> Crown Of Thorns
>  by anonpencil
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Into The Woods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A cool breeze blows by as the sun casts down its brilliant light, while the birds sing and the ponies of the town happily go about their days. Even though the day is so idyllic you can’t help but let out a sigh. Not only is Ponyville lacking in any decent distractions like in the motherland but most days are the same as the last. Then, as you’re wandering down the street, you hear a far off call that is about to answer the wish you didn’t voice.

When you look around, nobody is even looking your way. So, with a shrug, you carry on. A moment later there is a distant shout loud enough for you to discern the direction, there you notice a brown stallion racing towards you. Once the worried looking stallion scampers up to you, he hastily tries to fix his hair and suit that got muddled in the run, only to fail and give up. He looks rather familiar to you. You’re sure you’ve seen him around the town a few times but for now you are unable to place it.	

“Uh, yeah, what’s up?”

“Filthy Rich, but just call me Rich,” he adds when he notices your poor attempt to recall his name.

“Right, Rich. What’s wrong?”

The man is sweating quite a lot to the point where you can see darkened patches of sweat on his clothes that are so high quality and form fitting that they practically scream how he isn’t the type to be running anywhere. The recollection of Filthy Rich begins to come back to you and you remark to yourself that you’re surprised he doesn’t have people to do his running for him. And you thought ‘Filthy Rich’ was more of an adjective than his name.

“My Diamond Tiara is missing.” Filthy Rich stammers out in between huffs and gasps for air.

The image of FIlthy Rich in drag crosses the mind before you begin the fight to suppress it. You nod in response to which Rich clicks his tongue in frustration before taking a deep breath so he can explain why this should matter to you.

“It, uh, seems she and her little friend Silver Spoon have… Had a bit of a disagreement so she ran off into the Everfree. She came to us in tears afterward the whole ordeal, just terrified.”

“Hardly a place for a filly,” you add with a nod as Filthy Rich still struggles to either calm himself or catch his breath.

“Yes, that’s the problem. It seems she ran in there quite some time ago. A few of us did a bit of a search party into the lighter parts of the forest but we didn’t want to get lost ourselves. So I want to hire you to go find her.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Nopony knows that forest better than you, well, maybe that Zecora. But I’m not exactly fond of those...” he glances to you to gauge your reaction before catching his words, “Well, I just don’t know her too well.”

“I see,” you nod slowly.

It is true you know the forest kinda-sorta well, what with your many camping trips. As far as the ponies are aware, you’re the outdoors type but the camping is just an excuse to sate your cravings for meat. 

A human can only go so long without a steak. Well, you have heard of these mythical creatures, told in many legends back home, that were able to stave off the craving for meat. But that’s just ol’ wives’ tales to scare children. “Eat your steak or the vegans will turn you into tofu for their broths.”

“One thousand bits if you find her and bring her back safe,” Filthy Rich states heavily in an attempt to pull you back to reality, as he meets your eyes with a stare so intense with authority it could almost hide his pleading.

Were this some sort of cartoon fantasy world, then dollar signs would have rolled over to replace your eyelids but instead they just bulge with shock. You give the common courtesy of shaking his hoof to seal the deal, your words trip and fumble over your tongue so much that you sound more like some sort of panting dog with a dislocated jaw, before making a mad dash for the Everfree. Knowing how cowardly these ponies are they probably only went a few metres in, but you keep your fingers crossed that this will be an easy search.







“Well, this isn’t going to be easy then,” you grumble to yourself as you push deeper into the forest.

You’ve checked the outskirts of the forest, ventured down the usual paths, and even stopped off at a few landmarks like the castle to see if Diamond Tiara was there. All to no avail. Wherever she is, if she’s even in this forest, she’s in deep.

“Diamond Tiara, you here?” You call, straining your voice for what must be the hundredth time today.

Grumbling and groaning is the most you can do to occupy your time as you wander. The foliage of the trees reaches so high and outwards that it’s hard to see how much time has progressed. While there is daylight and you don’t believe you’ve wasted more than a couple hours at the most, you’re not sure of that. You make a mental note to climb a tall tree later to see where the sun is sometime soon.

As you push through the shrubbery, your footing slips just slightly in a shallow puddle of mud. While you’re able to steady yourself, your sudden falter does cause you to let go of a branch you stretched forward, allowing it to swing back into your face with a blinding speed and almighty force. Your footing, still in the mud puddle, slips once again and puts you flat on your back. There is an instant sharp pain that rings through your skull like a bell’s echo, leaving what feels like a large red welt across your face. With your hands and a few swears, you cradle your face and try to regain composure. You’re tired, sore, and you’ve found no sign of any creature. Let alone a filly.

“I swear if you’re not in the forest, then I will drag you back here to be eaten by a manticore,” you grunt with a drip of malice. 

Honestly you know you’d never do it, you don’t really have the heart to. It just feels kind of cathartic to say it. Pulling yourself upright, you take note of all the dirt, leaves, and insect guts all over you.

“Ugh, wasn’t there a waterfall around here?” You think as you try and tune your ears to the very distant sound of rolling water.

It is now that find yourself regretting not joining the scouts or something when you were back home, to learn some survival training or even a hunting group to learn tracking. Running aimlessly in the Everfree has got to be one of your more crowning moments of stupidity.







Finding the waterfall proves to be more difficult to find than you thought. You can’t seem to hear it anymore and with it, goes your last sense of bearings. The bark of the tallest tree you could find is coarse and brittle, so you hug it tightly as you shimmy up past the first layer of the dense tree foliage. Once you’re up there, you’re able to see the sun and note that there’s still going to be enough light for you to see at least for a couple hours longer. But you’re not high enough to see any landmarks so you’re still lost on your bearings. 

So, with that, you power on but in a much angier mood. Tired, sore, dirty, lost, and angry has accumulated and combined in such a way that you’re now no longer able to walk in the forest unless it’s through childish stomping. Your eyes stay fixed on the ground as you look at anything of note to step on. Then once you step on a thick branch the resulting crack causes a childish sounding squeak from some nearby bush.

“Is some pony there?” Calls a quivering voice.

“Diamond Tiara?”

There’s a pause. And it seems to hang. Silence couldn’t aptly describe the sound level of the forest. It sounded more like the intake of sound. Like there was someone deliberately trying to make no noise. For a moment, you begin wonder if it really was someone else. Perhaps you imagined it as part of a hallucination from pony malaria or something. That’s just what you need now, to go insane in the Everfree while covered in bug guts, and possibly worse. Then there’s a rustle of leaves to your left.

“Who are you?” The distinct voice of a filly finally replies.

“Anonymous. Your dad sent me to come find you. He’s worried sick. A lot of ponies are, even Silver Spoon.”

“What does she care?” Diamond Tiara harrumphs.

You wade carefully through the trees to where her voice is coming from, your eyes lock to the floor to avoid anything that might make noise if stepped on. Then the sudden appearance of your dirty face through the bush causes Diamond Tiara to scream. A scream that she seems adamant on maintaining. Most normal people would try to shush or console a terrified filly who has just seen an alien face pop up in front of it. But you just give her a scornful look until her scream reaches its inevitable death.

“Are you done?”

“Y-You just startled me, okay?”

Taking a careful look at her, she’s just as dirty as you are. Her pink coat has almost entirely been covered in mud and leaves, her mane has twigs poking out of it, and her tiara has fallen to the side of her mane.

“I know. Now that that’s out of your system, let’s go back.”

“No, I’m never going back.”

“Really?” You say with a raised brow, “You’re going to live here, build your own shelter, forage for food all alone, never see another living soul save for the manticores, hydra, timberwolves, or worse: Fey folk.”

“Fey? Like as in fairies? There’s nothing scary about fairies, they’re harmless.” She scoffs in the manner of all children who think they know better.

“Oh, really? You know they like to play tricks like leading people deep into forests to get lost forever. God help you if you pee on a tree they call home. They might even kidnap your baby brother and make you run through a dangerous labyrinth within 13 hours or he’ll be turned into a goblin.”

“I… I don’t have a baby brother,” she says with a cautious laugh.

“Well, you’re safe from those particular ones then. For the rest, nothing makes them happier than making sure you are not.”

You gesture for her to follow as you begin to walk off in a random direction. She hesitates for a moment, stepping on the spot as she tries to decide what she wants to do before scampering off after you.

“How come it’s just you?”

“What? Were you expecting the entire town to come out just for you?”

“My daddy could have gotten them to,” she says in a matter of fact way with her nose in the air, as if you were beneath her despite your towering over her.

“It wouldn’t do any good to have a bunch of ponies who have no idea about the forest wander about,” you remark as you try to find something you recognise, “It would only make my job that much harder.”

You look back to notice the filly is running at full sprint with an occasional skip in her step in order to keep up with you. So you slow down and start taking smaller steps. Diamond Tiara seems to notice, but makes no call to attention over it. There’s a moment of silence as she leaps over a few branches before she abruptly makes conversation.

“How much is he paying you?” She asks accusingly.

“What makes you think he is paying me at all?”

She scoffs, “Everypony wants money when daddy asks them to do something.”

“Well I don’t,” you lie in a vain attempt to have someone look at you heroically.

You peer backwards to see that she isn’t buying it, but she doesn’t push the subject. 

Pushing past a few branches and bushes, you peer back to make sure Diamond Tiara is keeping up. She hops and skips over rocks and roots, following closely into your footprints.

“How much longer?”

“Uh, couple hours?” You reply, doing to best to conceal your own doubt.

“Are you serious?”

“Look, you came in real deep into the forest you know.”

“I did not,” she scoffs, “I only ran for a few minutes.”

While you’re not sure how much longer getting out will take, some kind of gut feeling has you convinced that she wouldn’t just run in a straight line to get as deep as possible. She might wander, but you guess at how worn out she looks that she spent a lot of her time idle.

“Trust me, I know where I’m going,” reaffirming the lie.

“Are you even sure this is in the right direction?”

You turn around in a huff.

“Want to know what’s in the opposite direction?”

“Dodge city,” she answers in her bratty sneer.

“Yeah, and a hydra nest.”

Her face turns pale as she skips a few steps towards you.

“Well, push on. We’ll never get out of here if we just stand still,” the brat barks.

“Hang on, let me just double check my bearings,” you mention before climbing the tallest tree nearby. 

“Don’t lea--Take too long,” calls an uneasy filly.

Once you reach the highest point of the tree your weight can be supported, you look out over the sea of green tree tops. The sun has already been falling over the horizon so it’s quickly getting dark. That makes it barely possible to find the mountain that you hope is Rumbling Rock Ridge. If you’re right, you have some level of bearings back. If not, then… Well, you’re even more lost than before.

“Right, we’re heading the right way,” you announce once you hit the floor as you adjust your heading.

“You sure, ‘cause we were heading in that direction.”

Ignoring the little brat, you push on. Then a few steps later, there comes a loud but low pitched howl off in the distance.

“What is that?” Her voice wavers from the fear.

“Timberwolves,” you reply flatly.

“What?”

“Relax, they’re not going to hurt us as long as we move along.”

“Do you know nothing about timberwolves?” Diamond Tiara screeches.

“A lot more than you.”

“I’ve heard stories about them. They were once ponies, cursed into being wereponies forever bound to the forest. Eventually they lost their mind and stay as a wolf, hunting in packs until they either eat you or you flee the forest.”

“Well, I don’t know about all that. But I do know they don’t eat meat. And while they are rovers, they’re territorial as they like to wander around a set area. Usually they’d prefer not cause a fuss, so they howl. You move along and they’re happy to leave you be.”

“H-How do you know that?”

“I camp a lot.”

“What?”

“Do you see now why your dad sent just me?” You ask as you look back at the filly who nods while seemingly to be in brief awe of your knowledge. Which you can’t help but beam to yourself about.

Still, you ignore her panicked gasps and mumbles and move along away from the direction you’re sure the howl came from. After a few steps you get a little paranoid and tell Diamond Tiara to walk in front of you.

“What? Why? What if I fall into something?” She protests like the little brat she is.

“You won’t if you watch where you’re going.”

“How will I know where to go?”

“I’ll tell you, keep straight.”

“But--”

You give her a scowl as she continues to argue with you. This whole ordeal is reminding you of why you’re not fond of kids. Staring deeply into her eyes, you firmly try to telepathically assert control. But then you notice a glimmer of fear, and the croak in her voice begins to sound all the more pronounced. From the corner of her eyes you can see her struggling to keep tears from welling up, so instead they just turn that bloodshot red as if she had been crying all along. A sigh escapes you as your resolve softens and your tone turns into a more comforting one.

“Look, if we come across some creature or difficult terrain where we might lose one another, I need to be able to see you. I can’t do that if you’re behind me.”

She pauses. It’s clear she understands what you’re saying but something still seems to be causing hesitation. You look deep within you for some kind of words to provide a bit more assurance. All you can say is the basics and hope that will be enough.

“Nothing is going to happen to you. You’re safe.”

“I don’t need your comfort. I just don’t know if you’re sure on where we are going.” she snaps with a brave face on.

“I did find you.”

Diamond Tiara raises a skeptical eye. So you knock a few leaves out of the tree above you, break a branch, and step firmly into a soft bit of dirt.

“See, your tracks. I know what I’m doing,” you lie.

While you do know some tracking and hunting skills, you couldn’t really find too much, and in your exhaustion you gave up on looking properly. However you’re not about to tell her that you’re basically a bit more than a self-taught amateur at this. Diamond Tiara lifts her hoof from some mud to see her hoof print, then looks back up at you.

“I’m… Sorry,” she states with all the intent of someone who thinks of giving an apology as more severe than a swear.

“It’s okay--”

You cut yourself off as you try to listen carefully.

“What?”

“Shh!”

“Is it timberwolves?” meekly whispers the filly.

You close your eyes as you focus on the far off sound of running water, trying to discern its exact direction.

“The waterfall.”

“Oh,” Diamond Tiara replies with a heavy sigh of relief, “Don’t scare me like that.”







The two of you carry on with a quicker pace until you find the waterfall. With a great cry of relief, you take a big sip of water. You severely underestimated this task by not even packing any supplies. You haven’t had a drink or had anything to eat for most of the day. While Ponyville is nice and cool, the Everfree has its own weather conditions. Here in the forest it’s a hot and muggy day so you’re feeling rather dehydrated. Even now that it’s nightfall, the temperature doesn’t seem interested in climbing down. But more than that, you were beginning to worry that you yourself were lost too. That’d be perfect, the blind leading the blind.

“What’s with you?” A stern stare from Diamond Tiara bores through you as you drink deeply.

“I… I’m just relieved we’re near water,” you carefully dodge as you gesture to your casual clothes that are now all sweaty, muddy, and worn from the day, “These aren’t really the outdoor kind of clothes.”

“Oh,” she says flatly as you strip off and dip into the lazy creek.

“You might want to clean off too, over there is a shallow end.”

Placing your shirt and pants into the water, you begin to scrub them clean as the filly wades into the area you told her. The cool water is an immense relief. And as you float in the water, your feet thank you for the break. You lean back and relax to the sound of the waterfall and float for a moment.

“What are we doing next?”

Looking out into the dark, it seems the moon has only just hid behind some thick clouds as visibility rapidly dwindles. Now you can only see as far as the second tree line. Even with your limited skills, you know it’s a bad idea to navigate at this time. Besides, you know this place, so come daybreak you’ll be able to get back to Ponyville before breakfast.

“Probably best to make camp for the night. It’s not safe to wander this late.”

“But, how are we going to make a camp?”

“Hm?”

Diamond Tiara has left the creek and wandered over to you. As your head rests flat on the river bank, Diamond Tiara towers overs you to scowl.

“Relax. I have this place as a sort of supply station. Over behind those vines, I keep a few things spare. Just in case.”

She accepts your response and leaves you to happily float about. You stare into the sky for a while before looking over to see her step into the cave. In a hasty panic, you leap upright and wade over the edge. Unaware that you’ve knocked your clothes back into the water, you scurry over to the cave. But it’s too late.

“What is all this?”

She points to the bags of dried meat hanging high up in the cave curiously.

“It’s, uh--”

She sniffs the air and your head drops, your eyes fixed to the floor.

“Meat?”

You nod. Then there’s a pause.

“Oh, okay,” she nonchalantly comments.

“What?”

“What do you mean what?” Her tone defensive.

“I thought… You’d freak out... Or something.”

“Why?”

“You’re all herbivores.”

She ponders your question for a moment, then nods.

“Don’t griffons eat meat though? I mean, I guess I can understand your uneasiness. But some animals are carnivores while some herbivores. It wouldn’t be right to tell others to eat something, especially if their digestive system isn’t equipped to handle it.”

“Well… I’m an omnivore.”

“Ah… So, it’s optional for you. That would definitely make some ponies uncomfortable I suppose. Wait, so you just keep it a secret?”

“Yeah.”

She laughs, “But there are a few griffons in town. Fluttershy even has all those carnivorous pets.”

You feel a sense of stupidity weigh you down as the filly’s laughs echo into the spacious cave.

“Wow. You know what, I like you Anon,” Diamond Tiara wipes away a tear from the laughter as you blush.

“Well, I best get started on a campfire,” you remark as you awkwardly swing your hands about as you leave.

You notice once you step out of the cave that your clothes are missing. And as if to rub salt in the wound, a chilly breeze blows over your damp body. Huddling up slightly for warmth, you run a little ways down the creek, unable to find your clothes. Despite the lazy stream, it seems they’ve flowed down quite a ways. That or got picked up but who knows what. Before the cold starts settling in, you grab a few logs as well as forage a little for Diamond Tiara then return to basecamp.

“What took you so long?”

“Ah, my clothes got lost downstream it seems,” you reply, giving a silent thanks for keeping your underwear on but a pang of awkward guilt follows as you realise you’re hanging around in your underwear with a filly.

“Hopefully none of this is scarring in any way,” you think to yourself.

“Well, I grabbed a few bits of kindling if that helps,” Diamond Tiara points to the little pile of dry leaves and twigs.

“Oh, hey. How’d you know?”

“We did a school camp once,” she shrugs, “Figured I should be helpful.”

“Well, it’s not much but I got some fruit with me. There’s also some dried fruit in the cave--”

“I know, I found that already.”

You eye the greedy filly with a bit of irritation eliciting a muffled groan. She didn’t ask, and it could have been anything for all she knew. 

“What? How was I meant to know you’d have to foresight to forage for me?”

You shake your head and head into the cave where you place down the logs in the little chimney like hole you once carved out long ago.

“Isn’t lighting that there going to fill the cave with smoke?”

“No, I made a hole a long time ago. I needed to, otherwise I can’t cook if it were to rain or something.”

“And why did you go gather wood when you had some here?” Shouts Diamond Tiara relentlessly as she points to a large stack of wood in the cave.

“That stuff burns longer than this. I use that to keep the fire going, and this stuff is just to get it started. I take it you’ve only been on the one camp then if you don’t know how to properly do a campfire.”

“Twice,” she snobbishly replies with an air of haughty triumph.

Grabbing a bit of flint you left here long ago, you set to work lighting the kindling. Diamond Tiara just sits on the other side of the cave quietly for a moment. It doesn’t take long, you’ve done it a million times before. And the fire slowly burns the wood as you take a seat nearby.

“Don’t sit so close.”

Her tone is almost one of disgust.

“You know,” you wearily note, “I thought we were getting along a little there.”

“Getting along? You? And me?” Diamond Tiara lets out the scoff that only the upper class can give to the peasantry.

“Whatever,” you dismissively reply, “You want to be that way, fine. I’m not getting paid to help you with your personal issues.”

Silence fills the cave, for the briefest time it almost becomes deafening.

“I thought you said you weren’t taking any money from my father?” She barks.

“I lied,” you reply but the echo of the cave carries it until the reverb transforms it into a bellow.

Your raised voice takes her aback, then she stamps off to the only hay bed where she drops in with her back to you. Once again the cave falls silent. Only the crackling of the fire can be heard. You take a few breaths to calm yourself before climbing up to the meat bag. You grab a chunk and return the rest then descend. 







Once you skewer the meat and wait for it to cook, you retreat into your own mind. Only it isn’t the best idea as you were already there waiting for yourself. Without any hesitation you abush yourself and begin berating for being so harsh to a filly. 
“So what if she is a brat?” 
“She’s always been spoiled rotten yet she had been trying to be nice.” 
“And you should know better.“

Your head falls into your hands as you regret telling her you lied. While you didn’t take notice when you first said it, the image of her hurt face is as vivid as a painting. It’s the kind of look nobody of moral fibre wants to see. The kind of look where the trust someone else had in your disappears.

“Diamond Tiara, are you awake?”

It hasn’t been long so you doubt she is. But you figured it fair to give her the chance to ignore you. There’s no reply, instead you hear the rustling of the straw. Looking back you see her big blue eyes staring back at you, glistening in the dark.

“I’m sorry for that. I’m tired, hungry, but that’s no excuse.”

The silence hangs. It carries and carries on to the point where it drives you to hope for a sound of some kind. Even a distant timberwolf or cricket chirp would do.

“Why did you lie before?”

“I don’t… Really know. Why does any adult lie to a kid? I wanted to seem impressive, cool I guess.”

“You wanted to impress me?” Her voice echoes cooly, her tone flat as it refuses to give away any clue to her thoughts.

“I just wanted you know I am sorry. That’s all.”

You return to the fire, stoking it a little and checking the meat. It’s pretty much cooked, so like the heathen you are, you grip it and eat it out of your hands.







Some time later, Diamond Tiara shuffles in the bed of hay but you don’t turn around. Then she appears beside you, taking a seat on the same log as you.

“Can’t sleep?”

She nods.

“It’s a bit like that, isn’t it.”

“I imagine it’s hard to sleep sitting up,” she croaks.

You gaze down at her, the warm orange glow of the fire lights her features as she stares back at it. The crackling echoes warmly as a chilled breeze barely blows in from outside.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why were you and Silver Spoon arguing.”

“Girl stuff,” she replies without any delay.

You nod and take the hint.

“Were you lost before?”

“Yes and no,” you lie without missing a beat.

“How yes and no?”

“I haven’t been that deep in the forest too often, but I had a good idea.”

Your words feel hollow. But again you find yourself wanting this filly to think positively of you, to not know how useless you are. And it wouldn’t be a good idea to let her know how close you two might have come to being lost for good. Besides, you know the way back now, what good would it do to tell her the truth? Those words all play over and over in your head, but it doesn’t work to subside the guilt.

“However it was more no than yes,” you glumly admit.

“I must have been in real deep,” Diamond Tiara mumbles to the air, “Well… Thank you… For coming to find me. Even if you’re getting paid for it.”

Her last remark has no ill will to it, if anything it was kind of jovial. Yet, it gnaws. And so, deeper you sink and spiral into a gloomy mood like someone pulled the plug.

“Hey, I’d come to the rescue even if I wasn’t offered money. I’m not that bad a guy,” you titter as you give her a nudge.

“I know,” she replies coolly then to your surprise, her head falls into your lap.

Her eyes close for a moment as she faces the fire. She takes a breath then she stares up at you from the corners of her eyes.

“You know…” she says slowly. “My father’s going to worry that you aren’t back within a day, especially since he offered you money to do it. They might send out more ponies to look for us. Maybe they’ll bring you some new clothes.”

You laugh wryly.

“I doubt that,” you say. “If anything, they’d just bring pony clothes, and I can’t very well fit those.”

You feel her shoulders rise and fall as she gives a short sight, then she nuzzles her cheek a little against your leg.

“Well, is being without clothes really that bad?"

“Yes, it’s cold.”

“But we rarely wear clothes, and we do just fine. So there’s got to be an advantage to it, don’t you think?”

She again rubs her soft, furry cheek against your leg. You can’t help but feeling awkward about this. Sure, the kid is probably just scared and lonely, and being close to you makes her feel safe. She probably doesn’t even notice that you’re not wearing many clothes, but you certainly do notice, and it feels inappropriate somehow.

You’d brush her off your leg, but that seems rude as well. For once she’s actually being nice to you, and you’d rather not mess that up.

“I don’t have fur,” you tell her bluntly. “No fur, no warmth. The fire is helpful, especially in a cave, but it’s still not comfortable for someone like me to be this… clotheless.”

You can’t bring yourself to say the word ‘naked’ to this child. She gives another sigh in response and this time you can hear her do it rather than just feeling it.

“I’ll make sure my father buys you some new clothes then, as an additional thank you.”

“Well, thanks,” you say, a bit at a loss over this new show of kindness. “Like I said, I would have come out here without the money too.”

Her body rumbles with a short echo of laughter.

“My hero,” she murmurs.

Something about her tone feels off to you, but you can’t put your finger on it. She sounds distant, or maybe hollow. You can’t tell if she’s serious or being sarcastic. Before you can ask her if anything besides being lost in the woods is wrong, she continues.

“You know,” she tells you again, her voice suddenly softer and more serious. “That’s probably not a good decision. These woods can get dangerous, you could get hurt. There are wild animals, cliffs, lots of bad stuff. Pretty risky to come out here.”

“You were lost. I had to do what I thought was right.”

“I see,” she says, again with that funny something in her voice. “So you still think you made the right decision?”

“I found you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, I suppose you did.”

You feel a small shudder run through her body where she leans across your lap. Then, she clears her throat and goes on, more normally.

“Do you have anything else to eat?” she says in a bit of a whine.

You scowl down at her. 

“You just ate like half my fruit food stores.”

“I’m a growing filly!” she continues to whine, now lifting her head from your lap and pouting out her lip at you.

“Fine,” you growl, then reach into your meat bag and pull out a handful. “Have some flesh.”

“Ewwwww!” she cries and catapults up off your lap. “That’s so gross!”

Exactly the reaction you were looking for. You straighten your now sleepy leg a few times until the blood flow comes back to it, and smile as you put the meat back in the bag. You have to admit, she looks pretty adorable with her nose wrinkled like that and her tiara all crooked. As the thought occurs to you, you point at your own head where a tiara would be if you were fab enough to wear one.

“Why do you wear that anyway?” You ask.

The filly rolls her eyes.

“My name’s Diamond Tiara, duh.”

“So now you have to wear one for the rest of your life or something?”

“No, but daddy got it for me, and I wear it all the time because it makes me feel special.”

“So what,” you say, cracking a smile. “You some kind of queen?”

Unexpectedly, she fixes you with an intense look. It’s like she’s peering through your eyes to the inside of you, looking for something. You’re already pretty naked, but you can’t help feeling more exposed. You’re not sure why she’d look at you that way, but in a moment it passes. She smiles again, proudly, smugly as ever.

“Not really usually but… you could say that for now,” she says with a haughty little laugh. “I’m queen of you, aren’t I?”

You glare.

“I saved your life. Remember? Hero and all that. You don’t own me.”

“But you have to be nice to me or my father will be cross with you.”

“Let him. As long as he pays me.”

She rolls her eyes and gives an exasperated groan.

“You’re no fun,” she grumbles, turning away from you and the fire, “Is it so hard to just let me be queen out here? What’s the harm.”

“Hey, I have dignity, little missy,” you snap at her.

She glances over her shoulder at you and raises a brow with a smirk.

“Says the human who lost his clothes and can’t even deal with a little cuddly.”

Despite yourself, you feel your cheeks grow hot and your temper bubble. You know she’s trying to get a rise out of you, and it’s working too well. It’s obviously something she’s practiced before. She was being so nice before, but now she’s like a little tyrant again, all about manipulating you until she can be amused. 

You’re about to give in and shout something at her, when you hear a low, wavering howl somewhere outside the cave. You told the filly that timberwolves were nothing to worry about, and that she shouldn’t be scared, but this sounds close. Way too close for comfort. Even if they’re usually docile, you’re on their turf right now. Sure, you peed on all those trees around camp to mark the place as yours, but you doubt that’ll do much more than insult them.

You rise abruptly to your feet, staring out of the cave into the darkness. Your body is still, and your ears strain. Another howl, this one definitely closer than the last. 

Beside you, you feel a small body lean against your leg. You look down to find Diamond Tiara leaning against you, staring out into the night as well. Her eyes are wide, her ears forward. She seems even more focused than you, but at least she’s not shaking from fear.

“We’re safe here,” you feel compelled to tell you.

She jolts, like you’ve shaken her out of a deep dream. She looks up at you, and rather than looking panic, you see her face is pale and calm. Like a pond where no leaf has rippled the surface yet. 

“Are you sure?” she says softly.

You nod.

Another howl sounds. Closer again.

You are not sure.

“Maybe we should go,” you say quietly. “You know, so we don’t bother them on their territory.”

She seems hesitant, probably just nervous. 

“Maybe we should stay put,” she says, her voice nearly a whisper. “You know, see if they move away, hide.”

“Maybe,” you admit. “But I think it would be best to just avoid them. At least for a few hours.”

“But--”

Her words turn into an eep of nerves, as there’s another howl and this time, underneath it, the snapping of twigs in the woods outside.

This is enough for you. You reach down and scoop the filly up to your hip, your hand under her belly like she’s a sack of potatoes. She squawks sharply in protest.

“Hey!”

“Keep your voice down,” you hiss. “They’re way too close, we should get to someplace safe.”

“I thought you said we WERE safe!”

“Safer, then,” you say hastily. It’s getting harder and harder to hide the fact that you aren’t sure if things are alright after all.

You quickly move to the mouth of the cave, hoisting the little filly along with you. There, you hear a crashing in the bushes just outside a ways, and you know that, even a moment more, and it would have been too late. You slip around the edge of the rock and do your best to scoot out of the light of the fire, still dancing across the ground outside, and duck under tree branches into the forest.

Just as you think you’ve gone undetected, a simple, traitorous twig snaps under your painfully bare feet. You freeze, and you hear a snuffle in the darkness, then a snarl. A howl sounds, one of warning.

They know you’re there.

Before you can think too much about your bare feet and the weight of the pony you’re holding, you begin to run. Without any attempt at stealth, you tear through the low brush, the branches and thorns of the forest ripping at your skin as you pass. The moonlight darts through the trees in patches, giving you glimpses of stones to avoid, roots that reach for your feet. Other than that, it’s darkness. Diamond Tiara yelps as the foliage strikes her too, but you can’t worry about that now. By the sounds behind you, you’re definitely being pursued. 

There’s growling, snarling, and the occasional howl. A second howl. Three. There’s a pack of them giving chase now, driving you on through the Everfree.

You don’t even know where you’re going, how you’re going to get away, what you’re going to do. You don’t know what timberwolves do when they get territorial… or even really really hungry. If they don’t get enough to eat, maybe they would like human meat. Or pony. Best not to find out.

Your heart thuds, your legs burn. You can hear your breath coming and going through the pounding in your ears. All you know is that you have to get away, have to save this pony. Maybe if you try to get towards town, the lights will scare the wolves off. Maybe you can find some cliff to climb, or a shelter to get into. You’ve heard there’s a Zebra out here, or maybe some secret tribe of-

You feel something catch your leg.

Before you can steady yourself, you’re falling. You’re not sure at first what’s tripped you, but you can feel your right leg reach forward to take the next step in your run, and meet nothing but air and dust. The ground is coming towards your head so quickly, and you turn your face quickly to keep from crushing your nose into your skull. Diamond Tiara wails, and it’s only then that your brain figures out what got you. One of Diamond Tiara’s legs has caught against your own and tangled you up. She tripped you. The little creature actually tripped you.

Besides the pain of your crash landing, a sense of betrayal fills you. Your arm releases the filly, and she sprawls out across the ground with an indignant cry. Your anger flares for only a moment as you tell yourself it was only an accident. No time to be mad now, you have to pick her back up and… and...

But it’s far too late for that.

Through the bushes that surround the clearing where you fell, you see glowing eyes begin to approach. You can smell the scent of rotting and mossy wood. You can hear the scrape of thorny claws against the earth. There’s no point in trying to run now, you’re pretty well surrounded. You look to Diamond Tiara, where she’s fallen a little bit away, and try to reach out for her. She’s just out of your grasp.

Before you can do more than reach, a massive timberwolf leaps out into the moonlight, growling a low sound like creaking branches. It fixes its yellow eyes on her, and they narrow with an oddly hungry gleam. Diamond Tiara gasps and shuffles away a little.

“No… NO!” she screams out, unable to get away.

You rise to your knees, but your head is still fuzzy from the fall. If only she hadn’t tripped you, if only you hadn’t gotten stuck in that cave. You’re yelling no too now, as the wolf approaches her. You have to save her, have to stop this! But there isn’t time.

The wolf leans down towards her, salivating, its jaws open.

“No don’t!” she screams, reaching up a hoof in defense as the mouth opens to snap shut on her.

You lunge, still to far away, and shut your eyes to blot out the sight of what must be a horribly grisly death. Your stomach tightens, and you feel like you might vomit. This is your fault, some hero you are. She’s going to die because of you, you naked idiot.

Then, all at once, you hear a haughty, pouting, exasperated groan.

“You ruin everything!” you hear Diamond Tiara’s voice. “I was having fun, why did you have to spoil it?”

That certainly doesn’t sound like gory grisly crunch death to you!

You open your eyes. Before you, the timberwolf is tenderly nuzzling at the side of Diamond Tiara’s face. Rather than looking terrified, she looks downright annoyed. She shoves the face of the wolf away with one paw, then sighs and gently pats it as it nuzzles at her again. 

You have just so so many questions. Instead, you make a series of angry, confused, and questioning mouth noises. The filly glances up at you, as if she’d forgotten you were there, then rolls her eyes.

“You were so much fun,” she says wistfully. “You were more lively, more fun to talk with than the others. You had real food, and it was funny to make you blush when you were mad. I wanted to keep playing a while longer. If only you hadn’t fallen.”

“You tripped me!” you practically scream at her. Then, straightening your priorities a bit, “And what do you mean ‘play’?”

She smiles, and again there’s that sort of strange something in her face. This time, you’re certain she’s mocking you. 

“Oh my dear Anon,” she says, almost sing-song. “Do you really think I’d get lost in the woods so easily? Do you really think I’d be that pathetic and weepy and feeble?”

You resist the urge to remind her that she’s a child and that, yes, they are generally like that. She goes on before you can reply.

“No, no, I love these woods,” she says. “I come to them often, sometimes with Silver Spoon, sometimes not. But whenever I come here, I see my other friends.”

Here, she gives the wolf another soothing pat on the muzzle. More of the pack are slowly emerging to surround her, all whining and pushing forward like they crave her attention. You gape at her, still trying to understand what exactly is happening here. 

“What?!”

“The wolves,” she says. “They’re like a second family to me. They’re so gentle with me, and they’re of the most lovely cuts of wood, don’t you think? My real family has always had an agreement with them, that they are to feed the pack one of their children as a trade for them staying off of company lands but… when I was left in the woods they were kind to me. They befriended me. Boy, you should have seen how surprised daddy was when I came back alive.” 

She gives a soft, ringing laugh.

“So, you’re not in any danger?”

She shakes her head.

“Nope! Not in the least.”

That. Little. Bitch.

You snarl at her, and stand up, ready to lunge at her and wring her little filly throat. Then you remember she’s surrounded by timberwolves, and you think better of it.

“Fine,” you grunt. “So you came out here to play with them and mess with your dad, and I came out here and you played with me too. Swell. Can we go home now so I can drink myself into a coma and forget I’ve ever heard of you?”

Without waiting for an answer, you turn and move to walk back towards the cave, but a timberwolf swoops in front of you, blocking your path. It growls at you, and you back away slowly. Behind you, you can hear the rest of the pack moving as well… circling.

“Perhaps I wasn’t clear, I’m sorry,” says Diamond Tiara, not sounding sorry at all. “I’m not in any danger, but you? Well…”

A wolf snaps at you, and you jerk yourself away. The circle around you is drawing ever tighter.

“The wolves still need a trade to guarantee that they stay off of our land. They eat a pony or two, and then they’re docile all year, and they stay in the woods. It’s all a matter of business, don’t you see? So every year I get lost for a bit, and daddy will send someone to find me, and then the Timberwolves…”

You don’t hear any more of her sentence. You’ve put it all together for yourself. She’s lured you out here, played the damsel in distress, when really she was using you as a bargaining chip. You were a dog toy for the wolves. Her wolves.

“Have at, boys!” she calls. “I even managed to peel this one for you.”

Quickly, you try to think of a way out of this, but none comes to mind. The wolves are so close now, you can hear their breathing, the creaking of their limbs, the grinding of their teeth.

“W-wait!” you stammer out. “I want to play some more. We can talk, I can get you more fruit to eat.”

She smiles a grim, gleaming smile.

“That’s okay, you made me so curious about meat,” she says lightly. “I might try some if there are any scraps left after they’ve finished with you. They usually try to leave me a little offering, the sweet things.” 

“But….b-but…”

“By the way,” she says cooly, as you run out of any room to move. “You were right. I suppose I am a queen of sorts, at least for them. This was what I was always meant to do, I think. So don’t worry, and don’t blame yourself for getting pulled in, okay?”

She laughs, like marbles being dropped into a tin cup. The wolves lunge forward, and you feel a crunch and crackle that you realize are your own bones. The timberwolves tear into you, like trees reaching down branches right into your body. You howl, and the noise blends with the howls of the wolves. Above it, as the world grows red and dark, you hear Diamond Tiara say one final thing.

“You wood have never stood a chance.”


-END-