1 Ignorance
Ever since you came to Equestria, life has been very fulfilling. The wildlife are beautiful, the grass is a perfect shade of green, the civilians are kind and generous, you're a jack of all trades, and you even made many new friends. See, you have been given the task of documenting every animal in the Ever-free forest by none other than Twilight Sparkle, the royal princesses' student. Now, you've been in Equestria long enough to know who the royal princesses are and how to show respect, something you learned from you father. You ask no questions for with a client the details can be a bit drastic, as you've learned from past mistakes you would rather leave buried.
It has been four months since you began tracking every animal in the Ever-free forest, along with the help of Fluttershy of course. Fluttershy is one of Twilight's best friends and a bearer of the elements of harmony as they called it. Fluttershy is a bit timid and a scaredy cat at times, but with her talent of being able to track and communicate with animals, this job has been pretty much a cinch at this point.
"Hey Fluttershy, how many more till we're done?" You ask, already beat from having to get the footprint of that hydra. I mean you didn't even do anything wrong and it just attacked you. Thank god Fluttershy was there to save you, or else your ass would've been grass.
"Oh...u-um... about two more...I think..." She said shyly. Jeez one of these days that cuteness of hers is going to give you a heart attack. You look around the murky swamp. If this place looked worse than it smelled, you would've left a long time ago. Somehow this place almost reminded you of your favorite Halo game. You laugh half-heartedly as the image of a bunch of Flood come popping out of the muddy water.
U-um...Jace...i think it's about time we leave...if that's alright with you..." You nod and begin walking out of Frog Bottom Bog and start heading deeper into the Ever-free forest. Looking around, this place never ceases to amaze you. The plants grow a dim yellowish-orange and the sound of the animals filling your ears with every step. You stand still and take in the beautiful nature that surrounds your very existence. Inhale. Exhale.
"Aww...doesn't nature just put all your worries aside and make you feel at peace Fluttershy?" You ask, still standing behind her.
"Yes, I find it quit relaxing if not encouraging at times." She said, taking notes to what you said.
The two of you keep walking for about five minutes, that is until you notice something glinting off in the distance. As you focus on that spot, the glinting faded and disappeared off into the trees. Just thinking it was another animal, you ignore it and continue walking along the grass path.
"U-um Jace..."
"Yes Fluttershy, what is it?"
"How do you feel about the animals...If you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy almost whispers that last phrase. You've never really considered how you actually felt about the animals, only about nature itself. You take a moment to think it over.
"Well, if you must know, I like them." You say with a straight face.
"O-oh really. Cause you look like the ty-" Fluttershy was cut off by a blood curdling shriek. Not taking a moment to wait, you run off towards the noise and come across a semi-lit opening. It wasn't very wide, only enough to move around a couple feet, but that's when you notice it. The mauled, flesh-ridden corpse of a manticore. Standing there shocked at what you were looking at, you didn't notice a familiar yellow pegasus walk right next to you. With a small squeak, you break out of your trance and finally notice the pegasus, wide-eyed with horror written on her face.
"Fluttershy! Don't look!" You yell, grabbing the frightened pegasus and pulling her out of sight from the corpse. In all your years of business, you've never witnessed a corpse this mutilated. Almost gagging at the sight, you warn Fluttershy to not to go near it. She nods, tears in her eyes. You felt guilt welling up inside you for having the pegasus witness something so horrifying. Walking towards the corpse you begin to examine what exactly happened to the poor soul. You notice long gash marks, along with what appears to be rust. You debunk it to another manticore fighting and killing this one, but what really chills your bones is that the flesh was partially eaten. Small, human-like teeth marks along the edges of the body.
As you start to get up, you notice something of which you hadn't seen earlier, three long,jagged marks across the tree where the body lay. For what you have gathered from your data on the animals of the Ever-free forest, many tend to mark trees with urine, scratch marks, feces, and even body parts. This meant trouble for whoever dared cross its path in its territory.
Turning around and walking toward where you left Fluttershy, your heart starts to race. As if something was watching you from a distance.
"Fluttershy, I think we should leave. Like right now." You say with a hint of paranoia in your voice.
No answer.
"Fluttershy, can't you hear me, I said let's-" You stop. Adrenaline now rushing through your veins as you look where the pegasus once was, only to find a bloody trail leading down the grassy path. Panicking, you start running around the area screaming Fluttershy's name. Thoughts of Fluttershy either hurt, or possibly dead filling your thoughts as you run around. Knowing it's not working you give up and start trying to calm yourself down.
"Okay, think Jace, Think!" You say, trying to come up with a plan to find Fluttershy.
"Okay, first things first, don't panic! Two, think rationally about what could have happened, and three, find any leads to where she could be." Looking around you notice the bloody trail again, this time heading in the opposite direction. Without missing a beat you start to follow it without a moment of hesitation. If only you knew what you would have known then, this whole situation could've been avoided. If only...