I'm a practical pony. For all intents and purposes at the very least I like to think of myself as such. I grew up in a trading caravan, making it from one side to the other of the wastelands and seeing just about everything one might consider normal for the wretched world. I've seen creatures so mutated by radiation and taint that you couldn't tell what they had been originally. I've seen the Enervation of Hoofington literally liquify a pony as his wounds exacerbated till his flesh fell from his bones. And in every situation, I've done my best to pick the course that would see my caravan and I to safety with the best possible profit and the fewest grudges possible.
That said, I had never seen anything like what I encountered as I stepped away from the group to investigate a greenish light behind a hill. And choosing to do so was probably a mark against me in the intelligence department.
But by the Goddesses, did it give me one hell of a story.
Weeks of preparation had all come down to this moment. Efforts to study every single facet possible of the approaching ritual in order to find the single best casting method had kept her from sleep too many times. Now though, it was time. Stepping forward from her position in the crowd, Louise Francoise Le Blanc de la Valliere took her position in the center of the crowd as she did her best to tune out the murmurs, gossip, and even betting occurring among her classmates as she raised her wand and began chanting her spell.
"My servant that existed somewhere in this vast universe,
my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call,
I wish from very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"
The runic circle of the ritual appeared and the ground before Louise and glowed with green light as her will enacted the spell and searched out the appropriate familiar for the girl. Everything seemed to be going perfectly before a spark alighted on the surface of the magic circle before suddenly erupting in a cloud of dust and smoke as the spell exploded.
For the first few seconds afterwards, there was coughing and sneezing before the laughter started as Louise stumbled from the smoke, her clothes dirtied by the explosion. Yet again it seemed, she had lived up to her nickname of 'The Zero' as her classmates castigated her for the failure before a shape in the smoke caught Louise's attention. The distraction was enough to take her away from her embarrassment as she focused on the quadrupedal shape before her that was becoming clearer with each passing second as the dust faded. There was a brief cough from the creature as its shadowy form stepped out of the smoke and into view before Louise, its head canted up to look at her face, an expression that she would almost call surprise etched into its features.
The crowd, now realising that Louise had in fact not failed the Familiar Ritual, quieted as they looked on in interest at The Zero and her newly summoned familiar.
Any number of thoughts went through Louise's mind as she stared down at her familiar, but the only one she seemed to be able to settle on was how tired the creature looked. The familiar was equine, no doubt about that, though it was smaller than any horse Louise had ever seen before and it's legs and chest were covered in a strange sort of barding that was mildly reminiscent of the armor sometimes put onto knights griffons or dragons. Its charcoal black fur was matted and dirty from a long duration of time without any apparent cleaning. There were little ruffles in the fur, some of them tiny little ticks of fur sticking away from the rest of the coat, but on just the fur she could see on its head and neck, there were other, similar spots that ran along for several inches. There was a narrow, spiraled horn on the equine's forehead, just above its eyes and was about four or five inches long. The mane that started just an inch or two behind that horn was the color of chalk and likely would have been quite pretty were it not full of dirt and other gunk. The tail sticking out from under the barding was the same white color with a similar amount of filth caked into it, momentarily making Louise hesitate as she realized just how dirty the animal, no unicorn, was, and to top it off the creature was soaking wet! Lastly, and though she really should have paid more attention to them at the start, Louise saw the unicorn's eyes. They were a bright amber, seeming to glow with a light of their own, but the way the eyelids hung about them just made Louise think it was so very tired.
A bit late into the process, Louise finally looked over the barding the charcoal unicorn was wearing. the top layer was a heavy jacket that extended down almost to the unicorn's hooves, though there was a strange, black metal object on the left foreleg, a glassy section glowing with a few soft blue lights. The coat seemed to made of some heavy material like leather and was a faded, dark gray-green in color, the wear marks and scratches giving the impression that it was once a much more vivid piece of clothing for the unicorn. There was a slit in the middle of the coat at its bottom, letting the coat hang off to either side over the rear legs while the chalky tail of the unicorn came out between the sections to hang still in the air. On top of the heavy coat hung a pair of faded brown saddle bags, one on either flank while running down the spine from a little ways up the neck to half way down the back were heavy looking metal plates, all colored in a gray-green shade similar to that of the coat itself, matching plates sat on the sleeves and extended about midway down the forelegs she noted. The rear legs were clothed in a dark gray material that resembled canvas in Louise's opinion and each hoof was covered by a tough looking boot with a dark black bottom. Lastly Louise noted a long, flat black box slung over the unicorns back with a strap running over its right shoulder before looping across its chest, behind its left leg and then back up to rejoin the box.
Any further observations were halted at a polite cough from Professor Colbert behind her, immediately giving Louise a start as she quickly glanced back at her teacher before turning back to the unicorn before her. With a hesitant step, she approached watching how the unicorn narrowed its eyes slightly but otherwise didn't make a noise or move in response. Carefully, she crouched down to be level with the unicorn's head before she lifted her hands to gently hold its cheeks as she intoned, "Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my familiar."
With that she closed her own eyes and leaned forward to gently kiss the unicorn.
Night had fallen on my caravan, only a few hours away from our destination of Megamart as I sat around the fire we had made in the ruins of an old rest stop where we had settled in for the night to get out of the chronic rain of Hoofington. My heavy riot jacket hung off to the side drying out as much as possible before morning came when we would resume our trip to Megamart. For all the caps we made when we traveled this way, I had never liked it. Weird shit happened in the Hoof and as such I was grateful Megamart would be the only place we stopped before heading back out into the safer parts of the wasteland. In short order we had eaten our fill of prewar food and sparkle-cola before everyone else bedded down for the night while I took first watch, setting a timer in my Pipbuck to make sure I got Beater up for the second watch on time.
It was a little over two hours into my watch that I looked up in response to a flicker in my vision. Immediately wary of an attack, I looked around a bit, scanning with my EFS but only spotting the friendly blue bars of my compatriots. As my lips curled into a frown, I looked out into the dark, attempting to spot something through the pouring rain.
Not spotting anything immediately I grumbled slightly to myself before giving Beater a nudge with my rear hoof as I walked by him, pausing briefly to pull my jacket and saddle bags before slinging the case of my newest toy over everything. Looking back to the still sleeping Beater, I gave him a light kick with my rear hoof in the shoulder, smiling slightly as his eyes cracked open.
"What the hell is it Hymn? It's not my watch yet is it?" The large brown earth pony grumbled in question.
"I saw something outside, Beater," I replied quietly, doing my best to not wake anypony else, "I'm gonna go check and see what it was."
Pulling himself to his feet, Beater gave me a brief look over before grumbling out a reply as he said, "Fine, but if you aren't back in about five minutes I'll wake the rest to look for you."
I gave a small snort as I stepped towards the door asking, "You really think I'll find trouble Beater?"
"Hymn, I grew up with you, I know you'll find trouble," Beater shot back with a wry grin.
"I'll be careful then," I replied with a simple shrug as I stepped out into the rainy night.
Two minutes into my search and I was already regretting my course of action, so far I hadn't seen a thing of interest and my armor was already beginning to soak back through to my coat. I had started first by briefly circling around our camp before I headed out in the direction from which I had spotted the shimmer during my watch.
Now I had crossed the highway to a small hill on the other side where I finally hit pay dirt as I spotted a soft green light coming from just around the curve of the hill. I felt a small grin tug at my lips as I checked EFS.
No contacts, good.
Breaking into a light trot, I circled around the corner before feeling my eyes go wide at what I saw. Sitting before me, floating off the ground by a few inches was a swirl of translucent green light. Carefully, I approached swirl before circling around it when it made no reaction to my presence, observing how the world on the other side of the swirl was strangely distorted. Oddly enough, the magical swirl didn't feel dangerous, rather it felt inviting if anything.
I pursed my lips as I debated my choices. On one hoof, it certainly didn't feel dangerous and it wasn't attacking me either. On the other hoof, this was Hoofington, buff' said.
"Ah hell..." I finally muttered, reaching up to mess my mane with a forehoof, "someone's gonna kick my ass for this!" Taking a breath, I looked at the swirl before rearing up and then charging right into it.
Unsurprisingly, I didn't end up in the mud on the other side, rather I was in some vast, dark place, lit only by the green swirl behind me. I grimaced at this development before taking one step forward on the solid surface beneath me where upon the green light disappeared. I felt my adrenaline spoke as I twisted about to look for any threat on my EFS before I was nearly blinded by the most brilliant light I'd ever-
Okay, body check; horn? Check? All four hooves? Check. Hearing? Not sure, I could hear some noises rising and falling but mostly there was just a hissing sound like rain. Vision? Cautiously I opened my eyes to be met by a wall of dust, my surprise making my inhale before I suddenly sneezed in response. Last and most importantly, EFS? Oh dear, that's a lot of bars. All blue, good, but not knowing what they were and where they had come from was unsettling.
At the sound of a foot step, I instantly rotated my head forward to see what was ahead of me, a tall, bipedal shape appearing through the dust. For a moment I thought it was a sand dog, or worse yet, a hellhound, but then I realized the shape was all wrong.
Grimacing yet again with a small sigh, I lifted my head before stepping forward and out of the dust to meet the creature only to be brought up short as I laid eyes upon it.
My first comparison would be to a hairless sand dog, but I couldn't see any sort of tail and the creature was far to thinly built to be any sort of member of that family. It had pale skin, sort of a light sandy color with large orange/brown eyes a wild mane of pink hair that stretched most of the way down its back. I almost scowled as I noticed just how clean the creature was, as was its clothing. In fact I couldn't spot a spec of dirt on it anywhere! There was small stick in its right hand, and as I looked about I realized that other, similar creatures stood around us, all holding more of the sticks.
I prepared myself to move, considering what I should do when the pink-maned creature took a step forward. My body froze as I waited for it to take the first move. As I watched it, the creature took a step towards me tentatively, it's wandering eyes suggesting it was evaluating me as well before it crouched till it's eyes were level with mine.
My first thought was that it was a soft creature, the eyes reminding me of foals I had seen in Tenpony on the occasions the caravan had visited. Soft and naive, unaware of the cruelty the world could produce. That track of thought was interrupted as I felt the delicate little hands of the creature take a hold of my cheeks, apprehension at what was possibly going to happen as it began to speak.
Whatever the words were that were coming from its mouth, they made my mane stand on end as they rang through my ears before the creature closed its eyes and leaned forward, planting its lips against mine.
My only thought was how surprisingly soft its lips were, kind of like Gray Sky's.
And then I was letting out a distinctly pained hiss through clenched teeth as I sat back on my haunches, using my right fore hoof to yank off the boot from my left hoof as a pain not unlike frostbite spread across the flesh below where my pipbuck was positioned with a sensation of being carved in by knives. Looking down at my hoof, I noted a series of angular gray marks forming something resembling a word across my fur. As the sensation faded, I looked to the creature that had kissed me as anger blossomed in my mind at the sudden assault.
"What the hell was that you asshole?!" I demanded angrily as I looked back to the creature.
Rather than answering my question, I found that the pink-maned creature had fallen back onto its rear, it's mouth hanging open as it stared at me in obvious shock, an expression that the vast majority of creatures seemed to be wearing as I glanced about.
"Y-y-you can talk!" The pink-maned creature shouted in surprise, it's voice high and distinctly feminine I noted.
"Of course I can talk!" I yelled in response as I looked back at it, my eyes narrowing slightly as my anger got the better of me, "What, did you think I was a stupid bloat sprite?"
My anger was getting the better if me I'll admit, but this was a warranted situation I felt! I had suddenly disappeared from behind that hill and now I was...now I was...now I was where? That was actually a very good question, where was I?
Looking left and right, I took in the sights around, the other creatures in clothing similar to the one before me, the green grass, the pleasant breeze, and the crystal clear blue sky full of fluffy white clouds over head.
Wait, what?
Whipping my head back and forth, I took in my surroundings one more time before closed my eyes and looked to the ground, forcing myself to take several deep, calming breaths.
"Are you alright?"
Hesitantly, I opened my eyes, noting the fresh, green grass beneath my hooves as I raised my head to look at the source of the question.
"What?" I asked.
My question seemed to greatly unnerve the pink creature who was suddenly looking anywhere but at me as it softly said, "I-I asked if you were alight."
I gave a loud sigh as I buried my face into my exposed hoof before dragging it down to plop onto the ground as I looked back at it again.
"Yeah I'm fine, just dandy," I said in an acidic tone.
The creature seemed to cringe slightly before giving a start as the tall, balding one behind it cleared its throat, at least that was what I thought that was what it was doing.
"Perhaps it would be better if we started with introductions..." The creature said, making a gesture of invitation with its hand to invite me to answer. Uncomfortably, I noted that the creatures behavior and movement were far too close to those of a pony for me to be at ease.
"Hymn," I replied eventually, having leveled a mild glare at the blading one, "My name is Hymn. Can you explain why I'm here...whomever you are?"
"Ah, I am Professor Jean Colbert," the bald creature replied a note of cheerfulness entering its tone as he gestured to the pink maned creature, "And this is Miss Louise de la Valliere. You are here because you are here because of the ritual to summon a familiar likely selected you to be Miss Louise's familiar."
I felt my eyes narrow slightly at the words 'Miss Louise's familiar' that was far too close to 'serf' and 'slave' for my tastes.
Looking at the female, Louise de la Valliere, I considered my options as I tried to let myself choose a practical path that would keep me out of the most trouble.
"Then what was that kiss you gave me?" I asked as I looked to the female.
"Um, it was the final part of the ritual which marks you as my familiar," she said.
"Marks me as your familiar? And what does that entail?" I replied. I was doing my best to keep an even tone, but there was no mistaking the unhappiness in my voice as the girl climbed to her feet and stood before me.
"Normally you would be her partner, to accompany her at most all times and to aid her when she requires it, but at the moment..." Colbert's voice trailed off as he came to a pause while he considered his words before he continued, "I think that given your sentience, it might be better to discuss this at a later point, perhaps after you've cleaned up Miss Hymn?"
I opened my mouth to respond before I suddenly closed it as I considered the offer. "Can I get a hot bath?" I asked, hedging on the cleanliness of the people around me.
The answer to that question as it turned out, was yes, I absolutely could get a hot bath.
And oh what a bath it was.
Accompanied by Louise, I was lead to the female baths of what I had learned was the Tristain Academy of Magic. That had immediately interested me, as I had always been interested in picking up new spells where I could, like the Collegiate and the Twilight Society.
Back to my current goal though, Professor Jean Colbert left us at the door and Louise lead the way into what reminded me of a locker room in a gym I had spent the night in once. Once we were in there, Louise had began to remove her clothes, setting them aside on a small stone bench. I briefly considered simply wearing my clothes in do I could get them clean but decided against that, instead undressing and then folding up my armor which I placed beside Louise's clothes with my saddlebags and my new toy. From there I followed Louise into what was probably the greatest room I had ever been in in my entire life, my hooves making soft 'clip-clop' noises as I walked along.
There was steam in the air and the general temperature was several degrees above the last room I noted, but before me was the true attraction. Sunk into the white marble floor was a great pool of mist covered water, crystal clear and as pure as could be. As a wild smile spread over my face, I charged forward before leaping up into the air, tucking my body into a ball as I crashed down into the water with a great splash, only just noting the shout of surprise Louise made at my actions.
I surfaced after a few seconds under water, letting the heat soak into my body as I looked across the water to Louise and flashed her my best grin.
The pink haired human, I had only learned that term a few minutes ago, looked horribly dismayed at my actions before she suddenly demanded, "Why did you do that?!"
"Cause it was fun," I responded with a snort, "Besides, let's see you restrain yourself after going more than a year without a bath, much less hot water."
The idea that I had nearly a year of grim on my seemed to disgust Louise, but that wasn't my problem and I didn't feel like correcting her that it was only about a week's worth since my last shower. Giving a happy sigh though, I sank down into the water till it was up to my jawline.
There was a delicate sniff from Louise, but it seemed to be for her own benefit as she climbed into the water. "Where are you from anyways? I don't think anyone has ever seen a unicorn like you, much less one that can talk."
"I'm from the wastes, specifically I was born in a little town named Chapel," I replied. Clinically, I looked about the bath as we spoke till I spotted what I was looking for: shampoo and a brush. Calmly I scooped the former up in my telekinesis as I waded over into a shallow bit that only came up to my belly whereupon I squeezed a healthy amount of the shampoo into my mane before setting aside the bottle as I began to work it into a lather till I was interrupted by a question.
"How are you doing that?" Louise asked from nearby.
I peeked my eyes open for a moment, testing for soap before I replied, "Doing what?"
"Working the soap, how are you doing that without touching it?" She repeated.
"Ah, that's telekinesis," I replied calmly, returning my focus to the soap as I added some soap to the brush before beginning to scrub down my coat with a happy sigh. "It's a natural ability for all unicorns," I continued, "At least where I'm from. Our skill at magic varies, but we can all at least use telekinesis to a degree."
"You can do magic?!" Louise said with a startled jump.
"A fair bit," I responded ambiguously before I dunked myself under water to rinse out the soap and cut off the conversation. I wasn't sure I was fond of where this conversation was going, especially in light of how little I knew about my hosts.
When I surfaced I found Louise seemingly sulking off to the side of the bath as she scrubbed her hair. I gave a simple shrug before I began to work on cleaning my hooves and tail only to be interrupted yet again.
"Um, what's that thing on your leg, ah, Hymn?" Louise asked.
"Ah this?" I said lifting up my left foreleg to show off the device clamped in place there, "This is my Pipbuck, it helps me keep track of stuff and it reminds me of what I need to do."
"Sounds useful."
"It is, I probably would have died several times over if I didn't have it," I replied with a dry chuckle.
About an hour later we finally left the bath, heading back into the locker room from before. Louise finally seemed to be losing a little of the nervousness she had been first displaying around me, and personally I wasn't sure I could be happier. I was clean, spotlessly, squeaky clean, and I had gotten to spend a whole hour soaking in glorious hot water!
It was to my surprise, though not detriment, that when I approached my clothes, I found they had been cleaned of every speck of dirt and then neatly folded to rest on the bench beside my saddle bags which had also been cleaned of the surface dirt at the least.
I was a touch suspicious of having my belongings messed with, but for the moment I settled for sliding back into my Elite Riot Armor. It was my favorite clothing period, and I hadn't found a lightweight set of armor yet that could match it. Satisfied that it was in tact though as I checked the movement of my limbs, I levitated my saddlebags onto my back before shouldering the long black box the I had brought with me.
Looking to see Louise's progress in dressing, I found her staring at me curiously before I asked, "Something wrong Louise?"
The human hesitated for a moment before she asked, "Um, what's in the box...Hymn?"
"Ah that's a secret, but I can assuredly say that it is my newest toy," I replied with a grin. That seemed to be enough for the apprehensive Louise, even if she did look like she wanted to say more as she finished dressing before we left the baths and headed towards the central tower of the academy. I was curious why, but I was quickly informed we were going to meet Old Osmand, the head of the academy.
Satisfied, I followed along without complaint.
Our path to Old Osmand took us down a number of corridors and up an rather large number of winding stone staircases before we we're let out into a rather well decorated office where a demure human with a fair amount of green hair sat working behind a desk. Judging by the shape of the human's body in comparison to Louise's own and the other humans I had seen in clothes similar to her own, I guessed that the human behind the desk was a female, something that was confirmed when Louise addressed them.
"Miss Longueville, Headmaster Osmand is expecting us I believe," Louise said with a clear touch of nervousness.
Looking up from her work, Miss Longueville favored Louise with a kind look as she replied, "Go right on in Miss Louise, they're expecting you."
As we walked to the entrance to the next room, I couldn't help but note the worry that Longueville favored me with in her gaze.
Still, putting that out of my mind for the moment, I turned my attention to the new room we had entered.
The bald human, Professor Colbert stood beside a large desk with his hands clasped behind his back while behind the desk sat another human who, if human facial hair bore any similarity to pony facial hair, certainly qualified as old just by the beard he had.
"You wanted to see us?" I asked, deciding to preempt Louise and ensure I was part of the coming conversation. I knew from experience that if I let myself get excluded from the conversation I would be powerless to secure my position, so by potentially putting Louise in such a position I had forced myself into the conversation. The old one, Osmand, didn't seem to mind at least as he looked at me over his glasses before replying to my question.
"Ah yes, I was quite interested to meet you, Miss Hymn," he replied in a warm tone, "Your arrival here has quite the stir and as such I wanted to nail down a few facts before you're turned loose on the campus."
"Shoot away then," I replied with a shrug.
"Could you tell me where you're from Miss Hymn?" Osmand asked.
"I could but I'm not sure you'd believe me," I replied.
"Well then why don't we see if we do," he countered, a small smile forming on his mouth.
My lips twisted into a grin as I replied, "Well for starters, I'm from another world."
Silence met my response, the tension in the air quickly growing thick as they considered my answer till Osmand replied.
"You're quite sure?" He asked.
"Oh very," I replied in a confident tone, "For starters my world only has one moon on as far as I know, most of it is covered by perpetual clouds and rain."
Osmand leaned back in his chair slightly as he examined me with his eyes. The gaze was enough like certain parental ponies that I quickly grew uncomfortable before he spoke up to ask if I could tell him more about my world.
That question triggered a reluctant sigh as I looked out his office window at the rolling green hills outside the academy's boundaries. "This will take a while but I guess so, would it be possible for me to have a bit of something to eat while I talk?" I asked.
"Certainly, Jean, if you could see to that while Miss Hymn begins," Osmand replied, directing the second part of his statement at the bald human who nodded in return before stepping out.
Once he had gone, I began to speak, starting with a general overview as I said, "First you should know that Equestria isn't green like your world. Almost everything is some shade of brown or gray really, and almost every bit of plant life is dead or dying as it tries to eke out an existence. Most of the water you'll find is contaminated by a substance called radiation if you're lucky, and if you're not it'll have taint in it. Pretty much any wide life you find will be ready to eat you, be it a bloat sprite or a radigator."
"And how did it become like that? I hardly think anyone in their right mind would let their land become like that," Osmand replied, clearly a bit troubled by this description.
That got a mirthless laugh out of me as I rested back on my haunches before pulling a half full bottle of amber liquid from my saddlebag which I quickly opened and took a drink from before I closed it. Osmand gave a bit of look as the scent wafted through the air, though Louise almost looked like she'd be sick at the scent of the Wild Pegasus. I continued nonetheless though."
"I would guess," I said in agreement, "That there were quite a lot of ponies and zebras not in their right mind when they made my world the way it is."
I took another swig of my brandy, feeling the warmth bloom in my gut nicely before I continued. "You see, a bit over two hundred years ago, ponies and zebras got into a war over some silly gems and filthy coal. The war lasted over twenty years before it ended, with every year seeing newer, more horrific killing machines come out onto the battlefield. Eventually ponies created the mega spells, magic designed to perform specific spells on huge areas, like to heal an entire army in one go. Eventually the zebras got a hold of the mega spells somehow, and then they were weaponized. The zebras made the balefire bombs and ponies turned out their own monstrosities. At some point though, someone in charge on either the side of the ponies or the zebras decided to finish and end the war." I paused for another sip as Colbert returned with a tray loaded with various types of food which he set on a small table in the middle of the room, within easy reach of my hooves if I didn't use my telekinesis. I gave the human a nod of thanks before eating a fresh stalk of celery from the plate, savoring the crispness of the vegetable.
Refreshed, I continued to speak as I said, "Now ever since their introduction, both sides had decided to build hundreds, maybe even thousands of mega spells and balefire bombs. And when the end came, everyone one let loose with everything they had. Millions died in the first few seconds mostly likely, maybe even more. It was so bad with the radiation that almost every bit of life on the surface was wiped clean. It's bad enough that even two hundred years later as we've started coming out of our stables that the world can barely even support the few of us that are left. And even now things are still a long way from recovery. There's all sorts of dangers still, raiders, cannibals, slavers, wildlife. Hell, the very water you drink can kill you!"
I shook my head sadly as I added, "I watched the Enervation literally rot one of my closest friends into a soup right before my eyes." My story finished, at least at the very basic level, I took another, final swig of my Wild Pegasus before returning it to my bag as I examined the provided refreshments, not finding them as appetizing any more though I forced myself to eat another stalk of celery.
"And what did you do in this world?" Osmand asked softly.
"I was a caravanner," I replied tiredly, "I traveled all over the wasteland, trading information, weapons, supplies, anything I could to stay alive, though I never dealt with slavers." Almost as an aside I added with a dry chuckle, "Killed a fair number of those bastards though."
I noted that Osmand shared a look with Colbert at that statement, though neither human made comment of it. For a few seconds at least it seemed, they were quiet before Colbert spoke.
"For having been brought to another world you seem to be taking it well enough," he offered, drawing a small smile from me in response.
"I am? That's good to know," I replied, "Honestly though, I've seen a lot of weird shit, and while this certainly tops the list, it isn't too bad. Might be that I'm too tired to really express myself though. I was about to go to sleep when I got brought here."
Colbert reacted by bringing his hand to his chin before Osmand spoke up saying, "Well then let us not keep you any longer, but one last thing before we let you go, Jean."
At that mention, the professor took a step towards me before he asked, "If I may, could I examine the runes on your hoof?"
I was a touch hesitant but so far these people had been civil enough so I sat back on my haunches before raising and extending my left forehoof for him to look at. Instantly I noted how warm and dry his hands were as he held my hoof and traced his fingers over the marks before he withdrew them and let me put my hooves back on the floor.
"That is interesting, Miss Hymn," he said calmly, "I can honestly say I've never seen runes like those before, though I've never seen a familiar like you before either." He let a small grin onto his face as he looked at me which I returned in good favor before Osmand dismissed Louise and I from the meeting.
Now it was time to find somewhere to rest.
Just a few minutes of walking saw Louise showing me to the room she had in one of the towers set into the outer wall of the academy. Personally, I was finding the whole place to be quite the treat. Everything was clean, there wasn't any radiation, or any taint, and best of all, there wasn't anyone or anything trying to kill me. Personally, that last one topped the list in my humble opinion, as being a caravanner in the wastes meant traveling with a big bulls eye on your flank.
So things only got better when the timid pink maned human opened the door to her room before following me in as she closed the door behind us. "Nice room you have here, Miss Louise, so where will I be sleeping?"
"The bed is mine," she replied, a slight hesitation in her tone.
"And where's that put me?"
She responded by pointing to a pile of hay in one corner of the room.
I arched an eyebrow as I looked at her and replied, "You're kidding, right?"
"Absolutely not!" the pink one blustered, seeming to not enjoy the skepticism I had displayed. "As my familiar, you will accept whatever lodgings I give you and you will be grateful for it!" The force she had managed to display was surprising considering how quiet she had been since I had been dragged here.
"Really? Cause I never agreed to any sort of contract and if I did a pile of hay ain't gonna qualify when you have that," I shot back, stabbing a hoof in the direction of the luxurious bed.
That got her going as I set my mouth in firm line, locking eyes with diminutive girl. "No dinner for you tonight! Absolutely none! And you will use your provided quarters and you'll be grateful for them!"
"Go to hell, you aren't my master."
"Yes I am! I summoned you and you bear my mark, of course I'm your master!"
"Little human, you are cruising for a bucking."
"A what?!"
"A bucking, you little tart. It means I'll kick your ass till you get the message." I replied, letting my growing anger into my voice. I never worked with slavers and had a tendency to kill them on sight, and I barely considered the society ponies any better. The way Louise was behaving was quickly getting under my skin. Fortunately, that seemed to have been enough to end the conversation as Louise shouted at the top of her lungs for me to get out of the room.
