A Whole New World

It seemed we had run out of conversation after that, because we remained silent as we walked to the outskirts of Ponyville. I began having concerns as we got closer to the Everfree Forest, but we took a detour and headed towards what I assumed to be Fluttershy's house.

It looked like at had been modelled off a tree. The walls were short, and the roof was thick, green and thatched, designed to look like a tree's crown. As we approached, I noticed a number of bird houses and rabbit warrens around the house, all teeming with life. It all disappeared, however, when they saw me coming. Wow. I guess even the animals haven't seen a human.

"Alright then, this is the place. Now, Ah have to warn you, Fluttershy is extremely timid. Pour soul's afraid of her own shadow. Ya don't mind hangin' back again so that Ah can tell her?"

I had known what it was like to be shy, so I felt sympathy for Fluttershy, "Sure Applejack, take as long as you need." I sat down next to a tree and let her walk up to the house alone. She knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

As she waited, I noticed a small, white rabbit approaching me. It was taking small, cautious steps, eyeing me with suspicion. I reached out my hand to it, but instead of jumping back in fear, it got up on its hind legs and started swinging its paws at me as if to say, "Don't try anything pal."

I laughed at this and said to the rabbit, "I've taken on a manticore buddy, but I'll tell you now, you look like a fighter."

The bunny was surprised when I talked, but its ears perked up at the mention of a manticore, and it hopped onto my shoulder, looking me up and down. Despite being a rabbit, I could tell the expression was saying, "I doubt that!"

"I did! Look, I have the scars to prove it," I said, showing him my missing finger, "Honestly, I'm surprised you could think such a thing!"

The rabbit took one last look at me, and nodded, his face saying, "You're alright kid," before jumping off and making his way up to the house.

Just before it reached the door, it was opened by a yellow hoof, and Applejack said, "Howdy Fluttershy!"

I strained my ears, but I heard a small whisper reply, "Oh, good afternoon Applejack. What can I do for you?"

"Well, do ya remember that hairless bear that ya treated at our farm?" What? A hairless bear?

"Y-yes. Why? Is he ok?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Actually he's just outside, he wanted to thank ya personally. Wait here and Ah'll get him."

Applejack walked back over to me. When she got closer, I laughed and said, "Hairless bear?!"

Applejack blushed, and said, "Well, she's good with animals, and it was the only way Ah could coax her into helpin' ya."

I simply replied with another laugh as we walked up to the front door. I was greeted by a pale yellow pony with a long pink mane that reached down to her knees. Despite being so long, it looked natural, and complimented her soft eyes. She had a look of shock on her face, and she started stepping back in fear, "So, t-t-tall. H-He d-didn't look so tall when he was lying down."

I understood that I was scaring her, so I sat down on the ground so that Fluttershy was slightly taller than me, "It's alright Fluttershy. I won't hurt you, and I just wanted to thank you for helping me. My name's Dutch, but if you want, you can still think of me as the hairless bear." I gave her a friendly smile.

Fluttershy giggled at this, and gained enough confidence to walk up to me, "Um, I was wondering if I could take a look at your injuries. They might have healed by now, that is... if you don't mind."

"It's alright Fluttershy." I said as I took off my shirt, showing the bandages that had still been tied round my arm and shoulder, even during my time in the hospital. She unwrapped the bandage around my arm, and I saw that the bite marks had gone, leaving a few spots of scar tissue. She removed the bandage on my shoulder, and it was the same thing.

"Ok, those look good," Fluttershy said. All previous fear of me seemed to have vanished as she examined the cut on my face, "I think I can take those stitches out too, if that's ok with you."

I nodded, and she went through to another room to fetch some scissors. Except she didn't walk, she flew. I hadn't noticed them before, but she had a pair of feathered wings on either side of her body, which flapped gracefully as she left.

Applejack had been silent, so I decided to remind her that I hadn't forgotten about her, "Hay AJ, you never mentioned that Equestria was home to unicorns and pegasi too."

Applejack looked at me with confusion, before saying, "Ya said ya had ponies in yer own world, so Ah thought Ah wouldn't need to."

I chuckled, "Yeah, we have ponies, but they're only like you. Equines like Rarity and Fluttershy are just creatures from myths and fairy tales."

Applejack looked a little stunned, but regained herself and said, "Well, you did look a little shocked when Rarity was carryin' them clothes, so Ah had mah suspicions."

Fluttershy returned shortly after, holding a pairs of sharp scissors that looked better for cutting up large pieces of paper rather than performing precise surgical procedures. She noticed my expression, and said, "S-Sorry, these were the only ones I could find. I mean... we don't have to do it if you're not comfortable."

"No, it's fine Fluttershy. I'd like to get these out sooner rather than later." I turned my head forward and held as still as a statue.

I was genuinely worried as the blades came within millimetres of my face, but Fluttershy looked like she knew what she was doing. She cut the first stitch just beside the knot, and removed it with her teeth. She continued this routine again and again, until finally, the last stitch slid out.

Fluttershy handed me a tissue to collect the blood seeping out of the holes, and I stood up to find a mirror. When I did, I removed the tissue, and saw that I now had a long scar down my face, just below my left eye. If I hadn't been looking at myself, I would have felt concerned for my well-being. I can't imagine how Fluttershy's feeling right now.

"I hope this doesn't frighten either of you," I said, turning towards the two ponies.

Both of them shook their heads, but Fluttershy spoke afterwards, "It's alright Dutch, but while you're here, are you hungry?"

I was about to reply, but my stomach was faster, letting out a loud rumble. I realised I hadn't eaten anything since I had my talk with Applejack after the tour of the farm, and I was suddenly ravenous.

Applejack and Fluttershy laughed at this, and I asked what was on offer, "Well," Fluttershy started, "I've got hay, flowers, fruit, meat, salad--"

"Wait, what? Did you just say you kept meat?"

"Y-Yes. Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's just that I thought you wouldn't have meat. The ponies in my world are herbivores."

"So are we sugarcube, but Fluttershy takes care of bears and eagles too. She needs to have meat to feed the carnivores around these parts."

"I suppose that makes sense. Humans are omnivores, but I won't eat any meat around you guys. I would just feel so guilty. I'll be alright with just a salad."

It was midday, so Fluttershy decided to make lunch for all three of us. We were grateful, and the salad gave me a surprising amount of energy, despite it being essentially leaves and vegetables. After the meal, Applejack realised the time and told me that we had to leave. She had arranged to meet with another friend of hers, who I was going to be seeing.

I bid farewell to Fluttershy, and we left the house, wandering back down the path. We carried on for a few hundred metres, before Applejack motioned to a small mud path through the trees. We walked through, and emerged into a huge clearing with grassland and a large lake in the middle. Applejack's friend had arranged to meet us here, so we waited.

After ten minutes, Applejack said, "Where the hay is that featherbrain?" As if she had been heard, a whooshing sound came over our heads, and a light blue object flew past us at an unbelievable speed.

"Ah, here she is, probably been sleepin' somewhere. Dutch, meet Rainbow Dash." The object known as Rainbow Dash continued to fly above us, occasionally flipping and spinning. She came around back towards us, passing over the trees we had emerged from, and turned for another performance.

Just before she reached the trees, however, one of her wings stopped moving, and she started to tumble through the air. She entered the trees, and I could hear her yelping with pain as she hit every branch on the way through. As she reached the other side, I heard an especially loud snap as she hit a thicker branch, and her limp form exited the trees, still travelling as fast as it had been. She landed on the lake, skipping the water a few times from the velocity, before breaking the surface and sinking.

After ten seconds, she still hadn't resurfaced.

Applejack started panicking, and I didn't even think as I threw my boots off. They would only weigh me down. I ran towards the lake and dove in, heading towards the place where Dash had sank. When I reached it, I took a deep lungful of air, and dived.

The water was well lit from the afternoon sun, but my eyes still stang when I opened them. I continued to swim down, searching for anything that looked like a cyan pegasus. My ears were starting to hurt from the pressure, but after diving another five metres, I saw Rainbow Dash. She was sinking, belly up, and she was still out of it. I wrapped my arm around her body, and pulled her towards the surface.

My lungs were burning for oxygen now, and when I broke the surface, I took huge gulps of air. I didn't stop to relax though, I started swimming towards the nearest shore, making sure to keep Dash above the surface.

When I reached the edge, I lifted the rainbow-maned pony onto solid ground before getting out myself. I rolled her onto her back and checked her pulse by placing my ear on her chest. It was weak, and irregular, so I put my face close to her mouth.

Fuck. She's not breathing.

Under any other circumstances, I would have seen the crowd of ponies gathering on the opposite shore, but I was too busy with Dash to notice it. I placed my hands on her chest, and started to press down at regular intervals. Now, granted, I've never performed CPR on a pony before, but that certainly didn't mean I couldn't try. I gave her fifteen compressions, then tilted her head back. I placed my lips over hers, and forced air into her lungs. I could see her chest rise and fall, so I took another breath, and tried again.

When I did, Rainbow coughed, and my mouth was filled with water from her lungs. I took my head away and spat out the foul-tasting liquid. Dash was coughing and spluttering violently now, so I turned her away from me to let the water out, "You're alright, take deep breaths." I told her.

She obeyed, and after regaining her breath, she turned towards me, "Thanks. I must've pulled a muscle in my wing, but I guess I--"

She saw me, and immediately leapt up onto her hind legs, her forelegs held up in front of her, like a boxer, "What are you?! What did you do to the pony who saved me?"

I was just about to reply, when she swung a left hook into my jaw. The punch dazed me, but she didn't fight like she was experienced. As I turned my head back to her, she attempted a right cross.

If you recall earlier, I mentioned that archery was one of the few things I was good at. I had two others: snowboarding, and unarmed combat. With the latter, I didn't care much for the complexity of things like Kung-Fu or Judo. I was only interested in the self-defence techniques, because at the end of the day, that's what kept you alive. Rainbow's first punch had given me a chance to assess her strength, and it was slow enough that I was able to catch her hoof as she moved in with her cross.

Rainbow stopped for a second. It looked like she was staring at my hand with surprise. I didn't give her a moment to recover, though, and I pulled her towards me and wrapped my arms around her. I hadn't been in the water as long as her, and my body was still warm. She needed that warmth.

She struggled as I held her close. She shouted, "Get off me!" But I didn't, "Relax Rainbow, I'm trying to give you my body heat, and I can't do that when you're squirming like this." She seemed to understand, and stopped moving, but was still tense. After another minute, her coat felt was as warm as mine, and I let her go.

She didn't say anything. She just gave me one final look, shook herself like a dog, and took off again, heading back towards the town. I followed her with my eyes, and saw Applejack approaching me, carrying my boots in her mouth and Rarity's bag on her back.

"Dutch, ya'll alright, where's Dash?" She was really freaking out now.

"She's fine. After I resuscitated her she took off back towards Ponyville. Also, does she normally attack her rescuers?"

Applejack seemed to understand the word resuscitate, because she pulled me into a hug, tears falling down her face, "Thank ya Dutch, Ah don't know what would've happened if we lost her," she gave a small laugh when she registered my question, "She's quite brash sometimes, facin' danger head on. She didn't hurt ya too bad did she?"

"Nah, but with practice, she'll get a mean hook." Applejack laughed at this, and released the hug, "Come on, let's go home."

"Agreed," I replied, as I got up and followed her back towards the path, "I didn't know I could get so tired after a single day."