Beyond the Borders of Civilization
"Are you sure you want to go in there? There are all sorts of dangerous creatures!"
"I'll be fine, Silvia. I'll just follow this path for a little while, and see if I can find some new inspiration for my work. It'll only take an hour or so."
"All right, Lavender. But try not to stray too far in!"
"I know, I know. Don't worry, I'll be careful."
Lavender had had that conversation an hour ago. Or was it two? Without the sun, it was impossible to tell. All she had wanted was to try and paint a small picture of someplace fresh. Someplace exotic. Someplace that wasn't Ponyville. Was that too much to ask? At the time, when the sun was overhead, the Everfree Forest had seemed harmless.
Lavender looked around now. Further in, the light had vanished much quicker than she had thought it would, and she had quickly lost track of her way in. Now, she was stranded deep within a hostile forest at night, with nothing but her painting materials to protect her from any of the terrifying monsters that lurked within.
She took a deep breath. "Okay, Lavender. No need to panic. Nothing's going to get you if you just stay calm. So just stay calm." A loud hoot came from a tree behind her. She shrieked, and jumped back, dropping some of her supplies. A dark, unrecognizable bird flew out. "It's just a bird," she muttered to herself. "A common, ordinary bird. Nothing to scream about."
After a few moments, she gathered what she could of her things, and began to walk in what she thought was the right way home. After several minutes of walking, however, it was clear that this wasn't the right direction. She retraced her steps, but now, she wasn't even sure if she was going the right way back. "Face it, Lavender." She said to herself. "You are hopelessly, helplessly, utterly lost."
A foul stench drifted up to her nose, and she began to cough. "Yuck! What is that!" She turned to face the source of the smell, and froze.
It was a timberwolf. About a horseshoe's throw away, the wooden monstrosity was sniffing the air, searching for its next victim – her. Immediately, she tried to stop coughing, in a desperate attempt to be silent. It was too late. The wolf had heard her coughing, and gave a loud howl that echoed across the forest.
Immediately, Lavender dropped her supplies and began to gallop at full speed away from the wolf. She managed to get a good head start on the wooden beast, but it continued to follow her through the unknown forest. the unfamiliar rocks and trees only added to her terror. "Help me!" She screamed. "Please! Somepony! Anypony! Help!"
Her cries were answered by a howl of a second timberwolf nearby, and of a few others farther off. She quickly began to lose hope that she would ever survive the night. For several minutes, she ran, intent on delaying the inevitable: Sooner or later, she would be too tired to run, and the wolves would catch her.
She cried out again, though she doubted anyone could reach her in time. "Please! If anyone can hear me, please help!" From her right, she could hear the sounds of another creature, running to keep up with her.
She couldn't keep this up; already she was beginning to grow tired, and she could now smell the disgusting breath of the one chasing her...
A deafening CRASH came from behind her, and the timberwolf roared in pain. Lavender turned to see what it was. The timberwolf was now wrestling with a strangely shaped creature. It had four legs, and was much larger than the timberwolf, but in the dim light, there was little more she could make out.
Another timberwolf appeared, leaping out from the bushes to join the fray. It was batted away, and slammed into the ground in front of her. This was enough for Lavender. Despite her weariness, she ran from the struggle with renewed speed.
She did not look back, and it was only when she couldn't hear the fight at all that she slowed her pace a little. By now, she was breathing heavily. She was an artist, not an athlete, and could not run fast for very long distances.
"This place... is completely wild... no pony could ever come here... and live... I'm a fool..."
She did not have much time to reflect on her state. Two more timberwolves appeared out of the trees ahead of her. In an instant, they spotted her, and howled. Terror gripped Lavender again, along with a fresh burst of energy. She ran back the way she came, desperate to escape the new attack. The timberwolves pursued her back the way she came, but this time, it was harder to keep running.
"Perhaps... perhaps whatever fought the others... is still there," she thought, her mind desperately gasping for ideas – and air.
She could run no further. Her legs, straining from her frantic run, collapsed. Lavender rolled on the grass, unable to move. She raised her head to face her pursuers. The timberwolves howled, victorious in their hunt. They charged toward her, and Lavender laid her head down, preparing for the end. The earth trembled, shaking from the sound of the timberwolves's claws and heavy hoofbeats.
"Hoof...hoofbeats?"
The ground was trembling, and the massive figure she had seen from before collided with a wolf, shattering it into splinters. After a brief struggle, the two separated, the creature taking a stance in front of Lavender.
At first, it looked like an enormously large pony. But as Lavender's gaze rose higher and higher, she could tell that it was no horse. The creature's neck grew thicker and taller, until it was no longer a neck at all, but another body. Two arms split off from the new body, giving it more resemblance to a minotaur than an equestrian. In one hand it carried a long axe, unusually shaped with a point on one end.
To Lavender's dazed mind, only one word would describe this creature. "G-Giant..."
With its axe, the giant chopped clean through the remaining timberwolf's leg. The beast roared, and tried to bite back. The giant reared up, and slammed both front hooves into the creature's head, and while it was stunned, sliced off the head of the beast.
For the next few minutes, the giant continued to chop and stamp on the remains of the timberwolves, breaking and crushing it into an unrecognizable pile of wood. Then, it leaned its tiny head down, and spat on the remains.
From her limited perspective, all Lavender could see of the giant's head was a metal helmet. But as the creature turned to face her, she could see that it was unlike any face she had ever seen. Tiny, round, and pale, it was an unnaturally shaped nightmare.
The giant walked up to her, and stared down on her with its freakish eyes, and she turned her head away in fright. It opened its mouth, revealing a row of teeth that looked better suited for chewing flesh than plants.
The creature spoke in a low, male voice, disturbingly normal in its pronunciation. "I allow you to pass our territory undisrupted. I save your life from the wolves, not once, but twice – and you repay me with ingratitude!?"
It talked. After this entire stressful night, this was the last thing she could handle. Lavender closed her eyes, and passed into unconsciousness.
—to be continued—
I don't own My Little Pony: FiM. That is owned by Hasbro, along with Transformers, Monopoly, Risk, Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, and most of the pocket money I've accumulated over the years.
I hope you know what the creature is. If not, please reread some Greek mythology. I'm sure you'll find it eventually.
I would appreciate any feedback, whether it's positive or critical. Thank you for reading!