Trees, endless waves of dark greens, brown and grey surrounded the area, an old forest that never seemed to end or shift with time or length. The bright sky above, barely a cloud in sight, only grew brighter as the sun rose to its peak. Small critters rushed through the undergrowth swaying the stems and plants, dancing in the sunlight with the animals help. The call of numerous birds and other flying creatures pierced the air. Music one should call it, nature’s endless musical, comprised of hundreds of performers and yet it was never the same song twice. While the sounds of the singers and the graceful movement of the dancers betrayed any sign of life, no creature could be seen, none expect one.
A lonely figure, hidden under a cloak of earth browns cloth and coal black trimming, walked between the trees. The soft dirt barely giving under its hooves, weary from the long trek, muffled their steps as they walked down the hill. The cloak brushing against their body gently from the warm spring breeze, the creature kept their steady pace through the entangling vines and mischievous roots that were slowly become far more numerous than before.
A sudden shutter of leaves above made the figure jump. A midnight blue creature landed on a branch not far from the ground. The lower branches and leaves, stretched out to their fullest to bask in the sunlight, offered the one on the ground only a small view of what ever landed above them.
"Huh, much to light to be a pony, but the color could mean something. What could it mean oh never mind, right let’s see." they said," oh feathers, a pegasus perhaps, no no much to small... definitely not a manticore even though I wouldn’t mind seeing one someday. No let’s see a jump to the left and a half hop to the rear, do a hundred and twenty three wait no four degree spin to the right and oh look a beak. Hey look at that it’s just a bird. Wow I just got that excited over a blue bird." They finished with a monotone voice.
The figure knelt down, all four legs curling underneath their body. A couple of shakes and something hit the ground with a soft pluff sound. Their hood fell down, revealing the head of a pony, a unicorn to be precise with brilliant blue eyes and a mane of white and turquoise. The stallion's fur, a light grey blue mix, glistened with sweat from the sun and the cloth cloak. Leaning back, he opened his saddlebags which were made of leather, old and cracked; a gift from his father.
"Now where is it, I know I packed it in here." He mumbled to himself, "unless, oh no. did I eat it already, No I couldn’t have I just started marching not too long ago. Ugh where is it?"
With frustration he threw the saddlebags away from him, the grass and vines flattened by the weight as it rolled a few feet from him, most of the contents falling out in the process. With a sigh the unicorn stood up, groaning a bit from his sore legs and limped over to his bags. The bag lay with the flap wide open; several of the items still partially in the bag but the rest were littered in a scattered line from where he had been sitting to the touchdown point. Snapped quills, cracked ink bottles, his torn map, and that accursed apple he was looking for was the least of his worries at the moment. A quick search of his bags confirmed his fear.
"My locket, where is my locket?" He whispered while shifting grass blades aside, hoping to spot a glimmer of light off of the dulling silver. "WHERE IS MY LOCKET!", the unicorn started shouting, his eyes growing wider and more desperate, " no no no no no no no no no no, where could it be?"
He searched the trunks and roots of the trees; ancient elms, sprouting pines, sagging birches, and fallen oaks surround the pony all around. The vines didn’t hide his locket either, even though there were far too many to search before dark. Their thorny hide lightly cutting through his fur, drawing small lines of blood. The ferns waved back and forth with the breeze, but they too came up empty. Finally exhausted from his mad search of the locket, the unicorn dropped to his stomach, tears slowly forming in his eyes, his legs spread in all directions. Giving one last look over the area his dropped his head into the grass.
"OW, what the hay." he exclaimed while rubbing his jaw. Looking down, beneath the livid green grass, an ever so small glimmer of light caught his eye. Parting the grass with his hooves, a small bit sized piece of metal laid there half covered in dirt. Grasping the chain with his mouth, he picked up the locket, tears of relief found their way into the corners of his eyes. Taking the oval locket into his hoof he wiped the dirt off of the silver casing, restoring a bit of the shine.
"I’m never letting you out of my sight again", he thought to himself as he slipped it into the bags.
With his treasure secure in his bag, the unicorn set about repacking everything that had be scattered by the throw and his frantic search had knocked other to the side as well. Walking the last few steps of the dirt trail he came to the last landmark before his destination would be in site. The river was wide but shallow, perfect for catching small frogs and crawfish for the birds that lived in vast numbers in the surrounding trees. Careful to avoid slipping into the water, he leapt from stone to stone. Fish swam underneath him, oblivious to his presence, while salamanders darted around the rocks and nooks in the roots of trees. Almost to the other side, just two more rocks lead to his goal and dryness. Crouching down, he pushed with his rear legs with all the strength he could muster.
SPLASH
"BUCK!!!"
Cold water rose up to his waist, the stallion's front legs grasping the rock. The current, weak but steady, pulled him like a filly would pull their parents hoof. A leaf fell from an oak that lived nearby the river, hanging its bows over the water. That leaf, covered with pollen, twisted and turned with the wind until it landed by chance on the stallion’s nose. With a forceful sneeze, he slipped off the rock and sank beneath the water. The cold liquid poured down his throat, his legs flailing madly, trying desperately to breach the surface of the water, but only to slip on the slimy weeds on the riverbed. With one last kick, the unicorn rose out of the water long enough to gasp a fresh breath of air. His bearings better than before, he twisted himself until he faced the shore.
"I am not going to die like this. I am not dying now", he thought.
That feeling of power, sealed deep within his heart, started to flow slowly throughout his body. The warmth spread through his veins, instantly warming the unicorn's body as he focused on the one spell he needed to cast. His horn glowed with an aura of white and green, his mind set on reversing gravity at a fixed point. The feeling, this power, seeped into his horn more as he willed it to do his bidding with increased concentration. With the last bit of breath he had managed to hold, the unicorn released the power.
Weightlessness filled his body now, floating up and out of the water effortless. He blasted through the surface, coughing out the small amount of water that managed to leak into his lungs but he was alive. Taking a deep breath, his heart pounding fast but slowing down, the stallion spied the shore he was originally heading to. Focusing his mind the aura surrounded his body pulled him over the bank, up the slope of grass, and finally to the crest of the hill. Coughing still but not as strong, the stallion opened his eye and looked around. Trees, massive trunks lifting into the sky with a canopy of lush greens on both sides of him and there it was
peeking out from behind the trees, his long sought after goal.
Ponyville.