> Hooves at Arms > by TrippyTyme > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Episode 1- Hole in the Wall > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere deep in a void where the sky is a mush of colors and islands drift freely from their earthly prison is the residence of Discord, King of Chaos and Destruction. Recently, he had just finished his spring cleaning or in his case, ‘spring dirtying’ for his cottage home. With his mind long dead from boredom, he called up Fluttershy to strike up some small talk. Because seriously, after his ‘‘Reformation’’ and Twilight bringing an end to Starlight Glimmer’s `time traveling temper tantrum, etc, etc, he simply had nothing to do…..nothing to feed on. He and Fluttershy took up occupancy in the living room, each sitting in a lounge chair adjacent from each other over small coffee table adorned with cookies and tea. “Fluttershy…” he began with a sigh, slouching his tubular being. “Got any ideas on what to do?” The cream mare brushed aside her hair with a hoof, “I don’t know Discord, but it’s nice to have some peace once in a while. Maybe you can try coming to my place, Angel would love the company. I mean i-if you want to that is.” Discord raised a brow and spawned a pony plushie, pointing to it in discomfort “Too bad for the ponies out there, my name is frowned upon.” These words brought pity to FlutterShy’s caring heart; surely there was something for him to occupy his time without putting anypony in danger right? Hastily racking her brain, she came up with a quick one, “Do you like reading? She spouted, reaching for a cookie. With a sip of his tea in reverse, he threw the plushie out a nearby window breaking it like brick. “Why of course my dear,” he chimed. “I especially love reading the little animal poems you do. They are beautiful just like you.” The timid equine choked on her baked good, quickly sucking down some tea to wash it down, blushing in embarrassment. With a weak voice she croaked, “Thank you, but do you like writing t-t-them?” Discord paused for a moment and snapped his finger only to be engulfed by a white shade of light and returned with a green cap and a pencil between his ears, complete with reading glasses. He then snapped them again to have and old vintage typewriter appear out of thin air, floating beside him. “If it’s for you, I’ll write anything.” He smiled, setting the typewriter; ready to jolt down his words of wisdom. Flattery from the draconequus mouth did not mix with the mare’s shyness in fact; words seem to die as she opened her muzzle with blood rushing through her cheeks. Regaining her composure or whatever exists of it, she spoke. “Well….w-we can start by coming up with a plot a-and some main characters…” “This doesn’t look too hard.” Discord mused, rubbing his chin with a sigh, “Maybe I’ll give this a go to pass the time.” Fluttershy grabbed another cookie with a sip of tea, “Remember now, when you come up with your characters, they must have some form of a background…” Taking heed to her words, he levitated motionless and thought for few minutes well before his mind drew up blank. Throwing his arms up in submission, he turned to his company who was laughing at his display. “What’s so funny?” he asked. “You are.” She replied gingerly. “Hmph!” the creature scowled, clearly offended. This added to Fluttershy’s laughter with a tear escaping her ducts followed by an unnerving snort causing both parties to go silent. Soon they both burst out into cheerful glee before finally dying down. “All fun and games FlutterShy,” Discord continued, floating the typewriter atop the coffee table. “But how do you do it? I can’t even make past the first step.” “All you have to do is think outside of the box.” his partner stated as matter-of-factly. “I’m sure Discord; King of Chaos can come up with something worth his time.” The Dragon hybrid claws snapped like clockwork and as if on command, a box appeared between them. From here, he searched the box, from within a box, to another box and eventually until his whole being gobbled up from the seemingly infinite well of boxes. Emerald eyes stared at the abyss of cardboard, still somewhat amazed by Discord’s random antics. Her expression soon began to paint the emotion of worry but was soon rewarded with the returning form of her friend. He emerged with a stretch, meeting with FlutterShy, “Golly Gee Willikers Flutters!” he shouted, nearly spilling the table’s contents. “I think I’ve got it!” “Got what?” she questioned. Discord lifted the mare in his arms, giving her a quick spin. “If I increased to 1.21 gigawands, I can rip a hole in our time space continuum and then be able to think outside of the box quite literally!” FlutterShy deadpanned in confusion as she met with his crystal red orbs. She knew that majority of times his rambles are of that of a senile old man, but she didn’t want to take any chances, so she had to be a killjoy. “No!” She said firmly, placing a hoof on his chest. “I thought I told you no dimensional traveling! Need I remind you of what you did to Tree Hugger?” “So?” Discord spat in retaliation, “It isn’t like I banished her or anything…” “But you almost did!” He dropped his ears in disapproval yet coming to a realization that she was right, he didn’t mean to scare anypony, all he wanted to do is fit in. It was all because of some petty misplaced jealousy anyways. Thankfully his sadness was short-lived as an idea put his mind under siege. A light bulb materialized between his horns , shining high and bright. “Well it seems I may have something… he growled with a grin forming on his features, but sadly, killjoy FlutterShy just had to muscle in on his fun. With nothing but a cold stare and a pout, she made him give into defeat. “Oh come on!” He pleaded in a childish tone, unscrewing the bulb from its invisible lamp and replaced it with a halo. “See? There no reason to make such a face is there? A raised brow and folded forelegs was all he got in response, clearly not buying any of his charades. Discord waved a hand in dismissal, “Fine, have it your way...” “I’m sorry Discord, but you always take things too far and end up hurting somepony.” “But-but those ponies were just at the wrong place at the wrong time! Plus they called me names!” FlutterShy broke free of his clutches and flew up to his face, thrusting a hoof in the direction of the window, “There’s a mail-stallion floating in that vacuum of your void all because he didn’t give you the right mail!” At the same time, the mail-stallion came gliding on pass them, he shrugged in a begging way but Discord flipped him off with a dagger sharp glare. “Discord, weren’t you suppose to send him back!?” FlutterShy squealed. “I did.” He replied. “But then he had the nerve to say that MY address was not valid! Can you believe that?” Before they could even continue their pointless chatter, an alarm clock ringed out of thick puff of smoke, startling all but Discord; who simply grasped it and turned it off. “Oh my, would you look at the time!” Discord gasped sarcastically, thankful something came up to get the cream nuisance out of his hair. “It appears you’re going to be late for the meeting with Twilight!” The timid mare’s eyes shot open in shock, “Oh r-right, I almost forgot. She’s waiting for me at the castle.” “She certainly is!” Discord chipped in, ripping open a portal that led directly to the castle’s front doors. “You can’t keep royalty waiting can you?” With a tear through space and time ripped open through the living room’s front door, causing the mare to crane her neck towards it and noted that it lead straight to the castle’s table room with Twilight nowhere to be seen. Fluttershy went into slight daze from the hole in space that levitated before her eyes, was he trying to brush her off? Could be but she didn’t wanted to give too much thought; she didn’t want him to think she doubted him or something. Pushing those feelings aside, she hovered a bit closer to Discord for a quick hug and farewell warning. “I guess you’re right.” She spoke flatly as she made her way back to her reality. “But remember, no dimension traveling.” Slick as an eel, the Draconequus puppy eyed, pointing to the halo that floated freely above his head. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” A smile slipped across his friend’s features briefly, “Good.” With that, the portal closed and the King was once again alone in his domain but the tides were in his favor, he had something to do, something to feed on. Snapping his fingers and doing it all by himself, the typewriter went from the coffee table to his hands in seconds. Charging up for another rip through reality as Fluttershy’s disembodied voice began to ring his head like an alarm, “But remember no dimensional traveling.” It howled with epenthesis. Wondering why he was hearing this, he looked up and saw the halo still hanging freely above his head. “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled in disappointment, snapping his fingers, morphing the type writer into a post modern computer booting up Pondows XP. He then logged into PonyHoof to see what’s popping. One may ask “Where this technology did come from?” Well, we cannot just simply explain Vinyl Scratch’s DJ system she’s got set up at home, can we? Not to mention, a fully functional night club in Manehatten directly above Rarity’s store. Forth wall aside, He guided his cursor to the search bar, taking off the dimensional safety option so he literally rack up any and every living being there is, too bad only he had this option no, only he had the power to summon beings from a different plane of existence. Besides a few posts from Lyra’s anthropomorphic counterpart rambling on about magical talking ponies being real and such, there was no one that caught his interest. After skimming through dimensions, he found one that was particularly void of life with only one planet appropriately named ‘‘Earth’’, sprawling with life intelligent enough to understand common speech. Opening up Universe Maps in another tab, he zoomed in on this planet, all the way down to street view. To his surprise, these beings were similar to the ones in Sunset Shimmer’s universe but there were some small but noticeable differences. Instead of having skin tones that rivaled the color spectrum complete with matching hair, these only had from the whitest of the white then to the blackest of the black and some in between. They came in all shapes and sizes, small, medium, large, slim solid or fat, they have it all. There also seemed to be miniature versions of themselves walking them, it had to be foal or something of sorts and their general appearance looks like a hairless monkey with clothes on. But what really blew his mind is when he navigated to a more populated area. Buildings soared higher than he had ever seen, with a network of roads flowing beneath them. Metal pony-less carriages rolled in a neatly organized line much like the taxi ponies in Manehattan but more efficient and speedy. Flashing lights flutter everywhere, far more advanced than any lighting system here in Equestria. Sweeping his lion paw through his grizzled hair, he gave one last glance before returning to PonyHoof and went through Earth’s page which had a blistering 4.4 billion of those things living there calling themselves “humans’’. Not wanting to burn his life search for the one he wants, he lazily scrolled and selected one at random. Now, all he had to do was kick back and relax but first he get rid of this annoying halo. FlutterShy is going to be impressed for sure. Meanwhile on Earth, a human was his way to pick up his daughter from school, driving along the twisted roads that lead the way. His stead being a cherry red hard-top 90’s Miata he bought back when he was high school wasn’t the best but it got the job done and it’s quite fun to drive given a few upgrades and quite easy to support and cheap. It took him 2 years to build to what is now from its GReddy turbo to the hydraulic handbrake that erected out of the floor finished off with a roll bar and a coiled over suspension. Other than that, the interior was pretty much stock besides the radio being ripped out and replaced with gauges and the handbrake, perfect for a weekend warrior. Yet we didn’t come here for cars, we came for some character background and character background is what we are going to get. But there was nothing note worthy of his life to speak of, he graduated from school, got a few degrees in college, got a job as an IT manager, got a girlfriend, had a child and is now fighting for custody of said child and that’s about it. It seemed like an average life to him, just an average Joe like any other person. His name is Tyrone Archer, is just another 26-year-old father working that 9-5 to support his daughter by putting bread on the table. He wore his usual uniform from work, being a plain blue T-shirt sporting his name and the company he worked for. Navy blue jeans complemented his shirt paired along with black and white sneakers. Jet black hair flowed from his cranium to his neck, tide neatly into a cornrow with a balbo beard etched across his face. His skin has soft touch of brown with his eyes being only a few shades darker. Now he wasn’t Nicolas Cage handsome, but he is somewhat pleasant to look at. Still on the light, he whipped out his s5 to check the time and it was 3:15, school should be getting ready to wrap up for today. He tossed it to the passenger seat as the turned green revving the car to life and slurred whistle trailed behind. The rest of his drive was going to a tad long and uneventful so he decided to have some fun by needlessly pumping his engine so he can hear the spool of the miniature jet underneath the hood. A bell echoed off in small school-house, signaling to all that chains of education can now be broken for all are free to do what they pleased. The rectangular building standing only two stories tall with its walls painted a formal yellow. Windows lined each level with entrance at the north of the structure covered a shelter with an off ramp to allow vehicles weave in and out easily. On the east side was a French door that gave way to a playground in which flooded with children eager to go home. They all wore tanned yellow shirts with the girls being covered with an aqua one piece dress complete with yellow and aqua knee-high socks. The boys followed a similar fashion with the only difference being a long aqua pants topped off with formal footwear. However, there was one student that curiosity caught the attention of. This pupil stayed behind sitting obediently at her window side desk, swaying her feet to and fro, patiently waiting in a classroom. Her ember orbs watched the clouds float in scattered formation slowly but surely forming a thundercloud that was relatively large to block out a portion of the sun. Godly rays seeped through window and radiated off her fair mango skin that matched well with her coffee stained bob hair. Her features resembled that of in static sketch, small narrow lips, a stubby nose and big eyes. The bright orange walls are decked with math and English posters with a few cartoon characters sprinkled here and there. Desks were organized in 5x3 rows facing the chalkboard in the front and center of the room with leading to a hallway on the right. The homeroom teacher was busy filing up today’s grades and was well dressed in business attire named Ms. Johnson was growing worried that this girl had no friends or was being bullied. Stacking up the last remaining paper then rubbing the board clear of today’s lessons she spoke, “What’s wrong dear? Don’t you want to go outside with the others?” The little girl nodded, “No, I’m waiting on Daddy.” “Are you sure? You can play while you wait for him you know?” Slightly annoyed, she slouched on the table, “Don’t wanna…” She grumbled. A few minutes of awkward blew over before the screeching of sneakers made its way through the halls trailed by a voice, “Yo Liz! Where you at?” it called, “Time to bounce!” Before the child could even raise her head, the owner of the voice was already by the door her father, giving his daily greeting to the teacher. Liz bolted her Hello Kitty to shoulders like greedy hobbit and swarmed to his hugging arms. “Daddy!” She squealed happily. “Hey pumpkin, how you doin’?” He returned lovingly. “She really must like you.” The teacher commented, grabbing her stuff. “She’s been seated at her desk since the end of class.” “She’s only like that ‘cause I’m the one that lets her have her way.” The parent replied meekly, giving Liz a pat on the head. The teacher chuckled but Liz’s attention was immediately killed by the need to hit the bathroom. She told the boss above on what needed to be done before disappearing in the halls, leaving the adults. Without a second thought, she found the ladies room and went to business skipping out moments later. Suddenly a cold, eerie chill shot down her spine with the clash of thunder making its presence known with loud bang strong enough to make the ceiling creak with the heavens unleashing a trickle of rain. Sure, she wasn’t scared of lightning but it still startled her to an extent. But still she couldn’t shake off this chill so she glanced around to find its source; being a door a couple of paces behind her, the fire escape. Like a clichéd fairy-tale curiosity got the better of her as she took quick but cautious steps towards it. She pushed the big silver bar on the door’s handle and gave way to the south side in the back of the building, facing a dead-end road and essentially a blind spot. Her grip slipped away from the handle, slamming the fire escape and cuts off all chances of retreat. Fear rippled through her with the chill growing more potent by the second. Her ember orbs locked directly ahead of her, looking at black hole plastered across a brick wall big enough to fit a flat-bed with ease. Instead of simply back away the strange force that seemingly called out to her like a normal person, she drew closer to the black void and eventually stuck her hand inside. Her 6-year-old mind blew into a million bits as her hand vanished into the hole but when she tried to withdraw, the fought back and pulled her deeper into the abyss. Now shoulder deep and no way to get out, she screamed as loud as she can before being swallowed up with the portal regurgitating a shoe. Meters away, Tyrone’s father senses started tingling when he heard his daughter’s cries for help, cutting his conversation with Ms. Johnson short and sprinted towards the sound with her in tow. Morals were thrown out the window when the first he checked was the ladies bathroom. He swept that place inside out with the skills of a seasoned S.W.A.T team but came up blank. Ms. Johnson caught his attention by guiding him through the fire escape, showing him the shoe the child left behind with a terrified look drawn on her face. Tyrone whipped his head to the left-nothing but empty bush-to the right is the road that they’re standing on that flowed out to the main and straight ahead is brick wall that had some graffiti on it. “Quick, call the police!” He roared, bubbling with rage. “Someone’s ass gone get beat.” “Got it!” She hollered back, making her way back in the school building, telling every staff member about what happened all the while Tyrone already circled around in his car. He chucked himself out and stomped in anger, throwing the shoe toward the black hole in the wall. Destroying the rules of physics, the shoe got eaten by the portal, leaving the human at a loss in the now drizzling rain. It didn’t take him too long to piece together of what had happened to Liz as he flew back in his Miata and sparked his engine to the waking world. In the heat of the moment, he slammed the shifter and lined up with the portal and took a final breath. Drawing the Cross on his chest, the car lunged in the portal, torn away from his concept of reality and plunged into a new one with a loud boom being the last thing he will ever hear from this world. > Episode 2- Lost > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Everfree Forest, a land uncharted by ponies and feared by many howled with skin crawling silence as its canopy of trees danced in the persistent yet gentle wind. Celestia’s sun fixated in the clear crystal blue skies beaming its godly rays down below with wild vegetation flourishing everywhere and anywhere allowing animals to live freely without pony intervention. But there was one zebra who called this place home and her name is Zecora. Out on a daily stroll just a few miles off from her hut, she was out to collect some herbs for her newest batch of potions. She wore her usual hooded cloak with a basket bouncing along her sides with each step. Spying out some daffodils in the distance, she walked and plucked them with the pull of her muzzle and tossed them in the basket with a smile, “Finding lunch on the go is a plus.” She rhymed through a thick accent, “But I must head back to my hut.” As soon she turned around to one she came, the canopy began to rustle as flock of birds flew over head sounding off their calls of alarm. She gazed at the frightened for a moment wondering what got their feathers all riled up. Her ears flickered outwards, picking up an almost inaudible but constant raspy distorted noise which was foreign to her. She craned her neck to the sound that was now heading in the general direction of Ponyville but the sound disappeared as quickly as it showed up but she decided to press on and broke off into a gallop to investigate this alien noise. Tyrone’s eyes glued shut, fists balled with a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel with his lungs hyperventilating for life giving oxygen. His mind raced over recent events trying to piece together what happened but a batter of confusion and fear turned his thoughts into mush. All he remembered was driving into a wall then the next thing he saw was trees and wrestling the wheel, an explosion and that was it. His mind finally giving up the ghost, he rests his head on the steering wheel to calm himself down. Prying his eyes open minutes later, he snapped his upwards and realized it was no longer raining in fact, it was quite sunny and peaceful which was strange because it was raining just a couple of moments ago. Even the sky looked different wait, the sky was different? As if lightning struck him, his vision panned the surrounding area seeing nothing but vacant woodlands with occasional woodland creature scampering about away from him. Webs of branches and massive tree trunks painted his canvas of the world and assaulted his nasal cavities with a mixed array of odors that coated the sticky, humid air. Oddly colored spiked vines snaked across the tree line dangling freely below to the finely grime coated ground. A maze of thorn hedges flanked him across the sides the car alongside more wooden beams of nature coupled with even more overgrow teeming with hidden dangers. With his judgment now pushing out decisions, it was clear to him that he is jungle of some sort but it this wasn’t the concrete jungle he was used no-this is an actual jungle…or forest or something. Shrieks and growls of wildlife greeted his ears causing to whip his head around like a dear spotted by a hunter. Strangely enough, although seemingly being stranded in a possible forest, it did provide some bizarre comfort because the more he soaked in, the more familiar it became. A memory lodged in the back of his mind had the words right on the tip of tongue but it just wasn’t clicking. He knew this was something he saw before. A growl ruptures from near by... “Liz!” Tyrone called aimlessly, poking his head out the window. “Liz, where are you!?” His heart began race, where was he? Everything is happening so fast and too fast; Liz just disappears out of thin air and now he is stuck in some backwash forest? What the hell is going on? A labored breath and a grunt later, the human gave the ignition a turn and it replied with a sputter with a few more attempts awarding the same results. Hands instinctively jolted for his cell yet quickly thrown back the instant he glance no bars on the screen. His orbs scanned the surrounding area, scouting for any possible threats thankfully drawing a blank yet his ears sought otherwise, they were picking up daunting howls to his left. From the sounds of it or God forbid, them, is a possible pack of savages stealthy sizing up their unsuspecting meal. Other than the growling racking on his nerves, he seriously couldn't believe he was in the middle of nowhere, held captive by nature and something was getting ready to jump his ass. Steeling his nerves he opened the door to get a better look at his situation and it shocked to see how truly lucky he is. The old Japanese roadster stood ahead of him still intact for the most part, somehow slightly dousing his heart burning with anxiety and adrenaline. He threaded through the ankle high grass towards the boot of the car, calling out his daughter’s name praying for a response. To make matters worse, he saw no evidence of movement from the car, any tire tracks, no nothing but undisturbed foliage. A sharp pain shot up his left leg causing him to wince in agony, immediately spying out on what he had stepped on, a thick, long and ash colored spiked root that ran beneath the car. Hoisting his injured foot in one hand and keep his balance on the trunk of the car with other he saw that bottom of the sneaker was smeared in a mixture of blood and oil with the blood seeping from a small breach that punctured through the sole of the shoe. A mashed feeling of dread and relief came over him as kneels to the undercarriage of the roadster setting his jaw agape, thankful that the engine didn’t start. One needle like spike pierced the oil tank, draining buckets of motor lubricant to the ground below. As if things weren’t worse enough, a nearby thorn bush 4 paces to the right stirred, his breathing slowed on instantly. The snarling beast is finally ready to take down its prey, its food. Tyrone snaps his frame towards the hedge, the stirs getting louder. He tenses his body as a pair of sickly yellow daggers starred him down. His gut clenches tight, muscles paralyze with fear. A figure could now be seen through the cover of leaves, the growling subsides… “A strange creature catches my eye, may I ask the one who passes by?” it asks firmly. The human blinked a few times with his heart about to burst, he couldn’t take this no more. Bells began to ring in his head then raising his arms in the air. “P-please,” he croaked weakly, “Can you help me? I can’t find my daughter and I’ve broken down and I’m lost.” “I will help you in time.” It began, narrowing its eyes “But right now, I want a name and importantly, what are you? Raising his brow and cocking his head in confusion still tinted with panic, he replied, “What you mean 'what am I?' We’re all humans….aren’t we? Look, I don’t want to be some animal’s lunch and my daughter’s missing, can’t you just help me or something?” The formless being gave no response. Miserably trying to hide his fear, he put a brave front and added, “Ain’t got all day, S-so what you gone do?" A silent pause yet again takes hold of the conversation with the yellow eyed silhouette formed before Tyrone as it stepped out from the shadows. Ripped straight from a documentary, a zebra cautiously approach the human with sockets as big as plates, its jaw hung low. Dark grey tribal designs slashed its back and forelegs, one of were which are bonded golden rings covered by ragged hooded cloak that draped around its neck, reveling five more larger rings. The tribal designs extended to pair of sockets that looked similar to an Egyptian cat, home to sea deep turquoise dots staring him down. A Mohawk mane erected from its head, trailing to two more rings looped in its ears as a striped tail sways freely. “Please, I mean no harm.” It pledged to the frightened human, already slipping away to the safety of its metal machine. “I am just wondering where you came from…” Terror reanimates Tyrone’s face, his brain making the connection to that lodged memory as every cell of his existence trembled to a visible shake. He couldn’t fathom to what he was looking at or be more precise, who he was looking at. ‘Just what in Sam hell is going on!?’ He thought while blindly opening the driver’s door, rummaging through the in interior of the Mazda for anything to get his mitts on, keeping his sights locked on the now bewildered zebra. Heart thumping harder than a dance floor; his fingers work towards the glove-box brimming with legal documents, fishing out a pen. “Stay back dammit!” he warned, wielding the pen like a shank, sweat is beginning to bead on his forehead. “I swear to God if you move, someone’s eyes gone be missing today!” The zebra replied warmly, “Please, I don’t not wish to confront,” then raised a defensive hoof against his display. “I just want to know where you come from.” What? All that growling and shit from before? Tyrone wasn’t taking the bait, “If you ain’t here to throw down, then what you do all that moaning and howling for then?” “I’m a Zebra for Celestia’s sake; do I look dangerous to you?” It asked in protested. Pause. That name, he knew that name, the name he watched on television with his daughter a few times. Still reluctant he refused to believe his eyes, emotions, throbbing pain, that this was all a dream. Sadly a well timed pounce from the thorn bushes got him from behind, sending him tumbling to the ground reminding him that it is indeed real. His office shank slips from his grasp, skidding a few feet and disappearing from view. All 6’3” 197 pounds of unadulterated human flesh and bone got thrown to the ground with ease coming face to face with a bloodthirsty wooden beast. Features of the beast slowly blending into form, his vision finally getting a mouth full of his attacker. Jaws laced with jagged razor sharp wooden blades snapped at its prey, anticipating movements to find an opening for the jugular. Scarps of timber and earthly debris made up its wolf-like frame and face, eyes glowing a foggy green giving way to empty, soulless sockets. Its paws ran the entire length of Tyrone's torso being topped off with curedhooked claws that had its victim pinned by the shoulders. The wooden beast had its prey pinned waiting for the time to strike. Meanwhile Zecora had her own problems at hoof. As she watched the strange creature struggle with the savage animal, while blood curtailing barking erupted from behind and out came two more wolves pouring in, their fangs prepped for a kill. The safari mare ditched her saddle bags in a blink, catching the beasts circling at the corner of her retinas, glancing over at the upright creature surprisingly still holding his own, with a freed leg suspending the predator's underbelly; snapping menacingly at the still alive and kicking meat, rancid saliva dripping on his face. Big mistake. That small tear in eye contact was plenty of time for one of the savages to pounce on her, plowing down into damp soften earth below but a practiced throw of mud flew from Zecora's hoof, blinding the foe. The second one charged, it too sharing the same faith. Now with the mongrels' vision smeared to oblivion, stumbling about swinging aimlessly. She took the chance to spot history's most basic go-to weapon, a rock; two of them to be exact. With the skill of a marksman, she bounced the rocks in the air with a foreleg twisting her hindquarters in the air then buckshot the cold stones into the awaiting maws. Stiff as tombs, they stopped. Shocked expressions etched their faces-explosion; bits of shrapnel sprawled everywhere leaving nothing but charred remains with Zecora already on the rescue for the strange alien. A battle ranges on between the human and the abomination. Tyrone wrestles with the beast, managing to get his good leg pressed against the thing’s stomach giving him some leverage while pushing the devil’s dog a few centimeters away from him. With less weight bearing down his shoulders his arms bolted to the animal’s ankles, suspending its form the best he could. An adrenaline fueled heave lunched the animal forward, up and over his head with his arms pulling the rest of the way. Landing in a tumbling heap, the Timber wolf howled in pain but before it even had a chance to lift a paw a black-grayish blur leaps over its meal and pressed a well placed hoof on its neck, breaking it. Zecora watched as the lime green fog in its eyes snuff out like candles on a cold night now lying motionless. Knowing full well that it was not dead, she picked up a nearby rock and shoehorned it down its throat. For a split second, both eyes and muzzle flickered with life as the body begins to bloat. The human watches in agony off in the distance, bruised and dirtied staggering to his feet. Zecora’s pupils shrink to the size of pinholes as the carcass puffed up like bread in an oven, “GET DOWN!” She hollered, galloping in the human’s direction, hunkering behind the metal carriage. “Get down, now!” “What?” Tyrone choked but a hoof a yanked him to shelter before getting a reply. His brain mangled with confusion, fear, anger, all swirled around in his head, and oblivious to what is happening to him. His ears rang the tone of deafness, his eyes rolled to the sky seeing chunks of wood green hellish flames spew overhead, rocking the car on its axis. A voice keeps siring off words of concern but he was too stuck in this trance, this hallucination; a dream he wished that was just a nightmare he would just wake up with his daughter sleeping beside him but no, reality isn’t what’s it cracked up to be. Smudged and faded, a recognizable figure entered his vision, “Get up!” It yells, embers gliding over its muzzle in a fiery rain as his senses equalized. “Are you alright?” No. Tyrone’s composure reconstructed as he stumbled to his feet with labored breaths and rickety knees, “Do I… look alright?” he said between gasps. “I just got my ass nearly ripped apart by a… explosive…wooden dog.” The human’s orbs danced over the Zebra’s body, finally getting a foothold to who was talking to. Naturally one would freak out talking to a fictional character saying that this isn’t real or something along those lines but he time for unnecessary drama and remained calm. “What about you Shecora, you ‘ight?” She got to her hooves in shock, “It’s Zecora, You know of me?” She rests a questioning hoof on the being- “DON’T TOUCH ME!” the creature spat, an unconscious hand slaps off her gesture causing her to wince. The human shrugs, giving a traumatized stare then limped to the driver side door, Zecora watching him like a hawk. “This is not happening, this is not h-happening…” he mumbles. “This is not happening…” He then proceeds to open a door of the metal carriage then sits, echoing out somepony’s name, “Liz, you out there?!” But silence is his response. “Who are you looking for?” Zecora asked, still recovering from the slap. “My daughter, have you seen her?” he shot back, messing with what appeared a small white slate in his appendages. “No what I’m kidding, this is all a dream!” He breaks out in a maniacal laughter. “That’s right! All a dream that I’m soon going to wake up from, why am I wasting my breath talking to you!?” Zecora is a bit taken aback by the creature’s outburst. “No, although I can help you look this ‘daughter’,” She takes a few trots towards Tyrone out of curiosity and concern. “But the break of night is about to occur, we only have about two hours of daylight to search our surroundings.” He gave a puzzled look as he slipped out of the metal carriage, white slate in hand his back facing Zecora. “Look, I can’t tell whether this is real or not of if I’m having a dream before I die but I do know one thing.” He looked in the sky and saw the sun soaring just above the horizon. “How the hell is there less than 45 minutes of daylight left!? We-I have to look for my daughter and if you-whatever the hell you are, can just piss off!” Zecora scrounged her features, not putting up with this creature’s nonsense; is this ‘thanks’ she gets for saving it? What an ungrateful being! She puffed out pale, hot air, “Fine, have it your way. Let’s see if you can survive the night without cropping up dead the next day.” The man raised a brow, what she meant survive the n- oh wait the attack from earlier was all he needed to him that is happening is legitimate. But be it he may be stuck on another planet surely they must have civilization. ‘Duh~’ he thought in a chuckle, not caring to see Zecora picking up her things, preparing to ditch him. Of course they have civilization! He’s seen it on TV a few times! All he has to do is make one call and emergency personnel will be on him like white on rice. Plus, they will help him look for his daughter! Problem solved! He didn’t need no stinkin’ farm animal’s help. He’s got this on lock, 45 minutes is plenty of time. Dialing 911, the human glued his cell to his ear…. -No Tone- Heh, maybe the lines tripping out just like him, he tries again. -No Tone- Alright cool, cool; maybe he just too far away from a cell tower. He reaches high in the air phone in hand and on speaker. -No Tone- Note to self, cancel this rubbish plan coverage. Deciding not stand around like a dolt anymore he combed the immediate area for his daughter and burned through those minutes like paper as he returns to the car. Then something bewildering happen, Tyrone saw the sun sank like a stone behind the tree line the moon being lassoed in the as stars and darkness any form of light; grounds below shrouded pitch black. 'How the hell?' Panic invaded his sense of security as his orbs darted around only to see that the Zebra was long gone, left for dead, hurt, thrown to the dogs, given the cold shoulder, abandoned, stranded…..lost. A sudden chill of air brushed his frame with his body replying with a stuttering rattle, no doubt that temperatures were plummeting fast. Sense became common in the human’s mind realizing that his one way ticket out of here was that ‘‘stinkin’ farm animal.’’ What’s worse visibility has dropped to a claustrophobic 3 feet all around, blind as a bat. Twigs snapped from the hood of the car, a familiar silhouette popped into view; it’s a Timber Wolf reinforced with a friend, another Timber Wolf all lightly bathing in moonlight. Tyrone’s body tensed in horror knowing he could not even attempt to flee with his injured foot. The beasts circle their meal, licking their lips. “C-come on you turds! I ain’t got all night!” Tyrone taunted, taking stance. They happily obliged by leaping in the air in front of him, he throws up his arms, his breathing speeds up to a shallow breath, clenches his fists and waited. Nothing….sounds of falling bodies burrowed through his ears. Opening his lids, he saw the two laid out on the ground stiff as led, vaporizing in cloud of smoke a friendly and all too happy to see figure trots up to him. Zecora. “Leaving the weak and defenseless alone puts a bad taste in my mouth.” She began, walking right up to him, face to chest. “Come, follow me home.” The human scoffed, “You again!? I thought I told you to piss off you dumb ass looking- looking th-…thing! I was just about to wake up from this hell hole!” Zecora snapped, pushing the human to the ground, a grim expression adorns her face. “Hmph, it seems I wasted my time saving you but I shall give you one last chance. I assure that this is no dream but if you want to become food for the wolves are fine by me, it’s your choice.” Tyrone cups his face in his hands, was he going to leave his daughter here? Hell No! “What about my daughter Liz? I can’t just leave her here since this is reality then! What do you want me to do?” She taps her muzzle brow realizing that he not of this existence, “How did you get here?” she asked. “Duuno…” he rubs his temple, hoping to coax out some memories. “All I remember was this black hole thinking my daughter got sucked into it. Then I drove in without thinking, then ugh, it was like a large boom went off behind me and now I’m here…” Magic … Portals … Spells These were the words that float about in Zecora’s mind from the information she could understand. ‘Is it even possible to open a portal for another being?’ she pondered. ‘Sure it is but I’ve only seen it done through teleportation and that alone requires a deal of magical prowess, transport a beings from a different realm.’ Twigs snapped from nearby, ripping the two from their conversation. “We’ll talk of the details later. Zecora began, her voice becoming weary. “Now we must leave, our presence has drawn the attention of the unwanted.” “But I can’t leave”- Tyrone is cut off by a intimidating glare “We’ll increase our chances of finding this ‘daughter’ of yours and our survival if we come back tomorrow.” The human sat for a moments break then nodded in a silent disagreement. He got to his feet and limped to the driver’ door retrieving his keys then back to Zecora with stubborn look on his face. Yet he knew the zebra was right but he couldn’t do it, he just can’t. “I can’t just leave my girl, she has to be here.” He pleaded, “I searched everywhere, and she wasn’t in the bushes the street-anywhere! She has to be here!” Zecora sees the determination glossing his eyes but this is Timber Wolf territory, staying out here is suicidal. They were especially vicious in the night; she could already feel the cold stare gnawing at her. She has get some sense in this creature’s head- whatever is his head or even if it’s a ‘him,’ she did not know. “Being out here is dangerous.” She stated, looking up to him. “Timber Wolves show no mercy for the living, we must return to shelter.” Tyrone came up with a solution, swallowing his pride. “It seems to me you can hold your own. Just choke those assholes and…w-we...search a little longer.” Zecora raised a brow then sighed, “We can barely put up fight against those we fought back there, if they were to attack us in a pack I doubt we’ll survive the night. Chances are, this ‘daughter’ of yours isn’t even here.” The human ran his digits through his corn rowed hair grunting in frustration staring into space as clenches keys in his left fist. He bites his lip. “F-fine, where to?” Tyrone wondered, quickly hopping over to to the driver side door, grabbing his keys, locking up then pushing the keys in his pocket soon returning to Zecora. She smiled, “Home…” Still not a trace on Liz, what will he do now!? Does he really follow Zecora home or does he stay and pretend that this is a LSD trip? Stay tasty for Episode 3: Solar Powered.