Hunter was strolling through the backyards of the prince's garden, gazing upon the wondrous nature that sprawled out in every direction. The night life was different from the day, the trees seemed to bloom many warm-coloured flowers as they sensed the heat of his body approach them. Every time Hunter extended his hand to meet the leaf, he would watch in simple entertainment as the small flower would scurry away back inside the plant in fear of being hurt.

The sound of the wind blowing through the trees made it seem as though the leaves were taking deep breaths after a long hot day in order to welcome the cooler night. Upon the wind were small sparkling seeds that blew around Hunter's body, the neon lights felt warm against his skin and disappeared as soon as they touched his body. The new life that the night brought forth was intoxicating to the lone boy.

"Wow, this place is incredible," Hunter kept his eyes fixed on the night sky, the shooting stars streaking across the black canvas and twinkling out of existence, "I wish I could stay here."

He kept walking, he could feel the flutters of butterflies in his stomach with every step he made in his bare feet, clenching the grass between his fingers to feel as much of the ground as possible. He figured it was a chemical reaction in his feet and a certain type of weed on the ground that caused a little yellow glow where his footprint was carved into, the glow disappeared only a few seconds later to leave an empty print on the ground.

There was a low voice, one that seemed familiar yet hadn't been heard in forever, "I hope you can come back..."

The boy turned his head to the direction of the voice, hoping that he wasn't soon to be in danger again after what happened today. The voice originated from a dark shaded area covered in bushes, the plants rustled slightly as the voice continued to whisper, "We... hope you can come back."

Hunter gulped in slight worry, "W-who's there?" He kept his eyes locked on the dark bushes as he slowly walked towards them, his fists were clenching in preparation to fight for his life once more. As he made his way toward the bush, thin and weak weeds would latch on to his bottom hands and wrap around the fingers only to be torn off at the slightest pull from the ground. It was as though the ground was warning him about not entering the bush, as though it were alive and protecting him.

He extended his arm and touched one of the leaves only to hear the voice from behind him say a little louder, "You're not going to leave us, are you?" The male voice sounded to be hidden behind a tree when Hunter whipped his head in its direction, his eyes scanning the area for danger.

When he turned around, he spotted what appeared to be movement as it cornered around a tree and disappeared into the darkness. Hunter began to chase after it, shielding his hands from the leaves slapping him while he rounded the corner and called out, "Where are you? Who is this?" He had a feeling he might know who it is but also worried that it could be a trick to get him killed, he wasn't ready to take a chance even if it looked like it was his friend.

There was a woman's voice coming from the same direction as the man's, she sounded depressed and exhausted, "You've already forgotten about me, haven't you?"

The sudden presence of the female voice made Hunter's heart skip a beat, he recognized that voice as the sound of his wife and bearer of his child. Her voice sounded like it came from a little farther down the forming dirt road, he watched as the trees gently swayed their leaves away to reveal a dirt path that seemed to lead to the voices.

He took no time to spare and immediately began to run down the road as he said a little louder, "Where are you guys? Why won't you let me see you?"

"Look," the male's disembodied voice began with a more agressive tone, "he doesn't even recognize us any more."

Hunter closed his eyes and shielded his face when a wall of leaves came into light, preparing himself to get scratched up as he broke through the wall. When he felt nothing he lifted his face from his hands to see that the leaves had shifted out of his way, revealing the doors to the prince's house.

The boy stood there, the blood racing through his head which caused a splitting headache when an ominous woman's laughing began to surround him, "You actually care about these horses? That's pathetic."

Hunter shook his head, "No, no I don't love them!"

The male's voice took over as it asked Hunter, "Then why haven't you returned home yet? If you don't care for these animals then why haven't you left them for those who really love you?" Behind him there was a loud gust of wind that ran through Hunter's ears and headed for the large wooden doors to the majestic unicorn's house, pushing the doors wide open to reveal a darkened room before muting everything completely.

Hunter stood frozen in fear, his eyes locked on the clean food-filled area that was only lit by the moon's light in the doorway. He remembered quite well how the white stallion despised the idea of him entering the house, but the idea of more of his own species getting caught within that house scared him more. He didn't want neither his wife nor his best friend to go through the same treatment that he had suffered, and the only safe place for them was outside. Thus Hunter sucked in a chest-full of air, clenched his fists, and made his way into the house.

The inside was dark, silent, and too clean for his liking. Upon the walls of the first room were metal instruments probably used for holding food over a fire, sharp knives lined the large white table as well as very small silver shovels and pitch-forks all probably used for the soul-purpose of eating. The black-and-white tiles echoed the quiet slapping of his bottom hands against the ground, worrying him that the noise might wake up the prince.

Suddenly he heard his best friend behind him, "You have a choice to make." The double-doors that lead to the garden shut violently and forced Hunter into a silenced darkness. The only sound to break the frightful silence was his breathing as he slowly made his way into the next room.

As he stepped onto the wooden tiles, loud cracks and creaks were heard beneath the floorboards causing him to stop in his tracks. He could hear the voice of his wife coming from the top of a flight of stairs next to him, "Chase after us, that is if you really care for us."

He flinched, hoping that her rude loudness wouldn't disturb the sleeping of any resident before bounding up the stairs in a hush. He looked to the large statues of horses in armour, figuring that they were either a means of security or intimidation as they suddenly began to turn their heads to look down at him.

Hunter quickly realized that statues aren't supposed to move and stopped in his tracks, his heart racing in his throat at the horror of the two larger-than-life statues crumbling in front of him. The loud clanging of the metal rang in his ears as they broke through the floor around him, a bright green glow leaking out of the holes that the statue's limbs had created.

Figuring this was a sort of magical safety measure, Hunter turned around to face the stairs and began to race down. He had learned his lesson but it became apparent that the magical house wasn't finished scaring the life out of him yet when the stairs behind him began to disintegrate, the bright green glow below replacing it as it raced against the speed of the panicking boy.

Hunter jumped down past last few steps and began to run for the exit, but to his horror he watched as the entire wall itself began to rumble and move away from him. The pots and pans shook violently off of their hooks as they clanged agains the ground, falling into the opening crevice that was forming between Hunter and the door.

Horrified by the actions that this spell was taking, Hunter looked around as the house began to shake and fall apart, not a single wall was left standing after the self-inflicted tremor hit. The roof was the last to fall through the floor as it tore away the majority of the tiled kitchen floor, leaving only a small place for him to stand amongst the now ocean of green smoke and light. He tried to keep himself from looking into the massive green abyss as he shouted out, "What's going on?"

A disembodied voice began to circle around him, "You abandoned me, because you don't love me."

The panicking boy quickly recognized the voice as that of the mare that was caring for him, somehow speaking perfect english to him as her floating face spun around him. Hunter gave his head a shake as he shouted out, "I care for you, and I didn't abandon you."

There sounded to be faint distant laughter that trailed away from him, followed by planks of wood forming behind him with loud creaking noises. He turned his head slowly and fixed his eyes on the thin floating bridge that had formed and that trailed into the distance, the pattern of wood planks was often broken by the addition of a painting or a door. Hunter carefully placed his hand on the first piece of wood, hoping that it would not collapse under his weight. To his surprise, the magical bridge that had formed was quite capable of holding his heaviness.

The boy began to walk down the bridge, looking around at the infinite ocean of blackness and green/blue smoke. He could hear the voice of Pinn echoing through his head, "You've grown up with me, we spent our childhoods together." As Hunter walked, he watched as memories of his childhood appeared in the smoke to his sides. He watched his memory of first meeting Pinn as a child, being helped back up after being pushed teased for being different.

Hunter could hear the sound of the children's laughters that surrounded Pinn and him, the two knew they were going to be friends from the start. He remembered how Pinn stuck by his side despite how different he was from the rest of the children, how Pinn was always willing to fight by his side when he was needed. Hunter began to feel his heart weigh heavy in his chest, the sense of guilt flooded him as he thought over his choices while the voice of his best friend continued, "You were my best friend, and now you're leaving me forever?"

"No," he shouted in response, chocking back the tears that were forming in his eyes, "I am not leaving you!"

There was silence once more, the sound of smoke and whispering winds were the only things heard as Hunter continued to walk along the bridge. He tightened the belt he made around his waist and loincloth, hoping things wouldn't turn for the worst when he saw the bridge had suddenly stopped in front of a large pillar of stone.

He walked up to it, his heart was racing as his eyes darted in every direction, he moved his hand towards the large rock formation but jumped in fear when it began to rumble. The large stone body churned and cracked as pebbles tumbled into the black ocean of emptiness, the sound echoing long after the shaking had stopped. A face began to form in the stone as it suddenly circled him, it was the face of the unicorn that taught him his new language, "You have a choice to make, Hunter."

"I don't know what to pick, either way I am hurting someone!" His curling hair swished around his head as he looked to follow the moving stone monument, keeping his eyes locked on the forming faces.

Hunter watched as the face of the royal stallion emerged in the place of the mare's as it spoke, "You can chose to leave, and break her heart but return to the loved ones at home."

He continued to watch as the face again morphed back to the mare's as she whispered through the air, "You can leave me with a broken heart and crushed dreams for your personal desires." The face suddenly began to crumble once more into dust, the bridge burst to life in a bright glowing blue fire before turning to ashes and leaving Hunter stranded.

The horrified boy stood perfectly still, watching as the floor beneath him appeared to breathe, flexing inward and outward in a rhythmic pattern. He worried about falling over the edge into the dark abyss that had engulfed the entire world around him when he felt the platform begin to tilt. He held to the edges for his life, he could hear the voice of Pinn once more as it hissed, "Or you can stay, leave your best friend betrayed and your wife without a child. You can leave us for your personal desires in order to stay with the horses that treat you like an animal."

Hunter began to lose his grip on the wooden pillar, feeling the supporting column beneath it crumble as it tilted beyond a safe angle. He felt his body slip towards the black abyss, his limbs thrashing in all directions to regain his grip and prevent his death. His heart had jumped into his throat when he felt nothing but the weightlessness of falling from a height, he screamed for help despite being the only physical body present. He felt the wind against his skin as the blue and green smoke surrounded him, the coldness chilled his body all over as he plummeted to his doom.

Hunter could see his vision blackening out, a darkness was closing in around his sight as he listened to the voice of Pinn one last time, "You have to chose. I'm coming tomorrow night."

He screamed, the blackness had covered his eyes entirely as he felt the tugging of the wind through his hair. Suddenly he opened his eyes again to see an ocean of green trees below him that was rapidly approaching. Hunter again screamed for help as he realized that he was actually going to die, extending his arms in dire hope of saving himself.

The skydiving boy closed his eyes, hoping that some diving being would save his life before impact. He could feel the butterflies trying to escape from his stomach when he extended his arms, his eyes had locked onto a thick vine that might be strong enough to hold him.

In a matter of seconds, he was holding onto a large green rope as tight as he could, hoping to survive the ordeal. He could hear the wind screeching through his ears as his fall turned into a swing, his bottom hands drawing closer and closer to the ground. He looked ahead of himself to see a branch coming towards him, it looked high enough that it would miss his head which calmed him for an instant. It was too late, though, for him to realize that the vine would still be affected by its presence and was thus flung into the air a mere thirty feet.

Hunter flipped through the air, thrashing his arms as he shouted in fear of dying on impact in a failed circus act. His hands and arms were sore from being strained so much and so suddenly, his neck was already hurting from the whiplash of going through a loop at several G's. Hunter was relieved when he felt the ice chill of water engulf his body instead of hard ground but soon after began to feel the pain of slapping the water like he did, it seemed like he was safe from death yet again thanks to water.

After flailing his limbs madly, he eventually pulled himself from the water and began to gag and cough for air. As he coughed his hardest, his nose stinging from the water and his eyes teared, he slowly lifted his body and looked towards the highest tree. Panting and exhausted from nearly dying again, he coughed out in a worried tone, "What the hell did I eat? What just happened?"

He scanned the area, looking at the surroundings as the colours slightly changed from green to blue and back, the trunks of trees appeared to be breathing. It was clear to Hunter that he had just had a bad trip after eating the glowing blue plants his teacher had told him were good pain-killers. "Eat the blue leaves," he said in a mimicking tone of someone with a deeper voice, "they are the safest."

There was a pause, he took a deep breath before sitting down and continued to monologue to the colour-changing grass, "It seems I'm still on a hallucination-trip, just not as bad as that." He turned his eyes back to the large house that he had conveniently landed in front of as he rested his back against a tree, "Trip or no trip, those guys are right. I have a huge choice to make, but what do I chose?"

Thinking of what the floating heads and voices had said to him, Hunter spent the rest of the night awake, thinking of whether he should stay or if he should go.

Author's Note

I would just like to remind you that you can find me on xbox, psn, and steam with the following names:

XBOX LIVE: GreasyOscar
PSN: GreasyOscar
Steam: Carlosspicyweiner702

Hit me up on any of these and enjoy my non-sensical babbling rants as I scream at the television (XBox Only). If you're lucky enough you will find me on a sugar-rush, a rant without medication, or hear me beatboxing (I'm apparently good)

Ask me questions, call me names, make me cry, it'll be like we're actual friends..