Chapters Chapter 1: Through the Looking Glass
This, my dear readers, is the tale of the arrival of a strange new creature in the fair land of Equestria, a human would you believe? This is his journey of adjustment and resettlement in our land from his own distant realm. This is the story of the birth of the first human guardian in Equestria. This, my dear readers, is my story...
The first thing I noticed upon entering this land was the feeling of dry dirt pressed against me cheek. My vision blurred into action as I pulled my arms closer to me in my daze. Dirt scrapped against the palm of my hand as I pressed it firmly to the ground, pushing myself away from the surface. The sun blazed fiercely as I fought to regain my footing and shielded its brunt from my eyes. Nausea fought to taint me as I felt the heat of sunlight wash over me. At first I blamed the overwhelming palate of colours that struck me on the misty daze that coated my vision. I began to notice blurred and faded images move around me as I began to straighten myself out.
My ears rung out with a mixture of the thumping of my heartbeat and the worrying sound of rushing water which began to grow thinner and disperse as I took notice of the muffled voices around me. I inhaled sharply to try and regain my composure and dispel the growing nausea. This however made me lurch over in a chocking cough from the unfamiliar air, it was so… clean and pure. Was I in the countryside? No… this air was completely alien. Nowhere I had been in my life had air this fresh and crisp. My coughs had caused the nearby shapes to fidget and murmur loader as I looked up to them. The gate on my hearing broke open as I heard shrieks of “monster!”, “beast!” and “RUN!” I quickly shot up as I forced myself together in a panic to look around me. Adrenaline pumped into my aching head as I checked to see if I was in danger. Finally I could see my surroundings. Finally I could see the shapes in their true form. The air was more alien to me than I thought… I definitely was not in the countryside.
This had to be some kind of joke. Was I drunk? Did someone slip me something? I had to be dreaming… or was I dead?
Stampeding around me with worried and fearful looks of dread plastered across their faces. Cartoon ponies, pastel cartoon ponies everywhere. They were running away from something. As my eyes darted amongst them in disbelief I took notice that some were looking right at me. My eyes meeting theirs as they galloped past me anywhere they could. I could the panic and dread across their huge eyes staring at me in as much disbelief as I felt myself. Was I the danger? Or was I just some oddity that they took notice of in their escape. I spun around to check behind me, expecting to see some hell-spawned demon or a rampaging titan. I would believe anything I saw in this situation but my eyes were met with the same behind me of more pastel cartoon ponies charging around as if the world was ending. Would be just my luck that the minute I arrive in an alien world filled with cartoon ponies that it would blow up…
What was the danger? Should I run? Where would I run to in this place? Is this place even real? All these questions flushed into my already pounding head as I struggled to make sense of the situation. I thought of trying to ask one of the passing “ponies” what was happening but what would I say to a scared cartoon pony running for its life? Do these things even speak English?
I heart was thumping away in my chest as I attempted to look for a hiding place or somewhere to run but my feet refused to respond as I was still stunned at trying to process what the hell was going on. As the ground shacking rumbling on the stampede faded away, I noticed a distant sound. It was like air being cut at a very low pitch. I turned in the direction of the sound, looking up into the sky. My eyes picked out a dot streaking across the blue sky leaving a faint trail behind it. Is that a freackin’ jet plane?!
The dot arched across the distant plane of the sky and began to direct its path straight at the street I was standing on. Blood rushed to the top of my head as I realised that this must be the thing those ponies where running from... and its coming right at me…
I tried to turn and run as fast as I could but my body was in no condition to make a sprint for safety, I still felt like I had just been through a grinder. It made no difference however as my body decided it would stage a mutiny against me and freeze up like it was curious to see what would happen. I felt like a deer in the headlights as the dot rocketing closer and closer to me. It began talking shape as it zeroed in on me. I could vaguely make out the shape similar to the ponies from earlier as I clenched my eyes shut and turned as I prepared myself for the hammer like blow that would inevitably come down on me.
The air that I had fought to breathe in was cruelly blasted out of me as I was smashed back to the surface.
The object catapulted me off my feet and a good few yards down the street as it struck me in the abdomen. It stayed with me on my journey through the air as it tackled me to the ground. I gained a sharp taste of copper in my mouth as I tried to clutch my stomach and force the alien air back into my winded chest. I could not however as I squinted my eyes open to see my arms were being pinned down by a rather heavy blunt force. I felt like hell as my skull renewed its pounding rhythm with enthusiasm. The sun was being blocked by the being on top of me. The sunlight was creating a kind of glowing aura around the form that prevented me from seeing it clearly. That and I was struggling to keep my consciousness. I could make out a large pair of violet eyes glaring down on me with fury.
“What the hey are you… ”
The being lowered its head closer as if to get a better look as it asked in a flat tone of voice that seemed not to expect an answer. I could tell the underlying tone of anger was being tamed behind a flood gate in its almost gruff feminine voice.
What the hell was happening to me…
I struggled to look up at the blue creature, meeting its sharp gaze with my dazed and unfocused one. I don’t know what I was thinking or what it was at but I began to give a weak laugh through my winded lungs. I must have gone insane; it was the only explanation for all of this. But then again that hit felt way to real to be imaginary. Maybe I got hit by a car? It certainly felt like it. The creature must have taken my chuckle the wrong way as it clenched its teeth and narrowed it’s almost none existing brow.
“Are you laughing at me?!”
It demanded in a fierce tone. I stupidly chuckled again and responded,
“… a little bit.”
For an instant the being looked shocked, as if by the fact that I could talk. Unfortunately this dispersed as quickly as it appeared to be replaced by one of utter fury as snarled and glared down at me in a cartoonish fashion. Well it was a cartoon creature right? I was snapped back to “reality” as the sense of danger was restored by the being rearing back and slamming what I discovered were its front hooves firmly on the ground at both sides of my head. Oh shit… if I’m going to die I don’t want it to be in this place under to hooves of a cartoon pony. Although I had to admit I would never have seen that coming…
“Alright, alright! Ease up man!”
I responded as I held up my freed arms in a defensive gesture.
“Na’ Rainbow Dash just calm ya’ self down n’ let the poor thing up”
I heard another voice call out as the blue pony turned its head away from me and in the direction of the new voice. The new voice also sounded feminine but gentler than this Rainbow Dash’s voice with a southern like country accent accompanying it. I turned my head to also face in the direction of the new voice. From my sideways view on the ground I saw an orange pony with long blonde hair tied in a, rather ironic, ponytail and crowned with a Stetson hat like out of those westerns my dad used to watch.
“Applejack are you crazy?! This thing could be dangerous! What if it hurts somepony? We can’t just let it go!”
The blue pony responded to its friend in a strained and shocked voice as it maintained its position over me. So those ponies thought I was the danger… no wonder they looked at me like that.
“Rainbow if it’s so dangerous then why was it just cowering under y’all?”
Oww… my pride…
The one called Rainbow Dash looked back down at me with a critical look. All I could do was to simply look back into its eyes.
“Iffin its dangerous n’ all then we’ll tie it up to be safe”
The orange pony offered, holding up a coil on thick rope. Well… I guess it beats being pinned under an angry blue cartoon pony called ‘Rainbow’...
Chapter 2: Looking in all the Wrong Places
The still suspicious pony reluctantly backed off of me to allow me to stand back up. I could now see where this Rainbow Dash got her name as I immediately took notice of its rainbow striped hair. My attention was also stolen away to the pony’s wings adorning her back which explained how it was flying but at this point nothing seemed unusual. I pulled myself forward into a kneeling crouch as I held my battered chest and focused on catching my breath again. It was going to take a while for me to get used to this air. The two ponies stood by the side of me looking at me with confusion and, in the case of the pegasus, a determined scrutiny.
The orange pony took a few steps closer holding the rope in her teeth. I looked up at them both before standing up fully before them. Their heads followed me up and eyes began to narrow as they saw how tall I was compared to them. I looked down to the two uneasy looking ponies; they were only tall enough to come eye level with roughly the same height as my abdomen, around 4ft or just under to my almost 6ft. I had not taken notice of the difference in height until now. It was obviously noticeable that the notion of both being next to a completely unknown creature and the large difference in height was causing the two some concern. I noticed the two take a hesitant step back as the pegasus opened one side of its mouth to murmur,
“Any day now Applejack…”
The ‘Applejack’ one nodded and the two began to trot around me in circles, tying the coarse rope around my upper body and binding my arms to my sides. Idealy it was not the best situation to put myself in but what was I supposed to do? Beat up two cartoon animals and run for it? No, it seems for now I will have to go with the flow. Maybe I can get some answers out of these two. Once they finished they pulled tightly on the rope to properly bind my body, I could barely breathe! The two ponies looked at each other as they finished their task.
“So now what do we do with it?”
Yes I admit the thought about trying to make an escape was considered but trying to move my arms in the tight coils of rope was impossible and there was no way I could outrun a horse!.... err pony…. cartoon, brightly coloured, talking pony…
I had no idea what they had in store for me but I knew that I had to beat being stomped on by a rainbow coloured pony. I was glad that cowboy… err cowpony… one stepped in when it did or that other one could have killed me! For being a rainbow coloured cartoon pony this Rainbow Dash seemed pretty aggressive. At least I was in the hands of a more level headed one; hopefully someone will know what is going on here and tell me why I’m in this place. For now I will have to trust the two in front of me. After all what could two cartoon creatures do to me? Turn me into cupcakes?
My internal chuckling was interrupted by the orange pony responding,
“How ‘bout we take it ta see Twilight?”
…Ohh hell no!
My eyes went wide in shock at the name; no way was I going to take this! How can I be transported to an alien cartoon world and still not get away from that shit?! Above all that I was going to be tied up and forced to watch it by two ponies! I’d rather have my face back under the rainbow one’s hooves….
…. Stomped to death by an aggressive cartoon pegasus called ‘Rainbow’… still better than twilight….
“It’s our best shot; she’ll know what it is. She probably has something on it in one of those books in her library”
Oh thank god…it seems this Twilight is another pony or something. Had me worried there for a moment…
Rainbow hovered up behind and gave me a push forward.
“Ok buster you’re coming with us! And don’t try anything”
Buster? Seriously? Who even says that?
“Alright, alright no need to be pushy”
My response earned me another bewildered look from both the ponies.
“It can talk?!”
Applejack shouted in alarm as it continued to stare up at me; shock was spread across her face that mirrored Rainbow’s.
“Of course I can talk! Frankly I’m surprised you can talk!”
The stunned ponies looked at each other in shock before pulling me forward and further down the streets.
“We need ta get this thing ta Twilight’s”
So it was that I was pulled forcibly through the deserted streets by two cartoon ponies that had attacked me and tied me up. It was an interesting day if nothing else. The two ponies, one a blue pegasus called Rainbow Dash and the other and orange rancher called Applejack, both seemed to be female. During my borderline kidnapping I had a chance to take in more of the world that I had been brought to. It was blatantly clear that I was no longer on earth, or at least not my form of earth. I took notice of the many brightly coloured and unusually designed houses and buildings on our route. I could not believe the appearance of the town I was in. Some of it looked like it was out of a Disney style toddler’s dream, and other parts of it looked like it was out of some Dr. Seuss drug trip.
I wanted to ask them what this place was but decided against it since it seemed that every time I opened my mouth I sent them into a state of shock. So I decided to not rock the boat and just roll with it, not like I had any choice in the matter. The colours were starting to overwhelm me a little, it was so unfamiliar and in a way disorientating coming from the grey stone cities and their chocking polluted air, granted the air here still made me choke but it was just more refreshing and I guess it just made me feel more… alive in a way. I’ve been telling myself that this place cannot be real but… it’s too real you know? Like if this place is not real then how is the air I’m breathing so different? And how did Rainbow’s take down feel so real? I don’t know how to make sense of it. My head started feeling light the more the thought swam around my mind; it felt like I was breathing too much oxygen.
Thankfully it seemed like they had finally reached their destination so I could gather my senses. I looked up to see I had been brought to a large oak tree that had tell-tale signs showing it was In fact some kind of house. Talking cartoon ponies living in trees…. seems legit.
The two burst through the oak door and shouted for this Twilight. As they lead me into the tree..house..thing I discovered it was some form of library. Large book cases filled to the brim with colourful books of varying sizes. A lavender pony came trotting out asking them what the problem was. Parting its deep purple hair I could see a small horn protruding from the pony’s forehead. Freakin’ unicorns now? What else is there in this crazy world? My question was answered by a small purple dragon bobbing along behind carrying an array of books.… Why did that even surprise me?...
The lavender unicorn comically skidded to a halt with a small yelp as it set its eyes on me, causing the small dragon to crash into it dropping its tower of books. The tiny lizard also whimpered as fear set over its face as it craned its neck to look up at me. Poor thing was only as tall as my knee, must be a baby or something. From what I’ve seen of this world it was probably the unicorn’s baby.
“Sweet Celestia! What the hey is that?!” She screamed and pointed a hoof up at me.
“Err we were hoping that you knew what it was” Rainbow answered with a nervous smirk.
The librarian pony continued to stare up at me in wonder. It took her a few moments for her to regain her composure and turn to her little dragon.
“Spike bring me everything we have on Equestrian zoology and bipedal studies. Hey even bring everything we have on myth and legend! We’re gonna need to do some serious research on this.”
The little baby dragon saluted and ran off into another room to gather the books as a quill and scroll of paper levitated over to Twilight. She has a baby dragon and she uses it to do research?! What a waste. My train of thought was shatter as I saw her levitating the object. I swear she levitated it! She could actually use magic! And again she uses it to do research?! Pfft…If I could use magic and had a pet dragon I’d be the freakin’ king of England right now….
“Ok now let’s see here…” she looked down to skim through one of the rapidly growing piles of books that she levitated in front of her. Constantly she looked through the pages of books and back up at me. I felt like I was some oddity on display for the world. After about half an hour of the cycle being repeated and the occasional scribbling of the quill on paper she finally looked up to me and fixed me with a hard stare, making me fidget in the chaffing rope coiled around me.
Rainbow and Applejack leaned forward expectantly as she reviewed her notes.
“So? What is it Twi?” Applejack asked nervously. Twilight lowered the parchment obscuring her face.
“I…I have no idea…its completely unrecorded in any of my books. It’s like it just popped into existence! The closest thing I found was apes but it’s too different to be from them” she answered looking defeated and frazzled.
I hesitantly leaned forward from my sitting position on the floor.
“Err..that’s not very far off um…and if it would help err you could just, you know, ask me” I said in a hushed voice.
Twilight lost her magical grip on the stack of parchment, dropping it and causing it to spill all over the floor in front of her, revealing her stunned and bewildered expression. For the third time in that day I had the same reaction to anything I said and instantly knew what was about to happen.
“It can talk?!” she screamed as she almost fainted.
“Oh for god’s sake man, of course I can talk! Why do you all react like this? You know, where I come from its pretty weird to see a pony talk!”
As you would expect this was enough to push it over the edge and cause Twilight to faint and collapse face first into the stack of papers she scribbled noted all over…
…it was gonna be an interesting day alright….
Chapter 3: Infrequently Asked Questions
I shifted uncomfortably in my sitting position as the coarse ropes began to chafe and scratch at me. I saw the baby dragon try to prop up the unconscious unicorn as Applejack tried to bring her around again. I turned my head to the left as I felt Rainbow’s eyes on me. I was met with a set of large violet eyes once again staring me down.
“Do you mind?” I asked her annoyed.
She opened her mouth as if to blame me to somehow knocking her friend out but, fortunately, was silenced by Twilight awakening. As their attention was focused on the unicorn I subtly checked what I could to if this all goes E.T on me. Luckily I was near the door to the outside if I needed to escape in a hurry. I would not get far with these ropes on me though, I checked around for anything that I could use to cut myself free or something to use to defend myself in case these ponies got a little too curious as to what I was. I was not going to end up on an operating table in some lab…
Surprisingly there was nothing in the library I could see that would fit the task.
“Ugggh…wha…what happened?” She drowsily asked as she fluttered her eyelids open.
“Ya’ll went hooves up fer a bit Twi” Applejack answered as she stood over her friend.
Twilight’s eyes snapped open as she threw herself up into a sitting position to stare directly at me in fascination, startling everyone around her.
“What are you?! I must know!”
She demanded as she pulled up a quill and paper to attention and held them at the ready.
“Alright I’ll tell you, but first I want these ropes taken off me”
Naturally the ponies looked at each other worryingly.
“Don’t think you can fool us like that bub, you’re not gonna get away that easily” Rainbow answered poking me in the chest with her hoof.
“Well then… I guess you will just have to never know…” My play paid off as I saw Twilight’s fidgeting. If she was as obsessed with knowledge as I assumed she was from her reaction to not knowing what I was earlier then she would play along.
“Whoa err hang on um…I guess we could ….untie him, you know?” she quickly responded as she looked pleadingly to the other two.
“Twi are y’all nuts?! It’ll make a break fer it!” Applejack reacted as she pointed a hoof at me. I was going to have to try harder.
“Trust me, if you untie me then I’ll answer all your questions and if I do make a run for it I’m sure the pegasus could catch me again.”
I saw them considering the proposal over in their heads. I was going to have to rely on Twilight’s craving for answers.
“Ok give us a moment” she answered and motioned for the others to join her.
I looked on as the three ponies and the dragon conferred in the corner of the room in hushed voices. I tried to focus on what they were saying,
“We have a golden opportunity to observe a rare one of a kind creature!” Twilight reasoned,
“It’s too dangerous Twilight; we have no idea what it could do if it got loose.” Rainbow responded angrily,
“It’s not some mindless beast Rainbow! He is clearly displaying strong signs of sentience! Not only can he talk but he is reasoning with us!” Twilight insisted as they all looked back up at me.
The conversation continued for a while longer in whispers before they all turned to face me.
“Ok we will untie you for you to answer our questions before we take you to see Princess Celestia” Twilight explained to me.
“Applejack, go and round up the others in case we do have an incident develop.” She told her friend before the orange pony galloped out of the door. It was the best I was going to get, but who the hell was this Princess Celestia? A pony princess? Sound like something my sister would die for as a kid…
“Thank you Twilight” I responded to the unicorn as she used her magic to untie me. Clearly my use of names surprised the two; hopefully further showing them that I was not the mindless creature they had thought I was.
“Oh um no problem” she smiled as she broke out of her surprise and brought the writing implements closer to her once more.
“We will begin as soon as the others arrive. Please take a seat.” She explained and gestured to the offered seat.
I thanked her again and sat down in the old wooden chair facing them. I saw that Rainbow was still displeased with the situation but was doing well to hide it for the time being. It was unlucky that they were going to be bringing more ponies in but at least I was more comfortable. I needed answers to all of this. I needed to know why I was here and what here was. I wonder if I’ll ever get home…
I leaned forward in the chair and placed my elbows on my knees and I thought further on that subject. Home. I needed answers. This Twilight seems to be the most level headed and intelligent character here, so for now I’m going to have to play their game and answer their questions. Hopefully it will make things smoother and either her, or this princess of theirs, knows something and an explanation to all of this.
It was about 10 minutes or so before Applejack returned with three other ponies. They were the most uncomfortable, unending minutes I have ever endured in my life! I was sat in this small backless wooden chair that seemed to hate anyone with a spine with two ponies staring me to death. Rainbow Dash continued to stare me down while Twilight grinned with enthusiasm as she continuously held the paper and quill in the air. She had not moved in the slightest. I pretty sure she had stopped blinking.
I turned to look at the new ponies that had entered the library behind Applejack. A white unicorn with an overly styled mane, a yellow pegasus mostly covered by long pink hair and……what the hell?!
I jumped back in my seat as a bright pink pony with a poofy pink mane appeared less than an inch from my face.
“Oooooo what is this thing? It’s sooo funny looking! Where’d you come from? What’s your name? Can we keep it? *Sharp inhale* let’s give it a welcome party!” the pink pony darted around the room and appeared around me at different angles in the blink of an eye.
This thing was seriously freaking me out…
“Pinkie leave it alone” Rainbow Dash scolded as the aptly named pony bounced away to join the others.
The other two ponies looked at me with their own responses. The yellow one shrunk down to the floor with a small whimper and looked up at me in worry as I turned to her. The white one however looked like it was about to snap.
“What is the meaning of this?!” she screamed overdramatically
Everyone turned to look at her confused as she stomped over to me as if to inspect me closer.
“Err Rarity, what’s the matter?” Twilight asked as the white unicorn inspected me up and down.
“How?” She brought her face up to mine, “How can you wear such garbage! It has no flair! No passion! No creativity! It is a crime against fashion!”
… Seriously?... Is this actually happening?
The other ponies sighed or put a hoof to the face as they told Rarity to sit down. As she walked away from me in a huff, I looked down at my blue jeans, open black zip up hoodie and white t-shirt. What was wrong with it? None of these ponies are even wearing clothes! What do they care how I’m dressed?
I looked at the group of ponies gathered opposite me sitting on a small sofa. They were all inspecting me as they each looked upon me in their own way. I felt like I was on trial, then again in a way I probably was. Twilight gently cleared her throat as she began,
“Now we can begin. We’ll start with the introductions; as you already know, my name is Twilight Sparkle. You already know Rainbow Dash and Applejack” she said as she pointed to them. The way she was speaking reminded me of my old teachers being back in school. It had an underlying diplomatic sort of tone.
“We also have Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie” she continued, pointing to the other three with a smile.
I raised my hand in a half wave “Hi there” I responded as I took notice of the yellow pegasus lowing her head further behind the small sofa they were gathered on and around. The others, specifically Twilight, seemed to take a keen notice in my hand as I raised it.
“So um do you have a name?” she asked as she looked up from quickly scribbling something on the paper.
“Yes, my name is David Mason.”
“Huh what an unusual name, what does it mean” she asked in wonder as she scribbled more of the paper like some kind of news reporter.
“Err it doesn’t mean anything, it just a name you know?”
Another bout of uncomfortable silence followed as the quill scratched on the paper. Seriously, the scribbling was getting kind of annoying…
“Ah I see… So David Mason, what exactly are you?”
“I’m a human” I answered. This was going to take a while…
“What the hey is a human?!” Rainbow asked in an unnecessarily loud voice
“Rainbow shush, that’s what we’re trying to find out” Twilight scolded in between the scratches “And where did you come from?”
“Engla... umm Earth”
“Earth? Like, as in the ground earth?” Applejack asked
I… I honestly had no idea how to answer that.
“Errm I.. I guess so. Is this place Earth?”
My question greatly confused the ponies as the each looked to each other
“We call this place Equestria. Our town is called Ponyville.” Twilight answered, still confused as to my earlier answer.
At least it has a cool name…
The next few hours passed with me answering their questions they had about Earth and what humans were and what we did. Twilight beamed with delight the entire time as she filled stacks of paper with writing. I answered questions about who I was, human history and biology and such. It was an interesting experience if nothing else, even if I did get some worried yet fascinated looks when I described human civilisation and some extremely worried glances and a few quiet whimpers from behind the sofa as the question of human diet was brought up. Even though I reassured them I did not eat meat they still seemed worried at the thought.
I tried to ask questions of my own about where I was but could not gain much. I was still left in the dark on the matter of getting home with only the glimmer of “maybe Princess Celestia knows” as an answer.
Fortunately answering these questions had all seemed to relax the atmosphere a bit and hopefully make this whole situation go smoother. What would I do if this princess had no answers though? Would I have to stay here? It would have to wait for now…
It was hours later that we finally finished with the questions. Twilight levitated the thick stack of papers she had filled into a small bag she put onto her back. They said that we would be paying a visit to their princess afterwards. Meeting royalty huh? Guess I was moving up in the world. The world of cartoon ponies anyway.
It was dark outside by the time we left the library. I had pretty much lost all track of time since my arrival in this place. I stepped out into the pleasantly cool night and was instantly awestruck by the sight. The sky… the sky was so beautiful…
Now I’m not the kind of guy to be all deep or moved by things but this… this was something else…
I stood gazing up into their night sky as the plethora of beaming stars and lights greeted my eyes. The coloured swirls and starlight seemed to dance before me. It was so full of the twinkling light of stars scattered against the deep blue of the night. The ponies trotted up behind me and looked up at me in wonder.
“David? Is something wrong?” Twilight asked me as I continued staring at the sky almost mesmerised by it. It was only by chance that Twilight’s words reached me.
“Yeah I just… your sky. It’s amazing…” I almost whispered as I kept my eyes fixed on the sight. I can remember even trying to memorise every swirl of light, every blink of a star in my memory in case I never got to witness this again.
“What about it? It’s just a sky” Rainbow added floating over. Although the long conversation earlier had eased a lot of the tension and made us all more comfortable with each other, Rainbow still held onto some of the brutish and abrasive traits she had towards me.
“Just a sky?” I gave a shallow smirk at this, “this is not just a sky…” Vaguely noticing the scepticism directed towards me from the group around me I explained it to them. “Back home, where I live, night skies are nothing like this. Our skies are more like a black cloth pulled over the sky. We see the few stars but… it’s like the few we see are barely even bothering.”
Damn… I don’t think I had ever been that deep in my life. But it held the truth. At home it’s like the night sky was having the life chocked out of it. Like other things today, I guess I had never taken any notice of these things. It’s like it was just the normal thing to be. Seeing this with my own eyes and actually being there. It was breath taking. If you could have been there that night, you would understand.
I was broken out of my unusually philosophical state by Applejack nudging a hoof against shin.
“Come on sugarcube, that royal carriage ‘aint gonna wait all night.” Why not? I could…
I remembered earlier how the dragon, I later found out to be named Spike, had written a letter to the princess telling her of the situation and asking her to send transport to take me to see her. I was shocked that how he sent it to her had surprised me after seeing this sight.
“Come along darling, you can thank the princess in person when we get there” Rarity added as she trotted down the road with the others. The princess was capable of this? Damn, back home being royalty was pretty much just a fancy title. To be able to create this sky that princess of theirs had to be a god!
We were being carried through the sky in a large, open topped and very ornate chariot pulled by 4 white pegasus in golden armour. It was large enough for all 8 of us to sit in a kind of circle shape comfortably. It was an exciting experience alright. The cool night breeze washing over me as I continuously stared at the amazing view.
It had been an interesting day alright. I still had no idea what was going on or what had happened to me but I had realised some things. Firstly this place, Equestria, had to be real. At least on some plane of existence. It was far too in depth and realistic to be imaginary. I had initially thought I was just imagining it or projecting it on reality but… I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like, if this is imaginary then how come I can reach out and touch things? How can I feel the breeze of flying through the air? I had to be in some kind of alternate reality.
Whatever the reasons might be I knew that when I return home… I would never forget this. The sights I have seen and the experiences I’ve had, even if most of them were bad. Altough I would have to keep them to myself since no one would believe me, they would probably think I had lost it.
“So do tell Mr. Mason, have you ever met royalty before?” I was broke out of my thoughts by Rarity’s formal and upper class voice.
I turned around to answer. “Unfortunately no” I gave a small smile as I continued, “Today is going to be a first for a lot of things I guess.”
She returned a polite smile of her own. In the corner of my eye I noticed the yellow pegasus beside her shrink down behind her long pink hair. It had been a repeated response ever since she arrived at the library. I looked towards her curiously. Was she still upset by my presence? The others seemed to be adjusting to it so why was she still acting afraid?
“Oh don’t mind Fluttershy” Pinkie Pie seemed to stretch her head over to me and answered my unasked questions in her hyper pitched voice. She must have been noticing it too. “She usually acts like that, especially when we meet funny new things like you” she explained as she beamed at me.
I smiled at her hyper and cheerful personality. I couldn’t help it; it was like she emitted some kind of aura that made you smile. It was comforting in a way. I turned back around to look over the side of the carriage to the ground below. I rested my arms on the edge of the carriage as the ponies began to chatter amongst themselves about today’s events and my situation. I kept an idle ear on their chatter but soon delved into thoughts of my own.
I had been in this world for roughly half a day now. I had met six ponies and a baby dragon, and was also about to meet the pony princess. I had gathered from my own observations that the ponies I was with seemed to be of some kind of importance in this land, given that they are well associated with their royalty. The world that I had been transported to was like a fantasy style one where the mythical creatures and legends of my world are common fact here. It also seems to be more reliant on magic than technology. It was like the complete opposite of my world, everything here was just so unusual and weird. I did not belong here, that much was clear.
I felt so out of place here, like some kind of oddity, I guess I was really. All the more reason to get out of here I thought…
We finally arrived at a huge white castle like city built into the side of a mountain. I looked down at the city as we flew over it and saw the pristine white stone houses and buildings lining the cobblestone streets. I guessed that this place must have been like the capital of their land. Being night time and the very few lights still on in the houses, they entire view of the city was bathed in a quiet grey tint with the few patches of the moon’s light reflecting off the white stones.
“This here is the city of Canterlot, it is our royal city and home of Princess Celestia and her sister Luna” Twilight explained to me as if she was reading it straight out of a book. She probably had done several times before in the past.
“Over there is the royal castle where we are heading” She continued, standing next to me and pointing out over the city to a very large fantasy like castle.
We landed on a large disc like platform that stretched out to the side of one of the castle’s large towers. As we all got out of the carriage I was greeted by exactly what I expecting upon my arrival at the castle of a princess, and that was the pointed spears of half a dozen armour clad guards being lowered at me. Of course even though I was expecting it, having a bunch of sharp weapons pointed at you was very unsettling.
“Whoa easy there fellas, he aint no danger to ya’ll” Applejack kindly steeped in as I put up my hands in a surrendering position.
“That’s right, we are here on order of the Princess to bring him here.” Twilight stepped forward to explain as I took a step back from the worryingly close spear heads.
The identical looking guards looked to each other and back up at me. I gave a nervous smile back to them as they lowered the weapons.
“Ok Miss Twilight, we will escort you to Princess Celestia’s chambers.” One of them answered as they bowed their heads.
I wondered how long it was going to take before they all stopped reacting like that to me. That is if I was around long enough for that to happen. We were taken down a long stretch of hallways and corridors. Some lined with fancy stain glass windows, some with large artworks and banners draping the walls.
We were ushered into a large open room that was decorated in the same banners bearing a sun like mark and marble walls and floors as the rest of the castle. At the end of a long red carpet I saw a flight of stairs leading up to a large throne. A very tall white pony made her way down the steps to meet us. She was far taller than the group of ponies surrounding me, coming to about eye level with me. Her hair was… unusual to say the least. It flowed out to the side like it was some kind of liquid and held a multi-colour hue, much like Rainbow Dash’s but a lot tamer. Gold jewellery adorned her form with a tiara placed behind the long horn on her head.
I tilted my head over to Rainbow Dash who was hovering in the air next to me.
“Let me guess, the Princess right?”
Rainbow simply smacked me across the back of the head with one of her front legs as she placed the other hoof on her face. The ponies around me all knelt on their front legs as the princess approached. I was not paying attention to this however so Rarity had to nudge my ankle with her hoof and gestured for me to do the same. I mentally cursed myself for already messing it up as I quickly got down on one knee to bow to the princess.
“Ahh so I see this is the strange creature that you informed me about. Certainly a very… peculiar one indeed.”
“Yes Princess Celestia, It is called a human.” Twilight answered as she and the others stood back up. I followed their lead and stood back up to face the princess. “I have researched them and found nothing recorded about them before. However the one we have with us here was kind enough to supply us with some information about them” she continued as she levitated the book of papers from the saddlebag on her back and presented them to the princess.
“I wouldn’t expect any less from my faithful student” the princess chuckled lightly as she took the large stack of papers from her and began to skim through them. I saw Twilight grin widely at the praise. So she was the princess protégé, guess I was right in my earlier assumption about their status.
“Oh, so I see our guests have arrived dear sister” I heard a voice call down from above. I looked up to see another pony fly down to stand next to the princess. It closely resembled the first one, right down to the hair flowing but was a deep blue colour instead of white. She also looked sort of younger and was shorter.
“I take it that this is the creature we were told about?” she tilted her head to the side in curiosity as she inspected me. “It’s certainly an odd looking thing”
“Cheers…” I replied to her sarcastically. She looked at me again, her eyes momentarily widening.
“Ahh I see it can talk, how fascinating!” she exclaimed.
“Very fascinating” Princess Celestia said looking up from Twilight’s notes, “It is a pleasure to meet you” she gave me a warm smile, “I am Princess Celestia and this is my sister Princess Luna, we are the rulers of Equestria”
“Nice to meet you. My name is David, David Mason” I smiled back to them and instinctually offered a handshake. They both looked down at my hand and the obviously unknown human greeting. I mentally kicked myself again for the second blunder. Embarrassed, I awkwardly started to pull my hand back apologising when I saw Celestia slowly and unsurely raise her hoof in the same manner. It was the wrong hoof but it still surprised me. I gave her a small smile as I put my hand on her hoof and shook it gently. She gave me another warm and happy smile as I also gave Luna a hand/hoof shake. The ponies all stared closely in curiosity at the simple human gesture.
“It’s called a handshake” I explained to them to slake their curiosity, especially Twilight’s as I noticed she had another piece of parchment and a quill at the ready and sketched the gesture. “It’s a kind of human greeting”
“Ahh yes, if you would be so kind David Mason, we would greatly love to hear more about your species.” Celestia began to say as she walked back towards her throne. “I understand from my student’s notes that humans are from another world?”
“Yes I believe that would be the most accurate term” I answered as I walked with her and the others.
“I see. So, tell me, what is your world like?” she asked as she sat down on her throne again.
“Err… I guess it’s kinda like this one. Just a lot more detailed… err if that makes any sense” I gathered from their confused looks that it did not.
“And your species? I gather that the humans are the dominant species of your world. Tell me about the human civilisation” she asked as she pressed forward, trying to learn more about what I was directly from me and expand on Twilight’s notes.
“We have expanded so much we cover pretty much all of my planet now. Humans have managed to build vast cities and nations all over the world spanning thousands of years. My kind is a vast and industrious one with a long history. Every one of them on my world has its own individual varied and deep culture and history. I guess the main difference between our worlds would be our technology” I didn’t really know where to start on explaining it all, lucky she already knew most of it from the notes.
“Technology? How so?” her curiosity peaked.
“Well one thing I guess can be said about humans is that we are masters of Science and technology. The leaps we have made in technology over the past few centuries are staggering. From what I’ve seen since my arrival in your world I would say that humans were at your technology level a few hundred years ago. Then again it seems your world specialises magic over technology.”
“Ohh yes, I read from Twilight’s notes that magic is not present in the human world?”
“In a way yes, magic in my world is more close to illusion and trickery rather than physical magic.”
The princess seemed to retreat into thought for a moment as she pondered everything I had told her. The silence was broken only by the hurried scratching on Twilight’s quill as she scribbled down all of the extra information.
“Hmm I see. So a true form of magic is not present on the human world?” she asked as curiosity set on her expression.
“No not at all. It’s mostly used in legends and stories of fantasy.” I answered her, wondering myself what had a hold on her thoughts.
“With your permission David, I would like to test something on you” she said as she stood up and walked closer to me. The surrounding ponies watched on as we conversed.
“Depends what it is.” I answered her, suspicious of what she asking.
“I simply want to cast a harmless spell on you to see the effects. It will not hurt I promise.” Well that made me unsettled. An alien in a strange land and their leader wants to experiment on it…
Sounds worryingly like a lot of sci-fi films I’ve watched…
Then again I didn’t have a choice did I? It’s not like I could refuse or make a run for it. I guess I would have to just let her. Well she didn’t really seem like she couldn’t be trusted.
“Okay then. Just don’t turn me into a frog or something” I answered with a smirk.
She returned my half smile with another of her warm and trusting smiles as closed her eyes and lowered her head. Her long horn began to glow with a golden like bubble as she placed it on my forehead. It felt kinda nice; it was like a warm and gentle touch. This only lasted for a split second as the golden glow dispersed and the feeling vanished. The princess opened her eyes in wonder at me before she lowered her head to try again. The second attempt yielded the same result however.
What was she trying to do? The 6 ponies and the princess’ sister watched us with intensity, I wished Twilight would give that god damn quill scratching a rest…
Princess Celestia raised her head to face me again as her sister walked over to sit at her side. They seemed to be the only ones in the room to know what was going on as myself and the others were left in the dark. They threw each other glances as if they could almost communicate silently. I started to shift uncomfortably on my footing. Finally they both turned to face me again.
“Hmm, it would seem that your kind has some kind of… natural immunity to magic. It’s like you are completely null to the effects of it.” She explained with an almost awestruck expression.
“What?! How is that possible princess? Surely nothing can be immune to magic.” Twilight practically shouted with shock and awe plastered over her face.
“I agree princess, how can something not be influenced by the effects of magic? Such a thing would be impossible” Rarity stepped forward to voice her opinion. Now I never really believed in magic, at least not until today anyway, but I also found myself silently questioning the fact.
“Perhaps it is because these ‘humans’ are from a completely different plane of existence to us, that the ways of our world may not work the same with them” Princess Luna offered up to us as an explanation. “Or maybe humans are like a null zone in the magical spectrum so the effects magic has nothing to resonate with and are cancelled out?” she continued as she placed a thoughtful hoof to her chin and continued to inspect me.
… I admit I didn’t understand most of that. I tried to blame that to my sleeping through physics class in school but I doubt most of that would apply to this world anyway. Luckily the other ponies seemed to share the same feeling as confusion set on their faces. All except the ever knowledgeable Twilight who seemed to understand completely. Once again I decided just to roll with it instead of try to get my head around things I knew I had no chance of understanding. Intelligence was never my strong suit after all…
“You humans are an unusual kind” Celestia said as if she was just thinking out load. “Tell us, how did you exactly get here?”
I opened my mouth to answer but I was caught short. I was hoping to ask them that. “To tell the truth princess I have no clue whatsoever how I came here. I can remember this morning back in my world. I was going to work. The next thing I remember was waking up here. I never meant to come here, it just happened. I didn’t even know about this place until today” I tried to explain but I was trying to work it out myself. “Frankly I was hoping you would know the answer to that princess”
The princess looked deep in thought for a moment. The throne room once again descended into silence as she closed her eyes to retreat into her own thoughts. This continued for several long minutes as both princesses left us in the painful silence to ponder the question. Finally they turned to us once more.
“I am afraid we have no plausible answer for that. There was no unusual activity or events leading up to your arrival here that can be suspected for causing it. Are you certain that you cannot remember anything from before waking up here?”
I tried to think back to this morning and struggled to remember anything that lead to this.
Unfortunately it was all a blurry jumbled mess. “No I can’t really remember any kind of shift between it, it’s like one minute I was home and the next I was here.”
“I see… ” The princess looked down and rubbed her chin, almost as if in worry.
“So erm… Princess? Is there any way to get me back home?” I saw the princess slowly close her eyes and maintain the same position with her internal thoughts. I wondered if she had already been thinking about my question before I even asked it. She looked up at me with a somewhat stern look.
“I am afraid that I do not know if there is any way to send you back David. While there could possibly be a few spells in the archives that could potentially send you back, they would not work on you given your immunity to magic.”
This struck me hard… so hard I even felt as if I was suddenly struck from my own body.
“What do you mean?!” it was a tad louder than I had meant. All of their eyes shot up to me in surprise. All except the princess however who maintained her steel like gaze.
“You have to send me back. I can’t stay here! Not in this world!” the desperation I was feeling gave my tone more of a forceful edge than I had wanted. “If magic does not affect me and it can’t be used to send me back then how did I manage to get here in the first place?!”
“I do not have the answer to that David. I realise your situation but there is nothing we can do about it right now.” Celestia shot back at me. Her voice had taken a more authoritative tone. I realised immediately how I had just acted. I am still a stranger in this land and these creatures are still unsure of me and I had just shouted at their leader…
“I-I am sorry princess.” I bet this comes back to haunt me. What a stupid time to lose it…
Luckily the pony’s expression softened.
“We understand how troubling this must be for you but trust me, we will search for a solution to this. There could be other methods we could use but you will have to give us time. For now the best I can offer is for you to return to Ponyville with my student and her friends. You will be safe in their care until we can sort this out.” She threw me another one of her trusting smiles. So there might possibly still be a way to get back? Guess it’s my best shot, it’s better than nothing… I just need to last until they can figure this out, hopefully that won’t be too long.
“Thank you princess.” I gave a respectful bow, hoping that my earlier outburst made no lasting impressions. The princess returned a smaller and more dignified nod as I turned to follow the other ponies escorting me out.
“And David?” I heard the princess call behind me. I turned around to face the two pony princesses atop the stairs. “I have enjoyed our little conversation…” I half smiled back at them before heading to the carriage with the others.
I was once again being flown through the air in the large royal chariot. I was utterly exhausted. That day had certainly taken a lot out of me. The ponies and the dragon delved into a long conversation amongst themselves, most likely it was about what to do with me but I was simply far too tired to pay attention to it. I settled for sitting back in my seat and enjoyed the cool air brushing past me again. Dawn was breaking as I could see that the sun was beginning to rise up in the sky. As it rose up it coated the previously deep black sky with streaks of orange and purple, making the clouds appear a pinkish colour. It was a new day in this world, I could only imagine what was going to happen to me in this one. I wished that it would be easier than this one was.
It was an interesting day alright…
Chapter 5: First Day in a Foreign Land
I was positively shattered by the time we landed. My eyes grew heavy from not sleeping for more than a day now, that and the exhaustion of yesterday’s events. It was early morning now and the sun was high in the sky but luckily it was early enough for there not to be too many people… err ponies out. We walked through the streets on the far edge of their home town of Ponyville to try and avoid going through the busier town centre. Naturally we still passed a few spooked looking ponies that would pause and gawk at the strange creature walking through their town. How long was I going to have to stay in this place…
Fortunately the uncomfortable atmosphere was being broken by Pinkie Pie’s excited bouncing around and chattering about how fun it would be to have someone new in town. Pinkie was an odd one alright but I was thankful to have her here, breaking up the tension and brightening everyone’s mood. She seemed to be the only one who showed no signs of fatigue as she skipped and bounded along talking about welcome parties and celebrations.
They had decided that I would be under Applejack’s care as it was the most suitable option since all the others couldn’t manage it. Twilight and Rarity didn’t have the room, Fluttershy would be too scared of me and there was something about me not being able to walk on the clouds in Rainbow’s…
So that left only Applejack and Pinkie and they said staying with Pinkie would probably kill me and/or drive me insane.
Frankly I didn’t care where I stayed as long as I could get some sleep, hopefully I wouldn’t be staying here at all for very long anyway so it didn’t matter. I was told that Applejack was some kind of apple orchard farmer and I was to be staying in her barn. A barn? Wow I guess I was going to be living in luxury…
They had taken me out of the town and into a large forest of apple trees. How exactly was a pony supposed to be an apple farmer anyway? Ahh I was too tired to care at that point. I was taken to a large pinkish red barn that stood by a moderately sized farmhouse. It was a quiet and peaceful place out here on this little farm. Bird’s chirped in the surrounding apple trees and the steady wind that rattled the small metal wind gauges on the farmhouse. The inside of the barn was open and largely empty with only a few wooden barrels and haystacks inside. So this was where I was going to be staying huh? Can’t say I was ecstatic at the thought.
The ponies said something about us all getting some sleep as they left, I couldn’t agree more as I sat down on one of the square bales of hay. It was rough and scratchy but it was the best I was going to get.
“Nah y’all get yuurself cozy Mr. Mason. Try ‘n get some sleep and iffin ya get hungry y’all can help yuurself to some apples in those there barrels.”
Embarrassingly my stomach answered her with a growl as I realised I had not eaten all day. She gave a hearty laugh at this as I smirked in embarrassment.
“Thanks Applejack, and thanks for letting me stay here.” I know I didn’t much favour staying in a barn and sleeping on hay but I was still going to thank her for giving me somewhere to stay. Besides, if I the first time they had met a human I wanted to leave a good impression.
“Aw it’s no bother sugarcube, y’all just try n’ get some shuddeye. Ah’m guessin’ ya needin’ it after today” she shot me a sympathetic smile and left me to it.
I gave a tired sigh as I leaned back on the makeshift seat. The barn was dimly lit by the small streaks of sunlight that managed to find its way into the barn through whatever gap it could find, giving the interior a kind of dark orange colour. My stomach growled at me again as I wandered over to one of the barrels and got a couple of apples from it. Taking a bite from one of the surprisingly amazing tasting fruit I sat myself back down on the hay and emptied my pockets to see what I still had with me in this place.
The familiar possessions brought me some comfort as they reminded me of my world. I took my wallet and opened it. I wondered if my money would be of any use here, probably not, same with the other contents of the fold of leather. Pulling out my I.D card I looked at it for a moment and wondered if anyone knew I was gone yet. Maybe barely any time has passed in my world, then again the other side of that could be that years had passed. I decided it was best not to dwell on that path of thought.
Putting the wallet aside I pulled out the familiar cool feel of the old metal lighter I had. I looked at the time-ravaged and rough lighter as I idly opened it and flicked it on, the tiny flame illuminating the small area of the dark barn. I opened up the crumpled and practically empty pack of cigarettes I had with it. Now I wouldn’t consider myself a smoker, in fact I rarely did it. But I found it a much welcome release when I was particularly stressed or worried. That vice closed in and felt I could very much do with one after all this. Opening the pack I found I only had three left. I doubted that they would have something like cigarettes in this place so I knew I’d have to make them last.
I put one in my mouth and lit it with the lighter as I took out the last possession from my world that I had with me. My eyes widened as I realised I still had my phone with me. I quickly turned it on as I took another breath of the cigarette. Now I knew that the phone would not be able to work here but I still had to try. I held it up to the sky in some futile attempt to get a signal. The area I was in was being lit with a blue tint from the small screen. Obviously I got no signal on the phone but I decided to try and call home anyway. Tapping in the memorised number I put the phone to my ear as I inhaled again on the flaring and depleting cigarette.
I still remember the way the ethereal like smoke danced and swirled in the dark room in front of me. The phone responded with a long monotonous tone as it failed to work. I knew it was nigh on impossible in the first place but it was still frustrating when it failed. I put the phone down beside me as I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and finished the cigarette.
Making sure it was thoroughly stubbed out I swung my legs up on the hay stack to lie down on my back. Putting an arm behind my head to prop it up I took out my phone again. I scrolled through the messages from friends and family, looking at the pictures of them in my phone I tried to put my mind at ease as I slowly drifted off to sleep.
I faintly woke up to the feeling of something poking against my cheek sceptically. In my state of half sleep I could hear some childlike voices talking.
“What do you think it is?” I recalled hearing one voice say.
“Ah dunno, it looks funny though” I heard another respond poking my cheek again. Being forced out of my sleep I opened my eyes to see three pairs of huge bright eyes beaming down on me. Realising I was still in Equestria I clenched my tired eyes shut again and put a hand against my forehead. I hoped it was some kind of dream…
“Nah look what ya done Sweetie Belle, ya done woke it up.” A yellow pony with red hair and a very large bow scolded at the white unicorn holding a small stick that I guessed was what was poking my face.
“Hey you were the one who told me to do it!” The tiny pony yelled back in a whiney voice that made me clench my eyes tighter.
“Ah didn’t tell ya to wake it up though!”
“Well excuse me! I didn’t know you had a cutie mark in poking funny sleeping creatures with sticks!”
Using an amount of effort I managed to heaved myself up again to sit up on the hay stack. Whatever time it was it was too early…
The stiff and coarse hay made for an uncomfortable sleep, now I had been woken up with a stick and was having my ears assaulted be these, what I assumed were, children bickering. I rubbed my face with both my hands to try to rub the sleep away and wake myself up. Giving a deep yawn as I stretched my arms out to get rid of the stiffness of sleeping on hay, the three young ponies stopped there bickering to look at me curiously. They were about the same height as that baby dragon Spike, coming to about the same level as my knee. Breathing a long sigh I slumped forward and looked at them expectantly.
“What?” I asked lazily, I was not a morning person.
“Hey there” the little tan coloured pegasus bounced closer to me, a bright smile featured on her face. “Name’s Scootaloo, what are you?”
Yeah, they were definitely children. I looked down to her from our large height difference. I didn’t like children much. Didn’t hate them but didn’t really like them either…
I pinched the bridge of my nose between my eyes in frustration. How many times was I going to have to go over this?
“Scootaloo, Applejack told us not to bother it.” The white unicorn chimed in to her little friend. Bit late for that wasn’t it?
“Well I think it’s a bit late for that Sweetie Belle!” the tan pegasus turned to answer her friends. Huh, maybe this one is not as annoying as I thought. This thought was put to rest by her turning around to face me again and preparing to bombard me with endless questions.
I was defiantly too early…
Luckily I was saved by Applejack creaking open the barn door and looking to the three little ponies.
“There y’all are! Ah told y’all not ta go n’ bother him.” She scolded the young ponies as she walked over to us. They looked down to the ground and shifted uncomfortably under the older ponies stern words. “Ah hope they didn’t bother ya Mr. Mason, these little fillies can be a hoovefull at times.”
“Fillies?” I asked as I stood up and brushed off the strands of hay stuck to cloths and scratched the back of my head. I looked at her to see her blinking in confusion.
“Well yeah. You know like a young’un, a little one.”
“Hey we’re not babies!” “Yeah we’re all grown up now sis!” “Yeah!” the three ‘fillies’ piped up to their elder in defence. Just like a child would I suppose. One hardened glare from Applejack sent them back to their previous state of being caught however.
I walked over to the large wooden barn door and pushed it open. I shielded my eyes from the immediate blast of sunlight that stung my eyes. I was surprised that it was still light outside, I thought I was asleep for far longer than a few hours.
“Ahh geez. What time is it?” I asked Applejack as she walked out beside me.
“Why it’s mornin’ Mr. Mason, ya’ll been sleepin’ like a log right the way through yesterday.” She replied with a chuckle as she walked to the end of the dirt path leading up to the barn.
I slept an entire day? No wonder I feel like hell, I spent all that time sleeping on that block of hay! I knew I was tired but not that tired. I pinned it down to the mental and physical exhaustion from my arrival as I stretched again, trying to unstiffen my joints which felt like an old man’s.
“I bet ya could do with a bite ta eat, come on we got breakfast ready in the house.” Damn right I could do with something to eat, I had only eaten a couple of apples over the past 2 days! Rubbing the sleep from my eyes once more (it was a strong habit of mine in the mornings) I set off with Applejack and the pack of fillies to the house.
Luckily Applejack’s family had prepared a large spread of food for the breakfast, I was unsure as to whether this was because they were unsure as to what or how much I ate or this was simply normal for them. Unsurprisingly the majority of it was apple based but I still happily had my fill of the delicious food. I was, quite frankly, astounded that a bunch of ponies could not only cook but cook so well! Far better than I can cook that’s for sure.
The rest of her family, a brother called Big Mac and a grandmother called Granny Smith, initially shared the same reaction to me as everyone else but strangely the brother was stoically quite over the matter of what I was. The only reaction he gave was a widening of the eyes when we first met and very few words over breakfast, and I mean very few words…
The granny though… she was different. She was certainly a cookie one. Reacting very over the top to my appearance with shouts of “What in tarnation is that?!” and labelling me “Some kinda bugaboo!”. I had no idea what that meant but she was friendly enough after Applejack vouched for me, saying she’s seen stranger things in her time than me.
Thankfully the breakfast past rather uneventfully, I guessed everything was already explained to them by Applejack the previous day.
“Well, ah guess it’s time we got ta work” Applejack announced as she got up from the table. Her brother Big Mac nodded and followed her outside.
“Hey err Applejack” I called as I caught up with her outside. “Why don’t I help you out?” She turned to look at me sceptically, as if curious as to whether I had really asked that.
“You sure ‘bout that sugarcube?” she asked me, tilting her head to the side.
“Yeah why not? I admit I’m hardly much of a farmer but I would rather be doing something instead of sitting around in that barn all day. Besides, I need some way to pay you back for staying here.” I tried to give her an honest smile, I really didn’t want to be sitting around in a barn for who knows how long till that Princess Celestia manages to find something, even if it did mean doing farm work.
“Why shucks sugarcube! That’s mighty fine of you.”
As we set off for the south orchard that we would be working in, we saw Twilight, her little dragon Spike and Rainbow Dash coming up the dirt path leading to the farm house.
“Howdy guys, what brings y’all here today?” Applejack greeted as she waved a front leg to them.
“Good morning Applejack, we came to see how our guest is doing.” Twilight answered her friend as she looked over to me. Internally I cursed as I knew that this really meant that she wanted to study me some more.
“Well at least he’s finally awake now” Applejack chuckled as she tapped my shin with her hoof. “Mr. Mason was kind enough ta offer ta help me with ma work today. We were just ‘bout ta start workin’ iffin y’all would like ta come along.”
Twilight nodded excitedly while her two companions sighed overdramatically at the idea of having to work.
A couple of hours passed in the orchard of apple trees. The cracking thud of Applejack’s hooves against the bark of the trees rang out as she kicked the apples from the branches. It was my job to pick up the barrels that the apples dropped into and put them in the back of the carts that we brought. For small barrels full of apples they were surprisingly quite heavy, especially as the day began to drag on. That and I was completely unused to such physical labour after most of my life being sat in front of some kind of computer or T.V. Not that I was in that bad a shape but I was certainly no athlete.
Throughout the day I had the constant feeling of being watched or, more accurately, inspected. I knew Twilight was keeping an eye on me as she used her magic to pick apples, but whenever I looked in her direction, she would always be facing away. Unlike Rainbow Dash, or ‘the security’ as she put it, who continuously watched my every move as she slumped in the branch of one of the trees. I guess she still didn’t really like me.
It wasn’t long before Twilight had begun to slowly start the probing questions she had been longing to ask. Starting of course with whether or not it was normal for a human to sleep for such long periods of time…
“So how come humans can walk upright on two legs with perfect balance without having a tail?” Twilight asked as Spike instinctively appeared beside her with the writing implements at the ready.
“I-I really don’t know Twilight, it’s just the way we are” I responded as I heaved another barrel into the cart, not wanting to go down the path of explaining human evolution to her...
“What can you tell me about human hands?” she asked pointing a hoof to the hand at my side. I had begun to notice that whenever I picked up one of the stray apples or held onto the handles of the barrels she would give particular focus to my hands, it was starting to get really uncomfortable.
“Hands? Why can’t you just ask the dragon? He’s got hands”
“Yes but Spike’s hands are nothing like yours. Human hands appear to be far more dextrous and complex. With appendages like that you could hold and use a very wide variety of tools with ease that would be challenging for us ponies to use. I would greatly appreciate it if you would allow me to study them” she went on as she grabbed one of my hands with her hooves and inspected it like it was some natural marvel.
“How ‘bout maybe later Twilight” I responded, pulling my hand back and trying to get out from the conversation by turning to pick up another full barrel.
“You humans truly are a remarkable being David” Twilight continued beaming up at me in fascination.
“Yeah we’re a fun bunch” I replied with a light smirk as I pushed the barrel to the back of the cart with the others.
Twilight widen her smile as the little Spike obediently scribbled everything down, probably even adding the “fun bunch” part to Twilight’s research notes.
“Well, iffin they help out with the farm work then y’all are fine by me” Applejack called over as she bucked another tree free of apples.
“Pfft I think one’s enough for now” I heard Rainbow mutter up on her perch.
“Rainbow! Come on” Twilight called up to her.
Giving a sigh, I walked up to the tree next to Twilight and looked up to the rainbow mained pony.
“What is this whole thing going on with you and me Rainbow? If I’m going to be stuck here for a while the least we could do is try to get on” I called up to her in a tired frustration. The pony sat up on her branch to look down at me.
“Excuse me if I don’t immediately trust suspiciously unknown creatures that appear in our town.”
“I don’t like it any more than you do you know” I was beginning to grow tired of her the attitude she had towards me.
“Yeah well that makes two of us!” she responded as she fluttered down to our level. This one was defiantly the hot head of the group.
“Well then if you’re just not going to try to get along I guess we’re just gonna have to deal with each other” I shot back, quickly growing frustrated with her.
“Pfft please I’m way too awesome to be deal with somepony as lame as you” she responded as she crossed her front legs. I opened my mouth to shout back an insult but was cut off by two apples hitting me and Rainbow
“Nah come on you two! Knock it off” Applejack called over in the same stern voice she used on the fillies as she glared at us both. I noticed Twilight and Spike also looking at us with the same disappointed look. Rainbow Dash shouted in complaint about being hit with an apple while I pinched the bridge of my nose and walked back to the cart.
Several hours passed as we worked in the sun, clearing tree after tree of apples and loading them up. The sun was beginning to set over the hills and created a deep orange glow over the setting. Applejack hummed as she worked, thumping her hooves against the trees. Rainbow Dash had begun to fly around overhead performing various aerial tricks as Twilight and Spike sat in the shade of one of the many trees, reviewing her research notes. I stifled a laugh at the dragon’s embarrassment when Twilight noticed that Spike had written down everything no matter how irrelevant, including the ‘fun bunch’ part.
“Whoowie! Ah think thats enough fer one day.” Applejack called, taking off her hat and wiping her brow with the back of her leg. “Time we mosey on back now”
Finally, I was exhausted! Working all day lifting those barrels had shattered me. It was no surprise really, I don’t think I had ever worked like that in my life! I usually I worked sitting around all day in front of a computer. It was certainly a bit of a shock to the system. Every muscle from my neck down screamed from overexertion. This would take some getting used to…
Applejack hooked herself up to one or the carts while Twilight did the same to the second. Rainbow had fluttered down to walk with us as we walked back to the farm. Spike had hoped up into the back of Twilight’s cart and began eating one of the apples. The rattle of the wooden cart wheels as they rolled along the dirt paths was strangely relaxing as we walked through the beautiful apple orchard that was tinted orange by the setting sun.
I had to admit, even though I felt exhausted, that day had actually been surprisingly fun. I guess it was just so unusual to be going from working on a computer in an office to working in an orchard picking apples with a bunch of ponies. Just because I didn’t belong here and wanted to go home didn’t mean I couldn’t at least try to enjoy it while I waited.
Despite my aching arms I helped the librarian pony struggling with the heavy cart by pushing it along from the back. She turned and gave me her thanks. Spike finished his apple leaning against one of the barrels in the back and turned to face me.
“Hey, so do you have dragons in your world?” He asked me, trying to strike up an idle conversation to pass the time.
“Dragons are only myths and legend in my world. Stories told to children when they’re young. Same with Unicorns and Pegasus” I panted as I pushed the heavy cart up a small rise in the road.
“Huh” he responded thoughtfully, “I wonder why we’ve never heard of humans then” he scratched his chin with his claw in wonder.
I have to say the little dragon stumped me. I wondered why this world had never heard of humans when my world knew of dragons and the other creatures in Equestria. I merely smiled and gave a tired and out of breath laugh at Spike’s thoughts.
“I guess it’s just another thing we’re gonna have to find out.” I leaned forward and continued in a hushed voice “Let’s just make sure some of us don’t lose too much sleep over it” as I gestured forward to Twilight who was clearly listening to the conversation and facial expressions showed that she was struggling to resist the urge to stop the cart and write it all down. Spike gave a baby like giggle as I joined his laughter with my own breathless chuckle.
The others left after we had gotten back to the farmhouse and had dinner. The dinner was a lot more relaxed than breakfast. It was filled with a happier and relaxed atmosphere as we were all beginning to get used to each other. Apart from me and Rainbow that is, we still avoided each other’s presence as the tension remained. After dinner I had went back to the barn and collapsed face first into a large hay pile. My muscles ached and joints stiffened from the day of hard work, I was going to be sore tomorrow morning…
Still, at least it was a good first day in this place I thought as I fell asleep within a matter of minutes.
Chapter 6: Birth of a Guardian
I had been in this world for two weeks. Two long weeks. Some nights falling asleep, questioning if I would ever get home. A thought that seemed more fleeting every day that passed. As nice and peaceful as this place was I still wanted to go home, I felt too out of place here. I had continued to work in the Apple family’s orchard, helping to collect apples with Applejack or helping Big Mac with the ploughing of fields and pulling carts. This progressed for the first week with some of the others occasionally visiting, mainly it was Twilight and Spike coming to check up on me and make a report to the princess but it helped break up the days of work and helped me at least get familiar with my handlers that were the other ponies.
Twilight would often keep me updated on how things were going on the princess’ end. She told me that Celestia had uncovered a few potential leads from the Canterlot archives and was pursuing them to see if any of them would work, saying to just be patient for a little while longer.
Sometimes she brought the others along, even the timid Fluttershy who I had only seen once the day I arrived. She was still her timid and frightened self but at least she was steadily beginning to come out of her shell as time progressed and she got used to me, that and the repeated reassurance that I was not going to be of any danger. She was actually a very sweet and kind one once she stopped cowering and opened up. I started to really enjoy Fluttershy’s company, mainly because she was the only one beside the Apple family that did not bombard me with questions, try to study me or be openly hostile.
The ivory coloured pony, Rarity, accompanied Twilight or one of the others on their visits sometimes. I learned that Rarity was more your girly fashion obsessed type pony. She would often complain and avoid parts of Applejack’s farm for fear of getting dirty. Most of her visits would usually delve into fashion and comments about my clothes. She said that she was some kind of fashion designer and would occasionally offer to make something for me, saying she would enjoy the chance of making clothes for something other than a pony. As much as I would love to have some other clothes to wear, since my current ones were quickly getting ragged and torn from working, I would refuse her offers since I knew it would be highly likely that she would make something overly girly and flashy if the clothes she sometimes wore were anything to go off.
Pinkie Pie also frequently visited, well I say visited but it was more like she would burst out of a nearby barrel or pile of apples in a shower of confetti or randomly appear inches from your face when you turned around, always appearing from nowhere when you least expect it. One time even pouncing on me from the ceiling of the barn when I entered to go to sleep…
I greatly enjoyed her visits as she would often be bouncing around telling jokes or amusing us with her cheerful antics. I would often find myself laughing happily at Pinkie Pie’s eccentric behaviour or infectious good mood. She constantly threw parties over the slightest of events or most obscure reasons such as finishing a work day or it being a certain day of the week. Once again I counted myself lucky to have her there to break up endless days of waiting for a response from the princess and essentially being trapped here.
After the first week the group of ponies all returned to visit me in the barn. They told me that they had decided to try and get me more associated with the local area and their town of Ponyville since they were unsure of how long I was going to be here and it wasn’t good to be confined to Sweet Apple Acres, which I found was the name of the Apple family’s home. Although I didn’t much like the idea of going into the town because I knew that it would worry the townsfolk I, funnily enough, was eager for a change of scenery from the orchard.
Little did I know that they had planned a large event in the town centre for the mayor to formally ‘introduce’ me to the community so that there would not be so much panic and confusion.
And I thought I felt like being treated as some kind of spectacle earlier…
Oh I could see the reason behind it but damn was it mortifying. I had to stand on a stage in the town square with the mayor of Ponyville and the others as the introduced me and explained what I was to a crowd of confused, sceptical, worried and fearful faces…
“Citizens of Ponyville! We have an important announcement to make.” The mayor announced from behind a podium on the stage. “We will be having a special visitor in our fair town for a while. Our guest may be a bit startling and unknown to us I know but rest assured he will cause us no harm.” She explained to the local populace in her authoritative voice, like a professor giving a lecture. “It is a new species called human and will be staying in Ponyville until plans can be made to send him home.” I desperately tried to tune out their stares and pretend it wasn’t happening. Hopefully it would mean that whenever I went into town after that then there wouldn’t be so much of a panic and confusion.
Of course the group of ponies I had gotten to know since my stay here were completely oblivious to my clear discomfort and embarrassment. All except Rainbow of course who snickered at it all as the others joined in with the mayor, explaining what I was and to not be afraid. I shot an annoyed glare at the amused pegasus who simply stuck her tongue out at me. Thankfully it all ended quickly with the large crowd dispersing and the others wandering off stage as they saw Twilight approach the podium and open her now very large stack of notes. It was the first time me and Rainbow both shared a laugh together at something as a flustered Twilight shot us both a forceful glare.
The rest of that second week was spent with them taking me into the town to show me around or some other excuse. I didn’t much mind as I enjoyed seeing their town since it was so different to any other city I had ever been to. Seeing all the bright and vibrant colours on the cartoony houses was kind of fun, I guess it was mainly my inner child speaking out. It was so completely foreign and unknown to me that it was exciting to see this place. The ponies there looked upon me with wonder and shock as they saw me, despite that whole embarrassment with the public introduction. This lessened as the days went on and they began to see me more often but it was still a rather frequent occurrence.
During these outings they would often try to give me a tour around the local area, showing me where they all lived and worked, like Fluttershy’s quaint little cottage or Rarity’s fashion boutique. One of the places they took me to was the border of a dense and foggy forest. They said they called it the Everfree Forest and held many deadly creatures in its depths that apparently continued for miles. It looked like something right out of a fairy tale, like the ones where some kid would go into it exploring and end up in some witches cottage or something.
Sometimes they would take me to some large grassy fields where they would tell me about Equestria and what it was like here and what their world is. It was nice to be able to find out about this place and not be the one being hailed on with questions. They would show me maps of Equestria and tell me of all the history and important events that happened. It mostly sounded like it was right out of a fairy tale in some magical storybook. I guess that was all pretty normal here. One thing that grabbed my attention was the subtle difference in our languages. They used words like ‘every pony’ and ‘somepony’ which threw me off occasionally when they are talking.
We spent hours in those grassy green fields talking about each other’s lives, comparing Equestrian and Human history and worlds. It was much nicer like that instead of me getting continuously bothered and annoyed by their probing.
They seemed amazed at the inventions and advances humans made, specifically the part when I told them that humans had even made it into space. They were especially awestruck when I showed them my mobile phone. Although it was pretty much useless to me now and a plain and common device, they were dumbfounded and taken aback by seeing something that was so advanced to them.
As was I when they demonstrated to me the extent of their magic abilities and nature of their species, how each type of pony did certain jobs and all had their own specific talent sealed with the marks on their flanks called ‘cutie marks’.
Rainbow Dash, of course, had to show me her skills in flying doing various acrobatic tricks in the sky and flying around at high speeds. I guessed this was mainly so she could show off since she looked pretty envious when I was telling them of human technology.
“Heheh bet you humans can’t do anything like that!” she bragged as she fluttered down to us, proud of her skills as she polished a hoof against her chest. “Then again not much could meet my level of awesomeness.” She continued grinning broadly.
“Well you got me there Rainbow, no human could do something like that.” I could see her grinning even wider at my admission of her talent. “That is not until they invented machine that let them fly just like that…” I continued with a smirk as I saw her face return to her previous scowl.
I could tell from the look written across her face that this was going to become an on-going thing between us…
And there I was, lying atop the bale of hay that formed my bed, thinking back on the past week’s events as I began my third week in Equestria. I never thought that I would have gotten used to sleeping on hay, even if I did add a blanket to soften it. Fourteen days since my arrival here had passed with only the faint glimmer from Princess Celestia that I would have a way back. At least it had gotten easier, just like the hay, I never thought that I could say I was getting used to this place. But this day was going to be like no other…
I stepped out of the creaking barn door into the fresh light on the morning sun. I filled my lungs with the morning air as I walked down the dirt path bordering the orchard and leading to the farmhouse. I looked down at the rough and torn clothes I wore, a testament to the time I had spent here.
“Mornin’ David!” the three little fillies called as they skipped past me merrily laughing to each other. Each wore a large pair of overstuffed saddle bags and a large safari style hat. I stopped and turned my head to look at them again as they ran down the path. I wondered what they were up to and why they were dressed like that. But I decided to pass it off as just their normal unusual behaviour and continued walking down the path.
“Goodmornin’ Mr. Mason, did ya sleep well?” Applejack greeted me from the tree line as I approached the house. It looked like she had already started working in the orchard judging from the cart full of apples she was dragging behind her.
“Yeah I did thanks, and I said you didn’t need to call me ‘Mr. Mason’ it sounds weird. Did you already start work?” she chuckled lightly as she walked over to me.
“Why sure I’ve started work already, its noon”
“Noon? Why didn’t anyone wake me I could have been helping out”
“Nah don’t ya fret over that. It didn’t feel right waking ya, everypony needs their rest after all” She answered with a kind smile. I appreciated the sentiment. During my two weeks stay here I had gotten especially close to the Apple family and Applejack. They were very kind and considerate for a family of ponies. I greatly appreciated everything they had done for me and they showed that they were thankful for my help with the farm work.
Of course it wasn’t just the Apple family that were treating me well. All of the ponies I had met in this world were so friendly and nice to me, well with the exception of Rainbow anyway but all the others were surprisingly sociable towards me.
I pondered these thoughts awhile longer as I settled into another day of working the orchard with Applejack.
It was later that night that everything would change…
I lay on top of the blanket covered hay, looking up at the ceiling with my hands folded behind my head. Naturally I was doing what I always did and crammed my head with endless thoughts about this world, Princess Celestia’s progress with my problem, the ponies living here, what’s happening back on earth and if I would ever see it again.
At least I didn’t collapse from exhaustion after every day anymore. The orange glow of the setting sun streamed through the gaps in the barn roof painting the barn in a relaxing dark orange tint. I exhaled deeply as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
I don’t know how long I slept for or what time it was, all I did know was that it was some time during the night and I was being violently shaken awake. My eyes fluttered weakly open as the shouting of my name got clearer. I mumbled groggily as I tried to ask what was happening, trying to catch up with my new state of consciousness.
“David? David?! Have you seen Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo anywhere?!” Rarity bellowed at me as she shook my still limp body in a flurry of panic. I tried to pry her grip off my hoodie as I looked around the barn, ignoring how exactly she had managed to grab onto me with hooves in the first place. I saw Applejack standing beside her with a similar mix of panic and worry written across her face. She held an old style glass lantern in her mouth that was lighting up the dark barn with a bright orange glow.
“N-no I-I… Would you let go of me?! I haven’t seen them!” I answered firmly as I finally managed to push her grip off my clothes. “I’ve been asleep so of course I won’t have seen them” I was displeased at being so rudely awoken but began to soften as I saw the intense worry and anxiety that looked back at me. “Why? What’s going on?”
“They aint come back home yet. They’ve been gone fer hours! We don’t know what’s happened to ‘em” Applejack explained as she put the lantern on the ground.
“Oh I couldn’t bear it if anything were to happen to my darling little sister and her friends!” Rarity yelled as she put a hoof against her forehead like some stereotypical damsel in distress.
“Rarity would ya calm ya'self we’re gonna find ‘em! We need your help David” Applejack said as she handed me the glowing lantern. I nodded to her as I quickly grabbed the lantern as hurried outside after them. What the hell have those kids gotten themselves into now?
As we rushed outside into the night we were greeted by the shimmer of several other lanterns held by the rest of the six ponies and Spike. Twilight nodded acknowledgment at my presence before turning to the others.
“Ok as you know the cutie mark crusaders have gone missing” she began as she levitated a rolled up map out of her saddlebag. “Does anypony have any idea where they were going before they left?”
The group mostly shook their head at this as I thought back to when they scampered past me this morning.
“I believe Sweetie Belle mentioned something about going to find their cutie marks this morning” Rarity broke the silence, “What was it she said they were doing…” she continued as she rubbed her chin “Oh yes I recall hearing her say something about cutie marks in exploration.”
Oh damn, I remembered back to when I saw them that morning, they were dressed in safari hats and overstuffed saddlebags… Goddammit I knew something was off there.
“Exploration cutie marks? Nah where did they get an idea like that from?” Applejack chimed in voicing her concerns and frustrations.
“Err I think that might be me” Rainbow sheepishly put her hoof up with an incredibly nervous grin as we all turned to her “see I was, heheh, I was kinda talking ‘bout how awesome Daring Do was to them yesterday and err I guess they must have gotten the idea from that.”
The group’s expression dropped as they all glared at the rainbow maned pony who was awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.
“Y-you don’t, erm, think that they went into the E-Everfree F-Forest do you?” Fluttershy asked shaking as she shrunk down to the ground. At the mere suggestion of this Applejack huge eyes shrunk to pinpricks while Rarity dramatically collapsed backwards onto Spike causing the baby dragon to, rather comically I thought, struggle desperately to hold the heavy pony up.
“Ok it’s as good a place to start as any. To cover more ground we will split into two groups. Pinkie and I will go with Applejack while Fluttershy and David will go with Rarity. Spike we need somepony to stay back and look around Ponyville in case they come back.” Twilight announced as she rolled out the map on the ground. “Rainbow, get up in the skies and see if you can’t see them anywhere” The cyan pegasus saluted before rocketing of into the skies. Damn who knew Twilight could be so leader like? Frankly at the time it was quite surprising but then again it might by mostly down to it was strange to see a pony giving out orders to a search party.
Even with the amount of time I had spent in this world it was still surprising to be snapped back and realise you’re with a bunch of talking ponies. One thing I can say is that it’s going to take a lot longer to get used to is their huge bubble eyes the size of my head. Still freaked me out sometimes…
“The rest of each will each take a different area of the forest to search” she continued as she tapped two parts of the forest while everyone crowded around to look. “If either group finds them then Rarity or I will shoot up a spark of magic to tell the others” Rarity nodded firmly at this, it was probably the most serious I had ever seen her, then again it was probably the most serious I had ever seen a pony…
“Alright let’s go” twilight ended firmly, snapping I out of my thoughts, as she rolled up the map and the two groups split in different directions.
Damn this forest was a lot worse than the last time I saw it…
During the day it just looked like an overgrown swamp but during the night… it was like the beginning of a lot of horror films I’ve seen.
I stared into its inky black depths as an eerie fog rolled out of it’s almost maw like opening. Naturally the yellow pegasus next to me was not faring much better, lying flat on the ground with her hooves over her head and giving a small squeak whenever an owl called out in an almost taunting fashion.
“Now come along darling there’s nothing to be worried about. You’ve been in here lots of times, what’s once more?” Rarity broke the cold the cold silence, judging from the quiver in her voice I didn’t know if she was talking to Fluttershy or trying to reassure herself. Rarity took a few uneasy steps forward into the border of the forest while Fluttershy whimpered a soft ’mhmm’ before standing up and following her, albeit a lot more shakily. Leaving me standing there watching them as they walked in.
Every fibre of my being yelled that no one should by any rights go near this place. You would have to be a complete idiot to willingly step into a place that had ‘bad vibes’ written all over it. Then again how could I call myself a man if I didn’t go in there after those kids when the two mares had managed to walk right in?
“Oh man this is such a bad idea…” I sighed before finally maning up and jogging in after them.
The forest, as you can very well imagine, was very poorly lit despite the bright night sky overhead. We had to rely on the warming glow of the lanterns and we tread through the shadowed overgrown woodland. I swear to god that this place had to be the worst place I had ever been to in my life! Of course it didn’t help that I swear I could feel something watching us or faint noises occasionally rustle in the trees or bushes.
I could only all too well remember Twilight’s in depth lectures of the animals and dangers that dwelt in the depths of this place. Rarity called out the fillies names as we walked along while myself and Fluttershy tried to inspect the inky black surrounding for any sign of the little fillies. Coming to a stop on the dirt path we shouted out for the fillies, hoping they would simply emerge from a bush and we could leg it out of here.
“Shouting in the night will only call a creature to bite” a deep voice suddenly called behind us. Goddamnit! I almost spun round and smashed my lantern into it before the others called back to it.
“Zecora! Oh are we glad to see you! Have you seen my sister and her friends anywhere? They’ve gone missing and we simply cannot find them anywhere!” Rarity exclaimed before galloping over to the… is that a freaking zebra? There’s talking zebras living in evil forests now?
“For a while the fillies I have not seen, but I assure you, through here they have been.” and it talks in cryptic rhymes… “A creature like this I do not know, but I assume he is friend not foe?” she rhymed as she looked upon me.
“Yes he’s with us but please Zecora there is no time for that now. We must find the fillies before something awful happens to them.” Rarity quickly responded in an anxious tone.
“Do you maybe know which way they went Zecora?” Fluttershy approached and asked in a more level headed tone than her friend.
“I believe this is the route they take, but haste you must make” the weird zebra responded and pointed a hoof down a barely noticeable path through the trees.
“Oh thank you so much Zecora” Fluttershy thanked her with a warm smile. Rarity and Fluttershy took of down the overgrown path, hopeful that they finally have a clue to finding them. As I turned to run after them I heard the zebra continue in a noticeably more serious voice
“Creature…a purpose in you I sense, pray you see it soon and not be dense” …the hell is she on about? I thought as I stared at her in confusion.
“What was that?” I asked, really I was hoping she would explain it without the rhymes.
“I hope you find your fate before it is too late.” She answered and she turned around and walked back into the misty depths of the trees.
What the hell was that all about?! The minute I think that maybe I’m beginning to understand this place it throws something like that at me…
Then I remembered I had been left all alone here and shot down the route the others took. It was not that hard to find them again with Rarity shouting the filly’s names. Damn did they get a shock when I jumped through a bush behind them in my haste to not get lost in there. The two ponies screamed in fright and hugged each other when I burst out the bush. Obviously it was not my intention to scare them but I couldn’t hold the laughs back at their reaction to it. That is until I was silenced by Rarity preparing to hit me…
Luckily her savagery was cut short by the interrupting faint screams from deeper down the path. In perfect unison we all turned our heads to the direction of the faint yelling. Briefly looking back at each other we all shot off towards to shouts of distress.
Sprinting closer and closer to the noise as it got clearer and clearer, we tore through the leafy vines and branches obstructing our path. Grinding to a halt with the others at the opening to a small clearing, we saw the source of the screams. The three lost fillies had, somehow, managed to climb up a fairly tall tree and were looking down at three….things pawing at the trunk of the tree in some futile attempt to get up it.
They were similar to dogs but looked as if their entire body was made out of wood. Each of them barked or circled the tree holding the ponies. Their eyes were a sinister looking green that seemed to flow out in some kind of smoky vapour at the sides.
“T-t-timber wolves!” Fluttershy squeaked as her whole body rattled in fear.
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity rather stupidly shouted out in a mix of fear and panic for her sister. Naturally this earned the attention of not only the fillies in the tree but also the pack of timber wolves.
As soon as the wolves turned their gaze onto us they began to snarl their wolf like growls and slowly paw their way closer to us.
Oh shit…
The two ponies gulped in fear as they stood rigidly at the approaching threat. We all unsurely took a slow step back as they inched closer to us, snarling their throaty growls and baring their wooden stake teeth.
Now I had no idea what I would do next. As you may well imagine I had never been placed in a situation like this before in my life. I barely even registered kneeling down and picking up the log next to me…
About a metre long, sturdy, right shape albeit a little crooked… perfect for what I guessed I was going to do.
Rarity, who noticed my movements and the addition of the club in my hand, shot me a sideways glance and whispered,
“W-what are you doing? I hope you’re no-”
“Rarity when I tell you to I want you and Fluttershy to get them out of the tree and run” I said firmly as neither of us took our eyes off the approaching threat. Now even I will admit that what I was about to do was stupid on many levels. I don’t know why I did it, I just knew that it needed to be done and I had to do it.
Now you may be thinking that this may have been a rather brave act on my part but let me tell you I was shaking like a leaf. I had to tighten my grip on the wooden club to steady my hand and stop it from shaking. Who wouldn’t be even a little scared when they were about to make themselves living bait for a pack of angry wolves. A pack of evil enchanted wolves from another world as well!
Regardless of this I took a steady breath in and out to calm myself and inhaled slowly till my lungs were full.
I quickly side stepped away from the two ponies and threw my arms up in the air, waving them up and down. Club in one hand and lantern in the other.
“Hey! Come on then! Over here!” I yelled at the wooden beasts as they turned their heads to me, staring at me intently with their glowing green eyes. I yelled challengingly at them again as the pack turned to face me and snarled. Before I turned to sprint for my life I looked once more at Rarity and Fluttershy. Their faces were twisted into one of what I thought looked like genuine worry and fear. My face blanked as we both stared at each other for a moment that was probably really only a split second.
“Go! Go! Go!” I bellowed to them before spinning around and sprinting off into the woods as quickly as I possibly could manage.
An odd sense of satisfaction filled me when I heard the wolves bark loudly and the patter of several feet was heard behind me. At least the plan worked. I risked looking behind me to see the three wooden creatures rapidly descending on me. But that’s not what I was looking for, I looked past them to see Rarity and Fluttershy getting the fillies from the tree.
I continued sprinting a while longer riding on the shot of adrenaline that flooded through me. My lantern rattling on the handle in my grip as the flickering light flashed around the dark surroundings, only just managing to light my path. I knew that I had no chance of outrunning the wolves and they would eventually catch me, most likely in a few seconds. But that’s not what I planned on doing. That’s why I had the log with me.
Grinding the side of my foot into the leafy and overgrown forest floor I skidded to a halt before twisting my body around. Both hands on the end of the wooden club, I had managed to spin around just as the lead creature caught up with me and was leaping through the air for a takedown. Like a baseball player, I slammed the end of the club square into the face of the air born timberwolf with all the strength I had in my being. A stab of pain shot through my hands and up my arms from the heavy impact of the two objects colliding.
A huge wooden clunk rang through the scene, followed by a heart sinking wooden snap. I watched as the timberwolf’s glowing green eyes extinguished in a puff of green smoke. The various collections of mismatched wood that made up its body flew past me, no longer held together by whatever evil enchantment they had as they were joined by the splintered remains of my improvised weapon. I guess it wasn’t as sturdy as I thought…
My arms continued on their sweeping semi-circle arc through the air as I held onto the broken end of the shattered log. The lantern, still ensnared in my grip with the remnants of the club handle, rattled around from the motion on its thin wire handle.
The wildly flickering light illuminated the other two approaching beasts. In an awkward movement of my panicked and off balanced state, I managed to swing my arms back to half protect myself from the oncoming wolf’s pounce, half make some wild attempt at an attack.
It felt like someone struck me with a hammer. The second wolf collided into me, knocking the wind out of my chest and slamming me to the ground. But not before going through the lantern smashing into the side of its head. Glass shattered and shards spun through the dark as the embers and streaks of still lit oil splashed across the creatures head and upper body. The streaks of flaming oil pooled across the dark forest floor, illuminating small patches of the area. The wooden creature howled and darted around before shooting off into the trees, a faint glimmer of light identifying it as it went.
The surrounding area darkened as the only major source of light left with the second beast’s howls.
My head thumped in pain and chest ached as I lay on the damp ground. I quickly battered out the patches of flames spread across myself where the oil had splashed onto me as well. Pounding head, probably a cracked rib, winded and some small scratches, well at least I was still somehow alive after that.
In my haste to extinguish the flames and questioning of how lucky I had been, I almost failed to register the deep grumble coming from in front of me. I instantly froze in my sitting position. Slowly lifting my head up my fears were confirmed by another rattling snarl. Next to one of the dwindling patches of fire a wooden leg emerged and was highlighted by the orange flicker of dimming light.
How could I of been so stupid as to forget about the third one?!
All the dread and fear came flooding back to me as the enchanted wood wolf stepped closer. Bringing its face into the light I saw one half of its sinister face illuminated be the light. My breathing became heavy and erratic as I stared into the creatures ethereal eyes. Unlike the other two this one had not lunged at me for a takedown, instead it pawed at the ground staring at me, almost as if it was challenging me in a way…
Shifting my eyes to the side, I noticed a sturdy looking stick similar to the one I had earlier but shorter. Probably the leg of the first one I fought. Cautiously I reached for it, never taking my eyes off the timberwolf’s eyes. Slowly I pulled it closer to me. Ripping the sleeve off my ruined hoodie at the elbow, where it had largely been torn off anyway, I tightly wrapped it around the end of the stick.
Any second now I expected the beast to lunge at me but it just stood there growling and slightly lowered at the front. Plunging the clothed end into the largest pool of flaming oil left the black fabric of the sleeve slowly began to alight.
The last timberwolf began to circle me as I stood, casting a sideways look to me. Holding the flaming stick in both hands in front of me I began sidestepping slowly. I had counted myself lucky for being able to survive the first two wolves, I prayed that it would stretch a little further.
At that moment in the rapidly darkening patch of forest I felt a strange calm in the night air. There was no noise, no wind, it all just seemed to fade out as the wolf and I stared to each other. Finally bringing our stand-off like moment to an end the timberwolf paused to face me head on. I knew that this was it. It was going to attack me and I very may well have met my end there.
The sinister creature barked once before rushing at me. I swept the flaming club across it as it repeated the previous wolves’ attempts of tackling me, unlike the previous times however the swing missed it by inches as it pounced on me. Throwing my body against the ground again, my improvised weapon rolled from my grasp as I used both my arms and all my strength to keep the creatures barking maw from me.
Even though the beast scratched wildly with its wooden claws at the ground at either side of me, it failed to make any successful attempt at mauling me, only succeeding the odd scratch to my upper arms or shoulders. My right forearm was locked against its wood chest propping it up and away from me as my left was being used to hold its shoulders and face away from mine. I was surprised beyond belief that I was somehow managing to keep the creature away from me. I guess all that heavy work on Applejack’s farm had paid off.
To my side I noticed the still blazing club from earlier was beside me. However the drool like tree sap dropping on my cheek extinguished any hopes of making a grab for it. My arms strained under the weight and shook with the wild movements of my burden. I knew I had to think of something fast since I guessed I couldn’t hold out much longer against the beast’s full force.
The struggling continued for what felt like ages before I caught a glimpse of its hind legs past its snapping jaw. They were being used to push the timberwolf’s body forwards against me instead of scratching around like the front pair. Because of the length of the wolf’s body I knew I would have enough room to bring my leg up and to the side.
Doing so I pulled my leg up to the side as far as my joints would allow and slammed in down of the hind leg. Now I expected to just knock it off balance a little but I guess these timberwolves were a lot more flimsy than I thought. The leg snapped clean off and skidded along the grassy floor.
The creature’s face twisted to one of surprise as it tilted off balance. Seeing my chance I threw my arm out and grabbed the flaming ex-limb. I my desperation I grabbed it about mid-way down the shaft and felt the flames heat lick my hand. Noticing this, the timberwolf opened its maw and made another snap at me. This time however I was quicker and thrust the ball of fire straight into the mouth of the beast. Bright embers danced through the sky as the beast thrashed its head around. The fire flicking from its teeth as it did so.
As it hacked and choked on the stick and fire it awkwardly jumps off me, allowing me the scramble to me feet. I stood to the side and watch the creature writhe and thrash on its three limps in front of me. Seeing my chance to end it I quickly grabbed the biggest log I could find around me and slammed it down on the back of the timberwolf’s head.
Completely detaching the wood block from rest of the body it clunked across the ground before coming to a rest. The rest of the body crumbled into a heap of assorted wood as I simply stood there breathing heavily. I stared at the scene frozen in place as I caught up with myself.
“How the hell did that happen…” I breathed. How did it happen?
Surely I should have died from all of that. But no, I had somehow managed to survive three timberwolves and win. Panting rapid breaths, I collapsed to my knees in exhaustion as I felt dizzy and shaken. I sat on my heels and wiped both hands across my face. Wiping the dirt and sweat from my face I felt the cool breeze of night air kiss my skin.
Gently lying back on the ground I spread my arms and legs out. My joints and back ached as I lay back on the ground breathing deeply. I felt a wave of strange relaxation come over me as I lay there. I looked up at the night sky, at the stars and the colourful swirls of light that danced around across it. The twinkling of the ever bright specks of starlight. Amidst my panting for breath I began to chuckle and grow into laugh as I thought back on the past hour’s events. I couldn’t help but laugh at how I was there in the middle of no-man’s land that was this forest, amongst the dwindling spots of burnt out oil and the assortment of wood that was once trying to kill me, lying there staring up at the sky when I should by all logic be dead.
Buried under my chuckling I heard the faint calls of my name growing closer.
“David?! David?! Can you hear us?! Where are you?! Are you alright?!”I heard the varying voices of the ponies shout.
Regaining my breath I smiled before shouting back,
“I’m over here! I’m alright!” I shouted in a tired but still rather happy voice. I returned to staring back up at the sky, awaiting the arrival of the approaching hoof steps.
“I’m doing just fine…” I breathed out through a smile.
It was not long before the gang of ponies had found me and was guiding me and the fillies back out the forest. None of us could wait to get the hell out of this place. I was walking tiredly along beside them as we made our where back to Ponyville. Fluttershy was applying some bandages or plasters to my cuts and wounds as the others conversed among themselves, mainly their scolding of the little fillies for being so stupid or how they put all our lives, specifically mine, at risk. I didn’t pay much attention to them, partly due to exhaustion but also because I was too busy deep within my own thoughts, thinking about everything that happened today…
I woke up the next morning the regular sight of the wooden rafters of the barn’s ceiling. My eyes slowly creaked open before I was instantly hammered with the memories of last night. At first I thought that it may have possibly been a dream. The sting of pain in the ribs and shoulders snuffed those thoughts out instantly. I put a hand to my bandaged ribs instinctively and I looked around. My tattered hooded top lay beside me, torn, faded, missing half a sleeve and even had a few burn marks dotted over it. The white t-shirt and jeans I wore were not as bad but still rough. The bandages wrapped around my chest and folded up around my left shoulder were I gotten a few scratches.
Pulling myself into a sitting position the memories of their origin still played heavily in my mind. I don’t know how most people would feel after fighting a small pack of timberwolves but I guessed it would be different than what I felt. Despite the dulling pain from the injuries I had I felt strangely amazing. I don’t know if it was the excitement or the lingering rush of adrenaline but it felt great.
Thinking back to the moment when I faced against the last timberwolf. Staring into the glowing green eyes as it circled me. The desperate struggle against it when it finally attacked me. Lying against the grass and looking up at this world’s beautiful night sky when it was all over.
Meh it was probably just the rush of the moment…
My thoughts were silenced by the barn door creaking open. It was Applejack and a pure white pony with a soft pink mane carrying a white box blazoned with a red cross. Now I admit that intelligence or perception were not my finer traits but it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to work out who she was and why she was here.
“Mornin’ David. How’re ya feeling? This here is Nurse Redheart. She’s come to make sure ya’ll are ok.” Applejack explained with a cheerful smile as the nurse trotted over to me and popped open the medical box.
Well… this was proving to be a very uncomfortable morning. After removing the bandages the pony nurse descended me into a flurry of what she called “a few standard medical tests”. An unnecessary poke jabbed me in my damaged ribs to check them and a stinging spray to my shoulder from a disinfectant ended the standard part of that. Being pushed back into a lying position I was descended into a blur of I don’t even know what anymore. Lights from torches were flashed in my eyes, metallic tools were poked around in my mouth, blood pressure bands were pumped around my arm, freezing cold stethoscopes jabbed my chest and joints were bent and moved in directions I didn’t even know were possible.
All amid a barrage of curious ‘mhmms’ and ‘uhhuhs’. After fresh bandages were tightened around my chest I got a rough hoof rub to my scalp like a dog
"There, that wasn't so bad now was it?" the nurse picked up her case and trotted out pausing shortly to tell Applejack,
“He will be just fine.” Oh no I wouldn't lady… “His healing process will take longer due to our magical bandages having no effect on him though”
“Thanks doc” Applejack responded as the crazy nurse left.
“What the hell was that about? Are you sure she was even a doctor Applejack?” I groaned as I pulled my even more battered body up. I was quickly beginning to understand why some people do not like doctors.
“Why of course she’s a doctor silly” She answered with a chuckle “So how’re ya feelin?”
“Not too bad before that crazy nurse showed up” I complained as I rubbed the sore ache on my side.
“Heheh well don’t ya worry none about helpin’ out on the farm today. Ya’ll can take it nice n’ easy till ya get fixed up. It’s the least ah could do to repay ya’ll for savin’ ma sister.” Applejack smiled warmly as she put a bowl of oatmeal next to me for my breakfast. My thoughts idly wandered to thoughts of how weird it felt to eat cartoon food for a moment.
“How are they?” I asked as I remembered about the three mischievous little fillies.
“Well aside from owin’ ya an apology for makin’ ya risk yer hide, they’re doin’ just fine.” She huffed in annoyance, “Thanks fer doin’ that by the way, we all appreciate what y’all did.” Applejack gave me a sincere smile before turning to head out of the barn and leave me to my breakfast.
Creaking open the large wooden door I was hit with the bright embrace of the morning sun. Unlike when I had first arrived here it was not that garish blaze that stung my eyes but more of a peaceful glow. Birds chirped merrily in the apple trees near me as took in a deep breath. The air was fresh and crisp on that morning, a lot like every other morning here but this was different.
Call me crazy but I was slowly beginning to like this place. I enjoyed the peaceful and happy atmosphere that this world had. Of course it was nowhere near perfect or without its faults, my injuries from fighting evil enchanted bloodthirsty creatures were testament to that. It reminded me of my childhood years when things were simpler and I would spend hours watching cartoons. Obviously thoughts about my old life still played heavily on my mind, especially my family. I was beginning to miss them deeply now. I couldn’t help but wonder how much time had passed between our two worlds. Things were going to be different when I got home that’s for sure. At least I would have a good excuse for missing work...
Snapping out of my reverie I retreated back into the ban to the open barrel of water. Splashing some of the cool water across my face a few times I enjoyed the relaxing freshness of it. Standing straight I looked into the small dirty mirror that hung from the wooden beam behind the barrel. Damn had I forgotten what I looked like. I realised I hadn't looked in a mirror since my arrival here. The lack of shaving for three weeks had left me with a noticeable stubble and my hair unkempt and rough. Coupled with the clothing I wore I was beginning to look like some kind of tramp.
Scrubbing the water in my face once more I tried to neaten myself out a bit. Turning to pick up the soft towel to dry myself I stopped momentarily when I noticed a broom perched up against the wall beside it. Once again my thoughts delved into those of last night. Smirking lightly I slowly grabbed the end of the brooms handle. Holding up the simple tool I looked at it for a moment, giving it a few experimental lazy swings I chuckled to myself.
Dropping into a sort of mock fighting stance I had seen in films back home, I held the broom out before my before swinging it around like a sword. Grinning at my own actions I pretended to swing my imaginary 'sword' around like some knight of yore. So engrossed in my performance I failed to hear the creak of the barn door opening. I did however manage to catch the muffled snickering and the failed attempts at stifled laughs. Dropping the broom in shock I spun around to by greeted with the giggling forms of the resident librarian Twilight and her snickering purple dragon Spike. The wooden broom uncomfortably clattered against the ground noisily.
I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and hide myself in it from the embarrassment...
“Well, nice to see it isn't going to your head then.” Twilight chuckled as she wiped a tear of laughter away. My face flushed red with embarrassment as the two companions continued giggling.
“I err I-I was c-cleaning!” I stammered. Damn... did I actually just say that? Did I actually try to use that as an excuse?
This only made the pair renew their laughter. Finally after a few uncomfortable and crushingly awkward moments Twilight pulled herself up from the ground. Wiping another laughter tear from her eyes, she cleared her throat before explaining.
“Heheh oh that was good. We came here to check up on you to see if you were doing ok but it looks like there's no need for worry here.” she explained as she stifled another rebellious giggle. “I see you're feeling pretty good about it?” she continued teasingly.
“Yeah, well, you know” I half answered as I picked up the broom and put it back against the wall. Sitting down on the bale of hay I was joined by the pair settling down beside me.
“Rarity is still dying to thank you you know” Twilight stated as she levitated an apple towards each of us. “She says she is eternally indebted to you for saving her sister” I simply chuckled at this as she took a bite from her apple.
“Bit over dramatic don't you think?” I asked rhetorically, knowing of the white pony's penchant for dramatics.
“What was it like?” Spike asked as he beamed up at me, “Fighting off a pair of evil, sharp toothed timberwolves single-handed!” He rushed out in one breath. “I never heard anything like it!” he cheered excitedly. “You're a hero!”
I smiled back at the young dragon at he talked, not really knowing how to respond to the praise. I mean, what do you say to something like that?
“He's quite right David” Twilight interjected “It certainly was quite the feat and most of the Ponyville residents have heard of your exploits” Damn... I had gone from feared monster to celebrated hero in the course of a few weeks? This was getting a little much.
“I was quite surprised myself when I heard it but really given your form it explains a lot” the purple unicorn mused as she ate her apple. My form? What did she mean by that?
“Huh? What does that mean?” I asked as I looked over to her, Spike also following my gaze with a shared look of confusion.
“Well from a scientific viewpoint the shape and configuration of your body, coupled with the omnivorous traits and high ability to use tools, would make your species a much better natural fighter than us ponies.” she explained to us. I began to feel like she had been analysing me in her observations a bit too closely. “I mean, we saw how you handled the broom as a mock weapon before there, its obvious that humans are a lot more dexterous in using tools, and by extension weapons, than a pony ever could without being a unicorn. With your ability to wield tools, high sentience, aptitude for technology and natural ability to fight its no wonder that your race has managed to expand and advance so much on your world.”
I listened as she went on about what she had managed to gleam from a few weeks of observation, surprising me greatly at what she had managed to put together. She delved into her explanations with enthusiasm, pleased at her own knowledge.
“Huh...” was all I could muster at this as I sat there dumbstruck. If she had gotten all this from me then what could she get if she met someone like a top class scientist or something. And honestly I was was getting a little freaked out. Both at how Twilight was playing scientist on safari again and at how I and I alone was representing the whole human race here.
“Wait a minute, what about Spike? Wouldn't all of that apply to him as well?” I asked as I looked down at the purple dragon. “I mean, if dragons are roughly humanoid shape with all the traits you described, plus the ability to grow to a colossal size, natural armour and fire breathing then shouldn't they be the dominant species here?” Spike looked at us both, a clear mix of both surprise and wonder on his reptilian face.
“Well sure, that would be the case but not all dragons are as educated as Spike. Plus dragons are naturally solitary and only care for themselves, err no offence Spike” Twilight easily answered as if she herself had been pondering the issue of the similarities.
“None taken” the dragon instantly replied brushing it off.
“But anyway we came to check up about how you're doing. I have to write to the princesses about it.” Twilight broke off the topic as she tried to get us back on track “We are technically responsible for you you know” she continued with a smirk.
“Well aside from the visit from the good doctor this morning I'm feeling pretty good about it. Not too roughed up, just a few scratches really” I brushed off as I remembered that weird feeling of contentedness and excitement I had felt this morning as it came back.
“That’s good. We're glad you didn’t get too injured doing what you did, and Applejack told me the doctor's report on your condition.” the unicorn smiled as her assistant scribbled down everything that they needed. “What we needed to find out is how you're feeling about it. You don't feel in shock or anything do you?”
"Actually I feel pretty great!" I smiled back at them.
"Really? Well I guess we should of expected as much from what we saw earlier" she answered with a grin creeping onto her face as she brought up my past embarrassment again. "Why do you feel great though? We thought you would of been pretty shook up about it."
"I...I don't really know. I guessed it was probably the excitement of it all but I don't know. It just felt kinda...right you know?" I pondered on what I was saying as I said it. It had given me a sense of right when I thought back to how I felt in the situation that night.
"Huh, curious..." was Twilight's only response as she rubbed a hoof against her chin.
"What is it?" Spike turned to ask his carer
"Hmm? Oh nothing just surprised at how positive an impact it had." she answered as she got up.
"Maybe you'll get a cutie mark in it" the little dragon chuckled and we both shared his laugh.
"Well I think we should head off now, we really need to get that report sent off to the princess" Twilight continued as she levitated the scroll Spike had been writing on into her saddlebag. "We're really glad you're okay David but maybe you should try to get a bit more rest."
"Yeah I guess. Thanks for stopping by though." I replied as I waved them off. "Actually hang on a sec" I called before they left the door. "I don't suppose you have a piece of paper and a pen?" luckily the librarian obliged and levitated an empty scroll and quill out of her saddlebags and over to me. I thanked them and made our goodbyes before they left.
It was beginning to get dark. I had lit a lantern beside me as I worked, the scratching of the quill and flickering of the lantern flame permeated the still silence of the barn. Applejack had stopped by a few times to check up on me and bring me some food. Along with a home made "remedy" that Granny Smith had made me. Tasted frankly quite horrible and made my throat burn but had a kick behind it that had gave me a boost and over a short time it had dulled the pain from my injuries.
Applejack was curious as to what I was up to but I simply explained it as "Just a little project I'm working on, something to keep me busy and focused while I wait." which she accepted.
I was not sure of the time when I finished but it was well into the still night. I lifted up the scroll I had been scratching at for the past few hours. The wavering light from the lantern behind it shone through the parchment, making the black ink markings defined.
Before me, centred in the surrounding writing of things Twilight had said, random thoughts and information... was a drawing of me clad in armour...
Chapter 8: Steps of an Unknown Path
The next morning was greeted not to the usual familiar sight of the rafters but to a sea of beige, the light of the room bleeding through the thin sheet of parchment. Groggily, I reached up and pulled the sheet away, my sleep addled mind still miles behind. Focusing despite the sting of light in my eyes, I saw the ink scratched scribbles before my mind snapped to attention.
Giddy like a child I rode the boost of excitement and flung myself from my bed, despite the lingering stabs of pain in my chest from my injuries, eager to begin my new project.
"Well err... It's certainly an... interestin' idea." Applejack said after inspecting my drawings and notes. I had shown her them over breakfast, barely able to contain my excitement any longer. However my excitement waned before the expression she displayed as she inspected the small stack of papers. Unlike humans, ponies are none too subtle with their inner thoughts and feelings showing on their faces, especially not a pony like Applejack.
"Why exactly are y'all wantin' to do this?" She continued, her scepticism all to clear in her voice.
"It's just a little project to keep me busy while I'm waiting to go home. I've been here for almost a month now and who knows how much longer it will be, I need something to keep me busy. Besides, it might come in handy." While I guessed that was the main reason, I didn't really want to tell her about how I felt like I had a need to do this. Like there was something pulling me to do so. Or how everything Twilight said had clicked with me on some deeper level.
... And especially not how my inner nerd was crying out for adventure...
"So ya'll are gonna occupy yourself by making....this?" Applejack said with a chuckle, looking back at the paper once more. "Or has the other night gone to ya head a little bit?" She shot me a teasing smirk. I could only reply with a small laugh. Had it really just been going to my head? Maybe it had been. Maybe all the things I was feeling and the reasons I was doing this were just a cover for 'I feel awesome, therefore I should dress awesome.'
"Ya know, we ain't really expecting ya'll to become our resident guardian or anything after what ya did the other night." She continued, her face becoming more serious and formal. "Ah hope ya'll ain't thinkin' that we're gonna expect ya to throw yourself into whatever danger comes our way because ya did the other night."
I didn't say anything. I didn't really know what I could say. Her words cutting into my like a knife. Leaning back in my chair and thinking about it, I guess I wasn't really thinking about fighting monsters on a regular basis with this thing. I had been unbelievably lucky the other night in surviving what inhabited this world, the lingering pain from my injuries reminded me of that all too much.
Standing back and looking at it again... it did seem silly I guess. Very silly. Applejack continued to stare silently at me before picking up the paper again, her eyes falling back down to it.
"Well... ah guess... If y'all are really needin' somethin' to do..." She said with no small amount of scepticism oozing from her voice, her face scrunching up.
"Huh?" I mumbled as I snapped back to the conversation.
"Ah guess we can't have ya just sitting around doin' nothin'. If ya'll are need somethin' to do besides apple pickin' then ah guess this is as good as anythin'." Applejack explained with an encouraging smile.
I was too busy trying to contain my giddy squee. I had already ignored Applejack's unspoken doubts and obvious pity, choosing to focus only on her, albeit reluctantly, giving me the green light.
"You humans sure are funny ones..." She continued. I chuckled at how weird this must actually be for her. I admit it is weird to suddenly announce over breakfast that you want to build a suit of armour and go on an adventure. Maybe I shouldn't have played so many video games as a child...
The market square was bustling with the locals as I made my way through Ponyville. Stall vendors shouted their deals and offers to passerbys, myself included. I allowed myself a smile at how I was just offered a discount on perfume by a pony. Although we had both steadily gotten used to the others presence over the weeks, there was still moments when the fact I was living with these creatures still amused me....and occasionally freaked me out...
Especially their eyes that were as big as my hand...
Snapping myself out of my internal ramblings I remembered step one of my project. Carousel Boutique.
"Oh thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou!" Rarity squealed as she choked the life out of me. I had just stepped into Carousel Boutique, the tiny bell jingled merrily as I managed to utter a small greeting before being tackled to the floor by Rarity and her vice-like hug.
"I... It's no..." I managed to choke out in a wheezy gasp. These ponies were a lot stronger and heavier than I imagined.
"I simply cannot thank you enough for saving my darling little sister!" She replied as she finally relented her death grip. As I hastily caught my breath she stepped back and continued in a regal flair as if she had not almost crushed my ribcage. "Tell me, what has brought you to my boutique today? I sincerely hope its for something to replace those tattered rags you're wearing."
"Well, yes and no." The ivory pony tilted her head at my answer. I had to admit that these cartoon ponies could be adorably cute at times.
"Oh? Whatever do you mean?" She raised an inquisitive and neatly styled eyebrow at me.
"I need some new clothes made. But they need to be kinda specific." As I spoke she levitated a notepad at pencil over to her, smiling with excitement.
"How exciting! Do tell." Rarity readied her pencil and notepad with a sparkling enthusiasm.
"Well, I need a kind of padded robe. Something soft but not too thick, something I can easily move around in and won't get too hot."
"Mhmm, and how do you want them to look?" She inquired in between scribbling notes. An uncomfortable shiver ran through me as a memory of another unicorn and her constant scribbling came to mind.
"Well... I don't really know. Just kinda plain and simple I guess. It won't really matter how they look."
"Won't matter how they look?! Darling appearance is everything!" Rarity gasped as a magically levitating tape measure whizzed around me.
"But they're going to be mostly covered over." I tried to explain to her without really getting into too much detail as to what I was planning. Unlike with Applejack, I was willing to bet that Rarity was more the type to regard the idea as silly and pointless... well a lot more than Applejack regarded it anyway. But the curious blinks she shot me made it clear she wanted to know more, she was going to be making it for me after all.
"It's for a little project I'm doing while I'm here. I need a kind of undersuit for something I'm making."
"And what is this little project you have going?" She inquired with a flap of her styled eyelashes. The tape measure snapping straight at various parts of my body as she scribbled the results.
"Just a little human quirk." I replied in an attempt to brush it off.
"Oh! Well I'm sure Twilight would love to hear all about that!"
...I swear I could already feel her breathing down my neck at those words...
"Well we would love to help you in anyway we can." Rarity continued, flipping her notepad closed and flashing me a kind smile. I wanted to make a joke about how they would disrupt Twilight's field research if they helped me, but decided against it when I realised with a grimace that it was probably true.
"So how much do you think this will cost?" I called to her as she made her way to her work station. It suddenly hit me like a bucket of ice water that I had not even considered how I was going to pay her for this. I didn't even know what money they used here, let alone have any of it myself.
"Oh perish the thought dear. Usually I would charge around 80 Bits for something like this but since you saved my little sister and her friends, you can consider it free of charge. Besides, I'm guessing you don't even have a single Bit to your name."
"Oh... Thanks, thanks a bunch Rarity!" I gave her a genuine smile. I began to think about how my luck finally paid off in that moment before I was crossed with the thought of whether unicorns could read minds or not. I stood there for several minutes as paranoid thoughts ran through my head, chased by more paranoia as to whether she could her those thoughts too.
Until I realised that my immunity to their magic was the whole reason I was stuck here in the first place. Damn I felt stupid...
"Now, I should be able to have this ready for you by the end of the week." Rarity called back to me from across the room, levitating out a roll of fire engine red satin material. I couldn't help but cringe at the garishness of it.
"Err Rarity? I think maybe something like a light grey would be better."
I was walking along the dirt road back to Sweet Apple Acres, little puffs of dust kicked up from my feet as I walked. The road was quiet and peaceful, with only the sounds of my footsteps breaking the silence. It was a beautiful sunny day, the blue sky didn't have a single cloud obscuring it.
Kaboom!
An ear-rupturing clap of thunder shattered the idyllic moment. It felt like the pounding of my heart was going to be enough to start breaking ribs as my knees shook from the equilibrium being smashed like glass with a hammer. I admit that I even let out a loud yelp in shock.
A very manly yelp I assure you. More like the action hero battlecry rather than the high pitched 'oh shit there goes my life' scream they say they heard up in Sweet Apple Acres. What do they know...
My ears finally stopped ringing enough for the side splitting cackles
of laughter to fade into focus. Oh great, its her... Rainbow Dash was rolling on her back, clenching her sides as she cried out in riotous laughter. She had flown a deep black storm cloud up behind me and caused it to explode with a clap of thunder.
"Oh man that was priceless! You should of seen the look on your face! And what was with that scream?!" She wheezed out in between laughing fits. I tried to ignore her immense amusement over how she almost giving me a heart attack and waited for the inevitable words that always followed my encounters with Rainbow Dash over the past few days.
"I bet you humans can't do that!"
I grumbled as she continued rolling on the ground with laughter. Recently Dash had been challenging me to all sorts of silly contests and debates to see what she could beat me in. All in an attempt to not only prove how much more 'awesome' she is than me and, by default, that ponies where better than humans. Of course it didn't help that most of these challenges were often races or stunts. Hell, the only time I had really beaten her was in juggling. Although, luckily, she mostly just tried to outdo whatever human machine or skill that I told her about.
Yeah it occasionally got annoying but at least she was no longer openly antagonistic towards me, and in a way I guess I sometimes enjoyed the little rivalry
she had made with me. Or at least my species.
"So what you up to anyway? I stopped by Rarity's and heard you were making something." Rainbow Dash asked after she finished her merriment and picked herself up off the floor.
"You followed me all the way from Ponyville and almost killed me, just to ask that?"
"Meh, nothing else I've got to do."
"Don't you have a job?" I occurred to me that I had never seen Dash doing any sort of work in all my time here. Hell even Pinkie worked in a bakery. From what I gathered I understood that she did something with weather. But what that was besides using it for jokes was anyone’s guess.
"Pfft please, I can fly through all that boring work stuff in no time. So what’s this thing you're doing? I'm sure its nothing I can't top." She bragged while polishing a hoof on her chest.
Oh great. I hadn't even made the thing and Rainbow Dash had already thrown down a challenge for it. Of course I highly doubted she had any real interest in what I was doing beyond whether or not it was something she could beat.
"Ha! I bet." I taunted back at her. "But you're just gonna have to wait and see." I hoped that saying that would keep her off my back for a while. Or it just meant she was going to be stuck on me like glue... Either way it worked for me in the short run since she flew of with a daring "We'll see about that!". As long as she didn't bug me and I could get on with making it I didn't care.
The sun hung at its zenith in the sky above me as I made my way back to Applejack's. Time for step two of my project.
"So are y'all ready to do this?" Applejack asked as I approached. I had to suppress a giggle at how she was dressed. A pair of thick rimmed tinted goggles covered her eyes while heavy looking pair of iron boots adorned her fore hooves, along with a thick looking kind of apron. Beside her stood her larger and more solemn brother Big Macintosh wearing the same outfit. A pair of the goggles were thrown at me as she noticed my grinning. Needless to say it silenced me. The goggles not only covered my eyes but also most of my face. Not to mention the mini apron that was obviously not intended for a human since it didn't even reach my waist.
"Also put these on." Applejack called over her snickers at my ridiculous appearance with her brother. It was a roll of thick canvas like bandaging. "We ain't got anythin' else to put on over those hands ya got so ya gonna have to wrap em up in that." Not wanting any horrific burns, I relented and quickly wrapped my hands up. It looked like I was wearing a pair of damn mittens or something. I looked like some kind of clown.
"So are you sure this smelter thing you've got is going to be able to make this?" I asked as her brother lead us around to another section of their farm. Applejack had told me about how the Apple family had their own mini workshop on their farm that I could use to make the armour in. I gladly accepted the offer since she pointed out that the Ponyville blacksmith would probably want a small fortune for making something like this.
"Well, we ain't really tried makin' anythin' this big in it. We really only occasionally use it to fix things like tools for the farm, but I'm sure Big Mac's up for a challenge ain't ya big brother?" The solemn red stallion only nodded once and smiled pleasantly in response.
"I'm really grateful for all the help your both giving me with this. You sure this won't be getting in the way of work on the orchard right?"
"Nope, this season's harvest is pretty much over and done with. Besides ma family would be happy to help ya with your little project, ya did save our kin after all." Applejack surprised me a little bit with that. Yeah I had suspected that it had played a part in her helping me but I didn't much like it. I felt like I already owed Applejack and her family for keeping me all this time. Sure I had worked on their farm a lot but I didn't really feel that covered keeping a complete stranger of an alien species sheltered and fed for a month. I really didn’t want to leave Equestria without repaying their hospitality and generosity since I was the first, and probably only, human they will meet.
"Helloooo? Ya still with us up there?" Applejack yelled exaggeratedly as she waved a hoof in front of me. I laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of my head as I snapped back into attention.
"Sorry, guess I zoned out a bit there. What did you say?"
"I said that Big Mac and I already got the metal goin' while you were gone so its all ready to go." She repeated as she pointed to a large pot Big Mac was checking on in the small furnace.
"Hey Applejack? Where did you get all the metal for this?" I asked as it hit me that making a full suit of armour was going to take a lot of metal.
"Just some old rusty tools and broken machinery we had layin' around. Glad to finally get rid of it all." She answered as entered the tiny smelting room, the wave of heat smacking into me like a brick wall. "So what part are we doin' first?" She asked from behind her tinted goggles.
"This part I think." I said pulling out the parchment and pointing to the shield. They both stared at the drawing for a while before turning to a large basin with a fine sand like clay filling it. I had drawn each main part showing different angles and rough measurements of the pieces. Since the shield was the biggest and in a way simplest part to make I decided to start with that.
The Apple siblings were scraping a round metre wide circle into the basin, only just fitting it inside its borders. I guessed that this basin must be for pouring the metal into to shape it, the circle to give the rounded shape of the shield to then hammer into a more bowl like shape. Naturally I had no idea as to the art of blacksmithing, much less Equestrian blacksmithing, so I let them take the lead on it.
Big Mac grasped the handle of the furnace pot in his teeth and lifted it out of the fire, the shimmer of molten scrap metal shaking from inside the pot. Ever so slowly he tipped the silver liquid into the basin, the silver river sliding across the dug out shape as it hissed and sizzled. It looked beautiful in a way, the bright silver liquid shining out in the orange and red tinted darkness.
"Now we have to let it cool for a while." Applejack told me, her brother nodding in agreement. After what felt like several long minutes the silver liquid had slightly darkened and dulled. Handing me a long and weird looking set on tongs, Applejack pointed to the metallic circle. "Ya need to pull it out of the mold usin' them and place it into that water basin over there." She called to me as she pointed to another basin filled with water. "Try not to put it in for too long, only about three seconds while we change the mold."
Nodding to her I took the tongs and positioned them at the side of the mold. Sliding them between the mold and the relatively hardened metal, I pulled up the heavy metal disc in the tongs grip and moved it over to the water. The injuries to my chest flared up in pain under the weight of the metal but I took care to handle it carefully, not wanting to add a broken foot and several nasty burns to my list of injuries.
Using their steel booted fore hooves, Applejack and Big Mac quickly began to scrape out a slightly deeper bowl into the circle mold. A load hiss rose from the water basin as it touched the metal disc, forming a small cloud of steam vapour to gush up around it. Counting to three, I pulled it out and swung it back around to the now deepened bowl mold and placed it back into the circle, the bruises to my chest tightening in pain under the weight.
"Best y'all let Big Mac handle this part sugarcube, ya still pretty beat up remember." Applejack offered as her brother took up position beside the mold. Rearing up on his hind legs he slammed his steel booted fore hooves onto the metal, a mighty metallic clank ringing through the small room.
Repeatedly the powerful stallion slammed his steeled hooves into the metal, leaving two noticeable dints in the face of the flaring metal every time he brought his full strength and weight down on it. For such brightly coloured and friendly cartoon ponies it was startling to see them exhibit such strength. Moving around the basin Big Mac soon pounded the entire thing down into the slight bowl shape of the mold. Turning to his sister he gave a blank nod before she turned back to me.
"Ok, now ya need to get it back into the water again." Taking up the tongs once more,
I pulled up the newly pounded metal and placed it back into the water. A slight hiss arose from the water again as it made contact with the still hot metal. The colour quickly darkened and became more reflective as it cooled in the water.
It actually looked like a proper shield! I was expecting the first attempt to be a myriad of serious burns and frantic swearing, resulting in nothing more than a silver puddle. Granted it still needed fastenings and grips bolted into it but I was still surprised at how it actually worked first time. I guessed it was largely due to a mix of it being the easiest part of the armour and it being made by someone with a least some competent experience. If I had done the entire thing I probably would have set myself on fire by now...
Pulling the dripping shield from the water, I placed it back onto the basin before being deafened by a large "Yahoo!" from Applejack.
"Woo! Nice work Big Mac!" She cheered as she shook off the tinted goggles covering her face.
"Yeah, that was awesome." I added, brushing my hand over the cool wet metal. My warped reflection stared back at me from the dinted metal, the orange glow of the furnace cresting around the highlights. "Really awesome..." I noticed a pair of reflections beside my own, smiling contently at their work.
"So what's next?"
A cool night's breeze lapped at my exposed skin, a welcome embrace after the roar of the furnace. Together, the Apple siblings and I had worked through the day into the eaves of night. Although the shield remained the only thing finished I still felt the buzz of it actually being made, so much so that I couldn't keep my head down enough to go to sleep, choosing to talk a walk in the orchard instead. It was a peaceful night. The kind of still night where you can sit and watch the stars dancing in the dark void of the sky, the glow of the towns fade as people end their day. That's exactly what I was doing on that night. I wasn't content to sit in a dusty barn, I wanted to be out under the sky and feel the soft night wind brushing over me. Choosing a peaceful spot under one of the apple trees I sat on the grass and looked out at the view. From under that tree I could see across the whole valley underneath.
Funny how normally at that time I would have been crawling into my bed, waiting until my alarm rose me for work for next morning. But instead there I was, sitting on the grass under a tree and just looking at the sky. Something that I would never have even see the point of back home. I supposed that was a trait of this world that I had come to appreciate. Here there was no alarm to wake me at eight. No work to be at by nine. No need to go to bed at eleven. No routine.
In this world you open your eyes and have no idea what was going to happen. You could wake up and think about what you wanted to do today, not what you needed to do. There was an endless chance to do things that you would never normally do. I guess that was maybe an underlying factor in why I decided to do something like make a suit of armour. That's not to say that I didn't like my life back home though. I felt like I had a reasonably good life but here it was like I was in some kind of dream world. Somewhere where absolutely anything could happen, where every day had different possibilities.
I brushed my hand over the grass beneath it, feeling the cool crisp freshness and the blades between my fingers. My family did play a lot on my mind though. It had been a month since I had last seen them. My thoughts filled wondering what they were doing right now. Maybe they were looking at the night sky too, as cheesy as that sounded. Could I tell them about everything that has happened to me? Equestria and all I had experienced, the inhabitants that I had come to know. I doubt they would believe it. I doubt anyone would. I would probably have to keep it to myself for the rest of my life lest I become some kind of crackpot in the eyes of everyone I know.
'Hi Mom and Dad, sorry I've been gone so long but I got sent to a world of magic and colourful talking ponies and dragons.' I would probably spend the rest of my days in a padded cell...
Grass prickled the palm of my hand as I absent-mindedly stroked my hand over it. The dim glow of Ponyville was waning as the night drew on. Each little twinkle of light blinking out as the anonymous residents turned in for the night. Hanging over the valley on its mountain perch I could see the light speckled city of Canterlot in the distance, watching over the humble Ponyville as it slumbered like some kind of protector. With all the city lights peeking through the darkness it looked like it was made of crystal and was reflecting the moonlight.
It was a truly beautiful sight.
I wondered how many more nights like this I would experience before I would be going home. Hopefully enough so that I can finish the armour at least. A tingle of excitement ran down my spine as I remembered it again. I would probably need to find somewhere to hide it when I got back home though. Damn was that going to be challenge to explain to people...
I would need to find some way of thanking the Apple family and the others for taking care of me while I was here before I left. Although I had no idea what I could possibly give them. What could I give a magic talking pony on a foreign world when I didn’t have a penny, or "Bit", to my name.
Ahh I would think about it later. I thought it best to return to the farm at that point, it probably wasn't a very good idea to go strolling into the woods in the dead of night in the first place, especially on an alien world. Probably best that I hurried back before I got attacked by some evil magic chicken or something...
Besides, I was already eager to get started on the rest of the armour so tomorrow morning couldn't come quick enough as it is. Still. As I reached the barn and cozied myself under the blankets of my makeshift bedding, I couldn't help but think of the time I would be leaving Equestria behind me and going back home.
