Why Humans Shouldn't be Allowed in Equestria

Sometimes it's amazing how I can sleep at all, or in circumstances like this. Maybe the shock of it all hasn't gotten to me yet. As soon as my eyes were open I looked towards Aranea. She wasn't there. I must've rolled over and let go during the night. I got up and scanned the area. She at least deserved a proper burial. Still nothing. Hunting over an ever-expanding area until I was a quarter mile away, I found nothing. I don't sleepwalk. Scavengers must have gotten a hold of the body in the night after I let go. Something out there had her in it's jaws.

Something was going to die painfully.

I looked for any signs of movement, wandering through the paths. It didn't take long to realize I don't know how to follow tracks. Everything was the same to me on the ground. I started to wander aimlessly, hoping to run across something I could tell as new. I started thinking on everything that had happened these past few weeks. Weeks?

Yeah, it really has been weeks. Guess I popped in around the end of summer. Showing up here, spending a few days in jail, a couple in Ponyville, meeting Aranea, almost a week looking for work with Aranea, living here in the wild with Aranea, meeting Zecora, working for Zecora with Aranea, fu... making love with Aranea. Yeah. It wasn't just fucking. I really, truly loved her. But now it was too late. To late to make up for everything.

The shock caught up to me.

I broke down.

All this time, we had what we needed. For all the want of creature comforts I remember, everything we needed was in our hands – far more important things. I wasted it. Behind electronics, booze, mindless entertainment, all of it. I lost the only thing that really mattered in the long run.

I don't know how much time passed by between then and returning to being cognizant of the world. Probably hours. It started to rain, the tears of the clouds overcoming my own. Tracking was even more useless now. All I know is that I'll kill whoever took her. It started getting colder. Fall was setting in. I may know a few things about being out here, but one thing's for certain. I'm not a survivalist. Some time in scouts and a few documentaries don't give you the skills to actually do any of it. She took care of a lot more of it than I realized. No use starting a fire now. Winter would be here soon enough. To top it off, my busted-up hands were starting to swell, and some rash had appeared on my arm where the timberwolf tried to hold on. I think the rage-induced wounds were getting infected. Be it a week or two months, I was going to die out here too.

I may just now have realized how self-centered I am, but she still loved me with all her heart. Even at my worst. Even at my worst, she wouldn't want me dead. I can't just lay down and join her like that. With no pride left to swallow, the answer was clear.

I headed for Zecora's. The bag of bits from the hydra and timberwolf were going to get us a house. Yeah, those things were worth a fortune. No use for that now. After this I would see about getting back home. Whether I made it to my world, another, or the attempt killed me didn't matter at the moment.

The path was the most trod-upon thing in the forest, so at least that part was easy. I went up and rapped my knuckles on the door. That hurt. Zecora answered the door.

“Who seeks the knowledge of the Everfree? Oh, it's you-” The expected rhyme was cut off by a hoof to the face. I hit the ground, probably with a broken nose. That shook me out of a lot.

“What the hell!?”

“After all you have done, you think yourself welcome?”

“What did I do?”

“Aranea would have given her life, why did you force that promise to light?”

“I-I didn't kill her!”

“Actions of yours had brought it to be, true fault it is easy for any to see.” Another hoof to the head. I was blinded by blood and swelling. Zecora was going to kill me before anything else could. A pummeling commenced.

“B-but...” How did she know what happened?

There was a voice off in the distance, sounding like it came from the hut. I started to get colder, even with the blood warming spots of me. It was like Aranea. She was cool to the touch last night. Not cold, just cool, like I had only just arrived too late. I wanted to blame Zecora for this. I wanted to yell and curse at her for kicking my ass and leaving me out here in the rain and cold. A blurry form walked back inside the hut. I heard voices. Everything was muddled beyond recognition. No voice or sight was clear enough to figure out. Two figures left the hut. I felt myself being heaped onto the back of one. It was cool in the rain. It was cool on the body carrying me.

Again, head trauma and shock cost me any mental function. I was out before I was in the hut. I figured I wasn't waking up this time.