My eyes crack open just the slightest amount. A sliver of light pierces through, making my headache surge. After a few seconds of suffering I’m able to get my eye open and take in my surroundings. Rather than the decrepit ruins of an abandoned shelter, I am greeted with the sight of a serene forest. I stand up from my lying position to get a better look around. I’m in a clearing of a densely packed forest full of strange and unknown flora. Faintly glowing blue tendrils snake across the forest floor, trees covered in blood red leaves with bright orange flowers coming off the sides, and when I gaze deeper into the bushes, I can see a Venus flytrap with a mouth the size of a person.

“Hermes, do you copy?” I say to my communications device. Silence. “Hermes?” More Silence. “Michael?” How far away am I. I would have to be hundreds of kilometres away for my radio signal to be shot. Well, so much for getting help from base camp. I keep my earpiece in, just in case.

“Standing here is just gonna get me killed.” I say to myself. I’ve been talking to myself ever since the start of the end of the world, it has kept me sane if not making me look a bit loony.

I promptly set off in the opposite direction to where I saw the humongous flytrap and go over the basic survival checklist. “The air seems safe to breathe—at least I’m not dead yet.” They hammered the ‘rule of threes’ to us in extermination bootcamp. You never know when you might need to survive without outside support. “I’ve got food rations, but my water won’t last. And I should definitely build a shelter.”

I trot through the foliage, keeping my senses sharp for any signs of danger. The air smells fresher than anything I’ve ever smelt before; it even tastes better. There are even birds singing, a rare occurrence in the deadly landscape of Earth. The colours here seem… brighter. No that’s not right, more like there is a larger variety. Along with the usual greens, there are plenty of reds, oranges, blues, and even purples. A colour so rare in nature that royalty used to wear it to show off how rich they were. “Too bad anyone who could actually appreciate this is already dead. Must have been caused by radiation.” I don’t have a radiation suit with me so if that is the case, I’m screwed.

My ears prick. Flowing water. I speed up my pace just slightly, still trying not to make any noise louder than my own voice, but also trying to get to my bounty as soon as possible. I’m soon greeted with the relaxing sight of a pristine river. The water is so clear it feels almost unreal. I cup my hands to drink before flinching back.

“There’s no need to be an idiot; just because it looks clean doesn’t mean it is.” I state as I pull a safety straw from a pocket on the inside of my cloak. Even with the subtle hints of charcoal from the purification, it is the most delicious water I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking. I sit there for a few minutes just indulging before an unholy stench hits me. It’s unmistakeable.

I quickly scale one of the largest and sturdiest looking trees before curling up between the trunk and a large branch. I have a perfect eyeline on the floor. I hear crashing and destruction slowly making its way up to me. The ground trembles as it crashes into view, its massive form lumbering toward the river. A creature about the size of a horse but built more like an Ankylosaurus shows its ugly face. It’s covered in sharp armoured scales and between those I can see exposed, convulsing blue veins. A parasite.

“Don’t panic.” My training about how to deal with stress comes to mind. Go over what you already know. “That is parasite W, the Wrecking Ball: deaf, anosmic, and relentless. It charges at movement, flattening everything in its path. Do not engage!” I gag back the bile in my mouth, the scent overwhelming. Every time it moves, I can hear a scraping sound as its thick armour shifts.

As the creature wobbles away, flattening bushes and knocking over smaller trees. With the immediate threat gone, I finally become aware of my pounding heart. It’s as if I was just snapped out of a fever dream. I felt so safe in this serene place I almost forgot about the state of the world. Suddenly the colourful trees don’t feel so friendly, and the glowing blue plants remind me of the parasitic heart.

The bubble finally burst, and I got a whole new sense of displacement. Above the fading smell of the parasite I can smell the fetid aroma of poisonous plants and can hear every small movement in the brush. I can feel vomit rising to my throat and betrayal coursing from the once peaceful wilderness. “Never trust nature, it isn’t on your side.” The final lesson I was taught during my training.

I hang onto the tree like a lifeline. I start to feel all the walking I did to get to this river, and before that get to the heart. I need to rest, but resting without a shelter is plain stupid. I will not make any more mistakes today. I slowly make my way down the tree and look for sturdy fallen branches. Conveniently, the Wrecking Ball left plenty of sturdy branches scattered across the forest floor. Before long I had a rough shelter in my tree. I drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.

* * *

I slowly wake up to a sore back, a still throbbing headache, and a rumbling stomach. I glance at the Sun, creeping its way up the sky towards its Zenith. The forest is alive with movement, bushes shift and rattle, birds make their voices known.

“Did I sleep the who night; I must have been more tired than I realised.” I yawn to myself. I take in a deep breath of the cool morning air before looking over the edge of my platform. A sudden pang of hunger hits me, and I stumble slightly over the edge, my feet just keeping me locked on. “I should keep my protein bars just in case. I’m in a forest, how hard could it be to find something edible.”

I jump from tree to tree in search of food, the most dangerous creatures stay on the ground. I’m once again taken by the diversity of this alien looking forest. Even with the looming sense of dread, it is still a sight to behold. I stay away from brightly coloured trees, if nature documentaries have taught me anything, it’s that those are poisonous. For a forest this lush, there are far too few critters lurking about. It’s as if they’re all in perpetual hiding, as if a predator would kill them if they so much as showed a whisker or feather.

“I guess that’s accurate. If I see one, it will have an arrow through its leg before it can even blink.” I manoeuvre my way through the branches for an hour before I hear a noise that isn’t non-existent birds chirping. It’s moving rather recklessly, not too concerned about the noise its making. That will be its downfall.

I position myself above the creature and draw back my bow. I can’t see much of its appearance other than the fact that is quadrupedal and is covered in brown fur.

‘TWACK’

The arrow lands cleanly in the creature’s back thigh and it stumbles forward. I’m in full hunter mode now and jump on to its back. I swear I hear a shout and a scream, but my ears are no longer listening. Raise my hand to strike and just as the motion is ready, its head turns to look at me. Fear is clear in the massive eyes that adorn its face, jaw trembling in a now silent scream. I bring hand down and the creature falls over unconscious.

“Phew, this thing is pretty strong. If it were actually competent it would have been able to throw be off. What is this any way.” I say as I step back to take a gander at my haul. It seems to be a small horse like creature with brown fur and a black mane. I would say the weirdest part of the whole thing is the huge eyes that take up its face. I don’t say that because there is something even weirder. “Is it wearing a shirt!? And is that a tattoo on its ass. God dammit, this thing must be domesticated. That’s why it was making so much sound and why it didn’t react to my attack properly. Shit!”

I start to walk in circles around my ‘catch’. I can’t just leave it here; if it doesn’t bleed out from the arrow wound it’ll get eaten by a parasite. I quickly grab a roll of gauze from my bag, pull out the arrow, and replace it with a makeshift bandage.

“I’ll cover it in mud and then put it in a tree. That should keep it safe until it wakes.” My mind works furiously to keep this thing safe. It is rare at best to be able to keep a pet in these trying times, I would hate for someone to find theirs dead. This isn’t a movie; it should get up in around 15 minutes or so. “Hopefully it can find its own way home.”

I rest the creature in the nook of a tall tree nearby. Then I run off; I still haven’t eaten.

Author's Note

I said I would be releasing the next chapter at roughly 10 likes. Then something happened, a realisation you could say. Nothing motivates me more than being pissed off. I don't mind you disliking if you, idk, tell me what you dislike. Whatever.

Anyways, I kept writing and I don't know if I like this chapter or not. I assume a lot of the hate the first chapter got was due to the fact it had a solid load of nothing to do with MLP and some of the concepts were kinda word vomit. I want to build an interesting world but it's tough. I also finally got a funny horse into the story; one chapter in and it was already long overdue.

I included some more world building in this chapter for the funsies (Parasite W, The Wreching Ball). Expect a lot of parasites, they are kinda important to the story. I know, shocker!

I set my goal too high one the last story so this time the goal is literally any activity. One more like, or add to favourite list, or add to tracking list. If I do write a next chapter it'll either take place in ponyville with that unnamed pony who got absolutely bodied, or we skip that sequence and write what happens with the MC next. I'll decide later.

If you have anything to say I want to here it, negative or not. Also please point out any of my shitty grammar.

Thanks for reading ya'll!