Rarity never thought she would die in a disgusting hovel, far from civilization. Good thing she won't have to.
After a gruesome timberwolf attack, Rarity awakes to find herself cornered by a strange bipedal creature. At least it's a better way to die than timberwolves. That is, assuming the creature is even hostile.
This is a short story snippet I wrote in my free-time to get it out of my system. And yes, the Greek on the cover image is real Greek that actually says something.
Rarity stood perfectly still. The towering figure in the doorway blocked her only exit from the strange wattle-and-daub hovel she had awoken in. To make matters worse, she doubted she could outrun the creature regardless, thanks to her injuries. She would have to thank whoever patched her up later.
Rarity's eyes darted left and right, looking for something to use to escape, but came up short. The furless giant moved closer. Tears filled her eyes as she realized this might be the end for her. Closing her eyes, she began to make peace wi-
"Ne bidweo, ihayo ekwabon palua. Ne o'skyodo tyue. Eso aimeenka."
...
Well, that was unexpected. Rarity opened her eyes again to see the large creature kneeled down in front of her, looking down at her with what could be described as concern. It was difficult to tell on such a strange visage, and the creature's beady, small eyes certainly didn't help its lack of expressiveness. Was it... sorry for scaring her?
"Aimeenkas?"
The creature held out its... paw? No, that wasn't the right word. It was like the forelimbs of a minotaur or centaur. Hands, were they called? Rarity thought that sounded right.
Rarity studied the outheld hand for a moment. Tilting her head a bit and raising a hoof, she spoke. "Do you... want something? I'm afraid I don't have anything for you."
The creature grasped her raised hoof, causing Rarity to flinch, and, before Rarity could protest, gave it a quick shake.
"Aimeenkas!"
A... hoofshake? Or would that be a handshake? Rarity hadn't quite thought that was what the creature was after when its hand shot out like that. Perhaps, despite its... primitive living conditions, it was civilized as well as intelligent?
"Eye-men-kass... is that your name, darling?"
The creature smiled, putting its hand on its chest.
"Rakadi."
The creature tilted his head and held his hand out, one finger pointing at Rarity.
"Kyun tyuaye noma?"
Rarity stared back at him for a few moments. He clearly wanted to communicate something, but she, for the life of her, couldn't understand what. The creature repeated the motions and words once again, and then it clicked.
"Oh! Your name is Rakadee?"
Though Rakadi likely couldn't understand her, he nodded anyway at hearing his own name said in a questioning tone. Rarity put her hoof on her own chest, mimicking Rakadi.
"Rarity."
Rakadi smiled.
"Rereti... tyuaye noma esiki kyasa."
Aside from a slight mispronunciation of her name, Rarity didn't understand him, but Rakadi's cordial nature certainly helped her relax. For the first time since waking up, she found herself actually examining her own injuries, many of which had different plants or bits of cloth strapped to them with what Rarity could only assume was plant fibers of some kind.
"Did you tend to my wounds?"
She pointed to Rakadi, then to one of her leaf-covered cuts. Understanding the gestures and questioning tone, Rakadi nodded and smiled.
"Hai. Tyue wa'skyodenke, mo wa'yawo."
Rarity smiled. This creature, Rakadi, had cared for her when she was injured. In addition to his friendly demeanor, she couldn't help but thank him.
"Thank you."
As Rakadi smiled back at her, Rarity couldn't help but think she made a new friend.
Richard returned from his firewood-chopping to find that the oddly-shaped purple-maned equine had awoken. He had been worried about the poor thing, which cried and screamed as the timerwolves had attacked it, and had passed out from stress before Richard had even finished chasing the wolves off. Richard had done his best to dress the creature's wounds. While normally he would simply leave such a creature for dead, the equine in question had almost sounded like it was screaming for help rather than giving the cries of a scared, unintelligent animal. And now that it was awake, Richard could see if he was right about that.
Entering his small hut, his eyes took a moment to adjust to the light before he could see the creature properly. The poor thing looked frightened, frozen in place as its eyes darted around, looking for an escape. This saddened Richard, and he slowly closed the gap between himself and the white-and-purple equine. However, this just made the creature begin to cry, closing its eyes and shivering in fear. Stopping his approach, Richard knelt down in front of the creature and spoke in the most gentle tone he could muster.
"Don't be afraid, my little equine. I won't hurt you. I'm a friend."
The equine's body stopped its shivering as it slowly opened its eyes and looked up at Richard, confusion apparent on its face.
"Friends?" Richard held out his hand, and the equine studied it carefully before tilting its head and speaking in a feminine voice.
"H'hena... febbohe zeyahe? Wahihi, h'henoya febbaye go-yayan." The creature raised its hoof.
Wasting no time, Richard took the raised hoof in his hand and gave it a shake, smiling. "Friends!"
The little horse-thing seemed surprised. "Fah-wehen-dazz... ya h'heni mohomo, nyahi?"
Richard smiled. The creature was attempting to learn his language, which was good. Perhaps someday, they would be able to speak to each other normally. Putting his hand on his chest, he attempted to teach her his name. "Richard." Tilting his head in the seemingly universal gesture for questioning, he pointed to the equine creature. "And your name?" The creature simply stared back at him in confusion. Richard went through the motions again. "Richard. And your name?"
Finally, realization seemed to wash over the pony's face. "Aha! H'heni mohomo Rikaad?" Richard nodded, hoping that she had gotten the message like he assumed she did. He guessed, hopefully correctly, that she had just asked if his name was Richard. The equine repeated his own motion, putting her hoof on her chest. "Ahe'eyo."
Richard smiled. "Aw-hayo... you have a beautiful name."
Ahe'eyo smiled, finally relaxing, and began to look around, her eyes soon landing on her dressed wounds. She spoke up. "H'hena kekuyu momi?" She pointed to Richard, then to her wounds. It was apparent that she was asking if he was responsible for the various plant fibers and healing herbs he had used to dress her injuries. Richard smiled and nodded.
"Yes. You were injured, but I helped."
Ahe'eyo gave a smile in return, grateful. "Ahegadza." An expression of gratitude, clearly.
As Ahe'eyo smiled up at him, Richard couldn't help but think he made a new friend.
