Fabrication

So I woke up feeling officially grossed out. Had another sexy dream about my old friend, but just as I was about to finish up, I see Thralia. I got a start and flung her over to the other side of the bed as I sat up. Pleasant dreams indeed. Now that I was completely awake and feeling a little sorry for myself, I decided to focus my mind on other matters. I was tempted to see if I could work out that language. If an intellectual old man could translate the holy bible from Latin to English, why couldn't I translate this? The castle itself was rather Victorian, so perhaps with the alphabet and maybe a few picture books, I could get this right. It would take a while. I made my way to the library which had a little nursery for children.

Thralia decided to help out wherever she could. She began gathering books. Unfortunately, they were random, and not of any use to me at the time, but the spirit of the gesture was there. "Perhaps you could find me some paper? And something to write with?" I asked her. It was nice having a pet-like friend who understood you and did as they were told. The most I could get my dad's pet dog to do was wave at me, sit and wait until I said it was okay for him to eat. Thralia was as human as an animal could be. She understood me word for word, and it was a godsend. If she weren't an animal, she'd be the perfect girlfriend; always listened, did what I told her and never spoke.

I began to wonder if there might be something in these books that could lead me home. Perhaps I could take Thralia with me. The question was, would she want to go back with me? Perhaps she had a family waiting for her too. Come to think of it, I hadn't really thought about my family since I'd got here. Granted, I was rather cut off from society, but... nothing? I didn't miss them. It was kind of unnerving.

A muffled yip brought me out of my train of thought. Thralia had come back with exactly what I asked. Paper, or parchment if I wanted to get technical, a quill and even an ink bottle. I wondered if the ink was dry? "Thanks, sweetie." I said, taking the items from her. She curled up next to me and watched what I was doing.

I first copied the alphabet in that strange language, then placed the English letters in order beneath them. I then grabbed what I came to discover was a picture book. I went to the first picture and read the wording for it. The picture was an apple. I looked the word over and cross-referenced it with the alphabet chart I'd drawn. Sure enough, the lettering was what I'd hoped. Apple was spelled the same way, but the letters were just different. So theoretically, if I memorised the alphabet of this language, I could read virtually any book in the library.

I checked again with the other pictures, the result was the same. I even checked the title of the book. It read; 'ABC for foals.' "Foals? Maybe it's not as cut and dry as I thought." I said aloud, moving on to another book, 'The tale of the two sisters'. The book contained pictures as well, but they were just markers to the story. I read it, translating every word I could. The story seemed to read the same as the pictures, but the pony references were making me uneasy. There was no reference to people, but every kind of mythical creature and stereotypical animal was described in book after book.

I'd been through five books by the time I gave up. It was reaching late into the afternoon. Thralia was looking bored and my head was beginning to hurt with all the words I'd read and translated. I'd gained a basic recollection of the alphabet, but it still took me time to figure out which letters were which without the aid of the chart.

As I was in the middle of deciphering another book, Thralia caught my attention. She'd carried the picture book I'd started out with. The apple picture was open as she dropped the book in front of me and smacked her paw over the picture.

"Oh sorry, Thralia. I didn't realise it was so late. Alright. Let's take a break and get something to eat." I said. She yipped with excitement and crawled up me like a curtain, resting comfortably on her shoulder-shaped perch. Together we left the Library. On the way, something stopped me. A sign that I hadn't noticed read 'mage's quarters'. Curiosity got the better of me and I took a detour, much to Thralia's chagrin.

Following the sign, I found a door that lead to a large room. Not as large as the room We'd slept in last night, but still pretty large. It had desks, bookshelves, alchemical stations, a bed and a wardrobe. The wardrobe was what interested me the most. Stepping up to it, I opened the doors to find robes. They were kind of small. If anything, they seemed to be a mix between a winter nightgown and a Hawaiian shirt in terms of shape. The fabric used was rather modern. It was about my size too. It had a hood and everything. Deciding there was nothing but to try it out, I did just that. Thralia shifted to the nearest desk as I wrapped the robe around me. Honestly, it was like a white hooded jacket when it was on me. Still it was warm and better than just wearing a tank top. Thralia moved back to my shoulder, but slid into the hood. She fidgeted at first, but relaxed once she was upright.

"Looks like we found a more secure method of transportation for you, eh Thralia?" I asked, chuckling as we left the room. We walked by what appeared to be an armoury. Weapons and armour would be useful should we run into that dragon again. The chances of me slaying it were pretty thin, but it would still be better than nothing. Stepping through, We noticed that the armours were specifically designed for horses, small ones at that.

"Strange. Perhaps I didn't mistranslate that foal reference after all. Perhaps horses are the dominant species here. Better than Raptors, I guess." I said, examining the armour closer. While the overall shape was designed for ponies, pieces of the armour could be adapted to my own structure. The pauldrons for example. There were different parts that fit me, including a belt, a cloak and even the swords were adaptable. I took what I felt I needed for a first time out. A pair of daggers, the robe, the belt and a single longsword. Adding these to my person, I looked pretty badass.

With myself geared up and Thralia settled into my hood, I decided it was to me to go on the hunt for any food I might be able to catch. I realised I might have to go Assassin's Creed and drop down on our food. How cool it'd be to have a pair of wrist blades. Still, the sword and daggers were cool enough to tide me over.

Stepping outside, I found myself wishing I had a spare hood. The wind was blowing chilling air onto my face. What I knew about weather prediction caused me to think that a storm might be on the horizon. Animals would be harder to come by if they could sense the change in the weather.

Three and a half hours. Three and a half hours and fuck all to show for it! I always hated Connor Kenway, but now I hated him even more; fucker made hunting look easy. Defeated and hungry, I made my way back towards the ruined castle before I heard something in the distance. I placed my hand over my sword, hoping it wasn't the dragon from before.

I tried to reach the source of the sounds, which as I got closer, realised were voices. One voice in particular. It was female, going by how light it sounded, but then again... Glee made me wonder if that was really a solid conclusion. I climbed an easily climbable tree and managed to get close enough to not only hear, but also see the speaker.

"Now Angel, don't be like that. It'll do you good to get to know some other bunnies. It did me good to get to know other ponies. Surely you'd like something like that, right?" she said. It boggled my mind how this thing was able to talk. This waist-high, blindingly colourful, butter-yellow winged-fucking-horse. There was no nicer way I could describe it.

"Oh, come on. They're not so bad. Look at their cute little faces." the horse said. As I took notice of the wings, Hercules' Pegasus came to mind. I just sat there, watching what was easily the strangest ever battle of the wills. Pegasus versus Bunny. It's gonna be a fucking bloodbath. I thought sarcastically. The rabbit just seemed to animatedly cross his arms and turn his head away in disgust.

"If you don't, I'm going to have to apologise to them for wasting their time by giving them something to eat. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how that'll cut into your own food stocks." the pegasus said, the slyness in her voice not lost to me. I accidentally chuckled when the rabbit turned back and gave in reluctantly. Clearly food took priority over pride.

Sadly, the pegasus heard my chuckle and gasped. "Who's there?" she asked meekly, beginning to shake as she looked around. I contemplated not answering, but that would get me nowhere. Perhaps if I could communicate with her, she might be able to lead us to a food source.

"Sorry to startle you," I said with as gentle a voice as I could muster. "I was out looking for food when I heard you in the distance. Curiosity got the better of me and I wound up investigating." to my surprise, the pegasus seemed saddened by my explanation.

"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting your search for food." she said. What a kind soul. I thought.

"Please, don't be. I'd given up the search and was on my way back when I heard you." I replied.

"Are you a local of Ponyville? Your voice doesn't sound familiar." she said.

I wondered what I should say. The stories I'd read with these situations (or as close to these situations as possible) never ended well either way, but then again, they always avoided common sense. "Actually, I'm from somewhere far away. I sort of woke up in this forest a few nights ago. I won't bore you with the details, but I was hoping you might be able to tell me where a good food source might be found in here. Any fruits, vegetables... animals for my pet fox."

At the mention of Thralia, the pegasus visibly perked up. "You have a pet fox?!" she practically squee'd.

"I do. Her name's Thralia. I named her after a character from a series I really liked." I explained, omitting the whole internet animation.

"That's a beautiful name. My name's Fluttershy, and this is my pet bunny, Angel." the pegasus, now identified as Fluttershy replied.

"Was his name meant to be ironic? 'cause after seeing you try to negotiate, he seems more like a little devil than an angel." I replied.

Fluttershy audible giggled and scooped Angel up in her hooves. Her dexterity was amazing. "I named him Angel because when he was still just a baby, he looked like part of an angel's wing; as small as a feather and just as fluffy." she said.

"You seem much calmer now. I'm glad. My name's Flint. It's nice to meet you, Fluttershy." I said.

"You too, Flint. I'm normally shy around new ponies, but I guess the fact that I can't see you is helping." she replied. I chuckled as a means to relieve her fears further.

"I'm glad you think so, but I'm not a pony. I highly doubt you've ever seen anything like me before. But don't let that frighten you." I said, seeing the uncertain expression on her face. It astounded me how easily I could read her expressions.

A stutter escaped her lips as she asked me, "W-well if you aren't a p-p-pony... what are you?" she asked. Her timidity was adorable. I wondered how I should go about answering such a question. In any other circumstance, I wouldn't have cared either way about her reaction, but she was my key to a full belly. I wondered for a moment if she was edible. I was Renegade, but not that Renegade. With a sigh, I answered her question to the best of my abilities.

"Ever heard of a Human?" I asked. I watched as she shook her head. "Didn't think so. I'm from another world, and before you start..." I interrupted her oncoming freakout. "I don't mean that I'm an alien from outer space. More like from an alternate reality." I concluded.

Fluttershy seemed to be taking this pretty well. It seemed like she was debating whether or not to believe me. I suppose such a tale was pretty tall. "What do you look like?" she asked. Not an unreasonable question to ask, but I'd have gone more along the lines of: 'Do you come in peace?' or 'Are you here for our women and children?' The realisation dawned on me that if I couldn't find a way home, I'd either have to go native, or I'd never get my hogie.

"It's... difficult to describe. Essentially, we look like apes, only, we're taller, thinner and out feet don't match our hands. For most of us, our hair only grows on the tops of our heads and around our... *ahem*... pubic area. The males of our kind have been known to develop some facial hair. Beards, goatees, that sort of thing." It occurred to me that she may not know what a beard or goatee even was. But then again, I just described them to be facial hair.

"My... that sounds awfully scary." she said, her timidity showing in her voice once again.

"I'll admit, some of us can look pretty menacing, but Thralia seems to like me, so I can't be all that bad, right?" I asked. As Fluttershy seemed to consider what I'd said. I decided to let her see me and make the judgement herself. As I descended towards, the ground, I felt Thralia grip me for dear life. Luckily, it wasn't a long fall, so it was over before she could really register what had happened. I heard Fluttershy gasp as I rose to my full height. "Hi." I said. I sounded creepier than I'd intended, and Fluttershy obviously picked up on it. She began shaking and took a step back.

"Look, uh... not that talking to you isn't great and all. But could you lead us to some food now? Thralia's starving." I said, trying to sound kinder than before. Thralia poked her head out from under my hood and was instantly met with an ear-piercing squee from the butter-yellow pegasus. The next thing I knew, I was bowled over and pinned to the ground by a yellow blur who began going gaga over the fox in my hood.