I stare at the computer screen with one thought coursing through my mind: Inspiration, inspiration, inspiration? What to do?
Tonight was a night I have often. One where I get the perfect tune in my head and have to create it in Flstudio, my DAW of choice. And like the nights before, that Inspiration dies out an hour in, leaving me to meander about on my computer.
Inspiration, inspira- a yawn interrupts my internal chant. "Okay body, fine," I mumble. I look at the clock on my computer. Midnight, an hour passed my bedtime. I'm going to hate waking up.
I shut off my computer and rise from the desk. Exiting my office into the kitchen, the kitchen sink catches my eye. It was filled with a cup and bowl from this morning's breakfast, or would that be yesterday morning's?
I groan and get to work, filling the sink with hot water and soap. Most people were smart and would do stuff like this in the afternoon, but I'm an idiot. I do most of my cleaning before bed, or rarely in the morning if I'm feeling peppy. Because of that, it takes me half an hour before I can go to bed. Normally I'd do it all at 10:30 so I'd be in bed by 11, but musical creativity had enraptured me in its glorious arms.
With the dishes done, I went down the main hall of the house that connected to a majority of the rooms. All but one of the bedrooms is empty. These days, it's only me here. Unlike the rest of the family, I wanted to build something for the next generation.
The only occupied room was mine of course. It was a decent-sized room, but my queen-sized bed effectively halved its size. The bed was placed at the center of one of the walls, leaving a U-shaped area of walking space. Now. That would be fine, except the room was dirty. A shirt or two and some pants litter the floor.
It didn't take long to tidy up the room. I tossed everything but one shirt and a pair of pants into a laundry basket. I was going to re-wear those two in the morning. No point in adding more laundry if I never went outside with them.
I was about to do the last step of my nightly ritual when the ground started to lightly rumble. An earthquake probably…we don't get earthquakes. I panic slightly, what am I supposed to do? I've had tornado drills but not earthquake drills! Get out of the house maybe? Yeah, that sounds logical; avoid anything falling on me.
When I exit the house onto my porch, I'm hit with a high-pitched whine. It's like the sound you hear from a dog whistle. Holy shit are the aliens finally here? I joke to myself. A giant ship would explain the rumbling, and the noise could be the engines.
It takes me a while but I pinpoint the direction of the noise, the forest behind my house. During my search, the rumbling had been intensifying. Behind me, I could hear my house begin to rattle. I began to worry that my stuff would fall. Thankfully, the rumbling stopped for a second.
As if a bomb went off, a loud explosion could be heard from the forest. The sudden noise scared me shitless. I could see lightning coming from the forest, all seemingly striking the same spot, which was impossible. Lighting doesn't strike the same spot twice, right? And tonight was a clear night.
"The fuck is going on?" I whisper to myself. I stood in awe and fear at the sight. Survival instinct told me to hide away in the safety of my house, but fuck that. Be it an alien, mad scientist, or government super weapon something was happening in my backyard. The property was the greatest thing I owned, and the forest was a part of it. I had to know what was happening in it, and if need be, defend it.
I went back inside my house. Everything was intact, but a few photos did fall. I can clean those later, right now I needed to arm myself. I went into the bedroom next to mine and searched under the bed. Under it was the box that contained my grandmother's old pistol. It took me a bit to remember the combination to unlock it, but I got it opened.
I checked over myself once I was outside again. Gun, check. Knife, check. Phone, check. I didn't have to waste time getting dressed since I was already in my "office" attire, which was just what I usually wear.
I walked over to the left of my house and opened the garage. Inside were my old Honda Civic and my rarely used Toyota Tacoma. I chose the Toyota of course. I bought it for times when I would go into the forest to clean up and keep all the paths clear. My old 06 Honda was 22 years old at this point and I doubt it would enjoy off-roading.
With trepidation, I drove my way toward the forest.
Cadence
"Shiny…stop hogging the covers," I mumble. It seemed Shining armor had left the windows open, again, letting a cold breeze come through. I shuffled in my bed to nuzzle him into sharing the cover and heard the crunch of twigs and leaves.
In an instant, I awoke and got onto my hooves. All around me were trees. "Shining Armor?" My call for Shining was met with silence. I began to panic as I scanned my surroundings. I shouldn't be in a forest! I thought. Where am I? What happened?
I tried my best to figure out where I was, but the darkness of night made it hard to see. I at least could tell I wasn't in the arctic north. That was both good and bad. I didn't have to worry about freezing to death, but that also meant there were no familiar landmarks like the castle to guide me. I tried to take a step forward, but immediately tripped and fell over.
"Agh! What are you doing drone!" I heard a very distinct voice. I quickly scrambled to my hooves and backed away, my rump hitting a tree. She was hard to see with her jet-black coat, but her eyes were unmistakable.
"Chrysalis, where have you taken me!" I yelled. She had to have kidnapped me.
"You! What are you doing in my hive?" she hissed. She tried to get up but immediately collapsed to her left side with a yelp of pain. There was blood running down her right. "Dirty rat! Rather than fight me with honor you attempt to kill me in my sleep! Die!" Her horn glowed green with magic.
Immediately, I attempt to construct a shield to defend myself, but my magic fizzled out into sparks. In a moment of desperation, I jump out of the way of the attack, landing on my side. I look back at Chrysalis and see her magic too has fizzled.
"What have you done with my magic!?" she asks. Chrysalis quickly looks around herself. "Where are we, pony?" she angrily asks.
She's asking me where we are. Why is she asking me? "You…you don't know where we are?" I ask.
"I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play Princess MI Amore, of course, I don't know; you kidnapped me!" she furiously accuses.
I get back up, not taking my eyes off Chrysalis. "You really don't know where we are?"
"No…and I take it you don't know either," she said.
"No, I don't. I just woke up here, same as you," I explained. It was hard to believe that the person I hated the most just so happened to get kidnapped with me. But, if Chrysalis really didn't know where we were then questioning her was pointless. I cautiously take my attention off of her and attempt to look for answers. Once again I'm reminded of the lack of magic when I try to cast an illumination spell. The realization that I couldn't feel any magic in the area hit me.
"That should be impossible," I mumble.
"What was that?" Chrysalis asked.
"There's no magic here," I say.
Chrysalis closed her eyes and scowled. "Of all the larvae-shit," she grumbled.
Without magic, it would be hard to survive out in the wilderness. I need to find civilization or at least shelter, and Chrysalis would have to do the same. And though I hated her, it would be better to have her help.
"Chrysalis-" I began.
"I already know what you're going to say, and I hate it just as much as you. Now, help me stand," she commanded.
"Rude, and a please would be appreciated," I say back.
"Hmph," was all she said back. I slowly walk towards her in fear of a possible attack. A gasp escaped me. I was now close enough to see that she was injured badly. Her body was covered in cuts, and a large gash was dug into her flank.
"Wh-what happened?" I ask worryingly.
"I don't know. I can't remember anything leading up to" -she waves hoof from herself to the forest- "all this."
"You can't possibly walk with those injuries." Several of the cuts looked deep and painful, and the gash no doubt immobilized her hind leg.
"Watch me, princess," she mocked.
I ignored her remark and used my head to push her onto her stomach. I watched in silence as she struggled to get up. It seemed the half-attempt from earlier was a fluke. "I told you," I say.
"Fine," she growls, "carry me then."
"Again, please would be nice," I complained. I go behind and under her, lifting her onto my back. Even though she was larger than me, my alicorn strength made it easy to carry her. It seemed passive magic still worked. In the corner of my eye, I can see a blush from Chrysalis.
We walked through the brush for about ten minutes. Luckily, it seemed the forest wasn't too dense and only a few stray branches scratched me. The occasional shudder from Chrysalis told me a few were hitting her cuts, but by sheer resilience, she refused to make any indication of pain.
It took a few more minutes but we found a trail and began to follow it. There were various tracks from animals on it. But along with the animal ones were pattern-like tracks that kinda looked checkered. Up ahead I could see a light slightly off from the path.
"Look Chrysalis, light!" I pointed out. I didn't get a response and looked up to see the changeling sleeping. I guess she decided to sleep off her pain.
The light seemed to turn and grow brighter, blinding me. Though I couldn’t see, I could hear a rumbling beast coming toward me.
It may be strange to say, but I find the chaos of the forest kinda cool. Maybe cool wasn't the right word…fascinating; yeah, fascinating is more accurate. Seeing so many animals run past the dirt road and hearing distant calls were out of the ordinary for this forest. The novelty of it all captured the childlike wonderment I still had for the world.
Like most people, 27 years of normality had bored me. However, instead of thrill-seeking or going to a new country, something as simple as seeing a family of deer was enough to satiate me. Not because I'm boring or uninterested in the thrilling, but more so because I appreciate the little things in the world.
The forest's edge had been relatively quiet when I entered, but the deeper I went In the more animals would dash across the path. 20 minutes in and I was forced to slow my truck down to a crawling speed of 10 miles. Just as I did, the lightning ceased. Great, I thought. My original plan of just following the flashes had been cut.
Thankfully I knew the general direction and could just follow my gut. Said gut was telling me to look at anything and everything in case it was weird…though maybe that was just my brain looking for more stimulation.
Staving off boredom, I mentally noted every little thing I drove by, Tree…bush…poison ivy maybe? Right turn.
Bush…vines…tree…deer…
DEER!
I hit the brake as hard as I could. A wave of adrenaline went through my body, and my heart pumped as though I had narrowly dodged a car on the highway. My truck jolted to a stop. With the crisis averted, I let out a tense breath and rested my head on the steering wheel.
"Whew, maybe I should keep looking straight ahead," I muttered with a nervous chuckle. I shifted my truck into park and leaned back to look up. I immediately leaned forward to make out the strange creature in front of me.
It took me a while to process what I was looking at. Clearly, they weren't deer. There were two animals I had never seen before; a black one and a pink one. Black was being carried by Pink. It was hard to discern all of Black's features because Pink's neck was blocking its body. I could see the top of Black's slumped-over head, which had greenish hair and a horn jutting from the forehead.
Pink was quadrupedal and horse-like. It had a horn like Black. The hair it possessed was long, vibrant, and messy with clinging plant life. It was facing away from my truck with its eyes closed to avoid staring into the headlights. I could see Pink's mouth moving and I realized it was making noise. It was…singing? Rolling down my already cracked windows, I was able to confirm it was indeed singing. What language it was singing in I couldn't understand.
"What the hell did I get myself into…" I muttered. I had been kidding with my theories about what was going on, but there were two unidentified creatures in front of me. Aliens or science experiments I didn't know. I would've continued to stare if it wasn't for a desperate yell from Pink, who was pointing at my truck. Realizing I was probably blinding it with my lights, I dimmed them.
Pink and I stared at each other awkwardly. I didn't know what to do; what are you supposed to do in a situation like this!? Say hi?
Pink made another sound, was it waiting for me? An intelligent person would think of a plan, sadly I wasn't. I could sit in my truck and try futilely to come up with a plan, but I'd end up never leaving. So I did what I always do when I'm unsure: I took a deep breath and opened the door.
Cadence
"Please, can you turn off the lights," I said a second time. I couldn't see what was in front of me but it had what sounded like an engine. An engine meant it was some kind of machine, and I was gambling on that machine being a vehicle.
"Please, If there's someone in there we need help!" I yelled. My hope that we had encountered help was waning. It seemed whatever was behind those lights held no life. Just as I was about to move on, the lights dimmed.
I could now see the machine. Its design was foreign but was unmistakably a vehicle. Through the window, I could see a creature inside. I tried my best to make out its appearance, however, the lack of light in the interior made it difficult. I could make out its outline, however, and whatever it was wasn't a pony.
"Hello? Can you help us, please," I said. I knew it could hear me…unless the lights dimming was coincidental. I waited for a response and I was rewarded with the door to the vehicle opening. Nervous, I took several steps back.
The creature shut the door and walked into the light of the vehicle, revealing its form. It held a vague resemblance to a minotaur; except it was far less bulky and its head was entirely different. Like a minotaur, it was tall; a little taller than Celestia I guessed as I only reached up to its chest.
From head to hoof, it was covered in clothing, the only exposed parts of its body being its head and hands. An open black jacket with many seams and a red collared shirt underneath covered its upper half, while its lower was covered by long black pants.
It was clear the creature was doing the same to me and analyzing my appearance. Despite the minutes passing, neither of us had spoken a word to the other. "Can you help us," I said. It seized up and made eye contact with me before immediately breaking it.
It took a deep breath and cleared its throat. Raising its hand partially into the air, it spoke, "Ah-uuuh…cum en pees?" I didn't understand a word that came from his baritone voice.
"I'm sorry, I can't understand you. Do you know Ponish?" I asked him. Hopefully, he did. A language barrier was going to make this ten times harder. He spoke once more and it was still in that same "staccatoed" language as before.
If I was going to get his help, I would have to get past the language barrier. We sat in silence while I thought. A soft groan from Chrysalis on my back gave me an idea. I turned to my side and showed him her wounds. "Help us," I said.
He remained silent and took a step forward. I didn't know what he was doing and started getting more nervous. He stared at Chrysalis' wounds before stepping back. He said something and then gestured toward the vehicle.
I watched as he went to the back of the vehicle. He looked over toward me and said something. I assumed he wanted me to follow and so I walked over. The back of the vehicle looked like it was made to hold cargo and I realized what was going on. He was going to take us somewhere. He fiddled with something on the vehicle and its back popped open, granting me access to more easily board.
He looked at me with concern and spoke. He must have been trying to reassure me that he could be trusted. I was taught to be careful with strangers but I didn't really have a choice. Wherever I was was without magic, and those areas tended to be far from Equestria. I didn't know where the nearest civilization was. And with Chrysalis injured, it would be difficult to survive in wild lands.
"Even if you can't understand, thank you," I told him. My wings spread out and it accidentally startled the creature. He backed away with his hand up in front of him. "I-I'm sorry! They're just wings, see?" I flapped my wings to show him. He seemed to calm down in understanding but remained weary.
With a few flaps, I hovered on to the vehicle, all while the creature watched in awe. I considered slipping Chrysalis off my back, but I would have to pick her up again once we reached our destination…wherever that was. With my hooves firmly on the vehicle, I laid down with Chrysalis still on my back.
Michael
Holy shit it can fly! that was my first thought when I saw her hop onto my truck. My second was, that's not an it. Turns out having a language wasn't the only thing she shared with us humans, and I had unfortunately caught a glimpse of that other shared feature when she flew up.
Once Pink was on the truck and had laid down, I closed the truck bed. "I'll help you two the best I can," I said before heading to the driver's seat. I couldn't understand her language but I knew a plea for help. Her friend was in rough shape and they needed me. Even if I was nervous and slightly afraid, someone needed help and I couldn't sit there and do nothing, not this time at least.
I walked to the front of the car and let everything that happened sink in, it only grounded me slightly. I felt…off. My emotions were jumbled and I was running on half thoughts; like I was telling myself what to do rather than just doing it.
I entered my truck and adjusted my rearview mirror to keep an eye on my new passengers. With the press of a button, I opened the back window and said, "It's going to be a bumpy ride." I could see she was surprised at the window opening and muttered something I couldn't understand.
I reversed off of the path to turn around and stopped once we were facing the right way. "Still good back there?" I asked.
She sang, "Dilque," which I presumed was a yes. I shifted into drive and off we went.
As I drove back home, my mind was racing with thoughts. Luckily, the forest seemed to have calmed down and I used that quiet to ruminate on plans. I had a lot ahead of me, and I knew my life was forever changed. For good or bad? Only time could tell…
My passengers and I were silent, making the drive back incredibly awkward. I had the jitters and wanted to do anything to liven the mood. My go-to of making crappy small talk was not applicable here, and that was about the only thing I could do since I was driving.
Pink probably didn’t care or feel the same way about the silence, but it was gnawing at me. I tried to think of anything she could understand or relate to, but I literally just met her and I didn’t know anything about aliens-science-whatevers to be confident in guessing.
Why couldn’t this be like a movie, and she just knows English? That thought gave me my solution. Whenever she spoke, it sounded like she was singing. I didn’t know if she was actually singing or if it was just how her voice sounded, but I did know that she had some concept of music or something similar.
With a few taps on my aftermarket DIN, I prepped the only downloaded playlist. I looked at Pink, who was absentmindedly observing the forest, and her friend through my mirror. Clearing my throat, I spoke, “Hey, I’m going to play some music, alright.” I knew she didn’t understand me, but I wanted her to be startled as little as possible. I pushed shuffle and was gifted my favorite song in the playlist.
Cadence
During our ride to wherever, I was pondering our situation. We were somewhere magicless on Equis. Very few places like that existed, and the ones that had been found were void of civilization. Home must be incredibly far away, I thought.
I was lucky that the void Chrysalis and I found ourselves in was inhabited. The stallion that found us, Salvare, I named him, didn't seem to have Ill intent. Hopefully, his people were the same and could help send us back home.
Salvare spoke something to get my attention. I watched as he smiled and tapped on something. After half a second, I heard the unexpected: music.
It began with what sounded like a strange keyboard repeating a series of notes, with a harsh instrument accompanying it. The unfamiliar instrument sounded like an angry violin. The keyboard stopped, leaving only the violin. The percussion picked up and Salvare started bobbing his head to it.
After a while, the music calmed down and a stallion began to sing. He sounded somber before his voice turned harsh and aggressive. "The Ror Uv Da Spahc!" sang Salvare. He joined in and his voice was just as harsh. I listened to Salvare sing along with the music. His voice ranged from beautifully soft to angrily harsh, and there was passion and skill throughout it all. It was amazing that despite his language seemingly being non-harmonic, it lent itself well to music.
When the music ended, I couldn't help but tap my hooves in applause. It was different but just as amazing as the music in Equestria. When Salvare heard my tapping, he looked at me shocked and embarrassed. He said something that sounded almost apologetic and looked away before going quiet. Another song played, but this one was closer to what I would hear in Equestria and had familiar-sounding instruments. Sadly Savare didn't join in.
Michael
I WANT TO DIE. I had gotten too into the music and forgotten about Pink. She seemed to enjoy it, thankfully, if the hoof tapping was analogous to clapping. At least the mood was lightened.
The drive continued peacefully with music playing in the background. Any time rock or metal would play, Pink would listen intently and even started to bob her head in enjoyment. Her rhythms, however, stirred her friend, who woke up and began to angrily speak. Black, too, sounded like she was singing when speaking, and her voice sounded as though it had a chorus effect applied to it in real time.
Now that I heard their language more, they weren't exactly singing, but it sounded close to it. And their conversation sounded like a half-hearted duet. Black was probably asking what was going on and who I was because she kept looking at me during their talk. Eventually, their conversation ended, and I now had a black Alien-Science-Whatever staring at me for the rest of the drive.
Chrysalis
I do not like this. Trapped in some strange machine by an equally strange creature, carried to who knows where, and stuck riding the pony I hate the most. I should've stayed awake since Cadence is a fool who would accept any visage of help. No sapient creature could survive in an area void of magic. I had only a guess as to what "Salvare" and his people were doing to survive.
We exited the forest into a vast open field. I could see a large house some distance away. I couldn't see any other signs of civilization, which gave me some relief. It seems we had a stroke of luck and had been taken by a hermit. However, that didn't mean he had good intentions.
The creature stopped us in front of a building that resembled a shed. I heard a click and somehow the front of it opened up. Inside was another machine that our new host parked his next to. There was no generator as far as I could see, so how did the shed open; better question, how did he do it from a distance?
The machine we were in ceased its rumbling, and the music I had tuned out stopped. Salvare fiddled around before getting out. He opened the door that held us inside, allowing me to fully see him. He was, in simple words, weak looking. Imagine a dark, hairless minotaur that had been clipped of their horns and starved; that was Salvare. He said a bit of gibberish before backing away.
"Again, thank you for your help," Cadence said. I snorted at her naivete. She believed that Salvare was safe, but I knew better.
"If we die, you're to blame," I chided.
"Can you stop being so paranoid? I told you earlier, Salvare is nice and isn't going to eat us."
"Of course, he's going to eat us. Where else would he get the energy necessary for higher thought? The magicless plants?"
"I don't know, okay. But we have to trust him. I don't have any survival training, and you're too hurt to help. We're dead either way, so let's take the option that's a fifty-fifty chance," she said.
"Fine," I groaned. It was bad enough being carried by Cadence, but her leading was grating. I'm a queen. I'm the one who leads!
Cadence proceeded to drop us onto the stone floor of the shed. The trot to the house was silent, and the creature kept glancing toward us nervously. Good, be afraid, I thought. If a fight were to start, I could probably intimidate him to gain the upper hand…if I wasn't injured. I groaned in annoyance.
The creature's home was in an objectively fine condition. It was cared for, but only to fulfill the minimum. There was clear evidence that half of it was added and constructed later. We trotted upon a stone path that extended from the shed to the house and a separate gravel path.
We reached the porch house and found an inconspicuous roadblock. Stairs. The porch was a few hooves off the ground at the center of the house. The stairs were on the porch's side, right against the houses wall. There were only three steps plus the porch. With me on Cadence's back, it would be difficult to get us both up because of the steep incline. When Salvare noticed our hesitation, he stopped and said something.
"These are going to be hard to climb with Chrysalis on my back," Cadence said, gesturing to the stairs.
Salvare didn't understand and continued onward to the door. He unlocked the door with a key from his jacket and gestured for us to follow. "We can't get up fool," I said.
He gestured again and spoke softly to get us to follow. "The stairs," Cadence said while pointing toward them.
He still didn't get it. "Just go up them. I'll hold on the best I can," I said.
"Alright then, hold on tight," Cadence said.
She started to ascend the stairs slowly. I tried holding on the best I could, but the harder I gripped, the more my side hurt. By the time Cadence reached the third step, she was at a forty-five-degree angle. I grew tired and my grip lessened, causing me to nearly slide off.
"Go back! I'm losing my grip!" I quickly warned. Cadence backtracked as fast as she could, nearly losing her hoofing. The idiot finally realized our problem and quickly came over.
"The stairs," Cadence said once again while pointing. Salvare grunted in confirmation and put a hand to his chin.
He pointed to Cadence's wing and said more gibberish. "You fool, there's not enough clearance," I said, pointing at the column that supported the overhanging roof. "Even if the beam wasn't there, the wall is in the way," I finished, pointing at the wall.
Salvare then walked over to the front of the porch and waved a hand outward. There wasn't any railing on the porch except for the stairs, and the support beams were far enough that her wings wouldn't get clipped.
"Oh, hehe," Cadence said, embarrassed.
"You're so dumb," I chided as she walked to the front.
"Hey, you didn't realize it either," She retorted. I wanted to counter her, but she was right.
With a few flaps, she hovered onto the porch. Salvare watched with awe. He said something and opened the door. Allowing us entrance into the home.
As I ushered the two mysterious creatures into my house, I directed Pink to the living room sofa. When I attempted to lift Black off Pink, she emitted a snarl of protest. It took some soothing sounds from me and reassuring words from Pink to calm her down enough for me to move her.
Despite her being nearly as tall as me, Black was surprisingly light. Navigating around the coffee table in front of the sofa proved a bit challenging, but I managed to gently place her on the sofa, ensuring she was comfortable on her uninjured side.
With the ample light in the room, I could get a good look at Black. She had fur like Pink, but it was occasionally broken up by what appeared to be armor or scales. There was a prominent section of armor on her back that was bisected down the middle. The lowered ends of her legs were littered with holes, which I couldn't discern if they were scars or something else, but if they were they seemed to have healed long ago. Her horn was crooked and sharp, adding to her unique appearance.
I carefully examined the wounds that dotted Black's body. Although I lacked professional medical training, it was evident that her injuries were not severe, except for one gaping gash. Most of the wounds were superficial cuts, no deeper than a few centimeters, and while there were many, they would likely heal quickly. The gash, on the other hand, was a different story. It appeared as though someone had crudely sliced her, leaving a four-inch-wide and half-inch-deep wound. That explained why she was reluctant to move, I thought.
I headed to my bathroom and retrieved my personal medkit, a thoughtful gift from my sister who worked as a nurse. Initially, I had asked her to teach me wound care out of curiosity, but I soon realized how invaluable such knowledge would be, considering the distance between my house and the nearest hospital—nearly a thirty-minute drive.
Armed with the medkit, I made a brief detour to the kitchen and grabbed each of us a bottle of water. My new guests were probably thirsty from trekking through the forest. Pink had positioned herself at the far end of the 'L' shaped sofa, keeping her distance from Black. The two observed my every move as I placed everything on the table.
I handed a water bottle to Pink and asked, "Water." She gingerly took it into her hooves, revealing a surprising dexterity surpassing that of a typical ungulate. Was that even the right word to describe them? They both looked like horses, so it works, I rationalized in my head.
Attempting to balance the bottle on the bottom of her hoof, she struggled to maintain support, and it toppled over, much to her chagrin. Black said something to her and Pink responded with what could only be an "I know, I know," in their own language. I extended my hand to help, but Pink shook her head, refusing assistance. Instead, she gripped the bottle's cap with her teeth and, using her hooves, began to twist it open.
I was about to help Black with her water when I heard a loud crunch and a sudden squeak from Pink. Turning back to the source, Black and I couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight. Pink had successfully opened her bottle but accidentally crushed it between her hooves, resulting in a splash that drenched her face. Half the bottle's contents now decorated her soaked fur. Somehow, I could see her blush through her fur. Pink bashfully hid her face behind a wing. I didn't like using the word, but the whole incident was undeniably 'cute.'
I stood up and retrieved a hand towel from a shelf in the main hall, intending to help Pink dry off. When I returned, I found her using a foreleg to dry herself.
"Here let me help," I offered. Pink said something in response and went to grab the towel with her forehooves. I playfully pulled the towel away. "Nope, this time I'm helping you," I teased. Moving closer, I began to gently dry her face, which caused her to gently protest. I could hear Black laughing at Pink's embarrassment in the background.
Once Pink was dry, I returned to Black and opened one of the other bottles of water. Just like Pink, she attempted to grab the bottle between her forehooves, but I swatted her away gently.
"That's a nope to you too," I told her. I held the bottle up to her mouth, hopefully, Black would get the idea. Her eyes shifted from the bottle to me a few times before widening in realization. She responded with a barrage of angry words, causing me to flinch slightly.
I wasn't going to let her pride get another part of my sofa wet, so I shook the bottle in insistence. Ironically, some of the water flew out and splashed my couch—oops. Black had also gotten sprayed on the bottom of her muzzle, catching her off guard—double oops.
She growled at me, like a legitimate growl that one might expect from a big dog. Defensive, I leaned back and muttered an apology. My submissive reaction seemed to please Black, and she responded with a few words and a smug grin.
It dawned on me that the growl was just for show since she was injured. I donned the best 'no' face I could muster and said, "Still feeding you this water, pal."
Black and I engaged in a staring contest, both unwilling to back down. That is, until Pink interjected with a few remarks. Taking a gamble that she agreed with me, I raised the water bottle within Black's and my peripheral vision. It seemed my gamble paid off as Black groaned and closed her eyes. She muttered a few things and gestured toward the bottle with her head. I lifted it to her lips, and she began to drink the water slowly as I tilted the bottle; her face growing redder by the second. By the time we finished, most of the bottle had been emptied. Her face was flush with embarrassment, both from being fed water and from hearing Pink's giggles. For only the second time in years, I found myself using the word 'cute.'
Karma had a way of going around in a circle, and with the loop complete, I decided to dish Pink a second dose of embarrassment. "Now it's your turn," I announced as I turned to Pink. However, my plan to embarrass her was thwarted. Pink had managed to hold her bottle delicately between her hooves and was drinking the water when I turned. Oblivious to my intentions, she innocently looked at me after sipping from her bottle.
The fun was over so I got to work on Black's injuries. With some poking and prodding, I found everything to be relatively clean, only having to rinse away a few bits of debris she had picked up. Although her gash was still oozing blood, a few compresses were enough to stop the bleeding. While I could cover the numerous cuts with band-aids, it was impractical due to her fur and the sheer amount of them. Instead, I decided to bandage over all the cuts.
After some testing, I determined the gash on her thigh to be too wide and uneven to use the stitches I got from my sister. It was the kind of injury that required professional help, but where the hell would I take horse-thingies to? With no better option, I cleaned and treated the gash as thoroughly as possible and applied a bandage, hoping it would heal without complications.
"Alright, that's the best I can do."-I turned to Pink-"Let's see what you got." I approached her, holding up a bandage to signal my intent. She finished her water and shook her head 'no.' Assuming she just didn't want to embarrass herself, I gave Pink a once-over anyway. No wounds covered her body which confused me.
Why was Black covered in cuts and that giant wound while Pink was untouched? Did they fight? None of Black's injuries seemed like they came from bites or Pink's horn, so that couldn't be the case. I pondered various theories, but the most plausible one was that Black sustained the injuries after separating from Pink, and Pink, fortunately, stumbled upon her wounded companion.
An infectious yawn escaped Pink's mouth, serving as a reminder of how late it had become. I glanced at my phone and realized it was nearly 2 am. I was going to dread waking up in the morning.
"Alright you two, if you're not figments of my imagination, I'll be seeing you both in the morning," I said, grabbing Pink's foreleg and gently tugging her off the couch. Understanding my intention, Pink slid off the couch and followed me as I gestured toward the main hall.
We reached the nearest empty bedroom, and I turned back to check if Pink had followed; which she did. "I gotta warn ya, these rooms don't get used, heh," I remarked, even though I knew Pink couldn't understand me. Being silent felt too awkward, so I found comfort in speaking to her, even if it was one-sided.
I opened the bedroom door, revealing its rather plain and unoccupied state. As Pink entered, she began sneezing due to the dust in the air. "Like I said…not used often," I commented, observing her reaction. Despite the sneezing, Pink seemed unperturbed as she promptly hopped onto the bed. I watched with surprise as she effortlessly snuggled under the bed sheets.
She made a sound that I interpreted as "Goodnight," which I replied to in kind. I left the door open enough for her to easily leave the room in the morning and left for Black. I was met with a black, sleeping horse-thingy on my sofa. I faced a dilemma: should I wake her up or simply lift her? Either option risked triggering another rant from her, which I genuinely didn't want to deal with now that exhaustion was catching up to me.
Saying "screw it," I moved the table back to create more clearance and carefully picked Black up. It still surprised me how light she was. Her breathing hitched slightly, hinting at an impending headache, but fortunately, fate was on my side, and she remained asleep. With Black in my arms, I carried her to the bedroom across from Pink's, carefully opening the door. I allowed a few minutes for the room to air out the accumulated dust before entering. Similar to the other room, this one was bland, with only a single bed and a dresser.
I carefully laid Black on the bed, knowing that it would be impossible to tuck her under the sheets without waking her. Instead, I retrieved one of the spare bed covers I kept at the bottom of a shelf; the same one I grabbed a hand towel from earlier. Spreading the cover wide, I guided it down onto Black, who immediately nestled herself into its warmth.
As I made my way down the hall to my own room, my mind began to process the events of the past two hours. I had welcomed two most-likely-aliens into my humble abode. I had tended to one of their injuries, provided them both with water, and now allowed the two of them to sleep in beds that had long gone unused. It all seemed too surreal, like a dream that couldn't possibly be true. Why would life drop such an extra-extra-extraordinary event on a southern hick like me?
“This is like some dumb Bollywood movie,” I muttered as I entered my room and made preparations for bed. Despite my disbelief, I did hope it was all real. If the past two hours were indeed real, it meant that something grander was on the horizon, and I didn’t care whether it was good or bad. I wanted—no—needed something bigger than myself, my house was proof of that, and now an opportunity had seemingly presented itself.
But it’ll only happen if this is real, I thought as I climbed into my bed and drifted off into sleep.
"I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME! THAT'S WHY-" my phone blared loud enough for my non-existent neighbors to hear. I quickly slapped my hand onto it to shut it up and let out a disgruntled yawn.
"I fucking hate myself," I mumbled as I slid to the side of my bed. I wasn't a morning person, and waking up at 7 didn't help. I needed a glorious eight-hour sleeping session to feel at least somewhat good.
An expected tingle ran through my nose before I started dispelling my demons. "Achoo," I let out. Sneezing was part of the reason I hated mornings. Every time I awoke, I would have to let out the occasional sneeze until my nose decongested.
I slipped on a simple pair of shorts and made my way to the kitchen to really start my morning. There laid my salvation, my glorious coffee maker. Coffee didn't help me to wake up, but it did clear up my nose.
I pressed the 'brew' button expecting the machine to start but was greeted immediately with the finish sound. "God dammit," I sleepily mumbled. Normally, I would've already prepped the machine before I went to bed. Must've slipped my mind, I thought.
The annoying process of preparing the machine was agonizing. A sneeze here and there interrupting the process. Once the machine was ready I started it and sat down, letting out a chain of sneezes.
Once it was all over, I heard a feminine voice speak nonsense to me.
Cadence
I groaned as light streamed into the room. "Shiny, shut the curtains." I attempted to nudge my husband and found he was plusher than usual. Turning and opening my eyes, I was greeted with a pillow.
It took a moment for everything to click and remember the previous night. Without the adrenaline from shock, a pit formed in my stomach. I wasn't home!
My mind was filled with thoughts of how the empire was doing. Did they even know I was gone? What about Shining, how was he taking this? How would I get home?
Deep breaths. Deep breaths, I thought as I began my breathing exercise. "Ok," I said aloud as I became grounded.
I pushed the bed's covers off of myself and went to a nearby window. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear, except for the clouds over the forest.
On auto-pilot I opened the window with my magic to smell the morning air. Mid-way through a realization struck me, my magic was back! A few experiments informed me that I only had little, enough to interact with the world through telekinesis.
I got a little antsy wondering what to do next. I was a little hungry, but I didn't know where the kitchen was and I didn't know if our host would be okay with me perusing his kitchen.
"EY DON'T 'AVE INEETHING THAHTS RELLY IMPOORTAHN' TO MEE! THAHTS WHY-"rang throughout the house causing me to stiffen up in surprise. I waited and listened. The walls of the house made it difficult to hear anything through them, but If I focused I could hear movement somewhere and what sounded like sneezing.
Quietly, I crept to the door and peeked out into a hallway. The hall was tight and had five rooms attached to it including mine, two on each side and one at the end. I watched as the door at the end opened and out stepped Salvare.
He was mostly unclothed, save for his waist. It was clear he had just woken up as I watched him slowly walk down the hall. The memory played in my head of what Chrysalis said about him. I doubted that she was right, but I wanted to be careful, so I watched and followed him from a distance quietly.
My stalking didn't last long, as I got distracted looking at the pictures that hung on one of the walls of the hallway. They were photos of creatures similar to Salvare except some were obviously of foals.
There were four creatures featured. A young colt and filly with mocha skin. A slightly older colt who had darker skin like Salvare. And the last was a grown mare who also had mocha skin.
The photos were ordered in a way that showed the foals growing up, interlaced with the occasion family photo. It was always those four, where was the father?
Eventually, I came to the last family photo, except it was different. The mare from earlier was missing-in her place was a far older, elderly mare. The foals all had a distant look while the elder mare had a barely hidden scowl.
The last picture was the three foals years later, fully grown up, the elderly mare missing. It was now clear that the older colt had been Salvare.
My ears twitched as I heard a shrill sound coming from down the hall. I went and investigated to see Salvare messing with what looked like a coffee maker. When he was done he sat down and started sneezing.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
His head snapped up to look at me, saying something in surprise. We stared at each other in silence, neither of us knowing what to do.
*grumble*
My stomach decided to make itself known, getting a chuckle from Salvare. He said a few words and then pointed at the coffee maker and what I presumed to be the fridge.
Michael
The coffee maker beeped. "Once I've got my coffee, I'll fix you something, Pink," I said. She looked at me curiously with those big eyes of hers.
I grabbed two cups and got to work. Pink didn't look too tired like I did, but it didn't hurt to share. Grabbing creamer from the fridge and sugar from a cabinet, I fixed up two perfect cups of coffee. I went back over to my chair and sat down, placing Pink's onto the kitchen table, pushing it towards her to indicate it was hers to enjoy.
I lifted my cup up to my nose and the moment the coffee's aroma hit me, my nose started to clear. A greedy gulp allowed me to finish the process, my airways now free of mucus.
Hope Pink enjoys coffee too…wait she doesn't have hands, I thought.
"Sorry, Pink, let me…help …you?" I trailed off. Pink's cup was somehow floating in front of her inside of a blue aura.
I stared as she downed the drink in one go. She said something cheerily and then noticed my staring.
"That's…okay then," I said. The cup floated in front of me and Pink spoke. I didn't know what to do or think. This—creature (for a lack of specifics) was apparently telekinetic. Why she wasn't using her supernatural powers last night, I didn't know, but I did know things just got more complicated.
She shook the cup and pointed towards the coffee machine.
"You want more?" I asked slowly, still processing the revelation. She presumably said yes so I got to work on another cup.
Once I refilled Pink's cup, I thought that Black might enjoy some coffee too. I did wonder why she wasn't awake, but soon realized she probably couldn't get out of bed.
With a third cup prepared, I walked to the room I left Black in, Pink following behind.
Chrysalis
Changelings are masters of stealth and infiltration. Millennia of evolution to create beings that could hide no matter the situation. While most creatures would let out some form of alarm when shocked, a Changeling was biologically programmed to assess a situation in milliseconds and choose the best course of action-—purely on instinct.
That was what happened to me. When an infernal noise had awoken me from my slumber, I did not yell out in fear like an inferior creature. My body took everything that was happening the instant I opened my eyes.
I was in a house, on a bed, in a room I did not remember being in specifically. There was a loud noise somewhere in the house. I was alone. Conclusion: I am safe, stay quiet and hide.
Automatically, my horn gently threw off the covers that entombed me. My legs began to lead me off of the bed, however, a sharp pain ceased that action. A creature like a pony would've cried out in pain-—I remained perfectly quiet.
I was immobile. The best I could do was observe and listen. The sounds of movement, one-no-two creatures outside this room. An assortment of noises and then…talking. Cadence and that sickly-looking minotaur-—thing.
Time passed and then I heard movement outside my room. Is that coffee? I smelled. One of them knocked on my door and then opened it.
"Moornin'?" I heard 'Salvare' say.
I looked him in the eyes and asked, "What? What do you want?"
He looked at me, unsure. "Cahfi?" He said as he held out a cup.
We sat in an awkward silence, until the arrival of Cadence. "You have to try it, trust me," she said.
Hesitantly, I took the cup out of his hand with my magic and sniffed it, it smelt like coffee. Salvare looked at me strangely, but I ignored him.
I slowly and carefully rose to my haunches to avoid agitating my back leg anymore. I tasted the coffee with a dip of my tongue—didn't taste poisonous.
I pondered whether should I risk it and accept this 'gift'. The benefits were good, I would be able to manipulate the creature more later, among other things. But if it was poisoned, I was dead, plain and simple.
If he wants me dead, he could do it anytime, and he knows that. Fuck it. I thought as I sipped the liquid.
There were a few times I had gotten to drink coffee during missions. If you had asked my opinion of it, I would say, "It's a drink." This…was the best coffee I had ever drunk. I took another, slower sip to savor the flavor even more.
"Your queen is pleased with this offering," I told him. The creature didn't do much in acknowledgment.
"Really? You can just say it's good," Cadence chastised. "I don't even think he understood you."
I took a long sip to annoy the pony. "It matters not. He will come to know where he stands in comparison to me. You as well."
Cadence scoffed. "The nerve!"
Salvare left the room, leaving me and Cadence alone.