Our new Friends, Our new Enemies

by The Potato Guy

Chapter 7: New Worlds

Rainbow Dash was mad.

So mad. Totally pissed.

Not that it took a lot to rub her the wrong way. A failed trick attempt or two, and a total butchery of what she thought would be an amazing performance. Such a mess, while irritating, wasn’t too much of an issue. Practice makes perfect, and if that meant a couple of mess ups so she could be the most awesome pony with wings, then so be it.

Yet today, just immediately after her practice and during her fly back home, Rainbow had bumped into Pinkie Pie. The pink party planner seemed distraught, almost panicked. The only comparison Rainbow could make is when she had lost something she needed, and was in a rush, leaving little time to find the lost object.

It took enough time and effort to calm Pinkie on a normal day, but on a day where she seemed upset, worried and concerned, it was a true mountain climb. Rainbow forgot how long it took to calm her and get an answer, but when it eventually came, it only served to see Rainbow’s temper erupt.

Apparently, there was a new pony in town, a true rarity nowadays.

Ever since Twilight had become a Princess, and Ponyville now could boast a massive castle to its list of sights, interest in the once quaint town had boomed. This combined with the surprising number of newsworthy events occurring in the town in the last few years really ensured this quiet place was put on the map.

The prestige of the town increased, and word of mouth eventually drove pony upon pony to visit the town, first as tourists, but then as potential buyers. This drove up real estate prices, and Ponyville slowly became a place for the rich.

Seeing the fabric and community of the town erode, and realising the uniqueness of the place, Princess Twilight moved to ensure Ponyville wouldn’t just sell itself to the wealthy. Of course the town received and influx of ponies and wealth, but luckily for now, new occupants had stabilised, and any new pony was usually a kind, friendly and a useful edition to the town.

Until now.

It had been a while since any new ponies had moved here, so when they did, Pinkie Pie considered her welcome parties to be all the more worth it.

So when she saw a new occupant walk into the town, and when she gone to get everything ready for him while he would wait in the square, something that everypony did upon moving here, it was practically a requirement that they were told, she returned to the square and saw no new pony. She looked where he was last, and at all the houses for sale to see if he had already ventured there, but she found no pony.

Rainbow was told all this, and seeing how distraught her friend was, she had to admit, it both hurt and angered her. Rainbow tried to give this new pony some leeway. He was new, and perhaps didn’t really know the customs here, or perhaps had got lost, but still, seeing Pinkie like this, and being the hot head she ever was, Rainbow couldn’t help herself but take matters into her own hoofs. She flew off immediately, searching for this infamous pony.

She found him.

Admittedly she may have come across a bit aggressive, but all it took to counter that was to call her out. No, this pony did the one thing that only made matters worse.

He admitted he didn't want any friendship.

That shocked her, deeply. Ponyville was practically the epicentre of friendship in Equestria, and the towns now strict living criteria only ensured ponies who accepted and cherished this would live here. This new pony seemed to hate such an idea. He proceeded to antagonise Rainbow, insult her friends with great cruelty and lack of respect and seem generally rude and dismissive to simple questions.

Rainbow was no negotiator. She wasn’t known to just sit there civilly and take what was being thrown at her. Quite quickly she realised she couldn’t take any more of this pony’s attitude and she fought back. This quickly became a furious argument, with physical threats being casually tossed around. The pony seemed so against the idea of friendship, and any interaction for that matter, that Rainbow finally cracked.

She blew all of her rage upon this pony, who simply spat on her and her friends. She had to get out of there, and with a quick burst of rage, she flew off in a random direction as fast as she could, determined to escape this pony’s presence.

She kept flying, tears almost forming in her eyes. She may have well just broke down and let herself cry with sadness and rage were it not for her flying speed, which blew any watery tears out from her eyes.

Rainbow didn’t consider her local environment, only seeing a large patch of green in the corner of her eyes, obviously the Everfree Forest.

She ignored it, no fear in her heart for the enchanted enclosure, she just had to keep flying. If there was one thing that her anger could be said as a contribution, it was the influence it had on her speed. She just kept pushing and her speed increased with it. She had already broke the sound barrier, and now she had to close her eyes to protect them from the force of the wind.

Once doing so, she felt less and less feeling. She was already going supersonic, and now it honestly felt like she was going at the speed of light. Maybe she was doing laps around Equestria, she just couldn’t tell. Through her eyelids however it got brighter, eventually too bright. She could feel an almighty crushing feel envelope her body, almost to the point of the pressure crushing her into a little ball. Her world felt shaky, and motion sickness overcame her. She tilted her body in reaction and she went tumbling through the air. All control had abandoned her, and through, what seemed like a tornado, she continued. She felt no wind resistance, but the g-force levels seemed off the chart.

She couldn’t take it anymore. It physically hurt her, pain conquering her entire body. Whatever was happening, she couldn’t resist, and allowing herself to be taken by this unknown force, she quickly found her vision disappearing, before letting the dark void fully consume her.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flickered open, albeit barley.

It was hardly waking up either, and more in the manner of exiting a coma. She could hardly think nor feel. Although beams of light flooded her vision, she could seldom see anything but light colours.

Time was distant feeling to the Pegasus. She never passed out again, but it felt like both hours and seconds that she just lay there with her eyes barely open. Eventually, enough thought came back to her for her to realise that any physical feeling, at all even, was completely gone.

Panic set in.

Was she paralyzed?

Such a thought genuinely set fear in Rainbow’s heart. Of all terrifying thoughts, her being a cripple was the worst of them all. Her career, life even, depended on her physical abilities. Should they be so cruelly taken away from her, what would she do? A full career in the Wonderbolts would be totally out the question, as would any flying related thing.

The more she thought about it, the worse it got. Her life would be totally over.

Luckily, over these thoughts, more of her senses began to slowly retain. Sounds of a gentle wind and possible waves entered her ears, and her environment became a little clearer to her, revealing, albeit very blurry, an open and almost sick land. She couldn’t fully tell, but from she saw, the surrounding land was devoid of a lot of plant life, and what remained was either dead or dying.

That was all she saw, but she began to realise of hard and almost sharp feeling on her side.

It took her a minute to understand that she wasn’t paralyzed, at least fully. The ground was rough and rocky, and from how she felt, she was on her side, with a sharp rock protruding into her side.

It was after that more realisation flooded in. This was not Ponyville, nor was it any of its surrounding environments. Had she flown faster than she thought? Rainbow didn’t know, and giving it too much thought hurt her head.

She tried to then move. First her wings, then her legs, then her body. If there was any small movement, she couldn’t feel it, allowing thoughts of the worst outcome to regain ground. Her vision then proceeded to recede again, but her hearing remained.

She was about to attempt to cry out for help when obvious steps were heard, and moving towards her.

She continued her attempt at speaking but discovered not even that was possible, forcing her to try and open her eyes again.

From what she could see, in the midst of the blinding light was two tall figures. It took her another moment to conclude whatever these were, they weren’t ponies.

One was bigger than the other, and Rainbow could only describe these blurred figures as upright monkeys, bar a tail.

“Is it alive?” muffled the little sound she could hear. A deep and masculine tone to it.

“Just barely” muffled another sound, a more feminine quality to it.

“The hell is it?” replied the first voice.

“We will find out” said the second, just as Rainbow’s vision began to fully recede, and all feeling of the world disappeared, once again letting the world of unconsciousness retake her.

When Rainbow next woke up, it was pain which greeted her, not the lack of it. It was pain Rainbow had never felt so grateful for, it meant she wouldn’t be a cripple, not a full one at least.

She played it clever though, opening her eyes to ascertain her surroundings, remembering the two strange beings from earlier. What awaited her eyes was the insides of what looked like a basic wooden cabin. It was relatively plain and simple, and remarkably bare. She seemed to be laying on a wooden table, with a fire burning in front of her. Everything else she could see consisted of varied tools and food stuffs, including a very ominous steak of unknown meat ready to be cooked on the fire.

Continuing her gingerly movements, she slightly gave each muscle a test movement. Everything, that she could test on a table, seem to be working, sparing her from the horrors of paralysation. The only thing of note was the severe aches and pain she felt throughout her body, as if her entire structure had been magically crushed, but apart from that, Rainbow could breathe a sigh of relief.

She reserved anything too vocal however. Researching her surroundings, and being in a far less comatose mode, Rainbow remembered she was apparently far from home, and most likely in somepony else’s home entirely, possibly of another species.

It didn’t take long for her to get a confirmation. Originating from behind her emerged a truly terrifying sound.

The unmistakable piercing sound of a steel blade being sharpened bore deep into Rainbow, as the most severe of panic began to again set it. Her heartbeat started racing, faster than in any competition she had entered. Every second she could feel, and every second Rainbow felt more beads of sweat develop. Her breathing grew deeper, and the almost primal instinct to fight or flight claimed her.

She chose the latter. Literally.

She aimed for what looked like the door, primed her back muscles and gave a strong immediate push with her wings.

Or at least she thought she did.

Ignoring the pain, she did indeed escape from her captives table, but she did not make the progress she had hoped for so dearly. It was as if her wings had receded back to the ones of a filly. The weight of the rest of her body dragged her wings down like an anchor, and the additional pain simply made her unable to fly any further. In that short time that she came crashing to the floor, it was immediately obvious it wasn’t the pain alone preventing her flight, it simply prevented her from any great distances. This strange new sensation of a pulling weight was extremely foreign to her, and any chance of her usual supersonic speed, let alone any race worthy speeds seemed far off.

This, however, wasn’t her first concern. The blade sharpening had stopped, and her failed escape meant whoever, or whatever, was behind her came running towards of fallen form.

“No! no you don’t!” The deep voice cried out, bordering on monotonous.

Rainbow now found herself in the vice like grip of two claw like appendages. Struggling and flailing around for attempted freedom. She turned her head to her captor.

Rainbow liked to think herself accepting and hard to surprise. In Equestria there were multiple intelligent species a plenty, all different and looking unique. Another species, far removed from the Pony race wasn’t a shock for her. Yet, looking upon this towering being, Rainbow couldn’t help but wonder what in Celestia it was.

Ape like but furless, save for the dark thick patch on its head, it had Rainbow in a grip she simply couldn’t break. Curiously, it worse clothes. A what seemed to be simple black t shirt and matching combat pants.

Rainbow tried to escape the strength of this creature, having to rely on her own strength of her legs to get her out of this trouble.

With swift kick of her left hind leg, she delivered the full power of her hoof into the centre mass of the creature.

It recoiled, and let out a puff of air, but resisted Rainbows’ attack none the less.

Such forcefulness by Rainbow was met with the very blade she had heard being sharpened. It was short but curved in nature, perfect for slashing the flesh of a foe, and now she had the misfortune of personally feeling it against her throat.

“Move again and you’re dead” the creature said, its piercing grey eyes staring directly at Rainbows face. “Although, I am hungry, so maybe you should move”

Rainbows life began to flash before her eyes. Her throat contacted, unable to even scream now.

Again, Rainbow knew many different species, carnivores included, and she had come to terms with that, but being the exact meat that would be consumed, she truly feared for her life.

Her rescue, for now at least, came with the sound of the wooden door opening, and the other creature entering.

“Trouble?” the soft feminine voice amusingly said, her blue eyes resting gently on the two.

“You never told me it’d wake up soon!” said the male replied grumpily, the knife still pressed against Rainbows skin.

“Too much trouble for you my friend?” the female creature asked with a sly smile before turning her eyes to Rainbow, brushing some of her long brown hair out of her eyes. “Can you understand us?”

Rainbow blinked in surprise, realising after all this time that she could. Even if most species In and around Equestria spoke the language of the ponies, despite having their own language, this species, who surely must have been located far away ,judging from Rainbow’s lack of knowledge of their existence, they spoke her language perfectly, as if it was their own.

“Uh huh” Rainbow answered, nervous of these beings, not the mention the blade still at her throat.

The male seemed taken back at this, while the female only raised her eyebrows in curiosity. It was a chance for Rainbow to get some answers. “Hey um...” She began weakly, unsure how to even speak to these beings. “What even are you gu-“

“Well fuck, it talks.” Cut of the male, very dismissively. He breathed in, and gave a serious gaze to his friend. “Have the wastes finally taken my mind? Are you even real too, Mex?” his words were trimmed with genuine concern, but it probably was a half-hearted question, perhaps meant as a joke, Rainbow wasn’t sure.

“Get a grip Navnløs.” She threw back with a hearty laugh, slapping away such a silly question. “I’m as real as that thick skull of yours” The being now known as Mex proceeded to sit down on a roughly crafted wooden chair. “And shit man, put that knife away already, you’re going to leave a mark on her”.

The male, Navnløs, stood back up reluctantly, sheathing the blade. “Her? How the fuck did you figure that out huh? We don’t even know what manner of freakish animal it is”

Mex rolled her eyes, unaffected by Navnløs intimidating figure. “Use your eyes, and properly this time. They may be good for aiming those weapons you’re so good with, but apparently they aren’t good enough to look at her face and conclude ‘well that’s a girl’.”

The well-muscled and scarred male squinted his eyes to his female friend, a hint of a warning mixed in them. “ Watch it woman, your tongue may be sharp and you may have survived on this shit hole of a planet for this long, but I’ve dealt with more greater difficulties than you, so instead of just shitting on every point I make, realise we have some blue and rainbow….thing right here”

Rainbow carefully watched these two induvials verbally joust, but suddenly remembered that it was her who first asked what they were, and received no answer. Perhaps it would be dangerous doing so, but ever the ambitious and fearless pony she was, she cut off both of these mysterious creatures.

“Yeah so… can anypony here tell me where I am? And who you are?” They were questions met with sudden and sharp looks from her compatriots, one of especial anger from the male.

“Shut yourself. We will decide what to do-“Rainbow was having none of it.

“Hey dude, I was talking!”

Navnløs didn’t seemed to expect such a retort, if one at all. The brief pause such surprise created in him was quickly exploited by his friend.

“Ha! The survivor of the deep, bested by something that isn’t even human”.

Human huh? At least I know what they are.

“It won’t believe that or anything about it…” Navnløs replied, turning back toward Mex, an obvious solemn calm in his voice. “…Besides…” he said, sitting on the table Rainbow was previously on. “…I wasn’t bested. The winner is the one with the last word, not the sharpest…Or the last thrust” He said ominously, withdrawing his knife out with an unnerving smile, sending chills up Rainbows spine.

A lengthy silence followed, Rainbow unsure if she should again repeat her question to these Humans.

“Ignore him dear, he’s still cranky from the battle he fought a few weeks back” Mex smiled warmly to Rainbow.

Navnløs quickly scoffed at her statement. “I don’t lose battles, you old bag. You’re supposed to have elderly wisdom, you’ve been around a while haven’t you? Since before the bombs hit right?” His smile now developing into a more teasing one.

“Thirty five isn’t that old, so no, I haven’t been around when they dropped, Navnløs” the female human replied, amused.

“Ugh, I told you not to call me that”.

“Shut it, warrior. Let me answer our guests questions already” Navnløs did not further his replies, rolling his eyes in frustration as Mex looked upon Rainbow again, warmth in her smile.

“You’re probably wondering where you are. I’m guessing you’re from a place far from here?”

Rainbow snorted, looking around. “Heh, tell me about it, I don’t know how I even got here.”

Mex raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “No recollection at all?”

“Nope. No offence, but I don’t even know what you guys are. We don’t have, um, Humans?” Rainbow asked, remembering the correct species. “ Yeah, Humans you said right? There aren’t any in Equestria”

“Equestria?” Asked Mex, lapping up all this new knowledge, even resulting in a quick look from Navnløs, who had returning to sharpening knives.

“Yeah, what do you call this place?” Rainbow asked, a sense of genuine excitement in her voice.

“The place where everything comes to die, as if it could be any other fucking place!” injected Navnløs, much to Mex’s displeasure.

“Please quiet!” she hissed before retaining her warmth. “Sorry, what he means is there are very few specific named locations of the planet Earth anymore, ever since the war, so this place of ‘Equestria’ confuses both of us”

Rainbow again noted the use of the word war, and the sombre tone accompanying it. The same tone used when Navnløs mentioned the bombs.

One question at a time Rainbow

“Planet….Earth?” Rainbow cracked. “I dunno about that, the world I live in is called Equus. Though I guess that explains that freaky teleportation stuff.”

That really did interest the Humans.

“Sorry dear, did you say teleportation?”

“Uh, yeah? I mean, I’m a Pegasus, so that’s means I’m a Pony with wings, but Unicorns use magic so maybe the reason I’m here has something to do with that?”

Rainbow finished her short explanation to a completely silent, even shocked room. Both Humans seemed puzzled and unsure on how to respond, occasionally giving each other a questioning glance.

Navnløs verbally expressed this first. “Equus? Teleportation? Magic? Hell, even you, just….what the fuck? I’ve definitely gone mad”

Again, before Rainbow could get her chance to explain, or even just reply with anything, the two Humans returned to their back and forth bickering.

“After all the things you’ve said you’ve seen? After everything I’ve seen? We live in a world of disbelief, Navnløs. It’s worth at least considering the validity of….sorry, what was the name again dear?” Mex quickly diverted, finally asking that question.

“Rainbow Dash, or just Rainbow if you like” the pony said, to a laugh from Navnløs.

“Well, at least that makes sense…” Mex continued, looking Rainbow over, specifically her mane which was her namesake. “….But yes, we shouldn’t easily dismiss what Rainbow here says”

It was an argument completely lost on Navnløs, who still seemed unconvinced of his own sanity.

“Dismiss what it says?!” he said, increasingly loudly, while pointing accusingly at Rainbow. “Wake the fuck up and look! That isn’t normal! I’ve seen things no other man could imagine, but….that…!” he continued, gesturing to the entirety of Rainbow. “….That isn’t normal. It speaks like us, acts like us. Shit, even looks like us with those human like facial expressions.”

“Navnløs, relax ok? I’m just saying-“

“Whatever, I’m out of here!” he said, grabbing a jacket like piece of clothing, complete with various plates of an strange looking armour attached to it, and quickly donning it, showing its trims of fur clearly.

“Where are you going?” Mex simply asked.

“Out. Patrolling. There’s crazies all in this part of the Wasteland, but I’m starting to think there are two of them in this shack already” he grunted, obviously referring to him and Mex.

He ripped the door open, not bothering to close it behind him, leaving an exhausted Mex to breathe out a deep sigh. She proceeded to look upon Rainbow, the Pegasus silent and unsure in what to say at this point.

“Sorry Rainbow Dash. He’s…complicated” the remaining human said with an almost sad laugh.

Well this place is already a barrel of laughs. Where are you when I need you Pinkie?

“Hey, it’s cool, no worries. I’ve met grumpy ponies before” Although there was one grumpy individual earlier that Rainbow didn’t perform the same restraint to as she did now.

“I don’t doubt, but that one…he never has been the friendliest and open kind of person. He---Where are you going?”

Rainbow was approaching the still open door when the question came.

“I’m going to go after him. See what his deal is. Guessing we both have questions for each other”

Mex smiled and gave a little laugh at the cyan pony’s determination, already seeing a sense of toughness and grit that Rainbow was known for, and that her friends knew came with stubborn loyalty.

“Good luck, try not to get yourself killed out there. I have my own questions for you” Rainbow shot a smile in return before stepping out into the light, and gazing upon this brand new world.

She was a strong, adventurous pony. One of constant solid conviction and firm resolve. One which would let little deter her from a job at hoof, but even she had to admit, the state of the world, and the life of it, it did rattle her spirit.

You’re not in Ponyville anymore, Dash.

Author's Note:

So taking a quick break from the goings on in Equestria here!
Also if you didn't realise yet, this is the Human's world, so the humans we have back in Canterlot arent exactly telling the whole truth the the Princesses, as most Human's in this story dont even know about ponies, so what could they be doing?

Important point also When any Human mentions that their planet is called Earth, that doesn't mean its the same Earth as ours. The Earth in this story is fictional, but was very much alike ours with similar societies , cultures, history, countries etc. Just so you dont get confused.

Anyway, thanks fro reading everyone, i still always appreciate your time to read these :)

Comments

[Bespawlercaster]

8357724
Thanks and yay 🎆👍, btw will the humans in the story have any similarity with the Metro game?

[The Potato Guy]

8359182
Similarities indeed. I wont spoil too much for you but a main character's personality will be shaped very much by similar experiences to those games. Some of the most atmospheric games ive played honestly. Apart from that, im taking inspiration from all sorts of post apocalyptic worlds. Fallout, The Road, Mad max etc. Hopefully i can create a unique version of my own with what im planning :)