Sidetracks and Gametrails
Chapter 11
Sidetracks and Game Trails
(edited by CosmicAfro and Neko-)
"No." One of many books was flung to the side, landing in a haphazard pile of its peers.
"Twilight." Spike picked up a book from the pile.
"No."
"It's getting late." He tapped her withers and grunted at the utter lack of response he received.
"No."
"Twilight!" he screamed.
"Gah!" Her study trance was shattered and more out of surprise than anger rounded on her assistant and yelled a very demanding "What!?", as she looked up from a large pile of reading material that she had been perusing, next to one equally large pile. With one another stack to the far side of the library that consisted of a paltry five books.
“It’s almost midnight Twi, if you don’t get some rest you won’t be ready to do... Whatever it is you’re going to do when you see that thing again.”
Twilight could only let out a sigh that was comprised of equal parts exhaustion and exasperation.
“Spike, I need to try to find as much relevant information on the Subject as I can. I have only a day to study anything I actually find.”
“Hey, with the slim pickings we’ve got so far, I think you could probably breeze through these in a couple of hours,” Spike remarked as he picked up the smaller stack, most of the books weren't that hefty, barely three hundred pages a piece.
Retrieving the book she had been checking from the floor, she returned it to the pile of hardcovers she was still working on with a tired sigh. The pile was literally half of the entire library.
In the secondary pile she had checked the glossary of each book, sorting them into two categories. First was “unlikely to have anything of importance”, History and Geography books as well as Encyclopedias and Autobiographies dominated this pile. While the last group could be classified as “may possibly have relevant information”.
This particular pile of books Spike was in the process of transferring to the reading desk. This pile contained a written recounting of the first encounters of the Zebrican tribes, a book on obscure folklore, the bibliography of Loopy 'the Liar' Cursive, a reproduction of a religious text from a very old -and very dead- griffon religion and the only book of notable size: A Complete Guide to Carpals.
“Oh, by the way Twilight, I sent the letter to Celestia like you wanted." The dragon of small stature paused his report when he noticed Twilight's head beginning to bob up and down in the tell tale sign of drowsiness. "I know this is really important, but you need to get some sleep,” Spike pleaded. He watched his caregiver mull his words over, just one more push. “Besides,” he quickly added. “The books aren’t going anywhere and you got a whole day and a half go get ready, you’re going to be fine.”
That seemed to placate her as she belted out a long yawn. “I suppose you’re right, but we’re picking up right where we left of first thing in the morning.”
“After breakfast?” Hope coloring the tone of Spike’s request.
“...After breakfast.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I hope I get breakfast.” Troy grumbled miserably as he tossed and turned in his sleeping bag.
After the whole fiasco with the tower he had barely enough sunlight to catch dinner before going to bed. If a fish the size of a thumb can count as whole meal. The night had not been kind; a severe wind chill had kept any semblance of warmth a fantasy.
The sun began to rise in the east, Troy yanked open his bloodshot peepers and took inventory.
Again.
As it stood, he was completely out of food. It was becoming increasingly apparent that he needed additional sources of nutrition.
Troy mentally weighted his two most prominent options, either explore the castle further or scavenge in the forest. While the castle posed a significantly lower risk, the decrepit nature of what was now his home did not bode well for an unprepared individual. He knew nowhere nearly enough about architecture, archeology, or well, anything of relevance to go about exploring ancient abandoned castles. He’d have to wait for the purple pony to come back, if nothing else to have some backup in case things went sideways. Even then, finding a source of food was a long shot at best. His home had likely been picked clean long ago, or something down there was waiting for him with similar hunger related issues.
So that left exploring the forest, which was full of unknowns, but at least held the tenuous promise that he might recognize something edible. Or something recognized him as edible, whichever came first.
At the thought of food his stomach grumbled, voicing it’s displeasure about the meager offerings of the day before. Maybe he’d be more successful with his fishing endeavors today.
It was only a half hour later that he was sitting on top of a river rock glowering at the offending body of water.
Not one.
Not one single fish was to be found.
Troy regretted not at least attempting to clean the chicken monster from the day before and had to keep himself from going to retrieve it. It was likely rancid by now, and while he had decided to play it safe, he was still going to regret it either way.
Squirming to find an adequate level of comfort on the rock he sat on, he considered his options one last time. He could try to either find something edible either in the castle or the forest. The resources near the castle were drying up fast and what he would be able to find would be meager at best. While the forest wasn’t much better, it was possible he could stumble upon some berry bushes or game.
The hiker gave a hefty sigh before beginning his trek towards the castle interior. His only realistic options were to forage or explore. As it was now, exploring was fairly low on his priorities. Troy strode towards the archway that led to the main hall when something caught his eye. The drawings from the night previous, mapping out buildings and hills and rivers alike.
I wonder what they would think if I showed up for dinner...
That errant thought stopped Troy dead in his tracks. He hadn’t even considered asking the ponies for food. Part of him wished he could ask, but the idea of begging for scraps from anyone he had just met, pony or otherwise, raised some serious problems with his pride. However, starvation was a real possibility in the long run. Sooner or later, he'd probably have to cave. He fixed his gaze on the map, three “safe” spots had been pointed out: the Farm, the Cottage, and the Hut that he had stumbled on before.
A moment of contemplation passed before he smudged out the map with his foot, he’d wait until after the meeting tomorrow at the very least before he started to scrape and beg. He could go hungry for a day or two if worst came to worst.
After getting a clean sweatshirt and checking the straps on the sheaths for his knife and axe he made his way over the bridge, which to his surprise hadn’t lost tension over the night. Instead it seemed to have become sturdier somehow. As he reached the other side of the ravine he gave a cursory glance over the structure and what he saw was unexpected to say the least.
The vines that he had used for the majority of the structure had seemed to spread roots into the ground. On closer inspection he could see small leaves occasionally budding here and there along the stem.
Huh.
That would mean maintenance on the bridge would be markedly easier.
Turning back to the path and carefully treading on his forest trail. He let his gaze dance from treeshadow to treeshadow, searching for the hidden promise of violence. After a few minutes of passing the treeline the hiker noticed something rather disturbing, the forest was quiet. Not unnaturally so, but definitely subdued.
The idea of simply waiting back at the castle for the purple pony suddenly seemed like the very attractive option. However, his stomach demanded he continue his search for sustenance. While he briefly worried about missing the pony if he was waylaid the thought was quickly brushed aside. Getting lost was a very real possibility if he wasn't careful, and in all realistic likelihood, if he couldn’t make it back in a day and a half, it was unlikely he would be in a state to come back at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsewhere…
Zecora let out a large yawn as she tightened the straps on her saddlebags. Even after all the rest she had yesterday she was still exhausted from the ordeal with the cutie mark crusaders. All that mattered now was the fillies were safe, sound and back in Ponyville where they belonged. All things considered it was well worth the fatigue compared to what could have transpired.
Tossing aside that morbid train of thought she quickly glanced over the interior of her hut one last time. The embers in the fireplace had been extinguished, the shutters closed along with the flue and with a swift kick and a turn of a key she was free to collect her herbs.
Unsuccessfully suppressing another yawn, she made her way deeper into the forest. Though she was thoroughly worn out, her weariness was nowhere near as bad as compared to what she had felt yesterday. She had woken up with a dull ache in her hindquarters she couldn’t quite account for. She was also vaguely aware that Twilight had come over to talk about... something. Though Ms. Sparkle seemed to posses enough presence of mind to postpone whatever it was she wanted. Zecora had slept rather soundly after that.
This morning was definitely better, she still felt fairly drained, but at the very least she could get some work done before nodding off again. As soon as she filled her saddlebags she could go home, fix lunch, eat and go to bed once more.
She set off into the forest, going over the herbs she would need one more time in her mind.
Elderberries for bruises and sprains.
Boswellia sap to ease your pains.
Comfrey leaf for burns and teas.
Colt’s Hoof stem for a cough and wheeze.
Bridle stalks to clear the nose.
And Sparkstar Acorns for when a cold wind blows.
Satisfied she turned on to one of her lesser utilized trails, picking from one area too frequently would damage the plants she needed. Better to cast a wide net and draw from many sources than wipe out each individual resource in turn.
The elderberries were easy enough to find, with their deep red hue quite clear in the mid‐afternoon sun. Boswellia sap was a tad more difficult to collect, it required somepony to deeply score the tree to allow the fragrant sap to bleed out and dry, as it was far too thick to gather by tapping the scrubby tree like a Maple. She’d have to come back tomorrow to collect her prize. It never ceased to amaze Zecora just how many different plants seemed to sprout almost randomly in the forest. She knew that the Boswellia preferred a much more arid climate, usually popping up in the deserts and plains that dotted Zebrica, and yet here one stood. The short little tree could easily be confused for a large bush, but while one would think that a desert dwelling plant would stick out like a sore hoof, it did not. The Boswellia seemed to mesh in perfectly with it’s more temperate brethren.
Zecora let a smile play across her face as she wondered what the academics up in Canterlot or Lusaka would think if they knew how truly odd this forest was. Often she would find plants that would be impossible to grow in the same climate sprouting right next to one another, almost as if the forest was being purposefully contradictory. Shaking her head at the absurdity of the woods she called home she set off in search of some Comfrey. After a bit of searching she was able to locate a small shrub, but it had wilted beyond use and had been grown over by a fern. Giving a small sigh the zebra walked toward a glade that she knew had an abundance of the bush she needed.
Zecora paused, something was off. While birdsong still rung out in the midday sun, it was distant, quiet. The birds of the Everfree were much more flighty than the ones that frequented pony lands. More skittish, more attuned to dangers of the woods.
Something was amiss. Zecora scanned the forest for any sign of danger. When nothing became immediately apparent she carefully began to back up slowly towards a nearby bush. Staying out in the open could be deadly with some of the creatures that stalked the Everfree forest. She quickly turned and charged through the shrubbery, she needed to get back to her hut if‐
KLONK!
Zecora reared out of the brush and on to her rump. She rubbed her forehead as pain pounded through her skull like a heavy drumbeat. What had she run into? Almost immediately a low, pained growl answered her unspoken question. The sound didn’t come from any creature she knew. She quickly gathered her hooves underneath her in preparation of retreat, if she was lucky she would be able to escape before whatever predator she had struck had a chance to retaliate.
However, before the shaman could take a single step she heard something that gave her pause. It was alien to her, strange and unknowable yet plain as day. Speech. The whatever lay behind the bush spoke in a foreign tongue and it’s tone was underscored by severe discomfort. Was there someone else in the forest?
Rising slowly, Zecora stuck her head through the bush. On the other side, what she saw was unlike any manner of creature she had seen before. The stranger lay face down and its long and lanky body was almost completely covered in clothes, odd. It let out another low grumble as it climbed to it’s feet and rose to a quite intimidating height. Zecora found herself in awe of the specimen in front of her. Whatever it was, it was magnificent. Fully upright with a strong posture, her eyes were drawn to the strange appendage on its foreleg as it rubbed the back of its head. It was not unlike what she had seen of Minotaurs and Diamond Dogs. Five individual digits, one more than either of its canine or bovine counterparts she noted, wove their way through the creatures short mane. They were long and thin, portraying dexterity and precision rather than power.
Her trance like wonder was broken as the creature turned its head, its features creased in a menacing glare as its eyes briefly searched before zeroing in on the awestruck shaman. As its gaze settled on her, Zecora felt her wonder transform into unease, but before any misgivings could fully coalesce the glare shifted into a look of surprise or perhaps confusion. It was hard to tell when its eyes were so small. Almost as fast as the expression had appeared, it disappeared leaving an expression she couldn’t decipher in it’s place.
After a moment it bowed and growled out another baffling string of syllables.
Zecora mimicked the motion, “How do you do, I have never before had the pleasure of meeting one such as you.”
The newcomer only let out a few more gargled words followed by a head shake.
The zebrican medicine mare paused for a moment, it seemed it either couldn’t speak in the equestrian tongue or didn’t know how. She pondered the possibilities for a moment and settled for one last try, it was a long shot, but stranger things have happened.
“Je, kuzungumza lugha hii?”
Her Zebrican only got a blank look and a repeat performance complete with vigorous head shaking, earning a wistful sigh from the zebra.
“While it is understanding both of us seeks, it would seem we can’t understand what the other speaks.”
A passive grunt was all she got, and all she had expected.
After that a awkward silence settled upon the two as most topics for the lingually impaired duo had dried up for the moment.
With nothing else to do she turned and continued down the path, those herbs weren’t going to pick themselves after all. Zecora did her best to watch her new acquaintance out of the corner of her eye as she left. It wasn’t to hard, as its size didn’t exactly make for a stealthy profile. She couldn’t help but feel her thoughts drift to where such a thing could hail from. She shrugged the thought off as she pushed past some rather clingy branches and out of sight.
However, her curiosity kept an equally brisk pace and she soon found it at the forefront of her mind again. Surely if such a magnificent beast was known to the world there would have been a massive uproar about the discovery. Every day more of the world was explored and charted, where had this strange being and its kindred sequestered themselves to for all this time?
Zecora’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rustling in the brush behind her, as a familiar form plunged through the foliage. Apparently her new companion had decided to follow her, though for what reason she didn’t know. However, it was glaringly apparent that its actions were not motivated by hostility, but rather simple curiosity. It’s movements and overall demeanor was relaxed, subdued, though it did keep a respectful distance. Stopping when she stopped, walking when she walked. While she kept an eye on her not so little tag along, she finally managed to find her herbs. Dotting a small glen were an assortment of Comfrey shrubs of varying sizes.
She pried leaves from the nearest shrubbery and began the process of filling her bags. Not only were the leaves useful for medicinal purposes, but made an excellent tea as well. Or at least she had heard, she imagined it had to be heavily diluted. Comfrey was poisonous in large doses and could cause liver damage to the unwary. Of course, sometimes the key to proper medicine was applying the right amount of poison in the right situation.
She was halfway through her errand when she heard the sound of more leaves being stripped from their branches. To her surprise she saw her companion drop some Comfrey leaves into her bag. Upon noticing her attention he, at least she guessed it was a he, withdrew a step but continued to gather more leaves. Zecora couldn’t help but laugh, she would have never guessed that one day while walking in the woods she would suddenly stumble upon an assistant. Not one to turn away help, she soon had all the Comfrey leaves she could conceivably need.
As she prepared to head to the next grove of herbs she cast an appraising glance over her new friend. He hadn’t made any indication that he would continue to follow her, but the attention he gave her seemed to indicate he wanted something. Or maybe say something, it was difficult to tell with those tiny eyes. Soon she found herself getting lost in the strangeness of her new companion once more. The strange devices on it’s hind legs for example, what what was their function and what were they called?
This line of inquiry brought up another question. What was the creature called? What was it's name? It was at this point Zecora realized she hadn’t properly introduced herself, and decided to rectify the matter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Troy watched as the short little zebra warbled something at him. By now the series of equine gestures for ‘Hello, my name is: X. What’s yours?’ was glaringly obvious. One, 'Me Tarzan, You Pony' shtick later they were on their way to the next batch of vegetable matter the ‘Zebra of oddly minimal size’ seemed to require.
This time they were in a clearing surrounded with what looked like dandelions, with a few small patches of leaves and various ground cover sprouting here and there. The Zebra began to pick a few oddly shaped leaves from each small bush before placing them into her bags. Troy deciding to go with the logic 'Helpful is non-threatening' and followed suit. Though truth be told, his neighbor didn’t seem to mind his presence terribly. Maybe he had been over cautious, If she didn’t pay him much mind maybe the ponies wouldn’t either. Then his thoughts snapped back to the map the unicorn had shown him the day before.
The town was clearly off limits. Hard to misinterpret a giant red X. So then why is it off limits?
He pondered this as he helped his new found friend collect various herbs and plant bits, hoping they’d stumble on something obviously edible like a berry bush. If he could get her to sound off and tell him, or at least signal in some fashion whether or not it was safe to eat, it would give him a huge advantage.
Eventually they came to wide stream. Wide, but very shallow as his current guide trotted through the current and didn’t even get her ankles wet. Or at least whatever the Zebra alternative for ankles was anyway. She was heading to a large rock formation that seemed to be smack dab in the center of the river. The formation itself was definitely odd, it looked like someone had set down a chunk off of a cliff side and then forgot about it. Regardless, Troy followed her to the little gray crag of an island.
It was when the zebra first stepped on to the island and her hooves shot through what Troy had taken to be solid stone that he realized the island wasn’t just some fancy rock formation, it was also absolutely caked with ash.
Where did all this come from?
His monochrome guide hopped up a series of outcroppings that formed a natural staircase, though calling it that would make it sound deceptively easy to traverse. The smallest ledge was just above two feet tall, with the bigger steps nearly reaching four feet.
All that said, his four legged friend was taking these ‘stairs’ like a champ. To the point Troy was having a little trouble keeping up. Though fortunately for him the island wasn’t nearly as monolithic as it first appeared and they both soon reached the top. But, unfortunately for him, the ash had been rather effective at hiding the sharpness of some of the stone outcropping's. While he had managed to avoid cutting himself, his hands were absolutely raw and he was out of breath.
How the hell did she climb so fast? She had to jump her full height for some of those ledges! I mean-
...woah.
The grueling climb had been well worth the effort to see the wonder that lay before him. While he definitely had a decent view of the forest and a rather picturesque view of a waterfall, it was the tree that grew in the center of this island that drew his full attention. It’s bark was black and bumpy like boiling pitch, and clinging to its black branches was what looked looked like a little cloud of smoke. It was a lighter gray than the ash that layered the ground and seemed to roll and writhe, like the smog of an ancient forest fire had been snagged and caught by the tree. On the boughs hung massive, oddly shaped acorns. Their contours were sharp rather than smooth, with small spikes protruding at various points, not to mention each acorn was roughly the size of a grapefruit.
Troy reached for one of the lower hanging branches and tried to pull at the undulating smokey mass, only to find that it wasn’t a singular mass at all, but rather, thousands upon thousands of long slender leaves. They had merely looked solid from a distance, though even standing right next to them he could barely make out an individual leaf. He plucked one from the tree for a better look, it had a bizarre and jagged pattern of veins running through it, but before he could glimpse any more detail from the long silverish strand, it quickly began to darken before it crumbled to pieces. He smudged what little remained between his fingers, where it blended in perfectly with the rest of the ash covering his hands.
Troy blinked as he realized he was actually standing under the source of the ashes that covered the island. He had to marvel at the oddity of nature that bent in the breeze before him. The topiary looked wicked to be sure, but it also had an alien beauty to it. However something seemed off to him, and it took him a minute before he noticed his tracks. They became deeper the farther away he got from the tree.
His confusion was interrupted by what sounded like a cross between a snicker and a nicker. His Zebra guide gave him a knowing smile as she dusted off a long pole that appeared to be a lengthy butterfly net with a pruning shear attachment. The shears were operated by a piece of rope, and oddly enough the net itself seemed to be made of wire and metal tubes. She slowly maneuvered the contraption under one of the acorns adorning the higher branches and with practiced ease snipped the stem, with the seed falling into the net.
It was actually rather impressive the way she had handled the unwieldy looking pole. As the Zebra began to slowly lower her prize Troy figured he might as well speed up the process and began to climb the tree towards the lowest acorn bearing branch. His guides cry of alarm caught up with him as he reached the bough, he turned as he tried to shake one of the massive seeds free.
“It’s fine!” He called, “I’ll just get a few and we’ll be-”
As he was talking one of the acorns fell from the branch, and it was at this moment he noticed the look of panic on his newest acquaintance's muzzle as her eyes followed the softball sized nut to the ground. Where the seed immediately burst into a brilliant crimson flame as it struck the stone, almost like a road flare. What's more, to Troy’s intimidate surprise the ash adjacent to the fire began to catch as well.
“Oh shit.”
The Zebra was quick as a flash and swept most of the ash away with a single swipe of her tail, creating a small half circle gap between the flare and the Definitely-Not-Ash surrounding the tree, confining the blaze to a small gap in the roots next to the trunk.
Troy leapt from his branch and ran towards the blaze, he had to stamp it out, if the plateau went up they’d both go with it. Just as he reached the flames he raised his boot and immediately felt the seat of his pants yank violently backwards. He sprawled onto his back kicking up more of the flammable gray tree dust, before he could get to his feet or voice his discontent a strong but gentle hoof came down on his chest, keeping him from rising. His eyes darted to the hoof’s owner as she looked down on him. Her expression was unreadable, neutral. She gestured to the guttering flames as a silhouette began to appear in the blaze.
In the place of the acorn lay a wicked looking spike, supported by three other spikes. As the fire began to die he could clearly see a wicked looking caltrop made of burnt wood sitting in a pile of smoldering embers.
As the last flecks of fire finally extinguished themselves the hoof on Troy’s chest relented and he scrambled to his feet. He slowly approached the remains of what could only be the most nefarious of acorns. The points were wicked sharp, and the spikes themselves were at least as strong as the thorns on a mesquite bush, and those could tear through car tires.
Troy turned to his companion and wracked his brain for a proper apology, only to find none. After a moment he simply hung his head. It was all he really could do, he had inadvertently come within inches of burning the both of them to a cinder. But before he could admonish himself further a familiar hoof tapped him on the thigh. He looked down at the Zebra he now owed his life to, and watched as that neutral expression melted into a knowing smile. She flipped her raised hoof to reveal a faded circular scar.
It didn’t take long for Troy to put two and two together, apparently he wasn’t alone in his mistake. He watched numbly as his guide gathered up the acorn from her pruning pole and scooped up some of the flammable ashes that littered the ground into a glass jar. At this point the zebra was less black and white, and more greyish black and grey, though he wasn’t exactly Mr. Clean himself either. After a relatively easy jaunt down the massive stone staircase his guide began to wash herself off in the stream as he looked on with envy. As he was practically caked in grey dust, and had to settle for washing his hands before taking off his sweatshirt and began to beat the Not-Ash from his clothes.
Man, I just washed these yesterday.
Troy kept trying to get as much of the grey stuff out of his clothes on the way back to the hut. When they finally reached the hovel he let out a super sized sigh of relief and leaned on the tree house as his exhaustion caught up with him. Slumping to the ground, he closed his eyes and simply prayed his new found neighbor wouldn’t mind if he took a nap on her front porch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zecora smiled as she heard the soft snores of her new friend as she milled about her hut. One by one she sorted and stored her various herbs and ingredients, taking extra care with the Sparkstar Acorn. She had managed to get only one this time, still considering the disaster that had almost claimed both of their lives, it was a success all the same. Still, she should have expected her helper to try and well, HELP.
She silently scolded herself for not thinking to tell him to stay put or warn him about the tree’s dangers, language barriers or no. The stranger sleeping on her doorstep had no ill intent. She had failed to warn it, but if the growling of it’s stomach was any indication, a good meal would probably help make up for the fright. She began to throw various plants into her cauldron, she had one big guest, and a big stomach to fill. As a low grumble resonated from her own gut, Zecora idly wondered how her guest would like split pea soup.
Soon the rich smell of soup began to waft about the hut. As soon as she deemed the brew worthy she dished up a pair of bowls and trotted out with them placed squarely on her haunches. Her new friend was right where she left him, drooling on himself. It took only a moment for the soup to work it’s magic and soon she was greeted with those small blue eyes. She set down a single bowl of soup and slid it forwards. Needing no further convincing her helper picked up the bowl, took a single sniff, then lifted the vessel and began to gulp down his meal. Soon the bowl was drained, and he was licking the remnants from his dish.
Zecora could only laugh and slid over her bowl as well. She motioned for her new friend to come inside, as she began to wonder if she had made enough food.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Why is it that idiots and matches always seem to find one another?”
—Anonymous
Stats
Page generated in 0.038 seconds
Total duration
1,029 users online
1,808,918 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Tried to post this earlier, but the site was down. What are the odds?
I was certainly not expecting this at 2 A.M.
And now there is no hope for sleep. Good day and thanks for the update!
To 'delude' is to fool someone or something.
'Diluted' is the word you were looking for.
It's here! I guess I don't need to sleep for a little while longer anyways...
4017149
Knowing the universe. 1 in 2. Then again, never tell me the odds. :P
Interesting setup chapter. I wonder where you shall go from here.
WOO UPDATE!
What d'you think, Pinkie?
Pinkie: http://youtu.be/2s6BSQh2EKs
In all seriousness, looking forward to the revised chapters, especially the ones with the CMC's perspective, and here's hoping that the next brand new chapter will come sometime before Christmas.
I missed this story, glad to see an update
Man I was so close to removing this from my favorites as abandoned, I'm glad I no longer need to do that.
That was awesome. Yeah it sucks having to wait so long but it's nice to know this story's still alive and will continue to update. Troy made some progress, made a unicorn go nuts, got some food, and made a friend. Not bad for one day.
Now let's see how it will turn out with Twilik Carbunkle: The Return and how Sunbutt will handle things...
Sleep is for the weak! Read on!
Sleep is for the weak!!
Nice!!! Glad to see an update in this story :). Hope the updates come more frequently now ^_^
Humans are curious beings, show them a buttons that says "PLANET DESTROYER! DO NOT PRESS!" and they will press it, just to see if anything happens.
Human 1: "Why did you blow up the planet?!"
Human 2: "I didn't think it would actually blow up the planet! I mean, who even makes a planet destroyer anyway?"
Welcome back! You have been missed. ^^
Yes! It lives!
now to reread this whole story so I can remember what the heck is going on.
Because history repeats its self.
It's how fire was discovered in the first place.
So far so good… keep up the good work, and thanks for the Herculean effort getting this sucker out here for us!
As is a bowl of split-pea soup to the hungry HIE, so is an update to the lurking reader of MLP fanfic! Huzzah!
4017149
one extra what they.
4017222
My thoughts exactly -- it's 4:24AM here. I couldn't go to bed 'til I finished.
4017149
wouldn't that be too instead of to?
4017149
more.
OH GOD YES IT UPDATED
AND IT WAS SO GOOD
Great little rhyme and follow-up collection of the plants, that was some neat little world-building!
IT LIVES!!! I'd nearly forgotten about this story good to see it up and running again
.
Is the ZOMS related to the ROUS?
Sees this has updated.
.... Yeah.
just got on my phone to see what stories had updated before I got home....it went like dis
4017149
I think you need to look at this.
I'll tell you what my dad told me. Matches and idiots find each other because idiots are the best at finding the dangerous things... like when I was five and I set my thumb on fire...
4017351
I was wondering if anyone was going to catch that.
I'm not gonna lie, when I saw the update I orgasmed. Hard.
Greate chapter and great quote at the end, adds a nice touch
Awesome chapter.
It'd be funny if Twilight decided to ask Zecora if she knew of anything like this, and she'd say "no idea, but I fed him lunch". But with rhymes.
I am wondering about something:
a very old- and very dead -griffon religion
Are you aware of a relatively easy way to produce the em-dashes or en-dashes these hyphens are substituting for? Hold down Alt and type the appropriate code.
Alt+0151—like so.
Alt+0150–like so.
Satan's acorns. Damn it Everfree.
I like the name of the Sprakstar Acorns, it's prickly and has teeth so I hope this isn't a typo for correction.
Neat. Got featured again man.
EEEEEEEEE~!!!!!
happy!
th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/155/1/e/indeed_by_starwaltstudios-d67ukah.png
oh the site was only down for over 8 hours... no biggie.... Not like any of us suffered pony related withdrawal
4017506
Noted. That was my change and I should have known about this.
Take me away, boys, send me to grammar prison.
Went to sleep, woke up the next day and the update was there! Spent a bit more than half an hour reading this. Nice chapter and thank you for the update!
I forgot this story even existed, WELCOME BACK! Can't wait to see how this unfolds
...There are no words to describe how happy I am that this has updated. Though, no offence meant, the unedited nature of this chapter is rather pronounced.
Still, it was awesome to get more of this particular tale.
...eeeEEEEEEE! I still can't get over that this story updated, the warm and fuzzies are undeniable, as is the wide grin that I'm still sporting.
Zecora got a new pal!
I find it impossible to embed a video when using an iPad for this site. Any help?
Yes! It's back!
4017876
Replace the mobile links with the desktop ones,
m.youtube > www.youtube
4017250 imgs.xkcd.com/comics/the_difference.png
It's because idiots always know where the nearest match is
