To Love a Hybrid: How It Started

The land of Equestria was home to the three different pony tribes. It stretched out from the San Palomino Desert to the southwest up to the northern frozen glaciers, with many cities founded all across its surface.

What lay beyond the country was for the most part unknown to most. All that was known was that the griffons’ kingdom was situated far to the east across the sea. Same thing went for the dragons’ land, only it was much farther and was south-east from Equestria.

And past the southern border lay a complete mystery. Very few was known about the Badlands, as ponies decided to call it. The soil was dry and devoid of any vegetation whatsoever, and one would be lucky to find water in this desolate place that seemed to stretch on without end. Also, nature acted wildly and all on its own, much like the Everfree Forest.

It was there that a small group of Royal Guards, dispatched by Princess Celestia herself, were scouting the area around the Equestrian border. There had been some reports that wild creatures had been wandering too close to the border. The sentinels already stationed there, by mere precaution. asked for more experienced units to investigate.

Life as a servant to her royal highness wasn’t restful at times. You’d always work hard and train to remain in shape everyday, and although you’d always have two days off a week, you never knew when Celestia would magically send a letter to your home to summon you for backup or emergencies.

Thunderbolt, a beige coated unicorn with a short brown mane and tail, was such a case. Wearing the uniform of the Royal Guards with pride, his sapphire eyes searched the area for anything suspicious, along with four other ponies. They’ve been patrolling the deserted plain for a bit more than an hour, occasionally checking on each other, yet they haven’t found anything.

Looking up briefly, Thunder spotted one of his teammates, a white pegasus, descending from his aerial search, apparently coming to terms that the area was clear of any kind of threat.

The five guards, acknowledging with each other that nothing was off, headed back for the stone wall that marked the border between Equestria and the Badlands, ready to give their report to Princess Celestia.

As they neared the wall, Thunderbolt spotted something to the right with the corner of his eye. A small burrow at the base of the rocky hill adjacent to the stone barrier, large enough for a pony to fit inside, that no one in the group had noticed yet.

“Hey guys, I’ll go check in there for a minute,” Thunderbolt said.

“I’ve got your back covered,” the white pegasus replied.

“Thanks, White Wind.”

White Wind was Thunder’s childhood friend. His coat was snow-white, and his piercing almond eyes could see miles away. His cutie mark, currently hidden under his armor, depicted waves of wind, showing his ability in taking advantage of the wind to help in while flying.

Having met in kindergarten in Rockville, he and Thunderbolt soon became best friends and decided to join the Royal Guards together. While the pegasus moved away to Canterlot when they got out from school, they still remained in touch with each other. Some ponies even said that they acted more like brothers than simple friends.

With his friend standing watch nearby in case he needed him, and the others watching from afar, the unicorn poked his head inside the dark hole. Effortlessly, he lit his horn to light his way, and found out that what he thought was a small burrow was more like a tunnel.

“It’s going to take a while,” he said to his friend as he turned back a second. “Strangely this looks like an underground passageway, large enough for only one pony at a time.”

White Wind nodded. “Be careful, Thunder. You know what to do to call us if you get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” he assured before making his way down the hole.

As he progressed further, the stallion thought about what could have made this tunnel, but his mind only came up with some animal names. Still, if there IS something wandering around the border, then it might be likely that it’s hiding in here, he thought. If it ends up being a mere critter we’re after, then there won’t be any reason for the sentinels to freak out anymore.

The tunnel stretched on for a good two hundred meters. Walking with caution and alert, Thunderbolt reached the end of the path and found himself in a big alcove. His senses quickly gathered has much information as he could.

His nostrils caught on the smell of rotten fruits. His ears could hear something breathe less than five meters away. And as he dared take a step forward, he stomped on what he identified as a snake when he directed down the light of his horn, and he quickly tensed and held his breathing at the size of the scaly limb.

Mother of Celestia, hope I didn’t provoke it. With that kind of size… Yet, as he stood there, nothing happened. However, having cut his breathing temporarily, he got a better reception of the breathing sounds of the creature at his hooves. They felt ragged, and resembled a pony’s, now that he came to think of it.

Confused and curious, he pointed his light around the alcove, which quickly fell on a mare sleeping in the back and he froze at the discovery he just made.

The pony in front of him possessed a long, disheveled black mane. Her fur was of a greyish blue color. But that wasn’t what stunned him. What did was that the pony and the twenty foot-long snake tail he had stepped on joined together at her waist in one and single body.

He was standing in front of a creature only told in old mare’s tales.

And she wasn’t faring too good.

Shaking his head and regaining control of his senses, Thunderbolt analyzed with a critical eye what he was facing. First, he was dealing with something that was supposed to be a mere myth, which apparently wasn’t, unless this was just an illusion, but try as he may, he couldn’t detect any trace of magic except his own in the air.

Second, as he got a closer look at her form, his heart nearly stopped in his chest, finally finding the cause of the snakepony’s tired breathing. She was undernourished, as he could clearly see her ribs, and the more he stared at her, the more he felt sorry for her.

Third, if the rotten fruit cores lingering about were any indication, it must have been a while that she had been hiding here.

Poor thing… he thought. Thunder knew that he had to report such a creature to his superior. Yet, seeing her like this, he couldn’t bring himself to do his duty and deliver her to the commander.

Deciding it best to leave her there for now, his horn grew brighter as he charged a spell.

“I’ll be back soon,” he swore under his breath before teleporting out of the cave and reappearing outside, the other four members of the troop approaching him soon afterwards.

“Found anything in there, Sergeant?” his commander asked sternly.

“Nothing to worry about, Commander Gale,” Thunderbolt responded in a neutral tone. He didn’t like to lie, but he didn’t want anypony finding about the creature down there, especially Cyclone Gale, who was just waiting an opportunity to claim a promotion in his opinion. Of all the possible scenarios she could get into, it would just finish her.

“This underground tunnel leads to the lair of a large snake, Sir,” the unicorn continued his inconspicuous lie. “It had made its home down there.”

“I see. Well in that case, all is clear, then. Swift Slash and I will reassure the sentinels that there are no threats on the horizon. The rest of you, head back to Canterlot and report to the captain.” Gale then saluted them all and left with one of the other pegasus guards following him close by.

That left Thunderbolt, White Wind and another unicorn guard. Nodding in unison, they approached the beige stallion, and once they were close enough, he channelled magic through his horn, charging up a long distance travel spell.

For most unicorns, that kind of spell could easily be exhausting without the proper training. For Thunderbolt, it barely affected him, somehow having an uncommon ability to absorb magical energy that flowed in the air, using it to power up his spells while his body provided the balance.

With a bright flash of light, the trio reappeared on the outskirts of the capital, and didn’t waste time heading for their headquarters in the royal palace. Once there, they found the captain training some newcomers, after borrowing some of his time to tell him their report, they were quickly dismissed for the rest of the day, save for the other unicorn, who he kept with him a while longer for reasons nopony but him would know.

With another job well done, Thunder and White Wind headed for the barracks to store their equipment, the former doing so quicker than usual, which didn’t go unnoticed by his friend.

“What’s the rush, dude?” the pegasus asked.

“Nothing, White, just got some important things to do back home, that’s all,” he responded as he removed his armor, revealing his flanks, which bore a black storm cloud with crackling thunder bolts shooting out from it, representing his skills to anything related to lightning, whether it was foreseeing a thunderstorm or battling with lightning magic.

“You didn’t look in such of a hurry this morning,” White Wind pointed out as he hung his armor on the stand allowed to him. “What’s the big deal?”

“Personal business,” Thunder answered dryly. When his own armor was hanging from its stand, he quickly began channeling magic into his horn, readying another long distance teleport.

“I thought you were heading home?” the pegasus persisted, breaking the unicorn’s concentration.

“That’s what I’m doing, am I not?” Thunderbolt replied more aggressively than he intended to, but the more questions his friend asked the more he was going to find out that he was lying.

“No you’re not. Usual you barely blink an eye to get back to Rockville. Now, wherever you want to go must be a place you’ve newly been to if it asks for so much concentration.”

Damn it… he thought as he stopped the flow of magic and stomped the floor with a hoof, defeated.

“I know you all too well, Thunder. I knew from the beginning that you were hiding something since you got back from that tunnel back there.”

“Can we talk about this somewhere else, please?”

“Dude, you know that if the Commander finds out you lied to him-”

“Shh!” Thunder said as he quickly put a hoof on White Wind’s mouth. “I really don’t want anyone to hear about this, so can we discuss this at my place at least?”

There was an awkward pause before the white pegasus nodded, and a second and a flash of light later, they found themselves in Thunderbolt’s living room, which was bare of any decoration, except for a picture of himself and his parents above the fireplace in the corner of the room, and the only pieces of furniture were two middle-sized couches around the fireplace. And on the west wall, a window showed the world outside, which was quite quiet if one were to open the closed curtains and look through it.

“Alright,” White Wind said as he sat on one of the sofas, “what is this all about? What did you find in there?”

“Promise me you won’t tell anypony?” Thunderbolt demanded, looking at his friend in the eyes.

“That depends on what you’re going to tell me, dude. We may be best friends, but if what’s in that tunnel can be dangerous to anypony-”

“She can’t,” the unicorn abruptly cut in.

White gave his friend a quizzical look. “She? What in Tartarus is that supposed to mean?”

Thunder facehoofed. “Okay, that’s it!” he snapped. “I don’t have time to play fifty questions! Just wait here.” Without warning, he charged his spell once again and disappeared two seconds later, leaving a confused and perturbed pegasus alone in his wake.

* * *

Just like he had pictured it in his mind, Thunderbolt reappeared in the tunnel he had investigated earlier, though this time he began to feel weary from the multiple uses of his spell. Never before had he used it so many times in one day, and in a short period of time too nonetheless. The way back will leave him tired, but that was the least of his worries at the moment.

Focusing on the task at hoof, he lit his horn and walked down the tunnel. He hadn’t teleported outside so as to not alert the sentinels, nor did he teleport in the snakepony’s alcove to avoid scaring her.

When he reached his goal, his heart clenched. The mare was still asleep, but that was not what frightened him. He had barely left for two hours, but as he listened attentively, he was certain that the mare’s breathing was less rhythmic than it had been this afternoon.

“Oh no,” he said as he rushed by her side and checked her pulse, which was slower than it should be. “Oh please, no.”

Left with no better options, he teleported both he and the hybrid back home, startling his pegasus friend, who was walking aimlessly.

“W-what is that?!” White Wind exclaimed, having recoiled slightly at the sight of the odd creature.

“No time for that!” Thunderbolt yelled as he levitated the hybrid with his telekinesis, ignoring the strain of overusing his magic. “Bring me a big jug of water and prepare a soup. Now!”

The pegasus watched his friend go upstairs with his patient before heading for the kitchen, picking a jug from one of the cupboards and filling it with fresh, cold water from the sink. He didn’t know what was going on, but he sure wasn’t going to get any answers as long as Thunderbolt was stressed, so the only thing he could do was follow his orders until things had calmed down, which might not be until late evening.

White Wind then flew up the stairs with the jug in his hooves, and sure enough, he found Thunder in his room. Giving him the water, he quickly dashed back to the kitchen and fetched a canned vegetable soup, pouring it in a casserole and putting it on the stove to heat it.

Figuring it’d take fifteen to twenty minutes for the dish to be ready, he joined his friend, who was trying to make the hybrid drink the water. His friend had tucked her under the covers of his bed, and had apparently managed to awaken her. However, she was mostly disoriented than anything else, and White Wind guessed it might be because of dehydration.

Standing back, he watched his friend as he more or less succeeded in putting water in the mare’s mouth, who subconsciously swallowed it when he did manage to. The more he stared at the scene, the more he felt pity for the poor soul too. Now it all makes sense, he thought. She’s practically dying…

The pegasus remained sat in the doorway a little bit longer before he returned downstairs to check on the soup, which was ready another two minutes later. Gathering a bowl and a spoon, he served the dish and carefully flew back to Thunder’s room. Upon seeing him return, the unicorn grabbed the bowl in his magic.

Taking a spoonful of the tomato juice in which the vegetables dipped, he blew on it for a few seconds before moving it to the hybrid’s mouth, taking care as to not miss his target. Once he managed to feed it to her, the hotness of the liquid took effect, as she seemed to wake up, her eyes blinking tiredly.

Her mind wasn’t completely there, though, but it did register the smell of the soup, causing her clearly empty stomach to growl loudly. Without saying a word, Thunder continued feeding the half conscious snakepony. He had to ask White Wind to refill the bowl twice, as only one portion wouldn’t have been enough to calm her hunger.

When she was done eating, she almost instantly fell back asleep. With food and water in her organism this time, as well as being wrapped by Thunderbolt’s covers, her breathing and pulse had regained a more normal rhythm, much to the stallion’s relief.

Quietly tip-hoofing out of the room and silently closing the door, they headed back to the living room, dropping the used utensils in the sink on their way, and took a seat on the couches, releasing a heavy sigh at the same time, to which they lightly chuckled at.

“That was way too close,” the unicorn said as he looked up at the ceiling. “A few hours later and I may have found a corpse instead.”

“No kidding, dude,” White Wind replied. “No wonder you didn’t want the commander to find out about her; she’s practically dying.”

“It wouldn’t have felt right. Besides, isn’t our job to always help those in need?”

Silence settled in for a few minutes. After the stress from earlier, it felt good to bask in the calm atmosphere, so they remained there, unmoving, occasionally peeking towards the stairs with their ears perked up for any unusual sounds from that direction, and luckily, there weren’t.

“So, what are you going to do, Thunder?” the pegasus asked.

“Well, first of all, I’ll make sure she doesn’t starve, stabilizing her health condition and all. She mustn’t have eaten well for days, so it might take a while.”

“Just be careful with that. You’re dealing with something nopony had ever seen before, a creature that is thought to be from fantasy stories.” He directed a hoof at the stairs. “What you brought is a pony with the tail of a snake in the place of hind legs. Having been a common pony before joining the ranks of the royal army, you know as much as I do how the townsponies will react should they find out about her. Plus, if this was to be known by the captain or the princess that you’re hiding an unknown creature, you could get yourself in big trouble, dude.”

“I know,” Thunder sighed. “I know that, but I’m willing to take the risk if it means I can help her. Myth or not, no living being deserves such a fate.”

“So, would it have been, let’s say, an abandoned and injured baby manticore, or even a dragon, you would have done the same?”

“Undoubtedly. All lives should be preserved. That’s why I wanted to join the Royal Guards in the first place, remember?”

White Wind chuckled. “That I do, and I guess that’s what I like about you. Even if it can get you in trouble, you’ll always put others’ care and safety above everything else.”

“Thanks, I guess?”

“You’re welcome. Now I see why you wanna take care of her, but have you thought of what’s gonna happen when she does get better? Not that I don’t trust you to defend yourself if she ends up being dangerous, mind you, but-”

“I see what you mean,” the unicorn cut in, “and to be honest, I don’t know myself. Should it have been any other circumstances, I would have delivered to the commander right away, but after seeing her like that, I don’t think I could bring myself to do it at all.”

“So, what you are saying is that you’re going to keep her here?” White Wind asked, receiving no response from his friend. “Tsk, tsk, you’re playing with fire, dude. Still, that’s your decision. Whatever happens, watch out and good luck.”

“You’ll keep this a secret, won’t you?” Thunderbolt pleaded.

The pegasus looked pensive as he began formulating an answer. “That’s a big one you’re asking out of me, dude, but…” he smirked as he met the unicorn’s eyes, “we’re like brothers, so you can count on me to back you up with this.”

White Wind was then pulled into a hug from his friend, and he returned it kindly.

“Thanks a lot, White.”

“Hey, no worries,” he said as he pulled away and hoofed his friend on the shoulder. “Gonna head back home now, unless you need some more help?”

Thunderbolt looked back in the stairs’ direction for a while, then returned his gaze to the pegasus. “Nah, I’ll be fine by myself from here. Thanks a lot for the help back there. And not a word to anypony,” he reminded as they reached the front porch, White Wind quickly taking to the air as soon as he stepped outside. “Especially not the commander. Celestia forbids what he’d do just for a chance at being promoted.”

“Surprising we think the same way about him,” the pegasus chuckled. “Don’t worry, my mouth is sealed. If you need any help whatsoever, you know where to knock.” With that, he threw his friend a brief salute before flying in the direction of Canterlot.

Thunder watched as White flew home, closing the door when he was only but a mere dot in the now dark, star filled sky. Deciding to check on his guest one last time, he headed for his room, letting out a loud yawn on the way. Gosh, what a tiring and eventful day, he thought just as he reached his bedroom.

Grabbing the handle with his magic, he slowly opened it and took a look inside. There, the snakepony slept, snuggled deep under the bed’s covers. The unicorn heard her cough roughly, causing him to cringe a bit, before she returned to her more normal breathing, which was still a bit shallow a times.

Having done the best he could for today, he closed the door and descended the stairs. Once back in the living room, he fetched a spare blanket from the closet in the far back of the room. He then lay on one of the couches and draped the fabric over him. It wasn’t as comfortable as his own bed, but it was currently occupied by his guest, and he was more than glad to lend it if it meant she’d get better rest to recover.

Before he closed his eyes, he made sure to set his mental alarm in order to wake up early the next morning. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, he thought before magically closing all the lights in the house at once and letting sleep claim him.