Salvation | Rebirth

After walking through the forged iron entrance gates of the Royal Orphanage, the former human appeared in a well taken care of land. The gravel road turned into brick pavement with no weeds growing in between the bricks, and the sides of the road were clearly separated from the grass. Flowers grew on the side of the road in deliberate disorder, and some bird fountains were present. To the right of the road was an oblong lake full of crystal-clear water, and fish swam in it freely. However, the water would at most cover him to his chin at the deepest point, and there were two wooden towers overlooking the lake from either of its ends. A few foals could be seen swimming, laughing as they splashed at each other. A few adults were seen sunbathing on the shore nearby, glancing at the foals from time to time. Around the middle of the lake, two ponies were in a rowboat: one adult and one foal. The adult sat by and guided the foal through the rowing.

To the former human's left was a forest of many mixed trees, flowers, bushes, and some of them seemed to bear fruit and berries. A small stream flowed through the forest, chest-high at the deepest, and went under a bridge to then go into the lake. Some foals were running between the trees, playing what looked like a game of tag. Animals were seen as well: squirrels climbing trees, chipmunks near the forest floor, a couple small hogs resting under the bushes. The grass and the leaves rustled with the sounds of other, unseen animals, and the air buzzed with various flying insects, most of which were bees.

The former human almost stopped as he remembered his youth, for it seemed just as peaceful as what he was looking at now. When his age was just one digit, everything seemed so wonderful, so full of life. The sky was an excellent shade of blue, the clouds were as white as innocence, and the grass was so lush and green. His life wasn't unlike the idealized childhood many people were nostalgic about: he played games, he had friends, he went to school like everyone else. He had fun, he experienced sadness, and all in all, he lived a mostly normal life, the kind of which is so often idealized by people who believed the old saying 'ignorance is bliss'.

However, his ignorance was far from solid, and it was broken, and his innocence was stripped away. The world was the same, yet his perception of it changed - he skies became gray with pollution, the clouds turned sickly-black, and the grass faded to brown. However, it wasn't autumn that promised a rebirth, and t wasn't dusk that promised a brighter dawn. It was instead slow but certain rotting, an assured destruction. The former human saw it as a steady decline, he saw a world going out with an ever-escalating whimper.

He may have escaped from such a world, he may have gotten a new life, yet he still carried a burden - his memories and experiences. They told him to be wary, to be observant and aware of his surroundings. No matter how peaceful things looked, war was always on the horizon, in more sense than one. However, despite these thoughts, something inside his chest pleasantly tingled as he looked at all these happy foals living their lives. Perhaps he was wrong, perhaps there was something good about this world that didn't hide anything terrifying. This thought made a small yet visible smile appear on his face, and his eyes brightened.

Celestia led him across the short bridge and further into the Royal Orphanage. Now that the two were past the pond, new things could be seen to the right of them. A row of one-story buildings were seen, looking like warehouses. A few boats lay at the side of the warehouses, reinforcing that notion. Only two adults were seen watching over them, and no foals played around there. Beyond the warehouses, a small castle stood surrounded by a playground. Swings, see-saws, carousels, slides, and other things were present there, and around a quarter of them were currently occupied.

On the left, past the forest's edge, there were a few fields reserved for games, and the former human recognized goal gates resembling football ones, a field divided in two by a net like a volleyball field, and even a clear as day basketball field. Separated from them, another field was designed as a shooting area, and the former human could see locked crates stored in the corner, probably full of arrows, bolts, bows, and crossbows. His eyes sparkled at the shooting area, but he continued walking forward.

In front of him, stood a huge, sprawling mansion. Various statues, carvings, and other decorations aplenty hinted at the possible owner of this place. Perhaps it was a noble, likely one of the richest. The former human, however, didn't think so - he had a feeling it wasn't a regular mansion. After all, it was extremely unlikely for a noble or even a regular rich person to allow so many foals and adults run around such an expensive property. The former human reason this entire place might have been owned by someone rich and powerful some time ago, but now it was a more public place. However, why was he led there?

While he thought, Princess Celestia led him closer to the mansion's entrance, which was a wide and short stairway leading up to a pair of big wooden doors - undoubtedly more expensive than a modest house by themselves - that were open at this time. In front of the stairway, a fountain was situated, surrounded by benches and sculpted bushes. On the benches, older foals sat and lay, chatting, reading, or even playing some games. The former human's eyes, however, immediately noticed a pair of colts sitting by themselves, kissing. Other ponies seemed to pay them no mind, yet the former human wondered how the princess would react to it. However, nothing happened as she came closer to them - no reprimanding, no words of disgust.

Noticing the princess, the colts stopped kissing and went straight to her, small smiles on their faces.

"A new one?" one of them asked, coming closer. Celestia stopped, standing between him and the former human.

"Please, don't approach him," she said softly yet firmly, "Yes, he's a new foal. However, he... well, Starstruck, are you familiar with the term Feral, as in a feral pony?"

"Yeah, I... think so..." he said slowly, putting two and two together, "Oh. Oooh. I get it."

"Get what?" the second colt asked.

"That one," the first gestured at the former human, who watched him closely, yet not too intensely. The first colt didn't have wings or a horn, so if he were to attack, he would have to step forward and past the princess to close the distance, "He was raised in the wild."

"Oh, like Prey Chaser?"

"Yeah, like in the book, raised by timberwolves. I think so, anyway."

"Damn, that's pretty cool."

"Colts, please," Celestia said gently, interrupting the beginning of discussion before it could bloom, "He needs to eat and then have some rest. He didn't have a good day, I'm afraid."

The colts apologized and got out of the way, returning to the bench to watch the former human from there, their eyes bright with interest, and their mouths moving as they talked between themselves. The princess continued to the mansion, and the former human followed her, looking at other foals that noticed him. Undoubtedly, he was going to have a busy day tomorrow once more ponies get the word he was there. Judging by the amount of foals present, the former human reasoned this place was perhaps a day care of some sort.

He thought about the conversation between the colts and the princess. Although he understood nothing from the conversation, it definitely wasn't rigid or insulting. The colts talked with the alicorn casually, never becoming tense. All in all, it looked like homosexuality was accepted in this society. A certain amount of respect had to be given to the princess, and now the former human thought of her more highly. Yet, he had to be wary, for even people who look nice at the surface may still hide something terrible within. Despite his thoughts, this notion now had a crack, however small it was.

Celestia and the young unicorn finally entered the main building of the Royal Orphanage. The inner hallways were wide, easily allowing up to five ponies to walk together. The decorations, however, were more subtle and smoother. The furniture had rounded edges, and the vases with flowers that were present looked like they were made of something elastic instead of rigid glass or hardened clay. The former human noticed a mirror embedded into the wall and approached it to take a look at himself. Celestia paused in her step and turned to watch him.

The young unicorn peered at himself in the mirror and saw his ruffled mane, slightly dirty fur, and a pair of tired gray eyes. His posture remained stiff with stored energy, he was always ready to jump into action. This tension didn't come without a toll - the former human was growing tired physically as well as mentally. This entire view of himself reminded him that he was alive, in a new body, and in a new world. He didn't know what it truly entailed but he was in no particular hurry to find out. He only wished to get himself clean and then sleep in a comfortable bed, and he wouldn't mind never waking up from it.

Celestia watched the young unicorn with interest, noting the fact that he wasn't puzzled by his reflection, and neither was he displaying any hostility towards it like many wild animals do. His eyes reflected comprehension and understanding, and as his eyes went over his body, it was apparent he possessed awareness of what reflections are. All in all, he displayed levels of intelligence and awareness previously seen in Ferals only once.

A sunken feeling appeared in Celestia's stomach - the last time an intelligent Feral was found in the wild resulted in the Crystal Empire disappearing. That Feral rose up to be a feared tyrant full of hate and desire to conquer and dominate. It was almost a full thousand years since then, and the alicorn feared what would happen when the Elements can't contain him any longer. Was this fact connected to the appearance of this young unicorn?

Celestia shook her head, knowing these thoughts of prejudice would not lead to anything good. She had to take part in the life of the young unicorn and help him instead of shunning him or ignoring him outright. Princess Amore made the mistake of ignoring the problem hoping it would resolve by itself, but the solar alicorn didn't plan to repeat that mistake.

Without a word, the princess and the former human continued on their way deeper into the building. After passing by a stairway, they came into a big hall with many tables and chairs. It was mostly empty save for a few foals grabbing a bite or having early dinner.

"Good day, your majesty!" a big stallion called out across the hall. He was standing behind a long table full of bowls and plates filled with fresh meals, and behind him was the kitchen, "Am I right in assuming this foal next to you is a new one?"

"Indeed he is," she replied, her voice loud yet pleasant and gentle. She led the former human further into the hall and then spoke again, "I think he's rather hungry and needs a full meal. He's also a Feral."

"My grandfather saw one if I recall correctly," the cook said while he effortlessly tossed some meals on one of the bigger trays, "My father definitely hasn't seen one. Alright, here you go."

"Thank you, Sweet," Celestia nodded with a smile, taking the tray by using her magic. Picking one of the furthest tables, she set the tray on it and turned to the young unicorn, "I hope you'll like it."

The former human didn't take much time getting to the table and awkwardly sitting on a low chair next to it. He inhaled deeply, and the smell of the food almost made him dizzy with how good it was. His stomach rumbled. Without a care in the world, he used his muzzle to dig into the first meal - a bowl full of fresh green peas mixed with equally fresh sweet corn. He stuck out his tongue to help him get the food into his maw, and he chewed loudly. He had no idea when was the last time he ate, and he thoroughly enjoyed this food, barely paying attention to his surroundings. After he finished with the bowl, he ate four fresh purple carrots along with cucumber, bell pepper, cabbage, and salad leaves on the next plate which were all lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. Then he switched to freshly baked potatoes covered in mushroom sauce, which was probably the most delicious version of cooked potatoes he had ever had. There were a couple whole wheat slices of bread that he quickly devoured after that, and the last thing was a pile of cookies and a glass of opaque white, slightly beige liquid. He took a whiff of the liquid with suspicion - it was oat milk, his favorite. He used his mouth to pick up the cookies, dip them into the oat milk, and then eat them up. His body shivered with pleasure and he had to suppress a moan of satisfaction as he downed the delicious treats. After the cookies were all gone, he drank up the remaining oat milk and sat back. He was mildly disappointed when there was nothing more to eat, but it wasn't bad - he felt full, and putting more inside him would likely end up with nausea.

Princess Celestia saw him dipping cookies, and puzzlement was now present on her face. How would a Feral know this way of eating cookies? However, she didn't have much time to think of it as the young unicorn turned to her, a more relaxed look on his face. The alicorn didn't manage to suppress a giggle at seeing a mess on the front of his muzzle. He frowned in response and licked around his lips, cleaning most of it. He then sneezed, and the rest fell off.

"I see you've liked the food very much," Celestia said with a smile, "Follow me and I'll show you your room."

The former human got up from the table and went after the princess, heading to the different part of the huge mansion. After passing a few hallways along with a couple of doors - which indicated there were large rooms or halls behind them - the pair arrived at a separate wing of the mansion. It consisted of a large open hall in the middle with all kinds of playtime equipment, and two floors with individual numbers on each door, and the entire wing was in a simple rectangular shape. The young unicorn guessed they were dorms, and he tried to make sense of the numbers.

Figuring out '1' was simple enough - it was a vertical short line, quite similar to what humans used. It was on the first door on the first floor to his furthest left. He thought about it for a moment and, if he was right about his initial guess, figured out ponies read numbers from left to right just like many humans. '2' was two lines on the next door, '3' was three lines, and the pattern followed until '6'. It was like '5' but there was a horizontal line above the vertical lines. '7' added another horizontal line, this time below. '8' added another line slightly below the first horizontal line, and the pattern continued up to and including '10', which was five vertical and five horizontal lines. A number higher than that was represented in a number-space-number format like '10 1'. The former human admired its simplicity but wondered how they made four-digit and higher-digit numbers. And wouldn't ponies be lost with all the lines that looked pretty identical everywhere?

All the questions he had were for another time, however, as Celestia lead him up to the second floor. There were no rails to prevent the foals from falling to the first floor - instead, there were huge panels of glass, maybe even transparent plastic. There were two parallel maroon lines running horizontally across the glass, blending well with the red woods the mansion's wing had plenty of. The former human was led to a door on the far left, which was plain unlike around two thirds of doors that were all decorated in different ways that would, presumably, show off the personality and likes of ponies living there. His door was, if he was correct about the numbers, two hundred and five, represented by the two lines, space, a circle - which the former human presumed to be zero - space, and five lines. The circle, he noticed, was perfect unlike the zero of the international numeric system of humanity, which was oblong.

Celestia opened the door and went inside, the former human following. As it turned out, it wasn't just a single room like he expected but a modest apartment, certainly enough for one pony to live somewhat comfortably. To the right of the entrance was a shallow sink set into the floor, a picture of two hooves and a drop of water on its bottom. Past that sink was a door which likely led to a bathroom. To the right of the entrance door was a closet, which could easily fit the young unicorn inside and have yet more space. In front, a living room situated - it wasn't quite spartan but the furniture was plain and functional with nothing excessive, which included a square table next to a corner sofa and a chest of drawers to both of its ends. Along one of the walls were shelves filled with books. The walls were white, so was the ceiling, and the floor was simple polished hardwood floor with a protective coating on top. There was a panoramic window floor to ceiling opposite the entrance, a part of which also acted as a door to a balcony. On the same side as a bathroom door stood yet another door, and Celestia opened it to reveal a bedroom. It had its own window, but it was two-thirds of the living room window's height, and the bottom third of the wall was plain, which the former human noticed would shield the one lying on the bed from outside eyes if the curtains weren't rolled down. The bed itself was quite big, taking most of the room's space, and it would easily fit a sprawling alicorn, maybe allowing some space for a regular sized pony in addition. The bedroom had its own closet, slightly smaller than the one in the living room, and there was a mirror next to it. Judging by the hinges at its side, it could be turned to face the wall, away from the window.

The former human desired to fall into the bed, to get some sleep and push his thoughts away for a time, but there were things he needed to do first. Thankfully for him, Celestia exited the dorm, presumably telling him to stay, and closed the door behind her. The former human had no doubts about the door being watched, but right then, he didn't care. Now he had a roof over his head, food, water, and even a comfortable bed. He knew not to let his guard down, but he was exhausted and wanted to rest. However, he couldn't go to bed filthy. Although he wasn't too dirty, his fur certainly had some dusty spots, and sticky sweat was present as well. So, he walked to the bathroom door and used his hoof to tug a U-shaped handle down, which opened the door.

The bathroom was as big as the bedroom and featured a bath that took a third of the room, spacious enough to allow him to sprawl easily in it if he wanted to. As he entered, light turned on by itself, which surprised him. There was a closet with a few fresh towels, and a sink with a mirror, and underneath the mirror was a shelf with a few tubes of toothpaste and no fewer than six toothbrushes and a pair of regular brushes, as well as two reasonably big bottles of shampoo the label of which he couldn't yet read. There was also a low toilet-bidet combination in the room's corner closer to the door.

The former human got into the tub and wondered how to turn the water on, but fortunately, there was one vertical handle on the wall; its tip had a blue color on the left and a red one on the right. Without changing the angle of the handle, the former human pulled at it with his hoof, and water started cascading down from the shower head attached on the ceiling. The young unicorn was certain it was possible to detach it and control where the water went on his body, but he had no idea how and thus decided to shower without changing anything. The temperature of the water was nice and warm, it was perfect as far as he was concerned. He hadn't had a shower in days before his rebirth, and not for some hours after it, and he was going to thoroughly enjoy this.

As he stood under the shower, his body sagged as tiredness overtook stiffness, the stress finally weighing a toll on him. He sat down, letting the water travel from his head and down his body, hiding the tears as he cried. His composure was gone, and his features displayed a deathly tired and distressed look. The utter insanity of everything that had happened to him after he put a bullet in his heart crashed against him like a tide, bringing horror and anguish with it. The impossibility of it all was apparent, but there he was, alive. The tears were short-lived as the former human forced his emotions back. He inhaled shakily and stood up, then he used his teeth to grab a brush and scrub himself. He would take everything as it came, no more no less. He was denied death and he must accept this fact if he hoped to stay sane... as much as he was able to, anyway.

After getting himself clean, he put the brush back, turned off the water, and got a towel to dry himself. He did it with methodical motions, subconsciously counting them in his head. Wiping all the excess water was more difficult than before, partly because of the lack of hands and partly because he had fur covering his entire body. After he finished, he relieved himself in the toilet, flushed, and then he exited the room, closing the door behind him, the light turning off by itself.

With a sigh, he trudged to the bedroom and fell on the bed, strength leaving him. He exhaled with a soft moan, his body shivering at the pleasant texture of the blanket he was lying on. He didn't bother to get under it and fell asleep within a minute despite the evening sun still shining light through the window. His features went neutral, his breathing was low and steady. This night, he slumbered in oblivion, and no dream nor nightmare bothered him.