//------------------------------// // 1- Arrival // Story: Blazing a Trail to the Past. // by Daylight_Dreamer //------------------------------// It had been a week since my wife left me. Time seemed to be standing still. I had lost my parents a few weeks back, and the end of my marriage just seemed like the end of my life as I knew it, but I didn't let myself mope. I just tried my best to find a new calling. I found it in my Dad’s old jeep. It had been his vehicle when he was in the service, and he managed to find it when it was retired and buy it up. He had it painted and 'Lt. Blade' put on the door. He had loved that jeep, and I never blamed him. Now it was mine to love. I had just had it waxed and was on my way to work when what was left of my world was torn away. Pulling onto the interstate I was passed by the usual group of speeding commuters. That jeep could go anywhere, just not in a big hurry. A truck pulled in front of me so close I thought he hit me. I knew no other way to explain the way my jeep was sliding to the edge of the road, but then again he was sliding right with me. We stopped on the side of the road with his tailgate blocking my door. I climbed out the passenger side not wanting to restart the engine until I inspected the vehicle. As far as I knew, I just killed it by slamming on the brakes without the clutch, but I wasn't going to take the chance. Looking around after getting out I noticed the scenery was way different than I thought it should look. I seemed to remember that there was a patch of trees right where we went off. Shaking this off as never having seen this area from the ditch I turned to walk around the truck and check on the driver. That's when I noticed the interstate was missing. It only got stranger when I got around the truck. The truck's cab was totally missing like it had been cut off by a laser. The cuts were straight and clean but at a bit of an angle. I was starting to freak out, something crazy was going on and I didn't like it. I looked over the jeep and found it to be totally undamaged, so I was fine to get going as soon as I found the interstate. I figured it must just be a little ways past the truck - or rather truck bed - so I started walking to where it should be. I got about one hundred yards before realizing I couldn't possibly have slid that far. Pulling out my phone I opened the GPS to find that I had no signal of any kind. That's when I knew I was nowhere near where I should be, I always got service near the interstate. That was the selling point for my phone plan. Now I had no idea what to do. Nor did I know where I was, how I got there, or more importantly how to get back. I was just about to climb back in my jeep and just drive in a random direction when I heard a voice from behind a bush about 10 feet in front of me. "Hello," came a weak southern accent, "is somepony there? Is that Daylight?" I had no idea what she was talking about, it was sundown, the daylight was going away. Wait! Did she say somePONY? "I'm here," I said, "but the daylight is going away. Is something wrong?" I was slowly approaching the bush to see who was talking. I could tell by her voice that she was just a little girl, and likely scared or hurt. That didn't do anything to help the fear brewing at the pit of my stomach. I just knew that as soon as I reached the other side of this bush, my life as I knew it would end. Little did I know, I had already passed that point. "If you ain't Daylight then everything's wrong," cried the scared little girl with the southern accent, "the spell failed and I'm done for if ah can't get ta Twilight soon." I could hear the tears in her voice. I didn't know what I could do for her but, god help me, I was going to do it. That's about the time I made it to the bush, looking around it I cringed. What I found was a twisted pile of yellow fur covered flesh with red hair sticking out in a couple places and a mutated looking face, was the only thing resembling a living thing. "So this Twilight can help you?" I asked after getting over my revulsion. "Yea," she was starting to sob, "but she’s over fourteen miles away, in Ponyville." "Which way is Ponyville?" I asked internally confirming that I had heard 'anypony' before. Yet not really knowing what that meant. "Straight past that group of trees," She replied, "but I don't have much time." "We better get going then," I said scooping her up and turning to my Jeep. I didn't know where I was, how I got there, or how to get back, but now I knew where I was going. It was a start.