//------------------------------// // Chomp (Scootaloo; Comedy, Slice of Life) // Story: Anthology of Graybles // by Str8aura //------------------------------// "Scootaloo... Scootaloo!" Scootaloo's eyes shot open with the trained reflexes of someone who was beyond used to their dreams being torn open by the shouting of her name. It was best to answer before the third ring. "I'm coming, I'm coming, hold on!" Scootaloo yelped, throwing herself out of her sleeping bag, jumping over a pan, her beloved scooter, and a poster of Rainbow Dash that seemed to have fallen from her wall in the night. Tent walls are hard to hang things from. She shoved the flaps open, by now wide awake, and bolted towards the source of the voice, nearly tripping over the length of scale resting outside her tent, hopping it at the last moment before falling into a roll on the dirt outside. A massive serpentine form was coiled around their entire camp, lazily snoozing despite the calls emanating from it. Scootaloo's panic subsided as the danger became clear, groaning and approaching the head. Its yellow eyes stared dead into her, each easily the size of her head and motionless as it slept. She tracked the voice down to a spot a few inches down its throat, and kneeled against the scales, calling out. "That you, Dad?" "Morning, Scoots! Did, ah, did I feed Alice last night?" "No, no, I don't think you did. Or she's just feeling rebellious." "Well, go wake up mom. Or maybe just wait until she's woken, she deserves her sleep." "No need for either, dad, I can handle this." Scootaloo rounded on the head again, gently tapping the end of its snout until it was roused. The eyes twitched and faced Scootaloo as it raised its head, flicking a tongue out to catch a whiff. "Morning, Alice, rise and shine! How'd you sleep?" Flick. flick. "Nice, real nice. Say, uh, completely random, but would you mind spitting out Dad?" Passive aggressive flick. "I know, I know, but you've got an entire jungle. You're an apex predator, I'm sure you can find something." Refusing flick. "Alice." Flick that indicated the tiny pegasus should find the nearest lake and belly flop into it to see if the gators or rapids would get her first, without a hint of vagueness in her intent. "Hey, that's not nice, watch your tongue. Listen, spit him out, and we'll make it up to you." Inquiring flick. "Gems. Roc eggs. As many belly rubs as you want." Flick that indicated at least an accumulative hour, which was curious because snakes can't count, and don't perceive time in a way humans or ponies can comprehend. "An hour's worth. Deal." The snake tongue flicked once more in satisfaction, before the head curled up and neck scrunched, no sounds but the movement of fluids accompanying her as she pushed her catch up her throat and spat it onto the ground. One nod bid farewell, and quick as a flash, she was gone into the thick wood. Scootaloo reached for her dad's foreleg but was blown off when he suddenly rose, flinging saliva and laughing with a twinge of sleep deprivation. "Whew, that was fun! I've never been that close to a fully grown Garnet Python!" "I don't believe that for a second, dad." Scootaloo rubbed sleep out of her eyes as it reminded her it was still there, returning her dad's smile with half of his manic energy. "Are we gonna head deeper into the jungle today?" "Sure are, sport, We've waited long enough; the killer rabbit migrations have ended, and the blood sun won't last forever. As soon as it ends, the Slaughterbeasts will return to their hibernation, and we won't be able to grab any of their teeth. Get your stuff ready, as soon as your mom wakes up, we're on the road again." "Two steps ahead of you, hun." Snap Shutter pushed aside foliage to reach the two, shaking her shoulders off. "Had to negotiate with some fae to let us pass through their land. What'd I miss?" "Well, for one thing, my screaming." "I figured you had that handled. It was only your level two scream." The two embraced, taking the moment of serenity to share sweet nothings before righting themselves and turning back to their daughter, happily stimming her wings a mile a minute. "All ready to pick up camp and move on, champ?" She nodded vigorously, rattling off a memorized list. "I just need to get my saddlebags ready. Gauze, band-aids, potions, iron horseshoes, wormwood, the heart of a weasel, and water blessed by Celestia's sun!" "Hey, don't forget your poster, Scoots. Gotta keep our belongings close by, to reverse any memory erasing spells we might come by." "All set! What about Alice?" "You know Alice. She'll always be one step behind us. Nowhere in the jungle is safe. She is an everpresent force of nature mare was not meant to witness in naught but a three dimensional outcrop into our reality." "Cool!" Scootaloo retreated back to her tent, taking a few happy hops and skips to get there. Her parents nuzzled in her absence, content in the world they stood in, a world which killed the weak and hardened the strong, a world in which hell flooded to earth. The problem was, the hellish creatures were all pastel colors, and often really cute, with an adorably sapient nature about them. It made the place hard to stay afraid of.