I'm not sure where I am. One minute I'm in my room, messing with a mystery box I bought off the deep web. All it had was this journal, some pencils, a pencil sharpener, and this cool pink crystal. I had thought the crystal was almost worth getting ripped off. The note saying to charge it in the sunlight was weird. The last thing I remember was dropping the crystal when it started glowing. Now I'm in this forest. After I got all my panicking out of the way, I thought I would take a moment to write in this journal. I'll have to pick a direction and start walking.
***
Writing in this journal reminds me of Mrs. Jansen's English class. She would make us write in journals every day. I wonder if she still makes her students do it. I guess thinking about that is easier than thinking about this weird forest. I swear I can hear other creatures. I'm glad I'm wearing my hoodie. The pocket is good for all my stuff. Must've been luck I was heading outside and had all my stuff with me. The journal and writing stuff were sitting in the pocket. The crystal was in there too. That six inch pointy rod is never leaving that pocket until I figure out a plan.
Okay I don't have a plan. I just need to vent somewhere. Maybe I should climb one of these trees and try to find some civilization.
***
Bad idea. Turns out creepy trees can't take my weight. I managed to land on my left foot. Pretty sure I twisted my ankle or broke it. Can't touch anything with my left foot or pain shoots up my leg. Leaning against a tree right now. Hopping around on my right leg is not realistic. Tried to use one of the fallen branches as a crutch. Too brittle. Dying in a creepy forest in the middle of who knows where is not the plan. I saw a smokestack not too far ahead before I fell. Smokestack means fire, and that means people. Hopping might be my only option.
Oh, and now my body decides now is a good time to get thirsty.
***
Well that was an uninteresting bit of travel. Only fell a dozen times. It's been pure luck I hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. The source of the smokestack is in sight. Seems to be a house. Well, not exactly a house. It's a tree made into a house. It looks much nicer than any other tree I've seen so far. Perhaps less creepy is a better term. I just need them to not be crazy, and in the mood to help.
Whatever they're cooking smells awesome. I'm gonna take a chance.
***
Pretty safe bet to say I'm not on Earth. A zebra answered the door. A zebra! It talked! She saw me standing on one leg and helped me inside without hesitation. She gave me a stool to sit on. Turns out the smoke was her brewing up some tea and some soup. I gladly accepted both when offered.
She said her name is Zecora. She spoke in rhymes. Apparently I'm in the land of Equestria. Right now I was in the Everfree Forest. I introduced myself. I brought up that this wasn't my world. I hesitated to bring up the pink crystal. Still not totally sure if it was the reason I was here. That or just paranoia.
She looked at my ankle. I mentioned my accident with the tree. She said the nearest hospital was in Ponyville. An hour's walk north. I wasn't sure if an alien presence in town was the best idea. Zecora said she had no clue if she could even carry me there. At least I think she did. The rhyming was hard to keep up with. She said she would get help from Ponyville tomorrow. It was about to be nighttime.
She took the dishes after I finished up my small meal. She said I could sleep in her bed tonight. It didn't feel right taking her only bed, and I told her that. She waved it off. "You are my guest, you only deserve the best." she said. I had to lean on her to walk because she refused to let me hop. Probably the only time I was grateful to be five foot. It was easy to hold onto her as we made our way to her bed. Getting in was a simple challenge. Zecora even got an extra pillow to prop up my bad ankle.
She said she would head into Ponyville tomorrow morning. There was a smart pony that she knew would help. So this place has talking ponies too. What's next, talking dragons? Either way, it seemed I had no choice in the matter. The short time I've known Zecora, she seems to mean well. She took pity on a stranger.
This smart pony she mentioned. Zecora only speaks positively of her. At least her rhymes did. I think all the sci-fi movies I've watched are playing into my paranoia. Hypotheticals of this smart pony capturing me on sight sat in the back of my mind. A mental image of being caged and taken by the pony government was there. Thoughts of being treated like the aliens in those movies were there as well. I do my best to ignore these thoughts. I had to trust this zebra's judgement for the time being.
First day in an alien world went better than expected. If you ignore the whole part where I have a possibly broken left ankle. My first alien encounter was a nice zebra speaking in rhyme. While her rhyming was growing on me, I hope the rest of the populace didn't speak that way as well.
Zecora is sleeping on the floor next to me. She has a makeshift bed with a folded blanket. This zebra fed me, gave me her bed to sleep in(despite my protests), and was traveling through the spooky forest tomorrow just to help a complete stranger she just met. I wasn't in any condition to question her choices. For now, I have to hope her intentions are pure.