//------------------------------// // The New Arrival // Story: Dimensional Rift // by FullMetalPony //------------------------------// Light whites out my vision as the teleportation starts to take hold. Years of testing being scaled up enough to finally transport a living thing the size of a person to the stars instantaneously end in a matter of moments. I can't help but think that I am the first guy to make the trip to Boreas by a hole in reality, at least that's what I can gather from the people that actually made the thing. About a week ago I made the mistake of asking them why boosting the power wouldn't work and the technobabble still hasn't left my head. On the bright side, going from planetary range teleportation to interstellar range teleportation should only have the same side effects of being hungry and tired. I hear the lab tech counting down from ten and since I'm being filmed by every national news crew and some I think they made up for the occasion, naturally I decide to go ahead with the bet I made with Roland to have some famous last words recorded for posterity. "I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it. See you guys on the other side," I say grinning like an idiot. Two hundred dollars for quoting one of his favorite classic actors. The light is no longer searing itself past my eyelids and it only takes a second for me to completely ignore it to focus on the agony my body is in. As I topple over I at least have the presence of mind to fall the safest way I know how, which is basically don't hit my head on anything. My muscles feel like they are all waking up at once and as fast as possible causing me to think that this is what swimming through electricity feels like. My stomach is starting a revolt against the rest of me to get me to get some food and failing that, continue on the contingency plan of salvaging my liver and spleen for energy. I swear I can already feel it happening. Thankfully the pain in my muscles quickly dulls and I settle on crossing my arms over my stomach in the vain hope that it will somehow stave off the feeling of hunger for a while. Now that I can think I notice that it's cold and dark, two things it definitely should not be. I open my eyes and see nothing but rock illuminated in a faint blue glow from the crystal in my ear, when I scan the area I see that there is the exit to the cave I find myself in. Using what little strength I have left I crawl closer to the opening and towards the wall so I can get some sleep without worrying about having something teleported into me and screwing things up even more. The dawn wakes me from my rest and although returning to sleep sounds like a great plan I get up to do some quick damage control before following through on it. Sitting up slowly causes no problems so I take it to the next level and stand up, still nothing. I take a few steps forward to get me away from the wall and rotate my arms and legs one at a time followed by everything that can twist to see if anything causes pain. Feeling better now that my body is in working order I say screw it and move towards the wall not in direct sunlight so I can lay down and relax. It takes music playing in my head to remember that Null Set can actually do something useful for me right now. Since checking my mail, calling anyone I know, and surfing the internet are all out, I decide to have it run a self diagnostic to make sure everything is in place. “Null Set, check to see if everything is in working order in my body. Have a list of any abnormalities ready when I wake up for me to go over,” I say in a normal speaking voice. I know the data center in my head can pick up the sound of me giving commands near silently but my voice just sounds too good to my ears right about now. Now making use of the only piece of technology left to me I go back to my original plan and sleep until noon to get all my energy back and then off to forage for food. I wake up to the sensation of being gently poked in the side. It seems that someone wants to see if I'm still alive. I open one eye to see a stick jabbing me, ah the good old whack it and see if it moves test. I hit the stick away and it falls to the ground, odd, I don't think I would have hit it so hard that the owner would lose his grip. Looking around all I see is the stick where it fell. No one that could have been holding it in sight and I didn't hear any footsteps when I hit it. Scanning the rest of the rather spacious cave I notice a purple horse at the entrance, not grazing or enjoying the sun, but still as a statue and staring at me as if it's trying to will me into motion. The only way I can tell it's alive is the motion of breathing and the occasional blink. Off to the side of that one is a more normal looking orange horse sitting down and watching the other one instead of me. Less normal is the fact that it's wearing a cowboy hat and has a saddle bag open right next to it. The stick starts moving on its own and resumes poking me since mother nature herself needs to know that I didn't somehow die while trying to take this all in. Ok this needs to stop, if something was happening I would let this dream continue just for sheer novelty but having two horses in front of a cave is not exactly thrilling. Time to hate myself for ordering this. “Null Set, shock me to wake me up,” the system shock hits me as the last word leaves my lips and my head jerks back to hit the cave wall. I clutch my head in pain. “Well that is never fun, but at least I'm awake now,” I say to myself with my eyes still closed. “Let's see what you found Null Set, anything broken, well besides pride?” Subject: Lyndon Eliwood Tailor Self Diagnostic Run On July 8th Local Time: Unknown Resting Heart Rate: 107 Left Arm: Minor Lacerations Left Leg: Minor Bruising Before I can read beyond the superficial injuries I gave myself last night when I collapsed I feel a stick poking me. Batting the stick away again I now make the decision to sit upright with my back against the wall, stretch, and give myself a pep talk. “When you open your eyes there will not be a purple horse acting like a statue looking at you, it will instead be a lovely young lady who found you and is only waking you up so you can have some medicine before getting some more rest. You should apologize for zapping yourself while under her care if she can understand English. If she doesn't I'm sure charades would work reasonably well,” I open my eyes only to be shown not only the purple and orange horses I feared would be there but also a blue one with a rainbow mane and tail hovering in between them. That can't be a natural color, someone on this planet has domesticated a pegasus and felt the need to pimp out its mane. Oh joy I think the damn teleporter sent me into an uncharted medieval fantasy planet. Wait, this is actually kind of awesome if nothing kills me. Looking over all three of the horses a second time I notice that all of them are wearing different expressions on their faces making me question for the second time if I'm not in some strange dream. Cowboy is keeping an eye on me warily and has taken a defensive stance. Pegasus looks angry for some reason and I change “if nothing kills me,” to “even though something is going to kill me.” Since it's in the air glowering at me moving too fast seems like a terrible idea and my eyes move on to look at the purple one. This one I finally notice is a unicorn and it has a look of concern on its face and has taken a few steps closer to me. When it notices me staring it begins making noise that sounds higher pitched than I would normally attribute to a horse and has a rhythm to it that makes me think it's trying to speak. “Hello, I am Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Rainbow Dash and Applejack,” she points to herself, Pegasus, and Cowboy. How in the name of anatomy did that happen? I don't think legs are supposed to have that wide of a range of motion. My jaw drops a little and I try to remember if I have ever seen that happen before. “You sure that thing can understand you Twi? It looks like Dash when you asked us all to sit through one of your presentations you were getting ready for,” Cowboy says looking at Unicorn. Pegasus is now looking at Cowboy like she insulted her mother. At least now I know everything is a target and not just me. My stomach growls and ignoring getting some food for too much longer is going to cause some major problems if I find something unguarded. In a heroic effort to not have my first contact with the denizens of this planet be as a thief I stand and hope I can convey that all I want to do is leave and forage for something. “So Unicorn,” I say as I point to her, “do you think I can look for food without Pegasus charging at me?” sweeping my arm over to where that one is still hovering. The chances of being understood is zero, but hopefully I can make it past them. I don't notice the insanely big grin Unicorn is giving me since I'm more focused on the obviously hostile Pegasus smirking at me. Wait, I've given some of my friends that look, usually right before I do something to crush their hopes and dreams. Unicorn moves so fast that I swear she teleported right on top of me and is currently pinning me to the wall with her front hooves. I have never been more terrified of a smile than in this instant. I know I should be trying to get out of her grip but I feel like a deer staring into the headlights of a truck. “Oh my gosh you can talk, this is so amazing, a new species is discovered and we can communicate. Who are you? What are You? Where are you from? How did you get here? What are your favorite books? Why are you in a cave on the edge of the Everfree forest? You know unicorns and pegasi, do you also have earth ponies where you live, what about dragons or zebras or minotaurs or griffons? I want to know everything!” Unicorn asks in one long continuous breath. The steadily increasing speed and volume of the voice brings some sense back into me and I try to process what just happened. Tackled, pinned to a wall, terrified, and verbally assaulted sounds about right. As I'm about to ask Null Set to replay what was just shouted at me at a slower pace I hear a small yelp and Unicorn pushes off of me and backs away slightly looking a little embarrassed while Pegasus is now on the ground laughing up a storm and Cowboy is just facepalming. Still really creeped out by that unnatural range of motion. Now free I take the opportunity to stretch and move around, slowly as to not provoke anything. Finally asking Null to play the noise back to me I do it silently. Unicorn looks to the right of me and I can tell shes focused on the soft blue glow growing brighter as Null is actively working. After listening to the message twice more I can safely say that I recognize the words unicorns, pegasi, earth, ponies, dragons, zebras, minotaurs, and griffons. Every word I can understand is a species except for earth but since it was used right before pony without any kind of foreign language in between I think it's part of the classification along with pony. The hell? Did we hit the universal naming tags for things back home? Is she asking me if I know about them? No time like the present to see exactly how much I can get from these three. If all these species are that common then I don't think Pegasus and Unicorn are going to be suitable names for much longer, at least Rainbow is pretty simple to come up with. As I pick up the stick to start drawing outside Rainbow gets back in the air and moves towards me but is pulled back by Cowboy just looking annoyed at this point. Is it just me or is reading alien horse body language disturbingly easy to understand? Unicorn follows me as I step out of the cave onto the top of a hill. I take a look around and see a dense forest and thick cloud cover above it. Curious I look skyward and there are very few clouds in comparison, just another thing to add to this planet I suppose. Before starting to draw I go for the obvious choices. I use the stick as a pointer and ask, “Unicorn?” she starts enthusiastically nodding her head in response. I get the same reaction pointing to Rainbow and asking, “Pegasus?” gesturing at Cowboy still holding Rainbow I go for my first real guess of the day and ask, “Earth pony?” to start off the third head nodding session. With that out of the way I start on advanced stick figures and start drawing a minotaur figuring it would be the simplest. What comes out is a comically disproportioned caricature with small legs supporting a massively oversized upper body, at least the horns are relatively normal and I actually managed to remember the nose ring. Well it'll get me a point in Pictionary, but no one is going to be calling me the next Michelangelo. I turn to get Unicorns attention but that turns out to be unnecessary as she is right beside me staring at the drawing. I tap the picture and ask if it's a minotaur and get that mystery solved as well. At this point Cowboy is just lounging around, content to have Unicorn deal with me. I look around to see if I can find Rainbow and fail. There is, however, a cloud moving rapidly towards us and this is still unusual enough to get me to stare at it. It comes to a stop right next to Cowboy about seven feet off of the ground and a multicolored tail coming out of the bottom. Oh come on, relaxing on air wasn't meant to be taken literally. Next thing I know there's going to be teams of them making it rain or shooting lightning or something. Hell, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if there is a city in the clouds acting like a gated community. No wings, no entrance. Back on track I start drawing a dragon and resist the temptation of making it an S shape with tiny wings, a few spikes on the tail, and an out of place, over muscled, human arm. What eventually comes of my doodling is a relatively normal looking western dragon. Wings are spread to show the membrane and no feathers, a long tail, and head pointed upward with fire being breathed out. Before I can even ask Unicorn says, “Dragon,” and it's my turn to start nodding my head. Before starting my last species drawing of a griffon I realize the full implication of what I said about Cowboy being an earth pony, since she looks the same as the other two minus wings or a horn I try to get clarification. I point back and ask earth pony again adding emphasis on the pony that I hope carries though the language barrier. Unicorn looks confused but nods again to the information. The cloud now has a head which makes it easy for me to ask pegasus pony and without waiting for confirmation I point to her and ask unicorn pony. It takes a few seconds but eventually she confirms my thoughts with a return to the previous level of enthusiasm, I think she realizes that I had no clue they were ponies instead of horses. Figuring they should know how close they came to being misrepresented I go ahead and tell them, “It's a good thing you managed to tell me you guys are ponies, otherwise it probably would have stuck in my head that you were all horses.” There is no joy in the world anymore, only pain radiating outward from my gut as I am curled into a ball holding my organs as still as possible hoping against hope both that this will kill me to end my suffering and that I survive in order to make whatever caused this feel my pain. It's hard to tell but I also think I'm whimpering, at the very least I know I'm crying a lot. Something touches my shoulder and I try my best to get away from it only managing to get a few inches away and intensifying the pain. Coughing not only brings me even more pain but I can feel mucus gather in my mouth and in the interest of not choking I spit it out. Yelling starts up immediately afterward and a warm and fuzzy feeling washes over me and it begins easing away the pain. After who knows how long the pain finally loses the battle to the comforting feeling and I pass out. I wake up to the gray stone cave ceiling looking down at me. Whatever happened to me is gone now with the power of positive thinking. In all fairness it was more than likely the unicorn repairing the damage a wrecking ball that got out of control and slammed into me caused. Unicorns and their healing magic are the greatest thing ever, I thought vampires were the top of the mythical totem pole but after this show of spell craft the near immortality, hypnosis, and flight just feel lacking now. Pulling up a half forgotten novel from my childhood I decide to call her Ayla until I know her real name. Twisting my body like a pretzel to stretch everything at once, my head sinks into a pillow and I glance to the left to see a purple star surrounded by smaller white stars. Turning to my right this time I see the face of my pony shaped savior looking a little annoyed at being woken up in such a manner. Moving off of my makeshift pillow I walk towards the opening to get started on doing what I should have done the last time I got up. Scanning the area there are nothing but fields of grass and the occasional hill. Very nice scenery to be sure, especially since it's late afternoon and everything has a tranquil feel to it but no easy food source since I have no idea how to trap the small animals that are around here. I left that to the guys that were good at it on my other trips. Seeing no other real option I walk to the forest where there has to be something growing that's edible. I hope I can find some kiwi but that seems highly unlikely, about as rare as finding a unicorn willing to heal a total stranger. I can't wait to find those kiwis. Lost in thought I only stop moving forward when I nearly fall over Ayla blocking my way. “Look, you three showing up was great and all unicorn but I kind of need to find some food. Running on food for thought can only hold me over for so long. If it will make you feel better I'll grab some for you as well,” as if on cue my stomach lets loose a roar able to rival a lion. I walk around her and begin again to the forest, this close I can see that the trees look oppressive. Trees are thick and gnarled and with little imagination you can see the faces of victims of the deep woods. I slow down near the edge as I hear the howl of the winds cut past me bringing the call of wolves to my attention. Preparing to run like a coward if I see anything bigger than a rabbit move I cautiously move into the nearest gap in the forest. Five steps in and it feels like walking in a cemetery, the unease of the grim reaper watching my movements waiting for the time to spirit my soul away. Twenty steps in and the chill becomes physical as my body can't seem to produce any more body heat. Eighty steps in and the cold is gone but I can still feel eyes watching me study the trees and bushes for any sort of edible plant life. Looking in the trees I find some strawberries. Now I may not be the most knowledgeable woodsman but those things grow on the ground back home and on top of that these are huge, easily the size of a softball. Unfortunately two things are in the way of me getting a few of these. One, there are no low lying branches for me to climb. Two, there is a single pair of glowing solid green eyes just staring at me without blinking. Rather than sprint away from it and more than likely hitting a tree or three I back away into the heat sapping zone and pray that this thing really would rather not deal with the cold to get me or that it only eats plants. Stumbling out of the forest I see that it is already twilight. Just how long was I in there? I guess I need to head in a different direction tomorrow morning for some food. Eager to make it back to the relative safety of the cave I break into a jog only to become winded right before reaching the hill, I need to figure out whats making me feel so weak when I have some free time. I come across the saddlebag that belongs to one of the ponies with a piece of paper underneath it. Picking up the paper I see myself in a hastily drawn comic. Panel one has me reaching into the bag, panel two is me holding an apple, and panel three is a few apple cores scattered around me as I smile. First the giant strawberries hanging from a tree and now apples in a saddlebag, alien food feels a lot more normal here than what has been on other planets. Ayla is now officially smarter than half the people I know and nicer than three quarters of the planet at the very least. Eating as I walk I find where I drew the pictures of the minotaur and dragon. They are half erased by something being dragged across them but it's no big deal as they have served their purpose. A bit further on there's some red on the ground that isn't an apple core that I threw this way. Bending down to examine it I get a sinking feeling in my gut as I remember the terrible pain and coughing from earlier in the day. “Null Set, what exactly happened before I passed out earlier today?” I ask and close my right eye to use it as a screen. The sound plays softly so I can still hear things around me, “It's a good thing you managed to tell me you guys are ponies, otherwise it probably would have stuck in my head that you were all horses.” Before my eyes close from the impact I see Rainbow close up facing away from me and I feel the interface doing what it was designed to, add physical sensations to the scene. I can feel her hind hooves kick me in the stomach and I go airborne. “Pause,” I tell Null Set as I have a feeling that I'm going to want to be in the cave sitting down for the rest of the recording. Before continuing I ask for a report on how my midsection is doing, as far as Null Set can scan there is no more internal bleeding or even bruising. I get as comfortable as I can along the wall and resume the audio only playback to me hitting the ground and rolling around. “Rainbow what are you doing? You just sent it flying!” “Didn't you just hear it call us all horses? It wanted a fight and I just took the initiative. Aghh!” “That's it, I'm not untying ya for the rest of this first meeting shindig until ya apologize and that thing knows it.” “Come on, I didn't even buck it that hard it'll be fine once it brushes off the dirt.” A solid minute passes before anything other than the sounds I was making starts up again. “Twi, can ya make sure our friend over there knows it's ok to get up?” Moments later I can feel the phantom limb poking me in the shoulder again and I resist the urge to inch away like I did the first time. Having something come up your throat without anything actually being there is one of the more unusual sensations I've felt with this playback feature so far. “It's coughing up blood! How hard did you buck it Rainbow! I'm going to need to repair the damage fast. We can worry about it still being friendly after it's fine.” There are sounds of a struggle in the distance and this is where the warm fuzzy feeling starts happening. Since Ayla is the only one capable of using healing magic I can only imagine the fight is between Rainbow and Cowboy. “Null Set, turn down the whole body sensation, it feels like I'm going numb. Fast forward until someone speaks or does something and tell me how long it takes,” A time stamp shows two minutes and sixteen seconds passed before this next outburst. “Did you really have to hogtie me Applejack, I'm already not going anywhere,” The sound of one of them being dragged starts. “Are you seriously going to drag me all the way back to town?” “No, I'm just getting some space between the two of ya in case it wakes up.” “AJ, I need your help with carrying him back to the cave so he can get out of the sun, I don't want to add dehydration to the list of injuries.” I feel myself getting shuffled around being prodded by two of them and at the end of it I'm being carried by both of them back to where I woke up sleeping on top of Ayla. “I need to stay here to continue healing him and it may take a while. It's not life or death anymore but he's highly resistant to magic and that is slowing me down considerably. Take Rainbow home and I'll get back as soon as possible to tell you how everything goes here.” “Alright take care then, Come tell me when ya get back no matter the time.” Null Set cuts out another half an hour to the end of the tingling sensation. When it ends I hear a yawn come from Ayla and that's when I finally fell asleep. I'm not really sure what I expected to gain from listening to the events but at least now I know who beat the tar out of me and from the sound of it the other two put some sense into her. I guess her giving me some food is more trying to apologize for the pain I went through and not, "he needs food," still better than about half the world population. “Null Set save this and all future conversations with the locals, tell me if I run out of room for the recordings.” I save the last apple for breakfast in the morning. I think I'll go follow the direction of the drag marks if they're still there, I want to thank Ayla in some way. The last thing that enters my head before falling asleep is, “Damn, I really want my pillow back.”