//------------------------------// // Part III–Into the Everfree // Story: The Pony-Filled Life of Alexis Creek // by NightmareMoon //------------------------------// It was finally all over. I needed a day off–or possibly a week, or month–after all I'd been through. I don't know how the Elements do it! This "saving the world" thing is much harder than you'd think. Not to mention the fact that I'm not a three-foot-tall, multi-colored talking unicorn, which makes the job a lot harder. Pretty much everything here is made for the use of ponies and ponies only. Well, it's not like they've ever heard of a human before me–other than Lyra, who's just a crazy fanatic who wants to infect the world with "Humans like humus!" and "I want to be a human, they're much cooler" and "How could you not want to be a human? I mean, come on. Fingers, toes, noses, hair, hands. Hands, pony, hands!" And that's why I generally keep my distance from Lyra. Anyway, back to my rant about the things that are made for the use of ponies. Not to mention that about 70% of all "technology" here in Equestria relies on magic to power them up. I have about none, even less than Earth ponies. At least they're strong. I guess I'll have to find some way to train my magic. I don't want to go to Twilight–I already take magic history and Equestrian reading and writing from her, and that's all the boredom I ever need–but who else is there? Rarity is the only trustworthy unicorn I know other than Twilight, and Lyra is the only other pony that "dares" to approach me. Not that I'm ever going to trust her in teaching me something as important as magic. I can imagine it now… "I don't care about magic, I just want to be human!" Lyra shrieks. "Make me human! Make me human! Make me like you! Take me to your leader!" "Aah!" I yell, climbing onto Lyra's special 10th year edition "Humans are Cool!" couch. I pick up a broom and point it at Lyra as if she was an escaped lab project–which, come to think of it, she probably is. "Don't come any closer, pony!" I shudder to think about it. So who's left? Zecora, I guess. Is she any good at magic? Well, I suppose so–after all those magical remedies and potions, she has to know something about magic. And that's why, right now, I'm walking alone in the Everfree Forest, feeling "Fluttershy-ish." You know about all the ponies, who shudder at the very thought of venturing into the Everfree Forest? Yep, I'm one of them. The thing is huge, and being an Earth...-ian..., I haven't been in many forests. I used to live in the city. I've never even been in a forest. Even in Equestria, there are no forests–excluding, of course, the mysterious Everfree Forest: too dangerous to venture into (except for those few "brave souls"), too much magical energy to just cut it down. The Everfree Forest is dark, and scary... And if you don't watch where you're stepping, you can easily turn into a frog or something. And believe me, I don't want to. I already live in a not-so-welcoming society (or at least, to unknown and possibly dangerous creatures). Not to mention, I have a small backpack with only the basic necessities: food, water, a compass, some magical glow-in-the-dark "Magi-Orbs" (which are possibly the cheapest lights ever invented. Well, then again, Equestria hasn't even thought up of electricity yet) and matches. Otherwise, I'm totally alone in this dark, scary forest. How does Fluttershy even live this close to the forest? While I was watching the show, I thought, "No big deal. Just a bunch of tamable, not-so-scary monsters and some flowers that pull pranks on people. And clouds moving on their own, which isn't as creepy as it sounds to ponies." I never imagined this. Twilight explained that the Everfree forest is so scary because... Well, because it's nothing. Nopony's ever explored it thoroughly, and the ones who tried have disappeared forever. Even spookier, some turned up centuries in the future, not aware that anything had happened. The Everfree was uncharted, dangerous, and magical. The monsters they'd seen there were only a tenth as dangerous as they were in the heart of the Everfree, where there was supposedly, quoting from Starswirl the Bearded VI: "A magical abundance of energy, coming from an unknown source." Spooky. And right now I was venturing into the most dangerous forest in all of Equestria. Piece of cake, right? Not really. But I forced myself to–and besides, there was a "road" leading to Zecora's hut. Made of berries. Which, of course, birds could peck away and eat... They don't, I reminded myself. They're berries for a reason. All the birds and wildlife in the Everfree are carnivorous. They'd never even dare touch a berry! Of course, that just added to my worries. I didn't want to be eaten by 10-foot-tall carnivorous birds! Okay, maybe they weren't 10 feet tall, but considering this was the Everfree, they very well may be! I began walking, following the trail of berries. Not just any berries–they were green, and very brightly colored. I heard a couple of growls as I went through the path, but they soon disappeared for some unknown reason. Unknown. That was the Everfree. Remember when I said I needed a day off? Well, so much for that thought. I was shivering in fear, wondering if I'd ever get out alive. And then I heard some noises: but not just any noises, not just the scary, fear-invoking growls of the local carnivorous wildlife of the Everfree. It was a pony's–or a zebra's–voice, chanting what seemed like a spell. I couldn't see anything–the dense trees and plants blocked sight–but I was certain I'd come close. As I walked closer to the noise, I could see a light. How was that possible? Of course, I was used to lights in Equestria. At first I had thought that the light I saw was simply a light bulb–it was much too bright for a lantern–but then I stopped in my tracks. Zecora was a zebra. She didn't have magic, aside from her spells and potions. And even then, it wasn't her magic casting or making them. It was the herbs themselves. Of course she had internal magic. That was a different story. That was the kind of magic Earth ponies and pegasi had. But they couldn't cast spells. I had learnt about it in Twilight's "magical history class for the clueless! Fun awaits" course (which was named very terribly, since I had slept through most of it, using my 1,200-page-book as a pillow) and Twilight was never wrong. Well, aside from that time... and that other time... and the time before that... Whatever! She almost is never wrong. Well, she's a whiz at magic history. I doubt she'd get something as plain and simple as types of magic confused. She was the princess's personal student! But that light was much too bright to be anything but magical. Unless Zecora had invented electricity and made light bulbs that worked with it. I stopped in my tracks, listening in to what the person was saying. "Soon she will escape," the voice hissed. "We cannot let that happen..." Escape? Who was the person talking about? It definitely wasn't Zecora. That was out of the question, and had been since a while ago. Apparently though, the other person (who I wasn't aware of until now) had the same question in mind. "What girl are you talking about? Glydinf?" The other person hissed in disapproval. "That was the griffin, Skippy. I'm talking about the human girl! You know, two legs, annoying, no fur. The one that ruined all our plans!" "I don't like it when you call me Skippy...," the other person grumbled angrily. "You're always saying, 'Skippy, do this,' and 'Skippy, do that.' Call me by my normal name for once, Chrysalis!" Chrysalis?