Hang in there
Special thanks to Alexstrazsa for editing the story.
Time seemed to slow down as Octavia’s senses sharpened and adrenaline flooded her system. She could clearly see the predators begin their assault as two of them jumped into the air, aiming for her throat. She lifted her front hooves just in time to meet with their jaws. The other cats circled around her, ready take their turn, but she was more than sure that the ones behind her weren’t going to remain idle. It was a dance for the survival of the fittest, and Octavia, with all her heart, was determined to make it a spectacular dance indeed, whether or not she was victorious.
Her sense of time speed up as she punched the two lunging cats, and the sound of bone cracking under the force was music for the show. With her hind legs, she pushed herself forward to avoid the impending danger from behind and to the sides, but even with her speed she couldn’t avoid the attack fully. One of the cats caught hold of her rear and sank it’s claws into her. Using her momentum, she stomped on the two in front of her and swung her backside, spinning around and throwing off the unwanted and painful weight. In doing so, she locked eyes with the rest of the pack, who were moving in for the kill.
There were three of them before her: one recovering from the missed jump and the other two coming from the sides. With another spin, Octavia pulled her hind legs in and immediately shot them out in a powerful blow. The move carried enough force that it instantly killed the two, and she could hear the bodies collide behind her. Turning her head, she could already spot the newest threat to her life. With her front hooves, she angled herself not to avoid the incoming bite, but ironically to bite the assailant. If the feline wasn't confused by this, it certainly was after Octavia yanked it back and threw it with frightening accuracy at another. The quick onslaught left eight more of the felines standing around Octavia and four dead, and it had only taken mere seconds.
“Come on you matted piles of fur! Come and dance with me!” Octavia howled, fueled by a mix of adrenaline, terror, and primal instincts. She was surrounded, so without the ability to flee, she fought.
The pack pulled back a ways, but time and numbers were on their side. Eventually the prey would make a mistake, and that’s when they would strike.
Octavia stood in defence, quickly turning around and glaring at the surrounding menace. She attempted to retreat to the side of a large tree in the middle of the clearing. Her vision was firmly locked on the tree, but suddenly it diverted, and not on her own accord. The forest turned into a green swirl mixed with darkness and piercing light from above the canopy. After the sudden disorientation, when she could finally process what was happening, she realised she was swinging back and forth in the air by her hind legs.
Octavia bobbed up and down from the powerful yank of the trap she walked into, and her mind ran a million miles an hour as the felines began to attack. The closest one leaped into the air and Octavia panicked, closing her eyes and looking away as to avoid seeing her own demise. She heard a loud snap of the jaw, then another, then another, yet she was still dizzy and swinging from side to side. She opened her eyes and watched as yet again another of the predators jumped up. The jump was high, but not high enough to reach her. She was scared but forced herself to remain calm, though each time a jaw snapped hungrily before her, she couldn’t help but wince. She had time to think now, though, and things began to sink in.
“Help...” she cried softly, muffled by the snarls and growls of the angry animals underneath her. She was trapped, and fatigue took over her. The adrenaline wore off and the pain of her wounds finally began to register. She could breath easier now, but the very thought of what could have captured her with the trap took the color from her. She was done for, from either the pack of felines or the owner of the trap. “Help... somepony!” Octavia closed her eyes and covered her ears. She didn't want to see or hear the world around her as she sobbed quietly.
Time had passed and Octavia calmed down, but she had resigned to her fate, fairly certain she wouldn’t live long. She was exhausted and her injuries were somewhere between numb and painful. Adding to the uncomfortableness, her rear hooves had fallen asleep due the rope cutting off the circulation. Most of the blood had rushed to hear head and front hooves, giving constant pressure and a headache. But, as if that wasn’t already enough, her stomach constantly reminded her that she lacked any food.
“How could I have ended up like this?” She sighed, closing her eyes. As she had done many times before, Octavia composed herself as best she could in such a situation and tried to enjoy what little she had left. She was still alive, and she could rest for now, but it would be rather difficult, being upside down. The cats had also seemed to give up, being just out of their reach.
She focused her eyes towards the sky, the weakened light showing dusk was well on its way. Slowly, she took in the details of her surroundings. The tree, the very branch that snatched her off the ground, was strong and in the apex of it's life. It was very beautiful. The forest now displayed some tranquillity and the air was crystal clear, which she took a deep breath of. Soon, though, the quiet was interrupted. Octavia could hear the cats not too far away. Something had disturbed them. She glanced around, and soon some rustling from the left grabbed her attention.
From the thick vegetation emerged a large, towering creature. It walked on two legs and wore cloth all over its body. It had a patch of silvery white fur on top of its head, and its skin was pale white. With its arms, it held a net over its shoulder which seemed to be filled with fruits of some kind. The creature turned its attention towards her and their eyes locked. Octavia gulped. This being was intelligent, and it was the one who set the trap. She had a never seen another creature like it. More interesting still were the eyes, which had a soft glow to them. They gave Octavia a strange feeling.
Her mind raced. Maybe, just maybe, the creature would spare her, if it was as intelligent as it seemed to be. Maybe it wouldn’t be ruthless and kill another sentient creature like herself. With a nervous smile, she waved. “H-hello there!” She gave another gulp, quite audibly. It responded with the raising of an eyebrow, and curiosity shone in its eyes. They remained this way for several moments.
Octavia noticed one of the felines begin sneaking up on the tall creature, and she pointed with her hoof while shouting, “Behind you!” The being let go of the net it was holding and spun around, grabbing two objects that hung on its side. One was a sharp blade and the other began glowing with blinding light, shooting an icy blue-white flame out.
The smaller predators began advancing, but were surprised as the larger bipedal creature began an assault of its own, and it was very fast. It easily caught the closest one and dispatched it with the knife, severing its head faster than she could follow. With the same momentum, it was after the next one, and before the first victims head hit the ground, it had disappeared into the vegetation. Only rustling and the panicked cries of the once vile predators could be heard. Octavia’s blood froze as she eyed the beheaded feline, and she had no doubt that this creature was an apex predator. And, if the situation demanded it, it was an incredibly smart and fierce one.
The noises faded away and were replaced with the ambient sounds of the forest. After a minute or two the biped returned, cleaning its blade of blood, and his gaze met Octavia’s. Eyes of terror and fear met eyes of curiosity and confusion. As it began walking towards her, the weapon still in its claws, Octavia cringed and raised her front legs to shield her neck and body, as she didn’t want to end up like the cat. “P-please, don’t h-hurt me!”
It stopped and pulled its head back in shock, and even more curiosity shone from its eyes. Rubbing its head with a claw, the arm holding the knife relaxed and rested at its side. “Come again?”
An awkward silence followed as the cellist held her breath and blinked. It just spoke to her, in perfect Equestrian. “Please… don’t hurt me.” She replied, much clearer and more composed than before, but still very much frightened. The answer the creature gave came as a shock.
“I didn’t think I’d go nuts after only one day alone on this island.” He shook his head and looked over Octavia. “Um, alright. I won't hurt you... and I’m not going to eat you… but damn, how are you speaking my language?”
All Octavia could do at the moment was blink. It not only understood her perfectly, but it spoke... No, he spoke Equestrian and then claimed it was his own language. Trapped and dangling upside down, she was at the mercy of the creature. While it was a bit of relief that he said he wouldn’t hurt her, she was well aware that if it did want to harm her, she wouldn't stand a chance even if she was free.
“Okay, I guess I’m just going to chalk this up to the weirdness of the multiverse and the sick humor of fate. So, what’s your name, if you have one?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then looked at the bipedal being again. “My name is Octavia. Octavia Philharmonica.”
“Octavia… That’s an interesting name, but I guess it’s fair for a name I’d give one of my own. My name is Dave, but just call me Ice.” He rubbed his head in thought. “So... uh, what are you doing in the middle of the jungle, naked, on this island? Or is there a settlement of some sort nearby?”
Octavia sighed in mild frustration. “Other than hanging here upside down when not being chased by predators and attempting to stay alive, not much. And if there was a settlement here, I’d love to know about it.” She then tilted her head quizzically. “And what's wrong being naked?”
“Oh, haha, nothing, I guess. The thing is, my kind wears clothes. I guess yours doesn’t.” With a quick inspection of her body, he continued. “With a fur coat like that, I can understand why clothes aren’t a necessity.” As he spoke, he pointed at Octavia with one of his claws.
“I suppose so. Um… would you mind releasing me?” She gave him a pleading look. “Not that the scenery isn’t nice up here, hehe,” she added, with a touch of nervousness and a wave of her hoof.
He gave a hearty laugh, which Octavia frowned at in silence. Once he had calmed down, he spoke. “Sorry, but I needed that. The way you put it was funny. And yes, I can get you down from there. To be truthful, though, I’d appreciate if you didn’t run off — not that I couldn't catch you — but I’m just not in the mood to jog through more of the forest then I already have.”
“I promise I won't run away. I too have had my fair share of running for a day, maybe even for a month. I'm a musician, a cellist, not a survival expert or adventurer,” she answered back, with a clear, tired look on her face. “But please, I’ve been hanging here most of the day and... those predators—” She gulped as she looked on the blood soaked corpse not too far away, “—were after me. I simply wish to rest, without them after me or being caught in this trap.”
“Hmm, that’s fair enough. Tell you what, I’ll get you down soon, but first I need to set up my camp. And as for those pesky wild cat things, you don’t need to worry, though judging by that look, I think you’re more worried of me.” Octavia nodded with an evident fear in her eyes. “I won’t harm you. Now...” He began to put his camp together, by first grabbing and pulling the net full of fruit closer to the base of the tree. “I do eat meat, but I also eat fruit. I'm what you can call an omnivore. And we don't like to consume other intelligent beings.”
“I see...” replied the grey pony. “That's good to hear.”
He laughed while looking around for some sizeable rocks and pieces of wood. “But i’m curious, what are you? You look like a miniature horse, a pony to me, yet quite different from one as well.”
“Well yes, I am a pony, an earth pony to be precise, but what do you mean I don't quite look like one?” Octavia asked, with a hint of mild discomfort in her voice.
“Guess it's fair I answer that.” He cleared a decently sized part of the ground of dead leaves and began piling wood up, then forming a stone circle around it. “You see, I'm not from this world. I'm from a different one, another parallel universe, and there's an infinite number of said universes. We just refer to them collectively as the multiverse.” Octavia listened tentatively to him, as he continued working and telling his story.
“Now, I think that’s also the reason we’re able to talk, I mean.” He stopped to gesture around himself. “There's likely another world, exactly like this—” He turned around and pointed to her. “—and has a pony, just like you—” He gestured to himself now. “—and a human like me telling the same story, and the only difference, let’s say… is that the plants are blue instead of green. Bottom line is there’s an infinite number of worlds, one just like your own, almost down to the smallest detail, while others are totally different and beyond our comprehension of how things work.” With this, he looked back at the grey pony for a moment and carried on to finish the fire.
Octavia was stunned into silence by the explanation she had received so far. It was bizarre, to put it mildly, but she thought to accept it even though it was hard to believe. Other worlds, some copies of this and others wildly different. It sounded like perfect material for a sci-fi story with a good chance of being the biggest failure or the bestseller of the decade. After a short time, she spoke up. “So, if I get this right... your world was just like mine or similar?”
“Yes, exactly, and it was similar, but there are many similarities and differences coinciding.” Finished with the fire pit, he began to ignite the wood with his fire-blade tool. “We had ponies back at home, but they weren't sentient or able to talk. They were similar in build, having hooves, fur coats, manes and a tail, but that’s about it, really.”
Octavia watched as the fire came to life almost instantly with the help of the magical tool the 'human' held in it's claws. He then looked to her. “So, would you like to join me on the ground, or are you still scared?”
“To be honest, I am very much scared, but not just of you. It’s of this whole green Tartarus I got lost in.” She sighed. “I... I really would love to just run away. Every fiber of my body screams it, but I understand my life is on the line. If I stay, at least I won't be cold, and I’ll likely be safe from other predators.”
“And I won’t hurt you.” This time, he sighed. “Guess I can't help it, considering how you saw me deal with these buggers. I ran into them earlier this morning, right after I came to my senses. I’m still surprised I lived and washed up on the shores of this island.”
This surprised Octavia. “You also ended up here because of that Celestia cursed storm?”
“Yes, and I take it you have all your fortune to thank that the storm stranded you here.” Octavia nodded. “I suppose we’re in the same boat, then.”
“Please, don't mention boats to me. My stomach churns just at the thought of a boat.” She shuddered at the memories.
“Sure thing. My experiences last night aren’t any more fun than yours, so we’ll leave it at that for now. Back to the matter at hand, time to get you down from there.” He walked closer and stopped under Octavia. “Now, don't freak out. I’m going to jump up and cut the rope, okay?”
“Okay.” Octavia gave a nervous smile. It didn't take more than a few moments for the human to easily jump up, grab the rope with one hand, then cut through it. Octavia could feel herself in free fall, but as soon it registered it was over, and they landed with a loud thump. She was covering her head with her hooves, and when she looked down, she was mere inches away from the ground. She was then lifted up by him and they saw eye to eye.
“You hanging in there?” He laughed at her expense, but Octavia didn't really mind. She wasn’t hurt, save for the wounds from the wild cats and her numb hind hooves, from both hanging for hours and the sudden force of being stopped from hitting the ground at the end of the landing.
“Heh, yes, I am.” She gave a little smile and they stared at each other for a short time. He then walked next to the fire and rested her on the ground. Octavia quickly shifted to a sitting position as Dave kneeled down and freed her hind legs from the grasp of the rope. “Thank you, Dave.”
“You’re welcome, Octavia... or is it Miss Octavia?” he replied, with a grin.
“Octavia will be fine.” She rubbed her legs to get the blood flow back into her hooves. It was an extreme case of 'pins and needles’, but she was glad to be on the ground once again. There was still a drop of fear in her, but she composed herself and remained sitting there. The human stood up and walked to the net, then began unfolding it and taking out some of the fruit. If he wanted to hurt her, he could have done it many times over, but he hadn't. “So, what now?” She asked, quietly.
“Well, I don't know about you, but I for one am quite hungry,” he replied, offering a piece of fruit to Octavia. She looked back and gave a slight smile, then nodded before accepting it. Dave sat down a short distance away from her and they began silently eating. Both their eyes were lost in the flames as the sun retreated and gave room for the night.