Chapters Terra:Pleasant Hills
In the once beautiful city of Pleasant Hills there was a man crawling through the air vents of a brocken down office complex. He wore a faded orange jacket, brown cargo pants, and he had a brown gas mask draped around his neck.
Felix, for the ninth time that day found himself wondering what he could have possibly done to deserve his luck.
"Oh Felix you should come with us to Pleasant Hills they said, there's lots of valuable stuff there they said, its only a couple of mutants they said, there's no harm in just a quick look they said, well now everyone's dead." He grunted out as he trudged along. "This is definitely not my greatest moment. Well at least now I can say I survived a trip into a mutant city, although it would be overshadowed by the fact that I was actually stupid enough to go into a mutant city. It's a good thing that these vents are so big, I don't think I could survive if I tried to get out of the building any other way. But why would an above ground office complex need vents like this?"
As Felix continued to crawl through the vents he found a small hole in the vent leading outside, and he noticed the sun was going down and the mutants were starting to leave. He waited for about 30 minutes and then he quietly lowered himself to the ground. Looking around and, seeing no mutants he slowly inched his way towards the stairs of the building. He was a mere two feet from the door when it swung open and right on the other side was a mutant.
For a moment all was silent as the two stared at each other. Then the mutant let out a growl and charged towards Felix who had already pulled out his gun, but a moment too late. The mutant tackled him to the ground, knocking his gun away, and pulled out a knife, then plunged it down towards Felix who grabbed the knife and pushed it back towards the mutant but with its superior strength the mutant was having little trouble. Felix then placed his foot on the mutants chest and kicked it away while he kept his grip on the knife, surprised the mutant lost its grip on the knife and was kicked away. Felix with the knife in hand lunged at the mutant and brought the knife down at the monsters head, but it caught the knife and twisted it. Felix dropped the knife and then the mutant tried to stab Felix in the heart, but he blocked it and got a large cut on his arm. Finally Felix grabbed the knife out of its hand and stabbed it in the arm, the mutant jumped back and clutched its wounded arm. Felix turned, located his gun and retrieved it. As he turned he saw the mutant charging him, with no hope of blocking it he shot twice, to his fortune one of the bullets hit the mutant in the head killing it. The sound of gunfire spread through the building.
Suddenly the whole building was filled with inhuman screams as more mutants, awakened by the gun shot converged on Felix's location, their cries serving to alert more and more of their brethren to to their next would be meal. Thinking fast Felix retreated back into the vents, the one place mutants would never be smart enough to check. As he continued on his way the vents he was in started to lead down, seeing no other choice he went down with them. He eventually found himself in the lobby, and then outside. After a few minutes he was in a suburban area where he found an empty house to stay the night, after tearing up some clean bed sheets to use as gauze he found a dark corner and laid down, the last thing he said was.
"This day could not possibly get worse."
Equestria: Outskirts of Tall Tale
It was night in the beautiful city of Tall Tale and all the ponies were up to witness the Summer Sun Celebration, from inside because of a heavy rain. For most it was a time of happiness and celebration with their families. But in the outskirts of the city there was one pegasus pony foal who sat on a park bench.
Her coat was a dark shade of blue and her mane was a lighter shade of the same color. She was alone outside but it didn't bother her, she had been going outside at this time for the week. She had stopped crying and simply sat there staring at a small trinket necklace flipping it open and closed. Inside was a picture of herself and two older ponies, her parents. Engraved on one side of the locket were the words.
Even though we're far apart we love you dearly with all our hearts.
A small smile appeared across her face but quickly vanished. Why won't they come back home? For a moment her mind flashed back to one thing her father once said to her.
"Lightning Gem, you remember that little trinket me and your mother gave you?" He asked.
"Yes I still have it see?" She said holding it up to her father.
"Good now listen this is a very special necklace. If you ever feel like something is wrong and you need help just use it to make a wish, alright?" He said.
"Okay dad." She said smiling up at him. "I'll be sure to save it."
Her mind then snapped forward to just a week ago.
Lightning Gem had been sitting at home on the day her parents were to arrive waiting for them, when she heard a knock she bolted to the door, threw it open and tackled the leg of the pony at the door. When she looked up she was shocked to find that the leg belonged to neither of her parents but to some pony she didn't know. After realizing her mistake she jumped off his leg and grinned nervously while rubbing the back of her head with her hoof.
"Um heh sorry about that. I thought you were my parents." Lightning Gem said.
"It's no problem." Said the older pony. "Actually that's why I'm here, you see your parents will not be returning home for a little while."
Lightning Gem looked back at him and asked. "Why? Where are they? When will they be back? Did they send a letter?" Her barrage of questions was stopped when the older pony shushed her.
"Don't worry you'll see them again you just have to wait, in the meantime I can arrange for you to stay at new home with lots of other little colts and fillies while you wait. Doesn't that sound fun?" The stallion asked.
"But Mom and Dad said to never leave the house with strangers." Lightning Gem said.
"Then can I at least arrange for you to stay with your grand parent for the time being?" The stallion asked in a pleading manner.
"Well all right but just until mom and dad get back." Lightning Gem.
Lightning Gem stopped and sighed, she suddenly felt tired and didn't feel like she was going to make it home. So she walked under a nearby tree, laid down, and went to sleep...
Equestria: Northern Whitetail Woods
Lightning Gem was lost in her dreams when she awoke to the sound of hissing, looking to her left she found she was laying in front of a small burrow. Inside the burrow was a snake, instinctively Lightning Gem froze in horror at the small reptile before her. The small snake twitched and that was all it took, Lightning Gem took off in the opposite direction screaming.
"SNAKE !"
If she had been paying attention to where she was running she would have realized she had run into the northern parts of the Whitetail Woods. When she finally stopped running she realized she had no idea where she was other than she was in the woods. She wandered around some more, trying to find a way out when she heard something behind her let out a growl. She turned around to find a Diamond Dog staring at her with a wicked grin, it had grey fur with a red jewel encrusted vest. It then spoke in a low gravelly voice.
"Come here little pony, I won't hurt you."
Lightning Gem was about to comply when she remembered being told about what happens to foals when they are caught by a Diamond Dog.
Lightning Gem looked at the Diamond Dog for a second before she hoped up and down in a vain attempt to fly, her tiny wings making little more than a buzzing noise and only serving to lift her a few more inches from the ground. Turning around she saw the Diamond Dog just staring at her, they both knew she was unable to fly and probably couldn't outrun it either.
They both stared at each other for a moment before Lightning Gem gave the dog a nervous smile and then took off galloping with the wolf in pursuit. While she was fleeing she realized the it was gaining on her, she then spotted a large burrow and jumped in. As soon as she was in the burrow she realized her mistake she was cornered,the Diamond Dog was too large to enter until he started digging into the burrow. Lightning Gem pulled out her necklace and spoke into it
"Please send help." She whispered.
Suddenly there was what sounded like a clap of thunder outside and the sound of the wolf as it ran away, followed by a thud......
Terra: Pleasant Hills
Felix had been sleeping peacefully when he was awoken by a quiet humming, at first it was quiet but it quickly grew in intensity until it was deafening. Felix threw his arms over his head in an attempt to shield himself from the noise. When he looked up he saw what looked like some kind of portal. It was a large blue ring on the outer edges and on the inside there was endless space. Felix could only stare at the portal until he felt a tugging at his feet and suddenly he realized the portal was dragging him towards it. As soon as Felix tried to move the portals strength increased pulling him closer, now items from the room were being pulled into the portal. Felix turned around to run but was hit in the forehead by a large piece of rotting wall. He was stunned and then sucked into the portal....
Equestria: Northern Whitetail Woods
Lightning Gem peeked outside the Diamond Dog was gone and now there was some thing laying outside. She didn't know what it was.
It looked like some weird kind of monkey, but it was wearing clothes and a mask was draped around its neck. Could this thing be what was sent to help her? While she was watching it the creatures stomach growled.
So you're hungry? She thought. Looking around she noticed an assortment of berries and flowers in the bushes nearby. Gathering up a small pile which she rolled next to the creatures head and waited for it to wake up. Almost the moment Lightning Gem sat down the creatures eyes fluttered open and it looked around for a moment before getting up. Its eyes focused on Lightning Gem and it just sat there staring at her, its eyes occasionally moving down to the pile of food in front of it before looking back up at her.
Felix couldn't believe what was happening, he had been sucked through a portal and he was now staring at what looked like a very small horse. Considering horses had been extinct for a long time it was more then a little odd for Felix, and the fact that he had been sucked through a portal wasn't helping to calm him down either.
So I get sucked into a portal, and now I'm staring at something that died off hundreds of years ago. Felix thought as the horse continued to survey him.
He didn't know why but for some reason he started laughing and laughing, he was sure that he sounded like a madman but something about his situation was just hilarious to him. After a minute he felt his laughing fit be replaced by rage, turning around he started yelling at the trees.
"Thisisbullshitwhythehelldidaportalhavetoopenupanddragmetothegoddammedlostworldwithhorsesandshitmotherfuckerstupidfuckingteesanswermedammit!"
Felix continued to curse the trees for their inability to provide an answer until he had drained away most of his anger, turning around he found the small horse watching him with what seemed like an almost intelligent sort of curiosity.
If this thing starts talking to me I'm going to lose my shit... again.
He examined at the animal before him more closely, it didn't look like he thought horses were supposed to . It had larger eyes and its coat and mane were blue, it was also a lot smaller. There was also a pile of berries and nuts laying right next to him. Every once in a while the small horse would look to them like it was trying to get Felix to eat them, so he took some of the berries and found them to be a lot sweeter then what he was used to.
They both just sat around for a few minutes, the horse munching away happily while Felix was busy pondering how something so small, colorful, and trusting could survive in the out here.
There can't be a town too far away. Felix thought as he got up to leave. I'll just go there.
But as he continued on his way he realized he was being followed, turning around he saw the same small horse. He decided he might as well let it follow him for a little while until he could get back to town, and so they marched off together.
About five hours later they found a small empty cave and set up camp, within a few hours a small camp had been set up with all the necessities. After a small dinner consisting of more nuts and berries Felix decided it was time to sleep, when he woke up the next morning he found the horse curled up and sleeping on the other side of the fire pit.
How cute. Felix thought. Getting up they both packed up and, taking some more berries with them and then left for a town, and headed in the wrong direction.
Southern Whitetail Woods
Felix Woke up with Blue wrapped in his arms sleeping peacefully, when he saw this a smile appeared on Felix's face.
"Even I have to admit that's adorable."
He tried to gently pulled his arm out from under Blue's head, she frowned and then wrapped her forelegs around his arm and pulled it back into place.
"Okay slightly less adorable now."
He tried pulling his arm out again with a little more force but Blue just pulled his arm back and curled up around it to make sure her pillow wasn't going to try anything else.
"Let go of my arm you little bastard."
Felix tried to pull his arm out again but Blue pulled down and once again forced his arm down.
"You know what? Screw this."
Felix stood up to his full height, causing Blue to slide right off his arm and hit the ground with a soft thud. She was jolted awake and sat up, Blue looked around for a moment before her eyes settled on Felix who stared back at her before saying
"Come on Blue we got to get you back to... wherever it is you live." Felix said as he got up and started walking, he stopped when he heard a groan and another thud. He turned around to find Blue laying on the ground pretending to be dead from exhaustion.
"Yeah cool story now come on let's go we're wasting daylight." When Blue didn't respond Felix just sighed and pointed outside.
Blue looked at him and then pointed her arms into the air at him, Felix stared at her for a moment before realizing what she wanted.
"Yeeeaaahh no." Felix said while shaking his head.
Blue stared at him for a second before saying "Educite me? Nimis sum defessus."
"Yeah yeah whatever you say- wait I actually understood some of that." Felix said with moderate excitement, he never was much of a scholar and almost never cared about learning new languages but it definitely would be easier to talk to Blue if they could understand each other.
"But for now.." Felix thought as he looked at Blue and then repeated.
"Let's go now." Felix said like an impatient child. But Blue just looked back at him for a moment and raised her arms again trying to get Felix to carry her.
"yyeeeaaahhhh no, I am NOT carrying you alright. And nothing you say or do is going to change that."
"How did I get roped into doing this... Stupid horses are supposed to be good at walking." Felix muttered as he carried Blue on his back like a backpack while trying to ignore the overwhelming irony of the situation, thankfully for him he only had too carry Blue for a few minutes before she started walking on her own.
After about an hour of walking and failed attempts at conversation Blue and Felix had finally given up when they heard a hiss, both of them looked down to find a Garter Snake. Felix opted to simply stare at the little snake and decide whether or not he wanted to eat it, but he was torn from his thoughts when he looked over and saw that Blue was on the verge of having a heart attack.
"Anguis facio is discedo!" Blue suddenly yelled before she turned and ran away as fast as she could go.
"Son of a... goddammit." Felix muttered before he took off after her.
Following Blue turned out to be fairly easy since she couldn't run as fast as Felix and in a few minutes he was right behind her yelling
"Blue get back here!"
Equestria: Whitetail Woods Campground
It was the perfect time of the year for camping, and so places like the whitetail woods were crowded with visitors hoping to get a break from their stressful lives River slate and her friends were here for just that reason and they couldn't have been happier to be there. Their fun was interrupted when they heard the sounds of a young filly screaming in absolute terror.
They all turned their heads toward the source of the noise to find a small blue filly burst from the bushes and continue on her way while screaming.
"Make it go away!" They all sat there in confusion for a moment before the bushes started to rustle again ,but this time instead of another small foal out came some kind of monster.
The creature had a dirty orange jacket covering most of its upper half while the lower half of its body was covered by a pair of dark brown pants, the creature also had some sort of mask draped around its neck, it was running upright and quickly gaining ground on the small filly while it yelled something that neither River Slate or her friends could understand. In a few seconds both the filly and the creature raced through the clearing and, after recovering from their initial shock one of River Slates friend yelled.
"We have to help that foal come on!" Then they all took off in pursuit of the monster and the filly it had been chasing.
Felix had been chasing Blue for ten minutes before he jumped forward and then grabbed her, unfortunately he slid right into a cluster of bushes and then right down a slope that had just happened to have been hidden by the foliage. Felix and Blue were sent tumbling down the hill and into another patch of bushes below. Luckily neither Felix nor Blue were harmed beyond a few unpleasant scratches. Felix was the first to recover and when he did he picked up Blue into the air and half asked half yelled.
"What is WRONG with you?!" When he yelled at her Blue's eyes widened a little bit and she adopted an apologetic look on her face.
"It was just a stupid snake you damned horse why did you have to start running away!?" Felix started to feel bad when tears started running down Blues face.
"Sum ita ut ego adducam paenitet egestas serpentes non erat, ne insaniat, ad me paenitet." She chocked out before she started to cry.
"Crap." Felix thought as he looked down at Blue. He hadn't meant to make her cry, but that didn't change the fact that she was sitting in front of him crying her eyes out. Felix sat there unsure of what to do before he slowly reached towards Blue, put his hand on her shoulder, and said.
"Blue look I'm sorry alright I didn't mean to yell at you alright?" Felix said before he remembered she couldn't understand him.
"Paenitet." Blue mumbled as she slowly calmed down.
Felix hesitantly pulled Blue closer until she was hugging his chest, while they were sitting there Felix heard more voices from above.
"Quo ibunt?" One voice shouted.
"Aurora rubrum vocas praetorii et dices ad eos illic 'nonnullus monstrum discurrentes Whitetail Woods youll' custodiat nos vultus pro eis." Another voice said, Felix then heard a group of horses trot off in two different directions.
Felix and Blue sat there for a few minutes, Blue refusing to let go and Felix not wanting to throw her off. After Blue reluctantly let go of Felix and then she gave him a small smile, then they stood up and left to find another place to camp for the night.
Equestria: Whitetail Guard Station
In the commanders office a lone unicorn sat in his desk, his coat was pale grey with a mane and tail of pure white, his name was Iron shield. Iron Shield was sitting at his desk signing papers and sorting into piles of important and not important.
"When I signed up to be in the royal guard I was expecting an exiting life full of danger and adventure, while traveling throughout all of Equestria fighting off monsters and defending the masses from danger, but the most I ever do is sit around all day signing papers and deciding where to send guards so they can deal with some burglar who had too much salt or campers who thought they saw a monster".
He sighed and then returned to his silent rant. "What I wouldn't give to have something actually happen, I'm not saying I want Equestria to engage in a war with the griffons or anything but is it too much to ask for one thief who actually knows how to run!?"
He then levitated another folder titled Monster Sightings over to himself.
"I wonder if anypony outside of the Everfree Guard has ever gotten anything in these files that actually was a monster and not a prankster or some pony who had too much salt." He thought as he opened the files. The first one he saw caught his attention, he saw a creature that appeared to be wearing a dirty orange jacket and brown pants with multiple pockets and around its neck was a mask with a large circular cap at the front where the mouth of the creature would go, the creature's face was blurred out meaning that the ponies who saw it didn't see it's face.
"Looks like some ponies are having too much salt." Iron Shield thought. "I hate having to give all of these stories the benefit of the doubt, lets see.. I'll send Red Dawn and Blue Dusk, at least it will get them out of my mane for the day." Iron Shield thought as he rolled up the letter and set it in another pile, ready to be mailed off...
Southern Whitetail Woods
It was near the end of the day when Felix and Lightning arrived at yet another cave, making it the eight one that they had found that day. With the sun going down they entered the cave, Felix walked in and looked around for any signs of any previous inhabitants while Lightning Gem trotted in and dropped onto the ground from exhaustion.
Once again Felix left to search for food and firewood and returned in only a few minutes grumbling to himself as he laid Lightning Gems food to the ground. He looked over at Lightning Gem to find her drawing little figures in the dirt with a stick, when she looked up and saw him she smiled and waved at him.
Felix waved back, but then he stopped to think.
Wait horses don't draw in the dirt, they don't smile like that, and they don't wave. So that means this horse is...
...
...
...you've got to be fucking kidding me.
Felix kept his eyes on Lightning Gem as she continued to play in the dirt for a moment before getting up to eat some of the food Felix had left out for her, then he decided what to do with her.
Well I guess now I have to get her home before some other horses think I kidnapped her and then they come hunting for her and me. He looked back at Lightning Gem as she walked over to a fire pit she had dug out and looked back at him.
Might as well start the fire Felix thought as he lit the fire and sat down opposite of Lightning Gem.
Lightning Gem had a rough day. She had wanted to stop and rest two hours ago but her new friend kept going and she didn't want to be left alone in the forest. Even though she had made it her legs were sore and she felt like she couldn't move. After a few minutes of laying down she found a stick and started to draw figures in the dirt while her friend left to find food. While he was gone she decided to try and think of a new name for her friend.
"He doesn't have any fur on him except his head, but he has a lot of fuzz on his front and back legs. Maybe I could call him... fuzzy! She smiled at the name, after repeating it a few times she decided it was a better name than just calling him her friend even though he was still that.
Just then fuzzy walked in and sat down on the other side of the cave, she tried smiling and waving at him to be friendly but he just sat there with an unhappy look on his face. It almost looked like he was actually afraid.
"But why would he be afraid of me? I'm not scary." Lightning Gem thought as she watched him for a moment before noticing the berries, she got up and had all the while thinking about how eating the same little fruits each night would get to her.
Her train of thought was interrupted when fuzzy tried to say something to her.
"Can you understand me? I mean, you probably can't but still it won't hurt to try right?" Felix asked
Much to Felix's disappointment the little horse responded in another language entirely, although it looked like it was trying to give him it's name. But to Felix it sounded something like.
"Gemma est nomen meum, Fulgur " The little horse said slowly like it was trying to get a baby to say it's name.
"Uh no I think I'm just going to call you.." After looking her over for a second he got an idea. "I'm just gonna call you Blue."
Blue shook her head and repeated "Gemma fulgur ."
"Nope I'm calling you Blue." Felix replied stubbornly.
"Gemma fulgur ."
"Blue."
"Gemma fulgur ."
"Blue."
Blue huffed, convinced that Felix was incapable of saying her name. Then she pointed at him with one of her hooves and said.
"Quid est tibi nomen?" Felix pointed to himself and Blue nodded.
"I'm Felix."
Blue looked at him and got a small grin. "Quamquam." She said back.
"No it's..." Felix stopped and looked at Blue. "Screw you Blue."
Later that evening after they had both eaten and the fire had died down Felix was curled up on one side of the now smoldering fire pit curled up into the fetal position, he was torn from his sleep when he felt something poking him. He opened his eyes to find a shivering cold Blue poking him, he stared at her for a moment before she pointed at an open space in between his arms..
"No, now go to sleep." Felix said as he pushed her away.
Not one to back down easily Blue decided to give Felix the best set of puppy eyes she could muster.
"No." Felix responded with a shake of his head.
Blue sighed for a moment before resuming her puppy eyed stare.
"No just go to sleep already." Felix practically growled before laying down and closing his eyes doing his best to ignore the constant stare he was getting from Blue.
After a moment he opened his eyes to find Blue curled up on the floor shivering violently while she attempted to relax and fall asleep in the cold.
"Dammit Blue you shouldn't even be cold your'e the one with fur." Felix grumbled as he pulled Blue closer.
When he grabbed Blue she let out a small yelp and squirmed until Felix pulled her towards him and then wrapped her in his arms. Once she realized what was happening she turned around and curled up in Felix's arms, before she fell asleep she mumbled.
"Gratias agimus tibi Felik."
"Meh close enough." Felix said before joining Blue in a peaceful sleep....