//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 A Brave New World // Story: A Change Of Heart: Luna’s Gaze // by The Royal Equestrian //------------------------------// Date, unknown, Location, unknown Douny had been walking for what seemed like hours and he still couldn’t see any sign of civilization. Which was made all the worse with the sun beating down on Douny’s now exposed skin. The extreme heat was zapping every bit of energy and strength the man had, and he didn’t think he would make it much farther at this rate. Before Douny blacked out however, he saw what he thought was a herald of buffalo, but they looked off, a bit more round than the buffalo he remembered. As they got closer he could have sworn he heard someone say something. But he was too dazed and exhausted to understand what it was. But he did find it odd that someone was speaking, he didn’t remember anyone else being out here before. As the buffalo approached him he noticed that they were definitely a lot more round than he knew buffalo to be, and their faces looked oddly… human, for the lack of a better term. He also noticed they were moving their mouths as if they were speaking but he couldn’t hear them. Come to think of it Douny really couldn’t hear much of anything anymore. Just as that realization dawned on him, he collapsed to the ground with a thud, and his vision began going dark. Just before the world fully went from him he uttered a single phrase. “Fealltóirí damanta.” (Damned traitors, In Irish.) Douny said faintly, just loud enough for the buffalo to hear him. With that, the world slipped away from Douny. Leaving the buffalo in a massive state of confusion. —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When Douny woke up again it was clear to him that quite a few hours had passed due to the sky appearing dark with stars in it, and he was in a new location. Looking down found that the makeshift bandages were gone, replaced with something a bit more suited for treating wounds, but was still not what Douny would call an actual bandage, but it served its purpose well enough because he noticed he had stopped bleeding on the ground. “Hey you, you're finally awake.” A feminine voice said on Douny’s right. When Douny looked to his right he noticed a campfire with buffalo surrounding it, and what Douny could only assume was a calf, though the calf did look weird from what he could see, it looked a bit small for a buffalo calf. Though Douny still failed to find where that voice was coming from. Though it took Douny a minute he noticed that the buffalo calf was looking at him, or at least he thinks it is, he wasn’t quite sure due to how dark it is where he was at. With that realization, he put two and two together and figured it was the calf that was talking to him. “This might be the blood loss talking but… was that you who was speaking just now?” Douny spoke with a sore throat, and a few coughs proceeding that. “Yes… though I am surprised you speak our language considering the tongue you were using back when we found you. What was that by the way?” The female calf said, cocking its head to the side with its right ear flopped down. “It was nothing, frankly I’m still in disbelief that I’m speaking with what I can only guess is a buffalo calf, or am I mistaken in my assumption?” Douny asked, turning himself carefully towards the calf to make better eye contact. “You are correct, my name is Strongheart, what's your name? We have never seen anything like you before around these lands.” Stongheart asked, giving him that same look as before. “My name's Douny, and I’m a human, King of the North American Empire, or at least, I was,” Douny replied, flopping back down on the ground, finding it a bit softer than he expected, with a quick look he found that it was a makeshift bedroll. “Where am I?” “You’re just a few miles away from Appleloosa, a small settlement not far from here. I’m happy to meet you Douny, though I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a hu man before, nor have I heard of a North American Empire, though I haven’t seen much outside of these lands.” Strongheart replied, giving Douny a warm smile, though Douny still couldn’t see it through the dark of the night. “That comes as a shock to me, then I can’t be in Nevada like I thought I was, or anywhere else in the midwest of the American region. Can you tell me what Nation we are in so I have a better idea of how to go home?” Douny asked, rubbing his head with his right hand trying to keep himself calm for what the calf had to say. Though nothing could have prepared him for her answer. “We’re in the country of Equestria, not too far from Appleloosa as I said earlier, the next nearest settlement is Ponyville which is quite a ways away,” Strongheart said, as a matter of fact, nodding her head to punctuate her point. “Your fucking with me, there is no such nation named Equestria, I should know I’ve looked at maps for a good few decades,” Douny said in disbelief, looking at the calf with a look of horror. “I see what happened now, that knife-eared motherfucker fucked up the spell! For all I know I’m in another universe entirely just because Alrick can’t plot an assassination attempt right!” Douny yelled at no one specifically. “You know what, fuck him, if he wants to take the throne he can have it, his ass won’t last a week!” As Douny continued his tirade, a massive buffalo with what Douny identified as an old Native American chief hat, ran forward towards Strongheart and Douny. “Is everything alright Strongheart, I heard fighting and came as soon as I could!?” The massive buffalo exclaimed, preparing to fight off any who would hurt her. To say that Douny was scared of the massive buffalo chief when he ran in like that was an understatement, he damn near shat himself when he saw him come in, not to mention how massive and sharp his horns were. Douny made a mental note not to piss this buffalo off. “Everything's fine, I was just talking with the creature we saved today. He calls himself Douny and claims to be a former King.” Strongheart replied to the larger buffalo, then looked back to Douny. “Douny this is our tribe's Chief, Chief Thunderhooves, he is the one that ordered the stampede to save you from the desert.” “Is this true, your claim to be a King I mean?” Chief Thunderhooves asked with his head tilted to his left. “Aye I was, I’m not anymore though, two people attempted to assassinate me one of those people I considered a brother, the person I said, Alrick was his name, tried to do away with my body, it seems that he failed at the former, but succeeded in a way they didn’t expect to in the latter,” Douny explained, positioning himself to look eye to eye with Chief Thunderhooves. “Though I do apologize if I scared either of you, or anyone else in my outburst, and I’m extremely grateful for you helping me out there.” “Don’t mention it, we couldn’t leave you out there to die, it wouldn’t be our way, though I am sorry to hear your unfortunate luck getting here,” Thunderhooves replied, giving Douny an apologetic frown offering him some water and some stew. Which Douny took without being asked, giving Thunderhooves a thankful nod. “Don’t be sorry about that, it wasn’t your fault I’m here now, though, I will take steps to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” Douny replied coldly, taking greedy gulps of the water, returning some of Douny’s color to his face, though he was red due to the sunburn his body had gotten from the day in the desert. “If you don’t mind me asking what are those steps?” Strongheart replied, giving Douny an uncertain look. “First off, I’m never going to let someone get that close to me ever again,” Douny replied putting up his fingers as he counted to prove a point. “Second of all, always keep people at an arm's length, if my guards couldn’t be trusted to stay at the castle then I don’t think the normal run-of-the-mill Joe Schmo is going to be trustworthy, and third have a plan to escape or fight a way out of any situation.” Douny finished, then moved on to his stew when he finished his water off. “That… doesn’t seem healthy.” Strongheart pointed out looking at Douny with pleading eyes. “Perhaps it’s not, but it is what I’m putting in place so I don't get betrayed again. Now if you don’t mind it’s been a lovely chat that we have had but I’d best be off, could you point me in the direction of Appleloosa, and my stuff, I’ll be out of your hair?” Douny replied getting up from the bedroll, only to be immediately put back down by a pain in his shoulder and chest knocking him flat on his ass. “I don’t think so, in the state that you're in I don’t think you would last very long out there especially not with the Tumble Coyotes out there, it’s best that you rest a while before you head off,” Thunderhooves said, helping Douny back down to his bedroll, which the wounded human didn’t protest in any way against to both Thunderhooves and Stronghearts surprise. “As much as I hate to admit it you’re right, I don't even have a proper weapon, only a gun with no ammo for it.” Douny relented, rolling his eyes as he laid back down. “Thank you for staying, though I do have to ask, what is a gun?” Thunderhooves asked Douny that same cocked head look that he had only moments before. “I would explain it, but I’m far too tired to get into specifics, all I will say is that it’s a type of ranged weapon,” Douny stated, as he put his head down to go to sleep, before he did so Strongheart piped up. “Oh like a bow?” Strongheart asked Douny with a cocked head. “Same idea, different execution, it’s kind of like a crossbow in a way, if you buffalo have anything like that,” Douny replied, waving them off. “We don’t have crossbows, but we understand what you are getting at,” Thunderhooves replied shortly, understanding what Douny was getting at with him waving them off. “Come now Strongheart, let the creature rest, I’m sure he had a long day,” Thunderhooves told Strongheart, gently pushing her along with his forehooves. Douny appreciated the gesture from Thunderhooves, and made a mental note to thank him when he got the chance, though now wasn’t that time. If he wanted to get better in any reasonable amount of time, he needed as much rest as he could get. Though that was going to be much harder now with his new sunburn. “Alright chief, I’ll speak with you again soon Douny,” Strongheart said respectfully trying not to disturb the human too much with a loud voice. With that Douny gave the buffalo calf a thumbs up quickly finding sleep. The last thought Douny had before going to sleep was ‘How strange is my luck to be teleported to a world like this.’ With that last thought slipping from his mind, Douny finally found sleep uncertain about what the next day might bring. —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As Douny woke up he saw Strongheart pulling over a rather large bag to him, the bag looked to not have much in it considering the fact that the calf was able to pull it over with little to no effort. Strongheart noticing this gave Douny a warm smile. “What’s the bag for?” Douny asked, giving Strongheart cock-eyed look. “This is all your stuff plus some stuff we thought you might need when you feel like you're well enough to get around on your own. I know you asked for your stuff last night so I thought to bring it to you.” Strongheart replied, still smiling at Douny as she went back to go get water for Douny to drink. After Strongheart got the water Douny accepted it, making sure to take in as much water as he could stomach. After he was done drinking, Douny put down the bowl, sliding it back over to Strongheart. “Hey, Strongheart was it, do you think you could do something for me?” Douny asked, looking at her, and then his bag. She nodded. “Of course, what do you need me to do?” Strongheart replied “Do you think you could find me a long stick or small branch?” Douny answered looking down at his bed roll and back to her “I don’t want to be bound to this bedroll the entire time of my recovery.” “Sure thing, I’ll go get those now. Is there anything else you need?” Strongheart said, making sure she got everything before she went off. “No, that should be all I need for now,” Douny replied shortly, grabbing his bag for when she came back with wood. It took Strongheart a bit longer than Douny thought it would, but Strongheart made it back with the wood that he asked for. From what Douny could see, he saw a few thin long sticks and one branch that he was sure he could turn into a makeshift crutch. That thought brought a smile to Douny’s face, he was going to be able to walk around without his chest being able to stop him, or at least he hopes that the crutch will help with that. “Thank you Strongheart, you wouldn’t happen to have some small rope or string around would you?” Douny asked a tad embraced that he didn’t think to ask for that before she left. “We do, I’ll go fetch it for you.” The young calf answered politely, before running off to go grab the rope Douny needed. As she did so Douny measured the sticks up with the small branch, making sure that the handles he was going to put on it fit properly. It didn’t take long for Strongheart to come back with the rope that Douny had asked for. Douny then pulled out his knife from the bag to start cutting at the sticks to give them the right size that he needed and shaved them to have a smoother grip. The end result was what Douny could only roughly call a crutch, it was a bit unsteady but it was strong enough for what Douny needed it for, he wouldn’t need it for too long if the feeling in his chest was anything to go by. “What is that?” Strongheart replied with a cocked head. “This is a crutch, if I made it right, it should help me walk around without tumbling over in pain,” Douny stated, looking at his handy work once more before testing it. To Douny’s surprise, it held better than he was expecting. This would be perfect for what he needed. “Alright, this will do nicely, thank you Strongheart for helping me with this. Now can you lead me to Chief Thunderhooves? I’d like to give him a more formal thank you for saving me.” Douny asked, hobbling over to Strongheart noticing that she wasn’t even above his stomach in height. “Sadly no, he went on a stampede not too long before you woke up, he probably isn’t going to be back until later on tonight,” Strongheart replied, giving Douny an apologetic look. “Also not to be rude but you're much taller than I imagined, are all your kind as tall as you are?” Strongheart asked, with that same cocked head expression as she seemed to love using. “No, I'm just slightly taller than the average man in my world. If it means anything to you my height is 6 foot 2 inches.” Douny replied evenly, trying to set back down at his bed roll. “Though if I had to measure you in my system, I would say your… 3 foot 1 inch.” “I’m surprised we use the same measurement system, though I am 2 foot 10,” Strongheart replied playfully. “Close enough, I mean the average height for men from my world was 5.9 to 5.11, I was just cursed with being taller than average” Douny replied evenly as he leaned against a rock next to his bedroll. “Why do you say that?” Strongheart asked, with the same look she always gave when she asked a question to the human. “Well first off it’s harder to fit into smaller places. I mean really, just try to fit into a cramped space being my size, it is a quick way to get stuck.” Douny replied half-jokingly. “Secondly it also means that my body has to work harder to push blood around my body, decreasing my life expectancy, not by much, but that’s just what I’ve been told.” “I guess when you put it like that… being tall isn’t such a great thing after all,” Strongheart replied, nodding in agreement with Douny’s points’ “Now I didn’t say being tall was all bad. It’s a bit more of a trade-off.” Douny corrected before giving her the positives.”For example, with my height, I can move faster, hit harder in a fight, and reach taller places.” Douny finished petting Strongheart on the head as he did so. “Huh, I never really thought of it like that.” The calf replied, unsure how to take what Douny just told her. “Yup, most don’t seem to. A lot of people in my world think that because you're taller means that you have better everything. Little do they know that isn’t the case, at all.” Douny replied, closing his eyes in deep thought. “That doesn’t seem fair.” Strongheart pointed out tapping her hoof on the ground in front of her. “It isn’t, but I guess that’s just the nature of things in my world,” Douny replied simply relaxing as he did so. “But hey this is a new world, hopefully, it isn’t half as shit as my old one, but I doubt I’m so lucky.” “You shouldn’t have to worry about anything like that here. This is a peaceful world.” Strongheart reassured Douny, though it didn’t seem to work too well. “That’s what every nation says… right before they start another damned war,” Douny stated coldly scowling as he did so. “But I guess only time will tell if the same holds true here.” “I think this world just might surprise you Douny, this world IS peaceful, and hopefully you can make some friends here,” Strongheart replied cheerfully tilting her chin up as though what she said was the honest truth. “Well, one of those things might be true, as I said, I’m not going to be making any friends. I see what having people that close to you can do, and I will have no part of it.” Douny said with finality in his voice, shutting down any chance for Strongheart to make any counterpoint to his statement. “That’s not fair Douny, you should at least give this world a chance before making a decision like that.” Strongheart pleaded, but the calf's words fell on deaf ears. “Tough, I told you how I see it, and not even God himself can change my mind on that.” Douny stated, with the level of aggression in his voice rising, “Now if there is nothing else, leave me be.” “Douny please, this world isn’t li…” Strongheart tried to counter before Douny interrupted her with his own words. “I told you I am NOT going to change my mind, now leave.” Douny deadpanned, giving Strongheart a look that told her to drop it. Strongheart finally relented and left. Before she did so however she looked back to Douny with a sympathetic smile on her face. “If it’s all the same to you Douny, I hope you're wrong about that, I truly do. I don’t want to see you shut in and deal with these problems on your own.” Strongheart said softly with a hopeful look on her face. The look was not reciprocated. “Then you’re going to be left hoping for some time because I’ve told you what’s going to happen,” Douny replied, giving her the cold shoulder. Just before Strongheart could say anything more on the matter Chief Thunderhooves came from the opening to the campsite with an angry look on his face. “Those Appleloosians have gone too far this time, when we told them to move their apple orchard they responded by ordering another tree from Ponyville. We have stood by long enough. Tomorrow we rob the train of the tree and then we put out our final ultimatum.” Thunderhooves stated, slamming his front hooves into the ground shaking the ground in front of him. “Strongheart I want you there when we take the tree. You are the most agile of us.” “But we can't, there has to be another way.” The young calf said with a look of concern on her face. “There isn’t anything else we can do, otherwise those grounds that belonged to our ancestors will be gone forever to us. I don’t like it either but it’s the only way.” Thunderhooves pleaded, hoping Strongheart would accept, lucky enough for him, she did. “Yes, Chief. It shall be done.” Strongheart replied, drooping as she did so. “Thank you Strongheart, I wouldn’t ask this of you if I saw any other way to resolve this,” Thunderhooves said, kneeling down to Stronghearts eye level. “I understand Chief, I only wish that there was another way, and that it didn’t have to happen when it did,” Strongheart replied, looking down to the ground. With that Thunderhooves left. Leave Douny and the calf alone. “Welp I guess neither of those things was true then, I’m not making friends, and this world isn’t any more peaceful than my own,” Douny replied, spreading his hands out in a manner that told Strongheart that he was right all along. “Go ahead and prepare with Thunderhooves, this isn’t my issue.” Strongheart nodded, not before starting daggers at Douny for his rude comment. As Srongheart left, Douny only felt as if this world was just going to be a copy of his old one though slightly more on the fantastical side. But he didn’t let that stop him from taking a nap, though he did feel a bit guilty for being rude to Strongheart after she was being nice to him, he guessed she had it coming for pushing him the way she did before that conversation with Thunderhooves happened. With that last thought in Douny’s head, he finally fell asleep only hoping that Strongheart would be fine when she came back.