Water. Everywhere.
When the car slammed into the river, water flooded into the vehicle and everything went totally dark. The young man just stayed in his seat, held by his seatbelt, waiting to die.
He slipped in and out of consciousness. One moment, he was staring at a blurry, dark car interior. The next, seemingly from one long, slow blink of his eyelids, he was outside the car, watching as it sank and hit the bottom, which was oddly not as deep as it should have been.
The next moment, he could feel himself exiting the water and sputtering his lungs out. His shirt was being dragged behind him, practically choking him in the front, and he could hear exerted grunting from behind. As he felt his head fall to the ground, he shut his eyes, unsure of what was to come and barely registering what was happening any more.
He felt something touch to his mouth, and his lungs seemingly filled up on their own. A moment later, something started pumping on his chest, pushing down with almost enough force to crack his ribs. His lungs started coughing up a storm, expelling saliva from his mouth and making him wretch with pain.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you!” someone shouted from above. He couldn’t tell who it was, but he did stay conscious long enough after he heard it to think of how thankful he was that someone came to save him.
The next moment, he was slowly trying to crack his eyelids back open, only to find a painfully bright candle lit above his face only a couple of feet away. He looked away, off to his side, through squinted eyes, trying to take in his surroundings.
When he looked forward, what he saw gave him pause. On the floor, not so far away, sat a tiny horse, staring at him like he was some bizarre new creature. It didn’t quite look normal, though; its coloring was unnatural, a green coat and blue mane, and the hues didn’t seem like the kind that occur anywhere in nature.
“Whaa,” the young man said. The tiny horse suddenly put on a massive, excited smile and started jumping up and down.
“Daddy, daddy! It’s awake!” it shouted, running out of the room.
“What?” the young man repeated.
Not too long after, a much larger, but still small, horse walked into the room. This one had a blue coat, dark like ocean water, and a mane of twisting orange and yellow streaks. Its eyes were huge, green like emeralds, and shined with as much brilliance as the little-little horse’s smile.
“Thank you, Gibby,” the bigger-little horse said. It sounded Irish.
“What?” the young man said. The bigger-little horse blinked with surprise.
“Oh. You can talk,” he said.
The young man blinked as well. “What?”
“Is that all you can say?” the bigger-little horse asked.
“You’re a horse,” the young man said.
“Pony, thank you,” the, apparently, pony said. “Horses are from Saddle Arabia.”
“What?” the young man asked. The pony rolled his eyes. “Never mind.”
“Are you okay?” the pony asked.
“I… I think so?” the young man replied. “I’m… I can’t believe this. This can’t be real.”
“What?” the pony asked, earning a look from the human before him. “Uhh, you’re the one who can’t be real. Well, no, actually, you’re definitely real.”
“I… I…” the young man couldn’t say anything. He refused to say what again. You couldn’t even double dare him to do it.
“Why don’t you just relax for now, heal up?” the pony suggested. “We can deal with this later.”
“I… yeah, maybe that’s a good idea,” the young man conceded. He really wanted to know what the heck was happening here. He tried to adjust, but when he did, he felt a sharp pain in his side. “Agh!!”
“Don’t move!” the pony yelled out. “You had a serious wound on your side when I found you. It needs to heal up.”
“How bad is it?” the young man asked.
“It looked like a near impalement,” the pony said. “Thankfully it was mostly a surface wound, but it did cut into your muscle tissue. No organs were hit, thank Celestia, but it’ll need time.”
The young man felt his side. Sure enough, there was a bloody-feeling bandage on his side. The rest of his was dry now, so if it was wet, that could be the only cause.
“Umm,” the young man said. “Thanks for patching me up, uhhh…”
“Don’t mention it,” the pony replied. “If you need me, just call for Gibbs.”
“Right,” the young man said. With that, Gibbs made his way out.
The young man lay there and thought about what was going on. Why were there talking ponies around him? Hadn’t he fallen off the GW earlier? He remembered a car slamming into him, throwing him to the side. He was definitely cut up, and he could feel lots of little scratches on his face from shrapnel from the car. The windshields were probably fine, since that glass was well designed. He pulled his hand from his side to rub his face.
When his hand came up, he stopped. Something was extremely off. The shape was fine; all his fingers were there. But the color, it wasn’t right. Before, it was a normal, everyday color. Now, though, he couldn’t help but notice a very flat tone to it, one that seemed to continue up his arm to the rest of him.
He shut his eyes and refused to open them again until he could comprehend what the heck was happening here. It wasn’t worth the insanity that would come if he didn’t think it through first, but for now, thinking it through would bring insanity on its own. Instead, he opted to simply close his eye sand go to sleep, hoping that when he got back up, this whole thing would turn out to be a bizarre dream.
When he opened his eyes again, it was exactly what he didn’t want to see; this was no dream.
He looked to the left and saw no ponies this time, which was a start at least. Though the way everything was colored, he knew it wasn’t much of a hope. Maybe he did die when he fell off that bridge. But would that make this Heaven or Hell?
The question would have to wait. The door slowly started to creak open, and little Gibby, if the young man recalled, came trotting in. When Gibby saw the human’s eyes were open, he stopped on a dime and just stared, wide-eyed and in absolute wonder.
“Um, hi?” the young man said.
“Are you a human!?” Gibby asked. The young man flinched at how loud the little guy was.
“Uhh, yes,” he answered. “How did you know?”
“Oh, you humans show up in this world every now and again,” Gibby answered.
“Really?” the young man asked. “How many others are here?”
“Well, none here, I mean,” Gibby answered shyly. “Like, around the world, there are a few here and there. Some of them are really nice! And some… well, some aren’t.”
“Oh,” the young man said. “Well, uhh, I’m pretty nice.” Gibby’s eyes became positively enormous.
“Awesome!” he shouted. “So you can totally help us out!”
“Help?” the young man asked curiously. “What do you need help wit-“
“Gibby!” a woman’s very Irish voice shouted. “Don’t bother the man! We don’t even know him!”
Gibby pouted. “But mooooooooom! He’s nice!” he whined.
Gibby’s mother waltzed into the room with a look of great annoyance plastered across her face. She looked as ridiculous as Gibby’s dad. Her coat was a dark auburn color, and her mane was primped up like the nineteen fifties styles you see in magazines, an ashy gray color.
“Out!” she ordered. Gibby, head hung low, exited the room. “I’m sorry about him. He tends to get very excited when something new happens.” She sighed.
“I… I understand,” the young man answered. “Though he said that my arrival is nothing new?”
“Ah, he told you aren’t the only one?” Gibby’s mother asked. The young man nodded. “Well, he’s probably excited to see you because you’re the first one this far east.”
“I don’t understand,” the young man replied.
“Well, most humans started off in Equestria, and no one particularly understands why,” Gibby’s mother said. “Convenient to the lands, or maybe Equestria just likes that the stories work out that way, I don’t know.”
“Interesting,” the young man said.
“The humans always do something big when they come,” Gibby’s mother went on. “Some do incredible things for the world, especially Equestria. Others did terrible things. And sometimes, they clashed.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised,” the young man said. “Of course, few things can really surprise me now.”
“Haha, true,” Gibby’s mom said. “Once you accept that you’re here, nothing really bothers you any more.”
“Oh, I’m still not even sure I’m here,” the young man said. “I’m either dead or just insane.”
“Dead?” Gibby’s mother asked. “Why would you think that?”
“Is that even a question?” The young man deadpanned. Gibby’s mother rolled her eyes. “My vehicle was destroyed with me in it and fell hundreds of feet off a bridge. I’m probably not alive.”
“Well, then, where are you?” Gibby’s mother asked.
“No clue,” the young man said.
“So why don’t you just accept that you’re here?” Gibby’s mother asked. “Either way, you’re not home. If you’re right, you’re either insane, dead, or you found yourself here by some sort of magic like the other humans. It’s not a big deal.”
“Other than the fact that it clearly is,” the young man responded.
“Well, I suppose it is for you,” Gibby’s mother conceded. “I don’t know how you feel or where you are in your head right now. But I’ll tell you this; it isn’t unheard of.”
“Well, it is where I’m from,” the young man said.
“And are you there right now?” Gibby’s mother replied. The young man opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.
“Fair enough,” he said.
“Good,” Gibby’s mother said. “Now, let me help you up so we can get some food in you. You must be hungry.” He hadn’t even noticed that he hadn’t eaten in what must have been at least a solid day.
“I guess that sounds like a good idea,” he said. Might as well eat something and live on, right?
Gibby’s mother helped the young man up and out of bed and practically carried him on her back out of the room to where he could smell there was food. It smelled decidedly scrumptious, and when they arrived in the room, he could see why. There was a plethora of great foods on the table, from steamed potatoes to seasoned rice. What a way to treat a wounded guest.
Some of the food on the table was just straight steamed grass from outside, but that wasn’t for humans to eat and wasn’t meant for this human. Little Gibby was excitedly munching away at the grass, not even noticing the human entering the room. When he sat at the table on a nice little cushion on the ground, Gibby finally looked up.
“Hey!” the little guy greeted enthusiastically.
“Hey,” the young man responded, more interested in the confections before him.
“Hello,” Gibbs said, walking into the room. His wife gave the young man a napkin and set some food in front of him, which he ravenously consumed. “How are you feeling?”
“Way better now,” the young man said in between mouthfuls of food.
“Side still hurt?” Gibbs asked. His wife sat down next to him.
“I imagine it’ll keep hurting for a while,” the young man said.
“Probably,” Gibbs said. “But if you’re healing is anything like ours, it should only take a few days for you to be u and at it again. Not fully, but you’ll be able to move easily on your own.” The young man kept on eating.
“So where are you from?” little Gibby asked. The young man had to take a moment to swallow before answering.
“I come from the United States,” he answered nearly incoherently.
“Ooh!” Gibby said. “There have been a few humans from there!”
“Really?” the young man asked.
“Indeed, there have been,” Gibbs said, sounding cautious. “They were hit or miss as far as being helpful to whoever they encountered. Though most came quite a long time ago, so they’re no longer alive. Some are probably still out there, though I think the youngest of them is in her thirties by now.”
“Huh,” the young man said.
“How old are you?” Gibby asked.
“It isn’t polite to ask for someone’s age,” Gibby’s mother reprimanded.
“I’m twenty,” the young man answered.
“Well, I guess that answers that,” Gibbs said with some finality. “Anyway, our questions aren’t really that important. Is there anything you would like to know?”
The young man blinked twice and thought about what he was asked. Apparently, he was in some alien world where other humans somehow found themselves numerous times in history. From the way Gibbs talked about it, it didn’t sound much like anyone knew where most of the humans were, and if they did, they probably had lives here already.
But there was one question he could ask now.
“How can I get home?” the young man asked. Gibbs bit his lip, looked to his wife, and then looked back.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t heard of any human returning home after coming here.”
“I mean, I got here somehow, so there has to be a way back,” the young man said. “It makes sense, right?”
“If there’s one thing you’ll learn quickly in this world, it’s that things don’t have to make sense to be true,” Gibbs said. “But, uhhh… I don’t know. I always just figured it was a one way ride.”
“If there can be a portal that brought me here, there can certainly be a portal that can bring me back,” the young man said.
“While that makes sense, it’s like what I just told you,” Gibbs said, sensing that the young man was growing panicked. “That just isn’t how this world-“
“No, it can’t work that way!” the young man yelled, giving everyone pause. “That’s not… I… I can’t accept that.”
“You don’t have to like it, but that’s how it is,” Gibbs said. “I mean, there certainly could be, but I’ve never heard of anything like that. While we are separated from Equestria quite a bit, we do still hear about the big happenings of the world from mail and couriers.”
“How far behind are you, newswise?” the young man asked, growing hopeful.
“Well, we get pegasus couriers, and unicorns deliver our mail through teleportation, so we aren’t that far behind,” Gibbs said. The young man’s face sank like a ton of bricks.
“Oh,” he said. His head hung low.
“I mean, I don’t know, I’m no expert,” Gibbs said. “You would have to find out, probably from Princess Celestia.”
“What?” the young man asked. That was a ridiculous name.
“She controls the sun and is princess of Equestria, the ruling body,” Gibbs explained. “She’s nice, so we generally follow the rules she sets forth. Helps us function as a community.”
“You do what she says just for that?” the young man asked.
“Well, her borders don’t extend this far, so she really doesn’t have a say in how we live our lives,” Gibbs said. “No one is willing to move all the way out there to the west, something like fifteen hundred to two thousand miles away.”
“She’s that far out?” the young man asked. Gibbs nodded. “How the heck am I supposed to get there, then?”
“Walk?” Gibby replied.
“For two thousand miles?” the young man replied sarcastically.
“And swim,” Gibbs responded with a grin. “There’s an ocean between us and them as well.”
“Greeeat,” the young man said, slumping in his seat. It pained his side to do so, though, so he sat upright again.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to make it once you’re all healed up,” Gibbs said. “We’ll be able to help you get on your way as well.”
“Thanks,” the young man said, though it was a hollow statement. His hopes were rapidly fading away.
“Any other questions for now?” Gibbs asked.
“No, I think I’m about as hopeless as I care to be for the moment,” the young man answered.
Gibbs frowned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to feel this way.”
“I know,” the young man responded dejectedly.
“If it helps get your mind off of it, I have a few questions for you to think about,” Gibby said.
The young man shrugged. “Alright. Shoot.”
“What was that thing my daddy pulled you out of yesterday?” Gibby asked.
“My car?” the young man asked in kind.
“So that’s a car!” Gibby shouted animatedly.
“Yeah,” the young man said. Then he remembered something. “My stuff is still in there!”
Gibbs looked at him curiously. “What stuff might that be?” he asked.
“My gi, obi, and sparring pads,” the young man replied hurriedly. “I need to get that back.”
“I would say so,” Gibbs replied. “Your clothes were torn up, and you’re wearing my curtains right now. Our town seamstress isn’t around right now, doing a job a couple of villages over, so you have nothing else to wear.” The young man tried to get up, but couldn’t from the pain in his side. “We can do that later, of course.”
“I’d rather get it now,” the young man replied somewhat aggressively.
“I don’t think you can swim twenty-five feet down like that,” Gibbs replied. “I don’t know what your swimming is like, but I guarantee it isn’t that good right now.”
“Can anyone get it?” the young man asked.
“We’re EARTH ponies,” Gibbs said with emphasis. “We like the land. Not big fans of water.”
“You should be able to swim at least,” the young man said. "And how did you get me out, then?
“We don't swim underwater,” Gibbs said. “Some of you humans can, but we certainly can’t. I only managed to get you because the car hadn't sunk almost at all by the time I got there after hearing the crash of water.”
Ugh,” the young man said. “Fine, I’ll wait. In the meantime, if you could get me some swim fins, or something I can attach to my feet like that, that’d be helpful.”
“I can get you a pair,” Gibbs said.
“Thank you,” the young man replied.
The conversation continued for a little while until the young man was totally full and on the brink of a food coma. Belly full and feeling warm, wrapped up in his window curtains, he felt about ready to go back to sleep. He needed to rest and recover if he was to get his only clothes back. It’s a good thing those were his only clothes; KI gis are expertly made, and they’re quite comfortable.
Gibbs’s wife helped the young man up and back to the bed where he was to rest and left him there. The young man could hear the family chattering away in the next room, but didn’t care enough to stay awake and listen. For now, he just wanted to rest so he could get on the move to this Princess Celestia as quickly as possible and find his way home.
And rest, he would need, for the adventure that lay before him was two thousand miles long, and who knew what awaited him along the way?