Country roads are rather dull. The rolling plains, the well-worked farmland and the calm, almost silent breeze has a charm to them after a while, even if they do all feel the same. The sad thing is, the plains and hills all seem to blend together when you see them day in and day out. The ponies and buildings and animals dot the hills in the distance, their movements slow and methodical, almost lazy, and watching them going about their daily lives was a welcome sight. For us, however, our business was not so clear.
We had been walking for nearly four months, Cherry and I. Four months of wandering. Of uncertainty. Of lonely silence and the road, which stretched on and on into eternity. We had left to find a new home, a better home, for the both of us.
It was that morning that we’d stumbled upon a road leading next to the Everfree Forest. A place known for its deadly creatures, though its monsters pale in comparison to what we had seen.
But that’s when things went wrong.
The fight had started like many before it. We had no food, no money... Nothing... Celestia's sun was bearing down on us, roasting us alive. The road shimmered, slithering in the heat. Cherry was talking. About what, I had no clue. I was tired, hungry, thirsty and sore; but she just kept talking.
I snapped.
I told her to shut up. To shut her damned mouth.
She took a step back, hoof raised at the insult.
She teared up.
I moved to apologise, to explain that it was all a mistake, an accident. To explain that I was tired and just wanted rest.
She ran. Tears glistening in the bright sunlight as they slid down her face falling to the road in small splashes and disappearing forever into the dirt.
I moved to run after her, but stumbled and tripped, rolling off the road and into a small inclined ditch. I tumbled over jagged rocks and through brambles, being bruised and cut, until I finally came to a stop.
I groaned and rolled over, dirt rubbing into my wounds. But before I could even come to my senses, I came face to face with something that would haunt my dreams for days to come.
A cocatrice.
It’s beady eyes locked on to mine, freezing me in place. They flashed, and I knew the worst had happened.
I could feel it. The cold, sickening sensations as my skin turned to stone, my nerves freezing over, my body unable to move.
I was trapped. Trapped and with nobody coming to help me.
I was alone.