*5 Days Later*
You breathe in suddenly, gasping for air as your eyes slam open. You groan as the sun nearly blinds you, quickly shutting your eyes once again. Another nightmare, of course it would happen. You slowly open your eyes, being cautious of the light this time. The first thing you see are your old, worn out shoes and your raggedy jeans. You rub your head, trying to get the haunting memories to leave your head.
Ever since you arrived here, you hadn't been able to stop thinking about home, and how much you missed your family and friends. It was hard to believe you hadn't seen them in months, maybe a year or so. You'd lost track of time a long time ago.
You look up, staring at the morning sky through the tree branches that slowly sway above you. You still don't know why you're here, still in this town. Normally you would hit a town, stay maybe two days at most and then head out. But there was something different about this small village. You're pretty sure its the locals due to their seemingly perfect personalities. They were accepting to you, the few that you actually talked to that is.
Today you were heading out though, whether you felt like it or not. You had spotted a secluded lake at the edge of a forest near the town. It has been a few days since you really washed down, and the signs were becoming quite obvious, even to yourself. So, you stand up, stretch, gather your few belongings and head out.
As you walk through the park, you still get a few stares, though you're far past being used to it at this point. You simply wave back, trying your best to smile, though to little avail. The morning breeze feels warm on your exposed arms and face, causing you to genuinely smile a bit, something you haven't done in days.
As you reach the edge of the park, you start to feel like you're leaving something important behind, but you aren't really sure what. You furrow your brow a bit before shrugging it off and walking towards the forest not too far away.
The breeze and the crunching of soil under your shoes are the only sounds once you reach meadow between the park and the giant forest. You do appreciate the peacefulness that comes with wandering through the wilderness without a care in the world. Sometimes being homeless had its perks, and you appreciated the few that came along with the whole package.
You reach the forest's entrance within minutes of spotting it, and enter without hesitation. The sounds of nature overtake the sound of the wind, basically sucking you into a whole new world. You definitely knew how that felt from personal experience.
A small pond appears in a clearing, and small smile forms on your face as you approach it. There's a sandy shoreline around the round pond, mimicking a small beach. You slide down a small slope onto the sand, your feet sinking in a few inches. You sigh as you feel warm sand fill your socks, quickly taking your shoes off to empty them from the annoying substance. You then slip your socks off as well, now taking in the feeling of the warm sand between your toes.
You breathe in a sigh of relief as you sit down, placing your bag and shoes next to you. You lay back, looking up at the sky, losing yourself in the tranquility of the moment. It isn't long though before you remember the task at hand and begin to strip down to the essentials. Once you are down to your boxers, you slowly step into the water, hoping to God that it isn't freezing cold. Much to your relief, the water is actually quite warm.
You swim out a few yards to where the water goes over your head. You don't have any soap so the best you can do is hope the water will wash off any unwanted dirt and dust you'd accumulated over the past couple of days.
You completely submerge yourself under the water, holding your breath for what feels like hours before coming back up. Your head shoots out of the water, and you let out a short gasp for air.
You hear a quick, shrill shriek from the beach behind you. You quickly spin around to see a pony on the beach. A pony with technicolor hair and a light blue coat to be exact.
"What the-" You stutter out before realizing who it is you're looking at. "Rainbow Dash?"
"Guy? What the hay are you doing out here?" She asks excitedly, coming closer to the water.
"I'm swimming. Did I startle you? You kinda shrieked back there?" You say with a grin.
"Well, maybe... I haven't seen you in days! I thought you were gone!" She says with a friendly smile, something you hadn't seen on the night that you two had met.
"I don't know, I guess the town just kinda stuck on me so I stayed for a few extra days. I'm actually heading out today, but I thought I would stop by the lake for a while. So, why are you here?"
"I come to this lake all the time just to sit back and relax. Not many ponies know about, so I was surprised when you popped out of the water like that. Are you really leaving today?"
"Yeah, I like to stay on the move. I'm like a shark." You say as slowly tread in the water, your head bobbing just above the surface.
"Why? There's so much to do in Ponyville!" She says with a confused look on her face.
"Ponyville? Is that what the town is called?" You respond, giving your own confused look.
"Wait, you've been here almost a week, and you don't know the name of the town you've been staying in? Really?" She says, giving you a look that just screams "Seriously?"
"I... don't judge." You say as you go back underwater for moment. You pop back up to see Rainbow laying on her back on the beach. Deciding you'd rather not swim alone, you crawl out of the water and onto the beach, laying on your back a few feet away from the pegsus. The warm sand feels amazing on your wet back, and the sun shining down just perfects the whole thing.
"So... how's life?" She asks, opening her eyes for a moment to look over at you.
"Just as bad as its always been I guess." You say with a sigh. "Ever since coming here that is."
"What? Why's that?" Rainbow asks with a confused look.
"Well, I said I was from another world entirely right? Well, I meant that literally. I'm not from this planet, or dimension, or wherever the hell I am." You say as you make eye contact with her.
"You were serious about that? How did you get here?"
"It's a long story that I'd rather not relive. Point is, I'm never going home no matter how badly I want to."
"Well what is it that you miss? Maybe I can help you, y'know, feel better?"
"Ugh where do I start?" You say as you run a hand down your face. "I guess I miss my friends and family the most. I never even got to say goodbye to any of them, and they probably all think I'm dead or worse." You say in a defeated tone.
"Well... I'm your friend, right?" Rainbow asks, looking you directly in the eyes. You look up at the sky for a moment, thinking about what she just said. You'd only met her once, and not for long, and she actually considered you a friend. That's something you'd never seen. Ever.
"I hadn't thought about it like that. I don't think I have any friends anymore." You say honestly, continuing to look straight up at the sky.
"C'mon, I'm your friend and you know it." She says with a giggle.
"If you want to be, then go ahead. You'd make number one."
"I can't be your only friend. Your a cool guy, ponies probably line up to get to know you, right?" She says with a warm smile that just makes you feel a little better, despite the circumstances.
"I wish it were like that. I feel so alone here, like I don't belong anywhere. That's why I move around so much, because I don't want to get too attached to anyone who might just turn around and stab me in the back."
"It really sounds like you've had it rough."
"You don't know the half of it. You're probably the nicest pony I've met so far, and that's really saying something considering most of your are twice as nice as any human I've ever met." You say, feeling the corner of your mouth rising just a bit.
"That's the nicest thing I've heard all day." She says with a chuckle.
"You probably just woke up." You say with your own laugh, reaching over to lightly punch her in the shoulder.
"Point taken."
You both lay on the sand for minutes on end in silence, just staring up at the sky, enjoying the warm morning air. The silence is broken when you hear Rainbow flip over to her side to look directly at you. You open your eyes to look over at her to see her with a confident look on her face.
"What?" You ask simply with a curious look.
"How about I make you a deal. You come back to town, maybe meet some more of the locals, and if you like it, you have to stay. If you don't you can leave by all means." She says with a confident smile.
"What makes you so sure that this is the town for me?"
"This is a town for everyone! You said it yourself that we were different, and that you had grown kind of attached to the town right? I'm sure you could settle down here."
You think it over for a bit. How bad could it be? Worst case scenario you walk away and continue your journey into the unknown like you had planned to. Best case scenario... You weren't so sure what that would be, but you'd work it out should it come down to it.
"Alright, deal." You say as you stand up. You walk back over to your belongings, throwing your t-shirt and jeans back on after brushing all of the sand stuck to your body. You walk back over to Rainbow who is now stretching where she was once laying. She gives you a smile and meets you halfway.
"Shall we then?" She says as she takes the lead, leading you back into town. With a huff you follow her back up the slope and into the forest.
You walk next to her, matching the pace of her flying next to you. It pops into your mind what she did for you on your first day here, and the fact that you hadn't thanked her makes you feel kind of guilty.
"Hey, thanks by the way." You say quietly has you run your hand through the hair on the back of your head.
"Thanks for what?" She asks, looking over at you from the corner of her eye.
"The quilt and clearing out the clouds. That was you right?" You ask, furrowing your brow a bit.
"Oh, yeah, that." She says as if she's embarrassed. "I was heading home and I saw you there on the bench and I just couldn't bear it. Who just leaves somepony to freeze in a storm?"
"Well, I'm sure glad you did it. It was certainly nice to wake up to being warm for once." You say with a smile as you near the edge of the forest.
"Okay, so, just give it a shot, and I guarantee that you'll enjoy it here." She says confidently as the points to the town in the distance.
"Are you sure? I just haven't really had the best of luck here, Rainbow, and I-" You say before getting cut off by a hoof to the shoulder.
"Just give it a shot. You don't have to be alone, and you know that. I want to fix that."
With a sigh you begin walking again, back towards the town you never thought that you would see again.
"You could get a job, maybe buy a house and move in here. Oh, I'm sure my friends would love you, especially Applejack and-" Rainbow begins to ramble on as you start to tune out. The way she talks so positivist actually brings you something you never thought you'd feel again. not in a million years.
This one, random pegasus was giving you something you had been searching for all along, ever since you arrived here.
Hope.