Chapter 3: A New Friend

Chapter 3: A New Friend

***

I jolted awake, gasping for air. Feeling like I couldn't breathe, almost as if I was underwater while unconscious the whole time. Thankfully, I was still alive, not to mention awake.

These dreams were something I could not fathom, especially when I encountered this lady horse twice. She still lingered within my brain, and her words I hardly recalled as they became hazy. Though some remained for me to puzzle together. What did she mean by learn friendship again?

Despite loitering on some twisted dream and gasping for oxygen, I then glanced over my surroundings. At first I thought I was just going to wake up back in the valley of New Mexico. Though after I quickly looked around, I noticed something strangely obvious the moment I shocked myself out of slumber.

I wasn't in the desert anymore.

Instead, I found myself in some kind of forest. Barely concealed beams of sunlight stabbed through the leaves above me, reaveling a bright blue sky. But what made it even more strange, was that this forest didn't look anything like a real peaceful landscape, but instead appeared more grim and dark with all sorts of plant life I've never even seen before. Why? Because it was a jungle. A FREAKING JUNGLE!

"What the fuck?" I cursed.

I took a good look around, taking in all the forest’s odd features. I thought that I might have been stung by a scorpion or something, succumbing to one dense dream and then woke up to a hallucination. Though the grass below me felt pretty real and my supplies seemed intact so that possibility was out the window. My gun was still at my side, and my pack was still strapped to my back.

"Okay nothing stolen," I thought. "But I think I should focus on getting back home."

I don't know why I was in the jungle, and not in the desert foothills. Or more importantly: How I even got here in the first place. But I didn't have time to dawdle over the mysterious situation, because getting back home was now my number one objective. So I hoisted myself to my feet, and observed my surroundings to try and find a way out. Taking a look at my compass, to see which way I was going, it showed that I was facing North. As I glanced at the direction of my path, I then saw a small town not too far from my current position.

"Oh, thank God," I said in my mind. "Civilization. There's bound to be some folks there."

Closing my compass, I started walking towards my destination.

God give me strength.

***

It was another peaceful day in Ponyville. Where the streets festered with delightful ponies, going on to their daily lives. The skies were clear and the flowers were blossoming in the flower boxes of local shops and residencies. It was considered a routine to breed flowers in most shops to upkeep the number of flourishing customers. While the local florists were the ones most active in fragrant supplies that kept everypony leaving their homes with their noses breezy and attitude cheery.

On the other end of town a little purple unicorn, known as Twilight Sparkle, was dutifully tidying up her home. Piles of books cluttered every single corner in the library, but were handled in no time at all. However cleaning and organizing these books shaved a lot out of her schedule.

It had taken the better part of the morning, but Twilight was finishing dusting the last of her books.

"There! All finished." Twilight cheerily said to herself, happy that her morning tasks were finally done. She then levitated the feather duster away, and floated a rather large book to herself. "Now to get back to my studies."

She trotted over to her couch and lied down, facing the now open book floating in front of her, covered in a transparent purple glow. She was about to read the first sentence when Spike came downstairs.

"Hi, Twilight." he said happily as he descended down the steps.

"Good morning, Spike." Twilight replied with a smile as her scaly little assistant walked past her and into the kitchen. "How was your day off?"

"Best. Sleep. Ever," Spike answered feeling very much energized as he came back with a bowl full of gems. "I haven't had a break in ages. Thanks." He bit into a gem, savoring the tastes.

"Well it's the least I could do for my best assistant." Twilight returned her gaze to her literature.

"Yeah, I bet you– BURP!”

Just then, a scroll with the princess's seal appeared out of Spike's breath of fire. With a hardly noticeable odor of roasted gemstones still lingering near himself. He looked down to examine the piece of parchment on the floor.

"Hey!" He picked up the scroll. "We have another letter from the Princess!" Spike said surprised, which made Twilight perk her head up.

She has always felt this habit to respond immediately to her mentor's messages, so she hastily grabbed the letter from Spike's grasp. Surprising him all of a sudden.

"Rude much?" Spike commented offended at Twilight's swipe.

"I'm sorry, Spike." Twilight replied. "But it's probably important. You know how the princess is when she sends us her letters."

Spike nodded his head.

Twilight then unravelled the scroll to read what Princess Celestia had to say today.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I wish to inform you today, of a new resident coming to Ponyville. He has been feeling troubled without the magic of friendship, and I want you and your friends to meet him. So I have decided to bring him here to Equestria, to understand friendship. He should reside within the Everfree forest, just outside Ponyville. Good luck, my faithful student.

Princess Celestia

P.S. He is not from Equestria. So be fair to him.

At that, Twilight raised an eyebrow about a new resident coming to town. And what’s this about him not from Equestria? It caught the wise unicorn’s curiosity for a moment.

"Well, this seems odd," Twilight mused.

“What is it?” Spike asked.

She looked at the dragon boy. “The princess wants us to meet a new pony coming here to Ponyville.”

"A new pony, really? What's their name?"

"Oh," replied Twilight, "well, the Princess didn't tell me what their name is. But I'm sure we'll find out."

At that, she got off the couch and trotted over to her desk. She levitated her saddle bag onto her back and loaded it with some quills, parchment, and extra ink.

"I'm going to tell the others about this. Will you watch the Library for me while I'm gone, Spike?"

Spike saluted, but quickly realized that he wasn't going along.

"Wait, Twilight!" Spike chased after his caretaker to the front door. "Why can't I go? I wanna see this new pony."

Twilight turned to Spike as she opened the door with her magic.

"I'm sorry Spike, but someone has to watch our home, if we ever leave." She then smirked with an idea in mind. "You wouldn't want any thieves to come in and steal your tasty gems now, would you?"

"What!? No way! No one's stealing MY gems!" Spike growled intimidatingly as he dashed for the bowl of gems he left on the table. He held them tight in his arms as if Twilight's warning was for real.

Twilight giggled a little bit.

"Well then, I'll be gone for a while. So just stay here."

Leaving the little purple dragon to manage his belongings, Twilight walked out and closed the door.

***

I trudged through the undergrowth of this creepy forest, keeping my gaze on the town ahead of me. I assumed the distance towards the village would've been shorter, but every step I took felt challenging. Plus many unusual climate changes have occurred over the course of my trek.

The temperature seemed to rise. The cool cross-breeze was gone, replaced by a palpable humidity that made me sweat through my jean jacket. I took it off and wrapped it around my waist, making sure there was an opening to the holster. Just in case I might be ambushed by some leopard or lion. Again, I was in the jungle, so you can't be too careful in the wild.

I walked a good mile, I think, until I came across a clearing that was exposed to the skies, beaming a lot of sunlight into the area. It wasn't too far from my destination, despite my feet barking. Oddly, the clouds above the clearing looked more detailed than normal clouds. And come to think of it, the trees I passed earlier were pretty smooth unlike most trees. Almost like they were drawn.

I then noticed a stump and decided to sit down.

"So... tired...  must rest," I panted.

I liked hiking, but from where I started in this jungle,  my exhaustion was on the verge of killing me before I could even take another step. In a regular forest hike, at least the journey was worth it due to enchanting scenery. But when my sweat fell from every pore on my body, I soon realized that this became a hike to survive.

"Boy, am I tired." I sighed to myself on the stump.

GROWL

"... and hungry."

GROWL

"Wait a minute."

Those growls didn't sound like my gut, but more like vicious animals. I followed the chilling sound, leading me to a patch of trees close by. All I could make out in the foliage, was glowing yellow eyes staring hungrily at me.

"Oh no, I am not dying today!" I huffed sternly as I boosted from the stump and stood my ground.

Just then, two wolves stepped out into the clearing, all growling with hunger on their minds. Although my survival instincts began to kick in, I thought my exhaustion was messing with my eyesight when I noticed the ravenous hunters were made out of what looked like tree bark. Every muscle and skin upon them resembled strong logs and sticks, from the very trees they lurked in.

But I ignored their appearance when fight overcame flight.

"Fucking beasts, walking in here when I need to get the fuck out of here." I said to myself before yelling at the beasts, "You are not having this body for lunch!!"

With that threat in the air, the wolves started to charge at me. In reaction, I quickly pulled out my gun and fired three shots by fanning the hammer.

One missed, but the other two penetrated their targets. Producing two loud whimpers as the wolves fell dead on the ground. Bleeding sap excessively from my firearm’s bullets.

Approaching closer to the lifeless carcasses, I examined them more thoroughly. They were indeed made of wood, and bleeding from the smoldering pores I created.

"What the... how the hell can these things be made of wood???" I questioned with serious doubt.

I've been here for a couple of hours, hiking past freakish shrubs and abnormal landscapes, and I already come in contact with bizarre wooden predators. I wasn't sure what the hell happening here. A possible conspiracy came to mind, that I thought I was bitten from some sort of snake or something formidably similar before this entire freakshow, and was actually fighting off imaginary wolves in my head.

But that thought was interrupted by another sound. A pack of high pitched screaming, bellowing a lot like little girls.

"Shit! Must be more wolves!" I shouted in my mind. "I can't let some innocent children die in the woods!"

I ignored the wooden wolves that lied dead and bolted towards the screams. Running as fast as my feet could carry me, I zoomed past shrubs and branches and could hear barking coming from the same direction as the shrieks.

After dashing through the foliage, I came upon another clearing, where I saw two more timberwolves, (I've grown to call them that) pointing their snouts menacingly to something behind a rock. That must've be where the kids were hiding.

Without thinking, I charged at the wolves bodily, knocking them on their sides. They squeaked at my stun when I shoved them forcibly to the ground. I then staggered back on my feet and pulled out my gun. But before I could ready the first round, the wolves quickly recovered from my charge. They were furious, those burning yellow eyes pierced through me like daggers. I was quickly lost in those eyes, blurring my ability to aim. I then fired the shot, completely away from my targets.

The bullet missed the wolves entirely, causing them both to bolt towards me. Before I could ready my gun for a second shot, they lunged at me. Fortunately, I stepped out of the way of the first wolf, but that left me vulnerable to the second. From there, the second wolf threw itself at me and bit my right arm, holding the gun.

"AHHH!!! YOU FUCKING ANIMAL!!!" Forgive my cursing, but this was a painful situation I was enduring.

It sunk its short jagged wooden teeth into my forearm. I struggled, only to cause more pain to surge in my forearm. But with my free hand, I punched the beast smack dab in the snout, making it release its grip with a loud whimper. But also leaving my hand slightly sore from its hard wooden surface.

Upon the brief moment, my gun was still in my bloodied hand, dripping blood from two large holes pierced through my arm. The wound stung like lava, causing me to hiss in agony.

But I wasn’t going to let that hinder with my window of opportunity. So I cocked the hammer and fired at the wolf's skull, where it instantly fell dead. But the other wolf wasn't giving up. I could hear it snarl from behind as it launched from its position, but I was ready. In a smooth and fast reflex, I turned around and fanned my third shot directly at the wolf's heart as it flew past me.

It then became shortly quiet all of a sudden, without the portentous barks of wild dogs.

I slipped my revolver back into its holster. The burning sensation in my arm forced me to hold it tightly. I felt blood trickle down my arm and around my hand. Grunts escaped my lips with pure agonizing pain.

That however, didn't leave out the shaking children cowering behind the rock. I turned towards it, already sensing their fear after seeing me battle.

"Hey now..." I stifled, holding my arm in pain as I walked over. "It's ok."

Hobbling closer to the boulder, one of them suddenly spoke.

"Please don't hurt us!" she quivered. "We were just going to earn our Cutie Marks!"

Cutie Marks?

I shook my head to clear that question and concentrated on rescuing.

"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you," I panted. "It's okay, you can come out now. Those wolves won't be bothering you anymore." At this point I felt like I had lost a quart of blood.

With that comforting word out in the air, all I saw appear from behind the rock was...

Three baby horses? Okay, this day just keeps getting stranger and stranger.

They were all very colorful and a bit cartoonish. As if a little kid went nuts with finger painting a coloring book. One of them was bright yellow with a red mane, along with a big red bow tied to its mane. Another was pure white with a curly looking pink and purple mane, with its tail matching, and… had a horn. Obviously, that makes it some sort of baby unicorn. The last one was a winged horse; a pegasus, looking back to school history, colored orange with a rugged purple mane and tail.

What was even weirder, was that they are the ones that spoke.

"Well… um, thank you… m-mister," the yellow foal said in a southern accent as she shook nervously.

But before I could process my brain any further, the blood from my wound drained to the point where I finally fainted.

"You killed him!" shouted the orange pegasus.

"What!? No ah didn't!" the yellow one shot back, "He just fainted, that’s all!"

"What in tarnation is goin' on here!" shouted an older female voice in the same southern accent.

The fillies turned ahead to see a taller, bright orange horse, with a blond mane and cowboy hat, approaching the clearing in shock. To come to witness three scared fillies, two dead timberwolves, and one unconscious creature.