//------------------------------// // Chapter One - Well, this is one way to get into Equestria... // Story: The Dash and the Furry-ous // by UniqueSKD //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash let her foreleg hang over the side of the cloud she lazed upon, the other simply pawed at the fluff of the cloud unethusiatically. The pegasus mare was bored. Really bored. And Rainbow Dash HATED being bored. Being bored was just so...well, boring! There had been no demands from the Weather Factory for particular weather patterns to be made and brought to anyplace, so today was practically a day-off for Rainbow Dash. She had hoped to spend it with her friends, but had not counted on the fact that just because she had the day off from work, it didn't mean her friends did as well. Twilight Sparkle was being an egghead as usual, immersing herself into a new pile of tomes and spell books she had received recently. Applejack was tending to the apple orchard as always with her family. Rarity was an option at first, but she wasn't the sort of pony who liked doing cool stuff and so was dropped. Fluttershy was away at some sort of convention for animals - go figure - and Pinkie Pie was working on a special order for some ceremony over in Canterlot. Rainbow Dash even went looking for Scootaloo, but remembered her little fan was in school today. She wouldn't be out until that afternoon, and even then the little orange filly would likely want to hang out with her friends. Rainbow Dash couldn't take her away from them even if she wanted to. The filly enjoyed crusading with her friends, and besides Scootaloo would probably have homework to do anyway. So far, all Rainbow Dash had done was lay on this cloud for two minutes. Two minutes which had been waaaaay too long for the impatient mare. She wanted something to do, and she wanted to do something now. Rainbow Dash's eyes trailed over to the Everfree Forest. From the outside, it looked like a beautiful forest, nature and life in abundance, but in reality, or at least the one that other ponies made up to keep their children away from it, it was a perilous and foreboding place which very few ponies dared to enter. The forest was filled with dangerous creatures, and they spoke also of strange beings that wandered the forest searching for foolish stallions and mares to do who-knows-what with them. All the more reason for the most awesome flyer in all of Ponyville, if not Equestria, to venture there, right? It would at the very least be way better than just lounging around on a cloud in bored torment. She could make up an obstacle course out of the trees and stuff laying around, or she might even have her own Daring Do moment and discover some kind of priceless ancient artifact, or maybe even some cool undiscovered ruins! Nopony really explored the Everfree Forest as far as she knew. Why couldn't there exist the possbility of the remains of a lost civilization existing right next door to Ponyville? Rainbow Dash's mind was made up right there and then. Besides, if I did come across anything dangerous, I'll show them how dangerous I can be too! Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she stretched out her wings and leaped off the cloud. Taking flight, she flew over towards the tree tops of the Everfree Forest. And who knows? Rainbow Dash thought with a smile, I might find something awesome! Meanwhile, in a desert in another place and time... This time, he was going to get that darn bird. Wile E. Coyote (aka; Persistentus Fellowus) felt it in his hungry gut. Today was the day he'd finally catch that irritating bird. And no, this feeling of luck wasn't like all those other feelings he had every other day. Oh no, this time he just knew that he'd be chewing on barbecued Road Runner before the end of today. And how was he going to do it? By cementing up a tunnel and painting an imaginary scene over it, of course! But this time, instead of painting a desert background as he usually did the last - what was it now, seven, eight, nine maybe times he had done before? - Wile E came up with the ingenious idea to instead paint a different setting. Replacing desert sand and pointed rocks for fields of flowers and oddly-formed clouded skies, Wile E was confident that the moment the Road Runner came along and saw the painting, it would stop and wonder why the desert trail was leading into a field of flowers and green grass, and that was to be the moment when he would jump out from behind a conveniently located rock close by and nab the little bugger once and for all. Wile E smiled wickedly to himself, as he added the last bit of blue to the sky, before stepping back and admiring his artistic masterpiece. There was no way this plan was going to fail. Absolutely, positively, indefinitely, without a doubt whatsoever - "Meep meep!" Wile E's ears perked up as a familiar sound in the distance echoed. The Road Runner was on its way! Wile E threw his paint brush away and kicked the paint cans aside before leaping behind a rock large enough to conceal himself behind. He cackled quietly to himself as he imagined the bone-crushing thwack sound the Road Runner would make as it hit his fake 'tunnel' at sixty miles per hour. Peeking out from his hiding spot, Wile E saw the bane of his existence speeding along the desert road, kicking up a cloud trail of smoke and dust in its wake, wearing that same stupid grin on its beak. But you won't be smiling in a minute, the hungry coyote thought to himself, crouching back behind his rock. He pulled out a napkin and tied it around his neck, readying his knife and fork for the feast about to come. "Meep, meep!" The Road Runner sounded much closer now. Wile E closed his eyes in anticipation, waiting for a few couple of seconds for the inevitable to befall the bird... He heard the Road Runner speeding along the road... ... He heard the Road Runner heading towards the painting. Wile E grinned widely, and clenched his utensils tightly... ... ...and he heard the Road Runner speeding off into the distance. Wait, what? Wile E's eyes opened, and he peeked out from behind the rock. He saw the dissipating cloud of dust kicked up by the Road Runner. The Road Runner had clearly not slowed down upon reaching the bricked-up tunnel, so where had it gone? Wile E walked up to the painting, and something caught his eye. His mouth fell agape, his jaw hitting the floor, when he saw the Road Runner inside of his painting, looking back at him with that same stupid, stupid grin. It popped its tongue out, and 'Meep, meep!'ed the bewildered coyote before zipping off across the painted fields and hills. ...no... Wile E's fork and knife fell to the ground with a clink and a clang. ...no, no, no... His yellow eyes narrowed in anger and he bared his sharp teeth. His face slowly turned a reddish shade and he shook violently from the rage building up within him. No, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! He began stomping the ground in a furious temper, the insult of another failed attempt at catching the Road Runner reminding him of all his previous failed attempts. HOW. DOES. THAT. DARN. BIRD. DO. THAT!? Wile E raged in his thoughts, stomping his foot down at each word. WHY. MUST. EVERY. THING. I. DO. END. IN. FAILURE!? His hands clenched closed into a fist, and he threw a punch at his painting. However, instead of feeling the brickwork behind the colors meet his knuckles, Wile E surprisingly felt himself losing balance, as he fell forward towards his painting. When he hit the ground, it was not the concrete hardness of the desert road that cushioned his fall, but something much softer. Strange. I don't remember the road being this soft before. Wile E opened his eyes, and to his surprise, he found a layer of green grass beneath him. His surprise evolved into astonishment when he lifted his head up and found himself in a small circular clearing within what he believed to be a forest, surrounded by trees and plant life. Birds flew above him, chirping and tweeting as they soared through the air, and a bunch of woodland critters hopped and leaped about from the trees and/or around them nearby. Where in the name of ACME am I? was the first thought to enter the coyote's mind. He then looked behind himself, and saw the familiar desert he knew so well, and...it...looked like a picture...also painted upon a wall of bricks? Wait a cotton pickin' minute, did I fall through my own painting? This place he was in now did seem rather familiar, now he thought about it. In fact, he was certain it was. There was that flower he painted by the tree over there. And there was that loose branch above it too! Yes, this definitely was the background world he had painted back in the desert, only now it was...real. Getting up off the floor and treading cautiously to the painting, Wile E hesitantly poked at it with a finger. His finger passed through without obstruction. A ripple erupted from where his finger touched, making the whole picture ebb and flow like it was composed entirely of water or something. Wile E pulled his finger from the painting, and the image became still again. He scratched his head in wonder. Well, this defies all scientific reasoning. How is it possible for one to enter an inanimate painting? He mentally slapped himself the second that thought came to mind. Listen to me! I chase a bird that can run across air and through painted scenery, have cannons shoot back on me, and constantly fall into conveniently located chasms, and I have the nerve to question the logical reasons behind my entering a fictional world I painted on a wall of bricks! Wile E turned and walked away, heading towards the tree. Well, since I'm here, I might as well explore the place. Who knows? If I don't come across the Road Runner again, I might find something else of interest...