//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11 
// Story: The Things He Carried 
// by Makerofthebuttswagger 
//------------------------------//

As it turns out, building a cabin is hard. Even when you had a magical, strong, rabbit-antelope thing helping you, it was difficult.

Toby and his new companion had begun construction after a good hour or so of walking through the woods. Pacificae would assist him with scouting ahead for predators.

"So - what were those wolf-things, then?" Toby remembered asking during their trek.

Pacificae chattered in reply, pointing a paw towards the nearest tree.

"Tree...? Tree-wolves?" Toby asked.

Pacificae shook her head.

"Um... wood wolves?"

Nope.

Toby raked his brains for any word relating to 'tree'. After a moment, he stopped dead in his tracks. "No - that's stupid... they're not called 'timber-wolves', are they?"

Pacificae nodded, and Toby groaned even louder.

"That's awful!" he complained. "Man, this place seems to be chalk-full of terrible puns. I mean, 'Canterlot' as opposed to 'Camelot' - terrible."

Pacificae chittered curiously. Ever since she had healed Toby with her antlers, she gave him the ability to sort of understand her - in other words, he could usually get the gist of what his friend was trying to say.

"What - have I been to Canterlot? Yeah - yeah, I have," Toby replied, vaulting over a fallen tree. "Yeah, good times. They kept me in the dungeons - they said it was because they didn't know whether I was dangerous or not. That was probably true, but they could have gone about dealing with it so much better."

Pacificae cocked her head to the right and chirped brightly.

"Oh - I jumped off the artificial waterfall flowing out of the mountain," Toby replied carelessly.

His furry friend hopped in front of him and chirped angrily.

"Well, of course I could have died!" Toby replied indignantly. "It was better than being around those ponies."

Pacificae gave him a reproachful look.

Toby sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry - it wasn't my intent to die, just a risk I was willing to take. Now, c'mon - I don't have a fur coat, so I need to find a place to build a shelter."

A half hour of walking later, the two had walked up a hilltop to find a large flat area on top. The soothing trickle of a creek could be heard close by.

Beaming, Toby said, "Perfect! Let's get to work, shall we?"

A short minute later, however, he encountered his first problem - he had no tools. He would have to find some makeshift tools or use his hands.

And he didn't want to use his hands.

Pacificae chirped at him.

"Yeah, this is the place," Toby said happily. "Only thing is, I have no tools to build a home... I need to be able to cut some logs and dig a foundation..."

Pacificae hopped closer and chirped excitedly. 

"You - you can dig?" Toby replied, bewildered. "Not only that, but do you even know how to dig a foundation for a home?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm not even going to ask..." Toby muttered, turning around. "Okay, well - work your magic, I guess. I'm going to see if I can find any good sticks as well as rocks to make an axe."

As he walked away, Pacificae chattered after him.

"What? What do you mean, 'do you have a plan'? Of COURSE I have a plan," Toby called back. "Just do a simple rectangle shape or something, I don't care."

To his immense frustration, he couldn't find any suitable sticks or stones to make a makeshift axe. Grumbling, he returned to the place he had left his companion. The moment he saw what Pacificae had done, his jaw dropped.

The foundation had been perfectly dug - or at least, perfect for his limited knowledge of construction. It was about five to six feet deep with incredibly smooth walls. Not a single little pile of dirt could be seen on the floor of the hole; it was all in a neat heap on the other side of the hole. Below him, Pacificae sneezed as she sat there patiently.

"P-Peace - did you do this just now??" Toby asked in awe.

Pacificae nodded.

"Wow... I can't even - wow," Toby stammered quietly. Inhaling deeply, he looked at his friend. "Do you think you could help me with the timber?"

Pacificae shook her head slowly.

Toby shrugged. "Ah well," he grumbled. "It's not like you're a beaver, anyway - I guess it wouldn't be one of your abilities to knock down trees."

Pacificae chattered.

"Oh - I hadn't considered dead logs - but they wouldn't be very stable, would they?" Toby asked in reply.

She chittered again, pointing a paw at the corners of the pit.

"Oh!" Toby exclaimed, straightening up a bit. "I see what you mean - yeah, I guess they would make for a good frame - if we could find any that are sturdy enough. Still, sooner or later we're gonna need an axe."

Pacificae chattered in agreement.





Twilight had the most overwhelming week of her life, and needing to deal with an emotionally destroyed Toby was only one of the major concerns on her mind.

First of all, Equestria was under attack from the three most dangerous villains to ever step foot onto their world - and they nearly succeeded with their plans, too. After that, she had been crowned as Equestria's principal princess - not exactly the most relaxing thing in the world, either.

She hadn't been on the throne for two days when Clarity told her the news that finally broke her.

When the lieutenant informed her with a hollow voice that Toby had thrown himself off of Canterlot Falls, that was it for her. She returned to her quarters for the remainder of the day, only allowing passage to her closest friends. Knowing full well she had new responsibilities as the head princess, she resumed court the following morning.

Fortunately, with Hearth's Warming around the corner, it would be understanding of her to take a leave. It took a lot of convincing, but her friends finally managed to talk her into coming out to Ponyville for the holidays to reconvene with her family as well as the older royal sisters. They all agreed that no one should be alone after Toby's death had put a massive damper on the normally-cheerful holiday.

So there Princess Twilight Sparkle sat, on a comfortable seat made of royal silk, on the Equestrian Express leaving Canterlot. She rested her chin on a hoof dejectedly and stared out of the window, watching the receding outline of Canterlot against the evening sky. It was a beautiful sight to behold, but the princess was too wrapped up in her thoughts to enjoy the moment much.

So many regrets - why hadn't they cut straight to the chase when Toby had mysteriously arrived in this world? They could have helped him. Nopony should ever have go through anything like he did - but how could they have known? They were so busy treating him like a bomb about to go off that they didn't see the real issue.

She sniffed, feeling her eyes beginning to sting. Why didn't she do anything? This had to be her fault...

"Twilight?" asked a high-pitched male voice behind her. "What's wrong?"

She turned slightly to see her dragon assistant, Spike, looking at her with a mixture of sadness and concern from the seat next to her. He studied her face for a second, then said, "Is it that human again?"

Something in his tone sent a shiver of anger down Twilight's spine. "His name was Toby, Spike," she growled, making the dragon recoil. "You didn't know - you couldn't know - this is all my fault!!" She broke down into a collection of short sobs.

Spike knew Twilight enough to know that she had seriously cared for Toby - and it broke his heart to see her this way, but even more so at being accused of not caring. This was incredibly false - he remembered feeling hollow when he found out the human had tried to kill himself - kill himself!!

"Twilight... I'm sorry. I don't know what to say," the drake replied sadly, looking at his claws. Nothing he could say would cheer Twilight up - and she had every right to be been upset, too. What she needed right then was closure and company.

Twilight seemed to realize her outburst, and looked around at Spike, feeling sick.

"Oh, Spike!" she cried, "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to - mean to -"

Spike hugged the weeping mare, silencing her. He smiled as Twilight relaxed in his grip. When they released, Twilight fixed him with a watery smile.

"All I can say is that I'm here for you," Spike said in a soft tone. "And it's okay - you're upset, and for a genuine reason..."

"I'll be okay, Spike, honest," Twilight chuckled, wiping her eyes. "I just have regrets... I wonder what Toby would say if he knew that he did this to us..."





"SLIPPIN' RIPPIN' DANG FANG, ROTTEN - ZARG BARG-A-DING-DONG!!!!"

Toby hopped up and down, clutching the throbbing foot the dead tree trunk had fallen on. "Ooh, you've got to be - argh! It hurts!!"

Pacificae walked up and nuzzled him apologetically. She chattered softly, giving him a sad look.

"No, no, I don't blame you," Toby grunted. "Seriously - I dropped it on myself. Mistakes happen. Let's go, it's getting dark."

As Toby picked up one end of the log, his furry friend ducked under the other end and hoisted it up in-between her antlers effortlessly. She squeaked happily.

"Alright, c'mon," Toby sighed, and the two slowly trudged off towards the soon-to-be cabin.

When they arrived at the construction site, Toby stopped to catch his breath, admiring how far they had come, especially now with only the moon to give them light. Even with the moon, its light had been dimmed by the myriad ominous storm clouds moving in.

Three of the corners in the pit were now occupied by large, surprising-sturdy trunks similar to the one Toby and Pacificae had just carried. He sighed contentedly.

"Just one more, then," he chuckled. "How are you holding up, buddy?"

Pacificae chirped.

"What!? Don't you ever sleep?"

Pacificae shook her head, then hopped over to the log. She thumped her foot on the ground eagerly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Toby muttered, getting to his feet with a massive grunt. "Hold up."

He walked over and wrapped his arms around the trunk. He nodded at the jackalope, who jumped into the pit, waiting patiently at the last open corner for Toby to push the trunk in.

Toby threw his back into one massive push, inching the trunk over until the other end tipped into the pit. Pacificae caught it expertly, and set the end neatly into the corner.

Toby held the trunk steadily while Pacificae hopped out of the pit. She braced herself, then hopped nimbly onto the end of the trunk that was high in the air. She stomped down on it several times, driving it a couple feet into the ground.

"OOH! Splinter!!" Toby hissed, shaking his finger. "Aye aye aye, that smarts. Ah well - input and output, eh, Peace?"

Pacificae chattered in reply.

"Atta girl."

The two of them then sat down, looking over their start to a cabin. Toby panted, sucking on his hurt finger. There was a long, contented moment of silence before Toby broke it.

"Well... all we need is an axe," he sighed. "Y'know where to get one, peace?"

Pacificae nodded, and pointed at a gap in the trees that revealed a quaint, bright village in the valley below them.

Toby froze. "What!? How did I not see that? Do you know who lives there?"

Pacificae chittered softly.

"PONIES!!??" Toby cried. "Nope. Nothing doing, pal."

Irritated, Pacificae chattered at him.

"Oh - a hardware shop?" asked Toby. "I see - on the closest side of town, you say? Well, that's convenient."

Pacificae looked at him pleadingly, and chattered earnestly.

"Okay, okay - we'll go," Toby sighed. "Just don't question me if I keep my distance from any ponies." The two began their journey down the hill in silence, only penetrated with Toby's panting.

"Geez, been a while since I had to do this sort of thing," Toby grunted after stumbling on a large stone obstructing his path. "It's impossible to see."

Pacificae squeaked.

"Do I hate the ponies?" Toby asked, frowning. "To be honest... no. They're kind of freaking cute, honestly. The thing is, whenever I've been around them, bad things happen. Therefore, I avoid them - plus, I wasn't exactly treated fairly during my stay in Canterlot..."

Pacificae chattered in reply.

"What? I know was a prisoner," Toby said dismissively. "I know prisoners are treated differently, but you know what I mean. I've told you all about my adventures in that stupid place."

Pacificae's ears flattened against her head sadly, and she nuzzled Toby's stomach affectionately, all the while making cooing noises.

"Listen - I'm not going to do that to myself," Toby consoled. "Not again, anyway. I just feel too emotionally drained and, for once, it's nice to feel valued."

Pacificae squawked at him.

"What about princess Twilight?" Toby replied indignantly. "So what if she valued me - that was one pony."

The jackalope raised an eyebrow and chittered shrewdly.

"Okay, okay, the ones named Fluttershy and Clarity too," Toby grunted. "You understand my point! Plus, why do you care? You've spent your whole life avoiding ponies!"

Pacificae chattered in what Toby assumed was a deadpan.

"Ah - I see. I forgot - so is that an actual myth, or do ponies actually get good luck if they catch you?" Toby asked. "And if that's the case, what does that mean for me?"

Pacificae's reply made Toby stop dead in his tracks.

"'I chose you'?" Toby asked. "Oh. As in, you wanted to be my friend?"

Pacificae squeaked happily.

"Aw, thanks, peace," Toby said, feeling his cheeks grow warm. "No one's called me a friend in a long time. Same to you! Who needs ponies like Princess Luna when you can hang around someone that genuinely appreciates you?"

Pacificae chattered.

"Huh? 'You may be surprised'? What's THAT supposed to mean??"





Ponyville, fifteen minutes earlier...

"You know, your friends were right, Twilight," Spike huffed as he hauled her heavy luggage up the steps to the front door of her old home - the crystal tree castle in which she used to live with Spike and her student, Starlight Glimmer. The baby dragon rapped on the door before slumping down onto the top step, exhausted.

"I - I guess," Twilight replied in a worrying voice, starting to pace subconsciously. "I just have so many princess duties that I need to -"

"Important ones? No," Spike added. "Relax. Fancy Pants and the others are more than capable of taking care of the parade. Plus, it's tradition for the princesses not to be in it - it's the one parade of the year they can take a break from."

"Yeah, but -" Twilight began, but was cut off by the opening of the front door followed by a squeal.

"Princess Twilight!" cried the mare in the door, leaping out to embrace her mentor.

"Good to see you as well, Starlight," Twilight replied quietly.

When the two let go of one another, Starlight gave her teacher a curious look, then deflated a bit a moment later. "Listen, I'm sorry about what happened - really. We're here for you, Twilight, as well as the others who've been destroyed by the - the - you know..."

Twilight nodded tensely. Levitating Spike onto her back, she followed Starlight into the castle, bringing the luggage with her. Closing the door behind her, a small squeal greeted her as a baby alicorn instantly latched onto her face.

Twilight gasped, setting her luggage down. "And how's wittle baby Flurry Heart?? Oh, good! Ooh, you're doing so good, aren't you Flurry? Are you excited to see Auntie Twilight??"

A warm male voice chuckled. "Hello, Twi - do you want me to get your bags to your room?" Flurry was then surrounded with a magenta aura and carried away to the owner of the voice - Twilight's brother, Shining Armor.

"No, I can do that later," Twilight said with a large smile. "How are you doing, BBBFF?"

"I was actually just about to go out to find and cut down a Hearth's Warming tree," he replied. "Princess Luna was going to come - her sister encouraged her to get some fresh air. We don't have an axe, though, so we'll need to stop by that hardware store at the edge of town."

"Oh, so they're already here?" yawned Spike from Twilight's back.

"Yeah," Shining Armor replied, smiling slightly at the sight of the tired drake. "Yeah, she's putting on something warm before we go. Did you want to come, Twilight?"

"Maybe..." Twilight replied. "Where's Cadance?"

"Either in the kitchen with Celestia or in the living room with Celestia," her brother replied thoughtfully. "All I know is that she's with Celestia."

Twilight laughed. "I think I'll go find -"

At that moment, Luna entered the room, but she was very far from the Luna Twilight was used to seeing. Her starry mane was all frizzled, her posture slumped was slumping over, and she looked like she hadn't slept in a while. She walked into the room dejectedly and muttered that she was going to ask where Celestia had put her scarf.

"L-Luna??" Twilight stammered, feeling a bit startled.

The lunar ex-princess looked around at the new voice and seemed to force a smile. "Oh, hello, Twilight," she replied in a very calm tone. "Glad to see you made it here safe." She then trudged her way out of the room.

"Has she always been like that?" Twilight asked, feeling very concerned.

Shining Armor and Starlight sighed collectively.

"She's... been like that the whole time she's been here," Starlight replied nervously. "It's been really weird..."

"Do you know why?" Twilight asked. Starlight shook her head, but Shining Armor nodded.

"It's because of the death of that human, Toby," Shining replied sadly. "Everyone took it badly - when I heard that you needed to take a day off, I had half a mind to go and visit you. But Luna - she definitely took it the worst."

"That's not that hard to believe..." Twilight muttered. "She looked awful."

"You do, too," said another voice that made Twilight's heart jump. She felt herself get pulled into the tight embrace of her sister-in-law, Cadance, and smiled. "We knew you would have been traumatized, since you were the one he opened up to."

Twilight sniffed, then wiped her eyes. "But what about Luna? I thought she hated Toby... or at least, hated him until he tried to hang himself..." She faltered off miserably, feeling herself tear up again.

"Luna... well, this may either make sense to you or confuse you even more," Cadance replied. "You see, I was one of the first ponies she made the effort to talk to at this gathering. She was really confused with her feelings, you see, and wanted me to answer her questions."

"Did it help you find out anything to as why she's affected worse than the rest if us?" Twilight pressed.

Cadance and Shining Armor looked at one another, then back at Twilight.

"Actually, yes," Shining Armor said slowly.

"... And?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it's quite simple, actually," Cadance replied sadly with a slight smile. "Luna was in love."

"With - with TOBY!?" Twilight exclaimed. Cadance nodded. Then the sound of Luna's voice made them all jump.

"Did someone mention Toby?" she asked thickly, as if the very thought made her want to break down into tears. She had just returned with her sister from looking for her scarf.

"Er - I'll explain later," Shining Armor replied awkwardly. "You ready to go, Luna?"

Luna nodded, and followed him past Twilight towards the door. They hadn't made it far before Twilight had made up her mind.

"Wait!!" she hollered. "I'll go with you guys!"





"Why do ponies need so many variants of axes?" Toby asked curiously as the shop keep of Hard Nail's Nails and Hardware wrapped up his order - a simple, small wood-chopping axe.

"It's just what I do - if anypony's interested enough, I sell it to them," the shop keep replied gruffly. His name was Hard Nail, which could have been a funny name, but Toby wasn't one to make fun of people - or ponies, in this case. He was a large, muscly pony with a tan coat and dirt-brown mane. He looked like he could have bench-pressed a small house.

"Ah," Toby replied friendly-like, gazing around the shop. "It's amazing that you can make these all with your hooves."

"Thank you - it's something I enjoy doing," Hard Nail replied, finishing the package. "Now, your name is...?"

"Er - Toby," Toby replied nervously. "Toby O'Leary. Thanks for the axe, by the way."

Hard Nail beamed. "It was no problem at all, fella. I love all woodland creatures, but I never thought I'd see the day I'd get to see a jackalope, much less get friendly with it."

"Ah, well - Pacificae here is really understanding," Toby said with a small smile. "See ya around, man."

Hard Nail bowed them out of the shop. As they left, Toby stopped and turned to Pacificae.

"Hey, thanks for that," he told the jackalope. "I know you don't like letting ponies see you." Pacificae rubbed her head on his leg and made a cooing noise in reply, making Toby smile.

"Aw, thanks, Peace," he chuckled warmly. "Now, whaddya say we go - we go..." He froze as he saw a couple figures approaching, talking to one another. Squinting at them, he recognized two of them at once, sending his stomach into a plummet.

Luna and Twilight, along with some other stallion.

"Go!" Toby hissed, and he made to move into the shadows.

"Did somepony hear something?" asked the stallion.

Toby, lost in the terror of the moment, momentarily forgot where he was going. He collided with a shelf advertising Hard Nail's forged farming equipment, sending everything into a noisy mess. He scrambled to his feet, hoping to make a getaway, but it was too late.

A pair of hooves on his back whipped him around, and he found himself face to face with a very dead-looking Princess Luna.

"T-Toby??" she asked, clearly not believing what she was seeing.

"U-Uh - d-don't kill m-me," Toby squeaked.

He was then being hugged harder then he had ever been hugged before - and by a sobbing Princess Luna, no less.

When will fate finally decide tell him about what the fuck is going on??