[...]

whoosh!

“wwWOOAA-”

SLAM!!

“…”

groan “Owww….”

The collision with wherever the universe had spat me out from was devastating and painful. The tidal wave of pain flowing through my body became unbearable as I clutched my head.

Whuh…what happened? were my first thoughts as I continued to lie there. Then, my eyes slowly opened as a blinding light hit me. Hissing from the sudden sensation, I waited a few seconds before my ears stopped ringing. The first sounds my ears picked up on were of birds chirping.

I opened my eyes again to observe my surroundings. It appears I have landed in a grassy field, my mind mentally noted. The blue sky overhead carried a pleasant breeze as an uneasy feeling swept through my veins. There wasn’t a single cloud above…and it was unusually warm.

Last I checked, wasn’t it a chilly November evening? I thought to myself as I slowly got up, my bones crunching from the fall. Ow…It feels like it’s summer all over again. I dusted myself off and cracked my back loudly as I attempted to stretch parts of my body.

After a few stretches to ensure I was limber again, I put my hand over my eyes and looked out into the distance. I squinted as the vast horizon stretched for what felt like forever while the sun illuminated the extensive mountain ranges and forests.

However, what caught my attention the most were a few towns. The closest to me was a settled-down but small village, with buildings surrounding a larger central building. A tall and vibrant castle was nearby, but I didn’t pay any attention to it.

Must be the town hall, I remarked internally. So other than that funny-looking castle, which has to be a landmark, I guess that will be my place to start.

I slowly began to walk across the grassy hill and realized certain things about my situation. For starters, I was fully clothed in my usual summer attire: my old high school t-shirt, red gym shorts, some white socks, and black and white basketball shoes.

Secondly, a bag was strapped to my back, which felt unusually light compared to my teaching satchels. It was fastened in the front by a clip, but I ignored it and kept walking.

I felt my pockets and then rummaged through them with my hands. I found my phone and wallet in the right pocket while my earbuds and keys were in the left. They all seemed pretty normal as I looked at them, but that’s when I noticed it.

The strangest thing now on my person was an electric watch attached to my left wrist. I stopped my pace and stood for a moment as I stared at it. “I never liked watches,” I commented under my breath. “What’s this doing here?”

Grabbing the leather strap, I took it off, flipped it over, and began to examine it. There were no serial markings or anything to identify what make or model it was. Just a plain silver underside to such an unorthodox watch.

After flipping it back over, the oddest thing about the device was that the screen remained blank. Is it an electronic one? I thought before dismissing the idea. I rubbed the screen and stared at it.

“Probably dead,” I said aloud, fastening the watch back onto my wrist. Then, picking up where I left off, I approached the quiet village.

Passing by a couple of buildings, the town was eerily desolate, even though it felt like morning. Usually, there would be people up and about, starting their days or making their way to work. I wanted to talk with someone to know where I was.

My ears twitched as the sudden shift in the wind picked up. The air felt slightly colder than before as I tensed up. Goosebumps ran across my skin when all of a sudden…

zoom!

========================================<>=========================================

“Woah!” I shouted as I fell to the ground. A blurry object had zipped overhead, causing me to duck in surprise. After a few seconds, I lifted my head, and my eyes widened in shock. What the hell was that? I thought to myself.

gasp! “What is that?” I heard someone say softly. My ears picked up on it as I turned in the direction of whoever had said that.

Unfortunately, there was a ‘slight’ problem with that. Turns out, there was no person in sight…but there was a horse. One singular horse, standing in the doorway of a home.

I stared at it in confusion as it tilted its head. Its leg…or whatever is equivalent to hands, was up by its mouth. My senses immediately triggered again as another displacement of air occurred. I immediately dropped down onto my stomach…

zip!

“Shit!” I cursed out loud, landing on the soft soil. My hands barely caught my weight as I got low to the ground. Another thing had flown right overhead, but my reflexes were quicker than before.

“Honey, what’s going on?” a voice seemingly called out. I looked up and saw the horse turn its head away from me.

“I don’t know,” the horse that had seen me replied. “It doesn’t appear to be anycreature I’ve ever seen. Can you come down here, Marshall?”

My thoughts were spiraling before I realized something. That thought caused my brain to slowly fry. Did that horse just…talk? I looked over at the horse again and stared at it in shock. My breathing slowed as I tried to get back on my feet.

It slowly backed away and into the doorway, before another horse emerged from behind. It was confused about what the first had said. That horse, in turn, pointed at me. Once the second horse looked at me, it squinted its eyes before widening.

“Aza…that’s the Storm King,” it said, my brain unable to comprehend the voices I was hearing.

gasp! “It can’t be!” the other replied in fright.

Those sounds came from the fucking horses, my mind screamed. WHAT THE FUCK?! I finally stood up to my full height as they both stared. This wasn’t getting me anywhere.

I need to find out where in the Sam hell I am, I decidedly thought. And how to get back home. That’s when I decided to act.

“Hello?” I waved to the two horses.

“AHH!!” they cried out. They scurried back into their home and slammed the door shut.

slam!

“Hmpf, well, that was rude,” I remarked, scratching my head.

“Incoming!” a voice cried out from above.

“Oh, what now-”

whumpf!

========================================<>=========================================

“Gah!” Something strong struck me violently in the back, throwing me onto the ground. My body tumbled across the road as I finally skidded to a stop. Lying on my back, I was in a daze from the current events.

“What…in the bloody hell…was that?” I breathed out, unable to comprehend the events that had just transpired.

“I’m terribly sorry, sir,” the thing said off to my left. “My fault. A-Are you okay?” For sure, it wasn’t a thing, but it was something far scarier.

It was another horse, and it was looking right at me. Moreover, it stood over me as I continued to scream internally. It took only a few more seconds before it finally reacted, slowly backing away to let me get up.

sigh “I’m…owww…o-okay,” I grunted as I forced myself to stand. The pain in my back hurt as I rotated my hand and placed it there. I stretched again and heard a loud crack! as some much-needed relief hit my spine.

“Whew, that’s much better,” I commented to no one. I returned my attention to the horse, now two body lengths away. “Now that that’s been squared away…can someone PLEASE explain where the fuck I am?”

The horse before me quivered as it didn’t say a word. I slowly made a mental image of the creature before me. It was a light gray horse about half my size, with wings on its back and a tattoo near its flank. Across its body was a carrier bag with a pouch. Visible pieces of envelopes showed through as I looked at her face.

Its yellow hair went from the top of its head to its neck. What was unbelievably unusual about this horse were its eyes. They were gold, but one, or even both, didn’t quite see eye to eye. And by that, I mean that they were derped, with one looking up and to the left and the other peering down and to the right.

After a few tense seconds passed, I decided to bite the bullet. Clearing my throat, I put on my best teacher voice and created a new goal: get some fucking information from a talking horse.

ahem! “Good morning, little horsey. I hope you’ve been having a wonderful day,” I said calmly. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alexander Walkerson, and I am a professional music teacher and sports enthusiast. And who might you be?” I motioned for her to speak up with a delightfully open smile.

“Ummm,” the thing stuttered before answering. “D-D-Derpy Hooves, Mr. Alex….”

“Wonderful! So, I assume you are a female horse, Ms. Derpy Hooves?” I asked, again using my hand to motion for her to talk.

“Well, yes…but actually, I am a mare,” Derpy replied, this time starting to gain her confidence. “And, well, I am a pony….”

“Alright, that’s…good to know,” I sheepishly responded, clasping my hands together. My mind was churning out a route to take this conversation. “Now then, I would like to apologize for my language from earlier because I was a tad bit frustrated. You understand, right?”

“Not at all, but it is okay,” Derpy replied. “I should be the one apologizing for crashing into you. I just don’t know what came over me….”

“Well, I’ll let bygones be bygones. Although, I am curious about what you were doing before you crashed into me…so what were you doing, Derpy?” I inquired with concern.

“Let’s see…last I remember, I was delivering mail and was on my w-” gasp! “Oh my goodness!”

“What?” I asked the pony.

“I forgot! I have to continue my route!” The pony looked over both of her sides and confirmed the mailbags were still there. “I’m terribly sorry, but I must be on my way. Take care, Mr. Alex.”

The pony began to flap her wings as she took flight. This left me in a precarious place as I started to run after her. “Wait!” I called out to the mare. “May I at least know where I am?”

The mare stopped in place and turned around. Derpy’s wings flapped as she was suspended in the air two stories above me. “Where else in Equestria would you be?” Derpy replied. My ears perked as she uttered the last sentence.

“You’re in Ponyville.”

========================================<>=========================================

The pony flew off into the morning sky, and I was left dumbfounded. Ponyville? my mind repeated as a hand came to my forehead. Equestria? Are you serious?..why does that sound so familiar to me?

I shook my head as I began panicking. “I’ve gotta be dreaming,” I told myself. “This is just some hyper-realistic nightmare. Yeah…an unbelievably, highly realistic, and unprecedentedly stupid nightmare.” I looked around at the vibrant scenery and closed my eyes.

All I know is that if I concentrate really hard, this will all disappear when I open my eyes again, I thought. And I’ll be back home with my dog, wondering if I am okay. I kept my eyes closed as another sharp breeze hit my body. That’s gotta be the cue.

“And I’m bac-”

“...”

gulp!

That didn’t work, Alex. What the fuuhuuck? My mind was beginning to fry as more ponies showed up before me. There were six of them, each varying in color and approximate size. But each one looked at me with some level of curiosity and confusion.

I stood in fear as some began to approach me. Even though they were small compared to my 6’3” frame, it felt like they weren’t scared of me. And that’s a fear anyone can have.

“What is it?” one of the ponies asked. It was a white colored pony with a purple…mane? I think that’s what those are called, my mind thought. The yellow one standing next to it crouched behind it.

“Fluttershy, ain’t this your area of expertise?” the orange-colored pony with a cowgirl hat asked with a fragrance of annoyance. The…unicorn? that was sheltering the yellow…pegasus? moved out of the way. My mind continued to process all of the information in front of me rather slowly, like a Windows 98 computer.

“Umm,” the yellow pony timidly spoke up. Her voice was nervous and shaking as I looked in its direction. Suddenly, her eyes widened as it tried to hide itself behind her…arms?...no, those look like her legs, Alex.

Out of nowhere, a blue pony with rainbow-like hair glided in from the sky and arrived behind them. “Alright, I’m here,” it said in an almost tom-boyish tone. “What’s the problem, Twilight?”

“That’s just it, Rainbow Dash,” the lavender…what even is it? My mind couldn’t comprehend. It was speaking to the rest now. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Not even in your studies, darling?...wait a minute,” the white-colored unicorn pondered with her…hoof? Then, she approached me and looked at me from head to toe. “It resembles a diamond dog since it is standing up on both legs.” I gave her a confused stare back before the yellow pony replied.

“Yes, but, ummm…so do minotaurs and dragons, Rarity,” it awkwardly smiled. I scratched my head before the blue one appeared rapidly before me. She was floating in place, nearly nose to nose with me.

“Wait a second,” she ominously said. “Why does it appear to resemble an ape?” I slowly backed away from her as the others started to come closer together. This is definitely not good, I thought to myself silently. Say something, you fucking idiot. Try to convince them you’re normal.

“Ummm,” I started to say while shrugging my shoulders. “Because I may happen to be one?” I put on a fake smile as the lavender pony’s eyes widened in surprise. Is she surprised by my answer? I asked my brain before her mouth hung open.

“I-It can’t b-be….” she started to realize. “I thought we had gotten rid of him....”

“What are you saying, Twilight?” the orange pony asked with confusion, looking at her. The others stared at the purple pony as if she were the leader of the bunch.

They must know her well, I cheekily thought.

“Girls,” Twilight finally stated, spreading her wings. The horn atop her head started to charge as my eyes widened in surprise. “That’s the Storm King!”

========================================<>=========================================

A collective and exaggerated gasp! rippled through the entire group before they all looked at me in shock. Slowly, one by one, their faces changed to that of bitterness and anger.

On the other hand, I ceased my movements and put my hands straight up. “Nope, not me! Can state THAT with confidence!” I replied, trying to quell the group of ponies slowly approaching my location.

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically as she readied herself. “Give one reason for us to believe you AREN’T the Storm King then.” I looked at her with an odd look as my mouth hung open.

“I-th-whuuh-wh-who the hell even is the Storm King…and why am I being mistaken for it?” I asked with a sincere and puzzled look.

“Yep, it’s definitely him,” the flying pony deduced incorrectly. “Don’t worry! I’ll nab him in two seconds flat. Watch and learn!”

My mind suddenly realized that she was preparing to attack me. I didn’t have much time to react since her movement was lightning-fast. Nearly making contact with my chest, I fell back to my left and flipped over to my right side. Palming the ground with my right hand, I threw my legs over my body and landed on my feet again. I was now crouched low to the ground.

The five remaining ponies stood in shock again as I stared back at them. The sound of a pony hitting the ground hit my ears as another wave of air hit my back. The pony had returned to the group and grew a fierce expression across her face.

Realizing the amount of time I had bought myself, I put my hand in my pocket and tried to convince them by pulling out my cell phone.

“See? Look!” I showed the ponies, holding up a set of keys in my left hand. My head realized what I had brought out as they jingled in place. I quickly began to shake in fear as I dropped them. Granted, my joke may not have been funny to any of them, except for the bright pink one, who began to laugh out loud.

“Haha! Now that’s funny!” she cried, bouncing up and down. The rest of the group slowly looked at her with annoyance, making her cease the bouncing. Then, Twilight, who had been charging her horn for a while, approached me rather ominously and quickly.

Think, mind, I thought. We need a distraction so we can escape from sight. My mind contemplated for just two seconds before getting an idea.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute! I can convince you I’m not who you think I am!” I exclaimed, holding my hands out in front of me. The six ponies stopped and stared at me with confused looks again as I enacted my ingenious plan.

“I’ll tell you who I am and where I am from, but you have to promise me thi-OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THAT?!” I screamed, pointing up and to the right behind them. They all turned around and drew battle stances as I seized my opportunity.

“What?” the group exclaimed in unison. Seeing nothing but clear skies, they relaxed before returning their attention to me.

Only this time, there was a significant lack of human in the vicinity.

“Where’d he go?” a voice rang out in the distance.

========================================<>=========================================

Making a break for it, I ran as fast as I could through the town and turned a corner. Then, sliding underneath an opening in the wooden fence, I crouched behind the building between two wooden crates and attempted to catch my breath.

huff! huff! “Holy…fffuckin shit,” I gasped out. My mind was reeling as it attempted to process the profound amount of information I had witnessed within the last five minutes. huff! “Th-They…” sigh “T-Talkiiing ponies….”

It still was unclear how the word ‘Equestria’ hadn’t told me why this place felt so familia-

pop!

“Hey!”

“GAH!!” I frightfully yelled. I jumped as my heart began to speed up. The pink pony from before appeared from behind my left shoulder and stared into my eyes.

“Hello, my name is Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?” the mare asked. She was now standing in front of me as I continued to shiver. Doing my best to relax before addressing her, I planned to get her to sympathize with me and be on my side.

“H-Hiii…my name is Alex,” I told her sincerely. “I-I’m a human….”

“A likely story,” the mare shot back as a detective’s hat and smoke pipe appeared in her hooves. She put the cap on and held the pipe up to my face while staring me dead in the eyes. “You do look like a Storm King to me.”

“I don’t even know what that is,” I fired back with vitriol. My muscles tensed as the mare’s eyes widened. “Who even is this Storm King dude?”

gasp! “You don’t know?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping in the air as I shook my head. Then, she plopped back onto the ground and pulled out a rolling whiteboard from behind her. After a few seconds of me questioning where the darn whiteboard came from, she began drawing on it with the marker in her hair.

Yeah. Pinkie Pie’s hair was wrapped around the marker, and she was drawing on the board.

“Okay,” Pinkie Pie began to teach me, “so, like, the Storm King was this really tall and hairy monkey. He had a magical scepter that needed to be powered up with alicorn magic so he could create massive storms and cause chaotic shenanigans to occur. Basically, he tried to take over Equestria with this grand army and a scepter. That army was led by a magenta unicorn with a broken horn named Commander Tempest, but we now know her as Fizzlepop Berrytwist.” wink! I sat there puzzled but nodded my head as she continued.

“Then, my friends and I went on this big ol’ adventure downward through Equestria to Mount Aris, searching for the Queen of the Hippos. That’s all the way to the south. Along the way, we encountered barren deserts, a town filled to the brim with crooks and baddies, some pirates that we helped become awesome, and finally, we arrived at Mount Aris. It was this huge mountain on an isolated island. There, we got dragged into the water and beneath the ocean wav-yes?” Pinkie Pie asked after I raised my hand.

“I assume that was a riptide?” I inquired, to which she shook her head.

“Nope,” was her reply. “It was actually a hippogriff princess that brought us down to their world of Seaquestria that nopony knew about because we thought the hippogriffs had been long lost to the sands of time. Plus, we thought we were looking for the Queen of the Hippos. But it turns out we found the creatures we were looking for.” I smiled before noticing her sad expression.

“Oh no, what happened?” I asked with concern.

“Unfortunately, they wouldn’t help us. They possess a magical artifact that can transform anycreature into a seapony, and who knows what else it can do,” Pinkie Pie lamented. A switch in my brain flicked as I stored that information. “We tried so hard to get on their good side by throwing this big party down there, and they even agreed to give us the pearl to save Equestria from that evil guy….”

“That’s awesome!” I gleefully said before, again seeing her sad face. “Nooo….”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Turns out that Twilight, the princess of friendship? She was the lavender alicorn trying to attack you from earlier. Yeah, she went behind all of our backs to steal the pearl instead. This angered the Queen and got us banished from Seaquestria. Hurtful words were said after, and we split off…but not before we found out she had been foalnapped.”

“Well, her fault,” I scoffed.

Pinkie Pie shook her head again. “The remainder of us decided to forgive and forget. You see, although we sometimes don’t see eye to eye on things, we still are the best of friends and can set aside our differences for the good of Equestria. We couldn’t just lie down without a fight. And that’s exactly what we did!”

“A fairytale ending?” I questioned. “Saving the day through the magic of friendship, I assume?”

“What’s that?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head and asked, causing me to stand up.

“Oh, come on,” I shrugged, stretching my arms. “You literally break the fourth wall all the time.”

“How do you know that?” Pinkie Pie asked before turning to the reader. “Seriously, how in the land of Equestria did he know that?”

I started to walk away calmly and wave to her. “Sorry, but I’m not the cat you’re looking for. See ya around, Pinkie Pie! It was nice meeting yo-Oh!” I abruptly turned around and went back to the pink mare. “I just thought of something. Can we be friends?”

I grinned, knowing this would get her to be on my side, as she dumbfoundedly gasped in shock. Her smile suddenly widened two-fold. “Yes! We can totally be friends!...after I turn you in.”

“Huh?” I inquired before a set of cuffs were placed on my wrists. “...h…where did you get these? Like, seriously, how and where did you pull those out from?”

Pinkie Pie shrugged. “I don’t know. I have stuff stashed all across the world. You never know what you’ll need.” She slid the whiteboard out of sight, turning away from me.

As Pinkie Pie pivoted to face me again, her jaw dropped. The ‘cuffs’ were quite delectable, as they were two chocolate donuts covered in sprinkles. Licking my fingers clean, I exhaled and smiled, giving a peace sign to the pink mare.

“Thanks for the donuts,” I called as I turned around and made a break for it. “They were delightfully sweet! Hopefully, I’ll stop by your bakery in the future to get some more!”

“Sugarcube Corner is the place to go!” Pinkie Pie replied. She smiled and shook her head in amazement, happily bouncing out of view.

========================================<>=========================================

“Hmmph!”

“Oof…oh NOOO!!”

crash!

“Hah!” I exclaimed, turning my head around to look at the blue pony flier. She had crashed into a wooden pole and was left stunned. “Watch where you’re going, little pony!”

“You best watch out too, Mr. Storm King,” another voice called out.

“HuWHOOAH!!” The orange mare from before with the cowgirl hat appeared before me, and I stopped dead in my tracks. I stared at her in confusion before she tilted her head to look at me. “Who are you supposed to be…‘One-Eyed Bart?’” I questioned while closing one eye.

The mare chuckled to herself. “What’s it to ya?” she said before reeling out a lasso. My eyes popped open, gulping at the sight. “I’m Applejack, and you ain’t gettin’ away from my lasso’s grip. Now, we can do this the easy way….”

She threw it toward me as I tried to dodge left. Unfortunately, it wrapped around my shoulder, nearly causing me to get strangled by the rope. She quickly pulled it toward her and brought me onto my back, as the pull was almost impossible for me to combat.

“…heh, or the hard way. And now that I got yo-OAAH!!” Applejack became surprised as I did the Kick Up maneuver, landing back on my feet. She tumbled as I ripped apart the rope with my arm strength, leaving her shocked at the result.

“Please,” I scoffed before darting away. “Invest in some stronger rope. That ain’t nothin’ honey!”

“Then what about this?” another feminine voice called out.

========================================<>=========================================

“Wait, wha-OH GOD!!” I scrambled to the right and suddenly landed in the village’s fountain. My body splashed into the water as the freezing temperature hit my skin. It made me jump out in shock as I stood there, damped and shivering.

“H-H-Hoooly sh-sh-sh-shit THAT’S COLD!!” I screamed out as I fell to the ground. Then, planting myself on my knees, I grabbed the top of my shirt near my neck, wanting to remove the wet article of clothing.

“Not another step, you foul beast!” a white unicorn said, her horn beginning to glow as she tilted her head up. “For I, Rarity, seamstress extraordinaire, will immobilize you with ecstatic beauty.”

I looked at her, dazed, before picking up on her words. Before she could fire a shot of magic at me, I gripped the top of the shirt tighter and began to pull it apart.

rip!

gasp! “NO!!” Rarity exclaimed in distress, tossing a hoof out to stop me. “Please! Don’t!”

With a cocky grin, I wiggled my eyebrows and pulled at it again.

snap!

“Cease this at once!” she cried, putting a hoof above her eyes while looking away. “Before you damage it furtherrr….” She was on the verge of tears, nearly making me stop what I was doing.

But, my mind thought devilishly, where’s the fun in that? Plus, I’ve done this to my old basketball jerseys numerous times. It’s way too easy to pull off…

I settled myself and relaxed, removing my hands from the shirt. Then, showing the unicorn my open palms, Rarity exhaled deeply and tried to correct herself.

“Oh, thank Celestia, you listened to me,” Rarity breathed out while settling her hoof back on the ground. “I don’t know what would have happened if you-”

TEAR!!

It was a clean rip down the middle, as I now had a makeshift vest on. However, Rarity nearly went pale before toppling to the ground in despair.

“That was too easy,” I said aloud while wiping my shoulder. “I bid thee farewell, oh valiant heroine.” Turning to the right, I ducked into another alleyway. Weaving through the piles of trash bags, I clambered over the wooden fence at the end of the two houses.

My ill-fated attempt to flee without a trace was dashed when I suddenly began tumbling toward a stream of water. Hitting the water’s surface, I did my best to recover from the error I had made…only to realize the creek was nearly a foot tall.

“Oh,” I thought aloud. “What the fuck am I doing?” I quickly got up and shook my body like a wet dog. Looking at my ripped shirt, I disregarded it and looked up from my position.

“Shit,” my mouth uttered silently as my body froze.

========================================<>=========================================

gulp! “Ummm, excuse me,” Fluttershy said quietly, her wings trying to hide her face. “Could you please, um, not run away?”

I stood still as she looked at me with her pleading aqua-colored eyes. They almost resembled the puppy dog eyes that were a common trope in movies back in my world, and I nearly gave in to her plea for me not to escape on foot.

Awwww, my mind thought. She’s so adorable! Let’s stop this petty chase….

“How about no?” I politely responded, clasping my hands together while giving her a warm smile. Her head drooped as her pink hair fell in front of her eyes.

“Oh, um, sorry then,” she softly said. “It’s just that, um, you’re kind of…bad.”

cough “Sorry,” I sweetly said to her. “I’m anything but that. Good try, though. I’ll give you that because you nearly convinced me to stop running.” I nodded to her before shrugging. “But, I can’t. You six are trying to blame me for someone I am not. And that’s blasphemy.”

Her ears perked up as she stared at me. I slowly felt more and more uncomfortable as she slowly got up. Finally, this was my cue to get the hell out of there.

“What is…blasphemy…and are you NOT the Storm King?” Fluttershy asked again in confusion.

“Wha-I seriously don’t know who that is!” I yelled toward her, stomping my foot on the ground in frustration.

“Eep!” The mare yelped, quickly dropping to the ground. The frightened mare began violently shaking in fear as her hooves came up to protect herself from me. I quickly calmed down and realized my mistake.

Oh my fucking God, my brain chastised. Alex, why did we feel the need to scare her?

“Hey,” I tried to reassure her, attempting to approach the yellow pegasus. “I-I’m sorry…I-I didn’t mean to scare you. H-Honest-”

“Don’t come closer!” she snapped back. Her voice was trembling as she slowly looked at me. She was on the verge of tears. My hand went above my head as my eyes darted to the right and left.

“I-I…d-don’t make me cry….” I said to her, my eyebrows slanting upward. My own mouth hung open as she continued to quiver in place. I had no idea why this mare was hitting my weak spot so effectively.

Fuck, what do we do? my mind asked itself. Finally, after a few tense seconds of thinking, I came up with my answer and offered my hand to Fluttershy.

“Here…let me help you up then,” I offered her. “To prove to you I’m not a threat…that I’m not evil, as you may assume. Whoever that Storm King was…he wouldn’t dare help anyone. I’d bet every dollar in my bank account that someone as evil as him wouldn’t help you up. Trust me.”

Fluttershy sat there, contemplating her choices thoughtfully. Then, after a dozen seconds went by, she slowly moved her hoof toward my hand. As it made contact with mine, she retracted it slightly before resting it in my palm. I slowly helped her up onto her four legs, ensuring she was okay.

“See?” I said reassuringly, giving her a pat on the back near her wings. “There you go…all good.” I looked at the sun in the distance and then back to the village. “Now, I gotta go,” I stated, giving her a nod before smiling. “Maybe I’ll meet you again some other day.”

Turning away to the grassy field ahead, I waved behind me to the pony. I may not have seen it, but I could safely assume there was a smile on her face after that interaction.

========================================<>=========================================

Make peop-I mean, ponies days, I thought to myself while smirking. Always be nice to each other, and you could be rewarded…with a way out of here!

I saw it. A visibly dark and gloomy forest sprouted from the horizon ahead. It looked desolate and submersive, which felt like a perfect place to hide within and try to get more answers to my precarious predicament.

“Let’s put it into overdrive,” I boldly stated. Hitting a consistent stride, I sprinted across the plain, my legs propelling me forward. I liked running in the open fields, and I began to reminisce about doing so before with my dogs at the park.

We would always train there to help me condition my cardio and gain more stamina. Pharah and Boltoh were the best doggies, I happily thought, always getting bacon bits and treats for finishing a lap on the track.

It felt relaxing to do so, and as the forest got closer, I felt the breeze shift again. My arm hairs raised quickly as my eyes finally noticed the cliff appearing before me.

Holy shiiiit! my brain thought as I tried skidding to a stop. My feet hit the edge of it as I rocked back and forth. Finally, waving my arms backward ferociously, I caught my balance and grabbed my chest. My heart pounded against my ribs as I tried to regain my breath.

huff! gasp! “H-H-Hoollyy…sh-sh-shiiituh….” I exhaled frightfully. “I nearly fell toward those jagged rocks below….” huff! “It’s… I-It’s a good thing, too. I have to be more careful here i-”

poof!

slam!

The ground shook, as did my entire body. My frame vibrated in shock as the noise came behind me, but I didn’t want to know what was there. My stupid, curious brain slowly turned its head around, seeing a white light flash before my eyes.

“Wh-”

BAMM!!

The blast sent me careening off the cliff and through the air. I continued to fall faster and faster before making contact with the side of the steep, muddy hill. As I tumbled and grew excessively dirty, my back collided violently with one of the boulders.

slam!

heave!

I lost my breath as my body abruptly stopped moving. I lay there in defeat as the blood furiously thumped within my veins and vibrated throughout my body. Then, lifting my head up and opening my eyes slightly, I attempted to look at what had hit me.

Unfortunately, this exhausted the last energy I had left, and my head fell to the ground. I took one more deep breath before everything faded to black.

Author's Note

Thank you Pinkie Pie for summarizing the entire movie!

As always, feedback is appreciated in the comments below. See you in the next one!

-Harpy