The Music Guides Me

Everything was dark. I've never felt the sensation of floating, but I'm pretty sure I was. Very faintly, I could hear I'm Alright, by Rynx echoing through my mind. This was the last song I remember playing on my Pandora as I drifted to sleep. The music slowly trailed off, leading me to believe that I was falling deeper into my sleep. Suddenly, a growing pain spread from the center of my spine, and throughout my body, as if an unseen force was twisting my body. All of the air escaped my lungs, and my eyes shot open as I gasped. Life quickly returned to my body, although it didn't feel that way. I laid there in... wherever I was, catching what little breaths I could. Subconsciously I reached for my glasses. Instead, I got a handful of grass and dirt. I confusedly whipped my head to where I was reaching to see myself in a field.

Okay... I thought to myself. I distinctly remember falling asleep in my apartment, so I immediately wrote this off as some sort of dream. With that knowledge in mind, I closed my eyes and imagined my glasses being on my face. When they open, the world was still a massive blur of green and blue.

I fiddled in my pocket and pulled out my phone, thankfully my earbuds were still wrapped around it. At least it was something to keep myself sane in this maddening silence. I gently pushed the earbuds into my ears and pulled my phone about four inches from my face before I punched in the password and scrolled through my music library. After what seemed about a lifetime of scrolling, I finally settled on a song.

Miki - Devilman Crybaby OST

A happy sigh escaped my lips as the sound of music flowed through my mind. I began to take in as much of the environment as I could. The sun wasn't terribly hot as to bake my flesh, but it felt as if it were transitioning into the fall season, with the cool breeze blowing through my ridiculously curly hair. Before I knew it, my legs were leading me aimlessly through the field. (My anxious pacing had already begun as I waited for this dream to end.) The air was extremely refreshing, the perfect point between dry and humid. Now that I think about it, this dream was rather vivid. I've had my fair share of lucid dreams, but this was breaking all kinds of personal records.

My eyes opened, and I looked up to the skies. A gentle gray blanket of clouds spread across them, as if the world were inverted, I'd still be on solid ground. However as I continued to stare, I saw a singular, blurry, black dot zip across my vision. At first I wrote it off as just a bird, but as my mind replayed the image over and over, I realized that dot was much too big to be a bird. As the music continued to play in my ears, I decided not to trouble myself with overthinking it. Before I took another step, a shadow swept over me. As if by instinct, my knees bent down and I looked straight up. Again, my eyes caught a black blur soaring through the sky. I traced every which-way it was flying. For a bird, its flight pattern was pretty erratic (don't ask me how I know this).

Suddenly, the "bird" stopped moving, but the blur was getting bigger. At this point I realized it was coming straight at me. The music playing in my ears slowly turned to a garble as this blur began approaching me rapidly. The same unseen force I felt when I first woke up came over me again. My heartbeat quickly rose as the blur became... a bright neon blur? Before I knew it, the blur was only a few feet from crashing straight into me. My eyes slammed shut, and my arms flew upwards to shield myself, and a huge gust of wind collided with my body, causing me to lose my balance. My earbuds were ripped from my ears, and I did my best to catch them before they flew away completely. I noticed that I was hyperventilating, and my heartbeat had escalated drastically as I desperately clung to my earbuds.

"Are you alright?" asked a voice. The voice was scratchy, and tomboyish, but definitely female.

Oh God... social interaction, with a female no less. The thought alone terrified me. As saddening as it may be, I've had very minimal interactions with another human being.

"I-I... uh... what's happening?" I stuttered.

"Well for starters, you're standing in a field, pathetically shielding yourself from me," the voice replied, "which brings me to my next question: what exactly are you?"

That question prompted me to slowly pry open my eyes. Albeit a jumbled mix of color, I could still make out a figure. Though this was not just any figure, her stature alone was what kept my mouth shut. She stood at least two feet taller than me, and was pretty built. What intrigued me was the fact that her limbs seemed abnormal, and her face resembled a human's, but... not at the same time. Also she had fucking wings.

"Uhm... I... human." I answered.

"Uh-huh. Well I can tell you're definitely not a pony."

Wha-, p-pony? I squinted my eyes, and surely enough she was definitely not human. Her face slightly resembled that of a "pony's", except it was more refined and curved. She had a set of magenta eyes, and her skin- er, coat, was a bright cyan blue color, and her mane and tail were rainbows, at least from what I can tell. Sporting a workout tank-top and white striped gym shorts, she retained a lot of human qualities, but this woman was definitely not human.

"W-where am I?" I asked.

"Right now you're on the outskirts of Ponyville, but I have a feeling that's not what you're asking."

I replied with a nod.

"While I would love to explain all of that to you, I don't really feel like it at the moment." she sighed.

Typical.

"I don't suppose you know anyone who does, do you?" I inquired.

"Yep, I'm pretty sure Twilight would just love to meet a creature from another world." replied the pony, "If anything she's probably the reason why you're here."

The way she spoke made this whole thing seem less and less like a dream. The thought didn't excite me too much. Being trapped in a world full of "ponies" without my glasses was not the most ecstatic feeling. Thankfully I had my earbuds, the ultimate form of comfort for an introvert such as myself. My train of thought was interrupted by an abnormal hand being waved in front of my face.

"Hello~!? Equus to Human!"

I blinked a few times before replying, "Erm, what?"

"I was taking you to Twi?"

"Oh, right. Lead the way."

She raised a brow and gave a slow nod before turning around. I watched as she began walking forward, allowing a small gap between us. After a good distance, I plugged my ears with the earbuds again and brought my phone to my face once more. I didn't scroll through too much as to not lose sight of the vibrant creature in front of me. With the volume cranked up, I followed the mare through the fields.

El Huervo - Rust

The beats thumped against my eardrums, and the groove ad me rocking my head back and forth as I got as good of a look as I could at my surroundings. I caught a few glimpses of the mare glancing behind her to see if I was still following. Eventually we ended up on a trail with a wooden sign with two arrows pointing in opposite directions. Thanks to my poor eyesight, I could read what was etched into them, but the mare (lord it's so weird referring to her as that) turned in the direction of, what I assumed was "Ponyville". I yanked the earbuds from my head and called to the mare.

"Oi, pony-lady. I don't think I caught your name."

"First off, it definitely isn't "pony-lady", it's Rainbow Dash. Secondly, I didn't get your name either." replied Rainbow.

"Caleb. Just Caleb."

"Well then Caleb, pleasure to meet'cha."

"Pleasure's all mine, Rainbow Dash."

I heard Rainbow give a short chuckle as she slowed down a little to match my pace. I didn't notice because I was staring at my phone again. It wasn't until her face was as close as mine was to the phone that I noticed she was walking beside me. At this point, I wasn't bothered by the fact that I had a seven foot tall anthropomorphic pony standing over me, staring in awe at the shining black rectangle in my hand. I glanced over to see her confused face and sighed.

"Here." I said, raising an earbud.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Put it in your ear."

"Why would I-"

"Just do it."

She gave a disgruntled sigh and snatched the earbud from my hand and pushed it into her ear. I couldn't help by look up at the wire leading into her animalistic ears. As I continued to scroll through my phone for a song that wouldn't sound too weird to her, I eventually found a decent enough song.

"Don't be too freaked out." I warned her.

"Nothin' freaks me out." replied Rainbow.

I scoffed and played the song.

Stand By Me - Florence and the Machine

Rainbow Dash suddenly yanked the earbud out and gave me a look mixed with confusion and fear. I couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction and shake my head.

"Relax Rainbow, it's just music." I told her, holding out the earbud again.

"Where was it even coming from?" she asked.

"Obviously this thing." I answered, shaking my phone in the air. Rainbow reluctantly took the earbud and pushed it into her ear again, and I started up the song once more. As the soft melody continued to play, I could see Rainbow's frustration slowly fade away. Although I'm sure she was still plenty confused, I allowed her to enjoy the song with me without interruption. The song conveniently ended as we approached the entrance to Ponyville. As I looked up at the massive sign, I stopped dead in my tracks, while Rainbow kept walking. She stopped when the earbud was pulled from her ear, and she turned around.

"Caleb?" she called.

"I'm about to be the biggest center of attention than I'd like to be, and quite honestly I don't enjoy that."

I could feel the anxiety creeping up my spine as thoughts of anthro-ponies piercing my soul with their gazes flooded my mind. For some reason, the fact that I'm an alien to this species never crossed my mind until now. What would they think of me? Would they be fine with someone, something like me living among them? My foot began incessantly tapping, and I quickly opened my phone before scrolling through my library.

"Caleb!" Rainbow shouted my name in my face and placed her hands on my shoulders. "Jeez kid, you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm good, I just..." I began fumbling my words, and my eyes darted everywhere, as if searching for an excuse to grab out of thin air.

"Whadda'ya have to be worried about? Trust me, you'll be fine. You're with me after all, so nobody will say a thing." Rainbow assured me.

I nodded my head and stuffed my phone into my pocket. "Alright. Alright."

Rainbow gave me a reassuring smile before turning to the entrance. I gave a determined sigh, and stepped forward. It was like taking my first steps all over again. Taking my first steps into a new life. Though technically I had already done that a few hours earlier. As I followed close behind Rainbow, I saw the general populous of Ponyville digging into me with their stares. However, it wasn't too bad. Just like Rainbow said, nobody said anything. While their stares were definitely that of concern, they weren't horrified. If anything, I resembled them, except I was shorter, and less fur.

"Almost there Caleb." I heard Rainbow say.

My attention turned to Rainbow Dash, and I looked past her. In what seemed like the center of town stood a massive tree that seemed to be renovated into a house of sorts.

"I'm guessing that's Twilight's place?" I asked.

"Yep. Princess Celestia had her own private library built in town. She's a huge nerd." answered Rainbow.

"Hey, for your information I happen to be a little bit of a book worm myself."

"Heh, don't let her hear you say that. You'll never hear the end of it."

"Noted."

With that, we finally reached the one and only "Twilight's" house. Which also happened to be a library. Rainbow also mention a "Princess Celestia". Something tells me I'll be meeting with her very soon. Rainbow gave the door a few good knocks before a voice could be heard from inside.

"Coming!" the voice called.

After a few seconds, and what sounded like stumbling over many objects, the door flung open. Behind it stood a lavender colored woman, with a mane and tail of navy blue, each had a streak of purple and pink throughout the length. Her most notable feature was the horn protruding from her forehead. Besides that, she wore a white button-up shirt, black overcoat, and a plaid skirt. Not going to lie, the short-ish skirt combined with her long legs, was a little odd to me.

"Oh hey Rainbow Dash! What brings you..." her voice trailed off as her eyes met mine. "...here, of all... places?"

I slowly raised my hand and gave a slight wave. At that moment, I could practically see the excitement spread across her face. She began to hop up and down and squee like a giddy schoolgirl.

"Ohmygoshomygoshohmygosh, i-is it real?! Like really real?!" she asked Rainbow, practically gushing with enthusiasm.

"As real as I'll ever be." I plainly replied.

She gave another squee and said, "Rainbow, do you know what this means? I need to tell Celestia about thi-" All of the excitement vanished from the girl's face, and a frown quickly formed.

"Celestia..." she gasped.

Twilight whipped around, appearing to look at something. I peered inside to see a staircase. I'm pretty sure everyone was looking at the stairs at this point. Not too long after, a set of bright white legs wearing a pair of golden shoes elegantly made their way down the stairs, revealing more of the owner to said legs. As she came down the stairs, a song couldn't help but play inside my head...

Your Love - The Outfield

She wore a soft yellow sundress that draped perfectly over her tall and curvy body. Her mane and tail seemed to flow just as elegantly as she moved, and her fierce magenta eyes seemed to stare directly into my soul. I noticed that she had something that these two ladies didn't: a pair of wings, and a horn. Another thing she bore that I couldn't help but notice was a decent sized rack. What? They may not have been human, but they retained human qualities like I said. Don't judge.

"What did you have to tell me Twilight?" the beaut asked, looking over at Rainbow and I. "Ah, Rainbow Dash! What a pleasant surprise."

The mare, who stood even taller than the other two beside me, looked directly at me. For whatever reason, I felt extremely intimidated by her stare. My eyes wavered from hers, before falling to the ground. She gave a soft giggle, one that'd I give anything to hear again, before taking a few steps towards me.

"You've brought a guest I see." she spoke.

"Yeah, I kinda just found him wandering around in a field on the outskirts of Ponyville." Rainbow replied.

Celestia placed a hand under my chin and lifted my head. My eyes met her's once more, and the intimidating feeling turned to one that I've never felt before. Before long I felt myself drowning in those pools of magenta. I snapped out of my hysteria when she spoke ever so softly to me, blessing my ears once again.

"I'm curious as to who you are, young one." she said.