The timberwolves stood there, eyeing the hooded zebra carefully. Then, ever-so-slowly, they started to move forward.

As soon as they took a single step, however, the figure's glare intensified. With precise aim towards the pack leader's forehead, she shot the orb onto it.

Upon impact, the timberwolf yelped loudly as a burning sensation began to coat its entire body. A green flame emerged from where the orb landed, and upon making contact with one of the other timberwolves next to it, the flame spread onto the other, causing the two to run away in pain.

Two of the remaining three saw the pain that their pack-mates were in, and took off running. The last one, however, was a lot more bolder, and decided to charge towards the zebra.

Not wasting time, she reached into her robe and drew a sturdy wooden club with small stones tied to the body. She then charged towards the timberwolf as well, yelling fiercely at the beast.

When it was close enough, it made an attempt to snap at her head, but she was quick enough to duck. While keeping the motion going, however, she gripped the club with her jaw and leaped into the air. The club struck the timberwolf's jaw, forcing the creature's head to recoil back, while she, in turn, landed on her forehooves, with her hind legs reeled back.

Then she bucked the timberwolf's jaw back, forcing its head clean off. The creature's body quickly fell into a pile of twigs immediately after.

She then turned towards the unconscious green unicorn and approached her quickly. She reached into her robe, only to pull out a small vial of green liquid.

Eyeing the deep wound on the unicorn's leg, she carefully dripped the vial's contents onto the wound, and slipped the empty container back into her robe, exchanging it with a thick sheet of cloth.

Wrapping the cloth around the covered wound, she then leaned down and picked the unicorn back up, before turning towards a particular part of the forest.

Thinking for a brief moment, she drew another object from her robe - a spearhead with the remains of a small wooden handle; now a makeshift dagger of sorts.

She gripped the handle with her teeth an made a gash on the tree, while leaving a few more similar gashes on the trees that she used to make a path.

Eventually, she would reach her hut, with several runes and runic symbols decorating the area around her home.

Little did she know, however, that a pair of orange eyes were observing her from a distance...

I've lost count how long it's been. Not gonna lie... I may be a man, and all, but damn it, there's gotta be a limit!

My family... my friends... they think I'm dead! And what's worse, is that after giving the book a few more thorough scans, it seems humanity actually used to be in this world!

"For all I know, this could mean I'm not even an alien... perhaps she pulled me from the past! It would explain a few of the human-like things I've read about... but..."

I sigh, as I sit back up from my pillow. Then I close my eyes and place my hands onto my forehead, as I have yet another inner conversation with my own thoughts.

"... Why do I feel bad for yelling at Lyra like that?"

Did she know?

"... No. She didn't. Hell, if anything, she was just as surprised as I was when I opened my eyes that day!"

Right! So can you blame her, then?

"Honestly... the only thing I can blame her for is being as much of a victim of circumstances as I am!"

So... you're not angry with HER, but rather, you're angry with the CIRCUMSTANCES!

"Yeah... I guess I am... and I snapped at her, didn't I?"

Yes... you scared the hell out of her, in fact!

"But-"

You scared the pony that was only trying to help you! She was trying to fix her mistake! Hell, when she figured out that you've got a family at home, she even started saying that she'll try to find a way to reverse the spell! And then...

"... And then I told her to leave me alone..."

That, you did! And judging by how emotional she can get, that kind of shut-out attitude could be the equivalent to 'I am no longer your friend!' in her eyes!

"... Shit, I gotta apologize to her! Quickly!"

I'm damn right I've gotta apologize to her! Janet would've probably done the same thing if the situation were reversed... minus the whole 'freaking out' part, of course! Hell, she believed in this kind of shit more than I ever did, so- why are you still sitting there?! HURRY UP!

I open my eyes back up and stand from my bed. My tunic is still on, so I decide to just tighten its belt and walk up the stairs.

When I reach the Living Room, the first thing that I notice is that it's been thoroughly improved since last night... now that it's been swept up, and the couch and loveseat have been dusted off. Sure, there's still a lot of work to do, but compared to last time I saw it, it's likely to be done within a couple hours or so.

But oddly enough, I can't seem to find Lyra anywhere.

The door slowly creaks open, forcing me to instinctively duck and cover behind the couch, should they be receiving visitors.

Then I hear Bon-Bon's voice, as she huffs and puffs, seemingly strained. Curious, I stand up and notice that she's carrying a huge load of groceries on her back, with sweat pouring from her forehead. Said groceries would appear to be a bunch of cleaning supplies, tools, and various other knickknacks meant for fixing things, though she also would appear to have a paper bag grasped in-between her teeth.

She looks up at me and tilts her head confusedly.

"Hrrv roo sheen Lrra inny wrr?" she mumbles with her mouth full.

Though it takes about a minute for me to decipher her words, I shrug my shoulders and shake my head left and right.

"Sorry." I reply to her, both in doubt that I know what she really said, and in response to what I think she said, which was something about me seeing Lyra.

She sighs before trotting into the kitchen. I hear the fridge open up, while the sound of her rummaging through it fills the room. Sounds like there's been a lot of stuff that needed to be disposed of.

"Ugh... Lyra could've at least cleaned out the fridge like I asked!" she complains.

I raise an eyebrow before deciding to approach her. When I enter the kitchen, however, I'm surprised to see that most of the burns and stuff have already been cleaned up! It also makes me wonder how an Earth Pony was able to do all of this on her own, while the Unicorn (you know, the one that can levitate things around at mere thought) was stationed into the Living Room... but I digress.

I decide to try my luck at finding her, while Bon-Bon's distracted. Going up the stairs, I gently knock on Lyra's bedroom door, and wait for an answer. When no response can be heard, however, I decide to crack the door open. I was already warned by Bon-Bon not to enter either of their rooms, but that doesn't mean that I can't at least look inside, right?

However, I'm unable to open the door... something seems to be blocking the way! I groan, before clearing my throat.

"Lyra... please... come." I say... but again, no answer.

Then my mind begins to wander into darker corners. She was depressed... does that mean she's...

"Oh, HELL NO!" my thoughts shout for me, as I lean back and ram my side into the door.

It budges open a little more, requiring me to shove it again.

"Hey! What's going on up there?!" Bon-Bon calls from down below.

"Lyra... in... trouble!" I reply.

She doesn't skip a beat, and rushes upstairs as well. By the time she reaches the entrance room, I've finally managed to shove the door open, and in the process, scoot the fallen clock out of the way.

When we both see the inside of the room, however, our jaws fall open. The whole place is an utter mess!

And yet, I know for a fact that they've cleaned their rooms already... it was their first task, which took them an entire day... and Bon-Bon was, if I remember correctly, always onto her about it, until she approved of the room's condition.

No, this looks more like the kind of damage caused when one were to completely lose it. A few holes in the wall, where her hoof must've swung, the occasional thrown object now scattered across the floor, including a few books with their pages open... pages that I'm quick to avoid looking at.

"Didn't even think she was into that sort of thing... but hey, we all have our moments, I guess..." I think to myself.

Then I spot another book, with pages torn from within. The pictures seem to be hand-drawn... erm... hoof-drawn. And they look, surprisingly, well made, too! Definitely better than I can do, at least.

The pictures seem to just be drawings of ponies with swords and spears, guards, all kinds of things... even a few anime-like designs, too!

When I flip through the pages, however, one catches me by surprise... a drawing of Lyra, herself. She's smiling in the picture, with what appears to be a human smiling back at her.

I can't help but smile at the scene. It's quite cute, really, seeing her all happy like that. Sure, I'd never really get romantic with her, but this picture seems like it's more of a friendly sort of thing.

I turn the page, and then find her and the human kissing, which makes my smile lower.

"Ah, crap... I think I see where this is going. She must've developed some sort of secret crush on me... damn, that sucks... I wish she'd have gotten a single guy instead of me. THEN maybe she would've been a lot happier..."

When I flip it to the next page, however, I catch the two in a compromising position, with her on top of him, and her exposed rear hovering shortly over his-

I'm immediately inclined to slam the notebook shut, and turn my head away from the notebook, barring the fact that my face is now starting to get a lot warmer.

"NOPE, NOPE, AND NOPE, WITH A SIDE-ORDER OF FUCK-THAT-SHIT!"

Then I groan internally, as I feel myself starting to react naturally. I look down and glare at the traitor.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING, YOU KNOW!"

I then decide to search for clues on Lyra's whereabouts, hoping to find something to take my mind off of the questionable picture.

Then my eyes wander up to the wall, where several more larger holes were punched in... although, this time, I see a few strands of blood at the top... and the size of the holes are far different than the others. Almost like she hit her head on this corner, instead...

"Damn... she must've knocked herself into a concussion here... we need to find her quickly!"

"Oh, no..." I hear Bon-Bon say from behind me. I turn around and notice her looking at a sheet of paper placed on the desk.

I hurry towards her, and read the note out loud. "I'm... sorry?"

Bon-Bon looks up at me, now with a worried look. "I'm sorry... but I have to go find her. Will you be okay here by yourself?" she asks.

I nod my head, and follow her out of Lyra's room. When we reach the Living Room, I make my way towards the Basement Door. After opening it, I turn to face Bon-Bon again, and notice that she's already wearing a saddlebag with what appears to be several survival-based equipment. She also slips on a forest camouflaged helmet and jacket, then turns towards me. "I'll knock four times, spacing each knock with one whole second in-between. Don't answer the door for anyone that knocks otherwise, got it?"

I nod and give her a thumbs-up. "Good... luck." I add.

She smiles and nods once, before turning back around and opening the door.

Before she could even step outside, however, our blood goes cold as a blue Alicorn (as they clarified for me after Princess Celestia's appearance) stands there on the other side, looking at me with an uncertain look.

"OH, HOLY FUCK, NO!"

"So... thou must be the Human We've been observing, then?" she asks in a fairly loud voice.

Now, I may have to be honest here. I've not been one to scare that easily. In fact, in the face of danger, I've been known to laugh at the face of it, and maybe even do a couple daring stunts here-and-there. Nothing too over-the-top, mind you, but climbing trees was always a breeze.

In other words, I've not been scared shitless very often.

So needless to say, it's quite surprising that, after seeing this mare, and hearing her loud voice, making me think "WE'VE FOUND YOU!" in a nightmarish tone, I actually ended up, for the first time in my life, fainting.

Author's Notes:

And we've reached the end of Act I! Prepare for Act II, "Into the Everfree", which will primarily take place in the same day story-wise (maybe two or three, though!)

Also Act III will be set during the same time, as well, so... yeah... until then!