Unpredictable Magic

Zecora hadn't lied when she said it would take the day, well, maybe exaggerated.  It certainly hadn't taken the whole day to get there, but by now the sun was telling me it was well into midday.  As we both went up to the cottage I began to notice some distinct signs of life.  Many birds flying around, squirrels packed into nearby trees.  A quaint little stream as well.  This place practically screamed secluded hippie shut in.  I was a bit skeptical whoever lived here could be of any help to me.  Zecora walked, trotted?  Trotted ahead of me when we approached the door motioning for me to drop my weapons on the ground.  So I tossed the spear and the torch onto the ground to the side and watched as Zecora quickly knocked on the door.  I wasn't sure what I expected really.  Honestly another small zebra pony thing like Zecora, but I was wrong as when the door opened I saw a little yellow, Pegasus.  No, not hallucinating, wings were indeed on that creature.  The yellow of it's coat was a nice off set to the light pink color of it's mane and tail.

"Oh hello Zecora, what brings you."  the yellow Pegasus talked until it's eyes met my own.

For a moment we all sat there in complete silence.  No words exchanged.  In fact, the Pegasus seemed to be eyeing me rather intently until the shroud of quiet was unveiled as Zecora spoke.

"This creature I found within the forest here.  It seeks aid I cannot give it dear.  I plan to fetch Twilight to help this creature out."  then the Zebra's voice dropped to a whisper I couldn't hear.

Curse my hearing, it was fairly poor to begin with.  Regardless of what Zecora continued to say in hushed whispers, I didn't much like having myself referred to as it.  Though I couldn't really blame Zecora, either you assume you can tell the gender of a creature you've never seen before, or go with the vague it.  I was probably over thinking this too much but thankfully my mind was derailed by the Pegasus.

"Oh my, well.  Of course I could watch this one while you go and get Twilight.  Just uh.  Hurry back please."  the yellow one said, speaking in such a quiet voice it was a barely audible to me.

Was that an intentional whisper?  Or did she just talk quietly, I mean I hadn't heard he speak in anything above what i'd classify as a quiet voice, so I'll go with she's quiet naturally.  Again, more pointless thought trains interrupted again.

"I leave you here with Fluttershy, behave yourself though, do not make her cry."  Zecora told me as she then left, trotting rather quickly towards a small looking town in the distance.

So, the next several minutes, I kid you not, were spent in complete silence again, though this time we spent it avoiding each other's gaze.  Till finally Fluttershy spoke up.

"Please, do come in and get comfortable."  she said as she led me in.

The inside of this cottage reflected the outside, cluttered and full of life.  Bird houses hanging from the ceiling, I could see mice scurrying away into holes as I came in.

"This place is, interesting."  I commented, only to watch as Fluttershy did a little jump as she turned and faced me.

"You, you talk?"  she asked.

"Well of course, why wouldn't you think I did?"  I asked.

This caused her to blush somewhat, it seems she had lost a bit of confidence at some point.

"Uh well, you see, I had sort of, thought you were an animal of sorts."  she explained.

"Well, I mean technically I am.  But I guess that's besides the point, I think the real one is my level of intelligence and cognitive reasoning."  I said as I set down my bag, gently though.

"Uh huh.  Well.  I'm sure Twilight will be here as soon as possible.  But, if I may be so bold as to ask.  What are you?  I've never seen a creature like you before, and well, after spending so much time living this close to the forest, I thought I would have a very well rounded knowledge of it's creatures.  Not even the books I've read have ever described anything like you."  Fluttershy went on.

"That's a rather, interesting question depending on who is asking.  But, I guess the simplest answer would be that I'm a human.  Though I understand that probably doesn't mean a lot.  But in animal terms I'm sort of like a monkey I guess?"  I told her, I had never been big on biology.  I took meteorology dammit, I knew about clouds and stuff.

"Right.  Well uh.  Human?  Do you have a name?  It seems like it would be inappropriate to just call you human."  Fluttershy stated.

"Quite right.  My name is Kylie."  I told her.

"Alright then, Kylie.  Why don't you sit down until Twilight get's here."  she said, motioning to the couch.

I went over and sat on it, as I did I swear I saw something white out of the corner of my eye, but as I turned my head to see more clearly I was only looking at an empty hall opening.  Either way, once I had sat down, Fluttershy had come and gotten onto the couch next to me, sort of laying on it, though I don't think it would be comfortable to sit in the same position I did.  It was at this time I noticed the butterflies on her rear.  Zecora had a sort of swirly deal on hers, I figured it was like a dyed on tattoo or something, Fluttershy had one too it seemed, but of butterflies, but eh, that seemed to fit well for her.

We sat quietly for the most part, and by that I mean I spent most of my time looking around the room and anytime I saw Fluttershy, she seemed to be gazing at me.  Luckily our silence was again destroyed by a knocking at the door, a rather urgent knock as well.  Fluttershy rose and quickly went to the door, opening it, and then what rushed into the room was a purple unicorn with some saddlebags.  Seriously, I was considering going back to the idea that I was completely loopy.  But no time to think about that as the unicorn immediately headed for me, with a look in it's eyes that scared me a little.

"Is this the creature then Fluttershy?"  the unicorn said, not even addressing me.

"Yes, her name is Kylie Twilight."  Fluttershy said, I don't remember telling Fluttershy I was a girl.

"You've already given it a name?"  Twilight asked her.

"Actually my parents gave me it."  I said, feeling a bit left out of this conversation.

Of course this only seemed to make Twilight's somewhat frightening look even more traumatizing.

"So Zecora was right, you are capable of higher understanding."  Twilight said as she came over closer to me, looking at me, meanwhile I was just wondering where Zecora was.

Twilight seemed quite interested in just looking at me.  Not meeting my eyes, but just staring at me, like she was absorbing all that I was for some sort of collective of information she would later write down.  Correction, I watched as Twilight's horn lit up and a saddlebag popped open and a notepad and a quill came out.  The magic she was using to control them both enveloped the items with a sort of purple aura.  As the sound of the quill scratching the parchment went on, I began to feel a glimmer of fear well up within me.  Where Zecora seemed like a normal small zebra, Fluttershy was just a pony with wings, Twilight here, was using magic.  Something I couldn't understand.

I watched as Twilight set the writing material down onto a nearby table and then stuck a hoof out towards me, grabbing at my shirt.  Firstly I wondered how that even worked, how do hooves grab shirt?  Secondly I said.

"Hey, what's going on?"  alarmed at being handled in such a way.

"Clothing.  Then there's either the concept of functional coating to serve as warmth or even a societal acceptance of what to wear."  Twilight said, not even looking at me.

"Twilight, maybe you should."  Fluttershy started, but was cut off as Twilight said.

"A very interesting creature, ape like in form."  she then enveloped me in her magic.

I sat there as my arm was rendered useless.  My left arm.  I could control it, but it was like it was stuck in cement, the purple field around it keeping it in location as Twilight looked at it intently.  Now, at this point, maybe I made a wrong decision, I was struggling a little, it was obvious I didn't want to be in this situation.  It didn't help that I was somewhat claustrophobic, not insanely so, but having my arm suddenly immobilized was sending a lot of signals to my brain, I panicked.  I kicked out, my foot landing squarely against the middle of the unicorns body.  I wasn't a fit person, but my legs were fairly muscular, it was enough to cause Twilight to be shoved backwards, tumbling down onto the floor as she screamed.

Of course several other things happened when I did that.  One was obvious, I could move my arm again.  So, the fear was leaving, and the sudden realization that I had just kicked a unicorn was dawning on me.  Fluttershy had gone over to Twilight to help her up.  I hadn't done anything else.  I froze.  Part of me wanted to run to the door, burst through it and run into the forest, another wanted to apologize, and the biggest part of me wanted to just fall onto the floor and die.  The combination of those all just left me there.

"What in the world!?  What's wrong with you?"  Twilight stood up shouting, Fluttershy backing away.

"Here I thought you were some incredibly intelligent creature, but then you kick me across the room?!"  the unicorn continued.

I was just completely avoiding her gaze, I couldn't look at her.  Of course what I had done was terrible.  I shouldn't have, I was just scared, it was just.  As I was there trying to put myself together, Twilight was getting closer to me, her horn was lit up and instantly I felt that fear again, though it was tenfold.  I let myself fall onto the couch, burying my face into it's cushions as I began to cower.  What could I do, there was a creature stood before me with the power to render me immobile at will.  I was whimpering at this point.  Crying actually.  This was pretty much it for me.  I pissed off a magical unicorn.  I was pretty much as good as dead.

Though as I laid there, tears falling into the cushion I was now intimately engaged to, nothing happened.  I heard no steps.  I couldn't feel myself being restrained.  I chanced it, pulling my head up to see Fluttershy and Twilight standing there, looking quite concerned for me.  I spoke immediately.

"I'm sorry.  I, I got scared."  I said, blushing as I did.

It wasn't an easy thing to admit, even less so to a unicorn and a Pegasus, one who had been rather nice to you, and the other you had just planted your foot into.  Fluttershy came over to me, wiping some of my tears away as Twilight said.

"It's me who should be sorry.  I got a little carried away myself.  It's not everyday you are suddenly seeing a never before documented creature that doesn't appear to exist anywhere, especially not one with thoughts and feelings."  she said.

"No, I guess not."  I said as I sat up, trying to wipe my eyes clear.

"How about we start this over.  My name is Twilight Sparkle, you are?"  she asked me, to which I responded.

"My name is Kylie, and it's a pleasure to meet you."  she said.