Dear Diary

Dear Diary,

Today is the day that I was finally able to get out of that damned hospital bed, and smell the Ponyville air once more. See the sunshine cascade gently upon my skin, and the birds song ring in my ears as I wish for them all to cram a damn sock in it. I may have said this before, but I am more of a man of quiet contemplation, I hate the hustle and bustle of city life, and even the little things like a bird’s song can make me contemplate chasing it around just so I wouldn’t have to hear it drone on and on.

Walking back to where I was lodging in that barn on the Apple family acres, I ran into a Fluttershy. She looked much better than she did the day before, and even had a light smile on her face. I asked her if she needed anything, as she had a stutter and seemed to be rather timid when trying to speak with me. She said she wanted to take me up on that offer to pay her in whatever way I could. Yesterday I said I didn’t like the look of that smile, and today I REALLY know I don’t like the look of that smile. She said that there was something she needed from the Everfree forest. It was a fruit, one that would help her in something she was making, she didn’t really go into details on what she needed it for. However, she did note that it was rather large and red, and I most likely couldn’t miss it. I agreed, happily on the outside, and on the inside scared to go back into fuck that forest. I know fighting a gryphon is brave, but that forest has some things that are much scarier than a damn gryphon.

I first went to retrieve William. I know he is somewhat sturdy, and can fight, but I didn’t ,and don’t want to risk it in the forests, not until he has some armor on him. I swiftly stuck him into the Apple family barn, and alerted the Apple’s that there was a giant rat in their barn that belongs to me, and he doesn’t like ponies much. He was constrained, but I had never been good with bondage, so, I wasn’t surprised about what happened later in the day.

After dropped off William I started walking down to the forest, my shortsword gripped loosely in hand. I would suppose it would still have been strange to see a human walking around, but now that I had a blade, I would suspect that they were even more anxious.

Upon getting to the end of Ponyville, and nearing the short plain that leads into the Everfree forest I ran into Rainbow Dash. She asked why I was carrying the sword, and I just explained myself. It went something like this.

“Uhm, where are you going with that?” She asked, looking me over and pointing at the blade.

“Fluttershy sent me in to get a fruit from this forest, I have to repay her somehow. William was quite that handfull.” I laughed.

“Well, I’m coming with you.” She said confidently.

“Why?”

“Because you don’t know this forest as well as I do, plus I’d like to see you in action.” She chuckled, “From your story you seemed to be quite the bad pony.”

“Don’t you mean badass?”

“No.”

“Okay, sure, you can come with me, it might be nice to have a traveling companion.”

We started slowly moving through the forest. It was not very hot today, but the humidity more than made up for it in the dense forest. With humidity and heat came bugs. Mostly mosquito like creatures that were interested in sucking blood and could be removed with a simple flick or slap. However, I saw some bigger things in there too, such as a spider the size of a medium sized dog. It was running adjacent to us, turned around, looked at us, and then skittered off. I didn’t show it, but I had never been so scared in my life. Most things don’t scare me. Dragons, I’ll probably die trying to fight one, but they don’t scare me. The undead, again, anything more than a zombie or skeleton will probably kill me, but still not that scared. I don’t care if it’s a tarantula or a common house spider, spiders scare the ever living fuck out of me. Then, seeing one the size of a dog, I’m surprised I didn’t pass out on the spot. I really hope Rainbow Dash didn’t notice I was freaking out a little.

After that encounter, nothing very strange happened, the occasional odd plant, and herb. Some weird looking bugs, such as something that had the body of a bee, but was a bit larger, and had ten legs and one eye instead of six and two respectively.

Then, we got to a clearing, it was a small one mind you, maybe a quarter mile in diameter, but still a clearing. In the middle of it was a tiny pond, and two small rivers seemed to split from that. Just on the shore of the river was a large fruit. You know what? Large is too little, it easily made it to my waist, and was close to Rainbow Dash’s wingspan. I ended up asking Rainbow Dash is she could carry it back to where we entered the forest from and wait for me. She argued a bit, but there was no way I could carry that thing through the forest. She eventually agreed, and I helped her get it so she could carry it, and she was off.

Then it was just me, in the forest. Alone. Then I felt something, something I didn’t much like. It was a stinging sensation, and then my vision began to fade. I assume I passed out not much later, as I awoke near a different clearing. This one having a single cabin on it. I approached the cabin, only to hear a growl come from it. I turned around and walked away.

I kept on walking, making my way back into the forest, hoping that I would be able to find some hint of civilization. Maybe it was not the best idea to send Rainbow Dash away with the fruit. Oh well, I continued walking, and came to what looked to be another clearing, although this one had something extravagant. It was a castle!

It looked like one of the old gothic castles from the days of Victorian England. I approached it, and saw that there was an open door on it, so I simply walked in and noticed that the old place was nearly falling apart. It was getting late though, so I pressed on.

There were a few features of the castle that I adored though. The statues and paintings of who I can only assume are famous philosophers, warriors,and political figures were all built and painted beautifully. The flooring was made of a crumbling, and oft moss covered stone, occasionally covered by some patches of carpet or a tattered rug.

I continued through the castle’s many corridors, and eventually found myself in what looked to be a bedroom. Being the paranoid man that I am, I quickly locked the door and pushed a bookshelf in front of it. I thought that it would be silly for there to be any creatures in this castle, except a few birds and rats, but I wasn’t taking any chances. The bed was covered in dust and rubble. The cleaning of it was not an easy task, as it looked as it had a millennium's worth of rubble on it. Not exactly the best bed on the lot. After cleaning it off I noticed a grandfather clock that said it was around one in the morning. I wasn’t tired at that point, so I looked around the room some more. There was an armoire which upon opening held mostly dust, but there were a couple of things of interest. The first item being a diary of a Princess Luna, I left it be, the second thing I found in there was a sapphire that seemed to be lightly emanating a sky blue color. There was also a lock box I took a look at, but couldn’t find the key. There was also a bag of strange orbs. They looked like something way more technologically advanced than anything that could have possibly been here. They were white with blue veins running around them. It was nearly as heavy as a shotput, and about the same size. I threw the gem in with those, and kept it on my person while I sat in bed to write this entry.

I think I’ll stay in the castle at least another day, firstly to figure out what some of these things do, secondly because I don’t know exactly where I am, and maybe there is a map in the library of this place.

It is two thirty in the morning, and I believe I shall retire for the evening.