//------------------------------// // Pony Meets Man // Story: Human and Pony Alike // by ShutterGuy //------------------------------// I slowly trotted past the tree line and instantly felt the uneasiness crawl all over me. With the exception of the wind whistling through the forest, there was no sound of life. The air was dense and warm as I started to sweat a little. I kept my head shifting side to side my eyes opened alert as I made my way deeper. The sun seemed to fade away atop of the branches as the shadows seemed to dominate the interior of the forest. In the distance the alluring aqua blue glow could be seen beyond the menacing trees. My ears twitched at every snap of twig and rustle of leaves. I shouldn't be here. Perhaps this wasn't the best Idea I had. My heart stopped when I heard running in front of me. I quickly dropped my body and sunk into the shadows. My navy colored fur provided me the ability to sneak in dark areas without much detection. In front of me a pack of five timberwolves ran past heading towards the glow. They were huge; they easily stood at least a foot above me, if I were standing. I need to be careful I can't let them see me. I silently rolled my hooves with step as to reduce the sound they made on the soil. My back tensed up as I made my way up to where the timberwolves headed. The aqua light intensified its glow as I approached. I snuck around a tree to find that there were some thorn bushes that blocked my path. I peaked my head up ever so slowly to observe over the hedges. I stopped the moment I saw the heads of the wolves watching intently at something that was out my line of sight. I looked over and saw that a tree was in the way of me seeing what held their interest. It's going to be dangerously close, but I need a better angle. I could feel the nervous sweat on my brow as one of the wolves glanced over in my direction. I held perfectly still in fear that the predator would see me. Seconds seemed to be minutes as the neon eyes of the wolf stared through me. Oh no, he must have picked up my scent. BANG the sudden thunderous sound filled the air and made the wolves retreat momentarily. I put my hooves to my ears that were ringing with pain. AHHH... I think I busted an eardrum! Oh my gosh that was loud! I slowly lowered my forelegs only to be blasted again by another ear piercing wave. BANG I winced to the throbbing from my inner earlobe. GAHH... Curse these sensitive ears! I wobbled over to the other side of the tree in disorientation. I plopped onto my haunches and leaned my head against the tree. I began to rub my hoof against my forehead trying to rid myself of the headache that tormented my brain. As the ringing in my ears subsided I began to make out a voice that held a tone of authority. It sounded far off and faint but I was able to make out the words, "Okay, Chris you deal with the portal while me and Robert see if anyone is still alive here." My eyes shot open wide and I disregarded the pain in my head. What? So it is a portal. But to where? I need to take a picture of this. I opened my saddlebag and readied my camera. I took a deep breath and released to calm my nerves allowing me to take a picture with minimum shake. I wrapped my body around the tree and faced the portal. I pressed my hoof down on the trigger and the camera responded with the shutter closing and opening in rapid succession. Upon opening it revealed a tall creature standing in front of the portal wearing navy clothing that matched my fur. I gazed at the creature with my jaw agape in wonder and awe. What in Celestia's name is that? I never seen anything like it. AND I GOT A PHOTO OF IT! YES! I pulled my camera closer and started to observe this amazing creature. He had no fur except the mane on his head in a style similar to mine. On his forelegs there seemed to be grabbing appendages. I snapped pictures as I went along making sure I didn't miss a single detail. Then I came to his face, which to my initial reaction, seemed extremely familiar. His brown eyes were small and what I could only assume was his muzzle protruded out in a beak like fashion. Beside this features I couldn't make out why his face seemed so familiar. It was like remembering a friend that you saw everyday, but then he changes a simple feature and you no longer can recognize them. What is it about him that I feel like I know him? Pulling the camera away from my face, I noticed that the timberwolves had returned and were watching the creature as well, drooling. I slowly crept back and hunkered into the shadow of the tree, but kept my face towards the portal. Then saw in the background a pile of wooden limbs starting to reassemble themselves. The creature was oblivious as he began swinging a shiny object somewhere off the side of the portal. Turn around buddy that timberwolf is getting up. As he made contact with a metallic clang the portal began to slowly close, but my eyes were fixed on the now rebuilt timberwolf. Turn around! The timberwolf looked around before seeing the creature near the portal. Again the figure swung and the portal began shrink in a rapid pace. Upon seeing This the wolf leapt towards the portal claws extended toward him. I was about to yell when I heard two voices melded together shouting, "Chris! Look out!" He tried to move but the wooden wolf already was upon him shoving him through the small space that still existed of the portal. A heartfelt cry filled the air as the portal vanished, "CHRIS!" The body of Chris bounced and slammed into the tree I was hiding behind, while the timberwolf just dusted herself off and growled at Chris with the pack closing in on him. I sat in the darkness of the tree thinking of what I could possibly do against six timberwolves. I can handle one or two at the most, but we're talking about six predators that stood as tall as this Chris fellow. I can't just let him die. There needs to be something I can do. An Idea suddenly came to mind. I reached in my saddlebag and I cradled my flash within my hooves. I set it release all of it's power and then placed it in my mouth. Okay here it goes. I swung myself around and launched myself at the pack of wolves. They all looked up at me in confusion as I fell at them. Just before I landed I clinched my eyes and bit the button to the flash causing the surrounding area to immediately become blinding. I opened my eyes and found the wolves all disorientated and stumbling over each other. I turned to Chris and he too was wide eyed and shaking his head discombobulated. I wrapped a foreleg around his upper back and lifted him up. I placed the flash back into the saddlebag as Chris struggled to gain his footing again. I then realized that Chris only on two legs wouldn't be able to outrun the agility of timberwolves. My mind went numb at the thought of what Chris and I would have to do to survive. We have to fight them. I placed my saddlebag down on the ground. I hope your a good fighter Chris because this will get out hoof quickly if your not. I was never fond of violence, but that won't stop me from protecting myself or the ones I care for. The wolves were still dazed when I turned towards them, I knew that wouldn't last much longer. At my hoof was the metallic weapon Chris used to close the portal. I kicked over to him and he shook his head one last time before looking down at it. He brought his attention to me and I gave him a glance that he read almost instantly as he picked up his weapon and readied it. We both nodded and charged. The wolves were startled to see the two of us attacking simultaneously. I leapt up throwing my hind leg into a wolves head hearing the wood crack under my hoof. Without stopping I spun around and swung my hind legs up knocking back a snapping pair of fangs. I brought my legs in and with a mighty recoil I bucked the wolf into a scattered pile. I shot a peek over at Chris just as he brought his forelegs down with the weapon clutched, smashing the body of a wolf into pieces. He has strength I'll give him that. My mind returned to the battle at hoof when another wolf lunged at my backside. I quickly side-stepped and began to throw my front hooves out pelting the wolf. She whimpered backwards as I barraged her wooden body. I only stopped when she was out of my reach. I brought my forelegs down and angrily glared at the now hobbling wolf barely holding herself together. Her neon eyes narrowed as she turned away and headed swiftly into the depths of the forest. I heard a massive struggle ongoing behind me. I looked back to see that the last two wolves were tag teaming Chris taking turns clawing at his torso. He managed to block most of the attacks with his weapon, but the more recent tears into his shirt indicated that some had gotten through his defenses. I rushed over and threw my foreleg straight at one of the wolfs head, however the wolf pulled back at the last moment and my hoof missed by inches. Before I could correct my stance the wolf snapped its jaws with my foreleg bleeding inside of its mouth. "GAAH!" I immediately began to use my other hoof to try to dislocate the jaw with no success. Chris threw his weapon at the wolf's head and with a loud crack my foreleg fell from its fangs. The wolf howled In pain as it crumbled into a pile. Breathing heavily I scanned the area to see wooden limbs scattered all over the dimly lit clearing. I fell down to my haunches and held my wounded foreleg in my hoof. I can't believe it. We won against six timberwolves. Nopony back in town will ever... Oh no, Princesses help me. Lora is going to stuff me and probably use me as a pillow now. I examined the wound and it only appeared to be tearing of the flesh. I winced as I put pressure on it, but it was tolerable. I stood up to see Chris just staring at me with a blank face. "Let's get out of here. Quickly before the timberwolves have a chance to regenerate." His eyes shot open and his pupils became small, I was thinking the fact that wolves regenerated took him by surprise. "Yeah I know. All that hard work and they still manage to stand back up. We need to get out here. The one that got away is bound to bring more and I don't think they will like what we did here." He slowly raised his foreleg and pointed at me with one of his appendages. "You talk and... " Now it was my turn to shoot open my eyes. We stared at each other and in perfect unison spoke together, "You sound just like me." We shook our heads and gave each other the same expression of confusion. He even brought his foreleg up to his chin in the same manner as me. "Stop that." we ordered in stereo. "Your the one copying me." again our voices layered in the exact tone. This is slightly annoying. The irritated look on his face told me he thought the same thing. Enough of this! "We need to get going." I started towards my saddlebag when the sound of howling made Chris and myself jump. "Now!" I grabbed my saddlebag and threw it over my back. "Follow me Chris. I know how to get out of here." "How do you know my name?" the howling echoed through the woods again this time closer. "I'll tell you on the way. Let go, quickly!" Chris nodded and we hurried our way back west towards the fields near Hoofington. -_-_-_- After putting a good distance between us and the recent battle, I introduced myself, " The names Shutter Flash." I extended a hoof out. "Chris Taylor... I just want to say thank you." he reached out and wrapped his tiny limbs around my hoof and shook it. "No problem. I think you would have done the same for me, if I was in your position." "Yeah I would have. I tend to prioritize other lives higher than my own in those situations." I smiled at him "So do I. If you don't mind me asking how did you end up in the land of Equestria?" His eyes widened slightly and held his chin in thought. "Um... Chris?" he shook his head and looked at me. "Oh, well I guess it all started when I decided to take a job with a security company..." He began his story as we started to walk. I found it to be fascinating up to the point where he told me about the dead scientists. At this I frowned and shook my head in empathy for the lives taken by the timberwolves. When I asked who it was that called out his name when he fell through the portal, he told me that it was a man named Robert. I found both Robert and this O'Harrea individual quite interesting to say the least. I couldn't help the felling of wanting to know more about them, but he changed the subject before I could ask. He continued to explain to me about how he came from a race called 'humans'. It sounded exotic and the word seemed to roll off my tongue in a unique way. I learned that the appendages on tip of his foreleg where called 'fingers' with the exception of the 'thumb' and they were attached to his 'palms'. This is as a whole was known to called a 'hand'. Those could be handy in a photo-shoot. As Chris continued to talk about other features of his body, like his 'feet', I noticed the white falcon on his shirt. "It that your cutie mark?" I asked slightly interrupting him. He looked down at his chest and chucked. "What's a cutie mark?" He asked with a raised brow. "Its a mark that represents your special talent. Take a look at mine for instance." I gestured towards my flank with my hoof. He looked back at it and stopped walking completely. I glanced back, "Chris is everything okay?" "Your talent... is photography." He face went blank as he stared at it. "Yeah, check this out." I reached in my saddlebag and pulled out my camera. "I customized it myself. It has a faster shutter speed than most cameras available. It also can let in more light than others thanks to the wider aperture." His face slightly lit up at the sight of it. "What ponies can also take pictures?" he reached over and took it from my hoof and eyed it with a slight smile on his face. "What's the ISO of your film?" He held it up to his face looking through the viewfinder. "400. Good thing too the lighting in this forest was terrible. The picture should turn out though, I opened the aperture to 2.8 and slowed the shutter down to 1/125." He nodded in with a pleased look on his face. The smile suddenly faded and he handed me the camera back. I looked at him and his face was saddened by something. "Chris?" I was concerned that perhaps he found something wrong with my camera. "It's nothing. Can we just go to wherever we're going?" His features were stiff like he was holding back all emotion. "Yeah, Hoofington isn't that far from here." He began to laugh. "What's so funny?" "Hoofington... Really!" He laughed again. "You name your town Hoofington." "And you don't." I thought over all the names of Equestria to come up with a clever comeback. "I bet you humans have a city known as 'Man'hattan instead of Manehattan, huh?" his sudden stop of laughter told me that I hammered that nail right on the head. "That's what I thought. That will be enough of that thank you very much." We began to continue when we both smelt it. The putrid odor of the breathe of timberwolf, but this time it was worse like it was all around us In a fog. We both turned to see a sight that took the air out of our lungs as we gasped. Towering over us was enormous Timberwolf that seemed to be constructed by the trees themselves. Upon seeing us it let out a loud ear ringing howl that caused the air gust past us. Chris and I quivered a little in fear. "RUN!" We bolted for the fields that where no more than forty yards away. I saw Chris immediately starting to fall back where the giant wolf was easily maintaining a close distance. I huffed and thought to myself that I would do something that I never really liked doing. I would let Chris ride me. Just this once! "Chris, jump on!" I yelled over the air rushing past us and the growling of the wolf. He didn't object and in one good leap landed on my back. The pain in my leg instantly shot up my system and I almost tripped due the sudden weight of Chris. My speed was reduced significantly, but it was still faster than Chris running on his own. Focusing all my might I sprinted for the field as fast as my legs could carry me, ignoring the incredible pain in my leg. We came to the end of the forest rapidly and for a split second I thought that we we're going to escape the clutches of the massive wolf. Just as we reached the tree line I felt something grab hold of my hindlegs and jerk me upward sending Chris and my saddlebag flying. Terrified I squirmed and thrashed against what ever held me. I opened my eyes to see the snout of the wolf slowly lifting up revealing a dark moist interior. "SHUTTER!" I heard Chris scream. Hanging upside down I tilted my head back to look towards the ground about a story below me. I saw Chris climbing up the wooden leg of the beast. After another jerk I felt myself land inside the wet interior of the monsters maw. The dimming light only could mean the mouth was closing. I closed my eyes trying to think of my love. Lora... I'm so sorry... I should have listened to you. I hope you can forgive me. I sat there accepting the fate that awaited me. In the back of the throat I could hear sounds of the beast grunting. Confused I opened my eye's and in front of me, I saw Chris. He had his hands above his head against the roof of the mouth struggling to hold it up. His face and muscles strained under the pressure of the jaws pushing against him trying to close. He clinched his eyes shut and yelled, "G-Get out SHUTTER! H-HURRY!" "Not without you Chris!" I looked around but nothing came to me as an obvious point of weakness. "Hold on, Chris! I have an Idea!" I ran to the front of the mouth and squeezed through the gap of wooden fangs. Chris shot a look that told me he couldn't hold much longer. I climbed up the snout of the massive timberwolf and was greeted with two huge glowing neon eyes. I glared at them and approached my voice filled with anger, "Try to eat me? you try to eat ME?!" I felt the pain stirring as the light began to swirl around me. "Allow me to show you why my last name is flash." I dug deep holding through the pain as the light wrapped around my body. The moment I felt the light touch every part of my anatomy I let go of the buildup, causing me to twist in unbearable pain. "AHHHH!" In a explosion of light the monster was pushed back in the percussion of the blast. It let out a howl of pain and I heard something land in the grass below with a thud. I tumbled off the snout and fell to the ground with a plop of my own. I landed next to the still body of Chris, who didn't seem to be breathing. I turned my head In pain and watched the giant wolf withdraw into the forest. I spat a bit of blood out on the ground and got up on all fours. I limped over to Chris and tapped his check with my hoof. His head turned over and he began to mumble something incoherent. I chuckled down at him as I sat next to him. You lazy bum. You feel asleep. A sigh of peace escaped me. "Welcome to Equestria, Chris." I patted his chest with a hoof. Then a thought hit me. It actually made me think that going back into the Everfree Forest would be actually be safer. Lora is going to kill me.