Pain, a blurry, confused mind, darkness. Well, with eyes closed, it's quite obvious to not clearly see anything. When he finally opened them, he took in the sight of the sun, low on the horizon. The strong scent of grass was almost irritating as it attacked his senses. It was probably normal with so many unusual surroundings, especially for him. He had to find out where he was exactly, if everything is all right with his body. It was his least favorite thing to be left naked out somewhere in the woods after some unpleasant time. At least for him anyway. As his people said, ‘keep your shit together.’ He had to finally get up and check his surroundings.

Hands first, he laid them against the ground in an effort to raise himself. But something wasn't right. He didn't feel his fingers against the ground. Instead two flat ends of his limbs just clopped on the dirt with a rather dull sound. His large eyes glanced down to see what happened. His limbs appeared to have gotten amputated; his mind too hazy to realize what was going on. He had to get help before he died of a heart attack or some sort of mental illness. His ear twitched to another sound. Water? Yes, there it was not far from his location.

Fighting with the pain in his legs, he finally managed to get up in a strange new crawling position. Even if he had to crawl, he needed to be able to see everything, even if the low visibility made it difficult. Surprisingly, the crawling wasn't bad at all, almost like he was born to walk on four limbs. After few short seconds, he looked at his reflection in the lake. He gasped in confusion, and then he looked back again. His face was ridiculously longer than usual, and his hair was rather strange. It was still in some sort of military fashion, but little longer than it should be. It was clearly him, but he was also a...horse?

Several long minutes passed as he was trying to look at every inch of his new body. He didn’t have a very strong build, as he was short for a horse. A pony? He chuckled to himself. Right, he was somehow a new character of the My Little Pony show he hated so much. He was only forced to watch the show for only a few minutes, but he hated it none the less. Realization suddenly hit him, his eyes widened in fear. No, not only because he wasn't a human any more, no, but that he maybe was right. The bright colors of the surroundings and the odd color of his body for a pony, red like a communist star. But...he was alone. Maybe it was a dream? The man, or rather, the stallion, returned to checking his new body.

“Um...what are you doing?” A voice? It was high-pitched, confusing and irritating to him. And how it was possible that he didn't realize that he was being observed? The stallion raised his eyes to the direction of the silly voice. It was a pink mare, with wings? That was an answer to one of his questions. He knew what a pegasus was, but he remembered them as proud stallions. Not a silly looking...thing.

“Um...zdrastwujtie...” He replied carefully to her. Then he realized that he should speak in her language. Why English? Bah!

“What did you say? I don't understand...” The mare was staring at him, very confused, but also curious. Like she met a very interesting, new friend to play with.

“I..I'm sorry. Good morning. I...I'm Ivan...” He wasn't sure if saying his name to a potential enemy was too smart, but should he truly be afraid of that pink pony?

“Morning? It's almost sundown. I'm Lara. Hey, where's your cutie mark?” Right. He was so surprised by this new, strange situation that he forgot to check what time it was. Even if he didn't have his watch or cellphone he could have just paid attention to the setting sun. Then he narrowed his eyes. What she did say?

“Um....cutie...what?” That was just too much for him.

“Cutie marks! Look!” She stood next to him, so he could see her side. He saw a symbol of watering can. What the heck?

“Um...and what is it for...?” Again, he was sure that he asked wrong question.

“What is it for? Oh come on...it states our special talent. I someday realized that I'll be a wonderful gardener. And I am. Even if I'm a pegasus.”

“Right...” He sighed softly.

They were looking at each other in awkward silence. Ivan wasn't sure if he should ask for any help or not. Lara wanted to do something to cheer him up, if not only because he was a blank flank.

“Where is your home, anyway? And what happened with your hair? It's so strangely...trimmed. Like a hedge or something.” Lara giggled at her own joke.

Ivan growled softly. Was it that funny to her? He was a proud man, or rather a stallion. But answering her questions was more important. He can't be too suspicious, that would be too dangerous. Lie about his homeland? Or maybe tell the truth? Yeah, that’s a great idea. “Oh hi. I was a human, now I'm a pony.” But the answer could be a very simple and clever lie.

“I...I don't know. I don't remember. I just woke up here, I can only remember my name and that strange language...” He sighed, hoping that will work. He even tried to look at her sadly.

Lara lowered her eyes. She felt very sorry for him. Being a “blank flank” could be miserable enough. No home, no friends, no family.

“I'll take you to Ponyville!” She said with wide smile. There should be somepony who will help him, after all. ‘Yeah, and you'll treat me like a circus freak.’ He thought. At first he liked the idea, but there must be some other way. Also, it was starting to get darker. He needed to build a shelter, but with hooves?

“Just show me where it is. I don’t need any help.”

“But-”

“I'm fine!” He yelled. He felt so much anger. Being so...cute. Not a man...a wuss, something which shouldn't even exist.

“I...I...” She was afraid of that strange pony. But she sighed, being sure that she can't do anything more. The pegasus pointed in a direction, “There, it’s that way. But you really do need help, and some friends. Sadly, you don't want any...”

When she sighed once more, she quickly raised her wings to get into the air and probably fly to her home. Time was running out for young Ivan. A stallion, or an ex-human as he described himself in his mind.

Ex-human? No! He had to find someone who could help him and go back to Earth. He wasn't a wuss. He was a warrior. He knew how to fight, how to hurt and to protect people. But for now, he needed some help. After several minutes of lonely walking in the direction pointed out by the pegasus, he reached the nearest town. It was small, but it wasn't a problem for him. The problem was... ponies were preparing for rest, most likely. The shops were closed, the streets were empty. He realized that he will be without shelter for the night. Unless he will begged some random pony. Ivan reached a large tree, hollowed out into a sort of house.

He peeked into a window. So many books. No, only books. Possibly a library? He wanted to deal with his problems with actions, not sitting around with his head covered in literature. The sword is more powerful than the quill. After loud sigh, he continued his journey, getting more and more exhausted.

Memories of his life were haunting his mind, his friends, his family, the adventures, just normal, interesting life, and his last night as a human. Nothing unusual, really. Just taking few drinks before going to sleep in his bed. He was now walking with his eyes almost closed, trying to focus where he was going exactly. After another loud and long yawn, he felt strong pain on his head. The stallion just hit it on the nearby apple tree. Some of the fruits fell down around him.

“Focus Ivan, focus!” He shook his head and finally found a solution. A barn! He slept in a similar one when he was a kid once. But now, he badly needed some rest. He opened it and fell down just past the door, too tired to find better place. After a long, loud breath, he finally found some dreams and rest.

For now.

Edited by Lanafan1k

Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Fast like a beast Estimated time remaining: 8 Minutes