Sweetie Belle awoke in a cold sweat. The poor filly had just gotten through one of the scariest nightmares in her entire life! She was in the Everfree Forest… and there was a pack of Timberwolves chasing her… The last thing Sweetie remembered before she woke up was that one of the Wolves had cornered her, and was about to tear her apart. But if it was a dream, why was she so tired?
The young pony's entire body hurt, even her horn. Her legs weren't burning like they had in the dream, but punished any movement with sharp bursts of pain. Her lungs felt heavier than usual, like they had to work a lot harder to give the filly the air she needed. The bottoms of her hooves, usually pretty tough, felt tender and soft. Even the soft breeze ruffling her fur was enough to inflame her aching feet.
One thing Sweetie Belle noticed right away was that she wasn't in her own bed. She was lying on a course fabric, one Rarity would never allow in her boutique. Nor could she feel her pillow, though her head was resting on something pleasantly soft. The filly almost panicked, tossing about and whimpering, fearing she had been foalnapped. Fortunately, somepony noticed her distress, and whoever it was didn't sound dangerous. The voice was masculine, a rare thing in Ponyville, but soothing and calm. Feeling vaguely reassured, Sweetie Belle opened her eyes. Then she screamed.
The innocent filly found herself staring at what could only be called a monster. It had a squished face with beady little eyes, always the sign of a trouble-maker in Equestria. Its face was a pale white, but shone hairlessly in the glistening moonlight. Its mouth was little more than a giant red blister at first, and then it opened, revealing rows of jagged white teeth. Certain she was about to die, Sweetie covered her nuzzle with her hooves and waited for the end.
It took a long time for the monster to come for her. The terrified pony heard it making noise, but couldn't understand a thing; her ears were squished against her head. Maybe it was deciding what part of her to ear first? Sweetie Belle wished it would just hurry up and get it over with. Tears were leaking through her eyelids when its terrible claws first touched her back. Then slowly slid down and over her tail.
Sweetie Belle had no idea what was happening. Why wasn't the monster hurting her? If anything, it seemed to be grooming her, like her mom sometimes did. Whenever the happy little filly came in from her latest adventure, her mother Pearl would be there to gently wash her fur with long sweeping strokes that warmed the young pony's heart. It confused her to no end, but Sweetie Belle found her suspicions evaporating with every full-body rub the monster gave her. She was starting to feel safe again.
Soon the Crusader was in a state of pure bliss. It felt like she was at the spa, every care in the world melted away by expert hooves. She would turn and stretch, allowing the not-so-scary monster to stroke other parts of her body. The monster knew how to give a good massage too, which was enhanced greatly by its surprisingly soft talons. Instead of just a hoof or two, Sweetie Belle could feel up to five areas in her fur practically singing in joy. She even pressed back on the claw a little, to feel it better. Sweetie was very disappointed when it stopped rubbing her.
Convinced the Monster wasn't going to hurt her for now, Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and looked at it properly. The it still looked scary, but not quite so much anymore. It still had a blister-red mouth, but said mouth was happily. The hairless skin wasn't anything anypony would be used to seeing anytime soon, but the creature did have a beautiful red mane. The tiny eyes would always subconsciously unnerve the pony, but they shone bright with kindness. Then the monster did something unexpected.
"Do you feel better now?" it asked. Sweetie Belle just stared it. First off, it was a talking monster. Second, it was wanted to make her feel better? If this was a dream within a dream, it sure was a weird one. "Do you understand me?" The monster's question snapped the filly back to the present. Yet she only nodded, still somewhat wary of the massive beast. Even if it was nice, it could still be very dangerous.
"Okay then. Hi, my name is Thomas." The monster said while holding out one of its claws to the pony. Sweetie Belle cringed back, instinctively scared of such a massive appendage. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare you." What confused the young crusader to no end was its tone of voice; it was acting like this was no different than a conversation in Ponyville square. All she could do was stare at 'Thomas', she didn't know what else to do. 'Thomas' sighed. "You do talk, don't you?" it asked, sounding almost bored now. As if a pony that couldn't talk wasn't worth his attention.
Suddenly scared of losing Thomas' approval, Sweetie Belle finally spoke. "Of course I can talk! All ponies can talk!"
The sudden speech surprised the monster and it laughed heartily. "Oh good! I was worried for a second."
Sweetie Belle went from scared back to confusion. "Worried about what?" As far as she could tell, this monster didn't need to worry about anything.
"That you couldn't talk of course!" it exclaimed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Man, how lame would it be to be stuck in…Oops." 'Thomas' covered its blister mouth with its claw, looking strangely embarrassed.
"You're stuck here? How could you be stuck? You look like you could climb Canterlot's mountain!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, rather incredulously.
For some reason, Thomas' squished face turned red when it spoke next. "Well…You see…Uh…" The white pony looked at him expectantly. "We're on an epic adventure!" he exclaimed out of the blue, as if he had had an epiphany. Sweetie's head tilted in confusion. "We're just lost and need to find our way again." He explained, thinking that was what the pony was confused about. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"We?" Sweetie Belle asked.
It took a moment for Thomas to respond, but when he did, he didn't sound quite so nervous. "Well yeah! You can't have an epic adventure without an epic adventure team! There are two more like me somewhere in the castle." he said, gesturing to the stone walls all around them.
The filly sudden got nervous when a thought passed through her head. "Do you monsters eat ponies?" she asked, fear evident in her voice.
Thomas laughed at first, but caught himself when he saw the look in her eyes. "No." he answered seriously, "None of us do. I eat fruits and vegetables only. My friends might eat forest creatures, but they don't eat ponies." Sweetie swore she heard something else, but could only make out: "…I'll make sure of it…" The stress of the day was really getting to the filly.
The stress escaped via horn, not a pleasant process for the little unicorn. "My head hurts." She moaned, rubbing a hoof against her horn. The monster decided to do something about that. Without warning, Sweetie Belle found herself scooped off the ground with a *squeak*. She looked up at Thomas, unsure of whether or not to trust him. Yet his eyes still glowed with kindness, easing the filly's fears. "Where are we going?" she asked.
"I'm taking you back to your friends; it sounds like you could use their company." Thomas replied, smiling kindly.
For the first time in a while, Sweetie Belle really smiled. It wasn't a big smile like Pinkie's, but a quiet one like Fluttershy's. You might've missed it if you looked too quickly, but for the human and pony, it carried a clear message. I feel safe with you. Even if Thomas had missed her smile, no one could miss the filly snuggling into his arms, getting comfy. It took all of Thomas' willpower not to squeal in joy, he didn't want to scare Sweetie Belle. Besides, his buddies would never let him live it down.
Before long, the pony riding a human found Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. The other crusaders were wiggling around in their sleep and whimpering, probably having nightmares about the Timberwolves. Thomas reflexively looked up at the rising moon. Was Princess Luna truly flying through their dreams, keeping them safe from the night's terrors. How much of what he thought he knew was accurate. If it was, could Twilight Sparkle find a way home for everyone? Despite all the questions raging within the closet Brony's mind, he gently laid Sweetie Belle down next to her friends, and went to find his own. David was sure to be pissed.
Apple Bloom was the first to awaken after Thomas left.
"Aaahh! Wolves! Wait, where…"
"Apple Bloom! You're awake!" Sweetie Belle squealed as she tackle-hugged her confused friend.
"Sweetie Belle? What happened? Where are we?" the poor earth pony was completely bewildered by her surroundings.
"You know, I don't actually know where we are." The unicorn admitted while scratching her head. Then she brightened. "I do know that we were saved by the Timberwolves by some humans!" she exclaimed happily.
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes – again. "Riight. Like some mysterious evil fairytale creatures came and… EKK!" The yellow filly quickly hid behind a nearby rock.
An orange filly was woken up by all the commotion. "Wha.. What happened?.." Scootaloo murmured as she rubbed her face with her hooves.
"Humans!" Apple Bloom squeaked, pointing a hoof at said creature.
Scootaloo gave the human a long, hard look. "And? It's big alright, but it doesn't look so scary."
The little Pegasus soon grew uncomfortable under her friends' disbelieving stares.
"You've… never heard any stories about humans?" Sweetie Belle asked, as if the very concept were foreign to her.
"Deceitful Killers? Cunning Monsters? Loves to eat ponies? Any of those ring a bell?" Apple Bloom prompted.
Now Sweetie Belle looked angry. "Hey! These humans aren't monsters! They saved us from the Timberwolves!"
Apple Bloom huffed. "Well duh! They just wanna eat us themselves! Haven't you listened to the stories?"
"I did too, they're just wrong!" Sweetie Belle yelled.
"Are not!"
Are too!"
The two fillies leapt at each other, but crashed before any blows could be exchanged. They had pushed their little bodies to the limit to escape the Timberwolves; a fight was just too much for them right now. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both laid down, keeping a distrustful eye on each other. Scootaloo just kept watching the humans, trying to figure them out. They seemed to be talking…
David was pissed.
"What do you mean you didn't ask the pony any questions?! Do you not remember what kind of situation we are in?" David yelled at Thomas, right up in his face.
Thomas kept his cool. After being friends with a guy that has anger-management issues for a few years, such rage just rolled right off his back. "No David, I haven't forgotten. But that doesn't mean we're going to get any answers by demanding them from colorful little ponies like interrogators from Moscow. Unless you were planning on using torture techniques on innocent creatures we know so little about?"
David looked about ready to scream again, but caught himself. The 5'8" Texan took several deep breathes before continuing. "Okay, we gotta play nice for a while, I get it. But we also gotta hurry. If I a'int back by the end of the week…" he left that statement hanging.
Thomas knew exactly what his friend was referring to, and laid an arm on David's shoulder. "Don't worry man, I got this. Why don't you go help Nick cook that Manticore? He looks like he's too busy trying to figure out its anatomy to do something as silly as get us food."
David good-naturedly shrugged off his arm. "Good point there, poor bastard looks like he's been given an early Christmas present. I'll go set him straight." David cackled, cracking his knuckles. Whatever he had in mind, it wouldn't be peaceful.
Thomas closed his eyes, both enjoying the serenity while it lasted, and pondered the events before they woke up in the middle of an ancient castle in a haunted forest…
"Anddd...Victory! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" A 6"1' Alaskan Native was parading himself around a campfire, demonstrating moves that will never be seen on a dance floor. His two buddies were laughing hard, fully appreciating the display of silliness.
"Hey, I'm so calling bullshit on that! There's no way you could've shot that stick from 50 yards." David yelled out, mostly to antagonize his friend. They both knew a 50 yard shot was cake for an experienced hunter like Nick. Especially with his 44 Magnum Revolver.
"Normally that might be true," Nick stated in a rather poor impressions witch-doctor's voice, "were it not for, the Water Spirit!" The last few words were bellowed to the heavens, as if he was calling said spirit down right then.
Everyone broke down laughing.
Thomas was the first to regain his composure. "All right dudes, settle down, settle down. We gotta get up early for the hunt tomorrow."
Nick took full advantage of this. "Yes dad. You're really gonna knock them caribou dead with that Kodak of yours!" he stated sarcastically.
"I'll let you suckers do the skinning and gutting, I'm sticking to my vegetables." Thomas replied with an air of importance.
David pretended to whisper to Nick. "Maybe if we try hard enough, we can get him to live off of this moss."
Everyone cracked up again.
"It's getting dark out, we actually better hit the sack." Noted Nick once things had settled.
"How hard?" jabbed David, totally unable to pass up the opportunity.
"Whoa now, I brought my own bag! You can have Thomas!" Nick remarked, pointing at the vegetarian of the group.
"Hey! Why me?!" Thomas helpless squeaked.
"It's more fun when they can't fight back…" David cackled.
This time, everyone just chuckled lightly on the way into the tent. (They made sure to extinguish the fire first, relieving themselves of the day's fluids in the process)
"Goodnight guys." Thomas said, snuggling into his blanket.
"Night man." David replied, snubbing out his cigarette.
"See you in the morning." Nick finished as he extinguished the lamp.
The three friends expected a peaceful but exciting hunt for the rest of the week. They had no idea exactly how much excitement they were getting into.
Thomas was broken out of his thoughts by what could best be described as a food fight. Seems David was a lot less than subtle when he informed Nick that they were hungry. Even in the face of an unknown land and danger around every tree, the guys never could stop messing with each other. It had gotten so rough that Thomas had to duck to avoid a flying piece of Manticore meat. It went sailing over his head…
…and hit Scootaloo on the nose.