//------------------------------// // Setting Out // Story: Unknown Variable // by Nepilicious //------------------------------// The small town of Ponyville. You all know it. You familiarized yourself with it. From Sugarcube Corner to Golden Oaks Library, you remember the major locations. That's all that needs to be known really. The town is not the focus currently. That lies on the edge of it, the edge of the Everfree Forest. As bizarre as it is dangerous, the Everfree has long since been a place you don't venture into if you value your life in any sort of capacity. Twisting roots to twisted abominations of animals, some could even view it as beautiful if they bothered to appreciate the ecosystem's lack of harmony compared to everything around it. It is a spectacleto behold. Alas, it is still dangerous. Nobody goes into the Everfree, so why is someone coming out of it? The treeline of the Everfree is formidable in itself, ponies scarcely even look at it in fear of the looming sense of dread of what could be on the other side of it. The only one brave enough to venture into it on the daily is a certain zebra, but our focus is not her. Our focus is the figure emerging from it. It's…. a colt? Yes. A colt with a dark green coat and jet black mane. Black irises look out into the town, simply observing. Only the colors and outline can be seen at this point, more defining features being obscured by the looming shadows of the forest he stands in. Small compared to the large trees around him, any sane being would be alarmed at such an unformidable presence exiting from such a dangerous place. What sticks out though, is the burlap sack he holds in his mouth, stuffed with items of unknown appearance and origin. The outline of these items against the outside of the cloth storage device holds little answers as to what could be inside of it. The colt sets down the sack in front of him as he observes the outline of the town ahead. His eyes keep wandering back to a small cottage on the outskirts, not too far away from where he currently was. There is no visible intent behind his eyes, only thoughts. Thoughts is a vague term. What is he thinking then? There are so many possibilities, surely you can think of at least one of them? You can guess all you want, but until he decides whether to speak them aloud, you will be left guessing. There is no visible change in his expression, just neutrality the whole way through as he stands and observes. Coated in the shadows of the Everfree, the colt takes the sack into his mouth again. He begins to walk in the direction of the town. In particular, the cabin on the outskirts. As he steps into the light, you can finally see specifics. An earth pony. No wings, no horn, just a normal earth pony. There is no cutie mark decorating his flank, just the same color coat around his entire body. Said coat is matted with specks of dust and dried mud around random parts of his body, noticeably none around his face. He seems to have tried to make these little spots of filth as less obvious as possible. They look pressed downward into his coat or attempted to have been brushed off. There are none of these flecks of dirt on his mane or tail, but they both look unkempt and frizzy. If you hadn't seen where he emerged from the twisted forest, you would think he had just played an energetic game of tag with his friends. His legs have nothing of note on them besides what look to be small cuts, still in the process of healing. Judging by where he just came from, you could discern that these are from thorns or some other spiky implement. It's all guesswork, but it is the most likely conclusion. He looks around to his left and right occasionally as he makes his way through the flat field over to the cottage. It didn't seem to be paranoia or anything of the like, just casual glances towards his environment. The sack he carries doesn't seem to visibly be weighing him down too much, but his neck does angle downwards a bit from carrying it. Before you know it, he has found his way to a small dirt path that leads to the cottage itself. Behind him, the town can be seen in the background, slowly fading out of view as he makes his way. The nature around is much nicer here than the twisted trees of the Everfree. Light green grass lies below mellow brown trunks that make the basis for the trees around. More and more instances of birdhouses hanging from these tress are quite noticeable the closer he gets to the cottage. He seems to take all of these facts in himself as he glances at the scenery. Soon enough he finds himself on a small bridge over a small river, filled with small fishes swimming in the small streams of said small river. Various animals are skittering about. Rabbits, squirrels, mice, and even an armadillo. The colt stops for a second to take in these sights, his gaze lingering on the mice and armadillo longer than anything else. Perhaps he found their presence strange among the more common animals like the rabbits. He begins his walk again, crossing the bridge and down a small path that leads to the front door of the cottage. The front door is split into two sections: an upper and lower part. Judging by the animals scattered about, the door was mostly likely there to make it easier for them to get through. The lower section ended around his height as well. The cottage itself was synonymous with the nature around it, the middle and upper parts of the roof decorated with leaves and moss similar to the shades of green to the fauna around it. There are a few windows around the lower interior, though none facing directly in front of the cottage. The upper part of the cottage seems to have a couple of rooms stemming off of it. These rooms still did not directly face the front of the house. The colt sets the sack down in front of the door, before walking up to it. He raises a hoof to knock, but hesitates right before it hits the door. A rabbit was inspecting him with its nose, sniffing one of his hind legs. He flinches for just a moment as this happens, not anticipating the creature's unwelcome nose against him. He gently taps the creature with his leg to shoo it off. The rabbit looks downtrodden that the visitor was resistant to its inspection, but scurries away nonetheless. After looking around for any other creatures coming his way, he finally does the one thing he set out to do. He knocks.