//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 
// Story: Anon's Detour 
// by NeonDF 
//------------------------------//

As the white pony measuredly walked towards the middle of the room, looking him straight in the eyes, Anon couldn’t help but unconsciously rise up from his seat in apprehension.

While the ponies he saw so far were strange and possessed unexplainable powers, they were barely chest-high fluffy things that, admittedly, looked pretty harmless. This one, on the other hand, was quite intimidating. Not only was it noticeably larger, closer to a horse in height, it was also decked out in some impressive jewelry and possessed a thin and extremely sharp horn. Two and a half feet long, the elegant bone protrusion stood proudly right in the center of the forehead and promised a swift and gory end to anyone who would find themselves on the wrong end. It was a stark contrast to the horn of the lavender mare, who emerged from the stairway afterwards, her horn barely a foot long, rounded at the end and covered with same lavender fuzz as her coat.

Anon did not dare to look away or blink as the white creature slowly approached and stopped mere five feet away, its horseshoe-clad hooves coming to the final stop with a loud click that echoed through the room. Its magenta eyes were rapidly studying his form, scanning over his face, then his arms, then his legs, making him feel defenseless and somewhat naked under the scrutiny. Taking advantage of the pause, the lavender mare came to the front and launched into a long tirade of snorts and nickers, occasionally glancing at the big pony, then at Anon, then at the big pony again.

Seeing no hostilities so far, the human tried to guess what was happening, only to come to a conclusion that the newcomer was most likely somehow important. A tribe leader? Could ponies even have tribes? Well, no, they had their herds, but alien ponies sure could. Was it from law enforcement? That gave him a pause. Law enforcement could spell trouble, especially since he wouldn’t even be able to guess what kind of law he could’ve broken, let alone what this law enforcement pony could want from him. That would explain the sharp horn and honed movements though. But not the size… Maybe it’s an adult? Or a male of the species? What if it was a mate or a parent of the small one, who was actually tattling on him right now?

The last thought gave him a chill. He knew how animals could act when their offspring is threatened, and it wasn’t much different when it comes for humans. His eyes involuntary drifted up, to the sharp tip. If the small one was upset and it was tattling, Anon could easily gain extra holes in near future.

Forcing his gaze away, Anon began discreetly looking for exits. The only one was coincidentally, or perhaps not, blocked by the white creature. There were no windows on this floor. There was a window on the bedroom floor, but he would have to ascend the stairs first, and the creature could easily catch up and skewer him in the process. And that’s not counting in whatever levitation power they have. Anon was, for all intents and purposes, trapped.

Sudden silence brought his attention back to reality. The lavender pony has finished whatever it was saying, and the two were now intently looking him in the eyes. A few seconds later, the white one opened its mouth and let out a nicker. Then it just stood there, silent, keeping the look and seemingly waiting for him to react. Anon swallowed in an attempt to moisten his unexpectedly dry throat, then croaked out:

“Uh, sorry, I don’t understand you. But, uhm, I’m terribly sorry for my behavior so far.”

The white pony waited for two long seconds that felt to him like entire minutes, then opened its mouth again, let out a few birdlike chirps, and went silent once again. The human briefly wondered how did it manage such sound, but then recalled the wings, and decided not to dwell on it. Theorizing could wait until after he’s out of the bind.

“Sorry, still don’t understand you.”

The pony gave little reaction this time. Its gaze began to slowly wander up and down his form, but otherwise it just kept the stone-faced look. Somewhat unnerved for the hundredth time this day, Anon decided to take the initiative.

“Uh, sprehen the Dautch?”

The creature immediately snapped its eyes back to his, but otherwise kept silent. Anon tried again.

“Habla espaniol?”

No reaction.

“Parlo Italiano? Ni hao? Govorit ruski?”

No response. Anon suspected he butchered some of the phrases, and was about to repeat, only to be interrupted by a familiar movement in his pocket. His hand moved down to still it, but he was too slow.

The smartphone slinked out of the pocket and, guided by an unseen force, slowly rose into the air and halted about halfway between his startled face and the white creature’s impassive one. Unlike the last time, it began to slowly spin in the air, presenting first the screen, then the sides, then the charging port to the big pony’s studying gaze. Once it reached the back panel, the rotation stopped.

Nothing was happening for a few seconds, then Anon began to hear a quiet hum. Turning his head around, the human tried to locate the source of the sound that was seemingly coming out of everywhere. The hum grew louder, resembling the one of a working microwave oven or perhaps one of a high voltage transformer, then the smartphone let out a few clicks, which quickly grabbed Anon’s attention. He could only stare in astonishment as the display suddenly lit up with green color, then slowly faded to blue, then gray, then broke up into a patchwork of colors that flickered and waved as if it was an old CRT monitor presented with a magnet.

Anon didn’t know much about smartphones, but he knew they were not supposed to do that. He quickly reached out with his hand to grab the device, only to recoil and hiss in pain as the surface turned out searing hot to the touch. Nursing his hand, the human could only watch in horror as the light show continued for a short time, then the display abruptly went dark, and the smartphone let out a loud hiss.

Then it unfroze and plummeted down, leaving trails of white smoke behind, fell flat on the floor with a thud and a second later burst into flames.





The two ponies watched in curiosity as the strange creature fretted around the small fire, alternating between trying to stomp on it, touching its head with its upper limbs and letting out incoherent sounds.

The small mare tilted its head to the side in confusion, let out an inquisitive snort and looked at the big one, only to receive a succinct nicker that did not make much sense. Then the white mare briefly lit up her horn, and the flames were abruptly snuffed out, which immediately pacified the creature. It stopped for a moment, looked at the ponies, then contracted its legs, losing half its height, raised one of the upper limbs and started poking the charred remains with one of the flexible extensions on the limb’s end.

The creature was an enigma to the white mare. It displayed extremely complex behavior, one resembling a truly sapient being, yet she has never seen such species in her long life. There was a possibility it belonged to some civilization, so it’d be paramount to find out more about it and its origins, as well as potential dangers it could pose by itself or in groups. Unfortunately, the creature did not exhibit an ability to communicate, which would make such research difficult, but the more invasive methods could prove fatal while not yielding desired information.

Conveniently, there was a certain mare nearby with a knack for thinking out of the box. Perhaps she would be able to come up with something. Worst case, she could just observe and catalogue as much information on it as she could, which would be beneficial all by itself.

Course of action decided, the white mare turned to the small one and began her speech. She described the new mission, the desired goals, defined some restrictions and provided a few suggestions. Receiving a confirmation, she took a last glance at the creature which was busy examining the small extremities on one of its upper limbs, then calmly turned around, her horseshoes letting out a loud click, and strode out of the room at a measured pace, then down the stairs and out of the building.