In the Time We have Left...

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: Where the Actual F**k are We?
Chapter 2: The Road (Part I)
Chapter 3: The Road (Part II)

Prologue

Luck.

Luck is the strangest thing, it can be very random at times. Helping one succeed sometimes while completely screwing them over other times. Some say that in a lifetime one can only have so much good luck before it expires and turns bad. Before your goodlife takes a turn for the worst.

Some also say that some people are born with more luck than others as are people with less luck than others. The people who were born with the most luck that survived and thrived, their luck being so massive that it never expires during their lifetime. The people who were born with an average amount of luck made do, but their lives are far from perfect and have to deal with the main struggles of life. The people who were born with hardly any luck at all become either dead, hobos, or prostitutes, doomed to be nothing but crazed individuals who drown and numb their sorrows with drugs, mindless sex, and alcohol.

Most people were fortunate to at least have some luck. However, our protagonist, Derrick Roberts, was definitely not one of the fortunate.

Derrick walked down the street with a somber look on his face. He had just visited his doctor looking for some reassurance that he was in perfect health after some suspicion that he had for some time, he received just the opposite. His doctor told him that he had lung cancer due to his 'excessive' smoking and has a little over 4 years to live on treatment, less than 2 off treatment. Derrick, being the most unlucky bastard in the world, did not have health insurance nor the solid money to pay for this treatment. He, understandably, was not the happiest person in the world at the moment. He was quite possibly the most unhappy person in the world.

What was even worse for him was that this was merely one tragedy in the series of unfortunate events for him. He lost the love of his friends and family, he lost nearly everything he owned, He only recently lost his job, and now he was just told the he was soon to lose his life. After all this tragedy in his life, Derrick have grown tired.

This would be the reason that Derrick was walking down the sidewalk, grimly planning his next course of action. The plan of how he was going to kill himself.

He was tired of this game called life, nearly everything has gone wrong for him and he didn’t want to play anymore. However, Derrick couldn’t do it himself. He disliked the idea of going out without a bang, he needed go out with a fight;, he someone else to do it for him.

With his plan in mind, he decided to continue walking to the one place he knew he could easily pick a fight. The one place he was was very familiar with and was a frequent customer of. The local town bar. As much as he hated bringing hell to the local business, he had a suicide to fulfill and the bar had exactly what he needed; a mob of angry drunk men and an armed bartender.

After a few minutes he reaches his final destination. Upon opening the doors the familiar scent of booze and drunks surrounds him. All around him, there were tables and booths pack full of patrons happily drinking their alcoholic beverages; their soberness and free will draining as quickly as the poison was draining from their mugs. It was a full house tonight.

“Good.” was all Derrick thought as he continued his way into the bar.

Approaching the counter, the bartender noticed Darrick and began his approach towards him. The man was young, looking somewhere in his twenties. He had a completely shaven beard, pale skin, Black hair, and a momma's boy haircut, plain and simple. Darrick didn’t recognize this bartender, he must have been new.

“Even better, he won’t know me and will be more likely to shoot if I scare him enough.” Darrick thought darkly.

“So, what will it be my friend?” The bartender asked.

“Just a beer.” Derrick mumbled just loud enough to be heard.

He had entertained the thought of going after the bartender right away, but he knew that would only get him thrown out faster than one can say ‘sorry’ and put him further away from his ultimate goal. He had to be patient, wait for the right opportunity.

“Alright then, one beer coming right up.” The bartender replied as he went off to get Derrick’s drink.

Derrick took the opportunity to look around the bar and scope out a target; there were plenty to choose from. The man in a corner booth at the far left corner of the bar looked strong enough to snap his neck in one punch, but didn’t look nearly drunk enough to have little self control. Still, he would have to keep an eye on him. There was another one at one of the round tables. He was definitely drunk, but way too drunk to do any serious damage.

Then, finally, there was a guy and his girlfriend sitting at the right corner booth of the bar. The kid looked young, along the lines of eighteen or nineteen years of age, definitely too young to be drinking. Derrick briefly wondered how he managed to get in here in the first place let alone get a drink, but decided it didn’t matter. He was definite athlete and could do some serious damage, a formidable enemy for his last fight.

He couldn’t kill Derrick, no, but he could most definitely cause a scene that would make the bartender pull his gun. Then all that will need to be done is charge the bartender, and the whole plan will wrap itself up from there. Assuming the bartender is a good shot.

His target acquired, Derrick moved to get up from the counter and move towards the couple. His plan of action was simple, insult the girlfriend and the boyfriend will jump up to protect her honor. It will be too easy.

However, he was interrupted as the bartender placed Derricks beer on the counter.

“Hey! Don’t go anywhere, your beer is here.” The bartender said.

“Damnit, you have to show up now!” Derrick complained mentally.

“Uh, right, sorry.” Derrick replied awkwardly as he grabbed his beer.

Looking over his shoulder, he see the two lovebirds talking to each other. Judging by their full mugs Derrick felt safe to assume that they won’t be leaving anytime soon. So he relaxed and sat back down at the counter, deciding he would have time for one last drink.

“You alright there buddy? You don’t seem like you are feeling very well.” The bartender asked, making casual conversation that derrick really didn’t want right now.

Grunting, Derrick replied. “I had a bad day, and received some bad news. I really don’t want to talk about it...”

“Alright my man, if you don’t want to talk about it, I am not going to make you.” The bartender replied as he went off to service another customer.

“Good.” Derrick replied bluntly as he took in a mouthful of beer, savoring the numbing liquid before swallowing.

“Man, I am really going to miss beer…” Derrick casually thought.

He was about to take another sip when he heard commotion behind him. Turning his head, he finds that the two lovebirds had gotten into a fight. Over all the other commotion going on within the bar, he could barely hear the harsh whispers their mouths hissed towards each other. They seemed upset.

“Maybe this is a good opportunity that I shouldn’t waste…” Derrick thought as he put down a twenty to pay for his beer and got up.

However, as he got up, the girlfriend got up as well and quickly made her way towards the exit, an upset look on her face. The boyfriend did not follow, he instead decided to stay put and finish his beer. Derrick was now conflicted on what to do next.

He saw the girl rush out into the night alone, and this was a bad neighborhood; especially for young girls. She could get hurt walking the streets by herself, or worse. He believed that he should go out there and at least make sure that she got home safe. However, on the other hand, he had a suicide to complete, and he wasn’t sure how long until the jock drunk himself shitless to the point where he couldn’t fight.

Derrick found himself staring between his two options; the jock, or the girl. He looked at the jock and found that he was crossing his arms, muttering something; likely angry that his girlfriend walked out on him. If there was an opportunity to get into a fight, it was now. Then he looked at the door in which the girl had just left. He knew that she was alone, walking the streets in a bad part of town at the worst time of night. If he didn’t get out there and see her home, something extremely bad was likely to happen to her.

Looking over his two options carefully, Derrick made his decision. Walking straight towards the door, he went out into the night to find that girl and see her home. Derrick figured that he may as well do at least one good deed before he ended it all, it was the least he could do.

“Besides, that fucker probably isn’t worth the effort anyways…” Derrick mused.

As Derrick walked into the dark night, the bartender came back to where Derrick once sat, noticing an unfinished beer that he had paid too much for.

Walking out of the bar and into the alleyway beyond, Derrick began to make his way towards the street; hoping to catch that girl before she had gotten too far. Running down the alleyway, he began to notice a noise as he approached the end. As he got even closer, he began to notice that what he was hearing were voices.

“Oh come on you bitch! You know you want it!” One voice said, clearly a male.

“No, I don’t you creep, leave me alone!” The other said, this one was clearly female.

Derrick put two and two together rather quickly as he began to run faster down the alleyway. Worry gripping him that he might be a little too late. Soon his run turned into a full on sprint down the alleyway.

“Let me go you, fucker!” The girl shouted.

“Oh no you don’t, bitch! You are coming with me! We are going to fuck you REEEAL good!” another male voice shouted with a laugh.

Turning the corner, Derrick came face to face with the situation. Two young men that were dress in some sort of gang getup were grabbing onto the girl that Derrick had seen rush out of the bar. The two men were trying to drag her into a car.

A scowl formed across Derrick’s face. I took him all his will no not just rush in immediately. With a collected mind, he approached calmly and quietly in hopes that the two men would only see him coming when it was far too late. Putting his hand into his pockets, he pulls out a pair of brass knuckles and fits them around his fingers; preparing himself for what came next.

He was five feet away when one of the men finally noticed him.

“Hey, motherfucker! What do you think yo-” The would be rapist never got to finish his sentence as Derrick’s right fist collided with the gangbanger’s face.

The gangbanger fell to the ground as he clutched his broken nose and screamed in agony. His buddy finally gained notice of Derrick and released the girl. The girl ran down the street screaming for help as the second gangbanger pulled a knife.

“Fuck!!!” Derrick’s mind screamed as he narrowly dodges to the right of the incoming knife, the knife took a piece of his shirt.

Derrick acted quickly, countering with a left jab to the gangbanger’s face. The blow was not that hard due to the awkward angle he was forced to swing at, but still ended up stunning stunning the gang banger and made him stumble back. Taking advantage of this brief window, Derrick followed up with another left jab which was then followed by a powerful right jab to the gangbanger’s face. The gangbanger fell to the floor unconscious.

Derrick, feeling safe that the man would not be getting up anytime soon, turned around to deal with the other one. However, upon turning around, he notices the other gang banger had already gotten back up and was now aiming a revolver at him. With a smile, the kid pulled the trigger.

*BANG*

Derrick fell and screamed in agony as he felt a bullet rip through his stomach, making his belly explode with blood as a slow and steady stream shot out of his wound. If he knew getting shot was this painful, he would have probably considered a different method of suicide.

Derrick hit the ground hard, withering in pain as he heard the gang banger start to chuckle to himself; probably very proud of himself. Derrick tried to get up to strangle the little bastard, but the pain shooting through him from the wound of his stomach kept him down.

Lying on the ground, twitching in shock, he shot a glance at the kid who gave him the wound. The kid stood over him, he was clutching his nose in pain but had a cocky smile on his face. The kid pointed the gun at his head and pulled back the hammer with a defining *click*.

Derrick began to think over his recent actions. In the end, he decided he did well. He saved that girl from a fate much worse than death and earned the glorious death he had been trying to gain; though by other means.

“Maybe my luck is changing.” He thought with an humorless laugh.

“Any last words you sorry sack of shit?”

Derrick said nothing for a moment before he said. “Good riddance…”

As his vision began to darken, Derrick believed that he heard the last shot that ends his miserable life.

*BANG*

A shadowed figure watched as the whole event unfolded.

His faith in this species faltering as he saw the girl getting grabbed by those animals. Their intentions were of total malice, to rape the poor girl and probably kill her after they had their fun. These monsters reminded him of some ponies back in Equestria, it made him sick. It was such a shame to him, these were not the champions he had hoped to find.

He was about to move on to somewhere else, but that was before he notices another human running out of ally and spotting the two rapists. The shadow figure’s attention regained, he watch as the human approached the two others and proceeded to beat the shit out of them, much to the figure’s amusement. The girl ran off as the man stayed behind to keep the two thugs in line. Perhaps there was hope after all…

His amusement was short lived, however, as one of the rapist pulled out a different type of weapon and proceeded to wound the hero of the girl.

The shadow figure let out a sigh as the villain triumphed over the hero. While he usually didn’t mind the idea, it sort of depressed him in this case.

“No good deed goes unpunished I suppose…” The figure thought to himself.

The figure however, finds himself surprised once again as he finds another man running out from the alleyway, armed much like the rapist except with a bigger weapon. The man then proceeds to blow the back of the villain's head off before rushing to the hero’s aid.

“Now that is interesting… Perhaps there is still hope.” The figure thought to himself.

The figure started his descent towards the two living humans, it was time to greet his new champions…

John had never imagine his night would go like this…

This was his first shift on his job as a bartender, his first shift and he has already had to kill someone. All John could think about at the moment was how much his boss was going to kill him when he hears that he shot and killed some kid on the street using the bar’s gun. He was going to lose his job for sure.

It started off when some amiss looking guy came into the bar and ordered a beer. He looked somewhere between old middle aged, somewhere in his forties. Wearing a red flannel shirt and blue jeans. Judging by his disheveled appearance with a rough light beard and tired eyes, it looked like something was bothering him. He was looking around at other people rather suspiciously, like he was looking for a fight. When John asked about how he was doing, the man simply brushed him off. After a bit, the man took off and left 18 dollars too much for the beer.

Though John would had liked to think it was a huge tip, he really didn’t think so. He assumed that the man simply forgot to wait for his change. So, with this in mind, he made up the man’s change and went to see if he could catch him before he got too far.

However, he came around the corner to find that the man was in a fight with two thugs trying to kidnap a girl. John reaction was immediate; he ran back to the bar, quickly made his way around the counter, grabbed the bar’s double barrel shotgun, loaded it, grabbed the rest of the box of ammo, and ran back to the scene, ignoring the concerned shouts and questions raised by the customers.

By the time John got back, he found one of the thugs standing over the man with a revolver to the man’s head. John didn’t hesitate as he leveled the shotgun and fired. The kid’s head was blown off, bits and pieces going everywhere, as the body fell limp and to the ground.

Now, John was standing in the aftermath. Checking on the wounded man and freaking out over the phone with the police.

“I SAID, we need someone over here now! The guy is fucking dying! You hear me? Get your asses over here!”

“Sir, I need you to calm down. Tell us where you are and what happened.”

“I TOLD YOU ALREADY!!! We are on Sanderson outside Quips Bar!!! I came out and saw some people in trouble! So I went back to the bar, came out with a shotgun, and shot one of the fuckers! I don’t know where the girl is, but I know the man is in critical condition! Now get over here NOW!” John shouted before hanging up.

John Sat down next to the dying man, he had one hand and a towel keeping pressure on the man’s wound and another over his own nose and mouth as he tried his best to keep himself from vomiting from the sight and the smell of the scene around him. He was constantly trying to think of something else, but the sight and smell always brought him back to reality.

“This night is so fucked up…” John mumbled to himself.

“Not nearly as much as it could have been. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better outcome…” said voice out of nowhere.

John looked up to see a shadowed figure vaguely representing a human standing in front of him. The figure has no defining details other than it’s shape what-so-ever, it was merely floating black fog.

“W-What the fuck!?” John stuttered in fear as he reached for his shotgun nearby. However, the shotgun slid out of reach by a black aura before he could grab it. In a panic, John tried reaching for the dead thug’s revolver instead. It was all for not as it slid out of reach as well.

“Calm down, human. I mean no ill intent… if you lest to change my intention, then have not ill intent against me.” The thing calmly responded.

John barely understood what the thing had just said, but understood the basic point. “U-Uh… Okay… I don’t try anything, you don’t try anything?” John asked nervously.

The shadow seemed to stare at him with annoyance of John’s ignorance of basic english, but continued on with what it was saying.

“Exactly. Now, as I was saying, this could have been a lot worse. If this man didn’t come out, that poor girl would have been taken away to have the unspeakable done to her. If you didn’t come out, this man would be dead for sure, this crook would have gotten away, and I wouldn’t have found my champions.” He said.

John was confused now more than he ever has been in his entire life. He couldn’t quite comprehend what exactly was happening, this night was just getting weirder and weirder. Who was this guy? What did he mean by champions? Champions for what?

“Wh-What are you talking about? Champions? What does that have to do with any of this? What the fuck are you anyways?”

“I am sorry to say don’t have much time. As such, I don’t have time to explain. I need to get you two prepped for transport. Got to get you two Equestria as soon as possible, before your friend croaks and your police arrive to screw this all up, sorry.”

“Wait! What are you-” John tried to ask before he and the unconscious man were swarmed by a black fog. John struggled to free himself from the suffocating gas around him, but only succeeded in making himself circum much faster to the lack of oxygen.

As he felt himself hit the floor and fall unconscious, he heard the final words of the figure.

“I sincerely hope you two will be enough…”

In the Time We have Left...

Chapter 1: Where the Actual F**k are We?

Derrick couldn’t remember much of what happened, all he knows is at the current moment he was falling through some sort of inky darkness that surrounded him from all sides. He couldn’t breath, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t scream, hell he couldn’t even move or feel his own body. At first he panicked, but he then began to notice that he wasn’t being harmed in any way.

“Am I dead? No wait, that is a stupid question; of course I am! The real question is where the hell am I? Hell? Heaven? Somewhere in between? Fuck, I don’t know, all this bullshit is making my head spin.” Derrick thought to himself.

Derrick continued to fall through the inky blackness for some time. He didn’t know if it were for seconds, minutes, hours, years, or centuries. All he knew was that his patience was wearing thin…

“Oh my fucking god, I swear! If this is all there is to death, then death fucking sucks big major di-”

At that exact moment, Derrick then began to see a light in the direction he was falling. Though faint and small at first, it began to grow in intensity and size. Derrick Immediately assumed that this must have been the gateway to heaven. What else could it be?

“Heh, Maybe those religions were not entirely bullshit after all… Then again, if they were not entirely bullshit, why the hell am I of all people going to heaven. Oh well, best not question it. Pearly gates, here I come!” Derrick thought as he was about to hit the source of the light.

Passing through the light, Derrick then could suddenly feel his body again; as well as the extreme agony it was in…

Derrick let out a wail of pain as he suddenly found himself falling through the sky approximately two-hundred feet above the ground; he was falling very fast.

“What the fuck is this shit? Pain? Falling to my death? This isn’t Heaven!!! This is Hell!!! LIGHT YOU BITCH!!! YOU LIED TO ME!!!” Derrick mentally complained, feeling very much betrayed.

Derrick’s fall began to pick up speed as the earth below began to become closer and closer. Derrick assumed that he, if he even capable, was going to die on impact and he would find himself in darkness again. Where this cycle was going to be repeated again and again until the end of time as punishment for his shitty, wasted life. It was no less than he believed he deserved. So he just closed his eyes and let it happen, he didn’t even brace himself for impact.

However, none of this happened as he began to feel himself slow down. It felt as if the air around him was getting thicker and he was getting lighter. Finally, he felt himself stop completely in midair. Opening his eyes, he found himself floating a mere inch above the ground; staring through a glaze of inky darkness. He down at his body to find that this shadowy aura was surrounding his entire body.

Before he had to to contemplate this strange energy, it released him; allowing him to fall an inch to the ground. Despite the short fall, he groaned in pain as he felt the huge sore on his belly. It hurt like a bitch, but was bearable...

What? Wait a second? Wasn’t I shot? Shouldn’t I be in more pain right now?” Derrick questioned as he slowly rolled over and lifted his shirt.

He found a huge bruise and a nasty scar where he was shot, but the life threatening wound had completely vanished. Besides for feeling very sore, Derrick was perfectly fine.

Getting up with a grunt from the effort, Derrick began to feel thankful that he was alive; although he wasn’t entirely sure how. However, that was until he began to recall the events that lead up to him getting that wound. He remembered that night that he was trying to kill himself, nearly succeeding too; although by a different means than he was attempting. The brief thankfulness he had completely faltered.

“Why the fuck didn’t I just die?” Derrick thought grimly.

Before Derrick could contemplate on his situation further, and explosion could be heard above him followed by someone screaming.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-”

Looking up, Derrick sees a man falling from the sky directly above him, flailing his arms and legs around in a poor attempt to fly. He was about to land directly on Derrick…

“Shit!” Derrick yelled as he jumped out of the way, much to the complaint of his injuries.

Derrick turned around, expecting the man to go splat on the ground where he once was. However, the man instead started to slow down as a familiar black inky aura surrounded him and stopped him an inch from the ground.

“-UUUUUUUUK!!!” The man finished when he finally realized that he was not going to die a horrible death.

The aura released him suddenly and he fell with a grunt of surprise. Quickly getting up he started looking around. He seemed to be in some sort of panic as he began frantically searching for something on the ground.

It took Derrick a couple of second, but he came recognize the young man as the bartender that serviced him last night. The bartender had not noticed him yet, so Derrick figured that this was good time to make himself known.

“Hey.” Derrick said.

The bartender suddenly spun around, apparently having found the thing he was looking for; a double barrel shotgun. Derrick felt his eyes grow wide

“SHIT!” The startled Bartender screamed as he fired blindly, blowing up a rock a few mere feet from Derrick’s leg.

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, DON’T SHOOT YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKER!!!” Derrick screamed.

Derrick’s colorful warning did not help as the panicked bartender took aim for another shot. Not giving the bartender another opportunity, Derrick quickly ran up and grabbed the barrel of the shotgun with his left hand; pointing it away from himself. He followed up by jabbing the bartender’s face with his right hand, loosening his grip just enough for him to take the shotgun from him.

The bartender backed off, cowering as his weapon was taken from him. “Hey, hey! I didn’t mean to shoot! Please! Don’t kill me!” He shouted.

Derrick didn’t take aim at him, he instead popped the shotgun open and removed the shells, his intent to make the gun safe. Much to Derrick’s surprise, both rounds had been shot off already. He assumed that the bartender had fired off both rounds at him the first time he fired.

“Fucking idiot, he shot off both rounds at me on the first go. What was he expecting to do for the second go? Point it at me threateningly in hope I didn’t try anything!?” Derrick thought to himself as he turned his attention to the bartender.

“What the actual fuck is your malfunction?” Derrick asked sternly, as if he was scolding a child.

“I-I’m sorry man, you scared the hell outta me!” The man stuttered.

“Well I guess that makes two of us! Where the fuck did you learn to handle a gun!? I need to burn down their building before they train too many idiots like you!” Derrick yelled at the Bartender.

“Come on, man! I said I am sorry! It was a complete accident!” The bartender complained.

“Yeah, I am sure, but you should know that you NEVER point a gun at ANYONE unless you intend to use it. You are sure as hell are not getting this gun back! Not until you can prove you know how to handle it without blowing away the first person that taps your shoulder.” Derrick said sternly.

Things grew quiet between the two as they stared each other down. Derrick starring with anger as the bartender starred with fear. The only thing that could be heard at that exact moment was the sounds of nature all around. It was this sound that suddenly brought Derrick’s attention to his surroundings. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere in a pasture of some sort bordering a dark and unsettling forest. The air was fresh and clean, the sounds of nature were peaceful and relaxing, and the surround environment (forest aside) was beautiful.

They were definitely not in their home town anymore. The bartender seemed to notice as well. They had been so engrossed in their yelling at each other that they had not realized they had no clue where they were.

The bartender was the first to bring up the question both had on their minds. “Where the actual fuck are we anyways?”

Derrick didn’t answer, mostly because he didn’t have answer. Otherwise, it was because he was just beginning feel the shock of everything that was happening. First, he tries to get himself killed, then he nearly succeeds, then he wakes up and nearly gets his leg blown off by an idiot, and finally realizes that he is here in this place and has no clue where the hell here is. To him, it was like some sort of nightmare.

A long delayed fear gripped Derrick as he looked in every direction, hoping to spark a memory, to recognize something that would explain how he got here. However, he found nothing. All he knows was that he nearly died, fell from the sky, and ended up here.

That is when it struck Derrick, when everything began to make sense.

“I obviously didn’t die, otherwise I wouldn’t be feeling pain and this other asshole wouldn’t be with me. Yet, somehow, I end up here, falling from the sky, with what should have been an lethal wound miraculously healed. There is only one explanation for this!”

“I think we have been abducted by aliens and left here on this planet as some sort of science experiment, sick entertainment, or prey for a bunch of ugly split faced aliens. This is the start of a shitty science fiction movie.” Derrick concluded.

The bartender stared at Derrick dumbly with a cell phone next to his ear. Apparently he was trying to see if he could get a signal before Darrick managed to break his concentration. “Are you fucking serious?” He asked.

“Come on! Think about it! We fell from the sky! THE SKY!!! This is exactly the same as the start point of that shitty predators movie except without the parachutes!” I argued.

“Yeah… I don’t really think that is the case, I am sure that we are just lost… somewhere.” The bartender tried to rationalize, continuing to fiddle with his phone. Derrick, however, was having none of it.

“BULLSHIT!!! WE FELL FROM THE MOTHERFUCKING SKY!!! We are obviously not on earth anymore!” Derrick yelled.

The bartender looked uneasy, staring at Derrick as if he lost it. In a sense, he would be kind of right. “Yeah, alright man… I can’t get a signal out here, so lets at least try to find a town. Before we jump to any conclusions…”

“100 dollars says I am right. We are not going to find a fucking town! If we do, it is going to be full of aliens that will either want to eat us, fuck us, fuck us in the mouth and impregnate us, or dissect us for science!”

“Yeah, man… Alright… sure. Now let’s go find that town, we don’t want to keep the nice aliens waiting…” The bartender said nervously.

Derrick knew at this point that the bartender thought he was off his rocker, but didn’t pay much mind to it. He knew he was right, though he kind of hoped he wasn’t. Those science fiction movies were kind of brutal sometimes…

The very thought of brutal death reminded him of something, this shotgun was not loaded. If they were to come across and alien, then they would not stand much of a chance. That was only unless they were wimpy aliens, and Derrick was not about to put money on that chance.

“You don’t happen to have extra ammo for this, do you?” Derrick asked as John was getting up.

The bartender seemed reluctant to respond. “I-I do, but I already hardly trust you with an unloaded shotgun.” The bartender replied.

“I think I won’t be blowing away anything that is human, unlike yourself who would shoot anything that moves. Plus, what happens if we come across wild life? You expect me to beat them into submission? I’m good, but I am not that good kiddo.” Derrick replied with a laugh.

The bartender was not amused. “First off, I am not a kid, I am 24 for fuck sakes. Lastly, I am not entirely sure you are all there at the moment. You are not getting these shells from me.” The bartender stated defiantly.

The bartender’s defiance annoyed Derrick, he didn’t have much patience left for his bullshit. Derrick figured he could just go and beat the living shit of him and take the ammo by force, but he was not that kind of person. He was the honorable type who would at least give the guy fair warning before he beat the shit out of him and take the ammo by force.

Derrick, deciding a intimidation act would be the best first course of action, began to dramatically play out his warning. “Alright kiddo, I’m sorry. Let’s start over. What is your name?” He asked calmly.

The bartender was still not amused by the little pet name he had been given, but answered anyways. “My name is John.”

“Last name?” Derrick then asked, setting the shotgun of the ground behind him with utmost care.

John was a bit confused about why he would care, but answered anyways. “Neth.” He said

“Well, alright ‘John Neth’, this is how this is going to play out. I will try to be reasonable…” Derrick said dangerously, reaching into his pockets. He was happy to find that his brass knuckles were still there.

Pulling them out and positioning them around his fingers, he took a intimidating step forward. Causing the bartender to take a step back. “Those shells you have there are needed for the shotgun. While I have no intention to use it, there is still the chance that I will have too; I can only assure that it will not be on you. Without those shells, that gun is about as useful for about as hard as you can swing it. For most wildlife, that mean utter shit.”

Derrick takes another step forward causing John to take another step back. “So to stop something from eating us, I need the ammo to kill it. Without the ammo to kill it we are fucked. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be fucked, softly, violently, or otherwise.” He said with a laugh.

The bartender took another step back, cringing at Derrick’s disturbing metaphor. “I desperately don’t want to be fuck, so desperately that I might beat the living shit out of you to gain the tools necessary to prevent the rape you and I will receive otherwise. So I will ask you nicely once more…”

Derrick puts on a sadistic smile to emphasize his point, knowing all too well that it would scare the shit out of John. “Please give me the fucking shotgun shells.”

It was not even a second later when John gave up the shotgun shells. This middle aged man scared the living shit out of him, and he didn’t think he would possibly have a chance in hand to hand combat with this terrifying being. When he first met this guy at the bar, he really did not picture him as a violent, paranoid, and somewhat psychotic man with anger issues. Now was an entirely different story.

“That guy is fucking crazy…” He thought to himself, he can’t believe this was the asshole he had tried to save.

He briefly wondered if he should have brought up that fact earlier, the fact that he had save that asshole from a hole through his thick head, but completely shot that down.

“The guy is psychotic enough with his paranoia of aliens, there was really no need to tell him about that hallucination I had before we ended up here.”

John had convinced himself at this point that the encounter with the shadowed figure and his recent falling from the sky was some really fucked up dream induced by the mental trauma he had experience with that whole situation. How they ended up here was still a question left unanswered, but he was sure there was a rational explanation for all of it that didn’t involve aliens.

John watched begrudgingly as the man made away with his bounty of HIS shotgun shells to load into HIS gun. As the man began to load the weapon, a thought occurred to John. He had just told the man his name and he has yet to return the favor. After all the shit he is putting him through, John believed that he at least owed him that much.

“What is your name anyways?” John asked.

The man only responded as he finished loading the weapon and snapped it closed. “What is it to you?”

“Well, after all that bullshit, I believe you at least owe my that much.” John replied.

The man smiled, shook his head and sighed. “You are really going to start annoying me about it, aren’t you?”

“You better believe it, asshole. You threatened to beat the shit out of me and I don’t even know who the fuck you are.” John responded.

The man took the shotgun’s belt and holstered it on his back. “Okay, let me tell you something. I don’t owe you shit, you should be thanking me for not killing you after you shot at me and at least giving you fair warning before I tried to take the ammo by force. However, given the circumstances, us being in this together for now, I suppose you need a name to call me by aside from ‘the asshole who stole my shotgun’.” He said with a smile as he walked up to John.

Extending his hand out, he finally said. “My name is Derrick Roberts. You will only refer to me as Derrick. Are we clear?”

“Got it, Derrick.” John responded nervously, reluctantly taking his hand and shaking it.

“Good, now lets go find that town you are so sure exists.” Derrick said as he turned around and walking in a random direction, John was just thankful it was away from the forest.

With a sigh, John followed his lead. He hoped that they would find a town soon so that the would get this mess sorted out.

Derrick had been walking for about an hour now, John not that far behind him but clearly having trouble keeping pace. This amused Derrick a bit. At Johns age, he should have been running laps around him for the entire hour and still feel energized enough to to do it for another few hours. Instead Derrick’s 45 year old, beaten up, cancer infested, body was out performing John’s like advanced machinery to old machinery.

He looked back at the completely out of shape wimp behind. “What is wrong, John, do bartenders never exercise? Cancer patients have more endurance than you!” Derrick yelled for the sake of irony.

John gave Derrick and nasty look. “Yes, we do, but we don’t exactly expect to walk 3 miles a second for hours on end.” John panted.

“Oh please, save me your whining, we have only been at it an hour and walked 2 miles. Child’s play!” He yelled back.

“Whatever!” John responded as he focused back on walking.

For as long as they have been walking, they had yet to find anything that signified that there was any civilization nearby. More and more Derrick was starting to fear that he was right and that they were abducted by aliens. He only hoped that they didn’t come to hunt them down at some point like in those cheesy science fiction movies.

“I swear, if I see glowing eyes appearing from thin air…”

Suddenly, John shouts something; breaking Derrick from his thinking. “Derrick! Look! Its a road! This could lead somewhere!”

Turning around, Derrick sees John pointing out something that was indeed a road, but seemed to be very poorly maintained; only small bits and pieces remained. It lead out further into the pasture and looked as if it had not been used in a very long time.

Standing beside John as he look stupidly proud of himself. “See, there is a town! There is always a town where there is a road. Where there is a town, there are people! We can get there, get this mess we are in all sorted out, and we can go back to our normal lives.” John said enthusiastically.

Derrick, on the other hand, was not as excited about it as he was. It wasn’t only because he really didn’t have anything to go back to, but it was also because this road rubbed him in the wrong way. It was quite obvious that no one had traveled this road in a very long time, it could be that there was an alternate road made and this one was abandoned. However, it could also mean that it wasn’t traveled for a reason…

“I don’t like this.” Derrick said.

John was a bit surprised. “Don’t like what?”

“The road, it is all wrong.” Derrick explained.

“Well, it does need a bit of a repair job, but I don’t see anything wrong with it.” John said casually as he walked onto the road.

“It is not the fact that it needs maintenance, it is the fact that it hasn’t received it.” Derrick explained further.

John actually stopped to think about it for a second. “What do you mean by that?”

“I am saying that this road is abandoned, it is likely the same case for the towns it connects. Even if the towns are not abandoned, they wouldn’t have stopped sending people to maintain the road unless there was a reason behind it. What I am saying is that this road could be dangerous.”

John looked like he actually thought about it for a second, but then shrugged. “I don’t know man, that seems a bit too paranoid if you ask me. It could be that they just don’t need it any more. Forget about it, lets just go and find that town and figure it out from there. I don’t want to be out here after dark.”

Derrick wanted to say that they should move on and forget the road, but he knew that John was going to be a stubborn ass about it; he couldn’t deal with that headache right now. So Derrick reluctantly nodded in agreement, but couldn’t shake the feeling that they were making a mistake.

A few minutes later on the road they find their first road sign. It was wooden and was rotting to the core. Walking up to it, the two men tried to read what it said, making out only a few words.

Ponyville: 15 mi**

Popula****: 400

“A town called Ponyville? Must be a horse breeding community… How the fuck did we get from city to country?” John ask no one in particular.

Derrick ignored his companion’s question, he was more worried about the small, almost unnoticeable message etched into the bottom of the rotting sign. a message that sent chills down Derrick’s spine.

Road is not safe. Town is not safe. No where is safe from the gatherers. Tread lightly or you will find yourself in Tartarus.

“What the fuck?” Derrick ask himself as he questioned whether or not he read it right. However, he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.

Turning around he sees John with a questioning look on his face. “For the fifth time, we need to go, we have 15 miles to make before it gets dark.” John said, gesturing to the descending sun. Derrick acknowledged him with a nod before turning back the sign. However he found that the message was gone.

Rubbing his eye, he looked once again to see if his eyes were fooling him, but the message had indeed disappeared.

“Derrick! Come on, the sun is not going to wait for no one!” He heard John’s voice from afar.

He shook his paranoid thoughts out, assuming that the words were never there to begin with. With this in mind, he began to walk to catch up with Jack down the road. He knew it would be better to find some sort of shelter before darkness fell. Even if the town was abandoned, they could easily send the night there and continue looking for other towns the next day.

At this point though, he couldn’t help but be a tiny bit paranoid. Whether that message was real or not, is was definitely a warning coming from his mind or otherwise.

He needed to stay on guard or something bad was bound to happen.

Chapter 2: The Road (Part I)

John and Derrick have been walking for another two hours now, but have only made four of the fifteen miles they needed to complete. Mostly due to John’s less than desirable pace when it came to walking.

Derrick considered many times the idea of just leaving him in the dust and letting him catch up whenever he reached town, but Derrick knew that was probably a very bad idea. The sun was setting, and this road left him paranoid enough at day with his annoying companion at his side. Traveling at night alone with no one to watch his back would probably reduce him to a festering pool of paranoia, therefore reducing him to John’s level when it came to gun safety. Derrick did not want that to happen, ever. He needed his senses to fo sharp and ready for when a real threat comes. A threat he was pretty sure would come.

He only hoped it would not be in the form of a split face alien...

“So, what do you do exactly?” John asked suddenly, catching Derrick a bit off guard.

“What?” Derrick asked, confused by the question.

“Well, we’ve been walking with each other in complete silence for god know how long ever since we past that sign. The silence has to be driving you up the wall like it is with me right now. I am trying to make casual conversation. So, what exactly do you do for a living?” John explained.

“Here’s a question. What makes you think I am going to tell the story of my life to a kid like you?” Derrick replied bitterly.

“Maybe because you are old and full of ancient wisdom? Why do you think!? I am losing my mind here in silence and I hardly know anything about you! It is driving my nuts! Are you saying it is not driving you nuts!?” John replied sarcastically.

“Well I suppose you are going to go crazy then, try not attack me thinking I’m some sort of monster or something lame like that.” Derrick replied, brushing John’s questions off.

“Oh come on! Give me something to work with here! If it make you feel any better, I’ll let you ask a question for every question I ask!”

Derrick thought about it for a second. It was true that there hasn’t been much excitement ever since they have been on the road; much to his gratefulness. However, the silence was a bit amiss, enough to unsettle anyone; even Derrick. So he figured a little casual conversation would not hurt. Especially if it got the John to shut the hell up for once. Plus, Derrick enjoyed the thought of how he was going to make John squirm with the devious and lewd questions he had in mind.

“Alright then, ask your question.” Derrick replied in submission.

“Alright! Fucking finally! Okay, first question. What do you do as a job? You know, to pay the bills?”

Derrick thought about it for a second, considering whether or not he was to tell him the complete truth, but he decided against it. Figuring that it was really none of his business. So he settled with a half truth.

“Never had the same job for a long period of time, none really ever stuck with me. My only real job was more of a hobby. I didn’t get paid for it, mostly just earned moral support.” Derrick explained.

“Oh really? What was that job?”

“First off, that was two questions. Secondly, that is not any of your business. Now it is my turn.” Derrick replied.

“Alright then, shoot.” John said with a huff.

“You have a special someone back home?” Derrick asked casually. Secretly inside he was grinning his ass off.

John took a moment to replied, as if he knew where this was going. “N-no, I don’t.”

“Alright then, if you were to get a girlfriend, how would you fuck her?” Derrick then asked suddenly.

“W-WHAT!?” John shouted in surprise.

Derrick allowed a smirk to come to his face. He knew he had him now; though he was a bit surprised it would be this easy.

“You know, how would you do it normally? Doggy style? Solfly? Roughly? Strictly orally? In the butt? Maybe some cosplay as well as a little BDSM? Which one would be dominate? Which one would be the bitch? Is there a third member involved? If so, guy or girl? Please don’t tell me it is a guy.” Derrick went on, maintaining his casual voice and false curiosity. However, on the inside, Derrick was crying from laughter.

“That is like… fourteen fucking questions! That definitely doesn’t count!!!” John complained.

“Nope, they were all a part of the same question, now answer.” Derrick replied with a smirk.

“But you just-”

“Do it, or this conversation ends.” Derrick threatened.

“I- You- ARRRHG!!! You fucker. Fine, if I had a girlfriend, I’d fuck her like any normal, sane person would! You sick fuck!” John replied bitterly, his face red from embarrassment.

“No kinky stuff!? You’re boring...” Derrick said with a sarcastic huff.

“Well, go get fucked by an elephant. Next question…”

As John went on to ask his next question, Derrick stopped in his tracks as he heard something faintly to his left. He didn’t even hear John’s next question as he focused his attention on what he was hearing. Off in the distance, approximately few hundred feet, give or take, he could see something moving through the long grass and at incredible speed. He couldn’t see what it was due to the four foot long grass and its thickness, but he could tell that, whatever it was, was moving towards them.

John tapped on Derrick’s shoulder. “Dude, did you eve-”

John was quickly interrupted as Derrick pushed his hand off and pulled him back with his left arm. “Not now! We have something coming straight at us!” Derrick hissed.

John’s eyes widened as he quickly ducked behind Derrick as he got down on one knee and readied his aim, preparing for what was about to emerge from the tall grass.

The tension grew thick in the air, thick enough to cut it, as the sound of something running full blast through the tall grass grew louder and louder. Judging by the sound of the animal’s feet hitting the floor he was certain that whatever this thing is, it was definitely not human. Putting pressure on the trigger, Derrick was prepared to blow the head off whatever emerged from that grass.

That was before he heard the scream, that is. “Somepony help us! Help!” Someone shouted, it sounded like the voice of a young girl.

This caused Derrick to flinch as flashbacks of that young girl he saved earlier hit him like a bullet, sending a sense of fear through his entire body. A fear that he was about to accidentally shoot and kill a little girl. This caused him to hesitate as something jumped out of the grass, and ran into the road.

It tripped a few feet later, sliding across the road and straight into Derrick’s legs. The mass hit him like a train, knocking Derrick over onto it upon impact. Derrick quickly got up off the body, received his weapon, and immediately took aim at the the thing that had just hit him.

What he was seeing before him was definitely not human, but it definitely wasn’t a split face monster either. It was an alien that looked like some sort of animal that closely resembled a pony. It had a vaguely pony shaped head, a mane, a tail, pony ears, pony legs, and pony hooves. The only real things that set it apart from the common pony was the ridiculous size of its head and eyes, the horn protruding from it’s head, and the fact that it had a color scheme that consisted of all blue. The pony creature had a completely light blue coat and dark blue mane and tail that seemed to have a sort of purple highlight to it.

Derrick continued to aim his gun at it, ready to kill it if necessary. However, it continued to remain still as a trickle of blood began to flow from it’s forehead. It appeared as if it had been knocked out cold before the impact with Derrick’s legs.

John in the background was beginning to panic, shouting a huge variety of colorful sentences that Derrick tuned out as he continued to study the creature before him with utmost fear and curiosity.

“What the actual fuck is this thing?” Was all Derrick had time to think as he began to to hear activity back where the pony had emerged.

Turning his head towards the sound, keeping his gun trained on the pony below him, he managed to just catch the sight of another pony creature emerging from the tall grass. This one, however, managed to stop in time to not trip and fall on its face. This one was a bit different, a brown color scheme with no horn.

Upon stopping, it saw Derrick and John standing over the unconscious form of the other pony. It stared at them with a sort of panic in it eyes. The pony quickly started to approach, its intention became clear very fast to Derrick as he saw its eyes turn from panic to aggression very quickly.

Responding accordingly, Derrick took his aim off of the unconscious pony and trained on the aggressive one; getting ready to put a round of buckshot into this pony’s brain.

However, upon aiming the gun, the pony’s eyes widened in panic once and began to back off frantically. It’s pin prick eyes focused on the weapon Derrick was holding, as if it knew exactly what it was.

“What the hell?” Derrick questioned as his aim remained on the pony. It was starting to become clear that, whatever these things are, were not dumb animals.

“Keep an eye on this one, I will take care of the other.” Derrick whispered to John, keeping his eyes and gun trained on the brown pony.

Said pony seemed to be surprised and startled by Derrick suddenly speaking up.

“Keep an eye on it!? What the hell am I suppose to do if it wakes up!?” John Whispered harshly

“Hit it with a rock, I don’t give a fuck! Just watch it and make sure it doesn’t doesn’t do anything!” Derrick hissed as he began threateningly approach the brown pony.

Derrick’s plan was to scare it off or kill it. He was not going to take any risks with these things considering he didn’t know what they were capable of. Despite the fact that these ponies were a little bigger than the size of large dogs, he didn’t want to push his luck by assuming that they were just as dangerous.

With each step Derrick took, the pony took a step back. It seemed to be looking back and forth between the blue pony on the ground and Derrick with the gun. A look of disparity began to grow on its face as it looked like it was trying to decided whether or not to abandon the other pony or take a risk confronting Derrick and his shotgun head on.

The emotions on its face confused Derrick at first, but then it became abundantly clear. The facial expressions were complex and intelligent, not something that any simple animal would be able to pull off. These expressions had complex thinking and reasoning behind them. This could only mean one thing to Derrick.

“Motherfucker, this thing is sentient! I FUCKING KNEW IT!!! WE WERE ABDUCTED BY MOTHERFUCKING ALIENS!!!” Derrick concluded, feeling quite happy with his revelation, but not just a bit terrified by the aspect of being lost on another planet other than his own.

With this new knowledge in mind, he decided to test something.

“Can you understand me?” Derrick asked out loud.

The pony took an instinctive step back at Derrick’s words, seemingly shocked once again by Derrick’s speech. However, the pony remained silent.

John looked up from “guarding” the unconscious pony, giving Derrick a weird look. “D-Derrick, why are you talking to the weird horse thing?” John asked, now giving a concerned look.

The brown pony looked at john glaringly, like it had just been insulted, Derrick immediately caught on.

“Speak up you little shit! I know you can understand us! Speak up now or I swear to god I will blow you and your friend’s huge fucking heads off and shit down your throats!!!” Derrick yelled at the now terrified pony.

The pony was quick to respond. “I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY!!! PLEASE!!! JUST LET US GO!!! WE WON’T TRY ANYTHING I SWEAR!!! PLEASE, Don’t kill us!!!” The brown pony cried, now cowering on the ground, trembling in fear.

John looked at the brown pony as if it had just grown a second head. Looking back down at unconscious pony on the ground, he seemed to be trying to put together everything that had just happened. It looked as if trying to find a logical explanation that would explain it all realistically in his mind. It obviously failed as he fainted, collapsing over the pony he was supposed to watch.

Sighing, Derrick resisted the temptation to face palm with the shotgun still in his hands. “That dumb shit…”

The first sensation John felt when he arose was the paid if a huge headache. He groaned in pain as he got up into the sitting position. That is when he felt other sensations, the cold biting his skin from one side while warmth healed him from the other. Rubbing the crud out of his eyes, he began to notice that he was not indoors. He was, in fact, sitting on the ground outside. Within the light of a slowly dying fire protecting him from darkness that surrounded him.

John began to panic, picking his mind to attempt to remember how he got here.

“Where the hell am I? Think John! Think! I remember working my shift before I went outside for some reason… OH! Yes, I remember! This guy was getting mugged and I saved him! But, what happened after that?

Oh, I remember now! I think I must have passed out after having some weird hallucination about some sort of shadow guy… I think I might have breathed in something I shouldn’t have… Alright, then both that man and I ended up in the middle of nowhere… I guess whatever I breathed in really put me out of it and I subconsciously walked into the woods somewhere... What was that guy’s name? Oh Right! His name was Derrick! I almost shot him and he took my shotgun away! He then started having some paranoid theories that we were abducted by aliens before we came to an agreement to find the nearest town.

Then we came across a road. It was poorly maintained and Derrick started being paranoid again before I could get him to suck it up. We traveled on the road for awhile before… something happened… I… I can’t recall. All I remember is this weird dream where me and Derrick were holding up a couple of talking horses… Where the hell did that dream come from any-”

“Mmmmhphff!” John heard a muffled sound from behind him, Causing him to freeze in fear.

Slowly turning around to the noise behind him, he nearly screamed like a little girl as he saw the two talking horses from his dream, hogtied, gagged, and blindfolded behind him. John was immediately on his feet and took a few steps back. At the sudden noise, the brown one began struggling fruitlessly against its bounds. The blue one remained still, it’s only movement being the raising and collapsing of it’s chest.

John stared at the two horses with a fearful expression on his face, continuously trying to keep himself from hyperventilating. He couldn’t believe this was happening. The reality that he had fabricated for himself, the reality that this was all just the effects a really screwed up high, was quickly collapsing in on him.

“This… NO! IT CAN’T BE!!! The horses were a DREAM, the falling was a DREAM, the shadowman was a DREAM! This can’t be real! I have to be dreaming right now! I have to wake up!!!” John thought.

In his panic, he began pinching himself as a test. He felt pain. Dread came over him as he began slapping himself instead. The combination of his headache and his slap made the pain far worse that he was forced to stop. Clutching his head, nursing the pain, the reality began to settle in.

This… This is real. This is not a dream, this is not some allusion brought upon by some high. I am really here, this is really happening… This cannot be earth… Wherever this is, we are a very long way from home.” John concluded.

John wanted to cry. He was 24 years old, finally got out of his mother’s house, got himself a job, and was finally going to make a life for himself. He was just starting his life, just for it to be stripped away within seconds. Being forced to restart from the beginning, having no idea where to even begin. On top of all of that, he knew he would likely never see or hear from any of his friends and family again. Being on a entirely different world made communication rather difficult; especially without a wireless signal.

However, John was not going to cry. He was not going to allow himself to. He needed to keep strong for everyone he knew. He wasn’t about to falter, whither, and die here. If he needed to start again, he was going to do it with flying colors. At this moment, he was not going to let anything get him down.

Especially Derrick, who he was certain was going to start gloating with this revelation at this point.

“Speaking of Derrick? Where is that old bastard?” John thought to himself.

At that exact moment, Derrick tapped on John shoulder; scaring the living shit out of him.

“GA!! FUCK!! Derrick What the hell!?” John shouted as he flipped around to face Derrick.

Derrick just stood there with a neutral expression on his face, holding his shotgun in one hand while holding a small bundle of firewood in the other.

Walking past John, Derrick simply said. “That is why you are not getting the shotgun back.”

John immediately gave Derrick the bird while his back was turned.

Derrick began to add wood to the fire, poking it with a stick to get the individual pieces in the right positions. After that, he sat down next to it at a comfortable distance. The brown pony began to whine and moan from its suppressed mouth once again, but Derrick simply ignored him as he began to simply stare into the fire.

He was quiet for a few moment before he said. “So, how are you taking all of this? With the whole being abducted situation in stuff?” He asked in a tired voice, not breaking eye contact with the fire.

John was a bit confused by the question. He had expected the man be a gloatful jackass about this, telling him how he was right all along and being a total asshole about it, but instead he sounded like he was interested on how exactly he was taking this. It was as if Derrick himself had hoped he was just being paranoid with his theories, and was just a freaked out by this revelation.

“Funny, I thought you would be dancing around in glee due to you being correct about everything here.” John replied bitterly as he walked back up and sat back down next to the fire.

“No, I’ll be honest here, I am really not. It actually scares the hell out of me. Being so far away from anything you know, not knowing what to expect… It terrifies me. Makes me wish I was wrong” Derrick replied solemnly. It was almost depressing.

Derrick went from staring at the fire to staring at the night sky. After a few seconds or so, he cracked a smile, seeming to admire it. “Well, at least we got a nice view. Sure as hell beats the night sky back at Earth.” He said with optimism.

John took a look at the sky as well, he began to see what Derrick meant. The view was beautiful, like nothing he had ever seen before. Thousands and thousands of bright sparkling stars littering the sky, the brightest ones forming beautiful constellations that he could quite identify. The main highlight, however, was the moon. The bright, beautiful ball in the sky shining in all its glory. It had no imperfections, no flaws, it was like a pure white pearl in the sky. The whole thing was beautiful, something an artist would draw.

While John’s attention was towards the sky, a question popped to mind. He immediately spoke it. “Was there anyone that you left behind, Derrick?”

Derrick was silent for a moment, but then responded with. “Not something I want to talk about around strangers I hardly know.”

The mere mention of strangers brought John attention back to the two pastel colored horses. The brown one was, surprisingly, still struggling against his bonds. The blue one still lied still, its slow and steady breathing being its only movement. John briefly wondered what was to become of them. He knew that they couldn’t just keep them tied up forever…

“Speaking of tied up? How the hell did he do that anyways? We don’t even have any rope!” John thought to himself as he observed their bounds.

His eyes widened as he began to recognize the material of the ropes; and the fact that he was missing his work apron and belt. “That son of a bitch! He used my Apron and leather belt as rope! My god! I am going to kill him!” John thought briefly.

John considered actually yelling at Derrick for using his clothing to hog tie the two technicolor horses, but figured that was another fight for another day. So he instead decided to ask the real question on his mind.

“Speaking of strangers, what are we going to do about them?” John asked. The brown horse seemed to struggle more in response to John’s question.

“Oh, you know, we are going to roast them and eat them for supper. Why do you think I got the fire going for! Now, while I set up the cooking crane, see if you can find something sharp to cut some good slices of meat off them!” Derrick joked sadistically, adding a very sarcastic evil laugh to go along with it.

John chuckled nervously, hoping he really was kidding. The brown horse, on the other hand, obviously took the joke too seriously as he seemingly broke down hysterically; sobbing into his gag while struggling even harder against his bonds.

“Oh shut it, it is a joke! You no good, no sense of humor, pony.” Derrick mumbled angrily at the pony, immediately shutting it up.

“Heheheh, funny… But really. What are we going to do with them? It isn’t like we can keep them tied up forever...” John asked.

Derrick sighed as he got up, walked over, and stared down at the brown pony. As if feeling his presence, the pony stopped struggling. It instead resorted to freezing and shivering in fear, tail tucked between its legs and ears folded back. It was quite the pitiful sight for John. Derrick seemed to think so too as he kneeled down and removed the makeshift blindfold from its eyes.

The pony’s fearful tear stained eyes stared into Derricks pleadingly, as if begging him to not hurt it. It was a sight that was nearly heartbreaking, and something that made you feel sorry for it and its current situation. Derrick stared back into the pony’s eyes coldly and calculatingly, as if trying to gain a glimpse into the pony’s soul in order to determine its intent.

After a full minute of what was seeming to turn into a staring contest, Derrick broke eye contact; replacing the makeshift blindfold over the pony’s eyes once again. Much to the pony’s protest.

Continuing to kneel next to the pony, Derrick simply sighed once again before finally answering my question. “I really don’t know what to do at this point. I was hoping to extract some information on how we got here and why they abducted us, but I don’t think two will know anything. If anything they are just civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Derrick said.

“So… We are going to let them go?” John asked.

Derrick shook his head. “Not yet, I would like to at least know what we should expect to find while we are out here; just so we are prepared for what is to come ahead. After that, we will take them with us down the road to town assuming that it isn’t abandoned. If anything, they could come in handy as bargaining chips, either the one thing that allows us into town or the one thing that keeps them from killing us.”

John was a bit surprised by this, if not a bit horrified. “Are you saying that we use them as hostages? Derrick, that is fucked up! Way to represent humanity! ‘We use hostages to get our way!’” John protested.

“Well, I suppose that is up to them, isn’t is?” Derrick said, referring to the two captive ponies.

“What do you mean by that?” John asked

“What I mean by that is that they can make this easy on all of us by cooperating with us, mostly by vouching for us and telling the rest of their kind that we mean no harm. That way we can all get along just fine and no one needs to get shot or killed.

However, they can also make this hard for all of us, mostly by them being difficult and telling the rest of their kind that we are monsters that need to be dealt with. That way we cannot get along all that fine and I will have to start killing the miserable bastards that get in our way. That includes them if necessary.” Derrick explained.

John could tell that the explanation was not directed towards him. It was much more directed towards the captive pony; who seemed to be listening intentively at this point.

Derrick then removed the makeshift blindfold once again, staring directly into the eyes of the terrified pony once again. “So what do you say, little pony? Are we going to be friends who will help and benefit each other? Or are we going to be enemies who stubbornly refuse to trust in one another and will be result in one another’s undeniably violent death?” Derrick asked the pony as he untied and removed the gag from its mouth.

The pony remained silent for a moment looking down fearfully to avoid eye contact with Derrick. After a another moment, the pony finally responded. “You don’t plan to hurt any of us?”

This was the first time, other than the other time when he passed out, that John had heard the pony’s voice. It’s voice sounded nervous, soft, and feminine, leaving John to assume it was a girl. (Or filly if you will.)

“Not my intent, unless you wish to make it so.” Derrick simply replied.

Another moment passed in silence, the pony seemingly trying to thoroughly think over her decision. After a few more seconds, she made her decision.

“Alright… I’ll do it, but please… Swear that you won’t hurt anypony.” The pony asked politely.

Derrick seemed to huff in annoyance at this, much to John’s amusement. However, Derrick relented. “I swear.”

“Pinkie swear?” The pony asked stubbornly.

“What?” Derrick asked, confused as hell.

“Say ‘I swear that I will not hurt anypony. Cross my heart! Hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!” The pony explained. John almost started laughing his ass off at the pony’s antics.

“I am not saying that!” Derrick grumbled stubbornly.

“Please, it will make me feel a lot better about trusting you.” The pony replied.

Derrick grumbled something else under his breath, something that sounded like ‘this is really fucking stupid kid shit’, before he finally relented. “I swear that I will not hurt anypony. Cross my heart. Hope to fly. Stick a… *sigh*…. cupcake in my eye.” Derrick replied bitterly, but sincerely.

The pony smiled, seemingly satisfied with Derrick’s promise. “Thanks! So… Uh… Can you untie us now?” The pony asked hopefully.

Derrick nodded, beginning to undo the hogtie that he had placed the pony in. Meanwhile, John, standing off to the side, was grinning stupidly as he was attempting, poorly, to keep the mischievous smile off his face. This was his chance to get back at the old bastard for earlier today; when he was asking him all those humiliating questions.

Seeing the best opportunity, John put on a brave face and went for it. “Oh! Now, isn’t that just sweet!? You two are so adorable together! Perhaps when you two get back to town, you can get married or something! You two would make the best couple! Think of what the children will look like!” John joked.

Derrick and the pony froze in place at the end of John sentence. While Derrick looked like he just had a stroke and a heart attack at the same time, the pony’s face turned beat red and began stuttering like a broken record.

“What! I- I- I’m- I’m no- I’m- I’m not a...” The pony stuttered

However, John didn’t give the pony time to finish her sentence as he fell over laughing. Much to the pony’s dread as she seemed like she was going into shock due to the embarrassment she was feeling. Derrick looked over at John, giving him a very dangerous look. However, John didn’t care as he continued to laugh his ass off for the next few minutes.

Derrick seemed to wait patiently for John’s laughing episode to end. Giving him the most deathly stare he could manage as John got back up on his feet. John, upon noticing Derrick’s stare of death, simply smirked in response.

“What is the matter old man? Hate getting beaten at your own game?” Derrick asked jokingly.

Derrick’s stare did not falter. “Not when it is at someone else’s expense. What they hell were you thinking? We just got him on our side and you not only called him a homosexual, but you implied he is also into beastality and/or xenophilia. Nice job, John. Really, only an expert could fuck up as spectacularly as you just did. Such a great start to our friendship.” Derrick said bluntly.

It took John a few second to process the information he was just given. “Wait… Isn’t it a mare?”

The ‘mare’, seemingly coming out of its shock like state, glared at John with an intense, fierce anger that John had once believed was only achievable by Derrick.

“No you dumb shit, he is a stallion.” Derrick replied.

There was an awkward silence that ensued for about a minute. Crickets could be heard in the background.

“Well… This is awkward...”

Chapter 3: The Road (Part II)

Sounds of talking echoed through the darkness that surrounded Sonnet Write. She could hardly make out anything of what was being said. Merely blips and sounds that grew in intensity before almost immediately fading away. She heard things that sounded like casual conversation, laughter, and the sound of somepony struggling and crying next to her… Though Sonnet couldn’t quite see what was going on, nor feel anything around her, she was fearing for her life.

She and her colt friend, Apple Remedy, had been simply out for a walk in the grasslands when all of it went downhill. The gatherers caught them off guard, and what was suppose to be a romantic date turned into a race for their lives. Remedy told her to run while he distracted them and that he would meet her by the road when the coast was finally clear.

So that was exactly what she did, she ran, and she kept running until she had reached the road. When she was getting close, she noticed two figures on the road through the haze of the grass. Figuring that they were the local patrol hunting the gatherers, she immediately called out in hope that the patrol would hear her and would assist her in getting both Remedy and her back to town.

However, much to her horror, she broke the grassline to find that she had not run into a patrol. She instead had found herself in the presence of two large bipedal monsters, one which was aiming a gun at her. In a panic, she tried to change directions. However, only succeeded to trip; falling on her head and immediately blacking out.

Ever since then, she had been in darkness, listening to the disturbing sounds around her. She was starting to believe that she had not ended up in good hooves. She only hoped that it wasn’t the gatherers that found her. If she had control at the moment, she would have shuddered at the thought of what they might be doing to her unconscious body right now if they were the case.

The voices had started to talk once again, however this time they were becoming much clearer.

“When are we going to move anyways? The sun should be rising soon.” She heard a young stallion say.

“Whenever she wakes up and gives us the chance to explain the situation to her. Then we will get a move on. I just hope that she didn’t hit her head too hard.” A gruff voice replied, the voice sounded like it came from an older stallion.

“Oh, I am sure she will be fine! It isn’t like she hit her head THAT hard!” The voice of the young stallion replied back.

“Well at least you managed to get her gender right…” another stallion grumbled next to her, his voice sounded familiar.

“OH COME ON! You are still on that! It was an honest mistake! With the tone of your voice, anyone would have thought you were a girl!” She heard the yonger stallion’s voice complain

“Buck you! I was nervous! Can you honestly blame me for being in my bravest tone of voice at that moment!” He heard the familiar voice shouted back. At this point, she could tell it belonged to her coltfriend.

“Least when I’m scared, I don’t sound like a little bi- Wait, did you just say… Buck you? What the fuck does that even mean!? Is that like pony slang for ‘Fuck you?’ Holy shit, you ponies are weird!”

“I have control over my tongue, unlike you it seems! You cuss every other sentence you ruffian!!!”

“I may not have control over my tongue, but at least I have control of my voice and don’t sound like a little bitch when I am scared.” The younger stallion’s voice mocked.

“OH WHY YOU LITTLE-” She heard Remedy’s voice yell.

“CAN IT!!! My Christ! You two are like children! Both of you, get this campsite cleaned up! If I hear another word to each other out of either one of you, I am going to knock you the fuck out!” The older stallion’s voice yelled. His voice was strained, but still held it’s intimidation.

“But what about-” Remedy’s voice was about to protest.

“She’ll be fine, I will keep an eye on her. Both of you. Campsite. Clean up. Now.” The older stallion commanded darkly.

“Fine…” Both the young stallion and Remedy said in unison. Sonnet could hear Remedy begin to walk away from her as she hear another pony, assumingly the older stallion, walk over and sit down next to her.

She heard him let out a sigh. “I sure hope I don’t have another brat to take care of whenever you wake up. Can’t take much more of this bullshit…” She heard him say.

She suddenly began to feel a pressure on her neck, on top of her jugular vein. It felt like a bundle consisting of two sticks being pressed against her neck. She felt her entire body twitch due to the sudden pressure, causing the two sticks to retreat from her neck and the older stallion sitting next to her to give out a surprised grunt. That was when the realization hit her that she was waking up.

Sonnet began to regain consciousness and control over her body. Her eyes and face twitched as she tried to force her eyes open. She groaned when the pain from her head finally began to register. Judging by the surprised sounds that the stallion next to her was making, he seemed to take notice.

“Hey, Remedy, your girlfriend seems to be waking up here. Try to make sure she doesn’t freak out.” The older stallion said. She heard him get up and walk off and heard the sound of who she assumed was her colt friend walking over.

She felt herself grabbed and slowly lifted up into a sitting position. “Hey, Sonnet, are you with us?” She heard Remedy whisper into her ear. The sudden sound caused her ear to twitch.

Sonnet opened her eyes only to a mere slit, afraid that opening her eyes and further would inflict more pain into her throbbing head. In front of her she could only see a brown blur in front of her. However, as she opened her eyes further, the vision began to clear and she could finally make out the blur in front of her. It was her coltfriend with a mixed expression of joy, relief, and concern.

After a few moment, she finally found her voice. “I’m here, I think…” She muttered softly.

Remedy smiled and pulled her into a hug. Slowly, she smiled returned it. “Oh thank Celestia! I thought for a moment that you would never wake up!”

“The gatherers… Did you…” She mumbled quietly.

“Don’t worry, we lost them! They are not after us, we can go home.”

“Alright…” She replied.

The hug continued, and it felt like it could go on for another few hours. However, that moment of peace was interrupted by some pony yelling.

“Oh my fucking god, would you two just kiss already so we can move on!” A voiced yelled at them, she recognized the voice as the young stallion she was hearing earlier.

Turning her head towards the sound, her eyes widened and she froze in fear as she immediately recognized the offending creature. It was one of the bipedal monsters she had ran into on the road, the ones who were pointing a gun at her. She debated running a screaming, but her aching muscles and the pain in her head told her that was not a great idea; any movement and/or loud sound irritated her sensitive head. So she resorted to the next best thing.

Picking up the closest and biggest rock she could find with her telekinesis spell, she threw the rock as hard as her magic would allow her at the monster. Although she was aiming for the monster’s head, she ended up hitting dead center between the monster’s legs.

The beast let out a fillyish like cry and he keeled over, its hand over the part that she had just hit. The beast started rolling on the ground, crying out in pain and shouting a huge variety of colorful words.

“WAH! SHIT MOTHERFUCKING SON OF HORSE SHIT!! MOTHER OF FUCK!! MY BALLS ARE ON FIRE!!! ERRAHHHHHRHHH!! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAAAHAAT!!”

“Tell her to stop what she is doing, NOW!” The stern voice of the old stallion barked behind her. Sonnet immediately came to assume the voice belonged to another one of the monsters, the one with the gun.

The expression of panic and fear that formed on Remedy’s face as he stared at the unknown stallion behind her confirmed Sonnet’s suspicions, they were in serious trouble now.

“Sonnet, don’t use your magic, they’re not going to hurt us! They already offered to bring us back to town so long as we can vouch for them! He even Pinkie promised to not hurt anypony! Please, power down your magic!” Remedy began to say as calmly as he possibly could managed. However, it was quite apparent that whoever was behind them was very dangerous.

In a panic, she relented. “A-alright! I stopped, I stopped!!! D-don’t hurt us please!” she cried. She was about to turn her head to catch view of the monster yelling at them, but was quickly snapped at again.

“Don’t look at me! Keep looking at your boyfriend. If you turn around, you will regret it.” the monster snapped. Sonnet immediately turned her head straight back to her coltfriend, she was now shivering in fear.

“P-please! It was an accident, she is just scared!” Remedy tried to reason.

“I am sure it was, but I am afraid I cannot trust you anymore at this point. How do I know she isn’t going to pull that shit again? How do I know she isn’t going to try taking the gun from me when I am not paying attention using that voodoo bullshit she just pulled? Give me one reason why I should trust you now!?” The stallion snapped.

Remedy seemed to be thinking rapidly for something to defuse the situation, but seemed to come up with nothing. Sonnet began desperately searching through her own mind for a solution, but could only come up with one. It was a stupid chance that this would work, but she had to try. Otherwise this monster was likely going to kill them both.

“I PINKIE PROMISE!!!” Sonnet shouted in panic.

The stallion didn’t reply right away, allowing the scene to fall to silence for an awkward ten seconds before responding.

“What?” The stallion asked in a ‘are you serious?’ tone.

“I-I said I pinkie promise that I won’t use my magic against you in intent to harm. Cross my heart! Hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!” She replied, awkwardly doing the gestures.

The stallion remained silent for another few moments. “Why would you think that your promises mean anything to me at this point?”

“Be-because you c-can’t ever break a pinkie promise! Everypony knows that! If you ever break a pinkie promise, bad things will happen to you!” Sonnet explained.

The stallion paused once more, as if he was actually thinking about the implications of what she said. “How do I know you are not making this up?”

“You don’t, you’re just going to have to trust me.” Sonnet answered. Her ears folded back against her skull upon answering his question, she knew that this was going to be the one answer that will either make or break this situation. All she could do now was wait and pray.

The stallion waited for another long pause before she began to hear the him approaching from behind. Seeing that her colt friend’s expression has not changed, she immediately assumed the worse. Closing her eyes, she prepared for what she believed would be the end.

The stallion’s footsteps stopped behind her, it was at this point she believed that she and her coltfriend were going to get shot. However, after an intense moment, she instead felt a small pat on her head. Opening her eyes, she could see the relieved expression on Remedy’s face.

Finally feeling safe enough to turn her head and look at the monster threatening their lives, she found another bipedal creature kneeling right next to her. One of his paws were on her head while the other paw held the weapon he was just threatening them with. He was just like the other bipedal monster, except he looked a lot older, had more hair on his face, and was far more intimidating. However, despite his scary looks, the friendly smirk he wore made her feel a bit more comfortable; if only by a small amount.

“You’re brave, kiddo, but also extremely stupid. You know that right?” He said with a laugh.

“Y-yeah, I guess…” Sonnet muttered, not entirely understanding what he meant.

“That was a nice shot by the way, but I suggest for both of our sanities and his children that you don’t try that again.” Derrick said simply. He ruffled up her mane with his paw before got up and walked up to the other bipedal; who was still rolling on the ground in pain.

“Oh please, for the love of god! Make it stoooooop!” the younger bipedal cried.

“Oh, get up, you big fucking baby.” The older bipedal said.

Sonnet turned her attention back to her colt friend. It seemed as if he was still recovering from his panic, shaking from his recent adrenaline rush while trying to keep himself from hyperventilating. “Dear Celestia… That was bucking intense!” Remedy said through shaky breaths.

Sonnet pulled him into a hug and starting to weep hysterically into her coltfriend’s coat. Everything that had just occurred became an emotional overload for her, and now she needed to let it all out. Slowly, but surely, Remedy returned the hug. At this moment, Sonnet couldn’t feel more happy to be alive.

Derrick, as he waited for John to get his panzy ass up, looked over the the couple hugging each other for dear life. The pony, now known to him as “Sonnet”, was crying into the other pony’s, Remedy’s, body. She was likely crying off the trauma and stress that Derrick had just imposed upon her with the little dramatic situation.

He wore a somber expression as he watched the two ponies continue to hold each other, one single thought pulsed through his mind over and over again.

“Why didn’t I kill them?” Derrick thought darkly.

Derrick knew that he was quite easily making the biggest mistake of his life letting them live. They had presented themselves as an obvious threat, more so than he ever thought before. It will only take one slip up, and that horned pony could take his shotgun with her telekinetic ability and blow him and John away without a second of hesitation. It was quite obvious the ponies knew what guns were, who was to say that they didn’t know how to use them? They couldn’t be trusted, they shouldn’t be trusted. However, he did trust them. At the moment, he was trusting them with his and John’s very lives.

First, it was the “pinkie promise”, she had pinkie promised not to use her magic to harm them as reason for Derrick to trust them. It was silly, almost a joke, but for some reason Derrick could see sincerity and truth in it. Remedy had made him make the promise not to hurt anypony earlier using the same silly promise, immediately after words he had gained Remedy’s trust. So Derrick figured that it had to mean something in this alien culture, something very significant.

And then there was the last thing she said. That one sentence she said in response to Derrick questioning whether she was making everything she said up.

“You will just have to trust me.”

“The way she said it, the exact tone… It is so familiar… so… reassuring.”

Not everything has to be black and white, Derrick. Not everyone can prove their trustworthiness… Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and see where you end up. If it is someplace bad, you can always find a way out. If it is someplace good, you will thankful you took the risk.

With a sigh, Derrick shook away his thoughts, refocusing his attention back on John. “Come on John, we are wasting daylight. You can put your balls on ice whenever we get to town.” Derrick said.

“I think she... might of popped one…” John groaned. Derrick paid no mind to John’s complaint as he focused his attention back on the two ponies hugging each other, walking over to them.

“Sorry if I am interrupting something, but we got to move. I would prefer we got to town as soon as possible.”

“Oh, right… Yeah… good idea. We probably should.” Remedy replied awkwardly and nervously as he and Sonnet separated; Sonnet did not quite let go as quickly as Remedy.

As Remedy helped Sonnet onto her hooves, Derrick walked back over to John to help him up. Grabbing John’s left arm, Derrick yanked John up onto his feet, much to his displeasure.

“Are you going to be alright walk?” Derrick asked.

“Yeah, sure, if I don’t mind each step being made up of excruciating pain from my nuts!” John complained, gesturing to his nether regions

“So you can walk, good. We’ll start now.” Derrick said simply as he turned around and walked back towards the ponies. He could hear John mutter something along the lines of ‘Fucking asshole...’ as he walked away.

Stopping by the ponies once again, Derrick asked Sonnet. “Are you going to be able to walk?”

“I-I think so…” Sonnet replied shyly.

“No ‘I think so’s, it is a yes or no question. Can you walk, or do you need assistance?” Derrick asked calmly as his patience would allow.

Sonnet took a few steps forward, seemingly testing the strength of her legs. Completing the few steps without trouble, she responded with a nod. “Yes, I can walk.” She said.

“Alright, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you really need it. Otherwise, I am pretty sure your boyfriend here will be more than willing to help you out.” Derrick responded, turning around and heading back to the road nearby.

“Alright, lets move people! We are wasting daylight!” Derrick shouted to everyone behind him. Derrick didn’t need to look back to see that everyone was beginning to follow him; one particularly more begrudgingly than the others.

Casting one last glance behind him he saw the two ponies, they were walking close together. Side by side as if trying to create some field or sense of safety between the two of them. Despite this seemingly innocent act, Derrick couldn’t help but scowl. he couldn’t help but feel like they were plotting against him. Thinking up some sort of plan to catch him off guard and kill both him and John.

The paranoia made him want to turn around and do what he should have done a few minutes ago. However, a voice in his head reminded him of why he let them live in the first place.

“You will just have to trust me.”

Turning back around, he focused on the road ahead. The familiar sentence of a long lost past repeating in Derrick’s mind, comforting him and reminding him of one important lesson; given to him by someone he once knew.

“Not everyone can prove their trustworthiness… Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and see where you end up... If it is someplace good, you will thankful you took the risk.”