//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: A Journey Unthought Of // by Hustlin Tom //------------------------------// The sensation of falling was intense. I was falling thousands of feet every second, but I also felt as if I wasn’t even moving at all. My bones and muscles were burning within my body. They felt like they were on fire; like every atom of my being was bundled up with intense energy. As it happens, they were. I was falling, or standing, or even flying, (I’m not sure which), through a cauldron of potential energy, matter, and existence. I was flying through the cold darkness known simply as the Void. My environmental protection suit was straining at its' every joint, and it was holding me together in the nothingness. Then I saw it. Right before my eyes, a small pinpoint of light. I was a lab rat; a test subject for what I was told would be a “great endeavor”, and becoming a part “in making the greatest scientific advancement since the Atomic Bomb”. I am valued, but only for what I was about to do; for scientific data, not for any other reason. My family is gone for all I know, which now that I think about it, is probably another reason I was chosen; no messy red-tape of grievances with the loved ones, no suits to be filed, just another human being gone from the world without a trace. I was prepped for the experiment after the last operation. I have only the faintest idea of what they’ve put into my body, or taken out for that matter. They have me put on my environment protection suit, and they stand me before a hole in the wall. I was told it was an experiment in teleporting matter, and that the hole is the window I will step into, to places unknown to me. It seems like the hole is a hungry ancient god, and I am its sacrificial feast. The point of light grows slowly larger. I realize that if I want to survive this journey, and not be lost to all of reality, I must will myself towards the point. So I begin. As I concentrate on being alive and free from my perilous journey, the point of light grows larger still. I can see colors in the light now; blue, white, and, green. I feel like I’m staring through an out of focus lens on a camera, but the image slowly is coming into shape, and then I am swallowed by the point of light. I’m alive! I’m back in the real world! I’m also falling. Oh, this is more than a sensation. The unspecific green, white and blue from before are the skyline of a forest, which is rapidly approaching me. I hit the upper branches of a pine tree, crashing through them. My suit is done protecting me, and it becomes dead weight; I can’t move! More branches hit my body, and then a large branch hits me right on the temple. Almost instantly I am knocked unconscious, and my body falls limp into a river below. My body plunges below the surface, and I slowly descend to what I’m sure would have been my death, if not for my savior. A local saw it all; the appearance of a white crackling lightning storm without clouds, a body falling from the sky, and the limp form falling into a the river. She pulled me out, and dragged me to shore. I was not conscious, but I was alive. I came to in a small cottage. Very small, I had to note. But obviously someone lived here in comfort for so small of a room. There was a bed in the corner, and another in an adjoining room. A window was across from me, the morning sun having been what awoke me more likely than not. I heard the sounds of two people in the room next to mine, talking quite loudly. I found that they were talking about me. “No! We are not keeping it! We don’t even know what it is, much less what it eats!” This I was quick to note: They don’t know what I eat? The voice continued, “We should have left it out there in the forest! It would have woken up and been gone to..wherever it belongs!” “But Bon Bon, we couldn’t just leave it out there! It could have been eaten by something, like a hydra or a dragon!” Dragons? Hydra? They must be talking some sort of slang for some other creatures; there are no such things as dragons or hydra. “Well as soon as it’s awake, send it back to fly off into the forest!” “It can’t fly Bon Bon!" (What kind of a name is Bon Bon? Must be a nickname I imagine.) "It somehow fell out of the sky and into the river!” “Out of a lightning cloud that wasn’t a lightning cloud?” “YES! I can’t explain it, but that’s how it happened! You weren’t there to see it. I was just playing on my lyre trying to get inspired by the sounds of the forest, when this..lightning thing, appeared in the sky, and out of it dropped this creature! It can’t fly, and it sure can’t swim! If I hadn’t done something, it would have died!” “And you have a gold heart for saving the poor creature Lyra Heartstrings, but the thing has to go!” I sniffed, and realized that the smell of alfalfa was lying in the air; so I’m on a farm obviously. I sneezed. Absentmindedly, the one named Lyra Heartstrings mechanically said, “Bless you!” “Thank you,” I replied back in like kind. Afterwards, there was a long pause of silence. After a while, the cream colored head of a young pony emerged from around the corner, looking all around. Another pony came around the corner fully, which gave me a start, because its flank, head, legs, and all of its body were emerald colored. After that discovery, I noticed their manes were stylized, almost like human hair. The cream colored one had a string of pink hair through its navy blue mane. They looked all around the room. “You didn’t tell me you had someone over Lyra.” The cream colored pony said. Wait, the cream colored pony spoke. Lyra replied back, “I don’t have anyone over”. I also noticed they seemed to have tattoos on their flanks as well. The cream one had three wrapped up toffees on her flank, and the emerald one had a harp on hers. Slowly, words came to my mouth “What in the world..” Both ponies looked at me. The cream colored one fainted. The emerald one stared at me in awe. We looked each other up and down, both of us amazed by the other. “What are you” both of us said near the same time. “Where am I?” I said. “How do you talk?” the emerald pony replied back. “Well, how do you talk?” I spluttered back. “I’m a pony, it’s what we do.” She replied back in half sarcasm. “No you don’t!” I yelled back. “What?” “No, you don’t! Ponies eat grass, and live on ranches, not play lyres or save people!” She cocked her head and looked at me quizzically. “I think you just insulted me, but I’m not sure. What’s a ranch?” “It’s like a farm, oh sweet..I’m talking to a pony! Either the world has gone mad, or I have!” “Not to be rude, but I’m pretty sure it’s you. And no, we don’t all live on farms, but the Apple family does.” She paused. “You obviously know what I am, but what are you?” “Well I’m a human.” “A what?” “A human, yes, look at me! Two arms, two legs, and hairy! Yep, I’m a human!” “Do you have a name? I’m Lyra Heartstrings.” She offered me a hoof. “Well, I’m guessing I’m the first human in this world, so you can call me Adam.” “Adam, what kind of a name is that?” “What kind of a name is Lyra Heartstrings?” The cream colored pony, now obviously “Bon Bon”, stirred and woozily asked, “What’s going on?” “Oh Bon Bon, check it out! This is Adam, and he’s a human!” I twittled my fingers in a wave and smiled “Hello, Bon Bon!” Bon Bon fainted again. And that’s how it all began.