I stopped dead in my tracks once again, my mind now going hay-wire. My heart skipped multiple beats, and I dropped body, slowly onto the ground, my legs folded in once more. I put my hand up to my temple, and scanned the vicinity, making sure my mind wasn’t just playing tricks on me.
“I knew I was in some remote location to begin with, but how in the hell, could I have gotten here?” I thought to myself whilst getting back up once more, my heart now calming down a bit.
The very next thought that occurs to me, is, “What now?” As I straightened myself out, my head and eyes still darting every which way, I heard an absurdly loud grumbling noise, to realize that it was my stomach. I place my forearm onto my belly, letting out a small groan. I knew I couldn’t go the entire night without eating at this point, so I began sneaking around the edges of buildings, hoping to God that I wouldn’t be spotted, or heard.
A good minute into it, I had spotted a series of tarp-covered, wooden concession stands lining the sides of the street. Most of them appeared to be stacked to the brim with all sorts of fruit from the looks of it; bananas, apples, oranges, you name it. I scanned the surrounding area once more, along with listening for potential hoof-steps. After I mentally told myself, “Good to go,” I carefully picked up a little bit of everything, and stuffed it all into my jacket pockets. In the back of my mind, I felt kind of bad for not at least leaving a tip (if I even used their form of currency to begin with), but I shoved off immediately, into the nearest shadow, cast by many of the cottages.
After leaning my body up against the building, I once again checked my surroundings, just so I could at least have some of the fruit I gathered previously. I breathed out heavily through my nose, and slid my back down the wall, into a sitting position onto the ground. I for once felt a little relaxation, so I dug out an apple from my pocket, and without hesitation, took a whopping bite out of it.
“Holly crap!” I thought to myself, the giant piece of apple still remaining in my mouth.
“The flavor is literally sweet!” I thought as I devoured the whole thing in just a short minute. The food here, sure tasted a lot better than the food back at home (on Earth I assumed, considering that I was probably long gone by now).
After continuing to eat, some more food, continually reaching into my pocket every minute or so, I felt a bad stomach ache coming on quick.
“Hooray for overindulgence!” I sarcastically, mentally shouted to myself, as I put my hand on my stomach again, letting out an almost inaudible groan in the process.
Shortly afterwards, I turned my head to my immediate right, as I heard what sounded like the clopping of hoofs against the ground.
I pretty much stopped breathing at that moment, and didn’t so much as twitch a muscle. My heart rapidly sped up, as the sound continuously got louder.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” I thought to myself, praying that I wouldn’t be spotted. Soon enough, not ten feet away from me, I saw a white mare, wearing large purple goggles positioned above her horn, trotting past the alleyway I was secluded in, seeming to bob her head, and trot rhythmically to what seemed to be a pair of white ear buds (similar to mine) in her ears.
“Was that, Vinyl Scratch?” The first thought that popped up in my head, as the clopping got quieter, eventually fading away in the distance.
I produced a massive grin on my face moments later, seemingly about to start fangirling everywhere. But then my common sense hit me yet again. I’m near positive that no one knows I’m here, yet.
Still sitting in the darkness, pondering, I thought, “If all of my (brony) life, I thought ponies were just fantasy, I wonder if the same applies here, but with humans being the myths?” Either way, I couldn’t afford to be discovered yet. Then again, it beats being seen in broad daylight by everyone. I shook my head slightly, dispersing the thought from my head.
I slowly stood up from the ground, and walked to the edge of the alleyway, and leaned my head from around the corner, looking in both directions.
“Coast is clear,” I thought to myself, quickly but quietly traversing between houses. I wondered if I would happen to see Vinyl again. From the looks of it, I think she might’ve just been taking a midnight stroll, if so, I could relate, and maybe even for the same reasons.
After a few minutes of caution, and darting across the street countless times, I soon reached what seemed to be the outskirts of town. Reluctantly, I crossed the short field into the edge of the forest, where it felt far safer, ironically.
Once I reached the trees, and propped my back against the nearest one, the sound of everything around me, was far too quiet for comfort. So I reached into my pocket, and pulled out my phone, ear buds still attached. I slowly sat down into the grass, and scrolled down through the libraries of music for a few long minutes. I couldn’t decide what to play in the end, so I just hit the “shuffle” button to see where it would take me.
While fitting only one ear bud into my ear, as to still be aware of things around me, a song title popped up onto my phone screen, “ Simon and Garfunkel- The Sounds Of Silence”, followed immediately by a melodic tune.
“Well… how fitting”, I quietly said out loud to myself, smiling widely out of it.
As I wander along the edge of the forest, I fixated my eyes on the night sky, walking rhythmically to the song, while still holding my phone in my hand.
I always knew that music was the one thing in my life, which helped me escape the seemingly harsh reality of life previously, but I could now easily admit that statement, and mean it in a literal sense now. I don’t know why, but in mid-walk, the heart-sinking feeling of depression, began to weigh me down.
“I left everything behind me, my friends, my family, my whole life...gone” I felt my heart sink deeply into my chest, as tears began forming at the corners of my eyes. I tried so hard at holding it all back, but then I remembered that no one was around, so there was no point in holding back. I sank both knees into the grass, put my palms to either side of my face, and began to sob loudly, not caring if anyone heard me anymore.
The tears kept on flowing for a good half-hour, until in my non-occupied ear; I heard the grass shifting just behind me. I quickly wiped the remaining tears from my cheeks and eyes, and turned around immediately. My vision was still blurry, but I could easily make out what was facing me. It was that very same white mare that I closely avoided earlier today, Vinyl Scratch, looking at me with a sadness in her eyes.