I walked through the vast forest, my aching feet pestering me about its pain as I continued to push them forward. I walked through the crowded trees and the muddy grounds, my clothes building up grime and crud as I walked past them. Though my journey through the thick waving trees went unperilous, my mind was still sporadic of all the many things that could have happened to me out there. From a simple trip to an animal attack my mind was never at rest. My body may have been calm but my mind was fearful of everything that stood out.

Now that I knew what type of things lived within that forest, I couldn’t help but get worried. The thick leaves that blocked out the sun did nothing more but cement the foreboding feeling that cradled itself in my chest.

The darkness constantly blinded my vision and caused me to fall too many times to count. So, if a beast were to attack me, I doubt I'd stand even a minut chance in the dark. But even though my vision was impaired and my path was obscured, I knew where to go. The question was 'How do I get there?’. The last time I was near a pony was when I was jumping off of a cliff, and I barely made it out of that. But I knew that my only chance at survival was to go back to that village. And so I kept walking. I walked up grassy hills and shimmed down rocky slopes, but I still didn’t feel any closer to that town.

As far as I knew, I could’ve been walking in circles for those few hours and I wouldn’t know the difference. But all of it, paid off in the end when I limpingly strode out of the thick outline of the forest and stepped onto a clear rocky land. The sun had set far into the horizon, but that was the least of my concerns.

I looked around and I could see a giant gap within the earth. The cliff that I was closest to was uneven and jagged while the cliff that was the farthest from me was pointed and narrow. The gap that split the crust of the earth had a raging river riding through it. I looked down into the great abyss, surprise happy and anger running through my mind. I was surprised that I managed to get back to the one spot that had closed me down that river. I was happy because that meant I wasn’t far away from that town, that I was closer to my salvation. I was angry because I knew that, no matter what I do, I’d never make that damn jump. I looked further down the river to see how far I had to go, but all I could see was a great winding path of the massive waters.

I then dropped down onto my knees and began to cuss out anyone and everything that had gotten me here. In that moment of nothing but pure anger, I wanted to find whoever dammed me on this fucking world and end their sorrowful life. But as I was swearing to the hands of fate, and cursed the gods above, I began to notice the sun eerily dripping beneath the horizon. Realization struck me when it became apparent that I was nowhere near any sort of shelter. It was in that moment that all of my anger and frustration and rage had turned into fear. Fear of not knowing who or what would be out at dark. I had spent one night out in the forest and was nearly eaten in my sleep. And with what I experienced with that lion thing just a few hours ago, I did NOT want be out in the middle of the night.

I no sooner got back onto my feet and began to pathetically run back into the wooden troughs of the forest. Not even ten seconds later, I tripped on some ridiculous object that wrapped itself around my foot. I tried kicking it off with my feet but it wouldn’t move. I looked down at my trapped leg and saw a green lantern holding me down to the ground. Its texture and shape screamed modern, but the rust and grime that was on it yelled age.

I pulled my foot out of its confined trap, and took the lantern in my hands. I turned it this way and that to make sure that it was in good enough condition before I turned the small nozzle that was attached to its side. The thing lit a small flame inside of its glass prison, allowing me to see through the darkness that was dusk. And like the lantern in front of me, a spark of hope had came from inside of me. I knew I couldn’t get back to that cave in time]l; it would be too dangerous to go at night and too exhausting to go back. I got up again and headed back to the empty cliff that I had plummeted from yesterday. I set the lantern on the ground before quickly going back into the forest.

By that point the sun had enveloped a dark purple hue, and was quickly turning into a forbidden black. I got back down onto my knees and began picking up prickling branches and thorn like sticks, cutting my hands slightly as I hurriedly grabbed wooden appendages. And after I had gathered as many sticks and branches as I could carry, I waddled back into the clearing and dropped them all on the floor. I grabbed a few straight branches and some dry sticks and set them in a teepee shape. I then grabbed the lamp and looked at its exterior for a way to get the oil out.

By that moment in time, the moon was slowly peaking over the horizon, ready to take its sister's place in the sky. The forest had darkened itself to a drastic degree, and was getting darker by the second. As I felt the seconds tick by slowly going away one by one, I couldn’t help but panic even further. So, in an act of desperation, I reached into my pocket and pulled out an orange handled pocket knife, and proceeded to pick at any hole that it could fit in.

I prodded and scratched at the bottom of the lantern, hoping I would find some small hole that I could rip open for oil. But as I was scratching the surface of the lantern, I heard the sounds of howling in the distance. I panicked even further and was about to slam it against the ground in a fit of frustration. But with a twist of my wrist the bottom of the lantern opened to reveal a small pool of oil within its metal confinements. I was lucky that I didn’t get any on me.

I was glad for a couple seconds but I was quickly knocked out of my stupor by the sounds of bushes rustling behind me. I pulled out my revolver and took aim behind me, waiting to blow off the head of anyone who’d dare come here. A few seconds later, a small bunny had popped its head through the bushes and ran away as it saw me. I ignored the small animal and decided to go back to working on my plan. I grabbed the bottom of the lantern that was filled with oil with care and elegancy before I dumped some of its contents onto the teepee of sticks that I had made.

I then grabbed a couple rocks and started to bang them against each other. They clashed and clattered, but no matter how many times I tried getting a spark, I would be met with either sore fingers or small pebbles. The sky had almost completely blackened as the only source of light left was diminishing further beneath the crest of the earth.

I had nearly given up when I decided to grab my hatchet and hit it against the now broken rock. The next thing I knew, a large fire had enveloped the entirety of my vision. I jumped back from the scalding flames, and watched them dance in front of me. I jumped into the sky with joy only to fall on my back as my feet collapsed onto the ground. And even though my back was aching with pain, I could do nothing but smile at the flames that had given light in my dark situation.

There I sat on the cliff huddling against the now low flames as I tried to stay warm. I would slowly breathe in and out, watching as the fog from my breath would slowly dissipate in the air. My body shaking and shivering as it tried to form heat. Snot running down my nose as my body trembled.

I wasn’t able to sleep; every time I tried I would involuntarily shake as the cold air would brush my skin. I knew that the forest would be colder than that cave was, but I did not expect it to be as cold as it was. It reminded me of those days that I spent walking in that cold dessert. The only difference is that I didn’t question my sanity back then. I have no idea why it was so cold right then and there. Maybe it was because of the river, or maybe it was because that forest was just so damn strange. Hell, this whole world was strange. From the trees to the dirt, everything felt so damn strange. Maybe even the weather could flip on a dime.

I wasn’t huddling over a fire with my feet pulsating in pain. I wasn’t confusing reality with imagination. I wasn’t questioning if I should make amends with ponies. The last time I felt normal was when I was about to catch hypothermia or get frostbite. Now look at me, I’m inside of a cave right now hiding away from-... No, we’ll get to that later.

My mind was brought out of its mental conflict by a heavy growl coming behind the flames I took refuge behind. My cold, shaking right hand reached for my revolver as I scanned the lining around me. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but the growling, the bushes remained the same as the trees still stood, but as I raised my gun, I could only hear more growls and the sounds of thudding paws getting closer to me.

I grabbed a couple of sticks and put them in the fire to help me see, but instead I got another reaction out of it. I heard a much more vicious snarl follow by some pathetic whimpers, their growling and the viciousness of their yaps stopped instantly. That’s what got me curious, what made me want to know what they were doing. I grabbed a rather large, thick branch that hasn’t been lit yet and put the tip of it in the small fire.

As soon as the tip of it was alight with fire, I pushed myself off the cold ground and proceeded to walk closer to the sound I heard the growling coming from. I heard more terrible whimpers as I got closer to them, their coos and cries only growing louder and louder as I got closer. I held my revolver at a raised position, and kept the torch down on my side as I was slowly edging closer to the outlining of the pitch black forest. As soon as I was close enough to the small lining of the trees, as soon as I was close enough to feel their fear crawl on my skin, I pulled the small ball of fire up and stared in awe.

I saw pure yellow pupil-less eyes peering at me with hate and intent. With what little I could see, I saw that its body was covered in bulks of wood, from its teeth to its tail. The small bit of green that aligned itself around the creature. I could hardly see it with the small bit of light that I had, but there it was, standing defensively and ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

As I continued to stare at the wooden abomination in front of me, more small, pupil-less eyes began popping out of the darkness, one after another all with the same sickening yellow color. I drew the torch closer to myself and slowly walked backwards towards my camp, never turning my back on them. Once I was back at my ‘safe haven’, I dropped the torch on the burning pile of wood, and proceeded to sit back down on the ground with a slack jaw.

I had just seen an animal, as far as I know, made entirely of wood. How? I still ask myself to this day. Nature is a mysterious thing. Able to evolve apes into humans, and able to make a fish breath underwater. But never in my life would I think nature would transform wood into an agent of chaos.

My mind rambled to itself over and over again, trying to figure out how such wooden things are able to exist, but it was for not. A sudden scream of terror and help rang from behind me and had pulled me from my wavering mind, and I could do nothing but stare into the distance of where it came from. It was on the other side of the cliff too distorted and low to identify it as anything. So I simply looked on in its direction, and waited for the sound to die out.

As soon as it did end, I huddled back closer to my fire and hoped that I would make it till morning.

Author's Note

I hope you guys love that chapter title, a little throw back to my childhood.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you see any spelling errors or such, please leave them in the comments and I will try me best to fix them. I appreciate any and all support you give, even if it's mean or rude or snarky. I like it when it's rude and snarky.