Nisarga

by RhetCon

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As I remember, it started about 15,000 years ago, back when humans still walked the Earth.The message was clear in my head even back then: survival’s a hard thing to do .

My... eating habits started with a drunk man who stumbled home from a bar just to pass out on his bed later. I couldn’t remember anything before that, but instinct still led me to be able to feed myself. I leaned down to his corpse and put my hand on his back. After a few seconds of quiet, my mind and body were re-invigorated, and my strength grew. I felt as if a small person was attached to me, not literally, but figuratively.

At this time, humans still walked the Earth. A war for natural resources killed most of them off, and the others left the planet as it became severely radioactive. Other life forms started to develop in their place, one of them was what I was now.

My skin, which was now covered in fur, was cobalt blue with yellow stripes crossing it every now and again. My hair was an electric yellow similar to my stripe color, and my eyes were a blue similar to my coat. I had hands, but no feet, replaced by hooves. On the middle of my forehead there was a horn.

As of now, I resided on the streets of a city. The residents, although they might look like it, don’t refer to themselves as humans, and I was sure they didn’t know that they used to exist. They were ponies, and there was no convincing them otherwise.

As for the city, it was called Ponyville, one of the many pony themed names of the land they inhabit, Equestria.The highlight of this town was a massive crystal castle in the city. I heard it belonged to a princess, but I’ve never been there myself to confirm it. The reason I ended up in this city was because of it’s population of ponies.

This particular day, I was at a cafe drinking a cappuccino. Three girls walked in, one of them with a white coat who caught my eye. They all walked to the register where they ordered three drinks. They decided to sit at my table, taking the last three chairs that completed it.

I took a sip of my drink just as the last one sat down. This girl had a orange coat of fur, a purple mane and an eye color to match. She was the one to look in my direction first.

“You know,” said the purple maned girl. “It’s nice to have a cup of coffee with you girls. It’s been too long.” she picked up her cup and slightly sipped the cup, her wings fluttering afterwards. “This is really good!”

“Yeah, I know.” said the girl next to her and across from me in a southern-like accent. She had a coat akin to the inside of an apple, a red mane, and brown eyes. “Y’all should come over to Ponyville more often.”

“I would Applebloom, but I’m kind of a big deal up in Cloudsdale. If I don’t keep the Rainbow Factory open, the skies won’t look as cool as they do now.” She took a slightly bigger sip than last time. “Work has completely taken over our old personalities, hasn’t it?”

“Definitely,” said the last girl, talking for the first time. Her coat was a bright white, her hair was pink and purple, and her eyes were a bright green. “I certainly thought I’d be with you girls all my life, but apparently not.” Her cup was surrounded by a green aura and lifted to her mouth, where she took a long swig unlike her friends. “Speaking of which, how long are you here for Scootaloo?” At that name, the orange maned one looked towards the ceiling and put on a face of thought.

“I’m not sure. I think about 2 more weeks.” She rubbed the back of her head. “I’m sure Dashie told me something like that.” The pony next to her laughed.

“Ah’m sure that if I missed something Applejack told me to do, ah’d be scolded for a whole week.” She gulp her drink down in one shot,sitting back in her chair afterwards. “But enough talking about responsibilities. Let’s go do sumthin’ fun!” The white coat mare cleared her throat and gained her friends attention.

“You know my policies,” she finished off her drink next, placing it right in front of me. “Nothing that will inebriate me, okay? I may be taking vacation, but I’d like to know what I’ve done over it.”

“Yeah yeah, I promise that you won’t get fatally drunk, Sweetie Belle.” she finished off her drink next and ascended from her chair. “Anyway, lets go. We’ve got a lot ahead of us.”

“Looks like that’s my cue as well,” I said arising from my chair. “I hope you enjoy yourself, Ms. Belle.” I got up and drank the last of the cappuccino. Putting the cup in the trash, I proceeded out the door and into the light of the day, as early as can be. “Looks like I’ll need to do something while I wait.” I looked towards the center of town where the markets were. Seeing nothing else better to do, I went to over to the markets to spend the rest of my day.

Other than a few signs advertising an eating contest, some really fashionable clothes, and a cider stand, nothing really caught my eye. I tried a few things to eat and, although they were delicious, they weren’t enough to fill me up like a soul would.

It was far past 3 o'clock when Sweetie Belle walked back into her home, a large building called the Carousel Boutique, probably exhausted from her day out on the town. When she walked into her house, I was having tea in the kitchen just outside the foyer. She walked past me, her steps heavy and loud as they echoed through her house. She was dissuaded from taking a shower and probably thought it best to push it to tomorrow, unaware that she wouldn’t have that much time.

She walked into her room and left the door open behind her. She slowly undressed until she was in nothing but a bra and a pair of frilly white panties. She put on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and plopped down onto her bed. I walked into the door she’d unconsciously left open, and knelt next to her bed. Before I got down to business, I observed the room she had. It was plain aside from the light blue wall color, a few bits of furniture here and there including a desk littered with papers, and a bed of course.

She looked directly at me before turning over and turning off the light, shrouding the room in darkness. Without any further ado, I placed my hand gently on her back. I concentrated for a few seconds before feeling the normal re-invigoration I always felt when I ate. After opening my eyes, I found that I’d successfully taken her soul.

“Great,” I said to myself. “So, I hear that Manehattan is chock full of ponies.” I got up from my knee and started heading to the door. “Maybe I’ll hide there for a couple of-”

Suddenly, I fell to my knees, unable to gather the strength to stand. I couldn’t tell what was happening until I felt something rise from my insides. I started to gag and finally coughed up a green wisp of light. Without pause, it flew behind me and returned to its original body, the shock enough to wake her from her sleep.

“What the-” she said before going silent. I couldn’t see her face, as I was sweating and gagging on the floor. “Who are you?”

Too many things started happening at once. Soul after soul started pouring from my body, each one forcefully ripping itself from my body. A few seconds later, a loud voices started playing in my head, some screams and some legitimate speech. Some of them I recognized as last words. Finally, after it was all over, I lay face down on the wood floor of the room, sweating profoundly and my mind eerily clear.

I stayed where I was, unable to offer even the smallest explanation of what just happened. A few seconds later, a voice popped into my head.

“What to do, what to do?” it said followed by a pacing. “What is he even doing in here, anyway?!”

“Am I losing my mind?” I asked aloud. “What am I hearing?!” The voice popped up in my head again.

“What’s with this guy? Is he actually losing his mind?!” this voice came with a sigh. “I-I guess I have to go talk to this guy sooner or later.” I felt a hand touch my shoulder and startled at it’s touch. This time, she actually used her words.

“Are you alright? How did you get in here?” My breath increased rapidly and I tried to stand. My body was not so compliant and made me collapse on the floor. After a bit of elbow grease, she got me into a sitting position. “Can you talk?” My eyes got heavy with the sleep that once plagued Ms. Belle, and it became impossible to stay awake. I closed my eyes for what I think was the best night sleep I ever had.

My day was going pretty well. I got to spend some time with my friends, I got to eat some good food, have a great time…

Then someone collapsed in my room.

His entrance surprised me. When I woke, all I heard was gagging and the sound of wind rushing past me. Then I felt something in my chest similar to getting pelted with rocks. The worst part was the silence afterwards. Afterwards, my chest felt like it was stuffed with wet towels, there was an eerie silence. The only sound to assure myself I didn’t go deaf was a heavy breathing right in front of me.

The first thing that came to me was a question. What was he doing here and why? I did my signature “mental pacing” to help calm my mind.

“Am I losing my mind? What am I hearing?” he said aloud. My next thought was that he was insane. I’d definitely not heard any other noise in the house. I sighed, knowing that sooner or later I'd need to confront him. I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder gently.

"Are you alright? How did you get in here?" He didn't respond and instead tried to get up. Before being able to, he collapsed onto the floor. After trying my hardest to lift him, I finally got him to sit upright on the wall.

"Can you talk?" I asked, confused with his silence. He started to breath normally, his eyes slowly closing. After only a few seconds, he was completely asleep. The room fell silent. I did the only thing I thought was appropriate in that situation.

“What to do, what to do…” I said pondering the situation. Every time I closed my eyes, I thought of the same image in my head. It was a… thing that looked like a spirit with a white wispy tail for legs, ghostly white “skin” and radiant baby blue eyes.

Soon, I couldn’t take it anymore and said “I can’t think!” Then, the image in my head started to talk.

“Uh… hello?” he said, his eyes focusing in on me. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” His words may have been calm, but I definitely wasn’t.

“Am I okay?! No, frankly, I am as far away from ‘okay’ as physically possible!” His eyes darted to the floor. “Who, or what, are you?!” A nervous silence reigned in my room once again. I took a deep and shaky breath. “Sorry. Just start with telling me your name.”

“M-my name is Bumi… a-and yours? I mean, I already know but I um… uh-”

“It’s fine, just tell me,” I said . “What were you doing in my room?”

“I was…” he paused, probably uncertain of what to say next. “I was... I was about to… eat your soul.” before I could even react, he stopped me. “I’m sorry and I completely understand if you want to freak out-”

“You were about to do what?!” I yelled, half furiously, half fearfully. “You were going to kill me! Is this some kind of sick joke?!”

“Ms. Belle, please calm down-”

No! I will not calm down!” I was getting more and more angry and scared by the second. “Think about my situation! I want to go to sleep but no, some guy just passes out on my floor and sends some kinda magic into me, making me talk to him-”

“Actually, I didn’t make you talk-”

“And then, when I see what you actually look like, I see a freaking ghost?! No, no, do not talk to me about being calm, Bumi, because if you were in my shoes, I’d bet you’d need a change of underwear before long!” Just then, a loud voice saying my name echoed close to me, enough to make me open my eyes in shock.

The stallion was awake and had one of his hands on my shoulder and the other over my mouth.

"Sorry to be so physical, Ms. Belle," he said softly. "But if you continue to yell, you'll wake up the whole neighborhood." He removed his hands and backed up, allowing for a better view of himself.

His coat was an interesting blend of blue and yellow, his hair was yellow and his eyes were blue. He looked down on me as if he was counting on me to say something. I could only think about the events that happened.

"Um..." he said calling attention to himself. "I guess I'll be going then."

"Wait a second," I said without thinking. I was terrified of this man and even more terrified of what associating with him could do to me. Although all of these things weighed down my decision, I looked him in the eye and said, “It’s obvious we now have some sort of connection o-or something. I’ll need you to stay around until I find out exactly what it was.”

“Are you positive, Ms. Belle? Are you not still angry at me?” he said, his words very soft and innocent. Reminding me of myself when I was younger, I stood up to meet face to face with him.

“I wasn’t really angry, just scared. Now that I’ve gotten a little used to the situation, I’m ready to talk to you like a normal pony, er... ghost?” I walked in front of him and towards my dresser. “I’m not going back to sleep now. Might as well stay up.”

“I’m sorry to have bothered you Ms. Belle,” he said bowing his head towards me. “I don’t mean to mess up your night.”

“Oh don’t worry about it,” I said pulling off my pajamas and pulling up a skirt. “And if you’re going to be staying, call me Sweetie Belle.” I kept on my t-shirt and looked at the clock. It was 4:25 in the morning and there was nothing else I thought to do in my house, so I opened the door to my room and motioned towards the man in my there, Bumi. “Well? Are you coming or not?”

“Uh, yes Ms. Be- I mean Sweetie Belle,” he said as he scurried towards me and the door. I took my key of of the table and closed the door behind us.