Wild Pony… No, that was just how her name translated in the local tongue. Ranma… Her name was Ranma. Or was it Ranko? No, Ranma was good enough. Or maybe just use the translation? After all, she had already sort of introduced herself by that version of her name already. What had she been thinking about anyway?

Wild Pony gradually became hazily aware of her own consciousness once again. Unfortunately, the happy-happy juice was still playing merry havoc with her mind, which wasn’t helping with whatever it was the Neko-Ken had done when it… No, stop, that way lies madness.

Okay, not so much the madness as the kitty, but still better to leave the Neko-Ken alone and hope that it’ll finally settle down and stop playing with random bits of whatever as if it where all yarn and string.

Human. Her memories told her that she had been human before she had been a pony, regardless of what her body was currently telling her. She had been male as well. Most of the time, anyway. Jusenkyo had changed that, giving him a part-time gender change any time he came into contact with cold water.

And now, between the Neko-Ken not going back to wherever it usually went when it was no longer needed, and the trippy medication, she was now apparently having difficulties keeping track of what she actually was, if not exactly who. After all, boy, girl, or pony, they were all Ranma in the end, just under different labels.

It was bad enough that her earlier drug induced ramblings probably had them thinking she was a little crazy. Kitty living in her head indeed…

Stop that! Imaginary kitty is not real! The Neko-Ken can’t be active while Ranma was Ranma! Otherwise she’d never be able to get away!

What. The. HELL? Since when was there a little filly in her head? At least the cat, as wrong as that was, made some sort of sense given the way the Neko-Ken had broken her mind…

Responding to protective instincts she was only vaguely aware that she even had, Ranma’s mental self-image shifted form and gender, towering over the other two mental aspects as they skidded to a halt before his rage. Without thought, Ranma picked up the filly in his arms and glared at the representation of the Neko-Ken.

The Neko-Ken, ever before assured of his dominance due to his role in defending the Other, stared back and wondered just when the balance of power had shifted. Then his baleful eyes narrowed and it leapt at the Other, claws wide. It was time to remind the Other why he needed a defender!

The core self fragmented slightly at the Neko-Ken‘s first strike, forming a triple overlapping self image of Ranma, Ranko, and Wild Pony who curled their body as best as they could around Little Filly, whose shrieks of terror became their own as the massive walls of The Pit shot up around them, and the eyes of hundreds of evil, nasty kitties appeared in the darkness of their despair…

The War for Dominance had only just begun, and the Neko-Ken fully intended to come out on top of the heap!

Fluttershy watched as Wild Pony started to fidget and whimper in her sleep, moving to stroking her mane and attempt to calm her down from what looked like the onset of a particularly nasty nightmare. The sturdy metal side-rails of the hospital bed audibly groaned, testimony to the strength the injured pony could bring to bear even in her sleep.

Fluttershy hesitated as the metal safety rails bent visibly, if ever so slightly, under the strain Wild Pony was exerting.

“No, Daddy! I don’ wanna go in The Pit again! The kitties are mean! It hurts Daddy! The biting, the scratching hurts! I wanna get out! Why did you throw me in The Pit, Daddy?”

That… That wasn’t the voice of the brave young mare who had collapsed in front of Fluttershy after driving the manticore away. That wasn’t even the rambling babbling voice of the disoriented filly who had met them in the hall.

“Daddy! Mommy! Save me! It hurts! They’re hurting me! Why won’t you save me, Daddy? Why do you keep throwing me into The Pit? Mommy! Mommy! Where are you! Don’t you love me? No… no, Mommy, I didn’t mean it! Not the sword, Mommy! MOMMY!”

This was the voice of a terrified little filly, barely more than a foal, scared, alone, and horrifically betrayed by those who should have protected her above all else!

Fluttershy ignored the frantic, violent thrashing as she cradled Wild Pony’s head in her forelegs and gently stroked her mane. She ignored the loud snapping of bolts and screeching metal as one of the safety rails tore partially loose, bending like taffy even as she gathered Wild Pony more fully into her embrace and began to rock gently back and forth, singing into the side of her tear streaked face. The beginnings of an aura seemed to spark between the two, and then expanded into a golden-pink corona outlining the pair.

Rarity, who had only just began to gather her magic to try to keep Fluttershy safe, and Rainbow Dash, who was half out of her own bed, watched, in shock, then awe, as the berserk bundle of bandages calmed down in Fluttershy’s embrace, sobbing in relief into the gentle Pegasus’s shoulder. The straps on her forelimbs finally snapped free, permitting the crying filly to hug her savior back.

The gold and pink corona continued to outline the two as the quiet sobs relaxed into gentle snores, and then the glow was gone as if it had never been.

It had been awe inspiring, terrifying, and yet strikingly poignant to witness, and by the time the orderlies arrived, Wild Pony was once again sleeping as peacefully as if it had never happened in the first place.

Rainbow Dash looked on incredulously as her shy, timid, foalhood friend continued to gently stroke the formerly mad mare in her forelimbs. “Uh… What the buck just happened?”

Ranma’s core selves relaxed. The Neko-Ken finally having retreated back to wherever it was currently hiding in their shattered psyche. The little filly pranced joyfully around the three overlapping perceptions of self that had tried their best to protect the innocence she represented.

The first battle in the War for Dominance was over as Ranma/Ranko/Wild Pony felt something profound. Something that brought unfettered Joy to Little Filly.

“That was a very brave, and yet incredibly dangerous thing you have done,” Doctor Stable praised and admonished Fluttershy at the same time. “It is very fortunate that you were able to calm her down, but at the same time, she could have easily hurt, or even killed you without even meaning to.”

“She needed me,” Fluttershy stated simply and quietly. “I could not do anything less.”

The doctor sighed as he shook his head. “As much as I want to disagree with you, I dare say that you could not have done otherwise. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to cut the feed of her pain medication immediately. This last reaction was far too extreme to be anything resembling safe. And we are going to have to strap her down more securely until the rest of the medication has burned out of her system.”

“She’ll be fine as long as I’m holding her,” Fluttershy stated in quiet confidence.

“Be that as it may, you can’t be expected to hold her for the entire time it will take for the pain killer to completely wear off.”

“Wild Pony does not need to be strapped down like some mad mare. All she needs is some simple love and kindness.”

“If I may point out exhibit A, the bed?” the flustered doctor argued, waving a hoof at the mangled safety rails and twisted bed frame.

“Which I am sure would not have happened if she had not been strapped to it in the first place.”

“But as she is, she’s a danger to-” the doctor sputtered to silence as Fluttershy simply gave him The Stare. “Um… ah… That is to say…”

“At some point in this mare’s past,” Fluttershy began in a quiet yet stern tone, “she was betrayed horrifically by the very ponies she should have been able to trust most of all. Something that might have turned anypony into a monster, and yet she has not become one herself. She needs to be treated with dignity, kindness, and respect, not tied down with straps and buckles!”

“Very well,” Doctor Stable gave in in a resigned tone. “I’ll have the orderlies bring in a new bed, but they won’t strap her down. I trust you’ll remain here to watch over her?”

And with that, Doctor Stable and the orderlies left the room, and Nurse Redheart checked Wild Pony’s bandages and I.V. tubes, removing the connecting pain killer feed in the process.

Applejack returned from checking in with her family. Big Mac had sent her back so she could be with Fluttershy and Rarity as they watched over Wild Pony, assuring her that he’d take care of her chores for the day, and maybe for tomorrow as well.

“Ah stopped by yer cottage an’ picked up Angle Bunny on mah was back t’ Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy, since y’ maht be stayin’ here an’ watchin’ over Wild Pony for the night ‘n’ all.”

“No, Fluttershy, Ah did no such thing. Ah keep telling’ y’ that mice indoors are pests to most folk. Yer the only pony I know who managed to convince any not to raid food stores and leave their droppin’s everywhere.”

“They do that?” Rainbow Dash asked, curiously. Living in a cloud as she did, the only household pests she had to deal with was the occasional bird trying to fly through it.

“Oh, yes! And they chew things constantly! I am ever so grateful to Opalescence for…” Rarity glanced at Fluttershy and quickly rephrased what she was about to say, “keeping them out of The Carousel Boutique for me, or my stock would run the risk of being ruined!”

“Ah’m sure they are,” Applejack reluctantly conceded. “Fer you, anyhow. Ah ain’t seen any mouse anywhere behave for anypony else, no matter how nice a pony they are. That knack y’ have with animals is beyond anythin’ Ah have ever seen, and as a farm pony, Ah’ve seen plenty of ponies with some talent fer handlin‘ animals. You plum blow ‘em all clear outta th’ water, Sugarcube. Whatever y’ got, it’s a raht true Gift.”

Fluttershy blushed, not unhappily, but a little embarrassed by the praise never the less.

Seeing her friend’s discomfort at being the center of attention, Applejack decided to change the topic. “Hay, Rainbow. What ‘r’ you in fer?”

Fortunately, this time the injured pony merely seemed to be shifting peacefully in her sleep rather than trying to get away from any sort of unfathomable terrors. Fluttershy started stroking Wild Pony’s crimson mane anyway. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had both gone over what they saw of the fight with the manticore with her and Rarity. The weather captain elaborating mainly on the epic violence of the no blows barred battle, while the farm pony had focused on… other bits.

“When I was stone, and all alone,
“She found me in the Everfree,
“She brought me home and talked to me,
“So I could help her dream…”

Wild Pony had been aware all this time. Aware of being found. Aware of being taken out of the Everfree Forest and set up in Fluttershy’s yard. Aware of all of those intimate conversations she had had when Fluttershy was merely pretending that she wasn’t actually a statue…

“Then hunger drove you from the woods,
“And then she caught your sight,
“Ain’t got no sword, ain’t got no knife,
“Don’t you start no fight…”

Aware, as Fluttershy had not been, of the impending danger of the manticore coming out of the forest. And willing to fight that manticore in order to defend her, despite being unarmed!

Fluttershy had no illusions about what would most likely would have happened if Wild Pony had not managed to drive off the manticore. As harsh as this winter had been, the only reason it would have left the forest would have been if the beast’s usual prey had become too scarce or too hard to find to support it.

She would not have been able to talk her way out of being eaten, just as she had been unable to convince the smaller predators to leave her chickens alone this winter. It would have been too hungry to listen to her.

And somehow, as impossible as it seemed, Wild Pony had broken free of her stone prison specifically to defend Fluttershy from the starving manticore.

Wild Pony who, if her earlier medication induced ramblings and nightmares were any indication, was deathly afraid of even the smallest of kitties, had fought the king of the big cats one on one, without any weapon at all, to defend her!

Fluttershy didn’t quite know what to think of it all, other than to marvel at the power of a friendship she had made with a mare whom she had unjustly assumed to have been a simple stone ornament…

Groaning slightly, Wild Pony woke up feeling dull, throbbing aches all over her body. She could tell from how much easier it was to think that at some point the doctors must have decided to stop feeding happy-juice into her system. Good, pretty soon she’d be able to concentrate on really speeding up her healing processes now.

Good Gods, what a nightmare though! She hadn’t experienced any so extreme since she was a little filly, right after the Neko… Ken…

Granted, that bit of advice never seemed to work ever since she and Pop settled down in Nerima. Instead, all the problems that had supposedly went away eventually caught up with them again. Pop’s more than her own, but all too many of his troubles ended up turning into hers somehow regardless. Who came up with that bit of wisdom anyway?

Shit-Daddy had. It was pretty much his standard operating procedure, interchangeable with his other two usual options of ‘don’t bother thinking a plan all the way through,’ and ‘pass the buck.’ None of which turned out to be long term solutions after they had settled down long enough for their troubles to find them again. And just how long had she been following that doctrine herself anyway? Besides the ‘pass the buck’ bit anyway, since Pops had never let her do that one…

Wait… Why was Pop a panda? His name was Dark Pony, wasn’t it? No… That was the translation again, it was actually Genma… and he was human, and only turned into a panda.

Well, except for the minor detail of her current situation, which pretty much meant that she was, in fact, a pony. And female, but she pretty sure she had already convinced herself that if she had to be a pony, she’d prefer to be a mare than risk being gelded by some idiot who wanted to tame her.

Felt… nice, actually. Like she was cared for. How long had it been? Sadly, she still had only the vaguest recollections of her life prior to the Neko-Ken. Had Mom ever been like that at all?

Her heart wanted the answer to be ‘yes, of course your mother cared for you, you silly filly,’ and part of her did still believe that it had to be true, even if she couldn‘t remember it. At least back then, before the stupid ‘Man among Men’ honor pledge Shit-Daddy had come up with as an excuse to separate them so that Mom would stop coddling her and interfering with her training.

Dammit, why was she having trouble remembering that her past self was male? And human at that? Why were her memories so screwed up that she kept inserting herself as a girl or a pony where a boy should be?

Oh, yeah, the Neko-Ken again. The stupid imaginary kitty in her head had played merry havoc with her head since refusing to go back into whatever dark recesses of her psyche it usually hid in when it wasn’t active. And what little she recalled of her most recent nightmare implied that it was now taking to actively attacking her itself for whatever reason. And had somehow caused her core self to shatter just a bit more.

Feeling a bit disgruntled, and perhaps becoming a little obstinate because of it, her core personas gathered themselves and tried to pull their self image into a more coherent whole. Wild Child still felt like she was overlapping herself… No no no! Disorderly Horse was a guy, not… wait, what?

No new names! Ranma was RANMA! Wild Pony was how her name translated here, and was how she had introduced herself to the locals, so it could stay. The kitty was Neko-Ken because is wasn’t Ranma. And…

Alright, Little Filly could keep her name too. Taking that away just felt cruel and evil…

Get a shot at a whole new life and a chance to earn a better afterlife, and now is when the mental breakdown begins?

Sitting up, Ranma casually set Little Mother… er… Fluttershy aside, stretched, and scratched the back of her head with a hoof as she blinked blearily and smacked her lips. “Bleh… thirsty,” she stated in a horse whisper.

Rainbow Dash watched from the other bed as Fluttershy quickly got off of the bed and poured a glass of ice water for the heavily bandaged Earth Pony from the pitcher on the nightstand next to her bed. “Here you go. Just sips now… you don’t want to make yourself sick…”

“I dunno… already being in a hospital would make it very convenient…” the bedridden pony quipped as she accepted the glass and raised it to her lips. Still, she did listen, and only took small sips for now.

“True, but don’t you think it would be defeating the purpose of a facility intended to help you get better?” Rarity chided as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash giggled.

“Oh, hey, you are here,” Wild turned her head to look at the white unicorn. “Argh… Please tell me I didn‘t actually start wandering about while singing earlier…”

“Sorry, but as much as I’d love to assuage your psyche, we did find you in the hall, singing.”

“Then the other stuff I remember probably happened as well… Dammit. Sorry about that,” the bedridden pony grumbled, then apologized.

“It’s alright,” Fluttershy murmured as she traced circles on the floor with a fore hoof. “I didn’t mind…”

“Oh, don‘t worry,” Rarity assured the recovering filly. “Nothing too terrible happened. You just got up and had a little sing while you were medicated.”

“I wasn’t here for that,” the pony in the other bed added. “About an hour and forever after I was rolled in here and A.J. got back, you had this really awesome nightmare where you were thrashing about so much you totally wrecked your hospital bed! You were crying and screaming and everything, and bending the safety rails like they were nothing! But good ol’ Fluttershy, she just trotted right up to you like a champ, gave you a hug and a lullaby, and you calmed down like nothing ever happened!”

About ten seconds later, Rainbow Dash’s smile faltered as she realized that everypony else in the room was staring at her, aghast. “Well, I thought it was awesome…” she meekly tried to defend her point of view even as she felt ashamed by her lack of tact.

“So…” a somewhat more then merely mortified Wild Pony began after several awkward minutes had passed, “did I happen to say anything… specific… while I was ‘screaming, crying’ and making origami out of my bed frame?”

The other ponies hesitated for a moment, then Applejack huffed and approached Wild Pony. “Ah shoot. Y’ may not want to hear some o’ this, but y’ asked plain an’ fair. ‘Sides, it wouldn’t be raht if’n we didn’t tell y’ what we overheard. Although for your sake, Ah pray t’ Celestia that none of it is true…”

“Yeah… Ah reckon y’ do at that,” the farm pony nodded, agreeing in principle but still uncomfortable with the subject matter. “Keep in mind that yer voice had gone all… tiny-lahk, lahk a little filly, barely older than a foal, so Ah reckon that whatever was knawin’ at yer dreams happened… or supposedly happened… way back when you were little…”

“Yes. Yes it did,” Wild Pony sighed. “Please continue. I need to know what you know.”

“Well… Y’ were cryin an’ hollerin’ about yer poppa tossin y’ into a pit full o’ cats. Over an’ over again. And then y’ were callin’ out fer yer momma, askin’ why she didn’t save you… why she didn’t… love… you. An’ then she apparently attacked you with a sword. Raht ‘bout then was when Fluttershy stepped in y’ settled down raht calm an’ peaceful-lahk.”

“Wild Pony, dear, Please tell us none of that was true,” Rarity pleaded. “The thought of anypony’s parents being that… cruel…”

Wild sighed as Little Mother… (Fluttershy, dammit! Little Mothers name is Fluttershy!)… sat on the bed next to her again, and began stroking her mane comfortingly.

“It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it,” Little (FLUTTERSHY!) assured the embarrassed pony in a quiet and calm tone. “We understand…”

“Look, Pops isn’t… evil or nothing. He’s just… really really short sighted sometimes, and doesn’t think things all the way through. Or read things all the way through either. And Mom didn’t know at the time, as it happened about a year or so after Pop took me away on a training trip for about ten years or so…”

“Martial Arts,” Wild answered in an off-hoofed manner, as if it were obvious, earning some raised eyebrows from the others. Especially Doctor Stable and Nurse Redheart, who had just come in, but had decided to wait quietly and listen for a bit. “Pop didn’t want Mom to coddle me, and apparently she was reluctant to let him take me away until he made the most stupid promise in the history of ever, and… well, that’s another long and awkward story I’d rather not get into that bit right now.”

“Point is, about a year or so into the training trip, Pop got his hooves on a training manual for an Ultimate Technique called the Neko-Ken.”

“The Neko-what, now?” Applejack tilted her head, not recognizing the foreign words. None of the others were much better off, from their expressions.

“You’d probably call it the Cat-Hoof. It’s the closest translation, anyway. The goal of the technique is to impart cat-like combat abilities, reflexes, and instincts through direct exposure to the source…” Wild Pony trailed off, actually beginning to remember the pit consciously for the first time in what felt like forever. She usually repressed the memory, and for very good reasons.

“That, doesn’t sound very plausible as a training method,” Doctor Stable pointed out dubiously. “It sounds incredibly dangerous and irresponsible, for one thing.”

“Yeah, that’s my Pop for you. To him, labeling a training technique as being forbidden just meant that it had to be exceptionally powerful and effective. Never mind any warnings, not that he read that far into the manual anyway...”

“Warnings?” Rarity prompted when it looked like Wild’s attention was drifting off again.

“Turns out the Neko-Ken was forbidden as a technique for more than just the usual reasons Ultimate Techniques ended up being banned. Most are just incredibly dangerous to learn, but you usually have to be at least an advanced student or even a master before you can even attempt to do so, meaning only the most capable Martial Artists ever get a chance to study them and decide if the risk is worth the reward. The Neko-Ken is not like that at all.”

“I thought so,” Doctor Stable agreed. “From what you said earlier, the student would have to be young enough to actually still be able to learn by… imprinting… Oh, sweet Celestia! Your father made you watch…”

“Not… watch…” Wild Pony interrupted in a strained voice, her body trembling like a leaf in the wind.

“There there…” Fluttershy assured Wild gently. “It’s all in the past. There aren’t any kitties here to hurt you.”

This seemed to work, as the heavily bandaged pony seemed to calm down. “Heh… Thanks.” Taking a deep breath, Wild steadied herself, her overlapping self-images drawing themselves into a more or less cohesive whole binding itself together with stubborn tenacity and obstinance. Deciding to assert her image as a tough pony, she sat on the edge of her bed and started unwinding the bandages on her torso. “Okay, enough of that. Time to see what the damage is…”

Ranma dropped the end of the bandage she had been unwinding from her torso and scooted back in her bed away from those EYES…

The protective EYES of a caring mother disciplining a disobedient filly that had been caught doing something recklessly dangerous.

Those horrible, terrifying, beautiful EYES that glared in concerned disapproval at her.

Ranma’s splintered core self huddled next to the Neko-Ken as the little filly pranced joyfully around the pair in the knowledge that Little Mommy was looking out for her.

The War for Dominance had reached a temporary ceasefire on account of Little Mommy…

Fluttershy gently took up the end of the bandage that Wild Pony had dropped and carefully continued unwinding it from the injured pony‘s torso. “There there, I’m sure you think you may be fine, but you were terribly injured when you defended me from that manticore. You have a lot of cuts and gashes that could get infected if they are improperly exposed before they are healed. Rarity, if you could get a replacement bandage roll from the cupboard?”

The next morning, the medical staff of Ponyville General Hospital were very much relieved to sign Wild Pony out under Fluttershy’s care. They were pretty sure that some time in a calm, peaceful, caring environment would do the filly a world of good.

And if that time just happened to be spent as far from the hospital as it was feasible to get while still technically remaining in Ponyville? Well, that was just a happy coincidence…

A Wild Pony in Equestria

by Tangent

The Pony Whisperer