Rose and Sam
Chapter 1: The Creature
Admiral Biscuit
The first I heard about the creature was in one of Lily’s conspiracy theory newspapers. I didn’t usually read those, since they just made me nervous, but she’d left it out and the headline caught my attention.
The creature had been spotted by passengers on a Ponyville-bound train, and the witnesses who had described it had been remarkably consistent about its appearance—bipedal, wearing tattered clothes, a brownish mane, and that it appeared to be heading in the direction of Ponyville.
Of course, it was all Lily could talk about, offering her own speculation on what it might be capable of and why it might have come to Ponyville and why it might have walked near the railroad tracks to begin with. Could it have been trying to wreck a train?
Over the next couple of weeks, a few more distant sightings were reported from overflying pegasi, vague enough they could have been that creature or they could have been anything else. A few ponies saw strange shadow-shapes in the Everfree, but that was little to go on. No trains were wrecked.
Roma claimed that it had sneaked into her garden and stolen some tomatoes, and after that there was a brief flurry of speculation around half-eaten food vanishing from compost piles near the edges of town. Nopony really thought that there was anything remarkable about that; plenty of animals would take food from a compost heap; likely as not, the actual culprit was a raccoon or an opossum or maybe even a skunk.
Even Lily stopped talking about it after a few weeks. It was probably a diamond dog or a juvenile minotaur who had been misidentified, coupled with some overly reactionary ponies jumping at literal shadows. Besides, there were other, more immediate threats to worry about.
Then once the whispers had nearly died down, somepony mentioned that Berry Black, a donkey who lived in the Everfree and made his living gathering firewood, had the creature as a helper. Nopony wanted to go into the forest and find out for sure, and the creature—if it existed at all—didn’t accompany him into town when he delivered logs.
I kept an eye out for him just the same, and spotted him a couple of days later, his wagon empty of firewood and loaded up with supplies instead. He was a familiar-enough sight in town, but nopony really trusted him all that much. If anypony would have a monster for a helper, it would have been him.
I didn’t see any mysterious creature with him, nor could I see one waiting on the edge of the woods for his return, so surely it was an unfounded rumor. If he really had the creature working with him, why wouldn’t he bring it into town to help him unload his wagon?
Then one day I was at the train station, waiting in line to send a telegram, and I happened to glance over at the platform and Berry Black was out there, waiting for a train. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him—or any donkey—riding a train before. I wasn’t sure that was allowed, although if they’d sold him a ticket it must be. Spike was the only non-pony I’d ever seen on a train.
By the time I’d finished sending my telegram, I’d almost forgotten about it. When I got home, though, Lily was practically dancing on her hooves with a combination of fright and eagerness.
“It’s real!” she told me.
“What’s real?”
“The creature in the Everfree! I went to Sugarcube Corner and got donuts for us—” she gestured vaguely towards the kitchen— “and I heard it from Red Gala who was telling Florina about how she’d overheard from Apple Cider that Berry Black was going on vacation and he’d loaned the creature to Ginger Gold to chop and stack firewood out at her woodlot.”
At first I thought that this was going to be another ‘sighting’ where somepony had overheard a conversation from somepony else who’d heard it from a third pony, but my ears perked when she mentioned Berry Black—I had seen him on the station platform, and why would he be waiting for a train if he wasn’t going somewhere?
If it really existed and if it really was working for Ginger Gold, it would be easy enough to find out. Her woodlot wasn’t that far from our house.
“I don’t like that look in your eyes,” Lily said. “You stay away from it, it might be dangerous.”
“Nopony would allow it in town if it was,” I countered. “Ginger wouldn’t have it in her lot, wouldn’t let it near her axes and mauls. Have you talked to anypony who’s actually seen it up close?”
Lily shook her head.
“It’s probably another rumor, then.”
“It isn’t, Red Gala wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true.”
Just then the front door opened, and both of us jumped. It was just Daisy, who looked between the two of us with confusion.
At that moment, my mind was made up. No more jumping at shadows. “Daisy, do you want to go with me to look for a monster?”
•••
“What’s gotten into you?” Daisy asked as the two of us made our way through town.
“I don’t think the creature’s real,” I said. “I think it’s just another thing that Lily’s obsessing over, or at least I thought that until I saw Berry Black at the train station. Maybe it is real, and maybe if I—if we see it with our own eyes and smell it with our own noses she’ll stop worrying about it.”
“I doubt that,” Daisy said. “But I’m curious, and it should be safe in town, there’ll be other ponies around.”
We were still a few blocks away when the distinctive sound of an axe splitting wood began cutting through the normal sounds of Ponyville. Both of us fell silent as we got closer. Finally, Daisy spoke. “That doesn’t sound like Ginger’s normal rhythm.”
“Maybe the creature is real.”
“She hires other ponies to help out all the time, it could be anypony.”
That was true—and she wasn’t alone in that. Lots of ponies had busy times and slack times, and sometimes hired extra help. We did. There was always a need for additional labor in a farming town during busy seasons, and while it was too early in the year for Ginger to be really busy, firewood didn’t go bad if it sat around for a while, and she was shrewd enough to get extra help and build up her stock for winter if it was offered.
Then as we rounded the corner and caught the first glimpse of her woodlot, there could be no doubt: the creature was real and it was there splitting wood.
Sam has been in Equestria so long she forgot about the possibility of another human hasn’t she. I wonder how this meeting will go? Also put me down for the unknown human being a male.
200th story is off to a great start!
Hmm, you'll have to pick one.
Oh man, I forgot about this, this’ll be good. Good running to, I really needed this, I just had a part fail on my aquarium … along with the replacement part. But that’s a problem for tomorrow.
And we're off to the races.
¡Happy 200th Story!
All sapients are equal, but some sapients are more equal than others.
Ooh, this is a good start. I'm excited.
Also, this reminds me of when I started following you.
I saw ADiS's Business Trip in the feature box, read it, loved it, noticed the link to the not-a-contest in the description, and decided I needed more PoE fics, so I took a look at your stuff.
One thing lead to another, and I stayed up until like 4am reading about Sam and Rose. Totally worth it.
11037338
I was thinking the same thing.
The conspiracy ponies were, in fact, massively disappointed by this
I honestly don't think anyone would even make a big deal about a human; it's just a less-threatening, hornless version of a minotaur. It doesn't even have hooves to kick with!
...really, Rose? Maybe to avoid panic?
Woah, hol' up. Casual racism there!
Oooh, this is unfinished? Nice! We're getting Sam's full story, then, finally!
Remarks and corrections:
> there could be no doubt: the creature was real and that it was there splitting wood.
Feels like the "that" shouldn't be there. This sentence should probably be
"there could be no doubt: the creature was real, and it was there, splitting wood."
11037185
That’s probably not another human. That’s probably Sam and this story is, most likely, a prequel to the series - I vaguely recall Sam mentioning working for a donkey on wood-related stuff when she first got into Ponyville.
I should probably reread these stories, though - they were rather nice, from what I recall.
Happy 200th Story Admiral!
Congratulations, Biscuit! I’ve enjoyed your stories and look forward to reading many more. You really write ponies well and your stories always feel real to me.
Thank you for sharing all your blogs and stories with us!
Dangerous creatures always chop wood or take trains or help with wagons.
Ah, a return to this saga. Looking forward to seeing things from Rose’s perspective.
11037491
If you want to take the specism to the nth degree, you should read "The Man with 2 Names" by Tarot Card:
- MLP: FiM
- Sad
- Slice of Life
- Tragedy
A human is off to a rough start when Fluttershy finds him eating one of her chickens, and breaks his arm. Can Derpy and the human convince Ponyville to give him a second chance?A strange ape shows up in Ponyville. The ponies treat him like horseapples. Spike expresses the opinion that this is wrong. Twilight says "¡shut up, dragon!". Spike realizes that ponies rule, other equines are tolerated, and nonequines, such as sheep and cattle, are treated like slaves (technically, all sapients are equal, but that does not stop the ponies from treating other sapients like garbage).
It is a sad story because Spike learns the truth about pony-society. It has a sequel.
11037753
oh hey, the sequel came back to life? I'd dropped it as a dead fic/author... who hasn't been on for the better part of 6 months again. I was reading the original fic back when it was releasing. hard to believe it was back in 2012.
11037808
The author still has writers' block, but we can always hope.
lol, just went on this weird rollercoaster of emotions. At first, after seeing the story image used, I thought it was this other story that hasn't updated in a bit by Lucky Seven and was excited. Then I realized it wasn't and was mildly disappointed but still curious. And then I noticed that this was a sequel to a couple of stories I had loved reading and never expected another sequel to, so now I'm excited again and looking forward to reading this.
i dont think sneaked is a word, snuck does though
I don’t know why but with the slow approach at the beginning I was reminded of the introduction of Doomsday in the death of Superman.
A new Sam and Rose story? WOOO
a interesting start to a story. i am liking this.
Random Ponyville Citizen: "Oh, look. We have a breeding pair of them now."
Second Ponyville Citizen: "Shh. It's a little early for that. Give them a week or two and we'll have Princess Cadence visit."
11038772
According to others, this is most likely a prequel depicting Sam and Rose's first meeting and the events leading up to it.
11037185
I hate to disappoint and I don’t want to be too spoiler-y for incoming readers, but this is Rose’s perspective of A Sleeping Rose (as well as the events leading up to it and some of the events after it). After all, if they knew Sam already, they’d figure out what a similar-looking but hairier creature was.
11037196
Thank you!
But what if I want both?
...correction made, thank you!
11037280
I hope so!
Good luck with that! Hopefully it’s not a too-important part.
11037309
11037338
Exactly--it’s the pony way.
11037344
People always need more PoE fics. They don’t always know it, but they always need them, and that’s the point of the not-a-contest.
Yay! A bit of a departure from the PoE you started with, but not that much of a departure, really.
11037491
Especially in the early seasons, ponies were really speciest. They seem to have gotten better about it after Twilight showed up, but there’s still a lot they could--and should--do.
11037517
Of course they were, but they just spun a new conspiracy about why it didn’t wreck trains.
It’s hard to say--the general consensus in Ponyville seems to be if they don’t know what it is and if it lives in or near the Everfree, it’s a monster until proven otherwise. They generally do become accepting (slowly) once creatures prove themselves to the ponies, though.
When you’re jumping at shadows, you find out really quick that there are lots of shadows.
Only a little bit. (Okay, a lot)
Well, maybe not the full story, but more of it.
Correction made, thank you!
11037568
You are correct. It’s currently tagged as a sequel, although at this point, it’s actually a prequel to A Sleeping Rose (I may flip the sequel tags when I publish the next chapter, but I wanted to make sure that anyone who was reading that series would know that this had uploaded).
You are correct, you should and they are.
11037572
Thank you!
11037609
Thanks!
You’re welcome! It’s been a fun ride, and we’re gonna keep it going for a while!
11037664
I know, right? That’s how you know they’re dangerous.
11037686
Unsurprisingly, it’s a rather different perspective than Sam has on the whole thing.
11038011
Heh, that is a rollercoaster! Sorry that it isn’t the story you were hoping for (and I know that feel) but hopefully it’s enjoyable just the same
11038266
Sneaked is, in American English at least, the grammatically-correct past tense and past participle of snuck, although snuck is in far more common usage. I know this because when I was in high school, my English teacher laid into the valedictorian for getting it wrong and that’s a lesson that stuck with me.
11038529
I’ll take your word for it; I don’t know who Doomsday is (although I’m guessing by the name he’s the bad guy).
11038655
Yay! It’s finally time to see things from Rose’s perspective!
11038663
Thank you!
11038772
Sorry to disappoint, but 11039141 has hit the nail on the head; the creature is Sam (although of course the ponies don’t know that yet).
EDIT: although I wonder now if anybody has done a story from that angle, where the ponies are trying to keep a rare type of creature from extinction?
Be sort of like trying to get more pandas. . . .
11039425 I can see that.
First Pony: "They're just sitting there, looking at each other."
Second Pony: "Well, they are looking at those weird bodies of theirs, so that's a start. I wonder when they're going to start mating."
Bob: "Should we tell them?"
Fred: "Yes, I think so."
great so far thank you
11039420
He was a character introduced explicitly for the death of Superman story from way back. A good half of the trade paper back is this slow inexorable walk to metropolis fighting off a large number of DC Heroes until he and supes clash.
11039466
Ah, those humans, always covering up the easily identifiable gender-specific anatomy.
11039418
That kid was probably scarred by that, hah
11039394
The replacement fixed itself in a few hours and the primary started working again the next day. Not quite sure what happened. Still had a bad week though.
It's a Jabberwock.
11039466
“Time to import some more humans.”