“Goggles, goggles, where on earth are my goggles!” I was frantically looking through my bag for my goggles for about an hour now, according to my watch at least. I expected sunlight so I brought something to help adjust easier. I had retreated a little into the forest again, the shade helped to a degree, but I really needed the goggles if I was going to explore anytime soon.
“Who is that,” squeaked a voice.
“You mean what is that!” The second was higher pitch and more authoritative.
“Who are you,” snapped the first, “Miss Cheerilee?”
“Ah think both questions are good ones.” The third voice was more convincing than either other ones.
“Cutie Mark Crusader Investigators,” yelled all three.
This in turn, caused me to spin around, seeing three blurs rushing towards me. One was white, another canary yellow, and the third a bright orange. As they came into the shade, I could focus a little better on the three foals who tried to stop a few feet away from me.
After a short bout of awkward staring, the yellow one decided to chance a word. “Ah’m Apple Bloom. This here,” she pointed to the white unicorn beside her, “is Sweetie Belle. And this,” she pointed to the orange pegasus, “is Scootaloo. What’s yer name?”
Apple Bloom struck me instantaneously as a coin flip between hyperactive and polite. “My name is Nicholas, you can call me Nick. Could you perhaps help me find something?”
“Umm,” came Sweetie Belle’s voice. “How would we know what it is when we find it?”
“I’m just looking through my things for a pair of goggles. You see, I’ve spent a long time underground and I’m having trouble seeing in the sunlight.”
“What were you doing underground,” asked Scootaloo. She seemed far too skeptical of me to believe anything I’d say.
“Exploring,” I said as I started going back into my bag. “Saw some cool stuff in a big cave, but I wanted to come up and be in the sunlight again.”
“Cool stuff in a cave?” As I expected, Scootaloo was far too skeptical about whatever I would say. “What’s so cool about a cave?”
I pulled out the goggles and grinned. “Not much,” I replied nonchalantly, “just a lost civilization.” I slipped them on and everything came into focus. “Ah, that’s much better.”
“You really found something like that underground?” Sweetie Belle was growing curious, her eyes the size of dinner plates.
“Oh yes, I’m an archeologist. I study the past, and sometimes there’s cool stuff like that.” I gave a frown, “mostly it’s a lot of time in a library but field work can be just as boring as the library too.”
“Sounds like you found something good though.”
I nodded, “yes I did. I was with a team and we even managed to live down in the city for a while.” By now, even Scootaloo was getting curious. “We lived down there for nearly a year before I came here. But when I got here I was deep in the forest.”
“You’ve been deep in the Everfree Forest?” Scootaloo's skepticism had been thrown haphazardly aside. “What’s it like in there?”
“There’s lots of creatures in there, I could hear them last night. But, I took shelter in this big ruined building. I also ran into a zebra on my way out, she was helpful but I think her rhyming meter would be something I’d have to get used to.”
“That was Zecora,” clarified Apple Bloom, “she lives in the Everfree Forest. Must’ve been nice seein’ her and getting help outta the forest.”
I nodded, “she was very helpful. I was also polite, and said thank you when I left.”
“Okay, now that that’s taken care of,” said Sweetie Belle, “what are you Nick?”
“I’m a human, a two legged creature that is omnivorous. Meaning, we eat both vegetation and meat, but I’m a strict vegetarian.”
“Oh,” exclaimed Scootaloo, “Lyra will be so happy to see a human. She always wanted to see one!”
“But this is really what humans are?” I could understand Apple Blooms skepticism; I had seen that look plenty of times.
“Why yes,” I said cheerfully. “Humans are the dominant species where I come from. Are humans not real around here?” After all unicorns and pegasi are just myth where I come from, I silently added.
“Only Lyra thinks they’re real,” Sweetie Belle gave an ear-to-ear smile, “but now we have proof!”
I had a worried look on my face. “Should I be afraid?”
“Don’t know,” replied Scootaloo dryly, “never seen a human before. Nopony has.”
I thought for a moment. “Is there anyone I can talk to, like scholar?”
“Well, there’s Twilight.” Sweetie Belle suggested.
“Can you get her? I’d like to be discrete, if possible.”
The three fillies put their hooves together. “Cutie Mark Crusader Messengers,” they whispered.
I looked puzzled, “Cutie Mark Crusaders? I take it that’s you girls?” They nodded and ran off.
I looked over to my bag and groaned; I’ll be here a while…
*****
About an hour later, everything was back in my bag, not as neatly as before, but at least it was back. There still was no sign of the Cutie Mark Crusaders returning and I had moved up to the forest’s edge. Based on the position of the sun it was midday, I was chewing on a carrot, and I was back at the forest’s edge. I could see a building nearby, but didn’t want to approach. If that was Twilight’s home then she would’ve been here already. I remembered Scootaloo’s words; she said no one had seen a human before. After thinking about it for a little while, I grabbed my bag and decided to investigate.
I’m normally not a curious person. However, if you decided to risk entering a different world through a book could you possibly avoid being curious? With my bag firmly over my shoulder, I made my way towards the building, now more clearly a house. A house with a grass covered roof?
*****
“Do I have to repeat everything I tell Lyra girls?” Twilight was trying her hardest to simply read the book in front of her. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had been trying to get her attention for the last hour. “Humans don’t exist!”
“Honest Twilight,” cried Apple Bloom, “he said he was a human.”
“Yeah, he walks on two legs and everything,” argued Scootaloo. “Some of what Lyra’s said is real.”
“That makes no sense!” Twilight exclaimed. “Princess Celestia herself threw Lyra out of school for those theories of hers!”
“Just come and see Twilight.” Apple Bloom had resorted to making an adorable face. After all, it worked before.
Twilight sighed; they wouldn’t stop until she caved in. “Fine, let’s go.”
The trio of fillies squealed and led Twilight along.
*****
I chose it wiser not to go right up and knock on the door. Instead, I decided to put that art minor to use and just sketch the house. A bottle of black ink at my side, a quill in my hand, a sketchpad in my lap, and half an hours’ work made me think I had done a good job. It’s been a few years since I sketched anything but it looked good.
“That looks great,” chirped a voice behind me. “Are you an artist?”
I turned around and was met with a very pink, very smiling pony. Her cotton candy mane made me recoil a bit. “Wh-who are you?”
“I’m Pinkie Pie,” she squealed, “and you’re new!”
“I’m Nick a pleasure,” I tried to calm down as I offered my hand.
She simply gasped. “You should see Lyra. I know she’d love to meet you.”
“I wasn’t sure if I should trust that. I met a few kids. They said they were going to get someone named Twilight.”
Pinkie was now looking over my shoulder. “Oh, Twilight, he’s over here!” She was leaning on my shoulder and waving one of her hooves in the air.
She slumped in onto me as I turned around to see a purple unicorn following the three fillies. Even with the shade created by my goggles, I could see another unicorn following them from a distance. I had gotten used to seeing in the low light created by poor lighting but it didn’t stop me from seeing the distant figure. “Um Pinkie, could you tell me who that other unicorn is behind them?”
Her eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed them when she saw who I was pointing to. “That’s Lyra, better brace yourself Nick.”