Gabriel heaved a sigh as he loosened the last bolt, which he put away with the others in order. He had to tap the cylinder head with a hammer to loosen it, but it eventually came off and he put it on the workbench. He then looked at the engine block, hanging from the chains attached to the hoist, itself fixed to the ceiling. "I'll just have to dismantle the chain, the pistons, the crankshaft and the camshaft", he thought.

He turned off the lights, left the workshop and headed for home. He carefully washed his hands at the kitchen sink and then grabbed his car keys from the counter. "I think I've earned a little break". A smile spread across his face. He then went into his garage, where his faithful steed, his old Ford Fiesta mk2, was resting. He opened the garage door, then got into his car and started up straight away, adjusting the choke. He backed the car outside. He then went back out to close the garage door, got back into his car and drove off.

It was a beautiful August day and past 5pm. It was still hot and Gabriel was driving with the window open, as his Fiesta didn't have air conditioning. He didn't really like the main roads, so he decided to take to the back roads along the fields and forests of Wallonia, and turned on the radio.

He drove a little fast, but not too fast either, enjoying every bend, taking the time to admire the rural landscape he loved so much. As he drove, he thought back to all the times he'd spent with his father restoring this car. Of course, there had been ups and downs, but they hadn't given up and the result was there! He had no regrets whatsoever, and would do it all over again if he had to, that's for sure!

The radio chose this moment to play one of his favourite tunes. Gabriel smiled even more and turned up the volume, then started to sing as he continued to drive. He came to another bend, which he negotiated with ease.

Except that, at the same moment, a blinding white light appeared out of nowhere at the exit of the bend, right in the middle of the curve. Gabriel saw it immediately and shouted to himself "What the fuck?!" as he slammed on the brakes, but the car was going too fast. All 4 wheels locked and the sound of the tyres scraping against the asphalt was the last thing our hero heard before fainting as he reached the light.

The first thing Gabriel felt was his heart racing as he woke up. He put his hand over his heart and breathed deeply until his heart rate dropped. He then slowly opened his eyes, dreading what he was about to see, but to his surprise, he was just sitting in his car, which looked intact and stationary.

He expected to feel a sharp pain at any moment, but he did not. He cautiously ran his hands along his body, thinking he was going to find some kind of injury, but everything seemed to be in place.

He relaxed a little at this and the first rational thought invaded his brain, "What the fuck just happened?". He glanced outside and saw that he was in the middle of a forest, "Probably the one I was driving along 2 seconds ago".

He decided to get out to assess the damage, but to his great astonishment, and relief, his car was brand new. He examined it carefully and there wasn't even a crack, nothing.

He then looked around, searching for the road he'd come upon, but saw nothing but trees and other plants as far as the eye could see. He put his hand to his chin as he considered the situation. "Well, let's see, I was driving along and suddenly there was this light and then BAM! Black screen! And now here I am".

He scratched his head and raised an eyebrow, "OK then, either I've had an accident and a LOT of luck, or... someone's playing a really bad joke on me". Continuing to observe his surroundings, other thoughts came to mind, "Where the hell is this road? I'm not crazy, it should be here! And what was that light? The long-range light of a lorry that's decided to blind me?".

As he asked himself more and more questions and panic began to overcome him, Gabriel also noticed that there was something strange about his surroundings. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was as if he was somewhere he shouldn't be. The trees seemed to be of a different species to those he was used to seeing and the general atmosphere of the place did not inspire confidence.

"Well, don't panic, I'm probably imagining things. The first thing to do is to find out where I am". He reached for his phone to open Google Map, but something was wrong with the connection. "What do you mean no 4g? I was sure I had some left". He realised that the problem wasn't that he'd used up his subscription, but rather that there was simply no signal. "I must be in the middle of nowhere! Well, plan B, looks like I'll have to orientate myself by sight".

He spotted a fairly large tree that looked pretty solid, with long branches sticking out... "Mmmh... Gabriel, I'm not sure that the idea you have in mind is a very good one..."Once at the top of the tree, he confirmed to himself: "Yeah, it definitely wasn't a good idea!" He'd climbed trees before as a kid, but had never been this high!

However, he had to admit that the view from above was pretty good. The road he was on was nowhere in sight, but he could see the end of the forest, with what appeared to be a small country village 2 or 3 kilometres north of his position (thanks to the compass app, at least something that worked). The roofs of the houses looked to be made of thatch, and the houses themselves were in a medieval style. There weren't even any real roads, just dirt paths. "It's strange, I don't remember a village like this in the area. It must be a tourist spot or something".

That wasn't the only thing he'd spotted. Much further on, to the north-east, there was a huge mountain with a waterfall flowing over it. He wasn't really sure at this distance, but it also looked like there was a building built into the side. It looked like a huge white castle with several towers and... golden roofs!? "Ok, so THIS is really weird".

Gabriel climbed down the tree and rubbed off the dirt that had clung to him. "Well then, I guess I'll just head for this village and ask the people there for directions. Maybe I'll even get some networks, who knows". He looked in the direction he was supposed to go and saw a path that seemed to go straight towards the village. "Aha! How did I not see that before?"

He got back into his car and, a little apprehensively, turned the key to start the engine. Fortunately, the car started without a hitch. He shifted into first gear, let go of the clutch pedal and set off down the road towards Ponyville...

Author's Note

And that's it, the first chapter of my first story is done!
Well, I know it's not much, but the rest will come!
I'd like to point out that I write in French and use DeepL to translate, so if you see any mistakes, don't hesitate to let me know!