Equestria: Alexi's Journeyby OJ OrbitChaptersThe Journey BeginsDesert StormFlying with GriffinsLostThe Journey Begins“I am keeping promise I made to friend…” Alexi stepped into the flashing, glowing, and shocking teleporter. His gear on his back, he was set for what could be his final journey. After defeating Merasmus, he was determined to return to Equestria. He had given up on time travel, for now it meant nothing to him. All that mattered, was keeping his promise. He waved goodbye to his comrades as his image faded. It was a tear jerking moment, for he was not coming back. He… I will take intro from here…is my story, I shall open it. Fine, do what you will Alexi, just promise to give me back the story, you can't possibly tell it all… Spasibo tovarishchu… Set with all of my gear, I stepped through teleporter, waiting eagerly to see friend I had left behind, someone, or rather, somepony, very dear to my heart. I left human world to return to Equestria, magical land, filled with wonders. Teleporter, it flashed, and shocked as electrical currents wizzed passed me. Soon I was gone, and now was traveling to my destination. As I traveled down through what William could have described as uh, “space time continuum.” I could feel immense pain in my chest, one similar to one I felt first time I traveled to Equestria, only that trip was far too short for me. I wished I could have stayed, but I couldn’t. Now I am going back, and I cannot wait to see my beloved friend again. It zapped and flew, beams of light I mean, and pain in my chest grew more and more unbearable. I felt like ripping out my own heart just to ease pain, I couldn’t bear it any longer. Eventually, I passed out, still in mid travel. Damn William for not making this contraption faster… I awoke in desert like land, dry, hot, dear Lenin especially hot, and sandy. There was sand in my mouth, my boots, my gloves, everywhere. I was uncomfortable to say least, I could only hope this was Equestria. It was desert for miles, and miles, and miles, it appeared as though I may be stuck there. I sat on ground and laid my backpack of gear in front of me. “Where in Equestria is my vodka?!” I shouted to myself. I found it, after excavating contents of bag at least 5 times. I sat and drank to myself, depressed that I had not reached Equestria, and I now was stuck in foreign land. I have high tolerance to alcohol, and is very hard to see my, “Off of my rocker” drunk. Do not get me wrong, I get drunk very often, but not too drunk that I do not know what I am doing. I actually had become so drunk, I had passed out. When I awoke it was night, and I was lying on my back. I pulled out my sleeping bag from backpack, and unfurled it. Sleeping on desert sand is very unnerving, especially when you do not know where you are. It was tough to sleep that night, many times I was awoken by smallest of sounds. Not one night have I been to restless, I was afraid I was in hostile land, or worse, alone in forgotten dimension. I never slept that night, I stayed up with my revolver ready to shoot on sight, and when dawn finally began to break, I lowered my weapon, thankful that I had survived night. I wandered desert for few minutes, only to sit down once more to rest, eventually I just stood there, staring into nothingness. I began to wonder if I was dreaming, or if I was hallucinating. Sometimes I hoped that my fight with Merasmus had knocked me unconscious, and I was now in pony hospital, hopefully in coma... Continuing on… hours passed, and I had gotten nowhere. I fell over into sand and laid there, thinking what I would do. I was not in Equestria, I was stuck in desert, and I was slowly losing my sanity. I began to look back on my past for whatever reason, back to Dmitri, and Vladimir, what I had learned from them during war. Once, long ago, my friend Dmitri told me that if I stared at sky long enough, answers would come to me. I had never actually tried this, so I stared blankly at sky. As I watched blue sky above me, I thought if I would ever reach Equestria, if it was worth it. My journey had come to an unexpected end, before it had even begun. I stared at that sky until my eyes hurt from sun damage. Hours passed, nothing but clouds above me floated gracefully. “Is HOPELESS!” I screamed, standing up and kicking sand, “By Stalin’s moustache, SEND ME FUCKING SIGN!” I yelled to heavens above… I heard something after I screamed, something like screech, like demon screech. I pulled out revolver and looked around, I could see nothing. Again, screech came, becoming louder this time. What on Earth was making such terrible noise? It was louder now, coming from right above me…I looked up, and wept with joy… A griffin! Marvelous flying creatures that rivaled Pegasus! I jumped up, I WAS in Equestria! Thank communism and Williams science! I had made it! I still was faced with one problem however, where in Equestria was I? There was no time to try and think about that. Now was time to remove myself from this desert, but by time I packed all my belongings, griffin had moved. What shame it was, I was hoping I could have gained ride out of this cursed desert. I started walking off into sunset, hoping I was at least NEAR civilization, or ponykind. You may take it from here… Thank you Alexi. Anyway, he walked off into the desert sands. Tired, slightly buzzed, and determined. Now his journey could begin, and as he walked away, he said to the sun. “I am coming…Rainbow Dash.” Desert StormDear journal, It is my third day in Equestria, I am still trapped in this infernal desert. I have been walking since I arrived here, and still I have gotten nowhere. Only 1 thought has been on my mind since I arrived…Rainbow Dash. It is hot, dry, and I can barely move from exhaustion. I can only hope that I am going right way, on path to Ponyville where I can see her again…Sweet Celestia…if only I could travel faster… For past few nights, I dreamt of these sands, of ways I could perhaps escape. It was hopeless…all I saw is endless sand, and more sand. If only I could rest, just for a while. I hope that Rainbow Dash can wait for me, because I have feeling I will not be seeing her for long time… Alexi wandered the desert aimlessly, sweat dripping from his face. He wore his bloody, scorched trench coat, boots, and gloves, which only amplified the heat. He wanted to take them off, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. It was as if his conscious wouldn’t let him, like it had to be this way. He wandered, and wandered, and still no sign of civilization. He began to doubt, yet again, that he was in Equestria. Perhaps the Griffin he saw was just an optical illusion… He continued on, hoping that he’d find something soon before he died of heat exhaustion, Celestia knows that he wasn’t used to heat, coming from Russia and all. He enjoyed the cold, what he would do to be sitting on snow right now…but he was in a desert, no chance of that. Suddenly, there came a dot on the horizon, it was small, and very far away, but it was something that wasn’t sand for once. Alexi quickened his pace, hoping that he had finally made it out of that burning hellhole. As he got closer, the object came into view, it was a typical thing to see out in a desert. Alexi couldn’t believe his eyes, an Oasis, in the middle of the desert. He was certain it was a mirage, it was too good to be true. He walked passed the tall trees that surrounded a fresh water spring in the center. He examined the water carefully, removing his glove and dipping his hand in it a few times. He scooped some up, smelled it, poured it out of his hand, and watched the sand absorb it. It was water alright, it was real. “Finally!” He yelled to himself, “Clean water and rest!” He drank from the spring of water like he was, in his own description, a greedy CEO grabbing money from an infinite hole. He drank till he could barely move, and with his thirst quenched, he went to rest underneath a tree, leaning up against it and shutting his eyes. Who knows how long he was lying there, but it was enough time to where he actually forgot he was in Equestria. That is, until he heard a strange sound from behind a tree. His eyes opened, his ears perked up, and his hand slowly reached for his revolver. The sound emitted again, this time louder, and more obvious. It sounded like footsteps in the sand, but that couldn’t be, he was alone… He drew the revolver and stood, aiming it towards the place he heard the strange noise. It continued to sound, getting increasingly more frantic and loud as he got closer. He walked slowly to the tree, and quickly rounded the corner, there was nopony there. “Great” he thought, “I must be losing mind…” he rounded the tree one more time to return to his rest, when he was stopped by a familiar face. A cyan Pegasus stood before him, nearly scaring him out of his boots. He looked at it for what seemed like ages. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. “AH!” He fell over from the shock. “What the…Rainbow Dash?” “Who else?” “My word, I cannot believe it! How did you find me?!” “That’s not important right now.” She jumped up and hugged him, but something felt very odd about it, as if she was a ghost or something of the sort. The went over to the tree where Alexi rested, and they sat down together. “You’re a tough guy to find you know.” “Oh am I?” she giggled. “Da”. Obviously not knowing what the word meant. She assumed it meant yes, or no, perhaps maybe. She never really bothered to ask him. Alexi chuckled to himself. “You are not so easy yourself little pony.” In a playful manner, she kicked up some sand that blew right into his face. He spat it out and began to fling sand right back at her. They laughed and laughed as they played around. Finally she leaned in to kiss him, and he happily obliged. Although, it was sandy, too sandy, something was wrong. He turned to see her flinging up more sand, constantly hitting him in the face and clothes. “Argh! What on Earth is wrong with you!” He spat out the sand from his mouth, but more kept getting flung in his face. “Stop!” “Why did it take you so long Alexi? Why this long?” “What does that mean? AH!” Sand got flung into his eyes, but as he opened them, he noticed that Rainbow Dash was gone, and he was covered in sand. There was sand blowing all around him, the trees were waving furiously, and he realized then…he was in the middle of a sandstorm. He ducked, trying to find any sort of cover he could. How could he not have noticed this storm? How long was he out? His heart sank when he realized that the vision of Rainbow Dash he had seen was just a mirage. This cursed desert was starting to get to him. He ran for his backpack, hoping that something might be able to protect him. He searched frantically through the pack, finding nothing. Soon the wind picked up yet again, becoming even stronger. It began to lift him off his feet. He grabbed the backpack and strapped it back to his back before his feet completely left the ground. The storm lifted him up fast, giving him barely enough time to grab hold of one of the trees as he hung for dear life… The wind picked up, becoming even stronger, and his grip began to weaken. He wrapped his arms around the trunk of the tree, giving himself a powerful latch onto the giant plant. Sand was still blowing in his face, blinding him temporarily. He couldn’t see, and all he knew was that he wasn’t on the ground, and he was probably going to be blown away by this unholy storm. His arms slipped from their position, causing him to lose his tight grip, and he flew into the storm. He flailed around, trying frantically to grab something, anything to steady himself. He twisted and turned, flipped and flopped. In mid air he did turns and twirls, it nearly caused him to puke. Sick to his stomach, and momentarily blind, he sat there screaming, hoping somepony would hear him. Soon he flew outward, and hit his head on the ground, knocking him out cold… He awoke to a headache, and a sharp pain in his arm, as if someone had stabbed him with a dagger. He proceeded to stand up and brush the sand off of him. The storm had passed, but now he was lost…again. He turned around to see a griffin staring strait at him. “AH!” in shock he pulled the revolver out and pointed it directly at the griffin before him. The griffin pulled back, surprised by the strange creature before it. “Put that thing down man.” “Not until you tell me your name” “Relax, I want to help you. Idiot…” “How do I know that? Hey, did you just call me idiot?” “You’re not very bright are you? Just lower that…thing your holding and I’ll explain.” “What is your name?” he said as he lowered the revolver. The griffin looked him in the eye with an odd grin as she chuckled to herself. “I’m Gilda…” Flying with GriffinsDear journal, I have come across a griffin while wandering though desert. Marvelous creature it is. Its name is “Gilda” and I am suspecting that it is a female judging by pitch of its voice. We walked together through sand and heat, saying nothing. Tonight we are camping out in plain sight, it is unnerving, to say least. I do not know if she was “coming on to me” or not, she seemed to be too interested in me, it was odd. Hopefully in morning we can explain our situations. I hope that she can lead me to Rainbow Dash… It was rough night…hardly slept. I could not do anything but stare at sky, and moon. They truly are beautiful, more so than moon and sky I am used to seeing. Now Gilda and I are walking what I can only guess is North, I do not know where she is taking me. Perhaps…. “Why don’t you put that book down? You’re nose has been buried in it since you woke up.” “It is something important to me. I doubt you would understand.” “I won’t even bother.” “Good. If I may, where are you taking me?” “You’ll see soon enough.” Alexi didn’t like where this was going, she was being odd, dodging most of his questions, where exactly was she taking him? He assumed since she only seemed to dodge questions about their direction, maybe he could a little more information out of her, she had the same idea. “You never told me your name.” “Is not important.” “I’m the one taking you to safety and you won’ even tell me your name?” “Niet. Do not ask me again.” “Maybe I won’t take you to our little safe spot then?” “You could have left me for dead when you found me lying there. You did not, and I doubt that you would abandon me simply for not releasing my name. Whatever your plans were, getting my name is not part of it.” “You’re not as dumb as I thought you were.” “Spasibo…ya dumayu…” “What?” Alexi mentally slapped himself for a second. Of course it didn’t speak Russian, only Rainbow Dash to some extent could understand him, even if it was barely. “You do not speak native tongue of my land. I apologize.” Gilda just looked at him, examining his clothes. “Care to explain why you have blood on your clothes?” “Not important…” “It’s important to me idiot! You look you came right out of Tartarus.” Tartarus? William might know what that was. Alexi thought to himself it must be Equestrian Hell, or something of the sort. Certainly nothing he’d be experiencing. He was happy for that. “Not gonna answer me eh?” “Once you bring me to safety, I will release my information. Until then I will be asking questions.” “That hardly seems reasonable.” “This land is beyond reason to me. I am one in need of answers currently.” “I don’t think so.” “Want to argue with me?” “Yes! I do! You’re so stubborn!” “As are you.” Gilda was getting fed up with this strange creature. The only thing that kept her with him was that he swore to give her answers when they reached…wherever she was taking him. She was hoping that when he asked questions, they wouldn’t be too personal. They were getting close now, or at least, that’s what Gilda was telling him. He didn’t believe it for one second. He was 60% sure that she was leading him to his death, he knew that Griffins ate meat, it was the most likely answer. He was 20% on the fence that she might actually be leading him to safety, although he severely doubted it. The other 20%...well he never used 100% of his brain capacity… “It’s just over this dune.” She said at last. “How can you tell? There are dunes everywhere.” “I just know.” They passed over the dune, and Alexi couldn’t believe his eyes. It made absolutely no sense, he saw before him snowy mountains in the distance, easily within walking distance. He saw Griffins flying around them, with what appeared to be buildings built into the mountain. He didn’t ask questions. “How are we to move up mountain?” “Leave that to me. Hop on.” “What?” “I said hop on. We’re gonna fly up there.” Alexi didn’t particularly enjoy flying, not that he was afraid of heights, he just hated the idea of flight. He really had no choice, he hopped onto Gilda’s back and she flew him strait to the cliff side. It wasn’t long at all, took then a little under 5 minutes, she was fast. He dismounted and walked carefully around, walking into a…gazebo area, or at least it looked like it. He sat down on a bench that sat on the side. “Where am I?” “You’re in the Griffin Kingdoms. You’re not from around here are you?” “What was first clue?” “For starters, you walk on two legs, that was the most obvious. Also, nobody goes wandering through the borderlands alone.” “So that is where I was. It is huge.” “Of course it is! Now, about your promise…” “Fine, ask your questions…” “Finally. What is your name and why are you here?” “I am known as Alexi, and my business is my own.” “Fine…don’t tell me…can I call you Alex?” Alexi stared at her with a soulless gaze. “No…” he said in an almost angry tone. “Ok geez…” "Any more questions?" "Yeah um...what's with the blood and ash on your coat?" "I was involved in little....accident not too long ago..." "Any details?" "Niet..." "Ok...." Alexi’s glare slowly subsided, and he began to relax again. “Ok…so, what brings you here? Are you, like, and alien or something?” “You could say that…” “That didn’t answer my question.” “I came through dimensional rift, through machine created by friend.” Gilda stood dumbfounded, she was utterly confused. Machine? Dimensional rift? What in the name of Celestia was he talking about? “What? You have never of alternate dimensions?” “No, no I haven’t. I think you’re lying to be honest.” “Well believe it, you cannot make this shit up!” “Actually it’s very easy…” “In any case…If your silly questions are through, I shall begin my interrogation.” “Silly questions?” “Da. Now, What is fasted way to Ponyville?” The question shocked her. Ponyville? Why would anyone want to visit Ponyville? “I don’t know what you mean.” “How can I get to Ponyville without getting myself killed!” At least he was being strait forward. “Well, you can’t go back through the borderlands, you’ll die out there…” Alexi pulled out his bottle of vodka and began to drink steadily from it, as if it was water. The smell was enough to make Gilda wince and stop her sentence. “Sweet Celestia! That water smells horrible! What is IN that!?” Alexi just started laughing. “What’s so funny?” “This is not water, it is drink known as vodka in my land. Want some?” he offered her the bottle. “Depends, will it kill me?” “It has not killed me…yet!” He burst out laughing. “No thanks, I’ll pass.” “More for me!” He chugged it again. Gilda saw this as on opportunity to get a little more information, he was obviously enjoying himself, perhaps a little too much but still… “Why are you here?” Alexi lowered the bottle. “I am here to find special pony. I made promise to her when I left last time…I came to keep promise.” “What’s her name?” “You would not know her.” “Try me.” “It is this little blue Pegasus with rainbow hair….” Gilda didn’t let him finish his sentence. “Rainbow Dash…” she said in a dry tone. Alexi looked confused at her. “Da…How did you know?” “We go way back.” Alexi’s attitude immediately changed to that of extreme happiness. A friend of Rainbow Dash’s could help him find her. Hopefully she knew the way to Ponyville. She could fly him there! Oh happy day oh happy day! “Can you take me to her?!” he said nearly jumping out of his seat. “No, I can’t. I can’t carry you all the way there, I’d break my back. If you were lighter maybe. I can only carry you as far as the Everfree forest. You’ll have to go from there.” Alexi’s smile sank. “Oh…” He walked out onto the cliff and looked upon the flying griffins. “I do appreciate you saving my life. Spasibo…” “It was nothing really. You’re kinda cute you know.” “Sorry, my heart belongs to another.” “I see, how about I get your mind off of her…ever wanted to fly?” “I cannot say I have thought about it often, why?” “I can take you on a little flight around the mountains…if you’d like.” Alexi pondered the question for a little bit. He didn’t know why she wanted to suddenly take him flying, but he didn’t really think about it long. “Da, I request to fly.” “Cool. Meet me back here in 10 minutes, maybe you need some sleep.” In fact, Alexi DID need sleep, badly. Almost instantly, he left the room to find a bed to sleep in. He didn’t even bother to remove his trench coat, he just lied under the covers and took a short nap… He awoke shortly after, feeling much better than earlier. He left the bed and walked out to see if Gilda was still there. She was. “Geez, do you sleep in that thing?” Alexi chuckled to himself. “Of course not, I just do not enjoy removing clothing in company of strangers.” “Odd, I don’t know anyone who sleeps in clothes.” “Where I come from, it happens all of time. Are we flying or no?” “Yes, we are. Get on.” He mounted the Griffin and tried not to lose his grip as she took off. She flew farther up, and up, until he could barely see the ground. The sight was breath taking. He’d never been so high up, the wind in his hair, his face, it was amazing. He started to relax as Gilda flew around the tops of the mountains, next to fellow Griffins and allowing Alexi to examine the snowy giants. She dived down alongside the cliff, trying to scare Alexi. He never made a sound, but a smile did eventually creep its way onto his face. He’d never experienced anything like this, he never wanted it to end. Unfortunately, everything has to end. She landed on the cliff side and allowed him to regain his footing. “What did you think?” “It was amazing. Thank you for opportunity.” “You’re quite welcome. Say, could you do something for me….” “What?” “I know you have a special someone back home, but that doesn’t mean she has to know! C’mon, you know you want to.” “Actually I do not. My heart belongs to another.” Gilda leaned closer to him. “No one has to know.” “I would know! And I will not allow this to happen on my watch!” “Who could be more special than me!” “Rainbow Dash!” Gilda’s expression dropped “I…I had no idea…” Alexi scowled, “No, you did not.” Gilda turned around and started to walk away. “She is one lucky pony.” Alexi silently nodded, still very angry. “Now, How can I get to Ponyville?” “You can go through the Everfree forest, its safer than the borderlands, but only slightly.” “That is good enough for me. Let us go.” “Now?” “I do not have time for things like this, I need to get to her as fast as possible.” “I see…” “I am glad we understand each other.” Alexi never noticed the tears in Gildas eyes, she wasn’t facing him, although be probably wouldn’t have cared, he didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, but he needed to stay tough and he certainly didn’t care if he had to break hearts to keep his love for Rainbow Dash. “Get on. I’ll take you to the edge of the Everfree Forest.” Without hesitation, Alexi climbed on top of Gilda, and they were off. This trip took significantly longer, and was a lot less fun. Alexi waited impatiently to arrive, which didn’t happen for a good half hour. She landed at the edge of a forest, made of significantly tall trees. He dismounted and looked at her. “Spasibo, This will help me in my journey.” “Just remember this…go about a mile in, then go directly left. That will lead you to the outskirts of Ponyville. If you get lost…Celestia help you.” “Thank you for warning.” Without saying another word, Gilda turned around and flew away, leaving Alexi alone. Alexi could hear strange sounds coming from the Everfree forest, he wasn’t entirely sure what they were, but now he knew the way to Ponyville. His journey was that much closer to being complete. Or so he thought… LostDear Journal, I have now arrived at this Everfree forest. The kind Griffin has dropped me here, and now I am that much closer to Rainbow Dash. I must follow her instructions, approximately1 mile forward, then go left until I reach outskirts of Ponyville. I am so close, I must continue. These last few days have been Hell, but now my journey may finally end. I do not know what lies in this forest…It looks like I might just find out. Good thing I brought gun… Alexi stood outside the edge to the Everfree forest, staring at the tree line. Strange sounds emitted from the bushes and tree leaves, and he was hesitant to enter, but he knew that Rainbow Dash was on the other end of that forest, time to do what he does next, not think, just do. He darted into the forest, looked every which way to figure out the correct way. He followed his instinct for a while, going forward and counting his steps so he wouldn’t lost track when he got to a mile. “1 Simple mile can’t possibly be THAT bad. It is just a forest.” He kept telling himself that, even though secretly he was afraid of going off anywhere on his own. As a child his mother used to tell him stories of witches and goblins that stole little children when they went off exploring. He still had fears that something would kill him or grab him before he could complete his quest. If he was going to die, he wanted Dash right next to him. In the current time he was in, back in his world, he had heard tales of many figures that supposedly lurked in the woods, even though he could never quite remember the names. Slender men, whatever it was, boogie man, dragons, hydras. Not that he believed in such things, although he could have sworn that he saw a very gangly white pony lurking through the trees, stalking him… He wandered, certain this was the correct direction, but secretly hoping that he could just teleport, he didn’t want to be here. He was almost near that mile mark, only a few hundred meters to go. He kept count as the sounds from the bushes got louder, and stranger. Eventually the sounds sounded like they were coming from behind him, every time he would turn around, nothing would be there and the sounds would cease… Alexi was starting to ponder if he was going crazy from not having Rainbow Dash there, although that seemed a little too desperate for him to say that. He continued, peering over his shoulder every now and then to see if something was following him. “Gremlins…must be gremlins…” As he walked, the sounds once again got louder, eventually he was tired of it. He reached for his revolver and reared around. “Who is following me!?” He saw nothing, Only slight rustling in the bushes. CRACK! He fired once into the bushes. Nothing happened. He went over to the bush to see what it was that was in it, and all he saw was the head of a chicken…peering out from bush. “Chicken? I was scared of chicken?” Little did he know that it was actually the dreaded cockatrice, which he had heard many tales about since his first arrival in Ponyville. “This would make one excellent dinner.” He bent down to grab it and snap his neck, he had a lot of experience in that, but when he went to grab it, it fluttered up to reveal the rest of it’s ugly body. Alexi shielded his eyes before firing twice at the revolting creature, which didn’t do much, since he couldn’t see the animal. He turned around and started to run quickly through the forest, so that he wouldn’t be turned into soulless stone by that ungodly creature. He didn’t run far before he was sure he had escaped the awful cockatrice. Soon he was back on the path to Ponyville, although he wasn’t sure that he entirely going the right way. He shuffled through the forest, refusing to admit he was lost, and nearly dying of starvation about a dozen times. As he walked he gathered blueberries from bushes around him, and stuffed them in the scorched pocket of his trench coat. He came to stop randomly, to catch his breath, he was tired. He was sure he was on the path to Ponyville, but he didn’t know exactly how far away it was. He sat down next to a small tree, and proceeded to devour his blueberries. He was used to living off of almost nothing, but he was never this hungry before. This was the first meal in a long time that he hadn’t drank himself nearly to death with vodka after eating a meal. He didn’t get halfway though his berries before a strange growl emitted from behind him. “That does not sound good…” he said to himself with a mouth full of berries. He turned his head to see what had made that noise. He came face to face with a manticore, a hungry one at that. No doubt it caught a whiff of his berries and wanted them for himself. Alexi thought a billion thoughts in a split second, what would he do? He put the berries in his pocket and whipped out his revolver, aiming it directly at the manticores head. The creature swung a paw and knocked the weapon right out of his hands, pretty far away to. The beast swung it’s paw again to hit Alexi, but Alexi quickly dived down towards his gun. He didn’t reach it, but when he got up He didn’t have far to run. He grabbed it and put a bullet in the Manticores paw, but the thing kept coming, blood gushing from its paw. Alexi hesitated, he grabbed the berries from his pocket and threw it into the face of the manticore, hoping to distract it. After that he turned and bolted, disregarding which direction he was going. He ran for what seemed like a good 30 minutes before crashing down. Tired, hungry, and sleepy, he went to a large oak tree and laid himself upon it, and stared up at the stars. Dear Journal, It is official, I am lost. I am starving, I am tired, and I am running out of vodka…There is nothing here and this forest is death sentence for men. I hope that this is not my final entry, but if it should be, and I die within the confines of this green prison, that I died hunting for Rainbow Dash, should they find body and if she is still living when I am found…This better not be my last entry, otherwise, if there is a hell, the devil should expect his tail between his legs. The stars are quite beautiful here in Equestria…I do not know what names they call them, or perhaps they are same names as they were back home. Hyperion, Polaris, and many others, I can see them all. Tomorrow I must make more ground, provided I am not lost. I must make it out of this damned hell hole. Spokoynoy nochi, ya nadeyues’, chto ya zhivu… He drifted off the sleep under that oak tree, and hoped that he would awake the next morning. He slept like a log, lost in a foreign land, hoping he would live to see Rainbow Dash again. That night he dreamt of her, imagining her beautiful figure, her mane, everything. He never wanted his dream to end. But all great things must come to an end… Luckily his greatest thing didn’t.
The Journey Begins“I am keeping promise I made to friend…” Alexi stepped into the flashing, glowing, and shocking teleporter. His gear on his back, he was set for what could be his final journey. After defeating Merasmus, he was determined to return to Equestria. He had given up on time travel, for now it meant nothing to him. All that mattered, was keeping his promise. He waved goodbye to his comrades as his image faded. It was a tear jerking moment, for he was not coming back. He… I will take intro from here…is my story, I shall open it. Fine, do what you will Alexi, just promise to give me back the story, you can't possibly tell it all… Spasibo tovarishchu… Set with all of my gear, I stepped through teleporter, waiting eagerly to see friend I had left behind, someone, or rather, somepony, very dear to my heart. I left human world to return to Equestria, magical land, filled with wonders. Teleporter, it flashed, and shocked as electrical currents wizzed passed me. Soon I was gone, and now was traveling to my destination. As I traveled down through what William could have described as uh, “space time continuum.” I could feel immense pain in my chest, one similar to one I felt first time I traveled to Equestria, only that trip was far too short for me. I wished I could have stayed, but I couldn’t. Now I am going back, and I cannot wait to see my beloved friend again. It zapped and flew, beams of light I mean, and pain in my chest grew more and more unbearable. I felt like ripping out my own heart just to ease pain, I couldn’t bear it any longer. Eventually, I passed out, still in mid travel. Damn William for not making this contraption faster… I awoke in desert like land, dry, hot, dear Lenin especially hot, and sandy. There was sand in my mouth, my boots, my gloves, everywhere. I was uncomfortable to say least, I could only hope this was Equestria. It was desert for miles, and miles, and miles, it appeared as though I may be stuck there. I sat on ground and laid my backpack of gear in front of me. “Where in Equestria is my vodka?!” I shouted to myself. I found it, after excavating contents of bag at least 5 times. I sat and drank to myself, depressed that I had not reached Equestria, and I now was stuck in foreign land. I have high tolerance to alcohol, and is very hard to see my, “Off of my rocker” drunk. Do not get me wrong, I get drunk very often, but not too drunk that I do not know what I am doing. I actually had become so drunk, I had passed out. When I awoke it was night, and I was lying on my back. I pulled out my sleeping bag from backpack, and unfurled it. Sleeping on desert sand is very unnerving, especially when you do not know where you are. It was tough to sleep that night, many times I was awoken by smallest of sounds. Not one night have I been to restless, I was afraid I was in hostile land, or worse, alone in forgotten dimension. I never slept that night, I stayed up with my revolver ready to shoot on sight, and when dawn finally began to break, I lowered my weapon, thankful that I had survived night. I wandered desert for few minutes, only to sit down once more to rest, eventually I just stood there, staring into nothingness. I began to wonder if I was dreaming, or if I was hallucinating. Sometimes I hoped that my fight with Merasmus had knocked me unconscious, and I was now in pony hospital, hopefully in coma... Continuing on… hours passed, and I had gotten nowhere. I fell over into sand and laid there, thinking what I would do. I was not in Equestria, I was stuck in desert, and I was slowly losing my sanity. I began to look back on my past for whatever reason, back to Dmitri, and Vladimir, what I had learned from them during war. Once, long ago, my friend Dmitri told me that if I stared at sky long enough, answers would come to me. I had never actually tried this, so I stared blankly at sky. As I watched blue sky above me, I thought if I would ever reach Equestria, if it was worth it. My journey had come to an unexpected end, before it had even begun. I stared at that sky until my eyes hurt from sun damage. Hours passed, nothing but clouds above me floated gracefully. “Is HOPELESS!” I screamed, standing up and kicking sand, “By Stalin’s moustache, SEND ME FUCKING SIGN!” I yelled to heavens above… I heard something after I screamed, something like screech, like demon screech. I pulled out revolver and looked around, I could see nothing. Again, screech came, becoming louder this time. What on Earth was making such terrible noise? It was louder now, coming from right above me…I looked up, and wept with joy… A griffin! Marvelous flying creatures that rivaled Pegasus! I jumped up, I WAS in Equestria! Thank communism and Williams science! I had made it! I still was faced with one problem however, where in Equestria was I? There was no time to try and think about that. Now was time to remove myself from this desert, but by time I packed all my belongings, griffin had moved. What shame it was, I was hoping I could have gained ride out of this cursed desert. I started walking off into sunset, hoping I was at least NEAR civilization, or ponykind. You may take it from here… Thank you Alexi. Anyway, he walked off into the desert sands. Tired, slightly buzzed, and determined. Now his journey could begin, and as he walked away, he said to the sun. “I am coming…Rainbow Dash.”
Desert StormDear journal, It is my third day in Equestria, I am still trapped in this infernal desert. I have been walking since I arrived here, and still I have gotten nowhere. Only 1 thought has been on my mind since I arrived…Rainbow Dash. It is hot, dry, and I can barely move from exhaustion. I can only hope that I am going right way, on path to Ponyville where I can see her again…Sweet Celestia…if only I could travel faster… For past few nights, I dreamt of these sands, of ways I could perhaps escape. It was hopeless…all I saw is endless sand, and more sand. If only I could rest, just for a while. I hope that Rainbow Dash can wait for me, because I have feeling I will not be seeing her for long time… Alexi wandered the desert aimlessly, sweat dripping from his face. He wore his bloody, scorched trench coat, boots, and gloves, which only amplified the heat. He wanted to take them off, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. It was as if his conscious wouldn’t let him, like it had to be this way. He wandered, and wandered, and still no sign of civilization. He began to doubt, yet again, that he was in Equestria. Perhaps the Griffin he saw was just an optical illusion… He continued on, hoping that he’d find something soon before he died of heat exhaustion, Celestia knows that he wasn’t used to heat, coming from Russia and all. He enjoyed the cold, what he would do to be sitting on snow right now…but he was in a desert, no chance of that. Suddenly, there came a dot on the horizon, it was small, and very far away, but it was something that wasn’t sand for once. Alexi quickened his pace, hoping that he had finally made it out of that burning hellhole. As he got closer, the object came into view, it was a typical thing to see out in a desert. Alexi couldn’t believe his eyes, an Oasis, in the middle of the desert. He was certain it was a mirage, it was too good to be true. He walked passed the tall trees that surrounded a fresh water spring in the center. He examined the water carefully, removing his glove and dipping his hand in it a few times. He scooped some up, smelled it, poured it out of his hand, and watched the sand absorb it. It was water alright, it was real. “Finally!” He yelled to himself, “Clean water and rest!” He drank from the spring of water like he was, in his own description, a greedy CEO grabbing money from an infinite hole. He drank till he could barely move, and with his thirst quenched, he went to rest underneath a tree, leaning up against it and shutting his eyes. Who knows how long he was lying there, but it was enough time to where he actually forgot he was in Equestria. That is, until he heard a strange sound from behind a tree. His eyes opened, his ears perked up, and his hand slowly reached for his revolver. The sound emitted again, this time louder, and more obvious. It sounded like footsteps in the sand, but that couldn’t be, he was alone… He drew the revolver and stood, aiming it towards the place he heard the strange noise. It continued to sound, getting increasingly more frantic and loud as he got closer. He walked slowly to the tree, and quickly rounded the corner, there was nopony there. “Great” he thought, “I must be losing mind…” he rounded the tree one more time to return to his rest, when he was stopped by a familiar face. A cyan Pegasus stood before him, nearly scaring him out of his boots. He looked at it for what seemed like ages. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. “AH!” He fell over from the shock. “What the…Rainbow Dash?” “Who else?” “My word, I cannot believe it! How did you find me?!” “That’s not important right now.” She jumped up and hugged him, but something felt very odd about it, as if she was a ghost or something of the sort. The went over to the tree where Alexi rested, and they sat down together. “You’re a tough guy to find you know.” “Oh am I?” she giggled. “Da”. Obviously not knowing what the word meant. She assumed it meant yes, or no, perhaps maybe. She never really bothered to ask him. Alexi chuckled to himself. “You are not so easy yourself little pony.” In a playful manner, she kicked up some sand that blew right into his face. He spat it out and began to fling sand right back at her. They laughed and laughed as they played around. Finally she leaned in to kiss him, and he happily obliged. Although, it was sandy, too sandy, something was wrong. He turned to see her flinging up more sand, constantly hitting him in the face and clothes. “Argh! What on Earth is wrong with you!” He spat out the sand from his mouth, but more kept getting flung in his face. “Stop!” “Why did it take you so long Alexi? Why this long?” “What does that mean? AH!” Sand got flung into his eyes, but as he opened them, he noticed that Rainbow Dash was gone, and he was covered in sand. There was sand blowing all around him, the trees were waving furiously, and he realized then…he was in the middle of a sandstorm. He ducked, trying to find any sort of cover he could. How could he not have noticed this storm? How long was he out? His heart sank when he realized that the vision of Rainbow Dash he had seen was just a mirage. This cursed desert was starting to get to him. He ran for his backpack, hoping that something might be able to protect him. He searched frantically through the pack, finding nothing. Soon the wind picked up yet again, becoming even stronger. It began to lift him off his feet. He grabbed the backpack and strapped it back to his back before his feet completely left the ground. The storm lifted him up fast, giving him barely enough time to grab hold of one of the trees as he hung for dear life… The wind picked up, becoming even stronger, and his grip began to weaken. He wrapped his arms around the trunk of the tree, giving himself a powerful latch onto the giant plant. Sand was still blowing in his face, blinding him temporarily. He couldn’t see, and all he knew was that he wasn’t on the ground, and he was probably going to be blown away by this unholy storm. His arms slipped from their position, causing him to lose his tight grip, and he flew into the storm. He flailed around, trying frantically to grab something, anything to steady himself. He twisted and turned, flipped and flopped. In mid air he did turns and twirls, it nearly caused him to puke. Sick to his stomach, and momentarily blind, he sat there screaming, hoping somepony would hear him. Soon he flew outward, and hit his head on the ground, knocking him out cold… He awoke to a headache, and a sharp pain in his arm, as if someone had stabbed him with a dagger. He proceeded to stand up and brush the sand off of him. The storm had passed, but now he was lost…again. He turned around to see a griffin staring strait at him. “AH!” in shock he pulled the revolver out and pointed it directly at the griffin before him. The griffin pulled back, surprised by the strange creature before it. “Put that thing down man.” “Not until you tell me your name” “Relax, I want to help you. Idiot…” “How do I know that? Hey, did you just call me idiot?” “You’re not very bright are you? Just lower that…thing your holding and I’ll explain.” “What is your name?” he said as he lowered the revolver. The griffin looked him in the eye with an odd grin as she chuckled to herself. “I’m Gilda…”
Flying with GriffinsDear journal, I have come across a griffin while wandering though desert. Marvelous creature it is. Its name is “Gilda” and I am suspecting that it is a female judging by pitch of its voice. We walked together through sand and heat, saying nothing. Tonight we are camping out in plain sight, it is unnerving, to say least. I do not know if she was “coming on to me” or not, she seemed to be too interested in me, it was odd. Hopefully in morning we can explain our situations. I hope that she can lead me to Rainbow Dash… It was rough night…hardly slept. I could not do anything but stare at sky, and moon. They truly are beautiful, more so than moon and sky I am used to seeing. Now Gilda and I are walking what I can only guess is North, I do not know where she is taking me. Perhaps…. “Why don’t you put that book down? You’re nose has been buried in it since you woke up.” “It is something important to me. I doubt you would understand.” “I won’t even bother.” “Good. If I may, where are you taking me?” “You’ll see soon enough.” Alexi didn’t like where this was going, she was being odd, dodging most of his questions, where exactly was she taking him? He assumed since she only seemed to dodge questions about their direction, maybe he could a little more information out of her, she had the same idea. “You never told me your name.” “Is not important.” “I’m the one taking you to safety and you won’ even tell me your name?” “Niet. Do not ask me again.” “Maybe I won’t take you to our little safe spot then?” “You could have left me for dead when you found me lying there. You did not, and I doubt that you would abandon me simply for not releasing my name. Whatever your plans were, getting my name is not part of it.” “You’re not as dumb as I thought you were.” “Spasibo…ya dumayu…” “What?” Alexi mentally slapped himself for a second. Of course it didn’t speak Russian, only Rainbow Dash to some extent could understand him, even if it was barely. “You do not speak native tongue of my land. I apologize.” Gilda just looked at him, examining his clothes. “Care to explain why you have blood on your clothes?” “Not important…” “It’s important to me idiot! You look you came right out of Tartarus.” Tartarus? William might know what that was. Alexi thought to himself it must be Equestrian Hell, or something of the sort. Certainly nothing he’d be experiencing. He was happy for that. “Not gonna answer me eh?” “Once you bring me to safety, I will release my information. Until then I will be asking questions.” “That hardly seems reasonable.” “This land is beyond reason to me. I am one in need of answers currently.” “I don’t think so.” “Want to argue with me?” “Yes! I do! You’re so stubborn!” “As are you.” Gilda was getting fed up with this strange creature. The only thing that kept her with him was that he swore to give her answers when they reached…wherever she was taking him. She was hoping that when he asked questions, they wouldn’t be too personal. They were getting close now, or at least, that’s what Gilda was telling him. He didn’t believe it for one second. He was 60% sure that she was leading him to his death, he knew that Griffins ate meat, it was the most likely answer. He was 20% on the fence that she might actually be leading him to safety, although he severely doubted it. The other 20%...well he never used 100% of his brain capacity… “It’s just over this dune.” She said at last. “How can you tell? There are dunes everywhere.” “I just know.” They passed over the dune, and Alexi couldn’t believe his eyes. It made absolutely no sense, he saw before him snowy mountains in the distance, easily within walking distance. He saw Griffins flying around them, with what appeared to be buildings built into the mountain. He didn’t ask questions. “How are we to move up mountain?” “Leave that to me. Hop on.” “What?” “I said hop on. We’re gonna fly up there.” Alexi didn’t particularly enjoy flying, not that he was afraid of heights, he just hated the idea of flight. He really had no choice, he hopped onto Gilda’s back and she flew him strait to the cliff side. It wasn’t long at all, took then a little under 5 minutes, she was fast. He dismounted and walked carefully around, walking into a…gazebo area, or at least it looked like it. He sat down on a bench that sat on the side. “Where am I?” “You’re in the Griffin Kingdoms. You’re not from around here are you?” “What was first clue?” “For starters, you walk on two legs, that was the most obvious. Also, nobody goes wandering through the borderlands alone.” “So that is where I was. It is huge.” “Of course it is! Now, about your promise…” “Fine, ask your questions…” “Finally. What is your name and why are you here?” “I am known as Alexi, and my business is my own.” “Fine…don’t tell me…can I call you Alex?” Alexi stared at her with a soulless gaze. “No…” he said in an almost angry tone. “Ok geez…” "Any more questions?" "Yeah um...what's with the blood and ash on your coat?" "I was involved in little....accident not too long ago..." "Any details?" "Niet..." "Ok...." Alexi’s glare slowly subsided, and he began to relax again. “Ok…so, what brings you here? Are you, like, and alien or something?” “You could say that…” “That didn’t answer my question.” “I came through dimensional rift, through machine created by friend.” Gilda stood dumbfounded, she was utterly confused. Machine? Dimensional rift? What in the name of Celestia was he talking about? “What? You have never of alternate dimensions?” “No, no I haven’t. I think you’re lying to be honest.” “Well believe it, you cannot make this shit up!” “Actually it’s very easy…” “In any case…If your silly questions are through, I shall begin my interrogation.” “Silly questions?” “Da. Now, What is fasted way to Ponyville?” The question shocked her. Ponyville? Why would anyone want to visit Ponyville? “I don’t know what you mean.” “How can I get to Ponyville without getting myself killed!” At least he was being strait forward. “Well, you can’t go back through the borderlands, you’ll die out there…” Alexi pulled out his bottle of vodka and began to drink steadily from it, as if it was water. The smell was enough to make Gilda wince and stop her sentence. “Sweet Celestia! That water smells horrible! What is IN that!?” Alexi just started laughing. “What’s so funny?” “This is not water, it is drink known as vodka in my land. Want some?” he offered her the bottle. “Depends, will it kill me?” “It has not killed me…yet!” He burst out laughing. “No thanks, I’ll pass.” “More for me!” He chugged it again. Gilda saw this as on opportunity to get a little more information, he was obviously enjoying himself, perhaps a little too much but still… “Why are you here?” Alexi lowered the bottle. “I am here to find special pony. I made promise to her when I left last time…I came to keep promise.” “What’s her name?” “You would not know her.” “Try me.” “It is this little blue Pegasus with rainbow hair….” Gilda didn’t let him finish his sentence. “Rainbow Dash…” she said in a dry tone. Alexi looked confused at her. “Da…How did you know?” “We go way back.” Alexi’s attitude immediately changed to that of extreme happiness. A friend of Rainbow Dash’s could help him find her. Hopefully she knew the way to Ponyville. She could fly him there! Oh happy day oh happy day! “Can you take me to her?!” he said nearly jumping out of his seat. “No, I can’t. I can’t carry you all the way there, I’d break my back. If you were lighter maybe. I can only carry you as far as the Everfree forest. You’ll have to go from there.” Alexi’s smile sank. “Oh…” He walked out onto the cliff and looked upon the flying griffins. “I do appreciate you saving my life. Spasibo…” “It was nothing really. You’re kinda cute you know.” “Sorry, my heart belongs to another.” “I see, how about I get your mind off of her…ever wanted to fly?” “I cannot say I have thought about it often, why?” “I can take you on a little flight around the mountains…if you’d like.” Alexi pondered the question for a little bit. He didn’t know why she wanted to suddenly take him flying, but he didn’t really think about it long. “Da, I request to fly.” “Cool. Meet me back here in 10 minutes, maybe you need some sleep.” In fact, Alexi DID need sleep, badly. Almost instantly, he left the room to find a bed to sleep in. He didn’t even bother to remove his trench coat, he just lied under the covers and took a short nap… He awoke shortly after, feeling much better than earlier. He left the bed and walked out to see if Gilda was still there. She was. “Geez, do you sleep in that thing?” Alexi chuckled to himself. “Of course not, I just do not enjoy removing clothing in company of strangers.” “Odd, I don’t know anyone who sleeps in clothes.” “Where I come from, it happens all of time. Are we flying or no?” “Yes, we are. Get on.” He mounted the Griffin and tried not to lose his grip as she took off. She flew farther up, and up, until he could barely see the ground. The sight was breath taking. He’d never been so high up, the wind in his hair, his face, it was amazing. He started to relax as Gilda flew around the tops of the mountains, next to fellow Griffins and allowing Alexi to examine the snowy giants. She dived down alongside the cliff, trying to scare Alexi. He never made a sound, but a smile did eventually creep its way onto his face. He’d never experienced anything like this, he never wanted it to end. Unfortunately, everything has to end. She landed on the cliff side and allowed him to regain his footing. “What did you think?” “It was amazing. Thank you for opportunity.” “You’re quite welcome. Say, could you do something for me….” “What?” “I know you have a special someone back home, but that doesn’t mean she has to know! C’mon, you know you want to.” “Actually I do not. My heart belongs to another.” Gilda leaned closer to him. “No one has to know.” “I would know! And I will not allow this to happen on my watch!” “Who could be more special than me!” “Rainbow Dash!” Gilda’s expression dropped “I…I had no idea…” Alexi scowled, “No, you did not.” Gilda turned around and started to walk away. “She is one lucky pony.” Alexi silently nodded, still very angry. “Now, How can I get to Ponyville?” “You can go through the Everfree forest, its safer than the borderlands, but only slightly.” “That is good enough for me. Let us go.” “Now?” “I do not have time for things like this, I need to get to her as fast as possible.” “I see…” “I am glad we understand each other.” Alexi never noticed the tears in Gildas eyes, she wasn’t facing him, although be probably wouldn’t have cared, he didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, but he needed to stay tough and he certainly didn’t care if he had to break hearts to keep his love for Rainbow Dash. “Get on. I’ll take you to the edge of the Everfree Forest.” Without hesitation, Alexi climbed on top of Gilda, and they were off. This trip took significantly longer, and was a lot less fun. Alexi waited impatiently to arrive, which didn’t happen for a good half hour. She landed at the edge of a forest, made of significantly tall trees. He dismounted and looked at her. “Spasibo, This will help me in my journey.” “Just remember this…go about a mile in, then go directly left. That will lead you to the outskirts of Ponyville. If you get lost…Celestia help you.” “Thank you for warning.” Without saying another word, Gilda turned around and flew away, leaving Alexi alone. Alexi could hear strange sounds coming from the Everfree forest, he wasn’t entirely sure what they were, but now he knew the way to Ponyville. His journey was that much closer to being complete. Or so he thought…
LostDear Journal, I have now arrived at this Everfree forest. The kind Griffin has dropped me here, and now I am that much closer to Rainbow Dash. I must follow her instructions, approximately1 mile forward, then go left until I reach outskirts of Ponyville. I am so close, I must continue. These last few days have been Hell, but now my journey may finally end. I do not know what lies in this forest…It looks like I might just find out. Good thing I brought gun… Alexi stood outside the edge to the Everfree forest, staring at the tree line. Strange sounds emitted from the bushes and tree leaves, and he was hesitant to enter, but he knew that Rainbow Dash was on the other end of that forest, time to do what he does next, not think, just do. He darted into the forest, looked every which way to figure out the correct way. He followed his instinct for a while, going forward and counting his steps so he wouldn’t lost track when he got to a mile. “1 Simple mile can’t possibly be THAT bad. It is just a forest.” He kept telling himself that, even though secretly he was afraid of going off anywhere on his own. As a child his mother used to tell him stories of witches and goblins that stole little children when they went off exploring. He still had fears that something would kill him or grab him before he could complete his quest. If he was going to die, he wanted Dash right next to him. In the current time he was in, back in his world, he had heard tales of many figures that supposedly lurked in the woods, even though he could never quite remember the names. Slender men, whatever it was, boogie man, dragons, hydras. Not that he believed in such things, although he could have sworn that he saw a very gangly white pony lurking through the trees, stalking him… He wandered, certain this was the correct direction, but secretly hoping that he could just teleport, he didn’t want to be here. He was almost near that mile mark, only a few hundred meters to go. He kept count as the sounds from the bushes got louder, and stranger. Eventually the sounds sounded like they were coming from behind him, every time he would turn around, nothing would be there and the sounds would cease… Alexi was starting to ponder if he was going crazy from not having Rainbow Dash there, although that seemed a little too desperate for him to say that. He continued, peering over his shoulder every now and then to see if something was following him. “Gremlins…must be gremlins…” As he walked, the sounds once again got louder, eventually he was tired of it. He reached for his revolver and reared around. “Who is following me!?” He saw nothing, Only slight rustling in the bushes. CRACK! He fired once into the bushes. Nothing happened. He went over to the bush to see what it was that was in it, and all he saw was the head of a chicken…peering out from bush. “Chicken? I was scared of chicken?” Little did he know that it was actually the dreaded cockatrice, which he had heard many tales about since his first arrival in Ponyville. “This would make one excellent dinner.” He bent down to grab it and snap his neck, he had a lot of experience in that, but when he went to grab it, it fluttered up to reveal the rest of it’s ugly body. Alexi shielded his eyes before firing twice at the revolting creature, which didn’t do much, since he couldn’t see the animal. He turned around and started to run quickly through the forest, so that he wouldn’t be turned into soulless stone by that ungodly creature. He didn’t run far before he was sure he had escaped the awful cockatrice. Soon he was back on the path to Ponyville, although he wasn’t sure that he entirely going the right way. He shuffled through the forest, refusing to admit he was lost, and nearly dying of starvation about a dozen times. As he walked he gathered blueberries from bushes around him, and stuffed them in the scorched pocket of his trench coat. He came to stop randomly, to catch his breath, he was tired. He was sure he was on the path to Ponyville, but he didn’t know exactly how far away it was. He sat down next to a small tree, and proceeded to devour his blueberries. He was used to living off of almost nothing, but he was never this hungry before. This was the first meal in a long time that he hadn’t drank himself nearly to death with vodka after eating a meal. He didn’t get halfway though his berries before a strange growl emitted from behind him. “That does not sound good…” he said to himself with a mouth full of berries. He turned his head to see what had made that noise. He came face to face with a manticore, a hungry one at that. No doubt it caught a whiff of his berries and wanted them for himself. Alexi thought a billion thoughts in a split second, what would he do? He put the berries in his pocket and whipped out his revolver, aiming it directly at the manticores head. The creature swung a paw and knocked the weapon right out of his hands, pretty far away to. The beast swung it’s paw again to hit Alexi, but Alexi quickly dived down towards his gun. He didn’t reach it, but when he got up He didn’t have far to run. He grabbed it and put a bullet in the Manticores paw, but the thing kept coming, blood gushing from its paw. Alexi hesitated, he grabbed the berries from his pocket and threw it into the face of the manticore, hoping to distract it. After that he turned and bolted, disregarding which direction he was going. He ran for what seemed like a good 30 minutes before crashing down. Tired, hungry, and sleepy, he went to a large oak tree and laid himself upon it, and stared up at the stars. Dear Journal, It is official, I am lost. I am starving, I am tired, and I am running out of vodka…There is nothing here and this forest is death sentence for men. I hope that this is not my final entry, but if it should be, and I die within the confines of this green prison, that I died hunting for Rainbow Dash, should they find body and if she is still living when I am found…This better not be my last entry, otherwise, if there is a hell, the devil should expect his tail between his legs. The stars are quite beautiful here in Equestria…I do not know what names they call them, or perhaps they are same names as they were back home. Hyperion, Polaris, and many others, I can see them all. Tomorrow I must make more ground, provided I am not lost. I must make it out of this damned hell hole. Spokoynoy nochi, ya nadeyues’, chto ya zhivu… He drifted off the sleep under that oak tree, and hoped that he would awake the next morning. He slept like a log, lost in a foreign land, hoping he would live to see Rainbow Dash again. That night he dreamt of her, imagining her beautiful figure, her mane, everything. He never wanted his dream to end. But all great things must come to an end… Luckily his greatest thing didn’t.
