Chronicles of an Unknown World - The Awakening

by Blue Blaze {COMET}

Chapter 2: Chasing Answers, Part 3

{*First-Person, Main Character*}

“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack inquired, shooting up from her spot on the floor.

We all began looking up and around, trying to find the source of the racket from the window. Well, except for Fluttershy. She just threw her blanket over herself and started whimpering. Poor thing, she’s so scared of everything! But anyways, I quickly spotted a dark outline imprinted on one of the high up windows, one that was just to the left of the top of the stairs to the guest room. I couldn’t make the figure out, but it looked like a giant frog with wings had gotten itself caught in the storm and was flung right into the window pane.

Look! Over there!” I called out, pointing to the figure. Everyone turned to look at my beckoning.

“Huh, interesting…” I heard Twilight mutter to herself as she wrote something on her piece of paper. I think she might be referring to my pointing gesture, since the ponies have no fingers. I still managed to draw their attention, never the less. Pony body language in this universe is very similar to human body language. I have no doubt that ponies have the same pointing gesture available to their actions, except without the actual digits part.

There was a crash of thunder and lightning swiftly lit up the situation, the flash allowing us to see just exactly what hit the window. The creature was a light blue, not entirely unlike the colour of the open sky. Its wings were the same colour of her, although now that I think about it those wings look way too small to be able to support anything that size. It had the strangest tail I have ever seen, with the hair decorated in the colours of the rainbow. The hair atop its head perfectly matched the hue scheme of its other end. It was completely squashed up against the glass, its stomach and limbs pressed hard on the surface. It had no fingers of any sort, and instead all four legs ended in little stumps like the rest of my company here in the library. Its head was tilted up as its neck leaned up against the window and its tongue stuck out and forward, red as a cherry. It was a pretty funny sight to observe. I heard Applejack snort in the background.

“Rainbow!” I heard Twilight call out as she leaped out of her seat and rushed into the kitchen.

“My goodness! What happened to her?” Rarity questioned.

“Ooh, I hope she’s ok…” Fluttershy trailed off.

It appeared that she hit the window pretty hard, but if anything that window must have been reinforced with something or other, because it somehow managed to keep together against that mass slamming into it straight in the center. Rainbow Dash’s coat didn’t hold I guess, and I watched as she slowly but surely slid down the clear surface, creating a loud squeaking noise the entire way. I winced as she finally fell off the window and landed in something that made a loud clatter outside.

“Ouch.” was all I had to say about that.

Then, there was silence in the room except for the crackling of the fire nearby. No one wanted to spark up any kind of small talk until Twilight got back with her cargo. I wondered what kind of pony would have wings like that, and how the heck they could attain flight with such small things. How would they even managed to preen and take care of their feathers? Then again, these ponies can bend their bodies and limbs like no one I’ve ever seen before. I mean, not only does this world look cartoonish, but apparently their citizens are also act like they’re in one too. I briefly glanced over to my right and noticed behind Rarity that there was a door slightly ajar that was closed before. Rarity must have noticed my gaze and turned around to see what I was staring at.

“What’s got your attention, dear?” Rarity said, clearly not putting the pieces together like I was. She didn’t notice before that the door was certainly closed before.

Then, I saw it. There was a little bit of movement behind Rarity’s chair and I barely managed to catch a purple blur disappear behind the fabric. I got up and laid myself straight flat on the floor on my stomach, peering beneath Rarity’s chair. There were two purple feet with tiny, sharp-looking green claws on the end. My mind spun in circles trying to figure out exactly what I was looking at.

“Rarity, I think there’s something behind your chair.” I informed her.

I heard a cry of alarm come from Rarity’s location, but Rarity didn’t actually say anything.

“Huh?” Rarity iterated, turning around and craning her neck around the chair. Shimmying around the direct opposite side of the chair was one of the strangest beings I’ve ever seen before. It had to be no larger than two feet tall, and was scaly all over the place. It adorned a deep shade of purple with emerald green eyes that had slits for the irises. It stood on two legs and had clawed hands with four fingers on each one, but still had a tail that ended in a single pointed triangle. Its head was very large, it had fins traveling from the top center of its skull all the way down its back and had these green flap-things that sat where ears would be on a human.

It initially wasn’t paying attention to my direction, and instead focused its worries staying away from Rarity’s sight. But, when it turned its head slightly to the right, its eyes met mine.

Seconds passed.

“Waa!” It yelled, jumping back and out of its cover.

“Spike!” Rarity cried out. “What in blue blazes are you doing?”

“I, uh,” it began, quickly tossing its head between Rarity’s stare and mine. Spike shot up to his feet and put his hands together near his stomach, fiddling with his thumbs as he tried to think of something else to say next. I was strangely touched by observing such a familiar action be played out in this alien world.

“Twilight sent me to bed after she got back from Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack but I couldn’t fall asleep and I couldn’t just wait while a real life alien was in our house so I got out of bed and watched Twilight talk to him until you and Applejack came in.” he rapidly said, seemingly on the verge of tears. His voice was so young and was wavering of its confidence. “Then I wanted to get a closer look but without being seen so I snuck out and hid behind your chair and then Twilight left so I thought it was save to take a peek but then he noticed that I left the door open!”

His mouth closed shut, but he wasn’t completely finished. It took him a moment to gather up strength to say his next two words. “I’m sorry!”

Rarity really couldn’t settle on an expression and set her face to ‘shuffle’ until it stopped on empathy. She got off her chair and walked up to Spike as Spike peered up at her, looking as if he was ready to faint.

“Oh, Spiky-wiky…” Rarity cooed, trailing her hoof against one of his cheeks.

Uh, what.

“You know you should follow Twilight’s rules.” she continued, pulling him into a hug that he happily accepted. I could see the inner conflict in his eyes, his will fighting against the tears that were threatening to fall down his face. “But I can understand that young curiosity is a powerful motivator. I’m sure Twilight will accept any apology you give her. However, you need to listen to her more carefully. Do you understand?”

He signed, closing his eyes and accepting his fate. “I do.”

But while still in the hug, he glanced over to me. I kept my vision on him, still trying to figure out what he was. He certainly wasn’t a pony, but no lizard I know walks on two legs, talks and is coloured purple. Wait. His name was Spike, right? And Twilight spoke before about a Spike before and how their ‘Dragonfire’ spell failed…

Holy crap.

I got off the ground onto my knees and began backing away very slowly.

“What?” he voiced out, grabbing the attention of Rarity who looked in my direction as well.

“Holy smokes,” I said, still moving. “You’re a dragon. Holy smokes, and actual, living, breathing, real dragon.”

“Well, yeah, I am.” he stated, breaking his hug with Rarity. “So what?”

I shook my head, a smile on my face. “Dragon’s aren’t real on my world. They’re works of fiction, disciples of tales and legends centuries old.”

“Wow, really?” he said with childlike wonder.

I halted, realizing I had no reason to fear Spike. He acted just like a little kid. “Yeah, really. There are many stories created in Human lore about the might of dragons, how they breathe scolding hot fire and have enough strength to take down a castle single-handedly.” I purposely left out the part where they capture medieval princesses as an antagonistic monster and the princes has to slay the beast, cutting its head off by the neck. He didn’t need to know that. Rarity looked like she was in just much shock as little Spike was.

“But they don’t exist on your planet?” he asked, taking a few steps towards me.

I got up off the palms of my hands and sat up, sitting with my knees still on the ground. “No, they don’t really. But every single story with a dragon is memorable and famous and magical in such a way that humans can’t even begin to comprehend.”

“Wow.” Spike uttered. He slowly inched his way closer.

“Magic doesn’t exist on my world, Spike,” I started. “So every single ounce of fantasy that humans read about, that humans hear about, is a world of fantasy on its own. The tales of dragons have stood the test of time, because even though they’re believed to be a myth, they’ve lasted for over a thousand years, and stories can be found on every single corner of the planet.”

There seemed to be a sparkle of pride coming from the young drake’s eye. “Wow.”

He finally managed to move himself within my arms reach. I gave him the warmest smile I could you give. “Hello, Spike. My name is Griffin.”

“My name’s Spike!” he shouted enthusiastically before catching himself. “Although, uh, you already just said that. I mean, you already knew.”

“Spike?” Twilight asked, leaning in from the kitchen door. She was completely soaked head to tail and had to have been casting something due to the glowing coming from her horn. She trotted into the living room towards the fireplace with a bit of a furrowed brow, and I could see an unconscious blue pony following her close from behind floating in mid-air. “I thought I told you to get to bed!”

“Aw, but that’s no fair, Twilight!” Spike complained. “It’s the one time in the entire history of Equestria that an alien lands on the planet and I’m the only one in this library not to see it?”

Twilight magic’d Rainbow over Applejack’s head to the front of the fireplace and plopped her down on the floor, the water from Rainbow’s coat shedding off and casting a shiny orange reflection off of her body. Her horn lighted up a bit and there was a strange pink aura that went over Twilight’s figure, drying her as fast as a large heated fan would. “It’s the principle that counts, Spike, not the reasoning! What if Griffin was dangerous? What if he escaped the shield back up in the guest room and was rampaging all over the library? He would have never known that you were here and wouldn’t attack you!”

“But then you would be in danger!” Spike said.

“I can handle myself, Spike, you know that. The girls and I have been in plenty of dangerous situations before. We know what we are doing. You, on the other hoof, don’t need to worry about us, and instead need to focus on your safety. I worry about you, Spike! I don’t want to see you get hurt!”

Spike sat on the floor and folded his arms. “It isn’t fair.”

Twilight trotted up to Spike and scooped him into a hug. “Life isn’t fair, Spike. I wanted you to stay out of sight for your safety. I would have introduced you to Griffin if I found that he meant no harm, you know that! You gotta promise me that you’ll head my words more often, ok?”

Spike sniffed. “Ok.”

“That’s my number one assistant.” Twilight said, nuzzling the top of his head with her chin.

“And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“That’s ok Spike. Nothing came out of it. No harm, no foul, right Griffin?”

The glaze over my eyes that had been building slowly over the past minute quickly dissolved. “Right.”

Spike was just a kid. He was just a kid! A kid dragon that lived in a library full of flammable objects with a perfectly functioning fireplace. That totally goes hand in hand. But what about Twilight? What does Twilight mean to Spike? It’s obvious that they’re really close. I mean, Rarity is just a neighbour that really likes Spike (Right?), but Twilight was the actual one to give the orders to Spike. Spike, go to bed. Spike, you can’t see the alien. Spike, go cast the Dragonfire spell. Twilight has a certain amount of authority over the guy, but how far does that extend? Is Twilight taking care of Spike for a certain amount of time? Are they living together, or is Spike just visiting from somewhere? Is Twilight Spike’s mother? I didn’t think that Twilight would be old enough for that kind of thing to happen, or rather, be the kind of person, err, pony, to let that kind of thing happen to her. Was it an accident? Was it a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing?

Because if it was, what happened to Spike’s real parents?

“Aw, that’s so sweet! Isn’t that right, Rarity?”

I turned to my right, a new voice shocking me out of the moment. I could feel everyone’s gaze turn over to the source of the words, whoever that may have been. There was a pink pony with a very curly mane hanging upside down right beside Rarity.

What.

“Gah, Pinkie!” Rarity exclaimed.

What.

“”Pinkie, what are you doing here?” Twilight simply asked, not looking twice.

Whaaaaat.

The pink monster gave a wide smile. “Well you see Twilight, I was sitting at home in Sugercube Corner when I got all jittery and jumpy! It was a doozy alright for sure, but I couldn’t tell where it would be or if I would be there to see it. Then, the storm started, and I got a flappy eyelash, itchy hoof and creaky knee combo, which means that there’s an extraterrestrial at my friend’s house! So I jumped on over to your house and sure enough, there he is right there!”

Aaaaaghpgt.

She was pointing at me. I could not function the correct muscles to pull the bottom of my jaw back up. What am I even looking at here?? I glanced up. There was a suction cup attached to the ceiling that had a rope tied to a hook in the middle of the rubber which hung down to a few feet above floor level, where Pinkie was hanging. Upside down. How was she even doing that without ankles? How did get here without making any noise?

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” she greeted me. “What’s your name?”

“Haaaaaaa.”

“Ah think you broke him, sugarcube.”

“Oh, that’s alright! I know how to fix him!” she declared, flipping off of the rope and onto the ground, landing on all fours with the grace of a cat. She reached into her mane and started scratching her head.

Glomp

Oh. Nevermind. She wasn’t scratching her head, she was reaching into it to grab a cupcake which she promptly shoved into my mouth. I fell over with the force of her rocketing foreleg when she slammed the delectable halfway into my esophagus, my back landing flat on the ground.

Mmm, frosting. Delicious.

I heard a lot of trotting as ponies approached me from every direction. Six figures leaned over my head, trying to assess whether or not my situation was dire.

“Oh dear. Are you alright, Griffin?” Rarity asked me.

“Darn, that didn’t fix anything.” Pinkie observed. “Usually cupcakes cures speechlessness.”

Holding my breath, I carefully reached into my open mouth and plucked the cupcake from my inner throat. My hand made slimy noises as it pulled out and all the girls cry out in disgust and back up from my form. I held the baked good in front of me, its top covered in my saliva. I swallowed, tasting the pink frosting that was once on the top of that cupcake as it went down. I allowed myself to breathe again.

“Eww! Gross!” Twilight shouted.

“Ugh! Disgusting!” Rarity voiced.

“Dang nabit, Griffin!” Applejack exclaimed.

I glared at the offending pink pony who almost choked me with a treat that came from the depths of the hair on top of her head. She gave me a sheepish smile as she put her hooves behind her back, knowing that she was in trouble but really didn’t care. She thought it was worth my reaction.

“You are one strange character.” I said, taking a bite out of the cupcake.

Author's Note:

CHRONICLES OF AN UNKNOWN WORLD, BABY.