//------------------------------//
// My Life 
// Story: Exposed 
// by Sandvich Brony 
//------------------------------//


=====|]Exposed[|=====
=====|]Chapter 1: My life[|=====


If someone told you they've had their life stolen, they probably have it far easier than me. They don't have to deal with the loneliness and hardship that I have for years, waking up every day knowing that survival was, is, and always will be their second priority...

Wait, that last part may seem confusing. To make sense, I will describe my situation. I am in a world far, far away from Planet Earth. As far as I know, I am the only human that has ever come to this world. I later learned that the land I had the luck to fall into is called Equestria, who's sapient race is multicolor talking ponies. They also have access to actual magic.

Yes, I know. It sounds like some kind of storybook or fantasy world, but it's true. As I mentioned earlier, survival is my second priority. That is because I am not sure what they will do to me. For all I know they could trap me, torture me, kill me, or worse.

My life for almost seven years now has been my survival, and the hiding of my existence. Over the years, I have grown adept in many skills. The most important of which being skills in tailoring, hunting, stealth, and survival; the last of which being very useful.

I think this is getting somewhat disorganized now, so I'm just going to start fresh. Right from the day everything changed.

It was a regular day in Oregon. I was walking down the street to a friend's house when a freak storm came in. The strangest part was that it was completely sudden with no sign earlier. Then a lightning bolt strikes and I find myself blinded. Once I can see again, I discover I'm walking in a thick forest. Luckily, the forest edge was nearby, so I walked out to see three things.

One: A small village in a valley.
Two: There is a castle on the side of a mountain.
Three: The spectacular light show.

The lights are what drew my attention to the castle. I'm not sure what caused it, but it was incredible to watch, even from the distance that I was. Then came a sudden stop to the lights, and my mind went into autopilot. I left the forest entirely, and walked to the village I saw earlier. Eventually, I was close enough to see moving shapes. It was twenty feet later that I recognized those shapes.

Ponies... Ponies everywhere.

At this point, I was also close enough to see that they were talking to each other. This, among other things I could see and hear, made connections in my young mind.It wasn't too long before I connected everything with the word "Girly," and therefore fled the scene.

Looking back now, I think ignoring the girlyness and walking into the town would have given me a much better life here. Meh, C'est la vie.

In any case, I ran away from the village and back into the forest I would later call my home. After a while, I stopped in a clearing. A short time later, I began thinking on my situation. This was a bad idea for two reasons, both of which I soon discovered.

'I'm lost, and I'm alone...'

That revelation resonated in my head for a while. A few minutes later, I laid down and cried. A sound in the trees got me back on my feet, and I was soon running from whatever it was. After I knew I had lost it, I began thinking rationally for the first time. Actually, I began thinking of this situation as a minecraft survival game. Honestly, I think it helped keep me calm. The first thing I knew I had to get was wood. It would help me start a fire, and it would help me make a shelter. Knowing I couldn't punch wood, I came to the realization that I would need an ax. Knowing I couldn't make one, I would have to find one. Then I realized the village I found earlier would probably have one laying around. I began searching for the forest edge, and after finding it, began waiting for the day to end.

I should say first off, that the sunset and moon rising was very different here. Much more beautiful. Once I saw the last light go out in the village, I took off. Eventually, I found an ax leaning against a pile of wood near a home. I picked it up and left hoping I didn't leave a trace.

The following days involved learning how to survive in the wild, as well as many other night raids. I later found ways into the houses, which opened the scale of what I could take wide. The raids eventually came to a standstill when the ponies stopped being careless and locked practically everything. By the first week, I had a crude shelter built. It was made from small branches I either cut or found on the ground. It wasn't much, but it was something I could call home. Later on, I learned how to take down larger trees with that ax, as well as how to use it as an effective weapon. I also had made my first hunt by this time, which involved many hours of chasing a rabbit around trees with an ax raised above my head screaming bloody murder. Much later, I became very adept in using snares to do the dirty work for me.

The one problem with settling in the woods was the monsters. Most simply left me alone after seeing I was not worth the trouble. But some were much scarier. My first encounter with what I would later find were called Timberwolves, for example, was immensely terrifying. I managed to get away at least. They began ignoring me after I cut a tree down and heard a whimper off to the side followed by rustling in the bushes though.

And so my life continued on in the woods I later found were called Everfree. Days were eventful for a while, but after a month or so, I found that it almost seemed normal, strangely enough. I discovered a solace in reading books I had acquired as well. Some interesting things were discovered from those books. Apparently, weather in Equestria was controlled manually by pegasi, and the rulers of the land was a princess, not a queen. There were also stories I found interesting, such as the Mare in the Moon. I first looked at it only because it seemed similar to the Man in the Moon myth. The story was very different from what I expected it to be. The story about a sister's jealousy leading to imminent betrayal. And the older sibling sending her sister-turned-evil to the moon...

Sorry, getting sidetracked. I guess there isn't much to note on what I've been doing all these years. The night raids eventually opened up again. The ponies were getting careless again, so I took advantage. The difference this time is I started spacing out my raids. I eventually found interest in eavesdropping on ponies when they were awake at night. I learned ponies' names, hobbies, you name it. One piece of info I found very interesting was the existence of an apple farm to the north. How I missed that, I will never know. I first heard about it during the third month. I left almost immediately and grabbed about five apples. I came later with a bag.

Something I came into the habit of doing was leaving gifts during these raids. Wasn't much, just something I though I could use to get some guilt off my chest. Most of these things were either carvings I made in my free time, or random gems I found. There were a surprising amount perfectly visible. I didn't have any use for either of those, so I used them as payment for the items I took.

Eventually, I became adept in the art of stealth while doing raids. This became very useful when the ponies started staying up at night to find what they were beginning to call "The Shroud." Rumors began spreading about this character. Some rational, others inconceivable. Whatever the case, I felt a sense of pride to be feared.

So far in this world, I have only made one friend. The circumstances surrounding my meeting her were somewhat sketchy. I'm still glad I met her though. I probably wouldn't be in the mental state I am without her. We met during the second year. I was sitting by my recently made fire tending to a stewing rabbit. I heard a sound in the bushes behind me. I grabbed the knife I had on me and turned ready to fight. Imagine my surprise when I saw a surprised zebra with saddlebags at the edge of my outpost. Sighing, I replaced my dagger and sat back down. Then I heard a voice.

"I did not mean to give you such a fright, but I must admit, you are an unexpected sight."

I tensed for a moment before remembering zebras in this world are also sentient. I turned to reply.

"No problem. You don't have any idea what's around here."

Imagine my shock when she didn't react to my speaking. Luckily, I kept it to myself.

"Your situation is well recognized by me. I have been traveling a while in these woods of Everfree."

I sat up at this. "Travelling? Why through these woods?" I questioned.

There was a brief pause before her answer. "The way around the woods is vast, and where I am heading, I would like to be. Fast."

"Oh, where you headed?" I asked, interest slowly growing.

"My plan was to settle near Ponyville. My directions say it's over the hill."

By this point, I was wondering where she got all these rhymes. "Well, those directions aren't wrong. The town's that way." I say pointing a finger. "By the way, my name's Ryan. What's yours?"

"Zecora is my name. Potion making is my game." Was her response before disappearing into the woods.

Over the years, Zecora and I became good friends. To this day, I still visit her daily. Normally, we just talked about things. Other times, it would be for a bit of help. Maybe a potion was needed, or a tool was required. Either way, I think things have worked out so far.

Other than all this, I really have nothing else to say. I've so far managed to live in seclusion for a long, long while now, and nopony has seen neither hide nor tail of me.

Just hope it stays that way...