Hunting Grounds

"Equestria, the land of ponies!" responded Fluttershy in her best attempt to get rid of my confusion.

"I still don't understand, almost two hours ago I was with my Grandfather, and in an instant he's gone and i'm in a land of ponies?" I said dumbfounded.

"It would seem that way to me."

"Okay, I'll sort this out it the morning. Anyway, where do I sleep?"

"You can sleep over on that couch over there." She said, pointing here hoof to a small sofa next to the wall.

"Thank you."

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, no. Just some rest for now."

"Sleep well, then." she said while walking out of the room and blowing out the candles. I made my way over to the couch and took my heavy-duty hiking boots off and set them next to the sofa. Lying down on the sofa I remarked about how soft it was. I mean, it was soft.

"Ugh, tonight was a hell of a night." I grumbled as I closed my eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and the sun shining directly into my eyes. I sat up with a grumble and noticed Fluttershy up and at em', already cooking breakfast.

"Good mornin'." I said to her, sitting up and rubbing some gunk out of my eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked, concern in her voice.

"Yes, excellently." I responded.

"Good, do you eat alfalfa?" She said, apparently readying some in the kitchen.

"No, not really. But that's okay, I brought some food of my own." I responded.

"Really? I didn't think you brought any bags or anything like that."

"No, I did, they're outside in the Kawasaki."

"The Kawa-whaty?" She queried.

"Oh, you don't have automobiles here?"

"What's that?"

"It's a form of transportation." I said dumbly, the lack of light bulbs and the use of candles should have at least hinted me to the fact that this world probably didn't have very advanced technology.

"Speaking of transportation, I need to go to Ponyville today and pick up groceries. Oh! We could stop at Twilight's and she could probably figure what happened to you last night." She said. The look in her eyes told me that she was eager to see her friend "Twilight". I really hoped she wasn't a vampire. "We'll leave in about 15 minutes, that should give you enough time to eat your breakfast, whatever it is that you eat."

"Sounds good to me." I said blankly, at this point, anything sounded good to me apart from dying, being burned alive, or having to dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep for the rest of my juvenile life. I put on my heavy boots and walked out the door to where I parked the Kawasaki last night. Walking up to the back of it, I pulled out the backpack with the lunchbox in it and took out my ham and swiss sandwich. The sandwich, despite being slightly flattened, was still delicious. I gobbled down the sandwich in a record time of only a few minutes, the first few bites having started up my appetite. After breakfast was done, I still had around 10 minutes to spare. I spent it being lazy and sitting on the seat of the Mule. After all, I really had nothing better to do.

"Okay, I'm ready, let's go." said Fluttershy as she walked out of her house and towards the town in the distance.

"What, you're gonna' walk?" I remarked.

"Of course, how else would we get there." She replied with a puzzled look on her face.

"C'mon, I've got a faster way." I said, hopping into the driver's side of the Kawasaki, signalling for her to do the same on the other side.

"Wait, you didn't put your bags away." She said. I hopped out and quickly swooped up all the bags, chairs, etc. and deposited them inside the cottage. The only thing I didn't put away was the rifle, which was still locked into the gun rack on the Kawasaki, and the box of 60 bullets I had, which I put in the glove box last night. I quickly ran out of the cottage and jumped into the driver's seat of the Mule.

"So, how exactly is this going to get us to Ponyville." She asked, clearly not understand how this worked.

"Just you watch." I said with a huge grin on my face. I released the parking brake and pulled the choke out. Then turned the ignition, this time, the Mule started immediately.

"Eeeeeek! Monster!" Screamed Fluttershy as she hopped out and cowered in fear of the engine.

"Fluttershy, it's not a monster, it's not even a living thing." I explained, "It's mechanical."

"Oh." responded Fluttershy sheepishly. She almost instantly calmed down and hopped back into the Mule. I pushed the choke back in and the Mule's idle slowed down accordingly. I then shifted it into high gear and gently eased onto the pedal so as not to startle Fluttershy.

"No need to hold back, I'm not afraid anymore." She said, a slight hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Okay, okay." I responded, raising my hands in a "watch out we got badass over here" manner, I then put my foot down on the pedal more deliberately. The Mule lurched and then quickly gained speed.

"Weeeeeee." whispered Fluttershy, her hair billowing in the wind. According to the speedometer, I was only going 20 Miles per Hour, the Mule was capable of up to 50 Miles per hour.

"So where are we headed?" I asked.

"Just turn onto this road over here and keep going." she replied, signalling with her hoof to the small dirt road on the right.

"All righty then." I said, pulling over onto the dirt road.