I am heading north. Pinkie told me that the unicorns live near the base of the northern mountains. Isn’t it cold up there? Bleah, I dunno, and I should stop thinking that this world is the same as in the show.
...Yeah, I’ve been repeating that line for a number of times now. I can’t help it though. I’ve read a lot of aitch aye ee fics where the protagonists find themselves in the real Equestria, not in this...low-budget version of Equestria.
Sigh... I really should stop thinking like this... And why am I narrating everything in my head anyway? It’s not as if someone out there in the big, wide universe is mentally listening to me anyway. Bleah, whatever...
Anyway, I am walking on the forest path. It’s not a straight path though. Often times, it curves or sharply turns left or right and stays that way for a few yards before it turns back north again. Tall trees and shrubbery are on the side of the earthen path, providing me enough shade from the sun that’s already high above in the sky. It also provides a good hiding place for...um...
Well, before I left the pasture, Pinkie Pie has warned me that the path isn’t safe to travel alone, because of...predators. There are predators in this world! That eat ponies! And damn, I actually felt my pupils shrunk when she told me that. But, here I am now, stupidly walking on this path despite her warnings and pleas. So far, I don’t see any predators around, but that didn’t help push my nervousness away. Besides, I already know that there’s going to be one that’s going to pop-up soon and try to kill me. That’s how these kinds of fics go, right? Le sigh...
As I walk, I keep on thinking of ways to defend myself if ever danger does show up. ...And the only thing I have that might help me are my hooves. No, I ain’t planning on using these little hooves of mine to buck whatever tries to eat me. Nope. I’m gonna use these little hooves to run away and hope to outrun whatever and not to stumble and fall on the ground like an idiot. I’m a pony, right? Ponies are part of the horse family, and horses are fast runners. Yeah, that’s the only thing that’s helping me continue trekking this path.
The harvesters are going to another pasture to maybe trade some goods with the other ponies. That’s tomorrow, and currently, the sun has yet to reach the zenith. I cannot wait that long. Plus, Pinkie has told me that they aren’t going to the unicorns, so what’s the purpose of me joining them?
I need to find Twilight as soon as possible. Pinkie told me that the journey towards the unicorns’ place is at least two days, with sleep during the night and the crops they carry slowing them down. So since I’m not bringing anything, and I’m alone, and I ain’t sleeping to become an easy meal, I think can keep a quick and steady pace towards my destination.
...How are the ponies gonna carry their crops anyway? I didn’t see any wagons or boxes or crates back there. Eh...
Anyway, I can handle a day being absent from work. I’ll just file a sick leave or an emergency leave and think of an excuse that’s believable. Two days, well, I can handle that too, I think. But beyond that? No, I can’t be gone in my world that long. My mom will be visiting me in my place on Wednesday, or rather, on Tuesday evening. And when she finds out that I’m not there, well... Let’s just say that she tends to overreact...a little.
I shake my head. No! I’m going home. And I will! Just keep walking. Just keep walking. At least the birds are chirping. If birds are chirping, it means predators aren’t around, right? Or the birds didn’t notice yet.
Nope! Don’t think like that! Just keep walking.
So walking on four hooves takes a lot of energy, especially if you’ve been walking for an hour or two. Yeah, the sun’s already on the zenith, so it’s noon or around noon now. Thankfully, the leaves shield me from the harsh sun’s rays.
I’ve been walking on a quick pace and my hooves are starting to hurt. And I’m starting to get hungry. As I continue walking, I look around, trying to spot a fruit or two for me to eat, but nope, I can’t find any fruits around. I don’t think these tall trees can bear fruits anyway.
And I don’t want to try my luck on the bushes. Pinkie told me that Timberwolves sleep during the day, while camouflaging themselves as small trees or even bushes, and when they feel an unsuspecting prey trying to eat their leaves or their fruit baits, well, it’ll bite them, and eat them.
I need a drink. I don’t remember drinking back in the pasture, and I’m starting to regret it. Wait... All I saw back there was green! Where do those ponies get water anyway? Do the pegasi also deliver them drinkable water? Damn, those earth ponies are lazy and dependent on the pegasi. If they decide to stop giving them rain clouds, well—
Hm? I feel my ears twitch as I hear the faint sound of running water. Then again, finding water here should have been obvious. I mean, Pinkie did mention that the harvesters delivering crops to the unicorns needed to sleep. So it’s safe to assume that they make camp around the water.
I can already feel my throat becoming dry and I just now noticed that despite my ouchie hooves, I quicken my pace some more. As I continue moving, the sound of water is getting louder. After a few more minutes of walking on the curved path, I finally see a calm and wide stream that broke the path. I run towards the stream and quickly slow down when I realize that I’m going too fast. Soon, I stop on the edge of the stream and lean my head down to...stare at my exhausted expression.
How am I suppose to drink? How do horses drink? Ah, whatever. I just dip my mouth and suck the water and hope for the best. As I drink, I realize that my nostrils are also submerged, so I try to take a few more drinks before I pull my head back. Aaand manual breathing again... Sigh...
Ah, whatever. At least I’m no longer thirsty. I look around, hoping to see something to eat, but all I see is green, green and a few birds and a deer by the stream. Wait...deer? I don’t really read the pony comics, but I do try and keep up with the goings on in there, and I remember that deer can talk and have cities of their own. Not sure about the cities part, but whatever.
“Hello,” I say as I slowly walk towards the deer, or a doe, since it’s a female deer. ...I almost sang that song in my head.
Anyway, the deer looks like a young adult deer, and has no ho—er, I mean antlers, so it’s female, right? Although she has two little stubs on her head where deer antlers should be if she was a male deer. She’s lying on the grassy ground by the stream and pulls her head up to look at me.
I stop a few paces away from her and put on my best, natural smile. “Um, hello?”
She stares at me for a second or two before she gives me a nod. “Hello to you, too, pony.”
Whew. She’s friendly. It makes my smile grow wider. “I’m sorry to bother you, miss, but um,” brain, I know it’s weird to talk to a deer, so we’ll discuss that later, “am I...uh...” I turn and point a hoof to the direction where I’m heading. “Will that path take me to the unicorns?”
I turn back to her in time to see her shrug. “Pony, I’ve been living in this woods ever since I was born. And never once did I see that path carry anydeer over to the unicorns.”
... ... ...
She snickers. “I’m just kidding. Sorry.”
“...Eheheh...ehh...” Riiight...
She sighs with a small smile. “I’m not really good with jokes. Sorry about that.”
“Oh, I’m not good at it either,” I say. “But, um, I’m kinda in a hurry, so the road?”
She nods and turns her head towards the path on the other side of the stream. “Yes. If you continue to trot that path, you’ll reach the rocky lands of the hornie ponies, or unicorns as your kind liked to call them.”
...Hor—I’m gonna pretend that I heard that incorrectly.
She slowly stands up on her dainty and pointed legs and stretches like a cat. “Ahh,” she says as she stands up properly. She’s a little shorter than me, but eh. She turns to the stream and jumps jumps jumps over the rocks that were poking through the water’s surface and she reaches the other side in two seconds flat. She turns around and arches an eyebrow. “...Pony, are you going to just stand there?”
“Uh, no,” I reply with a blink. I look at the rocks on the stream, and then at the streambed. This is a shallow stream, so I don’t need to step on the rocks and risk slipping. So I walk through the stream, smiling as the cool water soothes my aching hooves.
“Typical ponies,” the deer says, rolling her emerald eyes with a smile.
Oh... About that... “Um, why are you waiting for me over there?” I ask as I continue walking through the stream.
She shrugs, her small tail wagging a bit. “I’m taking you there. I have nothing else to do at the moment anyway.”
I frown as I reach the other side of the stream. “But I didn’t ask you to. And you don’t have to,” I tell her as I shake the water off of my hooves.
She rolls her eyes again. “Sorry, pony, but you can’t tell me what to do.” She looks down and glares on the green ground between us. “I’m tired of getting told what to do,” she mutters under her breath, but I still heard it.
I blink at her.
She slightly shakes her head, turns and faces the path ahead. “If I want to take you there, then I will,” she says with a nod. “It’s about time I start making my own decisions in life.”
Right. I can relate to that to some extent. But if bigger things come my way and I need to make a choice, I’m too afraid to decide on the spot. I’ll first think of the pros and cons, call my mom for her opinion, ask a few friends, and etcetera.
...Being turned into a pony and me deciding to find Twilight despite the dangers doesn’t count. ...I think.
I let out a sigh as the deer turns back to face me. “What if I don’t want you to come with me?”
She shrugs. “Then I’ll follow you, or trot ahead of you. I won’t leave you unless a lynx or a boar shows up.”
...Right. Two is better than one, I suppose. “Well, alright, I guess,” I say as I walk on the path, the deer following close behind. Well, if she really wants to come along, then I guess we should at least know each other. “Name’s Jay, by the way.”
“Jay what?” she asks me.
I turn my head to give her my confused look. “What do you mean?”
She shrugs. “Well, you ponies have weird names, like Rock Eater or Leaf Turner. It’s always What What. So what’s your name?”
I frown. “Uh, Jay. My name’s Jay. Just Jay,” and I finish it with a small albeit awkward smile.
She blinks at me. “Just Jay, huh? Well, that’s a first.”
I shrug.
She shrugs. “I’ll call you Jay Pony then.”
...wat.
“Sienna. My name’s Sienna.”
I nod. “Well, nice to meet you, Sienna Deer.”
She rolls her eyes. “Just call me Sienna, Jay Pony.”
“I’ll stop calling you Sienna Deer if you stop calling me Jay Pony.”
She rolls her eyes again but didn’t say anything.
I turn my attention ahead and listen to the birds chirping on the trees above.
“So why are you going to the hornie ponies?”
I cringe. I get the feeling that she doesn’t know the human meaning of that word... I doubt anyone in this world does... “Well, I’m looking for someone.” I also get a feeling that she doesn’t like the silence.
“Really?” she sounds really curious. “Who? Maybe I know them. Well, then again, I don’t really know that many ponies...”
Eeyup... She definitely doesn’t like the silence.