Excommunicated

>Long winding roads
>These had become your best friends for the last few days
>You were thrown out of your apartment not a couple of days ago
>Weren't keeping up with rent
>Now you were heading to the next town to move into an even pokier, littler apartment
>The solitude and quiet was nice though and sleeping under the stars was alright
>Tonight was not a nice night to be sleeping under the stars however
>Tonight the heavens had decided to drop the ocean from the sky and to rattle your bones with it's thunder and lightning
>Tonight was not going to be comfortable
>You decide to take a short walk from the road into the close by trees where the heavy rain would not be as punishing
>A while into your forest trek you find an especially thick leaved oak under which to rest
>Your small case of luggage was drenched through but it would still serve as a decent enough pillow

>The bellowing sky and unrelenting rain would only keep you awake for a while
>You were exhausted from the days travels
>As your eyelids grew heavy thoughts of home and what your life had become swilled in your mind
>Thoughts of having nothing but what you could carry
>Thoughts of being alienated from family and friends through sheer circumstance
>Flutters of emotion shoot through you but you quickly think of something else
>Maybe this new town would be alright
>The people there seem alright
>Although having not seen the place before you put down a deposit you decide to withhold judgement
>Thoughts of the days travel whimsically cycle through your head, your aching legs enjoying their rest
>As your eyelids meet for the final time before sleep over takes you, a blinding flash eclipses the night
>You pass out. . ..

>You awake with a start
>You become totally aware immediately
>The thunder seems to have become more thunderous, the lightning even brighter
>Your heart sinks as your case of belongings is missing
>Your head is now resting on a tree root
>You stand abruptly and look around
>You don't recognise where you are from last night
>Rows of trees thrash in the wind as far as you can see
>In the distance you see the silhouette of a house and what seems to be a barn
>You decide to make a break for it, unsure of whether or not you would survive the night outside
>As you run towards the distant shadow you become aware of small fruits littering the ground
>This only serves to slow you
>If you twist your ankle on one of these fruits it is not going to be a pleasant experience
>You reach the porch of this small house and jump up the small steps,
>You knock on the small, solid oaken door lightly at first
>No answer
>You knock harder hoping the sleeping people inside would be understanding to being woken up
>No answer
>You give the door a final pound and a final wait for a minute before resigning yourself to the barn
>You jump down the small porch steps and sprint to the barn
>You push open the barn door and step inside
>The wind and rain finally gone brings you great relief
>You fall asleep in your wet clothes on a mound of a straw in the corner, unsure of how the owners would react to such an intrusion
>It'd be worth it either way

>Oh god the sun
>Shining directly into your eyes
>God damn it
>You bring up your hand to shield your eyes but it's too late
>Now you're awake
>You realise suddenly where you are
>You don't know anything about where you are other than in a barn on some kind of tree farm
>What the hell is a tree farm
>No its an orchard
>You can't think of a single orchard near where you were
>You stand and stretch, small pieces of straw stick to your clothes and hair
>As you brush yourself down you realise this is some of the softest straw you have ever felt
>And your clothes are pretty much dry
>This day might be alright in the end
>You walk up to the barn door and push it open a very tiny amount
>So small was the amount it could have easily been the wind

>As you look through the gap you see two multicoloured ponies standing outside
>A small red horse and an even smaller orange horse
>Talking to each other
>Wait a minute
>The shock of this was eclipsed by the panic of them heading towards you
>In your panic you run to the back of the barn and cover yourself in the huge pile of straw
>You are pretty sure you are hidden
>As they walk in you begin to breathe as quietly as you can with eyes shut tight and hoping over all hopes you are not seen
>Your straw camouflage seems to have worked and you catch a part of their conversation
>”Well ah heard somethin banging on our door mighty fierce last night,”
>This sounded like a male voice with a southern drawl, seems to have come from the larger red one
>”Just be sure to be careful out and about then with a monster like that on tha loose,”
>The smaller orange one replied in a similar drawl

>Wait a sec
>Were they talking about me?
>I'm a monster here?
>Where the hell was I that there are miniature talking horses that fear humans?
>They seemed only come in to grab some of the baskets laying around and promptly left
>You decide to stay hidden and gather your thoughts
>You can't afford to be seen until you can show you're not a monster
>You ponder for a moment about whether this is rational
>Yeh, can't afford to fuck it up with these things
>if they've never seen a human I can't afford to scare them
>And if they are tetchy enough that they brand me a monster just by me banging on their door then I will have to show my good intentions
>Or just get out of here

>You stand from the pile of straw, sure that they have left
>The barn door was open but they seemed to have gone deeper into the orchard
>You look outside and in the distance you see an orange horse kicking trees
>The apples fall from the trees neatly into baskets placed at their foot
>When she bucks a tree with no baskets underneath a tiny yellow horse that could have been no more than 3 feet tall runs around catching them in a little basket on her back and runs back into a cellar
>The orange one seemed to have a hair band towards the end of her blonde mane
>The yellow one a bow
>After considering the logistics of this for a while you decide to not think on it any more as the only explanation you can come up with is “it must have been magic,”
>Terrible
>The more you watch the more it becomes apparent that this is an apple orchard
>With the biggest apples you've ever seen
>The two ponies out collecting seemed to be close with each other
>They seem to be pretty similar to people in how they act with one another
>This was a good sign for you

>After watching the ponies for a while your thoughts turn to the time of day
>It had to be past noon and it was about time you got something to eat
>Luckily you were on what appeared to be an apple orchard
>You had lost sight of the two ponies in the distance and the large red one was nowhere to be seen
>You decide to chance it and walk outside and over to one of the trees
>As you arrive at a tree you easily reach up and pluck an apple down
>It is easily the size of your fists
>You take a bite and the juice of it flows down either side of your mouth
>Dayem
>For an apple this aint too bad
>For an apple
>A dusty path running down the centre of the orchard catches your eye
>You decide to follow it, there must be a town or something at the end
>Although you could be going deeper into the orchard
>That road you came off must be near here
>You couldn't have gone too far away from it
>You're sure of it
>For what seemed like an hour you followed the path
>As darkness began to take hold of the day you almost give up on your search
>Suddenly and all at once you notice a town in the distance
>Happiness overwhelms you and you break into a run
>You hadn't had a drink all day and someone had to be willing to give free water out
>Someone was always willing to give free water out
>As the town comes into sharper focus your run turns into a sprint

>As you got closer you noticed only the short houses
>The town also seemed to be deserted
>You spot a single purple pony just walking out of a large tree
>It freezes
>You freeze too
>The horn on it's head begins to glow and it looks like it's straining
>You feel a slight tingle run through your body and the pony seems almost shocked
>It quickly regains composure and begins to charge you
>Another pony spots you and begins to hysterically scream and run away
“Ah! No! I'm not here to-”
>You shout after it
>Panic quickly spreads through the town
>A blue flash briefly enters your field of vision and knocks into your front
>You put a foot back and accept the blow without too much of a problem
>You lose track of it from then on, it seemed to fly up
>The purple pony begins to reach you
>You act on instinct and begin to run
>Run back to the orchard
>As you run you pass the tiny yellow pony from the orchard
>”Hey! Where are ya runnin off too?!”
>You pay no attention and continue to run
>Your muscles are aching
>You're thirsty
>You're alone
>You don't know where you are
>Everyone around you thinks you're a monster
>. . .
>Damn

------------------------

>You're back in the barn
>After another rough night of sleep on some straw you decide today was the day
>The day for what exactly wasn't clear but you certainly had the motivation to do something
>Talking ponies?
>Attacked when you walk into a town?
>Where are the god damn other people
>If only I could see a friendly human face
>Or even an angry one
>Just need to find out what's going on here
>Ok, pull yourself together, we can get through this
>Wallowing in self pity is not going to help anyone
>You get up and shake off the straw from your bed
>Your legs are feeling fine
>Wow thanks body
>You approach the barn door and timidly push it ajar
>You peak outside
>Immediately the shortest yellow pony locks her eyes with yours
>The orange pony with her back to you doesn't seem to notice and the short yellow one doesn't seem to make a fuss about you being in there
>You back away from the barn door, your heart thumping out of your chest
>If you are found out you'll have to run
>It's too early for them to know
>They are so afraid of you
>There are potentially hundreds of them
>as weak as they seem to be on their own you dont' think could take them all
>Could you?
>Ok she didn't seem to freak so just relax
>We'll just get back in the straw pile and wait it out

>After a few moments the barn door is pushed open and a creak echo’s around the barn
>”Hey Mr! Are ya in here still?”
>Your heart pushes against your chest like you've never felt before
>”I'm not gonna tell on you! I just wanna talk with you!”
>She just wants to talk?
>You shuffle a little before rising from you pile of straw
>As soon as she sees you skips over
>”Hey there! I'm Applebloom! Who are you?”
>She smiled widely and looked up at you with the largest eyes you'd ever seen
“Well erm, I'm Anon. Why aren't you scared of me?”
>”Why would I be scared of you? What kind of creature are you?”
>You begin to relax as this young pony began to torrent you with questions about who you were and the such
“Well I'm a human, what are y-,”
>She cut you off
>“WOW! where do humans come from, I've never even heard of them before?!”
“We come from all around, should be towns of them nearby. What are you?”
>”I'm a little pony just like my sister who you saw an I live with my brother and granny-”
>Her speech is filtered out as you begin to consider the implications of talking ponies
>How could this be, you've never heard of anything like this
>You were always pretty sure Humans were the only ones who could speak English too
>”Hey mister,”
>There is no way!
>This would be all over the news for sure
>”Hey mister!”
>Maybe you'd just stumbled upon their community that everyone had just missed
>”Heeeeyyyy!”
>This brought you sharply back into here and now
“Sorry Appleblossom. I just drifted away there for a moment, what were you saying?
>”No silly, I'm Applebloom.”
>She seemed indignant about that last one
>”I have tah go now anyway, mah sister is calling me for dinner, but it's OK if you stay here for the night!”
>A faint call of Applebloom could be heard on the wind
“Well thats very kind of you little one.”
>It was so welcomed after so much hostility
>”Be careful tommorow too cause we're harvesting the fields near this barn and Applejack an Big Mac might come an find shade in here,”
“Thanks for the heads up Applebloom.”
>”See ya later then!”
>She happily skips out of the huge barn double doors leaving a smile on your face
>Maybe these pony folk are alright after all
>Hope she can keep her mouth shut
>You strongly doubt it

>The sun is touching the horizon
>You'd spent the last hours of the day lazing on your pile of straw
>It really was a comfortable pile of straw
>You decide you've had enough rest and jump up feeling refreshed
>Appleblooms kindness today has really struck a chord with you
>You feel like you need to pay her back for at least trying to see who or more accurately what you were
>You step outside and stretch taking in a full breath of the crisp nights air
>You had taken a couple of baskets out with you
>If that 4ft tall girl pony can knock apples out of these trees then tall ass you should sure as hell be able to
>You walk up to the most bottom right appletree and take a look at it
>The apples grow in about three groups on the tree
>Seems like no problem to guess where the baskets need to be placed
>After throwing down the baskets in roughly what you think the right place should be you give the tree a good hard stamp to the trunk
>A few apples fall out and neatly into the basket
>These apple trees are not like ones at home that's for sure
>A second kick saw the tree stripped of it apples and three filled baskets
>They weren't too heavy either

>You've gotten the hang of harvesting apples pretty sharpish
>You've done maybe three quarters of a field
>Spreading the baskets out could be done super quick
>Then just walking round stamping trees as hard as you could
>No problem
>It was cathartic after yesterdays events
>Carrying back the baskets was no problem either as you could easily carry a few stacked up
>You stacked them all up by the cellar
>You'd done easily a hundred baskets
>Seems like you're Mr. Efficiency when it comes to harvesting apple trees
>You retreat back to the barn and find comfort in your straw pile having decided you've done more than enough for tonight
>You decided that you needed to befriend these ponies
>This was a strange land and clearly they are the dominant ones here
>You'd probably need them to get back to see other people
>Other people
>You let out a longing sigh at this notion
>It had only been a couple of days but
>You were feeling it

------------------------

>You awaken to the sound of shouting
>Distant shouting
>Happy shouting
>You can easily make out bits and pieces through your groggy haze
>”Big Mac! Granny Smith! Come out here! Somethin wonderful has happened!”
>Yea
>They've definitely found it
>Maybe you should show yourself now and say it was you
>Might not come across how you intend
>Better to just tell the little Applebloom you did it
>”By Celestia!”
>This was a more elderly voice than the last
>You swear Applebloom mentioned who this was
>You've forgotten
>Applejack even just shouted it as well
>This could be god damn vital information
>Must remember to ask her if she comes again
>At least you remembered Applejack
>They had started talking to each other too quietly for you to hear from so far away
>They're probably speculating on what act of god caused this
>Maybe this Celestia the elderly one wheezed about
>Must ask Applebloom
>They continued to talk and began to walk towards you
>You could hear the ponies approaching
>Their loud hoofsteps against the dry mud allow you to easily echo locate them
>You bury yourself like a crab in sand in your pile of straw
>As they open the barn door your heart beats heavily in your chest
>Not as much as last time though
>Your pile of straw is serving you well
>Maybe you should name it
>. . .
>Maybe not

>Their conversation had seemed to have ended before they arrived and they'd left
>They had grabbed a few stacks of baskets from within your squat
>Seems like Applebloom hadn't snitched you out
>You stand out of your straw and it tumbles off of you
>”Hey!”
“Jesus Christ!”
>You exclaim and jump backwards banging your head on a low beam
>You furiously rub the impact point on your head
>Your face is tensed into a grimace
>“Sorry to make ya jump there Anon, hows it going?”
>Your head feels like it's going to split
>You consciously soften your grimace upon seeing her beaming up at you
“I'm alright, hows it going for you?”
>”I'm good. Applejack let me have the day off my chores!”
“And I'm glad to hear it. Applebloom, is it alright if I ask you some questions about this place?”
>”Sure Anon, what do ya wanna know?”
>She looked up to you smiling still
>The pain in your head swiftly dissipates
>She seemed to trust you not to attack her or similar
>You kinda trusted her to keep this all a secret too
“So what's the deal with this whole place,”
>Off to a flying start there, thanks for that one brain
>”What do ya mean anon?”
“Hmm How about, who is this Celestia?”
>Your talks went on for a while
>She tells you of how the sun and the moon are risen by a pair of princesses
>The local town is called Ponyville and is inhabited by an array of brightly coloured ponies who can either fly, use magic or can't do either
>Can't do either, she was one of them
>Sucks for her
>The capital seems to be Canterlot, where the princesses rule from
>Tales of far away lands filled with dragons, griffins, talking buffalo and huge Ursa creatures
>Seriously where the hell were you? You'd never heard of any of this
>Equestria
>Did no one seriously know about this place?
>Maybe I died in that storm and this is heaven
>Or hell
>Feint shouts of “Applebloom,” could be heard from the distance
>Your conversation had seemed to stretch hours
>”Well Anon I have ta go now for dinner.”
>She seemed almost sad
>You kinda were too
>Ah well she'll come tomorrow
“Cool, I'll see you later Applebloom, and please keep me a secret. yeh?”
>”No worries Anon, I know how they can get with ponies they don't recognise,”
>She gave you a brief hug before skipping out the door
“Sweet, see ya round then,”
>She was gone before you'd finished
>Of all the people you'd ever met
>It was this pony foal who'd shown you the most compassion
>She didn't care how alien you seemed
>She was fascinated

>You laid back on your faithful straw and considered your chat with Applebloom
>Night loomed
>No doubt brought on by “Princess Luna.”
>They were sincerely indoctrinated
>Although if there are “unicorns,” who can use “magic,” maybe it's all true
>She is pretty young though maybe she's making it up
>I mean, tiny ponies who have a horn on their head and can use magic
>Sure thing buddy
>It's all the info you have though and you're going to have to be even more wary
>You can't use magic
>That purple one the other day seemed pretty shocked after her horn started glowing
>Her “spell,” must have failed
>Maybe she's a terrible pony wizard
>Enough of this
>Your day wasn't over
>You had resolved to do another section of a field
>Your work went quickly
>It had struck you at some point that you never mentioned to Applebloom who did the work last night
>Shit, that was your whole plan
>As you stomped trees and carried baskets you hoped this would work
>You were becoming more resigned to never seeing another human
>Your only solace was Applebloom
>A tiny Red haired, yellow furred pony filly
>She had called herself a filly as if being called a foal was like calling her a baby
>You smiled at this and your mind drifted back to thoughts of home
>You hadn't even seen your home and you longed for it
>You piled up the last basket outside the cellar in the same place you had last night
>About a hundred baskets of apples stacked up
>You take a deep breath in and look up to the sky, the smell of the apples caressing your sense of smell
>You can see the moon high in the sky
>It's huge and the sky is crystal clear of clouds
>The stars seem to gaze back
>Whoever this Luna is they know how to punch you straight in the beauty bone that's for sure
>As you reach the door of your hidey hole you pause and take one final drink of the vista
>You step in and lie on your bed
>You'll tell Applebloom it was you who did the work, she'll tell Applejack and they'll accept you and let you know how to get where you want to be
>Tommorow'll be alright

------------------------

>Two days had passed since your last encounter with Applebloom
>Why she'd stopped visiting you plagued your mind over the last day
>She probably thinks you've left or something
>Naa
>She has no reason to think that
>You whiled away the previous days working on straw dolls and at night collecting apples
>Most of your straw dolls had failed but one of them came out pretty good
>You'd named your good one Dolly, daughter of the straw pile
>Shed vowed vengeance on you for mutilating her father in order to create her
>It had been a boring couple of days
>The nightly exercise always came welcomed with open arms
>Doing this for Applejack and Applebloom felt pretty good
>Applejack might know you were doing it but she always seemed happy about it
>As did the rest of her kin

>The dawn of the third day with no Applebloom
>The sun is at it's highest point in the sky relentlessly heating the interior of your barn come hovel
>She'd have to come today
>She'd said she'd see me later
>She wasn't a liar that's for sure
>Wait a minute you barely know this Appleblo-
>”Anon you still in here?”
>You resist jumping from your straw cocoon out of sheer excitement and rise instead at what you think is a pretty normal pace
>You're happy to see Applebloom but you are  met with the gawking faces of two other tiny ponies
>An orange one and a white one
>The orange one stares with a frown and the white stares with shock and anticipation
“Applebloom what is go-,”
>“Hey Anon these are my friends!”
>”This is Scootaloo!”
>She gestures to the orange frowny one
>”And this is Sweetybelle!”
>She gestures to the white one
“Applebloom are you sure this is a good idea, won't you guys get in trouble for consorting with something like me?”
>”Naaaa,”
>They chirped in unison
>A small silence filled the room.
>You thinking on the implications of this
>Them thinking on the creature that stood before them
>”So this is the monster you told us about!”
>That stung a bit but alright
>”Yeh isn't he neat!”
>”He's so tall!”
>”Yeh look at his hooves! They're all fleshy!”
>Scootaloo and Sweetybelle were sure to point out each difference from your hairlessness to your height to how small your eyes are
>”Hey Mr. Anon! Wanna come and play with us?”
>Applebloom interrupts them, seeing the barrage of comparisons obviously getting to you a bit

>Going and playing out with them
>You shouldn't really
>What would a passing pony think?
>Probably that you're attacking again
>Damn ponies
>But it sure would be a welcome break from the monotony of your burrow
”Yeh sure, what do you have in mind little one?”
>Little one?
>Since when did you talk like that?
>”Wanna come to our Treehouse!?”
>They chirped in unison a second time
“Alright lets do it.”
>You begin to head off but you remember something
“Ah wait a sec I made you something,”
>You pull out Dolly, Daughter of the Straw Pile from your pocket and hand it to applebloom
>She seemed pleased with your meagre gift

>You were sincerely enthusiastic about going to their little tree-house
>The tedium of hiding in the pile of straw was fast becoming a part of your every day grind
>You swiftly reach the tree-house
>It wasn't far from the borders off the apple orchard and the three little ones were sure to tug at your jeans and head butt you along
>Now you were here, what were they going to have you do?
>You've never played with human kids before, let alone tiny pony foals
>Fillies even
>Were they going to have you hop scotch with them?
>That's got to be quite the sight seeing a pony hop scotch
>”So Mr. Anon, wadda ya think?”
>She gestured to their tree-house
>It was actually pretty good
>It fitted like a glove to the tree it was built around
>As if the tree had just grown it
>A neat little ramp led up to the small entrance of the house
“Wow that's a nice tree-house that's for sure,”
>You could not have sounded any more sarcastic
>”It's our cutie mark crusader hide out and we are,”
>They exchange knowing looks
>They get into an action pose
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
>You smile as they hold their obviously well practiced pose
>Their camaraderie was totally endearing
>You remembered all about the concept of cutie marks from your long talk with Applebloom
>”So Mr. what do you wanna do?”
>Applebloom asked all the questions
>You guess the other two hadn't warmed up to you yet
>or maybe she is just the natural leader
>Difficult to tell it surely was
“Do you guys play catch at all?”

>Ridiculous
>Of course they didn't how would they catch
>”We sure do!”
>Scootaloo runs in to the tree-house to fetch a ball
>Like lightning she comes out with a with a small ball and placed it at your foot
>You hoped this wouldn't turn in to a game of fetch
>It was pretty similar to a cricket ball in size and shape as you felt it in your hand
>You shout
“Go long!”
>The fillies exchange looks of confusion
>Your piston like arm fires the ball into orbit
>You'd severely under estimated your ball throwing abilities
>It sails into the distance
>They exchange another look of excitement before shouting
>”Cutie mark crusader ball finders!”
>They happily scamper of into the scarce nearby apple trees
>You let out a sigh of relief they aren't mad

>You stand about waiting for them to come back
>Minutes pass and against your better judgement you decide to check out the tree house
>And we take a few steps up the ramp
>Your foot goes nicely smashing through and makes an enormous hole
>This causes you to fall forwards
>Your reach your arms out in front of you to protect your face
>This causes only more shattering of the ramp
>With the ramp in total disarray you roll away from the wreckage and get up
>Fuck, they won't be able to get back up there after you've smashed everything up
>This is not good
>The ramp was obviously not designed for a big oaf like you
>You hear a rustling in some nearby long grass
>”Hey Mr. Anon! We found th-”
>The three of them stand in shock as they see what you've done
>You stand in shock at their stance of shock

>Scootaloo is the first to step forwards
>”Hey you broke our treehouse!”
“Err, well, you see-”
>Sweetybelle cuts you off
>”We're gonna have to rebuild the whole ramp now!”
>Applebloom seems to know it was an accident but is still not happy
>”Anon I think you should go back, it's getting dark now anyway,”
“Come on Applebloom, you know I didn't mean to.”
>”I'll come and talk tomorrow but for now I'll have ta talk to these two.”
>You understand
>You'd just smashed part of something they were clearly proud of
>You let out a pained sigh and begin walking back to your den
>On the way back you see the little straw doll you'd made for Applebloom tossed to the side of the road
>Heh
>You leave her there and walk back to your squat
>You'd gotten caught up in the day so much you'd still not told Applebloom about the night harvesting
>Surely she'd work out it was you and tell the others of her own volition
>Night rolls around again and you dutifully harvest as many apples as you can
>Taking only a few to eat
>As you cover yourself in your straw to rest for the night
>You hear in the distance
>A cacophony of shouting
>Quiet at first. . .

------------------------

>You brush off the sounds as some kind of local tradition
>It gets louder and more pronounced as it goes on
>You hear the sound of horse shoes on mud get closer
>It sounds like a group of them were coming towards your hiding place
>Every drop of adrenaline your body has is ejected into your bloodstream
>Your heart is beating like it's never beat before
>Fight or flight
>Fight or flight
>The barn door is loudly kicked open
>You try to scramble up
>You shield your eyes
>One of the ponies produced a blinding flash as the door was breached
>You back away
>You're unable to see your aggressors
>As your pupils recover from the shock of the flash and you begin to make out the colours of various ponies
>White, purple, blue, pink and yellow

>They all seem angry with you
>Especially the white one
>Especially Applejack
“No! Stop! I'm not a thr-,”
>You are charged by the blue pegasus
>You absorb the blow with your stomach
>This winds you and causes you to stumble backwards
>You gently divert the blue pegasus into your soft straw
>While you do this you feel a tingle flow through your body
>The same feeling from the town
>Applejack begins whirling her lasso above her head
>She attempts to toss it over you but you easily side step it
>She begins reeling up her rope
>You glanced towards the purple and white pony
>They seem to be concentrating pretty hard
>Their horns glowing brightly
>Their spells must be failing
>The tingling continues
>The blue one had flown up to the rafters and seemed to be readying herself for another charge
>This was too much

>Every muscle in your body was telling you to run
>You'd not listened for long enough
>A second dump of adrenaline coursed through every fibre of your being
>And you were off
>You charge towards the barn door hoping they would clear out of the way
>They do
>Applejack trips you over as you pass her
>You fall into the ground at running pace
>The dust flies up into your face
>You cough as you breath some in
>You can feel your shirt is torn down the side
>You scramble up as quickly as you fell and begin to run
>You run towards the edge of the orchard as fast as you can
>You easily out pace the ponies
>Your legs are as long as they are tall
>But can hear them following you
>You just run
>And run
>You reach the edge of the orchard
>You pause to think for a moment
>Only the criminals ever run
>This could be it
>Ah fuck it
>You'll find a way to make it right
>But they don't want to hear it
>They obviously don't want to hear it
>You take a look back and see the ponies catching up
>They seem to be running out of steam
>You take this as a chance to keep going

>Just keeping putting one foot in front of the other
>The light of the moon was eventually blotted out by the leaves of trees
>You had run into a thick forest
>The path dissipated under your feet and as you looked around there was only darkness
>You look back and the path was gone
>You can make out a fallen log not far away
>You sit and gather your thoughts
>Clearly these ponies did not want to be friends with something like you
>You really do need them to get back though
>You know nothing of this place
>Was this to be your fate
>A monster of the forest
>Heh maybe it wouldn't be so bad
>”Help!”
>You hear a loud distant scream
>You recognised the screamer
>It sounded like little Applebloom
>She came after you

>You were exhausted but you had to go and help her
>You had no idea about the fauna of this place
>You could be running into anything
>You reach a small clearing
>The glow of the moon illuminates a frightened Applebloom
>She was surrounded by a pack of wolves
>These were none like those you had seen back home
>They seemed to be made of the very trees they prowled
>You step forwards out of the darkness into the clearing
>Applebloom looks up at you, pleading for help with her eyes
>Your lungs are on fire
>Your legs want to give up
>Your brain is telling you to quit
>Telling you to quit now
>But you won't
>No matter what her friends and family may have done you weren't gonna let Applebloom get hurt today

>The wolves all turn immediately to you and begin to surround you
>A couple you hadn't seen noticed creep forth from the shadows behind you
“Applebloom run! Run home a don't look back!”
>She paused for a moment as if to say something
“Go!”
>You see tears well up in her eyes and she turns
>As she begins to run a moment of total clarity overcomes you
>For just a moment you see
>For just a moment you notice everything
>You notice every falling leaf and how it dances with the wind
>The way the moonlight flows through every hair on each wolves back
>You look to the sky
>Damn
>Luna certainly knows what she's doing
>You look forwards and in almost slow motion you see the largest of the wolves pounce
>You glimpse and see Applebloom safely getting away
>She hasn't looked back
>Good girl
>You close your eyes