Jason woke up to a searing headache and a burning sensation all over his body. He also felt a bunch of rocks underneath him instead of his regular bed. He groggily pushed himself up and looked around.
It looked like an underground dump. Maybe he was in an air pocket in a landfill... But as he looked around more, he noticed something strange.
The garbage around him wasn't regular garbage, it was life and technology the likes of which he had never seen before. It was as if something dragged a random selection of the more complex items in the universe to one location...
The stench was horrible... and the pile... was sinking.
Jason ran away from the center of the pile and looked around, searching for light. He ran along the edge of the small pocket he was trapped in, and stopped when he heard what sounded like birds. He placed his hand against the wall where he heard the sound, and felt... tree roots. Without hesitating, he pulled at the tree roots until the sound was louder and louder. Finally, he saw light.
Jason tore at the hole he created, until it was just large enough to slip through. Then he pulled himself up through it and rolled over onto the grassy ground.
As he looked up, the sun burned his eyes, even though most of it was blocked by the trees above him. And some strange trees they were, gnarled and foreboding, yet, strangely familiar.
Then he took notice of himself again. He was getting worse, not better. His lungs burned as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, his eyes felt like they would bulge out of his head at any moment, and he desperately needed water.
He looked around, looking for water, and that's when it hit him. That stream, those blue flowers, those gnarled trees, those rocks... this was the Everfree forest... But, that was... impossible.
Jason picked himself up and walked towards the river, hoping to see a familiar, if flamboyant, face. But as he fell down right beside the flowing water, there was nothing to answer him but a few fish and the sound of the water. He formed a cup with his hands, and drank.
When he concentrated on his hands, he noticed something strange. It was as if whenever he put enough attention into anything, that attention radiated outside of his body... and got lost... somewhere. Some air swirled around his fingers and an aura developed if he concentrated hard enough.
Shrugging, he pushed himself back up and started walking along the river. With enough luck, he would find a familiar clearing and make his way to Ponyville. He didn't take two steps before he staggered and fell down. The water had cured his dehydration, but not his headache or the strange burning sensation.
Now lying on the ground, he couldn't help but fall asleep.
___
Jason woke up by the river. He was dangerously dehydrated, and his headache and his body had only gotten worse. He looked up, trying to see how long he had slept for. The sun had barely moved.
After another quick drink, he looked down. What was wrong with his body?
He wished he hadn't.
His entire body was red and swollen, his lymph nodes were slightly black and slightly more swollen than the rest of his body, and his fingertips and toes looked like they would soon be lost to frost bite, if they weren't already. Worst of all was his stomach, it was as if the chemical reactions his body normally used didn't work anymore, and just led to his gut being swollen as if he were pregnant, the skin almost tearing from the extreme bloating.
He threw up. He couldn't tell for how long he threw up, but he did know it was at least enough to reduce his bloating to at least a bearable size...
When he was done, he looked again at the disaster that was his body... and screamed... Only for the sound to be washed away by the river.
And now... he was going to pass out... but... if he passed out...
Jason thought back to his family, he thought about his little sister that was born 5 years after him, and how she would love it if he were to bring back stories of this world to her.
He caught himself and didn't fall over, instead, he turned around and took a step forward.
He thought about his parents, how he could rub this in their faces, telling them how important it turned out to be for him to watch and re-watch MLP so many times, despite whatever they said.
Jason started walking forward, slowly. He held his head level and let his body guide itself to safety.
He thought about Josh, and how he would practically die to get here. How jealous would Josh be, when he showed him a souvenir he got from Ponyville?
Jason found himself in a part of the forest that looked it was staring at him. That was a good sign, it meant that he was on a familiar path.
He thought about his group of friends outside of Josh, and how they wouldn't believe his stories of Equestria without some kind of proof. He would definitely have to remember to bring something back.
Jason found himself facing a cliff. His heart dropped, he forgot that the mane six had fallen down a cliff to find their path. How could he have forgotten?
He almost gave up when he remembered the brony club he joined. He remembered how kind and welcoming almost everyone in the fandom was, and how it felt to go from an apathetic community to such a caring community. He might be able to change the world, if he could just survive.
Jason found himself at the top of the cliff... just a few more steps...
He thought back to that time... Back when he and Josh were having that creepy talk about death, and Josh said that his purpose would be based around his friends... Jason was his best friend...
It was after that when Josh started working a lot harder, competing even harder with Jason. It was because of Jason, that he and Josh were able to make it to Berkeley together. Well now Josh would be his reason to work even harder... Besides, how would Josh feel if he died?
Jason found himself knocking on the door of a small cottage. In reply, he got only a mangled sound that couldn't have come from a human. Of course, they didn't speak English...
"Help," he said.