//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 - Chance Encounter 
// Story: Logic vs Emotion - A HiE Tale 
// by MetalGenocide 
//------------------------------//

“Finally done.” A tired smile gracing your face as you gaze over your work. After a gruelling morning working in the rare British summer sun, the garden was cleared and tidy. The lawn had been mowed, the flowers clipped and the bushes trimmed. It looked wonderful. A testament to your hard work, or perhaps your boredom. Either way, it looks good now that it’s not all over the place like a forgotten jungle. As you admire your work, your hands come together and your fingers absentmindedly play with your wedding band on your left hand.

“Still plenty of day left,” you quip, looking into the sky. Not a cloud in sight. You head inside and get a blanket to place on the patio. There’s nothing like a nice nap in the afternoon sun. Who knows when it’ll come out again? Your tattered shorts and plain shirt cling slightly to you as you unfold the blanket and lay it down. Deciding to remove your shirt, you set it up as a makeshift pillow. Removing your work sandals, you lay down on the blanket. Your eyes briefly watch to the sky, making sure no clouds are in the air, before your eyes finally start to set and you drift off in the warm embrace of the light.

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A shadow passes over your face, causing a groan to escape your lips as you are brought back to the waking world. Your eyes flutter open, adjusting to your surroundings as you slowly sit up.

You rub your face and free your eyes from the last remnants of sleep. “Ugh, stupid trees. Getting in the way of my sun… Wait.” You pause your movements as your eyes dart open.

Trees? Trees? There are no trees around the house.

Your hand drops and you finally get a good look around. You weren’t imagining it. You are surrounded on all sides by lush, vibrant trees. Your head turns in all directions, scanning the strange clearing you have found yourself in. The fresh forest smell is clean and gentle as it assaults your nose. Your hands grasp the soft, warm grass that you are sitting on and you look down, noticing the second difference in as many minutes. Your clothes have changed. You jump to your feet to get a better look at yourself. No longer sporting the tattered work shorts, your legs are clad in long material trousers. Black and loose fitting, they allow for better movement than more common clothing. Your feet embraced by what appear to be sturdy work boots, though as you flex and bend your feet, you notice their flexibility and comfort. Passing further up, your bare torso has been draped in a plain black shirt. But what catches your eye is the coat on top. A long emerald green trench coat covers your shoulders and arms, stretching down to your shins.

“These aren’t mine,” you mutter to yourself. “I must be dreaming.” You tap your face lightly, somehow hoping it would wake you up. A gentle breeze informs you that you’re still in the clearing. Lifting your arm, you grab the skin on your hand and close your eyes, pinching yourself hard. That should work.

A few seconds pass before you let go of your skin. You’re still in the clearing, now with a pain on your hand.

“I’m not dreaming.” You rub the back of your hand as your fingers join together, a familiar cold sensation as your fingers glide over your ring. Your chest starts to tighten as you try to draw in breath. Blood pounds in your ears. You keep looking left and right, forward and back. Hoping, praying for some sort of –

“Ahhhhhh!!”

You freeze. Your ears twitch at the shattering cry and your snaps to the direction it came from. It sounded like –

“HEEEELP!!”

Without thought, your body darts into the trees, heading towards the cries. Using your arms to brush any low hanging branches aside, your legs carry you forward. You feel your heart start to race as you speed through the trees until the ground beneath your feat turns to rock. You slow at the top of a small rocky overhang, the ground below catching your eye as the sounds of growling, as well as faint whimpering from below.

Without pausing, you step off the overhang and fall the short way to the ground below, landing with a strong thud as your knees bend to lessen the impact, one resting on the ground along with your hand in order to stabilize yourself so you don’t tumble over.

Silence greets you. It’s too quiet. As though the entire forest and all its denizens are holding their breath, just to see what will happen next. You look up from your position, only to be greeted with a… wolf? No time to think, you stand, reaching your full height and towering over the strange creature. A quick darting glance shows two more of these creatures behind the first. If they are wolves, then there will be more around. 

The creatures appear to be eyeing you up, unsure what to make of the strange thing that just fell from the sky into their path. An option forms swiftly in your mind. One chance before things go wrong. You release a low growl from your throat, baring your teeth at the creatures like a wild animal. With a sudden jolt, your leg slams forward into the ground, your arms rapidly raising up to increase your size and your throat releases the growl it was building up. “Rrrrrargh!”

The creatures turn on the spot and dart into the cover of the forest.

“Huh,” you breathe in surprise, lowering your arms. “It worked.” A smile passes over your face as you straighten yourself up. You turn around to face the one you saved. And stare straight back at the boulder. Confusion spreads over you as you look left and right. You’re sure there was someone here.

Your thoughts take a nervous turn. Oh no, I wasn’t too late was I? A slight whimper from beneath you seemingly gives you an answer. You look down, only to be met by six big eyes atop the surprisingly large heads of three tiny horses. Or ponies, maybe? Despite their cartoonish nature, they look very young. They could possibly be children, so maybe foals is a better way to describe them. You take a moment to breathe and evaluate the scene before you.

Huddled together, ears bent down their heads and trembling out of what you presume is fear. On one side, a white pony with a purple and pink mane and tail. Its large green eyes look up at you with a mixture of terror and panic. A small horn poking through the ponies’ hair. On the other side is an orange pony sporting a fuchsia mane and tail, its small wings clutching close to its chest. Staring up at you with grey eyes hiding a dash of purple, showcasing the same fear.

And positioned in the middle, clutching the other two, is a pale yellow pony, graced with a red mane and tail, sporting a large pink bow. Orange eyes displaying a sense of dread as it tries to bring the other two closer into the huddle.

Wait a minute, you ponder as you re-examine the three foals. Horn? Wings? Is that a Unicorn and Pegasus then? But, they are myths. And a bow? What is this?

Your mind starts racing again.  Confused thoughts crossing every which way of your mind as your breathing starts to slow. You try to form a sentence as your mind tries to fit the information into this strange puzzle with no picture. “Err-“

That was it. That’s all you got out before two of the foals pass out. The eyes of the white and orange foals close as a gasp escapes their lips, and they collapse into the huddle. The yellow foal struggling to hold them together.

“P… p… please don’t eat us.” The foal whimpered, in a distinctly female voice heavy with a southern accent.

Your mouth sits slightly agape as your brain tries to processes the new information. She talked… in a… southern accent? And she has a bow? This is get – Your ears twitch. Something is watching you. The foals’ ears start to swivel around her head, as though searching for an unknown presence. The snapping of a twig all but confirms what yours, and the fillies, instincts were telling you. Talking will have to wait.

You quickly squat down and grasp the still awake filly around her midsection, causing her to emit a cute ‘eep’ of surprise before placing her on your shoulder. She grips you as tight as she can with her hooves, which is surprising considering they don’t have any digits on them, as you reach under her fainted friends and bring them to your chest. Standing up, you secure the fainted foals to your chest and holding them tightly around their barrels. Their heads and front legs flop down over your arms. Turning away from the rocky overhang, you look onto your new path. With nothing in your way, you will your legs to move and make a hasty retreat from the area.