Evidence of Nocturnal Activity
March 12th, 2013
I was awoken by the sound of a bird chirping a lovely tune from outside the library, prompting me to get out of bed. I raised my right arm up to check the time on my watch, which was nine in the morning. Knowing Twilight and Spike, she probably got up around seven or six in the morning along with Spike. But at least Twilight was nice enough to know that I was out late last night and gave me a couple extra hours of sleep.
After putting my shirt back on, I headed downstairs to make myself some fried eggs for breakfast. When I got halfway down the stairs, Twilight was levitating multitudes of books while Spike dusted the open shelves with a feather duster.
"Hmm. That's one way to start off the day." I thought to myself.
"There you are, sleepyhead. We were wondering when you were going to get up." Twilight said.
"Don't worry about me. Just a little bit tired." I said.
"You should see your hair. You look crazy!" Spike announced.
I raised my hand up to my hair and almost every brown hair strand on my head was standing up on end.
"I'll have to comb that when I'm done showering. What are you guys doing?" I asked.
"A little spring cleaning. It was getting really dusty back in these shelves." Twilight replied
"Want some help?" I asked.
"That would be great!" Twilight replied, gratefully. "But you should eat and get ready for the day first."
"I'll try to be quick." I said.
I then checked the food pantry for the carton that held a dozen eggs, eventually finding them behind the box of Frosted Oat Flakes. One of the eggs had a tiny crack on its shell, so I decided to use that one first. Simply using my index finger and thumb, I grabbed the egg, only to have it shatter into tiny fragments. However, the egg white splattered outwards towards my face, so my face was entirely coated with the slimy liquid. Twilight and Spike must've heard the noise because both of them peeked their heads from around the corner. Spike began to snicker as I turned my face towards their direction.
"Have a little mishap their?" Twilight asked.
"Sorry. Either I'm too strong or you bought grade F eggs." I replied, wiping the substance off my face with paper towel.
"That's okay. Just get that yolk off the floor and everything will be spick and span." Twilight said.
Spike's snickering had subsided, but he was still giving me a funny look. That's what brought that photo back to mind.
"Hey Spike, you remember that photo we took the day I got back from meeting Celestia and Luna?" I asked.
"What about it?" he asked.
I quickly walked up the stairs and searched my duffel bag for the photo. Once I found it, I headed back down and showed Spike's little mistake in the picture.
"Aw, don't you just love it when there's that one person who blinks in a photo?" I asked Spike.
"What?" Spike asked as I handed him the photo.
Spike examined the photo and instantly found his mistake.
"Oh come on! Why did I have to blink?" Spike asked himself, claw-palming himself.
"To bright for you, Spike?" I teased. "And that's for all the nicknames you gave me, Spike, so we're even."
"Alright, we're even." Spike accepted as we shook on a truce.
With our little friendly feud out of the way, I proceeded to make some fried eggs on the stove. With a little bit of salt, any fried egg can become delicious, in my book. After I finished my eggs, I headed upstairs and got into a fairly cool shower to wake myself up some more. Following my shower and doing my morning routine, I put on a light green t-shirt and a pair of shorts.
I then went back down the stairs to see what I could do to help out around the library.
"Okay, so what do you have?" I asked Twilight.
"Since me and Spike got up earlier, most of the cleaning is done, as you can see." Twilight said, directing her hoof around the room which looked rather cleaner than it did before.
"It actually does look more cleaner now. Looks pretty good." I said.
"Thanks," Twilight replied. "But the plants outside could use a tiny bit more of water." Twilight said.
"Alright, that sounds easy as can be. Just the ones out front and back?" I asked.
"Those and the plants hanging out the windows on the red ledges." Twilight added.
"Got it." I said.
"The watering can should be outside all filled up for you." Spike informed me.
I opened the door and stepped outside to the warm weather that spring had to offer. In the distance, I could hear the laughter and sounds of little fillies and colts playing the distance. It's just a really beautiful place Ponyville is. I looked to my left and saw a dark green watering can sitting next to the door. I grabbed it and began to water the foliage that grew right up against the front of the Golden Oak Library. Once that section had been watered, I headed on over the patch of yellow sunflowers and white daisies that grew behind the library, and so on and so forth.
Once every single plant on the property had a decent amount of water, I headed back inside to refill the can and finish the plants located outside the windows. I headed upstairs once I got the windows on the first floor all finished. I began with the large window that was next to Twilight's bed and proceeded to open the window. I looked down and found the red ledge that held the lush, light green plants that hanged like a weeping willow tree. As I watered the plant, I heard a "Hoo."
"Yes, Spike?" I replied, thinking it was Spike playing a little joke on me.
"Hoo." the source replied.
"Okay, Spike, we agreed with no more silly games." I said.
"Hoo-hoo." the voice replied.
I stopped watering and turned around, but nopony was there.
"Umm..." I said, confused.
"Hoo."
This time the sound came from above me and I looked upwards, only to find a large owl perched on the ceiling. It had a light brown body, dark brown wings, and black eyes.
"Oh crap, did an owl get in here?" I asked myself.
I took one more look at the owl before informing Twilight on my discovery.
"Hey Twilight." I called from the foot of the stairs.
"Yes, Caleb?" Twilight replied.
"I don't want to freak you out or anything, but.... there's like a really big bird in your room at the moment." I informed, pointing my thumb behind me towards Twilight's room.
"Big bird?" Twilight questioned herself for a second. "Oh, you mean Owloysius!" she exclaimed with a smile of her face.
"Ah, I see, it's your pet." I realized.
"He, to be exact." Twilight corrected.
"I never knew you had a pet owl." I said.
"He likes to spend time up in ceiling most of time, but he usually comes down every once and awhile." Twilight said.
"At first I was thinking, 'Did an owl break into our home while we were sleeping?'" I said.
"You'll like him, Caleb. Me and Owloysius got off to a rocky start at first, but we're friends now." Spike said.
"While you're up there, give him food. I bet he'll love that and will be a good first impression between you and him." Twilight said.
"I will." I said, heading back into the room where Owloysius was.
I entered the room again and Owloysius was standing next to the windowsill, looking out the window.
"Hoo." Owloysius vocalized, turning his head in a perfect one-eighty degree circular motion towards me.
"Hey there, little dude." I said as I patted his head gently.
Owloysius slightly ruffled his feathers to my touch.
"Want somethin' to eat?" I asked Owloysius.
"Hoo." he replied.
"You," I said, falling for that classic trick. "Can't believe I actually said that." I said to myself.
Owloysius responded by making a facial expression that could be easily be distinguished as amusement. I didn't know owls could make human facial expressions, but in a world of technicolor ponies, I guess anything is possible.
Owloysius then flew away to another part of the room and landed onto a night stand.
"Hoo." he vocalized, using his wings like a hand and pointing downwards at the drawer.
"Is that where the food is?" I asked Owloysius, figuring he understood English.
"Hoo." he replied.
"I'll take that as I yes." I said.
I opened the drawer and found a plastic bag filled with insects.
"Crickets?" I asked Owloysius.
"Hoo-hoo." he replied, nodding his head.
I opened the seal for the bag and dumped five fairly large crickets into the palm of my hand.
"Here you are." I said as I presented the crickets to Owloysius.
Owloysius immediately bent down and snatched a cricket into his beak, slightly poking my palm while at it. He did this for the other four and took a look at me for a second after he finished.
"Hoo." he said before he flew back up to the ceiling and perched himself on another beam.
"Your welcome." I said, raising my right hand upwards.
Owloysius emulated my actions with his right wing in response.
With that, I continued to water the rest of the plants that were in the upstairs section of the library. That took no more than eight minutes before heading back downstairs. Twilight was just putting the books back on the shelves while Spike was checking out one the books.
"Okay, I'm finished." I declared.
"Thanks for the help." Twilight thanked.
"No problem." I said.
"Haaaah, so what now?" Spike sighed.
"We could go on little walk if you want. It's a beautiful day outside." Twilight suggested.
"I'm up for it." Spike said.
"What about you, Caleb?" Twilight asked.
"Sorry, I gotta go for a little drive." I said, putting the emphasis on the word, drive.
Twilight seemed to get the message and winked at me.
"That's okay. We'll probably be walking through the town square and back here." Twilight informed.
"Sounds good. I'll see you guys later." I said.
"See you in a while." Twilight said as she closed the door along with Spike.
"Okay, let's see if the Timberwolves took the bait or not. This oughta be a treat."
I went upstairs to my duffel bag to find the fuel pump fuse and headed outside to the Land Rover. After it started up nicely, I drove into the Everfree Forest to check out the mannequins I placed early in the morning today.
Well, the Everfree Forest is definitely more inviting during the day. The amount of trees makes the paths a bit shady, but sunlight still shines through. A lot of wildlife is also out and about rather than at night. There were lots of birds flying around and a constant amount of rabbits and squirrels would sit by the side of the path, waiting for my vehicle to pass before crossing. If there's any deer in this forest, then I hope they have street smarts as well.
I would frequently check the left side of the path to find the pile of stones that I placed as a marker, so that I know where a mannequin is. Eventually, I found the first one that was closest to Ponyville while the other two are on the east side of the forest while the other one is half a mile south of my position at the moment.
I shut off the engine and exited the Land Rover. The section of the forest near southern border of Dovere is pretty dense, but I could still easily see. As I arrived to the mannequin, I found out that it was in perfect condition; no attacks, nothing. I then took a huge chunk of time to inspect the ground for any tracks. It takes time, but it's worth it for the safety of Ponyville and Zecora. Speaking of Zecora, I think she lives somewhere out here by the southern border of Dovere. Hope the Timberwolves aren't bothering her.
I found no sign of Timberwolves or any other creature in this sector. Therefore, I continued to the two mannequins placed in the east side of Dovere, those two mannequins were also clear of no attack or signs of Timberwolf activity. This brought some relief to me because I knew that the Timberwolves were not roaming in multiple sectors, but is that the same for the last one?
After taking a right, travelling a mile west, and taking another right, I arrived at my first marker. I proceeded down the small ditch and raised my foot to step over the large log, but something wasn't right. I looked down.... and found out that the log was long gone.
"Did somepony move it?" I said before I realized what the log really was. "Oh my god." I groaned as I placed both palms on my face.
Yep. That log was actually a Timberwolf positioned in a way that would imitate a log. Firstly, the Timberwolf was protected by the cover of the ditch and that saved it from getting shined on. Second, I bet you that the roof lights are what saved me from the Timberwolf getting up and following me deep in the forest. And three, that dark mass was a Timberwolf after all because I came across the mannequin.
The mannequin was knocked over and teeth marks were indented near the jugular area of the pony mannequin. Scratch marks were visible near on the the left side of the mannequin. From my best guess, there was only two of them. I could tell from the paw prints because two sets of prints headed to the north, but these prints were more spaced out, almost as if they were running after something.
Curious, I followed the tracks to see where the Timberwolves headed off to. I followed the tracks further and they eventually became more rapid and less spaced out as if they were slowing down. I looked up and found a tree that was knocked over and laid on the ground, the roots exposed.
"Why would they knock over a tree?"
I walked next to the tree and took notice to a large gaping hole on the side of the tree. All around the hole were numerous, deep slash marks and teeth marks that were imprinted onto the tree, indicating an attack. I peeked into the hole and found a surplus of acorns stored inside and a few small splotches of blood inside that stained the wood.
I took both of my arms and wrapped them around the tree, effortlessly moving the fairly thick tree to the side to check if anything was under it, but found nothing. The paw prints had changed course after the attack and headed back in the direction of the dented mannequin. From what I've seen, they must've been defending their territory, but what they don't know is that they are in my territory now. I got a plan up sleeve and they'll be in for a big surprise tonight.
Heading back to the mannequin, I inspected the area for a good place for an ambush attack. There were many bushes to hide and wait, but I think that may be too risky, so I decided to check out the trees in the area. There were also a lot of good trees to hide in, but none had the right characteristics to be perfect. That's what I thought until I found the one: a tree with an abundance of dark green leaves that could keep me hidden, fairly tall, and a bare patch that has no leaves. This patch would give me a good angle to aim at the Timberwolves. It was perfect for a surprise attack.
I went back and forth, climbing up the tree and positioning the mannequin to find the perfect angle to fire at the Timberwolves if they take the bait. Once I finally found the perfect angle, I double checked the area once more and found no other evidence. My plan for tonight was set and I knew what I was going to do. I then got back into the Land Rover and continued back to Ponyville for the rest of the day.
"At least my first night will be interesting." I said to myself as I drove away.