First Impressions

Fauna Leaf nervously stepped out of the new house, the cold winter air greeting him as his hoof touched the even colder ground. His only protection from the cold was a faded black hoodie which he wore everywhere, it was his only protection from the stares, hiding the more pony-coloration that patterned his otherwise light brown fur. However, there was nothing he could do about his cutie mark, as it stuck out like a sore thumb. Fauna wished he'd at least had his antlers a little more grown out, thinking it'd make him tough. He sighed, putting on his saddle bags and heading for town.

He watched ponies pass as he nervously set hoof into town square. He could see a pink mare heading his way, and prepared for the worst.

"Hiya! You must be new in town, mustn't you? My names Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie Pie grabbed his hoof and proceeded to violently shake it.

"Do you like vanilla or chocolate cake? Ooooh, or maybe strawberry! Wait, why not do all three!" The mare ranted to herself.

Another mare quickly rushed over to save Fauna from her ranting friend.

"Sorry dear, she does get a bit carried away sometimes with newcomers. My names Rarity." The unicorn held out a hoof, Fauna wearily taking it, preparing himself mentally for an aggressive shake that never came.

"M-my names Fauna Leaf.." He'd shakily replied. 'No rude comments yet... looking good so far..'

"Fauna Leaf? What a lovely name!" Rarity seemed to look over his attire, and Fauna felt himself tense up.

"You must come over to my boutique sometime! I will get you fitted with something absolutely dashing, on me. Consider it a 'Welcome to Ponyville' gift." Fauna felt himself blush slightly at the offer, and could only bring himself to nod.

"Also, be prepared for Pinkie's 'Welcome to Ponyville party'." Rarity whispered to him, Fauna could see Pinkie bouncing around, listing off several party supplies to herself.

Afterwards, they parted ways, and Fauna couldn't help but stand a little taller. As he trotted through town, something couldn't help but catch his eye. A library, fittingly named 'Golden Oaks Library' near the edge of town and, as he approached, he could see it was open. He couldn't help but smile as he entered the library. Several books filled his vision, ranging from 'Daring Doo' to 'Beginners Levitation'.

"Spike! We have a visitor!" He'd heard someone call, and a moment later he watched as a baby dragon stumbled his way down the stairs.

"Hi! We uh-" The baby dragon seemed to instantly lose all focus, transfixed by his cutie mark. Fauna mentally prepared for a long line of questions that were surely going to come.

However, they didn't, not yet anyway. The baby dragon simply stood there, mouth agape, staring.

"Spike, is it Fluttershy? If so, she's-" A lavender alicorn mare, stepped out from behind a bookshelf, her attention instantly caught by Spike's stare. Fauna cowered slightly.

"Spike, it's rude to stare, you know this!" The alicorn angerly stated, pulling Spike away.

"Sorry about that.. how can I-" Soon, her mouth too hung open, but she was able to regain her composure quicker than the dragon.

"How... what... but I.." Or.. maybe not.

"My mother was a deer and my f-father was a pony." Fauna Leaf stated almost as if he'd been reading from a script. He had, of course, to explain to ponies many times over the years why he'd had a cutie mark.

"I... I..." The alicorn stutter as Fauna Leaf prepared for the worst.

"I have to go get some ink! Spike, get me some paper!" The alicorn rushed off, leaving him utterly confused.

The next hour was filled with boring questions such as 'How did you get your cutie mark?' or 'How did your parents meet?'. After years, he'd memorized the answers to every single question Twilight threw his way, having been asked them several hundred times before. The alicorn had even sent an oddly eager message to Celestia. Was he really that much of a spectacle? Eventually she'd moved on from the questions, and wanted to take notes appearance-wise. It made him uncomfortable yes, but he didn't feel like he had much of a choice, she was an alicorn after all.

"Can you take off your sweater? I want to get a bit more of an idea of the pony deer genes overlapping." She'd asked.

He stuttered, trying to get out some words, something to warn her of how much of a freak he was, but it was already too late. A purple aura surrounded his sweater and quickly removed it from him.

Revealing his pair of huge wings.

The alicorn gasped, Fauna's ears going back as he expected the worst. But he soon realized that it was a gasp in awe..? The alicorn squealed with utter fascination and amazement, much to Fauna's confusion. She wasn't calling him a freak?

"Are they real..?" Twilight asked, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

Fauna stretched his wings out in response, not sure how else to respond. All this did was cause another ear piercing squeal from the alicorn as she looked on. Fauna only made the squealing worse when his nubs (or soon to be antlers) lit up in a bright orange aura similar to a unicorn's and he brought his hoodie over, putting it back on.

"Spike! You need to write this down!" She called as she galloped over to where her assistant had gone.

Fauna soon realized he was being watched by another. As he glanced over, he could see a yellow pegasi watching him, her pink mane covering her face. When she noticed him looking, she let out a small 'Eep!' and retreated.

"No- It's alright.. I didn't mean to startle you.." Fauna replied, immediately feeling bad.

"My name is Fauna Leaf, and yours?" He asked, holding out a hoof to help the pegasus up.

"... Fluttershy..." The pegasus replied, taking his hoof.

She instantly became more curious, causing Fauna to relax. This time, when the questions came, they seemed more caring. She'd ask how he was doing, if he needed a place to stay, and all in all how his day was, and when leaving the library, there was a hop in his step. Today was a good day. Trotting through Ponyville once again, he found himself feeling good, being able to ignore the stares for today. Walking into an oddly empty street, he all too soon heard someone cry out, but it wasn't because of him. He could hear 3 voices cheer,

"Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

He glanced to the direction of the noise and instantly saw the culprits. While one filly was positioned on a scooter, 2 other fillies were sat in the wagon tied behind it. He felt his heart skip a beat as they started going down hill.

'What in the hay are they doing?!' He thought to himself as they approached. They flew dangerously fast past him, and all too soon he heard their cries for help. Bounding after them much like a deer would, he could see the pegasus at the front trying to slow down with her sadly too small wings while the unicorn tried to use some form of magic of the wagon wheels.

Fauna sighed, mentally preparing for the bruises he'd surely end up getting from this.

Author's Notes:

So.... Fauna Leaf is kind of like a Peryton, but not quite. I assure you it.... gets more confusing down the line. Peryton Alicorn?

-Also, I merged chapters, so, sorry if that sparks some confusion!

Off Guard

A number of questions went through Fauna's mind as he sprinted after the fillies, like, where in Tartarus were there parents? Surely this wasn't a normal occurrence in Ponyville... right? He could see in his blurred vision many ponies gawking at him. 'Maybe I should just stop... I mean, surely someone else will step in?' The stares taking a toll at his confidence.

"Mister, grab the rope!" Came a cry from the unicorn filly as a rope was thrown haphazardly his way.

He promptly did as he was told and grabbed it in his mouth, slamming his back hooves into the ground, as well as making a mental note to not slam your hooves into the ground next time. The runaway wagon and scooter skid to a halt as Fauna felt his back hooves begin to ache. Letting go of the rope, he felt a sudden build of anxiety. 'They're watching me..' He thought to himself as he once again noticed the ponies stares directed at his flank.

"Thank you mister!" The pegasus filly said, before also becoming transfixed on the fact he had a cutie mark.

"I... uhm.." And with that, Fauna Leaf took off.

It felt like the world was closing in around him, he could almost hear their laughter as he quickly sprinted back home. Slamming the door shut as he entered, he sighed. 'There goes all my confidence... What were those fillies doing anyway?' He shook his head 'Was there not supposed to be some sort of party going on soon..?'. He headed straight to bed, done with today. Fauna silently prayed this wouldn't be a common occurrence, and that tomorrow he could go to the market. He was quite hungry. He bundled into his soft hay bed and quietly dozed off.

He was on the ground, weak and afraid as he had been for the last 5 years.. He could hear their voices berating him. A buck much older than him yelling at him, his antlers stained with Fauna's blood after having just charged him. Fauna trembled in fear as his wings flapped uselessly, trying desperately to pull him out of the situation he was in. This only sent blood flying, the wings too damaged to do anything more. He called for his unicorn magic, pleading with it to do anything, but it was far too weak. So, Fauna just sat and wept, powerless against the much older buck. He could faintly hear the buck mocking his cutie mark, the one he'd been so proud of the day prior, and the wings that flapped uselessly. A freak, that's what he was, that's what he always would be.

Pop!

He was woken from the nightmare by the sound of a balloon popping, having nearly fallen out of bed. He cautiously followed the sounds creeping down the stairs. It was dark out, but he didn't remember turning off the lights. As the first hoof made contact with the floor, a mare suddenly called out.

"Surprise!" Pinkie Pie called out from her place on the ceiling as the lights turned on. A rope holding her was attached to the ceiling as confetti cannons from Celestia knows where went off.

Fauna instantly made way for the door, but skidded to a halt when Rarity entered. Frantically looking for a way out of this mess, he glanced around, but all his exits were blocked. He was cornered, he was trapped. What were they going to do to him? Fauna crumbled to the ground, shaking, as a familiar yellow pegasus galloped over to him, placing a wing over his shoulder.

"We didn't mean to startle you... I'm so sorry!" Fluttershy cried as she pulled him into a hug.

The others all too soon joined in in apologizing to him, leaving a very confused deer on the floor.

"Sorry sugarcube, if we'd known you'd react that way ah woulda put my hoof down." Said a mare Fauna didn't recognize.

'Why're they being nice to me, what are they planning...?' He though to himself, however he still openly accepted the hugs he received. After the hugs, the party kicked into full force. Despite his wariness, Fauna felt himself actually enjoying the party. He also got a chance to learn about the ponies attending. However, he still couldn't wrap his head around Pinkie Pie, she seemed to have no rhyme or reason anything she did. Wandering over to Twilight, Fauna mentally prepared a list of questions as Twilight seemed to prepare hers.

"So.. uh.. is Ponyville always.. chaotic..?" Fauna asked.

"It's normally quite chaotic, it'll take a bit of time to get used to.. it certainly did for me. Just don't try to explain Pinkie's Pinkie Pie sense, it drove me half insane." Twilight jokingly said, although Fauna could detect a hint of seriousness in her tone.

Twilight pulled out a list of questions and seeing this, Fauna sighed in annoyance. He could see in the corner of his eye Pinkie pie riding... a unicycle while juggling cupcakes...? Fauna shook his head as Twilight began with her long list of questions.

"So, who are your parents?" She eagerly asked.

This was going to be a long night...

Author's Notes:

Planning on making the next few much longer chapters, but for now I figured I'd better put something out!

Nightmares

Fauna leaf woke up, all too quickly realizing where he was. He was back home. Glancing outside the window, he could see two fawns playing soccer, while a young buck played defense. Was Ponyville all just some dream? Putting on his saddle bags and sweater, he trotted outside. It was just a regular day, well, almost regular. Something was wrong, he could literally smell it in the air. Looking up, he saw several birds fleeing from something. Odd. He noticed something else weird. While yes, during work hours there'd be very few buck on the street, it seemed almost barren besides the occasional buck or fawn. Then, he heard it, he heard them. His mind told him to run, but his feet were glued to the street as several bucks and does rushed around him, trying their best to escape from something. Fauna could hear trees collapse in the distance as he silently prayed that this was all a nightmare.

"What are you doing, moron? Run!" Yelled a buck as he forced Fauna from his paralysis.

Fauna could see it now, the smoke. The smoke from fire blotted out the sky as more screaming voices broke through the wind. The forest was alight, and soon many homes were too. A monstrous roar was enough to get Fauna running, but deer were herd animals, and he all too soon found himself caught in a herd that bee-lined down the street. In this herd, he stuck out like a sore thumb, he was a target, he wouldn't last a night if they had to charge into the woods. Looking to his left and right, he noticed something that made his heart drop. He saw several lead buck kick out the deer who stuck out, which only meant some predator was amidst the smoke and ash. Fauna tried his best to hide in the crowd but was all too soon kicked out, but he couldn't give up. He took off running, now alone. While his sweater hid most of his markings, he still stuck out, he needed to cover himself in something, and fast. The 'outcast' deer followed Fauna as he covered himself in ash.

"To the gates!" An out-casted doe called.

The herd of soot covered deer took off running, and that's when Fauna caught sight of it. His heart pounded like drums as he continued running, although his eyes transfixed on the creature. It was like a large winged lizard, and he watched as it snared and ate to bucks. The gate was close and Fauna could've sworn he heard someone calling his name, but that didn't matter, he was so close to escape. In the corners of his blurred vision, he could see many of the huts now were either caked in ash or ash itself. Thankfully, their now ash-covered coats helped them blend in with this new environment of ash and smoke. The only thing standing in their way now was a stone wall that circled town. The metal gate stood open, and the deer quickly darted out, but they weren't safe yet.

Charging into the woods blindly, Fauna found himself jumping over several fallen trees, doing his best to avoid the rubble and fire. He could once again hear someone calling his name but did his best to ignore it. The group of outcasts, now split, did their best to make it out of the dense forest. A buck from the original herd seemed to be helping clear the way for several doe to make their escape. Fauna just kept running, it was all he could do. Smoke coated his lungs and he found himself occasionally coughing, but he didn't stop running. A doe infront of him was plucked off the ground by an unseen force, and he listened to her screams fade away. Grass stained his ash covered coat as he stumbled and fell, but he got back up as soon as he fell.

"Over here!" He heard a buck cry.

"No this way!" Another yelled.

Light pierced through the branches of a tree, and Fauna made his way there. However he quickly panicked when he realized it was just the flame from one of the winged lizards. Unfortunately, while Fauna stopped in time, a couple other deer weren't as lucky. He took off running the other way, making several sharp turns to avoid other winged lizards. He eventually found himself cornered, not by the beasts, but by dead fall. He was stuck in a death trap, he tried to call out but his lungs were full of smoke, Fauna eventually collapsing. Another buck appeared, his fur black as night while his eyes a pure white. He bent down and

"Fauna, wake up!"