Chapter Four:
Alec unpacked his gear and did any inventory, just to make sure that he hadn't lost anything in his spontaneous traveling to an alternate universe.
Okay, ushanka? Check. .22 Pistol? Check. .45 Pistol? Check.
Alec was glad that he grabbed his .22 instead of the .45; he really didn't want to hurt that poor thing to much, even though it had probably wanted to practically kill him.
Survival knife... Swiss Army knife...basic cooking kit...MRE's.... Remington .12 Gauge...ammo for all weapons, quite a bit....Gas Mask...flashlight...etc, etc.
Nope, nothing was missing, what a relief.
Alec packed all of his stuff back up and decided to look around a bit. The forest seemed normal to him, despite the fact that it was cartoony.
He explored around, though was sure not to go too far, and something caught his interest.
It was a sparkle. I little wink in the darkness.
Alec, his interest piqued, went after it. About thirty seconds of walking and there was a small clearing in the twisted trees, and , bada-boom, the largest cave entrance that Alec had ever set eyes on.
"Woah..."
But...caves don't explain random shiny things in the forest...unless...yap, there it is again.
It was coming from inside the cave.
Alec shrugged and went on inside. He found the source of the sheen and leaned over to pick it up.
It was...a jewel? It was pretty nicely cut too.
Sweet.
Alec pocketed it and, well, Apocalypse Looter mode was on, and he decided to explore deeper into the cave. All he had to do was round the corner, and he dropped his gun, eyes wide open, the only thing between his jaw and the floor being the gas mask.
Giant mountains of gold, silver, cut jewels, diamonds, and many other treasures hulked in front of him, filling the cavern to the top in some places. Jackpot? Jackpot.
Alec walked forward and began to paw through the treasures. Suddenly, he felt a...breeze? It was warm, and it didn't come from outside. Alec was to pre-occupied with the fact that he was now a billionaire, so he shrugged it off and continued.
There it was again. Whew, it stunk.
Alec finally turned around, and, well, there was a dragon.
"What are you doing with my horde?" it asked in a voice that sounded like rumbling boulders.
Shit. Wait...idea....
"Oh, I'm incredibly sorry...hey, you're not the last member of your kind are you?"
He dragon, eyes still level with Alec snorted, "Of course not, my kind spreads all over Equin!"
"Okay, are you the last male in your family?"
"No. Stop asked foolish questions small creature and meet your doom!"
"Forgive and forget?"
"Never."
"Well..."
Alec was fast, very fast, and whipped out his weapon.
The dragon roared and took a swing at the small human, but Alec hugged the ground, and managed to avoid getting sliced in half.
Alec stood up and raised his weapon, and began to wait.
He did not have to wait long.
The giant reptile darted forward with his mouth, and-
Crack!
There was an Earth-shaking thud as the Dragon fell to the ground, blood seeping from it's mouth.
"Sweet, now I get to add "Dragon Slayer," to my list of accomplishments. And, "instant Billionaire."
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Lyra waited for Bon-Bon to fall asleep again. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long; she feel asleep quickly.
The mint-green mare waited until her partner's breathing was steady, and she slowly snuck out of bed.
She snuck out of the room, down the stairs, through the kitchen, and into the basement.
Lyra opened her secret little cupboard and smiled wickedly.
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After stuffing his pockets and bag with as much gold and jewels as he could carry, Alec set the Dragon's corpse on fire, and bailed out. He was going to come back in the next few days to use the bones to make tools and, maybe, make his home there.
But, if he was going to live there, he needed to explore around a bit.
Now, you may be wondering, wasn't he going to surrender when the ponies came after him?
Alec had decided that, instead of surrendering, he would hide from them. He wouldn't declare war on them, nor would he surrender. Maybe he could live there for a while, see more things. He wasn't exactly eager to return the the Land of The Bloodshed, so he decided that he was going to stay in this place for a little while more, perhaps do some pony trolling.
Alec began making markers to place around the area, and began taking mental notes.
Eventually, he stumbled upon...something. He wasn't exactly sure what, but it was...another light.
Alec thought back to his recent instant-richness and pulled his shotgun out, ready to double his earning.
As he got closer, though, he saw that is wasn't a cave...it was...a house?
Yep, a house inside of a tree, kind of like the one that he had appeared in. Only, this one was smaller, and had what looked life old African masks scattered around the place. Alec crept closer, found a window and peered inside.
It was the ultimate witch-doctor's hut. Potions, vials, masks, old books, jars of powders and pieces of small animals, all of this, and, of course, the cauldron, complete with bubbling green goo. Alec couldn't locate the inhabitant though.
Suddenly, the door opened and a cloaked figure crept inside. Alec lowered his head a bit more. The hood was removed and, well, it was a zebra.
Huh. Interesting.
He watched it closely, what had she been doing out so late? Do zebras not sleep here? No...there's a bed.
Alec shrugged: maybe it was a night-owl.
Alec watched as a scene a movie unfolded. The zebra removed it's cloak and began to mix something in it's cauldron.
A Potion? Poison? Elixr?
Alec watched, and, noticed that...some of the ingredients that she had...they were edible.
Crickets and grasshoppers, along with a variety of insects, as well as some dried fruits and vegatables.
Looting time? Looting time.
By the way, no, he hadn't learned his lesson by now.
Alec threw hurled the butt of his weapon through the glass, shattering it he climbed through. He found the zebra, who was now backed up against the wall, a frightened yet curious look on it's face.
Alec didn't say anything; he just began grabbing jars of ingredients and other things that he might find useful.
The zebra never said anything, not a peep. It shrank away when Alec approached it, but that was all. Alec shrugged, raised the butt of his weapon and it was out.
Alec stole the sheets, blankets and pillows from it's bed, and took everything that he could. When you're the veteran of three wars, the survivor of an apocalypse, and a soldier in a current war, you learn to take all that you can.
Alec tied the zebra's hooves behind one another and left her there: he was sure that someone would notice that she wasn't around and come rescue her.
Alec left the hut and began to trek around to an area near his cave where he could wait for the fire to claim the rest of the Dragon, preferably a tree, when he heard a crack in the underbrush. Alec whirled around, bag of edibles forgotten, and raised his weapon. Nothing. Maybe it was his imagination.
Alec shrugged yet again continued on his way, towards the pillar of smoke in the sky. He was going to have to hide himself; the smoke would probably attract the pony police or something in his direction.
He found a sizable tree near the smoking entrance (burning Dragon smelled surprisingly good) and began to use what he had to build a little shelter. He lashed several branches together, cut others, layered some big leaves, moved some branches around, and he had a pretty decent little hidey-hole.
Alec pulled out his newly claimed beddings and slept.
He was awoken by another snap. Okay, no imagination. Alec pulled out his weapon (he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, huh?) and climbed down from his tree. His eyes, obscured by the lenses of his mask, searched the dark, twisted trees and the black bushes, attempting to locate his stalker. Was it another pony? Or perhaps a creature of the forest, a predator?
Alec could not see a single thing. Finally, Alec gave up again, but just as he was about to turn away, he caught something. They were three green dots...kind of like some high-tech night vision goggles.
Alec squinted, trying to see better, when there was an explosive crack! Followed quickly by a fwoosh!
Alec knew what that was: a net. He wasn't sure where the pony that was after him got a mortar-launched net, but he wasn't thinking about that right now.
Alec just barley dodged out of the way in time, and only his foot was entangled, but he was still slowed down. He fought, and was eventually freed. He turned around to see...well it was shaped like a pony, but it was wearing some sort of stealth suit. Okay, maybe these ponies were more technologically advanced then he had originally thought...
Alec tried to run again, but there was a sort of whizzing sound. Alec looked next to him to see a dart embedded into the tree.
Woah God.
He began to sprint, being sure to mentally mark his progress, and managed to escape his pursuer.
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"Curses! He got away!" She smiled underneath her mask, "but not for long..."