"Is that you, my love?"

by Hopefullygoodgrammar

Three Fillies and a Human

Author’s Note:I doth not own MLP OR Amnesia: Justine, for I am but a lowly teenager.”

THREE FILLIES AND A HUMAN

---

Back in Ponyville the news about the mysterious creature living with Fluttershy was still the talk of the town, the rumors had mostly died down after they had seen the so-called “Human” walking down the street with Fluttershy leading him, from the looks of it the two were on good terms and that fact eased the fears of the townsponies greatly; Colgate had even gone out and talked to the human (And had examined his teeth, of course).

Of course, not all of the ponies were not as trusting as others: Diamond Tiara and her father Filthy Rich for example.

Filthy Rich had thought that the creature was “a possible threat to all of Equestria.”, he had of course said this in front of his bratty daughter who had, in turn, repeated what he said to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Applebloom, the trio of so-called “blank flanks” also known as…

THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!

At the CMC’s clubhouse Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were eagerly waiting for Applebloom to arrive, they had been engaged in a lengthy discussion about the new Daring Do movie when, out of the blue, Scootaloo brought up Fluttershy’s new friend.

“Dijda hear the news Sweetie Belle?” asked the orange filly

Sweetie Belle shot her friend a confused glance, “Huh?”

“Y’know, about the monster that Fluttershy found.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged, “I’ve only heard what everypony else is saying: like the fact that it’s a boy, he has these things called ‘hands’ which are like Spike’s talons and… Oh! And his race is apparently called ‘Hyooman’!”

Scootaloo cocked her head, “A ‘Hyooman’? That’s a weird name.” she said bluntly.

Sweetie rolled her eyes, “Well he IS an alien… or…. whatever he is.”

“Do you think maybe we can ask Fluttershy about him?” asked Scootaloo excitedly before adding “I really wanna see him.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged again, “I’m not sure that that would work out, but we can try, I want to see him, too.”

Just then the door to their clubhouse burst open and Applebloom came charging in, out of breath and dripping sweat.

Both fillies exchanged worried looks before going over to their friend, who was now panting heavily and laying on the ground.

“Are you okay?” they both asked.

Applebloom held up a hoof, “Gimme *huff* Gimme a *wheeze* minute.” she gasped.

When she had sufficiently recovered she sat up and said “Guys you’ll never believe what Ah saw!”

She waited until she thought that she had drawn out the suspension to its maximum capacity before saying, in her best dramatic tone, “Ah. Saw. The Hyooman!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gasped, then they mobbed the farm pony, asking her a torrent of questions, some of which were completely irrelevant, but they were excited fillies, the occasional outburst of randomness was expected .

“Alright, alright, one at a time please!” said Applebloom, holding out her hooves.

“What did he look like?” asked Scootaloo, bouncing up and down.

“Weelll…” said Applebloom putting a tiny hoof to her chin in thought, “Have ya heard about the Diamond Dogs?”

Sweetie Belle shivered, “You mean those freaky dog-things that kidnapped Rarity?”

Applebloom nodded, “Well he looks kinda like how Rarity described them thangs, except he doesn't have any fur at all and he doesn’t have claws.”

Sweetie Belle scrunched her nose up in disgust, “Eww, he must look weird.”

“ So how does he keep warm if he doesn’t have any fur?” asked Scootaloo

Applebloom shrugged, “Ah don’t know, maybe his skin is super-tough, kinda like stone? Oh, maybe it’s like some kinda shell!”

Sweetie Belle turned green, “You’re grossing me out, I don’t know if I want to meet him now.”

“Are you kidding?!” said Scootaloo indignantly “That sounds awesome! He’d be like some kinda bug-dude!”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes as Applebloom continued.

“Anyways Ah was walkin’ to the market to get some things for Granny Smith’s stew and Ah saw Fluttershy and Twilight moving the Hyooman down the road.” here her face took on a worried look, “He didn’t look too good.”

The two other CMC members mirrored her look.

“Maybe he’s sick.” said Scootaloo.

“Yeah.” said Sweetie Belle distantly.

Applebloom let out a massive gasp as an idea hit her like a ton of bricks, “Ah got it! We could be Cutie Mark Crusaders Hyooman healers!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged uncertain looks, Applebloom noticed this and narrowed her eyes, stomping her hoof on the ground she said, in her best attempt at a rousing speech, “C’mon ya guys, We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, not the Cutie Mark Run Away From Opportunity-ers. This Hyooman might be able to help us get our cutie marks!”

“But didn’t we already try to be nurses?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah, but that was a pony, this is a Hyooman.” said Applebloom with a devious smile.

Both of her friend’s eyes lit up.

The trio looked at each other for a second, then they drew in deep breaths and shouted at the top of their lungs: “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HYOOMAN NURSES!!!”

Outside of the clubhouse Winona, the Apple family’s faithful collie, rose from her nap with a startled yelp.

---

WEAK
WORTHLESS
TRAITOR
MURDERER
MONSTER

Alois awoke with those words echoing in his head.

He sat up and listened intently, Fluttershy’s cottage was silent, save for the sound of her animals stirring in their keeps, the human clutched his sheets as he remembered the events of the previous day.

This is a nightmare he thought sadly But it’s one that I deserve.

Why would you think that?

Oh no, not YOU again. Listen to me and listen well, I. Will. NOT. Talk. With. You

But I AM you.

No! You’re just some kind of alternate personality or some kind of…. some kind of….

Oh stop it, you’re grasping at straws and you know it.

My suffering is my repentance.

Repentance? Is that what you’re calling it? I thought you were wallowing in self pity, you need to let your guilt go.

But letting my guilt go isn’t the right thing.

And letting it consume you like a cancer IS?

It’s not like they have confessionals in this world, if I told them what I did they’d shun me, they might even banish me, they’re too naive, too kind. This kind of thing is not something that they could handle.

It seemed to me like they handled it fine when they were removing that damnable collar from around your throat or when they were taking those hooks out of your flesh.

But they’ll think that I am a monster.

They already do: you are a being from another world.

I can’t tell them.

You are a coward.

Alois clenched his teeth until his jaw ached, then he got up and stretched, knowing that he would need to start his day sooner or later.

After he finished stretching he found a nearby chair and sat down to wait for his host to wake up, feeling that it would be rude to go searching through Fluttershy’s cabinets and pantry without her consent.

He was just starting to feel hungry when he heard a knock at the door.

Alois got up and located his blindfold, which he had placed beside his makeshift bed, after trying it on tightly he walked to the door and shouted, “Who is it?”

There was a chorus of gasps, followed by hushed voices, Alois cocked his head and listened intently: it seemed like there were 3 of these individuals, from the high pitch to their voices they must be children- no, wait, Fillies, I cannot hear what they are saying, I need to get closer…

Alois pressed an ear to the door, his acute hearing doing the rest of the work.

“Didja hear that?” said the first.

“Yeah, Ah bet it was the Hyooman!” said the second excitedly.

“Maybe he’s all better?” queried the third.

Better? What are they talking about?

“Hey, alien-guy!” called the first, “Is that you in there? Because we’re here to nurse you!!!”

She said this last part so loudly Alois feared that Fluttershy would wake up, turning to the door he felt around until he found the knob and then he opened it.

He was greeted by more gasps, “What do you want?” he asked, trying to be as unthreatening as possible, the last thing he needed was a trio of scared fillies running off and sending the other ponies into a panic.

He expected them to run off anyway, he didn’t expect to hear the first one shout “Woah, You. Look. AWESOME!!”, and he most certainly didn’t expect to be bombarded with questions like: “What do ya eat?”, “Where do you come from?” and “Do you have scooters in your world?”.

Alois backed up a bit, completely at a loss for what to do, he heard the sound of hooves transitioning from earth to wood, meaning that the fillies were now in the house, he felt his throat constrict as they moved in.

“Um…. Hello?”

Alois let out a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding, feeling the fire in his chest, a fire that he hadn’t felt until now, fade away.

He heard Fluttershy canter down the stairs, “Hello girls, what are you doing here?”.

“We came to see the Hyooman!” said the first speaker, her tiny voice dripping with enthusiasm.

“Oh… I see” said Fluttershy uncertainly, “did you ask permission before you left to go see us?” she asked after a second.

“Uhhhh…. no?” said the second speaker, sounding guilty.

“Applebloom” admonished Fluttershy, “you know you’re supposed to ask your sister before you visit me.”

“But Ah wanted ta see the hyooman.” the second speaker- apparently called Applebloom whined.

“Well now you see me.” said Alois, holding his arms out, “Are you going to run away in fear now?”.

Applebloom giggled, “Why would Ah be scared?”.

Alois started a bit, “What? You mean you aren’t scared of a tall, hairless and eyeless ape like myself?”

“Naw, you seem like a nice Hyooman ta me.” said Applebloom, a smile evident in her tone.

“Yeah, you look pretty cool too, I mean, how awesome is it to have those talon things?” said the first speaker.

“What’s it like not having a tail?” asked the third, her squeaky voice laced with curiosity.

All Alois could say was, “Huh?”.

He heard the sound of the filly trio’s tiny hooves moving closer, but this time he didn’t feel that tightness in his chest, then he heard Applebloom ask, “Can Ah see yer hands?”

The way she said it was so innocent and so…. cute, that he had no choice but to oblige, he held his hands out with his fingers spread.

He heard the trio move closer, then he felt their soft fur tickle his palms, he could feel a strange force manipulating his fingers, What is that? he wondered; he placed a finger against the bottom of one of the hooves to try and locate the source of the feeling.

“H-hey wahahatch it” giggled the second speaker, “I’m-heeheehee- I’m ticklish!”

Alois stopped and apologized, hoping that he hadn’t made some kind of pony faux-pas.

“It’s alright.” said the second speaker dismissively, “Name’s Scootaloo, by the way.”

“I’m Sweetie Belle.” said the third speaker.

“And Ah’m Applebloom.”

“And together we are…. THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!”

Alois thought he felt his ears pop at the sheer volume that the three produced.

After the ringing in his ears had stopped he said “My name’s Alois Racine and I hope I don’t sound too foolish, but what is a ‘cutie mark’?”

“What do ya mean? Don’t you have one?” asked Applebloom, Alois shook his head, he heard the Cutie Mark Crusaders have a simultanious disappointed “Awwwww.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Alois

“Well” began Scootaloo “a Cutie Mark is a picture that shows up on somepony’s flank once they discover what their special talent is. Like Rainbow Dash: her cutie mark is cloud and a rainbow lightning bolt, it shows that her special talent is being a super awesome weather pony and best flyer in all Equestria!”

“Is that what she is?” said Alois contemplatively, “I had no idea.”

“How could ya not know? It’s right there on her flank.” said Applebloom

Oh no, not again. thought Alois, he sighed and then said, “I can’t see much of anything, because I’m blind.”

The second those words left his mouth he felt the sadness steal back into the forefront of his mind.

Then he felt three tiny, furry bodies wrap themselves around his legs, giving him a powerful hug, Alois stood stunned for a second, then he felt a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth, he knelt and wrapped his arms around their tiny bodies.

“It’s okay Mr. Alois.” said Applebloom tearfully.

“Yeah, my sister told me that ‘as long as you have friends, you can do anything’.” said Sweetie Belle, giving the human a few comforting pats on the back.

“Thank you very much.” said Alois, feeling touched, “I will take your words to heart, I promise.”

After a few more minutes Alois broke the hug off, much to his chagrin, he had discovered the joys of pony hugs and he was not tremendously happy to be ending the best one yet.

“Thanks Alois.” said Sweetie Belle, “Maybe you can tell us some more about your world?”

“What do you want to know?” asked Alois.

“What’s it like not having fur?” asked Applebloom.

“I’m not sure since I never had fur to begin with, I suppose I’ll get colder than the rest of you come winter… which means that I’ll have to visit Rarity again, which might be an issue because I have no currency to pay her with.”

“Oh that’s okay” said Sweetie Belle, “Rarity’s the Element of Generosity, I’m sure she’ll give you something for free and, if you really want to, we can help you get a job.”

“The Element of Generosity? I’m not sure that I know what that is.” said Alois.

He heard Applebloom gasp, “Fluttershy?! Why didn’t you tell him about the Elements of Harmony?”

“Um… well, I guess it didn’t cross my mind.” said Fluttershy, sounding very much like Applebloom had during her previous admonishment.

“Well Ah guess Ah’ll have ta tell Alois” said the filly “Ya see there are 6 Elements of Harmony: Theres Honesty, which mah sister Applejack wears; the Element of Generosity, which Sweetie Belle’s sister wears; Rainbow Dash is Loyalty, Pinkie Pie is Laughter, Twilight Sparkle is Magic and Fluttershy is-”

“I represent Kindness.” interrupted Fluttershy, Alois could practically hear the blush that came immediately afterwards, “Sorry.” she muttered.

Applebloom sighed and returned to her spiel, much to Alois’ amusement, “Anyways the Elements were created by Celestia and Luna because…… actually Ah’m not sure why, Ah guess Ah fell asleep when Mrs. Cheerilee was talkin’ about that part, anyways…”

Applebloom proceeded to tell him about the events surrounding the return of Princess Luna in the form of Nightmare Moon, how Twilight united the other 5 and used the Elements to purify Luna, she then went on to talk about some of their adventures: How Pinkie Pie saved the town from an infestation of creatures called parasprites, how she also drove away a bullying griffon named Gilda and how Twilight had stopped an invasion of love-sucking insects known as Changelings along with their vampiric leader, Queen Chrysalis, who had been masquerading as Twilights old foalsitter and Princess of Love, Cadence.

When the filly was finished Alois couldn’t do anything but sit in stunned silence, These 6, small ponies are heroes whose exploits could rival those of Hercules and Odysseus? I am farther out of my element than I thought, what kind of adventures will I witness here?

There was another knock at the door, he heard Fluttershy go to investigate it with a muttered “Who could it be now?”

Alois listened, he heard excited muttering, followed by a gasp, he heard Fluttershy return with her guest.

“Alois, Alois you aren’t going to believe this!” said Twilight, sounding like she was about to burst.

“What, is something wrong?” asked Alois.

“No silly! You’ve been invited to meet Princess Celestia herself!” said Twilight happily.

“Woah, that’s so cool!” exclaimed Scootaloo, breaking the silence that she had been, rather oddly, keeping, “I wish I could visit Canterlot.” she added, Alois detected something in her tone, something that made him want to help her.

“Ummm…. Miss. Sparkle? Do you think that we can bring these three with us, I’m sure that they’d like to join me- I mean, if you can do that kind of thing.”

He heard Twilight giggle, then she cleared her throat and said “Sorry, but you sounded a bit like Fluttershy for a second, but yes, I can bring them along. But you all need to get permission to go, okay?”

The CMC let out a glass-shatteringly loud cheer and then hugged Alois, shouting “Thank you”s until Alois raised his hands to calm them down, which took a little while, after they had calmed down Twilight offered to take them to their sisters, an offer which the trio happily accepted.

---

After they had left, cheering and thanking Alois every step of the way, the human sat, deep in thought, while Fluttershy and Twilight gushed about how wonderful Canterlot was.

What would the Princess want with me? Does she want to ask more questions? Does she want to experiment on me? I hope not, even though I think that they wouldn’t actually hurt me I still don’t want to be poked and prodded like some kind of laboratory specimen.

Maybe they want to help you in some way, did you ever think of that amidst your little sea of sorrows?

Oh….. it’s you….. again. thought Alois miserably.

Yes, it is I. said the voice.

You aren’t my subconscious, so stop trying to talk like me!

And what drives you to this rather intriguing conclusion?

I can tell that something isn’t right at all, something about you isn’t like me, it just…… doesn’t make sense.

Make sense? What fun is there in making sense? I tell you what, I will freely admit that I’m not some part of your consciousness, though I do think that I mimicked your internal style pretty well, dontcha think?

I see….. so I am going mad then.

Oh no, no, no I’m not your madness…. I’m not even YOU…. All I can say for now is that I’m a friend… a friend who is currently in your world trying his best not to waste too much of his precious magic in talking to you.

Who- what ARE you?

I can’t talk for much longer so listen: You are not alone here, someone came with you and I don’t think that this world is ready for his brand of cruelty, but you aren’t from this world now are you?

What do you want me to do?

I need you to tell Tia and Lulu about me….. Oh no…… I can feel it coming back…

What? What is coming back?

A very malicious and, might I add, very clingy Shadow…… I’m gonna give you a little present, you see, there’s a pony who might be able to help you and-

Alois let out a choked yell as red hot agony flared up in his brain, drowning out the mysterious voice before turning as cold as the coldest ice, he found himself on the floor, holding his head in his hands as the pain faded.

Once he had recovered he leaped to his feet and raced to the kitchen, he heard Fluttershy and Twilight halt their talking.

“Alois? What’s wrong?” asked Fluttershy worriedly.

“When do we leave?” he asked, ignoring his host.

“Uh… today” said Twilight, then hastily added “ I mean it’s up to you, but-”

Alois cut her off, “That is perfectly fine Miss. Sparkle, I’d like to leave as soon as possible.”

“Really? That’s wonderful! I’ll go get Spike to pack some things and then we’ll go.” said Twilight, already halfway out the door by the time that she finished her sentence.

When she was gone Alois turned to Fluttershy and bowed slightly, “Please forgive me for being so brash, but I have some urgent news to tell Princess Celestia AND Princess Luna.”

“Oh my, what is it?” she asked, her voice now showing fear as well as concern.

Alois sighed, “I think it would be best if you heard it with everypony else, but it is very troublesome, I just need to know a few things before any rash decisions are made.”

“Oh… Okay, if you say so… I guess.” said Fluttershy in a slightly disappointed tone.

Alois reached out and cupped her furry cheek, “I’m sorry for leaving you out of the loop as it were, but I cannot take any chances yet. I’m sure the Princesses can handle the issue, so don’t worry.”

Fluttershy hugged him, Alois felt the strange warmth settle into his chest again.

Why DO I want to go back? he wondered as he patted his host’s back.

Author's Note:

Whoo-hoo!

Next chapter: Alois meets the Princesses.

Comments

[cloudedguardian]

Yay! Update!
*reads*

(Raving contains spoilers) Dissy~!
Oh I love how you're writing reformed-Discord! And as Alois's friend? Beautiful, I can just tell I'm going to absolutely adore this story.

[Hopefullygoodgrammar]

3506193 Thank you sooooooooo muuuuuccccchhhhh!!!!!

You, sir, have made my day a whole lot better :D

I'll try to have the next chapter out either before of on the day when the new episodes come out, so stay tuned!