INTO THE WOODS
It was night already, and we were in the middle of the woods, on board of a cart, pulled by two completely estranger ponies, heading towards some place I didn’t even know. But I must say, that these ponies seemed to know this path very well, since they were walking on complete darkness. But right now, my stomach was growling. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, adding to the fact that I almost had a nervous breakdown today… but despite all of that, I’ve never felt this alive in my entire life.
“And what are you smiling about?” Plumb Bob suddenly asked me, with a slightly bitter tone.
“What?” I said. I didn’t realize I was smiling. When he then added:
“Didn’t you have something to ask me?” But it took me a moment to understand what he was talking about.
“Oh, right. About what happened back there on the Empire.” I said then.
Plumb Bob seemed thoughtful for a moment, but then he started explaining:
“Well, you see… Do you remember those guys from the hotel? Turns out, they were the same ones working for that “Fancy Pants”.” He said his name with sarcasm. “And… it seems like he’s kind of a flank hole, and turns out those guys really loved what I did to him, so… that’s why they helped us.”
“And this vehicle?” I asked then, pointing at the cart we were sitting on.
“Oh, this? I just found some guys and hired them. That’s all.”
“And when did you have time to do all these stuff?” I shouted then.
“You really make a lot of questions, don’t you…? Remember that time when I left you to get lunch? That’s exactly what I did… I walked around the Empire, I had lunch in a nice place, and I met some ponies on my way. That’s how I met those hotel guys, and that’s how I found us transportation. Are you happy now?” He finally said, with a slight tone of anger.
“Alright, alright… And how did you pay for this?” I finally asked him. And in that moment, Plumb Bob started taking his cape off, for then to look at me with a smile.
“I didn’t.” And then he started filling his cape with some hay that was lying on the cart, and then he made me a discreet gesture for me to do the same, so, I simply started doing it. And right after that, we both jumped from the moving cart, and quickly hid among the trees. In that moment, the ponies pulling the cart looked back when they heard a noise, but they couldn’t see anything, except for those capes with hoodies filled with hay, pretending to be us; so they just kept pulling the vehicle and walked away.
Right now I feel sorry for them, but not too much… poor clueless ponies.
It was pretty late now, and everything was dark; and yet, we were still wandering around the woods… And I was already exhausted, when in that moment, and for my relief, Plumb Bob said exactly what I had in mind, but I was too afraid to ask him:
“We should camp here and continue in the morning.”
“Finally!” And after shouting those words, I fell to the ground, next to a giant tree. And as soon as I did, Plumb Bob started shouting at me:
“Hey! Don’t get so comfy! We need fire… Did you hear me? Fire!” He yelled at me, but I was already almost asleep; and the last thing I got to hear before my eyes were closed, was a slight growling from Plumb Bob.
Inside my dream.
I’m walking down the street with my brother. It’s a hot day here on Manehattan. It must be like ninety degrees at least, I don’t know.
“I think I’m catching a sun burn here.” I said to my brother, but when I turned to look at him, his shirt was off, and he was smiling at me with a hussy grin. In that moment, I realized what his intentions were, so I started running, and he started chasing me down the block; and the entire time he was just laughing at me, and snapping at me with his shirt.
“Cut it out! Brucie!” Y shouted, and then he stopped, and approached to me while still laughing really loud, after which, he slapped me in the back.
“Aahh! You stupid bird!” I yelled.
And then, he finally managed to contain his laughter a little.
“Alright, alright… phew! He, he, he!” And then he put his shirt back on, like it was the perfect weather to wear one.
“I don’t know how you can stand this heat.” I said to him.
“It’s alright to me, lil’ brother.” Brucie answered.
I guess gryphons must have something on their feathers, because right now I’m literally on fire.
“This isn’t that bad. You shouldn’t be complaining. Don’t you remember that summer in Mexicolt?” He said to me then.
“Of course I remember… But now I just wanna go home!” I moaned in a childish tone, and then I continued walking, until… my brother pronounced those words:
“Don’t worry lil’ brother… you’ll be home.”
And in that precise moment, I don’t know what happened to me, but I suddenly panicked. Then I quickly turned around to see him… but he was no longer there.
…Now I’m feeling cold.
“You have to move on, bro.” A familiar voice suddenly said to me.
It was one of my brother’s friends.
I looked up, and I saw all my brother’s friends all around me; because unlike me, he did had other friends on the city. But it was ok. They always had accepted me as one of them, and not just to make a favor to my older brother; and that’s something weird to find in a group of gryphons of Manehattan.
Then he continued talking:
“…It must have been like five years ago.” He said, and then, another one of them continued:
“Yeah bro. We don’t like the way it has changed you. You’re not yourself anymore.” They were talking to me, but I only avoided any eye contact with all of them.
“This isn’t healthy for you. You don’t go outside, you don’t talk to others no more… and you don’t look anybody to the eyes no more.” Another one said, and in that moment, I had to look at him to the eyes.
I think they know me way too much.
“But most of all, you framed your brother’s shirt, just to hang it on the wall… And you’re not getting rid of it, and you don’t even wear it. You’re only hurting yourself with it.”
In that moment, they all stood in front of me, before banishing in the air, with these last words:
“We all have to move on Joy… sooner or later.”
Time passed… and that’s exactly what they did. Some of them moved to Cloudsdale. Some others went to Fillydelphia, and some of them went all the way to Melenajara in Mexicolt… but not me. I stayed, alone here on Manehattan, making myself more miserable each day… always staring at that shirt hanging on my wall.
I’m starting to wake up. I think I hear someone whispering.
“I’m only half the colt that I was. I’ll never last, ‘cos my better half is up there with you…”
Then I opened my eyes a little; just enough to see Plumb Bob, sitting next to the fire, and holding something against his chest, but I couldn’t see what it was.
“…I know we fought like family, something we never should do. We coulda used time spent arguing telling the truth… And you had talent too. I had plans for watching you grow… And I don’t know what hurts more, seeing you leave, or watching you go.”
Now I think I heard too much.
In that moment it seemed like Plumb Bob turned to look at me, so I quickly closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. But he didn’t make any sound after that moment… and there was only silence.
DRAGONS
The next morning.
I woke up and looked around, but I couldn’t see Plumb Bob anywhere. Until, he suddenly showed up, coming from behind of that giant tree.
(sigh) “Alright! It’s time to move.” He said, as he was stretching. Then I tried to stand up, but I was still a little dizzy.
“Don’t you ever sleep? Besides, what are you talking about? We’re on the middle of the woods. Do you have any idea of where to go?” I asked him.
“There is a road about a quarter mile north. Now, I really think we should move fast. I don’t think you wanna know what I just did behind this tree.” He warned me.
And in that moment, I was astonished.
“What!? That’s! …Eugh!” I shouted, and he simply started laughing at me, while I was running away from there.
“You’re disgusting!” I yelled from the distance, but he just kept laughing. This was simply incredible… Does he have any limits at all?
Now we were walking down some trail in the middle of the woods. This was a beautiful and promising morning. And suddenly, two ponies appeared on the distance; it was an elderly couple, which was pulling a cart packed with fruit. Right now I was really hungry, and I could tell by Plumb Bob’s face, that he was also. But then I started noticing a growing evil grin on his face. So then I turned at him, and slowly said no with my head.
“Don’t even think about it.” I said.
And then he frowned in resignation. When suddenly, something called our attention in that instant. Two dragons came out of nowhere, and started stealing the fruit from above the cart. And as soon as the old ponies saw them, they quickly turned around and turned away from the cart.
“Hey! Stop!” The old pony yelled, but the dragons only looked at them both from above and started making them rude gestures and mocking them. And I suppose it was expected, coming from two teenage dragons. So then, Plumb Bob and I hide among some trees next to the path and approached a little, just to see what was happening. The dragons were taking dives from the sky and maneuvering as they stole each fruit, one by one. And at the same time, the faces of those elder ponies seemed already resigned to losing all of their cargo. The old mare seemed like she was about to cry, and his husband could only hug her to try to comfort her.
So in that moment I turned to look at Plumb Bob.
“We have to do something.” I told him.
“Sorry… Not my problem.” He answered me, while still staring at the scene ahead of us, as if it was some sort of spectacle.
This made me angry, but I already knew it was useless to try to reason with him; so without waiting any longer, I took all courage I could, and I walked out of the trees, ready to confront those dragons.
“H-hey! S-stop what you’re doing, n-now!” I yelled from my position, but the dragons only ignored me, and the old couple simply stared at me, like they were expecting me to do something else. So I took a deep breath, and managed to control the shiver on my legs, for then to exhale another yell:
“If you don’t put that fruit back on the cart, you’re gonna see what’s good!” I shouted once again. But still nothing… those dragons didn’t seem to care about my presence at all, until: “I’m warning you!” I shouted louder, as an ultimatum; and finally, one of the dragons finally noticed my presence, and landed right in front of me.
And maybe he was a teenager, but he was still about five times my size.
Then, the other dragon also landed, and now those two imposing creatures were staring at me. And then, the one that was in front of me took one apple from his pile of stolen fruit on his arms, and then he slowly put it in his mouth, as a way to defy me. And then, he finally swallow the entire apple.
And that, just had been too much… Now I could barely take it.
“You’re getting on my nerves boy.” I said to him, while really trying to contain my anger.
“And what you gonna do about it?” Said the annoying dragon, in a mocking tone. But I really didn’t know what to do… not against one of their kind. And then, in that moment, he opened his mouth and growled savagely, right in front of my face. A sudden action that left me petrified in fear, as I received his smelly breath all over me. But then, in the middle of that intense growl, I heard the voice of Plumb Bob, growing from the distance.
“Aaaaahhhhh!” In that moment, he was charging against the dragon, running at full gallop speed, and then he jumped, straight into his open mouth. And in that instant, me, the elder couple, and even the other dragon were all astonished for what we were observing.
Plumb Bob’s legs and flank are popping out the dragon’s mouth, while the rest of him was stuck halfway down his throat. In that moment, the second dragon started freaking out, as he was watching his friend choking with a pony stuck on his throat.
“Spit it out dude!” The dragon was yelling, as he was hitting him behind the head, until he finally spited Plumb Bob out. And then the dragon started coughing and gasping desperately, while Plumb Bob was standing up, partially covered in drool, for then to look straight at the two dragons, with a defiant glance.
“I ain’t gonna let you steal one apple.” He said, as he raised the apple on his hoof… an apple covered in drool. And the second dragon was really amazed when he saw that.
“Is that the same…?” He said as he turned to his friend, completely astonished. But meanwhile, it seemed like we had really made the first dragon absolutely furious.
“You’re gonna pay for that.” The dragon said, while steam was coming out of his mouth, and his eyes were glowing like fire.
Then Plumb Bob shook the drool off like a dog, and then he adopted a fighting stance. And then, he looked at me, and said:
“Hey, Joy…” So I turned to look at him, while I was completely shaking in fear, when he suddenly said:
“…run”
And he instantly turned around and started running. And I stayed frozen in my position for a couple of seconds, until my legs finally reacted, and I could run as well.
“Get them!” The angry dragon yelled.
And so, the dragons started chasing us, with the little inconvenient that they could fly and we couldn’t. So we got into the woods to try to lose them. But despite our little advantage, I could almost feel their claws on the back of my neck, so I just started running faster and faster. I couldn’t believe that one minute ago I was weak and starving, but now I was galloping like a race horse. And it was that moment when I looked back, just to see the raging dragon, smashing trees and anything on his way as he approached more and more towards us.
“This way!” Plumb Bob took a turn to the left, so I followed him, towards a thick bunch of bushes, which he jumped through, so I do the same right after him, but once we were out of them, Plumb Bob suddenly fell into a hole on the ground, and disappeared right in front of my eyes. But just as he did, I couldn’t react on time, and I fell into the same hole as well. And right after the fall, I opened my eyes, and I saw a family of bunnies that was staring at us with fear, as we had just gotten stuck into their home. But then I saw a shadow, and I looked up. And in that moment, the dragons were passing right above the hole, completely ignoring where we were. And in that same moment, Plumb Bob looked at the family of bunnies, and with his hoof on his mouth he told them to stay quiet.
“Shhh.” Plumb Bob said.
“I think we lost them.” I whispered then.
“Maybe, but let’s better make sure.” And then he looked at one of the bunnies and said: “Hey little dude. Would you mind to take a look outside and tell us if there’s any dragon out there?” But the tiny and scared bunny said no with his head. “Wow, that’s rude… well, then it seems like we’ll have to hide in here for a little longer.” But as soon as he said that, the bigger bunny moved quickly and made his way between our bodies and he got out of the hole, to take a look outside. Then he looked at me from the outside and gave me thumbs up, telling me that it was clear.
“The cost is clear now.” I said to Plumb Bob, and then, with a lot of effort, and also with the help of tiny bunnies pushing us from inside, we managed to get out of that hole.
“Thank you guys… I hope you accept this in exchange for your help.” Plumb Bob said, as he offered them the drool covered apple he had on his hoof. But the family of rabbits showed their repulsion to his offer, and quickly they all ran back to their hole, which Plumb Bob stared at after they left.
“Ok. Then it’s more for me.” Then he cleaned the apple, barely rubbing it against his chest, and then he took a bite. Which almost makes me throw up. And when he saw my reaction of disgust, he said to me: “Oh, excuse me, Mr. Fancy Pants!” He said with sarcasm.
And it was then when we finally continued with our way through the woods.