Blue Robin 1

>It's cold
>Dark too
>Middle of the night, presumably
>At least the air smells fresh
>Nothing like the city ai-
>Wait
>You sit up, eyes adjusting to the darkness
>Moonlight beams softly through the forest canopy overhead
>A forest?
>How can you be in a forest?
>Your place was far from even the local park, let alone a forest
>Did you get kidnapped?
>Are you dreaming?
>You're getting punk'd aren't you?
>You hop to your feet and brush the dirt and miscellaneous debris from your clothes
>Right off the bat, you notice how strangely calm everything is
>How strangely calm you are
>A light breezes ruffles the leaves in the trees around you
>After a few moments, you pick no direction in particular and begin walking
>With no survival skills to speak of, this direction seemed to be as good as any
>As you walk, your fingertips start to chill so you stuff them in your pants pockets for warmth
>As fate would have it, it seems you weren't left empty handed
>In your pockets, you find a ring with various keys, a brass vaporizer, and a half-empty bottle of e-juice
"Well these are practically useless."
>You pocket the items and continue walking
>You can figure out what to do with them later
>If there is a 'later'
>You're pretty sure you're lost as lost can be
>So who knows?
>You might make it out, or you might get owned by a bear or something
>Until then, you walk and keep looking for any signs of civilization
>Well, so long as Ghandi's not involved

>Have only a few minutes gone by, or has it been hours?
>Just trekking on in the endless forest really started getting to you
>At first you thought your tired mind was screwing with you, but then you started catching glimpses
>Eyes
>Following and watching you, but hidden just outside your peripherals
>Maybe it was just paranoia setting in, but you could almost swear they were there
>Soon enough, mild panic begins to set in
>It has to be real
>It feels too real to be an illusion
>And you've been fucked up before
>You pick up your pace as shot upon shot of adrenaline surges through your veins
>You're definitely being watched
>Followed
>Hunted
>Before long, the sound of running and rustling leaves accompanied the sightings
>Whatever they were, they were closing in on you
>You just have to keep running
>You can't die like this, out in the middle of some damn forest with no explanation as to why you're there in the first place
>At one point, you thought taking random turns would help
>You tried running as fast as you could
>You jumped across large rocks, small streams, and fallen logs to get away
>But it was all for not
>They just kept coming back, no matter what you tried
>You couldn't think straight anymore
>What was going to happen to you?
>Mauling?
>Getting eaten alive?
>Why did you end up in this situation?
>There had to be some sort of explanation for all of it
>There just had to!

>Your running degraded quickly into a staggered walk as your body began to collapse from exhaustion
>How long have you been running from this unknown threat?
>How much longer do you have to live before whatever is following you ends your sorry ass?
>By this point, your legs felt boneless
>You find one more fallen log partially lit up by the moon's light
>And you park your doomed ass against that log
>Catching your breath, you look up through a gap in the canopy to the night sky, lit up with countless stars
>It would be more beautiful if it wasn't the last thing you'd ever see
>Judging by the 4 or so pairs of eyes watching you and the complete silence, you'd say this is it
"So this is were it all ends, huh? The grand finale? The fat lady's finally ready to sing?"
>Still no motion from your predators
>What was holding them up?
>Did they want a more lively prey or something?
>Fuck them
>If they're going to kill you, they'd better just hurry up and do it
>You haven't the energy to run away if you had the chance
>Still no movement, just staring
>Out of frustration, you yell into the dark
"Ya just gonna stand there and watch!? Come on! Come and finish me off, damnit!"
>Nothing
>Fucking really?

"You fucking kidding me? Ya finally wore me down, now you won't finish the job?"
>A calmer you would've laughed in your face
>Egging on a predator that just chased you halfway across a forest in the middle of the night?
>You would've called yourself crazy
>And maybe you are, but right now you're just pissed
"Come one, kill me already!"
>As if someone had told the funniest joke known to man, laughter breaks out from the 'predators'
>"Kill you? No, no, no, you got us all wrong."
>A girl's voice?
>Were these other humans the whole time?
"If you aren't hunting me, why did you chase me all the way out here?"
>This time, a male voice chimes in
>"'Cause you just kept freakin' runnin', duh!"
>Sassy
"Yeah, cause you were fuckin' chasing me!"
>Another girl's voice speaks
>"Please calm down, we were... only curious."
>Curious?
>"We've never seen a... you... before."
>A 'you?'
>What the hell is going on here?
>If they don't know what you are, then they can't be human
>But then, what are they?
"W-what are you?"
>A few seconds of what sounds like hoofsteps approaches you
>As they stepped into the beam of moonlight, nothing could ever have prepared you for what you-
>"Oh shit, watch out!"
>CRASH

>Just like that, you're tackled to the hard wood floor and ripped from your memories
>From the voice alone, you know exactly who just sacked your quarterback
>You look over and see none other than Virgo picking himself off the cafe floor
>Clumsy bastard, that one
"Damnit Virgo, how many times do you have to throw yourself on me before you understand I'm not into stallions?"
>Several of the onlooking mares in the cafe giggle, a tactical move
>Virgo goes absolutely scarlet
>It's super-effective
>Virgo used Damage Control
>"Ha! Ha! Very funny, Anon! You were always the biggest joker!"
"Yeah okay, whatever colt cuddler."
>It had no effect (as always)
>You pick yourself up get back into your chair
>Virgo sits across from you
"So Virgo, what brings you crashing into my lap today?"
>Virgo ignores the jab
>"I kinda just tripped... but that aside, what're you doin' tonight?"
"Not you."
>"Damnit Anon, seriously. You got plans or something?"
>You pull out that old brass vaporizer and take a long hit
>The moths don't really seem to care about it
>You exhale and take a slow sip of your black coffee that miraculously didn't get knocked over by Virgo's obviously gay advances
>"You sure take your time, don't you?"

"You know me. And nope, not a damn thing to do tonight. Why, is it bar night already?"
>Virgo deadpans
>"You know damn well every night is freakin' bar night."
"Yeah well I was hopin' it'd be something different this time."
>"Actually, there is something different this time."
"Are ya finally gonna propose to me? Virgo, I-"
>"Damnit Anon!"
>You chuckle as Virgo takes a deep breath
>"So there's this new mare in town. Foreigner, from... eh well, doesn't matter. What matters is she's heading to the Tulip tonight an-"
"The Tulip? That fancy shmancy girly bar down the street? Oh man, don't tell me-"
>"No! Don't even go there. Anyways, she's headin' to this place with Caramel and Goldie as some kind of welcoming party, I think."
"And you wanna drop in unannounced, uninvited, yada yada yada?"
>Virgo pauses
>"Yeah, pretty much."
>You take another hit and exhale slowly
"How'd you find out about all this?"
>"Ah come one, Anon, you know how I wor-"
"Ya eavesdropped on Caramel didn't ya?"
>"How the hell do you do that?"
"You're easier to read than a picture book, dude."
>Virgo sighs
>"Doesn't matter. You in or out?"
>You think for a second
"You're pretty set about this, aren't ya?"
>"You haven't seen this mare, Anon."
>Another sip of coffee
"So basically, you wanna crash a girly-ass bar to flirt around with a new mare you don't even know, possibly pissing off Caramel and Goldie AND embarrassing the hell out of the new gal all in one foul swoop for no good reason?"
>"Sounds about right."
"You just keep finding new ways to sink lower and lower, don't ya?"
>Virgo just looks at you, waiting
"Aight fuck it, I'm in. I got nothin' better to do anyway."
>"My place at 7."
"Yeah whatever man, let get outta here."


[End Chapter 1]