A Short Tale

Chapter 7: Recovery

Travian awoke to the sound of soft humming. He saw a certain yellow winged pony enter the room, who was most likely the culprit of the humming. He looked down to see his leg wrapped in cloth. He then remembered he got injured. Again. It really brought down his mood, what with the whole lack of walking. He instead put his head down and hoped he could get some sleep or a form of entertainment. A bright idea popped into his head at that moment.

"Hello Flutterpsy, have you seen my helmet?"

"It should be on the floor right next to the couch." She had gotten used to him messing up her name.

"Thanks babe, you're a real help." Of course, Fluttershy hadn't gotten used to his weird words she had never heard before. She could only assume it was either a compliment or an insult. Probably an insult because she's a female. He bent over the side of the couch to find his helmet. When he picked it up, he thought of just engaging in a conversation with his armor while it heals him.

However, when he attempted to latch it, it would never connect. He would try again and again, but no matter what he did he couldn't connect. "Heh... What a sick joke." Then he realized how serious the situation actually was. "Oh. Oh no." He started panicking, something he never did much of. "Please no! No! I don't want to lose you! You were my only companion!" He kept trying to latch the helmet, but it would never work.

Fluttershy was noticing his panic as he was getting rather loud. In fact, she went out of her way to face him with a worried face. "Is something wrong?" Her voice was very quiet.

"Yes, something's wrong! It won't latch on! I wont have this glorious lady on my head in my head anymore!" He tried furiously to latch it together. It would never work.

"... You have a lady in your head and on your head? And your helmet is a lady?" He didn't tell anyone about his helmet. At least in depth. He just hinted he was insane, which of course he was...n't.

"Yes, and technically yes. And now it won't fit... Which means..." His life instantly got worse. He used the helmet for a conversational partner to prevent him from going either completely silent again or to keep him from insanity. Now he would have to talk to something else with conversations about everything. He dropped the helmet back on to the floor. "Which means nothing of much concern."

"You... Um... Well your face really didn't tell me that..."

"Well your face is pretty, but nobody ever comments on that!" He was frustrated at the moment, and directed his anger into raged compliments. She blushed with a confused expression.

"Um... Thanks?"

"You're most welcome, you beautiful little thing you!" She blushed yet again, but stayed her tongue. She probably figured out what he was doing, or was too confused to try to speak. Either way, he laid back down, trying to calm himself. It really got to his head that one of his most loved companions was essentially gone. He didn't mind the fact that he wouldn't heal for some time, he just wanted a voice to listen to. A voice to talk to, that was all. His head was surging at all the facts racing past him. He had to close his eyes and hold his head.

Then a voice appeared in the chaotic darkness, somehow making to serene and calm. "Um... Longshot, are you going to be okay?" He removed the hands from his head and kept his eyes closed.

"With you there, I believe I'll be just fine." He heard a gasp. "I mean, you there as in talking to me. You're currently keeping me at a normal attitude instead of a panicked one right now because of your voice." He opened his eyes, thoroughly calmed. "All it takes is a few voices like yours in my head, and I'll be fine."

"That's... Weird. Oh! Sorry, I don't want you to think-"

"It's fine. I understand the concept is foreign. I've tried explaining it to humans, but they never understand. It has its downsides though..." Namely the amount of horrifying voices that get stuck in his head. He has an excellent memory of those. "So how long until I get to leave this couch here?"

"With the way you've recovered before, I'd say a week or so."

"Oh right. About that... You see, the helmet helped clear out some damage. It shortened the healing period into a small amount of time." He winced, thinking that his words would hurt Fluttershy because she most likely took pride in such a short recovery.

"Oh, well that's okay. I'd say... Two weeks then?" Fluttershy officially earned a single point with Travian. She wasn't mad at him for something like that, or even sad.

"You can have a single point."

"... What point?" An explanation was in order.

"I use a system of points with people. Some people get points, some lose points. Actually, most lose points. However, you have gained a single point, and therefore have the highest score in all the land. Congratulations!" That brought a smile to both of their faces. Travian then decided it was nap time. He bid Fluttershy a fair night.

He didn't awaken to any noise or change in his environment when he arose from his slumber. Instead, he saw that Fluttershy was out yet again. He was alone in the house, which meant he could do as he pleased. He then remembered his injury. His day would be ruined by his lack of mobility. He then started thinking of previous memories to pass the time.

Of course, Fluttershy would be back before the day was out. Something was wrong though. Something was horribly wrong with how the door didn't close just as she entered. "I'm home!" she said. She wasn't the only one home, though.

"Great to hear." His reply should have sounded more sarcastic, but he couldn't have been bothered. When she entered the room with the couch he was laying on, though, she didn't come alone as expected. Behind her was the cyan devil. "Oh please no." He whispered that to himself.

"Hey, buddy! I just, um... Wanted to see how you were doing."

"Do I look like I'm doing good or bad? Honestly, I couldn't tell, what with the whole leg thing." Sarcasm was a great medicine.

"I think you might be doing fine, but I'm not a doctor." He was about to retort when she said, "Anyways, I came by to ask you if you still trust me."

"Wait, what?"

"You know, you said that if I could keep up with you, you'd trust me, and I did. Doesn't that make me your trust buddy?" Why he made that deal with her he would never know. He had so many memories, yet that was not one he could find.

"When did I say that?"

"Yesterday. Don'cha remember?" Memories would be so much easier to remember if he had a helmet.

"Not really, no. So wait, I'm supposed to trust you now?"

"Well, yeah. You did say that. Unless... Were you lying?" The most truthful and easy answer would have been yes. He had to keep up his reputation though of being untrustworthy.

"No. When did I have a reason to lie?" None could destroy that. It was his trump card.

"Applejack said she hardly trusted anything you said, and you're actually very secretive, so I think you have a lot of reasons to lie." This was the way of things. Of course his trump card would fail. Time to resort to distractions.

"Well you're a pony!" The two ponies in the room stared at him. "Which means you're small!" They continued the stare. "Which means... I guess you guys have smaller brains?" Yet again he created an inescapable situation for himself.

"Are you discriminating against all of us?"

"No no no no no... I'm only discriminating against yo- The air!" He really had to stop creating these problems.

"So you're just making fun of me? Oh, I see how it is. So you're just one of those jerks!" He can't be a jerk. He isn't even a human.

"Excuse me? I'm not a jerk. I'm just a male of my race. Simple."

"So you're saying guys are all like you?"

"Yes and no. There are plenty of them that discriminate and are green, but I'm the only one for you." He was able to absorb her reaction before rapidly changing the subject. "Anyways, it was great seeing you and all, but I seriously need to recover from an injury that could have been worse if not for you, yada yada yada, now can you leave? Kay thanks." He saw Rainbow Dash be completely baffled at what he said before she opened her mouth to speak. By then though, he already closed his eyes and rolled over on the couch.

"What? I don't... What, I... Wait woah, what?" Travian tried to escape by not saying anything. "We aren't done with this, you hear? Not by a... Long... Shot... Oh, I think I get it now." He didn't think she got it. All the same, she left the house. Travian recalled memories for the time he was awake. When he was sleeping though, he attempted to create new memories from scratch. It was a hobby of his.

A few days later, a white unicorn appeared in the household along with Fluttershy. "So he's injured? Hmm... I guess that's a problem, should he actually allow me to do it." This white unicorn didn't even take notice of Travian.

"Oh I'm sure Longshot will agree... After all, he's probably getting tired of using the same set everyday." What they were talking about was a mystery, but he could piece together a few things.

"Hello ladies, I'm right here. No need for the whole 'let's ignore him while we are in the same room as him' thing." He waved his hand at them.

"Oh! Hello there... Longshot, was it? Sorry if I ignored you, it was just that I was engaged in a conversation with Fluttershy about something I am most passionate about." The glamour and the nobleness. It was disgusting to Travian as he could taste it from where he lay.

"And that would be?" Fluttershy was the one to respond.

"She wanted to know if you would like a new pair of clothes. You know... If you wanted." New clothes? He could finally become his old alias! Longshot would become his actual identity instead of a false name abandoned long ago.

"Why, yes! Yes, that sounds marvelous! I already have my ideas in mind." The white one responded to this.

"That is extraordinary to hear! But of course, I'm going to need measurements and your ideas." Of course it would need that. That was why he hated custom clothes. They always had to be 'just right'.

"Gimme a pencil and a piece of paper and I'll draw it." He was overjoyed he could draw again. It was a thing he found rather fun. He wasn't the best at it, but he could give a general idea as to what he wanted to show.

"That was easier than expected. You actually seemed like somehow who despised clothing or fashion in general."

"Oh I do, it's just that new clothes would be nice. Plus, someone can change in any given time." No they can't, but he had to act differently around different people. He needed less enemies and more friendly neutral people. His wording actually made the situation awkward.

"Wait... You want new clothes, but you hate clothes?"

"Hate is a strong word. I would say... I moderately dislike upper class over complicated clothing. Something simple and protective is more my style."

"Well... I'll be sure to make a note of that... Anyways, I guess I should be off. Fluttershy and I actually have a visit to the spa we need to do. Get well soon, Longshot."

"Good luck with the date!" Thankfully, none of them turned around at that. Instead, they just straightened up and he thought he saw Fluttershy blush. It was way to easy to do that, now that he thought about it. He took a step back from the material world and went to his mental list of things to do/avoid. Rainbow Dash was added on the avoid list, and get measurements and drawing to the white unicorn was on there as well. Wait... He forgot her name! He should have asked her. Another objective was added to the list. He saw that he was living a relatively peaceful life. Only a few weeks here, and only around two or three near death instances. Two cursed artifacts as well. He thought he should take after his brother and get even more artifacts.