Chapter 2: The Search
Sorry if it's not as good as expected. There may be a few slip ups with Johns accent and sorry if his mood changed all of a sudden. Although that will come later in the story. But don't sew me, I'm only 14.
Gentle rays of sunlight drifted through the glass window. The air was thick with the early morning chill. Small wicks of the fire still flickered as a small breeze whipped by. John sat up abruptly, raking his hands through his hair and rubbing his eyes. He had fallen asleep sitting up, but something was off. A strange weight was on his legs. It moved too. He looked down to see a lump under the cover of his wool blanket.
He knew who it was. Small bands of pink cascaded over the arm of the couch. He sighed, these ponies must really trust him, especially this one. The look in her eyes every time she saw him was of pure kindness. Kind of made him think of his mother. He shook his head, grabbing at his hair. He couldn’t think of her—or them for that matter.
His gut churned, an acidy feeling rose up into his throat. Calm down, calm down. Deep breaths. Ah just need to stop thinkin’ ‘bout them, that’s all. He breathed deeply through his nose and out of his mouth. His stomach began to feel normal and the tension in the back of his neck began to loosen.
He let out one last breath, this time funneling it out of his nose. The breath sent the pink hair stirring, then its owner began to move. She shifted her position and was on her back with her hooves in the air.
John pulled the blanket of to reveal Fluttershy. Her eyes twitched and she let out a long deep breath. “Um, Miss Fluttershy.” John placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her a bit. She moaned and eventually opened her eyes. Sleep still lingered in her vision but she realized what was going on.
“Oh my!” She gasped, her eyes wide, and a deep red blush rose to her cheeks. “I’m so, so, so sorry. It was getting cold and you were the one with the only blanket, so I thought I would get a little teeny bit warm and then get out. I guess I must have fallen asleep. Oh I’m so sorry.” She began to hyperventilate. Her lips trembling and tears coming to her eyes. “Please don’t hate me.”
“Fluttershy, it’s alright.” He stroked her mane gently. “It’s no bother at all. Ya don’t need ta get yerself all worked up.” She shook, trying to keep back the tears. “Yer pretty sensitive ain’t ya? Haven’t seen anyone quite like yerself in a while.”
“Well,” she began, settling down some. “I-I’ve always been like this. One reason I was named Fluttershy, I’m shy and extra sensitive.”
“Ah understand, but ya don’t have ta feel bad ‘bout hurtin’ mah feelings.” He scratched his head. “The only thing you can do ta me is tick me off, and ah’ve only met one person who’s pulled that off.”
“Who?”
“Um...let’s get ready for the trip shall we, if yer still comin’ with.” Fluttershy hopped down on to the floor with a clomp. When she touched down her other friends started waking up. First it was Twilight, then Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack, and finally the pink one. The pink one rubbed her eyes, then glanced over at John with a dull stare, but the most unexpected thing happened.
“OhmygoshareyouthewierdmonsterthatcrashedthroughApplejacksbarnandwassleepinginherbed?” she pounced on him. In one swift a fluent move, John stood up and caught the flying pony, twisting her around the other side of him he threw her onto an arm chair.
Eyes in a death-stare, the human stood there, knees bend and hands up, ready to defend himself. “Pinkie!” AJ was running to her side. “Are ya alright?”
“Ya, but a little dizzy.” Her eyes rotated in their sockets.
“You, why’d ya do that?” Her eyes pierced into his very being. “Ah want some answers now. Or ah swear, ah buckin’ you out personally.”
“Instinct.”
“What?”
“It’s called instinct.” He folded his arms as he leaned against the couch. “And ah have no control over it.” AJ continued staring until the pink one came over with a bubbly smile on her face.
“Oh Applejack.” She started bouncing up and down, her puffy hair flopping everywhere. “there’s no need to be a tatter-hater, it was really, really fun.” AJ blew steam through her nostrils and stormed off into the other room.
John stared blankly in the direction she went, then at the others in the room. “What’s yer name?” He didn’t look at her, but everypony knew who he was talking too.
“Ooh, ooh, ooh, my name is Pinkie Pie. But my friends just call me Pinkie Pie.” A smile stretched to both ears, literally, as she answered.
“Well, ah’m sorry Miss Pie. But one thing ya need ta remember. Don’t do anythin’ like that again.” And with that he walked through the front door into the chilly morning air. Fluttershy fallowed.
“There are so many things wrong with his attire I don’t even know where to begin.” Rarity fussed. “I’ve been wanting to tell since last night if I could make him something, but I didn’t want to bother him with any of that since he had just woken up.”
“Well I guess we better get ready.” Twilight said, completely ignoring Rarities comment. “I’ll go talk to Applejack and see if I can’t resolve this conflict.”
“I can see why AJ wouldn’t trust him.” Rainbow butted in. “I mean, he did crash through her barn and throw Pinkie Pie into the couch.” She was hovering, and crossed her arms.
“Well I trust him one hundred percent, just like Fluttershy.” Pinkie Pie was still bouncing, she resembled more of a kangaroo than a pony.
“I still think I should make him something less dreadful to wear. I mean, just look at his shirt, it’s covered in mud and red stains. And his pants have more holes than Swiss cheese.”
The ponies dispersed leaving Rarity to her fashion-fit. “Wait, girls.”
~*~*~*~*~
John leaned up against the wooden railing of the Apple Family home. There was a heavy chill in the air, his hair swayed with it. Considering the biting cold, the human didn’t budge, he didn’t even shiver. Fluttershy on the other hand had to huddle up against his leg.
“J-John, what’s t-the matter?” Her teeth chattered, she looked up to his face, but his expression didn’t change.
He sighed “Seeing this, I’m guessing you guys are really peaceful. Ah don’t exactly fit in, the way ah grew up—what ah had ta do ta survive. It’s not meant fer yer world, ah’m really goin’ ta need ta get it under control.”
“What did you need to do to survive?”
“It’s...complicated.” The front door slammed behind them, causing Fluttershy to yelp and cling to his leg. Behind the stood Fluttershy’s five friends, AJ still eyed him like he was some kind of monster. Which according to them he was.
Twilight apologized to Fluttershy then turned toward Rainbow. “Can you show us which direction John’s stuff fell?”
“Sure can do Twi.” She saluted and flew off in the direction of the Everfree. “I’ll be back in like, ten seconds flat.”
“Reason why she saluted?” John asked, gazing across the rainbow trail Rainbow left behind. “Ya gals don’t seem like the military type.”
“And how would ya know what the military type was?” AJ voice was low and accusing. “Unless you were in the military.” Her eyes never left his.
“Ah was fer a short amount of time. Then ah suppose ah was fired.”
“Why, because ya attacked yer comrades?”
“Ya know what, conversation over.” His voice was low, his face emotionless, his body shook trying to hold back rage.
“No, ah wanna know why ya were fired.”
“FINE!” he roared, shaking the awning above them. The ponies squealed and backed away. “You want ta know why ah was fired. Because they all were killed, every last one of them. Kinda hard ta keep a job when the people payin’ ya are dead and all yer comrades are dead. There ya happy.”
Every pony shook where they were, except Applejack, the hate in her eyes lessened, until they dropped all together. “Sorry.” She looked back up to the human. Hoping he would forgive her. She was wrong.
“No sorry ‘bout it. You gals ready?” They all nodded their heads. “Well let’s get goin’.” He started off in the direction Rainbow Dash had gone, the ponies fallowed suite. No words were spoken on the long trip to the Everfree. Not even Pinkie Pie.
~*~*~*~*~
The evergreen leaves jostled in the noonday breezes. Small rocks of numerous colors and sizes dotted the thin dirt path leading through the forest. It wasn’t marked on any known map of the area, but it was a path non-the-less. Grass and shrubs laid heavily on the forest floor.
In a single file line, the human and ponies marched along the worn path. Rarity complained about the humidity ruining her hair, which was in a tattered mess. Strands of hair stuck out and matted her forehead. Twilight never took her eye off of him, accept to watch her step. It almost seemed like she was studying him. Applejack kept her head low, lost in her own thoughts. She was probably thinking about the fight they had earlier. Pinkie Pie on the other hand, was the only pony that had spoken a word since the fight at AJ’s house. She constantly asked John question, which like he had done for hours now, ignored her completely, not even glancing her direction.
Rarity trotted up next to them. “Pinkie Pie, dear. Would you mind leaving John alone, It would do us all a big favor.”
“But it’s so much fun.” She started bouncing up and down wildly. “Plus, he still hasn’t told me when his birthday is, or his favorite color or pastime. I don’t even know who he’s married too.”
“What makes you say he’s married?”
“Well du, the ring on his finger, you know he doesn’t have a horn to put it on right?” She crossed her eyes at her and went to talk to Applejack, who resided at the back of the group. Rarity just shook her head, Pinkie just didn’t know when to stop. She looked up at John, his features wore no emotion or expression of any kind. He kept his eyes forward.
“Do you think Rainbow’s alright?” She asked him, hoping to have better chance of striking up a conversation than Pinkie. He shook his head, but didn’t say a word. Hopes diminished she tried from a different angle. “Well, I make dresses for a living. What did you do before you came here?” He opened his mouth to speak, but closed right after. He turned his head down toward her, never losing the pace he had then at all day. “Ya probably wouldn’t be as comfortable talkin’ with me if ya knew. Although, me sayin’ that would make you think twice.”
“Oh come on. Please.” She started whining. “Oh please, please, please.”
“No!”
“Just a hint.”
He stopped dead in his tracks, then crouched down until he was eye level with the whining pony. He glared at her which made her think twice of her decision. He spoke in a threatening tone. “Ah’ll tell ya when ah’m ready ta tell ya. No sooner, ya got that.” She nodded and quickly stepped backward, then retreated to the back with Fluttershy.
John stood up and scanned as much of the sky that wasn’t covered in thick green leaves. A bright rainbow trail appeared in the sky. Then circled around toward them, Rainbow was coming in to land.
“Hey guys. Johns stuff is just a little further up. Should be there in no time.”
“Thank ya Miss Dash.” Despite his words John’s voice seemed emotionless and empty.
“Your welcome.” She leaned in closer. “Have ya made it up with AJ, she seems pretty upset?” He gave her a flat look. He looked into her eyes and she could only guess at what his answer was. No. But sometime, she hoped he would at least start talking. He had hardly talked since the trip started, or that’s what Rarity said. “Oh, ok. Well, I’m going to go talk with Twilight.” The flew off behind him and landed next to Twilight. He began walking again. The same pace as before only this time there was chatter in the background as the ponies had their discussions.
A low deep growl and heavy footsteps pierced the silence. All the ponies instantly quit their conversations and slowly looked in the direction of the threatening noise. Wind flapped at John clothes.
“Twilight.” She trotted up to him. “Ah want you and the others to make for the clearin’, ah’m goin’ ta check out what that noise was.” He started off until an orange limb stretched out to stop him.
“Oh no ya don’t, yer stayin’ where ah can see ya.” A loud snap came from nearby, and an even louder roar.
“MOVE NOW!” She stared at him in horror. He didn’t know whether she was afraid of the monster or him. “AH SAID MOVE!!” She abided, catching up with the others as they made their way to their destination. “Alright you. Come out and fight!”
~*~*~*~*~
Moment later, the six managed to trip and stumble their way to the clearing Rainbow had told them about. In the middle laid a strange looking bag, but they ignored it and ran to the cover of bushes on the other side. Panting heavily they slide and hid inside. The echoes of battle cries and roars rang through their ears. But suddenly stopped. Each of them began to panic. Fluttershy most of all who had curled up into a ball and began rocking herself back and forth.
The pounding of footsteps could be heard and the ponies worry only increased. Then from behind the line of tree leading into the clearing stood a manticore. It looked like a lion with batwings and a scorpion tail, which swung menacingly back and forth. It opened its jaws, showing off its razor sharp teeth. The manticore kept its head low, slowly advancing toward the bush the ponies resided in.
Fluttershy let out another whimper as she watched through a gap in the bush. The others gasped and the manticore turned around. Standing just opposite of the clearing was John. His clothes were even more tattered than before, and blood dripped through fresh wounds under his bandages.
“Hey!” he held a wooden club. “Ya can’t have them until you’ve finished me off.” With that, the manticore, exiting its low crouch, charged at the human. With ease, John dodged the fatal blow by mere inches, then brought the heavy club down on it skull. It cried out in pain, but kept on attacking.
“Let’s finish this fast, alright. Ah wanna be home in time for dinner.” He dashed for his bag of supplies. The manticore just stood there confused as the human pulled out a black, metallic object, and pointed it at him. “Ok, ya have two choices. Choice one; ya run away and don’t bother any of us at all. Choice two; ya come and attack me and ah give ya a new hole to breathe through.” As expected, the beast charged at John.
All ponies gasped, they thought John was surely going to die. But they were wrong. Before the manticore could get halfway to him, a loud bang filled the air, forcing the ponies to cover their ears. The manticore recoiled as a bullet buried itself in its skull. It shrieked in pain, drops of fresh blood splattered onto the ground.
BANG-BANG
He let two more rounds leave the chamber, double tapping the beast. His weapon ejected two cylinders scarcely five feet away. The manticore dropped in a heap, lying frozen in a lifeless slump.
Slowly, equine figure began to filter out into the clearing. They never took their eyes from the beast. They circled around it. Twilight was the first one to speak.
“Well, I suppose that solved that dilemma.” She turned around to find that John was taking varieas items out of his bag. First out came a leather device that strapped to his thigh—he place the weapon he used on the manticore in it. Second he pulled out a longer object, it was slightly like the other one, with a barrel and a telescope on top. But what fascinated her the most was the sword he pulled out. Handling it with no more care than the other weapons, he placed it on his left—opposite of the small cannon.
“What are those thing?” she asked, causing the other ponies to turn around and see what she was talking about. “I mean...you didn’t even touch it, and you still killed it.”
“It’s called a gun.” He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, which contained many other items. “Ah suggest we get goin’ before another beast decides to join his friend her.” He began the same pace as before. Ignoring his injuries and not stopping to make sure the others fallowed. Not wanting to be left behind, Fluttershy fluttered beside him, keeping pace as the others trotted after. AJ looked up at Celestia’s sun.
“Ah guess we won’t be makin’ it home fer dinner.”