//------------------------------// // Take Me Out // Story: Are We Human? // by dramatic_spoon //------------------------------// Big Macintosh pushed another fallen tree branch out of their way as the two ponies rested. Both pony’s coats were covered in mud, rotting plant matter and other assorted muck and grime gained from their travels. “We’re been here for an entire day!” Lyra grumbled, “Are you sure this is the Everfree?” “Pretty sure.” “Only PRETTY SURE?!?” Lyra snarled back, “You were positive when we started, and now you’re only pretty sure?” “Lyra, yellin’ at me ain’t gonna get this solved any faster, and it sure as hell ain’t gonna make us find Rhapsody any quicker,” Big Macintosh responded, “Now eat somethin’ so we can start lookin’ again.” --- Rhapsody stared at everyone in wide-eyed surprise. The filly looked around before Rachael set her down on the floor, and gave her slight push towards the others. “Go on.” Instead of heading towards them, Rhapsody quickly spun around and ducked behind Rachael’s legs. “She’s shy,” Rachael informed the others. Sylvia frowned, “…How did you get a p-” Petey tossed his comic aside and sprinted across the room, stopping at the last minute to flop onto the floor and come face to face with Rhapsody. “HI PONY!” he grinned. Rhapsody screamed, startling everyone in the room before head butting him. Rachael quickly snapped up Rhapsody, holding the cowering filly against her chest as Brad got up to check on Petey. “You alright?” Brad asked “I’m fine,” Petey got up onto his knees, wiping the blood away from his mouth, “She knocked out two of my baby teeth.” “I’m going to get paper towels for it.” Brad left for another room. Sylvia went over to check on Rachael and Rhapsody. “That was pretty stupid of you to do,” Liliana grumbled. “She ok?” Sylvia asked, looking at Rhapsody. “I think so.” Rachael gently stroked Rhapsody’s mane, “It’s alright, nobody’s gonna hurt you…” “…Is that a horn?” Sylvia reached out to touch it. Rachael turned, moving the filly out of Sylvia’s reach and shook her head. “She doesn’t like it when people touch it.” “So it’s part of her?” “I think so.” “…Where did you get a pony anyway?” Hawk asked. Behind him, Brad helped Petey clean up. “I found her in the orchard.” “And your mom and dad are letting you keep her?” Sylvia followed up, surprised. “We took her to the vet an’ she said she’s fine.” “…I didn’t know they even had ponies that small,” Liliana added. “Me neither. She’s kinda shaky and nervous around people,” Rachael continued on, “I don’t think she’s use to people.” “Doesn’t help that Petey did that.” “I thought it would be funny.” The bruised and battered child slumped over onto the beanbag chair. “…You alright?” Rachael petted Rhapsody, “I’m gonna put you down now.” Rachael gently put the filly on the floor and backed away. Rhapsody froze up, staring at the others. “They’re nice, no one’s gonna hurt ya.” Rachael gently nudged her towards the others. Rhapsody just whimpered in response. “…Petey, you stay away from her for now,” Sylvia ordered. “I don’t want her to knock out more teeth.” Petey responded, returning to his comic books. Brad and Hawk quickly joined him, ignoring her. Sylvia reached over to her bag and set it on the table. She pulled out a lunch pail decorated with Littlest Petshop characters and flipped it open. Rummaging around inside, she pulled out a little plastic bag filled with carrot and celery sticks. “You brought those?” Hawk stuck out his tongue in disgust, “Yuck.” “Mom and Dad keep giving it to me. Usually I just feed it to Usagi, but we’re not in school so…” Sylvia stood up and went over to the filly. She sat down in front of Rhapsody and held out a carrot stick. “This is for you.” Rhapsody looked behind her at Rachael. “It’s alright, Sylvie ain’t gonna hurt ya.” Rhapsody cautiously moved towards Sylvia, her eyes darting between the carrot and the girl. After several more moments of nervous silence, Rhapsody bit down on the carrot. The filly continued to cautiously watch the girl as she chewed. After a few moments, the filly finished off the carrot stick. Sylvia quickly produced another carrot stick and it vanished just a quickly. “She likes apples better.” Rachael paused, “I’ll go get some.” The door slammed shut as she left, startling everyone in the clubhouse. Sylvia produced yet another carrot stick offering it to Rhapsody. As the filly chewed, she reached over and stroked her mane. Rhapsody flinched slightly, muscles tightening. “It’s alright,” Sylvia assured her, “I’m not going to hurt you, just relax.” She continued to stroke Rhapsody’s mane. “I really like your mane, it’s soft and silky.” Liliana walked over peering at the little pony. “…So how do you think she got it?” Liliana cautiously eyed her, “It’s got a horn and everything.” “I don’t know.” Sylvia responded, “I don’t think it maters, if her parents are letting her keep her, she should be safe.” “You really think she’s telling the truth about how it got here?” “It’s a girl pony,” Sylvia responded, offering Rhapsody a celery stick. “How can you tell?” “She doesn’t have the sheath thing like the other horses Mr. Smith has.” Sylvia responded, “So it’s most likely that it’s a girl horse.” “Can’t we just roll her over and look?” Liliana asked. “I don’t think she’d like it.” Sylvia continued to stroke Rhapsody’s mane, “Would you?” “…Can I pet her?” “I think so, just be gentle.” “I have Opal,” Liliana snorted, “She bites and scratches everything.” The blonde girl reached out and began to rub Rhapsody’s back. The filly tensed up slightly, but relaxed after it became apparent that neither of them would hurt her. Brad glanced over from his comics. “You can go pet the horse, but don’t get horse hair all over my comics,” Hawk grumbled, “besides, horses are for girls.” “You read the My Lovely Horse comics too.” Brad responded, standing up. “Shut up.” Brad walked over to the girls, stopping to watch the scene: Rhapsody rolled over onto her back allowing the two girls to scratch her belly. “You can scratch her chest, she might like that.” Sylvia informed him. Brad reached out and began to rub the little pony’s chest. Rhapsody looked up at the human boy, before laying back down, closing her eyes as he rubbed. “She’s soft.” “Yeah, she’s kinda fluffy. Like mom’s bathrobe.” Liliana continued to pet her. The door slammed open as Rachael returned, carrying half a dozen apples in her magic aura. “I’m back!” the farm girl paused at the scene in front of her, “…She likes belly rubs?” “Seems like it.” the group pulled their hands back, letting the filly flip back onto her hooves. Rachael’s aura separated, handing everyone in the room an apple. For Rhapsody, she placed it on the floor in front of the filly. Rather than taking a bite out of it, Rhapsody trotted off to a corner and curled up on a pillow. “She ain’t hungry?” Rachael looked at the others as the filly started to snore. “She ate all my carrots,” Sylvia shrugged as she took a bite out of her apple. --- The two ponies paused in the middle of a clearing, listening to their surroundings. “…You smell that?” Big Macintosh sniffed the air. “What?” “Smoke.” Mac motioned to their left, “Commin’ from this way.” “Are you sure it’s safe?” “Only one pony out here. We go this way, we’re sure t’ find Miss Zecora’s place. We find her place, we can get outta here and find Rhapsody.” --- “…So what’s her name?” Liliana looked at Rachael as she stroked the sleeping filly’s hair. “…Name?” Sylvia and Liliana stared at the other girl, “You didn’t name her?” “Well I didn’t know if I was gonna keep her or not.” Rachael shrugged, “Ma wasn’t sure.” “…so what are you gonna call her?” Liliana asked. “I was gonna say Wildfire. ‘Cause Pa likes that song.” “That song is about a girl dying while going out and looking for a horse in a blizzard.” Everyone paused at turned to look at Sylvia. The girl shrugged, “What?” “…’kay, not Wildfire.” “You should call her something badass like…like…” Hawk paused, “Like Thunderhooves or Magma Stampede.” “Those sound like boy names, not girl names.” “They’re Transformers.” Hawk grumbled, turning back to his comic. “What about…” Sylvia paused, scratching under her chin. “Imma call her Sparkler.” Rachael stated as she stroked the filly. “…Why Sparkler?” Liliana frowned. “ ‘Cause Sparkler is the best pony.” --- Big Macintosh and Lyra struggled through the mud. “Mac are you sure this is the right way?” “Pretty sure, can’t you smell the smoke?” “Mac, I’m up to my horn in mud, I can’t smell anything.” Lyra grumbled. “Just keep goin’, we’re almost out of it.” The two finally reached the end of the mud pit. Big Macintosh hoisted himself out with a loud sucking noise, and turned around, offering a hoof to Lyra. “Grab on.” --- “I can’t call her Rainbow Sprint, she doesn’t have any rainbows on her.” Rachael refused. “And Opal doesn’t have gems, but that didn’t stop Aunty Julie.” Hawk countered “Actually, Opal’s name is Opalescence.” “That’s not important.” Hawk responded. “What about Ribbon?” Liliana suggested. “Too girly.” “It’s a pony, it’s supposed to be girly.” Hawk grumbled. “What about Ember?” Petey suggested. Everyone paused, thinking it over. Rhapsody stretched out and yawned. “Well she woke up when ya called her that, so I guess that’ll work.” Rachael shrugged. --- Lyra and Big Macintosh hid in the bushes as they watched the scene in front of them. Two strange looking ape-like beings stood in front of Zecora’s hut talking. The younger of the two apes was a heavily pregnant redheaded female, leaning on her bicycle. The other was an older, dark skinned woman with long white hair and tattoos on her face and exposed arms. The pregnant woman was dressed in jeans, a loose fitting shirt and kept her hair tied back with a red ribbon. The other woman wore a similar set of clothing. The younger woman placed a basket filled with herbs, powders and assorted other remedies into the bicycle basket. “Thanks fer helpin’ me out, Miss Zuri.” The redhead beamed, “I know Rylance an’ everyone else is pretty worried, but I reckon you oughta know something that can help a girl out.” “It is always a pleasure when we both talk, but traveling by your self? I must balk,” the other woman, Zuri responded, “Even though you have done it for years, I must confess that it causes fears.” “Well shoot, You’re startin’ t’ sound like Rylance an’ Jackie.” The other woman pouted, “I can take care’a myself. Just cause I’m pregnant, it don’t mean nothin’.” “I mean no offense to you, Sarah my dear, but the Everfree is treacherous at this time of year. The rainy season has ended but things are not yet clear, for the mud is in high gear.” “I’ll be fine. I did fine gettin’ here all by myself,” Sarah huffed, “I better get goin’ before Rylie calls out search and rescue again.” She rolled her eyes, “Love’m to death, but he’s such a worrier.” “In that case, be on your way and do not overextend, you must keep your health as the child depends.” Sarah mounted the bicycle and waved goodbye as she began to pedal down a trail and vanished into the forest. Zuri watched as the young woman left before turning her attention back towards her surroundings. “I must say that it is rude to stare, why not come out where we may compare? I sense your fear and while I hope not to offend…” Zuri smiled, looking directly at the bush the two ponies huddled under. “Please come out so we may talk, my Equestrian friends.”