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Chapter One1,054 words
Chapter Two2,306 words
Chapter Three3,437 words

Chapter One

Chapter One

Wherein the Cat-Thing is Brought Home

Coco Pommel had been having such a good day until a few minutes ago. She jumped and barely held back a cry when thunder erupted above her. She couldn’t believe that in the midst of talking with her friend, she’d completely forgotten about the scheduled storm!

And then there were the new... creatures roaming the streets.

Coco did her best to ignore the strange creatures that were now running about the streets in addition to the other ponies, but she couldn’t help but stare at a few of them. There were some birds that were blue, red, and white; some strange, overly-large ponies with manes on fire that were cowering together under both mundane and magical shelter, provided by some kind ponies; but the strangest ones of all were the little and not-so-little blue turtle-like beings that were dancing in the pouring rain.

As far as Coco was concerned, it was all just something to consider when she got home to her apartment. And sat down with a cup of nice hot cocoa full of those lovely little marshmallows. She smiled just thinking about it -- but her smile vanished and she halted in her tracks when an annoyingly large raindrop landed dead-center in her eye.

“Ack! Oh gosh!” Blinking rapidly, Coco was able to focus on the sidewalk before her without the water in her eye. She thanked Celestia when the front landing to her apartment finally came into view, and right as she reached for the key hidden in her collar, she paused at the glow coming from the corner of her eye.

It was by far the saddest looking creature Coco Pommel had possibly ever seen.

It had small yellow rings covering its flanks, forelegs, forehead, and on both its ears and tail. From the way they were dimly glowing, Coco could only assume that it was natural for them to do so, and perhaps to be able to glow even brighter. But that wasn’t what nearly broke Coco’s heart; no, it was the way this little black-and-yellow cat-like creature was curled up on the front step of her apartment complex.

It was clearly doing its damndest to stay both dry and out of the way of the tenants for the building, but with the way it kept shivering, it was clear to Coco that it wasn’t having much luck staying warm. Not to mention she could clearly see how soaked its fur was from where she was. Coco bit her lip for a moment, before gently heaving the small black creature onto her back.

She was rather surprised by how heavy it was, but Coco still managed to force the front door open, and she still somehow managed to make it all the way to her apartment on the fourth floor before gently placing the cat-like creature on her couch. It took her only a moment to grab her best towel.

Coco was as gentle as she could be, using the fluffy towel to carefully dry the poor creature. As she worked, it seemed to be steadily warming up to a safer temperature, and it slowly woke up from its fetal position.

“Umbre?” It - he, according to the, ah, glance Coco had accidentally gotten while drying his fur. “Bree?”

Coco may not have been able to understand exactly what he was saying, but she still blushed. “Ah, um... I found you outside soaked from the rain, and um, I brought you inside to dry you off.”

The cat-like creature blinked, and for a moment, Coco wondered if he understood her -- but then he nodded to her, smiling gratefully to her. Coco smiled in return, and finished her work fairly soon. As she did, she was somewhat surprised to find that those yellow rings of his were glowing much brighter than before.

It took Coco Pommel several minutes to completely dry off the glowing cat. When she finished, she hung the towel on the drying rack in her bathroom, and she came out, Coco was somewhat surprised to find the cat sitting in front of the window and staring out at the moon and stars. At first, Coco thought he was just interested in the sky; but then she saw his ears flatten against his skull, and his tail sagged.

“Are you alright?”

He jumped and spun around, making Coco jump as well. Just as she was about to apologize for surprising him, she watched as he grew depressed again, and shook his head. He turned to look out over the city again, resting his head on the windowsill.

Coco couldn’t help but feel her heart ache at seeing her new friend look so down, so she came over to him and gently placed a hoof on his shoulder. He looked up at her, wondering what it is she wanted.

“Um, listen...” Coco began. “Um... I don’t know what’s got you so sad, but if you’d like, you can stay with me for a few nights...?”

For a moment, the black and yellow cat just sat there, looking at her, and it made her wonder if she’d said something wrong. Then, he smiled gratefully and nuzzled her cheek, to which she smiled in return. Coco grabbed a small spare blanket from her closet, and laid it over the couch for him to snuggle up on, before bidding her new friend good night.

Even as Coco curled up on her own bed and under her covers, her mind could only wander and think over the day’s strange events. It had been a relatively normal day; Coco was finally starting to take commissions from some of the ponies of Manehatten, something she thanked Celestia and Luna for daily, so that she could finally pay her bills. She had even come across one of her good friends today and set up a small lunch date for tomorrow.

But then these odd creatures had shown up. They were all so... different. But if the one out in her living room was any indication, they were also friendly and kind.

Coco Pommel smiled to herself as she finally drifted off to sleep, eager to see where tomorrow would take her and her new friend...

Author's Note:

Here is the bandwagon. Here I am jumping on it. Fear this bandwagon. For it shall never die.

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