//------------------------------// // 3 - 07 // Story: Four Hooves // by destinedjagold //------------------------------// Aside from a sleeping Leg Crawler that I carefully and quietly passed by a few minutes ago, my walk through this forest has been uneventful, which I am honestly thankful for. The pleasant sounds of nature, like the chirps of birds and the squeaks of squirrels, is a wonderful change from the annoying mosquito buzz from last night and the foul mouth of a horny pegasus earlier today. Huh... Come to think of it, I still don't know what happened after that Leg Crawler bit me while we were on our way back to Twilight's. Twilight... ...I then remember where I'm heading and what I'm supposed to be doing once I get there. The smile on my face turns upside-down as I think of how to search for that book inside the Everfree Forest. Did Twilight really expect me to come up with a plan on my own? I simply cannot just wander around that forest on my lonesome. I need to think of a plan, and fast, as I'm already seeing the exit of this here forest. A few more steps and I'll be out of the trees and— “Oh, thank goodness! There you are!” Fluttershy suddenly appears out of nowhere. And no, I did not scream from surprise. Nope. Anyway, as I am recollecting myself, the pegasus mare flies behind me and quickly pushes me towards somewhere. And she stops just as I was about to ask where we were going. “Look! Look!” she says excitingly, pointing at the pretty patch of flowers. ...yes, I said 'pretty.' I love flowers. She flies over them, smiling at me. “So I need your opinion.” She gently lands on the center of the patch, careful not to harm the flowers. “I'm thinking of leading him here, and I'll be lying in the very middle like this...” Fluttershy then turns her back on me and... ... ... I'll leave whatever she's doing to your imaginations. “...inviting him to do whatever he wants to me.” Goddamnit, Fluttershy. She smiles a hopeful and nervous smile. “D-do you think he'll love it?” I can honestly feel how hot my face is right now, even though I'm looking at something else. I close my eyes and take a deep, deep breath, and I let out a heavy sigh. “...If I was him and you did exactly that, I'd rut you 'til I break you,” I say flatly, hoping that is what she wanted to hear. Truth be told, I would, but her alternate personality is putting me off. Plus, I really, really need to go home. Ignoring the nervous pegasus for a moment, I look around and spot a very large cluster of white clouds hovering close to a cluster of black and angry cluster of clouds over a forest. That must be the— “What are you looking at?” Fluttershy suddenly asks. I blink and turn to her. “The Ever—er, the Storm Forest.” She looks at the aforementioned forest in the distance. “What about it?” I shrug. “I need to get there.” She laughs, and that catches me off-guard. Fluttershy is laughing ... at me. I frown at her. “...I'm serious.” She is on her back now, laughing even more. Rolling my eyes and shaking my head, I walk through the slightly tall grass, towards the forest with a nasty and stormy swirling clouds above it. Between the line of trees where I came out and the Everfree Forest is a flat plain just full of swaying grass, with random trees here and there. It kinda reminds me of the grassy field when Reykan and I were heading to Twilight's from the unicorns. It's quite a distance, but I'll get there eventually. Now to come up with a plan, and fast. My ears twitch, hearing the faint roar of thunder from up ahead. My ears twitch yet again, hearing faint flapping noise from behind. I close my eyes and sigh. “Leave me alone, Fluttershy.” “Who's Fluttershy?” a familiar feminine voice asks, landing and wobbling beside me. Seri blinks, smiling at me. “Is she that yellow pony that is laughing in the flowers?” she asks, a fanny pack around her thin neck bouncing on her feathery chest. “Oh, hey there, Seri,” I say with a small smile. That smile quickly disappears. “Wait... How'd you find me?” I shake my head. “No. What happened to the others?” “Eeehhh—” she nervously looks elsewhere. “—hhh they are, um, fine?” She throws a bright smile at me. “Y-yep! Just fine!” I stop and frown at her. “...That bad, huh?” Seri's stops as well, her head drooping. “The angrycorns broke the tree.” I wince. Her fanny pack starts moving. “Mrffghhh?” a squeaky voice erupts from inside, and then a white rat head pops out from the flap. He looks around. “Where are we?” Moon Gaze asks before his gaze lands on me. He frowns. “Oh. It's you.” “Hello to you, too,” I reply dryly. Moon Gaze emerges from the bag and scurries on Seri's small head. “You're one lucky stallion, you know that?” He shakes his head. “Escaping from all that chaos.” He shivers, not from the cool afternoon air. Seri and I resume walking. The swan's movement is too wobbly, so Moon Gaze moves to my back instead. Well, at least there are three of us now. Three heads are better than one for coming up with a plan, right? Wait... Was this Twilight's plan all along? To split up and to meet up by the Everfree? “It was too chaotic for me to pay attention to what was going on,” Moon Gaze suddenly squeaks, breaking my train of thought. “I just wanted to get out of there, but the damn kangaroo fought those horned freaks. I fell out of her when she got hit or something.” A pause. “There was a really nerve-wracking roar that made the horned freaks stop for a short moment. I took that chance to get away.” I feel him shiver on my back. “That was Reykan's big brother, maybe,” Seri chimes in. She shivers as well. “After the tree broke, Twilight's illusion magic thing stopped working. I was so scared, so I just flew away and hid behind a dead tree.” How were the unicorns able to see us inside? I thought none could see what was inside Twilight's tree if they were outside? Wait, no. How did the unicorns know where we were? “I ran away and hid behind the same tree where the swan was hiding, too,” Moon Gaze suddenly squeaks once again. “I didn't know she was there, but I didn't care.” A short pause. “Then that crazy mare suddenly appeared right in front of us. She gave Seri something before she threw the both of us up in the air!” “It was this bag here,” Seri points at the zipperless fanny pack bouncing on her chest. “It has a small gem in it.” She looks at me. “Twilight says that I'll eventually find you if I follow the direction where the gem shines the brightest. So I did, and I found you.” I nod my head. “I see.” I look ahead, eyeing the veiny lightning cracks on the dark clouds above the forest a distance away. “So... We wait outside the Storm Forest for the others, right?” No answer. I glance at Seri. She looks at me with a frowning face. She slowly shakes her head. “I'm not sure.” The three of us are silent as we continue walking towards the Everfree Forest ahead, its thunder roars echoing in the air.