The Bone Diaries(New)

“How long has zit been? A few hours? Days? Weeks even? I cannot tell. When I breathe in, I smell not zhe scent of the jungle I’ve grown up with, but instead zhe scent of something else. Something bitter. I strain my ears to hear zhe sounds of birds and dragons and Deathwings. Zhe soothing sounds of zhe waterfall and wind blowing through zhe leaves. I can hear none of zhat. I only hear zhis constant beeping sound, like zit is trying to burrow into my head. And I hear voices as well. Zhey are not speak my language but I can still understand zhem. And zhe clopping of hooves as zhey run around. Like prey, trying to escape zhe predator. Where in zhe name of zhe great Gods am I? Wake up Asteroth!” Asteroth begins to very slowly open his eyes. Instead of seeing the sky, he only sees a white ceiling. He stretches and finds his claws clinking against the hard tile floor. He is alone in this strange area, his only company being a strange shiny object, the source of the beeps as he has found out. They seem to keep pace with his heartbeat, making him wonder if they’re connected. He looks at his arms and sees something white wrapped around them, and wrapped around his tail, legs, and other parts of his body. He hears a clicking sound and turns his head towards the source as a door opens and in walks one of the nurses, a unicorn looking at a board.

She looks up and sees Asteroth staring at her. “O-oh, you’re awake. We were hoping the medicine would have a positive effect on you.”

Asteroth groans as his body is still sore. “Where… am I?”

“Oh, you’re in a hospital.”

Asteroth widens one of his eyes. “A… ‘hospital’?”

“Well, yes, when Twilight and the others brought you in, you were in pretty bad shape. That was a few days ago. They said that they were attacked by some creatures and you helped fend them off.”

The Bone-Hound looks away. “Yes. I remember now. Zhe Speeders”

“Excuse me?”

He looks back at the nurse and replies, “Zit is nothing. Just tell me, am I being held captive here or something of zhe sort?”

The nurse makes a shocked expression. “Oh goodness, no, of course not! We are simply keeping you here until you fully recover. And all of your expenses are being paid by Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Asteroth scuffs and mumbles, “I am not even going to pretend I know what ‘expenses’ are.” And turns back to his makeshift bed.

The nurse simply shrugs and says, “Well, if you do not mind, I am going to inform Twilight and the others, let them know you’re awake. She said something about wanting to ask you some questions.”

Without looking at her, he simply responds, “As you, and zhey, wish.” And lays down.

The nurse nods and leaves the room. A few minutes pass by and Asteroth is alerted to a familiar voice. “Well well well, look who it is.”

Asteroth looks up at the doorway and sees Rainbow Dash, wing now free of a bandage. “Oh, I remember you. Rainbow Dash, from zhe woods.”

“Yup, and I remember you, Asteroth. May I come in?”

“If you want to, I will not stop you.”

Rainbow Dash steps in and closes the door with one of her back hooves. She takes a look around the room and whistles. “Damn, they really cleared out the room here. Though, considering the size of ya, I can’t blame them.”

Asteroth looks around and asks, “I am guessing zhat zhey have more items in here?”

“Oh yeah, they normally have beds and stuff. Considering you couldn’t fit on one, they just took the mattresses and put them on the ground for you. Took, like, 6 ponies, including Twilight, to carry you in here.”

“Yes, zhat is what zhe one pony waz saying a few minutes ago.”

Before Rainbow Dash could continue, the door opens, and Twilight and Mist come walking in. Surprised to see Rainbow, Twilight smiles and says, “Oh, hey Rainbow Dash, didn’t expect you here.”

Rainbow Dash smiles back at her friend and replies, “Yeah, the nurses wanted me to stick around for a few more days, make sure my wing is alright, even though I feel 20 percent better than before.” The statement causes Twilight to giggle. Rainbow sees Mist standing in the door frame and says, “Hey Mist, what’s up?”

“Oh, hello there Rainbow Dash. Long time no see.”

Twilight walks pass Rainbow Dash and stands in front of Asteroth, who simply looks back at her, before smiling and saying, “Hi there.”

Asteroth, slightly confused, says, “Uh, hello.”

“What is your name?”

Slightly more confused, he responds, “My name iz Asteroth. Asteroth Irontooth, of zhe Bone Valley. And you are?”

“I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. And this is my friend, Shuffling Mist.” Twilight gestures towards Mist, who awkwardly waves. “And you apparently already know Rainbow Dash.”

“You would be correct.”

“Well, I just want to say that, you have no idea how grateful we all are for helping us save Ponyville.”

“You are welcome.”

“If, uh, you don’t mind, I would like to ask you some questions.”

Asteroth thinks about this for a few moments before replying, “Perhaps another time. I am still not at full strength. Also, I am hungry. Iz zhere anything to eat?”

This earns a nervous silence from the ponies. Mist was the first to speak up. “Well, hate to break it to you buddy, but, we don’t exactly eat meat around here. Fish and eggs, yeah, sure, but not like what you eat.”

Asteroth scoffs. “I figured as much. Well, what about zhe Speeder?”

“The… what now?” Twilight asks.

“Zhe Speeder, the creature I killed zhat day.”

“Oh, so that’s what you call them? Well, we had it sent to Canterlot so that our princesses and scientists can examine it.”

Asteroth groans. “Zhen zhere is nothing to eat. Perfect.”

Asteroth begins to get up but is stopped by Twilight, who asks, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I am going hunting.”

“Not in the state you’re in, you’re not.”

“I have not eaten for 3 days now. I am hungry. If I cannot go hunting for meat, zhen do you at least have fruit?”

“Fruit?”

“Yes, fruit. My kind are not strictly carnivores. And we will eat fish and eggs as well.”

This shocks Twilight. “So, what you’re saying is, your kind are omnivores?”

“If zhat iz what you wish to call it, zhen yes, I am.”

“Well, it’ll take us a little bit to gather enough fruit to feed you. Anything else?”

Asteroth lays there for a few moments, thinking, before saying. “Yes, do you have any hot springs around here?”

“Hot springs? What for?”

“When a Bone-Hound iz injured, we prefer to lay in hot springs, which help us heal.”

Twilight ponders this for a few seconds. She then stamps her hoof down once and says, “Aha!” startling everypony (and everybone-hound). “Well, we don’t exactly have any hot springs, but we do have a spa. And you are more than welcome to go there to recover, if you say that it’ll help.”

Asteroth thinks this over before replying, “Well, I am not sure what a ‘spa’ iz, but if it will help, I welcome it.”

“Very good then! I’ll go ask them to release and transfer you.”

Before Twilight exits the room, Asteroth says, “I can walk myself, thank you very much.” Asteroth gets up and proceeds to head towards the door but feels something weighing him down. Looking back, he sees that he is still connected to the beeping machine.

He growls and opens his jaws to bite it before Mist stops him, saying, “Whoa, hey, you can’t do that, that’s property of the hospital. You would have to pay for that. You have to wait for one of the nurses to take care of it.”

Asteroth rolls his eyes and replies, “Very well zhen.”

After a brief argument between the nurses and Asteroth over whether or not he should be escorted by hospital staff, the argument is settled with Rainbow Dash offering to escort him. The two are walking through the streets of Ponyville, with Rainbow Dash pointing out various things. “And that is Sugarcube Corner, where the best sweets in Equestria are made. Over there is the library, where Twilight lives. There’s the Town Hall.” Rainbow looks at her walking companion and notices him looking around, nose in the air. “You alright?”

Asteroth looks at the young pegasus and simply says, “Of course. I am simply taking it all in. Though, I am curious az to why zhere are so few ponies around.”

Rainbow starts looking around and notices that, there are in fact, only a few ponies around. “Huh, normally, this is the busiest day of the week. Where is everypony?” Rainbow Dash looks over and sees her friend, Rarity. “Hey, Rarity!”

“Hmm?” Rarity looks over at the source of the voice and sees Rainbow Dash. And Asteroth. “Ah, Rainbow Dash. A pleasure to see you out of the hospital. And, uh, who is your… friend here?”

Rainbow Dash is about to begin introducing the two but Asteroth begins for her. “I am Asteroth. Asteroth Irontooth, of ze Bone Valley. And what is your name?”

“Ah, I am Rarity. A pleasure to meet you.”

Rarity bows her heard and Asteroth does the same. “Ze pleasure is all mine, Rarity.”

“Hmm, such an exotic accent. I think you’ll fit in nicely where. Now then, where are you two off to?”

“Rainbow Dash here waz just taking me to ze spa. I had gotten into a fight with some Speeders zhat attacked zhis town.”

“Oh yes, I heard about that. I just came back to Ponyville yesterday and everypony is still scared stiff. Won’t even come out of their homes.”

“Explains why we haven’t seen anypony.” Rainbow Dash adds in. She notices Asteroth cringes a little bit from a random pain on one of his wounds and says to Rarity. “Sorry Rarity, but we gotta get going. Asteroth here still needs to get his wounds taken care of.”

“Well, if you are heading towards the spa, perhaps I can join you.”

“Sure, the more the merrier.”

“Hmm, alright darling, I shall see you there later.”

A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash and Asteroth are standing in front of the spa. “Well, here it is. Now, try to behave and let me do the talking. Don’t want ya to scare anypony.” Asteroth scoffs, prompting her to say, “Just saying.”

The Bone-Hound simply rolls his eyes as he follows the young pegasi in. The bell rings as the door opens and the two spa owners, Aloe and Lotus, both chime, “Hello, and welcome to Ponyville Day Spa, the greatest spa in Equestria. And how may we hel…” Their practiced speech cut off as they see Asteroth standing there, towering over them, looking at them rather seriously. “Uhh…”

Before the awkward silence could grow, Rainbow Dash jumps in, saying, “Yes, I think the hospital called and made arrangements for you guys to let us have the largest spa room. The one with the huge tub.”

Aloe is the first to snap out of her shock as she turns her gaze to Rainbow Dash. “Er, yes, that’s right. Since we hardly use that room, the tub is being filled up right now. Should only take a few more minutes. We do apologize for the wait.” She notices her sister still staring at Asteroth and bumps her flank against hers. “Isn’t that right Lotus?”

Lotus shakes her head and quickly says, “Yes, we do apologize for the wait.”

Aloe rolls her eyes and thinks, “I already said that.”

Rainbow smiles and says, “Thanks a lot.” She then turns back to Asteroth and asks, “You don’t mind waiting, do ya?”

Asteroth turns his head towards Rainbow Dash before replying, “Hmm, no, I suppose I do not. Though, I would prefer not being stared at.” The last sentence being ended with his looking back at the fraternal twins.

Both Aloe and Lotus blush at their earlier rudeness and Aloe speaks up, “Yes, I apologize for that. It’s just… when the hospital told us to expect a creature that wasn;t pony, we weren’t expecting something so… huge. And honestly terrifying.” She places a hoof over her mouth at the last word, scared that she offended their guest.

But instead of getting mad, Asteroth simply chuckles, though it’s still somewhat scary sounding, before saying, “Heh, zit iz no problem. I prefer zhat you are honest with your feelings instead of pretending on being nice. And I know I am terrifying looking. But rest assured, I mean you ponies no harm.”

Aloe and Lotus both smile, with Lotus this time speaking first. “Well, that’s good to hear. And I believe that the tub is finished filling up. Now, if you two would just follow me please.” Asteroth and Rainbow Dash do as they’re told and follow the two ponies.

The twins lead them to a door and Aloe opens it. Rainbow Dash goes through with no problem. Asteroth, on the other hoof. “Uhh…” was all the rather large Bone-Hound could mutter as his shoulder spikes keep getting stuck on the door frame. “I do not think zhat zhis will work.” It takes a few seconds but Asteroth manages to squeeze through by belly-crawling through the door, earning a snicker from Rainbow, only to turn into full-blown laughter as Asteroth hits his head on a low hanging chandelier as he stands back up, earning a groan from the predator.

Even Aloe and Lotus are trying to resist giggling, before Aloe says, “Now, if you two need anything, you need, but to call us. Cheers!” And she closes the door.

Asteroth looks around and is almost immediately reminded of the hospital. Everything is squeaky clean and shiny. Unlike the hospital, though, everything is brightly colored and he can smell fruits and other scents he’s never smelled before. “Zhis place, zhis… ‘spa’. It iz nice.”

Rainbow Dash was already relaxing in the tub when she heard Asteroth. “Yeah, it’s great here. Water’s nice and hot. Nopony to bother us. And plenty of time to rellaaaaxxx.” The last word coming out slowly as she sinks deeper in the tub. “So c’mon in. Water’s great.” Asteroth climbs the stairs in one step (The steps rather small compared to his leg length) and climbs into the tub before plopping in, causing the water to overflow a bit. The tub is just deep enough for the water to almost reach his shoulders, leaving his back dry. He then rests his head on the edge of the tub and sighs. “Pretty great, huh?”

Asteroth closes his eyes. “Mmm, yes, zhis iz nice. Very nice.”

Rainbow Dash decides this would be the perfect opportunity to check out her spa companion. She can see his dark navy blue fur shifting slightly as he breathes deeply. The spikes on his shoulders, hips, and head shinning surprisingly brightly. His eyes almost invisible thanks to the shadows in the sockets of his skull head and the black eyelids. Every now and then, his eyes open and she can see his irises, yellow like gold and intense, yet there’s also a gentleness to them as well. When she first saw his eyes, his pupils were slitted, kind of like Spike’s. Now, they were rounded. Her eyes focus back to his fur. “I wonder how soft it is.” She thinks to herself. Without realizing it, she asks, “Hey Asteroth, can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?” was her only response.

“Would it be alright for me to pet you?”

“Pet me?”

Rainbow’s eyes widen. “Er, I didn’t mean… Well, I just… I was wondered what your fur felt like. That’s all. If it’s a problem, though…”

Asteroth remains silent for a few seconds before answering, “I suppose zhat zhere is no issue with zhat.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Rainbow nervously extends her hoof towards Asteroth and touches the area between his shoulders. Asteroth tenses up for a few seconds at the sudden touch but then calms back down. Rainbow Dash then begins stroking his fur and to her amazement, his fur almost feels softer than Rarity’s silk curtains and dresses. A deep rumbling sound comes from Asteroth’s throat and Rainbow pulls her hoof back quickly, afraid she did something wrong, until Asteroth looks at her expectedly and that’s when she realizes he was purring. Or at least the Bone-Hound equivalent of purring. She then puts her hoof back between his shoulders and begins petting him again. She then works her way towards his neck and finds that the fur there is even softer. Thicker, but still soft, a surprising contrast to the rest of his appearance. She reaches to his head and begins feeling it. Hard, like she thought. But she could tell that Asteroth could somehow still feel her touching his head because he shifts it a bit. Rainbow Dash playfully knock on his head, earning a grumble for her efforts, which in turn causes her to giggle. She playfully taps both of her hooves down the length of his head like a drum, which, while annoying, Asteroth allows her to continue.

That is, until she gets close to his. When she taps her hoof inches away from the tip of his nose, his eyes flare open and he jerks his head up, shocking Rainbow Dash. He then turns rather angrily at her and says, “You are NOT allowed to touch me zhere!”

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know! No need to snap at me like that!” Asteroth grumbles as he turns around in the tub so that his head is away from Rainbow and lays back down. “Look, I’m sorry, alright? Besides, what’s so special about your nose that you don’t want it being touched?” Asteroth remains silent for almost a minute. “You know what? Never mind.”

The two remain silent for a few more seconds before, “For my kind, touching noses iz considered… personal.”

This causes Rainbow Dash to blush. “O-oh, I, uh, I didn’t know that. Like, how personal, exactly? Best friends?”

“Family or mates.”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash rubs the back of her head in embarrassment. “Great job Rainbow,” she thinks to herself. “Way to make it awkward.”

Thankfully, the awkward silence is broken when Rarity enters the spa room. “Hello there! So you managed to rent you the large spa room! How wonderful!”

“Heh, yeah, it is pretty nice.”

“Hmm, and how about you dear Asteroth? Felling any better?”

Asteroth shifts his head just enough so that his right eye on the side of his head is facing here before responding. “Yes, zit iz very nice. I am feeling better already.”

“Excellent! Oh, and I ran into Twilight along the way. She said she would like you to swing by the library so she can ask you a few things.”

“Ze library?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash cuts in. “It’s hard to miss. Big tree, middle of town.”

“Ah, I see. Very well zhen.” Asteroth stands up and begins climbing out of the tub. “I might as well go now.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, of course.” Once Asteroth is out of the tub, he shakes himself dry, much like a dog would, before belly-crawling back through the door.

Once he is gone, Rarity turns to Rainbow and says, “He certainly seems nice. A bit on the scary side, sure, but still friendly, if a bit quiet.”

Rainbow Dash chuckles a bit before responding, “Yeah, just don’t touch his nose.”

“I beg your pardon?

“Eh, nothing. Let’s just say that his fur is way softer than most of your dresses.”

This causes Rarity to gasp. “Softer… than my dresses? Preposterous! My dresses are the best in the land!”

“Heh, whatever you say Rarity.” Rainbow ends her sentence by sticking her tongue at her friend, earning an annoyed look from the fashionista. Rainbow leans back and closes her eyes, allowing her thoughts to drift. “I hope Asteroth isn’t too made with me.” She thinks to herself. “I’ll have to find a way to make it up to him.”