Drop in the Puddle

19 March 2016

The sun shone brightly above the tree line sprinkling shifting shadows to the winding dirt trail leading up the steep valley side. Birds sung merrily, the late spring air bringing the sweet smells of fresh growth as the steady march of well worn boots landed one after the other. A woman with light tan cargo trousers and loose fitting navy jacket before wiping the sweat off her brow savouring the feel of a light breeze through her dark shoulder length hair. She smiled looking back down the winding trail and through the tree line with emerald green eyes which sparkled against the glare of the lake sitting peacefully at the valleys base. Adjusting her heavily laden backpack, the name Eryn emblazoned on one of the straps, before she carried on along the path.

She stopped at a fork in the path, one side more heavily trodden and compacted over the years. The other, a faint line in the grass. She checked her map taking a breather and a long draw from her water canteen before she started down the less than well travelled route. An hour later, and the sun starting its slow decent, she found what she was looking for. Almost as if suddenly revealed like a stage she rounded a corner and looked out to a clearing that ran to the edge of a sharp cliff side. She couldn't help but smile widely as she took in everything around her. The view she had of the open valley, framed by the undergrowth around her, the soft yielding moss covered ground at her feet at the gently flow of water off to one side.

“Well, guess Mark was right for once. The view is perfect” she said to herself before carefully setting down her backpack. She quickly inspected her camping area, roughly sixty square foot of clear ground. A few rocks to keep her stove off the ground, the soil under the moss was thick enough to hold the pegs without any issues and checking her compass the orientation was perfect for tonight's event. It took a week of planning for the meteor shower, and with her friend spotting the ledge she was on from the lake it didn't take much plotting to find a pathway. Off the beaten track was fine by her. A copy of her map was left at home as a precaution, but she didn't think anything bad would happen whilst she was here for the weekend. Once set, she took a little wander around the undergrowth nearby. It was thick and full of new growth and here she found the source of the flow she heard earlier. Fed by a small trickle of a waterfall a pool no bigger than a good sized bath sat, its mirror like surface reflecting the undergrowth beside her. She noted the waterfall barely interfered with the pond and made a mental note to come back when the light was better, eager to photograph such an immaculate pool of water likely not seen by anyone for a long time.

She went about setting her tent, humming a happy tune as she did. Camp set, and with very little light remaining she began her watch of the night sky, hot chocolate in hand and the moon beaming down as the first streaks of light arced over the sky. Hours passed as the sky burnt up with natures firework display, the streaks of light coming in blurs of sharp lines. Accompanying the woman wrapped in a warm blanket the sound of water and the clicking of her camera as she sought to capture this moment in more than just memory. All too soon, the display stopped and with a yawn and a quick look at her watch she crawled into her tent and slept the first night away blissfully.

The next day, Eryn awoke to the sound of chirping birds singing for attention and the stifling heat of the tent. Crawling out she sat in the dewy moss yawning sleepily in her red pyjamas. Looking around her, a slight mist rolled down the side of the cliff face. Its like i'm sat in a cloud She giggled at the thought before making an attempt to calm her rebelliously knotted hair with the strokes of a hairbrush. Hair managed and teeth brushed she relaxed back with a popular fantasy game book, warming herself in the sun. The next few hours crept by and the woman looked to the sky taking a few deep breaths of the light breeze this is the life. I need to get away from town more its too busy in the shop, all those people just rushing around as if you're not even there. looking at the space around her, a thought came as she packed away the book into her day bag and stood looking down into the valley.

Turning quickly she held up her arms up in fists, her legs assuming a wide stance. She looked closely at the space around her, letting the environment burn into her mind before she closed them. In her minds eye, she saw the space she stood in, and in front of her faceless foes approached aggressively as a small smile came upon her face. With well practiced motions her body moved with kicks, knees and punches into the air, she had repeated drills like these over and over, the combinations changed each time to keep it fresh. Eryn kept up her drill, sweat beading her body in the slowly fading light. She enjoyed this. No, she loved this. This escape to see the once in a lifetime meteor shower. The escape from civilization and the freedom she felt. That is, until she tangled her foot in one of the tents guide lines. Flipping over onto her back, panting for breath she looked up at the sky once more, the moon seemed to be smiling down at her in the purple hues of twilight.

Getting to her feet, she looked at herself and the lines of sweat on her body. She remembered the pool not far from her. I'm secluded enough... she thought might as well get myself clean before the show starts again. Grabbing her day bag she made the short walk to the pool. Looking into its surface, she marveled again at the mirror like surface. Reflected perfectly, she saw the new moon glistening in its silver glory and her reflection brilliantly lit by the astral bodies light reflecting back at her and giving her a pale visage. Thoughts of some of the stories she read came to mind of the dark sorceress' who worked in the light of the moon far from civilization, there pale skin contrasting against there dark hair and darker eyes. Eryn laughed at her own thoughts as she brought a hand towards the waters surface. It felt almost a crime to disturb the water she felt, though its shimmering surface seemed to beckon her onwards as her fingertips touched the warm water. Wait... warm? Is it fed by a spring or Eryn didn't have time to finish her thought as she felt a great tugging sensation on her arm, suddenly submerged to the elbow. Panic forced its way through her as she pulled as much as she could against whatever force was dragging her down. She braced her other arm against the pools bank seeking leverage but she found none as she slipped head first into the water.

Eryn held her breath, afraid she would drown only to find herself tumbling head over heels in what can only be describe as a tunnel of light and color. Confused, frightened and mesmerized she had the sensation of falling for a few moments.

“what the fu-” interrupted quickly by the approaching light she was thrown unceremoniously into the icy depths  of a dark pool. Panicked, she looked around to see the moon shining brightly above her and swam as quickly as she could to the surface. Air was running out. Her legs and arms were burning and her lungs felt like they were on fire. Above her, the calm pool of water burst into life as Eryn came to the surface gulping air frantically into her body. She swam to the shoreline and pulled herself out coughing up water into the soft grass clutching at her chest with wide eyes.

Breathing still ragged she looked around her shivering in the sudden cold. The moon was indeed in the sky, but she cant remember the last time she saw it so large and so bright before and stars glinted brightly along side it. She saw she was in a shallow bowl. The dark blue tinged grass was soft and inviting with small white flowers dotting the place. The steep side of the bowl gave her the glimpse of the twisted branches of old looking trees looming over the edges and behind her lay the now still and silent pool she just swam out of. It was nearly three time the size as the one she saw before, small ripples across the surface distorted the pale body in the sky as her mind tried to process what just happened and making very little headway.

A breeze whipped around her and she shivered more bringing her back to reality. Glad she still had her day bag, she opened it and started fishing for her towel only to find that everything inside was water logged. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself, she looked up to the sky.

“OH COME ON!” she yelled in frustration sitting herself unceremoniously at the edge of the bowl. Ok. Lets take stock of the situation. I touched the water at the camp, and got dragged through a 60's nightmare. Deposited into a freezing body of water. I'm sat in an unknown forest and i'm feeling very cold and very wet. What a wonderful situation i'm in. Ok, first priority is to get up and climb out of here, find some high ground and hopefully spot some civilization or find some shelter and hope the waterproof matches are still good. Either way im boned if I stay here.. wherever here is.

She glanced to the sky. Eryn wasn't as highly knowledgeable as she would like to have been on the constellations, but she knew these weren't her stars, and she hoped very dearly she was wrong. Getting up she turned and took hold of a protruding root and started her climb. She found herself in a thick part of a forest, that much she knew. Looking for a trail, she scanned her surroundings carefully. The thing that struck her most were the sounds. These weren't the gentle forest sounds she was used to back home, no, this was much wilder and Eryn felt very unsafe. Finding a pathway through the under bush she started to walk and almost immediately the plentiful light from the moon and star was engulfed by the darkness of the forest. She was unsure how far or how long she walked. Constantly looking around her at the shifting shadows she convinced herself it was simply her mind playing tricks on her.

The game trail she walked soon opened up into a larger trail. She saw tracks in the mud and though no seasoned tracker she was distinctly saw in the dim light the unmistakable impression of hooves. Judging by there size, they didn't belong to a full grown horse. Placing her hand next to one, she judged whatever made these tracks wasn't particularly big at all. Without any other sign of direction she decided to follow them down the trail hoping that what had left these was some livestock and thus would lead her to a farm or other kind of shelter. The reasoning was pretty weak but she was cold, hungry, tired and not in the best of moods right now. To make matters worse, she could swear something was following her, but every time she looked she only saw the blackness of the trail behind her. Her heart pounding, she quickened her pace. Imagination or not, she wasn't going to stick around and find out. Thinking of sticks, she made sure to pick up a rather hefty looking one as she practically jogged down the path. She felt her tired body warming up and that was a bonus she thought.

Then she heard it. There was a distinct rhythmic thudding coming up from behind her at an alarming rate. Looking back, she almost froze in place at the creature running towards her. With the body of a lion and a set of leathery wings on its back she did not have to wait long before the sway of its barbed tail made itself known. Oh crap.. that's a Manticore. That's a fucking Manticore was all she could process in her mind as her body decided that being anywhere near the snarling and gaining creature was a bad idea. Breaking out into a full blown sprint she looked left and right for a thicket or something she can use to lose the creature. She may only have read about mythical creatures in her books, but she was certain that it would either outrun her or outlast her. As if on queue, she could hear it much closer to her and its breath coming in thick pants. Spotting a hole in the thick undergrowth to one side she threw her stick behind her, catching the beast in the face as she dived head first through the thicket. Stumbling to her feet she was ready to bolt into the undergrowth where it would at least have trouble catching her as it collided with the tree behind her. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and ran without thinking. Soon the sounds of the struggling and frustrated creature faded into the distance.

Eryn's body burned from the inside, every muscled protested as she drove it like a task master. Her mind was blank and her vision was blurring. With weak breaths she started to slow. Her feet became sloppy and she found she was having to use the surrounding trees for support. Her dimming eyes lit up briefly though at the site before her. In front of her, she could see her saving grace. Through blurry eyes a small cottage sat atop of a hill, a little red bridge over a stream. It was the most welcome site she could have seen in her life at that moment. With legs of lead and near closed eyes she walked up the well maintained pathway and to the bridge before she lost control of her body and collapsed into the wood. Shallow breaths took hold as she felt the morning rays of the sun strike her back and the click of a door opening came to her ears as an echo along with a startled voice.

The cottage was quite and peaceful. The sounds of gentle breathing came from almost every nook and cranny of the place. Waking with a stretch the butter yellow Pegasus, her pink mane flowing gently around half her face, looked at the various sleeping critters. It was just before dawn, and Fluttershy began her morning routine to prepare herself for the day ahead. This spring had brought a few injured animals to her attention and that meant a long day of nursing them back to health. Kettle on the boil and with the light starting to come into the cottage she trotted peacefully to the front door. With a light click she opened it and looked out to be greeted by a sight she most certainly was not expecting. Laying on the bridge was  creature she had never seen before. Unsure at first she carefully approached it. It was dressed in clothing, torn in places and it wore a backpack. It kind of reminded her of some of the creatures that Twilight had told her about. Her thoughts came to a grinding halt though as she saw the open and bleeding wound in its shoulder. Caution to the wind, she knew whatever this was it needed help and quickly. She rushed over to its side and immediately went about checking its falling vitals.

“oh no oh no oh no” she practically squeaked. She looked more closely at the wound. A clear liquid was mixed in with the blood. She had seen this wound before as a Manticore sting. Without a second thought she ran back into her cottage. The commotion waking many of the animals there who looked up in sleepy confusion to see there carer dig around for a saddle back and rush back out the door. Taking a syringe and a healthy dose of anti-toxin she injected it straight into the site of the wound. Whatever this thing was it moaned in pain. Next Fluttershy took some scissors and cut away the fabric around the wound, picking some of it out carefully. Now with an unobstructed view, she was glad to see the puncture wound wasn't very deep. The Pegasus applied a salve designed to clean the wound, stop the bleeding and hopefully promote healing next. Whilst she worked, many of the animals looked out of the door curiously at first and then worried for what appeared to be there new guest.

“um... mister bear, could you come over and hold her up for me so I can put the bandages on.. if that's ok..” she said meekly. With a wuffle the large bear walk from the cottage and with the greatest care took hold of the human and held up steadily. Fluttershy then went about the task of removing the rest of the fabric and started binding the wound with gauze and bandages. Whilst she carefully set the bandages, she looked a the unconscious face of her new guest. Fluttershy thought about the soft features and looking at the part exposed chest of her patient decided that they must be a female. Bandaging done, she looked up to the bear and ask him to take her up to Fluttershy's room where the bed would be just about big enough to contain her.

Giving the bear a soft scratch behind the ear as thanks the butter Pegasus began removing Eryn's clothing. It was soaked all the way through with water grime and sweat and would do her no good in getting better. The backpack was placed by the bed and the cloths given to one of her animal friends to get washed. Her usually annoyed assistant, Angel, came hopping up soon after with a pot of tea and a cup for his caretaker. She thanked the small white rabbit, promising him a carrot cake and started to clean the rest of her wounds. Small cuts, minor bruising and the like would heal fats enough. The stab wound in her shoulder would take longer but Fluttershy was happy with the way the human seemed to breath much easier now. Wrapped up in the Pegasus' downy bedding she gently crept out of the room and closed the door figuring the girl would be unconscious for some time yet. After all, she had other animals to attend to and once she was certain the new creature she had was going to be ok, she would have to get Twilight over to see her. Right now though, rest was the order of the day.

The rest of Fluttershy's day passed as normal. Occasionally she would go upstairs to see how her newest patient was doing to find that she was still sleeping soundly. The bandages were holding up but were changed regularly through out and more of the salve was administered and the does of anti-toxin seemed to be doing its job nicely. Fluttershy's eyes would occasionally drift over to the bag and on the fourth visit curiosity took over.

Opening the drying bag, she carefully arranged the contents out on her dresser. She was surprised to find that many of the items were familiar. A neatly packed and still wet towel. A box of matches, a flash light that was likely broken, a heavily sodden book she didn't recognize which she placed to one side. There was also another bag inside. Remarkably, the the small bag seem untouched by the water as Fluttershy opened it and found a camera inside. It was only barely recognizable as one to her though. Gingerly she placed it back in its waterproof bag and set that next to the book. A sighing sound startled the Pegasus to find the human had moved in the bed but was still sound asleep.

Fluttershy went downstairs and left instructions to each of her animal friends listing what else needed to be done whilst she was in town and that she would be back shortly and trotted off to Ponyville. It was just after midday when she arrived at her destination, a multifaceted castle made of sparkling crystal. The Pegasus opened the door and stepped inside to find her friend. The high corridors echoed loudly no matter how quietly she walked. She had been here many time before to see her friends but she still disliked how exposed she felt. The familiar and heart-warming sound of laughter started to echo back at toward her from a side staircase and breathing a sigh of relief she started climbing the stair towards one of the castles many libraries.

Peering through the doorway she saw one of her dearest friends, a purple mare with both a Unicorns horn and the wings of a Pegasus. To the mares one side a book on a small stand opened to a page whilst she herself lay comfortably on the floor with a board game between herself and a small green dragon with purple spine son the other side. Judging by the tokens they had out, the mare was winning by a considerable amount. The dragon let out an irritated sigh.

“arrrgh! You always win at this one, can't we play something else? Like (insert game here)” The mare giggled to the dragon “Now Spike, you haven't been doing that badly for your first try at this one. Once you get the hang of it im sure you will enjoy it and sure with what you know now you will be able to beat Dash next time we have a games night” The mare noticed Fluttershy standing patiently at the door way and smiled before getting to her hooves to greet her guest.

“Fluttershy, its good to see you. Hows things?” the mare asked noticing the pegasus was acting a little more nervous than usual.

“Um... everything is ok Twilight, but um.. we might have a small problem..” the butter colored mare replied, looking at her hooves. They became very interesting hooves all of a sudden.

“Whats that matter? Did something happen?” worried for the worst, Twilight came towards her friend quickly. She looked over the mare to make sure she was physically ok before the Pegasus continued.

“well.. you know a while back when you went through that magic mirror to another world where you so those creatures called humans? um... I think there's one at my cottage...”

“Wait.. what? Fluttershy, did you just say there's a human at your cottage?” Fluttershy nodded before continuing.

“Yes, and she was seriously injured too, I think she was attacked in the Everfree by a Manticore but she's ok now!” she added hastily on the end seeing the look of dread on Twilights face.

“Fluttershy, if she is in a stable enough condition do you think I could talk to her?” The Pegasus nodded before Twilight looked over to Spike at the same time levitating a set of saddlebags, notebook and quill “Spike, send a message to Princess Celestia, let her know there's an injured human in Ponyville but everything is under control and ill report back later this evening with more details, then send a message to Cadance and ask her If anything has come through the portal lately as well as any strange sightings in the Crystal Empire in the last few weeks. If she came through the mirror, it would have taken her at least that long to get towards Ponyville” With a firm salute, Spike set about writing and sending the appropriate letters.

“you ready Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. She had a determined look, but could not help the excited undertones behind her eyes. With a small nod, both ponies began the walk back to the cottage. For Twilight, this presented a puzzle and a chance of knowledge, and idea that made her giddy to the core tempered only by the fact that somehow there's a human in Equestria.

Eryn slept uneasily. Though her body remained relatively still,  her subconscious mind was working overtime processing the events of the past few hours. It came back to her, each memory in her dream state replaying the nightmare of nearly drowning, navigating an unknown and frankly terrifying wood and being chased by a monster of myth. It was with little surprise then when she awoke with a start, hand over her chest to calm her self. Her body was plastered in sweat from the nightmare and the soft, warm blankets that covered her. Blankets? The distress of waking soon faded as she looked around the room. It was colorful, bright and vibrant. The furniture was the kind of simple she would expect to find in a medieval home, strong sturdy furniture made by fine craftsmen who did not flaunt there trade with gaudy designs and outside birds sang happily.

The moment of panic over and curiosity hanging over her, she now felt the pain in her shoulder. Hissing, she brought her hand up to the wound noting it was most certainly bandaged, and bandaged well. Guess it wasn't a dream... she thought to herself. She looked over her body. Her cloths were missing, and the scratches, cuts and bruises she had on her body looked well on there way to healing. A good look showed her that her cloths were no where in sight and her belongings had been placed on a nearby dresser. Wrapping one of the blankets around her body, she moved over and inspected the damage. The towel was almost dry, but the book was a lost cause. She didn't care much about the other items except for the camera. With great care, she opened the case to find the device. Intact and in working order, she let out a sigh of relief and headed towards the window. Looking out, she saw the small bridge she collapsed on but her memory was fuzzy of that. Across from there, the imposing forest. Now her mind remembered that place as clear as any other memory.

“So... where am I?” she quietly said to herself. She turned to inspect the room. Everything here seemed familiar, though built for someone no larger than maybe four foot in height. Even the door leading out wasn't the usual size she would expect, though she has been in old cottages before where the door frames were remarkably smaller than your average household. Eryn headed towards that door, making sure the blanket she used to cover her. Making sure her modesty was intact before turning the handle. Met with a staircase that curved around the corner she hesitantly started walking downstairs to meet her savior. Poking her head around the corner, she saw the place was well furnished with the same kind of small furniture she had seen upstairs. Bird houses, animal beds and the like were scattered neatly along the walls. Absorbing all the details she saw, a bear with an apron and a household brush which waved meekly at her. She waved back before moving cautiously back up the stairs eyes wide as dinner plates. There's a grizzly bear in the living room... wearing an apron and doing housework... ok, I have officially lost it, im in a terribly vivid dream or nightmare and i'm just going to go back into the room, close the door and go back to bed and wake up in my tent and throw out that tin of bacongrill as evidently im hallucinating from bad food. Climbing back into bed, eyes still wide she waited to wake up staring at the ceiling when she heard the downstairs door open and two voices entering the cottage.

Eryn could hear them ascending the stairs. One of the voices sounded excited, stating facts about something or other. The other voice she barely heard, but sounded soft and vaguely recognizable. Sitting up straight and looking towards the door exactingly, though she was wondering why they weren't screaming in terror about the bear unless she was imagining it or it was really a domesticated animal. The voices got louder as they got closer until she could hear there foot steps just outside the door. Eryn figured there might be more than two out there judging by the clicking sounds of there feet. She saw the door knob turn gently. The door opened. For the second time that day, Eryn's expression conveyed the text book example if shock and surprise rolled into one as the butter yellow Pegasus and the Purple Alicorn stood at the door way looking towards her. Fluttershy hiding behind her mane though with a look of concern whilst Twilight had the look of excited discovery etched on her features with a broad smile that bordered on lunacy. Twilight was the first to speak as the trio exchanged looks.

“Hi! My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and this is Fluttershy” The alicorn looked at the human with expectation. A few moments passed as Eryn attempted to regain her mental functions.

“My names Eryn... Eryn Williams...”