Salvation | Rebirth

Emerging from the Royal Art Gallery was surprisingly easy even when Wild’s mind was immediately assaulted by a number of thoughts not his own, all different and coming from multiple directions. He was a rock in the river, but now he didn’t even peek above the stream. He was at the bottom of the river, with most of his imaginary mass deep in the river bed. Unmovable and smooth as glass, he was there among the thoughts of others, and none of them entered his mind. After all, he had his own thoughts that he had to deal with.

It would be easy to forget that chamber of ancient scribbles from a mad pony whose bones were now likely less than dust, but what he saw was burned into his mind. Even as that memory wiggled around, swirling, stretching and then returning to its original shape, it never settled, never stopped. He wished he were confused, but his mind was clear, and perfect understanding of what he saw was undeniable. Him, the possibilities and realities of his life, all was depicted on a wall of a part of a tower from before Equestria existed, and thousands of years before Wild was born.

In truth, it wasn’t everything. In comparison to the rest of what he saw around the chamber, the part about Earth and him in particular was small, barely taking up enough room to be immediately noticeable. That skyline he saw, it was vague and undefined, and even the shape of the airplane was nothing but two intersecting lines that only he could decipher the meaning of. While he, too, was depicted, it was only a part of his life, not its entirety transcribed for all to see. Perhaps it would have been someone other than him - there was enough ambiguity for it to be the case. Perhaps all humans were black in metaphysical body and silver in inner light, with the red taking over when they were hurt or damaged. He had no way of knowing, for the only one he could ask about it had long since died and turned into nothing but a name and a title, as much as it could be called one.

With those thoughts in his head, Wild walked silently with Artful having taken the lead. Wild could practically feel Artful’s concern, worry, and curiosity, yet the pegasus remained silent as well, giving Wild the room needed to get his thoughts in at least some sort of semblance of order. Wild had expected Artful to erupt in questions at any moment, yet that moment didn’t come, and the longer it didn’t happen, the more... uncertain Wild got. Of course, he didn’t want Artful to ask questions about his life before, and yet a part of him wanted it so that he could have an excuse to reveal the entirety of himself to someone he cared about. Perhaps he could use that excuse to see what Artful really thought, to see if what he would learn would push him away or bring him closer or change nothing - or at least very little - about their relationship.

To Wild, Artful had taken the revelation well, even unnaturally well. Though, if Artful had any idea about any other humans, none of it came up even in his own mind, and Wild was reasonably certain he would have been able to detect something like this. In other words, Artful was reacting as well as he did simply because... and that was where Wild’s thoughts fell apart. After all, if Wild were in Artful’s place, then... then... He actually didn’t know. If he were back on Earth and got together with another human who later revealed to be an alien... Wild would probably think him mad. Wild had held no beliefs in magic or anything supernatural, brushing it all aside as nonsense. Aliens? He, as a kid, did think that there were likely aliens somewhere out there in the universe. As an adult - though he could hardly call himself one even now - he still believed something along that, but he did not exactly expect an alien to visit anytime in the near future.

The entire point was, Wild would not have believed anyone claiming to be an alien. He would have likely run away from that situation instead, putting as much distance between that person and himself. Unless... unless he loved that person.

If Wild were to put himself in Artful’s situation, he had to think about it all with great consideration for Artful’s perspective. First of all, Artful was willing to get into a relationship with Wild, which meant, obviously, that there was care and attraction involved. It was a simple point, yet one that Wild needed to reiterate to himself for it to be truly real and not just abstract. Wild could easily understand physical attraction, especially since they weren’t two separate species physically. And since Artful cared about Wild, perhaps he didn’t want to simply run away but get to the center of it all, to figure out what was going on. That was logical, and that was what Wild would have perhaps done in Artful’s place.

Wild realized that he needed to have a long talk with Artful. That was the only way to set things straight, as much as they could be. He nearly let out a laugh - of course they never would have been able to set it all straight, and why? Because they were gay! He let out a huff of amused air despite himself, then banished the stupid ill-fitting joke away. However, it did help him relax just a tiny bit. As stupid as the joke was, it was still a joke, and one he managed to come up with in a situation that was far from silly. Perhaps that was something to appreciate, even if only for a moment.

Ahead of them was a small park, empty. It could hardly be called a park, more like a square with a fountain, some trees and bushes, and a few patches of dirt that would, come spring, be filled with flowers, but now only featured some brown grass and a variety of fallen leaves. Wild decided it was a good enough place to have... just a small talk.

Artful and Wild took one of the benches, and Wild gathered his thoughts. However, he didn’t know where to begin. The first question that came to his mind was the same one he seemed to constantly ask himself - what did he do to deserve someone like Artful? He did, on some level, recognize that it had nothing to do about deserving, that a relationship was not something to be deserved, yet the question remained, poking at him from time to time, and it was poking especially hard right that moment. He pushed it away from himself, for now, since he knew what Artful would say in answer. However, he now knew where he could begin, and he would take it.

“You are...” Wild started, speaking slowly as he picked what he wanted to say, “Not bothered? By... me?”

“No, I’m not,” Artful shook his head, “I mean, I am curious because, you know, you’re from a different world, but if you don’t want to talk about that, it’s fine. As I said, you’re still you, so it doesn’t really change much. We are, uh, I guess similar? That is, we think in similar ways, speak the same language, all that. Like, sure, you’re, I guess, an alien, but you’re not... too different? Well, you are different, but it’s not, like, to the point of you being... uh... I dunno. I mean, we’re doing fine, aren’t we?”

Wild, with some hesitation, nodded. There was also something endearing about Artful having his own issue finding words and thus rambling a little.

“So it’s not really a problem, then,” Artful said, “To me, you’re still you. It’s not like you’ve become a different person just because you told me more about yourself. I mean, I know that being from a different world is, definitely to you, a big deal, but, well... Uh, I’m not saying it’s not a big deal, but I’m also not saying it’s my business, you get me? There are reasons you didn’t speak to anyone about it, right?”

“...I spoke to someone,” Wild revealed, “Princess Luna knows. And... another therapist knows.”

“Okay, so if a princess didn’t do anything about you, then why should I be afraid of you?” Artful asked, “I’m not saying you can’t beat me, because you definitely can, but... so can a lot of other ponies, right? And other beings too. Like, see... from my perspective, you’re kinda like a person from a different country, a far away one. I know a different world isn’t a different country, but... it also kind of is?”

Wild... could not fault that logic, not really. Hesitantly, he nodded in agreement. In essence, he was from a different country, even if it was not from the same planet or even star system. Of course, Earth didn’t have magic - or, at least, he didn’t think it did - and the species were also different, but other than that, on a technical level... the situation wasn’t all that complex at all.

“I understand what you think,” Wild settled on saying, “And... I guess you are right. I just...”

“You were worried,” Artful nodded, “I’d be worried to, no doubt about it. But yeah, you don’t need to worry about me, at least. If you’re open to it, I’d love to learn more about where you came from. But if not, then that’s fine too. It’s, you know, your business.”

“...I do not know if I want to talk about it,” Wild confessed, “Things were... not good. Some of them were fine, but a lot... weren’t.”

“That’s fair,” Artful nodded, “But you can ask me anything about Equestria! Well, I don’t know everything, but I can, uh, help you figure things out. That’s just the right thing to do about, you know, the fact that you’re from a whole different culture and place.”

“...Yes,” Wild nodded, “I still do not know a lot. I just... recently? Yes, recently, I learned about jobs and how they work here. And a lot of culture things are... odd to me. I... um, when I was... not a pony, I... wore clothes. Not for protection - not just protection - but... because not wearing clothes was not allowed.”

“Ah, modesty laws and all that?” Artful asked.

“...I think?” Wild shrugged. He relaxed minutely, sensing nothing but genuine desire to be helpful from Artful, “And now... I do not wear clothes. But I do not feel... nude. As nude. Because I have, um, this,” he did his best to show that he was talking about fur.

“Bet that was awkward,” Artful smiled, “But yeah, we don’t wear clothes for that kind of stuff. In winter, we can wear clothes for protection. Or wear a uniform for a job like construction where you need some protection from things. Or just wear things because, well, they look nice. Like my glasses. Well, I did have bad vision, got it fixed, but glasses are a nice accessory.”

Wild blushed ever so slightly, resisting making a comment about how cute Artful looked with glasses on. Wild couldn’t exactly say he had a thing for glasses on people, but... he couldn’t say he didn’t, either.

“And there’s... sex stuff,” he continued, his blush intensifying, “Back... back then, it was not an... open thing. And there was a lot of... dislike, for people like us. A stallion with a stallion, that was... not approved of. Or, in some places, allowed at all. I... that is the reason why I never had a relationship before.”

“That sounds awful,” Artful frowned.

“...It is,” Wild said, “But now, I can... be free. I can be with who I want to be,” he gave Artful a caring nuzzle, “It is... nice, to be able to be myself, and do it all... in the open. Without hiding. Because it is... accepted. No one looks at us with... disallowal. Disapproval. And we also...” he almost stuttered there, his eyes averting from Artful’s, “We... did things together. I do not know... if I could do it then, back in... my planet country.”

“Then I’m glad I showed you this part of our culture,” Artful smiled and gave Wild a nuzzle, which he readily accepted, “I’m really glad you liked that.”

“It feels good,” Wild nodded, “And... I am glad I have you. You are... making me... more open. Because you are... safe to be with. It is good.”

For a while, they did nothing but cuddle on that bench, with Wild relaxing further, his mind drifting away from the worries about his origin towards... other things. If there was a convenient place, he would certainly love it if he could... make love to Artful. Of course, he was very aware of the minds of others everywhere around them, even if most beings he could sense weren’t in sight. Still, it didn’t stop his thoughts, and he imagined he would be quite happy to give some pleasure to Artful. In a way, it would be a thank-you for being so understanding and accepting. However, it was not an obligation that Wild felt, and he knew it. It was, pure and simple, a desire stemming from the fact that Artful was possibly the best person Wild had ever met, and it was very attractive.

Wild knew he had some preferences when it came to the physical, but now he was learning what an attraction to a person could be and how deep it could go. Perhaps, if he had never met Artful before, Wild wouldn’t find him too attractive. Of course, physically, Artful wasn’t bad in any way, but now Wild realized that the biggest part of attraction he had was about the mental and, perhaps, the spiritual, if it could be called that. After all, Wild knew that he would never be attracted to some horrible person no matter how well they would fit Wild’s image of physical attractiveness. Artful wasn’t all that fit, certainly didn’t have visible abs - and Wild didn’t even know whether ponies could have visible abs in the first place - but Artful was still beautiful, inside and out, and Wild was more than content with that fact.

His worries were melting away, and perhaps this Canterlot outing would not turn into a complete and utter disaster after all.