David stepped outside of Sturdy's home and into the open air. He immediately felt the cold of the outside through his clothes, yet it was not the temperature that chilled him to the bone, but the ponies. All of them turned towards him as soon as he stepped outside, "Try to look friendly," said Sturdy as he closed the door behind himself and locked it. David forced a warm smile on his face to make himself look as neighborly as possible. Sturdy walked in front of him and looked him in the eye, "Don't make any sudden movement and we'll be alright," and with that, he started trotting down the busy street in a cheerful manner. David followed his friend even though he felt uncomfortable with all the passer-byes watching him.
"Can't we just take another route to wherever we have to go?" David asked in a hushed tone while he gave a friendly smile and a nod to every pony they passed by. He either got ignored or they looked back at him with a rather unpleasant glare. He started scanning his surroundings, just in case he needed to escape quickly.
"I would prefer that too," whispered back Sturdy, "but they need to get used to you, so just keep on smiling."
"Hey, you! You freak!" Shouted one of the ponies from far away behind them. Both Sturdy and David turned back to see what was going on, "You tall, bald monster! You better not cause any trouble or else!" The pony was an old earth pony stallion with gray mane and huge, round glasses. He was shaking his hoof and loudly cursing at them, to which the crowd started talking amongst themselves, silently debating whether they should join the old pony in facing the monster, or if they would be better off hiding somewhere until it leaves.
Sturdy ran over to the nearest crate and jumped on top of it. From there he addressed everypony, "Ponies! Stop this madness! I thought Ponyville had the nicest residents in all of Equestria!" David was glad his friend did not hesitate in helping him out, although his words didn't have any noticeable effect on the crowd.
"We are nice with normal folk, not with monsters!" Shouted a mare.
"And what made you think that David is not a normal folk?" Asked Sturdy in turn. He did not wait for any response from the crowd, but instead continued immediately, "I admit it, he does look menacing, even to me as well, but it does not mean he would actually do such things!" He reasoned. David was taken aback by his statement, he had no idea his host thought of him the same way as these bystanders.
"You said something similar about Esau Stronghorn as well," stated the previous old stallion.
"Yes, but..." Sturdy didn't have any idea what to say to that. Fortunately, David spoke up before somepony else could from the crowd.
"It fills my heart with pain to see how ill all of you think of me," David was no expert when it came to persuading crowds, so he just said his honest thoughts, hoping it would be enough to defuse the situation, "I know I am a stranger to all of you. I know that none of you had seen anything like me before and I can completely understand why you fear me. I can only hope for you to give me a chance to prove that I am, in fact, not a monster, as you claim me to be," David let his sorrow seep into his voice and body language. It seemed to affect the crowd, except for the old stallion.
"Stop acting and admit it. You only want to rob us, just like that minotaur!" Shouted the stallion back, thus making the crowd even more furious at David. Luckily for him, Sturdy had enough time to come up with a plan and just in time as the ponies of Ponyville began to encircle them.
"Wait!" Sturdy yelled at the top of his lungs. Everypony, including David, turned towards him, "Under the first Griffin law, any self-aware being is granted basic pony rights, which include the punishment for inflicting physical harm on that being, and David shows all the signs of a self-aware being," the ponies just watched Sturdy with a blank expression, to which he facehoofed "In other words, if you hit him you go to prison," Sturdy was always disappointed at the average pony's inability to understand more complex sentences.
However, the ponies of Ponyville trusted Sturdy as much as one would trust a goat not to eat a cabbage, not to mention that everypony knew he wasn't a lawyer, so they surrounded them completely, "Stop! Sturdy is right!" Screamed an earth pony mare with light brown fur and pink mane. Ponies began to move out of her way as she walked up to David, "This being is under the protection of Equestrian law and he will remain so until he abides by them," she stomped the ground with one of her hooves to emphasize her point, "I am sorry ponies, but you can't force him out of the village. Now disperse!" Most of the ponies growled at the mare's interruption. Nevertheless, even the most daring of them went back to their daily routines. However, the mare remained next to David, watching the ponies leave, just in case one of them actually worked up the courage to charge at the human.
"Thank you, Mayor Mare," Sturdy sounded grateful towards the mare and even bowed his head slightly for her.
"Keep an eye on your friend, Sturdy Fossil," she gave Sturdy a long and vicious glare, then left like nothing had happened. Saying that David was surprised at the mare's reaction would have been an understatement.
"Let's go, David. They should leave us alone. For now," Sturdy continued on without saying anything else. David stayed in one place for a while, only staring at the back of Sturdy. As his mind processed what just happened, he immediately followed his friend down the now not so busy street.
"What just happened? Who is Esau Stronghorn? Why was that mare so malicious? No, why was everybody so malicious? And where are we going anyway?" David asked in confusion and in a slight anger. He expected Sturdy to at least warn him about the possibility of being attacked on the street by other ponies.
"Look, I'm sorry about what just happened," Sturdy peeked back at David for just enough time for him to see the regret and sadness in his eyes. He turned back forward, sighed and continued on, "Esau was a minotaur. I brought him here and technically I tried the same thing with him as with you now. Turns out he was not the righteous type, so after a few days he went on a looting spree in the town and left. Nopony heard from him since," Sturdy lowered his head towards the ground in shame, "Of course, everypony blamed me for the incident, they have all the right to, but I still had no idea he would do such a thing," Sturdy peeked at David again, "They think you will do the same thing. That is the reason why they wanted to 'chase' you out of the town."
David tried to hold onto his anger towards Sturdy, but he just couldn't. He saw his friend was truly troubled by all of this and he just didn't have the heart to remain mad at him, albeit his curiosity was not yet satisfied, "If this is true, then why did the mayor interfere?"
"Cause she would have gotten into more trouble," Sturdy spat out carelessly. David scratched his chin in thought. He pondered on the whole ordeal and began thinking about what he would say to Sturdy next, but his friend spoke first, "Anyway, I want to leave this behind me as soon as possible," his voice was quiet and neutral.
"I understand," David's head was filled with words and sentences he wanted to say to his friend to cheer him up or to reassure him, yet he remained silent. He respected his friend's wish, so he instead began to think about the Ponyville incident. He played it back in his head numerous times, looking for the exact time and moment when it all had gone wrong. His mind began to fill up and his headache returned. He was so deep in his reflections that the absence of the houses around him didn't occur to him at all.
After he had enough of the mess he had created in his head, David took a look around in order to clear it out and only then did he notice that the beautiful homes and shops of the town were replaced by snowy fields. Aside from the crunching of the snow underneath their feet and hooves, everything was completely silent.
David stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes. There was no wind, not even a gentle breeze. He took a deep breath, held it in as long as he could and slowly breathed it out. When he opened his eyes he saw the terrain, which was evenly coated by the fresh, untouched snow, and the giant light gray cloud above him. It looked like a huge blanket that had been draped all over the sky by the Great Lord Zoh. He also spotted two kids as well in the snow, both of them were humans. He had never seen them before, or at least he did not remember seeing them, he only knew them because of the strange voice speaking to him in a low tone told him. One of the kids was him, the other one was a friend of his.
David watched them as they played in the snow, he heard them talking and laughing amongst themselves. His head had been cleared of all of his previous worries, although now he felt pained and saddened, "David, why are you crying?"
The kids vanished in front of David's eyes, he only saw the white snow again. He looked at Sturdy who seemed concerned for him. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to David. At first, he had no idea why Sturdy would hand this to him, then he felt the tears slowly freezing on his cheeks. He wiped them off and gave the handkerchief back to his friend.
"I did not realize this whole situation made you so upset. I know I said I want to leave it behind me already and-"
"It's not about that," David cut Sturdy off, "It was just another vision," he kept looking at the spot where he saw the kids. Sturdy stood next to him and started observing the landscape as well, "I saw my childhood self and one of my friends play in the snow. I don't know why bu-" he heard the voice speaking to him and it's words echoed through his mind, a thousand feelings hit him at once, "He died."
"Pardon?" Sturdy recoiled at David's sudden statement.
"My friend, he passed away," repeated David with the same tone and turned towards his friend with his full body, "We were very close friends, we didn't have any secrets from each other. It was one of the worst days of my life when the plague took him," Sturdy hadn't lost any of his friends or family members. He was clueless as to what he should say in such a situation, so he remained silent, fearing he would just make things worse, "I'm alright now, hopefully. It just caught me off-guard," he smiled warmly at Sturdy, which he returned with a smile of his own, "Anyways, you still hadn't told me where we are going," David started walking and motioned for Sturdy to follow him. He was surprised by how fast David got over this, although he respected his decision to not to talk about it any further, just as how David did when he asked him to not talk about the Ponyville incident.
"Well, we are going to the Ghastly Gorge," announced Sturdy proudly, hiding his fears and worries for his friend.
"Ghastly Gorge?" David raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," David could have sworn that he heard a click as Sturdy turned on his lecturer mode, "The Ghastly Gorge is a deep valley which is rich in minerals. It was originally a huge underground cave, but over time it collapsed in on itself and, most importantly, the valley has an endless supply of unique fossils near the surface which can be easily extracted without the need of any advanced tools."
"So we are going there to dig up some fossils? Don't we need at least a shovel for that?"
"There are loads of shovels in the valley, I have set up an excavation site with the leftover money I got from the Academy," Sturdy grinned. Spending those snob ponies' money was the best passive-aggressive action on his part. It's a pity he was unable to do it any further as they had stopped funding him with anything after they kicked him out.
David rolled his eyes in amusement, "So we got the equipment for it, but how are we going to find them? Are we going to just dig a bunch of holes and hope for a lucky find?"
"Oh please David, I can find a fossil within seconds," Sturdy pointed at his cutie mark, "this guides me to them."
"I fail to see the reason why it would be capable of doing that," David shrugged his shoulders slightly, "but if you say so, the Great Lord Zoh has his own unfathomable powers as well."
While they were talking they arrived at the Ghastly Gorge. David leaned over the cliff and peeked down, he couldn't help himself and whistled one, "That's a really deep canyon," the echo of his whistle only died down once he finished talking, then a distant roar drew both of their attention, "What was that?" Asked David without delay.
"Well, there are two reasons why I am the only one excavating here," Sturdy pointed at the forest in the distance, "That is the Everfree Forest, one of the most dangerous places in Equestria," he then picked up a pebble and tossed it down the valley, "And then there are these fellows as well."
David followed the small stone with his eyes. The moment it passed by a gigantic hole in the side of the canyon a huge red eel-like creature shot out of it at such a speed that it smashed its own head on the other side of the gorge in an instant. The eel didn't even flinch or whine at this, it just slowly withdrew itself into its hole. David could only look at this beast with horror, "You sure about this?" He turned his head towards Sturdy, or rather where Sturdy once was.
"Don't make such a fuss about it, it'll be fine," said Sturdy already descending on a flock of stairs that were carved into the side of the gorge, "Just don't step in front of their caves."
David found the entrance to the stairs and followed his friend downwards, "I hope you're right," David caught up to Sturdy on the stairway, "but know this, if I die here by one of these eels then I will come back to haunt you for the rest of your life," he threatened Sturdy, although it intentionally came across as more ridiculous than menacing.
"Don't worry David, we just dig around a bit, find one fossil and we are already out of here," Sturdy's voice sounded calming and soothing and it did help David calm down just a tiny bit, "And don't forget to say hi to Fred," David's fear was replaced by confusion. As soon as Sturdy placed one hoof at the next step a quarray eel shot out next to them and hit the other side of the gorge as well.
"For the love of Zoh!" David jumped in the air and then clung to the side of the stairwell in fear while Sturdy just smirked, "I would have appreciated a little warning!" He shouted after his friend who didn't even stop in his tracks.
"I did warn you," answered back Sturdy with fake anger.
David's fury towards Sturdy had returned. He started running down the stairs and when Fred shot out from the wall again he just yelled at it, "Frick off Fred!" Both of them arrived at the bottom at the same time and David immediately jumped in front of Sturdy, "Do you even realize how risky and dangerous this place is, or is this just a game for you?"
The smile vanished from Sturdy's face and his sadness had broken free from its cage where he tried to hide it and forget about it, "Don't get me wrong David, these things are terrifying," he went over to his little digging station, which was a small tent with a table under it. There were three shovels and a pickaxe placed on top of the table. He placed the empty trunk on the ground under the tent, "I had many close calls with them, so I don't want to be here just as much as you do," the memories came back to him and they made his fur stand on end for a moment, "But this is the reason why I gave them names and why I act so naturally with them, it helps me forget about the fear. And you have to get used to them in order to forget about your own fear of them, too," he opened his suitcase and then grabbed a shovel from the table, "Just as how the ponies need to get used to you," he looked David straight in the eye with his saddened expression. David's anger melted away, "You don't have to help, I can handle this alone," he started walking along the valley with the shovel in one hoof.
David instinctively picked up the remaining equipment from the tent and rushed after his friend, "I will help and no amount of Freds can stop me from that," said David, putting more stress on his words. He matched Sturdy's pace and followed him along with the two shovels and the pickaxe placed on his shoulder. Sturdy's mood improved, although he still felt bad for bringing David down here, "And now that you have put it this way, this seems more ironic than scary," they both let out a light chuckle at this.
"You should lower your head or else Veronica might have a bite from it," David dropped down to his knees and jerked his head to both sides looking for the hole. He indeed found it to his left with steam coming out of it, indicating that something big was inside it. He continued on all fours until he left the cave behind himself.
"Speaking from experience?" Inquired David after standing up and dusting off his clothes.
"Yes, she did get really close to chomping one of my hind legs off once," David was bewildered as to how Sturdy almost managed to achieve that, "Oh, I feel a tingle," he put up his right hoof to stop David in his tracks. He began trotting in a zigzag and paid great attention to his guide, the tingling inside him. David tried to follow his friend, but after a while, he had enough of running after him, so he stopped in one place and waited for him to finish the search.
While Sturdy tirelessly hunted for a fossil, David took his time and inspected the bottom of the valley. There was just as many holes in the ground as many caves in the side of the gorge and all of them had a dirt pile next to them, presumably from when Sturdy dug them out. He couldn't help but wonder about how many trips he had made so far down here in search for new fossils. And where did he keep those fossils after researching them?
David's train of thought was disturbed by Sturdy's victorious holler which was followed by the sounds of digging. He rushed over to his friend, "Where shall I dig?" Without any delay, he placed town the equipment from his shoulder and picked out a shovel from them.
"Don't, it's really close to the surface and it would only damage it," said Sturdy with excitement. He dropped his shovel aside and lied down on his stomach next to the hole. With his front hooves, he began carefully sweeping the dirt out of the small pit.
David only watched his friend's movements intently. They were slow and careful, it gave David the impression that the fossils were just as fragile as glass. Sturdy asked for the pickaxe which he gave it to him. He then started to lightly tap the rock at the bottom of the hole and small cracks developed on its surface in a circle. He continued on with this until the flat stone he had been carving popped out of its place. He gave the pickaxe back to David and cautiously picked the fossil out of the rock and placed it next to himself. He gently blew the remaining dirt off of it and grabbed it with one hoof, "There it is, it seems to be an ancient sea creature's transitional fossil," David moved closer to him to better observe it. It was indeed a strange creature's skeletal structure that seemed like it was etched into the stone by the Great Lord Zoh.
"Fascinating," both of them got up from the ground and slowly made their way back to the tent, David paid great attention to Veronica's cave on the way back, "How long does it take to research one of these?" he inquired, not sure if he used the correct term.
"I won't be researching it," Sturdy placed the fossil into the suitcase, closed it and carefully placed it back on his back.
"What do you mean?" David raised an eyebrow at that.
"Do you remember that gray pony?" David only nodded at that, "He is going to buy it from me and then he will research it for himself, or he sells it off to somepony else," David's jaws dropped. His friend just turned around and made his way towards the stairs leading upwards.
"Will he give you credit for the discovery at least?" David followed Sturdy from far away, hoping that he would turn back to the small camp and started analyzing the fossil for himself.
"No," came the cold answer. Sturdy didn't even turn back, he didn't have the strength to tell this face to face. David stood silent for a few seconds, wishing his friend was just joking. He wasn't.
David had no other option but to go up the stairs after Sturdy. He tried to imagine himself in his situation and then he thought carefully about his next words, he had no desire to accidentally worsen Sturdy's mood, "Is there no other way? Was this the first or last option for you?" he asked desperately while Fred shot out of his cave again. This time neither of them even seemed to notice him.
"The last," they arrived at the top of the stairs and Sturdy turned towards David. He carefully put the suitcase down from his back and sat down in the snow. He was debating with himself whether he should tell David about the issue or just move on without talking about it, just like how he did with the previous problems. David patiently waited for his friend to come to a conclusion, he used the time to mull things over in himself as well, making sure he understood everything correctly.
Sturdy spoke up first after he had reached a decision with himself, "I tried everything. I researched the most impressive fossils I could find only for it to be rejected without a thought and the day after I would find my study accepted and published by somepony else. I tried working outside of my field, each time it went horribly wrong," he glanced up at David with a beaten down expression and tears began to form in his eyes, "I ran out of money, I had to think of something fast or else I would have become homeless," he buried his face in his hooves, "I said 'screw it, If they already steal my work then at least I could get a few bits out of them,'" he almost cursed at the last bit but he wanted to keep what little he still got from his composure.
David felt heartbroken at Sturdy's tale, it was unthinkable for him to even imagine such cruelty. The Great Lord Zoh greatly punished those, who brought suffering onto another being, so where was the Great Lord Zoh? By now the Great Lord Zoh would have smitten these so-called 'academics' for the evil they had done. Yet David was dumbfounded by this realization. It was only Sturdy's voice which brought him back from his thoughts.
"And I won't even mention Esau," stated firmly Sturdy, looking up to the sky, "He is gone now, thankfully," he cheered himself up a little bit and turned to David, "But you, I am sure you will be the one who will save me from this madness and together we can show those snobs that they messed with the wrong pony this time," David smiled at his friend, then a thought occurred to him. What if the Great Lord Zoh sent him to help on Sturdy? Yes, that had to be it, he already knew that there was a reason for him to be here, and now he felt like he had found it.
"Don't you worry," said David confidently and crouched down in front of his friend. He looked him in the eye and pat his shoulder, "I guarantee that you will never regret bringing me into your home and trusting me."
"Yeah, right," answered back Sturdy with some sarcasm in his voice while he wiped the remaining tears from his eyes, "At least give me a warning before you take off with all of our valuables," he chuckled at his own joke and picked the suitcase up with a hoof and put it on his back again.
"Do you even have anything worth stealing?" Replied David with the same sarcastic tone.
"Now that you mention it," Sturdy acted like he was struggling to come up with something expensive inside their home. They both laughed at this and started heading back to Ponyville, "I'm glad we talked about this, I feel a bit better now," he said while stretching his neck.
"If so, then we should do the same with the previous problems as well," recommended David.
"I don't think it would work with them," Sturdy adjusted his glasses and took up a serious tone, "Many of the issues can't be fixed by us or by me. Let's take the Academy for example," he saw the houses of the town and slowed his pace down. He wanted to discuss this outside of Ponyville, far away from prying eyes, "I am unable to do anything to get back into it, I need your help and even then it takes time. It's pretty much the same thing with the residents of Ponyville. We are both incapable of changing their minds about you drastically in a short period of time. Sure, after talking about it I feel better for awhile, but in the long run, it won't change anything," he stopped in his tracks and looked at David with a slight sadness on his face and waited for David's reaction.
"Yes, I agree with you that talking rarely solves any problems, yet I still think it's worthwhile," David understood what Sturdy felt, the crushing feeling of not being able to solve or do something about a particular issue, he went through the same when his friend got the plague and eventually died because of it, "Discussing these things with somebody does lift a part of the burden for a while, and knowing you are not alone in dealing with situations like this can make it much easier to solve the problem itself, not to mention being able to ask for advice," he finished his little speech and encouragingly smiled at his friend.
Sturdy pondered on what David said, "I like your optimism, but it doesn't work like that," he finally answered, "This has been suggested to me many times before and believe me, I tried it many times with different ponies and it never improved on anything, it only made me less stressed for one or two days at most," he had already gone through this conversation, but with different ponies, so he began walking towards the town again.
David was desperately searching for a reason why this didn't work for his friend, "Maybe everybody you have talked to so far has been the wrong person," he brightened up, thinking that this must be the solution, "Have you tried talking with Lilly?" He recommended.
"Yes and it was a total waste of time," Sturdy stopped right at the edge of Ponyville and glanced back at David, "She said I was only too weak and that I had to toughen up," he stomped the ground in frustration, "She thinks she has it more difficult than me, or anypony else for that matter and my problems can be easily solved by not whining about them," with that he turned right around and began strolling down the street. As soon as they were inside the town the ponies began staring at them, but this time they only did it when they thought they weren't looking at them and wouldn't notice it.
David felt uncomfortable to be back in Ponyville, yet he still straightened his back and smiled while he followed Sturdy. After a few minutes, the staring of the residents started to annoy him a little bit, so he tried to pay no more attention to them. Instead, he began thinking about what to do, he could have pressed the issue and try to prove his point, or he could just satisfy his curiosity and ask about Lilly. He picked up his pace and walked in front of his friend, who wore a rather frustrated expression on his face. This in turn swiftly persuaded David into leaving the issue behind and instead he went with the flow of the conversation, "What made you think of her this way?"
"She made me," stated Sturdy angrily, "The one time I approach her with a problem of mine she gets mad at me for intentionally disturbing her, not to mention that after she calms down she lectures me on how to be tough and all. She doesn't help with my problems, she just gives me a headache."
"Why does she think she has it the most difficult out of everyone else?" inquired David, being genuinely interested in the topic and also he hoped he could still prove it to his friend that talking does help, sometimes.
"She is right in that regard, to some extent. Her life is just as much in ruins as mine," answered Sturdy with a sigh after he gave it some thought, "It's just that she is deeply immersed in her own issues, she is unable to see that there are many other ponies who have met with just as big, if not bigger obstacles as she had."
"Why, what was this obstacle?"
"You remember what she said about her job before she left?" Sturdy stopped in his tracks and looked up at David.
"Yes, she said she works as a Royal Guard or something similar?" David stopped as well and stood in front of his friend.
"Well, she technically doesn't," said Sturdy, feeling a bit awkward and somewhat ashamed for telling this to David behind Lilly's back.
"Wait, she lied?" Asked David with a slight shock.
"No! I wouldn't call it a lie," Sturdy moved his head sideways to emphasize his point, "It's more of a... half-truth," David only stared at him in confusion, so he switched on his lecturer mode and explained the situation, "She works as a delivery mare for the Royal Guard, she usually delivers reports and other not-so-important messages between Ponyville and Canterlot. Her biggest dream is to become an actual Royal Guard, so she applied for the promotion as soon as possible. Of course, the captains found her too hot-headed and stubborn to be an effective member of the guard, so she has been trying to get the promotion for years now."
"And due to her stubbornness, she doesn't want to change herself in order to be fitting for the job?"
"Exactly," said Sturdy in the same tone he used when one of his students gave a right answer, "I swear I sometimes think she does this on purpose for some reason," David found his friend's last sentence interesting, although he did not want to ask about it, yet, "And that is all, Lilly and I are just going through some tough times."
"Do you feel better now?" David hoped Sturdy would now see just how big of a positive effect talking about one's problems can be, not because he wanted to rub it in, but because he wanted to help him, after all, that is the reason why he was sent here in the first place.
"I knew you were going somewhere with that," Sturdy pointed a hoof at David with a smirk, "but no," his expression turned cold and neutral in an instant, "I did try it, but it didn't work for me, not with Lilly, not with anypony else," he lowered his head in defeat, "I wish it would work, really. Most days I can't even find a reason to get out of bed, my life is just not worth living right now, this was the last thing that would have been able to help on my situation," David felt as if somebody had dumped a bucket of freezing water on him. He quickly reached out to his friend to comfort him and tell him that there is always a reason to live. However, his friend was faster and spoke up before that, "but then," he looked up at David with a slight glimmer in his eyes and gestured towards him with a hoof, "we found you! I got another chance for my revenge! And a reason to live, a goal to fight for. Lilly tried to talk me down, to leave you right then and there but I did not let her, I knew it was now or never," he was ecstatic, forgetting about all the misery he had been through so far.
David was relieved to see his friend truly happy again, "I'm glad I can help, but can you keep your voice down?" He asked his friend after noticing all the ponies staring at them, he did not want to divert everyone's attention to themselves or to disturb their everyday lives, but only after he asked did he realize that they would watch them just as much even if they hadn't spoken a single word to each other inside the town.
"I'm sorry, you're just such a huge gamechanger that I can't keep myself at bay," said Sturdy to David with the widest smile on his face and then shivered as the wind picked up. The sun had already set and the temperature began to drop fast, "Celestia is never late with raising the moon, let's continue on before we freeze outside," and with that, he started walking at a quickened pace towards his home.
David followed Sturdy without a word, he was thinking about what he could give his friend to stay warm. The voice told him that he had a fur coat, he got it from his grandfather back in his childhood as a gift for becoming the first defender in his family. He grabbed it from his shoulder and lifted it off of himself. The feeling of warmth disappeared and the cruel, cold wind replaced it, yet he didn't mind it. He put it on the shoulders of the girl in front of him, her parents were taken by the plague, a fate unfortunately not too rare these days. She said no words, although her eyes told him everything, from how grateful she was for this show of kindness to the pain and suffering she has been through.
David smiled at her and now he was the one who was freezing. He remembered he still got an old linen coat from Zoh knows where in his castle, so he began running towards it in order to escape from the bitter cold of the outside as fast as possible.
He ran along the line in which the girl was standing as well. It began at the cathedral, where the monks and other defenders handed out free food for the starving in this unusually harsh winter and it ended just at the edge of the town. The people standing in it wore ragged clothes, barely enough to keep them from freezing to death. The majority of them had buboes all around their bodies, a sign that they had been touched by the plague. He felt bad for these people. They told him that they sinned and for this, the Great Lord Zoh had punished them, yet he thought this was too much. His heart sank lower with each suffering face he saw, knowing he could only comfort them in their death.
David shook his head, he needed to stay sane in these desperate times. He still had some of his family members that he needed to protect from the wrath of the Great Lord Zoh. He prayed not only for himself but for them as well and he kept a close eye on them, making sure they always stayed out of trouble and obeyed the Great Lord Zoh's teachings.
"David, where are you going?" Shouted Sturdy after him. He gradually slowed down and turned around. His friend was standing in front of his home, grabbing the door handle and gesturing for him to come. He shook his head and hurried back to his friend, "At first you just stood there and stared, then you started running at breakneck speed towards our home, then you ran past it," Sturdy opened the door and let him in first, "Another vision?" David nodded at the question while taking off his linen coat and he hung it on the hanger.
As Sturdy closed the door behind himself he opened his mouth to speak, but instead of his own voice it was Lilly's which was heard, "Just about time they got home," she said angrily and went to the entrance, "Where have you been?" she asked in a hushed, bitter tone from Sturdy, "This dude has been here for an hour now, you know how awkward it was to wait for you?"
Sturdy and David glanced at each other. The human reassuringly nodded at him, to which he calmly placed his hat down and grabbed the suitcase from his back, "Don't worry, I got this from here," he said to Lilly and with a determined expression, he walked into the dining-room. David did not follow him, he didn't want to disturb their conversation with his presence.
"Ah, Sturdy, I thought I wouldn't be able to meet with you again," the same grey stallion from before was sitting right across the table from Sturdy. He wore a smug expression on his face, as usual, "Now, I believe you owe me something," he put his hooves together and waited for Sturdy to present the fossil. Sturdy casually walked up to the table, placed the suitcase on top of it and opened it towards the grey stallion so that he could see what was inside, "Perfect, as always we pay twenty bits for it," the grey stallion reached out to take the fossil, but Sturdy slammed the suitcase shut, "Hey!" The stallion yelled at him.
"I only accept upfront payment from now on," said Sturdy with a stern voice.
"How dare you?!" The stallion shouted furiously, "Our money saves you from starvation!"
"Perhaps, but I have something much more promising to work on right now, so if you still want the regular shipments you better pay more for them," while Sturdy talked Lilly stepped into the room, she wore the face of a warrior, ready to defend her home from this intruder. David came in not long after her, he was only concerned for his friend's well being.
The grey stallion froze down the moment he saw David. He sank into his chair and fearfully watched as the human went up to Sturdy, "Everything alright?" He asked his friend.
"Of course not, that jerk dared to-" Lilly was about to tell the stallion off, but her housemate stopped her before she could get out of hand.
"I have everything under control," stated Sturdy with a calm expression, "If you could just leave us alone now," he motioned for both Lilly and David to exit the room. He only continued on when they disappeared behind the door, "As I was saying, I will only continue on with the excavation fossils if you pa-"
"Here's the payment," the stallion didn't want to stay in one house with the human, so he quickly threw a pouch at the suitcase for Sturdy, who only slid it back to the stallion.
"I did not finish," Sturdy shot a vicious glare at the stallion, then continued on like nothing had happened in the first place, "I also want more money per fossil, fifty at least."
"What?!" The stallion was completely taken aback by this. He stared at the door, waiting for the human to show up again after his loud outcry. When no one turned up from behind it he turned back to Sturdy, who looked at him with the same smug grin the stallion would usually wear, "Fine!" With his shaking hooves, he put another pouch on the table, a much bigger one and he hastily counted out thirty more bits from it. He slid back the smaller purse and the pile of bits to Sturdy.
"It was a pleasure," he put the fossil down on the side of the table for the stallion and began recounting the money. The stallion carelessly grabbed the fossil and ran out of the house in an instant, he didn't even say goodbye.
"What in the name of Equestria was that?" Asked Lilly while she reentered the dining-room with David in tow, she was surprised at how confident Sturdy was the whole time.
"I have no idea!" Sturdy jumped out of the chair with excitement, "I just tried to appear persuasive, but then David came into the room and the stallion got scared and I just kept going with the flow and," he looked down at his hooves for a moment, "I'm still shaking, this was awesome!"
"It was about time you stood up for yourself once all alone, I am proud of you," Lilly gave Sturdy a pat on the back for his bravery, while David clapped for him.
"We must celebrate our hero!" Announced David with one of his fingers pointed towards the ceiling.
"Is the Sugarcube Corner still open?" Asked Sturdy and eyed the money up, "I have enough bits to buy all the carrot cakes in the world," the thought of the delicious cake made him drool a little bit as he continued to blankly stare at the pile of money.
"Is it open? Are you kidding, it's only five o'clock, most of the ponies go there around this time," answered back Lilly, baffled at how Sturdy did not know this simple fact. She knew he rarely went left the house in the afternoon and at night, but still.
"Then who wants some carrot cake?" Came the rhetorical question from Sturdy and grabbed the pouch from the table. As he was about to exit the room Lilly had unexpectedly blocked his path in the doorway.
"No," Lilly took the pouch away from Sturdy and pointed back towards the table, "Wait here while I get the cake," Sturdy and David immediately sat down, the last thing they wanted was to go against her will, "You two already caused enough trouble in Ponyville with your morning walk, we could do without another incident," Sturdy smiled sheepishly at her to which she glared at him, "Don't think we won't have a little chat about it," her expression drastically changed from angry to delighted, "but first we must celebrate," and she flew out of the house.
Sturdy and David just looked at each other, both of them were terrified at what could happen after they finished with the cake. David shrugged his shoulder, thinking that he might as well enjoy this small party while it lasts and worry about his death by Lilly later. This mentality seemed to stick to his friend as well, as he joined him in savoring his own small triumph.