Fallen Equestria

by Kickass222urmom

Brewing Storm

Chapter 8

The three figures stood at the edge of the forest, observing the town before them. The ponies were busy running around and piling up supplies in the middle of the town to notice the trio of bipeds.

"What's this all about?" one asked, their voice deep and raspy.

"No idea," responded another in a hoarse voice.

"I know what they're doing," replied the third one, their voice sounding as if it's coming from a radio. They looked over the town, taking in everything before setting his eyes upon something that caught his attention. "Well, that's interesting."

As the other two looked to where he was looking, they raised their eyebrows.

"What do you suppose they want?"

"Probably hunting them, if I had to guess."

"Well, that complicates things..."

ooo000<^>000ooo

"Hmm..." Bliss rubbed his chin as he stood atop a crate in the middle of town, watching the ponies add more and more food to the large cart that he'd borrowed from the mail service. He'd asked everyone to only bring what they could spare, but from the looks of the pile of hay, fruits, and vegetables, they were being a bit too gracious.

"No no," he called out, causing everyone to stop and look at him. "That's too much! There's only four of them, there's no need for that much!" He looked the pile over and shook his head. "And we need to organize the food, not just pile it up! Come on, ponies! We're smarter than this!"

Everyone around him smiled sheepishly as they started removing some of the food from the pile and putting it into appropriately labeled crates.

"Hey, Mayor Bliss!" came a feminine voice behind the frustrated mayor.

With a sigh, he forced a smile and turned around to look down at whoever was trying to get his attention. But upon seeing who it was, his smile turned sour. "What do you want, Nails?"

The mare named Nails smiled up at him as six other ponies stood behind her, "We want to come with you when you go back to these humans."

His frown deepened as he stared down at the seven ponies who had become a thorn in his side since the Battle of Maresaw. "You already know the answer to that question."

"Then we'll start getting ready to leave," Nails replied with a cocky smile as she raised her head boldly, causing some of her dirty purple mane to fall onto her face.

"You know what I meant," he said as he looked back at the ponies working around the cart. "I don't want you or your friends to screw up this deal I've made with them. We need it."

Nails set her jaw as she stared up at Bliss, thinking of what to say next. "What's the worst that could happen? Hm?"

"To be honest," Bliss replied as he turned back to look at her. "I'd rather not know."

"Come on, Bliss, you're always--"

"Royal guard's entering the town!" Came a cry, cutting off Nails before she could continue.

Bliss's eyes bulged as he turned towards the yelling and saw a group of Unicorns in blue and purple armor marching into town, heading straight for him. "Oh horseapples..."

"Mayor Bliss!" a commanding voice shouted out as the lead Unicorn stepped into the center of town, his eyes already on Bliss.

Bliss yelped and jumped off of his crate and quickly trotted towards the Unicorns, his ears pressed against his head. As he neared them, he forced himself to be cheerful and pleasant. "Commander Shinning Armor! What a pleasure to have you in our town! Tell me, what brings one of Equestria's Elite Four to our humble little town?"

The Commander looked past him at the cart filled with food and all of the ponies cowering around it. His stern look hardened as he looked back to Bliss. "As I'm sure you're aware, Commander Rainbow Dash had a confrontation with three dangerous creatures in your town earlier today. From the reports we gathered, they appeared to have been staying here. Is this correct?"

Bliss tried his hardest not to appear nervous or scared, but he knew his shaky voice betrayed him. "Ah... yes, they were staying here." He held up his hooves and waved them defensibly. "But that was before we knew who they were! The moment they told us that Princess Celestia was after them, we told them they had to leave and we were already planning to send word to you about it!"

Shinning Armor listened to every word Bliss said, watching his facial movements as he spoke. "I see. Care to explain why you yourself lied to Commander Rainbow Dash about their whereabouts when she first arrived in town? Because according to her report, you told her that you had no idea where the creatures were, and moments later said creatures attacked the Commander."

At this, Bliss began to sweat nervously. "I'm going to be honest with you... they threatened us. They have one of our fillies brainwashed into thinking they're the good guys. They threatened to hurt the filly if we told anyone about them before they could leave the town. We planned to send word to Princess Celestia as soon as we could, and opted to lie to Commander Rainbow Dash, for fear of the filly being harmed."

The Commander had watched Bliss very carefully, and so far his words and reactions seemed genuine. "Very well, but one more question." This caused Bliss to gulp. "What about all of that food behind you? Where is that going?"

Without missing a beat, Bliss responded, "That is for you. We felt bad that Commander Rainbow Dash was harmed in our town, so we wanted to send your forces a fair bit of supplies as compensation."

"I see," Shinning Armor mused as he thought the situation over. "You and your town are very loyal to Princess Celestia and her cause, and I will see that you are rewarded for that. We accept your offer of compensation, and I'm sure Commander Rainbow Dash will be very pleased to hear about this."

Bliss let out a sigh of relief, "Of course, Commander. Maresaw has always been loyal to the Princess, and nothing will ever break that loyalty."

"That's good to hear," Shinning Armor said with a nod. "Now, tell me, which way did these creatures head?"

"They went East, but that's all I know. I didn't dare send anyone to watch them after seeing what they did to the Commander and her group."

"That was a wise decision," the Commander complemented as he turned to face the armored Unicorns. "We're heading East! You four, I want you to gather up all of the food that they're offering and take it back to camp. The rest of you, follow me!"

As Commander Shinning Armor began to lead his group away from town, he stopped and eyed the seven ponies who had been talking to Bliss. He eyed them before holding up a hoof to halt his troops and walked towards them.

"You look familiar," he said with a glare as he looked at Nails. "Earth Pony with a rust colored coat and purple mane, goes by Sergeant Nails. Ring any bells?"

Nails cocked her head in clear confusion, her ears back in a show of submission. "Uh no? Should it?"

"What's your name, ma'am?" he asked, sizing her up. She looked to similar to who he was thinking about, so he wasn't leaving till he had his answers.

"Rusty Earth, Secretary to Mayor Bliss and Treasurer of Maresaw," she rattled off at once, not breaking her look of confusion.

Shinning Armor frowned as he looked back at Bliss. "Is that true?"

Bliss tried to hide his surprise, but upon seeing Nails smirk he knew what he had to say. "Eh yep! She's been my Secretary for the last two years! But she just became the towns treasure this year."

This didn't seem to please Shinning Armor, but he accepted it. "If you see a mare that looks like her, I want you to report her immediately. She's currently M.I.A. and wanted by the Princess for the crime of desertion."

"Of course!" Bliss responded, snapping a salute.

Shinning Armor didn't say anything else as he returned to his waiting troops and returned to his position in front of them. "Forward march!"

As they began to march out of town, heading East, Bliss turned back to watch the four Unicorns finish loading up all of the food onto the cart and were currently attaching themselves into the harness.

Once they were strapped in they began to pull the filled cart out of town, heading back the way they had come.

Finally, after every one of the soldiers were gone, Bliss rounded on Nails, who was currently sporting a huge grin. "You have some nerve!"

"What can I say?" she said as she gestured back to the ponies behind her, who were all sporting smug looks of their own. "I can lie on the spot, just like someone else we know."

Bliss frowned at her, "I do what I have to do to keep this town alive." He let out a sigh as he looked around at the ponies that had started to gather around them. "And now we don't have enough food for our new friends and ourselves..."

"I think we can cover that," Nails said with a smirk as she strolled up to stand face to face with Bliss, causing him to take a step back. "All you have to do is agree to our terms."

"I want to know what you plan to do before I agree to anything," Bliss said while glaring daggers at the mare.

"Simple," she said as she looked back to her friends. "Quartz, how much food do we have stored at home?"

Quartz, a Unicorn mare with a light gray coat and mane, smiled as she levitated up a notebook. "Well, we have enough for ourselves to last two weeks if we rationed it. But I fear that wouldn't be enough for us and those humans, if that's what you're planning, Sarge."

Nails gave a sharp nod as she turned back to Bliss, "With our food combined with what ever you can scrap together, I think that'll be enough. Don't you think?"

"And where did that food come from, hm?" Bliss asked, leaning towards her. "I doubt you just happened to have it laying around."

"Don't worry about it," she laughed as she patted him on the shoulder. "Now, if you want all that food, all you have to do is let us go with you to meet the humans."

Bliss bit his bottom lip, "You just don't give up, do you..." he let out a irritated sigh as he shook his head. "Fine! Go get this mysterious store of food you have and I'll gather the rest. We leave as soon as the sun sets."

"You heard him," Nails called out as she turned to her squad of ponies. "All of you head back to the house and start gathering all of our gear." She turned to the only Pegasus in the group, "Howling Wind, I want you to look over all of our armor and weapons and make sure it is ready."

Howling Wind gave a salute as he shot off, leaving just Nails and Bliss.

"Why did I run for Mayor..." Bliss groaned as he turned and walked back to the ponies who had been gathering the food.

Nails only smiled as she brushed her mane out of her face. Things were about to get interesting again.

ooo000<^>000ooo

Loric watched Wyntir sweep Honey Pie off of her hooves yet again, causing the little filly to fall to the ground and drop her stick that she'd been using as a sword. And just like the previous times, Ink Slinger made her protest known about how he shouldn't be so rough on her since she's still just a filly. Honey Pie, however, just stood back up and picked her 'sword' back in her mouth and stared defiantly up at Wyntir.

"Don't rely solely on your eyes, Pie," Wyntir instructed as he raised his stick sword up and stared down at her. "You have to keep your eyes on my eyes and watch my movements at the same time. But never look directly at my sword, because the moment you do, I can predict your movements and cause you to react to a feint. Got that?"

"Yeah!" she called out around the stick in her mouth.

"Good, now come at me again, and pay attention to where you place your hooves," Wyntir commanded, lowering himself a bit.

They'd been at this for the last four hours, and somehow Loric had been able to sit and watch the entire thing without getting bored. It was actually rather entertaining to watch a 6'4 muscular man try and teach a roughly three foot tall pony how to fight.

During the whole session, Ink Slinger kept trying to ask Loric personal questions, but he kept giving her made up answers. She actually believed him for a time, until she asked him about his early life and he told her he use to be a hamster. Well, she actually did believe him for a time, but she eventually put two and two together and shredded all of her notes she had taken on him and threw them into the little fire they had in front of themselves.

Kara, however, had been keeping herself busy with practicing some kind of magic. But Loric had no idea what exactly she was doing, because every time he or Ink tried to talk to her, she hushed them.

"Eep!" Honey Pie yelped as she ducked under a unexpected swing of Wyntir's 'sword'. She stood up and spit her stick out of her mouth and stared up at the large man. "You said you were only going to defend yourself, not go on the offensive!"

"Don't trust anything your opponent says," Wyntir replied, picking up her stick and holding it out to her. "But do you know what you just did?"

She stared up at him blankly for a few moments before her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. "I dodged you!"

"You dodged an unexpected attack," he corrected, a smile on his face as well. "Day one of training and you're already showing more promise than I did on my first month of training. Are you sure you haven't had any previous training?"

"Nope!" she said proudly, a large grin on her face. "I'm self taught!"

"Well, that's both impressive and bad," he said, causing her smile to falter. "By that, I mean people who are self taught usually get in the habit of doing things a certain way, and that may not be the correct way. That's why it's always better to be taught by someone with experience."

"So I may not be able to actually become a great swordsmare?" she asked, her lower lip trembling.

Wyntir rubbed his chin as he looked down at her, "Depends. If you're willing to listen to everything I say and accept everything I say as truth, then I might be able to help you get rid of any habits you might have accidentally taught yourself."

Honey Pie stood up straight and placed her hoof over her chest in a salute, just as Wyntir had taught her, and gave a firm nod. "I will!"

"Then there's hope for you yet to become a great swordsmare," Wyntir said as he held her stick out to her again and she took it.

"Aww, she's adorable!" Ink Slinger said as she wrote something into her notebook.

"I guess," Loric replied, finally turning away from the two and looked over to Kara.

"You can't not think that precious little thing is not adorable," she pressed, staring at Loric's back.

"That precious little thing is being trained how to kill others, ya know?" he countered, sounding a bit annoyed.

"She'll never do it, she's just training for the novelty of it," Ink Slinger said confidently. But she second guessed herself and looked back at the pair as they were already back to training. "Um... right?"

"Look, Miss Horny Pony," Loric snapped, staring back at the Unicorn. "Leave me alone for five minutes, okay? I know we're the only two not doing anything, but that doesn't mean I want to talk!"

She regarded him, an eyebrow raised. "Oh well excuse me, Mr. Grumpy Pants."

Loric chose not to acknowledge her and instead turned back to watch Kara.

Kara, however, was no longer messing around with her ball of light and was facing his general direction. A look of displeasure on her face.

"What?" Loric asked, spreading his hands out.

"What's wrong, Loric?" she asked calmly, getting a glare from Loric that she couldn't see.

He began to deny anything was wrong, but instead exhaled loudly and shook his head. "If you must know, I'm hungry. It's that damn simple!"

"And you get like this when hungry?" she asked, a coy smile on her face. "Oh you poor thing."

"Hey now," Loric said, a stern look on his face. "I'm not up to dealing with you right now."

Kara giggled and began to say something, but Loric suddenly hushed them. "Whoa, one second... I hear something."

"You do?" Ink Slinger asked, her ears twisting and turning, trying to pick up what ever he is hearing.

"Yeah, it sounds like something moving through the forest at a slow pace.... Hm..." he stood up and strolled towards the door.

As he reached the door and looked out, he thought he saw a flash of color down the path. But the darkness of the forest was hiding whatever was approaching from sight.

Wyntir and the others came up behind him and watched the path as what ever it was neared them.

Just as they were starting to get worried, a pony stepped out of the darkness and into the moonlight. The pony appeared to be a light blue Earth Pony stallion, and he had what appeared to be a few bags slung over his back. Upon seeing them, the pony waved and walked forward, followed by a few more ponies and a large cart.

"Stop right there," Wyntir commanded as he walked around Loric and out into the moonlight, standing a few yards away from the stallion.

"Oh, Mr. Caslin! It's me, Bliss! I've brought the food!" Bliss called out from the front of the cart as he helped pull it.

Bliss and the two other ponies brought the cart to a stop in front of Wyntir and began to unhitch themselves.

"That's good," he replied, looking at the other ponies, who seemed to be carrying bags of their own. "And what about these ponies? Why are they all here?"

"We're here because I'd like to have a word with you," a rust colored mare said as she boldly walked up to Wyntir and looked up at him. She was slightly taller than the other ponies, but only slightly.

Wyntir regarded her and her muscular build, but he just frowned at her. "This better not involve you staying here. We already have enough ponies here as it is."

The mare smiled confidently up at him, "I think you'll be willing to make an exception for us, big guy."

"No," Wyntir stated, looking up at Bliss, who was looking rather uncomfortable. "Take these ponies back with you when you leave."

He started to turn away from the mare, but she suddenly grabbed his wrist and jerked him back around to look at her. "What? You think just because we're smaller than you that we're useless?"

"Not at all," Wyntir replied as he pulled his hand out of her grip, slightly confused on how her hooves had even been able to grip him in the first place. "We just don't need anymore liabilities around here."

"I see," she said as she looked back at her companions and smiled. She looked back at Wyntir and held out a hoof, pointing up at him. "Then I challenge you to a friendly duel. No weapons. First one to fall down loses."

Wyntir stared back at her with an unamused look on his face. But, after a moment, he sighed. "Fine. I can't turn down a challenge while in front of my maiden." He looked back to Kara. "Kara, can you cast a light spell for me?"

She gave a single nod as she held out her tailsmen and chanted a few words. A moment later a small ball of light formed in front of her and slowly began to raise up above their heads, illuminating the area around them.

"Thank you," he said as he looked back to the mare before him. "Start when ever you are ready."

Nails smirked as she dashed towards the large man, acting as if she was going to tackle him, but just as she feinted a jump, she dashed to his side and tried to ram him. To her amazement, he did not fall for her feint and back stepped away from her, causing her to stumble. This annoyed her but she didn't let it faze her as she twisted her body and delivered a kick with her back legs. Wyntir just barely caught her back legs as they shot towards him, this surprised the mare as he let out a loud grunt as he raised her into the air and with all of his power threw her over his head by her hindlegs.

He twisted around to watch the mare fly towards the ground and just barely save herself as she landed on all fours, her mane now covering her entire face. Without a second of hesitation, she sprang forward, acting as if she was going to feint again. But just when he thought she was going to change directions, she continued forward. This caught him off guard as she slammed into him with enough force to knock the air out of him. He felt himself starting to fall backwards, but he wasn't about to be felled that easily.

With reflexes that spoke of years of training, his hands shot out and grabbed the mare around her midsection while she was still pressing against him with her head, and threw her sideways, righting himself as he did so. This caught the mare off guard as she went flying through the air and rag dolled across the ground and disappeared into the bushes.

Wyntir stood up straight and waited for her to returned, expecting her to come out angry and ready for round two. But instead, the mare walked out of the forest and casually walked up to him and held out her hoof.

"Now that was impressive," she said with a large smile, blood pouring down her face from a few cuts she'd received from sliding cross the ground and the bushes.

He looked at her hoof and her beaming smile, a neutral look on his face. He reached out and shook her hoof. "That last maneuver you performed was very impressive. You managed to fool me into thinking you were going to feint and come at me from another angle."

"What can I say?" she smirked. "I just know my stuff." She looked back at the ponies who had followed her and jerked her head to the cart. "Unload all of the food and prepare to head back."

"I thought you wanted a word with us," Wyntir said coolly, getting a raised eyebrow from the mare.

"I did, but I lost," a smile played across her face. "Or are you saying you still want to hear what we have to say regardless of how our fight ended?"

"Perhaps," Wyntir replied as he turned to head back into the building. "You can just bring all of that inside, I'll show you where to place it."

As Wyntir walked by, Loric frowned and looked at Kara and Ink Slinger. "I'm starting to think his tough guy attitude is just for show."

"How do you mean?" Ink Slinger asked, her head cocked to the side.

"He let you stay for starters," Loric said coldly, causing her ears to lower a bit. "And now he's letting those ponies in, and I'm pretty sure we all know they're wanting to stay."

"He has his reasons," Kara said with a small smile, but didn't elaborate on what she meant.

Loric shook his head at her as he walked towards the cart, "I'm starting to get annoyed with all of your mysterious crap."

"Um... is he going to be a danger to us?" Ink Slinger asked in a worried voice.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Kara said a bit to cheerfully as she slowly made her way back inside.

Ink Slinger stood there, scratching her head as one of the ponies began to walk past her with a crate of food on its back. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," she warned as the Earth Pony Mare walked past. A look of confusion spread across her face, but Ink just chuckled. "You'll see what I mean."

ooo000<^>000ooo

With all of the food placed off in the corner, and with Loric going through it like a mad dog, Wyntir, Honey Pie, and the seven ponies sat down in a circle around the little fire to talk. Kara and Ink Slinger sat off to the side, letting Wyntir handle everything. Bliss had taken Wyntir's list and was already on his way back to Maresaw, promising to do his best to get most, if not all, of the items listed.

"Alright," Wyntir began, getting the attention of the seven ponies around him. "What exactly do you want to talk about?"

"Not so much talk about," Nails began, having already introduced everyone. "More of a request."

Wyntir crossed his arms, "I'll stop you right there. I'm not willing to hear any request at the moment, especially if it's what I think it is."

"Now you just wait one moment and let me speak," Nails snapped, annoyance clear on her face.

He looked her over and nodded, "Alright, speak."

"That's better," she said as she brushed her mane out of her face. "First off, before I even make any kind of request, I think its fair that you know who we are, or were." At the nod of each of her companions she continued. "We use to be apart of Princess Celestia's army."

This caused Wyntir to tense up, but he didn't react in any other way, so she continued.

"Myself and my squad here," she gestured to the ponies around herself, "Were apart of the Vanguard for the Grand Army. The First Vanguard, as our company was called. I don't want to brag, but we were the best of the Vanguard Corps."

"Were?" Wyntir questioned, probing for an explanation.

She nodded, looking a bit sad. "We've always suffered heavy loses, but that's expected. But at the Battle of Maresaw we were all but wiped out. Both the First Vanguard and the Second Vanguard. That was half of the entire Vanguard Corps lost in a single battle." She waved her hoof around the circle, "Those ponies you see before you are the only surviving Vanguard from the Battle of Maresaw."

"So you deserted your post, am I correct?" Wyntir asked, an eyebrow arched as he listened.

"That's the gist of it," she said followed by a lighthearted chuckle. "I know, it looks bad. We basically ran away from battle. But you have to understand something," she leaned forward and held Wyntir's intense gaze. "We realized something during that battle, something that caused us to desert."

"And what was that?" Wyntir asked. Honey Pie leaned forward as well, her eyes wide as she listened.

Nails furrowed her eyebrows as she said, "Celestia doesn't care about anything else other than winning this war. She LET Maresaw be almost completely destroyed, along with its citizens, and she didn't even try and provide them with any kind of aid. As soon as the battle was over, she ordered all troops to pursue the enemy. Not once did she stop and consider the wounded and dead. I was among the wounded, so was everyone you see here with me. If it wasn't for Bliss and the ponies of Maresaw, we would have died."

"I take it your beloved Princess Celestia is no longer worthy of your respect," Loric said as he walked up, a sack filled with fruits held in one hand and a apple in the other. "Sounds like she's become quite the tyrant, wouldn't you say?"

Nails bit her lip at this, but she wasn't the one to answer.

"Normally, I would buck you into a wall for saying something like that," Star Trail, the other Earth Pony mare, said as she regarded Loric. "But, I have to agree with you. It's crossed my mind many times since that day, I just don't want to accept it."

"I know how you feel," Quartz said with a solemn look on her face. "I know none of us have wanted to talk about it, but I know we've all had the same thoughts. This war, along with the events regarding her sister, have not fared well with our Princess. I fear that its probably changed her for the worst."

"My thoughts exactly," Royal Riff, one of the Earth Pony stallions, added with a nod. "I've been thinking about it more and more lately, and after recent events, I've come to my own conclusion. And I think we're all on the same page here, so I'll just say it. Princess Celestia is nothing but a shadow of her former self, barely any better than King Sombra at this point. No, she's not going to enslave anypony, but she's treating us all like toys that she can just throw away without any remorse. Have any of you ever seen her cry over the death of another pony lately?"

"Well, I've heard her get mad about her 'little ponies' being killed, but to be honest, it's always come off as a spoiled brat who had one of their toys taken away. She treated us like objects that she owned, and not like the loyal subjects we were." Howling Wind lowered his head and looked at the fire, a small sigh escaping his lips.

Valiant Heart shook his head and used his magic to move his mane out of his face. "I think we should make it official. We've all thought about it and mentioned it, but I think we need to say it aloud and mean it." He looked around at his comrades and smiled. "And I'll be honest, I already feel better. Fuck Celestia." He held his hoof out, just above the fire.

"Fuck Celestia," Royal Riff and Star Trail said at the same time, putting their hooves over Valiant's.

"Yeah! Fuck Celestia!" Howling Wind cheered as he added his hoof to the mix, followed by Break, who could only smile and nod.

"This has been a long time coming. Fuck Celestia!" Quartz said happily as she placed her hoof over her friends.

Nails looked at her friends as they looked at her, all smiling confidently and proudly. "Finally!" She slammed her hoof onto theirs and declared, "Fuck Celestia!"

They threw their hooves into the hair and laughed. Their moment of joy was ended as both Loric and Wyntir began to slow clap.

"Bravo," Loric said in a dull voice. "You've finally woken up and said screw you to a tyrant. No really, bravo."

Wyntir didn't look to impressed either. "What is your request?"

The group of friends looked slightly taken aback, but Nails forced a smile back onto her face. "Well, we were hoping you'd let us... join you?"

"Say that again," Wyntir said, raising an eyebrow. "And sound like you mean it."

She blinked a few times before her confidence came back and she stood up and looked him right into his eyes. "We want to join you!"

"Are you sure?" Wyntir asked, looking at Loric.

"There's a pretty good chance everyone who follows us will die," Loric added, crossing his arms.

"Just a chance?" Howling Wind asked, rolling his eyes.

"Tell me something we don't know," Nails replied, also rolling her eyes.

"Well if you're sure," Wyntir held out his hand. "Then it's your funeral."

"As if!" Nails laughed as she took his hand in her hoof and gave it a firm shake.

Honey Pie ran up and held her hoof out to be shaken by Nails as well. "Welcome aboard! I'm Wyntir's squire, so that means I rank above all of you!"

Nails just chuckled as she shook the little fillies hoof, "I look forward to working under you, ma'am."

Honey Pie smiled up happily at the mare as she moved to shake everyone's hooves.

"Is this a good idea?" Loric quietly asked, watching the seven ex-soldier ponies talking to the young filly.

"We'll see," Wyntir replied as he let out a sigh. "I'm going to organize the food, you can do what ever."

"Most of it is okay, but they put hay and weeds in there for some reason," Loric warned as he followed after the slightly taller man.

Wyntir merely shrugged as he reached the crates. He'd just have to sort it all out himself.

ooo000<^>000ooo

"Nine ponies and three humans..."

"Is that a problem?"

"That depends."

The three figures slowly backed into the forest, leaving the lone building and its inhabitants behind.

Author's Note:

It's getting interesting.