Distorted images played in Ray's mind as he woke up. He remembered his encounter with rogue faction on the desert road, his car flipping into the mysterious stream, how time seemed to have slowed down at that very moment. Suddenly, his senses woke up. Pain shot through his entire body as he lay sprawled in the dirt. He could hear voices. They caught me.

He snapped his eyes open and quickly crawled to his feet to face his captors. He felt light-headed, forcing him back to the ground. He looked around him, trying to find the source of the voices. Instead he found himself alone, in a forest. Trees and bushes towered over him, with thick branches of leaves shredding the rays of sunlight straining to illuminate the surface. He was bombarded by sounds of nature; birds, insects, a nearby stream of water. It was cold, much colder than what he was use to. It felt almost Arctic, causing him to shiver.

"Are you okay?" a soft, feminine voice called out behind him.

Ray spun around, fingering his chest for the holster containing the 1911, then ceased as he realized that he was not wearing anything above his belt. He found himself facing the wreckage of his El Camino, with its many contents spread across the ground as if it got hit by an incendiary explosive. What stood atop the wreckage sent Ray's senses of reality spinning in the most confusing circles. He blinked his eyes tightly to clear the illusion away, but to no effect. They were right there in reality, two of them, staring at him with their big, gleaming eyes.

Equine, no doubt, yet so unworldly with their abnormally large eyes and candy-colored coats. They held very human expression on their faces, as they looked on with genuine curiosity at the bloody mess of a human before them. They speak... in English.

"Where am I?" Ray asked, convinced that he was no longer on the planet he knew so well.

"The outskirts of the Everfree Forest... sir." the yellow one said in a frightened tone. She hid her face behind a long, flowing mane of pink hair. She had wings like a bird. A pegasus?

"On what planet?" Ray asked in response, with a very stern tone that forced the yellow creature to shy away even more.

"Earth." the cyan-blue one spoke up, with a much louder and rougher-sounding voice than the yellow one. Even her hair colors were loud, with a perfect rainbow spectrum within her raggedly-cut mane. She also appeared to be a pegasus, but bore a much stronger build than her shy counterpart. "What planet are you from?"

"Earth." Ray replied flatly.

"Hmm. I guess you're not from Equestria then."

"Equestria?"

She snorted. "Definitely not from here." She then looked down at the wreckage of Ray's weaponized El Camino below her hooves. "What the heck is this thing?"

"That was my car." Ray replied hoarsely, struggling to his feat. "Damn rogues ran me off the road." Not technically, but much easier to explain to his new company. He remembered the oasis of vegetation off to the left of the desert road, how unusual it was in such a hot climate. The infamous rabbit hole... and I stumbled through it. Ray saw the connection with the many rumors about untraveled lands he has heard from so many scavengers in his lifetime. Those blanks on the map. And he found one. But what of his previous "company"? Ray saw no sign of the rogue faction. Just the thick forest around him, and the two pegasi standing on what's left of his vehicle. He was still in pain, but also felt hungry. And thirsty. Very, very thirsty. Let's see how far this rabbit hole goes.

"I don't suppose you have a place I could get cleaned up, or maybe something to eat?"

"Um, yes." The yellow pegasus said softly with a slight smile. "Please, follow me." She leapt from the wreckage and led the way through a clearing in the forest, with her rainbow friend following close behind. Very welcoming attitude. Indeed, far more welcoming than what Ray is use to.

Ray took another look at his car before tagging along, at all of the work he put into preparing this machine for the aftershocks of an apocalypse beyond our imagination, now totalled before his eyes. He let out a sigh as he reached for his jacket and holster, slinging them over his shoulder, then reaching through the debris in the back for his rifle, a modified Walther WA-2000 converted to full-automatic fire, which included a hand-made extended drum clip of 25 rounds. He slung the weapon over his shoulder with the rest of his stuff and followed the two pegasi.

As he traveled through the thick forest floor, he couldn't help but worry that his arrival to this strange land had been shadowed. Like scavengers, rogue military factions also investigate the remains of their prise, in hope to find salvageable equipment and weapons to add to their ever-increasing arsenal. Yes, and food, which even included the occasional surviving animal companion. But there is no apparent sign of them. With their overly-large stock of weaponized vehicles - and aircraft, no less - they should stick out like a sore thumb. Where did they go? Why didn't they follow me here? Perhaps they did, but through a different rabbit hole.

The trio arrived at a small cottage situated in the woods, not far from where they found Ray. It was quite beautiful, but also very strange. It appeared to be constructed of unprocessed wood slovenly skinned bare of bark, exposing the tan vascular cambium within. The roof was covered with leaves from a parasite plant that grew like ivy, giving the structure a whimsical appearance of being carved straight from the heart of a giant tree. The windows were old-fashioned glass panels held together by manufactured wooden frames. They had locks holding them closed. The door was also of older-fashioned design, like an arrow pointing to the sky, or perhaps more accurately, a shield placed upside-down. It was short, just the right size for these two pegasi. Too short for a human to walk through comfortably. They must be an independent race in this land. No apparent owners, and they appear far too clean to be wild. They must represent the equivalent of human civilization!

"My-..." The yellow pegasus tried to speak. "My name is Fluttershy."

Ray adored her sweet little voice, but remained shocked at how this equine species is able to speak English to him, let alone communicate verbally at all. The name finally processed through his mind. Fluttershy. Very fitting name for you, my timid little friend.

"I'm Rainbow Dash." The multi-colored pegasus just opposite of her friend announced in her charmingly raspy voice. Of course you are.

Ray began to question why their names sounded so simple, and why they seemed to represent looks or personality in contrast to human tradition - or at least Western tradition, for that matter - of a forename bearing similar origin and a surname that one inherits from their family. Maybe their organization of such things hasn't fully developed yet. Ray snorted when he realized that he also went by both a mononym and a nickname of such that doesn't indicate his family line either.

"You can call me Ray."

"Where you from, Ray?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Hmm, "where?" indeed. "All over." It was as good of an answer as any.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, squinting at him suspiciously with her bright, purple eyes. They almost look red when they are as partially-concealed as they were at that very moment.

"I live on the road. I go wherever it takes me, and I never stop. At least, until I'm low on gas or food and water." He paused, looking back on his dreary history. "I've been on the road almost my whole life. Even my family."

"You don't have a home?" Fluttershy asked him, staring sympathetic at him with her wide, blue-green eyes. They almost seemed cyan, but a different shade than Rainbow Dash's coat, which resembled more of a sky-blue. No, there was definitely a green mix in there. Possibly the result of a color-clash between her cyan iris and bright yellow coat.

"Just my car." And in his world, a car is the ideal home for anyone who wants to escape the clutches of corruption and tyranny. A colony is a crowded drain of your life, and an ideal target for invasion by rebel factions. A house is a structure waiting to be bombed to rubble. A tent is a way of begging to be burned alive. A subterranean home is the most secure of almost permanent living due to the extremely low profile, although many are still uncovered and end up being converted into basecamps for rogue military factions. In a vehicle, you at least have a running or fighting chance, depending on your stance in a situation with opposing threats.

When they finally reached the door to Fluttershy's cottage, Ray noticed marks on the hind-quarters of the two pegasi. They looked like brands or insignia. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they do belong to someone. Or "something". The mark on Fluttershy was a trio of pink butterflies flying upward in direction, while Rainbow Dash's was a rainbow-colored lighting bolt descending from a fluffy white cloud.More likely tattoos.

"What are these marks?"

"Oh-..." Fluttershy almost squeaked. "Those are our cutie marks."

Ray began to loose the feel of this whimsical atmosphere when he heard that. In fact, he now felt like he was loosing grasp of his masculinity. Cutie marks? I know these are intelligent pony-like creatures obviously on the peak of advancing their civilization, but that sounds like a dub of a nine-year-old girl. However, curiosity of this strange place was still flooding his judgement. He felt the urge to explore it further.

"We receive them when we discover our true talents." Fluttershy continued, beginning to loose her fear of Ray's presence.

"How? Does someone ink it into your coat or something?"

"No, they appear magically, just when you discover your talent."

Ray began feeling that insecurity again. So the rabbit hole leads to a magical land of talking ponies with "cutie marks." I'm literally in the mind of a little girl. All that's missing in this picture is the flood of pink highlights bleeding through every object in sight.

Fluttershy pushed the unlocked door open to her cottage with a welcoming gesture. At least they appear generous. It's better than running for your life, alone, on the roads of nightmares.