Falling Into the Unknown

The sun glared at me through the holes between the sticks making up the side of the hut. I was certainly getting much more sleep than I used to, but that was probably me making up for lost time while I was at the university. Entering and being trapped in a new world certainly put things into perspective, especially if it’s a world you had only heard about from a half-crazy roommate.

I let out a loud groan, letting the entire world know that I didn’t want to get out of this comfy sleeping bag. Unfortunately, the stomach decided to remind me how little I had eaten over the past three days. Grudgingly, I slowly rose out of the confines of the sleeping bag, and I took a long breath of the crisp morning air. Groping for my pack, I quickly opened it and took out two big, red apples. Taking another deep breath, I crawled outside of my little hut into the dawn of my third day here.

The area around the clearing was the same as the day before: Trees, trees, and more trees. The flights overhead where gone now, although I had almost panicked, thinking that one of them disappearing might prompt a huge search. Apparently, from what I had seen, the ponies avoid the forest if at all possible, although for what reason I couldn’t tell.

The guards I had hit last night seemed to be stirring. From what I could hear, it was rolling over, apparently trying to get its bound legs unbound. Wouldn’t happen, though, unless it – she, I reminded himself – had a knife. That vine was insanely strong, and I still had around twelve feet of the stuff in case he should ever need it. Taking a bite out of one of the apples, I nearly choked at how sweet it was. Normally, apples had always been slightly sour to me whenever I had taken a bite out of one. However, while this wasn’t exactly like putting a bunch of sugar on my tongue, it really WAS sweet.

Taking another bite out of the apple, I walked the three feet it took me to reach the little x-frame where I had put the guard. The moment I stepped into view, however, she glared at me with what seemed to be the fury of the sun. I guess getting knocked out doesn’t do anything for your temper. Needless to say, I could imagine how I seemed to her. A giant that had knocked her out with a single kick, and then tied her up in there. To be honest, I felt like making a ‘wait until the second date’ jokes right there, even though she would, for one, not understand a word I said, and for two would likely attempt to slit my throat if she did. Shoving any jokes to the corner of my mind, I picked up my other apple and tossed it at her.

She eyed it warily, as if expecting a trick, and then slowly scooted up to it, taking a bite out of it, as if testing it. I didn’t stick around, though; I had better things to do than stare creepily at a pony while it ate. I grabbed my Sa-58 out of my hut, and was about to begin to go off forging when I heard a low growl. Turning to my left slowly, I saw a wolf.

Well, not a normal wolf. I don’t think normal wolves look like a sawmill came through, but I guess anything is possible in a land that used magic. Saying goodbye to logic, I raised my Sa-58, clicked off the safety and turning it to single, I shot a single round.

The 7.62 x39mm round slammed into the wooden wolf, turning it into splinters as the powerful bullet flew through it from one end to the other, completely running it through. What was left of it collapsed on the ground, immediately followed by fleeing stomps as I assumed the rest of those creatures ran. Kicking the fragments of wood out of the clearing and into the woods, I set out to clean my rifle.

Going into my hut and searching through my attachments bag, I eventually came upon my cleaning kit for the rifle. Setting the selector to safe, I took the clip out and ejected the bullet in the chamber, to prevent any misfires. I slid the bullet back down into the casing, and turned my attention back to the rifle. I swiftly disassembled it and cleaned out the barrel, removing what little powder remains had gathered up. I then gave it a check over and, finding no flaws, I just as quickly assembled the rifle.

My daily task done for the day, I slung it on my shoulder and grabbed my binoculars. Moving to my pack, I removed my camouflage BDU and put it on, blending in nicely with the forest. That being done, I started to head back towards the town, Ponyville. My plan would come at nightfall, so I had time to think about it. I needed supplies for a long stay, and to do that I had to take them. I doubt the residents would act nicely towards a being that had terrified their children, sparked a manhunt (a ponyhunt, I jokingly imagined them saying), and practically kidnapped a guard for all they knew.

My camp would be fine. I bet that, after making an example of their leader, the pack of weird wooden wolves wouldn’t bother me for a while. I reached a good position overlooking the town, and mentally checked the list of items I would need: A knife, some cloth for bandages (you never know), and whatever else I could find that I might need.

First off, I pulled out my binoculars, looking around the town for what I needed. The shop with the pony outside of it banging on an anvil was obviously a blacksmith. Whether the ponies knew how to make steel or not, I didn’t care. The helmet of the guard, which I had picked up after hitting her, was made of iron, so I assumed not. I didn’t care what the ponies found after I had left, as long as I had enough time to make a decent steel blade.

Moving the binoculars to the left, I saw shop after shot, none of them having what I needed. What use would furniture or gems make to me? I’m practically on the run, so stuff like that means nothing. It’s odd thing about how calm I was in this situation, but I had to assume I would never be going back, so staying calm was a priority. Seeing as I had around half of the day left, I decided to make a small stash, to store any stuff I could not carry.

Walking back around five meters from the edge of the woods, I shot a single bullet into a tree – at the range that the town was from the woods, it should only come through as a slight whisper of sound. The bullet hole marking the location, I set to making a small, crude hole, about a foot wide on each side, and half a foot deep. I leaned several large branches across the top, and then disguised that with plenty of fallen branches. Within half an hour, I had a respectable supply stash that I could store things in.

Moving back to my observation point, I noted that there was a place in town that seemed to have plenty of clothes on display. Why ponies that went naked the entire time needed clothes, I didn’t know, but I didn’t want to question my luck. With my streak of alternating good-bad fortune, I hoped that this would land on good, and that I would find some cloth in there.

Deciding to take a small rest before moving in to town, and seeing as I had about four hours left until nightfall, I fell into a much-needed sleep.

I woke up with a start. It was dark outside, nearly pitch black, and it would’ve been darker if the moon didn’t faintly glimmer in the sky. I moved towards the edge of the woods, seeing very few lights on in the town. Eventually, even those shut off, leaving the only light coming from several lit windows. I ran out of the woods, easily making it to the edge of town. Once I reached a street, I started walking through alleys, searching for the blacksmith’s shop I had seen earlier. I quickly found it, and found that it was completely unoccupied, and furthermore that the stone walls would muffle any sounds that came from the inside.

Perfect. My plan would go as it was designed.

I noticed a pile of iron scraps in the corner. Grabbing them, I quickly stoked up the still-warm furnace, and put the iron inside of a hardened iron bucket. I supposed it was enchanted to withstand the heat or something, because the iron inside of it certainly wasn’t. It melted quickly, forming a mostly molten mass that felt to be about three pounds in weight. Opening the door of the furnace, I let oxygen surge into the space, stepping back to avoid the heat. Luckily, nothing in the shop was wooden, or it might have ignited.

After about ten minutes of exposure, I pulled the bucket out with a long iron claw thing and closed the door, content to let the fire die out on its own. In front of me I had about two pounds of something very close to steel. You see, when molten iron is exposed to oxygen, it burns off the carbon impurities inside, making it much stronger and lighter. Therefore, steel. After waiting another ten minutes for it to cool down, the mass inside was partially solid. Using several tools, I extracted some of it, and quickly started to form my knife.

It was around five inches long, with a smooth steel blade. There were no nicks or cuts in the metal, the result of about fifty hours of experimenting with metalworking in high school. I formed a basic grip out of some of the remaining steel, and, taking the knife inside a grasper, I slid it slowly into a bucket of water, blade-first, to let it cool down. The water hissed slightly, but nothing major. Two minutes of soaking, and the knife was cool enough to easily use. It was very light and smooth, so I quickly formed a basic sheath out of some leather I found lying around (probably for the same reason). Sticking it inside of my belt, I felt ready to take on the world.

The entire thing of forming the knife had taken about an hour and a half. Although some scraps of steel were the only thing announcing my presence in that shop, I was pretty sure they would figure it out quickly. Slipping once more into the dark, I made my way to the clothing shop I had found earlier. Pushing the unlocked door open slowly, I stopped suddenly as I heard snoring upstairs. A pony was sleeping, and I was more than happy to have it remain that way. Slowly, I walked inside, moving over to a roll of material on the wall. Touching it, I found that it was some type of cotton. I quickly gathered two pieces of the material, about one square foot each. Moving out of the shop quickly, I headed around the outskirts of town, looking for anything of note.

Along the edge of town, I spotted the best sight all day – a hospital. Maybe they would have gauze, or something like that for me to use. Moving quickly, I walked alongside the wall, turning the corner and finding a door which I assumed they used to carry in supplies. I knew I could simply run if I was found, so, taking a deep breath, I pushed it open.

Sure enough, I found myself in a supply room. Nobody was inside, so I assumed that only minimum staff was here at night. Looking around the room, I found a dark grey case about one and a half feet wide by one foot tall, and about six inches thick. Opening it, I quickly stuffed in two rolls of gauze and a bottle of what I assumed was anesthetic, judging by the picture diagrams on the sheet next to it. Seriously, it was literally pictured on how to use it. I assumed from the pictures that it simply dulled pain, and didn’t induce anything else.

Having collected all of what I needed, I quickly ran out of the door and headed across the field, wanting to make it to my little hut before midnight. I quickly stopped to store both of the cloth segments inside of the supply stash, before turning to walk back to my campsite.

When I found there, I found the captured guard asleep and the apple gone, not that I suspected anything less. I quickly wolfed down what remained of my ham sandwich, finished off one of the water bottles, and fell back onto my sleeping bag, not even bothering to crawl inside. It had been a long day, and I needed my sleep. One thing was for sure, though: I would no longer be welcome in Ponyville, not that I was before.

Pushing everything out of my mind, I slowly drifted off into dreamland.