//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Adeleine and Ribbon: Unlikely Survivors // by Kir B //------------------------------// "Arrgghh." Adeleine awoke with a groan. Her body ached, feeling bones popping and cracking slightly as she made to sit up. She found it slightly difficult to do as she was caught in a bush, but she managed to pull herself out with little issue. It took a moment for things to catch up to her. "W-wait. . .I'm alive?" She questioned softly. She felt herself over, making sure that she was really in one peice. seeing nothing really wrong with her, a massive grin spread across he face. "I'M ALIVE!"" she exclaimed, jumping with joy. She began to dance a bit, aches and slight pains completely forgotten. She was in the middle of doing the wave when she noticed something pink out of the corner of her eye. She peered down to find Ribbon, snoring lightly within the confines of the bush she had pulled herself out of moments before. The girl wrapped her arms around the sleeping fairy and slowly began to untangle her from the bush's branches, being extra careful as to not hurt her or ruin her clothing. It had taken a bit of effort, but eventually the human had free'd he friend. "Ribbon? Ribbon, wake up we're alive!" The human exclaimed. The fairy stirred from her sleep slightly, slowly opening her eyes. "Adeleine. . ." she said softly, fluttering her eyes closed after a moment. Suddenly, her eyes shot open, and she rocketed upwards, startling the painter and causing her to tumble. "Adeleine!" Ribbon shouted, frantically flying circles around the area. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no OH NO!!! Where could she be, she could be really hurt! ADELEINE WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!!" "Down here." came a voice. Ribbon paused from her panicked yell and looked down to see a slightly amused Adeleine. Ribbon flew down and gripped her friend in a tight hug. "Adeleine!" the fairy exclaimed, heaving a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're okay! I thought I thought I had lost you!" Seeing her friend in distress the painter returned Ribbon's hug. "Don't worry Ribbon, I'm fine!" the artist soothed. "At most I've got a few scratches, but otherwise nothing too bad." Her words helped soothe the fairy a little bit, but Ribbon continued to hug her friend, as if she would disappear should she let go. Adeleine got back up onto her feet and looked around. They seemed to be in some sort of forest, but didn't they fall down into a hole? How would that even work? However Adeleine was stirred from her thoughts when there was the sound of something shattering, and a voice shouting out in slight frustration. Ribbon, startled, let go of the painter and the two were immediately on the defensive. "W-what was that?" Adeleine stammered, frantically looking around. Then her gaze fell upon something rather peculiar. Her eyes widened a bit. "Hey Ribbon, look!" she said in a hushed voice, pointing into a clearing. Ahead of them was a tree, but it wasn't an ordinary tree. It had windows built into the sides, and a door at its front. A dim light filled up the interior, flickering ever so slightly. "It looks like someone live outs here." Ribbon said softly. "Maybe we could ask them for directions or at the very least, ask where we are." The two relaxed a bit and made their way towards the hut. Once they reached the door, Adeleine reached out and gave it a couple of knocks. "Hello?" the painter called out, "Is anyone inside? My friend and I are kinda lost and we kinda need some directions!" There was the sound of . . . footsteps? The were loud and sharp, more like if someone was clacking two stones togethert than actual shoes. The door was opened and out stepped. "Huh? Is. . . is that a zebra?" Before Adeleine and Ribbon stood a zebra, but it was unlike any zebra Adeleine had seen before. It had rings on its forelegs and had its mane in a mohawk. It also seemed to posess a strange marking on its hind-quarters. Currently it was staring at the two with widened eyes and seemed to be trembling a bit. The zebra looked at the two beings before it, before promptly slamming the door hard in their faces with a shout. The unexpected action made Adeleine flinch, causing her to stumble. "H-hey!" she exclaimed, knocking on the door once more. Zecora was terrified. Every impact against the door made her curl up tighter and tighter in the corner. She had dealt with many creatures in her life of all shapes and sizes. However she was not prepared to deal with the horrors that were currently clawing at the entrance of her home, trying to worm their way in, likely to eat her. Or worse. . . Eventually, the banging stopped, but the Zebra was too far gone in her fear to really notice. And there she stayed for the rest of the day. After knocking on the door a couple more times, Adeleine finally gave up. "Well that was a bust." she sighed. Ribbon simply gave her young human companion a pat on the back. "Aw cheer up!" the the fairy said kindly. "Perhaps we can find our way out of this forest ourselves!" "I guess." Adeleine responded, though she was rather unsure. "Maybe I could fly up and see where we are?" Ribbon offered. Adeleine nodded in agreement, it was better than nothing and it would be best to see if there was anything of interest. Ribbon began to ascend higher into the sky, eventually breaking through the tree line and looking about. She quickly spotted a village in the distance, though it was unlike any she had seen before. The fairy soon came back down into the forest and told her friend her findings. "There's a town in the distance headed that way." She said, pointing through the trees. "We'd best get a move on though, this forest makes me feel a bit uneasy." Adeleine gave a cheeky grin in response. "Well in that case. . ." She began, pulling out her paint brush. "I believe I've got just the thing!" She reached back to bring out her portable easle, only to find nothing there. "Wait what?" the painter stammered, checking her other pockets. There were art supplies and a few sheets of regular sized paper she had folded up, but to her horror the easel wasn't there. "Uh. . . . Ribbon? You wouldn't have happened to bring my easel or my canvas with you, would you?" The painter asked pleadingly. Realising what her friend was getting at, the fairy sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid not." the fairy confirmed with her voice a moment later. "We were just so caught up playing that we kinda just left it behind." Adeleine groaned. "Ugh. Guess we'll just have to go on foot." she sighed. And began walking in the direction that Ribbon had pointed in. "H-hey! Wait up!" Ribbon called out, trying to console her friend as the two walked further into the brush. It had taken a bit more time than either had expected but eventually the two found that that vegetation was slowly starting to get thinner and thinner. Trees began to look a bit more normal and the foliage was looking a bit brighter. Eventually they finally managed to find the exit. The two peered around at their new surroundings. It looked beautiful, but something didn't quite add up. "Hey Ribbon?" Adeleine began. "I don't think I've ever seen this area before in Dreamland, have you?" The fairy shook her head. "No, I haven't. In fact, this looks almost nothing like Dreamland! No windmill trees, no dome hills, I'm pretty sure as large as the Dreamstalk is we should be able to see it from almost anywhere. . ." The fairy began to ponder the implications of their predicament. "You don't think we might have like, fallen to the other side of Popstar do you!?" Adeleine questioned worriedly. Ribbon giggled in response. "I don't think that could happen Adeleine." the fairy smiled "We still should see where we are at the moment." The two looked out, spotting the town just a little ways ahead of them. "Come on! Maybe there will be someone in town that could help us out!" With nothing else needing to be said the pair took off towards the town, smiling the whole way. As they ran they took in the sights around them, despite not seeing any familiar land marks they still had to admit that wherever they were it was really nice. Birds chirped happily and a gentle breeze swept through the air. All in all it despite being lost, it was rather pleasant here. After a few minutes of running, the town was right upon them. The dirt road gave way to stone walkway as they ran over the bridge. As entered the village they came to a halt, gasping at what they saw. Ponies. Ponies EVERYWHERE! There were lots of them, all in many different colors and hues. Adeleine, even as a painter, was shocked by the amount of colors they seemed to have. Strangely enough they all seemed to have an image on their rears. Equally as strange, was the fact that every single pony in the area was staring at them as if they would tear their heads off. "Uh. . ." was all the painter could mutter, before there was an ear-peircing shriek. "EVERYPONY RUN! IT'S A--- IT'S A-------HUMAAAAAN!!!!!" After that, everything devolved into madness. Ponies were darting left and right, knocking over stands, and generally causing a big mess of things. In only a few moments the town seemed to be devoid of life. "Well. . ." Ribbon spoke, after the event had transpired. "That. . . was certainly something." "I guess they're afraid of me?" Adeleine questioned. "I mean, one off them yelled human and then they all ran away!" she then paused, realizing something. "Oh dear, do you think that's why that zebra from before slammed the door in our face?" "Possibly." Ribbon responded. "But for now, we should probably see if we can convince the locals that we mean no harm." Adeleine agreed. The two ventured further into the town. As they walked they looked around a bit, the buildings were constructed with stone and the roofs way made of hay. The two shared a laugh at the irony of ponies using hay for building, before continuing on. Every now and then they would shout out, stating that they were lost, or that they were harmless, but nobody ever ventured outside their abodes. Suddenly, there was the sound of a bell clanging in the distance. "Huh? Was- was that a bell?" Adeleine questioned aloud. "Must've been the change of an hour or something." "Has it really been that long?" Ribbon asked. "I dunno." The painter responded. "Honestly though, who knows how long we've been here." The human slumped, heaving a sigh. "Come on, maybe we can find someone who can help elsewhere." The two picked a direction and slowly made their way through the town, unaware of the event that were about to happen. The bell had only begun to ring when three small blurs shot out of Ponyville Schoolhouse. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweeie belle were running full tilt towards the town, leaving the rest of their classmates in the dust. "Alright then!" Scootaloo said as the three galloped closer to Ponyville. "Since I'm choosing what we're doing to earn our cutie marks this time, I've got something just for the occasion at Sugarcube Corner!" The other fillies looked at one another before asking the obvious. "What is it?" Sweetie and Applebloom questioned their friend to which the orange pegasus simply told them "It's a surprise!" Seeing how they probably wouldn't be able to get their friend to spill the beans, they decide to wait and see. The three ran ahead, finally entering the town. As they ran they seemed to notice that something was off, slowing down a bit. "Uh girls?" Sweetie spoke up. "Where is everypony?" "I dunno. . ." Applebloom said after running the oddity through her mind. "Usually when this sort of thing happens its because of a. . . " She didn't finish her sentence as her eyes widened and her pupils shrunk. Soon enough Sweetie Belle came to the same conclusion, followed by Scootaloo. "We better find a place to hide!" Applebloom whisper-yelled to her friends, both of them quickly nodding in agreement. The trio soon began to travel as quickly yet quietly as they could. If something dangerous really was on the loose in Ponyville, it would be best not to draw its attention. The time seemed agonizingly slow to the three as they looked around, trying to see if anypony was willing to open their doors and let them in. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and they were forced to continued on with their search. "Maybe we should go to Sugarcube corner!" Sweetie whispered to her friends. "We were on our way there anyway, and I'm sure Pinkie would let us in." The others, seeing no real reason not to, silently agreed, and began making their way towards the bakery, Scootaloo in the lead. They were just turning a corner when Scootaloo bumped into something. Too close to stop themselves, Sweetie and Applebloom stumbled into the pegasus. "Arrgh. . . Scootaloo what did ya. . . stop. . . . . .for." Applebloom's voice faded away as her jaw dropped. Sweetie and Scootaloo were in a similar state. There before them, was a pair of humans. Or at least they looked like humans. One of them was rather big, standing a little under the height of the average pony, but still much taller than they were. It had short black hair with purple eyes. Atop its head it wore a what a red beret and its torso was concealed by a green dress. At the bottom, the human seemed to wear some sort of brown covering for its feet. All and all a perfect replica of a human, albeit a young one based on its height if their book was to be believed. As for the other one, they weren't so sure. This one had pink hair, and was about the size of the of the other one's head, if not a tad bit larger. It wore a bright red dress, with a ribbon in it's hair to match. Two pink bee-like wings protruded out from its back, fluttering quickly to keep itself afloat. It didn't seem to have any legs, but it still seemed to have feet. All and all, both seemed to be similar enough. Maybe this flying one was kind of like a pegasus version of it? Then the bigger human shuffled. "Uh. . . Hi?"