Unexpected turns

Where to start. I suppose the best place is the beginning. My name is Liam Jackson. I lived in a small town in Virginia and was there up until a couple of years ago when I joined the United States Marine Corp. I was young when I joined and spent the last 12 years following any and all orders given to me. But enough of that for now. You’re here for how I ended up in Equestria. On my way coming back from seeing a friend off for his redeployment, I took a shortcut through heavy forest to try to get home before it gets to dark to see. Lost in thought, flying through the woods, I wondering what new part I should order for my bike. I was interrupted by a roaring engine to my right and my bike disappearing from underneath me. The world spun in slow motion and I caught a glimpse of the car. Douche didn’t even have his headlights on. The ground rushed to meet me and everything went black.

When I came to I was not on the road or in a hospital, but deeper in the woods. They probably didn’t even try to look for me after they hit me. I finally came to my senses and gently checked myself for injuries. My right arm was pretty torn up from the road, abrasions and lacerations covering my shoulder and forearm and some bone showing on my elbow. Sunlight is streaming through the trees. Made me wonder how long i was out for. Checking for my helmet, I instead fine a small cut near my hairline, leading towards the back of my head. My helmet lays next to me split in two. It was supposed to be strong enough to survive a car crash intact. If only I knew then what really cracked it. At least my backpack stayed intact. I looked around for my bike and it was bent at a pretty nasty angle. It was roll-able but no chance that it would turn over. My phone somehow survived the the carnage, as did my knife. Taking stock of my backpack, I had a nice size water bottle, a solar charger for my phone , a spare set of clothes, and small trauma kit. I began the painful adventure of patching myself up. I unlock my phone to try to call for help, but a notice of no service squashed that hope..

Since I’m wasn’t going anywhere fast, I figured the first thing I should do was look for a place to take shelter for the night. After ambling around with my bike for two hours, I found a cave. For lack of other options, I entered the cave. I chose to leave my bike on the left side of the cave and started to carefully collect firewood for tonight. It was 15:12 in the afternoon when I had gathered a nice sized pile and left to look for water. I went South in hope to find water after about 3 km I found a large river I filled the bottle in my backpack and headed back to the cave. When I made it back is was only 18:34 and I saw my bike was now on the right side of the cave. All thoughts about that were quickly washed away by surging pain. Staggering inside I worked on the fire. With a source of heat I carefully settled down and checked my phone again, and it had only lost 3%. I set an alarm for 04:00 and started to boil the water from the river. After it cooled, I downed half of it and layed down to sleep.

A noise outside the mouth of the cave jolts me from my sleep. Disoriented, and noticing the fire was out, I reached for my phone and turned on the flashlight, searching for the source of the scurrying I was hearing. Seeing nothing, i take note of the time; 02:27. Following the river upstream would be my best hope to find somebody who could properly tend to my injuries. Not wanting to wait for whatever made that noise to come back, I begin to load my things onto my bike.

The alarm wakes me from the daze I had entered during my uneventful walk to the river. 02:00. Fumbling to turn it off I look around. There was thick forest behind me, and a plain on the other side of the river. There were mountains in the distance, with the sun rising behind it, but nothing else of note. Taking note of the rivers flow and using the sun as a compass, I decided to head east, upstream. A fair bit of walking later, the forest pulls away into a small plain. The suns fully overhead and I checked the time.12:56. I hear a loud whistle and see a train fly by on the far side of the plain. Since railroad tracks are the only sign of life I had seen, I decided to follow them.

But first, a break. My body was aching and I needed some rest. I thought about where I was, and about the person who hit me. After a while I pulled myself out of my thoughts and check the time. 32 minutes have passed, so I decided to get moving again.

At about 15:40 I finally reached the railroad tracks. They had a small bridge connecting to it so I could go south across a bridge, north following the tracks, or continue east with the river and into another forest. I went north because it went around the forest and I could follow the river on the other side any way. The best decision for my injuries would still be to follow the railroad, so I head north with the tracks. After about an hour of walking along the tracks I came across a junction one lead north the other continued east into a tunnel through a mountain. Mulling it over, I grabbed the water bottle from my bag and finished off the water. Placing it back I continued north.

Coming around a bend on the tracks I see a small village on the horizon. As I got closer I did not see any people walking around. Instead I saw small techna colored horses. Normal ponies, Unicorns and even Pegasi. Getting even closer to the village I noticed some were wearing armor. The only thing running through my mind was why were there not any other people. Approaching the edge of town, 5 of the armored ones rushed towards me. They circled, seeming ready for a fight. One directly in front of me looked ready to charge me. After a brief moment it started running and me. My training instantly took over and I dropped my bike ready to deflect the hit. As it came into my range it pivoted on its front legs to try to buck me with its hind legs. I try to roll out of the way but my injured leg gives. I fall to the side, still avoiding the kicks, and kicked it in the side pushing it back several meters. I climb back to my feet while two more changed me. One pegasus took too the air while the other ran at me. I tried to dive out of the way but my feet wouldn't heed my command. I looked down to see they were glowing with a light, rose tinted hue. Glancing around, I see a Unicorn with their horn glowing the same color. I hadn't wanted to hurt them, but that option is now officially off the table.

As the normal one got close I could see they were not planning to buck me, but just ram through me. I grab hold of the normal one and try to throw them at the Pegasus. Arm and leg screaming, i managed to launch the pony at the Pegasus. Both Pegasui see this and attempt to catch their friend, giving me time to ready my knife. They must have been a bit surprised to see me brandish a weapon, cause they backed off a bit. I threw my knife at the unicorn I think was holding me in place. The blade never got close as a rose tinted glow surrounded them. I was free to move again, but was really starting to feel my injuries, lack of food, and lack of sleep slow me down. As they readied for another attack everything's color fades and my vision begins to swim. I could only guess blood loss was getting to me. During this small time of weakness a normal one tackled me to the ground. A Unicorn stomps over and put their horn to my head and I felt something push into my head and I black out.