//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Pony Fantasy V // by DerpMode //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Stubborn as a Mule Clutzful paced back and forth down the hall, thinking of the small memory he had regained, he stopped, kicking the wall and bouncing backwards into the wall onto the other side of the hall. "Terrible idea!" He grunted, holding his hoof off the ground. Janet emerged from her cabin, and glanced at Clutzful, who was muttering words under his breathe. She trotted up next to him, and stared. "Oh, hi." Clutzful said, putting his hoof down and turning, as if nothing happened. "Something you need?" He asked swiftly. "Actually, yes." Janet replied, as she stood by the opposite wall. "Don't buck a hole in my ship, or i'll steal your pretty new toy away." Janet commented, pointing a hoof at Clutzful's sword, which he defensively put a hoof onto. "And here i thought you were a pirate with a heart of gold." Clutzful replied with a sarcastic tone, causing Janet to snicker. Clutzful stared confused, until Janet hovered slightly, approaching Clutzful. Starring at him for a mere 3 seconds before smacking him alongside the head. "Ow! What the heck was that for?!" Janet landed, and began trotting down the hall laughing, Clutzful could hardly hear her as she turned to go up the stairs, leaving him alone below deck. "Daughter of a rock-farmer.." Clutzful muttered, following in Janet's hoofsteps and heading above deck. Clutzful's eyes widened at the sight in front of him, the ship was already pulling up close to shore, they were at Mule. Clutzful stared at Twilight and Pinkie, starring at each other. Twilight and Pinkie stared at each other, they seemed to be at a disagreement. "Pinkie! There is no such thing as a Black Chocobo!" "But i saw one!" "Pinkie, the idea of a Chocobo that could carry multiple ponies AND fly with them is just...Stupid! There's no way anything like that exists!" Janet watched the two argue, before flying off to prepare the bridge. "Fine, Pinkie. Think what you want, but i KNOW there is no such creature, if there was, why would ponies travel by boat?" Twilight questioned, starring at Pinkie. "Because Black Chocobos are rare!" Pinkie replied, returning the stare. "Black Chocobo?" Clutzful questioned, trotting up to the pair. "What's that?" "It's a chocobo that can fly! And has the power to carry multiple ponies for long distances!" Pinkie said in a more cheerful tone. "Wait, didn't your chocobo carry you, me, and Twilight?" "Gummy? Oh, he's a toughie! You'd never see an average chocobo do that!" Pinkie giggled, she began to stare blankly, coming to a halt. "Gummy!" Clutzful facehoofed, starring at Pinkie as she began to become teary-eyed. "He's a toughie, remember? Gummy will be fine, i bet he's still resting." Clutzful commented in a soft tone, in an attempt to calm Pinkie down. Pinkie pulled a tissue out of her mane and blew into it, drying her tears soon after. "You keep tissues in your mane?" Clutzful asked awkwardly, starring. "Oh, i keep a lot of things in my mane, like this!" Pinkie replied, pulling a cupcake out of her mane, and throwing it into her mouth, swallowing it whole. Twilight and Clutzful stared at the smiling Earth-Pony, at a loss for words. Janet let out a cough to make herself noticed, as she floated above the group. Breaking Clutzful's stare and caused him to look up. "Bridge is down, if your ready." Janet grunted, flying off the ship and landing beside the bridge. "Come on, we should get some rest after what's happened." Twilight commented, breaking out of her stare and trotting towards the bridge. Pinkie and Clutzful shrugged, following Twilight. The three go down the shaking plank that they called a bridge, and regroup with Janet on land. "Cider! Cider!" The group looked back, as the entire pirate crew galloped down the plank one by one, towards the town cheering. Janet couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "Well, there they go." Janet said, as the group moved along the small dirt path to Mule, keeping silent the entire trip. "Alright everypony." Twilight said, causing the team to stop as they reached the town. The group turned and stared. "I know the Mayor of this village, she has been good friends with my brother for a long time, since i was a filly even. I'm going to go talk to her, if anypony wants to come along." The group stared at each other, as Pinkie hopped forward. "I do! I do!" Pinkie urged, hopping up and down. Twilight nodded, starring at Janet and Clutzful. "I want to go rest at the Inn, if you need me just let me know." Janet said, flying towards the Pub. "I'm tired to, i think i'll join her. See you later, Twi." Clutzful added, galloping after Janet. Twilight let out a slight chuckle, as she trotted strait ahead through the village, Pinkie hopping happily beside her. "So, what's this pony like? Does she like parties? Or adventures?!" "No, Pinkie." Twilight said flatly, her tone more harsh than expected. "I mean, she's pretty calm, and she can't go adventuring, she's the mayor." Twilight explained, Pinkie nodded, not completely understanding it. Janet entered the Pub, Clutzful not far behind, catching up and trotting beside Janet as they passed by her crew, drowning themselves in cider. "What? Afraid i'm plotting against you or something?" Janet said in a sarcastic tone. "No, i'm just tired. I wish you had actual beds on your ship." Clutzful replied duly. Janet laughed, as they approached the counter. "I'll look into that." "Cool." Clutzful replied swiftly, as the vanilla colored bartender came up. "Just a room." Janet said, throwing a small bag of bits onto the counter, the pony counted them out and nodded, "First on the left." the two went upstairs, turning left and coming to the door. Janet opened the door, stopping as soon as she went inside. Clutzful shoved past and his jaw dropped as he stared. "There's only one bed...." Twilight and Pinkie passed over a small bridge that went over a stream, and trotted towards the house. "Here it is." Twilight said, clearing her throat as she knocked on the door respectively. The door quickly opened, as the mare stared out. "Twilight? Is that you?" She asked, as Twilight nodded. The mare backed away, allowing the two ponies to enter. The mare shut the door behind them, and trotted up to Twilight, wrapping her in a hug. "It's been to long, i haven't seen you since you were just starting to learn magic!" "Nice to see you too, Mayor Mare. We have a lot to talk about." Clutzful and Janet stared at each other for around a minute, silently. "My bits, my bed." Janet said, figuring victory. "You should treat guests with respect, and by respect, i mean let me sleep on the bed." Clutzful replied, as the two narrowed they're eyes. "I'm not afraid of you, you midget." Janet spat. "Right back at you, you daughter of a overgrown electric eel." Clutzful replied harshly. Janet stared, raising a hoof in front of her face. "It's on, little colt." "You don't know the half of it, big girl." "I see, i am sorry for your loss. Twilight." Mayor Mare said, as the three ponies sat at a table. "Don't worry, all i know is that we have to protect the Crystals." Twilight replied, as Pinkie slammed her forehooves onto the table. "Yeah, and the closest one is...Um.." Pinkie froze, starring at Twilight. "The Water crystal in Pegasilla." Twilight said flatly. "Oh, no. That would mean going through the passage along the mountains, and the dam is closed, so your boat couldn't pass, and even if you could, the monsters are VERY dangerous." Mayor Mare said with a frown. "Don't you have the key?" Twilight asked, as the Mayor shook her head. "A renegade soldier named Glent took the key from me awhile back, after i refused to hire him for town defenses. He's taken into hiding inside a cave west of town, we call it Hoofinton Cavern." "We need that key." Twilight said flatly, standing from the table. "Wait, Twilight, won't you and your friend at least stay the night?" Mayor Mare requested, Twilight nodded, and the Mayor showed them to the guest room.. "I hope Janet and Clutzful are okay." Pinkie said, hopping along. "I'm sure they're getting along fine." Twilight assured. "Holy mother of-" Clutzful was cut off by a wooden chair hitting him square in the face. "-Ow..." "That'll teach you, idiot." Janet crowed, hovering in the air. "Yeah, teach me to kick your flank!" Clutzful shouted, bucking the chair into the air, Janet dodged and stared at the chair as it slammed against the wall, broken to pieces. Clutzful took the chance to mock Janet, he wiggled his flank around at her. "It's ON you weasel!" Janet shouted, throwing a small pot, sending it flying at Clutzful, who flipped over the table and hid behind it, as the pot smashed against it. "You missed!" Clutzful laughed, poking his head above the table as a large pot was coming strait at him. "Buck." Twilight and Pinkie relaxed in their beds, Pinkie was humming while Twilight was trying to get some sleep, as she heard the sound of glass breaking in the distance. "What's with all the racket?" Twilight groaned, putting a pillow over her head. "I have a twitchy-tail." Pinkie said nervously, looking around. Clutzful fell behind the table as the pot slammed against his face. He stood up, having a few cuts as he stared the laughing Janet down. "That's it, no more games." He said flatly, "No one destroys good pottery." Janet continued laughing, until she realized what he said. Clutzful leaped over the table, and bucked the table back to it's normal upwards state. "Oh, you want to do this the old fashioned way? Alright." Janet said with a smirk, cracking her neck. "I can do that." "Twilight, it's really noisy. I can't sleep." Pinkie commented, as Twilight rose from the bed, throwing her pillow across the room. "Neither can i..." She said flatly, jumping out of bed and trotting out of the room. Pinkie stared at the wall as Twilight left the house, slamming the front door on the way out, causing Pinkie to cringed. Twilight stared up at the Pub, seeing it as the source of the noise, quickly approaching the building and trotting inside, and past the crew of pirates and the front counter, going strait upstairs. "Wot's her problem?" A pirate said, breaking the silence. "Ouch, that's my face! Why do you have to punch the only unprotected part of my body?!" "Hold still and i'll make sure to punch everything i can get my hooves on!" "Ow, daughter of a seamare!" Twilight flung the door open in time to see Janet throw Clutzful onto the table, causing it to break. Clutzful's armor disappeared, as a crystal landed on his head, getting tangled in his mane. "What are you two doing?!" Twilight shouted, the two turned they're attention to Twilight, who was starring with eyes of pure anger. "This is awkward." Clutzful groaned, holding onto his muzzle in pain. Twilight stared up at Janet, who backed away slightly. "Explain. Now." Twilight commanded, starring. "Well, i paid for this room, and he decided he wanted to sleep here too. And he tried to take my bed. So i kind of...Beat him up." Janet glanced around the destroyed room. "I think i over did it a little." "You think?!" Clutzful grunted, pulling himself up from the now destroyed table, the crystal in his mane. "Next time remind me to go with Twilight." Twilight backed out, slamming the door shut with her magic as she made her way back to Mayor Mare's house. Janet and Clutzful stared at each other. "I blame you." They said in unison. "I'm just going to go sleep outside." Clutzful grunted, pushing the door open and trotting downstairs. Janet closed the door behind him, and quickly flew to the window, starring out for Clutzful. "Sweet victory." Clutzful trotted past everyone downstairs, a few glanced at his bleeding face, but most of the ponies ignored him. He pushed the door open, trotting towards the bridge. "I'm fine with sleeping out with nature." Clutzful grunted, looking down into the river. The crystal slide out of his mane and landed in the river, sinking. "Oh come on!" Clutzful shouted, starring down at it. He groaned, bending over trying to reach the Crystal, falling in with a splash. Janet stared from her window, laughing and slightly worried. She pushed the window open, and hovered out, barely fitting through the small window. Clutzful emerged with the Crystal, but noticed he was now flowing down the river. He reached for the sides, trying to crawl his way up, but the current was pushing him too fast to get a good grip. He saw a tree root ahead, and grasped it in his mouth, only for it to snap instantly. "Even nature hates me!" Clutzful cried out. Clutzful continued to flow down the river, which seemed to lead into a solid rock, he was guessing the water went under. It wasn't in his best interest to die, even though that seemed to be easiest way out. He reached his hooves up, slamming into the rock, the fore causing him to cough, spitting some blood onto the rock in front of him He slowly pulled himself to the side, as the water attempted to pull him under. He looked upwards, spotting a face he didn't expect. "Didn't think you were into swimming." Janet commented, extending a hoof. Clutzful grasped her hoof, and she hovered slightly as she pulled him out, as soon as he was on solid ground she released him, causing him to fall onto the ground. Clutzful groaned, as Janet assisted him to his hooves, laughing. Clutzful gasped, sticking the crystal back into his mane, not having anywhere else to put it. "Maybe i do have a heart of gold." Janet commented, hanging one of Clutzful's legs around her neck, and assisted him in getting back to the Pub. "Very-" Clutzful coughed, spitting out a small amount of blood. "-Funny.." The pair trotted into the Pub, Janet's crew stared as she assisted Clutzful in getting up the stairs, completely soaked. Janet opened the door, leading Clutzful inside, he sighed. "Does this mean i get the bed?" He asked playfully, as Janet sat him down in one of the few unbroken chairs. "No." "Dang it." Janet flew over to the window, closing it. Then she removed the curtains and threw them at Clutzful, who took the chance to warm up. "Night." Janet commented, hovering over to the bed and laying down, turning to the wall. "Seriously? I get a chair?" Clutzful grunted, and fell off the chair, landing on the hardwood floor. "I think i want to go back in the river." Early the next morning, the pair was rudely awakened by the bartender, who kicked Clutzful in his side, causing him to roll over and glance up at the angry stallion. "What have you done to this room?! Get out! Get out!" He shouted, as Janet sat up, rubbing her eyes. As she recalled what happened last night, she quickly flew out of the room. Leaving Clutzful. "Aah, i'm going!" Clutzful shouted, as he managed to get this his hooves and run off, quickly jolting down the stairs, past the crew, who were still sitting around the pub, and out the door. Where he found Twilight, Pinkie, and Janet waiting for him. "You ditched me back there!" Clutzful shouted at Janet, who decided to burst into laughter. "That's what you get for being such a big baby last night!" Janet replied, floating in the air laughing to her heart's content. Clutzful ignored Janet and decided to talk to the first pony he could think of. "Good morning, Pinkie." "We've been up for over an hour already, we did some shopping while you slept in." Twilight said, as Pinkie jumped in front of her. "Hey, we get to go on an adventure!" Pinkie cheered, as Clutzful stared. Twilight pushed Pinkie out of the way to explain. "The Water Crystal is the nearest one, but it's in Pegasilla, which is past the dam. And somepony named Glent stole the key and is hiding in a cave outside of town." "So we have to go get it." "Right." "Well, let's go play fetch." Janet commented, pulling a Crystal out of Clutzful's ruffled mane. She hung it in front of him, until he snatched it, being overtaken by light and regaining his Armor. "I promise to stab this Glent guy." Clutzful muttered dryly, as Twilight sighed. "Alright, i made sure to stock up on items too. We've got Pheonix Downs, Potions, Antidotes, and a tent." Twilight said, as Clutzful groaned. "We're prepared this time, maybe one of us won't, y'know, die?" Clutzful replied in a depressing tone, starring at Twilight. "Of course not, silly! That's why we have Pheonix Downs!" Pinkie giggled, patting Clutzful on the head, causing Janet to laugh, finishing with a snort. The group stared as the pirate crew came out of the Pub, and stood in front of them. Janet landed, and stood in front of the group, starring down her crew. "Guys, i'm going to be on my own for now, so you all have to go back to the cove." She said in her usual tone, as her crew began to looked confused. "But Cap'n! We'd follow you to the ends of the world!" A pirate shouted. "I know." Janet huffed, turning away. "This is out of my hooves now, and this isn't a request..." Janet turned back around. "It's an order." The pirates stood there for several minutes, before they all inhaled. "Aye Aye, Cap'n!" They all shouted, running out of the town. "How are they going to get back without the ship?" Twilight asked, as Janet laughed. "We have a secret passage, of course!" "Figures." Clutzful muttered, moving in the direction the pirates went. "Let's just go find this Glent, and get the key back. The Crystals won't protect themselves." Clutzful turned around, starring hopefully. "Will they?" Twilight shook her head, causing Clutzful to frown. The group made they're way out of town, and headed east along the coast. "So, you two getting along now?" Twilight asked, as Clutzful and Janet silently continued trotting, as Pinkie hopped around them. "Friends shouldn't hurt each other!" She shouted, as Janet groaned, and decided to fly ahead. "Darn it, i was about to sing a song." Pinkie said with a frown. The group approached the end of the coast, and spotted Hoofinton Cave, which Janet was standing by, waiting. "Had to run ahead?" Clutzful grunted, starring at Janet. "Yep." "Single-Word responses are for the un-trustworthy." A voice said from inside the cave. Janet flew closer to the group, startled. The voice laughed, as a gray pegasus emerged from the cave. "There is nothing of value in this cave." The pony said, coughing. "Glent, i'm guessing?" Twilight said, stepping forward. "That's my name, what of it?" Glent asked, his eyes narrowing. Clutzful stepped forward, ahead of Twilight. "You actually do have something we need, a key." He said flatly, stomping a hoof. "You four always go for violence first?" "Clutzful, stop." Twilight requested, Clutzful stared back at her, and backed away slightly. He glanced forward as Glent began to laugh, pointing at him. "What a good kid, minding his elders." Glent said, as Clutzful stomped a hoof. "So, you have the key?" Twilight asked, Glent nodded, keeping his narrow stare. "Can we have it?" "Yes." Twilight smiled, trotting forward as Glent pointed a hoof at her. "You'll have to do me a favor, though." Glent said with a wide grin, Twilight stared and nodded, as Glent put his hoof down. "There is a monster in my home, he took over my camp. Kill it?" He requested, as Twilight stared. "How can we trust you? You're a thief!" Janet scowled. Clutzful backed up a few paces to whisper to Janet. "You're a thief, too." He whispered, followed by feeling a terrible pain in his face as Janet smacked him. "Worth it." Clutzful coughed. "I'm not a thief, i'm a...Friend. So are you going to kill it? It's actually right inside here." Glent said, beginning to laugh. Twilight nodded, as she began to head inside. The others following behind her without second thought. Glent waved goodbye as the group went into the cave. "She's grown stronger than expected." The cave was very dry, and the air had a foul smell about it. The group marched through, noting the campfire ahead, and a creature around Clutzful's size, completely black. "That's it? Seriously?" Clutzful commented, galloping towards it as he unsheathed his sword. "I'll take care of him!" The beast turned around, unsheathing a sword of it's own, clashing it with Clutzful's. It grinned, starring him down. "Where did that come from? He didn't have a sword when i attacked-" He was cut off by the monster falling back, and taking a swing at him, Clutzful parried the attack, as the shadowy beast continued it's assault. The beast took a moment to prepare a powerful swing, Clutzful was still blocking, and was staggered as the beast took a huge swing at him, sending his sword flying into the ground. "Help?" Clutzful requested, as he ran back to his sword, attempting to pull it out of the ground. Without a second thought, the beast charged him, raising it's blade. Clutzful glanced back at the monster as it raised it's blade, he closed his eyes, hearing the sound of thunder and a loud yelp. He opened his eyes to see the monster on the ground, injured. "Who needed who to protect them?" Twilight asked, smiling at Clutzful as he managed to pull his sword out of the ground. He sighed. "I did." The shadowy creature began to change form, it's mane poofed, and it stood up, unarmed. It charged forward, as Twilight charged her horn with another thunder spell, firing it off. The creature leaped over it, grabbing Clutzful and tossing him across the cave. Janet bolted through the air, catching him as he began to fall. "Your heavy." Janet grunted, lowering Clutzful to the ground. "And your a jerk." Clutzful replied, as the two bumped hooves. "But your my favorite jerk." Clutzful said in a softer tone. "Clutzie!" Pinkie called out, as the creature attempted to jab her, Pinkie hopped up and landed on it's hoof, starring. "Nopony hurts my friends!" Pinkie shouted, bucking the creature in the face, it fell back onto the ground, screeching. Twilight stood over the monster, shooting a bolt directly at it, causing it to melt into a pile of plasma. "Black Magic is...Powerful." Twilight commented, as Janet and Clutzful ran up to her, smiling at the dead monster. "Hey, the princess did something other than die." Janet said, mocking Clutzful. Twilight and Clutzful stared at Janet, and Pinkie rolled on the floor laughing. A grunt could be heard from behind, as Glent walked past the ponies. "So you killed it.." Glent said calmly, reaching into his saddlebag and throwing the key back to Twilight, who levitated it with her magic, enclosing the key in a purple aura. "Yes, i had it the whole time, thank you for taking care of the monster." Glent said flatly, walking father into the cave, ignoring that they were there completely. "Strange pony, but at least we got the key back." Clutzful said in a dull tone. "Oh, oh, oh! Does this mean we can go to the Water Crystal now?!" Pinkie said with glee, hopping around as usual. Twilight simply nodded, and began to trot back to the exit. "Why do i get the feeling that i can't trust my shadow anymore?" Clutzful sighed, following Twilight. Pinkie hopped playfully beside him. Janet stared at Glent, who turned and waved a hoof at Janet. "Wait!" Janet flew towards Glent at a high speed, as stared, expecting her. "Janet." Glent said in a quiet tone, Janet perked up and stared, knowing she didn't introduce herself. Glent let out a chuckle. "I see." Glent said flatly, turning back around. "Your questions will surely be answered in due time. And when that time comes..." "Shy will rise." Glent walked deeper into the cave, as Janet stared, confused. She glanced back, seeing that the others had already exited the cave. She quickly flew in pursuit, attempting to catch up. Glent laughed to himself, watching her from the shadows, then slowly coming out. "Both of them, huh? Fate is a cruel thing, for sure. I mean, your son AND her? I can see they have forgotten about they're bracelets, i've done all i could. Sorry, but he'll just have to figure things out on his own, he's on the right track so far." Glent stared upwards, grinning. "I'll be damned if you don't make a good point, ma'am. But like i said, i've done all i could. You have to trust him." Glent laughed, wheezing. "He's shorter than you told me." Glent walked back into the darkness, a green circle lowering downwards from head to hoof.