"Why Do I even bother?"
Cherry Swirl kicked at a nearby rock as he wandered around the outskirts of Ponyville. Looking up at the sun, he chuckled humourlessly to himself as it beamed down on the town, reflecting the exact opposite of his mood.
The scrawny young unicorn sighed and sat down on a small haystack, musing over the events of the morning. Finally, after weeks of trying to summon up the courage to ask his neighbour Lily out, he had felt like he was ready. But as he entered the flower shop where she worked, it was as if his limbs had turned to hay and the moment he saw the pretty young filly standing at the cash register, he froze on the spot. One perfect smile from Lily was all it took, and he bolted.
"Why do I have to be such a scatter-mane? I'll never have what it takes!" He muttered to himself, his head in his forehooves.
"She probably thinks I'm an idiot now."
He sat there for a few minutes, just him and his thoughts. There was no way he could go see Lily now; no doubt she was wise to his feelings. She'd probably told her friends Rose and Daisy all about it by now: About how Cherry Swirl was such a timid little colt, he ran as soon as he looked at her. He'd be hearing about this from his roommates anytime now.
But what I she felt the same, he thought. What if she did like him the same way he liked her?
"Rrrggh! What do I do now?" He muttered aloud.
As he got up to continue his walk, he glanced to his left, seeing the dense and dark trees of the Everfree Forest. He gulped audibly as he walked alongside the fringe, keeping his distance. His mother had told him all sorts of stories about the Everfree: How the plants grew by themselves and the weather changed on its own. These had fascinated him more than scared him, but then she told him the other stories. The stories of young foals and fillies who had wandered into the Forest and never returned. Of strange figures seen in the trees, of ponies dressed strangely, always just out of sight, always glanced out of the corner of one's eye, before vanishing into the darkness. Of one particular thing that lived deep in the dark of the trees, ever watching…
He shuddered as memories of these stories flooded his mind. Honestly, they're just pony-tales, he told himself. No reason for a grown stallion like himself to fear them.
But any further thought was cut short as, without warning, something heavy landed squarely on his back, knocking him clean off his hooves.
He yelled out in shock as he struggled against the weight holding him down. He felt his own hooves held down by the hooves of another, stronger stallion; no doubt that was what landed on him,
"Get off….me!" he wheezed out, squirming and heaving with all his might, but to no avail. Either this pony was a lot bigger than he felt, or he was insanely strong.
Cherry stopped his struggles, however, as something emerged from the Everfree Forest. A shadow, thin and lithe, moving among the trees, breaching the fringe of the foliage.
But he saw nothing more, as he felt something heavy and muggy pulled over his face, blocking his vision. He let out a muffled cry as he suddenly felt a stinging sensation on his flank, as if a blade as cutting marks into his flesh, just over his cutie mark.
Then there came a voice. The voice of a stallion, whispering gently into his left ear. The very stallion who pounced on him, perhaps. It was the last thing he knew before all consciousness and sense left his mind:
"Welcome. To The Herd."