You stumble your way out of the portal, disoriented. Your head spins as you suffer from the worst vertigo you’ve ever experienced. You almost throw up then and there, but the adrenaline pumping through your veins is enough for you to suppress your nausea in the name of survival. You close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. You place a hand over your chest to feel your heartbeat. It’s still racing.

‘Breath in…breath out…breath in…breath out….’

You open your eyes, and you feel your heart skip a beat. Crystal. The room your in is composed entirely of crystal.

“No…” you mutter softly. Your breathing intensifies as panic courses through you.

‘I…I can’t be here…this can’t be…it’s still her…it’s hers!’

You quickly scan the large room you are in. You recognize it as the Library in the Castle of Friendship. Did the portal not work? Did it just send you to a different room in the same castle? As you question your situation, you hear an odd sound. You look back to see the portal as the swirling vortex stabilizes into a steady smooth surface. Your reflection returns as the doorway returns to being nothing more than a mere mirror.

With wide eyes and a trembling hand, you brush your finger tips over the smooth surface of the mirror. It’s just as solid as any other mirror, and your fingers aren’t able to penetrate any further. You take another breath as you remember what Spike had told you about alternate worlds. You take a step back to examine the portal device in its entirety. It looks almost exactly the same as the one you stepped through. The control panel looks slightly different but other than that, it’s identical. The one you stepped through was in a much smaller room, whereas this one is located in the library.

‘I’m in an alternate version of Equestria,’ you think. You look back to the mirror and see that it is still currently nothing more than a reflective surface. You weren’t followed.

‘Thank you Spike. I hope you’re okay.’ You recall Spike assuring you he wouldn’t be harmed. Given what you’ve experienced at the hands, or hooves of the so called Princess of Friendship, you aren’t confident of that. You can only hope and pray that she isn’t willing to harm him the way she has harmed you.

You turn away from the portal machine, and take a few steps away from it when a thought worms it’s way between the crevices of your brain.

‘What if she finds a way to track me down?’ You turn back to the mirror. Spike told you he was sending you to a random universe. But it was Twilights machine. What if she has a way to locate the universe you were sent to? She could come this very mirror to drag you back to her domain to resume your torment.

“Smash it!”

A voice whispers in your ear as you stare intently at the mirror.

“Break it into a million shards!” It’s almost as if the only two things in this world are you and the mirror. You can only focus on the task at hand. Smash the mirror, break it and then there’s no way she can come for you.

You quickly scan the area for a makeshift instrument of destruction. You see a wooden chair propped against a reading table. You scurry over and pick it up, quickly returning to the mirror. You lift the chair and prepare to hurl it right into the glass.

“What if this place is worse?”

Another voice, different than the first. It makes a good point. This version of Equestria could be just as bad if not worse than the one you escaped from. If so, smashing the mirror would ensure you were trapped here with no way out. You hesitantly lower the chair down.

“She could be on her way through right now! She could have found out where Spike sent you! Now’s your only chance! Smash it! Smash it now!” You rear back to swing.

“It’s your only way out! Without the mirror, you’re trapped here forever!”

The two voices in your head play tug of war with your mind, giving you a headache. You can barely think independently of them. You begin to shake. You feel weak. You place the chair on the floor and sit down, trying to compose yourself. You sit for several moments trying to decide what to do.

“I’m coming for youuuuuuu,” you jolt upright. That voice. That sickly sweet voice! You grab the chair, intent on smashing the mirror.

The groaning of the heavy wooden doors of the library captures your attention. Your head snaps in their direction fast enough that it elicits a crack from your stiff joints. You see the doors sliding open. Panic taking over, you place the chair back on the ground and quickly bolt to hide behind the closest book shelf. You attempt to reign in your erratic breathing as you hear the sound of multiple sets of hoof steps.

“Thanks for helping me reorganize the library girls! This is going to be so much fun!” Your breathing stops all together. You know who the owner of that voice is.

“If by fun, you mean the complete opposite of fun, than yeah, sure,” replies a raspier voice that you also recognize.

“Oh come on Dashie, with the right mindset anything can be fun! I say we turn this boring old chore into a library party!”

That voice also sparks recognition. You slowly, ever so slowly lean your head over the edge of the book shelf, just enough for one eye to peek at the group that has just entered the library. You see all six of them. Twilight and her friends. Your mind flashes back to your earliest days in Ponyville. Before she locked you away. They were all friendly enough. Some overly so. But so was she. They never hurt you like she did. But you always wondered just what they knew. After all, it’s not like any of them tried to rescue you. Either they didn’t notice your absence or they simply didn’t care. Or worse, they did know. They did know and felt no desire to intervene.

You couldn’t take any chances. Not with any of them. Not a single pony in Ponyville could be trusted. You had to get out of this castle. You had to get out of this town! You observe the six of them. Their focus appears to be elsewhere, and the doors are still open. If you could quietly sneak through the doors, you would be able to reach the castle doors in less than a minute. Assuming the layout of this castle was identical the previous one. Also assuming you didn’t run into any interlopers.

Choice really wasn’t a factor here. You couldn’t hide in this spot for very long. They were going to find you sooner or later. With their backs turned, now was your best chance. You gently step out of your cover to-

“Hi!” you let out a scream that’s so loud it hurts your throat. You fall to your rear and look up in horror to see none other than Pinkie Pie standing before you, her ears twitching erratically. “Wow, when my Pinkie Sense told me somepony new was in town, I thought it would be a pony, maybe a donkey or a griffon, but not a…whatever you are! Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie, and WELCOME TO PONYVILLE! Do you like cupcakes? Because I’m going to throw you the biggest most welcoming ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party ever!”

‘No…no no no no no NO!’ How could your luck be so bad? You were almost home free! Of course if anyone was going to facilitate dumb luck screwing you over it would be her! Her and her damn disregard for the laws of physics!

Time slows for your terror stricken eyes meet the happy care free baby blue’s of Pinkie. Your body trembles and shakes so much it hurts. The clip clopping of multiple sets of hooves rattles your ears like a set of drums as the others trot into view. All of their eyes go wide as they observe you. All except Pinkie Pie, but you hardly expected her to be fazed by your appearance.

“What the heck is that thing?” questioned Rainbow Dash.

“Looks like some kinda shaved gorilla,” stated Applejack bluntly.

“RUN! RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN!” the voice screams in your head. Drowning out the ponies voices. You can see their mouths move, but the only thing you can here is the voice in your head telling you to run.

In a blink of an eye you’re on your feet, running. You’re out the door before any of the ponies are able to process what’s happening. You pump your arms and legs recklessly as you run for the door.

A few moments into your escape you hear a shout break through the white noise of your head.

“-ey, get back here!” Rainbow Dash. You look over your should to see her pursuing you, flying just fast enough to make steady gains in her pursuit of you. Your fight or flight instincts play tug of war with each other, both wanting to take precedence over the other. Without even thinking, you turn around just as the Pegasus is about to reach you. You wind back your fist and deliver a downward hook right onto her rainbow colored head. She hits the ground with a grunt and you hear one of the others call out her name in concern. No time to feel guilty, you turn and bolt.

“Don’t them get away! They’re mine!”

‘Run! Don’t stop until you reach the forest! They won’t follow you there!’

You turn a corner and stop. Staring at you with wide eyes and a slacked jaw is a pony you haven’t seen before. A unicorn with light pink fur and a curly purple mane with a teal stripe running through it. The two of you stare at each other for a few quick seconds before the sound of your pursuers rouses you.

“Starlight! Grab that thing!” Before she can process the command, you turn and sprint down the only clear hallway. You run faster than you thought possible as now seven ponies pursued you. No thoughts ran through your mind anymore, you were now driven by pure instinct. In this moment you were not a human being anymore. You were an animal. You were a small rabbit being chased by a pack of hungry wolves.

You don’t even know where you’re going now, the way to the door having been blocked by this ‘Starlight’. Perhaps you can circle back. But you know you can’t keep running forever. The six of them are faster than you. They’re stronger than you. And they’re more powerful than you. But they aren’t desperate like you are. A cornered animal is always at its most dangerous. You were prepared to do what was necessary to survive, no matter how savage it was.

“Fuck!” you yell as your right foot slips on something soft and gooey. You hit the ground and slide a few feet. In that time, your pursuers have caught up to you and have now backed you against a wall. You look at the ground where you fell and notice…a cupcake on the floor.

‘Pinkie,’ you think angrily. Your anger turns to fear as you see the seven of them gathered around you. Their faces ripple like water, disallowing you to judge their expressions.

“Nowhere left to run pardner,” says Applejack.

“Why did you run away, I just wanted to throw you a party!” questions Pinkie Pie.

“Let me at em, I have to pay em back for that cheap shot!” yells Rainbow Dash who is being restrained by one of the unicorns magic.

“What are you wearing? Those rags are dreadful! Are those blood stains?!” Rarity questions with horror.

You are now hyperventilating as the ponies and walls close around you. Your eyes lock on Twilight. The imperceptible facial features of the Alicorn sharpen into a malevolent grin with glowing yellow eyes. Where her teeth always that sharp? Is that the way ponies are in this world? Are they bloodthirsty predators?

“Why did you run away from me?” Her voice now has multiple tones. The world around you goes dark, transforming into an abyss that contained no one else but the two of you. The demon canters towards you slowly, lowering her head down to meet your eyes.

“I’m so disappointed in you Subject HS-1. I thought I could trust you not to do anything foolish. But then you went and tricked MY LOYAL ASSISTANT into helping you!” she spat those last words with venom. She was tall now, her legs extending into gaunt stilts as her back arched and her facial features sharpened ghoulishly. “Perhaps I gave you too much freedom. When I get you back to my lab, I’m going to have to take extra special measures to keep you from escaping a second time.” She was just a few inches in front of your face now. All you could see where those horrible yellow eyes. “After all, you can live with a missing leg right?” She leans a hoof out towards you. She’s going to take you!

Something primal takes over you. You quickly lean forward and chomp your teeth down on her foreleg. The demon screams. The world around you shakes, and the dark shadows fall away, leaving you back in the hallway. Your vision is clear now. In front of you is Twilight, this worlds Twilight. She looks at you in shock as she cradles her bleeding leg. The others are looking at her with concern, some look at you with anger. You don’t have time to care. There’s a window behind you. A stroke of luck really.

Before they can react, you get to your feet and leap out through the glass. It shatters, cutting you in a dozen different places. You hope the fall to the ground isn’t too far, but if it isn’t, well…you hope it’s high enough to kill you.

As circumstance would have it, the fall three stories tall. Survivable, but you’d have to land correctly. You put your feet under you and prepare to hit the ground. As soon as your feet make contact, you roll forward and land on your back, hard. The wind gets knocked out of you. Your right ankle feels like it’s been broken, or at the very least sprained. But you don’t have time to lick your wounds.

You struggle to take in breath as you try to sit up. You see the ponies heads sticking out the window, looking down at you in shock.

“Get up! Get up and run, now!” You obey the voice. You get to your feet and start moving as fast as you can while you struggle to take in breath. You hear the wind whipping behind you. You’re being chased!

Air starts to refill your lungs. You look over your head to see both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying after you. One looks pissed, the other concerned. Doesn’t matter. You can’t trust either of them.

“Get back here!” shouts Rainbow.

“Leave me alone!” you scream back. Rainbow makes a dive for you, but you roll out of the way. You’re sprinting as fast as you can now, the pain in your ankle numbed by adrenaline.

“Please, you don’t have to be afraid!” that’s Fluttershy. You almost feel like stopping as her angelic voice assures you that you aren’t in danger.

“She’s a liar! Don’t stop!”

You shake your head and push forward. Your instincts guide you in an almost supernatural manner. Every time Rainbow tries to grab you, you move dodge just in the nick of time. The Everfree is just in front of you. You’re almost in the clear.

But before you can make it, Fluttershy speeds ahead of you and stops blocking your path. She hovers in the air with her arms outspread.

“That’s far enough! You need to calm down, we’re only trying to help you!” Her eyes widen and her presence becomes commanding and absolute. You stumble, and for a brief moment you are hypnotized by her gaze. You feel the uncontrollable urge to obey her orders.

“Gotcha!” you’re tackled to the ground by the blue Pegasus. As this happens, the hypnotic trance you are under is broken. You are now aware that Rainbow Dash is trying to pin you down. Luckily for you, Pegasi are of a deceptively light weight. You quickly knock her off, and bolt forward, careful to avoid eye contact with Fluttershy. She let’s out an ‘eep’ as you shove her out of the way and bolt into the forest.

You don’t stop running. As the forest floor roughs up your feet, as your ankle burns and blood drips from open wounds, you do not stop. You dodge and weave through the trees, duck under fallen debris to shake your pursuers. You keep going until your legs weaken and you drop to the ground, your energy reserves completely drained.

You take in deep sharp breaths as the copious amounts of salty sweat leak into your open cuts, mixing with your blood and irritating your wounds. You lay on your back and stare up at they tree tops above you.

It almost looks peaceful…calm. With what little strength you have, you lift your head and look to see if you were followed. You don’t see anyone. You are alone.

Before you can think another thought, your last remaining bit of adrenaline drains away and you fall unconscious.

Author's Note

Biting a horse is good luck in foreign cultures, I assume, probably. It has to be the case in at least one right?

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