Crossing Over the Arcane Hiatus

Chapter 3: Strangers Are Not Always Welcome

“Quickly Rainbow Dash! Put that fire out!” was the first thing I heard.

“I’m already on it!” I looked up and was able to pick out a blue mass from the rest of the sky. Storm clouds quickly started to from above, blocking out the sun once more. If this is real, then someone must be trying to put the fire out.

No way I’m being drenched again. I quickly stood up but collapsed again for painfully obvious reasons. Damn it all!

I dragged my body across the ground and into the woods like I have never dragged myself before, probably because I had never needed to do so before. All the while I tried to keep my leg as straight as possible to minimize the pain, but it was still too great to make much progress. Nonetheless I shrugged it off and kept crawling. I made my way deep into the forest and through several bushes before calling it quits behind a tree.

Oh man do I need some water… wait a minute… Shit!

I left everything behind. No doubt that whoever found it would be digging through it all. My tent was still there too. My iPod was somewhere over there too. I still had some stuff on me though. I pulled myself over the tree and careful not to move my leg, sat up. I was defiantly in a forest, but which one? If this is really Equestria, I hope this wasn’t the Everfree forest. There had to me more than just that one.

“This has to be some sort of dream. Can you even feel pain in dreams?” My question went unanswered as I surveyed my surroundings. I was sitting up against a tree in a dense forest. It was dim, but light was seeping through the canopy from the sun. I had my back to the blaze, and I could also see some light from the fire creating shadows that jumped around from where I was. All around me were tall shrubs, trees, bushes, and some scattered flowers. From what I could tell the forest went much deeper and my view was inevitably cut off by the foliage a couple hundred yards out. I decided to go over what I had in my pockets at the time and see what I could do.

Emptying my pants pockets showed I still had my iPhone. I turned it on and had about 80% charge left, which wouldn’t last forever. I also had my wallet and opened it up. It was made out of duct tape so it was quite durable, but it wasn’t water resistant. My money was completely soaked in a mixture of water and blood, so that meant my leg was bleeding too. Great. Counting it, everything was still there. Was I even able to use it? If I’m in Equestria, then it’s probably worthless. I also still had my Fake ID, which I guess could still come in handy. I also had a now ruined bookmark and some useless coupons.

*CRACK*

“Rainbow! We’re tryin’ to put out ta' fire, not cause ah new one!”

My heart skipped a beat. Rainbow? If so… Was that Applejack talking? It sounded like her accent.

“Hehe, sorry. I’m just making sure there’s plenty of water in here,” said Rainbow Dash. “You can’t expect me to keep putting out your fires Twilight.”

Rainbow Dash…

“Just put it out before it spreads! We don’t need things to get any worse.”

Twilight? The sound of rain could be heard and what light was coming from the fire was quickly diminished. Everything got darker, but I could still hear voices coming behind me.

“Twilight, what was that? There was a bunch of light and then dark and then more light and then fire and I was all like, “AHHH!! FIRE!!” and now here we are."

Okay, that had to be Pinkie Pie. The sound of rain stopped right about now as the forest dimmed down even more.

“I’m sorry girls, I don’t know what happened. I was trying that weather spell the scholars had been working on and it must have gotten out of hooves.” Twilight's tone hinted she was ashamed.

“You mean THAT spell? Darling, last time the scholars tried that Rainbow here went missing for fifteen days!”

That had to be Rarity.

“I’m just glad nopony got hurt.”

…And there’s Fluttershy. So the gang’s all here…

"Uh oh. I'm still twitchy twitching!" Pinkie Pie said in a bit of shock.

“Hey everypony, what is this stuff?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It looks like someone was camping here. There’s, or was, a tent and everything.”

“I don’ know what this is. I haven’ seen anythan’ like it before.” Applejack was saying.

“Do eeth openth?” One of them probably had a bag in their mouth and was trying to open it.

“And just look at this tent! It is completely ruined, and whoever made it obviously had no sense of style!” Rarity huffed.

“I don’t know what any of this stuff either, but it probably belongs to whoever was camping here.” Twilight was talking them down.

“Maybe they started the fire!” Rainbow Dash interjected.

“They could have been responsible. I’m going to have to take this stuff to Princess Celestia. Maybe she knows what it is.”

I heard the sounds of their talking gradually dissipate, so they had to of left. Alright, now I know I can’t get any of my stuff back, and I really must be in the show, or some twisted alternate universe. Still, this could be just a dream. I shuffled through the rest of my stuff and found the book of matches. They were also wet but they should still be usable. I also had the map and a pencil, which was broken, and the lock pick. Were Equestrian locks even compatible with this? I moved slightly and my leg started aching in pain. I took of my leather belt and held it for a second as a thought crossed my mind.

Can I make a tourniquet? Is one even necessary? I know it’d cut off blood to my leg, but would that also cut off the nerves? Oh… Oh God, what if somebody sees me with this? Will they think I’m a murderer? Wait, where’s my knife?

Quickly fumbling through my pockets I realized it was in my hoodie that was strapped around my head. Carefully I took off the makeshift bandage and check the wound. It must have been a large gash because of the amount of blood that was on the jacket, but at least it stopped bleeding. I pulled the knife out of the jacket's pocket and tied it back around my scalp. I took the switchblade out and opened it, examining it. It wasn’t broken and it still opens, so that’s good. I’d probably have to start hunting…

Who am I kidding? I’m going to die out here. I can’t do anything with this broken leg; I need some sort of help. Should I have even run away from those ponies? What would they do if they found me, essentially an alien, in the middle of a forest next to a burning tree? I’d probably be taken to see Princess Celestia. Would I be let off scot-free?

I probably would have kept thinking if I wasn’t interrupted by something.

*snap*

My heart decided to call it quits after that. There was a slight hesitation in what to do. Was something approaching? Was that just a branch falling or what? At first there was silence, but then I could hear more sounds of something rummaging, and it sounded big. Then again, ponies were kind of big. What would I do if I was found out? I’d probably try to make friends, or maybe they would? The show is known for love and tolerance after all.

*snap* *crunch*

Something was definitely getting near and I didn’t know what to do so I sat beneath the tree helpless. No wait, I had a knife! If whatever it was tried to eat me, I could at least defend myself. Now I could hear the thing making noises and they were really soft. I kept hearing more twigs snap and bushes rustle, so whatever it was it was getting closer to me.

“Co… … … … fi… …t …it … ...ow.” What?

“Com… ..t ev….ne. T… fi… out. It’s … …ow.” Okay, so this thing was talking, so it was probably a pony. I still had no idea what it was saying though.

“Come out everyone. The fire’s out. It’s safe now,” I heard Fluttershy monotone.

Thank God it’s just Fluttershy. Of any pony to find me, it’s probably best for it to be her. She’s probably just looking for animals that ran away from the blaze. I hope she doesn’t freak out too much if she sees me though, considering I’m bloody, covered in mud and wet grass, torn clothes…

and then my heart sunk like a stone. I could literally feel the color drain from my face as I looked down to see the shiny yet bloodstained knife I still held in my lap.

Oh God… And right on cue Fluttershy appears.

Fluttershy's coat was a bright yellow, even in the dark shadows of the forest that was easily apparent. Her mane was well groomed and a vivd pink. She didn’t notice me at first; but dammit she was close. Her head stuck out of a bush no more than a foot to my right, and she was looking away from me then put a foreleg out and stepped on my wallet. It immediately caught her attention and then my presence was acknowledged, fixating her curious gaze on me; her face quickly became one that was filled with horror. I didn’t dare break eye contact with her as she quickly looked me up and down and at all the items I had out. I don’t know what scared her the most; the blood, the grime, the knife, or just myself. However she hadn’t budged, and then brought her eyes back up to me. A full minute passed and she seemed to loosen up a bit, but was obviously still scared and I did not want to do anything that would frighten her. I decided the best thing to do was show I wasn’t a threat, so I carefully lowered the knife beside me, all the while she locked onto it hadn’t blinked once until I brought my hand back up and set it back in my lap. She seemed to become more relaxed, and then I did what at the time was either the best option or worst option possible.

“Uhh… hi?” I cautiously asked. What happened next was more predictable as she suddenly shrieked and flew off. I sat there for a second smiling like a twit at how cute that was, but was quickly snapped out of it. Immediately I fumbled around and collected everything I had taken out shoving them in my pockets and put my belt back on. I tried to crawl deeper into the forest but collapsed. I didn’t even realize how tired I was.

Where was Fluttershy going? Was she going to get help? Maybe she just went to go hide. Sprawled out on the grass, I ‘m not making any progress. My leg was still broken, and that likely wouldn’t change any time soon. Could I hop around on my other foot? It’d probably work, but how do I get up?

I shuffled my way back over to the tree and hugged it, slowly pulling myself up. It could work. I quickly put all my weight on my good leg and stood up, balancing myself. I hopped over to another tree and grasped it, looking back down at my leg. Every time I hopped, my leg would ache in pain, but not as much as it has been. This is probably my best option. I was able to make maybe fifty yards of progress when I head some shouting behind me.

Applejack stuck her head up from behind a bush, making eye contact with the strange creature off in the distance.

“Is that it? An what is it?” she asked her nervous friend.

“I-I don’t know! J-Just, please don’t hurt it. It already seems injured...” The yellow pegasus replied.

“On it!” Applejack was now running and quickly caught up to the thing which now leaned itself against a tree. Applejack stood before the creature, and was astonished by its height. Whatever it was it was about as high as Princess Celestia!

“Be careful!” Fluttershy called out. “It has a knife!” Applejack looked back at her friend and then to the creature. It obviously was scared, but it was posing a danger to her and her friend. She noticed the creature seemed to be clutching its lower abdomen and there was a small glisten of metal around its waist. That was all the motivation she needed; Applejack turned around and kicked the thing to the ground, her hooves making direct contact with the creature’s center mass. It buckled, hunched over and collapsed to the ground in a whimper.

“Got it!”

The last thing I remember was the sensation of blood running down my face, and two blurry yet colorful figures standing over me.