//------------------------------// // Chapter III // Story: Having Hands Again // by Ceehoff //------------------------------// Chapter III "Ahhhh, dammit!" Connor hissed to himself. "Where the hell is Twilight?? She has to be here!" He swerved and squeezed by technicolored teenagers, who seemed oblivious to realize that he or she needed to be courteous enough to step out of his way for him to walk comfortably. However, he or she was too busy flapping gums with another student to care. Even though the school building was fairly medium in size, the hallway seemed to stretch out for miles. Everything in the hallways from the lockers to the floor, the ceiling, and the doors all looked the damn same, which made him wonder how these students seemed to not get lost in these endless chasms. There were hardly any hints of decoration on the doors or walls which made the thought even more baffling. When approaching a new hall, as he walked, he would lean, stretch, crouch, and careen to try to find his prize goose and end the chase. "Twilight??" he chirped as soon as his eyes picked up the sight of purple, straight hair. Thinking that she didn't hear him, he nudged and swerved through the congregation of students, nearing her to shout out to her again. Then, to his relief, she saw an empty pocket in the crowd just next to her. He quickened his pace, hoping that she wouldn't disappear into the crowd again. "Twilight! Twilight! Over here!" he grunted before his leg was released from the tight grip of the throng. "Twilight! It's me, Connor! I've been looking for y--." She turned around and unveiled a blue face with green, sleepy eyes which stood out from the unshaved stubbles on her face. Plus, he wasn't actually a "she", either. "-yyyyyyyyyou were saying something, er, Red Rocket?" he swerved to the side, passing by the teenager he mistook for the former pony princess. He vanished once more into the crowd, thinking he would spare himself the embarrassment of nearly conversing with him. After recollecting his confidence, he stood on his toes, looking over the head of the river of teenagers. In random areas, he'd see strands of purple hair, nearly the same color as Twilight's if his sense of detail served him right. However, each head of hair he spotted was not like Twilight's in the least. One's hair was feathered, another was short, another had the wrong streaks of color in it, and some were not saturated enough. A few minutes before the bell signaled the end of break, a large number of students walked back into his or her appropriate classroom, thinking it would be best to be there before it rang. However, the more daring and confident students remained in the hallways, thinking that his or her legs would carry him or her fast enough to make it to class in the nick of time. Connor sighed in relief, glad that he was finally able to stretch out his arms after having them pasted to his sides most of the time he was walking around campus. However, his relief was short-lived when he saw no hint of Twilight yet again. "Damn..." he hissed to himself. "How the hell am I going to find her?... No, wait..." He folded his arms and stroked his chin in thought. He said to himself before that these teenagers were the equivalent to the ponies he knew back in Ponyville. Everything from skin, hair, eye color, and voice matches. Plus, if his eyes served him right, he saw images on his or her clothes that resembled cutie marks. The human Bon Bon had an image of bonbons on her shoulder bag, and human Lrya had an image of a harp imprinted on her shirt. Could it be possible that Twilight's cutie mark would be imprinted on her clothes as well? He would have to do a rather risky search of looking intently at other people, finding images on his or her clothes. However, why would he need to search a guy's clothes? Twilight wasn't a male. However, on the other hand, that would make matters worse. Inspecting females closely for images of Twilight's cutie mark? He could be taken as a pervert or a creep. He sighed despondently. "This is gonna be tough..." he said to himself, starting down the hall. Then, another thought came to mind. Would Twilight be that much of a nerd to walk into a class she's never registered for? She'd probably be walking through the halls acting just as lost as he was. Plus, she wouldn't set aside her goal to retrieve her crown just to go to a random class. "Maybe this wouldn't be so tough after all." He grinned to himself. "I just need to keep an eye out for her and the surroundings. Nothing will get in my way n--!" Suddenly, some of the air in him that was reserved for talking was knocked out of him by a firm shoulder nudging roughly into his chest. He grunted as he felt himself pushed to one side. As he recollected his breath, he caught a whiff of perfume and shampoo from a head of red hair with yellow streaks that passed by him. "Tch. Out of my way, you klutz," a female voice scoffed. The voice sounded soothing, but had a deep intention of injecting venom into one's jugular vein. He watched the girl as she walked away with a strut that clearly showed off a caustic amount of pride and snobbishness like she was too good to be associated with anybody she considered lower than herself. His brows furrowed in disapproval. That was it? An insult? No apology? "Hey! Excuse you, princess!" he called from behind her. SKREEEK! The sole of her leather boot squeaked loudly, bouncing off the metal lockers as she suddenly froze in her place. Her arms that were swinging before as she walked suddenly froze in their place as well. If that wasn't the only thing that froze, the chatter in the hallway stopped the moment the remaining students in the hallway heard the girl's boot squeal on the floor. Looking past her, Connor noticed every eye turning toward them, widening in shock and disbelief. What irked him were the whispers of fear that soon followed. "Oh, no... Did he really just say that to her??" "Oh, man, he's gonna get torn uuuup!" "Did I just hear that correctly?" "Oh, this won't end well for him..." "Duck and cover..." Connor's expression softened. Was he missing something? Then, the girl whirled around, goring him with bright teal eyes that glared venomously at him. "Excuse me??" she growled. "Yeah?" He stood tall, not feeling like backing away from rude punks. "Are you talking to me?" she said, slowly turning her entire body around to face him. "Yeah, I'm talking to you," he shot back, ignoring the gasps that echoed in the halls. "Do you mind? It's rather rude to just nudge into someone when you could've easily swerved to miss. Maybe even apologize for running into him.... or her. Don't you think?" Then, the red and yellow haired girl, having turned all the way around, marched menacingly toward him, not looking away from his gaze until she was three inches away from having her nose touch his. Connor had responded by stepping one foot forward to greet her. They both were silent for about seven seconds before she grinned smugly and leaned back. "Well, well... You must be new here, too," she purred. "Welcome to Canterlot High. I'm not much of a tour guide, but as the most popular student here, I can say that you'll really like it here." "Yeah, I bet I would..." he responded, going with the flow just to entertain her. "However, a little word of advice," she said. "If you want to really enjoy being here and have the time of your life, you just have to follow this little, itty-bitty rule." She placed a finger underneath his chin, staring directly into his eyes. "And that little, itty-bitty rule is to stay out of my way. Or..." she purred. "I'll make you wish you've never come here. Capisce?" Then, with her finger already fixed under his chin, she flicked it briskly up, tossing his head back. "Maybe you should pass the message along to the new girl just so she could get a fair warning," she chuckled as she walked away. "Let's not keep in touch." He watched her walk away and turn around the corner as he itched underneath his chin from her touch. He noticed how some students walking her her swerved heavily away from her while some whirled around, avoiding her gaze. "Puh! Real charming..." he snarked before his expression brightened. "Wait... Did she say 'new girl'? That must mean...!" He paused to hear even more small chatter echoing throughout the halls. The remaining students who witnessed the encounter were staring at him as if he had just been caught stomping on a national flag or spitting on the pope's face. He couldn't make out what their lips were saying due their hands covering their mouths as they spoke to one another. His jaw clenched tighter. Did he just walk into something bad? Something really, really bad? It was obvious that these students were afraid of her. Surely, a great magnitude of brutality was needed to make all students of the school cower before her like they were standing before a bloodthirsty, fear-inducing tyrant. However, he wasn't going to be staying here for long. So why should he worry about this low-life? Well, he would stay here longer if he didn't help Twilight get the crown back in time. And how long was that? Thirty days... He shook his head furiously and he clenched his fist. (Boy, did it feel good to have hands again so he could do that.) NO! That's not going to happen! I'm not staying here long long enough to be harassed by some bitch. I'm going to find Twilight, help her get her crown, and get back home! He thought valiantly. Twilight has to be near! I can feel it! The students in the halls began to walk out of the halls as soon as the bell rang, which made Connor smile. Now, it'll be much easier to find Twilight, depending if she wasn't stupid enough to walk into a class she never signed up for. His search resumed, and just to be sure, he walked from door to door, peeking in through the small windows just in case she was in a classroom. Seconds later, he was zigzagging down the hall, peeking and peering, feeling not so lucky with each door he approached. He noticed he was about to approach the corner of the hall. As soon as he was finished checking the classrooms in the area he was in now, he would then immediately search that area as well. The sound of the bell startled him. That meant the time to get to class had been reached. "Oh, no! I'm late for class!" a voice exclaimed from around the corner. Connor screeched to a dead halt in between doors. Wait a minute... That voice. It sounded soft, gentle, and soothing. It sounded exactly like... Suddenly, something that whirled around from behind the corner collided into him. It hit him on the right side of his body, so it made him twist about ninety degrees as he fell, making him land directly on his shoulder. "Oof!" the voice grunted as it landed on the floor directly on top of him. Two seconds into his landing, sheets of paper slowly levitated down on his face. "Aaaaaaaaaagh..." his voice droned in pain. "Ow..." "OH! Oh, my goodness!" the voice gasped loudly. "I'm so sorry!" The next noise Connor heard was the sound of papers being hastily collected, crumpling inside a pair of grabby, desperate hands. As soon as the sheet of paper that was covering his face was removed, the light nearly burned his eyes out, making him squint tightly. His arm rose automatically to block most of it. Then, another shadow appeared in his sight. It resembled more of a head with long, wavy hair drooping down near his face as it looked over him. "I'm really, really sorry! I... I didn't look where I was going! I didn't mean to--! Oh, dear! Please don't be mad at me!" "Unnngh, wha...?" he groaned. He blinked until his eyes adjusted to the light, and he saw a girl with butter-yellow skin, green-cyan eyes, and long, flowing pink hair that was long enough to cover most of her back. She wore a white tank top with a green, pink-frilled skirt that had butterflies embroidered on it, and green boots with pink socks that had white speckled dots peeking out at the top. His eyes shot open wide as soon as he took it all in before a blush formed on his cheeks. She didn't give him that long of a look as she leaned back over to pick up the papers that spilled out from her backpack. There were also some small animals like chipmunks, birds, and a white rabbit scrambling about hap hazardously and in panic. "What the--?" he said as he slowly pushed himself up. "Oh! Please don't be scared, little ones!" she shushed them, making sure she kept her voice low due to classes starting. However, the animals didn't respond. They were still too startled to answer her. Realizing that it was hopeless to ask, the girl sighed, shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and straightened her back. Then, she started to vocalize a sweet tune as if she was singing a lullaby. Connor was helping with collecting her papers until her vocals had hit his ears, which made him freeze. Her voice... It sounded so beautiful. It was smooth and sweet as honey, and her vibrato was perfectly paced, urging her to rock back and forth in her place to make a rhythm for herself. On top of that, it was the kind of singing voice that belonged to none other than his darling Fluttershy back in Ponyville. It matched so perfectly with hers, that it was like they were the same. Wait... Could it be...? Then, to his surprise, the animals that were once frightened and hectic suddenly grew calm, standing directly in front of her. She smiled the moment she concluded her vocalizing, seeing all of them stand there. "There you go, my little friends," she cooed, petting each of them gently. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Mommy Fluttershy just made a mistake, that's all. Now, into the backpack you go." She placed her backpack onto the ground with the open end facing them, and they all scurried in, showing no hesitation or doubt in their loving caretaker. As soon as they were all inside, she lifted it up and gently slung it onto her shoulders. Connor stood, gawking at her as if he had seen ghost... or an angel, for that matter. How could he not have noticed it sooner? This girl was Fluttershy. This girl was the human equivalent of his sweet little pegasus back at home. And... she was beautiful! Just like he always thought she was. Then, noticing that he was staring at her, she immediately shrunk back down to being timid and shy. "I'm so sorry, mister. I didn't look where I was going, and... I... I..." she mumbled, pressing her index fingers together. "N... NO! Nonono," he argued, waving his hands in front of him. "It was my fault, I should've moved out of the way. Even though... it was kind of hard to see you around that corner." He chuckled before he saw that she wasn't amused. She was still was frowning, feeling ashamed for her clumsy display from earlier, which gored him in the heart to see her look so sad. "I couldn't help but notice you singing to your little animals, and I gotta say," he grinned in hopes of making her feel better. "You have the most beautiful voice I've ever heard in my life." "Y... You think so?" she asked, barely turning around to face him. "It's... It's nothing special." "Are you kidding? The most popular singer in the world would kill for a voice like that! And it was amazing how your animals responded to it. You have a real gift in handling animals like that." "Thank you..." she whispered, still not fully looking at him. He bit his lip, scratching the back of his scalp nervously. Even though he knew fully well who she was, she didn't seem to know him back. What good would it do to act like he knew her already? As much as it hurt him to admit it, he knew he had to introduce himself to her all over again. However, at the back of his mind, that was the fun part. "You seem interesting. What's your name?" he smiled, trying to act like he didn't know her. The girl's lips tightened before she looked behind her for an escape. But however, she didn't want to make a fool of herself again by being rude, escaping a conversation. "Um... I'm... I'm Flutternshuhn..." she mumbled. Heh... just like when we first met, he chuckled. "Fluttershy!" he smiled, pretending he heard her the first time. "Well, well! That's a very sweet-sounding name. A lovely name for a lovely girl as yourself." Hearing those words made her squeak before her cheeks turned red as roses. Her shoulder that was hiding part of her face heightened a bit to hide the blush. Just looking at her shy away like that made Connor smile. He was right before. She definitely was as adorable as the pegasus he loved. He held his arm out for a shake. "Well, anyway, I'm Con--AUGH!" he was cut off by a throbbing pain in his shoulder, making his other hand grab it. "Oh! Oh, my goodness! You're hurt!" The yellow-skinned girl instantly broke out of her timidness. "Wait right there!" She then, grabbed her backpack, unzipping the side pocket, and pulled out a small first-aid kit. Walking up to him, she gently lifted his hand from his shoulder before she unraveled the medical tape and put the end of it between her teeth. "Shtand shtill..." she instructed him past the tape in her teeth, rolling his sleeve up as well as his shirt. "Thith'll hurt jusht a shecond..." Connor felt a sharp pain course through his shoulder again as she pushed it to one direction to set it back directly over his joint. It made him yelp before the brushing of her hands as they applied the medical tape around his shoulder and down his sleeve. As she leaned over to wrap it around his chest, her scalp full of her pink hair was all he could see. A scent of flowers and strawberries filled his nostrils. It took her only two minutes before she had finally finished her work. "There you go," she smiled, leaning back to look at her work. "All better. You just need to keep it relaxed and not too active while it heals." He smiled as he rolled down his shirt and sleeve, seeing her sit there like an angel. "Thank you. Thank you very much, Fluttershy," he replied gratefully with a lot of smitten inside of him. "You're welcome, mister.... um... I... I'm sorry," she shriveled back to being timid once again. "I didn't even ask for your name..." "I'm Connor," yours truly said. "Connor Powell." "N... nice to meet you," she squeaked. The way he was looking at her, she felt it was overwhelming. She had other people ask for her name before, and they would ask her more than once to hear it. Either he had very good hearing or he must've met her before. However, with someone like him, she never recalled meeting anyone. Connor shook out of his trance. He felt like he was staring at her for too long. "Well, uh..." he said, getting up. "It was nice meeting you, Fluttershy. I don't want you to be even more late for your class." Then, she gasped, instantly getting up on her feet. "Omigoodness! I forgot! Th-thank you for reminding me! G-goodbye!" she said, grabbing her backpack and hopping away like a timid rabbit, leaving him behind in the once again silent hallway. Seeing her part from him made his heart falter. He wish he could've spent a little more time talking with her despite knowing so much about her pony counterpart. But, nonetheless, he had a job to do. He turned around and began to walk the path he was going before he got interrupted. Not that it was unnecessary. He turned the corner to see yet another empty hall, which made him snort in dismay. Still no Twilight. However, what he didn't know was Fluttershy leaning back around the corner to view him before she resumed her way to class. To be continued...