Day three. By now, the novelty of being lost in some pastel fever dream had worn off. Yesterday was a disaster compared to the first day, and that's saying something. A stupid, overly vibrant horse had kicked the wind out of me, leaving a bruise right where my stomach should’ve been, along with my pride scattered somewhere in the dirt. At least, there was the smaller one—more chill, even friendly. Guess I'll give these bizarre creatures the benefit of the doubt... for now.

After the mess of yesterday, though, I slept like a king, all things considered. Two tiny tents shoved together, yeah, it’s not exactly a palace, but it was better than the cold, unforgiving dirt. Had some blankets too, so I was all wrapped up like a human burrito—comfort I didn’t know I missed.

But here’s the deal: as cozy as that makeshift camp was, it wasn’t going to do me any favors in finding civilization. Not if I just lay around all day.

Dragging myself out of the tent felt like a chore, but I had to. First stop: the river. The cool water slapped me awake as I washed off the previous day's grime. My reflection—well, it was... festive. My shirt was now a permanent Halloween decoration with all the blood smeared on it. Great. Anyone who sees me will probably think I’m some kind of psycho. Which... isn’t that far off, considering I ended a bird just to make it through yesterday along with the food left by potential boy scouts from the tents I now own. Funny how survival brings out a side of you, you didn’t think you had.

Today, though, I was ready to explore. I grabbed a blanket and tied it to a stick, just like those hobo bindles you see in cartoons. It seemed easy enough, and to my surprise, it actually worked. Packed some extra blankets, a container of food, and that strange, incomprehensible book. Couldn’t leave it behind—it’s weird, but it might be important.

Now, I needed a landmark. Across the river, I spotted a mountain—a weird one, with jagged rocks and a cave near the top. Looked familiar in a way, like the one from that old movie with the lion. So, I dubbed it Mount Simba. With my new ‘landmark’ to guide me, I set off, hoping to stumble across a town or village.

Walking turned out to be boring. Really boring. I’d been hiking for hours. Birds sang in the distance, rabbits darted around, but... wait. Now the rabbits were keeping their distance. Before, they didn’t mind me. Now? They couldn’t run fast enough. Definitely avoiding me. Probably wise.

To kill the silence, I started singing one of those stupid work songs I’d hum at the office. It’s not like anyone was around to judge. But as soon as my voice echoed, the animals scattered. Birds went silent. It was like my voice had a built-in animal repellent feature. Weird.

Maybe the word’s out. Maybe those small horses I saw yesterday spread the news. I doubt it. There weren’t any around here anyway. Not that I’d seen. Things were just... off.

Time blurred after a while. My shoes were starting to feel the brunt of all this walking—definitely not made for a survival trek in some strange fantasy forest. The last thing I needed was to lose my only footwear. That’d be just my luck.

Then, I heard it—a sound that nearly made me jump out of my skin: a chicken. It seemed so random, but immediately, my mind latched onto the idea of a farm, maybe a cabin. Someone—anyone—who could help me! Finally, a chance to get out of this nightmare.

I rushed toward the sound, desperate to find its source. But when I finally saw it... I stopped dead in my tracks. It wasn’t just any chicken.

Standing before me was... well, I don’t know what the hell it was. A dragon? A chicken? Both? It had the head of a chicken, wings and body of a dragon, and a tail to match. It was bigger than a rabbit but smaller than one of those pastel horses. What was this place, seriously?

The chicken-dragon thing stared at me with these blood-red eyes that would make my grandma cross herself and throw holy water at it. We both just... stared at each other. I had a rock in hand, just in case. Minutes passed, the staring contest continued. What was its deal?

“Uh... hey, little guy,” I said, crouching down a bit. “You... smart?” I reached out cautiously, half-expecting it to react like the horse from yesterday. But no. It just stared. Stared with such intensity that it almost felt... personal. Five minutes of this. My skin crawled.

Eventually, I just stood up. “Alright, well, I’ve got places to be,” I muttered, turning to leave. But the creature clucked, almost confused. Like, really confused. I looked back, and those big red eyes were... lost. What was it even doing? This place was seriously messed up.

Shrugging it off, I took a few steps forward, only to hear more frantic clucking behind me. Before I could react, the thing charged at me, pecking and clawing at my leg like it was possessed.

“What the hell! Get off me!” I kicked out gently, just trying to shoo it away, but that only pissed it off more. It attacked harder, wings flapping in my face, claws scratching at anything it could reach.

I tried running, hoping it’d get bored and stop. I wasn’t going to kill it. Not unless I absolutely had to. I still had my limits. But this thing was relentless. It went for my face, managing to scratch my cheek. My patience was running thin. I kicked out again, a bit harder this time, but that just fueled its fury.

“What’s your problem!? Didn’t you just have some existential crisis back there!?” I shouted, trying to reason with a creature that clearly wasn’t reasonable. But it kept coming, slashing, biting, driving me up the wall. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Finally, I snapped. I spun around quickly, catching the creature off guard. It leaped at my face again, but this time, I was ready. With a single, hard swing, I brought the rock in my hand down, catching the thing mid-jump. I felt something crack. It dropped to the ground, twitching, trying to recover.

But I wasn’t done yet.

"Not so brave now, are you?!" I shouted as I lunged toward the creature. Stone in hand, I brought it down on its head repeatedly. "You like that? How about your existential crisis now?! You won’t even be able to make that stupid face anymore!" I yelled, each strike fueled by the anger boiling inside me. I had tried to be kind, but this thing attacked me. I didn’t know if it was actually smart, but this... this was the last straw. This creature became the target of all the rage and frustration that had been building up over these last few hellish days.

Lost in my thoughts and rage, I kept hammering away at it, the rhythm of the stone pounding in sync with my fury. But then... the sound changed. It no longer had that sickening crunch. It startled me out of my trance. I realized—I wasn't even hitting the creature's head anymore. I was pounding the ground.

"Shit!" I scrambled back, the weight of what I'd done hitting me like a punch in the gut. My face, my clothes, my hands—they were smeared with blood and bits of... something. Even my trusty rock was stained, though thankfully still intact. But the same couldn’t be said for the creature... or whatever it used to be.

If I hadn’t seen its body before, I would’ve thought it was a baby dragon or some lizard whose head had been brutally smashed to bits. Nothing was left of it. Just a bloody mess where a head used to be.

"What... what did I do? It was... it was just an animal. I just... I took my anger out on an animal." Back home, I wasn’t some saint, but I sure as hell wasn’t a monster. I was against animal cruelty! I even tried going vegetarian once—couldn't stick with it because, well, meat tasted too damn good. But now? "You're supposed to be civilized, smart... and look at you. More savage than an animal," I muttered, dropping the stone, the guilt creeping up my spine like ice.

“It wasn’t my fault... It attacked me first… I—I tried to be gentle! I even petted it. I didn’t want to hurt it,” I tried to reason with myself, but nothing made sense. One minute, these animals seem intelligent, almost human in a way. The next, they’re dumb enough to attack something bigger than them. What the hell was wrong with this place?

“What the hell is wrong with me?” I muttered under my breath. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I didn’t even know why. Crying over an animal? It wasn’t even just an animal—it was a monster! A hybrid freak! My heart raced, confusion gnawing at me. Where am I? What is this insane place?

I started laughing. A broken, bitter laugh. I had just defended myself from a creature that attacked me out of nowhere, and here I was, mourning it like I’d killed someone. It made no sense, yet I couldn’t stop the nervous, desperate laughter bubbling up from my chest.

With shaky hands, I got to my feet, wiped the blood from my face, and picked up my stone. I needed to calm down. Maybe... maybe I should start making a mental bestiary. Dragon-chickens? Definitely on the list as a neutral creature—unless provoked. Easy enough to handle if you kept your cool.

But as I scanned my surroundings, I caught sight of something that made my heart drop. Another one of those absurdly colorful horses. This one was has pink fur and a bright yellow mane. Its appearance was almost painful to look at in the middle of all this chaos. A flower sat in its mane, and its... flank—yeah, flank—was marked with three little white flowers. Seriously, who tattoos these miniature horses? And worse, it was carrying a basket full of more flowers. Again with the baskets. Was there some floral delivery service I didn’t know about?

And just my luck—it had seen the whole thing. Either that, or I couldn’t explain the sheer terror in its stupidly huge eyes. There was even a little blood splattered on its face. It must’ve seen my outburst.

"Hey... girl... or whatever you are. It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you," I said, keeping my voice calm as I crouched down, trying to reach out and pet its nose like I did with the last one. Maybe, just maybe, this one would let me make peace. But as soon as I moved closer, it bolted, whinnying in pure panic. It left its basket behind, and honestly, that was a win for me. I could use something to carry supplies.

With a sigh, I decided to call it a day. Mount Simba was still in view, so at least I could find my way back to camp. As I walked, I passed the spot where I had encountered that creature. Its nest was nearby, and among the twisted branches, there were... statues? Tiny, detailed sculptures of rabbits and birds. Was this thing an artist? Maybe it stole them from some unlucky sculptor. Either way, I grabbed a small rabbit statue, don't blame me, it looked very detailed and well made, it could easily be worth hundreds of dollars.

I also noticed that if I stayed quiet, the animals seemed a little calmer, just like they were on my first day here. With that in mind, I attempted to hunt a couple of rabbits. Easier said than done—they were fast. I missed every single shot. These creatures were maddeningly quick. I wasn’t sure if I should be frustrated with my failure or relieved, considering I still didn’t know how smart they were. At least my trusty rock hadn’t shattered, though. I’d grown weirdly attached to it, and it’d be a shame if I had to replace it. But I knew it wouldn’t last forever, so tomorrow, I’d have to find or make a new one just as good.

While failing to catch any rabbits, I accidentally hit a small tree with one of my throws. A nest fell to the ground, eggs cracking open as they hit the dirt. "Eureka!" I thought. I’d just found a new food source. So, I started chucking rocks at any low-hanging nests I saw. I took a few pecks from the angry birds, but I managed to collect six eggs, some bigger than others, but all definitely eggs.

By the time I returned to camp, night had fallen, and I sat by the fire, staring at the eggs. I wasn’t an athlete, so I had no idea why some people ate raw eggs. But with no way to cook them that I knew of, I cracked them open and gulped them down, trying not to spill any. One egg had a half-formed bird inside. The sight made my stomach turn, but I couldn’t waste food—not after everything I’d been through. I couldn’t let its death mean nothing, so I cooked it lightly and forced it down.

After the meal, still queasy but determined, I pulled out that strange book. I didn’t have a pen, but with the edge of one of my keys and the bit of dried blood left on my rock, I started sketching out a bestiary. A grotesque method, sure, but it worked.

"I miss video games... I’m definitely swearing off survival games after this. They’re not as fun anymore. If I make it back home, I’m buying The Sims 4."

This was only day three. How many more of these ridiculous days lay ahead?

Author's Note

First of all, I just want to say thank you! I never expected this story to gain so much attention, and we've literally made it into the featured section—seriously, thank you so much! I hope you're all enjoying the ride.

Now, I wanted to touch on a few points, starting with the human's aim. Don't worry, I've patched and nerfed his over-the-top accuracy. But every now and then, he might still have a lucky throw.

Secondly, our human character isn't some survival expert. At best, he knows some basic concepts, ideas, and survival tips—many of which might be flat-out wrong, dangerous, or even useless. He was just a regular guy who had recently started working, waiting for the next video game or movie release, and hanging out with his friends to party. That's it.

Aside from that, I hope you're all excited for what's coming next. I’ll likely be making a few time skips here and there—unless, of course, you want to torture me and see every single day, which might get a bit repetitive. But at the very least, expect summaries packed with commentary, interesting events, and the growth of our protagonist. Meanwhile, the ponies will continue to spread new rumors, spot sightings of the Everfree creature, and fuel the gossip all across Equestria—and maybe even beyond.

One last thing: just like the previous chapter, would you rather see the perspective of the ponies first, or start with our dear human?

Remember, I love reading your comments, ideas, and suggestions. If you spot any errors or flaws, or if you've got feedback to share, don't hesitate to mention it. See you in the next chapter!