//------------------------------// // A Heart-Warming Welcome // Story: The Raffle // by CakeEmperor //------------------------------// "Sir, could you please sign here?" I peered at the clipboard that some guy held in front of me. He folded half of the paper, so the only thing I could see was the word 'Signature' and a line that followed after it. "What is it?" The man shook his head, "It's nothing really. It's just about your safety in the shuttle." I nodded, before taking my hand and attempting to flip the paper over, but before I could, it was immediately blocked by the other person's thumb. This time, I gave him an annoyed look, "Let me see what I'm signing, and then maybe I'll sign it." ... He clenched his jaw. For a moment, it looked as if he was actually considering to show me or not. Finally. he unfolded the paper to allow me to see. What I saw, made me seriously consider running away, and becoming an outlaw for life. In massive, black letters, it read, 'Last Will and Testament'. "I’m not signing it!" To stop me from leaving, he physically grasped my already injured shoulder, making me clench my jaw in pain, "But sir, you MUST sign it. Think about your loved ones!" He’s not getting the point. I guess I’ll have to spell it out for him. I smiled, "Actually, you know what? You've convinced me! Let me see that clipboard." The man looked relieved from my words, and handed over the paper. When he did, I took the pen, and wrote in massive, sloppy letters, "F*** You" He looked angry, but I kept smiling, "Oh, my bad. Did I take up too much space? I'll gladly write it again." The man just stared at me, with anger practically leaking from his face. Eventually, he stood up straight, “It is… fine, sir. I’ll take my leave now.” “Oh, and if you wouldn’t mind, please show that paper to whoever sent you too!" I called to him, as he was leaving. Afterwards, I was left alone... again. Wait, I'm alone? Realization kicked in, before started inconspicuously looking around my surroundings. Several shuttles were lined up with multiple human-soldiers guarding the entrances, Princess Celestia was busy being escorted to her own shuttle, and the only security drones that were present, were offline for some reason. Nobody was watching me. I had two options now; My first option, would be to escape now, and become an outlaw. Then, I would find a group of homeless people, join them, learn the way of the homeless people, and live the rest of my life, hiding from the government. On the other hand, I could accept the consequences of my actions and get inside my shuttle. If I survived the shuttle, I then ultimately would be trapped in an unknown world, with no women, no internet, no television and worst of all… no meat, since apparently that is a serious offense in Equestria. I decided upon the former. Sneering to myself, I started to casually walk past everyone. I didn’t run, or tremble, I just walked. That was, until I felt an arm quickly wrap around my shoulder, making every muscle in my body flinch. After that, the arm forcibly turned me around, back towards the shuttles, and made me start walking. I glanced to see who it was, and found one of the commanding officers, trying his hardest not to laugh. “It looked like you were getting lost there, Mr. Harrison. I’ll just help you back to your shuttle.” “Sir, I believe that I do have rights. I do not want to enter that shuttle. There should be a redraw or something, and I would just go back to my old life of working and paying my taxes.” “Ha! Good one, Mr. Harrison. You lost your rights as soon as you submitted that ticket.” My face went pale. Eventually, we arrived back at my shuttle. There were two Equestrian standing-put near the entrance. The officer let me go, allowing the Equestrian guards to take over. Before I knew it, I was shoved into the shuttle, and the door slammed behind me. Now that I was in the shuttle, my stress levels were going through the roof. I needed to listen to music, now! Shakily, I flung my arm out and quickly tapped the power button on my bracelet. The hologram soon popped out, and presented to me my grand collection of songs. I quickly picked one, and let the music flow into my head, from the bracelet. Not for long though... Out of nowhere, a random blue aura engulfed my entire bracelet, and immediately ripped it from my arm. "What the!" I yelped, and responded by flipping my head up, only to stare head-to-head, with an angry-looking, Equestrian guard. He glared ice-cold daggers at me, with his horn shining and my bracelet magically floating next to his face. The walking buzz-kill growled, "No importing earthly items!" I glared back, "Oh yeah? So, I guess I have to give you all of my clothes too, right?" 20 minutes later... I was now sitting, stark naked, with the same guard keeping an eye on me. Now angry, I rolled my eyes and asked the guard innocently, "Look, if this is you trying to express your deep, hidden feelings for me, then I would understand. But this isn't the way to try to court me." The guard in response, just ignored me, like a boring guard would. I thought the winner would at least go to Equestria like it was a vacation or something, and you would be treated nicely. However, I was instead escorted to a space-shuttle and then, shoved in like a criminal. I looked back over to my 'bodyguard' and smiled politely, "I do appreciate this wondrous excursion. However, this outing has made me quite parched. If you would be so kind, I would like a glass of wine, Sir." Suddenly, as soon as the last word left my mouth, a sharp, jab of pain made itself noticeable in my side. Confused and hurt, I fell down, and geld my injured area tightly. Looking up, I found one the guards towering over me. Where was his partner? "You pathetic human! I know what you monsters do! You come over to us, hurt us, then leave like nothing happened! I honestly hate our princess knowing she didn't let you suffer!" The unicorn brought up his spear up to my neck, and softly traced the spearhead up to my chin. Afterwards, he applied some pressure, slightly puncturing the flesh. Pain signals bombarded my brain from the impact, yet I opted to just keep my mouth shut. That's when the guard leaned in closer to me. I felt his breath sweep over my face, and his eyes darkened with nothing but hatred. For the first time... I was scared. He laughed before finally removing the spear, and allowing me to scramble away from him. He wasn't done though. Afterwards, he started creeping back over to me, "You follow my orders ape... If you even think you are better than the worthless monster you are, I will see it to myself, that you will be killed, during your year in Equestria, do you understand?!" I repeated the same thought in my head over and over, Don’t be sarcastic, don’t be sarcastic, don’t be sarcastic. However, I couldn’t take it anymore. I coughed, “The only thing I understand, is that you should try brushing your teeth some time. I know horses generally have bad breath, but yours blows them away, literally. Seriously, your yelling is stinking up the whole shuttle now.” After I said that, I expected my life to be ended there and then. But, no. Nothing happened. Instead, I just saw the guard staring at me, sneering. He didn’t even say anything, instead, he marched back over to one of the shuttle’s chairs, and pulled a seat-belt over himself. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuussssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh The sound of the spaceship launching, could be heard echoing throughout the entire shuttle. It was only until then that I realized what was happening. Quickly, I threw my head down to investigate my stomach, and immediately noticed the lack of seat-belt. My eyes bolted wide-open, "Wait! I need-" Unfortunately, before I could say anything, a thunderous rumble soon cut my words off. I was violently thrown upwards and heard a sickening crack, before my entire world instantly vanished. ... My eyes lurched open, my heart seemingly pounding out of my chest, and my ears were ringing painfully. Once again, I felt the feeling of time missing... but I didn't care at the moment. Instead, I snapped my eye-lids open to try to find the closest, most convenient seat belt ...that is, until I noticed something. I noticed, that I was no longer in the space-shuttle, but in some strange room. I tiredly inspected my surroundings, to find an elegant, golden light, glow blissfully from the one humongous, medieval-looking window, on the other side of the room, and a pink, wooden door on the other. The floor was tiled with white marble. The walls were also marble, but had gold layering where each wall met. The scent of the room smelled like a blend of candy, hay and soap. It was at that moment, that I knew I wasn't in Earth anymore. Upon further inspection, I found several beds lined up on both sides of the room. To the side of me, was a nightstand. The nightstand had a basket of fruit in it, and some kind of stuffed-Princess Celestia toy, with note under it that read 'Get Well Human'. From the evidence given, it looked like some kind of hospital. I began moving around in my bed, until I heard a gasp. Upon said gasp, I spun my head around to see another unicorn, who wore an old-fashioned English hospital hat. She had fear stricken in her eyes. I tried talking to her, but everything I said, came out dry and scratchy, "W-wait, I have a question!" Unfortunately, this seemed to scare her even more, since she immediately darted out of the door, filling the entire room with the sound of running hooves. In a last, desperate attempt, I leaned over the bed, and uselessly flailed my arms around at her. A minute passed before I realized she wasn't coming back. So, I rolled my eyes and flopped myself back into the bed. For the longest time, I just stared at the ceiling. Then, I became bored and grabbed the Celestia-toy that sat on the nightstand. I started moving the toy around and made it talk, "Oh, look! I'm Princess Celestia! Sometimes, I like to randomly send innocent humans to different planets, and ruin their lives for fun! Yay!" Suddenly, a cough was heard from the other side of the room. I turned my head towards the noise, and found Princess Celestia standing by the door. She cocked an eye-brow, "Hello, Jack. I see that I'm interrupting something, I'll come back later." This time, I attempted to talk again. It was still weak and scratchy, but at least it was comprehensible, "Princess! What is going on?! I have been kidnapped, stripped, and now I just got knocked unconscious from one of your ponies, all in one day!" ... "...actually, it's been a week." She murmured, while solemnly approaching my bed. I let my head hit my pillow, and just closed my eyes, "... a week of being knocked out-cold. Great..." A minute passed, until I heard the sound of a pony eating. I awkwardly lifted my eyes to see the princess of Equestria, eating one of the apples from my basket, while sitting on a stool next to me. She caught me looking at her, and her chewing slowed down immensely. "Crunch" "Crunch" "...Crunch" "Princess, what are you doing?" She swallowed, "I thought that you were going back to sleep" "No, I'm..." I looked down at my body, and waved my hand around to emphasize my point, "Why am I being treated this way?" Princess Celestia nodded, before floating the apple back onto the nightstand. She leaned her head closer to me, "You were just ripped from your home world, I wouldn't mind if you told me what you are feeling." "I don't know, I feel shocked and.. !" I stopped myself. It was her guard that did this to me! For all I know, she could have planned this! Acknowledging my pause in words, the alicorn raised her neck in interest, "What else do you feel, Jack?" "Thirsty"