Author's Notes:

To new readers:

This chapter probably needs a re-write due to it being written before I joined FiMFiction. I know that's not much of an excuse for shitty writing but all I ask is that you bear with me for at least the first couple of chapters. The quality does improve somewhat later in the story.

Edited by JimboTex

Kye’s right hand twitched on the throttle as he flicked his left foot down. He felt the satisfying click as the twin Akrapovic cans roared, then quickly returned to emitting a low rumble. He was finally here; if there was one thing he truly enjoyed in his life it was the thrill of speed blended with the prospect of creeping death.

Oh no, Kye didn't have a death wish—far from it in fact. As pessimistic as he sometimes was, he didn't want to die. He wanted to live, though most of the time it felt like he was waiting for something; he just didn't know what.

He took a drag from the cigarette in his right hand through the hole he had drilled in his visor. Filthy habit he knew, not to mention a waste of money he could be spending on the pride and joy between his legs. He chuckled at the obscenity of his inner monologue. Bad puns aside, he really did love his motorcycle.

He released the clutch a little and the bike rolled forward.

When he’d first seen the newest model of the Yamaha R1, he knew he had to have it. It was a shameless common-as-shit Japanese crotch rocket but he couldn't give a flying feather—he’d seen it, he wanted it, he needed it. It took the better part of two years but he’d finally gotten the money together. His shitty job as a delivery driver hindered him a little, and the finance companies might as well have plain laughed in his face when he asked for a loan, but he realised all the hard work and saving was worth it when he rolled away from the dealership.

Ever since then he had spent all his spare time and cash upgrading his ride—a full race exhaust system, turbocharged induction, and a reinforced frame. (He didn't intend to crash but knew it was a possibility.) He even invested in odd technologies for a motorcycle, such as a dual carbon battery connected to a powerful electric motor, effectively turning it into a hybrid system. Oh and it was fast, stupid fast. Fast enough to attract the attention of a little known but nicely established racing sponsor by the name of Cross Racing Tech.

He remembered it well: the company scout approaching him as he rolled into the pit after smoking every other rider at the track that day; the shit-eating grin on his face as the scout asked what pissed off demon of pure rage he had hiding under the tank. Kye explained his little engineering project to the smiling businessman and left him with an email address after he said he would have a little chat with his superiors regarding a sponsorship—a sponsorship that lead to the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, or TT for short.

Kye’s heart rate felt like it was doubling every time a rider set off. The TT was a time trial course set on narrow closed public roads in the Isle of Man, a small island between England and northern Ireland. At the start of the race, the riders would line up and wait for their cue to set off at ten second intervals. The whole event lasted around two weeks each year and was famous for the deaths it caused; Kye had only done a few test runs and was feeling more than a little nervous. He was used to wide-open tracks with plenty of space to slide along on his leather-clad ass if he fucked up, not narrow streets, unforgiving corners and bumpy British country roads.

He was getting close to the start line now. He flicked the cigarette butt down to the floor and stood on it whilst relaxing his clutch hand and letting the bike roll forward again. A small man with a huge camera was scampering around shoving said camera into the riders visors.

Try that shit with me and you’ll get a slap upside the head, son, Kye thought. He was not normally opposed to so small an action, but he didn't want to be hassled whilst quietly shitting himself three bikes back from the start line.

Kye was worried. His ridiculously modified and horrendously powerful bike scared him enough on a quiet Sunday afternoon rideout, let alone a full throttle blast along a village lane.

Time to try not to die. He rolled up to the start line. Annoying Camera Guy hovered at his shoulder as the lone rider gazed at the empty street in front of him. Kye paid him no attention as his wrist quivered, keeping the engine at a constant four thousand RPM. The electric motor wasn't engaged yet, but when it kicked in he knew he would have to fight to keep the front wheel on the tarmac.

The countdown ended with a tap from the umpire to Kye’s shoulder. Kye released the clutch and opened the throttle, hard. The bike lurched forward and immediately began to lift; he draped himself over the tank trying to keep the centre of gravity as far forward as possible. It wasn't working. He eased off the throttle as the bike tore across the tarmac on its rear wheel, the front wheel eventually touching back down and the dump valve giving an angry hiss as he expertly changed up to second.

He lived for this shit, he really did. He realised he left his fears at the start line with the roaring crowd and the paparazzi. He never was one for fame or recognition, however little it might be—he just wanted to ride, because riding let him know he was alive.

He expertly navigated the twists and turns, the bike leaving a snarling symphony in his wake. Glancing down at the digital speedometer he idly noticed he was doing one hundred and twenty four miles per hour as his head whipped past the wall of a traditional British pub through a light bend.

Holy mother-fucking ass-hat I might actually be in with a shot at winning! he thought as he laughed out loud into the sound of the wind soaring by. He was in such good spirits over his riding prowess that he failed to notice a TT official vigorously waving a yellow flag from behind a low stone wall—he did notice, however, the large fireball emerging into his line of sight from the hedge lining the other side of the road.

Well, shit.

He barely had time to think before he was engulfed in flames. It seemed to take forever for the collision to come—that’s what he was expecting after all—so the sudden feeling of the ground disappearing from underneath his wheels followed by a rather large bang, a blinding flash of light and the smell of ozone rather took him by surprise.

The weightlessness, whilst oddly pleasant somehow, was short lived. He managed to hook his feet under the pegs and grasp the bars with all his might: not that he thought it would do him much good, but he couldn't stop the reflex. The front wheel hit the ground and started to roll through what felt like soggy undergrowth, as far as he could tell from the vibrations translating through the forks.

In opening his eyes, he discovered that he couldn't see anything; the flash had temporarily blinded him. The front end lurched upwards onto a fairly solid surface, the rear wheel touching down at an odd angle.

The bike high-sided and Kye was unceremoniously launched into the air. He flew a good six feet before crumpling down and sliding across the solid surface, his leather race suit saving his skin from what would have been a nasty set of grazes. His head hit something hard and he heard a loud crack as his body came to rest.

He lay on his back in shock as he tried to figure out if he’d broken anything. Nothing was particularly painful, so after a few moments he slowly sat up and squinted. With his vision returning, he saw that his visor had cracked through the crudely cut cigarette hole.

He slowly took his helmet off and looked around, noticing he was sitting on an old cobblestone path. The bike had come to rest on its side, saved from all but minor cosmetic damage by the carbon crash bungs sticking out from the fairing. It must have stalled at some point, because he couldn't hear the engine.

Kye took further stock of his surroundings. If he had to guess, he’d say he’d crashed into a swamp. Large brown tree trunks rose up to thick, leafy canopies that lightly shaded the waterlogged ground; the old cobblestone path seemed to be one of the only dry spots in the surrounding undergrowth. The sun shone high in the sky and the clouds—didn't look like clouds at all. They were perfectly white, large wispy structures way too clearly defined to be any cumulus he’d ever seen before.

With this startling realisation came another—the memory of what he'd been doing before he crashed. The shock returned instantly as he scanned his surroundings yet again, quickly noticing that he no longer found himself in an environment that even remotely resembled the Isle of Man. He began to hyperventilate.

Fuck! I've went and gotten myself killed. Excellent. Well done, Kye, you fucking squid.

Kye focused on slowing his breathing. He began to calm down a little only to freeze in terror as something large emerged from the soggy ground. It looked like a huge snake. It was quickly followed by another. Kye screamed. Two more large snake head things rose up to join the first couple.

Instinct kicked in as he felt his blood burn with adrenaline. He leapt up, completely disregarding his smashed lid as he launched himself towards his bike, quickly snatching it up, whipping his leg over and mashing his thumb against the starter button.

Nothing happened. The snake heads began to roar as he saw a large body emerging from the swamp in his right mirror—a body that connected the extremely pissed off heads.

“AAARRRGGGHHH!” Kye screamed, finally noticing the killswitch had been flipped. He quickly reset it and hit the starter, making sure to pull the clutch. The engine spluttered briefly, then died. The monster behind him was lumbering along through the swamp, slowly gaining ground.

“FUCK!”

Kye gave up with the engine and flicked a switch to manually select electric only mode. He opened the throttle and the bike shot off along the path just as one of the heads viciously snapped at where he had just been. The ride was terrible, the custom-made Ohlins suspension thoroughly disagreed with the uneven cobblestone path. The bike protested so much he had to back off the power, his spine rattling so much he was barely able to keep the bars straight. He looked round to see if he was still being pursued. The mirrors were shaking so vigorously, they were utterly useless at this point.

Kye let out a loud yelp as he learned that the monster was a damn sight faster on the path than in the swamp; it was a lot closer than he thought it would be. He panicked, groping around with his thumb for the start button. He found it.

The engine roared mercifully to life on the first attempt. Kye quickly kicked the sequential box up into third gear and opened it up. The bike shot forward, the vibration intensified but he didn't care, he’d rather have sore bollocks for a few days than end up being the monsters lunch. The sounds of the snake heads roaring died off a little. He didn't look back, he just kept his chest pressed to the tank and held on. Something yellow shot past overhead as the trees began to thin. Kye didn't slow down.

The lost rider rode on. Thankfully, the ground had evened out to a somewhat smooth surface. He would have preferred to have tyres better suited to the terrain but he was wholly thankful he had his pride and joy with him at all in this strange place—it had certainly helped him escape whatever the fuck that huge monstrosity with the freaky snake heads had been.

He’d had a little time to think, and he was pretty sure he was a goner. He remembered the flash, and looking at the scenery now told him that that he was no longer Earthbound. Still, it wasn't all that bad, this place was beautiful. Huge snow capped mountain ranges pierced the deepest of blue skies, rolling green fields draped the top of perfectly rounded hills. It was like a perfect world where the problems of daily life simply didn't exist, if you disregarded the monster of course. He’d never seen any place like it before.

Kye pulled up at the side of the path, breathing deeply. He noticed the air was extremely fresh, unpolluted. He couldn't see any sign of civilisation for miles around, just pure unadulterated nature. He felt a little guilty that he was polluting such a perfect environment. Pausing briefly to look down at the red killswitch, he hit it with a thumb and flicked over to electric mode. The rumble from the Akrapovic cans died instantly. He was glad he’d chosen an expensive, but extremely reliable dual carbon battery for a power source.

He set off again, the only sounds were the tyres tracking along the dirt path, the gentle ticking of the drive chain, the light breeze in the air and the occasional animal here and there. If this was the afterlife then it wasn't so bad.

He eventually came across a small wooden sign fixed to a post by the side of the track:

“Ponyville?” he read aloud to no one in particular. Kye had no idea why anyone would name a place as such. He stared at the sign for a moment, shrugged, then set off towards the town.

An amber glow surrounded Lyra’s horn as she stood in the field, the light breeze lazily blowing her ice blue two-toned mane. Still Way required a lot of meditation, and she didn't earn her grand master status by slacking off. It was an art form, and not just of the martial variety—a plethora of control over any given situation at any given time. By use of magic, body and mind she could-

“LYRA!”

The unicorn lost her focus, letting a small nicker of exasperation slip from her muzzle. She looked around for the source of the rude interruption and her eyes settled on the form of a cream-coloured Earth pony with a purple and pink mane and tail running towards her.

“Bon Bon, you know I'm catching up on my meditation—”

“You have to come quick!” The slightly breathless pony interrupted again, stopping just short of the unicorn.

“Why?”

“There's this weird...contraption...thing heading towards Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Really? You're bothering me because of some machine Big Mac dreamt up?” Lyra sighed as she turned towards her friend.

“I don't think Big Mac made it. There was a weird monkey lookin’ thing riding it.”

Lyra frowned. “Did Rainbow Dash put you up to this?”

“No I Pinkie swear, I think it's headed this way!” Bon Bon gasped, then let out a small “eep” either from poking herself in the eye with her hoof or catching sight of the bizarre contraption that was indeed now making its way towards them along the path. It didn't look like it should have been able to stay upright, so Lyra wasn't too surprised when it faltered a little then promptly fell over. Bon Bon shrieked and bolted, leaving behind a plume of dust in her wake as a tall bipedal creature disentangled itself from the two wheeled contraption and scrambled to its oddly shaped hind hooves.

No, they weren't hooves at all. This thing...whatever it was... wasn't a pony. It had a short, dark brown mane and a very brightly coloured coat made of something that resembled hairless cowhide. She thought she could make out the words “Cross Racing Tech” written across the creature’s chest. No, it wasn't a coat, the creature was wearing said cowhide!

Lyra fought the urge to attack. This creature didn't look very strong. No doubt she could kill it in heartbeat with a magical energy blast from her horn if she had to but she was curious as to why it wore the skin of another living thing.

“What in Tartarus are you supposed to be?” she calmly asked the creature.

It didn't say anything. It did however, collapse to the ground and stare at her with a look of what she could only guess was terror.

Kye was looking at a unicorn. He had spotted it after following what looked like a pony along the dirt path, which was now lined with apple trees. The pony had ran away as he approached, leaving only the unicorn. He was so shocked by the long, thin horn protruding from its head that he forgot to steer and fell off his ride and onto his ass.

It was turquoise, rather small for a horse, yet still quite intimidating. It had a two tone blue and white mane and tail that gently swished in the light breeze, and tattoos of what looked like a harp on its flanks. The horn was turquoise, same as its coat, with a small groove spiraling up to a sharp point. Kye guessed the creature would be just a little shorter than he was if it stood on its hind legs.

Then it spoke to him.

Kye’s brain went into shock yet again as it tried to process the fact that a colourful unicorn was trying to communicate with him.

“Well? Do you talk, or am I wasting my time here?”

It just did it again. Holy fucking fart-crackers, he was losing his mind. The realisation hit him like a tonne of bricks and he laughed out loud, sitting on his ass next to his ride listening to a unicorn asking him questions.

Bahahaha I've finally ran out of screws and marbles he thought to himself as he continued to happily chortle away with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Suddenly, the unicorn was in his face. He hadn't even seen it move but it was staring into his eyes, its muzzle a few inches from his nose.

“HOLY FUCK!” He screamed, scrambling to his feet and hastily taking a few steps back only to trip over the front wheel of his motorcycle and fall flat on his ass again.

“So you do talk then,” the unicorn spoke with an almost sensual, feminine tone as it quietly trotted around his ride towards him. Kye noted the sudden femininity of its appearance, now that he was starting to pull himself together.

She stopped just short of his feet.

“Why are you wearing the skin of an animal?”

Kye stared stupidly at her as he tried to figure out what she meant. Animal skin?....Oh! He looked down at his race suit.

“Err…” He began to say, before she interrupted him.

“What are you?”

Again, Kye could only manage an incoherent response that made him sound like a complete jackass. He couldn't stop himself from staring into her eyes, they were freakin’ huge for one thing; large, bright amber irises twinkled around shining black pupils, exquisitely framed by large spiky lashes. He had to force himself to look away for fear of spontaneously developing diabetes. She was just so damned…adorable.

“I'm a human,” he managed to croak out.

She gazed at him for a moment.

“Do you have a name?” she asked, tentatively tilting her head to the side.

“Kye...Kye Lawson.”

“I'm Lyra Heartstrings.” She smiled as Kye relaxed somewhat, only to immediately tense up again.

“You're not going to attack me for wearing leather are you?”

“I decided against it,” she said, still smiling as Kye gave a shiver. He suspected the adorable creature in from of him wasn't as harmless as she appeared at first glance. That horn of hers looked pretty damn sharp, not to mention he thought she looked physically stronger than him.

A luminescent amber glow surrounded her horn and his motorcycle, the latter lifting around four feet up off the ground. Kye let out a loud yelp.

What the everloving fuck is going on?! he thought as his jaw dropped, his mouth hanging open in a comically shaped ‘O.’

She looked at him quizzically for a moment before opening her mouth to speak. Kye cut her off.

“N-No! No no-no-no-no! This is too much, no. What in the name of Satan's left bollock are you? How the fuck are you doing that? Where the fuck am I?” Kye shot the questions at her whilst trying to get to his feet. He had had enough.

She contemplated him for a while, somehow effortlessly maintaining whatever the fuck she was doing with his bike to keep it weightless.

She gave another sweet smile.

“I'm a unicorn, this is magic, you’re in Equestria.”

Kye fell on his ass yet again.

Lyra set the strange contraption back down on the ground and regarded the “human” with mild curiosity. She had sensed his masculinity from the deepness of his voice and was fairly certain in her assumption that he was a stallion, or at least the “human” version of one. She caught him staring into her eyes and he quickly looked away, his cheeks heating into what she could only guess was a blush.

He had a flat face (by pony standards, at least) and a well-defined jaw lightly adorned with stubble. The weird cowhide thing he was wearing clung to his body, not doing much to hide his muscular toned chest, broad shoulders and flat stomach underneath.

His skin was smooth and furless as far as she could see, apart from thick messy locks of dark brown mane that fell down to his shoulders. His eyes were small, with tiny pupils enveloped by small brown irises.

“Equestria?” he repeated with a vacant expression.

“Its a nation consisting mostly of three races of ponies: Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Although we do do have other things, such as griffins and manicores, dragons—”

“Dragons?! Yeah coz’ they exist. Heh—Dragons and unicorns and talking horses and big fuck off snake monsters…FUCK!Ohgodwhereamiwhyamiherethisissomebullshit!” He rambled on, his voice going from sarcastic to plain insanity.

Lyra rolled her eyes as she heard a slight scuttling sound in the bush behind her. She looked behind her to see Bon Bon trip over her own hooves and fall on her face. She got up and stared at the human in horror.

“Relax Bonnie, he's harmless.” Lyra said.

“H-How d-do you know th-that?” the Earth pony squeaked, cautiously pawing the ground with her hoof.

Lyra ignored the question and glanced back at Kye. He was still quietly muttering away to himself, a tear rolling down his cheek. She kinda felt bad for him.

“We should go get Mayor Mare, or T-Twilight-” interjected the still-flustered Earth pony.

Lyra turned to the trembling mare and cut her off.

“Bonnie, he's more scared of us than—”

Lyra herself was interrupted by an ear splitting roar, kind of like the sound a demon-possesed manticore would make if you fed its tail through a mangle.

What in the name of Celestia? She whipped around to find the source of the ungodly sound only to receive a face full of dirt. She barely caught a glimpse of the contraption shooting off with Kye sitting atop it before blinking in pain and rubbing her eyes with her foreleg. She hadn't even had time to put her shield up.

Bon Bon screamed, causing Lyra to cover her ears with with her hooves. She thought of aiming a spell to incapacitate the human’s contraption, but at this range she would probably miss; that thing was fast. Plus she had no idea how it worked so she would probably have to destroy it completely, most likely injuring him in the process.

He may well be a strange bipedal alien, but she certainly didn't want to hurt him if she could avoid it. He was already cresting the top of the hill which he’d originally emerged from as Bon Bon went quiet, lying in the grass and shaking a little.

“Go find Twi and tell her what happened,” she shot at her friend before galloping away, following the strange tracks left by the contraption.

Kye sped recklessly along the dirt path. He refused to accept what was happening. The fact that he had his bike with him in this fucked up place was no longer the perk he thought it was. Every time he glanced down at the clocks he saw familiarity, only for that small comfort to be completely negated as he looked above the double-bubble screen and took in the strangeness of the world in front of him.

He nearly high-sided twice, the rear tyre constantly losing and regaining traction making the bike twitch in agitation. The Yam had traction control built in but it was as much use as a fart in a spacesuit on this terrain.

His heartbeat was just as fast and irregular as the roar from the crossplane engine thundering beneath him; the thumping muscle hadn't slowed down since seeing the unicorn. It gave a particularly noticeable twitch as he remembered her name—and her eyes. If he had to bet, he guessed he could lose himself for an eternity in those eyes.

Dafuq is wrong with me? I'm thinking abo- Nope.

There was waaaaay too much weird going on to allow that particular thought process to blossom.

He focused on getting back to the swamp. He knew if he could just go back and retrace his tyre tracks, he could get back to the Isle of Man. Maybe he'd find a portal, a wormhole, or something. He was even desperate enough to consider rolling up to find a ferry terminal sitting randomly in the murky depths.

The surroundings changed, the trees thickening to form the somewhat familiar canopy casting shade over a soggy undergrowth. The old cobblestone path was slippery, and he had a hard time keeping the bike upright as he began to search for…something.

A long time later he came to an abrupt halt, the rear wheel locking due to his twitching right foot. He stumbled slightly but managed to keep the bike upright as the exhausts crackled down to emitting that distinctive low rumble.

Kye hit the killswitch and kicked down the stand. He had found his helmet, or what was left of it at least. He walked over and picked it up. It was completely crushed, probably the work of that monste-.

Holy shit! How could I forget about that freaky fucker? He glanced around, but couldn't see any sign of the foul creature. He began to relax just as he heard a sweet voice whisper above him.

“Um, you should probably go. It’s not safe here.”

“Gah! Fuck!” Kye yelped as he dropped his crumpled lid, looking up. A small, yellow pony with a long, pink mane and tail was sitting in a tree looking down at him. She was so unbearably adorable that his heart rate instantly slowed to a crawl and he felt calm for the first time in hours.

Take all the newborn babies, playfully bounding puppies and sneezing pandas you want, weaponize them into an arsenal of cuteness, and you’d still have no where near enough firepower to compete with this little pony. She fluttered her wings nervously whilst raising a foreleg to brush her long silky mane out of her sparkling blue eyes.

Wait, wings? He thought back to what the unicorn had said. Hadn't she mentioned pegasi?

Kye noticed the pegasus also had tattoos on her flanks: three pink butterflies. He couldn't help but smile at her. She seemed to cast an aura of calm over the murky environment, causing her surroundings to appear more beautiful than he knew them to be. He felt completely at ease in her presence, despite the stressful situation he found himself in.

He suddenly remembered he had just swore in her face. Hating himself, he started to apologise when he was drowned out by a rather loud screech. He turned just in time to see the foul creature rise up from the undergrowth.

Why can't this ugly fucker just leave me alone? Kye inwardly cursed as he shouted an unnecessary warning to the pegasus and ran for cover, but she had already taken flight and was busy swooping between the heads of the beast. They kept trying to snap at her, but she moved with such agile grace they never even got close.

They eventually stopped attacking altogether as she hovered in place and levelled them with a stare. The beast immediately shrank back into the undergrowth as Kye caught a glimpse of her deadly gaze.

He froze, his body instantly paralyzed. He couldn't fucking move. He fell over, rigid as a chopping block as his heart thundered in his chest. He thought he heard a gasp from somewhere above and a few moments later something warm and soft alighted next to him as he lay on his back. He felt a hoof, much softer than he was expecting lightly rub his chest.

“Oh, you poor thing. Did you look into my eyes?” Some of the tension left Kye’s body and he began to relax, the familiar calmness washing the remaining panic away.

“Oh goodness, I feel just terrible. I’m really sorry if I scared you but I had to show that big mean hydra that it isn't nice to go around trying to eat somepony like that.”

Kye was completely relaxed. He realised he had more than likely just found the nicest individual he was ever likely to meet, freaky paralysis stare aside. He opened his mouth to let her know what he thought of her when he was interrupted again.

“Was wondering where you’d wandered off to.”

Lyra trotted along the path, smiling at him and the yellow pegasus. Kye’s heart skipped a beat—literally skipped a fucking beat. He seriously wanted to slap himself silly when he felt his cheeks burn as if he actually had.

“I see you've met Fluttershy.” She said, gesturing with a turquoise hoof towards his new feathered friend. Kye looked at her. She stopped rubbing his chest and promptly blushed just as much as he had. He didn't even know how that was possible with her face being covered in yellow fur and all but she managed it.

She squeaked out a barely audible “Hi,” and her wings gave another nervous flutter as she looked at the ground.

Kye pushed himself to a sitting position and focused on the little yellow pegasus. She'd just defeated a monster many many times her size without raising a single hoof, and was now trying to make herself as small as possible. She truly was an amazing creature.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Kye managed to say. “I’d be a total goner if you hadn't stepped in. I'm Kye by the way,” he quickly added.

She looked up and gave a small smile in response. Kye’s heart melted a little. Lyra gave a small cough. Kye looked at her and thought he saw the last glimpse of an odd look aimed in Fluttershy’s general direction—he couldn't be sure since he couldn't really discern anything other than blatantly obvious expressions—before the unicorn noticed his gaze and flashed him a smile. His heart did that stupid skipping a beat bullshit again. Seriously, he might as well have transient idiopathic arrhythmia.

“I do hate to interrupt such a touching moment,” she began rather suggestively, “but we should probably get out of here in case that thing comes back.”

Kye lumbered to his feet and took one last glance around before letting out a sigh of resignation.

“Okay.”