Lunaria Borealis

by EquestrianKirin

Ch.7: The Sap Moon

It hadn't been too long of time for the group since leaving Crusting Wing behind them. Just a few number of moon spins had past, or about 3 days if it were the sun, Vinrod, Seven, Tal, and Cluutie had gone along rather well, no distractions. The trees, which were once dead and pare, had begun to show more life in their leaves of maple, as they continued towards the warmer areas of the south. Seven remained quiet for the most part, as Tal and Vinrod shared a number of conversations as they walked along.

"It sure feels better around here," Tal said at one point, feeling the much cooler, less dry earth under hoof.

"True, much more moist than that desert forest," added Vinrod. Seven just tried to ignored them as he continued on.

"Yeah, and better to walk on. How long do you think is it before we get to Appaloosa?"

"Not sure. By the rate we're going we should make it just fine."

As they went, Cluutie woke up from her nap, and gave a small chirp. As they continued, they noticed Seven hadn't spoke very much since they left the battle. In fact, he seemed withdrawn from them the past hours. After a bit, Vinrod nudged Seven in the side, concern for his well-being. Seven gave a rough groan, but Vinrod could take a guess about his troubles.

"Seven, this isn't still about...well, that, is it?" Vinrod asked. Seven snorted at them.

"Seven, we know you wanted to stay, but you can't dwell on it forever. Besides they've escaped the scarabs, they should still be alive and well by now..."

Seven still kept quiet for a while longer, until he turned, smiled in their direction, and spoke for the first time since leaving the fight.

"...You're right. They should be fine."

As they continued, suddenly they all felt a rumble amit from their stomachs. They hadn't really ate anything in a while, and they've grown hungry. Vinrod felt a bit worried, being with a Changeling and a Dragonequus at the same time could mean trouble for him, but he didn't try to show it much.

"Well, guess we're all hungry. How about we take a pit stop, eh?" Tal suggested with a grin. Seven happily agreed.

"Yeah, I could go for a bite right now. Who's getting the grub though?"

Upon mention of the word, Cluutie almost immediately grew aggressive and nearly shocked Seven on the spot. Seven glared at the Thunderwyrm as it squirmed on Tal's back. Vinrod decided to take the offer, and began to move on ahead, following his nose for a scent.

"I'll go get somethin. How's fish sound? Think I smell a river nearby," Vinrod suggested, aiming towards the direction of the scent of water. Seven hovered by him as Cluutie calmed down a little bit.

"Sounds good, but what're you gonna eat?"

"I'll just take the fish, that's fine."

"Wait, you eat meat?"

"Well not a fan of pork or lamb-chops, but I prefer a fish to balance my diet. Now you can come if you want to, I'll be back soon," Vinrod said, as he began walking away.

Not too far away, as Vinrod expected, there indeed was a large river flowing through. The moon's reflection easily glowed off the water's surface, as Vinrod remained by the water's edge. Finding a good spot along the riverbank, Vinrod looked down in the river and awaited for some fish to swim by. Since he didn't have any sort of fishing tool, he had to resort to the patient technique: standing still along the bank and strike when a fish is spotted. The area he found was on top of a large rock, flattened as water just skimmed over it by an inch so his 3-toed feet were covered in water. It dropped off to a deeper part of the river a foot away so he had a good vantage point. While waiting, he took the moment to have a cooling drink, but as he did, he spotted his prize: trout. Vinrod readied himself, as the fish swam lazily by the rock. In an instant, Vinrod darted his head in the water, as the fish scattered away from him, all but one. That one Vinrod pulled out of the water thrashed violently in his mouth, as Vinrod threw it onto land, where the trout shook and thrashed around like crazy. Vinrod tried to keep the fish still as Seven and Tal eventually came back to see him trying to keep the fish still.

"Need some help there, Vinrod?" Seven asked.

"No no, I got it, just -" before Vinrod could finish, the trout whacked him good and hard in the face, knocking him backwards in the rock as the fish continued to thrash around. Amused, Seven went over and ate away at the fish's emotions, making it stay still, no longer caring. After that was done, Vinrod walked back over as Tal finished off the trout, their meal ready to go.

"eh, thanks," Vinrod sighed, taking a minute to calm himself down, and to get his throat to stop wheezing. Tal picked up the fish in her teeth, and split it in two, giving Vinrod the other half. As Tal ate her piece, Vinrod settled on down and enjoyed his share of the fish, as Seven settled leaned next to one of the maple trees, and waited for them to get done. All Seven needed was a simple grab of the trout emotion to keep him satisfied for the time being. Apart from that, it took just a few minutes until the others were done, and Vinrod got back up to his feet.

"Alright guys, ready to go?"

"Yeah I'm set."

"Me too."

After the small snack, they all continued off on their way away from the river, and back on their path through the maple forest. Their walk onward was rather calming, a nice breeze, a few maple leaves coating the ground, the bright moon guiding their way, it felt nice indeed. However, as they continued, Vinrod began to observe the world around him. But when he glanced off to his right, he spotted something a bit odd. On one of the maple trees, with the light shining off it, he saw some metal bucket attached to the tree by what looked like a spile. Tal and Seven noticed too, but were unsure of what to exactly make of it, as they went over to investigate.

"What's this doing here?" Tal wondered.

"Beats me, but there's a lot of...well, something, in it," Seven added, looking inside to see a lot of some form of liquid inside. Vinrod looked inside and slightly dipped his front foot in it, finding out that it stuck to his foot. Vinrod took a sniff of it, but was still unsure.

"Looks like sap to me," Vinrod concluded, trying to shake off the sticky stuff. As he did, some of it accidentally got on Seven's face, making the Changeling fly back into another tree. The hit made the tree shake, and suddenly another bucket of the stuff fell onto Seven's horn, making him covered in the stuff. He got the bucket off, no problem, but had his body almost completely covered in sap.

"Eww, gross," Vinrod said, backing up a bit. Seven got back up, already some leaves and dirt getting stuck on him due to the sap. Even if Seven was used to such goop, he didn't like everything being stuck into him, so he took the time to shake off the sap on his body, none of it going on Tal, Vinrod and Cluutie. While that happened though, something began to move among the shadows of the maple trees, hearing the voices and buckets falling.

"Oy! Who's messin with my sap?!" a voice snapped, sounding deeply country toned. Eventually, the group saw a figure holding a lantern. The figure stood slightly taller than Seven, but still shorter than Vinrod. His mane and tail matched up for a rugged ginger colour, and the main coat a sort of darker rust. What was the most surprising was that he appeared like a normal - yet old- pony. No subspecies, no wings or magic horn, just a normal earth pony. His cutie mark looked like a bucket of sap, with a bottle of syrup on the bucket. The sight of a pony alone wasn't a common one, but a earth pony was a bit rougher.

"Sorry sir," Vinrod said, to get that out of the way. The old stallion walked forward, looking at the punctured bucket by the Changling.

"Hey you, I got a business to run, ain't gonna work with wrecked buckets!" the pony snapped, eyes directly on the Changeling.

"What business, you just hanging buckets in trees, ain't ya?" Seven asked, annoyed with the pony's anger. The stallion groaned, hoof to forehead.

"NO, I'm gettin sap for my syrup, and I need all the buckets I got!" He retorted. The word 'syrup' got Tal's attention the fastest, sure ponies were one thing but a treat like syrup being made was something Tal had to know about.

"Syrup? Really?" Tal asked, excitedly. The old pony looked at the Dragonequus with some confusion, but mostly shown a smile on his face.

"why yes little filly, I've been making it since I was just a colt. My cutie mark proves it," he said, a hoof aiming right at his cutie marked flank. Vinrod looked over to the old pony.

"So, what's your name, anyway?" Vinrod asked.

"Sugarworks. And you?"

"Oh, I'm Vinrod. And that's Tal, Cluutie, and Seven."

The earth pony looked over the Changeling, Dragonequus, and Thunderwyrm for a minute or two before he nodded. While annoyed with his bucket, he was a bit impressed such a group was together.

"Whelp, pleasure to meet y'all, but I think Y'all need to get some work time for paying off my bucket."

"What?! It's just a bucket, no way!" Seven snapped, Tal slapping his head with her tail.

"We'll be happy to help," Vinrod said. Seven sneered at Vinrod, whom didn't bother much with it. Sugarworks nodded and began walking in the direction he came from, signalling the others to follow him.

~~

The walk through the forest didn't last too long, Sugarworks guiding them all on their way. After just a few minutes, the pony had gotten them all back to his workshop. The place looked old, due to the dark wood that made it. Turned out, the same river they fished from was where the workshop was, using the river for power due to a water wheel built on the house. Sugarworks ventured on inside the workshop, followed by the others, as they were greeted by another old pony just by the door. She looked a bit similar to Sugarworks in overall appearance, her cutie mark showing a maple leaf on a syrup bottle. Sugarworks gave her a kiss, showing their love for another.

"Hi sweetheart. How are you feeling?" Sugarworks asked.

"I'm doing fine honey. Now, who are they?"

"Hello mam. We're here to help with some work," Vinrod said, nodding.

"or rather drafted in - Ow!"

"Seven, please," Tal said. While they were talking, Cluutie actually took the time to get off of Tal for that one moment, and started going to one of the many trees nearby.

"You all are willing to help out? That's wonderful, we've been having some trouble with our work. If you want to help, then please, by all means."

"We'll get started right away."

"We will?"

Vinrod and Tal sneered at Seven, who just sighed in annoyance.

"Ok, Ok we will."

With that agreement, Sugarworks ushered them inside, only until the last second when Tal realized Cluutie was off her back. The Dragonequus looked around for a bit before she found Cluutie high up in a maple tree. What shocked her was that Cluutie was hanging upside down in the tree!

"Cluutie!" Tal gasped, rushing under Cluutie in case he would fall. Vinrod and Sugarworks heard her yell, and rushed out to see the problem. Only one who wasn't surprised was Sugarworks.

"What's wrong with her?" Vinrod gasped, seeing Cluutie not moving.

"Don't freak out, Cluutie's just doing what comes naturally. He'll hang there for a day or two, then come out an adult," Sugarworks said, almost nonchalantly. Vinrod and Tal weren't aware of that though, and looked back at Cluutie...

"Really?...I hope she'll be okay."

"She'll be fine, now come on, I'll show you how to make the syrup."

Sugarworks went on back inside, as Vinrod and Tal looked back up to the hanging Thunderwyrm. They both weren't sure what the Thunderwyrm was gonna 'come out' as, but Vinrod and Tal moved on back inside behind Sugarworks.

~~

For the next couple of hours, most of it was mainly spent on Sugarworks and his wife showing Seven, Vinrod and Tal the ropes on what to do, and how to make syrup from the maple trees. The one who had the most trouble was actually Vinrod. Even if Seven had to deal with the sap getting in his legs, Vinrod just couldn't seem to get it as well as the other two so quickly. That, and constantly trying to get the sticky sap off his feet made him stall up a lot. There was a huge difference between Bluegrass and maple syrup as far as he was concern. After some observation, Sugarworks decided to split them up; Tal and Seven working together on the syrup while Vinrod handled packaging and even occasionally selling directly to whatever customer goes through to the workshop. It was a odd fact to find saintiants going out of their was to come here, but it was something Vinrod could do much better than the others. At one point, Seven came out to see Vinrod, who was waiting by the counter, having some money already.

"Yo, Vinrod, how much do you got?" Seven asked, his legs covered and filled in sap. Vinrod moved over the bag of money over to him, which didn't seem like very much. Seven rolled his eyes.

"Oh great, that's hardly anything! Seriously, I don't want to work with this sap anymore," Seven complained, trying to get some sap out of his hooves.

"Don't worry, Seven, it'll be over before you know it. Besides, we're stuck here anyway since Cluutie's stuck in that tree."

"Dumb excuses. Can't you take my place instead, please?"

"Sugarworks insisted I stay here Seven, sorry. You can take a break though if it helps," Vinrod offered, as Seven sat down next to him. The sap from his hooves dripped on the floor as it was being drained, the feeling of the sap inside made Seven feel uncomfortable. While the two sat there, the door opened up again. Throughout the day, a very few had came to visit, and most of them usually asked for directions rather than buy syrup. However, this customer was much larger than the others. Vinrod looked at him with surprise, not expecting him to come around. The customer was actually the same grey Boar he'd met months ago! The Boar took one look at Vinrod in order to recognise him.

"Well hello again. Taking more jobs I see," The Boar pointed out, as Vinrod looked him over carefully. He looked familiar, but he could easily be mistaking one Boar for another.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Vinrod asked. The Boar chuckled, and pulled out, again, a gem for Vinrod as a reminder. Seven's eyed boggled once he saw the thing, as Vinrod looked to him.

"It is you!"

"Indeed, and I see you have a friend too. Bit interesting for him being a Changeling," the Boar pointed out, Seven testing the gem out too much to hear what the Boar said.

"I have to be honest, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Likewise. But, life's full of surprises, now is it? I'm just passing through, though I would like to take a jug of syrup if you please."

"Oh sure. Seven, can you get the jug of syrup for him?"

Seven stopped for the moment to hear what Vinrod requested, and quickly grabbed the jug nearby for the Boar to keep. His mind was still racing on the idea that a Boar would give gems away, of all things.

"So, what brought you down here away from Curchcolt?" The Boar asked.

"Oh, well actually we're on our way to Appaloosa. Not sure how far it'll be though," Vinrod explained, as Seven placed the gem back down on the table. The Boar just brought the jug to his wagon before turning back to him.

"Well you got a long way to go. A number of places to pass through, other towns to cross, dangers to face. You're up for quite an adventure if you're going that far."

"Yeah, we noticed, we were nearly eaten by giant dogs and Venom Scarabs already," Seven reminded, leaning on the table lazily. The Boar listened with calm ears, putting two and two together in his head on the Changeling and the horned Sphinx.

"hmm...ooohhh, I get it. You're helping the Changeling out, aren't you? Getting him back to his hive, that is."

"How'd you know?"

"Simple observation. I've heard of the hive down there, and since you have a Changeling for a friend, it's a bit obvious on the situation."

The Boar turned, and was just about to head outside when he looked out the window, and saw Cluutie up in the tree, looking more like a cocoon than a Thunderwyrm by that point. The Boar turned back to Vinrod and Seven.

"You two aware there is a Thunderwyrm cocoon outside?" The Boar asked, as Vinrod looked out to Cluutie.

"Oh, that's Cluutie. See, another friend of mine came back with her, and she came along while we're traveling about."

"Is that so? It's rare for a Thunderwyrm to accept traveling with others outside of it's kind...unless...Pardon me for asking, but, had either you or your Changeling bit it's tail when you first saw it?" The question was kinda confusing to say the least. Vinrod and Seven turned to each other, thinking, as Seven spoke up first.

"Well no, but what's that have to do with anything?" Seven asked, head tilted.

"Explanation starts now. The creatures are born blind, and unmoving, very sluggish. However, when the parent bites the Thunderwyrm's tail, it triggers the creatures inner bonding, and sees the biter as it's parent. In short, if you bite a larva Thunderwyrm, it won't leave you alone."

All of those facts... Made way too much sense...

The Boar gave a nod to Vinrod again, along with Seven, and started to walk out again.

"Well, thank you kindly for the syrup. I'll be on my way. Oodbyegay."

With that, the Boar headed off outside, and was on his way again. Vinrod turned back to the table, but Seven already had the gem to show Sugarworks. Vinrod went to the back once he heard a loud gasped from the back, and went in to see Seven holding the gem to Tal and Sugarworks. The earth pony took the gem and looked it over with a keen eye.

"Well I'll be. This is a legit gem," Sugarworks concluded, as Seven smiled proudly.

"So, will that be enough to pay for that bucket?"

"This is enough for 50 buckets!"

"Alright, sweet, well if you excuse me, we'll be off now," Seven said, heading for the exit. However, Tal blocked his path just as he was about to go, annoying the Changeling again.

"We can't go yet, Seven!"

"What, why not?"

"For one, Cluutie's still up in that tree, we can't leave without her. And second, it's almost the moonless hours."

"So? We went along just fine without shelter for weeks, I'm sure it won't make any -"

"Seven..." The Changeling looked right in Tal's eyes, seeing she won't change her mind any time soon. Her pet's up in that tree, and it ain't gonna come down because they say so. Vinrod moved over to the Changeling, and placed a foot on his shoulder. Seemed Seven's not getting a choice, again, so he just nodded and looked to Sugarworks.

"You have any guest rooms?"

~~

Sometime later, the group was brought up to the guest room. Unfortunately, there was only one room for them to share, and that alone was a bit of an issue they had to work out. The room only had one bed, right by the window, so who took the bed was indeed a strong bit of trouble. In the end, Tal took the bed while Seven and Vinrod ended up on rags on the floor for the moonless hours. It was rather uneventful, all together.

The moon rose back up, the group all ready to go. First one outside right away was Tal, who immediately rushed over to Cluutie's cocoon, still hanging up in the tree. It was a bit troubling to see the Thunderwyrm still up in the tree, especially for Tal.

"Still there? Geesh, now what?" Seven wondered, looking it over. Tal looked it over a number of times before she eventually got an idea. However, it was a hit and miss, so she turned to Sugarworks.

"Excuse me, is it possible to move the cocoon?"

"hm...Gotta be careful, but yeah, why?"

"You're up, Seven."

"Wait what?" Seven didn't exactly follow on what Tal was exactly saying, nor what she wanted done. Tal aimed her hoof up to the cocoon.

"Go up there and get that cocoon. Sooner you do, sooner we leave," Tal explained. Wanting to just go, Seven started up to the cocoon. It took a little bit of work, but he managed to pull the cocoon gently from it's branch, and brought it down to the ground. Upon Tal's request, Seven placed the cocoon on her back, just as if Cluutie wasn't in her cocoon. Vinrod looked over to Sugarworks.

"Thanks again for letting us stay for the night."

"Anytime. Now good luck on your journey youngsters," Sugarworks replied.

After that, the group began off on their way once again, now with Cluutie in her cocoon as well. The three could only wonder when Cluutie would come back to them.