//------------------------------// // Reality of the Situation // Story: Stuck In Equestria // by VaporingRat //------------------------------// It had been just shy of 24 hours since I woke up after the transfer, and the hospital was ready to throw me out. They had kept me in for observation, but really they just wanted to learn as much as possible I guess. But before I could leave, I needed clothes, and the ones I was wearing during Nightmare Moon's return had mysteriously disappeared when I was admitted into the hospital. And I have a feeling that a certain somepony may be responsible. And speaking of which... I glanced up from my lunch to the room's door, which was opened by a white Unicorn with an expertly styled mane and tail, accompanied by a set of saddlebags. "Ah hello Rarity! Pleasure to see you," I say in greeting, placing my knife and fork on the table across my bed. "Likewise darling, but I'm afraid that I'm here on a rather sad note," she said, walking into the room and closing the door behind her with magic, while avoiding eye contact. "I tried my utmost best, but they were sadly unsalvageable." "What were? What are you going on about?" I ask. Rarity sighed heavily, before using her magic to open up a saddlebag and levitated a bundle of clothing. "Hey, are those my clothes?" I ask, realising my suspicions were correct. "Yes they are, I took them while you were being treated so I could resow them back at my boutique, but they were too damaged after I cleaned them," she explained, levitating the bundle of clothing over to me, and I plucked it out of her magical grasp. The clothes were even worse since the last time I saw them, although they had been cleaned, it was obvious that the cleaning had caused even more damage, and were now completely unwearable. “Damn, now what am I gonna wear when the hospital staff kick me out?” I sigh, bundling up the clothes and throwing them into the bin across the room. At this point, Rarity lit up like a christmas tree and opened the other saddlebag with her magic. “I have just the outfit! Remember when we were walking back through the Everfree Forest, you described to me what your new set of clothes wanted to look like?” I nod, and she continues, “well as soon as I got back, I went straight to work designing and creating that outfit! I wasn’t able to finish the shirt and I’m still waiting for the materials of your new hat to arrive, but I got the trousers and coat all ready to go!” And with that, Rarity lifted two neatly folded pieces of clothing, one was a pair of brown trousers circa 1940 and the other was a leather duster-like coat. They floated over to me and I grabbed them, before pushing away the table bed to the bottom and getting out of the bed, stretching as I did so. “Ah, it feels good to be out of that darn bed! Thanks Rarity, I’ll pay you back whenever I can,” I say, taking the clothes and heading to the en suite bathroom, and closing the door to get changed. I quickly shed my medical gown, which was a pony version elongated to fit me and came very short. Thankfully, they still allowed me to wear my underwear, although I’m going to need to talk to Rarity about that at some point soon. “Oh, you don’t have to pay me back Declan. Think of it as a gift for helping us stop Nightmare Moon." "Aww, that's kind of you but you guys deserve all the credit," I say modestly, pulling the trousers up my legs. "Don't be so modest. If it weren't for you, that evil wretch would've..." Rarity trailed off, and I heard her take a heavy gulp of air. Making sure that my trousers weren't going to fall down my legs, I opened the door to find Rarity right outside, a horrified look etched across her face. I did the first thing that can me to mind, kneeling down so I was at her level before bringing the Unicorn in for a hug. "It's alright," I say, holding the pony close. After a moment, Rarity returned the hug. "T-thank you Declan, I just don't know what came over me..." Rarity said quietly, before we broke apart and I grabbed my coat. "You look shattered Rarity, when did you last get some sleep?" I ask, noticing for the first time how worn out the fashionista looked. "I can't recall," she replied, yawning as she did so. "Come on, let's get you home," I say, to which Rarity nods and we make our way out of the hospital checking out as we did so. Then a thought hit me. "Hey Rarity, where's the stuff that was in my old clothes pockets?" I signed myself out of the hospital and accompanied Rarity back home. Once she was inside and resting, I made my way back to the library posthaste. I had been informed that Twilight Sparkle had 'requisitioned' my stuff for 'safe keeping'. Arriving at the library, I opened the door and entered, ducking as I did so. Upon entering the library, I spotted Twilight pacing around the wooden table in the middle of the room (the circular one with a horrible horsehead bust on, ugh!). On said table was my assorted pocket junk, including yellowing receipts and my iPhone, but since its out of juice, its just a hi-tech brick. “Hi Twilight,” I say in greeting, making the Unicorn twist her head round to see me so fast I thought she had broken it. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked me in a very serious fashion. “Tell you what?” I ask in confusion. “That you are from another world!” Twilight practically shouted, with a mixture of irritation and a hint of excitement. Ah. “Who told you?” I ask quzzically. “Some white Unicorn with purple glasses told me, she said she was a friend of yours.” Goddammit Vinyl! “Why didn’t you tell me? I knew that you were not native to Equestria, Princess Celestia told me so before I left Canterlot, but to actually hail from another world... I could be the first pony to make official first contact with an alien species! The knowledge we could share, the technologies, the possibilities are endless!” She rambled, no longer talking directly at me, but instead going off into her own little world. I sighed and loudly cleared my throat, snapping Twilight out of her reverie and back to my attention. “Look, I don’t know if I’m from another planet, or from another point in time; in fact, I don’t know much about how I got here, and I would really like some help getting back, but at the moment, I just want my stuff back,” I explain to Twilight, who clung to my every word like a scientist would to the explanation of string theory. She tilted her head to one side in confusion, and in a rather cute way at that, before she understood what I meant. “Oh! Your belongings are all here,” she said, waving a hoof at the table next to her. I walk over and scrounge through all the items, the only things worth picking up were my house keys, spare change and my iPhone. “By the way, what’s an ‘eye-fone’?” Twilight asked, as I slipped the keys and money into my trouser pocket, before checking my phone, making sure it was okay. “Oh, I’ll explain it later. Don’t give me that puppy dog look Sparkle. Look, after I check some stuff, I’ll explain everything to you. I promise,” I say, making the Unicorn light up with excitement. BZZT BZZT. I almost dropped the phone from surprise, as the screen lit up whilst the device powered itself back online. “Whoa, what the heck?!” I exclaim, eyeing the screen cautiously as the Apple logo disappeared and was replaced with the lock screen. “How come this thing has power? I thought I drained it playing games long ago.” “How is it producing light like that? Is it some kind of magic?” Twilight asked, completely intrigued by the device. “Not magic, it runs on electricity. It should have none left, yet it’s fully charged...” I sigh, seeing that the phone was indeed fully charged in the top right corner of the screen. “Just another mystery I guess,” I say, stuffing it into my other trouser pocket. “You can keep the receipts if you want, it’s all rubbish really,” I tell Twilight, who looked like christmas had come early for her. She practically dived at the receipts, gathering them up and levitating them around her, along with a notebook and quill as she took notes, whilst wearing a mask of wonder not unlike a child’s. “Well I’m glad your happy. Look, I’ll be back in a bit, I just want to go check on the DeLorean and see if it’s okay,” I say, heading for the door. The sound of a notebook hitting the floor draws my attention back to the lavender Unicorn. “The thing Nightmare Moon threw at you...?” She asks curiously, to which I nod. “Can I come too?” She asks pleadingly. It’s going to be one of those days again. We walk in complete silence under the mid-afternoon sun as we make our way over to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Twilight made several attempts of conversation by asking questions, but I ignored her, as I was busy thinking about things. For example: DeLorean has no fuel. It needs petrol as fuel. So far, not one single Texaco garage station has been sighted around town, let alone any automobile of any kind. Which most likely means that there is no petrol in Equestria. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any combustion engines either. No trains, no aircraft. Yet they have technologies like, the toaster, the lightbulb, flushable toilets, fridges, ovens, etc. Its like someone has deliberately halted crucial parts of technological advancement here. Or maybe since Ponyville is a country town, they don’t have much in the way of cars or stuff like that. It’s worth checking. “Hey Twilight...” I begin, causing the Unicorn to lose concentration and stumble slightly. Yet she was immediately focused again, with notebook and quill at the ready. “Do you have any cars in Equestria?” She stopped to mull over the question in her head, and I stop as well, turning to look back at her. “No, what are they?” “You know what the DeLorean looks like?” “Yeah.” “That’s a car.” “Oh. Then no.” Just as I thought... “Do you have any combustion engines?” “Combust-what?” She asks, completely baffled by the word. “Nevermind...” I sigh, swearing mentally. We continue our walk, leaving the town after a minute or so, and soon coming up to the edge of the gloomy forest. Not far away, is the DeLorean, in all of it’s out of fuel flipped glory. I jog the rest of the way, coming up to it to see that it’s lying upside down. Visually, it looks fine, for a working model exactly like the one in Back To The Future, but something seems off... “Could you flip it 180 degrees for me Twilight?” I ask her, to which she complies and lifts the DeLorean with her TK, before turning it round and setting it back on it’s tyres. “Thanks,” I say, moving over to look through the side window. Inside, I can see all the equipment on the dashboard is visually fine, as well as the shopping that followed me here, scattered around the interior. I move to the rear, and me heart sinks faster than the titanic. “Fuck! That damn bitch stole the plutonium!” I exclaim rather loudly, causing poor Twilight to jump. I smack the side of the car, which doesn’t help my current problem. I look around, and spy the canister lying on the ground a few feet away. I quickly rush over and pick it up, only to find that its “bloody empty!” I throw it in anger, watching as it soars far into the forest. I stare after it for what seems like ages, before turning round and heading back to the DeLorean. My mood instantly changes when I see Twilight standing by the DeLorean, looking at me in shock and, regrettably, fear. “Oh Twilight, I’m sorry for shouting and swearing, I’m just...” I trail off, as my brain finishes filing all the information. I’m stuck here. The DeLorean from the first film needed plutonium or some kind of radioactive fissionable material to produce the amount of energy needed to go through time. If this one uses the same power process as the original, then I used the already inserted plutonium just jumping here. If I can’t find any plutonium in Equestria, then I can’t go home. Include the lack of petrol and I might as well be marooned and out of fuel on the damn moon. My train of thought is broken when I feel something embrace me in a consoling hug. I then notice that the person hugging me is Twilight, and that I’m kneeling on the ground, as well as crying. “I can’t go home...” I sob, burying my face into Twilight’s neck, and returning the embrace tightly, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her tightly. Everything seems to wash away around us, as we continue to embrace, whilst tears continue to flow and I break down in her embrace. When I had been stabbed in the stomach by Nightmare, and was dying, I was scared, afraid, knowing that I could never see my family, my friends, ever again. My life, my world, all gone. Now I find myself here, alive, scared and afraid, knowing that I’ll never see my family again. My life is gone, everything that made it up simply gone. This experience truly is a fate worse than death.