My New Lifeby SwirmTESwirmChaptersChapter 1: I'm LeavingChapter 2: Where am I?Chaper 3: Can't get much worse than this!Where Are we going?Chapter 1: I'm LeavingMy name is Ian, I am 12 years old. I don't have what you could call a good life. I live in a small village in the middle of nowhere. My parents have never shown any sign that they love me. I think I'm more of a burden to them than anything else. I don't go to a school, I don't have a clue how to read or write. All I do during the day is help butcher cows at the towns meat shop. That's it, that's all I've done for the last 2 years. When I'm not killing innocent animals, I'm at home, being yelled at, and hit by my parents. I normally am given little to eat, and spend my "free time" in my room, waiting for nighttime so I can sleep. I really enjoy dreaming, because it's a temporary escape from what I call Hell on Earth. This has been my routine for 2 years now. But I plan to change it soon, somehow... Last night I had the dream again, but this time it was different, this time she talked to me... It was the same, unknown field, devoid of any sound or life... I walked aimlessly, as if I were lost... Then I heard it, the flapping of wings belonging to a dark blue pony I had been dreaming about for the last month... She landed in front of me, and we stared at each other for the longest time... Then she spoke: "Do not despair little one, soon your life will take a turn for the better..." *KNOCK KNOCK I jolted awake and gasped. What was that about? What time is... KNOCK Dad was pounding on my door. I rubbed my eyes and jumped out of bed. I almost opened the door when it swung open. My dad stormed in and hit me upside the head. I yelped and fell backwards onto my butt. "Wake up you lazy little shit! If your late to your job then I'm going to beat you until your purple!" This was the morning routine... Wake up, get hit, get threatened, put clothes on, and go to work. I hopped up and got my shirt and jeans on, with Dad yelling at me all the while. Mom usually wasn't awake until about noon, she would stay up all night at the bar and get home very early morning. I passed through the kitchen and grabbed a piece of bread. I was almost out the door when I took another hit to the head from behind. I fell onto my stomach and almost dropped my small amount of breakfast. i lay there in a daze before I heard the door slam. Then the lock click as I got to my feet. "What a surprise" I muttered. I began to run to the other side of town so that I wouldn't be late. I had to dodge a couple people along the way, and got a dirty look here and there, but I made it on time, barley. I burst in the door and ran right past my angry boss and into the main room, whatever you call it. I called it the "Cutting Room" I walked up to the man that normally gave me instructions or tasks. I typically was the one that cleaned up the floors, counters, and tools. He seemed to not notice me at first, so I had to call out his name, which was Paul. He turned his head slightly from the meat he was cutting and pointed to a blood soaked table behind him. I knew what he meant. Clean the table, and get the slab of meat hanging from the hook onto it, and wash the hook. I walked over and sighed, must have been a new guy, the mess was bigger than normal. After completely reddening 2 wash cloths and washing my hands thrice, I went and grabbed the new slab off the hook and plopped it down onto the table. Next I took the hook over to the sink and rinsed it off. I had found a way to work faster if I just rinsed the hooks rather than full on washing them, no cooked meat would ever be hung from them, so it wasn't hurting anything. After cleaning off the hook I put it back into place and waited. About a minute later, someone finished cutting up a slab and whistled me over, lather, rinse, repeat, for 6 hours. I was the last to leave the shop every day. After cleaning all of the tables, floors, and tools, I began walking home. I walked slower today, to think about the dream I had. I've never had a dream like that before, why would I have had one like that? What good would it do if I was to run away? Maybe it was my subconscious telling me to do so? It seems like the only way I would ever escape this place... Then why don't you run away, for real? You've got nothing to lose! Yeah your right, I'll take off tonight, while they are sleeping. I ended my thinking process, but didn't return to normal pace. I wasn't that excited to get home. But I had to get there eventually. After another few minutes of snail paced walking, I saw my house. I got to the front door and was greeted with my mother yelling. "Where the hell have you been?? It shouldn't take you 20 damn minutes to walk a quarter mile you lazy ass." She followed this up with a strong smack across my head. I stumbled a bit going through the door, but I didn't fall. She didn't hit as hard as dad. Yup, tonight couldn't be better. I got my balance and took a seat at our small table. My dad came over with a small plate of food. He gave me a glare that told me to stand up, so I did. He handed me the plate. Well, more like shoved it at me. All it had was a small piece of almost raw beef. "You'll get even less to eat tomorrow if you show up even one fucking minute late, do you understand?!" I quickly nodded. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!" "YES!" He then punched me in the nose. "Go to your room and stay there, if I catch you out here before 7:00 tomorrow morning then your spending tomorrow night outside. GOT IT?!" I nodded and ran off to my room. I waited until I heard the chair get pushed under the door knob and knew that it was now or never. I tossed the plate onto my bed and grabbed, well, nothing, I had nothing to take. I unlatched the window and slowly opened it. After slowly crawling through the small gap and landing with a small roll, I stood up and looked back inside. I decided to close the window, it might buy me some time if they actually come looking for me. I reached up and slowly closed it. I then turned around and bolted off away from the town. I had been walking for about 2 hours, I was at least 6 miles from the town, I had been looking for a place to take shelter. I stood a moment to stop and look along the horizon, there, about 11 o clock position, was a small building in the distance, had to be about a mile away. "As good a place as any..." I muttered and began to walk in the direction of the building. After about 30 minutes, I arrived. It was smaller than I thought, but it would work, it had a roof. I opened the very rotten door and stepped inside. There, in the exact center of the hut, shack, thing, was a small glowing rock. Or at least, it looked like a rock. It could have been a quartz crystal. Whatever it was, it was glowing. I was very intrigued. I reached down to pick it up. But the very moment my hand touched it, I heard an ear piercing sound, like a dog whistle that you could hear. I covered my ears and realized that now I was glowing too. I pulled my hands down and looked at them, but immediately put them back over my ears. The sound was unbearable now. I was about to scream for help, when everything abruptly turned to black... Author's Note First chapter of my first story. Criticism would be appreciated so I know how to make future chapters better. Chapter 2: Where am I?I awoke on my back, it was now night time. Everything ached, everything was sore. I sat up and realized I was in a different place, a very different place. The shack was nowhere in sight, and instead of plains, there were dozens of long rows of Apple trees. I tried to stand up, but fell back down. I didn't realize how dizzy I was. I waited for my head to stop spinning, and took another attempt at standing. I had to lean against the tree I had woken up next to, but I was able to stand. I took another look around, just Apple trees for miles. There wasn't even a path or anything, no sign of any people, no sign of man-made structures. Did I pass out? Did they find me and dump me somewhere? I looked up at the sky, I found the moon and stared intently, if I could see which way it was moving, I could find out which way was north. I gave up quickly, I would never be able to see which way it was moving.. "Guess I'm not finding North, might as well start walking." I sighed, I had the feeling I was somehow going to get more lost than I already was. "Heh... Here we go." I said sarcastically. And began walking straight ahead, hoping I would find civilization eventually. After about 30 minutes, I found an actual path. I debated for a moment weather to turn left or right. I realized it wouldn't matter, I didn't even know where I was going. So no point wasting time. I turned right and followed the path. This seemed so strange, I didn't live anywhere near an apple orchard let alone one that stretched on for miles. How could I have ended up here? It didn't make any sense. I scanned the horizon for anything other than trees for a moment, nothing. I gave up looking, I decided walking until I ran into a town or something would be the best thing to try. After all, paths usually mean people. After another few minutes of walking, I saw a shape on the horizon, it looked like a house. I brought my pace up to a jog, and got to the house within a few more minutes. I approached slowly, thinking if I should wake up the owner. When I noticed a barn off to the right, slightly behind the house. I decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to wake up whoever lived there at, well, however late it was. I didn't exactly have a watch. I decided that the barn would be my best bet. I walked up to it, good size, there should be at least some hay to sleep on or something. I opened the door slowly, empty, perfect. Well, empty as in, no one there. There were a few barrels, some large bails of hay, and a cart tucked away in the corner. I realized that if someone came in the next morning and found me right smack in the middle of the barn, I would probably get in a lot of trouble. I found a spot in the corner, fairly well hidden from view of anyone who might enter. I grabbed a few handfuls of hay and made a makeshift pillow. But I couldn't fall asleep, I was getting more curious, how had I ended up here? I don't remember walking a crap ton of miles to a random orchard out in who knows where. Someone must have taken me there and dropped me under that tree. Eventually, I fell asleep, one of the worst night sleeps I've ever had. Not because my makeshift bed was uncomfortable, but because I was scared. I wasn't expecting to randomly wind up in the middle of nowhere. But I did fall asleep nonetheless. I didn't dream at all that night, I woke up twice from being so uncomfortable. I woke up for the third time and actually saw some sunlight shining through the only window. "Bout damn time..." I mumbled. I sat up and stretched out my arms, I was actually surprised that I wasn't found, yeah, no one was looking, but I had that feeling someone would have found me. "Guess I lucked out." I said. Just then, I noticed the barn door was open slightly, and then I heard a voice. "Over here mom! It was in here!" so much for lucking out! Someone must have seen me before I woke up and went to get me arrested for trespassing. I crawled futher behind the hay bail and started shaking slightly. I heard the door open and I shut my eyes tightly. After a few painful seconds, I heard a second voice. "What... What is one of those doin here??" That caught me off guard, I was expecting yelling or instant pain. After another few seconds of silence, I opened my eyes. There, in front of me, were 2...ponies... Of all things. It looked like a mare and a filly. I remained motionless, I was still in shock over the fact that I had heard them talking. They looked at me with confusion, curiosity, and a little bit of fear. The mare had a light yellow coat of fur and a light blue mane and tail. She also had a picture of a red apple on her butt. The filly had a solid purple coat and a light red mane, she didn't have a weird tattoo though. The three of us just stared back at each other for another few seconds, before I finally got the courage to speak, Big Mistake. "Uh.... H-Hi?" The mare took a few steps back, and the filly ran out of the barn screaming. This reaction scared me as well, I scooted backwards into the corner and looked up with fear. What were these ponies going to do to me? The mare seemed less afraid than the filly, but was still being cautious. "What are Ya doin here in our barn?" I seemed surprised her first question wasn't what I was, did these ponies have humans here? Or worse, was it a backwards world where ponies rode on top of humans?! "Ah asked you a question varmint, and ah now you can talk, so speak up." I stared back for a few moments before finally speaking. "I-I needed a p-place to sleep. I-I'm sorry, I sh-should have asked f-first." She seemed to lighten up a little after hearing the fear in my voice. Despite being a horse, it was easy to read emotion through her facial expression. "Ah can respect that, but what are one of you humans doin here?" That answered one question. She actually knew what I was. But it also raised another. "A-are humans not common a-around here?" She gave me a look of disgust. "Not at all, and ah know that they are violent things that enjoy killen one 'nother." Ouch. Those words hurt, not just because it was partially true, but because I was not like that at all. I realized that if I was to get any help, I would need to find a way to make this mare trust me for at least the next 5 minutes. Chaper 3: Can't get much worse than this!And of course, I now had to be trusted, but I felt more afraid now knowing that one bad move could land me in a lot of trouble. "S-so what are you going to do?" She didn't even take a second to think of a response. "Ahm takin you down right now to Sherriff SilverStar!" My face went pale, wrong choice of words! I froze up, I stopped breathing, I didn't blink. I... I cant go to jail! I'm only twelve! The mare trotted over to another part of the barn, presumably to grab something to restrain me so that I would be easier to transport. I didn't let the opportunity pass. I jumped to my feet, and bolted for the door. Without looking back. Yes it might have been a rash and panicked idea, but it was better than going to jail. So much for trust! I didn't need to look back to know I was being chased. I ran around the right side of the house and into a large town. Big Mistake. There were ponies everywhere! Luckily, as I ran past them, none of them tried to catch me, they all seemed to be in shock just from seeing me. I looked up and saw a large red clock tower in the distance. good place to hide.... if I can get there! I could hear the mare's hoof steps behind me. I needed to find a way to lose her! Then, a stallion pulling a cart of apples happened to be walking across the road, and unintentionally cut me off. Think fast dimwit! I let my knees collapse and belly slid under the cart. My plan was to just jump up once on the other side, but I did too early, a large shard of wood, sticking out off of the main structure of the cart, stabbed into the back of my right leg. I screamed and jumped up on the other side. I didn't take the risk of looking back and began limp-running left between two buildings. I slowed down a little once I knew I was out of sight. I continued going between a few buildings, gradually making my way towards the tower. I went right and could see it about 100 feet away. But I then could hear hoof-steps coming closer from behind. I didn't look back, but as quickly as I could ducked behind some trash cans, praying it would provide enough cover. I took a peek and saw the mare from before trotting through the alley, not stopping to look closely, but just scanning the general area. Eventually she stopped right in front of the cans, I held my breath. Seconds felt like minutes. Finally after an eternity, she turned around and headed back the way she came. I slowly got to my feet and made my way to the backside of the clock tower. There was a door on this side thankfully. And now, we find ourselves a way to the top... I grabbed the knob and twisted, unlocked! The door opened into a large winding stair case that seemed to go all the way to the top. Perfect! I slowly and quietly made my way up to the inside of the clock, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in my leg. I finally made it to the top, tears in my eyes from the pain. There were gears and cogs taking up most of the space, but I found room just to right lower right of the face of the clock to sit down. I took the chance to look at my leg. The shard of wood was lodged deep in my leg. It didn't just hurt, it was burning. It seemed to hurt more when I looked at it. I wiped some of the blood out of the way and grabbed the end sticking out. I immediately let go and tried not to scream. I didn't want to give away my position. But I needed to get the wood out of my damn leg. I grabbed it again, and bit my lip to prevent screaming. I began to slowly dislodge it from my leg. It hurt more than anything had in my entire life. After I got it about halfway, I let go and took a breather. I sat for about a minute before trying again. Eventually, after what felt like forever, I got it out of my leg. It immediately began bleeding heavily. At this point the pain was unbearable, and I slipped into sleep... I was....where? I had no idea. It felt like floating in a void. Where was this place? Where was my body? Is this what death is like? There was nothing but white, in every direction. I tried to call out, but I couldn't say anything. My voice had just vanished. Along with my body. I was left floating there, confused for about 10 more seconds before t happened. An ear piercing frequency. My ears were doing more than ringing, they were screaming. I tried to cover them with hands that weren't there... When quite suddenly..... I awoke to three things at once. One was a loud train whistle, the second was excruciating pain in my leg, and the third was the lack of sunlight. I slowly and shakily got to a sitting position. I felt really cold, and my hands were pale. I looked down, there was dried blood everywhere... But no body, so I knew I wasn't a ghost now. I looked out the window and saw a train pulling into a station across the way. As soon as it stopped, the doors opened, and 6 ponies came out. They looked different from the citizens of the town, they were more colorful. They all had serious expressions on their faces. The 6 stopped just outside the train station began talking to a Stallion sporting a moustache and cowboy hat. He nodded a couple of times, before pointing a hoof up at the tower. I thought about running, but I just sulked back behind the tiny window and sat back. I felt so weak and tired. Probably from blood loss. My leg hurt more than before and probably stiffened up while I was passed out. So I just sat there, reflecting on the circumstances. I don't know how long I was sitting there, but I know I was snapped back to reality when I heard the door below open. I stopped breathing, I sat completely motionless. you idiot! Why didn't you get us out of here?! I didn't look to the top of the stairs, I didn't want to make a single sound. Eventually, I could hear hoof-steps coming up the stairs. I could feel my heart racing, but I didn't move. I wanted to now, but I was frozen in fear. After a few more seconds, I could feel a set of eyes on me. I knew I had been caught, so I turned. I was greeted with a lavender pony with a violet mane with a pink streak through it. She had a horn on top of her head, and the deadliest glare I think I've ever seen. Before I could say anything, her horn lit up, I suddenly felt very drowsy. And unwillingly fell asleep again. God only knew what would happen to me next... Author's Note Sorry this took so long, I had a lot of school to deal with and such. I will be uploading more often now. Where Are we going?Rumbling, and the occasional jolt. A train. I think. I slowly opened my eyes, I was in a bed, well, sort of just a bench. My head was spinning, and my vision was blurry. I figured out after a few moments that I was in a train car. But alone. No one in there except for me. Not a sound except for the clicking of the wheels going over the tracks. It was dark inside. The only light being a candle next to the door on the side farthest from me. There were only a couple benches and windows. But other than that, not very spectacular. My leg didn't hurt quite as much, but it wasn't my leg that I was worried about. I had a terrible headache. And the walls seemed to be wavy. Everything was flexing and moving, but only slightly. Man, what did I eat? Just the thought of food made my stomach growl. I hadn't had anything to eat for 36 hours. At least, 36 hours that I knew of. I tried to sit up, but my head was still spinning. "Oh god.... Everything's moving..." Something was wrong. I couldn't get my eyes to focus well, was this from hunger? Dehydration? Both? I lied back down, but onto my side so I could see the door at the far end. I was hoping my eyes would begin to see properly, but everything was still waving around and moving. I shut my eyes and re-opened them. Everything was normal? What? Was all the movement a trick? A hallucination? I sat up and no longer felt dizzy. "What the hell was that about?" I rubbed my eyes, nothing changed again. I sat perfectly still, I felt that I was being watched. I tried to shake the feeling, but couldn't. I decided that I had had enough. I stood up slowly, and walked across the car to the door. I grabbed the handle, but froze. It felt like something would happen if I opened it. I kicked my fears out of my head and pulled on the door, locked tight. I banged on it a few times, solid as a damn rock. So I let go, and walked back to the bench and sat down. All I could do was wait. But wait for what? This train could be taking me anywhere! Just then it occurred to me that I had to get out of there as quickly as possible. I had no clue where I was being taken. I stood up again and ran back to the door. I grabbed and handle and pulled hard, nothing... I backed up and rammed my shoulder into it. All it did was make a loud banging noise and nothing else. "OW! Okay lets not try that again!" This door wasn't just locked, it was sealed. I took another look around. "Ok, maybe a window will be less rock hard than that damn door." I walked over to the window above the seat I woke up on. I tried the latch first, stuck tight. Then curiosity got the better of me, I went around the car trying every single window, all stuck. I had about 2 to go when I heard the door to the car in front of mine being opened. I whipped my head around and heard the lock being undone. As a last stand effort, I threw my shoulder into one of the windows, nothing, not even a damn crack. "Okay! now I'm screwed!" Then the door opened. I saw a butter yellow pony with a pink mane standing there staring at me. My first thought was to hide, but I knew it was too late for that. Second, was to charge her , which I was just about to do, before she spoke in a concerned tone. "Oh my, are you ok? I heard thuds coming from in here." Whoh, wait a sec, she was concerned? It didn't take a genius to know that these ponies must not exactly like humans, but here is one showing concern for me. But, being the way I am, I replied with a snarky comment. "No.... I'm fine, just trying to escape from you crazy ponies who locked me in a train car that must be made out of the most durable damn materials I've ever seen." I took a step back, hoping to provoke a response so I could get past her...somehow... She looked at me with sad eyes. "Oh I'm sorry about this, um, It's just that, humans arn't trusted very much here, lots of ponies think they're violent monsters." "Yeah, I noticed..." "Well, there have been humans here in Equestria occasionally, but they all have to be taken to see princess Celestia first." My face went white, a princess?! If the citizens hate me this much already then God only knows how a princess would react to me. "I can't go see a princess! What will she do to me?" "Oh! Nothing, she just wants to find out if you are a threat or not, I know it sounds a bit over he top, but she doesn't trust humans." That made sense, but at the same time, I felt singled out, I was just a kid. What could I do to be a threat? Most of these ponies were taller than me by a foot and a half. "When will we get there?" I asked shakily, I was still very nervous about havering to meet a princess, especially one that I knew wouldn't like me very much. She gave a soft smile. "We will arrive in Camterlot in about 10 minutes, don't worry, I'll make sure no one hurts you." I was awestruck, why did this one care about me? Apparently I'm one of the worst things that could arrive in "Equestria", and this one could care less. "Why do you care? Why don't you hate me like the other ponies I've seen?" She seemed shocked at my question. "Because I don't think that all humans are bad, they can't all be bad." This made me feel a little better, maybe some of these ponies weren't so bad after all... Author's Note Sorry this took so long, again, school. One more week and I WILL be uploading for frequently .
Chapter 1: I'm LeavingMy name is Ian, I am 12 years old. I don't have what you could call a good life. I live in a small village in the middle of nowhere. My parents have never shown any sign that they love me. I think I'm more of a burden to them than anything else. I don't go to a school, I don't have a clue how to read or write. All I do during the day is help butcher cows at the towns meat shop. That's it, that's all I've done for the last 2 years. When I'm not killing innocent animals, I'm at home, being yelled at, and hit by my parents. I normally am given little to eat, and spend my "free time" in my room, waiting for nighttime so I can sleep. I really enjoy dreaming, because it's a temporary escape from what I call Hell on Earth. This has been my routine for 2 years now. But I plan to change it soon, somehow... Last night I had the dream again, but this time it was different, this time she talked to me... It was the same, unknown field, devoid of any sound or life... I walked aimlessly, as if I were lost... Then I heard it, the flapping of wings belonging to a dark blue pony I had been dreaming about for the last month... She landed in front of me, and we stared at each other for the longest time... Then she spoke: "Do not despair little one, soon your life will take a turn for the better..." *KNOCK KNOCK I jolted awake and gasped. What was that about? What time is... KNOCK Dad was pounding on my door. I rubbed my eyes and jumped out of bed. I almost opened the door when it swung open. My dad stormed in and hit me upside the head. I yelped and fell backwards onto my butt. "Wake up you lazy little shit! If your late to your job then I'm going to beat you until your purple!" This was the morning routine... Wake up, get hit, get threatened, put clothes on, and go to work. I hopped up and got my shirt and jeans on, with Dad yelling at me all the while. Mom usually wasn't awake until about noon, she would stay up all night at the bar and get home very early morning. I passed through the kitchen and grabbed a piece of bread. I was almost out the door when I took another hit to the head from behind. I fell onto my stomach and almost dropped my small amount of breakfast. i lay there in a daze before I heard the door slam. Then the lock click as I got to my feet. "What a surprise" I muttered. I began to run to the other side of town so that I wouldn't be late. I had to dodge a couple people along the way, and got a dirty look here and there, but I made it on time, barley. I burst in the door and ran right past my angry boss and into the main room, whatever you call it. I called it the "Cutting Room" I walked up to the man that normally gave me instructions or tasks. I typically was the one that cleaned up the floors, counters, and tools. He seemed to not notice me at first, so I had to call out his name, which was Paul. He turned his head slightly from the meat he was cutting and pointed to a blood soaked table behind him. I knew what he meant. Clean the table, and get the slab of meat hanging from the hook onto it, and wash the hook. I walked over and sighed, must have been a new guy, the mess was bigger than normal. After completely reddening 2 wash cloths and washing my hands thrice, I went and grabbed the new slab off the hook and plopped it down onto the table. Next I took the hook over to the sink and rinsed it off. I had found a way to work faster if I just rinsed the hooks rather than full on washing them, no cooked meat would ever be hung from them, so it wasn't hurting anything. After cleaning off the hook I put it back into place and waited. About a minute later, someone finished cutting up a slab and whistled me over, lather, rinse, repeat, for 6 hours. I was the last to leave the shop every day. After cleaning all of the tables, floors, and tools, I began walking home. I walked slower today, to think about the dream I had. I've never had a dream like that before, why would I have had one like that? What good would it do if I was to run away? Maybe it was my subconscious telling me to do so? It seems like the only way I would ever escape this place... Then why don't you run away, for real? You've got nothing to lose! Yeah your right, I'll take off tonight, while they are sleeping. I ended my thinking process, but didn't return to normal pace. I wasn't that excited to get home. But I had to get there eventually. After another few minutes of snail paced walking, I saw my house. I got to the front door and was greeted with my mother yelling. "Where the hell have you been?? It shouldn't take you 20 damn minutes to walk a quarter mile you lazy ass." She followed this up with a strong smack across my head. I stumbled a bit going through the door, but I didn't fall. She didn't hit as hard as dad. Yup, tonight couldn't be better. I got my balance and took a seat at our small table. My dad came over with a small plate of food. He gave me a glare that told me to stand up, so I did. He handed me the plate. Well, more like shoved it at me. All it had was a small piece of almost raw beef. "You'll get even less to eat tomorrow if you show up even one fucking minute late, do you understand?!" I quickly nodded. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!" "YES!" He then punched me in the nose. "Go to your room and stay there, if I catch you out here before 7:00 tomorrow morning then your spending tomorrow night outside. GOT IT?!" I nodded and ran off to my room. I waited until I heard the chair get pushed under the door knob and knew that it was now or never. I tossed the plate onto my bed and grabbed, well, nothing, I had nothing to take. I unlatched the window and slowly opened it. After slowly crawling through the small gap and landing with a small roll, I stood up and looked back inside. I decided to close the window, it might buy me some time if they actually come looking for me. I reached up and slowly closed it. I then turned around and bolted off away from the town. I had been walking for about 2 hours, I was at least 6 miles from the town, I had been looking for a place to take shelter. I stood a moment to stop and look along the horizon, there, about 11 o clock position, was a small building in the distance, had to be about a mile away. "As good a place as any..." I muttered and began to walk in the direction of the building. After about 30 minutes, I arrived. It was smaller than I thought, but it would work, it had a roof. I opened the very rotten door and stepped inside. There, in the exact center of the hut, shack, thing, was a small glowing rock. Or at least, it looked like a rock. It could have been a quartz crystal. Whatever it was, it was glowing. I was very intrigued. I reached down to pick it up. But the very moment my hand touched it, I heard an ear piercing sound, like a dog whistle that you could hear. I covered my ears and realized that now I was glowing too. I pulled my hands down and looked at them, but immediately put them back over my ears. The sound was unbearable now. I was about to scream for help, when everything abruptly turned to black... Author's Note First chapter of my first story. Criticism would be appreciated so I know how to make future chapters better.
Chapter 2: Where am I?I awoke on my back, it was now night time. Everything ached, everything was sore. I sat up and realized I was in a different place, a very different place. The shack was nowhere in sight, and instead of plains, there were dozens of long rows of Apple trees. I tried to stand up, but fell back down. I didn't realize how dizzy I was. I waited for my head to stop spinning, and took another attempt at standing. I had to lean against the tree I had woken up next to, but I was able to stand. I took another look around, just Apple trees for miles. There wasn't even a path or anything, no sign of any people, no sign of man-made structures. Did I pass out? Did they find me and dump me somewhere? I looked up at the sky, I found the moon and stared intently, if I could see which way it was moving, I could find out which way was north. I gave up quickly, I would never be able to see which way it was moving.. "Guess I'm not finding North, might as well start walking." I sighed, I had the feeling I was somehow going to get more lost than I already was. "Heh... Here we go." I said sarcastically. And began walking straight ahead, hoping I would find civilization eventually. After about 30 minutes, I found an actual path. I debated for a moment weather to turn left or right. I realized it wouldn't matter, I didn't even know where I was going. So no point wasting time. I turned right and followed the path. This seemed so strange, I didn't live anywhere near an apple orchard let alone one that stretched on for miles. How could I have ended up here? It didn't make any sense. I scanned the horizon for anything other than trees for a moment, nothing. I gave up looking, I decided walking until I ran into a town or something would be the best thing to try. After all, paths usually mean people. After another few minutes of walking, I saw a shape on the horizon, it looked like a house. I brought my pace up to a jog, and got to the house within a few more minutes. I approached slowly, thinking if I should wake up the owner. When I noticed a barn off to the right, slightly behind the house. I decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to wake up whoever lived there at, well, however late it was. I didn't exactly have a watch. I decided that the barn would be my best bet. I walked up to it, good size, there should be at least some hay to sleep on or something. I opened the door slowly, empty, perfect. Well, empty as in, no one there. There were a few barrels, some large bails of hay, and a cart tucked away in the corner. I realized that if someone came in the next morning and found me right smack in the middle of the barn, I would probably get in a lot of trouble. I found a spot in the corner, fairly well hidden from view of anyone who might enter. I grabbed a few handfuls of hay and made a makeshift pillow. But I couldn't fall asleep, I was getting more curious, how had I ended up here? I don't remember walking a crap ton of miles to a random orchard out in who knows where. Someone must have taken me there and dropped me under that tree. Eventually, I fell asleep, one of the worst night sleeps I've ever had. Not because my makeshift bed was uncomfortable, but because I was scared. I wasn't expecting to randomly wind up in the middle of nowhere. But I did fall asleep nonetheless. I didn't dream at all that night, I woke up twice from being so uncomfortable. I woke up for the third time and actually saw some sunlight shining through the only window. "Bout damn time..." I mumbled. I sat up and stretched out my arms, I was actually surprised that I wasn't found, yeah, no one was looking, but I had that feeling someone would have found me. "Guess I lucked out." I said. Just then, I noticed the barn door was open slightly, and then I heard a voice. "Over here mom! It was in here!" so much for lucking out! Someone must have seen me before I woke up and went to get me arrested for trespassing. I crawled futher behind the hay bail and started shaking slightly. I heard the door open and I shut my eyes tightly. After a few painful seconds, I heard a second voice. "What... What is one of those doin here??" That caught me off guard, I was expecting yelling or instant pain. After another few seconds of silence, I opened my eyes. There, in front of me, were 2...ponies... Of all things. It looked like a mare and a filly. I remained motionless, I was still in shock over the fact that I had heard them talking. They looked at me with confusion, curiosity, and a little bit of fear. The mare had a light yellow coat of fur and a light blue mane and tail. She also had a picture of a red apple on her butt. The filly had a solid purple coat and a light red mane, she didn't have a weird tattoo though. The three of us just stared back at each other for another few seconds, before I finally got the courage to speak, Big Mistake. "Uh.... H-Hi?" The mare took a few steps back, and the filly ran out of the barn screaming. This reaction scared me as well, I scooted backwards into the corner and looked up with fear. What were these ponies going to do to me? The mare seemed less afraid than the filly, but was still being cautious. "What are Ya doin here in our barn?" I seemed surprised her first question wasn't what I was, did these ponies have humans here? Or worse, was it a backwards world where ponies rode on top of humans?! "Ah asked you a question varmint, and ah now you can talk, so speak up." I stared back for a few moments before finally speaking. "I-I needed a p-place to sleep. I-I'm sorry, I sh-should have asked f-first." She seemed to lighten up a little after hearing the fear in my voice. Despite being a horse, it was easy to read emotion through her facial expression. "Ah can respect that, but what are one of you humans doin here?" That answered one question. She actually knew what I was. But it also raised another. "A-are humans not common a-around here?" She gave me a look of disgust. "Not at all, and ah know that they are violent things that enjoy killen one 'nother." Ouch. Those words hurt, not just because it was partially true, but because I was not like that at all. I realized that if I was to get any help, I would need to find a way to make this mare trust me for at least the next 5 minutes.
Chaper 3: Can't get much worse than this!And of course, I now had to be trusted, but I felt more afraid now knowing that one bad move could land me in a lot of trouble. "S-so what are you going to do?" She didn't even take a second to think of a response. "Ahm takin you down right now to Sherriff SilverStar!" My face went pale, wrong choice of words! I froze up, I stopped breathing, I didn't blink. I... I cant go to jail! I'm only twelve! The mare trotted over to another part of the barn, presumably to grab something to restrain me so that I would be easier to transport. I didn't let the opportunity pass. I jumped to my feet, and bolted for the door. Without looking back. Yes it might have been a rash and panicked idea, but it was better than going to jail. So much for trust! I didn't need to look back to know I was being chased. I ran around the right side of the house and into a large town. Big Mistake. There were ponies everywhere! Luckily, as I ran past them, none of them tried to catch me, they all seemed to be in shock just from seeing me. I looked up and saw a large red clock tower in the distance. good place to hide.... if I can get there! I could hear the mare's hoof steps behind me. I needed to find a way to lose her! Then, a stallion pulling a cart of apples happened to be walking across the road, and unintentionally cut me off. Think fast dimwit! I let my knees collapse and belly slid under the cart. My plan was to just jump up once on the other side, but I did too early, a large shard of wood, sticking out off of the main structure of the cart, stabbed into the back of my right leg. I screamed and jumped up on the other side. I didn't take the risk of looking back and began limp-running left between two buildings. I slowed down a little once I knew I was out of sight. I continued going between a few buildings, gradually making my way towards the tower. I went right and could see it about 100 feet away. But I then could hear hoof-steps coming closer from behind. I didn't look back, but as quickly as I could ducked behind some trash cans, praying it would provide enough cover. I took a peek and saw the mare from before trotting through the alley, not stopping to look closely, but just scanning the general area. Eventually she stopped right in front of the cans, I held my breath. Seconds felt like minutes. Finally after an eternity, she turned around and headed back the way she came. I slowly got to my feet and made my way to the backside of the clock tower. There was a door on this side thankfully. And now, we find ourselves a way to the top... I grabbed the knob and twisted, unlocked! The door opened into a large winding stair case that seemed to go all the way to the top. Perfect! I slowly and quietly made my way up to the inside of the clock, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in my leg. I finally made it to the top, tears in my eyes from the pain. There were gears and cogs taking up most of the space, but I found room just to right lower right of the face of the clock to sit down. I took the chance to look at my leg. The shard of wood was lodged deep in my leg. It didn't just hurt, it was burning. It seemed to hurt more when I looked at it. I wiped some of the blood out of the way and grabbed the end sticking out. I immediately let go and tried not to scream. I didn't want to give away my position. But I needed to get the wood out of my damn leg. I grabbed it again, and bit my lip to prevent screaming. I began to slowly dislodge it from my leg. It hurt more than anything had in my entire life. After I got it about halfway, I let go and took a breather. I sat for about a minute before trying again. Eventually, after what felt like forever, I got it out of my leg. It immediately began bleeding heavily. At this point the pain was unbearable, and I slipped into sleep... I was....where? I had no idea. It felt like floating in a void. Where was this place? Where was my body? Is this what death is like? There was nothing but white, in every direction. I tried to call out, but I couldn't say anything. My voice had just vanished. Along with my body. I was left floating there, confused for about 10 more seconds before t happened. An ear piercing frequency. My ears were doing more than ringing, they were screaming. I tried to cover them with hands that weren't there... When quite suddenly..... I awoke to three things at once. One was a loud train whistle, the second was excruciating pain in my leg, and the third was the lack of sunlight. I slowly and shakily got to a sitting position. I felt really cold, and my hands were pale. I looked down, there was dried blood everywhere... But no body, so I knew I wasn't a ghost now. I looked out the window and saw a train pulling into a station across the way. As soon as it stopped, the doors opened, and 6 ponies came out. They looked different from the citizens of the town, they were more colorful. They all had serious expressions on their faces. The 6 stopped just outside the train station began talking to a Stallion sporting a moustache and cowboy hat. He nodded a couple of times, before pointing a hoof up at the tower. I thought about running, but I just sulked back behind the tiny window and sat back. I felt so weak and tired. Probably from blood loss. My leg hurt more than before and probably stiffened up while I was passed out. So I just sat there, reflecting on the circumstances. I don't know how long I was sitting there, but I know I was snapped back to reality when I heard the door below open. I stopped breathing, I sat completely motionless. you idiot! Why didn't you get us out of here?! I didn't look to the top of the stairs, I didn't want to make a single sound. Eventually, I could hear hoof-steps coming up the stairs. I could feel my heart racing, but I didn't move. I wanted to now, but I was frozen in fear. After a few more seconds, I could feel a set of eyes on me. I knew I had been caught, so I turned. I was greeted with a lavender pony with a violet mane with a pink streak through it. She had a horn on top of her head, and the deadliest glare I think I've ever seen. Before I could say anything, her horn lit up, I suddenly felt very drowsy. And unwillingly fell asleep again. God only knew what would happen to me next... Author's Note Sorry this took so long, I had a lot of school to deal with and such. I will be uploading more often now.
Where Are we going?Rumbling, and the occasional jolt. A train. I think. I slowly opened my eyes, I was in a bed, well, sort of just a bench. My head was spinning, and my vision was blurry. I figured out after a few moments that I was in a train car. But alone. No one in there except for me. Not a sound except for the clicking of the wheels going over the tracks. It was dark inside. The only light being a candle next to the door on the side farthest from me. There were only a couple benches and windows. But other than that, not very spectacular. My leg didn't hurt quite as much, but it wasn't my leg that I was worried about. I had a terrible headache. And the walls seemed to be wavy. Everything was flexing and moving, but only slightly. Man, what did I eat? Just the thought of food made my stomach growl. I hadn't had anything to eat for 36 hours. At least, 36 hours that I knew of. I tried to sit up, but my head was still spinning. "Oh god.... Everything's moving..." Something was wrong. I couldn't get my eyes to focus well, was this from hunger? Dehydration? Both? I lied back down, but onto my side so I could see the door at the far end. I was hoping my eyes would begin to see properly, but everything was still waving around and moving. I shut my eyes and re-opened them. Everything was normal? What? Was all the movement a trick? A hallucination? I sat up and no longer felt dizzy. "What the hell was that about?" I rubbed my eyes, nothing changed again. I sat perfectly still, I felt that I was being watched. I tried to shake the feeling, but couldn't. I decided that I had had enough. I stood up slowly, and walked across the car to the door. I grabbed the handle, but froze. It felt like something would happen if I opened it. I kicked my fears out of my head and pulled on the door, locked tight. I banged on it a few times, solid as a damn rock. So I let go, and walked back to the bench and sat down. All I could do was wait. But wait for what? This train could be taking me anywhere! Just then it occurred to me that I had to get out of there as quickly as possible. I had no clue where I was being taken. I stood up again and ran back to the door. I grabbed and handle and pulled hard, nothing... I backed up and rammed my shoulder into it. All it did was make a loud banging noise and nothing else. "OW! Okay lets not try that again!" This door wasn't just locked, it was sealed. I took another look around. "Ok, maybe a window will be less rock hard than that damn door." I walked over to the window above the seat I woke up on. I tried the latch first, stuck tight. Then curiosity got the better of me, I went around the car trying every single window, all stuck. I had about 2 to go when I heard the door to the car in front of mine being opened. I whipped my head around and heard the lock being undone. As a last stand effort, I threw my shoulder into one of the windows, nothing, not even a damn crack. "Okay! now I'm screwed!" Then the door opened. I saw a butter yellow pony with a pink mane standing there staring at me. My first thought was to hide, but I knew it was too late for that. Second, was to charge her , which I was just about to do, before she spoke in a concerned tone. "Oh my, are you ok? I heard thuds coming from in here." Whoh, wait a sec, she was concerned? It didn't take a genius to know that these ponies must not exactly like humans, but here is one showing concern for me. But, being the way I am, I replied with a snarky comment. "No.... I'm fine, just trying to escape from you crazy ponies who locked me in a train car that must be made out of the most durable damn materials I've ever seen." I took a step back, hoping to provoke a response so I could get past her...somehow... She looked at me with sad eyes. "Oh I'm sorry about this, um, It's just that, humans arn't trusted very much here, lots of ponies think they're violent monsters." "Yeah, I noticed..." "Well, there have been humans here in Equestria occasionally, but they all have to be taken to see princess Celestia first." My face went white, a princess?! If the citizens hate me this much already then God only knows how a princess would react to me. "I can't go see a princess! What will she do to me?" "Oh! Nothing, she just wants to find out if you are a threat or not, I know it sounds a bit over he top, but she doesn't trust humans." That made sense, but at the same time, I felt singled out, I was just a kid. What could I do to be a threat? Most of these ponies were taller than me by a foot and a half. "When will we get there?" I asked shakily, I was still very nervous about havering to meet a princess, especially one that I knew wouldn't like me very much. She gave a soft smile. "We will arrive in Camterlot in about 10 minutes, don't worry, I'll make sure no one hurts you." I was awestruck, why did this one care about me? Apparently I'm one of the worst things that could arrive in "Equestria", and this one could care less. "Why do you care? Why don't you hate me like the other ponies I've seen?" She seemed shocked at my question. "Because I don't think that all humans are bad, they can't all be bad." This made me feel a little better, maybe some of these ponies weren't so bad after all... Author's Note Sorry this took so long, again, school. One more week and I WILL be uploading for frequently .
