Salvation | Rebirth

The former human slept peacefully through the night and woke up early in the morning. The sun hadn't quite risen all the way yet, but his bedroom was already bright enough to discern more than just basic gray-and-black shapes. His eyes were open, and the grogginess of sleep quickly faded away as his mind came to focus. The first thing he noticed was the absence of all aches - he would often wake up with them in his later years, and especially after an event he dared not think of. Now, there was only a dryness of a morning throat and an annoying pressure somewhere between his hind legs. With a small grunt, he got up from the bed and stretched a bit, waking up completely and warming up his body for the day ahead. Even in his worst years, his body was flexible and mobile, and the new body proved to be just as good at it when he did splits along with some more proper equine stretches that he could think of. Unfortunately, he could no longer scratch his back or fold backwards much - his body was stiff in that direction and he didn't think it would change even with more stretches.

After finishing these brief morning exercises, the young unicorn walked out of his bedroom. He went through the living room, noting a clock he previously unintentionally ignored - it was a circular clock with three arms, looking like the same style of clock humanity used. It also seemed to have the same twelve-hour time measurement system, each hour consisting of sixty minutes, and each minute was sixty seconds. The former human wondered how ponies came to use such a system - after all, twelve- and sixty-based systems were both thought up by humans who used their fingers as a reference.

With this thought, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. After relieving himself as best he could with the body limits that he still had, he hopped into the bathtub for a quick shower. To his surprise, the water was warm as soon as he turned it on. In his memory, he always had to wait from a few seconds to a few minutes for it to become pleasant, especially deep in the night or early in the morning, but he didn't mind this change at all. He briefly wondered how to clean his teeth with a toothbrush and, not seeing how he could do it, resorted to showering his teeth and lightly scraping at them with his fetlock. It wasn't particularly pleasant, and his fur had an unusual taste, but it did work somewhat. After spitting the water out, he turned it off and got out of the tub to dry himself off. Following that, he drank some water from the sink, and it tasted well. He didn't particularly care if the water was perfectly clean, but his low expectations of tap water were destroyed by its high quality. The ponies, despite their medieval armament, apparently knew a lot about proper piping and sewage systems, considering their high-quality modern bathrooms. They by far beat the hole-in-the-floor kind of toilets prevalent for the majority of humanity's history.

He paused to look at himself in the mirror. His usual deathly tired look was but a shadow now. A good night's of quality sleep on a comfortable mattress did wonders for his energy levels, and his eyes shone with life. There wasn't a spring in his step or any other external display of the abundance of energy he now had, but he could feel it inside him. His looks gave him confidence - he wasn't malnourished as far as he could tell and feel, his fur was shiny with health and his mane was dense and thick just as he had noted the day before. Overall, he felt better now than any time in the past decade. He flicked his mane back with a small move of his head, and then let a small smile appear on his face - he certainly didn't look too bad either, all things considered.

His eyes then shifted to his scarred ear and he frowned, the smile slipping away as quickly as it appeared. His scars were still there, reminding him of his experiences. He remembered the screech of metal, a flash of pain in his left ear, and hot blood rolling down the side of his head. The rest of his body was badly bruised and beaten, it was a miracle he survived. Many times since then, he wished he did not. Yet, the facts were straight and clear: he was there, and the scar was his mark of survival. He turned away from the mirror and exited the bathroom, hoping to find something else to focus his mind on.

His stomach rumbled in a reminder - it was time for breakfast. He imagined all the fruit he could snack on, especially diced and mixed with oatmeal or something similar; how he could then eat a salad of mixed vegetables, sprinkled with spices to give it a little kick, and then he could maybe have some cookies. His mouth salivated at the thought and he hurried to the door leading out of his dorm. Yesterday was the first time he had a decent meal in months, and he liked the thought of having it again and again - it would be wonderful if he no longer had to struggle to fulfill his basic needs like food, especially when he refused to eat certain things under any circumstances.

The former human tugged the handle of his front door down and exited his dorm. From the skylight, he could see many dark clouds, and the glass was blurry with water running across it. He swore he didn't see those clouds when he woke up just around ten minutes ago. Now, he could hear a steady yet quiet beat of water against the ceiling. However, this weather didn't stop foals of all ages playing around downstairs. They seemed organized, playing hide-and-seek as far as the former human could tell. Aside from them, some foals were sitting further away, talking between themselves or reading. None of them noticed the young unicorn slipping out of the previously unoccupied dorm.

The former human wondered if he was truly left alone with no supervision as he descended from the second floor to the first. He walked quietly as not to attract unwanted attention, keeping close to the walls as to be out of the way. He was ready for confrontations but he was in no particular mood to be looking for them. Thankfully, he slipped out of the mansion's wing unnoticed and headed to the dining hall, remembering the way to it as he went. He passed a few foals who glanced at him but didn't bother him, refraining to whispering between themselves.

As he was now alone in the corridor, he felt it - an unmistakeable feeling of a presence nearby, someone watching him. Noticing such a thing was a skill one needed to train, but it could come in handy at times like these. The former human stopped in his tracks and listened. There it was - a quiet, suppressed sound of a breath that was not his. He spun around and... there was no one. Did his brain deceive him? He focused, concentrating on his vision.

In the eyes, there are things that float around, usually seemingly invisible. However, once one focuses on them, they become difficult to ignore until their existence is temporarily forgotten. The former human concentrated on the surrounding area in front of him, and there it was - an outline, barely visible. His eyes traced it and painted him an imaginary picture - it was a pony, an alicorn if he were to be specific. Now he understood - it was not a trick of his brain but a spell of invisibility. He wasn't left unsupervised - he was simply made unable to see it.

He raised his hoof and gestured at the invisible princess, none other than Celestia. He tilted his head and looked straight where her eyes were supposed to be. Despite not seeing them, he felt the connection, and then felt her emotions - it was surprise mixed in with some fear. She broke the connection along with the spell and popped back into visibility.

"Hello," she said, barely stuttering. Her face was neutrally pleasant, her eyes had a glitter of interest, "Alright... you, well," she cleared her throat, "You got me. I see you were heading for breakfast, and, well, I can escort you there if you don't remember the way."

The former human inclined his head, wondering what was said. Judging by her tone, the first word she spoke was a greeting, a slightly nervous one at that. The rest had a meaning he couldn't yet understand. In any case, she didn't seem threatening. He expected to feel anger at her for watching him like this, but he found no good reason to feel that way. Instead, there was interest - he would very much like to learn this spell for his own uses.

However, what he needed right now was food. He turned around and resumed walking in the direction of the cafeteria, his mind bringing up an imagined map of the place, and he was sure he was heading the right way. He always had an inner sense of direction, and, as far as he could remember, he never got lost even among the most unfamiliar of places. Like many times before, his legs carried him to his destination without much hesitation.

Celestia didn't do anything for a moment and then followed him, wondering. For a Feral, he was remarkably intelligent - not just any pony can notice the spell of invisibility. Perhaps it was his dangerous life in the Everfree that taught him to be alert and aware. After all, the accursed forest was not a welcoming place for anyone, least of all foals. The young unicorn was bound to pick up certain things in order to survive there.

This thought stung her deeply. Just what did he experience there, what hardships did he have to go through? Where were his parents, what became of them? How much time did he spend in the forest? The scars on his body hid a great many stories, stories of dangers, escapes, and fights. His body was certainly nimble, packing the right amount of muscle. His eyes displayed alertness only seen in the best of the Royal Guards, those with experience. His steps were quiet, deceivingly relaxed, yet the princess could sense his readiness to jump into action when - not if - needed.

The Night Guard of Equestria begun its search for the answers at dusk, yet nothing came of it yet. Records of ponies born twelve to fifteen years ago found no unicorn of a matching description, no missing posters were recovered in the nearby settlements, there was simply nothing. Celestia held hope something would be found, but she suspected it was in vain - the young unicorn was almost certainly alone and the only one of his kind.

The former human was deep in thought as well while his legs automatically carried him through the corridors. He was alive, he felt alive, but... what next? He woke up this day, yet he didn't expect to live past the last night he was human. He remembered squeezing the trigger, hearing the shot, feeling the impact, and seeing his own blood escaping his body. Yet there he stood now, alive and well.

Last time he thought about it, he wanted to cry. Now, however, he felt... empty. He reacted to what was happening around him, but not much more. He felt hunger, so he went to where the food was at. He knew someone was watching him, so he found it out. Once he saw there was no danger, he returned to walking towards food. As his hooves clopped against the tile floors of one of the corridors, he felt nothing about his life. He knew there was still some feeling somewhere, he saw it in the bathroom, but those whispers did little. What was the point?

Everything around him was haze, an unimportant blur. He was a part of that blur, blending in almost perfectly. He didn't notice how he got to be at one of the cafeteria tables, eating slowly and mechanically, noticing the taste but not quite feeling it. Something was said around him, someone passed in front of his vision. Why did any of it have to matter? He died, yet he lived, but why? It made no sense, and all he wanted his life to do is end. However, now he was stuck, his choice taken away from him forever. He knew there was no use thinking about it, yet he couldn't stop his doubts and his fears from coming back time and time again to haunt him even in the little time he had to experience his second life.

That was it. His second life. He never expected it, never thought it could truly happen. However, there he was, sitting on a bench finishing his first breakfast. He finally came back to his senses and looked around: some ponies certainly glanced at him from time to time, few outright stared. The cafeteria seemed a bit quiet, yet no one was completely silent except him. What he did notice was the emptiness surrounding him - no one was willing to sit next to him. He was glad it was the case.

The former human focused and recollected himself. He couldn't stop the flow of negative thoughts, yet one thing had to remain clear - he could do something with his second life. It didn't start in a poverty-stricken desolated part of a world at war, he wasn't sacrificed to a non-existent god, he wasn't beaten to death or eaten alive. Many horrible things could've happened to him, yet they didn't happen. He was instead found and given home, food, and water. Of course, this didn't make the ponies surrounding him trustworthy, but it was a decent beginning.

Hoof steps sounded to his side, and the former human turned his head in the direction. Hesitantly, someone was approaching him - he recognized the pony as one of the few that saw him walk with the princess in just the day before. He was, from what the young unicorn could guess, a colt slightly younger than him in body, an earth pony. He came closer and closer until the former human felt the invisible and imagined pressure of his presence too close for comfort. He rose slightly from the bench, his body tensing.

"Please, don't come too close," Princess Celestia spoke softly to the colt, "He gets agitated."

"Ah, um... I'm sorry," the colt said, "I just want to, uh, meet him. Is it true he was found... in the Everfree?"

"Yes, it is," the alicorn nodded, earning a few quiet gasps among the foals present, "He doesn't talk and he doesn't... like company. Perhaps a friend could help him, but not yet."

The former human eyed the colt with caution, his heartbeat rate increasing ever so slightly. The colt then said something to the princess and left, relieving some tension in the cafeteria. Slowly, the former human sat back down and finished his meal. In uncertainty that followed, he simply stared ahead of himself, thinking - what next? It quickly dawned on him - he needed to learn the language of the ponies. However, it would be next to impossible to do when he didn't want to speak.

"I hope you liked this breakfast," Celestia said, gaining his attention, "Maybe you're willing to learn the language, young stallion? Follow me, please."

The part following the question was clear to the former human - the alicorn said it when she wanted him to go after her before. Undoubtedly, this was what she wanted of him now as well. He stood up from the bench, and the two walked out of the quiet cafeteria and back into the hallways of the mansion. The princess led him to one of the larger rooms: this one included many different objects, ranging from wooden cubes with different letters or similar symbols as well as pictures on them to complex objects like clocks, cameras, even a few TV sets and what looked like speakers.

"Let us start with the basics," Celestia said, sitting down in the middle of the room. The young unicorn went around her, keeping his distance, and sat with his back to the farthest wall, making both the alicorn and the entrance visible in front of him, as well as some windows to the left of him. Once he settled, she gestured at herself and said her own name. She put her hoof down and then repeated both the motion and the word. Then just her own name.

The former human now understood - this word was her name. He gestured at her, earning a nod of approval.

"I am Celestia," she said, gesturing at herself again, "I."

This was simple as well, so the colt gestured at her again.

"You," she said, gesturing at him. Then she gestured at herself and said, "I." She then used one hoof to point at the colt and one to point at herself, "We."

Celestia said those words in random order next, testing how well the former human understood them, and he made not a single mistake. Throughout the exercise, he didn't speak once, however, which worried her.

She had no doubts now - the one she thought was a Feral was extremely intelligent compared to others of his kind. He easily picked up the meaning of the words even without the ability to speak, and he would certainly be quick at learning the basics of the language.

The lesson continued for what seemed like hours. Celestia named every single object in the room, including the walls, windows, floor, ceiling, door, and doorway. She used different kinds of drawings to test how well the former human could understand the distinction between an object and a drawing of an object. She found out he understood how to count, add, and subtract, and thus her impression with him grew.

"I think this should be all for today," she said after some time, "I know you don't understand me just yet, but I will let your mind rest. I see you're eager to learn, but all things should be in moderation, including learning. Now you can... walk around and explore."

Unbeknownst to her, the former human was thinking the same thing. This lesson gave him motivation to discover and learn, and this would certainly begin with making a full mental map of the entire place, starting with this very building. Filled with energy, the young unicorn was ready for the new, and his dark thoughts were pushed away...

For a time.