The red stallion ran as fast as he could through the tangle of the Everfree forest. Right behind him a heavy and loud set of wooden legs tore through the ground and brush behind him. He was breathing heavy, refusing to stop running. The timber wolf suddenly leaped off of its hind legs in an attempt to finally catch him.
As both a saving grace and a death trap, the stallion tripped on a large root that was jutting out of the ground, sending him rolling down into a sinkhole that was next to it. The timber wolf flew above him and landing awkwardly on the edge of the hole, its wooden body making an audible cracking sound as it collided with the ground. The stallion pushed his head up, disoriented from his fall. He immediately saw the brown creature and moved backwards until his back touched dirt.
"Come on Void... do... do something."
His panicked eyes frantically scanned his surroundings for something, anything useful. All he saw was dirt, roots, rocks, and that timber wolf. The wolf had stood back on his feet and was now staring at its prey.
"No... come on..." Void searched desperately for anything that could save him. All he could do was shut his eyes as he prepared for his attacker to jump on him. The wolf leaped once more, determined to catch his next meal, suddenly being engulfed by a huge blast of magic, shattering it into several pieces.
Void cracked open one of his eyes to see what he had done, the colors of dark magic still evident around his curved horn. When he was finally assured that his attacker wouldn't be trying to kill him anymore he let his body sink to the ground in unsteady breaths.
Then the green aura appeared around the pile of sticks and Void was reminded that a timber wolf can put itself back together. He pushed himself up and scrambled to get out of this hole and go... somewhere else. His run eventually slowed to a walk after Void no longer heard anything from behind him.
Void threw his body against a tree trunk. That was one of the closest calls he's ever had here. He needed to be more careful or prepared about the this type of thing. His ears twitched as he listened into the dark forest around him. Silence.
"That's good... I guess."
Void heaved himself back onto his hooves and looked around himself. He had completely lost his sense of direction when he was running. "Just pick a path I guess." Void declared. After looking around for a moment longer his hooves moved toward the direction he believed might bring him back home. Might. He really had no idea.
He walked for what felt like hours, despite it only being a few minutes. His hopes were falling pretty fast. He stopped and thought to himself. What were even the odds of him actually getting back to his home? It was more likely he would walk for days and find nothing than actually get back to the small camp he called home. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard an oddly loud noise from deeper in the forest.
Void's thoughts started jumping to conclusions. "Was that a tree? Or another wolf..." Void continued letting his thoughts create worse scenarios of what caused the sound and what would try and kill him, but eventually he smacked his head against a tree to make him come to his senses.
"It's nothing bad... probably just a tree." Repeated in Void's head again and again until he forced himself to believe it. He was way too paranoid about some things. That was just how his mind had developed. To be afraid of so many things. He returned his gaze to the direction of the sound. Maybe this could be a way he could work on his nerves? Hell, at least he had a direction to follow.
Void tossed any other negative thoughts to the back of his mind and started walking. In the mighty two minutes he walked his nerves immediately started working at him again. What if something was ready to pounce on him? What if he was walking up to some kind of trap. He almost considered just turning around and running away from whatever was about to appear in front of him. Those thoughts were dispelled when he actually saw what caused the noise, at least what he guessed it was.
On the edge of his vision there was some sort of chasm, or ravine, or whatever you wanted to call it. A brief blur of blue flew into his vision, carrying the end of an old bridge and attaching it to a side of the chasm. Was that what caused that bang? The bridge falling? Well... that was comforting in a way. At least it wasn't some Everfree creature. Then again maybe one brought it down in the first place.
That trian of thought wasn't allowed to continue as something else came into view, a bunch of other ponies that rallied up around the blue one that brought up the bridge. He couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but they seemed to be praising her for something. A bridge couldn't be that important could it? The group of ponies continued down the path that the bridge had opened.
Maybe... maybe they were headed to find something? Who knows what they could be doing out in a place like this. Void didn't want to be seen by them... but something in the back of his head was telling him to follow them. Maybe it was because he just wanted to see that they didn't get hurt. Maybe it was because he wanted to talk to them, which was odd considering at the same time he wanted stay away from them.
Void's thoughts on other ponies was like a love hate relationship. He wanted to talk to them, maybe actually talk to a pony in the years he's been out here. But then again he didn't want ponies seeing him whatsoever out of fear. Fear that they might think poorly of him, like he was some monster. Should he even follow them if it meant they might see him? He'd somehow avoided it for so long already, why let them start getting ideas now?
But... something just kept telling him to follow them. They didn't have to see him. He could just keep his distance. Maybe something good might come out of it. That was a positive train of thought for once. Maybe it would be good to stay on those tracks. By the time he decided to follow them it had been a few minutes since the group he saw had started walking away, so he had some distance to make up.
He sprinted forward to try and make up the distance he had allowed to develop. After a few moments of following the path, from a distance away, and eventually something else sprung into his view. It wasn't the group of ponies he saw, but something else. A large stone castle took up his vision as he stepped out into a small clearing that surrounded it. It was astonishing to him despite its state of obvious disarray.
"How have I never seen this?!" Void questioned as he walked up to one of the walls, turning his head in all sorts of directions to view it. He'd been in this forest for years, how had this slipped past him? Maybe it was because he never likes wandering away from his home. That was probably it.
Any more thoughts about the castle's beauty were cut off when Void noticed a flash of light erupt from one of the rooms. No, not even just a light. It was more of a rainbow. Did that group of ponies he saw earlier cause it? He hadn't even been thinking about them when he saw the castle. He decided to try and see if he could get a look of what had happened.
He tried for a minute or two to find a way up to the room when he saw the group start walking down a set of stairs. His immediate instinct was to bolt as fast as he could back to the cover of the forest around him and hide. It didn't help that Celestia had chosen to raise the sun right now, probably making him stick out even more. He leaped and dove into a bush the second he was close enough and turned himself around to look at what was behind him.
The group of six from earlier all walked out of the castle, along with some other dark blue pony and... Celestia? That was definitely something, er- somepony, he never expected to see out here. Now that he looked, the dark blue pony next to her looked similar to her. They all kept walking down the path that lead away from the castle, looking really happy for whatever reason.
Everypony eventually walked out of his sight into the forest again, the last pony to leave his sight was the purple pony. He didn't really like calling her that but it was all he had to go by. She turned her head around, probably to get another look at the castle, probably amazed by it as much as Void was. When she turned her head back around to keep walking, but then before she turned completely around she did something that immediately terrified Void. She locked eyes with him.
There was no doubt she saw him. They probably looked at each other for several seconds before Void's instincts suddenly kicked in and he bolted in the opposite direction. Who knows what he would look like to her? She probably thought he was some other creature of the Everfree.
"Hell, I might as well be." Void thought as he ran back into the darkness of the forest.
Author's Note
The first chapter of the new and improved story of Void Crystal. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it
Also, don't be afraid to point out any grammar errors or other problems. I can't fix them if I don't see them!
An encounter in the Everfree
It had been months since Void had last been seen. That odd group still occasionally seemed to show up in this forest. They were either brave or crazy to keep coming back here. At least on these occasions Void had developed a good sense of hiding places.
Now he was currently trying to find something dry to burn. It had rained earlier in the day and the night would likely be miserable without a fire. Void grabbed a few branches in his magic aura and snapped them away from the tree they had been attached to. After feeling them with his hoof, Void threw the branches at another tree, the red aura around them dissipating.
"Why is everything so damn wet?!" Void shouted to himself, not that anypony would have heard him. "You would think with the amount leaves these things have everything wouldn't be soaked."
Void threw himself against the tree he grabbed the branches off of and tried thinking to himself. At this point he was just trying to think of an excuse as to why he can't find anything dry. He just needed to get smarter about where he was looking. He needed a reason to keep looking, anything to keep his mind off the torture a cold night would be.
He stood himself back up and tried looking around for any creative solutions to his problem. He walked around for a few minutes longer before finding a place of interest. In front of him was a large pond full of murky green water. Naturally at the sight of it, Void's nerves started working against him.
"What if there's something hiding in the water? Is this place even worth looking around?" Void kept doubting himself. Finally he shoved those thoughts aside. The water wasn't even what was interesting to him, it was something near it. A few feet away from the waters edge here was a dead, fallen over tree. A dead tree meant it could be easily ripped apart, the bark might have kept the insides of the wood dry, maybe he could finally find what he was looking for?
Void didn't waste any time in sprinted around the pond to get to the tree. Upon reaching it he slammed his hoof into to try and splinter the wood. The core of the tree quickly came to his sight as Void shouted in his victory. He didn't actually get to check to see if it actually was a victory, as Void's head quickly snapped around to look at the pond as he heard a deep growl from behind him.
What do you know, his nerves were actually right. Right in the instance he turned around Void found his legs instinctively moving to jump out of the path of the beasts jaws. Void only looked at it for a second before taking off again. It was large whatever it was, a tail and long jaws, and was covered in rocks. The growl alone was enough to tell Void it wasn't something he wanted to be near.
The cragadile's jaws crushed down against the wood of the tree instead of Void like it had wanted. It quickly shook out whatever wood from its jaws it could and set its sights on Void once more, who was currently sprinting away like anypony would. He chase went on for a few good minutes, Void constantly scrambling through the thick brush of the forest while the cragadile used its massive size and strength to bulldoze through it all. Void, exhausted and out of breath, eventually tripped against a large root and sent him smashing into the ground against a rock.
Void was dazed but had enough of his senses to try and push himself up. His legs burned with pain, protesting any further movement. His neck still listened to him as he was able to look at the cragadile that was being extremely persistent in this chase. It looked like he was about to finally get killed. Honestly he was surprised it hadn't happened sooner. Everything in this forest seeming to scream 'I am the incarnation of death! Kneel so I can bite your head off!' or something stupid like that.
Void shut his eyes again. Whatever had let him destroy the timber wolf in the past wasn't about to save him this time. He didn't feel the same buildup of magic like last time. Then heard it. A snapping sound, probably the jaws of death. Then Void realized those jaws weren't actually the initial sound. One of his eyes cracked open to see something that confused him.
The cragadile seemed to have gotten stuck in something. It wasn't the terrain, at least not something natural from it. All around it seemed to be a bunch of large lines that were stopping the beasts advance. On a closer look, they weren't even large vines, they were lots of small ones that had been woven together so that they were strong enough to apparently resist even the cragadile's strength.
Then he heard two new sounds, and one feeling, that being the impact of a smaller rock hitting his ribs. Naturally he snapped his head to the direction it came from and saw some other pony standing there. No, that couldn't be pony could it? All those patterns and markings didn't look like anything he'd ever seen on a pony before. Then he realized they were shouting at him, motioning him in another direction.
"Go and make pace! Get away from this place!" She shouted, the voice sounding female, though with some kind of accent on it for sure.
In a matter of two seconds Void's mind went from 'Who is this pony?' to 'Where do they want me to go?' to 'Well it can't be worse than the giant monster next to me.' Void forced his legs to cooperate and started sprinting away in the direction he had been ushered.
Another few minutes went by of sprinting away from danger, Void not even realizing the sounds of the cragadile could no longer be heard. For all he cared it was still right behind him. Soon enough his legs re-entered their state of procrastination and let Void drop back to the ground, this time at least letting Void slow down and not break something. Void threw his head into his front hooves as he tried to make sense of whatever just happened. Once again his thoughts didn't continue as he noticed the presence of blood on his hoof. He must've cut it when he landed against that rock.
Whatever. A cut was lower on his list of concerns. What he wanted to figure out right now was who was that strange pony that had seen him back there? More importantly, why did she help him out? "... random pony with some strange looks, accent, probably set that trap. Guess I'm not the only one stupid enough to be out here." Void concluded.
Void had been so focused on trying to figure out who this pony was that they didn't even realize they had caught up with them, having officially gotten rid of their pursuer. She steadily walked over to where Void still had his head down and placed her hoof against his shoulder, gaining the reaction of Void snapping his head back to see her, scrambling back to his hooves at her sight.
"Who are you?!" Void instinctively asked her. He surprised himself from not trying to run away, at least not immediately. Maybe it was because she saved back there. There was no denying Void probably would have become that cragadile's next meal if this pony hadn't set up that trap, assuming they we're intact the ones that did. Or maybe it was because there actually was somepony else that looked like they stayed out here in this forest, probably as brave as Void was crazy for being out here.
"I apologize if my appearance came as a surprise. I am Zecora." The pony said as she extended her hoof out in greeting. "I came to your aid because you appeared to be about to meet your demise."
Rhymes... ok. Nothing to bother with. There were weirder things out here. "Uh... hi, Zecora." Void said in a low tone as he reluctantly shook her hoof.
Zecora must've taken notice of the blood on his hoof. "You appear to have been injured during our excursion. Perhaps you can follow me to where I reside, and receive some type of medication." She offered him. Did she mean go to her house? Was that out here? Not that it really mattered, Void didn't like that idea.
"Uh, sorry but I... um... have to try and get back to my own place, y'know, make sure everything's together and what not." Void said very nervously, unsure how to phrase his answer.
Zecora stayed persistent about her offer. "Please, I welcome your arrival. You would not get back as far as the cragadile swamp before night casts its shadows among the sky, and you should know nothing good happens here when night falls." Zecora explained.
Well, it was good reasoning, Void figured. But was it worth it? "Uh that's... nice and all but I think I can still get back home. I can handle the night here." Void tried to argue, though he was shot down by Zecora's next sentence.
"I'm sure you would handle it as well as your cragadile situation. You blindly ran with no incentive. Come with me, I can give you some protection against these dastardly beasts and their foul intentions."
Void was losing any position to argue on. All of Zecora's statements were valid and had some ground to stand on, not to mention very kind offers. Void was just senselessly rambling to try and convince her otherwise. Maybe rejecting her kindness wasn't such a great idea.
"Uh... sure... thank you." Void hesitantly agreed. Something about this entire thing was making him super uncomfortable about it. No, A LOT of things were making him uncomfortable.
"Good to see you can agree. Now let us flee this dangerous place." Zecora declared in a friendly tone as she started walking down the path Void had been running down, where her house presumably was.
"Why did I just agree to that..." Void wondered as he started walking after her, staying farther back than most ponies would. The rest of the walk was filled with an ominous sense of quiet, neither Void nor Zecora saying anything for a few minutes, merely listening to the distant sounds made by whatever else was in the forest. They didn't seem to bother Zecora, though they terrified Void.
After a long time of no evident progress, Void started looking around for something to think about. There was... a bunch of vines... Void started talking to himself at a low tone that Zecora couldn't here. "Oh what's the point. I've seen everything here. Nothing new. Though... that, what did Zecora call it... cragadile? That sounds right. I've never seen that."
It was definitely a creature he hadn't seen after all this time. Who knows what other things of this forest he had never seen. First there was that castle, then there was that hydra, then those crazy vines that were growing over everything, although those disappeared after a little while, and now that huge cragadile. Is there anything in this forest that DOESN'T want to kill him? Well, maybe Zecora, but even then he didn't know where they were going. He could be going straight to another trap. Why believe her in the first place?
Zecora had stopped ahead and had taken notice of Void's distressed expression. "What bothers your mind Void?" She asked simply.
The question snapped Void back to reality. He didn't even realize his expression was showing his thoughts. "Oh, nothing. It's nothing." Void insisted. Void didnt think his nerves were anything worth mentioning. He decided to change the subject before Zecora could ask another question. "How close are we to where we're going?"
"We are just around the corner. See for yourself that I am no scorner." Zecora said as she pushed her way through a few more tangles of forest brush. Void followed and saw what he could've guessed what Zecora's home was. A big wooden hut that looked like it was forged out of a huge tree. There were also a bunch of strange masks raised around it, and more on the inside after Void looked through one of its windows. Zecora walked up to the door at the front of it and pulled it open, gesturing for Void to enter before her.
Void hesitated. Was this a good idea? Why was he even still asking that question? Zecora seemed friendly enough to be trustworthy. Void walked in without saying anything, looking around at the different things inside to occupy his attention. Zecora quickly noticed the discomfort Void continued to display.
"What is with your face? My home is but a safe place." Zecora said to be reassuring. After speaking she walked over to one of her shelfs and pulled a few items away from it.
Void snapped his head back in her direction. "Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to be rude. It's nice!" Void overreacts to the comment.
Zecora merely smiles back at him. "It is nothing to worry about. Though you seem quite bothered. Perhaps a simple remedy to offer some clarity?" Zecora said as she tossed the items she had grabbed into her cauldron.
"Huh... oh, no that's fine, I'm okay over here." Void insisted. He didn't think there was anything wrong at that moment. Zecora protested the idea.
"Agitation will never lead to a sense of completion. Sit down, let us have some conversation." Zecora invited. Zecora filled two of her cups with the drink she had prepared and gestured for Void to join her at the table she layed them on.
Void looked at the drink, then Zecora, and finally walked over to where Zecora wanted him to sit. He didn't say anything until Zecora asked him a question, he simply fiddled with his cup. "So, anything you want to speak about first?" Zecora asked, wanting Void to ask any questions or share any thoughts first to help him feel welcomed.
"Um... you... have some interesting decorations." Void said to simply say something. He didn't really know how to go about this conversation. Conversing with another pony wasn't something he had done in ...
...
... Forget about it. Maybe he'll get the hang of this.
Zecora seemed flattered by the phrase. "They are a homage to my people. I did not start my life in this forest so i crafted them in their honor." Zecora explained.
Void thought about the phrase for a few moments before a realization came to him. "Wait, are you not a pony?" Void asked. That would explain the odd markings and decor around Zecora.
Zecora laughed a little to herself. "No, I'm am not a pony, but a Zebra." Zecora said. She decided to follow up on the explanation after seeing embarrassment spread on Void's face. "It is fine Void. Don't forsake yourself. You are not the first pony to have make that mistake." She reassured him. Zecora decided to press her own question before Void made another apology. "So why have you come to the Everfree? It is not exactly a place you would go to flee."
Void had his words right at the edge of his mouth when Zecora cut him off like she wanted. When he heard the question he got weary and asked another question. "The Everfree? Is that the name of this forest?" He asked shakily, both because he did not know if it was or not and to avoid the question.
Zecora picked up on the worry when she asked her question. She suspected Void was hiding something from here, something important. She answered his question before pressing her own once more. "Yes, it is indeed. It is a place many would heed before coming. Did you never hear of these sayings?"
A silence surrounded Void as he tried crafting an answer for her, fiddling with the cup she had handed him earlier when they sat down. "Uh... no. Probably would have stayed away if I did." Void replied, laughing with quite a bit of nervousness evident in it.
"Hmm... then why do you remain? The things inside here can cause great pain, yet you have stayed inside this dangerous place. You also mention a place you wished to return to, so you likely have been here for quite some time." Zecora pointed out, hoping to persuade Void into opening up to her more.
Void had to admit she had a point there. "Uh... I... guess it's like there's nothing wrong with it. I get along fine." Void lied.
"And you were clearly fine when I found you running a mile to get away from that Cragadile."
"..."
"I see there is likely different reason you can tell me. You may inform me of this or retain your state of unreason."
"..."
Void had nothing to say. He couldn't answer her truthfully at all, but Zecora could clearly see right through his lies. She was keener than Void would've liked.
"Perhaps your reason for keeping your silence is you are too afraid to ask for some guidance?" Zecora asked. Void had to think about that phrase as Zecora stepped away for a moment.
"What does that mean?" Void finally asked, still avoiding answering any of Zecora's questions. Though this one was a confusing one.
"I am implying that you desire something that you are afraid is impossible to acquire." Zecora explained. Zecora had been thoroughly analyzing Void over the course of their conversation, looking at his body language, how he spoke, how he answered her questions, which thinking about it he wasn't exactly doing, having been avoiding answering certain ones. She had a theory about him, she now wanted to put it to the test.
"And that is..." Void said already suspecting the answer.
"A simple friendship. You clearly have acknowledged the existence of the beloved Ponyville, yet you act ill of it. Perhaps it is a matter that has stemmed from a fear of rejection, that the ponies of Ponyville would not treat to with affection." Zecora would have pressed further with her explaination, but she had been cut off by Void.
"That's not true! I'm not afraid of making friends! I... just don't need them. That's all." Void insisted, his tone having been one of anger when he started, but it had fallen to an almost depressed one by the time he finished his sentence.
Zecora was sensing an internal conflict about the statement. "I do not feel as though you are being true, even to yourself without a single clue." Zecora stated.
"No. I know my own thoughts. I know what I'm thinking." Void said, a sense of seriousness becoming evident in his voice that he had lacked the entire conversation until now.
"Perhaps you know so, but you may be only dealing yourself a blow." Zecora walked over to her door as she spoke. "I have an ingredient that I believe may bring you at ease, but you must be obidient until I return with it." Zecora said sternly in an effort to convince Void to stay as she walked out of the small house and shut her door behind her, leaving Void by himself to ponder.
Void slouched onto the table, angry and conflicted. This was all more than he wanted to deal with. Zecora was right, he was afraid. She was right about him, he was afraid of how he looked to other ponies, he was afraid of other creatures in the Everfree, he was afraid of... why was he afraid of EVERYTHING!
Void smashed his hoof against Zecora's table, causing it to hit the wall nearest to it with a loud bang. He didn't care about this. Nothing was going to change even if he tried, he told himself. Whatever Zecora was going to bring him it wasn't going to help him. After some thinking he strode over to door of Zecora's hut, opening the door with a light creak and running back into the blackness of the forest.
Zecora quietly walked through the streets of Ponyville, the streets void of any sound from its residents. She figured the pony she was looking for would be awake at least. Her hoofs quietly lead her to the destination she had in mind and trotted up to it during the last few steps. Now taking the final step and bringing her hoof to door and knocking on it lightly two times, stopping as she saw move to stir within. Knowing she had their attention she stood until the pony inside walked over and opened the door to greet her, albeit being quite tired.
"Hm... Zecora? What are you doing here?" The princess of friendship asked her visitor.
Author's Note
After all the delays and failed promises I finally fulfill one of them and got the chapter out! Thank you all for being so patient with me. I will do my best to keep the chapters coming more frequently from now on.
As usual if you see some problems I missed simply point them out or kindly share any other thoughts so far. I love to hear from everypony out there even if you're correcting me
