Fallen Eagle

Chapter III: Shedding Some Light

I just want to take a second to say thank you guys so much to give me 11 followers and 5 favorites already for this story. And I love all the kind comments, that's what keeps bringing me back to write. I'd like to apologize for the nearly week-long wait. My mother had surgery on her foot last week and I had to drive around on her errands. She's fine, she just couldn't walk at all. Anyhoo, in Chapter III, Cougar wakes up (again) and has a small meeting with Celestia and the entire Mane 6 plus Spike just to shed some more light.

And I apologize for the extremely lame names of the doctors.

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(Normal POV)

Cougar, Soarin, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were snoring soundly in the hospital room while the doctors finished up removing the equipment from Cougar and Rainbow's bodies. Nurse Candy Striper approached both Applejack and Soarin and woke them from their sleeping states. They both grumbled awake and yawned. Applejack went to rub her eyes, but instead found something laced across her body. "Huh? Whut in thu hay is coverin' me?" The orange mare asked.

"It looks like that jumpsuit thingy that Cougar was wearing when he got here," Soarin' said while let out a big yawn as he slowly walked over to Rainbow's bed where the daredevil was sleeping peacefully.

"Well, how in thu world did this thing get on me?" Applejack questioned and unwrapped the jumpsuit from her and set it back on the coat rack in the corner of the room. She adjusted her cowpony hat and stretched out her forelegs. "Them chairs ain't that comfortable, but Ah've slept on somethin' worse," she commented, "oh, mornin' Doc," Applejack added to the glasses wearing light Tan Pegasus Pony with a black and yellow mane in a lab coat.

"Good morning Miss Applejack," Doctor Needle replied. His horn lit up and his glasses floated in the air before wiping themselves on his lab coat and returning back to his face. "Much better," he said under his breath while looking over the charts for Cougar.

"So, can Rainbow go home today?" Soarin' asked the other doctor in the room, a light green earth pony Stallion with a cyan mane.

"Of course Captain Soarin', she should be fine, but we will send her home with some pain pills just in case," Doctor Scope replied with a smile. Soarin' let out a sigh and smile of relief and put his hoof on Rainbow's forehead, looking forward to their Apple Pie and Apple cider date in the future.

"And, whut about Cougar over here?" Applejack questioned Doctor Scope, "is he goin' to be released today as well? Or has sumthin' else come up?" The mare farm worker wanted to make sure. Doctor Scope darted his eyes across Cougar's information clipboard and smiled.

"Yes, other than his tweaked back, the patient should be able to go home- I mean be discharged today," Doctor Scope put the clipboard down. Applejack smiled and trotted over to see how Rainbow and Soarin' were doing.

"So, Ah'm guessin' yer gonna want sum cider 'n apple pie fer tonite Soarin'?" Applejack asked the newest Wonderbolt Captain.

"I-if you don't mind Applejack," Soarin weakly smiled at the orange mare.

"As long as ya take good care 'o my friend here Soarin', I'll give ya all ya need," Applejack replied and lightly slapped her hoof on Soarin's back. The two ponies looked down as a snore from Rainbow Dash was cut off with a yawn.

"Ahhhh, I still hate these hospital beds," Rainbow yawned and scratched her back, "but as long as my friends are here, I guess it's okay," she joked.

"Good mornin' to ya Rainbow," Applejack greeted her friend.

"I've got good news for you Rainbow," Soarin' cut in. Rainbow gasped and gripped her blanket tightly.

"The newest Daring Do release date has been set?!" She exclaimed. Soarin' and Applejack both gave each other looks of confusion before Soarin turned back to his Marefriend.

"Uh no, but the doctor told me that you'll be able to go home today, and Applejack said she would lend us some cider and some Apple Pie tonight, if you're up for our date tonight," Soarin' explained. Rainbow gave a quick look of disappointment, but immediately smiled and hugged her colt friend.

"That sounds great Soarin', but I get the first drink of the cider, got it?" She made sure. Soarin' smirked and decided to have a little fun with Rainbow.

"Are you ordering your Captain around?" Soarin' teased.

"Captain shmaptain, I'm the Marefriend Soarin', so that means whatever I say goes," Rainbow crossed her forelegs in front of her chest. Soarin' playfully stuck his tongue out at Rainbow and ruffled her mane. Applejack rolled her emerald eyes and grinned at Rainbow and Soarin' flirting with each other.

"At least they ain't as mushy and gooey as Big Mac and Cheerilee were that one time," Applejack shuddered under her breath. Her eyes drifted over to the sleeping form of Cougar next to Rainbow Dash's bed. Careful as to not wake him, Applejack tip-hoofed as quietly as possible over to him and sat down on a stool. She was wondering if Cougar was the one who wrapped his jumpsuit around her body last night, or if one of the nurses or doctors had. One thing was for certain though, he had to have gotten up in the middle of the night since his hospital gown was wadded up on the night stand right next to his blue shirt.

"Hey Applejack, toss me that pad thingy that Cougar was playing with last night," Rainbow pointed her hoof to the flat and square device on the nightstand underneath the shirt and hospital gown. Applejack removed the clothing from atop the device and noticed the music wasn't playing anymore. She touched a little button on the front with her nose, but nothing happened.

"He musta turned it off las' night," Applejack concluded, "and 'sides Rainbow, it's his property, and he doesn't really trust us all that much, how would he react if we just got into his stuff and snooped around?" The farm worker asked.

"Fine, killjoy," Rainbow muttered and finally climbed from her hospital bed. "Oh Celesita does it feel good to stretch," Rainbow groaned as her back and muscles popped.

"Yes it does," A heavenly voice replied as the door to the room opened. Everypony in the room instantly snapped up as Princess Celesita entered. They all bowed while Princess Celestia held the door for Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike, whom was walking right next to Rarity.

"Ah Princess Celestia, what can we do for you?" Doctor Needles stood up from his bow. The Princess of the Sun casually walked over to the bed that housed Cougar and placed a hoof on his forehead.

"He is still sleeping soundly, I had Luna make sure his dreams were peaceful and she did a good job," Celestia commented. She then turned to the group that had stayed the night. "It is time for Cougar to awaken and be welcomed to our world, but we also need to learn more about him," Celestia added. Rarity cleared her throat and approached the Princess.

"Princess, are you sure about that? He refused to tell us much last night and I fear he may never tell us anything. Not to mention, he is easily tempered and resorts to violence rather briskly," she countered. Twilight glared at the seamstress and her wing lightly punched Rarity's left foreleg.

"Rarity, he was frightened and injured. How would you react if you suddenly woke up in a strange place with different creatures surrounding you? He was only going to defend himself," Twilight lectured. Rarity 'hmphd' and turned around. Ignoring all the conversations, Pinkie Pie pricked up at Celestia saying Cougar needed to wake up, so she took matters in her own hooves.

"Come on Cougar! Wakey wakey cookies and cakey!" Pinkie exclaimed loudly and hopped onto his chest and bounced up and down.

"PINKIE NO!" Twilight shouted.

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(Cougar POV)

I was sleeping peacefully, though my dreams were just repeating my talk with Luna. Now, I had no romantic feelings for her, she's a pony for God's sake, yet I saw her as a good friend for wanting to talk to me. I honestly would not have approached her to have a conversation, save for maybe saying hi. I was thankful she wanted to make me feel more at ease and at peace, and I'm glad she was my new friend. Even though I vowed to make these ponies earn my trust, Luna broke through that barrier just for talking to me.

These ponies saved my life, that much I am grateful for, but I still don't want to just give them my life story in one day. It may seem unfair and ungrateful, but I want to treat this like getting back with an ex. Racing back to what we had would do neither side good, but building friendships and trusts works overtime and if this was going to be my new home, then I was going to earn their trust and vice versa. Suddenly, my dream shattered and something was pumping my chest up and down.

"WAKE UP!" A high-pitched and overly happy voice penetrated my eardrums. I snapped my blue eyes open and was met with bright blue eyes set on a pink face and a pink poofy mane.

"GAHHH!" I screamed and shoved the face out of my face. "What the hell?!" I demanded as the pink pony fell on her butt, yet got right back up.

"Good morning Mr. Cougar!" The pony exclaimed and kept bouncing up and down as if the floor was her personal trampoline. "Didja sleep well? Want a sweet donut for breakfast?!" She pulled a donut out of, nowhere, and held it in my face. I held my breath and politely shoved the donut out of my face.

"Could I please get some space?" I asked. I expected the overly energetic pony to be sad, but she still had a smile plastered on her face.

"Sure thing, just tell me when you want that donut," She put it back behind her. I looked around at every other pony in the room and gave a little wave before opening my duffel bag and putting on a new shirt. It was white and had a picture of the Thunderbirds on the front. My dog tags were wrapped in the shirt and I decided to put them on, but under my shirt. I also threw on a new hat, my black and red Drive to End Hunger hat that I've cherished since 2011 when I was 13. I sat on the edge of my hospital bed and silently put my regular shoes on.

"What are those?" A new voice asked. I looked up to see the purple dragon pointing at my shoes on my feet.

"Oh, the dragon talks?" I asked, not meaning at all to sound like an asshole, but he took it the wrong way.

"What is that supposed to mean tough guy? Yeah I talk!" He angrily replied, "you think just because I'm a baby dragon I can't talk? Well I'm very mature for my age!" He shouted. I put my hands up in defense.

"Geez, take it easy there, I didn't mean to insult you, I just thought maybe you were a pet of one of these ponies," I explained. I wasn't prepared for making things worse, though the small white unicorn, Applejack and Rainbow shared a good chuckle. Twilight, Celestia, the pink pony and yellow pegasus all flinched at what happened next.

"A p-pet!? I am NOPONY'S pet!" The dragon screamed at me and clenched his teeth in a harsh frown.

"Woah, I didn't mean to offend you, what's your name?" I asked. The dragon crossed his arms and turned away from me. Twilight bent her head down and nudged him.

"Spike, don't be rude to Cougar," she scolded. 'Alright, so his name is Spike,' I thought to myself.

"But Twilight, he called me a pet!" Spike replied.

"Well he didn't know," Twilight scolded again. Spike sighed and turned back to me, but not looking happy about it. Celestia walked back up to me and I stood up out of politeness.

"So, I take it you slept well Cougar?" Celestia asked me kindly.

"Yeah," was all I replied while stuffing my bag with my Air Force shirt and my iPad, careful to not accidentally set off my pistol. I put the strap on my shoulder and bent up slightly, only to have my back twinge again. "Ah," I groaned slightly. It didn't really hurt that much, but it was enough to grab my attention.

"You need to take it easy there," one of the doctors reminded me, "one wrong twist and you could throw your back out." I knew it all too well. My mother didn't have the best back in the world, and my favorite NASCAR driver, Jeff Gordon, suffered from back pain in 2008.

"I will," I said to the doctor as the pain subsided and I stood up fully. "Okay, so you said you wanted to know a little more about me and I could learn a bit about you?" I asked.

"Um, yeah, I mean, if-if that's okay with you, C-Cougar," the yellow pegasus replied in a meek voice. I walked over to the coat rack and grabbed my flight suit and helmet and quickly stuffed them inside my duffel bag, just barely able to close it. I briskly walked to the door opening and turned around when no one was following me. Soon, Celestia led myself and the seven other ponies plus Spike to what appeared to be the throne room.

"Wow, this is nice," I commented while gazing over every inch of the throne room.

"Have you never been in a castle before?" Rainbow asked while waking extremely close to the lighter blue pegasus next to her.

"Hell no," I replied, "but I've seen some on TV before and on postcards," I explained.

"What's TV?" Applejack questioned. I was actually about to answer when Celestia cleared her throat.

"Now Applejack, let's start off with making sure he knows all of our names," she said. "You already know myself and my sister Luna," she began.

"Yeah, and I know Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, and Applejack," I pointed to the four animals. Celestia's left wing sprouted and pointed to the yellow pegasus with a pink mane. Her pupils shrank down to the size of peas and her knees started shaking slightly.

"M-my n-name is F-Flutter-" she began, but didn't finish.

"Flutter what?" I asked.

"Flut-Fluttershy," she whispered. She must've been scared of me, but then again, I did tower over everyone being 6'2". I must've been extremely non-threatening while laying in the hospital bed.

"And I am Rarity," the white unicorn proclaimed. Alright, I detect an English accent on her voice now that I'm fully paying attention. "I am the seamstress and dress designer for Ponyville where we are located," she explained. 'Great, now they're gonna tell me what they do and they'll expect me to do the same,' I thought, then remembered they already know I was in the Air Force. Next, the Pink and hyper pony bounced up and down.

"I'm Pinkie Pie! I plan all the best parties in Equestria and I help run the bakery in PonyVille! Which reminds me," she produced the donut again and I politely declined. The light blue pegasus next to Rainbow raised his hoof.

"I'm Soarin' and I'm Captain of the Wonderbolts," he declared.

"What are the Wonderbolts?" I questioned. Rainbow's jaw dropped and she gasped.

"The Wonderbolts are only the best flying demonstration team in the world!" She announced. I chuckled at that and pointed to my shirt.

"Yeah, these guys are the best flying demonstration team ever," I said.

"The Thunderbirds?" Soarin' read my shirt.

"Yep, they represented the United States Air Force and toured the country I lived in trying to recruit new members," I explained. Rainbow rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Well, that's pretty cool," Soarin' said and bumped my shoulder with his hoof.

"Where you apart of them?" Applejack asked me.

"No, they flew F-16s and I flew an F-15, besides I wasn't one to show off," I replied. I looked around the throne room and noticed that Luna was not there. "Hey Princess Celestia, where is Luna?" I questioned.

"She is asleep at the moment since she is awake during the night, though sometimes she will skip sleep for a day and stay up," Celestia explained, "and she did tell me about your talk you had last night and how both learned a little about each other."

"Hold on!" Spike butted in, "you've repeated several times that you don't want to tell us anything, but you go and blab your story to Princess Luna!?" He shouted.

"Spike!" Twilight's wing smacked his head, "be polite or else you won't get any gems tonight for dessert."

"For your information Puff the Magic Dragon, I only told her that the moon and sun raise themselves in my world and that I have no clue as to why and how I got here," I said calmly.

"Alright then," Rarity said, "where in fact did you come from?" She questioned.

"Fair question. I came from a place called Earth, Alaska, United States to be more specific," I replied.

"And what was your world like?" Rainbow asked me, getting more and more curious.

"I don't want to answer that one," I said quickly. Everypony in the room all looked at each other weirdly and turned back to me.

"Okay," Applejack started, "besides the Air Force, didja have any other jobs?"

"Before the Air Force I worked in a mechanics shop," I said, "I enjoy hard work, I also helped work outdoors with friends on construction projects or cleaning up their properties."

"Did you have a special somepony back home?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"What the hell is that?" I replied with a cocked eyebrow.

"Like a marefriend, or girlfriend," Twilight explained to me.

"Oh, no," I replied.

"What's your real name?" Applejack questioned.

"Sorry, don't want you to know too much, you can call me Cougar or Coug if you want, but not my real name just yet," I said rather harshly.

"What was Alaska like?" Soarin asked me.

"It was a beautiful place to live," I said, "in the summer time, it was nice and warm with beautiful blue skies and plenty of wildlife to admire. In the winter time, it was cold and sometimes dark, but still a great place to live and be away from too many people." This piqued the interest of Fluttershy when I mentioned Wildlife.

"What kind of wildlife was there?" She asked me.

"Oh, well there were bears, moose, caribou, deer, plenty of birds, an abundant amount of fish, otters, whales, foxes, wolves, coyotes, lynx, wolverines, I could go on all day," I explained briefly.

"Wow," Fluttershy whispered.

"One more," I said to everyone, "you already know where I lived, what my call sign is, that I did not have a 'special somepony' and what I did before joining the Air Force." Twilight put her hoof under her chin and smiled when an idea popped into her head.

"Did you like music?" She asked.

"Oh of course, my favorite band was Def Leppard," I replied, smiling at talking about my favorite band.

"Your favorite band was a group of deaf felines?" Princess Celestia asked and Fluttershy gasped at the thought of leopards who couldn't hear.

"No, the band was made up of five guys from England and they called themselves Def Leppard."

"So, they named themselves to make fun of poor kitties who couldn't hear? That's gruesome," Fluttershy frowned.

"D-E-F L-E-P-P-A-R-D," I spelled for them, "the best part was their drummer had only one arm," I said, putting my left arm behind me to show what he looked like.

"That's insane, how is that possible?" Applejack asked me.

"Sorry, but I really don't want to answer any more questions until later," I politely apologized, "but I will let you guys know that I am not here to hurt you and I don't want to hurt anypony," I used their Lingo, "okay?"

"Understood, we actually learned a bit about you Cougar," Celesita smiled. "It's an honor to meet someone that served in the military of your country and who is kind like you."

"Well, thank you Princess," I took her hoof and shook it.

"Now, Luna also mentioned that you were curious about where to stay while living here," Celestia added. Crap, I forgot.

"Right," I said, "well I wouldn't be offended if any of you didn't want to take me in. I would actually be surprised since I won't tell you a lot about myself and that I'm strange to you," I explained.

"Don't be silly Cougar," Twilight chuckled, "you are kind to us and we're all on the same page. You are strange to us, but we all don't know much about each other so it's a great learning curve for us and you," she explained.

"That's really kind of you Twilight," I smiled and patted her head.

"So, which one of you will take in Cougar?" Celestia asked.

"I would, but with Sweetie Belle frequenting my boutique more and more, I simply don't have enough space, but I do hope you come in though Mr. Cougar, you could use a new outfit," Rarity offered.

"I don't think he could live on a cloud right?" Rainbow asked.

"No, I didn't even know that was possible," I replied with shock.

"The library doesn't have any more room," Twilight said in an apologetic tone.

"All the rooms are taken at The Cake's bakery," Pinkie Pie looked sad for minute but perked up when she ate a donut.

"With all the animals in my house and Discord coming and going a lot, I don't have another guest room," Fluttershy said. All eyes, including mine, turned to Applejack.

"Aw Heck, I'll take 'im in," she smiled, "he said he likes to work hard and we could use another set of hooves to help out on the farm," she grinned.

"You work on a farm?" I asked.

"Yes indeed Cougar, wide open spaces, fresh air n' hard work at Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack painted the picture for me. I loved working outdoors and the fresh air was the icing on the cake.

"Alright, but Applejack, I don't want you to just give me a place to live, I want to earn it," I said, "I'll work my ass off everyday in exchange for living on your farm." Applejack chuckled and smacked my back with her hoof.

"I like yer attitude pardener. Alright, if you work hard everyday without complaint, I and my family will gladly let you stay on the farm, heck, you could even be apart of the family if ya work at it," she said. I froze when she mentioned the word family.

"Hey Coug, you alright?" Rainbow nudged me. I snapped out of my funk and nodded my head.

"Uh yeah," I replied and adjusted the strap on my duffel bag. "Princess Celestia, I want to thank you again for saving my life and I wish to offer you my services if you ever need anything," I bowed.

"Thank you Cougar," Celestia offered me her hoof and I shook it again. "I will send you and everypony in the royal carriage while I have Spike take this letter to the Mayor to let everypony know that you will be arriving and to not be afraid," Celestia smiled.

"Come on Cougar, I can't wait for you to meet ma family!" Applejack grabbed ahold of my hand and began to gallop towards a golden carriage.

"Ooh and we can give him a tour of Ponyville after he's settled in!" Pinkie Pie hopped up and down.

Despite being happy that I will have a job and a place to live, I was still worried about how these ponies that offered me friendship would be treated for bringing a strange and dangerous creature like me to their town. Sure, I was nice and humble and cared for the people, well ponies now, around me. But I still knew how my old world was, and how I grew up, wasn't a good bedtime story for kids. But, like I said to Luna, I will make the most of this and try to live out my second chance.

End Chapter III

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Well, there's chapter III! Hope you liked some of the Pinkie Pie and Spike jokes. And the ponies know basically what you guys know, which is next to nothing. But don't worry, this story will be a day by day type story so over time Cougar will begin to unravel his whole story. How will PonyVille react to Cougar and how will Applejack's family react? Find out next time in Fallen Eagle Chapter IV: Meeting the Apples.