//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Journal of Zombie Stitch // by Zombie-Stitch //------------------------------// It is getting colder and rainier every day now and we have to cover the beds and bushes of our garden soon. The important point first: The the Ore Pack is doing much better. Strangely these others did not attempt to strike back at them. From what I withnessed this would suit the behaviour of these... there is no word for them. I am speaking of this other werepony pack. I don't even know what they call themselves. I just wish for the Ore Pack to be safe from them. Perhaps they scared them off. Also, this the season, when I add a year to my age. Oh dear, Fluffy told Half Wing... This pegasus is truly is strange. He gathered about everypony from the forest for a birthday party for me... I never said a word to make him believe I could want that. Still, seeing everypony was overwhelming. I never thought so many poies would fit in my bedroom at once and even sneak up on me so I would not wake up! Nana Zecora, Half Wing, Fluffy and even most of the Ore Pack. The foals made a huge mess downstairs... but I like having a little life in the house. Makes me wonder if I will have foals. Oh, everypony got me presents. It was all Half Wings idea. He ment, nopony should “be a kid 'n' not have a bee day” what ever this is supposed to mean. A new robe from Nana Zecora, scarecrows from the Ore Pack, a pegasus feather quill from Half Wing and a tiny figure of a Fluffy Pony from Fluffy. I put my horn on the bet he is aware of the irony. Everything was hoofcrafted. Moments like this remind me, that I will never be truly alone here. I love my friends. Our last chance to harvest is over now. Fluffy, Half Wing and I gathered everything we could as quick as possible. We didn't manage to gather everything we grew. The parasprites got a lot of it. Pesky little beasts. They know nothing but hunger. Well not exactly hunger but feeding. Once they start devouring, they don't stop until they can't find anything anymore. They tried to eat our house! We tried about everything to get rid of them. From bringing them away to stomping them under Fluffy's hoofs. The last option worked the best. I don't feel bad about destroying them. They are no living creatures, they are spirits. Everypony who would not just destroy these creatures on first sight would be doomed. We weren't able to save very much to store for the winter to come. It is enough for us to survive but I'll strictly ration our stock just for an emergency case. It's the middle of winter. At least I believe so. Some winters in Everfree tend to get awefully long. We were having our own kind of Hearth's Warming Eve. Even tho it is a bit meagre compared to what I remembered from my childhood in Hollow Shades and Canterlot. We actually just decorate the house a little. This year was very different tho. Usually it was only Fluffy and me. Nana Zecora only joined us once and did not actually understand why we even celebrate it. This year truly is much more lively than every before. Half Wing, the Ore Pack and then theres this very unlikely young stallion. Fluffy and I were searching for winter berries the parasprites havn't devoured by now. Luckiely they seem to be hibernating as well as most cratures of the forest. We actually weren't the only ponies searching for food. Within a frozen over bush was a movement. It couldn't have been any dangerous creature. Not of this size at this time of the year. Against Fluffies advice I upened the bush. Nopony could have expected this sight. A coward together stallion, just a few years younger than me I suppose. He looked so scared. Not of Fluffy but of me. I guess the scar on my face does look... creepy. He didn't say a word tho. He grabbed onto his violin, the only thing about him which wasn't covered in dirt and scratches. I tried to talk to him but after a few attempts he passed out. The cold, the exhaustion and hunger must have gotten the rest of him. Now he is upstairs wrapped in a gues hay pile as I sit with my friends. I'm writing this entry while Elder Led Eyes tells the Hearth's Warming Eve Tale. In case you wonder, why I havn't written many entries since fall. Well theres not that much happening during the cold seasons. All I do besides looking after our unconscious guest is reading the books I got from the gypsie ponies. There are even several spell books. I never was fond of learning spells stricly from books. I rather experiment on my own. That once cost a teachers eyebrows but still I believe this to be the best way to experience magic itself. Just moments ago I tried out a regenerative spell on the unconscious stallion. He needs food and water, yet he hasn't awoken yet. The spell works. Otherwise he would starve and dehydrate in his sleep. I wish badly for him to wake up soon. It has been another three weeks now. As it seems the young stallion we found must have been extremly exhausted but he finally opened his eyes. I prepared myself for this moment by wearing my robe and hood when I enter the guestroom. I didn't want to scare him again with the look of my face. As it turns out, it wasn't my face that scared him. He seems to be afraid of other ponies in general. After hours I finally managed to tell him, that nopony here would harm him. Yet he still clinged onto his violin in the leather holster. I can't tell if he was afraid or if it just means much to him. I tried to ask him, what happened to him. He didn't say a word. After a while he rose his head and pulled his hoof from left to right over a thin vertical line on his throat. I do not want to imagine what happened to the poor guy.