//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Human Rocket // Story: Sounds from Another Universe: A Psychedelic Excursion // by Vlasislas32 //------------------------------// Edited After waiting a while for my brains to stop spinning, I got up and assessed my situation. I was at first not quite convinced that this wasn't all part of a hallucination, but the growing empirical evidence that I tend to look for after a trip (no glaring incongruities with reality, feeling of being connected to the material world, etc) slowly discounted that theory. I appeared to have been dropped into the middle of some kind of forest, which was quite dark despite the slivers of sunlight coming in through the leaves. "Well, here I am.", I thought to myself. "I guess there's really no turning back now." I checked myself out, to see if I actually had been given a body that remotely resembled my own. Well, whoever or whatever made this body did a very good job: same Chuck Taylors, same pants, same yin-yang t-shirt, my phone in my pocket, hell, they even gelled my hair! Then something came to the front of my mind: that dragon...thing that called itself Discord said there would be something waiting for me upon arrival. I looked around, scanning my surroundings. I saw nothing. Right before I was about to curse out Discord, I noticed what I thought was a large bush actually seemed rather unnatural. All of the branches seemed to come from different plants, and it looked as if they had been deliberately placed. Removing the branches revealed several instrument cases. Opening the cases revealed each of my instruments: a Takamine 12-string, a Cremona Violin, a small Korg keyboard, and my prize possession, a vintage Rickenbacker 4001. Some of these I had gotten deals on. With the others, I had to save up for months. While reveling in my good fortune, something occurred to me. 'This all seems a bit contrived, all of my instruments just magically showing up here. I know this Discord guy is a god, or whatever, but still. Maybe he's just doing this on purpose to make me over-think the situation.' After I calmed down a bit, reality set in: "How in the hell am I going to carry all of this with me?" Closing the cases, I threw both guitars over my back, their case straps digging into my shoulders, and picked up my violin and keyboard cases. "Looks like I'm in for one hell of a hike." Looking around, I tried to decide which direction to go. One direction seemed to lead deeper into the forest, which only seemed to get darker, while the opposite direction appeared to lead to a clearing. I chose the latter option, "Never go deeper into the dark forest" being the standard rule of horror movies, fantasy novels, and various hikers and explorers that had been injured or killed after doing the inverse of this. There was just something about the forest that gave off a bad vibration. I wouldn't say it was truly evil, but rather it exuded that primeval fear of unknown, mysterious things. Things that may or may not be dangerous. Sighing, I shifted the weight of the guitars on my back, and headed off towards the clearing. What was that smell drifting through on the wind? Apples? ________________________________________________________________ Meanwhile, the sun was spreading it's friendly, warm fingers over the rooftops and through the windows of Canterlot castle. Luna awoke at the same balcony as the night before, apparently having fallen asleep while sitting. Celestia was no longer at her side having awakened earlier to raise the sun. She looked out over Equestria as her sister's light slowly illuminated the landscape. No fires, no flooding, no earthquakes, nothing even vaguely apocalyptic. This did nothing to ease her anxiety, however. The feeling from last night was even stronger. The vehicle that would bring great change had indeed arrived. It was only refusing to reveal itself. 'Perhaps I am worrying too much., she thought. 'I never felt any indication that it would bring anything evil. But there's always the possibility that it could be. Luna continued wrestling with her thoughts. One could not react to something properly if they did not have all the facts, but what if not reacting at all brought harm to her subjects? ________________________________________________________________ Well, the smell certainly was that of apples: not long after emerging from the forest I stumbled upon a dense orchard filled with sweet-smelling apple trees. Their scent was much stronger and sweeter than that of apples back home, and I wondered if they tasted just as good. Moving into the trees a bit to give myself some cover (I still had no idea what the inhabitants of this world were like), I set down my instruments, pulled an apple from a tree, and sat down, leaning my back up against said tree. Biting into the apple rewarded me with waves of flavour far more delicious than any I had ever tasted back on Earth. Finishing the apple and tossing aside the core, I was left to wonder exactly what to do now. Without anything better to do, I went to pull out my Takamine and noticed that there was a book nestled into the case. The Tao Te Ching? I didn't remember putting it in here. A thought occurring to me, I opened up my other cases, and sure enough, I found an assortment of other books that I owned tucked into the various pockets and compartments: Civil Disobedience, Nature, Parallel Worlds, an anthology of Romantic-era poetry and short stories (Poe, Shelley, Coleridge, etc), the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Silmarilion and the first volume of Bleach, which seemed a bit out of place amongst these other more serious works, were stuffed rather haphazardly and unceremoniously into my instrument cases, along with my tablet computer. Putting these aside as something Discord may have thought to be useful, although I'll be damned if I knew how they'd be, I went back to my guitar. After mentally going through my musical library, began to play a familiar song. (Open in new tab and once the music starts, keep reading) Something about the jangling 12-string melody seemed to fit perfectly into this world: curling, playful breezes wafting the sweet scent of these otherworldly apples, complete peace. I began to sing over the music, singing the lines I did know, humming the ones I didn't, my deepish voice contrasting a bit with original the song. A bird landed on a branch over my head and looked down at me. I waited for it to fly away, but it didn't. It just stayed there, watching. I didn't think much of it at the time. 'Maybe the birds here are just used to humanoids. Maybe some other intelligent life lives on this planet.' Then, a white rabbit hopped out from behind an apple tree, and right up to me. I paused in my playing. 'I didn't think white rabbits were found that often in the wild. Maybe things are different here. Or maybe it's somebody's pet. That would explain why it isn't afraid of me. It pawed at my guitar, almost as if it were telling me to play more. I reached down to pet it, when I heard something that sounded like "Eep!" from a few feet in front of me. Looking up, I saw a blur of yellow dart back behind an apple tree. 'Hmph. Maybe it was a bird.' I resumed my playing, and I noticed something curious: the rabbit seemed to be swaying to the beat of the song. It was almost as if it were dancing. 'Is it just a coincidence, or can he actually comprehend music?, I wondered. When I finished the song, the rabbit pawed at my guitar again, and then sat back expectantly. "Alright, I'll play one more." The rabbit gave me an idea. ________________________________________________________________ Fluttershy loved weather like this. Sunny enough to warm one's fur, but not inordinately hot. The smell of earth and grass riding in on a playful cool breeze. The birds singing joyfully in the trees. "Angel!", she called, stepping outside. The little white rabbit poked it's head out of it's home, eager for adventure.Today was the perfect day to play and run in the fields. After Fluttershy prepared a picnic basket for the two of them to share later, they set out to the green fields and forests adjacent to Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy keeping the picnic basket firmly between her teeth. After a pleasant frolic amongst the tall grasses (well, Angel frolicked. Flutter just kept up behind him to keep him from wandering too far), both had worked up a considerable appetite. Fluttershy returned to her basket and unfolded (not without some awkwardness) the checked picnic blanket, and was beginning to lay out the meal she had packed for herself and Angel when he suddenly paused, ears rigid and swiveling like radar dishes trying to pick up a signal. "What is it, Angel?", she asked. Without giving the slightest response, Angel darted off in the opposite direction from Fluttershy. "Angel!", she cried out, and quickly gave chase. As they approached sweet apple acres, she lost sight of him quickly in the trees, but she heard the soft crunching of grass and leaves under his feet and attempted to follow it. She also heard something else. Something she had never heard before. Could it be... music? Singing? Cautiously rounding a tree brought her barely a few dozen hooflengths from the strangest creature she had ever seen. She quickly hid behind the nearest tree, cautiously peeking around. It reminded her of the pictures of apes she had seen, but none of those had worn... clothes? Her vague intrest came to an abrupt end upon seeing Angel boldly approaching the creature. Her heart nearly jumped into her mouth. What if it were dangerous? What if it were hungry? She let out a muffled "Eep!" and quickly moved further behind the cover of the tree trunk as the being noticed Angel and began to reach down towards him. Then she noticed that it was not hurting Angel. Not in the least. It simply reached out and stroked his fur. It seemed... gentle. It manner almost reminded her of herself. Once she was convinced that it was not going to do anything to Angel, Fluttershy was able to better observe the This creature was far taller than the apes she had likened it to, and almost completely bald except for a spiny-looking clump atop it's slightly disproportionately small head. It's skin was pale, nearly white but with barely a hint of pink and tan. Strewn about the ground next to it were what appeared to be a set of strangely shaped shiny black cases, each with a handle. Even more strangely, it held some sort of instrument. It looked remarkably like a guitar, but it was bigger and had too many strings. And the music he played with it! It was unlike any she had heard before. It was bright and layered, the melody almost folding back over itself, flowing and dancing. It was beautiful. She was also mesmerised by the movement of his... were those claws? No they couldn't be: they were too rounded at the tips. They danced across the strings with spectacular dexterity. And then she cought on to the lyrics of the song as the creature sang: "A time to gain, a time to lose A time to rend, a time to sew A time for love, a time for hate A time for peace, I swear it's not too late" It seemed to be a mix of every feeling: something happy, something sad, something wistful, something angry. What did it mean by "a time for hate"? What did it mean by "it's not too late"? Fluttershy was sad when the song ended, but the creature began a new song shortly after. But this one was different. It was mysterious, even vaguely menacing, almost like a creeping animal. But then the tempo briefly picked up speed. It had the same mysterious sound, but instead of being sinister, it was almost playful. None of the words made any sense. How exactly does a caterpillar smoke a hookah? This song was far shorter than the first one, although Fluttershy wasn't terribly upset: while this song was indeed beautiful, it felt there was something hidden beneath the oozing melody, something ominous. It was at this point that Angel left the creature's side and moved back toward her. Careful not to make any noise, for she still wasn't sure about the intent of this strange new being, Fluttershy left the orchard, returned to the picnic site in the field with Angel by her side, repacked the uneaten lunch (to Angel's dismay), and returned quickly to Ponyville. 'If anyone can tell me anything about what all this creature might be, it's Twilight.', she thought to herself. After putting away her things and settling Angel in his little house, Fluttershy set off for the library. "Twilight?", she whispered, nervously pushing open the door in the side of the gargantuan tree. "Twilight?" After ascending a few flights of stairs, she found Twilight, nose buried in a book. The Pony in the Rye. "Twilight?" The pony in question looked up from the book with a start. "Hah? Who? Oh. Hello Fluttershy. What brings you here today." "Well...", began the nervous pegasus, and Fluttershy proceeded to recount the events of the day: Angel running off, following him to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, seeing the mysterious creature, the oddly shaped black boxes at its side, listening to its surreal music. "You are absolutely certain about all of this?", Twilight inquired skeptically, although it was more out of her own incredulity than doubt of her friend. "Yes! The only thing I could possibly compare it to is a monkey, and I'm... fairly certain that that would be a bit of an inaccuracy. It was certainly nothing known to Equestria.", replied Fluttershy. Then a thought came to her. Despite it's ridiculousness, Fluttershy couldn't think of anything else that might make more sense. Prepared for ridicule, and unable to contain her thought any longer, she asked, "Do you think it could be... a fairy? Or an elf?" Twilight's eyebrows arched high. "You can't be serious." Fluttershy looked down at her hooves, her usually yellow features turning a shade of pink. "Well... it's just... you know...I thought... In the old mare's tales, they talk about elves and fairies who come out of forests and play strange music. Music that no pony could ever make... Oh, how could I say that! Such a silly idea!", she managed to stammer out, leaving the room with the pink of embarrassment still painted across her face. 'Well that was strange.', thought Twilight, and tried to put the events of the past few minutes out of her mind. She could not, however. Fluttershy's tale of the strange creature continued to mull around in her mind. Casting aside her book, she quickly trotted to the history section of the library, then to the animals section. She spent the remainder of the afternoon, going well into the night, fastidiously going through each and every book about creatures that exist or used to exist in Equestria, finding nothing remotely similar to what Fluttershy had described. Could it really be a creature out of myth and legend? What was going on? When the men on the chessboard Get up and tell you where to go And you've just had some kind of mushroom And your mind is moving low Go ask Alice, I think she'll know When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead And the white knight is talking backwards And the red queen's off with her head Remember what the dormouse said Feed your head, feed your head - Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit