The bright, shining rays of the morning sun cast a soft, warm glow over the wide expanse of woodland known as the Everfree Forest, giving the enchanted location a calming and ethereal appearance.
However, the peaceful silence of the area was soon interrupted by the squelching of shoes pressing down on dew-soaked grass, a trio of bipedal creatures lumbering groggily through the forest.
One towered over his peers with skin a bright yellow and hair shaped into a short buzz-cut, his torso dressed in a white-and-red striped shirt lying below a mottled green jacket with baggy blue shorts clothing his lower regions. As he walked, he stared into the distance with a glazed look in his eye, his vacant expression belying the absence of any meaningful thoughts in his mind.
One was garbed in a red shirt and purple shorts, his legs clothed with long red socks ending in cyan shoes and his head adorned by a black ski hat. He carried himself with an air of authority, and bore a thoughtful look on his face as he glanced around at the various flora around him while simultaneously avoiding as much of the filth from the forest floor as he could.
Lastly, one was outfitted in a yellow polo shirt with a red stripe to one side, a wallet chain hanging out of the pocket of his light-blue pants and a triad of thick, curved hairs protruding from his head. His face was contorted into an irritated grimace, and he moved along with his back hunched over and his hands tucked deeply into his pockets.
Though the three of them caused much clamour with their movements, communication in the group was being kept to a minimum, and the trio carried on their way in relative silence. Suddenly, the smallest member of the trio grunted in annoyance, and spoke aloud as he shoved the tallest of the group to one side.
“Watch it, numbskull! You almost stepped on my foot!”
The one clad in green flinched at this, before offering an apologetic grin, “Sorry, Eddy!”
“Oh, you’re gonna be sorry in a minute-”
“Gentleman, please! Calm yourselves!” the cap-donning one protested, “Squabbling over trivial matters such as these isn’t going to help our situation in the slightest!”
Eddy quickly spun around and switched the target of his verbal tirade. “Can it, Sockhead! This is all your fault, anyways!”
Double D recoiled at this, arching an eyebrow as he did so, “I beg your pardon?! Excuse me, Eddy, but if I recall correctly I wasn’t the one whose latest ill-conceived cash-grabbing scheme enraged the kids of the Cul-de-sac to the extent of us having to flee into the forest to avoid their infuriated wrath!”
Eddy growled and shook his head. “It was the greatest scam ever! But lucky me, I get to be stuck with a couple of bozos who wouldn’t know how to run a good scam if it bit ‘em in the backside!”
“What?! Why, in all my days I never thought that I would hear such repulsive accusations from anyone – and most certainly not from one of my dearest friends!”
“Oh, yeah? Well, I-”
Their verbal sparring was cut short by the sudden onset of an ungodly noise, the intense and raucous din of it permeating the air for miles around, leaving a chilling and deathly silence in its wake. Eddy and Double D froze and simply looked at each other, eyes wide, for a few uncomfortable moments, before the bizarre and disquieting sound repeated itself again. As it did so, they soon realised the source of the sound was unnervingly close, and they both apprehensively turned to face it’s source.
Ed was gently patting his belly with a curious look on his face, and after a few moments he turned to his friends with a lopsided grin, “Uh, guys? I think I’m hungry.”
Eddy groaned and shook his head, while Double D tried his hardest not to laugh.
“Jeez, Lumpy! Don’t scare me like that. You almost gave me a heart attack!” Eddy berated his friend, before sighing and setting off again. “Come on, guys. Let’s go find some food.”
Ed bounced up and down on the spot excitedly for a few moments, before quickly following after Eddy, “Oh boy, oh boy! Yummy yummy for Ed’s tummy!”
Double D smiled and shook his head, watching his friends engage in playful banter as they set off once more. As he watched them go, he wistfully began to recall how they’d ended up in this odd situation in the first place – however, it wasn’t long before he was snapped out of his reverie by the sound of Eddy’s voice.
“Hey, Sockhead! What are you waiting for, an invitation? Let’s go, this food ain’t gonna find itself!”
With this, Double D quickly set off after his companions, slipping into a steady jog so as not to get left behind.
“Really, Eddy? Are you sure this is going to work? If I’m perfectly honest with you, I have my fair share of doubts about this. The other kids are sure to see through this charade!”
“Ah, you worry too much, Sockhead! I’m telling you, this is flawless! The scam to end all scams! Once we pull this off, we’ll be rolling in dough! We’ll be slurping jawbreakers for the rest of our days!”
“Yeah, Double D! Without good dough, how can you make a good pizza?” Ed chimed in.
Eddy and Double D just stared at Ed for a few moments, before looking at each other and shrugging. Turning back to the matter at hand, they gazed up at the large wooden sign proudly proclaiming “Triple-E Go-Karting Extravaganza”, the lettering still wet from being freshly painted on by Ed. He soon joined his friends, and together they looked at the results of their hard work laid out before them on Ed’s drive.
“I’m telling you, Double D, it’s in the bag! I’ve been planning this scam for weeks now, and there’s no way it could go wrong! It’s foolproof, I tell ya!” Eddy explained, cheerfully clasping a hand on Double D’s back.
Double D jolted at this and turned to Eddy with an arched eyebrow, but soon broke into a good-natured smile at his friend’s enthusiasm. “You know, Eddy...normally I’d be feeling a bit apprehensive about this whole ordeal. However, I think you may be onto something this time. This one could be a winner.”
Eddy grinned and turned back to face the sign, “That’s the spirit! Now, let’s get this operation rolling before any of the other kids show u-”
“Guys, look! Here they come!” Ed shouted.
Eddy suddenly turned to his friends with a panicked look in his eyes, and made an ushering movement with his hands. “Quick! Hurry it up, move into position! Let’s go, let’s go!”
The three of them scrambled into their positions, with Ed taking his respective place on the track by the go-kart while Double D and Eddy stood at the counter, watching as their prospective customers rapidly approached. Though he would have admitted that he was somewhat nervous, Double D couldn’t help but smile. Maybe Eddy was right, after all. This scam couldn’t possibly fail.
“Come on, Eddy! Please?” Ed whined.
“I said ‘no’, Ed!” Eddy retorted.
“Aw, come on, Eddy! Please please please please please-”
“ALRIGHT, ALREADY!” Eddy yelled. After a few moments of silence, he sighed and began “I spy, with my little eye, something that begins with…L.”
Ed quickly began glancing around, and excitedly pointed to a rotting piece of foliage lying in a thicket close by.
“Oh! Oh! Is it a log, Eddy?” he suggested.
“Nope! Guess again!” Eddy smirked.
Ed paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, before gasping excitedly and pointing to a nearby tree.
“Oh, I know! It’s a leaf!” Ed clapped his hands.
“Guess again, Ed!” Eddy said, grinning.
“Could you give me a hint? Is it…bigger than a breadbox?”
“Ah-ah-ah! No hints!”
“Aw, but Eddy…!”
Double D chuckled softly as he watched Ed and Eddy continue with their game of “I-Spy”. The trio had to have been walking for at least a good hour now, and they still had yet to come across any substance that Double D would have been able to regard as safely edible (or at the very least, any that would provide decent nourishment). Still, he was thankful that his companions had resorted to playing harmless games such as these rather than launching a barrage of irritating mock-insults at one another like they usually did.
“Okay, I give! What is it, Eddy? Come on, tell me!” Ed begged.
“Alright, here it is! The answer is…a lump!” Eddy proclaimed, pointing at Ed and laughing.
Double D sighed and shook his head. Of course…
Ed looked confused for a moment, before his face contorted into a scowl and he turned away, folding his arms with an indignant grunt.
“Not funny, Eddy,” he said, before he started walking away.
Eddy looked crestfallen and groaned, “What? It was just a joke, Lumpy! Jeez!”
When Ed didn’t respond, Eddy turned to Double D, “Come on, Sockhead! Help me out here!”
Double D just rolled his eyes and glanced at an oddly-coloured plant a few feet away. “One reaps what one sows, Eddy,” he flatly replied.
Eddy sighed and facepalmed, but before he had a chance to retort he was interrupted by Ed shouting and pointing at something nearby.
“Hey, guys! Come look at this!”
Eddy and Double D quickly rushed over to join their friend, and soon saw what Ed was so ecstatic about. Amidst the seemingly endless cluster of trees in the forest was a worn, earthen path leading both east and west in a fairly straight line. Double D clapped his hands together and turned to Ed with an elated grin.
“Bravo, Ed!” he exclaimed happily, “If we follow this path, we’ll surely trace our way back to some form of civilisation in no time!”
Eddy started to grin, then paused and turned to give Double D a dubious glance, “Oh, yeah? What makes you so sure they ain’t gonna be a bunch of savages, huh?”
Double D calmly pointed to the faint trail of hoofprints leading in both directions that had been worn into the path.
“By the looks of things, they seem to use horses as a form of transport, so I would expect some fair degree of civility from them. Curiously, however, the hoofprints do seem to be a little smaller than one would expect from a horse…in fact, they seem to be the size of a pony’s, more than anything,” he peered at the hoofprints with a thoughtful look for a few moments, before shaking his head and continuing, “In any case, following these is likely our best chance of finding some form of civilisation…and hopefully, some food with it.”
Ed began to drool at the prospect of finding food, while Eddy simply nodded at Double D.
“Alright, Sockhead. But…which way do we go? I don’t wanna end up getting stuck in these woods again.”
The three of them walked forwards and stepped on to the path, and Double D carefully glanced in both directions with a firm gaze. After a few moments, he pointed to the west.
“There. The trees seem to start thinning out in that direction, which means we’ll be heading out of the forest rather than back into it.”
Eddy clasped his hands together, satisfied. “Great! Then let’s get moving!”
The three of them set off down the path, this time traversing in relative silence once again. Though they wouldn’t have admitted it to one another, all three were feeling apprehensive about what kind of civilisation may have been waiting for them at the end of the path – and whether or not its inhabitants were hostile. After a few minutes of travel, the trees came to an abrupt halt, breaking off into an open field. The path itself continued for several yards more, winding along as it led towards a small garden that surrounded an elegant, almost fairytale-like cottage. The Eds stood at the edge of the forest, gazing upon the sight of the cottage bathed in the morning sunlight in silence. Eventually, Double D spoke.
“Behold, gentlemen! Civilisation!” he proclaimed triumphantly, gesturing to the cottage with a wide grin.
“That’s it?!” Eddy groaned, “I was expecting a city, or some houses, or something. Not a cottage in the middle of nowhere!”
Double D’s grin faded. He sighed and facepalmed, before turning to Eddy with a look of annoyance.
“Really? That’s all you have to say? We have clear proof of another living being…one who could potentially offer us nourishment, a place to stay, and advice on how to find our way home…and all you can think to do is criticise?”
Eddy growled, but before he could think of a response Ed interrupted with an excited gasp.
“Guys, look! They have chickens here!”
Eddy and Double D turned to look towards the cottage to see for themselves – and as they did so, they noticed the back door of the cottage slowly opening.
“Quick, someone’s coming! Get down, get down!” Double D hissed in a hushed whisper, the three of them fleeing the path and diving into a nearby bush.
“What was that for, Double D?” Eddy groaned.
“We still haven’t determined whether or not the inhabitants of this cottage are non-hostile, Eddy. One of us should probably go first and establish whether or not these people are safe.”
“Are you kidding me?! A minute ago you were talking about ‘em as if they were the best thing since sliced bread, and now you’re telling me they could be dangerous? Gimme a break here, Double D!”
“I’m just exercising caution, Eddy! Would you rather we charge in there unprepared and place ourselves into potentially hostile territory, or ensure that the people we’re dealing with are safe and hospitable folks?”
“Uh…guys?” Ed interrupted, “Horses don’t usually have wings, right?”
Double D turned to Ed with a tired look, “Of course not, Ed. A horse with wings would be a pegasus, a creature from Greek mythology. If there ever was such a thing as a living pegasus – which I sincerely doubt, mind you – they would be long-extinct by now.”
Ed pointed towards the garden, “Then…what’s that, Double D?”
They all turned to look where Ed was pointing, and Double D’s mouth fell agape. There, right before his eyes, he could see a pegasus with pale yellow fur and a long, flowing pale rose mane and tail slowly approaching the chicken coop.
“Oh, dear lord…” he breathed quietly, “Is that a living…breathing…pegasus?”
Eddy tried to comment, but the only sound that managed to escape his lips was a strained wheeze.
They all continued to watch in awestruck silence, but once the pegasus reached the chicken coop Ed suddenly recoiled in fear.
“Wait! What if it’s trying to attack the chickens?!” he exclaimed. Panicking, he leapt out of the bushes and charged at the pegasus, while Eddy and Double D’s eyes widened in sheer horror.
“NO, ED!” they cried, but it was too late. Ed barrelled towards the pegasus at an unrelenting pace, screaming at the top of his lungs all the while.
“AWAY WITH YOU, MUTANT HORSE!” he yelled, “UNHAND THOSE CHICKENS!”
The pegasus turned towards Ed in surprise, eyes wide with fear; it instinctively took a step back and flattened its ears against its head, before letting out a shriek of pure terror.
Then it galloped away from its aggressor as fast it could.