"-Agents got that swagger, Everyone's so cloak and dagger. I'm feeling nervous but I'm really kinda wishin' for an undercover mission, that's when the Red Alert came on the radio and I put my ear piece on, got my dark sunglasses on! And I had my weapon drawn! So I get my handcuffs, my cyanide pills, my classified dossier. Tapping the phones like yeah, Shredding the files like yeah. I memorized all the enemy spies I gotta neutralize today. Yee-eee-eeaahhh it's a party in the CIA!"
Lori had been walking for hours wishing she had her Ipod with her, she was bored and really weird things happen to her when she is bored. Her thoughts going random places, she does things she wouldn't normally do such as sing. As much as she liked listening to others sing, she didn't like doing it herself mostly because she thought she sounded bad, yet reminded herself that Weird Al tends to sound good no matter who is singing it.
"Speaking of Weird Al I remember the time he voice a a character on one of my favorite kids TV shows. If I remember correctly it happened during season 4 of My little pony: Fim. It's a real shame that the songs in that episode weren't written by him but by Jay-whateverthehellhislastnameis." Lori thought to herself.
"HBK, what's this?"
Lori had come across a stream that looked completely clean and utterly devoid parasites and pollution. Realizing her thirst she dunked her head in the water to cool herself off and began drinking. Thirst now quenched, Lori brought her head out of the stream. She spotted a smooth boulder nearby and crawled to and leaned against it to rest and contemplate her situation.
Lori had been walking for a while now and had noticed a few things, first was the distance and amount of time she has been walking. She had a great deal of endurance and stamina until a couple years ago when she got hit by car and damaged her hip to the point it required surgery. This had severely weakened her to the point where she could no longer lift her left leg up all the way which as she put it "made putting socks on without help a Bitch with a capital B", which is why she usually wore sandals or flip-flops, except for special occasions with today being one of them. However, Lori began to grow suspicious when she realized she walked a considerable number of miles without exhausting herself which was unheard of after her injury.
"If my calculations are correct I've also walked ten times the amount I usually could before my injury and in less time too. It's almost as if....my injury was gone, like I never had it or Elixir from the X-Men cured it. Well only one thing to do, test it. If I'm able to bring my left leg up to my right knee as if I were putting on socks then I'll know for sure whether or not my theory is true or if my mind is playing tricks on me."
She slowly and deliberately lifted her left leg up, up and,
"....success!" Lori shouted.
Lori was conflicted. On one hand: part of her was pleased at this mysterious recovery which allowed her to continue her dream of martial arts mastery. On the other hand she wondered if this was some kind of trick, but simply decided not to question it for now so as not to "jinx" it.
Another thing that came to her attention but she didn't put much thought into was where she was. At first Lori thought she was being pranked but she had proven this false, then she thought of her....thing but she was not in a Hospital or any form of shelter for that matter. Then Lori thought kidnapping (unlikely but not impossible in such a public crowded area in broad daylight) but then what for? Her clothes and body were intact and undamaged so rape is out. Lori still had her wallets filled with money for the Con so not a mugging, ransom is also out because neither she nor any of her relatives have enough money to pay for a significant ransom (if they even cared enough to attempt such a thing). Leverage/Black Mail or Ransom against Ziggy is also out because he certainly doesn't look or act rich and he doesn't parade that fact around. In fact he looks like your stereo-typical German. So much so that before Ziggy and Matt became friends Matt once called him a "sour-kraut sausage sucker" to which we all, Ziggy included laughed at (and not to mention where Lori currently was was a pretty poor holding/hiding area). That left only one thought. One dark thought. One Lori didn't want to think about but she had to. Death. There is a possibility that she was murdered or died in some freak accident that she couldn't remember and was sent to Heaven or Hell or Equestria or Narnia and her wounds were simply gone.
"Bah! I'm not even going to entertain that thought anymore. Besides there's no proof."
Well no use sitting around thinking about it anymore. Time to start walking again and find some sort of clue to where I am and hopefully some civilization.
Hours Later: Sunset
At last! Civilization! Lori saw what appeared to be a medium sized town in the distance. She began running full sprint toward it. Five minutes later she arrived at a sign that revealed the town's name:
"WELCOME TO APPLELOOSA!"
"Appleloosa? Isn't that the name of that one Wild-West town from MLP: FIM? Nah it couldn't be. It's just a coincidence or joke. There are plenty of places named after or the same as fictional places in real life." Convinced, Lori simply ignored the sign and headed on in. Looking around it really resembled a Wild-West town a fact she gave no further thought to other than that of,
'So it's a town modeled after a fictional town, nothing strange about that. If Japan can have a statue of a Gundam the size of the Statue of Liberty in Tokyo Harbor then why not a real life fictional town.'
Lori stopped for a minute to get a pebble out of her shoe, as she did this noticed horse tracks. Fresh too. Which was a good sign and proved that the town had occupants. She quickly followed the tracks in the hopes of finding some people who she could get some information from, maybe some food and shelter to boot. Seconds later Lori spotted two figures standing in the distance,
'Talking to each other perhaps?' Alice thought as she waved and shouted to them to gain their attention and prevent them from walking away before she got there.
"HEY!"
"HEY!! WAIT UP!!
The figures turned to see who was hailing them.
Lori finally caught up to them and fell to her hands and knees so she could catch her breath.
"Howdy, Miss can we help you?" The man asked
Lori held up a finger signaling to "give me a minute" so she could catch her breath. Once she had sufficient air, she stood up and looked at the two figures. They looked exactly like Braeburn and Little Strongheart only anthropomorphic, complete with cowboy outfit and Native American dress respectively.
'I guess if the town was modeled after the cartoon one then I guess it must be some type of tourist attraction/resort and it would make sense to have a few people dressed as a few characters from the show running about to really sell it.' Lori thought but she ignored the errant thought and introduced herself,
"Hi my name is Lori and I'm lost and could use some help."
"Braeburn" and "Little Strongheart" exchanged concerned glances before turning to the newcomer again.
"We'd be happy to help, right Braeburn?" said "Little Strongheart"
'I guess they had a "No breaking character unless in an emergency or directly asked" policy.' Lori thought
"Right ya are Little Strongheart. Nice to meet you Miss Lori. Now, let us first get some food and water in you and then we can discuss things. You look a little pale."
"Just Lori is fine and Thank you."
"Braeburn" and "Little Strongheart" turned Northward and began walking towards what Lori guessed would be a Restaurant, Bar or INN. She stood there for a minute looking at their "tails" that were moving.
"Must be electronic or made of really light material to make them move like that.' Realizing that she was falling behind her guides, she power-walked after them.
The trip was in relative silence and Lori soon chose to break it.
"By the way great outfits you two, especially yours Little Strongheart very beautiful." she complimented.
Little Strongheart giggled cutely,
"Thank you Lori."
"I also like your masks very real looking." she continued.
They stopped walking.
"Masks? We're not wearing any masks. What makes you say that?" Braeburn inquired
Lori stopped too when I heard that.
"Obviously you can't be the real Braeburn and Little Strongheart." She replied casualy while walking closer to "Little Strong Heart."
Little Strongheart looked worried for Lori but remained calm as she got closer to her.
Braeburn also looked worried for his friend as well followed her lead by staying calm as well while bracing himself to jump in between the strange girl and his friend.
Lori touched one of Little Strongheart's horns. It felt solid and didn't so much as give an inch when she tried to wiggle and pull it.
"Impossible. You're real?!" Lori breathed.
"Um Lori? Are you alright?" Little Strongheart asked in a kind and gentle tone.
The shock of this revelation along with the heat combined with her body's exhaustion was too much.
And she promptly collapsed and passed into unconsciousness right then and there.