//------------------------------// // Return // Story: Anomalous // by benxlabs //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Return He was completely lost. The weak rays of the moon did little to illuminate the darkness, and every step only seemed to bring him further away from safety, from shelter. If he couldn't find his way out of this cursed forest soon, there was no doubt that he would die. He would die by himself, alone, in the darkness once again. To make it worse, it started raining. Drenched, freezing, hungry, disillusioned, and disgusted, he continued venturing through the dark forest. Crack. He spun around as his heart skipped a beat, expecting a bear or some other terrifying beast. Well, he tried to turn around, but he forgot he had four legs instead of two, so he ended up in a tangled heap on the forest floor. It was no easy matter trying to learn to control a form so different than what he was used to. My new form... he mused. Wait! Didn’t Twilight Sparkle say something about me being a pegasus? According to legend, pegasus are winged horses with the ability to fly and land on clouds. Perhaps he was unable to coordinate his legs, but something easier like flapping his wings could allow him to escape the forest. Although he was completely lost, being able to rest on a cloud, high above danger, until day came, seemed to be an appealing option. Only one problem. He had absolutely no idea how to even walk, much less fly. “Oof! Ow!” He was on his 35th attempt at lifting himself off the ground. So far, he had achieved sustained hovering for a maximum of three seconds, but his success was often abruptly terminated by the copious amount of trees. “Alright. THINK!” He told himself. “How does a bird get off the ground?” He remembered spending time learning about aviation theories in his science class. Education comes in handy in the weirdest places, huh? A bird’s wing is slightly curved over the top, causing air to flow faster under the wing than on top. This causes a lack of pressure on top of the bird, generating lift. Okay, well I mean scientific theory is great and all, but it's kinda completely useless right now. he thought. I’m going to be an airplane. He spread his wings, took a stance, and started running. Five minutes later... Huffing, puffing, panting,and exhausted, he stopped running. “Okay...that didn’t work. I guess I'll just flap like crazy? That's how little kids pretend to fly...” Up. Down. Up. Down. Flap. Flap. He was exhausted. Flying really is hard work... He thought, trying to catch his breath. “Alright, let’s try this again.” He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and gave his wings a couple of hard flaps. He kept flapping. Just keep flapping. Flap. Flap. Prepared for disappointment, he slowly opened his tightly shut eyes. Did I get taller or something? Wait... He was flying! He was flying above the ground! Instead of being earthbound, he was steadily hovering at least a foot of the ground. Just keep flapping.. If he stopped flapping, he would fall to the earth, and probably never fly again. With every flap, the danger increased, but with every flap the light of hope shone brighter. Soaring higher than ever before, he let out a whoop as he finally left that dark forest behind. Flying was something special, something that you couldn't explain to someone who couldn't. When you are all alone, surrounded by nothing, hindered by nothing, that kind of freedom you feel is something you can't feel anywhere else. He broke the cloud layer. His relief at finding respite at long last purged him of the adrenaline which had fueled his flight. He slumped down, completely exhaused, on a cloud close by. Unfortunately, it was a thunder cloud. With a crackle and a boom, a peal of thunder split the midnight air. It also gave him a heart attack. Luckily, it was a two-in-one with built-in defibrillation, so he was okay. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!” He hadn’t expected that. Feeling rather embarrassed, he crawled onto another cloud, making sure it wasn't another boomer. He smothered his face in the cloud, trying to hide his flushed face. In hopes of venting some of his nervous energy, he testily flapped his wings, and to his surprise, the cloud moved with him. He smiled. Maybe he had some hope of getting back to “Ponyville” after all! The sun was rising, and he finally saw some traces of civilization. In the far distance, he saw a large tree with windows (What the heck?), several buildings, and a city that appeared to be made of...clouds? As he neared the town, he realized he was getting used to the smell of fudge. He was slightly disturbed. Was he being assimilated into this crazy race? He hoped not. As the town became closer, he dismounted from his cloudmobile, and tried to flutter to the ground gracefully. Instead, he tumbled down and hit tree branch after tree branch until the ground hit him. Wow. Even in a alternate dimension, he was socially awkward. He neared the town cautiously...VERY cautiously, for fear of...well...everything. For some reason, whenever he neared someone, they gave him a strange glance, half in question and half in incredulity. Fine by him. He was used to attracting attention. He just wanted to know why. He approached a - a- wait, what did that purple one call them? A pegasus! This one was a creamy yellow, with bubblegum colored hair. She averted her eyes as he approached, retreating backwards towards a corner. But it was a bad way to go, and he cornered her in no time. He wasted no time in asking: “Hi, um, so I'm new around here, so I don't know if I've done something wrong or what, but like..would you happen to know why everyone is staring at me strange?” The cream colored pegasus looked up. An inaudible mumble slipped by his ear, but then it was gone. All he caught was something about something blank. “Excuse me, could you speak up? Sorry, I must have poor hearing.” Instead of an inaudible mumble, this time he got an incomprehensible murmur. He was getting very flustered now. Being socially awkward enough already, talking with a female made it even worse. His face was now very red, and he decided this would her last chance. “Could you please speak a little louder? I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch what you said. Something about blanks?” This time, she spoke at a volume that was recognizable, to his relief. “Well, um, sir, you don't consider yourself a foal anymore, do you?” “Well...I guess...not? But what does that have to do with anything?” He replied, slightly confused. What is a foal? Is that a bad thing? She kind of made it sound bad, so I said no. I hope I didn't mess up again.“Um, so the problem is, most ponies your age already have their cutie mark, and you clearly don't!” She sped up as she neared the end of her sentence, nearly speaking at an incomprehensible speed again. As soon as she finished, she pushed past him and ran away with a speed that made him feel just a little hurt. Just a little. “Aaahh...got it. Thanks!” He shouted after her, hoping that she wouldn't mark him down in her mind as an ungrateful weirdo. Now what in the world is a cutie mark? Why would anyone want something so stupid sounding? He wondered to himself as he plodded along. But no matter. He had returned to civilization. The next sentient being that seemed to have speech capabilities that he encountered was another pegasus. Another female, he presumed, since the creature had long, rainbow toned hair that was unkempt and flowing. The rainbow pegasus took one look at him and started cracking up. Was not having a cutie mark really that bad? If it was, he would have to get one real soon. He decided he needed to get more information about these “cutie marks”, even if it marked him as an absolute idiot for the rest of his life. “Excuse me, miss-” He began. “Miss? MISS? Do I look like I’m that old?” the rainbow-haired pegasus replied in a voice that was much louder than it needed to be. At least he could hear what the other pony was saying this time. “Er...well...how would you like me to address you?” This was not a good start. “First off, my name is Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all of Ponyville. You are to address me by name, and not like I’m an old lady, got that?” Alright. Got it. At least that name was somewhat easy to remember. “Alright, Rainbow Dash, my question is: what is a cutie mark and how do I get one?” She looked at him for a few seconds, completely silent, and then burst out laughing again. “BWAHAHAHA! You’re joking right? Everypony knows what a CUTIE MARK is!” This was going to be harder than expected. He tried again. “Just tell me, okay? I don’t know, and I can’t stand people looking at me like I’m an idiot.” She just sighed. (Where are all the men in this awful town? At the least, where are the normal women?) “Well, if you don’t know what a cutie mark is, you probably are an idiot anyways, but it’s like a mark that appears on your, um, flank when you learn what you are best at in life. Since you don’t have one, you clearly haven’t discovered what you’re best at yet, or, more likely, you're just too stupid for one.” That last bit stung. But anyways, according to Rainbow Dash, a cutie mark is like a tattoo on your bum that appears when you discover what you meant to do in life. Ah, if only it were that easy in my world...we would be spared so much pain and suffering. “So how can I get one of these cutie marks?” He asked his second question. “Celestia save me, you really are stupid aren’t you? Where did you got to school? Scratch that, you're too stupid for school. You can’t just make a cutie mark appear, it appears by itself once you’ve discovered what you’re good at. Got it? We’ve already got three fillies who are obsessed with getting their cutie marks. We don’t need another one, a full grown pony at that.” Could she not say something nice for once? “Got it. I’ll just be um...on my way now!” She gave him one last suspicious glance before he left. “One weirdo after another. How am I going to survive in this crazy place?” He thought to himself as kept walking down the road.