Despite my earlier enthusiasm, my stomach reminds me you can't actually eat emotions. Sure, I'm a horse, I can probably munch on some grass or leaves, but I'd rather not eat a bug or two on accident or get some dirt into my mouth and get sick and die horribly. I need to find some civilization, and then I can... well, it depends on what kind of civilization I'm talking about. If I'm still on Earth - which I doubt - there's a chance someone around here can speak English or German. Yeah, bold of me to assume that, but I just try to think positively. In any case, I really should've learned more languages, and my German is definitely very rusty. I should've learned Chinese or Russian or any other language instead of what I ended up picking - Latin. Well, I didn't really pick it, my parents did it for me, and I wasn't too much against it at the time. But it's a dead language, not really widely used by people anymore outside of medical stuff and singing religious crap.

Okay, so if I'm not on Earth, I'm pretty much fucked. If there are other intelligent horses around, I'm fucked because there's no way they won't get suspicious about a random nobody walking around with no documented trace, no knowledge of their language, culture, traditions, and all that stuff. If the other horses around are not intelligent, then I'm fucked because I've no idea how to survive in the wild. I'll likely just keel over and die from diarrhea after eating something I shouldn't have.

Man, now it all sounds pretty bad. But wait, maybe my phone can help me! I'm so dumb sometimes, why didn't I think of it straight away? I pulled it out of the pocket again and took a look at the signal. No signal, just as I expected. Alright, sure, but what about wi-fi? Hm, not a single spot around here. Sure, I'm in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, but at least I'm going through possible options without discarding them because they sound too stupid. I might be a city boy who rarely visited the countryside, and I'm not even talking about wilderness, but I do know I should at least think and do something to get myself out of bad situations. Some past experience definitely helps, although it's nothing in comparison to this. I mean, why would I ever think about becoming a magical horse with horn and wings?

Anyway, what about GPS? It has to work if I'm still on Earth... I think. Aaand... Alright, it's enabled now, let's open the map app. I hope it's still working, otherwise I'm totally fucked in a bad way I can't describe without putting a lot of swear words in there. Here's the map of Earth, and... I'm not showing up anywhere. An error popped up, too.

Well, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Shit.

I sighed deeply. Alright, it's official - I'm on another planet entirely. How did that happen? Sure, it's only logical to be in another world if I'm a magical horse that has the same level of intelligence as a human, but still... There was hope I could find something familiar. Guess not.

It's... honestly crazy to think about. The implications of this, hoo boy... But what I need to do now is to find some sort of civilization... if one is present. If not, well... Try to survive until I figure out how to get home... if that is at all possible. I have a terrible feeling it's not the case here.

As a certain person famously said, 'I have a bad feeling about this'. This describes my situation perfectly. If I don't get out of this, maybe I'd entertain myself with recounting the entirety of Star Wars in my head, acting out the roles myself. Just... not the new trilogy. The prequels kinda still suck too. But hey, if they're up to me, I'll just change some stuff so that it's no longer rough and irritating. I'm no writer, but I can try.

So... How do I find civilization, exactly? All I know is that settlements tend to be near water, but I don't see a river or a stream around, and I definitely don't hear anything that would resemble it or ocean waves. I still only hear the sounds of this forest. Birds, crickets, various insects, rustling of leaves in the wind, all the usual stuff. It's pretty peaceful and relaxing, but I need to find something before sundown. Who knows what kind of world this is, maybe skeletons and zombies randomly appear at night. Yeah, actually living in Minecraft world would suck, but anyway, I need to move on.

The sun... Wow, I can actually look at it without having to squint my eyes. That's... weird. The sun is definitely bigger than the one Earth circles around. I could probably navigate using the sun if I was sure where it rose and set, but no such luck here. No stars are visible, and even if they were, I have no idea how to navigate using them. On top of that, the stars will obviously be different than the stars seen from Earth.

I really should've learned something useful and not just all that game, movie, show trivia. But too late now, so I guess I'll just pick a direction and walk until I find something.

---

Judging by my phone's clock, I spent half an hour walking without seeing any signs of civilization. Everything is overgrown, there are many dead trees lying around, and not a single path. I hope I didn't catch ticks, but so far, it seems insects of any sort aren't interested in me. I've yet to see a mosquito, that's for sure.

I kept my hoodie on despite the warm weather, but I think it has the ability to hide my wings for a reason. I'd better listen to this thought, intuition saved me quite a few times in the past. So, I'll keep the wings hidden until I know I can let them out. Plus, my feathers won't get dirty while I walk around. I bet cleaning my wings will be quite a chore.

What I noticed about my body so far was that I could turn my ears in different directions. That was trippy at first, but then I figured out it could be useful to listen around myself without turning my head. Having a larger field of view also helped with being aware of my surroundings, although I have trouble seeing things directly in front of my muzzle. The brain still tricks me into ignoring my muzzle if I'm not actively focused on it just like it did with my nose, but still, the blind spot is there.

I was looking out for possible hunter traps or hunter towers, but I've not seen a single one so far. Plenty of animals, however, and they seem to be the same as on Earth despite small differences. I saw squirrels, a couple of familiar birds, even a hare or a bunny. Insects remain familiar, like that, uh... small round red bug with black spots on its back. Or a few butterflies I saw flying around. Or the bees. Yeah, it seems this planet is very similar to Earth, so maybe I will have an easier time adapting to it.

If only I could get on some sort of high ground... can't see shit from down here. Climbing trees is out of the question, and flying is also not on the list of things I can do. I mean, I can try, but Yoda would be disappointed.

Do or do not, there is no try. See, I can do Star Wars. I just need to remember the most famous quotes, and the rest will do fine.

...I'm slowly going crazy, huh. Doubled the reference already. But if it keeps me from thinking about how I wouldn't see my home, as crappy as it was, and my friends, and everything I used to know, and everything I hoped to learn, and... yeah. Not a pleasant thought to think about.

Honestly, what if I'm indeed stuck here forever? I wouldn't be able to call people I know for help, I wouldn't even know where to go! Fuck, this sucks... But I gotta be optimistic - maybe it wouldn't be so bad. It's a kind of empty hope, but at least it will keep me from falling apart completely. I need to be proactive, I need to do stuff or else I might just get stuck in one place, alone with my thoughts until I just... I don't know. I'd rather think of something else.

Anyway, there's a better reason why I shouldn't try flying - what if I get spotted by someone I really need to avoid? On top of that, I've no idea how to fly. I'm far more likely to break my wings than to fly for even one minute.

To be honest, hiding from people won't be possible considering my colors. I would be able to hide during winter if I manage to cover my mane and tail, but otherwise, I'm sticking out quite a lot. However, I'd rather not take any chances, so I'll stay on the ground unless I have no other option.

Wait, I think I can hear something... Someone's talking! I don't want to be spotted, but I'm really curious, plus I do need some help, even if it's indirect.

After walking in the direction of the speech for around three minutes, I was finally able to hear the people talking clearly. And... oh my fucking hell, are you for real, world? Are you for fucking real? Did the Brits colonize different dimensions as well? Or did the US invade this world to "bring democracy"? If my ears aren't tricking me, what I hear is plain English. English! Not sure which accent exactly, considering the voices sound different from how humans would speak. Still clear to the ears, but different enough to, well... name it a separate accent entirely, I guess. Equine English, maybe?

Okay, the two people appear to be just as equine as I am, and their colors are also interesting. That is, I'm reasonably sure no horse on Earth has those colors. Man, intelligent horses, what the fuck... In any case, I can probably just ask them for help. They're walking along the road, so I can approach them from behind.

I licked my dry lips and softly cleared the throat. I saw their ears turn to me.

"Excuse me?" I said, and my voice came out younger than I expected. Man, I've not heard my voice being so... teen, I guess? I think I'm around thirteen to fifteen. That... might complicate my life. But, at the very least, this is definitely my voice. Similar enough not to creep me out, at least.

"Oh, hello," one of the horses said, turning to me. They're definitely female. Their voice makes it pretty clear, but their anatomy, well, it's even more obvious. Both ponies are nude and I caught a glimpse of what's between their legs because I was behind them. Let's just... not think of that, "Are you lost?"

"Y-yeah..." I replied, my mind working on making something up to sound believable, "I was heading to meet with my friends at, uh, that place... Its name slipped my mind, but I think it started with, uh, P?"

"Ah, Ponyville?" the mare - I think that's the term for female horses - nodded. Woo-wee, I got lucky here with the letter, but... Ponyville? So... we're ponies, or is it a village where ponies live and we're still horses? Probably the former because it would be really offensive to call a settlement like, uh, Jewstown or Blackville, "You're still quite far from it, but you'll make it by dusk if you're quick. Just move along the road the two of us came from," she gestured at the second horse with her hoof, "There will be a fork, turn left, and then walk straight until you reach Ponyville."

"Thanks," I paused for a moment, licking my dry lips again, "I'm sorry, but... Do you have some water?"

"Yeah, give me a moment," she said, taking a look into the cart, and a few moments later pulling out a glass bottle full of water with her hooves, then placing it on the bottom of one of her hooves as she turned it upside-down, "Take it, don't worry."

"Um, can I have your name?" I said, carefully taking the bottle using my magic. Wow, I can feel the glass...

"Of course. I'm Sweet Lilly."

That... is a strange name. But noted, I'll likely have to pick a similarly strange name. Hey, good thinking about asking for a name to see what's not weird, brain!

"Thank you, Sweet Lilly," I said politely and went in the direction of the village called Ponyville. I suppose the weirdness is consistent? Let's actually look at the bottle... It has a paper label glued to it, and it says 'Sweetwater's Mineral Water'.

"You know, it will cost me some..." I heard quiet grumbling behind me. The voice was male, older, probably belonging to that horse pulling the cart.

"Daaad," Sweet Lilly replied in a hushed tone, "Please, he was just thirsty, isn't helping him worth more than one bottle?"

Ah, capitalism, when helping fellow hu- sapient beings is not profitable and thus bad. I kind of hoped I wouldn't encounter this kind of shit here, but oh well. But let's hope his grumbles aren't more than just, well, grumbles.

So... Sweetwater and Sweet Lilly. Interesting names, that's for sure. Definitely related, which is confirmed by their own words. Their names are probably normal around here, so if I hope to blend in, I do have to come up with something new. On top of that, they had some sort of colorful marks on their butts, and they each had a different one. They didn't ask me why I don't have mine, so I guess it's normal not to have one? And those marks, what do they even mean? Are they like tattoos? Or are they somehow natural? I didn't really get a good look at them, so hard to say.

But anyway, let's have a taste of this water. I unscrewed the lid and then took a few gulps. Oh yeah, refreshing! And it definitely tastes nice! And so, I quickly emptied that bottle right into my mouth. That was probably one liter, and it all went sluuurp.

Now I have an empty glass bottle. I'll keep it in the pocket - thankfully, I never picked clothes with small pockets. Besides, what if I end up needing the bottle somehow? Bottles are damn useful. Shame it's not plastic, glass will definitely be easier to break. But maybe the absence of plastic is good, considering how bad that shit is for the environment. It takes, what, three hundred years to fall apart?

Anyway, now I know my first destination - Ponyville. I have no idea how big that settlement is or what kind of people live there, but at least I have somewhere to go. Except... I don't have a home, any local currency, any documents - not that the horses I saw prior would have anywhere to store them on their bodies - and... Actually, if ponies do go around nude, where do they keep their documents? In the, ahem, prison pocket? Or are those marks on their butts their documents? I'll have to find that out.

So, I don't have anything at all except my belongings and this one empty glass bottle. I'll have to make do with that, but it's not the worst thing to ever happen to me. I've already been homeless for a while, I can make it somehow again. I just need to stay out of the way and especially avoid authorities. I don't have any identification, so I will likely get arrested and detained for a while. Let's not get to that point. I'll... figure something out.

My stomach readily reminded me that I need to eat something. Let's put the thoughts about the future away for a moment. I'll definitely know what to do next once I arrive at Ponyville and take a good look around. If it becomes really bad, I could at least figure out where local grocery stores are so that I can steal some food for myself or, well, dig in the garbage. Yeah, not the best way of life, but I'm in no hurry to die either. And if it comes to the worst, I can try to sell my body. Not selling my organs, but, well, whoring myself out. That'll be a new one, and I hope it won't come to that. Sex is good and all, but I don't want to sell it. Or buy it.

Let's think positively for a moment. Maybe it won't be that bad, even with all the limitations imposed on me by chance. I mean, I have magic! Telekinesis is fucking cool and really damn useful, at least I expect it to be. If what I've read about it in different fantasy stuff applies, then telekinesis is really damn sweet to have. I'll see, I guess.

Off to Ponyville I go!

Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Village of Ponies Estimated time remaining: 24 Minutes