“Twilight!” a cyan blur, followed by a rainbow streak, busted into the Tree-house Library, knocking various books off the many shelves that lined the library.

Stood there in the library was a mare. She had bright purple fur, bright purple eyes, and a dark purple mane with two brighter streaks—consisting of one streak of a slightly lighter purple than the rest of her mane and a streak that could be described as pink. To say she was purple would be an understatement. Her tail was identical in color to her mane, streaks and all. She had a cutie mark on her rear, a pink six-sided star—identical in color to the pink streak in her mane—with seemingly another white star hidden underneath with its points poking out where the pink star came back in from its own points, and finally it was all surrounded by five small white stars.

Twilight merely stood stock-still in the disarray, aghast at the grisly state of her library, blown apart before its time.

“Rainbow!?” Twilight yelled out. She cast her gaze over to her cyan friend, her mane was an even more frazzled mess than usual, which wouldn’t be surprising given she was the speed demon of Ponyville, but what stood out was her wide eyes, panic exuding from within.

“No time, Twilight, Olive Trekker was maliciously murdered by a malevolent monster! You have to use your crazy magic to save her!”

Twilight shifted into her best running position, eyes full of determination.

“Lead on!” She made haste, following after Rainbow to the best of her ability.

I had found myself woken up on a bed of crumpled flowers, gasping for air, but stopping on each breath as a pain rang throughout my chest, like a knife through my heart.

For many a moment, I desperately tried to suck in any air I could, but found myself not making much headway on that front. My mind raced as I feared my fate was asphyxiation, a horribly agonizing death—and as many more attempts at vacuuming in that delectable oxygen failed, I panicked further.

Twisting and turning, even as I was racked with pain, I tried to breathe. After almost what felt like minutes, one simple thought knocked me out of my stupor: ‘shouldn’t I be out by now?’

I stopped my vain struggle to breathe, and realized that I had no burn in my lungs from oxygen deprivation. I sat for longer and I felt no desire to take in any air at all, despite some of my other instincts pressuring me otherwise.

As I fought my instinct to breathe, I gazed around at the flowers I was lying in, only to find they were no longer the vibrant blue as I had found them, but withered and gray, feeble and falling apart; only the flowers around the end of my makeshift flower bed were left with their full vibrant blue intact.

Upon closer examination, I could see the annoying pests from before. Dozens of them, shriveled up like raisins, with the same withered gray of the flowers. All of them were lying around me, far too close for comfort.

I immediately made to get up, careful to not trigger the painful stabbing in my chest.

Finally up—on shaky, sore legs—my body struggled to maintain balance. Even as I gained better footing, a new pain made itself known: a migraine.

My head was splitting in two, colors dotted my sight, and my left eye was nearly blind, only vague shapes and colors making themselves known; it didn’t even seem to start until I had gotten up. Despite my body screaming for me to just lay down and die, I strode on, determined to get myself through this.

Using the trees to balance myself, I made my way west once again, back to the spot of the unfortunate green pony, which from there I would then head north, knowing some sort of civilization must be in that direction, considering the pony that I had run across, or rather, had run into me.

And at this point I didn’t care if they wanted to kill me. I was bruised, battered, and broken. Killing or helping me both seemed to be decent options at the moment; however, I still planned on returning to my family, so if they think I’ll go down easy, even like this, they can just think again.

After almost an hour’s trek of the most painful moments of my life, filled with plenty of tripping and writhing in agony, I finally found my way to the woodland edge, gazing upon beautiful rolling hills of green grass. The only clear indication of civilization in sight being a modest cottage engulfed in animals and a majestic city cradling the side of a mountain—I certainly didn’t remember something like that back home.

Considering the city on the mountain was far too vast a distance to walk, I chose the cottage. I hoped there both was and wasn’t anybody home. I needed to see a doctor and clothe myself, but I also don’t want to be kicked anymore.

I slowly limped to the cottage, each step followed by a sharp shock in my chest, as there was nothing to support myself on anymore. Surely this was some sick punishment.

As I put more distance between myself and the forest, the desire for air finally hit me; it wasn’t overwhelming, but it was certainly there now, growing as I grew further from the forest, though I continued to fight the need for it, as I approached the cottage.

Only now upon closer inspection did I notice that the roof of the little house was actually made of leaves with an array of birdhouses jutting out. Speaking of, there were differently colored birdhouses scattered everywhere. Any place with any degree of height was littered with these eyesores! Perhaps that’s the migraine talking.

Ignoring the catastrophe that was the birdhouses, I took more notice of the free-range animals. Not much for fencing around here, other than the not very long fence on the pathway close to the house… Once again, ignoring the structures, I took notice of the animals. My one good eye caught glimpses of them as I stumbled closer to the house. No animal seemed off limit to the owner of this here establishment as I saw many animals of all color and variety, far too much to absorb with an achy brain.

As I approached the door, I looked down to the less elevated ground off the side and my heart stopped. There was a bear just laying there staring at me! A feeling of rejuvenation filled me as the adrenaline now flooding my system gave me a short high. Stumbling over to the door faster than I had moved all day, I went for the handle, which pushed the door open with ease, something I was both thankful for and surprised by.

Making it inside, I made sure the door was firmly closed behind me and locked. Hopefully that might dissuade any animals, or potential visitors from visiting. Here’s hoping the owner wasn’t home to hear that.

Green floor, brown walls, and more birdhouses. Birdhouses were even littered about on the inside. Said birdhouses shook slightly, as birds popped their heads out to look at me. Ignoring them and looking down to the floor, trotting over to me were some mice. Some of the mice were covered in spots of varied hues… Wait, that’s just my migraine-induced spotty eyes. They looked up to me, tilting their heads, but I chose to ignore them for the moment.

Scrambling around to any drawers and cabinets I could find, I pulled them open hoping for painkillers, food, and clothes—in that order. All’s I found were food and a green dress made for a quadruped. I could only assume that meant one of those colorful ponies called this here house a home. Much of the food seemed to be for the critters that lived here, but there were many vegetables I could digest, which I was ultimately grateful for.

Filling my belly cured one of my ails, but sadly there were many more causing me all sorts of aches and pains. I moved farther into the house, hoping to cross off even more items off my list.

Finding what seemed to be a bedroom, I made my way inside. This seemed to be a cozy accommodation: a bed with a chest at the front, a fireplace, a few windows, and some pictures about. The pictures were probably of the owner, family, and possibly friends. I couldn’t tell.

I was lazily searching around, finding myself increasingly more tired, with the urge in me to breathe steadily growing. The more time I spent, the more painful the slowly growing burn in my lungs got. I knew I didn’t have much time, but I still kept slowing down, my muscles growing ever-resistant to my commands.

As I was finding my eyes starting to close without my consent, I heard a voice behind me gently call out.

“Hello there.”

My eyes finally obeyed as they shot open. I spun around, tripping on my own ankle and falling backwards. On my way down I smacked my head on the edge of some object, blacking out. I went down easy.

My eyes creaked open, but the light was even more painful than usual, meaning I had to keep them partially closed. I looked around the room, squinting, making it impossible to make much out. One thing that did make itself apparent though was my head throbbing, like little elves trying to break out of my skull, pounding in my head with sledgehammers.

Putting my hands up to my head, I felt a bandage. Feeling around my head, I felt the bandage went all the way to the back of my head, where some cloth or something was wrapped under it.

After wallowing in pain for some time, I only now noticed the comfy bed I was lying upon. My head had been set on pillows and I was lying under some thick blankets. How I had not noticed this first baffled me, but my everything hurt, so I didn’t pay it much mind, as I was too busy thinking about the hurt.

I heard the pitter-patter of hooves coming towards me. I had completely forgotten about the pony! My heart sped up as I tried to scoot away, finding myself barely capable of moving. My muscles refused to move as the burn for air flared once again in my chest as I finally felt like it was on the verge of exploding from my oxygen deprivation.

The pony maneuvered over to the left side of the bed. She held an ice pack under her left wing.

I got a better look at her than the last time. She had long pink hair which arched up at the top of her head turned to the side and fell back down.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t scare you, did I?”

She must have seen the fear behind my eyes, or perhaps she confused my desperation for oxygen as fear.

“I brought you an ice pack, I’m hoping it will help with that nasty crash you had earlier. I’m so sorry for scaring you like I did. I promise I will shower you with as much care as you need until you’re all healed up –” she gave a small smile as she placed my head on the ice pack, topped with a pink rag “– please tell me if there is anything you need at all.”

As much as I would have loved to stay here and exchange pleasantries with my gracious host, I had more pressing matters. Taking a gamble, I decided to place my trust into this here yellow mare.

Reaching my hand up to my chest, I started making motions with my chest and mouth, trying to get across to the best of my ability the fact that I couldn’t breathe.

Her eyes opened up in shock as she rushed her front legs onto the bed, getting her ear close to my mouth, then she planted her head on my chest.

“Oh my goodness! You’re not breathing at all!” she started tapping in place, still standing half on the bed, “I need to go get Twilight immediately,” she shook hear head and steadied herself, “No, Zecora can definitely fix this, I don’t have time for Twilight to search her books.”

I tried to listen to her, but despite my open eyes, my world began dimming, darker and darker, until the world was pitch black around me. Her rambling grew quiet as I drifted away.

Before I completely lost myself, I spotted a mass of the most inviting warmth. A light, I needed to reach out and grab it. I couldn’t see my arms, but I knew where they needed to go.

I struck them out quickly, pulling the warmth close to me wrapping my arms around it, hands holding on tight. It squirmed. I felt relieved. The pain throughout my entire body began evaporating, as if it never existed. I held on, happy to die free from suffering.

Despite what I thought, the world around me starting coming back into view. I wasn’t dying, I was recovering! My vision was becoming clearer, my focus coming back.

When I was finally able to once again make out the world around me, I finally realized I was holding the pony in a death grip. I immediately dropped her when I heard her whimpering and letting out other grunts.

As she curled up on the floor, I tried breathing. Pain. Whatever wasn’t letting me breathe hadn’t decided to let up yet.

I slid out of the bed, ignoring my own nudity, and put my hand on the yellow mare. I yanked my hand back as I felt her flinch.

Through many breaths and sobs, she spoke, “I’m sorry… please don’t hurt me. I’m sorry.”

‘I’m sorry.’ She just kept repeating this.

I wanted to comfort the poor thing, but I restrained myself. I didn’t know what these ponies were like. I didn’t want to leave her hurt, but she looked like she was going to be okay.

I brushed my hands through my hair, pulling my own head back with it. I looked to her and to the door. I had two options, and if I stayed, the rainbow one might try to kill me again. Even if the yellow one would still defend me, she probably couldn’t do much in this state.

Repeating a line from her own mantra, I mouthed silently, “I’m sorry.” I made my way through the door and closed it behind me. I made to leave her house, opening the front door and checking for the bear. Not seeing it, I decided the coast was clear and dashed my way back to the forest, free from most of the earlier pain.

Finally making my way into the forest, I continued in until I was sure no pony would see me.

I backed myself up against a tree, bringing my hands up to my face, pointer fingers slowly massaging my temples. I took a seat on the ground, back still against the tree as I sat myself into an upright sitting fetal position: knees up with my face buried in them, arms wrapped around my face.

I just stared at my legs for what felt like at least ten minutes. I couldn’t process anything in this bizarre land. It’s like it was all designed to be completely and utterly confusing beyond all belief, baffling me at every second, never offering even the slightest moment of reprieve.

Twilight was falling behind Rainbow, despite her slowing down many times to let her keep up, giving her the stink eye as if it was somehow her fault she didn’t have any wings to keep up with. If Rainbow wanted her to use her magic, she’d just have to accept she wouldn’t be able to do that.

Rainbow Dash finally landed in an opening. Twilight broke her way in, stopping, then panting for a sold minute.

“Get out of here!” Rainbow shooed the many curious predators away, grinding her teeth to dust, eyes darting left and right at maddening speeds.

“Twilight, hurry up!”

Twilight meandered up to the recently deceased corpse, gagging as she put a hoof up to her nose. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, I can’t do anything.”

“What do you mean you can’t do anything!?” Rainbow’s eyebrows threatened to shoot off the top of her face, as she stood there for moments just slowly opening and closing her mouth, mulling on words.

“There usually isn’t all that much that can be done to help from a Timberwolf attack.”

“Timberwolf? I told you this was a Bigfoot, Twilight!”

“Besides the fact that’s just ridiculous—no one’s ever even seen a Bigfoot—the evidence says otherwise,” Twilight’s face softened from her disgust and shock, into one of emotionless deadpan, contradicting the morbidly jubilant tone she would adopt as she lectured, “You see how the body was shredded apart? It looks like the examples in my book of claws and of a predator’s teeth, or more specifically, a Timberwolf. The splinters add even more evidence to my hypothesis.”

Twilight continued to circle around the shredded corpse, beginning to examine it thoroughly, even lifting up pieces in her magic.

Rainbow stood with her mouth hanging to the floor as Twilight just picked up piece after piece and examining it. “Twilight! I can’t believe you would just treat her like she was some kind of… uhm.”

Twilight’s eyes flew to the side. “Cadaver?” she suggested.

“Yeah!” Rainbow began aggressively hovering in the air, careful not to touch the corpse.

“I know, you’re right, Rainbow.” Twilight’s face melted into a frown, eyes downcast. “This might be my only opportunity to study this firsthand. The contributions I could make, even if minimal, could be important in better understanding the behavior of Timberwolves.”

“That’s so not right, Twilight.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry, I’ll restrain myself next time.” Her eyes betrayed her, still glancing back at the body, a fire of passion in her eyes “Perhaps we should just take care of her body and make sure she gets a proper burial. I’ll stay here and watch her and you get somepony to help.”

Rainbow landed on the ground behind Twilight. “No, I think I’ll stay here. You should go get somepony.”

After what felt like, to Rainbow, an eternity, her ears picked up on something nearby. Turning her gaze over to the treeline, she lowered herself ready to pounce.

She began to make the creature out as it moved between the trees, getting closer to the clearing. It held its arms to its chest, head down, as it encroached upon the clearing.

Rainbow was ready for this fight. She could avenge her friend. Twilight may not have believed her, but here the thing was coming back for its meal.

The creature neared the treeline before it then looked up. Its eyes widened as it froze in place for a moment, before turning and sprinting off in the other direction.

Looking between her friend’s mangled body and the creature, Rainbow knew what choice she had to make; she had a responsibility.

She flew off towards the Bigfoot. “Get back here!”

Author's Note

Nobody gets chapters out as fast as me.

People always describe humans as hairless apes or Minotaurs, but why never Bigfoots?

Edit: Accidentally wrote that he said something, when I meant to write he mouthed it. That's what I get for writing in the middle of the night on the verge of falling asleep.