Shady Daze let out a mirthful shriek as he jumped from rock to rock, evading Rumble’s tackle. The two foals pranced about the open field in the warm sunshine in a game of tag. All across Ponyville, ponies were enjoying the mild spring day. The foals of the small town dashed and played across the many fields and parks, enjoying the sunny weekend. School was almost out, and after spending a long winter mostly cooped up, it was a godsend to be playing outside again. Life had once more returned to the picturesque town.
Nothing portrayed the vibrant life more than the two colts practically tumbling over one another in the dirt. The rough horseplay was nothing strange to them. They had joined in a group game of hide and seek, but when Rumble had found Shady, and Shady promptly bolted, the chase was on.
Now he had him within his grasp. Pushing his legs as hard as he could run, Rumble leapt off the ground and threw his body around his friends. Both colts screamed and laughed as they went tumbling down a slope in the ground, rolling over one another until they hit the bottom.
The second their spill came to a stop, Shady was out of Rumble’s grasp and was gone in a flash again. Rumble scurried to his hooves to give chase—and froze like a statue in place. He could see Shady Daze disappearing in a grayish blue blur just beyond the timberline of the Everfree Forest. His muscles seized up and his chest grew tight as nervous fear gripped his heart.
Shady continued to run a short distance, leaping over high roots and bounding over rocks. He risked a glance back over his shoulder and came screeching to a halt when he realized he was no longer being followed. He could see Rumble, just sitting at the forest’s edge. He was staring at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates, like he’d caught the colt doing some horrible deed. Shady groaned and rolled his eyes as he trudged back toward his friend.
“What’s the matter? Why’d you give up?” he asked, noticing the foal’s gaze was not at him, but at the woods at his back. He turned around, looking into the darkening trees. “What? They’re just trees. You’re not scared or anything, are ya?”
Rumble was absolutely petrified. Yes, of course he was scared. They had all been told the stories of darkness and danger that lived in the forest. They knew the myths and legends surrounding those woods. Shady Daze lifted a brow, and laughed at the paralyzed pony.
“You are! You totally are! Look at your face!”
“Shut up!” snapped Rumble, breaking himself out of his stupor. Already he could feel his face flushing. “I’m not scared! We’re just not supposed to go in there, is all.”
Shady Daze didn’t look convinced in the least. “Yeah, right! Come on, you big baby, I’ll show you there’s nothing to be scared of.”
With that, the colt turned tail and began to traipse back into the Everfree Forest. Again, Rumble lingered at the tree line. He could hear his older brother’s voice, cautioning him about this place. He wasn’t supposed to go in. It wasn’t safe.
“Okay, fine!” said Shady with a huff, making his way back out. “If you’re really gonna be such a scaredy cat, we can go do something else. I’ll try to not tell everypony what a chicken you were.”
“Hey, I’m no chicken!” Rumble said defiantly, puffing his chest out in a dramatic manner. Deep down, he could swear he felt his legs quaking. “I’m not afraid! Watch me!”
With a deep breath, he took the plunge. Rumble closed his eyes tight and barreled head first into the thicket of trees and undergrowth. Behind him, he could hear Shady Daze laughing and cheering him on. When he felt a sufficient amount of distance had passed, Rumble slowed to a stop and slowly peeked one eye open. He had gone much further than Shady had gone originally. The beams of sunlight streaking through the trees at the far edge of the woods felt miles away now.
“That was awesome!” Shady Daze cheered as he came galloping beside his friend. “See? It ain’t that bad! It’s kinda cool in here.”
Rumble couldn’t shake the anxiety twisting his stomach into knots. “Yeah, I guess…”
“Oh, lighten up! Come on, let’s go see what kinda neat stuff we can find in here!”
With a youthful laugh, Shady Daze took off deeper into the forest. Rumble took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves before following on at a much slower gait. The further into the forest they went, the more the sunlight began to disappear. The foliage was so dense it blocked out the rays of Celestia’s sun, and cast the entire place in a cool darkness. No birds sang up above in the branches, and no signs of woodland critters could be seen. It spooked the little colt.
“Shady?” Rumble called out into the expanse of trees and shade. “Shady? Where’d you go?”
From somewhere up ahead, he heard his friend’s laugh echoing softly. He couldn’t be too far behind.
“Come on, Rumble! Try to keep up!”
“It’s getting really dark, Shady. Maybe we should go back,” he said, hoping to Celestia that Shady Daze would agree with him, and they could leave this place far behind them.
No response came to him. Rumble slowly stepped over an uprooted tree, looking around for the colt he had followed so brashly into the forest. Shady Daze was nowhere to be seen. Taking one last glance back at where he knew the sunlit meadows of Ponyville were, Rumble dared to take another step forward. The bushes had grown thicker here, with dense vines and branches that seemed to tug at his coat as he pushed past them.
“Shady? Come on, let’s go back. I can barely see anything in here.”
Again, only silence greeted him. Rumble felt a twinge of fear plunge into his heart like a dagger.
“Shady? Where are you?” He fought back a scared whimper in his voice. “Shady?”
“Boo!”
Rumble screamed out loud as Shady Daze leapt out of a bush at him. The pegasus colt toppled backwards over himself in the dirt, his heart hammering at his ribcage in pure terror. Shady’s light-hearted laughter broke the silence, and he fell over as well, doubled over in laughter.
“Y-You should’ve… should’ve seen your face!” he said between raucous laughter. “You were s-so scared!”
“That wasn’t funny!”
Still, Shady Daze continued laughing. Rumble grumbled to himself and began dusting himself off. He looked up at his friend again—and felt the blood drain from his face. Standing just over the bushes where Shady had been hiding loomed a dark silhouette cloaked in shadow, shaped like a pony.
“S-Shady…” Rumble choked out.
A low, rumbling growl from behind him caught the terrified foal’s immediate attention. His head snapped around to locate the source of the noise. All he could see were tree trunks and darkness. A thin fog had begun to creep in between the trees, spanning out like ghostly spider webs weaving through the forest.
Shady Daze screamed. The sharp, shrill noise made Rumble’s heart skip a beat. He quickly turned back around. Shady was gone. The foal sprung to his hooves, looking around hastily for his missing friend. He had just been there a second ago!
“Shady?! Shady, where are you?!” he cried out into the empty darkness. “This isn’t funny, Shady! Where’d you go?”
Rumble stood his ground, too afraid to move or give chase. He didn’t even know where Shady would have gone. The pony had just vanished into thin air, and he was left alone, scared, and confused. He wanted to go home.
“Shady?!”
Another scream, this one much, much further away, reverberated around the trees. From where he was standing, it sounded like the cry came from all sides. Rumble looked around while pacing fitfully in place.
“Shady?! Shady!”
A hooffall behind him locked the panicky foal in place. The noise was dense and weighty, and it made Rumble’s heart drop into his stomach. He began his turn, the movement so slow that for a moment, he didn’t even realize he was moving at all. And then he had turned, and the creature behind him sent ice running through his veins. He tried to yell for help, but fear had stolen his breath away from him.
Rumble saw the creature’s blood red eyes burning in their empty sockets. He saw the jaw contort into a sickening, macabre effect of a smile. He screamed.