The Everfree Forest-normally a dangerous place for anypony, especially so for the young filly venturing alone through it tonight. She kept her wits about her, listening intently for any change in her surroundings, keeping her eyes and ears focused to perceive any threat to her as she walked through the forest. Tonight was an especially chilly night to be out and about in the forest; it was on these kinds of nights that the forest felt more ominous. The extreme darkness and strange background noises could make a pony panic. All around her, strange growls and grunts from the creatures of the forest created a sort of tension-filled ambience, setting her on edge.
Apple Bloom knew this fact very well; she had been adventuring through the forest many times with her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Today, however, she didn't have the comforting luxury of her friends by her side. All that she had was her own wit and brains as she made her way home from a small hut in the forest, carrying a collection of herbs with her. Apple Bloom’s sister Applejack, and Twilight, Applejack’s close friend, had been talking earlier about venturing into the forest to obtain some herbs which Twilight needed for a new experiment. Twilight had been experimenting lately with biomedical practices, finding different ways to cure ponies with herbs and plants instead of magic.
Apple Bloom had overheard their conversation and taken it upon herself to retrieve the herbs for them. She remembered thinking that this would be the perfect chance to earn her cutie mark. After all, how hard could it be to follow a path through the forest that she had taken many times before? Not to mention the fact that she could be helping Twilight find the cure to some horrific disease or illness. How cool would it be to have a cutie mark in medicine. She could even become a doctor pony if she played her cards right!
Unfortunately for her, Apple Bloom hadn't anticipated the fact that it would take her so long to reach Zecora's hut by herself, nor did she anticipate that she would lose track of time visiting with the lonely zebra. Seeing as how Zecora rarely received any visitors to her place in the forest, Zecora had spent a good while exchanging stories and entertaining Apple Bloom. Both of them had been too engrossed in their conversing to notice the slowly approaching darkness falling over the forest like a blanket, carpeting every path with a layer of pitch black. As Apple Bloom stumbled her way through the thickets, she couldn't help but think about a story that Zecora had told her earlier as a forewarning to her return home through the Everfree.
Apparently, more and more ponies had been seeing... something hanging around the outskirts of the forest. According to local rumor it was gangly creature, strange in both appearance and behavior, though those that witnessed had seen only fleeting glimpses of its figure. Nopony knew where it had come from, and nopony knew when it had appeared. They only knew that they had never seen or encountered anything like it before. Many told of frightening occurrences since the first sightings of the creature; on one occasion, Fluttershy had even returned from the forest in tears, claiming to have seen a few butchered animals near the outskirts where predators rarely ventured.
Most ponies—Applejack and most of her friends included—had passed the sightings off as a hoax, or possibly a stray predator wandering too close to civilization. Some ponies, however—ponies like Apple Bloom—weren't exactly sure of what to think. There were some crazy conspiracy theories going around about aliens, undiscovered species, and even an escaped government experiment running loose in the woods. Apple Bloom found herself wondering, if only for a moment, if the creature was real.
If it was real, what could it possibly be? What did it want? Why was it prowling about, staying so close to civilization? Her mind began to wander as she continued to walk along the path away from Zecora's home. Was there some reason that it was so close to society, but still always out of sight? Was it friendly, or was it an evil creature from the very depths of the forest, stalking ponies in order to find its next meal? The sharp snapping of a twig brought her out of her revery, immediately putting all of her senses into full alert.
She looked around the large clearing in which she found herself, her eyes scanning the all-encompassing darkness like a hawk, searching for the slightest of changes in the foliage. Where had that sound come from? It had to have come from something... Apple Bloom looked down, seeing a broken twig under her own hoof, and chuckled nervously to herself. She still felt uncomfortable as she attempted to laugh the fear off.
As she observed the clearing more closely, and with an increasingly clear head, she realized something that brought a chill to her spine: she had no clue where she was. Nothing about this particular part of the forest was familiar to her at all; the trees and plants seemed all out of place, menacing even, and something else just felt... off. She began to break out in a cold, nervous sweat. Where was she? How was she supposed to get back? This place had to be close to the entrance of the forest, right? That was where she had been heading before she had deviated from the path; she couldn’t have drifted off too far.
She looked off at all of the branching pathways leading into the forest. She knew she couldn’t just walk off along any random path, that would likely get her even more lost than she already was. Sitting down for a moment, she tried to brainstorm a way out of her predicament. Her hoof lifted in excitement as an brilliant idea shot into her head; she could just mark all of the trees! That way if she found herself lost or going in circles, she could look at the marks to see which direction she was going and where she had already been!
With a small, confident smile, Apple Bloom began to make her way through the forest once again. Every five feet or so, she would mark a tree with her hoof, scratching a small indent into the bark to show that she’d already been past that area. Soon enough, however, she began to grow concerned. After what felt like hours, she was still lost in the woods. Her surroundings seemed familiar as well. Something was off about the path that she was walking, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it.
Apple Bloom squinted, focusing her eyes to the dark forest. She looked for broken sticks, disturbed leaf piles, anything that would give her any kind of indication as to where she’s been. While it seemed like a good idea at the time, the filly soon realized that her mind was starting to play tricks on her. She couldn’t tell if the grass and twigs had been disturbed by her, or if they’d always been that way. Even the path she’d just walked looked like it could have always been that way, aside from so crunched. Panic surged through her mind as she spun around in wide circles. All around her were scratches in the trees, etched on every side in every direction.
This sudden realization sent a wave of panic through Apple Bloom’s body. W-what? I’ve been walking in a circle this whole time? But I know I didn’t make that many marks on my way here. Did I? I can’t remember anymore… Apple Bloom trembled in fear as she began to stumble blindly through the thick brush and foliage. Surely there had to be some way out?
Her mind began racing with all of the possibilities of what would happen to her if she couldn’t get out of the forest. What if I get eaten? What if nopony finds the body? I don’t want to die out here… A small whimper escaped her mouth as vivid images of timberwolves sinking their teeth into her young body filled her mind. There were many dangerous creatures in the forest after all, especially now that the sun had gone down. There were timberwolves, manticores, giant snakes, and vampire bats. So many things that could take out a young filly like her...
Amongst the commotion in her mind, Apple Bloom’s mane stood on end as her ears swiveled towards the trees. Something was wrong here… The animals. Where are all the animal sounds? This is a forest; there should be animals moving around everywhere. She snapped out of her thoughts by a sudden sound. The sound of footsteps that were not her own.
“H-huh?” Apple Bloom clung to a tiny beacon of hope in the back of her mind. “Zecora? Is that you? Twilight? Applejack? Did y’all c-come to find me?” No answer. The footsteps drew closer to her, becoming heavier and more forceful. The pattern. The pattern’s off. That is not a pony.
Apple Bloom caught herself from letting out a scream by placing both hooves over her mouth. Her eyes darted in every direction, desperately searching for the source of the steps that drew closer and closer. All around her, the darkness of the forest concealed any potential danger. She had to act; it was not safe to stay there. She had to get away. It didn’t matter where she went at this point as long as she put distance between herself and the strange footsteps.
She took off into the forest, running as fast as her little hooves could take her. Apple Bloom couldn’t tell where she was at this point. She was constantly being scratched by low branches but she didn’t care; she wasn’t ready to let whatever was chasing her get any closer. With that goal in mind, she focused on just getting as far away as possible. Nothing else mattered at the moment.
Apple Bloom couldn’t feel her legs. It felt as if she was just flailing her limbs and floating off into the woods. When the moon disappeared from the sky, Apple Bloom began to slow down. She was growing tired and her eyelids were becoming very heavy. Apple Bloom tried to focus on the sounds around her. She found it difficult to hear over her racing heart and heavy breathing. Her ragged breaths burned her throat with each wheeze and her legs shook in fear and exhaustion.
In the absolute darkness, she waited. She waited, and waited and waited. Apple Bloom closed her eyes and felt a little safer in a darkness which she had control over. Eventually, her breathing became steadier with each breath and she felt more relaxed. The filly felt very light, as if she was in a trance. This is partially due to all the running she had just done.
When she opened her eyes, they were already adjusted to the darkness. After collecting herself with a few deep breaths and the reassuring possibility that she had escaped whatever was chasing her, Apple Bloom tried to gauge her surroundings once more. She looked up to see nothing. It was pitch black. Apple Bloom even wondered if Princess Luna had remembered to raise the moon it was so dark.
In the distance, she could see a sliver of light shining through the trees. As eerie as it was, something about it comforted her and called out to her. Slowly, she got up from her resting place and began walking towards the light. She tripped over roots and rocks several times but got back up instantly, knowing that she has to get to the spot.
Upon closer inspection, the light she saw was actually a clearing. There weren’t many of them in the Everfree Forest and it was considered a sign of good luck should a misplaced traveler find one. Apple Bloom walked out into the clearing and stopped, hearing the sounds of crackling sticks and the soft rustling of grass and moss. The moon was high in the sky, just like Apple Bloom knew it would be. It calmed her restless mind and she found great comfort in just basking in the light.
Her ears snapped over to the left. Once again, she heard the vaguely familiar sound of steps coming towards her. Instantly she froze. Her heart began beating faster and again, the fears of what lurked in the shadows of the forest returned.
Using the light from the moon, the filly began scanning the shadows for what might be hiding in them. She felt like she had made a mistake. She realized that standing out in the open was a stupid idea. It could easily see her. Her pupils shrunk into dots as her fears slowly tightened its grip on her.
Run.
Apple Bloom darted back into the dark forest. Her body quickly reminded her that it was not fully rested yet. Her legs once again felt like weights had been strapped to them and they were just being flailed around awkwardly.
Apple Bloom glanced back to see the clearing gradually disappear from sight. Soon, the sliver of light was gone. She turned back to keep her attention on where she was running, wherever she was going. Her body was shouting at her angrily, demanding that she stop and rest. Her mind, however, had other plans. Basic survival instincts were now in control and forced Apple Bloom to run faster and faster.
Tears were streaming down her face. She feared the worst. The fear of being eaten alive, the fear of not seeing her friends again, the fear of being alone echoed in her head. She asked herself why she thought going to Zecora’s hut alone was a good idea. Being brave isn’t all it’s cut out to be when it means dying a sad and foolish death.
The sound of the thing chasing her became louder and louder. It was getting closer. Instantly, her brain told her one word.
Faster.
Obeying the order, Apple Bloom pushed her legs with all her might and screamed as her body screamed back. The pain was immense. It felt as if her legs were set on fire.
Eventually she couldn’t hear the sound of what she was running from. She figured she must have put some considerable distance between them and she felt relieved. This didn’t stop her from running though. For the filly, no distance was far enough.
She continued pushing herself and focused on only moving forward. Concentrating on only running straight ahead left her unprepared for when the ground seemed to have been pulled out from under her hooves. She was falling.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The thoughts of her demise and never seeing her friends and family again surfaced in her mind. Pictures of her mangled body filled her mind, scraps of flesh being the only thing left on her bones after the wolves had finished with her. Eventually, she hit the ground. She was surprised that she hadn’t fallen farther; there was no way of telling in this darkness.
She tried to stand up, but immediately felt a sharp pain in her side and toppled over. Regardless of how far she fell, it felt as if she had smashed into a brick wall.
Apple Bloom just laid on the ground in a heap. She couldn’t feel her legs and her body was beaten up pretty bad. She just hoped she didn’t scream on her way down so not to attract the attention of the thing lurking in the forest.
She continued to just lay on the spot where she fell. Praying through her tears that it wouldn’t find her. To her misfortune, she heard the familiar sound of what’s been stalking her and began to tremble in fear.
Apple Bloom felt a few small rocks hit her side. Whatever was after her, it was at the top of the ridge. Apple Bloom slowly turned her head to face the direction of the ridge and could just barely make out a shape. Fear instantly took ahold of the filly and she desperately began crawling away. With all her strength and her will to survive, she reached out with her front hooves and sunk them into the earth and pulled her body towards them.
A loud thud stopped her dead in her tracks. It had jumped down and was only a few feet away now. She could hear a low growl and the sound of dripping water. Apple Bloom shut her eyes tightly and could feel the hot breath of the creature on her body. When the air wafted into her nose, she realized that something wasn’t right. She had learned from Applejack that the most distinguishable aspect of a timberwolf was it’s rancid breath. Whatever was on top of her, it was not a timberwolf. Apple Bloom slowly opened her eyes, afraid of what she might see. A shiny glint of white towering over her in the moonlight confirmed her eyes.
Timberwolves don’t smile.