Life in the Wilds
Nightshade's Nightmare Night
While he slept, trying to forget his pain, Nightshade encountered a familiar, but annoying face. He wasn't even surprised at her appearance any more, he'd gotten used to having her pop up right next to him.
"Well look who's back. I trust you've been having fun?" Lyra said sarcastically.
"Oh LOADS. Yesterday I almost DIED from poison and had to get saved by some kids and a potion maker who speaks only in rhyme, and today I feel the worst pain imaginable." He had plenty of sarcasm of his own.
Lyra didn't know Zecora, so she didn't think think anything of it. Instead she just let out a laugh, but asked a serious question, so what she was saying didn't match her facial expression.
"What could hurt more than almost dying?" She inquired.
"Have you even been kicked with enough force to kill a lion, right in your fertility?" He shot back, obviously annoyed again. All Lyra could mutter was an, "Oh." She suddenly became very quiet.
"What, you're not gonna bombard me with questions this time?" He asked half sarcastic, and half curious.
"Not this time, I figured you were in enough pain as it is without me talking your head off, and besides, I don't want you to leave." She said with a sullen look.
"You're finally getting it." Nightshade stated plainly. "Since I've already told you a lot in our short visits, maybe you could tell me something?"
Lyra was a little surprised. She was interested in him, but she never thought that he'd be interested in her. Then again, they didn't have talking ponies wherever humans were from, so she guessed it made sense. However, rather than asking about her world, the human asked something completely unexpected.
"Why are you so interested in humans?" He said.
So Lyra began her story, telling him that she used to dream of other humans, seeing their world, and noticing that everything in hers was based off objects used for human use. How things that were meant to be used with hands had developed in a hoofed world, and were operated with magic. The whole story took several hours, and rather than interrupting her, the human just listened intently. Seems it was just questions that annoyed him.
"I know you don't really like questions, but can I ask you just one?" The teal unicorn asked.
"I guess so." He said.
"What's your name?" She followed.
Nightshade face-palmed. Of all the times they had spoken, however brief, he had completely neglected to give her his name. Lyra seemed interested in what he did with his hands, as they did the same thing.
"Why are you face-hoofing?" She asked.
"Face-hoof? Oh, where i'm from we have hands not hooves, so we call it face-palm, after the palm of our hands. And I'm doing it because having not told you my name, I have been incredibly rude. Even if you're annoying, that's the least I should do." He shook his head. "I had a different name before, but I changed it, because it's a reminder of a past I'd rather forget. Just call me Nightshade.
"Alright Nightshade, well, at least you didn't wake up and block me out again. It's morning, by the way." Lyra said as she disappeared.
Nightshade woke up, to find that he was lying is a very different position then he fell asleep in, and wondered at the miracle that he hadn't fallen out of the tree due to his tossing and turning. Completely forgetting about yesterday's bad memories, he got up, and saw his fallen savior. The dead tree that he had given his injuries too. Ripping pieces off, quite glad to have some wood that wouldn't come back to life when he wasn't looking and attack him, he fashioned some makeshift snow shoes. After all, he didn't know the climate, but it was definitely getting colder, and he didn't want to get caught in the snow.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle didn't visit often, over the next couple months because they had other jobs they had to tend to, but Scootaloo came frequently, since she was an orphan and didn't have a family to go home to, or chores to do. She decided that she would ask a very delicate question.
"Umm, Nightshade?" She asked, her voice quaking.
"Hey Scoots, what is it?" He returned his own question, using her nickname.
"Well, as you know, I'm an orphan, and I don't have any other family members that I know of, so I live in the orphanage, and I was just wondering if maybe....."She began to stutter incoherently. Nightshade stood up, and she almost thought that he was going to get mad, until he crouched down, and gave her a hug.
"I know how hard it is to be alone, of course you can stay with me. He said. He became really fond of his little friend, and it hurt him to know that she was just as alone as he was. "Will you be okay with it? I mean, I AM a monster after all." He said laughingly.
"I DON'T CARE." Said the crying orange pegasus. "You've been better to me than anypony, and you helped me and my friends. You're no monster, you're amazing. Monster's are cruel, and you are kind." She returned the hug.
"Then it's settled, you'll stay with me from now on, but, there's three problems now that we have to deal with right away, and I'm going to need you for all of them." Scootaloo became a little sad, she didn't want to be a problem, but also a little curious. Was could this amazing creature that had given her so much possible need her for?"
"First, I don't have a house, and If you're going to live with me, that's going to be a priority." She was confused.
"Where have you been sleeping then?" She asked puzzled.
"Well, I don't need to sleep that often, but when I do, I normally climb a tree." Scootaloo was shocked. He slept in a tree? Was he crazy? She didn't care.
"I can handle getting the wood to build it, but I'll need an axe to cut down the trees, as well as a saw for cutting them to size, and I'd have to go to town for that. You can take these bits to go get it, I got some pay for helping Zecora collect some plants for her potions. Poison joke is no laughing matter." He giggled as he handed over a small pouch filled with the jingling coins.
"Second thing is, this forest can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing, so I'll have to teach you the ins and out's of forest life. I'm sure Zecora would be able to help with that too." Giving her a pat on the head.
"And third, the most important thing of all. If you start getting chased, you need to escape, but you can't do that on the forest floor. You're going to need to learn.." he stopped to give dramatic pause, "to fly." The orange pegasus was absolutely ecstatic.
"Oh ma gosh oh ma gosh oh ma gosh thankyouthankyouthankyou THANKYOU!" Giving him a hug that nearly squeezed the life out of him.
"Okay okay kid, now get going, we have work to do." He smiled.
Construction of their little cabin went very quickly, mostly because a certain someone never got tired. Scootaloo, that is. She was so excited, she almost never slept the entire time they built, and she may have had a little help staying awake from her new parent. They worked for 3 days and 3 nights, building a cabin in the clearing that the orange pegasus originally crashed near. There were still remnants of the camp, so they had to be cleaned away first. Nightshade chopped down trees, turned the wood into planks, and built the walls, doors, and roof supports. Scootaloo got a load of hay together for the thatched roof.
Rather than using nails, because they were expensive, he shaped each piece to fit perfectly, and used thick wooden pegs to hold it all together. Having no glass for windows, they settled for some square holes, which could be covered at will by closing vertical shutters. They also made some beds, a fireplace out of stones, a table and some chairs. The whole place had a rather rustic feel to it, and fit perfectly out in the woods. If you didn't know where it was, there was no way you'd find it.
They slept their first night in the cabin, and they laid down for what would be the best sleep that either had in a long time. Climbing into bed, Nightshade gave Scootaloo a kiss on the forehead, headed off the bed himself.
"Goodnight Scoots." He smiled.
"Goodnight, Nightshade." She returned.
"Please, call me Dad."
OMG D'AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. I actually started crying while writing this. Scootaloo finally found someone to give her the love she needs. I know that most other fic's put Scootaloo as an orphan, but that's because it WORKS. It explains why we never see her family, and why she's overly attached to Rainbow Dash. She's looking for a role model. I know I planned on having him meet the mane 6 this time around, but I think I needed to write this part first, rather than after. It works in the story because since she doesn't have any family, nopony will question why she's living out in the woods, and the orphanage probably wouldn't care that she left. She probably doesn't sleep there all that often, more like a bed and a meal for lost children, but only if they want it. Nothing like the government run ones here that require screening.
Since most ponies are good, and if someone says they've been adopted, there wouldn't be any need to judge their character. This chapter didn't have much action, and was more of an emotional thing, since I hadn't done very much of that yet. Really, Nightshade adopted her because he's just as lonely, and while he hates humans, other than a really annoying telepath, a nutcracking farmer, and some monsters, (which he can deal with easily enough), Equestria is a much better place than Earth. For the first time since he lost his family, he's living for someone other than himself, he has someone to care about. Leave any comments in the *sniff* comment section below.
Next chapter, we'll see how Dash deals with some jealousy issues, since her number one fan has found someone else to appreciate, and he's basically an unknown at this point, and the plotline in the spoiler from LAST chapter, (You know, with the very nasty visitor and the mane 6? That one.) I'm so terrible at these spoilers, Even if I tell you what's happening next, you don't know for sure because I might just turn around and add something completely different. Just keep reading. Also, I'm going to follow what I said last chapter, I'll write the next one today, but I'm gonna make you wait for it. Apparently my update rate is absolutely unheard of on here, with me cranking out chapters so fast I break the word-sound barrier, creating a sonic word-boom. Trollface.jpg.
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D'aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
what would happen if he encountered something with an infinite amount of stamina?
194114 are you thinking about something like a dragon or a hydra?
I think its unlikely that there would be an encounter, based on that hydras probably stays in the swamp and not in the forest and dragons live in the mountains.
For any other creature, it must be a fan-made creature in the forest. Or maybe Lune visiting the old castle in the everfree forest!
Before I read the spoiler paragraph, I was begining to wonder if the mane 6 or the orphanage would go "where are scootalo going all the time?" and then follow her to the cabin. And thus reveal the "local forest monster". But hey... This works just as well!
he said something about being "immortal" i take he does that by stealing the years someone has of their life. if he did this to an already immortal being would he steal their immortallity? if yes couldnt he do this to discord to kill two birds one stone. killed the immortal spirit of chaos. immortality GET!
194210 As for his powers, he could essentially just steal years and years from an immortal, because they would never lose anything any way. Infinity-7 is still infinity. Also, stamina, health, and years ALL depend on the life 'spark', the thing that he can see in every living thing and tell their physical state from 'reading' it. That and the fact that since they are all aspects of life energy, they can be used somewhat interchangeably. He can already become a "false immortal", in that he can just take lifespan as he needs it, if he wanted to. To become a "True immortal", having an unlimited lifespan without constantly needing to feed on others, he'd have to have an immortal life source.
194114 (screwed the comment up, forgot I could edit it until just now.) Having truly unlimited would be impossible, same as with health. Think of life like a campfire. You have the campfire pit, which is a metal ring preventing the flames from escaping and catching the nearby grass on fire. That's the spark of life, and life cannot exist without that. Then you have to wood, the fuel for the fire. Changing lifespan is like stealing someones firewood, or giving them some of your own. You don't have an ax, so you can't chop down trees. The size of the flame is health, and changes with the wind. Too hard a gust and it begins to falter, but a gentle breeze makes it stronger. (Working out damages your muscles, making them repair stronger, no pain no gain) And the heat coming off it is stamina, and is constantly regenerating. Ever notice how the back of your refrigerator is hot? It's because the system is bringing heat away from the area. Stamina theft works the same. No matter how much heat you take, you will never cause damage to the fire. No matter how much health you take, you cannot make the wood burn any faster. However, if you add more wood to the fire than necessary, the fire will grow, and so will the amount of heat it gives off, while shortening your supply. Celestia, has a fire pit the size of the Sun which she represents. Instead of wood for the flame, she uses nuclear fusion. So basically, she won't live FOREVER, just as long as the sun, making her life span several billion years. We may as well call her an immortal then. With this she has near infinite capacity for health and stamina, which is why the only thing that can hurt her is Luna, Discord, or the Elements of Harmony, all of which are other immortal forces. Luna is younger and weaker than her sister, but was stronger when she was Nightmare Moon, forcing Celestia to tip the scale in her favor again with the Elements. As for Nightshade, no, he would not be able to make them fall asleep, there is just way too much stamina there for him to absorb. It has to go SOMEWHERE. While the immortal's bodies use that stamina at a faster rate as well, so they still need sleep, but there's no way he could even affect it in the slightest, unless he gained an equal capacity for life as them, or he somehow saw the entire universe at the same time (since he needs a line of sight to do it), and fed it their energy. Also, he does have a maximum rate of energy transfer, which is equal to his own maximum of the specific type of life energy per second, unless he has physical contact, in which case it's unlimited.
194707 okay so if i'm getting this right he would need 2 things to make it work.
1) and object or being (lets go with object) that could hold the life spark of such a large amount that it would be considered" immortal
2) physical contact to which ever source he's stealing from.
the problem i see in this theory of mine is that he would need to beable to "steal" and "give at the same time to tyransfer the life spark into the object. the second problem i see is that i dont believe he could steal the life spark from abeing that is trapped inside a magically enforced stone prison that is discord's, correct?
Tracking
194770 Well, you're right, he wouldn't be able to steal Discords, because he's in cased in stone. So even if he put his hands right on the statue, he wouldn't be in physical contact. What's more, transferring a "spark" Would be like digging up a fire pit, with wood and fire burning in it, and moving it somewhere else. The only way he could be immortal would be if he took the fire pit itself. If he tried to take all the years, it wouldn't work, because a spark has a specific capacity for years as well, same as stamina and health. So, if your maximum lifespan is 100 years, then you couldn't drain an someone of several billion years, when your own max is 100. Once again, you can't replenish it until you use it up. He also can only have one spark, as I said before, nothing can have two. Then the only way he could become immortal is if he lost his own life, and had physical contact with an immortal while dead. But then he'd be dead and wouldn't be able to do it. So unless he has a baby sized immortal riding around on his back, (insert adorable mental image of baby Celestia in a backpack) to be an unlimited life source for him, it wouldn't work. As for bringing inanimate objects to life, it wouldn't work because there is no hole dug in the ground to put the fire pit in in the first place. Non organic material can't hold life. And again, it would be like pulling a fire pit out of the ground with your bare hands, flame still burning, and carrying it somewhere else.
Okay folks, next chapter is written. I'll give it to you tomorrow....AFTER i write the one after. I'm gonna try for 2 chapters a day, while only feeding you one maybe every 2 days, for a little bit just to get ahead, then i'll start giving em out more regularly again. I may be awesome, but eventually I'm gonna run out of idea's and need to brainstorm again. What I have planned for the future, although I won't say when or in what order, is there's going to be some Granny smith, a Great and Powerful guest, a rampaging unicorn, and, although I said I was gonna cut her out, I think I like having Lyra in the dreamscape, as a kind of balance to the hustle and bustle of being awake. She's kind of the comedy relief, as well as a relaxing 'somepony I can talk to without being judged' for him, besides Scoots, the crusaders, and Zecora.
By the way, from now on, if someone asks a question I intend to answer later in the story, as much as it kills me to do so, I will ignore your question. Basically, you guys are so smart you keep forcing me to give away bits and pieces of the plot ahead of time. I'm not going tell you to stop it, that would be something a big grumpy meaniepants would do, so if you ask a question and I don't say anything, take it as. "I'll answer your question in the story." Seriously though, Vinetion is some kind of mind reader. All the questions he asked I totally intended to answer in chapters 10 and 11.
D'AAAWWWWW'ness factor at defcon 1!
Can I just ask... How big is that house?
"I don't always go to sleep, but when I do, I prefer sleeping in trees. Stay tired my friends."
Awesome story so far man, can't wait to finish it :3
yanking the heart strings with that one
If this turns out to be like MLD, I think I'll I'll......eh, "I'll think of something ls later.i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/243/451/55e.gif profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/203531_216656998353126_583014_n.jpg cdn.graphicsfactory.com/clip-art/image_files/tn_image/2/638512-tn_FFF0110.gif
Must not cry with joy for our little scoots.
Good writing by the way kind of makes me wish i could write.
194114FREE STAMINA!!!!!
194114 I would capture it and when I'm tired take its stamina and then I wouldn't be tired!
My love for this story, take all of it!
308780 OMC Where did you find this gif I must know... If you don't know I'll just save it to my pictures.
If scoots gets hurt, UNLEASH THE MONSTER
2894536
I started reading this fic very recently and it said it was terrible...WHY YOU LIE TO ME!!??
And by the way, you went a little fast with the hole Nightshade parent thing, but it is still adorable!!!
If scoot gets hurt, I have but one thing for the retard who would dare incite our wrath.
"RELEASE THE KRAKEN!"
Was about to go D'aaaaawwww. But refrained from doing so, the parent thing was a bit too fast paced.
"Call me Bond. Dad Bond." Is what he meant to say, right?
3426852 and give it cannon tenticals
You know... I don't say this much but... D'aaaaaaaaawwww! Cuteness overload!
I'm rereading, and I have a slight twitch in my right eye because of future events. May need to consult a medical/psychiatric expert.
Aww'dorable! The feels!
Only wondering about one thing. Did Scoots and he have a meeting place? She visited him often, but he didn't have a house, so I think meeting might be rather difficult. Well, maybe they met at Zecoras?
I have always LOVED Scootadopt fics.
Eeeehhhhh, a bit too soon. They make good friends right now sure, but he hasn't done any dad things to earn such a title.
Someone call 911 I think I’m dying from a heartattack
6184899
Same here....same here
8909365
*stops the ambulance from arriving* no