[Author's note: Okay, I had to do some serious rewriting on this chapter, because some things in the plotline weren't making sense. Thanks to Ebony for his help, take a look at his story, it's awesome.]

"So, are you really sure that you lost it here?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"For the last time, Matt, yes! This is where I've seen my lucky rabbit's foot for the last time, now shut up and help me find it!"
"Wow, Josh, you really are attached to your lucky charm..."
He looked at me nervously. "Are you helping me or what?"
"Sorry. Just sayin'..."

Just like I expected, Josh's lucky charm was nowhere to be found. We split up anyway, trying to cover a bigger area.
How am I even supposed to find a thing that small in a forest this big? I thought. But I surely couldn't leave my friend alone. So I started looking around - near the trees, on the grass, everywhere; still no sign of it.
Just as I was about to walk back to Josh, I saw a little light coming from between some trees. I was curious about its origin and decided to get closer to it. The light was becoming brighter as I was getting nearer, until it was nearly blinding.
What the hell...? I reached out towards the mysterious light.
A huge flash blinded me.

A few raindrops fell from the tree's leaves on my face, waking me up.
I tried to look at my surroundings. It was pitch black, and I couldn't see a thing. A great deal of time must has passed after I passed out.
Passed out? Is that what happened? Ugh... I felt a sharp pain while I was massaging the back of my head. It felt like I had been beaten with a club. Three times.
I realized I was no longer wearing my backpack; I had packed up some stuff for the night, including a flashlight, which would have been really useful in this situation. Just as I was getting up to look around, I slipped and fell face first into the backpack I was looking for. Luckily, I hit the sandwiches first - softening the blow to my already wounded head.
As I slowly got back up, I opened the bag and took stock of the things I could find. A flashlight, as expected, some glowsticks, a compass, a package of simple bandages and two quite squashed sandwiches.
Just as I was recoiling from the touch of the sticky mess, a roar sounded in the distance.
After picking the flashlight from the bag and turning it on, I slowly walked in the direction of the sound. A couple of steps later, I heard another roar, and this time it was slightly closer. In a second, I saw every kind of animal, squirrels, birds and some other species I couldn't recognize because of the darkness, running away from the sound's origin. I couldn't decide what to do, but my curiosity got the best on my fear, and I walked a little bit further to discover what animal was causing this chaos.
After what seemed to me an endless fearful walk, I still couldn't find the mysterious roaring creature.
Hm. It must have run away. But I was wrong - there was a third roar, this one coming from right behind me.
Oh... shit. I thought, as I slowly turned back around.
What is that... thing? What looked like a giant manticore was standing not so far from me, annoyed by the flashlight that was shining right in his eyes. Yeah, you read that right, a giant manticore. Those things don't appear in our world. But that wasn't the first of my thoughts, since the only thing I could think of at the moment was one. RUN!
I bolted as fast as I could, but the monster was making up the difference fast.
Damn it, when will this thing stop? My muscles ached, my lungs were on fire, but the creature showed no sign of slowing. I couldn't outrun it for much longer. In desperation, I searched my bag for anything more appetizing than myself. Finding only the sandwiches, I launched them over my shoulder without looking back. I put what little strength I had back into running for my life. Some time later, I realized that I was running from nothing - the monster, whatever it was, was gone.
I stopped, out of breath, to eventually get some air back into my burning lungs. What the fuck was that? Was that a... manticore? I started considering the absurd chance that a mystical creature just appeared on the Earth. It totally looked like one, but... a manticore? Here? How is that even... A sudden noise from behind me made me jolt.
Okay, one thing is sure: I have to get out of this forest, fast! I picked the compass from the bag and chose to walk north, since the beast had gone in the opposite direction, hoping to find a way out of the horrifying forest.

After several hours spent wandering through the trees, I finally managed to get out of the forest.
Looking around, I noticed a small wooden cottage nearby. Exhausted, I trudged up to the front door.
I lifted my injured arm and attempted to knock on the door. Before my knuckles reached the wood, however, I lost my balance and crash - face first - into it. Darkness fell over me as I wondered whether I would wake up with splinters; or if, in fact, I would wake up at all.

"...So, you found it just in front of your door?"
"Yes... I heard someone knocking, and when I opened the door, and he fell to the floor in front of me. He was badly injured, I had to help him!"
"But... what is he?"
As I regained consciousness, familiar voices reached my ears. I slowly opened my eyes, trying to focus my foggy vision.
"Look, he's waking up!"
My vision began to clear as three colorful figures approached.
"Wait, what if he's not friendly?"
Recognizing their forms was too much for my mind, however, and I began to panic. Fast as lightning, a cyan arm whipped out and crashed into my head; in the moments before the blackness enveloped me, my mind grappled with the impossibility of what I had just seen.
Were they... ponies? was my last thought, before getting lost once again in the darkness.

When I finally awoke once again, I was strapped onto a steel table. Bitter, blood-soaked memories flooded my mind. A brightly colored figure approached out of the corner of my eye, and the memories were flushed away by stark terror. I told my body to buck at the restraints, but it refused. I tried to scream, but no sound escaped me. Somehow or another my expression must not have betrayed my horror, for the figure spoke in a cheerful and friendly tone. "Hi there. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and..."
"Y-you know that you're s-s-supposed to wait until the patient is d-dead before performing an a-a-autopsy, don't you?"
Her expression changed from a smile to a look of befuddlement, and finally to horror.
"...what?"

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