Forgetting about the creature's unknown classification for the time being, Twilight gently uses her magic to set the creature on the backs of both herself and Fluttershy, who were now standing side by side to act as a makeshift stretcher. Thankfully whatever this thing was, it wasn't much heavier then the average pony. So while carrying it alone would be a bit of a hassle, with their combined efforts it wouldn't be an issue. As the two slowly walked towards the forest's exit, Twilight began thinking of where to even take this creature.

Her first thought was Fluttershy's cottage. It made the most sense, it was the closest place to them, and Fluttershy likely had whatever they needed to try and treat the creature's wounds. But upon overthinking things, as the Alicorn was one to do, the various animals Fluttershy lived with might not take to kindly to whatever this entity was. While she was positive that Fluttershy's animals would never outright kill this thing, the unknown presence may cause them to panic.

The second thought was the Ponyville hospital, which had more then enough resources to treat the creature's wounds. Just one problem though: the staff of the Ponyville hospital were trained to help ponies with injuries and sicknesses. They wouldn't have the knowledge or expertise to deal with...whatever this strange animal was. Plus, parading this creature through town, or putting it in a public place like a hospital, would turn some heads and attract a lot of attention. And possibly start the townsfolk to panic. And a panic was the last thing that was needed right now.

Eventually, the Princess of Friendship decided that the best place to take this thing to treat its wounds was her own abode, seeing as the only other two who would be there was Spike and Starlight, and those two were rational individuals. It was possible that Starlight might even recognize this thing. After all, she had shown time and time again that she was a very learned pony, and maybe she had seen one of these creatures before and knew what it was!

"Hey Fluttershy, I'm going to teleport us to my castle. I think it'll be the best place to take care of this...creature. You ready?"

The yellow colored pegasus was going to argue, but quickly decided against it and simply gave a quick nod. She had come to Twilight for help after all, it would be best to go along with whatever her friend was planning. With another flash of light flooding her vision, she finds that the three of them had appeared in one of the crystal castle's many rooms, this one being a guest room based on the simple bed and nightstand.

With the combined efforts of the two ponies, the creature was gently laid onto the rarely used bed. Quickly withdrawing a first aid kit from the nightstand drawer, Twilight had made it a point to have one in just about every room in case of an emergency, she leaves Fluttershy to dress the creature's wounds while she went on to find Starlight and Spike. It wouldn't take the Alicorn very long to find the castle's other two occupants, they should still be in the same room they were when she had left this morning. Or at least she hoped.

"Careful now," Starlight said with her gaze turned upward, her horn aglow in blue light. "Don't wanna waste all this hard work, right?"

"Don't worry, I'm a pro at this by now," high above the crystal floor Spike floated with a veil of blue aura warped firmly around him. In each of his claws was a single playing card, held together in such a way to make an upward arrow of sorts. The dragon's eyes squint harder, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth as he concentrated on adding the final touch to the absolutely massive house of cards the two had somehow managed to put together in the short time Twilight had been gone. A perfect representation of Canterlot castle, or at least as perfect as a house of cards could be. The structure was absolutely massive, hundreds of cards had gone into the creation of the monolithic replica of the crown jewel of Canterlot.

"Spike, Starlight!" Twilight shouts as she suddenly bursts into the room. The sudden shout causing Starlight to jump in surprise, the light around her horn flickering for onlya moment. But it was that very moment that mattered most, as the room was quickly filled with the sounds of a baby dragon screaming as he plummets towards the ground. The Castle of Card-erlot, as Spike had so fondly named it, following his lead and falling into an unrecognizable heap of playing cards in a matter of seconds.

Realizing her mistake, Starlight glances away from Twilight to look towards the now prone dragon laying atop a pile of playing cards and shattered dreams with a slight blush on her face. "Oops, sorry Spike! You okay?"

"I'm fine..." Slowly picking himself up and dusting himself off, Spike overlooks the ruins that was once Card-erlot castle. "...But we almost had the world record."

"Sorry guys, didn't mean to ruin your card house, but I need some help!" Twilight states in a slight shout, quickly going into the details of what had happened after she had left the castle earlier. It takes some time to calmly and rationally explain what exactly was going on, Twilight was able to get the essential details explained.

While not fully understanding the situation, the two friends quickly spring into action. Spike going to get some warm water and some towels, Starlight going with Twilight to see if she can identify the mystery creature.

"You said you found it in Everfree Forest, right Twilight?"

"Well, technically Fluttershy found it first, but yes."

"...And it was alone?"

"Yes. As far as we could tell, it was the only one around."

It had taken longer then she would have liked, Fluttershy had managed to treat the unknown creature's wounds with relatively no issue. The hardest part was taking of the torn off shirt and jacket that had been nearly ripped to shreds on its upper torso, the clothing on its legs was mostly untouched so she felt it better not to remove them. After that it was simply a matter of cleaning the wounds and wrapping them in gauze. Thankfully the creature stayed unconscious during the process so it didn't flail to much. It also seemed that dressing the wounds has caused it to rest easier, giving Fluttershy a bit of relief. Taking a seat on a nearby chair, the yellow pegasus takes in a deep breath as she assures herself that the creature was going to be fine now. Though as she took a moment to finally calm herself down, she couldn't help but ask herself.

"...Why didn't Twilight just heal it with magic?"

Before that train of thought could be taken any further, Spike enters the room carrying a pale of warm water in one claw, a small stack of white towels in another. Placing both on the nightstand next to the bed, Spike takes a moment to inspect the creature.

"Whoa. Twilight was right. This thing IS weird looking."

"That isn't a very nice thing to say, Spike, even if it is true." Fluttershy retorts, walking up and placing one of the towels into the pale. Ringing it out until it was only damp, she gently places it on the creature's forehead. It twitches in resistance at first, but the warmth seems to calm it down quickly enough. "Equestira is filled with all kinds of strange and wondrous creatures. This one, while a bit...unique is no different. Every animal is beautiful in its own way."

"Yeah, but it still looks weird," Spike continues, lightly running a claw along the creature's pale, slightly tanned skin. "What do you think it is?"

As if to stop the question from being answered, Twilight and Starlight enter the bare guestroom and move over to the bed, the Dragon and Pegasus stepping aside so they aren't crowding the creature to badly. As she gets closer and closer, Starlight's expression starts to resemble that of Twilight's when she first laid eyes on this creature more and more. Placing a hoof on the bed, right next to the creature's arm, Starlight can only stare with her mouth agape. "I...I haven't seen anything like this before..."

Horse apples, Twilight thinks while watching her now graduated student eye the creature up and down. I was really hoping she'd know.

"...Are you two sure this thing's from Everfree?" Starlight eventually asks, glancing back to the other two Ponies in the room.

"Well, that's where it was found...but it was pretty close to the edge of the forest," Twilight ponders out loud, sitting down on her hind legs as she places a hoof on her chin in contemplation. Her expression suddenly changes as the metaphorical light-bulb turns on in her head. "Maybe Zecora will know something?"

None of the four seeing any better options, they agree that seeking Zecora's advice would be the best course of action. Figuring it would be best if they didn't leave the creature alone, so they decide it best to "split the party," as Spike had put it. Fluttershy and Starlight venturing back into Everfree to find the zebra, Twilight and Spike staying behind to keep tabs on the creature in case it woke up. Twilight was convinced the thing was intelligent due to the clothing it had seemingly crafted, so maybe they could communicate with it when it woke from its rest.

It had been almost an hour since Fluttershy and Starlight left to seek out Zecora. She lived pretty deep within the forest, so it only made sense as to why they had been gone so long. Not to mention the fact that Everfree was not exactly the safest place in the world, so they likely had a run in with some Timberwolves or something of that ilk. But the Princess of Freindship wasn't worried, she knew just how powerful Starlight's magic was from first hand experience, a few Timberwolves wouldn't be much of an issue for them. Twilight's mind was to occupied with other worries at the moment, evident by the fact she had spent a good chunk of this time pacing outside the room where the creature lay dormant, alone with her thoughts. Spike was off getting food for the creature, claiming it would probably be hungry when it woke up, praying to Celestia that it wasn't a carnivore.

'Oh bringing this thing back here might have been a bad idea,' Twilight couldn't help but think as she continued to pace back and forth. 'We have no idea what it is. What if it's dangerous? Why didn't I think to go to Zecora first?!' She continues to mentally scold herself like this for some time, until her ears suddenly perk at a sudden sound from inside the room. Stepping closer to the closed door, she places one ear to the structure and listens carefully. The sounds of weak groaning can be heard from the inside, as well as the sounds of blankets ruffling around. It was awake.

'It finally woke up,' Twilight told herself, doing her best to stay as quiet as possible as to not spook the now roused creature. 'I guess that means I should go see if it's okay...' Suddenly, her shocked and worried expression becomes one of forced optimism. 'It should be fine. If it's friendly, everything will be fine. If it is dangerous, I can incapacitate it with magic. Hopefully without hurting the poor thing.' Slowly reaching out for the door knob with her magic, she slowly turns the handle and creeks it open ever so slightly. Looking through the crack in the door, she begins to take mental notes of the creature.

Said creature has managed to stand up, proving her biped theory, as it seems to be investigating the room curiously. Looking over the towels on the nightstand, as well as the pale of water, it looks at them as if it had seen objects like them before. Unsure what to make of it, Twilight nearly jumps out of her skin as the creature turns towards the door. Her heartbeat beginning to slow back down as it continues to turn, walking towards the window. Well, less "walking" and more "limping." It may have woke up, but it was still clearly injured and fatigued. The creature mutters...something to itself as it overlooks the architecture of Ponyville through the window. It sounds at ease, relieved even based on the tone. Deciding it was safe enough to enter the room more, Twilight slowly pushes the door open with yet more creaks from the wood.

The unknown animal notices the sound this time, quickly turning towards the door with wide, silver colored eyes. Twilight could clearly tell that she put the creature on high alert. Which to be fair, anypony would be on high alert if they woke up in a strange place they'd never been before after being almost eaten alive by Timberwolves. Swallowing her fears away, Twilight fully steps into the room and looks at the creature.

"It's okay, I'm not--"

The sound of the creature's blood chilling scream echos through the room as it slumps to the floor, desperately trying to back away from the Alicorn with short, rapid breaths. Whatever this creature was, it was clearly just as confused about what Twilight was as she was about what it was. She quickly lowers her ears and ducks her head close to the ground in an attempt to make herself look as small as possible, hoping the gesture would calm the creature down. Twilight looks the creature square in the eye as she takes a step back.

"It's okay...It's okay...I'm not gonna hurt you...You're okay now..." She says quietly, almost mimicking Celestia's mothering tone. She was hoping that the creature understood that she wasn't trying to hurt it.

The creature's short, rapid breaths begin to slow and lengthen. The unknown entity leaning forward slightly, it flinches as the Alicorn takes a few small steps forward, but the expression of terror shifts into one of curiosity.

"...Y-y-you can t-t-talk?" The mysterious creature manages to say, its tone still just as frightened.

This instantly causes the Princess's ears to perk up, her eyes growing wide with surprise. "...You can understand me?"

For a moment, the two beings stayed where they were in silence, neither quite sure what to make of the other before them. The silence is quickly broken by Spike bursting into the room; a tray of fruits, vegetables and bread in his claws.

"Twilight!? Are you OK?! I heard screaming!!" Spike shouts as he barges into the room, his eyes quickly catching the creature sitting in the corners. "Oh sweet Celestia it's--"

The castle once again echoes with the sounds of the unknown creature screaming its head off.

Author's Note

"The Sleeper has AWOKEN!"
...Anybody?
No?
Ok.
That was Chapter 2. We finally meet the creature...and he did not react kindly to seeing an Alicorn or a dragon. How inconsiderate of him!

...Oh, and next chapter, expect there to be rhymes. You already know why.