Regenerator 228

by Hopefullygoodgrammar

Getting To Know You

Regenerator 228

Chapter 11

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The sun was shining, Ponyville was back to normal- or as close to normal is it could be given the circumstances, the townsponies were chatting happily and going about their business, and the Mane 6 had each returned to their daily routines.

Well…. except for one.

It had taken Fluttershy a few days to get her animal friends to calm down and get used to their new “guest”, though she secretly thought that they had it better than her; at least they weren’t one room down from him.

Fluttershy still couldn’t get a full night’s sleep without keeping the lights on.

But, to her surprise and distress, the strange creature had not moved a muscle ever since the Leader… vacated his body. They’d had to drag him back to her house, which had taken two full hours, not including rests.

Fluttershy sighed as she finished pouring bird food into the feeder that hung from the ceiling, she was glad that the creature hadn’t tried to attack her or her animal friends, but she was also distressed, because she knew that he hadn’t been acting of his own volition when he had attacked them and she sincerely hoped that they hadn’t done any lasting damage to him.

I wonder if he’ll ever wake up. she thought sadly.

She was just heading up to check on the creature when there was a knock at the door, she turned and walked to the front of the house, Maybe it’s Mayor Mare coming to check up on her dog.

But it wasn’t Ponyville’s illustrious and criminally over-worked mayor, it was her friends, all of whom were looking more than a bit nervous.

“Hello, girls.” said Fluttershy brightly, the girls’ nervousness seemed to fade when they saw that she was alright and they returned her greeting before being let in.

The girls made themselves at home and Fluttershy made them tea with the exception of Rainbow Dash, who had an energy drink from a massive box of them that Fluttershy kept around in case she visited.

For a while they talked about how their days went. Rarity had gotten another dress commission from Sapphire Shores, Applejack had bought a new plow for Big Mac after the old one broke, Rainbow Dash had watched the new Wonderbolts movie, Pinkie Pie had made and eaten an eclair that was as big as her, and Twilight had received a few ancient texts on loan from the Canterlot library.

Their conversation was lighthearted and amicable as usual, but Fluttershy could sense the undercurrent of tension beneath the words, she knew that they were still afraid of her guest and they would be bringing him up within a few minutes.

“So… how’s the monster?” asked Rainbow Dash after finishing a massive gulp of caffeine.

And…. there it is, right on time. thought Fluttershy as the first raindrops of yet another unexpected thunderstorm began to strike the roof of the cottage.

“He has a name…” she said after heaving a sigh, “I just have to ask him what it is when he wakes up.”

Nopony asked “IF he wakes up.”, but she knew that a few of them were thinking it.

“Alright.” said Twilight, “I contacted the Princesses after we got back, but they didn’t answer until today. Apparently they were busy rounding up a herd of giant, striped, fire-breathing Popsicle monsters. Then they had to deal with a swarm of parasprites that breathed polka-dotted fire on top of eating everything and, finally, they had to save a group of foals from a giant squid with spider legs.”

Fluttershy blinked before replying, “Oh…. I-I see?”

Twilight nodded sagely, “Yes it WAS pretty insane, or should I say ‘chaotic’?”

“Discord.” growled Rainbow Dash.

“He’s still out there.” said Twilight, narrowing her eyes, “Which is why we need to speak to the monster when it- when HE wakes up, because he might have information.”

“Alright, I Pinkie Pie Promise that I’ll tell you the moment he wakes up.” said Fluttershy with a smile, performing the motions with practiced ease. Twilight gave her a big smile and Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat, the feeling caused her off guard and gave her pause.

“Fluttershy, are you quite alright?” asked Rarity, noticing her friend’s concerned look.

“Hmm?” she blinked and looked at Rarity before giving her a too-large smile, “Oh, I’m fine, Rarity, I promise.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes for a second before saying, in a careful tone, “Alright, but you will tell me if something is bothering you, right?”

“Oh yes, yes I will, don’t worry.” assured Fluttershy, widening her smile a bit more.

“Soooooo…. when can we see the monster?” interrupted Rainbow Dash, crushing the drink can against her forehead and throwing it into the trash can behind her.

Fluttershy, thankful for the reprieve, smiled and said “Of course, Dash. We can visit him right-”

There was a muffled, but still loud BOOM of thunder from outside, followed by a THUD from the upstairs room.

“-now.” finished Fluttershy, feeling her heart leap to her throat. The other girls leaped to their hooves and the group ran up the stairs.

---

Applejack had prepared herself for the worst.

She had expected the monster to be hanging from the ceiling with its mouth open, just waiting to snatch them up and eat them the moment they entered, she had expected it to have hatched more of those Leader-things and sick ‘em on her and her friends, she had even thought that it might have turned into another draconequus.

She did not expect what she saw when the door was opened.

The monster was in the corner, curled up like a scared little foal, with his back to them, his claws were wrapped around the back of his head and his whole body was trembling.

The Elements each exchanged shocked looks, which changed to confused looks which they sent Twilight’s way, the purple unicorn shrugged emphatically and gave Fluttershy a questioning glance.

Fluttershy looked back to the trembling creature and braced herself. With a slight tremble in her step she walked to him and stopped just a few feet from him; if the creature noticed her at all he gave no sign.

“Uhmm…” started Fluttershy, the creature let out a small gasp and flinched. The yellow pegasus saw his terror and her fear was immediately replaced with concern, “Oh dear, are you alright?” she asked, placing a hoof on his thin back.

The creature’s trembling intensified and Fluttershy saw sweat began to bead on his bony shoulders, Fluttershy’s eyes moved from his shoulders to his spine, she stifled a gasp when she saw the massive, vertical scar that ran across the length of his spinal column.

What is that from? she wondered.

The creature was still shaking, so she tried another tactic, “Do you have a name?”

This time the creature answered in a raspy, small voice, “Nnn-name…. name is 228.”. Fluttershy smiled, “Alright, 228 it is. Do you want to turn around and see my friends?”

Fluttershy saw the girls give her looks that ranged from incredulity to fear, but 228’s answer surprised them all: “Don’t…. *hhhnnn*... don’t want to…. scared.”

There was total silence, then Rainbow Dash said, “What!?”

Before Fluttershy could react the prismatic pegasus had trotted up past her and poked 228 in the back, “You’re a giant monster with sharp teeth and claws who can magically heal from any wounds like some kinda superhero AND you can stretch your arms out like you’re made of rubber. What the hay could YOU be afraid of?!”

There was another silence in which Fluttershy feared for her loud-mouthed friend’s life, then 228 said, “Don’t like the *hhhnnnggh* sky roars.”

“Sky roars?” asked Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in unison.

228 nodded whilst still keeping his back to them, “Yessss…. the sky roars… *hhrrss*... they...they s-scare me, I… can’t m-make them s-s-stop.”, he turned to them and Fluttershy was shocked to see big, fat tears welling up in his red and orange eyes.

“W-why won’t they s-stop?” he asked, his voice coming out as a whimper. 228 turned back and curled up tighter, there was another peal of thunder and 228 whimpered like a scared foal.

Rainbow Dash turned and gave her friends a look that screamed “What just happened?” before returning her attention to 228.

Fluttershy felt pity for the poor creature and placed a hoof on his shaking back. With the same gentle kindness that she showed to all of the hurt animals that were brought to her she began to softly rub his back and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

Soon 228’s shaking slowed down, then stopped. Fluttershy smiled and asked, “Would you like to meet my friends now?”

Instead of a verbal response, 228 answered her by slowly standing up to his full height and turning to face her and her friends slowly. There was a chorus of gulps from the other girls as his face was revealed in all of its freakish glory.

Fluttershy just smiled, “Well hello there, 228, my name is-”

“Fluttershy.” finished 228, smiling slightly, which didn’t look nearly as gruesome as one might expect.

“How do you know her name?” asked Rainbow Dash, sounding suspicious.

“H-heard….*Hnnggg*... heard Rarity saying her name.” said 228 simply.

Rarity blanched at the mention of her name and then smiled sheepishly, “I see you know my name as well, 228. Though, if I may ask, do you have a real name?”

228 shook his head, “N-no…. it’ssss l-lossst…. gone for good, maybe.”, he tapped his head to emphasize his point, Pinkie’s ears pinned back and her eyes got teary, “You mean that you don’t know your name?” she asked, sounding teary.

“Just…. just told you… name is 228.” he said, sounding slightly annoyed.

Pinkie’s sadness vanished and she gave him a big smile, “Oh well, I see that you don’t really care, so I guess I don’t either!” she giggled and bounced up to 228 with a beaming smile on her face, “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! The number one super-duper party planner in Ponyville *GASP* maybe even all of Equestria! Or maybe not, I don’t really care as long as I’m making everypony smile.”

She finished her rant and held out a hoof to 228. The creature looked at the hoof with a cocked head before clenching his fist in an imitation of a hoof and lightly bumping the appendage.

Pinkie Pie giggled and turned to the others, “I think he’s fine.” she said simply before bouncing back to join them.

The Elements exchanged slightly-less nervous looks before Applejack stepped up and gave 228 a shaky smile, “H-howdy there uhh… 228. Mah name’s Applejack, owner of Sweet Apple Acres and Element of Honesty!”

228 raised his fist again, but Applejack simple took his hand in both hooves and shook, “Ya do it like this, see?”. 228 watched her with great interest and when she finished and stepped back, his piercing gaze remained on her.

The next one up was Rarity, who looked him up and down with slight worry on her face, she gulped and then asked, “Uh… if I may be so brash as to ask-”, Rainbow snorted at the use of the word “brash”, but Rarity paid her no heed, “-are you… naked?”

228 cocked his head and said, “Aren’t you naked, too?”

Rainbow and Applejack burst into laughter, Rarity blushed and backed away, looking sheepish, even Fluttershy let out a giggle.

Twilight was the last to come over. The two didn’t exchange greetings, they just stared at each other, both sets of eyes roved and examined every detail. Finally Twilight nodded and then graced 228 with a smile.

“Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to meet you, 228.”

228 looked at her and gave a fanged smile, “We’ve…. already met, though. I saw you….*hhhngg*... leaking…”

Twilight blinked and then blushed, “Oh, you remember that?”

228 nodded and then frowned. Before the others could react he had reached out and cupped her face in his hands, he lifted her face so that he could look at her better. Twilight fought the urge to squirm, knowing that 228’s sharp talons could easily reduce her face to bloody shreds, but 228 was surprisingly gentle, making sure not to cut her.

“You…. are not leaking….anymore.” he noted.

Twilight gently removed his hand from her face and smiled, “I wasn’t leaking, I was crying and I’m far better now, but thank you for your concern.”

228 nodded and backed away, Twilight turned and saw that her friends were all giving her concerned looks. “Guys? Uhhh… are you all okay?” asked Twilight.

Applejack came over and looked at her, “You were cryin’, Twi?”

Twilight heard the shock in her voice, as well as something else. She looked around at her friend’s faces, she blushed bashfully and looked away, “It was nothing, just Discord being mean, that’s all.”

She could see the rebuttals forming on their mouths, but she was saved from having to answer by a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it!” she shouted before zipping down the stairs at a speed that impressed even Rainbow Dash.

Twilight was glad that she had avoided the talk which was to come, but she knew that she couldn’t avoid it forever. Sighing sadly, the purple unicorn straightened herself up, plastered a smile on her face and opened the door.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle.” said Princess Celestia, smiling regally down at her prized student, “I hear you’ve met a friend from… distant parts.”

Author's Note:

Yay for 228 and unexpected character development!!

Comments

[kamachakta]

And then 228 and Celestia hit it off... Or get in a fight. Either way, I can't wait.

[Blue Spark]

Well, first confrontation went smoothly, and I like how he was mostly on the defensive, just goes to prove Rainbow wrong that he isn't a monster. :)
Now then, how will he deal with Celestia though? That'll be an interesting encounter.

[Paladin Redflare]

PRAISE THE QUEEN OF SUNLIGHT, she graces us with her divine presense! The Regenerator should feel honored, if only he could!
static4.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/c+_319efab1548c8e5db6f1ff388ddf02c0.gif

[TheMagicalBrony]

Good chapter, its nice that the story got 'mellowed' out for a small amount of time and fits in nicely. I do want to point out a few things however.
The fear of thunder was a bit of a hit and miss for me. I can see what you where trying to do but it could have been done using a better medium and to me it seems out of character for 228 to cry, as well as 228's fear of thunder just kind of bleeding off with no other reference to it throughout the chapter.
Like the addition of a bit of comedic relief although once again could have been done better in my opinion, I personally would have gone with a clap of thunder startled 228 enough so he was hanging off the ceiling by his claws, or something along those lines instead of referring to something that would never be thought of in Equestia, nudity taboo.
Interesting to see some normal conversation after almost non-stop action so far in the story, maybe add in some light dialog relating to each of the conversation topics mentioned, such as "It was a good movie but it would have been cooler if they used the real Wonder Bolts"- Rainbow Dash, in reference to Dashs' topic of going to the movies. Something like that would have gotten me more immersed in the story and split up that bulky paragraph.
"They’d had to drag him back to her house" curios as to why he had to be dragged when there where two unicorns, one a magical prodigy, that are adapt if not masters at telekinesis.
All in all a good chapter, it flowed well from one scene to the next with very small hiccups in the transition between scenes and I look forward to reading more.

[Dustchu]

228 and Celestia... I ship it.

How will this go,. How will it go.

Keep it up!