A light breeze...
It feels nice...
I scoot myself deeper into the covers of my bed and-
Wait, breeze?
I bolt right up into a sitting position and take a look around, and find that I’m not in my room anymore.
“What the hell?”
I am sitting in my usual bed which, for whatever reason, is now sitting in the middle of a large clearing smack dab in the middle of a forest. The sun is high in the sky right above me, signaling that it’s noon. Of course, what time it is is not what’s going through my mind right now. What is going through my mind can be summed up as thus:
OMGWTFBBQWHERETHEHELLAMI!!!
Crap, now I’m hyperventilating and can’t seem to stop holding my covers.
I start to get some better control of my breathing now that the initial shock has passed, but that still doesn’t solve my more prominent predicament. After all, I’m still stuck in a FOREST!
I had a normal day, then fell asleep. Then I woke up, and here I am.
Ok,... that helped me in no way whatsoever.
Wait a minute... Where is my computer... why is that on my mind now of all times? Can’t think about that now, gotta find out where the hell I am.
Just to make sure I’m still me, since the rest of this morni~ er, noon has been anything but logical, I look myself over.
… Yep, I still seem to be all here; roughly 1’78 meters, lightly muscled, chubby, very messy black hair, and still male (thank god). If I’m still the same then I can only assume that my eyes are still brown, too.
Now here’s something I hadn’t noticed before. I don’t have my glasses on, yet I can see everything around me clearly. This is strange as usually I can’t hold my own hand two feet away from me without it looking blurry. But right now, I can see my surroundings perfectly in all its crystal clear, cartoonish splendor.
...Cartoonish?
…
…
…
“Oh, yeah.” I said, putting as much sarcasm as I could in my words.
I seem to be in a cartoon. This could either be absolutely awesome, or completely shitty. Guess I’m gonna have to find out.
Seeing as I have been sitting in my bed gawking like an idiot for the past five minutes, I think I should get out of bed and start figuring out where in the blue blazes I’ve ended up in.
I am currently in my pijamas so I decided that was acceptable for the situation.
Since there really isn’t any path, I guess I’ll just head East. At least I think it’s East compared to where the sun is. Wait, but it’s noon. Ah whatever, I just pick a random direction and start walking.
❊ ❊ ❊
So I’ve been walking for quite a few minutes now, at least 20 or so, and I have discovered some interesting things since I’ve been here.
For one, walking through a forest in bare feet is not as painful as I had thought. That’s a plus.
Second, it gets awfully quite wherever I go. I can here birds chirping in the distance, but whenever I get closer, they go silent. Maybe they think I’m a predator or something, I don’t know.
Third, I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but the more I walk through this forest, the... better I feel. I can’t really explain it. It’s almost like just being in this forest is making me stronger, more vitalized. I’m sure it’s just my imagination though.
As I continue, my mood begins to sour. What if I can’t find my way back home? I have an entire future ahead of me.
My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of rustling foliage. I quickly look towards the sound to see a bush moving slightly, and then become completely still. As I listen carefully I can hear what sounds to be... galloping? Yea, something is galloping away in the same direction as I am currently travelling. Must have been the thing that disturbed the bush. Since whatever was galloping away is going in the same direction I am, I might see what it was. Not that I care all that much, but it would be the first living thing I would see in this forest besides plants.
So without further delay, I continue on my way.
❊ ❊ ❊
Meanwhile, completely oblivious to the otherworldly newcomer, the ponies of Ponyville continue on with their day as usual. Throughout the town pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies go about their business; shopping, trotting to someplace important, or just enjoying the day.
One such unicorn is currently trotting with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. This unicorn is Twilight Sparkle . The reason she is in such high spirits is because she just received a new assignment from her loving ruler and mentor, Princess Celestia, and has just finished gathering all the supplies needed for it. Walking behind her and carrying said supplies is Twilight’s baby dragon and number one assistant, Spike.
“So, tell me again why we need all this stuff?”
“Because, Spike, the Princess has discovered a new form of magic and wants us to study it.”
“New form? How many forms are there?”
“Nopony knows, and apparently neither does the Princess. That’s why we’re doing this, Spike.”
“Ok, but why do we have to have all this weird stuff? Sulfur, powdered iron, worm tongue, dragon leaves, eye of newt; this stuff’s not light, you know.”
“Because,” Twilight began with a hint of irritation, “we are studying the magic of creating something from nothing, and in order to do that, we must first learn about the magic that creates something from something else. Remember how Discord was able to make just about anything appear?”
“Oh yeah, that exploding chocolate milk was pretty cool,” Spike says with a smile.
“Yes, well, as ‘cool’ as it was, Discord showed us capabilities of magic that we had never considered before.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
“In this case, yes.”
The duo remains silent for the rest of their walk until they arrive at Twilight’s home, which happens to be an entire library carved into the inside of a large tree.
As they stepped inside, Twilight tells Spike to set the supplies down next to her writing desk, which the baby fire breather more than happily complies. With nothing left for her assistant to do, Twilight tells Spike that he is free for the rest of the day. Spike uses his new found free time to do what he always loves to do: nap.
While Spike is going upstairs to his bed, Twilight decides that there’s no time like the present to get to work. So she starts her project like she does with any other project: with a book.
❊ ❊ ❊
Several books, notes, and hours later, Twilight is confident that she is ready to put the theories of recreation magic to the test.
“Alright,” Twilight spoke aloud, “just need to focus. From one material to another, no problem.”
Twilight focuses magic through her horn, as she had countless times before, and concentrates on the pile of salt in front of her. She requested the spirits of magic her goal, she had always been fascinated by magic, but what amazed her the most was that what had suspected since ancient times, and her personal hero Starswirl had later elaborated upon in research was that magic was in fact alive and it was an Eldritch Abomination, a wild SENTIENT cosmic force. Her goal is to form the salt into a different material. The material she has in mind is a similar mineral, sugar. The reason for this selection is because it is simple enough to tell the difference with just a lick. Within seconds the salt begins to take on the same purple glow as her horn and begins to reform itself, turning bright with the magic being channeled into it. The light being emitted from the salt pile soon became too much for Twilight’s eyes as she squeezes them shut. Then, with a little more push of effort, Twilight finishes her spell and the blinding light slowly fades away.
As Twilight opens her eyes, she sees a small sparkling white block laying on the floor. Now to see if she got it right. Twilight levitates the small block off of the floor, brings it to her mouth, and gives it a lick.
Salty.
Twilight huffs in disappointment. She didn’t change the material, just merely solidified it. She would have to review her notes in order to see if there was a flaw in the process.
SLAM!!
Before she can so much as pick up her notebook, Twilight is startled by the sound of her door slamming open. Twilight quickly looks towards the library entrance to see Zecora, the local zebra witchdoctor and a friend of Twilight’s, visibly sweating, panting from exhaustion, and clearly distressed.
“Zecora, what’s wrong?” Twilight asks, worry evident in her voice.
“(pant)(pant) Twilight,” Zecora begins in her African accent between gasps of air, “(pant) listen to my words and head what they mean. (pant) There is a beast within the Everfree (pant) of which I have never before seen.”
If it wasn’t for Zecora’s current state, Twilight would be intrigued by this news. Hell, in a way she still is.
“What kind of beast? Is it dangerous?”
“(pant) As I am now, (pant) my mind is too slow. (pant) Let me catch my breath, (pant) and I will tell you all that I know.”
Twilight nods in agreement and leads the tired zebra to a couch to rest upon. It takes only a couple of minutes before Zecora’s breathing returns to a normal pace, in which time Zecora gladly accepted a glass of water from Twilight.
“Ok, so can you tell me what happened?” Asks Twilight, now with a notepad and quill levitating near her.
“Of course Twilight Sparkle, and be sure to listen well. For this is quite a bit of news to tell.”
❊ ❊ ❊
“ACHOO”
You know, I think there’s a Japanese wife’s tale that says you sneeze whenever somebody is talking about you. Probably not all that accurate though.
Sigh...
I’m sure I’ve been walking for hours now, and the scenery isn’t changing much. It was noon when I left my bed, and I can tell the sun has moved quite a bit through the forest canopy. I’m starting to get hungry, and my feet are starting to become sore. Man, what I wouldn’t give for my house shoes.
I crack my back out of habit and keep on walking. Needles to say I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on my situation, and it is anything but optimistic. In just the span of a night, or even a minute for all I know, my entire life may very well be gone. God that sucks.
…
…
…
ARGH!!
My feet are killing me now. I’m not built to walk for this long. At least I don’t think I am. Sigh...
My sleeve’s starting to slip. Gotta pull it back in place and...
Wait, was my arm always this thick.
I lift the fabric and flex my bicep. Nope, it was never that big before. What the hell, am I not even in my own body now? I look over myself again and find that my muscle mass has definitely gotten a boost since I’ve been walking in this forest and I have this itching feeling that I’ve also gotten taller. If I remember correctly, the pants barely came down to my ankles when I left my bed. But now it only goes down to about four cm higher. Because I’m more muscled now (for whatever reason) my chest has gotten wider.
Holy shit, I went from chubby 24-year-old to athletic 24-year-old in the span of a few hours just by walking in a forest. It’s not too much, I don’t look like I’m on steroids or anything but I’m now fit instead of chubby. I should be freaking out at how impossible this is, but you know what, I’m just gonna roll with it.
I flex my arm again and I gotta say, I like what I see. Always wanted biceps this nice, now my entire body is muscled up to boot. Huh, I guess things are looking up a bit.
THUMP
Oh crap, I think I spoke (thought?) too soon.
I turn towards the noise to see a demon of hell itself. It looks likes an over-sized lion with bat wings and a scorpion tail.
“Oh shit...” It’s a manticore, and it looks hungry. Well actually I wouldn’t be able to tell that now, but I’m not about to find out.
It paws at the ground in the manner that a bull would before charging.
Nope.avi
I turn right back around and start hauling ass.
From the sound of the manticore’s roar and the constant thumping, I can (un)safely assume that it’s giving chase.
I take a glance behind me to see the manticore is still on my tail, and far too close for my comfort. Then with a beat of it’s wings, it leaps for the pounce.
Well since I have the body of an athlete, I guess it’s time to do some exercices. I immediately bring myself to a stop on my right leg, and then use that leg to propel me under the manticore’s leap in a dive and then a roll. The manticore land’s right where I had been, and I find myself right behind it.
Now in hind sight, what I was about to do may have seem like a really bad idea but fuck it, whatever slows this thing down. I grabbed the beast by it’s tail, and brought my foot down on it right rear leg with all my might. The manticore roared in pain as the leg joint gave way under my foot with an audible snap.
The adrenaline pumping through me and the fact that I was able to hurt this monster gave me a huge confidence boost. I jumped on it’s back while still holding my grip on it’s scorpion tail just as the manticore whipped itself around to try and face me. Now I had a pretty good grip on this things tail, and I think it knew it, cause it suddenly got the bright idea to flick it’s tail as hard as it could.
“AAAAHH CRAP!” I yell as I sail through the air.
I hit the ground with a grunt and tumble a few more feet. When I look up I can see the manticore limping towards me, primal rage set in its eyes. Since I didn’t break anything in that fall, I instantly leap to my feet and start running again. I may have slowed it down, but I’m not about to keep trying my luck against a ferocious mythical predator that’s as tall as me.
Wow, I can’t believe my toga is still on me after all that. Wait, why am I thinking about my toga, I gotta focus on running.
Then I hear the beating of leathery wings, and my blood chills. FUCK! I forgot that thing had wings!
I also had forgotten that the last thing you want to do when you face a predator is run away, that just proves to them that you’re vulnerable.
In desperation to lose this thing, I start running and juking between trees, seeing if I can slow it down some by doing so. The sound of its wings aren’t getting any closer, but it isn’t getting any farther, either. Then the beating stops.
I yell out as I suddenly feel a searing pain in my back as I am knocked to the floor. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what hit me.
Just as I roll over onto my back, the manticore brings one of it’s colossal paws down on my chest, pinning me to the ground. I look up I swear the manticore is actually smiling, as if it new it’s victory was assured. Well fuck that noise.
In one last ditch effort to save my own skin, I bring my foot up as hard as I can, and hit that overgrown cat fucker right in the balls.
The manticore’s smile of victory is instantly replaced by a howl of pain as it looses its hold on me. I follow up by bring my legs out from under it, and giving it a hard double foot kick to the face. The blow sends it rearing, causing its already wounded hind leg to give out and bringing the beast down to earth hard.
I’m not about to give it a chance to recover. I’m pissed right now and I’m gonna make this bastard hurt. I get back on my feet as the manticore wallows in pain, and once again grab hold of it’s tail. Only this time I pull it so that it’s taut, and then bring my foot down on one of it’s carapace joints, snapping it into uselessness.
“This is what happens when you fuck with the WRONG HUMAN!”
I continue onto its back and do the same thing to both of its wings.
I jump off the manticore and turn to look at it, and it is apparent that this thing is beyond done. It is curled up into a ball and whimpering in pain. Damn this is sad. I almost feel sorry for the guy now.
…
Almost, but not quite.
Seeing as this poor bastard isn’t going to be causing me any more trouble any time soon, I continue on my way.
The adrenaline is receding, and now I can feel the pain from the wound on my back and the bruises that I had gained. It hurts and aches like a bitch, let me tell you. I don’t know how fucked up I am but all I can do is wrap my sheet around my torso tightly and hope that will be enough to bandage the wound. My hands are starting to shake form the aftershock of that whole ordeal. I was this close to death and I knew it. God damn that was scary.
And yet, despite the pain and the shock, I feel like a total badass right now. I just took on a mythical monster that’s my size and not only lived, but beat that sucker down into submission. If my body was still the same from when I was still in bed, there would have been no way I could have survived that ordeal.
❊ ❊ ❊
He is confused.
When he had sent the beast to test the boy, he had expected the boy to either subdue and befriend the beast through kindness, or die by the beast’s claws while trying to run.
When the boy did run, he fully expected him to die. The last two he had brought here did, after all. But die he did not. Instead he fought.
The boy did not win through kindness, but through some form of cruelty.
This is what confuses him the most. That is not how it is supposed to be. In this world, cruelty is never supposed to gain victory. And yet, the boy continues on, a little worse for wear but alive.
He sighs in frustration. In a way, just surviving the test means that he passed, but the methods by which he passed are questionable.
There is no doubt in his mind, the boy is dangerous, and the power he is planning to bestow upon him will only make him more so. Should he still give the boy this power, or find another that will pass the test properly?
No... he’s already wasted to much energy in those last 2, he could hardly afford a new one, because if this boy didn’t have what it took, at this point it was a little late to start bringing even more people.
“You can say that again” said someone, the glowing phantoms of a young (maybe 9 years old) girl and a teenaged boy appeared and glared at him, he flinched at their anger. “Your little manticore killed the both of us and you’re going to blame him for defending himself!” the girl said outraged.
“This boy has the spirit of determination, and in time that is exactly what this world will need.” The teenager followed.
Another sigh. His time is coming to a close, and he needs to find a successor. If the boy can still prove that he is capable of kindness, then he will have to do.
❊ ❊ ❊
Twilight reviewes the notes she had written during Zecora’s story and is perplexed. A creature that stands on two legs, has hardly any fur, wears... pijamas? It's almost preposterous to believe that such a creature exists. But then, this is the Everfree Forest they are talking about. What’s more, this creature seems to be on it’s way towards Ponyville, according to Zecora . There is still no telling whether the creature is dangerous or not, but its description is just so... alien, that a pony cannot help but speculate.
Also, there’s the fact that it’s clothed, strongly suggesting that it’s intelligent.
Zecora had long since left to return to her hut, so Twilight is alone in her library, save for her sleeping assistant. Twilight could swear that baby dragon could sleep through hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes... at the same time.
This new event will definitely require study. Maybe she can get Fluttershy to help since she’s so good with animals.
Twilight looks out the window to see that the sun is getting quite close to the horizon. A look at her wall mounted clock tells her that it is around 4 pm.
“Hm,” Twilight thinks aloud, “I should probably send a letter to the Princess asking if she knows what this creature is.”
Twilight brings out one of her blank scrolls and a quill from her writing desk and begins writing done all she learned of the creature for Zecora and asking if the Princess knew of what it was. When she finishes, Twilight decides she will wait until Spike wakes up before she has him send the letter. Zecora did say it wasn’t moving very fast and it still was quite away in the Everfree. At least that’s what she thinks she said. Twilight never did have the heart to tell Zecora that her rhyming made it difficult sometimes to understand her meaning.
Twilight suddenly realizes that with the excitement of this new event, she had lost time on her studies in creation and recreation magic.
‘Better get back to work,’ thinks Twilight as she goes back to her notes and books.
❊ ❊ ❊
Man, I hope I find the edge of this forest soon. The sun is getting low and I definitely don’t want to be here when it’s dark. If predators like manticores hunt during the day, I can only imagine what other beasties might lurk about during the night.
Sigh, walking, walking, and more walking. I swear I’m not gonna be able to feel my feet after this.
Author's Note
Well here goes, this is an old story I came up with years ago, I'll try not to abandon it but I don't know when I'll update.
