Ryan awakened blissfully from her sleep, the sound of the wind whistling a merry tune harmonized by chirping birds greeting her ears.
She vaguely recalled a dream she had, but it was largely faded as dreams tended to be. She could make out some details about a party and her mother and… horses. Oddly, that combination actually seemed familiar outside of her dream. Come to think of it, didn’t that match the place her mother had described to her years ago when she had been effectively trampled as a child? She wasn’t sure. She couldn’t remember much about that day other than an unpleasant lasting effect it had left revolving around a certain animal. It didn’t matter much anyways. That was a dream last night and a forgotten memory almost twenty years old. Instead, she leaned back into the dirt she was on and decided a few minutes more of sleep couldn’t hurt. She smiled as the sound of nature came to her once more.
Then she realized she wasn’t in a comfy bed on the third story of a city apartment.
Ryan’s eyes rapidly opened, her mind turning the pleasant imagery into warnings of wrongness. Laying on her back, she got a view of the blue, tidy sky, only interrupted by shades of green that the blue only could occasionally shoot through. She pushed herself up, her dark, blonde hair falling in front her face, and went into a sitting position to get an all-around view of her surroundings.
To her relief, she wasn’t in some random patch of nature in Whereverland, but instead an orchard of some kind, judging from the neat and orderly rows of trees going in all directions, including the one she had apparently been napping under. The woman also noted every single one of the trees contained nothing but apples. Some ways down the rows she could see a different kind of apple that wasn’t the one in the trees next to her, based on the coloration, being grown. I’m on a farm, she concluded. It was easily the second weirdest place she’d ever awakened at with no memory. At least this time it didn’t come with a splitting headache that no amount of pain reliever could cure.
Ryan wasn’t one to sit around thinking, however. She intended to find just where the heck she was and hopefully be on her way within the hour. Assuming, of course, it was close by. She couldn’t have gotten that far away in one night, right? Although, she didn’t know of any local farms near her bustling city. Nonetheless, she scanned her surroundings, taking in a panoramic view of the pasture by turning her head from left to right. To her dismay, the plantation was either expansive or the owners simply lived far away from her current position. There wasn’t anything to break the repetition of trees except for the occasional boulder that decided to roll in one day.
Ryan had a backup, though. She reached into her pants pocket, smiling at seeing her phone was there along with (score!) her headphones and some other knick-knacks like her key ring and some spare change; all the things she always kept with her. Her happiness at the discovery, sadly, was short lived as she pushed the power button to find a distinct lack of signal. Figures there wouldn’t be one in the middle of nowhere. Well, back to square one.
Ryan picked a random direction, walking off in search of civilization. She pulled the earbuds out of her pocket, and after fumbling with an illogically tangled knot, found herself enjoying the fast paced beats of both rock and techno, often at the same time, that so contrasted the serene nature around her. Despite the mystery of where she was, she inexplicably found herself feeling relaxed.
It was in a minute or two that her stomach decided to remind her that she had not had breakfast. She felt it more than heard it, but had the same reaction either way. The woman looked at the apple-carrying trees that now looked like so much more than pleasant scenery. The thought that the owners relied on these for a profit crossed her mind but she argued back that just one couldn’t make that big a difference. She reached up to a low branch and plucked one off. Besides, she thought, who would find out all the way out here?
She didn’t bother admiring the prize; she took an experimental bite. And it was delicious. She widened her eyes in surprise at the splendid taste. It beat anything a store could put out by a landslide. Eagerly, she took a larger, greedy bite, emitting a loud and audible crunch.
An entire orchard away, an orange-coated ear perked. The owner took a moment to register the distant sound, then narrowed their eyes.
Ryan continued her walk through the endless maze of apple trees, her head slightly bobbing to the beat, and having finished the delectable fruit. If she had any sense of time, it was telling her that she’d been walking for a good ten minutes without any progress in her goal. She could’ve been where she started for all she knew. Moping about wouldn’t change anything, though, so she simply pushed onwards.
In the meantime, she tried to remember how on Earth she’d gotten here. When she’d said she had no memory, she meant that as plainly as possible. She didn’t have amnesia or anything like that. She could remember everything from the night before as perfectly as her memory would allow. It was another boring night of her usual routine, she recalled, complete with even going to bed in her home. Another thought crossed her mind. Had she slept through whatever had gotten her here? Maybe she was the one who had brought herself here! She’d never been a sleepwalker before, though, and this didn’t seem anywhere close to where her home was if the abundant nature said anything.
A sudden scare came to her. What if she’d been asleep for over a day? That would explain how she had gotten so far. Pulling out her phone once more, she checked the date. To her relief, it was where it should be, the day after yesterday. It was comforting but didn’t help her in her predicament that much. Maybe I’m just going crazy, she thought jokingly, It’s as good a guess as any.
Before she could come up with any more self-depreciating theories, however, a loud shout came off from her left some distance away (That’s all it was; there weren’t any words to it, it seemed). Ryan turned, startled but relieved. That meant someone had found her! With a little luck, they’d be able to give her a straight answer that neither she nor the nature had been able to. She pulled out her earbuds and identified the spot it had come from, a hill, expecting a person to be walking over it into view. Someone did do so in a moment, but it most definitely was not a person.
It was a horse.
Ryan froze, her long-held fear taking advantage of the perfect opportunity to hold center stage. She held back the urge to back away slowly as she forced herself to look at it; to keep track of its movements. By some strange fate, the equine locked its own gaze at Ryan, stopping its movements. Much to her agony, it seemed to simply want to have a staring contest from its perch on higher ground, gazing down at the helpless woman like a cat and a mouse.
The two held each other’s gaze, Ryan ever-so-warily and the horse unreadable. Ryan observed, as one tends to when watching something, that it was shorter than normal (A pony? She wasn’t an expert in this kind of thing), but easily came up to Ryan’s height, and was sporting an unusually vibrant orange coat. Atop its slightly over sized head, complete with eyes to match, appeared to be, of all things, a hat. I guess I am going crazy, Ryan thought, her tone forced into seriousness in contrast to her earlier demeanor.
Neither seemed willing to break the stalemate, that is, until the orange-coated one took a cautious yet confident-looking step forward with one of its front hooves. Ryan took a matching step back, but this only seemed only to encourage the animal. It took more steps, its hooves hitting the ground hard in a steady trot that brought it closer to Ryan, where she maintained her own backwards pace. This was exactly what Ryan was trying to avoid! The horse was continually getting closer with its larger gait and the woman could feel her own hammering heart beat climbing in synch with each step. At least it wasn’t charging her, her mind tried to console in rationality.
Spoke too soon.
The horse broke into gallop, closing the distance much faster. A squeal flew past Ryan’s lips as she swiveled around and bolted, her own legs pacing the ground faster than she thought they could. Her mind flew into a panic, all pretense of staying calm forgotten as the very thing she feared came rushing at her. Even with adrenaline pumping through her, she knew she couldn’t out run it. It’s a horse! It was built for speed! She turned her head to get an idea of where it was but shrieked as she saw it was mere seconds from catching up to her. What could she do?! There was nowhere to go; no time to hide. There were only small hills and trees for acres. The only thing she had was herself and the useless things in her pockets. A lot of help those would do.
Wait… the not-actually-useless things in her pockets! Phone still in hand and had been the whole time, she took one brief glance backwards, trying to suppress the turmoil the sight of the charging animal brought to her, and threw the device backwards. A strangely human-like cry of pain and the sound of a large mass impacting the ground told her she’d aimed perfectly.
A weak cry of happiness came out as she sprinted away. She knew that her distraction would only buy her time if the horse didn’t want to give up the chase, so she needed a plan. Ryan quickly glanced through the scenery around her, one particular large tree gaining her attention. Seemed like the best place to hide, if not the only.
She would hide and wait it out, even if it took all day, the somewhat-irrational instinct of survival commanded.
More
read later.
interesting
Damn, poor girl...
On another note, she could have outran Applejack, horses are built for speed but humans are built for endurance. She could have dodged around trees until AJ tired out before running away, though that depends on certain factors like if she was thinking rationally and/or had a decently healthy lifestyle.
Reminds me a someone I know's cousin, she too got trampled by a horse at a very young age and it too stepped on her face. Something like 23 plates on her skull, I can't quite remember though, haven't heard anything for years.
interesting not really sure ware this is going yet but I will keep a eye on it.
4965788 horses weren't entirely built for speed Arabian horses were shaggy-coat horses were made for farmwork
4965788
She's also a little girl too, right? Probably not as fast as an adult yet
I WANT MORE
I mean if you dont mind,maybe
hmmm so far an interesting start. Will keep an eye out for more.
Take a phone...to the face.
4967077 That was a flashback in a dream. She's a fully grown woman now.
4971980
Oh, okay.
Applejack turned her head around, looking past the full apple basket set on top of her back. Her ears swiveling in every direction, trying to get a bead on where the noise came from.
Applebloom, looking up at her sister, "What is it Sis?"
Applejack didn't even bother at looking at her Sister, instead she turned around. "I sense a disturbance in the orchard..."
"What kind of disturbance?"
Applejack set down the basket, readjusted her Stetson and began walking off towards the source of the noise. "The thieving kind."
Good story. Keep it up.
*reads description* It's happening. It's actually happening!
I like the idea of this story, but I personally feel it would be more interesting if Ryan was still a child when she went to equestria. She would need a guardian, and being afraid of all possible candidates would be interesting. But you do what you feel is best.
4974427
What? A fear of horses story? I've seen one of those before, but it had a different guy, and Time Turner/Dr. Whooves was involved, and yeah.
MOAR!!! plz.
Fun fact, my own name is Ryan as well. I'm named after the main character of your story! Or is it the other way around?
4975364 The fic you're thinking of is Hippophobia. Hippophobia and equinophobia are both correct, but it doesn't sit well with some people when a Latin prefix (equino) is used with a Greek suffix (phobia). On a semi-related note, hippopotamus is derived from the Greek words for "horse" and "river."
The fear of whores is "cypridophobia," and the term also covers venereal diseases.
4976983
Typo...
4977228 Oh I figured that was the case. I was just on a roll.
I think I've read this before. A reboot? I sure hope so; liked it then, will probably like it now as well.
Holy shit! You better keep her the fuck away from Celestia then!
I am definitely liking the look of this so far. There was one similar story a while back which was not bad, although it is long dead and did not take as much time with the setup as you are which is a good sign for this story. I also seem to recall the phobia in that one being much more mild than this story which makes the setup here stronger so long as you can keep it going.
That said, I did notice one issue. You made it sound like AJ was about the same height as a human, but that is very much contrary to canon. If you look at the picture below which uses EG for a very tight comparison of human and pony height, it is obvious that the ponies cannot be more than about 3'6" tall to the top of the skull with 3'3"~3'4" being the most likely height. That said, you have given a very solid reason for Ryan to be an unreliable narrator here and AJ was a good distance away so it is very believable that she drastically overestimated her height in this chapter so you can easily correct it later and use it as another little example of her phobia in action.
s.mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-1824807-1-387884__safe_fluttershy_equestria+girls_spoiler-colon-equestria+girls_angel+bunny_size+chart_size.jpg
Anyways, good work so far and I am looking forwards to reading more in the future.
4980718 Doesn't need to be canon, I think it adds to the story. It plays off her fear to, if its smaller you could just kick it in the face and call it a day. remember stay classy
4980491 That would be creepy to see. remember stay classy
This brings up AT&T's old phrase, "Reach out and touch someone" to a new light, doesn't it?
4994690
..okay, I'll admit it. I laughed...
Does Ryan always sleep in her day clothes with her phone and keys in her pocket?
Interesting read so far.
so far this has been good! Thought chapter two was funny and looking forward to continue reading.
Wait...
...Ryan's a women's name!?!
(MOOOMM!!!! CHANG MY NAME, NAOW!)
Honestly, I get what she's going through. I almost drowned in a pool when I was 4, and for about 7 years had a fear of swimming. I could go into the water, but I'd never actually swim. I had to be forced into it for Scouts, and even still, I fear drowning.
And that is why we don't tempt fate. Especially on Tuesdays.
Just found this story in the feature box a bit ago and started reading.
Many, many bonus points for not dropping her in the Everfree. That trope is far, far overdone.
Got something chasing you? Hurl your phone at it like it was a rock.
Must've been her phobia doing the thinking. If not then i hope she had an otter-box.
Wakes up in Equestria. Second weirdest place she's woken up in with no memory! Second? What kind of crazy life does she live?
pony as tall as an adult human? Nope. Sposed to be my LITTLE pony....
5275278 hangovers are common to her I guess.
5301784 I don't think it said anything about their night being the same, plus AJ was a distance from her.
5220634 I would have, I don't know, GRAB ONE OF THE APPLES SURROUNDING YOU!!! Why break your phone when you could steal more apples to use as projectiles.
5129963 when you say "Run lil' girlie' Run" I think of rednecks in a horror movie. :) thank you.
5220633 I dare you to name 5 stories that start the human in the Everfree forest. (I'm curious as to what you'll write)
5312629
If you read crossover fics, a lot of those tend to start in everfree, like 'Crimson', 'Human, Cryptids and..... Ponies?', and others.
5301784 technically they can be as tall as a human, when standing straight on their hind-legs at least.
They are still smaller than regular ponies, hence the little, but essentially as big as a large dog (thinking dalmatian or doge here).
I've read about various comparisons from in series situations where their height could have been established, they usually speculate to ~3,5 feet in height for a grown mare, like Applejack, when on all fours. If they get straight on their hind legs, they can reach over 5 feet, essentially becoming high enough to look some less tall adults in the eyes.
We also don't know how Tall Ryan is, she could be a smaller woman, and besides she is judging a pony from the distance, a creature she is afraid of no less.
5275278 Well, she said that in reference to the orchard, I mean how would she know she landed willy-nilly in Equestria?
Maybe she woke up in a cornfield once (after bein' abducted by aliens)
5098286 You were in Scouts too, huh? How far did you get, out of curiosity?
5392882
What does the duke of Venice have to do with it?
5429629 Hey, I understood that!
Ironicly, the ad at the end of this chapter was for horse training
"I know that sound... Somepony is eatin' one of ma apples!" *Reloading noise*