Nick's life is turned upside-down as he lands in the middle of a dark plot to corrupt Equestria. With the help of his new-found pony friends he harnesses the powers of the Elements of Creation to save the day... because yes. Just another HiE story its my first, so any constructive criticism is welcome. Also this takes place before season 3... mostly.
Just a note, this is my first story EVER (I don't even know how to correctly format it, in fact I don't even know when to start new paragraphs!) please be kind with comments and please give me constructive criticism/feedback.Thanks for reading =).
It was almost midnight and Dave still wasn't here. Letting out a sigh I leaned against a nearby tree, checking my watch again for the dozenth time, even though I already knew what it would say. I really hoped Dave would show up soon because if my parents found out I wasn't at home I wouldn't hear the end of it. Dozing I imagined possible arguments I would have with them if they found out, though my mind soon moved on to less stressful subjects.
A rustling in the trees above me broke me out of my trance and I pushed myself away from the rough bark fully alert, turned out it was only a bird. This is taking to long. Stupid Dave. Stupid comet. That was the reason Dave had me come out here in the middle of the night, to see some stupid comet. Astronomy was never my thing, but Dave ate that stuff up. Every day for the past week he has been begging me to come see this comet with him, never letting me forget that it only passed Earth every 100,000 years.
Looking up I glared daggers at the hunk of ice, frozen rock and whatever else comets are made of that ruined my night. It stood out among the stars; a red ball in the sky with a long tail trailing behind. It had an ominous look to it. My eyes seem to be playing tricks on me the comet started to glow brighter and brighter. Blinding light caused me to shield my eyes and look away. Everything around me glowed different colors of the rainbow. I stumbled back in surprise and tripped over something unseen. When I should have hit the ground I kept on going.
Anything solid eluded my grasp, my hand passing through only clouds. I had no idea what had just happened. One moment I was on solid ground, the next I was up in the sky. The fall didn't last long and I soon plummeted into a conveniently placed lake. Water took the place of air after I made the mistake of trying to breath, struggling to breach the surface of the lake. Being a lifeguard payed off as I managed to take control of the situation. Wasting no time I paddled as quickly as possible to the side of the water.
Cold water weighed down my cloths as I pulled myself out of the lake and collapsed in a heap on the grass. "I don't remember there being any lakes nearby." my voice was horse and my throat felt raw. I forced myself to get up and took a quick look around. I was in a small clearing with a lake in the middle of a forest it seemed like. There was nothing of interest, no wait that looks like a dirt trail over there. Still soaking wet I went over to investigate.
The path didn't go that far, it led me straight out of the forest and I was glad I had noticed it. Nothing looked familiar though and I still had the problem of not having the slightest clue of where I was. I was at the edge of some rural looking town. Passing by a cozy looking cottage on my way I decided I would first need to find out where I was then call Mom and think of some story to coverup why I wasn't in bed sleeping.
In almost no time at all I found the local library and the lights were still on.Yay for luck! It was Strangely though it was a tree house, not a little box in a tree you would play in when you were a kid, but it was actually part of the tree. I would have to find out how it was made before I left. Taking a deep breath I pushed open the door, bells jingling as I did so.
"Hello?" a feminine sounding voice called out from up the stairs
A chair screeched somewhere and I heard something comparable to the clopping of hooves on wood, was she wearing tap shoes or something. "I seem to be a bit lost and I was wondering if I could use the phone here to call my parents." There was no reply other than a small gasp. I turned to see who was there, it was my turn to gasp. Standing at the bottom of the stairs was a purple unicorn. A purple grow surrounded me and I was lifted off the ground, thrown into a book filled room, the door slamming shut after me. The glow disappeared and gravity suddenly remembered me, dropping me painfully onto the ground.
"Twilight, what was that thing?" A voice belonging to a little boy, or was it a little pony, questioned.
"I have no idea spike, I'll see if I can find anything about it in a book." the voice of the purple mare responded.
Returning to my senses I moved over to the door, peeking out of the keyhole. On the other side I saw the purple unicorn and a small lizard, maybe a baby dragon? Books were floating all around the purple mare being tossed aside as she searched through them rapidly, probably trying to figure out what I was. Unicorns and dragons, where was I? I'm obviously wasn't anywhere near home anymore. I thought of the strange event with the comet. Was I in a different dimension? Seemed pretty far fetched, but then again there was a talking purple unicorn in the other room.
The thump of a particularly large book being thrown aside broke me out of my trance. I tried the doorknob with no luck, it was locked. There was a window big enough for me to jump out of, that solved that then. Getting home was a different matter. Which direction did I come from again? The sky. I didn't see myself sprouting wings anytime soon so I would have to rule that out and find a different way. Walking over to the window I pushed it open, peering outside. It was still dark, and I was pretty tired. Looking around again before deciding to leave I noticed one brick of a book sitting on a table beside the door. On impulse I grabbed it, took another look around and slipped out the window.
"Maybe we should ask Fluttershy?" the young dragon suggested, and that was the last thing I heard.
I made my way back to the forest sprinting there to avoid any more run-ins with these unicorn creatures. In no time I was back in the forest. I was going to sleep, I had already decided that back at the library, but it wasn't going to be on the ground exposed. Finding a thick tree with big branches I quickly scaled it and settled down, wedging the book between a branch above me. Whatever secrets it held could wait till the morning, besides I couldn't read in the dark anyways.
Closing my eyes sleep soon claimed me, one last thought running through my head. If unicorns lived in the town, what kind of creatures might be in this forest, but I was to tired to care.
It's easy to wake up and think that everything had just been a bad dream. It's a little harder to do that when you wake up in a tree, or in my case I just feel out. A dull thud sounded out as I managed to land ever so gracefully on my face. Letting out an involuntary groan I rolled over, and I just lay there watching the clouds drift overhead, obstructed slightly by the canopy of leaves above. If I was a cloud I wouldn't have to worry about any of this.
I wished I could just lay here forever, and I probably would have too, but my stomach rejected the idea and reminded me that I needed to eat with a not-so-quiet growl. Getting up I almost left, but I remembered the book from the night before. To lazy to climb up the tree and get it myself I grabbed a stick long enough to poke it out, and poke it out I did. The brick of a book fell to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust as it hit the ground. When I went to retrieve it I noticed it had nothing distinguishing on the cover, like the night before my curiosity was peaked. Eating could wait just a few more minutes.
I flipped through the pages briefly, noticing that most of the text was hand written, or perhaps in this case it was hoof written. It talked all about magic, more like notes than a manual on how to do it. Magic. That would explain what the purple mare had pulled off earlier, picking me up and tossing me away like an insect. I shivered thinking what else she could be capable of, or the rest of this worlds inhabitants. Thinking about this and a great number of other things as I skimmed the pages I lost track of time, but my stomach impatiently reminded me what I was supposed to be doing with another growl.
Sighing I closed the book, I guess further inspection would have to wait till after I ate. decided I would search the surrounding forest for food instead of braving the town in broad daylight for fear of what they might do to me if I was caught. Taking one last look around me to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind I set off, sticking to the path to avoid losing my way. As I got deeper the path faded away from infrequent use, and I could see why. An ominous feeling hung in the air, as if something would jump out from the shadows at any moment. Speaking of shadows it was quite dark this far into the forest, hardly any light pieced the thick canopy above, it might as well have been night. A branch cracked. What was that!? I whipped around, the hair on the back of my neck at end. Nothing was there. My mind must be playing ticks on me. Better just focus on finding food, there was nothing to worry about, but I still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in my gut.
Slowing down my pace scanned the treetops for any signs of fruit or berries. Luckily for me it didn’t take to long, but the fruit here is strange. It looked like an apple, but running down its length in a striped pattern was every color of the rainbow. Jumping a little I grabbed one off of a low hanging branch, a jolt of electricity ran through me as I plucked it from the branch, just enough to startle me. Now I was even more hesitant to eat the thing. My stomach was less picky and reminded me that I had little choice with another growl. I closed my eyes and sunk my teeth into the thing, and my eyes opened wide soon after. The taste could only be described as electrifying. No, I wasn’t electrocuted, but if electricity had a taste I’m sure this would be it. Instantly I felt re-energized, whatever morning grogginess I felt was now cleared. Putting down the book I climbed up and grabbed a few, getting used to the jolt of electricity that came when you picked one, and ate until I could eat no more, then ate some more. Finishing up I pocketed a few apples and jumped down, picking up the book and sitting down to rest.
Just as soon as I sat down, I was back up. A scream sounded off in the distance, and I froze in place for a moment before bolting in the opposite direction like a frightened deer, but stopped again when I heard the scream again this time I could tell it was female, “Help!” It was loud and clear. I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t. Cursing my own stupidity I changed direction, heading towards the scream this time. Whoever it was needed help, and I couldn’t bring myself to abandon them. I ran through the trees, dodging a weaving through the labyrinth of trees, nearly falling several times as my foot caught an unseen root or overturned rock. I regretted eating so much.
As I ran my stomach lurched, cramping up and hindering my movement, but only a little. The though crossed my mind that I might not even be headed in the right direction, but at this point I could only hope I was going the right way. Coming to a new part of the forest I looked around. The trees were a lot more spread out now. Despite being more spread out they still dominated the skies, making up for numbers by being absolutely enormous. A few breaks in the canopy did show up, however, letting in a few rays of sunlight. Just enough light to see the yellow mare cowering against the trunk of one of the massive trees, her coat stained crimson. Her eyes locked onto me, they were silently pleading for help.
Trying to look as nonthreatening as possible I made my way over to her. Whatever attacked her seemed to be gone by now. Crouching down next to her I tried to comfort her, “Everything’s going to be okay, I’m going to help you.” As I talked I reached out to feel her fur, trying to find out how wounded she was. She didn’t say anything, but recoiled at my touch. I felt bad for her, she must be terrified. I came across some nasty looking claw marks running across her right side. It looked pretty serious and was still bleeding. With nothing to bandage it with I tore off strips of my shirt. It would have to do as a makeshift bandage.
As I tore off more of my shirt to finish bandaging her wounds, I wondered why I was doing this. It didn’t really matter anyways, just helping someone who needed help I guess. As I finished the last of the bandage the mares eyes widened and she broke her silence. “B-behind you,” She whimpered in terror, so scared that she was shaking. I whipped around my own eyes widening as well. The shadows massed together before me, forming into a shapeless monster before my very eyes. Before I could even react it seemed to ball up before it launching itself at me.
I managed to turn away before it hit me and it latched onto my back. Despite being made out of shadows it was quite solid, and very heavy. I could feel unseen claws dig into my back, raking down as it hung onto me. Screaming out in pain and rage I stumbled backwards as I tried to throw it off before slamming my back into a tree, that thing between me and the rough bark. It only dug its claws deeper. I already felt weak and my vision swam before me. I didn’t even notice the second shadow creature forming, and by the time I did it was already latched onto my face, adding to my quickly growling list of injuries.
I fell to the ground, unable to handle the weight of both the creatures combined, but as I fell I landed in a patch of light from a break in the canopy above. Both the creatures let out an audible hiss and backed up, disappearing from my sight. I wasted no time. Quickly as I could I hobbled over to the yellow mare. She was curled up in a ball whimpering and shivering. I don’t even know how I found the strength to pick her up, but I did. And I ran, if you could even call the pitiful attempt to escape running. It didn’t do any good though, before I even managed to travel a few yards the shadows were upon me once more. My vision flickered and the ground rushed up to meet me. I tried to protect the yellow mare with my body, but even I knew that it was useless. My vision began to fade, and the last thing I saw was the purple mare from the night before galloping up, horn bursting with light, before the bliss of unconsciousness took me.
I cracked open my eyes a bit and groaned as light flooded in, pulling the covers over my head in an attempt to block it out. It took a moment to remember what had happened to me, who knows how long ago, but I shot up as soon as I remembered, wincing as the new scabs on my back cracked from the movement. Looking around with a bewildered look on my face I could tell that I was in a cottage of some sort, but what surprised me the most was the five mares in the room with me. They all noticed I was up. I should have been used to this by now, but I was still as surprised as I was during my first encounter with the purple equine.
I said not a word, and they returned the favor giving me nothing but astonished stares. I guess they had never seen a human before. The purple mare was the first to speak, “What are you?” It was a simple question, and it got a simple answer, “I’m a human.” My own voice sounded thin and raspy. I felt tired and didn’t feel like talking at all, but I forced myself to all the same. And besides, it was my turn to ask a question anyways. “Where am I,” I asked quietly as I lay back down, my eyes looking over each of the mares before me. They all must be just as confused as I am.
“This here is Fluttershy’s Cottage.” A different voice responded with an obvious country accent. I looked around for the speaker and I looked over the orange mare guessing it was her before closing my eyes and groaning, beginning to run my fingers through my hair before finding that a bandage had been wrapped around the top of my head. That didn’t really answer my question, but I let it go. And once again awkward silence filled the room. This was so weird.
I opened my eyes again and looked at the multicolored ponies before me. I noticed the purple one had the book I had stolen earlier; I must have dropped it when I was tending to the yellow mare’s wounds. Speaking of the yellow mare she spoke up in barely a whisper. “Maybe we should let him get some rest.” She paused for a second before adding “I mean if that’s okay with you.” I responded with a grunt, and reluctantly the other ponies left the room. Closing my eyes I went back to sleep, trying not to think too much about any of this, least I go insane.
This time when I woke up I was alone. Out of habit I looked at my watch trying to get an idea of how long I had been sleeping even though I knew it wasn’t working. I slid my feet out from under the covers and stretched my legs over the edge letting my feet slide over the smooth wooden floorboards. Every part of my body was sore, but I got up regardless driven by curiosity. By now my eyes were well adjusted to the dark and I could make out most of the room fairly well. Right above the bed was a window, opened just a crack, from which I could see it was still night, or at least I think it was night before. I really had no idea. On the far side of the room was a door, light shining from the gap below, and next to it was a sink with a mirror which I walked over to, the floor creaking as I moved. My eyes widened in surprise as I came into view in the mirror. Boy did I look a mess. Wrapped all the way around my chest and back were blood stained bandages that covered wounds that I don’t even remember getting. A cool breeze rolled in through the open window making me shiver a bit. I wish I hadn’t ruined my shirt, but on the other hand if I hadn’t the yellow mare would have surely died. I turned on the sink and let the warm water run through my fingers and used it to wet my hair. I always thought my hair looked nicer wet; it was a nice hazelnut brown and matched my eyes. I washed my face and hands the best I could, but avoided the areas around my bandages in fear of loosening them. Turning of the sink I let a grim smile tug at my lips. At least now I didn’t look like a monster. I took a few steps towards the door and placed my hand on the knob. I couldn’t help wonder how they could even use a doorknob with hooves. I started to turn it then hesitated. I could hear voices on the other side. Instead I put my ear against the door and listened. “Now Fluttershy you never did tell us why the hay you were out so far into the Everfree forest.” A thick country accent rang out from the other side of the door. Fluttershy. So that’s what her name is. When she responded I had to strain my ears to make out her quiet voice, “Angel was sick and the cure called for a herb that only grew deep within the forest.” “Common Fluttershy,” A tomboyish voice burst into the conversation, scolding Fluttershy, “Even I know that it’s dangerous to go that far into the forest.” There was no response this time, or if there was I didn’t hear it. Time seemed to slow as I waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Taking a deep breath I put my hand back on the knob and gave it a slow turn before pushing the door open. No one was there. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. They must have moved to a different room. I walked through the room, not really paying attention to it. My attention was focused on the next door. It was open and I could hear laughter coming from the other side. Stopping at the entrance I peered in. They were all facing away from the door, seated around a table drinking what looked like tea. Now was as good a time as any. I decided to speak up. “Hi. I’m uh awake now.” My voice was a lot quitter that I meant it to be. I was just nervous and this whole thing was just kind of weird. A flash of pink dashed across the room and an energetic pony jumped up in front of me, blowing a noisemaker into my face. “Surprise!” she cried out enthusiastically. I took a step back in alarm and almost fell over. I didn’t really respond because really how are you supposed to respond to something like that? Just as quickly as she appeared she was back in her seat. “I umm” I started to talk but was cut off by the elegant voice of the White mare. “Why don’t you have a seat dearie?” Nervously I pulled up a chair, sitting myself between Fluttershy and the purple mane’d mare. They all looked at me, and I stared back. Alright if they weren’t going to talk, I was, “Listen I,” But I stopped, not really knowing what to say. Lowering my gaze I continued, “I’m not from around here, and where I come from magic doesn’t even exist, and... I need help getting home.” Looking up I saw the lavender mare scribing on a piece of paper, or scroll of some sort. I had a feeling she was writing down everything I said, and I said as much, “Did you just write that down?” She looked up, blushing “Oh it’s just nothing like this has ever happened before, and I wanted to document it.” She paused for a second, as if thinking, and set the scroll and quill aside before continuing. “I can write it down later. I’ll be doing some research about this when I get home, why don’t you tell us what happened from the beginning, I’m sure it will help us get you home.” She offered a reassuring smile as she finished. I returned a weak smile and began, starting with the call I got from Dave, and how I snuck out, to when I heard Fluttershy’s pleas for help, and ending with me in this room right now. Throughout the story I was interrupted several times with questions, all of which I answered happily. It felt good to finally be talking and being able to share what had happened to me.
