“Watch your six!”
“Anomalies dead ahead!”
“We’re getting overrun!”
A fresh mag slapped in a rifle. Recoil. The smell of cordite and iron in the air. Flashing lights and screaming.
Hunter shot up in his bed. No gunfire, no screaming. Just the empty silence of his bedroom.
Hunter Braxton, twenty one years old, college junior. He has short brown hair with a short beard and mustache. He isn't very big, only about 180 pounds. He's an avid fan of the outdoors. The walls of his bedroom are adorned with past trophies ranging from Large Mouth Bass to a pair of White Tail bucks, and a couple of fish identification charts. It also has a gun rack on one wall next to the door. On the top was his prized Winchester Model 94, a lever action 30-30. It was given to him by his late grandfather when he turned fourteen. The rifle had served his grandfather and himself very well. Beneath it was his Mosin Nagant, which he bought to refurbish, and his Winchester 1200, 16 gauge pump; which was always loaded with buckshot, just in case of unwelcome visitors. In a corner of his room he had a desk which held his TV and his Xbox. Between the desk and the wall was an open space where he kept his fishing rods.
"For fuck's sake."
He hated mornings, unless he was going fishing or hunting, and today was not one of those mornings. He sat up in his bed, and began digging under his pillow for his cell phone. He found it and shut off his alarm, 5:30 am. He had no messages or emails, which was slightly disappointing. He put his phone down and threw the covers off of himself, exposing that he was only wearing his gym shorts. He got up from his incredibly comfy bed and stretched a little, then with a quick scratch to his crotch he walked across the room to his dresser and gathered a fresh set of clothes for the day. He then took a quick shower, walking out of the bathroom smelling of Old Spice and wearing simple blue jeans and a light blue Columbia shirt with a skull on the front and the words "Natural Born Angler'' written above it. As he stepped out of the bathroom he couldn't help but feel like something was a little bit... off. Was there something he was supposed to do today? Is it someone's birthday? Did he have a date that night? LOL no, he couldn't get a date to save his life. He walked through the house to the kitchen, thinking over what was wrong. He opened up a cupboard so he could get a mug. Reaching in he grabbed one, he stuck it under the coffee maker and popped in a fresh Kcup. Within a minute his mug was full and so were his nostrils with the smell of the fresh brew. Then it hit him, it was quiet, too quiet. He left the kitchen and walked down the hallway back to where he and his sister's rooms were. He opened his sister's door and what he found surprised and confused him; Haley was not in there. 'Eh, she must have gone to her boyfriend’s late last night.' Hunter hated her boyfriends, they were all the same; redneck hicks that dropped out early in high school and were incredibly stupid, drove shitty trucks, dipped and smoked, lived in a shitty trailer, and if they had a job it was shitty, and none of them had any desire to better themselves. He shut her door and went back into his room. He grabbed his laptop and turned it on. He did his usual, look at Facebook and listen to music for a few minutes while he drank his coffee.
About seven Hunter decided that he was hungry, he put his computer to the side and went back to the kitchen, he opened up the food cupboard and found nothing that would take less than thirty minutes for it to be edible, there were no waffles in the freezer, or leftovers in the fridge.
"Well, looks like today is a Grassroots kinda day." He said to no one.
Hunter loved Grassroots Coffee Co. He put on his black and gray Nikes and grabbed his keys and wallet. Then he grabbed his black 1911 with its holster and tucked it into his belt. Walking through the house once again he thought to himself, 'Do I want to take the truck, or do I want to drive the Jeep? Hmm... I'll drive the Jeep. He left through the front door and locked it behind him. He turned around and dropped his keys when he saw what was before him. His neighbor's houses were gone. The road was gone. The power lines were gone. Everything beyond his property was gone. He couldn't even hear the traffic from the nearby highway. Looking at the driveway both his big Ram truck and his desert tan 1970 Jeep CJ were still there. At the end of the yard, there was a wall of trees. He walked across the grass towards them. When he got there he stuck his arm past the tree line. 'Yep, that's real.' He thought. He took a few steps into the forest that was now surrounding him and his home, as far as he could tell it kept going. But he didn't recognize these trees, they looked like something out of a cartoon with the way they were shaped. He could have sworn they had faces on them. Hunter had absolutely no idea where he was. He started to walk farther into the woods, but then he stopped himself. 'I can't just walk in here like this. I need gear.' He turned around and went back to the house, unlocking the door and going to his bedroom. He emptied his pockets and took off the clothes he had on. going to his dresser he put on a pair of camo cargo pants and a simple black t-shirt. He put his tennis shoes back on. He then went to his closet and pulled out a lightweight camo vest and a camo boonie hat. This doesn't seem like the typical attire of a hunter, and that's because it's not. His outfit of choice is meant for easy movement. Most people just sit there and wait when they hunt, Hunter can't do that, it's too boring. He prefers a method called stalking. He actively chases his targets. Next he took out his SOG seal pup and attached it to his left hip. He then went over to his desk and got a box of 30-30 rounds out. He opened the box as he walked back across the room to his gun rack and took his favorite rifle. He slid seven bullets into the tube, loaded one in the chamber, and added another to the tube, then put the rest in either little slots or pockets on his vest. Next he pushed down on the hammer with his thumb and pulled the trigger, letting the hammer gently return to its neutral position.
"Alright, now it's go time."
He left his house, locking the doors even though for all he knew there wasn't another person for fifty miles. He marched into the woods, rifle at the ready. 'This is bullshit.'
One hour later…
Hunter was crouched down beside a small creek. He was watching the water, looking for any good fish he could come back and catch later. There were plenty of bream swimming about, he could also a couple bass down there too. He stood up and walked upstream for a ways. He soon found a tree that had fallen across the water making a perfect bridge. Hunter climbed onto the log and carefully walked to the middle. He focused on the water, it was deeper here than it was before. Right in the middle of the creek, on the very bottom, he could see the unmistakable silhouette of a rather large catfish. 'I'll be back for you later.' Hunter continued across the log to the other side. He kneeled down beside the water and cupped some in his hands and brought it up to his mouth. The water tasted wonderful, although it was coming straight from a spring, which there may be. He decided to continue upstream until he found the source. He made it four steps before he stopped in his tracks and crouched low to the ground.
"Thank you, Zecora. Come on girls." A female voice said. They were close and he was looking right in the direction the voice came from. He quickly and quietly moved closer. Then he could see them. He saw what looked like a witch's hut carved into a tree. He couldn't believe what the inhabitants of the forest looked like.
They looked just like regular humans, with the exception of two. The two in question each had a set of wings on their backs. Otherwise the rest appeared to be mostly normal. There were 7 of them in total. The first had deep purple hair with a pink stripe that came down to her shoulders and was wearing a simple purple t-shirt with some black leggings and a simple pair of white sneakers. The second had blonde hair and was wearing cowgirl boots, short denim shorts, a golden brown plaid shirt with a white tank top underneath; plus a cowboy hat to top it off. Number three had curly pink hair, pink shirt, pink skirt, pink socks, pink shoes. This girl just loved to be pink. The fourth had slightly richer purple hair than the first, she was wearing a low cut white blouse and simple blue jeans with some rubber boots.The fifth and sixth were the ones with wings. One was wearing a long sleeve yellow shirt and blue cargo pants, she had long flowing pink hair. And then the sixth. She was wearing black gym shorts, blue athletic shirt and what looked like white Vans. She had the worst looking rainbow hair style. Hunter wondered how much it cost to get your hair dyed like that. The very last one appeared to be the one who inhabits the hut. She was definitely of African decent going by her clothes and the dark color of her skin. She even had tattoos that matched the stripes of a zebra. The first one with the purple hair gave her a hung and they turned to leave.
"Come again, come again, but please come by season's end." Zecora said to the group of... whatever-the-hell-they-ares.
The group started down the path, giving Zecora a parting wave. The zebra returned to her hut, and Hunter began to follow the group at a distance. He couldn't quite hear what they were saying, although every now and then they giggled like schoolgirls. He did however catch a few snippets that sounded like names. Twi, AJ, Rainbow, Rares. They must have been nicknames. He could tell that the purple one was Twi, and the blonde one, who looked like a cowgirl, was AJ; and obviously Rainbow was the one with the ridiculous hair. Hunter continued to follow them, darting from trees and bushes. Then he made a mistake. While crouching behind a thick bush he stepped on a stick, and it snapped with an extremely loud *snap*. Immediately the hippy looking one with the pink hair turned her head.
"Girls, I think I just heard something over there." She said, pointing just to the right of Hunter's hiding spot.
"Eh, You're just hearing things Fluttershy, it was probably just a squirrel." Rainbow spoke up.
"Yeah, 'sides, y'all know that we ain't gon' let nothin' get 'cha" AJ said with a deeper twang than most people from Hunter's home.
The group continued on their way. Hunter didn't move, allowing them to have some more space. He needed to study them more before he revealed himself. Soon he could make out where the forest ended. As the girls left he stayed behind, going prone and crawling to the edge, hiding in a patch of tall grass. In front of him was fields for miles and about three-quarters of a mile away was a village with a giant tree and one tall building poking out from the rooftops. He took his rifle and looked through the scope, observing the village. It was inhabited by the same people he had been stalking.
That sounded just awful. More like observing quietly. It was for science after all.
The group he had been following had split. The cowgirl and Miss Superhearing had gone down a different road heading away from the town. The purple, pink, and white one were heading towards it. And the rainbow one was gone. 'She must have flown off.' Hunter thought. He continued to lay there, watching.
Twilight walked with two of her best friends, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. They had been at Zecora's house for tea. She gave the Everfree Forest a quick glance. She stopped walking as she saw something, it wasn't much, just a reflection of sunlight off of something, but what could be over there that would do that?
"Twilight, deary, is something wrong?" Rarity asked.
"No, I just thought I saw a flash of light, might just be a piece of glass reflecting sunlight." Twilight said.
"Probably, deary. Now, When do you want to go for that spa day?" Rarity asked. Twilight continued to walk and talk with Rarity about a day at the spa. Just as the three of them were going to enter the town she turned around and looked at the same spot she thought she saw the flash at. After a second or two she saw a figure with a long stick rise up from the grass into a low crouch and move backwards into the trees. Soon it rose all the way up and ran off deeper into the woods.
“Rarity!” she blurted out and pointed back towards the woods. “You missed it!”
Rarity and Pinkie spun around and looked where she was pointing.
“Missed what, Twi?” Pinkie asked.
“I don’t see anything” Rarity said.
“He was right there!”
“Who was right there?”
“I think I know, let me go check something!” Twilight yelled as she started jogging back to her library.
“But he went that way.” Pinkie yelled back at her.
“Pinkie, dear, please don’t encourage her,” Rarity said, knowing this was the beginning of some wild goose chase at best and another crazy adventure at worst.
Hunter ran back into the forest, he slowed to a jog and continued on like that for a mile. Then he slowed back to a walk. Within an hour he was back at his house, it was exactly the way he left it. He entered and set his rifle down. Then he went to the kitchen and poured a glass of Jack Daniels on the rocks. He went out the door to his back porch. He flipped on the fans and had a seat in his favorite adirondack chair, he stared off at the woods and sipped his drink. "For fuck's sake." He sat there for a few minutes, contemplating life. Then he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen, his best friend Cody had texted him. He unlocked it and read the message.
"Dude, please tell me you’re alive" The message said.
“Yeah, I’m breathing” was his response.
“Where the hell are you?”
“Idk”
“You’re on the news dude. You’re reported missing and your house was blown up.”
"God fucking damn it." He said out loud and took a deep swig of his whiskey.