My New Life
Chapter 43 - Wandering
Vapor Sky's POV
That was a bit strange. All the years I have known him, he didn't mind the heat at all. In fact, I am sure he enjoyed it. I thought to myself as I walked along through Ponyville. Oh well, it is probably nothing. He probably has just become so adjusted to the night that he likes being cool more.
"Howdy Vapor!" I heard somepony call.
I turned and saw Applejack and Corrosive Dash waving to me from their apple stand. I walked over to them.
"Hello Applejack and Corrosive. How are you two doing this fine day?"
"Good. How about yourself?" Corrosive asked.
"Not to shabby."
"What brings you around these parts Ms. Sky?" Applejack asked.
"Pure Heart was a special guest at the school today. He just answered a couple questions really."
"That's nice that he could take time out of his busy schedule to inform the younger generation." Corrosive said.
"Tell you the truth, I am pretty sure it was community service for scaring everypony at the fashion show."
"Pfft, figures." He said shrugging.
"Where's he now?" Applejack asked.
"He said he had to run an errand, so I am just hanging out until he gets back."
"Alright. Well, we got to get back to work. These apples aren't gonna sell themselves."
I waved to them and walked off towards the library.
The bell rang as I walked in.
"Welcome to Golden Oaks Library. How can I help you?" Said a grey pegasus that wore glasses and a straw hat behind the counter.
"I'm just browsing. Say, do you live here?"
"Why yes, in fact. My name is Quick Silver." He held out his hoof.
I took it and shook it. "Vapor Sky. I am the captain of the night security team."
"Oh, so you know Prince Pure Heart then?"
"Yes, I am his body guard."
"I see."
"So you took over the role of librarian after Twilight left, huh?"
"Yes I did. I also watch over Spike from time to time. But he tends to stay in Canterlot most of the time."
"Oh yeah, I remember seeing him sometimes."
"Speaking of things, you just missed the prince come through here a bit earlier."
"Really? What did he in come for?"
"Oh, just some book about magic ingredients or something. He seemed preoccupied, so I didn't bother him much. We exchanged greetings, he found the book and then he left. Nearly forgot to check the book out."
"Hmm, interesting. Did he possibly say where he was going?"
"Nope, sorry. Like I said, he didn't say much to me."
"Oh well, thanks anyways. It was nice meeting you."
"Nice meeting you as well."
We waved and I walked out back into the sunshine.
After the library, I spent a few hours just walking around. I ate lunch at a café and then went and checked back on the chariot.
"Hey guys. Has the prince been by yet?" I asked the guards.
"Yes, he said that he would be a few more hours and that we should take a break and come back at around 5 PM."
"So did you?"
"Yes ma'am. We took one and we just got back."
I looked at the sun. "It's only 4. Did you see which way he went?"
"Yes, he went into the Everfree Forest."
"What?! You let him go in there without any thought of accompanying him?!"
"Calm down ma'am. He went in with his predator suit on and he said that he would be completely fine."
That made me feel a bit better. But still, I worried about him. "Alright, I am going in to find him. We'll be back by at least 5." I ran in the direction of the forest. When I arrived, I took a deep breath and walked in.
I thanked Celestia I was wearing my armor to prevent most parts of my body from being scratched by brambles and branches that I had to walk through. It was dark from the dense tree cover and the fog didn't help so much either. Every so often, I would trip over a rock or stump.
Soon, though, I heard something in the distance. It sounded like metal hitting metal. As I got closer, I began seeing sparks in the distance.
Soon I found myself at a small clearing with two creatures standing a short distance a part. One of them lunged at the other with what appeared to be large claws and the other side stepped and came back with a fist that hit the first in the side.
I was unable to make out the identites of the creatures because of the dense fog, but the one with the claws was definetly smaller than the other.
The clawed one came back with a leg sweep which knocked the large one over. The first then jumped onto the giant and held its claws up to its head.
"Stay down!" It said out loud.
The voice sounded familiar and so I unwittingly stepped into the clearing and got closer to the creatures.
"Pure Heart?" I said.
The creature turned to me and I saw burning red eyes. Now that I was closer, though, I could see it was indeed Pure Heart in his predator suit.
"What are you doing?"
He quickly turned back to the giant and scraped its body with his claws and then pulled out a vial and collected some of what appeared to be its blood.
"It will heal. Next time, don't be such a baby about it and I won't be so hard on you."
The giant nodded his head and Pure Heart stood up. He retracted his claws and patted the creature. He then turned back to me.
"What are you doing out here? Don't you know how dangerous it is out here?" He said with a snarl.
"Funny, I could ask you the same thing." I said back with the same attitude.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and thought for a moment. "Okay, just forget what you saw. This steel giant doesn't need anyone looking for him. His species is nearly extinct and we don't want to give him any extra attention."
"Alright. I guess I can do that."
"Now high tail it back to Ponyville. And don't try to follow me." With that he pounded his chest with his fist and he disappeared. I heard twigs and leaves crack and rattle as he ran away.
That was odd. I thought. I began to walk back the way I came, only to realize that I had no idea which way I came from.
All of a sudden, he appeared in front of me. "You are lost, aren't you?"
I nodded.
He groaned. "Alright, I guess you are going to have to come with me." He picked me up with a bit of a struggle and put me on his shoulder.
"I can walk."
"And slow me down? No thank you." He pressed a switch on the side of his neck and his helmet snapped on. He then touched the side of his head with his fingers and pushed his temple a few times. "There it is."
He stumbled a bit but then got his footing and began to run really fast, narrowly missing trees and bushes. Everything became a blur as we moved faster.
Then all of a sudden, we stopped. "We are here." He set me down at a tree line and I began to walk a little haphazardly, kind of dizzy from the trip. I shook my head and saw a double image of him looking me in the eyes. "You okay? You look a little sick."
"Well I guess I'm just not used to moving at the speed of light." I held my hoof over my mouth and I ran over to a bush and expelled the contents of my stomach. "That daisy sandwhich didn't taste nearly as good coming up as it did going down."
"Sorry. Next time, you should close your eyes. Or better yet, mind your own business." He walked over to me and knelt down next to me and patted my back. "Now I have to talk to somebody. You stay here and feel better." He stood up and walked away.
After heaving for about ten more minutes, I felt somewhat better and stood up, taking in my surroundings.
I found that he dropped me off at the treeline of another clearing. This one, however, was bigger than the last one and it had a tree in the center. Then I realized where I actually was. I was at Zecora's house. Why would he come here though? I decided I would take a peak through the window and check it out.
As I got closer, I could hear them speaking.
"Do you think it will help?"
"Help you I am sure it will. And hopefully you it will not kill." Zecora said in her unmistakable rhyming tone.
"Ha ha. You are so funny. But I hope it was worth spending all day tracking down those ingredients in exchange for it."
"Its worth we shall wait for with interest. Remember to always inject straight into your chest."
"Right, right. I guess I should give it a test run, huh?"
I looked into the window and saw Pure Heart take a syringe and plunge it into his chest. I nearly squealed at the sight but was able to muffle the sound.
"Ah! Jeez, that hurt. I guess I will get used to it after a while."
I slid down the tree and thought about what I had just seen. Then I heard the sound of metal clinking and figured I better get back to where he left me so he wouldn't get suspicious.
"Thanks again Zecora. If you ever need anything, just contact me."
I saw Zecora wave to him and he waved back.
Pure Heart came up to me and picked me up, this time with little to no effort at all. "You ready to go?"
I gulped and nodded.
"Alright, remember to close your eyes this time." He needed no time to find his footing this time as he immediately took off without a hitch.
I wondered how he became so much more coordinated and stronger. Maybe it was that shot that he gave himself. And if so, what was it that he injected into his body.
We soon got back out of the forest and he stopped right at the edge and set me down. "Okay, we are out." He knelt down next to me until we were at eye level. "Now Vapor, I want you to forget everything you saw in there today. No one needs to know. Got it?"
"Um, yeah. I got it."
"Good. Now let's get out of this blasted heat. I am kind of tired after all that work."
We walked back to the chariot in silence and it continued all the way back to Canterlot.