Chapter 4
“Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”
Rick’s brain was yelling at him RUN!!! Rick knew that running was getting him nowhere; it was time to face this… issue. “My name is Rick,” he responded calmly.
“Rick huh? That’s a funny name.”
“Uh-huh, where am I?”
“You’re in Ponyville! The mostest funnest place in Equestria!”
“Equestria? Where on Earth is that?”
This time it was the ‘Pinkie’ creature’s turn to be confused, “Earth?” Rick’s stomach dropped so low, he thought he feel under his boot heels. It was no longer a question of how to escape these creatures, but a question of how escape this world, or if it was even possible.
“I-I think I need to lie down. Is there somewhere around here that’s quiet, and maybe someone who can fill in the blanks?” Rick asked the pink ball of energy bouncing within arm’s reach.
“Ooh, ooh, I know! We should go to see Twilight! She’s all kinds of smart! Plus, she lives in a library! So it’s quiet and you can learn!”
Rick finally saw a ray of hope. “That sounds perfect, uh, Pinkie. Can you please take me there? I think it would be best to stay off the streets for now though.” It wouldn’t do to panic the natives who have, thus far, been unthreatening.
“Ookie-dokie-lokie! Let’s go!” Rick slowly stood, still not quite sure what to make of Pinkie and also trying to stay out of view of the other ponies.
The pair made their way through the town, narrowly avoiding other residents seeing them. Another tree with windows came into Rick’s view, only this one didn’t have nearly as many neatly trimmed flowers or birdhouses as the previous one, but it still had that same charm to it. There were no written signs to indicate it was a library, only a small sign with an open book.
“Here we are!” Pinkie yelled to Rick’s horror.
“Great, now can we please get off the street?” Rick pleaded to… no one. “Where’d she go?”
“Hey, Twilight!” The pink energy monster was at the door the tree library yelling to whoever was inside. Rick could feel his blood start to freeze again. “I have somepony you need to meet!” Rick sprinted to the door, trying his best not to be seen by any of the ponies whose attention was undoubtedly drawn by the outburst.
“Aaah, Pinkie! Stop yelling!” Rick picked up Pinkie as he ran inside, slamming the door behind him.
“Hehehehe, that was fun Rick! Let’s do it again!” Rick released Pinkie and dropped to the floor.
“I would really rather not, Pinkie. So, where is this person who can help me?”
“What the heck is going on down there?” Rick looked up to see a purple pony this time. “I keep telling you not to yell in here, it is a library after all and, oh. Hello.” She had finally noticed Rick who was still resisting every warning bell in his head.
“H-hello, my name is Rick and I have no idea what’s going on here. Pinkie here told me you might be able to… help.” For the first time, Rick noticed the horn sticking out of her purple mane. “Great, this one’s armed.”
“Well, I will certainly do what I can. My name is Twilight. Can you tell me where you came from?”
“I came from America. Ohio to be more specific.” Rick answered as he calmed himself down.
“America? Where in Equestria is that?”
“Equestria? I’ve never heard of it.” “Although it would be an apt name for a land full of talking horses.”
“Hmmm… strange. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you came from a different reality or something,” Twilight said while rubbing her chin in thought.
“That would explain why we don’t know each other’s geography. Plus, where I come from, humans are the only creature capable of speech. You can imagine my surp…”
“Hey, Twilight! We need to head over to Quills and Sofas before they clo… Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know we had company.” Rick’s brain decided it had had enough and this purple lizard was the breaking point. After a short scream, Rick slipped into blackness… again.
Chapter 5
“…wake up. C’mon Daddy. You’re gonna make us miss our flight.”
“Rick, wake up. You have to wake up now Rick. Rick…”
“…Rick! Please wake up now. Rick!” As rick opened his eyes, the purple blob that filled his vision slowly turned into the worried face of Twilight. At least he was getting used to the sight now and didn’t jump out the nearest window in pants-wetting horror.
“Unnh, Twilight, right?”
“Yes, oh thank Celestia. You really worried me. What happened?”
“Celestia? Must be their god or something.” “Like I said, I’ve never seen any other species that could talk. I was only just getting used to you ponies, then that… lizard came down and… that’s all she wrote.”
“That’s all who wrote?” Twilight asked in obvious confusion.
“It’s just an expression, it means there’s nothing more that needs to be said on the topic. What was that anyway?” Rick climbed up off the floor then quickly sat back down again.
“Why don’t you just stay seated? We don’t want you to pass out again. That was my friend Spike, he’s a baby dragon. He’s very helpful and friendly.” Twilight noticed the small twinge of terror on Rick’s face. “Spike wouldn’t hurt a soul, I swear. I sent him out with Pinkie to Sugarcube Corner, I thought that some snacks would help ease things along for you.”
“Thank you, Twilight. Shall we get back to topic at hand?” Once again, Twilight look confused. Rick raised his right hand and wiggled his fingers while pointing at his hand with his left for emphasis. Light dawned on Twilight. “I guess there’s going to be some adjustments needed to our dialog for easier conversations, but for now, lets press on.”
“Well, why don’t we start with the most obvious question, what are you?” Twilight asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter.
“I am a human. I come from a planet we call Earth. There are seven continents, five oceans, hundreds of countries and almost seven billion people like me.” Twilight again showed a little confusion at the word people but figured it had to mean multiple humans given the context.
“Is Annie one of them?” Twilight asked innocently.
Rick stared at Twilight in surprised shock. “Where… did… you… hear… that name?” Rick was holding back his anger and sorrow as best he could, but it was taking everything he had.
“I-I’m sorry. I-I-I-I d-didn’t mean to upset you. I-It’s just, that you kept calling that name while you were sleeping.” Twilight was visibly shrinking away from Rick.
Rick stopped himself, took a deep breath and spoke calmly and deliberately. “Yes, Twilight, Annie was one of them, Just like Hanna… was. I didn’t mean to snap at you, you couldn’t have known. I’m sorry.” Rick was letting his fist unclench, he hadn’t realized he had made fists in the first place.
“I-It’s alright. I’m sorry too.”
“Let’s just keep going, please.” Rick allowed himself to lean against the wall, and then sat upright again. Those bookshelves were very uncomfortable on his back.
“If you’re sure.” Twilight said while unfolding back to her normal size, which Rick was noticing, was still quite small. “Is your world like ours?”
“Somewhat, There are areas that still retain the nice, quiet rustic appearance that Ponyville does, but fewer and fewer places do. Forests have been clear cut. Mountains have been drilled
through, cut up and in some cases, completely removed. Strip mining has left huge gaping pits in the once peaceful wilderness. Frankly, I’m jealous of what I’ve seen so far. That apple farm sure was beautiful.”
“Apple farm? You must mean Sweet Apple Acres. My friend Applejack lives there with her brother, granny and her little sister Apple Bloom. Did you get a chance to meet them?” Twilight was looking hopeful.
“Depends, is one orange, the small one a yellow-green and the brother a big red guy?”
“Yep, that’s them. What did they say?”
“Not much. They are the ones who patched me up, I think. But once I saw them speak, I panicked and ran. I don’t think they much cared for me after I picked up the little one.”
“Yeah, probably not.” Twilight giggled to herself. “They are very protective of each other.”
“As a good family should be.” Rick stated while nodding in agreement.
“Why did they need to patch you up?”
“Oh, I got attacked by a wolf that seemed to be made of wood.”
Shock washed over Twilight’s face. “You were attacked by a Timberwolf?!”
“Yeah, I couldn’t let it get to… what did you say the little one’s name was again?”
“Apple Bloom.”
“Yeah, her. I heard a scream in the woods and ran in to see what was going on, I mean I had to. When you hear a child scream, you have to help, right?”
“Absolutely. And, I would like to thank you for helping her. She is a friend and I would hate to lose her.” Twilight said with a grin.
“… I would hate to lose her.” The words echoed in Rick’s head. “Please, go away. I just want to forget.” “To be perfectly honest, at first, I thought she was someone’s pet.” Both chuckled at this.
“Did you meet any other ponies, I mean, aside from Pinkie Pie.” Twilight asked.
“Just one. A yellow pony with pink hair. She lived in a tree and had a white rabbit. I didn’t catch her name, I just ran. The running is embarrassing now that we have been able to talk. I don’t believe you have any interest in hurting me, and that yellow pony was just as scared as I was.”
“That must have been Fluttershy. I can almost guarantee she was just as scared, if not more. But believe it or not, she can be very brave when she needs to be.” Twilight said. Rick just smiled at the thought of that scared little creature storming a castle or standing up to a lion.
“If you like, I can talk to Applejack so you two can start over on the right hoof.” “Hoof?” Rick nodded, then stopped and covered his eyes groaning. “What’s wrong?” Twilight asked surprised at the sudden outburst.
“I just realized, I not only left the rest of my cloths there, but my truck too. I hope they didn’t do anything to it, I love that truck.”
“Truck?” Twilight was confused once again. It seemed to be the default setting of the conversation.
“It’s a vehicle that is fairly common on Earth. It’s a little hard to describe, but you’ll know it when you see it.” Rick smiled at Twilight. “I promise, it’s not dangerous provided they didn’t touch any levers inside, and even then, only if you are in its way. Trust me, don’t mess with it, it can’t mess with you.”
“OK then, I’ll just head down there and talk to Applejack then. You just stay here and rest. Alright?” Twilight said over her shoulder as she headed to the door.
“You got it. I’ll be right here when you get back.” And with that, Twilight left for Sweet Apple Acres.
Rick decided to look around while he was here. The library’s ceiling was high enough that Rick didn’t have to crouch down, which was good, but there was no couches or chairs in the room, “of course not, ponies don’t sit in chairs… do they?” Rick dismissed the thought and moved on, maybe he could find a good book, it was a library after all. He pulled one at random and looked it over. There was a depiction of a fern like plant on the cover ‘Supernaturals; Natural Remedies and Cure-Alls That Are Simply Super.’ Rick put it back on the shelf smiling to himself, “at least it’s in English, I would hate to have to learn to read all over again.”
Just then, the door burst open and a blue pony stormed in. This one had a rainbow pattern in its mane and tail plus… wings?
“Twilight! Come quick! There’s a monster running around Ponyville and we need to… What did you do to Twilight!?” the blue pony dropped into an attack pose and squared off with Rick. “Ah, hell. Here we go again.”