Salvation | Rebirth

The former human's first half of the day concluded with a hearty dinner consisting of a mix of green peas, corn, lentils, and beans, followed by a pile of roasted potatoes and some fruit for dessert. After washing it all down with a couple of generous cups of water, the young unicorn was immensely satisfied. He felt full and he felt good, something he couldn't achieve as a human before his death. He didn't exactly think of his nutrition too much - earlier in his life, he simply ate what was given to him. Later in life, there were many events that left him without appetite or even any desire to keep himself healthy. It felt wonderful to be out of that terrible dark place in his mind.

He decided to lay outside in the grass and observe the ponies from under some shade. By this point, the word about him had spread, and no one approached him, only looking at him from the distance and whispering between themselves. He wasn't bothered - as far as he was concerned, it would be just fine if no one came to him. Even if someone did approach him, he didn't know what he would do - while the concept of friendship wasn't foreign to him, it had been a long while since he made any friends. Not that he needed them - he thought he would be just fine on his own. He made his way outside once more without any issue and took a place under a tree not too far away from the entrance to the mansion.

Under the shade of a small grove away from him, a group of foals formed a semi-circle around an adult as she explained something to them. They listened attentively, sometimes asking or answering questions, and generally were peaceful and, to the surprise of the former human, rather quiet. In his experience, human children were loud and obnoxious if not sometimes downright malicious, throwing off all attempts at peace and order. If something wasn't given to them, they would shout and cry; if their attention wasn't kept, they would do something stupid to busy themselves, and oftentimes it came down to hurting others for fun. Yet there he was, listening to what was probably a class held there out in the open. The foals weren't running off to play and neither were they interested in talking to each other more than in listening to the teacher. He of course had heard of such things happening somewhere in Europe, but he still had no idea how some people managed to pull it off. Not that he was against it - he much preferred peace and quiet to the disorder and annoyance. If ponies were this good at teaching their young, then maybe he would find it easy to learn as well once he knew the language well enough.

This afternoon, ponies who were not partaking in any classes were either by themselves or under adult supervision doing one activity or the other. Despite the swordsmanship training ending earlier today, a few ponies were sparring, with and without armor. Some chose to spend their time playing a pony equivalent of football, others chased each other for fun or competitively. The shooting area wasn't empty either: certain ponies chose this time to practice their marksmanship. Earth ponies and pegasi used exclusively crossbows thanks to how easy they were to operate compared to bows, the use of which seemed to be impossible for anyone but unicorns. The former human noticed neither bows nor crossbows had any sights - ponies, just like humans in pre-modern times, had to aim instinctively or use the point of the arrow. If he got his hooves on a crossbow, he would certainly add some proper sights. Of course, it wouldn't be optic - he had no idea how to make it. However, he knew well enough how iron sights worked, so he thought it would be an easy project for him to complete.

By the pond, a few ponies were swimming by themselves, playing in the shallow water. The former human had to consider learning how to swim as soon as possible, but not this very day. For now, it would be just enough to observe everything from the sidelines. He knew the watchful eye of Princess Celestia didn't let him go for longer than a few seconds, and he wanted to not be seen as suspicious. As long as he wasn't asked questions, he could simply blend in and try to have a somewhat normal life. He knew he couldn't simply get rid of his past, but the least he could do is to make sure ponies didn't get worried about him and didn't suffer because of his actions. As long as he controlled himself, he and those around him would be fine. For now, his negative thoughts were kept away by the peaceful scenery surrounding him, and he hoped it would continue to be that way. Unfortunately, he didn't doubt these thoughts would return as soon as the distractions were gone. But until then, he was just another pony, just another person.

He inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. It was no time to wail in his misery nor was it time to attract it. The ponies surrounding him didn't care nor did they need to. What he was and what was done to him was his and his alone to deal with, and he would deal with it when no one would bother him and when he couldn't bother anyone either. His human life was over, there was this new life, what came before mattered only to him. And if ponies knew about him, they would cast him out, throw him back to the timberwolves, and rightfully so.

He inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly one more time. He allowed himself to drift where he didn't need to be in his mind at that time. He needed to be calm, collected, and attentive to things around him, not inside him. With that thought firmly pressed into his mind, he continued his observation of ponies.

The youngest foals were over by the playground, climbing on things, talking slightly louder than necessary, and building things in the sandbox. The former human smiled while looking at them - they were so careless, they were happy, and they were free. They had no worries, no expectations, nothing that made life so complicated. For the time being, they could afford to remain this way, and this was the time the former human himself deeply treasured. He was once like them, he reminded himself. One boy among many, growing up among other kids and playing with them. He wasn't the perfect child, nor was he the quietest or the most attentive, but back then, it didn't matter - he lived his life having fun with his friends, and that was all that mattered.

A group of foals was led by a couple of adults from the mansion to the gates of the orphanage - no doubt to show them something, maybe take them to a museum or show them various job sites that they, in the future, would work at. The former human didn't know what his life would be in this new world, he had no idea what he would do for a living. He was much like a foal in this - new to the world, new to what it offered. He was sure he would learn about everything in time, and by then he would know what he'd like to do. He didn't have a choice nor a desire to choose anything when he was a human - certain... circumstances changed him forever, and his life couldn't continue in that wretched, damned, awful place. He shook his head - it was not the time for hate. He had plenty of it to spare, he had more than enough things to hate, but he would rather observe what ponies did instead. It was better this way.

In a few minutes, he managed to steady his wavering mind, making it calm for just this time. The tension in his body faded away, giving way to relief and a sense of serenity. Despite his position - lying on his stomach yet keeping the legs folded underneath in case he needed to move quickly - he was as relaxed as he could be. He even allowed a dragonfly to briefly land on the bridge of his muzzle before taking off elsewhere. A squirrel used his head as a vantage point before jumping onto a branch tree just to his side. A couple birds were courting each other among the foliage, singing their songs. The young unicorn enjoyed this moment of peace as his eyes lazily drifted from one group of ponies to another.

His left ear twitched as someone approached him from the side, and he needed to turn his head just a little bit to see Celestia come closer to him. His body instantly tensed up, but she stopped at a respectable distance while still being under the shade of the same sprawling tree, and laid down. Her position was more relaxed than his as she allowed her legs to rest to her side and not folded underneath her.

"This is indeed a beautiful day," she said gently. The young unicorn's ears flicked but he didn't respond either vocally or with his body, "I'm glad to see you're enjoying it despite who you are."

For a moment, she was silent, simply studying him with her eyes. He pretended to ignore her, turning away slightly without losing the sight of her. In this moment, he wished he could understand her, to hear what she was saying to him. Her gentle voice made him feel at ease, but at the same time, his ignorance of her words made him tense.

"As for who you are... you need a name," she said, and his ears flicked once again, making him turn his head to her. Despite the language barrier, he understood her, to his surprise. She was talking about his name.

He didn't know whether he could give the one he used to have. It held no meaning to him, and he wanted to forget it. But what would his new name be? He didn't have the slightest idea. None of the human names he knew fit him as far as he was concerned, and he couldn't find anything to call himself by. For all intents and purposes, his only choice was to remain nameless.

"In our society, a pony has two names," Celestia continued, mostly to herself, "The first is given by the parents to their foal when the foal is born. The second name the pony chooses for themselves once they attain their talent," she looked at the former human, "You are, of course, a special case. Do you have a name?"

To her surprise, his ears perked up at her question and he turned to look her straight in the eyes. In this one moment, he understood her question completely, and the clarity of it was such as if he asked it himself. He then frowned - how could it happen? With no rational explanation in sight, he could only chalk it up to magic. This new world clearly didn't use conventional rules.

His answer was a shake of his head - his old name was just a word, and it was meaningless where he was now. He couldn't show how to pronounce or write it in the new language either way even if he wanted to.

"Then would you allow me to choose a name for you until you can pick one yourself?" the alicorn asked slowly. For a long moment, the young unicorn stared at her, then nodded with a measure of both caution and disinterest.

"I have a feeling a certain name will fit you," Celestia continued after watching him give his reply, "I name you... Wild."

A soft yet certain feeling of what could only be understood as heartbeat-like thump happened inside the center of the former human's body, resonating throughout. He understood the name Celestia gave him and understood what it meant. In fact, it was perfect for him, at least for now. He was certain magic played a key role in this, somehow. He blinked a few times, then slightly narrowed his eyes - what else could magic do? He needed to learn it before he encountered any unpleasant surprises.

"Yes, this name indeed makes sense..." the alicorn said slowly to herself, "I hope you find a good life among us, Wild."

She stood up and went back to the mansion, confident in letting Wild be by himself - despite where he came from, he was more than 'somewhat' intelligent - he had the capacity to not only understand her but to reply to her in a manner no other Feral before him could. Undoubtedly, the time he spent out in the wild didn't hinder his ability to grow intellectually, however impossible it seemed. And intellect, she knew, meant he wouldn't hurt others unnecessarily as long as no one provoked him, and her warning had already spread among all the other ponies in the orphanage.

Celestia sighed in relief - one question was solved, although it added more to the mystery of the young unicorn. His uniqueness couldn't be ignored and needed to be investigated. It was certainly no coincidence or luck that he was as intelligent as a regular pony of his age - something was at play here. Considering what she had seen so far, it wasn't good, and she was determined to find whoever was responsible for the young unicorn's state.

Wild followed her with a puzzled gaze - he realized he had just had a small yet perfectly understandable conversation with the alicorn. He understood her, and she understood him. Of course, he didn't speak - he didn't need to and didn't want to - but it still proved there was something very interesting to this new world that changed many things he thought he knew, and he expected more surprises to come. There were hints before, but now he was certain even the basics of the universe were very different from what he learned when he was a human.

He stood up from where he was lying and went to the mansion, hoping to rethink everything back in his dorm where no one and nothing could distract him.

Once he was back, he took a short shower and sat on the couch in the living room. Then he thought deeply about what he had just participated in.

He already knew there was some magic at play before, considering unicorns used telekinesis and the pegasi pushed clouds around. This much was clear from observation alone. Now, however, he knew magic was more than this - it was deeper, it permeated his entire being, and it was more than just some kind of energy. After all, he reasoned it couldn't just make him understand Celestia so easily if it were a force like gravity. Gravity didn't translate things or explain itself, neither did any other phenomenon he knew of. Magic was something different entirely, and now he wanted to learn it more than ever. He needed to understand its secrets, he needed to know how it worked, if only to protect himself.

The first thing he could start with was telekinesis. He was a unicorn, he should be able to do it easily enough if all the other unicorns could. He looked at the shelves opposite the couch - as he noticed when he first arrived, they were filled with books. He could just as well start with trying to move them. At first, he simply concentrated on a random book, trying to will his magic to grab it. However, despite his physical strain - which was just unnecessary tension in his body - nothing happened. He tried to relax, then he reached out with his mind, imagining an arm extending from him and grabbing the book. Once again, nothing happened. He tried to repeat it in different ways, yet he failed every single time, and he couldn't feel anything magical.

Then he thought about his horn. He was so far trying things with his mind and imagination - he realized his horn was the obvious starting point. He focused on his horn instead, and felt something - a faint tingle. Snatching the opportunity, he increased his focus, concentrating fully on his horn. The tingle remained the same - vague, but certainly there. He frowned - what was he doing wrong? Unfortunately, he could neither ask nor read about it, this being the downside of his illiteracy of the pony language.

He made another attempt, this time imagining the magic going from his body through his horn and then grabbing the book like he would do with his hand. To his satisfaction, a glow indeed appeared around the book - it was faint, barely visible, and silver in color. He felt around inside his body using his mind and finally realized what invisible muscle he had to flex to connect his mind to magic and to his body. With the realization complete, he poured his magic into his horn and outwards to the book, and finally managed to pull it from the shelf and bring it to him. To his surprise, the shape of the magical aura around the book wasn't a shimmering shapeless blob but a hand - his hand. He put the book next to him and let go, and the magical hand remained. He closed his fist and then released it, looking at his hand from all the directions he could think of. At first, it was weird - a hand was never supposed to bend like this, especially not with such ease. Then, as he thought about his other hand, it appeared as well, and now he was flexing both in front of his eyes.

With a thoughtful frown on his face, he made a fist with one of them and punched the couch. It reacted as he would expect a couch to react to a hit. He hummed to himself about the discovery, then went around the living room manipulating the books and other objects with his magical pair of hands. He could feel the temperature and the texture of everything he touched, but the feeling was completely detached from his body and seemed to stem from inside him instead. It was unusual and odd, but he had a feeling he would get used to it sooner or later.

Wild put everything back where it belonged and then, true to one of his habits, attempted to pop his knuckles. He went through the motions but no sound was made aside from a quiet hum of the magical aura that was present throughout his magic usage. He attempted a clap, and it made a sound of air rushing from between his palms to the outside, yet it didn't exactly sound like a clap.. He knocked the knuckles together - it had almost the same sound as before, although quieter. He scratched his head in confusion.

Telekinesis certainly acted differently compared to just using arms. With a brief thought, he made his magical hands disappear, and he sat back down on the couch. Now that he knew the basics of telekinesis, what could he do? At the very least, opening and closing things, as well as eating, would be easier. Then a better thought visited his head - he could get into swordsmanship and carry over some skill from his human experience! And now, because ponies didn't look like they had any truly advanced weapons, his skills with medieval weapons would be useful outside of recreational activities. If it came down to it, he would probably be able to hold his own in a fight. The question remained just how much previously-learned skill he could use with his new body and with telekinesis. Undoubtedly, he would have to unlearn some of his entrenched habits - telekinesis was not as limiting as hands and arms, so he needed to learn not to limit himself. And on the other hand, maybe the way he was taught would be beneficial against people used to seeing telekinesis in combat. Only time could tell.

Wild decided it was a good time to get a good jog into him while his mood was good, as well as try to replicate the moves he had seen ponies do during their swordsmanship training. After that, he would likely have a snack and go to bed - he hoped to tire himself out completely by the end of his training.

Overall, he thought this first day held promise for the new world and ponies especially - he didn't expect this day to go as smoothly as it did, and maybe, just maybe, this world was indeed much better than the one he died in.

Regarding this as a positive thought, Wild headed outside.