Ow.
That was the first thing that crossed Hi-Rez’s mind.
The second thing that floated through his mind was wondering where his camera was.
It was the only thing his Father really left him before... passing away, so it meant the world to Hi-Rez.
He frantically began poking around with his telekinesis, searching everywhere around him. Two things immediately became apparent. One, he had found his camera. Upon realizing where his camera was, he snatched it up and held it to his chest, jumping for joy knowing that his prized item was safe.
After his moment of unadulterated joy was over, he remembered the second thing that had come to mind.
He was standing on soft ground.
Everywhere in ponyville had hard, stone roads that he could easily navigate.
Here, there was just grass.
He was lost.
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Hi-Rez shouted for several minutes, hoping that somepony would be nearby. He called for help, but not a soul answered. Panic began to instill in his mind as he frantically poked around for any sort of solid path, but he found none.
Rez sighed. It looked like he was going to have to find his way around the hard way. If only Lens were here, he thought to himself, she’d know what to do. More importantly, she’d know where to go, Rez thought to himself.
Rez summoned up his magic walking stick in front of him again, and started to trek forward. He had no idea where he was and less of an idea where he was going, but it was a start.
Man, being blind stinks.
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It had been what felt like several hours since Rez woke up, and he wasn’t feeling very pleasant. He was tired, hungry, thirsty, and still had no idea where he was. Occasionally, he would call out, “Hello?” or “Is anypony there?” but he would never get a response. Every few minutes, he might find himself bumping into a tree or going over a hill, but nothing seemed familiar.
As he trotted onward, his magic walking stick began telling him that more and more trees were in his path, leading him to believe that he was walking into a wooded area, or maybe just a small patch of trees.
Little did he know, this was the edge of the everfree forest.
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Rez had felt like he had been walking for miles, which he might have, for all he knew. He took a short moment to sit and rest, but it didn’t last long. A rustling in the bushes behind him caused him to jump to attention, waiting to see if it wasn’t just his imagination playing tricks on him.
The crackle of branches and leaves being brushed aside was heard, which was more than enough motivation to get Rez excited. Maybe somepony’s been searching for me after all! he thought to himself briefly, before hearing a low growl.
Please oh please oh please be a pony… he prayed silently to himself, then audibly asking, “Is somepony there?”
An earsplitting roar answered his question.
Rez was on his hooves faster than a cloud could explode, and charged away in the opposite direction of the noise, immediately crashing head first into a tree. He was woozy for a second, but quickly recovered. He summoned his magic walking stick and bolted away, hearing snapping and crashing behind him.
His magic walking stick didn’t keep him from crashing into things entirely, but he certainly did hit things less frequently. Occasionally, he might have scraped his sides or tripped over a root, but the fear for his life spurred him onward…
and right into somepony else.
“Oof!” he grunted, tumbling head over hooves, intertwined with this pony on accident. He quickly scrambled to his hooves and stated, “Sorry! I have no idea where I’m going!” but then two things occurred to him.
One, the form was clearly that of a pony, no mistaking it. Two, whatever was chasing him was now silent, or had retreated. His face immediately perked up with a massive smile that threatened to cut his head in half.
He fumbled around for a moment with the ground, searching for whomever it was that he had just stampeded into. He found whoever it was a moment later, and lifted them up into a strong embrace. “Thank goodness I found somepony! I’ve been lost out here for who knows how long!” Tears of joy threatened to stream down his face, until the stranger squirmed out of his grip.
“I don’t know who you are or why you are out here, but you are lost no longer, so you have nothing to fear.” came the heavily accented voice. It wasn’t an accent Rez had heard before, so he guessed whoever this was happened to be a newcomer, or perhaps she was lost too?
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, whoever you are. Now, can you direct me back to ponyville? I really have no idea where I am.” Rez said, paying nearly no heed to the stranger’s words. He didn’t realize how rudely close he was standing until he heard a couple of hoofsteps away from him. He almost thought the stranger was going to leave him stranded, until the steps stopped.
“My name is Zecora, and it is nice to meet you. Although, the everfree forest is not a place you should go through.” said Zecora, immediately bringing their location to light. “We’re in the everfree?!” Hi-Rez practically shouted out of disbelief. If this was the everfree, then he was lucky to be alive!
“The everfree is where we are currently, but we may no longer be if we do not retreat hurriedly!” Zecora said, accompanied by the faint sound of a howl in the distance. Rez heard hoofsteps away from him, so he instinctively followed. Whoever Zecora was, at least it was someone to travel with, regardless if she knew where they were going or not.
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Wherever they were headed, it was rough goings. Hi-Rez very frequently tripped on protruding roots and brambles, getting more than his fair share of cuts and bruises. His torment only increased when Zecora picked up the pace, and Hi-Rez quickly found out why. Whatever had been chasing him before was back, as he could clearly hear behind him. Oh, come ON! he exclaimed in his head, hurrying to catch up with Zecora.
After another grueling few minutes of running through harsh terrain, Hi-Rez ran into what felt like a solid wall. Wow, big tree, he thought to himself, before using his magic walking stick to poke around at it. No, wait, that’s actually a wall. Are we back in town? he wondered quietly, before hearing a door close. Yep, definitely in town… although, if that were true, why would I still be standing on grass? he pondered, remembering the soft soil he was standing upon.
Maybe this is that house that belongs to that one Pegasus.. what was her name? She’s supposed to be really good with animals or something… Hi-Rez quietly brainstormed to himself, pacing in a circle. Yeah, that’s plausible, he figured, supposing that was the most logical choice. It’s not like anyone had a house in the everfree, because that would be crazy, right?
…Right?
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It took Rez a short moment to realize someone wal calling him. He slowly turned towards the voice, recognizing it as Zecora. She was inviting him inside. He acknowledged shortly later, then used his magic walking stick to navigate his way inside. "Thanks for inviting me inside," he said happily, before asking, "but where are we?"
Zecora answered, "This is my home, which I have built in the forest. Now you should lay down to relax, for rest is not something of which you need less." she rhymed again, which was really starting to annoy Rez. Wait, what did she just say? he wondered briefly, before reminding himself, She said we're in the forest. Who builds their house in the forest? Is this mare crazy?? He would have eyed her suspiciously if he could.
"So... this is still the everfree? We're not in ponyville?" Rez asked Zecora, almost disappointed. "I'm afraid that is so, but back to ponyville you cannot go." Zecora responded, which sparked a new fear in Rez's heart.
Can't go back to ponyville? he wondered, Why?
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