Oh boy, talk about a bad situation!
In the Everfree Forest, Sunset and I found ourselves facing a roaring Cragadile. I doubted it was just saying “hi”.
After Sunset and I stopped screaming, we both yelled, “RUN!!”
Don’t know why we yelled it; it was OBVIOUS to run for our lives!
We couldn’t escape through the trees because the ones by us were still crashing down in a domino effect. With the Cragadile coming for us, we darted to our left, away from it.
But before we even ran five feet, one of the falling trees, now to our left, instead of smashing into yet another tree, fell in the direction of the clearing. With a *CRASH*, it slammed right in front of Sunset and me. The impact knocked us onto our backsides. I lost my bearings from the impact, and the same thing seemed to happen to Sunset.
Shaking my head to get my bearings again, I sprung to my feet. I looked to my right and saw Sunset back on her hooves, then looked behind me. The Cragadile was only five feet away and still coming closer. I was even more aware of those teeth, though its mouth was still closed. My heartbeat sped up to a rare rate, and a lump formed in my throat. Rarely have I felt so much fear.
“Close your eyes!”
Without even wondering what Sunset was about to do, I did what she ordered. Despite my eyes being closed, a flash of red light still was visible to me.
“You can open them now!”
I turned to the Cragadile, which appeared to be blinded; guess Sunset’s flash attack was super effective! But that thing was roaring even louder than before. The voice made the whole clearing vibrate, and I grimaced at the sound. Despite its mouth opening due to the roaring, I didn’t even notice those sharp teeth because of the booming from the bellowing.
But, that beast was thrashing back and forth as well. Before Sunset or I had enough time to gain any distance, it spun around and the end of its tail rammed into us!
On impact, I felt a jolt of pain in my stomach, and my girlfriend and I flew in the air screaming. We hit and rolled on the ground, and stopped maybe twenty feet from where we were hit.
Groaning in pain and on my back, I looked to Sunset to see the shape she was in. She was also groaning in pain and her body had bruises, like mine did. And her horn was badly cut.
The Cragadile, for that moment, was still blinded but was roaring and thrashing about. Both Sunset and I were hurt and couldn’t “run”. Our only hope was to hide somehow.
The nearest bush was around fifteen feet away from me, and Sunset lay closer to it. Her horn glowed red and I felt myself being pulled toward her. But almost immediately, Sunset yelped in pain and her horn stopped glowing. Twilight told me once that using magic is painful for Unicorns if they have a cut on their horn. The worse the cut, the worse the pain would be until the cut heals.
Thus, I had to reach the bush myself. Sunset and I were healthy enough to stand and forced our feet/hooves to the bush, and I held my stomach as I went. My hat flew by the bush, so once near it, I kicked my hat into it. With our new “friend” still having a temper tantrum, Sunset limped behind the bush and I got there after she did.
Once we on the side of the bush hidden from the Cragadile, which stopped roaring and calmed down, I gently sat down and held my stomach, but retrieved my hat from inside the bush. To keep herself low, Sunset lay on her stomach beside me, facing the bush. We were now closer to the other side of the clearing we came from, around another fifteen feet from where our bush was.
Able to stop grunting from the pain to speak words, I whispered, “Other than your horn, are you all right, Sunset? Are you hurt bad?”
Sunset whispered back, “I think I’ll live. How about you?”
“I’ve been hurt worse. At least you bought us some time with that ‘flash attack’ of yours, or we might be dead right now.”
“But what do we do? If we try to escape through the trees, that Cragadile could see us before we could get behind them and knock them down.”
“We’ll just have to stay here and hope it either goes back to sleep, or leaves through the big gap between some of the trees.”
We carefully peeked from the bush to see what the Cragadile was up to. It was still on the side of the clearing Sunset and I were previously at, so we were a considerable distance from it. That’s some good news.
But now the bad news: it had its sight back. Its head was to the ground and appeared to be sniffing it. From what I heard from Twilight, Cragadiles are most violent when hungry. Given how hard it trashed around when it saw Sunset and me...oh, buck.
“Sunset, I don’t think that thing’s leaving. It seems to be looking for us.”
With a frown screaming guilt right before she did it, Sunset covered her eyes with her forelegs. “No, no, no! This is all my fault! If I didn’t want to come to this stupid forest, this wouldn’t be happening! I’m so, so sorry, Eric!”
“It’s all ri--”
My attempt to calm Sunset wasn’t one of my more effective ones. Sunset uncovered her face and in a slightly louder whisper countered, “No, it’s not! We’re hurt and can’t get away, and if we don’t do something, we’re done for!”
I wanted to say something to ease Sunset’s guilt, but had nothing. She wasn’t wrong.
But Sunset’s mood did a near 180-degree turn and her frown flipped into a smile. “Wait, I have an idea. Can you get my journal from my pack?”
“I can, but...oh, of course. Can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”
“Yep, we can use it to ask Princess Twilight for help.”
I picked up both Sunset’s journal and a quill out of her pack, working through the pain I was still feeling. I didn’t see the journal she uses to talk to me when she's in "her" world, so I figured she left it with one of the ex-Shipping Seven. Good thing Sunset wore the strap to the pack tied around her, so it didn’t fly off when she was struck by the Cragadile’s tail.
Twilight, it’s me, Eric. Sunset and I are in a clearing in the Everfree Forest. We are hiding in a bush and a Cragadile’s in the clearing with us. We can’t get away, we’re both hurt, Sunset’s horn has a bad cut so she can’t use spells, and we need your help! Please hurry big sis!!
“Okay, I wrote what’s going on, so let’s hope Twi gets my message in time.”
“Good. Guess all we can do is wait.”
We took another peek outside the bush. The Cragadile was slowly creeping closer to the bush Sunset and I was by, still sniffing the ground. It wasn’t coming right at us, but at the rate it was going, it would reach our bush in about a couple of minutes. There was no guarantee that Twi was near the journal to get our “S.O.S.” or even in the castle. By the time my big sis got the message and came running, it could have been too late.
I looked at Sunset, and her frown showed that she was more scared than she was letting on. The thought of that beast and those teeth tearing into my skin, literally ripping me apart, and possibly even start eating me before I was even dead gripped me with icy terror that I would even want Chrysalis to feel.
But despite that fear, one way or another, I had to protect Sunset, and not just because she was my girlfriend. If she died here, not only would I never forgive myself if I somehow made it, but without her help to protect it, the “other” human world could suffer. That made what I was thinking a bit easier. Still, it was one of the most frightening decisions of my life.
I made a fist in both hands and said, “Okay, Sunset? I don’t think we have enough time to wait for Twilight, but I have an idea.”
“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that, because I was thinking the same thing! What is it?”
“I’m going to go out, and when its attention is on me, you sneak out. I’ll try to buy enough time for you to get far enough through the trees that it won’t see you.”
“Okay, but what about you? How will you escape?”
“Let me worry about that. Just focus on getting yourself out of here.”
It took Sunset a few seconds to understand the true nature of my plan. When it sank in, her eyes grew big and she gasped. “Wait, I think I know what you’re planning, and ABSOLUTELY NOT, Eric Reed!”
“It’s either you or me, and I care for you too much to let it be you.”
“But I care for you too! You don’t have to be the one to do it because you’re the boyfriend!”
“It’s not just that. Think about it, Sunset: Equestria won’t be in any less danger if I go down here, but the ‘other’ human world needs you to protect it from the still-free Equestrian magic in it.”
“Maybe, but--”
“Look, we don’t have time to argue over this. We can’t both die here and a world needs you, but no world needs me, so it has to be me.”
I hoped that would be enough to make Sunset leave. But all it did was make her form one of the saddest frowns I’ve ever seen, and tears poured from her eyes. “But, I...I can’t just leave you to die, Eric. I’ll never forgive myself if I do, and I...I...I can’t go! I’m sorry!”
Looking in Sunset’s water-ridden eyes, tears still pouring down her cheeks, I knew the mare was not going to budge an inch. She thought all this was her fault. With the additional guilt that she still felt about her past, Sunset Shimmer wouldn’t be able to take someone dying because of her, even if it truly wasn’t her fault. Deep down, I knew she wouldn’t leave. Otherwise, I would have given Sunset my hat to take to my big sisters, little brother, and friends, and asked her to tell them that I love them.
But before I could beg pointlessly for Sunset to save herself, some rocks on the ground caught my eye. An idea popped into my head, and I even formed a little smile.
“Okay, let’s make what I said ‘plan B’ because I have a better idea. I know it’ll be painful for you to use spells, but can you put any of your magic into those rocks beside us?”
“Since it’s not the same as ‘casting’ a spell, I can handle pouring my magic into at least a few. But why?”
“After you do, I’m going to use them and my pitching skills to serve up some fastballs, flavored in magic. If I can hit one of that Cragadile’s eyes, that could get it to turn tail and run.”
“But you’re hurt. If you can’t hit its eyes, you’re done for!”
“...*sigh*...Plan ‘A’ or plan ‘B’, Sunset Shimmer?”
“Plan ‘A’! Plan ‘A’!”
Sunset’s injured horn glowed and a stream of red magic came out of it, towards the rocks on the ground, one by one. She was grimacing, so I knew it was painful, and I hated to ask it of her. But the rocks by themselves might not have been enough, since I was too weak and hurt to throw them hard. Plus, Cragadiles eyes are hard and tough, so even a direct hit in the eye might not get it to run if it packed too little power; I’d just get it mad. The best I could do for Sunset was hold one of her hooves to show I was there. I wanted to kiss her forehead too, but my face would have been in the path of the magic.
After magic entered the third rock, Sunset grunted in pain and her horn stopped glowing.
“That’s…*pant*...the best…*pant*...I can do, Eric. It…*pant*...hurts too much to put magic into more rocks.”
“Three will be enough, and I’m so sorry I asked you to do that.”
“It’s okay. Just be careful.”
We kissed, and I got to my feet and walked out of the bush, holding the three glowing rocks in my right hand. They were weak steps, but at least I could have done that much. The Cragadile spotted me once I was fully out, roared, and came for me. It was ten feet away at this point. My heart pounded harder than ever, but I had to look past my fear. Besides, this thing hurt my girlfriend, and that fact let the blood start boiling.
With the vibrations from its steps under my feet, I gritted my teeth. I locked on to its eyes, trying to avoid looking at the teeth poking out of its mouth.
I grabbed one of the three rocks in my right hand with my left one, and made a throwing motion. But pain from it forced me to drop the rock in my left hand.
Turns out, a muscle was pulled in it, but I didn’t notice till I tried to throw with it. Strike one, and not the “strike” I wanted.
I’m not a “righty”. But, since my right arm felt fine, I moved one of the two rocks in my right hand to my left hand. Then I threw the one still in my right hand.
The rock spun in the air, and hit the Cragadile’s head over the right eye. That did nothing other than making big mouth roar again. Its breath smelt like rotten eggs and I fought to not turn away from both its smell and how loud it was. Strike two.
The upside to the Cragadile being closer to me now, and still coming, was that its eyes looked bigger and were closer, making them easier to hit. Anger over what it did to Sunset helped keep my fear in check. Even if its teeth looked sharper than ever.
I moved the last rock to my right hand. To keep myself from thinking about the last rock being the last one, I threw it as soon as my eyes locked on the Cragadile’s eyes again. I couldn’t “choke” here. If I did, that Cragadile would have human and pony, that it already tenderized, for dinner.
Thank Celestia that my last rock hit its mark! Like I hoped, ‘ol big, green, and ugly turned tail and ran off. I wanted to yell something like “And don’t come back!” as it fled, but decided not to even risk it calling my bluff.
I held my stomach again as Sunset crept from behind the bush with a big ‘ol smile. We were still alive!
“You did it, Eric! That was awesome!”
With a smile of my own, I answered, “Yeah, barely.”
Becoming more aware that we were still in the Everfree Forest, my moment of joy was tempered. Sunset and I weren’t safe yet. Not till we were out of the forest. “Then again, let’s not celebrate too much. In case Twilight’s not on the way, we should try to get out of here before something else finds us or our green ‘friend’ comes back. Are you in good enough shape to walk out of the forest?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Then let’s go.”
With that, after I returned Sunset’s journal to her pack -- it was sitting on the ground in case Twilight wrote something back -- we walked through a gap in the trees. It returned us back to the dirt road in the forest, and followed it to the forest’s exit. As we walked, I looked to the left and Sunset looked to the right. We hoped nothing would jump out and attack us. It was quiet, but that made it even more unnerving. What if something was watching us, but was staying quiet? Our injuries weakened us, so it grew harder to keep going as time went on. We would’ve leaned on each other to make it easier, but we were too hurt for that.
Lucky for us, we had enough energy to eventually reach the exit. It felt so great to be out of that forest!
After walking a little from the forest’s entrance, both Sunset and I carefully sat on the ground to catch our breaths.
I said, “Okay…*pant*...I think we’re safe now. I didn’t think we would have made it without Twilight’s and the others’ help.”
“But we did, and we did it by ourselves.”
“Heh, guess we make a good team, huh, Sunset?”
“Yep, we do, Eric.”
This is normally where a kiss would have happened. But since I knew we were safe, the fact that Sunset and I were nearly eaten alive could now fully sink into my heart. Flashbacks of that Cragadile, and those huge, sharp teeth, close to us flooded my head. My hands shivered, and my breathing sped up, but not from fatigue. This was a time I really needed Twilight and Starlight nearby.
However, I had my awesome girlfriend, Sunset Shimmer, with me. She said nothing, but gently rested a hoof on my hand. Sunset wore possibly the most comforting smile she could that screamed “I’m here”. This helped me calm down a little.
But after my ears picked up a “popping” sound, a familiar voice oozing worry called out, “Eric! Sunset! Are you two all right?! Where's the Cragadile?!”
Sunset and I turned our heads to our rights to where the voice came from. We already knew who it was. Merely hearing it calmed me down some more; it was the voice I needed to hear the most.
It was the voice of Twilight Sparkle. She was far from alone.
Starlight Glimmer, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity were with her. Guess after getting my call for help, big sis Twilight told the others, and they all wanted to help.
"Where is it?! I'll tear it apart!" Rainbow Dash threatened. Gotta love how she has zero problems wanting to fight for her friends.
I was still trying to calm down my breathing as Sunset called out, "Yeah, we're all right, and the Cragadile's gone."
The whole gang surrounded Sunset and me, with big worried frowns.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Starlight asked.
“Because you don't look all right, especially your horn, Sunset, but at leas--" Twilight took notice of my shaking hands and gasped. She's had panic attacks a lot, so Twilight Sparkle of all ponies knew how bad they felt. It forced her into "big sister" mode and she immediately sat down beside me, wrapped her wing around my upper back, and leaned her head to mine. Sunset kept her hoof on my hand with no signs that she planned to let go any time soon, and Starlight lay in front of me, facing me, with big sympathetic eyes. All this further helped me relax, so my breathing was returning to normal and my hands stopped shaking.
"Everything's all right, little bro. We’re here," Twilight whispered, then turned to Sunset. In a more regular but still concerned voice, Twilight asked, "Are you sure you're all right, Sunset?"
"I'm bruised and my horn's hurt, but I'll be all right once we get to a hospital."
After another minute to let me fully recover from my panic attack, we headed to the hospital so Sunset and I could be treated for our injuries.
But soon, something would come along to test my relationship with Sunset Shimmer in a completely different way than the Cragadile did.