//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - To The Mountains // Story: Radius // by Seismology //------------------------------// "Moving on from the weather, a reported twenty people have gone missing in just the last hour from the outskirts of Parker, thirteen of whom were hiking the mountain trails. Authorities are advising all travelers to steer clear of any trails and to stay indoors at their homes. The Parker police department is struggling to erect barricades on all roads leading into the mountainous biome, and are calling on-" SKRSHH "-ighway to hell! I'm on the highway to hell, yeah!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 - To The Mountains "God... Bless America!" Harold cursed under his breath as he encountered yet another police blockade. Getting through to the mountains wouldn't be easy. Before he could turn around, one of the cars wailed its' siren at him. "Oh lord, what now!" He shut his car off and placed his hands on the steering wheel, but not before rolling down the driver's side window. A uniformed officer with a campaign hat adorning the top of his head approached his vehicle, leaning down and tipping his hat. "Afternoon, sir, do you have any idea why I stopped you just now?" The officer asked as he chewed on something, likely gum. Harold shook his head and replied, "No, sir, I can't imagine why. I don't think I'm speeding, I was just turning around." The officer chuckled and spit out something to the side, maybe it was dip. "No, no, you definitely weren't speeding. No, sir, I'm stopping you to tell ya to quit trying to go to the mountains. The boys have reported a van just like yours attempting to get through four- now five blockades just like this one." The officer leaned in further. "Personally, I can see why you'd be curious, however, I cannot allow you to proceed further, and I suggest you stop trying." He leaned back as he considered Harry. Harold sighed and offered, "Yes. You're right officer. I've been trying too hard to see what's been going on in those mountains. I'll turn around and go back home." The officer tipped his hat once more and smiled, spitting something out to the side again. "That'd be mighty fine. I'll let you get on your way then." He stepped away from Harold's van and walked over back to the blockade, murmuring something with the other officers and gesturing over in Harold's direction. No doubt telling them to pull him over if they see him trying to bypass their blockades. Harold had no intention of going home, however. He had every single intention of getting through their blockades one way or another. He slammed his van in reverse and spun around quickly, but not so quickly so as to startle the officers. He had another trick up his sleeve, one he didn't think that the police department would see coming. He was going to get to the bottom of this mystery. He began speeding off to where he thought he could evade the police department. He circled his way along the outskirts of town, passing by run-down service stations and barely functional general stores, as well as a store or two that sold hiking equipment. The area looked more abandoned than usual, likely due to the government warning that had been issued. Overhead, he saw a series of three helicopters pass by, heading towards the mountain tops. The Rockies were a dangerous place, and this just made them ever more dangerous. Danger wouldn't stop Harold though. For him, danger meant excitement. Harold found his next destination, a closed down campground at the foot of the mountains. From what he could recall, you could camp there and hike your way up through the mountain trails. There were no police here, thankfully, which meant he was relatively safe to pass through. Or, he would be if the gates to the campground weren't chained shut. "Lucky me for investing in a pair of bolt cutters..." Harold muttered to himself as he climbed out of his still running Mitsubishi. He opened the back of the van and fished around his various tools, then grabbing the pair of bolt cutters he had stashed away. "Awesome!" He shouted out as multiple crows cawed and fled the trees they were so happily nestled in. "Oops." Harold trudged his way over to the gate and put the cutters in position over the chain. With two quick cuts, the chain fell loose, and he pried the gate open his hands. He opened the way for his van and then took stock. His van would fit through, but the way through was overgrown and he likely would have a hard time driving through it. He was lucky he had just changed the tires for this very expedition. After opening the gate, he made his way back to his little van and hopped back inside. He put the vehicle into gear and sped into the overgrown campground, being leery of any potholes or debris that might be strewn about the road. Harold soon found himself in the campground proper and parked a ways away from one of the trailheads. He assembled his pack and the rest of his gear, among the items an old .22 hunting rifle that his father had owned. He handled the worn-out rifle with care, "Can't believe it's been five years already..." Harry reminisced as he rubbed the barrel, before slinging it over his back. He then looked down the overgrown trail, and absentmindedly locked his van with the press of a button. "Well, time to get this show on the road." He said to himself. Harold began to walk down the old uphill bound trail, it was at the base of a mountain after all, he just hoped it wouldn't be the last time he'd be walking down this path. In the distance he heard shouting, far off in the distance, not anywhere close to where he was. Good. He trudged through mud and foliage, his waterproof boots were thankfully working as intended, albeit getting muddy. He breathed in and out, trying to keep himself calm and collected as he treaded toward what felt like potentially his impending doom. Impending doom would have to wait, he had a mission to accomplish. Further down the trail it mysteriously began to get less covered in greenery, like someone had been cutting it all away. Harry bent down to examine a broken stalk of some sort of fern type plant and found that a chunk had been bitten off the stem. The mouth was far too large to be human, not like any sane man would even try to eat a fern. The bite didn't appear to come from a deer or any sort of wildlife that he knew, however. The only thing he could do is continue to trek forward and up the mountain side. The foliage began to clear away as he hurdled up the side of the mountain by foot, huffing and puffing as the air only got thinner. Parker was right alongside Denver with being a mile above sea level, and the air was thin enough as is. The further he went up, the thinner the air would continue to get. Harold decided to take a rest, and to build a fire before the foliage cleared away completely. There weren't any bears around this area to his knowledge, and he could do with a bit of warmth on the way up. He didn't exactly plan this out well, but he would survive. Harold collected various twigs and debris and began building a fire in a circle of rocks at his chosen spot. Being careful to keep the tinder inside of the circle. He then went out of his way to look for a dead tree nearby in the woody areas, quickly finding one that was still standing, but certainly dead. He took a hand axe from his pack, having got it just for this occasion, and quickly began to thwack at the tree. It was a smaller sized tree, but with just enough timber for his fire. He wouldn't need more than what was necessary, or so he thought. The tree cracked, and Harold ducked out of the way as it came down with a resounding crash. Startling any and all wildlife that may have been peacefully resting in the nearby area. Harold then hacked at the fallen tree, gouging out roughly foot sized logs from the fallen plant. He gathered up logs in batches as he carried them back over to his fire pit. He stopped as he heard what sounded like deer running nearby but couldn't spot any such animal. He shrugged as he carried the rest of the tinder over to his building fire. The sun now setting over the mountainside, Harold quickly took a zippo lighter to his newly built fire, and slowly it came to life. He used the flame from the zippo to light a cigarette that he could enjoy as he warmed his hands on the lit pile of timber. Satisfied, he exhaled smoke and leaned back, appreciating his work. Once more, though, his head whipped around as he heard the sound of deer prancing about nearby. Then he heard a childlike giggle. He quickly stood up and unslung the .22 rifle from his shoulder, checking the bolt to make sure one was in the chamber, he held it steady, but not aiming down the sights. It could just be someone's lost kid, or... Something. He heard rustling branches just to the left of his fire and quickly turned his eyes towards the rustling. In very short order, an animal-like head popped out- only... It wasn't quite animal like? But it was? It was hard to tell. It was like someone genetically modified a pony and let the little thing loose on the world. It had the color of the ocean, with a yellow mane sprinkled with orange streaks flowing through it. The eyes were far too large, and... They were very expressive, it's like the pony-thing was staring directly at him. He stared curiously at the thing, cocking his head to get a different view. Then the pony cocked its' head as well, mimicking him. Harry chuckled, then turned his back to it, looking to tend to his fire. "Someone's pet, gotta be." Then it clicked, where he had seen that pony before, maybe not that exact same pony, but ponies like it. On the television. Just as he was about to turn around, he heard a high pitched, sing-song voice speak up. "So you're just gonna ignore me?" Harry blanched; he could imagine his face turning pale white after what he just heard. Unsteadily, he slowly turned his head over to the pony, who had now stepped fully into view. The pony looked like it was pouting, something ponies definintly didn't do. Now that he knew what it was, the thing had decidedly inequine features. Its' mouth being one of them, it was a much shorter muzzle than what a pony typically had, with a more rounded out facial shape. It's ears were decidedly larger, and rotated much like how a cat's ears would. Harold had to say something to it though- "You're staring right at me, does this mean you won't ignore me?" The blue equine questioned, stepping forward with the muffled clop of hooves on soil. Her saddlebags jostling with various bits and bobbles inside of them. "Don't!" Harry put a hand up, the other on his rifle, "Don't... Don't come any closer!" The pony frowned, looking at his rifle. "Are you one of those meanies who yells all the time?" Harry gulped, a talking animal, was he dreaming? He pinched his arm, then hissed in pain. Decidedly not dreaming. "You're not very good at answering questions, mister." Said the ocean blue pony, taking another step forward. "I've seen you things on TV!" Harry raised his rifle to the pony, who took a step back, "Oh! So you know what this is then, huh?" The pony nodded, its', or her eyes judging by the voice, went wide. "Y-yeah. Please don't use it!" She abruptly begged. "I'm not going to use it, if you tell me what happened to all the hikers." Harry questioned, keeping the sights trained on the pony. "They wanted to come with us! To Equestria!" The pony sat down, covering her eyes with her hooves. How in the hell could she be that flexible? "Equestria?" Sounded like some sort of horse pun, "Is that a joke?" The pony shook her head vigorously, "No! It's my home!" A land full of colorful talking ponies like this one? That sounded absurd, like something out of a children's TV show, but here was living proof before him. Harold's eyes relaxed as he lowered the rifle. Maybe he could learn something from this pony creature. "Fine, I'll believe you, for now. My name is Harold, what's yours, little pony?" Harold asked cautiously. The pony peeked out from her hooves, making sur the rifle was down before lowering herself to the ground, making sure to not move forward. "M-My name is Ocean Breeze." Figures her name would have ocean in it. "Well Ocean Breeze, tell me about your home." Ocean took a breath, and began to explain- "There's one now! Get her, catch her!" Screamed a voice from behind Ocean. Harry couldn't see who it was, but Ocean panicked. "Quick, follow me!" Shouted Ocean, as she darted past Harry on all fours. Harry wasn't sure who they were being chased by, but he was happy to oblige. "Stop! Police! Get down!" Shouted the voice again. Now he definitely wasn't going to stop. He chased after Ocean Breeze as the police shouted continuous slurs and pleas for them to stop. He heard the barking of a K9 unit behind them as well. There was no way they were going to get out of this unscathed. Ocean and him turned a corner, before she suddenly stopped and whipped a scroll out from her bags with her mouth. She motioned to him hurriedly and ordered, "Quick, put your claw on the scroll! It's the only way we can escape!" Harry put his hand on the strange pony's scroll, and she did the same with her hoof, blinding light enveloped him in an instant, and the next thing he knew he was being thrown into a tunnel of light. The police officers came to a halt by scorch marks on the ground. The canine sniffing around the area and making whimpering noises. "Well, Dick, looks like they got away." One officer kicked at the scorch mark. "Yeah, but at least we can figure that van belonged to the kid that was here. Poor bastard." Said the other officer. "Well, let's write this up. Chief is gonna wanna know what happened here." "Yeah, let's." Replied police officer, walking away with his partner.