Bristle Backstory Redux

“Why were you up so late last night?”
“I have three finals tomorrow and had no time to study.”
“Bullshit. You would’ve studied earlier then. What were you doing on your computer?”
An argument echoed through the house early that morning between an angry mom and a college student. They continued with this back and forth for about ten minutes before the student took note of the clock. The two were not only in danger of running late already, but he could tell that if he continued with this argument they’d achieve nothing. It’d be just like every other month. The student would try to appease the fickle goddess his mom appeared to act like, but still deal with her wrath afterwards. So he just let her win and told her what she wanted to hear.
“I was talking with friends online.”
	“About what?”
“I-I don’t know. Video games? Art?”
The hesitation was all it took. The following hour was filled with words. How he was a lier. How he was lazy. How he’ll never support the family with these habits. Perhaps it was the fatigue from the lack of sleep the night before that made these words sting more than usual. He always hears from his parents that he looks like he’s about to cry during these lectures, but he just can’t feel sad during them anymore. After years they just started to idly fall on deaf ears as he stands feeling apathetic. Yet here he was, attempting to skip through the conversation like some sort of game by mashing A. Eventually, the mother noticed she was running late and let the student go. Thank god.
The drive for the student was normally therapeutic at these hours. An easy drive while shifting songs around and singing along with them. A time to reflect on the thoughts for the day. With this lecture in the morning, however, he just couldn’t bring himself to turn on the music. His mother’s words still echoed through his mind. He didn’t deserve to relax to music this morning. No time for frivolous luxuries, just focus on getting to class and finishing whatever was left in the day. Maybe if he can do well on the upcoming tests, he’ll be able to appease her enough to skip through another lecture.

Several months pass. The student has finally moved out after more time subjected to his parents’ wrath. Finally he was free, now living by his own rules and with friends that were actually there to help him. So why did he skip sleep on a weekend in favor of studying for a test that was another month from now? Why did he never talk to his dorm mates about any of this? Why was it that he could still feel as though he had something to prove? Perhaps it was to himself. To show that he was able to keep things under control and pass. Not even to simply pass, but to pass with perfection.
All he needed was time to study and understand it all and sleep? Sleep was lost time. Eating and drinking were necessary, but there was a point where you stopped noticing those feelings. They could work as rewards. Incentives to keep working and master it all.
“Hey Roland, you ready to go?”
The student looked up at his dorm mate with a look of utter confusion. “What do you mean ‘go?’”
“The camping trip. The one we’ve been planning for a month now?”
“Oh. That. Not going.” Roland turned back to his desk of books and a computer screen and returned to studying.
The dorm mate sighed and shook his head. “You think I didn’t plan for this?” Almost on cue, a larger man walked in and over to Roland.
	“Johnny I swear to christ, don’t you pick me up again.”
Johnny picked him up.
Roland was kicking and flailing in his grasp. “You drag me into your cult of horses and now you force me into the outdoors?! Does your wrath ever cease Mark?!”
Mark was already getting Roland’s backpack sorted for clothes and other necessities. “C’mon. You like it. Besides, you’re just like purple smart studying like this.”
	“Fuck off magic would be totally worth it!”

The ride to the campsite and the initial set up was fairly uneventful. Just some playful prodding before Roland finally joined in on the fun with the rest of the group. It was the following morning that Roland woke up and found Mark working on breakfast for the group. Some nice scrambled eggs, fresh from the car the cooler they brought with them. Johnny walked out of his tent on his phone angrily.
“No! I’m telling you! I did not hit her! It’s not true! It’s bullshit! I did not hit her!” He threw the phone down in anger, forgetting to end the call after his frustration rose. “I did not!” He yelled. The birds in the nearby trees seemed to be startled as they flew away in fear. His back was to the group leaving Mark and Roland to exchange glances and look back at Johnny. He picked up his phone and ended the call properly before looking back to the group. “Oh. Hi Mark.”
“What about me?”
	“And Roland,” he said condescendingly. “Anyways, eat quickly you two! We’re going on a hike!”
“It’s eight in the morning.”
“Dude I jog at like five until the sun comes up.”
“But that’s you! And I’m not you! Also, how?!” Roland just looked at Johnny in utter confusion. Eventually, the group got everything sorted for the morning and made their trek. It was a long one, but the group soon made it to a cave on the side of a mountain. Roland had a feeling they would be continuing up, but was surprised when Mark led them inside the cave.
The inside was dimly lit with only the sun outside and Mark’s phone letting the group see. Above them was a series of glittering crystals, looking almost like stars in the low lighting. At the center of the cave was a large pool of clear water, completely unmoving and reflecting everything like a mirror. It seemed almost like looking into the night sky with the way it reflected the ceiling.
“My dad took me here when I was little,” Johnny said. “Figured you guys would want to take a look too seeing as it’s something out of an rpg.”
Roland was completely in awe, staring into the pool and the pattern that it reflected. The way it seemed to show his face back though, it was better than any smudged mirror he’d seen at home. That was, until he saw it wink at him.
“Did you guys see that?”
“See what?”
Roland squatted down and looked into his reflection. “I swear I just saw my reflection blink at me.” His closer inspection yielded no results. The other two looked into their own reflections as well and didn’t notice anything.
“You get enough sleep last night?”
“That’s not the point here,” he says, with clear bags under his eyes. “Okay I might be hallucinating, but still!”
“Right…” Johnny stood back up and saw the opportunity in front of him. Roland squatting over a big pool of water? Perfect. “You know any good wake up methods?”
“Coffee. Lemons. Slaps. Cold show-” Johnny kicked Roland into the water. It didn’t look that deep, but he seemed to disappear as he fell into the water with a splash and disturbed the pristine surface. Johnny was laughing to himself when Mark pointed out that the pool wasn’t as shallow as they thought. In fact, Roland couldn’t be seen in the water at all. The two started calling for him and looking in the water, but they just couldn’t find anything. There wasn’t anything in it other than the two of them frantically looking for their friend.

Meanwhile, Roland was flailing in a dark void surrounded by glittering stars and could feel himself descending. He tried to swim up towards the disappearing light that his friends were at, but he just couldn’t. He simply descended with burning lungs. He couldn’t hold his breath any further and gasped. To his surprise, he wasn’t actually drowning. In fact, it didn’t feel like he was in water at all. It was more like he was simply drifting in a void. Nothing was around him other than the glow of the stars.
Roland began to find himself panicking as he looked around more. It was a borderline sensory deprivation tank that he was drifting through. He didn’t need to breathe, thankfully. Hopefully that’d also count for eating. Wait, but, what about isolation? D-didn’t people go crazy after not talking to people for so long? How long did would he last before he’d lose his mind? Roland’s breathing quickened as he found himself growing more frantic. It didn’t feel like anything went into his lungs, but it didn’t feel as though he was suffocating either. He soon felt himself tire out from the small bit of panic and simply began to drift, scared for his life. Minutes began to feel like hours as he spent days drifting about. With no reference to draw from, he couldn’t tell how much time had passed. In reality, Roland was drifting about for about five months before he finally felt something again. The sudden rush of water entering his lungs.
The water tasted salty as it went into his mouth. The light from the rapidly approaching surface was almost blinding after drifting in that dark space. Roland surfaced in a massive splash amidst violent waves and a stormy sea. He couldn’t breathe or call out, but he could see a boat nearby. A life preserver flew out from it and towards him. He grabbed on for dear life, slowly getting pulled onto the ship with coughs and sputters of salty brine. He was on the verge of consciousness, still out of it between the months of isolation and sudden jolt to drowning. The last thing he saw before finally passing out was the face of his savior. It didn’t seem human, but a lot more equine. Almost like a horse saved his life. Yeah. He was probably hallucinating.

A day passed before Roland quickly woke up, flailing about and falling out of a bed onto a wooden floor. He sat up again, shivering as he looked up and saw a window. Snow was falling outside. Real snow. He quickly made his way to the window to look out and saw more than just snow however. A town… full of ponies. The colorful kind from that kid’s show. This was part of the hallucination, right? The whole thing about brains making their own stimulus after not having any for so long? Didn’t the stars count for that though? No? Yes? Probably not.
He thought about this for some time before there was the sound of a door opening. Roland turned to see a stallion. He was stout and orange with a red mane and wearing a scarf as he walked in. A cutie mark of a telescope was emblazoned on his flank, confirming the fact that this was Equestria.
“Oh good, you’re awake!” The stallion began. He sounded hearty and happy, just as one would expect from a pony. He made his way over to Roland and began to say, “You really shouldn’t be out of bed though. Just took you in and everything and that shiver doesn’t look like it’s blah blah blah…”
Roland wasn’t listening, he was sitting there and shivering with his eyes trained on this pony. A real genuine pony, talking and everything. Not just that but, someone that saved his life and was really there. This had to be real. I-it must be! Real things felt real after all! He had to test this out. Slowly, Roland began to make his way over to the stallion when he fell on his face.
The stallion rushed over and offered a hoof to help him up, saying. “You really should lay down miss! Nopony should be out and about after taking a swim like that!”
Miss? Roland looked down at his, or rather her body and simply stared. Hooves, teal fur, and the brush of pink that seemed to be wrapping around her leg. Suddenly this all seemed less real. Humans don’t just turn into horses. Then again, horses don’t exactly talk. Roland was simply at a loss for words as she seemed out of it, processing everything as she stared at her hooves and took in just what happened.
	“Miss?”
Maybe this was all a dream. A fabrication made by her mind as she continued to drift in that dark void forever. Or maybe this was the end of that nightmare and she was given a new chance. No past to hold her back, right? No family, no friends, no responsibilities...
“Hey! Miss, are you feeling okay?”
She looked up to the stallion, not noticing the small tears forming around her eyes as she stared into the stallion’s. Or rather the reflection in his eyes. She saw a unicorn with magenta eyes and a vibrant red and pink mane. She looked like a complete mess with her eyes slowly becoming more puffy and her mane completely disheveled. Yet even despite all this, there was just something that felt right. As though this was how she was supposed to be.
“Wh-what are you staring at? Say something!”
Roland snapped out of it for a moment with a quick, “Sorry!” and jumped back a small bit. “I-I haven’t seen anything in ages… I got caught up seeing what I looked like.” She began to wipe her eyes and look back to the stallion. He had a worried look on his face, which somehow made the mare seem even more nervous. “A-anyways, thanks for saving me. I-I’ll get out of your hair now.”
She began to try and fumble her way out of the house and into the cold town when the stallion stopped her. “You’re one of those transients, aren’t you?” Roland looked back at the stallion, a little confused as he began to explain. “One of those ponies that popped up a few months back saying they were humans. You seem just like them.”
“There were other humans here?” She wasn’t the only one? That was… somewhat comforting to say the least. But he said they popped up months ago. She just arrived today.
“I’m sure Raincatcher can fill you in later. You gotta get some rest for now though.” The unicorn was picked up by the stallion and dropped in the bed, still shivering as she was tucked in. “Now uh, mind telling me your name? You’re gonna need one while you’re here.”
“It’s uh…” Shit. She was really bad at names. Sure, Roland would work fine but this was Equestria. Ponies don’t have names like that, especially not mares! She looked around for something before looking at her fur and to a necklace hanging on the wall. “Birstle... Charm... Y-yeah! Bristle Charm works.”
The stallion smiled and replied. “Pleased to meet you Bristle Charm! I’m Sea Searcher and I’ll be your host while you recover, alright?” Bristle nodded. The house may had been cold, but there was some warmth to the stallion’s smile. It definitely helped her feel a little better about all of this.

Over the next few days, Bristle recovered from her cold snap and learned how to properly walk around and everything. Though she could feel an itch on her horn, as if it was begging her to learn magic. Magic was real here after all. There was no point in not learning it. She was one of the only unicorns in the town though, and any of the ones that were walking around only knew a telekinesis spell at best. It was a good start, but really didn’t help much.
Another few days passed. Briste had been practicing the small bits of magic she could when Raincatcher came by with some news.
“Outer Hayven?” Bristle asked.
Raincatcher nodded and pointed to its general location on a map. “Yep! It’s been around for a while, but you did kinda just show up. Figured you’d be the least bit curious about the place.”
“Well… if I’ll be honest, I would like to go somewhere a bit warmer.” Back home, Bristle lived in a desert. Staying in the snow this past week has not been doing her any favors. Thankfully scarves and fur was a thing or she’d be an icicle. “How long would it take to get there?”
“I’d say a week or so by train. If y’want I can get Sea Searcher to help pitch in for that.” Bristle’s eyes grew wide for a moment. Her mouth opened as she was about to say something only to be closed by Rain’s hoof. “You don’t owe us anything. I don’t want to argue about this like the scarf.”
“But this is more than just a scarf! It’s a train ride to a town full of people like me!”
“Fine. How about you come visit us sometime.” He booped the anxious mare with a smile. “And stop thinking like you owe us somethin’! Kinda ruins the kindness factor in all this after all.”
Bristle rubbed her snout and hesitated to reply. Finally she opened her mouth to say, “A-alright. Thanks for everything!” Rain puffed out his chest. He felt pretty proud of all that. “So when does the train leave?”
“Oh in a few minutes. We already got the ticket hoping you’d like it.”
“Wait, what?!”
“You should probably run over there now.”
And run she did. Or at least tried to. A week wasn’t long in terms of practice time so her run was full of a few more stumbles than necessary. She eventually made it to the train station and started fumbling around for her ticket. Just as she realized she never actually got one, out it fell from her scarf. She’d question this more once she was on the train, but for that moment she simply handed in her ticket and grabbed a seat.

To Outer Hayven she went.