//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Three // Story: A Journey Unthought Of // by Hustlin Tom //------------------------------// In the next couple of days while I was lying very low, my new pony friends came by to see how I was doing. They kept saying this would pass over, but I wasn’t so sure. My inherent pessimism was returning to me, and I began to think that eventually I would be found out. What would happen then? Perhaps they would study me? Maybe they would torture me? I caught myself here; no, these ponies were nothing like mankind was, they were not prone to violence like us. Perhaps they would just ask me to leave, or maybe after some time they would accept me as a lone nomad in this world of theirs. One pony I hadn’t had the joy of interacting with yet was Rainbow Dash. She was strong, extremely competitive, and was a mite bit cocky, but she was good at heart. She was slow to form a friendship with, but once you had, she was loyal and dependable. She would be there as quick as a sonic boom to help. She and I had many discussions on airplanes, blimps, and other sorts of flying things, and just as Rarity predicted, she was excited to hear and learn more about them. “So you’re telling me that you know of one of these “airplanes” that can go faster than three times the speed of sound?” “It’s not my area of expertise, but yeah. It was called 'The Blackbird', and it could even almost go out into orbit.” “Wow!” her face was filled with wonder, but it quickly turned into veiled indifference. “That's pretty good, but still not as good as me!” “Oh, I’m sure of that!” Her stoic face let up a little for a small smirk. “So, what exactly is it that you do Rainbow Dash? I mean, Twilight Sparkle reads books, Lyra plays the lyre, Applejack bucks apple trees: what about you?” “Well,” she flapped her wings and rose up into the air as she put her hooves on her hips. “I make myself stronger and faster, so that one day!” She raised her right hoof “I can join the greatest group of fliers that Equestria has ever seen: The Wonderbolts! The day I don their blue and yellow uniform is the day my life is complete!” The gears in my head began turning again, as once more similarities between or two worlds popped up. “Blue and yellow fliers? That sounds similar to a famous group of pilots called the Blue Angels.” “What’s an angel?” “Um, well, it’s a human with wings basically.” “So your kind have wings too?” “No, the Blue Angels still fly around in their airplanes, the planes just have blue and yellow coloring.” I continued to think. “What?” Rainbow asked, as it became apparent that I was lost in thought. “So many things between our worlds are similar! It’s crazy. This can’t be coincidence. But I don’t know any other way of explaining it! It’s like, we made the stuff, disappeared, and you guys took over afterwards.” “So you think that humans once existed here, went extinct or something, and we ponies came after to take the reins?” “I honestly don’t know. It sounds absolutely crazy saying it aloud.” “But, hold on.” Rainbow paused and landed. “You might be right. There are some unexplained mounds in Everfree Forest that no one goes near. They say that they’re haunted. Maybe they’re an old human living space or something.” “That sounds like the perfect place to explore then! You want to guide me?” “I’d never back down from a challenge! Besides, this gives me a chance to be just like Daring Do!” “Daring Who?”