My eyes slowly started adjusted to the darkness.
Laying down and partly anchored into a waterlogged sludge I freed my right arm raised it fork some of the newfound bedding out of my stinging and strained eyes.
A cold hard and wet alien object was caressed along my face, my eyes refocused and in the dark I searched for the silhouette of a hand against the dispersed and faint moonlight coming from above. But the abstract stub yielded no visible extremities?
I raised my other arm and tried to feel around for my fingers but both of my numb hands were robbed of all sensation.
Slouching back into the mud and yet again miring both arms back to my sides i tried to focus on what had happened to lead me to this point, trying to retrace the entire course of events step by step.
Nothing I could retrace was out of the ordinary; it had been like any other day and certainly gave no justification for my circumstances.
The last thing i could recall was nestling into my bedcovers... not drinking and deciding to take a kip in a local swamp ?
My eyes had now nearly adjusted to the light and i could see various outlines and shapes in the dark with more ease.
Staring up towards to what i could now demine to be a dense canopy of trees it dawned on me that the most reasonable explanation for this was a dream.
Reassured of this by the ethereal dancing moonlight that escaped from between the sprawling woody fingers above and considering my ability to rationalise this i excitedly began to stand up to part take in my first lucid dream.
I leaned forward onto all fours and then with that dizzy footing you often get in these dreams I staggered up onto my own two feet and was about to make a giant stage lit ice-cream fabricate out of thin air when I stumbled.
Losing my balance I fell forwards into a bush biting into my tong as my head hit its woody centre.
My head throbbed and everything from my neck up was scratched and stinging.
Suddenly a very real danger dawned on me, if I could feel pain... this must mean this is all real and if this is all real ... how did i get here and does anyone else know!
With a little struggle i pulled myself and my hair free from the bush.
I sat down next to it taking in my surroundings. I was in some kind of dense Forrest with a small body of water to my right and trees all around me.
Even with my eyes more or less fully acostomised to the light i could only make out the lose shapes and distances of objects.
My gaze frantically shifted around my Dendron cage as I searched out even the faintest blue hue of a horizon in the relentless pitch black perimeter that surrounded me.
I daren't not stand and walk among the treacherous arrays of weeds in such light and i had no idea how deep that lake could be or even where it began concealed amongst all the reeds.
It had to have been at least an hour before i heard a faint voice in the distance; it said something to someone called Angel and some, other things about ducks?
I scampered into cover of the reeds next to the lake.... There was no good reason for anyone to be out here at such a time.
Silencing my breath my heart pounded against my chest as though it was already decided on running and my thoughts encircled the proposition that i had been drugged and kidnapped.
The voice came closer accompanied and the sound of sloshing water and ruffling feathers as... ducks, were individually launched and bid farewell to onto the lake paddling around in circles on the body of water about a meter away from me.
I edged further into reeds trying to catch a glimpse of the voices owner.
All of a sudden the bank under my hands gave way and both arms splashed down in the water in bellow.
The dim light the voice had brought with it suddenly appeared to increase in intensity as it crept around the reeds. After several syncopated steps crunching on the gravel It stood right before me...
its impossibly large green eyes staring.
I could not believe the apparition that had befallen my vision, raising my arms in defence to my horror i had found that the lamps light illuminated a pair of pastel coloured hooves shielding my face in place of hands.
I stared intensely at the yellow and pink creature and then back at myself under its lanterns light ...
What godforsaken drug was i force-fed in my sleep? Rummaging around on the ground for some kind of weapon it took a few inquisitive steps toward me.
"Have you ...? lost something... ?"
i fell back astonished by the creatures ability to speak, flabbergasted i exclaimed "y-y-you s-p-peak English ....? "
"English...? ... Doesn't ring a bell... would you find it easier if i spoke in a different tong... you don't look like you're from around these parts, you speak zebra?"
"Wha... look! ...These parts!! Where the hell am I!!"
"Well right now... your just on the outskirts of the Everfree forest! ... South west of Ponyvill??? "
"Outskirts !!! Its bloody pitch black in all directions!!!... Wait did you say Ponyvill? "
It had surprised me i was desperate enough to consolidate a figment of my imagination for geographic information but this really had gone too far... So is that what was the can of worms the LSD had un-surfaced from my subconscious? ... Some repressed desire to live in some magic land of talking horses? ... Ha, or had the stress of being a working middle class white male all of a sudden piled onto me?
I chuckled to myself, i couldn't help but see the humour in how hilariously pathetic this all was.
"Well then... could you direct me to 'Human Vill' ... I can show you the wrought once we get on to the milky way... once were in the right bit it's just a left turn about this time of year around the Sun continue on strait past the Moon till you hit Earth ... Then drop me off somewhere in Europe and ill walk the rest."
"...I've only heard off about two of those places?" I sat up ... it was something about the disappointed way it said those words. For the first time focusing my full attention on the yellow horse i stared at its huge eyes... They darted around in their sockets as they timidly retreateing from meeting my gaze.
"Who are you? ... What are you?"
"I'm fluttersh---" a near inaudible mumble passed the yellow horses lips as she turned off to the side revealing a wing and an impression of three butterflies on her right flank.
"I... didn't catch that one... come again?"
"im flutt---" This time around she was even quieter.
"Come here" I beckoned 'flut-...something or another' to come closer. To my shock the apparition was able to timidly advance without blurring as my eyes changed focal distance.
i continued to gesture it to come over with my left... Hoof.
The creature was about 2 or 3 feet away from me now. By this time, I could feel the heat radiating from its body, see the wisps of condensation escape its mouth into the cold night air, hear its hooves nervously scratch the ground... Smell that light perfumed musk around ...Her?...The exact same perfume Sarah wore before...
This was no apparition, if all my senses were telling me there was a yellow and pink peach scented talking horse or whatever it was standing right there in front of me, I wasn't about to disbelieve them ... this was either reality or the matrix .
"Come again... one last time"
she cautiously opened her mouth and quietly uttered. "My name's Fluttershy...i... i take care of the animals ...I'm from..." something inside Fluttershy seemed to pause in remorse "I'm from Cloudsdale"
"And .... You're a talking horse"
An awkward silence fell and a small white rabbit emerged from behind Fluttershy, booting one of the dopier ducks into the pond with his foot. The little feller bounded towards me, Fluttershy seeing the 'threat' quickly picked up 'Mohamed-ah-flea' by the scruff of his neck. She restrained the Tasmanian devil till he crossed his arms; he had obviously lost interest in this fight. Fluttershy then levied him onto her back
"sorry... Angel doesn't like it when people insult me"
"... I'm sorry I really had no idea ...um... what did I say...?"
"Well aside from the same courtesy putting you in denial... we don't tend to call anypony horse. Encase you hadn't noticed, I kind of have a pair "
she said opening her wings and ruffling her feathers.
"So that makes you a .... Pegasus?"
"Remind me from what rock you crawled out from again... you haven't even told me your name
y-know."
"Marty"
Fluttershy sniggered
"that's a... interesting name"
and Fluttershy wasn't exotic here? ...By now should i really be surprised?
There was another awkward pause as Fluttershy awaited a response.
"Thanks... "I retorted sarcastically as i smiled at Fluttershy who had taken to hiding behind her mane and fiddling with her tale Soon after laughing at me.
Hmm all be it odd Fluttershy really suited this one.
She smiled at me but that smirk was soon lifted and replaced with a look of concern as she looked down at where i was sitting.
"I'm sure you have a long story about why you're out here, but i think it's probably for the best if we get you into the warm before you catch your death."
I looked down in fear at my four new legs as Fluttershy offered her hoof
"would you believe if I said I had no idea" i put my hoof wrist in hers as she heaved me out of the mud and pushed me up with her neck that firm motion further vindicating an actual presence in the world. My legs shook involuntarily under the weight of my upper body, not only had the cold got to them but after 33 years of supporting my weight on a pelvis I hadn't exactly mastered the whole quadrupedal thing.
Although strangely i feet a deep moment of Déjà Vu.
I knew that unless this warm place was less than a few steps away i wouldn't be able to get there on my own four hooves and would have to ask Fluttershy to support me.
But as her mane heaved against my muddy back earlier an explosion of that perfume whisked into the air. I remember when i had to ask Sarah to take her daddy onto her shoulder after the accident.
Here I was again in the little arms of Sarah after events I just couldn't explain.
I hailed Fluttershy, turning around she saw my legs shake pathetically under my weight. Without another word she walked over stooped her body down and pulled my arm over her shoulder.
Angel whom from his position tucked in Fluttershy mane did not appear to take kindly to almost being squished by my limp arm as it was dropped over Fluttershy shoulders.
He turned around and stared at me looking distinctly unimpressed the entire distance to Fluttershy's cottage.