Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

“Multiple eyewitnesses state seeing several large explosions flowed by a rash of unexplained sicknesses within the area. This has lead investigators to believe that the attack was indeed biological. The Chicago suburb as well as a large portion of the city has been quarantined for the safety of the surrounding populace. National Guard forces have also been deployed to assist with the quarantine and the organization of survivors. Currently, no groups or individuals have claimed responsibility for this heinous act of terrorism. Our hearts continue to go out to all those who are affected by this disaster.”

   The bullet screeched by the monster’s head, tearing a large gash along the left side of its mouth. It howled in pained and recoiled, taking several awkward steps back while it tried to clutch its wound in pain. Now that the creature was momentarily still, its features became more visible. From what Felix could tell, it was composed of the various parts of three different animals: the body and head of a lion, the ears and wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. It looked like it had been pulled straight out of a Greek mythology book; an unfathomable amalgamation that laughed in the face of human understanding of the unnatural world.

   Felix spun on his heels, quickly secured the pistol to his waist with his belt, and prepared to make the best out of the faint amount of time that had been given to him. Upon turning around, however, he could see that the girls were no longer visible.

They must have fled to Ponyville. If I run there now, I’ll just draw him to them; I need to lure him away.

   Felix put his body to the test. One after the other, his footsteps created a stride dedicated to the preservation of the young man’s life. He started off running in the same direction the girls had before slowly veering off to the right, which would hopefully allow him to easily find his way back to Ponyville, but lose the monster in the process.

   By now the monster had regained stability and was dead set on removing Felix from his current plane of existence.  With unsuppressed fury, it bulldozed its way through the clearing and into the thicket of trees. Felix found himself ducking and maneuvering around, below, and through the clustered assortment of shrubbery and wildlife in a rather impressive display of athleticism.

   The hybrid swung its head low and took a snap at the human which missed him by mere inches. Tree trunk after tree trunk placed itself in Felix’s path, forcing him to become more evasive than he ever thought he could be. Behind him, the monster was jabbing its poison filled tail in quick thrusts that Felix was barely able to avoid. His dilated pupils increased his peripheral vision and allowed him to identify other possible routes of escape. In an attempt to change his course, Felix veered right, only to tumble over a fallen log and lose his momentum. The monster seized the advantage and zeroed in on his location, knocking him over and pinning him to the ground. Felix went wide eyed as it raised its stinger, ready to enact its revenge.

   Suddenly, the beast was struck in the neck with a large arrow. It yelped in pain and stepped back, releasing the man trapped underneath. He clutched his chest in a coughing fit as oxygen re-inflated his lungs. After a few gasps, he looked back up at his attacker.

   The hybrid’s yelps had melted down into whimpers and gurgles as it pawed unsuccessfully at the arrow in its neck. It was able to break the end piece off, but the head of the arrow remained embedded in its neck. It fell to the ground, and continued to whimper in pain. Felix couldn’t help but look down at animalistic conglomeration with pity. Its wide eyes were no longer fierce, but frightened. The human retrieved the handgun from his waist and closed in a bit of distance between him and the creature. He gently pulled the hammer back and aligned the weapon with its head. In an act of mercy he allowed the pistol to release its dreadful bark, and put the hybrid out of its misery.

14 out of 17 shots remaining.

    What wildlife remained scattered at the loud, unnatural sound of the handgun. Felix turned and investigated his surroundings, desperate to know where the arrow that had saved his life had come from. No figure stood out to any real degree which left him thankful, confused, and curious.

   “Looks like you got yourself in a spot of trouble there huh?”

   Felix whirled around multiple times. Despite the feminine voice sounding close by, he was unsuccessful in pinpointing its exact location.

   “You aren’t gonna find me, doll.”

   Felix finally stopped turning. “Who are you then?”

   “Hmm,” she started, “You can just call me ‘The-Gracious-Little-Angel-Who-Saved-Your-Hide.’”

   “Okay, ‘Gracious-Little-Angel-Who-Saved-My-Hide’, what’s your real name?”

   There was a short silence before she spoke again.

   “’Friad I can’t tell you that.”

   “Oh? And why ever not?” he inquired.

   Felix could practically hear the shrug in her voice, “’Cause I don’t wanna.”

   “Well that’s not a good reason.” he scoffed.

   “Good a reason as any.” she countered.

   “Alright then, tell me why you saved me.”

   There was another pause, a longer one, before she spoke.

   “You’re kind of a coward.”

   “Oh, lovely.” he rolled his eyes.

   “Hey now, I don’t blame you for running away from a manticore, that’s one thing, but from what I’ve seen, you do a whole lot of running and not enough fighting. Like with that pegasus? Come on now, she’s quick but you’re at least twice her size.”

   “Well I had someone else to think about.”

   “Right right, your daughter.”

   “And how do you know about my daughter?” his voice became slightly more harsh.

   “Geez, calm down. I’m not trying to date her or something; you can chill with the overprotective daddy thing now. Look to your left.”

   Felix hesitantly complied.

   “That direction will take you back to Ponyville. You spent a good amount of time running, both yesterday and today, so you’re more off course than you might think. It’s gonna take you roughly an hour and a half to two hours to reach the village again.”

   Felix sighed; he wasn’t looking forward to the trek back.

   “Will you be around?” he found himself asking.

   “Eh, I’ll be around again sometime. I’ve got…prior engagements.” she weighed her words carefully.

   “Is that so?

   “That is so. I’ll catch ya later.” He could hear bushes being rustled about.

   “Wait!”

   The movement halted.

   “What’s your name? Your real name?”

   “Sorry, tiger. Maybe some other time.”

   The movement picked back up again, not stopping until its distance rendered it inaudible. Felix reengaged the safety on his pistol and placed it back into his bag. Following the mysterious figure’s advice, he set out, only to be stopped minutes later by a deep pain in his abdomen. He hadn’t eaten in almost two days and thirst was creeping back up on him. He scrounged through the bushes, eventually coming across a small one that offered what appeared to be blueberries. He took a small handful and tossed them in his mouth. For a good part of his younger life and leading all the way up to his career, he was taught to observe things. He was taught to develop predictions and inferences based on his observations, yet here he was eating a handful of potentially poisonous berries. What did he do to console this thought? He proceeded to eat yet another cluster of the delicious treats. After satisfying a portion of his hunger, he trekked on with only the stranger’s words to guide him. He came across several opportunities to hunt small game, but had neither the knowledge of proper hunting nor the ammunition to waste to partake in such a stunt.

   The chilly autumn wind served to remind Felix of just how unprepared he was to be out in the wilderness. He was still in his white button up shirt and khaki slacks that he had been in since work nearly two days ago. On the left breast pocket of his shirt, a red and white symbol in the form of an umbrella was stitched into the fabric; the words “Parasol Corporation” had been sewn underneath.

   The work boots that he was required to wear in the labs of the Chicago facility still adorned his feet. They were made out of a highly durable material that would give the wearer enough time to remove the boot incase there was a spill of some sort. Luckily enough, it provided comfortable protection from Equestria’s autumn chill.

   Felix sat down on a small mound of dirt and hoisted the backpack off of his shoulders. He searched through the bag to get a final conformation on what he did and did not have. As far as clothes he had another Parasol work shirt, a simple white t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and two sets of undergarments. He took the opportunity to switch out of his slacks and into the jeans which, while not the best attire, was certainly better than his work pants. He moved his handgun to its own individual pocket on the right side of the backpack for easy access and to prevent it from being lost in the clutter of the main pocket. Upon searching through a different section of the bag, he discovered a binder that he had failed to remove in his panic back at the house. The outside had been labeled, “Predecessor VRS Project Data Works”. Felix hesitantly placed the binder back into his bag and zipped it up. If he ever got back home, if things ever went back to normal, Parasol would wrangle his neck for losing that information.

   The feeling of thirst had returned with a vengeance. Felix picked himself up and continued to march the in the direction that had been specified. He didn’t know the forest well enough to make any major detours, even in search of water. He had been on foot for a little over an hour now. Even if water wasn’t an immediate resource, he would hopefully be coming across the village shortly.

   As he moved along, the crunching of the leaves beneath his bipedal footsteps entangled itself in the sounds of the wildlife that hadn’t fled at the sight of the human. His mind wondered to thoughts of Maxine. He had left her in the care of the ponies which, at the time, seemed like the only logical course of action. He may have been unsure as to whether or not the ponies were a threat, but the manticore had been a very obvious danger. He allowed himself to have the benefit of the doubt and assume that she was safe. If she wasn’t, he would be dealing with the ponies personally.

   After a scrutinizing trek through the dangerous Equestrian wilderness, Felix once again found himself at the tree line over looking the small town of Ponyville. In the broad light of day, he could see refined details in the ponies that were making their way to and fro through the residences or the skies. The stranger had used the term “pegasus” to describe the ones that flew which obviously included Rainbow and, judging by the wings he had noted on her sides, Fluttershy as well.

   Another noticeable variation in the ponies were the ones with a singular horn on the center of their forehead. Seeing as how they highly resembled the fabled unicorns of his world, that was what he would identify them as. If his eyesight had served him right, these ponies were capable of baffling mystical feats beyond that of human understanding. Everything in his mind screamed at him to take photographic evidence of said feats, but he had no device with which to do so.

   The last set of ponies did not appear to have any specifically interesting qualities. They lacked both the wings of the pegasi and the horns of the unicorns. Despite these genetic differences, they intermingled with the other races without complication or complaint.

   Felix decided that a trip through the center of town was out of the question. It had become very obvious that the ponies were not familiar with his kind, and showing up unannounced could cause panic to ensue. He opted to stick to the edge of town, which allowed him to avoid the public eye of those within the village itself as well as stay shielded from the pegasi. He scanned the town, looking for any signs of his daughter. Cafés and restaurants were primed with business and customers, but none resembled the five ponies he had seen. He moved along the edge of the tree line until he spotted a large oak tree adorned with balconies and windows, making it look like the home of a fairy tale character. It wasn’t the odd building itself that distracted him, however, but rather, the comforting sight he saw in front of it. The ponies that he had encountered in the forest, as well as an unidentified sixth pink pony, were huddled around something while simultaneously shifting their way to the door. It wasn’t until he was able to see a set of human legs through a gap in their phalanx like formation that he determined it to be his daughter.

They’re shielding her from the other ponies. Seems like they want to avoid a panic as much as I do.

   Without daring to waste any more time, Felix crept his way through the outer workings of the town, careful to avoid the eyes of those above him. He was dead set on getting inside the tree-like structure, retrieving his daughter, and getting some answers.