Chapter 1
Dusk felt hard earth under his right side. Rocks, dead leaves, and some twigs were poking him, pinching his flesh and pulling his fur. With a wince he moved his legs and tail, making sure they weren’t broken or too hurt before opening his eyes and taking in the scenery around him.
It was a wooded area with rising hills and lots of trees that he couldn’t identify, but they smelled sweet enough to bring a warm feeling him. The area felt like the Whitetail Woods outside Ponyville, but it was way from where he was flying, practicing, for the next stunt show.
“Damn, crashing sucks,” he grumbled rolling to his belly. With a yelp of pain his wings retracted to his body with a snap, a throb of pain in his head accented the sickly feel in his stomach as the thought sunk into his mind. “My wing’s torn.”
He moved his left wing freely, albeit reluctantly, expecting the sting of feathers to be stuck together or torn out and sore, easy to fix with a preening. It wasn’t too bad, from his perspective. He looked to his right wing and sighed. His beautiful sky blue coat was littered with fallen debris from trees across the area and moved by winds.
A trail of dark brown stained some of his feathers and he knew it was going to hurt to check. “Augh! Celestia darn it! Cow piles that… smarts.” He opened his wing as best he could to see a tear in the flesh along the arm of his wing that was beginning to scab over. THe laceration didn’t look bad, but he knew a stress fracture when it happened.
To save his last meal he chose to stop looking at his wound and folded his wing closed, whimpering at the pain.
He moved his head and neck around, checking to see if he was tense or wounded anywhere else and sighed in relief. “Okay, just the wing, I can make it to Baltimare in a day’s trot and see a doctor. Maybe I’ll catch a ride with some cute pegasister,” he told himself as he got up and began stretching his legs.
“Ouchies,” he whined as his right rear leg stung, “really? A burr tree nearby?” he nickered in frustration before whipping his wing back out of habit. The resulting shout of pain was audible for nearly a mile.
As he wiped the last tears from his face, twenty minutes after the fact, he cursed every burr tree in existence as he used his tail to clear his leg of the bothersome prickles. He winnied in frustration and cursed the burrs again as he noticed they had transferred from his leg to his tail and we not going to go away without more effort than he was willing to put in at the moment.
With a smile he thought of the mares he’d meet along the way and that would fawn over him and his wounds as he began a trot toward the metropolis. They’d probably pay for a good grooming and brush his tail, personally. With a hopeful heart he began a fast trot to the northeast.
Three hours had passed and the day had seemed to be longer than he remembered, but he passed it off to the injuries. He began going over various tests and songs to keep himself occupied, as well to make sure he was mentally capable of rational thought and navigation. The nature was different, and kept farther away than what he was used to in a wooded area.
No critters ran by him, landed on him, encouraged him to take flight with them, or to help gather seeds they couldn’t, or didn’t want to, reach. Not that he could help them with his wing hurt, but the offers usually made him feel better. The critters he did see seemed… simpler, than he’d remembered from even a couple days before. He shrugged it off to the headache he still had from the crash.
“Okay, so, now where? Oh, I know, I’ll just fly up over the canopy and check out my location,” he chuckled to himself as he gazed at the sky. Slightly duller than what he was used to. The cloud he did see looked... off as well. His hooves made a distinctly loud clacking sound as he was distracted looking into the sky. He looked down suddenly to see a road.
“What the-” he asked looked at the road. “What is this stuff?” he asked poking it with his hooves and scratching at it. The rough asphalt was unlike any stone type road he’d ever seen. He looked at the lines spaced further apart than they usually were in pony cities and travel routes, and then both directions down the road.
“A paved road through a woods?” He asked in wonderment.
It curved away in both directions as he followed it into the distance following the rising terrain and getting lost amongst the trees. “Well, at least I’m on the right path. I’ll go east, toward the city, or west toward unknown dangers and stresses… hmm, what to do?”
He turned to follow the road east before he laughed at his suggestion, chuckling lightly.
…
“Almost nightfall and two hours late? Luna, what’s going on in Canterlot? Or, would it be Celestia? I guess it would be since it’s still daytime. Ugh, I wish I’d brought my saddlebags. A salad would be so nice right about now. I wonder… if… what’s that sound?”
He looked around, his ears swiveling until he located the sound behind him. ‘Manticore!’ he thought in a panic. He gasped and jumped to the side of the road, rolling in the detritus and pulling a messy pile over himself, enough to feel like he was hiding.
He looked around, the rumbling sound getting closer and closer, he could barely keep his wings from trembling as the sound approached, faster than he imagined. He lay flat and still, unmoving as a short, black, covered wagon drove past him going around fifty miles an hour. He only noted the shape and color of the, thing.
“What in Hurricane’s Mane was that?” he asked as he listened. No other noise, save for the vanishing covered wagon and the errant call of birds graced his ears. “Whatever it was,” he said shaking himself as clean as he could before trotting off down the road. “Maybe more test technology from the ministry of magic and science. Whatever it is, it’ll be across Equestria within the decade.”
He walked back onto the road and trotted briskly.
…
He yawned loudly and smacked his lips, looking at the night sky; moonless. “Luna, it’s supposed to be waning gibbous tonight, and the moon rise was four and a half hours later than is should be. Don’t strike me for being heretical, but are you and your sister drinking?” He winced as he finished, expecting instant retaliation.
When none came he sighed and thought about flying to a nice, high, safe cloud and sleeping. Waking, flying to Pegasopolis through the day and eating a huge meal with his cousins; regaling them in the story of how he barely dodged the newest earth pony tech innovation on the road to Balitmare.
His ears caught the sound of another loud covered wagon approaching and he moved to the side of the road. ‘If I can get a ride in one I’ll be the talk of the town! I’ll even get a picture of myself in it, the mares’ll go crazy at the club.’ He felt a little flush at the thought.
He turned to face the road and opened his left wing fully, angled slightly, and waited as the sound grew closer. Thoughts of mares swarming him to see a photo of him in a new covered wagon put a happy smile on his muzzle. He saw the lights first.
They were dazzling in a way he’d never seen. The way they stayed lit at the same lumination and moved at the same pace, spaced just far enough apart to make his mind begin to forget about the mares and more about taking the reins and driving it himself. The idea began to get him excited.
The next covered wagon drove by him, tires squealing, as it swerved through the other lane and nearly spun out before catching enough traction to send it forward again, off the road and into the sparse trees that were thankfully thinner than they were when the last covered wagon had come by.
After a loud crash, glass and trees breaking, the forest was silent again. He stood in place, his wing open as he looked at the broken chariot. “Bang me with a nimbus…” he turned and began to gallop towards the accident, folding his wing tightly he thought back to his medical training as he neared the crash scene.
The door opened and a body fell out, coughing and masked in shadow. “Oh, thank Celestia. Are you alright? I saw you crash, do you need assist-” He stopped in place, the words stuck in his throat, as a creature crawled toward him, “I-I’m sorry, I, don’t mean to be rude, are you a pony?
“I, don’t know your race. Are you a Diamond Dog?” he asked, backing up at the same pace the creature moved before it stopped and reared, resting on its rear knees. “D-do you speak?”
It gasped and looked at the pegasus before itself. “What the?” It said before scrambling back towards the open door.
“Al? What’s happening, are you alright? What the hell was that? Was it one of them?” a mare’s voice called from inside the covered wagon as the first creature scrambled away.
“Amber, stay in the car, there’s some... monster! I’ll distract it, you take Lilli and run,” he said in a hushed voice.
“I can hear you,” Dusk sighed and rolled his eyes, “look, my name’s Dusk Wind and I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted a ride in your covered wagon to Baltimare, I, honestly, never thought you’d crash such a splendid transport,” Dusk said bowing slightly.
“Al? I’m stuck and Lilli’s still asleep. Is she alright, oh please, God, let her be okay…”
“Okay, whatever you are, stay back. I’ll protect my family with my life and I swear I’ll take you with me if you hurt them.” Dusk raised an eyebrow at the threat and his primary feathers bristled, the thought of a fight excited him slightly.
He pushed the thrill of combat aside and took a step back. “I swear, I am only here to help. Would you like me to check you over, or your mate?”
Aside from a quiet hissing sound the area was silent. “Uhm, n-no. That’s, alright. I have to-”
“Damn it, Al, he’s here to help, just get over yourself and let him help! I’m Amber, the ass is Alex and we have a daughter who could sleep through the apocalypse in the back.”
“Ah, Alex, it is a pleasure to put a name to the voice. And, you look odd for an ass. Magic spell? Bah, later. May I be of assistance, Amber?” Dusk asked pushing the question aside.
“Yes! Please, do you have a knife or something? My seatbelt’s stuck. Al, check on our daughter and stop being paranoid. He’s alive and that’s what’s important, who cares what he looks like?”
Alex grumbled but relented to the mare’s voice and climbed into the car. A mumbled argument quickly arose as Dusk went around the covered wagon and waited for the door to open. “Amber, might you open the door? I don’t see a latch or rope, does it open from within?”
“Heh, hear that, Al? He sounds like a nice guy, take a lesson.”
Dusk rolled his eyes. ‘Just what I need. A squabbling family of earth ponies with some hairless, cursed, ass to travel with. Well, maybe it won’t be so bad.’
The door opened quickly, nearly smacking Dusk’s snout and startling him back into the moment. A shrill shriek left the next creature, ‘Amber’, he presumed. Dusk’s ears were flat to his head as he shouted back. “Madam, please! I am trained in first medicine techniques and I am here to help you and your flock- er, whatever your group is.
“I haven’t any sharp tools or spell knowledge to help with your curse,” Dusk said officially, “I will have to use something to help free you from your binds. Now, have you any injuries I should know of before you’re extricated?”
‘By Celestia I hate talking like I was still in the military.’
With some final grunts the male had climbed into the back partition of the covered wagon and was moving around the shadows, speaking quietly.
“Fine,” Amber began, “my chest hurts and my wrist hurts, here,” she pointed to her left wrist. Dusk moved closer and placed a hoof inside the doorframe and pushed himself up, head height to her. She gasped and leaned away with a whimper.
“Hey, get back, you monster!”
“Al! Shut, up.”
He fell silent as Dusk glanced back at him then to the inside of the wagon. “Wow, this is really nice,” he whistled and stuck his head past Ambers’ and sniffed the air. “It even smells different,” he smiled and leaned back, looking at the seat belt. “Heh, vinyl and cotton? Unless you want to wait a few minutes for me to chew through these I think we should use some glass as a tool.”
Amber and Alex gaped at Dusk. “You can use tools?” Alex asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, and I can wipe after I go, too,” Dusk snarked, “what the feather is up with you lot? You act like you’ve never seen a pegasus before.”
There was a whine from the seat behind Amber and a younger female moved into existence. “A pegasus?”
“Hello,” Dusk greeted from above Amber’s head.
Lilli screamed and scrambled back, into Alex’s arms at the sight of a blue equine standing over her mother. “Lilli, it’s fine, just, calm her down Alex! Shit, just once can you keep her calm?!”
“I’m trying! She just woke up to a talking horse in her face after you crashed the car!”
“Hey! Stop it, both of you,” Dusk scolded as he looked between the adults, “you shouldn’t argue in front of a filly,” he chided them. With that he turned to look at Amber’s wrist and moved his hoof under it, raising it into the moonlight. “Rotate.”
Amber moved her wrist and whimpered slightly, garnering a glance from the stallion as he pressed her wrist to his lips. “Your wrist is fine. Can you remove your clothing so I can check your chest?”
“Woah, buddy. You’re not getting fresh with my wife.”
“Wha- No! Not like that,” Dusk blushed as he frowned, “but I’m not a speciest,””he intoned quickly. The corner of his mouth twinged slightly before he looked at Amber. “And how pregnant are you? Do you feel damage to the baby’s?”
Alex burst into laughter while Amber frowned and used her injured wrist to shove Dusk out of the car and away from her. “Yeah, I told you fast food wasn’t good for you,” Alex joked, getting an elbow from the child.
Amber snapped her head back to him. “Ass.”
Lilli whimpered and the door behind Amber opened quickly, an upset youth ran away into the night. “Lilli?!” both adults shouted as Dusk turned to gallop after her.
He quickly caught up to the slow running creature and trotted to keep pace. “Um, Lilli, it’s not your fault they fight, but they love you still.”
She stopped. “How do you even know? The whole world’s dying forever and they can’t be happy,” she said falling to her knees.
“Well, whatever you think is wrong with the world and your parents is just passing. My dam and father used to argue a lot, but then something more magical than anything happened to reunite them. Everything always works out for the best, alright?”
“Where are you from, cuz you’re not s’posed to be real?”
Dusk swallowed hard as he looked at her. She was as tall as he was standing up, she didn’t have fur, wings, or a tail. Her ears weren’t moving like his, they weren’t moving at all. Her skin was a solid darker color. “What are you?”
“I’m Lilli,” she sniffled and wiped her nose on her shirt, “a human.”
Dusk scrambled back and fell to his haunches, beginning to breathe heavily. “H-humans are a myth, y-you can’t be… what are you doing in Equestria of all places?!.”
Lilli cringed back and got to her feet. “Y-you’re scaring me. I thought you were a nice horse.”
He frowned. “I, am a pony, and I am quite nice. I was the best flier in my squad, and I can run a weather patrol pretty good for a soldier, retired,” he sighed.
“So, you’re some kind of military weapon?” Alex asked with a panting breath as he caught up, startling Dusk. “What’re you, some kind of gene-spliced thing? Gonna poison us or something? What!?” he said holding a baseball bat firmly in his right hand and taking a swinging stance.
“N-no! I retired with honors! I served my time in the royal guard, if you kill me it’s still considered a crime against the crown! Please, sir, I want to have a family, please,” Dusk scrambled back and whimpered as he fell onto his right side with a wince, cowering behind his forelegs, “don’t kill me… I only have a few bits, you c-can have them!”
Dusk reached his left hoof into his mane and, with a wince, pulled a few bits from his mane and threw them to the dirty ground before Alex’s boots. Alex sighed and rolled his eyes. “Lilli, c’mere. Dish, right?”
“D-Dusk Wind, kind, forgiving Human, s-sir.”
“Okay, stop with the titles. I’m Alex, this’ my daughter, Lilli. My woman, Amber, is still in the car and if you’re really just here to help I think we could use whatever help you can offer.”
With that, Alex held the bat out towards Dusk and planted his boots into the ground as Dusk bit the bat and was pulled to a better position to get up.
“S-so, y-you’re really a human?” Dusk asked, keeping some distance from the pair of humans.
“Yeah, and you’re some kind of-” A loud scream stole all their attention. Lilli grasped her father tightly as he tensed, grip tightening on the bat as it began to tremble in his arm. Dusk’s ears perked. He looked to the two humans by him and the fear in their eyes before steeling himself and charging back towards the broken wagon.
“For honor!” he shouted.