Chapter Three: Of Fillies and Men
I held my breath as I muttered a prayer to any deity that was listening from above me, my hand resting on the lever in front of me. Crossing my fingers, I threw the switch and the generator sprang to life, the lights in the room flickering on for the first time in god knows how long. Letting out a whoop of if joy, I turned around to admire my work.
Then the damned thing started sparking, and in a panicked frenzy I dove for the switch, shutting off the power.
I sat there for a moment to catch my breath before I let loose a string of curses that would make the toughest sailor in the world blush in embarrassment. This was starting to get really frustrating.
"What the hell went wrong this time?" I muttered to no one in particular, running a greasy hand through my hair for what had to be the hundredth time since I had started this project. Opening the control console, I began to examine the connections and fuses.
After another half hour of fussing about, I finally flung my tools across the room in a fit of anger. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I've always had access to power, trying to generate it from nothing was something entirely new to me. Getting an electrical charge was not really too much of a problem. Holding it and focusing it was where the real trouble was coming up.
Idly I thought about how amazing it was that we even had something like this in the past, that we were even capable of figuring out how to harness it on the scale that was achieved during our own era. I had always taken it for granted, written it off as something so simple and basic. Now that I was trying to do it myself, I realized how lucky we really were.
Deciding that I needed a break to clear my head, I walked out of the generator room and into the living room. After my little breakdown the day before, I had decided to start cleaning up the vault a little bit, getting all the dirt and dust out as well as rigging up some temporary furnishings. Having removed the broken chairs and repurposing what was left into a couple tacky looking cushions, I flopped down on one of them and let loose a frustrated sigh. This was going to take a little longer to sort out.
After sitting down for half an hour, I began to get bored. I needed to get some fresh air, all this dark gloominess was beginning to get on my nerves.
Standing up, I walked over towards the storage room. An armory was there in the back corner, several dangerous looking weapons racked up from a simple combat knife to a…
Is that a freaking bazooka? Why the hell would they think we needed a… never mind.
As much as I was tempted to try it out, I opted for the combat knife and a simple flare gun. Collin had warned me about taking anything too lethal out of the vault for the moment, something about not wanting to scare any of the locals. I never cared much for guns to begin with, though I was a little hesitant about going into the forest without something with a little more kick. Regardless, I didn't really think there was anything too dangerous waiting for me out there.
Rummaging through a few more drawers, I came across a small survival pack with some first aid items and a compass. Deciding not to take chances, I pulled it out and strapped it on.
Stepping outside, I stretched and took in a breath of fresh air, the afternoon sun soaking into my skin. They sky was clear once again, the birds chirping happily away as if talking amongst themselves. Checking my compass, I noted the direction of the vault and then proceeded down a dusty path into the forest.
Twilight Sparkle looked down at the creature before her, barely able to contain her excitement at the prospects of talking with such an odd being. Several books lay strewn about the room, containing every language book she could think of grabbing in her library from Ancient Equestrian to Bufaloosian, Hooverspeak, and Chickenese. She had even found a few books on Griffinian and Dragon Tongue, though she admitted that the likelihood that any of these books would help sort out whatever language this creature was speaking was fairly low.
To that end, she had sent a letter to Princess Celestia. Being immortal and having lived for a few thousand years, she was bound to know what language the creature spoke. Until she replied, however, it was a challenge that Twilight was more than willing to take up.
There was just the little problem of the creature still remaining unconscious.
She looked on as Fluttershy worked carefully around the ribs, muttering worriedly about a couple of bruised areas on and how they felt cracked. The lump on the creature's head also looked fairly painful, and while Twilight was unfamiliar with what these creatures normally looked like, she was fairly certain that this one was fairly high up there in age. She made a mental note to scold Rainbow Dash later about acting before understanding the situation. Hopefully, no permanent damage had been done.
The creature suddenly began to stir, letting a out a low groan as it winced in pain, and butterflies welled up inside Twilight's stomach, her sharp mind focusing back to the task at hand.
As I walked through the forest, I found myself amazed at just how much the area had changed. The last time I had come through this place it was a barren desert, void of most life. To me, it had been just been a few days ago, though in reality it was far, far longer than that. Really, it felt like I was no longer on Earth, that the world I had always known was no longer here.
And yet, at the same time, it felt so familiar. There were trees that I still recognized, plants that looked similar to ones from my days. The air was certainly much cleaner than I was used to, but it wasn't like that was a bad thing. As far as wildlife went, there was nothing strange or out of the ordinary thus far except for the ponies. There were birds that looked like the ones I used to watch back at home, squirrels running up and down trees, rabbits hopping about, giant creatures that looked like Frankenstein monsters….
Wait, what?
I froze, seeing the thing in front of me sleeping in plain sight. The creature was like some sort of horrific movie monster, having parts from different animals pieced together. Its tail was a snake's head, its head shaped like a lion, its other head was a freaking goat, it had clawed sharp claws and powerful looking legs. Long, sharp teeth lined its tiger mouth, and as it breathed slowly, I could swear I could see tiny flames coming out of the mouth of the goat head.
It took a moment for me to process the sight completely, my stomach trying to practically wrench itself out of my body and flee from the sight. Sweat beads started to form on my forehead as adrenaline kicked into overdrive, my heart racing like a crack-infused chimpanzee on a sugar high.
Just like home my ass. Why the hell didn't I break that freaking bazooka with me?
Making damn sure not to make any noise, I slowly backed up, watching my footing for any cliché twigs to give me up, nerves on edge as I worked my way backwards to safety. Once I was far enough away, I turned around and bolted.
Suddenly, I heard a tiny cry from underneath me, a soft object catching my left leg and sending me tumbling head over heels into the dirt.
Looking back, I froze to see three wide-eyed… fillies… looking at me, one of them on the ground looking a little dazed. They were tiny, likely the equivalent of children. The one I had tripped over was light yellow with a red mane and an impossibly large ribbon. She seemed to regain her senses and stared at me, eyes widening with a look of fear. The other two had the same look on their faces, one colored white with a wavy purple and pink mane, sporting a unicorn horn, while the other had a short cropped magenta mane with a light-brown coat and a tiny set of wings. Time seemed to freeze as we just stared at each other, neither side moving or blinking.
"Err… hi there." I muttered.
They screamed in unison, a cute high-pitched squeal, their tiny legs flailing about as they ran in circles bumping into each other. After a second, they seemed to regain just enough sense and bolted off into the distance.
I blinked, still processing what happened, when I came to a sudden realization.
They had gone the direction I just came from. Towards the dangerous looking lion…goat…thing.
I hesitated for just a moment, weighing my options. Should I chase after them? While I'd been in a couple of fights during my life, it was never anything dangerous like this. I had no idea if I could overpower a hungry monster equipped as I was.
I turned away, looking the opposite direction, but those cute eyes popped in my head. They were just kids. While I wasn't certain I could beat that thing, I was 100% sure that they wouldn't stand a chance.
Looking back towards the direction they left, I cursed under my breath.
Collin woke up with a screaming headache and a side that burned like fire. He groaned inwardly, mentally berating himself for not paying closer attention to his surroundings. He cringed as he attempted to sit up, realizing that a few of his ribs were probably cracked.
"Damn, I'm too old for this." He muttered, wincing.
Looking down at his body, he noticed that his shirt was off and that he had been bandaged.
"That's a good sign." He thought, taking note that the bandages were applied quite well. "If they bandaged me, it means they were concerned enough to not leave me out there to die. Maybe I can salvage this after all."
A voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked up in front of him to see a purple pony staring at him. This one had a black mane with a purple and pink stripe running down the middle. A horn adorned her head, and her eyes seemed to radiate with intelligence. Several books lay strewn about, and Collin had a suspicion that they were all related to the language barrier issue that they were currently having.
"A fellow scholar, huh?" he mused to himself, a wide smile breaking out on his face. The pony seemed to catch on, her smile widening as well.
For the next hour and a half they tried to converse, trying different languages in an attempt to find some sort of common ground. During this time, he had learned the names of the ponies in the room. The shy one with the pink mane and wings was very fittingly called Fluttershy. The orange cowpony was called Applejack, which instantly made Collin associate her with the farm they had spotted the other day. The purple unicorn was named Twilight Sparkle.
Another odd thing that Collin discovered was that Twilight could lift things with the use of her horn through something that he could only describe as telekinesis. This had nearly caused him to fall out of his bed in surprise, startling poor Fluttershy so bad that it took Applejack half an hour to coax her down from the chandelier.
As the day wore on and the languages ran out, they had decided to switch to simply drawing pictures on paper with a feather pen. This turned out to be the most effective method, and soon he had a fairly good grasp of the situation.
Collin smiled in amusement as Twilight continued drawing a picture of a rather large pony with wings and a horn. Perhaps things would turn out alright after all.
Things were not going well for me at all. After chasing the little fillies and shouting warnings as to what lay sleeping ahead, I had come into the clearing to find a very awake and very pissed off creature staring at the lot of us. The little fillies were whimpering in fear, backing up towards me. I cursed under my breath as the thing suddenly sprang into action.
Two of the fillies darted away as it charged, but the one with the red mane froze up, a look of pure terror on her face. Charging forward, I snatched the poor thing up just as the monster pounced, and I quickly found myself staring right at its outstretched claws.
Rather than stopping or trying to change directions, I dove forward, rolling as I hit the ground. The creature soared overhead, landing where I had been just moments ago with a loud thud.
Spinning, I cried out in surprise as I saw the snake tail rearing up to strike me. Pushing hard to the left, I narrowly avoided it as it shot just past me.
Drawing my knife, I took a swipe at the snake's outstretched neck, leaving a gash on its neck.
The monster roared in pain, jumping back as it looked at my face with pure bestial rage in its eyes. Fire poured out of the goat's mouth, and I danced back as flames engulfed the area I had just moments been standing, the little pony in my arms cringing in fear and letting out a whimper.
The creature suddenly charged again, claws lashing out. One swipe was directed at my face. I ducked and pivoted away, trying to regain my balance. Suddenly the other swipe came from the opposite direction, aimed at the filly in my arms. She squeaked in surprise.
I spun myself around, taking the full force of the strike to my back and gasped in pain as I felt the claws tearing into my skin.
Gritting my teeth, I forced myself forward and tumbled on the ground, rolling back onto my feet, scrambling to facie the creature. It growled menacingly as it stalked towards me.
Pulling out my flare gun, I waited for it to charge again, dropping the filly and allowing her to scamper away to safety. The creature roared in anger as it charged towards me.
I fired off the first flare right at its face.
The thing cried out in surprise, it's ears going back as it ground to a halt, it's feet almost comically flailing about to gain traction. The flare smacked it right in the face, knocking its head back slightly from the force of the blow and dazing the beast.
"That's right you freaking bastard!" I roared, making myself look as menacing as possible. "This… is… my… BOOMSTICK!"
I fired it again, and this time the creature took off, running into a tree before it faded off into the forest.
Taking several deep breaths, I noticed my hands were trembling. My knees suddenly felt weak and I dropped to the ground, the adrenaline of the moment starting to wear off.
"Holyshitholyshitholyshit" was all that was running through my mind.
Putting the flare gun away, I took a few calming breaths. My back was burning with pain, a wet sticky sensation dripping down my back. I was bleeding. Badly.
Turning back towards where I last saw the filly run, I checked to make sure they were alright and was met by three wide-eyed, slightly shaken faces. I did my best to smile at them, straining through the pain.
Suddenly, from out of the woods behind them, a Zebra with gold rings around its neck walked into the clearing. The fillies turned their heads in a startled panic towards the newcomer, causing me to tense up defensively.
They seemed to recognize the newcomer though, because they instantly relaxed as it spoke to them in some sort of strange language. They started frantically talking back, sobbing and crying as they seemed to be describing what had just happened. The zebra made some hushing sounds, trying to calm them down in a soothing voice.
Then it looked at me.
I shook my head, suddenly feeling dizzy. A sickeningly sweet aroma was wafting into my nose, and I realized too late that the Zebra was holding some sort of bag out towards me, a shimmering powder blowing through the wind into my face. I tried to retaliate, reaching for my flare gun again, but my body had become numb and I found my muscles relaxing against my will.
The zebra walked over to me, speaking something with a calm look on its face, but it was no use. I felt the world swirl around me as I collapsed, falling to the ground face first. I tried one last time to stand up, only managing to lift my head a few inches up, just enough to look up into the zebra's eyes. I glared at it, and then my body collapsed.
Twilight frowned as she looked at the series of drawings in front of her. Behind her, the creature now known as Collin was snoring lightly, having exhausted himself over the course of the day. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that he meant no harm, but the story he had communicated with her had her puzzled.
The first was a drawing of a round planet named Earth, which she found kind of odd. Why would it be named after dirt? She assumed it was supposed to be Equestria. He had drawn two fireballs, comets if she had to venture a guess. From the way they were drawn, she could easily guess that one of them hit his homeland. The next picture showed a crude depiction of him and a few others like him going into some sort of chamber and sleeping. Did he mean to say that they actually slept through this event? How was that even possible?
What concerned her the most, however, was the next picture. It showed him and one other emerging from the building. This meant there was another like him somewhere in that forest.
While she didn't think Collin meant them any harm, she wasn't sure about the other one. Not being sure made her nervous.
There was another thing that bothered her. Collin had described in his pictures a comet strike. The last known comet to strike Equestria had happened somewhere around seven thousand years ago. If what he was trying to tell her was what she think it was, that would mean that they had slept for over seven thousand years.
That was simply unbelievable.
Twilight shook her head. Perhaps that wasn't exactly the right term for her to use. Ever since she'd come to Ponyville, she had seen some pretty strange things. Moreover, she knew of two beings that had experienced something similar on a smaller scale. The problem with that was in both cases, they involved Princess Celestia.
So once again, understanding the situation really came down to one thing. She needed to get consultation from her dear mentor.
Collin muttered in his sleep, turning to the side as he rubbed is nose and went back into a light snore. Twilight giggled, amused at the strange creature. What had it called itself? Ah yes, a human.
Humans were strange creatures indeed.
Hey all, how's it going? I'd like to thank those of you for your reviews so far, it's very rewarding to know you folks are enjoying this story. I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, I'll be working hard to keep things interesting. Again, thanks for the reviews, see you all next time, same pony time, same pony channel.