Tales of Xillia: Dawn of Equestria
The boy awoke with blurry eyes, leaving the darkness behind to slip into the world of the living. The sight of the green canopy of tree tops greeted him, swaying peacefully in the summer breeze above him. A cascade of sunlight shone through the pockets in the branches, laminating the ground in beautiful light. Indeed it would have been a truly glorious sight for anyone to behold, and he would surely have enjoyed it to its fullest had it not been for the agonizing pain erupting throughout the entirety of his body.
The boy’ body contorted as the pain wrecked his entire being. Such anguish he was in, he could not even make attempts to sooth any discomfort he felt. And so, he laid upon the wet grass, gasping in agony, his fingers tearing are the ground below him.
He tried his best to gather any semblance of coherent thought, at the very least he had to figure out how long it was since he woke up. Minuets? Hours? To him it felt like an eternity and could only guess it wasn’t going away anytime soon. He would just have to endure it until it passed on its own…Or he died from the shock.
His mind began to race at that realization.
I…I can’t die! Not here! He could hear his mind scream. My Friends! My family! I can’t…AUGHH!!
The boy grasped at his heart, intensifying upon that single point. He could do little else but release a silent shriek of pain, his back arching away from the ground.
And then Nothing…
His eyes went wide as the pain just washed away, as though it had never been there from the beginning. He could feel his muscles relax as his back hit the ground, a cold sweat overcoming him as he lay there. After being in constant pain and a deep slumber seemed to overcome his very being. A beam of sunlight found its way to his body, drying the cold sweat he had formed after his ordeal. It felt amazing, more amazing then anything he ever felt in his life. He slowly began to let his worries slip away from him for now, needing rest more than anything.
Before he slipped away however, an image appeared before him. An image of a girl with bright blond hair and a sliver of green jutting up at an odd angle. He reached out his hand to the image that plagued his mind, but she would just look down upon him with sorrow. Her mouth moved saying something he could not hear before turning to walk away and disappear, her wild blond hair flowing in the wind.
Before she did however he uttered one word. One solitary word. A word that he fought with all of his heart to say.
“…Milla…”
And then everything went black.
~
He awoke once again, the scene a complete contrast to what he had seen before.
It seemed that night had come upon the land, at least as far as he could tell. The chirps of the crickets could be heard all around him, rousing him from his pain induced slumber. He tried to move one of his limbs, finding it, while sluggish at best. It was still quite intact. He couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips. He needed at least some good news in response to this whole ordeal and finding that he was still in control of his body was defiantly a plus. With great strain he was able to lift himself to a sitting position. He took his time to examine his surroundings.
As he had suspected, he still seemed to be within the forest he had awoken to. Though the addition of night made it a more foreboding place then before. He could hear little else then the sounds of the night time bugs and was glad for it. If a monster had attacked him in the state that he was in he doubted he would have been in any decent shape to properly fight it off.
He raised a hand to touch his face but paused as he felt something flat press firmly against his cheek instead of the usual five pointed fingers he was use to. He raised an eyebrow and gave his hand a long hard look, only to find that he was no long looking at a hand at all. No, he was looking upon was what he believed was a hoof.
A grown seed of panic began to spread though out his being as he eyes traced down from where his hand was supposed to be towards the rest of his body, his familiar jacket covering up the entirety of his upper body, though it seemed to have been altered as well, fitting perfectly with his newly acquired body. In place of his human legs he once knew he had, were that of an animal’s hind quarters, the fur a milky white. To top it off, he only noticed that his fur was white due to the odd lack of pants covering up his lower region.
Why keep the coat and not the pants? He thought to himself.
A scowl formed upon his face as he shook his head to clear his mind. I can’t go analyzing at a time like this. Gotta keep a clear head and find out what is else changed about me.
He held out his new foreleg, finding that he indeed still wore the same coat he had been traveling in. His hooves ran over his face, the features having changed as well. Running his new limbs over the entirty of his head, he found that he had a longer muzzle and animal like ear. His head expection ended with a rather hard growth that stuck out from the top of his head. He lowered his forelegs back to his side and shook his head in disbelief.
What, in the name of the spirits, happened to me? And where are the others?
A small whimper behind him caused his new ears to flick in response. “Huh? Who’s there?” He spoke out loud, somewhat relived that he still held the same voice he remember from before, though it was a little strained. He swiveled his head from one side to the other to ascertain where the noise had come from, only to fully turn around after a bit of movement caught his eye. Not too far away from him, he could see a small little being laying upon its side on the ground, shivering and crying, curled into a ball. He tried to get to his newly formed hooves, finding them still somewhat unstable, but useable none the less. With tottering hooves he trotted towards the downed being, making out more and more of the figure’s features.
A short but elegant purple dress covered most of its body, but he knew that whatever it was, it was like him, due to the pair of hind and fore hooves it had. Its voice was just that of a young lady. A girlish tone he felt he knew all too well. In fact, as he got closer to the being, he could see that the dress it wore looked awfully familiar, as did the purple and pink doll resting against her face.
“Jude…Jude…W-Where are you?” He could hear her say. “I-I’m scared Jude…Please…I need you…Where are you?”
He paused before inching a step closer.
“Elise? Is that you?”
The being reacted with a twitch and uncovered her hooves, revealing a tear stained face and the same growth sprouting from her forehead as well. He could see pale blue fur upon her face and dirty blond hair on top of her head. It wound have been cute, if it wasn’t contorted in fear clasping something purple and pink within her hooves tighter.
The little being looked upon him with confusion and then fear. She would then cover her eyes, doing her best to hind from him.
Seeing this he lowered himself to the ground hey laid beside her and, not really knowing how else to comfort her, his hoof gently press into the girl’s hair.
“Elise.” He began to say in a soothing whisper, knowing that he was right about who it was he was talking to. “It’s me. Jude.”
Her ears flicked a bit before looking up towards the one before her again. Her eyes scanned over his body and head before widening with recognition.
“J-Jude?” She asked in a shaky tone. “I-Is that really you?”
Jude nodded sitting down and pulling the girl towards him in an embrace. She winced at first but relaxed as she felt herself lay against his chest. Elise looked up and at him, her emerald green eyes staring into his autumn brown ones.
“I-It is you Jude…” She said as tares started to flow down her face again. She buried her face into his chest as she began to sob uncontrollably. “I…I was in so much pain…I thought…I thought I would be…”
Jude pulled her closer, letting his hoof stroke over her hair gently. “I’m here Elise…I’m here.” He closed his eyes as he comforted her, needing someone close just as much as she did. It was quite some time before he felt her sobbing die down and get softer until he could hear nothing but her soft snores. She had cried herself to sleep.
He looked up into the sky, finding a large opening to view the night sky and frowned. “Just what in the name of the sprits happened to us?”
~
Jude made his way through the forest, carrying a still tired Elise upon his back. Though he knew that she was only half the same size as he, she was a lot lighter than he suspected her to be. Even with the extra weight upon his back he was able to grow more and more accustomed to his new limbs the longer he walked, or well, trotted I this case. Still, he could feel his strength depleting with each step. He needed to find someplace safe for her to rest. As he walked he mulled over events in his head.
What was the last thing I remembered? We were at the inn. In that…that…waveren town. What was its name again? Gah! Why is my memory so Fuzzy?
He looked back to find the girl still sleeping soundly upon his back. He could hear her mumble something along the lines of Jude and ice cream. He smiled softly before turning back to face the path he had set for himself.
I have to find out what’s going on. For both our sakes.
He paused as something in the distance caught his eye. Squinting his eyes he could make out a building of some kind in the distance. Smiling brightly he set forth a fast pace towards the haven, praying that he would find a safe place to rest.
It wasn’t long before he reached it finding that it was in fact a large barn. He gave a cautious look around before making his way to the front of the structure and finding the latch to the door. He wrapped his hoof about it as best as he could before tugging it slightly. It opened with ease and he smiled brightly.
“Thank goodness for whoever left it unlocked. I'll have to apologize to them later though.”
Trotting inside he made his way into the structure, finding that it was quite spacious. He found, not to his surprise, a pile of hey in the corner of the building and proceeded to guide his delicate cargo upon the makeshift bed. She only stirred once before settling down and snuggling up to the little doll she had named Teepo.
He smiled softly as he gave the girl a gentle pat on the head, before settling down beside the hay stack, folding his for legs under his chest.
A quick rest is all I need. When I wake up then I find out what the heck is going on.
It wasn’t long before he too succumbed to sleep, drifting off into a rather pleasant dream of his own.
~
“Hey! Wakey wakey lazy bones!”
Jude opened his eyes lazily before closing them once again, he hadn’t felt this tired for a long time and he was not about to let someone wake him for anything. “Uhg…Just…a few more minutes Leia…” He said groggily. He waved a hoof away, trying to bat his aggressor away.
“Ah would but your kinda sleeping in MA barn there partner.”
He opened one eye to find a sight he was not accustomed to.
An orange animal with brightly yellow hair stood over him with eyebrow raised. Its hair and tail seemed to be tied into a ponytail and upon the top of its head was a strange brown hat. Bright green seemed to bore into him, doing their level best to size him up.
He looked up towards the newcomer and looked around at where he was at. He had to assume he was still in the barn. It was very barn like in appearance after all. So the only conclusion he could come up with was that this barn belonged to the being, who in fact might be a girl, standing in front of him. He raised himself up slowly before and was about to say something with the yawn of Elise caused him to look back. She rubbed a hoof over her eyes before looking towards Jude and the barn owner. It took a bit for her to register what she was looking at but as soon as she did her eyes went wide and her mouth slightly agape. It was at this time that something rose up behind her floating behind her.
Something purple and pink.
Something who’s smile grew to extraordinary proportions.
Something Jude knew would break the ice and clear any tension in the room, no matter if he wanted it to or not.
Something that was named Teepo.
“HAY! A NEW FRIEND!!”
It then lunged at her.
