Trust Me

by CluelessBrony

Discovery

Applebloom was the only one to notice the the streak in the sky falling into the forest.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had been dragging a small cage through the Everfree forest, intent on capturing a rare forest beast in an attempt to earn their Cutie Marks. The idea had been proposed by Scootaloo, and after some convincing on her part, the Crusaders decided it had been worth a shot. After all, the small risk of dying in the Everfree was worth a lifetime of Cutie Marks.

Sweetie Belle had been the one to suggest they borrow a cage from Fluttershy. She had lots of cages, she reasoned, and wouldn't mind if one went missing for just a few hours. Besides, Fluttershy would forgive them and forget about it when she saw their cool new beast-catching Cutie Marks.

The three friends had been wandering a small ways past Zecora's tree home when Applebloom noticed the streak of fire in the sky. Her two friends would have seen it, too, if they hadn't been so busy bickering.

"But how are we gonna catch a cockatrice if we can't even look at it?" Sweetie Belle was saying. "We should find something nice, like a jackalope!"

Scootaloo groaned and rolled her eyes. "Because cockatrices are scary and cool, but jackalopes are cute and fuzzy-wuzzy! I want a cool Cutie Mark, not a... fuzzy-wuzzy one!" Scootaloo made a gagging motion to emphasize her displeasure in the idea.

As the two argued over animals they likely would never find, Applebloom was keeping watch around them, the eeriness of the forest getting to her. She was nervous, and rightfully so, as the forest was a dangerous place, even for those who had been there before. Applebloom was thankful to be so close to Zecora's home. The wise zebra was an expert at surviving the dark, creepy Everfree forest, and Applebloom found solace in the idea of running to her if they needed help.

As she surveyed the land around her, lagging slightly behind her two friends, she saw it- something fiery and bright falling through the clouds. "Hey, girls, look at that!" she exclaimed, pointing to it through a gap in the trees.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle didn't hear her, too immersed in their argument. Applebloom, in her fearful curiosity, didn't notice that her two friends continued down the forest path without her. "C'mon girls, let's go check it out! Maybe it's a meteorite?" she wondered allowed, running deeper into the forest, her fear of the unknown being overpowered by her curiosity.

The fiery object left her field of view, sinking below the forest canopy, and was immediately followed by a faint crashing noise. "We're almost there, girls!" Applebloom called out to her two friends, unaware she was alone. "Maybe we'll get our Cutie Marks in astronomy!"

She could smell smoke, now, and she knew she was close. It was just behind a small line of bushes, directly in her path. She charged at it, full speed, and jumped over the bushes. "Yee-haw!" she cried, emulating what her big sister said when practicing for the rodeo competitions she participated in. Her cry was cut short when she reached the other side of the bush and saw what lay before her.

On the other side of the bush was a gigantic canyon, with a river at the bottom that was surrounded on all sides by lush, green trees. Applebloom let out a scream and moved her legs as though trying to run back, but to no avail. She fell.

The wind whipped past her face as she plummeted down into the canyon. Her eyes started to water so she closed them, protecting her eyes from the wind and stopping her from seeing her inevitable demise.

With a splash, she landed in the river below and sunk like a stone straight to the bottom. She opened her eyes and instinctively tried taking a breath of air, but covered her mouth before she could. Her lungs were burning- she hadn't been able to breath while falling, and she desperately wanted for air.

Applebloom pushed herself off riverbed, swimming as hard as she could. She burst out of the water and gasped for air. "Girls, help!" she cried out as the river pulled her along with it. She desperately fought to keep her head above water as the river pulled at her, trying its hardest to drag her down to the bottom once more.

Ahead of her, a rock protruded from the river and she grabbed onto it as she passed, clutching on to its slippery surface. She managed to heave herself up on top of it, where she lay panting, all of her energy drained.

After a few moments of rest, she wiped a few strands of wet mane out of her face and looked around. "G-girls?" she called out, searching for her friends. "Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!" Her voice echoed off the ravine canyon wall, unanswered.

The smell of smoke once more assaulted her and she turned her head to the side. Beside the river, a smoking crater scarred the landscape, its inhabitant releasing a plume of black smoke into the sky. Applebloom stood up on wobbly legs and hopped from the rock to the riverbank before slowly, cautiously moving towards the crater.

Inside the crater laid the strangest meteorite Applebloom had ever seen. It was a dark, navy blue in colour, and was made up of flat, angular plates. A few bright cyan lights flickered here and there on the meteorite's surface.

Applebloom cautiously approached the object. She would be the first to admit that she didn't know much about space rocks, but she was pretty sure there was something wrong with this one. She quickly gave it a light tap and jumped back, only to be surprised when the object produced a metallic 'ting' sound. What kind of meteorite was made of metal?

A shuffle of leaves and the snapping of a twig. Applebloom whirled around, eyes wide, expecting to come face to face with a timberwolf or some other dangerous creature. She wished her friends were here. They were the ones that had the cage.

However, instead of being assaulted by a sharp-toothed, pointy-clawed, filly-eating monster, she saw a strange-looking creature, slightly resembling a pony, crawling out from a bush.

The creature had navy blue skin and was completely furless. It was shaped like the princesses, if the princesses had much longer and thinner legs. A smooth horn jutted out from its forehead, and it reminded Applebloom of the princesses' long horns. Unlike the princesses, its sides were bare of wings and it lacked a Cutie Mark on its flank. Applebloom noted the creature's eyes. The bright cyan eyes had no pupils, which gave the creature a creepy appearance.

As Applebloom stared on in shock, the creature extended one hoof out to her and opened its mouth, letting out a raspy sound. It repeated the sound again, and again, and again, before rolling onto its side, gasping for air.

Applebloom slowly moved toward it, taking note of its light grey belly. "Are you alright?" she asked warily, her voice low. "Do- do ya' need help?"

The creature responded to her questions by trying to push itself away from her, but it lacked the energy to do so and only managed to get a few inches further.

"I'm not gonna hurt you!" Applebloom said, her uneasiness replaced with worry for the creature. It was trying to get away from her, after all, so it was more afraid of her than she was of it. "Trust me."

The creature either didn't believe her or didn't understand her. It kept trying to escape, but its wounds made it impossible for it to escape. It said something in a language Applebloom didn't recognize.

Applebloom sat down to think. Should she go find help? Surely Applejack would be able to do something to help the poor thing. Maybe she would go find Twilight and get her to help, too. Twilight was a Princess, and if a Princess couldn't do anything to help the creature, nopony could.

But the creature was scared enough as it was. If she brought Applejack and Twilight along, the creature might just die of a fear-induced heart attack. No, she couldn't bring anypony to help it, not yet. Which meant the creature's well-being fell into her hooves.

Or did it? Surely she didn't have a responsibility to risk her own safety to help the creature. The thing could be dangerous. Maybe it was a trap, and it wanted to get her to come and try to help it so it could eat her up. Or maybe it would wait until she helped it get back into ship shape and then attack? She could already hear what Applejack would say if she found out. 'Now that was a plum stupid thing you did, risking yourself like that! Just what in tarnation were ya' thinkin'?'

But how would she see herself after that? How would she see herself if she found this injured creature, alone and scared, and left it behind? She tried putting itself into its horseshoes. No, she couldn't just leave it. She couldn't condemn it to death just because she was afraid. Just because it was different.

Besides, she might get her Cutie Mark in animal rescue.

When Applebloom focused once more on the creature, she saw that it had moved a slight bit. It was no facing the large metal meteorite, staring at a certain spot. After a quick glance she managed to find what it was looking at- a large hole in the front of the object. The inside of the object was too dark to see, except when a shower of sparks erupted from the torn metal.

"Do you want to go in there?" Applebloom asked the creature.

She received no response.

"Well, I don't think I'm strong enough to carry you all the way over there..." she said. "What's so special about that thing, anyway?"

Applebloom cautiously approached the opening, wary of the falling sparks. Inside of the object was the strangest room she had ever seen. A chair sat in the middle, mostly detached from the now destroyed floor. All around it were strange objects covered with glowing cyan lights and buttons. Applebloom wearily crawled up, careful not to cut herself on the sharp, twisted metal.

Applebloom took a closer look at the warped metal devices and strange panels adorning the interior of the object. All the metal was painted a dark blue, much like the creature that seemed to have accompanied it. Applebloom spotted a large button, directly beside the chair, and pushed it, hoping the button would somehow grant her insight on what, exactly, the object was.

She let out a disappointed sigh when nothing happened. Surely the largest button in the place was supposed to do something important? She shrugged and continued looking around, ignoring all the other buttons.

Applebloom was about to give up on her investigation when a small object caught her eye. It was lying underneath a device that was hanging haphazardly on the wall by strings of varying colours, half hidden from view. It must have been sent flying when the object landed.

Applebloom leaned down and picked it up. It was a strange thing that reminded her a bit of a bird. A bottle-sized cylinder of metal, with a flat part in the middle that made it easier to grip in her teeth. On one end, what reminded her of a saxophone mouthpiece protruded, reminding her of the unpleasant time she and her friends had while trying to get their jazz musician Cutie Marks. On the sides, two small, wing-like protrusions resembling a bird's outstretched wings.

Applebloom surveyed the room one last time before clambering up over the hole in the object and bringing the device back to the creature. She dropped the device in front of it. "This is all ah could find," she explained to it.

The creature stared at the device for a few moments, as though it expected it to explode. When it didn't, the creature looked up at Applebloom, its hesitance now replaced with curiosity.

"It's yours, isn't it? Ah don't know if it'll help you much, but it's all ah could find."

The creature looked down at the device once more. It to hesitate for a moment, then grabbed the device greedily. With a grunt and an effort of will, it managed to sit up.

Applebloom moved up to it when she saw it trying to sit up on wobbly legs and helped steady it. "Careful! You're hurt," she remarked.

The creature ignored her, instead opting to pick up the device in its arms and fiddle with it for a moment, adjusting the wing-like protrusions, before turning it over and slamming the mouthpiece-end into the dirt. It sat back with a satisfied expression.

"Uh... alright then. Say, are you hungry? Ah could probably find somethin' to eat out in the woods," Applebloom offered. "My big sis says you gotta eat lots when you're trying to heal from being hurt!"

The creature just ignored her, continuing to stare at the device it had just planted in the ground. Applebloom shuffled her hooves awkwardly.

"So... do ya' have a place to stay now that your... thingy is all broken?" she asked. The creature turned its head to look at her for a moment, but didn't respond. "'Cause my barn is free, and it's got lots of hay for sleeping in. You're welcome to stay there until you're all better!"

The creature didn't respond. Before Applebloom could say anything else, a small beeping noise came from the ground in front of the creature. She looked down at the device the it had set down. A light on the side of the device had turned on, and the creature seemed happy. It lowered its head to the device, and a small spark jumped from the device to its horn, causing the light on the side of the machine to fade. Applebloom watched in awe as the creature's grey belly lit up with a similar cyan light.

"Uh, is it supposed to do that?" she asked, pointing, only to be once more ignored by the creature. To her surprise, the creature stood up with apparent ease, its long legs making it tower over her. It picked up the device in its mouth, wandered over to the crashed object and started inspecting it.

"Ah think it's broken," Applebloom helpfully provided. The creature turned to her and lowered its head.

"Do you speak at all?" Applebloom asked it.

The creature tilted its head.

"Do you even understand me?"

They stood there, watching each other. Just when Applebloom started to get nervous, the creature raised a hoof to its chest and said a word.

"Waz."

"Huh? Waz?" Applebloom asked, confused. "What's a waz?"

The creature made a tapping motion on its chest. "Waz." It repeated the gesture a few more times.

Applebloom nodded her head. "Ooohh, I get it! You're Waz! That's your name, right?" She tapped her own chest. "Applebloom!"

"Abblblum," the creature repeated, pointing at her.

She shook her head and tapped her chest again. "Applebloom," she said, enunciating each syllable clearly. "Applebloom."

Waz tried a few more times. "Abbleblume. Appleblume. A- Applebloom."

"That's right, you've got it!" Applebloom exclaimed. "Good job!"

Applebloom looked up at the sky. The sun had almost set, and the shadows on the ground were growing. She knew it wasn't a good idea to stay in the Everfree at night. She looked back at her new friend.

"Hey, Waz, we should go," she told him. "The forest is dangerous at night."

Waz cocked his head, almost seeming to understand what she was saying. Applebloom smiled back.

"C'mon, this way!" she said, trotting off in the direction she believe Ponyville to be. Waz followed along obediently, having nothing better to do.

The two set off into the woods as the shadows grew behind them.