Where All Words are Written

by sky_petal_blank_flank

Chapter 2

I hovered nervously over the creature, studying it some more. I saw that its position had shifted a little since I left, and it was stirring a little. The glass that had been on its face appeared to belong to some glasses, which were crushed almost beyond recognition. His hands were clenched now, and its mouth screwed up. It seemed to be frowning. Gingerly, I sat on my haunches, put a hoof on what I thought was its shoulder, and shook a little. “Hello? Are you in there? Are you awake?”

It stirred a little more, its eyes starting to scrunch, and its brow furrowing, like it was trying to wake up. Shaking its shoulder again, I continued talking to it, encouraging it to wake up. It started to feel around it, seemingly taking in its surroundings before fully committing to consciousness. It made a strange, guttural noise in its throat, awkwardly brushed its fringe aside, and opened its eyes slowly. They were bright red, and unfocused. It blinked a few times, then looked around. When it spotted me, they went wide and I saw confusion enter them, before it cried out. The sound was animalistic, similar to its earlier screams. It shot up into a sitting position, gasping and scrunching up its eyes again, letting out a hiss through clenched teeth and clutching at its ribcage with its good arm, shoulders hunched. After a moment, it looked at me again, eyes brimming with tears, and started painfully gesturing with its hands.

At some point, I became dimly aware of something on my shoulder, shaking it roughly. A foot or something. Where am I? What the hell happened? Why am I in so much pain? For the moment, I couldn't remember what the hell had gotten me into this situation. Judging by how foggy my head was, I was probably concussed. A concussion? Now that's a bad sign if I ever encountered one. What the fuck have I been doing? Moving my fingers a little, I felt grass beneath them. Wriggling my torso revealed more grass. Where the fuck am I that has grass? The foot shook my shoulder again, a little gentler this time. I clumsily moved my fringe out of the way so I could see properly, and slowly, carefully, I opened my eyes. I was greeted by a blurry, half-lit world. The sky above my face was a mess of orange, pink, and blue, with gold clouds. It didn't seem to be very high up. That's weird. Is my depth perception off? I looked to either side, and saw grass and dirt right by my face, so my depth perception seemed to be fine, and my glasses, shattered beyond use. Awh, damn, my glasses! They're meant to be tougher than normal. Did someone stomp on them?

As I pondered this, I felt something brush against my bare shoulder. Hair. I glanced at it, and noted that it was quite long, and a weird shade of pink. I let my eyes follow the hair to its source, and got the shock of my life when I saw a canary yellow blur with huge blue-green eyes that looked like it might be a horse or a mutated deer standing over me. In my surprise, I let out a brief yell and sat up quickly, but immediately regretted it when my broken ribs twinged. I grabbed them with one arm, clenched my teeth and slowly let my breath out through them. When I had the pain under control, I held up both arms, one with significantly more difficulty and pain than the other, and signed, 'Who are you? Where am I? Why am I injured? What are you? Am I hallucinating? Was there LSD in my coffee?'

The horse-deer-thing started talking, shifting while it spoke, something on its back lifting. Squinting, I managed to get a good enough look at the things to see they were...wings. Wings? A pegasus? Am I dreaming again? Or still? I can't be, Nephilim aren't meant to dream. Shit, it's talking, I'd better head it off. 'I'm deaf, I can't hear you, stop talking. Just help me. I can't lip read without my glasses on, and they're broken. They're not the only broken things, though, so get me to a fucking hospital or something.

After awhile, though, it became clear that the thing didn't understand ASL, because it kept talking. I ran my hand through my hair, trying to think of what to do, but quickly became aware of something else coming towards me, when I felt the ground vibrate subtly. I looked up and saw a purple blur next to a black and white blur in the distance, both similar in shape to the thing near me, with something floating in front of them, contained in a pinkish purple glow. They were maybe three hundred yards away, so I could barely see them, but I thought the black and white blur vaguely resembled a zebra. What the shit? Now I know I'm hallucinating. They quickly got closer, and stopped just short of the yellow one, appearing to talk to it, while openly staring at me. I flipped them all off. I hated being stared at.

Zecora and I arrived in the clearing, and saw Fluttershy talking softly to something on the ground, in a sitting position, with its forelegs held close to its torso. It was long, and partially clothed, with a short green mane and pale, exposed skin. It looked like a cross between a minotaur and a nearly-hairless monkey that had gotten its paws on some hair dye. This must have been the creature Zecora mentioned. It turned its head as we approached, giving me a good look at its face, which was nothing like anything I'd seen. Excitement swelled up in me, until I looked at its forelegs. At that point, the excitement turned to revulsion and horror. I was glad I hadn't yet eaten breakfast. One of its forelegs had a piece of bone sticking out of it, and was bleeding heavily. Both hands were gesturing wildly, but the gestures seemed to have some purpose. It stopped not long after I spotted what it was doing, seeming to give up, and settled for watching Zecora and myself approach it, and trying to conceal its obvious pain. I observed its torso, which was lacerated with scratches and bite marks, and saw that one of its hind hooves was at a right angle to the rest of its leg. “I think I'm gonna be sick.” I muttered.
“Are you ok, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.
“I will be, just this thing's wounds are pretty...gruesome. What is it?”
“I don't know. I was woken up about an hour ago by it screaming in pain, and came out here to find a manticore, the quiet one that's always getting himself into trouble, trying to eat it. He looked like he was going to sting the poor thing, so I told him to get lost.”
“Has it talked yet?”
“No, it's been moving its, uhm, hands around a lot though. It doesn't seem to be able to see that well, though, its glasses are broken. I've been trying to keep it calm.”
“What's it doing now, do you know?” It had one of its hands raised near its face, with the middle finger up while the rest were clenched, and it was scowling at us.
“No, but it looks pretty annoyed.”
“Yeah, no kidding. Did it respond to you talking to it?”
“Kind of. It started moving its hands, like you saw. But it didn't seem to react to anything I said in particular. It looked a bit confused. Maybe it doesn't understand Equestrian?”
“It could be foreign, you're right. I'm gonna put the stretcher down, I want to take some quick notes.” Approaching the thing, I pulled out my notebook, ink, and quill, preparing to study. I didn't get very far though, before the thing made the finger-signal again and kicked me, causing some of the ink to splash over my hooves. “Ow! Ponyfeathers!” I glared at the thing, and saw it was laughing at me. Its laugh was strange, kind of rough, but recognisable nonetheless. It didn't laugh for long though, before it cried out in pain, clutching its ribs. It glowered at me, and shifted, trying to get comfortable.

After Zecora and I talked to Fluttershy for a little while longer, I levitated the stretcher again, trying to put it under the creature on the ground. It let out a yelp of surprise, and scrambled out of the way of the stretcher. Frowning, I tried again, and this time it got to its feet and tried to run away, managing a few steps before it fell to the ground with a gut-wrenching, gravelly scream. It fell to its knees and held itself up with its good arm, the other holding onto its ribs. I carefully approached it, and saw it was coughing and crying, gasping for breath, its eyes squeezed shut. It stayed like that for a few moments before it suddenly collapsed face down in the dirt. It was unconscious again. “Guess its body just couldn't handle the pain anymore. Poor thing. I feel sorry for you, creature, nopony, nothing, should have to bear this pain. Let's get you back to Fluttershy's cottage. I'll heal some of your wounds and do my best to reset your bones. I'll also see about fixing your glasses, so you can see. Doesn't seem like you can make much out.” I levitated the creature onto the stretcher as carefully as I could while inspecting the ruined glasses. I held one of the larger shards of glass up to my eye and winced. “If your prescription is this strong, it's a wonder you could see me clearly enough to deliver that kick. I'll fix these once we get back to the cottage. It's not far.” Levitating as much of the glass and ruined metal into my saddlebag as I could gather, I picked up the stretcher and made my way back to the cottage, making a mental note to observe this thing from a greater distance.

It was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day. Big Macintosh and I were heading to the market to try and sell some apples and apple-based goods, as we did every day. The sun was nearly risen, and it was already fairly warm. A lot of ponies were going be out and about, and that's what I was counting on. My first indication that anything was different was when I saw Twilight, Zecora, and Fluttershy walking in from the Everfree, with Twilight limping slightly and levitating a stretcher with something bizarre looking on it, apparently unconscious.
“Hey, Twilight! Fluttershy, Zecora!” I called out, stopping to wave a hoof at them.
“Hey, AJ, sorry, but we can't really stop. Fluttershy found this creature in the forest, and it's pretty badly hurt.” Twilight explained when she got close enough to me.
“I'd guess that's why you've come out of the Everfree, but why are you limping? And what is this thing?”
“I don't know what it is, but I'm limping because it kicked me. Apparently, it doesn't like being observed.”
I chuckled and tipped my hat slightly. “Yeah, I figured it'd happen eventually. Y'all have a good day, now. Keep me posted, I'm mighty curious about it.”

As they walked away and Big Mac and I resumed walking, he turned to me. “I've got a weird feeling about that thing. It doesn't feel right. I've never seen anything like it.”
“Neither have I, but I trust Twilight's judgment. And if that fails, I trust Zecora to help her.”
“And Fluttershy?”
“...I trust Fluttershy not to let her panic get in the way. Now, let's get going.”
Big Mac nodded. “Eeyup. Don't wanna lose our spot.”

When I woke up again, I was inside somewhere. The place reeked of animal fur. I tried to sit up, and realised my ribs were bound, and my arm was in a cast and sling. The gashes were gone, but I was covered in dried blood, sweat, and dirt, and I had glass in my hair. Gingerly, I used my good arm to hoist myself up. I was draped over a couch, with one of my calves strapped to a board and in a cast. Jesus. I really took a beating. I thought as I carefully swung my legs around. shifting so I was sitting on the tiny couch, with one leg extended onto the floor. I noted with mild annoyance that my cuts and scars were gone. I looked around to try and work out where I was. I still didn't have my glasses, but it looked like I was in a cottage of sorts.

I awkwardly reached out with my uninjured arm to undo the straps on the board so I could flex my knee, which was feeling stiff, and put my leg in a more comfortable position. It was a mission, but I managed to get one undone. I couldn't quite reach the other one though. Suddenly, the strap I was trying in vain to reach was enveloped in a pinkish-purple glow, and came undone on its own. The board slid away from my leg, which was caught in the glow and gently lowered to the ground. I looked up and saw the purple horse thing from earlier, the one I'd kicked, standing nearby. It had a horn, and wings. The horn was glowing the same shade as the board. I scowled at it. The light surrounding its horn went out, and it began trying to talk to me. I raised my arms to sign, but the tug of my sling on my neck reminded me that I only had one arm to work with. I couldn't sign. I felt muted. I settled for shaking my head, and pointing at my ear. The horse tilted its head and ruffled its wings, apparently confused. I groaned in frustration and put my head in my hand. After a few seconds, I felt something nudge my hand. I looked up and saw my glasses, somehow intact, floating in midair. Confused, I took them and put them on. They were literally as good as new, no scratches or fingerprints or loose nose grips. Finally, I could see. I looked over at the horse thing, which I could see clearly now. It seemed to be...smiling. Huh? Horses don't smile, do they? Fuck, Angel, you've fallen through your bed, levitated, been attacked by a giant cat, and seem to be in the company of talking horses with wings and horns, and you're more concerned with their facial expressions? Get it together. Seeing the thing again had triggered the temporarily-lost memory of what happened to me. My head didn't feel so foggy anymore, so I guess the concussion was gone. How long had I been out?

I took a moment to really look at my surroundings, and the horse. It seemed to be head and shoulders shorter than me, not counting the horn, though its wingspan was easily longer than I was tall. Its horn was about a foot long. Its short, sleek fur was a vivd purple, with a dark indigo mane streaked with pink and violet. Its eyes were huge, taking up about half its face, and the irises were a deep violet, similar to the streaks in its mane. All up, it was pretty weird looking. Its appearance was closer to that of a horse than a deer, until you reached the head. The skull shape was pretty deer-like, the snout wasn't long enough to resemble a horse. Who the fuck cares what it is? It could be a llama for all that matters. I have better things to concentrate on, like where I am! The place I was in was indeed a small cottage. The walls were wooden, so was the floor. There was a green rug on the floor, a couple couches and a chaise lounge. There was a staircase leading upwards out of sight. I spotted a fireplace, which made me smirk and shake my head. What? Who the hell has an open fireplace in an entirely wooden house? I sniffed the air again and detected pine. And near a forest, no less? Fuck, these things are stupid. I looked around for the animals I'd smelled when I first woke up, and saw a pissed-off looking white rabbit and a couple birds of prey. I looked back at the horse, recoiling a bit when I realised just how huge its eyes were. Bug-eyed horses were not my thing. It stood up and walked over to me, stopping just short of my reach. It levitated a quill and a notebook and some ink near its face. Again. It looked at me nervously, to see if I was going to kick it again. I wanted to, I really did, but it was too far away and getting off the couch was really difficult. Plus, I guess, it was entitled to its little scientific wet dream, given it played a part in saving me, whether I liked it not.

Sighing, I settled down on the couch and let it observe me, until I felt a disturbance in the air, like a door closing, and detected a small amount of steam. I looked up and saw the yellow pegasus carefully making its way down the stairs in a bathrobe, with a towel wrapped turban-style around its head. Wait, a bathrobe? The fuck? It was butt naked earlier, and how the fuck did it wrap that towel without hands? Ugh. Concussion or no, I'm getting a headache. It stopped when it saw me and flew closer to me, chattering excitedly, causing the towel to fall off and dripping water all over me. Whoa, personal space invasion. I shook my head again and held my hands up as best I could, trying to keep it away from me. It seemed to understand, because it backed off and landed a few feet away from me, hiding partially behind its mane. Its eyes still shone though and I could tell it wanted to ask me questions. Sorry, horse thing, but unless your friend over there can conjure an illusion of hands signing, or give you hands, you're out of luck.

After we got back from the forest, the creature was still unconscious. Zecora went home to have breakfast and get herself ready for the rest of the day, and Twilight assured me she'd be fine on her own, despite the fact that it had kicked her. “I learn from my mistakes. I'll keep my distance this time.”
“Do you...do you think it's evil?” I asked timidly.
“Evil? No. Bad tempered? Yeah.”
“Are you sure you'll be ok?”
“Fluttershy, I appreciate your concern, but I can handle myself. I'll call for you if I need help, ok?”
I had to concede that. I was grimy, too, I had dirt and leaves and glass and the thing's blood all through my fur and feathers, and desperately needed a shower. So, after feeding the animals, I went upstairs and let Twilight do her thing.
An hour later, I was finally satisfied that I was clean and glass-free. I hoped I wouldn't encounter any small shards when preening. I put on my bathrobe and wound a towel around my mane to keep it from dripping. Humming under my breath, I opened the door and trotted down the stairs.

Partway down the stairs, I felt eyes on me. I stopped and looked up. The creature was watching me, looking bewildered. Dropping the towel, I fluttered down the rest of the stairs and over to the creature. “Oh my goodness! You're awake! Are you ok? Does anything hurt? Do you have a name? What do your cutie marks mean? Why do you have two? What are you? What is that metal in your forehead? Does it hurt? How did-” I was cut off by the creature shaking its head, raising its arms, and putting both hands in front of it, making as if to push me away. I flittered down to the ground and backed off, giving it space. It let out a relieved sigh and looked more comfortable. I was about to ask it more questions when there was a knock at my door. I went to investigate, and was greeted by Pinkie Pie.
“Hey, Fluttershy, I came by to get-Whoa, what is that?”
“Pinkie, I don't-” I tried to say before she barged past me and bounced over to the creature sitting awkwardly on my couch, where it had begun to pick glass out of its hair.
“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?”
The creature ignored her, continuing to pick glass out of its hair with its one free hand, not even looking in her direction.
“Helloooo?”

Apparently satisfied with the amount of glass it had removed, the creature looked up and started. “Gah!” it cried out in a high, strangled, hoarse voice. It scrambled up onto the couch, and Pinkie followed it. It tried to hobble away from her, but she just followed it, until Twilight stepped in.
“Pinkie! Leave it alone! It seems to have a concept of personal space, and you're invading it.”
“Oopsie! Sorry!” Pinkie backed off. “But what is it? It didn't seem to notice me until it looked up.”
“We don't know what it is, and I saw that too. I need to run some tests on it, to see why it doesn't respond when somepony talks to it, but we think it just doesn't understand.”
“Could it be deaf?”
“Deaf?” Twilight echoed.
“Yeah. One of the new baking assistants at the bakery, Cookie Burst, is deaf. She can't speak either. She writes stuff down, or mimes. She said she knows sign language as well, but I haven't really had time to learn it properly.”
“...huh. Yeah, maybe. How do we go about testing it, though? I don't have any of the equipment here. Could that be why its voice is so weird? Furthermore, why didn't I think of that?”
“I'll just pop up behind it and whistle real loud or something. Oh, and, yeah, cause it's probably never really used it before, and can't hear itself to make its voice sound more normal.”
“Ok, but be careful. It's violent.”

The thing had hobbled its way over to my bookshelf and was examining it, looking disappointed. Pinkie Pie snuck up behind it, her hooves barely touching the floor, and stopped only a few hooves short of it, sitting on its shadow's neck. She whistled loudly and sharply, but got no response, until it turned around.