//------------------------------// // 1 // Story: "O brave new world, That has such people in't". // by Initiate Brony //------------------------------// The pain and violence I expected never came. Cracking my eyes open, they were met with the orange-ish red sky of early morning, I could hear a wind howling and the gurgle of flowing water. Had I been thrown from the wreck? I look pretty good for dead I thought to myself as I brought my seemingly untouched (with the exception of a little dirt) hands up to my face. My sleeves seemed to be okay as well, Good, this is my favorite sweatshirt. Sitting up though, I realized things were not quite as fine and dandy as previous thought. My surroundings had utterly changed. The grass seemed greener--even soft, the air a bit sweeter, an overall pleasant feel in the very environment. There was no sign of what may be left of my vehicle, not even a runaway hubcap like in the movies. For that matter, I wasn't in the bottom of a canyon with a large creek running through it. Frantically whirling my head about I realized that I was now in an area of rolling hills, with a small brook flowing peacefully nearby. I couldn't help but let out a content sigh at the view before snapping back to the matter at hand: I was in new territory, with no landmarks or means of transportation and a set of rather frayed nerves. Taking a few deep breaths I got to my feet, might as well get to a vantage point. Spying a nearby tall hill, I made for it in all due haste eager to give myself a bearing on where the hell I was. Huffing and puffing by the time I finished the ascent, I put my hands over my head catching my breath and surveyed the landscape. I could see far and wide, to the north plains stretched out to the horizon, to the east a single large peak seemed to rise out of nowhere with no adjoining mountains and I thought I could make out a large structure of some sort on its steep slopes, but with the sun in my eyes I couldn't tell for sure. West looked to be just more rolling hills, but a small range of mountains ran east parallel to them and ended a short distance south of me. That is where I caught sight of what looked to be road. Civilization! My heart jumped at the sign of people and help, Now to find someone who knows where I am I cheerfully thought as I trotted down the hill heading south towards the road. It took me a few hours, as well as a couple of times getting lost like an idiot, before I reached the road. It was partially paved in cobblestone--Cobblestone? Where am I Britain?--and looked like it had never had a car on it, since all I could see were cart and hoof tracks, rather small hoof tracks too which made me a bit curious. Who uses horse carts anymore? Amish folks? I mused, pondering which direction to take. Not being able to decide I patted my pocket for a coin but found my phone instead--MY PHONE, HOW COULD I BE SO DAFT! Clawing to get it out of my pocket I found it to be unharmed and functioning. "No Service" I read out loud from the spot where the reception is displayed. Groaning, I shut it off to conserve its battery and fished out a coin to flip. Heads south, tails north. Giving the coin a good flip I caught it and slapped it onto my wrist. Heads. Washington has spoken, south it is then. Pulling my collar up a bit, I turned south, as beautiful as this place was it was still cold. I missed my coffee. ___________________________________________________________________________________ It was about midday when I stopped to take a breather, as even the cobblestone was it was rather uncomfortable to walk on for extended periods of time and my feet were not having it. Checking my phone I was again met with no service. Not like I was going to get much signal anyway; a few miles back the rolling hills had given way to relatively flat forest land that seemed rather lacking in wildlife. The refreshing smell of pine trees and a warm breeze drifted through. Feeling rested, I once again set out. I would have to find food soon though, the void that is my stomach was beginning to groan and protest the lack of sacrifices. As the day dragged on I began wondering where all the people must be, since the road seemed a bit deserted for how large it was. Is it a holiday and I've just forgotten about it? Fortunately for me the road I was following didn't climb over the mountain range to the south, instead skirting around to the end and down into a large valley with a river running down the middle of it. The forest was beginning to clear, and I could make out little columns of smoke just south of me. Quickening my pace brought me to the edge of the forest, looking out at an area of little hills and what looked to be a small town of some sort. Seemed pleasant enough, so I continued my trek towards it, coming across a fork in the road with a couple of direction signs. "Ponyville" on the sign pointing south, southeast and "Las Pegasus" on the one pointing west. Are my eyes going bad? I rubbed my eyes and squinted really hard at the signs for about three minutes before I chalked it off to just being bad paint that's distorted the words. "Ponyville it is then" I chuckled to myself. Looking up in the sky I noted the lack of any clouds, the sun seemed to be shining a bit warmer than I remember it being a few hours ago and the fields nearby looked to have recently had snow on them but been plowed away very thoroughly. Curious, all the surrounding area seemed like that, like someone had decided not to wait for it to melt and just had at it. I began hearing the sounds of animals finally, breaking the silence that permeated the land it seemed. I was within about two hundred yards of the first town building that I realized how odd it looked. It was as though someone had taken a medieval house with a straw roof and fused it with some sort of art designer's hip idea for a color scheme and modern materials, most curious indeed. Now where are the people?! The sound of a large group of people talking made me perk up a bit as I peered about searching for the source of the murmur. Walking into the town I took note of the size of the various houses, they seemed a tad small to me--Must just be my eyes playing tricks on me again. The town square looked to be just ahead, and I hurried towards it, the voices seemed to originate there. Rounding the corner of a building I was confronted with a busy plaza filled with multi-colored, little, talking... PONIES?! The program Jim.exe has stopped working, how would you like to proceed? I chose the instinctual path and was about to make a break for it back the way I came when I heard approaching footsteps behind me. Panicking I ran for a nearby alleyway and continued sprinting along it as a cascade of thoughts came down upon me: There has to be a scientific explanation for this! What was in that coffee? Am I in a coma and just having a dream, a really really intense dream? Focusing on thinking and not where I was running I ran smack into a large tree that seemed to be just sitting in the middle of town. Feeling something warm drip from my nose I reached up my hand and pulled back blood, Great, now I have to deal with this too, I had a tendency to bleed a lot when this happens. Wiping off what I could I scrambled up into the tree in a mad dash for cover. Easy Jim, easy, its just ponies. Sentient. Ponies. Sure I'll calm down, its fine, not like this hasn't happened before I have spent years preparing myself mentally and physically for this day. You must unlearn what you have learned. STOP IT. I shook myself trying to calm down. Focusing on just relaxing. It must have worked because I woke up hours later, from a cold breeze. The sun was beyond the horizon and stars dotted the sky and a moon I don't remember being so big shone almost as bright as the sun. Shivering, I looked down from my perch at a small window in the side of the tree. What? Curious, I climbed down and peered in as ninja-like as possible. The interior of what I thought was just a tree was lit by candles and a roaring fireplace--how I didn't recognize this I will never know--and every wall had at least one book case carved into it with an array of other decorations and windows as well. Touching the glass I could feel how warm it was. With stealth engaged I slid down the side of the tree and looked around for a door, looking in every window I could find to make sure it remained empty. I found the front door, with a sign that read "Library", Perfect! Who sleeps in a library Homeless People? Can it. Easing the door open part of me experienced a pang of guilt entering a building like a thief, then the other half reminded me that it was freaking freezing outside.