A Man in Equestria

A Man in Equestria

Chapter 2 - Of Dreams and Nightmares

I look around in confusion. There is no sky, there is no ground, there is no sea. There are just stars dotted around on a cyan blue background in the middle of nowhere. As far as I'm concerned I'm in another world.  As I stand there motionless, I think about where I could be in this strange world, and why. I start walking around. I see a fairly large star, a fairly small star. Stars of all shapes and sizes. I reach out to touch one floating nearby-

Bam! I hit the ground hard. It is dark and I am in my house. I see my girlfriend. She is frantic; she opens the door, and standing outside her door are two big police officers. I look in confusion (as I am standing right next to her). I call out for her. I wave my hands in front of her, calling "Holly! Holly! Hello? Anyone home?" then I try touching her shoulder. My hand flies right through unharmed.

"What the?"

Then the truth strikes me. I am a ghost. I bury my face in my hands, crying until my eyes go dry.

The world suddenly changes from my house to Equestria. I am in the tiny town next to the mountains; it is nighttime. Ponies of all shapes, sizes and colours stare at me in confusion. I sink to the ground, crying. I don't care. A pony offers to help me, and she moves closer. I kick her in the face, shrinking down in fear. The ponies are frantic, then I see white stallions with wings and golden armour. They advance towards me, locking me in chains before I can object.

Then the moon glows, and a dark face appears. A tall, dark pegacorn advances towards me, getting rid of the ponies with pure magic. I see the ponies flash and dissapear, leaving only her and me. She unshackles my chains. She is navy blue, with blue eyes and a starry blue flowing mane. She wears a necklace bearing a crescent moon, a crown brearing a crescent moon and light blue shimmering shoes. I do not see what is on her flank.

"My, my, I have never seen such a creature! What is the name of your species, and your full personal name?" she says, gently raising a hoof.

"O-our sp-species are called hu-humans, and m-my full name is Ch-Charlie Hazel, y-your highness."

"I am Princess Luna. Remain calm, Charlie. Face your fears, the ponies will meet you eventually." she says, rising into the air towards the moon. "Befriend them! They can do you good!"

And by some sort of unexplaind miracle, she disappears into the moon. Her face shows on it, then fades away.

I shoot up, beads of sweat on my forehead. I feel the coldness of the gold press against my body, making me shiver. I sigh, then I look around to see if anypony is watching me. Luckily, nopony is. I jump onto my feet, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes before darting off to the cave mouth. I look around for my mouth is dry and my stomach is empty. I need food and water soon. I look around. The sun is beginning to rise, the sky is a beautiful orange and few clouds dot the skies. the grass is tinted orange-yellow. Looking more carefully, I see a small lake off in the distance.

It's settled then, I'll go there. It might take me an hour, it might take me two. I don't care. I just need something to drink before I shrivel up as if I've been stuffed into a microwave, and the microwave has been turned on, and my body juices are squeezed out until I am just a pile of skin sitting there. It is fairly cool this morning; it's not too bad. I decide to set off right this moment. The ponies won't see me then.

What if that pony in my dreams was right? Maybe they're nice? I mean they're nice on the show but, you never know, they could be horrid in real life. I guess she was nice. What was her name again? Oh yes, Princess Luna. I bet she's not even real. But she could be right. Wait! Why are you thinking about this, Charlie? You've got to go to the lake to drink water so you can LIVE!

I set off. Wait. I have to go down a frigging mountain. This is gonna be a long day. I start running down. You can say that I am gonna fall down the mountain. I bet I will.

I tumble on a tiny stone and trip. I land face down on the rocks.

"Oww..."

I get up. Pulling up my coat arm and looking at my arm, I sigh. I have a graze on my elbow, and it is covered in blood.

"Hooray..." I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

And that's how my walk is all the way down.

I'm finally at the bottom! I'm bleeding, but I'm finally here! The sun is clearly up in the sky now, and the sky itself is blue. I do a little victory dance before running towards the lake. I am far from the village of horses, so there can't be any chance of them seeing me, can there? I keep on running until my knees ache.

I take a break on the grass. My green eyes dart around as I look at strangely shaped clouds. I can feel the grass tickle my hands, and I can smell dandelions, they are everywhere after all. I can taste the air, it is sweet. I look up at the mountain; if I close one eye I can make it look as if I'm squishing it with my fingers. That keeps me busy for a while.

I need to get a move on. Getting to my feet, I start running, then I stop dead. My phone! It's in my pocket for heaven's sake! I facepalm hard. How could I be so stupid? I reach into my pocket, rummaging around until I pull it out, then I look at it in happiness. By some sort of miracle, it isn't broken! I switch it on and try calling someone.

Then I remember, I'm in an alternate universe. Well, no signal. That was a huge bust. I sigh and keep on running towards the lake.