The Everfree Forest was the most dangerous place in equestria; Dragons, manticores, cockatrice and all manner of beasts dwell here, either naturally or forcibly by encroaching equestrian society. Beneath the shaded canopy, within the brambles and bushes anything unwanted could only be found in the Everfree. A growl rumbles through the dephs of the forest, A title more than anything for no forests dephs were as dark nor were its air as thick. It was a jungle and in this jungle a beast stalked, its breathing was ragged, its ribs pressing against the taut skin of its chest. It knew that this hunt was the only thing that mattered, starvation had come for it and the thought pressed against its simple mind with every careful step. It wasn't a particularly advanced predator, large cats were an efficient design but not meant to hunt the monsters that dwell within Everfree but it was unwanted and the unwanted have only one place to go. Its eyes locked on a rabbit, it would not sustain it but it would keep it from death. Ears laid against its head as the cat prepares to pounce
A sharp whistle cut the air followed by howling. Timberwolves suddenly burst from within the forest itself. The wolves tear after both predator and prey the cat was slow, its yowling doing little to disuade them, its struggling only helping the wooden teeth cut through its muscles. An ape jumped down from the trees, a jagged shard of obsidian clutched in its hand quickly brought down on its throat. The flash of violence ended, the silence of the forest returned eerily quickly. The ape wasted no time, grabbing the cat by the paws and shouldering it, he made his way through the brush. The timberwolves padding silently alongside it. One carrying the rabbits corpse in its maw. Celestia's sun traveled across the sky, unbeknownst to the ape and his companions who knew only the everfree's perpetual darkness. A small clearing lay before them, a pocket of sanity amidst the Everfree.
The ape set to work on the carcass, skinning and preparing the meat, the mind numbing work let its thoughts wander for the ape was once known as human, and it had been far too long since this human had remembered that. The years had not been kind to him, His hair and his beard long and unkempt, thankfully it was a brown that helped camoflauge him in the forest, it paired nicely with the pelt that adorns his frame, some strange combination of fur and feather that belonged to an owlbear of ages past, its thick hide a form of comfort, warmth and protection. Finding a better grip on his shard-knife, pillaged from a dragons lair, he set to work dismember a leg off his kill, which was then thrown to his wolves who tore into it immedietley. He reached for two particular stones by a charred ring of logs, slapping them together over the moss of his campfire, the sparks greedily devouring the fragile plants until they roared to life as a fire all their own. He sliced off a chunk of flesh and layed it over the fire, flipping it occasionally with a stick.
As it cooked he stared into the fire, it was dangerous, greedy, violent, it destroyed and consumed all it touched. It was a monster given element. It was him, it was the Everfree. the meat was stringy, tasteless, merely a means to an end, something to keep him going. He was unsure why he kept going. His mind, while lost resurfaced to ask him these questions, ones which he lacked answers for. He extuingished his fire and entered his domicile. scouring it quickly for salt, which he applied liberally to the slabs of meat cut from the carcass. He would need to drag that way later, lest he attract unwanted attention. He looked around, in the Everfree it was good to be cautious , Is that what i want? To live in constant paranoia? He shakes his head, he had to do something. He quickly walked out of camp, the wolves far too busy tearing into their meal to pay him any heed. As he paced through the foliage the intrusive thoughts kept bubbling to mind. And he couldn't answer, it had been a long time since had hurt from anything but actual wounds. He had been far too focused on his heavy heart to notice that the chirping of the forest had grown silent. A growl permeated the air around him, he froze. his hand reaching for the shard at his waist.
The brush rustled and he found strength in his limbs again, he scrambled up a tree, an ability he had found himself increasingly grateful for, when it came to both hunting and fleeing. The undergrowrth parted to reveal something distinctly foreign, the glaring yellow hurt his eyes, the pink the followed was no less obnoxious. Such a creature has no business being this deep in the Everfree, The human blinked. Now that he realized he wasn't being hunted the ever annoying thoughts had come up again, this time however.. They were more insistent, Ponies. Was his realization, he had forgotten that ponies were the rulers of this land. It was then that the floodgates of his mind opened, his past life, his first moments in Equestria, his banishment. it was a tidal wave that seemingly never stopped, in the midst of it he looked back on the haze that he was living in. The basest of his instincts, the drive to survive, how long had he been gone from himself?
The pony started calling out, "angel" was the word. Words, he had not used them in so long. He followed the pony from the branches while it called out for "angel". The voice it used was feminine, though barely above a whisper. As the forest got dimmer so did her hopes and she eventually started trekking back. The human still following her every step from above, that is until she cleared the treeline. He found his breath taken away, it had been so long. SO. LONG. since he had seen anything but Everfree forest, it was an unnatural beauty to see the wide open space, the warm lights of a town in the distance. He jumped down from the top branches, landing of the soft soil beneath. He took a few tentative steps past the treeline of his home for years. His chest heaving up and down, it was only now he realized how thing the air was out here. It was then that he looked up. The sky. The night sky to be specific, the twinkling stars the coated the canvas of the world, it flattened him, his legs felt weak. He lost the strength to stand and merely sat in the damp grass, entranced by the lights in the sky and above all, the moon.
He sat there until the moon slipped away from him, and once again found himself blown away by the sky, it exploded into rich hues of orange and red, the sun peaked over the horizon. He was paralyzed by awe, as the suns rays shone upon him he shivered, in delight, droplets of dew falling from the pelt he wore. The suns warmth was so different from the damp warmth of Everfree that stuck to him like a sickness. It felt clean, it felt -good-. He noticed the ponies of the town waking up, polychromatic dots on the distance. More importantly, the yellow and pink one had as well. Her cottage surprisingly close to his own home, the boundaries of it anyways. He adopted a low crouch, attempting to approach her unseen. He froze, she was surrounded by animals, talking to them. Deer, squirrel, even a bear, things that lived at the very edge of Everfree, before it had shown its true colors. He continued torwards her, slower this time. The deer took notice of him first and immedietley bounded off, startling the mare, the bear noticed him next, dropping to all fours and stepping in front of her, he must smell the dephs of the Everfree on you. The mares eyes then met yours, as you saw her face clearly for the first time and see the fear and confusion in her eyes your memory becomes more distinct.
This was Fluttershy. One of the elements of harmony, one of the judges that banished you to that damned forest. You open your mouth to speak, but find your throat constricted and dry. Just how long had it been since you had said anything? You try again, but no matter how hard you try the words just don't form. Fluttershy takes a tentative step backwards and you hold your hand out to stop her, if she runs they'll come after you and your chancel will be ruined all over again. Maybe you jutted your hand out too quick and she screams, running. So do the animals, except the bear who lunges at you with a snarl. Your eyes widen in surprise but your instinct takes over and you dive to the side, your dagger already out your stance already crouched and ready to react. The bear takes a lazy swipe, it seems so slow to you and you duck under it with relative ease using the oppurtunity to drive the shard into its side. The bear howls, rearing up to scare you. You jut the knife upwards into its neck before dragging it out to the side, completely tearing its jugular. The roars become whines as the creature stumbles about, bleeding to death.
You run. You run back to the forest, deeper and deeper until you find your home. Your camp. The timberwolves wait there expectedly but whine when they realize you've no food. You hide in your tent, it provides a small modicum of comfort as you wait in there your thoughts and emotions broiling together, attempting to process everything. You sit there for hours until the hum of the insects becomes louder than your thoughts, you step outside the tent into the darkness of the forest finding yourself robotically walking torwards the ponies village once more. The forest seems like a prison, you cannot go another day without seeing the sky or the sun. You've tasted freedom and sanity for the first time in your memory and you cannot give that up. You replay what those ponies had done to you in your mind. When you had gotten to Equestria you greeted them with open arms and told them all you could about humanity. Everything about humans, you did not leave out any detail, surely they would understand? Honesty was an important part of friendship after all.
They were horrified however. Terrified of what you might do and so they forced you to the Everfree, you were a human, a monster, a beast, for years you had tried to prove them wrong and the solitude and danger had driven you mad. You walked out of the treeline, the full moon in the sky watching down upon you. The bears corpse wasnt there but the blood remained. You glance at Ponyville, a multitude of lights amidst the dark.You gripped the obsidian shard, white knuckled. They were the monsters. You stand in front of Fluttershys window. If your years in the Everfree taught you anything. You creep up to the sleeping pony, shrouded in the dark. Its how to kill monsters.
