Strange New World

by Conor Colton

Premonitions

Strange New World
Chapter Two: Premonitions

Chris stood outside Fluttershy's house and gazed off in all directions, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that all this was really happening. He turned his head in various directions and saw all the iconic places he had come to be familiar with from his television.

Everything was in the exact places they should have been, there wasn’t even a hair out of place it was then Chris knew that all this had to be real. He took an eager step forward but since he wasn’t accustomed to the type of movement a pony would be, he stumbled and nearly fell with a concerned Twilight staring at him.

“Uh, you ok Chris?” Twilight asked with slight concern.
“Oh, right, yeah I’m fine, just adjusting y'know?” Chris replied in a satisfied voice.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure your legs will be fine.” Twilight added, “Come on, we got a lot to see.” Twilight stated eagerly as she walked towards town with Chris and Spike following behind her. The three remained quiet until Spike asked Chris something.

“So, what was Manehattan like?” Spike wondered.
“Oh, nothing special really, it was good living but I just didn’t enjoy it that much, so I moved.” Chris replied, almost making everything up on the spot.

“What about the food? Any good?” Spike asked eagerly. Chris thought of an answer that would take Spike’s mind off the subject as to not give any suspicion as to his actual origins.
“Not really, all they had was those old fashioned restaurants that only served vintage gems. Good but not really my thing.” Chris answered cleverly.
“Did you say vintage gems?!” Spike asked as his mouth began to water.

“Oh yeah, tonnes. Ruby's, emeralds, sapphires and what was the other one.....oh yeah, diamonds.” Chris was just playing with Spike now.
“D-d-d-d-d....DIAMONDS!” Spike yelled as he rushed over to Twilight, “Twilight, did you he-”
“No Spike, we are not going to Manehattan.” Twilight interrupted, Spike’s eagerness turned to disappointment as he hunched over. Finally the three reached the square.

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Chris had become slightly more accustomed to the town at this point, even though it was all new for him he felt strangely at home but that was more than likely due to his excessive knowledge of Equestria and minimal knowledge of his own world.

“Well, here we are, Chris.” Twilight stated with a smile as she made a hoof gesture, almost presenting the town as if she had an audience watching. “See anywhere of interest?” Twilight asked, ready to answer any questions. Chris stood confused as where to start, he turned his head in a few directions but nothing seemed to catch his eye as he had seen it all before. Not wanting to sound rude and not answer at all Chris once again thought of something on the spot, he turned to a nearby fountain before he responded.

“Uh...how about that fountain over there?” Chris said as Twilight and Spike both looked at him with almost identical confused faces. Spike was the first to break the silence.

“Really? A foun-” Spike was cut off by Twilight zapping him with a slight spark from her horn, “Sure, let’s go have a look.” Twilight stated quickly in hopes that she had covered up Spike’s rudeness. As the three walked towards said fountain, Chris mumbled something under his breath whilst giving himself a ‘face-hoof’

"A fountain? Really Chris? Ugh...just roll with it.” Chris whispered to himself as the three approached the fountain's edge. Twilight was the first to speak, spouting what she hoped was ‘interesting information’.

“Well, let me see...oh yes, now I remember.” Twilight spouted as a memory clicked in her head, "This is a ‘wishing fountain’. I've seen ponies pass by this each day and throw bits into it; go ahead, try it.” Twilight said as she lightly nudged Spike who reluctantly pulled out a single bit which he then tossed to Chris. The stallion managed to actually catch the bit between his hooves and wondered if he was really getting accustomed to to this new life-style as he approached the water’s edge.

He stared into the clear pool seeing that it was laced with money at the bottom, Chris looked around even though he had nothing to fear and muttered to himself as he closed his eyes.

“I wish....that this isn’t a dream.” Chris said as he dropped the coin in and opened his eyes. When he did though he didn’t see the clear pool as it was before, instead he saw black murky water with two red eyes staring back at him and in his mind he heard these words from a voice that wasn’t his own.
“This is my dream....and soon....your nightmare!” The voice stated as it left Chris’ mind with a maniacal laughter.

Chris sprung away from the fountain to find Twilight and Spike perplexed at his sudden jump, he recovered himself and quickly responded to the pair's faces,

“I, uh....think I may have cracked something.” Chris said as he hoped that this excuse was good enough.
“Well something's cracked alright.” Spike stated before he was promptly shocked once again by Twilight.
“Spike!” Twilight said in a disapproving tone, “Don’t mind him Chris, he’s just hungry is all.” Twilight said as she hoped that excuse was good enough.
“Hungry?.....Well now that you mention it Twilight I am a bit peckish.” Spike exclaimed cleverly, taking advantage of the situation, “How about we go to that nice place with those grass fries” Spike requested.

“I thought you hated that place since they didn’t serve gemstones?” Twilight asked in an equally as clever tone as Spike's.
“Food is food though right?” Spike said, almost begging at this point as the entire argument had been turned on him.
“Food is food, but I think we should go somewhere closer....like Sugarcube Corner.” Twilight stated eagerly, “We could get some food and keep the tour going.” Twilight said as she trotted lightly away.

Chris didn't object and followed eagerly, still going over in his head why he keeps seeing those mysterious red eyes and what connection they might have to his current situation.

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When the three arrived at Sugarcube Corner Chris had a mental recap of all the times he had ever saw the confectioneries establishment, but to be this close amazed Chris in a way he couldn’t even describe, but he was feeling a lot like that today. Twilight took the first move and casually opened the door for Chris and Spike.
“Well, in we go.” The unicorn stated, trying to sound as competent as a tour guide could be.

Chris walked slowly into the store and lightly nodded at at Twilight whilst lightly smiling to show his thanks. When Chris looked around however he didn’t see what he was usually used to seeing. The store was partly covered in a black dust and a distinct smell of smoke filled Chris’ nostrils, he wondered why the store was in such a state until he remembered why Pinkie had to leave when he first met her. Chris walked cautiously through the store, less he be met with anymore ‘surprises’.

“Uh....Pinkie? You in here?” Spike said as he walked cautiously alongside Chris. Seemingly out of nowhere, Pinkie hopped over a counter and landed right in front of Chris.
“Hey there Chris!” Pinkie said with a soot covered face. Chris nearly cannoned out his new pony skin at the shock of the randomly appearing pink pony, but at this point he should have come to expect that. Twilight walked over to Chris and put her hoof on his back as a way of reassuring him.
“Chris....it’s just Pinkie.” Twilight said with a straight gaze and a slight smile.

“Oh, right...hehe...sorry.” Chris said as he tried to hide his red face, but as he turned his head to do so he found Pinkie who seemingly ‘teleported’ to where he was looking, “How did she do that?” Chris thought as he was addressed by the pink earth pony.
“Yeah it’s just me silly! And guess what?! I made cupcakes!.”
“Cupcakes?” Chris said as his mind recalled a rather ‘horrifying’ form of literature he had ‘reluctantly’ read in the past
“Uh..sure, I’d love one actually!” Chris said with a reassured smile.

“Great! Here, try a Rainbow Dash cupcake!” Pinkie said as she pulled out a blue frosted cupcake and upon further inspection Chris noticed a Rainbow Dash cutie mark on it. Chris bit his lip as he backed away in terror and hit his head against a nearby wall.
“Chris are you alright?” Twilight asked with a concerned tone.
“Alright?! She made a Rainbow Dash cupcake!” Chris stated in a panicky tone.

“Well, duh! I made cupcakes for everypony.” The pink pony replied as she pulled out a baking tray, all with cupcakes that were colour coordinated to each of the mane six and upon closer inspection Chris noticed that the cutie marks on each were in fact frosting.
“Uh...well....sorry, my mistake.” Chris said as he rubbed the back of his head, both from embarrassment and from pain.

When Chris composed himself he tried to come up with a coherent answer to explain his earlier behaviour as it seems everypony...and Spike, was awaiting his answer. Chris stuttered slightly as he forced his explanation out, “I uh......thought I saw a bug.” Chris said whilst he mentally ‘face-hoofed’
“Then why’d you say she made a Rainbow Dash cupcake?” Spike asked as he walked closer and jutted his eye out at Chris, the newly formed pony had to think fast, and he did just that.

“Well yeah, but you didn’t let me finish. I was gonna say that she made a Rainbow Dash cupcake..and I thought I saw a bug on it.” Chris stated as he tried to compose himself once again.
“Wait....so your scared of bugs?” Twilight interjected with a smile.
“Well no...it was more of a spur of the moment type thing y'know?” Chris stated as a meager excuse and he knew it.
“It’s okay Chris....I used to be scared of bugs too.” Twilight said as she once again placed her hoof on Chris’ back.

“You guys are such babies.” Spike stated with a disapproving but slightly jokey tone in the young dragon’s voice, but then something odd happened. Chris and Twilight both went to say the obvious and ended up saying the exact same thing.
“I’m pretty sure you’re the only baby here Spike.” The two stated as they looked at each other confused but they both soon let off a pleasant chuckle.

“Great minds think alike I suppose.” Twilight stated as she began to walk out the door, but was soon interrupted by an intruding Pinkie Pie.
“Wait can you guys do me a favour? I need to stay here and make this mess go away so could you guys deliver my cupcakes?" Chris turned to respond but as he did he felt a sharp ringing in his ear, strangely enough it sounded like,
“....Static?” Chris asked himself as Pinkie Pie butted in once again, seemingly breaking away all the static.

“What?” Pinkie questioned with a confused look as did Twilight and Spike. Chris quickly responded as to not arouse any suspicion.
“Uh, I said uh...ecstatic, I’d be ecstatic to help.” Chris said as he, once again, mentally face-hoofed.

After the three left Sugarcube Corner Chris needed sometime to actually process what was going on, he couldn’t think of a reason why but it seemed he never really took some time to think about his current situation. He needed time to think so he tried to excuse himself from the tour for the moment, “Uh..excuse me Twilight I just...gotta go to the bathroom.” Chris stated as he trotted away whilst kicking himself for such a stupid excuse.

“Well okay, don’t take too long.” Twilight yelled to the departing pony. Chris wasn’t heading to the bathroom at all, instead he turned a sharp corner into a nearby alleyway.

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Chris put his back up against a wall and sighed heavily, he started to think over all the information he had at this point and try to come to a rational conclusion but then he realized something.

“I’m a pony.....in a cartoon world...there is no rational conclusion.” Chris stated, confident that nopony was around to hear him. He continued to pace back and forth in the rather foul smelling alleyway, he had pretty much came to the conclusion that there were two conclusions he could come to.

One option he thought was that all this was actually real and he was actually a pony, the other option was that he’d gone certifiably insane which would probably explain the strange visions and odd occurrences he had been experiencing. He thought further on the subject of these strange events.

About a million questions faced him at this point but the one was certainly at the centre of his mind, “What the hell is going on?” He said out loud as he didn’t really expect an answer, but surprisingly he got on. Seemingly out of nowhere a hooded mare appeared behind Chris, it took him a few moments to realize but when he did he was certifiably scared out of his wits. Chris composed himself slightly though when the mare began to speak.

“I know who that is before my eyes, you are a human, perhaps in disguise?” The mare said as she lowered her hood even more to conceal her identity. Chris was dumb founded by the mysterious mares accusation, he tried to play the idiot and act like he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“A...human? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Chris stated clearly as to avoid confusion.
“I don’t believe a word you say, we both know what happened today.” The mare stated as if she was leading into a larger statement, which she was, “Dark times ahead for this dreamy land, it will become corrupted by evil's hand. I know that you have seen it too, the horrid red eyes that follow you. The wheels of fate have started to turn, and without you this land will burn. So make head of this one fact, when the time comes...you must act!” The mare said with a straight tone whilst she was facing the ground.

Chris stuttered slightly before responding, astounded at how much this mare seemed to know. Chris then realized something however, during this entire conversation he failed to notice one thing until now.
“Wait a second....you were rhyming every sentence just there.” Chris said as his eyes widened at his realization of who this mare was, “Wait......Zecor-” Chris was cut off by a shout from the other side of the alleyway.

“Chris! You back here?” Twilight shouted as Chris turned to face the rather concerned unicorn and dragon. When he turned back though the mysterious figure who he assumed was Zecora had vanished.

Chris looked around the alley for any sign of the zebra but sadly he came up dry. He looked to find Twilight and Spike staring slightly confused as they had been before, and as always Chris thought of a cover-up although it was a rather shoddy one.
“Oh hey guys uh...I thought I saw.....a dog...” Chris said as he realized what a pathetic answer that was as all his other ones were.

“A dog?” Spike asked with an unamused face. Twilight luckily interjected though, seemingly saving Chris’ hide.
“Yeah you know, those little adorable things with four legs and a tail, and they’re always so loving and friendly.” Twilight said in a jokey manner.

“So...like Rarity then?” Spike said with hearts in his eyes, Chris saw this as an opportunity to get Spike’s mind off the subject of his previous behaviour. Chris walked casually on by and uttered to the dragon.
“Good one...I’ll have to tell Rarity you said that she’s a dog...I’m sure she’ll be flattered.” Chris stated with a cocky smile and a hopeful attitude.

“Wait...what?! You wouldn’t do that?! …..Er, forget I said anything....” Spike stated in an almost defeated tone.
“Oh relax Spike, Chris is only joking.” Twilight said as she patted Spike on the head and smiled at Chris.
“Yeah...I wouldn’t do that too you Spike.” Chris said as he continued to walk on to continue the tour under the guise that nothing had gone wrong, when really his mind was moving a mile a minute.

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After some general sight-seeing around the town Twilight looked up into the sky and observed as the sun seemed to be making a steady descent, she turned to Spike and Chris who were engaging in pleasant conversation and voiced her concern.

“Guys...I think it’s getting a tad late, don’t you?” Twilight asked as the two ground to a halt. They both tilted their heads up to confirm what Twilight was saying as fact and then responded. Chris was more that happy to turn in for the day as it would give him a chance to think things over.
“Yeah...I guess you’re right. We should probably hit the hay.” Chris said as he realized how literal that was in this world.

Spike on the other hand, or hoof in this world's case, didn’t want to end the tour so soon; he got on his knees and literally begged to Twilight and Chris.
“Oh come on....Can’t we stay out just a little longer? Please?” Spike pleaded as he dragged out the please. Chris and Twilight looked at each other the same way a mother and father would ask each other about a misbehaving child. Twilight was the first to speak up on the matter though, she patted Spike on the head and told him straight up.

“Spike, you know it’s nearly past your bedtime and Chris probably has his own residence to get too.” Twilight said as Chris nodded along but stopped on the last part.

Chris interjected to correct Twilight on her earlier assumption, he gulped nervously before he spoke.
“Actually Twilight......I don’t...” Chris said as he thought he should be honest with the unicorn. Twilight looked flustered and confused.
“What do you mean, didn’t you book something? You said you moved here from Manehatten right?” Twilight asked as she tilted her head in slight confusion.

“Well....in retrospect I probably should have planned my move better.” Chris said as he rubbed the back of his head, “It was just very, abrupt and unexpected.” Chris stated as he thought that they didn’t even know the half of it.

Twilight then interjected with something rather unexpected.
“Well....you could stay with us.” Twilight said as Chris’ eyes widened at this response. He wondered if part of him had unintentionally insinuated staying with Twilight.
“Uh...you sure, I don’t wanna impose or anything.” Chris said with still wide eyes, to which the unicorn almost right away responded.

“No not at all Chris, I’m your tour guide so you're my responsibility.” Twilight stated clearly in a voice that imitated dominance but had a slight jokey tone to it. Chris thought it over and came to the conclusion that ‘No’ wasn’t really an option at this point but he just wanted to reiterate to make sure no brash decisions were made.

“Okay...but are you absolutely sure?” Chris stated in a clear tone to once again avoid confusion.
“Of course I’m sure.” Twilight stated in an equally as clear but also friendly tone, “We have a spare room ready, it’s a bit messy in there but I’m sure if I brought an old bed out of the store room it would feel just like home.” Twilight said eagerly as she led Chris to her house.

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When the three all arrived at the library slash residence they all felt a sense of familiarity, however Chris’ familiarity was more strange. He had never actually been inside the library, well except when he went screeching through it earlier today but that was beside the point. When Twilight politely opened the door Spike rather rudely ran ahead of Chris, he turned to Twilight who was annoyed at the dragon and shrugged.

Chris observed the inside of the library fully, he had always seen it and knew every nook and cranny inside and out, but to actually be here and able to feel the ground below his newly acquired hooves was simply breathtaking.

Twilight snapped Chris out of his so called ‘trance’ however when she directed him to his room. As Chris entered the room that was littered with old book and tomes that seemed to be older than the building, but Chris had come to expect that of Twilight at this point.

He watched a Spike trotted up the stairs to his bed and as Twilight both got an old bed from the basement and clear a space only using her magic. It was the first display of magic Chris had ever seen playing out in front of and, as he expected, it was still breathtaking.

When Twilight was finished with the moving she made one last final inspection before turning to speak to Chris.
“Well there you go Chris.” The unicorn stated with a smile, “Sorry we weren’t able to finish the tour today...I’ll have to show you some more important places tomorrow.” She said as she was about to close the door before Chris interjected once more.

“Uh wait Twilight.....” Chris said as it seemed to have grabbed the unicorn's attention, “I just wanna say, thanks....this was a pretty daunting day for me and I just wanna say thanks for helping me get through it.” The newly made pony said with a smile, knowing he just told Twilight the truth but not all the details.

“Your welcome, anytime Chris.” Twilight stated as she slowly closed the door, “Sleep well.” She said as she closed the door and as a result put an end to Chris’ adventures for the day.....Or so he thought. He turned his head to find none other than Pinkie Pie staring at him through a nearby window with a disapproving look. Chris was initially shocked but then he realized this was the norm for Pinkie so he opened the window.
“Hey Pinkie..What’s u-” Chris was cut off by Pinkie leaning forward with an angry look.

“What’s up?! I’ll tell you what is up!....The sky! And you didn’t deliver my cupcakes!” She shouted as Chris realized his blunder and tried to fix the mess.
“Well....we could give them out tomorrow if you want...” Chris stated sheepishly as he and Pinkie took part in what could only be described as a ‘Battle of glares’.

“.........Okay!” The earth pony said as her attitude completely changed and she slipped away as quickly as she came. Chris closed the window again and said out loud.
“.....What just happened?” Chris asked himself as he chuckled slightly before leaping on to the bed Applejack style.

He still had a lot of information to process, some of which conflicted with what he already knew and frustrated him to think about it so he just decided go to sleep and just hope he didn’t wake up in his own world the next day.

As Chris slept though he experienced a rather odd nightmare, it seemed as though he was seeing through the eyes of some strange creature. In the nightmare his vision was tinted as red as blood and even though he had no idea whose vision he was intruding on he did know one thing.

It was big....it was bloodthirsty.....and it was on a set course...to Ponyville........