> Peak of Confusion
>  by Detsella Morningdew
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I breathed in slowly, taking in the soft, yet cool mountain air, feeling my walking stick’s soft purchase in the dirt under my feet. Smiling, I looked over at my companion. “See, I told you this would be nice.”
 
He sighed, rubbing his forehead, then relaxed his shoulders slightly. “I know, but wouldn’t it have been just as good on the actual trail?”
 
I slowed down, stooping to pick a delicate, white flower. Turning around, I showed it to my friend. “This, Shannon, is the kind of thing you’d be missing over there. Just stop and listen. We’ve been hearing the birds chirping, we’ve met at least five squirrels, and I’m pretty sure I saw a deer just five minutes ago. There are just too many people that walk that trail, simply so they can say they got to the peak.”
 
“I know, I get it. It just seems like a lot of risk. What if something happens? I mean, look at all this,” he said, gesturing with his staff. “It is definitely beautiful, Jason, but there’s nobody around for miles.”
 
I raised an eyebrow. “And we both brought our emergency phones, which, as I probably don’t have to remind you, are at full charge.”
 
“But if they don’t know where to find us-”
 
“And we brought a GPS. The good kind, that gives us coordinates, instead of roads. And you are the one that insisted on bringing that solar charger thing.”
 
He sighed again. “I know, I know. I guess I’m still just a bit jittery. It’s been a while since we’ve done something like this.”
 
I smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. There’s been quite a few times when I’ve been quite glad you’re so thorough about packing things.”
 
We started walking again, and I looked back down at the flower I picked. Feeling a sudden sort of recognition, I tucked my walking stick under my arm, then picked one of the blossom’s petals, rubbing against my arm vigorously.
 
My friend looked at me curiously, but I held up a finger. “Just a second. I’m testing something.”
 
When nothing seemed to happen, I licked the petal instead. I smiled, then ate the rest of the flower.
 
Shannon gaped. “...What?”
 
“Oh, I just thought I recognized it as one of the edible flowers I know about. I just had to make sure I wasn’t just mistaking a different flower for the edible one.”
 
He stayed silent for almost a full ten seconds. “...I think that is the most responsible I have seen you be, while completely ignoring any sort of common sense. We have, like, three days worth of food in our bags. Even I know that’s more than we need.”
“It’s not about the food. It’s just fun.”
 
He smiled, shaking his head. “I know… Just don’t come crying to me when you get poisoned.”
 
I started to open my mouth, but he cut me off with a wave of his had. “And I know you just tested it. That’s why I’m just teasing you. Now come on. We need to move if were going to get to that peak. You may not care, but I think that we should at least try to get to the lower one. It’s the one nobody goes to, either.”
 
I nodded briefly. “Yeah, I kind of want to as well. There should be some pretty awesome views from there, too. But we shouldn’t rush it. With this sort of slope, it’ll be a chore to just push through everything. We do have the free time to be out here a few days. We’ll get there when we get there.”
 
Shannon relaxed, and our quickened pace slowed back down into a leisurely walk. “I suppose you’re right. And I do need to learn how to relax better. Things just keep popping up in my head, distracting me.”
 
I smiled at him. “Yeah, I understand. Sometimes I wish I had your ability to focus on so many things at once. But maybe… Maybe you could just focus on a whole bunch of different things.
 
I suddenly stopped, gesturing him to do the same, then reached out, putting both of my hands on his shoulders. “Forget about the food. Forget our packs. Forget about what time it is. Forget where we are going. Just think about the sound of our walking sticks, the rustling leaves, the birdsong. The position of the sun in the sky. Every little detail around us.”
 
He opened his mouth as if to protest, but closed it instead, letting his eyes fall shut as he focused.
 
After a few minutes he slowly opened them, looking around. “Whoa… is this what you see all the time? There’s just… there’s just so much going on, everywhere, that I didn’t even notice! It’s… almost relaxing,” he said, surprised.
 
I smirked. “Only you could find analyzing every single detail to be relaxing.”
 
“Hey!”
 
My expression softened. “But that’s exactly why I suggested it. I’m just glad I could help.”
 
He gave me an embarrassed grin, punching me lightly in the shoulder. “Stop it, you. You’re going to make me blush.”
 
I grinned, turning back to our little “path” we were following, which was basically just the direction of steepest ascent. “Hey, I think we’re finally getting close. The treeline stops over there.”
 
Shannon looked quickly in the direction I was pointing. “Huh. That’s weird. I thought the trees went up all the way up to the peak. Maybe we got turned around somewhere and we’re ascending from the other side?”
 
I looked at him curiously. “Why would trees only grow on one side of the mountain?”
 
He shook his head. “No, not just on one side. But there’s a bare spot near the peak on the opposite side. Where it looks like we are now. That’s probably due to the clouds that blow over the mountain. It rains more frequently as the clouds are pushed against the side of the mountain. But really, it doesn’t matter which side we climb. We have a GPS for the way back, just in case.”
 
I smiled. “Now you’re getting it! But that does sound interesting. Maybe I should have paid better attention during that weather unit of science class.”
 
Suddenly, Shannon stumbled, clutching his leg with a wince. I immediately stopped, turning to him in concern. “Are you all right? Don’t push yourself or anything. We haven’t done this in a while, and I don’t want you doing anything that might hurt your muscles.”
 
He stood back up, a smile back on his face. “No, I’m fine. Just a cramp, I think. It doesn’t hurt anymore, regardless. And we’re almost there. That’s a good place to rest. I was thinking maybe we could have a sort of picnic there.”
 
I nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. I kind of feel lightheaded myself.”
 
Within a few yards, the foliage had virtually disappeared, and we were hiking on the solid stone mountainside, the light dusting of sand the only thing that gave purchase to our walking sticks. While some part of me longed to be back with the wildlife, this was a different sort of fun, climbing the rock that led to the peak.
 
About halfway there, we both decided subconsciously to stop and put our coats on. A chilly breeze had started to pick up, and for once, I was actually glad for Shannon’s overzealous packing methods.
 
Well, no, that wasn’t completely right. Most of what he brought with tended to be quite useful at some time or another. I guess I had never really thought of what it would actually be like at a mountain peak.
 
“Wow, the air in really thin up here,” my companion said, looking over at me. “I’m suddenly very glad we didn’t go to that higher peak.”
 
Internally, I reflected on my own shallow breathing. “Yeah, you can say that again. We’re really close, anyway. I think I can see it from here.”
 
“Good. I’m getting kinda hungry, anyway.”
 
Both of us fell silent, the soft crunch of our shoes against the powdered rock clearly audible against the increasing wind.
 
“Are you sure we’ll be able to have that picnic?” I asked. “It’s getting a lot windier all of the sudden. I think it’s the lack of trees.”
 
Shannon stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Huh. The direction means we aren’t on the lee of the mountain, like I thought. From the ground, it really looked like the trees went all the way up. But yeah, we should probably still eat, but we should stick to finger food and stuff that won’t decide to fly off the side of the mountain.”
 
I nodded, but suddenly fell to the ground as a huge blast of wind hit me from the back. “Yeah, I think we should stick to climbing on all fours.” I looked apprehensively at the steep rocky path behind us. “We don’t want to risk anything.”
 
My friend chuckled. “You, afraid of risk?”
 
I gave him a level stare.
 
“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s a good idea. Probably would have said something if you didn’t. It was just odd, hearing it from you.”
 
I rubbed my forehead, trying to get rid of the headache slowly building there. “I’m usually all for just climbing up a cliff face. But something about this whole thing doesn’t seem right. Things aren’t matching up. Stuff like that. It just… feels wrong for some reason.”
 
To my surprise, he nodded instantly, grimacing slightly. “Yeah, I definitely get what you’re saying.”
 
I looked at him seriously. “You want to go back? I mean, you don’t have to push on my account. I just liked the walk through the forest.”
 
He shook his head. “No, no. Not when we’re literally tens of feet from our goal. Let’s just go see the peak, rest for a bit. See the view. Then we’ll go right back.”
 
We started again, grabbing little outcroppings of rock with our hands, and using indentations to give our feet extra purchase against the admittedly shallow slope. No use in wasting energy, after all.
 
Right before we got to the top, though, Shannon suddenly stumbled, gasping audibly. I rushed over immediately, but he waved me off.
 
“We’re literally a few feet from the top. Just wait until then.”
 
“But-”
 
“I’ll be able to get my first aid kit out a lot more safely if we’re on a level surface.”
 
I looked at him uncertainly, but nodded anyway, climbing ahead of him. Might as well get it out first.
 
The ground suddenly leveled out, and I had barely set my pack down when my brain registered the sight before me.
 
“Whoa, how high up are we?” I looked back at my companion, but he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he was looking at the sky.
 
“Wait, that isn’t where the sun is supposed to be.”
 
“No, seriously, this is way higher than 2,000 feet.”
 
Shannon suddenly slipped, falling forwards. He braced with his rigid palms, and the sharp CRACK echoed across the mountain range.
 
My head whipped around instantly as I rushed towards him, still on my hands and knees. If something broke...
 
But he was just staring at his hands in confusion. They were still extended, palms forward, and unmoving.
 
Suddenly, I felt extremely lightheaded, swaying to the side as my headache worsened considerably. There was no doubt about it. I had altitude sickness.
 
Shannon seemed to gasp, staring at his hands, before rushing suddenly to the other edge of the peak, making odd clicking noises as he went.
 
His eyes suddenly widened at the sight, and he fell backwards onto his rear end. “No….”
 
I lost consciousness a moment later.
 



 
“Come on… come on… wake up...”
 
I opened my eyes blearily, immediately conscious of the mask over my face, breathing in stale air that was surprisingly refreshing.
 
Wait… oxygen mask? He seriously brought an oxygen mask to a mountain under 2,000 feet?
 
...but why did I need it in the first place?
 
The memories slowly came back, and I suddenly sat straight up, eyes wide. “No! You’re the one that needs the medical attention! Your wrist is broken!”
 
I heard a soft sigh from behind me. “No, I’m fine. Don’t worry. You should just relax. We need to get some help soon. I didn’t exactly bring that much oxygen.”
 
The odd pressure against my mouth suddenly reminded me that I still had a mask pressed against my face. And was it… glowing blue?
 
I turned around, and saw… something impossible.
 
He smiled awkwardly. “The time for any medical attention is way past due.”
 
The… thing before me didn’t scare me because it was completely foreign. It terrified me with how familiar it was. And there was no mistaking those eyes. Nowhere else had I seen dark brown eyes that I would describe as “brilliant.” And that voice. This was definitely Shannon.
 
“Umm, Jason… you know that show you watched with me that one time?”
 
I nodded numbly. “Yeah, that was kinda fun. I don’t think I’ve pulled two consecutive all-nighters before.” Maybe if I ignored the issue, it would resolve itself.
 
He waved around a blue appendage awkwardly. “Well, I didn’t really tell you at the time, but it has a sorta huge following, especially because of the world it created… and some people get kinda into it a lot...”
 
I sighed. I’m way too dizzy to be thinking about this right now. “So your point is…?”
 
“I-think-we’re-in-Equestria.” he forced out with his eyes closed.
 
I breathed in slowly, tasting the odd sourness of the oxygen, then breathed out, trying to relieve my headache. “All right. So why are you a blue unicorn? ...Or at the very least, why am I not?”
 
He looked down, mumbling something unintelligible. I barely made out the word “pony.”
 
“What was that?”
 
“I… I may have thought of myself as a pony for the past year or so.”
 
I raised an eyebrow.
 
He cringed slightly. “Yeah, I know it sounds weird, and kinda pointless, since there wasn’t anything actually changing, but is it really so bad to hold yourself to the standards of Equestria?”
 
I blinked. Was that all it was? “All right. I guess it isn’t that weird.”
 
“And it was a fun mental experiment.”
 
I tilted my head. “What?”
 
He actually smiled. “Yeah. I once trained my brain to see the color red as green instead. Had to take the bus for a week before I figured out how to fix it.” He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. “That was admittedly not my best idea.”
 
I facepalmed. Sometimes a brilliant mind wasn’t the best thing to have, especially an overactive one.
 
“Hey! If you must know, I got the idea when I realized that in all likelihood, everypo… everybody sees colors differently.”
 
I pointedly ignored his obvious slip-up. “What do you mean? Everybody can identify all the colors exactly the same. Unless you’re talking about color-blind people.”
 
He smiled again. “Just picture a nice, red strawberry. Almost everyone will agree, that color is red.”
 
“Yeah?”
 
“Now, picture a green strawberry this time, with a red top. Got it?”
 
“Okay…?”
 
“Now call green red, and red green.”
 
“...”
 
I facepalmed. “That is both completely mind-bending, while being completely useless in any practical sense.”
 
“But think about it! What if this influences people’s color preference‽ The breakthroughs in psychology would be huge!”
 
“And if what you are saying is true, there is no independent way to verify this, or even compare what different people see.”
 
“But there are so many new breakthroughs in reading brainwaves. In just a few years...”
 
“And what would be used to display such colors on a screen? Representations that match the wavelengths themselves? You’d be back where you started.” I rubbed my temples. “Is this the kind of thing you think about every day?”
 
He tilted his head. Damn, that’s too cute-looking! “Wow, you’re actually right. Unless they have some way of directly interfacing two brains…” He shook his head again, bringing a front hoof down on the stone with a sharp crack, bringing me back to full awareness. “No, we can talk about this later.”
 
He looked at me curiously. “Although I never knew you could reason through something like that so quickly.”
 
I shrugged. “Probably just a fresh perspective or something. You do tend to ‘think things into submission.’”
 
Shannon blushed slightly. “Yeah, but that’s not as important right now. I got distracted, but we really need to get some help, and soon. I’m going to have to take away your mask for now. We don’t really have that much of an oxygen supply, and it’s going to take a while to climb back down.” He peeked over the edge. “We’re a lot higher up.”
 
I pointed back in the direction we came. “I mean, couldn’t we just walk back that way?”
 
For once, I saw true frustration on his face. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He gestured down at his new form. “I don’t think this will really go over well with the authorities, especially if I claim to have been human before. Even if it changes me back… it was painful enough the first time, and… I pretty much ate half our food. I don’t want to do it again.”
 
He sighed, ears drooping. “I don’t even know if the path exists anymore.” He pointed a hoof over the opposite edge, and I took a peek.
 
There wasn’t a tree for practically a mile.
 
A blue glow enveloped different pieces of his first aid kit as he began packing.
 
Turning my back to the wind, went back to the center of “camp” to help with the cleanup.
 
“Say… I kind of understand you being able to use your, um… pony body pretty fast, since you obviously knew enough about their anatomy to pretend to be one for months, but I know for a fact there was no magic back home. And I know it takes study and effort. Even just for levitation.”
 
Shannon splayed his ears back in embarrassment. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t really know any spells. Otherwise I would have sent out a flare ages ago. Especially with you unconscious like that. But… you kinda taught me how.”
 
Realizing that we weren’t ready to leave yet, I sat down again, acutely feeling the rock underneath me. “Um… when? I don’t really know about magic. I thought you might have remembered how it worked from the show or something.”
 
“No… they weren’t really that into specifics. But what you taught me in the forest just half an hour ago… I realized that that was exactly what unicorn magic is like. When you understand everything about everything around you… it’s just a lot easier to change.
 
...And I guess a bit of knowledge about quantum mechanics kinda helps, too.”
 
“I… um… Well, okay.”
 
“But I already tried something like levitating myself to get down the mountain. Maybe get some help for you. Turns out it doesn’t really work for some reason. It just tired me out really fast. Carrying you was… easier, but I only lasted about four seconds before I needed a break. And I’m not even sure what the point would be, anyway. The slope is way too steep to concentrate on both.”
 
“So… it’s just the old-fashioned way, then?” I asked.
 
“But we have no rappelling equipment. One mistake, and… well, you know. And I don’t even know how hooves work yet. At least, not enough to trust my climbing skills.” He was pacing now, narrowly encircling our two hiking packs.
 
“So what do we do?”
 
“I don’t know!” he almost shouted. “I mean, the only choice I see that doesn’t involve us dying is risking going back the way we came. Which comes with its own problems. The slope is shallower there, but I don’t even know if we can get back, and if not, that is in the exact opposite direction from civilization!”
 
“Hey, are you two okay?”
 
Both of us froze. There, right in front of me, was a freaking Royal Guard! Armor and everything. Surprisingly, I recovered first.
 
“Sir, would you happen to know a safe path down this mountain?”
 
His eyes suddenly locked onto Shannon. “Wait, neither of you is a pegasus. How the hell did you get on the top of Mount Canter?”
 
My companion threw his hooves into the air in frustration. “Magic, of course! Now we don’t know how to get down.”
 
The guard looked at him curiously. “But couldn’t you just use the same magic you used to get up here?”
 
“I didn’t.”
 
The guard blinked. “Oh. Well, okay. Uh… I’ll go get a chariot or something. But I’ll have to report this activity to Princess Celestia, due to its anomalous nature. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble unless you really did something wrong.”
 
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course. And me being an alien didn’t influence that decision at all.
 
Shannon looked strangely excited, though. As soon as the guard was out of earshot, he turned to me with a smile.
 
“Hey, Jason, I just got an idea. Could you call me Silver Crescent from now on? That was the name of my OC.”
 
My head fell into my waiting hands.
 
“...I’m not going to even ask.”