The Beginning

In real life nothing interesting like what we see in the movies, games and books ever really happens. It’s just the way life is. However, I once heard that magical things can happen in one’s life, you only had to know where to look. That was not the case in my situation. I was college student living in Brooklyn New York, not a genius but then again not an idiot either. Recently I caught on to this new television show that has been gaining popularity amongst people of all ages. A little kids show called “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.” I know it’s weird, a little kids show with talking ponies that has a major fan base online with children, grown men and women. At first I had serious doubts about it however I gave it a chance and found it to be enjoyable. The show finished its second season or at least that’s how far I have seen the show.

I don’t know how it happened; I don’t even remember what happened before this. I started regaining my consciousness slowly, and before my eyes opened I already had the realization that I was not in my bed. I was on the ground near the edge of a forest when I began to wake up on. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that the world looked exactly like from a cartoon with outlines and extreme colors. At first I thought I was drugged or maybe I finally lost my mind. However as the hour or so it felt past, I realized that somehow everything was real. I touched the grass, trees and surroundings to realize that everything felt natural even though there were no details of the tree bark ridges or the dirt of the ground. As I took notice of my surroundings, I saw in the distance a small town and I realized where I was. I could not believe it but I was in a cartoon world. Yet when I looked at my body I noticed that somehow I had retained my own realistic view of my body. Imagine comparing your hand to the cartoon, it looked contradicting like the two realities were never meant to exist together.

Equestria, a land full of magic, talking pastel colored ponies and large importance on friendship. I was almost 100 percent completely certain that I have lost my mind and that I am probably in some mental institution right now dreaming and foaming in the mouth. But then again, ignorance is bliss. To make a long story short I went to the town and met up with its inhabitants. There were ponies exactly like in the show and they had no idea what I was. My first interaction with the ponies was exactly like what you would expect with meeting other beings or aliens. Their height was up to my waste, which made them more like dwarfed ponies if not about dog size. Surprisingly, whenever I mentioned my contradicting reality appearance they had no idea what I meant and did not notice anything weird or strange other than me being some alien to them. I met with the whole main cast, we had a good friendly beginning, and then shit happened. Twilight sent a letter to you know who about me, and through a short list of events I was publicly announced to be an untrusting, deceitful and murderous monster that will eat all ponies at any given chance. Trying to speak my mind and convince everyone (or is it everypony? Whatever) that those accusations were wrong did not make any difference. Apparently when the Princess has spoken no one doubted her words. I was exiled from her land, forbidden to ever return under the order of me being imprisoned for the rest of my days. Although Celestia was angry with me for some unknown reason, she was not cruel. I was to be exiled into the Everfree forest on the very same day of my arrival and given an old looking, yet sharp sword. She didn’t even give me a chance to talk to her or even ask her why. Celestia banished me instead of returning me home, which meant that she could not send me back and I was stuck in this world possibly for good.

So there I was, in a cartoon world that was supposedly full of happy and tolerant creatures who instantly started hating me as soon as the bitch princess said I was a monster for some unknown half-ass reason and thrown out of their land on the same day of my arrival. I can honestly say that I did not expect anything like this to happen to me today. Now that I look back at it, this was one the pivotal “What The Fuck” moments of my life. The first week was spent me having to survive in the forest, finding food and shelter. Aside from the crapy welcome and banishment from an entire country on the same day, I had to be one of the luckiest bastards ever. Not because I went to Equestria, it’s because I have spent the better part of my free time in my past life training and practicing survival techniques and skills. How to build shelters, make fire, tools, find and treat water and many other things. I got so obsessed with it that I carry a belt bag with me everywhere I go with important things. A multi utility tool, a zippo lither, some fingerless gloves for fighting, a scarf, a little notebook with some important recipes, a pen, a whole spool of strong fishing string and a pocket knife. It got so bad that even installed a survival guide app in my iphone. The clothes that I arrived were the best for this situation; jeans, shirt, a hooded jacket and sneakers, all in my favored color black. The jacket was made for every season except summer (which unfortunately was the current season); it is durable and has many inside and out pockets which is good for traveling and long term survival. I was ready for almost anything, a little too prepared maybe.

However there were other things on my mind, like surviving in the forest that is supposed to be the most dangerous place in the show. Besides the cartoonish appearance, the woods were like any other if you went into one .The first week was relatively easy in regards to survival and safety, the mental struggle was a different issue. Within that week I contemplated my life as whole before I came to this world. How I lost more than my home, the comforts and pleasures of humanities technology and accomplishments. My friends and family, how will they take my disappearance? My parents will take it the hardest, weeks held in hope that I will return to them. Followed by depressing hopelessness as the weeks turn to moths, knowing full well that the reappearance rate of missing people is extremely small in America or anywhere else for that matter. But I know that they are strong and they will get through it. Within that one week I had to force myself to settle in peace with what happened to my life. Knowing full well that if allowed this to hang over my head; it will eventually eat me inside until I make a mistake that will result in my death. I said my goodbyes to everything I once held important, not an easy task in a short period of time. Although I had an advantage that made this transition easier for me than I would have for others in such a situation, I never really did like humanity all that much. Or my own life for that matter, I trained and practiced skills that would not be necessary or all that needed in my old life. I remembered how I once held goals and ambitions for my future. However I also remembered how all those goals and ambitions slowly died, making me apathetic to most things and eventually not caring about others. The world that I lived in forced me in to studying hard to get a job position that I would not hate too much and that would give me enough money to enjoy myself. Maybe not forced, but I did not want live a life of poverty so I had to make a choice. How do you live when you have nothing to desire or care for? Yes you have family and friends, but that only goes so far before even that diminishes in value. I wanted nothing in my life that society or my world could provide me. I always wanted adventure and to travel the great outdoors, not to play games of my fantasies but to actually live them. Then again, I am guessing that I am not the only one with such desires. Besides the army or the peace core (which neither appealed to me), I decided on simple survival training, hiking, mountain climbing and anything else that I could find. I never really liked people, there were good individuals that I can call my friends and had their backs, and I knew that they had mine. Those would be the people that I would miss along with my family. As far the world goes, it can burn in hell for nearly twenty years of my life lived in torture. I did not want to get in to that topic, the world I knew is gone and I can say that was something to rejoice in. I know my world was not all that bad; it is only my experience in it that made me bitter towards it. Dealing with the feeling of loss was somewhat difficult seeing how all my possessions were from my old life. The iphone died out in the first two days with no way of charging it unless maybe magic. Which I could not get any and no unicorn would come near me to even ask if it would be possible to charge the phone with magic. You never realize how many things we humans take for granted on a daily basis. The abundance of food, the quick access to any information at the push of a button, cheaply priced clothes for every season, a roof over your head, even the bed sheets and covers. I can live without most of the conveniences, but man did I miss coffee for all that time. If it were legal I would marry coffee, that’s how badly I miss it.

I made a nice shelter on the first day and after two days I then stared to build something better for long term. The end result was a small hut under the roots of a tree and hidden with camouflage and reinforced with thick branches, sticks and leaves to prevent too much water damage if rain were to start. I found fresh water by a stream that went a little deeper in to the woods. It held some kind of fish that became my source of food along with the local fruit’s that grew nearby. I made spears with stone arrow heads which I practiced throwing at tree targets. Spear fishing was not easy for some time as I later learned that the trick is to hit them where they are going to be and not where they are. Sleeping was hard for the first week due to my habit of having to go to sleep late and waking up early like most others. I took me some time to readjust to a different sleep schedule so I could wake up early and be able accomplish more in the day. That meant I could not stay up late and then again I did not have anything to entertain me to keep me up at night. The forest was not as dangerous as the show stated, it was safe near the edge and it only started to get dangerous as it went deeper.

In the second week I encountered the dangers of this world, namely the wild life. The manticore was huge, not proportional to a normal lion in any way. The size alone made it formidable, it was taller than me when sitting in it hind legs. Not to mention the bat wings and scorpion tail. I saw it at a safe distance and instantly made a mental note to avoid it all cost. A lion by itself is dangerous, but that thing was overkill. It looked exactly like it did in the cartoon, but that did not mean that it was harmless and I was not going to test that. Within the next week I was greeted by a pack of six Timberwolfs. I was not stupid enough to leave my sword behind, but I didn’t have my jacket because it was too hot to wear it. Not having anything to cover my arms or my chest except a shirt has left me more exposed than I would have been if I had it with me. I felt confident in my fighting skills as trained in mixed martial arts and like most kids when they were young I practice sword fighting. Taking a fighting stance with my sword raised, I readied myself for the oncoming battle. It was my first test of skill and combat in this new world. The wolves were made from wood, sticks and leaves, but that didn’t mean that they were flimsy, fragile or slow. They were surrounding me, encircling me, reading to attack at the first sight weakness. Their behavior follows through with those of regular wolfs, at least as far as I know about wild wolves. One in the front and the other in the back, two of them attacked first apparently finding an opening. I quickly moved forward and sidestepped to the right as I swung my sword at the running wolf. The sword cut of the top right of the wolf’s head as it skittered forward and fell dead. Its insides looked like they were made from wood too, and instead of blood it looked like sap. It seems that it doesn’t matter if the wolf is made of wood, if you do damage to the sensitive regions of the body it will die like any other living thing. I quickly turned behind me and swung the sword at the other wolf. The wolf jumped at me as it ran and ended up having it left side cut to its throat while being impaled by the forward momentum. It was still alive, gagging and suffocating from the sword lodged past its throat. I pushed it of my sword with my foot before I stabbed in its skull. Right after, I noticed blood on my arm and realized that its claws were outstretched as it jumped forward, cutting across my unprotected right arm. The cut wasn’t deep but it still hurt, the claws were wooden and dirty so it left some splinters and a large chance of an infection. However, I couldn’t care about that as the other wolfs around me began to circle again. Readying myself for the next attack, one of them decided to start a staring competition with me as the rest stopped to look. It was relatively bigger than the other; actually it was bigger than any real wolf I have seen alive or dead. Has to be the pack’s alpha male, strongest of all the others by experience and survival in combat. It seemed strange to me, the normal wolf behavior only calls for the alpha when the prey has either shown itself to be a challenge and took out its best hunters or it called out the alpha for dominance. As far I knew, I did neither of those things. I guess they never really had a prey that fought back. The alpha didn’t wait and ran at me faster than I could respond. It was about to bite down on me before I raised my left arm to block its attack. The pain was like nothing I could describe. The wooden teeth forcing themselves further into my flesh with extreme strength had made my arm feel hot with pain and bleeding profusely. I raised my right arm with the sword and started to swing down on its back. With each blow I took out pieces of its back that looked like wood and bark. After some tussling back and forth it let go before it jumper right and bit on my left leg, just above the ankle. The pain was annoying but didn’t care; the alpha had made its mistake. I quickly raised my sword and forced it down on its head, shattering the back of it head and went all the way to the ground instantly. The thing fell down dead, still holding my leg in a strong bite grip. The other wolfs backed away from the scene before running away. So much for the idea of me becoming their new alpha, I guess their more like real wolves then they appear. The fight was over and I was safe for a short time. They know I am weakened and it won’t be long before my blood attracts other predators. My shelter is safe, but not against constant burrowing of wolfs for a long period of time. My best chances would be somewhere up top in a tree. However, the wounds need cleaning and treatment which I could do if I make it to my shelter. Tying the leg wound with a piece of my shirt, I started off to my shelter. The pain in my leg made it harder to walk, as the wooden fangs were still inside. I made it near my shelter before I finally could not hold on and passed out from a light head due to blood loss. I slept well with no dreams as I never had any as far as I could remember.

When I woke up, I found myself by the camp fire place I made in the first week with the fire bringing lighting to the surrounding darkness. I instantly noticed someone sitting on the other side of the fire. As I sat up, I noticed my wounds were cleaned and wrapped in white cloth that felt like hospital gauss. The one sitting across from me was none other than Zecora the zebra. Her rhyming was interesting to hear with her African like accent and the same voice as the show. Her story was that she saw me on the ground while walking by, she could not lift me or carry me so she made shore I was stable before running back to her home and bringing the necessary items for my wounds. It seems that she was warned about a monster that was exiled to the forest the day I arrived. While talking with her she seemed to show no judgment of me and when asked about it she simply retold the lesson of her first episode appearance. Don’t judge a book by its cover, I only wish the rest of the ponies held that lesson in mind when they banished me from their land. With her saving my life, a new friendship was made. In the weeks that followed my fight and rescue, I stared to do more hunting with other wild life. There were no deer or many rabbits, so I decided to mainly hunt things in abundance like the cockatrice using a bow and arrows I made. They were the same size as chickens and were relatively easy to kill. The mythology about them was wrong when it said that their gaze would turn its victims to stone. As long as you don’t look directly at it eyes you were fine, you can look at it in your peripheral vision or even straight at it as long as not its eyes. Using the fishing line for the bow string and two days worth of constant practice made my hunting easy. Shooting arrows at targets, learning to do so while running, and even how to shoot fish in the lake had made my hunting easy and exiting. The cockatrice tasted like chicken which sort of made sense except that the majority of it body was that of a lizard or dragon. Hmmm, slow rousted goodness. The hides were easy to tan and make them in bags if I need to go gather fruits or the some plants for Zecora.

She was a good friend that would talk with me on empty nights, teach me some remedies for cuts, burns and anti venom for common poisons. In return I showed her some of my recopies which were more useful for me than for her. Our conversations went to many topics ranging philosophy to the world around us. She understood my nature as a human and an omnivore. She used an analogy that a manticore cannot help but eat what it eats to show her understanding of feeding needs. In one of our conversations, I discovered that there was more to this world than the show portrayed. The pony society has a different outlook regarding culture, technology, relationships, different species, war and other things. Their culture is similar to humans, except on gender lines and some other things. The equine and herbivore biology naturally made them into a peaceful sentient society. The history was limited to what Zecora knew about ponies and Equestria. The ponies did know war, except what she described was not war but an equivalent of a skirmish. The griffins were a warrior race at some point in time. However because this world was in some kind of peace with different kingdoms and countries, there is little need for an over the top military society. The griffins hold a voluntary sign up for military and guard positions, the only remnant of a once battle worn and war ready race. The Equestrian guard didn’t really have a military purpose, if anything it is mostly for show of the royal bitches’ power to uphold peace with her own army. Equestria was the biggest country of them all due to the power of the two princesses. There are other lands with different cultures and history which Zecora only heard about. Some of the online MLP fandom was right regarding many things such as the female to male ratio of ponies. The whole relationship topic was rather strange to me; it never really occurred to me that this world has both monogamy and polygamy. I generally don’t care about such things as long no one bothers me about it. Apparently technology is in between two different periods of human time and it has not changed for nearly a hundred years. In some way it makes sense, what would be the point if magic takes care of everyone’s needs. She described to me her homeland and species which was in some ways surprising. Her home country was an island continent called Zebrika (really? doesn’t anyone ever notice the lame puns and lack of originality?) The zebra homeland has a tribal culture which mainly focuses on farming like many other countries of this world. Their knowledge of technology was modern as was their society. A modern day tribe if you can imagine. Although she was not a pony she did have a mark on her flanks. She explained that that was not a cutie mark (I can’t even say that word), but more of a tribal tattoo. The symbol was collection of meanings as it explains the tribe she is from, what their place in society is and what are their accomplishments. Her tribe was mainly peaceful medicine and potion makers as well as care takers for all troubles of the land. There were other tribe with their own special tattoo’s and place in society. Their history was relatively peaceful like the ponies although they did have more wars and conflicts like any other normal society. Key word here: normal. There was nothing normal about this world. Her country’s government was like that of Equestria, a monarchy over large land with democracy for representatives of towns and cities. Unlike Equestria, the zebra monarch was not immortal and had to be passed down by family and birth. And it seems that this opened a new topic of discussion. Interesting fact: while the princesses do not appear to age they actually do. Alicorns age extremely slowly and are not really immortal in any way. (That means if the bitch gets too high on her power trip I could cut her down. If I even get that close to her, alicorns are one of the most powerful magical creatures in this world. I was still rather pissed at my exile without an explanation. But I kept my mouth shut about the idea of killing Celestia. No point in scaring Zecora at the idea of murder, which is almost unheard of in this world. And I would not want to kill her for no good reason. Not to mention the consequences and implications that would arise from such an act.) The zebras had their own language which they called Zebrican, much like English is called Equestrian. The world’s most commonly known and spoken language was English to my luck.

I convinced her to not talk about me with any of her other friends, namely the pony kind. I did not want her to be in any kind of trouble because she decided to associate with me. She was not very happy with the idea of me having to hide when her friends come by and her keeping a secret about me at first, but I got her to promise me. She helped me make small garden near my hut for potatoes and some carrots. They won’t be ready for some time, but it will help with the future food necessity. This made me wonder about my future in this land. Will I live in this single place for the rest of my life or will I go somewhere, do something? I may not go to Equestria, but that does not mean that I cannot go anywhere else. There had to be other places with different towns and inhabitants. The griffins, dragons, zebras, donkeys, buffalo and anything else that is sentient had to have their own society and country. Those places that were not shown in the cartoon are what I focused on when considering what to do. As far I knew no other country or town except Ponyville knew about my existence. I could go anywhere and make up whatever I want when asked what and who I am. I would have to be quit and keep secret about my name and species if Celestia were to hear of it and ruin my travels. It was just an idea that began in the ending of my first moth in the new world. But time slowly past, a realization came that I could not stay in the forest forever. This world offers me a chance to explore and have adventure. I talked to Zecora about the idea of me traveling. She had mixed feelings regarding it because of all the things that could go wrong. In hindsight she was right about a lot of things. She was a zebra but still pony shaped and could pass by with her appearance. I however was too different to just be overlooked. I am furless bipedal creature, wearing full clothing, utilizing tool with clawless hands, as smart as any other sentient being and planning to travel the world with little to no knowledge about it.

What else is there for me to do? What accomplishments can I show from me being in this world? I knew I could not stay, not after all I went through. With determination I prepared myself to travel a world that was beyond different of my own. Zecora was saddened when I told her that I would be leaving, she understood that I had to do this for myself and offered to help me with any preparations that I would need. Away from her eyes, I made enough dried fish and cockatrice meat to last me two weeks if rationed properly. My positions were small in quantity and great in value. Clothes, weapons and, food were all I needed for this quest. I asked about a map of the world for my travels only to be answered that no maps were sold in Ponyville. Zecora suggested that she would go and ask for Twilight’s help knowing that the studious unicorn would have something to offer. I however told her not to bother because it would be too suspicious for her to ask for something like that out of nowhere. Within two days after my decision to leave I was ready to start my travels. Leaving my hut behind, I had everything that was useful and important for the future. All the items from my world, the sword, a bow with arrows, a makeshift backpack made from the hides of cockatrice, food and medicinal herbs, some rope that were given to me by Zecora and as parting gift a wooden drinking bottle with her tribal mark etched on it. She made this for me during the time I was preparing for the trip. (When I look back on it I can’t help but think how she could make something so complex with her hooves. My best answers to these kinds of questions were it’s a different reality, magic, shut up and just accept it before you lose your mind.) I felt somewhat bad because I had nothing good to give her in return. I know that she would not mind nor care if I did not have anything to give her, it just didn’t feel right to leave her with nothing. I decided to give her my old apartment keys and wallet. The keys in this world were ancient by modern day standards as they were all large and bulky which made mine look like some alien high tech. Zecora had a lock in her house that saw and tested to see how complex it is. It turns out I lock pick these easier than a closet door. Yes I lock pick too, the Anarchist Cookbook paid off. The wallet had some ID’s and three twenties. Makes me wish that I spent them on something useful before I came here and not like the ID’s have any importance anymore. I told her that they were not much of value to anyone in this world but they were a part of my life. It is easy to give off some deep meaning to even the most insignificant of things. She accepted them and told me that she holds my personal items in great value and will keep them safe for me should I ever want them back. With the exchange of gifts we embraced each other for the first time. I felt her fur as my hands held her while kneeling so she could return the gesture. Her fur felt real and the body was sturdier than that of a dog or anything else her size. I started off going into the deeper regions of the woods, past the lake of water which I marked as the point of where danger becomes more frequent. The light was bright in midday and made the path easily visible. Sometimes it got too bright for me to see. Thank god I had my sunglasses.

I look back on my first two months in this new world, it has been two days in my travels and I am still in the woods. Let’s see how far I can make it.