Ch. 2 Midday
Serene ran.
They're not my friends, she thought.
They're not your friends, echoed her thoughts.
I never needed them, she thought.
They never needed you, echoed her thoughts. Her teeth clenched.
I don't want them, she thought.
They don't want you, echoed her thoughts. Her gut twisted.
The echoes resounded.
They never wanted you. The words stung. They never needed you. The words ripped. They're not your friends, they never were your friends. The words writhed. You don't have any friends. You don't have any pony. You are no pony. She couldn’t take it anymore.
She screamed.
"If they don't want me, fine! I don't care what happens to them. I don't care if the whole town gets demolished and they all freeze to death! I don't care if the wolves tear every last one of them limb from limb! I hate them. I hate all of them!"
They hate you. All of you.
She collapsed. She was breathing, hard. Her eyes welled up. It was too much. It was just too much. She couldn’t fight the truth. She couldn’t win.
They... hate... me.
Daisy yelled, “Why did you have to be on my team? You can’t do anything, you lazy-old useless-” Barbra told Daisy, “Let’s just leave her here.” The crowd glared at her. They closed in. They stabbed.
"She doesn’t belong here."
They never needed you.
"Banish the outsider."
They never wanted you.
"Banish the lover of the night"
They will never love you.
***
"Serene!" a voice called out.
Serene was too ensnared to listen.
The voice jostled her. "Come on, Serene, ya gotta snap outta it."
Serene recognized that drawl. She peered through her watery eyes and saw orange. "Cookie? You shouldn't be here," Serene eked, "You heard the Chancellor, just go."
"Well, I won't have to worry too much 'bout what the Chancellor says anymore," Cookie said.
"No, don't tell me-" Serene's tears stopped.
"Yeah, I'm kinda banished, too."
It wasn't enough for you to get banished, but you had to drag Cookie into this. Her thoughts began to overtake her again.
"Come on, Serene. I know it hurts, but cryin' yer eyeballs out ain't gonna help no pony," Cookie commanded.
"Yeah, your right," Serene said, but didn't do much about it.
"Look, if we're gonna survive in this gosh-forsaken wilderness, ya need to focus." Serene didn't react. "An' besides, it ain't all bad,” Cookie said, “We'll find a new place, we'll make a new home. Hay, it might even be better'n your old one."
"Okay." Serene wasn't paying any attention.
Ruff!
Dusk came running up to them, carrying a saddle bag in his mouth. He dropped it next to Serene. She just looked at the bag. Determined, Dusk began licking. Not even she could resist the happy licking of a wolf, and was soon up off the ground. His head darted back and forth: from her face, to the bag, and back again.
"Alright, I'll see what's in the bag," she half-heartedly stated. She rummaged through it, and found a book. It was her book, full of notes and pictures she drew herself. It was filled with all the wonderful creatures she knew, and had all the great things she found about the night. It was filled with her and Dusk. She smiled, and the terrible thoughts wained.
"See, even Dusk knows we'll be alright," Cookie said. Serene stroked her loyal companion, his coat still as soft as ever. Dusk gave her a big lick, telling her things would be alright. She looked in his eyes, and he smiled. The echoes vanished. The guilt ran away. She had a friend. She had someone who wanted her. She had Dusk.
Serene snapped the book shut. "Alright, if we are going to call this forest our home, we need to find shelter, and I've got just the place."
***
The three approached a cave that was carved into the base of a mountain. It had long stalactites, dripping with bone-chilling fluid, the stone floor looked colder than ice; the only light was that let in by the entrance. Cookie stopped at the opening of the foreboding entrapment, but Serene and Dusk waltzed right in. Dusk laid down, and Serene checked the stack of supplies. Seeing that they had no problem with the cave, Cookie reluctantly walked in. Once her eyes adjusted, she found that it wasn’t so bad. In fact, the floor was a little warmer than she imagined. She sat next to Dusk, and watched Serene take inventory.
"Huh, it has been a while since we've last been here," Serene said, as she kicked a shriveled-up pile. She grabbed some string. "Wait here with Dusk while I get some grass." With that, Serene left the two alone.
"I guess it's jus' you an' me, Dusk," Cookie said. Dusk picked up his head and barked in response.
She sighed. "I just don't get it, Dusk, why would Pudding Head banish us like that? I mean, I know she's quirky sometimes, an' even a little eccentric, but it jus' ain't like her to do something so... so... stupid." She stroked the wolf's coat, finding it surprisingly soft for it being made out of sticks. "Serene wasn't causing any pony trouble, an' I most certainly wasn't doing anything wrong being nice to her an' all."
“Owrono,” Dusk seemed to say.
"Wait, it wasn't the Chancellor who got us banished. It was that low-down, no-good, dirty-rotten, scheming Daisy that did it! If it weren't for that snake, none of us would be in this mess right now! But the Chancellor doesn't even like Daisy, let alone trust her. Why would she listen to a pony like that?"
"Rime 'rack," Serene announced, with a huge bundle of grass hanging from her mouth. "Rye-" She spat it out. "I brought back some hay grass to make our beds out of." Dusk leaped into the bundle, and began to roll in it. "Dusk can tell you how soft it is," Serene said. She shooed Dusk off, untied the bundle, and spread part of the grass out. "Well, I'm going to sleep. I still want to do my study of the night, and I need to be well rested when it comes around."
"That's right, ain't it." The few times Cookie did visit Serene, it had been filled with regaling tales of fireflies, foxes, flowers, and other strange things she had learned about the night before. "Alright then. Good, uh, night?"
"You can say good day." Serene smiled at the word play.
"Ok then, good day," Cookie corrected. Serene laid on the soft pile of grass, and Dusk joined her. They both found a comfortable spot, and closed their eyes, ready for a nice nap.
"Uh, Serene?" Cookie interrupted.
"Yes?" she responded.
"Do you got anything to eat in those supplies of yours? With all the hullabaloo that happened today, I missed breakfast."
"Well, the food I brought here last time has spoiled, so you can't eat that.” Serene thought for a minute. “Oh! In the back of the cave there are some glow-shrooms, you can have some of those. If you would, could you bring some? I missed breakfast, too."
"OK...Wait, what's a glow-shroom?" Cookie had the image of a glowing mushroom in her mind, but this was too outrageous; Serene must have been referring to something else.
"Ya'-know, a mushroom that glows, you find them in backs of caves, you eat them," Serene bluntly answered.
"An' you want me, to eat, a glowing mushroom," Cookie said. "Ya' know that glowing mushrooms arn't food, right?"
"Well, I've been eating them for a while now, so I don't see why there would be a problem with you having some,” Serene retorted.
"Do you have something more... normal?"
"Look," she snapped, "you can either go a few meters back to find food, or try your luck with the hodge-podge of poisonous plant that are outside this cave."
"Ok, ok," Cookie responded, "I'll get some glow-shroom thingies." Serene dropped her head back on the grass. Cookie turned toward the dark and ominous cave. It groaned at her. "Serene."
"What!?" If Cookie complains one more time about eating glow-shrooms, I’ll-.
"How am I suppose to see in the dark?"
"Oh," Serene said. "The mushrooms aren't too far back, but I can have Dusk lick your eyes, if you want to.” Dusk got up at the mention of his name, ready to lick.
"No, no, that's ok, I'll go get the mushrooms with my eyes dry." Cookie looked at the cave. It groaned again.
"Alright, Smart, you can do this," Cookie whispered, reassuring herself as she began her descent. But her reassurance quickly died when she could no longer see her own hoof in front of her face. Her trot became slower and slower, as she heard more groans and whispers echo throughout the cave. The floor grew cold. Something touched her. Cookie looked around, and saw nothing, nothing but darkness. Each step was became harder and harder to take. She almost stopped, when a faint glow appeared up ahead. Relieved to see light, Cookie ran toward it. Soon, she was surrounded by luminous-yellow mushrooms. They revealed most of the cave, which looked pretty much the same as before. But she was glad that she could see again.
Cookie picked a mushroom, and observed it carefully. "These must be the mushrooms Serene was talking about," She said to herself. It wasn't everyday that your food glowed at you, or was a mushroom. But her belly reminded her that it was food. Forced by need, she inched the fungus closer to her lips, and bit off a small piece of the strange, umbrella-like thing.
"Hmm, not bad," Cookie said to herself as the little morsel touched her tongue. It wasn't the best thing she tasted, but it was far from the worst. She tossed the rest of it in her mouth, chewed it quickly, and swallowed. The mushroom settled in her stomach like a thick, creamy stew.
"Not bad at all," she said, as her cheeks began to glow from its luminous element. She then tossed another mushroom, and another. The more she ate, the more they tasted like a thick, creamy stew. Cookie continued to toss the glow-shrooms in her mouth, until she could hardly stand to have any more. Satisfied, she laid down next to the delectable little glow-shrooms, with a distended luminous-yellow belly above her, and a glowing smile on her face. Her eyes began to close, when her mind interrupted.
"Oh, I need to pick some of these for Serene," she reminded herself. Cookie got up and picked a foreleg-full. As she walked back, she could almost hear the glow-shrooms saying, eat me, eat me.
***
"I'm back," Smart Cookie announced.
Serene looked up. "So, did you like them?" She already knew the answer from the glowing mare's body.
"They were surprisingly filling," Cookie remarked. "Here, I got-" She was interrupted by the discovery that the foreleg-ful of glow-shrooms had mysteriously disappeared. "Wait, I'm sure I had picked some for ya'."
"You ate them, didn't you?" Serene deadpanned.
"No, I- Well uh- No, but- uh... jus' one, or two." It at least seemed that way to Smart Cookie.
"Then where are they?" Serene asked. Cookie's stomach reminded her that it wasn't just one or two. A green glow filled the glutton's face.
"Oh," Cookie groaned, "I don't feel so good."
"Just- lie down on your bed until you feel better," Serene ordered.
"Okay," Cookie groaned, and promptly collapsed on the soft grass bed.
Serene sighed. She really didn't blame Cookie for eating all the mushrooms. In fact, this was probably how she was like when she ate too many glow-shrooms, except Dusk had to hide them all before she would stop eating them. There was definitely something about glow-shrooms that made them so addictive.
"Well, good day Cookie. I hope you get better."
"Oh, my gut," Cookie moaned, and pounded the ground. Serene went to her own bed. Soon, they were all fast asleep.
***
The night had come again, and Serene was ready for it. She had her saddle bag on her back, filled with the necessary equipment. As she was about to leave, Serene noticed that Cookie was still asleep.
I wonder if I should wake her up and ask her to come, Serene thought. But I don't think she wouldn't be interested in staying up all night. She was about to leave, when Dusk began to whine. He jerked his head toward Cookie. Then again, it would be rude to leave her here all alone, Serene thought, and walked over to wake the sleeping mare. She gently shook her.
"Yeah, Serene?" Cookie said.
"I was just gonna tell you that I'm going to leave now. If you want to come, I'm fine with it." She did want her to come.
"Ok." Cookie rolled over, and shut her eyes. Serene began to walk out. She wasn't surprised that Cookie would rather sleep alone in a dark cave in a mysterious enchanted forest all night than join her. After all, she was the reason that Cookie got banished.
However, Cookie was just a little too tired to understand the weight of the matter. She did not realize that she would be alone, in a dark cave, in a mysterious enchanted forest, all night where there were probably plenty of monsters who would- "Hay, wait up!" Cookie shouted.
"So, your coming?" Serene asked excitedly.
"Yeah, the thought of bein' alone in a dark cave in a mysterious enchanted forest all night didn't sound too smart to me. Hay, why are your eyes all..." Cookie gestured to her own eyes. She didn't want to say glow-y, thinking it might be rude.
"Glow-y?" Serene finished, "It's Dusk's slobber sight; it's what allows me to see at night without disturbing anything. Your probably going to need it if you're coming, some parts of the forest get pretty dark."
"Alright." She opened her eyes wide, ready to have them licked.
"You can close your eyes," Serene retorted. Cookie closed her eyes tight, ready to have them licked. "Dusk, lick," Serene commanded. Dusk eagerly approached the new patron, and licked her closed eyes.
She could feel the warm slobber on her eyelids. Then, the fluid penetrate it. The slobber enveloped her eyeballs in a thin, sticky film. When she opened them, everything was a lot greener, but at least she could see better than before. "Huh, never thought wolf slobber could do that," remarked Cookie.
"Yeah, it's quite useful to be able to see where you are," Serene stated. "So, lets get going?"
***
"Serene," Cookie nervously said.
"Yeah?" Serene was staring at some new flowers, making a sketch of them in her notebook.
"Do we have to worry about b-b-b-bears or anything?" Cookie stuttered.
"No." Serene now moved onto labeling some colors.
Cookie poked Serene. "What about cougars?"
"No," Serene replied without looking up. The shape of the closed buds were familiar, but the leaves indicated that they were a new species. She began to write The leaves are shaped like-
"Jaguars?"
Jaguars Wait, that wasn't right. She scratched out 'jaguars' and then responded to Cookie. "No." She continued on writing, going onto smell.
"Manticores?"
Manticores She looked over the sentence. The flower smells like a group of wild manticores. "No." No indeed. The flower smelled more like-
"Taraxippi?"
Tarazippie She noticed the word in her log, and groaned in frustration. "Ya' know Cookie, it's kind of hard to write with you talking. I would much- Wait, what's a Taraxippi?" Serene asked.
"It’s a ghost that eats the flesh off of ponies’ skins," explained Cookie, "are any of those out here?"
"Where would you-" Serene shook it off. "No, there are no bears, cougars, jaguars, manticores, or Tara-zippies, or whatever you call it, out here. Look, there is nothing you need to be afraid of." Then, they heard a gurgling growl. "Except that, RUN!"
The three dashed, running as fast as their legs would carry them. The trees whisked by, the wind whipped in their faces. Their hearts pumped hard, and their lungs even harder. Serene knew what she had to do. "Here, me an' Dusk will get it off your tail. Just keep running 'til you cross the river, we'll meet you there."
"What's chasing us?" Cookie desperately shouted, but before they could hear it, Serene and Dusk vanished into the forest. Cookie ran faster than she ever thought possible. Soon, the sounds of a running river filled the air with relief. Without hesitation, Cookie jumped in and swam across. She pulled herself up onto the opposing bank, sitting up to catch her breath. Relieved, she-
"BOO!"
"AHHHH!" Cookie threw her forelegs up, causing her to fall backward. She heard Serene laughing. "Not funny, Serene," scolded Cookie.
"Aw, lighten up. You were all so worried about being attacked or eaten or something, that the opportunity to scare you was just too hard to resist," Serene explained, while hanging upside-down on a low tree branch.
"But I really thought something was chasin' us,” she said.
"The only thing that was chasing us was your imagination," Serene stated as she put all four hooves back on the ground. She called Dusk out from his hiding spot. He was smiling from the jest.
"But what about the growling?" Cookie demanded.
"That was my stomach, I forgot to eat before we left," explained Serene. "Jeez, you should have seen the look on your face, it was priceless," she said, followed by more laughter.
"I really thought we were gonna be eaten, or worse!"
"Look," Serene said, more seriously, "out of all my nights out, nothing has ever chased, or eaten, me and Dusk."
"But how do ya know something ain't gonna try?" Cookie demanded.
"Because, one time I went into a cave with an Ursa Major, and all Dusk had to do was stare at it, and it cowered back like a scared little foal. I figure if he can do that with an Ursa Major, that any other animal would be no problem for him."
"So, we have nothing to fear?" Cookie asked.
"Nothing but Dusk." Serene smiled.
"And your stomach," Cookie cleverly remarked.
"Yeah, speaking of which, I need to get something to eat. I think there are some flowers over there somewhere. We can have them for our midnight meal. Come on."
"As long as you don't try an' scare me again," Cookie replied.
It wasn't long before the three found themselves in a small clearing, which was mostly grass, scattered trees, and a few, randomly-placed patches of flowers. Serene stuck her nose in the air and sniffed. "Over here," she announced, and went over to one of the patches. As they approached, the scent of honey filled the air. Then vanilla. Then almonds. Before long, each breath full of sweet smells.
Serene gestured toward the producers of such an illustrious smell, and stated, "These are Midnight Candies. They are easily distinguished from other flowers by their unique peddle shape and colors, their sweet smell, and unique taste." She ate a few. "Go ahead, try some, but not too much."
Cookie bowed her head, and took a deep breath. Every olfactory nerve in her nose fired satisfaction. She took a bite, and the satisfaction intensified ten fold. It was sweeter than anything she had ever tasted in her life! It was sweeter than cake, or apple pie, or anything. To top off this symphony of flavor, the flower melted into her saliva, coating the inside of her mouth with a sugary finale. Filled with delight, she found the best words to share her feelings of sheer bliss. "Mmmmm"
"Hey, look!" Serene pointed to a part of the night sky, where a blur flew past.
"What is it?" Cookie asked.
"It's Glide, you want to meet him?"
"Sure."
Serene started chattering like a squirrel, adding little hops here and there. Cookie looked at Serene. "Are you-"
Whap!
A small, furry cloth struck Cookie in the face.
"You really need to work on your landing, Glide," Serene said to the cloth. It jumped from Cookie's face to her nose, dizzy from the crash landing.
"What in the- It looks like a squirrel with...wings?" Cookie decided to use "wings" to reference the skin in between its arms and legs.
"Cookie, this is Glide, he's a flying squirrel. Glide, this is Cookie; she's one of those ponies that sleep during the night."
Glide jumped down and offered her a paw. "Pleasure ta meet cha', Glide," Cookie said, as she almost shook the poor creature's arm off.
"So Glide, want to show some of your new tricks to Cookie?" Serene challenged, and Glide accepted with a salute. He scurried across the ground, into the forest; a tree top shook, and from it, Glide dove. He quickly approached the ground. Cookie let out a gasp. At the last second, the creature opened its limbs wide, causing him to skim the top of the grass for a moment, and then swiftly returned into the air. He then performed a triple back flip with a self-righting corkscrew, which got him to the middle of a tree on the other side. He ran to the top, and jumped again. This time he held his arms open, causing him to parachute gently down to the ground. The smoothness of the decent was interrupted by a twist in his limbs, causing him to enter a violent spin, which he gracefully exited out of in a smooth glide.
"Wow, Glide's amazin'!" Cookie said in the middle of the performance. "That's-" But her comment was broken by a rock jumping up and down in Serene's hoof. Before Cookie could say anything else, Serene shot the rock at the squirrel. Glide dodged it, and it hit a shadow; an explosion of feathers filled the air, a terrible screech broke the silence.
It was an owl.
Glide dove for the nearest tree, hoping its would hide him from the assailant. But the owl noticed, and swiped at the tree, causing the branches to twist an fling about. Fearing the owl might catch him, Glide retreated down the trunk, and made a mad dash for Serene. The owl spotted him, and flew high into the air. The moon silhouetted its magnificent outline, and then it dove.
Glide could hear the wind whistle. He looked up. A blur came rushing toward him. He was dead, he knew it. The shadow of open wings covered him. He shouldn’t of performed tonight. A pair of talons hung over him. This was it, this was the-
RUFF!
Dusk halted the dive. He stood over Glide, protecting him from the owl. The pair stared at each other for a second, the will of hunger suspended in the air, and the bearer of power firmly on the ground. Knowing that power defeated hunger, the owl flew away.
Cookie's jaw was agape. "What just happened?"
"It was an owl," Serene said. "It tried to eat Glide. I had to stop it since I asked Glide for the performance." Glide appeared before the two mares, and took a bow.
Cookie lowered her head to match his eyes. "That was some mighty fine flying there, Glide. I much appreciate you giving us a good show." Glide blushed a bit, and let off some chatter and a bashful expression. Then he took one last bow and then ran off into the forest.
"He's gonna be alright in there, ain't he?" Cookie asked.
Serene replied, "Yeah, he'll be fine. It's just when he is doing his air shows that he is at his most vulnerable."
“Guess the night’s still dangerous then," Cookie automatically stated.
"Is the day any different?" rebutted Serene.
"Well..." Cookie wanted to say “yes”, but she wasn’t sure.
"Here, I'll show you the night, but you will have to trust me," Serene said.
"Alright, but what do you mean that I have ta trust-" Cookie was interrupted by Serene and Dusk's running away. "Hay, wait up!" Cookie chased after them.