I look at the poor creature now laying unconscious in the Ponyville Hospital, who had severe injuries after what had transpired not more than a day ago. From what the doctors had said, it had internal bleeding, a collapsed lung, it's windpipe almost crushed, and it's vocal cords seemed to be badly bruised. So it may not be able to speak for awhile.
"Sister, I'm sorry I tried to get there as fast as I could." Luna said, and I could hear the concern and guilt she hid behind her mask.
"I know Lulu, and don't beat yourself up because of it. The doctors here did everything they could, and the doctors from Canterlot said he would make a full recovery." I said, giving my sister a gentle and understanding smile.
"He? How do you it's gender?" Luna asked, and I couldn't help but let out a slight giggle but quickly stopped myself.
"When they were exaiming him after they got him stable, they did a special examination. During this, they took note of his reproductive organs." I give her another smile, and she has a slight blush.
"R-right, I almost forgot that they can be quite thorough when doing examinations, especially when it comes to an undiscovered species." Luna said, and I only nodded my head.
"Well, he may not be a completely unknown species." I said, getting a curious look from my little sister. "Do you remember those old myths I used to tell you when we were little?"
"Yes, the ones with creatures who walked like Minotaur's, but where more related to monkey's rather than bull's." Luna answered, and her eyes widened slightly, though only enough where I could tell. "You mean he is one of these creatures?"
"I believe so, and before you say it can't be true, it's just a myth from olden times. You must remember, that every story has truth behind it. After all, the ponies of Equestria had thought Nightmare Moon was no more than an old mares tale for the past five hundred years, until one night she came back." I did hate to bring it up, but I knew it would get her to see the point.
"I see what you mean, but if he is one of these creatures, won't he be dangerous?" Luna asked, and I can tell she remembers the myths quite well.
"Maybe in those days, yes he may have been dangerous. But I believe that as time went on, as our species grew, so did his. That, and if I read the reports right, it had said he not only saved a mare from being crushed, he didn't even try to defend himself from getting mercilessly beaten." I felt another tug in my gut, after hearing what happened, it had nearly sent me into a righteous fury.
After all, for over a thousand years me and my sister have been trying to spread harmony and friendship. I had trained my guards, that unless they absolutely knew there was a threat, they would capture not harm. It sickened me to know that even after beating him to the ground, they continued their assault.
Though what also bothered me was that they had used their weapons in a heavily populated area, and only two of them had struck the creature. Those concerns were proven when she had heard of three ponies who had been struck with spears had been admitted to the hospital. Thankfully none of them in serious condition, but I would have to speak with Captain Shining Armor about it.
"So, we at least have an idea of what he is. The only questions are, why has he showed up after so long, and where is the rest of his kind?" I look over a Luna, who had directed the question at me.
"I believe his kind may have found another world to live on, as for why he came here, only he can answer that. Though it is quite exciting to make contact with the first human in thousands of years. I just wish it was under better circumstances." I say giving a sad sigh, and looked at this humans unconscious form.
"As do I, and I only wish I could have helped sooner. I had known he had been in Equestria three days ago. I could have warned him that this town has a tendency to overreact to the tiniest thing." Luna said, again letting her guilt come through.
"Luna, even with our abilities we could not have prevented them from doing what they did. I'm more surprised that they reacted so violently towards him, even when he had done nothing. I had expected better from my little ponies." I said, making me wonder why such a little town, even with a new princess, would go to this length.
"What will we do with him when he wakes up and recovers enough to be able to leave the hospital?" Luna asked.
"I'm sure you've already figured it out. We would need to find somepony who would be willing to take him in, until his injuries are healed and to make sure he doesn't try anything to himself, or to others out of revenge. That, and to let him have a place to stay until we can properly repay him for how he has been treated." I answer.
"I can understand him wanting to try to do something out of revenge, but why do you think he would do something to himself? And why not let him stay with us?" Luna asked.
"Because they had found a scar on his wrist that looked self inflicted, which leads me to believe he may suffer from depression and may have tried to take his own life at a point.As for why I decided not to let him stay with us, think about it Luna. If a small town like Ponyville reacted so horribly, think about what the high society of Canterlot might try to do. They might try to be civil about it, but I think they might try to demand we put him in a cage or something worse." I answer, looking at his left wrist and back to Luna.
"I understand, but his scar does make me wonder if he had been forced to make the self inflicted wound, as a form of either self exile, or banishment." Luna suggested, and I nodded my head.
"Maybe, but we won't know until he wakes up. Even then we will have limited ways of communication with him." I said.
"Why not use a telepathic spell? I had no trouble getting into his dreams." Luna said, making me raise an eyebrow.
"And you did that while not knowing how magic might affect him?" I ask, and I can see her grimace slightly.
"I-I'm sorry, I was not thinking when I did it." Luna replied, hanging her head slightly.
"It's fine Lulu, now we know we can at least communicate through that means without risk of his mind being shattered in the process." I said, knowing that dream walking was the most advanced kind of telepathy that only Luna and StarSwirl had managed to master.
"So, if not with us at the castle, then who? The citizens of Ponyville seem to still be afraid of him, as they were with me when I came back only this time they lashed out." Luna said, making me think for a moment.
"We could always ask Twilight, or one of her friends to take him in. With Twilight now having her own castle, she has plenty of room, and her friends might have a spare room where they live." I said, already figuring out what to say in order to get Twilight to agree.
"Um, excuse me Princesses?" Both me and Luna turn to see a doctor that we had brought from Canterlot standing in the door. "There's a young mare here, who says she would like to visit our patient. I told her that it would be up to you whether or not he should be allowed any visitors right now."
"Does she look like she might be a danger to him, have any weapon what so ever?" Luna asked.
"No, all she has is a bouquet of roses with a thank you card attached. From what we could tell, he only has minor allergies so the flowers won't cause much harm." Both me and Luna looked at each other, knowing what we each were thinking even without telepathy.
"Let her in, and she has our permission to visit him any time she wants." I said, giving the confused doctor a friendly smile.
"As you wish Princess," the doctor said before leaving.
"It looks like we might have somepony other than your old student who might be able to take him in. If she is willing of course, but speaking of Twilight, where is she?" Luna asked, looking at me with a little confusion in her eyes.
"I do hope so too, and as for Twilight she's in the Crystal Empire visiting her brother for the time being." I replied, and the door to the room opened again soon after revealing the mare with the roses. "Oh, hello dear, please do come in."
The mare was shocked for a moment, even though I knew she had been told we were here. Though she seemed to get over once she laid eyes on the unconscious human, which she walked over and placed the flowers next to him on the stand, which had a nice little vase to keep them in. I quickly scanned the flowers, and indeed there was a thank you card.
"So, what is your name?" I ask, gaining the mare's attention.
"Oh, um, I-I'm Roseluck, but everypony just calls me Rose for short Princesses," Rose quickly bowed to both of us.
"There is no need for formalities right now, you can just call me Celestia and I'm sure Luna wouldn't mind it if you addressed her by name as well." I turned my head, and Luna only gave a nod showing she wouldn't mind.
"T-thank you prin...I mean Celestia," Rose said, giving me a nervous smile.
"Please, do not be nervous. I assume you're the one this young man saved when the town was in a panic?" I asked, and I could already see her relax a little.
"Yeah, I am. That's why I brought him these flowers, of course you probably already knew that." Rose said, forming a slight blush.
"They are lovely, did you grow them yourself?" I raised an eyebrow as Luna asked that, and she gave me a look that told me she did in fact like the flowers.
"Um, yeah I did. They're from my own personal garden, me and my friends run the local flower shop. I never sell ones out of my personal garden though, and I pay extra attention to them." At this point, I couldn't help but give a genuine happy smile.
"So, as a thank you, you gave him the best ones I assume?" I ask.
"Yeah, it only seems fair. He did save me from being crushed." Rose replied. "Though I do wish I could do something else to help him, I mean I was there when he came into town and saw everything that happened. Then he pushed me out of the way of that broken cart."
"So, you were not afraid of him when he first arrived then?" Luna asked.
"Of course not, I mean he came into town already looking beat up, like he fell from a high cliff, tired, hungry, and thirsty. I took one look at him and knew he couldn't be dangerous." Rose said, then her eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry for my outburst."
"It's quite alright, though hearing you say that does bring comfort to me. Which leads me to this question, do you want to do something more to help him?" I ask, knowing the answer.
"Of course, it's only fair after what he did to help me and everything he's been through." I could see the look of determination in her eyes, saying she was telling the truth.
"Now, keep in mind that you could say no to this. But due to him being new to Equestria, as I'm sure you know, he won't have a home of his own. Me and my sister were discussing where he could take up residents temporarily until we either build a house for him, or he finds a house of his own. The reason why we would like to have him move in with somepony is simple, we need somepony to watch over him until he has recovered from his injuries." I said, looking at the mare.
"Yes, and because of how ponies have reacted here we wouldn't feel comfortable introducing him to the high society just yet." Luna added.
"So, you're asking me if he could move in until he heals?" I nod my head at the mare, who took a look at the human and I could tell she was debating on it. "Why am I thinking about this? Of course he can live with me until he recovers!"
"Are you sure? You know that taking this on, even for a short amount of time, will most likely make you a target for harassment?" I ask to make sure.
"Yeah, I mean like I said if there's anything I could do to help. But, could you um, tell me what exactly happened to him?" Rose asked, developing a little blush. "The doctors wouldn't tell me anything."
"Don't worry about that for right now." Luna replied, and I gave her a slight glare.
"I'm afraid he had some internal injuries that would have been severe if not treated right away, which includes internal bleeding, collapsed lung, nearly crushed wind pipe, bruised vocal cords, and a few broken ribs." I said, giving the mare a little smile. "But don't worry, we brought the best doctors from Canterlot to help, so he'll be fine."
"That's good, but did you say he has bruised vocal cords?" Rose asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, and I'm afraid that may have been the most permanent injury. The bruising will heal of course, but do to the damage the doctors think that there is a chance he won't be able to speak again." I answer.
"Oh, that's really is sad. I heard him speak, and I thought he had such a good voice." Rose said, giving a sad look at the human.
"Tell me, do you know what he is?" Luna asked, making the mare look at her in confusion and giving a shake of her head. "He is what we believe is apart of a mythical species called humans. What many scholars had thought, like I said, was a myth about nearly hairless monkey's who had developed into sentient. But they were believed to be dangerous back then, but like I said it's only a myth. Even if he is a human, we believe his kind may have grown even more."
"So, wait he's one of those things that Lyra studies?" Both me and Luna look at her in confusion, and a deeper blush formed on her. "Um, Lyra is a Unicorn who studies old myths about humans in her free time. She even likes to sit on a bench like them, or as close to them as a pony can, and she took interest in their hands."
"Make sense, even the doctors took interest in his hands. As close as they are to that of a Minotaur, they have an extra finger." I said, nodding my head. "So, tell me Rose, what do you think about him?"
"Oh, well I think he looks very interesting, that's for sure. And I think he seemed really nice from what I could see, I mean he didn't even try to attack anypony. In fact, from what I could see he did everything to avoid ponies. It did scare me when he was running towards me though, especially when I saw the two spears hit him and he kept running." Rose said, getting a shiver.
"Yes, but he was running off of pure adrenaline at that point, so he might not have felt the pain." Luna said. "Though, those guards who did that was dealt with accordingly. For not only trying to stun him like they were supposed to, and they even had a Unicorn with them to help with a stun spell, but for using unauthorized use of deadly force. Not only putting a creature who was not causing any harm or problems into the hospital, but for also putting three other ponies in here as well. Not to mention, even after managing to restrain him, they proceeded to beat him without mercy." Luna said, getting another glare from me as I took notice of the frightened state of the mare, who also had a few tears going down her cheek.
"Forgive my sister, she can be insensitive sometimes. It's mostly due to her still not completely being adjusted here yet. I know what you saw must have terrified you, and I really am sorry you had to witness it." I said, hanging my head.
"W-what did they get?" I raise my head, and I could see that she had a bit of anger in her eyes that replaced part of the fear.
"They received dishonorable discharges, and have been put in jail and are waiting for trial." Luna replied.
"I-if they don't get offered any deals, and are found guilty, what will their sentences be?" Rose asked.
"If no deal is presented to them, they will most likely get twenty years minimum for putting the lives of civilians in danger, and for harming and trying to kill a creature without proper reasoning. Yes, it was very possible that he could have been a threat, but as everypony can see he is no threat. For all we know, he could have came here in order to find a better life, and if so we will make sure he gets a better life." Luna said, and I gave her a smile knowing she would make sure of it.
"Um, sorry to interrupt but Princess Twilight has returned, and has been updated on what happened. She, and Spike will be here momentarily." A guard said, saluting. "And I would like to apologize for what my fellow guards have done."
"It's fine, and thank you. You are dismissed," I say, waving my hoof.
"Thank you Princess," at that the guard turned around and walked out.
"Well, looks like we'll have two more guest in a few minutes. Rose, would you mind staying here and telling Twilight your side of the story?" I ask.
"Of course," Rose answered, making me give another smile.