Escape to Realms

by Flutterwhy4

Y'all Never Heard Of Chaos Theory?

Escape To Realms

Chapter 5: Y'all Never Heard Of Chaos Theory?

By Flutterwhy4

The white, endlessness wraps around me and cradles me, like a foal in the womb. I’d be lying to say it isn't at least a bit soothing. Nothing to worry about, nothing to harm me, just nothingness.

I blink my eyes and a new world springs into existence as if it had always been there. My hooves settle on floors of wood. I find myself in an ornate ballroom surrounded by white tablecloths; wooden chairs with thick, white padding; crystal candle holders; and walls decorated with murals of fantastic, dragon-like creatures.

“Token! What in the hay is goin’ on?” I recognize the country voice and turn to face the source.

“Hey Applejack. Let me guess. You were in Ponyville and then you wound up here, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Ain’t it the same for you?” she responds.

“Not exactly, but it isn’t important. Are you okay?” I ask.

“No worse for wear ah suppose, but where are we?”

“I couldn’t tell you.” I reply. It’s not a complete lie. I don’t know where we are, even though it feels just as familiar as before. The cold sound of metal on metal rings across the room and I look over to see two young fleshies standing before a long buffet table and sampling from its many treats. As I walk up behind them I can see a smorgasbord of cakes and puddings and gelatin desserts unlike anything even Sugarcube Corner has catered.

Looking at the young pink-skinned beings, I wonder what happened to them. From their wrinkled, khaki clothing caked in dirt, I can tell these two have been through a rough time.

AJ stands and watches with mouth agape as I approach the creatures which must be completely alien to her. My hooffalls clatter on the hardwood floor drawing sudden attention from the sweet buffet.

“Eeeeek!” they scream.

“Whoa! Calm down, I don’t want to hurt you.” I say, unsure if it was the best choice of words. It seems to have the desired effect at least.

“Y-y-you can talk??” one of the fleshies asks, her face a mask of confused horror. I can see both them clearly now. One is a girl, one is a boy. The girl has chubby, hairless cheeks framed by a frazzled mess of unkempt blonde locks. She’s wearing a muddy brown tank top and her arms are a web of red scrapes, nothing too serious, but hard to miss.

The boy is no better off, perhaps worse. His ear is orange with what I can only assume is dried blood. A red makeshift bandage is wrapped tightly around his hand and his hair too is wiry and frayed like a birds nest.

“Course we can talk,” Applejack interjects fiercely “Ah didn’t think you could talk!” she finishes, strolling up to my side. It’s two versus two. Two ponies and two… why do I keep seeing these things? I ponder them; the strange pink things are, like everything, confusingly familiar. I sense I should know more, but my mind returns to Ponyville and concern for my friends there with every attempt at deep thought. Best to put it out of my head.

“But you’re…” the boy trails off.

“Ponies.” the girl finishes for him.

“And y’all are… Token, what’n the hay are they?” I give Applejack a shrug.

“We’re humans, but everybody knows humans can talk. I’ve never heard of a talking pony.” the boy replies as if it were painfully obvious. Wait. Humans. Hu-mans. I know this word. Why do I know this word?

Applejack continues to argue with the human boy, but my attention is no longer in this room. My mind is on a mission to connect the dots, grasping at that one shred of information, a rescue rope dangled so gently in front of me. They’re humans. I hear the word in my head over and over; it breaks my train of thought repeatedly, but fuels my increased contemplation.

What if- Human. These two have to have to- Human. Maybe they’d know about- Human.

“AUUGH!” Suddenly there’s silence around me. It can’t be happening again! I look around, I’m still in the room. The argument has died. Now Applejack and the two humans are looking straight at me. I must have expressed my frustration aloud.

“You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asks, nudging me gingerly.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just thinking.” I turn my attention to the two humans. They have to be the key to all of this, I’ve never been so sure. “Say, do you two have names?” I ask diplomatically.

“Sure, I’m Lex and this is Tim. What about you?” the young girl replies. Lex and Tim. Lex and Tim. Lex and Tim. I mull the names over, ignoring her question which Applejack soon answers for me. Words start to creep into my mind like ants returning to a hill. Dinosaur. Island.

A stream of refreshing information comes to me. It’s cryptic, but I know I’m closer than ever before to understanding what’s going on. I just keep concentrating on the trickle of words as they invade my conscious. Theme Park. Spielberg.

A thought crosses my mind and I freeze. It… it can’t be. As soon as the thought arrives it’s pushed into nothingness by memories of Ponyville, my few friends’ shining faces, my arcade, and my simple home.

“Hey, Token! Snap out of it! I got too many questions fer ya to be daydreamin’ this whole time!” Applejack’s fiery eyes are right in my face as I focus on the buffet room again.

“Sorry, I-” I’m cut off by a pink hand around my mouth. It’s Lex, her eyes are dilated and her neck is tense. She directs my attention forward with a spastic extension of her twitching arm and hand. On the wall behind the buffet table is an image I completely expected, but hoped would never come.

A long shadow stalks along the wall accompanied by the audible huffs of large breaths. It’s the shadow of a velociraptor, an extinct creature from a distant past of a world I’m only now aware exists. Fear of the carnivorous dinosaur is completely submissive to the newfound mastery of my situation that has overcome me.

“I remember this.” I whisper to no one in particular, having knocked the clinging hand from my muzzle. “This is a scene from a movie, I remember everything now. Jurassic Park.” Applejack and the humans glare at me with deathly fear dripping from every pore. I ignore them and continue my soliloquy despite growing interest from the approaching raptor. “That’s why everything was so familiar, these are my... memories? This... is a movie and before it was a board game a-and a TV show and a-”

“Token!!” Applejack gives me a hoarse, shout-like whisper. I turn my head to see the shiny dinosaur staring towards us with dripping teeth. Razor sharp boomerang-like claws extend from its stubby forelegs.

“Oh, right.” I deadpan. I shoot Applejack a glance to make sure she’s ready and I take off in a gallop for the metal door which I know will lead to the kitchen. I can hear Applejack, the humans, and most importantly, the determined raptor in hot pursuit. I lower my head and ram straight into the door. It swings open and my hooves find no purchase on the other side as I begin tumbling into a dark, starless abyss. ‘This wasn’t in the movie’ is all I can think as my stomach does somersaults and my eyes water.

I look in all directions past my flailing brown hooves. Blackness. There’s absolutely nothing, nothing but the sensation of speed and the loud roar of air rushing past my upturned ears, whipping my mane and biting my coat. This wasn’t at all how I thought I’d… I gulp. My hooves instinctively cover my eyes and I brace for the end.

Still bracing.

The end doesn’t seem to come. I’m stuck endlessly falling, enduring this for eternity it seems. Maybe I’m already… maybe that raptor got me and this is what the afterlife is like, an eternal plunge into bottomless nothingness. I’ve grown accustomed to the sensation already; it seems almost normal.

My thoughts push past the deafening roar of the wind. There’s nothing else I can do; I might as well. So, what can I remember? I think back to my adventure with Pinkie Pie: the scenery, the monsters, the double-jumping… that music, they were all from a video game, but not one from my arcade.

“Super... Ghouls n’ Ghosts.” I try to speak to myself, but my words are lost to the endless wind. Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts was an awesome game, I think to myself, remembering countless hours of difficulty-induced anger. I remember guiding the crude sprite across the television screen, controller in my… hands. That’s right, I was a human. I am a human.

My descent begins to slow.

I knew those humans were familiar when I saw them with Rarity. Oh man, Legends of the Hidden Temple was the bomb! I remember watching that when I was a kid; that was like the coolest game show ever! How could I have forgotten about it?

The deafening wind slows to a gentle breeze.

Candy Land! Oh, Candy Land, I always played that with my cousins! Such a one-dimensional game thinking back on it, but it was cool at the time.

“Ow!” I shout as my belly impacts against a hard surface. It wasn’t actually painful, more surprising. I shake the dizziness from my head and push myself up. I feel taller than before, but I quickly realize that I’ve stood up on two feet. I crane my head down to see two legs and two pink hands and arms extending from a brown shirt covered torso.

So this is my human body. Of course, I remember it.

I take a sweep of my surroundings; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’m on a wide, twisting, prismatic catwalk floating in the black void from which I’ve just become so acquainted with. The otherworldly walkway bobs and weaves, zigs and zags in three-dimensional space. It reminds me of Rainbow Road, a racetrack from another video game I spent untold hours of my childhood playing.

To either side of the path are an endless pattern of doors making it seem like a hallway. The stereotypical wooden doors with brass knobs float in space, attached to nothing and with nothing behind them.

I walk over to one of the doors and place my hand on the cold handle, turning it. I pull and the wooden egress swings as one would expect. What was not expected is what I see on the other side.

Through the rectangular portal that lies behind the door I stare upon a scene from one of my favorite television shows. Characters in brightly colored red and yellow uniforms man their posts on the bridge of a starship. It’s a large, tidy room in muted colors of beige and grey. Black glossy panels at the back of the bridge blink and bleep with a multicolored touch interface.

I close the first door and jog excitedly to a second. It swings upon under my power and I’m greeted by several humans playing instruments together. They’re all dressed in casual, collared shirts and wearing dark sunglasses. My head begins to bob to the beat of a familiar, cheery tune. I focus on the lyrics:

Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow-

“Pardon me sir,” I slam the door closed and turn my body as Applejack’s voice startles me out of my nostalgic trance.

“Whoa! When did you get here?” I ask. I didn’t expect to see her, or anypony… anybody again.

“I didn’t mean t’sneak up on ya, I just, I don’t know where I am and-”

“Applejack, it’s me! Token!” I interrupt the orange pony. I kneel down and offer her a hug, but she backs away.

“You’re… you’re a human?” Her words make me shrink. I’d expect some shock, but what if she doesn’t accept me now? What would I think if one of my friends turned out to be not who I thought they were?

“Yeah. I guess I am. AJ, I didn’t know until just now.” I pause and wait for her to speak, but she just looks me over. “I’m still me.”

“I suppose. So much crazy stuff’s goin’ on I reckon I shouldn’t be none surprised.” Applejack’s voice floats up to me like a sigh. My relief is stained by a tinge of sadness.

“Hey, Applejack!” a voice hollers from afar causing me to look over my shoulder. Barreling down the winding road I spy Pinkie Pie, followed in step by Fluttershy and Rarity not moving quite as fast. All four ponies collide in a pile of hugs and salutations. They pay little attention to me at first, but as their reunion winds down, the friends are overwhelmed with questions, especially about the six-foot-tall human beside them.

Comments

[SuperChaosKG]

Oh. Oh now I understand ALL of the references!