I awoke standing on what seemed to be nothing, empty black void in all directions. I could still see myself, clothes and body. "Hello?" All I heard was myself and silence. "Huh, I was totally expecting an echo." Out of nowhere an echo rebounded my voice. "Surprising." I stood there just wondering if something was going to happen. After enough waiting there for who knows how long I got really bored. "Ugh, please just something happen!" Then something did happen, a blinding light came out of nowhere. "Gah! My eyes." I protected my eyes from the rays of light. "Warn me ahead of time jeez." Then a voice seemed to speak directly into my mind.
"Six paths shall lead together. Their fate entwined by destiny." The voice seemed to be many at the same time. Like more than four people speaking in complete sync. It was headache ensuing. "The first will seek with their heart. Aid the Six the first shall desire." The voices continued on. "Through disorder and deception they shall persist. Far north the second shall descend, through knowledge and shadows will they be sent." By now I was very confused, though quite interesting. It was like prophecy and I enjoy listening to those type of things, so I kept quiet.
"The third whom follows that which corrupts. Southwards they will hunt, a pack they will find. The fourth shall come by another's hand, driven by curiosity. But only thereafter one who seeks power, is returned to keep." The voices continued to speak a prophecy. "The tale will continue once the four converge. The secret to stop the one who feeds on nothing. Will then be revealed. "The voices puttered out as they finished their prophecy.
"Cool." With the voices done the light was fading as well. "Wait! Can you repeat that?!" The light vanished leaving me in the black void I was in before. "Well. . . Now what?" I was answered as I felt whatever I was standing on disappear and I fell forward. "Wa-?" I was launched downwards belly-first.
My face was greeted very fast with wood. Which hurt, by the way. I sat upright touching my nose; it thankfully wasn't broken. However my nose seemed to be the only thing aching as the rest of my body seemed to feel much better than before.
Someone, most likely that blue horse from earlier, had bandaged my entire body. My chest was in full view, but thankfully my slacks were still on. I looked around to see that I was alone in a metal cage, inside a moving wagon. My hands were still handcuffed, but I did notice a metal band on my right wrist. “That’s new.” It was pretty thick, like a half inch thick. Tight too, it was almost constricting my wrist. Very uncomfortable if you didn’t understand that yet.
Looking around there was a poster on a wall with the blue horse striking a pose and in large words arching over "The Great and Powerful Trixie". On another wall was a map of some sorts. It didn't look like any place on Earth I knew. There were plenty of places marked on the map with blue pins. But one small area on the map seemed to be repeatedly circled. Looking closer a word was written in red. A place called "Ponyville". Is she a pony? Not a horse? What was the difference? Actually, I’m just thankful they at least write in English.
There was a Polaroid photo pinned near "Ponyville" with a picture of a purple pony surrounded by others. A pink one with gravity-defying hair, an orange one with a cowboy hat, a yellow one with wings, a blue one that also had wings but rainbow hair, and a white one with a horn. Oh, and a large purple and green lizard and a brown hair girl. “Wait, girl?” I took a closer look at the picture and indeed saw a brown, short haired girl. Compared to the ponies she towered over them. Then again, he couldn’t really say if she was tall . . . he couldn’t compare her to anyone. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a sports shirt. There were some notes scribbled onto pieces of paper attached to different locations on the map. “Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Canterlot, Baltimare, Neighagra Falls. Wow the puns are real. “Looking around the wagon I saw a desk, drawers, a single bed, a closet, and a chest. Pretty much all wooden.
The cage was in the back corner of the wooden wagon, with the closet being in the other back corner. Beside the closet was the drawer with a mirror and an assortment of things laid out from cosmetics and flyers. The bed was on the cage side, but in the front end of the wagon with the pillows closer to the front. The chest was beside that on the far front wall, with my shirts on it! Oh thank god, she didn't throw it away. The door was on the closet side with windows on the back wall and near the bed.
I could easily just levitate it over, so I focused with my hand open at my shirts. But as the familiar feeling of magic running down my right arm reached the metal band the feeling stopped. The feeling, with nowhere to go the power went haywire. My right arm looked as if it were being cooked. However most of it seemed to have bounced back and hit me with a recoil as the feeling in my arm subsided. It hit me in the head akin to as if my entire body was congested while at the same time being motion sick. "Fuck. Uuuuuugh." I fell on my side in the cage rubbing my aching head.
It took some time and rubbing before my head was clear of whatever happened. I picked myself up and leaned against a corner of the cage. Thinking about it more, that poster of the blue horned pony, unicorn? Unicorn, reminded me of older advertisements for magicians. With the words magnificent, mysterious, great, and powerful used to advertise the magician's magic tricks. Wow, I must really be bored to be noticing something like this. I stretched out my legs in front of me only to be stopped halfway and leaned my head on the side of the cage. “So much for stretching.” I said under my breath.
Sitting down scrunched up for a while really does create a pain in your back. Add in just sitting not able to do pretty much anything else. I tried using magic through my other hand and found that the magic did work instead of backfiring. The brace must be some kind of anti-magic thing. That means magic must be commonplace here. I wouldn’t doubt it too, I guess. I mean I did see a unicorn, right? I turned my head towards the door as it squeaked open. The blue unicorn from before strode in, a towel lifted itself and went to wipe its sweat. At the same time its star-spangled hat and cape flew over to a nearby coatrack.
The unicorn released a heavy sigh and laid down on the bed, legs under its body. With the towel hanging from its neck it shuffled through some letters floating in what I could only think was magic. I hadn’t noticed the letters when it walked in. It murmured as it looked through the letters. Soon enough it put down the letters without opening them and took out a red bag. Looked like velvet, classy. She pour the contents out onto the bed and began counting them. “Only 10 bits? Tch, that’s even less than last week.” It snarled. “Ever since that show in Ponyville, everything has been going wrong.”
Feminine voice, probably female… Maybe? I’ll just go with it for the time being. The unicorn placed the bits into the pouch and looked over at me. “But maybe you will change things for me.” She stood up and hopped off the bed and walked over to the cage. “Can you speak? Ape?”
“Yes I can speak. Nothing’s stopping me from talking like a sore throat.” I replied sarcastically. “And second, if you think I’m going to be some show animal, you can throw that idea out that proverbial window.” She huffed. Was that a huff? I don’t know.
“You have quite the mouth. It wasn’t until the other ape knew about my past did she start spitting.” She retorted.
Oh I think I’ve seen enough of you today Oh Great and Powerful Tixie!” I paused at each adjective. She squinted at me suspiciously.
“How did you know my name?”
“You’re kidding right? Pretty much all the posters you have up here are of yourself.” I moved to sit with my legs crossed and leaned my head on my arm. “I can tell that you’re narcissistic, you preform magic shows, and that you how a grudge on someone in ‘Ponyville’.” I could tell that I was on point since she scrunched up her muzzle.
“Well, at least you seem to have a calmer head compared to Sparkle’s Ape.” She calmed herself. “That animal acts before thinking.” She huffed. “Seeing as you seem to be, not like her, Trixie thinks you deserve to know where we are going.”
“That’d, actually be nice.” What was with the third-person speak?
“After you fell upon Trixie, Trixie mended you up seeing that you were injured. And she can’t be having you die before we get to Ponyville.” She paused. “Did you get that?” I rolled my eyes and simply nodded. Let’s not anger her, I need information more than I need a pissed off …pony. “Excellent. Trixie plans to show that Twilight Sparkle! And her band of friends. That Trixie is not second rate to her.”
“And why’s that?” I asked.
“Because Trixie has you, just as Sparkle has a female ape.”
“Human.”
“What?”
“What that female and I am. We’re humans. Homo sapiens?” I was sorta getting tired of her calling me an ape
“You look like apes.”
“We evolved from a common ancestor. And I do have a name. Ronan.”
“…Ronan, the Human?” Better than ape at least. I shrugged. “We will go to Ponyville, where Sparkle is and show her that you are with me.” She puffed out her chest. But her moment was ruined by a yawn. She quickly squatted and covered her mouth. That was adorable.
“Tired?” I smirked. Trixie answered with a silent pout.
“Trixie must get her beauty rest. She must be ready to travel to the next town over.” She turned to step outside the room.
“Can you at least remove the cuff? It doesn’t really have the other half to actually restrain me.” I showed off the band around my wrist.
“It is an anti-magic cuff. Trixie must take precautions, she doesn’t know if you can use magic like the female ap- human.”
“Well I can’t use magic, can you take it off?” I pulled on the wrist band with no avail.
“No.” Damn.
“Then can I at least get something more ‘harmless’ to do?” Trixie took a long look at me her eyes dashing over to the other side of the wagon from me. A shelf filled with books, some lay scattered on the top and some that couldn’t fit in the shelf stacked on the floor.
“You have Trixie’s permission to read a few ‘harmless’ books.” She mocked my use of the word from before. I looked at the distance between me and the shelf.
“Little help?”
“Trixie is sorry, but she must go wash herself before she sleeps.” She stepped outside. “Good luck with that Ronan the Human.” She finished closing the door. Ugh, smartass. I looked over to the books. Now how can I do this… I flexed my wrist band free arm.