Chapter 1: A Whirlpool of Events
"Oh man. A talking pony. Now I've seen everything."
Strato Montblanc sat on the edge of the church balcony, staring blankly at the page of the Zen Chronicles that he always had on his person. That Holy Scripture had been looked over more times that he could count. Peace times were a blessing; however Strato found himself bored with the mendacity of everyday life.
"Peace......so beautiful....yet so boring."
Strato looked down and leaped to the ground. Landing with a dull thud, he yawned loudly as he stretched out his limbs. The village was quiet, the fall season settling in. A gentle breeze brushed against Strato, his black pants and black sleeveless shirt fluttering softly. He brushed his short, blonde hair behind his ear and grabbed his black cassock from the steps. The soft sound of a car's tires rolling on cobblestone rang out as he looked over. A white limo rolled down the way, heading toward the elder's house. Strato recognized that limo.
"Oh joy....it's Travis. Damn tycoon asshole."
Travis Payne had come from a long line of wealthy family members, all of whom always sought out new ways to gain even more money. Travis's way was creating places for people to enjoy themselves, like amusement parks, movie theaters or whatever tickled his fancy at the moment. Wherever that white limo came to, you could bet that within a year there would be something there. Strato buttoned the cassock around his neck and started toward the elder's house.
As he passed the elder's house, he heard rather loud shouting coming from inside the building. Even the elder was raising his voice, something he never did.
"Hell.....that's never good."
Suddenly, a shot rang out from the building and blood splattered against the window. Travis kicked open the door and sprinted to the limo. His black suit was stained red with blood.
"Go! Go! Go! Let's get out of here!" Travis shouted.
"Travis! What the Hell did you do?!" Strato demanded.
Travis turned around, seeing Strato running toward him in a panic. Travis huffed, getting inside the limo and slamming the door shut. Strato peered inside the house, seeing the village elder lying on the floor. Strato ran over, grabbing the old man by his shoulders.
“Old man! Old man! Are you okay?!” Strato shouted, checking the wounds on the elder’s body.
The elder’s chest had a bullet hole near the stomach. The blood pooled around the two. Fortunately, the elder had a pulse. It was soft, but it was still there. Strato sighed with relief, pressing the old man’s emergency button that hung around his neck. The engine roared to life and the tires spun rapidly as the driver stepped on the gas. Strato turned towards the door, hearing the limo come to life. Seeing a pair of swords by the door, Strato grabbed them and ran out the door.
“I’ll bring them back, old man!”
The limo spun around and aimed straight for Strato. Travis saw Strato come out of the house with the swords, Strato pointing one at the limo.
"Kill him! He mustn’t tell the people about this!" Travis demanded, pointing the driver at Strato.
The limo bolted at Strato, kicking up dust and debris. Strato didn't have enough time to move as the front end struck him in the thigh. The impact caused him to flip over the hood of the limo. Strato managed to keep a slim bit of composure and stabbed into roof. Travis had killed the elder in cold blood. Even with a broken thigh, Strato wasn't going to let this bastard get away.
"Like Hell you're getting away, Travis! You're mine!!"
The limo sped off into the forest path that cut off the village from the rest of the towns. Trying to shake off Strato, the driver pulled turn after turn. Strato clung to the sword as much as he could, but the pain of his broken thigh had begun to take its toll. His hands were getting slippery and after one final sharp right turn, Strato lost his grip on the sword and fell off the roof.
The turn had slung Strato straight into the forest. He bounced viciously from the impact, looking like a rag doll. He bounced for a good 100 feet, the last bounce rolling him into a small pond. With a splash, Strato sunk down about 10 feet before surfacing.
"Damn.... -Cough-.....you, Travis!" Strato sputtered, spitting up water.
After regaining his sense of composure, Strato yelled in pain. The feeling of his broken thigh hit him after his adrenaline settled. The water helped the pain, but barely. Strato lay on his back, sighing in pain as he placed the sword into his belt and gazed into the sky. His thoughts went to the elder. He wondered if the town had found out, if his body had been recovered.
Suddenly, Strato felt his body start to turn not of his own will. He looked around and spotted something in the middle of the pond. A whirlpool had formed, sucking the water into a deadly spiral.
"Oh shit! I've got to get out of this water!"
Strato began to swim furiously to the shore. His leg, however, wasn't cooperating with him and began to cause him immense pain. He clutched his leg, groaning in pain as the whirlpool pulled him closer and closer. He gazed into the center, eyes wide with fear. He could be about to die here, not like this. Focusing all strength in his arms, he struggled to swim against the current. However, even with all the strength he had left, he couldn't escape the current. With a vicious roar, the whirlpool had claimed Strato as his victim.
"No! No!!!"
Birds sung brightly during this bright and sunny day. They hopped about, pecking at the seeds being distributed by a cream colored pony with pink hair. She giggled softly at the birds, landing softly on the ground beside them as they ate.
"Don't fret little birds. I've plenty of seed for you all."
In a flash, the birds suddenly flew away. An awful noise was coming from the stream behind the pony. Loud, rough coughing and splashing sounded out. The pony turned to see a man slowly crawling out of the stream. The man's blonde hair and goatee stuck wildly to his face as he made his way to land.
The pony squeaked as though she poked with a red hot iron, flying out of the man's reach. She landed on the branches of the tree next to her beside the birds, looking down. The man collapsed a few feet from the tree, clutching his leg in pain and groaning softly.
"Oh....my...." The pony whispered, seeing the man in pain.
Strato slowly opened his eyes, still water-logged from the whirlpool. The pain in his leg had increased tenfold since he had pulled himself onto land. He looked around, searching for some kind of help. All he saw was wilderness. Strato turned and laid flat on his back, panting in breathlessness and pain.
"D-Damn it. The one time I need help and not a soul around," He said, irritated.
The pony fluttered slowly down from the tree, seeing that Strato was in intense pain. She slowly approached him, still fearful that he would hurt her or something. Strato looked in disbelief. That pony just flew down from that tree. Either his leg pain was getting to him, as it was causing him to fade at this point, or he had found something different.
"Did....that pony just come from the damn sky?" Strato muttered, still clutching his leg.
"S-S-S-Sir? Are...you okay?" The pony questioned, timid as Hell.
Strato's eyes widened and his mouth fell agape. The pony just talked. It just stood there and asked him if he was okay. Rather than freak out, Strato began to laugh. His laugh was soft at first, but then it began to grow louder and louder. It was official. The pain from his leg had caused delirium.
"Oh man. A talking pony. Now I have seen everything," Strato laughed, fading quicker than before, "Tell me, mystery talking pony. Do you have a name?"
"M-M-My name? My n-name is F-F-Fluttershy," Said the pony timidly.
"Fluttershy, huh? Well, Miss Fluttershy, I do believe I'm about to pass out from the pain of my broken leg. So if you don't mind...."
Strato laughed one more time before collapsing. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, signaling the intense pain he was in. Fluttershy gasped, realizing that he was hurt. She wasn't strong enough to carry him there by herself. He looked like he weighed more than she could lift.
"Oh no. I've got to get him help. I know! I'll go get Twilight and Rainbow Dash. They can help me."
Flapping her wings, Fluttershy sped off to Twilight's place to get help. The birds went back to eating the seeds that she had laid out earlier, hopping around Strato's unconscious body.
