A dream became much more than just an escape. It became reality
Everyone likes a good dream.
Peter is no exception to that. But this dream turned out to be a LOT more than just a good nights sleep.
Finding himself somewhere not his bed not at home. Not even on his Planet anymore. Follow Peter in this new World. Where his kind has been before and left a bitter taste in the mouth of Princess Celestia.
This is my first Story EVER. Please be considerate when rating it.
Additional Tags: HiE Story.
Warning This Story is based on the idea that Ponies did meet humans before and didn't get along with them.
With the sun setting behind the horizon on an autumn evening, the ponies of Equestria readied themself to go to bed. The sunset announced the end of the day for most of Equestria's inhabitants. But definitely not all.
Most looking forward for a nice dream to enjoy the night. Others, looking forward to a night of wonders or work.
The same is true for the princesses. Celestia and Luna.
Celestia, after setting the sun, was idly talking to a few servants and guards. Hearing about their day.
Luna? She had a whole lot of other ideas. This was her night after all.
Luna was walking into her room and over to her bed. A tray with a cup of hot coco held in her magic. Setting it onto the night stand. Taking a last glance around the room before her night shift begins. Or how she preferred to call it, a night of Dream keeping.
Her room was quite spacious. Almost enough for a Pegasus to comfortably fly around in. Behind her were two big doors leading into her room, made out of metal and quite heavy. They were decorated with her moon and several of her favorite star constellations. The general Color of the entire room matched her color scheme in any way, from the doors behind her to the balcony in front of her. The balcony door open and covered by a white thin and fine woven curtain to keep the wind at bay, in front the heavy, dark blue, light-blocking curtains were drawn aside. She really needed those during the day when she was asleep for her next shift. To her left was her Queen sized bed resting against the wall. To her right was furniture to care about one's appearance. A decently sized Mirror and several goodies of beauty products.
Opening her drawers from her nightstand she gets out a few pieces of paper and a pencil to write with. She keeps a few notes on dreams here and there to ensure she can help ponies who have reoccurring nightmares or troubled ponies to help them face their fears better. By now she had a nice collection of dreamers she helped get rid of fears and the like. A lot of which was used to train the new generation of psychologists. Of course with the permission from the actual dreamer.
Usually the fears she encounters consist of situations like being lost or a little one in anxiety of their next exam. Those were more her favorites, since the easier a problem is to solve, the more ponies she can help. And still make all of them equally happy to have a dream guardian.
It was all to familiar practice to enter the dream realm. Getting into her bed. Taking a sip from her coco. Relax and let your magic do the rest. Her mind now Floating effortlessly in a void made up of bubbles which portrayed a visual representation of the pony with their dream. The ones which had happy feelings were a lot brighter giving off a warm glow. But the ones with fear anxiety and the such spreading a black and almost evil looking glow. The intensity varying with the feelings of the individual pony.
Luna was surprised to not find any nightmares right away, even her favorite nightmare from a filly having a fear of doing the dishes didn't make an appearance. She had to admit she had quite a few amusing conversations about this dream with her sister. Them both laughing about what else the poor little one might be afraid of. She would never admit to that though, no never!
Pushing that memory aside for now, she continued on to search for a dream where she could help.
It took her a solid good cup of chocolate to find a rather unusual dream. Well dream might stretch it a bit far. Like every other dream this one had an appearance like a bubble of sorts. -windows into a Pony's current thoughts while asleep. The one she just found though it appeared colorless, pale and really far away. If she didn't see it by sheer luck she might have glanced over it.
What was in it though surprised her even more. It displayed a lot of bipedal beings, a species which she, as hard as she tried, could not identify. The dreamer not able to make out. She watched a little longer and realized that the dream was about some sort of amusement park and or a Roller coaster. One which couldn't exist in Equestria. It was far too over engineered for that. It intrigued her enough to want to have a peek inside.
Floating near the dream bubble, she suddenly felt like she had a several mile run behind her. Odd since physical exhaustion is rather unusual in a mental state. It was a minor annoyance though and never happened before and therefore ignored it.
Pushing a hoof through the surface of the bubble the rest of her followed quickly without any resistance. Her vision flashing bright white when she was fully inside. The dream itself was either very incomplete or a not yet experienced fantasy. Since many scenes were rapidly changing in decoration and objects visible. It conveyed a style rather than a picture. The main focus of the dream, if it was one, consisted of said Roller coaster.
It looked simple enough but, the dreamer had to be inside of such a coaster at one time, the Details with which the dreamer was representing it were astounding. She even could make out individual bolts of the coaster.
Floating around invisible she inspected the track a bit further, closing in. One advantage of being a visitor of a dream, you can make yourself invisible and intangible. A trait which she was using right now. She would stand out among all those things like a Book in a candy shop.
To her huge surprise and a tiny scream, she realized that even though she made herself intangible, She bumped against the track. She was even able to touch it. This wasn't supposed to happen. And why was it rattling.
She luckily enough noticed just in time that the car of the coaster was approaching Very quickly towards the position she was right now. Her only reaction was to teleport out of this dream. Her intent clearly on leaving this one alone. It was too alien for her. It had to mere inches when her horn flashed her away and the car almost colliding with her.
The action so out of shock she jumped away from her trance in her bed. Gasping for air, and now realizing why she was feeling so exhausted inside of her dream realm. She WAS exhausted. Physically. Gasping for air and sweat running down her head.
Reaching out for her pieces of paper she immediately took notes on what happened. She had to talk about her experiences with the mages of the castle. This never happened before. Quite a bold statement, giving her age.
With her bed thoroughly soaked, and her fur smelling quite bad. She decided to take a break. Calling out a servant to please change the sheets, and she herself waddling off to the bathroom to take a bath.
Peter was awoke rather violently, because his surroundings weren't anything like when he slept in. He was tossed all over a hard marble like warm surface, a thin sheet of white fabric draped over him. Which got pushed away in the attempt to get in the general direction of away.
His vision soon took notice that he was awake now and was needed to see where he was. It took a while to get the message through though. His rather heavy headache wasn't doing him any favors. It look a little moment for both problems to recede, though the actual moment he took a look around. And found something he didn't expect to see.
This room seemed to be a bedroom. Which was both comforting and confusing, since it wasn't his bedroom. This bedroom was a lot more spacious than his own, more than a single human would need just for a bedroom.
It wasn't lit very well, some glowing crystals on the walls accompanied by candles everywhere. The room's roof was held up by ornate pillars, not very thick. They seemed to be more decorative rather than structurally needed. The bed was comically large with the sheets thrown aside. Giving the impression that the occupant rushed out of the bed quite fast and recent. Which was proven by the fact that he heard running water to a room next door.
A private bathroom? He was so confused at the situation he found himself in. So in an attempt to orientate himself he closed his eyes, trying to collect his thoughts, which immediately showed that he had no recollection of the last few days. The last he remembered was the beginning of the weekend. That was it.
He had his regular sleeping clothes on. It was on the verge of winter, so it consisted of thin clothes, a Pyjama and a shirt in plain dark blue colors. Socks.
He didn't want to trouble the person which this room belongs to, so he got up. And walked over to the Rooms double doors. Which he assumed were the Rooms exit doors.
Laying his hands on the rather odd door knobs, they were hard to grab, he twisted them slowly. With a soft click they open up, enough for him to slip through before quickly closing them again.
As he turned around to get away as fast as possible he stopped right in his tracks has he stared down two, rather grim looking, in armor dressed, ponies. Blinking, yep those were definitely ponies. In Armour.
Seeing them up close he was able to note a few really serious differences though. For once, their eyes. They were huge. And they were filled with.. ? Confusion?
As both of them stared him down he made his first move to slip away to his left. One step at a ~~~ okay one of them was screaming something. Really loud. And was pointing a hoof at him now. Which immediately triggered his flight instinct.
He just started to run down the rather well lit hallway. At neck breaking speed he was really hoping to outrun the two. They were not at all that big. Their top of the heads came approximately to his waist.
Reaching a 4 way crossing in the hallway his hearth sank a lot further down as 4 more Soldiers rounded the corner, worse, those had spears as weapons. They looked really intimidating, but to his advantage, he must have been quite intimidating as well because instead of turning to him in an attempt to stop him. They stood there like a deer in headlights.
He realized probably way too late that he had not enough time and grip to break in time. Luckily enough they scrambled just before he ploughed through them, not using their spears at all. They must have forgotten about those because 2 of them lost theirs in the act of jumping away.
which was bad new for him still since he tripped on one of them. Falling face first onto the floor, which hurt. A LOT. Sliding down the hall on his chest and stretched out arms.
In a desperate attempt to not give them the chance to get to him, he scrambled to his feet. Took a look at his situation and tried to continue his escape. Just to be stopped by a MUCH larger pony. This one was not wearing any armor, safe for a black necklace of sorts. and wet? Staying right in his way. He turned around only to see more guards further down the Hallway.
Both his paths were blocked, panting hard as he was not used to run this suddenly. He was pacing randomly trying to distance himself further from those creatures. Who were trying to say something he couldn't understand.
Looking for different means to escape, he spotted a door right next to him. Rushing to it he found it unlocked, and slipped inside a .. broom closet. Now he was really trapped.
In vain he slammed the door, which opens inward to the closet, shut and barricaded it with his body by sitting against it, bracing his hands against his head. Panic settling in.
He took a look around, but really found nothing but a few buckets, brooms and sweepers. "Dammit" He swore under his breath.
He felt the doorknob move and felt shoves against the door from the other side. They weren't too strong though. And with his foot pushing against a shelf next to him, the door wasn't going anywhere right now, for now.
Again he heard the strange language they use, the best description would be a mix out of pitches, hisses, and click like sounds. No nieghing though.
~~~
"It appears it blocked itself in Princess."
Luna was able to make that assumption herself. But refrained from pointing that out. "It seems so. It also seems to be highly irritated and stressed. We should let the matter rest for now and not attempt to push the poor creature further. Lets not get it more out of hoof than it already is. Did you by any chance see if it was injured?"
The same Guard answers: "No we didn't see any sort of blood or injury on the creature. Though we were not able to identify its species either."
Luna both relieved and afraid to hear that. She only partially saw what happend. she immediately exited her bedroom after hearing the panicked shout "intruder" of her bedroom door guard. "I need to tend to different important tasks, please refrain from stressing or harming the creature in any way. Find a servant with the right key to lock the door from the outside for now. In the meantime. I personally will try to contact miss Fluttershy in Ponyville. Maybe she will be able to help. It didn't appear to be able understand us."
~~~
Peter noticed the ponies talk outside. Now that he had a little more time to make out their voices, he was definitely sure now that they spoke a completely different language. Bad news for him. Communication was out out the question then. He pondered if they would get the gesture of laying face down on the floor with his hands behind his back?
They only tried once to open the door again after a few minutes, but with him still in-front the situation didn't change. Until he heard the tell tale click of a lock. In an instant he tried to open the door, just to find it actually locked...
Peter startled awake rather fast. He didn't notice nodding off at first.
But by the state of soreness in his back and behind, he had to have been asleep for quite a considerable amount of time.
He still found himself inside of that Broom room. With no windows and no real air duct, the Air was getting really stale too. He himself was just glad he went to take a shower before going to bed.
Since he hadn't been disturbed in his sleep he got up to stretch his sore limbs back into Commission. Trying the door knob again but found the door still locked.
He heard a few voices outside. The door doing a really great job muting them somewhat.
A few of the memories of last night came back to him. Trying to figure out the situation he was in.
From what he gathered he somehow found himself in a bedroom, in a rather large building, with equine inhabitants, which then chased him after shouting something in a non coherent language, only to get stuck and then locked in a ~ broom room...
Now, he didn't want to be in this situation, that much was sure.
How to get out of it wasn't quite so easy to figure out. Melting through the fabric of reality wasn't really an option. Didn't matter how hard he tried.
Shoulder slamming the door might give a wrong impression.
He did what probably all humans would do in a situation like this. Sliding his back down the wall on the far side of the door. Burring his head in his hand and letting out a record breaking moaning groan.
"Okay, lets see the poor critter."
The sentence startled him way more than he liked. First off, he could understand the females voice. Second, the moment it was finished the door lock gave the unmistakable sound ob being unlocked.
His fear spiked in an instant. But a lot less this time. Something in the females voice just calmed him down. So rather than just bolting to the door he just sat there. motionless.
The door opened really slowly. As if they actually were anticipating him slamming it back closed. It even stopped for a second.
"Hello?" That voice again. And the door opening a little more. Just enough to have a yellow and pink head poke its way in.
The impression on peters face must have been quite a mix of fear, resignation, defeat, sleep deprivation, surprise. .. yeah quite the mix because the yellow pony got quite the startle the moment she saw him.
"Well, who are you? I have never seen a creature like you..." That did however not deter her to come in further.
Peter himself just mumbled. "Well, I could say the same thing y'know." What surprised him after his rather snotty remark though. The yellow one didn't really seem all that surprised to see him talk. That didn't go for the two guards behind her though. They immediately asked something, which he again couldn't understand.
The yellow one just replied to them "I guess that ~he~ apparently never saw ponies in his life before." Turning back to peter. "You seem quite calm, contrary to the explanation the guards gave me. My name is Fluttershy. Do you have a name?" She did keep her distance to him though. Sitting down in the doorway.
With her being that calm it broke almost through the fear Peter had. He actually seemed genuinely interested now that he had someone to talk to. "My name is Peter~ Where am I Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy just kept her calm demeanor "You are in Canterlot. The capital of Equestria. Or to be more specific. In the royal castle. "
This actually made sense, The hallway, the guards. What doesn't make sense though, "Why am I here? The last thing I remember is falling asleep in my room. And the very next thing is me startling awake in a dark room."
Fluttershy herself now looked quite confused. "I cannot tell you." And now the guards behind her were talking again. And moving forward towards the door. "The guards want to take you to a temporary holding cell. Would you mind coming with me? It would make things a lot more easy. We already put half of the castle in quarantine."
Peter got quite alarmed at the two guards advancing. So far the ponies had been relatively nice. He had to see an actual weapon pointed towards him yet. Reasoning with himself that he should rather go than fight against their wishes. So he nodded got up and waited patiently for Fluttershy to lead the way.
She got up but turned around midway through the door. "You will not run away, will you?"
Rather than just answering immediately he was transfixed on her wings. How did he miss those. As well as some sort of tattoo on her Back legs, Flank, Waist? Three Butterfly's. He didn't really know pony anatomy. Adding another question to his rather quickly growing list, he composed himself and just shook his head. "No, I think that would be rather stupid if I do."
Fluttershy repeated that to the guards and walked down the hallway, flanked by two guards. Peter looked behind himself and saw four more. All of them looked rather anxious. Not really trusting the big unknown creature to be safe to be around.
He realized the situation he was in a little bit more. He was in a strange world, surrounded by somewhat magical beings, which just by his appearance didn't really trust him. He couldn't blame them at all. Thinking himself into their position he probably would act the same way. It would be like talking to a hungry bear.
After quite the walk through truly deserted hallways, and a LOT of downstairs, which were so awkward to take. They arrived at a small guard station with holding cells. One was open, the other deserted.
He guessed it was his and walked inside. Finding a bowl of water and some apples on a table. A rather nice and comfortable looking child sized bed in the other corner. And a child sized stool. This will take some time getting used to.
The door closed behind him. And immediately a barrier was appearing out of nowhere right on the bars of his cell. It was blue in color. Quite warm to the touch. Sighing to himself he took in his surroundings. There were quite and assortment of ponies down the hall. Fluttershy with a few others. Now that he saw other ponies, they came in all kinds of colors. Blue Orange Pink Purple White . .
They were talking, but right now he even couldn't understand Fluttershy she now too talked in another language.
Pacing around his cell for a little her sat down on the tiny stool and grabbed himself an apple. Funny how that was something that looked exactly like home. He took a bite of it and immediately was surprised by the strong but really good taste of it. His diet didn't didn't consist of much healthy food back home, but he was SURE of it that this apple tasted magnitudes better than any he ever had.
Funny how he was eating it while in a cell.
Playing with the apple in his hands for a bit, he noticed a Purple female pony together with a slightly bigger white one standing in front of his cell. The purple ones horn glowing for a short moment before the barrier disappeared.
Fluttershy appeared next to them. "Peter? This is Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor" Pointing them out by their name. "They would like to ask you a few questions and do a quick check up on you? Is that okay?"
Peter nodded again. Placing the eaten apple on the table. But refrained from standing up. "You may" The white stallion said something, it sounded very respectful and clear. "Shining would like to know if you are dangerous."
Peter shook his head. "No, I will not intentionally harm you. I see no reason in doing so. You have been very kind to me so far." Which Fluttershy repeated word by word to Shining.
Shining nodded to that and opened the door for Twilight Sparkle, who had a very curious look on herself. Almost like getting a wrapped present, wanting to know what is inside it. Her horn again began to glow.
Peter was REALLY startled by the sudden force on his hand sitting on the table. It could be best described as the Air suddenly grabbing your hand and pulling it. He even gave an audible gasp. Which resulted in Twilight to stop doing whatever she was doing. "What was THAT?"
Twilight surprised by the outburst took a few steps back before Fluttershy told her that Peter got startled by her sudden enthusiasm to inspect his Hand.
Fluttershy then turned to Peter "I am sorry, I should have figured since we are not familiar to you that magic might be strange for you too."
That turned a few knobs to totally utterly confused in his head. So far he just figured it was more of a Show thing not something that was actually real. "It . . Magic . . She will not hurt me accidentally with it, will she? The pull was quite strong."
Fluttershy immediately shook her head. "No, Twilight will always use her magic in reasonable and responsible manners. I am sure of it." The last part she said with quite a remarkable sideways glance towards her. Which made twilight actually shift slightly in her composure.
"Okay sorry though. I think I overreacted a little too" Peter admitted. A little ashamed of himself.
"There is no reason to be sorry. We should have been more considerable about your situation." Fluttershy demanded.
"Lets continue~~ So Shining wanted to ask me a few questions?" He looked in his direction. His posture rather stoic. Twilight though. She had this glint in her eyes. Furiously taking mental notes on how he moved and talked.
"Yeah, he did. Shining do you want to ask something else?" Fluttershy redirected.
Shining started to speak to Fluttershy. While Twilight, true to Fluttershy word wasn't as intrusive or aggressive anymore. -she began inspecting his Arms, upper torso by prodding his shirt. -magically tugging on his Hair.
Fluttershy then spoke up: "Shining would like to ask about some aspects of your species behaviors. Your diet your social hierarchy and specifically your daily life."
And so he began, admitting upfront that his species was an omnivore species. Being dependent on both meat and plants/fruits. He also tried to explain to her to his best abilities the political structure of his country. When it came to his life as a custodian, a lot of questions were asked regarding all the mind bending technological advances his species developed.
The trio was utterly impressed by the advances, but equally disgusted by our lack of care for the environment.
He finished with the words "Well that, I guess, explains in simple terms my species and myself." He himself was really fond for the story telling to end. During the time he started talking about driving cars, Twilight almost demanded he take of his clothes. Which he denied her. He took off his shirt and socks though. He didn't have an issue with those body parts being 'studied' by her.
He even started to recognize a few words spoken by the Ponies, most notably 'yes' and 'no'. He tried imitating the words, but he got reactions from pure laughter to utter embarrassment. He decided, for now, he will refrain from trying to imitate their language.
He too noticed. There was a really huge world to discover. Equestria by itself apparently isn't really all that small. He was starting to look forward to that. "Do you have a problem with me asking a few questions Fluttershy?"
Looking a little exhausted herself, she still nodded very clearly. "Yes of course you can ask questions."
"I am very curious about what is outside this castle. Where do you think I should go first when I get outside? Can you recommend something?" Peter asked nicely and very happy almost.
Fluttershy responded: "Well, before we head off outside, you have an audience with princess Celestia herself. Once Shining Armor gives the all clear." She smiled in Shinings direction.
Shining responded with quite a long talk. Which Fluttershy summed up with "He will give you the all clear with only one request: You species is quite capable. In his words.. He wants you promise with the intent of never breaking that promise to refrain from ever intentionally harming A citizen of equestria or taking advantage of the resources the land offers."
Peter pondered on that promise a little bit. -by the very nature, it seemed, Shining was concerned that he would take advantage of the open and friendly nature of ponies or the certain unrestricted access to said resources. Understanding the very seriousness of that promise. He straighten up and placed his hand over his heart. "I promise. To never take Advantage over the Citizens of Equestria or let them come to harm by my actions or lack there of. I also promise to equally respect the lands of Equestria" He actually meant every word. It sounded unrealistic. But he meant it.
Fluttershy repeated his promise word by word to Shining. Who for the first time wore a smile on his face.
He tapped Twilight on her shoulder. Who was currently very deep lost in wiggling his toe with her magic. It felt funny.
After a quick chat she nodded and. . He swore, she just blinked out of existence. Just ~poof~ gone. Given the reaction of the other two he guessed it was something she did on a regular basis.
Peter just commented on Twilights absence. "You know what, Magic... I should just do a simple check. Something weird happened. ~Magic did it~ Yeah else I will go crazy."
Fluttershy just giggles to herself "You will get used to it eventually. shining gave the all clear. We will now go before the Princesses and will discuss your integration with our society."
With Twilight gone Peter started to put on his shirt and socks again. "The princesses, you mean Princess Celestia and Luna herself?" Given their description of the two he didn't really know how to feel about it. To him it seemed a mandatory thing. It is their land after all. But he'd rather talk to a creature or pony with way less much power. Both magical and figuratively. Moving the Sun and Moon? He still doubted that part.
Fluttershy nodded "Yes. Don't be worried they are really nice once you get to know them. I mean, I don't know them very much but so far they have been very considerate to any pony I know who met them. and they are very reasonable. Twilight just teleported ahead to tell them you are ready to meet them. She is Celestia's personal student by the way."
Peter just sank a lot further down in his confidence. Dont mess this up were his thoughts.
While they two were talking Shining went ahead and got a Guard escort ready. He motioned for him to follow. Which he did. Walking after him.
The general mood seemed to have been relaxed by quite a bit. With his word to not do anything funny and him explaining what he is and thinks helped a lot. It also seemed that they trust him. Which is always a plus. The walk through a few hallways was relatively uneventful. The castle seemed to have some sort of layout. Even if many of the turn and crossways looked randomly placed. But all knew where they were going.
Peter immediately knew he was around the last corner when the hallway widened to double size with a huge double door at the end. Ornamented with both the Sun and the moon. The general golden White and Dark Purple to Blue color scheme continued on the door and met there as if the whole design originated from the door.
Brushing his Hair straight and pulling back his shoulders he felt sooo underdressed it wasn't even funny to him anymore.
Shining knocked on the big doors. Which slowly opened a little to reveal Twilight head. The comically large door handle glowing in her magic. She smiled and opened the doors fully. Revealing the large throne room behind them. With indeed the two princesses at the end. It wasn't so big to have trouble recognizing facial expressions And when Peter looked at Luna she was leaning forward really curious. Ears pointing forward.
Celestia quite suddenly though realized something. And her ears immediately flattened against her head. With quite an angry expression on her face. She said something quite short. Which REALLY surprised all parties involved. And by the sound of her words. They weren't friendly.
Peter suddenly found himself in the center of attention. Many heads turning between Celestia and him.
Celestia spoke up again. But this time in quite a heavy accent in human "You are not supposed to be here." Her words were filled with anger frustration and hatred.
Peter found himself utterly lost. And took a few steps back. "What did I do?" Fluttershy who now looked confused too. It appears that her understanding of animals did not extend to celestia speaking the language. But on Peters response she looked worried something went wrong. She halved in size when she sloughed and spoke up. "Is something the matter Princess?"
Twilight Shining Luna and the Guard escorts kept themselves away from commenting.
Celestia turned to Fluttershy. And spoke to her quickly and composed. Wanting to say different things than the words which were spoken. Fluttershy just repeated. "You met humans before? " Celestia continued and Fluttershy actually got frightened and moved away from Peter. The rest following suit. Peter just hated the fact that he could not understand what was said. Fluttershy repeated for celestia in a very afraid voice. "You kind was in Equestria before. a-and they killed and they ate - u us. 17 in total before Celestia found a way to banish them. found their way of entry and sealed it for good. This was approximately 340 years ago."
Peter was asolutely mortified. "I am sorry I. I didn't know. I just 'appeared' here. I" He was at a loss of words taking more steps back from the very angry monarch,
Luna spoke up, to Celestia and exchanged a few sentences. They were talking rather friendly. Luna still had her curiosity about her but it seemed to have been diminished by quite a lot. Since Celestia's reveal of acknowledgement about his species.
Celestia then turned towards peter "To cut this short. I will not allow you to inhabit this Land. Which makes this meeting unnecessary. You will be placed in temporary holding until further notice." She ordered a few commands to the escort and Shining, which immediately took to action to crowd him and lead him out of the throne room.
He didn't resist in the slightest. His mind was just looping around what he could have done to prevent this. Blaming himself for something he had no control in. This is how it feels to be helpless, huh. The first time he actually truly experienced this.
Twilight and Fluttershy stayed behind in the Throne Room while Shining and his Guards pressed him along back to the cell he occupied earlier. Peter didn't have the fight in him to question Shining or his guards why..
Not that he would have been able to either.
Back in the cell he slumped over to the bed and tried to sit down in the most comfortable position the small bed allowed. It wasn't comfortable at all. But it was the best he would get right now. The size difference clearly didn't do him any favors as well.
Now that he had time and space to think about what celestia said. ~He is not 'supposed' to be here~
Which to him just meant, in combination with the encounter of bad humans a while back, His species as a whole either wasn't welcome or Celestia herself went through quite a lot of trouble keeping humans away for reasons other than the encounter some 300 years ago.
Thinking about Celestia herself for a moment though, he quickly came to the realization that his appearance must have been quite a shock too,. She wasn't some generic mind, she was a Princess who has a 1000 year rule on her Résumé. A ruler. And from what he was told from Fluttershy, a generous and kind one at that.
Him arriving must have stirred up a lot of old memories. In a way. He could empathise her decision to hold him in for the moment. She was able to speak to him in his language. Apparently something that wasn't general knowledge at all.
That must mean that humans once did exist here. How many is hard to tell. But the Killings a few hundred years back couldn't have been the only encounter. But it must have been the final one to get her to banish his species outright from this place. She didn't want her ponies to get hurt.
The Problem now. He has no intentions whatsoever to do that. He promised he wouldn't.
If she would just allow him to get to know him better. Maybe she would see that he in fact he wouldn't want to hurt any of her subjects.
It must have been a few minutes he sat there pondering similar questions and train of thoughts. Because before he knew it. A pony knocked on his bars. It was a off white female pony. Dressed in a maid outfit. She was balancing a tray with food on her back. She didn't really seem to mind who was on the other side of the bars. Since her expression remained quite calm and professional when he slowly rose to his feet and approached her.
He did develop a little bit of a hunger, while sitting there. The Maid said something. Which, not to his surprise, was complete gibberish to him. she did point towards the stool while talking though. Which he too as a hint and moved over there. Squatting down on it rather than sitting down. It was really low.
What did catch him by surprise though is, the maid just pressed a handlebar on the other side of his cell door. And the door, simply opened. Did they really forget to lock him in? That did seem like a really big security flaw. Someone could just reach through the bars and open the cell regardless.
The maid approached the table with a bit more caution now that there wasn't a protective layer between him and her. Moving sideways to to put the dish on the table. and taking the old apple dish away. She too said a few words. Which were probably words like: here you go. Or something of the sort. The way she handled the dishes with her hooves, it looked remarkably simple for her. But Peter couldn't see doing that himself though. He would choose hands over hooves any day.
Turning around she moved out. Peter didn't see any reason to make a run for it since, well he didn't know where to go in the first place. the only hallways and corridors he knew were from here to the broom closet. Which didn't seem to be a sufficient hideout IF he should decide to run.
With that train of thought ended he turned his attention towards his dish. Which consisted of cut apples, ofc, slices of oranges and bread with some sort of jam on it. this looked more like breakfast rather than lunch. what time right now is it anyways? Is the length of day equivalent to a day on Earth? Well he couldn't say for sure what so ever.
If he came here at night rested a lot in the broom room. Fluttershy probably came around after breakfast. He didn't see any reason for her to be there any earlier. Yeah now it must be around lunch. Regardless of that.
He dove into his dish and ate the whole contents within a few minutes. It wasn't a lot to begin with. A good sized meal for a pony. Probably. but a human. He was a lot bigger than them. Height wise at least. The jam on his bread, he couldn't put a name to it even if he tried.
He neatly put aside his finished dish, and returned to a corner on the bed. He was getting somewhat bored.
Just as he had this though though a little commotion started in the corridor outside his cell. From the voices he could make out it was Shining and Fluttershy.
They approached his cell together and opened it in the same fashion as the maid and walked in together. They at least closed it after they entered.
Shining immediately too a protective position halfway in front of Fluttershy. His expression was rather rattled and angry.
Fluttershy spoke up "Hey, Peter." She looked quite detached, and her voice had the underlying tone of just having experienced something life jarring.
Peter shrank down a little on his stool. resting his arms on the table. "Hey" He paused for quite a bit. "I am sorry".
Fluttershy moved next to Shining in a sitting position. "We came to tell you what we are going to do now." She didn't make eye contact. "Celestia checked over the seal which holds the gateway between our two worlds. It is still intact. Nopony actually has a clue how you ended up here. It was decided that, for now, you will be housed -safe and away from anypony. The only location suitable for that is in a zoo outside of canterlot."
"A what???" peter couldn't believe what he just heard. "A zoo???"
Fluttershy flinched a bit herself. "They have the only housing big enough for you. And I objected very hard against throwing you in a cage in tartarus." she almost cried out. "Your kind killed peter!! Not only that but they ate us! There were many before you. And many before them. And so many did bad things. Unspeakable things!!" She cried "Doing irreversible things!"
Peter couldn't, he. What could he do. "But I promised I won't hurt you or anything. I promised" He couldn't understand why, even after many hundred years, they judged him based on his species.
Fluttershy turned around and jogged to the cell door. Crying "I can't. " *sniff* "they are preparing the transport" With that she opened the cell door and fled down the corridor.
Peter couldn't hold his anger anymore. 'Forget It !!' were his words as he slammed his fists on the table. Which gave under the sudden load and broke in two.
Realizing what happened he jumped up and shoved the damaged table away against the wall, facing away from Shining who was still with him in the cell. Shining took a few steps back and was howling something down the corridor.
As quickly as his anger flared up, it went away. His shoulder dropped, his fists un-clenched, his head down and eyes closed.
Peter heard the cell door open again but didn't pay it any attention. Even when his hands were suddenly yanked backwards and tied up by a rope. Followed by a collar around his neck which was certainly attached by a leash. Which in turn gave his tears enough reason to appear. Was he really just an animal to them? Something to be afraid of like a lion.
They physically yanked at his restraints to get him to move along with him. He followed. He didn't want to know how much further they could humiliate him if he tried to fight against their will.
He never lifted his gaze from the floor as they, sometimes just for the fun of it it seemed, pushed and kicked him along.
What he noticed though. The Air got considerably cooler around them as they approached a open balcony. Lifting his head to see where they were going he got his first glimpse outside.
To say he was speechless would be an understatement. The Sky, the hills in the distance, the crystal clear Air. The smell... Was this what a untouched nature looked like?
As they passed the doors to the outside. He just had to slow down to look around. He was lead outside to one of the castles big balconies. Apparently for winged guards and other creatures. Creatures? Well. His best description would be a griffin. A full size Lion like creature at the back mixed with an eagle at front. Those were huge too.
Looking behind himself he suddenly felt SO small. The castle was HUGE! The stories not countable just by looking at it. Whipping his head around again he let out a audible gasp. This City below the Castle. Canterlot. It seemed to hang off the edge of a mountain. And it was a CITY by any means. big and small buildings. Mostly made out of stone. colorful too.
But there was just a edge. There wasn't farmland or anything after a ring surrounding the city. It just stopped.
Getting closer to the edge of the balcony, he got a glimpse down below. It want not too far. But definitely enough to get an urge to step away from the edge of the balcony.
Beautiful dirt roads and tree lines dotted the landscape. With very small villages accompanying patches of orchards and fields. Everything somewhat surrounded by mountains or the horizon.
Away from Canterlot flowed a river through all of it. Giving life to everything in its path.
It was weird to compare it like that. But if he ever had a picture of heaven in his mind. THIS trumped all of it. So much untouched nature and beauty.
Peter was yanked back to reality quite suddenly as he noticed what they were walking towards. He didn't pay the shoving and kicking of the guards and attention during his sight seeing. But as he saw a chariot, with a cage on it. The building style very much alike the cell he was just in. He knew. That he would probably never get to see all of what he saw up close.
The Cage seemed to have been fit to the chariot in quite a rush. It didn't look like it was designed to hold one. It was manned? by four gruff and very similar looking Pegasi. Who definitely did a lot more workout than what would be necessary.
He know they wanted him in there so he stopped with the hold back and let them lead him into it. He was just glad they didn't throw him in there. The cage only allowed for him to sit in it. With a wooden floor and ceiling, Metal bars all around.
Shining, who apparently was holding his leash the entire time, secured the end of it with a lock to the bars of the cage. And closed it. The door giving a very audible click. Peter just moved into a corner, holding his legs to himself, hoping the road wouldn't be too bumpy.
With the guards outside exchanging a few words and sentences they checked all of the chariot and cage to see if all was good. He just observed them.
With a slow pace they started to move. There was a walkway connected behind the chariot which apparently was a sort of ramp which lead to the lower levels of the castle. At first they did start to move towards it. But he got confused as the stopped just short of it and. Turned around?
There was nothing but a ledge and no other way down. Except for falling or .. . . f l y i n g.. His chariot was connected to four pegasi.. He instantly whipped his head around and indeed. Wings up, they all started to move in unison. Walking, jogging, running. Wings flapping.
Oh dear god above, he was about to get howled to his final destination by air. And oh dear did he regret not having had a chance to go to the toilet.
To say he was in utter fear would have been an understatement. Because the only thing audible from the point onwards when the chariot broke the edge of the balcony, and went into a small dive to gain speed, was a rather loud screaming shriek. Which lasted way longer than anyone would have guessed and shouldn't be that high pitched by a male.
Peter loved roller coasters. The thrill always seemed relaxing to him. This? He would give it an intensity rating of 'too high'. After a short amount of time of total weightlessness, and him holding onto the bars of the cage as tightly as humanly possible. They leveled out.
His behind hit the floor not too hard. But definitely enough to be noticable for a day. He never closed his eyes. And after the first seconds of shock. He desperately tried to orientate himself.
The chariot seemed to float rather than glide through the air like a plane. It wasn't really bumpy. More like sitting in a chair suspended by springs. The motions were fluid. The wind wasn't too bad, even at the speed they were going.
Looking towards his flyers, they all flew almost in unison. They must have done this a lot of times. because it looked really coordinated and professional. They apparently were the only ones too. He didn't see any other pegasi following them.
The general direction they took seemed to have been directed by the river. Trying to remember his mental map he wanted to find out the general direction they were going.
But he quickly realized be looking around a few times that the leash had somewhat coiled up around his neck. Unrolling it by turning back a few times he found it to be a simple cloth like single band. The diameter of the collar adjustable.
Wait. that gave him an idea. Loosening the collar a bit. He realized he could slip his head right out of it. Which he did. That would free him up a bit. He at least wanted to know where they were going.
Looking behind the chariot he saw Canterlot again. Again a truly beautiful and remarkable city. And indeed it was hangin just on the side of a mountain. There was a solid path leading towards it. But it seemed to have been heavily manipulated and crafted. It didn't entirely look like a naturally generated structure.
What drew his attention away though. was the cell door. It seemed to have been made out of the exactly same design back inside the castle. Even tho opening mechanism.
A simple lever outside the cage.
The sudden realization came to him like a speeding car and almost hitting him. They weren't too high up in the Air. And they probably wouldn't notice that he was gone when he jumped out and down into the river.
Looking down it certainly did look like it was deep enough for it.
Could he do it. Wanted he to do it? . . . Matter of fact yes.
If Celestia didn't want to give him a chance to show he was not like those a lot of time back. The reasoning was kind of faulty yes. But in his current mind. Sometimes you have to break the rules and bonds to be able to do the right thing.
He moved to the cell door. Slid his hand between the bars and activated the lever. And much to his surprise and wonder. It actually opened. He looked behind to see if the Pegasi noticed. But he found them completely oblivious to what was going on. So he opened to door fully and held it in place.
The chariot didn't give a lot of room outside the cage. enough to stand on it. But mid flight. Well he had too much respect of it and decided to lay down and lean over the edge to look underneath the chariot.
To his luck there was a really big pond coming up. And they were flying directly over it. YES! This actually was his chance. He is going to do this. And he is going to show them, yes I am better than you think I am.
Filled with confidence. He got his feet under him. And waited for the river to widen up. Which it did.
"Okay, Peter.. You can do this." He was shaking really hard. But after the first try, he did find the courage to jump out.
"Shiiiii" ~~ was his unfinished swear as he broke the surface of the pond.
The usually calm Pond still showed a few concentric rings where Peter dive bombed into the water. He didn't hurt himself too bad upon impact. He broke the Water butt first. Said area was now really sore, but this was magnitudes better than a full belly splat.
Upon breaching the surface he immediately turned to look towards his ride to see if the pegasi noticed the fall. Which, much to his relief, they apparently didn't.
He realized quickly that he needed to get out of the water. His somewhat loose clothes really didn't do him any favor in swimming, draining him of his energy quite fast.
He wasn't moving nearly as fast as he would have liked too.
Peter was completely drained of his energy once he made it to the shore. Having lost his socks in the process of getting there.
Laying on his back on the grass close to the pond. Panting heavily. He felt exhausted, hungry, sleepy, hurt, cold... It was easily in the top 10 list when it came to the worst day ever. Contesting for the top 3.
Pulling himself together he forced himself to get up and away from the water. He couldn't stay close to the river and its small pond for too long. They will try to find him eventually. And by his own guessing he had not too long before the Air above him would be swarmed by armored Pegasi.
Now standing on his bare feet, he took a look around. Canterlot provided quite a landmark should he ever get lost or loose his bearings. The Sun currently was directly above Canterlot, so he adopted the direction of Canterlot as south. Looking North, he could still see the tiny dot of his transport. With the Pond behind him He turned to go west, directly away from the water towards a forestline about 5 minutes away.
Taking in his surroundings, he could see really far in certain directions. He could see several patches of forest around him and the one he was walking towards was Flanked by a village towards the North of it. The south side of the forest was hidden from view by a small hill. His immediate surrounding were dotted by a few small apple trees. At least they appeared to be apples. It all felt so familiar.
Well, take earth remove humanity and replace them by colorful pony's. He missed his home right now. He would trade for quite a bit just to wake up brush his teeth and go to work.
So with his pants dripping wet and halfway over his feet, his shirt clinging to his torso in all the wrong ways, his hunger and now thirst adding up fast he immediately took the opportunity and paced towards one of the apple trees. It did look like there were still a lot of them hanging on the branches. But most of them already were on the ground.
Grabbing one of them from a nearby branch he hesitated only momentarily before taking a test bite of the apple. At first he was glad it didn't reveal any unwanted insects inside of it. And the second thing he noticed it tasted really REALLY satisfying. Well the only comparison he could draw was this one bite off one in canterlot and the ones he ate at home. Which, in all honesty, tasted almost like water compared to this! Which made him wonder. He knew for sure he was not on planet earth. He couldn't. A land like this couldn't stay undiscovered at all.
Which then meant. How could the plants and Trees of those worlds be so similar. And familiar. He took a good look at the Tree again. And sure enough, this is an apple Tree by the book... weird.
Finishing up two of the apples in a hurry he took a few with him. Who knew when he would have a meal like this again.
Moving further West he found himself getting close to the edge of the forest. Revealing a not much used dirt path next to it which was running along the perimeter of the forest. And with only hoofprint in the mud, his mood wasn't improving much. Moving onto the path his bare feet immediately complained to the sudden change in surface texture. There were a lot more small stones and sticks embedded in the trampled path. Good thing his pants were draped halfway over his feet.
Inspecting the hoof prints a bit closer. Compared to his feet they were approximately half in size. His foot could cover two/third of it in width. With the hoof prints being almost circular. He found a couple of smaller ones too.
Moving his attention towards the forest. He saw there were already quite a few leaves on the ground. His inner clock would say that autumn was right around the corner.
Which could be a good thing and a bad thing. For once there still might be a lot of edible fruits around. On the contrary. It probably would get only colder at nights from now on.
He had to kick himself back into gear. He was running away from recent capture afterall. funny how he didn't feel guilty though.
He walked into the forest, which by nature slowed down his movement by quite a bit. And not only once did he have to abandon a certain path because the terrain became too much for his feet.
He quickly found himself lost deep in the Forest. At one point he started to look around for a patch to call home for the night. Turning around a few times. And walking random directions for uncertain amounts of time. His mood even more diminished.
His pyjama now relatively dry was getting ripped apart in places. He was walking alongside a very thick brush which grew in a weird circle in the forest. By his directional sense it was approximately in the very center of it. He came that conclusion after finding out that the forest itself wasn't very big.
Rounding a thicker portion of it he found a little opening inside of it. It almost looked like someone at some point cut down a small path directly leading inside of it.
Well, his curiosity spiked and he went inside. The path lead directly to a small opening in the forest. He couldn't see if it was natural or artificial but what he was able to see is a small wooden hut right smack in the middle of it.
It was a small one story wooden building. No windows. A stone circle next to it. clearly meant to be a fireplace. The purpose of it looked like it was really only meant to be slept in, and escape the cold of the night. it really wasn't big.
With the front door closed and The fireplace somewhat occupied by small grass. He figured he could take his chances to check it out. Nobody seemed to be around.
Walking up to the front door, the size difference between him and the ponies became apparent again. Everything was just 2 figures too small.
He had to crouch down quite a bit to open the wooden door. The lock itself was just a wooden block which your turn upward. It held the door shut and apparently wasn't designed to do more than just that.
Opening the door revealed A one room hut with 2 bunk beds a table and four chairs. Even though there were no windows inside of it. The room was lit by a glowing crystal which was hanging from the ceiling. Convenient. It explained why there are no windows.
The inside was surprisingly clean. A bit of dust but everything looked well maintained. The wall had a painting with a few pony's on it. Picturing a small family. All four of them unicorns. Mother, Dad, son and daughter. It was a family picture. All of them smiling happily towards the observer. The faces of them taking up the whole picture.
A corner held a shelf fixed on the wall with two books on it.
Grabbing one of them showed a plant of some sort. This one he didn't know. Opening it up... yeah.. Reading this was not going to happen. all the letters seem to be hoofprints rotated a certain way and or with dots and lines in them.
Yeah no.. Closing it up again, he put it back on the shelf.
Pulling out the last apple from his pants. He pondered what to do now, for the rest of the day. Lazily nibbling away at it.
In front of one of the bunk beds was a small wooden chest. Not locked. The curiosity of overcame him a bit and he peered inside. What he found was a survival kit in a basic sense.
A pot for cooking, a wooden bottle for water, albeit both of very small size. Adn a few other essentials like a blanket and a textile bag. Well more of a saddlebag with the ability to detach both sides individually.
Now he had to answer an ethical question. Would it be considered okay for him to use the items with the intent of returning them once he found an alternative solution?
In his mind yes, yes. He had to sustain himself somehow. With the bag in hand, the bottle and pot inside of it he went outside again. taking a further look at the immediate surroundings.
Much, in fact very much to his relief he found a ground water pump behind the hut. After testing it, he found it working condition. Cycling the water a bit and waiting for it to get clean he filled the bottle and drank as much as he could.
He didn't find a single soul searching for him in the sky. Which was weird. He could have sworn they would try to find him immediately. By now they at least should have realized that he was gone. After what Celestia ... No he would not go into this..
He wouldn't. Secretly he was very mad at Celestia. Thinking about it he was very mad and helpless at the whole situation.
Storing the items back in the hut and not having much motivation to do much for the rest of the day he took a few blankets from the beds and turned to sleep on the floor. The beds were just too small for him.
~~~
Drifting off to sleep came rather sudden for him. He didn't notice sleeping in.
He didn't really dream at first but soon was floating around his bedroom in his home. Well what used to be his home.
Laying in his bed. Reading a book with no letters in it.
When all of a sudden his whole room exploded in Guard ponies. Jumping through walls windows and doors. All of them screaming, and yet he couldn't understand them.
They were running at him, yet not reaching him. He got up to walk towards the bathroom which now holds a Forest littered with sharp pebbles. He forgot his steel slippers again.
Falling through the floor miles before splashing very uncomfortably into Water. The sky now dark.
Trying to swim away only to get held back by a leash.
This was not a good dream. He had real troubles processing all the events of the day and a half he has been here. And it showed. He didn't want to be here and yet could not escape.
All the more evident by the tall Celestia like figure standing on the water on which he was now floating.
He didn't pay her any mind. Eventually she would find him laying there. Just to chain him up and put him the Zoo. surrounded by wild animals. Apes throwing ---
" ENOUGH " screamed a holy voice though his vision. And everything. Absolutely everything froze. It suddenly was like he was wide awake. Facing an ape mid throw a few feet away from him.
"Peter?" came a voice from behind him. He didn't dare to turn around. Not until a hoof touched his shoulder did he turn his head to find Celestia's sister, Luna behind him.
"I am sorry" were her words. Though he could not understand why she would say something like this. Closing his eyes he wished he wouldn't be . . here...
Opening them up again he found himself where it all started. The very room of princess Luna herself.
"For what are you sorry?" Asked Peter finally. "That you now invade my Dream? Princess? .. Just ask. Ask where I am right now so the guards can come and howl me away for safekeeping in a Zoo."
Luna flinched at this. "I do not wish for your capture." She looked away "I was not there when your kin were around. I was in ~ capture myself. A Portrait on the moon if you will. So I have not experienced the atrocities which were committed. I just saw a lost beeing, ready to do better, getting whipped and leashed. And you know what I saw too? That that being ~ you ~ didn't even fight. You saw no point in it."
Luna got Peter's attention. After Luna said she was in capture herself. "Wait~ Twilight and Fluttershy didn't really get to explain your history. We didn't have much time."
Luna smiled a bit at this. "Well, I once lost control of myself. Dark thoughts manifested into bad choices. And before I knew it. My Sister had to banish me to the moon before anypony came to harm. She is protective like that. I do not know if she would do it again." She paused "But related to you. Your kind did real harm to her world. An experience so grave she lost sight of your individualism. A mistake in my eyes, though something that can be corrected over time."
A long Pause manifested between the two.
Peter "I have no words. I am really scared you know?"
Luna wrapped a wing around him. Which didn't help much at first. "If it is any consolation for you. Celestia doesn't know yet that you miraculously escaped from a maximum security transport. A secret which I can hold until our morning gathering."
Peter "Why are you telling me this?"
Luna "I have the intend to give you the chance to do better. You have not shown any kind of aggression since your arrival. I believe your vial to be acceptive enough for us to teach you our ways. To show, even a wild and hungry dragon can be turned into a loyal and kind friend. Giving enough time and effort from both parties."
Peter: "What will happen tomorrow when Celestia finds out I am not within her grasp?"
Luna: "I cannot tell."
There was a big pause before any of the two spoke up.
Peter: "Thank you."
Luna: "You are welcome."
Peter: "For helping me escape from this nightmare and, for giving me hope, not all is lost. I will do my best. How? Heh I have no idea. Actually how come I can speak with you?"
Luna: "The dream realm is my thing. A realm where I control logic and time. And come to speak of it. It was nice spending the time with you. ~ Good morning."
~~
And his eyes opened up just as she said this. The first rays of the sun pouring in from under the door of the hut.
A fact he discovered solely because his face was planted very solid against the wooden floor. "Ouch" His body complained about the sleept. It ached in all the wrong places.
"Well, time to make things right I suppose. But first. I need to find something to drink and eat.. "
Opening the door to the fresh air outside had him regret it immediately. It wasn't cold but it wasn't warm either. The morning dew hanging deep in the air. A nice alternative to his reeking body. Oh jeez this was him? OOf
"Well time to get adjusted to a new life." Peter said to no one in particular. "And first order of business: Find water and food for the day." ((Preferably the next week if possible))
Peter sat in front of the little hut he found the day before. His legs crossed and deep in thought.
It was early in the morning and he was just about to go out and collect vital resources to be able to sustain himself for the coming days. If it will go that far.
Luna, in his dream, told him that Celestia didn't know of his escape .. yet. And judging by the sun it appears to be way past 10. Aside from a few stray pegasi which startled him to death every time, the skies and immediate surroundings of him stayed surprisingly guard free.
Thinking back to his interactions with Twilight, Shining and Fluttershy. He had to consider how to keep that promise while needing help. Suddenly escaping the transport didn't seem to be such a bright idea in the long run.
Well, sitting around doing nothing isn't going to help the situation. So for now the better idea seemed to be to get some food.
One source of it would be to harvest more apples of those apple trees outside the forest. So he made up his mind and went out in the general direction.
He ducked down into the hut to quickly grab part of the saddlebag he found yesterday and afterwards headed directly towards the opening in the thick bush where he came from.
Walking through the opening into the forest he noticed something. Now that he had some rest. The forest sounded beautifully.
With no roads or otherwise noisy things around it was breathtaking how enchanting this sounded. A huge amount of birds singing almost in unison to greet the new day. The gentle breeze through the leaves of the forest. How he was actually able to hear a few birds flying close by.
While he was strolling in the general direction where he wanted to go, he sometimes could hear the distinct shuffle of paws running away to safety.
Taking a deep breath he too noticed how clean the air was.
The combination of this actually made him smile. He would like to spend more time here.
The Forest opened to the grassy surroundings where he entered it in the first place. With the pond in front of him. A bit of morning dew still hanging in the air.
Taking a precautionary look around to check for locals, there were none, he walked out to one of the nearby apple trees.
Peter picked a sizable amount of apples from the tree and stashed them in the bag. He was a bit suspicious why those weren't picked clean already. Given the taste, back at home this would have been happening quite fast.
He took his time taking the apples and time flew by a bit quicker than he liked.
All of this came to a sudden stop though after he faintly heard wings above him. Snapping his head immediately up he saw a Blue-Greyish Pegasi. Female with off white Hair and tail looking directly at him curiously.
Well at least that what he thinks she was since his immediate reaction was to grab the bag full of apples and make a total beeline towards the forest.
His feet gave the telltale thunder of running over grass, occasionally jumping over a small obstacle. While the flapping of pegasi wings behind him only mildly increased in its frequency. The Pegasi undoubtedly following this strange creature who seemed to be afraid of Ponies.
Peter had to slow down as he approached the border of the forest. The terrain just didn't allow for him to run at full speed without the danger of tripping or stepping on something he might regret. He was still barefoot afterall
Hiding behind a tree a few metres into the forest he looked back to see if the Pegasi followed him. And much to his disdain, she did. Hovering now just above ground on the edge of the forest, looking in his direction.
She just studied or watched him, with a slight smile on her face. Seemingly oblivious to what was infront of her.
So he ran further into the forest. heading towards the only somewhat safe place he knew which was the hut. At least he would be hidden from Air inside of it. That was his thinking at least.
On his way there he got a few scratches on his legs for being quite careless with the local fauna. And the bag he held in his hand didn't seem to be of the most durable material as it too got a few scratches and tiny holes now.
At least the apples stayed inside of it.
He couldn't see the pegasi through the canopy of the forest, nor could he hear her. A fact which made him sigh in relief and he slowed down a considerable amount. He was quite winded as well so not seeing her was quite a relief.
Arriving at the path towards the hut he realized the error of his direction way too late. Since he took the most direct path the pegasi must have figured where he wanted to go.
Stopping on the spot, he saw her. Sitting right in front of the hut, seemingly waiting for him. He cursed in his mind how flying is cheating but came to the conclusion not to be able to escape at the same time.
In his mind he had two choices, continue to run away, or ~ even in his mind this sounded like a bad idea ~ get acquainted with the local ponyfolk.
It seemed hopeless to get out of the current situation and with that realization he let the bag full of apples slide out of his hand. Hitting the ground with a thud and having it lose its content over the grassy floor.
Peter went down soon after, exhausted from the sprint.
He didn't know what to do. Well, there was a pegasi in front of him. He could try to make a good first impression. Or at least try to better it after running away from her.
The pegasi took note of his slumped position on the ground and closed in by walking a few steps at first towards him, but flew the rest in a quick hover. Coming to a stop a safe distance away. Sitting down again she studied and watched him probably to get a closer look at him too since she didn't have the chance earlier.
Peter likewise took a closer look at her. On a second glance, he had to admit, they were beautiful creatures. Smooth fur, with strategically placed tufts of longer hair around the chest and cheeks. Her Hair, or rather mane style seemed to be inspired by flying fast. All of it was combed backwards. Her cyan eyes had this spark of innocence wonder and curiosity in them. Actually that's really hard not to notice given their comically big size. Her Wings, which were slightly unfurled, are well groomed with squeaky clean looking feathers.
She tried to talk to him using her language. Little chirps and whistles with a mix of asian sounding words. He had lost all hope to even remotely guess what she was saying. He too forgot the few words he picked up back in canterlot. So he was at a total loss here.
Peter: "I am sorry but I can't understand your language." He said more to himself rather than directing it to her. Slumping down even further and scratching a few cuts along his arm.
She talked again but her expression changed a bit, that of curiosity changed almost to worry. Funny how he could interpret the facial expressions quite well. And with one final chirp she flew off. Just like that.
Leaving him sitting in the grass. Looking after her like a dog looking after its owner leaving for work.
~~~
After he fully regained his breath he picked up the apples which rolled out of the bag. Stuffing them back in it.
His mood was struck somewhat. His energy for the day seemingly lost at one encounter with a pony.
Still he enjoyed breakfast. It may only have consisted of apples and water, but nonetheless he enjoyed it.
The leftover apple cores he threw in the bushes and choose to clean up after himself in the hut. Putting the stuff back where it was.
He figured that, they will definitely search for him now. His presence no longer a secret. But rather than waiting for them to come he choose to make it at least a little bit difficult for them. In the forest they would have a way harder time to catch him. So he just walked into the forest with nothing on him but the odd apple in his pyjama pocket.
He walked in a straight line due south. Walking towards the sun so to speak. On his way not much interesting happened. He saw a bunny family though. Well not much since they noticed him way earlier than he did and he only saw them from behind running towards their burrow. If it wouldn't be for the hiding he would enjoy the area.
He approached the edge of the forest rather fast. Did he mention it really wasn't a big one? Peter was certain there was a more appropriate name for it that he just didn't know.
Clearing the edge of the forest he found a very well defined path. The signs of wheel trenches really apparent. He didn't know this one. Further out was a wheatfield. To the left was the river and to his right was the edge of farm property. The fenced in Cows?? grassing there were a dead giveaway.
Cows? The sudden thought of having access to milk came to him. A pleasant thought to say the least. Given the apples he only could imagine how that tasted.
Wanting to take a closer look at them he walked along the path after making really sure there was nopony around, even making the effort to radar the air as well.
Approaching the fence the animals didn't seem to mind him. Continuing their early day meal. The cows seemed to be very healthy, bright white and dark black fur. Everything just seemed to be healthier. Even the wheatfield just seemed to be just this bit more yellow.
Beyond the enclosure for the cows was the farm. A big area with hay bales, a LOT of hay bales and a few red barn like buildings. There were ponies mingling about on the farm property. But given the distance he didn't think he would be noticed by them.
"I actually would like to live here..." he sighed. "In peace." Which I don't have. He continued in his thought.
He turned around and sat against a fence pole. What did Luna say? He just had to show that he isn't aggressive?
Turning towards the Farm again, he was somewhat curious why they weren't rounding up a search party. Of all the ponies he thought suitable for a search party for an unknown creature inside a forest it would be them. To an extend he could be a creature dangerous to their animals.
Yet, nothing. Just like the entire day. Not a single guard, not a single worried pony.
He got curious on what would happen if he just showed up on their front lawn so to speak. Given the reaction of the pegasi. They might just try and talk to him.
Then again, he wouldn't understand them. He had to smirk at the fact that the universally agreed peace sign probably wouldn't be of any meaning to them.
Getting up from his sitting position against the fence post, he walked down the path away from the farm. Wanting to see where it would lead.
His sense of direction told him it was leading east, towards the pond / the river flowing into the pond. The ground was really rough on his feet with the pebbles in it so he opted to walk on the grass next to the path.
Hooves would really be beneficial right now. walking up a little elevated section of the path he saw a bridge on the other side.
Made out of wood. And beautifully decorated. Engraved with flowing lines. The guard rails painted pink. He approached it curiously.
Admiring the fine woodwork. He liked it. Running his hand over the guardrail though revealed a real danger of obtaining splinters. So avoid that.
Taking in the other side of the river, well there wasn't much. It was a landscape void of any form of civilization except for the path trailing away through some more patches of forest like the one used as a hiding point. and the odd apple tree. As far as he could make out, no big animals just a LOT of butterflies, birds, Pegasi flying in the background.
The side where he came from had the big wheat field. The fooo~ oh no. Just as he scanned the area above the forest he saw her. The dark pegasi. Which followed him earlier. And she saw him. Out in the open on the bridge. That alone wouldn't be that bad. If it wouldn't be for another pegasi close to her looking at him as well.
#### POV Pegasi ####
Night Glider: "There he is, do you see what I mean now. Hard to describe him?"
Velvet Light a Magenta Pegasi with purple Hair, acting as the local airborne veterinarian and first aid pony turned towards Night Glider. "Yeah you are right I have no idea what creature he is. But based on what I see, he is really lost isn't he."
Night Glider responded. "Yeah, and he can't speak equestrian. The words he spoke had a really close resemblance to yak. He saw us, we shouldn't fly closer. He is REALLY scared and skittish. And trust me he is fast on those two legs. He could outrun a earth pony in a full sprint no problem."
Velvet holding her first aid kit. "You said he hurt himself while sprinting through the forest? I want to help him."
Night Glider: "Yeah, he did. Not bad but he still hurt himself. Let us leave him be for now. If I can guess he will be at mary's Hut in the forest tonight. Let us round up a few friends and surprise him in the evening. I saw him eating apples. So fruits are definitely on his diet. Lets bring a collection of food and means to communicate in a non verbal way."
Velvet: "So you suppose it's better to corner him in a way where communication is the better alternative to running? What's the deal with you and him anyways?"
Night Glider: "Well after Twilight and her friends took care of Starlight and turned her into a better Pony it just. I don't know, showed me that everything can be good? I want to help him if only to avoid him getting desperate like starlight and doing something bad."
Velvet: "Well said, okay I will speak to Rivets and the folk at the farm if they want to donate some food. Nice for you to visit by the way. See you later."
#### Peter ####
His heart was pounding so fast!!! Yet they didn't approach. And eventually broke up.
He had no explanation to why there were just looking at him. And talking presumably. "Let's get back into forest. I don't like this." He hid a bit out of the way. And didn't see any pegasi for a while.
