiosity once more. Walking up to the creature, she looked at the device it was tinkering with. “What’cha working on?”
It was some sort of purplish boxy thing that had weird, colorful pieces of string hanging out of it. A light was flashing on the other side and one corner looked charred slightly. Apple Bloom was mesmerized by it, never seeing something so odd looking. The balloon creature didn’t pay her any mind as it fiddled with the box with its cilia. Apple Bloom took her hoof and got close to it, wanting very much to see what it did.
“Hey!”
Don’t touch that please. The Huragok had gently taken Apple Bloom’s hoof and guided it away from its project. After all, it couldn’t have any distractions and it certainly didn’t want the filly to touch the exposed wiring, which could cause some serious damage. She seemed displeased by the action, the Huragok couldn’t understand why. Seems like she’d want to not be near exposed wiring that could send a jolt through her body so strong her heart could stop. Apple Bloom huffed and sat on her haunches, peeved that it didn’t let her touch the box.
It was starting to rain harder. Apple Bloom’s fur, mane, and tail, were soaked and hanging downward and her bow had started to do much the same. The filly sneezed and knew that it was time to get home. It appeared to her now that the balloon creature wasn’t holding her in the clearing; it just wanted to make sure she was ok. So she was sure she could just leave. Thing was, she didn’t know if she wanted to leave with the thing or without it. It was a strange creature, and Apple Bloom had no idea what its intentions were. But then again, the gasbag had helped her, and Apples always repaid acts of kindness done upon them. Being a proud Apple as she was, it meant there was only on thing Apple Bloom could do. Not only that, but nopony would believe this story without some proof!
The filly tugged on one of the balloon’s tentacles. It twisted its head around to meet her gaze, its six black beady eyes focusing on her. Apple Bloom cleared her throat. “Excuse me, would ya like ta come with me and get a warm bed for the night? Ta-Ta sleep in, Ah mean.” The creature cocked its head to the right. Apple Bloom gulped. “Well, it’s just that Ah want to repay ya for helpin’ me and all. So… So Ah thought Ah’d give ya a place ta sleep for the night, till the rain stops. How… How ‘bout it?”
The Huragok turned from Apple Bloom to its box, the thing sparked a little. The Huragok knew it would never be able to finish repairing the box in this rain. A dry place would be a much better location for repairs. The gasbag looked at Apple Bloom and nodded, twisting its entire body around to face her.
The filly smiled and nodded as well. “Great! Come on then!” The filly began to trot to the tree line, the gasbag following slowly behind her. Apple Bloom smiled confidently at it. “Don’t worry, Ah know mah way around this forest. We’ll be home quicker than you can say Appleloosa!”
The Huragok tilted its head. It didn’t know what an Appleloosa was, but it knew it could never say it like she did. That in mind, this trip could take very long indeed. Regardless, the Huragok followed the filly into the tree line.
~~~~
The trip back to the dirt path and then back to Sweet Apple Acres took almost an hour thanks to the Huragok’s slow movement. The heavy rain that had poured in from the Everfree didn’t help one bit. But Apple Bloom was patient and happily led the thing along until the two of them were facing the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse.
During their trek back to the farm Apple Bloom had had a realization. Whatever was following her home, it was different. After rolling her eyes at herself for stating the obvious, the filly grasped the thought that her family might react very much the same way she did if they met the creature too soon. But unlike Apple Bloom, they could probably do some serious damage to the poor thing. Apple Bloom didn’t want her family hurting the balloon without cause, that just wouldn’t be right. Not only that, but deep down, the animalistic survival instinct in her still was unsure what to make of this thing and was unwilling to bring it close to the ones she loved.
One thought led to another and Apple Bloom was certain that showing her family the creature right now was a decidedly bad idea. She’d wait for tomorrow or the right opportunity in general to tell them about her little surprise.
Stepping up the gangplank-like stairs to her group’s meeting place, the filly waited for her new companion to reach the door. Clearing her throat with a cough, Apple Bloom smiled proudly. “Ah present ta you, the Cutie Mark Crusader’s Grand and Spectacular Headquarters!” She swung the door open and presented her clubhouse like a prize-winning steer. The creature seemed more than happy to float inside and look around.
Apple Bloom watched as the balloon thing looked around her clubhouse with an odd degree of fascination. It picked up anything it could and gazed at the pictures on the wall and even felt the rug stationed in the middle of the floor. The filly smiled to herself, he must be really impressed with it.
Can improve this tomorrow… needed materials must be found, thought the Huragok as he pawed around the clubhouse, the very thought of all the things he could improve making his body tingle slightly. This place was so very low tech; he wasn’t sure what he could improve upon without the necessary materials. Regardless, he’d still improve and repair to the best of his abilities, like any Huragok would.
Despite the pride at watching someone being so interested in her clubhouse, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but yawn heavily. It was super late and she had to get home quick if she wanted any chance of getting half decent shuteye. She stifled another yawn as she grasped the door handle. “Alrighty, looks like ya made yerself comfortable. Thanks again for helping me and all. Ah’ll come back tomorrow and check up on ya ok? See ya tomorrow!”
With that said, the filly took one last look at the strange creature and then shut the door. She ran down the stairs and burst out into a full run to Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse, a huge smile on her face. She knew Applejack was going to be furious with her for being home so late, but she couldn’t help but be excited. She had something nopony, not even her sister, had, and that was cause for any child to be giddy about.