//------------------------------// // 1- Taken from the Academia // Story: Keeping Ideals Alive // by Falconwolf1116 //------------------------------// I just want to get a few things straight. We never expected our lives to turn out the way it did, heroes of another world, sharing a power of ten armies, it's amazing to think the dull life of a couple of seventeen year olds could change in a snap. Now I'm just talking like I'm in a generic Human in Equestria story. You probably saw the crappy cover that was drawn in like an hour or two and was instantly turned off by this story. But this one is different. This is the story of how not one, not two, but SIX teens end up in Equestria. Mind you the powers we share is a direct copy of One For All from My Hero Academia (heck it pretty much is One For All) and our enemy uses All For One (just a note that I will totally explain what these powers are.) but I can assure you that this story, will blow your mind. We begin a thousand-something years ago (cuz that's when all the shit in Equestria went down.) during a massive war in the far north of Equestria. The Equestrian Armada, led by Princess Celestia of the Sun and Princess Luna of the Moon, had arrived in the freezing snow, so cold that icicles would constantly appear on the soldier's manes. They had walked hundreds of miles to reach their destination and they had finally made it. They had one goal. Defeat King Sombra and take back the Crystal Empire, a kingdom currently under his total control. A master of dark magic, Sombra had easily formed an impenetrable barrier around it. He created it so that if one pony so much as flicked their tail at it, they would die a slow and painful death. As the armada neared the empire, the wintery curse of Northern Equestria calmed down allowing the Empire to be seen. A dark shade of orange filled the sky, only the silhouette of clouds visible. The army stopped at the edge of the barrier. Celestia and Luna exited their chariots and stood before the entrance to the once beautiful, Crystal Kingdom. A shadow began to form before them. Out of it emerged a sharp, curved, red horn, followed by the gray muzzle and the glowing red and green eyes of a stallion. This was King Sombra standing before the rulers of Equestria. "Ahhhhh." He said in a sultry voice, "And here I thought you were going to keep me waiting." "King Sombra!" Luna yelled, "Thou hast committed treason against the ponies of Equestria. Not only have thou enslaved them, but you have foolishly committed this crime in the crystal capital of the world. Surrender now, and your punishment may be less severe." Sombra only grinned in response. "Excellent choice of words Luna. However I have no intentions of giving up my throne just like that." "Sombra," Celestia said, "You were once a good stallion! You used to use your dark magic, ironically, for good reasons!" "But now I see what I've been holding back!" He yelled "I'm capable of more power than you both combined!" "But doesn't that scare you?" Celestia said, her voice shaking, "Knowing that you're capable of bringing pain and misery to the good ponies of this land?" "Good ponies? Good ponies?!" He snarled. "Those "good ponies" are afraid of the beautiful magic I've created! They know nothing of what this power feels like!" "Sombra! This is your last chance!" Luna bellowed. Celestia had given up all hope on trying to get through to him. She now believed, reluctantly, that she had to fight. "Surrender now, or fight!" "I choose neither! That shield I have up is made of dark magic! Only those who have even the tiniest bit of understanding of my powers can-" He was cut off as the barrier shimmered and cracked. Finally, like a bent eraser, it broke. Leaving the empire susceptible to attack. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" He roared. "You honestly think we wouldn't have been smart enough to send a spy into your kingdom?" Celestia said mockingly. "Clever Celestia." Sombra said, "Who did you send this time? Gleaming Shield? Black Mask?" "Me." A scruffy looking unicorn stallion walked out. He had short pointy black hair, a grey coat, and a black armored vest. Then in a white flash, he changed into a smaller pony with a long white beard and starred clothing. "Starswirl..." Sombra muttered, "I should've known. Well then, YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TO GO!" Sombra shot a beam of dark magic at his foe. Starswirl jumped at the last moment, his hoof glowing red and white. He yelled: "VANHOOVER SMASH!" The attack drew up snow, making it spin around before dropping. It definitely hurt the king. "One for All." Sombra chuckled. "I should've known you'd pull that trick old man!" "Then you must know that this magician isn't a one trick pony!" Starswirl said as he charged up his horn. "It would be foolish of me to take on a stallion of your power." Sombra said. "That magic I just performed was enough to keep you at bay I see. You're losing your touch." Starswirl glanced at the scar around his abdomen. It had made him weaker during his last fight with Sombra, but he had been able to save many ponies that day. Sombra didn't know of this weakness however. So Starswirl kept up his brave facade. "I'm still as strong as everyone says I am. If anything, I was only taking it easy on you." He said, his smirk visible on his muzzle, his eyes shining as he said that. Sombra growled in response. "SENTINELS! KEEP THEM OUT OF THE EMPIRE! I HAVE BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO!" Sombra roared as he dissipated into a black mist. The ponies in metal masks stepped forward in a fighting stance, preparing for the battle. "REMEMBER! NO CASUALTIES!" Luna yelled in her Royal Canterlot voice. "THEY ARE JUST INNOCENT PONIES BEING CONTROLLED!" "ATTACK!" Starswirl yelled as the Royal Guard bounded toward their foes. The sound of clashing swords rang through the air, the smell of a never-ending winter now behind the warriors. Celestia and Luna fought valiantly. Their magic not only knocking out their foes, but destroying the cursed helmets controlling the Crystal Ponies. 'They have grown so strong as my pupils.' Starswirl thought, beaming. 'While they are distracting the army, I'll go chat with that so-called king.' Transferring One for All to his hooves, he jumped off from the ground, speeding through the air towards the wall of the throne room. "VANHOOVER SMASH!!!" he shouted as he broke the crystal. He landed without a scratch and walked through the throne room. His foe however, wasn't in sight. Until he caught a glimpse of the throne. "Nice try brother, but I remember you playing this trick when we were mere children." Starswirl once again charged his horn, this time with dark magic, and shot it at the crystal atop the throne. A shadow spread across the room and the floor melted away as a giant, spiral staircase led into a dark chasm. "What are you planning?" Starswirl asked himself as he descended into the depths, lighting his horn to have vision. Once he reached the bottom, he opened the door at the bottom, revealing some sort of study. It had a lit fire in cabin-like surroundings. There was a moose head on the wall along with two rocking chairs. On one was a journal, with SOMBRA written in the dark king's handwriting. Starswirl flipped through it. Until he found the last page. He read aloud: "I always envied my brother for having a gift that no one else had. He used it to save those perilous ponies wherever he went. He dubbed this power "One For All", a power that gave him the strength of ten armies. I thought he would always be stronger. But then I learned of another power. One brought unto me from my grandfather. A power called-" Starswirl felt his body being drained of all of its power. The gleam in his eyes left and he was lying on the floor, before he knew what happened. "All For One" Sombra cackled. "This was a power that drains magic and energy and gives me a choice, to make it my own power, or give it to someone else. You were dying as a baby and the only thing that could help you live was extra magic." He glared at his helpless brother. "Grandfather was a fool. He should have left you for dead. But I got lucky and gained this power of his. Now I can take the magic of my enemies permanently." He then stared at Starswirl's power in its purest form. Six colorful stars, repeatedly moving toward and from each other. "I may just keep this as a moment of your defeat." Sombra said placing One for All into a metal cylinder, which was later placed onto the mantelpiece. "Now if you'll excuse me brother, I have a war to win." That was Sombra's biggest mistake. If he had destroyed One for All, he would have won, but there was something that Starswirl could do to ensure Sombra never won. He slowly and shakily got up and walked to the mantlepiece and grabbed the metal cylinder. Even if he reclaimed One For All as his own, his brother would keep on taking it until he was dead. He knew what to do. He murmured a few words at the cylinder and it began to glow. Then in a flash of light, the entire Crystal Empire was dragged into a vortex. "Only when the true heir of my power finds it, will the Empire return." He muttered to himself as he was dragged in as well. "NOW PRINCESSES! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR-" Sombra was cut off as a flash came from deep within the castle. The Empire was being moved into a single focused spot. "RETREAT!" Celestia yelled at her guards. They obeyed and ran, escaping the vortex. Celestia and Luna ran toward the border, until Luna was grabbed from behind. "LUNA!" Celestia ran back to help her sister. "YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY THAT EASILY!" Sombra roared before Celestia blasted him with a simple stun spell. "DAMN IT! I WILL RETURN! YOU'LL SEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee! The vortex closed as two giant glaciers crashed together. The two sisters breathed for a moment before they hugged, happy that they were alive and together. "Sister! What about Starswirl?!" Luna gasped. Celestia looked down, worrying for the worst. They ran to the crowd that stood where the glaciers had crashed. "Has anypony seen Starswirl?!" "Starswirl?!" Celestia yelled. "Princess..." A guard came up to her looking very sad. "Have you seen Starswirl my little pony?" She asked. "He is nowhere to be found. He was last reported to be heading into the castle. Sadly, he was never spotted coming out." The stallion bowed his head in respect. Celestia and Luna felt tears welling up in their eyes. They cried holding each other. Sad for losing their closest friend. Their own mentor. Then, colors appeared in the sky. An Aurora Borealis that shined brighter than any rainbow or stars in the sky. Many ponies today thought that was the princesses, creating it in respect for Starswirl. The truth is that it was Starswirl himself, guiding his heir toward his power. Little did he know that his heir, or heirs, weren't born yet. And even when they were, they were multiple worlds and galaxies away. Now, thousands of years later, Starswirl was stopping the Everfree forest from consuming the town of Ponyville, along with learning what he could about friendship. Somehow, the Crystal empire had returned on its own accord. Yet One For All was still frozen in the icy tundra of the frozen north, yet the Aurora Borealis continued to shine bright. With Sombra destroyed once again, everything appeared to be smooth sailing. He could continue with his daily life and maybe... just maybe... the true heir of One For All would show themselves. Intro: Falconwolf1116 Presents A My Little Pony Fanfiction KEEPING IDEALS ALIVE Planet Earth - 1000 Years Later... A small chime went off from my phone. A calm, yet awakening chime. I opened my eyes and saw a light emitting from my phone. It read: 6:00 Time to wake up!. Halfway through my junior year, and I'm still not used to getting up this early. Groaning, I rolled out of my bed with nothing but my boxers on. I threw some clothes on, not caring if they matched or not. making sure to brush my teeth and turn my bathroom light off, I used my phone's flashlight and walked downstairs. My backpack was full and my key was in the side pocket, so at 6:20, I can say goodbye to my parents and head out. I nearly forgot to introduce myself! My name is Cameron Hallow, I'm seventeen and a Senior in my high school. I'm in... okay shape I guess. I have a bit of a gut, but that's it. I have dark brown hair that's spiked up at the front and curved at the back. My alarm went off, signaling me to leave. I don't bother eating as I'm never hungry in the morning. "Bye Mom, bye Dad." I whispered into their room. "Bye Cam." My mom said lazily. "Have a good day buddy." My dad said just as lazily. I smiled and walked to the door, opened it and entered the outdoors. I walked to the bus stop and threw on my earbuds, turning the music up to full blast. It's not going to be intense since I was listening to Queen's, "Bohemian Rhapsody". As the Operatic section began, the bus arrived and I hopped on with the other kids. After about ten minutes we reached the high school. I got off and walked over to the school's side entrance, still listening to some Queen songs. I walked down the hall and took a left into the cafeteria which is where my friends and I hang out in the morning. My friend Theresa is always the first one there. Theresa Neumann's like a sister to me. She has tan skin, long black hair, and always wears a leather jacket and torn jeans. Needless to say, she's a badass and a tomboy. I pulled out my earbuds and sat down next to her. "Hey Terri!" I said happily. "Hey little bro!" She says excitedly, "How was your morning?" She calls me her little bro because she's a few month older than me, yet I'm taller than her. "Same old same old. It'll be like this until college." "Hey have you decided on where you're going yet?" "Well, my first choice is SCAD." "The Savannah College of Art and Design?" She asked. "That's the one." She gave me a small look, "Look, I know I'm not the best at drawing but I want to be an animator or at least a comic illustrator." "You're so much better at singing and voice acting though!" "Aw c'mon I'm not that good..." "Yeah he really isn't." My friend Ayden Burgess said, smirking, as he walked to the table. He had long orange hair, wore a flannel jacket and a ski cap and jeans. He was a little taller than I was. "Remember when he tried that Lil' Gideon impression from Gravity Falls? He sounded like a dying giraffe." "That's not at all what a dying giraffe sounds like." I said smirking. "Then what does one sound like?" He said smirking back. I then created an odd noise: "Nice try on that insult asshat" "At least I can make good ones!" He said smiling evilly. "Yeah? And where are you going? Community college?" I shot back. "Actually Chapel Hill." He said smirking, "Trying to get into stand-up comedy." Chapel hill was a state south of where we lived, and they actually have a great standup comedy course. Ayden was naturally funny so it would be a walk in the park for him. "What about you Terri? Where're you going?" "I'm still undecided. I mean... I know what I want to do, but I can't find the right college to do it." "You'll get there." I said patting her shoulder. Five minutes later, our friend James Watts came in. He was probably the smartest out of all of us. He was pretty short, had neat, dirty blond hair swiped to the side, and braces. "Sup James?" "Hey guys. Ayden." Yeah, he didn't like Ayden very much. "James." There was a small awkward silence before I broke it. "Sooooo, we were just talking about where we were going to college. Have you decided?" "Decide and have been accepted as of yesterday. In one year I will be a Georgia Tech student!" "Nice James!" Theresa said happily, "You and Cam can visit each other!" "Thanks Theresa." A little while later, our friends Mike Wang and Phillip Niskonovich came in. Phillip was a stocky guy. He had short, light brown hair, and rectangle glasses. His most visible feature was the permanent smile he had on his face. Phillip was the type of guy who can come up with bad puns for almost anything from trash on the floor to a dirty napkin. Mike had jet black hair that came down in three spikes, and tan skin and he was a video game buff, but was also pretty intelligent in computers. "Hey Mike. Hey Phillip." I said as they came and sat down at the table. Phillip however, didn't look happy like he usually did, he looked... empty. Without emotion. "What's up with him?" I asked Mike. "You heard about the strange disappearances that have been happening around town?" Mike asked. I knew what he was talking about. All over California, people were going missing and reappearing and every time, they came back insane. Screaming, yelling the same thing: The Cave. "Yeah what happened?" "His brother was taken over the weekend." Mike continued, "He was screaming the whole time in the ambulance after we found him." "You should have seen him." Phillip said blankly, staring into space, "He was screaming as if he had saw death himself and barely escaped its grasp." "They'll find the culprit Phillip." Ayden said, "Kidnapping happens a lot, they're bound to have a lead at some point." "Don't count on it." James said, "There were no fingerprints, no signs of physical trauma, only scorch marks. It could take years to track this guy down." I swiftly kicked him under the table, "OW! HEY!" I gestured at Phillip who was on the verge of tears. "My brother didn't deserve to be taken! No one did!" Terri rubbed his back in a gesture of comfort. The bell rang and it was time to head to class. "Phillip c'mon." I said pulling his arm. "Where're we going?" He asked. "I'm bringing you to the school counselor." I replied, "You need to talk this out with a professional." We walked to a small hallway and stopped at a door labeled: "Mr. Jenkins - Student Counselor". "Alright so just go in there and talk it out. Okay?" Phillip nodded and I patted his back. "See you at lunch." -Phillip's POV- "So Phillip..." Mr. Jenkins said as I walked in. He was bald, thin, and had a small mustache. "What's been bugging you?" "Well..." I muttered. "C'mon Phillip I'm a counselor, you can trust me." "It's about my brother." Jenkins nodded, "He was horrified about an event that occurred and he's still in the Psychiatric Ward at the local hospital." "Can you tell me what happened?" "I don't know. We just heard him screaming on our doorstep in the middle of the night and he was covered in injuries. He was crying and screaming "The Cave!" every five seconds." "Those cuts must've done something terrible huh?" "Yeah they... hang on... I never mentioned any cuts." I said looking suspiciously at Mr. Jenkins. "Come now Phillip. Just sit down and talk to me." I started backing towards the door. "N-no I think I'm gonna head to class." It was then that I felt a rag being pressed against my mouth. It smelled very sweet but I felt myself getting sleepy. Chloroform. I only heard these words from the masked man holding my trap shut with the cloth. "Get him into the duffel. I get him to the van." I was so lucky that they hadn't noticed my phone in my pocket. -Cameron's POV- We never saw Phillip at lunch. What should have been a normal day was turning into a very weird one indeed. Phillip could've just gone home but he usually texts me if that's the case. At lunch, we were clueless, we thought he was just late. "He didn't text anyone that he was leaving?" I asked. "Guys we're making too big a deal out of this!" James exclaimed, "We don't know for sure if anything bad happened to him! He probably left early and forgot to tell us." We all just sat in silence. We all felt like idiots for worrying about him being kidnapped. "Look I'll call him right now." He dialed Phillip's number, "He's probably fine okay?" He picked up, "Hey! W- what? White van in parking lot? What are you talking abou- Um... okay." He put down the phone. "Do you guys see a white van in the parking lot?" We all ran for a window looking at the parking lot. In it, there was one white van in the sea of other cars. "James... you know which people, stereotypically, drive in a white vans?" I asked getting scared. "Electricians and plumbers?" He asked getting nervous to. "Nope. Rapists and kidnappers." With that, we all ran to the exit doors, ignoring the yelling teachers for us to get back inside and ran over to the white van which was a bout to pull out of the parking space. We heard light banging on the back doors. As the van slowly backed up I pulled out the pin keeping the doors shut and opened the back doors. There was Phillip. Tied up. The school counselor and a masked man in the drivers seats. "Huh. I expected a priest to be in the other seat." Ayden quipped. "TIME AND PLACE AYDEN! TIME. AND. PLACE!!!" Theresa yelled. We quickly grabbed Phillip, untied him and ran, the van in tow. "WHO THE HELL ARE THOSE GUYS?!" I yelled. All I heard were muffled yells from Phillip's mouth as it was still covered in tape. "Why didn't anyone take the tape off of his mouth?!" "We thought he'd do it himself!" Mike yelled. We heard the tear of tape from skin and Phillip started talking. "They're the reason the disappearances have been occurring! They work for some sort of cult, I don't know! This all happening way to fast!" We were in the woods by the school at this point. The tall thin trees covered the area along with the leaves and dirt all over the ground. The van kept coming though, dodging each tree in its path. "We have to ditch our backpacks!" James yelled. "They'll only slow us down!" "Listen to James guys, he has a point!" Mike yelled. We all dropped our backpacks to the ground. I grabbed my phone and continued to run. We ran for what felt like hours. Until we reached a dead end. "SHIT!" I yelled. The van pulled up close to us. The two men walked out towards us. Ayden made the first move. "HEY!" He yelled. "You better tell us what the fuck is going on here! Why the hell would you kidnap our friend?! Huh?!" He was genuinely pissed. Then the masked man pulled something from his pocket. I knew exactly what it was, and Ayden was pushing it. "Hey? Your mom get you that mask? What, you were too fuggly for the world to see?" There was a loud bang and Ayden yelled in pain and fell to the ground. Blood spurted from his leg. The masked guy had a Scoped 10mm Pistol with smoke coming from the tip. "YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU'D ACTUALLY SHOOT A FUCKING KID?!" I yelled. "ANOTHER ONE IS ABOUT TO BE FUCKING SHOT IF YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!" The masked man yelled back, "ON YOUR KNEES! ALL OF YOU! KNOW! YES YOU TOO ONE LEGGED MAN!" "YEAH THAT'S A NICE FUCKING COMEBACK AIN'T IT YA WANKSTAIN?!" Ayden said putting on an Irish accent. "I oughta blow your fucking brains out." He growled cocking his gun and pointing it straight at Ayden's temple. We all got down on our knees after that. We were in the van for about two hours, meaning we'd be getting out of school by now. This all just occurred out of the blue. The day was going perfectly normal until Phillip came to school. I bet it was my fault that this happened now that I think about it. Ayden's leg had been poorly patched up with only a few bandages that didn't cover the whole gunshot, and the bullet was still in his leg at this very moment. He was bound to get an infection at this point. Theresa was next to him rubbing his arm in comfort as he groaned in pain. Mike and James were silent, not wanting to anger our captivators more than we had. I on the other hand needed answers. I decided to ask Phillip what was going on. Lucky for me, he was on my left. "Pst!" I hissed. I nudged him to get his attention as well. He turned toward me and raised his eyebrows, silently asking me 'What's up'. I whispered as quietly as I could. "Who are these guys?" "They're the reason those kids were going missing all over town." He whispered back, "When I talked to the counselor about how my cousin's condition made me feel, he walked behind me and choked me out. I woke up in the van later." "KEEP YOUR VOICES DOWN YOU DAMN KIDS!" The masked guy yelled, "AND YOU! QUIT YOUR MOANING! IF YOU HADN'T BAD MOUTHED ME YOU WOULDN'T BE IN THIS MESS!" We were quiet for the rest of the ride. The ride had been six hours long, as the sun was setting when we arrived at a place I recognized completely from a few YouTube videos. We were at the entrance to the Cobb Estate. The Cobb Estate was also known as the Enchanted Forest. It's been known for its long line of murders, rituals, kidnappings, and cults. You don't know who to trust when you walk in and wherever you walk, screams can be heard from the other side of the park. I had a pretty good idea of where they were taking us. Hidden in the woods, past where the Cobb Estate House used to be, was a narrow, winding cave, full of small passages and water because of the stream pouring inside. One would mistake it for a sewer entrance. The cave was where most rituals took place on animals and it's where murders take place because of how far into the mountain the cave goes. "Out." Mr. Jenkins said opening the back of the van, holding a .45 cal. at us. We all stepped out of the van, not caring about our aching legs, except for Ayden who was being supported by Theresa. Our hands were up as we walked into the Estate. There were winding gravel roads, grassy patches beside them, and woods, thick enough to stop a car at its entrance. After about an hour of walking, the two gun holders turned us to the forest and shoved us inside. After another hour, the stream could be heard, we were getting close to the cave I just knew it. And then, it came into view. A small entrance surrounded by bushes with a flowing stream pouring into it. The Cobb Estate Ritual Tunnel. We entered the tunnel which was floored with candlelight allowing some visibility. The entire tunnel was jagged on the inside with paths leading to more areas, except for one emitting a bright light. It could be our escape route once I come up with a plan, unless James came up with one already. I looked at him next to me and he was looking at the hole. He looked at me and nodded. He had a plan to get us out of here alive. We walked for another twenty minutes and it was getting really humid in the cave. I kept hearing Phillip clean his glasses of steam, the small squeaks echoing through the dark corridors. We finally reached the back of the cave which was more open and significantly cooler than the rest of the place. On the ground was a circle of candles, a pile of rope, and freshly sharpened knife on a rick nearby. They were planning to perform a sacrifice by the looks of it. "Into the circle. NOW!" The masked man yelled. He picked up the rope as we all gathered into the circle. He tied the rope around us and had us sit down. He pulled out a book and read: "Hear lord! You Satan are the true God! you are worthy of roaming this Earth of treacherous filth and cleansing it! We offer you these mortals to show you what has become of this earth! Know that we, your followers will be behind you the entire way! The candles did not light for those before these children! But I beg you! If these are the ones to awaken you, PLEASE! LIGHT THE CANDLE! AND GRACE US WITH YOUR PRESENCE!" We waited. But nothing happened. Lucky for us, no candles lit. "DAMN! No matter. We may have tortured the ones before you to insanity to keep them from talking, but you six are older! I say we dispose of the witnesses." He picked up the blade and held it before Ayden's throat. "Show me your blood." Just as he was about to slit his throat, Ayden who had been struggling at the bonds for the past couple of minutes, shook his hand free and grabbed the tool before it could penetrate his flesh. In turn, he drove the blade into the masked man's chest, the man yelling as his blood spilled into the circle. Then very slowly, a candle began to flicker on without a match or lighter. We knew at that point we needed to get out of there. Mr. Jenkins dove for his Caliber, however it was too late as James had grabbed it before he could've. Jenkins hit his head on a rock and fell unconscious. We took this moment to run. Theresa and I put Ayden's arms over our shoulders and practically carried him out of the space. We heard the masked man getting up and running after us. "WE HAVE TO MAKE IT TO THAT SMALLER EXIT!" James yelled, "We can lose him there!" We retraced our steps making our way to the hole. "Ayden! You first!" I yelled. He slid into a sitting position and slid through the hole into the forest. Theresa went next, then James, then Mike, then Phillip, and then me. Before I could get in, I was slashed across the face with a blade. The bleeding out, masked man yelling at me to come back and tried to grab my ankle before I managed to crawl through. I reached the exit of the hole and ran to catch up with my friends. Eventually I caught up with them and we took a break. We'd been running for a full ten minutes and the forest had become more dense, more exotic, and a little eerie. There were now vines with spikes, dark oak trees, and a little mist on the ground. "Guys... something's wrong." James said. "These plants don't look the same as before..." "Forget about the plants James!" Theresa yelled. "What do we do about Ayden's leg?!" "I'll call 911." I said pulling out my phone. There were no bars or service. I waved my phone around trying to get a signal, but nothing came through. "Are you guys getting a signal?" I asked. Phillip who was the only other person to have his phone checked. He shook his head no. "Okay. I'll climb a tree, see if that works." I began to climb a tree in front of me. Only to slide back down. I tried again and again and again but only kept falling. "Maybe I should do it Cam..." Theresa said taking my phone. "Yeah that's probably for the best..." I said, sweat dropping. Theresa ascended the tree with ease. Meanwhile, the guys and I decided to rest a little longer. "So how did you get your phone?" Ayden asked Phillip, trying to ignore the pain in his leg. "They never took it out of my pocket. They thought they tied my arms up pretty well but I broke free after a few struggles." "Why are the bad guys always dumb?" Mike asked. "Hitler wasn't dumb. He was evil, but a military genius." James commented. "Yeah he only killed some of his own soldiers by sending them to Russia in summer wear." I said getting annoyed. "That was Napoleon, Cam." "He made the same mistake!" I yelled back. We waited a few minutes for Terri to come back down. "Why did the candle light up?" Ayden asked. "What're you talking about?" I asked. "When the guy's blood spilled into the circle, the candles lit up." He said, "Did I awaken the devil?" "It was just trick candles Ayden don't be stupid." James said. "Trick candles are supposed to come back on right after they're blown out." Mike commented. "Guys the devil isn't real." James said. He was an atheist so he didn't believe in god, the devil, or the afterlife. "Look what matters is we got out of there." I said trying to lighten the mood. "If we can't get an ambulance, we'll find a way to patch up your leg." Ayden smiled and we just sat there in silence. we heard the rustling of leaves and Terri came back down. "No bars, no service, no nothing." She said in a disappointed tone. It was getting dark, and seeing as we had no way of getting home, we had to set up camp. Luckily, James and Ayden knew some survival skills, such as starting a fire, and building shelter. We gathered some timber, branches, vines, and rocks to start. While James, Mike and Phillip worked on their own, Ayden was telling Terri and I instructions to build the shelter. We sharpened four large branches and drove them into the ground, used strands from the vines to tie more branches together to make the frame. After, we tied the stems of leaves together and threw them on top like a ginormous blanket. After the shelters were finished, we set up the fire. We made a small pyramid of sticks, struck two stones together until a spark was created, and the fire sprung to life. We all gathered around to talk. "So now what do we do?" Phillip asked. "Now we need a leader." James said. "Why?" I asked. "Without a leader, things will get sloppy, and we need someone to keep things organized. I'd be willing to step up if no one else wants to." Ayden opened his mouth to talk until James interrupted him, "No objections? Good! I'm leader! Now tomorrow we'll set of on a hike and try to find our way home. We'll try to carry the tents along the way." "Hold on James, we don't even know where we are." I said. "What are you talking about? We're in the Cobb Estate remember." "I studied the Cobb estate with Terri to study for her forensics test and these weren't the same plants as you said before. The plants aren't any I've ever seen before." "I guess that makes sense." "Not to mention we would've left the Cobb Estate with the amount of distance we ran." Theresa added. Ayden started coughing. "Hey you okay Ayden?" Phillip asked. "Yeah. I keep on inhaling that blue dust in the air." He coughed again. "What is this stuff anyway?" Mike asked. Just as he asked, we heard a low growling. We looked back and saw what appeared to be a large, black venus flytrap... SLITHERING TOWARD US! We stared at it and realized we were surrounded. One opened its mouth and shot what looked like the blue dust into the air. "Guys that isn't dust." James said coughing. "What is it?" I asked getting nervous. "They're spores." The plants gave loud growls and slithered after us. We ran through the pitch black forest, Ayden with his arm around Theresa. "Theresa! leave him! He's only slowing us down!" "We can't just leave him here!" She yelled. "We don't have a choice! Leave him and we'll survive!" Theresa looked at me with a scared expression. James was right, Ayden would slow us down, which is why we needed to find a way to speed him up I wasn't bout to leave my best friend. "Phillip, Mike! Get some vines! Not the killer ones! Theresa pull off that giant piece of bark from that tree!" I ordered. "We don't have time for this! They're almost here!" James yelled. He wasn't wrong. The vines were definitely on our heels. I could see movement through the patches of grass. "How's it coming guys?!" I yelled at them. Theresa hurried back with the bark and the guys got the vines. I quickly made a few holes in the dying bark and and tied the vines through it. Voila! A makeshift toboggan! "Alright. Ayden get on! I'll pull!" He sat down and I pulled the vines. It moved easily thanks to the small, dew-covered, patches of grass. "Let's go!" We ran for about ten more minutes until we came to a dead end. It looked like the side of a mountain. We heard the hissing of the vines getting closer. "Welp we're fucked." Mike said bluntly. We all thought the same until we saw bright flashes in the distance and the screeching of dying vines. Then, the flashing died down, and there was nothing but quiet. The sort of deafening silence that fills your ears when you sleep, only the silence wasn't comforting, but chilling. We heard the crunching of grass in front of us. We couldn't see the figure due the darkness, until the same flash that we saw before appeared in front of us. Standing there was what appeared to be a small horse, about the same height as us but smaller than the ones you'd see at a farm. It had a grey coat, a cape and hat covered in stars, and a beard as white as snow, but not puffy as you'd expect Santa Clause's to be. What freaked us out were the eyes. The horse's eyes were as large as dinner trays with large blue irises. I looked upward and noticed a long horn protruding from its forehead, emitting the light we saw earlier. But something else was off about this horse. It was... squinting at us. As if it were thinking like a human.it walked closer and looked around at us, still squinting. But it did nothing. It just turned around and walked away. before it could do so however, it flashed it's horn, and started a small fire in some dry grass on the ground. I looked up at it and saw it looking back and I swear, at that moment, it winked. It winked at me! It disappeared into the darkness and the light from its horn slowly disappeared. "It winked at me." I said quietly. "What?" Phillip asked. "That horse winked at me after it started the fire." I said louder. "Is that seriously the only thing you're worried about?!" James yelled, "You should be worried about how your leadership almost got us killed!" "Oh so I was just supposed to leave my best friend there to die?!" "YES! YOU NEED TO LEARN TO LOOK OUT FOR YOURSELF!" I glared at him, why he was being so insensitive, I didn't know. "I'm going to bed. Anyone who wants to join is welcome." He walked away and set up the makeshift tents. Ayden was still sat on the toboggan. Theresa sat next to him. Mike and Phillip decided to go to bed. "So are we going to talk about what we just saw?" Ayden asked. "It was a unicorn!" Terri exclaimed, "Why would one be on Earth though? I thought they were legends." "Actually, they were said to have roamed the Earth during ancient times." I explained, "Maybe one survived?" "And it winked! You saw it too right? It looked right at you!" Ayden yelled. "That means it might be sentient." "Sentient?" Terri asked. "It can think and act just like humans basically. It has will." I explained. "You think we'll see it again?" Ayden asked. "I don't know honestly." We all sat around the campfire for a few more moments. "Well, I'm gonna get some sleep." Terri said yawning. "Goodnight." 'We'll come to." Ayden said, "Ahem." He looked at me. "Oh right." I said and began to pull him, but not until I saw the hoofprints of the unicorn we saw. If it was sentient, it would have a home. And I think it might help us get home.