A Pokemon Problem
(15) - Turn the Page
As the Sun set behind us, bathing us in its tranquil, orange glow, Seth, Ryder, and I continued our way north. Since Seth was the only one incapable of flight, I carried him between my two bulky arms. Ryder had tried, but when he lost concentration, Seth had fallen through, so I was left to be the pack Metang.
I learned that Seth had actually poked his head out during my confrontation with the swarm of Pegasi, but had decided against interfering, crawled back into the Pit, and promptly fell asleep. I wasn't sure if Seth had always slept this much (and it seemed rude to ask); he was asleep when we first found him in his cage, he fell asleep in the Pit, and he was currently sleeping in my arms.
No homo.
Speaking of sleeping, I wasn't sure if I actually needed to. Sure, I passed out at Morning Dew's cottage, but I was pretty sure that was directly caused by some sort of witchcraft on her part. I didn't feel tired at all.
"Hey Ryder?" I asked, thinking softly (yes, it's possible) so as to not wake Seth up.
"Yeah?"
"Have you gotten any sleep at all since you got here?"
He thought about that for a while. "No, I haven't. Strangely enough... I don't feel tired, either," he replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious."
/\/\/
We continued to fly in silence after our short exchange. As the landscape began to thaw, the Sun sank beneath the mountain to our backs, and we were left in the dark. I could see almost as well as I could in day, and Ryder said that he could see even better. Gradually, we descended along the side of the mountain. I wasn't sure how fast we were going, but it was a decent pace, and the trees below us passed by with alarming frequency.
Eventually, the ground flattened out beneath the moonlit sky and the train tracks came within sight once again. Even in the middle of the night, they glimmered brightly. We followed the tracks west, since I had a hunch that east was the wrong direction. The train tracks were, for the most part, straight, only curving and turning when there was something blocking the path, such as a giant boulder. I kept looking behind me, expecting a train to be roaring down upon us at any moment, but there never was.
We followed the tracks until the Sun came up, and by that point, I was ready to take a break. Just because I couldn't get mentally tired didn't mean I couldn't get physically tired: my arms were sore from holding Seth, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hover.
"A break?" asked Ryder when I told him about my exhaustion. "But you don't even have muscles! How can you be tired when you're basically an oversized can opener?"
"Stuff it," I replied. "You weren't carrying Seth this whole freaking time. Oh, and you also don't weigh half a ton. In fact, you weigh a fifth of a pound, so I don't want to hear it."
Grumbling, Ryder agreed to my resting plan. We pulled in to a nearby forest on our right—this one was made up of spruce, firs, and other coniferous trees, along with ferns and other bushes. After floating in the forest for a while, we came across a small clearing that was large enough to house all of us. I heard a distant crashing sound, and considering my hearing, it was probably several miles away.
I placed Seth down on the ground gently. Part of me would feel bad if I woke him up, and another part wanted to see just long he'd stay asleep for. Ryder entertained himself by making his eyeballs go in different directions, until he accidently made one fall through his head. I was pretty sure his scream could be heard for miles around.
In fact, I think it was heard for miles around, because not long after, I heard the sound of voices once more.
Ryder and I unanimously agreed that we would hide rather than try to communicate with the newcomers. For all we knew, they were as nuts as the Legion Pegasi. Ryder phased into a nearby tree, looking out of a small hole with his two ominous-looking eyes. I dumped Seth in a nest of ferns, pine needles, and moss. As for me...
I'm not sure if you've ever had to hide a half-ton chunk of metal, but let me tell you... it's not easy. Thankfully, there were other ways to hide.
I placed myself flat on the ground, pulling my arms in close to my sides. When I closed my eyes, I looked like a simple chunk of metal, albeit covered in spikes. With any luck, whomever was coming would simply pass me by.
Quickly, quicker than I had anticipated, the voices came into hearing distance.
"Are ya sure ya heard somethin'? 'Cause we haven't seen a single damned thing outta the ordinary," said a deep, male voice. Something about it seemed off, but I wouldn't be able to determine exactly what it was until later.
"Positive," replied another voice, this one female. Like the other one, the voice was deeper than what seemed to be the norm, albeit this one had a scratchy tone to it. "I know a sound when I hear it, and that sound was most definitely a scream. I'd bet ma beak on it."
Beak?
"Both a ya: Quit yer yammerin'!" ordered a third voice, this one with not as deep of a voice, although with a much more pronounced accent. It sounded almost... Midwestern. "Iffen of course, you want to scare away whoever yelped like an Ursa was attackin' 'em, then go ahead."
As far as I knew, there was only one sapient species in Equestria that had beaks...
"'Ey! What's that?" asked the third voice a little while later, being the first to break his own silence rule. "Looks like a big hunk o' metal."
The second voice whistled. "A chunk that large gotta be worth fifteen hundred notes, easy."
Great. I was being examined by a bunch of gryphons that had the intent to sell me for easy money.