Ravings of a Mad Pony

She raised her hoof and pointed it toward him…how was he meant to respond? He hadn't been in this situation in lord knows how long, if ever! He reached out his hoo- wait, hoof? He had a body? How was this possible?

He continued to stare at his hoof in confusion as he left Twilight hanging.

She studied his expression, confusion, fear, curiosity were all evident in his constantly-shifting expression. His face was surprisingly easy to read, did he even know how to control it?

"uhh… I guess you've never had a body before?" It was a reasonable question, he did, after all, appear above the fog. He blinked and looked back up at her. He continued to stare for a moment before he turned his attention back to his body; tearing up, an ear-to-ear grin crept up his face. He was alive again! He could cry, he could laugh, he could explode with joy. His heart's gentle beating drummed through his body. With every beat a light pressure crossed his body, his blood pulsated with every thump that rang in his ears. He let the tears fall, the feeling of them running down his cheeks and muzzle was something he would never forget. He noticed a slight soreness across his face, he soon realized he was smiling. Smiling! He could express himself again!

HE. WAS. ALIVE!

He broke out into laughter, a hearty laugh that eventually degraded into wheezing, then convulsions that simulated his breathless mirth. He fell on his side, he could feel the floorboards rub against his side, he could feel his fur brushing them and himself. He tried to stop laughing, but the joy just kept coming. He couldn't stop! He had to though, from what he could remember he needed to breathe or bad things happened. He forced himself to stop and take a deep breath. Once his breathing normalized he pulled himself back up on his hooves.

Twilight giggled at his antics and gave him a warm smile, "heh, I guess not." She pointed to herself "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

He raised an eyebrow and pointed a hoof towards her, she nodded "Twilight Sparkle." She repeated, then pointed at him. "you?"

Confound it! How does she make words? He opened his mouth and exhaled. Nope. That doesn't cut it, rrgh, how does she do it? He made a noise once when he…what was it?...what was the word?...whatever…he remembered that some creatures made a sound when hurt, maybe he could do it that way, figure out how his voice works.

Twilight watched as he raised his forehoof and jammed hit into his gut. He grunted, as soon as he processed the fact that he made the sound, he recreated it; this time without hurting himself. He smiled again, then made another sound experimentally. Twilight cocked her head, "do you not know how to speak?"

There she goes again with words! He got his voice figured out, but he still couldn't make words! HOW!? He made another noise, but this time he put his tongue on the roof of his mouth. There it was! He made a different sound! Does that mean he would have to move his mouth-parts in different ways JUST to communicate with another sapient being!? Jeeze, communicating is harder than I remember it ever being. He tried again but with the back end of his tongue plastered against his back teeth. Again, he made a new sound.

"but…you yelled for help earlier, in equestrian no less! Do you even understand what I'm saying?" she took a step toward him.

He gave her a questioning look, then slowly nodded. What are the odds that two entirely different beings could speak the same language? He would have to do the math later. Now the real question is…HOW DOES THIS SPEAKING THING WORK!? He stomped his forehoof in frustration. He was going nowhere fast, he had more speech impediments than a newborn infant!

There was only one reason twilight could think of for his inability to speak properly, "h-how old ARE you?" he shrugged, he didn't bother keeping track of the years he spent there. It was supposed to be eternity anyhow.

Twilight's gaze suddenly turned to his left, going beyond him and passing on to applejack, "oh no! I forgot about Applejack!" she galloped past him and made her way to her apricot-colored friend. "Applejack! Are you alright!?" she shook her, causing her to sleepily groan.

"Uhn, five moar minutes" she moaned. Twilight relaxed a little bit, her friend was okay. Using that machine probably took it all out of her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the pitter-patter of her number-one assistant's small footsteps making their way down the stairs.

"Twilight! Are you okay? There was shaking and-" his sentence was cut short when he saw a strange stallion standing on one side of a gaping hole in the center of the room, looking confused as twilight stood on the other side of it, tending to Applejack. Something was off about the stranger, Spike felt like it was some sort of intrusion, an invasion of privacy. He wanted to yell at him, tell him to leave and, if need be, throw him out himself. He restrained himself. Why did he just suddenly dislike this guy? He hadn't even done anything to merit such a reaction yet.

"Uh, Twilight? Who's that?" spike resumed his stare.

Twilight turned from Applejack and faced Spike. "I don't really know, neither does he." She gestured toward the stranger. "all we know for certain is that he came from here." She turned down toward the gaping hole in the center of the room.

"Hey, do you think you could help me with applejack?" the stranger turned to twilight and nodded in response. He trotted over to the sleeping form of applejack, her chest slowly rising and falling as she quivered and shuffled, her dreams taking minor control of her movements.

"I guess we'll carry her, she's pretty heavy" she sighed as she prepared her magic; but before she could reach for Applejack, the stranger's hoof blocked her path. He shook his head and pointed to himself.

She raised her eyebrows at his gesture, "are you sure? I'm not joking when I say she isn't exactly the lightest of ponies." He nodded and began to tuck his head underneath applejack's torso. He should be the one to carry her, he may have lost his concept of common sense, but that doesn't mean he had abandoned ethics altogether. He still understood that it would probably make a better first impression than breaking down on the floor laughing…wait…laughing? So THAT'S what it was he was trying to say! Eitherwhats he needed to make friends, he was in someplace entirely new populated by sentient horses and it would probably do him SOME good not to become a public menace.

He lifted up his head and let applejack roll down his neck to rest at the small of his back. He gave twilight a reassuring look, though she wasn't kidding when she said this 'applejack' was heavy, he was certain that he could carry her a sufficient distance. Twilight nodded and led him out of the laboratory. As they moved up the stairs, the stranger marveled at how applejack's body seemed to behave without a second thought. He could feel every individual beat of her heart as his heart slowed to match it. His breathing synchronized to mirror hers. Twilight opened a small birch door at the top of the winding staircase, as the exit widened small rays of sunlight penetrated the atmosphere of the corridor. They soon entered twilight's living room.

Twilight gestured to the couch, "just lay her down there for now, I need to notify Princess Celestia of what just happened, feel free to sit down and read a book for a moment. C'mon spike" she then waved her hoof towards the extensive collection of books lining the wall and beckoned spike to follow her. He followed but gave the stranger one more passing glance. He still didn't really trust him, he got the feeling that something horrible was going to happen if he was left alone. Well either way there wasn't much he could do about it, he hasn't necessarily done anything to support spike's suspicions on the matter. He decided to leave it for the time being, and continued on his way up the stairs.

Dear princess celestia,

Something happened while I was experimenting today. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but a sinkhole opened up in the middle of the laboratory floor during the experiment. I ended up pulling somepony out of it, I'm not entirely certain about who he is or where he's from. He can understand equestrian but can't seem to speak. It's like it's his first time ever having a mouth. He seems to understand etiquette, as he carried an unconscious applejack out of the laboratory for me. I need your help, I'm not really sure what to do with him.

Your faithful student, Twilight sparkle.