Black Gates: Fallen

The silence in the house was deafening. Neither Applejack or Rainbow Dash really knew what they could say. They… hadn’t thought of that. To both of them, that beast was a one off, something, that unless it was the human that created it, wouldn’t ever exist again.

“Wh… th…” Rainbow Dash wanted to say, ‘What? That’s completely stupid, that beast was obliterated!’ But she couldn’t speak those words.

“T… Twilight, wh… what made yah think about stuff like that?” Applejack asked quietly.

“I… I don’t know it just… that thing… it…” Twilight shook her head slowly. “And then the human… Celestia just seemed so… freaked out by him…”

“Twi, Sugarcube… we’ve dealt with strange things before, look at Zecora, now, Ah ain’t callin her strange. Just our reactions ta her.” Applejack began. “Now, it’s obvious she’s had some bad experiences with humans before. But we ain’t ever dealt with one before. And, who knows maybe he ain’t the same as the humans Celestia dealt with.

“She said clearly, humans can’t use magic. But… he just summoned that wall of fire… burned the undead thing to ash… and it disappated before it could even move closer to them…” Twilight shivered. “If… if he’s able to control fire like that… what’s to say he can’t control more magic?” She put her head in her hands. “But… y-you’re right… we have to give him a chance… but, I’m more scared no-”

“Twilight, just… LISTEN to yourself for a minute. You, the mare who all but forgave Trixie for nearly destroying the town, who was worried about the changelings after they were thrown from town… who tried desperately to befriend the closed off and amnesiac Crystal Ponies… Who tried to convince all of us the Zecora wasn’t bad or evil. FORGET what Celestia said about humans. Learn about them for yourself, that’s one of your many things. Sure, he could be a danger, but he nearly died… it’ll be days at the very least if not months before he’s recovered enough to do anything serious.” Dash stated. “Look, you’re incredibly smart, you’ll figure out a way to make sure everypony is safe around him, and make sure he’s safe around everypony. We’ll all be here to support you, give him a chance. Hell, I’m sure Flutter, Rares, and Pinkie are all waiting for him to come to so they can thank him for saving their lives.” She walked up to Twilight and put her hand on the unicorn’s shoulder.

Twilight let out a long sigh and looked up at the pegasus.

“You need to calm down, nothing bad happened, we’re all alive and safe. We now have a new po- human, to help integrate to Ponyville… hell we get to introduce a new creature to Equestria. If, IF he’s bad, or wants to harm anypony, we’ll have plenty of time to find out if he’s planning anything.”

“You’re… right…” Twilight nodded slowly.

“For once, I know I’m right.” Dash boasted jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. “Now… about this… lying thing.” She began slowly.

“No… no I want Spike to… think he’s good… he doesn’t need to be stressed out about him being potentially dangerous.” Twilight sighed.

“What about…” Applejack began.

“We’ll… tell them what they need to know. That he’s potentially dangerous, and he’s going to be watched… they’re not to be alone with him, and he can’t get ahold of anything dangerous or any weapons.” Twilight returned.

“We shouldn’t tell Fluttershy.” Dash stated firmly. “She… I’ll stay with her until we’re one hundred percent sure he’s good. She’s… stressed out and on the verge of a panic attack already… we don’t want to push her any harder.”

“Yah sure about that?” Applejack questioned.

“From her point of view… two scary beasts came out of a portal, one was nearly about to kill her, Rarity, and Pinkie before it was destroyed by another one… that’s now nearly dead in a hospital in town. We’ll just… tell her if he survives, and that he’ll be under Twilight’s care. If… if she decides to go see him, we’ll let it happen but two of us and some guards will need to be in the room with them. Just… to make sure she’s safe. Hell… keep guards with him, just… as some sort of probationary thing, we wouldn’t be lying to him… hell, if he’s smart, he’ll understand that he’s not something normal here, and maybe he’ll accept that it’s happening to him.” Dash shrugged. “It’s…”

Twilight’s face lit up, “That’s it! That way I can appease the Princess, and I won’t have to lie to him… or fake a friendship with him, and… maybe we can get the town to welcome him too!” She shot up and smiled a little. She then went lax. “If… he survives…” She sighed quietly and fell back into the chair. “Gods… they won’t even let us know if he’s stable… or if he even made it…”

“They have orders to let us know when he wakes up… we’ll just have to make do with that, won’t we?” Dash offered a friendly hug. “So… if you’re having trouble sleeping, did… you want one of us to stay here with you? Make sure everything’s alr-”

“No… no, I’m fine. I’ll… se- Right… Spike’s with Rarity, isn’t he?” Twilight laughed quietly. “I guess I’ll just hope Luna’s watching over me while I sleep.” She smiled slightly. “I’m already feeling a bit better…”

“Look, the offer’s always going to be there. Just… ya know, let somepony know.” Dash smiled back. “I’m… going to go check on Fluttershy, but I’ll swing back around before I head to sleep.”

“Thanks, Dash.” Twilight waved as the pegasus left her house.

“If’n yah need anythin Ah’ll be here ta offer it to yah.” Applejack smiled.

“Thanks, AJ… But I’m fine. Just… a bit hungry now.” Twilight let out a long sigh.

“Yah just stay right there… Ah’ll go make yah somethin.” AJ said, leaving no room for Twilight to fight, even if she wanted to.

“Thank you.” Twilight chuckled as the earth pony vanished into her kitchen. “Gods… I hope Spike’s having a much better night then I was…” She let her head softly hit the table.

Meanwhile At Ponyville General:

Everything had quieted down now, the mysterious ‘human’ as the doctors and nurses were told, was now just unconscious. He had a steady heartbeat after several near flat-lines. They’d come to terms that his core temperature was nearly one hundred and three, and if gave no complications to him and that attempting to drop it lower would risk his heart slowing down and them losing him.

Now, all but the most valuable staff assigned to watch out for him (and those on duty that night) were heading home.

Doctor Blue Shield was sitting in his office running over the various things they’d found. “Other than bone structure... he’s similar to an earth pony… all the muscles and their densities are there… his organs are in the right places… the right sizes for his body…” He ran his fingers through his mane. “Hell… if he were a pony I’d assume he was with the Royal Guard… the scars, the way he’s built…” He shook his head. “What the hell happened to him though? These other wounds on his body… they’re healed magically… but, this one didn’t just seal up then? So… it wasn’t his magic that healed him before… that explains why he needs us… but, what is the princess so scared of? Why does she need Royal Guards constantly watching his bed… He’s barely going to be lucid when he comes to! It won’t take much to restrain him at all, even if we do need to restrain him…”

Blue Shield reclined back in his chair. “I need a damn drink after this… but, something tells me the Guard won’t let me leave… or drink on duty.” The doctor laughed to himself. “Might as well go check on the human… it’s not like his condition will get any worse if I do.” He closed the file and stuck it away before leaving his office.