> A Kinder World > by PandoraFox > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: The Void > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “You are not supposed to be here.” I was startled into awareness by an inexplicable voice, speaking to me in a way that should not have been possible. It sounded like it was being spoken inside my head, while also somehow coming from a source outside of it. The voice was both stern and comforting, like the counsel of a wise sage, but had no other defining characteristics that could be gleaned. No gender, no age, just emotion and consciousness. I attempted to open my eyes, only to find that the muscles didn’t respond. Actually, none of my muscles responded. It was like sleep paralysis, except I didn’t even have the ability to open my eyes to see the being that was haunting me.  This alone was concerning, but I became overwhelmed with anxiety when I realized that I couldn’t feel my body at all. There was no sensation of touch, no warmth or coldness to ground me. No heartbeat in my chest, nor the quiet sound of air flowing through my lungs. All five of my senses were entirely devoid of any feedback; the only things left of me were my thoughts and my memories. “Is this what it feels like to be an uploaded consciousness or something?” I pondered, given I had no better ideas. “Oh god, what happened to me…” I forced myself to calm down a bit and racked my brain, looking through my recent memories for an idea of what happened before I ended up here. There had to be something that made sense here, right? “Ok, I was hiking, and then… oh, I found that cave—” Oh. The cave. And what I found inside… My thoughts were interrupted when the voice spoke again, worry seeping into its tone. “What are you doing here? This space should be inaccessible to mortal souls, unless… oh no…”  There was a pause before the voice spoke again, its tone heavy with foreboding. “I am afraid something terrible has happened to you.” I wanted to shout out about the obviousness of that statement, but alas. My inability to perform even a single action was starting to get to me. Being a fidgety person, I felt like I should’ve been wringing my hands or something, but not being able to was overwhelming in its lack of familiarity. “If you are here, it means you found yourself at a tear in reality and got close enough to be pulled in. Personally, I do not blame you. In many realities, there are few comparisons to their strange appearance and mysterious allure. I have done my best to patch as many tears as I can, but some still slip through the cracks…” The voice took on a wistful tone. “Even with infinite time, it is impossible to manage everything in an infinite multiverse.” “Multiverse?? It’s real?” The mere mention of it sent my mind reeling. Could it really be true? Are there really an infinite number of different realities? The sheer implications were staggering… well, assuming I even believe it. Sure, the voice may be saying the truth about my situation, but it can’t all be infinite… right? I could just be on the craziest drugs known to man, but in the wake of not being able to feel anything at all, I found myself very willing to go along with whatever the voice said, as long as it got me out of here. “God, what have I gotten myself into…” The voice continued solemnly. “At the moment you touched the reality tear, your soul was detached from your body, and your connection to your native universe was severed. It has been centuries since I have seen a soul in here, but I hoped that after all this time I would be able to offer future ones a better solution… still they arrive all the same, and I am left with stinging regrets. I am sorry, but…” The voice paused, its tone dripping with sorrow. “It is not within my current abilities to return you to your original life.” The weight of the revelation crashed over me like a tidal wave and sank deep into the core of my being where my heart once beat. All of my hope for getting out of here was immediately crushed under the weight. “I… can’t go home? …Fuck.”  It was almost comedic. In a single action, I had managed to effectively end my life on Earth while also proving the existence of something assumed to be science fiction (by any sane person, anyway). Not that I’d be able to go back and tell anyone about it, seeing how I’m here. What even is here? How am I here at all? Every moment I spent here felt like it was ripping pieces out of my sanity. Did I even tell anyone I was going hiking? If I didn’t, I'd have just entirely disappeared from the face of the Earth. I suppose my car would still be waiting in the parking lot, but who knows what they’d assume from there. Suicide? Kidnapping? There’d be no body, no signs of struggle, no evidence of where I went.  Would the cave still be there? Something like that should’ve been blocked off, surrounded by the military, and studied. I guess my luck just took a horrible turn for the worse, assuming I was the first person to find the thing. I wanted to scream, cry, shout, anything, but every attempt left me with nothing but a growing sense of frustration. My reeling thoughts were interrupted once again when the voice spoke, a comforting air in its tone. “I can feel that you are distressed. Again, I am truly sorry, young soul. Do not give up just yet, though, as there is something still I can do for you.” A spark of hope. I felt waves of something passing over me, filled with energy. “Although I may not be able to send you back to your native universe, I may be able to send you somewhere close to it. Your soul contains a level of kindness only seen in certain areas of the multiverse. I will use my power to send you to one of those.” A pause. “I apologize, but this may hurt.” “Hurt? How can I feel hurt without— OH.” In an instant, a surge of anguish washed over my being, threatening to engulf all rational thought. Waves of energy crashed into me, overwhelming me in seconds. I felt like I should’ve passed out already, but without a body to be conscious in, there was no unconsciousness to be gained. Suddenly, I felt the sensation of movement. I was going somewhere, faster and faster as I got closer to my destination. Everything together seemed to be heading towards a crescendo of pain and disorientation, a symphony of chaos that only grew louder. It was difficult to hear the voice through all of this, but I was still somehow able to make out what it was saying. “I wish you luck in your new life. I am sorry I could not do more for you, but I encourage you to make the most of the situation. This is a new chance, in a kinder world. It will be difficult, but I have faith that you will be just fine.” The cacophony grew louder, to the point where I couldn’t think. Everything faded to white, then to black. > Chapter 2: Unfortunate New Beginnings > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I faded into consciousness, the first thing I noticed was the quiet symphony of nature at night. The soft rustling of a breeze through the leaves of trees, bugs chirping at an uneven tempo, and the distant sound of an owl hooting away. The second thing I noticed was the ability to feel again. The ability to feel sore, more specifically. There was still some residual pain from my journey here, in a place I could only assume was my soul itself. “Ugh, I feel like I got hit by a bus. Better than not feeling anything, I suppose…” As painful as it felt, it was a great relief to be away from the feeling of pure detachment brought on by the void I was just in. I slowly opened my eyes (finally!) to reveal a forest surrounding me and the night sky above me. I was lying on my side in a small clearing speckled with wildflowers and grasses. I could feel a cool night breeze against my skin, but something about the way it flowed across me was odd. I was too sore and tired to properly address it, so I shrugged it off for now. Slowly and painfully rolling to my back, I looked up at the sky. My eyes widened at the view before me.  It was beautiful. The night sky above me was the most gorgeous one I’d ever seen. It was speckled with vivid stars, interspersed with ethereal nebulas of dark blues and purples. The centerpiece was the full moon itself, which sat in the dead center of the sky, bathing the ground below in a soft, cool light. “Wow, I must be in an area of incredibly low light pollution to be able to see the sky this well— or, right, a different universe.” I had no right to assume that the fundamental laws of the universe worked the same way here as they did back home.  I carefully scanned the sky, looking for any recognizable constellations that I could recall off the top of my head, and came up empty. Either they were all obscured by the trees, or I really was in a different universe. “What, am I questioning the voice now? I really have no reason to doubt that it was telling the truth. It promised some amount of familiarity though, so that’s a comforting thought at least.”  And familiarity I found. The forest that surrounded me reminded me strongly of the forests I left behind. Large spruces and firs speckled with moss dominated the landscape, leaving the forest floor nearly devoid of moonlight. Various bushes and ferns occasionally took up room on the forest floor, adding a bit of variation to the otherwise mostly uniform forest. The scene around me helped to calm me down, and I enjoyed the peaceful solitude for a moment. The soreness mostly receded, I made an attempt to sit up, and only partially succeeded. My body didn’t quite respond properly, and my back didn’t seem to want to bend in the way I was used to. My following attempt to stand utterly failed, and I flopped forward and landed on my face, eliciting a muffled “ow” from my mouth, half buried in dirt. Mostly awake now from the unpleasant and puzzling experience I just had, I sat back up again and shook my head, getting off as much dirt as I could. “Ugh,” I thought, “the whole ‘being tossed into a new reality’ thing really did a number on me, huh?” I reached up my hand to rub my now injured nose and—  “ACK—” I felt like I just punched myself in the face. “Ugh, what…” Pulling my hand back to inspect it, I was hit with a sudden and overwhelming sense of confusion and disorientation. Instead of seeing my hand as I was used to, I instead saw a… is that a hoof?? Inspecting the rest of my arm only further confounded me, as it was now covered in a thick layer of orangey-tan fur. Scanning my eyes over the rest of my body, I saw more of the same fluffy texture, with each of my limbs ending in a similarly colored hoof. I went cross eyed for a moment, noticing a muzzle protruding slightly into the edges of my vision, obscuring more than my nose usually did. Looking behind me, I saw a light blue tail with a single green stripe running through it attached to my lower spine, swishing in agitation. “What… the fuck? The voice didn’t say anything about being stuck in a new body…” Although after thinking about it, it made sense. It did say that my connection to my normal body was severed when I fell through that god forsaken hole in reality, so I suppose the only logical thing for it to do was to construct a new body for me to live in. Not that that made being stuck in this unfamiliar body any less overwhelmingly confusing. This… is a new body, right? I sincerely hope I did not just possess someone.  Shaking that concern out of my head, I brought my thoughts back to my appearance. “This is so weirddd…” I thought, twisting my arms around and staring at them. They seemed to be about as mobile as they used to be, although they felt significantly shorter, and the joints were in slightly different places. My legs however seemed completely different, with a dramatic bend at what looked like a knee. I adjusted my sitting position, and found it much more comfortable to sit like how a dog would, as strange and disorienting as that felt. The sheer brightness of the colors on my body was equally disorienting. I could feel myself getting overwhelmed with anxiety and took a moment to calm myself. A few breathing exercises helped me to relax a little bit, but I still felt a creeping discomfort. The lack of familiarity I felt compared to my normal body was really starting to get to me. I felt dehumanized and humiliated. I’m just glad there wasn’t anybody around to see me freaking out like this…  A particularly strong breeze blew over my body, rustling the fur that covered it. I shivered, finally realizing what that sensation I felt earlier was. The fur coat I now had did a relatively good job of keeping out the cold, but I still felt quite naked without any clothing. I grew self conscious, and felt my cheeks flush a bit at the thought.  It felt surreal, knowing that of all the universes I could’ve been plopped in, I ended up in a surprisingly familiar one, trapped in the body of some kind of animal. Although after thinking about it, considering all of the horrific realities I could’ve ended up in, I felt like I’d won the lottery in comparison. “Am I a horse or something? Or at least a small one? A… really small one…” All at once, I was suddenly aware of how short I really was. Looking up, the trees around me seemed way larger than I was used to seeing, the grass below me, although not particularly long, reached nearly to the top of my seated legs, and most of the foliage in the forest was somehow taller than me. “Well, either the species of horse that I am is really small, or this world is really large. I’m not a super huge fan of either option…” This… is not great. There could be any number of dangerous predatory species living in these woods, who’s to say they’d be in any way similar to any species on Earth? I could just get attacked by a horror beyond my comprehension and be dead before I had the chance to get out of this forest. I could die in any number of unknown ways and not even have a moment to blink before I did— “Ugh, stop. I’m just making myself all anxious again…” I took a moment to quiet my now quickly beating heart by taking a few deep breaths. “Focus. I’m not gonna benefit from imagining all the ways I could die that are out of my control. Assuming that whatever I am is the dominant species on this planet, I should probably be fine. Although, I have a hard time believing that a species of small, soft looking horses could be a dominant species.” Hmm, small horses. There’s a name for that, right? Ponies? …Ponies.  “And thus, the protagonist finds himself lost in an unfamiliar world in the body of a pony! Will he make it out alive?! Find out next time!!” Chuckling softly at my own antics, I noticed something I hadn’t thought about yet. “Testing testing, one two three,” I said aloud. “La la la la laaaaa—“ I stopped. There was something about my voice that sounded both distinctly feminine and uncomfortably childish. I hadn’t thought to consider what age and gender I’d appear as. I guess I assumed I’d look the same way as I did when I left, but every discovery left me doubting ever more than anything about my body was familiar. I guess I really am just— “Now hold on now. I can’t assume that gender and age works the same way around here. Different universe and all? C’mon, no jumping to conclusions. I’ll find some other people— ponies?— to talk to, and I can work out where I’m at in that regard from there, alright?” Still, I was curious. I looked down and took a glance between my legs.  … Huh.  Immediately banishing that thought from my head before I even had the chance to think it, I steeled myself and thought over what I needed to do. “Alright, assuming this world has other creatures like me, my main goal should be to find civilization. Or I guess more pressingly, food and water. I’m gonna die out here if I don’t manage to find anyone in time, so basic necessities should be first.” I took a moment to attempt to remember the basics of wilderness survival. “Ok, my first priority should be… finding a clean source of water, and then… foraging?” I really wish I had kept my wilderness survival knowledge up to date. Besides the basics of Don’t Die™, there wasn’t much to my current understanding of what to do when you’re lost in the woods. I’m sure there was some Cub Scout badge for it, but I quit too soon for that experience to be worth much. Considering how much time I spent in the forests back home, I was playing with fire for a while. My overreliance on GPS might actually be the death of me here. Oh. I just realized something. “There’s no way to know whether or not I'm still able to eat meat, so hunting is out of the question. Too risky.” Plus, my lack of fingers or supplies of any sort would’ve made going through all the steps to catch and cook a meal nearly impossible. I looked down at where my hands once were. Would I even be able to build a fire? It might make a useful signal, but without any tools, my only shot at creating one would be through friction. I was never any good at that even as a human; as a pony it would be impossible.  “Alright, I guess I should focus on looking for… anything, really. Food, water, or other people. Anything that’ll increase my chances of living.” With a plan in place, I decided to take another shot at standing. “Well, if I’m this horse… pony… thing, I’m probably quadrupedal, right?” I flopped down on my stomach, then moved all four limbs under my body and pushed up. I was still a bit sore, but my attempt was a success, and I lifted myself up on four hooves, albeit with a bit of shakiness.  The feeling of standing like this was weird. It almost felt like standing on my toes, but with one big digit on the end of each limb instead of multiple. My legs seemed to be the perfect length for standing like this, and not uncomfortable like the bear crawls I had to do in P.E. back in high school. Taking my eyes off of my legs (I guess I have four legs now?), I noticed that my neck was way more flexible than I was used to, and I was easily able to face forward without discomfort. All of this combined left me with some strong mental whiplash, but also a bit of pride in my ability to figure this out so quickly. Now… uh… walking.  Cautiously, I lifted a foreleg and took a step forward. “Ok, uhh… wait, how do horses do it again? Front left, back right, front right, back left, front right, back right— wait!” I stumbled and fell on my side, the grass below me pricking at my skin. At first I felt angry, but I forced myself to stand back up again. “Come on! If I can’t walk, I won’t be able to do anything around here! Ugh…” I felt a sort of creeping sadness that threatened to overwhelm my thoughts. “God, this really is my life now, huh? Ejected from reality, turned into a horse. In a completely different universe with no way back. Everything in my life, gone. Fuck…” I felt my eyes becoming watery, threatening to spill tears. This was strange for me, considering I hadn’t managed to cry at all at any point within the last few years of my life, even as much as I wanted to at times. “Well, this certainly adds to the ‘am a child’ theory.” I shook my head. “No! Stop! Think happy thoughts! Ummm…” … “Yeah, I’ve got nothing.” The dam holding back my emotions finally failed as tears began to roll down my cheeks and splatter on the grass below. I collapsed to my stomach and held my head in my arms— my forelegs— and softly cried.  The reality of my situation hit me all at once. The sheer level of displacement I had experienced was beyond the scale of anyone I had ever known. Forced from my home, my planet, my entire universe, yet somehow still alive and conscious to tell the tale. How? Why? I had no answers.  I wanted to stay curled in a ball forever, and I did for a while, long enough for the moon to progress through the sky a visible amount, before I eventually untucked my head from my— arms and took a deep breath. I had found within myself the motivation to give walking another shot.  I stood back up and, very carefully, followed the same walking pattern I attempted before. Each step was sluggish and calculated, but I was slowly but surely picking up the pace. I found a sort of rhythm in it, and started whistling a tune to the imaginary beat. “Oh! Whistling still works with pony lips. So not everything is entirely different, then.” My progress and discovery brightened my mood considerably, and I was almost smiling as I walked laps around the clearing, each one a little faster than the last. After a few dozen laps, I had already reached a solid walking pace, if a little wobbly at times. I kept pushing myself to get faster, and my walk turned into a jog (or whatever the equivalent is in horse terms). I adapted the rhythm I set before to accommodate the faster pace. “This is kinda fun!” My streak of good luck came to a sudden halt when I tripped over something, leaving me airborne for a few moments, before I once again came slamming down on the ground, face first, sliding a few feet in the dirt. After spitting out more dirt than was probably healthy, I gently placed my head back on the ground and groaned. “God, I hope this doesn’t become a running theme…” > Chapter 3: A Hairy Encounter > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After brushing off some residual dirt from my face (awkwardly, and with a hoof, that is), I reminded myself of what I was supposed to be doing. “Right, I gotta stay focused. My energy is limited and it’s only a matter of time before I pass out from exhaustion. No time to be screwing around while I’m still stuck out here…” Ugh, thinking of myself as a victim felt wrong, but there was no other way to describe what was happening. I was helpless— nearly helpless— and lost in the woods, with no idea of which direction I should even be going in, as much as I hated to admit it. I really wish I still had my phone…  Still, I was determined to find my way out, no matter what it took. Speaking of direction, I scanned over the tops of the trees, looking for any landmarks that I could head towards. Unfortunately, my luck fell short yet again; my smallness and/or the trees’ tallness made it very difficult to see very far in any direction. I considered spinning around and pointing in a random direction, but I didn’t want to risk falling over and hurting myself again. I instead picked the direction with the least amount of foliage, then walked out of the clearing into the dimly lit forest. It was hard to tell how long had passed, with the canopy above blocking a clear view to the night sky. At my best guess, it had been a couple hours since I left the clearing, and I was not faring well because of it. My already aching body was further aggravated by the walk, and tripping over roots and various other forest obstacles was not doing me any favors. My luck had apparently run dry, as I was unable to find anything useful so far. “Unless I can somehow find any use for a bunch of sticks and rocks— not that I’d be able to pick them up anyway,” I thought with a small scowl on my face.  In a burst of motion, I stumbled to the ground once more, courtesy of a particularly treacherous rock. As I fell, a lock of hair was dislodged from its place on my forehead and fell down to obscure my vision, leaving me a little bit startled. I was not at all used to having long hair, having kept my hair short my entire life. I had never really considered the possibility of letting it grow out. “First chance I get, I’m cutting this all off, I swear…” After grumbling a bit, I went to push the lock back onto my forehead, only to strike something hard. A wave of discomfort swept through my skull, almost like hitting a funny bone, but in a place where it should not have been possible. I didn’t even know that was a feeling I could feel, and the sensation left me slightly stunned and confused. Straining my eyes up revealed something just on the top edge of my vision.  “Augh, what the hell— is that…”  I gave the object another light tap. “...a horn?!” Indeed it was. I sat there in the dirt in stunned silence, staring up at the long, dull, tan-ish horn protruding from my forehead. “What— is— am…” I attempted out loud. It felt like my brain had just shut down, finally succumbing to the torrent of new information I’d been struggling against for the past few hours. “I’m a unicorn,” I stated in my too-high voice. “I’m. a fucking. UNICORN. WHAT.” I blinked up at the thing a few times in angry confusion. It took a few more moments for my brain to fully start back up, and I shook my head to clear it of the shock. “Ok.” I took a deep breath. “So… unicorns are real here. Got it. And I’m… one of them. Wow.” I honestly had no idea how I hadn’t noticed the horn before, given how it was sitting right there on my head. Add my inattentiveness to the list of things that could probably get me killed here. I quietly groaned. “Ok, calm down. No more distractions.” I could already feel myself growing weary, like my body was unfamiliar with the exertion of a hike. “Oh, well, I guess it isn’t, is it?” I was never a particularly active person, but I tried to keep relatively fit, and the hikes I regularly went on were always a great workout. Now, as a pony— unicorn, it felt like all of that progress had just been reset.  I probably still wasn’t aware of all of the ways my body was different from what I was used to, and of all the things I lost when I was ejected from Earth, but each new thing was just adding onto the pile at this point. Once a fully capable human male, now just this— inept child. “Not that I know for sure that I’m a child or anything… different universe, right?” Shaking out that thought, I focused my attention back on the task at hand. “Ugh, I must really be tired if I keep getting distracted like this. I can't rest yet though, I’ve still had no luck finding anything useful out here. Either I keep going, or I die.” Invigorated by my newfound determination, I stood back up and continued on my way. Hours had passed, and I was on my last dregs of energy. The amount of breaks I had to take to keep myself going increased as the time went by, and my hooves and legs were extremely cramped and sore, but I refused to give up. I was way too deep into this and I had to see it through. Even still, I managed to trip over myself and fall again. I wearily looked to the treetops, noticing a change in the light. Was the sun coming up? As far as I could tell, it was. But… this feels… way too fast. I could understand a day/night cycle that was faster than Earth’s, but the moon seemed to be moving completely normally while I was still in that clearing. Now, it feels like it’s gone from purely moonlight to nearly fully sunlight in only a couple minutes. What? “God, I’m too tired for this…” I stared off into the forest for a moment. I could tell I wasn’t going to be able to stay awake much longer, and walking around for far too many hours had left me hungry and dehydrated, but without any signs that I was getting anywhere close to any civilization whatsoever, my anxiety only grew larger and my patience grew thinner. And my eyelids… heavier… “No!” I shot my eyes open in a panic. “I gotta… I… need to…” … “Hmm… maybe just… a quick nap…” Poke. I grunted. Poke poke. “Would you quit that?” I slurred. “I’m tryna sleep…” … Nudge. “Pleaseeee, just let me slee—” I stopped. I opened my eyes and turned my head to see a very large brown bear standing over me, watching me with curious eyes. My mouth gaped and my eyes widened in horror, my exhaustion completely forgotten in an instant. The bear towered over me, on the scale that a human would tower over a terrier. How could a bear get so big?  I was terrified. More terrified than I had ever been in my entire life.  This is it. I’m going to die here. And it wasn’t even a horror beyond my comprehension that would kill me, just a really big bear. “No! Get up! Move! RUN!” I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could, stumbling away from the bear. The bear in question seemed to tilt its head in confusion, but before I could see it do anything else, I had already turned tail (oh god, it’s literal now) and bolted away as fast as my little legs could carry me. I was already running on fumes at this point, so what I was able to pull off with pure adrenaline alone was almost miraculous. I dodged around trees, over rocks, through bushes. Anywhere that would take me further away from the giant bear I left behind.  Suddenly, I could hear loud footsteps booming through the air from behind me, shaking the forest floor below. It was running after me! I tried to speed up, but found that my exhaustion was quickly catching up with me. As it turned out, so was the bear. Our sheer difference in size certainly put me at a significant disadvantage in speed. Just the thought of it brought my heartrate up ever faster. Before I could fully process what was happening, there was a sudden change from the monotony of the forest. The trees seemed to be thinning out, leaving splotches of sky visible through holes in the canopy. Through one of these, I spotted a thin line of smoke coming from somewhere close by.  A campfire!  I immediately changed course and sped towards the direction of the fire, feeling fortunate that whoever was tending to it put in enough wood to let it last all through the night. Despite my brief stroke of luck, my carelessness finally caught up to me, as my leg caught on a particularly sharp rock. My foreleg scraped against it, setting my gait off course and leaving me sprawling on the ground in pain. I briefly shrieked, a high pitched, ear piercingly loud sound filling the air.  “God, ow, fuck…” My heart was racing, my breath was labored and erratic, and sweat poured down my small frame. The gash on my foreleg was already deep red with blood. I could feel my adrenaline running out. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer.  “Please, just a little further! The campsite is right there, I can see it through the trees!” The stomping from behind me was only getting louder, I had no choice but to continue. Slowly and painfully, I stood up on my remaining uninjured legs and hobbled as quickly as I could towards the treeline. “Just a little further— ow! Just… keep going…” I was at my absolute limit. I had never felt so completely drained, yet absolutely terrified before. My stumbling continued, and the massive creature grew ever closer, until… Finally, after too many painful steps, my body broke the treeline and I stumbled into a small campsite situated in a sizable clearing. In it were three tents and a small campfire, barely embers at this point but still spewing out a sizable amount of smoke. At the sight of the tents, my relief was unimaginable, and I could already feel my body fall from its adrenaline high. “Maybe I should get… a little bit closer…” I could see faces peeking out from a couple of the tents, but I was far too out of it to make note of any distinguishing features. “Oh right, the bear! I have to warn them!” “Careful… there’s… bear…” was all I could get out before I collapsed to the dirt and unconsciousness took me. > Chapter 4: A Quiet Forest Walk > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Sometime before...) I drove my car into the state park parking lot, my thoughts still on the events of that morning. Another argument. It was unassuming at first. I was invited over for lunch, celebrating my father’s birthday. I went because… I felt obligated, I guess? But almost as soon as I got there, I was “invited” to help clear out an old storage shed that I never even used. What was the point of that? “I don’t know why I even bother sometimes…” I don’t know what my parents were thinking, treating me like a tool. They may have brought me into this world, and housed and fed me as a child, but that was only the bare minimum. They had no right to assume they’d get anything in return if I didn’t want to give it. Not that I’m a selfish person or anything! It was just the way they expected my full cooperation in things I wanted no part of, for no other reason than “because I want you to.” It left a bad taste in my mouth.  I had to just deal with it as a child, but since moving out I’ve been speaking to them less and less just to avoid getting wrapped up in another cleaning day or generic community event that didn’t benefit me in the slightest.  It was like that all throughout my childhood. Always doing what they wanted, never asking me for my input, nor accepting it if I provided it. As frustrating as they were to be around, I always hoped that one day they’d actually reach out to try to repair our relationship, but as of now, they’ve shown no interest. They still never made an attempt to really understand who I was. It’s like they didn’t even want to know me.  Do I even know me? At that moment, I realized my hands were shaking from the force with which I gripped the steering wheel. I took a deep breath and carefully released my grip, ending my rage fuelled mental tirade.  Stepping out of the car, I breathed in the cool afternoon air of the serene woods. This forest was where I went to cool off, to take a break from the world and be alone for a while. I certainly needed it now. If I didn’t leave when I did, the mostly passive aggressive argument would’ve turned into a full on shouting match. Anger has always been a toxic emotion for me. Made me do things I didn’t want to do, things I knew I’d regret. If I had the ability to shut off the emotion forever, I think I would do it. I sighed. Somewhere deep down I knew that my parents meant well in their actions, despite their shortcomings. I could see their little get-togethers as just attempts to reach out to their estranged children, only for us to sulk off and ignore them. Sometimes I just wished the world was less complicated… I took another deep breath. “But enough of that now, I came here to relax and get some alone time, right? No need to work myself up again.” With that in mind, I grabbed my pack full of supplies from the passenger seat, slung it over my back, and walked into the forest. The land around me quickly became filled with large spruce trees and speckled with bushes and other foliage, enveloping me as I followed down the trail that I knew like the back of my hand.  Well… mostly.  But I knew that if I ever got lost, I’d have my phone available with GPS on. I knew that it worked for sure out here, since I’ve had to use it a handful of times in the past. “Hmm, what am I feeling up for today?” I thought as I pondered a few of the different areas I had visited in the past, before settling on heading towards the more mountainous, rocky region. It’d be a couple hour hike both ways, meaning I’d be back at the car just before sunset. Plenty of time to cool off.  With that in mind, I walked off in the direction that I knew would lead me to where I wanted to go. It had been about an hour since I began my journey, and the forest was as lovely as ever. There was something about the quiet simplicity of it, the way that everything fit together seamlessly into the well oiled machine of nature. The way that some people wanted to turn areas like this into industrial wastelands for the sake of profit was despicable. Overall, it had been an enjoyable walk so far, and I had mostly cooled off from the events prior. There was something I had just noticed about it though: my sister hadn’t shown up to lunch. Not that that was surprising, she hasn’t shown up to any event hosted by my parents in years. It was more that her absence made me realize that I haven’t talked to her in a while. Although we are siblings, we didn’t typically hang out unless it was also around our parents. Since she’s stopped showing up to things, we began slowly drifting apart. It’s not that she’s a bad person or anything, it’s just that neither of us are the kind of person that reaches out to those we’re not particularly close to. “Once I’m back from my hike, I should really give her a call. It’s been far too long…” I took a long swig from my water, before deciding to take a short break. The area I was in was just starting to transition to rocky terrain, the forest thinning out and giving way to more stones and boulders. I picked a suitable boulder and hopped on top of it, then closed my eyes and listened to the peaceful forest around me. The forest was quite active today. I could hear a number of birds singing in the trees above and a light breeze rustling through their many leaves. There was some movement in a bush nearby, assumedly occupied by a small critter of some sort. I added my own part to the symphony of nature by whistling out a small tune. “Man, this moment is perfect. Only something of astronomical proportions could ruin it…” … And then exactly that happened. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, slowly at first but quickening by the second. An earthquake! “Ack— what am I even meant to do out here! there’s nothing I can get under, and I’m surrounded by things that could fall on me!” After panicking for a moment, I settled for hopping off the rock and curling up next to it, protecting my head and neck. The boulder was hopefully large enough that it wouldn’t be dislodged by the quake.  The earthquake continued on, shaking the environment around me. I could hear trees creaking, birds scattering, and— something I hoped I misheard. A landslide. It sounded somewhat far away, but was distinct enough to hear it for what it was: a significant amount of rock sliding down a mountainside, colliding with other rocks and any obstacles in its way and generally making a big mess of things. The earthquake was already starting to settle down, but the landslide was still going strong. Suddenly, a loud definitive ‘crack!’ pierced the air, and the rockslide began to settle down. “What was that? It sounded like the ground splitting open…” Somewhat shaken but no worse for wear, I stood back up and assessed the damage to the area. It was fairly significant, with several large branches having snapped off of trees and fallen to the floor below, and some trees were looking more crooked than they were before, but otherwise I felt very lucky that it wasn’t any worse. That landslide though… I had two options. One, just go back the way I came, make it back to my hopefully still intact car, and drive back home. Or… I could investigate whatever the hell just happened as a result of that rockslide. “Ok, I know I shouldn’t, but… I’m already all the way out here, right? Might as well.”  My curiosity got the best of me, and I started my way down the path towards where I heard the avalanche. It took around fifteen minutes, but I finally made it to the site of the landslide. A large pile of rocks of various sizes, shapes, and shades of gray had rolled down a decently far away cliff and decimated the land below, pulling out trees and flattening foliage on its way. Everything seemed typical to what I was used to seeing in photos and videos of landslides, at least until I looked closer at the cliff face a distance away. It looked like a large crack had formed in the side of the mountain, about twenty feet tall, revealing a dark, open space behind it. “Is that… a cave? Huh, I didn’t even know there were caves around here…” My curiosity got the best of me yet again. “Oh, I’ve gotta see this.” It took a moment to reach the cliff, what with all the rocks in the way, but soon I stood in front of the cave’s entrance. It towered over me, creating a jagged cut through the side of the mountain. The darkness ahead was all consuming. “AH!” I yelled, testing out the echo of the cave, and heard it reverberate for far longer than I was expecting. “Damn, this is a big cave…” I thought out loud, and heard that echo through the cave as well. I smiled at the potential for crazy audio effects I could do at just this one spot. “I wonder if it's better further inside…” I pulled out a flashlight I kept in my bag, then started walking further into the cave. The main chamber was enormous, towering over me like the ceiling of a grand ballroom. I began whistling again, and was amazed at the sheer amount of time it took for the sound to dissipate.  I began to mess around with it with various snaps, claps, and random sounds, before I noticed something further into the darkness. A tiny light, barely visible against the slivers of sunlight still seeping through the entrance of the cave. “Huh? What is that?” I began to walk towards it. Turns out it wasn’t tiny, just decently far away. As I got closer, being careful to avoid tripping over any rocks or ledges around in the cave, the light grew to reveal that it was actually— what? About twenty feet away, I could see… something. It looked like someone had taken a knife and slashed a wound into the air itself. It was around two feet tall and simply hovered in space, shimmering with ethereal light. I was stunned. “How could something like this even exist? What??” My face wore an expression of shock and confusion. Even still, it was beautiful. The inside looked like a combination between a kaleidoscope and a lava lamp, if both were on steroids and pulsated with colors I couldn’t even comprehend. There was something about it that was even more peaceful than any view of nature in the world outside the cave. And for some reason, I felt compelled to get closer to it. As I did, I could feel something strange happening. It was like my very soul longed to get closer to the rift. It was an immensely surreal experience, but still I kept walking. “What am I doing?! This is insane…” The feeling grew stronger as I grew ever closer, my soul practically reaching out of the confines of my being. Deep down, I knew that something was wrong, but it wasn’t enough to overpower the desire to get closer. And closer. And— Suddenly, without warning, without cause, and without reason, the world faded into nothing. > Chapter 5: First Contact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This year's annual Big Sister Little Sister Camping Trip to Winsome Falls was turning out to be a complete disaster. First, Rarity took far too long deciding what to bring and made the entire group late to leave. Later, the cart carrying their supplies lost a wheel, and by the time Applejack was finished fixing it, it was nearly sunset. Then, to top it all off, an injured and disheveled filly stumbled into their campsite just after sunrise and passed out on the ground. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and their sisters had all awoken to the sound of a scream coming from the woods nearby. By the time a few of them had collected themselves enough to peek out from their tents, the filly was collapsing to the ground in a broken heap just inside the confines of the campsite. She appeared to be mumbling something, but was too quiet to be heard. To make matters worse, they could all hear loud thumping coming from the forest, emanating from the same direction the filly had just crawled out of. Whatever it was, it slightly shook the forest floor, scattering birds and generally disturbing the peace. The group emerged from their tents: Rarity and Sweetie Belle from the massive, purple one, and the rest from the two normal ones. Rarity still insisted on bringing that unwieldy thing, even after the silliness of the year prior. They gathered around the mystery filly, worry and fear evident on their faces.  “Oh no! W-what do you think happened to her?” Sweetie Belle stammered. “She’s bleedin’! Who would do that to her?!” Apple Bloom demanded. “Ah’ll bet it’s whatever is makin’ its way through the forest right now,” Applejack proposed, a determined look on her face. “We need to get movin’. Rainbow Dash, watch the forest and make sure nopony else gets hurt. Rarity, Ah need you to grab the first aid kit from mah tent. Girls, get inside Rarity’s tent and stay put, we don’t need any of y’all gettin’ as hurt as her,” she said, motioning to the filly below them with a hoof. After a brief nod from Rarity and Rainbow and a hesitant nod from the rest of them, the group disbanded to fulfill their assigned tasks. Applejack took a moment to assess the condition of the filly before her. She looked to be around the same age as Apple Bloom and her friends, and had an orangish-tan coat, a light blue mane and tail with a single green stripe running through them both, and a small unicorn horn peeking through the mane on her forehead. Had the situation not been dire, Applejack could’ve called her cute as a critter. Speaking of the situation, this filly was not doing well. Her appearance was highly disheveled, with sticks and leaves speckling her mane and tail, along with a coating of dirt covering her fur in uneven patches. Various minor scrapes and bruises were apparent all along her body, as if she had taken a serious tumble. Although she appeared to be asleep, her face held a pained expression and her breathing was ragged and shaky. The worst of it was a sizable gash along the side of her right foreleg, still dripping blood down onto the grass below.  Rarity returned with the first aid kit and Applejack began dressing the wound.  “Oh, do you think the poor dear will be alright?” Rarity questioned, a worried expression on her face. “Ah believe so, but Ah think we should get her to a hospital,” Applejack replied, cleaning the wound of dirt and debris. Although she was confident in her first aid abilities, there could be something happening internally that she wouldn’t be able to see. “A hospital?! But how? We’re all the way out here!” Rarity exclaimed. “If Ah hurry, Ah can be back in Ponyville in less than an hour,” Applejack retorted. “She’s lucky we got so delayed gettin’ out here. We would’ve been long gone had things gone as planned.”  She was nearly finished dressing the wound, wrapping a thick layer of gauze around the leg. “There, done. Take the filly in with the girls, Ah’ll go see if Dash needs any help.”  Picking the filly up in her magic, Rarity galloped off towards her tent as Applejack made her way towards a fierce looking Rainbow Dash glaring off into the forest. Rainbow Dash was tense. That filly was in pretty rough shape, and Dash was determined to make sure that whatever had caused her injuries wouldn’t be able to hurt another pony. The stomping slowly grew louder as the creature approached. Then, suddenly, she heard hoofsteps directly next to her. She jumped a little bit, before realizing that it was just Applejack approaching from the campsite. Rainbow Dash could see Rarity galloping off towards her tent, the slumbering filly in her magical grasp.  “How’s the filly, AJ?” she questioned, worry apparent in her tone. “She’s alright, for now. Ah’ll be bringin’ her to a hospital once we’re done here.” “A hospital?! But we’re way out here in the woods!” “That’s exactly what Rarity said,” Applejack sighed. “You and Ah both know we didn’t make it as far out as we were hopin’ yesterday. Ah can run her back in a jiffy, assuming this doesn’t take long. Speaking of, any updates here?” Rainbow Dash growled. “Whatever it is, it sure is taking its time. If that thing was chasing her, wouldn’t it have gotten here already?” As they spoke, Rarity trotted over from the camp, taking a readied stance next to the two of them. At that same moment, a brown bear came lumbering through the forest edge, its face holding an expression of— worry? Rainbow Dash shook off a brief bit of confusion before shouting, “Hey! What did you do to that filly, you monster?!” She launched into the air, hovering directly in front of the bear’s face. The bear was startled and backed away a little bit, motioning with its claws like it was trying to convey something. Rainbow Dash was having none of it. “Did you see how hurt she was?! You should be ashamed of yourself!” She fumed, flying at the bear as it continuously backed away. Soon, its back hit a tree and was pinned, fear joining worry in the expression upon its face. While this was happening, Applejack began to realize something. This bear looked oddly familiar… “Hold on! Rainbow, stand down a moment,” Applejack loudly interrupted. Rainbow Dash backed off and returned to the ground, still giving the bear a glare of anger. The bear gave a sigh of relief, then just stood there, staring at the mares in front of it. Suddenly, Applejack realized something. “Wait a minute… you’re that bear Fluttershy always keeps ‘round, right? What was your name again? Harry?” The bear’s face brightened and he gave an enthusiastic nod. Rainbow Dash lost her glare in a look of surprise, then one of sheepishness, her face blushing slightly. “Well Ah’ll be! What’re you doin’ all the way out here? What happened with that filly?” Applejack questioned. “Ah sure hope you weren’t involved in that injury of hers,” Applejack warned, gaining a glare of her own. Harry looked pensive, then roared out something that none of the mares present could understand. They all shared looks of confusion and disappointment. “Oh, I do wish that Fluttershy was here, she’d be able to understand him…” Rarity mused. The Cutie Mark Crusaders shared fearful glances as they looked between each other and the filly sleeping below them. None had spoken a word, neither before nor after Rarity had galloped in to drop off the comatose unicorn. This continued for several minutes, the only sounds filling the tent being the ragged breathing of the filly and a distant conversation from outside. That was until Apple Bloom broke the silence with a fearful, “Oh, Ah sure hope the filly’s alright…” “Does she look alright to you?” Scootaloo quipped. “Well— Applejack didn’t rush her to the hospital straight away!” Apple Bloom sputtered. “T-that’s gotta mean somethin’, right?” “Suuure,” Scootaloo sneered, “but to me, the filly—” “Would you two stop that?!” Sweetie Belle interrupted, annoyed. Scootaloo looked surprised. “Huh? Stop what?”  “Calling her ‘the filly.’ She’s literally laying here directly in front of us!” “Well what do you propose we call her then?!” Apple Bloom challenged. The tent returned to silence as Sweetie Belle took on a thoughtful look, the other fillies soon joining her.  The silence was shorter this time, and soon Sweetie Belle shouted out, “Terra!” The other fillies were startled by her volume, before taking on questioning looks. “Terra? Wouldn’t that be an earth pony name?” Apple Bloom inquired. “Well, sure, but just look at her! She’s like a mini Equus!” Looking at her appearance, it was hard to disagree. The blue and green of her hair mimicked the oceans and land masses of the planet, and her tan-ish fur looked a bit like sandy dirt. The idea was helped along by the fact that she was covered in actual dirt. Scootaloo conceded. “Alright fine, but what now? She’s probably got an actual name that she’ll tell us once she’s awake.” Sweetie Belle nodded, while replying, “Yeah! But until then, we can just call her Terra. Much better than ‘the filly,’” she said while making air quotes with her hooves. “Bleh.” The group gave nods in agreement, before they all heard a sudden shift in the tone of the conversation outside as Applejack shouted something. They hadn’t even noticed that things had heated up in the first place. Soon after that, Applejack peeked her head inside the tent and said it was safe for them all to come outside. The Cutie Mark Crusaders filed out of the tent, leaving Terra to her slumber. Their sisters were all waiting for them, along with what appeared to be Harry, the bear that Fluttershy took care of. “Oh, hey Harry,” Scootaloo said nonchalantly. Rainbow Dash looked shocked. “Wha— you KNEW?! I thought he was just some random bear!” “Well…” Sweetie Belle admitted, “We tried to get animal caretaking cutie marks at one point, with Fluttershy’s help of course! She told us about all the animals she was taking care of, and tried to guide us through their care routines! But um… it didn’t go well. We’re still very sorry about what happened, Harry,” she said while giving an embarrassed look. Harry motioned with his paws, as if to say, ‘don’t worry about it.’ Applejack shook her head at the silliness, then took control of the conversation, saying, “Alright, back to the situation at hand. Girls, how’s the filly doin’? Still alright?”  “Call her Terra!” Apple Bloom announced, before looking sheepish and rubbing a foreleg with a hoof. “But uh… yea, she’s still sleepin’.” “Uh, sure, Terra,” Applejack replied, a little confused, “but Ah should still get her to a hospital. Y’all better pack up the camp and head back too, Ah feel it best we postpone the trip for now.” As a chorus of disappointment was heard from the fillies, Applejack trotted off towards Rarity’s tent, picked up Terra, and placed her on her back. She then galloped off in the direction of Ponyville, being careful not to shake around the sleeping filly. The rest of the group watched her leave, worry marking their features. “Oh, I do hope she turns out to be alright,” Rarity pondered, breaking her unusually long silence. “But there’s another thing that worries me…”  “What was she doing out here all alone?” It took around an hour, but Applejack finally made her way through the front doors of Ponyville General Hospital, sweat glistening on her coat. The receptionist looked on with concern, saying, “Oh, Applejack! What happened to the poor dear?” Applejack approached the desk, panting, then replied, “Ah found her in the woods, after she stumbled into our campsite and collapsed. We were on our way to Winsome Falls but had to set up camp early due to some… minor hiccups. She looked mighty roughed up, with all sorts of scrapes and bruises. Ah did mah best to take care of the worst of it, this gash along her foreleg, but Ah figured takin’ her to the hospital was still the best move.” As she talked, the receptionist’s eyes widened as her concern grew. “Oh my! We’ll get her looked at right away!” She replied, paging for a nurse. “Do you have her name?” Applejack looked nervous. “Well uh, she passed out before she could say anything to us, but mah sis’ was callin’ her Terra. No clue where she came up with that.” “Terra, alright, I’ll make a note of that.” Not long after, a nurse came out with a gurney and carted the filly off through some swinging double doors. Applejack sat down in a chair in the waiting room, unsure of what to do now. “Oh, Terra,” Applejack mused quietly. “Where did you come from, little filly? And what happened to you?” > Chapter 6: Waking Up > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The remaining members of the Big Sister Little Sister Camping Trip were packing up the campsite as fast as they could in the crisp light of the early morning. This was unfortunately slowed down by the fact that Rainbow Dash had flown off to bring back Fluttershy as a translator for Harry, and the fillies weren’t too experienced in taking down tents by themselves. Harry himself was sitting off to the side of the campsite, looking a little antsy. The mood was a bit anxious and somber. Unless Applejack were to return, or Rainbow happened to stop at the hospital on her way back, they wouldn't know the fate of the fatigued filly until they made it back to town. Conversation had been sparse, and nearly entirely focused on Terra. “I’m really worried about her,” Sweetie Belle admitted while lugging a box to the cart. “Ah think we all are,” Apple Bloom replied, pulling a tent stake out of the ground. “She really came outta nowhere, and she was all alone too…” Scootaloo sighed, struggling under a pile of tent fabric. She emerged and said, “I just wish we knew anything about her, y’know? She was hurt really bad, and then she just collapsed! I don’t even wanna think about how long she was stuck out here…” Rarity remained silent. She had all of these concerns and more; where the filly’s parents were, why she had been so injured, and how Harry was involved were among her chief ones. But she chose to keep these concerns unspoken, and gave a small smile as she forced herself to be strong for the fillies. “Now now, I’m sure she’ll be quite alright. The hospital staff are perfectly capable of taking care of her, and once she’s awake she’ll be able to explain everything. None of you fillies need to worry your little heads about it! We can all go see her once we’re back in Ponyville.” The fillies’ faces brightened, and Scootaloo shouted, “Yeah! And I didn’t see a cutie mark on her either, we should invite her to be a crusader!” The other two gave enthusiastic shouts of agreement as Rarity’s smile grew to be genuine. She knew the Cutie Mark Crusaders to be steadfast in their determination. Even if Terra’s parents never showed, she had hope that the fillies before her would do everything in their power to brighten Terra’s future with their companionship. It took another fifteen minutes, but Rainbow Dash finally returned, flying down to the campsite with Fluttershy in tow. The group stopped what they were doing and trotted over to them, before they all moved together towards where Harry was sitting. “Harry?” Fluttershy started, “Rainbow told me about a situation with a filly? What happened?” Harry began giving various grunts and growls as Fluttershy listened intently, nodding every so often, before she began to recount Harry’s tale. Unfortunately, it was a rather short one. Harry had been foraging for food in the woods when he heard something stumble and fall nearby. When he investigated, he found a filly passed out on the forest floor, a bit scraped up but otherwise unharmed. Concerned, he approached the filly and shook her awake, but when she noticed Harry, she looked terrified and bolted off, leaving Harry confused. He began to follow after her at a solid pace, but when he heard a scream up ahead, he sped up, worried something terrible had happened to her. Once he realized that there was a camp up ahead, he slowed down, knowing that the filly was likely now in capable hands. “Now Harry,” Fluttershy lectured. “You must be careful of your effect on other ponies. Not everypony knows you’re a nice bear, right?” Harry nodded, looking downcast. “Now hold on,” Rarity interrupted, “the filly—” “Terra!” all three fillies chimed in unison. “Ahem, Terra wasn’t injured when you found her, correct?” Harry nodded. “Then something must’ve happened right before she stumbled into camp. Nothing much we can do besides wait for her to awaken, I suppose…” Rarity affirmed, sounding disappointed. “Thank you for your help anyway, Fluttershy.” The yellow pegasus gave a polite goodbye as she began her flight back to Ponyville, Harry returned to the woods, and the rest of them dejectedly resumed their packing. … If I had a nickel for every time I’ve woken up sore and in pain in an unfamiliar place, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice.  As I groggily opened my eyes, I first noted that I was no longer outside, and was instead in a brightly lit and colorful looking room. The wooden walls were decorated with illustrations of vines and leaves, twisting and curling around the edges of the space. There was a large window on the wall to my left, letting in a decent amount of light, and a door on my right with a small viewing window placed in it. I shifted a bit, noticing that I was quite sore, in a bit of pain, lying in a rather comfortable bed, and… currently a horse. “Hold on, what happened again?” All at once, it came back to me. The void, the forest, the bear, the campsite… and passing out. I groaned, realizing just how much of a mess I had made for myself. I looked down, noting that most of my body was obscured by a blanket, but still noticing a bandage wrapped around the end of my… foreleg. “Ugh, I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.”  I looked back at the window. It was hard to tell, but it seemed like the day was nearly over, with the sun’s light leaving long shadows across the ground outside. Whether or not it was the same day as the one I passed out in would be impossible to tell without— oh, yeah, I just realized something else. “There have to be other ponies around, or… other benevolent creatures of some kind. I didn’t get a good look at those camp goers, but whatever they did after I passed out led to me ending up in this… rather friendly looking room… in a… hospital, maybe?” It seemed almost too nice to be a hospital room, but the window in the door and the sterile smell of the place seemed to suggest so. Just then, I noticed a bedside dresser to my right, with a lamp and a glass of water sitting on it. I leaned over and grabbed the glass, taking a few long gulps and relishing the refreshing taste. I had been out in that forest for far too long, any longer and I would’ve—  Wait. I looked down at the glass I was holding. With a hoof. My brain stopped functioning again at the realization and the glass fell out of my grip, shattering on the floor below. “Wh-wha— how— I—” Before I knew it, I could hear sounds coming from outside the door, right before it flung open.  All at once, I became aware of several more pieces of information before my brain even had the chance to process the initial discovery. One, there were in fact other ponies around (which I could already reasonably assume, but whatever).  Two, there was a pony running directly into the room with me. They had a white coat and pink hair— a pink mane?— tied in a bun, along with a lengthy pink tail. They wore a white nurse’s cap on their head, and seemed to have some kind of tattoo on their side, depicting a red cross with four pink hearts surrounding it. Their face held icy blue eyes with eyelashes that looked distinctly feminine. Three, although it was hard to tell from a distance, they appeared to be about twice my height. Not that I could do much with all of this information, as my brain was still buffering from what I had already learned before. I sat up, stunned, as my wide eyes blinked back and forth between the shattered glass and the pony now standing before me. The pony in question had just finished crossing the room to the end of the bed and was looking at me, concerned. “Oh no! Are you ok, little one?” … “Did you get hurt?” … “Can you… speak Equish?” Almost on autopilot, my head nodded. I didn’t even fully understand the question. “Oh, good. I’m glad you’re finally awake, but what happened?” The hamster wheel in my brain finally began turning again as I got out, “I uh… I didn’t… mean to drop that.” Hearing the high pitched voice that came out when I said that kickstarted my brain back into some semblance of functionality. There was a short pause before the pony replied, “Oh, well, that’s quite alright, dear. I’m not mad at you. Did the glass hurt you at all?” I shook my head. “Ok, good. I’ll just clean this up for a moment. Stay in your bed, please,” she instructed firmly. By now I could tell that this pony was almost surely a woman, as her voice and body type seemed to suggest. “Or… whatever the horse term for it is. Hell if I know.” She left for a moment and returned with a broom and dustpan held in her mouth. With almost unnatural dexterity, she held the broom with her hooves, swept the shards of glass into a pile, and picked them up using the dustpan.  While this was happening, I had a moment to think again. In that time, I realized something that I had already realized prior, backed up by the wording of the conversation we just had. “Oh god, I’m definitely a child here, huh?” I was not happy about this information. Being a child meant others making decisions for me. It meant not having control over where I was or what I’d be doing. It was all… rather uncomfortable to think about. For the time being, I chose not to think about it. I took the opportunity to think about other things, such as the whole ‘language still being the same’ thing. “Equish? What was that all about?” The fact that I had been tossed through the multiverse and had somehow landed somewhere that spoke the same language as the place I had left was somewhat baffling, even if they called it something different. I hadn’t even begun to process how I was able to hold that glass earlier, but I figured it wouldn’t be a smart idea to experiment with it while there was another person in the room with me. If this was something that everyone could do normally, I’d look like a weirdo if I messed around with it like it was the most amazing thing ever. Even still, I was immensely relieved that I still had the ability to grab things. I don’t know if I’d be able to function if I was stuck with unusable hooves for the rest of my life. Which… right, yeah. I’m stuck here. As a horse. I almost wanted to forget about it again so I could focus on more pressing matters, but without the immediate danger of the forest I previously woke up in, I didn’t have much to distract myself with.  The helplessness I felt before started to creep back into my headspace, just before the nurse finished disposing of the glass and interrupted my thoughts, saying, “There, all done. Now, my name is Nurse Redheart. What’s yours?” All of a sudden, I was feeling quite shy. With all that I had lost, my identity and my memory were among the few things that I still had left. I knew it was silly, but I felt like if I were to reveal very much about myself, I’d be giving away my last items of value and gain nothing in return for it. So, instead of answering, I stubbornly remained silent.  The silence stretched on to the point of discomfort, before Redheart sighed and said, “Well, the pony that brought you here had called you Terra, is it alright if I call you that as well?” “Terra?” I inspected the fur on my uninjured foreleg, before slowly nodding and replying, “That works, sure.” It was short and simple, and should be pretty easy to remember. Although, given names like ‘Redheart’ and ‘Terra’, it might’ve been smart to hide my human name. It’d probably sound very strange to the ponies here if all of their names were like this. That line of inquiry got me thinking about something else though, something far more important. “The way that I got here… I can’t tell anyone what happened. There’s no way they’d believe me.” The voice in the void had told me that there wasn’t another incident like mine for… centuries, was it? This obviously wasn’t a common occurrence. I had a hard time believing what was happening and I was the one actively living it. “Well, if I don’t tell them that, then what do I tell them?” Before I had the chance to come up with ideas, Redheart interrupted my thoughts again by gently saying, “Alright, Terra. How are you feeling?” I took a quick mental inventory of my senses before replying, “Uhh… bad. I’m sore, I’m tired, my… foreleg… still hurts, and I haven’t eaten or drank very much in a while.” I subconsciously noted that that had been my longest sentence so far since I’d first woken up as a pony, and it was for the sake of complaining that I felt bad. That realization… was not great for my mental state. “Um…” I added shyly, “sorry.” “Oh, it’s nothing to be sorry about,” Redheart consoled. “Applejack said she found you in the woods this morning after you passed out in their campsite. With how long you slept, you must’ve been exhausted, and that injury on your leg must’ve hurt a lot. You’re very strong for getting through it all,” she praised. I blushed a little bit and looked down, feeling embarrassed about being treated like a lost little kid. “Which is exactly how you appear to her right now. Stop complaining.” “Now, Terra,” she began softly, her tone gentle and comforting, “do you know where your parents are, sweetheart?” Oh.  In all the chaos I had been through so far, I had somehow forgotten all about my parents.  God, I stormed off to the forest on my father’s birthday and now— I’m never gonna see them again, aren’t I? I’m never gonna be able to apologize, or make up for lost time, or give them the chance to do the same. I wouldn’t be able to give my sister a call like I planned, or spend time with any of my friends, or— do literally anything with any person I have ever known.  I was completely…  and utterly…  alone. … My eyes grew blurry. “I shouldn’t cry— I won’t cry.” I fought against the rising tide of emotion as if it were the only battle left to fight. I could feel tears forming as a tightness gripped my chest and my heart pounded against it. “No, I refuse to cry.” Not now, not in front of someone else. I had to maintain composure. A solitary tear rolled down my cheek.  “No! Stop. Crying. You can’t break down now. You need to be strong.” Yet, despite my best efforts, I was unable to withstand the overwhelming grief I felt. I sobbed, my shoddily made emotional dam quickly crumbling.  I should’ve been better than this. I was better than this. “God, what the fuck happened to me…” I curled up into a ball on the bed and covered my face with my arms as my emotions poured out of me. I felt despair on a level I’d never felt before, a hopelessness beyond comparison.  In that moment, the few things that were familiar about this place were nothing compared to the sheer level of unfamiliarity I was now contending with. All the feelings that I had pushed to the side for the sake of my safety were now coming out all at once. Without anything to distract me, I was truly at a loss for what to do.  My— hooves trembled as I clutched the bedsheets below me, grasping for something, anything to anchor myself against the waves of anguish. Having been stripped of nearly everything familiar, I felt lost, adrift in a foreign world. Suddenly, I felt something soft running along my back, brushing against the fur there. It was… comforting. In a way I didn’t know how to explain. I heard Redheart’s voice, in the same gentle and comforting tone as before, make shushing sounds and say, “you’re alright, it’s going to be okay.” “B-but… I’m n-never gonna see them again!” I got out between sobs. “W-what am I supposed to do now?” “Terra, listen to me,” she instructed, her soothing tone taking on a hint of firmness as she continued to stroke my back. “You’re not alone, Terra. I’m here for you, and I will do everything in my power to make sure you live a happy and comfortable life, no matter where the future takes you. You have my word.” And yet again, right when I thought it was all over, a voice gave me a glimmer of hope in the midst of absolute uncertainty. It was one thing when it came from a disembodied entity speaking inside of my own head, but hearing it from the voice of someone standing directly in front of me was another thing entirely. Redheart’s kindness was a beacon of strength when I was unable to provide it for myself. I then did something completely unlike me; I reached out and grabbed a hold on Redheart, wrapping my trembling arms around her and burying my face in the fluff covering her chest.  As I continued to sob, Redheart, to her credit, continued to offer soothing gestures and make comforting sounds. We stayed like that for a while.  As embarrassing as it was, it did help to calm me down, and eventually my sobs turned to sniffles, before I retracted my face from her now tear-soaked fur.  I took a deep breath. “Well, that was embarrassing,” I mumbled, finally realizing what had just happened. “But don’t you feel better now?” Redheart countered. I reluctantly nodded. As disconcerting as it was in retrospect, it did bring me comfort. “And… um… thanks, I guess,” I shamefully spoke while wiping my face with a… whatever this joint was on my foreleg. I should pick up an anatomy book at some point, this was getting ridiculous. Redheart gave an amused smile as she said, “Now, I know you’re upset, understandably so, but just remember what I said, alright?” I nodded passively. It felt strange to take advice from a— pony I had just met, but I didn’t exactly have any other options at that moment. Besides, it really did help. Redheart’s smile grew. “Alright, I bet you’re probably very hungry.” My body responded for me as my stomach growled loudly. I blushed a little bit in embarrassment. Redheart gave a short chuckle. “I’ll take that as a yes,” she said with a hint of mirth in her tone. “I’ll go get you something to eat. How about you go wash up in the bathroom?” She asked, gesturing towards a door that I hadn’t noticed yet, situated on the same wall as the bed.  I agreed with a nod. After being thoroughly humiliated, it’d be nice to take a break from being around another person. Er… pony. Although when I looked down off the edge of the bed, I noticed something else.  “Um…” I started unsurely, “…how do I get down?” The bed I was on was about the same height as I was. I saw no way off of it that didn't involve injuring myself. “Ugh, being a kid sucks.” “Oh! Let me help you down,” Redheart said, before she suddenly reached out with her head, grabbed me by the scruff of my neck (which I apparently had now) with her mouth, and gently lifted me down to the floor.  I was stunned, my face now thoroughly red. Add that to the list of Things I Do Not Know How To Process Yet. “Now, be careful on that leg of yours,” she sternly cautioned, “I don’t want you hurting any more, alright?” I forcefully kickstarted my brain, before sputtering out, “O-okay. I’ll be careful.” Redheart gained a new smile as she walked back through the door she came out of, closing it behind her. I almost felt myself wanting to ask her not to leave, but I held back because… c’mon, I just met her! I stood there for a moment, taking note of my body’s soreness and my foreleg’s injury, before stumbling off to the bathroom door, my brain swirling with thoughts. Nurse Redheart was conflicted. She had just finished talking to Terra, the mysterious filly that had appeared that morning without any reason as to why. The search through the missing foals database had proved fruitless, as there was no match for a unicorn of Terra’s description. Letters had been sent out to nearby cities in the search, but none of these had returned yet. As she walked through the hospital corridors on her way to the cafeteria, Redheart couldn’t help but wonder about what really happened to the filly. She had taken care of plenty of injured and distressed foals before, but there was something eerily different about Terra. The way she just appeared at Applejack’s campsite, barely awake and fairly injured, painted a vividly distressing picture.  Redheart knew she couldn’t pry too deeply though. Terra seemed fragile, both emotionally and physically, and Redheart would hate to put her through any more distress. There was one thing at least that she knew for sure without the filly needing to audibly confirm it. Her parents were… out of the picture. For good. The look of pure despair, one that should have never appeared on the face of a foal, said it all. Even still, Redheart stayed determined. She knew Terra needed somepony strong to support her in the wake of losing the most important ponies in her life. Underneath that shell, there was a kind young filly who had only been dealt a bad hoof. Whatever Terra’s story turned out to be, Redheart would be there to give her comfort, if needed. With a determined nod, Nurse Redheart continued on her way to find food for the forlorn filly. > Chapter 7: Health Insurance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok. What. Just. Happened. I stood there, right past the closed door of the bathroom, feeling like I could simultaneously have an anxiety attack and pass out from overexertion at the same time. “How… how did I let myself get so vulnerable?! Why did I let that happen? I. Only. Just. Met her!!” I could still feel my heart racing from the pure awkwardness of that interaction. I loudly groaned as I sat down and placed my head in my— hooves. “And when will this stop being weird…” It was still surreal, looking down at my body and not seeing the same build I was used to seeing for my entire life. “I guess it makes sense though… I’ve only been a horse… pony… for what, like 7-ish waking hours? And for most of it I was so dead set on getting out of that forest that I only really acknowledged my body a handful of times.”  Still, it was weird. Maybe eventually I’d get used to it, but for now the only thing I felt towards my body was confusion. I inspected the fur on my foreleg, brushing against it with a hoof. It was soft, surprisingly so, and almost seemed to spring back to a brushed state without much effort. Throughout my interaction with Redheart, I hadn’t even acknowledged the fact that neither of us were wearing any clothes (besides her hat, which didn’t really count), but what I strangely realized is that I didn’t feel naked. Whether that was because of the fur that now blanketed my body or something about my physiology changing, I really had no idea. I shook my head clear, realizing I got distracted. “Right, I was… freaking out about that awkward as hell conversation. At least that tangent calmed me down a bit…” I took a deep breath to calm down my still somewhat racing heart and refocused my attention on my surroundings. Looking around, I saw what I expected to see from a hospital bathroom, with a small sink, a toilet, a wide shower, and a number of handrails— hoofrails?— along most of the walls. The toilet seemed sized for someone twice my height, but at least there was a small stool in front of the sink that I could stand on to reach it. I sighed, once again being reminded of my currently short stature. “How’d I even end up as a kid anyways?” I mentally pouted. “Not that I can really ask about it, though.” I still knew that revealing how I actually ended up here would be a terrible idea— right now, at least. I’d just have to deal with my current situation as it is, until… when? A part of me assumed forever. “Now hold on, I’ll be able to trust someone at some point, right? I’ll just wait to tell whoever they happen to be, and then they can convince everyone else for me.”  That part of me still wasn’t convinced. I ignored it. There was another aspect of being stuck as a kid that I started to think about, but I pushed it aside in exchange for actually doing what I was in here to do. I tested putting weight on my injured foreleg and winced at the searing pain. It seemed like I still needed some time before I’d be able to walk on it properly. “I’m probably stuck here for at least a couple more days. Ugh…” So far, being quadrupedal was quite a downgrade. Hobbling over to the sink, I sized up the stool sitting in front of it. It was only about half my height, but I still didn’t want to end up knocking it over in my attempt to climb on top of it. I took slow steps up onto the stool, being careful not to put too much weight on my injury, before looking up and seeing— Oh. Wow. My brain stopped working again. All I could do was stare at myself in the mirror with a shocked expression on my face.   It took a moment before coherent thoughts could begin to form.  My initial reaction was: “Wh-wha— is that… what I look like?” Which was probably the dumbest question I could come up with, considering this was, in fact, a mirror, and I wasn’t actively going insane. Hopefully. I looked away for a moment, took a deep breath, then looked back at the mirror. The same face I saw before awaited me when I did. My reflection looked… “...Do I really need to acknowledge it?” … “Ugh, fine.” “…I look cute.” Indeed I did. And like, really cute too. Like “could make a really great plushie” levels of cute. I… did not know how to feel about this. It was a level of shock I was unable to process. It took another few moments before I could acknowledge any details about my reflection. Before me stared a pony with wide, bright blue eyes, a small, rounded snout, and large, pointed ears. It had a mess of sky blue hair with a stripe of green running front to back, along with a small, dull horn peeking out through the front of it. Sand colored fur covered the pony’s face. And that pony… was me. “Is this… really how I look like now? Wow…” I experimented with expressions for a moment, twisting my face every which way. I watched as my reflection matched every goofy expression I could come up with perfectly. It was almost surreal seeing such human levels of emotion on a face that was quite far from being human.  A face which, to my surprise, looked strikingly feminine. At that realization, all I could do was stare. … That was until I heard a knock at the door. The sudden sound pulled me out of my trance in a bolt of surprised motion that almost sent me sprawling on the floor. “Terra, dear,” I heard Redheart’s muffled voice call through the door. “Are you almost finished up in there?” “Fuck, right, the nurse. I was supposed to be washing my hands in here. Er… hooves.” “Um, almost, just a second!” I shouted back. I quickly leaned forward and braced my forelegs on the edge of the sink, before turning on the water (oh, right, I can still grip things) and clumsily scrubbing my hooves with the provided soap. “Hold on, what’s even the point of this? I’m just gonna put 'em back down on the floor, anyway.” Maybe this is magic soap, and it keeps my hooves clean even when I walk around on them.  I chuckled a bit at my own silly idea. “Hah, magic…” I finished up at the sink, dried my hooves, then scampered back to the door. Upon opening it, I saw Nurse Redheart standing right outside, unsurprisingly.  I looked back at the bed, before I suddenly found myself airborne once again as Redheart picked me up and placed me down on the plush sheets. It was less shocking than the first time, but still quite humiliating. Redheart began speaking, “Alright, I wasn’t sure what you wanted to eat, but I hope this is to your liking.” She then pulled a tray from her back that I didn’t notice there before, containing a small salad, an apple, and another glass of water. “Now,” she began sternly, “I don’t want you breaking another glass, so be careful with this one, okay?” At my short nod, she continued, “Are you having any trouble with your hoof grip?” “Hoof grip?” I mentally questioned. “Oh, yeah, holding things. Still have no idea how that works.”  I shook my head, and Redheart smiled. “Good, we wouldn’t want your magic to be damaged.” … My brain froze again.  “Wh— magic??? Like, actual, real magic? That I have? I… really was joking before.”  I really needed to stop being hit with information bombshells every five minutes. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take.  I glanced up at the horn atop my head, suddenly remembering its existence. “Maybe this thing is more than just for show…” The idea that I might actually be able to use real magic, like a… wizard, or something, was astronomically cool yet equally terrifying. I looked over at Redheart again and finally took notice of the fact that she did not have a horn herself. “I guess there’s different pony variants? Why did I get a horn, then?” Upon remembering I was still actively in a conversation with someone, I commanded myself to stop freaking out and get on with it. “Not in front of someone else! Just… forget about it for now.” “Uhh… yeah,” I mumbled, as Redheart placed the tray she was holding down onto the bed in front of me. Now, I wasn’t the biggest fan of salads. I’d only ever eat them if there were literally no other options available, and even then I’d rarely add anything to them, since I didn’t like most of the foods that went into a typical salad. They were never really worth the effort to make, and I certainly didn’t wanna waste money on premade ones when there were usually other, much better options available. Even still, seeing the salad in front of me, my stomach growled again in acknowledgement of my gnawing hunger. I hadn’t eaten in a while, and I didn’t want to ask for something else when Redheart was nice enough to get this for me. So, despite my reluctance, and due to the lack of silverware, I bent down and took a bite of the salad. … Wow. This salad was good. I didn’t know if food just tasted different here, if my taste buds changed, or if I was just glad to be eating something, but in that moment, I didn’t care. This was genuinely the best salad I had ever eaten. The lettuce was crisp and fresh, the cucumber crunchy and juicy, the tomatoes ripe and flavorful. My singular goal became finishing the thing as fast as possible.  “Slow down!” Redheart cautioned with amusement in her tone. I ignored her. A short while later, I was eating up the last few leaves of lettuce after luckily managing to not choke on my food. Redheart looked on, seemingly quite entertained, although I might’ve caught a hint of concern in her expression.  Upon realizing what I had just done, my face went red. “Um… I uh… I was hungry…” Redheart snickered a little bit. “I could tell,” she said with a mirthful expression. “Now, once you’re finished with your meal, I have some more questions for you if you don’t mind.” I suddenly felt nervous. “Oh god, she’s gonna ask about where I came from. What should I even say? I can’t say what really happened, I already decided on that. But what do I say instead? It’s not like I can just say nothing!” … “I could just say nothing.” As awkward as it might be to remain completely silent when facing questions I didn’t want to answer, lying could get me into an even bigger mess and the truth could lead to… I didn’t even want to guess. Anxiously, I picked up the apple and began eating it. It was wonderfully crisp, and rivaled some of the best apples I had eaten back home, which helped to calm down my thoughts. “Ok, so the plan is, if I’m asked about where I came from or how I got to the forest, I’ll just stay silent. Or… maybe I could just be really vague?” As I thought, I finished up the apple with sips of water to wash it down. It seems I had already gotten a pretty good grasp at holding things with hooves. The thought process to hold and manipulate objects was surprisingly similar to doing the same with hands, and took almost no additional mental effort. It was still rather strange though, having a flat surface with no dexterity at the end of my limbs. I looked down at a hoof. “So… this works through magic, huh?” I carefully watched the end of my hoof as I… activated my grip?... and noticed a very faint shimmer of something right on the surface of it. “Wow, if ponies use magic this casually, it's no wonder they’re the dominant species here. Makes me a little worried about what else is out there, though…” My thoughts were interrupted. “Alright, are you all done now?” Redheart said in a gentle tone. I nodded, and she continued, “Good! Now, I have a few questions for you if you don’t mind.” My anxiety grew, before she followed up with, “Feel free not to answer if you’re anxious, but I’d be really happy if you do answer.”  It felt demeaning to be talked to like a child, but I suppose it was still a nice sentiment. I gave a brief ‘ok’ before Redheart asked, “Ok, how old are you?” Oh. I… hadn’t even considered that. I really had no way of knowing how old I actually was here. With how I felt in the body I was in, I’d say I was somewhere in the 8-12 years old range, but even then it’d just be a guess.  This question had me trapped. With how obvious it should’ve been, not answering would be incredibly strange. I ultimately decided to just follow up the question with another one.  “Um… h-how old do I look to you?” I asked nervously. Redheart seemed confused and I immediately felt bad. There was nothing I could do to help it, though. “Well… hm…” Redheart pondered for a moment. “I’d say somewhere around your early twenties.” … What. It… seemed like ponies just age slower and I was making a big deal out of this for no reason. Cool. I mentally chastised myself for not even considering the possibility. “Oh, well, um… I’m 22.”  “Ugh, this is so weird. Does that mean I won’t be considered an adult until my late thirties or something? Blegh…” Redheart smiled, and said in a warm tone, “Alright, thank you for answering. Now, if you don’t mind telling me, do you have any place you call home at the moment?” A wave of emotion threatened to overwhelm me again. I forced it back down and simply shook my head. Redheart’s expression softened with sympathy. “Oh, you poor dear…” She then reached down and gave me a gentle hug, stroking my back with a hoof like she did before. I was a bit startled at the sudden physical contact but it was still strangely soothing. “Don’t you worry one bit, we’re going to find a home for you,” Redheart assured, continuing to embrace me.  I was… oddly ok with this?  I hesitated. “Hold on, what am I doing!?” I took a moment to self reflect. Since getting here I’d been doing nothing but making a complete fool of myself and being completely helpless. And now I was accepting help even when I was perfectly capable of handling my emotions on my own. “Cmon, I gotta assert myself more! Just because I look like a kid doesn’t mean I have to act like it. I’m an adult for christ sake!” I gently pulled away from Redheart, but said nothing. I knew that on some level I’d still have to blend into the role of a child, but that didn’t mean I’d have to accept everything about my situation. Redheart smiled sadly at me. “Alright, I have just one more question. Would you mind if Applejack came to visit? She’s the pony that saved you.” I was a bit wary at the idea of having visitors. If I could help it, I’d want to keep the number of ponies that see me stuck here, helpless, to a bare minimum.  Still though, I wanted to thank her for getting me out of that situation. And regardless, Applejack must’ve already seen the worst of it when I collapsed in her campsite. I didn’t even wanna think about where I could’ve ended up had she not helped me when she did, as uncomfortable as I was with having screwed up so badly that I had to be saved. Having decided, I simply said, “No, I don’t mind. I’d like to thank her at the very least.” Redheart’s smile took on a happy tone as she said, “Great! I’ll send out a letter to Applejack letting her know. I’ll get you some more water too, you go ahead and get some rest.” Redheart then picked up the tray and set it on her back, then began walking back to the door. At that moment, I realized something. “Oh! Um, if you don’t mind, I have a quick question too…” Redheart stopped in her tracks and looked back at me, before saying in that same serene tone, “Of course, anything.” “Well, uh… for my stay here… um… do I owe anything? I wouldn’t be able to pay for it if I do…”  This was a genuine concern of mine. Considering my past experiences with hospitals, I always came to expect the astronomical bill for even the most basic of things. Insurance helped with that, but it’s not like I had that here. I didn’t know this world’s policy for lost children, but for all I knew they could really expect me to be able to pay for this stay. “Oh no, don’t worry about that at all,” Redheart replied earnestly. “A filly your age shouldn’t have to worry about the bits you owe to anypony.” Uh. ‘Filly’? ‘Bits’? ‘Anypony’??  “Ugh, pony words. I’ll just assume that the filly is me, whatever that means, bits are money, and anypony is… just silly.” We didn’t say ‘anyhuman’ back home, so what’s the point of that? “Whatever, maybe I should just assume that everything is weird here and get on with it.” Despite the weirdness, her response did help to assuage my fears. I gave a brief thanks as Redheart resumed her journey out of the room. Soon I was left alone, letting my mind swirl with thoughts of my past, present, and future. Nurse Redheart slumped to her desk with a weary expression. Terra’s situation kept being revealed to be even more dire than she thought. Redheart hoped Terra was lying, but didn’t really think she was. A lost foal was one thing, an orphaned foal was even rarer, but one without a home? It was almost unprecedented. The Ministry of Foal Welfare was a well oiled machine, efficient at dealing with missing and displaced foals. Terra’s parents' passing should have been properly acknowledged, and Terra should have been relocated to a new family. The implications of the contrary happening were concerning at the very least.  Terra’s mannerisms added to that concern. Her overbearing shyness, the speed at which she ate her food, her anxiety at the idea of having to answer questions, her shying away from physical contact, and her apparent financial concerns worried Redheart further. Some of these could just be explained by the situation at hand, but some hinted at something far worse. What could have really happened? Emotional abuse? Foalnapping? Redheart’s head swirled with the possibilities, but as much as it worried her, she knew that asking Terra for what happened directly wouldn’t have been a good idea. She simply needed more time to recover. Redheart pulled out a blank piece of paper and began writing a letter to Applejack, informing her that Terra had awoken and she would be allowed to visit. Redheart chose not to share her concerns with Applejack though. That would be something to bring to the attention of the Ministry while sorting out finding Terra a new home. She then took a moment to do just that, finishing up the letter to Applejack and composing a new one to the Ministry, being sure to include every detail and concern that she had about Terra. She then took both letters and dropped them off in the hospital mailbox, before returning to her duties, her mind still on the mysterious unicorn filly. > Chapter 8: First Impressions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day eventually turned to night as the sky darkened, until the room was bathed with nothing but the pale light of the silvery moon. Some time ago a nurse came in and placed a stool by the edge of the bed, allowing me to get off of it without hurting myself or needing assistance. So at least there was one thing within my control here. At one point earlier I took advantage of said newfound freedom to use the bathroom. It was… definitely an awkward and novel experience. It wasn’t one I wanted to think about in retrospect, so I decided to just stop doing so. I sat there, on the edge of the cushy bed, staring out the large window, feeling… mostly bad. I found myself fidgeting a bit, having nothing else to do. The despair I felt before had slowly faded into a trembling pool of anxiety. My brain was a cacophony of thought that swirled around everything that had happened since I first found that cave.  In an attempt to combat my restlessness, I started picking out pieces from my thoughts.  Do I have any regrets?  “Well, yeah.” Do I have any goals here?  “Well, besides not dying… not really, I guess.” What will I miss the most?  “…” I let out a long groaning sigh as I laid back in bed. Normally if I was feeling this bad, I’d hop online and find something to distract myself with, but that wasn’t exactly an option here, obviously. I’d… miss a lot of things.  Friends, family, the internet. Familiar streets, familiar forests, familiar faces. The routine of college classes, late nights online with friends. The list just kept going. All lost from a single mistake. I felt my eyes start to water again and tried to force myself to stop. “C’mon, I’ve cried enough today already. I can control myself better than this.” My efforts were in vain, and tears slowly began dripping down my face. I simply didn’t have enough willpower. Or maybe I was just tired. Whatever. I laid there, with nothing to do, nothing to distract myself with, and nowhere to be but here.  What was I even gonna do? I was never super specific with any of my life goals, but I at least had some semblance of a plan for my future.  But that was all wiped away in the void.  I let out another sigh and wiped away my tears, then sat back up, noting how awkward the motion was with my new body. “Well, at least the view’s nice…” I looked out to the surrounding landscape. It was almost picturesque, like a view that would be in the background of a Windows start screen or something. Vivid grasslands speckled with wildflowers and sprinkled with trees, illuminated softly by the moon above in a sky painted with stars. I… think all I could do for now was appreciate the little things. I lost so much, but… I’m still myself. I still had a body to act upon the world with. I still had nature, in one form or another. I thought back to Redheart’s words from before. Maybe it was silly to latch onto the words of the first being to give me support after the loss of everything I’ve ever loved, but I was a bit desperate for comfort in that moment. “Maybe things can be okay. Maybe I can live comfortably. Maybe there are things worth living for here.” Not all of me was convinced. I let out a sigh. “Well, I certainly hope so.”  The pool of anxiety somewhat receded, my exhaustion was finally able to take over as I crawled under the covers and fell into an uncertain sleep. Applejack opened the front doors of Ponyville General Hospital, letting through the soft light of the morning sun. She was here on a much better occasion than the morning prior, since the letter she received earlier that morning had informed her that Terra— or… whatever her real name was— had awoken, and Applejack would be allowed to visit. After Applejack had dropped Terra off at the hospital the previous day, she met back with the former campers to exchange information. As it turned out, everypony was just as worried as Applejack. Now, she was determined to get some answers from the filly. She walked up to the front desk, feeling a little antsy. Applejack had been the only one invited to visit, presumably not to overwhelm the poor foal, so she felt some pressure to make a good first impression. The receptionist, Nurse Sweetheart, greeted her. “Hey there, Applejack. What’s brought you here this early?” “Well uh, Ah got a letter from Redheart earlier this mornin’ sayin’ that Terra had woken up, and that Ah could come and visit,” Applejack explained, pulling the letter in question from under her hat. “We’ve all been mighty worried about her.” “Ah, yes! Nurse Redheart told me that somepony would be around for a visit.” Sweetheart took a moment to look through some files, pulling out the file for Terra before adding, “She’s in room 216, second floor. You’re welcome to head on over.” Applejack gave her thanks, and was about to walk away before adding, “Oh uh, are there any updates? On findin’ her parents or anythin’?” Nurse Sweetheart glanced back at the file before she solemnly shook her head. “I’m afraid not. She’s not on any records, and she’s hinted that her parents have… passed away. We’ve already sent notice to the Ministry of Foal Welfare, to find her a suitable foster family should the search for her parents run dry.” Applejack was shocked. “Passed away?” Applejack felt a panging sympathy for the filly and a piercing anger for whoever could’ve left a foal helpless in the woods. A part of her worried about all the horrible things that might’ve happened. Applejack shook away the shock as she thanked Sweetheart again, stowing the letter and making her way upstairs. As she walked down the long hospital hallways, she couldn’t help but worry even more. “What’ll she be like? Anxious? Bold? Oh, Ah hope she doesn’t try to hide anythin’. We are just tryin’ to help, after all.” Applejack reached the correct door before giving a short knock. She slowly opened it, revealing a small, tan unicorn filly sitting on the end of a bed, staring out a large window on the opposite wall from the door. Applejack fumbled for words for a moment. “Uh, howdy.” The filly immediately startled, jumping a bit and turning her head as quick as a whip. Upon making eye contact with Applejack, the fear in her eyes dissipated and she let out a breath. “Oof, sorry,” she got out. “I was expecting a nurse or something.” She stood up and walked to the other side of the bed, facing Applejack. Applejack smiled a little bit and replied, “Quite alright, sorry for startlin’ ya.” The room descended into a brief awkward silence before the filly inquired, “Well uh… are you…?” Oh, right. “My name’s Applejack, proprietor of Sweet Apple Acres. We make the best tastin’ apples and apple based treats you’ve ever eaten,” Applejack boasted. “And you…?” The tan unicorn looked a little anxious before replying, “Oh, um… I’m still going by Terra, I guess. And I’m uh… not the proprietor of anything.” Applejack was a little confused. “Not sharin’ her name? That's… odd…” She decided to shake it off for now in exchange for furthering the conversation. “Well, it’s a pleasure to properly meet you, Terra. I’d shake your hoof, but…” she looked down at Terra’s injured foreleg and gave a nervous chuckle. “Anyways, you feelin’ alright now? You were more dinged up than a stubborn tree after buckin’ season when we found you.” Terra simply blinked up at Applejack.  The earth pony chuckled a bit. “What, never heard a countryism before?” Terra took a moment to reply. “Uhh… I don’t think so? But… I guess I’m doing alright. Better than before, at least. This thing still kinda hurts, though,” she said, holding up her bandaged foreleg, almost losing her balance on three legs but thankfully righting herself.  Applejack grimaced, remembering how bad the injury looked when she first saw it. “Oh, yeah, and uh…” Terra continued timidly, sitting down on her hind legs, “Um… well… thanks for… rescuing me… I guess… I- I was out there for a while, and…”  She paused for a moment, her face twisting into a small frown. “Ugh, it was just one thing after another in that forest! I was trying my best, but…”  She stared down at her injured leg before her eyes widened. “I really could’ve died out there.”  She looked briefly horrified before she shook her head and continued, “So um… yeah, thanks.” Applejack… was not sure how to process that. She knew she should be concerned at the very least. Before she could get the chance to reply though, Terra suddenly blurted, “Oh! What happened with that bear?” “Well, uh…” Applejack pushed away her concern to ask about later, and replied, “It’s a bit of an interesting coincidence. That bear just happened to be one of the creatures my friend, Fluttershy, takes care of from time to time. He’s named Harry, Ah believe. He was mighty worried seein’ you out in the woods on your lonesome.”  At this information, Terra seemed immensely confused. “Wait, so… I wasn’t in any danger? Why did he chase me, then?” “Nah, Harry’s a nice bear from what Ah’ve seen,” Applejack explained. “As for why he was chasin’ ya’, well… Ah’m not quite sure, myself. You’ll have to ask Fluttershy.” Terra let out a long, exhausted sigh and gave an unenthused, “Great,” while rubbing the bandages on her foreleg with her left hoof. There was another pause. “Oh, about that injury of yours,” Applejack probed. “How’d you go about gettin’ hurt like that?” Terra grimaced. “Ugh, well… it was kinda dumb, actually. I scraped it on a rock while running from… Harry. Probably didn’t help that I was exhausted, too,” she said, looking slightly peeved. “Well, that clears that up,” Applejack thought. “Still more to the mystery, though.” “Speakin’ of,” Applejack segued, “You said you were exhausted? How long were ya out there for, anyway?” The filly looked a little nervous, and took a moment to think before speaking. “Um… I’m not really sure, actually. I think… around 6 or 7 hours? Something like that…” Applejack wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a glint of fear in the foal’s eyes. “What the…” she thought, as her worry returned. “That’s quite a while to be out in the woods by yourself. Did… somethin’ happen?” The filly remained silent. “Were you with anypony?” … “Uh… did you get lost?” Nothing. As Applejack asked questions, Terra shifted between expressions of discomfort and sending glares at the earth pony. Applejack knew something was wrong, but without any response from the filly, she knew she had to switch up her tactic. She was just too worried to give up now. “Well, erm… Ah may not know a whole lot about you now, but Ah was told about what happened to your parents. Ah’m mighty sorry you had to go through somethin’ like that…” Applejack sympathized, looking down and tipping her hat. “Ah lost mah parents too, when Ah was around your age. So… just know you’re not alone in what you’re feelin’. What Ah wouldn’t give to see ‘em again…” Applejack gently shook her head; she was getting distracted.  Terra seemed receptive to her story at least, as she simply looked up at the orange mare with a neutral expression. “But Ah still had mah granny to take care of us in that time. Do you have any other family that could take you in?” Terra’s face suddenly darkened, and she looked down at the floor. She took a moment before shaking her head. Applejack was crushed. “No family at all? What in Celestia’s name happened to this filly?” “Oh, dear…” was all Applejack could think to reply with. She reached out a hoof to comfort the young unicorn, but she shied away from Applejack’s touch and sent another glare her way.  Applejack sighed. Terra was a tougher egg to crack than she expected. Applejack was suddenly reminded of her sister, and of all the times she’d managed to get lost or had ended up in dangerous scenarios. If Apple Bloom had been in the place of Terra here, Applejack wouldn’t hesitate to do everything in her power to bring justice to whoever let this happen to a filly. “Look… Ah’m real sorry about your family. Ah can tell they meant a lot to you. But Ah can also tell somethin’ real bad happened, and if you don’t tell us what’s wrong, we won’t be able to fully help you.” Still, the filly remained silent. Her face was laced with anxiety as she stared poignantly at the floor, holding back some barely restrained emotion. “Did somethin’ happen right before you ended up in the forest? If it’s ‘bout your family, then—” “STOP!” Terra shouted suddenly. Her face became painted with rage in an instant as she jumped up on all fours.  The sound took several seconds to dissipate from the room, until all that could be heard was the tan filly’s quickened, irritated breathing. Applejack was stunned. A few more moments passed before Terra fell to her stomach and buried her face in her hooves.  Shortly after that, loud hoofsteps could be heard coming from the hallway, before the door swung open to reveal Nurse Redheart, her face filled with a variety of negative emotions. Upon making eye contact with Applejack, her expression changed to one of measured anger. “Applejack. Lobby. Now.” Redheart said firmly. “Uh oh.” thought Applejack. God. Fucking. Damn it. What was going on? Why couldn’t I control my emotions? Why was everything so much more intense? I don’t think I’ve ever been more anxious… To top it all off, I had started crying from anger. I took deep, shaky breaths into my arms— forelegs, whatever— in a desperate attempt to calm my racing heart. “Why wouldn’t Applejack just take the fucking hint and stop asking?! Ugh!” If this is what it’ll feel like every time I try to withhold information from someone, then part of me wanted to just isolate from everyone and live out in the woods. I laid there in silent frustration, directed at both Applejack and myself, until I heard the door close and a quiet, “Terra?” from somewhere in front of me. I took an extra deep breath before wiping my eyes and slowly uncovering my head, seeing that the room no longer contained Applejack, much to my relief. Nurse Redheart had taken her place, looking towards me with a soft smile that hid a hint of concern. I settled myself into a seated position as I continued to take measured breaths. “Are you feeling alright?” She asked, returning to that same gentle voice.  I shrugged. “…What happened?” I gave a short sigh. “Well uh… Applejack came in, we had a… decent chat, and then…”  “Ok umm… how do I say this without actually revealing what she was asking about? Hmm…”  “She… asked about some private stuff, and then kept asking… and then… I overreacted, I guess.” “Now, I wouldn’t say that so quickly,” Redheart replied. “Was what she was asking you making you upset?” I gave a nod and a quick, “Mhm.” “And was that discomfort conveyed in a way that she should’ve been able to pick up on?” “Uhh…” I thought for a moment. “I’m pretty sure, yeah.” “Then that kind of reaction is expected. You don’t have to put yourself down just for feeling emotion,” Redheart concluded. “Regardless, she was the adult in that scenario. She should have known to back off and should have had the maturity to actually go through with it, especially in a situation as sensitive as yours. You don’t need to worry about it.” Despite Redheart’s attempt to assuage my concerns, I was still feeling a little uncomfortable. “Hah, if only she knew that I used to be an adult— I mean, that I am an adult— or uh…” My brain stalled for a moment. “Oh god, how old are all these ponies?!” I banished that thought for the time being, replying with a simple, “Ok.” “Something to keep in mind, though,” Redheart continued, “is that Applejack tends to expect honesty more than the average pony. I’m sure she was only trying to help, in her own way, but she doesn’t know as much about your situation as I do. I’m sorry her good intentions came across the wrong way.  “There isn’t always going to be a perfect solution when there’s conflicting interests in a situation. I understand you’re upset, but try to keep in mind how Applejack feels too, okay?” I gave a nod in response, despite my wariness. I’d probably give Applejack a chance eventually, but I didn't really want to right now.  “Alright,” Redheart segued, “I’m gonna go have a little talk with Applejack. Do you want me to get you anything while I’m gone?” “Uhh… some breakfast would be great, if you could. Also, maybe something to do? It’s… kinda boring here.” Redheart smiled. “Can do! See you soon,” she said, as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, I fell backwards on the bed and let out a long groan.  “Ugh, this is getting exhausting.” Applejack sat on a chair in the hospital waiting room, nervously fidgeting with her hat. “Horseapples, Ah really blew it, huh…” she mumbled under her breath. The sound of distant hoofsteps signaled the approach of Nurse Redheart, walking down the nearby stairs and approaching Applejack with furrowed brows and a stern look on her face. “Tell me what happened. Every. Detail.” Applejack chuckled nervously and carefully explained the entire interaction, from the moment she walked through the front doors of the hospital to Redheart’s entrance in Terra’s room. Redheart’s expression persisted throughout, although it took on an air of concern when Applejack went over some of the more distressing details. As Applejack finished explaining, Redheart sighed. “Well, I suppose it was an oversight on my part to not inform Sweetheart that Terra’s situation needed to be handled delicately. Still though, what were you thinking?” she accused. “Well… Ah was just worried!” Applejack explained. “We’ve all been so worried about her since we found ‘er, and then there’s just nothin’ for a whole day. Ah suppose Ah just felt like Ah needed to get more information from her, else the visit would’ve been for nothin’. And… Ah kept thinkin’ of if Apple Bloom were in her place… Ah’d never forgive myself if Ah didn’t do everything Ah could to make things right.” Redheart’s expression softened, and she countered, “Look, I get you’re worried. We all are. But it’s plainly clear to me that Terra is fragile and in distress, and she needs comfort more than anything right now. An explanation will come eventually, once she’s had enough time to process everything. Besides, we have other ways of finding out what happened that don’t involve questioning the shellshocked filly.” Applejack looked apologetic and hung her head slightly, holding her hat with a hoof. “You’re right, Nurse Redheart. Ah’m sorry… just— Terra really came out of nowhere, y’know? Really anything could’ve happened…” Redheart gave a weary sigh. “I know.” Not just her parents, but her entire family. Nurse Redheart held her head in her hooves as she hovered over yet another dead end letter sitting on her desk. The letter was from Canterlot, describing how they had no record of a filly that matched Terra’s description, just like the letters from Dodge Junction and Appleloosa.  At this rate, Redheart didn’t think there was much hope of finding anypony that knew the poor foal, especially after the new information she learned from Applejack.  Redheart almost didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t hear it directly from Terra after all, but… Applejack wouldn’t be one to lie. Redheart’s best guess at the moment involved Terra and her family living somewhere isolated from everypony else, something terrible happening, and Terra being the only survivor. But that still didn’t explain some of Terra’s rather concerning behavior. What really happened? Was there a new villain? One so horrible they’d stoop to the levels of killing ponies to carry out their evil plot? Redheart didn’t even want to entertain the idea. Nevertheless, the nurse pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing another letter to the Ministry of Foal Welfare, detailing all of the new information regarding Terra. She thought of sending one to the princesses as well… but decided against it. The Ministry had connections to the diarchy regardless; if they considered Terra’s case important enough to bring to the top, they’d do it. With another finished letter placed in the hospital’s mailbox, Redheart continued on her way, sincerely hoping for the best case scenario.