//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Creature // Story: Unexpected Company // by Astiam300 //------------------------------// Ok, I admit it. I don’t have the slightest idea of where to begin telling my story. You see, I am really bad at storytelling, even though I read a lot, I am bad, I just... Don't know how to describe things, how to tell things, I just... *sigh* Have you ever wanted to forget certain things? Like, leave them out of your mind? Just forget them. What I mean, or where I want to go is that my story, the story I am about to tell you now, is based on something that I can’t... Um... How can I say it properly... I can't... Get it off my chest, and I don’t know... Um... Heck I'm going elsewhere excuse me, but it's just difficult to me. Especially because I don’t speak much... Hehe, that's ironic, right now I am giving you, and I will give you, a whole speech, a whole story! Way to go Green! Irony on its best. Anyway, I guess I’ll just have to get used to it. I speak very little. I think too much... Maybe quite a lot... Wait a second this is odd, why am I so nervous about telling you this if it wasn’t sooo bad? It’s just that... I’m sure that none of you will ever believe what I’m going to tell you now. What happened to me, what happened to him, to everyone. But why do I care, who reads these kind of stories? Well, you see, I was going through the woods, back to- Oh right, right, you still don’t know who I am. I can’t begin to tell a story without speaking about who are the ones that are taking part in it, right? I could just not do so, and leave it like those more ‘mysterious’ stories the more studious ponies adore, but I’m not like those academic guys, I’m more simple. My experience is my knowledge, not those complex books with subjects I will never use in my life, but I'm not stupid, I read a lot to have a decent vocabulary, reading is interesting to me, is captivating and also it relaxes me. Give me a good book and you’ll give me a good day, or month. I won’t go further from the original topic and I will tell you the story. My name is Green Mount, I'm a moss-green earth pony with black hair with a few shades of white, I am of an average-big height, and I work every day, I think that’s everything you should know about me, you’re reading my thoughts after all so I don’t think it’ll be necessary to say more...   Oh, and him?   His name is... Is... Um... I don't know really... Is... "He"... He said a name but I don't believe him, he evades his past and says he has his own reasons or something. And... Nor I know whence he comes... Or what he wants... Or... Ok let's be honest, right now I know NOTHING, I know nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing about him. So, why do I help him? That’s because actually, I know one little thing about him; he saved my life, and now, I am returning him the favor. Or at least that’s how I like to see it. Ok, let's see... Should I start at the beginning? No? Should I explain to you what he looks like? The favor? My past? What? Um.... It would be better if I stop babbling and start talking... At this pace I will surely end up driving you crazy.   So, to get on to the story. It was a sunny day, and I'd just finished my last delivery in Manehatten. And I was returning with my trusty cart to the house of Mr. Rustycrown, my client, on a small place near Fillydelphia to notify him that the delivery was made and so I can get the rest of my pay. He usually pays me one half when he gives me the package, and the other half when I finish the delivery. It may be a slow system, but I like it. That day I was using one of my favorite routes. It’s one of those great dirt roads that run throughout all Equestria, many trees... Forest... Nature... Yeah... I kinda feel comfortable when close to nature, and actually to be honest, I prefer those kind of routes over the trains. That doesn’t mean I don’t use them, I just don’t like them so much, they always screw up my luggage, and that’s not pretty helpful to help me to do what I have to do. And now you may wonder, what do I have to do, what I do, let me explain you briefly: I walk. That’s what I do, every day, every week and every month I walk from Manehatten to Las Pegasus, from Vanhoover to Hayseed, I walk across all of Equestria, and sometimes even beyond, I’ve met all kinds of creatures, cities, and languages, I mean, my Cutie Mark is a road for Celestia’s sake! I’m always going from one place to another without stopping. Hmm... Now that I think about it, I’ve never established somewhere. I could settle down anywhere without any problem if I wanted to. But... No, I don’t think I would ever do it, I could have a house though, but my home will always be somewhere else... In another time... In another place... Maybe someday I’ll tell you about that.   My job consists of carrying letters, packages, do some works, errands... Yes, I perfectly know that there are many Pegasi for that job, and that they could even do it faster than me, but believe me when I say this, not all Pegasi can do the job that I do. I carry delicate things, rare things, heavy things... Special things... Such as that old telescope from that Applelosian lord, a shipment of Zap Apples from the famous Sweet Apple Acres farm --I love their cider--, heirlooms, or any other thing that is "important". It's my job to keep them safe, in my saddlebags, in my cart, on the road. Well, and that has been my life for about 5 years... Or six... I think six. Some ignorant --I don’t mean it a bad way-- may ask themselves if my life was full of adventure, and you know something, the answer is no, unlike what other ponies may think, I prefer to avoid the conflict and almost nothing ever happens to me, but it's not like everything has been rosy. My life, my routine, is based on walking, and bring important things to their destinations. Go from point A to point B. Nothing more nothing less. Nothing big has ever happened to me. Until he came. In my life, I have visited many places, I have seen many ponies, griffons, zebras, and even minotaurs. But never, and I swear to Princess Celestia, never in my life I encountered someone as weird as this guy... And yes, when I say someone I’m saying it on purpose. Back to the story. It was a long dirt road, surrounded by trees, rocks and singing birds. Everything was completely normal, and to be very honest my dear reader --which amazingly has read this far and keeps reading... Thanks for that...--, I don’t know how to describe you this road, is a simple dirt road that connects two cities. What can I say, I’m not a poet. Five minutes of nothing passed, nothing, I walked... Walked... Walked... A little breeze... There was a so relaxing silence... But my steps were lowering their speed so I quickly regain my original pace, you know, the important thing is to get to my destination without distraction or any important delay, my steps were now advancing at a more fluid pace and thus I kept walking, so I walked... And walked, and walked, and walked and- KABOOOOM!!!!! Suddenly, all brightened up as if a firework had just exploded beside me behind the trees to my right, a great light began to emanate a few meters away from me, as a great lightning. It was as if something had fallen, or exploited, or both, it was strange, it was buzzing, the floor shook, the breeze direction changed abruptly and became wind... It was intense... I think you could describe that thing as a huge slow motion explosion... L-lightning... Whatever... I somehow shivered. The earth shaking and the wind was so strong that my cart flew out of my back, scattering all my supplies. Thankfully I wasn't carrying any important package, only food and supplies, then, after a small calm second, a second loud bang hit me with something like a roar mixed with a thunder. I bent down very unbalanced, and covered my eyes and ears. I almost fell. Then, it stopped. I opened my eyes slowly, a little nervousness affected me, I didn't stood up, nor I moved, I didn't do anything, just that for a couple of seconds. I waited to adjust my eyes again, they ached a little. My ears stood up, and shook a bit, I shook myself, and then, I got to my hooves. I turned around and unconsciously almost in an automated manner I fixed my eyes on the food, and the first thing I see, to my dismay, is that all my food, apples, sandwiches and the cake that the good-hearted mare Cotton Cloud gave me, was on the floor, absolutely everything. Dammit. Well at least the apples are still intact, and the traveling supplies. So, after my hooves pushed the already shattered food to the side, I lifted the car back, but just when I wanted to start stacking everything. A creak. I raised my head as I noticed something at the bushes behind the row of trees, something has moved, something is in there, should I go? I heard creaks again... But this time they were accompanied by a voice, a long, soft groan of pain. "Ooouugh" The voice was strange, husky, but not like the voice of a large creature, or a small one, I’m not sure, you could hear something different. Ok, I'll go and see, something's telling me this won't be something you see everyday. In the middle of all the trees, there was a big column of smoke, surrounded by a cracked ground, fully affected by a kind of shock wave or something. The ground had an average of about five meters in diameter according to my calculations. The ground, like I said, cracked, and at the center of this, all plants, shrubs, flowers and etcetera, flattened against it forming a perfect circle around one strange figure that was at the center, surrounded by smoke and sparkling particles that gave the view a bizarre magical feeling. I stayed a few seconds without doing anything, just looking at the place and reviewing the site, I could not bring myself to get closer. I just watched. In the end I just shrugged and began to turn around. There wasn't much else to do... "Ugh my head" Or that's what I thought. I turned around surprised... And then I saw him... Finally I saw him. And his special greeting. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed insanely. "AAHG!" I gave a little jump. In front of me he was, lying on the floor, on his back, screaming like a complete idiot, eyes wide open, and looking at me with terror, paralyzed and dazed. The smoke was now fading. “WHAT THE FUCK?!” Great now I feel like a damn alien. Well, this... Creature... Let's see, how do you describe it... Everything happened so fast... His body, the first thing it reminded me of was a teenager minotaur, saw a few in my travels, his torso, arms, and limbs, the shape was very similar, but his head and his color, did not fit at all with a minotaur, it reminded me more of a dressed monkey, yes... A monkey... Forget the Minotaur, a monkey... A Shaved... Tall... Heavily dressed monkey... With small mouth, and with some hair on the head... In short, imagine a monkey, as tall as a teenager minotaur, almost without muscles, skinny, completely shaved, small mouth, black hair on his head. One odd thing. Oh and I almost forgot, he also had at the end of his arms, um, where you would put the claws of a dragon, or my hooves in my legs... I have it on the tip of the tongue, really, um... Imagine something that has... How they were called? Hands! Yes! Of course! Hands! Sorry but that's a pretty rare word for me, especially because only scientists use it to describe animals such as primates. Maybe he was a primate. Well I’m done with the form, now, the clothing... What a strange thing... Yes, he was wearing clothes, and a lot of clothes, at least for my taste, I honestly don’t give a flying feather about how other ponies dress, while they’re not looking like clowns (By the way I have nothing against clowns). So, this bipedal creature was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, pants (with a lot of pockets now that I realize), and black colored shoes. That’s how you call those things right? He also wore even more clothes in the lower layers of his clothing, but I could not see much. Maybe he comes from somewhere cold? I don’t know but still, it would be interesting to see where he comes from... Or she... Well, this creature was in front of me, in a complete state of shock with his mouth and eyes wide open, and staring at me as if I were the first pony he had ever seen in his life. Seconds passed, I was examining him, and --I think-- he was examining me. I looked at him, he looked at me. This seemed already like staring contest. "Uum... I can help you?" I spoke in a serious but friendly tone. (Yeah I can do that) The creature sat and finally removed his attention from my face, suddenly, he begins to observe his body with great curiosity, especially his hands, he put them in front of him, and begins to examine them as if they were old jewelry being reviewed by a senile jeweler pony. He flexes his... Hands... As he sees them, he studies them, and observes them. “H-h-h-holy... F-fucking... S-sh-shit...” Great he’s obsessed with cuss words! He looks at me again, and then after covering his face, he looks back at his hands, kneels, and grabs some dirt, he holds it, and then he drops it through his... Um... Hand... Limbs?. He watches the scene stunned. Great he’s on drugs!! "Hello?" "Y-y-you can you talk?!" "And you ask me? How you can talk?” And great!! I'm talking to a dressed shaved speaking monkey!!! How is that even possible? The creature looked at me, and slowly, instead of feeling offended or bothered by my little comment, a big, big smile took over his face, it was, it was as if he had won the Las Pegasus lottery. An enormous smile. He held his head in his hands as he begins to wobble back and forth. Then, out of nowhere he gets up and starts jumping everywhere, bouncing and bouncing, waving his arms, head, screaming and hopping filled with joy like a foal at Heart’s Warming Eve. "YES YES YES YES YEAAAH!!!!! I MADE IT! I'M IN EQUESTRIA!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!" Woah! Seriously? I didn't notice! And his shock came from him... To me... What. The. Hay. He kept jumping and jumping to then get to give one last big jump and, start dancing. “EVERYDAY I’M SHUFFLIN’ SHUFFLIN’!... IN YOUR FACES BITCHES!!!" "Um what you have with female dogs?" "YAAAAAAY!! I'M IN EQUESTRIA" Yes, we both know that. He was mad. He hold his head in his hands and walked in circles quickly. "OH MY GOD I’M HAVING A LUCID DR-no..." He stopped and took a breath. "Wait, that's impossible, everything looks so real and... And..." He turned to me and stood right there like a statue. Now it was not strange, now was plainly creepy, he stood there for 15 seconds, 15. Full. Seconds. He fell to his knees. "Oh god so I really... No… Calm down calm down calm down..." He began talking to himself, I think he was about to lose the little sanity he might once had "I know..." He leaped forward and crawled towards me, trying to touch me with his hand, but just at that moment I hit his hand with my hoof. "OUCH!” He looked at his hand and again his eyes widened, it seemed that a great truth had arrived before him, something, I'm not sure. He quietly started babbling a lot of things that I couldn’t recognize very well, he talked about the princesses, about some ponies I've never met, he mentioned like, three times the word Mane-Six.. Is he talking about a haircut or what? "Wait, did I do that?!" He turned around, still on the floor, and pointed towards the center of where the explosion was. "I don’t know, you answer me" "I... I... Oh my god I can’t believe it" He constantly stammered as he covered his face with his hands. "I don’t have time for this" I turned around tired and went to get my things. A voice stops me. "Wait! Let me help you with that" "No thanks, I’m just-" He stands as he can, a little unbalanced, and trots up to me with an uncomfortably high speed (Did I mentioned that he’s bipedal?), he passed by my side, and then with his long arms and using his hands he collected all of my supplies at once, bags, apples, packages, all of them, and then, with little effort he puts them all in one go into my cart. It wasn’t very neat, but at least it was very fast. "Uh, thanks" I thanked him as I approached. "Yeah, no problem, I’m just... Ugh so diz-" He lost his balance, but before falling to the ground he rests on a tree just in time "I need help" Trembling he stands "Please" "Look, I have things to do and-" "Yeah yeah yeah, uh, look I need help" "I see" "Pleeeeeease help me, I don’t know where I am, and..." He now seemed genuinely lost. "Where are we?" “Equestria” “Yes yes I know... But... Um...” I looked at him skeptical, there was something I didn’t liked about him, you know, safety on the road and that stuff, but in the end, I decided to help, I can’t leave him just like that in the middle of a road! Alone... Sad... And abandoned... It’s just too much for my fragile heart! I pointed my hoof to the opposite side of where I was going and spoke as clearly as I could. "Look, there is a village over there. Follow this road for two miles and then you’ll come to a fork, then, go to the right, and you go forward a few miles. There you’ll find a good place for you to recover ok?" “Um, ok" While the creature looked at me puzzled, not knowing how to respond to my great act of charity, I got back to my cart and started to walk. I fixed my eyes on the horizon. "If you can see Manehatten or the sea you’re close" And I continued my way. But when I finally got my thoughts away from that thing back there... Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap... I stopped. They were hoofst- I mean, footsteps behind me. I looked behind and I see this creature, standing a few feet behind me, whistling and looking at the mountains. I sigh lowering my head and then I look at him, he looked at me, and greeted me waving his hand from afar. "You could at least try" I muttered growling as I was turning. I walked some seconds, but again... Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap... I looked back, and I see him again, but this time kicking some small rocks. He was just as close as before. He was following me, and he was doing it wrong. I keep walking and I tried to ignore it and play dumb. But it did not work, it was impossible, he kept following me and following me and following me. He didn't stop! I walked a little, I turned around, and there he was, again, right behind me, sometimes sitting, sometimes looking at the floor, others times walking in circles. He was so bad at following me. Though he had tons of perseverance. I remember there was one time where I stopped, and he stared at me like an idiot, doing nothing... Just looking... Nothing... Celestia that was creepy. "Could you please stop following me?!" I finally yelled, about to lose my patience. "I'm not following you" "Yeah right. Please, if you are going to follow me at least do it right” "But I don’t wanna get lost" "But you're a grown...! Grown... Uh..." I stood with my mouth open, paralyzed. I didn't know what to say, really, I didn’t know, and I didn’t even ask him what he was... Although that would be rude and... Oh nevermind. "Human, by the way. But that really doesn’t matter, pleeeeease take me with you" Huh, human, never heard of that kind before. I might research those creatures someday if I have the time. "No, it's your problem, solve it, I told you the way, leave me alone" "But" "No" "But" "No" "But" "NO!" "Hey, don’t be like that!" "Look, ‘human’, I must return to-" "I HAVE AMNESIA!!" Woah! This might get interesting... "Excuse me?" "It's just... I-I do not remember where I live and... Um... You know where is Ponyville? Wait, no, that's too cliché" I hit my forehead with my hoof. I walked up to him and agreed to take him. "OK! Fine, I'll take you to Fillydelphia" "YAAAAAAAY!!! Wait, where’s Fillydelphia?" I looked at him quietly, I shook my head quickly and then turned around. I wasn't with eager to answer questions, even more with such a dumb one. "I know a good place to spend the night there, I'm a friend of the owner, you follow me, and when we get there you’ll have a place to stay ok?" "Ok" "And I know you don't have amnesia" "But I have!" "Yeah sure..." I smirked. But you know... I wanted to hear some answers... Who is he? What is he doing here? Why there is a monkey talking to me? And why the hell I am asking these questions? I have a ‘human’ in front of me, maybe he has something to say... I don’t know... But this one doesn’t really look so intelligent and... Um... I’ll see that later... I nodded and started walking, dragging my cart, and on my way back, the human, meanwhile, relieved smiles at me and put himself on my left, walking at a pace slightly slower than mine. We kept quiet, in total silence, I had nothing to say, he had nothing to say, and we remained silent most of the way... Of the first 5 minutes. May Celestia give me strenght.