//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 - Home Sweet Home 
// Story: A defender's quest for... 
// by Archibad 
//------------------------------//

David's head popped up from the exit of the staircase. He carefully observed the surroundings all the way around, especially towards the Everfree Forest. After making sure that no manticore or any other beasts were waiting for them he whispered down to his friend, "Okay, looks clear."
"You are getting a bit paranoid, don't you think?" Sturdy asked with a serious expression. He slowly began climbing up the remaining stairs towards the surface with a sizable fossil balanced on his back.
"You aren't paranoid enough, don't you think?" Answered back David mimicking his friend's voice while he remained behind him and kept his hands close to the fossil in case Sturdy dropped it by accident.
"David, this was the third time a manticore tried to eat me, and I've been visiting this place for years now," Sturdy facehoofed at his friend's antics. Meanwhile, the fossil began falling towards his right. He instinctively tried to balance it out by twisting his back, but it only made it worse. Luckily, David was quick to react and caught it before it could fall to the ground and possibly break. Both of them gave off a sigh of relief simultaneously and they put the fossil back on Sturdy's back.
"That was too close," David wiped off his forehead with the linen part of his glove and kept his other hand above the fossil.
"That we agree on," Sturdy was tempted to do the same thing as David, but he did not dare to risk dropping his precious cargo by lifting one of his hooves to his face. 
"Why did you leave the trunk at your house anyway?" Inquired David with his voice slightly raised in annoyance.
"I don't know, it might be because someone had the bright idea to put their armor on," shot back Sturdy, thus aggravating David even more.
"Why is that my fault?" David threw both of his arms up in the air in anger, but he put them back on the fossil right after it.
"Do I really need to explain?!" Shouted back Sturdy and without waiting for a response he began educating the human in a scornful manner, "You put your armor on. Turns out it makes you speak gibberish. Both of us got scared and confused. My attention got fully drawn towards this shocking revelation, so I forgot the trunk," Sturdy's steps made the fossil on his back move from side to side and David desperately tried to keep it in balance with his hands. He tried to warn his friend, but he kept on speaking as if he didn't even hear him, "Then you went and stood before the hole town babbling nonsense left and right like a true lunatic and-"
"Sturdy, shut up and stop! The fossil is wobbling!" Yelled finally David after countless failed attempts at getting Sturdy's attention. Both of them were now furious with each other, although Sturdy obeyed and halted in his tracks immediately, "Isn't there somewhere a tendril or something with which I can tie this thing to your back?" Asked David while he scanned the nearby trees.
"It's the middle of winter, where do you think that would grow now?!" Sturdy wanted to stomp the ground in his anger but he reminded himself that he had something valuable on his back.
"A rope, then?" David turned towards Sturdy and yelled. He was suppressing his urge to just straight up kick his friend and curse at him by now.
"Why would I carry a rope?! I was perfectly fine with my trunk, that was specifically designed to be carried around on a pony's back, but guess where it is now!" Sturdy turned his full body around, not caring if the fossil would fall off, which surprisingly didn't, and screamed back at David.
David snapped. Everything that held him back was gone in an instant and his hand moved on its own. He clenched it into a fist and punched towards Sturdy's face. Sturdy closed his eyes and held up one of his hooves in front of his eyes and braced himself for the blow.
Sturdy felt nothing. He waited for another second and opened his eyes. He saw David's fist an inch away from his face. The human was just barely too far away to actually reach Sturdy with his arm.
Sturdy froze down. He could only stare at the human. David was heavily sweating and panting. He collapsed onto his knees and then on all fours. Sturdy kept blankly staring at his friend while he sat down. The fossil fell off from his back, although neither of them noticed it.
They were shocked and tired. They remained like that for a few minutes until they could get themselves back together.
"I'm sorry," whispered David more to himself than to Sturdy.
"It's alright," said Sturdy and went over to his friend to pat him on the back.
"No!" David hit the ground out of frustration, "I didn't follow my lessons again, I ruined everything."
"You ruined nothing Da-"
"Yes I did, you said it yourself," David looked up to Sturdy with a pained expression on his face, "Back in the town I didn't listen to my masters and I spoke out of my heart, I always do that. I am an idiot," he sat upright in front of his friend.
"I didn't mean that. I said it out of anger."
"Then what did you say after we left the town?"
"I said that you were expecting things to go too fast, but-"
"Exactly, even if you are not angry you still think that I failed."
"No, I..." Sturdy was dumbfounded. He didn't think his friend was unsuccessful with his persuasion attempt, only that he was a bit too early with it. He was desperately searching for a way to soothe David, but his mind was still stuck on processing what had happened moments before, "David, you hadn't failed, and even if that was true, then it happens, even to the best of us. There is no shame in that."
David remained silent for a few moments, "You are right, but I am a defender."
"And?" Sturdy forced a slight smile on his face and pointed at David, "You are still a living being."
"Yes, but I'm supposed to be better," David paused for a second, "I was supposed to listen to my masters. I failed at that, I couldn't follow their lessons on persuasion, again. I was supposed to live by the Great Lord Zoh's teaching, but I broke most of them with..." he lifted up his hand in front of his face and clenched it into a fist. He looked at it, then back to Sturdy. He shook his head and put his hand back down on the ground.
"You didn't hit me," Sturdy dropped his fake smile and sat a bit closer to his friend.
"I would have if I were just a bit closer to you."
"We were angry at each other. I failed too, I could have kept silent or at least I could have resisted the urge to yell at you and thus worsening the situation," Sturdy put one of his hooves on David's shoulder and looked him straight in the eye, "We are living beings, it's natural for us to make mistakes, so don't be so hard on yourself."
"I know, but I am a defender," repeated David, "I should be setting an example, and what is that example? Spitting at the teachings of the Great Lord Zoh and my masters."
"David, stop this," Sturdy shook his friend gently by the shoulder to hopefully jank him out of whatever madness took over him, "You are under a lot of pressure, even if you are not aware of it. You woke up in a completely foreign place, where most of the townsfolk don't even like you and you have to find a way to get back home to your family and friends. I admit it, I have never been in a situation like this, surprisingly," he added the last bit with some sarcasm. He laughed slightly at that and waited for David' reaction, to which he just continued to stare at the ground in melancholy, "Anyway, I have no idea what it must be to be in this situation, but I imagine it is rough, not to mention that I have worsened it as well."
"I know where you want to go with this," said David and put Sturdy's hooves down from his shoulders, "I can only repeat myself, I am supposed to be better. I should have kept a cool, level-head instead of trying to..." both of them fell silent once again. Sturdy was close to giving up on attempting to lift his friend's mood. His mind began to wander back to what happened at the town earlier. He was able to recall every word of David just as if they had been uttered moments before. Then an idea struck him.
"What did you say to the ponies back in town?" David looked up from the ground to his friend in interest, "As long as we learn from our failures we haven't failed?" David chuckled to himself and nodded.
"Yeah, that's what I said."
"Then how come you said this great wisdom yourself, but you are not following it?" Both of them smiled at that.
"Firstly, I wasn't the one who came up with this saying, it was my grandfather," began David as he stood up from the cold, snowy ground, "Secondly, being wise is much easier than living by your own wisdom, or at least that's what my masters told me when I asked them the same question."
Sturdy gave off a sigh of relief and stood up as well, "Are you better now?" He asked with hope while he looked up to David.
"Yes," came the instinctive answer from the human, "I mean, no, not really," Sturdy visibly deflated at his words and David laughed at that, "Don't worry, I'm slightly better now," he swiftly clarified and pat Sturdy on the head, "I still feel bad for what I tried to do, but I will learn from this mistake and hopefully I will never repeat it."
"You sure?" Inquired Sturdy as he grabbed David's hand and lifted it off of his head, "The last thing I want is to be punched in the face by you."
David grinned, "Oh, I am completely sure," he laughed maliciously.
"Cut it off already," Sturdy hit David's leg gently to which he stopped. They looked at each other for a few moments, then they smiled and got going towards the town at the same time.
"I feel like we forgot something," said David, not stopping in his tracks.
"It's funny because I feel the-" answered back Sturdy, but he remembered something in mid-sentence, "The fossil!" He shouted after his sudden realization and ran back from where they came.
"The fossil?" Asked David from himself, "The fossil!" He shouted as well after recognizing what his friend meant by this and he ran after him. They found it not far behind at the side of the small path, it lay flat in the fresh snow in one piece, luckily.
"Thank you, Celestia!" Yelled Sturdy at the top of his lungs towards the sky and bowed down. David was a bit confused by this, but he was just as happy as his friend.
"I will carry it this time," said David and grabbed the fossil with both of his hands and he began to lift it.
"No, it's too heavy, place it back on my back," protested Sturdy.
"It's fine, I can carry it on my shoulder," David tried to calm his friend down to no effect.
"David, it's too high, if you drop it by accident it has a higher chance to break," objected Sturdy further as he watched David place the fossil on his left shoulder and only holding it with one hand.
"I'll be careful, let's go," motioned the human to Sturdy to start walking towards the town.
"No! Place the fossil on my back," stomped the ground Sturdy and picked up his volume to further emphasize his point.
"But...!" David wanted to raise his voice as well in response, although he was able to stop himself now. He turned his head towards his load to gain some time to ponder over his answer. The fossil was bigger than his head and his shoulder already began to ache under its weight. He had to agree with his friend, it's too heavy for him to carry it like this all the way back to town, "Okay, you win," he announced in a calm voice and carefully lifted the fossil off of his shoulder and onto his friend's back.
"Thank you, my friend," Sturdy was delighted with David's decision and he didn't hide it, "Now we can go, and slowly," he began to walk towards Ponyville in a moderate pace, his hooves sank deeper into the snow due to the added burden, yet his spine remained even, holding up the entire fossil. David followed him from behind and he kept a close eye on the huge chunk of stone. Whenever it would swing out too much David would put one hand down in the middle of it to keep it in one place and stabilizing it with his other hand from one of its sides.
"So..." after spending the first minute of the journey silently Sturdy began to feel awkward, "About what I said earlier-"
"It's alright, I understand, and it was somewhat deserved as well," David cut his friend off before he could finish.
"No, it was not deserved at all, why would you think that?" Asked Sturdy in return without looking back, he didn't want to risk it.
"I ruined my speech back in the town, the heat of the moment got me carried away. I didn't stick to my lessons," David's posture slumped as his voice became quieter.
Sturdy didn't answer immediately. Instead, he gave himself some time to think through his words, "What are those lessons precisely?" He finally inquired in order to clarify some things.
"Well..." David pondered nervously on the question for a bit, "It'll sound bad, but the gist of what I have been taught by the missionaries is crowd persuasion through whatever means necessary. This includes lying as well."
"So you were taught at how to deceive people?" Asked Sturdy in a slight shock and continued on before David could raise an objection, "Then, of course, you didn't follow your lessons! Deceiving people is immoral."
"It's not deceiving," said David after his friend finished and he wouldn't interrupt him, "I admit it, lying doesn't sit well with me either-"
"I hoped it wouldn't," cut in rudely Sturdy, "Sorry, had to get it out of myself, please continue."
"So as I was saying, I don't like it as well, but I still wouldn't call it deceiving."
"Why?" Sturdy failed to understand his friend, he thought of him differently.
"Okay, before I begin I will give some definitions," David waited for a few seconds for Sturdy's reaction. He remained silent, so he took it as an agreement, "Firstly, lying: the act of telling someone something that is not true, do you accept this explanation?"
"I would add 'with a malicious intent', but go on," Sturdy's interest had been awoken by this and 
by now he was more curious than startled.
"No, that is deceiving, lying to someone with a malicious intent."
"Hmm..." Sturdy had to mull this over in himself and David gave him the time for it, "I suppose you are correct, but lying is still immoral, with a malicious intent or not," the human began to nod, then he realized his friend couldn't see him.
"I agree, one of the first stories a young defender will hear is the tale of Mendax. It is about an old king's spymaster, who is plotting to kill the heir to the throne. I won't tell you the whole story as it's fairly long, so the moral of it is that deceivers are condemned by the Great Lord Zoh and that lying is wrong."
"See?" Sturdy thought he had cornered David and he was waiting for him to admit it.
"Hold on for a second," David held up a finger, but he quickly realized that his friend can't see it, again, so he put it down just as fast, "Lying can be forgiven, if and only if it's done for the greater good."
"For the greater good?" Repeated Sturdy, "This doesn't sound good. What do you mean by that?"
"One common example of a greater good is the spreading of the teachings of the Great Lord Zoh," answered proudly David without hesitation.
"That was a mouthful," chuckled Sturdy, "So you are really a missionary?"
David scratched his head, "It's complicated," he had no idea how he could explain it simply, "I did get the training of a missionary, and I am required to work as one whenever possible or needed, but I am not a missionary."
Sturdy just shook his head carefully, "I don't get it."
"Okay, let's try a different approach," David figured that his friend was more intelligent than the average, so he wanted to explain the reason for this complication, maybe that would work better with him, "A missionary's job is to spread the teachings of the Great Lord Zoh and as fast as possible. In order for that, the missionary has to use a wild assortment of techniques to persuade people into following these teachings, one of which is lying."
"Sorry to interrupt, but if these teachings are so good, then why do you need to lie to spread them?" Asked Sturdy as his confusion only grew.
"Because if you go to a foreign land, to a foreign town you can't say that you would much rather be anywhere else than that place, you have to appeal to the people," said David and laughed at it a bit. It sounded less ridiculous in his head.
"Oh, we are talking about those kinds of small lies," exclaimed Sturdy as this small revelation hit him.
"Yes, I am not talking about selling people water that was blessed by the Great Lord Zoh that gives you good luck and health. That's just a rip-off, you can get the same thing with praying and respecting the Great Lord Zoh," Sturdy rolled his eyes in disbelief.
"Okay, I understand it now, we can get back on track," suggested Sturdy in a polite manner.
"So, as I said," David gave himself some time to remember what he was about to say before Sturdy's small interruption, "Missionaries use lying as well to do their job, but we defenders are technically not allowed to lie in any situation, no matter the reason. Or at least that's how half of the people interpreted the tale of Mendax. Problem is, the other half thinks that being a missionary should be included in a defender's list of jobs to do, so this issue has been on debate for a century now. Until it is resolved, we are trained and required to work as a missionary, but it isn't part of our duties, technically," David exhaled the remaining air from his lungs in a loud sight. He was not satisfied with his explanation, but before going on about this for another minute he first waited for his friend's reaction.
"Wow," Sturdy was unable to find any words that would best describe his thoughts without insulting David, "This all sounds too complicated over something so... trivial?" He mentally slapped himself. He could only hope now that David won't take it to heart.
"Trivial?" Repeated David in surprise, "This is perhaps one of the most important questions regarding the interpretation of the Great Lord Zoh's teachings," he said hurriedly, not out of anger, he just wanted to convince his friend, "The defenders got their name from their true purpose. We are holy guards, and if the Great Lord Zoh's original intention was for us not to be missionaries, then we will lose our holy status which was granted by the Great Lord Zoh himself."
"Well, if it's so important to you then I guess it must be a bigger issue than I give credit to it," answered Sturdy after a few seconds of thinking. David opened his mouth, but Sturdy didn't see it and cut him off, "Now that I think about it, will you be trying to convert the townsfolk to your religion?" He asked curiously, although he feared what his friend would answer to that.
"That is not my main goal with my preachings, but who knows, they deserve to believe in the truth," said David and leaned forward next to his friend, "Just like how you deserve to believe in the truth as well," he comically poked Sturdy's shoulder with his elbow and winked at him, then he straightened up. Sturdy just rolled his eyes again.
"This might disappoint you, but many ponies, including myself, are not religious," stated Sturdy in a serious tone to which David just slightly laughed.
"You ponies are already living by most of the Great Lord Zoh's teachings, you just don't know them by that name," answered back David after he stopped chuckling.
"You mean our social morals?"
"Exactly, or at least from what I've seen so far from it, it is nearly exactly the same. The only difference in converting to my religion is pretty much just seeing the truth and starting to worship the one and true Great Lord Zoh," David finished his little speech proudly, saying the one true god's full name with the utmost respect.
"How do you know he is the only one?" A window broke and its glass shattered into a thousand pieces in David's mind as he registered what his friend just said. His expression changed immediately into a sullen one, "No, how do you even know he exists? And why are you trying so hard to convince me?" Sturdy was fully aware of all the possible reactions of his friend and none of them were pleasant. However, his scientific mind had to ask these questions, just out of curiosity, and maybe to slightly enlighten David in return.
David took a moment to recollect himself before his emotions took hold of him again, "Firstly, I only want to convince you of the truth. Secondly, I know he exists because he told Aedifex, the original writer of the Holy Chronicles, what stories and tales to write down into the sacred book," he calmly listed his answers to Sturdy, hoping he could persuade him into seeing the truth.
"How do you know for certain that he wrote it with the help of your god?" Sturdy knew if he told the human his opinion it would end in disaster for both of them. Instead, he tried to show him his thought process and let him figure it all out by himself.
"From the Unforgettable Legends..." David's mind was filling up with newly recovered memories. He remained silent while he processed them, but Sturdy thought that this was all he could say.
"...The Unforgettable Legends?" Sturdy tried to nudge his friend into giving a better explanation, he expected more from him.
"Yes, these legends are a collection of stories written on ancient scrolls from the time when Aedifex was alive," said David while staring blankly in front of himself, "They tell the tale of how the Holy Chronicles came to be and they were written by Aedifex's eldest son," David only paid attention to the real world with half of his mind as it was still full of new memories about the Great Lord Zoh, his teachings, and the Church. He remembered many things about them, including the Unforgettable Legends.
"And how do you know those legends are true?" David blinked a few times as he regained full control over his mind. He shook his head in order to get rid of the remaining images in his head.
"Because who would write a story down on half a thousand scrolls if it was not true?" Asked David, thinking that his friend would finally stop doubting him and the truth due to his answer.
"David, writing stories down that are not true is called writing fiction, and apparently many ponies do it for a living," David felt attacked at this point. It saddened him that his friend was so distrustful of him that he refused to accept the existence of the Great Lord Zoh. However, he didn't want the previous accident to repeat itself, so he instead remained silent.
Sturdy took notice of the quiet between him and David, it was getting a bit uncomfortable for him, "Look, David," he quickly began to explain his viewpoint before his friend misunderstood him, "I don't think that what you are saying is one hundred percent false," the human perked up slightly from his melancholy and looked at Sturdy, or at least at the back of his head, "All I'm trying to say is that you can never be sure enough about the truth. You might be right and the Great Lord Zoh is up there somewhere looking down on us and guiding us, but from all we know it might be a rainbow farting magical dragon, who gives salted crackers to all of his believers," they both began laughing.
"Now that would just be straight-up insane," said David between two chuckles.
"Yes, it would be, but we have no way of knowing for sure. A random pony might decide to write epic stories about the magic dragon and two thousand years later people could think that this creature did really exist just because somepony wrote about it a long time ago," David's laughter slowly died down.
"So you... don't believe me?" Asked David quietly.
"What? No!" Sturdy got scared about how much his friend misunderstood him, "I believe you in general, it's only that I..." His mind was racing with thoughts, he wanted to comfort his friend and reassure him, but he just couldn't find the right words for it, "David, I know you must be feeling threatened, the concept of the Great Lord Zoh must have been taught to you from a very young age to be true, and to face the possibility of it not being that for what might be the first time is, and should be, frightening."
"Yes, it scares me, because if the Great Lord Zoh is not real, then... I have wasted my life," David stopped in his tracks and looked at the ground. He lifted both of his hands in front of his face. All those years of training, helping and most importantly, disappointing his father would be for nothing. He clenched his hands into fists as strong as he could to let out some of his frustration.
Sturdy stopped walking as well when he couldn't hear the human's distinctive steps in the snow, but he didn't dare to turn around in case the fossil might fall off, "David, this will sound weird, but could you stand in front of me please?" David smiled to himself and did as his friend asked him to. Sturdy looked straight into his eyes with the most serious expression he could muster from himself, considering the absurd situation, "What were you doing before you woke up here?"
"Everything that a defender should be doing, mostly helping people," David pondered for a moment "Or at least as far as I can remember," he added uncertainly.
"Doesn't matter. What matters is that you helped people. Now I don't care nor does it have any importance as to why you did and for whom you did it. It could be for the Great Lord Zoh, or for the magical rainbow farting dragon, or for plain selfishness, but in any of the cases, you helped people and that's all that matters," Sturdy gave David a reassuring nod to which the human's weak smile returned, "You did not waste your life, you spent it helping people, the justification for that act of kindness doesn't matter in the slightest. You can believe in the Great Lord Zoh, or in the magical farting dragon, as long as you do good for the world and for the people in it, it doesn't matter."
A grin appeared on David's face and it only grew, slowly but steadily. He said every prayer in his mind for the Great Lord Zoh that this pony found him from all the others. He did convince him, that Zoh might not exist and this turned his fundamental ideology on its head completely, yet he still couldn't stay mad at him for too long, no matter what he did. He was still his friend, not to mention that what if the Great Lord Zoh really exists. There is a chance for that as well.
David and Sturdy looked at each other for a moment. Without saying anything they nodded their heads in unity and both of them continued on at the same time. They remained silent again, although this time neither of them felt like it was embarrassing or unwanted. They instead cherished it as a sign of a strong friendship.
David took this silence and revisited his friend's arguments. An idea struck him midway through and he spoke up, "So you're saying, that we don't know it for sure, that the Great Lord Zoh exists, despite the numerous records of him made by humans," David stopped and waited for a response from Sturdy, who agreed with him, "So if two people were to argue about which one's god is real, then both of them are wrong, but one of them might be right?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Well, let's put it this way instead," said Sturdy and thus began another clarification, "You firmly believe in the Great Lord Zoh's existence and I believe that no gods exist," he waited for David's reaction, who agreed with him and so he continued on, "I don't want you to stop believing in the Great Lord Zoh because I don't believe in him. I want you to accept the fact that when we discussed this matter, both of us were right and true, not only you."
David looked towards his friend with a confused expression and with one of his hands raised, "How can that be?"
"The answer is simple, faith," David was even more perplexed now, "When you put your faith into a god, he will become true for you and only for you. When I put my faith into no gods, then I am true as well from my perspective. I only think that no gods might exist, but if you believe in one of them, then that god will become existent for you. If a group of humans believes in a god, then for that group that god does exist."
David was speechless, "Wow... This all sounds so complicated and... It's difficult to accept," he scratched his head with his right hand, "Everybody said that there is only one god, and that is the Great Lord Zoh and that I had to spread this truth. It's so hard to believe that it might not be that true after all."
"I understand, that is why I only ask you to just keep an open mind and accept different beliefs. And the Great Lord Zoh is the only god that exists, but only for his followers, since nopony can actually prove any of the gods' existence."
David was desperately trying to force this idea into his head. He understood the reasoning behind it and all of its arguments, yet his mind still wouldn't accept it. It was as if you were told that one day you would die, and your mind is able to understand every word of it and believe in it, but it doesn't truly accept it. Your mind refuses to fully comprehend it and really think about it. David gently and slowly shook his head, "I'll need some time to wrap my head around this, it's too much at the same time."
"Of course, no one is rushing you," said Sturdy in a soft, gentle voice, "Oh, would you look at that," he took a cautious look around and saw that they were back in the town already, "We were so caught up in the discussion that we... Where is everypony?" He asked after a short pause.
The shops stood empty, their doors wide open and the lights left on. Bits were forgotten on top of counters as their owners rushed to somewhere. Crates, wagons, old furniture stood out in the cold with nopony to haul them. The snow on the ground was full of hoofprints, all going in the same direction.
Sturdy and David said nothing to each other. They feared that whatever was that made the townsfolk leave in such a hurry were still lurking around here. They followed the direction where the hoofprints went, towards the center of the town. As they neared it the hoofprints grew in number. In the distance, they could hear shoutings and heated discussions between many ponies. Then, they finally rounded a corner and saw the town square.
Thousands of residents stood in the cold snow around the mayor's office with bare hooves, all of them talking over each other. The mayor and a few other ponies were standing near the platform at the foot of the building. They were in a debate as well with one another, although they were able to conduct it in a more civilized and organized manner. 
Sturdy and David just stood at the edge of the town square, both of them were dumbfounded. They completely forgot about themselves and looked at the mass of ponies in shock and in a slight amusement. They tried to catch what was the topic of debate, although one of the outer ponies recognized them sooner, "They're here!" He shouted from the top of his lungs and just as a well-trained dog would stop barking at a gesture of his owner the crowd fell silent in an instant.
Suddenly, all eyes were fixated on the two friends, and they could feel it in their bones as well. They slowly turned around to escape the staring, but the mayor called out for them, "You there, the tall creature! Would you mind coming here?" She asked in her official tone, yet David knew this was more like an order wrapped in a kind question. Without giving any answer he obliged and went over to the podium himself. Sturdy remained in one place, staring at the back of his friend and praying for him to whatever god that could hear him.
The ponies let him pass through without a trouble. David noticed that not all of them were looking at him with either a horrified or a threatening expression, some of them were curious or just straight up gave him a warm, welcoming smile. He would have felt relieved by that, but these only made him more cautious, the whole thing seemed suspicious to him.
David arrived on the platform, the ponies on it welcomed him in a similar fashion to that of the onlookers. Some of them smiled, some of them growled. The mayor cleared her throat and she addressed the crowd, "Residents of Ponyville," her voice was clear and loud, it echoed all around the town square, yet it was still soft and caring, "After hours of debate, we are getting closer to a conclusion about our new guest," she turned towards David, "How about we let him introduce himself properly in front of all of us before our final decision?" The mayor looked back at the human. David did not dare to speak, he instead just nodded. Mayor Mare, satisfied with the answer, turned back to the crowd. At first, only a few of them started to trample the ground beneath them in one place, but it spread amongst them like wildfire and not long after all of the ponies were doing it, trying to encourage David.
The human stood there confused until the mayor gestured for him to go right up to the podium and start. His anxiety melted away as his mind had no time to process it and he only focused on what he should say. As soon as he took his place in front of the podium the ponies stopped, "Hello everyone, my name is David and I am what my people call a human. I woke up here not long before with amnesia. Sturdy Fossil and Hardened Lilly found me in the snow and saved me from freezing to death. Since then, I have been helping Sturdy with his work and I am planning on helping Lilly as well," he took a short peek at Sturdy, who noticed it and cheered him on, "I know that I can never be thankful enough for what they have done and I can never repay this act of kindness, but that doesn't mean I can't try," he finished with a smile on his face and returned to his previous spot. The ponies began to trample the ground again.
"Alright everypony, I'm sure David and Sturdy have their own tasks to do as well, so let the voting begin," David was a bit confused and looked at his friend, or at least where he had seen him before, he only saw empty space there. He began to worry and he scanned the whole crowd with his eyes for his friend.
Meanwhile, Sturdy hid behind some of the ponies in the back row with the giant fossil placed next to him on the ground. He knew exactly what was going to happen, the town voted on whether they should allow Esau to stay in Ponyville or not as well. He curled up into a giant fur ball and tried to calm himself down.
"Okay, ponies who are against David staying in the town, to my left! Ponies who support David saying in town, to my right! Ponies who can't decide, form a column in the middle!" The mayor announced slowly and well articulately and the townsfolk tried to sort themselves out and stand with one of the three groups. David didn't watch the moving crowd, instead, he was trying to find his friend, while Sturdy remained in place on the snowy ground. The ponies in front of him didn't have to move, they were already standing at the back of the middle column, just right where they wanted to.
After some time, and with a little bit of help from the mayor, the ponies all stood in three, well-organized columns. With little to no luck, David gave up on finding his friend and instead diverted his attention to the three columns of ponies. The left one seemed to be quite big, although compared to the right column he couldn't tell right away which one was the larger. The middle column was the smallest of them all, with only a handful of ponies standing in it. It served more as a dividing line between the two other groups than anything else. 
The ponies that were standing on the platform with David were squinting their eyes as they were counting the ponies amongst themselves, not even the mayor was allowed to listen to it. Each and every one of them counted each of the columns. When they finished, they told each other their results. It seemed like none of them counted the same number of ponies in any of the columns, so after some arguing over who's counting technique was the better for this situation, they began recounting. This went on for some time, and all the while David only became more and more nervous.
David was still unable to locate his friend in the huge crowd and his imagination ran rampant at this point. He thought that his friend ran home, possibly to place the fossil down from his back, but even more likely he might have just abandoned him before the ponies threw him out as well. He tried to shake these thoughts out of his mind, yet the voice kept putting them back in.
"Okay, we are finished," announced one of the ponies on the platform. The mayor immediately went right over to him. David remained at his place for a while, not knowing what he should do. He began to look over the whole crowd once more, just to make sure that Sturdy wasn't really there, but the mayor motioned for him to come. 
"David, we have great news," said the mayor with a warm smile, "The ponies voted and you can stay in Ponyville, I will announce the result shortly," David couldn't believe his ears. He forgot everything that he worried about up to that point and he wanted to shout out of joy, although he stopped himself after realizing he is still on the platform, in front of the whole town, "Oh, if I were you, I would use the time to think of a few words to say as a thanks to the townsfolk," she glimpsed back right before stepping up to the podium with a wink. David nodded to her and she turned right back to the crowd and began in her official tone, "Ponies of Ponyville, the outcome of the voting is this: David the human can stay in the town as long as he would like to," the mayor wasn't able to finish the rest of her speech as the ponies erupted into a mix of angry shoutings and hoorays, "Alright everypony, please remain calm, David would like to say a few words," the ponies on the right side of the square fell silent almost immediately, while the ones to the left either left or continued to ramble on furiously under their breaths.
The mayor gave David her place at the podium and he stepped right up to it. He was worried about what he was going to say, he didn't have much time to prepare. Then, he saw Sturdy at the far back jumping high with joy and cheering him on. He didn't see the fossil on his back, so he must have gone home to drop it off then, he didn't need to worry so much after all.
With David's new found confidence the words started coming to him faster than he would ever be able to speak, "Ponies of Ponyville, I feel-"
"STURDY!!!" David was cut off by a vicious roar, it tore through the sky and made the clouds vibrate with the sound. It was so loud the ponies cowered their ears in pain and the human ducked behind the podium instinctively. Only one person, or rather, pony remained on his hooves, Sturdy.
"Dear Celestia," uttered Sturdy with his final words as the beast landed right in front of him with a loud thud. Her wings remained extended in a threatening posture, her hooves sunk into the ground due to the powerful landing. Her face was all blood-red from anger, she gritted her teeth and her pupils shrunk to the size of a button. Her glare was so strong it could have cut through steel with ease, yet the small pony managed to withstand it, albeit not very heroically, "Lilly, I can explain it!" It was all he could say in his own defense.
"What in the name of Celestia are you doing?!" Lilly did as if she didn't hear Sturdy and swiftly grabbed him by his ear. He winced up in pain while she forced him to the ground in front of her, "I remember we agreeing that David would remain inside the house, no matter what!" She began scolding her victim in the loudest voice she could muster.
"Huh, I don't remember such an agreement," answered back Sturdy mockingly, thus aggravating Lilly even further. She began to pull stronger on her housemate's ear, who in turn cried out in agony and laid flat on the ground, silently asking for mercy.
Meanwhile, David was the first one to gain back his courage from all the other people in the town square and he immediately ran over to Lilly and Sturdy in order to save the latter one, "Lilly," he stopped right next to them and called out for the mare to get her attention, "Nothing bad happened, the ponies voted for me to stay in town," as soon as David finished Lilly let go of her housemate's ear and stared blankly in front of her. Sturdy used these few seconds to crawl a few feet away from her and he began rubbing his ear.
"That's incredible!" Shouted Lilly finally from happiness an gave Sturdy a quick hug, who just got confused in turn. David watched both of them with a smile and as Lilly let go of her housemate she punched him in the shoulder. A sharp pain engulfed Sturdy's hind leg and he collapsed onto the ground as it was incapable of holding his weight.
"Why..? You hit a nerve..." questioned Sturdy as he waited on the ground until he regained control over his limb.
"I know, you idiot," she answered with the same angry tone as before, "And you got it because you still did not listen to me," as he slowly stood up her furry faded just as fast as it came, "But I am still glad nothing bad happened, this time," she added the last bit with a chuckle.
"I hope everything is alright?" Asked the mayor as she approached them and all of them gave her a nod, "Great! David," she turned towards the human, "Would you like to continue on?" Both of them took a look around. Most of the ponies had left the town square either because of their fear of Lilly or their disappointment in the voting's outcome, "I understand if you don't want to," she peeked back at him.
David pondered on the idea, he wanted to thank all of the ponies who vote in favor of him and to sooth the worries of the others. Then he turned around to his friends, who were casually talking and laughing amongst themselves, "I think I'll pass on the opportunity," he finally answered to the mayor with a warm smile which she kindly returned, "Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for all the ponies of Ponyville, even the ones who didn't want me to stay-" David began to babble to make sure the mayor didn't misunderstand him, but she just held up a hoof to stop him.
"David, I know how you might be feeling, no need to put them into words," David just happily nodded to her and they said goodbyes. The mayor went back to the podium while David returned to his friends.
"What did Mayor Mare tell you?" Inquired Sturdy.
"It was nothing, really," shrugged it off David, "She was extremely polite and kind though," noted the human sincerely under his breath, although his friends still heard it.
"I know, just be careful not to get fooled by that," warned Sturdy David and he would have continued on if Lilly wouldn't have raised a hoof as a threat to punch him again.
"Wait," David grabbed Lilly's hoof, "What do you mean by that?" He raised an eyebrow at Sturdy.
"He just hates the mayor, for whatever reason," answered Lilly before Sturdy had the chance.
"She is a turncoat," spat out Sturdy. Lilly lifted up her other hoof to strike at him, but David caught it in time.
"Alright, let's just head home now, shall we?" David attempted to defuse the tension between them, which actually worked. Both Lilly and Sturdy looked at each other for a moment.
"Fine..." They said at the same time with a sigh and David let go of Lilly's hooves. They all turned around and began walking towards their house.
"So Lilly, how was your day?" Asked David in order to break the silence.
"It was good, only got one of my superiors pissed off at me today, which is nice," said Lilly with actual, genuine pride. Both Sturdy and David smirked, "And what were you two doing, aside from parading through the town and getting into trouble?" Asked Lilly in a monotonous voice and a bored expression.
"I'm glad you asked," answered David while acting cheerfully, "We have found a giant fossil in the gorge-"
"The fossil!" David was suddenly cut off by Sturdy's yelling.
"The Fossil?" Repeated David, albeit in a much softer tone. He and Lilly followed Sturdy with their eyes as he ran back to the town square and stopped in the middle of it. David was unable to make out what was next to him in the snow, but as soon as his friend tried to lift it he recognized it, "The Fossil!" He yelled the same way Sturdy did and ran after him to help him out. Lilly stayed in place and facehoofed at their idiocy.



I, Zoh , ******* you to **** ******** *** *** the ponies *** ********** **, to save your people **** the ****** that I **** ********* **** them for ***** ***********.



Sturdy and David had just left the last building of the town and were walking towards the gorge for hopefully the last round of fossils for a very long time. The snow that was covering the landscape for weeks now began to melt away, even though it was still the middle of winter.
"Really?" Asked David in surprise.
"Yes, I can't believe it as well," said Sturdy with great happiness, "One week, that's how long it took for your training to get her promotion," he began to hop around David, "And the snobs at Canterlot began to notice you and my work about you," he stopped in one place and looked at David with the most serious expression he could muster, "Finally," he added and resumed his joyful hopping, "And on top of all this, the Princess herself has summoned us up to Canterlot to talk to us in person," he bent his knees in and jumped once from excitement while shouting at the top of his lungs, "Best week ever!"
David only watched his friend and smiled, he was glad for them, "I only wish that I was sent here sooner," his shoulders slumped a little.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Sturdy tried to cheer him up, "Better late than never, am I right?" He asked and winked at David.
"Yeah, much better than never," added David as they arrived at the gorge. Sturdy's ears began to twitch and he halted in his tracks. David picked up on the sound as well and stopped shortly after his friend. Both of them heard a deep breathing and distant hoofsteps. They were thirty feet away from the stairs leading down.
For a moment, everything fell silent. David and Sturdy stood there in the open, not daring to breathe. The hoofsteps stopped and the deep breathing has quieted down. Then a painful roar could be heard as a manticore flew up from the gorge and landed between them and the stairs.
At first, it seemed like the manticore did not notice them, as it turned its head towards its side and began to lick it. Sturdy took the chance and began to slowly walk backward, "Run," he whispered to David, urging him to do the same. Both of them took a few steps until the manticore, finished with the licking, turned back. For a moment all three of them froze down, but then Sturdy began to scream as he turned around and began to run. David stayed in place and drew his longsword out of its scabbard that rested on his shoulder. He got used to carrying it around whenever they went to the gorge for just an occasion like this. 
The manticore evaluated his prey for a moment. It extended its great batlike wings and with a few strokes, it landed right in front of Sturdy. David began to run after it. The manticore tried to sting Sturdy with its tail, but he jumped out of the way. David, using his momentum, swiped once with his sword and cut off the beast's stinger. The manticore, howling in agony, withdrew its tail behind itself and jumped at the human. He avoided its bite just by a few inches and the manticore ran past him. It stopped its charge a few feet away from them. Sturdy remained next to David this time.
They stared at each other again. David readied his sword and charged the beast with a vicious battle cry. It took to the skies and landed between David and Sturdy, facing towards the former. His friend was swept away by the beast's tail.
David charged again. The beast did not fly away this time. Instead, it ran towards him as well. He rolled out of its way. As he rolled, he managed to hold up his sword a bit and it cut into the manticore's right wing. The beast gave off another painful roar. It stopped for a moment to lick off the blood that was dripping from the wound. David took the time to change his grip on the sword to the crossguard and held it up like a javelin.
The manticore charged David. He waited patiently. He held up his sword and took aim. The beast rapidly closed the distance. He looked it straight in the eye. He then threw his sword.
It struck the beast right in the left eye. It collapsed immediately as the sword pierced through its brain. David was unable to roll out of its way. He got swept away by the giant corpse sliding on the melting snow. They stopped after a few feet.
David was panting heavily, blood was dripping out of the beast's skull onto him. He freed his legs that got stuck under it and, with shaking feet, he stood up. He got most of the slush off of his armor and grabbed his sword with both hands, one on the grip and the other one on the crossguard and pulled. The sword came out swiftly.
The blood sprayed once out of the wound onto David again and then began to pour generously out of the eye socket. He felt a bit disgusted by this and tried to wash it off in the snow, "That was a close call, wasn't it Sturdy?" He asked his friend jokingly, although he was still filled with adrenaline from the fight.
No answer came. David stopped with everything and took a look around himself, "Sturdy?" No answer yet again. He frantically turned his head left to right until his eyes stopped on the gorge.
David's blood froze. His legs began to shake even more rapidly. He slowly went over to the side of the canyon. He laid down on his belly. He counted to three in himself and peeked over.
There, he saw his friend. His corpse lay flattened at the bottom of the gorge, in the middle of a puddle of blood, water, and slush, unmoving.
David's vision began to blur. He felt a cold sensation in his heart. His limbs went numb. He pulled himself back from the edge, "No... no no no no," he remained there for some time, all the while repeating this out loud. A sudden realization hit him, "What if he's still alive?" He sluggishly got up to his feet. He could barely stand upright, all of his body was still trembling, "I have to help him," he took a few uncertain steps towards the stairs but stopped, "No, I have to call for help," he turned around towards where they came from and began to run, or rather tried to. His limbs felt heavy for him, he could barely move them, he almost tripped over his own foot multiple times, "Help..." he wanted to yell at the top of his lungs, yet he could only whisper, "Help," This time he managed to be a bit louder, "Help!" He finally found the strength within himself to shout. He quickened his pace and slowly began to run like a sober person.
David couldn't think straight anymore, his mind was filled with denial disguised as hope, yet these lies kept him going until he reached Ponyville.