Endangered

Lifting my head from the dashboard, I slowly widened my eyes to a windshield. Outside there was a trail and it seemed I was parked to the side of it.

my head was spinning. "Urggh" I groaned. I clambered out the door onto the grass for some air. Soon, I could think a little bit more clearly as my brain ached.

Oh man, why is my head is killing me?

This thought lingered on in my mind as my brain recovered from whatever had effected it in the first place. "Geez... where the hell am I?" I questioned. The smell of pine cones filled my nostrils as a slight breeze sprinted along the track.

My hatchback was oddly parked beside a dirt trail in a pine forest. Birdsong echoed throughout the trees as the dusty path made its way into the forest. The woodland itself seemed to be different than the one I was driving in. I didn't remember parking here either. But to be honest I didn't remember a lot from last night which was strange. The most I could remember was that I stopped and got gas and then hit the road again.

How did I even get here? Did I bash my head or something? I pushed this thought to the side as I needed to review more important matters. I started to think about where I could be. I checked my phone but it was dead. Presuming that I wasn't far from the main road, I started to think. "I need to find a town or the main road. I could then try to get back on track," I voiced.

I need to stop talking to myself.

I joined my car seat as my arm shut the door behind me. My keys were already in the ignition and I put back on my cap that was laying behind the steering wheel. Without any further things to think on, I commenced the engine to purr and accelerated down the ancient trail.

Bumping along the poorly maintained route, my car's engine whirred as I passed by the flora. Soon I came across a large field with a wooden fence next to it. I figured that I was going towards something like a road or a farm. If its a farm, I could ask for directions. These thoughts quickly got pushed aside as the fenced stopped and the forest continued on my left.

Great, just when I thought I was going somewhere.

I already had been driving for about half an hour at around 40 mph. There had been no signs or turnings on the road for miles and I haven't encountered any other cars either. I was getting impatient and thought I might have driven the wrong direction until I found a turning onto a better quality road. Unexpectedly, a wooden sign pointed ahead and read Canterlot.

It seemed strange that it was made of wood, it must have been an old road or something. The sign showed hints of decay and aging. I feel like it's a deliberate pun on Camelot or something about horses. Who would name a town around here 'Canterlot' anyways?

Pushing up my cap, I started to abide by the flow of the road. It was a faded black color. I was wearing gray sneakers and a mundane red hoodie. With them, I donned olive-colored cargo pants. I was not the pinnacle of fashion here.

Gray skies loomed above as the road winded and turned. The new trail seemed to be better preserved than the last with a smoother ride along it though still slightly annoying to drive on. Glancing down at my digital watch, the time was around 2:30 pm. The trees rushed by the vehicle while dust was kicked up by the wheels.

I decided to play no music to concentrate on the questions I had. How did I get here? Why was I so far away from a main road? Why do I have very little recollection of the previous night? I thought of multiple theories about why I had no memory ranging from some kind of party to hallucinations. I eventually just pushed it into the corner of my mind for another time. I became aware of a lone mountain ahead of me and it seemed to be where I was heading.

Presently, the sky started to brighten as the clouds looming above started to diminish in frequency; letting patches of the great blue to become visible. Trees became more sparse. And, the route steadily got better in quality as I continued. Soon enough the road flowed into another one but this road had a railway leading to Canterlot with a sign saying so. The trees changed variant also with it being a mix of broad-leaf and fir trees.

Lowering my speed, buildings came into my view. "This is new," I stated in my questioning. They looked like a mix of renaissance-victorian architecture but it still looked much different to anything I have ever seen before. The mountain was now very close. Many large buildings loomed above one another, competing in height. Very soon, my car rolled into the streets of the city.

This must be some kind of weird cultural street or something. Hopefully, I can find someone with some directions around here, I contemplated. The buildings seemed to be residential or anything apart from commercial because of the lack of any kind of storefront. Then again you don't really need a sign or anything as a matter of fact in front of your store for it to be a store. That's all really to get people into your store. I viewed the wooden carts occupying the street as I rolled down my window, I peeked out of it to get a better view of my surroundings.

To my surprise, 4 legged, multi-colored creatures occupied the road ahead.

In the first time in my life, I'm speechless...

Was I going insane? Probably. From what I could see, some had horns and some had wings, some had no wings or horn. There was about 5 of them. Some had satchels that were located on their sides with a strap holding the bags of leather together. I deduced with my logic in the mere few seconds of turning the corner to this sight; that they were horses. Horses with tattoos on their asses. I managed to let out a confused "Whaaa..?" They seemed to be talking to each other. They also seemed to be diverting their attention to me and my car with worrisome and confused expressions.

I'll just be leaving now. Quickly At that thought, I quickly shifted my gear into reverse and hastily drove out of the street. I audibly heard some voices from the horses as the gawked at the speed I left the town.

Stopping in a thicket of trees surrounding me and my car, I voiced "What the shit did I just see?" I was in a state of complete bewilderment and was in doubt of my own senses.

Did I really just see that. It doesn't feel like I'm dreaming or anything. This all could be in my mind though. I just saw horses with tattoos on their asses talking to each other. I didn't hear them talking though. I didn't even hear what language they were speaking if it was anything but English. I slumped back in my chair as the sounds of the forest poured through my window.

What do I do? I could stay here and pretend that I am delirious or something. Or... I can go and check out this horse civilization.

I was motionless in thought for a few minutes, reviewing my situation. Eventually, I concluded to go back into the city known as Canterlot and gather knowledge on the world around me because I doubt I'm even on planet Earth anymore.

I put on my jacket and grabbed my pack, which had some magazines, my notebook, and some other things inside. I left the car and decided it was necessary to keep it hidden from the locals. Covering my car with some sticks and fallen leaves, I started to walk back to Canterlot.

The wind gusted through the street as I re-entered the town. Despite my brief but obvious appearance to a seemingly less technologically developed species, the street was now empty. I figured that they left because of fear or that they had nothing better to do. There was only so much you can do in a street after all.

I spied a poster on the side of a nearby street light. I walked over to inspect what was on it. It was monochrome and had two images of unicorns with wings plastered on the paper. Under this, there were writing which read Royal Sisters to give a speech at Canterlot Castle on the 8th of February. It seemed to me that this is the event would have a lot of these small horse creatures attending it. Ripping the paper off the light and stuffing it in my pack, I continued down the street.

It was relieving to know they wrote and maybe even spoke my language from this text. It also seemed like they used the same system for dates as well from what I could see. If they are royalty, that means there is a form of monarchy in this place, I pondered. Though this had little influence on my situation, it was good to know. I steadily started to walk along the street again.

The design of all the buildings got pretty repetitive after a while but I was coming to a corner of the street where the road turned. I heard activity down the street. Pressing myself against a wall, I peeked around the corner to find that there were some of the creatures still there. On further inspection, the species seemed to be more like ponies and stood at around 3 ft tall. Some had left from earlier, in their places were ponies with armor and spears, like guards. there was three of them, one of which was talking to one of the ponies from earlier. I could just make out what they were saying.

"So this large metal box with wheels and windows rolled up with a rumbling noise," said a pegasus.

So they do speak English, I acknowledged.

The Guard pony replied with "Interesting, what happened to it and was there anything inside it?"

"Somepony said it went out of town and it had a weird creature inside, it had hands, no fur and resembled an ape."

"So, like a human?" the guard droned.

"Yeah, that's it!" replied the pegasus.

"They've been extinct for years. Quit pulling my leg, we've got a job to do," concluded the Guard turning to the other guards who were looking aimlessly at their surroundings. The stallion let out a displeased grunt to how the situation was being handled. They all exited the street.

From the dialogue, it seemed that humans are extinct. I didn't know how, why or even that they existed in this pony world of weirdness but it seemed to me that I would be interesting to regular ponies and scientists alike. If they even had scientists. Being noticed was probably inevitable if I was looking for some insight into this place. But I did not know how they would react to me here. Would they burn me at the stake or leave me to my own devices? At this point, there was only one way to find out and I would have to deal with the outcome.

Bags levitated beside horned ponies. Auras of varying colors surrounded their items and horns. I was taken by surprise by this at first but it was not that shocking to me taking into account how I'm in a different world with creatures that I've never seen before. If they could do that, what else could they do?

Everypony was eyeing me in unease and question. It didn't make me that nervous though, they were all quite small compared to a six-foot tall human. I was unsure of where the castle was, the buildings were so tall where I was and getting a vantage point would be tough. I decided to ask a pony for directions. Nearby there was a unicorn mare completely oblivious to me, I chose to ask them.

"Excuse me. Do you know where Canterlot Castle is?" I questioned as everypony in the street gawking at me in surprise.

"Yeah, it's about the direction of where the street is... going..." She trailed off as she turned to face me.

I acknowledged "Cool. Thanks, man."

"man?" No pony would've even heard that in this world!

Minuscule conversation erupted behind me from my interaction, slowly becoming louder. Before now they were only slightly whispering and continuing about their day after noticing me. I was getting nervous about the word about me going around. I decided to take to an alleyway to lose the crowd. Alleyways have always been a place where definitely nothing bad happened at all! I'll be just fine!

As though some deity read through my thoughts like an email. I came across three ponies with weapons as a gray-coated one pinned a blue pegasus to a wall. One was a unicorn mare, bearing a bat magically. The others were stallions, one was a pegasus held a knife in their hoof while the other levitated a bow. I curiously observed them.

"Do you have it!" bellowed one pressing the blue pegasus against the wall.

"N-n-no! I told you I-I don't have it!"

I love it when my brain foreshadows events in my life. I was unnerved by what I was seeing. I was lost in observation, that is until I noticed two others staring directly at me with piercing gazes.

"Gray?" spoke the unicorn holding a bat.

"What is it!?" he turned back to face the others, then noticing that their attention was drawn to something else he flicked his head to me. They all were now gazing at me.

"Uh... I think you should leave him alone, man." What are you Ray, fucking stupid! They have weapons you idiot!

"You hear that! The talking ape thinks we should let him go!" Gray motioned towards the pony they had pinned to the wall. They let out a snicker to the statement. "Why should we do that then?"

I reminded myself You've really screwed yourself on this one! "Hey! I'm not an ape, I'm a human and I have what you want!" I could feel myself mentally facepalm at this remark. I didn't know what compelled me to get into this position and I'm not that creative when it comes to lying.

"Well... what are you waiting for! Give it to us and we can all be on our merry way," he declared as he settled his glare onto the pony he had fixed to the wall.

"Not until you let, him go first. You have no use for him anymore," I pointed to the Pegasus against the bricks. I didn't know what made me think that was a good idea, but I was going with the reckless side of my brain.

"I think that's a fair point," announced Gray, convinced.

He released his captive and the blue pegasus dashed away as fast as he could. Holy shit that actually worked! Finally, he inquired, "Now about those scrolls."

I waited until the previously immobilized pony was out of sight and prepared to bolt. "Heh, heh. Well, I-I don't exactly have them," I told in a jumpy voice, tensely running one hand over my wrist.

"What!?" growled Gray.

I have made a terrible mistake.

I did not want to be here at all anymore. I quickly uttered "Gotta, Jet!" At that, I was leaving the alley in seconds. There was an uproar of commotion behind me.

Dodging ponies through the busy market area, I tried to head in the direction of the castle. An arrow flew past me, narrowly dodging my arm. Holy shit they're firing at me! After this thought a bolt of energy shot past me as well, hitting a bystander and sending them to the ground. "Mistakes have been made!" I nervously yelped.

Before I knew it, guards were in pursuit of me and the trio chasing me. The pegasi with a knife bolted for me, I quickly ducked to avoid the attack as they flew above me. Almost instantly, he crashed into a cart. Ponies were stunned by speed and dexterity as I swerved around bends and street corners.

Enraged ponies still pursued me through Canterlot as I got assaulted by a variety of projectiles and weaponry. Dodging through the crowd, I spied great walls of stone ahead of me. This must be the Castle. Proceeding with my sprint through the bustling masses, I ran along the wall until I found a gateway. At this point I was unsure about what to do next, this is the only direction I had other than to go to my car and the hordes of ponies made it very difficult if not, impossible to navigate at this state. This was the only place I had to go right now.

My feet slipped against the paved floor, nearly causing me to topple onto the ground while I tore through the air into the castle walls.

There were ponies everywhere in this large open market area. To my right on entering the area was the castle itself standing tall over many buildings while two other gateways were built into the wall. One on the right, in line with the palace and another directly opposite the one I was currently sprinting through.

I had nothing to defend myself with. All I had was my battery deprived phone and my wallet which had only my drivers license and other now useless plastic cards with no good coins and paper stuffed in its leathery confines. Market stands littered the area with vendors selling their wares, I viewed this as a usual sight as this was only a speech after all. It wasn't like I could stay around to hear it or even buy it. Whose to say it hasn't been said yet? The poster was vague about the details of the speech.

Focusing on the fact that I was being hunted by a number of furious, armed ponies, I kept running forward. Placing both of my hands the rim, I dragged a nearby barrel onto the ground. This left them to dodge the obstacle, amusing me as I looked back.

Suckers.

Pain erupted from my gut as something blunt smashed into it, a large piece of wood just struck me in the gut. I placed my arms over where it collided with me, as I drew back and onto the stall to my back. "Asshole," I remarked in a disgruntled tone. The unicorn with a bat skipped around the crowd to catch me. Regaining footing I prepared to fight.

Swiftly the bat flew right for my head. It was faster than I anticipated but I managed to slide backward, narrowly dodging the attack. I didn't really know how to fight. I have not been to one since high school but I knew an opportunity when I saw one.

I took my chance and swung my fist for his face which was in the open. Luckily, I impacted with her cheek sending her to the floor.

With this, I started to sprint through the market again with heat still on my tail. I grappled onto many objects as I tried to slow down the remaining two.

The wing of the pegasus looked mangled, presumably from when he crashed into the cart. My gut was still in slight pain, but I knew I had to ignore it to escape. "Come back here! We're not done yet!" hollered one pony behind me.

You'd think at 22, you not be chased by a bunch of multi-colored, ponies in another world, wouldn't you? I reflected.

Arrows and beams of magical energy kept whizzing past my fragile body as I ran for my life. This unicorn was a bad shot, even with his magic.

Another surge from my nerves flared up on my right calf and shin. But this time it was a lot more painful. This made me crashed onto the hard stone floor. It was like being stabbed by a stick or was that basically it.

Landing sideways I immediately stared down to see that an arrow pierced right through my lower leg. It poked through my shin after entering through my calf. "Oh fuck me! That smarts!" I cursed. Blood started to flow out and onto the stone floor.

I gingerly tried to stand up only to get a face-full of bat. It was a tough blow, a very tough blow.

I groaned as slowly everything blurred around me.

Wounds bled while muffled voiced twisted around me.

I managed to see the attacker get tackled by a guard before my eyes sealed and I shifted away into the void.