Abby yanked her headphones out.
"What the....?!"

Suddenly she froze, unable to continue her sentence. I looked around and admired the familiar scene of this tropical rainforest. It was the perfect temperature. The shade countered the blazing sun perfectly. It also wasn't humid. In fact, the air felt dry. It seemed the only moisture was stored in the numerous amount of greenery.

I was so caught up in the beautiful expanse before me that I forgot that Abby was standing next to me. That is...

...until she screamed.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

I was so frightened, that I nearly jumped out of my skin. Quickly, I covered her mouth until she calmed down.

"You okay now? I'm going to let go, just breathe and try to listen to me. Okay?"

She nodded, less panicked than before.

"W-where ar-re we?"
She said, still running on adrenaline.

"Thanks to you, we are in Jaylene. I don't know for sure, but I believe we are in a territory called Equailna. Last time I came here, that is where I teleported. But don't worry, you....."

"Don't worry!? Why on the distant Earth wouldn't I worry!? One moment we are at home, cleaning, I open a book and then we suddenly land on an alien planet?! I c-can't do this! I can't David! I have friends, I have school! I have one pair of clothes and no makeup! And they obviously don't have WiFi! So don't tell me not to worry! Tell me once we are back in our own home and off of 'Jellye'! Okay!?"

"Ok, first of all, you brought us...."

"Do you think I did that on purpose!? Really!? C'mon! Use that pathetically helpless brain of yours!"

"I know you didn't mean to, but you did, and so...."

"I didn't..."

"Let me finish my sentence for once, Abby! I was going to say that you brought us here, whether on purpose or not, so you should be responsible to get us out of here!"

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me.

"Tolkinsa?",
The voice said, with great authority.

"Uh.....Hello??"
I was unsure of whether or not the speaker had learned English.

"Toll palum?" The voice said.

"Ok..", I said slowly and carefully, "I....am....David. This....is....Abby. David.....and.....Abby......Friends.....to....you. We....are.....safe. Do.....you.....understand.......me?"

There was a long pause, and then, all at once the forest was filled with laughter as we watched well-camouflaged natives melt out of the area.

A rather tall man approached me.

"I do apoligize. All who are here speak English. We were messing with you. I am Roy, The temporary leader of the Equillian Hunting Force. Tell me, young travelers, where have you come from, and where are your supplies?"

"Oh, uhhh, we came from Earth...without supplies.",
I finally managed to get out.

"Hmm. I do not know how far this Earth is. I am not familiar with that name, but nonetheless you look like lost helpless lambs, and since you do not have any necessary supplies with you, you shall stay with us for now."

"Uhh...Mr.Roy, I just want to go home. Is there any way to do that?", said Abby in her best innocent-little-girl voice.

"Sorry Hon, I don't know where you live, but we can check the database when we return to the castle. Oh, by the way, do you know how to ride?"

"Umm. Yes. I went to riding school this summer....why?"

"Good. You are very skilled, Addy. Even some of my men cannot ride an Argott."

"Wait! A what?!"

Roy turned around and let out a very high pitched whistle. A few moments went by and nothing happened. But in less than a second, five Veloceraptor-looking creatures came bursting through the wall of overgrown plants.

"Well, Addy, choose your steed." Said Roy in a respectful tone.

"Woah, woah, woah! You misunderstood me! I can't ride one of those...things! I meant I can ride a pony!"

A gasp arose from the group.

"A pony!? Gracious, you are indeed a master rider, Addy! I will call my personal pony for you."

With that, he turned and let out a low whistle. But instead of looking through the bushes for it, he was looking straight up.

"Wait, why are you looking upwar..."

But she stopped talking suddenly, petrified. Out of nowhere, a pegasus came diving straight down towards her.

"Abby....!" I started to warn her, but the pegasus gracefully soared over her head and stopped directly in front of it's owner.

"Good girl, Gracie." Roy began to pet her head.

Abby began to object,
"But that isn't..."

But Roy had already started to adress his men,

"Now, my hunters, you may think you are smart, you may think you are brave, but truly I tell you, Addy of Earth will shame you all. Not one of you, besides Scole-Kasha has enough bravery to ride a pony, even with your great age."

He paused to look at Abby with proud eyes.

"Let this be an example to all of Equilla. No matter who you are, where you come from, or your rank, you can do anything if you are willing to try. Am I right, Abby?"

"Umm..."

"SAY YES!!" I whispered to her.

"Yes, absolutely. Anything. Yep."

"Good. Then I entrust Grace to you."

Grace immediately trotted over to Abby and lowered her head in submission.

"Aww...But no, I can't...."

I gave her a look, one that reminded her that the Equillians were counting on her to do it.

She got the message.

"It is my pleasure, Sir."
she answered, fighting back the fear.

"That's the spirit! Scole-Kasha!"

A boy about the same age as Abby came foward.

"Yes, Sir?", he said confidently.

"I want you to go with Addy and act as her guide. Make sure she arrives at the castle before dark. You remember what happened with the Par-Pars last time you rode at night, don't you?"

Scole-Kasha bit his lip.
"Yes, Sir. I promise it won't happen again, Sir."

"Good. Take Dafid with you. I wish you a safe journey."

"Sir, may I be permitted to take my personal pony I trained? We won't all fit on one pony."

"Oh. Very well. But do not let it enter the castle borders. It does not have a chip, and they might teleport you into an underground cell because it is not Equillian."

"Thank you, Sir. I will remember your warnings."

Roy turned to the rest of his men,
"Cha riut!"

And one by one, they disappeared into the endless expance of forest.

Scole-Kasha looked in our direction.
"So, shall we be off? I'll summon my pony and we will ride side by side."

I was the first to react this time.
"I'm sorry, but actually we cannot ride one of your 'ponies'."

He halted and cocked his head.
"What do you mean?"

"Well, where we come from, ponies are just like yours but without wings, and slightly smaller."

"Oh. That's quite odd.", he said with a faint smile.
"Tell me how you ride these tiny Earth-ponies."

"Well, we have these straps we put around their heads that we tug on to turn them, and we bump their sides with our feet to make them go. If we want to stop, we tug on the straps. Make sense?"

"Not at all."

Abby rolled her eyes.
"That was humiliating, David. Here, let me show you, Scole-Kasha."

She walked up to the 'pony' and explained everything to him in a more understandable form. I watched and waited.

When she finished, there was a long pause, and then Scole-Kasha began to speak.
"Okay, riding this kind of pony shouldn't be much harder. Except instead of those rope thingies, you just tug on the mane. To go higher, shift your weight to the back, if you want to go lower, shift your weight to the front. To go or go faster, just pat the neck. To decelerate, tug firmly on the mane with both hands. Can you remember that?"

Abby glanced at me, and then back at Scole-Kasha.

"I will do my best."

"How about you, David?"

Scole looked at me questioningly.

"Yeah, I think, but can we like just ride on the ground?"

"I'm afraid not. Ponies have extremely soft feet so they can land easier. Too much ground riding and they could cut themselves easily, even on dirt. The sky is our only choice."

Abby looked frightened, but when Scole-Kasha looked at her, she regained her steadiness.

"So, Abby, you and David will ride on Grace, and I will fly beside you, and guide you. Sound good?"

We both nodded simultaneously.

"Great! David, you sit behind Abby because you are bigger. And really, just a light pat will do the trick, don't slap Grace's neck. Okay?"

"Alright, Scole-Kasha." I said with determination.

"Oh, please! All my friends call me Kashi. No need for my full title."

Abby looked softly at Scole.

"Would you consider us your 'friends'?"

"Of course!" He said with a warm smile.
"Unless you plan on betraying me."

He put on a fake worried face.

"Nah, you can trust us.", I said. "But we better get going. It looks like the sun.....or....one of the suns....is setting."

"Oh, you mean the Neenca and the Noolsa? Those are always there. The Noolsa is always on the Eastern horizon, and the Neenca is always straight up. They never "set", but they are dimming. Soon, they will be completely dark, and we won't be able to see anything. Best leave now. Let's ride!" He shouted with authority.

"Yes Sir" I said only half-jokingly.


After a few embarrassing attempts, our ponies were up in the air, flying side by side. I was now in the front because it was accidently discovered that I could ride better than Abby.

Abby was just amazed at the view of dimly lit forest and prairie, desert and river, mountains and valleys all beneath her and the picture-perfect purple, pink, and yellow sky.

"Breathtaking, isn't it?"
Scole looked over at Abby.

"Yeah...I never knew anything could be so perfect..."

"David, let go of the mane, it'll make your pony glide."

I did it, and sure enough, we were going so fast that all they had to do to stay in the air was put their wings straight out.

"Abby?" Kashi was sitting on the wing of his pony.
"Care to ride with me?"
He extended his hand as I helped Abby swing herself onto the wing.

"Kashi...I don't think this..."

But he stopped her.
"Trust me." He extended his hand one more.

This time, she took it.

In a smooth and graceful motion I cannot explain, he remounted his pony and swung Abby right behind him. She looked a little frightened, but she was clearly happy.

"Uh, David, we should stop gliding now...."

I looked back in front where a mountain greeted my eyes.

"Just follow me! And, David...."

"Yes?"

He grinned

"Try to keep up!"

"Oh no!"

"Hold on, Abby!"
He shouted as he slowly turned his pony to the left. Abby timidly put her arms around him as he began to speed up.

I copied him, trying to stay directly behind him.

Suddenly, he lifted his hands from the mane, allowing the pony to glide for a second, then with unexpected speed, he brought his hands down on the ponies neck, making it thrust its wings back and shoot foward so quickly, I hardly believed my eyes.

I did my best to copy him, unsure whether or not I would actually stay on the pony

"Well, here goes..."

Grace plunged ahead, with me holding on for dear life. When I realized that Kashi planned to remain at this speed for a while, I tried to make myself more comfortable and secure. Finally, I was confident enough to stop clutching the neck and grab the mane.

I looked ahead and saw that Kashi was beginning to fly lower, so I followed him. He brought his pony down until it was just a few feet from the giant trees. I did the same.

As we flew overhead, the air currents bent the trees to either side, looking as if the forest had just opened up beneath us. I looked down and barely caught a glimse of the slow-moving, awe-stricken hunters, as well as Roy giving Kashi the Equillian Salute. Then the vast expanse of trees ended abruptly, putting us above a smaller grassy plain. Looking ahead, I saw a huge well-lit brick structure that I knew instantly was Equilla's castle and capitol, Trien-Buish.

Strangely, Kashi didn't begin to prepare to land, instead, he slowed until he was parallel with me and shouted over the rushing wind.

"Go ahead and land where that blue light is! Me and Abby will join you in a second!"

With that, he sped up and went higher into the grey sky.

I circled the castle several times until I saw the blue light. Two men were holding them, just a little ways from the castle itself.

I brought Grace down perfectly on the small dusty strip. I dismounted and realized that Kashi was right. Instead of hooves, this pony had just a soft cushion with white mane-like fur around the end. Below the fur was just skin. Even my perfect landing had barely cut her back leg.

"Are you David?"

I was so focused on Grace's hooves that I hadn't noticed the two men were now standing beside me.

"Y-yes. Yes I am." I tried to sound sure of myself.

The taller of the two men looked admiringly at me.
"Roy told me you—the boy who could ride a pony, would arrive here. But where are the others?"

"Ummm, they'll be here soon. They let their pony rest for a bit."
I hoped I sounded confident.

"Alright then." The shorter one said in a soft voice.
"Come with us. Roy should arrive shortly."

I nodded and followed them into a small archway that had huge metal bars blocking off the inner portion of the wall. Beside the gate, there was a small keypad. The taller man took a small card from his sleeve and shoved it through a small crack in the brick. He entered a code into the keypad and the card came back out.

"Enter, David." He gestured to the bars.

"You know that it's still closed, right?" I asked in concern.

"It would appear so. Sono, can you show him?"

Sono nodded with a smile and then walked straight into the bars, or not. He just...disappeared.

"Woah!"

"It's a portal." He said, obviously amused by my astonishiment. "It leads inside."

"Wow..." I cautiously approached the bars and reached out to touch them. Just as I saw with Sono, my hands disappeared.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and took a few more steps.

When I opened my eyes, I no longer saw the dimly lit field and brick. Instead, I saw a huge well lit room, not of brick, but of porcelain, it seemed. In each corner, there was the beginning of a spiral staircase. That's when I looked up and saw just how far down I was. It looked as if I was a mile below ground level. I looked around for someone or something to tell me what to do or where to go.

Finally, I saw Sono to my left, reading a chart on a screen. I approached him and he turned to greet me.

"Ah, I see you've figured out the portal! Well, if you can ride a pony, you can probably do anything! Anyways, this chart tells me I'm supposed to escort you to room B4d3. It's near the very top."

I groaned.
"Do we really have to use the stairs?"

"No, of course not. Hardly anyone uses those. At least, not since the elavator was invented. But if you want to use the stairs, I suppose I could try to..."

"The elevator sounds great!" I said quickly.

Sono led me to a wall with two lounge chairs.

"Have a seat" He said cheerfully.

Confused, I sat down and he did too.

"I'm sorry, but aren't we supposed to be going to the elevator?" I asked.

He stood up. "Would you mind taking a good look around you?"

I looked around and then it hit me. We were no longer in the same room!

I got up slowly and followed Sono to a pair of golden doors, he elegantly flung them open, revealing the luxurious suite I had been granted. The ceiling and part of the wall was dome-shaped and glass. There were two beds, each on opposite sides of the room.

"Welcome to your temporary home!" Said Sono with a bright smile.
"Now, I best be off if I want to be able to escort your sister."

"T-thank you..." I began to say, but he had already left.

I walked over to a small black panel with a white outline of a hand on it. Curious, I placed my hand inside the outline. It fit perfectly.

The panel then turned white with a black outline as the walls and ceiling turned black and all the lights shut off. I removed my hand and walked over to my bed. I sat there for a moment, looking at the thousands of dim stars in this strange and foreign sky. Suddenly, I felt lonely. I wished Abby was right there with me. Then, I saw asomething moving...a shadow in the sky. Looking harder, I realized what it was immediately. I watched as th pony dived and soared gracefully as Kashi flew into the night sky.

I yawned, realizing how tired I was.

I entered the small changing room and noticed two sets of clothes on a rack. One was men's clothing, and the other was for a teenage girl. I grabbed the top pair of clothes, changed, and climbed in bed. When I returned, I noticed that the dancing shadow had disappeared.

I tried to imagine where they were as I drifted away into a deep slumber.