Chapter 4
“Here we are!” Anon smiled, opening the door to the dimly-lit cabin. “Home, sweet home.”
Husk and Tennae walked cautiously inside, eyeing the walls and ceiling. Whoever this ‘Anon’ person was, he certainly enjoyed hunting in the Everfree. The human even had scales from a hydra mounted on his wall!
Tennae timidly walked further in, eyeing the mounted scales. If he could do that to a hydra… just imagine what he’d do if he knew—
“What do you think? Pretty impressive, huh?” Anon smiled, walking in and closing the door behind them. “Managed to get a good hit with my hunting knife, before it left a nasty scar on my leg,” he said, throwing a few logs into a makeshift fireplace.
In the light, Tennae could get a good look at Anon’s features. The light from the fire coursed across his toned body as he stoked it, his eyes staring intently at it. He had some scruff on his face, which she noticed he rubbed every so often with his not-sharp claws.
“So… you aren’t from around Equestria, then?” Husk turned to the human, curiosity on his face.
“Nope! From a place called ‘Earth’,” Anon responded, clapping his hands together as the fire reached a comfortable size. “Woke up one morning and stepped outside, and suddenly there was a forest right next to my hunting cabin. Been mingling with ponies on occasion ever since whenever I need supplies, but I usually keep to myself for the most part,” he said, standing up. “So, what’ll you have? I’ve got vegetables, potatoes, meat… hm, I could whip up some stew if you guys don’t mind waiting,” Anon turned to Tennae. “How’s that sound, Celery?”
It was true, Tennae was hungry… and this would probably be a good way to bond with the creature, see if he knew anything…
“I’ll be fine, thanks,” Husk smiled up at the human, waving a hoof. “I’m used to going days without something to eat. One night won’t hurt.”
“Nonsense!” Anon laughed, patting the stallion on the back, causing him to lurch forward in surprise from the force of the pat. “You both said you’re on some kind of pilgrimage thing, right? So you’ll need every last bit of strength you can get!”
“I… wouldn’t mind,” Tennae smiled timidly, looking up at the human. “I could eat just about anything right about now, to be honest…”
Anon grinned happily at her, before turning to Husk. “Your little lady here has the right idea! Now c’mon, I won’t take no for an answer!” he said, moving quickly to his cabinets to rummage through them.
Husk shot Tennae another annoyed glare, causing her to flinch a bit as he approached. He sat down next to her, and the two began whispering.
“What the hay are you doing?”
“W-well, it would be rude to refuse, right? Besides, I’m hungry…” Tennae let out a small groan, rubbing her belly.
Husk scoffed. “Fine. We’ll eat here, but we can’t risk losing our cover,” he turned to look at the human. “I don’t have a contingency plan right now Tennae, so don’t do anything that’d make him suspicious. If worse comes to worst, there’s two of us and one of him, and we can—”
“Husk, that human saved our lives all by himself, he stood up against an Ent!” Tennae hissed. “We couldn’t take on that sort of strength on our ow—”
“Dinner is served!” Anon turned towards them, a large pot on the stove next to him. “Come on up whenever you’re ready and I’ll get some for ya—”
“Me!” Tennae blurted ungracefully, scurrying up to her feet. She nearly stumbled from her mane on the wooden floor as she got up to the counter, placing her front two hooves up on the top of it, peeking her nose up over the top.
Anon snickered. “Now that’s just the most adorable thing!” he smiled, picking up a bowl and filling it up with stew, before setting it on the counter in front of her. “Eat up!”
Tennae paused, before hopping off the counter. ‘Alright, magic. Levitation…’ she thought to herself, her horn beginning to focus. A dim blue glow began to emit from her horn as the bowl lifted into the air, floating weightlessly towards Tennae’s open hooves. She smiled brightly, gripping the bowl out from the sky and began unceremoniously scarfing down the stew inside. ‘I did it! I did it! Levitation!’ she beamed to herself, feeling her strength slowly return from the food.
Husk remained sitting, hooves across his chest with a stern expression towards the other changeling.
“Hey, you gonna eat?” Anon eyed the stallion, walking over to him with two bowls of stew. “You’ve been sitting here pretty quiet lately, why not relax and enjoy some rest for the night?” he smiled, setting the bowl down in front of Husk and sitting next to him, bowl and spoon in hand as he began eating as well.
“We’re pretty wary of accepting hospitality from strangers, especially in their own house,” Husk replied, picking up the bowl. He sniffed it, hesitated a moment, and then began eating slowly. “But thank you,” he smiled, swallowing the morsels.
“Please, sir, may I have some more?” Tennae held out an empty bowl to Anon, staring up at him with her big, red eyes and the most adorable, almost pouting expression she could put on.
Anon and Husk both stared at her, their cheeks a light pink.
“Damn, that’s adorable,” they both said in unison, before turning to each other.
A few awkward moments of silence passed between all three of them, before they all burst into laughter. “Oh wow, that was great,” Anon wiped a tear from his eye. “You’ll go far with that, I guarantee it,” he snickered, swapping bowls with the pony and standing up. “Hope it’s not too salty for ya, I’ve noticed a lot of the meat I get tends to be a lot tougher than what I’m used to.”
Tennae and Husk both widened their eyes in shock. “M-meat?” Tennae turned to look at Anon.
“Yeah, don’t worry; I only used it to make the broth, it’d be too hard to eat with the rest of the stew,” he smiled, filling up his bowl once again with the stew. “I know how ponies get about that sort of thing. If it’s any consolation, I don’t cook anything from the Everfree; I buy all my stuff in bulk from gryphon traders that come by every so often, and freeze them for when I need them.”
The two changelings both let out simultaneous sighs of relief. Meat didn’t quite agree with a changeling’s digestive system…
“So,” Anon turned, his bowl in hand as he began eating, “You got a place to stay the night? I got a few extra beds folded up if you need ‘em,” he pointed to a few fold-up cots stacked in the corner of the room. “Got blankets and all that good stuff. You can stay overnight and I’ll make breakfast before ya head out in the morning, how’s that sound?”
Tennae smiled brightly. “We acce—” she began, but was cut off by a hoof from Husk, still talking into it.
“Thank you, but we must decline, you’ve already done so much for us,” Husk looked up at the human. “We wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Impose?” Anon raised an eyebrow, smirking. “I live out on the edge of the Everfree, with more than enough for myself. You two aren’t imposing at all!” he said, finishing up his bowl and drinking down the broth.
Tennae nudged Husk with a hoof. “I think we should stay,” she muttered out of Anon’s earshot. “He seems nice.”
“Ugh, fine…” Husk grumbled, eyeing the human. “You stay the night. I’m going to report back to the Queen.”
The sound of Anon starting to clean his bowl in the sink further drowned out their talking from him.
“You’d leave me alone? W-with him?!” she hissed, pointing a hoof at Anon’s turned back.
“Don’t worry; he won’t harm ponies, from the looks of it. Ponyville is too close, they would notice something was amiss,” Husk muttered. “And if worse comes to worst, you have magic. And from the looks of things, he doesn’t. There’s your advantage.”
Tennae let out a sigh, before nodding. “Okay. We’ll do it.”
Husk turned to Anon, standing up. “Unfortunately I have business that I must attend to in Ponyville before we depart in the morning. It’s the main reason we were in such a hurry to begin with; I’ll find somewhere to stay the night.”
Anon turned, setting his bowl in the sink. “Alright. Well, my door’s open whenever you guys come on through Ponyville on your way back—”
“Actually,” Husk paused, looking towards Tennae with a carefully acted thoughtful glance, “Would it impose too much if you let miss Celery stay the night? She seems comfortable with the idea of staying tonight and I wouldn’t want to take away her comfort, but I unfortunately must be off,” he turned once again to Anon.
“Uh, sure, it’s no trouble,” Anon waved a hand, walking over to the folded cots. “I don’t have a problem with it. Besides, it’d be rude to turn her down when I offered,” he snickered, picking one up and unfolding it, the mattress popping open. “It’s probably a lot more comfortable than sleeping on the forest floor. Or, in your case, the mouth of an Ent,” Anon grinned at both of them.
“R-right…” Tennae chuckled a bit reluctantly.
Husk nodded at him, turning to Tennae. “Alright. I’ll be back tomorrow, Celery. Stay safe,” he said, trotting towards the door, pushing it open before turning to Anon. “I trust she is in good hooves?”
“Hands, actually,” Anon wiggled his fingers at the pony, chuckling. “But yes, I’ll make sure she stays safe.”
Husk let a small smile of relief creep onto his face, nodding at the human once again before leaving, closing the door behind him.
Anon waited until his hoof-falls were out of earshot, before letting out a soft sigh.
“So,” he began, his eyes falling on Tennae.
“What were you really doing out in the Everfree?”
End Chapter 4
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aww come on! don't leave me like this! I'm at half mast, I need another chapter!
don't be a cock tease.
5562457 really? helsing abridged reference? you cheeky dick waffle
5562829
5563008 hey dandy dick!....you missed! woooopwopwopwopwop!
5563114
Well, this is a pleasant surprise! Just when I thought I'd run out of interesting stuff to read, a cute bughorse story pops up from Wuten, no less!
I love it so far! Cute characters and interesting premise. Keep those chapters coming!
What she said
this seems like it could be good
Hark, unknown human, for I dub thee Steve! Embrace thy new name for thou hath been known to perform Steve-like things!
5567691
"Steve is a shit name and you should feel bad."
-Anon, 2015
5567735 There are many Steves out there who might disagree with you. What say you about Frank instead? I'm sure that most ponies would appreciate a Frank human about.
5567757
"Absolutely disgusting. My name is Anon, and don't you forget it."
-also Anon, 2015
5567764 But I have already forgotten it among all the other Anons out there! How about Michael? What about it, Mikey?
5567770
"ur names are shit, kill yourself"
-Shitposting Anon
I'm intrigued. I wonder how our human would respond to a changeling. Hell, I wouldn't have much a problem with 'em as long as they didn't harm anyone. Could make for good friends :)
Sssssecret's ouuuut...
*insert dramatic orchestral buildup*
This story is bad and you should feel bad.
5631826
kill urself lol
Any more comin?
5703792
College work bogging down right now, but yes. Spring break is coming up in a few weeks, will try to get more done then.
I love this story so much, I can't wait for more
Oh shit <the I'm on a boat oh shit