Possibilites

I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of a branch snapping followed by a slight gasp. I snapped open my purple cat-like eyes and listened closely. I heard slow breathing not far from the tent. Whether or not this person knew I was awake was unknown. However, by the fact that he (presuming it’s a ‘he’) slowed his breathing told me that he either fears someone is near or he knows someone is near

He began to walk closer to the site with the sound of the grass giving away his position. I silently left the sleeping bag and stepped over to the tent door. I unzipped the door slightly and peered out with one of my eyes into the inky blackness of the night. It was quite dark with the night lit up only by the pale light of the moon. Judging by the position of the stars I presumed it was around 3 AM. Why this person was out so late escaped me, but I preferred to keep him away. The fire pit had been reduced to lumps of smoldering coal, some of it still glowing and snapping. I caught slight movement out of the corner of my eye and concentrated carefully in that direction, allowing my pupil to dilate to let in more light and get a better view of whatever was approaching.

Eventually, a…sky blue colored…thing…appeared from behind a tree. Its basic anatomy was similar to that of a horse, but it was too small to be one. It seemed more accurate of a pony. Its mane was a sight to behold though. It was long and bright although dimmed by the darkness of the night. It was quite colorful, a rainbow in fact, its tail being the same vivid scheme.

“Hello?” It called out in a rather masculine voice, but with a hint of femininity to it. She looked at the coals glowing in the fire pit, then started to look around. She was an observant little one. I then noticed she had a small pairs of wings affixed to her torso which I found strange. Presuming the people who watched the skies for a living were doing their jobs, they should’ve noticed something like this flying around. Then again, considering I have wings as well, it’s a surprise they haven’t found me either.

I didn’t think this thing would like something other than its own species to suddenly appear upon it. It probably would like something at least resembling itself. I took a good long look at her anatomical structure and quickly formulated a model I could assume. Adding my own masculine tweaks of course. I zipped the door back up and started to think of the cosmetic changes. Nothing too crazy, just a black version with a light gray mane, purple eyes and a more masculine facial structure. I considered keeping the cat-like eyes, but quickly brushed it off; it would be too conspicuous.

I finally finished my mental picture and put it to the test, slowly shifting my structure to that of what I thought of. My hands and feet became hooves, hair became mane, muscle and bone moving around and reshaping to accommodate this new form. It does feel rather strange when I change my outward appearance. It feels like I’m being shoved into a place I don’t quite belong. Similar to shoving a pillow in a small jar and still making it fit. With my now baggy clothes, it was a little difficult to see how much I had really changed. I shook off my clothing and stuffed them into the very bottom of the sleeping bag.

Once finished, I looked at my new self. Shorter, that was for sure, but I was still taller than whoever or whatever was out there. I could presume I kept handsome, but I didn’t want to be too haughty. I took a deep breath and unzipped the door fully, facing whomever this was. She seemed to have heard the zipper, the pony whipping her head in my direction. I didn’t know what her visibility was, but I could see just fine; I was attuned to seeing in dark places.

“Don’t fall into the fire pit, the coals are still awful hot,” I said as I walked out into the brisk night air.

“Duh. You think I’m stupid?” She replied snottily.

“I wouldn’t suppose so, I just wanted to announce my presence.” I didn't like her right off the bat.

“Besides,” she added, “they wouldn’t hurt that much anyway.” I held back a sour look.

“Whatever you say… So what are you doing around here so late? Shouldn’t you be sleeping or something?” I questioned as I gathered up a couple logs and placed them into the pit.

“Do you think I have some sort of ‘bedtime?’ I’m not a filly ya know.”

“I was just curious, most would just be sleeping at this hour. I was sleeping, up until you decided to start yelling around my camp.” I said before blowing on the coals, provoking a small flame to start to burn, the meager fire lapping eagerly at the lumber.

“Yelling? That was barely even a holler. If that woke you up you must be one light sleeper. Besides,” she scoffed, “sleep is for the weak. I can go for days without sleep, even weeks."

“Well, all living beings need sleep on a regular basis, too little sleep can lead to serious health problems such as depression, heart disease, and strokes. Not to menti-”

“Yeah, blah blah blah, that’s boring.” She said cutting me off, “why are you so boring? You sound just like that egghead Twilight… Why don’t you be more interesting for once? Like me!” She pointed to herself, her face showing a hint of a smirk.

“Never mind then.” I said, sighing to myself. By now fire had grown enough to make a bubble of light encircle the two of us. She finally got a good look at me and is slightly taken aback. I noticed she seemed slightly nervous and began avoiding eye contact. I shifted in my spot and looked down into the fire. I didn’t expect this reaction from such a self-absorbed brat.

I sat down on the ground in front of the flames and caught her staring at me across the fire.

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked. She stood there for a moment, finally snapping out of her dazed stupor.

“Y-yeah I’m, fine. Just a little tired is all.” She said as she sat down in front of the fire as well.

“Ah, the sleepless knight is foiled by fatigue. What did I tell ya?” I said, attempting to maintain my composure.

“Yeah,” she said, chuckling nervously, “I guess you were right.” I decided to have a little fun with this to offset my anxiety.

“Well, why don’t you go ahead and stay here for the rest of the night? Let you catch up on some rest.” She perked up at hearing this and became quite flustered.

“A-Are you sure? I-I can just go home and sleep there instead. I-I wouldn’t want to b-bother you.”

“No, no, I insist,” I said, gesturing toward the tent. “There’s plenty of room for two.”

“W-Well I mean, I have my own bed and things. I don’t want to m-mess up your time out here and yeah I’ll go ahead and stay.”

“Great,” I said, smiling as warmly as I could, “you want to go ahead and sleep now or wait a little bit to-?”

“No, I’ll go to bed now! See you in the morning!” She rushed inside and zipped up the tent door almost faster than I could register. She was a strange little thing. I sat by the fire looking into the flames as they danced around in the black of the night and pallid moon light. It finally came to my attention that I didn’t know her name, if she even had one that is.

“Oh hey, you got a name?” I asked to the tent.

“Of course I have a name,” she said, returning to her stuck-up self, “it’s Rainbow Dash.”

“Rainbow Dash huh? Strangest name I’ve come across in a while. Especially considering your first name is two words, if that's what I'm getting here.” She poked her angered head out of the tent and said,

“Now you listen here…” But she stopped abruptly and simply stared at me again.

“I’m listening,” I said, waiting for any insult she could conjure up, but she merely shook her head and continued.

“B-But you can call me Dashie.” She said as she returned inside the tent once more, not even bothering to ask my name. I looked back at the fire.

“Dashie…” I said, “cute nickname.” I heard an ever so slight squeal from the tent and glanced over at it. I thought about bringing it up, but I had tortured her enough already. I sat and waited for the fire to die down a little bit before returning to sleep. Once it had gone down enough to be left alone, I made my way over to the tent and walked through the door, zipping it up behind me.

Inside the tent, she appeared to have stolen my sleeping bag and was now using it. Although I could tell she wasn’t asleep just yet; her breathing was too rapid. Luckily, she wasn’t long enough to reach the very bottom of the bag and feel my clothes. That probably would’ve been a dead giveaway. I sighed and laid down on the floor about a foot away from her, silently hoping the tent would trap enough heat to keep me warm for the night. I thought a little about how I would get rid of this creature, but I didn’t get too far; I was too tired for that. I simply attempted to doze off as the night progressed.

And, eventually, I succeeded.