To Err is Equine

by RLYoshi

2: Cliché Introductions

I tried to keep hidden as I went through Ponyville, staying in bushes and hiding behind houses so ponies wouldn't freak out at the sight of me. I decided it would be best to talk to Twilight, get her on my side, then reveal myself to the public. If I did it the other way around, then I'd make a bad first impression. And if Twilight heard about some 'monster invading town' then she'd freak out at the sight of me and never listen.

Her tree house was much bigger than it appeared in the show, though part of that could be attributed to the fact that I was now about four feet tall. I waited until nopony was strolling around in front (took about half an hour), swallowed nervously, and trotted out into the open. With nopony around, I relaxed a bit, and knocked on the purple unicorn's door. I didn't hear any voices or hoofsteps, so I knocked again, this time a bit louder.

"Spike! Get the door!" the famous voice of Tara Strong's called.

"Alright, alright," another voice grumbled, and I heard steps coming towards the door. The knob turned, and the wooden door opened. I braced myself for the inevitable scream and door slam.

Spike appeared in the doorway, looking no different than he did in the show – well, he was a bit taller, but I attributed that to me being shorter and some time passing. He still had the same purple skin, green scales, clawed hands – you already know what he looks like.

He was also wide-eyed in fear. And then he was gone, replaced by the door, vibrating from being shut so quickly.

"Saw that coming a mile away," I sighed.

"Spike? What's wrong?" Twilight asked from inside. He responded with incoherent stammering. "Who's at the door?" More stammering. Bored, I knocked again. "Coming!"

The door swung open in a purple glow, and Twilight herself walked into my vision. I waved nervously, expecting her to react just like Spike did.

"A...who...I..." the purple unicorn stuttered, staring at me.

"Hi?" I broke in. She gasped.

"Oh Celestia, it talks!" She backed away in fear. Or awe. One or the other.

"Yes, I do," I replied, annoyance evident in my tone. "Before you freak out, I'm not gonna hurt you, your friends, or anypony for that matter. Long story short, I don't know anything about myself aside from name and species, so I'm here to try and settle in for a while before finding some answers. I'll explain the whole story later."

Twilight seemed surprised by my little monologue, but after a few seconds she motioned for me to come inside. I did, albeit hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. It's just I've never had a chance to study a Windigo before." She sat on a cushion and motioned for me to do the same. "Could you tell me a bit about yourself?"

What is she, a psychologist? "My name is Arrell, I'm a Windigo, and I have no idea how to use any of my powers aside from having a more powerful version of the Royal Canterlot Voice," I explained. I opted not to tell her about the whole 'human' thing just yet. I probably would eventually, but if I was going to tell her weird things, I'd rather have her on my side first.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle," she answered, though I already knew. Then she put a hoof to her chin, thinking. "Arrell...Arrell...isn't that Olde Equestrian?"

I blinked in confusion.

"It's an Olde Equestrian word, I think," she elaborated. Using her magic, she pulled out a nearby book from a bookshelf and flipped through it. "Yes, it is! It roughly translates to 'comeback'. It was used as a battle cry when the losing side in a war gained the advantage."

What.

"I don't know if it's significant of anything, but it's pretty interesting," she continued. She noticed my perplexed look and levitated the book back onto its shelf, a small blush forming. "Sorry, I got distracted there."

"Happens to the best of us," I replied. And the worst.

Before she could speak again, the feeling from before suddenly returned – the feeling of hatred. I managed to keep myself still this time, but it continued to try and draw me towards it. Twilight kept speaking, unaware that my attention was being forced elsewhere.

Finally, the feeling left, and I shook my head to clear my senses. Twilight was reading out loud from another book, apparently having gone on another tangent.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, cutting her off. "I wasn't paying attention."

She glared. "For how long?"

"Since I last spoke."

She facehoofed and sighed. "Basically, I was looking up information about Windigoes to see if I could find anything that didn't match between them and you, since I knew something was off."

"I have hind legs and my hooves look more normal," I answered for her.

"Oh, all Windigoes have hind legs," she said. "They just turn into the windy tail that they're known for when the Windigo flies, and return when they land."

That made sense. Still didn't explain my hooves. She seemed to anticipate me asking about them, and spoke before I could.

"As for the hooves, that could be because you're not at full power. Windigoes become stronger as they get older, and their shape changes as they become stronger. Young Windigoes look almost exactly like regular ponies, and it isn't until they're much older that they become more distinguishable."

I was understanding this, but what I didn't get was why this was all true. I mean, Windigoes had little to no explanation in the show; just that they were evil, flew without wings, controlled ice, and fed on hatred. Yet there was all this information that actually existed, and we never found out? Though to be fair, this probably wasn't the kind of thing little kids would understand.

"Though one thing that confuses me is your ability to talk," she continued. "Windigoes normally can't talk to anypony or anything outside their species." She thought for a moment. "Plus, they usually travel in packs, yet you're all alone. What's going on?"

"Until this morning, Twilight, I didn't even know I was a Windigo," I chuckled.

Her eyes widened. "How can you not notice something like that?!"

"No mirrors?" I offered sheepishly.

"Wouldn't you have noticed you were born in a place full of Windigoes and surrounded by them all the time?" she asked. Instantly, I realized I was trapped. I could either lie, which would come back to bite me on the plot real hard in the future, or tell the whole truth, which would bite me on the plot now. I elected to lie.

"The truth is, I can't really remember much of anything from the past," I said, making the story up as I went. "I woke up in the Everfree Forest this morning, but I can't remember much before that about myself. I know my name, but that's all I know." Quickly noticing a small contradiction, I added, "Though I can still remember some stuff about Equestria. Not everything, but bits and pieces."

Eating my excuse like lunch, Twilight smiled. "Well, don't worry. I can help you get settled in, then I'll write to Princess Celestia to see if she can help."

Everything's fixed like that? How Mary Sue can I get?!

Suddenly, the window was smashed to pieces as a blue blur flew in, tackling me to the floor. I felt my assailant stand up and groan in pain.

"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled, both in surprise and concern. "What happened?"

Now Rainbow Dash is here? What's next? Let me guess...whatever Rainbow was doing turns out to involve Applejack, who shows up in a few seconds to check on her, followed by Fluttershy coming in after seeing the crash to make sure nopony's hurt, Rarity looking to get help from Spike, and Pinkie Pie popping in because she's Pinkie Pie. That's the most cliché way to introduce the mane six, so of course it'd happen to me.

Before any of that could happen, Rainbow had jumped off of me and looked ready to fight. Apparently she saw me and thought I was dangerous. Acting on pure instinct, I cowered behind my front hooves and braced myself for a beating.

"Rainbow, wait!" Twilight's yelling didn't stop the pegasus from charging at me, grabbing me by the neck, and holding me up in the air.

"Let go," I gasped, trying to sound threatening, but it came out more of a plea.

"What are you doing here?!" she demanded, ignoring me.

"Rainbow, let him go!"

"Him? Him who?!"

"The pony you're holding!"

"Twilight, have those books made you blind?! It's not a pony! It's a Windigo!"

"I know, but he's not here to cause trouble!"

"Oh, you're just gonna take its word for it?"

"Yes! Now put him down!"

"Why? What's it gonna do if I don't? It can't-"

She didn't get any further, as she suddenly stopped, then fell to the floor shivering. Released from her grip, I took a second to get some air, then ran over to her to see what was wrong. Twilight was there before I was, even though I started out only a couple feet away.

"What the heck happened?" I asked.

"I don't..." Twilight trailed off, then suddenly realized something. "Oh, I know! You froze her!"

My eyes widened. "I what?!"

"You probably didn't mean to, but you must have subconsciously channeled your body to give off extreme amounts of cold air that forced her to let go and stopped her wings," she elaborated. "You were likely feeding on her hatred at the moment without even meaning to."

I looked down at Rainbow, who had passed out, but was clearly still cold. "Why is she freezing right now if I stopped, though?"

"Maybe you're still giving off the cold air?"

"If I was, wouldn't you be feeling it too?"

"Well...maybe it's a lasting effect that'll go away eventually," she suggested. She used her magic to pull out a book and flipped through it while I put a blanket over Rainbow. "Here it is! When a Windigo freezes another creature, the intensity of the cold determines the effects. If the cold air is strong enough, it kills the creature, while weaker amounts can do no more than knock the creature out for about an hour, usually even less. Extremely small amounts may not even do that."

"So she'll be out for an hour?" I tried to clarify.

"Actually, probably not even half that," she answered. I groaned.

"Well, I know what I'm using that time for."

"What?"

I bolted for the door. "Getting the hell away from her!"

Comments

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Promising. Fav.

[AliCentaur Br0ny]

I'm sorry, but it (doesn't really) needs to be said:

"You probably didn't mean to, but you must have subconsciously channeled your body to give off extreme amounts of cold air that forced her to let go and stopped her wings," she elaborated. "You were likely feeding on her hatred at the moment without even meaning to."

Nah, he obviously just thought that she needed to dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Rainbow_dealwithit.png chill out.

[Mobius of the Moon]

Oh look, I just started reading this. Cool story, bro.

[Lucky424]

Getting the hell away from her!

That is probably the best thing to do!!!

[Serefin]

I hope there's ice puns in this. I will be extremely disappointed if I notice a lack of ice puns!

[D-Bence35]

I wonder if Windigoes can shapeshift. They did look like they could in some fashion.What would humanoid Windigoes look like?

[ClosetKnight]

3064318 stay frosty my friend.

[Lobisomen616]

3087136 I'd assume it would just be a blue, humanoid sillhouette with white eyes and the like.

[Nightmare Daniell61]

3087136 good point..

[Nightmare Daniell61]

2102775 i know you from somewhere....

WHERE DID MY WAFFLES GO?!?!

Red did you look below your nose..

Their we go!!

~Nightmare

[lord indisar]

Where are the spelling mistakes? It's not a chess game of the gods story without them!

Hey! Answer me dang it!

[Dismay]

5692078 Hes RLYoshi he doesnt do spelling mistakes

[IcefireInfinite]

Yes, it is! It roughly translates to 'comeback'.

Arrell's been here for years.

This seems like a cool story you have here.
The perfect story to chill with.
Hopefully he won't be iced in the end just cut that just cut that all out.