Beyond the Forest

Chapters

I turned the pups into a pair of boots [REWRITE]
Butter Yellow [REWRITE]
Shot to the Wing [REWRITE]
Begone, Doctor [REWRITE]
No eat animals
Goodbye, my love

I turned the pups into a pair of boots [REWRITE]

Beyond the Forest

After being roused from my dreamless sleep by a surprisingly loud bird just outside, I rise from my mat and slip on my boots. Looking out the small opening of a window, I see it's still dark outside. I usually get up before dawn anyway, so no harm done. I’m still gonna kill that bird, though.

Looking around, I take stock of what's in my damp little hut: my armor is hanging on the wall, dried pelts and other bits of animals are piled in the corner, dozens of books, ragged and earmarked, are stacked along the back wall, and what few personal belongings I have are in the locked box by my sleeping mat. The place reeks of dried meat, possibly due to the small hole in the corner where I store my food. Cat is nowhere to be seen, but that's normal; she's usually out foraging at this hour.

I feel strangely compelled to look in the box. It’s not so much what’s left of our lives than a record of our achievements. The key, as it should be, is on a leather cord around my neck. Opening the box, I’m greeted by the same items as always: a cracked pair of glasses with one arm missing, a radio (batteries not included), a laminated aviator's map, another ragged book, a large chunk of emerald, and a sharp black claw. There is also a spare key and a faded leather wallet with forty-two dollars, a credit card, and a Starbuck’s reciept. Other than the one in the box and the one I wear, the only other key in existence is around Cat’s neck. Looking through my few possessions reminds me of how I ended up here.

"You ready to go yet?" my annoyed brother Troy asks as he looks back at me from the cockpit. The last hour has been spent preparing for takeoff, and he's almost out of patience.

I climb into the plane and make sure my stuff is secured while Troy finishes up the pre-flight checklist. We're both a little nervous; Troy is an experienced pilot, but this is his first time in something this small. He usually flies the giant commercial planes for Oceanic Airways, but this time he's just taking us home to New York for the summer.

"This is Transatlantic Flight 529, ready for takeoff." The engine revs up as the propeller starts to spin, and an unsettling amount of smoke pours out. My brother bangs on the side a bit and the craft lurches forward.

I walk to the hook on the wall and put on my armor. This chestplate is invaluable to me. Being made of timberwolf hide, it's extremely strong and doubles as camouflage. I had been out hunting early one morning when I stumbled across a dead timberwolf that had just whelped a small litter of pups. I began to skin the mother, taking care not to damage its tough, woody hide and wrapped up what little meat was salvageable for later. Cat hates the things, and I didn't need any more competition for food, so I slew the babies, too. It was probably for the best; they wouldn't have survived out there for very long.

I returned home and began to cut it to shape, but it got harder as it dried. Resembling an oak tree fused with tanned leather and smelling like a wet dog, nothing short of my axe could cut the stuff. I turned the pups into a pair of boots, and the mother became the tunic I now wear.

I reach for the tools I need for hunting: my homemade bow and arrows (which are desperately in need of new fletchings), deerskin game bag, and steel knife. Chewing on a piece of dried venison, I pull the door open and almost knock Cat to the ground.

"Hey! Be careful, I almost spilled the berries I found!" She huffs as she holds up a leather sack full of blackberries. I move to take one but she slaps my hand away. “No, these are for dessert later.”

"Fine, I can wait. I'm going grocery shopping, you know what to do."

"Keep wood on the fire and eyes on the sky, I know, I know..."

"That's right." I plant a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back with dinner. If you get hungry, we have some leftover dinner in the food box." As I start towards the woods, I turn back and examine the clearing. Our little hut sits in the middle of a small circle of level ground in the middle of an immense forest. Next to the structure sets a small fire pit and a pile of chopped wood. I make a mental note to add some more wood to the pile when I return.

"WAAAAAIIIIT!” Cat runs after the plane, pulling a pink suitcase behind her and screaming at the top of her little lungs. “Don’t go! Hold up! Let me on!” I tell Troy to slow down so she can climb in. When the door is closed and Cat is strapped in, we finally leave the ground.

"I thought you said you didn't want to come to New York with me. You said it would be... What was it again? Oh yeah, boring?" Cat blushes.

"Well, I'd rather be with you for the summer than with smelly old great-aunt-Suzie."

At this, Troy calls back to us, "I can't imagine anything more boring than staying with my brother, she must be horrible."

"Oh, she is! This one time I asked for macaroni and cheese, and she-"

"Caitlyn!" I cut her off, "Don't talk about your great-aunt like that, she's the only family you have left. I may be your godfather and guardian, but that doesn't mean I outrank blood relatives." She raises an eyebrow. "..although, I will admit her place does smell a bit strange. And all of those cats don't help either."

We mostly just made small talk until England was out of view. It was shaping up to be a great flight.

After smiting that damned bird, I follow a trail for a few minutes. I don’t see anything useful, so I decide to climb a nearby tree. The tall spruce is covered with sap, so it's hard to fall off. When I get to the top, I take a minute to enjoy the cool morning breeze in my hair and the fresh smell of pine. I survey the area, looking for anything edible and see a cluster of what looks like deer about a kilometer to the north.

The sun has already risen when I reach the clearing and the deer. There are five or six of them, the closest about ten meters away. I back up until I hit a tree and crouch, my armor making me invisible to the small-minded deer. Silent as a shadow, I remove an arrow and put it on my bow. I pull the string back, take aim, and... all of the deer turn their heads and run into the forest. I curse to myself. They must have heard me, or smelled me, or-

My thoughts are cut short by some sort of giant beast breaking into the clearing, uprooting several trees in the process. About halfway through the clearing, it stops chasing the deer and smells its new target: me. It has the body of a lion, two leathery black wings, and a spiked tail dripping with poison. I guess manticores are smarter than deer, because my camouflage doesn't fool it for a second. It bears its long teeth and charges me, and I instinctively release the arrow. which only makes it angrier.

I stumble to my feet and start running, but the beast quickly closes the distance. I desperately scramble to climb up a tree, but it grabs my leg and pulls me to the ground, tearing large gashes in my calf. As it opens its ferocious maw, I pull out my knife to try and defend myself. Its jaws clamp down on my torso, and I start stabbing the monster in the face. The manticore roars and shakes me violently like a dog with a chew toy. I sink my knife up to the handle in its eye, and the beast throws me into a nearby tree. I hear a loud CRACK and fall to the ground, afraid to move in case I broke something. I struggle to keep my eyes open as the beast thrashes about, trying to remove the blade from its eye. It rams its face into a tree, shoving the blade in deeper and into its frontal lobe. I watch my assailant fall to the ground, blood running down the side of its face, its body spasming violently, and I slip into unconsciousness.

"Uhh, guys? We're in for a bit of trouble here." Troy calls back to us from the pilot's seat. I look up from my book and Cat stops drawing as we look out the window. We're suddenly in the middle of a huge lightning storm. Troy looks at his control panel and wipes the sweat from his forehead.

"Oh God, what's going on? None of my instruments are working!" He gestures to the dials in front of him, and, sure enough, the compass is spinning in circles and the altimeter is impersonating a metronome. Always quick to panic, he almost yells into his radio, "Hello, can anyone hear me, over?" The radio replies with very loud static.

"Calm down, can't you just go around it?" I grab a map out of the seat pocket and start navigating. "If we left around eight, we're probably around... *here*." I point to just before the midway mark on our course line, right in the middle of the Atlantic. "Now if we just... what the hell?"

Through a bare spot in the clouds, we get a glimpse of the surface below. Instead of rolling ocean, an immense forest is sprawled out below.

Here’s a rewrite of Chapter One. I added a bit more detail and set up some stuff for later.
Bless your face, if you sneezed while reading this bless you.
Peace off!

Butter Yellow [REWRITE]

Beyond the Forest

When I finally return to the land of the living, I find myself lying on the forest floor. I taste blood and notice my face is covered in the stuff. The sun is directly overhead, so it looks to be about noon. I survey my surroundings as I try to remember what happened. The ground is stained crimson, leading to the body of the manticore about ten meters away. Oh god, that's right, the manticore. I slowly stand up, and I notice my armor is lying next to me, with a huge break in the back that looks like it's been hastily glued back together.

I check myself for injuries and see that my leg and torso are wrapped in bandages. Not torn clothing like we use back at camp, but actual cloth bandages. I put it to the back of my mind and retrieve the knife from the creature’s eye socket. After wiping the blood from the steel blade, I use it as a mirror. My lower lip is swollen and I have a black eye, but my face is completely clean. I try not to think about it as I go about skinning and de-meating the beast. I walk back towards the camp with an immense lion's pelt, a bag of steak, a large spiky scorpion's tail, and several sharp claws that will make great arrowheads.

When I get back to the hut, I see Cat making a necklace of wildflowers she found nearby. Her smile turns to concern when she sees my bandages and she engages ‘child-asking-million-questions-mode.’

"Oh my god, did you get hurt? Are you okay? Where were you? Did you get anything?"

"Whoawhoawhoawhoa, slow down! I'm fine. I was attacked by a monster, but I killed it. I got knocked out, and when I came to, I was all doctored up."

She grabs my arm. "You need to be more careful! I don't know what I would do without you! Hey, where'd you get that pretty feather?"

"What feather?" She reaches and pulls a large, butter yellow pinion from my chest pocket. "I have no idea where that came from; I don't even know of a creature with yellow feathers that big! Then again, this crazy forest has all kinds of monsters."

"Maybe it was your guardian angel!" Cat suggests with a gasp. "When you woke up, your wounds were treated, right? Maybe she saw you fight the monster and healed you when you got hurt!"

"Yes, I'm sure that's it.” I stick the feather behind her ear as she smiles with childish naivete. “If it really is a guardian angel's feather, I want you to have it. Maybe it'll protect you when I'm not around." That night we feast on manticore stew and blackberries, and its pelt proves to be an excellent blanket.

"Umm... Where'd the ocean go?" Cat asks worryingly. As I turn to respond, everything stops. The plane's engine, the static on the radio, the front propeller, and our hearts just stop. We sit in stunned silence for what feels like hours before we drop like a stone towards the forest below.

Before I realize what I'm doing, I grab a parachute and thrust it towards Cat. "CAITLYN!" I scream, wind rushing past our ears, "Put this on and JUMP, I’ll be right behind you!" She nods in understanding and does as I told her. I turn back to Troy as a parachute lands in my arms. Troy is buckling his seatbelt and curling into a ball. "What are you doing? We have to get out of here!" Troy looks up at me with a grim expression on his face and mumbles something, but it's lost to the rush of air.

"WHAT?"

"THERE WERE ONLY TWO PARACHUTES!" Troy screams, tears welling in his eyes. "I didn’t expect Caitlyn to come with us, I’m sorry! Just GO!"

But I don't go. I put on the parachute, grab my brother's arm, and reach for his seatbelt. "What the hell are you doing? GO!"

"I’m not going without you!" I scream back, my eyes now watering. “We can both go, just hold on tight!”

"One parachute can’t support both of us, dammit! You have Cat to think of, so just GO!" and at that, he shoves me out of the plane and out of his arms. I pull the cord, and a great white rectangle opens above me.

My parachute gets caught in the branches of a lofty tree, and I can see Cat a few trees away in a similar situation.

"Cat! Are you alright?" She nods in reply, just as the falling husk of aluminium crashes through the forest half a kilometer away.

I’m awakened the next morning by another one of those damned birds. I start to get up and notice a bowl of leftover stew and a handful of flowers sitting next to the sleeping mat. Cat had brought me breakfast in bed, just like I always did when she was sick. After scarfing down the kind gesture I head outside. The manticore had enough meat on its bones to ensure I wouldn't have to hunt for about a week. Good thing, too, because Cat insisted I get plenty of rest.

Cat is sitting outside, tending the fire. I thank her for the breakfast and start chopping wood for the pile. Looking at the logs, I remember my armor, with its sub-par repair job. I ask her to go out and find something to glue it with, like sap or nectar. Once she's gone, I return to my woodcutting.

After the pile has at least doubled in height, I decided to tackle a very annoying hole in the roof of our shack. I grab a bucket of mud and some scrap metal and climb to the top. I smear it over the hole and stick the scrap to it. I climb back down to collect some stones and return to the roof. After weighing down the metal to ensure it seals, I sit back and enjoy the view.

To the left, about fifty meters away, I see Cat trying to harvest some sap from a fallen pine tree. To the right, I see a small stone at the top of a nearby hill, but I try not to think about that. In front of me sits a huge mountain, several dozen kilometers away. Just as I start to climb back down, I notice something out of the corner of my eye. I turn back towards the mountain, and I can barely make out a small, yellow shape hovering through the treetops. I shrug it off as some kind of bird and go help Cat, who is now covered with sap and pine needles.

It takes about half an hour for us to get out of the trees. After we cut ourselves loose from our parachutes, Cat and I run over to the crash site. I tell her to stay back, as parts of the surrounding area are still on fire. Both of the plane's wings have been snapped off, and the hull is halfway embedded in the soft earth. Pulling my collar up over my mouth and nose, I run over to the door, wrench it open, and search for my brother.

"Troy? Are you alright?" I yell, trying to breath through the smoke. The only response is a shallow moan from the pilot's seat. I rush over to him and fight the urge to vomit. The control panel in front of him has collapsed onto his legs, crushing them. Two of his ribs have broken through the skin, and there is a deep gash in the side of his head. "Oh dear god, Troy! I've got to get you out of here!" I pull the dashboard off of his legs and unbuckle his seat belt. Grabbing him under the arms, I pull his limp form from the burning hull and stretch him out on the forest floor.

He's struggling to breath, but he grabs my collar. I hold my ear to his mouth as he coughs twice before whispering, "Talk... Cat..." I yell for Cat to come over. She looks at Troy with unease as she holds his bloody hand and puts her ear close to his lips. He tells her something too faint for me to hear and goes limp. I stop trying to hold back the tears as I desperately pound his chest, but it doesn’t do any good.

"He's... gone." I close his eyes and straighten his jacket. I can tell Cat is struggling not to cry. She’s stronger than I am sometimes. "He died trying to save us. If he hadn't steered the plane away at the last minute, we would have been crushed." Cat gently kisses the cheek that is not covered in blood. "What... what did he say?"

Cat is on the verge of tears. "He said... take care of my little brother for me."

Cat spent the evening putting out the fires and cleaning up as I dug his grave at the top of a hill and marked it with a pillar-shaped stone I found nearby. Cat put some wildflowers on the fresh soil and we wrap ourselves in a parachute. That was our first night in this horrible place.

God knows it wouldn't be our last.

I swear there will be ponies in the next chapter, just be patient.
Bless your face, if you sneezed while reading this bless you.
Peace off!

Shot to the Wing [REWRITE]

Beyond the Forest

A week of taking it easy leaves me more than ready to get back in the normal swing of things. Cat isn't sure I'm completely healed yet, but the meat from that creature has almost run out. I decide to do some target practice before I head out, in case I've gotten rusty during my week off. After cutting some bark off a few trees, I take a few shots. It feels good to have a weapon in my hands again.

I find a fresh trail a way out from our clearing and begin to follow it. It leads along so many twists and turns that I don't know the way back anymore. This part of the forest has a much thicker canopy, and is still dark despite it being about noon. The air is thick and musty here, and I can’t help but sneeze every few minutes. I decide to get out of this area as soon as possible.

This proves easier said than done. After an hour of aimless walking, I try climbing a tree (which, admittedly, I should have thought of earlier), but the trees here have too few branches close enough to the ground. After another hour of climbing, I finally reach the canopy at the top of the tree, and my eyes take a minute to adjust to the sudden sunlight. I sigh in frustration when I see the hut a ways to the south. in the opposite direction I've been walking. for several hours. I sigh and descend from the treetop to start back towards camp, my game bag sadly empty.

After a few minutes, I get that unsettling feeling of being watched. I nock an arrow and stay on guard as I continue through the thick brush. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a shape move between two trees. Not desiring a repeat of last time, I switch out the stone-tipped arrow for one with a razor-sharp manticore claw on the end. I made them last week, cutting my fingers pretty badly in the process. As I continue, I sense more movement behind me, slowly but surely getting closer.

The game of invisible cat and archer mouse goes on for another hour. I'm almost out of the dark part of the forest, and my stalker is almost upon me. Not wanting to go back empty-handed, I crouch behind a bush and aim for the last place I heard movement. The seconds feel like hours as I wait for the smallest bit of motion. When I see the leaves rustle, I let the arrow fly.

There is a sickening squelch, followed by a scream. It wasn't an animal scream, it sounded almost... human. I run over to where the arrow stuck and discover the farthest possible thing from a human. Lying before me, an arrow lodged in its side...

Is a yellow, winged pony.

Nobody sleeps the first night. I try to convince Cat to take a nap, but she's too shaken, not that I blame her. The next morning Cat fiddles with the radio while I set to work finding the basics: food, water, and shelter. There was a bag of chips and package of jaffas in my luggage, but it didn't last long. After walking for a few minutes, we find a river. It looks clean enough, but we boil it first, just in case.

As for shelter, the half-buried wreckage of the plane is as good as any. It's mostly intact, with only a few holes here and there and a distinct lack of wings. It's big enough on the inside for us to sleep and store things and there is already a door and windows. I find the wings and strip them of their aluminium shell, cutting my hands in the process. I use part of it to cover the holes in the top and side and save the rest for later. We tear the seat cushions out and use their stuffing for a sleeping mat, and I break a piece of propeller off to use as a deadbolt for the door.

While she's cleaning out the debris, Cat finds a survival kit. Most of the contents are too damaged use, but a large, sharp knife and a survival handbook are almost completely unharmed. The box itself is useful, too. It's made of tough steel and has a padlock inside. There are three keys attached to it, so Cat and I each take one and leave the other in the box.

My luggage has some clothes, a few books, and my tea set. Cat's has clothes, a doll, and surprisingly more books than I do. Unfortunately, Troy had packed very light. There are only a few sets of clothes (which are much too small for me and far too large for Cat), a plastic-coated map, his reading glasses (broken), and his wallet.

We go to bed hungry that night, but at least we have a bed.

I stand above the strange, yellow and pink creature as it lies on the forest floor whimpering, almost hyperventilating. Just looking at it I can tell it is not meant to be killed, or even injured for that matter. I start speaking softly to it in hopes of calming it down.

"Ohgodohgodohgod... Hey, there. I'm sorry I shot you, I thought you were some kind of monster. I promise not to hurt you anymore." The pegasus looks up at me. Its eyes are big, bright, and intelligent. Something sounding like words of some strange language come from its mouth. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you. I'm going to remove the arrow, okay?" I point to the arrow and make a pulling motion, and it nods in understanding. I grab the arrow close to the wound and pull hard.

schliiiiick

The poor pony bites down hard on her lower lip to hold in another scream and starts crying as blood drips from the hole left behind. I gently stroke its pink mane while gently whispering apologies. It seems to be in shock, due to its lack of resistance. I can tell if I leave it here, it will surely die. I scoop the pastel pony up into my arms, being careful to avoid the wound, and start back home.

When we reach the hut, Cat is sitting by the fire and reading one of her many books. Deep in the story, she doesn't look up until I clear my throat. She's glad to see me, but positively ecstatic to see the yellow-and-pink body in my arms.

"What's THAT?" she runs over and inspects the injured creature. "What happened? Did you get hurt? Where were you?"

"Hey, quiet down. It's injured and scared, and we don't-"

"She." Cat corrected. "She's a she, not an it. Right?" The winged pony nods quietly and says more gibberish. "We can't understand you, but you can understand us?" She nods again and moves to get down. When I set her on the ground, she stands for a second and her legs buckle beneath her. Cat rushes over to help and notices the wound. "Ooh, that looks like it hurts!" she turns to me. "Did you do this?"

"Well, I was walking through the forest, and I was really on edge, so I shot at the first thing that moved. Unfortunately, that happened to be our friend here." I lean down to face the pony. "I'm very sorry I shot you, and I'm going to try my hardest to make up for it, okay?" She nods and snuggles up next to Cat.

Having read the survival manual several times, I had memorized prettymuch every medicinal herb and plant and their uses. I take some leaves from a bush next to the shack, I crush the flower of a plant a few meters into the forest, and I strip some bark from a tree next to the river. All of this goes into my teapot of water along with one of my last teabags. I let it boil for a few minutes and take it off the fire. I pour it into a cup and hold it out to the pony.

"Drink this." The pegasus sniffs at it questioningly. "It's just tea. It'll numb the pain a bit and help prevent infection." She takes a sip and cringes in disgust. "Yeah, it's pretty nasty, but it's good for you." She drinks some more, and soon the entire cup is drained. I open the door to the hut, and she limps inside. After making dinner, Cat and I decide to go to bed. When we open the door, we see a yellow and pink ball asleep at the foot of our bed mat. I spread a blanket over her and go to sleep.

Bless your face, if you sneezed while reading this bless you.
Peace off!

Begone, Doctor [REWRITE]

Beyond the Forest

After the second night, Cat and I wake up freezing. We had spread some spare clothes over us like a blanket, but whatever hadn't migrated to the foot of the "bed" was too thin to keep us warm. It also seems that an aluminium airplane hull does not retain heat very well.

We go outside to bask in the morning glow before we catch a cold. It's not much better out here, but the sun helps a bit. The fire we used to boil the water with, which had come from the burning wreckage, had long since gone out. I tell Cat to gather some small sticks and twigs while I get some larger pieces from the downed trees nearby. When we have enough to start a fire, I shred some of Troy's old clothes while Cat makes a circle of rocks next to our plane-hut.

I try the old rub-a-stick-until-it-combusts trick, but I can't get it to work. I notice a bright white dot on the shredded cloth, and look up to see Cat holding Troy's broken reading glasses up in the air. A few seconds later, the pile starts to smoke and catches fire. I put some small twigs on top and give the little genius a hug.

"That was brilliant! You're brilliant!" She giggles as I swing her around. "Now we just have to keep it alive, and it will do the same for us."

I awake as the sun comes up, a beam of light smacking me in the face. I lay there for a bit, listening, and sure enough hear another one of those damned birds! My goddaughter is still asleep beside me, but the yellow pony from yesterday is nowhere to be seen. I get up gently as possible and head outside, but she's not out here either.

Instead, I find two shiny red apples and a note. I’m stunned, not by the apples, but by the note; it’s written on actual paper, in actual ink, actually. I have to assume it's a thank-you for the medical treatment, because it comes with a gift. I have no idea what the note really says, being written in what I see as gibberish, but there is one word at the bottom, in some sort of cursive, that is at least readable. I fold the note and put it in my pocket, and my attention turns to the apples.

Those smooth, glistening, deep crimson fruits.

I haven't had one since before we came here, and nothing would make me happier than to sink my teeth into one, but I resist the urge. No, I have to wait for Cat, or she'll think I'm a pig or something. Right on queue, the door opens and a sleepy girl lumbers out, yawning. Upon seeing the apples in my hand, she's suddenly wide awake.

"Where did THOSE come from?!?" Not waiting for an answer, she runs over and starts eating one. She doesn’t take the apple, she just starts eating it out of my hand. I take a bite out of mine before she swipes it, too.

“I guess that yellow pegasus thing from yesterday gave them to us, there was even a note." I produce the letter from my pocket and hand it to Cat. "I can't make heads or tails of it, can you tell what it says?"

"No, not really. The only word I can read is *this* one." She points to the bottom. "Fluttershy. I wonder what that means."

"I think it's her name. I'm more impressed that she could actually write. Imagine what else she's capable of."

Now that we have a fire, we just need food to cook over it. The bag of chips in my suitcase was emptied a long time ago, so I go out to find something in the forest while Cat looks for plants that might be edible.

After half an hour of walking, I stumble across a pear tree. There are only a few left, but they're huge and perfectly ripe. I shake the tree and catch them when they fall down. This isn't enough, so I keep looking. After a few more minutes, I'm standing at the mouth of a cave. I'm not stupid enough to go inside, but I search the surrounding area and find some treasure. A shiny green gemstone the size of my fist is just lying there, and I cut my foot on a sharp claw protruding from the ground. After pulling it loose, I notice it looks like something I once saw in a museum... in the Cretaceous section. Something moves around inside the cave, and I make a break for it.

I limp back into camp, and I see Cat stirring a pot of something. To my amazement, she's found wild carrots, some kind of lettuce, and a weird plant called arrowhead that tastes like potatoes and made it all into a rich soup. It smells disgusting but tastes incredible. I show her the pears, gem, and claw. The jewel fascinates her, like all shiny things. I think of making the claw into some sort of weapon, and we have the fruit for dessert. We plant the seeds in hopes of one day having more pears.

For the first night in what feels like ages, we go to sleep warm and full.

We don't actually see Fluttershy until about two weeks later. Every day she's left us two apples on our doorstep before we wake up, so this morning I got up very very early to catch her. She hovers about a meter off the ground and removes the gifts from what appears to be a saddlebag. Her species must be incredibly advanced and intelligent to have discovered bag technology. I hide around the back of the hut as she approaches, and call her name when she's close.

"Fluttershy?" She looks up in shock at my sudden appearance, the apples falling from her mouth. "That is your name, right? Please don't leave, I want to talk to you... or, at least try." She nods and sits down next to the fire, covering one eye with her pink hair. "I want to thank you for the apples each morning. They're delicious, and they remind us of home. Second, how is your wound doing?" She smiles and moves her wing to show what was once a hole left by an arrow. Now it's stitched up and almost healed. "That's great! But, what I want to ask you most is, are there others like you? Where do you go after coming here?"

She sits up straight, clears her throat, and speaks in broken English. "I'm... live in Ponyville, far past of that is the forest." I stare at her, my mouth hanging open.

"W-where did you learn to speak English?"

"I'm ask friend Sunset help, and..." she looks ashamed as she reaches for something in her bag. "Sorry, take book for help learn." Nudging the book towards me, she looks like she's about to cry. I move closer and give her a hug.

"It's okay, don't cry! Cat has tons of books; she didn't even know it was gone. I really appreciate you going through all this trouble." She looks up, wiping the tears from her eyes before they can fall.

"You're is not mad?" I shake my head no and she returns the embrace. We sit like this for a minute before the door opens and Cat walks out. She takes one look at Fluttershy, smiles, and runs over to join our hug.

"Fluttershy, you came back! I missed you. That’s your name, right?" Fluttershy smiles and nods.

We spend the next few hours chatting and trying to improve Fluttershy's English. She's an incredibly fast learner, and can soon speak better than most teenage Americans. She tells us about her friends, and we tell her our story and describe where we came from. She seems really interested in animals, especially ones they don't have here. We talk all day and only stop when the sun begins to set. Fluttershy promises to return soon, and flies back the way she came.

AUTHOR'S NOTE TIME!
I want to thank you all for responding so positively! I never expected this after my last failure of a story.
Thanks to Platinum2094 for pre-reading.

Expect Chapter 5 in a few days
Bless your face, if you sneezed while reading this bless you.
Peace off!

No eat animals

Beyond the Forest
mostly written by theRedBrony

Cat and I are really worried. We haven’t seen hide nor hair (or feather) of Fluttershy for well over a week. She promised she’d be back soon, but she’s even stopped bringing apples each morning. On the tenth day, I decide to go looking for her.

I can’t help but think about what I found in the forest the other day. It was dead when I found it, practically broken in half over a fallen tree. It looked like some sort of bug, but it was huge. Horrible fangs protruded from its maw, and maggots had eaten holes in its legs. It’s big enough to have... I don’t want to think about that. There’s nothing like it in Cat’s book of mythology, which we’ve used to identify nearly all of the monsters I’ve seen here.

After our meetings with our buttery friend, it had become apparent that Toto, we aren’t on Earth anymore. We had toyed with the idea of some uncharted island or, in Cat’s case, Atlantis, which could explain these mythical creatures I’ve been killing. We had our doubts due to the lack of seagulls and smell of seawater, and we hadn’t seen any water at all in our parachuted descent. Fluttershy had confirmed this by saying this is a continent and the only ocean was far to the south. Despite our fears, it still hit us pretty hard when we realized there is no way home.

After a week of constant supervision, I’m convinced I can leave Cat alone for more than an hour while I go hunting. I’ve never been hunting before, but the survival manual gave some very helpful tips. I laugh at the irony of how prepared Troy always was for a situation like this, yet I’m the one who survived. No, I tell myself, you didn’t survive, Troy saved your lives. You owe it to him to keep both of you alive.

After half an hour of searching, I stumble across a dead chicken. At least, its head looks like a chicken. The rest is some sort of snake-bat abomination. It died with its eyes open, but for some reason I can’t look at them directly. I force myself to stare at the monster’s beady little eyes, and I feel... strange. My feet are numb, and I can’t move my toes. I look away and the feeling stops. What is this thing? I make an effort not to look at its face as I gut the creature. Troy said more than once that snake tastes like chicken, and it makes sense; chickens evolved from dinosaurs. Combine that with the fact this thing is at least half bird, and we got us some Kentucky Fried Cockatrice.

After converting my game bag to a backpack, Cat starts filling it with things I’ll need for my hike. We make sure to leave her enough for when I’m gone, since I can always hunt something on the way. I have absolutely no idea how far away Fluttershy lives, but it has to be close enough for her to fly here each morning. I don’t feel right about leaving Cat alone, but she argues that I leave her alone every time I go hunting. She’s right, but it doesn’t help to quell my anxiety.

I go back into the shelter to grab a few more clothes when I hear Cat gasp. “Oh my gosh! Fluttershy, you came back!” I run outside and see the familiar yellow pegasus land gracefully next to the fire pit, only to be tackled by the little girl.

“Well, speak of the devil! I was just about to come looking for you. Where have you been?” Cat lets go and Fluttershy blushes.

“I-I’m sorry for being not here long time. But have surprise for both you!” Cat and I stare expectantly, both thinking ‘apples’. “I’m take you to my home, and both meet mine friends. I can be translate.” Cat’s face lights up and runs off to pack a bag of her own.

“Is it very far from here?” She thinks for a moment before flying about four meters up.

“Uhh... You see mountain?” She points a hoof to the nearest ridge, and I nod. “Town just to left of that. Can’t see because forest.” I kick some dirt into the fire pit as Cat exits the hut, her own backpack on her shoulders. We look to our guide. “Oh, um... Follow.”

After several hours of walking, there’s still no end in sight. Cat pushed on for a while, but eventually Fluttershy let her ride on her back. She’s asleep, and Fluttershy is trying her hardest not to wake her. I’m carrying both of our bags, but Cat packed light so it’s no trouble. We can’t really chat, so I take a chance to examine the surroundings.

The air is a lot cooler here and less stuffy, and the canopy is thinner. The monstrous creatures we normally encountered are nowhere to be seen, replaced by swarms of adorable, fluffy creatures. They shy away from me, but they run right up to Fluttershy and walk with her. At one point she even had a white rabbit riding on her head.

After another half hour of walking, sunshine hits our faces as the forest finally thins out into a grassy plain. We pass a tree full of birdhouses and what looks like a chicken coop, and I inhale, fresh air with the scent of flowers and grass filling my lungs. Fluttershy turns to us bashfully.

“No, um... No eat animals... Okay?” I chuckle a bit and agree not to eat her pets, and she continues towards what I had assumed was a huge bush, but I now see is a cottage with a leafy roof. I have to duck to enter the pony-sized doorway, and I gasp when I see the inside.

It’s covered with little animal houses and what looks like handmade Ikea furniture. There is a rug on the floor and several picture frames hanging on the wall. If it weren’t for a few small details, I’d say we were in some girl’s flat back home. The wood is a strange colour, and everything is very bright. There is a painting on the wall above a couch with three butterflies and a rainbow. The butterflies match the ones on either side of our host’s flank, I think it’s some sort of tattoo. I meant to ask her about it but never got around to it.

Fluttershy gently sets Cat down on the sofa, careful not to wake the sleeping girl. She goes into a back room and returns with a blanket. “Bathroom is back,” she whispers, “two door on right. Please, um... use bath.” My eyes light up and I drop my bags.

“You... you have a bathroom?!” She nods as I struggle not to yell. I run down the hall and open the designated door, hitting my head on the threshold in the process. After so many cold, soapless baths in the river near our hut, I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to see a sink and tub.

One long, hot, overdue scrubbing later, I return to the hallway and hear Fluttershy speaking her pony gibberish. Someone else replies, but I don’t recognize the voice. Must be one of her friends. I step into the living room and see my yellow friend and another pegasus, this one light blue with a multicoloured mane. I start to say hello, but the stranger becomes a blur and my jaw explodes in pain.

Written by theRedBrony
Re-written by Landon531
Preread by Platinum2094

Bless your face, if you sneezed while reading this bless you.
Peace off!

Goodbye, my love

Beyond the Forest

“What the HELL was that for?!” I massage my jaw as Fluttershy holds the second pony back. The light blue pegasus’s face is flush with rage, and she looks like she wants to tear me apart.

“Too, feelicanice, tey sawsiabyt meusamicus sajitta! Egotay necabo!” The blue one shouts at me in pony gibberish. Fluttershy struggles to keep her friend, and her violently swinging hooves, away from my face.

“She says, ‘You son of... bad word… you shoot friend with arrow, you die.’” She directs her attention to my assailant. “Rainbow! Cumque hok diximus essay aksidens. Nonmi tibi intuitus!” Whatever she had said worked, because the pony in her arms immediately calmed down and backed away. “Sorry, this is friend Rainbow Dash. Umm... she… overprotective.”

I rub my aching jaw and nod. “Yeah, well... I guess I kind of had it coming. But she should know that I am truly sorry for what I did.” Fluttershy relays the message to Dash, who eyes me coldly but nods all the same. “Actually, meeting you was probably the best thing that could have happened to me and Cat. I don’t know if we can survive much longer on our own. Wait a second...”

I turn to the couch and see Cat lying there, still sound asleep. “She must really be tired to have slept through all that. Hey, Cat, wake up!” I gently shake her sleeping form, but there is no response. “Cat, rise and shine” I shake her again, a little harder this time, but she still doesn’t wake up. I put my ear to her mouth and hear nothing. “Something’s wrong, she’s not breathing. Caitlyn! Wake up!” Trying not to panic, I put two fingers under her jaw to feel for a pulse. I feel nothing and start to panic.

“Let I check.” Fluttershy nudges me out of the way and holds a hoof to Cat’s wrist. “She haves heartbeat, but very small. Look if injury.” We look over her arms and legs, and gasp in horror when we get to her ankle. The veins are a dark green and protruding from the skin.

“Oh God, she’s been poisoned! What do we do, what do we do?” The thought of losing the only family I have left wipes every trace of survival training from my mind. I start to hyperventilate before Fluttershy smacks me with her wing.

“Sorry, but please calm. I trained medicine.” She flies off for a second and returns with a piece of cloth about a foot long. I stare in confusion as she wraps the tourniquet just under Cat’s knee. “What?”

“Y-you’re a doctor?” She nods and points a hoof at a plaque on the wall. It’s written in pony-ese, but there is a picture of a stethoscope at the bottom.

...and a squirrel.

“Oh. You’re a veterinarian. Sorry, but don’t you have a hospital or something we could take her to instead?” She shakes her head and gives Rainbow Dash some instructions, who until now has looked on in confusion. Dash gives a salute and flies off into the next room, returning with a bottle of clear liquid and some rags.

“Really think is good to take she to hospital? Them treat you like monster! No worry, me have very much experience taking care of all kind of creatures.” She notices I’m pacing back and forth behind her. “Um, you give some space? If that alright... How about you go eat something? Food in there.” She points to a room. I don’t want to leave Cat’s side, but Fluttershy seems to know what she’s doing.

I duck under the doorway into the what I guess is the kitchen. There's not much in here besides a sink, a small countertop, and a few cabinets. Not even a stove. I turn around and look at the fireplace in the other room, it has pots and pans hanging from the mantle. Ah. I nervously poke around in a cabinet, the shelves are lined with vegetables and cans of what I assume is animal food. On the top shelf are a few cans of something called Para-Sprite. I crack one open and take a swig, and it turns out to be a sort of lemon-lime soda.

I rummage through some more of the cabinets, revealing an unbelievable stockpile of apples. Not just any apples, either. These apples are the ones that Fluttershy brought to us each morning until about a week ago, the reason I was about to go looking for her. I don’t want to seem greedy, so I only take two. There’s a breadbox on the counter, whose contents I use to make a sandwich with a few vegetables and some meat from my bag.

Before I can enjoy an actual meal for the first time in forever, Fluttershy calls to me from the next room. I promise my sandwich I will return for it and go see what the yellow pegasus wants. Cat is still unconscious, with an IV in her arm. Wow, Fluttershy's good with her hooves. Her leg looks a bit better, but the strange colour has spread.

“I sorry, I’m doesn’t know what wrong. Need to bring friend Sunset… er… Twilight to help, her can use magic to tell what did and how help. Okay?” I don’t like the thought of any more ponies knowing we’re here, but Cat doesn’t really have a choice. I nod in agreement and Fluttershy writes a quick note. “Rainbow, pocet placuereet vobis... Rainbow?” We look around for the blue pegasus in question and hear munching sounds coming from the kitchen.

I run over to the doorway to see Rainbow Dash finish the last bite of my sandwich. “Oh, fenum!” She downs the last of my Para-Sprite and crushes the can against her forehead. “Didvos fasseat quod sandwich? Erat delectamentum, ced gustaveet jenus fatum.” I stare in quiet fury as Fluttershy peeks her head around the corner.

“Oh, I sorry, should have told her your sandwich. Dash, illud nonerat valde nice! Wait a bit, I’ll make new one.”

“Umm, Fluttershy? That sandwich had meat in it.” Fluttershy turns several shades paler and slowly approaches her friend. She translates the message, and Rainbow looks confused. She elaborates a bit more before Dash goes from blue to white to green. She becomes a blur as she flies to the bathroom, and overly-dramatic vomiting can be heard. I examine the plate she left behind; she didn’t even leave any crumbs. “Goodbye, my love...”

“Well, guess Dash can’t go, so...” Fluttershy sighs and pokes her head out the front door. “Pinkie Pie, pocess- Ah!” She jumps in surprise as yet another pony seems to appear out of nowhere, this one bright pink with a curly, dark pink mane and tail, and no wings.

“Hi ibee, Fluttershy! Kwid faciamuss-” her question is cut short by a gasp when she sees me standing there. “Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie, who are you? What are you? Are you Fluttershy’s friend? I’ve heard a lot about youyou’renewintownIshouldthroughyouawelcomtoPonyvillepartylikeIdowithallofmynewfriendstherecanbecakeandgamesandmmfhhh-” Fluttershy covers the pink pony’s muzzle with a hoof, but she keeps talking.

“How can she speak English? You’ve spent a lot of time with me and Cat, and you’re not as good as she is!”

She gives me a big shrug and says, “No ask, just is Pinkie. We used to it.” She removes her hoof for a few seconds, and Pinkie’s saying something about an alligator. “Pinkie, could please take this note to Twilight? It emergency.”

She copies Rainbow’s salute. “Okie dokie loki, you can count on me! And you!” She points a hoof at me. “I will throw you a Welcome-to-Ponyville Party! I swear on it!” Just as mysteriously as she arrived, the pink pony disappears in a cloud of confetti.

One fresh sandwich later (about fifteen minutes), we hear a frantic knocking on the door. Fluttershy opens it and a very frantic-looking purple pony walks in.

This one has frazzled dark purple hair with a pink highlight and a… horn? She trudges in with the pink one bouncing in behind her. She looks up at me, pauses just briefly to stammer out a "Hello" and continues her way inside, following Fluttershy over to Cat.

I watch in nervous anticipation while Pinkie incessantly bounces up and down next to me. How she can be so bouncy with hooves on a hardwood floor is beyond me.

"Would you mind giving me a little personal space, Pinkie?"

"Sure!" She answers and bounces about two inches away.

Twilight and Fluttershy are mumbling to each other. Now there's a strange purple glow coming from Twilight's… horn.

"What's she doing?" I ask Pinkie, pointing a suspicious finger at the purple one.

"Magic!" Pinkie shouts.

Magic? Well that just explains everything, doesn't it.

After a few minutes of waiting around Twilight seems to have determined something. She mumbles something to Fluttershy. Their mumblings seem to be more that I can't hear them than it does that I simply can't understand them. Twilight marches right past me and says something to Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, who has just returned from her bout of food poisoning. It’s nice to know that Twilight is putting Cat's well being over formalities like small talk and introductions. Or maybe she's just scared of me.

They all walk out of the door. I quickly turn to Fluttershy. "Where are they going?"

"Oh, um, they go to forest. To friend Zecora for um… medicine."

They had guts, I'll give them that. Three defenseless ponies trekking into a forest infested with carnivorous beasts and who knows what else. Fluttershy mostly just flew over the forest from what I knew, although she seemed to be fairly unconcerned with the dangers when she walked us out.

On one hand, I can't just leave Cat here in this condition. But on the other hand, can I really let her potential rescuers go unprotected into the not-so-proverbial lion's den on a medicine run?

"Will they be okay out there?" I ask.

"Oh, yes…" I don't know why, but I could sense a tiny inkling of doubt in her soft voice and in her big eyes.

I run over to the couch, pick up my bow, arrows, and knife. I lean over Cat and kiss her gently on the forehead. "Bye Cat, I'm going to get you some medicine. I'll be right back, I promise."

"Take care of Cat for me!" I yell back to Fluttershy as I run through the open front door of her cottage, to catch up with the little colorful dots on the edge of the forest.

"WAIT FOR ME!"

Sorry this took so long, but my family has been going through a lot of crap right now. I know this chapter kind of goes against the others, but I think any story, no matter how serious, can benefit from a little comic relief. I’ll be sure to make up for it in the next one.

Thanks to theRedBrony

PS- a cookie to whoever can figure out the pony-ese