I opened my eyes to see I was in a room. Well, not a room, but more like a void, nothingness, but white. I was floating in white nothingness,
"So this is what it's like being dead" I thought, staring into the nothingness.
"I wouldn't say dead, more like, in holding" I heard a male voice beside me. I looked over to see a pale hairless ape, with jeans and a white T-shirt, with white slip-on shoes.
"Hello" I said, looking at the ape. "Who might you be?" It chuckled and looked at me, its eyes a dark golden color, that seemed to read you like a book.
"I go by many names, many titles over the years. As my children fought over the ages, many names for me have been given and removed, but never correct" it said, its eyes looking into my soul.
"Which is?"
"Jeremiah" it said, still smiling.
"So, what are you doing here Jeremiah?" I asked, looking back off into nothingness. "You dead too?"
"Well, yes, I am dead, but this is my domain, I brought you here, I know what you are looking for” my attention snapped back to him. "And I might be able to help"
"How?" I asked, curious of this creature's words.
"Well, I could either send you to the afterlife, which is eternity in wherever, or I could grant you another life, but in a different universe" It smiled again, which usually creeps me out, but something about his made me feel comforted, and welcome.
"Well, I suppose there's always time for death, so how about that second chance?" I said, smiling up at the creature.
"Very well, and when you get there, you will see that they live a lot differently than you, Rainbow Dash" The last thing I could remember was his smile, and me thinking.
'How does he know my name?'
I opened my eyes to see I was leaning up against a building, but something felt off. I looked around to see large metal things speed down the road, more hairless apes walking around. 'A lot doesn't even cover how weird this is' I thought as I looked down at my body. I looked like one of them, and then I realized I didn't have my wings.
"Ahhhh, BUCK" I shouted, a few of the apes looked over at me.
"Are you alright ma'am?" a medium sized ape asked me. I looked over at him, and nodded.
"I'm fine, but uh, I'm kinda new here, so could you show me around maybe?" I asked, trying to get up like everypony else. I looked up at him and smiled meekly.
"Sure, but I wouldn't say I’d be the ideal tour guide, but, uh, Welcome to Ranson, Miss, uh?"
"Dash" I replied, dusting the leaves off my pants.
"Dash, really?" he asked, and I looked at him.
"Yeah, why?"
"You serious, could you at least use your real name?" he said, laughing, "That won't work, I watch the show to you know"
"What show?" He turned, still smiling,
"Come on, let’s get out of the cold, it's the middle of the afternoon in November, we don't want to freeze to death." I jogged after him, surprised on how well I could use my legs. I then realized I knew a lot of things about this world, like cars, arms, fingers, customs and technology. I looked around, and then saw Jeremiah, standing outside a gas station, looking at me, but when I blinked, he was gone.
"Coming?" the boy asked, looking back at me.
"Yeah" I said, jogging back up to him, pulling my hat down over my ears, trying to block out the cold.
"So where we headed to?" I asked, following the boy down the sidewalk.
"I'm assuming you have yet to find a place to stay, so back to my place. I hope you don't mind a long walk, as it's about 5 miles away from here." he said, looking at me, the frost from his breath blowing behind us.
"I don't mind" I said, looking around at all the buildings. We stopped in front of a large building, with only 3-4 trucks in front of it.
"Wait here for a second" He said, before running up to the door, sticking his head in for a minute, the pulling it out and running back over to me. He stared at me for a second, then two, then three.
"Is something the matter?" I asked afraid I’d done something wrong.
"I don't know are you feeling well?" he asked, walking around me, examining me.
"Yeah, I feel fine, why?" He stopped in front of me and looked me in the eye.
"Because you're a cute girl and you haven't ran off yet" he said, before turning around, luckily, because I felt my face heat up at that comment. "Never mind that, off to my residence" he said, before starting to walk again. He had large strides, so every so often I’d have to jog to catch back up with him.
"How about you slow down a bit buddy" I said, trying to keep up with him.
"Sorry, I thought that Miss Dash, the fastest flyer in Equestria, would be able to keep up with a young boy like me" he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He slowed down a bit, allowing me to walk normally next to him. We stepped to the side as a car drove past us, then we continued walking down the side of the road.
"So, how'd you get here Dash?" He asked his eyes on the road ahead.
"I'm not sure" I said, not wanting to tell him why I was actually here. He laughed, which made me angry. “What’s so funny!” I said, not seeing how he could find amusement out of it.
“Not content with life, darling?” he said, glancing back over his shoulder. I froze.
“How-“I started, but I was cut off when he waved his hand.
“Death is the gateway” he said, continuing to walk.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, stuffing my hands into my coat pockets.
“That you must find out for yourself Dashie” he said, smiling over his shoulder.
“Ugh!” I grunted, frustrated with this boy. “You’re worse than Twilight. At least she didn’t speak in riddles” I walked along, looking at the sky, longing to be able to fly, but I was abruptly stopped when I ran into him. He looked back at me, the up at a small house on the hill. I followed him up the gravel path, watching him try to pull his keys from his jacket pocket.
“So, do you do this often?” I ask, as we stop in front of his door.
“Do what?”
“Pick up random girls in town and bring them back to your place.” He turned back to me and smiled, as well as turning the key, unlocking his door.
“Only on Tuesdays” he said, chuckling to himself, but I thought it was confusing. “You wouldn’t get it, you’re not really from these parts.” He opened the door, then walked in, and gesturing for me to come in. “Take a seat, want some tea?” He asked, walking to a small area with tiles floor and a counter wrapping around the majority of it, kind of like the front counter at Sugarcube Corner, minus the mass amount of baked goods.
“Please?” I said, sitting down on a chair in what I presumed to be the living room. There was two chairs, on either side of the coffee table, with a couch at the back of the room, coffee table in front, littered with various bottles, cans and books, along with a black controller and a headset. The television was relatively small, but large enough to see from the kitchen. It came on, and I saw him set down the remote on top of the countertop, before going back to the steaming mugs. The floor was a light tan carpet, with a few dark stains in it, a metal ridge covering the slot between the carpet and the tile’s kitchen floor. He walked back and handed me a mug, which I took and it immediately warmed my hands. “Thanks” I said, taking a sip of the tea, which scalded the tip of my tongue.
“Careful, it’s hot” he said, sitting down, the taking a long drink from his.
“So, what’s your name?” I asked, not remembering him introducing himself. He chuckled,
“How rude of me, inviting you to my house, not even telling you my name. Barry Howell, pleasure to meet you Miss Dash.” I smiled and took a sip from my tea, knowing the name of the man that sat before me.