Ace continued his journey for escape from the forest, but it was of no avail. Each turn he made seemed to amount to nothing; every step, a waste of time and effort.

He had no idea what parts of the forest he was in or how long he was running for. All he knew was that he was desperately wanted to go home, and he wasn't getting any calmer.

He was coming up to a clearing in the forest, which recovered a bit of hope. But it turned out the clearing was just a patch of land with a small river. At this point, Ace was at his breaking point. Thoughts of fear and sadness were rushing through his head.

"Please... Somebody help! Anypony, please!" He shouted, water streaming from his eyes. "Just help... Please..."
He'd been trying to find the exit for hours now, and it's hard enough without all the nasty creatures that lurk in the darkness of the forest.

Just then, he felt a hoof on his shoulder.
Ace flinched, then turned around to see who was standing behind him.

It was the mare with no mouth.
She was much bigger and more scary while fighting the manticore, but now she had shrunken to the size of an average mare.

Ether way, Ace jolted backwards in fear of her.
The fear instantly vanished, though.
He could see that her eyes were not threatening, but were sorrowful, like she knew his pain.

This mare was nothing like the book told, maybe other than the fact she was made of candy. The pony, in the book, was described to be a insane, cannibalistic abomination. However, the 'monster' in front of him seemed kind and caring.

"Who... What are you?" He asked, with nothing better to say.
She didn't respond.
She just put her hoof out, asking him to take her hand. Reluctantly, Ace took her hoof, and she began leading him.

A while later...

During the time they were walking, Ace had asked the mare many questions, to which he got no response.

Then again, she had no visible mouth.

Ace felt incredible dumb realising that fact.
All of a sudden, the mare stopped dead in her tracks.
"What is it?" He asked.
Once again, no reply. She just pointed in front of her. Ace looked in the direction of her hoof, and, at long last, could see Ponyville.

A huge wave of relief and joy rushed over him. He believed that he'd be stuck in the forest forever.

In no time, he was sprinting at full speed towards the town. When he got out of the forest, he was surprised to see that the sun was was starting to rise.

"Geez, how long was I gone for?"
He then shrugged his shoulders and was running home.

But he stopped himself, and turned around.
The mare, who didn't move from her spot, was just staring back at him. He quickly rushed over and gave her a hug.
"Thank you..." He said still embracing her.

At first she was shocked by what he did, but then she decided just to hug him as well.

Ace released her from his grip, smiled and then continued running.

One thing was for certain.
Despite the fact she didn't have a mouth, you would still tell she was smiling back at him.

...

Ace, at last, finally arrived back home, and safely to say the least!

But right now, he had bigger problems. One of them being how, in Celestias name, was he going to to explain where he was and what he was doing all night.

He took a deep breath before hesitantly opening the door. To his luck, he poked his head through the door to find that there was no pony.

Stealthily, he walked in, closed the door and when for the stairs.
If his mum was still asleep, he would be able to get to his room and make it look like he was there the entire night. Slowly, he took the first step upwards.

"Ahem,"

Ace flinched, and then turned right to see his mother waiting for him in the living room. And judging her facial expressions, she was clearly not happy. They gazed at each other for a while.

"I swear can explain."
"I don't think you can..." she said coldly.
"But please, tell me. What did you do to make yourself come home so late?"
"Well... To put it shortly, I kind of... Err..."
She raised an eyebrow, "You what?"

"I... Got lost in the everfree forest..." He finished his sentence, looking down in shame.
"Do you know how much you made me worry?" She started trotting towards Ace. "I kept telling myself 'he'll be here soon' and to 'not worry too much'. Well! You kept me waiting all NIGHT! And you were in the Everfree forest, of all places!" Upon closer examination, Ace could see bags under her eyes, proving her point.
"I'm sorry mom... But I really meant to come hom-"
"I don't want to hear excuses right now. But seriously, you're not a child anymore, you're are grown stallion. You should be more responsible than this!"
She placed a hoof on her head and sighed.
"Just please don't be mad me," he begged.
"I'm not mad..."
She started to walk up the stairs.
"... I'm just disappointed." She said right when she reached the top of the stairs.

Ace was left staring at the floor.
Even though he was up all night, he didn't feel like sleeping right now. He just needed to get out of the house and clear his mind.

Well, not before having breakfast.

*-------------------------------------------------*

Sitting down on a bench, Ace reflected on the insane night he had just experienced.

He was just glad it was all over, and hopefully never go through that night again.
Finally, the day officially began, and the ponies of the town started to get to work.

Ace got off the bench and started to wander through, with nothing much to do.

All of that was interrupted, when a random stranger almost tackled him to the ground hugging him.
Looking down at the pony, Ace could see that it was a pink mare.
With black and red hair...

And no mouth....

Author's Note

Hello again!

So, yeah. Here's the second part to my story!
I really hope you like it!

If you do, be sure to hit that thumbs up and comment what you think of the story so far (I'm also open to criticism).

So untill next time...
Have a good day!