Just a Little Stroll (in a Dangerous and Dark Forest)

Yuan was walking in the Everfree Forest, not aware of it's dangers. She trotted around light-heartedly, admiring the beauty of the blue flowers she could see growing around her. Of course, the forest was kind of gloomy and dark, but Yuan assumed it was because the night has almost fallen. She had a long day, and now all she wanted to do was to take a little walk in a cool natural environment. She smiled slightly to herself. She didn't understand why there weren't many ponies around here, but it was okay. this place was not what one would call lively, but instead it offered a truly calming atmoshphere to Yuan.

Switchblade was having one of his strolls through the everfree forest as he saw Yuan walking through, he tried to keep his distance and keep to the shadows; anypony who looked that calm in the everfree forest was either dangerous or unaware of its danger. Eventually he tried to walk away but smacked his head straight into a low tree branch, creating a resounding clang as it hit his helmet, and a thud as he collided with the ground.

As Yuan was enjoying the peace of the forest, the quiet was broken by a loud clang. Yuan jumped a little at the sudden sound, then turned around, looking for it's source. She didn't see where it came from, so she left the path to look for something that could give such sound. She started trotting towards she thought she heard it coming from. The chance that this thing was some kind of dangerous being crossed her mind, but she shook it off. Predators tend to stay silent when hunting anyways.

Switchblade rolled on the ground for a few seconds, trying to get over the painful clanging that was resounding through his head, eventually he rose to his hooves and looked around for where the mare might be.

Yuan heard a rustle quite near to where she was standing. She looked that way, and thought she had seen some kind of movement. After a few steps, she noticed Switchblade, standing up from the ground. Deciding that he might have been the source of the strange sound, she decided to take a good look at him, and decide if he is friend or foe.

Switchblade looked around for the other pony until he realised that all he could see was cracks, he removed his goggles and tapped the broken glass out before putting them in a compartment of his armor, he then saw Yuan and jumped back slightly out of shock.

"Oh, sorry for surprising." Yuan said as Switchblade jumped. She meant 'Sorry for startling you.' and she knew her sentence wasn't entirely correct, but she hoped the pony would understand. Then she just stood there, waiting for his answer. She looked calm, but she was ready to run if the stranger tried to attack her, which seemed likely, since he was wearing an armor. Why would anyone wear an armor if they were not the aggressive type... or the paranoid type. One thing Yuan was sure about: no ordinary pony wears armor around here.

Switchblade smiled at the apology "Why thank you, but I'm sure that I should also apologize for worrying you as well; I am of no threat to the innocent." he explained casually.

Yuan stared at the pony, confused. It was a long, hard to understand sentence, with many words she never heard before. She thought about what to do for a moment, then spoke, with hopeful eyes: "你会说中文吗？ (Ni hui shuo zhongwen ma?)" She really wanted the answer to be yes, but she knew that wasn't very likely. Why would anypony speak the language a country that had no contact with this one at all?

Switchblade tilted his head slightly "I am sorry, I do not speak your language; I have not travelled far in my life. Did you understand that?" he asked politely, not wanting to seem rude.

Yuan nodded a little bit sadly. "You don't understand, true?" She than thought for a few seconds, and continued speaking. "Can you talk less words?" This might have seemed a rude question, but Yuan said it in a polite tone to make sure this other pony knew she wasn't trying to insult him.

Switchblade nodded "True." he said in response to the first question. "I am Switchblade." he introduced himself with his quirky smile.

"Nice to meet you, Switchblade." Yuan said, happy to be able to say something she was 100% sure that she could say correctly. "I am Yuan Lieren." Her face was still almost emotionless, except for her eyes: they showed how happy she was about finally understanding something well, and being able to respond properly.

Switchblade nodded "Do I call you Yuan, or Ms Lieren?" he asked, hoping to get formalities over as soon as possible. "I guess that you are from far away?" he said, hoping to learn a bit more about her.

"Can call me Yuan." she answers the first question. Then she says "Yes," and for a moment she stays silent. After a short while she says "from far away. You from here?"

Switchblade nodded "From Ponyville." he said casually "Nice to meet you Yuan."

"Nice to meet you too." Yuan says "You like forests too?"

Switchblade nodded "I like all forests but this one." he said, no sarcasm in his voice.

Yuan blinked, with a surprised face. "You not like this forest? It is calm." She smiled and looked aroud. This place was lovely, how come this pony didn't like it here?

Switchblade shook his head "This is the most dangerous place in this land; things of evil live here, you need to be careful."

"I find no danger." Yuan replied with disbelief in her tone. She looked around to check if anything was lurking around, but she saw nothing scary. "Why you here then?" she finally asked.

Switchblade looked at Yuan, sadness in his face "To forget and remember the same thing."

Yuan said nothing, she just nodded understandingly. Of course, this did not mean she understood what he said, that would have been a lie. What she did understand was that his reason was probably personal, and something sad. Yuan decided to not ask any more questions about this. Instead, she started thinking about what to say next.

Switchblade shook himself free from his thoughts and looked at Yuan "So, where do you live?" he asked, slowly so as to be understood.

"I live in Ponyville. Lovely place." Yuan says, looking in the direction of the town.