//------------------------------// // Things You Shouldn't Do When You're Dead // Story: My Life with Nanaimo // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// I still had the bag of food with me, so I gave Nanaimo one of the items she wanted, in this case, a bag of salad mix, which she tore into and started eating with gusto. I took out a small snack cake and began eating it. Our impromptu lunch was interrupted by several cloaked figures, they walked upright and the only thing visible were yellow eyes inside the hoods with no other discernible features. One of them called us by our names. The sound of the voice sent a shiver through my spine, and Nanaimo must have been likewise affected, as her tail went straight out, losing its curl completely. "Uhhh, what do you want?" I asked hesitantly. One of them handed each of us with a paper, the hand a mere skeleton hand, but a wicked one nonetheless. I wasn't sure how it was possible to read anything in the darkness, but there seemed to be an odd luminescence about the void we were in. We noticed the wording at the top read, "Things You Shouldn't Do When You're Dead." Under this title were a list of bullet-pointed items, but it led to more questions, which the cloaked figures refused to answer. After reading this paper, another one pointed a bony finger at both of us, motioning us to follow them. Nanaimo stuffed the paper into her mane, which puzzled me. I folded mine up and put it in my pocket. I was surprised that I was wearing my normal civilian clothes even though I had changed into my work uniform. I was a little taken aback by the clothing change. "Follow us," one of them said sternly, a tone dripping with malice. "You must follow us!" another bellowed, forcing us to move towards them. We were shaken by the unearthly tones of the druids, both of us wondering what would happen if we refused to follow their directions. We both raised to our collective feet and trudged forward, following the undead druids but also curious to our surroundings. We appeared to be moving through an empty void, though our footing was secure and sound. "Where are you taking us?" I asked. Nanaimo shivered a bit, unnerved by odd sensation of traveling through seeming nothingness. I tried to block that discomfort myself, feeling somewhat nauseous. "Nanaimo, walk with me," I said to her softly. She sidled next to me, smiling at me warmly, secure in the knowledge that I was there for her. "You will find out when you get there," one replied almost mirthfully. Another of the druids turned his head towards us and shot us a look to let us know we shouldn't ask any more questions. At that point I decided not to break the silence any further, but urged my pony to walk upright on her hind legs if she could. She was able to do this for very short periods of time and it was rather uncomfortable for her to do this. I hugged her and told her she could walk normally as a pony and gave her a quick kiss on her muzzle, causing her to giggle. One of the cloaked figures turned to look at us and cleared his throat to let us know we needed to keep going and stop wasting their time. We returned to following this group of undead druids to wherever it was they were taking us, the trip seeming to last for hours, though we never seemed to get tired enough to stop, nor did we get hungry or thirsty. We traveled for what seemed like an eternity before a light became evident in the distance. Seeing this brought both Nanaimo and I some hope that maybe our next passage would be into a welcoming world, one which would accept both of us without prejudice, one which would provide us comfort and safety for the foreseeable future. Slowly but inexorably, we approached this light as it grew brighter and larger. Both of us wore hopeful expressions on our faces, both of us holding back on trying to express some degree of happiness as the light continued to grow brighter, enveloping the darkness, illuminating the undead druids further still. At some point we stopped, the light having become uncomfortably bright. "Behold, your new world," one of them stated. We stood aghast at what seemed like some futuristic landscape, gleaming towers of crystal and white metal stretching up into the sky, and as we looked up, we saw what looked like dark glass very high up. Myriad thoughts filled our minds with what possibilities lie ahead of us and whether or not we would be welcomed in such a futuristic world. "Payment is your jar of silver coin," another one stated. I was surprised to see that I had held onto this jar, and I jingled it lightly, hearing the silver coins jangling inside it. I had great reluctance to give it up, but with great reluctance (and a stern look from on of the undead druids) I handed over my jar of silver coins. "Do the same rules apply, or does another, new set of rules apply to us?" I asked. Seeing the new world before us sent a shiver down Nanaimo's spine, it looked completely alien to her. Almost instinctively, she rose to her hind hooves and wrapped her forelegs around me to hug me. "You are expected to comply with the new laws in this new world," another one answered firmly. "Be careful you do not die in this new world, we do not wish to have to deal with you two again," said another. With that admonishment, they disappeared, leaving the two of us in what appeared to be a green space, a park of sorts, but gleaming towering buildings all around us. At this point, the two of us were still hugging each other, but felt far more solid now than when we were in the empty void. The ground felt hard beneath our feet, but the grass made it feel soft. We caught sight of a couple of people and began walking towards them. One odd feature about these two was that they were both dark-skinned female humans, ones who looked an awful lot like people I remember seeing in my home world. They were both fairly young ladies, both of them quite beautiful, and both of them smiling at us as we approached them. Nanaimo had returned to walking on all fours at this point. "Um, could you tell us where we are?" I asked hesitantly at one of the two young ladies. Despite our appearance, they continued to smile warmly, as though we had known each other for a long time. Nanaimo was a little surprised by this, but one of the two ladies scratched the pony behind her ears, eliciting a soft cooing noise from her. I was a little surprised by this and turned my attention to her. "Um, Nanaimo is my mare, could you please stop that?" I asked of her. She flashed me a hurt look as she stopped petting the mare. "Sorry, you can keep petting her if you like," I added quickly, causing her to smile again and pet Nanaimo, who seemed to wilt under her touch. "This city is called Sh'Koggo," the other girl replied, taking a quick appraisal of my appearance.