"There is no gravity, but I have somehow fallen so far..."
I shifted my weight to my left, keeping Spencer in my sights as we stared each other down. I flashed him an evil smile, causing the kid to flinch a little and raise his arms to his head, giving me the opening I needed to move low, and hit his belly with a hard punch before backing away quickly.
"Yame!" Sensei Mandy called out. The sign to stop recognised, I relax from my stance and head to one side of the mats, Spencer on the other. Sensei smiled at me. "Excellent reverse punch, Gabriel. Half a point to you, half a point to Spencer," She grinned and readied herself. "Ready? Hajime!" And the fight began anew.
I was in the changing rooms of our dojo, getting ready to head home. I sighed at myself as I looked in the mirror, deep brown eyes roving over my torso. I wasn't fat, per say, and I had great muscle definition, but I was noticeably wider than I used to be. I flicked my brunette fringe out of my eyes and groaned as I saw my greasy hair spiked up from some earlier rubbing. Goddamn it, I looked like a member of Green Day.
Being the only one left in the dojo, I had lock-up duty to attend to, so I roamed the halls and checked every nook and cranny for anything the lower grades had missed cleaning up. Eventually satisfied, I flick the lights off and lock the doors, leaving the keys under the plant pot as per usual. Yeah, not the greatest hiding place in the world, but what was a man to do, huh? I strolled away, heading to the McDonald's around the corner for some chicken nuggets and Fanta, when something curious caught my eye. What I saw remains one of my most vivid memories to this date.
I saw a whirling purple void in the air, just along London Road. I didn't know what it was at the time, there was no way I could have guessed. But it was pretty, as well as pretty confusing. I reached for my phone to take a picture, before remembering that I left the stupid device dead in my bedroom. Well, now I didn't know what to do. Half of me was screaming to run and hide, this thing could be dangerous and I didn't know what it was. The other half was curious as to what the thing was, wanting to touch it, as if I was five years old again. Well, I am a sensible person, so the run and hide option prevailed and I swiftly backed away, dropping my bo staff in the process. I watched it as it rolled down the incline towards the weird purple thing before... vanishing. One moment, it was rolling down the pavement, and I could hear it rolling before... nothing. The sound stopped, it just vanished. Well, I liked that thing, so I sprinted after it, my bag in my hands.
And then I touched the void, slamming face first into the fold in reality. It felt nice, like soft silk against my skin, I felt myself be drawn into it through its softness.
And by any deity that will take me, that was the worst mistake of my life.
It hurt. It hurt like hell, it truly did. It felt like every bone in my face was breaking, every single little piece of cartilage in my feet shifting and shattering, and my clothes seemed to be getting tighter and ripping apart. I couldn't tell what was happening to me, I remember nothing but screaming and pain. And falling. I felt like I was falling for quite a while. I felt my feet touch solid ground, saw light around me for the briefest of brief moments, and then blacked out.
I came to slowly, with a blinding headache. After taking some time to let my head calm down and not split me in half the moment I moved, I tried to open my eyes. Thankfully, I was in a dark area, so my headache retreated to the back of my head to quietly pulse, plotting its next move. I sat up and, feeling around, discovered that I was on a bed of some description. I didn't know where I was, or how I got there. The texture of softness meant that it wasn't my lumpy bed, or even my sofa, so with a feeling of trepidation, I turned and stood up, off the bed.
Just the opening my headache needed to come rushing back. I clutched my head and sat down on the bed again, quickly. When the headache subsided, I tried again and managed to stand up this time. Looking around, I located a source of light in the form of a door to my left. I couldn't see what was through the door, but I could see the outline, so I walked towards it. Headache be damned, I need to know what the hell happened to me after I touched that purple thing. I fumbled around the door for a handle of some description, but couldn't find one, so I resorted to banging on the obstacle with my fists, as loudly as possible.
Naturally, with being preoccupied with finding out where the hell I was, I failed to notice the difference in my body in general. That'll come later, I promise.
"Hello!? Anyone there!? Where am I!?" I roared, causing that dull throb in my head to impolitely remind me of its presence. Cursing to myself, I tried again. And again, and again, until my hands hurt like nobody's business and my throat was hoarse. Nothing had happened except that I had shouted myself deaf and back, so I retreated to the bed and lay down, furious. I was nowhere further ahead with what I wanted than before. I seemed to be stuck in this room for now, so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, all I knew is that my headache had gone by the time I heard something more than my own breathing, heartbeat and/or off-key singing. It's a curious thing, to be able to hear yourself breathe, to hear your own heartbeat in your ears. Sensory deprivation, and all that.
My singing didn't help much, though.
I heard a quiet rumbling from somewhere, then footsteps on stone. Many footsteps. I guessed at maybe twenty. Shit, I was scared. Fight though I could, twenty people at once was never going to work out well for me. Thinking quickly, I stood up and hid behind the door, hoping I could catch them by surprise and maybe stand a better chance at winning. Thinking back, I should've noticed how different my footsteps sounded and felt, but trying to stay alive tends to keep one distracted from such things. The door clattered, and I heard muffled voices on the other side.
"You sure about this? We don't know what it could be able to do."
"It hasn't got its weapon, or any of its equipment with it, Ah think we'll be fine fer now."
The door slid open sideways, not the way I was expecting at all, and light streamed into the room, dazzling me too much to do more than cover my eyes.
When I eventually opened them, what I saw changed my life forever.
Well, the first few things didn't, majorly, they were just blurs, but what I saw afterwards... it was a total trip.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw a pony, a lavender pony with wings and a horn, plus a shimmering golden crown. This was clearly an important creature, and its eyes were a lovely shade of violet as it looked up at me and spoke with a voice like velvet.
"Greetings, and welcome to the land of Equestria. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle," began the pony, revealing its femininity. "I assume you have many questions but they must wait. Please, come." She turned around to lead the way out, glancing behind her to check that I was following.
I wasn't.
I had fainted.
I dunno about you guys, but seeing a purple talking horse for the first time does that to some people.