Case of a Disappearing Ponyville

I hate Mondays. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly on the ground. I slowly opened my eyes, flinching at the intensity of the sun’s light. When my sight adjusted enough, I took some time to take in my surroundings. Trees, grass, it was all quite normal. That is, until I saw the pastel colored pony thunder through the sky above me. The pony flew swiftly through the air, leaving only a trail of rainbows in its wake. I rubbed my eyes a few times, but nothing changed. I’m definitely dreaming, I thought, there’s no way this can be real. As if in response to my conclusion, a roar rang through the forest behind me. I turned around and examined the forest. It was definitely dark and foreboding. This forest matched every description of the old, creepy forests you would find in horror novels. I took one last look at the open fields to my right.

“Buck it,” I said to myself, “It’s just a dream, so here goes nothing.” And I ran into the forest.

“LEEEEEROY! JEEEEEENKINS!” Is all that could be heard as I sprinted toward the darkness. As caution was thrown to the wind, I felt like nothing could stop me. As soon as I stepped into the forest, the air around me fell into a deep darkness. I could barely see and was about to turn the other way when I remembered the pack I had on before ending up in the world. I reached around my back and to found the familiar pack on my back, confirming my suspicions. After a little rummaging through it, my hands touched the cold metal of the flashlight I had brought. The flashlight turned on with a click of the power button and I had a constant beam of light in front of me.

The darkness danced around me like fog on a gloomy day. I started walking around, shining the light around to catch any anomalies. The same roar from earlier echoed through the trees and caused me to jump. In any normal circumstances, I would have ran as fast as my legs would carry me away from the roar. But since this was just a dream my mind created, I was determined to find the creature causing the noise. With a skip in my step, I headed for the emanating point of the sound. That’s when I came face to face with the strangest wolf I’d ever seen. The beast’s entire body was comprised of various sizes of wood and its eyes glowed an eerie green. Even though the legs looked as though they should stay completely stiff and unmoving, the wolf moved as smooth as any ordinary wolf would. I’d have ordinarily curled into a ball and cowered in fear, but I knew I could wake up if things went south. That’s when I decided to talk trash.

“Ha! This is it?” I said, “I’ve been around bigger Chihuahuas!” The timber wolf took offense at this and roared as loud as he could. Its breath smelled like raw sewage and saliva covered my face, but I wasn’t fazed. I took the biggest breath I could and roared right back. By this time, the timber wolf was furious and batted me away with a powerful sweep of his foreleg. I flew fast through the air and impacted with a tree a few yards away, knocking the breath out of me.

My lungs burned for air and my vision became a bit blurry. I steadily rose to my feet, wheezing in my attempt to gather oxygen. I swept the ground in an attempt to find my trusty flashlight, and was relieved when my fingers brushed its metallic surface. I flipped the light on and looked around for any sign of the timberwolf. When I finally mustered enough air to talk, I yelled at the timber wolf, “I didn’t want to fight anyway. You’re too weak for me.” My rant fell on deaf ears for the wolf was already sprinting through the forest to other things, leaving me all to myself.

Nothing was visible without the help from my light. I took in my surroundings, looking for my next course of action. I spotted a small path leading through the forest and jogged over towards it. The woods around me were eerily quite, and I didn’t like it one bit. A twig cracked a few feet to my left and I quickly turned my flashlight to face the noise. At first nothing caught my eye and I shrugged it off. Then another crack, and another. There has to be something following me, I thought. The light beam shifted from tree to tree, trying to determine the location of the noise. And yet I saw nothing.

The darkness was finally winning over my mind. I said to myself, “I’ve gone insane. There’s no other explanation.” And that’s when the voices started. At first they were quiet and I could ignore them. But then they got progressively louder and started driving me crazy. I couldn’t understand what they were saying and finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I grasped my head with both hands. “Get out of my head!” I screamed, “Get out and leave me alone!”

So I laid there for who knows how long. It must have been hours before I woke up. The sky was darkening and I could hear the sound of owls hooting in the distance. I sat up against a tree and stared off into the distance. The voices were very hushed now and I relished in the silence, finally free of the insanity that had almost driven me crazy just a few hours ago. An hour or so passed and darkness had fallen. With just the light my trusty flashlight to guide me, I slowly tried to find my way out of the crazy forest I had walked into.

Several minutes had passed, and nothing interesting occurred. I was about to give up and fall asleep where I stood, but something decided I wasn’t sleeping right now. A creature jumped out in front of me and took an offensive stance. With a quick lookover, I noticed this particular animal was obviously a quadruped and was about three to four feet tall. It wore a long, black cloak that covered its back from the neck down to the posterior. A hood was attached and covered a good amount of the creature’s face, but one thing that was unmistakable was the long five-inch knife held in its mouth. I wasn’t about to let some strange beast best me and I launched the first attack, the light in my hand the entire time.

The critter was small and agile, so it naturally dodged most of my punches. I tried to vary my fighting technique to keep the beast on its toes (if it even had them), but it was always one step ahead. I stepped forward to deliver a punch, and the creature rolled to the side while leaving a long cut from my wrist to my elbow. I stepped back and grasped my arm. There wasn’t much blood, so I recovered quicker than the animal anticipated. I swung with my off-hand and the creature let down its guard to block it. That’s when a vicious right hook from my injured arm connected with the beast’s forehead. It was sent sprawling across the ground, clearly unconscious.

My breathing was labored, me being exhausted from the battle. I walked over to the unconscious figure and removed the hood. The creature turned out to be a young colt with a jet black coat and mane. I knew it was a colt for obvious reasons, and I took off the colt’s cloak. The pony’s flank caught my attention. I took a closer look and realized that a bloody knife was depicted. I used my knowledge of the My Little Pony show to come to the conclusion that this was the colt’s cutie mark must have meant he was a skilled assassin. As to why he was attacking me, I had no idea.

Not wanting to just leave an unconscious body in the middle of the road, I drug the colt off to the side of the trail and hid him inside of some bushes. I then turned my attention back to the cloak. I felt around the entire thing until I came upon what I was looking for: a pocket. My hand rummaged around for a minute until I felt a papery substance. I pulled the piece of paper out and looked it over with my flashlight.

“Aha!” I exclaimed, “It’s a map!” As soon as I said that, the Admiral Ackbar scene from Star Wars ran through my head and I had a quick laugh. I unfolded the map until the entirety of Equestria was visible. Having no idea where I was at the moment, the map was a bit useless. But I knew I was in a forest, so there were only a few places that could be.

Well, I thought, it’s dark, and forest-y. I’m most likely in the Everfree Forest if memory serves me right.

My mind was set, and there was no stopping me. I folded up the map and shoved it into my pocket, shining the light in front of me. If I walk in one direction for long enough, then the end of the forest should be reachable. I nodded to myself as I set my plan into action and walked forward into the ever-increasing darkness of the Everfree Forest.