Beyond the Forest

by Landon531

No eat animals

Beyond the Forest
mostly written by theRedBrony

Cat and I are really worried. We haven’t seen hide nor hair (or feather) of Fluttershy for well over a week. She promised she’d be back soon, but she’s even stopped bringing apples each morning. On the tenth day, I decide to go looking for her.

I can’t help but think about what I found in the forest the other day. It was dead when I found it, practically broken in half over a fallen tree. It looked like some sort of bug, but it was huge. Horrible fangs protruded from its maw, and maggots had eaten holes in its legs. It’s big enough to have... I don’t want to think about that. There’s nothing like it in Cat’s book of mythology, which we’ve used to identify nearly all of the monsters I’ve seen here.

After our meetings with our buttery friend, it had become apparent that Toto, we aren’t on Earth anymore. We had toyed with the idea of some uncharted island or, in Cat’s case, Atlantis, which could explain these mythical creatures I’ve been killing. We had our doubts due to the lack of seagulls and smell of seawater, and we hadn’t seen any water at all in our parachuted descent. Fluttershy had confirmed this by saying this is a continent and the only ocean was far to the south. Despite our fears, it still hit us pretty hard when we realized there is no way home.

---

After a week of constant supervision, I’m convinced I can leave Cat alone for more than an hour while I go hunting. I’ve never been hunting before, but the survival manual gave some very helpful tips. I laugh at the irony of how prepared Troy always was for a situation like this, yet I’m the one who survived. No, I tell myself, you didn’t survive, Troy saved your lives. You owe it to him to keep both of you alive.

After half an hour of searching, I stumble across a dead chicken. At least, its head looks like a chicken. The rest is some sort of snake-bat abomination. It died with its eyes open, but for some reason I can’t look at them directly. I force myself to stare at the monster’s beady little eyes, and I feel... strange. My feet are numb, and I can’t move my toes. I look away and the feeling stops. What is this thing? I make an effort not to look at its face as I gut the creature. Troy said more than once that snake tastes like chicken, and it makes sense; chickens evolved from dinosaurs. Combine that with the fact this thing is at least half bird, and we got us some Kentucky Fried Cockatrice.

---

After converting my game bag to a backpack, Cat starts filling it with things I’ll need for my hike. We make sure to leave her enough for when I’m gone, since I can always hunt something on the way. I have absolutely no idea how far away Fluttershy lives, but it has to be close enough for her to fly here each morning. I don’t feel right about leaving Cat alone, but she argues that I leave her alone every time I go hunting. She’s right, but it doesn’t help to quell my anxiety.

I go back into the shelter to grab a few more clothes when I hear Cat gasp. “Oh my gosh! Fluttershy, you came back!” I run outside and see the familiar yellow pegasus land gracefully next to the fire pit, only to be tackled by the little girl.

“Well, speak of the devil! I was just about to come looking for you. Where have you been?” Cat lets go and Fluttershy blushes.

“I-I’m sorry for being not here long time. But have surprise for both you!” Cat and I stare expectantly, both thinking ‘apples’. “I’m take you to my home, and both meet mine friends. I can be translate.” Cat’s face lights up and runs off to pack a bag of her own.

“Is it very far from here?” She thinks for a moment before flying about four meters up.

“Uhh... You see mountain?” She points a hoof to the nearest ridge, and I nod. “Town just to left of that. Can’t see because forest.” I kick some dirt into the fire pit as Cat exits the hut, her own backpack on her shoulders. We look to our guide. “Oh, um... Follow.”

After several hours of walking, there’s still no end in sight. Cat pushed on for a while, but eventually Fluttershy let her ride on her back. She’s asleep, and Fluttershy is trying her hardest not to wake her. I’m carrying both of our bags, but Cat packed light so it’s no trouble. We can’t really chat, so I take a chance to examine the surroundings.

The air is a lot cooler here and less stuffy, and the canopy is thinner. The monstrous creatures we normally encountered are nowhere to be seen, replaced by swarms of adorable, fluffy creatures. They shy away from me, but they run right up to Fluttershy and walk with her. At one point she even had a white rabbit riding on her head.

After another half hour of walking, sunshine hits our faces as the forest finally thins out into a grassy plain. We pass a tree full of birdhouses and what looks like a chicken coop, and I inhale, fresh air with the scent of flowers and grass filling my lungs. Fluttershy turns to us bashfully.

“No, um... No eat animals... Okay?” I chuckle a bit and agree not to eat her pets, and she continues towards what I had assumed was a huge bush, but I now see is a cottage with a leafy roof. I have to duck to enter the pony-sized doorway, and I gasp when I see the inside.

It’s covered with little animal houses and what looks like handmade Ikea furniture. There is a rug on the floor and several picture frames hanging on the wall. If it weren’t for a few small details, I’d say we were in some girl’s flat back home. The wood is a strange colour, and everything is very bright. There is a painting on the wall above a couch with three butterflies and a rainbow. The butterflies match the ones on either side of our host’s flank, I think it’s some sort of tattoo. I meant to ask her about it but never got around to it.

Fluttershy gently sets Cat down on the sofa, careful not to wake the sleeping girl. She goes into a back room and returns with a blanket. “Bathroom is back,” she whispers, “two door on right. Please, um... use bath.” My eyes light up and I drop my bags.

“You... you have a bathroom?!” She nods as I struggle not to yell. I run down the hall and open the designated door, hitting my head on the threshold in the process. After so many cold, soapless baths in the river near our hut, I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to see a sink and tub.

One long, hot, overdue scrubbing later, I return to the hallway and hear Fluttershy speaking her pony gibberish. Someone else replies, but I don’t recognize the voice. Must be one of her friends. I step into the living room and see my yellow friend and another pegasus, this one light blue with a multicoloured mane. I start to say hello, but the stranger becomes a blur and my jaw explodes in pain.

---

Written by theRedBrony
Re-written by Landon531
Preread by Platinum2094

Bless your face, if you sneezed while reading this bless you.
Peace off!

Comments

[theRedBrony]

w00t. I still don't get the sneezing thing.

[the Joyless1]

rainbow dash what are you doing

[Platinum2094]

992508
YouTube + Tobuscus = Enlightenment

[Landon531]

1006565 Keep reading, it sorts itself out.

[reader of the night]

Finally, i am very happy to see that this fic continues.

[OutrageousOstrich]

Eh... It's okay, but you could definitely draw this out much longer than what you're currently doing.
Use more description, maybe some other points of view, that sort of thing?
It's just far too short and the key points just pass by too quickly for my tastes.

[Lightbuster30]

Another "tackled by Rainbow" meeting, those must be rare.