//------------------------------// // Ch.4 Planning Ahaed // Story: A Stress Free Environment // by SimpleDude //------------------------------// “Hey. I already told you I am not sure if I trust you one hundred percent yet. You should understand where I am coming from, since you kind of tied me up because you don't trust me,” Andromeda countered. “Well I...um… guess you have a fairly valid point there Andromeda. I’m not sure why I thought you would just let me waltz on through your home before making sure I'm clean. And by clean I mean harmless.” Josh needed to be on Andromeda’s good side if he ever wanted to visit this town she lived in. He mainly wanted to go because of the endless possibilities of what the town could be like. It had been a long day and Josh was getting tired. His judgment would usually becoming progressively worse as time without sleep went by. Today was no exception. It didn't help that it was about to be bedtime, and Josh usually got grumpy if he was awake past his bedtime. Most people would be. ‘It's weird how even in dreams you feel tired when it is night time, even though you are already asleep. That just makes it even harder to distinguish the real world and the fake one rendered by my mind than it already is.’ Josh was contemplating before speaking again. “Listen Andromeda, I'll let you loose from that log and untie that rope if you promise to take me to your village tomorrow, also, I promise that I will be on my best behavior. You don't have to worry about me being a bad guy or something like that. I have you tied up right now and I am about to let you go. If I was bad I would have already forced you to tell me where your village is, but I didn't.” Josh stated. “I guess that is true...” Andromeda needed a minute to think about this. After a few minutes of contemplation Andromeda had conceived an answer. “Ok, fine. I'll take you there, but no funny business. The first sign of you being a bad guy and I'll give you a box full of nails. Not only that, but I will personally kick you out of Ponyville and Equestria. For good.” Andromeda answered with an evil eye and a grave expression plastered onto her face. “Sounds good enough for me, and as I said before, I am a good guy. I completely understand why you are being cautious though. I respect that.” Josh answered truthfully while attempting to hold back a grin. He couldn't help himself, Andromeda was trying too hard to be tough. On the other hand though, Josh made a note in his brain to not tick off Andromeda. Little and adorable or not, she could probably pack a punch. “Umm...could you maybe untie me now please?” Andromeda was eager to not be in a captive’s position. “What? Oh, oh yeah. Right. Sorry. I tend to zone out when my mind gets going.” The same was true when Josh was in school. ‘There are more interesting things to think about than a boring lecture every once and awhile.’ At least that is what Josh thought. --A few moments of rope cutting later-- “So, when are we leaving for Ponyville? Oh, and by the way, Ponyville is only about an hour and a half of walking away.” Andromeda wanted to know because she had a sleep schedule and wanted to be prepaid when it was time to get up. “I guess we could get up whenever we feel like it so we would be well rested for the walk tomorrow.” Josh knew he would most likely stay asleep for as long as he could, that is if he was still in this place when he woke up. ‘Sleep is good no matter where.’ And to Josh, that also included dreams. “I see no reason why we can't sleep in for a little while if we want to, considering Ponyville is such a short distance away. That would give us more time so we don't have to rush to get up. We do, however need to be completely out of the forest before the sun starts setting. We are in the Everfree forest after all.” Andromeda added on to what Josh was saying and inserted her input. After thinking on what Andromeda had to say, Josh was not sure whether to cringe or laugh at a place named after its inhabitant species. Ponyville. The word kept repeating in his head. It was stuck. Like a piece of gum on a shoe kind of stuck. This led to some internal discussion on the matter. ‘Oh boy, that's priceless. What if there were places on Earth named like that. Humanville.’ That was the last thought in Josh's head before he started to hysterically laugh again. He was laughing at the town’s name and all of the events that have occurred so far. Things were just too crazy for there to be no laughing involved. ‘What is with this guy. One second he is serious and responsive, and the next he is acting completely crazy. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on him. He could be dangerous if he is this unpredictable.’ Andromeda just didn't get Josh. At all. --A few minutes after Josh calmed down-- By now it was later in the night and both Josh and Andromeda were ready to go to sleep. This didn't stop Josh from wondering about where Andromeda would sleep. “Hey, Andromeda.” Josh's voice was smooth, almost to a point of being melodic. “”Yeah, what is it Josh. I'm pretty tired, so if you could be quick that would be nice.” Andromeda was definitely getting groggy. “Where are you going to sleep? I mean you could sleep in my tent if you want. I'll be fine sleeping outside if you do.” Josh was a caring person and didn't want to see anyone have to sleep outside while he was comfortable inside a tent. Human or not. “That's ok I think I've got it covered.” Andromeda seemed to have an air of confidence around her as the words escaped her mouth. “If you say so. You can wake me up if you change your mind or need anything. Also, good night.” Josh didn't mean to say that last bit, but it was such a habit that he didn't catch it before speaking. “Well that is kind of you Josh, but I'll be fine. And goodnight to you too.” With that Andromeda turned around and started to study a few of the nearby trees. Se hadn't expected Josh to be so kind. Se also wasn't expecting herself to also say goodnight. That is something she had not been able to say in a long time. The two were past being ready to go to bed and were ready to just lay down and go to sleep where they stood, but they wanted a better place to sleep than the ground. As Josh went into his yellow tent for the night, he ate an apple that was previously stored in his backpack while mulling over the day’s past events. Andromeda walked to a nearby tree and flew onto it to use one of the branches as her bed to sleep in. As Andromeda laid down like a baby in a crib, she looked into the sky and observed the same wonders that Josh was previously admiring the night before. ‘Luna does a magnificent job with the night sky, it's a shame she doesn't get as much recognition as she deserves. Anyone who's experienced Luna's night sky should consider themselves lucky to be able to see such wonderful works.’ Andromeda thought to herself. She stayed that way quite some time, looking at the stars that is, before eventually closing her eyes and letting the dark, but comforting embrace of sleep to embrace her. --The next day-- The sun was shining bright and early. The birds were up and chirping. It was cool outside, but the warmth from the sun kept the temperature from going down too low. It was a perfect day in the whimsical and – mostly – peaceful land of Equestria. Josh yawned and stretched as he was preparing to start his day. The thought of him possibly not being in a dream drifted through his mind. ‘I think I’m just going to pretend that I am in real life until I want to get up. This dream I’m in is just about to get a little bit more interesting considering this town Andromeda is going to escort me to.’ Even though he had decided this in his forethought, there were still questions he wanted answers to, like ‘Am I in a coma?’ or ‘Will I remember any of this when I wake up if this is a dream?’ For now though those thoughts were going into the vault deep inside the back of Josh’s head. There were bigger fish to fry at the moment. ‘That was some of the best sleep I have ever experienced in my life, and that is saying something because I was in a sleeping bag. I probably only slept so good because this is a dream and I am already asleep. Oh well, it doesn't matter either way because it was so relaxing.’ Josh had a content grin on his face because of the restful sleep he had the during the night. ‘I guess it's time to pack up and head on out. I'll wake up Andromeda after I get all of my things in my tent packed up.’ Josh decided. After Josh packed all of his belongings up into a backpack while inside his tent, he expected the scenario where he would step outside to wake up Andromeda and pack up his tent. What he didn't expect is a running Andromeda looking behind her headed straight for him. “Oof!” Josh and Andromeda huffed out as they collided and hit the ground. “Ouch. What was that for?” Josh wasn't very happy because the tranquility he was previously experiencing moments before had now completely dissipated from the atmosphere around him. This also hindered his ability to soak in all of the beautiful nature around him that morning. “No time to explain. Get up and run!” Josh was about to respond but was cut off by a howl that sounded eerily similar to a wolf. Before Josh’s brain could even register what was going on, his instincts took over and he got up and started running. Andromeda was right beside of him. Josh could hear the agile steps of a canine quadruped behind him. He knew it was a quadruped and a feline because he turned around for a quick second to see what he was running from. There was also one minor detail not previously mentioned. It was made of wood.