Kevin stared intensely at his reflection in the mirror, using his magic to (attempt to) comb his extremely poofy hair into something that was a bit more presentable. After his older brother, Zach, informed he and his twin sister, Azura, that they were heading to their grandparents’ house for the summer, Kevin had to scrap all of his awesome plans with his friends, and that really bummed him out. He was sure Azura felt the same way, too; why would anyone want to spend an entire summer at the house of people he hadn’t seen since he was 6?
As he was caught up in his thoughts, he accidentally lost his magic grip and the comb bounced off the sink and into the garbage can next to it. What followed was a quiet curse omitted by him and a glare at his own reflection.
This was the ordinary life of Kevin, an ordinary unicorn living in an ordinary suburb of Manehattan.
He left the bathroom, hopeless because his hair reverted to its old self once again. Besides, he had to get his sister, who was passing unnecessary things, as she usually did. Kevin ran up the stairs to her room and knocked on her door. “Geez, Kevin! Can’t you learn to be patient? You were literally just asking if I was ready 3 minutes ago!” His slightly younger sister replied angrily, and he could hear her shuffling around, scrambling to grab anything and put it in one of her cases.
“Well, I wasn’t going to ASK if you were ready; I was going to tell you that we have to go! Now!” Kevin yelled through the door, rolling his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he heard his sister sigh, then a case closing, and soon enough, the door was open too.
Kevin and Azura were twins, but they weren’t identical; nevertheless, they looked nearly the exact same, so it was hard to tell anyway. Both were unicorns with a tan fur (though Azura’s was a bit darker), and both had deep brown hair. Strangely, over time, Azura’s hair had faded into a lighter brown the more she grew it, and she liked the look, so that resulted in her having absurdly long and poofy hair. Despite this, Kevin and Azura are nearly polar opposites in personality. The only thing they seemed to bond with was video games.
“Ready to go! Happy now?” Azura shot back, taking one last look at her room before shutting it for the summer. Kevin followed her downstairs, grabbed his luggage from the couch, and walked outside, where Zach was casually talking with their neighbor, Mr. House. Upon noticing Kevin and Azura standing next to his wagon, he finished his conversation with the neighbor and walked to them.
“Hey guys! Ready to see your grandparents?”
“No.” Kevin replied bluntly, throwing his things into Zach’s wagon.
“Ehh…” Azura blurted, also putting her things in the wagon and jumping in afterwards. Zach sighed and shook his head sadly, as if he was disappointed in his younger siblings… and he probably was.
Like, all the time.
Zach was definitely the do-it-all in the family, and clearly their parents’ favorite. He came 4 years before the twins did, which already gave him the advantage by the time they arrived. He was the kind of pony who would always steal the spotlight because he, well, deserved it. Was it his fault that, on the same exact day both Kevin AND Azura learned to walk, Zach learned how to build a miniature wagon? Of course not. It was only the workshop genius that was their older brother—and the continuous bad luck the twins have faced in their lives.
And now, since their parents joined a huge corporate group headed by a good friend of theirs’, they barely saw them. Zach was forced to take care of the twins—both equally lazy—all while studying at a nearby college.
Remember the bad luck that was mentioned just a paragraph ago? As it would happen, Zach’s huge college trip that was supposed to take up the entire summer somehow managed to start on the exact same day their parents’ business trip to Las Pegasus began (which was really just an excuse to plunder all their money afterwards). And what did that lead to?
Grandparents.
Kevin climbed in after his sister and Zach got in front of the wagon, probably strong enough to pull two times the weight that made it up. “You two really need to lighten up a bit; this is a great opportunity to finally spend some OUTSIDE! There’s a whole forest there for you guys to walk around in!” Zach mentioned as he started to pull the wagon. He was there the winter before, repairing a few parts of the house while Kevin and Azura were spending Hearth’s Warming with their parents. “Besides, they’re your grandparents. Grandma’s cookies are KILLER!”
Kevin scoffed and tapped one of his suitcases, the one holding his video game system. “What are you talking about? I brought my console. Azura and I both agree it will be able to supply us the whole summer.” He snapped back. Zach chuckled and shook his head in response, quickening the pace of the wagon as they moved through Manehattan suburb streets.
“There’s bad connection down there, so good luck.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Azura responded, her eyes widened. Kevin wanted to laugh at her reaction, but he knew he couldn’t.
He felt as bad as she did about that.
“Wake up, bums—we’re almost there!” Zach shouted from the front of the wagon, jerking both Kevin and Azura awake.
He was probably right; the skyscrapers they had seen in the distance when they both fell asleep were now replaced by towering trees on either side of them. The early morning clouds were gone, and it was beginning to turn into a really nice clear day. “Ugh… what time is it?” Azura asked, rubbing her eyes. Zach glanced at the sky before returning his gaze to the road, calculating.
“I would say it’s no later than 10. Can you believe it? We’ve been at it for 3 hours!” He answered, a bit too enthusiastically. As Kevin’s eyes adjusted to the environment a little more, he noticed that the forest was pretty dark for it being such a bright day. It casted an eerie feeling over the twins, and he wasn’t quite sold on the thought of walking around in them after seeing them in this form. Not only that, but Kevin swore he noticed a strange mist deep inside of it as well.
That totally isn’t creepy, he thought to himself, sitting back in the wagon. But maybe it won’t be so bad?
“How long before we get there, you think?” Azura asked, stretching her limbs. Zach didn’t look back, and it took him a few moments to respond.
“Hmm… I would say 5 minutes? At most. So you guys should be ready to unload your things.” He replied. Kevin and Azura did just that, spending the next several minutes getting all their bags together and orderly as Zach turned down a lonely dirt road. It was bumpy and confusingly twisty, and seemed to go on for ages. Eventually, the wagon pulled up to a large white house with a gray roof sitting in a clearing amongst the trees. Kevin counted the floors.
1, 2, 3… 4. Wow. What a tall house.
It really was a huge house; its windows stuck out the most to him, as there was too many to count. He guessed his grandparents had a lot of money, allowing them to own such a large property. Zach pulled up the wagon not far from the front steps (which Kevin could tell were fixed by his brother) and helped unload their luggage from the back. After he pulled out Azura’s last bag, their grandparents finally came outside with huge smiles on their faces.
Their grandfather was tall and thin, with deep green eyes and tan fur, something everypony in the family possessed (although his color had faded a bit with age). His completely gray hair reflected his old age, but he still moved with a pep in his step. Their grandmother was only slightly shorter than Kevin and Azura, with a bit darker tan fur and dark blue eyes. Her hair still had hints of forest green, but it was mostly gray.
“Welcome to our palace, Kevin and Azura!” Their grandfather exclaimed, basking in the glory of their giant house. The word ‘palace’ almost seemed fitting, judging on its size. Their grandmother shook her head, embarrassed.
“Sorry—that’s not quite the right way to greet you two. We’re just so excited to see you both, and it’s been a long time coming; if you don’t want to call us Grammy and Papa anymore, you can just call us Jennifer and Francis.” She said, looking at both of them in the eyes. Azura chuckled beside him.
“Heh… well, I’ll definitely take that way. We’re too old to call you those names anymore.” She replied, shoving their childhood aside. Both of their grandparents smiled before turning their attention to Zach. They talked about many things, like how their porch was holding up and the best gardening techniques for when the plants start blooming. As they talked, Kevin took a trip around the house, which was completely surrounded by forest beside the dirt road leading up to it. There was, however, a small trail directly behind the house that seemed interesting.
He and Azura would have to check it out later.
Kevin also noticed a small garden blooming on one other side of the house, filled with all kinds of flowers and crops. By the time he returned to the front of the house, Zach was getting ready to go, already getting in front of the wagon. As Francis and Jennifer were finishing their conversation with him, Kevin approached Azura, who was anxiously kicking at the dirt.
“I found a small trail in the back,” he announced. “We should check it out soon.”
Azura nodded and tapped the case which contained their game system. “If they kick us off this sometime, that’ll definitely be something to do.” Kevin nodded and smiled in return.
“Bye, guys! I’ll see you in a month to see how you’re doing!” Zach called as he started to pull away, and Kevin and Azura waved back in return. As soon as he was gone, their grandparents were already almost inside, gesturing for them to follow. The twins picked up their things and proceeded to follow them.
“You know, maybe this summer won’t be so bad,” Azura whispered as they climbed over the porch steps and towards the door. “They seem cool.”
“Yeah.” Kevin replied, and they both walked inside.
Little did they know, something ominous awaited their arrival, and this summer would be one the twins would never forget.
“For Celestia’s sake, Azura, how did you get so good at this game?”
The twins, Kevin and Azura, sat on the tan carpet of their room as the morning light streamed inside from the windows. Fortunately for them, the sun wasn’t out and there was a threat of rain, so they didn’t have to go outside and tend to their grandparents’ garden; they had everything they wanted right here as they played their games.
It was a week since they had arrived at the house, and not much happened since then. They hadn’t ventured into the woods yet, and there wasn’t a nice enough day to go to a nearby civilization for a park.
So as of now, Kevin and Azura were stranded in a woodland wasteland.
“Well, I was sick of you beating me, so whenever I had time, I practiced. I watched your moves, and I learned to exploit your weaknesses,” Azura explained, purposely flipping her hair so it flicked her brother on the side of the head. “What was I supposed to do? Lay down and let you destroy me over and over again?”
“Ye—eh, actually, never mind. That’s pretty smart.” Kevin answered, turning off the console and putting his controller down. He sighed and fell back onto the carpet. “Ugh. Now I’m definitely regretting we didn’t bring ONLY one game. I’m soooo bored…”
Just then, the door to their room opened, and their grandfather stood with his usual smile on his face.
“Did somepony say ‘bored?’” He asked, leaning against the doorframe. Kevin groaned and Azura facehoofed, the twins feeling even more miserable. Their grandfather gave them a confused look as Kevin got himself up.
“Look, Francis. It’s waaaaay too—“
Francis cut off his statement with a kind laugh, shaking his head. “Silly boy! Why would I leave you outside in the mud to tend to the garden? I was thinking more of going outside and doing something in general. You two have spent so much time indoors playing on your video games, that you haven’t had the opportunity to actually enjoy the nice air outside,” he explained, pulling down the shades in the room, creating a gloomy blue effect that permeated throughout the entire room. “I suggest walking through the forest. Your grandma and I love doing that.”
The forest.
A strange flash suddenly sounded in Kevin’s head, and he quickly nodded to his grandfather’s suggestion. It was immediate and strange, something he couldn’t control. But he felt like he was already being pulled into the forest; he was unsure of how Azura felt, though. His grandfather nodded as well and left the room, leaving Kevin and his sister in the middle of it.
“Did you feel that?” He asked, levitating his jacket towards him. Azura tilted her head, confused.
“What?”
“Never mind,” Kevin replied, shaking his head and putting on his jacket. His sister did the same, and soon, they were already heading down the stairs and out the door. There was no need to tell their grandparents where they were going; their grandmother was sitting at the kitchen table, which gave a clear view of the front door. And, there was nowhere else to go around here.
Kevin and Azura walked beside each other, circling around to the back of the house and fixing themselves on the trail that led into the forest. It was awfully silent for the first few moments, where only the birds chirping and wind brushing through the trees could be heard. So, Azura tried to break up that silence by kicking off a conversation.
“So… how far did they say the nearest town is?” She asked, kicking a rock as they entered the slightly darker forest. Kevin stared straight ahead, not really focusing on anything in particular, just gazing into the seemingly endless forest.
“I don’t think they even told us that,” he responded, and after a few seconds, he spoke again. “I don’t recall Zach telling us, either.”
“I wish there was a way we could tell Zach to bring us a new game or two, but this place is in the middle of absolute NOWHERE.”
Kevin agreed with his sister’s observation in his head, but realized the truth. “You know he wouldn’t do that, Azura.” He said. Azura nodded and sighed, kicking another rock and stick out of the way in a sad attempt at entertainment.
Several more minutes went by without a word. The trail was generally straight, with few curves or redirections, but at one point the pair came across a small stream (which is common in a woodland environment) and were forced to walk along it. Except, they weren’t walking ON the shore. There was an incline that was about 10 feet tall and not all that steep on both sides of the stream, so that created a little “valley” for it. Still, the stream measured no more than 25 feet across.
Kevin had to admit that it was quite peaceful. It was beginning to get a little bit brighter, and more birds seemed to be coming out. He as wasn’t bothered by the high trees as he thought he would be, and the stream made a nice rippling sound every now and then.
“We should come out in here every day,” He suggested, glancing around the forest as they walked. “I guess this would be a nice substitute for our game.”
“I agree…” Azura replied, nodding. Seconds of silence between the two passed, and it looked like it was about to turn into even more minutes of quiet when the twin sister piped up again. “So, how far do you think it is?”
“What is?”
“The nearest town.”
“Ugh. There’s no way I would know this. I slept the entire way,” Kevin responded, a bit agitated. He ran a hoof through his poofy brown hair, thinking. “But I would say at least 20 miles. There could be a smaller town close, with a few houses and a gas station or even a grocery store, but I would have to say the nearest big town would be pretty far away.”
“Is it bad that I don’t even know what part of Equestria we’re in?” Azura cut in. Kevin shrugged and was about to answer her in agreement when he noticed something… strange, up ahead. He stopped dead in his tracks, forcing Azura to do the same. Then, in a swift motion, he dove behind a large bush on the side of the trail. Azura did the same, even though she clearly had no idea what Kevin was getting so worked up over and quite frankly was agitated. “Kev! What are you doing?!”
Kevin quickly shushed her, staring through the bush. “Do you not see it?...” he whispered, his eyes wide with a mix of fear and confusion. “Right up ahead.”
It took some time for Azura to see, but once she saw the figure, her eyes opened wide, too.
The creek was turning to the right, which meant the trail was turning to the right. However, before Kevin and Azura could continue their hike without disturbance, they saw her.
A pale white mare sat on a tire swing across the river. She wasn’t even swinging; just sitting there, motionless, gripping onto the ropes. Luckily, though, she wasn’t facing the twins, giving Kevin time to shove himself and his sister behind a bush in case the pony ever did decide to.
A minute passed. She didn’t.
“Who is that?...” Azura whispered, especially quiet this time. Kevin shook his head, unable to say anything. They had been told that the nearest pony lived miles away, and they certainly didn’t fit the description of this pale mare with a light gray mane to fit as well. Overall, the scene was very creepy and unsettling to the twins.
The sky seemed to get darker, and maybe it was because several large rain clouds were beginning to enter the area. Distant rumble shuddered the forest, and the wind was starting to pick up. However, even as Kevin and Azura’s manes went wild, the strange mare’s stayed perfectly still. In fact, the swing didn’t budge at all either. She just sat there with her seemingly frail frame, as if waiting for somepony to meet her.
Kevin looked away for a second, to talk to Azura face to face. She did too, her mouth agape. “I’m guessing going up to say ‘hi’ is out of the question?...” he whispered, chuckling nervously, trying to ease the mood, the tension. His sister did the same, but when she looked back at the mare, her face was once again full of horror.
“W-Well… it definitely is, now…” She stammered, covering her mouth with her hoof. Kevin slowly turned his head towards the mare, expecting the worst: was she looking straight at them now? Did she know they were there? Is she closer now? A million thoughts flew through his mind as his eyes finally laid upon the sickly frail mare.
Except…
There was no mare.
She was gone.
GONE.
“Oh, HELL no…”
On instinct, Kevin swiveled his head around, scanning all directions for the mare. Once he didn’t see anypony around behind them and on their flanks, he peeked over the bush to see where the strange pony was going.
Again, there was nopony to be found. He and his sister looked away for literally 5 seconds. Yet, it was like the mare disappeared into mid-air.
Without a trace.
Still, to be safe, Kevin instructed Azura to stay for a few minutes, just to be certain that the mare wasn’t around. The forest was eerily quiet, but nothing was happening. Several minutes passed, and after a rumble of thunder finally cleared the silence, Kevin assumed that it was the right time to head back. He helped his sister up and they righted themselves back on the trail, not talking the rest of the way. They also walked with a bit of a pep in their step, so they wouldn’t encounter anything on the way back and so they wouldn’t get caught in the incoming thunderstorm.
By the time they reached the mouth of the trail and grandparents’ property, Kevin’s heart was still beating in a consistently quick rhythm. The whole situation had given him a good scare.
“Can I… point something out really quick?” Azura asked quietly as the two shakily walked across the large backyard. Kevin nodded, staring straight ahead. Azura cleared her throat. “Well… I saw a shed deep in the woods before we left that area…”
“You’re lying,” Kevin replied quickly.
“I’m not! I’m dead serious!”
“If it’s so serious, then why didn’t you tell me while we were walking?”
“I thought you were too scared to hear anything else about that place.”
“Hardy har har. You’re SO funny. And annoying.” Kevin responded, rolling his eyes at his sister’s accusing albeit correct observation.
The whole thing left the two shaken up as they entered the house. But, the worst was still yet to come.
