//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Arrival [Edited] // Story: New World, Friends, and Life // by Warrios //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Arrival POV: Michael Slowly but gradually, I woke up. My head was resting on the steering wheel, and my arms were in a very uncomfortable position. I take my hands off the steering wheel, I managed a stretch, but my hands hit the roof of my car. I sat upright and extended my arms by the sides of my head to complete my top stretch. I tried to stretch my legs, but it was hard to in my sitting position. I take in my surroundings, and realize my car crashed into a tree. Shit . . . that’s right. I mentally said as I recall last night’s incident. How did a tree just come out of nowhere? I was just driving on the road. . . I couldn’t really see much outside since it was so dark still. I pressed the unlock button to unlock the doors, getting the response of the familiar unlocking mechanism. I put my left hand on the handle to open the door. I stepped out and did a full stretch, curving my back, extending my legs and arms. I leaned on the side of my car, taking a view of my surroundings. I did a double take. Something was totally different, and very, very wrong. Firstly, there were trees surrounding me. There was no road nearby. Not one in sight. I was in a forest. Now, I have been in a few before when I was a kid. But this one had a hostile feeling to it. This place looked truly wild, nature in its truest form. I can just feel my blood cold. …The hell? Where’s the road? Did I swerve off? I went back into my car, and went to open the glove box. The light inside turned on. I grabbed a black flash light that I placed inside for emergencies. I turned it on with a ‘CLICK’ and used the beam of light that emitted from it to search around. No road was found. I can feel my panic start to grow. “Now is not a good time to panic, Mike” I muttered to myself. “Now is the time to find civilization, or find the damned road, and get help.” “Deep breaths, deep breaths…stay calm… don’t panic. Panic is your greatest enemy.” I remember this from my Scout Master explaining what to do if you got lost in the wilderness back when I was in middle/high school. This why you went to boy scouts, man. I take a look at my watch: 2 o’ clock PM. Okay, so it’s the afternoon, I have a few more hours before night fall, but how am I going to get out of here? How long was I even asleep? I went back to my car and opened the back door. In the seat, my bag was lying there. I went and seized it. I opened the zipper to find… my laptop, a bottle of water, a can of Diet Coke, a notebook, pens, my chargers, my jacket and a few other items. Then a thought crossed my head. CELLPHONE! I face palmed. I could call one of my friends! Or the police! Get someone out here to help me. Michael, you are officially an idiot. I turned my phone on, and put in my password. I raised the piece of modern technology to see . . . … Of course. No bars. Great. Just FUCKING great. I sighed. Well… let’s get a move on. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How big can this blasted forest be?! I’ve been trudging for two hours, and what did I find? Nothing; just forest, forest, and more forest. Not even a damn road! I keep my eyes peeled for anything, or anyone, which can help me out of this forest. This is ridiculous. I thought. Where are the paths in this forest? There has to be one somewhere! I’m starting to get annoyed that I haven’t found anything. It’s going to be nightfall soon! I hasten my pace. I swear something is watching me. I can feel eyes just peer through me from behind, but every time I turn around I just see nothing but darkness. Oh, and trees. You’re just nervous Mike. This whole ordeal is getting to your head. Just keep moving, don’t stop. You’ll find civilization soon… …Or a fucking road. *growl* Now I KNOW that was not my stomach. Turning around to the source of the noise, a creature stood before me. Now, I have watched a lot TV, and read a lot of books. But this creature does not compare to any description of wolves I have seen or read. This wolf was huge, and had glowing yellow eyes. Its body was not made of fur, it was made of wood. Its eyes stared at me, and it looked like it was hungry. …Alright. I think I’m going insane. What kind of wolf is made of wood?! Where the fuck am I?! Why am I still standing here contemplating on where I am when there is a great possibility that I am going to die!? I gulped. I was so scared I nearly pissed myself. I could not move. This wolf was just staring at me, like it was observing its prey. Looking for the right chance to strike. Its glowing yellow eyes stared right into my soul. Then, it took a step toward me, growling. …Mike, I think it’s time to make yourself scarce… The wolf took another step toward me. Move legs! Fucking move! My legs happily obliged. I ran the other direction into the dark forest. I ran so fast, my friends and teacher from my Personal Fitness class would be proud. I don’t really care where I was going; I wanted to get the hell away from this scary ass wolf. I sprinted through the forest, my adrenaline coursed through my veins. I ran with all the will I had from all the fear. Only two words were going through my mind. MOVE IT. MOVE IT. --------------------------------------------------------------- I managed to escape the wolf. I have been running for around ten minutes now, and I am not going to stop until I am out of this forest. Or until I find help. I think I see something in the distance…its hard tell from my perspective. My glasses are getting filthy. My leg is tired. I haven’t stopped running since I encountered that wolf. I think I am going to pass out from exhaustion. No. Not going to happen. I continue toward this…something in the distance. Getting closer, I try to see what’s in the distance. Is that what I think it is? Is that a building? No. It’s a…tree? A tree hut? House? I am so confused. Who would want to live in a forest like this, or a tree for that matter? Oh well, ask questions later. Boy, I hope whoever lives here speaks English or this is going to be an awkward moment. I thought. As I go around the hut, I find the door. Strange, it seems pretty low. The area is decorated with bottles hanging from the branches and strange masks were everywhere. Jeez, talk about creepy. This person must be pretty short. ‘…Knock Knock Knock…’ “Hello? Anybody home? I need some help; I seem to be a bit… lost.” I call out to anyone inside. No response. I decide to look through one of the windows. The lights were off so I guess nobody was home. I can see… jars and bottles everywhere. In the middle of the room is what looks like a cauldron. Looks like a pretty nice place to live. If you loved living in a forest anyway. I take out my bottle of water and take a quick swig. Refreshing What am I going to do now? There was a path from this place. Finally! This must lead to civilization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I continued running along the path. The pain in my legs is growing, but I will stop once I get to civilization. The forest seems to be getting… lighter? I can see well. I can see a light in the distance – is this finally the way out? Indeed it was. “Thank God!” I yell excitingly. I look around at my surroundings now. I see a town to the… west. I think. I can see a farm as well, with ALOT of apple trees. “Good.” I sighed in relief. “Civilization!” I staggered to a tree, and decided to lean against it. My legs hurt like a bitch. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I was tired, and I wanted some sleep. I looked to the sky. It looks like it’s getting dark. “Shit.” I said to myself. “Time to haul ass and get to that town.” I slowly start to approach the town. Man, must be hard work getting those apples down with that many around. I got closer and closer. Come on! Almost there you ass! You can make it. What can go wrong? Well, I just ate those words. I ran through some trees that were getting in my way, trying my best not to trip on anything. Alas, my luck was against me. I stumbled on my feet, tripping on a tree root and fell over. I managed to scream out one word as I fell. “SHIT!” I hit the ground with a large ‘THUD’. My head hit something on the ground once I made contact. I was out instantly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle was sitting in her library, re-shelving her books. Again. Twilight sighed. She was getting famished. Her grumbling stomach was not helping either. “Hey Spike, want to go get something to eat?” she asked. The purple dragon, Spike, groaned. “Can I take a nap? It’s been a hard day. I’m tired.” “Okay, Spike.” Replied Twilight. “Go ahead. You did work hard today. You deserve it.” Spike nodded and climbed the stairs to the bedroom to take his well-deserved nap. Silence filled the library; until there was a knock at the door. Twilight went to the door to find her five friends: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie on the other side. “Hey girls.” Twilight greeted them. “How’s it going?” “Good.” They replied. Applejack spoke up, “We were wonderin’ if ya wan’ ta come join us on a picnic.” The lavender unicorn smiled. “Sure. I would love to. I was just about to leave to get something to eat.” “You don’t have to come with us if you’re busy Twilight. Unless… you want to.” Fluttershy said in her soft voice. Twilight chuckled at her shy friend. “Don’t worry Fluttershy. I don’t mind. I love going on picnics.” They all smiled. Happy to see their librarian friend accept their invitation to a lovely picnic. “Well, come on!” Rainbow Dash said. “Let’s get going!” They all laughed and left the library. Twilight locked the door behind her. She made sure to leave a note for Spike. Just in case he woke up to find her gone. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The six mares went and found a place to have their picnic. It didn’t take long to set everything up, with the help of the unicorns and their magic. There were all types of foods on the blanket: salads, apples, apple pie, some cupcakes and a nice cake with pink frosting on the top. There was tea and punch as the refreshments. Rainbow Dash was wearing some black sunglasses and Rarity was wearing a yellow top hat. The six ponies were having a great time; sharing jokes, enjoying the food. Laughing and smiling, the friends were happy. After about an hour of chatting and relaxing they were enjoying the view. Celestia’s sun was high in the sky, waiting for it to be lowered and for the moon to rise to take its place. They packed out just as quick when they set up. “SHIT!” All six of the ponies jumped from the sudden use of language being shouted. “What in tarnation?!” “EEK!” “Ahh!” “What in Celestia’s name?!” “My word!” “What was that?!” All six girls looked at each other with a confused expression. “Such language!” Rarity said. “Hey guys, I saw something fall over there.” Rainbow points a hoof toward a path to the Everfree. “Who would be near the Everfree?” Fluttershy wonders. “It’s so… scary.” “Well come on girls! Let’s go investigate!” the purple unicorn said. They all nodded in agreement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ POV: Twilight We ran down the path for another minute. We found nothing, until we saw a figure lying on the ground around some trees near the path. That was definitely not a pony. We really could not identify what it was. It seemed to be asleep or it was knocked unconscious; It was breathing, by the looks of the chest rising and descending. It had some sort of… bag on its back, and it was wearing black clothing. The bag doesn’t look like a saddlebag that ponies would use. It must be sleeping because it didn’t even respond to us approaching it. It looked like it was laying in a uncomfortable position, it's head sat on a tree root that came out of the ground. I decide to break the silence. “I don’t know what this is…but it needs help. We should take it back to my library.” Applejack looks at me worried, “Are ya sure sugarcube? We don’t even know what it might do.” “I don’t know what it could do either, but it needs help. I don’t want something that was screaming because it was hurt and needed help. No, I won’t let it die lying on the ground.” I reply. “I agree; it needs help. Can we help it please?” Fluttershy says. Everypony decided to take it to Twilight’s Library. End of Chapter 2