Title:           Iron Anon: Day 1 in Equestria
Author:          RickGottfried
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/i9zy54FD
First Edit:      Thursday 16th of August 2012 10:24:17 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Thursday 16th of August 2012 10:24:17 PM CDT

>“Run with the Moon, Embrace the Darkness. So when the others take off on the last day,”
>“….only you will be friends with the night”
 
>Darkness
>Eternal Darkness
>You couldn’t distinguish where your body ended and the blackness began
>You had not body
>You were simply a single consciousness, suspended in shadows and suppressed twilight
>It was actually quite peacefully
>Just slipping away
>Away…in the void
>*Rumbling*
“…”
>Just when you were getting relaxed, ready to die…
>Suddenly, in one swift motion, you feel your mind being pushed out from the darkness
>No.
>More like being rejected from it
>As if it was spitting you out
>For unknown reasons, you begin to feel your body again
>First your fingers & toes, then your arms & legs
>You feel the warmth of your own blood returning to your veins
>*SPLASH*
>The sound is muffled as the chilling water engulfs you again, this time pouring itself on top of you
>Needless to say, the heat radiating from your blood is barely noticeable anymore
>Ok, brief recap
>You were going home for supper, when the cut bank and the trail had almost supernaturally gave way into the river
>You, Gus and the sled were trapped on the bottom when river bed started glowing
>You were sucked back into darkness where... you were in some sort of limbo
>Unconscious, dead, you didn’t know
>All you knew now was you had been kicked out of that place, back into the water
>You’re back where you started
>At the bottom of the river
>Though this time, you aren’t trapped by your sled
>You can feel yourself on top of it
>You could swim to the top now
>You could still make it
>Moving through the water, you feel your hand brush up against something
>Most likely Gus
 
>Not slowing your pace, you grip onto Gus’ coat and push off with your feet toward the surface
>You’re able to make out faint light as you swim higher-
>*bump*
>Ow, your head
>Wait a minute
>You bring your right hand up, still holding the bowie and feel what just hit you head
>Its definitely ice
>Solid and unbroken
>But, you had seen the ice splinter and break apart
>What the hell?
>Guess you could worry about that later
>Because now, you’re really REALLY light headed and your lungs feel like little balloons
>With the last ounce of your strength, you thrust the blade in the ice
>And again
>and again…
>Finally you hear the distinct crack of ice shifting
>You twist the knife in a 40 degree angle to open up the gap
>You see a dim light from above
>Popping out the water, you take the longest breath you’d ever taken since you were born
>You stay bobbing there in the water, catching your breath
>Never had you been so thankful for air
>First, you throw Gus’s body over your shoulder and on to the ice
>Next, you manage to use the bowie as an ice pick to pull yourself over on to the ice as well
>You begin shaking and shivering violently as soon as you exit the water
>Only a few more minutes before hypothermia took hold of you
>You begin to pull yourself along the ice towards the shore when you notice Gus’s corpse… twitch
>The mutt was still alive
>Scratch that, better than alive
>He was already up on his paws coming over to you, following the sounds of your rattling teeth
>That’s impossible
>You had saw him die, floating in the water
 
>Your skepticism is casted aside as a stinging pain overwhelms your senses
>Gus was, again, desperately tugging on your dull shoulder to try and pull you to safety
>This time, having paws on solid ground (well ice), his efforts aren’t left in vain
>In a few minutes, you are on the edge of the river bank
>As Gus shakes himself dry, you begin taking off your damp clothes
>You strip down to your white long johns
>They had, for most part, stayed fairly dry but your fur coat and gloves were soaked
>On second thought, where was your fur cap?
>Probably at the bottom of the river
>You could always get another…
>As you stripped, you begin to examine your surroundings
>….
>This doesn’t… look like South Dakota
>You are in dense forest next to, not the river, but a relatively small pond
>…But that’s not what really gets your attention
>It had become night while you were in the water, moon casting dim light on features of the forest
>Despite the dusky atmosphere, you could tell the colors and shades of this place were… unnatural
>Maybe it was your lightheadedness, causing you to hallucinated
>Yeah, that’s got to be it
>Still the dead trees, the white snow, even the stars and moon above seemed fake
>You looked over to Gus, who seemed to be having a hard time getting his bearings too
>Wherever the hell you were, you needed to some shelter
>Especially in the dead of night in a forest
>You and Gus huddle up to get warm for about 20 minutes before doing anything else
>After that, you stand up and take a quick look in all directions
>You can’t seem to find any natural pathways, the ones you usually see made by woodland creatures
 
>It seemed that you were in a very rural neck of the woods
>It would be too dangerous to trek out at night for shelter
>You’d have to make camp here for now
>Being next to a source of water was always a plus
>But what did you have?
>Inventory Check
>Bowie, Mending Rope (20 feet), Long johns, Wool Gloves (Wet), Fur Coat (Wet), Snow boots (Soaked)
>That shit wasn’t going to help you survive
>Mending rope was tough, but it was called MENDING rope for a reason
>You’d used it only for emergency repairs, such as when there were breaks in the tether cord between dogs
>So you only carried a small coil of about 20 feet
>It was your sled that had all the goodies for a time like this
>Which was now at the bottom of the rive- I mean pond
>You needed that sled…
>You never even wanted to a set a single foot in a bucket of water again after that experience
>Still, it was beginning to get colder and the snowfall on the ground didn’t look very cozy
>Just when you were getting warm again, too…
>You took off your long johns (not wanting to get them wet) so you were completely [spoiler]nude[/spoiler]
>You then took out the mending rope and tied it to a nearby tree
>If you could even call it a tree
>It looked almost pastel colored…
>That left you with about 15 feet of rope left
>With the other end in hand, you made your way down the edge of the pond
>It was a small pond
>How the hell did you get from the river to here?
>The little chipping away at the ice you had done earlier had caused the rest to splinter and break away
>It was thin ice, so you’d have no problem pulling the sled through its slush
>Now you just needed to get in there and secure the sled
>…
 
>God dammit
>You thought you were over this fear
>You clench your fists
“I’m not afraid…”
>The memories of your father’s drowning resurface
>You wince but manage to push them back
>With a deep breath, you dive into the water
>Going in a second time seemed colder than the first
>Really fucking cold
>It only took a matter of seconds to find the sled in such a small body of water
>You make a quick knot around the sled’s brush bow and got out of there as fast as you could
>A little dance gets the water off while some jumping jacks to help warm you up again
>You slide back into your long johns as Gus keeps looking out over the forest
>Possible patrolling for any signs of danger or rescue
>Meanwhile, you untie the mending rope from the tree
>You brace your one foot on the tree’s trunk as you prepare to pull
>The sled only weighed about 50 pounds
>It was all the water on top of it that was the problem
>Lifting bundles looked like a piece of cake now
>After about 10 minutes of agony, your sled emerged from its watery grave
>During your little work out, feeling began to return to your body
>Your blood felt lukewarm as it ran to your frozen extremities
>But with this refreshing sensation came a pulsing pain from your left shoulder
>You look over to see it a mixture of shades, black and green
>Gus had clamped down hard on it alright…
>But he didn’t try to serrate it with his teeth like he would with a piece of meat’
>If he had, his teeth would have gotten all the way through to your long johns
>Not to mention, your shoulder would be chewed raw
>For now, it was just superficial bruising
>You had enough to worry about than hurt shoulder
 
>You look over your drenched sled, pile of equally drenched fur cloths and Gus
>First things first, you need a shelter to survive the night
>Then in the morning when your vision was better, you’d set off to find home
>Or town, whatever came first
>You muscle over to the sled and your clothes
>You keep the rope attached to the sled
>Not trusting the river cliff…err pond cliff anymore, you move everything farther inland
>Next, you hung up your wet apparel on nearby high branch after brushing the snow off it
>They should be dry by morning, though the fur would be matted now
>You glanced over to Gus and see he had already taken to sleeping next to sled
>As if contagious, fatigue overtakes your body as well
>There didn’t look like there were any dangerous animals around or Gus would have sensed them
>You rustled through the sled’s basket till you found your father’s old sleeping bag
>On the outside, it looks hideous
>Its made of brown rough hide with thick stitches running around the whole thing, keeping it together
>You unfold it and undo the twine binding that held the opening flap shut
>You slip in your hand inside to feel it still there
>Fur.
>Warm and dry, lining the interior of the bag
>Your father didn’t care much for aesthetics
>While others put of warm insulating fur on the outside to make it look nice, Ned and your father had stuffed it all inside
>Sure, it looked ugly but it kept you warmer than anything else
>Lucky for you, the fold and binding had kept the water out
>You slip yourself into the fuzzy bag
>Naturally, you soon drift into sleep
 
>“On the first day, you sleep five hours...”
>“Then four……….....”
>“Then three….…”
>“Then two……”
>“The last few days, you don’t sleep”
>“You just run”
>“Run”
>“to the end…”
 
>You’re awake
>But you were still tired
>You squeeze your head out the bag to take a look outside
>The Sun had barely touched the horizon, casting an oh so subtle red tint across the darken landscape
>Estimated… you probably only got 4 hours of sleep
>Again.
>You let out a sigh of both frustration and weariness
>This was going to kill you
>Every since the race, you’re been stuck in this little rut
>Everyday, no matter how tired or how earlier you got to bed
>You could only sleep for a handful of hours
>Ned’s intense training followed by the race had left an impact on your body
>Your biological clock to be precise
>Still no matter how drained you felt, your body always found the energy to keep moving…
>That didn’t make the experience any less bothersome though
>You let out a grunt
>Pulling yourself back into the bag, you try desperately to fall back asleep
>Idiot.
>That never worked either
>You lay there, eyes tampered shut, when you feel heat seeping through the exterior of the bag
>You open your eyes and pop out of your cozy hole again
“The Sun‘s up…”
>That’s impossible
>It had only been a few minutes since you had seen the dawn
>But now the Sun was high in the sky, projecting its thermal rays down upon forest
>That’s another thing,
>You could see the forest more clearly now with the light
>You look around only to become more confused
>Everything still looked to fruity and fake
 
>Yep.
>This definitely wasn’t South Dakota
>Probably not even America
>Hell, the only thing that kept you thinking you were still on Earth was the snow
>At least that looked and felt natural
>You make your way out of sleeping bag
>You glance over to see Gus, in the same spot next to you and the sled
>Though his body remained curled up, his glowing amber eyes were wide and showing
>Must have woken up as soon as you did
>You shrug off your sleepiness and get up to stretch, while planning your next course of action
>You got to get out of this forest and find…
*grumble*
>The growl of a thousand stomachs cuts you off
“Getting some breakfast first won’t hurt, will it Gus?”
>His ears pick up at his name and he gets up from his resting position to start the day as well
>You walk over to your fur coat and boots, which had thankful dried out by now
>They were still matted, but at the moment, you weren’t really caring about looks
>You put on your clothes, instantly feeling 10 times better with some layers on you
>Eventually, once you have gotten situated, you go back to sled and begin to pack up the sleeping bag
>As you stow it away, you retrieve a small tightly woven container from the sled’s basket
>You open to see its contains
>Mother’s special fruitcake
>You mean it when you say ‘special’
>This stuff had enough nutrients and was packed with enough of Ned’s special herbs to…
>…well, to keep a 17 year old filled with enough energy to run a 522 mile dog-sledding team on virtually no sleep
>This had been your bread and butter, literally, for that entire race
 
>Mr. Kingsley had even joked about it in one of his articles about you
>You lightly chuckle to yourself
>He wouldn’t be joking about it if he knew how bad it tasted
>And here you were, eating it again
>You reach in to rip off a piece when it exerts a murky liquid from its spongy frame
>So much for that…
>The water seemingly saved you from having to suffer its bitter taste again
>You guess that’s one way to look at it…
>*gurgle*
“Oh, shut up”
>No breakfast for you
>You finally realize Gus had been standing at your side the whole time
“You don’t eat fruitcake, do you boy?”
>Gus blank stare begs for food
>You put the food cake away and grab a leather satchel from the sled
>You reach in and pull out a piece of heavily salted and preserved meat
“Guess you’re the only one who’s eating today...”
>You throw it some distance over your shoulder
>Gus bolts off after it almost immediately
>It only takes him 5 minutes to finish off the morsel of meat
>The canine trots back to you, his muzzle slightly red around the edges
>As he had been enjoying his breakfast, you were preparing the sled
>You only had Gus now and despite how great a dog he is, he wouldn’t be able pull you and the sled
>So you decided to pull it back yourself to… wherever you were going
>You knew this wasn’t your neck of the woods
>But you had to keep moving or you’d never get home
>You give a short whistle to get Gus’s attention and then you start trekking into the woods
>Its hard pulling the sled through the forest as there is a severe lack of pathways
>Eventually after a few minutes of hiking, you notice the familiar snow simply disappearing the farther you moved from the pond
 
>Soon, you find yourself staring at the edge of two totally different forests
“ Huh…”
>The snow mysteriously just…stopped. Right here
>Everything on your side was dead and barren, covered in white snow
>These trees on the other side were very much alive and had dark green vegetation sprouting all about
>Totally unaffected by the snow that was  mere feet away, being held back by some unknown barrier
>As you step off the last bit of snow and unto the dirt, it feels likes you were jumping between two completely different and separate eco-systems
“This place keeps getting weirder and weirder”
>Gus doesn’t look to happy about this odd setting either
>You keep moving, farther from the recognizable snowy forest and deeper into what you could only describe as a jungle
>The place is dense with plant life but you don’t see any other animals
>You guess that was good
>*grumble*
>if you weren’t so hungry
>Seriously, when’s the last time you ate?
>Even that raw dog food you just feed Gus looked appealing now
>You finally reach a clearing in the forest, where you are able to see sunlight again
>Your right shoulder is starting to get sore from you dragging the sled
>Time to switch it up
>You put the rope over your left shoulder and pull
>PAIN
“Fuck!”
>Your bruised shoulder didn’t take kindly to that
>Oh God, that hurt so much
>You could kick a puppy right now
>Or at least, the grown up one that had done this to you
>You massage the tender area
>You couldn’t keep pulling this sled forever
>You stare out into the clearing
>No visible pathways in or out of it, besides the one you just made with the sled
>Wait a second.
 
>You spot a shadow appear across the grass of the clearing
>Looking up, you see a large bird
>It’s blue… cyan really
>That’s weird
>Wait a second.
>It also has multicolored feathers… Hair?
>It drops in altitude, allowing you a closer look
>Your jaw drops
>…
>…
“what.”
>You died
>That’s the only explanation
>You died and this was hell
>The kind of hell that takes what you believe and flips it on its head
>Twists everything you ever considered to be reality
>What the fuck,
>Was that thing?!
>It had wings alright but the body…
>There were four limbs, all outstretched in flight
>It also had a long neck and what you could only assume to be a head attached to it
>Growing along its neck and head was hair, not feathers
>Oh but wait,
>It gets better
>The hair was colored…
>Many different colors, all in ultra distinct rows of tresses
>It looked like a god damn rainbow
>It now was almost directly overhead and you can see it has the same thing coming out its rear
>A tail
>A bird with front and hind legs, a long neck, and two sets of flowing, vibrant hair
>Ok, most of these features wouldn’t normally be associated with a bird
>Only the wings supported that
>So what… was it?
>You and Gus were only partially in the clearing, hidden (probably) from its sight for the time being
>God, what the fuck is it!?
>You just stare at it as it flies by
>…
>Is it… getting closer?
“oh shit”
>You jump back into the brush of the forest, giving a quick and discreet whistle for Gus to do the same
>You all hide as the blue monstrosity slams into the ground about 60 yards from you
>Its skids for about another 20 yards until coming to a stop