Drifting Away

by ANearPerfectStudent

New Surroundings

“It doesn’t matter how many times you leave, it will always hurt to come back and remember what you once had and who you once were. Then it will hurt just as much to leave again, and so it goes over and over again. Once you’ve started to leave, you will run your whole life.”
― Charlotte Eriksson

-o-0-O-0-o-

I groaned softly as I rolled, turning my body from one side to the other. A sharp pain hit my lower back and I could feel my back arching from the pain. My eyes shot open instinctively as I clutched the source of the pain. My hooves pressed into something soft and sticky. I gazed down, noticing a wrapping around my lower body, a green plaster drying around my one side.

What had happened?

Last I remember, I was- My head shot up, though I winced at the pain once more shooting through my sides. My friends! We were in the middle of casting a spell when… I glanced around; my surroundings weren’t familiar at all. A cloth wall surrounded me, no doubt a tent. It was littered with various pots, a few metal tools, and the straw mattress I was laying on.

Where was I, the Everfree? Somewhere in the plains with the Buffalo? Nowhere in Ponyville, obviously. I sniffed around; there was no sweet smell of Sugarcube Corner, only a stark earthy scent in the air.

“Hello?” I asked tentatively.

There was a yelp from outside the tent, followed by a shuffling around, moving things about. ""Finally awake, heh… It’s about damn time,"" someone grumbled from outside.

The cloth flap opened, blinding me momentarily as a gryphon entered the tent. As I adjusted to the light, the figure sighed, sealing up the flap behind her. She stretched for a moment before settling next to me on the straw bedding and turned to face me. She was clicking her talons together, her hawk-like eyes looking over my form.

""You should consider yourself lucky I found you in time, or you probably wouldn't have survived. How are you feeling?"" While her chirps were lost on me, she also placed out her fist, pointing at me before curling her thumb up and then down.

“I-” My voice died into a fit of heavy coughs, and I pressed my hoof against my throat.

I groaned, cracking my neck several times as I twisted my head over to get a better glance at the gryphon. I could hear two voices, though they sounded identical. One was merely a series of chirps and caws, while the other sounded like a pony. If my studies under Celestia were correct, those were the tell-tale signs of the old runic translation spells.

She seemed relatively young, maybe twenty years, a little younger than I was. Her feathers were ruffled, stained with trails of mud running from and over her beak. Twigs and leaves were embedded between her feathers. She didn’t seem to mind any of them, however, the drying coat over her feathers telling me she hadn’t washed in weeks, maybe longer.

“Who-” My rasping was cut off again by my own dry hacking. My throat felt like AJ had bucked me in the side. I coughed before she tossed something against my face. A waterskin flopped against my snout, landing perfectly on the bridge of my nose. I ignored the snort of amusement from my counterpart before I tried to take it in my magic.

The container flopped onto the ground and with it, my forehead started to ache. I clutched my head.

""Stupid pony, can’t you feel you’ve damaged your wellspring?"" the gryphon grunted, reaching over to pop the opening into my jaws and pour the refreshing liquid down my throat. ""Did your parents ever teach you what a burn out even is?""

I pulled the bottle from my mouth, giving it back to her as I coughed once again, this time to clear my throat. “Who are you? Where am I? What happened!?” I croaked, resting my head once more as I kept my gaze onto her, choosing to ignore her remark.

""Ahahah, you are quite the curious one, aren’t you? I am Ker’iah, the alchemist of the Gyr’via,"" she said, rolling her eyes slightly as she held her talons against her breast feathers sarcastically. ""Or I was until the Asa’alani came. As for the where and what, I can not say for certain. You were practically dead when I found you, and you’ve been in a coma for the last month and a half. You’ve been my pet project since I made my new home in the forest.""

“W-will I get my magic back?” I asked, looking up cross-eyed to my horn, worried. It was my talent, even my cutiemark. I yelped in surprise as she flicked her talon against my cheek.

""Listen, the damage to your wellspring will heal naturally, as long as you aren’t an idiot and use your magic like you just tried to. Just like all wounds, you must not stand on a broken leg before it is healed,"" she said, gesturing to my body idly.

I gazed down at my body as she spoke, examining myself closer now that I was awake. Indeed, underneath my coat, I could see small scars and scabs between fur; a particularly terrifying three scars ran along my underbelly. She seemed to notice my attention being drawn to the markings.

""Mmm, lucky, you are… If I had shown up any later, if that beast had struck you any deeper, or any higher, even the best healers couldn’t have saved you. You must have the goddesses’ blessing, Ms…""

“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”

""Yes, yes, Sparkle,"" She shook her head. ""You must have been touched by a goddess, with your luck.""

“Don’t feel lucky... I feel like one of my friends bucked my head halfway through a wall.” I flicked my eyes to the side, trying to take my focus off the scars.

Ker’iah laughed, leaning closer against me so that our bodies pressed against each other. It was warm; I liked it, it reminded me of home. Home… “Have you ever heard of Equestria? The princesses Celestia and Luna?”

""Hmm, I take it Equestria is where you are from, Sparkle?"" I nodded.

""I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it, nor seen it before, but those names are remarkably similar to... Celestia and Luna, you said? Sun and Moon? We call them Helio and Diana. The eternal couple. We tell the tale of the two lovers, two gryphons of immeasurable strength. One whose very magic could melt stones and the other who painted the night sky with a brush of stars. Each seeking their pair, circling the Earth in a futile attempt to catch up with the other, I assume.""

“Yes, that is... something like them. They are the pony princesses who raise and lower the sun and the moon each day. Celestia was my mentor growing up,” I said, rubbing my head sheepishly.

""I was correct, you have been quite the blessed being then. Years under her wing must have given you luck for lifetimes."" She pulled her bags onto her, looking through them for a moment before pulling out a jar of a greenish paste. Scoping a claw full of it, she set the bottle to the side and leaned over, starting to smear it against the wounds.

I winced, feeling the sting as it seeped into my wounds. The gryphon was working quickly, grabbing a green-stained cloth and pressing it on top of the paste. ""Medicine. You have taken well to the mixture.""

She murmured something, moving herself so that her feathers pressed against my body, her wing wrapping around my back. I shivered softly, a small blush on my face as I felt her feathers rustle over my back.

She seemed to notice this and chuckled softly, shaking her head. ""The Nekans jungle is not a friendly place for civilization, Sparkle. Fires attract parasitic insects, beasts, and monsters alike. The only warmth we will be finding at night is each other.""

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” I said, sighing once again. Her warmth was reminding me of just how tired I was. I could feel her heart beating as my head started to lean against her, even as she rested her head on mine.

Soon, the tent was starting to dim, the firefly lantern dying off as Ker’iah adjusted the knob below, slowly letting it fade into our surroundings; a peaceful black that was only disturbed by the shining eyes of my new acquaintance.

The night would not be quiet, or peaceful. As I would soon learn, the jungle was always alive, from the caws and hoots of the birds to the rustle of the leaves, whether from the beasts that made their homes here or the winds.

I had so many questions. Perhaps the shock of everything was numbing my mind right now; I hadn’t even bothered to think of my friends. Ker’iah had said a month had passed… I hoped they were still alright and not all too worried.

-o-0-O-0-o-

That first night after I had woken from the coma was something different, to say the least. I distinctly recall my sleepover with Rarity and Applejack while I’m remembering that night. The closeness of another body pressing against mine, in hindsight, was probably what got me through that night. Feeling Ker’iah’s body wrapping around mine held my fragile mind together, taking me away from all the pain and suffering.

I don’t know what I would have done without her. She became my rock, where my friends and mentor had once been*. It wouldn’t be the perfect fit like they had been, but she filled the void as well as any pony, or creature for that matter, could have ever done.

*Friends, if you are the ones reading this journal, I swear I didn’t replace you… I just needed someone to latch onto, to make me forget, and to make me focus on the present and not what I had lost. You’ve all held such a dear spot in my heart, especially you, Spike.

-o-0-O-0-o-

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading the first chapter of Drifting Away! Feel free to leave comments and more below, I love to get some more feedback on the story!

Real author's note:
"," means equine speach.
"","" means translated gryph speach.
-This will be better explained in chapter 5

Comments

[Commander Darklight]

interesting i asume this is some form of test to see if twilight will ascend when she returns if she returns

[Fistfire]

Intriguing to say the least.
I have a question, why did you use double double-quotes?

[Fistfire]

Your story has been accepted into the Good Grammar Directory.
 
Congratulations! 

[ANearPerfectStudent]

8231070

Thank you for accepting my story!

[Ray MorningLight]

At least she don't forget spike