Timothy's Side Story

by SilverEyedWolf

Chapter One

“What do you mean, permanent post?”

Sergeant Webber looked up at him, eyebrow lifting lazily.

“I mean, we didn’t send Graves out there for nothing. He’s been going way too hard, burning himself at both ends blazing more beasts than you’ve ever thought of.” He finished signing his name and rolled up the scroll, setting in between them on the desk and looking up into Timothy’s face.

“Besides, I said semi-permanent. You’ll be there when Graves needs to be covered for when he’s off doing… Graves things.” The sergeant leaned back in his chair, never taking his eyes off of Timothy. “You’re kind of his placeholder. We would also like it if you could see your way into clearing some of the monsters from the forest while you’re in there.”

He tapped the scroll, flattening it slightly.

“If you’d read that, you’d know that this is a cake mission. The worst you face will be, well, however you much you want to. Anything too big, you report to us, we send to Graves. You’ll be a watchman at this post, or a fighter. Or whatever.”

The man behind the desk shook his head, waving a hand through the air.

“And all that’s not important, anyway. This will mostly be during your free time, with the exception of Graves’s absences. The rest of the time you’ll be given work, as per normal. All we’re doing is setting you up a base of operations…”

“In the middle of the bleeding Everfree,” Timothy pointed out, moving his long sandy hair out of his eyes to look at the map he’d been given. There was a small mark off the middle of the forest, and a few symbols indicating proximity to Ponyville.

“Yes, inside the Everfree itself. But, not without walls.” He traced a small box around the mark telling Timothy where he was stationed. “Right there, are a set of ruins. Some of the walls have fallen down, and a little of the ceiling as well, but after clearing it out, you should be able to live comfortably there.”

The sergeant chuckled as he looking into Timothy’s eyes. “You’ve basically got a whole castle to yourself, along with any resources requested… Within reason, of course.”

Timothy looked once again at the map, then the scroll, then back to the sergeant.

“Why me? Surely there’s someone more qualified, or at least in better position with the ranked officers? Why do I get the cushy mission and the mansion in the Everfree?”

The sergeant shrugged, unrolling the scroll to look over it. “Above my pay grade, kid. I was told you, I got you in here. I was also told to give you as little option as possible. Are you taking this, or are you going to become the object of whoever’s anger and take the job anyway?”

Finally taking the scroll, Timothy looked it over thoroughly and looked back at the map.

“So, this is just changing where I sleep at? I watch over this town,” a finger jabbed at the map, “when Graves isn’t around, and when he is I’m off doing my own missions? That I assume come directly from you, instead of the board as per my usual?”

“Pretty much. Again, take out anything dangerous, and tell us if something truly big happens by.”

Timothy nodded absently, rereading the orders one last time before sighing and rolling them back up. Tucking them in his pocket, he looked at the officer now smiling, ever so slightly, smugly at him.

“When do I start?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sonovah…”

Timothy jumped back as the remains of yet another door chose to collapse, this particular one falling directly at him. Cautiously, he proceeded into the room, holding an open handful of flickering flames. Feeding a little more mana into the runed circle inked into his palm, he looked around the room further.

It seemed to be servant’s quarters, not the first he’d seen but the best kept except for the door. The bed was hardly molded, although it dusted when he kicked at one of the side railings. It was mostly bare besides the heap that was now the bed, and a lone window faced the outside elements; the wood used to board it up mostly rotted away. At least one plank was completely missing, judging from a set of nails across from each other with nothing in the middle.

Looking at the stone walls, floor, and ceiling, Timothy tossed the ball of fire from his palm over to the wreck in the room, catching the bed and decisively setting up his room for the night. He dragged the door into the room and tossed that onto the fire as well, pushing the sides of the bed closer to the middle to minimize the small bonfire.

Unrolling his bedroll after kicking a few small rocks from its intended destination, he sat cross-legged on top of it and gazed into the fire, taking inventory of the bit of castle he’d gotten around to today.

He wasn't going to lie to himself, it was bleak. Besides a lot of rot, some graffiti declaring Bango Skank was number two, and some wildlife, there was stone. Lots and lots of stone, much of it broken. One hallway he had to dig out only to find nothing but an old kitchen, and another he'd left collapsed to keep the thing scratching at the other side in.

He'd tried to go into the basement once, but there had been a whistling of wind and a door slammed in his face. Touching the door, he'd withdrawn his hand quickly as the heat nearly seared his skin. Staring hard at the door, he'd retreated back up the stairs and found the room he was currently in, scratching his thoughts into a worn journal.

Looking out the window, he saw the moon had already risen. Closing his journal, he traded it into his pack for some chalk and cloth, and then walked over to the wall beneath the window. Running his hand in a circle around the hole in the wall, he cleared it of dust and the heavier dirt before quickly circling it. Pinning the cloth over the window, he drew a large circle in the middle and started lettering the outside of the circle, circling it again when he was done. Looking over his work, he thumbed away a rune and re-chalked it again.

Nodding to himself, he drew a seven-pointed star in the middle to connect the more important runes and laid his hand in the middle, thinking over the words and nodding to himself, slowly pouring mana into the cloth as he mumbled to himself.

"Saxum durum, mollia lignum, sit modus est autem dixero."

Slowly stiffening, the cloth turned a slate gray as the spell took effect, Timothy feeding mana into the circle until he felt it charged enough to last until he woke up.

Walking over to where the door had been, he drew a much simpler circle in the doorway, pulling out a tape-measure and setting the parameters of the door into the circle. A diamond was drawn into this one, and he pushed his hand into the middle once again.

"Leva," he intoned, quickly pouring his magic into the circle before snatching his hand out of the way as a thin piece of the floor slammed up to close the door, effectively closing himself in the room... and everything else out.

Kicking off his boots, he pulled off his coat and folded it carefully, laying it on top of his boots. Taking off his belts, he carefully set a long knife beside him, sheathe and all. He hid his other weapons inside his coat, as well as he could. Sliding himself into the bag, he set his knife in the space under his neck, arched his back a little to allow it to pop, and then let himself drift to sleep.