Roadtrip In Equestria

Gabriel watched the 6 coloured shapes approach as he wondered what he was going to do. Of course, his first thought was to flee without asking for a second chance, but on the other hand, he wondered if it was really worth it. After all, he still had no idea where he was and running off at random could only lead to him getting even more lost. Besides, if he was going to end up in another village with even more ponies, there was no point. Not to mention the fact that he only had a limited amount of fuel, and he doubted very much whether there was a service station in the area.

What's more, the nearest potential source of food and water was the village where these things come from, so... After a moment's hesitation, Gabriel decided to let them approach to see what they wanted. After all, they didn't seem very aggressive, more curious. What's more, if they wanted to attack him, they would probably have charged in his direction. But they were content to walk (or trot?) towards him. "The blue one had the chance to attack me earlier, but didn't. Was it because she didn't want to? Was it because she needed reinforcements or just because she didn't want to hurt me? I don't know."

The little group was getting closer and closer, and Gabriel decided it was better not to take too many risks. He stayed in his car, ignition on, ready to start the engine at any moment if he felt there was a problem. He also kept the wheel key close to him, you never know...

The 6 ponies (yes, he was pretty sure they were females now) were now at the height of the car and Gabriel could see every detail. There were two with wings, including the one that had followed him in flight (and was still flying, by the way), but there was also a yellow one with pastel pink hair and tail. The latter seemed to want to hide behind the others, for some reason.

There were also two with horns, including a light mauve one with hair and a mauve or dark blue tail? He wasn't sure, but there was also a pink and mauve line, as if added by dye (he was beginning to wonder if they didn't all have dyes, so unnatural were their colours). She seemed to be leading the group. The other was immaculate white with dark purple curly hair and tail. And was it make-up in her eyes ?

Finally there were the two normals (well, you couldn't really say they were normal, but they didn't have wings or horns). One was all pink with even pinker hair and tail (no kidding, it almost hurt his eyes because it was so pink) and she had a huge smile on her face, as if she'd just been told she'd won the Euro million. And, last but not least, an orange pony with blonde hair and tail, which were pulled back into a ponytail. She also had freckles and, to Gabriel's amusement, a cowboy hat.

And, as if that wasn't surreal enough, Gabriel also noticed that they all had symbols on their sides. For example, the mauve one had a pink star tattooed on each side with other smaller white stars accompanying them.

The blue one had a cloud with a multicoloured lightning bolt coming out of it, the pink one had balloons, the orange one had red apples, the white one had three blue diamonds and the yellow one couldn't see its sides because it was hiding, but he assumed it had two tattoos as well.

After a moment's observation, which was beginning to become a little awkward, the purple leader moved a little closer, now less than a metre from the driver's door. All Gabriel's muscles tightened, his hand on the ignition key, ready to react to the slightest suspicious movement.

However, the pony only raised a hoof to her mouth to clear her throat, then moved her lips as if... "Wait a minute... Is she talking now?" After a few seconds, the time it took for his brain to assimilate what had just happened, Gabriel had the reflex to open his window slightly to hear better.

The mare, looking slightly surprised by this gesture, was obviously waiting for a reaction from the human. Gabriel saw this and cleared his throat, then said in a slightly uncertain voice: ‘’Uh... Excuse me?"

‘’Um, I was asking if you understood me, but I suppose you do, so,‘’ she replied.

Gabriel looked at her with bulging eyes. "Oh for God's sake, she's... She's talking! Those... These things can talk!" In fact, this information didn't shock him all that much, given that they seemed to be fairly intelligent. What really shocked him was that she was speaking in HIS language! "I thought these ponies would have their own languages, but she just said a sentence in impeccable French..." he thought.

Suddenly remembering that he had an interlocutor waiting for his reply, he awkwardly spoke again ‘’Uh, yes. Yes, indeed, yes...’

A small smile appeared on the equine's face, clearly pleased that they could understand each other. "Well, let me introduce myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle, a pupil of Princess Celestia, and these are my friends", she said, pointing to the ponies behind her. "And you, may I ask your name?"

Gabriel, still bewildered by what was happening, replied in an almost robotic voice: "Gabriel. Gabriel Couset".

This time Twilight wore a smile that looked a little forced: ‘"Ah, great... And what exactly are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Gabriel laughed nervously "I have absolutely no idea".

Twilight frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Well... I don't know. I don't know how I got here or why, okay? I don't even know where we are here!"

"You don't know where we are?"Gabriel gave her an incredulous look by way of reply. Twilight sighed, then continued: "Well, we're in Equestria. More precisely, just outside Ponyville."

"Wha... What? Ponyville? Equestria? What's that, a region?"

"Nonsense, it's a country! You've really never heard of Equestria?"

"Er, not really, no’"

"But... Where are you from?"

"Well, the Commune of Tintigny"

"Tintigny?"

"Yeah, you know, in the Province of Luxembourg" Twilight only returned a questioning look. "In the Walloon Region, in Belgium"

"Well, I'm sorry, but I've never heard of such a place"

"Okay, never mind"

An awkward silence began to set in as the 2 were at a loss for words. The silence was broken a few seconds later by the blue one who approached them and asked: “Can I ask a question too?" Gabriel barely had time to answer before she continued: “What exactly are you? Because personally, I've never seen a creature like you before!"

Gabriel froze at this new question. If there was one thing he never thought he'd have to answer in his life, it was this. “Well, I'm human. I think the correct term is Homo sapiens, I mean the scientific term. And what are you supposed to be?”

The small group seemed equally taken aback by the question, and it was Twilight who answered again, “We're ponies. More precisely, I'm a unicorn, as is Rarity here. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are pegasuses. As for Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack, they're what we call land ponies.”

Gabriel didn't have to think too hard to guess which name belonged to which pony. In fact, it seemed he'd guessed right. “Well okay fine, and is this a joke or something?”

Twilight gave a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

Gabriel let out a sigh, then decided to get out of his car because his legs were starting to go numb. What's more, these ponies didn't look very dangerous, if at all. Besides, he was convinced he was in some kind of stupid dream. As he stood in front of the 6 equines, they backed away slightly, not expecting the biped to be so tall. Even he was amazed at how tall he was compared to them. He wasn't particularly tall, but the ponies were barely up to his waist!

“You're doing a hidden camera on me, aren't you? Are you wearing some kind of ultra-sophisticated disguise? Or are you holograms or robots? Is this all just a hyper-realistic simulation? Or I know, I've been drugged with LSD or crack and I'm completely delirious, right? Tell me the truth!”

“Uh... What are you talking about?”

“You know very well what I'm talking about! Please tell me this is a joke, tell me I'm dreaming that and that I'm going to wake up!”

Seeing the questioning looks on the 6 ponies' faces, Gabriel began to panic again, a bead of cold sweat running down his forehead. “No, it's not possible, it's not possible ...” he repeated to himself as if to convince himself. He had to find a rational explanation for what was happening, and now! He started to walk in a random direction, then started to run, repeating the words: “It's not possible, it's not possible!”

He then walked over to the nearest tree, and began to pluck the leaves from it, then examined them as if looking for a trace of scythe. But the leaves seemed very real. He then attacked the tree trunk, ripping off the bark with his bare hands, then examined it too, expecting it to be made of cardboard or something. Except that the bark looked real too. He then set off again, still looking for some kind of explanation, this time scrutinizing his landscape carefully, the trees, the village in the distance, the grass at his feet...

It all looked very real, too real... then he looked up at the sky, and his gaze lingered on the sun. The fucking sun... he could look at it, and his eyes didn't hurt at all. It was this detail that was the last straw. Gabriel knelt on the grass, his gaze still on the sun. He didn't know what to do, what to think. In fact, he didn't even want to think at all, he just wanted it all to stop. He just wanted to pass out again and go home.

His gaze was diverted by the ponies approaching him, obviously concerned by his condition and attitude. He jumped to his feet, and said in a tone that was meant to be dissuasive: “Stay away from me you!”

This time it was the orange, well Apple Jack, who spoke up: “But, we just want to help you...”

“No, you can't help me, you're not real! None of this is real!”

“Listen, sugarcube, I don't know why you think you're in a dream, but I'm sure of one thing: I'm real, and so are my friends!”

“No, that's bullshit! You're in my head! This is all in my head!”

Then he had an idea, and he didn't know why he hadn't had it sooner: he began pinching his forearm as hard as he could. He expected to feel nothing, but immediately felt a sharp pain where he'd pinched himself. “Ow, fuck!”. He then looked the mares straight in the eye as his forearm continued to inform him of the pain. Then he had his wise words: “Oh shit...”