Arrival

Private Eagle Eye paced around the tower in anticipation. Most days, the clash of the waves on the rocky shores would calm him, even lull him into a dreamlike trance. Today, however, Captain Shining Armor himself would visit this part of the empire to check on his Coast Guard. If all went well during his visit, it was quite possible that he might go so far as to promote Eagle Eye to a more prestigious position in the capital for his performance and uncanny skill. He could see for miles around if he focused hard enough. Unfortunately, this position watching for ponies lost at sea was more dull than the same gray sky over the distant ocean. Never in his two years of service had he spotted a single pony. Not--

Out of the corner of his eye, Eagle Eye spotted an off-color blot on the horizon. Rushing to the edge of the tower, he levitated a pair of binoculars in front of his eyes and scanned the area he had seen the oddity. Sure enough, a ragged, soaked pony with matted fur was clinging to a piece of driftwood for his life, obviously on the border between this world and the next. His coat (were it not for the water) was snow white, accompanied by a dark brown mane and a matching tail, complete with a goatee, all matted down and turned dark from the ocean water that even now continued to throw the pony all over.

Turning on a dime, he sprung for the rope behind him, not bothering to use his magic. Peals of a large bell above signaled for the Pegasus Guards who resided above. Within seconds, two ironclad stallions were airborne, flying towards the pony in need. As they flew, clouds began to gather overhead signaling a storm's dreadfully menacing approach. After some fighting with the winds, the guards managed to reach the sodden creature.

The water seemed to fight the trained guardsmen. As they descended to a lower altitude, the waves grew higher, each one trying to suck them down into the ocean. After a few attempts, they simply hovered above the poor man beneath whose eyes began to close. Still, he clung to the driftwood as hard as he could. Unfortunately enough, this castaway was strong, the wood was thin, and the water had soaked through to its core. It snapped into two pieces and the pony who appeared to have been on the ocean for days began to sink.

Mustering up as much extra courage as his tightly shut eyes would allow, one of the guards swooped down and grabbed the mysterious pony by his hoof and pulled him up to where his friend waited, watching the display with widening eyes. Once their charge was safely lodged between their two bodies, they set off towards the nearest hospital. The rain clouds above burst. Looking back, the waves of the ocean had become torrential in a matter of moments. Both guards let out a sigh of relief to be away from that.

* * *

Sickly yellow light greeted the mysterious pony as he awoke days later on a hospital bed. Looking down at himself, he noticed he was clad only in a thin paper robe. With a groan, he rolled off the bed, over the guardrails. As if on cue, the door burst open and an alabaster white mare with pink hair and pale blue eyes entered, wearing a white nurses cap. "Mister Vladislav, you must rest! You're going to hurt yourself!" she exclaimed with a look of genuine worry.

Vladislav tilted his head. "Chto? Ya ne ponimayu vas..." (What? I don't understand you...) He sat on the floor, stumped. The action caused him to wince in pain, reminded all at once of the events that brought him here. Nurse Redheart facehoofed, helping him back into bed. She exited the room, only to return minutes later.

She sat a thick book on his bedside table and pointed to it. Vladislav stared at the book for a moment, confused. Rubbing his horn for a moment, it ignites in a light blue aura, which then envelopes the book. In seconds, he recognizes the language of his homeland in Stalliongrad. Opening it, it takes only a moment for Vladislav to realize the nurse had brought him a language and etiquette guide. He turns his head and glares at her as she leaves the room, then returns to the guide.

* * *

A week after his rescue out on the ocean, Vladislav was allowed to leave the hospital with his belongings. From Nurse Redheart he received his black fur cap, but nothing else. Raising an eyebrow, he cleared his throat and retrieved his guide. "Where... is... my... coat?" He frowns, gazing directly into her eyes.

Redheart frowned. "Sorry dear, but when we pulled you out of the ocean, we had to cut that heavy coat off of you. It was stuck to your skin and we couldn't salvage it. It was either the coat or you." She shakes her head, dismissing him in the way that all professionals tend to dismiss anyone they may please. She holds a magazine to her nose, ignoring the Gradian pony.

Eyes going wide in anger, Vladislav leapt onto the desk and grabbed Nurse Redheart by the shoulders, shaking her around. "HTO pal'to moyego deda! YA dolzhen ubit' tebya za eto! MILOSERDIYe ne yavlyayetsya odnim iz moikh dostoinstv! Malen'kaya suchka! Augh!" (THAT COAT WAS MY GRANDFATHER'S! I SHOULD KILL YOU FOR THIS! MERCY IS NOT ONE OF MY VIRTUES! LITTLE BITCH! AUGH!) He screamed in her face for some time before simply turning, regaining his composure in under a second and walking away with his head held high.

Upon exiting the building, Vladislav's eyes were assaulted by harsh rays of sunlight, such as he had not seen for quite some time. Quickly, he donned the black fur cap, pulling the fabric inside down over his eyes. Wandering off blindly, the unicorn quickly found that the streets of this unknown town were much more lively than those of his home. As he walked, he ran into several ponies, none of which stopped to scold him. So polite... This place is very different from all I know...

Vladislav only pushed his cap out of his face when he heard a loud gasp from right in front of him. Instead of seeing some pony glaring at him for walking blind, he came face to face with a bright pink pony with wide blue eyes, well accentuated by her gleaming white smile. Somehow, he was put off by this genuinely excited look and took a step back, paying no mind to the giggling of other ponies he hardly noticed.

Blink.

She was gone as if she were never there. All that remained was a faint dash of pink light that was gone in less than a second. Vladislav stared at the spot where that pink pony had surely stood moments before with wide eyes and a dumb expression. In his stupor, he had to sit down right there in the middle of the street. Only after he heard a cart coming from behind him did he start to move again, shaking his head in a fruitless effort to forget that strange mare.

As he walked, he began to consider what he would have to do in order to begin a life of his own here in this strange and bright land. He would need a job, a place to stay, someone who knew this land well to be his guide, and most importantly of all...a new fur coat. Cocking his head to the side, he noticed a path set off from the others leading up to a stone bridge. Deciding to take a look, Vladislav trotted over to the bridge that stood over a small brook, peering over the side at the crystal blue water. "Ya dumayu, chto ya sobirayus' zdes' nravitsya..." (I think I'm going to like it here...)

A bush shook on the far side of the small bridge that he had yet to explore. Narrowing his eyes, Vladislav crawled towards the bush without making a sound. Before he made it halfway to the shrub, a pale yellow pegasus with a light pink mane sprung out backwards, shaking in midair. A white rabbit with beady black eyes was nestled in her arms, glaring at him.

"W-Who are you?" She asked, her panicked question nearly inaudible. She didn't seem to notice as the bunny dragged his paw down his face and groaned silently.

Quickly referring to his book, he looked up the proper words for a response. "I am Vladislav. I am from Stalliongrad. Who..." He furrowed his brow. "Who...are...you?" He made a face, rolling his tongue in an effort to remove the odd feeling of speaking another language from his tongue and cheeks.

The pegasus pony slowly returned to the ground and stopped shaking after a short stare-off between the two. Something about those eyes crushed all of Vladislav's mental defenses, leaving his mind completely open. She opened her mouth several times to speak, but nothing came out but squeaks. Eventually, she managed to work two more words around her tongue.

"I'm Fluttershy..." Her mane fell over half of her face, the visible part of which she pointed towards the ground.

Feeling cocky, the unicorn set his book aside and cleared his throat. "It is good to be in meeting of you, Fluttershy. Nice is always in having the friendship in new places." Again, he shook his head trying to clear the feeling left by the accent away. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths. Once the feeling faded, he opened his eyes again only to find this mare gone too. Wisps of dirt curled up around him. In the distance, he heard a door being shut. His only response this time was to roll back his shoulders in a shrug.

Now, to find a place to stay.

Author's Note:

Just a little idea that popped into my head. Its going to be a bit scattered and probably have short chapters until I find out where I want to go with this. Russian will be used quite a bit throughout the story, but I will always translate as best as I can. Eventually, Vladislav's English will get better. As for right now, prepare for...whatever this turns out to be. The tags at the moment will most likely change in time.

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