Hold Your Horses: A My Little Pony Story

Prose stumbled around and toppled to the ground as she landed. As she stood up from her fall, she was confused at her surroundings. A dense forest surrounded her on all sides, and only one pony accompanied her amongst the trees.

“Savoir Fare?” she addressed.

Savoir Fare stood up from the ground, also confused by his surroundings, and faced Prose.

“Prose?” He looked around, finding nothing but foliage and forestry. “Where’s everypony else? And where are we?”

Prose tried her best to identify her surroundings, ultimately coming up short of any inkling of their location.

“I have no idea,” Prose spoke. She rarely felt this clueless.

“So…” Savoir stood awkwardly. “What do we do now?”

Prose worried the worst in her head, but did not voice it. She had to investigate further to find out what was really going on.

“I…” she started. “I guess, first, we have to find somepony else nearby. We won’t figure anything out by staying here in this forest.”

Savoir nodded. “I’ll follow your lead.”

Prose nodded back in agreement and began to explore the forest. She hoped to find something, anything, that could help them figure out where they were, and most importantly, how to get back home. She and Savoir trudged through the forest, slashing through vines and trampling bushes, marching forward with purpose.

All of the time spent wandering aimlessly through the unfamiliar trees gave Prose a lot of time to stress out about her seemingly never ending slew of predicaments. As if everything from the past few months wasn’t enough, she’d found herself inexplicably roped into yet another situation out of her control.

They couldn’t march forward with purpose forever, and after a while the search for civilization became tiring. Their paces slowed, and their spirits diminished, leaving them utterly lost and nearly hopeless. Prose and Savoir pushed ahead, but with more frustration and fatigue than anything.

“Should we take a rest?” Savoir suggested, sensing that their search might’ve been going nowhere.

“Rest? We’re completely lost, and you want to rest?” Prose snapped.

Savoir took a step back from Prose, surprised at her sudden outburst.

“Is… everything… all right?” Savoir cautiously asked.

Prose began to heave slightly. She was trying to keep her emotions in check, but it was becoming difficult.

“No, Savoir. Everything is not all right,” Prose vented. “I was stolen from my home, held in Time Jail, sent to Limbo for months, and the second I have everypony back together–my friends, Twilight–I lose it all again. And we’re lost–completely lost. We’ve been stuck in this cursed forest for hours, and we’ve found nothing. I just want to get home again, to see Twilight again, to see my friends again.”

Prose’s head fell into her hooves as she began to quietly weep. Her exhaustion practically willed the tears out of her eyes. Her legs gave way as she dropped to the ground. In an attempt to console her, Savoir Fare slowly approached Prose and seated himself beside her.

“I’m sorry, Prose,” he started. “You’ve been through quite a difficult time.”

Prose continued to cry into her hooves.

“I only lost Ginger for a day, and even that felt like too long. I can’t imagine how you must feel. I mean, it’s kinda like a kitchen. If you lose a cook, everything starts to fall apart. You never realize what you really need until it’s gone. But if I know one thing, Prose, it’s that this kitchen still has two cooks in it. We’ll get through this, and we’ll get home. If anyone has the brains to pull it off, it’s you. And, I’m here. You’re not alone. I know I’m not Twilight or Ginger or Chorus, but I’m your friend too.”

Prose found a pause between her sobs and slowly looked up from her hooves. She looked at Savoir’s kind face, and she found a glimpse of solace.

“Thank you,” she spoke. She sniffled quietly and took a deep breath. “And you were right, maybe we should take a break. We won’t even be able to notice anything useful if we’re this tired. And I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

“It’s all right, Prose. You’ve needed a break for a while, since before we even came here. We’ll never be able to find a giant stone monument while we’re this exhausted,” Savoir said.

Prose laughed. “That was an oddly specific example.” She laughed again. “Wait, yea, that was an oddly specific example. Why did you say that?”

Savoir Fare pointed his hoof towards a clearing in the distance. Prose could see glimpses of tall stones standing upright in an unnatural arrangement.

“Savoir! This could be something!” Prose shouted with excitement.

She stood up and charged towards the stones, completely reinvigorated. Savoir tried to keep up with her as she sped through the forest. They quickly came up against the monument, and it became abundantly clear where they were.

“Ponhenge,” Prose gasped.

Six stones stood in a large circle, reminiscent of the six pillars of Equestria that they represented.

“The ancient monument?” Savoir questioned. “But, these look so… clean?”

Prose analyzed the stones, clean and sturdy. They didn’t look like they’d endured thousands of years of wear and tear.

“You’re right,” Prose affirmed. “Something is strange.”

Prose peeked around the side of the massive stone, and gazed into the center of the monument. She was shocked to see somepony seated in its center, jotting something down in a pale blue journal. She was even more surprised to recognize who the gray unicorn was. By this time, Savoir had followed Prose’s gaze and also discovered the unicorn.

“Who is that?” Savoir wondered aloud.

Prose faced Savoir with wide eyes.

“Savoir, that’s Starswirl the Bearded,” she whispered intensely. “We… are in the past.”