I awoke to the sound of a bird screeching loudly nearby. In fact, it was so loud that I almost jumped out of the bed in shock. The only thing that stopped me was the tight bandages that I was wrapped in.
I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and jumped again as the bird screeched again. The little bastard was sitting right on the bedside table. Which was about 10 centimetres away. I feebly tried to swat it away but it seemed to mock me by hopping over my hand and onto the edge of the bed where it screeched again.
Wow, I thought, I must have taken a bigger hit to the head than I realised. I’ve never been mocked by a bird before. Then again, I’ve never seen talking ponies before either. After a few minutes of the bird hoping around noisily it apparently decided that it was bored and hopped off of the bed and out of sight.
Annoyed, I managed to roll onto my back and thought about what had happened to me over the last 24 hours.
“Talking ponies…” I laughed quietly to myself. “Of all the things to happen to me, it had to be talking ponies. Still though, could be worse. I could have died in the crash.”
At this moment the bedroom door burst open (in a manner that I thought to be impossible) and a rainbow blur shot through. I had no time to react before it landed heavily on my chest.
Great, I thought, like I wasn’t hurt enough.
In the few seconds it took me to gather my thoughts the cyan pony that had landed on my chest was muzzle to nose with me. I could instantly tell that it, unlike the others that I had met, this pony was very hostile and, judging by its muscular body, was also very strong. Judging by the similarities of its body I assumed that it was female. After a brief time spent staring at me the pony opened its mouth to speak.
“RAINBOW DASH! GET OFF OF HIM THIS INSTANT!”
The voice was so loud and commanding that we both instantly snapped our heads towards the source.
To my surprise, and apparently the pony my chest, the owner of the most powerful voices that I had ever heard was Fluttershy. She was standing in the doorway with a tray of food balanced on her back. If I had thought that the blue pony, whose name was apparently Rainbow Dash, looked angry then I had no idea what anger really was.
Fluttershy took a moment to put the tray on the floor before taking flight on a pair of wings that I hadn’t noticed before now. As she slowly flew over to us the other pony also unfurled its wings and rose up to meet Fluttershy.
“What do you mean ‘get off him? I was making sure that it wasn’t a dangerous and going to hurt you,” Rainbow Dash said in a huff, keeping an eye on me.
Yep, I concluded, definitely female. Though a bit tomboy-ish, I think.
“I told you to wait for me before going up the stairs and this is why. Even if he was dangerous, he’s too wounded to move out of the bed. I wouldn’t have asked you to come if I had known that you would hurt him more than he already is. Now if I could please talk to you outside,” Fluttershy motioned her head towards the bedroom door.
Rainbow Dash looked ashamed as she dropped to the floor.
“Ugh… Fine. For you. But I’m keeping my eye on you, creature,” she looked at me again, all shame gone from her eyes.
They were outside for a few minutes, which gave me time to think about what had just happened.
Okay, so they both had wings and they’re called ponies. That makes them… what? Pegasuses? Pegasi? I should have paid more attention in history class.
I pondered on this until they came back in, Rainbow Dash with her head hung low and Fluttershy looking more like she did last night, timid and shy.
Rainbow Dash walked over to the bedside and looked at me regretfully.
“I’m sorry for attacking you like that, Mister Jake. I was just trying to protect Fluttershy. I beg your forgiveness and all that crap.” She raised her hoof in a gesture that looked like a proposed brofist. Not knowing what else to do, I bumped it with my fist.
“It’s fine. I would have done the same. Rainbow Dash was it?” I asked not wanting to hold a grudge.
She grumbled at that and nodded, “Just call me Rainbow. Or Dash. Most of my friends call me Dash.”
“I’ll make sure to,” I said as she moved aside for Fluttershy.
“Sorry about that, Little One. Do you want some food? I made some breakfast for you.” She placed the tray heaped with food next to me on the bed. “Or some water?” She turned to the other pony. “Rainbow, could you please get Jake a glass of water?”
Rainbow huffed and walked out of the room.
“Is this enough food? I’ve never had to treat a human before so there might not be enough. Oh, there isn’t enough, is there? I’m so sorry. I’ll go and make some more.” Fluttershy’s’ voice got softer and softer the more she went on but I managed to reach out and grab her foreleg before she left.
She squeaked in surprise and stepped back quickly, hiding her face behind her mane.
“Oh… Uh, sorry. I just wanted to say that this is more than enough, thanks.” I let go and looked at the tray. Fluttershy flicked her ears back in a very cute manner and nodded.
The tray was covered in carrots, apples and what looked like a bowl of oats. Since I had never had oats in my life and didn’t really like carrots I picked up one of the apples. The moment I bit into it I knew that it was not a normal apple. It was the juiciest, most crunchy apple I had ever had the pleasure of eating. It tasted like it was grown with the most care and attention of any apple ever grown.
In short, it was perfect.
“WOW!” I exclaimed as I finished the mouthful of apple. “This is the best apple I have ever tasted!”
I heard a thump from where Fluttershy was standing so I opened my eyes to see that she was on the floor, upside down and stiffed legged. Kind of like those funny goats back home.
“Um, Fluttershy, are you okay?” I ask the frozen pegasus.
She didn’t move for a minute and I was beginning to get worried. As I was reaching over to poke her leg, Rainbow Dash came back into the room. She saw Fluttershy on the floor and trotted over to her side.
“Oh, wipe that worried look off of your face. She sometimes does this when she’s been startled.” She looked at the grabbed of water balanced on her wing and poured some of it onto Fluttershy’s face. She lay there for a few seconds, blinked once and relaxed her legs, snapping out of her unmoving state. She got back to her feet – hooves, I reminded myself, nodded in appreciation to Rainbow Dash and looked at me shyly.
“I’m so sorry about that, Little One. Oh, it’s so embarrassing. I should just go and leave you to eat your breakfast…” She apologised before turning to leave the room.
Rainbow Dash placed the cup with the remaining water on the bedside table and followed her out of the room, shutting the door.
“Well then, that was one hell of a morning,” I mumbled to myself as I looked over to the clock above the fireplace. “And it’s not even 9 yet! If they even use the same times as I do.”
I finished the apple, drained the glass and, having nothing better to do, snuggled back under the blankets and drifted off.
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I opened my eyes to see the moon hanging in the air outside the window.It loomed over the hills and filled me with a sense of wonder and, strangely, unease. I didn’t get the chance to ponder on that, however. I could sense another presence in the room. The hairs of the back of my neck stood up as I glanced around the dark bedroom.
My gaze soon fell on a pair of turquoise eyes peering at me from the darkness.
The owner of the eyes saw me looking and stepped into the moonlight. It was a tall, slender pony with a coat the colour of the midnight sky and a mane to match. At first I thought that she was a unicorn like Twilight, although her horn was longer, and then I saw that she had wings like Fluttershy. I also noticed that she had what looked like some sort of crown at the base of her horn and a royal looking necklace/collar around her neck.
The unknown pony stopped at the foot of the bed.
“So, you are the human that Twilight’s letter mentioned. What is your name?” The pony asked me as she looked over me once more.
“Uh… I-I’m Jake. Who are you?” I’m not sure what it was, maybe the way she talked, but there was something about this pony that made me want to get down on my knees and bow to her.
“I am Princess Luna, ruler of the night and co-ruler to the land of Equestria. It is my duty to investigate any new or potentially dangerous creatures in the safety of dreams to determine if you are truly a threat.” Before I could respond her horn lit up a light blue and I felt something new in my thoughts. It was warm and cold at the same time, but not unpleasant. It seemed to sift through my memories, throwing away anything boring or unimportant and taking a closer look at anything suspicious. It only took a few minutes but felt even shorter thanks to the fact that it was a dream.
“Is it over?” I asked as I felt the presence leave my mind. I looked over and noticed that she was sweating and breathing heavily.
Once she had composed herself, she looked at me with a sad smile.
“I did not expect that,” Princess Luna chuckled. “You are a very interesting creature, Jake. Your mind is filled with compassion and love, but also sadness. You feel alone in this world. We are very alike in that regard. I am also out of place. Though I am from a different time, not a different world. Alas, there is nothing you or I can do about it.”
She lit her horn and looked toward the moon, which was now sinking below the hills and out of sight.
Once the moon had fully lowered Princess Luna looked at me one last time.
“Good night, Jake. I will talk to my sister about what I have found and she will decide your fate. Don’t worry too much, I’ll try to put a good word in for you,” she winked at me and walked back into the shadows, disappearing in a small flash of light.
I sat there for a few more minutes, pondering on what had just happened.
“I’m dreaming? So, I guess that means that I can do what I want, then.” I looked down at my torso and tried to will the bandages to disappear. They disappeared, to my somewhat unexpected surprise, and I swung my legs off of the bed. “This is the most realistic dream I’ve ever had, as far as I can remember,” I whispered to myself as I stood up.
I walked over to the door out that led out of the bedroom and opened the door. Down the stairs I went, trying not to trip, only to see a large expanse of nothingness stretching as far as the eye could see when I reached the bottom.
“I guess that makes sense. It’s not like I’ve seen what it’s like down here,” I took one look out into the darkness and returned to bed. “Might as well try to wake myself up, not much reason to stay asleep now. Who knows, Fluttershy might let me have a walk around this time.”
I lay my head on the pillow, concentrated, and awoke in the real world.