Repossession #2

Given something to accomplish, Fluttershy seems much more lively. She finally moves from her spot in the corner, heading through the door you so rudely violated. Prudently, you wait for her to pass by you before getting up, shrugging your backpack on and slinging your AK's shoulder strap over your head. Once you step back through the tiny entrance, you grab the door and gingerly swing it closed, latching it as gently as possible. Looking to Fluttershy afterwards, she rewards you with a big grin and continues down the path.

 

The bush-cottage appears to be on the outskirts of a much larger town. The path turns into a bona-fide road as the two of you progress. You make sure Fluttershy has an ample lead so your proximity didn't startle her suddenly somehow.

 

You really do feel like you have to apologize though. Just as you can't stay mad at this total caricature of fear and gentleness, you feel guilty about being mad at her in the first place. It appears as if she was actually going out of her way to help you after it too. Some place you ended up, eh? If everyone is like this, you'll definitely have to tread lightly, and keep your temper in check. You'd hate to ruin the atmosphere if this whole place turned out to be filled with denizens just as upbeat.

 

"Hey, listen. Sorry about how I barged in like that. Just suddenly being thrown into all this was a bit infuriating. I'm not a big fan of people fucking with me."

 

Fluttershy looks back at you with a genuine smile. "Oh it's fine. I understand perfectly how touchy some people can get!" Something in the way she said that, the emphasis placed on 'perfectly', made you uneasy. Calling her expression an open book, however, would be an understatement; looking into her eyes alone was like studying the table of contents and the index at once, but the only words listed were 'happy', 'kind', and 'cheerful' over and over again in various forms and combinations.

 

She returns her gaze to where she is trotting and you simply shrug to yourself. The pace she is maintaining looks pretty fast for a creature of her size, but for you it is just a brisk walk. Fluttershy stands about three and a half feet at the shoulder, which would explain why all the doors barely fit you. This more relaxed pace is a welcome change after all the running and sprinting you did everywhere over the past couple days. You follow several feet behind her, just taking in the sights as you walked by.

 

First thing you spend some time observing is your new guide herself. On either flank she has some sort of marking, like a tattoo you mused. It matches her coat, mane and tail coloration, with hints of blue. It also becomes obvious that the wings aren't just for show; you get to see them in action very briefly as Fluttershy navigates around the obstacles you encounter before you enter a truly developed area. When you finally do, you turn your attention back to your surroundings.

 

The materials comprising these structures were just as... backward would be an appropriate word. Just as backward as the ones making Fluttershy's home. Simple wooden walls with a straw roof seems to be the most common. Several seem to be constructed of a heavy fabric material, like a permanent tent, and some are decorated in manners that leave you clueless to what they were made of.

 

You were heading towards another house constructed from plant life, this time a very large tree. In addition to the strange window placement Fluttershy's house had, this one had several balconies. When they got to the door Fluttershy gently knocked on it with her forehoof, creating a sound that didn't exactly carry. You reached over her and gave the door a sharp rap with your knuckles, producing a better effect.

 

Another garish pony answers the door. This one is, instead, a unicorn. She had a much darker, purple coat, and the coloration of her mane more closely aligned with it but for a single streak. Behind her are stacks and stacks of books, perhaps this isn't a house at all but rather a library.

 

Now, once the unicorn sees you, she reacts in a very interesting manner. The ensuing freakout tells you a lot not only about her, but about Fluttershy as well. First, there's a quick flash of unspeakable horror. This was frankly what you were expecting the most, since Fluttershy's comment about 'your kind' when she asked for your name implied that either humans were exceedingly rare and generally not interacted with, or somewhere between 'mythical' and 'nonexistent'. After that was a sort of more conventional cross between surprise and confusion, but even this was promptly replaced by... excitement.

 

What she doesn't display, which you find more telling about Fluttershy, is the rapid acceptance. At least, rapid acceptance after you scared the everliving daylights out of her. To Fluttershy you seemed an individual- terrifying and strange, but definitely another sentient being. When this unicorn starts babbling to your chaperone about your presence, you start to believe to this second pony you are not a sentient being but a living curiosity.

 

The quick turnaround also told you that yes, maybe every being in this realm was just as easy-going as your first encounter.

 

"...And I've never seen anything like it in any of my studies! Where did you say you found it again?"

 

"Well it... uh, he, I think..." Fluttershy looks up at you apologetically and you nod in return, "sort of... found me. Loudly." You smile meekly and back out of the entrance at that comment, holding your hands up apologetically. Fluttershy quickly takes a step away at the sudden movement.

 

"Well, lets bring him inside then!" The purple pony takes another long look at you with an expression of sheer joy, and turns to return further indoors. The marking on her flank is different than Fluttershy's, but like Fluttershy the same marking adorns both flanks, matching perfectly, with a similar palette to her coat. This might not be an isolated phenomena, then. You'll have to see if other ponies- whatever forms they take- continue the trend.

 

The purple pony leads you into the middle of the room. As you look around at the many book spines visible to you it comes as a surprise that you can actually read most of them. The silly sort of confusion from your earlier first impressions with Fluttershy returns at this revelation, why you could communicate at all with them is beyond you. Between your 'Alien World' and 'Crazy Dream' theories you're starting to favor the latter. Unfortunately, if your method of transportation here really was blunt force trauma, instead of some ersatz alien abduction, you could kiss your hopes for a quick and clean return good-bye. Maybe you should see a psych after this, if this was what the inside of your head was like you had some serious issues that needed sorting.

 

Once you're in the approximate center of the room, Fluttershy's friend circles you several times, taking in your person and your gear eagerly. She was taking stock of you like a specimen, and you shot a nervous look to your first acquaintance. Unsurprisingly, Fluttershy shoots a nervous look back. The purple one then whirls on her, startling her a bit more, and starts up a steady stream of questioning.

 

"How did you find him again?"

 

"I... well he barged into my house, and-"

 

"Right, I forgot, sorry. Did he say he had a name?"

 

"Well I thought... yes he said it was... Anon? He wanted-"

 

"Anon, got it." The interrogator turns and trotted over to the other side of the room, and suddenly a quill and a piece of paper or parchment was flying through the air, surrounded by an eerie pinkish glow. If you turn out to be incorrect, and this really is an alien encounter, you're definitely going to have to see if you can bring some stuff back.

 

With the notational equipment floating ahead of it, the unicorn starts back over to Fluttershy, a determined expression already instilling fear into the heart of your yellow comrade. The squeaking has returned, and Fluttershy tries to stutter something out before this forceful personality of investigative purpose could continue.

 

"Twilight, Anon wanted, uh... hesaidhewantedto-"

 

"Did he tell you what he is, as well as who?"

 

"No, but h-he was w-wond-der-"

 

"Have you ever seen anything else like him around?"

 

"N-n-no I hav-ven't b-b-but huh-he-"

 

Fluttershy was quickly becoming less and less intelligible as the steady barrage of questions continued. Grasping at 'Twilight' as this pony's name, you prepared to interrupt. You weren't particularly fond of being... analyzed. Besides, the fact you're standing right here and she was directing all her questions to the only other person here more confused than you didn't seem like a good way of going about things either.

 

"Twilight."

 

The purple pony whirls around to look at you, as if she suddenly realized you were actually animate again.

 

"You want to know things, and I want to know things. Wouldn't it be more fair if information was traded, rather than demanded? Now by my count you asked four questions. How about I ask you four questions, and then you can ask me-" you put a subtle but definite emphasis on the first-person pronoun, "some more after that. We'll go back and forth. Deal?"

 

Twilight looks a bit abashed, but doesn't break eye contact with you and nods in agreement. "Deal."

 

You look around the room trying to organize your thoughts. Your biggest priority was to find out where you were, but you had to figure out a way to ask that without sounding retarded. Closely related and following that question was to be if she knew any way you could get home. You gathered from Twilight's questions that no other humans have been spotted around here, or depending on how wide the span of her studies were, no human had ever been documented here at any point it its history, so you didn't have to ask if she'd seen any others like you.

 

You figure you're just going to throw the question out anyway. Looking stupid can be excused, because obviously you're new here.

 

"Alright, where am I? Not the town, Fluttershy already told me it was Ponyville, but what... world is this?"

 

Twilight's smile tipped you off that you were in for a ride. Twilight was probably A Talker.

 

"You- whatever you are and wherever you're from- have ended up in the land of Equestria! Here ponies, unicorns, and pegasi live in harmony with each other and specimens of races from neighboring territories under the guidance of my mentor, Princess Celestia, who is responsible for raising the sun. Equestria is generally comprised of somewhat isolated cities, with little settlement between population centers. Ponyville is one of the smaller ones, bordered by-"

 

"Alright, okay, Equestria, got it." you interrupt with a whirl of your hand in a 'get on with it' motion. "Ponies. Yep. Equestria and all, it certainly makes sense." Such trite names as 'Equestria' to describe a land full of horse-relatives, 'Celestia' for a monarch who inexplicably controls the solar body. That last point sticks out at you pretty sharply. Looking to Twilight, with the paper and pen still floating around with that pink glow, you notice her horn is glowing the same hue. Next question, then. You wave your hands at the notes Twilight is taking, "So, what's all this then? Magic or something?"

 

"Precisely," came the response, emphasized with the paper and quill shifting positions to orbit around your shoulders. "Equestria is a land of magic, many parts of our society wouldn't function without it! There's the overt magic of the Unicorns, but also a more intrinsic magic of the land and its inhabitants themselves." After the first time Twilight had wizened up to the brevity of answers. "I could make a more detailed summary for you another time, if you want."

 

You don't know what you'd do with such a summary, as you're very sure you're not magical yourself, but you file the offer away for later consideration. "Another time maybe. Alright, number three. I came to in a forest next to some rock with 'Tom' carved on it's side. Just moments before that I was in my own world, the only similarity being that I was in the forest, beside a boulder. Any idea what could have happened?"

 

A little enthusiasm in Twilight's expression was replaced by worry. "That's probably the Everfree Forest. That place is... a little weird, to say the least. I have some books on myths and legends associated with it, which could help us refine our search, but a lot of the stuff that goes on in there is still a mystery." Twilight looks down at the floor and back up to you apologetically. "Sorry, we might not know for a very long time."

 

You sigh to yourself and look to the ground. Still not sure whether aliens or crazy, it's confirmation at least you cant be sure you're going home any time soon. It wasn't as simple as petitioning some Human Embassy on another planet, or some freaky introspective journey through your repressed memories, then you're free. You're stuck here for quite a bit. Potentially your entire life.

 

"I uh... can I have a moment?"

 

Twilight looks at you for once like you were another thinking, feeling entity, with enough understanding to make up for the more callous behavior prior. "Of course. Could I get you a seat?"

 

You nod mutely, and a chair is levitated over to you. You sit down without further acknowledgement of your surroundings, and contemplate your new knowledge, the second time in the hour that you've been forced to confront that you're not in Kansas anymore. This time sounded like it was pretty permanent, and just drove the point home. You wont be joining your friends for that Final Push. Hell you wont be joining your friends at all. They're going to have to make some long twenty-hour car trip back to your hometown, only to tell your parents that you mysteriously vanished. Fortunately you're never going to see your college again, but unfortunately you're never going to see your classmates either. There will be no fast food. No internet. No marathoning dumb TV shows with the girl you wanted. No late night shenanigans with your best bros out on the town. Today is- was- June 15th, 2011. Your last day on Earth. Your first day... here.

 

Earth, for you, has been reduced to a bunch of airsoft gear. Make it last.