//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11 
// Story: Where no mare has gone before. 
// by Tobbzn 
//------------------------------//

Her boredom had gotten out of hand, and Rainbow Dash felt an immense need to do something. There was really nothing for her to do alone in the bedroom, so she decided to try her hooves on a small walk around the house. Scouting the area, Daring Do would have called it. That certainly sounded a lot better than walking around, hoping for something to happen.

With a rested body, a refilled stomach and a tiny bit of willpower, the simple act of walking was surprisingly easy, though her skin was still sore and itched whenever her movement wrinkled it up. She opened the door and left the bedroom, entering a much larger room which didn't look like a hospital at all. If anything, it looked like a kitchen. From there she discovered a bathroom, a door leading to a hallway, and some sort of hybrid between living room and library. Judging by the amount of books, whoever lived here could challenge Twilight in eggheadedness. None of the books had readable titles.

Deciding that she wasn't particularly interested in unreadable books, she headed out into the hallway, which seemed to be shared with at least one other household. After descending a flight of stairs, she finally exited the building and walked out into the sunshine. 

The scenery was only slightly reminiscent of Ponyville, and the color scheme was a little grimmer. The houses she could see were mostly identical to the one she was currently standing outside: They all seemed to have three floors, were all painted white, and were all made of smooth stone or some such. At least, she couldn't make out any wooden ones, even across the wide, dark road.

How dull.

As soon as she thought that, something that looked like a locomotive-less train carriage zoomed past her. Through its large windows, she noticed more creatures akin to the doctors, and from what she could make out, they looked just as bored as she. A brilliant idea entered her mind, and she smiled slyly.

They can keep their tests - I know the best one!

In a rush of adrenaline, she had caught up with the vehicle in eight seconds flat and passed it shortly after. Ha! Even without her wings, she was an excellent racer! Well, an excellent sprinter in any case. Her sudden burst of exertion left her very disoriented, causing her to trip and tumble straight into a bush by the wayside, where she lay still for a minute, resisting the urge to throw up and gathering the strength to move again. The fall itself didn't hurt at all, but the twigs left her bare skin both scratched and sore, doubly so after she had crawled out.

By the time she began to regain her bearings, her opponent had already disappeared from view. Further exploration revealed that only the door she had left open distinguished the house whence she came from its neighbors, and since she wasn't keen to get more lost than she already was, she decided to slowly make her way back inside.

The apartment was exactly as boring as she had left it, and her itchy skin and upset stomach did nothing to spruce it up. At least the knowledge that there were things here that could move decently fast cheered her up somewhat. Hopefully, there were even faster things around, ones she could race against while she recovered. It was too bad that the creatures neither seemed to have wings nor access to magic, so any meaningful race would be likely to happen on the ground. Still, once her feathers were grown, she could just fly back to Equestria anyway.

Maybe if Twilight dispels the wrap thingy on me, and casts it on one of the Wonderbolts instead, they'll actually be a challenge, she thought with a confident smile.

Continuing her scouting mission inside the house, she chose to start by taking a closer look at the library room. There, pedestal in the corner held up a green and blue sphere, on which there seemed to be engraved a map. She remembered someone saying something about the world really being a ball, but had never really given it much thought. Maybe, someday, she would fly all the way around it, and see for herself. After giving it a few spins and giving up on finding Equestria, she left it alone in favor of a large, curious picture frame that seemed to depict nothing but blackness. Closer inspection revealed a myriad of tiny buttons on its side, far too small for her large, clumsy hooves to press precisely, and an intricate network of cables that ran throughout the house.

As she followed the cables, she noticed that some of them were connected to the lights in the ceiling. Those, she had seen more and more often over the last couple of years, and they worked due to something called... electric? She didn't understand exactly how it worked, but she knew Ponyville had built a giant dam in order to get access to it. Maybe these creatures did have some sort of magic after all.

Deeming herself finished with the library, she rummaged through the kitchen in search of something edible that wasn't beans. Her dizziness was constantly threatening to make her vomit, and the last thing she needed was a more upset stomach. After a few minutes, she found some bread, but what she really wanted was some good old hay.

Eventually, she noticed that the large, white machine letting out a silent hum had a door handle. Cautiously opening it, she was greeted by a light switching on, a cold front of air, and a plethora of different foods. Instantly recognizable were bottles of milk, and a transparent bag containing fresh fruits and vegetables. After helping herself to a few tasty tomatoes, she continued investigating the ingenious food-contraption's contents.

Her heart skipped a beat.

The object resting squarely in the middle of all the food caused her intestines to twist painfully. She had never seen anything more disgusting. It was unquestionably meat - some poor animal had been ground up and was being stored in a small pool of its own blood! She barely made it over to the kitchen sink before the vomit started gushing out of her mouth. A minute later, she had regurgitated what she could, and washed the mess down the drain. When the realization finally dawned, her eyes silently widened.

They are predators...