A regal-looking, orange-furred Breezie with a mane and tail of deep and light purple stripes cleared her throat and every Breezy stopped their chattering and fluttering. Seabreeze floated to the ground next to his friends and looked up at the Sage Tombwind expectantly. Tombwind knew an incredible lot of things, even though she was still rather young for a Sage. She read books all of the time and sometimes it seemed like she knew everything about everything.
Tombwind waited until the hushed whispers had died down and smiled.
~~~~~
Tombwind looked at the group of Breezies staring back at her with bright, curious eyes and smiled.
The gathered Breezies began to gasp and chatter in fear, but Tombwind quickly calmed them down. She went over to a shelf to pull out a large book, opening it on a page to show the Breezies the picture of a beautiful red flower.
Tombwind chuckled as the Breezies fluttered up in excitement. Seabreeze turned to the Sage with wide eyes, nearly sparkling from excitement.
The Breezies let out a collective gasp and fluttered toward the door, rushing to get back to the portal and those legendary flowers without wasting any more time. Tombwind waited until only one Breezy was left before she called out to him.
The blue Breezie with the poofy pink mane and tail stopped at the door, turning around. Tombwind fluttered over to him, smiling.
Seabreeze nodded, grinning.
Tombwind chuckled. She waved him out of the door and watched as he flew off to follow the others. I’m sure you’ll be fine…
~~~~~
Seabreeze fluttered out into the open, looking around in awe. The exit of the cave the portal had led into was close to a waterfall, sending torrents off water towards the ground that formed a rainbow-hued mist in the air. But most of all, everything was huge. A towering cliff marked the entrance to the portal, and the trees in the distance seemed incredibly tall, even from this far away.
A large group of Breezies, almost half of their village, had gone through the portal and gathered outside the cave, each of them wearing the best and largest pollen baskets they could find. They were all taking in the sights just like Seabreeze, trying to look in every direction at once and chattering excitedly.
Twirly exclaimed excitedly.
another Breezie asked.
Seabreeze looked up at the sun, then pointed in one direction.
Without hestation every Breezie turned in the direction he was pointing and started flying.
Seabreeze fluttered along with the others, chatting and turning his head. They had reached the edge of the forest now, and the trees were even taller and bigger than they had looked from afar. The leaves were larger than a Breezie at times, the nuts and fruits could feed one of them for a week and he could see a few animals that seemed like giants to him. Watching a brown-furred animal with a bushy tail, he could only wonder if the ‘ponies’ were as large as that. Who knew, maybe that animal was one of those ponies and he just didn’t know.
Twirly nudged him to call his attention to a group of trees in the distance.
Seabreeze squinted his eyes. The movement seemed to get closer to them. More and more trees began moving their branches up and down, even losing a few leaves in the process.
All the Breezies had stopped and turned around now to watch the trees, giving their guesses and opinions on what it could be. Of course they had seen branches move in the breeze back home, but it was never anywhere as strong as this. It had to be something else, surely.
The branches on the trees right in front of them started trembling and moving now, but Seabreeze still hadn’t seen any sign of the animal responsible for it. He turned to Twirly with a confused expression. “I don’t see anyth–> That was as far as he got before the wind hit him.
Dozens of Breezies screamed and flailed their arms as they were ripped out of the air and sent tumbling around by the sudden gust of wind. One by one they were blown into a net of vines stretching between the branches of a tree. Seabreeze held onto a vine for his life, watching Breezies all around him do the same. His eyes widened as a leaf floated towards them on the wind, aiming right for him.
The leaf hit him right in the face, ripping him from his vine. Seabreeze tumbled around himself for a moment, fluttering his wings in panic, before he managed to hold onto the leaf. Looking up, he saw the rest of his group clinging to the vines, calling his name in panic as he was pulled further and further away from them. Soon he could barely hear their voices.
As the leaf rounded another tree, he couldn’t see them anymore, either.
~~~~~
Seabreeze coughed, his throat feeling dry and his voice raspy. He had been flying around for hours, calling out to his friends. He had left the forest and flown through a small valley that was hot and dry on one side and cold and white on the other side. He had been flying west the whole time, only stopping for a minute to drink from a river and eat from a fruit, but he still hadn’t found any sign of his friends.
With a sad sigh, he landed on a long piece of wood sticking out of the ground. There was a whole row of them, all connected by even more pieces of wood. Behind him were apple trees, hundreds of them seemingly stretching out with no end, but he didn’t care about that. All that he wanted was to get back to his friends.
Seabreeze beat his wings, slowly fluttering up from the piece of wood again. He didn’t have time to pity himself, he had to keep moving to find his friends. Looking up he saw what looked like a town, with buildings that didn’t seem too different from what they had at home, only that they were much larger. Maybe the ponies were living in those buildings. Maybe they could help him find his friends. With new hope and determination, he fluttered over towards the town.
~~~~~
Seabreeze fluttered down the street, looking around and inspecting everything. Many things looked a lot like they did in his hometown, but the streets were empty. Everything was quiet, and he couldn’t see or hear any creature. It didn’t seem that the ponies were home, but where would a whole town leave to?
“Can’t you just throw them the tickets, Twilight?!”
Seabreeze’s ears perked up and he turned around. Something that looked like a gigantic purple Breezie, without wings, with a strange horn poking out of its head and with a strange manestyle, was running towards him. Running right next to her on two legs was another, purple lizard-like creature with an even stranger green mane.
“That would mean I’d have to disappoint all five of my friends, Spike! Besides, they might start fighting over them!”
Seabreeze’s eyes went wide as the two rushed towards him. They didn’t seem to have noticed him, instead looking back at a whole horde of the Breezie-like creatures that were chasing them. Seabreeze managed to flutter out of the way just in time, but the gust the two created as they passed him was enough to send him flying into a barrel filled with apples at the side of the street.
He waited until the stomping from the rest of the creatures had ceased before he poked his head out of the barrel. The street was empty again, with no sign of the creatures left. He climbed out of the barrel and fluttered back onto the street, looking around. If his friends had come through this town, maybe they were still here.
~~~~~
Seabreeze sat down on the branch of a tree, panting from exhaustion. He had searched the whole town and hadn’t found any of his friends. After his first encounter, he had done his best to stay hidden from those creatures, diving into holes of barrels whenever one of them approached.
Looking up, he watched the sun slowly setting behind the horizon. It was getting dark, and he would need a safe place to sleep. A row of strange boxes on the ground caught his attention; they looked like they were another thing made by these ponies, but they also seemed like a safe place shielded from the weather and – most importantly – the rain.
Seabreeze fluttered towards one of the boxes at the end of the row, squeezing through a small hole to get inside. The box seemed to be filled with bags, all with the same strange symbols he didn’t know printed on them.
Seabreeze landed on one of the bags in a corner, curling up and letting out a yawn. A voice outside shouted something he couldn’t quite understand and a whistle sounded, followed by more strange sounds, but he was already drifting off to sleep.
He was already fast asleep when the train started moving.
Seabreeze stirred and rolled around, curling up.
He slowly opened his eyes and raised his head. This wasn’t his home… He was in that strange box in the giant world, without any of his friends.
A loud whistling sound startled him out of his thoughts. Seabreeze quickly got to his hooves and flew over to the door, poking his head out through one of the holes in the wood. The world outside was moving by fast, and a strong wind whipped around his head. He clung to the wood, trying his best not to get pulled away by the wind.
Squinting against the light, he watched the world outside flying by. Tall houses passed him by, and further away he could see even taller buildings. They seemed like they would never end, reaching high into the sky. Between the houses he could see the light reflecting off water, probably a lake of some sort. He wondered how big the lakes in this world could be.
Seabreeze noticed that the box was getting slower now. They were nearing a place with many more of the boxes, though most of them weren’t moving. The box he was in was now slow enough for the wind to let down. He quickly squirmed out of the hole and spread his wings to fly into the air.
~~~~~
The city was big. The moving box hadn’t even taken him right to the tallest buildings, but even this part of the city was lined with impossibly high buildings and the streets were bustling with activity from the pony creatures. Seabreeze kept in hiding, dashing from cover to cover until he finally reached an empty street.
He landed on top of a strangely formed metal post and looked around. He still had no idea where he was. If he wanted to get back to his friends, he would need the help of one of the ponies. He looked around just as the door of one of the buildings opened, causing the startled Breezie to instinctively hide behind the metal post.
“This is going to be great, Suri. With me as your assistant, you will win the fashion show for sure.”
Seabreeze carefully peeked around the post to watch two ponies trotting past his hiding spot. The smaller one was off-white, with a two-tone blue mane and tail. The other pony was slightly taller and light pink, with a purple mane and tail. Both of them had strange, colorful leaves around their bodies… Or at least that was the closest thing he could compare them to.
The pink one laughed. “Don’t say it like that, Coco. I’m hiring you as my assistant, but we are partners. We’re going to take Manehattan together, okay?”
Seabreeze watched as the two ponies walked away, chattering in their strange language. He knew that he should approach them, but he still didn’t know how the creatures would react to him, and they still scared him somewhat. Carefully he flew after them, keeping a safe distance and staying close to the wall until he reached the corner of the building and–
“Hurry up, guys, you know that the new Power Ponies came in today!”
Another pony, one of the smaller and probably younger kind, jumped out of the alley, dashing right past Seabreeze. The Breezie frantically flapped his wings to back away when two more of the small ponies ran after the first one. The wind of them rushing past was enough to fling him through the air and nearly slam him against the building.
“Slow down, Babs, the comic won’t be sold out that fast!” one of the other two ponies yelled. “Besides, I wanted to take a look at the new Mare Do Well book.”
“Seriously, Hopes, you’re probably the only pony who would buy a book in a comic store,” the third pony laughed.
“It’s about superheroes, okay? And I really like the main character…”
Seabreeze waited until they were gone, panting as he pressed himself against the wall. Maybe staying on the ground wasn’t such a great idea. Looking up, he noticed something green on the top of one building. Curious what might be that high up, he started to flap his wings faster to ascend towards the rooftops.
“Still no pictures of Spidermane?!”
Seabreeze stopped for a moment to look through one of the windows. A gruff looking pony sat behind a desk, another pony standing in front of the desk.
“Mr. Maneson, Spidermane is a fictional character from a comic book. Just like every other superhero you’ve asked me about.”
“A pony can dream, can’t I? Alright alright, let’s go back to your article about the Candy Fair. Oh, and please call me Jonah.”
Seabreeze shook his head and continued his flight. These pony conversations were getting stranger and stranger the more he tried to make sense of them.
Finally reaching the rooftops, he carefully floated over to the building where he had spotted the green and peeked over the edge. Lots of ponies were standing and trotting around in what looked to be a garden on top of a building, complete with trees and everything. Most of the ponies were wearing variations of the colorful leaves he had seen earlier, each looking stranger and more exotic than the last. Loud chatter in the pony language filled the air, keeping Seabreeze from flying closer; he didn’t want to get caught in such a large crowd of those creatures.
He was just about to turn around when something caught his attention. A long table with various kinds of food was set up at one side of the roof, a delicious smell wafting over from it.
Seabreeze looked around carefully, then quietly sneaked along the edge of the roof towards the table. None of the ponies seemed to notice him, too distracted with their conversations to pay attention to a small Breezie. A few moments later he had already reached the table and hesitantly landed between some strange, foreign foods that looked and smelled better than anything he had ever seen. His stomach began to growl loudly and his mouth watered as he wandered between the baked goods, fruits and other delicacies, forgetting everything else for the moment.
“Aww, look at that little guy. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Seabreeze froze and slowly turned around, looking up at the two ponies who stared down at her. One of them was a light orange pony with a light green mane and tail. The other pony was off-white, and her light orange mane was almost as big and shaped like the mane of a Breezie.
The one with the large mane smiled at him, speaking gently and carefully. “Hey there, little guy. What are you doing all the way up here? A party like this is no place for someone like you.”
Seabreeze backed away a little, too scared to think about using his wings. The last times he had been this close to a pony, he had almost been trampled.
The second pony spoke up, turning to the first one. “I’m not sure if he can understand what we say. Do you think he came here because of the food?”
As if in response, Seabreeze’s stomach growled again and he looked around nervously. He didn’t want to stay here any longer, but who knew when he would find food again…
The pony with the green mane chuckled and brought his hoof down not far from the Breezie, reaching for a strange baked food with a colorful top. The pony scooped some of the top off and brought his hoof in front of Seabreeze. “Here, try some of the frosting.”
Seabreeze hesitantly leaned forward, inspecting the colorful stuff on the hoof. It smelled sweet and faintly of fruit. Reaching out with a hoof of his own, he scooped up a little bit of the “frosting” and gave it an experimental lick. Then another. A few seconds later he was busily multitasking between stuffing his face with frosting and giving quick, nervous glances towards the two ponies.
The pony gave another quiet laugh. “Looks like you’ve been quiet hungry.” He pulled the hoof away and turned to a large plant next to the table to pluck a large leaf from it. He broke off a small piece from the cupcake, along with some more of the frosting and two grapes, putting everything onto the leaf and tying the ends together to make a small bundle.
Seabreeze looked down at the bundle, then back up at the ponies, who both gave him a smile and a small nod. After a few seconds he quickly walked forward and grabbed the food, lifting it with a bit of trouble.
He took a moment to find his balance, then began to flap his wings, slowly lifting off the ground. One of the ponies gestured to his left and Seabreeze noticed a large expanse of grass, trees and even a lake on the ground, not far from the building. Seabreeze turned to the ponies to nod, muttering a quick before he flew off towards the trees.
Aunt and Uncle Orange looked after him for a few moments before they were distracted by some of the guests, the strange creature quickly pushed to the back of their minds.
~~~~~
Seabreeze stretched and yawned, blinking sleepily as he looked over the park. This place was a lot quieter than the rest of the city. Looking down he saw the last grape sitting next to him on the branch. He pulled it closer and began to nibble on it, focusing on his food until he heard a strange chitter above him.
Looking up, he saw a large brown animal on a branch further up the tree, curiously looking down at him. Seabreeze stared back, gulping.
The creature made another one of the chitter sounds, then quickly scampered off, back up the tree. Seabreeze quickly finished his grape, then stood up and jumped off the branch. The park was quiet, but he didn’t know how far he could trust the animals.
“I’ve never seen you draw before.” A white pony with a blue mane and a white pony with a pale pink mane were sitting on a parkbench, looking at a small book, but Seabreeze ignored them as long as they didn’t notice him.
“I like to try new things, and drawing is a useful skill to have. You should try it sometime, Fancypants.”
The blue-maned pony leaned over to get a better look. “That is impressive… Is that the critter that was at the Orange’s party?”
“Indeed. I thought he was quite adorable. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“He? I think it looked rather mare-ish, with a mane like that. How do you know it was a male?”
The slender pony chuckled. “Mare’s intuition. We mare’s just know these things.”
~~~~~
Seabreeze looked around the quickly darkening streets. He had hoped to find the moving boxes again, thinking that they might get him back to his friends, and his home. He couldn’t start to imagine what his friends might be going through while he had been in this place. At least they had each other… If their group hadn’t been split apart even more.
Fluttering high above the few ponies on the street, he continued his search for a place to spend the night, unnoticed by them. As the sun set and the strange metal posts on the street lit up, he took another turn to enter a smaller alley. There were a couple of pipes leading along the roofs, and he figured that he could hide out under one of them.
A soft sound came from behind him and Seabreeze felt the fur on his neck stand up. He tried to turn around when something suddenly tugged on his wings and lifted him higher up. Before he could react, the gust of wind had pulled him into an air current, formed by the walls of the buildings around him. Seabreeze was hurtled against a wall, letting out a moan of pain before he was pulled across the alley and through a window, falling to the ground.
The last thing he noticed before the before the world faded into darkness was how surprisingly soft the ground under him felt.
Author's Note
You can all thank Ultra The Hedge-Toaster for this chapter. He's the one who made an actual audio comment on the first chapter and got me to reschedule all my writing and give this story the highest priority.
Also a small cameo from High Hopes, the real Mare Do Well.
