Damaged and Protected
One day. He had only wanted one day with nothing bad happening. He could accept weird things happening, living in a forest with mythological creatures. Even him being here was weird, but it was better than the alternative.
But bad? He had avoided bad for the most part until yesterday.
Even so, he was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
A bear had wanted his cave, and he had been forced to flee.
He was still hungry, always starving, even after eating.
And now? He ran through the woods, trying to escape the latest creature to want to kill him.
The manticore was back.
He panted hard as he heard a tree fall from the pursuit. He couldn’t intimidate it this time, and he knew that he wouldn’t stand a chance after trying to fight the bear for his home. He hoped to whatever god saw this world that he was running towards the zebra’s hut.
With the ground shaking from the larger predator’s pursuit he risked a glance back to see if it had gained on him, eyes widening as he saw it catching up. Suddenly he was hit on his side, sending him sprawling into the dirt several feet away. Looking up he could feel his adrenaline kick into overdrive as he saw a second manticore.
The manticore had brought a friend.
He didn’t even know manticores had friends.
Wide eyed and letting out a panicked yelp, he scrambled back to his hooves and took off despite his pain, wishing once again he knew how to fly. One manticore was a huge problem; two manticores were certain doom.
He stumbled a bit as the rough ground of the forest smoothed out into the worn down path, the hut in the distance. Recovering, he started to sprint towards it, relief in his eyes as he spotted the bewildered zebra walking towards him.
He could have laughed at it if he wasn’t about to die.
----
Zecora could only watch as the manticore pounced at the strange creature, using a paw to swipe him off the path with a snarl. He hit a tree with a sickening sound, a crack resounding out as the manticore seemed to smirk. It slowly walked towards the creature as it landed with a thud on the ground.
The manticore stopped in its tracks as a stick came flying at him and slammed into his head. Growling again, it whipped its head around towards the zebra stalking towards it. It recognized the zebra and her stick. It hesitated, knowing full well what she could do with it. The other manticore burst from the forest in a pounce.
Zecora looked up, before she evaded to the side and jumped up, coming back down and slamming her hind hooves into the manticore’s head as it landed. With a graceful jump, she landed a few feet away. Looking at the collapsed manticore for a moment, she turned and smiled at the other one.
“You can go ahead and try it Joe, but I think Fluttershy would like to know,” she called out at it.
With one last glance at its unconscious companion, it slinked away into the forest.
After checking and being satisfied that other manticore was knocked out, she walked up and recovered her staff, before looking to the creature the fillies had called Onyx.
He laid on the ground with a crack on his stomach, breathing now shallow. She bit her lip before slowly and carefully maneuvered him onto her back and started trotting back to her hut.
----
“Ow...”
Everything hurt. It hurt to breath, his body hurt, and his head hurt. The only time he could compare this to was when he first arrived in this forest.
As he laid on the ground, he focused on keeping still and keeping his breathing normal. If he could just trick the manticores into thinking he was unconscious, he could surprise them and escape.
It was silent though. The heavy breathing of the monsters was gone, and the ground beneath him was too smooth to be the forest. Where was he?
A sudden voice made his eyes snap open as he tried to push himself away from the voice, only for Onyx to cry out in pain as his underbelly shifted and made a distinctive grinding noise. His eyes squeezed shut at the sudden renewal of his pain.
As soon as it was under control, he opened his eyes, his attention darting around the room as he tried to figure out where he was. His breath caught when he saw the Zebra sitting a few feet away, looking at him curiously.
The zebra spoke as he stared at her, the usually meaningless words made even more hazy by his headache. He blinked and fought to stay awake in order to plan his escape.
He shouldn’t be here.
He couldn’t be here.
He shifted, eyeing the door when he felt something against his body. Looking down with another wave of pain in his head he saw bandages covering him, a stain of blue in a line crossing it. He couldn’t understand as he turned his gaze back at the Zebra, mouth open in surprise.
“You-” he started weakly, only to be cut off as he fell back down. Losing the last of his strength, Onyx started to cry.
Whether it was from the pain or from the kindness, he couldn’t tell.
---
Zecora stared at the strange creature she had bandaged up, worry in her eyes as he started to cry. She was honestly at a loss, a rare occasion for her. With her potions, she knew exactly what plants did what. She knew the edge of the Everfree like it was her backyard. In a sense, it was her backyard. She even knew why the ponies had been afraid of her, so far from her homeland that all that they had were rumors and myths.
But she had chosen the potential solitude.
Had he?
Onyx was an unknown. He must have been alone a long time for the simple act of a voice, a house, something in his surroundings causing him to panic in such a way despite his injuries.
Even how to treat his injuries was a mystery to her. She had healing salve for skin, potions for the inner body, even a little medical knowledge to help treat the mind. But his body was hard and cracked, not tore or split. Would the bandaging even do anything?
With a soft sigh, she walked up to him and gently sat him up, lightly putting a potion against his lips that she had prepared earlier to help him sleep and help with the possible concussion. Nobody got out of hitting a tree that hard without some sort of brain injury.
“I know you are scared but not why you weep, but I promise you’ll feel better if you just get some sleep. This potion will help you dream, and head off any problems too extreme.”
To her relief he drank the potion slowly, no resistance coming from him before she slowly laid him back on the ground. Slowly, his tears stopped and his breathing became more relaxed.
After a few more minutes to make sure that he was asleep, she slowly stood back up and stretched as she grabbed her saddlebags. “I’m sorry to leave you alone, but this is a trip I can no longer postpone,” she said to the slumbering creature, “For you I’ve done what I can to tend, but now I am in need of a pony friend.”
<----->
Zecora walked out of the forest, her eyes glancing at the town in front of her. She knew she would not be able to put off telling Twilight about the new creature in the forest much longer, but also knew the mare well enough she would not wait for him to heal.
Instead, she focused her attention at the small cottage next to the forest, glad to see the mare she needed already outside. As she walked closer to her she noticed another smaller yellow pony, to her surprise it was Apple Bloom.
Fluttershy smiled as she noticed her friend, speaking to Apple Bloom before the two of them walked over to meet her. “Hello Zecora. What brings you here today?” she asks, her expression curious as Apple Bloom’s look was a little worried.
“I have an injured creature in my care, and I’m afraid that on how to treat him I’m left unaware,” she admitted as Apple Bloom’s eyes widened.
“Do ya mean-” she started to ask before Zecora cut her off, not unkindly.
“Yes Apple Bloom, he had another run in with Joe,” she started as Fluttershy’s ears perked at the name, “and ended up hitting a tree harder than the one with the mane of rainbow.”
Fluttershy looked between the two. “Zecora, you know the animals of the forest even better than I do. What can I do to help?” she asked, “Besides, Applejack told me to watch after Apple Bloom today and have her help with my housework as a punishment.”
Zecora nodded. “I figured as much when I saw her helping, and figured it had to do with the forest she found so tempting,” she started. “In any case it is good she is here, he treated me with something similar to fear. Since he trusts her with giving him his name, maybe she could help keep his fears tame. The creature in question is an mystery, I’ve never seen anything like him in my history.”
The filly had already started walking towards the forest halfway through the explanation, before a yellow hoof stopped her.
Fluttershy walked around and kneeled down, looking at the smaller filly. “Apple Bloom, you know that you’re in trouble for going in there in the first place,” she gently admonished. “And no matter how friendly the animals in the forest may seem, they’re still animals. They’re not like Winona. They can hurt you badly,” she explained before looking back at the zebra. “I can come take a look, but I need to drop Apple Bloom back with her sister first.”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Let me come with! He trusts me! He saved our lives!” she tried as worry for her new friend overrode her manners.
Fluttershy tilted her head as the zebra filled in the gaps. “Yesterday when she and her friends were coming to watch me brew, they ran into a manticore on the way through.”
The mare’s eyes widened as she looked down at the filly, and the zebra continued. “And he came out of his hiding in order to protect, unable to let the animal take the fillies I suspect.”
The yellow filly nodded. “He’s afraid of us, and he still came and risked his life to save us! ” she explained. “He then yelled at us before taking us to Zecora’s. Please Fluttershy, let me help!” she asked, a begging undertone in her voice.
Seeing her friend’s hesitance, Zecora chimed in. “I know he is intelligent, that much is apparent. He is much like a pony, but his reactions are not what the should be. He is afraid, which is what caused him to seek to evade. But he is hurt and confused, partially because I fear his brain may be bruised.”
Fluttershy stared at the zebra in shock.
Apple Bloom tried to get around Fluttershy’s hoof blocking the way before looking at her. “Fluttershy, please let me help him,” she asked, worry clear in her voice.
Biting her lip, Fluttershy thought about it, nodding after a moment. “Okay... but you stay by our side the entire way, and you listen to everything I say, alright?” she told the young filly. “Even if he’s smart, he could still be dangerous.”
Apple Bloom nodded quickly. “Ah promise!”
And with that, the three entered the forest.
----
Onyx dreamed.
The first dream since he had awoken in the forest.
Onyx hurt.
Even as he floated in nothingness, he hurt.
He had been crying, hadn’t he? He couldn’t remember the last time he cried. He couldn’t cry here; he couldn’t afford to. Crying was weakness, the forest could sense weakness, and the weakness was to be destroyed. The forest must be strong. Even as he thought about the forest, trees came into existence around him.
The forest had taken him in.
No, that was wrong.
The forest had claimed him. It claimed all those who would live here. He lived by its rules. The forest would protect him as long as he stayed strong.
It protected all those that needed it.
The forest around him was bright and warm instead of the dark and dangerous reality. It welcomed him in its own way.
Even as he had struggled to survive, the forest seemed to help him. Guiding him to food when he was about to starve. A protective cave when the weather turned wild. A pond forming outside of it when he needed it.
He slowly got up and looked around at the familiar forest, eyes wide as he saw the wild forest calm and his body healed.
He started to walk.
Why had the forest turned against him? First the bear? Then the manticores? He was still strong. He understood the forest enough to know what he needed to be in some strange way. Was it because he saved those fillies?
He stopped, having come to the edge of the forest. Looking over the town, he sighed and turned around to go back into the forest only to freeze in place.
A wooden wolf stood there looking at him with a tilted head. It was larger than any he had seen before with flowers blooming across its back instead of the usual moss.
He found himself frozen as it walked towards him, showing no signs of hostility. Instead, it reached him and nuzzled his muzzle, almost seeming to smile at him.
After a moment, it gently pushed him towards the town with a chuckling sound deep in its throat as he stumbled forward. Onyx looked back, wide eyed as the wolf stared at him with intelligent eyes.
Onyx understood.
With his own sad smile he walked back up and hugged the wolf, silently thanking it for its protection. He chuckled softly before sitting down next to the wolf, leaning against him. The wooden wolf looked confused before it also sat down and returned his lean.
He had to leave, but he could enjoy his home until the dream ended, right?
“Hello...?”
<----->
With a gasp he sat up, pain erupting out from chest and making him fall back down. He didn’t know the voice, it wasn’t his voice, and he had never heard it before.
That problem was quickly pushed down his priority list as he remembered where he was. The calm from his dream was gone, the fear returning. He needed to get out of the hut. The zebra had probably gone to get the purple one, and he knew that he did not want to meet the purple one. The two were friends, he knew.
Planning on escaping and executing on that plan were two different things he quickly discovered, his attempts at standing up dropping him back on his cracked chest. With a loud pained sound he rolled onto his back, just laying there.
Would it really be a bad thing if the ponies took him in? The thought came unbidden as he laid there, concentrating on ignoring the pain.
He shook his head to clear it and immediately regretted it as his headache threatened to come back. He needed a new plan, one that would hopefully avoid the purple one. She had lifted an entire star bear, what could she do to him?
The sound of voices slowly became apparent as he looked towards the door. The zebra had brought a friend, and Onyx hoped it wasn’t going to be like the manticore’s. He pushed himself back to where he was before, grunting in pain as he felt his chest shifting.
His ears flicked as he heard a familiar voice, his gaze back on door. He stiffened as the voices got louder.
Apple Bloom?
He flinched as the door opened and the zebra walked in, followed closely by the small filly he had saved the day before. One look in her eyes and he knew what she was going to do and it was a very bad idea for him, and he scooted back a bit. Luckily the zebra caught her before she was able to hug him, meaning his chest was safe from any more pain for the moment. He looked gratefully at the zebra before looking back at the smaller pony, relaxing a bit with her around.
He grunted softly as he sat up against the wall, ignoring the pain now, wanting to put on a brave face. He smiled at her before realizing his fangs probably weren’t the best thing to show.
“Hey Apple Blooom,” he tried, hoping he still got her name right. The giggle that came from her told him that he was wrong and with a quick correction he got it right. Thankful he hadn’t butchered it.
She walked over to him before pointing to the bandages with a worried sentence. He tried to wave it off only for a flash of discomfort on his face told her otherwise, a quick amused sounding coming from it. He chuckled, “The manticore got me really good.”
There was another voice in the hut, coming from the door. It sounded nervous. His head snapped to the new pony, eyes wide as he backed away from her against the wall. To be honest, she looked almost as nervous as she did as her eyes looked surprised at his reaction.
There were some words from the zebra as the new pegasus nodded. Apple Bloom walked up and gingerly leaned against him despite the worried words that came from the pegasus. He stiffened for a moment from the contact before looking at her confused.
She smiled at him as he just looked bewildered. Maybe it was just the lack of contact he had felt in a long time but to be honest, he felt better as he leaning against her gently, glad that someone was concerned about him. His head felt more clear, and he didn’t hurt as much. He felt better than he had since he had arrived, despite his injury.
He looked back up at the pegasus that had approached him, eyeing her warily bit not trying to push himself away again. She said something that sounded familiar as his ears tilted towards her before he tried. “Hello Any Help, I am Onyx,” he said, trying to wrap his mouth around strange phonetics.
She looked at him confused before the small one leaning against him chuckled, seeming to explain something to her based on her expression. She then spoke softly and slowly to him, something he was glad for. She said her name again before shaking her head, leaving him confused again. Had he gotten it wrong?
Apple Bloom pointed to the yellow mare, saying something different. He frowned softly. “Fluffershy?” he tried, looking at her.
She nodded with a soft chuckle as Apple Bloom started to say it again, waving her off with a hoof. She had said another word that he hoped meant yes, despite him getting it wrong.
He relaxed completely now, able to tell the concern she had for him as her eyes glanced at the bandages. Maybe the zebra had gone to get her to help? He shifted again, before understanding something.
“Fluffershy any halp Onyx?”
------
Fluttershy looked surprised despite herself. The emotion, the hope, behind them were too pony to come from any animal. She nodded as she nervously approached him, pointing to his bandages. With a nod from him, she started to remove them before looking confused at his chest. With a glance back at Zecora she asked, “How bad did you say he was hurt?”
“The blood on the bandages should be all that you need, for that how much would a pony have to bleed?” Zecora asked as she walked over and stopped as she stared.
Onyx shifted under their gaze, causing Apple Bloom to smile reassuringly at him. “It’s alright,” she promised with another soft bump into his side, making him close his eyes and smile as he felt warm for a second.
The two watched in amazement as what was left of the crack on his chest glowed slightly and slowly closed up, leaving nothing behind but a barely noticeable scar.
“It would appear that he is healed now, leaving me only asking about the how?” Zecora asked as she looked over his chest.
The mare shook her head as she stared. “I haven’t seen anything like this besides healing spells, but his horn would have glowed if he had used one of those. And with the amount of blood he lost based on the bandages, I don’t think he could have even cast it if he wanted to.”
Onyx shifted again as he looked down to see what they were staring at. With a jerk of surprise he felt his chest and grinned, feeling the newly healed body. A string of his strange language streamed from his mouth, before he nuzzled Apple Bloom with a smile.
She chuckled and pushed his muzzle away. “Do ya think he’ll be fine now?” she asked, looking up at Fluttershy, who shook her head.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, “He looks fine physically, but Zecora said something about a possible concussion?” she asked, looking over at the zebra in question.
All further deliberation was cut off as they heard Onyx sneeze, a green light filling the small hut.
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
998 users online
1,869,542 hits today, 2,151,698 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
9656640
Hush you, simply because a chapter takes awhile does not mean it's dead.
Green Light? That mean the story is a go!
Aye!
Mixup is a fantastic artist!
He brought my OC to life back in the day.
I've got your story under tracking and in a couple more chapters I'll give it a read.
:D
If Mixup is drawing for you then it's at least a really good story.
Hum, I wonder why he thinks the Everfree Forest is watching over him, is he affected by something, like magic or maybe he is just crazy now? I still very much like the writing style, it's a lot of fun to read. Wonder what is his mistrust's Twilight so much? Wonder what Twilight will do with him under her care, not doubt he will feel like a bug under a microscope during that time.
Tis back. I is pleased.
Love it. I can't wait for the next chapter.
But I hope he's not "draining" apple bloom too much. I think if it's more "passive" it should be fine.
Oooh so nice to see an update to this! A lot happened in this chapter. I'm guessing it was Appleblooms love that allowed him to heal? Can't wait for the next one!
Betting he just sneezed and turned into Applebloom. This is probably the first time he's had any extra energy.
It updated!!! And, as usual, the characterization and attention to detail is simply marvelous. I was so thrilled when I saw the new chapter, and now I'm looking forward to the next one.
That's a he'll of a sneeze
9662945
reminds me of a silly story called "the sneezing changeling"...
So that's why they call him "Pony Joe..." So he doesn't get confused with Manticore Joe!
9662854
Heck yeah the Everfree Forest is watching over him. If it didn't care about him emotionally, he would have starved long ago!
Oh shapeshifting ahoy
Ahhhh it continues but it cliffhangs! XD
Need... more... chaaaaaapteeeeeeerrssssssss!
Interesting, so being love starved doesn't mean he'll die. That's useful knowledge.
And he's passively feeding! Lovely! 'course that means he now feels magic and gets to experience the joy of discovery...
Keep going! ;)
9662824
Glow in the dark boogies? Eww!
Can't wait for the next chapter, I'm betting he just scared himself with a sudden subconscious spell-- could be a light spell and still have him gawking like a filly.
Gonna be priceless when he changes into a pony in the room on reflex and goes crazy trying to turn back to "normal".
9663231
That, or he just exploded due to Zecora's
potionpoison she had fed him earlier and now his bodily fluids have painted the entirety of her hut "lightningbug green".So we can assume that this takes place between S1E09 and S2E25-26?
another chapter!
Yay it's finally back
More awesome chapters!
A very good and creative story.
Well done
The Monk
"Knowledge is power and power corrupts, so study and be evil." - Reykan
Awesome chapter. Keep up with the chapters and DALEKTRON WILL SUPPORT THIS STORY
More please
I think it is great qnd am eagerly awaiting more
Mores pls only two chapters and im addicted To
the story like a pot addict
Woohoo! The fun hast been doubled! (Get it? Because he can copy other ponies? Get it?)
Looks interesting, I'll go through it later.
Please more please
Oh that cliff hanger ending though!!! Did he shapeshift into something useful? Can he speak their language when he shifts? Who knows!?
I'm excited to see an update. Hopefully one will come soon.
This was worth the wait ^^
9800987
.....three months later
Hope this is still getting updated.
So ar, I really like the interactions and show of how Onyx is kind of wild