Twilight had just gone into the Everfree Forest to visit Zecora. She hadn't meant to see a rare type of fern off the path and hurry up to it to revel in her luck of finding it. She had though, and now she couldn't find the path again. At first it hadn't been too big of a deal. She had thought she could just trot back the way she came and find the path again, but the Everfree Forest wasn't going to allow her to escape so easily. Now, she was lost.
Twilight was beginning to panic, a bad thing since when she panicked she tended to go a bit insane. Her violet eyes flashed around and her horn glowed with an illumination spell to make sure she didn't lose herself even more. Wait, had she passed that tree before?
"Hello? Anypony?" Twilight called, hoping to alert Zecora if she was lucky or somepony else if she was extremely lucky. What she hoped didn't happen, was that her yelling attracted a timber wolf or some other predator. Twilight gulped, dimming her light a bit and slowing, staring at a large oak she was sure she had passed before. She hurried on, taking a sharp turn to get away from the tree.
Twilight's ears raised when she saw a dim light ahead. Sighing in relief, she hurried forward. Her hopes dropped when she saw a simple blue mushroom glowing on the forest floor. She huffed and went past it. She stopped once more when she saw the oak again.
"Oh come on," Twilight groaned, stomping a hoof and plopping down in front of the oak, turning away from the tree. She began to shiver, wondering if she would be stuck here forever, till she died or till some animal finished her off. "Help!" she yelled, leaping to her hooves. "Please! Anypony!" Twilight stopped, breathing heavily as her heart began to pound and her legs continued to shake.
"Ooh, lost are we?" Twilight leaped about a foot in the air when a voice cooed behind her, in the oak. Twilight whipped around, horn sparking in case it was some sort of enemy. The sparks stilled when she saw a pony laying on one of the oak's branches. One of his purple front hooves was dangling over the edge while the other was tucked in front of his chest. He was covered in stripes a shade lighter than the rest of his purple coat, and a horn striped with this same color stuck out of his forehead. His eyes were wide and yellow, seeming to glow in the natural darkness of the forest. A wide grin stretched across his face, looking almost abnormal with how wide it was. His mane and tail were a darker violet with lighter purple stripes, and his tail swished back and forth as he grinned down at Twilight.
"Y-Yes," Twilight breathed, not sure whether to be relieved or wary. "Are you as well? If not, could you tell me which way it is back to Ponyville?"
"How curious," the strange unicorn muttered, rolling over onto his side and somehow managing to stay balanced on the branch. "You'd trust a stranger to give you directions?" Twilight stiffened. He had a point, there was no telling whether he was lying if he did tell her.
"Well I'd appreciate if you'd be sincere. We're both ponies, you have no reason to lie to me."
"Unless I'm evil and wish for your end just to entertain me. That's definitely a possibility." The stranger rolled his r's, making it sound like he purred each word.
"Why would you be evil?" The unicorn's grin widened and his eyes narrowed a bit.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"What's your name?" Twilight demanded, slightly annoyed and wanting to get away from the subject.
"Hmm? Oh. My name. Well, I suppose you can call me Cheshire, Cheshire Cat being my full name. A pleasure to meet you, my dear." His horn glowed a deep indigo and he levitated himself down from the tree in front of Twilight. He then bent his head, the grin not disappearing.
"Well Cheshire, my name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." She nodded her own head to him. "Now, could you please tell me how to get out of here?" Cheshire's pupils dilated slightly and he bent closer.
"Still trying to get out, I see.Well, you could go this way," he tilted his head to the side. "Or that way," he tilted his head to the other side. "Or, if you're in the mood, you could go that way." He jerked his head upwards.
"I can't fly," Twilight said, unamused, "And you're just giving me options, not directions."
"Well maybe I just did give you the correct way," Cheshire said, tail flicking. "You won't know until you try them all, Ms. Sparkle."
"What if I go the right way on the first try?"
"Then you'll never know where the other ways will take you. Your loss. I don't really care." He sat back on his haunches then laid down in front of her, crossing his hooves.
"Why are you so calm? Unless you live in this Celestia-forsaken forest." Twilight flinched at her agitated tone. No, she couldn't let this unicorn get to her. She had to remain calm. Not as calm as him, but calm.
"Celest?" Cheshire's ears pricked up. "And who, pray tell, is this pony by the name of Celest?"
"Celestia, and she's the princess of all of Equestria! How could you not know who she is?"
"I don't get out much." Cheshire shrugged. "And no, I do not live in this forest. I don't live anywhere. I go anywhere I want as long as it's the color green."
"Green?"
"No."
"But you just..."
"No, you're right, green." Cheshire snickered and levitated himself back into the air, not even bothering to stand.
"But, you said you don't get out much. If you don't get out much, then why do you say you go everywhere?"
"Anywhere, not everywhere. Please try to pay attention, Twilight."
"I am paying attention! You just keep confusing me and contradicting yourself!"
"I have not contradicted myself. Anywhere, not everywhere. There's a difference you know."
"I know!"
"Good."
"You know what? Forget it! I'll find my own way out!" Twilight then turned and stomped off, leaving the grinning unicorn behind. She didn't care what happened to him, and if he could go anywhere he wanted then he didn't need her help. Twilight sighed as she prepared to enter the boring and lonely trek through the forest, but raised an eyebrow when she saw light up ahead. Tentatively, the mushroom incident still fresh in her mind, she trotted towards the light. When she reached it, she saw it was the way out. Twilight's jaw dropped.
"How did I miss this before?" she mumbled, quickly leaving the forest. She thought of Cheshire, but quickly shook the thought. "No, it couldn't have been him. He wouldn't..." Then again, how did she know what that creepy unicorn would do? Twilight decided to move on not knowing, destining further thought about the subject as too complicated and time wasting. Maybe she would see him again and ask, though she doubted it.
