One Of A Kind

by UniqueSKD

Chapter Three - That night, I was spared a great danger, and I owed my life to a peculiar stranger...

One Of A Kind

Chapter Three

By UniqueSKD

The gentle warmth of a kind soul,
Erasing the coldness within my very being,
A stranger was he, but then to him, so was I,
Two strangers in a lonely room,
Their Fates to be both entwined soon.
- UniqueSKD

Maia's eyes opened slowly, the world a little hazy as her consciousness steadily returned to the bat-pony. Her head throbbed, but the pain was not as bad as it was before she was knocked out. A bright light was shining downwards onto her face, causing her to blink a few times before raising a hoof to shield her vision. She immediately took notice of the fact that her hoof was dripping with water, which splashed upon her face, which seemed to help in making her a little more alert. Peering down at herself, Maia saw that she was laying in a bathtub, her body submerged in warm, and slightly grimy, water. She was in a small white-tiled bathroom, its design stereotypical of a common motel's.

As she straightened herself upright, confused and a little scared as to where she was, and why she was here, a stallion's voice spoke to her. "Ah. You're awake."

Maia whipped her around to the side, frightened that it was one of the depraved ponies who had attacked her earlier, and her mouth dropped agape at the sight of the stallion sitting on a chair next to her.

He was a pegasus pony, made obviously clear by the wings upon his back, stretched out and revealing blue-colored feathers at the end of his wing-tips. His coat was a magnificent color of white, and his mane was spiky-ish, and the color of midnight black. He looked at Maia with bright sky-blue eyes, which had a soft, gentle expression to them, the smile on his face bearing the same. He was sitting on the chair in a rather unusual fashion, his body upright with his chest out, upon which there was a strange blue mark of some sort.

Taking into consideration the terrifying ordeal which Maia had went through not long ago, and the fact that she had woken up in a bathtub with a stranger sitting next to her, it was not surprising that the first thing she did was scream and flail her legs about, splashing hot water over the sides of the tub and soaking the floor.

"No! NOOOOO!", Maia cried in mad panic, as she scrambled about in an attempt to get out of the tub, but a pair of white hooves grabbed a hold of her, struggling against her frenzy. "No! Please! Let me go! PLEASE!"

"Wait just a minute! I'm not going to hurt you!", the stallion grunted as he tried to calm her down, getting splashed with warm water as he wrestled with the panic-stricken bat-pony. "Please, just calm down! I - ugh! - promise you no harm! Just - argh! - JUST CALM DOWN!"

Maia immediately stopped wrestling against the stallion's firm grip at the booming sound of his shout. She simply lay there in the bathtub, surrounded by what little water remained within it, the rest of it now soaking either the tiled floor or the stallion himself. She lay there, looking up at him with frightened eyes, trembling and shaking in terror, as she tried to curl herself up away from him.

The pegasus stallion took a deep breath, relieved that the drama was done with. "Thank you for calming down. I don't want you causing concern for the other ponies staying here."

"W-where am I?", asked Maia shakily. "W-who are you? What do y-you want from m-me?"

The pegasus smiled kindly as he removed his hooves away from Maia. "You're in a motel just outside of Canterlot. After you were assaulted by those," - his brow furrowed as he frowned - "bastard thugs, you passed out after that one stallion hit you across the face." He reached out his hoof towards the bat-pony, who flinched and closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the pain that was to come.

Instead, she felt a warm and gentle softness stroke the side of her face, the white hoof of this stranger before her it turned out to be when she opened her eyes. He seemed to be inspecting her.

"You had a nasty swelling beginning to come up where he struck you," he explained. He turned his head as he reached out to a low shelf behind him, grabbing an empty bottle with his other free hoof, before turning back to face the bat-pony. "Fortunately, I had this bottle of healing elixir that I came across in my travels. I only had enough left for one last use, so I used it to treat your injury." He looked at the empty container and sighed. "I never learned the name of the merchant I got this stuff from, so I can't get more of it." He shrugged his shoulders, and threw the bottle aside. " Oh well. At least its last use was a good one, right?". He smiled at Maia, who looked at him in surprise.

"Is there something wrong?", the stallion asked her, a tone of concern in his voice.

Maia gulped before she responded. "Aren't you going to...to hurt me?"

The pegasus' eyes widened in shock. "Hurt you? Why would I do that? Why would I help you if I was only going to do you harm afterwards?"

Maia stared at him. His reaction seemed genuine enough. Perhaps he really wasn't going to harm her, maybe? She eased a little bit, and straightened her position in the tub so as to feel more comfortable. "Well, if you aren't going to hurt me, why was I in a bathtub full of water? Were you going to drown me?", she questioned.

The pegasus' mouth fell open, agape. "D-drown you? You thought I was going to drown you?" He threw his hooves up in front of him in defense. "I give you my word that was not my intention whatsoever! Your coat and mane were filthy from being pushed down on the ground in that alleyway. I was merely washing away the dirt from your body while you were passed out. I didn't want you to return home in the morning looking a mess."

Maia blinked. "What do you mean 'in the morning'? Why can't I leave now?"

The stallion shook his head. "I can't let you go back to Canterlot while those thugs are still on the loose. It wouldn't be safe for you to go home tonight. Please, stay the night here. I assure you that it is safer here, and come the first rays of Celestia's sun, I'll take you back home and take my leave." He stood up and walked over to a cupboard. He opened it and rummaged about in it for a bit, before producing a large white towel. Closing the cupboard door, he brought the towel over to the chair, still next to the bathtub, and place the towel upon it.

"You might want to dry yourself off now, so I'll step out of here and give you your privacy," he told her with a small smile. "When you're done cleaning yourself, just come on through the door. I'll be making the bed ready for you to sleep in. You must be weary from tonight's events, and you probably would like to rest your head already." With that, he took a small bow, and walked over to the door.

Before stepping out, he paused, before turning his head to Maia. "And by the way," he said with a wink, "my name is Unique, to answer your other question." He turned away, pushing the door open as he strolled through, closing it behind him.

Maia continued to stare at the wooden door for a couple of minutes, as she replayed the events of the night thus far in her head, from her being attacked by those depraved thugs, to waking up in the care of this...strange pegasus.

It was then that another thought entered her mind regarding the pegasus, something she only had just realized now. It was about the way he had walked out of the room. He wasn't walking on all fours like a normal pony.

He had walked out of the bathroom on his hind-legs. How peculiar for a pony to walk like that.

Maia's attention turned to the towel laying on the floor, as a slight chill shot straight her back. She considered her options as of this moment. She could try to escape from this place, but there were no windows here in the bathroom, and even if there were, the pegasus would probably hear her trying to get out. But then, he seemed genuinely hospitable. After all, he could have simply drowned her in the tub if he wanted to, rather than wait for her to awaken if he really had meant her harm. But maybe his kindness was a ruse, a means to lower her guard before he showed his true colors.

But then there was that look in his eyes, that look that spoke volumes of real care and consideration for her well-being. He had brought her to a safe place, and even treated her supposed injury. He had even cleaned her mane and body of dirt, which could be proven by the coloration of the bath water. Perhaps he might actually be friendly?

Maia climbed out of the bathtub and grabbed the towel with her hoof, throwing it over her back and began to dry herself off. This stranger had helped her when so many others would not have done. At the very least, she could play along until she had real reason to be afraid of him. But for now, she pondered to herself as she worked the towel on her mane, she'd see where this would go.

Indeed, this night had taken an interesting turn for the bat-pony.

Author's Note:

I was never good at writing decent stories, but if you're actually reading this note right now, then you must have read this chapter, and so for that I thank you for taking the time to do so.

Chapter Four will see Unique and Maia properly introducing themselves to one another.

Comments

[Topaz Moon]

bracing herself for the pain that was to pain.

Think you might have a word wrong in there.

Anyways wee, update. Oh and it was a good chapter.

[Rotorix]

Oh, it was you OC!? I thought it was going to be Joseph Stalin!
Nice chapter, I have no idea what you're talking about you writing badly.

[The Deviously Derped]

Liking it. Please update faster! I think I feel some character development a-comin..... So...... AN UPVOTE AND FAVORITE FOR THEE!