Channels

by Buttery Biscuit

Pony Vs Wild

Author's Note:

A small black box hovered in the corner, it read ‘48’ for only a few moments. A similar blue box popped up at the bottom. Pone Vs Wild Season 3 Episode 1. Genre: survival, thriller, drama, slice of life. Follow Daring Doo through terrain after train, learning survival tactics from the best of the best.

An image of Daring Do flickered onto the screen soon after. She swung across a swamp filled with alligators, with a thick green vine in her muzzle.

The image changed once more, to one of her dangling off the edge of a cliff, as she was desperately trying to climb up. “Hello I'm Daring Do,” her voice said as her picture almost slipped off the thirty-foot cliff. Fear flashed into her eyes as she used her muzzle to clamp down onto the cliff.

“And welcome to Pone Vs Wild!” her voice narrated as the screen faded into another scene, this time depicting her running down a cave with seemingly no way of escape. To make matters worse, a large boulder chased after her throughout the entire ordeal.

“On this program, I will show you how to survive in any situation, anywhere.” Daring Do spoke, as she rushed out of the cave to reveal a dark chasm that overlooked the Everfree Forest. “This time I’m smack dab in the middle of the Everfree Forest where I am going to show you how to survive!”

The camera then zoomed into Daring. “Now follow me!” Daring exclaimed as she rushed over towards the long black vines that covered almost every inch of the undergrowth of the forest.

She spoke again. “The most important part of surviving anywhere is to be prepared!” The shaky camera finally settled onto Daring reaching into a worn burlap backpack. “Now you won’t always get the chance to enter the forest, but the Everfree is a secluded place. Only Zecora and Deer live inside the forest, and Fluttershy lives a few miles away from the outskirts. No creature comes in here unless they really want to.”

Daring scooted closer to the dark vines. “Even though this place is dark and creepy, it is great for shortcuts! With my survival tips, you’ll be confident enough to go in there by yourself, even at night!”

“Aha!” she yelled as she brought out a purple and green rubber chicken from her survival backpack. “Now this is the easiest part of the Everfree. These black vines were made by Discord when he was evil. The only danger they pose is that they are wicked sharp.”

“Discord made this, and with one honk the vines shrivel out of your way.” the chick mooed like a cow, blowing bubbles at the dark vine. Quickly, the vine shriveled up and fell to the ground at the slightest touch of neon-colored soap bubbles. “It’s free, and you can get one anywhere!”

Daring Do shoved the chicken back into her backpack. “Now you don’t have to go far to run into our next problem, and that would be unknown creatures that no one has ever been successful in finding out what they look like, not even Fluttershy,” she said as she trotted deeper into the thick woods, the bright sun giving in to the darkness. Only small beams of light could be seen sneaking between the branches of the tightly woven trees.

“Rarity, the element of generosity, first stumbled upon them after looking for a cure for a silly string stuck in her mane,” Daring explained as she pointed a tan hoof to a healthy, bushy shrub. Underneath that shrub blinked several pairs of eyes. “They fear loud noises, as I will now demonstrate. BEAT IT SPOOKY EYES!” With that, the eyes whimpered, scurrying away immediately to disappear into the leafy confines of that mysterious shrub.

“These are the issues an average creature will run into when taking a shortcut, but if you get lost and go a little deeper and you might run into this little Parasprite, Poison Joke,” Daring said as she stopped in front of a small field of blue flowers.

“You can see these everywhere in the forest. They are now used for tea and medicine. Fluttershy, Zecora, and Applebloom figured out how to boil them down for use,” Daring said as she trotted around the flowers. “A single touch and the flower works immediately, playing a semi-harmless joke on you. But don’t worry there is a cure; Zecora sells it for only two bits.”

Daring paused as the camera panned up towards the canopy, the thin rays of sunlight barely slipping it through the tiny gaps. In spite of the winding vines and thick vegetation, a faint gust of wind could still be felt, causing a high-pitched whistle noise as it made its difficult journey through the vines.

“The deeper you venture into this beautiful place, the more careful you must be of the ground beneath you. Starlight Glimmer once fell into a hole right around this area. Fortunately, she was able to get out but that may not always be the case. Twilight patched it up of course, but it might not be the only hole around. So stay away from the ground that appears sunken.”

“So stay away from any depressions, especially next to trees. If you are unsure, just tap your hoof on the ground like this,” a tan hoof smooshed, and squished the ground under it. It muddied up but did not give. She weaved through the thick black vines and trees. Using the chicken only when she had to. She squished herself out of the vines and rolled right next to the swamp.

“Of course, there is quicksand to worry about. Grainy soil, rivers, marshes, swamps, lakes, and beaches are all places that could potentially have quicksand. There are a few rivers and a huge swamp in the Everfree, which means that the odds of you encountering quicksand is fairly real. If you do get trapped in quicksand, do not panic. It’s gonna be hard not to, but you must remain calm and collected or you will sink right away. Slowly wiggle your limbs; you want the water down at your hooves. Try to float on your back, like in a swimming pool. The more you disperse your weight the better!” Darling explained as her hoofs carefully felt over the ground, her eyes looking over the spots of dirt.

“Push yourself back, use your forehooves to wiggle the rest of your body free until pulling yourself out is a possibility. ” Daring Do said as she approached the edge of the deep green water that filled the huge swamp.

“But that’s not all that makes this area dangerous; there are other pointers to worry about. Here is the location where Zecora contracted Swamp Fever. If left untreated, this mysterious ailment can turn you into a tree,” Daring explained as she pointed to a flower several inches from her muzzle, whispering to ensure that she would not disturb it in any way.

“This blue flower with yellow spots is the culprit. A sniff of its pollen and you contract swamp fever. Symptoms are sneezing bubbles, red dots on the skin, and wooden branches growing out of you,” she spoke as she darted away from the flower carefully and over to one of the many orange trees.

“A cure can be found with Zecora but you must act quickly, for you may become one of these very trees. Who knows, they could all have once been ponies,” Daring frowned at the tree as she ran her hoof along its bark. “So I recommend you be kind to them just in case.”

Daring Do stepped through the trees making her way through the swamp. She passed a log that was floating smack in the middle of it, making a very convenient pathway that would enable anypony to cut through most of the forest. “It's best to never cut through here. You could wear a mask or wrap your shirt around your muzzle but that won't help much. It’s best to go the long way, even if you did have the perfect mask, this swamp is filled with hungry cragadiles!”

She explained as she trotted through the muddy area, still keeping a watchful gaze over the unforgiving ground. “Cragadiles aren't the only hungry ones, there are a ton of predators around! Here is what we know about them.”

“Cragadiles live in bubbly creeks and are usually asleep. As long as you're quiet they won't bother you. Parasprites are small and harmless, as long as you don’t feed them.”

“Giant Rocs are huge predatory birds that usually hunt small, adolescent dragons, but are known to prey on other small creatures. Timberwolves, creatures made of twigs, logs and leaves, are also predators. They can fall apart but it takes a lot of magic.”

“Ursae, another predatory animal, has fur like the night sky. They take a lot of magic to defeat and the only creature to do it known to creature-kind is Twilight.”

“However, there are predators that you no longer need to worry about. Hydra do not live here; that was a rumor. Manticores, Cockatrices, and Sea Serpents are no longer a worry after the Fluttershy negotiations. They now live in peace with us,” she spoke as she wiggled her way through another set of dense dark trees.

Daring stared forward at the trees with a fiery stair of determination until her eyes narrowed and locked ahead on just one. “AHA!” She pointed her right hoof up towards thick branches of the tree. “Because of ground predators you want to sleep above ground, but not on the canopy where you would attract flying predators. This is the perfect height for camp.”

“But first we should search for food, since we won't be getting down for the rest of the night. Now is the time to gather everything you need. “Many edible plants are lying around such as Crisscross Moss, some berries, and Zap Apples,” Daring said as she headed over to a twisted tree, on which it grew colorful apples. “However, there isn’t too much food around for foraging, so make sure you pack extra food,” Daring stated as she flew up to the tree, picking off the apples and putting them into her bowl-shaped hat.

“As for water, it would be best to set up a tarp to not only provide shelter from the elements, but also catch rainwater especially if you happen to forget your filter. If you do have one, then obtaining drinking water from any river will do,” Daring said as she laid her hat on the ground. She grabbed the bag off her back and dug through it, looking for the tarp to tie onto the Zap apple tree.

‘Crunch,’ Daring stopped and her eyes grew wide, the camera shaking as Daring and the camerapony both turned towards their left. There, sniffing at Daring’s hat, was a timberwolf the size of four ponies put together. It reached into the hat to seize an apple before spitting it out with a clear look of disgust.

Daring leapt for her hat, leaving the apples behind she threw her bag on her back. The camera shook so badly it could only capture pixelated frames of black and green. The roar of the timberwolf could be heard from behind them. “Don’t stop running!” Daring yelled as her breath and another’s soon overwhelmed the audio of crunching leaves.

“AWOOOOO!” the timberwolf yelled. “AWOOOOOOOO,” answered its pack as the sound of crunching fought the sound of panicked breathing.

“It's not too far now, just keep running!” Daring voice yelled, barely being heard over the sounds of hunted ponies. Soon enough both Daring and her camera pony stopped coming to halt on a beautiful green field of lush grass and flowers.

The camera shook, though less so as it turned to face a pack of Timberwolves fighting against a large blue magic shield. “When you run deep enough into the forest you shall find the city of Deer ruled by Bramble. Over time, they became our friends but are still very cautious so it's best to put the camera away.” Daring said as she shook, though by camera or by her, one will never know. “This has been Pone Vs Wild. See you next time when we enter the Chaos Realm.”