Tales of Valor: A New Pony in Ponyville

by NobleValor

Chapter 12

Noble lied in his bed staring up at the ceiling, having reached the conclusion long ago that he wasn't going to be able to get to sleep. He wasn't surprised by this, nor was he particularly worried by it. Sleep would find him in good time. For now, it just gave him more time with his thoughts.

Thoughts that all led to the same question: What was causing the glowing red eyes? As far as his research went, he couldn't find anything about it. He had only one avenue of knowledge left to research, but it would take weeks, possibly months to research for an answer. And, on the distinct possibility that it was what he thought it was, by the time he found an answer, it might be too late. All in all, it was an undesirable situation to be in.

He glanced at the clock, reading ten p.m. off of its face. He felt more confused than ever. He knew he couldn't get any answers this way so he did the only thing that made any sort of sense: he got up to take a walk.

He gathered his satchel and his cloak, making certain he made as little noise as possible. Once finished, he made his way to the kitchen carefully as to not wake Twilight and Spike from their peaceful slumbers. Once there, he grabbed five apples from the cupboards and placed them in his satchel wrapped in his cloak. He left the library and walked into the night, but not before leaving a note on the table that read: 'Left before dawn. Back before dusk. NV.'

The town of Ponyville was quiet and peaceful. Not that he really expected it to be any different, but it was nice to know anyway. Even though he had never been here before about a week and a half ago, he couldn't help but feel a certain amount of nostalgia about the place. 'Almost feels like home,' he reflected.

But it wasn't though. He had no home, not here nor anywhere else. Such were the consequences of his actions. As much as he liked the town of Ponyville and the ponies who inhabited it, he had no place among them. More out of reflex than anything else, he quickened his pace to a canter.

He couldn't say what had led him there, but he found himself standing at the border of the Everfree Forest. As strange as that was, he didn't feel the sense of dread he felt upon entering the first time. It was there certainly, but not as strongly. If he had to put his feelings to words, it felt eerily familiar to what being greeted by an old friend felt like.

Turning his thoughts towards pragmatism, he pulled several thick, dry branches from a tree near the border and made four effective torches from them. He placed all but one into his satchel and, after a countless number of tries, he managed to get one lit. The fire crackled merrily as it slowly devoured its fuel. Feeling secure enough that he had everything to suit his immediate needs, he entered into the oppressive darkness of the Everfree Forest.

As he trudged further into the woods, he held the torch aloft and marked his path. While most ponies did this with tools of various natures, he was always capable of doing so with his sight and memory alone. When asked if he was capable of this because of his training or his natural abilities as an earth pony, he always gave the same answer: "Does it really matter?" In truth, he wasn't sure either, but he wasn't one to complain about the convenience of a useful trait.

He couldn't say for certain how long he had been walking in the forest, but he knew it must have been for a while. He glanced at his hoof-made torch, which had burned about halfway down. He knew he would have to replace it soon or walk in the dark. He was debating about when he should do this when he noticed a strange noise coming from the forest. He quickly lowered the stub of the torch and smothered the flame in the dirt, obscuring his sight with darkness.

Noble closed his eyes, allowing them the time to adjust to the lack of light. With his sight completely shrouded, his other senses became filled with the sensations of the forest around him. He could hear the faint running of water nearby as well as the sounds of the animals either scurrying about or resting in their burrows. He felt the rich, spongy earth beneath hooves as the faint smell of dirt rose to his nostrils. The earthy aroma was barely noticeable when compared to the various smells of plant life, the scent of which so strong it practically overloaded both his sense of taste and his sense of smell.

As he got his bearings, he became more aware of the unfamiliar sound. Upon closer listening, he began to think. 'Is it singing. No, it's not singing. It's not quite lyrical enough to pass as singing. Chanting, then? Yes, chanting!' Feeling satisfied at his choice of description, he opened his night-adjusted eyes and began scanning about. After a moment or so, he spotted a faint light glowing in the distance. Feeling more curious than anything else, he began to approach it cautiously.

He silently stalked forward, slowly approaching the light. The chanting became steadily louder, never wavering in volume. Images of ponies performing various rituals danced about in his head. He shook them off, knowing that ponies never did that sort of thing (except on Nightmare Night, for the additional creepiness factor involved). After a few minutes of creeping, he had approached enough to be able to see who it was that was chanting. He peeked over the hedge and felt his jaw grow agape at the revelation.

Carrying a lantern for light, the zebra mare scanned several patches of foliage. She alternated between humming and chanting in a foreign language. She seemed so immersed in her task that she was unperturbed about where she was. Noble wondered briefly if she knew that he was there watching her. 'Well, if she does, she obviously doesn't care,' he decided.

Noble then began to wonder why somepony would be traveling through one of the most dangerous places in Equestria in the middle of the night. He paused for a moment, coming to the realization that he was doing the exact same thing. Mentally chiding himself, he decided to quit spying on her and do the polite thing of introducing himself to her. With that, he stepped into the light and cleared his throat to get her attention.

Getting the intended effect, the zebra turned her head towards Noble. Her face lit up in an enigmatic smile "Well," she said, "be this a trick? A lark? Or is this a young pony I see in the dark?"

"How do you do?" Noble replied, "I didn't wish to disturb you. I just heard your voice and saw your light in the distance, curious as to what it was. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Noble Valor. And Who might you be?"

"To my share of mystery I make my claim, but Zecora is my name," she replied, giving a small bow, which Noble returned.

"I don't mean to be inquisitive, but exactly what are you doing here at night?"

"Near to here is my home and far from there I hardly roam. I look for plants to fulfill my trade; helping others and giving aide."

"You're a doctor?"

"Although I do my best to assist, the best term for me is herbalist."

Noble blinked for a second. "I don't wish to come off as overly inquisitive, but do all zebras make it a habit to rhyme?"

She chuckled at the stallion's confusion. "Some do so, as per tradition. I prefer to, as a matter of exposition."

Noble shrugged at that. "Everypony to their taste, I suppose."

Zecora nodded at that, satisfaction written on her face. "Now that I have revealed my task, what brings you into the night I must ask?"

"Couldn't sleep, decided a walk might help."

She raised an eyebrow at his explanation. Her expression said, 'I'm not buying it,' but she pressed no further than that.

Noble bit his lip nervously. "Do you get into town much?" he asked.

She shook her head as a response. "Once I find myself there, the crowd of townsponies is more than I can bear."

Noble knew he wouldn't get another chance like this. "Zecora, might I ask a favor of you?"

"Before I do this favor for you, I must ask what it is you need me do?"

"I need knowledge and I think you may have it. Will you help me?"

She peered carefully at the stallion, as if she were judging his worth. After a moment, she gave her consent in a nod.

Noble took a deep breath. "It began when I noticed a pack of timberwolves..."

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"And that's the whole affair."

"I make it a point not to assume," Zecora replied, her tone serious, "but there is more to this tale I presume?"

Noble nodded. "In both cases, the timberwolves and the manticore had a red sheen across their eyes. I've done research on my own, but cannot find any known source for it. So we come to my request: I need to know if there is any disease that can coerce animals to do what I described to you?"

Zecora furrowed her brow in concentration. Noble lightly bit his lip in anticipation, trying to hide his worry.

He wasn't worried so much for himself. He was certain that, if it could affect ponies, he would have fallen under its effects long since. What worried him was the panic such an epidemic would cause. If anypony got hurt, and it was within his power to prevent it, he would never be able to live with himself. He kept himself from shuddering as darker thoughts came creeping in.

"I have dealt with many ailments," Zecora replied after a while, "this much is true. Yet, there little that I can tell you."

Noble gave her a confused look, before he puzzles out what she had said. "Does that mean what I think it means?" he asked hopefully.

She gave a nod. "The art of healing I can do with ease. And I can inform you, there is no such disease."

Noble felt his spirits lift. "Thank you."

"Good deeds are not meant for measure. It was, and is, a pleasure."

"Might I ask another favor?" he asked, reaching into his satchel. "Before finding you, I put my torch out to see who was here with me." With that, he lifted one of the new torches from his pack. "Might I?"

After getting his torch relit, Noble bid farewell to the zebra mare. Although he still had no idea what was causing the shifting eyes, just hearing it wasn't an illness was relief enough. He trotted further into the Everfree, practically skipping in much the same way Pinkie Pie does.

After about an hour, he slowed his gait to a walk and allowed his thoughts to catch up to him. While he was genuinely happy that it wasn't a disease, he was still at a loss for what was causing the red eyes on the animals. He racked his brain for several minutes, trying to find some sort of plausible explanation.

'It was probably nothing, Noble' he told himself, 'Face the facts. It's just a wild goose chase you sent yourself on to make yourself seem more important than you are.' He stopped walking and sat down as he sighed half-heartedly. He had never thought of himself as self-important, but it wouldn't be the first time he had been wrong.

He lowered his eyes to the ground, noticing a set of hoofprints. At first he thought nothing of them, but found something strange about them. He moved the torch a bit to get a better look at the tracks.

Noble had heard of some ponies able to look at a set of tracks and be able to tell everything about the pony that made them. He wasn't even close to that good. The best he could do was guess at the ponies height, and that was due to Iron Clad's insistent instruction. Fortunately, Iron Clad was only mediocre himself.

Upon examination, the gait of the tracks put the pony that made them close to Noble's height. Noble knew that was unusual because, while he wasn't the tallest pony in Equestria, he had a good few inches on most of them. He didn't tower over them like the princesses, but he had to lower his head a bit to look them in the eyes.

What really made the tracks unusual was the fact that he had never been in this particular section of the Everfree before tonight. For a second, he thought they might have belonged to Zecora, but he dismissed it remembering having to look down slightly at Zecora. With his curiosity aroused, he decided to follow the tracks to find out where they led.

After a few minutes of walking, he followed the trail to a drop-off. He planted the torch in the ground, several feet away from the edge. No longer having one of his hooves occupied, he approached the edge carefully.

Peering out into the darkness, he could barely see anything. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed a small clearing through the patch of forest. As much as he hated to admit it, while he hadn't been to the area where he was before, there was something eerily familiar about the area he was looking at.

He removed the snub of torch he put out earlier and lit it off the torch that was currently burning. He approached the edge again, burning torch in hoof. As soon as he reached the edge, he threw the torch watching as it tumbled end over end into the darkness. As it landed into the clearing, he felt his eyes grow wide in shock, then narrow in rage. He knew exactly what he saw, but he wished to heaven and earth that it wasn't.

The clearing was filled with Everfree Berry bushes with a few buckets scattered about.