1
Wise Owl
Dusk was and still is tired.
An ache was in his bones and he felt it with every shuffle of his body. He would drag his wings if he could but years of practice has taught him otherwise
Sleep was hard to come by since his arrival here and he couldn't figure out why. Was it because the natural magic of the forest he was in, both oh so familiar and different at the same time? That could be the case, but Dusk didn't exactly have the materials to cross-reference the ambient magic from his world to this one.
To think that he'd be thinking of magic in times like these, just how far gone has he gone ever since he arrived?
Maybe it could be blamed on this world. It made him ache in someway, all familiar but wrong because it clearly wasn't on the verge of being plunged into darkness. If anything, it was the complete opposite. With so much harmony magic around, comparing this place to his world was like comparing literal day and night. It's two completely different things that somehow connect to each other.
Dusk yawned, his dark blue hair flopping into his face and with a hoof, he swiped it back. His once dark purple eyes had a tinge of red in them as he observed his surroundings. The makeshift campfire crackled across from him while the trees surrounding him swayed lightly in the night breeze.
'Crack-'
His ears would flick at the barest hint of sound and he sighed when he realised that his body is still hypervigilant. Dusk wondered why he wasn't panicking before remembering the fact that he was probably too tired to fully register what was going on. The purple stallion brought out his saddlebags and began to rummage through, after a few minutes his hoof stopped on a familiar shape.
He carefully brought it out, his once glazed eyes now filled with... Something as he held the picture frame. The wooden frame was chipped and the edges were barely held together by threads of colourful string. Dusk placed a hoof on it, the light thrumming of magic was simultaneously familiar and comforting to the tired alicorn. The stallion let out a breath and wondered what his friends would've thought of him now as he cracked a small smile. The action was unfamiliar and he almost laughed at how awkward he must've looked.
Dusk attempted to bring out his own magic but frowned when all he got was a small burst of magic. Still injured, was his thought as he brought the picture closer to him and started to get comfy. Deciding he should at least try to get some rest while he still can. Dusk laid on the grass before he turned and stared up at the night sky.
It glinted with its stars twinkling in its canvas of black and blue. If he stared long enough, maybe he'd recognize it.
It was… beautiful and oh so familiar. So familiar yet so different.
A breath of air escaped him and his lips thinned.
Just another reminder that this wasn’t his world but that didn’t stop the fact that the view was nice.
Another day to wake up, another day for a stroll through the forest.
Dusk trotted around, his movement slow as he travelled. He didn't exactly have a destination in mind as he moved, this world was clearly so much more peaceful than his and he didn’t know what to think of that. It made him feel irrational, made him think he was clearly seeing things when he did.
The light rustling of the trees wasn't a signal of an enemy but was simply just the wind. Snapping of twigs and dry leaves weren’t the signs of someone moving around, sneaking with malice but the wildlife going through its day.
It was… odd.
He'd just been so used to getting attacked that it's uncomfortable for it to be this peaceful without a catch. Dusk blinked when the sounds of sentience were heard. It wasn’t the roar or the mewl of a usual animal, instead it was…
Chatter?
A spark grew in him and Dusk couldn’t help but feel a little bit of hope grow.
Civilization? How long had it been since he last saw civilization?
The alicorn checked his bag and brought out his journal. After rereading a few of his entries he realized that it had been anywhere from a few weeks to a month since he'd had any contact with another sentient race. Dusk couldn’t help but tilt his head at that. It seemed much longer than a month but that was probably due to the fact that nothing major had happened during his travels other than the usual wildlife.
In any case, he needed to know if they were hostiles or civilians and the only way to do so was by observing them, so with a flap of his wings Dusk took off. His body managed to blend in with the trees around him as he swiftly made his way towards the noise.
A brow rose when he managed to deduce that the sounds came from a trio of fillies. Dusk's eyes narrowed at them. They weren’t talking about a lot of things, no murmurings of an attack, none of their plans. Instead, the three were simply chattering about… school.
{How long has it been since he went to school?}
Was this a trap? He wondered. Well, only one way to find out.
With a leap, Dusk came closer to see if what he saw was true. After some time he realized that his eyes weren't actually playing tricks on him. What were a bunch of fillies doing in a forest?
A grimace grew on his face,
Did Umbra sink so low as to train foals now?
He shook his head.
No, stop thinking like that, he inwardly scolded. This wasn’t his world, he reminded. You would think their parents would stop them from going into this sort of place, he continued as he came close. While it was nothing to the ex-prince it could be something far more dangerous for the foals.
Dusk quickly scaled the tree he was at, deciding that if this was indeed a trap then an eagles-eye view would help immensely. He wrapped his hoof around the trunk and with a heave, pulled himself up.
Purple eyes that glinted red met brown ones and he blinked when he noticed that he was eye to eye with an owl. The bird looked rather shocked and Dusk just gave it a shushing motion. While he would've originally killed it because it may be a familiar, he quickly decided not too. It’d be annoying to clean up and he’d rather not risk alerting the fillies.
The bird was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and Dusk wouldn't kill it because of such a petty reason. He would've, once upon a time but he didn't exactly feel like adding another unnecessary kill to his belt right now.
Just as Dusk was about to go continue his observation, the back of his head was smacked by a wing. Letting out a quick startled, "Ow!" The irate alicorn turned to the owner with a glare.
"Who."
Dusk tsked and ignored the bird and once again tried to observe but he got smacked. Again. The very irritated Dusk Shine spun and faced his attacker, his eyes gazing straight into the face of his enemy.
"Will. You. Stop." Dusk growled out. How could he observe the trio when there was an obstacle in the way? "If you continue with this, I will kill you." he finalized, making it clear that if the bird didn’t listen then he'd follow through with his threat.
He couldn’t stop the twinge of satisfaction that grew in him when the owl lightly shivered before seemingly gaining its composure with a ruffle of itself.
"Whoo," The owl pointed at the direction of the foals with a wing and Dusk’s brow rose once more. Was he somehow correct that the bird was a familiar?
"Are you watching over them?" He asked, "Where is your master?" Just who were these fillies if they had a familiar watching over them? Perhaps nobles?
But that didn’t make sense, they looked far from nobility with their scruffy fur and joyous laughter. They were far from the nobles he remembered.
"Whoo... who," was his reply.
Dusk sighed and shook his head. Of course, he wasn't able to fully understand the owl. He wasn't Butterscotch, much to his dismay.
"Listen, I'm not going to do anything bad unless they start it first." He clicked his tongue when he realized that he was actually talking to a bird. He really is desperate for companionship. "I'm just trying to find my way to civilization. They may be young but I'm just making sure that they're not going to be a problem to me."
The owl tilted its head and blinked, causing Dusk to exhale roughly and rub his face with a hoof. What was he doing? Was he so starved for communication that he's actually talking to animals? He groaned, he was pathetic. Dusk gave the bird a 'Shoo-ing' motion. The stallion just felt tired, he didn't feel like talking to anyone right now and he especially didn't feel like talking to a bunch of foals.
Dusk leapt away, his form soon disappearing past the treeline and leaving behind three unaware fillies and an owl that was a little too smart.