-One Day Before-
It was cold outside.
Scaredy Cat shuddered once before resuming her slow trot.The grass gently swished every time she moved her hooves forward, the sound coming and going with every step. The texture of wet plant life made her grimace with every blade that rubbed against her forelegs.
Deciding to try and get out of the cold wind as fast as she could, Scaredy looked around again, searching for the shack that was supposed to be in the area. Left, right, front, back, there was nothing but the swaying grass and some trees around her.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to do this after all, she thought remorsefully. Why had she wanted to do this again?Memories of yesterday evening came back to mind, as they had often done that day when she questioned why she was doing what she was doing.
Walking along a simple dirt path on her way to pay a surprise visit to some friends in Ponyvillie, she had noticed that there was a stallion standing by the side of the road. He wore a cloak that seemed to be in good condition, as Scaredy could see no tears, patches, or ragged edges. It was grey, with some sort of pattern on the back. The hood was down, allowing her to get a good look at his face as she grew closer. His coat was a dark grey, while his mane was a purple-crimson color. He had a tired but determined smile on his lips.
As she came within easy talking distance, the stallion called out a greeting. "Hey there. Tell me," he asked, looking at her eyes with an eerily intent look in his, "Do you know what humans are?"
Scaredy had a bad feeling already about him, which usually took longer to develop than just mere moments. Still, she saw no harm in talking with him. "No, I haven't. Why do you ask?" she said.
His smile grew ever so slightly. "Because I have a similar problem. You see, it turns out that thousands and thousands of years ago our world was connected with another, where a race of creatures called humans lived. Their culture and ways were very different from ours, and once we knew much about them. But now, that knowledge has been lost to time. We no longer know anything about them besides their looks," he explained, though Scaredy had a feeling he wasn't finished.
"...So why are you telling me this?" she asked, caught between her doubts about his trustworthiness and her curiosity to see where his strange speech was leading.
"Can't you see?" He gestured with one of his forelegs. "There's an entire civilization that we know practically nothing about! There's a wealth of information on creatures that could be far superior to ponies, or griffons, or anything we know off, sitting just outside of our reach, and we, Humanity, strive to discover that hidden knowledge and reunite our world with the plane that humans had somehow ascended to so long ago! they simply have to be better beings!" He took a few breathes, the intensity of his rant tiring him somewhat.
For a moment, Scaredy stood there, thinking on everything he said. For some reason that she couldn't really explain, she felt the urge to discover more about humans, to help the strange stallion in front of her. "So... are you part of a group? And... can I join?" she asked.
Recovered, the stallion looked at her with the same smile. "Of course. Just head that way-" He pointed behind him, towards the distant, but visible, Everfree Forest. "and you'll find a run-down looking wooden shed. Head inside of it, and you'll be with us in moments."
She thanked him, and set off in the direction he pointed her in, hoping that she made the right choice.
And now, here she was, pretty sure that she had managed to get herself lost, and there was still no sign of the supposed shed. Scaredy sighed. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." she muttered under breath, hanging her head. Maybe the stallion was lying, or was actually crazy, and there were no such thing as humans in the first place.
Thinking about heading back to the road and getting with her friends like she had planned to in the first place, she looked up, and spied the corner of what looked like a building in the distance poking out from behind a tree trunk. She grinned to herself, spirits raised significantly, and started galloping off towards the growing shape of what she hoped was the shack.
Ten feet away, she stopped herself suddenly, sliding across the slick grass for a few moments before regaining control. Scaredy examined the place, and felt a twinge of fear in her stomach.
If there was ever a place that looked like it was the home of some sort of outcast maniac, it was sitting right in front of her. The shack was made out of old wood, its walls twisted slightly by the elements and time both, likely. It was not a very tall building, only about twice as high as Scaredy. There were no windows or openings of any kind besides the large door made out of thick wooden planks, held in place by rusty hinges of iron.
Scaredy let out a slightly shaky breath. The appearance of the shack was intimidating enough that she seriously considered trotting the whole way back to the road, despite the fact that it was growing dark.
No, I need to do this, to do something courageous for once. She took a deep breath in, held it for a second, then let it out slowly. The door creaked loudly as she pulled it open with a hoof, determined to have made the trip worth it.
The interior was not too far off from what she was expecting it to look like. The walls were bare, plain wood. On the back wall was one torch, lit but dim, casting a flickering light across the walls and dirt floor. The only other feature was a spiraling staircase with steps of stone that led down below into the ground.
Scaredy descended.