A Strange New Land

by Enrique the Canadian

Chapter 5 No Return

Polaris bent low, his chin grazing the short grass on the ground. He unfurled his wings, ignoring the slight, dull pain in his wing, almost a warning. Don't fly for a week! Something inside Polaris was warning him. He ignored it. I have to get home, he retorted to himself. Polaris jumped up in the air, pumping upwards with his wings. A jolt of dull pain smashed into his shoulder, punishing him for ignoring the doctor. Polaris flew hard despite the pain, heading the direction he came; straight towards the towering mountains. He kept accelerating, flying almost top speed when he passed a massive home made from clouds. Unfortunately, most Pegasi are unaware of how loud they fly, and Polaris flew very loudly with his injured wing.

Rainbow Dash woke with a start. She could swear she heard somepony out there flying. She figured it must be somepony trying to get an edge on her by practicing at night. She quickly bolted to her door, she was going to show this pony who was the best flyer. She took off, following the faint trail of the other Pegasus. This one is fast, she thought, almost as good as me, but I'm still faster. As Rainbow Dash got closer, she found that the pony she was trailing was only going in a straight line.

Polaris heard the faint beating of wings getting closer behind him. He looked back and saw Rainbow Dash rapidly approaching from behind. What does she want? Polaris wondered, looking back ahead, narrowly dodging a cloud in the sky. Below him, he noticed the large town again, he knew he was making fantastic time by that point. "Leave me alone!" He shouted behind him, not sure if Rainbow Dash heard him.

"Where are you going?" She replied, "Why are you flying this late?"

"I said go," Polaris replied, "I'm going home. I know it's not too late." Some small part of Polaris kept telling him that there's no way he can do it; that he was just risking everything on a dream. Polaris tried to ignore that part of his mind, but it kept yelling at him, growing louder the closer he got to the mountains.

"No way," Rainbow Dash yelled, "You said yourself that the pass would be frozen." She was beside Polaris by this point.

"Well," Polaris shouted back, "Maybe I was wrong! It might still be safe. I have to try!" The terrain below Rainbow Dash and Polaris was getting very rough.

"But-" Rainbow Dash stopped herself mid sentence as she saw towering mountains loom out of the distance. The mountains were massive, jutting straight up from the ground, passing higher than any cloud could hope to go. They were covered with trees about half way up, stopping in an abrupt line. Pure white snow covered much of the mountains, occasionally punctuated by massive light blue glaciers. "Woah." Rainbow Dash whispered. She had never seen anything like this.

Polaris wasn't distracted, he scanned the mountains for a second before finding the glacier he passed over. It looked as if the glacier had returned to normal. The once small part of his mind was now every fibre of his being telling Polaris to stop what he was doing, but he didn't stop. Once he got close enough to the glacier, he reversed his body, pointing his hooves towards the glacier, and he stopped flapping his wings. Maybe I can smash the pass open, he thought. As he coasted towards the glacier, a sudden down draft caught Polaris off guard, making him lock his knees and sending him way off target.

"What are you-" Rainbow Dash couldn't finish her sentence before Polaris smashed into the massive blue wall of ice. He made a loud, sickening thud noise that was followed shortly by Polaris' cry of pain. He hardly even bounced off the glacier. Rainbow Dash began to move to swoop down and grab Polaris as he began falling. Luckily, he saved himself, weakly flying to the ground, landing hard. Rainbow Dash landed beside Polaris, who was slumped on the ground, groaning in pain. "Why did you do that?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You could have died!"

"Why can't you leave me alone?" Polaris snapped, whipping his head up to glare at Rainbow Dash. She jumped back, the expression on her face changing to one of utter horror. Rainbow Dash was startled witless by Polaris. His right eye was the same dark brown as before, but his left eye, which was usually covered by his hair, was a vibrant green. Rainbow Dash had never seen this before. The expression on Polaris' face showed he was used to people being shocked, his glare showing a touch of pain in it. No longer looking quite as harsh as before.

Polaris sighed, "it's called heterochromia," he explained, "one of my eyes is a different colour than the others. It's why I cover it with my hair." Polaris straightened his hair over his eyes again, still sore from smashing into the glacier. He began to sit up. "It's okay if you think I'm a freak. I'm used to it by now." Polaris said. It was the truth. All his life Polaris had been made fun of, bullied, and called a freak because he had mismatching eyes. Now standing, Polaris got ready to fly and said over his shoulder to the still-dazed Rainbow Dash, "I guess I'll go home. feel free to avoid me." When Rainbow Dash said nothing, Polaris sighed, depressed that he had to lose a friend this way.

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she jumped forward, tackling Polaris to the ground. She pushed his black hair away from his eye and laughed. "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!"

"What?" Polaris stammered, "y- you don't think I'm a freak? A weirdo? Ponies usually think I'm the biggest freak ever or that I'll somehow get them sick with whatever-itis."

"Why would I do that?" Rainbow Dash asked, stepping off of Polaris, all the while marveling at his eyes. "I've never seen this before, how did you get it?"

"I was born with it." Polaris explained. "It's pretty rare." The sun was beginning to rise now. "Hey," Polaris said, "maybe we should be getting back home now."

Rainbow Dash looked toward the horizon. "Yeah," she said, "it's getting day now."

As they flew back home, Polaris felt the pain in his wing much more than before. Polaris was in deep thought. Why didn't she think I was freak? He thought, staring ahead at nothing in particular. Does she really not hate me?

"So," Rainbow Dash said, "why did you try to get home?"

"I don't know." Polaris replied. "I guess I just had to get home to see everypony. Before I left, I had this nightmare where my best friend was alone, depressed, and I just had to get back to see him. Some part of me finally understood my grand father's story." Polaris glanced at Rainbow Dash and, noticing the look of confusion on her face, explained, "one day, when I was sick, my grand father told me a story about the most horrific day of his life, and I never understood why he told me. until today." Polaris was staring straight ahead, his eyes glazing over. Rainbow Dash had no idea what to say, so she just flew forward, thinking as well.

After about an hour, the pair arrived back at Ponyville. The amber sun was already risen by that point, and Rainbow Dash had to go control the day's weather. Polaris was still thinking hard when he returned to his home. Upon landing, his thoughts were cut short by a sudden, and intense burning pain spreading from the right side of his shoulder throughout his back. The pain was unlike anything Polaris had ever felt before. He ran into his home, grunting in pain, trying his best to hold it together. As soon as the door was closed, Polaris' knees gave in and he began screaming in pain. The pain now covered his back, making Polaris feel as if his back had been set on fire, after having a horrendous case of frost bite. As he tried to stand up, the world began to spin, and everything grew dark.

Polaris woke sometime later, the pain in his back had faded to a dull soreness. Late-morning sun shone through a window and landed on Polaris' weary face. He squinted in the light and figured he should see if Twilight needs some work done. As he left, he quickly glanced at his back and noticed a massive, deep purple bruise making a circle around the base of his right wing. He figured he wouldn't be flying for at least two weeks now because of his stupid move. Walking through town, toward the library-in-a-tree, Polaris looked thought to himself, why did I risk my life on a dream? Was it really a dream? Or have I just gone mad? These questions haunted Polaris more than anything. Even more than the fact that it was likely he may never return home.

When he arrived at the library, he knocked on the heavy oak door, hoping that this one wouldn't hit him either. There was no answer from inside, save for a loud crash, and a scream. Startled, Polaris called out, "Hello? is everything okay?" When he heard no answer, he slowly pushed the door open, not entirely sure what to expect. When the door was fully opened, Polaris couldn't help but laugh at what he saw.