A broad, clear path runs through a deep wood on the far side of Ponyville.
The trees stand tall, overshadowed by a high ridge, there on the very edge of the Everfree Forest. The only noise from within is the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, and the only movement in the dim light under the canopy comes from the shifting shadows of branches.
No one goes there.
It was not a matter of nopony daring to go there, nor that nopony could go there, nor even that those who went did not return.
It was that, in the entire history of Ponyville from its settlement by the Smith and Rich families, to the current day, the path had always been there, and yet never once been used. Despite those years of disuse, the path remained perfectly clear. Nopony knew why it went unused. Nopony knew where it ended. All they knew was that it remained an unknown.
For most ponies, the fact that it had never been used in all those years was reason enough to let it be and avoid that particular corner of the fields entirely. However, it goes against the nature of any thinking species to allow anything to remain an unknown forever. There will always be those who are driven more by curiosity than caution — those whose sense of adventure outweighs the natural fear of the unknown.
Those kind of ponies are almost invariably the young, for there are few things more emboldening than a dare.
“Aren’t we going in yet?” asked Pipsqueak, as he trotted anxiously back and forth at the entrance of the trail, a wooden sword bouncing against his side from where it was tied in place of a saddlebag. “It’s getting hard to see already.”
“We gotta wait for Rumble,” drawled Snails, who sat in the grass and watched the younger colt’s pacing. “We’re ‘sposed to all go in together.”
Snips looked back from watching across the fields for the late member of their party, and turned his attention to the other two. “Yeah. ‘Sides, don’t tell me you’re actually wanting to go in there.”
“Why not?” Pip stopped pacing and turned to them. “It’s an adventure! And it can’t be that scary. Come on, we met the real Nightmare Moon my first Nightmare Night, and Discord’s practically one of the neighbors, and they were just about the scariest things ever, right?”
“Well, yeah, but this is different,” Snips said. “I say we give Rumble another ten minutes, then we bail.”
Snails snorted. “It’s just dark. Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark, Snipsy.”
Snips turned and glared at his friend. “One, I ain’t scared. Two, you don’t use that name.”
“Pish-posh,” Pip said, waving a hoof. “If it was just dark, what kind’ve adventure would that be? It’s an adventure cause we’re gonna be the first ones to ever find the end.”
Snips nodded. “Yeah! And everypony else was just so worried about why nopony’s ever tried it, they were too scared to try it themselves!”
“Exactly,” Pip said with a nod. “It ain’t like it’s impossible to do or anything, everypony just thinks it is ‘cause no one ever has.”
The three colts looks on the entrance to the trail with a newfound determination.
“Hey guys, sorry I’m late.”
Snips and Snails yelped at the voice from behind them and fell into one another, tumbling into a heap. Even Pip started and spun to face the sound.
Rumble blinked at the reactions. “What?”
Snips pulled himself free from Snails. “You jerk, what did you go and do that for?”
“Yeah.” Snails rolled himself back into a seated position. “We were all ready to go and everything.”
Rumble rolled his eyes. “If you guys are so jumpy that I scared you, how are you ever going in there?”
“You’re the one who almost chickened out,” Snips said.
“I did not!” Rumble took a step towards him. “Thunderlane wasn’t letting me go out after dark so I had to wait until he fell asleep!”
“A likely story!” Snips countered.
Snails looked back and forth between the two quarreling colts for a moment. “So how are we gonna do this, anyway?”
“Huh?” Both Snips and Rumble looked up at the question.
“That’s easy.” Pipsqueak stepped up between the two. “I’ve been thinking about it since we got here. Snips takes the lead since he’s the oldest, and can use his unicorn magic if we run into trouble. Then Snails is next, lighting the way with his magic.”
“Shouldn’t I be in first since I’ve got the light spell, though?” Snails asked.
Pip shook his head. “No, that’s the clever bit. If the light’s in front, the rest of us ain’t gonna be able to see in the dark. With Snips up ahead of you, the glare ain’t gonna be a problem for him. Anyway, next comes Rumble, and then I’m in the rear to watch our backs.” He punctuated that last statement by tapping a hoof against his wooden sword.
Rumble glanced at the sword and shook his head. “Wouldn’t you want to be in the front, since you’re the big adventurer here?”
Pip nodded. “Of course. I’d love to be the Captain of this expedition and lead from the front, but do any of you really want to be in the rear, with nothing but the shadows at your back?”
All four colts let that statement sink in, and shivered.
“You know,” Snips said. “I’m okay with this.”
Pip rubbed the back of his head with a forehoof. “I’m reconsidering it a little, myself…”
Rumble took a step towards the dark gap in the trees. “Whatever we do, it’s getting later. If we’re going to do this, we should go ahead and get started.”
The four glanced at one another and nodded in unison, then stepped forward to the edge of the trees.
It wouldn’t seem possible that a clearly-defined border between the field and the forest could exist, nor that a certain point in the gradually-thinning grass could be singled out as the “beginning” of the path. Despite this, each colt’s front hooves came to a stop at the exact same point, all four of the unconsciously standing in a perfect line, just where the shadows of the moonlit leaves fell.
They looked at one another, and finally, without a word, Snips swallowed and stepped forward.
Nothing happened to him. There was nothing to suggest that being on that side of the unmarked line should be any different than this side. But still, all of them felt as though, subtly, a barrier had been breached, and it was that much easier for Snails to follow, once Snips was a few steps inside. It was even easier for Rumble to follow the two unicorns, and easier still for Pipsqueak to bring up the tail of the group.
It could have been some unseen force being pushed back, held at bay by the presence of some ponies already within its bounds. Most likely, though, it was nothing but a simple sense of camaraderie that guided them forward.
Their chatter resumed as they walked, at first. They spoke of many foalish things — school, sports, holidays, and games. And always their eyes were gradually drawn back down the path they walked on, seeking some visual confirmation that home was, indeed, still behind them. Though the moon shone down through the leaves and branches, casting dancing shadows in its pale light, despite the best efforts of Snails’s horn to dispel them, they couldn’t help but feel as though the path behind them were a tunnel, and the gap in the trees the ever-more-distant opening.
Though the path did not curve, the sight of the gap in the trees was eventually lost to the distance, and those cautious glances behind changed in purpose. No longer did they seek the reassurance that home, and safety, waited for them in the distance, but instead they sought the much closer comfort of their friends nearby.
As the sense of isolation grew, the four colts couldn’t help but notice that the path grew gradually quieter. Perhaps it was an illusion brought on by anxiety, but the noises of the night seemed to be fading away. The squeak of bats grew less frequent. The occasional howls of Ponyville’s dogs grew more distant. The croaking of frogs, the buzzing and chirping of insects, and the calls of nighttime wildlife all seemed to grow fainter and rarer.
In that uncomfortable silence, their own discussions quieted as well, though they did make the occasional effort to spark a conversation anew.
“I think I might be a royal guard this year,” Pip said at last. Upon seeing the confused expressions when the others glanced back at him, he continued. “For Nightmare Night, I mean.”
“Oh,” Rumble said. He paused. Their own voices sounded unnatural in the silent forest. “Gonna dye your coat?”
“I dunno,” Pip answered. “It’d look weird with the brown patches, but I think mum would worry that I’m ashamed of being pinto or something. She’s funny about that sort of thing, sometimes.”
“I don’t know why,” Rumble said, turning his attention forward again. “Nopony minds about that.”
“Like I said, she gets funny about it.” Pip shook his head. That conversation, like any he’d tried to start for the past… however long they’d been walking, had wound down into nothing. Something about this path just swallowed their words up.
The four resumed walking in silence as the leaves rustled in the breeze and shadows danced beyond the edges of the light of Snails’s horn, and soon the quiet of the night reasserted itself.
After a few minutes, Rumble glanced over his shoulder at the darkness behind them and shivered.
“I don’t know why you guys put me in the back,” he said.
Snips sighed. “Look, it’s like I told you. I’m up front cause I’m the oldest, and Snails is behind me so his light doesn’t blind me. That leaves the back for you.”
“Can’t I be in the middle for a bit?” Rumble asked, glancing behind himself once again. “Just to, like, have a break?”
“It’s a bit late to be getting scared, you know,” Snips said. “And you’re not gonna impress your filly backing out now.”
“I am not doing this just to impress Scootaloo!” Rumble glared at Snips, but the effect was lost since the unicorn didn’t turn to face him. The faint red visible through the coat on his face wouldn’t have helped anything, anyway. “I took the dare from the Crusaders just like you two!”
“Yeah, but they were just daring us,” Snails said. “You came along after that.”
Rumble growled something under his breath and the trio lapsed back into silence.
The path didn’t change. It stretched into the distance straight ahead of them, and stretched into the distance straight behind them. Ponyville was lost to their sight long ago, and the eventual destination seemed no nearer. Each of the three had begun to wonder, some time ago, if they shouldn’t turn back, but nopony wanted to be the one to suggest it. Instead, the group pressed on, constantly assuring themselves that the end couldn’t be much further ahead.
Interrupting the silent stillness around them, leaves stirred in the breeze, and shadows danced beyond the edges of the light of Snails’s horn — a light which finally gave out.
Snips glanced back to his best friend. “Hey, what gives?”
Snails shook his head, panting. “Sorry, Snips. But I get tired after a while. And it’s been a long walk.”
Snips sighed. “Nah, it’s alright. Not like it’s all that dark, anyway. It’s more Whitetail Woods dark than Everfree Forest dark, you know?”
“Yeah,” Snails said, nodding as he caught his breath and caught up with Snips. “How long have we been gone, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Snips said, slowing slightly. “You know, I keep wanting to say that so long as you and me stick together, we can make it through anything, but…” He glanced back the way they had come. “I just keep feeling more and more like this was just a bad idea.”
Snails shook his head. “Nah, it’ll be alright. Like you said. So long as you and me stick together, it’ll work out. ‘Sides. Can’t be too much longer ‘til the end, right? Even the Everfree Forest has an other side.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Snips picked up the pace with a smile, the first one we’d worn since they began this trip. “We’re gonna be alright.”
The two began walking in a comfortable silence once more, the kind that only long-time friends can truly share together. In contrast with the stifling stillness that had marked their journey thus far, this was a pleasant companionship — a way of enjoying one another’s company despite being occupied with one’s own thoughts.
Snips’s uplifted mood lasted until a stray breeze caught his eyes just right and he had to close them against it for a moment. Leaves rustled in that breeze, and shadows danced across the path.
Snips slowed to a stop to wipe his eye, and, blinking, glanced back at the seemingly-endless path through the darkness behind him, and then turned back to the seemingly-endless path through the darkness ahead of him.
He groaned and hung his head. “Why did I think I could do this alone?” he asked the empty air around him.
Still, he pressed on, if slowly and reluctantly. He trotted along the trail, all enthusiasm for adventure lost, accompanied only by the rustling leaves in the trees above him, and a dim hope that, sooner rather than later, the path had to reach a far end.
Wherever he came out, he’d find the nearest town, beg for a cart-ride back to Ponyville, and beg his dad to forgive him for doing something so stupid.
The breeze picked up, and the rustling of the leaves grew louder, and shadows danced in the moonlight.
A broad, clear path runs through a deep wood on the far side of Ponyville.
The trees stand tall, overshadowed by a high ridge, there on the very edge of the Everfree Forest. The only noise from within is the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, and the only movement in the dim light under the canopy comes from the shifting shadows of branches.
No one goes there.
Author's Note
As usual for my dark/suspense stories, here's what I was listening to as I wrote:
Shadowrun soundtrack by Alex Cremers
Selected Ambient Works, Volume 2 by Aphex Twin
Sounds from the Lighthouse by Garry Schyman
I started this for Oneshotober 2014, but lost interest. I wanted something befitting the season this year, so I dug it up again.
