//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: A Whole New World 
// Story: The Future is Ponified! 
// by Chrome Masquerade 
//------------------------------//

(5000+ Years Later...)

*Pssshhh*

The pod I was in opened with the telltale sound of pressurized air releasing. The first sound I made was...

*YAWN*

I'd been asleep for quite some time, after all.

Anyway, stepping out of the pod, I took stock of my body, as I'd been instructed to.

"Let's see... Toes are okay, feet, legs, joints for the above, all good..."

I went through all of my limbs and the joints thereof. Even my ears, which I'd learned how to wiggle at... some point. A few parts were aching for some reason. Particularly my back and extremities (I.E. my feet and hands).

Anyway, otherwise I felt Fan-tastic! Better than I'd felt at any time in recent memory. I felt much stronger, had much less fat; A few other things.

Looking around, it seemed that I was in the same room I was in when I'd taken the fall and ended up doing a Rip Van Winkle impression. But things felt somehow... different. I couldn't put my finger on it, but things just felt off, for some reason.

I thought aloud, "Jeez, it must have been a really long time. I wonder how long?"

{Answer:}

"Gah!"

{Approximately 5000 years.}

There was a voice in my head!(1) An African one, by the sound of it.

"Who are you!?"

{Answer: I am the first new ability of your new life. Does that assuage your fears?}

Was that a rhyme? "Why am I imagining you with stripes?"(2)

I heard a chuckle.

{Answer: Based on your memory, what's the first sage you'd think of? The first one that you'd see?}

It took less than three seconds for me to come up with an answer.

"Zecora. Being a brony, the first that comes to mind is Zecora."

{Response: And thus I am identified; the answer to your mysteries. You might call me that, if you would be pleased.}

"Zecora it is, then. But that'll be confusing if I ever meet... well, you."

This elicited another chuckle.

{Response: I can tell that our time together will be a delight. It seems you posess humour, as well as insight.}

"No doubt." I deadpanned. "So, why do things feel off?"

{Answer: Due to a universal crossover, your world was filled with magic. There's no need to fear. It's nothing that would be tragic.}

Looking out the nearest window, I saw trees. "Let me guess..."

{Pre-emptive response: You guess correctly. Outside of this window is the new forest Everfree.}(3)

It seemed possible that I'd be meeting her sooner than I expected.
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I had been walking for some time, when I came upon a shack of sorts. Much larger than I expected. I could hear the sound of humming inside.

I knocked on the door, and was greeted in a lyrical manner. "Come in, come in. You're most welcome in my home... human.(4)"

Stepping inside, I asked, "How did you guess?"

"It wasn't all that hard. There have been many of your kind lately, coming into my yard."

"Really?" I queried.

"Yes, indeed they do. Do you like tea? While it steeps, I'd like to hear about you."

"I'd love some. I've been walking for some time. What kinds do you have?"

"Many kinds do I posess. I keep them in alphabetical order, in order to not make a mess. I have apple, blueberry, chammomile, cherry, echinacea and ginger-peach, too. If you name it, chances are I have it for you."

I smiled and said, "Blueberry will do, please. With honey if you have it. Brown sugar if you don't."

While that steeped, I told her about myself, up until my... accident.

"...Aaaand apparently it's been 5000 years or so since then."

"Quite an adventure, it seems to me. What might you tell of your family tree?"

"Well... there's my great grandfather (on my mother's side). He was the herbalist of their town; The local medicine man. Not unlike yourself. He wanted to live to be four-score and ten. He died at four-score and nine."

At that she looked confused. "89? Is that all? Here it's common to have lives more than thrice as tall."

"Yeah, that's the thing. During my time, the average lifespan was about 70 years. The oldest person on record died at... 120 or so, I think?"(5)

"My my, that will not do!" she said in reply, dashing for a vial of a greenish-blue potion. "Here, drink this; your life will increase, true." 

Drinking that, I could feel myself becoming connected to the local nature, from the trees to the wildlife.(6)

At length, I said, "Wait, wait, wait. If that's the potion, what's in the cauldron?"

"I have been asked that once before, but I'd be happy to explain once more: It ties the room together and emits a warm glow. If I'm to be honest... it's just for show."

She went on to explain how things in the nearby town had changed. Instead of houses with thatched roofs, it was common to see ones made of metal with several floors and powered by charged crystals, for example. She said that there were  monsters that would occasionally come up. Each house was equipped with a bowgun of sorts, that way, the ponies therein would be relatively safe.. Those that slew a monster would have first pick of the remains and could use them however they wished..

After finishing my tea, I thanked Zecora and left for Ponyville.