>Another bright, sunny afternoon, another pleasant stroll through the woods with your nephew...
>Another damn tick landing on your arm
>You mutter a curse to yourself as you swat away what must have been the fifth little bastard to land on you
>As much as you loved this trail, you didn't much care for the pests that came with it
>Radom chuckled as he saw you swatting at the little insect
>"Whats'a'matter uncle Anon? Scared of a little bug?" He asked with a smirk on his face
>As you finally dislodged the tick from your arm, you scoffed at him
"More scared of the diseases the little bastards will give me than the bugs themselves." You replied, straightening your hat 
>At least they wouldn't be landing on your head at this rate
>As the two of you walked the familiar trail, you came upon a fork in the dirt path
>You start down the usual path, the one that would lead to the rest station marking the halfway point of the trail before it ended back in Ponyville Park
>"Hey, uncle Anon, can we go the other way today? I don't think we've ever seen what's over there." Radom asked, looking down the other direction
>You stopped and looked down the path with him
>It was true, the two of you hadn't taken that particular path before, and you were beginning to remember why
>Compared to the other road, it was certainly less well kept
>Foliage spread across the dirt, obscuring large portions of the path
>Even the trees seemed overgrown...forming a canopy that shrouded the path from the sunlight
"I don't think so buddy, maybe another day..." You said, motioning in the other direction
>Radom looked disappointed
>"Please Anon? We've gone the other way a million times!" He protested
>You looked up at the sky, seeing the sun was beginning it's trek down toward the horizon
"It'll be dark not too long from now, we don't know where that trail goes exactly. We'll go another day when we have more time." You said
>Radom pouted and kicked his hoof in the dirt
>You frowned and started down the path that would lead you home, Radom reluctantly beginning to follow you
"Look, I know you're disappointed but it's just not a good idea..." You explained
>No response came
>He must have still been upset
"I promise that on another day when we have more time I'll take you down there and we'll check it out, okay bud?" 
>Still nothing
>With a sigh you turn to try and reason with your nephew
>But then you saw that you were alone
"Radom!" You called out, rushing back to the fork in the road
>He was nowhere to be found, but you could see his hoofprints in the dirt heading off down the other path
>You slapped your hand to your forehead and groaned
"You are so grounded, Radom..." You muttered to yourself as you ran down the path
>The canopy grew thicker, and the trail darker the further in you went
>The foliage too began to cover the path even more, to the point where you could barely keep track of where the trail was and the rest of the woods began
>Several minutes passed, and you saw no sign of Radom
>Your heart was beginning to race
>What if he wandered off the path and got lost?
>How would you find him?
"Mosina's gonna kill me..." You grumbled
>As the sun continued to fall in the sky, the woods grew ever darker
"Radom! Radom! I'm here!" You shouted, receiving no response but the echo of your own voice
>You weren't sure how far into the woods you'd gone, but you still saw no sign of him
>Soon enough, it was getting too dark to see
>You squinted into the distance, trying to see through the darkness
>The rustling of a particularly thick patch of brush nearby suddenly caught your attention
"Radom?" You called out, moving toward the sound
>The rustling continued as you approached, growing stronger and stronger
>At least it was until you almost upon it, at which point the rustling stopped, and everything was silent
>You slowly reached toward it
"Radom...?" You asked
>As soon as your hand touched the brush, it was as if your wrist had been lassoed, and you felt yourself being pulled into the foliage
>You were scratched and smacked with branches as you felt yourself pulled through, eventually being dumped out onto a steep incline, rolling downward before hitting flat ground
>You lay there for a moment trying to recover, raising your head up to see what had pulled you down here
>You saw nothing...except for a small grove, pools of crystalline water lined with odd glowing plants
>For some reason, you felt compelled to approach them
>They way they swayed in the slight breeze was...mesmerizing
>Slowly, you crawled to your feet, and walked toward the grove
>Beside a particularly large pool, you found the largest of these strange plants
>It stood almost half your height, it's glowing bulb seemingly shining brighter and brighter as you approached
>Kneeling in front of it, you stared into the light, drawn to it like a moth to a flame
>Suddenly you felt very...warm...soothed by the light...
>Your eyelids felt heavy, and before you knew what was happening, you felt yourself fall to your side and drifted off...
>Or you would have, had you not felt the seismic force of an explosion not far away
>You shot up, and saw you were no longer in the forest, the damp grass replaced by cobblestone, and the trees with buildings
>And the sky...orange not with the light of the falling sun...but fire
>You heard screams all around you, the clanging of steel, the firing of cannons, the crackling of the flames engulfing the scene around you
>Quickly hopping to your feet, you ducked into an alley for cover
>You rubbed your eyes in disbelief
>What happened? How did you get here?
>You duck behind a barrel as a mass of red armored guards ran through the streets
>You'd never seen guards like that before...
>Once they had passed, you ran out into the street yourself, trying to figure out where you were
>Rushing through the streets, you began to recognize some familiar sights...
>You refused to believe it until you saw it in the distance...the Royal Castle of Canterlot
>As fast as your legs could carry you, you sprinted in its direction
>Your lungs burned as you ascended the high staircase, now sporting craters from artillery and scorch marks from the flames
>At the top of the steps, you stopped to catch your breath, gasping for air desperately
>The door to the castle was wide open, allowing you to make your way inside
>Fallen guards and the red armored warriors littered the halls as you made your way to the throne room
>The sounds of battle emanated from it, and as you approached the door, you stopped and drew your pistol
>You didn't know who was behind this, but you wouldn't allow them to touch the princesses, not without a fight
>With a deep breath, you flung yourself around the doorway, gun raised to take a shot at the first invader you saw
>But instead, the scene before you only caused you to freeze
>You saw yourself...locked in battle with a silver armored stallion while another sat on the throne of Celestia
>Realizing that they didn't see you as you watched, dumbfounded, you slowly approached to get a better look
>You watched this...doppelganger desperately parry and block the stallion's attacks, but made no attempt to fight back
>The silver armored stallion backed off momentarily, trying to catch his breath
>You saw yourself do the same, clearly the more worn out of the two combatants
>Suddenly, the silver armored warrior charged ferociously
>Your doppelganger managed to barely evade it, instead tripping up your opponent, causing him to crash to the ground, his helmet tumbling from his head and sliding across the floor
>As he rose back to his feet, you got your first glimpse at his face
>A bat pony...with a purple mane
>Then, just like that, you felt yourself being pulled back through the abyss that had taken you here, the world spinning around you violently until it suddenly came to an abrupt halt, leaving only the feeling of a hoof shaking your shoulder
>Opening your eyes, you saw that you were back at the fork in the road, lying face down in the dirt path
>"Uncle Anon! Wake up! Please wake up!" Radom cried out, shaking you with tears in his eyes
"Radom, I'm here, I'm okay!" You said, pushing yourself up into a sitting position
>Your nephew threw his arms around you, nearly squeezing the breath out of you
>"I'm so sorry Anon! I just wanted to see what was down the other path so bad...I went to take a look and when the path got too dark I turned back but you were gone!"
"It's okay...it's alright..." You said, trying to calm him down, even though you could still feel your own heart racing
>You didn't know what had happened, but the darkness quickly overtaking the sky meant you didn't have time to sit here and wait
"We've got to get home, it's already going to be dark before we get to the rest stop." You said, forcing your thoughts to the back of your mind
"I want you right next to me where I can see you, okay?" You said, climbing to your feet
>"Yes sir..." Radom replied 
>With a final look down the untamed trail, you felt a cold shiver run down your spine, and headed off towards home
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