Chapter One: It Came From the Everfree Forest
The Everfree forest was a place full of dangers. Manticores, Sea Serpents, and a multitude of other monsters filled out its population. But today a new creature had appeared in the dark woods, something new to Equestria. This interesting creature was unlike anything anypony had ever seen. Rather than walk on the common four limbs, this strange being walked on two. It still had four limbs, though, its other two extending from its shoulders and ending in odd appendages with five digits each, which seemed as though they served a purpose. Not that many ponies fully understand the advantages that came with having fingers.
As it was, the new thing, whatever it was, was stumbling through the dangerous woodland, scared and bewildered. It could feel its heart pounding in its chest, and it was breathing like a bellows. It moved from tree to tree, pausing for only seconds at each. Leaves and branches crackled underneath the odd appendages at the end of its legs, but it kept moving. It didn't know why, but it just knew that it had to keep moving. Something felt unnatural about the forest to it, and it had been running for a long time.
A growl came from its right, and it jumped away, nearly falling over. It doubled its pace, keeping a steady direction. Not many coherent thoughts were passing through its head, but it seemed to remember that the best way to get out of a forest when lost was to go in one direction and keep going that way. Eventually it would reach an edge. Fear coursed through its veins, mixing with already dangerous levels of adrenaline. It stumbled into a clearing, and for the first time in days felt sunlight kiss its sweat-drenched skin. Seeing no immediate threat, it paused for a moment. Running one of its upper appendages through its dark hair, its leaned heavily on a tree. It was wearing a long, brown coat, and a pair of denim pants. It wore nothing else, which had taken its toll on its body. This was evident by the amount of scratches and bruises which adorned its exposed torso. A loud screech echoed through the mysterious woodland, and its flight continued.
Meanwhile a different creature was leaving her interesting house, headed out to see a friend of yet another species.
"I'll be back soon, Spike! Keep shelving those books!" She shouted as she closed the door on her home.
"Yeah, yeah," A muffled voice came from inside the literal tree house.
Shaking her head in light exasperation, the purple quadruped trotted along a well worn road, saddlebags bobbing up and down on her sides. She greeted others like her along the way, albeit they did not share her colors.
She walked towards a looming mass, a dense growth that bordered the town of Ponyville. As she neared the border of the village, she was stopped by an excited shout.
"Twilight!" She heard, the voice belonging to bubbly, pink friend of hers.
"Hi, Pinkie Pie," She replied, still walking.
"Hey, that rhymes! I love rhymes, they're so fun! Hey, have you heard this rhyme? It goes like this! Oranges are-"
Twilight held a hoof in front of her friends mouth, chuckling, "Pinkie, I'm kind of busy right now, did you need something?"
"Oh, nope! I just wanted to see what you were doing! So, what are you doing?" Her pink companion asked.
"I'm headed into the Everfree forest to see Zecora. I have a few ideas I want to test with her potions." Twilight explained, resuming her trek to the dense wood.
"Ooh! Zecora rhymes all the time! Can I come with you Twilight? Please?" Pinkie drew out the last word, giving her friend a pleading look.
"Of course, Pinkie. I'd love to have your company." Twilight spoke, still with a light chuckle.
"Yay!" The hyper-active pony exclaimed, falling into step with her friend.
The two traveled down the slowly disappearing trail leading into the forest. Normally, they would be more cautious about entering such a dangerous place, but Zecora lived near the edge of the forest, and few of the wildwood's more dangerous inhabitants ventured that far out. Not out of fear of the outside world, but rather because they had an innate sense of territory. They kept their boundaries, and the ponies kept theirs. Few exceptions occurred, one of them being the zebra.
Calmly listening to her energetic companion's rambling, Twilight walked through the thicket, making sure to avoid the poison joke flowers. Soon enough, they reached the exotic hut ensconced in the trees around it.
Just as Twilight was going to knock, she heard something. Pausing, she listened.
"Oh, what is it?" Pinkie asked, catching onto her friend's uneasiness.
"I don't know, but I think it is getting closer." Twilight responded, listening to the loud steps coming their way.
Deciding that knocking was her best options, Twilight pounded on the door, perhaps a bit louder than needed.
"Zecora? Are you home?" She called, a worried tinge in her voice.
"Zecora! It's us, your friends Pinkie and Twilight!" Pinkie called, keeping her upbeat demeanor despite the looming threat.
The door swiftly opened, and their black and white friend said "Come in, fast, or you may not last!"
Rushing inside, the two ponies and their zebra friend dashed to a window, waiting to see when the monster they heard would leave.
"I do not know what it could be, animals this far out, I do not usually see." Zecora told them, huddled between the two ponies.
"Whatever it is, I think is about to pass right in front of us." Twlight said, "Should we let it see us?"
"I think so! What if its friendly? I could throw it a big party, with a whole bunch of cake! I bet something that big could eat a lot of cake!" Pinkie was bouncing in front of the window.
"Pinkie, I highly doubt that something that big that lives in this forest would want to come to Ponyville for a party! It probably doesn't even know what cake is!" Twilight said, almost scolding her friend. She knew the mare meant well, but sometimes it felt like that pony just didn't understand how dangerous things could be.
With a gasp, Pinkie said "Doesn't know what cake is? That's horrible! That settles it, I have to give it some cake! And maybe some cookies, and oh! Muffins! Do you think it knows what muffins are?"
Her hoof to her head, Twilight said "Pinkie, that thing is likely very dangerous, I wouldn't be surprised if it had giant teeth, huge claws, and was covered in sharp fur!"
As she was semi-focused on her friend, Twilight did not understand why the two of them began to giggle just a bit as they looked out the window. Looking through the glass, Twilight gasped in a way that could have made Pinkie jealous.
"What is THAT?" She shouted, rushing out of the door. "I've never seen anything like it! Not even in my books! This could be a whole new species!"
She was soon investigating the strange creature that had stumbled out of the wood. She had whipped out a pencil and paper, and was taking notes as she dashed around it.
"It seems to be wearing clothes! Clothes! This is so exciting, I may have just found an intelligent species that we have never met before! Isn't this exciting?" Twilight exclaimed as she continued her investigation.
At a slower pace, her two friends joined her in front of Zecora's hut. The thing, whatever it was, had stumbled into the clearing, and collapsed. It was currently lying face down in the grass and dirt.
"Look at its mane! Its so short, and it only seems to be on its head! And that shade of black, it's a lot like yours, Zecora!" Twilight continued, the pencil scribbling at a frenzied pace on her paper.
"Yes, this is true. Now, maybe you should move away, before it harms you." Zecora said, beckoning the excited pony.
"I think its sleeping!" Pinkie said, "Hello? Anybody in there?" She added, directly by what she assumed was its ear.
With a start, the creature snapped up. Already back on its feet, it backed away from the ponies, a panicked look on its face.
"What? Who? Where am I?" It shouted, a hand on its head, "Oh, my head,"
"It speaks Equestrian! This is amazing!" Twlight exclaimed, a thin trail of smoke now coming off of her pencil.
"Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie, what's yours?" Pinkie asked, rushing right up to the new creature.
"I- Bu- What?" It stuttered, "Talking horses?"
The three watched as its eyes rolled up into its head, and it fell back onto the ground.
"Pinkie!" Twilight scolded, "Couldn't you see how scared it was?"
"Did you not see yourself, pony?" Zecora said.
Twilight gained an embarrassed look on her face, and she apologized to her pink friend.
"What are we going to do?" Pinkie asked, calming down some, "He actually looks kind of hurt."
Twilight hadn't noticed the multitude of injuries adorning the strange creatures' body.
"Pinkie!" She said, an idea forming, "Go get Fluttershy! She might have some idea what to do."
An abnormally serious look on her face, Pinkie gave Twilight a prompt salute, and ran off towards the house of their shy pegasus friend.
"Zecora," She continued, firmly taking charge, "Help me get it inside, we will probably need some disinfectants."
Forgoing her rhyming ways, Zecora merely nodded and wrapped her forelegs around the creatures arms.
"Good," Twilight said, her horn alight, her paper and quill floating back into her bags, "I'll get the longer limbs. Legs, maybe?"
Half covered in a magenta glow, the creature was slowly carried inside the hut by the two friends.
Once they were fully in, and the door was shut, Twilight's quill was back out and quick at work again, taking even more notes.
"Interesting, it seems to only have two legs, instead of four. It reminds me of primates, only with less hair, and taller." Twilight muttered, "If only I knew the gender."
"I do not know how to tell, out of nowhere, this thing must have fell." Zecora said, starting a mixture in her pot.
"Hmm, well, its voice certainly sounded male, but this creature is so odd, I don't' know how to proceed!" Twilight said, frustrated, "Maybe I should just wait for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to get back."
No sooner than she said this did her two friends appear in the doorway.
"Out of the way!" Fluttershy said, a rare authoritative tone in her voice.
She was quick to inspect the odd creature, nearly shoving Twilight out of the way.
"I came as quick as I could!" She said, looking over the body of the strange creature, "Pinkie said you had found a badly injured animal by Zecora's hut, and I knew I had to help!"
The next fifteen minutes passed in a blur for most of the ponies present. Fluttershy would give an order, and whoever she ordered would do as she said, not knowing what else to do.
Soon enough, the odd animal was almost completely covered in bandages along its torso and feet, and Fluttershy was sitting down with a sigh.
"I'm glad you got me, girls," Fluttershy said, "I may not have ever seen anything like it, but those cuts were bad! Whatever happened to it, we may have just saved its life."
The adrenaline wearing off, Fluttershy realized just how she had acted when she burst in, and quickly withdrew into herself with a timid squeak. "I'm sorry for being so bossy." She apologized.
"Oh, don't worry about it," Twilight told her, "Like you said, you may have just saved this creatures life, whatever it is."
A moment of silence passed, and was broken by Pinkie "What do we do now?"
Twilight thought for a moment, then replied, "I think we should get it back into Ponyville. We may not be able to take it to the hospital, but it can't stay here. Fluttershy, do you think you could take it in until it is better?"
Fear battled with excitement on the shy ponies' features, but she replied with a quiet yes nonetheless.
So it went that the three ponies bade Zecora good bye, and left the Everfree forest, promising to keep her updated on the status of the puzzling new creature.
As they walked, the weight split between herself and Pinkie for the time being, Twilight asked "So, Fluttershy, do you know what gender it is?"
"Oh, I, well, I think it is male, but I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like it, so I could only tell you for sure if I knew what it looked like without all these clothes." Fluttershy stammered, "But I think it is wearing clothes for a reason, maybe we should just wait to ask it when it wakes up."
With a sigh, Twilight agreed. But still she studied the strange creature as they trotted towards Fluttershy's cottage.
Once there, they set up a makeshift bed using some blankets and pillows Fluttershy had around, and set the animal down on it.
"We'll be sure to come back tomorrow," Twilight told her, "But just in case it wakes up, take this,"
She handed Fluttershy a pencil from her saddlebag, and it glowed the signature color of Twilight's magic for a few seconds.
"There," She said, "If you need me right away, just break that pencil The spell I cast on it will alert me, and I'll be here as soon as I can be, okay?"
With a light nod from their yellow friend, Twilight and Pinkie exited her small home.
"OhmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOSH! I am so excited! We just discovered a new animal! What if it can fly, or teleport, or, has super strength!" Pinkie rambled, "This is so sweet!"
"Pinkie," Twilight said, a light smile on her face, "The only thing we ponies don't have that you mentioned is super strength, and even then I've seen some strong ponies. I mean, just look at Big Macintosh, he's really strong."
"Oh, you're right! I wonder who is stronger, monkey-thing or Big Mac? Oooh, I just have to know now! Do you think it is awake yet?" Pinkie continued, "I just can't wait for it to wake up, now!"
Looking into the sky, Twilight noticed that the sun was nearly setting. "Wow," She thought, "How long were we busy with that animal?"
Deciding that she had had enough excitement for the day, Twilight said goodbye to her dynamic friend, and headed home.
A quick trot through Ponyville later, Twilight was pushing open the door to her library home.
"Spike? Are you home?" She called, closing the door with her hind leg. Receiving no answer, she let out a small sigh. He had probably been roped into some scheme with the Cutie Mark Crusaders again. "I guess I'll have to do it myself."
Withdrawing a new sheet of paper from her bag, and one of her quills from a shelf, she began her letter to the Princess.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I made an amazing discovery! I was with Pinkie Pie at my friend Zecora's home when an incredible creature stumbled across us from deeper in the Everfree forest. We had never seen anything like it, and I'm quite sure no one else has, either! It was odd, it walked on two legs, and it wore clothes! It even spoke, in Equestrian nonetheless! At first we found it after it had fallen unconscious, but Pinkie woke it up just by being herself. It jumped to its feet and we could tell it was panicked. It seemed confused, and mentioned that its head hurt. I was just so astounded, the pencil I was using was almost on fire because of my magic! Then it noticed us, and said 'What? Talking horses?' and fainted again. This time, we noticed that it was badly injured, so Pinkie went to retrieve Fluttershy, and she helped bandage it up. We took it to her home then, and she agreed to keep an eye on it for now.
I am sending this to you, along with a copy of the notes I took, because I need to know if the royal archives have any information on creatures like this. Also, I thought I should ask you before I proceed with my research on it, as it seems prudent to be careful when discovering a new species, especially an intelligent one. And, I will admit, because I am excited! This is just so amazing, I may have just discovered another species! An intelligent one, too!
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle"
Rolling the letter up, Twilight sealed it like her other letters, and set it on the table she had been using.
"Oh, I hope Spike gets home soon, I can't wait to send this letter to the Princess!"
Elsewhere, Fluttershy was reentering her home, a bag of seeds across her back. She sat them on a small table in her modest living room, and looked to her stove. Lying beside it was the mysterious animal that she had bandaged up along with her friends. Noticing that it was still sleeping, she slowly moved closer. Only a few feet away, she noticed it shiver, and draw the blankets covering it closer.
"Oh!" She quietly let out, "It's cold!"
She rushed over to a closet, she grabbed the thickest blanket she could find. She quickly draped it over the cold animal. Its shivering had soon stopped, and it relaxed in its sleep.
"There," She softly said, "All better,"
Still a bit closer than she normally would have been, Fluttershy observed its features. Its dark hair came down just short of its eyebrows, and she noticed that it had some hair growing along its jaw line and around its mouth. Along those lines, its jaw, she noticed, was neither narrow nor broad. It seemed to be in a middle ground between the two, and its cheeks looked healthy. At least, she thought they looked healthy.
Suddenly, it moved, and, too stunned to move herself, Fluttershy was grabbed by its long arm. Held firmly to its chest as it lay on its side, she was beginning to hyperventilate.
She heard it mumble something along the lines of "Jessie," in its sleep, as it held her close.
She struggled for a bit, but its grip held firm. Eventually, the fright got to her, and she joined it in the land of dreams.