Angel POV
It was the weekend. I was in my dimly-lit bedroom, occupying myself as I did every night. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, trying to will the haze away from them. Ugh, what time is it? Adjusting my glasses, I hit F9 and watched as the lunatic bandit Nine Toes and his surroundings shrunk to one little box among many. I clicked the one that represented my desktop and the cover art for Darksiders 2 sprang to life. The little clock in the corner read 5:03 AM. Fuck, no wonder I was so tired. I really needed to reset my sleeping patterns. In the meantime... I thought to myself, taking a sip of my now-cold coffee and grimacing, I have bandit ass to kick! One quick tap of F9 later, the time of morning was forgotten, and Nine Toes was all that mattered. Eventually, I managed to defeat him, and I spun around in my chair in victory, head tilted back, arms flung out to either side, nearly knocking my coffee onto the floor in the process. Right. Time for bed. Heh, never thought I'd say that. I shut down my iMac, put my retainer in, and half-flopped, half-slumped down onto the bed, not even bothering to take my glasses off or remove the stuff from the many pockets of my black cargo pants before I passed out.
Manticore POV
That intolerable sea serpent! When will he shut up? The one the ponies called Steven Magnet was complaining yet again, about who knows what, and I had to get away. I didn't care where I was headed, I just needed to escape his dreadful whining. Besides, my stomach was rumbling and I would be tempted to try and eat that tail of his had I stayed any longer. I stopped briefly to catch my breath and faintly heard a lot of splashing and cries of, “Oh, what a world! What a world!” I rolled my eyes and set off again. After some time, I reached a vaguely familiar shelter. Oh, right, this is the place where that zebra lives. Well, I'm safe from Magnet here. Hey – what's that? Behind the shelter was a strange flickering light. Curious, I ventured towards it, stopping several paces away. From my safe distance, I could make out a vague shape inside the light, levitating around the height of the covering on top of the shelter. It was long, maybe a little shorter than me, around the size of a reasonably large snake, and lying flat in the air, long limbs dangling. As the light faded, I saw whatever it was open it eyes right before the light cut out entirely and it fell to the ground with a thud and a crack or two. I winced, then cautiously made my way closer.
The creature was around six of my paws in length, and mostly hairless. Its hind legs were covered, but much longer than its forelegs, which to me said it likely walked on them. It was also very tasty looking! It smelled a bit odd, but I could see a fair amount of muscle rippling beneath its soft pale skin, where it was left bare. But, that unbearable serpent had left me bored, so I decided to play with my food a little first
Angel POV
I'm winding down to sleep, as usual, when suddenly I feel myself sink through my bed. I try to wake up, but sleep paralysis has set in. Panicking, I sink right through my bed and find myself falling through nothing. Am I lucid dreaming? If this is lucid dreaming, it sucks! I barely get the time to think this in my panicked state before I come to a gut-wrenching stop and find myself levitating, arms and legs dangling downwards, with a bright flickering light shining through my eyelids. I open my eyes and to my surprise, see the night sky through the near-blinding light. I levitate there for a few more moments before the light goes out and I fall what feels like several feet, landing on hard ground.
The landing knocks all the air out of me, and I struggle to breathe while also experiencing the worst pain I've ever felt, in my ribs and ankle. My mind starts to cloud and I can feel my consciousness slipping...but I could swear I feel hot breath on my skin before I do, hot, meaty-smelling breath and...OH GOD. CLAWS. ON MY SKIN. RAKING. NO NO NO. NO. IT'S LIKE A GIANT FUCKING CAT. THIS DREAM SUCKS. I begin to scream, then I finally lose consciousness and feel no more.
Fluttershy POV
Close to dawn, I was suddenly woken by a guttural scream, one I'd never heard before. It sounded like somepony, or something, was in pain, and it was coming from the forest. Leaping out of bed, I ran down the stairs, and was almost at the door when I felt something hanging off my tail. I looked around and saw Angel Bunny scowling at me. “Not now, Angel, somepony's hurt! I'll feed you when I get back, ok?”
He squeaked his displeasure but let me go anyway. Taking this opportunity, I took off again, half-galloping, half-flying to the forest where I thought the screams were coming from. It sounded like they were coming from the direction of Zecora's hut! Oh my goodness, I hope Zecora is all right. Maybe I should have called in Twilight...later, this is urgent. I had nearly reached the clearing when suddenly the screaming stopped. Heart pounding, I forced myself to run faster, making sure to go around the poison joke patch. Screams cutting out like that is never a good sign.
After a couple more minutes I breathlessly stumbled into the clearing, looking around. I spotted a manticore tossing something in the air, letting it fall, and picking it up again in his mouth. I couldn't quite see what it was, but it didn't resemble anything I'd seen before. I cantered towards the manticore and stopped at a safe distance before taking a deep breath and intoning, “Mister Manticore! Put that creature down right now!” The manticore turned to me with a guilty expression, the creature hanging limply in its jaws, its tail poised to sting. “Now, mister!” It put the creature down and backed away, eyeing me warily. “I told you I would bring you food, what are you doing hunting this creature? It was already hurt, and I've never seen it around here before. It might be a species from another land! Now go! Shoo!”
As the manticore lumbered away, grumbling, I carefully approached the creature that had nearly been its meal. It was long, maybe about as long as Princess Celestia was tall, and almost totally hairless, except for what looked like a green mane. Its ivory skin was covered with cuts and scars, mostly on the forelegs. I couldn't see its face, but its head was very small. Its forelegs were short and scrawny, but its hind legs were very long and muscular. Its hand were similar to a minotaur's, but smaller, with longer fingers, which were tipped with short, stubby, black-painted claws. There was broken glass under its face. It was wearing some clothing – not much, just some torn black pants with a lot of pockets. A long cutie mark on its foreleg (arm?) looked like a black briar rose in full bloom, and another along its back was a violet and silver hooded cobra. I had no idea what kind of marks they were, or what they meant. I rolled it over and was met with low, throaty groans of pain and discomfort. “Um...hello? Anypony home?”
No response.
I carefully prodded it in the side with my snout and it moaned again, its strange little face screwing up. I jumped back and watched, waiting to see what it would do. Its open mouth revealed two neat rows of small, blunt, white teeth, clenched and covered on the top row by a moulded piece of something clear and shiny. Gingerly brushing the broken glass off its skin with my wing tips, I studied its face. Its eyes were small and forward-facing, and the rest of its face was kind of flat, except for its forehead and what might have been a nose. There was no snout, the mouth and nose were separated by a small swathe of skin, and the mouth didn't stick out as much as the nose did. Its lips protruded a little and were a strange pink colour. It also had some metal in its brow, but I didn't have the dexterity to remove it, so I left it. Its mane was styled, shaved on one side and long in the front, covering one of its eyes, but messy, like it had been ruffled or played with a lot. I could see that the downy hair was present on its barrel too. It seemed to be injured. One of its arms had bone poking out of it, its chest seemed deflated on one side and was bruised badly, and one of its lower hooves was pointing the opposite way to the other one. There were teeth and claw marks all over its torso, and they were all bleeding heavily. I couldn't tend to it on my own. I needed to get help.
Zecora POV
Early one morning, I was suddenly awoken by a pounding at my door. Cracking an eye open and glancing at the clock, I saw that it was barely even dawn. Groaning, I hauled myself out of bed and onto all fours, groggily making my way to the door. “Hold on, hold on, my friend, a second more won't cause the world's end!” I opened the door and found a slightly panicked Fluttershy on my doorstep. “Fluttershy, welcome, what brings you here? Have you come to bring me cheer?” I asked with a poorly-concealed yawn.
“Oh, Zecora, I'm so sorry to have woken you, is this a bad time?”
“Not at all, I'm glad we could meet. Come in, come in, have a seat.”
Awkwardly, Fluttershy obliged, coming in and stiffly sitting on one of the chairs I had set out for social visits, her wings poised and ears drooping. She seemed anxious.
“So, why have you come to me? Oh, and would you like some tea?”
“Oh, yes, please. I'm here because there's something in the forest.”
“Come again? There's always something there, my friend.”
“Yes, but...it's different.”
“What do you mean? Is it animal, or a machine?”
“Animal...I think. It's nothing I've ever seen before.”
A whistling from the range distracted me. “Keep talking, Fluttershy, I'll prepare the tea. Why of all ponies, did you come to me?”
“Well, you're an expert on unusual things...so I thought" she hesitated and looked at me meekly before continuing, "...you'd be able to help?”
I hoofed over the tea before taking a liberal sip of my own and smiling towards Fluttershy. “Thank you, though I wouldn't say it's true. But I digress, is this creature the cause of your distress?”
Fluttershy nodded. “It's too big for me to carry back to my cottage, and I was hoping you could go get Twilight while I stay with it. I caught a manticore trying to eat it.”
“Ah, the Manticore. Was it the one with the quiet roar?”
“Yes, it had the...creature in its mouth.”
I shook my head. “Yes, that's not a surprise. It always has those hungry eyes.” draining the last of my tea, I paused before putting forward, “So...your request is I go and get Twilight for you? And what, pray tell, do you plan to do?”
“I'll wait by the creature and see if it wakes up. It seems to be unconscious now. It looks like there's a lot of broken bones and bruising.”
“Ouch. You know the remedies you will need. But the creature may be dangerous, please take heed.”
“I will. Thank you, Zecora. For the help and for the tea.”
“Not at all, Fluttershy, I'm happy to assist. Now, please, hurry, I insist.”
I watched as Fluttershy cantered back to the forest, forgetting the plants and potions I offered, and sighed, running a hoof through my still-flat mane. This was going to be an interesting day.
Twilight POV
It was the crack of dawn and as usual, I was awake, reading. I'd just discovered one of Starswirl's books that I'd never gotten a chance to read behind some other books while cleaning (perhaps I should have cleaned the shelves myself more often), and so far it was fascinating. Soon, though, I was disturbed by a knock at the door. “Spike!” I called absently. “Somepony's at the door! Could you get that?”
No response.
“Spike?”
This time I could hear a faint snoring from upstairs.
Sighing, I made my way across the library to the door. Opening it revealed a rather odd looking Zecora. No jewellery, and her mane was flattened on either side of her head, like she hadn't styled it yet. I vaguely noted that it was a good look for her. “Good morning, Zecora.” I said, surprised. “What brings you here? None of the stores are open yet, and hardly anypony's awake.”
“Good morning, Twilight. I'm here on request. Fluttershy found a strange creature that is not at its best.”
“...And you need me, why?”
“Truth be told, I don't know. Fluttershy came and asked me to go. A manticore was trying to eat it. I think Fluttershy would like you to treat it.”
“Where is she?”
“Where is she? Why, of course, she's in the Everfree.”
I face-hoofed. “Yeah, I figured that, but where?”
“Somewhere near my home, I believe. Fluttershy was in a great hurry to leave.”
“Ok, just let me write a note for Spike so he knows where I am if he wakes up. Which is unlikely. Do I need anything else?”
“I think a stretcher should be brought. We don't want the creature to get caught.”
Taking a moment to try and understand what Zecora was getting at, I nodded thoughtfully. “You're right. My levitation might not be able to keep all its limbs together, assuming it has limbs, and if it's tall that might be an issue. Be right back. You can grab that book you wanted to borrow if you know where it is, but I won't be long.” I rushed inside, scribbled a note to Spike, and grabbed my saddlebags. I quickly packed them with a little food, some quills, ink, and a notebook. I was not going to miss a chance to study this creature, especially if Fluttershy thought it was strange. Levitating a large stretcher in front of me, I trotted back to Zecora. “Ready?”
She nodded, and we headed off to the forest together.
Author's Note
First FimFiction I've written, though I've been writing for several years. I've been working on this for months, and I think it's finally ready for you to see it!
I have a few pre-readers, and one part-time editor (more would be helpful, go easy on me though!) but some help writing Zecora's dialogue would be greatly appreciated.
Fluttershy POV
I hovered nervously over the creature, studying it some more. I saw that its position had shifted a little since I left, and it was stirring a little. The glass that had been on its face appeared to belong to some glasses, which were crushed almost beyond recognition. His hands were clenched now, and its mouth screwed up. It seemed to be frowning. Gingerly, I sat on my haunches, put a hoof on what I thought was its shoulder, and shook a little. “Hello? Are you in there? Are you awake?”
It stirred a little more, its eyes starting to scrunch, and its brow furrowing, like it was trying to wake up. Shaking its shoulder again, I continued talking to it, encouraging it to wake up. It started to feel around it, seemingly taking in its surroundings before fully committing to consciousness. It made a strange, guttural noise in its throat, awkwardly brushed its fringe aside, and opened its eyes slowly. They were bright red, and unfocused. It blinked a few times, then looked around. When it spotted me, they went wide and I saw confusion enter them, before it cried out. The sound was animalistic, similar to its earlier screams. It shot up into a sitting position, gasping and scrunching up its eyes again, letting out a hiss through clenched teeth and clutching at its ribcage with its good arm, shoulders hunched. After a moment, it looked at me again, eyes brimming with tears, and started painfully gesturing with its hands.
Angel POV
At some point, I became dimly aware of something on my shoulder, shaking it roughly. A foot or something. Where am I? What the hell happened? Why am I in so much pain? For the moment, I couldn't remember what the hell had gotten me into this situation. Judging by how foggy my head was, I was probably concussed. A concussion? Now that's a bad sign if I ever encountered one. What the fuck have I been doing? Moving my fingers a little, I felt grass beneath them. Wriggling my torso revealed more grass. Where the fuck am I that has grass? The foot shook my shoulder again, a little gentler this time. I clumsily moved my fringe out of the way so I could see properly, and slowly, carefully, I opened my eyes. I was greeted by a blurry, half-lit world. The sky above my face was a mess of orange, pink, and blue, with gold clouds. It didn't seem to be very high up. That's weird. Is my depth perception off? I looked to either side, and saw grass and dirt right by my face, so my depth perception seemed to be fine, and my glasses, shattered beyond use. Awh, damn, my glasses! They're meant to be tougher than normal. Did someone stomp on them?
As I pondered this, I felt something brush against my bare shoulder. Hair. I glanced at it, and noted that it was quite long, and a weird shade of pink. I let my eyes follow the hair to its source, and got the shock of my life when I saw a canary yellow blur with huge blue-green eyes that looked like it might be a horse or a mutated deer standing over me. In my surprise, I let out a brief yell and sat up quickly, but immediately regretted it when my broken ribs twinged. I grabbed them with one arm, clenched my teeth and slowly let my breath out through them. When I had the pain under control, I held up both arms, one with significantly more difficulty and pain than the other, and signed, 'Who are you? Where am I? Why am I injured? What are you? Am I hallucinating? Was there LSD in my coffee?'
The horse-deer-thing started talking, shifting while it spoke, something on its back lifting. Squinting, I managed to get a good enough look at the things to see they were...wings. Wings? A pegasus? Am I dreaming again? Or still? I can't be, Nephilim aren't meant to dream. Shit, it's talking, I'd better head it off. 'I'm deaf, I can't hear you, stop talking. Just help me. I can't lip read without my glasses on, and they're broken. They're not the only broken things, though, so get me to a fucking hospital or something.
After awhile, though, it became clear that the thing didn't understand ASL, because it kept talking. I ran my hand through my hair, trying to think of what to do, but quickly became aware of something else coming towards me, when I felt the ground vibrate subtly. I looked up and saw a purple blur next to a black and white blur in the distance, both similar in shape to the thing near me, with something floating in front of them, contained in a pinkish purple glow. They were maybe three hundred yards away, so I could barely see them, but I thought the black and white blur vaguely resembled a zebra. What the shit? Now I know I'm hallucinating. They quickly got closer, and stopped just short of the yellow one, appearing to talk to it, while openly staring at me. I flipped them all off. I hated being stared at.
Twilight POV
Zecora and I arrived in the clearing, and saw Fluttershy talking softly to something on the ground, in a sitting position, with its forelegs held close to its torso. It was long, and partially clothed, with a short green mane and pale, exposed skin. It looked like a cross between a minotaur and a nearly-hairless monkey that had gotten its paws on some hair dye. This must have been the creature Zecora mentioned. It turned its head as we approached, giving me a good look at its face, which was nothing like anything I'd seen. Excitement swelled up in me, until I looked at its forelegs. At that point, the excitement turned to revulsion and horror. I was glad I hadn't yet eaten breakfast. One of its forelegs had a piece of bone sticking out of it, and was bleeding heavily. Both hands were gesturing wildly, but the gestures seemed to have some purpose. It stopped not long after I spotted what it was doing, seeming to give up, and settled for watching Zecora and myself approach it, and trying to conceal its obvious pain. I observed its torso, which was lacerated with scratches and bite marks, and saw that one of its hind hooves was at a right angle to the rest of its leg. “I think I'm gonna be sick.” I muttered.
“Are you ok, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.
“I will be, just this thing's wounds are pretty...gruesome. What is it?”
“I don't know. I was woken up about an hour ago by it screaming in pain, and came out here to find a manticore, the quiet one that's always getting himself into trouble, trying to eat it. He looked like he was going to sting the poor thing, so I told him to get lost.”
“Has it talked yet?”
“No, it's been moving its, uhm, hands around a lot though. It doesn't seem to be able to see that well, though, its glasses are broken. I've been trying to keep it calm.”
“What's it doing now, do you know?” It had one of its hands raised near its face, with the middle finger up while the rest were clenched, and it was scowling at us.
“No, but it looks pretty annoyed.”
“Yeah, no kidding. Did it respond to you talking to it?”
“Kind of. It started moving its hands, like you saw. But it didn't seem to react to anything I said in particular. It looked a bit confused. Maybe it doesn't understand Equestrian?”
“It could be foreign, you're right. I'm gonna put the stretcher down, I want to take some quick notes.” Approaching the thing, I pulled out my notebook, ink, and quill, preparing to study. I didn't get very far though, before the thing made the finger-signal again and kicked me, causing some of the ink to splash over my hooves. “Ow! Ponyfeathers!” I glared at the thing, and saw it was laughing at me. Its laugh was strange, kind of rough, but recognisable nonetheless. It didn't laugh for long though, before it cried out in pain, clutching its ribs. It glowered at me, and shifted, trying to get comfortable.
After Zecora and I talked to Fluttershy for a little while longer, I levitated the stretcher again, trying to put it under the creature on the ground. It let out a yelp of surprise, and scrambled out of the way of the stretcher. Frowning, I tried again, and this time it got to its feet and tried to run away, managing a few steps before it fell to the ground with a gut-wrenching, gravelly scream. It fell to its knees and held itself up with its good arm, the other holding onto its ribs. I carefully approached it, and saw it was coughing and crying, gasping for breath, its eyes squeezed shut. It stayed like that for a few moments before it suddenly collapsed face down in the dirt. It was unconscious again. “Guess its body just couldn't handle the pain anymore. Poor thing. I feel sorry for you, creature, nopony, nothing, should have to bear this pain. Let's get you back to Fluttershy's cottage. I'll heal some of your wounds and do my best to reset your bones. I'll also see about fixing your glasses, so you can see. Doesn't seem like you can make much out.” I levitated the creature onto the stretcher as carefully as I could while inspecting the ruined glasses. I held one of the larger shards of glass up to my eye and winced. “If your prescription is this strong, it's a wonder you could see me clearly enough to deliver that kick. I'll fix these once we get back to the cottage. It's not far.” Levitating as much of the glass and ruined metal into my saddlebag as I could gather, I picked up the stretcher and made my way back to the cottage, making a mental note to observe this thing from a greater distance.
Applejack POV
It was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day. Big Macintosh and I were heading to the market to try and sell some apples and apple-based goods, as we did every day. The sun was nearly risen, and it was already fairly warm. A lot of ponies were going be out and about, and that's what I was counting on. My first indication that anything was different was when I saw Twilight, Zecora, and Fluttershy walking in from the Everfree, with Twilight limping slightly and levitating a stretcher with something bizarre looking on it, apparently unconscious.
“Hey, Twilight! Fluttershy, Zecora!” I called out, stopping to wave a hoof at them.
“Hey, AJ, sorry, but we can't really stop. Fluttershy found this creature in the forest, and it's pretty badly hurt.” Twilight explained when she got close enough to me.
“I'd guess that's why you've come out of the Everfree, but why are you limping? And what is this thing?”
“I don't know what it is, but I'm limping because it kicked me. Apparently, it doesn't like being observed.”
I chuckled and tipped my hat slightly. “Yeah, I figured it'd happen eventually. Y'all have a good day, now. Keep me posted, I'm mighty curious about it.”
As they walked away and Big Mac and I resumed walking, he turned to me. “I've got a weird feeling about that thing. It doesn't feel right. I've never seen anything like it.”
“Neither have I, but I trust Twilight's judgment. And if that fails, I trust Zecora to help her.”
“And Fluttershy?”
“...I trust Fluttershy not to let her panic get in the way. Now, let's get going.”
Big Mac nodded. “Eeyup. Don't wanna lose our spot.”
Angel POV
When I woke up again, I was inside somewhere. The place reeked of animal fur. I tried to sit up, and realised my ribs were bound, and my arm was in a cast and sling. The gashes were gone, but I was covered in dried blood, sweat, and dirt, and I had glass in my hair. Gingerly, I used my good arm to hoist myself up. I was draped over a couch, with one of my calves strapped to a board and in a cast. Jesus. I really took a beating. I thought as I carefully swung my legs around. shifting so I was sitting on the tiny couch, with one leg extended onto the floor. I noted with mild annoyance that my cuts and scars were gone. I looked around to try and work out where I was. I still didn't have my glasses, but it looked like I was in a cottage of sorts.
I awkwardly reached out with my uninjured arm to undo the straps on the board so I could flex my knee, which was feeling stiff, and put my leg in a more comfortable position. It was a mission, but I managed to get one undone. I couldn't quite reach the other one though. Suddenly, the strap I was trying in vain to reach was enveloped in a pinkish-purple glow, and came undone on its own. The board slid away from my leg, which was caught in the glow and gently lowered to the ground. I looked up and saw the purple horse thing from earlier, the one I'd kicked, standing nearby. It had a horn, and wings. The horn was glowing the same shade as the board. I scowled at it. The light surrounding its horn went out, and it began trying to talk to me. I raised my arms to sign, but the tug of my sling on my neck reminded me that I only had one arm to work with. I couldn't sign. I felt muted. I settled for shaking my head, and pointing at my ear. The horse tilted its head and ruffled its wings, apparently confused. I groaned in frustration and put my head in my hand. After a few seconds, I felt something nudge my hand. I looked up and saw my glasses, somehow intact, floating in midair. Confused, I took them and put them on. They were literally as good as new, no scratches or fingerprints or loose nose grips. Finally, I could see. I looked over at the horse thing, which I could see clearly now. It seemed to be...smiling. Huh? Horses don't smile, do they? Fuck, Angel, you've fallen through your bed, levitated, been attacked by a giant cat, and seem to be in the company of talking horses with wings and horns, and you're more concerned with their facial expressions? Get it together. Seeing the thing again had triggered the temporarily-lost memory of what happened to me. My head didn't feel so foggy anymore, so I guess the concussion was gone. How long had I been out?
I took a moment to really look at my surroundings, and the horse. It seemed to be head and shoulders shorter than me, not counting the horn, though its wingspan was easily longer than I was tall. Its horn was about a foot long. Its short, sleek fur was a vivd purple, with a dark indigo mane streaked with pink and violet. Its eyes were huge, taking up about half its face, and the irises were a deep violet, similar to the streaks in its mane. All up, it was pretty weird looking. Its appearance was closer to that of a horse than a deer, until you reached the head. The skull shape was pretty deer-like, the snout wasn't long enough to resemble a horse. Who the fuck cares what it is? It could be a llama for all that matters. I have better things to concentrate on, like where I am! The place I was in was indeed a small cottage. The walls were wooden, so was the floor. There was a green rug on the floor, a couple couches and a chaise lounge. There was a staircase leading upwards out of sight. I spotted a fireplace, which made me smirk and shake my head. What? Who the hell has an open fireplace in an entirely wooden house? I sniffed the air again and detected pine. And near a forest, no less? Fuck, these things are stupid. I looked around for the animals I'd smelled when I first woke up, and saw a pissed-off looking white rabbit and a couple birds of prey. I looked back at the horse, recoiling a bit when I realised just how huge its eyes were. Bug-eyed horses were not my thing. It stood up and walked over to me, stopping just short of my reach. It levitated a quill and a notebook and some ink near its face. Again. It looked at me nervously, to see if I was going to kick it again. I wanted to, I really did, but it was too far away and getting off the couch was really difficult. Plus, I guess, it was entitled to its little scientific wet dream, given it played a part in saving me, whether I liked it not.
Sighing, I settled down on the couch and let it observe me, until I felt a disturbance in the air, like a door closing, and detected a small amount of steam. I looked up and saw the yellow pegasus carefully making its way down the stairs in a bathrobe, with a towel wrapped turban-style around its head. Wait, a bathrobe? The fuck? It was butt naked earlier, and how the fuck did it wrap that towel without hands? Ugh. Concussion or no, I'm getting a headache. It stopped when it saw me and flew closer to me, chattering excitedly, causing the towel to fall off and dripping water all over me. Whoa, personal space invasion. I shook my head again and held my hands up as best I could, trying to keep it away from me. It seemed to understand, because it backed off and landed a few feet away from me, hiding partially behind its mane. Its eyes still shone though and I could tell it wanted to ask me questions. Sorry, horse thing, but unless your friend over there can conjure an illusion of hands signing, or give you hands, you're out of luck.
Fluttershy POV
After we got back from the forest, the creature was still unconscious. Zecora went home to have breakfast and get herself ready for the rest of the day, and Twilight assured me she'd be fine on her own, despite the fact that it had kicked her. “I learn from my mistakes. I'll keep my distance this time.”
“Do you...do you think it's evil?” I asked timidly.
“Evil? No. Bad tempered? Yeah.”
“Are you sure you'll be ok?”
“Fluttershy, I appreciate your concern, but I can handle myself. I'll call for you if I need help, ok?”
I had to concede that. I was grimy, too, I had dirt and leaves and glass and the thing's blood all through my fur and feathers, and desperately needed a shower. So, after feeding the animals, I went upstairs and let Twilight do her thing.
An hour later, I was finally satisfied that I was clean and glass-free. I hoped I wouldn't encounter any small shards when preening. I put on my bathrobe and wound a towel around my mane to keep it from dripping. Humming under my breath, I opened the door and trotted down the stairs.
Partway down the stairs, I felt eyes on me. I stopped and looked up. The creature was watching me, looking bewildered. Dropping the towel, I fluttered down the rest of the stairs and over to the creature. “Oh my goodness! You're awake! Are you ok? Does anything hurt? Do you have a name? What do your cutie marks mean? Why do you have two? What are you? What is that metal in your forehead? Does it hurt? How did-” I was cut off by the creature shaking its head, raising its arms, and putting both hands in front of it, making as if to push me away. I flittered down to the ground and backed off, giving it space. It let out a relieved sigh and looked more comfortable. I was about to ask it more questions when there was a knock at my door. I went to investigate, and was greeted by Pinkie Pie.
“Hey, Fluttershy, I came by to get-Whoa, what is that?”
“Pinkie, I don't-” I tried to say before she barged past me and bounced over to the creature sitting awkwardly on my couch, where it had begun to pick glass out of its hair.
“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?”
The creature ignored her, continuing to pick glass out of its hair with its one free hand, not even looking in her direction.
“Helloooo?”
Apparently satisfied with the amount of glass it had removed, the creature looked up and started. “Gah!” it cried out in a high, strangled, hoarse voice. It scrambled up onto the couch, and Pinkie followed it. It tried to hobble away from her, but she just followed it, until Twilight stepped in.
“Pinkie! Leave it alone! It seems to have a concept of personal space, and you're invading it.”
“Oopsie! Sorry!” Pinkie backed off. “But what is it? It didn't seem to notice me until it looked up.”
“We don't know what it is, and I saw that too. I need to run some tests on it, to see why it doesn't respond when somepony talks to it, but we think it just doesn't understand.”
“Could it be deaf?”
“Deaf?” Twilight echoed.
“Yeah. One of the new baking assistants at the bakery, Cookie Burst, is deaf. She can't speak either. She writes stuff down, or mimes. She said she knows sign language as well, but I haven't really had time to learn it properly.”
“...huh. Yeah, maybe. How do we go about testing it, though? I don't have any of the equipment here. Could that be why its voice is so weird? Furthermore, why didn't I think of that?”
“I'll just pop up behind it and whistle real loud or something. Oh, and, yeah, cause it's probably never really used it before, and can't hear itself to make its voice sound more normal.”
“Ok, but be careful. It's violent.”
The thing had hobbled its way over to my bookshelf and was examining it, looking disappointed. Pinkie Pie snuck up behind it, her hooves barely touching the floor, and stopped only a few hooves short of it, sitting on its shadow's neck. She whistled loudly and sharply, but got no response, until it turned around.
Author's Note
Second chapter! This will hopefully give you more of an insight into Angel. If you don't like him, good, you're not meant to. He's a dick and he has ASPD. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.
