Escape From This Afterlife

Escape From This Afterlife

Act One: Oh Sorry, Did I Wake Your Dream?

Chapter 2: Afterlife

"Place of hope and no pain, perfect skies and no rain."

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            "And you're sure you didn't see anything else here, besides this?" Princess Celestia inquired, a peculiar machine in her magical grasp. It was shaped like a crossbow, but longer and more sturdier, with a pump underneath it and an opening on top of the gun, as well as a trigger and a barrel with an opening at the end of it.

            The Sun Monarch, along with her investigation and research crew, have been searching the whole entirety of the Appaloosian Desert in search of a creature that arrived here two days ago, disrupting the peace of a town, theft, and then disappeared. While Celestia searched during the daytime, awake, Princess Luna searched during the nighttime, while asleep.

            While her own sun beat down on her and her team, they stood strong and continued to search for clues as to who or what this creature is, and where it came from. The princess didn't know... Yet, as the investigation team left early this morning to search the nearest forest, which was still miles away, as well with the town.

            Celestia doesn't understand how a creature, any creature, can survive an entire day in the desert without dying of heat exhaustion or dehydration, it puzzled her. Glancing around the area, there was several areas that were marked off with researchers digging up bits of the land. They had one footprint, but it doesn't tell which direction it went.

            "Yes, your majesty. This is the only thing it seemed to leave behind, although, evidence number 3 suggests that there was struggle and had to let go of the weapon. We also discovered that it's a firearm of sorts, but we couldn't recover any ammunition for it." Lieutenant Glide summarized, pointing to the aforementioned site of struggle.

            Before Princess Celestia could answer back, she saw the investigation flapping their wings hard to reach them and saw a piece of leather in a bag held in one of their mouths. As soon as they reached them, they took a moment to collect their breaths and then an unicorn levitated the bag of leather to the princess, smiling.

            "I think we know which way he went, Princess."

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Day Two In Equestria

            "Why? Just why?"

            I muttered to myself as I kept running, never slowing down or showing signs of slowing down or losing breath. I was scared at my lack of oxygen, food, water, and sleep, but more scared at the fact that I'm alive and in a world of fucking talking horses. Horses that I robbed and held hostage yesterday, but they talked and I didn't like it one bit.

            After wandering a barren desert for almost a whole day, I stumbled upon a town and thought I could take shelter and get a cold drink. But, no! It's not like I wanted water, or somewhere cold to sleep, God forbid! The horses then freaked and tried to arrest me for disturbing the peace, somehow, but a kind horse thing pulled me into their house before they could shit.

            I hid in their house that night and the person who owned was kind enough to make me clothes, I guess I was lucky she was a tailor. The clothes was a duster and a fucking cowboy hat, which made sense considering that the town was based off the wild west, but when it feels like one hundred and ten degrees, looking like a cowboy wasn't worth the fucking heat.

            Sure, I didn't feel tired or hungry or thirsty right now, at all, my throat was dry and I was sweating to death. Anyways, I snuck out of the horse town and ran like hell east, leading me to this fucking forest, where I've been running and dodging all day. There's been encounters with some creatures, and you fought them off decently, but I had to ditch my shotgun.

           The supposed sheriff of the town and his two two supposed deputies chased after me, so I beat the two deputies half to death and had to let go of the shotgun because the sheriff grabbed it with some kind of magical grip or something. I still don't know what he did, but I wasn't going to stick around to find out, that's for damn sure.

            The thing is about this forest is that as soon as I entered it, there was more more sun. No rays of light shining down or peeking through the trees or leaves, nothing. It's almost as if the whole place has some kind of protective barrier around it that blocks out sun or something, but the point is, it is fucking dark as shit.

           Stopping to take a look at my surroundings, I glanced around to my left and right. So far so good, there's no cops or anything after me. Although, I don't know if horses have a police force or military or any sort of government created, but I don't care and I don't want to find out. I just want to figure out why I'm alive, even though I blew my fucking brains out with a fucking *shotgun***!

           Even as I keep fleeing, that thought is still at the forefront of my mind. It's fucking confusing and I don't quite understand it, but right now, I need to focus more on running and not on the fact that my brains should be splattered all over a wall. Maybe I missed and this is a coma dream. Hmm, no time to dwell on that thought.

            The one shitty thing about this forest is that I can't tell if time has passed it not, because the sun doesn't show up or anything. It could be two am for God's sake, and I wouldn't even fucking notice it. This place just keeps on amazing me, whether it be in some stupid reason or another, it is definitely different from where I'm from.

            I eventually stopped so I can try to get some sleep, and when I sat down against a tree, I was greeted with the depressing fact that I don't feel like I have to sleep. I don't feel tired, hungry, thirsty, and I don't feel pain. I'm almost waiting for somebody to start playing Linkin' Park because all my feeling is numb!

            So, I sat, and waited. And waited. And waited. I waited until I got fucking bored and stood the hell up and started walking again. Unable to check the time due to this fucking forest, I just sighed and slipped my hands into my pockets. And then I found out that I am officially the most stupid fucking person on the planet because I forgot that my phone was in my pocket.

            Pulling it out, I pressed the power button and it turned on. The time said six o' clock pm, and the date said... Friday, the twentieth... I wasn't here on the fourteenth. So, you're telling me that I sat on my ass, in this forest and waited, for four days? Okay, well let's ignore that and just keep going on. Dropping the phone back into my pocket, I began walking again.

            I walked for awhile. I checked the time and date on my phone every so often and I walked for another day. And I soon felt I didn't feel fatigue, because I felt like I could keep walking forever. But, I'm not going to do that for obvious reasons. Opening my phone, I glanced at the direction I was going in and saw that I was going East, so I decided to change that and go North.

            Later the down the line, I found out that was a very poor decision on my part.

            Of course, going North, there was a lot of differences then when I was going East. For one, there is more water and plant life, it's almost as if the East had none. Odd. Anyway, the farther I went, the more rays of light and sun burst through the trees and leaves, which is great, because I can finally fucking see and not bump into a million objects.

            It also got cooler, and didn't feel like it was summer anymore. Of course, it could be summer right now, but this is horse land, nothing is impossible. Don't let your dreams be dreams and all that jazz. This was fantastic, because this duster and cowboy hat, which I'm still wearing for some reason, can be worn without sweating half to death.

            I walked for at least another day, and then stopped to see if I could try sleeping again. Although, to no prevail. Closing my eyes didn't make me fall asleep, neither did it make me feel like falling asleep. It felt like blinking to me. This horse land is fucking with me, and I really don't like it, I'm a person you shouldn't take sleep from.

            Waiting, I stared up at a hole in the ceiling made up of leaves and branches, at the Moon more specifically. I don't know why, but the Moon just feels... More alive, then back from where I'm from. Like it has a mind and soul of it's own, and if somebody's controlling it. I felt this same feeling with the Sun, is everything this weird in horse land?

            Remember when I mentioned it got worse farther down the line? Lol, Remembur Arbiter? Yeah, well, here it is.

            I gazed at the Moon for some time until I heard what sounded like people, or more like horses, running. Or galloping, what the fuck ever. Hopping up, I realized that I did assault several of them and stole, and held some hostage. Glancing around, I didn't see any, but instead something else, multiple in fact, running around me, towards the North.

            They resembled a real horse then the ones here did, and were completely and utterly white. They had no features on their faces, no eyes, no mouths, nothing. There was a golden mist flowing from their hooves and mane and tail, and as they ran, more came from their hooves. Confused to what or who they were, I turned around to see where they were coming from.

            "It may be a cliché statement, creature of the dark, you can run, but you can't hide." Said a horse that was tall, and midnight blue. It's mane and tail was like the white ones, but they looked as though they was taken right out of the sky, and it had a horn and wings. It had a feminine voice and features, so I'm going to call it a she.

            "Maybe, but I can run for awhile, sweet cheeks." I replied, giving her a cheeky wink. I might as well tip a fedora and say 'M'lady'. I began sprinting as she barked out orders to what I assumed was her friends or something, but I wasn't going to stick around to find out. So I kicked into overdrive and tried to escape the crazy bitch.

            "Commander Nightwing, and company, pursue!" Princess Luna ordered, shooting a glare towards the fleeing creature before walking into the abyss, disappearing from sight. Commander Nightwing, a Threstral in charge of the princess' Lunar Guard barked out orders as hundreds of soldiers, all Threstrals, flying after me.

            That's when I woke up.

            "Huh? Wha? What the fuck?" I said out loud as I came to be, my bleary eyes focusing on the small scale attached to my left hand. I attempted to pull it off, but it just felt like I was tearing skin, so I left it be. It will come off eventually, it's like the time I had a piece of glass stuck to my knee for a day, and then fell off when I fell down the stairs.

            Hmm, that wasn't too long ago, actually. Oh well. Making my way to my feet, I studied the scale a little more. It was dark brown, and had the texture of bark on a tree, rough. After observing it for a couple minutes, I decided that I should move on, and I did so. I continued to travel North, through this forest of nothingness.

*   *   *   *   *

Day Twenty-Six In Equestria

            The hand kept on getting more scales as the days went by, convincing me that something just didn't get stuck . Almost the whole entire back of my hand is covered in these brown scales, but I don't know why. I tried ignoring it as much as I can, but it's distracting. It seems like most things become distracting when you're stuck in a forest.

            Traveling constantly wasn't a good thing, as much as my gut says so. So, I just stopped and make a camp. There's no animals here, only plants and a few sources of water, but even then, the water is shit brown, and the plants are blue flowers that taste like shit. My throat is as dry as a two hundred bone, but I still don't feel sick or anything.

           I've been plagued by nightmares since I first fell asleep, but it's only been a few times I have managed to snag some sleep, and I stay asleep longer each time. My phone is dead now, and it seems like there's no way to charge it, so it's useless to me. With that gone, the only ways to entertain myself is carving wood and looking out for the horse government.

           Speaking of that, since the dream, that blue horse with both the wings and horn have been all of my nightmares, trying to hide, but I always catch her. I have a feeling that she's using her dream powers or what the fuck ever to track me, but who cares? I say let them find me, I could use something to eat, my mouth is so tasteless and dry.

            With hours and days to waste, your mind tends to wander. And that's what mine has been doing. More specifically, to what happened before I arrived here. Sometimes I wonder if what I did there is the reason I'm here, but even then, it doesn't matter anyway. What matters is that I want to forget the life I had back there and more about the new life I could have here.

            And what a fucking start I have to this one. Hiding out in the woods from the horse government and have nightmares with a female horse watching me. Man, I am really fucking insane. For all I know, I could be still alive and in a coma or insane asylum, and this is all my imagination. Of course, it couldn't be, there's still the possibility.

           Standing up, I rubbed my face. My beard has grown thick and I hate it. I feel like a fucking homeless person and the only clothes I have is the bloody ones and the duster and cowboy hat is the only means of covering them up. I eventually did cut the sleeves off of the duster, but sadly it doesn't close, leaving my blood soaked shirt on display.

          Getting ready to go look for any animals, the bushes rustled around me. I have seen countless movies, Tv shows, and played hundreds of video games that have involved this very situation. So, being the smart and not crazy person in said movies, shows and games, I began running away in the opposite direction, my makeshift wooden shiv in hand.

           "Quick! It's getting away!" Shouted a scratchy feminine voice. I didn't bother checking behind me, because I don't want to trip with this fucking knife in my hand! I shouldn't be running with a knife, but goddamn, it's the least of my worries. I dashed through the woods, with what seemed like a dozen horses on my trail.

           "Captain Golden Halo! You and Private Locked Dreams pursue him. Capture is recommended, but due what you got to do." Princess Celestia barked orders as Halo and Dreams followed me, trying their damnest to get me. Thing is... All the shut that M taught me is about fleeing and hiding. They're going to have a difficult time trying to catch me.

            I've been jumping and hopping over rocks, logs, and other things as I weaved through the forest. I pushed and broke shit as I went, trying to slow down my chasers. But, it was all in vain. They had one of the flying horses swoop in front of me, tripping me. Of course, I fell, but I grabbed the fucker that tripped me as I fell.

            Knife still in my hand, I brought it up to his throat. I did have to pull it out of my shoulder, but like I mentioned before, I don't feel pain. The other horses soon showed up and waited for another one. One that looked like the blue one, but white and bigger.

            "Step any closer and this fucker gets it. I'll free him and you let me go, huh?" I said, staring into the white horse's eyes. She was feminine, had eyelashes like the blue one. The horse I held hostage squirmed in my grasp, so I pressed it deeper into his throat. I couldn't actually slit his throat with it, but I could stab him in his throat.

            "I cannot let you go when you terrorized and traumatized my little ponies. So, please, let him go and come quietly." She stated, gesturing to the pony in my arms. Terrorize? Traumatize? I adopted an are you serious look on my face, looking around before sighing and smiling. I reconnected eye contact with her and smiled before replying.

            "You just pissed me off, you fucking horse. Just for that, you'll choke on those words like your fucking pony will choke on his own blood!" I yelled, plunging the wooden Knife into the pony's neck.