My Little Tale

To their dismay, it was not the surface.

But at the same time, it looked so much like it was the outside.

Before them was a dense snowy forest, foggy and a howling wind that sent a chill down their spine.

The gate suddenly closed behind them and made a few mechanical noises before it stopped. There was no going back for them, they had made their decision.

Among the dense forest, the human noticed a small path that led to somewhere, perhaps a refuge or a place where they would not freeze to death. They breathed in slowly and began walking in the small path.

They began questioning the ambient they were in. How could it be that a large forest such as this exist so far below the actual surface? Not mentioning the snow and wind, that simulated quite accurately what one would feel on the surface. They had a feeling that this wasn't even the beginning of what they were going to see in the future.

They would sometimes glance around, unsure if there were any beings waiting to catch them off-guard or just their mind playing tricks on them. Either way, it was preferable to be safe than sorry.

Their heart suddenly jumped, and caused them to feel a strange sensation all over their body.

Their heart began pounding faster, but for what reason, they did not know. Their breathing was now visible against the chilly winds, soon they would be shivering just from the cold that was beginning to shatter their skin. They crossed their arms, trying to keep themselves warm.

Cold sweat slid down their forehead. They felt uneasy.

At that moment, they spotted a wooden bridge of sorts by the far end of the fog. Perhaps it was there they could find a shel-

*Crack*

They turned back, paranoid that something was following them.

They started taking longer steps, hurrying to get past the gate. They needed to get past that gate.

The human heard the crunching of snow behind them, positive now that they were being followed.

It seemed to be getting closer and closer, not matter how much the human advanced their steps.

By now, they were at the beginning of the bridge, but...

They couldn't move.

The crunching noises approached and slowed down. The human felt something breathing behind them.

"H u m a n"

"D o n ' t   y o u   k n o w   h o w   to  g r e e t   a   n e w   f r i e n d ?"

"T u r n   a r o u n d ,  a n d   s h a k e   m y   h o o f ,"

Barely knowing what to expect, they turned around cautiously and looked at the hoof in front of them.

They shook it.

A massive wave of shock consumed their body as they felt their hair spike up and their vision blur beyond recognition.

They had been caught, they would fall and be brought to the king and be separated from their soul. They thought they would die right here in this instant, but, what they envisioned turned out completely different from what they actually got.

The shock subsided, and they blinked, still confused to why they hadn't fallen yet.

They focused their attention at the being in front of them.

The being howled in laughter, it seemed as if they were content at the human's misfortune.

"Y- You look like you just came out of a tornado," It said, trying to contain its joy.

The... pony in front of them had an overall pink appearance. Its long dark mane covered most of its right eye, while its left eye had the clearness and vibrancy of the surface sky, blue. This pony seemed to be wearing a similarly colored jacket that went down until it reached its bare pink hooves, while its hind legs were cushioned with home slippers.

"Boy, I haven't laughed at an overused prank in long time,"

"You have officially made my day, kid,"

"Oh, by the way," Adjusting its mane a bit.

"I'm Pinkie Pie, hilarious name, am I right?"

"And you must be a human, funny how you all look like over-sized action figures," Giving a wink.

The mare rubbed her chin with her hoof.

"Hm, tell you what,"

"See that? That over there in the sky is my lil' sister,"

"She's been searching for a human like you for a long while,"

"How about we make a surprise?"

The human didn't seem to like the idea.

"Oh, don't worry, she's completely harmless,"

"The worst she can do is... Well,"

"Is to crash a piano onto your head, but that's it really," Speaking as if it were a common event.

"Come on now, silly,"

The human unsure what just happened, pretended to understand everything the mare did until now, and limited themselves on following her over the perfectly designed bridge (It was actually nearly falling apart, but the human didn't notice). They had instead noticed, that the chilly winds and the frozen air had melted into a warm climate, even though the snow remained the same all over.

The path led to a clearing, where they noticed an empty shack, or perhaps outpost with an array of balloons freely floating around it in a circle.

"Hey, Googly Eyes! I've got a surprise for you!"

"... Where has she gone to?"

Both looked around, searching for the mare's sister, until a loud thump and a barrage of snow overwhelmed them.

The human was stuck beneath the snow pile.

"Oh Em Gee," They heard an unfamiliar voice say.

"PINK, WEREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE SEARCHING FOR FROSTING FOR THE TRAP?!"

"There's a whole lot of it around you,"

"And besides, I've been preparing a surprise for you,"

"Huh? What surprise..."

"IS THIS THE SURPRISE, PINK?!"

"It's not the snow pile silly, it's what's inside,"

As if on cue, the human managed to pop their head out of the snow, and be greeted with the view of yet another pony.

A pony with an unkempt mane and fur, grey and yellow respectively, gazed upon the human with its orange eyes... Its eyes ventured around its sockets separately, trying to focus on the being in front of them without much success, not mentioning its wings that served as paddles that spun around endlessly.

"Is that a..."

"Yes, Googly, it is,"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT,"

"Then what should I call you?"

"HAH! That is quite simple, my dear sister," The mare said in a gentle manner, her eyes somehow adjusting back to what is considered normal.

"I am only to be known as Le Grandiose Derpimena!"

"The most excellent-est muffin baker IN ALL OF THE WORLD, AND BEYOOOND!" Managing to stay up with her hind legs and posing dramatically.

The human smirked.

"Oh and, nice haircut you have there, human!" The mare remarked.

They glanced up, and noticed that they had that spiked hairstyle of the electric shock from before. They made sure to adjust it.

"BUT FOR NOW! I MUST GO, CYA TWO LATER, BYE," She took off and flew to the air, paddling majestically to the horizon.

The human glanced at Pinkie Pie.

She shrugged.

"Oh, and if you haven't guessed yet, she's Derpy,"

...

"Not accustomed to hearing those names yet, huh? Don't worry, you'll get used to them, eventually,"

"But hey, judging by how quick she came here and left, she's probably preparing something,"

"And I'm sure it involves you in some way," Smiling a little.

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up to you eventually,"

...

"Oh, no, not at all,"

"Sure, you might find a couple of party-poopers out there, but really,"

"You won't get to see too many ponies wandering the forest at this time,"

They were slightly confused by this, but nodded otherwise. They made a turn, and began walking down the path deeper into the forest.

**

'Hello, I am a box! You can put anything inside of me, for FREE! - Written kindly by a box lover '

It seemed as if they had encountered a lone box just beside the path. They found it strange that someone would put a box in the middle of an underground forest just so something could be stored there indefinitely. Still, they needed to topple their curiosity, and open the container.

Spider webs, rotting wood, horrible smell, and... Two magnificent boxing gloves.

The human took hold of the boxing gloves and examined them.

It looked so new compared to what the box had inside, they thought that this must've been placed here recently. Shortly after taking hold of the gloves, the human made a comparison with their old toy knife and the boxing gloves, and came to the conclusion that they needed better ways to defend themselves than using a simple toy knife. The human dropped it in the box and closed it.

Satisfied with their new find, they equipped the gloves and set out to explore the rest of the forest...

That is, until a voice suddenly called them.

"He...hey- h- please come over h-here..." Its voice cracked and almost inaudible.

The human looked around and tried to spot the source of the voice.

"T- to your left, p-please,"

They turned left and finally noticed from where it was coming from. Behind the trees, a clearing was visible, and a figure weakly waved its arms at the human. They approached the trees, and slowly walked through the vegetation.

An old-looking pony laid on the floor and trembled to get on its hooves. The human did not think twice, and rushed to help the old pony up, but before they could, the pony pointed towards its walking stick, which was nearly falling off a small dock down the river and be flushed away.

At the last moment, they managed to grasp the stick, and successfully bring it to the old pony.

"Aaah, th- thank you so much, h-human," It said while the human helped it get up.

"It h-has been a lo-long time since a- a human has helped an- an old fool like me, eheheh," Coughing a little.

"I- I appreciate y- your h-help," The pony nodded.

"B- but please, h- human,"

"I have a- a rigorous request f- for you," Gaining their full attention.

The pony shook as it tried to get an enclosed letter out of its saddle bags.

"Take t-this,"

"It is for an old friend o- of mine, living far away in..." Its words trembled more for a second.

"B- badlands,"

"Y- You will recognize him, w-when you see him... I miss him so much,"

"I- If you give this to- him, tell him a- and his compatriots that there wa- was always a p-pony who cared about them..."

The pony suffered from a coughing fit. The human tried helping, but was waved away.

"It's al-right, I am fine,"

"W- Will you please give this to him?"

The human felt bad for the old pony, and firmly nodded in reply.

He smiled, "You are truly blessed, human,"

After waving the pony goodbye, they passed through the light vegetation and continued following the path.

They walked, and walked, looking at their sides for anything of interest, searching for something that would appeal to them or give them a challenge. They needed to explore this forest more, but without much to see, was it really worth the time? Still, they followed the path, in hopes of stumbling across something.

And they did, against a rock, which made them fall right into their face.

They dug out their face from the snow, and glanced up to see two figures talking to each other.

"HAHA! I told you it would work! The human didn't see it!"

"Wow, I'm like, really proud of you, sis',"

"THANK YOU!"

It was the two sisters. The human got up to their feet and brushed the snow off of their clothes.

"I shall be awarded with the most AWESOME-EST PRIZE EVER!"

"Imagine Pink, us two in the capital, BAKING THE BEST MUFFINS THE WHOLE OF THE UNDERGROUND HAS SEEN!" Nearly squishing her sister with her embrace.

"And you, human, will be our special ingredient!"

They cocked their head.

"Ooooooooh, trust me human, you will enjoy what's coming next..." Her eyes suddenly straightening.

"But first, I've got to prepare it! BAAAAAAI," Zapping out of view.

Again, the human stood there, absolutely dazzled out of their mind by this. This time however, they couldn't bother asking Pinkie Pie what just happened or how her sister literally zapped out of their view. They had a feeling that this wasn't even the beginning for their misadventures with the sisters.

They, without looking, walked past the pink mare, who called out before too late.

"Hey, kid, don't worry, she usually isn't like this,"

"It's just that she's really excited to show you her... Projects, that she can't control herself,"

"I'm sure you'll end up enjoying it," Giving a wink.

"Well, I'll see you at the next stop,"

Continuing on forward, they made sure to follow the path, sometimes being forced to make a detour either due to a fallen tree, or a steep cliff, even though they still were underground. They allowed themselves to stop questioning every detail they encountered, some of them being so strange that they couldn't even begin describing it.

They had encountered a shack, similar to what they had seen earlier. Strangely, the path leading up to it was littered with combs. Combs of all colors and variety. Some transparent, some radioactive and some even dismembering...

Nope, nothing unusual, according to the forest's standards.

They approached the shack, curious to what'd they find. They peeked inside.

The human found themselves thrown backwards at an immense speed and hit their head against a tree. From inside the shack, a horrible creature raised its head, staring down at the human.

"Yuo no touch my hayr," It said with its quirky voice.

A disgruntled pony with incredibly tiny eyes, squinted at the human in a fervent manner. Its extremely long and unkempt hair reached down its chin, which caused it to look like it was a growing beard. They happened to notice another detail, that this pony had a horn coming out of its hair, just above its forehead. The human found it strange, at least for a pony to have such feature, but they had thrown that meaning out of the window a while ago.

"Yuo are tresssspasssing, and yuo shall pai for it!"

The pony somehow levitated a comb out of the shack and threw it at the human, who was barely in time to dodge it.

They had noticed that a glow had encompassed the horn whilst the pony attacked them. They made sure to remember this.

While they had checked the pony, and learned that its name was ' Yuon Sun ', it charged yet another attack, this time levitating those green radioactive combs and spearing them at the human.

"Hayr not gud, need better comb," It said while it tried finding a comb to use.

They took this opportunity to try and talk with them, but were shooed off.

"Nonono! U hurt hayr, u pay for that!" It said, before summoning a massive wave of sharpened combs.

Some of them hit their target, but doing little to no damage what so ever.

"Bad combs, baaaad!"

They thought for a moment on the situation, and came to the conclusion that there was only one answer to this problem. They picked up a normal comb from the ground, and straightened the pony's fur, leaving behind a nicely arranged mane.

"Waaat?! Impossibru!!!!!" It nearly screamed.

"Yuo help Yuon? But yuo human!"

They straightened its mane further, making the pony look more like a gentleman, than a barbarian with a massive beard.

"..." It looked itself at a mirror.

"Yuon learned lesson today, human good, make Yuon vely beetiful,"

It nodded happily, "Tank you!"

They nodded back, trying to push away any questions regarding the radioactive combs.

Just as they were about to turn around, they noticed that all of the combs laying on the floor were being levitated inside the shack, which forced the human to dodge a couple of them coming from ahead, while Yuon hummed a happy tune, unaware of this.

They sighed, defeated at the thought of more misadventures to be lived inside this forest.