A Rare Encounter

by Mathew_The_Raridash_Fan

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Dark, Human
Length: 1891

Daniel finds a unicorn under a pile of debris.

After an earthquake, Michael finds a unicorn under the debris and tries to help her. Unfortunately, his attempts prove to be in vain as she grows weaker every passing day.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-27 21:43:18 UTC

The Earthquake

I walked around the town looking at the scenery. It was mostly yellow grass and chain link fences, though. When I did come across buildings, the walls were cracked, and the windows were boarded up. Police cars were seen on every block of town.

Newcomers would have thought that this town was full of crime, but locals as myself knew the truth. Last night, there was an earthquake that only affected the town. Everyone panicked until the chief officer explained what happened.

I got to the downtown area and noticed that the cracks of the walls were more frequent. My curiosity got the best of me, and I followed the cracks. I wanted to know just where the earthquake was. It was very unusual for an earthquake to be here.

As I walked further, the damage grew until I came to an ally. When I looked past the entrance of the ally, the severity of the damage lessened. The ally itself was completely demolished, though. I knew where the location of the earthquake was, and my curiosity was fed. I turned around to walked home, but I was stopped by the sound of a pony.The sound was from within the ally. My first thought was that it was trapped under the debris.

I walked into the ally and followed the sound. Now it was constant. I found the source of the sound within a pile of wood and debris. I cleared it out until I saw a pony laying in a fetal position. She was a mare. Her coat was pure white, but her mane and tail were purple. Ponies did not have purple manes. That wasn’t the only strange thing, though. There were three blue gemstones on her hind quarters, and on her head was a horn. Her blue eyes were large, and she wore eye shadow and mascara. Her muzzle was shaped differently, too. Was this someone’s idea of a cruel joke?

She was able to stand up. I thought she was going to run away, but she stood on her hind legs and wrapped her front legs around me. It was like she was hugging me. I hugged her back. After we let go, I turned around and walked home. I  needed to report the pony and find out who did that to her.

I got far out of the ally before I realized that the pony was following me. I didn’t blame her. Her previous owner didn’t deserve to have a pony. I decided to let her live with me. I didn’t know the first thing about raising ponies, but I had the internet to help me. I came to my house and walked in. The pony followed after me.

I walked to the dining room and sat down. The pony got on my lap and faced me. She put her front hooves on my shoulders and begged, “Please do not report me!”

I fell backwards, but an invisible force stopped the chair before my head hit the floor. “Did you just talk?” I asked.

She nodded. “My name is Rarity. I don’t have any owners, and I was born a unicorn.”

“You’re a real life unicorn?” I asked, staring in shock.

“Of course I am,” Rarity replied. “Have you not seen a unicorn? I must say, I have never met...whatever you are… before. You look sort of like a hairless ape.”

I shook my head, “I thought unicorns were purely fictional. I’m a human. If you want to get scientific, I am an ape. A lot of people will deny it, though.”

“Are you an ape in the same sense that I am an equine?” Rarity questioned.

I nodded. “It is.”

“It seems that you have heard of us,” Rarity commented. “I have never heard of you, though.”

“There are many stories of unicorns as well as pegasi.” I told her.

“What about Earth Ponies?” She asked.

I didn’t know what she meant by Earth Ponies. Perhaps they are ponies from Earth. This is Earth, so it would make sense that the ponies here are Earth Ponies. “They are real.”

Rarity glared at me. “Unicorns and pegasi, as well as Alicorns, are real as well!”

I rolled my eyes. "Of course. I mean we don't have those here... except you. You aren't from here, though."

"Do you think Earth Ponies originally came from here? Rarity asked.

I shrugged. I never thought about that. "Do Unicorns and Pegasi come from different worlds, too?"

"I don't know where we came from. We didn't evolve from Earth Ponies, that's for sure. It was once thought we did, but it was proven to be false," Rarity explained.

I didn't want to overwhelm Rarity with too many questions, so I decided to change the subject, "I'm going to make some coffee. Do you want some?"

"What kind is it?" She asked.

I replied, "hazelnut," and she nodded.

I walked into the kitchen. Even after we talked, I was still in shock. I still couldn't believe that I was talking to a unicorn. I couldn't report her. They would have done unethical tests on her if I did. I swore to not let anyone know of her existence.

I found the coffee beans and ground them up. Afterwards, I put the coffee in the filter part of the coffee pot and added water. I decided to stay in the kitchen as the coffee brewed. I needed some more time to calm down.

At last, the coffee was ready. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to go back in the dining room, but I decided to anyways. I brought the coffee out and placed one cup of coffee in front of her and the other in front of me. I warned her that it wasn’t sweet and left to get the sugar. Finally, I returned and sat down.

I let Rarity sugar her coffee first. She was a guest as well as a lady. I even waited for her to add more sugar when she didn’t have enough. When she was satisfied with the sweetness, I added sugar to mine until it was as I liked it. We sipped our coffee in silence.

My brain wasn’t silent, though. Too many questions flooded my mind. Where did she come from? Was she the cause of the earthquake, or did she just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? How did she get here?

I shook the thoughts from my head. I didn’t want to ask too many questions in one day.

It was still early in the day, but I had nothing else to do. I wanted to let Rarity get used to my house before bothering her too much. I walked into the living room and turned on the TV. The channel was on the local news.

The new reporter reported, "The city of Astroville was recently hit by an earthquake. We are currently in the process of rebuilding. In other news,  If you have been receiving phone calls from 1432477184592, the phone company is looking into it."

Rarity ran into the living room urgently and explained, "Twilight may be trying to communicate with me!"

"Is that her number?" I asked.

Rarity shook her head, "No. She doesn't have a phone. None of us do. She is using magic. Perhaps her magic got converted into numbers."

"How do you even know what a phone is, then?" I asked.

"Twilight us a lot about her discoveries when she went through a mirror that led her to another world," Rarity informed.

I realized that I forgot to introduce myself. "Forgive my rudeness. My name is Michael." I never talked like that before, but I felt compelled to.

"Pleasure to meet you," Rarity said extending her front right hoof. I shook it.

Rarity walked over to the couch and lied down. She must've been exhausted from what happened. i thought it was best to leave her alone and decided to visit my friend's house. I wrote a note informing Rarity that I will be back and left.

Krystal's house was in the opposite direction of downtown, so I didn't see any debris. It wasn't far away, and it was a nice day. it was a perfect opportunity to jog. After a few minutes, I reached her house. It was next door to a veterinarian clinic which was perfect for a veterinarian like herself.

I knocked on the door and waited patiently. It wasn't long before she opened the door and invited me in. The house reeked of a variety of animal droppings. The scent of their food added to the putrid smell. It took all my willpower not to gag. She often brought sick animals home with her on her days off.

"Sorry about the stench," She apologized, "I haven't cleaned the cages yet. I was too focused on the earthquake. I hope no one got hurt."

"It's alright," I told her. It was a lie, but I didn't want to make her feel bad. She was highly sensitive. The stench wasn’t that bad, anyways.

She smiled and went around cleaning the cages. "I usually don't have this many animals with me, but the earthquake must have injured them."

"Do you have any ponies?" I asked.

She shook her head,"no. Only small animals were injured. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," I told her. That explained why Rarity wasn't injured.

I was amazed at how Krystal was able to have a conversation while she worked. It was a valuable skill to have for someone who was always busy. I didn't know what else to say, and I thought I should go home. I told her that I was heading home and left.

I didn't go home, though. Instead, I went to a nearby store and bought oats. Rarity needed some food to eat. Afterwards, I walked home. She sat on the couch staring at the window. She must have missed her friends. I hoped she wasn’t too sad to eat. I told her that I brought her some oats, and her ears perked up. I opened the bag and put some oats in a bowl and gave it to her.

“Can I please have a spoon?” Rarity asked.

I got a spoon for her, and she started eating the oats. I had to have my oats cooked and with sugar, but Rarity seemed to love the oats as is. It made sense considering that she was a pony, albeit an alien one.

“I’m guessing you love hay, too?” I told her.

She nodded. “I do. Do you have any?”

I shook my head. I could get some, though. “I will get you some tomorrow. Hay is pretty cheap here.”

“Does the place that sells hay have alfalfa hay? That is my preferred kind.” She requested.

I nodded. “I think so. If they don’t, what else do you like?”

Rarity answered, “Grass hay is good, too.”

I nodded understandingly. I went upstairs to my bedroom. I left the door open just in case Rarity wanted to sleep with me. She was probably able to open doors, but I didn’t want to risk it. I didn’t have any pets, and Rarity was too sentient to be considered one. Besides, I didn’t own her. I lied on the bed and fell asleep.