A Fallen Pony
Light streamed in from a hole, far above the body that laid upon the ground. Blood slowly dripped onto the earth from the pony, who laid still after his fall. The goldenrod body was not still, as its side slowly rose and fell with each breath. A sigh escaped the woman who stood at the edge of the light, before she stepped forward. Her small horns and white fur gave away her origin as a goat monster, but the robes she wore told a deeper story.
She leaned down, running a soft hand through the pony’s turquoise mane. She stopped, feeling something hard, and turning his head to spot the horn that protruded from him. She gasped slightly to herself, but it was not for the existence of a unicorn in her ruins. It was for the red liquid that stained the left side of his face.
The woman worked fast, wrapping him up in her cloak, and picking him up in her strong arms. Slowly, they walked through the ruins, her magic keeping pressure on his wound.
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Snails opened his eyes, a throbbing pressure pulsing at the back of his head. He tried to get up for a moment, before feeling his vision swim. He stuffed his head into the pillow underneath him, seeking the comfort it may give. After a few moments of breathing in the cotton, he lifted his head, and could open his eyes. Around him was a quaint, little room.
With dressers and shelves, he thought for a moment that he might somehow still be at home, but that didn’t seem possible. His room was painted blue, not brown. He tentatively stepped out from under the covers, his hooves gently touching the cold stone that lay below the bed. His head still hurt, so he stayed low, moving slowly as he trudged across the room.
One nostril flared, and his eyes widened, before he glanced to the side. His tongue ran over his muzzle, staring at a light brown crust that was right next to his head. He nibbled on the side, and tasted what he thought was butterscotch. Or was it cinnamon? Snails didn’t care as he opened his mouth more, devouring more of the delicacy. With each bite he felt stronger, more refreshed, and the throbbing in his skull stopped. Standing up, Snails wondered if he could find more in the house he was in.
Stepping out of the room, he raised a hoof to his mouth. The rest of the house was colored in the same style as the room he had come out of, lit by candles on the wall. He liked the ambient light, but it was odd to him, especially since the walls looked to not be of made of wood, but of a much rougher material. He shook his head, deciding not to worry for the moment, before trotting to the right.
He calmly passed by the front door, and the way to the lower floor of the house. He wanted to make sure he saw everything here first, and wanted to thank whoever had made him the pie. He wasn’t about to snoop into their basement, or leave, before he did that. When he entered the next room, he stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the creature that sat in an easy chair.
It looked like it was a minotaur of some sort, if he had to guess, but not nearly as scary looking. “Maybe more of a sheep. She is as soft enough to be one.” Snails moved his hoof away from her hand as the creature’s eyes opened.
The goat looked to him, and immediately smiled. “Oh, I’m so happy to see that you’re awake. How are you feeling, little one?”
Snails blinked a few more times, before remembering what the caretakers always told him to do. His face split open with a wide smile, and he put a hoof out. “I’m doing very well. Your pie really seemed to help. How, I don’t know, but I wish more pies worked like that.”
The goat woman laughed and wrapped her hand around his hoof, slowly shaking it. “I’m very flattered to hear that. My name is Toriel, and I’ve been told before that my pies are some of the best anyone has had. Though…” She put her other hand to her mouth, before shaking her head. “So, may I know who you are?”
Snails nodded, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to focus. “My name is Snails, and I’m from Ponyville. I’ve always wanted to travel, but I have no idea where I am right now. Is this Manehatten?”
Toriel swallowed hard, keeping her smile on, despite the names making absolutely no sense to her. “No. You are in the Underground, at a place once called Home by all, but now is simply named, The Ruins. I have tasked myself with protecting these lands, and teaching any who come by all they may need to know. This goes double for young ones like yourself.”
Snails grinned from ear to ear at that. “I have another teacher just like that. Her name is Cheerilee, and she is a really nice mare. She even lets me come by from time to time for dinner. However, she always makes sure I’m back in time for curfew.” His eyebrows then furrowed as he looked at his hooves. “Speaking of which, I should probably be going right about now. I don’t want them to become worried.”
Toriel’s smile never faded as she gently pet Snails, nodding to herself. “Please, don’t worry about that, at least for the moment. You had a terrible fall, and should be resting.” She then passed by Snails, just barely whispering, “Not again,” to herself.
Snails frowned to himself, watching the door slowly open, and then close. After a few more moments of thought, he trotted back into the main foyer, just in time to see her horns as they lowered along the stairwell. He galloped down the stairs, almost tripping himself up and crashing. He barely was upright as he came to the bottom floor, skidding to a halt, and slamming into Toriel’s back.
The monster turned around, her eyes widening at the sight of the colt. “No, please, not again.”
Snails massaged his head, closing one of his eyes, watching Toriel act like no other adult he had ever met. He tilted his head to the side, before smacking himself. “Oh, you don’t want me getting a concussion again, that’s it, isn’t it? Don’t worry about those. I get them all the time.”
Toriel stared at Snails’s large smile, hesitant herself, before she turned around, and briskly walked down the corridor. The sound of the pony’s hooves behind her haunted the corridor, and soon she stopped, turning her head over her shoulder and looking back to Snails.
“Where are you going? Did I do something wrong?”
Toriel shook her head, facing forward again. “Go back upstairs. You have done nothing wrong… yet.”
Snails furrowed his brow, before racing after her again. This time, as he turned the corner, he saw that Toriel was waiting for him in the middle of the hallway. He cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head as he suddenly got interested in a stone in front of himself. “Umm, please Toriel, let me know what I did wrong. I don’t want you to worry. I don’t want anypony to worry about me.” No response came, as this time Toriel simply continued.
As the two came together again, Toriel now stood in front of a large, ancient door. A glow came from between her hands, and the air around the ball of light was distorted by the sheer power she now held. Turning around, she looked down upon the colt, a tear coming down her face.
“You don’t understand.”
“I don’t understand a lot, but please, I want to know what I did.”
Toriel stared into the ball, the magic within growing more unstable, just like her emotions. “You want to go home, just like everyone else, but I simply can’t let you.”
Snails stepped closer, tilting his head. “Why can’t you?”
Toriel flexed her fingers, wishing she could simply turn around and destroy the door behind herself, instead of continuing to hesitate. “Because you’ll die. The other monsters here aren’t as nice as me, and your soul… it’s too much like the ones we need. So please, just.. just-” She stopped, looking down at the colt that now had his forehooves around her.
He looked up, and gave her the same doofy smile from before. “So, my choices are more pie, or monsters? I think that’s a fairly easy choice, at least to me.”
A small, involuntary laugh escaped Toriel, before she looked away. “Please, don’t try to soften me. I’m just trying to protect you.”
Snails froze, before slowly stepping back, staring at her. “E-even if it hurts you?”
“Especially.”
Snails blinked a few more times, before tentatively stepping forward. “I-if I go back up… can I call you mom?”
Toriel’s magic evaporated almost instantly as she looked down at the colt. While she had thought of that possibility so many times before, for this one to suggest it… it warmed her heart. “W-w-would you want to?”
Snails brushed a hoof over his eyes, before smiling at her. “Th-the orphanage and Cheerilee were always nice, and I might miss Snips, but… but to have a family of my own, a real one…” he curled up, putting his head into his hooves, his body shaking as confusion forced him to cry.
Toriel slowly knelt before him, placing a hand on his head, getting him to look up. “I… I have more pie, if you want some… son?”
Snails laughed a little, his tears still coming down as he nuzzled into Toriel, the two now holding each other close. “Is it still butterscotch flavored?”
“Would you mind if it was cinnamon?”
Snails stepped away, shaking his head. “I like both actually!” He then took off down the hallway after she nodded in response.
Toriel looked back to the door. The temptation to trap them both was still so strong. To protect herself from what she always believed to be the inevitable. However, listening to the young colt gallop back along the corridor filled her with determination. This would be the one she would save. The one she called son, to replace the two she had lost so long ago. And so, the two walked back, and shared some pie.