Chapter 11 - Another day… [2/4]
You ponder a bit to yourself after leaving Sweet Apple Acres. It feels like you are forgetting to do something or meet somepony right now. You shrug it off in hopes of remembering it as you go.
Looking to the sky you notice it’s about noon, seeing you have some time. The cryptic message from this morning reminded you to return home at seven on the dot. As much as you want to wander off, you feel compelled to follow what that message says. Four days of living here has shown that any weird or strange happenings should be treated as common occurrences.
"No matter," you say to no one in particular as you head down an alternate path.
You notice that stallion fellow that took you by surprise being hauled off by some medics in the other direction. One medic, a white mare with a blue cross on her flank, starts scolding this ice-blue stallion. You try and remember his name until you hear the mare speak.
"...Chilly! And another thing: this place is pri..." that was all you could hear before her voice faded.
‘Chilly Mists...strange fellow’ you think as the group made it down the next knoll. "Hmm...." you shrug it off.
You mentioned before you left you wanted a change of scenery before making it to town. So, before heading out the Apple Family household, the teacher approaches. Cheerilee mentions a path that she usually takes. She says that it follows a small creek that leads towards the open fields north of town. She also mentions that this path also leads towards the Everfree Forest which in its name sounds very much ominous.
Princess Luna spoke of some forest near the town which is home to various dangers and oddities. When asked about this, all Princess Celestia said was this:
“Spooky and scary forest, you no enter. Many a danger in there like meat-eating plants. Also monsters with teeth that eat virgins. And that means you. If you want to be safe, I could help with your virginit-*WHAP*”
She told it in such a way that she even had a matching hat and old witch wig for it. But other than Celestia's impromptu speech about the forest, Luna was quite the help to clear the fog that her sister gave your brain, including the uppercut to cease the crazy one’s rambling. Like, for instance, the original castle where they used to live or the shrine that held these artifacts, the Elements of Harmony. She also spoke about other things and adding some facts that might confuse you even more.
She even gave you a book about the surrounding forests and landmarks. Quite handy, that book, though you should have rather called it a tome. Who would have known books that thick are considered light reading?
Still, that does not make you anymore courageous to even tread into that. Well yes, you were thinking of exploring the forest, but your magic's not up to snuff.
It is then, when your thoughts started to trail off, that you happen to notice smoke coming further out from the path. Moving up, you notice one of those beautifully crafted tree houses. It is one of those tree houses with a creek running in front of it with a small hoof bridge to connect this soil to the soil over the next bank. Coming up a little closer, you notice the house having many burrows and birdhouses. There are many animals who scurry along their business to complete the picture of a forest glade.
'Pretty normal' you guess as nothing else is there. Maybe the home is empty for a moment.
Other than the tree house sounding quiet other than animal chatter, the surrounding area looks peaceful and boring. So, you move on. The animals themselves acknowledge your presence but dismiss you just as quickly when you pass by. To strengthen your belief that nothing is of interest, a bellowing roar is heard coming from near that house.
The Everfree seems so peaceful from where you’re standing. Aside from clouds freely moving wherever they choose atop the canopy, the forest itself is still. But looking towards your other side you see Ponyville Park a distance away and further out, the town proper. The town’s clouds are brighter and fluffier than the forest’s, floating idly by over colored houses and their thatched roofs. But you are still a ways away.
You let out a whistle as you behold what is in front of you.
You now look at the forest and the town and both seem surreal. But the latter, Ponyvile, seems artificial compared to the Everfree. Well, not artificial per se the town looks well kept, ideal. It is kind of refreshing to see this compared to the dull greys of the cityscape back on Earth.
The scene reminds you of those paintings and drawings you see in those travel brochures back home. Those always paint a pretty picture of the place they are trying to advertise. But you are not one to believe those unless you have experienced it. You wonder if the book Princess Luna gave you would count as a travel brochure for Equestira.
Maybe not.
The weather, as you read, is handled by the pegasi weather crews and the rest of the town is kept by whatever means and by whatever groups assigned. Most towns and cities here are kept like this. You almost wish that towns and cities back home are kept like this.
Maybe the forest in respect to its namesake is ever-free. It being uninhabited leaves it untended which makes up for being devoid of civilized life.
Which you suppose balances out this picture. You read of some events that include the Everfree. Among these events would be Nightmare Night and the wild weather that drifts from the forest towards any town within reach. Nothing big compared to some of the creatures that tend to linger from the forest and into civilization, which makes Ponyville the town with highest rate in occurring incidences that is related to Everfree.
“Another day…Wonder if it’s true that monsters in there eat virgins,” you say again to no one in particular.
It is then you hear a whistling sound. A high-pitched whistling sound associated to kettles and fast falling projectiles. You do not see anything that would resemble a kettle nor a kitchen. Which leaves you to believe it is the latter.
So looking towards the sky you notice a rainbow blur diving towards you.
In reflex, you dodge out of the way but the blur pulled back up in time towards the sky once more, going for a couple of stray clouds that drifted in from the Everfree. In no time flat the blur clears of this section of sky near the town’s outskirts. Perhaps it is one of those weather pegasi who is just doing their rounds?
You swear you also hear laughing as you dust yourself off.
Well whoever or whatever that was, it made for a very spectacular display. The display itself is too spectacular to be seen as weather duty or some random object in the sky. But then again, you did not have enough time to observe this flying object as it headed straight towards town.
“Another day…perhaps nothing will happen to me today?” you say to no one in particular again with a little look around you this time. “Bushes, grass, open fields, foals and a few adults over there in the park, Everfree entrance over there and a bridge…”
Absolutely nothing happens to you but then again something always does. But it is never what you expect it would happen but still, fate is a funny thing. So moving right along towards the park you catch a glimpse of three foals running around. One is an orange pegasus with a purple mane and the other is a white unicorn with a duo-tone pink mane. The last foal looks familiar; she has a yellow coat and red hair tied with a big red ribbon. All three run right by you towards the entrance of Everfree. Although you can’t place when or where you’ve seen her, your mind tells you that it is no place for foals to be at in the Everfree Forest.
You her them shout something: “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS….” that is the only thing you hear them say as they run.
Since nothing of interest has happened and you are worried about those kids heading in a very scary forest, you man up…erm pony up and follow them in.
“Follow them in you said, they are just little fillies you said…guess what? You’re lost!”
A little while after you entered the Everfree, it had been easy following those fillies. That, of course, had been near the edge of the forest with light underbrush. The three fillies don’t seem to be aware of your presence. But it also seems as they know where they are going which places you at a disadvantage. Over the course of ten minutes the forest starts to dense up, the underbrush getting thicker and the light from the canopy being blocked out more and more.
The eerie starts to get into your head.
It is when you scared yourself half to death from a huge spider web that you lost sign of the three fillies. Now, with nothing so much as a guide or a sign, you do not know where you are are or how you will be able to get out from there. All of this points to one fact: you are alone. Every path you take seems to be the same in every direction. And to top it all off, you are in the Everfree, a place with its own book that tells you the number of ways you could die in here.
And as usual, have you remembered to save your game?
*crunch*
“What was that?! SHOW YOURSELF!” shouting might have not be the brightest idea.
From the dense wood, a hooded figure reveals itself, its yellow eyes seen peering in your soul. That was not all; no, three smaller hooded figures revealed themselves also with yellow eyes peering into your soul. So number count, there is you: one and there is them: four…eeyup!
At this moment, you recall an entry from the book given to you recently.
Many creatures roam the dark undertones of the Everfree and survival is the game.
Many of the flora and fauna found in this book are merely records of what we, the researchers, have recorded and interacted with. Nonetheless, all manner of living life in the Everfree should be treated with caution and the utmost care. Unless you would fall in love with a tree stump within the forest…may Celestia have mercy on your soul.
Do note: if you see a plant, it might be poisonous; if you see a bunny, it is possible it could eat you; if you see a timberwolf, it will eat you; if you see hooded ponies with glowing eyes, they can eat you; see a bloody walking, rambling corpse with fresh blood on anywhere on its body, what do you think? It may tickle you or invite you to a tea party but none of us, the researchers, stayed to find out.
By the power of grey- “DON’T EAT ME! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
You get up as quickly as you can to escape your demise. Facing no obvious direction, you gallop at increasing speed. You make sure to pace yourself as you run, putting some distance between you and your followers. However, you also mind to not make it that far from them, because if a creature that would decide to pounce and feed off your flesh, you could easily run back towards them to throw the beast off, thus ridding yourself of the hoods and the beast in one fell swoop.
Galloping blindly, you find yourself going past a mess of mangled roots and fallen branches. A few prickly shrubs here and some thorny bushes there, you manage to look like a massacre escapee. Which could be the present situation looking as you are running away from hooded assailants which might have butchering tools under their robes, so running for your life is stupid but effective.
The hooded ponies managed to follow you without much noise, trotting along calmly as they watch you stumble throughout the bushes. The biggest of the four let out a sigh. The hooded mare remembers this reaction all too well. It is like an all-too-familiar scene involving a town nearby wherein ponies made themselves scarce at the mere sight of the mare. But taking things into perspective, she might have set this one up herself.
“Come little ones and we must hurry, as this colt needs not to worry. Running for his life will make him see, there is more to us then there is the Everfree”.
The three smaller ponies let out a collective sigh.
“Another wuss enters the forest. Doesn’t he know that there are monsters in the direction he’s going?”
“He’s probably the new neighbor Dinky was talking about.”
“He seems really familiar, Ah reckon I saw him a little ways back….forget it *huff*”
“Are you still angry at Diamond Tiara?”
“You bet Ah am!”
“Well I think Diamond Tiara had that headlock coming.”
The three smaller hoods kept talking amongst themselves but still in proximity of the larger hood. The latter following your progress with cringes and sighs at all manner of minor injuries you are inflicting upon yourself. She started to question herself on how does one get injured with a misplaced smooth river rock? Only you can answer that but even if she is asking the question, you are now beyond manic to make any logical sense of the world.
That or you probably just poisoned yourself.
“Mumble is my tail gone by who in the pie then me?” eeyup….poisoned.
With a loud crash you end head first into a mud puddle. You try to lift your head but you can’t. The mud on your face turns out to be heavier that your mane, probably because you are poisoned. Have I stressed that enough? Probably because you don’t know you are poisoned.
“It seems you have taken quite a trip, mumbling words are leaving your muddied lip. In your blind and careless dash, that thorn in your side has made quite a poisonous rash.”
“Gibble-doo?”
In your response you try with all your might to face your doom... or at least that was what you thought. Although you could have sworn that the world and all in it did not speak in rhyme.
“Gee, are you okay mister?”
“Face plant into a mud puddle, really? Mister are you feeling alright?”
“Ah swear Ah seen you before mister….”
Nope, the world still talks normal. Well, at least the creatures that are about to feast upon your fallen body had the decency to ask if you are alright. The four hooded figures mostly talked, at you and to themselves. You can no longer follow what they are saying as your ears are starting to fail you. What goes next is your sight. Everything you see starts to glow an eerie hue. The rest of your surroundings follow suit as they start to fade and their shapes start to warp. Then, in no particular sequence, you feel your body starting to numb and cold chills fill your spine. Whatever movement you make is cause for some great discomfort as moving them feels like moving mountains.
The caress of the abyss beckons to you and you have no choice but to accept it.
“…he is in quite a pickle; the poison’s symptoms are very much fickle.”
“It was a good thing you were there Zecora. But are you sure it’s fine to just let him rest? Do I *gulp* n-need to suck out t-the poison or anything?”
Two voices pull you back into the world.
“Do not worry Fluttershy my modest friend, as with all my potions I’m sure that the poison will meet some end. I must now return to my home, for in my care are three little foals whom I left all alone. Good bye”
“G-Good bye Zecora…good luck.”
After that dialog, you hear a door close and silence fill the room. You shuffle a bit before opening your eyes, squinting as they meet some light. You find yourself in a small room with a roaring fireplace. Taking a bit of your surroundings, it looks to be a normal house.
“…Oh what am I going to do?”
You hear a pony coming in from the door. You quickly feign sleep and listen in to her doings.
“Angel? Angel? Oh dear, not at a time like this *squeak*.“
Sounds like she is having a fit about something, you perhaps? In any event, you lie as still as you can. You make sure that you don’t give yourself away as you listen in. Now it sounds like she is pacing.
“I-I am no good with stallions...alone...*squeak*.”
Okay, so it appears she is not having a fit but is hyperventilating. That is bad if she does not receive help from you.
“Okay Fluttershy okay just be...calm. There is nothing to fear, he is just...asleep.”
‘Is it bad to feel giddy about how the way she talks?’ Whoever this Fluttershy is, she is really fun to listen to. ‘The way she raises the pitch of her voice near the end is adorable!’ You can’t help but move a bit as you fight to contain your giddiness.
‘Woops’
With a resulting “*Squeak*” and what sounds like a minor crash, it looks like the mare is out cold. But you give it a minute or two.
“A-A-Are y-you awake, m-m-mister s-s-s-stallion? *squeak*.” Good, she did not faint.
You then hear the slightest of hoofsteps approaching you. Yet again you try to keep yourself still as possible. But you give yourself the luxury with the nearly asleep peek with your eyes. This gives you the opportunity to see who your hostess is.
*poke* “Gaaah!”
She pokes you and immediately she flees. The butter yellow mare runs towards what you can tell to be a couch and hides behind it. Well enough is enough, might as well put her out of her misery. You move ever so slightly for a big loud yawn but not too big or it will sound suspicious.
*YAWN*
There. That seems to have done the trick-
“GYAAAAAAAH!” She screams. As she does, she leaps from behind the couch and tries to make a run for it. But as soon as she tries to flee, the startled pegasus forgot she has a shelf over her couch. The crash results in the mare knocking herself out. You immediately help the poor mare, but your body seems to have weakened. You manage a heave before falling off the makeshift bed.
“Miss? A-Are you okay...?” you ask as you try crawling to her. You find that your legs have fallen asleep during your blackout. “Miss?”
No reply. You hurry to tend to the fainted Fluttershy. You suddenly come face to face with an angry bunny. Its arms crossed and it tapped its foot impatiently and by the looks of which the bunny is wearing a noticeable scowl. By the looks of things, this is another one of those talks-with-the-animals part of your life.
The bunny starts to enact weird gestures, flailing its arms and making accusing points towards you. The bunny seems rather unhappy for a little critter.
“Okay...”
After a minute of observing the shenanigans of a grumpy bunny, you decide to continue on anyways towards the mare. It is soon after a few feet that you notice the very same bunny, now on your back, started to stomp at you for whatever reason. You disregard his stomping as it does not bother you much. But as soon as you face Fluttershy, another bunny appears, this one having a brown coat and looks to be eating an apple.
“Umm...Hello?”
‘Hello there, it looks like you made Angel there angry. What didja do?’
Funny, you thought for a moment there a bunny had just asked you what you did.
‘Stop making weird faces please...’ the brown bunny points to your face.
You are unaware you made such faces, must have been thinking deeply. So, you are truly having another conversation with an animal, go figure.
“Are you...talking to me?”
‘Depends, why is Angel angry at you?’
“I have no idea...and who is this Angel-” near the end the bunny on your back decides to upgrade from stomping to hitting you with a rolled-up newspaper “OW!”
‘That is the bunny trying so hard to kill you right now.’
“I did-Ow! Not do-Ow! Anything!”
The white bunny now known as Angel is relentless in his attack. It seems he’s putting all effort in the rolled up newspaper to maul and maim you into submission. Angel is acting like you have committed something worse than murder and sleeping with your sister combined. It is like you slept with Luna and Celestia and neither remember what happened the previous night and decide to execute you for it.
‘Whatever you’ve done made him quite angry.’
“Why doesn’t he talk-Ow! Like you-Ow!”
‘Angel is a special case. Sadly since adopted, Angel has been born mute. We try to teach him some gestures, but until now Angel seems to just rely on smacks and jabs’ the brown bunny ends with a bite on his carrot.
“Could you tell him to stop, please-Ow! I need to see to that mare there. FlutterPie is her name I think-OW!” you say as you crawl even further going past the brown bunny and towards Fluttershy.
‘It’s Fluttershy.’
“Okay Fluttershy-Ow! She hit her head and-Ow! Fainted! Would you please stop doing that!” you shout and with that Angel executed a tactical retreat, giving you the chance to stand and make your way to the yellow pegasus.
‘I should warn you, Angel has a habit of declaring war on anyone. And he is very persistent.’
“I don’t care...” you reply as you levitate Fluttershy to the couch that you had lain on. You fix up the pillows to prop her head nicely. “Let him do what he wants. I need to see to Fluttershy...that’s right, right?”
‘Yes and very well.’
It was then you hear loud screeching and clanking behind you. You turn to see a miniature tank being manned by Angel, who now sports a helmet.
“Mmh...” Fluttershy begins to stir.
At that very moment, the tank’s turret faces you and fires its projectile. Now, being in a world that seems to have less modern military might, that projectile would be nonlethal, right?
“Mister...Unicorn...?” she seems to be coming to.
But she is unable to see your face as you wait for what was coming next. Time seems to have slowed down as you hear Fluttershy speak. The turret fires and the last thing you see is an unknown projectile coming to you at immense speed. With that you are knocked out once again, your head twisting and falling muzzle first onto Fluttershy’s own. Your body follows suit as you sprawl over her unguarded form. You unconsciously dive right in and steal a kiss from Fluttershy.
“MMHF!” was all she could let out.
One word comes to mind right now: pain. All you remember is going head to head with a tank and facing your utter destruction when it fired at you. There are pieces of what happened but still not clear enough to make out the entire scene.
“Gnnh…”
Movement from your side brings you back from the world of darkness. Regardless of what happened you stretch yourself out. It is not as bad as you hoped it would be. Waking up, you notice the sunlight bringing a bright orange hue, probably sunset. Other than that, a nap on a couch with a mare hugging your waist seems to be normal.
“…”
Okay, maybe this is not normal. But at least it is nothing compared to what happened between you and PInkie Pie. Though that event is still a blur, you disregard that for now.
“...hmmm.” Fluttershy seems to be dreaming but other than that she has a steel-clad grip on your midsection.
This is bad. Well, it might be if somepony walks in and finds Fluttershy hugging your midsection. And a pony she hasn’t met no less might make others think you’re some kind of pimp or something. It doesn’t help either that you notice a quilt laid messily over you both. And as all desserts, some toppings are needed to make it complete. To list: you both have bed mane, there are some loose feathers on the floor and several candles melted to their base all around. This looks to be like a romantic encounter, yes?
“...Warm...” was all she let out. The room now filled with sunset glow summons the yellow mare’s natural beauty.
No matter, you take this opportune moment to enjoy yourself in the company of...let’s face it, a beautiful mare. Not saying Pinkie Pie isn’t beautiful, no.
The explosive pink mare is also beautiful. Though compared to Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy has this quiet beauty. What are you saying, you are human-turned-pony. It is too early for you to have these urges so you will have to wait a few more chapters-
‘-what’ just go with it...
You are now confused at the suspicion that the 4th wall has been briefly broken, but no matter.
For a while, you think of your position right now. And still all this time this morning you are forgetting to do something or meet with someone. But another nuzzle from the sleeping Fluttershy brings you out of thought. Another instance also brings you out of gazing at the sleeping mare.
“Fluttershy... Fluttershy darling!” shouting is heard.
By the sound of the shouting, the pony asking for Fluttershy seems to be nearing the door. Hoofsteps are heard stopping and giving a prompt knock before asking where Fluttershy is. Now this is quite a pickle. Firstly, you are entangled with what looks like you having bed Fluttershy. And secondly, if it so happens the door is unlocked or the guest decided to barge in unannounced then, well, you might guess the rest. It just so happens a cliché about bad things becoming a whole lot messier comes to mind.
“Hey Rarity! Have you seen Flutters? She said that Tank is due for his monthly check-up and stuff.”
“And hello to you too Rainbow. But no, I have not seen our dear Fluttershy as I just arrived. She told me that she is available this afternoon.”
Sounds to be two mares and they seem to be close friends with Fluttershy here. You pray that they would take a hint that this house is quiet and there is no Fluttershy-hugging-your-midsection-in-a-very-awkward-pose-that-could-incite-very-tempting-thoughts.
“What, another one of your spa visits?”
“Rainbow! This is an important albeit impromptu visit. If you already have received your invite, a party is being held for a prime bachelor!”
“Really? Do tell...”
“Your sarcasm does not affect me so Rainbow Dash...Well further on I discovered through my resources-”
“cough...Gossip...cough...”
“Hmph...Well this bachelor is said to have come from Canterlot...by hoof-”
“-Yeah yeah, As much as I would like to listen to you chat about some hunky fella why don’t we get Flutters out and get all of this over with?”
“Quite right Rainbow...at least you have some common sense in you still alive and well.”
“Heh, thanks...wait, what?”
“...nothing. Let us just fetch Fluttershy and who knows, you might want to join us at the spa. Looking your best might help your chances with a stallion tonight.”
“As if...”
*knock-knock*
It is now quite obvious they will not leave unless Fluttershy is with them, and they might have ignored the hint that she is not here. Makes you wonder who this mare around your waist truly is. But alas, this might be your doom. And yet again you ask yourself the very same cliché about-
‘-would you please stop making me think how this could possibly get any worse...oh shit!’
Gotcha!
You look around to see if anything will be the start of your inevitable doom. Nothing that caught your eye so far but a white blur is seen in the corner of your eye. You face towards the front door and you find two bunnies. It looks like Angel picked the perfect time to enact his fluffy white vengeance upon you; the brown bunny on the other hoof just watched and enjoyed his carrot.
“Angel...please, don’t do anything stupid. I still don’t even know why you hate me so much...”
All Angel gave with gestures that seem to point to you and Fluttershy but they still don’t make any sense. And with that, he must have given his ultimatum.
“I still don’t follow...”
Angel facepaws at your reply. The white fluff crouches down for a mighty leap up and hangs onto the door knob. And it is there, that you realize what Angel is planning to do. You try to think of many ways to stop the bunny but you are limited because of Fluttershy’s hug. But as stupid as you think you are, you remember you have magic. Just as Angel tries to open the latch and turn the knob, he finds himself covered in your magic hold. You give him a little tug but find some resistance and find that the little bugger hug onto the knob. You give your magic another tug and Angel replies by hanging on with dear life. Annoyed that this bunny will be the death of you, you give a mighty pull on Angel.
“How do you like them apples Angel,” you mutter under your breath.
The bunny flies into the air as you pull him off but the smirk on his face says otherwise. It was like he wanted you to do that. And to your surprise, the pull you gave was enough to fully open the door. The door creaks slightly. You reveal yourself to a beautifully pristine white mare and her antithesis, a blue mare with a wild rainbow-colored mane, both of which have unreadable expressions on their face. Well no, the blue mare has her jaw hanging from her head and her wings look to be fully erect.
You meet their eyes with your own. It is also just before you wanted to say something Fluttershy decides to bring you down with her into the couch and places her head on your chest. She fidgets a bit before giving out a cute yawn.
*yawn* “...hmm?...Rarity...Rainbow?...what a pleasant surprise...” she says to them with a sleepy look on her face. She also props herself up properly on you so that she could face her friends better. “...is it that time already?”
Her question remained unanswered. Fluttershy notices that both Rarity and Rainbow Dash now sport matching hues of blush on their face. She also takes note of the wings of her blue friend which by the expression on her face suggested that she did something wrong. It is then she cowers into her couch and starts to nuzzle it for safety. But alas she thinks that you were her couch.
And then she notices you...
“...good afternoon...?” you say as you try to break the silence.
And to make sure that she does not panic like the last time, you say this with a calm, warm smile on your face. But that does not hide the same blush on your face as hers as she matched your gaze.
“...good afternoon...” she replied back. At least it seems to be working.
You take a brief look towards the two mares by the front door and then back to Fluttershy. Who, at the moment, seems to be tearing up a bit. And a blush happens to follow, turning her face bright red as it starts to glow right off her. She also takes note of the position you two are in. In her mind she starts to put two and two together.
“...I can explain.”