Bombs rumbled in the distance, shaking the earth and fracturing the ground as they impacted. Buildings were ripped apart and dust was expelled from the crumbling husks as the flattened on the scorched asphalt of the once busy roads. The warning sirens still blared in a late attempt to warn the cities residents of the impending doom that was now so evident in the burning wreckage of a human settlement. The attack came so swiftly and brutally that many people never made it out of their homes before they were either blown apart or shot by the kill teams that run rampant among the cracked and pockmarked streets.
A group of eight dirty and tired people ran through the hazy alleyways and through the dangerously unstable remnants of office buildings in an attempt to escape the onslaught. There twenty at first. Eight American soldiers trying desperately to evacuate the surviving civilians, and twelve scared and bloody citizens running for their lives. They had been picked off in firefights or had succumbed to injuries they had already sustained. A few had simply lost their wits and ran off into the dying city. Among the scared people a few stood out. The four remaining soldiers and two men who held a remarkable resemblance to one another. Vic and his younger brother Art. They had picked up weapons dropped by fallen soldiers, fighting with them because they believed it was their duty as much as the trained fighters that they protect their fellow human.
They were all scared. It was evident in every jerking and pained movement their bodies were forced to make. They heard the unknown language of the cities assailants. They didn't know what was attacking them. They had appeared to appear in the skies one day. Art had always dreamed of meeting an extraterrestrial. He never even imagined when he was born into the newly space-faring civilization humanity had finally managed to create that he'd ever have to fight for his life against an alien threat. As he ran after the soldiers to a supposed evacuation shuttle, his feet numb to the uneven and tortuous ground he'd ran on for who know how long, he heard a shout of alarm in the guttural alien tongue his entire being had quickly been taught to fear.
And then he heard another new ad even more terrifying sound. Rolling on the pavement between their feet was an incendiary grenade. It crunched through the dirt and dust, its small beeping sounds alerting the entire group to its presence. Art acted without a first thought, let alone a second. His beaten and wearing legs carried him to the front of the group before his brother could pull him back. He heard a quick pop from about twenty yard away and he felt the air on his left side become super heated and he lost all of the feeling in his rib-cage. Blood painted the ground under him but he pushed just a few feet further, his hand reaching out and grabbing the now scorching hot grenade. Everything had slowed to a crawl for him, his brain desperately trying to give him every chance of survival but his action was set and unchangeable. He tucked the device into his chest and dove away from the group and his screaming brother.
He saw the expressions etched onto the groups face. Surprise, confusion. Gratitude, determination, respect. And agony. His brothers face showed only indescribable agony at his own sacrifice. He tried to run after him but one of the soldiers grabbed him and threw him behind cover as the others began to return fire. He only hoped that his sacrifice allowed these people and his brother to live. His chest suddenly felt the heat of the grenade erupt, his vision was filled with the orange and blue particles the grenade had emitted. His life was ended in only a quarter of a second.
The first thing he felt was warmth. A pleasant, natural warmth, like that of the sun. he felt it on his arms, face, and his neck. His skin tingled and his bones felt like rubber. He tried to open his eyes but they felt like the were glued shut. He heard a constant dull ring in his ear, and his head felt clouded and unfocused. But he could smell something he had missed for so many years. Grass, flowers, a slight hint or rain. Dirt, fresh wind. Pollen. Nature. His skin began re regain more of its feeling, the sensation of grass and a breeze become known to him. His muscles began to function again, and his eyes felt lighter and his mind somewhat clearer. He just barely managed to force open an eye. Just a small bit, but he saw sunlight, and a blue cloudless sky.
His mind began to work as it should and it began to piece together what was happening. He remembered death. Destruction. Running. Hurting. Fighting. The grenade. Oh god, the grenade. He realized he had died, he was dead! He had felt the blast rip his body apart. But, he felt it. He was remembering the grenade and the explosion so he couldn't be dead. Could he? He remember his brother. Stricken, hurting, dirty, alive. His brother was alive as far as he knew, thanks to him. But where was he? How could he be here? He began to ask himself that very question, his sub-conscious attempting to explain this situation but utterly failing to. He felt the tendons in his hand contract and hi felt the contact of his fingertips on the palm of his hand. The sudden rush of information flooded his still tired mind, causing it to shut down. He lost consciousness again.
He jolted awake, his body functioning as it should have. He looked around in brief confusion before remembering what was happening.
Where am I? How am I here? I know died so what is this?!" His mind repeated those same questions but the answers never came any closer to him. He stood up and reached to his side for his knife, only to find that it was absent from its place on his hip. He looked around him, spinning in place to get a full view of his surroundings.
"Why is everything so green?" He croaked, his vocal cords sounding like they hadnt been used in years. He became aware of how dry his throat was.
'I need to find water. I feel like I haven't had any in a long time. Could there be a stream pr a river or even a lake nearby?' He thought to himself, focusing on his hearing in an attempt to find the sounds of moving water. He could just make out the small trickling of water, definitely to his left.
'I hope its clean.' He began to walk slowly, the action requiring more effort than he knew it should have. His muscles felt newer. Untrained and clunky. He had no idea why they felt this way but he figured he could think about it later. Right now he desperately needed water.
He clumsily trudged on, his feet making the soft grass bend under his weight. A leaf or stick would occasionally be crushed with a snapping and crunching sound. He has yet to see anything other than a rabbit and a few birds flying though the blue sky overhead. This managed to confuse him even more, because Earth was the only planet he knew of that had these types of animals. But Earth's forests had long since been cut down. An unfortunate reminder that humanity took everything for their own gain.
He reached a small stream after about three minutes of walking. His legs and back had quickly gotten used to the motion and he began to walk normally after about two minutes. He slowly crouched down the the clear water, still being careful with his body being the way it is. He reached out a hand slowly, testing the water. T wasn't ice cold, but it wasn't warm either. He put both of his hands below him into the water, resting them on a small rock to support himself, but not disturbed the sediment as he drank. He bent his torso down and touched his lips to the cool and fresh water. The sensation felt amazing, and as he pulled to water into his mouth and down his throat, he wanted to cry out at the relief it brought. He felt like the water was soothing his every muscle, cooling him down to his core and filling him with a new energy. He was so caught up in the sounds of his slurping and the water trickling down his throat that he utterly failed to notice the soft, almost timid sounds footsteps of a quadrupedal animal approaching behind him.
"E-excuse me?" The voice utterly scared the shit out of Art. He gasped, water finding its way into places it probably shouldn't be as the sudden intake of air carried it into his lungs. He coughed and sputtered, falling into the stream, now cloudy and muddy from his body falling into the soft sediment.
"I- I'm so, so sorry!" He heard the soft, timid, obviously scared female voice say. He opened his eyes, his visions blurred from the water and dirt. He could just make out a yellow and slightly pink shape about six feet away from him. He quickly reached up, rubbing his eyes with his wet hands, managing to force out enough of the irritants to get at least a solid view of the world around him.
"What the fuck am I looking at.' He deadpanned to himself. It was a pony. A pony. A yellow pony. He looked at the creature. He honestly had no idea at all of what he was even seeing. It actually looked terrified of him, as it looked ready to runaway at any second. A pink mane covered most of its face. It actually looked like it was hiding its face behind it. He could see one blue eye. T was actually quite a beautiful eye. It was such a clear color. A nice shade of blue. And then, there were its-
'Tell me those aren't wings. Please.' They were wings alright. And they were yellow. And they were definitely attached to this pony. The confusion meter in his head twitched uncomfortably.
"Um. Hi?" He said, uncertain of whether or not he should be talking to this thing. His words made the pony jump. He figured he had spoken really loudly, and he made a note to keep it quieter. He wasn't sure what this creature would do.
"H-h-hi." It replied timidly and so quietly that he could just barely make out the stuttered syllable. Well now he didn't know what to do. He felt like he dug himself a hole to sit in by talking to it, her, they? He didn't even know what In the possible hell he was even talking to. He didn't even know how he was alive!
He looked at the pony with a clearly confused expression. He decided he may as well see if he could find out where he is.
"Uh, do you uh, know where I'm, at? Exactly?" He asked awkwardly, feeling somewhat dumb in the situation. He was talking to a yellow winged pony after dying in a war zone after all.
It looked down and scraped the ground with a hoof? Thingy? Before speaking even quieter than before.
"You're, near, pon-..." She said. He only caught part of it as she lowered the volume of her voice eve more somehow. It was scared of him. It, She, didn't look like she was going to hurt him. She probably though he might hurt her. He felt a bit bad that he was making this unknown creature scared of him, his kind heart egging him to at least ease its fears.
"Listen, I'm not gonna hurt you. I don't know where I am. Something really bad happened to me, and I'm really confused right now. I just need to know where I am." He said softly and as kindly as he could manage." When he mentioned that something bad had happened to him, the pony immediately looked up, visibly worried.
"What happened? Are you okay?" She said, stepping a bit closer to him. She looked less timid and more worried. Art looked at the yellow pony with an obviously bewildered expression. This pony had no idea who or what he was. It was either the kindest creature he had ever met, or it just wants to eat is face. Probably the first one though.
"I, just need to know where I am and I probably need some rest." He said, feeling marginally uncomfortable as the pony got even closer.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you're hurting." She said, genuine concern somehow obvious in her voice. She was right, in a way. His muscles were working properly but the ached. Fairly badly at that. It had gotten progressively worse, and it seemed to hurt the most at his chest and abdomen. He noticed that he was somewhat hunched over, and he didn't have all of his weight evenly set on his legs. He wondered at the ponies change of demeanor. She went from terrified, to very concerned and willing to help, albeit still cautious. But, it reminded it of himself of some level. The memory of his actions in the city resurfaced, sending waves of anguish through his bod. He winced at the ripple of pain the memory sent through his mind.
He noticed a tug on his sleeve. It was the pony. She was pulling him to the left for some reason.
"You aren't well. You're coming with me so I can help you." The small yellow pony looked a bit intimidating now, a determined expression on her face. He didn't know why, but he felt like he should follow this pony. She reminded him of himself. Of his own kind and caring nature. He stepped out of the stream he'd been sitting in for over five minutes and stood up, his joints popping in protest. He looked at the pony. That determined and caring look still had its place on her features.
"I don't know why you're trying to help me but thank you." He said, his voice proving the sincerity of his gratitude.
"Everypony deserves somepony else to show kindness." She said in response, still quietly, but loud enough for Art to hear her this time.
'She didn't say "everypony". Did she?'
"Did you say everypony?" He asked her, immediately regretting it as he realized it was probably a stupid question and would likely cause more that he'd have to answer.
"Yes, of course I did. Do you not say that from where you're from?" She asked n her somewhat still timid voice.
'No, I don't. But can I ask where exactly you're taking me?" Art asked, not wanting to be led somewhere he wouldn't really want to be. Not that asking would make any difference in that regard.
"I'm taking you to my cottage. I think I have some things there that can help you. Also, one of my new friends told me to keep an eye out for anything odd around the woods. That's why I confronted you earlier." She somewhat explained. Art didn't really like what she had said. Someone told her to look out for odd things near some woods just before he showed up? That didn't sit well with him.
"Who told you to look out for things near woods?" Art asked, trying not to sound confrontational.
"A new friend of mine named Twilight Sparkle. She came here not too long ago because the Princess wanted her to learn about friendship." She explained as though it were the most normal thing in the world.
'Wait. What? Learn about friendship? That sounds dumb as shit.' He thought negatively to himself. He thought everything she just said sounded like something out of a cartoon for small children.
"And why did she tell you this miss...?" He asked, prompting her to tell her her name.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have told you my name earlier, it was rude of me not to. My name is Fluttershy . And, whats your name? If, you're okay with telling me of course." She added, clearly terrified of probing too much.
"My name is Arterous Vale. Art for short, because I don't really like my full name that much. Now, why did Twilight Sparkle tell you to look out for anything near here exactly? And can we get going to your cottage? My knees are kind of beginning to ache."
And so they started walking. It was a relatively short walk, only about ten or so minutes. They didn't pass anything particularly remarkable. On the way, Fluttershy had explained that they had "fought" an "evil" mare named Nightmare Moon, which he internally rolled his eyes about, and to beat her they used some artifacts called the Elements of Harmony, of which her and her five friends, Rainbow Dash., Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle, the one who told her to keep an eye on things, were bearers of. And it was the use of these apparently very powerful objects that prompted Twilight's concern over the area. The Elements were very old and very unpredictable.
Art thought on the last. In his ocean of uncertainty one thing was certain. This was real. And what this pony was telling him was real. I mean, who wouldn't believe a yellow pegasus they just found in the woods after they had just died?
It was the best thing he had. He was very uncertain of what was going on, but he intended to get to the bottom of it. He was in a strange land yes. But he wasn't going to sit idly by and do nothing to discover what had happened to him.
"Say, do you think I could talk to Twilight? She sounds like she could answer some questions I have." Art asked from Fluttershy's couch. It had been almost an hour since they had reached her cottage, and she appeared to have opened up a bit to him. She still seemed nervous and timid, but he could surmise that she was always like this.
"Oh yes, I sent her a letter earlier. She should be here soon. I'm sure she'll be eager to talk to you." Fluttershy said, bringing in a pot and two cups and sitting it on the small carved table in her living room. Art was a bit taken aback by her house. It could very honestly be called a tree house, as it was a house made from a tree. It was very nice. Something he didn't expect. It has a door on the trunk of the tree which could open up in two halves, which was good because Art wasn't exactly short.
It had many windows, a few of which didn't look like they should physically be able to be there. Another thing was the animals. There were a whole fucking lot of them. She seemed to look after them as she greeted many of them by name and, to his surprise, they seemed to acknowledge her as well. The interior was cozy, a small and as Art would figure out, surprisingly sassy little rabbit she referred to as Angel.
'More like Satan, you little fucker.' Art thought as the rabbit glared at him from around a corner. It seemed to be very wary of him and very protective of her.
It was also very warm in there. Very, very warm. Likely about eighty five. He wasn't sure how she could possibly stand it.
She sat a small cup next to him and picked the small pot and filled the cup with steaming and very herbal tea. Art didn't want to say anything, but on the walk here his body regained its original strength and his muscles and joints stopped aching. He picked up the small cup and took a very small sip of the brown liquid. It wasn't half bad. It was definitely made from herbs, and it made his stomach feel warm and fuzzy when it finally reached that point.
"Hey, is it okay if I took this shirt off? Its really hot in here." He asked nervously, beads of sweat falling down his cheek and further wetting his sweat dampened shirt.
"Of course. I'm not even sure why you're wearing it. Most ponies I know don't." She said, seeming genuinely confused about his clothing.
He shrugged and slowly pulled the damp shirt off. He was in good shape. Well, actually he was ripped. His muscles were large and well defined. He was by no means a body builder, but he was certainly much stronger than an average person. He sat the shirt on the floor next to him and sighed in relief as his body began to cool down somewhat. All of this felt a bit awkward. He felt awkward.
"So when did you send her a letter?" He asked after he took another sip of the tea.
"Oh, just s few moments ago. She isn't terribly far away and Rhiley is a fast and trustworthy bird. He should be on his way back after dropping the letter. And knowing her she's already galloping here as we speak." She answered, also sipping tea.
Art shrugged and was about to take another sip of the tea, but the door suddenly slammed open, scaring the utter shit out of him yet again and causing him to spill his tea. Fluttershy also yelped and spilled her tea on the floor. She turned quickly to the door where a cyan mare with a rainbow mane stood, panting and looking very worried.
"Fluttershy! Did that monster hurt you?!"She shrieked, her eyes coming to rest on Art, who's crotch burned really badly. She gained an expression or anger and determination before rushing towards Art, her wings flapping to propel her across the room in less than a second. Her head and body collided with a now empty couch seat, its occupant already up and across the room, standing next to Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked concerned and confused as to why Rainbow Dash had acted that way for no reason. Angel had also appeared from wherever the little bugger had been hiding, and he too seemed to be very confused about the pile of cyan and rainbow that was clumped on the couch.
"Rainbow Dash, that was very rude of you. We were just enjoying a nice cup of tea and you made us spill it. Art here had just settled in and started feeling better. This was not called for. You need to apologize." Fluttershy said, her tone very serious and actually commanding. It was quite intimidating. There was definitely a lot more to this pony than her appearance let on.
Rainbow looked a bit embarrassed and she tried to sputter out an excuse.
"Bu-bu-but he could've hurt you! He could be bad! You don't actually know what he even is!" She yelled, pointing her hoof at the shirtless human.
"We've been alone for over an hour. If he were going to hurt me he would have, but he's actually been pleasant company. You're over reacting and you need to apologize for being rude to my guest." She said, not giving an inch to Rainbow.
Said cyan mare looked down in defeat before lifting her head to look at Art.
"I'm sorry for being rude to you for no reason." She said in her rough and scratchy voice. She sounded somewhat sincere, although it was clear she didn't like to apologize.
"It's, alright I guess. You moved a lot faster than I expected you to so I somewhat panicked." Art said, trying to dry off his tea soaked pants. Rainbow took the moment to really look at this strange new creature who was nothing at all like any other she'd seen.
The first thing she noticed was his build. Very athletic and it looked very strong. The muscles looked very different than a ponies, but she could tell that they were well trained and that they took a lot of work to get to that point. She noticed his dark brown hair next. It was wear she'd expect a mane to be but it wasn't quite the same as a mane. It was long and was almost to his shoulders. Then there was his eyes. Very, very green. Neon almost. There was actually something a little, unnatural about his eyes but she put it off as as nothing.
"You were pretty fast yourself to get over there so fast. I was pretty confused when I realized I hadnt even hit you. I could still beat you in a race though." She managed to brag, even through her compliment.
"Well you can fly so." Art retorted, scoffing at this ponies obvious ego.
"And just what are you implying?" Rainbow asked, suddenly very defensive. Art took this moment to examine her. She was a big bigger than Fluttershy. Her body was definitely toned and her wings were bigger. The muscles that moved the wings were definitely large. She was clearly a very fast flier.
"I'm saying you can easily fly faster than I can physically run." He clarified, not really backing down from the mare.
"What, you don't think I could beat you in hoof race?" She demanded, stamping her left fore-hoof indignantly. She clearly took a lot of pride in her physical prowess. Unfortunately, so did Art. And unfortunately, Art was just as competitive as her.
"I don't know. I've never been beat and I doubt I'd let that change." He pushed, trying to see what the, mare would say.
"Then why don't you prove it?! We'll race right now and I'll show you what I can do!" She challenged, still trying to stroke her own ego.
"Oh my, not again." Fluttershy squeaked. This was one of the many times Rainbow had challenged somepony she didn't even know to a race. That was just her nature, she supposed.
"You just tried to put me through the way all now you want to race?" Art asked, his brow cocked. This was a very strange mare. She exuded self confidence, unlike the yellow pegasus who stood awkwardly off to the side. He liked the confidence, and he liked the competitive spirit. He'd get along with this mare.
"I don't let anyone question my awesomeness or my speed. So are we gonna do it or what?" She demanded, although not spitefully.
"Sure. I don't see why not." Art accepted, turning and walking out of the door.
'This place is weird. Everything is very exaggerated here. This Rainbow individual seems to be an athletic stereotype. She challenged me, an unknown creature, to a race because I questioned her speed. That's not normal. I need to keep an eye out for things.' He thought to himself. Things here were indeed strange to him, but for the ponies, its just another average day.
He stepped outside, followed quickly by the two other ponies, only to stop when he saw a very royal looking chariot with a very, very royal looking pony stepping out of it.
HE looked in silence as the large pony stpped all the way and took a few confident steps towards him. It was clearly a mare and it had wings and a horn. He didnt know what that meant, but he knew it was something special.
"Princess Celestia!" He heard Fluttershy gasp. The princess gave a kind smile to all of them, and rested her eyes on Art.
"Welcome to Equestria, human." She said kindly.
Hey guys. I know its been a really long time since I've shown any activity on this site, and the reason for that is my lack of a computer. I'm currently using a friends, so I don't actually know if I'll be able to update very much at all. I'm going to try as hard as I can to get one more chapter of this up, and after that, I'll try to work on my phone. That wont work very well of course, and my finished product wont meet my standards. I'm trying really hard to get a laptop, and I hope to be able to update regularly soon. Until then, I hope you're all okay with what I can produce. And of course, if you have any suggestions on how I can make this story better or anything you want to say on how I've written the story and the characters, you can either leave me a review or send me a PM and I'll see what I can do.
Peace out everypony!