All four humans got back in the car and were glad to be back on track. At least, that's what half of them thought. Candy and Felix weren't sure if Max was generating false hope or lying to cover his own ass. Whatever the case, at least he was more stable than Ben. The helmet wearing boy was emotionally broken, no doubt, but considering what he had been through earlier, he had reason to be. They were starting to get worried. No words of merit were spoken among the three of them, silently agreeing to keep an eye on Ben to make sure he doesn't loose it.
Though, given the circumstances of their luck, Max still remained cautious. Very slowly he drove the car reverse, hoping to avoid hitting something again, be it small animals and the evil pot hole. He didn't want to damage the car even more.
“Nice farm,” Ben said, with a quiet tone. The others didn't respond, only making awkward eye contact. Instead, he continued to ponder at the plantation just beyond the perimeter fence outside the window. “I like apples.” He paused. “That reminds me, it's past breakfast. Any chance you saw a waffle house over there?”
“Uh... not that I could see.” Max licked his lips, glad to have been reminded of his hunger. “I guess we'll find out.”
“Why waffles?” Candy said, torn between agreement and disgust. Waffles were never really her favorite. She preferred pancakes.
“Dunno.” Ben shrugged. “It was the first thing that came to mind.”
As the rest of the vehicle's occupants were content with the food of choice, Ben went back to staring out the window as they backed up out of the orchard the way they came. He had just noticed a small horse curiously following them parallel from behind a couple rows of trees. Funny horse, with its cute hat, apple tattoos, and bright green eyes.
Wait a minute...
By now the car reached the entrance of the property. They were already on their way out on the main dirt road when Ben decided to speak up.
“Did you guys see that little orange horse following us?”
“Following us?” Candy said. She and Felix looked back through the rear window, but they found only a cloud of dust kicked up as the car sped away.
“You saw it too?” Felix asked.
“The horse,” Ben replied. “Yeah, it didn't look like any horse I've seen. Too small. Pony maybe?”
“I'm pretty sure ponies don't look like that either,” Candy chimed in. “I should know, with my girly instincts and all.” She forced a little feminine gesture and surely they'd get the idea.
“I think we all know what ponies look like in real life, Candy. You of all people should know that,” said Max with an obvious chuckle. Embarrassment overtook her as she retaliated with a punch to his shoulder.
“Shut up. You know what I mean. God, are you guys always like this?” She crossed her arms and hopped they would respond. She already knew the answer. She looked back at Ben. “Besides, what did you find odd about the horse that didn't look like the real thing?”
Ben stared right back at her with the most perfect balance of serious and sarcasm.
“Everything.”
Felix snorted. “Can't argue with that. Even I didn't think it was like a real horse pony. I'm usually the one who cares the least about these things. But I couldn't help but think twice about it. I mean really, do you think something like that could exist in real life?”
“I don't think this is real life.”
It was when Max's voice echoed inside the car that caught everyone's attention. The slow crawl of the station wagon only added to their perplexity. Candy was sure to jump on the opportunity to take a revenge wise crack at the driver, but it took her no more than a second to realize what he was really talking about.
Walking towards them on the left side of the road were two figures approaching. Not just any figures, but similar ponies to the one they had seen before. Same built, same height, same species. But that was not the oddity here. One of the small horses was light yellow, and another was... flying?
Both parties watched each other as they quickly passed on by. The full attention of the humans were glued to the creatures walking by. The 'ponies' watched carefully, but immediately shuffled away as if they were frightened. Something must have spooked them.
Max put his unblinking eyes back on the road, but suddenly slammed on the brakes. Another small horse was standing in their way, just feet from the bumper. He could have run over the poor thing! He hadn't even noticed it was there, too distracted by first two ponies. His friends leaned in to get a better look. Pink and purple hair, marble white fur, olive green eyes. The creature was shaking tremendously as it stared in horror at the car in front of it. The headlights blinded it's view of the giant metal beast. It waited no more than a few second before running away screaming, vanishing behind a building at the edge of the town.
“Was that a-”
“Horn on it's head?” Candy noted, finishing the sentence they were all thinking.
It was at this moment that all four of them sat in silence, looking at each other like they had each gone crazy or on drugs. Or both, that's possible right?
“Oookay, what the fuck is going on here?” said Felix, hovering his hands inches from his face and trying to shake his head free of delusion. Whatever the case, someone needs to explain. “Max?”
“Me? How the hell would I know?”
“Well you're the one driving us around. Did you take a wrong turn on stupid road to bring us to crazyville.”
“Are you serious, mate. I'm just as confused as you are.”
“Did you you give us drugs or some shit?”
“Shut up you idiots,” Candy growled, abruptly ending their brief feud. Unlike the two, she was unusually composed, optimistic even. As for Ben, he remained self subdued in his seat and quiet.
“There's only one way we'll find out where we are,” she continued, opening the door, startling all inside. “Come on, let's go check it out.”
“No no Candy, ughh,” Max grunted, hoping to pull her back to her seat. He went out after her, followed by Felix, leaving Ben to decide whether or not to participate. They caught up to her before she reached the first house on the right. “What do you think you're doing?”
Candy shoved the driver's hand off her shoulder. “Face it, Max. We're lost. Only way to know where we are to to go into town and talk to people.”
“What people?” said Felix. He shrugged. “Did you not see the freaky horses flying away?”
The three of them came up the first house which obstructed most of the street. Candy tip-toed up to the corner of the shack, Max and Felix right behind. After what they had seen, she took every precaution.
What the humans found, was not what they were expecting in the slightest. There were not people, but horses. Walking around like it was a thriving town. Voices could be heard, but they weren't entirely sure they were coming from the horses themselves. Animals can't talk.
There area beyond their hiding spot was what appeared to be a courtyard, paved with a cobblestone road while a stone fountain and statue stood in the middle. Oddly enough, the statue was no person, but another horse like them. It's like they worshiped equine animals or something. Or some kind of renaissance fair?
“What the hell is this place?” said Max quizzically.
“Fuck this place,” said Felix, groaning as he turned right around and walked away. His voice trailed off. “Nice going getting us lost in crazy horse country, Felix.”
Max and Candy looked at each other. They were careful with not attracting attention to themselves. Unfortunately, they were not careful enough. They noticed that some of the small equine residents were starting at them. One in particular was even advancing on their position, a bright pink thing heading their way. But it wasn't walking like any normal horse. It was bouncing.
“Shit.”
Both of them scurried away and ran to catch up with Felix. Eventually they met up with the man, but surpassed him, running a little faster. He eventually turned around to see what they were running from.
“Shit.”
He ran to. As soon as each of them made it to the car in a hurry, they were nervous of being caught trespassing.
Ben stuck his head out the window. “What's going on guys?”
“Can't talk now bub, we're leaving this joint,” Felix quickly stated.
Soon they were all in agreement when everyone was back in the station wagon and Max stepped on the gas, speeding in reverse. Beyond the dust plume, they could still see that weird bouncing pony coming their way, at which point Ben figured it was time to hold tight.
Max was never a good backwards driver and he could keep driving in reverse forever. As soon as humanly possible, he did a full one-eighty turn, enough to force the occupants to the left. Rapidly shifting the gear into drive, Max stepped on the gas.
There was a collective sigh as the whine on the engine reduced to a purr while they drove back the way the came. They all were thinking the same thing. There's no way any of this is happening.
Candy recollected herself and her thoughts, feeling the beat of her heart pound at her chest. She turned around to look at her cousin and Ben.
“You guys okay?” she asked, coughing a few times.
They nodded with a roll in their eyes. She could tell they weren't faring any better than she was.
A great long sigh of sweet relief overcame her as she briefly squeezed her eyes shut. Upon opening them again, the worst was staring back at her with enormous blue eyes, peeking out from beneath the luggage in the back of the car. She jumped back and screamed.
“AAH!”
Her friends heard he cry all too well. “What! What is it?” Ben said.
Candy could not move, but she didn't have to point behind them for them to know what was going on. Her eyes did not lie.
Felix and Ben whirled around and Max looked through the overhead mirror. As soon as they made eye contact, the pink horse with a curly hair style and an unusually large grin on its face did something that blew their minds.
It spoke.
“Hi!”
For the third time today, Max slammed on the brakes, but unlike the first two instances, it was a dead stop from forty to zero in less than a second. But not before the car crashed into a pothole the size of a tree stump on the side of the road as Max swerved left and right.
“HOLY SHIT!” They all shrieked loudly before shuffling to get out of the car at the same time.
Felix, nearly broke the door handle on his way out, grabbing his briefcase in the process. Max ran as far from the car as he could while Candy joined chase until they were clear. Ben didn't even open his door, but instead crawled out of the open window with incredible speed and dove into the grass several feet away.
Felix back up to where Max and Candy were, still stepping away from the car.
“Where did that thing come from?” he said, his hand violently shaking the briefcase in his hand.
Max hesitated, then gulped silently. “I- I don't know. Candy?”
“It- It just appeared in the back, out of nowhere!” she said, holding her hands tightly against her chest. She looked around the area they were standing in. “Where's Ben?”
“Hang on, I'm gonna shoot it.”
“WHAT!?” Max and Candy shouted together, giving the man the nastiest look. Felix was now holding a gun in his hand. A Beretta M9.
“Where the fuck did you get that thing!?” Max yelled, taking a couple step back.
The question was answered when Felix tapped on the briefcase he was holding in his left hand. “Never leave home without it.”
“The gun?” Candy with with anger.
“No, my science kit.” Felix tapped on the silver case again. “It's also a good place to store my piece here.”
Before any more rebuttal from the flabbergasted humans, he slowly made his way back to the car, only for Max to shove him back.
“You're not going to shoot my whatever that horse is, and you're definitely not shooting my car.”
The armed human resisted. “Get off me, man, I'm not going to shoot anyone. I'm just going to scare the shit out of it.”
Max and Candy followed close behind Felix as they made it back to the car, only to find the back empty. That did not mean, however, that the horse had run off for good. Once they walked around to the other side of the car, they found Ben on the ground.
He was not alone.
Ben was anxiously trying to crawl away from the pink horse as it followed him in circles. Why couldn't he just get up and run? The humans could make out a high pitched voice as the equine squeaked word after word in oddly excited fashion.
Felix was done watching it annoy Ben and decided to act. He stepped off the road and onto the grass, gesturing the other two to stay back.
“Enough!” he shouted, holding the gun steady with two hands, still aiming at the ground.
The pink nuisance bounced and quickly turned around to look at the tall man. He seemed scary enough with the black hoddie and navy blue jeans ripped at the ankles. It didn't help that the horse thing was actually smiling at him, instead of the expected expression of dread.
“Get away from him!” He raised his sidearm a bit more. “And get out of here. Now!”
The equine's expression changed into deep confusion. It opened its mouth to speak.
“But you're new in town!” it—no—she said, with what sounded like profound glee. No one should be happy when there's a gun around, mused Felix. He didn't care if it could talk, he wanted to leave as soon as possible. “I want to welcome you to—“
“Shut up!” Felix fully raised his gun and pointed it at her. He then pointed a finger at his friend on the ground. “Let's go Ben. We're leaving.” He looked back at the horse. “Move away from him.” When she didn't immediately comply, instead opting to shrink into a sad position by lowering her head and dropping her ears.
He snapped forward and fired a warning shot into the air.
BANG
“MOVE!”
The horse did as instructed and stepped away. Now she appeared extremely frightened following the piercing crack of the pistol. Ben cringed at both the pain in his left leg and the overwhelming attitude that he had never seen Felix preform before. That man must be really angry, or just pretending to be. Can't blame him though, the crazy pink thing gave him enough reason.
Ben slowly crawled his way to his friend. Felix grew impatient and made the mistake of breaking eye contact with the horse.
“Come on Ben, get up already you pussy. Let's go.”
Felix gestured with a hand, hoping to break Ben from his weak delusion of being injured. Unless he really was. This was between him and—
“What the?” Felix croaked. The pink horse just vanished. No where in sight. He turned and looked at Candy and Max. He shrugged at them. They shrugged back.
Felix took a deep breath, the anxiety overpowering his thoughts. He shook his head free of any hallucinations. Was the pony even real the entire time?
The man lowered the gun and walked up to Ben, lending a hand for assistance. “Okay bro, get your ass up and lets go now.”
Ben accepted the lift, but as soon as he stood, he fell back down. But not before Felix swooped in to grab his friend's arms. He helped him up to his feet and let Ben rest an arm around his neck. Felix dusted off Ben's helmet as they limped back to the car, gun still in hand.
“Jesus christ, Felix, what the fuck was that all about?” Max said, revealing a weary complexion to match his ever growing alarm for their safety.
Candy seconded the notion, crossing her arms in solid agreement while locking in a second glance with extra scrutiny. This proved too hard to maintain without resorting to her previous state of understanding. She knew all too well what he was going through.
“I'm not in the mood, Max. I fuckin' hate this place already.”
Felix opened the car door for Ben and helped him in carefully. It still hurt for Ben as he let loose a few cries. “Ow. Ow. OW! Watch it!”
“Sorry.” Felix looked at the red stain seeping through Ben's pants. “Doesn't look too bad,” he lied. Could be a broken leg, or just a scratch. Whatever the case, they could always go to a hospital on their way out.
Once safely secured, Felix quickly joined the rest of the group inside. Max hadn't even turned off the car after that little scare, but he noticed that not only were they not going anywhere yet, the two front seat riders were sitting quietly to themselves. They'd occasionally steal a glance at him with enough time for him discern a concern.
They were afraid of him now. After how he acted, they had every reason to be. But he was only protecting them, no matter what. They more than just friends to him. He didn't have much of a family to begin with. No, he did have a family. An abusive, cruel family. He hated them, with every fiber of his being.
But, that was no excuse to explode right in front of his friends. He felt in control, but ultimately he was not. With a silent sigh, Felix leaned on the door and maintained a regretful frown that spelled shame.
Candy noticed the her cousin's retreat into his own thoughts and motioned for Max to get a move on. The driver did just that, slowly setting the car in motion.
This day was not going so well for any of them. Their bond as friends was falling apart so quickly, there wasn't anything left worth saying that could possibly make any of them feel any better.
Max hoped never to see that side of Felix again. For a second there, he thought the man was going to snap and shoot the pony out of spite. There wasn't a thing he could do about it. Once the mistake is made, there's no going back.
For all of thirty seconds after getting a move on, someone had to say something. The stale air spared no expense in forcing the occupants to voice their disposition.
But they didn't.
Because they couldn't.
Then all of a sudden something hit the roof.
THUD
Apparently the car was going fast enough to rip something off that was attached to the roof, there wasn't anything on top of the car. It didn't surprise the group enough to warrant overreaction, but enough to catch their ears.
Thud Thud Thud Thud
More bangs followed suit. They sounded like footsteps, approaching the front of the car. They ceased for a brief second, then-
BANG
A flying horse landed violently on the hood of the vehicle, causing Max to swerve right and left. He was sick of slamming on the breaks, instead gunning it as fast as possible. The car nearly doubled in speed as the winged equine struggled to stay balanced on the hood.
Max couldn't see where he was going, having almost reached the apple orchard before the horse startled them. The things was able to stay standing as he tried to shake it off the car. The longer he turned the steering wheel back and forth, the angrier it's frown got. Its light blue body and rainbow hair only worsened his confusion and fear that its appearance was no friendly greeting. The horse stared at the man behind the wheel with as much hostility as a cop chasing down a criminal.
“ARGH, get off you little shit!” Max growled, continuing his evasive maneuver.
The pursuit didn't last long.
Somehow along the way, Max lost control to turn right.
POP
“WHoOaaOAaa!”
CRASH
Both airbag in the front deployed on impact and the car came to a dead stop, thrusting all four humans forward where they sat. Their seat belts shoved them back in their seats with a kick, forcing all the loose objects to make a mess of every inch inside.
“Ugh!” Candy groaned along side the rest of the passengers. She clenched her pounding chest and wiped her hair from her face while rubbing her forehead. She reclined in her chair, holding in the urge to puke.
She hoped her friends were doing alright.