This Isn't a Game!

Chapters

We're Not Safe Here..
Trapped and Lonely
Confused and Hurt
Finding a Friend
Old Faces in New Places
The Runaway
Heros Reunited
A Strange Dream

We're Not Safe Here..

As I open my eyes, everything seems blurry, and all I can see is something blue in front of me. As my vision clears, I see who is standing before me. I blink a few times, thinking I'm still dreaming. But nothing seems to change.

"You ok?" They ask, their voice is surprisingly calm, yet they seem frightened to.

"I...I think so.." I mutter. As I try to stand up, they hold out their hoof as I climb to my feet..Wait a second..hoof?

As I look at there face, I can see who they are, their fur is dark blue and their short hair is orange with pale blue streaks. I don't recognize them, but whoever they are, they seem fairly keen on helping me.

"I'm Hurricane." He smiles. "Who are you? Can't say I've seen you before." He seems friendly, but I'm not sure whether to trust him or not. He seems rather on edge though, whether that's because of me or because of are location I don't know. But as I start thinking of what to say, I realize I'm not on Earth anymore, and if I am, then something strange has happened.

"Umm.." I mutter as I think, If I am where I think I am, then I can't really use me real name, since it wouldn't really work, so I decide to go with what I'm known as over the Internet. "LittleWood." I say, my voice barely audible, but he still seems to hear me. He nods but then starts looking around, the smile on his face disappears, and he suddenly seems very nervous. "What's wrong?" I ask. He looks at me as if I'm an idiot. Something's not right, and as I look around, I notice that were standing in what looks like a desert, but the sky is grey and it looks like it might start raining at any moment.

"You sure your OK?" He asks, still giving me that odd look. I nod, and he sighs. "We've been standing around to long, it's not safe here, we need to move, before he comes for us.." He says, his voice suddenly sounds rather weak and his eyes are filled with fear. He turns to the right, and flies into the air, hovering above me. I look up at him, now even more confused than I was before. "Ponyville's about a mile from here, I could fly that distance in less than a minute, but you can't fly, so you'll have to run alongside me." He shouts down to me. And as I register his words, I start feeling rather nervous. Run.. I can hardly stand.

"Maybe I could just walk." I call up to him. But he doesn't seem impressed. He mutters something under his breath but I can't hear what he says. He sighs before landing beside me.

"You walk if you want, but I'm not waiting for you, I need to get home or my mum won't be happy about me staying out so late. It's nearly dark, and when night falls, the monsters come out. I don't really want to be killed." He says, starting to sound rather annoyed at me, I can tell he's scared, but this is starting to sound allot like a video game, with monsters coming out at night and what not. I'm frightened too off course, but that's mainly 'cos I don't know where I am. And if I'm the only one here. But as he looks at me again, he notices something. "You've got a sword?". He says, sounding rather amazed but also confused. I look at where he's looking, and he's right, I do have a sword, attached to what looks like a leather belt. I nod, a smile appearing on my face. "You've been trying to stop the monsters haven't you?" He asks, suddenly very cheery. "That's why you were out here on your own." I nod again before replying.

"Well, yeah, you could say that." I lie, but I can't really tell him the truth, or at least, not yet.

"Cool, but why is it blue, is it paint? I've only seen swords made of iron and other metals before." He says, and then I realize that the sword has the sapling logo engraved on the wooden hilt, so if its blue, then it must be..

"Lapis Lazuli." I smile. He looks me in the eye and blinks.

"But I thought Lapis was a gem stone." Now he's stumped. I nod as I speak.

"It is, but I've always been fond of the stuff, so I had a sword made of it, it's rather strong, believe it or not." And the moment the words come out my mouth, I regret it, what if it isn't that strong, and it breaks the moment I hit something with it. All I can do, is hope that it doesn't.

I can tell he's about to say something, but a load growl, coming from behind us, cuts him off. He turns around quickly and takes a few steps back before jumping into the air.

"Come on LittleWood, we have to go! Now! The monsters are coming! Lets go!" He yells as he flies ahead. He remembers my name, I guess that's a start. I look behind me, and I see what he means by monsters. What looks like a zombie is slowly walking towards me. An arrow lands by my foot..hoof..and I jump back.

"Skeletons.." I mutter. All too familiar noises fill my ears. As I start to walk, the sounds get louder, I speed up, and slowly start to gallop. It seems so natural, I don't feel unsteady, but I've lost sight of Hurricane, and since he flew there's no foot prints I can follow. I just hope that I'm going the right way..

Trapped and Lonely

*Somewhere else, many miles from Ponyville*

"Let me go!!" I yell, unsure if anyone can hear me or not. "Let me out of here!!" I'm trapped, there not much else I can say. Locked up by, who I think, was Herobrine. Surrounded by obsidian, netherrack below me. The ground is warm, and its starting to burn my feet. Or should I say, hooves. Yes, hooves. Somehow or another, I've been turned into a pony. I don't know how or by whom. But it would be nice to find out. My hind-legs are aching from kicking the wall, trying to break the rock that's imprisoning me. But no matter what I try, I can't escape. I even tried hitting the wall with magical bursts, once I'd worked out how, but even that didn't do anything. Didn't even leave a dent.

"You just don't give up do you?" I hear a voice coming from outside the cage, but I can't see who it is.

"Who are you! What do you want!" I snap. Not really thinking before I speak.

"Livid Coffee, you really need to calm down." They say, I can tell there smiling, just by the way there speaking.

"That's not my name." I say. Which is only partly true, Livid Coffee is my Minecraft name, not my real name. But I suppose, whoever this is, only knows me by that name.

"Oh sorry. But your real name wouldn't really work in this world. You do know where you are now, don't you?" They ask. I don't know exactly know where I am. But I have a pretty good idea. I don't reply though. "You don't know, surly you've heard of Equestria before?" They say. I still can't work out who they are, but at least I know I was right about where I am..

"Coarse I've heard about it." I say, but now I'm confused, Equestria is a mythical country, that exists in a children's cartoon. Unless I'm still dreaming, I can't see how it's physically possible for me too actually be there. "Look, you never answered my questions, who are you? And what do you want?" I ask again, my voice slightly calmer this time. My captor didn't talk to me, they just grabbed me and chucked me in here, before I even had a chance to work out what had happened. So whether it was the same person or not, I don't know..

"Surly you know who I am." They say. I don't reply, 'cos I don't know, so I wait for them to continue. "I, am Israphel." There voice suddenly drops, sounding very dark and mysterious. I take a step back, my ears drop, and that name begins to echo though my head.

"No--no--there's no way--how--I don't---" I stutter, unable to finish a sentence, my body tenses at the thought of the Dark Lord standing in front of me, even if there is an obsidian wall between us. I close my eyes and try to make sense of what's happening. There's no way that Israphel could be the one who's keeping me here, he's a character from a video game for goodness sake! How could he be able to do anything too me? This isn't making any sense..

"I could kill you now if I wanted to." He say's. His voice emotionless. Which doesn't help my nerves either. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, I can't focus on anything anymore, his words are flowing though my mind, If he can kill me, then why doesn't he, might as well get it over and done with.. "But I need you alive if I am to find Honeydew and Xephos." He continues. He's looking for my friends, if only I could tell them... I hope there ok...

*Meanwhile, back in town*

I'll admit, I was kind of expecting the streets to be a little more crowded, there's literally no one here. Except me. All the houses are locked shut, windows closed, curtains drawn. Some things not right. I don't see anything that looks odd. The weathers not great, but it's not raining, so why's everybody hiding inside their homes?

But all that aside, I'm trying to find my friends. They'll know what's going on...hopefully. I recognize this place. It seems familiar. Not sure why though. The buildings all look pretty much the same, which doesn't help, since I can't properly tell if I'm walking in circles or if I'm actually going anywhere...

"Hello?!" I say to no one in particular, thinking that maybe someone will hear me. But there's no response. I look up at the sky, the suns just set, and its starting to get dark. Which might be why there's no one here. I see something fly past overhead, but don't think much of it. Probably just a bird. I think. A big, blue bird.. I'm starting to feel lonely. All on my own. No one to talk too. I take the helmet of my head and look at my reflection in the shining metal. I look so different, allot like my Minecraft skin. I can't get over how odd I look, it's so strange. I'm not..human anymore. Pony, would be more accurate now. But why? And how? I wish I knew.

As I keep walking, I see, what looks like a tree, that's been converted into a large house. I think for a moment, I know this place, but where from? If I remember correctly, then its a library, and maybe the person who lives here can help me. I walk over to the door and tap it a few times with my hoof. No response. I try again, slightly louder this time.

"Go away! We're closed!" I hear someone yell from inside, the voice is familiar. They sound frantic, almost scared. At first I think about just walking away. But I was starting to get a little frightened about being out in the dark, especially since I don't know what may lurk in the shadows, so I decide to try to talk to her.

"Please let me in. I'm lost and confused, I don't want to be out in the dark on my own." I say, trying to sound calm. At first, there's no response, all I can here is footsteps that seem to be getting closer. The door opens slowly, and I see a rather familiar face, long purple hair and lilac coat. Twilight.. I think. At first she seems confused about why I'm here. But it doesn't take long for her to say something to me.

"What do you want?" She asks. I think for a moment, trying to work out what to say.

"Just a place to stay the night." I say, taking my helmet off again and holding it against my chest. I smile slightly. But she doesn't seem convinced.

"Sorry, but this is library, not a hotel." She says. She's about to close the door, when someone else appears in the door-way and looks at his friend.

"You can't be serious Twilight!" They say. Sounding slightly annoyed. "You can't just leave him out in the dark on his own, its dangerous."

"But Spike, I can't trust anyone at the moment, you know what's going on." She says. Looking at the dragon.

"But Twilight. He doesn't look like he's gonna do us any harm. Come on, stop being so mean." He says.

"I won't be any hassle." I smile. She sighs before she responds.

"I guess you can stay the night then. Just, don't make a mess of anything." She says, as she moves away from the door. I place my helmet back on my head and walk in slowly, looking around at all the half empty shelves, and books that are all neatly stacked around the room. Spike closes the door behind me and wonders over, a smile on his face.

"Thank you." I say, I'm glad that he talked with Twilight to let me stay. I don't really want to be out on my own.

"Its nothing. I'm surprised Twilight didn't let you stay straight away though, she knows about the monsters that come out at night. Anyway, I'm Spike." He says joyfully, holding out his hand.

"I'm Honeydew." I smile, holding out my hoof and shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you Spike."

"Nice to meet you too." He says as he sits down on the floor in front of me. He looks different to what I remember, he's allot taller, and he has wings. Not much of a baby dragon anymore I guess. "So, what brings you to Ponyville?" He asks.

"Not sure, I never meant to come here, not sure how I got here to be honest. All I want to do is find my friends. But I don't know where they are." I say as I sit down in front of him. What I say is true, I'm completely lost. And I don't know where my friends are. I hope I can find them. Spike's about to reply before we hear someone yelling from upstairs.

"This day couldn't get any better could it?! First a spacecolt, now a dwarf! Mum, you're going crazy! Dwarf ponies don't exist anymore! And nopony, or at least not unicorns, have been into space!" I don't know this voice, yet they seem angry whoever they are. But when I realize that they called Twilight 'Mum', I become very confused. Twilight has kids....? Spike stands up and walks over to the stairs. He's pushed out the way by a Pegasus stallion who stops right in front of me, his blood-red eyes almost seem to be staring into my soul.

"Umm...Hi.." I mumble. Rather startled.

"Who are you?" He asks sternly.

"Umm, my name is...H-Honeydew." I say, slightly louder, trying not to sound scared, but failing miserably.. He takes a step back, but his gaze is still fixed on me. I'm not sure what he wants, but he seems to be pretty annoyed with me. He mentioned something about a 'spacecolt' when he was upstairs, or at least that's what I heard. And there's only one person I can think of who would fit that description, and that someone is Lewis, and if he's been here, than maybe they know where he went..maybe..

Confused and Hurt

"Honeydew huh." The stallion says, starting to sound a bit calmer. I nod slightly, not sure on what to say. "Where are you from?" He asks. An unusual question if you ask me, and something I can't really answer. As much as I'd like to.

"Well. Its kinda complicated." I say nervously. But he doesn't seem convinced. Spike walks over to the Pegasus and looks up at him, he smiles and then speaks.

"Calm down Nebula. At least give him a chance to get though the door." The dragon chuckles. "I'm pretty sure he means us no harm. And besides. You can't just leave him outside to fend for himself. Not at the moment."

"I could chuck him out into the cold if I wanted to. But something tells me Mum wouldn't be too happy." The stallion, who, I'm guessing is called Nebula, says as he looks away from the purple dragon.

"Your starting to sound too much like your father." Spike smiles, I can tell he's about to say something else. But Nebula cuts him off.

"Do not mention him, Ok! Why can't you get that into your tiny little head!" The red-brown pony yells. But Spike doesn't seem phased, maybe he's used to it, he doesn't seem insulted and just smiles.

"But you and Shadow get along so well. Why don't you wanna talk about him?" The dragon asks. Nebula seems enraged by this, I don't know why, what did his dad do to make his son show such hatred towards his own father. I know people get annoyed with their parents from time to time and sure some people might not like their parents a great deal but this, this I've never seen.

"We did get along well, but not now, not after what he did." Nebula says, he sounds calmer but there's anger in his voice. The smile on Spike's face disappears and he starts to look just as annoyed as the Pegasus.

"He was trying to save you and Crimson, if he hadn't of done what he did then both of you would probably be dead!." Spike snaps, making me move back a bit, maybe I should go get Twilight and tell her that their arguing.

"If he was trying to save us then he wouldn't have gotten himself captured." The Pegasus says firmly, yet calmly. Spike shakes his head slowly and sighs.

"He couldn't help it. He was out numbered. I may not have been their but from what Crimson told me, there where a lot of monsters. And as powerful as Shadow is he isn't invincible, and believe it or not, even he can be harmed, you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened, if you weren't there you wouldn't have been able to fly your brother to safety." Spike says, starting to calm down. I smile, glad that they've stopped yelling. I want to say something, but something tells me I would either get ignored or yelled at, so I stay quiet.

*Somewhere in the Everfree Forest*

I wander alone though the dark woods. I'm scared, petrified even. How did I even end up here? A couple of hours ago I was in town trying to figure out where I was and how I got here, and now. I'm lost. And I have a strange feeling that I'm being followed.

Why I didn't stay in town I don't know. Why I didn't listen to what I was told is a mystery to me. Everybody said to stay away from the forest and make sure I'm inside after dark. But I didn't. I thought I'd be OK. But I was wrong. And now I don't know where I am or where I'm going. I can't just turn around and go back the way I came, because I've turned and changed direction so many times I have no idea which direction I came from.

Theres something following me, hidden in the bushes, not wanting to reveal itself. I don't know what it is and to be honest, I don't want to know, but hopefully they don't plan on hurting me, I don't really want to die here.

I stop walking and look around me. The temperature is dropping rapidly and as I stand there, shivering in the cold, whatever has been following me has started to circle the area where I'm stood. But yet they still don't come out of the bushes.

"H-Hello.." I try to speak but my voice is shaky. Theres no response. And all I see is flash of yellow in the undergrowth. "Hello.." I repeat, slightly loader. The leaves stop moving and a deep voice fills my ears.

"What are you doing here?" They say, there voice is almost emotionless and I can't quite tell where it's coming from.

"W-Who are you?" I ask. Unable to speak clearly as the ground seems to freeze beneath my feet...hooves.. "W-What do you want?"

"I want to know why your here." The voice says as a flash of yellow light almost blinds me. When I open my eyes again. A dark purple pony is stood before me. There eyes are golden-yellow and a few sparks of energy flicker around the horn on there head as they stand there, motion less. I take a few steps back as they stare at me.

"W-Who are you?" I repeat. Hoping for an answer this time. But I don't get one. They take a step closer to me before they speak.

"I asked you a question and I expect an answer. What are you doing here? Its dangerous." He asks me the same question again. Starting to sound more annoyed. I want to answer, but I don't know how. I have to think of something. But what?..

"Um..Its complicated. I never meant to come here. I'm just a little lost that's all. If you could tell me how to get back to town that would be very helpful." I try to sound innocent but I don't think he believes me. I don't blame him to be honest. I shouldn't have been so stupid as to go for a walk though the Everfree Forest. But what I don't understand, is if it's so dangerous here, then why is he in the forest as well? I could ask, but something tells me he didn't just decide to wander aimlessly into the woods. That and, well, I don't want to annoy him anymore then I already have..

"Theres no point going back to town, you wouldn't be able to find your way though the forest for a start. Just stay with me and you'll be fine." He says. I'm not sure whether to believe him. I don't know who he is or whether I can trust him. But he seems to want to help me, and maybe tomorrow he can take me back to Ponyville. Maybe. But for some reason, I don't feel safe around him..

"I dunno." I mutter. "I hardly know you and you expect me to follow you. I think I'll just find my own way back." I say as I turn around. I'm about to walk away before he speaks.

"Who the hell are you?" He asks, his voice filled with anger and confusion.

"I'm Xephos," I smile as I turn my head to face him. "and I've been on a few adventures in my time, I think I can get back to town on my own." I say, almost laughing. He seems slightly confused considering that less than five minutes ago I was asking for his help.

"Just 'cos you have a sword. Doesn't mean you can survive the monsters that lurk in the shadows after sun set." He smirks. All anger and aggression in his voice seems to disappear.

"Monsters.." I mutter, "What do you mean by monsters?" I ask. Suddenly very confused. The smile on my face disappears and my body grows tense, and not just from the cold wind that blows though the clearing. He looks at me like I'm an idiot.

"Surly you know." He says. I shake my head slightly. "Where have you been over the past few months?" He asks. I don't speak. I don't know what to say. What does he mean by monsters? This is not Minecraft. Then again, I do look allot like my original skin at the moment.. I look up at him as he stands there silently, probably waiting for me to answer, his scarf blowing in the wind. After a couple of minutes of silence, his ears perks up and he rises his head, looking around. I don't hear anything, and as his yellow eyes dart back and forth, I know we're in trouble.

"What is it?" I ask. "I can't hear anything." He holds the tip of his hoof against his mouth and I stay quiet. "What's going on?" I whisper.

"Just stay still." He mutters. I can only just hear his voice, and I start to hear growls and snarls coming from the trees the moment he stops talking. He looks at me wide-eyed and stumbles backwards before yelling: "Behind you!" I turn my head and a green creature with dark, soul-less eyes stares at me..

The creature explodes and I fly forwards, landing on top of the purple stallion. He immediately pushes me off him and lifts me to my feet with his magic. But the moment the yellow glow disappears, the pain in my hind legs becomes prominent.

I wince in agony as he shakes the dust out his fur. Not daring to turn my head and look at the damage that's been done. "You ok?" He asks.

"N-No.." I whimper. He slowly walks over to me and wraps his hoof around my shoulder. He presses his horn against mine and a bright glow of yellow and blue surrounds us before everything goes white.

The moment my vision returns, I start to feel dizzy. I lay down on the wooden floor and take deep breaths, trying to stay awake, but I can feel my self slipping into unconsciousness. I can hear voices, two, his and somebody elses. Feminine but quite deep, they also seem to be talking in rhyme. My vision starts to go hazy as I see to purple hooves stand in front of me.

"Xephos. Xephos!" He calls my name, but he seems to be getting farther and farther away. His voice fades after a few seconds and everything goes dark...

Author's Note

For slightly more regular updates head over to my DA page. I post chapters there first ;)

Finding a Friend

*The next morning*

"Leave me alone!" I yell as two foals chase me down the street. Asking questions, laughing and giggling. There Nebula's younger siblings, Galaxy and Crimson, and whilst at first they seemed nice I wish I had left earlier.

"Why are you wearing that helmet?" The dark red colt asks for the fifth time. I don't answer.

"What's your cutie mark mean?" His sister asks, but I still don't reply. I just run, and somehow, they're managing to keep up.

There older sister -Starlight I think her name is- was following, but she stopped after a couple of minutes, she didn't try to stop them, not sure why.

If I had magic then I'd teleport or stop them from chasing, if I had wings then I'd fly away. Unfortunately I'm neither a Unicorn nor a Pegasus so I'm stuck on the ground until they tier out. Which may or may not happen..

After about five-ten minutes of nipping at my heels the two just stop. I turn my head to see why but don't slow down. I don't realise why there just standing there until I run into something. I tumble to the floor, and my helmet falls of my head and rolls a few feet from where I'm laying.

"Watch where your going!" I hear someone yell at me. There voice is aggressive but also slightly panicked.

"Sorry." I say as I stand up. "I wasn't paying attention." I open my eyes and see a purple stallion stood in front of me. He has a long white scarf wrapped around his neck for some reason, it's not cold, in-fact it's fairly warm. And round his waist is a belt, with a sword attached. Theres something engraved on the hilt but I can't quite make it out.

"You need to be more careful." He says, his voice suddenly calm. I nod and smile.

"I know, sorry." I say as I turn my head to face the twins who are watching and laughing. "Those two were chasing me."

"Seriously." He says as he walks past me and over to the foals. "These two little devils." A smile appears on his face as he stands beside them.

"Hello Espio." They say at the same time. I walk over to the three Unicorns but as soon as I get there, the filly, Galaxy, runs past me. I turn around and see her walking back towards me with my helmet hovering beside her, surrounded in a dark blue glow. I smile as she places it on my head.

"You dropped it when you fell over." She says cheerfully.

"Thanks." I say. She trots over to the others and sits down beside her brother. "Anyway, Espio is it? I'm really sorry about running into you back there." I say nervously.

"Its fine, its not the first time I've run into somepony new over past couple days, I shouldn't have been day dreaming, other wise I would've gotten out-of-the-way." He chuckles. "Anyway, I need to get going, I have things I need to do." He says smiling.

"Ok, I suppose I'll see you round town then." I say. The smile on his face disappears and he sighs before speaking.

"Maybe, I don't spend much time in town." He says, he sounds slightly depressed, there's probably a reason behind that.

"Oh ok. Well, I don't want to keep you here if you have things to do." I smile. He nods and as he walks past I see the mark on the hilt of his sword and instantly recognise it. "Wait I know that symbol!" I say a little to loudly.

"What? My cutie mark?" He asks as he stops walking.

"No no no. The mark on your sword." I say, pointing at the tiny symbol which is only a few centimetres big.

"Oh that, I don't know what it means, the sword isn't mine." He says as he looks at where I'm pointing.

"I know what it means, Lew- I mean Xephos wears that symbol on his shirt, sometimes." I say, hope I'm using the right name, but regardless, that symbol is from Star Trek, and that's what Lewis' minecraft skin was originally based off of. Maybe Espio know's where he is.

"You know Xephos?" He asks. Looks like I was right. He sure gets around, if he was in the library yesterday and he met with this guy at some point, wonder where he is now?

"I know Xephos. He's the so-called space-colt who came to the library yesterday morning." Crimson says smiling as he trots over to us.

"Oh yeah I remember now, Mum and Starlight thought he was a little bit crazy though." Galaxy giggles as she joins her brother.

"I don't just know him, he's my best friend." I say. Unable to contain my excitement. "Do you know where he is?" I ask.

"I do yes, but he's not in good shape." The purple stallion says, my smile fades and I start to feel scared and panicked.

"Where is he? Is he ok? What happened?" I say quickly as I walk closer to him, looking into his eyes.

"He's fine, or at least he was when I left-" Espio begins before I cut him off.

"You left him on his own!" I yell and almost immediately jump back, wishing I hadn't raised my voice so high as ponies who are passing by start looking at me.

"I didn't leave him alone." He says sternly. "He's with a friend of mine. She knows what she's doing, and she knows how to treat injuries like his." He says slightly calmer.

"So he's with Miss Zecora?" Crimson asks. Espio nods.

"Yes, and I came here to look for some things for her." He smiles at the young colt.

"Have you got what you need? 'Cos I'd love it if you could take me to, Xephos? I need to know he's ok. He's probably wondering where I am." I say. My heart is racing and not knowing what happened isn't helping.

"I have what I need but I can't take you to Zecora's because it means passing though the Everfree Forest. And taking an Earth Pony though isn't something I'm willing to try." He says. I feel slightly insulted. I'm not gonna lie..

"Then how did you get Xephos though?" I ask. I'm not angry, just desperate to know what's going on.

"He's a Unicorn. After he was attacked I was able to combine are magic and teleport us to Zecora's home." He says. Well, Lewis is a Unicorn, who knew? I guess it makes sense but still.. How is that fair, he gets magic and what do I get? Nothing. I can't remember what benefits Earth Ponies have over Unicorns and Pegasi so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

"Ok that makes sense, but still--Wait. did you say that he was attacked? What attacked him?" I say suddenly realising what Espio said.

"One of the monsters, snuck up behind him and blew up." He says. His voice is so calm you'd think he was talking about a much happier subject.

"Creepers.." I mutter. "He was attacked by a Creeper?!"

"If that's what you call them then yes." The Unicorn stallion nods. Images of Lewis being hit by a creeper explosion start flying though my head. If this was Minecraft then it wouldn't be such a big deal, but this is real life and if they can one hit kill you in-game then I dread to think what kind of damage they can do here..

"Please, you have to take me to him. I've encountered Creeper's before and I know how devastating their attacks can be. Please. I have to know that he's ok. I have to see that your telling the truth." I'm starting to feel upset now. There's a lump in my throat as I fight back tears but yet Espio doesn't seem to realise how much I care about Lewis' safety.

After a few minutes of silence the purple stallion finally speaks. "Look. I would love to take you to him. But it's to risky. It takes a long time to walk though the forest and since its so dark the monsters are always there, not just at night."

"I'm stronger than I look. A few zombies aren't gonna ruin my day. Besides, its worth a shot right?" I say rather proudly, though he probably thinks I'm just being cocky. He sighs in disbelief before raising his head and smiling.

"If you're so confident then I suppose I'll take you though, but if you get hurt, its your fault, not mine." He says, his golden eyes looking right at me. I nod and smile. Finally. Whilst I'm not looking forward to entering the Everfree Forest, if it means finding someone who I care about then that's all that matters. Although, what I am wondering, is why Lewis went there? Surly he knows that the forest is dangerous, but that's not the only thing. How the hell did Creepers get to Equestria!?

Old Faces in New Places

*About an hour later*

Ok, I'm not going to lie to you. I am very, very scared right now. We've already encountered a couple of zombies, but Espio shot them down before I even had the chance to pull my pickaxe from my belt. From what I've gathered, he's a powerful ninja. His cutie mark is a shuriken which kinda gives it away, but when it comes to battle, well, he moves at great speed and uses all kinds of weapons which he seems to pull out of nowhere.

His magic is obviously pretty strong, I've seen him turn himself invisible, teleport, carry multiple items at the same time and perform all sorts of tricks that most ponies are probably unable to pull off. He's very alert as well. Even when the forest is completely silent, he's always on edge. His ears are perked up and the occasional spark of magic comes from his horn. His golden eyes are wide open and he's constantly looking around, checking for danger. I feel very weak stood beside him, and the fact that he towers above me doesn't help either. He seems like the kind of guy who'd turn on you in an instant if he needed to. So I just hope I don't do anything to upset him.

The silence is eery. All I can hear is the sound of our hooves stepping across the gravel path and the odd gust of wind that sends shivers down my spine. Now I realize why he's wearing that scarf. Its bloody cold in this forest. We've been walking for a while. I'm not sure for how long, since I don't have a clock with me. But I'm pretty sure it's been at least an hour. Maybe two.

A load chorus of growls and snarls come from the darkness and Espio stops instantly. I stand beside him and look around. But I can't see anything. There's a rustling of leaves coming from above and the first thing I think of is spiders. But boy was I wrong. A pure white pony drops from the trees and lands right in front of us. Espio pushes me back and stares at the stallion before him, he's willing to fight, but I recognize that pony. I don't know why but he seems so familiar. Fur the colour of snow, no mane or tail, dressed in a smart suit, bow and arrows slung over his shoulder. He opens his eyes. And everything seems to click into place. Those red, glowing eyes that could pierce though your soul.

He folds his wings and stands up straight. A blood-red glow surrounds his horn as he walks slowly forwards. Espio stands his ground, but he doesn't know what he's up against. In the blink of an eye, the dark stallion flings the purple unicorn across the tiny clearing and into a tree. Groaning and not showing any signs of getting up, I take a few steps back and try to think of what to do. I try to speak, but no words leave my mouth.

With out a word, he begins to charge at me. Without a second thought, I leap into the air and land behind him. That could have gone very wrong. He turns sharply and snarls at me.

"I've found you now Honeydew. You can't escape!" A deep, dark, scary voice comes from his mouth and makes me shiver.

"What..What do you want, Israphel!?" I ask, rather loudly. Trying to sound calm, but there's a hint of fear in my voice, and he can hear it, I can tell by the look on his face. I turn my head and see Espio laying on the ground. He glances up at me with a confused look on his face.

"You know that stallion?" He asks quietly. I nod slowly.

"Unfortunately.." I say with a sigh. I don't have a chance to say anything else. Arrows start landing at my feet and I jump back several times to avoid getting hit.

"Go away!" I yell at the top of my lungs. I know that he won't, buts it worth a shot. "Why are you trying to kill me!?!" Israphel stares at me, a dark smile creeping across his face.

"Some things don't change, do they, dwarf. Your just as stupid in this world as you are in Minecraftia." His voice seems to grow deeper and darker with every word, I can feel my heart beating faster as he speaks. It may be due to the fact that I've never heard him talk before, after all, he was just a character we made in Minecraft and ended up making a series out of, how he's managed to send us here is unknown to me. This is all very confusing. I want to say something, but I can't, and even if I could what would I say? I remain silent as The Dark Lord continues. "I've tried for years to bring you and Xephos to your knees. But somehow you were always one step ahead of me. Somehow you managed to defeat my minions over and over again. But not this time. Oh no. Your weak in this form and you know nothing about this world." He pauses for a moment and as I process what he's said I take what may be my only chance to talk to him.

"Your lying to yourself." I smirk as I glare at him, its hard to focus when the eyes that are gazing back at you are blood-red and almost seem to be glowing in the shadows but I continue on regardless.. "I know more about this world then you'd think. I may be a grown man but that doesn't mean I don't watch little girls shows when there immensely popular on the internet! Now F off and leave me and Lewis I-I mean Xephos alone!" My voice turns into a yell yet Israphel doesn't seemed fazed. He just stares and smiles.

"Very well." He says in an oddly calm manner. He unfolds his wings and takes a few steps closer to me. "I'll leave you alone for now. But if you want to see your friends again. Well. You'll need to face me sooner or later." He smiles and with a single beat of his wings, he flies up above the tree tops and out of sight.

But it seems that he isn't finished yet. Only a few seconds after he disappeared. A barrage of arrows comes flying though the canopy and everything seems to slow down. I want to run, but I'm frozen in place, I look away, waiting for them to hit, when suddenly I spot something in the corner of my. A bright green pony sprints from the bushes and leaps in front of me, blocking each arrow with a sword that there holding firmly in their mouth. They land on the grass and skids across the frozen ground a few feet before coming to a stop. I hear him wince slightly as he stands up straight.

"Bloody arrows." He says to himself as a pale blue glow surrounds one of the darts that he didn't manage to block. He pulls the arrow out of his leg and cringes as blood drips from the wound into the grass. He drops the flint tipped stick onto the ground and a spark of magic comes from his horn and a tiny flash of blue light surrounds his front hoof. When the light fades, the cut is gone. "I'm really getting the hang of this magic thing." He smiles.

"Why do I recognize your voice.." I say a little to loudly. He looks at me and shrugs.

"I dunno, but I kinda recognize your voice too." He says as he turns to the side to face Espio who's just managed to get to his feet. "What's up with you?" He asks, an odd, yet strangely familiar cheerful tone in his voice.

"That's none of your business." Espio says as he gets up, standing slightly taller than the other stallion. Which makes me feel even shorter.

"Fine then, be like that." The blue-eyed unicorn smiles. I still can't figure out why I recognize him. It's not 'till I notice the swirl on his flank that I realize exactly who he is.

"M-Martyn?" I mumble. He looks at me, that goofy smile still on his face.

"Yeah, what?" He says. "How do you know my name?"

"Your--Your Martyn Littlewood! Everything makes sense now! The hair the eyes the head band the swirl the green.. Hehe, you're so green.." I laugh to myself and get a couple of odd looks from the tree hugger and the ninja.

"Umm, yes, that's my name, and yes, I'm green. Your, peach..cream? I dunno." Martyn says, he seems terribly confused.

"You don't recognize me, do you?" I say, trying to calm down.

"Urr, kinda. I know the voice. But I can't quite put my finger on it." Martyn says. Still looking rather puzzled. Espio gives him a funny look. "Heh hoof. Can't quite put my hoof on it.." He corrects himself. Smiling nervously. The purple unicorn rolls his eyes and doesn't say a word.

"Fine I'll tell you then. I'm Honeydew. You know. One of your best friends and fellow Yogs from back home!" I say louder than I wanted to. Martyn smiles and nods.

"Thought so." He chuckles. "I should have known really, it's kinda obvious now that I think about it."

"Yes. Yes it is." I smile.

"I hate to interrupt your 'reunion'. But we're lucky we've been able to stay here for so long without being attacked. We should get going before anything else finds out that we're here." Espio says sternly. Martyn just smiles.

"You have a point. We should get going I guess. But Espio, are you sure your OK? You took quite a beating." I reply, slightly concerned.

"I'm fine. Being thrown into a tree is nothing new to me." He says as he starts walking. Martyn and I follow behind.

"Where exactly are you two going? And where did all those arrows come from?" The Sapling King asks as he walks beside me.

"Espios found Lewis. So we're going to his house to see him. As for the arrows, well, you won't believe me when I say this. But it was Israphel. I have a feeling he's the one who sent us here in the first place. He came out of nowhere and attacked us. When he flew off he must have decided to launch a load of arrows at us and see if any of them hit. You got here just in time. Thanks for that Marty." I answer with a smile.

"Hey it's nothing, friend. Just don't call me Marty, Ok." He chuckles.

Author's Note

This was written ages ago, I just never got around to uploading it on here until now. Anyway. I hope you enjoyed it :)
If you want slightly more regular updates then head over to my DA page. As new chapters are posted there before there posted here ;)

The Runaway

*Back in Israphel's Castle*

Pacing back and forth across this tiny cell. Still shaking from my conversation with The Dark Lord. Lost in a daze of thought and confusion. I'm not entirely sure how much time has gone by, or how long I've been here, but I still can't get my head around how I got here in the first place. It just doesn't make sense. For a start, all Israphel is and ever was, was a virtual character we made for a show on YouTube, sure, who ever was playing on the account could do whatever they wanted as him, but since he was just a Minecraft account, he couldn't do anything for himself. We were never really scared of him, even when he was trying to shoot us down and kill us, he was just pixels on a screen. Or at least, that's what I thought.

I may not of seen his face yet, but I know that when I do, it won't be because we're about to have a friendly chat. He's evil after all. I would like to know where he's put my friends though, but I have an odd feeling that they're not that far away. Every now and then, I hear a faint scream or yell. And they all sound so familiar.. I hope they're ok..

I've been hearing almost constant screams and shouts for about 10 minutes now. Small explosions have been set off as well. It's coming from quite far away. I can only just hear it. Something's happening.

A massive explosion that makes the ground shake beneath my feet fills my ears. I stumble back as the blast almost seems to stun me. Through the ringing that's now echoing through my skull I can hear that dark voice yelling and the sound of hooves clattering against the stone floor. Has someone escaped?

As the foot-steps get closer they start to slow down, before eventually stopping, right on the other side of the wall stood in front of me. I hear a voice, a familiar one, and its the complete opposite of Israphel's. Soft and light, though still quite deep. Almost laughing. I know that voice.

Another explosion goes off right outside my cell, shaking the obsidian wall in front of me and causing a few chunks of the rock to crumble and fall away. I peer through the tiny gap, and see a pair of dark grey, almost black eyes staring back at me.

"Duncan?" They mutter before being knocked back by a magic burst. I hear more magic being activated as the ground begins to shake again. Moments after, the wall in front of me almost seems to shatter and falls down into a pile of rubble. I stare at the orangey yellow stallion stood facing his back to me, his hind legs lifted slightly above the ground.

"How did you..?" I stutter, confused about how he just knocked the wall down with such ease. He turns to face me with a grin on his face, and his identity clicks into place, long, glossy dark brown hair slightly covering his eyes, a long black coat with golden-yellow trimming and a loose beige shirt. No doubt about it. That was Ridgedog

"Strength of an Earth Pony with a little Alicorn magic thrown in, easy peasy, now run!" He smirks, glancing at the brick wall he magiced up, blocking the corridor, before running ahead.
I follow behind, only just managing to keep up. It takes me a few minutes to realise what he meant by 'strength of an earth pony with a little alicorn magic thrown in.' A dark glow surrounding the horn on his head, and a pair of large wings sitting, slightly unfolded at his sides. Of course he's a bloody Alicorn..

"Ridge! Where are we going!" I yell at him, not entirely sure on where we're supposed to go and what we're supposed to do.

"Just follow me. I know how we can get out!" He says, oddly cheerfully. I don't speak at first, I have to trust his word, but I can hear people coming up behind us, that brick wall didn't last long, and it didn't give us much of a lead on our captures either. I turn my head and look at what's following, monsters, creepers, skeletons, spiders. And Israphel. Tall and white, blood-red eyes, and an Alicorn. Obviously..

"There's no way we can out run them! Israphel has wings, he'll be able to fly! And if he catches us he'll kill us!" I snap. Starting to panic.

"I have wings too, Duncan." He smirks as he fully unfolds his wings.

"Yes, I know, but I don't!" I can't help but yell at him, I can't quite get my head around what he's trying to do. Which isn't helping. He just smiles, flapping his wings a few times, lifting him off the ground, he moves over top of me, flying very low, before wrapping his front hooves around me and lifting me into the air. A bright spark of magic surrounds his horn and we shoot off at a ridiculous speed. Turning tight corners with ease and eventually coming across a large hall with a glass ceiling.

Ridge doesn't waste a single second to think about what he's about to do. He flies up towards the ceiling, I close my eyes tight and cover my face, petrified. We keep moving, and after only a few seconds, I hear glass shatter. A few moments pass before I open my eyes slowly and look around, we're hovering above a giant desert, below us, a gigantic stone castle. In the middle of no where. But this sudden moment of freedom doesn't last long, Israphel is still following us. Flying up after us, Ridge just smirks, and another bright flash of magic comes from his horn, almost blinding me.

I open my eyes again to find myself laying in the grass in the middle of a forest. Ridge sprawled out beside me, chuckling to himself. I sit up quickly and immediately regret it as my head starts spinning.

"Careful. Teleportation can leave you a little light-headed afterwards if you're not used to it." The Alicorn smiles as he sits up.

"How the hell did you pull that off? Or are we dead." I say, slightly annoyed at his recklessness, yet also relieved to be out of that castle.

"We're not dead. As to how I pulled it off. Well. Let's just say Alicorn magic is a powerful thing and leave it at that." He chuckles.

"Yeah about that. How come you get to be an Alicorn, what's with that?" I ask, curious about how Ridge of all people gets all the power.

"Not sure. But I think it might be partly because I'm usually an admin on the Minecraft servers, from what I've seen, we've all been turned into pony equivalents of our Minecraft characters, and our race has been chosen depending on what we do, how he act, or simply because of what they are. Like how Simon's characters is a Dwarf, he's been turned into an Earth Pony. You usually play as the scientist, so you're a Unicorn." He says, staring off into the distance, it's rather dark, and eerily quiet. Which makes me question as to how much time passed during the journey from Israphel's castle to here. I don't say anything about it though.

"I guess that makes sense. Hold on. How do you know what Simon is? From what Israphel told me during our brief chat yesterday or whenever it was, Simon and Lewis aren't in his possession. So how could you know that Simon's an Earth Pony, if you were locked up like I was?" I ask, confused and a little curious.

"Simple. Before Israphel spotted me trying to escape, I had a quick look around and managed to find some things out. He's got pretty much every member of the Yogscast and some of our friends locked up in his castle. The only ones he and his friends didn't manage to capture on arrival were Simon, Lewis and Martyn. So they're out there somewhere. He knows of Simon and Lewis' absence from his little collection and they're the ones he wants to get his hooves on the most. I'd say he was a little obsessed about it actually. I found loads of pictures and scrolls of information on the two of them. Trying to pinpoint they're weaknesses and track them down so that he can finally do what he's wanted to do since the very beginning. He doesn't seem too bothered about Martyn though. Then again, I didn't get a chance to look through it all, so whether he's got stuff on the rest of us I don't know, after a few minutes of looking I was spotted, and had to run for it." Ridge says rather bluntly. I don't reply, I just sit there and think.

We may have gotten away, and we may be safe for now, but eventually we'll be found. Israphel won't give up that easily. Staying in one place probably isn't a good idea. We should really try to find the others, to help us form a stronger group, free our friends and get out of Equestria. Simple enough, but I have a horrible feeling it'll be an absolute nightmare.

Author's Note

I will try and get these out a little more regularly. Now I have so much free time on my hands.

Also, someone please remind me to re-do the cover art, it's atrociousness is bugging me to no end..

Heros Reunited

We're still walking through the forest. Apparently we're nearly there. But I still feel lost.

I'm hoping we are nearly there. I'm pretty sure that the temperature is still dropping. And Martyn has started to lag behind. He suddenly seems.. Ill.. He's dragging his hooves across the ground as he walks, his eyes are half closed, and the sparkling blue that they were when he arrived has dulled. He's not looking up from the grass, and from where I'm walking, it looks like he's breathing fairly heavily. He's shivering. A lot. Patches of warm air leaving his mouth in uneven clouds. I turn my head to focus on what's in front of me, but moments later I hear a groan and a thud. I turn around again to see the Sapling King laying on his side in the grass. A strange mist starting to form around him..

I approach him slowly. The air seems to get colder the closer I get. Espio seems hesitant though. I think he thinks that Martyn's just passed out. Then again. I think he might have done as well.

"M-Martyn.." I stutter as I stand about six feet away from him, cautious to move closer. He says nothing. Though I do hear him take a deep, shaky breath. A strange spark of what I can only presume is magic dances around his horn for a few seconds, before the mist surrounding him starts to thicken. Through the cloud I can see an odd sparkle effect moving across his body, leaving him an icy blue colour. "Martyn.." I repeat. Hoping for a response this time but not getting one.

The other unicorn. Who is still stood a few paces behind me. Cocks his head slightly to the side. Seemingly trying to analyse the situation. I can't think of an explanation myself. So he has no hope. There must me something.. Something that's caused this. Something I can't remember... Ugh.. Helpful..

The now blue unicorn stays motionless for about a minute, before he slowly starts to stir. He rolls onto his front, eyes closed as he spreads his forelegs out in front of him. Trying to steady himself perhaps..? He opens his eyes slowly and looks up at me. Before they were a perfect shiny blue. Now they're pale and cold. Still blue. But not the same as before.

"Martyn?" I repeat myself once again. Not sure what to expect from him. He still doesn't speak at first. Just tilts his head a little. He blinks a few times before he talks.

"Why.. Why are you looking at me like that?" He says quietly. His voice is suddenly very cold. Like his eyes. But yet he seems oblivious to what's just happened.

"Are you.. Are you ok?" I ask, slightly confused. He sits up a bit too quickly and wobbles a bit as a sudden spell of dizziness seems to come over him for a moment. He just looks at me with a peculiar, quizzical look on his face.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just. Tripped." He says slightly loader, still not smiling, and he seems to be doubting his own words.

"No you didn't. You collapsed. And now.. Now you're blue." I say, being careful how I word it.

"Blue? Well yeah, my eyes are blue but that's ---" He stops as he looks down at his hooves, which are now an icy blue, and blinks in confusion before jumping to his feet. He does a twirl on the spot, almost falling over in the process, and looks at himself. Blue all over. Even his cutie mark's gone from green to blue. Heck. Even his headband has turned a dark blue. Something seems to set in as it all comes together in his mind. He looks up at me again, suddenly seeming a bit depressed. "Inthelittlefrost."

"Pardon?" I smile slightly as he walks closer to me. Leaving spots of ice on the grass where his hooves touch it.

"Inthelittlefrost." He repeats. "It's what I call my Minecraft winter skin. It's like my normal skin. But. Blue."

"It's June." Espio says from the back. I want to say something about it being very cold for the middle of summer, but I don't. Just encase he lectures me about the forest working differently to the rest of Equestria.

"Yeah I know. Well actually I didn't. But it seemed kinda summer-ish. It might be June. But it's cold. Really cold. Well. I can't feel it now. I don't feel cold. But it is cold. Maybe that's why I changed." He says rather bluntly. I'm not sure how to respond. But Espio seemingly does.

"That's preposterous. A simple magic spell. That's all it is. Nothing more." The purple unicorn says. Clearly not willing to believe that Martyn just went through some peculiar seasonal transformation.

"If it was just a spell I wouldn't have changed. I wouldn't have done it!" The smaller unicorn snaps. Suddenly seeming rather aggressive for a moment. He stops and takes a deep breath before continuing. "It wasn't just a spell. It may have had something to do with my magic. But I didn't do it by choice. I'd have known. And at first I didn't notice the change." He says, his voice back to its much calmer state.

"Still. Before you fell. You looked kind of.. I dunno. Ill. Tired. Almost like you didn't want to keep going. And when you collapsed, this weird mist surrounded you. And you changed with a sort of sparkle effect. A bit like something out of a video game.." I say in a somewhat concerned manner. Martyn looks at me for a moment before turning away and closing his eyes.

"This is all starting to seem like a video game. A strange. Twisted game of life and death. Like a virtual reality game gone wrong." His voice becomes quite stern. Less than half an hour ago he seemed fairly cheerful. But now.. Now he seems to have sunk to a much darker place.

"Wasn't there an anime about a virtual reality game that went a bit wrong.." I say as I catch a reference he may or may not have made on purpose. He nods but doesn't speak. I hear Espio sigh and move closer to the blue unicorn before speaking.

"This is pointless. We're wasting time. I have no idea what you two are going on about. Nor do I know what caused you to change. Though I'm fairly certain it was nothing more than a magic trick. If we hang around for too long we'll get captured or killed. Neither of which I'm particularly keen on." The ninjas voice seems much darker than before. He turns to face me, his bright yellow eyes almost seem to be piercing through me. "I thought you wanted to find Xephos. In fact you seemed pretty desperate to find him. But now you almost seem to have forgotten he exists." That last sentence sets something off inside my mind. I move closer to him and look up at the tall unicorn, a rather serious expression on my face.

"Forgotten about him?! He's my best friend how could I forget about him!? I'm trying to stay calm about the whole situation, and how creatures and characters I thought were virtual are actually real and in this very forest! Trying to kill me no less! Plus Martyn's my friend, and when my friends start seeming under the weather I like to make sure they're ok." I say rather quickly, trying to sound a bit angry. But the unicorn just looks down at me with a slightly confused expression on his face. He crouches down so he's at my eye level and instantly changes the subject.

"I've been meaning to ask. If you're a fully grown stallion. Why are you so small?" He's confused about my height!? Well I suppose that does make sense. I'm less than half his size. And I didn't stand much taller than the unicorn twins, and they were just foals. Though the answer is very simple. I'm not in the mood to act as if it's ok for him to ask such a seemingly obvious question.

"I'm a dwarf." I say rather sternly. "Ya know. Diggy diggy hole and all that. That's why I'm short. And I doubt it helps that you two are so tall." I continue, staring into his bright yellow eyes. He stands up straight and gives me another puzzled look.

"I'm not particularly tall. Not that far above average. And neither is your friend here. The only reason we seem tall is because you're rather small." Espio says somewhat matter-of-factly. Before I have a chance to say anything. Martyn speaks up.

"Why are you two bickering like children? What do you expect that to achieve. We need to move. I'm starting to feel like we're being watched." The blue stallion says, starting off a little angry but quickly starting to sound concerned. Not another word is spoken as the three of us start walking again. Continuing into the depths of the forest. Martyn is still trailing behind slightly. Leaving a trail of ice on the ground as he walks. Espio is just ahead of me. Focusing on what's in front of us. Not long now. I hope..

We kept walking. And walking. And walking. Well. It only took another ten minutes to get to where we were going. But the eerie silence surrounding us and the freezing cold made it feel like hours.

We found ourselves in a small, dimly lit clearing in the trees. In the middle, stood a house, that looked like it had been made from a tree, a bit like Twilight's library, but a fair bit smaller. The house looked tiny from the outside. Long, twisted branches had what looked like potion bottles hanging from ropes wrapped around them. Several strange wooden masks were scattered around the outside, one, slightly smaller than the rest, was perched above the round wooden door. An odd yellow light was coming from the two small circular windows. Long vines hung from the trees branches. It was rather creepy actually.

"In there?" Martyn asked, almost doubtfully, as he looked at the house.

"Yes." Espio said flatly. "Come along." He added as he walked towards the door, tapping on it a few times with his hoof before opening it slowly. Martyn and I walked over to him, and followed him inside.

The first thing I noticed what that the room we had entered seemed far to big to be inside the relatively small looking tree. The second thing I noticed was two ponies at the back of the room, one sat, hunched over on the wooden floor, bandages wrapped around their hind legs, the other stood in front of the seated pony, a vial of something purple in their hoof.

There was something odd about the standing pony. They were about the same height as the other mares I'd met during my time in Equestria, but they were a fair bit stockier. Her coat was an off white colour, and her body was streaked with dark grey. Her hooves were almost black. And her mane was short and straight, and standing upright on her head. Striped with similar shades of grey as her coat. She wore golden rings around her neck and left fore leg, and large hoop ear-rings in her ears. Her eyes were a dark cyan. And she seemed to be talking to the pony sat in front of her before she noticed us walk in. My gaze drifted from the peculiar mare, and onto the other pony. Who I recognized instantly. Brown coat, dark brown hair and beard, bright blue eyes that seemed to be glowing slightly, and wearing a silky shirt striped with blue and white. There was no doubt, it was the pony I had been looking for. I felt an odd rush of joy run through me as a wide grin spread across my face. I walked quickly over to him, having to restrain myself from leaping at him, I stood beside him. Even though he was sitting down, he still towered over me.

"Hello." I said. My voice taking on an oddly high pitch tone, even for me. The stallion looked down at me, he looked exhausted. His glossy hair was messy and no where near as neat as I expected it to be, and his eyes were tired, making him look older than he is. "How ya feeling?" I add, a goofy grin still on my face that I can't seem to get rid of.

"I've been better." He said rather dully. A smile creeping across his face. His voice was dry and a bit croaky. But it kinda matched how he looked. "It's good to see you though, Simon. Can't say I imagined you being so small though." He continued, wrapping an arm - well, leg I guess - around my shoulders and pulling me closer to him. I roll my eyes at the mention of my height and smile up at him. His eyes seeming oddly bright despite how generally tired he looks.

"Your eyes glow." I pointed out. Feeling the need to mention something odd about his pony form, like he did with mine.

"So I've been told." He smiles. "Not sure why though."

"You're an alien, Xephos." I joke, winking at him. Purposely using his username, rather than his real name. He just smiles and shakes his head. I look down at his hind legs and notice the bandages again. "What.. Happened.. Exactly?" I ask slowly. Changing the subject.

"Creeper." He says flatly. "You know what they're like. Crept up behind me."

"Boom." I mutter.

"Boom." He repeats. "And then I found myself here. I'm ok though. A bit sore. But otherwise ok." He smiles. I open my mouth to reply, but I'm distracted by the mare talking rather sternly to Martyn about bringing ice into her house. Her sentences all rhyme with one another. Which confuses me. Martyn seems rather flustered but eventually moves out the room and stands awkwardly in the doorway. Espio has vanished. Not sure where he's gone.

"Does she always speak in rhymes?" I ask Lewis, though it's not what I was planning to say, for some reason I want to know.

"Zecora? Yeah. From what I can tell she does." He responds. "But who's she talking to?"

"Martyn." I say quickly.

"Martyn? What. Martyn Littlewood?" He says, seeming rather confused. I nod. "Why, or rather how, would he be bringing ice into the house?"

"Not sure. We were walking through the forest, and it was really cold. And then he sort of. Collapsed. And turned blue. And now he leaves ice on things he touches. Apparently." I say rather bluntly. Not really sure how else to explain it.

"Ok then." Is all Lewis seems able to say at this point. I turn my head to look at Martyn, who's leaning against the door frame, looking at me and Lewis and smiling. Lewis, or Xephos as I should probably start calling him, looks at the blue unicorn as well and smiles. "Hello Martyn." He calls across the room.

"Hi Lewis." Martyn responds. "Rough night?" He chuckles.

"You have no idea." Lewis laughs.

Author's Note

Found this half finished in my folders. Thought I might as well finish it off. Ended up as one of the longest chapters I've written. But yeah. I'm gonna try and update this a bit more regularly. But it really depends on if I have the time or not.
New chapters are always posted on DA first. As well as various bits of artwork for various things. So feel free to head over there (link on my profile page) if you fancy it.

A Strange Dream

I sat at my computer, half asleep, the bright screen in the dark room being the only thing keeping me awake, I wanted to finish editing this one video before I went to bed, but I could barely keep my eyes open, so I decided to call it quits, and finish off what I hadn't done tomorrow morning, before I left for the train station. The next day I was planning on heading back to Nottingham to see my family, it had been a few months since I'd last seen them, and my mum had kept asking me to come visit. But since I'd been up so late I was starting to think that travelling the next day wasn't such a good idea, but I couldn't let my family down.

I switched my computer off and looked at my phone.
"Half eleven." I mumbled. It was later than I had thought it was, and I needed to be up by six if I was to catch the seven o'clock train. And I didn't really want to fall asleep on the way there, incase I missed my stop. I grabbed my bag and put my phone in my pocket, before heading out of my office, locking the door behind me, I started walking towards my apartment.

When I got there, I put my bag on the floor and my phone on the table, I didn't bother to get changed, I just wanted to sleep, and the moment my head hit the pillow, I entered the world of dreams. But the next few hours were not quite what I was expecting..

I've had some weird dreams in my time, that's for sure, but this one was ridiculous. It was like a horror movie crossed with a children's cartoon.

I was sat in the middle, of what looked like a desert, but it was pouring with rain, the sky was dark and I felt cold. But as I sat there in silence, something came up behind me, I jumped to my feet, and tried to run, but I couldn't move, I kept falling to the ground, and as the face of whoever had been behind me came into view, I realised who it was, the pale skin, and blood-red eyes, but something was off, he had, what looked like a horn coming out of his forehead, he stood on all-fours and as he came closer to me, all the faces of my friends from Yogtowers appeared, but they weren't human, almost, horse like.. And they all looked allot like there Minecraft skins...

But as my best friend started to appear, I almost thought that everything was going to be ok, that is, until he started to get pulled beneath the sand by something, or someone. He screamed my name before everything disappeared. And as I slowly woke up, I didn't feel like myself...Something was different.