Null and Void - 1 - Barrier

>It's your birthday!  :D

>Nobody cares! :(

>You get the day to yourself, which is pretty aladeen you guess.

 

>You can't complain too much.  Your life is nothing special, you are nothing special, the world keeps on turning.

>In a slightly pitiful gesture, you decide to go buy yourself a cake.  It's been a while since you had a cake, and the re's a shop downtown with a BITCHING strawberry floofy cakey thing.

>You snatch your keys off the little table by the door and climb into the little Honda Civic that Almost Could.  As a token of kindness, it decides not to give you any trouble on the way.

 

>The cute girl working the counter reminds you of your ex that you're TOTALLY OVER GODDAMNIT SHUT UP, FRANK

>but you manage not to fuck anything up pointing at the cake you want and pulling the flimsy little debit card out of a sad, dusty wallet.  She suspects nothing as she hands you the box containing your treat.

 

>"Have a nice day," she says.

 

>You give her a half-hearted smile.

"You too."

 

>It looks like it's about to start raining, so you quickly walk back to your car and set the box down on the passenger seat.  A few drops of moisture land on your head just as you round the front of the car and crack the door.

>You plop down in the seat and shut the door, and the clouds just UNLOAD.  Nigh-biblical amounts of it coming down.

>You decide to hurry home, so you hammer down the pedal and snake your way back out toward your suburb.

 

>Through the downpour, you can just make out your house in the distance, and you're lucky that you catch the dog in the road out of the corner of your squint.

>You slam on what's left of your brakes, and the car starts screeching while the dopey little thing sits there with its adorable stupid face and hilarious lack of awareness.

>You're pretty sure you aren't going to hit it, when you remember the cake to your right.  It, never having paid attention in driver's ed, is not wearing its seat belt.

>A shot of panic rushes through you and you thrust your arm out to catch the box before it goes flying.

 

>There were a lot of other sounds, and then you don't remember what happened.  You blearily blink your eyes open what feels like a very short nap later to find you're not in your car.

>The ground beneath your back is sapping what little heat you seem to have left, and the rain has let up a bit, but not stopped.

>A drop almost lands in your eye, but a reflexive blink stops it.

>After a second or two you put some pieces together and realize you probably just smashed your car.

>That's bad.

>Fuck, the cake!  It's a little sad that you're more concerned about the cake than your car, but you were really looking forward to that!

>DOUBLE fuck, the dog!  You try to push yourself to your feet so you can get a look around and - hopefully - not find a dead or dying pug anywhere nearby, but you can't manage more than an elbow prop and some grunting.

 

>You see some blood.  Not a lot, but enough that you're confused you're not in more pain.

>With a mighty heave, you sit up.

>You don't recognize the area.  At all.

 

>You can't see any houses, or other buildings, or the road, or your car.

>Luckily, you don't see the dog either, but then your heart sinks as a crumpled cardboard box sits sadly at the foot of a tree.

>Squashed chunks of fluffy cake are oozing out of the corners and melting in the downpour, dirtied by grinding into the dirt.  It is hardly recognizable but for the box, and it is likely unsalvageable.

 

>Happy fuckin' birthday, kiddo.

 

>Cold, wet, hungry, achey, bloody, and lost.  Doesn't get much better than this.

>You take a deep, long breath, then try to stand again.

>You fail.

>You succeed at pretending you're not about to start crying, but only because it's raining and there's nobody around.

>At least nobody would fault you for it with how your day's been going.

 

>A crack of thunder snags your attention.  You should probably find shelter.

>Desperately scanning the area for some sign as to where you are, you come up with nothing.

>Unable to stand and with no idea which direction to go, you start dragging yourself in the direction of a foresty looking place over that way.

 

>The closer you get, the less you like this idea.  That forest is spookier than two skeletons put together.

>But what else are you gonna do?

>Settling on a compromise, you stop a few feet into the woods.  Slightly sheltered by some trees, but still near enough to the open field.

>Your eyelids feel pretty heavy, and the next thing you know, you're asleep.

 

>Being a bit of an immature shit, you dream about giant robots duking it out between rows of skyscrapers.

>You smile a little as Fisto the Magnificent slugs Cannon Fucker into one of twelve identical buildings.

>Cannon Fucker doesn't take that shit lying down, though, and he retaliates by opening fire with the gigantic fucking cannon in his chest.

>The sound of the explosion rips through the air, and you jolt upright and awake to a matching thunderclap.

 

>You think you hear voices off in the distance, back the way you came.

>"...frosting, but I'm pretty sure that's blood!"

 

>You look down and notice some red streaks in the mud, then come to your senses.

"Over here!"

 

>"Did you hear that?"

 

>"It sounded like it came from over there!"

 

>"Well don't just stand there, let's go!"

 

>A sound like galloping horses.  You try to stand again, but your legs still won't cooperate.

 

>Three shadows phase into view, and you realize how dark it is.  You aren't paying enough attention to catch what the first one says before it gets close.

>It's... a very small, bright blue horse.

>Both of you scream, and the other two horses come running.

 

>"Rainbow, what is igaaaah!  What IS it?!"

>The second, purple horse recoils.

 

"What am I?  What are you?!  How are you... you're talking!"

 

>"So are you!"

 

>"Girls, please, I think he's just as scared as we are.  He looks hurt!"

>This yellow one has a quiet voice.  It's... soothing.

 

>You steady your breathing.  You didn't realize it'd gotten that fast.

"Yes... I think I am.  I can't stand up."

 

>"Oh, goodness... what do we do?  He's too big for us to carry!"

 

>The first one, the blue one, scoffs.

>"He is not!  It's just... it's not a good idea to toss around an injured pony-er... creature like that.  You're supposed to keep 'em as still as you can until they get looked at."

 

>"Either way, we shouldn't try to pick him up.  We can run back to Ponyville and get help, though.  Maybe a large wooden board we could use like a stretcher."

 

>The yellow one gasps.

>"We can't just leave him here by himself, though!"

 

"I don't care, I just... please get me somewhere warm and dry, but like, more of a bed than a desert."

 

>The blue one smiles.

>"Alright, big guy.  We'll take care of it."

 

>"I'll, um, I'll stay here, if that's okay."

 

>The blue one and the purple one shrug at one another and take off running.

>"We'll be right back!"

 

>The rain still hasn't stopped.

 

>"Don't you worry, mister um... mister... what's your name?"

 

"Anonymous."

 

>"Well, mister Anonymous, don't you worry.  My good friends Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle are going to make sure everything ends up okay."

 

"And you?"

 

>"Oh, well, I'm going to keep you company and try to monitor your condition while we wait.  Taking care of sick and injured creatures is kindof a hobby of mine."

 

"I meant your name."

 

>"Oh," she says, smiling sheepishly.  "My name is Fluttershy."

 

"Could you maybe... clear some things up for me?"

 

>"Certainly.  Like what?"

 

"You're horses.  Talking horses.  Where... exactly am I?"

 

>Her eyes widen.  "You've never met a pony before?"

 

"Not like any of you.  Horses... er, ponies I guess, but still... Ponies are usually bigger.  And less colorful.  And they don't talk.  I think the only reason I'm not freaking out more is because I'm in shock from blood loss.  That's probably why I don't feel that much pain, either."

 

>"Oh my goodness, that's terrible!  I didn't... I mean, I didn't realize... we need to hurry!"

>She's pacing back and forth.

 

"Your friends are already on it.  I think... I think I'll be okay, for now.  I just... I'm REALLY confused.  One minute I was driving home, and then I think there was a dog in the road and I tried not to hit him, but then... I don't know what happened.  I woke up out there.  I don't know where here or there are, and you all are so weird!"

 

>"Well, mister Anonymous, it's just as strange for us.  We were out looking for our friend Applejack's missing dog when Twilight noticed a ruined cake and a trail of blood."

 

>Your face falls.  Right.  The dog.  Your cake.  Man, today SUCKS.

"Sorry."

 

>"Sorry?  Whatever for?"

 

"I dunno... for making a mess out there and distracting you from finding your friend's dog.  Maybe even for killing it, for all I know."

 

>All the color drains from her face.  Tears well up along the bottom of her eyes.

 

>FUCK that is a bad cryface.  Make it stop.

"Hey, hey, I don't know.  Maybe not.  I don't see my car anywhere around here, and I don't see the dog, either.  Plus, I don't know what exactly happened, but I'm PRETTY sure I stopped in time to not hit it."

 

>She doesn't look particularly comforted.

>You're bad at this.

 

>A wailing cry pierces your ears, and you wince in pain.

 

>"Stay right here okay?"

 

>You nod, and Fluttershy runs out of the woods toward the sound.

>It's hard to tell through the incessant patter of the rain, but you think you hear sobbing.

>An unpleasantly long period of time stretches around you, your aches pulsing and a sinking feeling in your stomach.

 

>Finally, you hear voices again.  Fluttershy and a new one that catches on a few hiccuping, bawling sounds.

>"and there'll be time to grieve later.  Right now, somepony... er, someBODY, I guess, is in need, and it ain't the Apple way to leave somepony in need."

 

"Uh... hello.  Applejack?"

 

>She takes a breath.

>"Yeah, that's me."

 

"I'm sorry... about your dog."

 

>She stamps a hoof, shaking some rain off her head and some tears out of her eyes.  "It ain't fair at all!  How does something like that even happen?  A dag-blasted cake box!  How does a critter Winona's size up and..."

>She sniffles and trails off, wiping a hoof at her face.

>"I'm sorry.  I'm sorry.  Right now, we gotta worry about keeping y'all goin'.  I can take time to cry later.  It ain't your fault, and even if it were that wouldn't be no reason not to take care of ya when you're hurt."

 

>You wince.  Today is definitely in the running for the worst day of your life.