You slowly make your way through the dense foliage. Thorns and brambles scratch at your skin at every turn. The whole forest is cast in gloomy light filtered in from trees that extend outwards to create an almost impenetrable barrier so only the smallest hint of sky breaks through.
You never thought your day would turn into this. One night of binge drinking had made the memories that should be perfectly collected in your mind scattered and broken. All you knew for certain is that you woke up with long grass tickling your nose. There was no way to determine the time in the shaded forest but you think about four hours seems accurate for the time you had spent here.
Expecting to find help or civilization you set off with no survival training or woodland skills whatsoever. Unfortunately for you this never ending forest was relentless. There was no discernible pathways and the fauna was not anything you would easily recognise. Not that you were any good at recognising it anyway.
But the worst part was the terrible thirst. The strenuous walking had made you feel lightheaded and the thick mud pools which you had to wade through were no help. In truth you did feel worried but where you lived there were no predators that could take on a human and surely there would be some form of a town around here somewhere right?
Walking was starting to become a challenge as you ploughed forward. Not to be outdone the insects were making sure they were known as well. Countless flies hung around your head as if they were mocking you. While you were distracted you didn’t notice the gaping hole right in front of it. With a yell you tumbled forward hands grasping to save yourself but to no avail.
You fall head over heels straight into the chasm. You land face first your outstretched arm doing little to break the fall. As you lay on the ground face searing with pain you groan slightly. Huffing in frustration you get up only to almost fall over again as your nose explodes in pain. You can’t see it but the pain emanating from it and the blood slowly dripping onto your hand tells you it’s probably broken. A quick touch lets you feel the slight bend in it.
Your right arm which you also landed on grabs your attention. You look at it, Holding it out in front of you. The rotation and movement hurts but its manageable probably twisted. If this was some cruel prank done by an idiotic friend of yours they had stepped way to far over the line. How would dump their friend in the middle of a massive forest. However that is the least of your concerns now.
You look around the pit you are in. Despite the pain and blood in your nose you can smell a fetid stench. The area around you is a shallow bowl cut deep into the earth and it is littered with signs of habitation. Unfortunately probably not human.
Fragments of bone littered the floor and small spots of a brownish red like liquid were on the ground. All this pointed to the signs of there being a predator here. That was odd because there was nothing that dangerous apart from the occasional stray dog where you lived.
It didn’t matter what had created this pit but you knew that the look of it did not seem right. You wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. You turn around and look at the steep slope that you had fallen down. It would be difficult especially with an injury but manageable to climb it. Your nose had now stopped bleeding and had clogged up letting you focus.
There were vines and weeds which you could grab hold of on your climb. Your twisted right arm was an annoyance but slowly you scaled the embankment. Just when you were nearing the top your hand hit the wrong plant and you ended up with a splinter embedded in your finger. It seemed like this place was trying to hurt you in any way possible. In anger you pulled out the splinter not even feeling the pain when you did so there was so much adrenaline in your body.
Finally you reached the top and flopped down onto the earth panting slightly Tired but still in faith of finding help you got up nursing your arm and continued through the nightmare forest.
Another hour of walking and you were close to exhaustion. The only thing that kept you going was the fact that the forest’s layout had changed. Thankfully you remember that forests tend to have less bunched up trees as they end. But there was still no sign of clean water. Your hands were now covered in grime and scratches as was your face. You’re nose was now starting to ache from being jostled about and so was your arm. If you didn’t find help soon...
Your head kept flashing thoughts of dying here from a lack of thirst never to return to your normal life. But you pushed those dark and foreboding thoughts and pushed on.
Ten minutes later and it seemed like luck has turned for you. You spy a glint of light, A reflection of a puddle. Excited you rush forward to find an almost clear pond. It neither looks nor smells stagnant. If you were in the perfect set of mind you may have checked more carefully to see if it was clean but right now all you cared about was hydration.
Suddenly a low faint growl ripped through the air. It was so low you almost didn’t hear it over the noises you were making when drinking. Looking up you spied a shape moving in the shadows across the pond.
Your eyes widened as the shape’s dimensions began to appear. It was huge with a thick body and four legs as much as you could tell. You kept bone still as it slowly emerged from the thick shadow. But when you saw it in the light you had to hold back a scream. Sure you had seen illustrations of a manticore but they were fanciful and were edited to seem less terrifying. This beast had the same characteristics as a manticore such as a spiked tail and lion-esque face but there is where the similarities ended.
It’s maw was wide and long rows of jagged teeth emerged from the chasm. It’s head was scarred and bruised resplendent of previous fights. the fur decorating the long sinuous body was sparse and coarse. Four legs bulging with muscle and tipped with sharp and deadly claws prowled slowly towards you. The tail of it was at least fifteen foot long and waved dangerously like a rattlesnake’s tail the end of the tail had a large splintered spike on the end that looked like it had pierced the flesh of many.
As it got closer freezing you in fear you could clearly see it was at least ten foot tall towering over you. The manticore growled again disturbed from it’s slumber. The growl snapped you out of your fear. Yelling you scrambled up and ran the manticore sending a screaming howl behind you.
You can hear it behind you getting closer. The running had for some reason caused your nose to start bleeding again and your vision is obscured. You chance to look back for a second. The manticore is right behind you. In fear you dive to the side the manticore running past but catching your injured arm in the process. It tears a small hole in the flesh as it runs past but it’s not too deep.
You get up and keep running the manticore turning around much faster than a creature its size should and continuing the chase. The speed at which your running is much faster than you thought possible and it now seems like you had made more progress running then you had walking in only a few short minutes.
You see a break in the trees up ahead. Hoping to find salvation you turn towards the break. You burst out of the forest finally free. Looking back the manticore was still following you determined to finish you off. You can see the area ahead of you is filled with houses. But the thing that almost stops you in your tracks are the pastel coloured ponies covering every area. They see you and the almost comically large eyes they have widen in fright. They all scatter screaming in human sounding voices. If you weren't being chased you would be stumped at why ponies seemed to be living like a sapient being, but you couldn't stop now. Despite you screaming for help no one comes to your aid. You run to a house and bang on the door. The houses seemed to be smaller than what would normally be acceptable but considering the ponies only seemed to be three foot tall when you saw them it was legit. None of the ponies answers your cries but you can hear shuffling and noises from inside.
The manticore was to close to you now. You couldn't move out of the way in time. It bit down on your arm almost severing it and rammed you into the door. The front wall of the house burst open as you tumbled inside. Screams from the ponies assailed your ears.
You lay there unable to see with blood now dripping down your right eye. Through your left you can see the manticore as it shakes off the wood chippings it had accumulated and turned towards you ready to finish off the annoyance it thought you were. A few of the ponies you saw from earlier run out the obliterated front door. Despite the fact you were pleading with your eyes for them to help.
As it prowled towards you, You thought about the absurdity of the situation. You hadn’t even really notified that a living manticore had just broken you and a bunch of ponies that seemed half human had abandoned you. You would expect such a thing from a fairytail. The manticore came closer and some last thoughts came into your head. No life flashing before your eyes but just normal thoughts. As it’s head descended to block your vision your mind went black.
The last thing you saw were the razor sharp teeth cracked and yellow digging into your head.
