> Equestrian Fugitive > by AnonymousWriter > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: First Time On the Job > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: First time on the job ------------------------------------ It was the Royal Guards first time on the job. He had become a Royal Guard of Canterlot. His name was Night Guardian. Night had a blue coating with a moon crescent and two words crossing the crescent. He was a unicorn with cyan hair his mane was a suitable length for being a Royal Guard. Night walked through the gate of the castle and then trotted through the big doors leading into the castle and eagerly strolled into the main doors of the castle. He strolled down the hall and had a glimpse at the amazing art of the 6 elements of harmony that took down Nightmare Moon. He saw pictures in books on the Myth of Nightmare Moon who could have possibly ruled Equestria and taken over Celestia. The thought horrified him so he stopped in though and focused on something else. The story scared him as a foal and up to this day still gave him the shivers. He felt a rush of happiness flow through him as he thought back about his brand new job. he went to the Employment Office where there was a mare, sitting behind a desk that was in front of him. "Can I help you?" The mare asked with a monotone voice and expression of boredom. "Yes, please! This is my first night on the job! I am Night Guar-" "Yeah, yeah I get it just let me look through the book." Night was cut off by the bored pony. She had an accent from Manehattan. "Ok so you are Night Guardian, you are 24 years old, you are employed for the Night shift and you are from where?" She asked. "On the outskirts of Fillydelphia." He replied with impatience in his voice. "Just testing... Ok so you will be guided by the head of the Royal Guards to where you will start your shift." She said. She pointed to the Stallion with a blue mane and white fur. He was a unicorn and Night knew exactly who he was. Night was walking down the halls with the stallion Night looked at him and said "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Shining Armour!" He said. Shining Armour kept facing forward but said "You too, but don't get used to seeing me often. The other stallion is on vacation with his family in Las Pegasus. He will be back in a week." He said. He was taken to a room where he put on his uniform and given a weapon that all guards get. It made him feel smart and powerful, and he loved that feeling. He then put on his helmet, which made him feel more powerful. Then the pair of ponies walked into a prison like room where there were ponies that looked awfully grim. One of them looked wimpy and screamed "I WAS FRAMED!!". Then a guard looked at him and said "Quiet, it's lights out. Go to sleep." Night was then taken to a cell with a pony that had a clipboard on the outside of the cell like the others did. It read out: PANE CRUSHER, MALE, AGE 47, UNDER ARREST REASON: VANDALISM INVOLVING 30 GLASS WINDOWS OF RESIDENTS HOUSES. SENTENCE: 1 YEAR IMPRISONED. "You will guard this cell for the night, make sure he doesn't escape or do any harm to you. Celestia bless you." Shining Armour said to Night. He walked off and left, leaving only Night, the prisoners and the guards. "Are you guarding me tonight?" Pane had questioned. Night replied with "Yes, now be quiet and go to bed, it is lights out.". The guard next to him whispered "Good job! Keep it up.". "Thanks." Night whispered back. "So when did you start?" The guard asked Night. "I started today actually." Night replied with stride and positivity, clear in his voice. "So what do we do now?" Night questioned. "We stand right here and guard the prisoners. That's it really.". "Ok. So what is your name?" The Night asked the guard. "I am Flash Sentry, you?" Flash asked back. "Night Guardian, call me Night or Guardie." He replied. "You can call me Flash." Flash replied. "Ok." Came back the reply. The night had continued on like this. The occasional question was asked and then came back the answer and then things went on. Night had been thinking about how his job as a guard was not quite what he expected. He expected more action, but he was fine and could live with it. After all, a job is a job. And he would enjoy it. He could feel it. The sun had risen over the hills and his shift was over. Night said his goodbyes to the guards. The guards said goodbyes and strangely, so did some of the prisoners but they were then told to be quiet. Night walked outside of the castle doors where the two guards guarding the door told Night to have a good day and would see him the next night. He said his goodbyes back to the pair of guards and walked outside the royal perimeters of the castle and started walking. "I think that my first time on the job went quite well." Night thought to himself. The morning was warm and welcoming and Night went to his home where his family greeted him and invited him in for breakfast. He decided to eat his breakfast and promised he would answer his family's questions when he woke back up. He went upstairs into his bedroom and laid down on his bed and instantly fell asleep on the couch. He was exhausted. He had a dream about his family cheering for him at the Royal Guard Ceremony. And dreamt up until he woke up that evening for his second time on the job... > Chapter 2: The Prisoner > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been 3 months since Night had started as a recruit of the Royal guards. He would watch and Guard the violent Ponies in exchange for 100 bits a day. He went to his employer and had a chat with him after he had finished his shift for one of the many prisoners in the cells. The employer was a unicorn with a red coat and orange mane which was folded over to one side. "I have gotten you the biggest deal you can get in your life!" His employer said with enthusiasm "Oh yeah? And who might this be?" Night asked. "Do you know that massive fugitive? The most wanted criminal in Equestria?" He asked. Night knew exactly who he was talking about. The strange creature that had caused murder which is very punishable in Equestria. It meant the hanging, no matter what. "What, the hairless pink thing? Good thing he was caught and brought in, horrible freak of nature, of course I know about it." Night replied. "Great! Because you will be watching it until it is executed which is on the 6th of July, he is up in solitary confinement." Nights employer replied. Night had a look of worry on his face. This criminal was in the newspaper articles everywhere. Such as when it first ever killed a Pony walking in the Everfree forest. Or when he stole 2 years worth of food in 2 days in multiple towns while everyone in the stores were held as hostages. This creature was the first creature to ever commit mass murder for thousands of years. Nights employer noticed the look on his face and tried to comfort him. He sighed before saying "Look, I understand this is a big thing for you Night but you have come such a long way. You can't just work up something big and stop! If there is anyone that could do this, it's you. Now good luck!" And with that, his employer walked away whistling a tune. Night slowly walked up the stairs to solitary confinement with worry. He thought of how respected he was for his work and how he was thought to be able to take this massive job of taking care of the most wanted criminal ever in Equestria. He noticed how all of the stairs started to get more eroded. Which started to bother him to the extent that his legs started wobbling like jelly. When he approached the cell he noticed a few things. The cell was small, had bars all around it and only had a bench and a toilet. He saw the creature, the creature was awfully malnourished and had wire like fur on its head. It had a lot of hair on its face and had barely any hair on the rest of its body. The creature looked at him and Night quickly looked away in disgust and fear when he remembered that this creature had murdered innocent Ponies. Night heard the creature smirk. "You think I am a freak, am I correct?" The beast said. "Shut up, freak, I know what you are and you deserve to be killed, thankfully that is happening." Night said back coldly to the beast. "Nice to meet you too. I hate horses, all of them. Why do you reckon we should be friends?" The creature questioned Night. Night had started to put his things down that he was carrying with him and replied with "I don't." "Well, I would really enjoy if we talked abo-" "Shut up, thing." Night coldly cut off. "You aren't like the other ones. No your different. Very very different." The creature said. Night had gotten very agitated, he had assumed that the creature was insulting him by calling him different. "Don't call me different, your the only different thing in this world, a freak of nature. Now give me a reason on why I shouldn't just ignore you for these few days you have left on this planet." The creature looked at him with saddened eyes. "I could tell you a story." It said. "What type of story? A story of how you murdered innocent Ponies? Ugh Your horri-" "NO!" Night asked when cut off by the creature. "I could tell you a story of how I ended up here..." > Chapter 3: The Story of Jason Sanders > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night had returned from his home and was late for work. He raced up to the solitary confinement with his food, water and armour, galloping as fast as if his life depended on it. He was holding a notebook with a pencil and ready to hear the creatures story. "You came pretty late huh?" The creature said. "Yeah I know right? It wa- oh I know what you are doing." Night said. "I have no clue what you are talking about." The creature said. "Now tell me the story." Night said. "Ok ok. Here I go." Jason Sanders Silence. That was all there was. Nothing else, just silence. I started to hear things. Rustling trees, birds. The I opened my eyes. I had woken up. I felt a terrible pain in my head. I had no clue where I was, what time, day or year it was or how I had gotten to this place, but I knew who I was and where I had come from, my family, my home and my friends. I knew everything. But I just did not know how I had woken up in a random place like this. It was a forest. A dark forest. I was next to a large pond, little fish swimming among the blue rippling water and I was extremely wet and my head was in a massive amount of non stop pain. I was lying next to a rock meaning I probably fell from a high place, hit my head and blacked out. I went with the idea that I was suffering from short term amnesia. There was no signs of life around me except for insects, their noises the fish and the trees surrounding me. "HELLO?!" I shouted with a nervous tone. No one was around. No one there to help. No one there to save me. I started to cry. The tiers ran down my face and into the wet sand that was below me, presumably emanating from the pond. I checked everything I had one me. A back pack and clothes. I checked the back pack and knew right away it was my survival kit. I had earned it at my scout group I attended. I took it everywhere. I must have taken it with me and somehow I was maybe hiking up a mountain and fell off a cliff and survived. In the backpack there was a box of matches, my cracked (but still working) phone, a machete, a first aid kit and a 22 LR Semi automatic rifle with a scope. Oh the good old 22, the gun that my father once held in his own hands. I started to think of when he taught me how to use the gun and we were shooting bottles. I decided to walk in a random direction with my knife in my hand in case a predator randomly pounced out. I walked for an estimated time of 25 minutes and climbed a tall tree. I could see houses in the distance. But these houses did not look normal and decided to stay away from it in case it was foreign and hostile. Maybe primitive due to no cars being there. Which gave me more of a reason to stay in the forest area. I went back down the tree and took a five minute hike backwards and stopped at a random place and raked some leaves with my hands and started cutting a tree with my machete and grabbed the logs from the tree to form a campfire. I was next to a small freshwater pond where I could gather freshwater and stay hydrated. I used my scouting knowledge and gathered enough sticks and leaves and made a small shelter that looked like a triangular shaped swag that got smaller when it got longer. It was 2 metres long and 1 meter wide. Then I knew that due to the feelings I was experiencing, I had to go hunting for food. I was hungry. I grabbed my first aid kit, my gun and hid behind a fallen tree but still able to see beyond the tree with my gun going through a hole in the tree that was just able to fit the scope and barrel into and I waited. 1 hour had gone past and I was really hungry. I was about to go back to my campsite when suddenly I saw a spark of hope, a deer walking into the view of the scope and eating grass. It then looked up. Perfect timing for me. I carefully aimed until the scope was dead centre on its head. I took the shot and the bullet went right through its head. The deer was instantly killed and it fell to the ground with a thud. I ran over to it and dragged it back to the campsite. I skinned it with the machete for a blanket, put the meat over the fire and waited half an hour. It had been half an hour and I went over to the fire and consumed the deer meat at a fast speed. Present Time "Well I really need to sleep right now, I will have to go to bed now, I will see you tomorrow night then?" The creature asked Night. "Unfortunately." Night mumbled. Night had actually been interested with the story and was a little eager to hear the rest of the story. "Well, good night!" It said back to Night. Night didn't reply. It was morning and Night had been given his daily salary and left the cell while the creature was still sleeping. He left the gates of the castle and looked back. The castle that towered higher than any building he had seen before. He then returned to his house and went to bed until it was time to start work again... > Chapter 4: Strange Behaviour... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night was approaching the castle, looking up at them, the sun was barely visible now, as the moon began to rise. The darkness of the tall structure loomed over him. He walked through the massive golden doors he had walked through so many times before. But something really amazing happened. Princess Celestia was walking through the halls directly at him. He tried not to scream in excitement as he kept a straight face. She was one metre away from him. He could feel her hair radiate, it made him feel that she was powerful. He bowed to her and said "Princess, it is an honour to meet you for the first time.". Princess Celestia smiled and said "It is an honour to meet you as well, Night. But there are things we have to discuss." Celestial voice changed to a colder tone. "So I have heard that you are the guard who is watching The despicable creature, am I correct?" Princess Celestia had asked Night. "Yes, your majesty." Night had replied with. Night had actually began to think that the other Ponies were being slightly harsh on the creature that was captured. "Well I must announce to you that if that criminal ever releases information to you, directly inform me at the time your shift ends." She then replied back. "Has he said anything to you?" Celestia asked Night. Night was about to say everything that the creature had done and told him, when a he started to disagree in his head about the dean of telling him. "Well?" Celestia asked with boredom and a hurrying manor. "No, your majesty, it has not released any information at all. But if he does, where would I let you know?" Night asked. "The place where I usually am, my throne room." She answered. "Good luck guarding the creature Night." She said after. And with that, she walked off as if nothing had happened. Night stood there, realising that he had just spoken to probably the most powerful being in all of Equestria. He then started silently cheering and ran up to solitary confinement, still cheering silently. His cheering stopped. He saw that the creature was in a bad state. "Are you okay?" Night decided to ask. The creature stayed silent. It turned around and looked at him, like a deer in headlights he turned around while screaming as if he had had his limbs torn off. "FUCKING HORSES EVERYWHERE, I FUCKING HATE THEM. HATE HATE HATE HATE HA-" Then suddenly, as if it was struck by lightning, he fell on the floor and passed out. Night galloped out of the room calling out for help, as for all, he needed to help him. Night had started to notice things. Some things that to him were not right. Everything he had been witnessing. The talk with the princess, the way she said to speak to her if he said the slightest thing to tell her immediately. The way she spoke gave him chills. Then there was the fugitive. What had they done to him that day? What did they do to make him scream like that? Everything he was experiencing was strange. And he was going to get to the bottom of it. > Chapter 5 - The Murder > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "He has severe PTSD and is lucky he didn't do anything bad to cause any harm to himself." One of the few ponies surrounding the creature had said. It had been around half an hour since the creature had lost consciousness. He was laying down on the mossy, dirty and uneven grey cobblestone of the cell floor the creature was staying in. There were 4 ponies surrounding the creature laying down that all looked identical, wearing medical white uniforms. 3 stallions and 1 mare. After the diagnosis, Night was told that he should make sure that the fugitive does not do anything life threatening to himself and if it were to get out of hooves he were to contact the doctors again. And after everything was sorted, the doctors left without a word. The fugitive lay on his rusty prison bed, still unconscious. Night felt sorry for the creature, although the fugitive had done terrible things, Night still felt remorseful. Night had been sitting on his chair saying nothing. The cold temperature of the room made Night shiver. He looked back at the creature who was shivering more than Night was. Night then realised how cold the creature must have been, staying in the same cell for a very long time. He had decided to reach into the cell with his spear and gently tap the creature on the shoulder. On impact, the creature moaned, slowly got up and started rubbing his eyes. Night quickly withdrew his spear and waited for the creature to notice him. "MOM?!" The creature had shouted to no one. The creature started turning around and when he saw Night he started breathing faster and had the biggest expression of fear painted on his face. "Relax, I am not going to hurt you, ok? Calm down. Breathe." The creature started to breathe slower. Night then noticed something horrible. The creature had bruises all over his body. His face, back and chest, all covered in bruises. Its' swollen eyes were bloodshot with tears streaming down his face. It was the worst thing Night had ever seen. "WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU TODAY?!" Night asked in horror and disbelief. "You don't know what it is like, at all. You don't know what it is like to get abused. Over and over and over again." The creature said. Night was about to respond when the creature started speaking again. "You don't know what It has been like for me living here for the past years. A number of times I have been beaten and beaten OVER AND OVER AGAIN FOR THE PAST 3 GOD DAMN MOTHER FUCKING YEARS I HAVE BEEN IN THIS SHIT HOLE OF A PLACE! YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING THE GOOD LIFE AND SPENT SO MUCH TIME WITH YOUR LOVED ONES WHEN I HAVE BEEN COOPED UP HERE IN THIS FUCKING PLACE WITH NO FAMILY TO BE AROUND! NO ONE TO TALK TO OR NOT EVEN HAVING A FUCKING NORMAL LIFE!" The creature had burst out in rage. He began to start throwing things around the place. "I don't. I haven't I probably never will. But you've got to know something." Night said. Night brought his wooden chair forward, closer to the cell bars and leaned in towards the fugitive. "I promise I will talk to you more often and I will help you with a few things tomorrow." Night said with remorse in his voice. "Like what?" The creature asked Night with curiosity. "You'll see." Night said in a mysterious tone. Night began to get his notebook out of his bag, along with his pencil. "Now can you tell me a little bit more of the story?" Night asked the creature, pencil in his mouth and ready to write down more of the story. The creature smiled, then said, "I'd love to.". Jason It had been more than a few days and I had managed to hunt many animals. But there was a problem, I was running out of ammunition. I had started packing up my things when I heard a noise. It was the noise of leaves rustling, it was an animal. I got my gun out and started searching for the source of the noise. I found it, it was emanating from bushes that were scraggly and green. I couldn't see the animal that was behind it, but I took the shot. The echo of the bullets scared birds away and ruptured through the valleys. I heard the body of the animal fall limp. As I was going to get the animal I heard a scream. Not an animal scream, a human scream, well at least it sounded human. I went to the other side of the bushes and found 2 colored miniature horses. One was alive and well with a look of horror on its face. It had a shade of green for its fur and had a light tone of green and a darker tone of green stripes in its hair. It had some sort of harp instrument on both sides of its butt. The other laid motionless, not moving, blood leaking out of the small hole in the side of its head. It had a tone of red for its fur and "BERRY?! BERRY! ARE YOU OK?!" The other pony screamed at the limp and nonmoving one. "What the fuck?!" I screamed. "WHAT ARE YOU?! DID YOU JUST KILL MY FRIEND?!!" The pony screamed with anger. "Woah, woah! It was an accident I didn't mean it! I swear!" I replied with a scared tone. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" It shouted at me. Before it could do anything else, I ran off in fear deeper into the woods. I had been running for hours, far enough until could no longer hear the screams of the creature. I was still trying to process what had just happened. I stopped running and started questioning, huffing and puffing to myself. "Okay, think Jason. Just think. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT THING?! Holy shit. Holy fuck. HOKY FUCK! I JUST MURDERED AN INTELLIGENT CREATURE! WHAT HAVE I DONE!? I have to go back! I have to! Oh, fuck!". I started panicking and began running back in the other direction to see if the things were still there. The bushes were rustling as I ran past them, faster than the De Lorian time machine. When I had gotten back to where I had seen the creature, the was only a stain of blood. The creatures had left the forest. "HOLY SHIT." I said out loud. "I need to find them." I said with courage striding in my voice. "I need to come clean and apologize." I then commanded to myself. I grabbed my bag, and all of the stuff I had and started walking down the pathway, that the ponies most have been walking from, the rustling of the green trees and the sky as blue as the ocean that I had once seen. I had started to feel warmer as the sunlight was getting brighter as there were fewer trees around the area. I was out of the forest. There was long meadows of cut grass and the rolling hills just up ahead of me, houses in the distance. I needed to come clean to the creatures and seek help on getting me back home. So I began planning on how I would introduce myself. I started speaking to myself. "If I go out acting like an asshole I will be fucked. So I should formally introduce myself and-" Then I was cut off by screams of anger in the distance. The yelling sounded like an army of Spartans charging fiercely, ready to attack their enemies. And the sound of the running was louder than a stampede of buffaloes. I then saw a familiar figure standing on the hill right in front of me "THERE IT IS! IT IS IS THE MURDERER!!" The familiar voice projected loudly and aggressively. It was the green horse. She sounded really pissed off. I did not want to be around her. I felt a shiver run down from my neck, along my spine and south to my tailbone, this was not going to be good at all. I then started to see what the rest of the noise was. A whole bunch of horses, all different colors, some had wings, some had horns and some of them had neither. They were running at me. "YOU KILLED ONE OF US!" "YOU MONSTER!" "FREAK OF NATURE!" "YOU WILL HAVE THE SAME FATE AS BERRY!" Some of the voices were shouting as they charged towards me, the ground shaking like a massive earthquake from an action movie. I started to run back into the forest, the horses still coming at me. While I was running I hid behind a tree, the ponies didn't notice me hide the tree and they all ran past me. Classic move. I ran back out of the forest and towards the town. When I got to the town, it was completely empty. I saw no one outside, the doors were barricaded and no one was in sight. I ran for five minutes to the very center of the town. When I got there I looked around. There was still not a single figure of life there. All I could hear was the rustling of the trees and the breeze. I shouted at the top of my lungs. "HELLO?!" No reply came. "IS ANYONE HERE?!?" There was still no reply. Then I heard the sound of a wooden plank, drop to the ground. I quickly spun around to where the sound came from and saw that there was an alleyway between two of the houses. There was a figure standing between the houses. I couldn't catch what it was. It then ran away. "WAIT COME BACK!" I shouted towards the alleyway. Sadly, all I heard was more of the whistling from the breeze and the trees swaying gently. I decided that I would sit on one of the benches that were in the center of this mysterious town. I had a look at my surroundings. There were a few more park benches lined up, lined up trees, a bridge going over a river, green grass mostly on the ground, all of the paths leading down separate roads, there were no birds around either. It was very odd... I sat on the bench for what felt like hours. Until I suddenly saw another one of the horses in the distance sprinting towards me. I looked closer and saw the pony was wearing what looked like police wear, it was a police pony. "I could try reasoning with it." I thought to myself as the pony came coming closer. "STOP RIGHT THERE YOU MURDERER!" I heard the pony scream. That was when I decided to make a run for it, somewhere else. I did not want to go back into the forest, so I ran the other way out of town, down a dirt road. I kept running until it got to a part of the road that met with a forest, a wooden sign with the words "White Tail Woods" on it. The forest looked a lot less gloomy than the other forest I had been in, so I ran into the woods and didn't look back. Present Day "I think I am getting tired now." The Fugitive said with a yawn emanating from his mouth as he laid back onto his old, rusty bed. "I just wish I could go home." He said once again. "You have a home?" Night said. Night asked, thinking about what Celestia had commanded him to do while getting his book out. "Yeah, I had a home, family a-" The Fugitive was cut off by the sound of a pencil writing words on a piece of paper. He looked over and saw Night writing all of the information down on a new page of his notebook. "Please don't tell anyone." The Fugitive said. Night stopped and looked up at the creature, seeing fear in his eyes. "Why not?" Night asked. "There is this story from my home about a set of beings that discovered a new place with native beings living there. They had a war and the natives lost. I don't want that to happen to any of my family. Please sir, don't do this." The creature said. Night felt sympathy for the creature. And scrunched up the paper, ran down the hall and threw the scrap paper out the window, and ran back. "It's gone now, don't worry." Night said. The creature smiled sincerely and said "Thank you.". Before the creature went to bed Night asked him one more question. "What is your name?" Night asked. The creature gave him a look of fear. "Never mind." Night said letting the creature go to sleep. 20 seconds later Night earned a reply. "My name is Jason." The creature said. "What an interesting name. Well goodnight, Jason." Night said with surprised. "Good night, Night." Jason responded. Silence then took its toll and not a sound was heard for the rest of the night. > Chapter 6: New Terrain, new obstacles, new stories and new frindships. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a fine evening in Equestria. The sun had risen to a fair height where Celestia was not necessary to use magic to raise it further and now it was up to Luna to raise her moon. The sun was just higher than the castle towers in Canterlot. The points of the towers just touching the sun rays from a ponies perspective. Meanwhile in the canterlot castle, two ponies were having a conversation. One of them were a stallion guarding a nationwide known criminal and the other pony was a mare, the ruler of the nation known as Equestria. “You are well aware by now that he shall be executed within two weeks. I have ponies trying to work out a way of executing him.” The mare had told Night, the guard who had now been guarding the creature for the past week. Her hair, multiple colours, her fur pale like snow, cutie mark resembling a sun. “I fully understand, is there anything I should do at all involving Ja- the fugitive?” Night said, stopping himself from saying his real name. Unfortunately it was not affective, for Celestia had taken notice of what he was going to say. “What were you going to say? Has he told you anything?” Celestia asked, turning suddenly darker in terms of personality. Walking closer to Night. Each step she took scared Night. “N- no your majesty. He has not, I only stuttered that’s all.” Night replied with, hoping she would shrug it off. Instead, Celestia leaned over him, glaring down at him, as if he was a criminal. She then said “Well then you must learn to not stutter as much!” She began smiling again. “Also yes, there is something you should do to him. Treat him with utmost disrespect, like he has done to many. He does not deserve friendship or love, for he has done the worst of hints in his past.” Celestia has said to Night, with a dark tone. Night then said “I understand, thank you your majesty.” And just like that, she smiled and trotted away as if nothing had ever happening. Night had began to think that Jason were an innocent creature who had been misundertood by the creatures in the nation. As he trotted to the cell where the creature was trapped in, he could hear yelling emanating from the other side of the thin and dark mossy cobblestone corridor he was inside of. He began to trot faster, then it progressed into speed-trotting, then running as the shouting got louder. He could clearly hear Jason screaming, and not in an angry tone, but a scared tone. —�—�—�—�—�—�—�-Jason POV—�—�—�—�—�—�—� The guard that had been guarding me for a long time would always do this. He would hit me, kick me and hurt me in many ways. But now, the pain was more unimaginable than what I had ever experienced. He had a stick and was continuously swinging at me with it. “STOP!! JUST FUCKING STOP!!” I screamed. However he kept on doing it, not stopping or even acknowledging that I had even said anything. He just kept doing it. That was until a few seconds ago. Now the pain is going down. He is not hitting me anymore. I don’t know what has happened. I get up slowly and see what has occurred whilst being in pain. The stallion that was hitting me on the ground. The guard had stopped hitting me. I hated that guard. At least the one that “guarded” me during the day. The one that guards me during the night was standing over him. He had knocked him out and was currently using his horn to do something. I didn’t know what he was doing. “What the fuck did you just do?” I asked. Night just looked up at me and said “I am saving you bucking life.” “... why don’t you just say fuck?” I ask. “What does “fuck” even mean?” He asked. “Don’t worry about it” I said to him. “What are you doing right now?” I asked. “Like I said, I’m saving your life.” He said. “You know that is not what I mean.” I told him with an obvious careless tone and facial expression. “Ok, I am trying to do a memory spell. It should erase his memory of what happened. So it will feel like he is waking up. Now quickly act like you are in bed!” He said to me. “Alright.” I replied as I began sitting on the bed. “Uuuhhh, what happened?” I heard the daytime guard ask as from what I could hear he was getting up from the ground. “Sleeping on the job? I might have to report you for that!” I heard Night say in a convincing tone. “Please don’t! I don’t want that!” The other guard replied frantically and fearfully. “Then scram! It’s my shift now. Buck off!” Night screamed. I could hear the other guard gallop away, shouting in fear. Shouting words like “I’m sorry” and “Please forgive me”. I could hear Night laughing and I decided to start laughing as well. Eventually we both stopped laughing and started having a swift conversation. I felt like I was actually becoming friends with him. Maybe not. I hope he will though, he is not like the other ponies. He is different. He cares... Like Dashie does... ————No ones POV————— “I want to thank you for doing that, man.” Said Jason as he sat on his rusty metal bed, black and blue bruises all over him. “Its ok, I am doing my job, and that is guarding you, not letting someone abuse you like that. I don’t even care if the princess or anyone wants me to hate you, no one deserves it, not even if they did something so bad that... that... uhhh.” Night was loosing him train of thought and at that point Jason began his reply. “No, I don’t blame them for doing it, my race of beings would do it to someone who did the same things that the other ponies think I did all of that stuff for no reason.” Jason said. “Think you did?” Night asked. Jason turned his head to Night with a confused but also a tint of depression was also painted on his face. “You think I did all the things they said I did on purpose?” Jason asked, tears forming, but barely. “No it’s not that, it is because nopony told me your aside of the story of all of these things. Speaking of which, can you tell me the rest of the story?” Night asked. “Oh yes.” Jason said. “But the only things that really happened was hunting for food and building a campsite in Whitetail Woods.” Jason than added on. “Oh.” Night said. “Until I had met her.” Jason had then said, more happinesses in his voice. “Who is her?” Night asked. Jason looked up at Night. “Rainbow Dash. She was the only one that understood me, of course it was hard to tell her at first but eventually-“ Jason said. Only to be cut off by Night. “Wait wait wait wait... Rainbow Dash. The wonder bolt?” Night asked Jason. Jason replied by nodding his head. “So you are telling me that you persuaded a wonderbolt to not tell anyone or anything about yo-“ Night was then cut off. “No, I did not persuade her. She understood me.” He said. Night sighed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever, so you made friends with wonder bolt that is insanely stubborn and did not tell anyone the whereabouts of the most wanted fugitive in Equestrias history?” Night had asked with humour obviously in his voice. “Yes, but we became more than friends after a while.” Jason said. “I have to tell you tomorrow Night dude, I’m tired.” Jason said lying down on his “bed”. “Ok then, goodnight Jason, have a good sleep.” Night said. “I try to.” Jason said. Nothing was said for the entire night. There was a lot of peace. Morning came and Night left the castle and journeyed home. He knew that when he would return to the castle, he would hear an amazing story. But for the meanwhile, Night was asked questions by his parents. “So honey how was work today?” His mother asked. “It was fine mom.” Night answered. “What’s it like guarding a hardened criminal?” His Dad asked. “It’s alright.” Night said to his dad. But in his mind, he knew the real answer was not the same as the one he gave to his dad. > Chapter 7: Nightmares and Dreams > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- —————————-Jason POV—————————- Everything is black for me right now. I can’t hear anything. I can’t see anything either. It’s all black. “Jason wake up” echoed a voice. “Night, give me some rest” I replied to the voice. “Jason get up!” I heard the voice shout. “I said let me sleep!” I yelled once more. “Jason you have to go to school!” I heard the voice say. “Wait, what?” I questioned the voice, opening my eyes. As I opened my eyes, I started to feel around, this wasn’t my bed, no, this is more comfortable... This is my bedroom. On Earth. I opened the blinds to my window that was right next to me and looked through the glass. The ocean, the horizon, cars driving past, tankers going out to sea, the old lighthouse on the hill just in the distance. I was back in Wollongong. I began to shout with excitement. “Jason, come on, get up!” I heard the voice say. I shot right up and was out of bed instantly. I was more focused and saw a female figure around my height. I knew the voice instantly. It was my mother. “...Mum? MUM?!?” I started to scream and panic with excitement due to being back on Earth and the fact that I had not seen her in ages. “Honey you have to get up and go to sch-“ she was cut off by me running up to her and cuddling her. “MUM I MISSED YOU SO MUCH, DO YOU REALISE WHERE I HAVE BEEN?!” I screamed as I squeezed her tight. “Honey why are you so excited? Have a shower, you need to get dressed as well.” My mother replied back. She acted as if nothing had happened. “Mum... it’s been 3 years...” I said. My mother gave me a strange look. “What are you talking about Jason?” She asked me. “Mum, I should be preparing for my HSC soon. I disappeared for 3 years. How do you not know that I was missing?!?” My mother was about to reply, she opened her mouth and said “Jason... it’s time to wake up Jason.” “What?” I asked in confusion. “You have to get up and face reality now.” She said. “What the fuck do you mean?” I asked. Suddenly her face became the face of a mare that I had known for a long time. Her eyes were that of a pony and her face was blue. “OH FUCK NO! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, QUIT HAUNTING MY FUCKING DREAMS!” I screamed at her. This pony had haunted my dreams for the longest of times, ever since I arrived here. The all-familiar nightly torture. It was Princess Luna, the younger sister to the leader of Equestria. Suddenly I opened my eyes, and the sensation of a hoof on my leg sent me upright in a jolt of fear. I was back in my cell, it was nighttime still. I fucking hated the feeling of the cell bed. “Please get up and finish the story, Jason.” Night said. I had let out a yelp of fear while I had been woken up, the nightmare was still very vivid and going through my mind. They had been getting pretty bad at this point. “Jason? JASON? Are you alright?” Night asked me with a genuine face of concern. “Oh, fuck... yes I’m fine,” I replied. “Why were you screaming?” He asked me with worry on his face, but intrigue in his voice. “Long story... speaking of which!” “Oh yes! Please tell me more about what happened in whitetail woods!” He excitedly insisted. “Ok ok I’ll tell you. Just sit down now.” I said. The Story I ran as fast as I could into the woods. Eventually, I came to a halt and found myself a nice place away from the nearest footpath. I raked the leaves up and put them in a pile, I drew out my machete and cut the branches off of a nearby tree and formed a tipi formation of smaller branches I had shattered into pieces from the branch I cut off the tree. I rubbed sticks together with weeds until the weeds ignited and threw the weeds into the leaves. The campfire was burning. I got rocks and surrounded the campfire so it wouldn’t light any more trees on fire, causing unwanted attention. I had enough spare time to think to myself and try to regain my memories from how I got into that shithole of a place. Ok, so I woke up near a pond or river... ok, think... water, pond, river... I thought to myself. “Fuck try to remember...” I mumbled. Water, pond, river... Water... Pond... Ri- Suddenly, whilst focusing, a very faded, yet distinguishable memory emerged. “HOLY SHIT!” I cried. I was screaming for help, then I was falling, I hit my head. There was a beach of some sort, and the ocean was there. “What the fuck?” I asked myself after having the faded and mysterious memory. This memory didn't help me much with how I had gotten there, it was quite unhelpful. “You know what? I fucking give up! Fuck you brain!” I yelled. I sat down in frustration. It was getting dark. “Fuck” I said. I then heard footsteps run behind me. “Fuck it’s probably one of those fucking horse things! HIDE!” My thoughts begged for me to do. Obeying these thoughts, I ran to a nearby boulder and hid as the creature ran through the orange and green trees. The creature ran to my campfire and sped off quickly. When I ran back to the site, my gun was missing. The creature took my fucking gun. I needed that gun for emergencies. I barely had any ammunition left in it as well. “COME BACK HERE YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” I screamed at the figure. When no reply was heard, I figured it was not a pony, as it would have returned with more of those horse creatures. No one returned. It was around 12am judging by the placement of the moon. Around the center of the sky. “Hah, it looks like a unicorn is on that fucking thing. It’s like that rabbit on the moon.” I said. Then I realized there was never a unicorn-shaped figure on the moon on Earth. That was when I realized I wasn’t on my planet. I then began to cry out of fear as I realized that mane I was stuck on this planet forever, living as an outcast. “Wait a minute...” I started talking to myself. “That creature... why did it take my fucking gun, why did it have to take the most important fucking thing I have?” I thought. “This is fucked.” I said, giving up my final cares for the day, as I welcomed the tiredness in. I layed down and drifted to sleep. I started dreaming of being on a hillside. Blue skies, people walking around. But then suddenly the sky turned red and people were running away, screaming. The humans all vanished over the horizon of the hills. I then saw a body of not a human, but of the horse-like creature I once killed by accident. There were other bodies like the deer, rabbits, and other animals I had hunted lying beside the dead horse. It was like a slaughterhouse. I was horrified. As soon as the bodies all appeared, I heard a loud and wicked female voice. “YOU ARE AN EVIL CREATURE!” The woman’s voice shouted. “SHOW YOURSELF!” I shouted in fear but determination. The figure revealed themself. It was a horse creature like the others, but had different eyes, blue fur, and was wearing armour. “...What the hell are you?!” Then, an eruption of loud gusty wind went over me and almost knocked me over. “I AM YOUR NEW LEADER, NIGHTMARE MOON! ON THIS NIGHT, I SHALL BRING AN ENDLESS NIGHT THAT WILL LAST FOREVER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” She wickedly shouted. “Holy shit!” I shouted. I was then woken up by a scream in the distance. I got scared for a second. Then there was a bright light above me. The moon was there, and the stars came closer into the moon and the horse figure disappeared from the moon. “What the fuck.” I said, I went back to sleep. But when I woke up it was still night time. “What the fuck?” I asked. I decided to temporarily leave the forest to see why it was still night time and why the moon was still high in the sky. As I left the forest and came near those houses and the town, I noticed 6 ponies walking into the other forest I first woke up in. “What the hell are they doing?” I asked. I decided to follow them out of curiosity. “We shouldn’t enter, it’s really dangerous.” “Come on girls, we have to go to the castle of the 2 sisters!” “But it’s the Everfree Forest!” I ran away from them and through the trees of the “Everfree Forest” I was in to hide from the and see what they were doing. When I lost sight of them, I heard a loud roar. I turned towards the noise and saw a lion with wings. “A FUCKING MANTICORE?!” I screamed. It grabbed me and through me to the ground. It scraped my back with its claws. I pinched its arm, then tried punching it, no use. It threw me into the bushes and off the road we were on. I decided to throw something at it. I grabbed a rock next to me and threw it at the lion hybrid. No use, it started running towards me. I grabbed some thorns and threw the onto the road in front of me. The manticore darted towards me and ran over one of the thorns and started roaring so loudly. It fell to the ground. It was pissed off. I ran off into the bushes in fear and came to a pause as I saw what was in front of me. There was a river that was calm and flowing gently. “I think I remember how to swim.” I said to myself. I jumped into the water. It was so cold. I then remembered that I could do breaststroke, so I started to swim across to the other side. “Thank god” I thought to myself. “MY MOUSTACHE!!” I heard a feminine like man scream. Then shortly after that, the river became rapid and hard to swim across. I started to go under the water and almost drowned. I managed to survive but began going downstream. I grabbed a root from a tree that was hanging over the edge and into the river and managed to pull myself onto the grass after 15-20 minutes. “What the fuck?!?” I yelled as I ran down the path further in an exhausted tone. I kept running down the path until I got to a bridge. There was a castle on the other side. It looked ancient and creepy. But I could barely see it, as there was a lot of mist filling the air. “How did I not see this when I was here?!” I asked. I began crossing the bridge. The wooden planks were very wobbly. They were emmiting a creaking sound, as if they were about to break. Then out of nowhere I heard a strange and indescribable sound from behind me. I looked back and saw a cloud of smoke that was dark and blue, like the horse figures hair I saw in the dream. And it didn’t look friendly. “Oh shit. Better cross faster.” I thought to myself, gradually speeding up. I was about to get to the end of the bridge, only to see the cloud of unknown matter physically untie the ropes at the end of the bridge. I ran across the creaking planks. But the bridges untied ropes were going over the edge. I was so close to the end. I took a leap of faith... And successfully grabbed onto the grass. The bad news was that I was hanging off the edge. I could hear those horses catching up, and could hear their voices. I didn’t want to yell for help because they would most likely know who I was and what I did to the other pony. The smokey cloud of something was trying to make me fall off the cliff. It made me lose grip of my first hand. “OH FUCK!” I shouted. Then it removed my second hand. “AHHH!” I screamed with fear as I fell down as gravity did its work. Then I felt something bite into my shirt and pull me up and onto the other side. It let go of me as I fell onto the ground safely. It then flew to the other side, grabbed the bridges rope and pulled it back to the side I was on. The cloud then flew away and towards the direction of that ancient castle. “Are you alright?” The horse thing said to me with concern. This horse thing had a mane that was multicolored, had blue fur and had a tattoo of a cloud with rainbow colored lightning striking out of it. “Um yeah, I’m fine. What are you?” I asked. “Oh, I’m a pony! the names Rainbow Dash! How do you not know what a pony is?” She asked me. “Oh I know what a pony is, it’s just I never have seen one uhh... like you.” I replied. “What do you mean by that?” She asked. I was about to reply by saying that I had not seen a pony with a tattoo and rainbow hair, let alone blue hair, but she cut me off. “Do you like me or something?” She asked. “WHAT? No no no, it’s just that I have never seen a pony with rainbow hair before.” I said. “Oh! Oh ok, haha...” she said as her speech died down. I don’t think it was because she was embarrassed. I think she was disappointed. “But what the heck are you? I have never seen your type of species before. You are like a monkey, but hairless and can talk. And you are wearing clothes.” She asked. “Oh, I’m a-“ I was cut off by an echoey voice. “Rainbow...” The voice said. “Who’s there?!” Rainbow Dash asked with a tough pose and assertive voice. “Rainbow...” the voice said again. I decided to stay back from the conversation with Rainbow and the anonymous voice, so I hid behind a tree. “I AIN’T SCARED OF YOU! SHOW YOURSELF!” she yelled. The conversation with the voice and her went on and on, even after the voice revealed itself to be three Pony figures that did flying acrobatic shows and shit. Then she was forced to make a choice between staying with her friends or choosing to leave with these so called “Shadow Bolts”. I saw the leader of the shadow bolts fill the air with more mist so the other 5 ponies behind us couldn’t see her. But they couldn’t see me anyway as I was further into the mist. “You...” Rainbow Dash said. The shadow bolt leader began to grin. Something about those shawdow bolts was off. And they looked eerie and dangerous and the fact she stopped her other friends from seeing her do anything. And the fact she made her choose between her friends and then in the first place. This was a ridiculous choice. And she was going to choose them. “Rainbow!” I shouted, emerging from behind the tree. She looked back at me in curiosity. I ran up to her and the shadow bolts. The 3 of them were all were glaring at me. “She meant thank you for the offer, but she’s afraid she has to say no.” I said, cutting in. “Is this true Rainbow?!” The leader asked her, obviously angry. She looked at me and back at the leader. “Yes, that’s correct.” She said. The three shadow bolts then dissapeared back into the dark cloud matter and went into the castles direction. “Thank you so much. I can’t belive a was about to choose to join that cloud thing, and I forgot about my friends. I feel so bad for betraying them like that...” she said looking clearly sad. “Don’t worry about it, it was just the heat of the situation. I know if you remembered about your friends, you would have said no. It was just a simple mind blank!” I replied with a smile. “Rainbow?!” I heard a voice on the other side shout to her. She looked back to the mist at the bridge and looked back at me, with a lit up face. “You should come with us! We are trying to stop Nightmare Moon from casting an everlasting night over Equestria! It’s really cool! Come on!” She said with excitement. “I’m sorry Rainbow, I can’t have anybody see me for reasons I can’t say, but listen, when you go back, promise me you won’t tell your other friends about this. Just tell them nothing about what happened just now. Please.” I asked. She looked at me in confusion and sadness. “Ok, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She said. “Haha... ok.” I replied with laughter. She turned to tie the bridge rope back onto the cliff but then asked one more question. “Will I ever see you again?” She asked me. “Maybe, I’ll be in Whitetail Woods.” I said to her. “Ok, well it was nice meeting you... um...” she said to me, not knowing my name. “Oh! My name is Jason!” I answered. “Ok, cya Jason! Oh and... thank you.” She said as she went to the other side of the cliff. “Bye!” I said. As I saw her fly away, I realized she looked so beautiful. Like a dream. I then heard the creaking planks, they were crossing the bridge. I immediately ran towards the castle. I stayed on the outside of the castle, then I heard some ponies walk in. About half an hour later a burst of light erupted through the windows. I looked into a window and saw a stream of Rainbow encircling the mare I saw in my dreams. She was screaming. I then got scared and immediately ran back towards Whitetail Woods. However I was stopped by a pony on the outskirts of the town that recognised me when I accidentally murdered the innocent pony. “Hey! It’s you! The murderer!” She yelled. “Oh fuck!” I yelled. It was about to yell for other ponies and looked away when I cut it off. “I’m so sorry.” I said. “What?” It asked. It looked back at me right as I punched it in the face. It fell on the ground immediately. I leaned over and checked for a pulse on its neck. There was a pulse. Thank god. I dragged it to a nearby road and ran in the opposite direction and into Whitetail Woods again. Then it became day time. ————————-Present Day————————— ————————3rd Person—————————— Night sat there speechless after what he just heard. “So, you whitnessed the fall of Nightmare Moon...” he said in awe. “Yes I did.” Jason replied. “...And you fell in love with one of the elements of harmony... and vise versa?” He asked. “Yes, and I know it sounds unbelievable, but” Jason replied but cut off by Night. “No, it’s that I don’t believe you.” Night said. “...It’s the truth.” Jason said. “How would I know if it’s the truth or not?” Night asked. “How would you know if Celestia was telling the fucking truth?” Jason said back. “BECAUSE... uh... because...” Night has no response. “See? You can never know. But I know the truth. She trusts me and I trust her, alright? She promised me she wouldn’t tell anyone and she didn’t!” Jason responded. “....Look Jason, I’m sorry. I was just angry at you for knocking out that pony.” Night replied. “...So was I.” Jason said. “Buck, I’m sorry Jason.” Night said. “...It’s alright, these things happen. Let’s just forget about it all and go to sleep.” Jason said. “I can’t go to sleep.” Night said. “Why not?” Jason asked. “Because I have to guard you.” Night responded. “What am I gonna do to you that could hurt you? I can’t even escape!” Jason asked. “Being a guard isn’t about not letting things get out, it’s about not letting things get in to harm the pony you are guarding.” Night said. “So you would care if I broke out of here?” Jason asked. “WHAT?! You can’t get out!” Night said. “Why not?” Jason asked. “Because Celestia... Celestia said... forget it.” Night answered. Jason asked “What did she sa-“ “I SAID FORGET IT. Just go to sleep.” Night cut off Jason. Jason didn’t respond and just went to sleep. And didn’t wake up until the sun rose. Jason had not had a dream or nightmare that night. > Chapter 8 - The Helping Hoof > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------Jasons POV------------- It was night time, the green trees were now darkened by the night and gently blowing in the wind. I was in Whitetail Woods. I was sitting next to my shelter of leaves and sticks as the fire emitted a dim glow onto my skin. There was plenty of firewood stacked in a neat pyramid-like shape as the embers kept going up, evaporating like water. The grass was comfy enough to lie on and only a hint of moisture was noticeable as I sat there. My clothes were torn due to living in such an environment for… god, however long I was in there for. My pants had holes, you could see the back of my right thigh, there were holes that made different parts of my back visible, although the holes weren’t big enough for me to need to change them. My campsite was only a 2-minute walk from a freshwater creek. I had managed to run into the village to steal a pot, I could now boil water and cook fish. I couldn’t find any cutlery, so I morphed a stick into a wooden toasting fork, it took me hours to make. Whilst sitting by the fire, I noticed rustling in the treetops. Someone was near. I jolted when I heard the noise again, but this time the noise was to the left more. I went to sit back down when something crashed into me from behind. “AAAAARRGGGHH! THE FUCK!” I had cried as I made a 2nd collision with the grass below me. I got up on my feet, looking behind me, feeling bewildered but also eager to see what had crashed into me. I only got a split-second glimpse before I was tackled to the ground. It was the friendly pony that I had met before, the one with the rainbow hair and cyan fur. “YOU’RE A MURDERER!!” She fumed. “I CAN EXPLAIN!” I cried in panic, sweat beginning to form. “YOU KILLED BERRY PUNCH! HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT! NO ONE HAS EVER MURDERED A PONY BEFORE!” She roared back, grabbing me and rising off the ground. My level of panic rose when she brought me over the forest canopy and further, towards the stars. “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! DON’T!! NO!!” I screeched as I was in the air. The mare began slowly making me slip from her grasp, making me panic. I thought I was going to fall to my death. The wind was blowing furiously. “AAAHH!!” I yelled in peril. The enraged pony furiously shouted to me through the rough wind “YOU DESERVE THIS!”. I responded, still in panic “I DON’T DESERVE ANY OF THIS! BUT HEAR THIS, RAINBOW DASH! IF I DIE, I DIE KNOWING I WAS INNOCENT AND WHAT I DID, I DID IT BECAUSE I NEEDED TO SURVIVE!” “WAIT A MINUTE!” Rainbow Dash yelled, beginning to lower me back down to the ground. I fell a metre off the ground, just in time. “OW!” I grunted as the pony touched down to the ground. The pony looked like she had crawled through a bush of thorns, her hair was ruffled and she had cuts on her body, she hurt herself from the wind and the canopy. I looked at her as she looked back at me in frustration. “You weren’t going to kill me, were you?” I asked me. She looked down in confusion. “…No. I remembered how you saved me and my friends from Nightmare Moon. I am pretty sure those Shadow Bolts were just Nightmare Moon messing with me to try and get me away from my friends. You stopped Nightmare Moon from dooming me. And I am grateful. BUT MURDER, JASON, MURDER!” I was taken back by the fact she remembered my name after a fair amount of time. “You remember my name?” I asked her. “Of course, I do! I remember everyone’s names.” She said, smiling, but soon back to glaring at me as she remembered what I had done. “But you killed a pony!” She responded with. “It was an accident, really, it was! But it also wasn’t, it is a hard thing to tell you, but understand that if I knew what I was doing, and I knew who that… Pony was, I wouldn’t have fired that gun!” The Pony looked at me, pondering as if she was unaware of what I was talking about. I was correct. “What is a… gun?” Rainbow Dash questioned, still looking at me with curiosity on her face. I was flabbergasted, this pony had no clue of what a gun was. I began trying to begin with gun basics, but I never got past “This is going to take some time to understand”. I was cut off suddenly by Rainbow Dash, she said: “You can tell me sometime later, right now I just need to ask you a question.” I sat in silence, wondering what she could be possibly going to ask me. “…. Ask away,” I responded. A fair time passed before she asked me the question. “Where are you from?”. “…. Good question. I don’t know.” I answered. “How don’t you know?” She asked afterward. “I can’t remember. All I know is that I fell into a river in that shithole of a forest and now I am considered dangerous by a town of creatures that I have never seen before.” I responded, frustrated, subtly but noticeably. A brief time passed as we look out of the escarpment hole we had made and relaxed, thoughts racing through our minds. I don’t know what Rainbow Dash was thinking, I didn’t want her to be confused. I gently spoke and stated “Listen, I don’t want you to be involved with this if it messes up your life, my life is mine, your life if yours. You have a life, people to go and talk to and see. I am fine, I don’t know anyone from around here and I don’t remember anyone from… Wollongong. I don’t want my lame excuse life to interfere with yours.” I chuckled at the last statement of my life really sucking at that time. “I don’t care if it affects my life, you need company, you are alone out here. I don’t think you deserve to be living like this.” She said in response. “But you can’t stay in Ponyville, either, or any other town!” “Huh? Seriously?! Every other town is after me too?!” I cried in alarm. “… The whole land is after you! YOU KILLED A PONY! DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO THAT?! DEATH! YOU DIE! THEY WILL KILL YOU! IMPRISON YOU AND KILL YOU!” Is what she answered with. “… My god…” I murmured. All the towns are now off limits unless I need to steal rations or necessities. Death is NOT an option. I had to stay as far away from any point of civilization unless an emergency. I began plotting an idea on rationing. “… How do they patrol these towns?” I asked the Rainbow mare. Rainbow Dash prepared to begin speaking. “Well, they never used to patrol the towns, there was no actual reason for them to be there, but now, for the protection of equestrian citizens in danger of death, guards are being dispatched to different locations in towns.” Her head drooped as she realized what she was doing. "I shouldn’t be doing this, it isn’t loyal to my friends or the Ponyville citizens, but it is for your health. I know that you won’t try to kill other ponies, I can see that in you. I see the good inside of you. Nopony else would believe me if I told them a murderer was a kind creature and doesn’t want any harm to come across anypony. They would see me as a pony defending a criminal…” She paused, letting me take in these words, I was shocked at hearing how fast her friends could turn from her if she was caught protecting me. I thought to myself “Note-to-self: Don’t let Rainbow Dash get caught helping me at all costs. Even if it means another murder, they might try to hurt her.” “… The guard units for Ponyville are scattered among certain streets, these streets will have flags marked on them, the different colors represent the time of day suited for patrolling. I will give you a Ponyville map, with all the colors of the streets patrol hours when I come back next time.” She finished, picking herself off the ground and flying off the ground. “I’ll be here when you get back! Bring some bread and fresh water while you are at it! I appreciate the help!” I beamed with excitement. “No problem! I’ll bring a bag with supplies in it! I’ll be back in two days! Try to survive! Good luck!” She shouted back, flying back to her “Happy, caring and safe” village. I was left alone after that but I was filled with a determination to survive until she got back. I just had to be patient and wait for her to come. Two days wouldn’t be that long, right? ... Right? > Chapter 9 - Survive at ALL Costs > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jason's POV If there was one thing that I did, living in Whitetail Woods, it was looking at a large boulder and staring at it. I had discovered this boulder the day after I met Rainbow Dash and I formed a plan to help me survive out here. The boulder was located only a few metres from where I had set the fire, it was covered in thick green moss and certain parts of the stone that could be written on. There was no help coming for me until the next day arrived, so, I had time to speculate what exactly had happened to me and how I was taken to this place. "Maybe I fell out of an airplane! But that doesn't make sense, how did I get into THIS place? You know, full of colorful talking horses?! Airplanes are out of the picture... maybe it was an experiment gone wrong? Maybe I was a scientist and I electrocuted myself! But I don't think I am old enough to be a scientist. I don't even know how old I am!" I ran towards the creek that was near my campsite to look into the reflection of the clear stream. The gentle trickle of water rushing past, the dim light of the sun, barely visible through the dark green bed of leaves above me, but the light was bright enough to see the reflection in the water. I looked into the water, I saw my face. It was dirty, obviously, so I washed it with the creek water. I formed my hands to that of a cup and dug into the water, bringing the water to my face, feeling the cold water pile onto me. I had a flashback. ... Water, water flowing down a stream and into an ocean. ... I was in the water by the beach, I was on a board, a bodyboard. ... Wollongong city beach, I was with my friend... I don't remember his name. ... We... we were having fun, body boarding, playing in the sand, building sandcastles. It was awesome. ... "You are such a good mate, Jason!" The unknown friend yelled to me. ... "Right back at you Danny!" I rejoiced as we kept playing at the beach. ... Danny? Dan?... ... ... ... OH MY GOD! DANIEL! The Flashback ended and a tear exited my left eye. I had remembered my best friend's name. A name I thought I would never forget. I looked back into the reflection of the water afterward. My hair was longer than what I remember last seeing in Wollongong. I had a faint mustache growing, I was still a teen by the looks of it. "Thank god," I mumbled with happiness, chuckling shortly after with delight. "Alright! I am not a scientist by the looks of it." I thought to myself. And then it hit me, like a ton of bricks. "OH MY GOD, OF COURSE!" I was so happy about my theory. "ALIEN ABDUCTION! HOW DIDN'T I SEE IT BEFORE?!... Nope nope nope, not what happened, absolutely incorrect, aliens don't exist. Except these horse creatures do... UUUGGHH" I lay on the ground, exhausted by all this speculation. But then I had an idea that was very plausible. "....... I am in a dream... A coma of sorts, maybe I was hit on the head and that is why my head hurts? These horse creatures are part of some illusion made by myself, in a coma!" I had a stable idea. So I went with it, I got on the ground, lying face up, I thought of everything that I remembered before I went into this coma. I shut my eyes and thought of the beach, my brother, my mother, my father, Wollongong, the great dividing range, the earth, and most of all, I thought about Daniel, how we always went to the beach, it was like a palace to us. I slowly opened my eyes, hoping to see the white ceiling of the hospital quarters, a hospital bed, I.V bag. I wanted to hear a nurse who had been looking after me the whole time to come in and shout in excitement "EVERYONE JASON IS AWAKE!", I wanted to see my family again, running in and crying joyfully as I wake up from whatever accident I had had. But when I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the green escarpment of leaves looking down on me. "... THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY THAT I AM AWAKE!" I fumed in dispair. This was devastating. I cried with intensity for what felt like hours, not loud enough to be heard by the villages though, none of them heard me through all the trees. I leaned on the boulder and cried until dusk and the moon finally rose. "... I need to light my fire." I commanded myself assertively, getting up from the boulders, wiping the tears from my face. After a rough 5 minutes, I was finally sitting by my newly lit fire, waiting to fall asleep and finally just get on with the shitty new lifestyle of mine. I heard a rustle in the bushes again. I turned my head around to the space that I heard the noise come from, but there was nothing there, only the green that had no sign of life in them. "... What?" I mumbled to myself, confused. "IS ANYONE OUT THERE?" I shouted aloud. Everything went silent, and whatever was there was now once again gone. Due to the fatigue, I picked myself up from the position I was sitting in and laid on the ground next to the warm embers. I closed my eyes as I relaxed, listening to the ambiance of the forest, the noises of the breaking down and the crackling of sticks being engulfed by the scorching flames. I began thinking, hoping to god that I wouldn't dream. I didn't want that fucking horse to enter that dream again. I was very fearful of that horse. She didn't seem right, she was crazy. Finally, I fell asleep... and went into a fucking dream. I woke up to the sound of beach waves, I was laying down on a shoreline, or at least I assume I was, as I heard water colliding with the wet, soggy sand, only a couple of meters away, I couldn't see anything, my guess is that I just wanted to relax and rest, waiting for the next day to arrive. But then my awareness came back to me as I realized that I shouldn't be on a beach but, instead, in a forest. I heard a strange noise, almost indescribable, it sounded like some form of energy, a low hum, like something from a sci-fi film. I heard someone screaming, it wasn't the scream of those ponies or any pony for that matter. I realized it was my voice. I could hear that I was in distress, though I didn't have the slightest clue as to why. Shortly after I heard myself begin screaming, I had begun to shout someone's name. It was the same name, over and over. I couldn't understand what name this was over the loud noises of the unknown sound, but I then heard the other person shouting as well, I remembered this voice and immediately knew which name I was screaming. His name was Daniel. "DANIEL! HELP ME! I AM SLIPPING! I CAN'T HOLD ON MUCH LONGER!" I cried to my dear friend. Slipping? Why would I be slipping? Was I stuck on a ledge leading to an ocean floor? Was I in a rip or strong ocean current? Was I even at a beach? I had to open my eyes to be sure of what I was hearing. I couldn't open my eyes though. I couldn't move at all. All I could do was listen to the horror. The strange noise began to rise in volume, drowning out the rest of the noises including my screaming and the oceanic sounds until I could hear only the deafening noise of the unknown. I screamed as loud as I could for help, but to no avail, I couldn't scream, all I could do was listen. I began to sweat as I feared that I too would become a victim of... well... whatever this thing emitting the noise was. I stayed there, wherever I was, focusing on this strange noise, terrified that I could possibly be harmed. I woke up, screaming and gasping, I was finally free from the grasp of that horrible experience. "What the fuck!?" I cried in fright, my tear-filled eyes finally wide open, shivering with fear, drenched in sweat, I looked up, revealing the green trees and bushy canopy above me. "... At least I didn't have that nightmare bitch this time!" I thought to myself, letting out a sigh of relief. I rose off the ground in delight, breathing in the air of the forest. I was excited due to the fact that Rainbow Dash was going to bring supplies for me, give advice on how I can get more supplies for the rest of... however long I would stay here for. "... How long will I REALLY be here for?!" I asked myself out loud in a concerning manner. Time passed by as I just sat there, trying to do anything to occupy my time. Then I heard another rustle in the bushes. I turned to look for the figure making noise, and I became immediately relieved. It was Rainbow Dash, she had come back with the supplies, chirping as she made her way through the bushes with ease "Hey! Jason! I have everything!" she cried. I was finally no longer alone, I now had someone who could help me.