This is set in the wonderful world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I highly recommend the series if you haven't read it.

Now I could start this tale with a bang. A pegasus slamming through my apartment's balcony door like an oversized pigeon counts as one, but I believe a proper introduction is in order first.

My name is Doris, and this is my story. I'm a monster, a creature from Greek mythology. To be more specific I'm a scythian dracanae, which means from the waist up I'm a normal woman, but from the waist down I have snake legs. This would make blending in with the population here in New York City difficult, except for the existence of the mist.

The mist is so useful. It distorts what mortals perceive, and paying rent is much easier when your landlord can't tell the difference between a dollar and monopoly money. However, the day this started wasn't the first Saturday of the month so I didn't have to bamboozle him. June 15th dawned nice and sunny, with just a hint of cloud cover. I treated myself to some cereal while watching the morning news. The top story was about a fissure opening up in Central Park. It was the first clue that this day was going to go sideways.

"… News, live from Central Park, where a gaping chasm has opened in the ground. I'm here with an eyewitness who saw the whole thing. Sir, what did you see?"

The female reporter turned towards what looked like a crazy hobo. His eyes were wild, his hair unkempt, and as he began to speak I could see that his teeth were yellow. "It was terrible! First the ground shook, and then the earth opened up. I heard it leave, and I also heard the screams that came with it!"

The reporter seemed startled by this. "… Sir, are you trying to say that something came out of the chasm?"

The hobo fidgeted. "Well I didn't actually look into it. I've seen Indiana Jones, I know not to look at biblical things when they open up. And… and that hole there opening up while emitting the wailing of the damned was definitely something biblical!"

The reporter paused for a moment. "Well there you have it folks. Did a portal to Hell open up in Central Park, or just to my mother-in-law's soul? America, you decide."

The news then moved on to something more boring and I lost interest. Some human interest piece about a missing local woman and her delinquent son.

Continuing with my morning routine, I went outside to my apartment's small balcony. My snake legs needed sunlight and warmth to get the cold blood pumping. I was still there a few hours later when the pegasus streaked into my apartment like a feathered kamikaze. Of course I didn't actually know that it was a pegasus right then, I was too busy engaging my 'get out of the way' instincts. It was when I rose up from behind the couch to take stock of my apartment that I first saw her.

Doris and the Olympians: the Sword of Damocles

The coffee table, the glass door, and half the kitchen chairs were reduced to kindling. Shards of wood and glass littered the floor. Lastly, the pegasus that had caused all of this lay on its side near my couch.

I moved closer to examine its body. If you've ever seen a horse up close, you'll understand it when I say that it was big. It's one thing to see an animal in drawings and sculptures, and another thing entirely to see several hundred pounds of flesh and muscle in person. The poor beast definitely wouldn't fit in a garbage bag, I'd have to dispose of it some other way. Its beautiful midnight black fur and feathers were marred by numerous cuts and scratches. The worst was a deep wound on its back between the wings, which was completely coated with blood.

I wondered how it had ended up here. Were pegasi like birds, unable to see glass until it was too late? Did an uppity halfblood try to ride to the home of the gods (currently anchored to the Empire State Building), only to get smacked down and sending it and its poor mount on separate trajectories? Was this the result of a failed test of an anti-monster PGM, a pegasi guided missile?

After all, while pegasi were monsters just as I was, they usually sided with the halfblood children of the gods in the age old struggle between monsters and (half) humans. Pegasus himself assisted the hero Bellerophon for a time, and his descendants have followed his lead.

Then its eyes opened. Two iridescent orbs rolled around in their sockets as I tried to process the fact that it was still alive. Then the eyes closed and the pegasus began to emit pained horse noises.

I froze. For a brief moment, I debated fetching my spear and ending the poor beast's misery. Isn't that what often happened with animals that were too badly hurt? I thought it was dead at first after all, and it was definitely in severe pain.

Then my mind flashed back several decades to a day when a young girl brought home an injured cat to her parents. I shuddered. Never again.

That still left the question of what to do with the pegasus. I couldn't just leave it here to bleed on my floor forever, and if I wasn't going to kill it, well, that only left one thing. Helping it.

I was very careful in approaching it. While I wasn't an expert on pegasi or horses, I knew that being kicked by one was similar to being hit by a car. That was not something I wanted happening to me. Plus, if I spooked it, it might injure itself in panic.

"Hey there." I said softly. "I'm going to try and help you."

At these words the creature's eyes snapped open to look at me. I felt like shrinking back under its gaze, but I wouldn't back down. For a brief eternity we both stared at each other. The pegasus was the first to look away, nodding slightly.

I set to work. Grabbing my first aid kit, I started with what was obviously wrong. I pulled out wooden splinters and glass shards, dressed the bleeding wounds, and tried to smooth out the ruffled feathers in its wings. As I worked I became acquainted with the facts that this was a female pegasus, and that her blood got into absolutely everything. After what felt like hours I managed to finish addressing her various cuts and gashes. If there were any broken bones or anything else wrong with her I couldn't treat it.

After checking again to make sure she was still alive, I grabbed paper towels and began to clean up the golden blood that coated the pegasus, the floor, and myself. Hours passed as I furiously scrubbed at the stubborn blood stains, swept up debris off the floor, and replaced the shattered balcony door with the spare bedsheet and liberal amounts of duct tape. By nighttime I was left with a battered apartment, two band aids, and a pegasus that looked more like an Egyptian mummy than a creature out of Greek myth.

In the meantime I had come across a problem. I didn't know the pegasus's name. Seeing as it lacked any tags, collars, or any other marks of identification, it was up to me, myself, and my imagination to come up with a name.

Unfortunately Pegasus was already taken. I looked at the pegasus's iridescent eyes, then to her midnight black fur. Back at the multicolored eyes, then to a mane that was the color of coal. Back to the rainbow eyes, and then to her pitch black tail.

"I'm going to call you Rainbow." I stated confidently. "Blackie is a dog's name anyways."

The newly named Rainbow sighed and closed her eyes. Whether it was a sigh of acquiescence, protest, or resignation was beyond me.

"It's a good name!" I defended, just in case.

Rainbow opened her namesake eyes to look at me and gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. Score!

By this point it was well past dinnertime and I just wanted the day to end. As bad as I would feel if my guest died during the night, I did need to get some sleep. I had also done everything I could do for her. Yet I still found myself nervously standing near Rainbow, wondering if there was anything else that could be done. Her eyes opened and looked at me, and I shrank before them.

"I… I'm going to bed soon. Do you need anything?" I bit out.

She stared at me. Could pegasi even talk? I would feel silly if after this I learned that pegasi couldn't talk. She seemed to understand English though, so maybe she could write, or learn to write, or play charades, or –

The pegasus interrupted that train of thought by giving her head a small shake from side to side.

I went to my room and prepare for bed. Just before I fell asleep a flash of inspiration struck me. I took the top sheets off of my bed and dragged them into the living room. Draping them over my guest assuaged my conscience, and I returned to my room and fell asleep.