//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Human Nature and the Unknown // by EntropyEntropy //------------------------------// Dark, so very dark and foreign. Everything was bright, down to my skin, and yet I felt like it was covered in shade and shadows. I looked up through the brush of the trees within the everfree around me, and saw Luna's moon still giving its light. Too dark to spot the timber wolves, but bright enough to reflect the moon light from the polished axe I carry. I could hear the growling around me, and knew each one, if bitten into me, could cause both infection and enough of a distraction for the rest to overwhelm me. I looked to the trees again, surveying the best one to use to my advantage, hearing the brush and rustle of leaves and the growling approach slowly, and quietly. I shined my axe around using the moon light to spot just how many wolves were around me as I backed away to the first place I shined the light to, knowing no wolves were there. I didn't want to glance to the low hanging branch a second time until I knew I was under the tree I had spotted, because I knew the wolves would pounce then and there. 2 steps. 3 steps. 4 steps. the crunch of leaves. the snap of a stick, and I maintained eye contact without looking away from these wolves eyes. I could sense them sending one of their pack to attempt to flank the place I was backing into. Perhaps it was because they sensed my determination to live, or maybe it was simply the glare from the eye contact, but they were as cautious as I was in their approach. I finished counting, unless more than one was sent behind me, there are 4. It was far too easy to miscount how many there truly were thanks to the dark nature of the everfree. The eyes of these timber wolves may glow, but so too does most of the eyes of life within this forest, down to the insects flying from tree to tree. Another thing I was unaware of, were that insects would emit a glow similar to the eyes of the timber wolves. Whether it was a mutual existence between the two to scare prey into making a mistake for them both to feed, or a defense mechanism poorly timed along side the wolves attacking me, I couldn't say. What I could say, was because of how dark it was, I couldn't see the full nature of the insects those "eyes" were attached to due to the glow said eyes give off concealing them within the dark. I could only hope they were not here to consume me as well, or at the very least, were the size of normal insects. I'm sure I'm where I want to be now, which could only mean- A sharp growl and the crushing of leaves, the wolf behind me pounced, I had a moment to react, grabbing the tree above me while jumping. One hand on my axe and one held to the branch, in the same movement I moved my axe behind me, listening for the noise of the growl. Despite the fear telling me to turn, I knew looking away from the three wolves before me was certain death. A grinding wood against wood noise was made, and I knew the wolf behind me had bit the handle, thankfully missing my fingers. It wasn't over though, the moment the wolf knew it was blocked, it adjusted to what I assume would've been to bite my hands holding the axe. The timber wolves were known to be intelligent, even for wild animals, but this I somewhat expected. I quickly let go of my axe, letting the wolf have it and distract it for a moment. The moment the axe left my hand, the other three wolves pounced. quickly, I pulled myself up, thanking my luck for their caution as they narrowly miss me thanks to the distance they put. Kicking one that came close to getting a bite of my leg; most likely the one who bit the axe. Not caring to look back at the damage and focused on getting to higher ground, I finished climbing the tree. A breath I took in the short quiet, before looking down and seeing the damage to the wolf I managed to do. Its head was severed, and what could only be its wooden remains in shambles below me, the other wolves clearly unperturbed by the fall of their companion. Of course they weren't concerned, I remember how easy it was for them to pull themselves together, fall apart, and come back again. Perhaps they have a way of rebuilding themselves individually, if I survive this, I'll ask Twilight for more details later. They were staring at me, but they weren't pouncing, or even moving for that matter. I remember vaguely hearing that Timber Wolves don't actually need to eat, and act purely to instincts, perhaps they're thinking I'll eventually expire and fall from the tree due to exhaustion. I looked to the other trees around me, and saw they were close enough for me to jump to and from if needed. I smiled, happy to see that the branches under the bush of the trees were spacious and spread, making it unlikely for me to miss a grab or be stopped by smaller unnoticed branches. Instead of immediately jumping away, however, I looked down and stared at my axe, still able to see it due to the metal at the top once again reflecting moon light. Currently it was triangulated between the three wolves, directly under me, and therefore, hopelessly out of reach. I had gotten it from Applejack, telling her I had wanted to make my own log cabin to live inside of, and that I would be fine temporarily having no shelter so long as I had food to give me strength. At the time, it was clear to me they would've offered me a place to stay, some more than others if I was willing to answer questions, but at the time there were a few things that worried- I had cut off my thinking noticing the glow of remains of the timber wolf whose head I kicked off. Considering that in the show the same three wolves had chased Applejack and Spike despite one or two of them clearly falling to pieces, it should be safe to assume it was rebuilding itself. I was shocked, to say the least, when instead of reforming, the remains simply attached to the legs of the other 3 wolves, seemingly bulking them up. I didn't need to wait for the magic to finish to know what that implied. No longer caring for the axe and more for my own survival, I immediately jumped to the next tree. I glanced back to see if they were giving chase, but saw only one coming after me. I'm guessing the other two are likely still bulking up, as this one managed to nip right at my heels despite the tree I jumped to being taller. Just then, something rang in my head, a warning from Twilight seeing as how I was planning to live close to the everfree, "If you see a timber wolf, run, don't even think about fighting unless you have no choice. I know you've claimed your people overcame the dangers of wild animals before, but timber wolves not only fight in packs, they also have a sort of hive mind. That means that if one sees you, the others will also know where you are and already be chasing, and who KNOWS how big of a pack-" Cutting off the memory due to the urgency of the pursuer, as well as because she said a LOT after that, I focused ahead and planned my next jump quickly. Turning on my heel while jumping so that I would fly back towards the tree, I focused on the wolf as it tried to catch me in the air. The backwards momentum I had prevented me from getting a good strike at it, but that didn't mean it wouldn't stun it. I kicked my foot as hard as I could in the air towards the wolf, hoping to clip it enough to knock its orientation slightly and stun it. Instead, it bit into the side of my shoe, scraping the foot inside and tear the side from the shoe. The bite managed to mess up my backwards momentum, and it was clear I was going to fall to the ground. Perhaps on instinct or reacting to the pain, I quickly grabbed the wolf's head that was gripping my shoe, the wolf not responding quick enough as it tried to bite my approaching hands, and spun myself amidst the air with the wolf in hands so I would land upon it. We had gained some height, so it was only natural than that with the full force of me landing upon its head with my feet from the fall, the wolves head was blown to pieces. I rolled grunting in pain from the landing more than the bite, and quickly scrambled and pulled myself back up the tree I was pulled from reaching, knowing the other final two wolves would be approaching. I was about to continue my way to the next tree, but then I realized how much faster the wolf chasing me was. It was capable with each jump I made to make an attempt to bite at me, meaning that not only was it keeping up, it managed to run around the trees ahead as well. That meant that even if I kept going, I could not out pace them, and I was still too far from the edge of the forest for that to make a difference. In fact.... I wouldn't want to face them on an open field anyway.... No, that would be suicide, but I had already taken out two of them. I glanced down at my shoe, and saw that the wolf had nearly bitten clean through it and had even taken off some skin. It was bleeding, but not quite badly enough to be concerning, clearly a scrape that will need to be disinfected and de-splintered later. Their bites are no joke, but their durability is low, or rather, they are barely held together. The wood they're made from is hard, and he could tell from the pain in his feet upon crushing the head of the last wolf, they could take some serious hits if angled in a way it won't sever a limb. Despite the risk, I quickly hopped down, and grabbed a large stick from the remains from the destroyed timber wolf, and scrambled back up a tree, only momentarily noticing how dry the stick was, and the very slight vibration of it being far more noticeable. I couldn't examine the stick for long after that, for despite the destruction of the last wolf and the grabbing of its remains being but less than 10 seconds, the other two were already here as well. Though the time to prepare was slight, it was enough, as when the first wolf made a jump, I had already positioned myself against the tree, as well as had the stick gripped in a manner that allowed me to perfectly strike its head with the full strength of both arms. A satisfying wood against wood sound, and the head went flying away, however the body still kept its pounce, too shocked to effectively grip me with its claws, they still managed to stab into my chest as the rest of the wolf exploded into pieces against me. A shout in pain was masked by the sound of meat against wood and wood against wood, but despite the pain, the adrenaline assisted and forced me to look at the last remaining wolf- No.... I had miscounted, there were two more wolves.... Or maybe the pack was more scattered, and even more were on the way. I was waiting for them to pounce, but once again, they were motionless. Motionless, but the stick in my hand began to hum louder. I understood they were once again using their magic to bulk themselves in order to finish me. If i let them, it was all but hopeless, but even then, I still have no idea how many wolves were truly left. My choices are to pounce them and hope I can somehow strike down both, or to remain in this tree and wait for them to be too strong to break to pieces. I may as well have had only one option, but I had to be clever. Quickly, I circled around the tree I was on so I was out of their sight, and I took the torn up shoe from my foot, and threw it over the tree and hopefully just out of sight of the wolves. I gripped my stick and waited for only a moment, predicting when the shoe would make noise just behind the wolves. Jumping out not a second later than the noise was made, I pounced at the wolves, and thanked whatever gods were watching that they looked towards the sound. One swing, and one wolf had lost its head, the other, possibly not used to being the hunted, panicked and tried to jump away. It went out of reach of my arms.... But not of my weapon which felt as if it were being pulled toward the wolf I was attacking. A strike, and its head too went flying away. Only after I finished my second strike did I notice the sticks floating around me, which then quickly fell to the ground. No time to rest, I quickly- "Hrk!" Suddenly, a spike of pain in my chest, gripping it in response, and grunting in pain before stumbling to my knees. Once the pain subsided, I took off my shirt to look at the injuries, and saw 6 cuts made from claws, luckily stabbed only and not raked. I thought those were where the pain was coming from, but the painful feeling on my chest was centered between the two pairs of three cuts, in the very center of my chest. Looking closer, though it was hard to tell in the darkness, it was made clear that the center of my chest was heavily bruised. Upon seeing the bruise, I remembered the wolf that exploded against me, and thanked my adrenaline for numbing the pain before I struck at the wolves. Still, it became hard to walk and breath, the massive bruise was swelling, and put pressure on my lungs. I also began to notice that it somewhat hurt to breath, so perhaps my lungs were bruised as well. I unconsciously went to wipe my mouth on that thought and checked, and saw my fingers had some spots where they were darker. Maybe I had injured the inside of my mouth earlier, but this pain in my chest coupled with this bruise, I might be bleeding internally. "fuck...." I couldn't say much else seeing how bad my condition was, I knew I needed to leave the forest now before the next fight occurred, and knew that if more of the pack were in pursuit, it would be my end. Perhaps that one extra wolf was a distant scout coming to aid in securing a kill, rather than a member of another party or pa-.... "FUCK!" I shouted louder, for one very simple and hindsight obvious problem, which in fact, was the fact, that I was lost. The word rolled out my mouth was as unfamiliar as the situation, my speaking almost always controlled and subdued, but this situation justified it I felt, or rather, I didn't care because of how bad it was. While I'm no medical expert, I know how important lungs are, and if that's what's bleeding, I may very well need some major hospice care, and that's not even considering what will happen if infection occurs in my foot or my chest wounds. I would've reprimanded myself for yelling in enemy territory, if not for the knowledge that fresh blood is quite easy to smell, and most animals would've heard the scuffle. Basically I'm in such a bad position for stealth that I may as well ignore it as a factor. Once again I remind myself, no time to rest, all I could do was think and hope for some way to retrace my steps. If I could find Applejack's axe, I could retrace further from there using the trail I left myself when I first came into this place. I thought about the chase from the wolves, but had already lost where I had come from. I looked to the tops of the trees, and cursed my earlier fortune of believing the space between the branches was an aid. If they weren't spaced, I could see a trail of broken branches. I thought about how if only timberwolves were weighty enough to leave tracks, looking around before- I smiled, and would have jumped for joy if not for the danger of doing so, upon spotting that the timberwolves indeed DID leave tracks behind. I had learned that since they were borderline hollow, and the only time they left a track if any, was when they pounce, the force of doing so digs into the ground. What's more is, their strength in their legs was enhanced, so the track is deeper and more noticeable, and in some cases, seen even without their pounce, depending on the ground of course. Twilight is great for these sorta questions, but she tends to ramble. Excited at the prospect of survival, I trudged along the trail left behind by the earlier chase, being careful to not be spotted by any other predators, holding my trophy of what I'll call a timberwolf "femur" stick, closely to myself in case ambushed. I paused in my trailing for a moment when a thought struck me, "Why didn't all their remains combine to make a giant wolf?" Until that point, I was absolutely quiet, but that stray thought jarred me so much that I couldn't help but say it aloud. I stopped and listen close to the noise of the forest, but nothing like the sounds of giant steps were heard, and after standing there in worry for a good few minutes, decided to accept that it didn't happen for a reason yet known, and moved on. Eventually, I managed to find the clearing with no enemy contact, and was relieved to find the axe in question, untaken by any curious wild animals. I had started to limp once I reached the clearing, and limped my way over to the axe, picking it up without any issue. I looked for the trail I had left for myself, which was in the form of fishing wire collected from the local river by ponyville painted green. Though hard to spot, the easiest part to see was the knot due to being to being triple knotted, what's more, I made sure it always faced the direction I was going, so it would be easier to retrace my steps. The reason it was painted green, was to signify a good place to chop wood, due to the trees being thicker and taller. There were two other colors, which were red and yellow. Yellow was simply a place marker, of which I had the longest wires of due to needing it the most. Red was a turn back sign, either placed outside ursa major homes or dragon caves, or other dangerous areas. Luckily I hadn't needed to place any, but this is my first trip into the forest. The reason I was ABLE to paint them, was thanks to Applejack having spare paint buckets around, most of which were red, but a few of other colors as well. I was worried she'd ask how I was gonna pay for the paint used when I asked for it, but when she heard the reason, no other questions were asked. She seemed happy that I was clearing the litter from the river, at least, but it also could be because wire doesn't take much to paint, only a dip. Either way, while these thoughts were distracting me from the limping walk, I had managed to get back to the trail I had deviated from, which were known to have very little in the ways of monster attacks. While I wasn't literally out of the woods yet, I could breath a sigh of relief. "ACK!" Right, breathing hurts. Anyway, I continued down the path, heading back out of the forest, and preparing to check into the hospital for some needed rest. Thankfully, I had encountered nothing the rest of the way out, and had finally gotten back into the ponyville clearing at the edge of the forest. At one point during the walk, I had adapted the Timberwolf femur into a walking stick, as the limp was getting annoying, and sore. At one point during the walk I realized that the pain in my foot was getting worse, but more than that, I could now tell my leg was also bruised. I likely didn't notice much earlier due to the pain of the foot overshadowing it. Either way, I limped my way through a dark ponyville towards the hospital, which was on the opposite side of town. Something about keeping the injured away from the traumatic forest, which was more or less just gossip I heard passing here and there. A part of me was thankful it was so late and no ponies were wandering around awake, not because they were scared of me, which they were at first, terrified even, but because with how I looked I could only imagine the "babying" I'd go through. This is because after they heard Twilight say that I seemed trust worthy, they asked for more details from Twilight, who told them that I got, and I quote, "separated from his friends and family, with seemingly no way back." Apparently the fear they had of me after being quelled by Twilight's words of trust, was completely obliterated through sadness and pity. The amount of concern and well wishes honestly made me feel weak, something I now know I hated feeling, but I couldn't let them know that considering it was for my own sake. What was worse, however, is despite her saying that, the biggest concern for me, is that despite knowing human history and the land I come from, I.... Don't remember my actual life beyond my name.... After reminiscing, I had arrived at the front doors of the hospital, and I was about to walk through when a thought occurred. "With how many people live where they work in this world, should I knock? Or just walk through since its a hospital?" There was a somewhat pause at the door, before I shrugged, and walked through. A part of me honestly expected to see a pony showering in a tub in the middle of the waiting area thanks to my stray thought. No such bad luck, as I was instead greeted. "Hello, what seems to be-" the white mare at the desk, whom I believe is nurse redheart, looked up before shouting, "Oh my goodness! Mr. Human, I can see you need help right away, please, come with me!" Was all I managed to hear before being led away by the nurse towards a room, and laid on a bed. She left rather quickly after telling me to relax and to breath slowly and carefully. No doubt she saw the blood on my mouth and the bruise on my chest, and thought the same thing I did. I quickly slipped my axe under the matress, not wanting it confiscated for my own protection or some other inane reason. Perhaps it was just my paranoia talking me into this action, but I've always been the cautious and paranoid type.... I think? Not long after, a doctor came calmly through the door, earning a glance and a nod from me, which earned me a nod back. He sat in front of a desk at a corner of the room, facing towards me. At a glance, he didn't look like any pony I had seen on the show, let alone the background, he had a blonde main that was laying calmly down his neck, while his fur was a darker yellow. His cutie mark was a red cross with a calm blue shield dotted in the center. After a moment, he started to speak, "So, you look like you were attacked by a monster, and judging by the 6 holes in your.... Center, the massive bruise, and the blood on and probably in your mouth, you likely need major aid." he said calmly, looking at me with an expression that matched. I nodded at him, having a rough idea of what condition I was actually in. There was more silence, before he once again spoke calmly with a question, "Do you think you could tell me what's wrong with you confidently?" I looked at him, confused at first, something he looked like he was about to reply to, before I realized why he asked that and looked at the ceiling, "Right" I said, "You don't know my biology or what exactly bleeding out of the mouth, for me, could mean, at best you merely have a good idea, but that's poor practice to take action upon when someone who knows more about my body is around." I said aloud. "Precisely" he said, nodding his head as he said so, before waiting for me to continue. I sighed, almost grunting doing so and cursing myself for the habit, before telling him what I could about my injuries, and just how bad they could potentially be. The doctor nodded, and asked different things, even down to what exactly in the air my body uses to breath, as well as the organs I could note and their purposes, taking notes the whole time as I did so. Eventually we concluded I'd need what "anypony" would need if their lungs were injured, which was rest and monitoring for the severity of the injury. "Thank you for the information, by the way, with it, on the off chance you get injured again, we may be able to help you even if you can't give us additional info yourself." The doctor said. I nodded at him, and waited for him to leave, but there was a pause, before I looked at him again and could see he wanted to ask something. "What?" I asked, a bit curious as to what he needed. "Well, you see, most ponies are aware of how unique you are, and with these notes being the most we've got on your species as a whole, I was wondering if you would like it if I publicized it or not?" what? This time you didn't say it out loud, before he continued on, "I see you're confused about why I would ask such a thing, well, of course it means you can be helped other places as well, but more than that, I'm pretty sure I can.... Sell.... This...." There was a long pause. I more or less just stared at him before looking at the ceiling in clear thought. "Tell you what, tell me your name, and promise me at least 10% of the profits, which we WILL have legally agreed upon with help from Princess Twilight, who will likely be your biggest profit pusher with her thirst to both give and learn knowledge, and you have a deal." I said firmly. "Only 10%" He asked calmly, "Yes, only 10%.... Wait how much are my medical bills?" I replied with another question. He scoffs at the question, "What hospital would make a patient pay for their lives? Celestia provides us enough funding, don't worry about that." I breathed a sigh of relief- ouch, before saying, "I'll make sure to avoid more injuries not just for my own sake, but Celestia's wallet as well." He laughs, before saying, "Of course, don't get hurt, but I'm sure Celestia can handle one danger proned human." I was smiling before it fell a little bit when he said that. The argument of free healthcare and its flaws is never a fun one, and its not surprising to me a peaceful world like this has it, but.... He does know that the more people are injured, the more weight gets put on such a system, and the resources provided are always finite within a timeframe, right? Why.... Am I so bothered by this? I shake those thoughts from my head, before returning to the subject at hand, "Ahem, anyway, once you let me out, OR if Twilight comes to visit, we'll make a contract then and there, and I'll even give you additional information once the contract is struck." The doctor happy to get extra bits quietly said, "yes!" Before letting himself out of the room, likely to proofread his notes or something. With nothing left to do, I put my hands on my head and laid it back on the pillow, breathing slowly and calmly, thinking about the "Equestria" I landed in. There were certainly many thing, definitely more than less, that were the same about the show, but there were a few things that struck him as odd, and filled him with unnerve and worry, when he first arrived here. To that thought, I remembered back to when the ponies who were pitying me were finally pushed away by none other than Spike the dragon. The little guy told them to back up from atop my shoulder, easily climbing up there thanks to the crowd to climb up on. At first, they didn't listen, but Spike, when he first put his hand on my shoulder, unbeknownst to me, could feel how stressed I was from the tightness of my shoulder, a muscle he was familiar with thanks to the massages he gave around quite often. When he looked more closely at my face, he could see my eyes were filled with discomfort. It was then that he calmly breathed fire into the air, just to distract the ponies around me and get their attention, which once he had, he said, "Come on guys, you're pressuring him, he's already new to this world, no need to squish him." The crowd, feeling a bit guilty for their zealous display of concern, backed up a bit, before calmly wishing him well and dispersing. I looked over and thanked Spike for the help, to which he grinned and with a laugh said, "Hey man, its no problem, being the only man of the house, being strong is what I gotta do." I almost double take, having watched the show, I felt I had a good beat on how Spike would act, let alone say, but what he said struck me as odd, before I remember, "Right, its just you and Twilight in this library, right? Though, why didn't you say dragon?" Spike looked at me and shrugged, before clarifying, "I mean, its always been like this, even before the library, Twilight's Mom and Dad were out working their jobs usually, so it was just me and Twilight." "What about Shining Armor?" I ask worriedly, both not wanting to reveal I know more about them than I let on, but also dreading what he said implies. Spike looked at me and replied, "Who?"