//------------------------------//
// Between a Rock and a Hard Place 
// Story: Equestrian Monsters and how to deal with them 
// by Zeitless 
//------------------------------//

Tense and silent.

All eyes were focused on the pony in front. Each pair dedicated to the thrill of the story, following every image painted by his mouth, every flinch and punch of his muscle agitated in anticipation of what comes next.

On the counter of the bar midst bottles and mugs - which to the tavernkeepers dismay had been broken and thrown aside - posed a sturdy stallion with his shovel. By now he had gotten completely lost in his tale - any attempt to reach out to him would be as dangerous as it must have been for whatever he blabbered on about having defeated.
She'd just hand him a bill for all the broken dishes once he finished. At least the customers were plenty engaged for a change. Such a commotion was rather rare in these outskirts.

"Ah, thank you for sharing this terrific tale with me!"

Upon finding his place back to his stool a blush of embarrasment overcame Rockhoof. While the audience was fantastic and he loved every second of it as always, it dawned on him how he also had ignored his surroundings - as always.

"Heh, I'm sorry my friend. I guess washing dishes ain't gonna cut it, right?"

The mare behind the counter simply shook her head and pinned a long piece of paper between stains of cider in front of him. There were a lot of numbers and on the very bottom it totaled high enough to send Rockhoof into regret, and his purse into starvation.





A chill wind passed by as he stepped outside. By now it had gotten quite cold outside as the moon graced amongst the stars. Bright enough to let him find his way to the inn.

'What a long day 'tis has been. Those ponies here sure know how to enjoy a good evening's drink tell you that much!' He laughed in delight.
'Though I really need to get a hold of myself. Losing bits that fast ain't gonna last me long at all'
But hey, at least I got a free meal thanks to the crimson unicorn earlier. Something with T I think t'was. Maybe Tempora? Heh, maybe I can fill up on bits and discover a new story with her around. A grin crossed his face.

It didn't take too long of a stroll to find the wooden sign stating Golden Springs Inn. The door was still open, though the receptionist seemed to have already retired for the night.

Following the small corridor Rockhoof quickly found a door with a 5 engraved on it to his left. The room was cozy, made him feel at home right away. On top of a comfortable bed in the corner it even had a table and chair!

He loosened his bags, carefully put the shovel aside and lit the candle. As every day he'd sit in front of his notebook and write a few sentences about his day. Not lacking in adjectives at all, even sketched a few drawings every now and then.
Filling his tea kettle he placed it on a construction above the candle and began scribbling.

All in all the low flickering of the candle, the warm and familiar smell of its wax and the occasional call of an owl made for a wonderful scene. While the heat of battle and danger of adventure can be thrilling on their own Rockhoof appreciated those moments of quiet and peace even more. After all that's the reason adventurers like him existed - to preserve these moments of peac- "AAH!"

A shrill scream. It was a mares voice, sounded kind of familiar. Seemed to come from across the floor.
But as sudden as it rang out it abruptly went quiet.

The candle still flickered dimly, the owl still cooed and the chair still felt warm. Almost as if nothing happened - but only almost.

'Sh-should I go there?' Rockhoof's ears twitched up. He eyed his shovel, then the door. 

'Somepony definitely screamed just now, maybe they're getting attacked by some evil creature or magical demon from their dreams!' He jumped up, snatched his shovel and turned the doorknob.

'Wait- Princess Luna takes care of dreamwalking demons nowadays.' Rockhoof held his breath, 'And we're in an inn, if there was an evil creature it would surely have caused more noise throughout town, right?'

'But if there really is something dangerous I've got not a second to wait!' He mustered his courage and forced himself forward. Now filled with determination he rushed, readied his shovel, closed his eyes and-

Knock knock

Silence followed.

'Oh god, I really hope this doesn't-'

"Who's there?" A tired voice replied

"Are y-" Wait if she's tired there's no danger? What should I say now? "A- Uhm- I'm Rockhoof!"

. . .

"Well what do you want?- I paid for the night- to sleep, you know?" Heavily panting Tempest could barely feign calmness behind her annoyed tone. Soaked in sweat she hid below her blanket. Her eyes fidgeted around, nervously scanning the rooms edges and corners.

"My room's opposite of yours and uhm- I heard a scream from here," Rockhoof responded. Doubting himself he warily added "I think."

"Are ye alright in there?"

"Yes- Thank you- Please let me sleep in peace now."

"Glad to hear. Thought I'd just check in and make sure there weren't any demons or magical creatures around. Mighty sorry for troubling you."

'Well 'tis is awkward. At least she's doing fine. Though I swear I recognise the voice from somewhere... Oh was it-' Finally realising he added "Good night, Tempora."

There was no response.

Before growing anxious whether the name was correct Rockhoof quickly turned for shelter and hid behind his door. 

Some battles are truly too difficult for even the strongest warriors it seems.





Is she still here? Below the table? On the wall behind me? In the shadows under the bed?

Tempest lost all sense of time, it may very well have been hours of anxiety that her survival instinct kept her on edge. All the while repeating those last words in her head. Overcome by a stinging pain in her chest with every new iteration. 'Where are they?'

It dawned on her how even after all the loneliness she endured, after all those days of labour and all the accumulated wounds and bruises from her fights with monsters - the regret in her heart still ached just as much as when she set off from the fireworks with the Princess and her friends. If anything it had grown more intense.

Tears wept down her face. She sat on the edge of the bed, barely moving; felt the cold sensation of her breath caressing them after they dropped on her coat. 

Tempest began forgetting parts of the nightmare with each iteration. The initial fear of recognising the Storm King's castle, the overwhelming roars of thunder shutting her from speaking up, the cold sensation of the merciless rain drenching her coat and eventually how even her footing crumbled away until she fell.

Left lingering were only these damn words. And no matter how much she tried spinning her head around it, she couldn't deny them. Sure she met lots of ponies along her travels, sure she also experienced gratitude and kindness for her work, yet somehow she was still 'a-alone.'

Numbness overcame her. Her tears had dried out and her heart felt empty. Slowly returning to reality she found herself feeling rather cold and snuggled back below the blanket. It rained outside. Not harshly, barely a lot. An owl cooed through the night, it sounded kind of nice.

Why did it sound nice? It's just a damn owl after all. But somehow it calmed her. As it called out again and again, always with the same lonely howl.

Underneath her cover she crawled to the side of the bed and reached for her bottle and drank a good chug to soften her headache. She wanted to listen to the calming humn of the owl until it sang her back to sleep. Just don't even think about what just unfolded earlier. Most of it had already eluded her mind anyway... 'Just ignore those.. words. They're just words. I can fight them tomorrow.'

However it was to no avail. Eventually Tempest got up and decided to use the restroom. Told herself a little walking would get her mind off of everything. The mosquito sting on her foreleg sure did its contribution as well.

...

When Tempest returned she noticed light coming from the gap between floor and door. Did she forget to put out the candle? When did she even light it? Coming closer she heard muffled muttering of a stallion inside.

It had been such a long day - and night. Would she really have to fight off an intruder now? She sighed in frustration and contemplated just sleeping on a couch in the foyer instead. But she had grown kind of attached to the owl's howling so she opened the door.

"Oh, uhm- Hello Tempora?" A confused yet warm smile greeted her. "Did I forget to lock the door? C-" 'Couldn't you have knocked?' Rockhoof finished the sentence in his head. He felt like saying it out loud would be rather mean after having disturbed her earlier as well.

Tempest raised her key with vexed eyes: "Well that's cause this is my room and-" She noticed the interiors different arrangement, "Why do you know my-?" And she made eye contact with Rockhoof.

"..."

"Sorry, I guess we're even now." Tempest checked the number on the door. It said 5. Her key held a 7. 'Well time to head back and finally forget this day ever happened.'

Rockhoof on the other hoof still felt bad for disturbing her earlier. During those thirty minutes between then and now he finished writing his diary entry anyway.

"It's fine, don't worry! I'm always happy to have guests. Come sit down!"

Recognizing how there wasn't a second chair Rockhoof swiftly yet clumpily guestured towards the bed.

Tempest froze for a moment. The owl howled once again, this time through the open window in Rockhoofs room. 'Ugh, whatever'

"What are you writing about?"

"Oh that? Well, I'm not much of a writer you see, but I like keeping a small diary." Rockhoof smiled sheepishly. He never talked about it with anyone. Not like he'd have anything to hide, but to him it was a personal space of comfort.
"I just write whatever comes to mind about the day. Nothing much really."

"Fair enough." 
Tempest found his bed to be just as soft as her own. It felt kind of wrong though and she stiffed up at invading someponies personal space like that. It wasn't that cold either; the candle's tiny flame had slowly warmed up the entire room.

Simultaneously Rockhoof had let his guard down. 'What should I say now? What have I gotten myself into?! On one hoof I just met this pony today, on the other she seems so distraught. I have to be a host that'd make my family proud!'

'But.. How?'

"Can I offer you some tea?" 

Tempest noticed the porcelain kettle. It was engraved with a landscape depicting a coastal town near a volcano.

"I- alright. I still got that dumb headache anyway."

Once again Rockhoof hadn't foreseen this subtle strike. Of course he only had one cup. He only drank this tea when writing. And he only wrote at night in his room. And he always was alone in his room. He never thought to bring a second cup.

In an awkward manner he swiftly finished what was left in the cup, pulled out a handkerchief as he wiped it, then poured in a fresh serving before handing it to Tempest. 
"There you go." Internally he wiped sweat off his forehead and congratulated himself on such quick thinking.

"Thanks," Tempest took a sip. Honestly she had shared a lot of meals and tablewear with creatures while serving him, she really didn't bother processing what just happened. It was surprisingly hot. "Sweet."

"Why thank you. I try my best to be hospitable." Taken by surprise Rockhoof blushed faintly.

"The tea. I usually drink mine without honey. Costs too much. Either way, thanks."

As Tempest took another big sip she felt a warm sensation ran through her body. It relaxed her; it also returned the exhaustion and lack of sleep to her as she shrimped down on a long exhale.

"So what's your deal?" Tempest asked in an attempt to keep the conversation going, "Traveling around Equestria, coincidentally saving ponies from certain death, knocking on my door at midnight, all of that."

Rockhoof took a long breath before making sense of himself.
"To be honest I'm just not good at settling down in a single place. I earn my bits by telling tales of times long ago. I love those stories and truth be told it just makes this old heart jump in excitement when it sees all them awestruck ponies listening."
"When danger approaches of course I'm not one to back down, and fighting evil mystical beings is for sure nothing that these bones have forgotten to do, but since all the others had settled down I'd rather not head into danger all alone anymore. It's just not the same."

"Heh, sorry for wand'ring off. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, for good luck! Haha!" He laughed wholeheartedly and raised his hoof in celebration.

If she would've had any skepticism then the warm atmosphere wouldn't let her find it. Tempest chuckled along:
"Heh, Yeah. Come to think of it I don't think I ever actually said thanks for that either. Paid for your lunch though," She smirked.

She got up and returned the now empty cup on the table. "Thank you, Rockhoof."

"No problem at all! I'm just glad the bear didn't end up running me over as well." He laughed yet again. It didn't make sense at all to Tempest how he simply laughed a near-death event off like that. It wouldn't make any sense at all. Didn't he feel scared? Didn't fear overcome him too when facing huge foes like that giant Sandworm?

But he laughed. Without a worry.





Eventually Rockhoof went on to tell another tale of times long ago, once again set in the deserts of Saddle Arabia. The pillars had been tasked with tracking down a wizards library that was supposedly in the center of said desert. But even after weeks of wandring nothing was to be found.

"And when we returned to the locals they told us 'twas the desert south of town and not north!" He couldn't hold back anymore and laughed like it'd be a silly foal's comedy novel, "We were gone for so long, fighting sun and sweat together, and they just told us it was the other desert. We may have gone insane but we all laughed together back then."

Tempest giggled and nodded along. By now she sat tugged in his blanket. Her head tilted and eyes heavy. She enjoyed listening as she faded into sleep.

"Of course they said sorry and all, and a few camels joined us for the next expedition. What a ridiculous story," He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. 

"So a couple nights later we set hoof into the correct sands and..."





Another thirty minutes later Rockhoof was utterly defeated. Though it didn't hurt, he was clueless as to what to do.
There was a pony sleeping on his bed and he didn't have another bed rented. Should he just sleep in her room? Leave his belongings there? Then he should also exchange their belongings and change rooms completely. But he couldn't just go through her stuff, that wouldn't be hospitable at all!

Sleeping together in the same tiny bed? Completely out of question!

Eventually he unfolded his traveling bedroll near the wall opposite of the bed and set off to the dreamworld as well.