//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: The First Anxieties 
// Story: A Simply (Not So) Simple Life 
// by Neon Icy Wings 
//------------------------------//


Waking up is generally an unpleasant thing. Being forced to leave the comfort of your bed, losing out on a good dream. Waking up generally doesn't include howling wind and feeling ungodly wet.


My eyes snapped open in a panic, what due to said ungodly wetness that turned out to be torrential rain. I was still groggy, mind in a panic of uncertainty and tried to shakily get to my feet only to flail face first back into the mud that had been my resting place, unbeknownst to me.

The wind blew, harsher than I ever knew it to. It blew so hard it threatened to blow me down again as I tried to do anything to orient myself. Even trying to get to my knees, to elevate myself and take stock was difficult, but quickly manageable under the furious beating of my heart.

I tried again to crack open my eyes against the wind, rain and mud, blinking rapidly to clear my vision. My sight was greeted by trees and green, an entire forest which caused me to shake further. Not only were outright forests rare around my area of living, but what trees we did have looked nothing like what I saw around me.

I couldn't keep up with the information overload and confusion, so I tried my best to compartmentalize and prioritize what I could, and started crawling to even the simplest form of cover from the elements. Even the simple act of crawling threatened to break through my prioritization, as crawling forced to the forefront of my mind just weird my entire being felt at that moment. I powered through it all the same.

After managing to crawl to a rather sizable tree that blocked, at least, a partial bit of the rain, I pushed myself up to lean against its trunk. Despite finding a minor respite in the literal storm I could only shake. Shake from the cold, my muscles aching from the physical and mental stress, and the terrifying fact that when I pushed myself up I couldn't feel my fingers. Even at my body's most numb I could always feel the numbed area in some capacity, feel them in a way that acknowledged their existence and yet as I leaned against the tree, huffing air like it was life saving water, I couldn't feel my fingers, hands or feet.

I probably should have checked on them faster, but I always was amazing at procrastinating. And the mere thought of losing my hands and feet scared the crap out of me. They were important. I needed them.

Sadly, I couldn't afford to procrastinate too long. Hypothermia was almost certainly a threat to me, at least my medically ignorant ass assumed so. Cold and wet equaled bad and eventually dead, was all that mattered to me.

I grimaced and raised what should have been my hand into my view, only there was not a hand, but a stump. A too big stump that was some sort of dark blue. Managing not to panic, probably from a combination of 'survival mode', fatigue and sheer brain halting confusion, I noted that it wasn't that my hand was cleanly chopped off followed by my entire arm swelling up, but rather something most impossible.

That was a fucking hoof.

Of course my brain jumped to the most likely reason, namely, that I had somehow been taken from Earth, transmogrified into a pony of yet unknown subspecies and tossed into the Everfree. My brain probably made the connection in less than a second, if only because my brain likes to play "Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon" but with literally anything that it processes.

Really it should have been obvious, what with the snout jutting from my face, but I will defend myself slightly, as I thought it was just the mud.

In an attempt to orient myself properly, I began monologuing to myself. "O-okay..." I said, in a much different voice than I was used to, so different I could tell even underneath the roar of the storm, "Kidnapped. I-in a fashion. Gotta.... gotta get out forest. A-and the-en... fuck if I know." I mumbled to myself as I attempted to stand in my new equine form. After stumbling to my hooves, and standing against the pelting rain and whistling wind, I realized I had no idea where to go. Some boy scout I was, though to be fair my troop kinda fell apart once I got to it. And I didn't even get to destroy it. Sad recurrence that.

With no idea of where to go, hell I doubt I could have seen the north star, if it even existed in Equestria, or god forbid I was even in Equestria... Well, I could always use moss. Maybe. Unless magic moss grew on the east side of trees. Throwing what ifs away and focusing on survival, I just knew I had to find some sort of cover from the storm, and hopefully find Ponyville, or at the very least a Ponyville alternative.

Either way, I stumbled my way in a random direction through the forest, trying not to be weirded out by how my body felt. A coat of fur didn't exactly stop me from feeling naked, especially against the storm. A few times I just narrowly avoided bashing my skull open with my lack of fine motor functionality. That was fun.

I just kept stumbling on until I came across a river. The rain was doing a poor job of washing away the mud, so what the heck? I slowly made my way to it, and after the tedious process of washing the mud off my face without hands to cup the water, something I already sucked at, I peered into the water tiredly.

And wouldn't you know it, I was staring back. Or at least I assumed it was me, as it was a watery reflection constantly disturbed by the rain, and most importantly, was not human.

It was quite surreal, all things considered, not helped by me all but blocking out the oddities of the moment to preserve my sanity, and physical well being I guess. What stared back at me was a teal pegasus. Teal fur, eyes, only thing not bloody teal was my fucked up mane, and that was only due to it being fifty percent black, or at least dark. Though to be fair, the teals were at least different shades. But, to top it all off, barring the possibility of having become insanely effeminate, the universe deigned me a mare.

Well, fuck it, I decided. I had basically lost my humanity, so losing my set of equipment in the same magic tomfoolery was the lesser of the emotional screwery that day. As much as I wanted to continue to stare at my own reflection like a Greek myth I forget the name of -didn't it inspire the word for narcissism?- I still had to get out of the forest. Or just find shelter. Not dying would be nice. I did my best to stand, with the presence of my wings being shunted to the forefront of my mind, and I did my best to ignore. Feeling out a whole new set of limbs and nerves in the middle of a forest amidst a storm did not seem like a good time.

I was in the middle of deciding which random direction to wander when I heard growling from behind me. I grimaced at the all too real cliche I was set in, and slowly turned while muttering to myself, "Please, just b-be a small thing pretending to be big..." Sadly my prayers to the god of comedy to present a kitten or something went unanswered, and instead behind me stood one obvious Timber wolf. I use the term obvious as there is never just one Timber wolf.

All in all, while I was scared, my fear was washed out by the pure rage I felt at the whole situation and it culminated in three words and a single act, "Fuck you universe." And then I booked it like the purple monster from Ao Oni was trying to play tag.

In the back of my mind I somewhat remember the conflicting advice of wild animals often leaned towards 'no sudden moves unless the animal suddenly moves,' but I would rather risk running than be wrong and end up flanked by the too intelligent flora fauna.

If the sounds that tore after me through the rain was any indication, I made the right choice. As I barreled over rocks, roots and logs, the wooden scraping and clunking of multiple wolves sounded far too close for comfort. I thanked god, Celestia, Discord, Faust, whatever deity or semi deity, real or fake, that existed in Equestria, as I somehow managed to actually run with minimal error. If it had fallen the other way I would have been scrambling and flailing myself to death for an audience of wood. But I had not the time for new found faith, I had running to do.

I had no real plan as I ran, only occasionally taking a sharp turn out of paranoid fear the wolves would lay an ambush, and on a particularly muddy turn I even hazard a glance back, my heart jumping for joy as my pursuers slipped in the mud, giving me some precious distance. Unfortunately, looking backwards while running in a forest is a pretty dumb thing. I wasn't sure what it was, but I hit or grazed something and a sharp pain lanced through my right wing as branches thrashed at my face. I did my best to ignore the pain, merely grimacing as I yanked my head forward and pumped my hooves harder. A difficult task as a set of nerves I had never felt before had flared into a constant awareness in my mind. It did provide important information to me: Wings are freaking sensitive.

Even as the sounds of pursuit died off, my sharp turns somehow actually working, I kept running with no intention of stopping any time soon. And I kept running and running, until I couldn't tell if it had been minutes or hours. I was not going to give Murphy a single chance to enforce his law if I could help it, and that pissed Murphy off something fierce if the Timber wolf flying at my face was any concern. I guess the pack got bored waiting for me to fall into a false sense of security.

In a panic and with no time to think, I did my best to skid to a halt, only to fall onto my back. Reacting purely on instinct, I channeled years of the general advice about using an opponent's weight and momentum against them and reached up with my hooves to try and throw the wolf off with the momentum from its leap. It didn't go perfectly, but basically slamming a wooden wolf head first into the ground and causing it to slide through mud away from me was at least a little cathartic.

The universe must have decided I didn't deserve a break though, as I frantically scrambled to my hooves, the pain and fatigue made themselves all the more apparent. My right wing lay limp at my side, my muscles screamed and lungs ached, all the while a slightly dazed and mostly pissed timber wolf shook its head to dislodge mud while a gaggle more were barreling towards me and the lone wolf. And of course the only slightly dazed one I had thrown into the mud was larger than the rest. Larger, closer and probably the strongest and or fastest.

I knew I couldn't outrun that one, it was able to get directly in front of me while I ran full tilt after all. Even then, the pack didn't so much as look winded while I was at my limit. I licked my lips, the coppery tang of blood coming back on my tongue and once again my fear was displaced by rage.

I was not going to die alone and unknown in a goddamn forest by bundles of enchanted firewood from a fucking cartoon show!

"Fuck you!" Throwing flight right out the window along with any lingering self preservation, I threw myself at the bigger, dazed wolf with a yell. I think I confused it more than anything, after all, if I were a giant wooden wolf, I too would be dumbfounded if my wounded prey ran towards me and rammed me back onto my side.

I pressed my advantage, my rage induced mind focused on subduing the most immediate threat, not at all caring about how the rumbling of the pack had stopped. I did my best to disable or restrain its limbs, and pressed its left pair of limbs into the mud, while trying to hold off its front right leg. I had to sacrifice any attempt at holding off its other back leg, instead focusing on keeping a secure stance to not be thrown off too easily, and I don't know if it was irony or what, but its back leg honestly didn't do much damage at first, merely flopping and flailing ineffectually in confusion.

Luckily the timber wolf's clawing seemed mostly to be instinct, as it honestly looked like it was confused, but that confusion didn't stop its front paw from tearing at my right shoulder, but it did give me an opening. And to be quite honest if I was actually thinking clearly I probably would have taken too long to decide my course of action. Luckily, drunk on rage, adrenaline and fatigue me just said "Fuck it" and bit the timber wolf's neck.

The Timber wolf did not take kindly to that.

It thrashed and flailed as much as it could within my terrible, terrible grasp, its single unrestrained leg actually becoming even worse at clawing me, though it catching me across the flank once or twice only served to make me even madder. I continued to tear into its neck, hoping that losing its head full of glowing eyeballs would kill the damn thing. Even as it tried and came dangerously close to yanking its trapped limbs from the muddy prison I pressed them into, the wolf tried to claw at my face with its somewhat free front paw, but only managed to rake them across my shoulder, again and again.

The continued damage to my right foreleg and shoulder was agonizing, forcing me to scream into the torn wood in my mouth, the earthy texture of bark mixed with some kind of sappy goo that had begun to leak. It all combined into pain, rage and tiredness that caused my body to tense. My back leg started to slip, the Timber wolf had almost thrashed out of my grasp and my right 'arm' was quickly failing, the claws coming closer and closer to my head. In a last ditch effort to do just about anything, I reaffirmed my grip on its throat and tore backwards with all my might, and with a sickening combination of a squelch, a tree being eaten and gurgled howl, I fell back, onto my injured wing as some of the sappy goo joined the rain on my person.

I screamed, much like how my wing was screaming at me and spat out the chunk of Timber wolf that muffled my agony, along with the torrent of goo that had slipped into my mouth. Quickly, I returned my vision to the big Timber wolf, only to see a smoking husk of wood, its only movement being that of a few branches and twigs falling away, whatever power holding it together nullified. I struggled to my hooves, far slower than before, unable to revel in my partial victory as the presence of the other wolves required my attention.

I wasn't sure what I expected, but the Timber wolf pack cowering away from me was a pleasant surprise.

Panting, I bared my teeth, and with no energy to yell, I simply growled. The Timber wolves luckily didn't press their advantage, turned tail and ran, leaving me alone with the smoking wooden body in the rain. I sagged, my heart still beating at incredible speed, and glanced at the pile of wood. I spit at the pile, residual anger and rage barely able to motivate me beyond the simple, spiteful act.

Looking around the area, I actually saw a break in the trees, and, for the first time in Equestria, I smiled. My hooves were like lead as I hobbled towards the break and eventually found myself under the dark gray sky that continued its downpour. Despite my fatigue, despite my injuries, I forced myself up a hill, determined to see some light at the end off the damnable tunnel I had been thrown in against my will. Determined to see the promised prize that came with becoming a pony. Once I struggled to the top, I stopped and stared, and for the first time I could tell for sure, tears of joy slid down my face, lost amongst the rain.

Before my very eyes stood the unmistakable town of Ponyville. Its fantasy mishmash of buildings surrounding its iconic town hall. A place I had intimate knowledge of, a place that brought me joy back as a human, and the place that was going to save my life.

Sadly, I took a literal step too far, and my vision wobbled and darkened; my smile never leaving my face, as Ponyville toppled out of sight, replaced by grass.

And then nothing.


—


Rainbow Dash growled as she flew through the storm, an emergency weather meeting had been called, forcing her to fly all over Ponyville. She landed, less than gracefully in front of Ponyville General, which was greeted by Nurse Redheart quickly opening the doors and ushering the pegasus in. "Oh, thank Celestia you're here Rainbow Dash! Where in Equestria did this storm come from?"

"Wish I knew! All anypony knows is it's a huge Everfree storm that popped outta nowhere!" Rainbow said as she shook off the rain, enjoying a moments respite from the storm.

Redheart glanced outside the window in worry and awe. "So, I'm guessing everypony is on lock down until the storm passes?"

Rainbow nodded before lightly wringing her mane. "You got it. They needed the fastest pony in Ponyville to spread the word." She then glared out the window herself, "Almost makes me regret being the fastest in Equestria. Almost." Rainbow stretched lightly and groaned in annoyance, "And I still have to fly to Sweet Apple Acres. Gotta let Applejack know before the worst of the storm hits."

Redheart's eyes bugged out for a moment in surprise. "It's going to get worse?"

Rainbow chuckled at her reaction, "Told ya it's huge."

"If it's that big, no wonder the weather team didn't just break it up."

Rainbow shook her head at Redheart's words. "Even if it were small, we probably wouldn't touch it. Everfree weather is weird. We'd have more fried pegasi than drops of rain." She glanced warily out at the storm, "Hay, I bet you could throw all of Cloudsdale at that storm and you wouldn't make a dent."

Redheart let out a sigh. "Well, thank you for letting us know, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow shrugged as she stepped towards the door, ever so slightly hesitant to venture back into the wet storm. "No prob, just doing what needs awesome to be done."

As she braced herself to take off a thought occurred to nurse Redheart, "Wait. Isn't Sweet Apple Acres all the way across town?"

Rainbow blew a sigh of annoyance at Redheart's words, "Yeah, I thought I'd have more time, but the storm almost seems like it's speeding up." She gave a quick wave to the nurse, "Stay dry." Before bolting out into the storm.

She had flown for some time, and had been forced into slowing down, having to balance speed and caution as lightning struck around her and winds constantly threatened to throw her around. She grumbled to herself about the lack of speed until a strange sight gave her pause. She stopped her flight to get a better look. "What the-" She looked on in shock as a muddy, sappy and most terrifyingly, bloody mare hobbled out of the Everfree and up a hill.

Rainbow's eyes twisted near shut at the sight of the poor mare's mangled wing. Rainbow knew from experience that it was possible to look worse than it was, but it did not help the mare's pitiful look. Well, as pitiful as a smiling bloody mare could look. At least until she keeled over at the hilltop.

Rainbow shook her head and dashed down to the unknown mare. "Hey! A-are you okay? Are ya even..?" Rainbow refused to finish her thought as she landed, but sighed as she neared the mare and saw the slow rise and fall of her flank.

A crack of thunder startled Rainbow Dash, almost causing her to take flight, but it did remind the pegasus of her mission all the same. She quickly glanced between the crumpled mare and the still gathering storm. She didn't know if she could bring the mare to Sweet Apple Acres or the hospital before the worst of the storm hit. With how the lightning and winds were like, and carrying another pony, either destination would leave both of them out in the open for longer than Rainbow was comfortable. She took the unconscious mare onto her back, knowing she couldn't leave the pony behind, not thinking once about the blood, mud or sap that would get on her, as she quickly thought about the nearest location she could get to.

It took nary a moment, for as soon as she started glancing around, the answer came to her. She took off into the turbulent sky once more, heading for her new destination. "Sorry AJ! But this can't wait!" She said to herself as she darted passed the Everfree and straight to the nearest, and safest, place she knew.