A breeze was what I felt at first. I shivered from the gentle touch of the wind brushing against my shoulder.
I must have left the window open again, I thought to myself. A strong wind buffeted my entire body, sending an icy chill down my spine.
Shit! I better close th– Wait a minute... I don’t remember opening the window before falling asleep. A cold, wet feeling on my nose brought me back to my senses as I began to open my eyes.
Trees. Lots of trees. From all sides I was surrounded by trees that seemed to look at me with malice and anguish, their bark contorted to look like faces while their branches reached out like outstretched arms clawing at the wind and waiting to grab someone. The forest was dimly lit by the moonlight that managed to pierce the canopy of the forest, casting a pale glow over everything in its beams. All was still and quiet except for the occasional rustling of leaves in the trees and shrubs as I lay outside in the forest.
Wait. Outside? What am I doing outside?! I panicked. How the hell did I get outside? Did I sleep walk into the middle of a forest? Or did some nutjob abduct me and left me here for shits and giggles?
In the middle of my panic, I felt more wet drops on my face before becoming a full on barrage of raindrops.
Great, it's raining now. Well this is just perfect. What else could go wro—
As I was about to tempt fate, I heard a low growl behind me.
Stomach, please tell me that was you, I thought to myself. A twig snapping behind me shattered that thought, and I barely stopped myself from creating an embarrassing, wet mess.
I cursed under my breath. Three wolves crawled out from a bush as a flash of lightning lit up the secluded area with a thunderous clap. No. They weren't wolves. Wolves had fur and dark eyes. These things were shaped like wolves, but that was where the resemblance ended. Instead of fur, they were covered in tree bark and tree branches, the same with their teeth. The dark eyes of the natural predators were instead yellow, glowing orbs filled with hunger and bloodlust.
“Oh shit!”
I scrambled onto my arms and legs and bolted in a random direction, screaming for help at the top of my lungs. Seeing how I was in the middle of the forest with no one around, I stopped screaming and focused on getting away from the beasts. I didn't realize it at first, but I hadn't stood up to run and instead crawled on all four limbs at a pace that was faster than was humanly possible. I didn't question the matter since I was being chased by bloodthirsty wolf-like creatures. I heard adrenaline could make people do unbelievable things under extreme situations.
I scampered through thorny bushes, the trees’ long tendrils whipping and scratching my face as I passed them. Around the twisted trees and under the branches, I tried to shake off my pursuers. Go left! Now right! Duck under a branch. Jump over a rock. Watch out for the roots! The trees' roots sprouted out of the ground, and more than once, I had almost tripped on them. A single root could mean the difference between life and death. To lose momentum meant death, and if I had gotten caught on a hidden root, it would mean an untimely fate for me with the wooden wolves. Keeping an eye out where I was going, not once did I think about stopping as I plowed through the many natural obstacles. Often, I would see a tree branch, thinking it was another wolf of the pack – an ambush, I thought. I veered away from those branches, zigzagging in my directionless run through the forest.
I felt warm liquid fall down my cheek. I knew that some of the branches left a cut on my face, but I didn't care to check since my only goal right now was to survive. I heard the heavy panting and snarling of the wooden wolves not far behind me as they slowly closed the distance. Don’t look back – was what I told myself. There was no time to look back to see how close they were. I couldn’t take the chance in fear of tripping over something in front of me. The deafening claps of thunder and flashes of lightning became more frequent. Hot tears streaked my cheeks, getting into some of the cuts, and cold sweat and rain covered the rest of my body. The icy winds nipped at my face as I ran. My body went numb from the cold. My head felt light. My lungs burned.
Oh god. I don’t want to die. Mom. Dad. I can’t imagine how they’ll react to this when they find me dead. If they find my body… torn, ripped, and mangled… I shuddered at the image.
As these unpleasant thoughts filled my head, I saw a clearing up ahead. It was the end of the forest. Freedom from the oppressive, suffocating forest: so close, so far. I heard more snarls and growls and the snapping of jaws from the wolves behind me, only this time closer. I doubled my speed, fueled only by the rush of adrenaline and the will to live. Both my body and my mind were numb from the adrenaline and the cold.
A low branch hung in front of me. I charged through it, causing the branch to pull back and let out an audible thwack, probably smacking one of the wolves in the head judging by the painful yelp I heard. More branches hung low in front of me, and with each one, I did the same thing I did with the first – charge through, thwack, a yelp behind me. I heard the steps behind me dwindle into silence by the time I passed into the clearing and into an open dirt road. I didn't turn back to see what happened and continued to run down the road. Far away, I saw buildings with straw-thatched roofs.
Civilization! Civilization means people. And people mean help!
As I ran through the small town, I saw light coming from one of the windows of the buildings. Taking that as a sign that somebody was awake, I hurried towards it and rapidly pounded on the door.
"Help! Is anybody here?! I need help!" I shouted at the door. Please let there be someone home.
The sound of my voice surprised me. It sounded a little higher than usual. I brushed it off thinking it was the wind distorting my voice. After a few seconds, I realized that I was no longer being chased by those wooden monsters. The rain continued to fall on me, and I was growing extremely exhausted. I collapsed onto the ground with my limbs splayed out, while the adrenaline started to wear out and was slowly replaced by pain and coldness. The exhaustion from running in the cold rain hit me full force, sending a spike of pain in my head.
My vision began to blur, and I began to see tunnel vision. As I started to lose consciousness, the door opened, letting out a wave of warmth and a soft light. I couldn't really see who was at the door, but a tall shadow loomed over me as everything began to black out. I barely heard the person shouting over my barely conscious form.
"Bon Bon! Come quick! Somepony needs our help!"
Somepony?
~~~~~~~
Something warm and soft covered my body as I lay unconscious. As my senses gradually returned, I began to discern my surroundings one sense at a time. The soft fabric that covered my body was most likely a blanket, and I was lying on top of what I assumed to be a bed. A wave of relief washed over me knowing that I was taking comfort in my own bed.
Wow, that was some crazy, fucked up dream. Note to self: no more frozen pizza before bed.
As I made this thought, a slight pain rang in my head.
I guess the headache wasn't a dream. Hope I’m not getting sick.
Along with the pain in my head, I noticed I was sore all over too, and all the muscles in my body ached.
Ugh, I feel like shit. Don’t tell me it’s the flu. Damn you, influenza virus!
It was during my mental monologue that I felt another sensation all over my body. I felt the bed and the blanket on my skin, though without the clothes I wore to bed before falling asleep.
What the hell? Did I strip in my sleep? Well that explains the cold from my dream, and probably the reason for the way I feel right now. Maybe it felt hot some time during the night and I just happened to unconsciously strip down to my birthday suit. It's times like this I'm glad I live alone, otherwise it would be completely awkward if someone walked in on me like this.
As another one of my senses returned, a delicious aroma filled my nostrils. I recognized the smell as freshly made pancakes. Then, a thought struck me.
Wait, pancakes? Is someone making breakfast? Wait a minute… Who's making breakfast?
I got a little worried over the fact that there was someone making breakfast in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong. I love pancakes. It's just the fact that there was a person in my kitchen, who I don't know, making it. My parents would always give a call before coming over, so it couldn't be them. How this person got into my house left me in a very nervous state, since I was the only person who had keys to the condo. This meant that the person making me breakfast at the moment was probably some housebreaker. But then why would he make pancakes while I was still in the house?
Either this burglar didn't know I was sleeping in this room or he is probably the world's dumbest burglar to have ever existed.
I needed to find out who had the gall to break into my own domicile, call the police, and maybe eat the burglar's freshly made pancakes. What? I couldn't let good food go to waste. So with whatever strength I had in me, I did the first thing I could do and attempted to open my eyes. As my eyes slowly cracked open, I was bombarded with the unbearable rays of light that broke through the cracks of the curtains of the window. Ah, the sun. My old foe. Partner in crime with the dreaded alarm clock. Not expecting to have my eyes blinded by a bright ball of fire, I gave a loud yelp.
"Ah! God dammit!"
It was then I heard multiple footsteps hastily make its way upstairs, getting louder as the footsteps got closer. With the number of steps I heard, I counted out probably two people making their way towards the room I was in. This did not bode well with me. One: because there were two of them and one of me, leaving me at a poor disadvantage if a struggle were to occur. And two: because I was naked as a jaybird in my own bed. On the bright side, at least I didn't have morning wood, otherwise this would be ten times more awkward than it already was.
So without any other options in my current state, momentarily blinded and stark naked, I buried myself under the blanket and hoped they wouldn't come in, but that probably won't happen. With the sound of the door knob turning and the door creaking open, the two pair of footsteps entered the room. At this point, my heart was racing to the point where if it beat any faster, it would probably burst out of my chest. As I was panicking, a feminine voice called out.
"Oh! You're awake. You were in a pretty nasty shape last night, so Bon Bon and I brought you to my room for you to sleep. Are you feeling any better now?"
Bon Bon? Where have I heard that name before? And a woman? Well shit.
Now the situation just got more awkward with me being naked and my lower regions concealed by a thin layer of fabric. However, this woman's action just brought up another question, like why did she even care? I bet she was just waiting for me to come out of the covers so she can point a gun at my face, demand money, and possibly paint my room red with my bloody brain, and to make matters worse, she will probably find out that I wasn’t properly clothed and get a laugh out of that. Of course, this was just a worst case scenario, for all I know, she could just be a friendly nutjob who was offering me pancakes in my own home. I hoped for the latter. It beats being dead in the worst way possible, you know... naked in front of a woman.
"Hey, are you okay? There's no need to be scared. You're safe now," the woman said.
What should I have done in this situation? I could have stayed hidden under the covers and avoided the embarrassment of being found naked in the bed. But, it would only increase the awkwardness between us since she already knew I was hiding under the blanket. Let the awkward silent treatment continue or bring up a new form of awkwardness caused by my nudity? There was just no way out of this. In the middle of my thoughts of escape from the possibly hostile intruder, my stomach gave a loud gurgle, signaling Mr. Stomach's feeding time.
"Oh, you must be hungry! Why don't you come downstairs and have some breakfast? I have some pancakes and freshly squeezed orange juice," the woman said in a non-threatening tone.
Seeing how I wasn't dead yet, I risked taking a peek out of the covers to see the oddly caring intruder. When I slowly brought my head out, dark spots covered my vision from the sunlight assault from before. As I blinked, my vision began to clear."Who are y--" That was as far as I got in my question.
I realized that the room I was sleeping in was not my own. There was a dresser with a large oval mirror above it. In the corner of the room was a small desk, cluttered with music sheets. Right next to the desk was a beautifully crafted lyre that stood apart from everything else in the room as it gleamed from the little light that lit up the room. The lyre was a golden color, and attached to the bottom of the lyre was a bell-shaped stand. What really got my attention though was what was standing in front of me. Standing before me was a mint-green unicorn with a white stripe streaking through her mane and tail and a lyre on her flank. Her eyes were a golden sunglow, and she wore a warm smile that showed no hint of malice.
The equine, or should I say “pony,” standing before me was none other than Lyra Heartstrings, the popular human-obsessed unicorn of the pony fandom, the one from My Little Pony, the girly cartoon I always watched. Yes, I was a brony, but I prefer to be called a pony enthusiast. It was at this time that my brain decided that now was the best time to shut down, taking away my ability to form coherent sentences.
"B-b-but… you… pony... real!" I managed to stutter as I was dumbstruck with the situation before me.
"Huh? What was that you said?" Lyra replied back with a concerned look on her face.
However, I only managed to stare back at her with my mouth gaping. I could've sworn my jaw dislocated by how far it dropped to the ground. So, awkwardly shifting on her hooves and scratching the back of her head (how she managed to do that I had no idea how), she gave a small cough to break the increasingly awkward silence.
"Well... My name is Lyra Heartstrings, but you can just call me Lyra," she beamed as she said this.
When I realized she was talking to me, I broke out of my mental stupor. "Uh, hi. My name's Lyle Hartston. Just Lyle is fine."
"Lyle Hartston?” she asked. “That's an unusual name. Where are you from?"
"Anaheim, California," I replied without thinking.
Confusion was plastered on her face as she looked at me with one eyebrow arched. No surprise there. I mean why wouldn't she be? I doubt she even heard of the place, let alone knew where it was. "Um... where's that?"
"It's in… America."
She tilted her head. "A-Mare-ica? I never heard of the place. Is it far?"
"Oh yeah. It's far alright." Really far.
"Well, where are your parents?"
"Parents?"
"Yes, your parents. Young colts can't be too far away from their parents. I'm sure they’re worried sick about you."
Now I was really confused, adding on more confusion to the initial confusion of being confused over how I got to Equestria; boy, I was really confused. With all the confusions aside, I caught a phrase that struck me. Young colts?
I slowly looked down at where my hands should be at, only to be confronted by two stubby limbs.
Hooves. I have fucking hooves, which only means...
I looked under the covers, and as I suspected, I saw an equine body with another pair of hooves for my legs, all matching the color of my arms, er forelegs. I felt something tug under me, and looking at the thing I was sitting on, I discovered I now had a tail that was a lighter shade of my coat with a white stripe running down it. I turned my head towards my back. There were no wings and no cutie mark. I felt the top of my head. When my hooves brushed against a solid object jutting out of the top of my head, I realized I had a horn, making me a unicorn.
I started to freak out a little... Okay, maybe a lot. I began to hyperventilate from the fact that I was transformed into a unicorn. The loss of hands was very distressing. There would be so many things I wouldn’t be able to do without hands: opening doors, holding things, masturb-- I mean playing guitar. As I was freaking out like any normal person would in my situation, Lyra moved a little closer to me. As she stood at the side of the bed, she seemed taller than me. No, she was taller than me. She was about a foot taller than me, and it was then that the phrase "young colts" clicked in my mind.
When Lyra got to the foot of the bed, she gave me a worried look. "When I found you at my doorstep, you were out cold. You were feverish, soaking wet, and shaking, covered in cuts and scrapes. What were you even doing out there in that storm?" When I didn't respond, she waved a hoof in front of my face. "Hello? You okay?"
I just found out that I woke up in Equestria, got chased my timberwolves, and woke up again only to be greeted by a fictional cartoon pony. Oh yeah, and this got much stranger when I didn’t think it could get any weirder. Just yesterday, I was just a twenty two year-old college student living a completely normal life, and now suddenly, I was no longer a human but a little colt. So with this new information hitting me like a ton of bricks, I acted as normal as I could, given the situation.
~~~~~~~
Meanwhile at Golden Oak’s Library...
Spike had finished organizing Twilight's books for the third time that day. After shelving, then reshelving, and reorganizing the books, Spike gave a grin at the fine job he did. The floors were polished and waxed. Not a single book cluttered the spotless floor. It was probably one of the few moments where a pony could actually see the floor of the library and home of Equestria's most studious pony, Twilight Sparkle. It was then that the lavender unicorn walked downstairs.
"Hey Twilight! I just finished organizing the books like you asked me to, again." said Spike.
Although Spike was Twilight's number one assistant, he was still annoyed by Twilight's habit of doing things multiple times just to make sure nothing was missed. Twilight gave an approving smile at the young dragon.
"Thank you, Spike. With reshelving the books off our to-do list, we can finally go to Sugarcube Corner and buy those sapphire cupcakes you wan–"
A bloodcurdling scream cut her off, making her hair stand on end.
"HOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY SHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"