//------------------------------// // What Would You Do If You Found Another Human? // Story: The Human And The Well // by Zandar13 //------------------------------// Well, at to be expected of Ponyville, I bared witness to yet again some more interesting and bizarre ordeals. Firstly, on the third day after, I was in the middle of reading Dragon Heart, the book I borrowed from Raven, when I was suddenly ushered out of the castle by Rarity and the others along with Twilight and Spike for some reason. I was told not to come back till later tonight since they were doing something special for Twilight. So with that in mind, I took Maelstrom and Artemis with me and did a little exploring. We visited Sugarcube corner last for a snack before walking out of town to find a nice spot to sit and read. I didn't want to seem anti-social but with everything that has happened, I had taken a liking to solitude every now and then. Helps me clear my head when I am not being surrounded by the buzzing ponies of Ponyville. I found a nice, large tree that provided lots of shade that overlooked a large pond that was big enough to swim in. Though Maelstrom gave me a heart attack when she dive bombed into the lake when we first arrived. I dived in after her but the moment I did, she came back up for air and began to swim normally. Gah, she is going to kill me one of these days. Thankfully I had dropped my bag before jumping in, keeping the book and other stuff dry. Luckily, by using Dragon Breath on myself, I dried out quickly and was back to normal in no time. Artemis also seemed to be a natural swimmer as well, since she charged into the pond afterward to play with Maelstrom. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her do this, but the second she began to swim I calmed down and simply sat down against the bark of the tree. Keeping a watchful eye on the two of them, I dug into my bag and brought out both Dragon Heart and the silver book, part two of Star Swirls series. Though I told Twilight I would wait a bit before reading it, I felt a strange urge to continue reading the series. But I shook it off and returned the silver book back into my bag. Finding my bookmarked spot in Dragon Heart, I began to read some more, though I always kept my eyes trained on the other two. Just in case. ---------- 5 Hours Later ---------- The sword that the now traitorous Sir Shine once wielded, was now imbedded in Shirahydes scales that once protected her heart. I felt nothing but hideous rage blossom from my chest as I swung my own sword indiscriminately towards my former friend and mentor, lobbing off his head in one fell swoop. Taking no time to mourn for his loss, I rushed over to her now bleeding sides. “Shirahyde! Shirahyde!” I called out to the massive female dragon. “You know that my hearing is better than yours, no need for shouting” she replied in her usual kind and caring voice. “Hold on then, let me remove this sword so you can heal up” I said before lifting my hooves to try and remove the foul piece of metal that had invaded her pristine scales. “No, leave it be” she instructed. “No! I cannot!” I shouted in defiance. But she calmly shook her head before resting it on the ground next to me. “You must, for if you do I will only die faster. It has struck me in a fashion in which I cannot recover from, a one in a million chance for a knight of his caliber” she commented. “No! No! This cannot be!” I shouted again in defiance at this new truth. “Shush now, you know how I feel about rowdy little things” she gently reprimanded me. “But I cannot just sit back and watch you die! Not after….” the words slowly died in my mouth. “Not after what, my little knight?” she softly said as she brought up her clawed hand to my face. “Not after falling in love with you” I finally admitted against all common sense. But at this she simply offered me a gentle laugh as she stroked my now damp fur. “Dry those tears, you have much to live for. Do not weep for one as old as I, for I have lived long enough to leave happily. Though….” she paused for a moment before smiling down at me. “Though I now wish I lived just a little bit longer, so I could properly express my new found love for you” I simply stared back at her with watery eyes while I stroked her claw with my bare hoof. “But alas, it is not meant to be. After all, you were sent to kill me after all. So the deed is done, yet the sin lies with another who has already paid the price. So be happy and live a long, happy life. My valiant knight” she told me with her striking voice. I had to stop there and rub my eyes to try and not stain the pages with tears of my own. GAH! I love this book and hate it at the same time. Darn you Raven for letting me have this book! Darn you! Though after thinking that I could not help but chuckle at myself while I rubbed the half-formed tears away. I must of looked like a silly mess, sitting here laughing while trying not to cry over a book while my daughter and animal companion sleep at my feet. Those two had tired themselves out almost to the point of exhaustion about an hour ago, so I gave them both their snacks before they nodded off to sleep. So I placed my bookmark where I left off and closed the book, before allowing myself a few calming breaths to relax myself while I watched the sun start to fall in the sky. I had actually started to feel at ease with myself and my own sins of the past just by sitting here these past few hours and it was a nice feeling. “Hello there!” I heard a mare call out. Jerking up into a sitting position I gasped out for air as I turned around to find the source. Looking left, I saw a pair of mares strolling up to me at a leisurely pace with smiles on their faces. “Oh dear! Sorry for startling you!” the other mare said. Now that I calmed back down from the sudden surprise, I saw that the first one was a mint-green colored unicorn mare with a white streak in her mane while the other one was more cream colored with hair similar to Twilights but more…. rounded? Just another weird thing the inhabitants of this world seem to have is that manes seem to ignore normal laws and rules. But oh well. “Hello there, I don't believe we have met yet. Have we?” I asked them when they got close enough. “Not really, no. But here we are now! My name is Lyra Heartstrings! And this is my bestest friend in the whole world! Bon Bon!” Lyra introduced the two of them while Bon Bon bowed her head very politely. “Nice to meet the two of you, now what can Ponyvilles resident human do for you today?” I asked with a smile. “Well I have been wanting to meet you for a while now but everytime I saw you, you were always busy or something strange was happening to you. Kinda what usually happens whenever you hang around Princess Twilight and her friends, it seems like” Lyra said. I might of objected to that but I have to admit that it did appear to be true in my case. “Fair enough. Well glad we were finally able to meet then” I said back and held out my hand for her. Lyra instantly shook it with vigor for some reason while Bon Bon gave me a simply shake. I was about to ask something else when I noticed Lyra staring at me intensely. “I know this may sound weird but could you stand up for me?” Lyra asked while staring wide eyed at me. I raised my eyebrow in confusion but I saw no reason why not, so I complied and stood up and straight, now forced to look down at them. But Lyra was staring at me with awe now while Bon Bon seemed surprised at my six foot five stature. I kinda got used to the girls but now with the two of them gawking up at me, I felt a bit out of place, like when I was back in Ponyville on day one. “Wow, you really are awesome looking” Lyra absentmindedly said. At this, Bon Bon gave a light chuckle which snapped Lyra out of her awestruck trance. “Heh heh, sorry about that. But wow, humans sure are amazing looking! Do you all look alike?” Lyra asked. Wow, I think that was also a day one question that Twilight had asked me during our picnic. Man, thinking back to that day. In comparison I have really changed. Wait, how long as it been now? Lets see, the first days, then coma, then empire, coma again, then canterlot, then Ponyville, and now. Hmmmm, I think it has been about a full month and some days I think. I should really buy a calender. WAIT! A month?! “Sorry Lyra, my mind got side-tracked but before I answer your question I need to ask. When is Heart and Hooves day?” I asked her. “Heart and Hooves day? You know about that?! Cool! Well, that my friend is in exactly two weeks from now!” Lyra boasted while she answered. Two weeks? Wow! That came up fast, then again I had not really thought about it since day one as well. I shook my head before sitting back down in my spot “Thank you Lyra, and sorry again for that change of pace. Now back to your question. As for my appearance, no. Not all humans look like me, in fact I was a bit on the rare side. Well, even before my drastic change of looks here on Equus” I started to explain. “Rare?” Bon Bon interjected. “Yes, in terms of my height. Before coming here, I was normally around six foot three inches tall and for humans that is not normal. And for me and the area I lived in, I was a giant among men since the people who lived there were all around five foot eight or shorter. Now thanks to my magic, I am now six foot five!” I explained further. “Wow! But wait, before coming here? What else has changed?” Lyra asked. “Well, for one thing, I did not have this long hair. I always kept it short and trimmed but now my magic keeps my hair long. I did try to cut it a bit shorter but my hair growth rate has exploded and now my hair continuously grows at a very fast rate. But only until it gets to this length, then it slows down to normal. So now I just keep it like this” “Also, my eyes changed. They were normally just one color, an icy blue, then my new magic made them how they look now” I showed them by leaning forward and pointed at them with my fingers. “Along with that, my body has become a bit muscular and toned. So that is a plus to my self esteem. But unfortunately, I also now bare some battle scars as well” I concluded with a sigh as I replayed that awful scene in my head. “Are you alright?” Bon Bon asked when she saw me spacing out. “Hmmm? Oh yes. Sorry. I was just going over how much I really have changed in only a months time. At this rate, a year from now, if I look in a mirror I probably would not recognize the simply, lonely human that I once was” I explained. “Well don't sweat it! You look amazing and I bet everyone back home for you would be amazed to see you!” Lyra honestly said. Yeah, they certainly would. But not for the reason your thinking of Lyra. “Thanks Lyra, glad you think so” I told her. “So, I have to ask. What would you do if you found another human?” Lyra asked me. “Well, for starters, that would not happen. Most likely” I said. Though to be honest, it could be possible since whatever magic that brought me here could bring someone else. Or maybe it is just stuck in that well and now it is closed up. “But lets say that it did happen! What would you do?! Oh! What if it was a pretty girl!” Lyra asked excitingly. I chuckled a bit at her innocence in the question. “Well, if another human from my world showed up against all odds, I would probably make sure they were all right and make sure they don't freak out like how I did. I dunno, I guess I would try to be an ambassador or some sort of guardian? And! I already have a marefriend, little missy” I informed her with a bit of a smirk. She took it in stride and softly bonked herself in the head “Whoops, sorry. Forgot about that. But really? An ambassador?” she asked in return. “Well, yeah. I suppose. Since I personally know all four Princesses of Equestria, I would do my best to make sure whoever they are got properly settled in and taken care off. It certainly would of helped me out a bit instead of stumbling through, heck I still am but at least I have a semi-hold on things. As crazy as it might be in my case” I further explained. “That sounds very noble” Bon Bon briefly said with a kind smile. I nodded at her “Yeah, yeah it does” I said. “Cool! So, what are other humans like?” Lyra asked. Sigh. How to describe humanity to peaceful, colorful ponies? This might take a while. ---------- 1 Hour Later ---------- “Wow, Bon Bon. If we ever visit Earth, make sure we never experience being a politician or anything to do with the law” Lyra told her friend. I let out a good, hearty laugh at that. “Yeah, so that is a very basic human description. I could go further but then it would become very depressing, I think” I told them. “But still! Humans are amazing! To be able to think of all that cool stuff! I would love to have a computer and phones and… and...” Lyra seemed to be overheating a bit as steam seemed to be coming out of her ears a bit. “Calm down Lyra, your boiling over!” Bon Bon said to her heated up friend. “And besides, if you had one of those phones, you would be up all night…. How did you say it? Texting?” That mental image of a pony sitting in their room, with a blanket wrapped around them as they stared into a bright screen, texting away popped into my mind. And my laughter just erupted uncontrollably. “What?! What!” Lyra asked me while I laughed. “Sor-sor-sorry! I just…. I just….” I tried to say but my laughing interrupted my speech. It took me a minute or so for my laughter to die down and I had to wipe the tears from my eyes since I was laughing so hard. “Better?” Lyra asked with a pouty lip. “Yes. Much better. Sorry about that, but when Bon Bon said that I imagined you acting like a teenage girl, texting away at midnight” I explained. I saw Bon Bon ponder this thought and that even brought her to a pleasant chuckle, which made Lyra pout even more. “Yeah, well, I probably couldn't text anyway since I don't have fingers and thumbs like humans do” Lyra said as she lifted up her hoof and examined it. “That is not the only thing they can do!” I said with a grin. “Oh? What else do you do with them?” Bon Bon inquired. With that I quickly lifted Lyra over next to me and swiftly brought my hand up to her ear and began to scratch away. Not even two seconds passed before she went limp as a noodle and she began to mumble something incoherent. The mint unicorn then stretched out her hoof in vain to Bon Bon and with a silly smile on her face she said “Bon Bon…. Try….. this” Said mare strode over curiously to my free hand and sat down, just before I saw her right ear twitch a bit. Guessing that was my que, I lifted my right hand and began to scratch her ear as well. She tensed up a bit before she slumped against my arm a bit and she hummed a little under her breath. “Thish is sooo good” Lyra mumbled out while her back leg kicked a bit. Kinda reminded me of Rainbow Dash when I did this to her. “TWO MORE FOR THE COLLECTION!” I barely heard Pinkie Pie miraculously shout from Ponyville. I could only shake my head at the ridiculousness of Pinkie Pie and her strange ways. I would not doubt it if we found out that Discord gave her a bit of Chaos magic and that is how she does the things she does. I have such a crazy little sister. “What was that all about?” Bon Bon said before settling back into her now cozy spot. “Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie” was all I said, which resulted in the two of them agreeing. Guess they are all used to it by now. But after that, we all sat in silence as the two mares enjoyed my ear scratches while my two little girls were still dead asleep at my feet. We sat like this for a while before Lyra started to stir. “Hey, Adrian?” she asked. “Yes?” I replied. “How did you get here? To Equestria?” she asked. “Well, I am not entirely sure myself. Though I am lucky to have found it or else I probably would of died otherwise. You see, back on Earth, I found this old well and saw something shiny near the bottom. So I leaned closer and accidentally fell through the weak wall, eventually falling into the water and since it was Winter time, it was ice cold. So my breath left me and my limbs froze, so I fell into blackness and passed out. Thinking I was going to die. Next thing I know, I am lying on my back in a field not far from here actually” I explained. “Really? Can you show us?” Lyra asked again. “Yeah, I suppose. I mean, it might be a little bit. You sure you want to take so long just to see something like that?” I asked in return. “I don't mind! If it means learning more about my new human friend, then I am all for it!” Lyra said as she bounced up and away. Bon Bon poked me so she could beckon me closer to whisper, so I leaned down and she said “Lyra has been waiting to meet you ever since she saw you. Sorry if she seems a bit, over excited. But that is just how she is sometimes” she gave me a kind smile when she was done. I chuckled a bit before I gave Bon Bon one final ear scratch. I then stood up and began to stretch out my limbs, which somehow magically woke up my two sleeping girls. Which worked out for me, so with that I packed away Dragon Heart and lead my new group towards the spot where I was found. Or at least as best as I could, since I did not memorize it or anything. But I did my best to re-trace my steps from where we were, though I found it surprisingly easy since we were actually pretty close to that path. Lucky me! Once I double checked the buildings and the path, I led them out to about where I was found. “Hmmm, I think it was right around here” I said to them as I looked around. It was hard to tell since it was all grassy plains. After another minute or two of searching I stopped looking, since it would be pointless to try and pinpoint the exact location. “Well, I don't know where it is exactly but…. Ta da! This is around the area where I was found!” I tried my best to be excited about it. “Oh wow, at least you woke up in a pretty place like this!” Lyra announced as she looked around the area. “True, very true” I admitted. “I have a question though, if you don't mind Adrian” Bon Bon said. “Shoot” I replied. “Well, why did Princess Twilight not perform a magic tracking spell to pinpoint the exact nature and location of the spell? Magic always leaves a form of residue behind for a while and if you are a unicorn then you can track it back to its source. Then you might of known a bit more” she told me. “She might of not found him for a while, since no pony obviously was looking out for it or for him, so he could have been here for hours for all we know. Cause then by the time she found him, the residue would of long faded away. That and she probably did not automatically search since there was no real reason to at the time” Lyra suddenly interjected. “Ah, good point Lyra. Never mind then Adrian, seems like I found my answer” Bon Bon said before joining her friend. PHEW! Good job Lyra! Cause I had no freaking idea how to even begin to answer that. Just something else to study up on in magic. All of a sudden a strange noise filled the air above us, almost like thunder but underwater. “Whoa! What the heck was that?!” I asked while whipping my head around to try and find the source. “LOOK! Up there! Was is it?” Bon Bon shouted while pointing at whatever it was. Looking in that direction, I trained my eyes on the skies and after a few seconds, I saw a fast falling object that seemed to be wrapped up in blue cloth or something similar. “Lyra! Do you think you can catch it with your magic?!” Bon Bon shouted again. “Not from this distance! And even if we started running now, I don't think we would reach it in time” Lyra said in a panic. Letting my magic roar through my body like raging river, I summoned my speed and sliced through the air in front of me, willing my body to move faster to save it. By the time I was near, the object was close enough to the ground for me to see normally. So I jumped as hard as I could and flew through the air like a bullet and quickly snatched the free-falling object before landing on the ground, using the dirt and grass as my stoppers. I left a ten foot mark in the ground of where I skidded to a halt, but what mattered most is that I caught it, safe and sound. I took a second to breath and calm myself down, just in case I accidentally use to much magical strength when handling whatever it was in my arms. By that time, the four of them had made their way over to me. “What is it?” Lyra asked me. “I am not sure yet, lets see” I told her. Before I removed the cloth that wrapped itself around the object, I felt that the thing was maybe sixty pounds and seemed to be about four and a half feet. Very strange, it almost felt like it was pony perhaps? Deciding not to speculate any further, I reached up and grabbed the edge, pulled it back and was presented with something I never thought I would ever see. “Adrian? What is it?” Bon Bon asked this time. But she could see that I was starting to tremble. “Papa?” Maelstrom asked next. But the words would not come out as I looked over the figure in my arms over and over again. But then Bon Bons earlier conversation came back fresh in my mind. “Bon Bon! Can you use that magic tracking spell or whatever?!” I quickly asked her with panic in my voice. She took a step back but she spoke up and said “I-I can try” “Please! Hurry!” I quickly said again. With that she charged up her magic and about a minute passed in silence before she shook her head in dismay. “Sorry Adrian, I cannot seem to track the origin of the spell. It is something I have never seen or felt before in my life. I'm really sorry” she said with sad eyes. “Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!” I said before I gently laid the body on the ground. “Adrian, what is wrong?!” Lyra asked me. But I stayed silent as I began to ask questions in my mind to try and rationalize how this was possible. Lyra and Bon Bon gave each other worried looks before they strode up next to me and looked inside. When they did, they both let out a surprised gasp. “Adrian….is…. Is that?” Bon Bon nervously asked me. “A human? Yes and it looks like he only nine or ten years old. He also looks like he is in pain. Do either of you know healing magic or something similar?” I worryingly asked. “No, I don't know any healing but I can do an inspection spell and try to figure out if anything is broken or the like” Lyra said. “Please!” I pleaded her. She agreed and began to cast her spell. During this time I quickly turned back to the other mare. “Bon Bon! Head back to town as fast as you can and grab Princess Twilight or a doctor! Either one would know what to do” “Understood. But what about you?” Bon Bon asked me in return. “I will stay here and try to help him out, since he might freak out and having another human here would give him some comfort. Just in case” I quickly said as I made it up on the spot. “Got it. I will be right back” she said before quickly dashing back to town as fast as she could. Turning back I saw that Lyra was still scanning the boy but her face was squinting a bit. “Lyra? What can you tell?” I asked. “I…. I am not sure” was all she said before we heard a small cough from the boy. “He is waking up” I said out loud as I saw him slowly open his eyes. “Wh…..where am I?” he weakly asked and I could see him struggle to move but his arms and legs seemed to stay limp. “Why can't I move?” At this I quickly uncovered the rest of his body and checked his body for cuts or bruises or anything serious. They all seemed fine but his skin seemed really pale and his body seemed too limp, like his muscles were soft or something. I looked over to Lyra, hoping for some answers. She came over close to me and whispered “I can't really tell why or how but his body seems to be, really weak and getting weaker. Almost like a poison or something” At this my body spiked in fear and I began to sweat profusely as I tried to think of something helpful. “Who are you two? And what kinda dream is this?” the boy asked which snapped me out of my stupor. “Dream?” I asked him. “Well, yeah! Last thing I remembered was going to sleep, very cold and shivering, then I woke up here” he told us with a half smile as he looked up at the sky. Going to sleep cold and shivering? Now that I looked at him more closely, I could see that he wore barely any clothes and the ones he had were torn and very dirty. He tried to move again and now he seemed to freak out a little bit “Why can't I move?” he said with a slight panic in his voice. It probably didn't help that I had a fearful look on my face as well, so I took my hand and rubbed my face over and over again until I could put on a happy face. “Oh, that? Don't worry, its just part of this particular dream. But never mind that, what is your name?” I asked him while keeping up the facade. “Me? You should know since its my dream, shouldn't you?” he asked in return. “Well, obviously this is a dream where you are to meet new and unknown friends! Like us!” I exclaimed as I presented the three around us. “Cool! Well, my name is Luke Witherson” he said before he coughed again. “Well Luke, my name is Adrian Frost and these are my friends Lyra, Maelstrom, and Artemis” I introduced. “You look really cool Adrian” he complimented before bursting out into a fit of coughs. “Why do I feel so sick?” “Oh, that. Well. You… must….. have gone to bed with….. a fever! Yes! So that would make this a fever dream as well! Heh” I quickly made up. “Oh, I heard of those from the nurse lady who looked at me last year. Cool” he said before coughing again. I could see Lyra start to shake and her own facade was starting to crumble, as well as my own. “Adrian, how come even in my dreams I am sick? I thought dreams were good?” he asked me. “Well, the thing about dreams is that they are always random since they are what you see and feel during the day. So sometimes they are good and sometimes they feel a bit real. But a dream is but a dream, so when you wake everything will be better!” I told him while trying to convince myself as well. “Oh, so thats why I had a dream about snow angels and pie the other day. That was weird” he told us with a slight chuckle before coughing again. “Ye-yeah. See! Dreams are weird! Just remember that this is a weird dream, just a weird dream” I told him. “Cool” he barely said before coughing again. I decided to prop his head up on my legs so he could breathe a bit better, hopefully. He then started to breath really heavy but in short breaths as well, like he was afraid. “A-Adrian? Even though I know this is a dream. I feel scared” he said while he looked up at me with a flushed face. “Just another part of the dream, you know I heard that in some dreams people dive off of cliffs before switching to another dream. Even though that scared them, the dream just pushes them forward and all is better. Ok?” I told him while forcing my smile. “Oh, yeah. Kinda like how I had that dream where I was being chased by a fire breathing train?” he asked me. “Yeah! Exactly like that!” I explained. “Cool” he briefly said before he coughed up a storm again. I held him in my arms now to try and give him warmth and I even saw Artemis and Maelstrom sadly sitting in front of me with worried looks. Luke coughed again before his voice squeaked out “This…. Is…. A…. Weird…. Dream” At this I was barely able to hold back my own strained voice and my face started to twitch “Yeah, I guess so. But just remember, this is all a dream and everything is going to be alright” I tried to bravely tell him. His coughing became a bit more violent and he could no longer open his eyes but he still looked up at me as best he could “Will I…. remember you?” he asked in a raspy voice. “I hope so, so that way next time we don't have to re-introduce ourselves” I informed him. His breathing become erratic for the next few seconds before they slowed down to almost nothing and his slowed breaths became very short and his voice was no longer strong enough to speak and it came out ragged. At this I placed my hand on his head and began to smooth his choppy hair with my large thumb. “Everything is going to be alright Luke. Everything is going to be alright” I said, using the last of strength to keep up the last piece of my mask intact for this little boy. His breathing slowed down even more, to the point where I could no longer hear it but I saw his small chest still move, but just barely anymore. I then saw his pained face start to move and his lips formed a tiny little smile just as I heard a long exhale. It was then that everything went silent and the only thing moving on him now was his hair that I was still stroking with my thumb. “Everything is going to be alright. Everything is….. ev-everything is going to be…. G-going to be alright” I now said out loud as I cradled the cold body in my arms with a cracking voice. I felt the three girls place their hoofs/paws around me and it was then that my facade finally tore it self down. But at first I was silent as the grave while sitting in that now cold, dead field. ---------- Meanwhile, a few feet away ---------- Adrian! Oh Celestia please! Please let everything be fine! For Adrians sake! Please! I silently prayed to myself as I followed Bon Bon out to the plains on the edge of town. I can't believe something like this would happen after everything my friends did for me today! I finally feel at home and now I hear that a new human appears and is a sick child! Adrian was right to send for me, my alicorn magic and healing knowledge should be enough to at least stabilize the child. I kinda wanted to just come alone but the girls followed me anyway and I guess they have the right now, not like I have the power to stop them from helping our friend. But no amount of training or tests could of ever prepared me for what I saw out on the darkened fields. Sitting there, surrounded by Lyra, Maelstrom, and Artemis, was Adrian who was holding, what I am assuming to be, the child very closely and was beginning to rock back and forth. I then heard him quietly say in a strained voice “Everything is going to be alright” over and over again while tears ran down his face. “Oh no. Adrian!” I loudly said as I rushed even faster to him, but the closer I got the more I realized the awful truth that I wanted to deny when I saw him. The child was dead.