The Land Before Us

Chapter 3 – A land of ponies

Damien's teary eyes are making it hard to see where his absent minded running is carrying him but he continues to follow through the motion as he tries to escape the things behind him. The image of his younger brother laying on the dirt ground motionless beats through his mind with each step he takes that sends him further and further away.

The two white gold armor plated unicorns that pursue after him are still sending the same paralyzing bolts of magic towards him, but the thickness of the forest is shielding him from being hit.

The breaking down man calls out desperately as he tries to adjust his footing in the shaky ground beneath him, "Preston!"

"Preston!" Damien's pace slows down a little as he hear his friends voice but only for a moment as he quickly darts toward the sound. After a short run he burst through the tree line into the small clearing his friend still waits in.

Preston still stands near the changeling as he looks over his flustered friend, "What happened?"

A screeching bolt of magic slams into the tree he stands beside as he waits for Damien's reply. But his friends reply doesn't come in the form of words instead Preston is pulled behind the strong man as he makes a mad dash from the stallions galloping after him.

The booming through the forest are played with a amplified sound as each tree gives a crying howl to the slamming bolts of magic clamming into them. But these thunderous claps pale in comparison to the two human men running for the lives, their minds are cumbersome with only the pulse that carries their legs forward; their hearts much like their breaths are rampant and sporadic as the two men call to each other after every thunderous bark breaking bolt of screaming purple and blue magic that slams all around them.

"...Damien !...W-...What wa-s thAT!?" Preston the younger of the two men struggles to keep pace with his fit friend as the bushes around his barely tied shoes begin to slow him down.

The dark haired man in the blue polo and tan baseball shorts turns his body with a slight hopping on his feet to keep his momentum and adrenaline pumping. His weary red teary eyes turns to his slow moving blonde haired friend, "Don't stop Preston! Don't stop! We need to keep moving!"

Preston’s nose is running from the overexertion of his body and even though his mind is screaming to run he can no longer achieve his goal as he leans himself to a mossy tree, "I-I can't I ca...-"

The young mans voice is cut off as he falls to the ground sheltering his head from the splintering pieces of wood as another bolt of light strikes into the tree only a foot from his resting head. His ears are ringing as the heat from his body is channelled through his face in fear, neither one of the two men know how where or why they have been thrust into this forest nor do they know anything of the talking armor suited animals that they had just encountered.

Preston’s head shakes in fear as he tries to hold himself from vomiting, but his rest comes to an end as his older friend yanks him to his feet. Damien’s eyes are still teary as he shakes his younger friend, "We need to go!"

The younger blonde haired man shakes his head in a absent minded agreement to the older mans strong voice.

Damien pulls on Preston’s shirt as he forcefully pulls his friend behind him.

"Wh-where are we!?" Preston stumbles himself to the souls of his shoes as he brings himself to a fear driven start up run.

Damien locks his jaw for a moment as he leads through the low lying tree branches; as the large branches move and the two men enter a clearing they come to a cliff like drop where they can see the the lay of the unknown land.

The cracking sounds of the bolts behind them have dissipated and they stand looking over the lush grassy field lands in a tired heap of heavy breathing. This scene in front of them stuns the two men in silence as they try to take in the reds, oranges, yellows and greens of trees and grass lands that lay in front of them.

Damien is the first to bring his breathing to a steady pace as he stares wide eyed to the lavish area around them, "...I don't know..."

Preston grabs at Damien's shoulder as he talks, "Where's Matt?"

The strong looking man expels a low sob as he wraps his arms around his friend. Preston pats at his back not knowing what to do as he talks, "W-what happened?"

Damien lets loose of him as he swings his arms in anger, "T-this place is not earth! There's no way!"

Preston holds his confused face to him as he continues his emotion driven rant, "...This place has t...things Preston..."

"Like what?"

Damien wraps his fist around his friends shirt as he brings him closer, "This place has talking animals."

"Ya ya ya, so where is Matt?" Preston takes the seriousness as a slight joke but Damien quickly assures him its no joke as he talks again with watery eyes, "T-theres unicorns that talk...and and wear armor!"

The younger man closes his mouth as he looks over his tough friend breaking down again, "What?"

Damien gives a hard sniffle as he straightens up, "T-they took Matt..." He turns his blue eyed gaze to the cilf they both stand beside as he looks around the world beneath him.

"Damien?"

The dark haired man still catches his breath as he talks, "...Lets wait a little and then we head back to the road..." He starts walking back to the edge of the treeline with a newfound determined gaze as he stops talking.

Preston follows after him as he talks, "And then what?"

Damien turns back to him as he brings his breathing under control, "And then we find Matt."

(Elsewhere in Equestria)

The dirt path and forest around it starts to become a little absent as Matt and his captors venture out of the forest. The young kid still has not said much as he still battles in his mind that the things walking around him are not a figment of his imagination but real life...beings.

The stallion that was tasked with watching him speaks up a little in a low voice as he walks beside him, "You know for a dragon you sure are short."

Matt is silent to the words as he follows behind the carriage. But the stallion continues to talk as Matt remains silent, "...You also don't have scales like a normal dragon..."

"I'm not a dragon..."

The stallion cocks his head to him as he talks a little louder, "Not a drag...-"

"Hey Sargent! Do not conversant with the captive."

The stallion straightens up his posture as he calls back to Stone Hooves, "Yes sir sorry sir!"

Stone Hooves's voice gets a little louder as he drifts back from his position at the front of the carriage, "Now dragon did I hear you correctly you said you are not a dragon?"

Matt tightens up a little as he talks back, "Y-yes."

Stone Hooves squints his auburn eyes over the young kid for a moment before he averts his eyes in front of him as the white carriage stops, "Why you stop mud pony nopony told y...-"

"Actually somepony did tell them to stop." The white mare pokes herself from the window of the carriage as she talks, "We are nearing the earth pony village on the outskirts of the city are we not?"

Stone Hooves nods his head as he talks, "Yes your majesty we are."

The mare gives a slight whine as she talks, "Very well, just make sure none of these ponies touch the carriage..." Her voice is cut off as she cocks her head to Matt, "My my dragons do look strange don't they?"
Matt stares back at the pony's confused expression with almost the same confusion.

The pony calls back to him as she gives him a small smile, "Are you getting tired of walking little dragon?"

"Um...yes?"

The Princess gives a nod as she motions her head to Stone Hooves, "Than come here dragon and ride with us, after all anything as rare as a dragon should not have to walk."

"But your highness..." Stone Hooves is cut off as the mare raises her voice, "Do not contest your Princess, now bring the dragon to the carriage."

The large stallion gives a nod as he motions for Matt to follow, "Come dragon."

Matt is a little hesitant to follow but after a few slow steps he brings himself to a steady walk to the side of the carriage.

The mare that still hangs her head out of the window gives him a smile as Stone Hooves lowers the royal red carpet stairs into the carriage.

Matt pauses as he looks over the hard face of the stallion and he's unsure if he should follow what the pony said.

"Do come in dragon, its much cooler in here than out in Celestia's sun."

With a quick swallow back of any doubt Matt makes his way into the carriage. As he reaches the top stairs he notices how small the inside really is. There are only two seats and one of which is being taken up by the white mare and the long purple cloak that hangs around her lower neck, the cloak is studded with jewels and the crown that sits on top of her mane has the same dark purple gems as the cloak , "Sit dragon."

The mare looks back to the open stairs as she talks, "We are ready you can close the door." Her tone changes from a sweet low tone to an almost bossy tone instantly as Stone Hooves snaps into action, "Yes your majesty."

Matt takes his seat across from the white mare as the carriage begins to move.

The pony is much smaller than the stallion's outside but she is still a unicorn like the others, and as the carriage starts to pick up a little speed her horn glows a faint pink. The royal purple curtains around the windows shift over the opening of the window and blocks out the outside world.

Matt watches a little confused as her horn stops its glow, "Are you an alien?"

The white mare cocks her head to him as her low voice takes on a slight hint of annoyance at his question, “I am Princess Platinum, surely you have heard of me?”

He fiddles with his hands a little nervously as he talks, "No, we came here th...-"

The mare cuts him off as she talks in a little louder but more surprised tone, "We? You mean to tell me that there are more of your kind?"

Matt gives a low nod as he continues, "Yes, and we are not dragons...where humans..."

"H u m a n you say?" The mare taps her hoof to her mouth as her voice takes on an almost amused tone, "So you are no dragon correct?"

Matt shakes his head, "No..." he doesn't pick up on her change in tone as he focuses on the heat inside the closed carriage starting to pound against his zipped up jacket. He begins to unzip the jacket as he lets out a calming, "Ahhh."

The mare blinks at his action as he takes the sweat drenched jacket off. His gray under shit is covered in sweat and he rubs at his no longer slicked back hair as he tries to make sense of the world around him.

"Forgive us, but you claim you are not a dragon but thou has just shed skin in my carriage..." The mare looks a little disgusted at the jacket that now rest on the seat beside him.

Matt looks over his jacket as he brings it up to her face, "Its a jacket, see?"

Princess Platinum holds her muzzle from it as she talks, "Oh, clothing ha ha, you can put it down now."

As Matt follows her words he squints back to her, "How can you talk?"

The mare cocks her head to him as she talks, "I beg your pardon?"

Matt swallows hard as he starts up, "Well, I have never meet a talking horse before."

Princess Platinum stares at him a little confused as she takes a moment to think before she talks, “All ponies can talk, HU-man.”

Matt cracks a slight smile to the animals voice as he talks, "Where am I?"

The mare stops her voice as she talks, "You are in Equestria none dragon."

Matt's body shutters at the word, "Equestria?" He cups his hands as he lets the realization sink in of truly not being on earth anymore, "W-where is that?"

The pink maned pony is taken back as Matt's voice changes to a strong sense of sadness, "This is Equestria, the new empire founded by Unicorns, Earth ponies and Pegasus...where do hu-mans hail from, is it the frozen north? That would explain your pale...scales?”

Matt rubs at his cupped hands a little more as he feels the strange tingling come under his skin again, "I...I-we come from Earth."

The mare focuses on his hands as her voice drops in an almost confused disgust, “Earth?! You mean to tell me you and your kin are of Earth pony decent?”

The young man thinks over the mare’s change in tone and tries to deepen his voice, “No, we-we don’t have any pony kin...we come from a planet called earth.”

Princess Platinum blinks her green eyes back to him now even more confused but her voice lowers again, “You have said we, how many are there might I ask?”

“Two me an-...” Matt's mind races a little with fear of never being able to go home again or never seeing his family again as his voice stutters out and is unable to bring himself to a complete sentence as he quickly talks, “C-can you help me find my brother?"

Princess Platinum picks her head back up a little as she talks, "Brother? You say?"

"Ya..." Matt still shudders a little as he nods his head, his hands still run together mindlessly as he tries to keep himself from going into a panic attack. Matt does not usually have panic attacks but the weight of what's happened in only maybe an hour or so is starting to weigh in as he thinks over his current situation.

The feelings in the small carriage change a little as Matt rubs his hands over each other and Princess Platinum starts to feel a slight change in the magic in the tight area. She focuses her eyes to his hands as her voice takes on a low calming trance, "Do not worry hu-man I will send for your brother, but as for you, I need your help in something."

Matt raises his head up a little as he looks over her soft green eyes, " W-what can I do?"

The mare gives a smile as she looks over his still trembling hands, "I believe that you and your kin have been sent here to help us in this turbulent time. We are going to the unicorn capital where all will be explained.” She stiffens up her posture a little as she talks, “Earthling you are ok with being taken to the unicorn capital yes?”

Matt nods his head not really knowing what else to do.

Princess Platinum smiles as her horn takes on a low pink glow, “I would like to offer a spell, it won’t hurt and it was created to help royalty think more clearly in stressful times. I can not imagine what it must be like to be in a new land and now all alone.”

Matt looks over the pony’s glowing horn as he talks, “It doesn’t hurt?”

The mare shakes her head as she talks, “The spell only calms the mind to help you think.”

After a few seconds of looking at the low chiming glow sitting around her horn Matt nods his head, “ok..”

“Close your eyes..”

Matt follows her words as he closes his eyes, the low pink glow of Princess Platinum’s horn slowly creeps around Matt’s head. As the magic engulfs his head it turns a slight green color, the mare blinks her eyes a little at the change in her own magic but she holds the spell.

After a few moments she releases the glow and Matt opens his eyes to the carriage’s royal red carpet flooring.

Her voice is low as she talks to him, “Do you feel better?”

Matt’s hands have stopped there shaking and the tingling under his skin has stopped, his mind is clear and he now looks to the mare with a newfound sense of weird feeling confidence, “I’m fine.”

“Perfect, now could you please tell me about the land you hail from?” The Princess shifts herself a little as Matt’s mouth quivers as he thinks of something to say.

End of chapter 3