//------------------------------// // Wood Wayfarer // Story: Dimensions of the Elder Gods // by Balkanboy //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Wood Wayfarer Peter was very tired. He tried remembering whose idea it was to have a midnight investigation, then remembered it was him and stopped thinking about the subject. ‘Just round here...’ Peter followed Slate round the cliff, using jutting pieces of rock as a series of steps round the side that descended in a rather convenient fashion. ‘Back in the day we hired a powerful unicorn to make these steps up. The guards, being the lazy bums they are still haven’t realised that this exists so we should have some time.’ Whoever that unicorn was, they did a good job. Even walking on it, it’s hard to confirm it isn’t natural. Looking down, he could guessed that they were going to end up in a forest, one that seemed nice enough, its trees swaying gently in the midnight breeze. ‘Hey Slate, where exactly are we going?’ He motioned to the forest below, which confirmed his guess. ‘That’s Whitetail Wood. It’s fairly large, so it should provide us with cover from the pegasi until we can reach Ponyville.’ And would you look at that, as soon as he mentions it here they come. A few small black specs were hovering about in the distance scanning their surroundings for the escaped prisoners. They flew off towards a town far off, on the horizon which, he thought, was about 50 kilometers away though his perception of distance was very hazy at this point, and he wasn’t entirely sure. ‘Is that Ponyville over there?’ Motioned Peter to the town. ‘No, Ponyville can only be seen from the castle, it’s beyond the horizon. That, there is Whitetail Town.’ He kicked all his thoughts back into their dark recesses and continued about the task of getting off the bloody mountain. Eventually after an hour and a bit of going down the huge staircase, they got to the bottom, panting very loudly. Well, they didn’t see us. We should be in the- ‘Stop right there criminal scum!’ Motherfu- RUN! Both of the ecapees ran at full speed, desperate not to get locked up again. The cover of the treeline was actually still tens of metres away, so the pegasi had a good chance of getting them before then. It all happened in a few seconds, though to Peter it felt like a good minute. Ahead of him, a pegasi guard was catching up with Slate, until the thief bucked him straight in the face, sending him flying into another guard. Peter turned his head ever so slightly and could see he was in a similar situation. The pegasi, whom he recognised as the one that had smacked him across the head, had an evil grin on his face and reached his hooves out so as to inflict maximum damage upon impact. Peter ducked , and he went straight over him, slamming into the ground. The occultist got back up and ran forward, giving the guard a kick in the face as he went past him to make sure he didn’t get back up. Now didn’t that feel good? He smiled. Once in the trees they didn’t stop running until they were sure there weren’t any hoof beats behind. The two sat down, fatigued by the entire ordeal. ‘Well that was something,’ said Slate. ‘Wooh, yeah, I haven’t been in a chase like that since... well a few hours ago.’ He just eyed Peter, most likely wondering what had happened but not caring enough to ask. Getting back up, Slate went over to a patch of grass and started grazing. Not necessarily the best of foods for a pony, but edible. ‘Have some of the grass, it’ll keep your strength up.’ ‘Yeeaaaah, ya see, I don’t eat grass.’ ‘Well I suppose we could find a daisy round here...’ ‘I don’t eat flowers either.’ The grey stallion scrutinized him. ‘But back at the castle you said you’d had a daisy sandwich.’ ‘I don’t know what humour is like here, but that was a joke.’ ‘Okay then, what do you eat?’ As if on cue, a doe appeared limping out of the brush next to him, its leg bruised from a fall. ‘I eat that.’ ------------ She had been having a bad day. First she had found scarcely any berries, then she had been chased by a juvenile Hydra, then she had fallen over. Now she was injured and would most likely die. Sniffing about for any signs of predators, she emerged satisfied. If shelter could be found for the night she might just live. Pricking her ears up she heard a noise, no, voices. Ponies! They would help her. They were always nice to the wildlife, and all the better if it were that yellow one she had met a long time ago back when she was a fawn in the Everfree Forest. She had been taken here by that kind mare because it was much safer, though the occasional manticore and hydra would wander away from its original forest and into the Whitetail Wood. She could see the grey pony now in a small clearing and she rushed towards him, but in her haste she failed to notice the tall figure to her left... ------------ THUD Peter brought the rock down on the deers skull. THUD Just like back home. To the majority of humans it would not be a particularly noteworthy event; he killed a deer because he needed to eat, so what? But to the pony (And various vegans and vegetarians, but let’s not get into that) witnessing him kill the poor, innocent deer who obviously needed help, it was murder. ‘Dammit, if only I had a knife...’ he mumbled to himself, pulling the rock out of the doe’s head, blood spurting out in angles. I haven’t had venison for over 400 years. Yeah, feels that way doesn’t it? ‘Hey Slate you got a knife or something sharp I could use?’ ‘How... could you?’ ‘There are a lot of people who’ve been saying that to me today. Oh here’s one. I forgot I had this you know.’ The stallion was becoming more angry, the fact that the hyooman didn’t show any remorse fueling it. ‘That was a living being, and you killed it just so you could eat it!’ ‘Um... Yeah, of course..’ ‘But you killed it!’ ‘I know, that’s what you tend to do to your food.’ Slate couldn’t believe this. How could he not see the magnitude of what he had just done? ‘But you could have had anything else! Granted, you can’t eat grass and flowers, but maybe some berries or something?’ ‘There are berries here? Well that changes everything!’’ ‘Finally...’ He hoped that he had seen the error of his ways. ‘Now I know that I’ll have to get the berries first, THEN cook the doe. A fruit salad should make for a great side dish don’t you think?’ ‘Wha- No, no! Why do you insist on killing animals to eat when you can eat something else?’ ‘Well I’m not exactly going to survive on a diet of just berries don’t you think?’ ‘We could go to a town and get salad and stuff like that.’ Peter stroked his chin. ‘No, I’m not buying it. I need the meat to live anyway. How else am i going to get my protein?’ ‘Can you eat beans?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well then that’s where you’ll get it from!’ Peter laughed at his obvious frustration. ‘Look, it’s not that simple. Sure I could eat veggies, but first of all, we’re escaped convicts. No doubt everyone in the land is going to be looking for us, so going to town is out of the question, second of all see these?’ He lifted his lips to show him his canines. ‘These babies show that I was made to eat meat. Why would I shunt that gift? Lastly, gathering vegetables and the like takes too long. You can eat the grass off the floor, but I have to actively go look for edible greens then cook them. It’s much simpler just to kill one animal and eat it rather than collect ten different potatoes from ten different places.’ ‘That may be, but you still... murdered that doe!’ Peter rolled his eyes. ‘Look man, that’s nature, deal with it. ‘Asides, you don’t murder food, that’s not how it works.’ ‘But it isn’t food! It was a majestic animal that was probably very happy until you killed it.’ He sighed. This pony wasn’t going to give up. ‘You have predators here, correct?’ ‘Well, yes...’ ‘And they eat meat correct?’ ‘...yeah...’ ‘And do you chastise them for eating meat?’ ‘Of course not, that’s the way... they... are...’ he could see the point he was getting at now. ‘Exactly. It’s no different for me.’ ‘But you can think, and you have an alternative for meat.’ ‘Okay, no more arguing, it’s giving me a headache. I am going to cook this meat and I am going to enjoy it, so please, either go or be quiet.’ Slate would have left, but there was something about the hyooman that was very... interesting however he couldn’t quite put his hoof on what it was. ‘Can we at least go? The guards will continue looking for us soon.’ ‘Now you’re making sense. I’m not carrying this deer all the way, and I’d rather not get myself too dirty.’ Peter started skinning the animal, much to the absolute disgust of the now queasy Slate, taking a decent area of it then cutting out some of the meat. Using the skin as a bag, he placed the chunks onto it and wrapped it in a bundle. ‘Shall we?’ ------------ Celestia was furious. The murderer had escaped with the thief who was the only one that knew about the location of the crown jewels, and on top of that he had knocked out her sister, her sister. He was starting to seem even more dangerous than before. As he walked into the medical wing of the castle she addressed the chief of security. ‘Do you know how they got out?’ Her tone was very serious which scared the guard. She wasn’t usually like this. The last time he remembered her this angry was when Discord got out, and before that when Nightmare Moon returned. This prisoner must have been really something to warrant such a reaction. ‘When we came down to the cells all the doors had been blown open, and it was pitch black. We suspect some form of magic was used. The one thing we do know is that they used the drainage system at the end of the dungeon to get out.’ ‘Have the Pegasus teams started searching?’ ‘They scour the area as we speak ma’am.’ ‘Good. I don’t want the public finding out about the creature, though I fear it won’t be as caring.’ She walked down the large hall and came to the end of it, two steel doors blocking her entrance to the room beyond. This was the Princess Ward, and was the biggest of all the rooms. It had been designed so that any would-be attackers would have a hard time getting in with unicorn guards posted on the other side, magical wards placed to stop fast flying objects from piercing the doors and harming those beyond, and a collapsible ceiling to buy time for those inside. The only entrance was the one she was entering from, at least, the one that everyone knew about. In truth there was another door, but it was secret, so secret that even Luna didn’t know it was there. She had only found it accidentally, over 1000 years ago when the castle was first built. It had seemed that the designer had a fondness for smuggling and had built secret passage ways throughout, but she had caught on and sealed them all up except for this one. Inside there was a wall placed directly in front with a small opening for guards to see through so that you would have to go round rather than go straight. As soon as Celestia saw her sister she bolted to her side and sat down. Luna was lying on the bed, her head wrapped in a bandage. ‘Luna are you alright?’ She lifted head rather without any trouble. ‘Of course I’m alright. It’s going to take more than a bump to the head to keep me down,’ she replied smiling. ‘I know you’re still recovering...’ ‘I feel fine.’ ‘...from the ordeal, but I have a few questions.’ The blue maned princess leaned back in her bed. ‘Sure. Ask away.’ ‘How did he get out?’ She furrowed her brow, trying hard to think about this one. ‘I think he did magic, but it wasn’t like any magic I’ve heard before.’ ‘Heard?’ ‘He had to say spells to get it to work. The words were very twisted in a sense, and I and Slate-’ ‘You mean the prisoner.’ ‘No he’s called Slate. He has a name you know.’ She crossed her arms and looked quite dejected. ‘Honestly Luna, I don’t know why you continue to associate yourself with him,’ Celestia said, shaking her head. ‘He’s nice to me, and unlike other ponies he sees past this,’ she gestured to her tiara. ‘He’s just manipulating you to his own ends.’ ‘No! He’s my friend! He would never do such a thing, and-’ An earth pony clad in the golden armour of the royal guard came running in. ‘Urgent news your highness!’ Celestia stood back up. ‘Has he been caught?’ ‘No ma’am, but a patrol found them heading into Whitetail Forest.’ ‘Where is the patrol now?’ ‘In the room next door.’ She raised her eyebrow. ‘They had trouble?’ ‘I’m afraid so.’ Celestia sighed and turned to Luna. ‘We’ll continue this conversation later.’ The monarch teleported out of the room and appeared in the room with the guards, one of them falling off the bed in surprise. ‘Princess Celestia! What a surprise!’ Said one of the attendants. ‘Are these the guards who last had contact with them?’ ‘Yes princess.’ She looked at the three of them. One of them simply had a bruised foreleg and was for the most part fine. Another one had the imprint of a hoof in his chest, while the last one was lying in bed, fresh blood streaming down his face and his nose at an angle. He turned his head and smiled, a few of his teeth missing. ‘What happened to him?’ ‘Steelback? Oh he was the one who went for the creature. As you can see, it didn’t end very well.’ She nodded and brought the tip of her horn down to his nose. He was confused at first, partly because of the concussion brought about from being kicked in the head and party because the highest power in the land had pointed her horn at him. It shone brightly for a few seconds, and when everyone looked back at the guard his face was fine and he had a fresh set of teeth. Before he had a chance to thank her she teleported out, back to her quarters. ------------ There’s a nice cave over there that we could rest in. There could be bears in it. How do you know there are bears in this dimension? I’m assuming that the existence of deers means the existence of bears. There was a long howling in the distance. And they have wolves as well. Do you see anything better to hide in? ‘Hey Slate, I think we should take shelter in that cave over there.’ ‘Hm... I was thinking that too.’ They approached it slowly, their footsteps echoing throughout. When nothing crawled out of it, they came inside and made themselves comfortable. Slate found himself a nice rock to sit on while Peter chose a small crevice that fit his body well enough, acting like a chair. He opened up the bindle and placed the meat on a large rock, ready to be cooked. ‘Right, I’m going to go get some tinder to roast these, I’ll be back in a few minutes.’ The grey stallion simply nodded and resumed staring into the distance. Peter left and started gathering tinder and sticks for the fire. While sifting through the undergrowth he looked up to see a row of armour clad ponies marching along a path he hadn’t realised was there. Ducking low, he continued to survey them. The platoon was really packing, with all manner of swords and knives, as well as arrows, though he couldn’t see any bows they could fire them with. The grey armour itself was menacing enough, lacking any kind of decorations unlike the palace guards, and chain mail hanging off them completely covering every inch of their body. This is bad. Tell me about it, how am I supposed to fight those? They’re practically made of metal! At the back there was a large stallion, one that looked much bigger than the rest, even bigger than him. The horn jutting out of his helmet obviously meant he was a unicorn, and he could see it flashing dimly, every pulse sending shivers down his spine. He wasn’t wearing the chainmail like the rest of them, instead opting for much lighter leather and a bit of plating. His face was half covered by a metal mask of sorts. Obviously the spellcaster of the group. Peter waited for them to leave, his breath shallow in fear. If only I still had my old pistol... Yeah, hehe, if only... Once they had left he dropped everything and returned to the cave. He wasn’t going to be making any fires tonight for fear of being discovered. ‘Hey, where’s the tinder?’ Asked Slate as he walked in. ‘There’s been a complication.’ ‘Complication?’ ‘They have men in the woods.’ Slate stood up. ‘Are they dressed in grey armour?’ He said quickly, moving to the entrance to get a look. ‘Yeah. And they have chain mail that goes down to their-’ ‘Hooves.’ ‘Yeah, how did you know?’ The grey earth pony seemed quite absent minded and paced back and forth. ‘This isn’t good. They’ve sent the army after us.’ Peter felt relief wash over himself. ‘Is that it? The army? Oh that isn’t so bad. I expected some specially trained unit or something...’ Slate looked at him with wide eyed amazement. ‘Don’t you understand just how bad the situation is? Equestria is not even supposed to have an army. We haven’t fought a battle in over 900 years!’ 900 years? A bunch of pacifists then? ‘Wait so, what you’re telling me is that they are the specially trained unit?’ He nodded, twitching at every single noise. ‘Well then that is bad.’ They were both silent, Slate listening for the soldiers and Peter thinking about what to do next. ‘I suggest we get a move on,’ said the thief, ‘if Tyral is with them it’s only a matter of time before we get caught.’ ‘Tyral?’ ‘He’s their unicorn Captain, and the stallion that gave me this scar.’ Peter nodded, remembering the dark figure from before. ‘One more question.’ ‘Yes?’ ‘Just how long were you in that prison?’ He sighed as he walked out of the cave. ‘Just a little over two years.’ The sun rose high over the hilltops, illuminating the landscape. The sun rise only made Equestria even more beautiful, and he found himself gazing into the distance despite his lack of sleep and longing to be able to close his eyes. ‘We can stop here,’ Slate declared, dropping to the ground. ‘I think we’ve all deserved a rest...’ He nodded off, not making a sound. A nice change from your snoring. He thought he could catch a glimpse of a few clouds behind the far off hills in the otherwise perfectly clear sky, but his drowsy vision blurred. Peter lay down, resting his head on an especially comfortable patch of grass and was soon fast asleep, loud snoring scaring a few of the animals away. ------------ What the- Where am I? Peter looked around, trying to get a bearing, but there was nothing to show his location, only the desert, stretching all around him. Oh this a dream, isn’t it. ‘That depends.’ He froze. That was the voice of Franko. The voice of Franko. Turning round he saw a man wearing wide black slacks and a white shirt with a decorative vest over it and a small hat. His face was fairly young, with black hair and eyes as well as a trimmed moustache. ‘Franko?’ The man nodded. ‘Hey Peter.’ They stood staring at each other, taking in the new experience. ‘So, uh, am I in my mind or something?’ ‘Sort of. This is a dream, though not in the same way you think of them.’ ‘Huh? What do you mean?’ Franko leaned on a walking stick he didn’t remember him holding prior. ‘Well, what is a dream?’ ‘It’s your mind wandering in its sleep or something like that.’ ‘That is right, but wandering in what?’ ‘In your itself of course.’ ‘Wrong.’ Peter frowned. Where else could it be wandering? ‘You see, when you sleep your, soul I think you might call it, is free from its physical bounds and goes off into the metaphysical world.’ ‘Sooo, what you’re saying is none of this is real?’ Franko shook his head. ‘No, far from it. Right now you’re safe. This is your realm, a kind of... sphere of influence if you like.’ ‘Is that why if I think about something in a dream it happens?’ ‘Very good, you’re catching on I see. But you see those steps?’ Peter turned round and saw stairs that hadn’t been there before, descending straight into the earth, completely unlit. ‘If you go down those steps you’ll come out into the world beyond. There is a world fantastical by our standards but just as dangerous if not more.’ Peter stared down it, not blinking at all. ‘Have you ever been down there?’ ‘Unfortunately no. I’ve read about it though. I would go myself but I am stuck with you.’ ‘Does that mean that if I descend, you descend as well?’ He gestured openly. ‘I am bound to you, am I not?’ Peter walked towards it and looked into it. He took one step down and immediately felt something, he wasn’t sure what, but something neither painful nor pleasurable. He withdrew. ‘I can’t go yet. There are things that still need to be done.’ ‘That is true.’ Peter moved away from the stairs and they disappeared as quickly as they had come. ‘So how do I wake up?’ Franko looked about the desert. ‘You have to wait for that to happen.’ ‘Right.’ They sat in awkward silence. Finally Franko broke it. ‘Hey you remember Celestia said how the only ways to do magic are through natural talent and sacrifice?’ ‘Yeah?’ ‘You know the spell you did?’ Peter clenched his fist. ‘Yeah?’ He said more deliberately this time. ‘Well I looked into it, and it turns out you sacrificed something after all.’ Stay calm Peter, stay calm. ‘You sacrificed a day of your life.’ ‘I WHAT!?’ He flinched a little. ‘You gave away a day of your life in exchange for getting out.’ Peter paused. Now that he thought more about it that didn’t seem too bad. If he hadn’t done it he would have lost that day all the same, cooped up in that cell. ‘Could you at least warn me next time?’ The sudden mood swing confused Franko quite a bit. ‘Uh... sure, yeah.’ ------------ ‘Hey monster, wake up,’ said Slate poking him. ‘Five more minutes Dad...’ groaned Peter. ‘We don’t have five minutes. I have no doubts that they have our tracks, hell they’re probably right behind us, now come on, we’ve got a lot of walking to do.’ Peter shot up when he remembered where he was. ‘Yes, right. Let’s do this.’ They started walking down the path back, out of the clearing and back into the forest. They walked for sometime, barely stopping except for water now and again from a stream or two that they came across. Neither made a noise, taking in the ambiance of the forest; birds chirping, brooks running, the soft sound of hoofbeats in the distance... Wait, hoofbeats? ‘Hide!’ he called, diving into a nearby bush. Slate was behind a tree and watching the direction of the noise. After waiting a minute or two, three ponies came into view, not a single one wearing the chainmail of the army. Slate walked out to meet them but Peter knew to stay behind. They greeted him like a friend, though he doubted they knew him, and the group started conversing. From what he could gather they were talking about how the pegasi had made the day clear by order of the princess despite there having been rain scheduled for today and directions to Ponyville. After some waiting, Slate waved to them and returned to Peter. ‘Well, good news.’ Peter got out of his hiding place. ‘Looks like all that walking paid off. We’re only a days ride away from Ponyville.’ ‘Oh that’s good. Is there a particular reason you want us to go to Ponyville?’ ‘Well, there’s someone there I know. She’ll help me, and maybe you if you ask nicely enough,’ he grinned. ‘Yeah right, a “monster” like me? How do I know she won’t just run?’ ‘Oh she’s more of the understanding type if you catch my meaning.’ He turned and resumed walking, Peter following his lead. After a couple hours of walking and idle talk they stopped to rest. Peter’s stomach rumbled loudly. Slate looked at him questioningly. ‘Oh right, uh I must be hungrier than I thought.’ In his haste he had left the meat back at the cave. ‘Well it’s your lucky day. There’s a berry bush right there.’ ‘So there is...’ He scampered over to it and pulled a few off it, stuffing them in his mouth. ‘Not bad, not bad.’ ‘See, now wasn’t that better than meat?’ Peter laughed. ‘Don’t push your luck.’ He finished them off then sat down to rest his legs. He had blisters all over his feet, though he tried not to think about them. They continued after a few minutes at a slower pace than before. ‘So where do you come from originally Slate?’ ‘Coltorado. It’s very far away from here, in fact it would probably take me the better part of a month to get there. What about you?’ ‘Me? I already told you, Arkham City in Massachusetts.’ ‘Massachusetts is the country?’ ‘No, it’s an area. The United States of America is the country.’ ‘But it’s not where you’re actually from is it?’ Peter smiled. ‘How did you know?’ ‘Most people very far away from home talk about it like a precious thing they’ve lost. You mentioned this Arkham like it was somewhere you had just past through.’ Very receptive. ‘Well I actually come from England, though I moved there when I was 23. I needed the work.’ He nudged him. ‘I know what that’s like. It’s the same reason I came here, even if that reason was a little less... legitimate. So how far away are these places?’ ‘I’m not actually sure... though I do know it’s probably further away then I can get to.’ After that they didn’t make a sound, thinking of home and all its wonders. ------------ She had hated to do it, but the creature was dangerous, and it would take more than just a few guards to take him down. The army was usually her last resort, but this was different. Although she couldn’t get in, she had felt the power emanating from his brain as she tried to break it. If he wasn’t stopped there was no telling what could happen. She readied her ink and quill and started writing next to an open window. To my faithful student, You will probably still be on the flight back before you receive this, so don’t worry, I do not expect you to reply. The creature that we witnessed teleport into the throne room has escaped taking another prisoner with him. Recent evidence has come to light suggesting that they are heading in the direction of Ponyville, so if you see anything, send me a scroll straight away. I will be there as soon as possible, oh and please be careful. He injured Princess Luna and a guard in his escape so he is as you can imagine quite dangerous. Yours sincerely, Princess Celestia With a puff of green smoke, it was gone, dissipating into the wind. She just hoped that Tyral would be more gentle than he usually was. She and Luna had wanted to study the creature more closely, and she doubted her sister would ever forgive her if anything happened to Slate. She worried about that unicorn sometimes, he was very secretive and the soldiers had become more cryptic. The army now seemed more like a esoteric order rather than an instrument of the state. She dismissed the thought and left for the dining hall. It was better she got some rest rather than think about matters of the state 24/7.