Fluttershy kept pressing forward, following the hoofprints left in the soft soil by the archaeologist. It took only seconds for her to have second thoughts about finding him. All around her the eerie presence of the forest gnawed at the back of her mind, whispering little nightmares right into her thoughts. It took quite an effort to shut them out and continue. Every sound made her fur stand on edge. She thought she heard the distant howling of a Timberwolf somewhere ahead of her. Everything seemed slower, like the laws of time were bending to the forest's will.
There was a reason she disliked this place, but she proved steadfast in tracking Granite down. After what seemed like an eternity she found a clearing with a large pit dug into the ground. A really large pit. She paused. There weren't supposed to be clearing in this forest, the brush grew too quickly. Certainly no craters. But sure enough, scattered around her were the snapped branches of Everfree vines. Had Granite managed to cut them somehow?
She stood there thinking to herself when a voice came from her left.
"You just gonna stand there?"
She jumped instantly at the sound, flying a good distance in the air. She frantically grabbed a branch a good distance up and clings to it like a sloth, as if letting go would be fatal. She shuddered as Granite chuckled below.
"Jumpy much?"
She didn't respond, she just held onto the branch. Now she was at a lack for words. She stopped shaking, but she stayed up there. Again his voice came from below.
"I'm guessing you didn't come here to practice tree-hugging right? Come on down from there."
It took her a few minutes, but she let go from the branch and hovered to the ground, Once her hooves hit dirt, she started to drag one across the dirt in an awkward gesture of unease. For a painfully silent minute she kept doing that. Then she saw Granite crack a small smile.
"Now, why is it a gentle mare like you came out here?"
Fluttershy evaded eye contact when she spoke and her voice got quieter with each word. "I was...um wondering...what you were doing."
His ears seemed to adjust at the last few words so he could actually hear them. Then he looked at the pit. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what it is."
He looked at her and saw the blank look on her face that told him she had no idea what he was talking about. He sighed and started walking towards the edge of the pit. "Come take a look. You'd might like to see this."
She followed. They both stood at the edge of the hole. It was actually pretty shallow, but the area was large. About four feet down, a giant skeleton laid sprawled out, embedded in the ground. Fluttershy could only see a leg and a few ribs, plus some other small bones she didn't recognize. The leg alone was at least as tall as a good size tree, and it had some threatening claws at the end. She just started into the pit, wide eyed.
He saw her expression. "Amazing isn't it. This is the fossilized skeleton of a Ursa Minor."
She looked at him. "How do you know that?"
He chuckled. "I don't. Not for sure. I don't have the whole skeleton. But that foreleg is certainly a bears." He flew down into the pit while explaining. "It clearly has a five digit paw with a predators weaponry. Big old hands"
He shuffled in the dirt a little as Fluttershy joined him in the crater. She felt minuscule standing next to it. The creatures hand alone was as big as she was. Granite rolled another oddly shaped rock over. "It's also omnivorous, because I've found two different types of teeth. This one is a molar, and there's some canines over there."
He gestured towards where there head should have been. Fluttershy looked to where he indicated, then looked back to him. "Where's the head?"
He looked a tad bit discouraged at the question, "No idea. That's the catch with the Cosmic Ursa species. They're ethereal creatures, mostly comprised of magical essence. They have skeletons, but they are delicate. The rest of this one could have disintegrated completely. Or maybe it's nearby...all I know is I don't have it."
Fluttershy looked down at the paw again. "Well...it's still very impressive."
He sighed. "Yeah, but without the skull the value of it decreases dramatically. I won't get payed all that much for it."
She looked at him, puzzled. "Paid?"
"Yes. I have to make a living somehow. The Manehatten Museum of Natural History normally pays big for complete findings. But they get upset when you come back with half a skeleton."
She blinked. "But it's not your fault you don't have it all."
He actually laughed at that a little. "Then you understand the diggers dilemma."
*****
They talked for an hour or so after that. Fluttershy found everything Granite knew to be intriguing. Past creatures that had moved on from the world, leaving only their bones as any sign that the ever existed at all. Literally thousands of species, all gone forever. It was only when night started to fall that Fluttershy's unease of the forest returned, and she wanted to go back. Granite decided to go with her.
They started walking home. Fluttershy really didn't like the forest, but walking with him made it seem much less threatening. If he knew everything about a fifty foot astronomical bear, including how to escape it, she was convinced he could get her home safely. They still talked while they walked. Granite was really easy to talk to, before she had been nervous about seeing him again. The only thing she really remembered about was that scruffy little colt in flight camp, but now she knew how to talk to him, and she was happy with it. Happier than normal.
She looked up at him and noticed something. He seemed to be scanning the bushes. She looked at the bushes and back at him. He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. She slowed down and looked at his face. Something was wrong. "Wh...what are you doing?"
He immediately shushed her. "Do you hear that?"
She listened. "I don't hear anything."
His tone went grim. "Exactly"
She noticed it now. It was dead silent. The normal din of sounds had abruptly stopped. No crickets, or owls or anything. Utter stillness. She scooted closer to him for comfort. She pulled out his left wing and hid under it, which seemed to get his attention. She whispered, afraid of shattering the silence. "Wh...what's happened...what is it.."
He just kept looking forward. Then a rustle in the leaves to their right. Fluttershy yelped and Granite snapped his head in the direction of the sounds. A snap of a twig. Then the rustle again, the thing in the bushes moving behind them. "I think we're being hunted"
Fluttershy was whimpering now, hiding under his wing like a shield. Granite kept his eyes locked on the bushes. They didn't rustle again. Instead the thing started moving towards them. They both instantly knew what it was. A Timberwolf, but something was different, instead of the normal green leaves, it had orange and yellow leaves attached to it's wooden body, and the body itself was pricked and pocked with holes. The eyes shown a deep, smoldering red, and it's mouth was frothing.
Fluttershy had seen the wolves before, but never quite like this. She stayed behind his wing and started whimpering. Granite didn't seem too phased, if anything he was intrigued. He talked to it, although it was maybe more directed at himself than the wooden predator. "Wow. Look at you. Somebody's a bit sick huh?"
The wolf growled at a menacingly low tone while he kept talking. "No wait....it's Autumn...yeah that makes more sense you're REALLY sick. Knocking on death's door aren't ya?" The Timberwolf tried to walk towards him, but it creaked with every step, It was an effort to even move for the animal. Another step towards them, barking like mad, then it's eyes flickered out and it collapsed into pieces. Granite pulled his wing away from Fluttershy and folded it back against his body. She took a few seconds to realize the danger was gone. Her expression changed from fear to astonishment. "Did...did you kill it?!"
Granite was quick to calm her. "No!...no it just fell apart. It was sick. Some Timberwolves get that way when fall comes around. They change with the trees. That's all."
A small pause from her. "I didn't know that."
He seemed a little saddened , but he ushered her to the edge of the forest and away from the wooden shrapnel. "Yeah. But all things have their time."
Those words seemed to linger in her mind. This pony was an archaeologist. He probably knew that better than anypony. But he said it with some emphasis. Almost ominously. She didn't think much about it though, she just followed him out of the forest and into the night.