Of Ponies, Death, and Teddy

It was ecstasy! The man giggled vivaciously, throwing all manner of soil and earth about himself, tickled as he was by the effervescent rapture of the tangible world. The sensation was absolutely indescribable, freed as he was from the abysmal nothingness of a dark purgatory. It was as though he were floating along the whims of an orgasmic high in the finale of a romantic tryst with only the most adept of lovers; and he knew nothing of fatigue! It was all simply spectacular; as though he had looked God in the eye and been made his equal.

And this was his Eden, this splendid world of glorious color that bathed him in its rich and vibrant wonders; that enveloped him within its abundant, living essence and showered him with its generous bounty. From all around him, the world was alive, flourishing in a symbiotic dance of nigh perfect equilibrium.

Curious, albeit timid critters broached the man in cautious wonderment, treading as close as they dared before fleeing to the safety of their burrows. Songbirds sang from on high within the treetops, a spirited sound which resonated along the chords of a saccharine melody. The percussive force driving this chorus was none other than the thunderous metronome of galloping hooves. It was a sound of profound freedom, the audible spirit of the untamed cantering alongside the pulse of the world. And it was magnificent, so strong in its presence that it resonated within his chest; it became louder with every passing moment, and louder still when the man paused only to focus upon its roaring clatter.

But quite suddenly then like the pattering of rain within a wind driven, Texas storm, the sound was gone…Though the world had not simply become silent, for in the passing of that thunderous beat there arose a most peculiar emanation: an airy and breathless sound derived not from the wind, but by an exerted body hungry for it. It was such a curious and perplexing sound, certainly not at all what the man expected within an enchanted forest of whimsical fancy. And it was certainly not he who starved so for the simple gift of breath to fill his lungs as he respired with such a steady and unlabored ease, passive and effortless.

The man, curious as he was to his sudden audience, righted himself slowly, fearing that were he too hasty in such an act, his audience would flee him; and he would be loath to instill fear upon any innocent creature that walked upon the breast of this wondrous land. But for what glorious sight that awaited him, the man could have never been prepared. For standing there, silhouetted by the amber light of the evening sun, was a beautiful, winged equine, and her gorgeous companion—a unicorn, with a pearl colored horn affixed proudly upon her head. A luscious, sleek coat of smoky-grey enveloped the tender body of the angelical Pegasus before him; her companion, a silken lavender fur clung taut to her lissome form. Their delicate features were so soft in his eyes, so supple, and so distinctly feminine, poised with a natural sense of elegance, beauty, and grace. Large, shimmering pools of gold and violet reflected in them the same naïve reverence and awe felt deep within his bosom, for truly the three had never seen the likeness of the other before.

In their eyes, he was strange: a creature of terrifying stature and of herculean proportions, unfathomably dangerous if provoked, though hardly malicious. His was the poise of a stalwart predator, fearless and bold, needing not the guise of intimidation to prove himself as the powerful beast that he was. His countenance was one of confidence without arrogance, of a learned mind that was wholly aware of its extraordinary physique, yet remained remarkably humble. Beneath his sharp gaze was felt a profound sense of vulnerability, of an instinctual desire to remain subservient to his will for by his aura alone, his authority was undeniable. And yet, from those chocolate orbs that bore so deeply into their very essence, there was no malice, nor threatening presence, but a passive, curious reverence for their being.

And before this man they stood silently as they gazed upon him, their eyes full of innocent wonder and trepidation. Theirs was an essence of innocence and grace, of a beauty that his mortal eyes had never before held upon the plane of existence. Only once before had he been blessed to gaze upon something so wondrous, so magnificent, so extraordinary that he had not truly been alive to see it—the visage of an angel. And by this glorious creature he had been made living again, and now before him a sight of equal splendor stood, and he was speechless. Had Thanatos granted him his stay in the afterlife after all? Was he now truly within the land of the ever-living, made immortal to live among the grace and peace that only the angels had to offer? That these equine effigies were made to serve as his guide in the afterlife, to lead him down the streets of gold where upon which he would meet the divine Goddess responsible for his soul? Had such a clandestine entity come for him at last?

“…A-Am I dreaming,” The man pondered aloud in his obstinate disbelief, “…I-Is any of this real?” His mouth suddenly felt rather dry and as he tried to swallow, it felt as though an impassible mass had become lodged in his throat. It was as if all of the most remarkable things that he had come to experience so recently had come crashing down upon him in some claustrophobic avalanche of trepidation and doubt, and for the first time since he had awoken, the man was fearful: fearful that he had not actually done so. For what other explanation could there have been to be in the company of such divine creatures? Did they truly stand there before him, or were they simply the illusions of an overwhelmed mind failing to grapple with the stark reality of its own death? If truly they were nothing more than this, he prayed for the everlasting lucidity of his dreams, for at least in his dreams, he knew of beauty.

Of one of the lovely visions before him shimmered the bold and unmistakable advents of motion, tremulous and tentative hoof-steps that brought the body of the angelical Pegasus so closely before him, he could count the individual threads of her glossy, golden mane as it billowed lightly within the breeze. He could smell the sweet, saccharine scent of her breath as it wafted ever so gently over him, delicately teasing his nostrils with its heavenly decadence. Upon his skin he could feel the warmth as it radiated from off her tender body, and he could all but taste the loveliness of her earthen perfume, a subtle aroma that was just as delicate as the mare herself. Within the endless depths of her beautiful, amber orbs the man had found himself lost, though he was in no certain hurry to escape. He had become utterly captivated by this mare’s glorious presence, and rather hesitantly he realized that he yearned to touch her, if only to know what it was like to hold something warm, tangible, and alive again…If only to make her real.

He glanced between them, across that fleeting chasm that separated them still, that yawning expanse that seemed only endless so long as that beautiful creature stood at the other side, and he swallowed hard. He needed only to reach out to her—such a simple act!—but his arms had never felt so heavy, their weight serving as a gross antagonist to his efforts. Within his addled mind, fleeting thoughts of insecurity and doubt raged like a tempest storm on the high seas, tossing his resolve about like a wayward vessel that threatened to capsize and sink into the darkest depths of oblivion. Was such an act truly so simple; to reach out in offering to a being that in all of his long life he had never fathomed being more than a fantasy? To bear himself to that fantasy both physically and emotionally and prove unto his person that she was real, was tangible, and existed within this world just as he did? How, amongst all of his logic and faith, amongst all of the knowledge that he had ever come to possess could he justify her realism, to accept it as an inarguable truth and believe in her as a corporeal entity?

Or perhaps she was nothing more than phantom, and he was but a mere moment away from witnessing her dissolution into the mist, a beautiful mirage forever lost to the wind: a tragedy, if ever there was one.

How long had he stalled and allowed the silence to yawn so endlessly between them while pondering amidst his frivolous concerns, the man was not all too certain, though he quickly grew weary of them. It was foolish really, to wallow in the piteous things that had not even come to pass; things that were no more the result of the bantering of his troubled mind. Shaking his head, he steeled himself against the calamity that plagued his thoughts, ignored the doubt and the fear of discovery, and took that most fated plunge towards the unknown. His hand trembled as he doggedly lifted it, forcing it slowly towards the beautiful mare as though the air had suddenly become molasses; but he would not be deterred as he persevered until that pivotal moment, that precious instance in which his hand came to rest upon her breast, and as though lightening had suddenly stuck him, the man was stunned for it did not phase through her. Instead, much to his astonishment, he found his hand lost amongst the flowing luxuriousness of her soft, grey coat as it yielded to his touch, skewing to stand in awkward peaks between his fingers. She felt remarkably warm and supple, her vitality palpable as it radiated through her bosom. Beneath the tips of his callous fingers he discovered a most remarkable sensation, and gasped. For there, beneath her tender breast, the man found the rhythmic, yet delicate pulse of life thrumming vigorously to an unfaltering metronome. Perfectly synchronous beats that were complimented by the steady rise and fall of her barrel as she respired, leaving little doubt that this mare was as much of flesh and blood as he himself was. Her life was undeniable, for she was undeniably alive.

The man’s wavering, chocolate eyes again found the marvelous, golden orbs of the sweet mare before him, and suddenly his mouth felt unbearably dry as his jaw hung loosely upon its hinges. She gazed up at him with so much uncertainty, as though a part of her was utterly terrified of his persona; and yet, even deeper still into those lucrative pools, he saw her courage and strength which drove her yearning and desire to surpass her fears and allowed her to bare herself before him—to crush his doubts and instill his faith within her. And though she had certainly made a believer of him, it was not her tenacity that left him in awe. Across the soft lips of that little Pegasus, there bloomed a vibrant, but fragile smile as she welcomed his tentative touch upon her bosom, and she leaned forward ever so slightly as to discourage him from pulling away. It was a subtle gesture, perhaps meaningless to some, that meant only the world to the towering leviathan, and after a time, he smiled weakly back at her.

“…H…H-howdy…” The man grimaced, but only slightly as he cleared his throat, feeling somewhat ashamed of the feeble emanation that he was mortified to call his own voice. Never the vulnerable man that he was in this moment, the last vestiges of his trembling will unnerved him endlessly. He had always been the bastion of strength in the company of those uncertain, the surly answer to the most doubtful of questions; and here, before a creature so beautiful and vibrant, so innocent and fragile, his iron will had failed him, and she had done nothing more than accept his touch upon her body, and smile something so wonderful that the sun’s radiance faded into dull colors behind its splendor. It was angelic, simplistic, and utterly devastating, the true and honest symbolism of assurance, a smile that rendered from him his control, and perhaps more astonishing than this, allowed him to surrender it willingly. Control was not his to be had here; it was not needed before the hooves of something so gentle, and despite the sweltering uncertainty that burned in his mind, the security that he found as he felt this mare, saw the smile upon her lips, was so profound that he felt—he knew—his safety was assured. It was the very feeling that he had felt within the welcoming hooves of a Pale Stallion, and begged of his tormented mind a question that he had to be sure of, “A…A-are you an a…an angel?”

The munificent creature before him suddenly faltered for a moment, her smile waning until her soft features were overcome by a profound look of confusion and empathy, and for a time the large man came to regret his question, disheartened that it had taken away the beautiful smile from her lips. Yet before the despair could weigh upon him, before his hope drained away into the darkness, a sound far more profound than any measure of woe could ever hope to rein upon trickled into the air upon the chorus of tinkling bells.

She giggled—like the laughter of angels—she giggled, and within this harmonious emanation, her smile was reborn to shine far brighter than its fragile origins, and the man could not help but revel in her mirth as it swept over him like so many glimmering rays of the evening sun.

“I-I am no angel, M-mister human!” The mare said amidst the cacophony of her delightful chuckles. “My n-name is Ditzy Doo, and I am a pony, one that has sinned a few too many times to be something so divine.” She stowed her laughter, and through the insurmountable awe that had formed like iron within the man’s overwhelmed mind—her voice like an unexpected song from beyond the ether—he found himself longing to hear it again. “I am flattered nonetheless; you are too k-kind to assume me as such, mister human. If we are dreaming, I hope that we can keep dreaming t-together; though, I do believe us to be awake, don’t you? In my d-dreams, I have never truly felt the touch of another; b-but here, I can feel your touch upon my body, just as I can see you before me. Tell me, does that not make me r-real, just as you are?”

The little mare could feel the shutter that passed through the man’s body as his hand remained firmly upon her breast, and within his stalwart, chocolate eyes lost in an endless sea of confusion, she witnessed the gradual dawn of realization that pulled him free of his turmoil. His rigid jaw, gently blanketed by a dense forest of thick, dark stubble, trembled ineffectively as it worked to utter words that passed his lips without a sound. He drew upon a breath that was labored and anxious; his face betrayed his emotions and flushed a deep, crimson red as his hardy pulse thundered wildly within his chest, palpable through his lingering touch.

“…Y-you…Y-you’re…real?” He stammered meekly, a sound seemingly disconnected from his herculean essence that reeled in tremendous disbelief as it heard its own feeble discharge. The voice had spoken, and told of his conflicted thoughts that she was real; that this beautiful, winged creature was tangible and true and only as ephemeral as the earth beneath him. The voice had uttered what he struggled so ardently to believe in, and urged of him to accept the inevitable truth; the truth that his touch was already aware of, and to some primal instinct he himself was as well.

The bastion of doubt that clouded his mind began to crumble away like so much sand against the sudden conviction of his certainty, and as his trembling hand moved to cup the cheek of the blessed little mare before him, the large man smiled, “You’re real.”

She uttered nothing in response and only smiled as she nuzzled her soft cheek against his callous hand, sending delightful tingles down the spine of the leviathan. Her touch, so velvety delicate and lustrous, was beyond anything that the man had experienced before—a wondrous sensation as warm physically as it was emotionally. It evoked such powerful feelings of elation and joy, of peace and harmony and things long since forgotten to his steely soul. It was friendly and honest, a bearing of a soul’s true essence in a gesture no more significant than a handshake; and yet, it was so much more than that, its depth entirely immeasurable. And suddenly then like the tides of a coming storm, such an extraordinary sensation dared to become more profound as the gentle touch of a mare he had regrettably forgotten about surrounded his arm. As he glanced down and to his left, followed the remarkably soft and pliable hooves to their origins, he found there the supple body of the lavender unicorn, her vivid, expressive violets wide and unmoving as they peered so hesitantly upon his person.

“…H…H-hello, t-there, um…sir…M-my name is…T-Twilight Sparkle, a-and it’s a p-pleasure to meet you”, the little mare uttered timidly, her words tainted with anxiety and forced from her tongue as though they were frightened to venture passed her lips. Her timid hooves were as a violent quake upon his skin with each dispirited tremor casting a cold, shallow crack of pity upon his heart. Through her shimmering eyes she sang of her fear beneath the shadow of his passive gaze, and only to allay her woebegone feelings did the large man smile and gently bow his head towards her.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma’am,” he uttered softly, “my name’s Theodore, Theodore Bear.” He chuckled, “But most of my friends’ just call…Er, called me Teddy, like the stuffed animal. They always said I was only fearsome on the outside, but was soft and cuddly where it mattered.”

She may have chuckled were it not for the last vestiges of her fear that clung to her like so much stubborn mud; however, its grip was far from steadfast and failed rapidly against the cleansing rise of laughter that she had so desperately wished to call her own. Across from the lavender mare, her winged companion had lost herself within a mirthful fit of giggles and unabashedly sang aloft of her humor, her shoulders trembling as she sniggered, “T-they called you, Teddy Bear?”—He nodded—“Aw, t-that’s so adorable!”

The large man did nothing more than grin at the giddy little Pegasus as his own baritone chortles rumbled forth. “Only half as much as you yourself are, ma’am; but, thank ya kindly.” Ditzy helplessly blushed as his large hand seemed to move of its own accord towards the top of her bubbly head where upon which its more spindly projections twitched and convulsed synchronously, mussing up her mane much to their jointed amusement.

As they cavorted amongst themselves, a captivated lavender unicorn watched on in awe of the spectacle before her. By a wide margin, it was the most profoundly extraordinary thing she had ever witnessed. The lighthearted tenderness of such a playful act enacted by such a large creature was both amusing, and terribly confounding. What manner of surly predator played as a foal within the company of what could have most assuredly been its unfortunate prey? A leviathan that likely possessed the strength to dismember an adult pony with nothing more than his bare hands and yet retained a touch so gentle that not a single golden thread atop her companion’s head had been taken. Something that spoke in such a deep, gentle, southern dialect that rolled with all the depth and appeal of distant thunder and assured the unsure that they need not fret, for the storm away would not reign down its rage upon them.

By her studious observation, his staggering physique was at the pinnacle of Mother Nature’s flawless design, a hunter blessed with both the brawny power to dispatch of his quarry swiftly, and the intellect to see it done efficiently—all bound together by a soul apparently no more aggressive than she herself.

But then that was the honest nature of the beast, lest she had been wrong to draw such a powerful conclusion from the evidence before her. Yet to that affect, she could only justify her theory with the knowledge that were this creature so inclined, he could have just as easily smothered the flames of their lives as effortlessly as extinguishing a candle; though consciously he chose to remain humbled and gentle, perhaps due to his awareness of their frailty by comparison—perhaps due to his natural instincts? It was difficult to ascertain to be certain; she was lacking the necessary variables and comprehensive knowledge of the creature to understand the ‘why’ of his actions; nevertheless, the ‘how’ and subsequent outcomes thereof alluded to his lack of hostility, and in a moment she had awaited with bated breath, the wary mare relaxed, her trembling ceased.

“Y-You’re not going to hurt us, are you?” The lavender mare uttered; a statement, a rhetorical question for which she desired no true answer for, uttered merely as a method in which to expel a displeasing thought for which she had no desire to experience any longer. Yet it was one that hailed the attention of the beast nevertheless, and spawned upon his countenance a curious look of both repulsion, and empathy.

“…Ya’ll truly think I’d be willing to hurt ya?” He scoffed, “I’d never even entertain the thought! Beggin’ your pardon ma’am—and I hope I ain’t being too forward by sayin’ this—but y’all are some of the prettiest little things that I’ve ever seen”—the mares blushed—“and where I come from, a man’s taught to appreciate the lovelier things in life ‘cause it ain’t all too often he comes across them.” The large man shrugged as he continued, “Truth be told, ma’am, I’m still a bit overwhelmed by all this, and if in my excitement or disbelief I come off a might bit intimidating, well, I’m sorry—it sure ain’t my intention, and I hope y’all can forgive me? Y’all have my word I ain’t out to hurt ya.”

And though Twilight had just met the peculiar beast, she could not find it within herself to refute his honesty, no matter how it astounded her. As unusual, and astonishing as this discovery was, the learned mare could not deny the truth and sincerity of the leviathan before her, and in that knowledge she could graciously accept the fact that what was quite possibly the most frightening predator she had ever encountered, posed little to no threat to either herself, or her companion. For he, despite his physique, was apparently moralistic and wholesome, guided by harmonic values that kept in check his apparent might, and prevented him from lashing out as a frightened animal in the presence of the unknown; and she found herself immeasurably thankful—relieved even—that he was essentially good.

“O-Oh, w-well,” Twilight stuttered, then immediately cleared her throat to condemn the last of her fears to the ether, “I believe I that owe you an apology, sir. I should have been more receptive, more open if you will, to your affable character. It wasn’t right of me to assume you to be dangerous; under normal circumstances, I like to think I’m not that judgmental. Though this is about as far from what I would consider ‘normal circumstances’ to be!” She giggled softly, “Nevertheless, I am sorry for the way I reacted, and hope you won’t think less of me for being so afraid initially. It certainly isn’t how I imagined I would react to my very first ‘first contact’ scenario! To be honest, I had rather hoped that I would be in Ditzy’s position, what with her being so proactive about the situation, and I must admit that I am somewhat envious of her—of you,” She turned to regard the other mare, whom had yet to move from beneath the large hand of the leviathan, and smiled courteously at her, “for being so forward and trusting. I should have known better than to doubt you, Ditzy, and for that, I am also sorry.”

For her part, the grey Pegasus mare only smiled as she nuzzled the hand of a creature far larger than herself, “It’s alright, T-Twilight; there’s no need to apologize! For you to trust in me enough to accompany me into the w-woods—to chase what could have very well been nothing more than a f-fantasy—speaks volumes of your faith in our friendship, and words will never be g-good enough to tell you how much that means to me. Besides, we’re here now, t-together, and in this moment, something extraordinary has happened! Forgo the fact that we have found a h-human and disproven a myth, and r-realize that we have also found a new friend! A most unique, one of a kind f-friend; one from which we can learn from and teach, and share our lives together!” She gazed up into the chocolate eyes of the leviathan and smiled, “I l-live for these moments, Mr. Teddy, and cannot wait to share my world with you! I sincerely hope you’re willing to do the s-same?”

For a moment, her candid words had left the man speechless. It was not for the fact that she had named him a myth—a fantasy—an imaginative creature of fairytale wonder and fictional marvel, but nothing more (giving rise to the unsettling assumption that the very history of humanity had died out long ago). No, while it was a thought that crossed his mind, it was transitory at best, lasting only so long as to make itself known before retreating in the wake of something more pivotal than mere history, and more fundamental than a species’ extinction.

Friendship…Camaraderie…Companionship…Closeness to another living, loving, compassionate individual; a tenderness that she had so willingly surrendered to him without so much as a second thought. And how her poignant stutters had moved him when she had declared her earnest desires to share what was her own personal treasure—her very world—with a man that was little more than a stranger, asking only that he be willing to do the same for her.

And how could he refuse her warmth when but a single gaze into her lipid pools affirmed the truth in all that she had uttered? How could he possibly deny her something so wonderful as friendship when to do so would only cause her harm? How could he push her away when the vulnerable side of him yearned to be wanted by another, not for what he was, but for whom?

A fragile smile bloomed across the large man’s lips, “Oh, I think I can handle that…Be honest, I don’t think I’d like anything more. But, if we’re gonna be friends, y’all’ll need to drop the honorifics. I know I may look a bit older than most; but, that don’t necessarily mean I want to feel older than most. And while I can certainly respect good manners, please, just call me Teddy.”

He shifted his gaze to the lavender mare at his side, “And as for the fright I put into ya, y’all have no reason to apologize. Truth be told, I was a bit fearful of y’all as well; didn’t quite know what to expect, ya know? I mean, y’all are akin to angels as far as I’m concerned; and well, I never was all that much of a religious man, least not until recent. I know that probably sounds ridiculous, but I’d rather not lie ‘bout it. Hell I thought that maybe y’all had been sent to carry me off to my fate, whatever it may be. But if this is what I’m deserving of, then God help me ‘cause I ain’t got the slightest idea on what it was that I did to deserve it! All the same though, I sure do hope I keep it up ‘cause an old man like me could certainly get used to all this.”

He smiled down upon the mares before him, his gruff features defined by deep wrinkles about his cheeks and eyes that the mares had finally taken notice of—a weathered face that had seen far too many unsavory things to be left unscarred. And yet, to the surprise of Twilight and Ditzy, it was a remarkably warm and thoughtful gesture, seeping not with the sorrow one would expect from another with such haggard features, but with sincere happiness and joy—feelings that were all too easy to be swept away in, for such things were profoundly contagious.

Smiling as a reflection of the man’s own contentment, Twilight had at last succumb to the amicable spirit of the leviathan and his jovial nature, and with an airy chortle she dared to bring herself closer to him, if only slightly so.

“Mehehe, oh Teddy, we are not anything so divine; nevertheless, like Ditzy, I am quite flattered you would assume as much!” The lavender mare lightly touched the tip of her snout to the man’s brawny arm—an impersonal sign of affection towards company that was unfamiliar, though friendly, and one of which the man embraced openly. “I’m afraid we are nothing but humble Ponies upon the bosom of this earth, and as Ditzy already alluded to, we are guilty of our own mortal sins. I do hope you won’t think any less of us, because we certainly strive to live as harmoniously as we can; day to day, we endeavor to honor our commitments to one another, and though we may occasionally fall short, it is our conscious efforts toward each other that redeems us in the end…At least, that’s what I personally believe in!”

She stifled a fit of giggles behind one of her dainty hooves, “Tehehe! Oh, I’m afraid I must apologize again; I didn’t intend to become so philosophical when we have only just met! Suffice it to say, I am something of an egghead and am prone to lengthy wordplay if the conversation is not steered properly! It’s a quirk of mine that occasionally strikes a few nerves with my friends; but, that’s just who I am.” She shrugged, “far from angelic, I know, but I can’t help it.”

“There ain’t nothing wrong with bein’ educated, ma’am.” The large man interjected as he gently placed his hand along the lavender mare’s withers, stroking her in a manner in which she would describe as placating and tender, perhaps reassuring, though the latter feeling was rather hard for her to place. It was so unlike anything she had ever experienced before: to have a hand upon her body, five independently moving fingers upon a thick, calloused palm where she had only ever felt the touch of hooves and claws. Much to her surprise, it was the very same comforting touch of a dear friend that she had so come to rely upon in her recent endeavors on friendship; and yet, beneath his hand she felt that commanding presence wash over her like a tempest wave, and to some degree it truly terrified her. The subtle contact opened her eyes to the true strength of the creature that sat before her, for within his one hand his grasp encompassed the whole of her withers, covering her from shoulder to shoulder in a blanket so secure, she was certain that no amount of steely arms could penetrate, and just the same it was a blanket that could suffocate her as though she were nothing. His touch was one that deeply humbled her, for without threat of harm or misdeed it commanded respect, and offered clemency to her comparatively fragile being.

“Na, the way I see it,”—and his voice, so deep like the azure oceans and laced with a sultry, southern twang all but irresistible to her ears hailed her attention, and without so much as a sharp tone shattered her wayward musings so that his melody was all that she heard—“ya gotta be honest to who ya are. Ya don’t make a lot of headway in life when all your doin’ is living a lie, trying your damndest just to impress others. Living like that will only make ya miserable, and that certainly don’t make for a good first impression, I’ll tell ya that much.”

He offered unto her a gentle smile, “And I can certainly respect such a hospitable outlook on life; tryin’ to make tomorrow just as glorious as today. But ain’t nobody perfect, ma’am, least of all me, to be tellin’ y’all how to live. To be frank with ya, it’s downright heartwarming to hear such candid amicability coming from a stranger, and while ya may not always get it right, the fact that y’all try at all for one another is nothing short of wonderful!”

“I’d hardly believe in it were it not for the two of ya sitting here with me right now.” Teddy uttered passed a suddenly distant gaze in his eyes, and the mares shared a hesitant glance towards one another as his tone became rather dour, “Where I come from, there ain’t such a thing as harmony, at least not as y’all alluded to.” He sighed, “Folks just didn’t care ‘bout their neighbors, or much beyond the tips of their own fingers to be honest with y’all. Concern for another individual was all about making sure that what they had didn’t ruin what you had, and as long as that held true, what we—what I—called harmony existed. Where I’m from, it was always about ‘me’ instead of ‘them’, and thanks to that mentality, all we, as a society had, was angst and misery.”

“And I lived like that for a very long time,” he went on, his despondent voice sinking beneath the weight of the shame that carried it forth, “I didn’t care about my neighbors, and I didn’t want to. I lived in a world full of strangers, and I was content to leave it that way. Letting people get too close only made ya vulnerable, and folks had a nasty way of taking advantage of those who were vulnerable. So I, like everyone else, defended myself in the only way I could: I kept them at arms length so they could never hurt me, and lived my life as I wanted to, never concerned about them, always concerned about me.”

He shrugged and suddenly chuckled, a deep, painful sound just as melancholy as his every utterance, “Wasn’t much of a life now that I think on it. Never really amounted to much; an empty house, a few worthless dollars, and a lot of time spent wondering if tomorrow was really worth it. I spent a lot of tomorrows askin’ the same damn question—near forty years worth—and it never was. Tomorrow was just the same as yesterday, and after a time I had grown so complacent in my life that I honestly didn’t believe in tomorrow. Life was just one long, endless day, filled with regret and disappointment, and I had nobody to share it with. What I called friends were just the lesser of all evils, people who were a little less vile than the rest, but just as likely to stab me in the back.”

“Made for a lonely existence, I’ll tell y’all that much,” he smiled down upon his company, though to the mares it offered no sense of joy or comfort, “But that is neither here nor there anymore, and all I can hope for now is to live the life that’s ahead of me, somewhere where the grass can only be greener...”

A comfortless silence weighed upon the air like a thick smog as Teddy sat in quiet reflection of his life: where it had been, and where it was going. He had been terse, but honest about his past, about his own humanity and his cold, jaded perception of humanity as a whole. In retrospection he realized that he had professed himself to be a pessimist of sorts, one whom assumed the world was only ever made in spite of him. However, it was not something that he regretted. The mares, Twilight and Ditzy, deserved to know from where it was from whence he came, if only to understand the man that now sat before them. They deserved to know the truth if only to know who it was they wished to associate with. And while there was much to his past that he had not consciously revealed, he felt that in time, should the munificent creatures before him truly wish to befriend him, he could confide in them without fear of prejudice or aversion. And if by his confession they could harbor no amicable feelings toward him, he would understand.

After all, it would be rather hard to love a monster...

“T-that’s…So awful!” But as the hooves of a delicate, grey mare rushed to surround his thick shoulders in an embrace so warm that no amount of down could ever hope to duplicate, such concerns melted like ice beneath the sun, “I am so s-sorry for what you’ve been through! I can’t even f-fathom how hard it must have been for you. To grow up without peace or love—to live in discord and f-fear of another’s touch—it must have been simply d-dreadful!” Ditzy sniffled lightly as she softly nuzzled Teddy’s neck, unknowingly delivering the first touch of amnesty the man had felt in countless years, “But you’re safe n-now, and you don’t need to worry. Those monsters can’t hurt you anymore, and your tomorrows will always be b-better here, I promise…”

She held the leviathan for many countless moments, cradling him as though he was not the lumbering predator that his visage encompassed, but rather a fragile soul made up of glass that had been abused and shattered by several years of isolation and neglect. And he let her hold him as such for as long as she wished, refusing to let go of the tenderness that she had to offer. It was a tenderness so honest, so genuine, so real—so alien to him. In all of his days, Teddy had not imagined that something so simple could feel so extraordinary! It was as if all the burdens that plagued his years had been lifted, and but for a sweet moment in time they were not his to carry alone. He felt lighter—felt as though he could take a deep breath and forget about the things that were behind him and simply enjoy what he had in front of him.

And all of that because of the kindness that but one angel had shown him…

He did not need a second thought, nor did he find reason to hesitate or be wary as he lifted his arms to encompass the little mare that dared to hold him. And she did not start nor did she shutter as those arms closed so gently around her, wrapping her within all of the long forgotten warmth that he had to surrender. His large body quivered as an unfamiliar smoldering within his chest ignited a fire that had long since been extinguished, and he only held her closer as he brought his lips to her ear and whispered, “Thank you; that means more to me than I’ll ever be able to put into words.”

They held each other in respective silence for some time afterwards, enjoying the serenity that had bloomed between them. When after a time they did come to separate, the joviality of the man had clearly been restored as it shone so clearly upon his countenance. His smile was no longer pained nor forced, and the air that surrounded the three seemed lighter and more tranquil. Ditzy reflected much of that contentment as she shuffled over to the man’s side and softly leaned against him, resting her head upon his shoulder as she reveled in his presence. Twilight, whom had been but a passive spectator throughout the heartwarming ordeal, also broached the man and took it upon herself to offer her wordless condolences as she nuzzled his hand before sitting at his other side.

“…Ditzy’s right you know,” the lavender mare uttered against the silence, summoning the man’s attention, though she did not turn to face him. As though she were lost within a web of her own musings, Twilight simply stared out into the woods, her large, violet eyes unblinking as she elaborated, “You really have no reason to be wary of us. From what little insight you have provided, I can only assume that you’re life has been a cruel and trying one; one filled to the brim with hardships that I am honestly incapable of fathoming. I cannot pretend to know what it’s like to be in constant fear of the very ponies that I share this world with; and to be candid with you the very idea terrifies me deeply.”

“The only comfort I take in such a harrowing notion is the fact that it will never be anything more than an unsettling idea. In Equestria, we are taught the value of life, of how important it is to be there for one another when times are difficult. We are taught to love and tolerate one another, even when we find no common interests. I will admit that we are not always faithful to our convictions, and on occasion we do struggle against one another; however, to render indelible harm to our brothers and sisters is not something that the average pony is willing to commit to.”

The mare tilted her head so that she could face her captive audience, and as her gaze locked upon the haggard, chocolate eyes of the leviathan, she smiled, “I cannot promise you that your life will be entirely free of adversity; you are so unlike anything that this world has ever seen: the living embodiment of a myth rarely discussed outside of foal-hood fables. However, I can promise you this: wherever it is that you came from, whatever horrors that you have suffered through, they cannot haunt you here. While at times it may be hard, you won’t have to face those hardships alone. We can face them together.”

She leaned against him then, allotting the warmth of her presence to match those of her words, and the fire within the man’s heart burned ever stronger. It was such a wonderfully confounding feeling—wonderful in the sense that it filled him with such joy where what had only ever existed before was anguish, confounded by the very providers of such a harmonious sensation. For what was he but a stranger to them, one that had never existed in a land filled with peace? For what had he done to deserve such kinship when they did not truly know who he was? Their innocence was as such that the man could not truly comprehend as such innocence did not exist in the world he once knew.

But that world had apparently died so very many years ago. The scars of a self destructive species had long since mended, and now a new world flourished atop the ruins of old. A world filled with angels whom roamed the land upon hooves instead of feet, whom took to the heavens above to weave their ephemeral wonder amongst the clouds. Angels that saw through eyes full of hope rather than hopelessness, and embraced the joy to be had in every day. They were angels whom cherished life for being exactly what it was always meant to be: harmony…

Upon the man’s gruff countenance, a smile wavered, “…And so they came down from the heavens above to save a wretched soul like me.”

“P-Pardon?” The voice of one of the very angels he mused over tingled within his ears, grasping his attention so that he was met with eyes of shimmering gold, and he was soon reminded of just how easy it was to become lost as he peered through the windows of a soul that shined far brighter than his own.

“…The two of you,” Teddy muttered distantly as he swam through lipid pools of amber, “are like the angels that have come to save me. And I’m sorry if that makes y’all a might bit uncomfortable to hear given that y’all hardly know my name, but that’s how I honestly feel. What little time ago it was, I awoke to find myself in a place that I had never been, and before that I was drifting through a darkness I don’t care to remember. Further still and I was just a jaded, empty husk of a man trying to live in a hopeless world without being crushed under the weight of so much despair.”

“And then the two of you found me here as I was takin’ my very first breaths in this new world: Equestria I believed y’all called it?” The mares before him both nodded in silence and the man was quietly delighted to have assumed correctly, “Well, I image I’d still be all alone, even here in Equestria, had y’all not come along. And in what little time we have spent together, y’all have shown me such kindness that I have never felt before in all my years. Y’all came to me like angels and offered unto me a warmth that I could not refuse; and for the first time in my life I have truly been able to return such affection without pretense or loathing.”

“Y’all have brought back a fire in me that I had thought could never burn again, and for that I will forever be in your debt.” From Ditzy’s amber pools, the man surfaced only to turn and gaze into a violet ocean within which he dove with abandon, “Y’all said that I would face my hardships here? Well I welcome them, for I believe that so long as the two of you are with me, they will never be more than a ripple along the water’s edge, rather than the typhoon I am so used to. Y’all have told me that y’all ain’t angels; forgive me if I disagree. For what but the angels themselves could be so lovely as to care for a monster like me?”

His candid words were, if nothing else, deeply moving, and to the mares in which he spoke so reverently of, a crimson blush had adorned their cheeks. For such a powerful creature to have surrendered his faith unto their sinful lives and still have the audacity to proclaim them as angels was truly a wonder, even after they had professed their own proclivities towards imperfection. They were far from perfect, and neither mare was so arrogant as to hide behind the pretext of such a convoluted notion. However, from the perspective of the leviathan, he was all but blind to their imperfections, and wholly refused to acknowledge them: the stutters of a broken tongue; the insecurities of a learned mind. He who had apparently suffered through so much, who had in a time so terrible barred himself from the company of others, had accepted them as an integral, albeit nubile part of his life, and the mares were immeasurably honored to be among the first to receive such an invaluable privilege, even if all he assumed himself to be was a monster.

Twilight and Ditzy, however, were not of a like minded opinion, and of the leviathan’s own misguided perceptions they audibly scoffed in tandem. It was simply absurd to consider that something as perceptively mighty as he would ever be so submissive and kind in the presence of ponies that were so frail beneath his hand, and still be the harrowing monster that he so believed himself to be! It was nigh comical to assume that he was anything so vicious when his ruthlessness was as such that his wrath entailed a subtle caress and a warm, gentle embrace, and his every word was filled with adoration the likes of which was typically reserved for only those most sovereign members of royalty, or the very devout themselves.

Were he the very monster that he claimed to be, surly he would have thrown their meager bodies aside as they lunged to ensnare the hapless man in between them, assaulting him with a righteous kindness that only those blessed enough to be born into harmony were capable of. Perhaps he would have cursed them for being lecherous when they tenderly nuzzled the sides of his neck, or at the very least demanded that they remove themselves from his own personal dominion for he was above such paltry contact with beasts that were beneath him.

But that was not the man in which they held. No, the man whom they held was a man of principle and kindness, a man of fallible character, yet one who maintained a certain standard of beliefs that made him no more superior than the very souls with which he now shared his life. He was a man whom was not above taking the mares into his arms and wrapping them within a warm, stalwart hug as he laughed gaily through the cheshire grin upon his weathered countenance. He was a man whom made them smile, and no monster born unto the world had ever been spawned to make others smile.

“Mhehehe!” Teddy chuckled as he playfully jostled the mares within his grasp, “W-what’s all this now? Whatever are you lovely ladies up to, hmm?” Twilight only grinned as she brushed her snout against the coarse stubble upon the man’s cheek, giggling as it tickled her ever so slightly.

“Proving you wrong,” she deftly replied.

“Oh?” The man’s brow rose, “How do ya figure?”

The joyous sound of her laughter marked a wondrous symphony far sweeter than any composition the man had ever heard as she replied, “If you truly are the monster in which you so claim to be, then why is it that you receive us so tenderly? Why would you not simply push us away and threaten us with harm when you are something so fearsome and awful, hmm?” She suddenly snorted as if disgusted by her own musings, “No, I believe it is due to the fact that you are wrong in the perception of yourself. Were you the monster that you claim to be, Ditzy and I would be in grave danger here beneath your formidable hands. I have no doubt in my mind that you could easily hurt us; and yet, here we are, not a bruise between us as we have touched you,”—she poked his chest—“as we have embraced you,”—she held him close—“and not a harsh word uttered against us as we have spoken to you,”—she whispered into his ear. “You are not a monster, Teddy; if anything, you are a unique friend just waiting to be made.”

For a time afterwards, Teddy sat quietly dumbfounded with his jaw agape as her words ricocheted through the many mesmerized neurons within his mind, and left him to struggle through the fractured mess of thoughts that remained in their wake. Her thoughtful words had touched him deeply, for he had never before considered himself to be made up of anything in which personified friendship. He had always only ever been the monster that he considered himself to be. He had been cold and jaded for so many years; years that were spent in quiet self loathing over the man that he had become: a man that could look death in the eye and truly feel nothing. He had always been the man who had sworn to serve others through a disposition of kindness and empathy; a man who was meant to be compassionate and caring—but wasn’t.

Yet now, before the face of something so wonderful that had dared to disagree, he had been unmade. In a smattering of seconds a tender little mare that had never known the horrors of yesteryear, that had seen past his aged flesh and callous exterior, that had chosen to embrace his soul rather than his body, had instilled within him the hope that he had lost so long ago—the hope for change, and the realization that even he could embrace it.

Teddy sighed as he drew the mares closer into his bosom and lowered his head, his cheeks brushing against their own as he smiled and whispered, “Thank you, little darlin’, for your kind words; they mean more to me than you will ever realize, and in all my life, I have never been more grateful to have been told I was wrong. Thank you.”

Another nuzzle of the warmest grace met with the man’s countenance as bodies of lavender and grey relished the stalwart comfort to be had in their affectionate captor’s faultless embrace. Though they had only just become acquainted, it was a place in which they found profound serenity, for it felt only natural for them to be there. It was a primal yearning, a biological necessity born of their ancestors and passed down through the countless generations that guided them towards those capable of providing protection. And whilst there was no danger to be found within the Whitetail Woods, it was the very same instinctual desire that drove the mares into Teddy’s arms. And while he was wholly unaware of such a bestial concept, the man held on to them with no less conviction, delighted that they were simply there to hold on to at all.

An airy sigh suddenly escaped the lips of the little Pegasus as she reclined against the leviathan’s chest, her amber eyes half lidded as she gazed distantly into the glorious orange hues of the heavens above, her hooves carelessly draped over the arm that was wrapped so tenderly about her barrel. Her ears swiveled back as a peaceful tranquility swept over her like so many gentle waves lapping at the sand, her worries carried away upon the ebb of every swell, and with each tide came forth a newfound sensation of joy and harmony.

“You truly are like a t-teddy bear, Teddy,” Ditzy murmured through a sleepy smile, “soft and cuddly where it matters, though I am quite t-thankful that you can hug back!” He squeezed her thoughtfully, and she may have laughed were it not for the yawn that suddenly took her by surprise, “E-excuse me; gosh, I never imagined I could feel so e-exhausted after such an extraordinary day! Had I only known of the riches this evening would bless me with, I may have g-gone to bed a bit earlier last night! Tehehe!”

The little mare stifled her giggles behind one of her delicate hooves before she continued, “But then, that’s what makes this moment so w-wondrous, isn’t it? Something that could have never been f-foretold, and because of that it has been made a gift, a beautiful surprise unto all of our lives.” She tilted her head upwards so that she could gaze into the eyes of the man that held her, and she smiled, “You are by far one of the most remarkable g-gifts that I have ever received, and I count myself only blessed to have met you.”

“And I as well, only doubly so little darlin,” Teddy replied as he gently pulled the mares closer to his bosom, encompassing them within the tender fervor of his unyielding grasp, “This has certainly been a most remarkable evening, one in which I could never be more thankful to be a part of. Had ever someone told me that this would one day be my fate, I would have surly called him a madman. Yet here I am, the two of you in my arms, and I have never been happier. All I could ever hope for now is that in my life, moments like these never cease to be anything short of spectacular, and that in my tomorrows, the two of you are still with me.”

His gaze drifted lazily towards the horizon, towards the sun that had ever so subtly begun to succumb to the night, and he sighed, “It seems that today must inevitably come to end, girls. But where this one ends, I can honestly say that thanks to y’all, I truly look forward to the dawn.”

“Me too,” Twilight quietly interjected, “the both of us do. You have been so wonderful to us, and I could never thank you enough for embracing us as warmly as you have. If I would have known that you truly existed out here, I would have come more prepared!” She giggled, “Goddess knows that there are so many things I wish to ask you, and so much more that I wish to learn! I’m simply so excited to have the opportunity to befriend Equestria’s first living, breathing human!” The lavender mare exclaimed delightfully before the fatigue of a long day suddenly crept over her, and like her companion, a yawn soon erupted across her weary countenance, “Oh dear, I apologize; it seems that I am faring no better than Ditzy this evening. I’m afraid that I may have spent far too much time cooped up at home with my books this afternoon that I neglected to get any rest! And—goodness!—where has the time gone? I hardly realized how late it was getting! I’m sorry, Teddy, I certainly did not mean to keep you for so long! I’m sure that you must be tired, given all that you have so recently been through?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much on it, ma’am,” the man sniggered, bemused as he was by something the mares could not appreciate, for they were not a time-displaced pariah, “you are hardly keeping me from doing anything of merit, I assure you. In fact, it has come to my attention that I may have very recently inherited far much more free time than I honestly know what to do with. I assume were it not for the two of you, I would likely still be laid up upon the ground, kissin’ the dirt like a long lost lover, and carryin’ on like a hog in ecstasy. I do suppose, however, that I have found myself a trifle bit tuckered out,” he shrugged apathetically, “I ain’t the spry young man that I used to be; but don’t let that fool y’all now! While I ain’t as good as I once was, I can promise y’all that I am as good once as ever!”

A rather cheeky wink from the man elicited a bubbly chorus of giggles from the mares, and he smirked as he interjected, “Y’all see there? I still got what it takes to show a lady a good time and make her laugh. If y’all gave me the chance, I’d try my very best to make y’all do so every day. I must admit…I-I rather enjoy hearing y’all laugh,” he muttered as the laughter ironically ceased, “It’s a nice sound to hear after all these years, and it feels good to make others smile.”

He glanced down upon the blushing facing of the two mares within his grasp, and he smiled dotingly, “A gentleman should always try to make a lady smile, and while I have never been a perfect gentleman in the past, I am certainly willing to try harder in the present. Y’all have said that this lovely evening has begun to wear upon y’all like a mother’s lullaby? Well, I can certainly sympathize; however, I would hardly be a gentleman if I simply allowed the two of you to trudge home all alone through the dark—just ain’t what a respectable man would do. Na, I reckon a respectable man would walk you ladies home, and I am, if nothing else, a respectable man. Now, before y’all become overly concerned on the matter, please, let me assure you that it’s just a walk, and nothing more. I have already made it clear that I mean no harm to either of ya, and I stand by that notion, or may Death strike me down. And as I have nowhere else to be, and nowhere else to go, the pleasure would most assuredly be all mine.”

“So what do y’all say?” Teddy asked a befuddled Twilight and Ditzy, “give an old man the pleasure of your company and allow him to see y’all home safely? Sure would mean a lot to him.”

The man’s inquiry had heralded in a moment of silence as eyes of violet and amber glanced towards one another in a wordless exchange of passing deliberation, lasting only so long as was necessary for each mare to understand the thoughts of the other, and to realize that their intentions were completely synonymous. A jovial smile was shared between them as they turned in unison to face the leviathan, their answer undeniably certain, though refutation had never truly been a concern in the first place.

“I think we would l-like that,” Ditzy murmured joyfully through the endearing smile upon her lips as Twilight nodded concurrently—

“We most certainly would!” The lavender pony added, “Besides, how could we ever refuse such a generous offer from a respectable gentlecolt, hmm?” She giggled, “Or gentleman as you put it. It is rather late, after all, and it would be an honor to have somepony as strong as you escort us home tonight.”

Teddy grinned elatedly, “Thank y’all girls. And y’all don’t worry on it none, while I may be gettin’ along in years, there ain’t much in this world that has ever fancied squarin’ off against me, and I rather doubt if that has changed; I am a fairly large man, after all.” He boasted proudly, “That bein’ said, though, if one of y’all lovely ladies would be so kind as to point me in the right direction, I’ll have y’all home in good time, long before the chill of the night can sneak up on us anyhow.”

Twilight smiled and decisively pointed towards the east, down a long and winding path that had been stamped firmly upon the earth by countless generations of hooves cantering along its dusty surface. It cut a swathe through the dense and ever-living coppice that surrounded them, and over a hilltop it crested and disappeared from sight, the man in his current position unable to see beyond it, though it hardly concerned him. His attention was abruptly drawn to the serenity of the land, the all encompassing and immutable embrace of nature that had been there to greet him when his eyes first parted to gaze upon the wondrous, new world, and he drank it all in. It was simply so beautiful, the coalescing of many different things—things that lived and breathed and felt—things that had gathered together beneath the firmaments and united in blissful harmony. They were wondrous things, splendid things, perfect things, and the man felt only blessed to be among them, just as he felt blessed to be among the ponies within his arms.

“That path there will take us all the way back to Ponyville.” A lilting voice from beyond his thoughts explained, recalling his attention from past his wayward reverie,  “It shouldn’t take us too terribly long to get there; it’s only about a half mile or so from here to the western boarder.”  She smiled endearingly, “It’s such a lovely place, Teddy, one that is filled with an abundance of wonderful ponies that are just as unique and beautiful as the town itself.”

The lavender mare giggled; a sound in which the leviathan would never tire of hearing. “Tehehe! Maybe I can convince you to stay for while, hmm? Your eclectic spirit would certainly fit in quite well there; well, once we’ve introduced you to everypony that is! Ponies tend to be rather wary of unfamiliar strangers; however, they are rather quick to warm up to those whom are as kind as you are.”

Teddy afforded her a bemused glance, “Maybe ya can, little darlin’; change of pace would certainly be nice. I have been homeless for far too long, and I don’t mean to say that I have ever gone without a roof over my head. Having a place to call home that is more than the simple walls of an empty house would be a blessing. What better place would I ever find than the very hometown of my two most esteemed and newest friends, hmm?”

“The blessing would be in having you around, Teddy.” Twilight murmured thoughtfully, unknowingly striking a most vulnerable chord within the once jaded heart of the leviathan before she continued, “Besides, our budding friendship needs to be nurtured, and staying together would certainly afford us that opportunity. As Ditzy so eloquently put it, we could learn from each other and share our lives together; and, perhaps someday, we could forge a bond far deeper than what we have sewn on this auspicious evening. Who knows? The future is far from indelible, and there are so many new friendships out there just waiting to be made! You, Teddy, are proof of that.”

“In the meantime,” the mare said as she gestured towards the ground, “why don’t you set me down and allow me to guide us to Ponyville, hmm? We have all the time in the world to discuss the future; but, right now, it’s late and a bit chilly, and I think I can hear my pillow calling me-H-Eeee!” Her words quickly dissolved upon her lips as a banshee’s wail exploded forth from her throat, her hooves digging into the man’s bosom as he unexpectedly stood to his feet, dragging her hapless body all the way up along the full length of his towering stature. Loath as she was to succumb to her instinctual desires, the poor mare could not help but embrace the cold and sudden terror that lanced through her helpless countenance like an icy dagger, and forced her limbs to quiver as her tail desperately tried to curl about her haunches. Yet through such a piteous act of carnal fright, the mare’s erratic senses were not so numb as to ignore the strong, unyielding mass of brawny flesh that denied her errant extremity the shelter it so urgently yearned for, and as she cast a hesitant glance towards her dangling hooves, she saw there the arm of the leviathan, steadfast as it effortlessly supported her supple form. Like a hoof come to pull her from the wreckage of her silent misery, such a remarkable sight came to crush her wanton fears with relentless prejudice, and within the justice that had been rendered soon thereafter, Twilight found herself entirely in awe of her mystical, stoic captor.

To have known of his might by a mere glance enumerated the haunting depths of his extraordinary façade; to have experienced such a strength first-hoof was of an entirely different caliber altogether. For not only had he taken her upon himself, he also bore another mare upon his bosom—a mare who rested her sleepy muzzle upon his shoulder— and he had not so much as struggled to bear their burdens as he rose so fluently to his feet. He did not tremble beneath their weight; he did not huff upon the air. His posture did not falter; his countenance did not grimace. He bore only a smile upon his lips that spoke of good humor and joy—a joy that was mirrored only by the look in his soft, chocolate eyes as he bellowed mirthfully.

“Mhehehe! Oh darlin, I do apologize. I don’t mean to make light of your fears; but the look on your face was simply priceless!” He crudely pantomimed an expression of wide eyed, open mouthed terror that abruptly vanished beneath a rolling fit of merry laughter as he struggled to collect himself. “Hehehe! Oh—Oh! But I suppose I’m being a bit insensitive on the matter. I-I’m sorry, Twilight; I should have said somethin’ before I took it upon myself to carry y’all. I just thought that as weary as y’all were feelin’, I’d spare y’all the trouble of a long walk home and allow y’all to rest for a time. Y’all have been so kind to this wayward stranger and have asked so very little in return. I was hopin’ that maybe y’all would allow him to impart a little bit of tenderness upon y’all instead, as thanks for embracing him as warmly as y’all have.”

She met his gaze as he glanced down upon her, his gentle eyes like lucrative pools of unyielding faith and serenity that belied the formidable power lurking beneath them. And though she had been made the hapless object of his amusement, Twilight felt neither spurned nor wounded by his merriment, and the faint blush upon her cheeks was not born of embarrassment, but out of absolute reverence for the man whom held her. For all of his foalish witticism, for all of his brash strength, and for all of the fearsome visage that encompassed the entirety of his being, the sight of a quietly slumbering Pegasus tenderly nuzzled into the crook of his neck painted a saccharine portrait far sweeter than any measure of bitter ugliness could ever hope to taint, and Twilight reveled in the taste of it. It was something as profound as satin sheets on a Sunday morning; it was something as delectable as a fine wine on a sun-kissed afternoon. It was something so wholesome and guiltlessly innocent, pure and nubile, and fashioned together by the harmonious twines of a beautiful friendship that needed no words.

Pausing but for the grace of a single moment spent in blissful wonder of her glorious blessing, Twilight lowered her head upon the man’s shoulder, and gladly surrendered herself unto his heavenly tranquility: a flowing bastion of relentless comfort; a resolute shelter of unyielding peace.

“I'll just point us home then.” She murmured.

And Teddy smiled.

***

Across the cobbled stones of a quaint and quiet parish punctuated by thatched roofs and the warm, temperate glow of lanterns faceted upon the stilted trusses of the wondrous architecture that surrounded him, Teddy sauntered down the streets of the comely town of Ponyville. Of the many unique and lurid abodes that loomed within the penumbra of the pale celestial night, the dark silhouettes of many jaunty equines reflected within the shuttered windows: silhouettes that bared many kisses goodnight, that shuffled hooves in search for things lost upon the floor, that ambled tiredly towards cozy beds before dimming the lights unto the warm embrace of darkness. It was a town marked by the lingering scent of hoof-crafted goods, of spectral sweets long since devoured, of aromatic candles long extinguished, of toil and sweat long since dried. It was a place filled with the symphony of music, even long after the minstrels had stopped playing: a place filled with warmth, even long after the sun had set. And in this place called home by some, unto the haggard eyes of a towering man made old by the tribulations of his past, he saw only heaven before him, and he smiled as he embraced the angels whom had endeavored only to share it with him.

“It’s every bit as lovely as you said it was, Twilight.” He mused.

“Mmm, you should see it during the day,” the lavender mare lethargically muttered, “when the sun strikes the town just so, you could almost swear it was glowing. And the ponies here are so unlike other ponies; there’s a synergy amongst them that just can’t be found anywhere else, and they certainly aren’t afraid of a good time. Ponyville can be quite the”— She yawned cathartically, and but for a fleeting moment found the clarity to guide her lumbering mount northward before settling upon the warmth of his bosom once again—“lively place.”

The man gently smiled. “T’sounds downright heavenly, little darlin’; think it’d do me a might bit of good to put a little liveliness back into my life. Certainly wouldn’t hurt to put a bit of togetherness back in it neither,” he chuckled softly, “Lord knows I’ve neglected it long enough...”

However urgently the sandman called to her, begged of her to succumb to his will and blissfully drift away to his whimsical lullaby, his pleas were hardly boisterous enough to suffocate the melancholy echo that whispered within the unicorn’s ears. It was a subtle, transient sound, one of which was never meant to be, but could not be undone. It was one uttered by those whom suffered from regret, though chose not to openly share their inner turmoil and consequently, like too much steam within the boiler, such regret tended to vent itself through other means like cracks within the ironwork: cracks that could so easily be patched, but could not be so easily mended. And of those cracks that had been gouged into the soul of the leviathan, such simple patchwork seemed shoddy; though, from the smile he bore upon his lips, one would never be the wiser.

“So long as a foundation stands, so too can it be built upon, Teddy,” Twilight philosophized as she gently touched the warmth of her snout to the man’s neck, “and your foundation seems sturdy enough to me. You may consider it to be rather weathered and worn, and perhaps it is; however, no noble stallion ever returned from battle clad in shining armor. Such imperfections are the things that sire wisdom, so long as they are tended to and not forgotten, but learned from.”

The lavender mare was briefly overcome by her fatigue and yawned before excusing herself, “My apologies again, Teddy. In regards to what I was saying, I believe that you certainly have not forgotten the hardships in your past; now, you merely need to tend to them, and Ditzy and I will help you. Together we can build our”—her voice faded unto a whisper as the sandman came to cradle her—“friendship…” And had her eyes not fallen beneath the veil of slumber that threatened to take her, she may have seen the fleeting vulnerability upon the haggard face of her large companion; but, as she clung desperately to a fading consciousness, and forced her weary eyes open, his countenance was just as cheerful as ever.

“That was very sweet of ya, little darlin,” he uttered softly, “I’m touched that y’all could find such kind things to say of a stranger like me.”

“Merely a...Poetic truth, Teddy. We may not have known each other but for a smattering of hours…But, I truly believe that you are a good stallion—man, I suppose. And I honestly look forward to our friendship. Friendship can be such a…wondrous thing.” Twilight’s fatigue was sung upon her every weary breath, and subtly the gentleman adjusted the sleepy mare so that she rested more comfortably upon his bosom.

“I assume that it certainly can be, darlin’.” The worn mare muttered something unintelligible, yet from the saccharine inflection that laced her drowsy mumbles, it was something endearing and kind, and while the man had not actually understood the syntax of her words, he wholly understood the warmth associated with them, and he grinned regardless. “I fear I may come into the habit of thanking ya, darlin’. But, with such an adorable blessin’, how could I be anything but thankful?”

Blessed by the weary hooves that tenderly clung to his neck, by the slumbering sighs of a dozing Pegasus wrapped within a feathery duvet, and by the sleepy gestures of a lavender mare hardly lucid, Teddy marched onward through silent streets. Beneath his feet, the hallowed stones of town gradually receded, giving way to a firm swathe of soil cut from the earth, a path that yawned into the foray of the ebony night and yielded before the roots of Nature’s eldest child—a stalwart sentry amongst the darkness, an ever-living oak that loomed within the firmaments. And before this behemoth, the leviathan’s steps faltered, and he halted only to gaze upon it with reverence, for beneath its mighty façade, he truly felt small, and beneath its earthen vigor, he felt remarkably feeble. Like the brawny arms of mother Gaia herself, its hardy branches extended to grasp at the very heavens themselves and did not sway against the breath of nature, but rather stood defiant and unmoving as if carved from stone. From between its canopy of luscious, green foliage, the pale light of the moon trickled through, spilling forth thin columns of insipid light that waned beneath the daunting shadow of the titan’s remarkable breast. Shielded by an ironclad hide of living bark, the oak’s mighty trunk amassed a circumference that utterly dwarfed the many homesteads that dotted the town; it rose as an unyielding body of steadfast strength from the earth, resolute and proud, and heedless of the decaying ruins of time.

And yet it was all hardly what made the extraordinary oak so incredible.

“I’ll be damned…” Teddy glanced in profound fascination at a myriad of circumferential windows, at beautiful, overhung decking, at a widow’s peak atop the highest bough, at a solemn door with a faintly glowing candle dripping its essence across a lone candelabrum, “It’s a house.”

“Library…” Twilight quietly interjected, “It’s the…Golden Oaks Library. But, yes, I suppose it also serves as my…humble abode.” Through her bleary violets she peered upon the vague ambiguity of the large, oaken familiar—her home, faithful and unchanging, unique and inimitable, a comforting constant in an ever changing world that was eternally patient, and always awaited her return at the end of the day with the unspoken promise of something appealing to read, and a warm place in which to rest her head. It was the latter of which, at the time, which she desired most, and as though affixed to her keen yearning, a graceless yawn was quick to follow after her; she smacked her lips a few times with an inelegant flare, though had long since lost the couth to truly concern herself with her appearance. “I would very much like…to go to bed now, Teddy.”

“Of course, darlin,” the words had escaped his lips far before his mind truly recalled having ever uttered them. The wondrous marvel of natural architecture and Ponyvillian craftsmanship that stood before him was simply too extraordinary to overlook, and too captivating to ignore like an arrant thought to be shoved into the dark recesses of an awestruck mind. To gaze upon it was to gaze upon nature at its absolute finest; the perfect construct of earthen vigor and mystical grace; the very patriarch of the woodlands themselves in all its glory; a suitable homestead just as marvelous as the angels whom had guided him there. He cast a cursory glance towards a little lavender mare, her muzzle tucked comfortably into the crook of his neck, and another towards an ashen Pegasus lightly drooling across his shoulder, and he chuckled quietly as suddenly the awe of a mere oak seemed utterly superficial. There were things far more precious in the world than an overgrown tree.  “Let’s get y’all tucked in.”

The door that rose before him, alight by a flickering candle that cast a myriad of dancing shadows along its oaken surface, was as a hatch unto a glimmering castle, a comically small arch bereft of the grandeur and stature to firmly compliment the structure within which it was fastened. Certainly, its design had never been conceived to accommodate anything of Teddy’s physique; however, to say that it was impassible for the man would have been insulting. With a bit of finesse and clever maneuvering—which are used here to describe horrendous posture, apelike usage of booted feet, popping joints, guttural moaning, and extraordinary tactile control of callous fingertips—ingress was made with no lasting discomfort upon Teddy’s spine. Perhaps more astonishing than this, neither Twilight nor Ditzy had been jostled in the slightest during the process and remained perfectly at ease, marking a personal victory for Death’s martyr as he righted himself within the foyer.

Immediately, and much to the leviathan’s grace, the large man promptly took note of a brilliantly vaulted ceiling, of a spacious circumferential commons, of a vast, naked room in which he could transverse without difficulty, and silently he thanked his good fortune. Indeed, as the metaphorical hatch unto the castle, such a small portal belied the opulence in which it truly concealed. And whilst the finer details were lost amongst the ebony darkness that lurked in spite of the pale moonlight streaming through the windows, the architectural masterpiece that bared itself before him was no less profound in its subtle beauty and roomy graces.

Aloft and adjacent to the doorway, alight more by the shadows that traced their oaken countenance than the insipid light that spilled forth into the room, arose a rather fanciful set of spiraling stairs; each step seemed to be carved with tedious intricacy, and appeared to be fashioned not by several cuts of timber, but rather from one singular piece forged from the very heart of the Library itself. Atop the landing and dimly illuminated by the pale light, a quaint and unassuming loft peered down upon the common room; a neatly made bed, a smattering of bookshelves, an armoire with a vanity, and a whicker basket perched perilously close to the edge of the loft furnished the modest living space. The ambiance was one of a cozy, learned affair, as much as one could expect to find within a library, tidy and well kept, and punctuated by an inviting homeliness that only the lingering essence of a benevolent homeowner could create.

A sudden chorus of slumbering snores arose to grate against the large man’s ears, hailing his attention to the now far-gone dreaming angels within his arms, and urging him to ascend the stairs so that they may embrace the warm comforts of the pillow top earnestly awaiting them. A doting smile lingered upon his lips as the man broached the stairs and gingerly climbed, step-by-step, ever conscious of his feet, and ever cautious of jostling Twilight and Ditzy. Atop the landing, Teddy’s ginger footfalls brought him to the edge of a bed that was rather small by comparison, though certainly ample enough for the sleepy bodies soon to rest within its apparent cozy confines. Attentive to his efforts, the large man knelt down before the bedside, sure to keep his back erect as an otherwise indisposed of hand grasped for the duvet, intent on pinching but a small corner in between its fingers in a pretentious effort to turndown the offending cover. And though his first few attempts were met with nothing more than frustrating failure, a subsequent attempted proved to be quite promising, and with little more than a few threads captured within his grasp, the man drew the corner of the arrant duvet downward, and successfully exposed the silken sheets beneath. Forgoing the theatrics of victory, Teddy simply savored one last lingering embrace with the lavender unicorn and her smoky-grey companion; and reluctantly then, with a fatherly tenderness long thought dead to the man, he gently laid the tender bodies of the slumbering mares to rest upon the downy sleeper, certain that they shared the lone pillow atop its warm surface, and certain to tuck them in before taking his leave.

“W-where…are you going, Teddy?” The large man paused before descending the stairs; a slumbering murmur, a faint whisper within the loft turning him round so that he gazed upon the heavily lidded violets that peered at him through the ebony darkness and beckoned him to stay.

“…Ain’t sure.” He admitted, “But I thought it best I give y’all some peace; y’all are plum tuckered out, I can tell. Y’all deserve a good sleep after havin’ to put up with me all evenin’.”

“But aren’t you…sleepy too?”

“A bit darlin’, but I’ll manage.” Teddy shrugged and then chuckled softly, “Hell, a part of me don’t really want to go to bed. ‘Fraid I’ll wake up, and y’all won’t be here anymore. Makes a fella sick in the chest, ya know?”

“That’s…Silly.” The lavender mare admonished, “Of course we’ll still be here when you wake up! We’re not…going anywhere, and neither are you. So much has happened this evening, and it has all been simply…extraordinary. Something has brought us together, and has given us a wondrous chance to experience the…most precious Element of all. Friendship…And friends simply do not disappear. So please, if you are tired, don’t go; stay with us. I won’t ever…have the chance to make a friend as unique as you again.”

The leviathan abruptly swallowed passed something heavy in his throat, and for a moment, he found himself immeasurably thankful for the darkness as he wiped his eyes. “Th-that’s mighty kind of, ma’am. Ain’t a lot of folks I ever met that were as hospitable or as down right friendly as you. Your candid innocence is something that I find myself rather soft towards, and without hardly knowin’ ya, y’all have made me feel more real emotion in mere hours than I have experienced in many years.

“But I don’t want to become a burden upon ya, little darlin’. I understand your desire to become closer, and I can certainly respect that. I must admit that I find myself yearning to develop a lasting friendship with y’all as well. However, that don’t mean that I expect y’all to do so much for me, nor do I want y’all to inconvenience yourselves on my behalf. This is your home, Twilight, and I am the stranger here. I can’t in good conscious stay here when I have no way of repaying your generosity. It just wouldn’t sit right with”—

—“You.” The sleepy mare interjected with a whisper, though her conviction rang with stalwart clarity, “And it would not sit right with me if I turned away a guest into the cold night; a guest whom had carried my friend and I home. If you are…so concerned with becoming a burden upon me, just know…that if you were to leave tonight, I would not rest for fear that you wouldn’t…come back. So, why don’t you remain the gentlecolt—gentleman—that I know you are, and accept my hospitality. It comes with a roof and a blanket…cookies if you ask nicely.”

The leviathan stifled his laughter for fear of startling a still slumbering Ditzy, “Mehehe! Well, I have been known to like a good cookie from time to time. But—and while I do wish you wouldn’t fret on my account—I’m afraid I just ca”—

—“There are some blankets in the armoire that you are welcome to, Teddy.” His prudent argument, crushed like a paltry insect beneath the shod hoof that was the irascible mare’s oration, hardly faired a chance, and as Twilight rolled over to cradle her side of the pillow between her hooves and closed her eyes, the man let his argument die upon his lips.

“Take all you need,” she murmured, “and make a pallet wherever you would like. In the morning, maybe we can find something more…accommodating.”

Teddy couldn’t help but smirk at this. “Thank ya, darlin’. I’d tell y’all that I’ve already been well accommodated and not to worry bout it; but, somehow I think I’d only be wasting my time.”

“Now you’re catching on…”

***

Long after the hour had grown old, long after the ebony shadows had stilled themselves, and long after the conversation had succumbed to the effervescent whimsies of mystical dreams, a large man rested upon the sumptuous comforts of a veritable hodgepodge of pilfered blankets, his eyes opened, though unfocused as he retreated unto the solace of his thoughts. His hands idly dabbled with the downy comforters beneath him, their textures remarkably soft and luxurious, plush and yielding, though above all else, tangible and real.

Real—it was the veritable subject of all thoughts that burned within his mind, that haunted him unto the late hours of the night and kept him from dreaming. What was real? Was it truly the world his eyes had beheld that evening? Was it all the things he had touched and held, or all the things he had smelled and heard? Was it the angels—or ponies as they called themselves—who had found him, who had spoken to him, who had taken him in unto their lives unknowing of who he truly was? Could all of his experiences over the course of a single evening truly be real; was it feasibly possible for the man to have transcended his own death in divine intervention by the very deity responsible for it? Had he truly been plucked from the eons of the passed and hurled into the future along the almighty power of a grief stricken Thanatos; a future in which humanity hardly existed outside the realm of fantasy, and time had successfully erased all the fallacies and triumphs of man?

Was the world that he had known throughout all his forty years truly dead and gone? Was it honestly little more than a memory; a memory of crowded streets and busy people, of driving far too fast and furious—much as he had lived his life—of grief and sorrow, of worry and regret, of long and lonely nights spent sitting before a television in an empty house, of years of gloomy faces crying before him as he told him their loved ones were gone. Had all those faces truly faded unto ash long ago to be carried only by the wind? Was he truly all that remained of a species? Had the life that he had always known come to an end?

It certainly felt as though it had, and although his years had been filled with angst and loathing, he could not help the melancholy that tugged at his heart in knowing that it was all gone—that he was truly alone now. Humanity would never bother him again.

A gentle rustling from the bed above him—to which he had assembled his pallet beside—disturbed his wallowing and hailed his attention to the mare whom now rested her head upon an outstretched and dangling hoof, the blonde tuffs of her mane spilling across her lidded eyes as the duvet drifted down about her navel. She snored ever so lightly, and though far-gone within her dreams, a lingering smile still played upon her supple lips. Occasionally, a few listless murmurs drifted into the darkness, and her wings comically twitched with whimsical excitement, as though within whatever lands her mind had taken her, she soared amongst the heavens.

And it was all too easy for him then, in spite of the dismal emotions lurking just beneath the surface, for the large man to find a reason to smile; and tentatively, he reached towards her. Perhaps it was that humanity had faded into the annals of a long forgotten history. Perhaps the faces of the many had long since been carried off along the whimsies of the wind. And perhaps he had died only yesterday, though countless eons ago. Life as he had always known it had come to an end; and yet, somehow in that moment, as he gently placed his calloused hand upon the tender cheek of the little mare, he felt as though it hardly mattered. His future lived before him, while his past died behind. And what fanciful a future it would be to have such a glorious chance as to live it at the side of the angels themselves.

The angels that had made his life real.