//------------------------------// // The Story of Agric // Story: The Hidden History of Equestria // by Elijah Wyatt //------------------------------// We must now travel back in time, to before Equestria's founding, back to the of country Armello, in the outskirts of Ludile, at an earth pony's family farm, to tell the story of Agric, a male earth pony who is still young, but loves to learn of the world around him, who reads books and loves to adventure into the forest. After Agric finished his minimal chores, as Agric was still quite young, he decided to go adventuring in the forest. Before he could leave his mother stopped him warning him "Be careful, don't go to deep into the forest because that is where monsters live". "I will, but you know that is just folklore, there aren't such things as monsters!" responded Agric. His mother only worrying for his saftey replied "Be careful anyways, I don't know what I'd do if i didn't have you, I love you so much honey". "I love you too mom, bye!" Agric said as he dashed off. Agric then wandered into the forest, observing the many trees, when he heard a sound coming from behind a set of bushes. He was scared, because of the conversation he just had, and this is the first time he has heard anything alive outside in the forest, outside of small animals, but his curiosity got the better of him. He leaped through the bushes, only to find a female unicorn, around his age, with a plant cutie mark. She seemed to be collecting some type of herb, but was startled, and immediately turned around, when Agric made his entrance. Agric quickly said "Oh, hello there, I thought you were some sort of monster, how silly of me!". The Mysterious girl responded "You almost scared me half to death, I had thought the same of you! Who are you, by the way?". "My name is Agric, nice to meet you, what's yours?" Agric replied. "My name is Zyra, and I am here collecting plants, I love plants and have even found a few uses for some of the ones I've collected. So, what are you doing in the forest?" said Zyra. "I love to come here and just adventure around, since the nearest city is too far to make regular trips to." answered Agric. They both continued talking while they walked deeper into the forest. They both seemed instantly attracted to another. "I live about a mile from here, whenever I can I sneak into the forest away from my parents to study the small critters and plants. There is something so peaceful about the forest, and at the same time it is quite lively with the bunnies and squirrels" Zyra said. "I know what you mean, but my mother always warns me of monsters, so I don't really go to far in. Why do you have to sneak away?" Agric asked. Zyra slowly answered "Well, my parents teach me all the time, I never stop learning from the seemingly endless amounts of books they throw at me, so I have to be able to get away and have fun, which is almost impossible to do at home". Agric exclaimed "I would love it if I had parents who would teach me all sorts of things, we only have a few books to read, and every year on my birthday I get to pick a book from the city, that my parents buy me. You are so lucky!". Zyra said in response "I never thought of it that way, you know if you ever want to come over and borrow a book from my house, you are more than welcome!". Agric quickly replied "That would be amazing, thank you so much!" They both blush a little bit as they stare in each others' eyes for a little too long Zyra wondered "What was that you mentioned about monsters? Do you think they really exist?". Agric reassured her fears by saying "Oh, yah, well you see my mom tells me of these ravenous monsters that will gobble you up if they catch you, that live deep in the forest. I really don't think they really exist, though.". Zyra said as she rubbed up against Agric "That seems really scary, but i'm sure with you with me, there is nothing for us to fear." Agric blushed in response. Zyra suddenly says "Oh look, this is a special plant that can numb the senses." She then pulls out a basket from her side that went unnoticed till now, and places the plant inside. Agric being surprised by this says " I never knew such small plants could have such tremendous power and utility!". Zyra informs him "Yes, there are all sorts of plants that can do all sorts of things, though I haven't studied all of them, and have only been able to find a few types myself.". It had been 30 minutes since they first met, and they had unknowingly walked deep into the forest. A loud howl screeched as the two realized that they had gone too deep, and they promptly decided to run away. However, their realization had come too late, as a giant timber wolf leaped out at them and growled. Agric screamed "Run!" They bolted through shrubbery to try and duck the beast, but there was another one, and they were starting to get cornered when Agric noticed a medium sized cave entrance, and he deduced that the giant timber wolves would be too big to fit, so he called out to Zyra, "Into the cave, climb up the rocks into that cave!". However, they were both young, and the timber wolves were catching up to them now that there wasn't any shrubbery to dodge through . As Agric had finished climbing up the first big rock, he lent out a hoof to help Zyra up, but mid way through the timber wolf set his teeth into her lower right leg, and so began a tug of war. Even though he was only a young pony, he was still an earth pony, and with all his might he pulled her, resulting in a large ripping sound as she came flying up. Agric then noticed Zyra was gushing blood, and that one of her lower legs had been ripped off. Zyra started screaming in bloody agony, as Agric remembered the plant, and immediately gave it to her, however as the screaming began to quail, Zyra let out one last bloody agonizing screech, and Agric noticed the timber wolves starting to turn their attention away from their food, which had only temporarily stated their hunger, and back to the two young ponies. Agric quickly yelled "They are still coming, we have to escape into the cave!". Zyra desperately shouted "I can't move, you're going to have to carry me!". Agric flung her over his back and said "Okay, grab on to my neck and ride me!". Agric ran and climbed as fast as he possibly could, and barely managed to leap into the cave inning, as the timber wolves pursued . He kept running, but noticed that the cave was actually quite lit, with blue glowing rocks surrounding the cave. However, as he began to stop, he saw shadows growing larger, and immediately assumed that it was the timber wolves, as he kept running he noticed small mice skimping through the cave. He kept running, however 10 minutes later, he felt Zyra slipping so he stopped immediately. As he stopped, she fell onto the ground, having fainted from the blood still oozing from the open wound. He tried to tend to her as he made a make quick turnakit in which he had read about from stories in books, but had absolutely zero experience with. As he finished tying his shirt tightly around Zyra's leg, he heard a knock on the floor, and saw a large shadow, and since he knew he couldn't possibly carry her alone, without her grasping onto him, he ran away deeper into the cave as fast as he could. He started crying from everything he just saw, mostly his cowardice in sacrificing his new friend for his own safety. So Agric just kept running as fast as he could. It seemed like hours had gone by. When he saw a light at the end of the cave, he saw trees and assumed that he had made it back to another side of the forest, he let out a sigh of relief, his hellscape was finally over he thought.