//------------------------------// // 5 // Story: Folio // by DustyFolio //------------------------------// Dusty laid there for a long while, heedless of the time passing, or the growing cold, it was late summer but here in these dark woods it felt more like late fall, and as the sun set, he found himself shivering involuntarily, and began to trot through the dark woods, moving mostly to keep himself warm, as he could barely make out one tree from another in the growing dark. It was purely by accident that he found the pile of brush and libs, more fell into than found in all honestly, but he welcomed anything that was not cold and open ground, and he made himself a makeshift burrow, though it was probably a sad sight in daylight, it felt warmer in the dark that the growing cold, and he curled up shivering, too tired for tears, and dreamt of Trixie. He awoke to the dim sunlight filtering through the dense foliage of the forest, covered by a makeshift pile of foliage that he had thought was a decently constructed burrow, when in reality it was a few piles of brush thrown on top of him, but it had kept him warm enough, though he certainly felt drained and a bit ill. He ached all over, and his head pounded as memories of the previous day flooded back into his mind, he sighed heavily, and wondered to himself what exactly he had done to deserve this, however, the rumbling in his stomach reminded him that self-pity had yet to get him anything, and it had certainly never filled his stomach, and so, with a heavy sigh, and a groan at his protesting body, Dusty pulled himself free from the mound of brush and looked around. He had no idea where he was, or how to get back to the road, or even if he should try going back to the road, he supposed that any direction was probably better than none, and so he took a deep breath, and set off in what felt like the slightly easier path through the woods. He was not sure how long he had been walking, but the sun was high in the sky, and the air was warmer and drier and the scenery was actually making him feel a little better, he had never really explored a forest before, and it’s quiet sounds and clean smells made him wish that he could have a quiet home in the woods and be left alone to enjoy them, he could imagine a cozy log cabin with a roaring fire and a big front porch, maybe near a good fishing stream, some good books and a pet to keep him company, maybe a dog or something. A noise nearby brought him out of his daydream, and he scurried to some underbrush and listened intently, it was two voices, one rather loud; the other was only a murmur. Dusty cautiously moved closer, trying to overhear what they were saying. “Thanks for coming with me to the Everfree Forest Pinkie.” The one voice said in educated cadence that made Dusty frown with thought; hadn’t he heard that voice before? He snuck a bit closer as the second voice replied in a bubbly and carefree manner. “Oh, it’s no biggie Twilight, Zecora told me that there were some berries in this forest that would make some of the tastiest cupcakes and I cannot wait to try them in my new recipe, I am going to make so many batches Twilight that we will have enough for three...no no! Five cupcake parties! Oh it will be so much fun you have no idea!” Twilight!? Twilight Sparkle! Dusty stood in shock, his heart pounded in his chest, it could not be, he had no idea he was so close to Ponyville, his mind frantically tried to come up with a firm decision, he should go, he should run the other way, that probably led back to the road, and then he could stay just out of sight, and then maybe go home, to Manehattan, maybe his family will recognize him, maybe they could hide him from Celestia and the guards, maybe he could be safe, he thought he could face Twilight, but no, no he could not, he felt like throwing up, and quickly scrambled out of the brush and made a dash in the opposite direction, only to find himself side tackled to the ground by a mass of pink that smelled of cotton candy and cinnamon. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?” The pink mass said to him, and it took him a moment to realize that he was staring into the large smiling blue eyes of a pink pony. He laid there speechless, and gasping for air while another voice approaching quickly shouted, “Pinkie Pie, get off that poor pony!” Pinkie Pie frowned for a moment but then casually bounced up and off of Dusty and bounced around him instead. He slowly lifted himself up off the ground and stumbled slightly on his legs, only to find himself falling back on his haunches as his gaze met that of Twilight Sparkle’s. The purple colored pony gazed at him quizzically and cautiously, “You’re an odd thing to find in this forest,” she said, her tone even as she carefully took a step back. She was heedless of the merrily bouncing oblivious Pinkie Pie. “Who in the name of Celestia are you?” Dusty’s eyes frantically searched for a way to escape, but he had a feeling that if Twilight did not catch him, Pinkie Pie certainly would. Speaking of the pink pony she bounced up next to Twilight, “If you ask me, he is probably the single biggest pony in need of a party and some friends I have EVER seen! In fact, he looks sorrier than that one time I got Rarity’s hair stuck in the cotton candy machine and we had to use those pruning shears and Big Macintosh’s harness to...” Twilight glared at Pinkie, “Pinkie, that is enough. I want to know who this pony is and what he is doing in the Everfree forest. By the looks of things spying on us.” Dusty sighed and stood up slowly, trying to project a nonthreatening stance as best he could, while Pinkie Pie giggled “I think he’s kind of cute, don’t you Twilight, it’s like he’s got Rarity’s hair but with some green in it and those crazy purple eyes and he’s really tall, I bet he is taller than Big Macintosh, but not as beefy and..” Pinkie Pie continued, and Dusty could feel his cheeks grow hot, but lowered his head a bit when he once again felt the burning quizzical gaze of Twilight Sparkle. “I have not heard you say anything yet mister.” Dusty looked a little panicked, and shook his head with a hoof to his mouth indicating he could not speak. “Well, that’s odd; maybe if I tried a bit of magic I could...” Dusty’s eyes went wide with fear and he shook his head desperately, Pinkie Pie bounced between the two of them for a moment “Whee! This is a great place to bounce, But I dunno Twilight, he looks pretty scared to me, I’d be scared too if some strange unicorn randomly decided to use magic on me to change my mane color or die my hooves a funny color, you think my hooves would look good dyed a funny color?” Twilight frowned and groaned, blowing her mane out of her eyes, “Fine, fine, I get your point, but I think you should come with us anyhow, back to Ponyville, you look like you are in no shape to be out in the forest alone…” Twilight’s words trailed off as she gazed at the stallion, her eyes fixed onto his cutie mark. “Pinkie, we have to go, we have to go right now!” Pinkie looked confused as Twilight tried to drag her off, “What are you talking about Twilight? This pony needs food and fun, we cannot leave him out here looking all sad like that, why are you being such a meany big meany mean pants all of a sudden?” Twilight started looking more and more desperate to get away as Pinkie Pie bombarded her with questions, and finally she shouted “No! We have to tell Celestia right away, this pony is dangerous, maybe even more dangerous that Nightmare Moon!” Pinkie looked at Twilight as if she had gone mad, and looked at Dusty, who was at this point backing away shaking his head his eyes pleading with them. “Twilight Sparkle, are you crazy? This pony looks about as dangerous as a daisy sandwich, which he probably has not eaten in weeks. “The pink pony’s eyes were cautious, and she bounced less, and occasionally glanced at Dusty, but it was apparent that she was having a difficult time believing Twilight Sparkle, who by this point had back quite a distance away, and had lowered her horn defensively, “Maybe I can just hold him here and then we can take him to Celestia ourselves..” Twilight spoke to herself, without much assurance, Dusty meanwhile was scrambling for the underbrush to get as far away from the two ponies as he could get, when he felt his hind legs yanked from underneath him by magic, and landed with a painful grunt on the forest floor. “Pinkie, you go and get spike and the rest of our friends and get back here as quickly as possible, I’ll hold him here till you get back and we can hand him over to the princess.” Pinkie Pie looked confused and a little upset, to her this pony looked hurt inside, and it pained her to see anypony in distress like that, but she frowned and looked at Twilight, “Okie dokie lokie..But I’m still not sure...” Dustin had picked himself up, and seeing that running would not help, he faced Twilight Sparkle, his face darkened with fear and panic, he could not let himself be locked away in that room again, he loved Celestia, but he had tasted freedom, and he was loathe to give it up. To be honest, Twilight scared him, she really was a powerful unicorn, and she could probably hurt him badly, or even kill him if she chose, he instinctively pawed the ground, he had no idea what to do, and his mind was running a mile a minute, he took another step back, and her horn glowed brightly, Pinkie Pie just stared, she knew she should get help, but this seemed like such a huge misunderstanding, it was obvious that the mute stallion was hurt and scared, why was Twilight acting so strangely? Twilight’s horn grew brighter and Dustin reared up in fear as he was engulfed in purple magic, and thrashed to free himself, his eyes met Twilight’s and he could feel it welling up inside of him, the panic, the fear, it was too much, and as if in slow motion. He heard himself speak.