The Path of Lore and Kings

by PassionQuill

What's a Namworth?

Chapter 3: What's a Namworth?

It didn’t matter where in the train carts Loré sat, for even the most secluded corners of the train had a group of Ponyville tourists crammed into it. All of them were decked out in bright, colorful, and abhorrently distasteful holiday clothes as they were returning from probably weeks of indulgence in the many things Las Pegasus had to offer, and much to Loré’s dismay, they were eager to share their stories with each other.

She sighed helplessly while pressing the side of her forehead against the cold glass. It was almost capable of numbing her mind enough to ignore the endless yapping of her fellow train passengers. She did the best she could to distract herself by focusing on the train’s metal wheels grinding against the rails, the soft cushioning beneath her rear, and the never ending vibrations streaming through the window into her forehead and down her body.

“Did you visit for business or pleasure?” blabbed the brown stallion right next to Loré.

Even her moist breath fogging up the train window was a help, as it obscured the quickly passing trees, bushes, and hills. She found the distorted image easier to get lost in than the bright reality that it filtered into duller tones. Though, it still wasn’t enough for her brain to fully escape reality.

“Oh, my visit was for pleasure. My family lives down here. In fact, do you want to see some pictures of our little reunion?” asked the overly excited teal pegasus sitting across from the stallion.

Loré groaned and repeatedly tapped her head against the glass in frustration as she was stuck on this train all day while it drove up to Ponyville. The ride was only a bit over an hour on its way there, which in turn exacerbated her irritation.

“This is going to be a loooong d-“ Was all Loré managed to mumble underneath her breath before the train came to a sudden halt, screeching loudly from the emergency brakes being slammed on. Like any other pony facing forward in the train, she tumbled into the pony in front of her.

“Are you okay?” asked the pale beige stallion while helping Loré up from her sudden face-crash into his lap. Loré’s immediate reaction however was to punch the guy in the face despite his attempts to help her.

“Ow! What was that for?” he groaned while rubbing the side of his muzzle.

Loré barely mumbled a half-assed apology to him while trotting out of the booth and over to one of the doors leading out of the train. She punched the door open to get a look outside. Her eye caught on to the conductor who was standing outside the train near the tracks.

“What in Equestria is going on out here?” yelled Loré at the conductor while jumping out onto the grass.

Other ponies quickly came outside as well. All of them gathered up near the front of the train where Loré had arrived first. The question of why the train had suddenly stopped became very apparent. Several feet of railroad was missing, seemingly torn from the tracks by something very large, and very ferocious.

“I’m really sorry folks. It seems like we’ll be heading back to Las Pegasus,” said the conductor.

The crowd sighed in disappointment, dispersing as quickly as they had assembled, all except for Loré. She grabbed the conductor by his red scarf, pulling him intimately close to her face.

“What do you mean we are heading back!? Can’t somepony just levitate the train over that gap? It’s not that big you know!” she snarled with blazing eyes.

“It’s not that easy miss…” he smiled sheepishly at Loré. “We only have one choice, and that is to head back. We’ll get a team of hardworking ponies out here in a day or two to fix the tracks.”

Loré stuttered “a day or two? I can’t wait a day or two for the tracks to be fixed!” She released him from her grip, turning her gaze towards the thick forest on their northeastern side. “How long do you think it would be to walk from here, through the forest, to get to Ponyville?”

The conductor looked a bit surprised. “Well, it would be less than the route the train takes. But, it is really dangerous going through the forest, especially alone. I think it’d be better for you to head on home with us. I’m sure you can get a refund back at the station.”

“Nonsense! I’m a highly trained historian and researcher. I’m used to travelling into dangerous areas and going for long marches.” Loré bragged confidently, despite it all being lies.

She was even so confident in her own natural abilities, along with her superior intellect, that she couldn’t possibly fail at a simple task such as walking through a forest. And, despite the objections of the conductor, she just kept walking towards the woods, waving off any and all attempts of him trying to stop her.

“Please come back miss, there are Timberwolfs in there” was the last thing that Loré heard being yelled at her from the train. She just rolled her eyes and scoffed at the idiocy of the conductor.

“Of course there’s timber in the woods. It’s a forest after all. Why would it not be made out of that kind of material? What does he take me for being, a fool?” she chuckled loudly to herself.

Loré was quite pleased with the turn of events, despite it being a fairly long walk to endure. The forest was a much better environment for her than the noisy train with all the even noisier ponies in it. She took in the beautiful sight of the dense population of impressively tall oak trees, and how they swayed ever so slightly in the wind. Their long branches intertwining together like loving rivals, connected through mutual tenderness, yet competition. She marveled at the rugged dirt path beneath her hooves, and how much it had faded away from probably decades of inactivity. She even wondered who’d made it. Not even the birds light chirping could annoy her now. There was however, one thing that did bother her.

“Ew! What is this yucky smell? Is it some kind of strange flower that grows in these woods?” she complained loudly, staring at the ground to find the culprit. “I bet it is a mushroom of some kind. It’s probably emitting foul smelling spores. It must be around here somewhere… Wait, why is it getting so dark all of a sudden?”

Loré gulped audibly, having put two and two together. The intensifying foul odor, the big shadow looming over her body, and the then redundant-sounding warning from the train conductor. It all added up to one thing.

“N-nice Timberwolf.” Loré quickly spun around to slowly walk backwards, now seeing the large wooden beast following her. “I-I-I don’t want any trouble, so how about we just walk our separate ways. Nopony has to get hurt, right?”

The beast responded with a snarl, saliva oozing out the cracks between the razor sharp teeth which it flared intimidatingly. It only kept on approaching Loré with every passing moment, looking ready to pounce on the frightened mare.

WHAM

The timberwolf crashed itself into an oak tree as Loré barely managed to dodge its leaping attack. Her jumping roll quickly turned into a hasty galloping through the woods, taking her one chance to get as far away from her predator while he was temporarily incapacitated. Loré was completely ignoring everything in her path. The adrenaline pumping through her body caused her to ignore branches scratching her coat, cloak and bags, and her legs stumbling over small rocks. Her careless and panicked mind eventually led her out over the edge of an incredibly steep hill, causing her tumble all the way down with a loud whimpering thud.

Loré quickly got back up on her hooves, scurrying behind the nearest tree. She heaved and gasped for air as she pressed her back firmly up against the trunk of a tall looming oak. Her mane was traced with mud and disheveled beyond recognition, her cloak had gone missing completely, and the contents of her saddlebags had substantially diminished since her departure from the train.

She frightenly looked around with wide bloodshot eyes as she peaked around her hiding spot, her ears twitching in every which direction in an attempt to locate the position of the beast that had been hounding her deeper into the forest.

“I… I think I lost it!” she grinned confidently when realizing that there were no other sounds around her than the mild wind blowing, and the light chirping of song birds. “Wait, my book?!” She almost panicked as she now noticed the lighter feel of her saddlebags. Though, a quick inspection proved that the book was still safely nuzzled into one of her bags. She had however lost most of her clothes and some of the writing utensils. A quick sigh of relief escaped her lips.

“Petunia, take not-“ Loré stopped in her tracks as she remembered that Petunia were no longer around for her to bounce ideas off of. “- I mean.” She looked around the forest floor, glancing between the thick bushes, tall oak trees and the assortment of weeds until her eyes finally fell upon a pale yellow flower between two thick roots of a nearby tree.

“You! Whatever your name is, you take a note.” Loré pointed a hoof at the flower as she found her new substitute.

“Me?”

“Yes, you!” she snarled. “I need you to take a note.”

“But, I don’t have anything to write with.”

“I want you to take a mental note,” Loré groaned in an annoyed manner. “It was truly an unwise idea of me to venture into this forest without packing any food or water, furthermore it was du- wait!? You can actually talk?!” Loré stared wide eyed at the flower, slowly approaching it with her upper body lowered closely to the ground.

“Of course I can talk, why wouldn’t I be able to talk?” said it confusedly.

“Because you are a flower?” Loré pondered even more confusedly. “I mean, maybe you are a magical flower, or a cursed flower perhaps? Normally when I talk to Petunia she doesn’t really talk back to me, at least not out loud.” She poked the flower cautiously with a hoof.

“But, I’m not a flower...” said the creature standing right next to Loré as he gently tapped her shoulder.

Loré jetted to the side in surprise, barely managing to not tip over in the process of turning around to face the creature now before her.

“Where did you come from!? And… what are you?” she asked curiously.

For all sakes and purposes, the creature in front of Loré was in fact a pony, albeit a strange one. It was not his shape that put her off, as it was as close to any other stallion she’d encountered in her life. Neither was it his aqueous color scheme that covered most of his body. It was the all-encompassing coat of feathers and his spiky hair that had her confused.

“Well, erhm, I’m a hippogriff, I think?” said the stallion, unsure of what his species classification would even be. “And, erhm, I actually live out here. My name is Namworth, and it’s nice to meet you. Also, who is Petunia?”

“No worth? Your parents decided to call you No Worth. That name might be very fitting,” said Loré mockingly. “Also, the identity of Petunia is none of your business. All you need to know is that she’s a dear friend of mine.” Loré nodded contently with her answer but then caught on to his answer to her original question. “Wait, you’re a hippogriff? Really?” Loré stared at him with an unamused gaze. “I’ve read about the species of a pony and a griffon parent. I’ve even met a hippogriff once! He’s a really great literature analysis, his name was Silver something.” Her eyes wandered as her mind drew a blank on the last part of Silver’s name. “Regardless! He looked nothing like you, he actually looked like half a griffon and half a pony. For that matter, where are your wings? hippogriffs have wings.” Loré pointed accusingly at Namworth.

“My name is Namworth, not No Worth! And I-I-I don’t know… I was born without wings I guess. My father was a unicorn and my mother was a griffon. I’m pretty sure that makes me a hippogriff, right?” He still seemed unsure despite him stating the only requirements for being a hippogriff.

“You honestly look like a pony who’s been rolled in a pile of feathers.” Loré approached Namworth, pulling out a feather from his chest.

“Ow!”

“Well, I guess I was wrong about my ‘rolled in feathers’ theory. These are actually your feathers.” She examined the feather closely, pondering for a moment before asking him “So, you are the son of a unicorn and a griffon, but you were born without wings and without a horn?”

“Erhm, yeah, that is correct.”

“I feel awfully sad for you. It’s like you got the worst of both worlds. You have the shape of a pony, but covered in feathers like a griffon. You don’t even have a cutie mark.” Loré slowly circled him like a shark about to pounce its prey.

“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t too lucky with how I turned out… and I just don’t know what my special talent is… yet,” said Namworth with a lowered head.

“I guess you have one good quality, you don’t argue with the truth. Either that or you are a doormat.” Loré sat down in front of Namworth, only a few feet away. “Regardless, I actually like that quality in a pony. So, you said you actually lived here?”

“Mhm, I live in a house at a little clearing near the river over there.” Namworth pointed in the direction of his home. “Though, why are you here? I don’t really see many ponies around here, and, you look really worn out right now.”

“I’m here for a very important mission. Though, I’m not sure where here is anymore…” said Loré while attempting to fix her messy mane, looking around as if she would be able to spot something that could give her a clear indication of where in the forest she currently resided at.

“Well, I know precisely where you are at!” Namworth chirped happily.

“Of course you know where I am, you said you live here. I doubt you’d still be alive if you were that incapable. Though, at the same time it wouldn’t have surprised me.” Loré got back up on her hooves and sighed, “How about you take me to your little home near the river so I can clean myself up a bit and then you can send me on my way again.”

Namworth nodded at Loré, taking her with him through the forest. They only had to walk for a dozen minutes or so before they reached the clearing where his house was. Loré’s eyes were met by the bright sun showering the clearing in all its glory now that the trees couldn’t block it all out. A wide, slowly flowing river snaked itself along the forest edge, only a bit away from the house that was nestled in between two small grassy hills.

A smile emerged at the sight of the crystal clear water. Though, her attention was quickly redirected towards the ‘home’ of Namworth, as it was nothing more than a poorly assembled shed. The ‘thing’ could best be described as a mish mash of different pieces of lumber, twigs, and hay. There were no rhyme or reason for it was still physically capable of standing, let alone be qualified as a building of any sort.

“You live here? Really? This house is pathetic. You’re pathetic!” Loré rolled her eyes and waved a front hoof around in the direction of the shed and Namworth as she once again insulted him.

“Yeah, my home isn’t much to look at. But, she’s been plenty good to me,” responded Namworth while he watched Loré approach the river to clean her mane. “Also, you said something about being on a mission of sorts? Where are you going and why did you think it was a good idea to go there on hoof? I mean, you said it yourself, you didn’t even pack any food or water.”

“I- I- I,” Loré stuttered as she did in fact not pack anything useful for survival in the wilds. “I was simply not expecting to be here right now. I was on a train ride to Ponyville to retrieve a spell I need to decipher an old historic book of great significance.” She pulled her wet mane up from the river and squeezed out the water before continuing. “The train tracks were broken and it would have taken a couple of days before it would have been fixed. I figured since the tracks go In a wide circle around the forest, the extra days would add up to more time than walking on hoof in a straight line through the forest.”

“I’m sorry to hear that the train ride didn’t pan out. But, didn’t you know the forest here is a dangerous place?” Namworth tilted his head in confusion. “A spell? You need a spell to read a book? oh! I know just where you can get a spell like that. Twilight’s library must have one! Oh, and also, I’m sorry to say this, but you should have been walking northeast and not south if you were aiming for Ponyville.”

Loré groaned in annoyance “I’m fully aware that I’ve been walking in the wrong direction, I don’t need you to remind me of that.” She moved up closer to Namworth, glaring into his almost childlike teal eyes with her narrow slits. “And yes, not that it’s any business of yours but, I was planning on stealing a spell from that twit’s library.” Loré’s intimidating stare was interrupted by the overwhelmingly loud sound of her stomach grumbling.

“Do you want some food?” asked Namworth after several moments of awkward silence.

“Yes, please,” mumbled Loré while looking away to hide her blushing.

“I don’t have much to share,” said Namworth as he disappeared into his shed, soon after returning with a small bag of carrots and apples. “But, you can take as much as you want.” He placed the bag in front of Loré, smiling sincerely at her as he nudged it a bit closer.

Loré slowly helped herself to some of the food, staring at Namworth in confusion. She’d been insulting and demeaning towards him from the moment they ran into each other, and yet he was still being disgustingly nice to her and brushing off anything she said as if she hadn’t said anything at all. It all left Loré in utter confusion on how to react to somepony like that.

“Thanks, I guess.” Those were the only words that Loré could think of to express her confused emotions of mild gratitude. Though, other words emerged soon enough. “You really don’t care that I plan to steal a spell from Twittelite Speckle?”

“Her name is Twilight Sparkle, and I don’t know. You said it was to figure out what’s inside an old history book, that’s kinda important. I’m sure Twilight wouldn’t mind lending you a spell for it.”

“Huh, you know what Namworth. You aren’t half as pathetic and annoying as I thought you were. How about I make you my junior assistant? I do need somepony to carry stuff for me.” Loré smirked deviously.

“Junior assistant? What does that mean?” Namworth carried an expression of confusion as he scratched his head. “Are you asking me to come with you on your mission? I don’t really know if that’d be such a good idea.”

“Yes, it would be your job to do anything I ask of you of course, and you’d help contribute to the discovery of significant Equestrian history! Besides, what do you have here that is of any worth?” She raised an eyebrow while glaring over at his broken shed. “This could also be the chance you need to discover your cutie mark, the one thing you are great at. Wouldn’t it be worth it if that was to happen? I can also promise to reward you handsomely if we succeed in reclaiming the lost knowledge of the book.”

Namworth only looked more confused, and even torn between his quiet life at the edge of the forest and whatever madness Loré were to pull him into. Though, he couldn’t deny the fact that his life here weren’t anything special, and he would not likely figure out his purpose in life by staying put there.

“Okay! I’ll do it!” He exclaimed determinedly while pounding a hoof into the ground. “So, what now, boss?” His determination quickly faded into confusion once again.

“That is simple, my new employee.” Loré quickly moved around to gather up any food and water that Namworth had in his house and packed it into a makeshift saddlebag that was made up of two bags with rope connecting them. She placed the heavier bags on Namworth and picked up her own saddlebags. “You take all of that stuff, and I’ll take this. Now, let us head towards Ponyville and our destiny!”

Comments

[Hustlin Tom]

Wow. Namworth must be rather nice to put up with all of Lore's insults. Poor guy, to have to live in the Everfree and all. Was he banished or something?

[PassionQuill]

3740384
Actually, this takes place in the White Tail Woods
Namworth is a mixture of niceness, doormat personality and naiveté. You'll get to learn more about Namworth as the story goes on, so I won't say anything about why he was where he was

[Bootsy Slickmane]

For some reason, I have this weird liking for White Tail Woods. I like this new character and look forward to learning more about him, as well as learning about the mane character's history. Good chapter.

[PassionQuill]

3741516
Glad that you enjoyed the chapter and no worries, you'll eventually learn more about the characters and their past Though, next chapter will be more about the funsies No idea when I'll get that done as I start my university classes tomorrow. But I'll get it done when i can

[Starlight Nova]

Huh, you know what Namworth. You aren’t half as pathetic and annoying as I thought you were. How about I make you my junior assistant? I do need somepony to carry stuff for me.

Shouldn't King Sombra's daughter be calling him slave?

[Jordan179]

Oh look, she's got a minion.

[Super Ponyman]

“No worth? Your parents decided to call you No Worth. That name might be very fitting,” said Loré mockingly. “Also, the identity of Petunia is none of your business. All you need to know is that she’s a dear friend of mine.” Loré nodded contently with her answer but then caught on to his answer to her original question. “Wait, you’re a hippogriff? Really?” Loré stared at him with an unamused gaze. “I’ve read about the species of a pony and a griffon parent. I’ve even met a hippogriff once! He’s a really great literature analysis, his name was Silver something.” Her eyes wandered as her mind drew a blank on the last part of Silver’s name. “Regardless! He looked nothing like you, he actually looked like half a griffon and half a pony. For that matter, where are your wings? hippogriffs have wings.” Loré pointed accusingly at Namworth.

Silver Quill Reference... classy.